Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This idea came to me months ago and I thought I would write it up about now and get some feedback. What do you guys think? I do have some plans to continue it into a larger story. Should I? Take is my own character.
The hospital was impressive he had to admit. It sprawled across several fields and beyond his range of vision, in burnished wood and pale ivory. He couldn't place the style; it had Victorian elements but some carvings on a window, a few twists on a tower and swoops on the metal engraved doors made him hesitate. His boots made little sound as he sprang up the steps and approached the main door. A giant carving of a moon with silver and moonstone chips lay over the double doors. Whoever designed the building had serious money to spend he thought with an impressed whistle. Every single crater on the moon had been replicated with perfect accuracy but he ignored that for the time being and shoved through the side door. The main doors didn't look like they had been used in a long time, not with the silver blackening and the heavy bolts over the knockers. Huh how strange.
…#########################...
"Take-san?" The wrinkled head of the hospital peered up at him behind a mahogany desk, "I wasn't expecting you until Thursday."
Take raised an eyebrow, "It's Friday sir. The Airplane was delayed, so I'm late."
"I see." The old man put the application down with trembling hands and locked them together in front of his face. His skin was sagging and liver spotted, a goatee sprouted from his chin and when the old man smiled his teeth were nicotine stained.
"Forgive me. It's so very easy to lose track of time in here." He murmured pulling a drawer open with a creak to withdraw a badge. "Welcome to the Elemental Hospital, home to over a three thousand patients. I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, manager of the Konoha division." He broke off to cough loudly and wetly into a closed fist, "Excuse me."
"Pardon." Take interrupted before the old man could start up again, "Why exactly do you need someone like me in a mental hospital? I have no medical training at all."
Hiruzen blinked at him slowly, "Yes…..yes right of course. I don't need you to treat anyone or look after anyone." He dropped the file onto the desk with a muffled thump, "I need someone to talk to the people here."
"Excuse me?" Take could not have heard the man right. There was no way he got called all this way to play a sympathetic ear.
"You'll fit in just fine." Hiruzen smiled and suddenly as the wrinkles stretched and tightened, Take saw a younger man shine for a split second out of that face. "You'll need this." He slid the badge with the weird stylised Leaf over the table.
Take sighed but nodded scooping up the badge yelping slightly as his thumb met a very sharp pin.
"They aren't bad people Take-san." Hiruzen murmured, swivelling gently in his chair, "Remember that." Take's mouth tightened before he gave a stiff nod and strode out of the room. He'd make his own mind to whether anyone was good or bad.
…##########################...
"You must be the mysterious Take-san." A bored voice drawled from the window seat. A white haired man slouched upon the scarlet cushions, expertly spinning a pen through his fingers. A medical mask obscured his lower face and like Take, the man dressed in close fitting comfortable clothes.
"Kakashi Hatake." The mask twisted to resemble a smile and Take noticed with a jolt one of his eyes was a different colour to the other. "As of now I'm your nanny. Guide." He amended after seeing Take's face.
"Take Yuishin." Take muttered, hand swinging up to meet the taller man's. "You're one of the Doctors?"
"Right." Kakashi nodded cheerfully, "I double as a Handler, you and I will be having lots of chats about co-ordinating the doves."
"Doves?" The slight tilt in Take's voice gave the question away.
"The patients are called doves." Kakashi laughed lowly, "After all their wings have been clipped, they're not going anywhere."
A slight chill ran down his spine from the man in front of him. He remembered the bolted door and the side door which had no door handle on the inside and realised that he was now trapped in the building with three thousand patient slash inmates.
….###########################...
Gai and Asuma were strange people. Like Kakashi they admitted to being Handlers; Asuma was a neurologist like Gai was a physiotherapist. What stood out most was their sense of style, the hospital's rules must have been lax for them to get away with their outfits. Gai leant against a wall in dark green jeans, a dark gray T-shirt but what drew the eye was the military style jacket thrown casually on top. Studs decorated his ears and he smiled a quick smile at Take. Asuma on the other hand favoured not wearing a top at all and went directly for some weird shirt thing made out of different light links and chains like some very odd chainmail. Military style trousers tucked into boots completed the look and a cigarette hung from the brunette's lips.
When Take asked if there were more of them that he had to meet, they laughed. The laughs themselves were quite light-
"Oh yes." Gai assured him, "There are hundreds of handlers, but you'll deal with us primarily."
Asuma flicked ash off his glowing cigarette butt, "There was another once." He smiled, a regretful soft smile and blow out smoke, "But no, just us for now."
….##################################...
"There a story behind the stylised Leaf?" Take asked turning the badge this way and that between his fingers.
"It's in respect for our department-founder." Kakashi told him, flicking through a file as thick as his fingers. "Urban legend goes he owned a greenhouse off property when he was alive, and one day he just never came back. All his staff insisted they saw him enter the building and well." Kakashi's voice was tinged with dark amusement, "They never saw him again."
"You decided to honour your founder who disappeared in his greenhouse with a leaf?" Take repeated sharing in Kakashi's morbid humour.
"Blame his brother." Asuma called out from the sofa, "That bastard had one hell of a set of humour. It's quite a sad story really, his granddaughter ended up in here. That family had a curse put upon them."
Gai clucked in sympathy, took the badge between calloused hands and held it up to the light. "The other departments have stories of their own." He spoke quietly, "But we are the oldest and most respected department there is." He tossed the badge to Take who caught it, "This place is filled with tragedy. I look forward to working with you."
….##########################...
The map crinkled in his hands as he scratched his head with the butt end of a torch. Many of the corridors had faulty lighting apparently and the Handlers didn't believe in any form of teaching that wasn't sink or swim. So he had been set loose with instructions which were as clear as mud; Kakashi was a guide in name only then he thought ruefully before trying to figure the map out again. It was like someone had drawn a plan, rubbed it out extremely badly before drawing a completely different map over it. A shock of blonde hair caught his eye.
"Yo." He called out.
A teenager turned around with shockingly bright blue eyes, which seemed too big for his face.
"Oh hello." The teen smiled lopsidedly, "You caught me I guess."
Take's gaze flickered to the gilded frames behind the blond teen. Four impressive paintings hung on the painted wall; all men in sharp suits but the details were blurred by violent splashes of crimson and navy paint. The impromptu art was extensive, ranging from the end of the corridor to the other end and looked like it had been splashed on with fists. He had found a delinquent, oh joy.
"Who're they?" Take kept his tone light, "They piss you off or something?"
The teen's grin broadened, "Oh you're new aren't you." He crowed looking delighted. The smile dropped to a small smile and a sly look which Take had to admit was a bit unsettling, "These gentlemen." He purred, "Are the proud department leaders." He grinned up at the portraits. "He's my old man." The boy said suddenly still smiling, "And I'm here." He faced Take, "I'm here."
Take looked up at the third portrait; a handsome brunette, who reminded him of Asuma, looked down severely. Was it a pattern for department head's children to end up in their mental hospital? What was the boy doing wandering alone anyway?
"So you wanted revenge for locking you in here?" He inquired casually.
The teen seemed to find this extremely funny for some reason.
"Oh Kami no." He smiled at Take, "I came here to issue a challenge. I will defeat them all and I'll get my own back."
"You got a plan kid?"
"Oh yeah." The teen turned sideways to face a man with spiky blond hair, "I'm going to be Hokage. Then they'll see."
Take nodded, Hokage?
"Naruto." A stern voice accompanied by soft falls strode up the corridor. "What are you doing, come back immediately. You idiot, it's dangerous to run around."
A good natured man appeared suddenly melting out of the twist of the corridor, the scar over his nose twisted in disapproval.
"Iruka sensei." The boy-Naruto muttered and with a last considering glance at Take, the boy shuffled off under the iron grip of his ...Handler?
"Apologies guard-san, I'll keep a better eye on him next time." The man inclined his head slightly and before Take could protest he wasn't some thug the duo had slipped up the corridor leaving him with the vandalised paintings.
…##########################...
"What's a Hokage?" Take sidled into the room where seemingly the Handlers had not moved an inch from when he had left.
"My old man." Asuma drawled glancing up from the soduko Gai was badgering him with. "Nickname for the heads."
Take blinked. That blonde kid wanted to lead the very mental hospital he was an inmate in one day? Where and how did the disrespect to the past Hokages fit in then? The corner of his mouth curled up in a tiny smile, how…positively ironic. What an interesting start to what he had thought would be a boring job.
…..#########################...
"Take-san, meet my youthful team." Gai's eye crinkled into wicked smiles. "Lee, Neji and Tenten."
Team? Take thought they were Handler and Ward?
"It is an honour." A quavering voice greeted him out of a dully gleaming wheelchair. A stooped, gnarled man curled up in the seat, his claws weakly gripping at the hand rests. Half of his face was slack and rubbery while the other half pulled up in an obvious effort to smile.
Lee must have been at least seventy, but there was something of a young boy in the creases around his eyes. Take clasped the withered claw in his hand and shook it solemnly.
A teenage boy sprawled upon the bed; long black hair obscured Take's vision of his face but the boy looked relatively healthy to his inexperienced eye. The boy raised a lazy hand to Take before returning to tap out a rhythm he vaguely recognised. The woman sitting on the edge of the bed had restless hands. They darted here and there, twisted into knots, wove into complex patterns in her lap until he lost track of what finger was where and it looked like a flesh coloured knot. It was obvious she was used to having something in her hands. She smiled and nodded, the two chopsticks in her hair flashing into view.
"Are you a handler?" Tenten asked curiously, "We haven't seen any new Handlers for a very long time."
"Ah no." Take resisted the urge to fidget with his hands, "I'm here to…listen?"
Neji snorted from the bed, "How do you expect to work with us when you don't know what you're doing?"
"Neji…" Gai warned leaning against the wall. Neji let out an explosive sigh before sitting up and sweeping hair out of his eyes. Take's breath hitched for a second; white blank eyes looked back scornfully.
"Listening's my specialty." The blind boy continued, "So it pisses me off when people do it half heartedly."
"Then talk." Take dropped into a chair deliberately making more of a noise than usual, "I'll just sit here and practise."
"Tch." The corner of Neji's mouth tightened.
"Maa, maa." Tenten laughed, "Let's not start off with a bad note eh Neji-kun, Take-san." She clapped her hands, "I suppose you want to see us interact to see how well we get on, no?" The idle look at Take was as sharp as razor blades. She smiled slowly like remembering something funny, "The usual please Lee."
Gai leant against the wall and beckoned for Take to get comfortable.
With shaky hands Lee drew out a cheap board from a side desk, he recognised the pattern immediately.
"Chess?" He asked incredulously, "Surely one of you can't see the game?"
"Listen." Neji snapped, "Not talk."
"Temper Neji-kun." Lee wheezed, long joint inflamed fingers handling each plastic piece with great care. "You should be kinder to guests."
Neji laughed with a short sharp jerk of his head. It was hollow laughter, and strained like Neji was desperately trying not to hysterically lose his composure. "Is that what he is?" He gasped out between laughs, "Is that really what he is? Why are we even pretending here?"
Take stiffened, it seemed like he was seeing why Neji had been committed to the hospital. What did the boy mean?
Gai sighed and shifted his gaze to the ceiling, shaking his head at Take's subtle glance.
"What do you mean?" Take asked softly, careful not to provoke the boy.
Neji slammed a piece on the board with a clack. His fingers drifted over the board, feather light and brushed over indents and bumps worked into the board and pieces itself.
"Neji." Lee rubbed his thumbs along the rim of his metal covered wheels, "Enough, you have no proof."
"Who did you come for?" Neji continued ignoring Lee. Tenten rolled her eyes to the ceiling as if this was a common occurrence.
"I'm sorry?" Take was honestly confused, "I came because…because Sarutobi asked me to."
For the first time shock flitted across the blind boy's face before smoothing away. Neji exhaled and something rigid in his posture melted away.
"I apologise." Neji spoke dully, Take had apparently lost his interest. "I did not realise you were here on the Hokage's order."
"Think before you accuse someone Neji-kun." Tenten chastised mildly. "He wears the sigil."
Neji glared at the lounging woman, "Forgive me but I did not see." He spat acidly.
Take fingered his badge with the stylised leaf. Neji had mistaken him to be here with a purpose, but the mere mention of Sarutobi was enough to get the boy to back down on his suspicions. What…kind of faith was that? What kind of hospital inmate had that much faith in a man keeping them all locked away from the outside world? No one in the last twenty years had been released from the hospital, but they had unshaking faith in the leader's judgement?
So there were people here who were wanted by others, did the boy mean family? Or more sinister people? And one other question, why hadn't Gai corrected Neji from the start?
…##############################...
"Yo." Take looked up from his surprisingly edible looking food to see a brown haired man beckoning him. Rolled up suit sleeves along with a crooked tie and a faint stench of alcohol gave the man a roguishly dishevelled look. It was the first person he'd seen in a suit, even if it was a messy one. The man grinned, mouth twisting around a lollypop as he pointed to the free space opposite him. The cafeteria was full, full of people with leaf badges and that was all they seemed to have in common. Some laughed over their trays, some sat alone and for some reason this man had decided to eat with the new person.
He set his tray down with a quiet clack and nodded at the man kicking back opposite him.
"Yer new." The man plucked the lollypop out of his mouth, "Sarutobi's never done that before."
"Sorry to break the system." Take returned mildly.
The man snorted, "Ya don't know how much shit you've landed yerself in." He rolled the lollypop between his teeth testing for cracks. "This place has a ton of history and history isn't kind to newcomers."
Take felt a slight crawl go down his back, just what history did this place have? The ancient hospital seemed on the outside an eccentric, filthy rich recluse for filthy rich patients.
"History also forgets a lot of people." He pointed out, stabbing the air with his fork. "Perhaps I'll get lucky."
The man shrugged easily, "Perhaps. You'll probably be fine, but ya know, standard procedure to warn people. See how they react and everything." Take blinked feeling oddly disconcerted. That had been a test? So the history was a lie?
"Everyplace has history kid." The stick moved up and down as the man tilted his head thoughtfully, "Go back far enough and you'll find tragedy somewhere."
The conversation was strange, the man seemed to be idly saying words but his words could be interpreted in a far deeper context.
"Tell me, who have you seen so far?"
Take blinked and tried to remember the Ward number.
"I think…Ward 9? Gai's wards?"
"Hmm yeah." The man didn't look impressed at all, "Those brats."
Brats? Two of them were older than him? Take chuckled, "It was an interesting first time."
"Gai's team is insane. As is the man himself." The man said boredly. "It's a wonder the Academy put them together. Fools, the lot of them to make him a Jonin sensei."
Take's ears pricked up, there had been some unfamiliar words in there. "Jonin sensei?"
The corners of the man's lips quirked revealing slightly pointed teeth. "Ah."
Take raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"
A peculiar smile came across the man's face; rather like he was shocked, horrified and excited at the same time.
"Slang for Special Handlers." He answered dismissively, "Don't worry about it." He drained his glass and pushed his seat away from the table. "I'm Genma. I'm over in Ward Trouble, give me a shout if ya need a hand."
Did all the staff in the hospital deserve a place beside their wards? Or were some actually sane?
…Ward Trouble?
….################################...
Kakashi kidnapped him before he had even gone half way down the corridor. The silver haired doctor smiled under his mask at the irritated Take and offered him a cigarette. He was a bit curious if Hatake would remove his mask to smoke but to his disappointment the doctor put the box away without taking one himself.
"What's a Jonin sensei?" Take asked suddenly as Kakashi didn't seem like he was going to say a word.
The man tilted his head in an amused fashion. "Who, it's who are the Jonin senseis you should be worried about."
"You're one aren't you?" Take growled.
"Do I strike you as a mentor?" Kakashi drawled, dark humour shining in his eyes. "No, I do not have the…honour."
Take flicked a glance at the man's Leaf badge. "Gai is one…"
"Correct." Kakashi inclined his head, "Do go on."
"Asuma?"
"A future Jonin sensei yes." Kakashi allowed, "In the next few days in fact."
"He's going to get a Ward?"
"Maybe…depends on if he's feeling bored enough to mentor three brats." Kakashi slipped his hands into his pockets, "Find doing me a favour Take-kun?" His voice slipped into a playful tone near the end.
"What favour?" Take was instantly on the alert. That sort of tone insinuated some very big favours. And when had he been upgraded to kun?
Kakashi nodded his head at the window. Take shifted the heavy, maroon drapes out of the way holding in a sneeze at the displaced dust.
"That man." Kakashi continued quietly. "He's being scouted as a potential member of my ward."
A small, blurred black outline could just be made out through the rippled glass.
"Talk to him for me." Kakashi's eyes were oddly intent and Take imagined the man would feel quite uncomfortable if he knew Kakashi was focusing such an intense look at his back. "Find out what makes him live."
Take swallowed, "I thought you said you weren't a Jonin sensei?"
"Ward 7 has been empty ever since I came here." Kakashi smiled darkly, "I do not intend to let that change. Sarutobi is mad if he thinks he can saddle me with a team."
Take suddenly had a feeling that the silver haired doctor was far more dangerous than he let on. The air seemed a little heavier as he blinked.
Kakashi was smiling genially again, "Off you go now. Shoo, you don't want to miss him and ask the wrong person do you?" He raised his hands and to Take's utter bafflement literally shooed him out of the room.
…##################################...
The wind outside was cool upon his face. It didn't quite have the bite that winter would bring but it was still pleasant. The gravel crunched under feet and for a second Take thought he was back at school what with the endless path and grass either side. That was where the similarities ended, sakura trees and apple trees dotted the edge of the courtyard, wild flowers bloomed in the cracks of an old paved path winding through the garden up to a grey stoned fountain which gurgled pleasantly with a small spout of water. A hundred yards away the ground dropped away gradually and the reeds began to emerge from the damp ground. A dark haired man stood at the edge of the water and blew bubbles from a handheld spray.
"Yo." Take raised a hand in greeting. Did the man not have a handler? Or was he recovered enough to be allowed out on his own?
Dark eyes surveyed him coolly. He instantly had a feeling that calm exterior hid something far more menacing behind it. The man was handsome no doubt but it was a cold, arrogant beauty. With a dismissive tch the man went back to blowing his bubbles…that didn't quite fit his image of being cold and haughty and arrogant.
"I'm Take." Take tried again, "Take Yuishin."
Cold eyes flicked to his face, then down to his badge where if possible they became even colder. Geez, what an unfriendly guy…
"I jus-"
"Am I meant to care?" The tone was as chilly as an arctic blast. "Get to the point or leave me in peace."
Take dropped the idea of being nice right away. Oh Kakashi and this man would have fun with each other.
"I was wondering what you were doing." Take shrugged, "Not every day I see a grown man blowing bubbles."
The man furrowed his brow obviously wondering whether to answer Take or not. "Well obviously I am." He replied cuttingly, "Got any more questions?"
"Yeah." Take plopped down on the water's edge next to the man. "What's your name?"
His mouth tightened into a thin line at not being left alone, "Sasuke Uchiha." He declared proudly. Oh…was he proud of himself or his name?
"Uchiha…Uchiha…"Take tilted his head back, "I've heard that name before."
Sasuke stared at him in haughty disbelief, rather like an affronted lord before a wicked glint entered his eyes. Oh good lord what was it with people playing with him?
"You'r-"
"Yes. Yes. I'm new. I know." Take snapped. Was he emitting some sort of vibes which told people he was new? Was there a sign strapped to his back?
Sasuke smirked minutely, "Uchiha enterprises."
Take raised an eyebrow. Sasuke's smirk broadened, "That's what you're forgetting."
It was like someone had rung a thunderbolt in his brain. He sat jolt upright staring at the cold man. "You're part of the Uchiha family?!" The Uchiha were deeply involved in most areas of medicine and research; many of their own prodigies developed cures, techniques and machinery before selling it back to the world at a price. It was one of the richest companies in the country.
"I am heir." Sasuke spoke as if it were fact. Take's brain jittered to a halt. The heir to the Uchiha was in a mental hospital? Sasuke slid a matchbox out of his pocket with a smooth movement, he drew out a match stick and struck it. With an idle flick of his wrist he tossed the burning match into the midst of the bubbles and turned to face Take.
The bubbles ignited immediately with a whoosh. Fire leapt burning in the air, jumping higher and higher curling with the wind. Heat struck Take across the face like a slap and he had to turn away to avoid the sudden bright light. This was insane!
"I am Head." Sasuke finished quietly.
Sasuke tossed Take the spray as the fire died down moderately. A sly smirk stretched his lips.
"Don't fret so. I'm allowed to do this." Take stared at him. Right. An inmate was seriously allowed to go out alone, blow methane bubbles then set fire to them. Kakashi better owe him a serious favour for this.
"See you around Yuishin-san." Sasuke smiled slightly, "Here they come."
…..########################...
"Heard Uchiha pulled his stunt again." Asuma commented lightly from behind his crossword in his newspaper. The doctor had thrown a white lab coat over his strange fashion and actually looked half respectable for once. The cigarette ruined the image.
"Again?" Take asked tiredly. "Yes, I think I need a list of what inmates to watch out for."
Asuma chuckled and flicked ash off his glowing cigarette butt.
"Why all of us of course."
He half smiled, Asuma considered himself as much as an inmate as the patients. It was amusing to consider that at least Asuma realised the handlers were equally as mad as the patients.
…###########################...
Take poked his head inside a room and narrowly ducked a shogi piece as it clattered off the wall.
The boy throwing them blinked slowly, "Ah….sorry…? I...I'm...I'm sorry?"
"It's alright." Take assured the boy stooping to pick up the piece. "Why are you throwing these around anyway? Someone beat you?"
The boy shook his head like his neck was fragile and could snap any minute. His hands clenched in his bed sheets, he looked very small in his rumpled up sheets with a scattering of dark pieces on the bed. His hair was messy and looked like it was used to being in a high ponytail but now it was down and it fell across his forehead and shoulders.
The boy picked up a piece and stared at it, turning it over and over. "No…no one's played with me ever since I came here. My Handler …doesn't play." His voice was soft and Take had to strain to hear.
Take didn't know how to play the game. Which was a shame since he was feeling kind of sorry for the boy. He obviously loved the game.
He tapped his lips, there had been a collection of dusty games in the Handler lounge…maybe there were some instructions how to play there.
"Can you teach me?" He asked thoughtfully.
The boy's eyes went wide and he launched into long, complex explanations of moves, pieces, strategies complete with drawings in the air with animated fingers. Bloody hell Take's eyes glazed slightly, no one had obviously bothered to ask before. He held a finger,
"One second."
The boy cut off instantly looking disappointed.
"No, I have a better idea." Take grinned at the boy, "I know someone who can actually understand a word you're saying. Come on."
The boy shook his head slowly, "I can't…my legs…"
Take surveyed the child. He was small enough…with a reassuring grin he slipped a hand under the boy's knees and back and picked up the inmate sheets and all. The boy shrieked in surprise, then in delight. The pieces clattered to the floor and rolled everywhere, Take paid them no attention.
"Let's get out of here before your Handler catches me." He whispered to the boy who wound his arms around Take's neck and fiddled with his necklace. The boy's eyes were eerily blank but there was something hinting at excitement shifting under the child's skin. Take strolled out of the Ward carrying an inmate bridal style and whistling. Honestly security was terrible.
Asuma choked on his tea when Take strolled just as casually into the Lounge with a small boy wrapped up in his sheets.
"You cannot kidnap patients." Asuma hissed. "Go put him back right now. It's dangerous…if his Handler catches on…"
"Don't worry." Take smiled, "I've sorted everything out." He hadn't and he knew Asuma knew he knew Asuma knew it was a lie.
Asuma kneaded his forehead tiredly, "Why have you brought a child here?" He burst out.
The child in question was fascinated by the chain mail top Asuma had on meanwhile. Asuma generally ignored the boy hanging off his lap fiddling with the links.
"Ahh you play games right?" Take ran a hand through his hair, "I've seen you; soduko…crossword?"
Asuma raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to get to his point.
"That kid has no one to play with." Take's voice lowered in repressed anger until it was a ferocious hiss, "He just sits in his room fiddling with the pieces, and tell me as a fellow gamer if that does not strike you as unthinkable."
Asuma's mouth tightened, whether in anger or irritation Take couldn't tell. He sighed and plucked a piece from the folds of the sheet.
"Shogi huh?" Asuma mused, "Think you can play me kid? I play a mean game."
The boy tilted his head quizzically as if processing the statement.
"Ooh have you corrupted the newbie already Asuma?" A wickedly amused voice drawled from the door.
"Shut up Hatake." Asuma barked. Kakashi leant one hand against the door frame, his eyes looked dreadfully amused. He strode forward and slipped the boy's chin up to examine him.
"Your parents aren't here." Kakashi patted the boy on the head, "Go wild Shikamaru."
There was a pause before a glimmer of a ferocious intelligence flickered deep in Shikamaru's brown eyes.
"Careful Asuma." Kakashi called back, "He might just give you a run for your money." With that enigmatic parting statement, he seized Take by the forearm and hauled him from the room.
"You know Shikamaru?"
Kakashi shot him a look, "I do take my job seriously Take-kun."
…..#################################...
"Oho ho." A familiar voice crowed from behind him. Blond hair flashed at the corner of his vision. "You're still here."
Naruto ran a hand over the carved wall, fingers flitting over the beautifully carved forest.
"Didn't expect you to be." He grinned a sharp, toothy grin.
"Naruto." Take stated, "Run away from your handler again?"
The boy's features shifted into a pout, "Iruka sensei means well, but he can't stop me when I want to get away." The boy smiled suddenly, surprising Take with the sudden changes, "I am a son of this building after all."
"Why didn't you expect me to be here?" Take asked quietly. The boy was strange and had a few screws loose but he had found Take out by himself.
Naruto shrugged jumping up onto the table and crossing his legs. His face indicated he was caught between thinking hard and being distracted by the bright light on the walls, "I think Hinata put it best. Because dreams change and they shift, the central core remains steady but the ripples change."
Take frowned. What did dreams have to do with anything? What did dreams have to do with him? Naruto fixed him with a piercing blue gaze, "Say Oya-ji have you seen Sasuke anywhere?"
"No." Take lied, "Why?"
"I have to eat him." Naruto hissed. "Beat." He corrected after a pause, "That bastard beat me last time around in kunai throwing." He grinned at Take revealing sharp white teeth, "So I got to beat him this time."
Take tried to make sense of the conversation and got nowhere. "Sorry kunai?" Naruto was insane, why was he allowed to go wandering around without Iruka? Iruka should have kept one eye on him at all times.
Naruto smiled faintly, almost wistfully and a genuine trace of melancholia passes over his face, "Yeah, I'm not allowed to carry them in my dreams. Apparently my imagination isn't as trained as I am."
He ended with a laugh which told Take that Naruto thought the idea absolutely ridiculous.
"But what can you do?" The blond boy suddenly hissed into Take's ear, drawing in so fast his eyes hadn't even spotted him moving. He jerked back from the boy, heart thudding faster than Take would like.
All hostility faded from Naruto's face as he smiled cordially again, "See you around Oya-ji." He chirped and Take didn't stop him as he padded out into the hall.
Ye Gods…what had that been?
….###################################...
"The Sandaime has lost it." Kakashi sighed from where he had invaded the soft, green couch. "How many teams does he intend to assign before he realises I absolutely refuse to take a team."
"Fuck off Hatake." Asuma replied almost cheerfully, "I might take a team this year. I liked that Shika kid." Asuma sat on the floor, with sheets and sheets of data in front of him. With a frown he held a new pile up with a rustle and flicked through it murmuring.
"Kakashi." Gai sighed, "It's your duty to guide lost minds." As he had already got a team, he sat at the table with Take with both of them idly passing a doodled picture between them.
Kakashi snapped his anatomy book closed, "There's lost and there's lost. Gai, he intends to give me Uzumaki."
Gai's eyes sharpened to flint points. "Uzumaki has progressed enough?" He leant forward intent on the answer. Take merely sipped his tea, Kakashi's team should and would give the man hell…especially with the Uchiha heir.
"Are you kidding?" Asuma scoffed, "Uzumaki's perhaps the only prodigy in your team. I've never heard of anything like this before."
"Exactly." Kakashi snapped sitting up sharply, "If he remembers…"
"What's the problem?" Take's question was innocent and it killed the rising tension with three words.
Kakashi let out a huff of laughter, "Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin. Uzumaki's like his namesake, he draws you in and leaves you a spitting mess if he ever decides to leave you behind."
Take felt vaguely uneasy. This description was feeling awfully familiar…"Naruto?" He questioned.
Asuma barked in laughter, "You met the brat already. What a surprise."
Take choked into his cup. Kakashi would have a silent, cold aloof Uchiha madman and a viciously unpredictable lunatic as two of his wards. He almost felt sorry for the third member of the team.
"Who's the third?" Gai's voice was oddly strained as if he was trying very hard not to laugh. Kakashi shot him a vicious glare, "In his infinite wisdom." He bit out, "The Hokage has also assigned me Sakura Haruno, the Mocking Heir."
Gai went pale, as did Asuma.
"By Kami Hatake…"Asuma sounded half impressed and half horrified, "What did you do? Three heirs?" He sat back with a whistle, the papers rustling up around him.
"I don't bloody know." Kakashi snarled uncharacteristically. "And I don't like it. Your father's up to something."
A memory of Sarutobi flashed into his head; weak, wrinkling and old. He didn't seem the type to plot anything…but Take supposed Kakashi would know better than him.
"Three Trouble Wards" Gai leant back thoughtfully, "You're going to have to be very good to find an excuse to fail all of them."
Take's ears pricked up, "Trouble Ward? That's where Genma works right?" Silence fell. Take looked up surprised from his tea to find all three staring at him in mute horror.
"You talked to Shiranui." Gai's voice was strangled.
"Warn us of who you've been talking to." Asuma nearly shrieked. "We can make appropriate arrangements."
Kakashi's book fell off his lap as he stared.
"What? We just talked about history and Ward 9." Take blinked. It wasn't that big a deal, Genma had been perfectly friendly, if a bit insane.
Kakashi groaned deeply, the sound reverberating around the room. "Listen…Shiranui is dangerous. He's an ally sure-"
"Are you sure?" Asuma muttered lowly but Kakashi waved at him to shut up.
Kakashi opened his eyes to focus an intense look at Take. Every single muscle locked up under that gaze. "No matter what you do, stay away from Shiranui and Mitarashi."
"Why?" Take's hackles rose, "Genma was looking out for me."
Asuma laughed a humourless laugh and dropped a pile of paper with a bang to the floor, "The last time Shiranui looked out for someone that person ended up getting murdered." He smiled and there was a twisted element to it, "Trust us, and stay away from him."
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