The sun rose over the crest of the historic mountain side monument, covering the city in golden rays, alerting those citizens still in bed that it was time to wake. It trickled in through the window of a golden haired boy, still fast asleep, blanket kicked astray in his slumber.

"Naruto-chan, it's time to get up."

The golden haired boy mumbled, and rolled over to back the sun, burrowing his head under his pillow to further block out the light.

"Naruto-chan you're going to be late." The voice insisted.

The sliding door to his room was pulled back, and a dark haired woman, apron clad with a firm look on her face, entered quietly.

"Naruto." The voice came more sternly, as he felt the weighted depression of someone sitting on his bed.

"Aaawwwww, mom," he peeked blurrily from under his pillow, "my alarm hasn't even gone off yet."

The dark haired woman paused, gave an exasperated sigh, then bent to pick said instrument from the floor, and held it closer to his face.

"You've already turned it off," she paused, turned the clock to herself then back to him, "twice."

Naruto sat bolt upright, eyes wide in slight panic, "Aaahhhhh!," he flew out of bed, "why didn''t you wake me sooner!" He raced across the room to rummage in his drawers for clothes, "I'm going to be late! I'll miss the exam!" The woman laughed.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." She moved back toward the door, "your breakfast is ready," she smiled and shook her head as Naruto stumbled to the bathroom, tripping as he went, "please eat before you leave."

"Yes, ma'am!" he called after her, with shirt between teeth, before disappearing into the bathroom.

The dark haired woman smiled at his antics then walked down the hall way to finish cleaning up in the kitchen, humming quietly as she went.

"Good morning, Lady Mikoto."

A small voice beckoned to her as she passed the entrance hallway, the owner of the voice bowing her head respectfully under the weight of her morning delivery. Her face was obscured by the fragrant, purple hyacinths and red camellia blossoms, wrapped elegantly together in bouquets.

"Ah, Good morning, Sakura-chan, you're late today." Sakura shifted nervously and bowed her head lower, her pastel pink curls tumbling across her forehead to cover her eyes, "and for the hundredth time, just Mikoto is fine."

"Sorry… Mikoto-San," she mumbled, "I was making preparations," she fiddled timidly, "for, you know, the exam today, and I kind of lost track of time." The last part was barely above an embarrassed whisper, as Sakura shifted the blossoms to further hide her face.

Mikoto ran her eyes over the small girl's frame, taking in the weapons pouch strapped to the side of her leg, the mesh netting just barely showing beneath the collar of her red shirt, and the black, short tights showing just beneath her matching skirt. Mikoto thought she would have looked battle ready, if it weren't for the fragile and shy expression the girl always wore.

The older woman smiled and looked thoughtful, "Well never mind that then, how about today, we quickly find someplace to display them where everyone can see." She moved towards Sakura to take a few of the bouquets, making sure to not appear intimidating but encouraging. Sakura always seemed ill at ease in their house; even after all of the times she'd been there. "How about the kitchen then, they'll get plenty of light in there." Mikoto gave her a warm smile while Sakura kept her eyes hidden beneath her pink bangs. The younger gave a weak willed nod once and followed after Mikoto hurriedly, trying carefully not to crush the flowers in her rigid taut clutch.

Naruto hurriedly brushed his teeth, flew through a shower and ran wet fingers though his messy blonde hair. He wasn't technically late for the academy, but he had wanted to get some early morning practice in before heading off to class. He didn't want a repeat of the last testing disaster, and cringed at the memory of the disapproving frown his father had given him at the news. Today would definitely be the day he became a ninja… so long; of course, the clone jutsu wasn't on the test.

Naruto sighed, adjusted the collar of his orange shirt and headed down for breakfast. He ran through his mental check list. Shuriken, check; kunai, check; smoke pellets, wire, spare scrolls…

Voices coming from the kitchen interrupted his thoughts.

"Let's put a few up in the window over here." The comment was followed by the sound of furniture being moved, shifting feet and the soft clink of glass being settled on a wooden surface.

"How's this?" Naruto paused.

"That's perfect, Sakura."

Naruto nearly tripped over his feet.

Sakura.

Sakura was here. He'd had a crush on the pink haired kunoichi for as long as he could remember, but whenever he was around her, it seemed either he would make a complete fool of himself in front of her, or she would politely ignore him altogether. He hoped she wasn't only nice to him because of his status, considering who his father was, though now that he thought about it she always seemed more skittish in their house.

Something little and soft bumped into him from behind, startling him from his thoughts.

"Nii-chan, stop lurking in corners and just go in and say hi to her." The voice was very quiet, and still filled with sleep, but to Naruto it was as though the words were spoken through a microphone, with speakers all across Fire Country, and every citizen from its border's to Suna could hear it. Naruto cringed as the sound of movement in the kitchen ceased abruptly. He took a deep breath and resisted the urge to strangle his little sister. Instead he gathered her up into his arms, brushing her dark curls from her face as she yawned sleepily and wrapped her arms securely around his neck.

He stepped around the corner into the kitchen, face red in embarrassment, to be greeted by a pair of dark eyes, showing clear amusement, and the averted green gaze of the pink haired girl.

He stood nervously in the doorway to the kitchen taking note of the flowers that now filled the window sill, and at Sakura, who looked anywhere but at him.

"Good morning ka-chan, Good morning Sakura nee-chan."

" You're up early, my little Hitomi,"

She nodded sleepily, "I just wanted to wish nii-san good luck." She smiled up happily at Naruto who was beyond touched.

"I'll fix you something special then for being such a good little sister," Mikoto moved to put his breakfast on the table while Hitomi tugged on Naruto's collar and pointed to the table, in her silent demand to put her down over there. He moved absentmindedly.

Sakura stood fidgeting, a little embarrassed to be witnessing such a clear family bonding moment.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan." She startled slightly as Naruto smiled brilliantly after adjusting Hitomi in her seat.

"Good Morning, Naruto-San." Sakura turned and bowed courteously, before continuing to prune her delivery into a perfect arrangement in a more hurried fashion.

Mikoto watched the exchanged with motherly appreciation and smiled at Naruto, her expression fading a little as she thought about what her own son would have done in this situation. She pushed the thought aside; she knew what she would do. Meddle in a maternal manner.

"Naruto-Chan, why don't you eat quickly so that you and Sakura can walk over to the academy together?"

Naruto nearly choked on his breakfast, while Hitomi stifled a snicker. Sakura had stopped her hasty pruning, her whole back going rigid.

"That… ummm that wouldn't be necessary Mikoto-San," Sakura began to stutter, she kept her head bowed, hair over her face, "I wouldn't want to be a bother," she mumbled, "I…"

"Nonsense, Naruto would be happy to do it," She sent him a threatening gaze, "wouldn't you Naruto."

He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head as an idle distraction, "If Sakura-Chan doesn't mind." He hastily pushed his empty plate aside to hide the fact that he'd had the same idea and stood quickly, clearing the table. "Just let me finish cleaning up."

Sakura cleared away the flower trimmings almost dejectedly, and stood patiently by the door, trying desperately to hide the fact that she wished she was anywhere but standing in the Hokage's house waiting for his son to walk her to school.

"Oh good, you're still here." All eyes turned to the new voice that resonated through the room.

"Good Morning, father," Hitomi gave a small smile, bowing slightly at his entrance.

Sakura clearly jumped, "Hokage-sama," she stammered, "Good morning." She gave a hasty bow, bending low to show her respect. He gave an accessing glance in her direction, and then looked away in an obvious dismissal. Sakura bowed once more before disappearing from the room.

Mikoto's face darkened a little to show her displeasure, then glanced down at Naruto who was watching the pink haired girl's fleeing form. He sighed audibly. "Good Morning Father."

Dark eyes studied Naruto's dejected stature. The hokage stood with arms comfortably folded into his kimono, his mouth pressed into a firm and stern line. "Come with me."

The blonde chanced a look to his mother then in the direction he saw Sakura disappear before following his father from the room. He heard Hitomi give a whispered good luck nii-chan, that made him all the more nervous. He knew better than to talk before being directly addressed, but… "What is this about father, I should really be heading out to the Academy," He faltered a bit at the fearsome look directed toward him, "I don't want to be late," he added a little softer, bowing his head in what he hoped was an apologetic manner. There was a moment of uncertain silence.

The boy stood there waiting, he wasn't sure what was going through his father's head at that moment, but he was sure they weren't happy thoughts. Naruto always tried his best to be noticed by him, he didn't know why but somehow, he never quite felt accepted by his father.

Naruto flinched as his father raised his hand, this was it he was sure he would be punished for his rudeness. In all his life, while living with his new family, no one ever laid a hand on him; but he figured it was bound to happen sometime. He braced himself for the worst, and then…

A reassuring weight rested on his head. "Do well, son."

It was as though the older man standing before him could see all his fears and worries, and knew how to dispel them. For the first time, he felt, accepted, like he belonged.

Naruto looked up in unconcealed shock, "I have high hopes for you today." With renewed optimism he barely managed to keep the unshed tears from his eyes, and instead with clenched fists nodded with determination.

"Yes Sir."

"Fuugaku-Sama." Two figures appeared at the other end of the hallway, approaching quickly and looking impatient. Naruto instantly recognized them as other members of the Uchiha clan, and he would have bowed if his father's hand wasn't still resting on his head.

"Fuugaku-sama," They addressed their clan head formally, "Naruto-kun." They both gave slight bows in his direction which he returned since his father's hand had been refolded into the sleeves of his kimono. "Sir, we have a lot to take care of today, and we need your presence in the Hokage tower about some new developments… on the ongoing long term missions."

Fuugaku's face darkened considerably, "anything worthwhile?" Both Clansmen glanced at each other, then toward Naruto who stood anxiously waiting to be dismissed. Fuugaku in response started down the corridor, away from Naruto as the other Uchiha continued to report the morning's news and any new important mission developments that the Hokage would need be privy to.

The young blonde sighed with relief and raced back through the house to say a proper goodbye to his mother before heading to the academy. If he hurried maybe he could meet Sakura halfway, because he felt like today - after his father's somewhat proud appraisal - that he could do anything.

Sakura hurried from the presence of the Hokage's family with undisguised relief. She kept her head down, and tried to seem as inconspicuous as possible so as to not draw attention to herself while leaving the Uchiha compound. She hurried through the early morning streets back to the Yamanaka flower shop; she had one last delivery to make.

The tall statuesque blonde behind the counter chastised her for being late as Sakura grabbed one last small basket filled with Cosmos and thoroughwort flowers, a bouquet of her own arrangement. She smiled softly at the woman, "just one more quick stop." She promised, before dashing back out the door.

Sakura raced along the morning streets as the bustle began to pick up, it was out of her way, but she figured she'd still have a few moments at her destination before she had to head back to the academy. She came up to the entrance of the fence, the sprawling green with linearly arranged stone slabs running at parallels to each other. She slowed her run to a somber walk, and found the stone she was looking for with the character Yamanaka Ino inscribed delicately in the marble overlay.

Sakura sat in front of the stone, and presented her usual flower offering. She sat in silence. Today she didn't need to talk to her best friend; just being in her presence always gave her strength. The wind rustled around her, leaves swirling in a small spiral around where she sat, playing on her skin, and pulling at her hair, as though Ino was really with her, encouraging her, letting her know to be more confident. She smiled at the thought.

"I'll try to be a flower instead of a bud today Ino," she whispered solemnly, "Today I'll try to bloom." She pulled a red ribbon from her skirt pocket and pulled her shoulder length pink locks back into a knot with the fabric. "Thanks Ino," her fingers lingering on the soft material, "It always brings me good luck."

The arrival of other mourners alerted Sakura that it was time she headed to the academy.

"I'll be back later to let you know how it goes," she told the wind, "wish me luck."

She dashed back toward Konoha and arrived with plenty of time to spare, bursting through the room with a loud throwing back of the door. She stood panting slightly, the run from the cemetery leaving her a little winded as she scanned the room quickly for any available seats. Most of the students were already there, conversing with friends and waiting for the teacher to arrive. Sakura noticed an empty space close to the window and headed toward it. As an idle thought she noticed that Naruto hadn't arrived yet, noting it only because he always made it a point to greet her whenever he could.

She pushed the thought away as the teacher entered the room, and she prepared herself mentally for the anticipation of the day ahead.

"Good Morning Iruka-sensei," The class called in unision as the tall spiky haired ninja took up his place at the front of the room.

"Good morning class," Iruka pulled out his roster, and silently began to tick the names off of the pupils who were in attendance going all the way down the list before double checking again to verify all who were present. His brow furrowed at the only missing pupil. "Where's Uzumaki Naruto."

Everyone looked to each other as a mummer erupted from the class, Sakura was also surprised by the new development. The Hokage had seemed especially serious this morning when she had fled their house, maybe he was preventing Naruto from taking the exam again; she certainly couldn't blame him. The Fifth probably didn't want a repeat of Naruto's last testing fiasco.

It took her a moment to realize that the entire class was looking at her questioningly. Everyone knew she made regular flower deliveries to the Hokage household – a rare and almost impossible privilege for any who were not anbu or part of the Uchiha clan - and it seemed they were hopefully awaiting any news she may have gathered. Sakura was about to stutter her ignorance of the situation just as the blonde whirlwind came bursting through the door, practically falling on his face in the process.

Iruka sighed audibly and narrowed his eyes at the boy, visibly and quite aggressively marking his name off on the list.

Naruto stood in the doorway laughing nervously, scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed apologetic manner, "I'll, uh, just sit over here," he gestured vaguely, and hurriedly moved to sit in the closest available seat at the back of the class.

"Well, now that we're all here," Iruka folded the roster away, "are you all ready to become Genin today?"

The class cheered appreciatively, the sound drowning out the rest of Iruku-Sensei's instructions in Sakura's mind. Naruto was a total screw up, but he was never late for class, she risked a glance toward him, his brow was furrowed in the unusual sight of the boy being deep in thought. She absentmindedly stood and moved toward the front of the class as she distantly heard her name being called, she was sure whatever mischief the hokage's son chose to get into had nothing to do with her and she filed out of the room with the other students on her way to the testing rooms.

Fuugaku followed the two clansmen at an unhurried speed. He allowed them to maneuver him to the Clan Council Meeting Room to hear any other reports not meant for sensitive ears. The Clan Meeting room was one of the few places where all truly private meetings were kept, there were seals against eavesdroppers, and seals against some external forceful attacks; it was probably one of the most fortified well guarded places in the city and only a handful of people had ever stepped inside. He took a seat at the head of the table, leaving his two escorts to stand.

"How are the repairs on the Northwest side looking Satoshi," He started to skim through some of the documents and scrolls left on the desk for his perusal.

"Almost complete sir," the response was prompt, coming from the shorter of the two ninjas, "we're also adding further fortifications to that area, as well as on the Southwest side."

The other, Clansman, the taller of the two spoke up at this point, "We've had to increase patrols on the Northern and Eastern borders too though."

Fuugaku frowned slightly, his eyebrow rising slightly a silent demand to explain why.

"We've been hearing murmurs about Cloud planning a small assault."

"Cloud?" Fugakuu looked up from signing a few documents, "I thought that we'd struck a bargain with them already," he sat rigidly at the head of the table, his mind calculating the present resources available to the village if a defense were to be organized and how quickly he could recall those already out on missions, "We gave them the Hyuuga Clan Head, that should have been enough."

He was clearly ignoring the fact that the body that they had presented the Lightning Village with, was carrying the Branch family seal etched into his forehead, the same seal all Hyuugas now wore. There was no longer Main and Branch families in the clan, they were all branded and afforded the same seclusion that had been granted the Uchiha before their Coup. Useless Corpse or not, Konoha honoured their end of the bargain, and Lightning had no justly cause to protest.

The Clansman riffled through the stack of papers he was carrying, his eyes quickly skimming over the document, "their objective still isn't clear, but from our reports the platoon is small, I'd say they were doing reconnaissance more so than anything else," he pulled a pencil that had been tucked away behind his ear and made a hurried note, "The numbers reported couldn't possibly be one of an attack."

The one named Satoshi spoke next, "we thought it would be best to show that the village was well guarded," He reached across the table to hand the report to Fuugaku, "if they ran into a few of our platoons while scouting the area, they could draw their own conclusions."

Fugakuu nodded approvingly, without looking up from the paperwork, his indication that he was still listening as well as for the men to continue.

"Uchiha Hideki went missing on his last solo mission to the Tea Village and we also lost Jiro and Kuro last month in Rice," the reporting nin's face was one of weakly concealed concern, "we also haven't heard word from Norio, and it's unlike him to not report immediately after a mission."

Fuugaku looked up from his papers, with confusion, "Four of our clansmen have gone missing?"

"Well, those are just this month and last month's numbers," corrected the taller nin, "there have been more."

"More? How much more," Fuugaku was leaning forward now, his full focus on the two men.

"Enough for us to suspect that the Uchiha are being targeted, sir."

Fuugaku's expression darkened, "Hideki was of anbu level and highly skilled, we wouldn't have lost him so easily."

Both ninjas nodded their agreement, "We believe that whoever is behind this, is very strong sir, and we haven't ruled out," there was a pause, "Hatake sir."

Fuugaku growled, crushing the papers in his hand in frustration, "that man has been the bane of our existence from the moment of our rise to power, that traitorous, unworthy filth." He grit his teeth in an attempt to reign in his anger, "Why is it that he has been able to elude us for so long!" His voice rose in frustration, "he's just one man against the powers of the Uchiha."

There was no mirth in Satoshi's voice when he responded with, "he's very good at hiding sir," Fuugaku only glared, "and we believe that he may be receiving help from the inside."

"Someone in the village?"

"Yes sir."

Fuugaku ran his hand across his face, nodding in understanding acceptance, "Of course, a spy, though I thought we'd crushed all the remnants of the resistance that followed the Third's teachings."

"We have a list of all the possibilities, sir."

Fuugaku took the list callously, "I'll examine this and get back to you with further instruction," he commanded, "that will be all."

The two nin hesitated a moment and stood rooted in place waiting for Fuugaku to again acknowledge them.

"Is there something else?"

The two nin glanced at each other before handing over one more document with photographs attached, recent photos with two dark haired figures as the centered focus. One was a young boy with unruly hair spiked naturally at the back of his head, and the other, a pony tailed man with dark weary eyes and focused, calculated expression.

The taller of the two ninjas almost whispered with reverence, "We found them Sir."

Fuugaku sat staring unblinkingly at the photos, his face unreadable and expressionless. There grew, as the silence stretched on, a dread in the room. The fifth carefully took the attached pictures from the file and handed the papers back to the men. They stood patiently watching carefully and awaiting their final directions. Fuugaku stood and took a deep breath, his voice was dark and serious when he addressed his men, "Here's what I want you to do."

Sasuke scrambled behind the tree pressing his back against it to catch his breath. The chakra powered flames were becoming more intense, and his now ruby coloured eyes burned slightly. He took a moment to catch his breath and take mental stock of his remaining weapons. He was already out of shuriken, and had only - he did a quick count - six kunai left. They weren't enough, but he'd have to make them work. He timed it so that he could dart to the cover of another tree without getting blasted in his back. He counted the time in his head as he heard the splintering crack of his present hiding place that was about to be demolished.

He was half way to his next sheltering spot before the fist he saw coming but could scarcely avoid, connected to his chest and sent him flying into a nearby outcropping of rocks. It knocked the wind out of him, and he scrambled to regain his footing. He could use a clone as a distraction, but that was a weak plan at best, especially to use against his present opponent.

There was a throbbing in this shoulder, it was clearly dislocated and he was not yet adept enough to pop it back into place. His knees gave out from under him and the fist that was moments from connecting to his face, stopped centimeters from his nose.

"Still too weak little brother," Sasuke could hear the disapproving tone of the statement as he clutched his arm, trying desperately not to show how much pain he was in.

"Shut the hell up, I can still fight." He moved shakily to stand and hold an offensive position, facing his brother stubbornly.

Itachi reached out, and gripping his little brother's shoulder, jostled it none too gently back into place. Sasuke couldn't contain his scream before collapsing to his knees again. He gave his brother a pained and bitter look from under his sweat drenched dark hair that spilled over his eyes.

Itachi stood unscathed and patted him light heartedly on the head, "come on Sasuke, it's time to get something to eat."

Sasuke mumbled sulkily, and stood massaging his shoulder, grudgingly trailing behind the elder Uchiha.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder at his brooding little brother, taking in his battered and bruised appearance and formulating a new plan of training for the boy in his mind. Sasuke had been improving exponentially he'd realized but he still wasn't nearly as strong as he'd wanted him to be, and he needed to prepare him for the battles that were fast approaching them ahead. He needed to increase his stamina, and it was pointless to have the Sharingan and see encroaching attacks, if you weren't fast enough to avoid them. He would also need to increase his speed.

"You did much better today, Sasuke."

Sasuke pouted, "Don't patronize me nii-san," he winced trying to move the shoulder that had been disconnected, "you were ten times better than this when you were twelve." He tested its movement and how far he could shift it without further aggravating it, his mobility would be limited for awhile, but at least it was still functional, he could bear with the pain.

"You don't need to push yourself Sasuke," Itachi grabbed both their packs, "stop being so reckless." It was his brother's most fatal flaw he'd realized, Sasuke was too hot headed and emotional.

The younger mumbled a, "yes nii-san," before following grudgingly.

Itachi easily tracked a path out of the secluded area of the forest and back onto the main road, careful to mask their presence. Sasuke straggled slowly behind; running through the day's training in his head. He knew he was lacking in the eyes of his brother, and tried desperately to live up to his expectations. He gingerly tested his shoulder again. He wouldn't get better if he kept getting injured either. At least he didn't break anything this time. Healing time took away from training time, and Itachi was always weary of going to villages for healing. They were always trying not to draw attention to themselves, and every time he got injured, Sasuke felt more and more like a burden.

He'd have to make sure that the next session saw fewer injuries, he decided. He'd focus on not getting hit.

Itachi watched Sasuke discretely studying his brother's features as they moved forward. He could read the emotions as they played across his face.

"Sasuke." The boy startled from his thoughts, "pay attention to your surroundings."

He hadn't even realized he'd fallen so far behind until he saw Itachi standing at the entrance of the village, waiting and looking impatient. Itachi regarded him coolly. "You look terrible."

Sasuke looked down at himself, there was dirt and scratches covering his body, his hair was even more disheveled than usually, and he was sure several bruises were starting to form on his arms and legs. He seethed a little at the fact that his brother was spotless with every strand of hair in place and not a mark on him, as he dusted idly at one of many spots on his pants. He felt even more self conscious about his abilities than before.

"We'll get a room and stay the night," Itachi offered as he pulled at a twig that was caught in Sasuke's hair, which was slapped away in irritation. Itachi smiled as Sasuke roughly ran his hand through his Indigo ink hair shaking any remaining shrapnel loose. "We'll get you cleaned up, and get some rest."

Sasuke perked up a bit. Itachi never stayed in a village for any length of time if he could avoid it. They mostly shied away from other travelers and if they stopped in a village it was to buy supplies only. Sometimes Itachi wouldn't even let Sasuke go into the village, he would leave his sibling hidden somewhere nearby while he investigated the plan of the town, but always in disguise. Sometimes if it was a small town, the stop would be a speedy one, but if it was a large one where there were a lot of people and new faces all the time sometimes he would be gone for hours.

On several occasions Itachi would give Sasuke precise directions of where to go and what to get, treating these errands like they were missions, impressing on Sasuke how important it was not to be noticed. Sasuke knew it was all part of his training and usually made the trips with no complaint, but even the thought of actually relaxing and taking a break for awhile seemed a suspicious notion in itself. Sasuke decided not to ask.

They wove through the crowded streets of the town, looking for an inn and somewhere to eat. After awhile Itachi stopped just outside a small store and stared up at the sign.

"Ito Abe Sweets," Sasuke read aloud, then scrunched up his face. "Awww, nii-san. Not another sweets shop." The boy folded his arms in defiance, "you know I don't like too many sweets."

Itachi wanted to laugh at the childish expression, but settled for a tiny smirk instead.

"Well then," he looked thoughtfully down at Sasuke's sulking expression, "how about you go on ahead and find us an inn then." He gave Sasuke both their packs, "and get cleaned up."

Sasuke took the packs grudgingly and mumbled under his breath about Itachi not wanting to carry the packs anymore before slinging them over his good shoulder.

"Fine," the younger Uchiha glared, "but do you want me to come back and get you so you know where I chose?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow skeptically, "consider this mission conditions," Sasuke sighed audibly, of course there was a catch. "If you remember anything that I have taught you, you will find the most strategically placed Inn, in terms of an easy and quick escape, that won't involve too many civilians."

Sasuke's glare deepened, "Nii-san that's not fair," he argued, "your idea of a perfect strategic location, might not be the same as mine."

"But it should be, because that's the way I trained you." Itachi turned to go into the store, "and I don't expect to have to search for you little brother, the inn I go to should be where you signed in."

Sasuke folded his arms grumpily.

Itachi paused, "we'll do more village trips if you get this right," he murmured over his shoulder, before disappearing through the door.

Sasuke stood agape, staring at the spot his brother had just disappeared into. He didn't know whether or not to be happy or worried. Sasuke knew that Itachi kept things from him, important things that he was sure were for a good reason, but lately he couldn't help noticing a strange change in his brother. Almost like he was preparing himself for something, and like he wanted Sasuke to be prepared too. Hopefully whatever the problem, Sasuke knew his brother could handle it. He caught himself, and quickly hurried to find the perfectly strategically placed inn to spend the night. Cause even if it was a only a small gesture, meant to challenge and work him, he knew the reward was a lot to offer. Sasuke wondered for a moment if Itachi thought he would fail. But shook the thought from his head, he dug his heels in and hurried his pace, he would rise to the challenge and conqueror it.

Itachi stood watching as Sasuke disappeared into the crowded street.

"At least his going in the right direction," a voice spoke from behind him, "though he does need to work on his poker face, he's an easy read."

Itachi paused before turning around to face a white haired man, leaning lazily to the side on one of the support posts of the shop.

"So that's him then," He scratched idly at his mask, "doesn't look like much."

Itachi moved to sit at one of the tables, but not before ordering some dango, beckoning for his companion to sit down.

"I think we should get to the current business at hand, Kakashi-sempai," Itachi stated, offering some of his dango which was politely refused.

The older man sobered, and nodded seriously, "Yes, let's just get down to business then, shall we? With your help, everything is going according to plan."