"Let's get ramen!" Naruto shouts as team seven heads into town to get some lunch.

"We need something a little more substantial than ramen, Naruto," says Kakashi.

"How about tomato soup?" asks Sasuke. He really wants some.

"Tomato soup isn't all that substantial either, Sasuke," says Kakashi impatiently.

"It comes with dumplings," points out Sasuke.

"Which restaurant sells tomato soup?" asks Sakura, sounding curious.

"'Konoha's Best Soups. EVER'" Sasuke informs her.

"Alright, we'll go to the soup kitchen," Kakashi relents. "But you three cannot order watery soups, understand?"

"Yes sensei," Sakura and Naruto chorus.

"Hn," Sasuke nods firmly.

They set off to 'Konoha's Best Soups. EVER', and arrive a few minutes later. Sasuke orders 'Mikoto's Tomato Soup' straight away, but his team mates pour over the menu for a while. Eventually Kakashi orders 'Hashirama's eggplant stew', Sakura orders 'The Result of Letting Shisui Uchiha Loose in the Kitchen' and Naruto orders 'Might Dai's Ramen Soup'.

While they are waiting for their soup, the team discusses the names of the items on the menu.

"So who's Mikoto, anyway?" Naruto asks.

"My mother," says Sasuke.

"And who's Might Dai?"

"A shinobi who had a lot of guts but not a lot of skill," says Kakashi. "His son Gai is a friend of mine. Gai also has a genin team. Maybe I should arrange for a joint training session."

"Hey, Sasuke-teme, were you there when they let Shisui loose in the kitchen?" Naruto asks.

"Yes," says Sasuke.

"The only reason he got let loose in the first place was because Father couldn't cook," A voice says from behind Sasuke. A voice Sasuke knows.

The others are staring at the person behind Sasuke with surprised looks on their faces. Slowly Sasuke turns around and looks up at the person standing quietly behind him. He sees a black cloak adorned with red and white clouds. Sasuke looks upwards slowly. "Itachi…" Sasuke chokes out.

"Hello Otouto," says Itachi.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke throws himself at Itachi and hugs him tightly. Sasuke smiles into his brother's cloak when he feels his brother hug him back. "I know the truth."

"I know," says Itachi. "The Hokage informed me. I am no longer a missing nin. However, I am staying in Akatsuki."

Sasuke grins up at his brother. "We're having lunch, do you wanna join us?"

"Of course," says Itachi, disentangling himself from his little brother and pulling up a chair. "Kakashi senpai," he says nodding to Kakashi. "I take it you two are Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki?" he gestures to Naruto and Sakura.

"Uh-huh," Naruto nods. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo."

"I'm Sakura," Sakura says blushing. "It's nice to meet you, Itachi-san."

"There you are, Itachi!" a huge man with blue, shark-like features appears beside Itachi. "Why'd you disappear? We have a mission to do, remember? We gotta take that message back to Pain-sama and hunt down Danzo."

Itachi shrugs.

"Who're you?" demands Naruto.

"I'm Kisame Hoshigaki," the shark man says. "I'm one of the seven Ninja swordsmen of the Mist. I wield the blade Samehada. Me an' Itachi are partners in Akatsuki. I bring the muscle, he brings the mystery."

"Sit down and order some soup," orders Itachi.

"Yes Itachi," says Kisame, sitting down and picking up the menu. "So who are you guys?"

"Sakura Haruno."

"Kakashi Hatake."

"Naruto Uzumaki, 'ttabayou."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"You're Itachi's little brother?" Kisame surveys Sasuke critically.

"Hn."

Itachi shrugs.

The waiter comes and delivers team sevens orders and takes Kisame and Itachi's orders. Kisame orders 'Kushina's Crab Stew' while Itachi orders 'Obito's Attempt at Turning Dango into Soup'.

The table falls silent as team seven tucks into their soup. Soon Itachi and Kisame's bowls of soup arrive. Kisame frowns at Itachi's bowl. "That looks...odd." he comments skeptically.

"Well, Obito was an odd person," says Kakashi. "I remember when he tried to turn Dango into soup. The result was surprisingly amazing."

"So have you been hired to kill Danzo?" Sasuke asks, wanting to get as much of Itachi's attention before Itachi left him with his team (one of whom had BAD cooties).

"Yep," but it's Kisame who answers, not Itachi. "We'll be leaving once we're finished here."

Sasuke stares down at his almost empty bowl of soup. "You're leaving again just after you got here?"

"I'll be back again soon, Sasuke," says Itachi, standing up to leave. "Come, Kisame, we're leaving."

"You're finished already?" Sakura asks, surprised.

"We don't muck around, kid," says Kisame, heading over to the counter to pay for his and Itachi's soup.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" Sasuke begs - asks, staring up at his brother desperately.

"Sorry Sasuke," says Itachi, poking him in the forehead with two fingers. "Not this time."

And then Itachi and Kisame were gone, almost as if they were never there in the first place.


Omake

Soup Story One: Shisui is Let Loose in the Kitchen.

Thanks for 40 followers. ~Cyrro and Ignis Dracorex

Mikoto is out training her apprentice and Fugaku has a problem. This problem is driving him crazy. He cannot think straight. What is he supposed to do? For most people the problem would be simple. In fact, if Itachi was not on a mission with his genin team, Fugaku would just ask his oldest son to fix it.

The dinner, that is.

Because, you see, Fugaku Uchiha is many things: the Head of the Mighty Uchiha Clan, a father to two wonderfully talented boys, a powerful and feared shinobi, the list goes on. But there is one thing he has never been able to do.

Cook.

He even burns toast.

And ramen. Minato never let him live that down. I mean, who burns ramen?

It's not that he's never tried to cook either.

Some people wear glasses. Some people are afraid of heights. Some people are no good with kids. CoughHiashiCough. Some people are deliberately late for everything - okay bad example. But these are facts they cannot change without great difficulty and/or a miracle. The fact of Fugaku's life (and the reason his mother hit him over the head a lot) is simple. Fugaku cannot cook. At all. End of story.

Sasuke will be home for tea soon, after a long, intense day of running from the girls' cooties. And he will be hungry. Too hungry for Fugaku to just make his son a sandwich. It was a stroke of genius on Shisui's part to tell Sasuke about cooties. Fugaku was worried the girls would eat him alive and destroy his innocence too soon. About 30 years too soon - Fugaku doesn't even want his son to know about sex or where babies come from until he is 35. Sasuke must stay innocent. Another Fact Of Life. So Shisui's help was much appreciated

Hold on. SHISUI.

Shisui might be able to help.

Fugaku runs over to Shisui's house. "SHISUI!" he shouts (not frantically. Definitely not frantically. Or in panic. Fugaku is calm. Very calm.)

"Oh, hi Fugaku-sama," Shisui says, when he sees his clan head. "What's up?"

"Do you wanna have dinner with Sasuke and me tonight?" Fugaku asks calmly. Best pretend he isn't in a panicked frenzy.

"What's the catch?" asks Shisui, balancing a Kunai on the end of his finger.

"You have to cook."

Shisui's entire face lights up. "Sweet!"

Suddenly Fugaku is very, very afraid.

They go back to Fugaku's house and Shisui, rubbing his hands together with a grin of glee on his face, enters the kitchen and shuts Fugaku out. Odd sounds emanate from the kitchen. Evil laughter, banging, the sound of knives being thrown, chopping noses. Even the sound of pen scratching on paper can be heard.

It gets so bad that Fugaku has to sit on the front steps and listen to the radio. Eventually Sasuke runs up the drive. Fugaku stops him from going inside. "Don't go in there: Shisui's in the kitchen."

Sasuke stares at his father with a look of horror on his face. "You let Shisui loose in the kitchen? What do you have against the kitchen?!"

"I didn't know the dangers." Fugaku pats the spot beside him. Sasuke sits down and they sit in silence for a while, listening to the radio.

Then Shisui emerges wearing a frilly white apron and a bandanna. "Dinner is served," he says, with all the eloquence of a professional waiter.

They follow him to the kitchen, expecting the worst. What they find is a perfectly laid out table with a rack of toast in the centre and three bowls of smooth brown soup, garnished with slices of boiled egg.

A week later, a new item appears on the menu of 'Konoha's Best Soups. EVER'. The item is called 'The Result of Letting Shisui Uchiha Loose in the Kitchen'.