Daybreak: Part I

by DigitalTart

One of Konoha's greatest enemies is long dead, but Akatsuki lives on, and a new threat to peace is rising in the shinobi nations. The question is... who are the heroes, and who are the villains? AU. Follows One Small Kindness.

11. Chapter 11

Beta Credits: Lil' Dei Dei.

Continuity Disclaimer: Most of the Daybreak universe was outlined/written before the Shinobi World War arc in the manga, which I sort of stopped reading anyway. For simplicity's sake pretend everything after chapter 500-some never happened while you are reading this. I tried to make this fic canon-compliant to a point, but when the goalposts keep moving fanfic authors just have to throw up their hands and scream 'I GIVE UP' in order to get anything done. Thank you.

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.oO Chapter 11 Oo.

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Itachi had been held hostage inside the video conference room for the last half an hour, and his dislike for the man on the monitor was growing by the minute. Although the Yondaime Kazekage did seem to genuinely care about the strength of his home village, he had made several questionable decisions to safeguard that strength. The multiple assassination attempts against his own youngest son sprang to mind, as did the method by which it was rumored he had disposed of the boy's unfaithful mother.

The negotiations over the relocated Chūnin Exams were complete, and by now the man was practically glowing with triumph—Itachi could feel it through the screen. Sunagakure had been slipping in favor, many of the contracts going to the slightly-less expensive and larger Konoha. After the disaster in Training Ground Forty-Four, he had good reason to believe his village was going to be getting a lot of work very quickly.

"We've had our plans ready since the bids were submitted," the Kazekage said smoothly. "We'll have the course ready in a week. Twenty-four hours long, eight passes maximum."

"Agreed," the Hokage said wearily. "I look forward to judging the winners."

"As do I," he said, and the monitor went black.

"We're off the line, Hokage-sama," the camera operator called. He and his assistants unplugged the unwieldy machinery, collected the masses of cables, and wheeled it all back into storage.

The old man removed his hat and pressed his fingers against his eyes. "That was humiliating," he said, after the last of them had gone. "We'll lose clients over this debacle. At the very least, let your full team go to Suna. They've already gained themselves a measure of fame for surviving an S-Rank, and if they put forth a good showing in the tournament we may be able to win back a few scraps of the lords' confidence."

"Naruto got to you, didn't he," Itachi commented, where he had been watching from outside the camera's view.

"He put forth a very reasonable, if unrefined, argument. Sasuke is recovering exceptionally well–I went to visit him myself. I know how much you care for the boy, but at this point the chances of the poison having done undetectable damage are very low. His mission performance, not to mention his handling of the situation with Gaara, has been stellar. You are having second thoughts about recommending them for the Exams, aren't you."

Age may have sapped the strength of his muscles, but it had left his mind untouched. Itachi thought of himself as wise, but, after all, he could claim only nineteen years on this earth to the Hokage's seventy. If anyone could manage to sting him with an uncomfortable truth, it was expected that Hiruzen Sarutobi would do it.

Whether they liked it or not, Itachi's genin had become small–but not inconsequential–players in the field of international politics. Those taught by a kage always would. Although he himself had snapped the link between master and student, his own teacher having been executed during the Uchiha Rebellion, the expectation of his own genin remained. If he were killed at some future point, it was assumed one of them would eventually take the title of Rokudaime. Even as rookie genin, they were symbols of the village's strength, and symbols did no good if not on display.

Itachi exhaled down his vest front, chastened. "I simply don't… I don't want him to suffer like I suffered. The burdens Kakashi and I undertook at his age were not what any child should have had to bear."

"Canceling the Exams due to a security breach is not a decision that can be made lightly, and we must all accept the consequences," the Hokage said. "The Daimyo is furious and the village will be feeling the economic repercussions of this decision for years. The weakest among us may even have to go hungry, as they do now in Sunagakure. If we can save face, in any way at all, we need to take it."

"It wasn't simply about Sasuke's wellbeing, and you know that," Itachi said, straining to keep the snap out of his tone. "I would prefer to lose a few clients now than have Naruto fall into Akatsuki's hands… or Sasuke into Orochimaru's. If he does succeed in taking an Uchiha host, I am not entirely sure even I could stop him. A mastered sharingan would be able to break all my genjutsu with a strong enough will behind it, even the most powerful."

"I know, I know, your mother said as much when Aburame Shibi delivered Sakura's message." The Hokage replaced his pointed hat and stood, motioning for Itachi to follow him into the hall and down to his private rooms. When the Hokage had locked the door behind him, the conversation resumed. "But we have no proof Orochimaru was even involved in this breach, or that he's allied himself with Akatsuki as you claim. That Sasuke was bitten by a snake could easily have been bad luck. The Forty-Fourth grounds are teeming with them, not to mention what any of the dozens of foreign genin could have summoned. I've had the man who treated Mitarashi Anko examine Sasuke himself, and he couldn't find any trace of foreign chakra."

"Perhaps he could not, but it would be equally foolish to dismiss this as coincidence."

"To be honest, I am not entirely convinced Akatsuki was here at all. If their objective was Gaara, they had ample opportunity to abduct him yet didn't take it. Danzo sat in on Hyūga Hinata's debriefing and passed on something rather troubling. It came out that she was operating on a sleep deficiency and had begun to exhibit symptoms of byakugan strain–chief among which is blurred vision. No one matching the physical description she gave us was seen fleeing the village, and the odd scents the Inuzuka and his partner detected could easily have been another genin puppeteer. There were three of them competing."

"You think I made the wrong call," Itachi said in a low voice. If today was to be the day for bringing uncomfortable truths into harsh daylight, so be it. "Sandaime-sama… may I speak frankly?"

"To me, I would hope you never do otherwise."

"Hinata's reliability as a witness is irrelevant. I do not trust Shimura Danzō. Now that you have selected someone as young as myself as Candidate Hokage, he has no hope of outliving his competition. He will be desperate. Have you forgotten there is someone inside Konoha who either has access to barrier nullification seals, or there are multiple members of the Interception Team in his pocket–probably both? I can think of only one man who would have the motivation and skills to obtain both of these things. If you ignore this problem until it comes to a head, you will be sacrificing the lives of who knows how many Konoha citizens… again."

The Hokage bowed his head, pursing his brows as if shaking off a spell of dizziness. "I would die before I repeated the same mistake. Until I spoke to Danzō myself, what you're saying had seemed so obvious, I don't know what I was thinking."

"Are you feeling all right? Do you need me to send for a medic?" Itachi asked.

He straightened and waved the concern away. "I am an old man, Itachi-kun. If this is the first crack in my wits, what I need is for you to take this hat off of my hands as soon as possible. The faster your genin rise through the ranks the sooner this will happen." He turned away, to the wide windows set into one wall, and the tiled roofs and trees beneath. He kept his hands clasped behind his back, as was his habit. The tendons beneath his withered skin were trembling with tension.

"We graduated from the Academy together," the Hokage continued. "We won our flak jackets together. We fought through two wars together. You will have to forgive me, but it's hard to accept that he's allied himself with Konoha's enemies. He loathes Orochimaru more than any other person on earth. Root was founded specifically to hunt him down and execute him for his crimes… to correct my mistakes. He would do anything for Konoha."

"Sir… I believe that is entirely the problem."

Silence. And then he said, "Itachi-kun, you're dismissed." His voice was heavy with defeat. "Have someone send for Morino Ibiki on your way out."

Itachi bowed deeply, as did his reflection in the glass. The Hokage did not turn around. Itachi shut the door behind him and made his way down to the bowels of the building himself. The ANBU Torture & Interrogation Force had their offices, interrogation chambers, and prison cells there, shut far away from the sunlight and the profuse greenery of the village streets. They were buried deep, on the same level as the sewers. Neither was something pleasant to contemplate, but necessary all the same.

Unlike most other shinobi they wore no flak jackets, instead donning gray cotton uniforms and dark coats. Quick access to their weapons wasn't usually a priority down here–at least not the steel ones. The walls were unadorned concrete and the lighting harsh electric bulbs that cast everything into deep shadow.

He approached what passed for a reception desk and the chūnin manning it looked up from his papers. His eyebrows lifted themselves over the rims of his glasses when he saw the identity of the visitor. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Is Ibiki-san available? I'd like to speak with him as soon as possible," Itachi said.

"He's in a session with prisoner right now, but you're welcome to wait in his office. Come with me, please. It shouldn't be long."

Itachi followed him to the cramped room and thought briefly about sitting in the padded chair in front of the desk, then decided against it. His instincts told him it would start pinching or poking in some mild yet maddening way were he to plant himself in it. Instead, he remained on his feet and idly scanned the bookshelves lining the wall. Most were scholarly works on psychology and anatomy, but not all. There was a scattering of history, philosophy, and art–even a few works of fiction. All the covers were worn. The head of ANBU T & I was very well read.

The chūnin receptionist was true to his word; Morino Ibiki strode in about five minutes later. His uniform was, as usual, spotless. Blood was rarely spilled in the interrogation rooms when he presided over the questioning. Such coarse tactics were not a usual part of his repertoire, and he was feared all the more for it.

"To what do I owe this visit?" he asked, sitting down in the chair opposite Itachi. He indicated Itachi sit as well, with an upraised hand.

Itachi linked his arms over his chest and did not accept the invitation. Before answering, his sharingan flickered alive. "I have a few questions for you," he said. "The first is whether or not you have complete loyalty to Hiruzen Sarutobi and myself as his chosen successor to the position of Hokage."

Ibiki smiled faintly, crinkling the scars that carved up his face. He met the crimson stare without flinching, fully conscious of the risk he took in doing so–looking Uchiha Itachi in the eye was not wise if you had anything to hide. "Being interrogated in my own office," he said mildly. "This is an interesting way to end the day, isn't it."

"Answer the question, please, Ibiki-san."

The unsettling smile faded away. "I do."

"Then my second question is this: do you completely and without reservation trust every man and woman currently serving in ANBU?"

Not one to betray himself, Ibiki's expression revealed no surprise at the grim question. "I do not. And I can only assume from the course of this conversation that you do not either."

After long moments, Itachi allowed his sharingan to drain away, satisfied by what he had seen. "The Hokage has an assignment for you. Please meet him in his private chambers as soon as possible. No one but you will remember that I was here. Discretion is of the utmost importance."

He allowed his voice to drop very low and moved closer to the desk, bracing his hand on the side. "I've heard Shimura Danzō has not been feeling well of late. The moment the Chūnin Exams conclude and the world's eyes are no longer upon us, he will be taking an extended leave of absence to convalesce–perhaps in one of the small seaside towns. Please see to it that he receives expert attention while he is gone. It may very well be fatal."

"You're serious, aren't you," Ibiki said, a measure of shock finally creeping into his tone.

"Completely," Itachi said, and turned to leave. He slid open the door and paused on the frame as the older man caught his eyes one last time.

Ibiki gestured around him. "A pity they set you up in one of the assassination squads after you earned your mask. You would have been quite good at this."

-ooo-

Sasuke was just setting out four cups of tea on the living room table when Sakura arrived at the mansion door for the team meeting, panting. "Oh thank you," she breathed, once she'd pulled off her shoes and swept into the house. She picked up a cup and folded her hands around its warmth. Naruto smiled at her, his lips pressed against his own cup.

Sasuke took a sip and put down his own mug. "It's just tea," he said, giving her an odd look.

Itachi had chosen not to sit for the team meeting, but was standing next to the sofa with his arms resting over his chest. "Now that we are all here... I would like to announce that the second and third stages of the Chūnin Exams have been officially rescheduled to take place in Sunagakure, two weeks from now." He took a deep breath. The genin's ears perked. "The Hokage is depending on the strongest Konoha genin to put on a good show for our patrons, and for you to win back as much of their confidence as you can. The future well-being of the village depends on it. Sasuke, your physicians have already cleared you to participate, but you will be vulnerable to any abduction attempts while we are traveling."

Naruto nudged Sasuke under the table and gave him a thumbs-up.

"This means we will be taking the back roads to Suna and will not be traveling with the larger group of Konoha genin. Sasuke will be assigned an additional jōnin bodyguard, who the three of you are to obey absolutely. He is doing this as a personal favor to me, and I will not tolerate any behavior from you that makes his job any harder than it has to be."

"Who is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Hatake Kakashi."

Sasuke bit down hard on the complaints that arrived immediately on his tongue. His general impression of Kakashi was that of a lazy, washed-up, alcoholic pornography addict who, despite years of requests to the contrary, still insisted on addressing him as 'Minitachi'. He had hit his peak somewhere in the Third Great War, and by most accounts had been meandering downhill every since. And Sasuke still couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone about how he'd gotten that single sharingan he kept hidden under his hitai-ate.

"Fat lot of help he's going to be," Sasuke murmured.

Itachi gave Sasuke a reproving look. "It is unlikely he could stand against Orochimaru, but there are no Konoha jōnin save myself, the remaining Sannin, and the Hokage who could. Kakashi is, however, more than capable of disposing of his subordinates.

"Rescheduling the Exams has caused a serious hit to Konoha's credibility, and I have a great many ruffled feathers to smooth before we leave. You three will be reassigned to teams as needed if I am not available to lead missions."

"Hey, Sensei... would you mind if I asked Team Eight if they wanted to come with us?" Naruto asked, tapping his fingers against the cup. "It'd be way more fun."

"As long as they are discrete, no, I suppose not–to travel with jōnin I trust would be to our benefit. I'll ask Kurenai myself. Remember, the fewer people know how and when we are leaving, the safer all of you are. Naruto, you are not to discuss our route with anyone, even the other Uchiha or your former classmates. The security leak that cost your Academy instructor his life was never sealed off, despite the best efforts of our counterintelligence teams."

Pain welled up briefly on Naruto's face. "I won't. Lips are sealed."

"I need to get back to the Tower. Please try to do something constructive with your afternoon." Itachi left his untouched cup on the table, grabbed some papers he'd left on a sideboard, and ducked out of the room.

"Does constructive mean sparring?" Naruto asked after Itachi had left. "Because that was what I was planning to do anyway."

Sakura's cheeks pinched with a touch of guilt. "I promised my mom I'd finish helping her clean up today, and she wasn't feeling that great this morning. I'll catch up with you in a bit. Which area?"

"The private Uchiha grounds," Naruto said. "It's free, I checked."

"Okay," Sakura said, and rose. "Meet you there in an hour?" She jogged to the front door to pull on her sandals and was gone.

Sasuke drained his tea cup and collected them to bring back to the kitchen.

"Getting my shoes on," Naruto said, pushing himself up from the table. "I'll wait for you on the porch."

"Busy!" Sasuke called over the rushing of the tap, as he carefully rinsed each handmade piece. "Can't."

Naruto reversed direction, turning instead to duck under the curtains hanging on the kitchen's doorframe. "Sasuke… come on. I haven't asked you to go one-on-one in a long time."

Sasuke dried his hands on his shirt and shooed Naruto's pleading away with a wave of his hand. "Ask one of our neighbors or that Nara or something."

"I want to spar, not play with Academy students, and it's pretty much impossible to unstick Shikamaru from in front of his shōgi board," Naruto said, following as Sasuke brushed past him and down the hall. He quickened his pace to catch up, grabbing Sasuke by the sleeve. "Please?"

Finally, he stopped. "Why are you so determined to spar with me right now?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes in faint suspicion.

"Because you're my brother?" Naruto said, looking hurt. "Am I supposed to need a better reason? Okay... I got you into the second stage of the Exams. Cashing in the favor."

"Fine," Sasuke sighed. "Just a few sets."

-ooo-

After both Sasuke and Naruto had mastered their first ninjutsu and sparring in the house became a serious structural liability, the private Uchiha grounds were their favorite place to train. In sight of the babbling river, they were fenced with stones rather than wood or wire to contain the errant katon jutsu. The ground was of powdery dirt that always smelled of ashes.

Naruto peeled himself off the ground for the third time and batted at the bits of his hair that were still smoldering. The inside of his mouth tasted like charcoal and blood. It was true Sasuke did win most of their practice matches, at least when he was using the sharingan, but it wasn't usually by this wide a margin.

He'd hoped a good fight might drain off some of the anxiety knotting up his insides. No such luck. At least Naruto was secure in the knowledge that Sasuke had fully recovered from his hospital stay.

There was no putting it off any longer. The Kyūbi's influence was growing ever so slowly, ever so steadily stronger as the months passed, its menace bubbling up like something rotting at the bottom of a peaceful pond. The whispers had almost formed words, now. He could hear it. He could almost see it, and Sasuke deserved to know.

"Oh that's it, I'm calling the matches. Knocking you down is like punching a used tissue," Sasuke complained. He loomed over Naruto, feet apart and hands on his hips. "Why'd you whine so much about getting me out here if you weren't even going to bother putting up a fight?"

"Um… well… I was trying, but…." Naruto mumbled. The skin beneath his hitai-ate was prickling with cold sweat. He pulled it down around his neck and went to find a towel from the satchel at the edge of the ring. He swiped it quickly across his face and rearranged his legs so he could sit leaning against the chipped stones of the wall.

The annoyance on Sasuke's face began to ebb. "You're getting really pale," he observed. "Is your stomach bothering you or something?"

Naruto let the towel drop onto his bag and brought his free hand to his belly. "You could say that, I guess," he said. "There's just… something I've been putting off telling you for a while, and it's not going to get any better so I should probably spit it out but I'm afraid of what you're going to think of me afterward."

"If this is about Sakura..." Sasuke began.

"Sakura? Uh, not—"

"If I ever did come up with feelings for her—which I'm pretty sure I don't have, by the way—I promise you I'm going to keep my hands off."

"Thanks, but it's not Sakura. Not at all. It's me. I'm not who you think I am. Or I am, but that's not the whole story, because there's actually..." Forcing the words out of his lips was painful. Fear was not something with which Naruto was well acquainted. The things that scared most shinobi–pain, defeat, death–he gave barely a thought. But nothing, nothing frightened him as much as the knowledge he might be as much of a threat to the lives of his friends as any enemy. It had gone slinking around his guts since the night in the forest, until he did feel almost physically ill. Sasuke was the first person his age to accept him. To defend him from all those who called him a monster. The trouble was that they sort of had a point.

"I have the Kyūbi sealed inside me," Naruto blurted out.

His brother's eyebrows arched, but he otherwise said nothing. Sasuke continued staring at him as Naruto babbled on.

"When it attacked, the Yondaime Hokage needed a newborn baby to take the seal, and my mom was the last vessel, so I guess he thought it was fitting. The Hokage said it would be hard for you to take, and that I should give you some time, so if you don't have anything to say to me now... I'll see you at home later, okay?"

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, and after a few moments began to laugh. "Seriously?"

"I'm not trying to prank you, I really do!" Naruto unzipped his jacket and pulled the t-shirt up to his ribs. He concentrated for moment and the seal spiraled out on his stomach.

Sasuke took a few steps closer and crouched to inspect the inky design. Although it followed the contour of his abdominal muscles, shuddering with nervousness, the black was deeper than any tattoo could be, as if the light that fell on it was never reflected back.

"That's it?" Sasuke murmured. "I was expecting something more... I don't know. Flashier."

Naruto let his shirt drop down once again as he finished processing what Sasuke had just said. "You were 'expecting'? You mean you... you knew?"

"Suspected. There were little hints–they piled up. Your birthday, for one. The way people whispered about you when we were younger. That Mom made you come with me to Mount Myoboku the night of the Uchiha Rebellion. I know why she had to protect me from Madara if they failed to stop it, but you?" He shrugged. "And that day Iruka-sensei died. I could feel something in the air. Something evil. Your eyes changed."

"So now what?" Naruto asked between shallow, rapid breaths.

Sasuke straightened, leaning forward and offering him a hand to rise. "What do you mean 'now what'? I'm not going anywhere–you're still my brother and I don't care what you have inside you. You're the same person you were yesterday. Stop puffing like that. You'll make yourself so dizzy you pass out."

Once he'd regained his footing, Sasuke pulled his brother slightly closer, until they were cheek to cheek. Grateful beyond words, Naruto looped his arms around Sasuke's chest and pressed his face against the wide collar of his shirt. With an indulgent grin, Sasuke folded his arms over Naruto's shoulders until his frantic panting settled into a more sedate pace.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"That was so sweet of you I think I really am gonna hurl."

The difference between a hug and a headlock wasn't that great, anatomically speaking. Just a rearrangement of a couple of necks and a few elbows, which Sasuke demonstrated with lightning speed. A cloud of dust flew up as Naruto struck the dirt face-first for the fourth time that afternoon.

"Gaaah! Bastard! That's where I keep my kidneys!" he yelled.

Sasuke shifted his knee a fraction but didn't let Naruto up. "Like I said. Tough as used tissue."

"So I spilled my secret," Naruto said to the dirt. "You have to spill yours."

"What… secret?" Sasuke asked, letting his muscles slacken.

Untangling himself from Sasuke's hold, Naruto patted the latest coating of ashes from his clothes. "Look, I know I've never been the brightest bulb, but I'm not that dumb. Something's been eating you for months. Just tell me."

Sasuke shook his head. The smile on his face had emptied of all gentleness, going brittle. "There's nothing to tell."

"You're a hopeless liar when your heart's not in it," Naruto said. "I'm sure Nii-chan and Sakura would give you a hand, too. All you've gotta do is ask. That's what we're here for–no matter how awful or embarrassing you think it is, we're never, ever going to turn on you."

"You really mean that, don't you. With every fiber of your pea-brained being," he said, and dropped his eyes to his crossed ankles. "I'm… confused, I guess, and I'm so afraid I'm not worth–"

"I'm taking the winner!" Sakura called from above their heads, who had arrived by the interlocking branches of the ancient trees lining the river.

Sasuke rose hastily. The courage to continue with the confession had evaporated. "Naruto has something important he needs to tell you," he said instead.

Sakura dropped out of the branches to the top of the wall, then to the ground.

"So don't freak out," Sasuke warned her.

"Oh thanks, Sasuke," Naruto huffed. "Alright… you saw that red light on our first C-Rank, after I thought Sasuke had died. That was because... it's because I'm the—"

"Kyūbi jinchūriki," Sakura finished softly. "Yeah, I know."

Even Sasuke's jaw dropped. "How could you possibly have–"

"I read a lot."

"You read a lot!?" Naruto repeated. "That's not an explanation!"

"I'm serious, that's how I figured it out," Sakura said. "I heard the old Kiri shinobi we fought call you a jinchūriki, so when we got back to Konoha I snuck into the restricted sections of the military archives to look up all the references to it in the old intelligence reports."

"You did see me losing control in the forest, didn't you," Naruto said. "Weren't you scared?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," she said. "But after I realized what you were, I had a… talk with Itachi-sensei. What he said gave me the space to think–really think. You… you're strong, Naruto, and what makes you strong enough to hold back the Kyūbi is how much you care about the people around you–your family, your friends… even your enemies.

"When we kids, you were the only person that really believed in me, you know? I didn't even think I had what it took to be a real shinobi. Seems like I should return the favor," she finished.

"Guys… I…" He stopped to sniff. "Group hug!"

"What the… Sakura, that's so not appropriate!"

"Eeee! Naruto, don't you dare squeeze–"

After everyone had disentangled themselves from Naruto's enthusiastic embrace (something Sakura had accomplished with her usual violence), there was the sound of three throats being cleared simultaneously. Naruto gingerly prodded at the tear in his lip with his tongue and winced.

"Look, irritating quirks aside, I'm grateful I have two such devoted teammates, but we are never doing that again," Sasuke announced. "I came here to hit people. That is what we are going to do now. Sakura, for trying to pinch me, you're first."

"I'm a lady! Don't accuse me of–"

Sasuke extracted a kunai from his thigh pouch. "Naruto would rather choke to death on a bunch of spinach than stick his hand down there. I am not holding back."

-ooo-

The Konohagakure quartermaster's warehouse, was, in a word, enormous. Every shinobi in the village's employ needed to be uniformed, supplied, and armed, and this was where they came to do it. Racks and racks of shelving and shipping crates occupied most of the complex, with an army of clerical workers squeezing into the remaining cracks and crevices. The atmosphere was one of low-grade irritation, since, no matter how many genin were assigned on any given day as runners, a soul-sucking queue almost always formed anyway.

"Reorganizing this godforsaken place is first on your list of things to do as Godaime, right?" Kakashi asked, eying the line. "And maybe adding a home delivery service?"

"The Sandaime tried that," Itachi said. "Trying to catalog it all kept our venerable Jōnin Commander drunk for a week straight. And he gave up on the delivery idea around when Mitarashi Anko ordered a box of nylon line, and then ripped it open on the spot to use on the poor boy who handed it to her." Itachi paused to brush a bit of cat hair off his sleeve. "I'm assuming she was also very drunk at the time… or at least one hopes. See Kurenai yet?"

He had unfortunately just missed Yūhi Kurenai at her home, and a tip from a neighbor led him here. He'd run into Kakashi on the way over, whose own supplies of sharp and tossable objects were approaching critically low levels. In a sea of stern green and navy blue, her white and red outfit would be easy to spot even in this crush.

In the small pool of genjutsu specialists taking combat missions, Kurenai placed what was probably a distant second to himself. Like his mother, her strength wasn't on the battlefield. Konoha needed the subtle as much as it needed the strong, shinobi who could use their illusions to slip like ghosts into enemy strongholds and leaving nothing but chaos their wake. Kurenai was one of those shinobi, and, as demonstrated by her recent promotion to jōnin, she was very good at what she did.

"Not yet," Kakashi said. "I'll send her your way if I do–I'm finding a line and getting in it before they get even scarier. It's times like this I sort of wish I had my own loyal minions… I mean genin."

Although he was usually loath to use ninjutsu for something so trivial, Itachi had a very limited window to find Kurenai before his next appointment. He'd been spending so much time on political matters lately he felt he owed Naruto at least this much. He activated his sharingan, which was just as well, since it was at exactly that moment that a leg encased in knitted orange cotton came hurtling toward his face at an absurd speed.

"Dynamic en–"

Reflexively, Itachi turned just enough that the blur of green spandex missed his nose. Kakashi, who was by now even more accustomed to this, also removed himself a meter to the left. He was considerate enough to shove the hapless genin next in line out of the way as well.

"–try… ahhhhhh, not again. Curse you, Kakashi!" Gai said, after he had struck the far wall and rebounded with an impromptu backflip. He straightened and waved the remaining wisps of smoke from Kakashi's shunshin out of his face.

The genin, on his hands and knees scrabbling for his glasses, said, "What just happened? Are we under attack? I can't see!"

Gai snatched the spectacles away before they could be crushed under a boot sole and presented them, and a hand up, to the bewildered boy. "My apologies, young man. I truly did not realize you were standing behind my extraordinarily fleet-footed rival."

"Oh, I… Hatake-san?" the boy said, gaping. "Did you just save my life? How can I ever thank you?"

"I think I just saved you from a funny bruise, but…" Kakashi said quietly, and then continued in a louder tone, "if you feel that strongly, you could pick up my order for me and then drop it off on my porch." He dug into his belt pouch to extract Icha Icha Tactics and a pencil. He removed the scrap of paper serving as a bookmark and scribbled something on the back. "Here's the receipt."

"Absolutely, sir!" the boy gushed.

Kakashi gestured with his head and they moved to the side of the building to get a better view of the room.

"Have you by chance seen Yūhi Kurenai, Gai-san?" Itachi asked, as they made their way through the crowd.

"She is near the front and should be finishing her errand shortly," Gai said. "For what did you require her?"

"It isn't exactly classified, but I would prefer to keep this quiet all the same," Itachi answered. On the list of people likely to be the Akatsuki mole, Maito Gai ranked about equally with his fellow jōnin sensei (which was to say the possibility was vanishingly small), but he also had the unfortunate habit of declaiming every sentence he uttered loudly enough for an entire room to hear. He was capable of keeping information confidential and speaking quietly when the need arose, but it strained his concentration so much Itachi usually tried to spare him the effort.

Kakashi, who had the advantage of about four centimeters over the shorter Itachi, craned his head back. "Oh, yeah, there she is. Almost at the fourth counter from the left. And Gai… why were you staking out the quartermaster's warehouse?"

"You asked to borrow some of my shuriken before your mission two days ago, so I assumed you had yet again left ordering more to the last minute," Gai said. "Now come! My heart burns for a challenge. This must be remedied immediately!"

"They make pills for that," Kakashi said under his breath.

"Did you say something, my rival?"

Kakashi shrugged, gazing off into space. "Eh? No."

"Then come, come! The latest contest I have devised is brilliant. I am confident you will find it both strenuous yet deeply satisfying. You are also, of course, always welcome to match yourself against us, Itachi-san."

Itachi blinked at him under upraised eyebrows. "I am extremely busy," he said. "Extremely busy."

"Remind me what we did last time?" Kakashi asked.

Before Gai could answer, Itachi gave Kakashi a significant glance, as if silently recalculating everything he knew about the older jōnin's bedroom habits.

"No, on second thought, don't. Need a minute, okay?" Kakashi said. "I'll meet you outside."

"You swear on your honor as a shinobi and the sacred flames of our beautiful village?" Gai asked, a touch suspicious.

"I swear on my honor as a shinobi and the sacred flames of our beautiful village," Kakashi repeated dutifully. "Just a minute."

Satisfied, Gai strode out the door, or as close to a stride as he could manage with several dozen annoyed shinobi between him and the exit.

Kakashi turned to Itachi. "You… I… just… no. Shut up. I know you didn't say anything, but shut up. You know how words come out of Gai's mouth and they don't mean what everyone else thinks they mean."

"For someone who spends a significant portion of his day publicly consuming pornographic literature, you are remarkably easy to fluster," Itachi commented. "Ah. Kurenai is at the counter. I should go. And you still owe me your last two mission reports. I expect them on my desk after you finish your… activities with Gai-san."

"Fine, fine," Kakashi huffed, and then added, under the cover of a brief coughing fit, "ahehhmslavedriver."

Itachi turned his attention back to the actual task at hand, as amusing as embarrassing Kakashi was. Cutting in line was another perk of his position as Candidate Hokage, and he politely parted the sea of disgruntled shinobi and made his way to the front of the complex.

"Yūhi... Yūhi... here we go," the clerk said triumphantly, as he retrieved her package and laid it across the counter.

Kurenai closed her eyes and exhaled a calming breath. "I most certainly did not order almost two meters of ornately worked naginata."

"I have the order sheet right here," he said defensively, holding it up.

"My name is not 'Reiko' and this thing is not mine. I just want a box of camp consumables. You know—rice, protein bars, replacement water filters, matches...?"

Red in the face, he replaced the naginata on the shelf and deposited two small boxes on the counter instead. "Sign here please, Kurenai-san."

She tersely thanked the clerk and hefted her share of supplies.

"Those for the road?" Itachi asked, catching her attention at the edge of the service desks.

"Itachi-san?" she said, peering over the packages. "And… yes, they are. My team wanted to give it a second try, and they've all healed up fine in the time it took for the Kazekage to get the details sorted out. Would you pass on my thanks to Sakura for treating them?"

"Of course," Itachi said, falling into step with her. He pushed open the nearest door so she wouldn't have to juggle the boxes to let herself out.

"Oh, thank you," she said, smiling slightly. "And I have to ask... how is her genjutsu training coming along?"

"Beautifully," Itachi answered. "Are you still cross about my having her reassigned from Team Eight?"

Outside the warehouse there was a small park bordered by a low stone wall. Kurenai slid the boxes onto it and readjusted the bandages wrapped around her palms to get a better grip on the slick cardboard. "No. Water under the bridge," she said, shaking her head. "Hinata may not have much use for genjutsu, but there's still plenty for me to teach her. I think it was for the best she ended up under a female jōnin sensei, after what happened to her mother and all.

"It's a shame your complete team isn't coming to Suna as well. From what I heard from my genin, they worked together spectacularly well in the forest."

They were alone for the time being; mentioning his errand was now safe. "That is actually what I wanted to discuss with you," Itachi said quietly. "I've decided to allow them to compete together after all—Sasuke seems to have recovered from the poisoning without any ill effects. Naruto wanted to know if your team had any interest in joining us. We'll be taking the scenic route, as it were, to lessen the chances someone will make a move against Sasuke while we are traveling. Or other interested parties against Naruto, for that matter."

Kurenai nodded, taking the hint. "I can see why they might need a little extra supervision, then. I'd be happy to go with you, and I'm sure my genin would too. Let me know when you'd like to leave."

-ooo-

The assassin, concealed in the tightest cloak of invisibility he could muster, watched and waited. Infiltrating the Hokage's Tower had tested his abilities to their limit, and failure after he had gotten this far was not an option. His hand tightened around his blade as his target rounded the corner, and, his veins ablaze with exhilaration, he charged.

Itachi stepped smoothly onto the trailing scarf, yanked him backward, and disarmed him of the blunt practice kunai with a twirl of his wrist. "Konohamaru-kun, really. This is the third time you have tried to knife me in a month."

Konohamaru drew himself to every sliver of his roughly one-hundred and thirty centimeters and glared at Itachi. He tugged against the uncomfortable grip on his wrist, which got him precisely nowhere. "Screw you, Uchiha! That hat's mine! I got past all his bodyguards this time!"

Holding the furious young boy at arm's length, Itachi said, "ANBU let you get as far as you did because one of my former teammates occasionally enjoys teasing me." He glanced at the innocuous-looking patch of wall that was actually a violet-haired ANBU agent cloaked in an invisibility jutsu.

Although most of the time she radiated an air of stern ruthlessness, buried deep inside Uzuki Yūgao was a mischievous streak of which Naruto would have approved. She dropped the illusion for a moment to salute. "Need to make sure you're still sharp, Taicho."

Past the open door to his office, the Hokage pressed his fist to his mouth to stifle a chuckle. He glanced up from his desk when his grandson finally swept into the room, trailing both his dusty scarf and battered dignity behind him. The grubby t-shirt and shorts that were his usual uniform had been replaced by old-fashioned formal wear, which, when paired with his blue scarf, looked beyond bizarre.

"Konohamaru! If you got your hakama dirty running off like that…" his mother called from the hall.

Sarutobi Urumi ducked into the office wearing an elegant kimono woven with a pattern of multicolored peony blossoms. Although she had long retired from active duty to care for her son, the tattoos of a Sarutobi summoning master still marked her lower eyelids. Her younger brother and his ever-present cloud of cigarette smoke wandered in on her heels. Asuma hung back by the doorframe, clearly ill at ease.

"Urumi-san," Itachi said mildly, inclining his head to her. He returned the practice blade, hilt first.

"Don't tell me he… again?" she sighed, slipping it inside one of her billowing sleeves. "The patience you have for him is mind-blowing. How do you manage it?"

"Practice," Itachi said. "A great deal of practice."

Urumi turned to her son. "You're in trouble. I'll figure out how much trouble after we get this dinner over with. Leave the scarf, please. You look ridiculous."

Grumbling, Konohamaru unwound the length of cloth and dropped it on the desk. "Why do I have to do this, anyway?"

"The one of the Daimyo's cousins has a son your age," the Hokage said, as he rose from his chair. "I thought he might like some company. Are you coming with us, too, Asuma? I thought you hated these diplomatic functions."

Itachi suspected he was closer to the Hokage than his own youngest son, who had spent most of his career doing the opposite of whatever his father had asked out of pure, pig-headed contrariness. This included refusing the summoning contract with the Monkey clan, turning down several invitations to participate in the Chūnin Exams, and culminated in Asuma leaving the village entirely to serve the Daimyo in the capital for many years. The stubborn streak had eventually mellowed and he had returned to Konoha to accept an overdue promotion and his own genin team. Since quitting the Twelve Guardian Ninja, Asuma now received the same cordial respect from the Hokage as any other jōnin, but it made moments like this one extraordinarily awkward.

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to him for a second," Asuma said, looking to Itachi.

The Hokage checked the clock mounted on the wall. "You should have a bit of time." He took Konohamaru by one shoulder and steered him in the direction of the door. "Don't make that face, Konohamaru! You might like him. I had the Daimyo's bodyguards confirm for me that he is a very nice boy."

Asuma let his father, sister, and grumbling nephew pass. He chewed a little on his cigarette, realized what he was doing, and pulled it hastily out of his mouth. "So I heard you and Kurenai are, um..."

Itachi blinked in puzzlement before realizing Kakashi must have told him about the arrangements for the exam. He was annoyed for a moment, but Asuma was more likely to sprout wings and fly off into the sunset within the next ten seconds than betray Konoha. It was no real security risk. "Going to Suna after all?" Itachi confirmed. "Ah. I was originally planning to go alone, but after the events in Training Ground Forty-Four, Kurenai's students and mine have grown rather attached to each other. It was Naruto's idea they join us."

"N-naruto's idea?" Asuma asked, with an unbecoming stutter.

"Yes…? As I remember, he spent quite a bit of time playing hooky with Shikamaru and Chōji in the throwing range. Your team is welcome to accompany us, if they like. We'll most likely be splitting off to take the south branch of the river and then the back roads to their village. There are fewer eyes off the major trade roads and I would be more comfortable in the countryside… especially with another jōnin I can trust."

"Oh, yeah, sure. They might like that. I'll ask," he said, standing up a little straighter. "Wouldn't want to keep you, then. Good night."

Itachi shut the office door behind him after Asuma had gone. He was edging into unsteady ground now, but the abrupt change in the older jōnin's tone when he'd learned who'd suggested the travel plans hadn't been his imagination. He continued mulling over the exchange when he ran into Kakashi in the hall, who had finally seen fit to deliver his overdue mission reports.

"Who won?" Itachi politely inquired, stopping to greet him.

"Gai," Kakashi said.

"At what?"

Kakashi plucked a piece of hardened cake frosting from his hair and flicked it away with distaste. It was extremely pink and studded with tiny candy stars. "Taking the secret to my grave. What did Asuma want? He seemed unusually… perky."

"I'm not sure," Itachi said contemplatively. "But I have an intriguing if unsubstantiated theory."

"Juicy gossip? I just knew this slumber party was going to be fun," Kakashi announced. "Afterwards, can we watch one of those awful Fujikaze Yukie romance flicks and paint our nails?"

Itachi just blinked at him. "Do you want me to tell you or not?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I do," Kakashi said.

"Do you remember how I mentioned Asuma has been avoiding me since the end of the school term?"

"Yeah...?"

"I believe he was under the impression I've been romantically involved with Kurenai, a misconception that could have been easily dispelled had he simply asked her."

"So what you're saying..." Kakashi said slowly, "is that a guy with a thirty-odd million ryo bounty on his head is too chickenshit to ask a girl out?"

Itachi shrugged. "That was essentially the conclusion I came to, yes."

"Man needs help."

"From you?" Itachi asked, skeptical.

"I've had great luck with women!"

"I do not think he's simply interested in 'getting lucky'," Itachi corrected. "Not with Kurenai. And need I remind you that it doesn't count if you're paying them?"

"First of all, I go to professionals because they're professional," Kakashi said. "I may be an emotionally stunted drunk, but I'm not too much of an emotionally stunted drunk to realize how shitty a boyfriend I would make. Just because I choose not to charm Konoha's womenfolk into bed doesn't mean I can't."

"Like who?"

"The waitress at Ichiraku has had the hots for me for years," Kakashi asserted. "Don't give me that look! When was the last you actually got some? Ah? Ah? Ah hah."

"Kakashi... don't you have reports to deliver?"

-ooo-

Team Seven left for Suna under cover of darkness, before the sunlight could creep over the mountaintops. Itachi had instructed another genin team to pose as his own and move out with the larger group, to lay a false trail, before doubling back half a day out from the village. The actual Team Seven were to march for several hours then pause for breakfast in the late morning while Teams Eight and Ten caught up.

The roadside restaurant Itachi had chosen as their rendezvous point was nearly invisible between the canes of bamboo crowding the path, and so dilapidated moss was sprouting from between the roofing tiles. It had no menu. The genin and Kakashi ordered on faith from the ancient waitress, who had snow-white hair and only five teeth to her name. Itachi didn't have to say anything. The old woman grinned at him and scribbled something down in her order sheet.

She returned from the kitchen after a short wait, all the porcelain chattering in her trembling grip. Naruto immediately reached over to help unload it all, and breakfast was delivered without any unfortunate accidents. The plates and bowls were chipped and the trays stained, but the aromas rising from them were mouthwatering.

Naruto lifted a bite to his mouth, and then with it still full of tamagoyaki, said, "Wow."

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed. "If you're not eating your greens, I'll take them."

"I don't even know what this is," Sakura said, gesturing at the contents of a small gray dish, "but it sure beats the usual toast."

Kakashi had opted to sit alone, facing the wall and outside the ring of pleasant breakfast conversation. Naruto and Sasuke were both used to this and had no comment, but Sakura paused and laid down her chopsticks after a few bites. "There's plenty of room next to me, Kakashi-san. You may not be a member of Team Seven, but you don't have to eat at another table."

"Thanks, but I'm fine here," Kakashi said, without turning around. "Don't worry about it."

"He always does that," Naruto explained. "I've been trying to get a good look at his face for years." He lowered his voice to a whisper, and then added, "I don't think he'll eat or drink in front of anybody but Itachi-sensei and my parents, since his dad was their jōnin sensei and they've known him since he was a little kid."

Sakura's face pinched in sudden pity. "Must be hard to keep up much of a social life," she whispered back.

After breakfast had been devoured and everyone felt much better despite waking up at three-thirty in the morning, the genin began a leisurely exploration of the teahouse grounds. There wasn't much to see–a weedy vegetable garden, some dragonflies buzzing around the fishpond, and a skittish farm cat stalking them from the underbrush. Sasuke and Naruto worked their way back inside, and a picture frame stuffed with newspaper clippings caught Sasuke's eyes as he passed the threshold. He stopped in front of it and skimmed the articles while Naruto flopped down on a bench with his chin resting on the table.

"Isn't that funny," Sasuke said.

"Isn't what funny?" Itachi asked absently, who was enjoying the latest of many refills on his tea and watching the dragonflies cavort through the open windows.

"This place has awards for best backcountry teahouse stretching back, oh, a million years," Sasuke said.

"I never knew that. How fascinating," Itachi said, as he took a sip of the delicate, perfectly blended, emerald beverage in front of him.

"Don't tell me you planned our entire route around these places," Naruto complained into the tabletop. "You have the weirdest priorities sometimes."

"I had planned to visit two," Itachi said. "I assumed we would all prefer hot meals while we can get them–you seemed to enjoy breakfast, after all. And am I not allowed to have hobbies?"

"But this is so, so... uncool," Naruto said, sitting up. "And you are usually overflowing with cool. You just have to pick somewhere to stand and right away it's the coolest place in Fire Country. Visiting every quaint roadside cafe we pass is not a ninja hobby! It's, like, a granny hobby! It's the opposite of fun. It's boring."

"Naruto... my life has been so terribly, terribly, terribly interesting that I consider being bored a rare and special treat," Itachi said. "I can enjoy a pot of excellent tea, a plate of excellent dango, and in the half an hour it takes me to finish them I will not have to think about killing anyone. It's bliss."

-ooo-

Teams Eight and Ten arrived within twenty minutes of each other, just as the sun had leached the last of the chill from the air. They took to the road almost immediately, despite some grumbling from Chōji about missing lunch. After they left the wide road and turned on to one of the small footpaths south, Kakashi summoned a few of his ninken to scout ahead and sniff out ambushes, and over Pakkun's objections Itachi decided to bring out his contracted companion as well.

The scarred black cat materialized in a puff of smoke, and as soon as he caught sight of Pakkun his ears flattened against his skull.

"We don't need his help," Pakkun said, from the relative safety of the ground between Kakashi's ankles. "Mangy alley crawler," he added under his breath.

"You know perfectly well where I got this scar, you lapdog," Hyōkurō said, translating every speck of his natural cat's haughtiness into his tone. "You were there, cowering under a log while I blinded the Kumo nin about to–"

"Would you two give it a rest?" Kakashi said, exasperated. "There are nine rookie genin on this expedition and so far they've all been better behaved than you."

After a few token hisses and growls, the animals dispersed. They continued traveling without incident until the late afternoon, when Guruko, a tan mutt with pendulous, chocolate-brown ears, came trotting back to the main group and said, "Might want to see this, Boss."

Kakashi jogged ahead, past a bend in the path that meandered between the gently rolling hills. Pakkun was sitting on his haunches beside an intersection of the footpath with another, even more underused track. He bent forward to take a last corroborating sniff of the soft earth.

"You think it's Orochimaru? Or Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked the dog.

"No, no. Much worse," Pakkun answered, deadpan. "We seem to have picked up Maito Gai's trail."

"Oh hah hah," Kakashi said.

"Should we be preparing for an ambush?" Kurenai asked anxiously, as she, Itachi, Asuma, and their respective teams caught up to the canine scouts.

"No. We're fine," Kakashi told her. "They just found Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey and decided to be funny about it."

"Really? What's he doing all the way out here?" Kurenai asked no one in particular.

"Considering how difficult the terrain will become once we cross the border, as opposed to taking the trade roads, I'm not particularly surprised," Itachi said.

"Ah yes," Kurenai said. "How could I forget. You can always trust Gai to force his team to scale a mountain range when there are half a dozen easier routes available."

"Well, I'm gonna go say hello," Pakkun announced. "The kunoichi usually has a bit of protein bar on her. And her ear scratches are to die for."

"You have no shame," Kakashi said.

"I'm a dog. Comes with the territory," Pakkun answered, and with that scampered off down the road with the curl of his tail bobbing.

When the remainder of the teams caught up, they found Pakkun splayed out on Tenten's lap, licking crumbs from his muzzle as she enthusiastically knuckled the soft patches of fur behind his ears. Neji was studying a bird's nest perched in a nearby sapling and trying to appear as if he didn't know the two people plowing through sets of one-handed pushups a couple meters to his left.

"Who's got a smooshy smooshy faaace–oh hi, Sakura," Tenten said abruptly. "Didn't expect to see you here. And thanks for giving me an excuse to sit down and stuff." She extended her legs and rolled her ankles around to squeeze a little more pleasure out of the brief stop.

Pakkun sat up, shook out his fur, and leaped from her knees to resume scouting duty. Introductions were made between Gai's genin and Teams Eight and Ten, who recognized each other from the Academy but, being a year apart, couldn't always pin a name to a face.

"We delayed to allow you to catch up so that we may travel together, my rival," Gai said. "Now, to reach our goal by sundown, we will have to run!"

"Can we not?" Kakashi asked. "It's not like we're going to be late for registration walking there."

Asuma coughed. "Seconded."

"Really, really thirded," Chōji added from next to his teacher.

Tenten and Neji both refrained from contributing 'nay' votes, though their expressions made it clear they were both aching to do so. Neji stopped studying the chirping balls of fluff above their heads and gave Tenten a look that said 'please, please do something'.

"You and Lee could each take one of their packs, Sensei," Tenten offered in her sweetest, most innocent voice, who was a Green Beast wrangler par excellence. "So you'd be making the same time but with more weight."

"A brilliant proposition!" Gai said. "Kakashi, your bag?"

Kakashi hardly had an objection to this, and handed it over. Shikamaru had also gotten the straps off his shoulders and dropped his in front of Lee before the boy in green could so much as open his mouth.

"No fair," Chōji groused.

"That is most kind of you… Shikamaru-kun, was it?" Lee asked, as he arranged the extra pack over his chest.

"That's me," Shikamaru said. "You're welcome to keep hold of it for the rest of the trip, if you want. As an upperclassman, I mean… you deserve to take advantage of this training opportunity more than I do."

"I believe I shall! When we return to Konoha, I will repay your generosity tenfold. I will find us two more spare packs so that we may run laps around Konoha in a properly youthful manner. Oh, and we should not neglect to fill them with rocks!"

"No, no, that's o–"

But Lee and Gai had already bounded off, retaking the lead and declaiming in loud tones how lightly their traveling companions had packed.

"–kay," Shikamaru finished lamely.

When they were out of earshot, the normally subdued Asuma burst out laughing. He fished into his pockets for another cigarette, lit it, and gave Shikamaru a consoling pat on the shoulder before continuing down the trail. "Shikamaru… you don't know what you just got yourself into. My condolences."

-ooo-

At an even walking pace, it took just under a week to reach Sunagakure. The first third of their journey was across relatively easy, familiar terrain. Thanks to the frequent volcanic activity through much of its length, Fire Country's soil was fruitful and the population booming. Even in the 'wild' country there were few beasts or bandits to be found. The teams found well-maintained trails and hot meals up until they reached the border with River Country.

The rich black earth had grown progressively swampier the farther west they travelled, the fields of wheat giving way to water-loving rice. Since none of the genin save Neji had mastered the delicate art of water-walking, a pair of barges were hired to take them down one of the many rivers that gave the country its name.

Their last stop before crossing the line of mountains that split the northern halves of Fire and Wind Country was an onsen of fine reputation, even if it was tossed in the middle of a swamp. The sky was spitting (and threatening worse), when the pleasant golden glow of the onsen's lanterns peeked through the tall grass of the marshes.

After the building was secured and several of Kakashi's pack was placed on sentry duty, it was decided the jōnin would take their meals downstairs while the genin enjoyed the fruits of room service. Although it would never be said these particular teachers didn't love their students dearly, the constant company of a dozen excited thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds could have even the most patient jōnin sensei ready to bite off a few heads.

Gai, who had suffered rather on the boats, had refused all offers of food and went straight to bed, leaving the other four adults to enjoy their meals in a nearly-empty dining room on the first floor of the inn. It had a definite, if rustic, charm of the sort that could only be gained by decades of hands and feet polishing down the well-fitted woodwork. The paths and rooms were lit by lanterns and braziers instead of electricity and the air was tart with the scent of citronella to keep the insects away.

Kurenai sighed longingly at the collection of fine spirits lined up behind the bar and ordered herself another soda water. She had taken a seat on the wooden stool with the wall on her left and Itachi on her right. "This was a good find," Kurenai said, turning to the younger (although more senior) jōnin. "I'll have to come back when I can try some of their top-shelf bottles."

She continued when Itachi answered with only a nod, his mouth occupied with a piece of mushroom. "This is going to be an interesting exam season. I heard tickets sold out almost as soon as they went on sale. Your team was a big draw, and then there's all three of the Kazekage's children, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, Momochi Zabuza's team from Kiri…" She took a sip from the glass the bartender had just deposited in front and glanced slyly at Itachi from beneath her long lashes. "Although personally I'm betting on a few of the underdogs to make it through to the finals instead."

Challenging the Candidate Hokage wasn't usually something to be undertaken frivolously, but a bit of friendly rivalry tended to bloom between instructors around exam time. Technically speaking, Itachi wouldn't go so far as to call Kurenai a friend, but 'eminently likable professional acquaintance' was unwieldy. "You seem confident of that," he replied, seeing no reason not to rise to it.

"I wouldn't have nominated my team if I didn't think one of them had a shot at a promotion," she answered. "If one of them does make it to the arena, would the outcome be worth anything to you? Dinner at that new sushi place next to the Standby Station, maybe?"

Itachi could not help but notice, farther down the bar, the violent fit of coughing that had followed Sarutobi Asuma inhaling a mouthful of his drink.

"I don't gamble," Itachi said crisply. "And aren't getting a bit ahead of yourself? We haven't even seen the second course yet."

"I suppose…" she started, and then leaned back on the stool when the coughing didn't abate. "Good god, Asuma, are you all right?"

"Fine," he choked out. "Went down the wrong pipe." He pushed the empty glass and dishes in the direction of the bartender and stood. "Going out for a smoke." He coughed again. "If Chōji asks, tell him he's not allowed to put anything on my tab."

"Have one to spare?" Kurenai asked, rising as well.

"You smoke?"

"Now and then," she said. "It goes well with a few drinks, you know?" She chuckled low in her throat. "Or it would, if I were off duty."

Asuma and Kurenai disappeared into the cooler night air. There was the clicking sound of someone fiddling with a lighter, and then quiet laughter drifted in from the porch. It faded away as they wandered out into the gardens.

"Operation Get-Asuma-Laid, Phase One outcome: tentative success," Kakashi said from his table. "Except I think Kurenai might have been flirting with you. It's hard to tell. Could you tell?"

Assuming the pair might be gone for longer than it took to finish one cigarette, Itachi moved his dishes to where Kakashi was huddling by himself in the corner. "You are secretly twelve."

"Am not."

"That your 'rivalry' with Gai has continued suggests otherwise," Itachi said, picking up his chopsticks again. "You realize he would eventually find another target to pester if you stopped accepting the challenges?"

"He's not the kind to give up that easily."

"You actually enjoy making a fool of yourself with him, don't you?"

After that, Kakashi steered the conversation down another path without confirming or denying the charge. Even he couldn't manage to lie convincingly to Itachi. As they were finishing, his eyes focused on a point behind Itachi's head.

Itachi glanced behind him to see what had captured the silver-haired jōnin's attention.

"I think Pinky wants to talk to you," he said in a hushed voice. "She doesn't look like she's feeling too good. Why don't you put on your sympathetic-big-brother face while I go get myself another drink." Kakashi paused. "Another soft drink. Stop giving me those looks. What do you think I've been sucking down with Orochimaru's goons possibly after us? Give your sempai a little bit of credit here."

Sakura, hanging back by the steps to the second floor, approached the table only after Kakashi was safely ensconced in conversation with a pretty young waitress. She bent low to begin whispering in her teacher's ear.

When she finished and straightened, he said, "You... started your first..."

She nodded, miserable. The look on his face could not have been described as terror, because the only thing that could possibly have terrified Uchiha Itachi was facing down a rampaging Kyūbi. By himself. Blindfolded.

Itachi pushed his chair back, and said, with perfect nonchalance, "Let's find Kurenai, shall we?"

-ooo-

Teams Seven and Eight had decided to push the screens apart to open up the double room and take their dinners together. Although Naruto hadn't had to worry about satiating his bottomless pit of an appetite for years, he still couldn't quite shake the impulse to shovel everything in sight into his mouth as quickly as possible. Etiquette took a back seat when you grew up with the clawed fingers of hunger scratching at your insides.

Sucking down noodles like a pig at its trough wasn't usually something that made him self-conscious, but dining across from Hinata was making him antsy. She had the most perfect table manners he'd ever seen, every motion so effortlessly graceful and silent it was like watching a princess at a royal feast. She winced once when Kiba let out an accidental belch, but otherwise said nothing to make anyone else uncomfortable about their more casual approach to the social graces. She'd barely said anything at all, and it wasn't like Naruto hadn't tried.

He paused briefly from munching his way down a piece of shrimp when the door opened.

Sakura had refused to eat much of anything and had wandered downstairs some time ago. Now she was back with both Itachi and Kurenai in tow. Her face was flushed, as if she was feverish, and she kept one arm pressed to her belly.

Hinata laid her bowl down without as much as a click on the lacquered foot. "Sakura-san, um, are you…?"

The teachers were conversing haltingly and in tones too quiet for him to make sense of the discussion. Kurenai continued nodding as Itachi spoke, continuing the conversation that had begun on the stairs.

When he finished, all she said was, "Is that all? I'll take it from here," and then pushed Sakura gently in the direction of the bathroom.

Itachi inclined his head slightly, muttered his thanks, and fled.

"I think it would be best if you boys went to take advantage of the baths for the next half an hour or so," Kurenai said.

"We're not done eating!" Kiba complained, his mouth full and his face deep in a soup bowl.

"You're close enough, so right now, please," she said. "Hinata, would you be able to lend Sakura some of your supplies? I didn't pack any."

Hinata wiped her mouth daintily and nodded, padding to the corner of the room that held her pack. Kiba opened his mouth to start complaining again, looked at his teacher, the empty place that had held Sakura's teacher, and then to where Hinata was rummaging around in her bag of toiletries, whereupon he quickly reached the correct conclusion. "Right. Baths. Great plan."

"Kurenai-sensei, what's wrong with Sakura-chan? Is she sick? Is it serious? Should we head back to—" Naruto said, standing up to brush bits of rice and sesame seeds from his lap.

Kiba grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt, dragging him bodily down the hall. "She'll probably be fine by the time the exam starts. It's girl stuff."

Shino and Sasuke exchanged brief glances and followed their teammates, who had simultaneously figured out why Kiba was in such a hurry to leave the women to their mysteries.

Naruto wiggled his way out of Kiba's grasp and readjusted his shirt when they reached the covered walkway that separated the sleeping quarters from the bathing area. "What do you know about girl stuff?"

"Between my mom, my older sister, and my grandma, I'm the only human guy in the house. Believe me, I know more than I ever wanted to learn in a hundred years," Kiba said, wrinkling his nose. "You know how most women like to make out that they're beautiful and perfect and naturally just smell like flowers all the time? It's lies. It's all lies."

"Wha—what's happening to her?" Naruto asked, looking beseechingly at his companions.

"If you weren't paying attention last year in sex ed, I am not filling in the gaps for you," Sasuke declared.

"Come on, please, I'm worried about her. She looked awful."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, then cupped his hand against Naruto's ear to explain.

Naruto's eyes went wider and wider under the flickering torchlight. "Out of her… oh my god—how much are we talking about here?" he shrieked.

The window above slid open with a snap and Kurenai leaned out, looking peeved. "You. Bath. Now," she ordered.

-ooo-

The baths were well-kept and very popular with travelers, although given the generally lousy weather this evening there were few taking advantage of them. The stars and moon were hidden behind a thick smear of clouds, and the torches hissed under the infrequent dribbles of rain.

The four genin approached the counter to rent robes and towels, although Shino hung back with his face shoved even more firmly into his collar than usual. "Hey, you can't bring a dog in there!" the attendant said, as Kiba held out a few coins.

"He's a ninken... and smarter than most of the kids you'd let in here," he said. "He's not going to piss in it."

"No. Dogs," the attendant insisted. "I don't care if he can recite epic poetry, the drains are going to clog something horrible."

"He can stay out here with me," Shino offered. "I have decided I am going for a walk."

Kiba sighed and removed the puppy from his head. Akamaru got up on his hind legs to paw at the tops of Kiba's sandals, complaining about the unfairness of this in a high-pitched whine. "Sorry, I tried. Stay with Shino, okay? I won't be in here long."

He trotted obediently to stand next to the Aburame, plopping down on his haunches and sighing piteously. "You are perfectly capable of walking," Shino said, looking down.

Akamaru's response was to lie down and wiggle on to his back, sticky his stubby legs in the air.

"No," Shino said. "You know Hinata and I will neither pick you up nor pet you if you insist on rolling around in dead birds. I do not care how fascinating your littermates would find it; your odor is offensive."

With that declaration, he turned back the way he had come to make a round of the island on which the inn rested.

The bath attendant was now more than happy to accept their money, and the three of them made their way back to the changing area. "Why isn't Shino coming with us?" Naruto asked, as he pushed his way past the curtains. He stripped, tossed his things onto a bench, and began scrubbing off the road grime under the ancient taps. "Does he not like onsen? Who doesn't like onsen?"

"He likes onsen just fine," Kiba explained, as he wadded up his own things in a basket and shoved it back on the shelf. "Just not... ones this public. He knows I wouldn't care, but I don't think he wanted to deal with the rest of you guys freaking out on him once he's naked."

"So his bugs really live under—" Naruto began.

"Yeah."

"And so he's covered in little holes for them to—"

"Yeah."

"Gross!" Naruto all but shrieked, and even Sasuke paused from his ferocious cleaning to make a disgusted face.

"Aaand that's why he isn't in here with us," Kiba finished, and bared his teeth in something that wasn't quite a smile. "Just remember his kikaichu probably saved your butts back in the Forest of Death, hmm?"

Shikamaru, Chōji, Neji, and Lee had finished eating earlier and were already in the pool, in opposite ends, talking quietly with their respective teammates. The sides for men and women were separated by a bamboo fence drooping with vines, although from the silence the women's side appeared to be empty. Chōji and Lee said hello, and Shikamaru raised his hand slightly in greeting but otherwise didn't move. Neji said nothing at all, turning away from the curtains in the doorway of the locker rooms and brushing a lock of his hair over his forehead.

"Kurenai-sensei kicked us out of the room for a while," Kiba explained. "They're doing secret girl stuff in there now. How's the water?"

"Nice," Chōji answered. "I wish we got to relax like this on every mission. The food here was great, too."

"We're not here on vacation," Sasuke reminded him, as he slipped into the milky water. "So don't get too used to it. They don't have these on the other side of the mountains."

Naruto got in with a splash, drenching the boys already in the pool. Neji, as the closest, got the worst of it. He'd tied vhis long hair atop of his head to keep it from getting wet, an ultimately futile precaution. Wiping the water from his cheeks, he turned to glare at Naruto. "Do you mind?" he said acidly. "I've met monkeys with better manners."

"Heh, sorry Neji," Naruto said, very clearly not. He paddled over to Neji's side. "You can splash me back if you want. Go on. Free shot right in the face."

Neji gave him a look that was usually reserved for the mushy, odiferous things one occasionally had to scrap from the bottom of a sandal sole. "I have no interest in playing children's games with you."

"I do!" Lee announced, and sent a tidal wave of hot water sweeping towards Naruto. This prompted quick and indiscriminate retaliation, and chorus of complaints from everyone else.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled under his breath, finally deigning to peel the wet towel from his eyes and raise his head from the lip of the pool. "Me and Chōji got in here to get away from you crazy people. Naruto, you splash me again and I'm shadow-possessing you into kissing Sasuke. On the lips."

"What?" Naruto screeched. "That is so nasty on so many levels!"

"Find a corner and hold still, and you won't have to worry about it, will you?" Sasuke said, who'd gotten water up his nose thanks to his brother's horseplay and was now in a twitchy temper.

Defeated by Shikamaru's unparalleled tactical skill, Naruto settled gamely against the wall near Lee. Neji eyed him warily, as he resumed the conversation speculating on the specifics of the exam with his teammate, but Naruto kept mercifully still and silent.

After a few minutes of listening politely, Naruto raised his mouth out of the water and said, "That's a cool tattoo on your forehead. What's it for?"

Neji's expression went icy, and even Lee, who was almost pathologically difficult to embarrass, started looking uncomfortable. Everyone else's conversations trickled to a halt.

"If there was ever any doubt, I think you've made it quite clear that the Uchiha genius is thoroughly nature, not nurture," Neji said into the sudden silence. "Why the Head's family took you in I can't even begin to guess. You're a taint to the Uchiha name."

"Neji, I do not believe he meant any—" Lee began.

"How about me and Naruto get dressed and meet you in back of the garden shed in ten minutes?" Sasuke said, cutting off Lee's attempt to restore the peace. His sharingan was blazing in the torchlight. "Then we can show you why."

"Guys, come on," Chōji piped up. "A little sparring is one thing, but you shouldn't be all-out fighting on the way to the Exams. You'll be hurting your teams' chances, not just yourselves."

Sasuke sneered over his shoulder at Chōji, but had to bow to his very good point.

"Tch. I'm done," Neji said, levering himself out and grabbing his towel. "I want you to understand that I am going back upstairs and to bed solely out of consideration for my team. But if I cross paths with any Uchiha during the Exams... let's just say I've heard serious injuries happen quite frequently. Especially to the less experienced genin."

"I bet you're all talk!" Naruto called after him. "What're you gonna do? Take that stick out of your butt and try to beat him with it? We're gonna kick your ass!"

Neji looked back for a moment, and swung the curtains closed so forcefully the rod fell from its clips and clattered on to the paving stones.

As soon as he was sure the Hyūga had gone, Naruto climbed out of the pool as well. He dried off and dressed in one of the inn's robes, tucking his clothes under his arm. The door to the double room was slightly open, and Naruto judged it safe to enter again. Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten were sharpening their weapons and nibbling on pieces of chocolate from a large bar in the center of the table. "Sakura-chan... um, are you feeling better?" he asked, hanging on the doorframe. "You looked like you had a pretty bad stomachache before."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, blushing slightly. "Kurenai-sensei gave me some medicine for it. I didn't mean to cause such a scene."

"That's good," Naruto said, relieved. "I was afraid you'd be too sick to enter the Exams, and we need you."

"Hey Naruto, you can come in, it's not like this is the girls-only room," Tenten said, reaching over into her 'to-do' pile.

"W-would you like some chocolate, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, her voice almost inaudible over the steady snick-snick-snick of the whetstone against one of Tenten's many, many blades.

"Sure," he said, folding down in the empty space between Sakura and Hinata. He broke off a large piece and put it in his mouth, crunching happily. "Neji's your cousin, right Hinata?"

"Mm. Our fathers were identical twins."

"Do you know what that green cross thingy on his head is for? He got really mad at me when I asked him. Like, really, really mad."

Hinata let out an unhappy squeak and her fidgeting hands went abruptly still.

Tenten stopped the steady rhythm of her sharpening to look slack-jawed at Naruto.

"It's... I... I don't think I... " Hinata mumbled, so miserable she was tripping over the words.

Tenten put down the kunai and wiped her oily hands on the rag by her knees. "It's the Branch Family's curse. The Caged Bird seal," she said quietly, when Hinata failed to put together a coherent sentence. Beside her, Hinata's head dipped in shame, reluctant to meet anyone's eyes. "What it was supposed to do is protect their byakugan from thieves when they died. But a while ago one of the Hyūga clan heads added something else, so the seal goes past their eyes and right into their brains. Any time anyone from the Main House wants, they just have to make a special handsign, and the seal lights up. Neji told me it feels like a lightning storm inside his head. It can even kill him, if it's held open for long enough."

Sakura gasped, looking to Hinata, whose fists were clenched so tightly on the fabric of her pants that her arms where trembling. "If your fathers were twins, that would make Neji Hyūga-sama's nephew. Why would he do something like that to his own family? And does that mean you could—"

"I wouldn't do that to him, not ever!" Hinata said, forcefully and without faltering. "I wouldn't do it to anyone," she continued in a softer voice. "W-whenever I saw my father use it on Neji, or the other Branch House members, it hurt so much it felt like I'd swallowed poison.

"I think... I think you Uchiha did it the right way." She smiled briefly at Naruto. "You don't have any masters or servants in your clan, unless people choose to be. The best Uchiha shinobi can get whatever training or techniques they want. Destiny doesn't choose who'll lead you. You do. But it..." she sighed. "It'll never be that way in the Hyūga."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Because the Clan Head wouldn't..."

Naruto rubbed at his nose. "She would once you are the Clan Head," he said, as if this were the most obvious solution in the world. "Then you could tell everybody what to do. And if you said 'no more Caged Bird seals for anyone ever again', they'd have to do what you say, right?"

"B-but I'm not actually going to be…"

"Hinata," Sakura interrupted. "I'm sorry if I'm sticking my nose into something that isn't my business, but I overheard you talking with your team while Sasuke was delirious. Is it true your father is disinheriting you unless you make it to the third stage of the Exams?"

She nodded. "Unless he sees me win my first arena fight, I'll have shamed the clan, so..."

"What. The. Hell?" Naruto blurted out. "Is he nuts? Hardly any rookies make it that far on their first try. Did you ask Neji to help you? He seems like a huge jerk, but Sasuke said he was the best in his class last year. I bet he could teach you tons, if he wanted to."

"Neji-niisan… doesn't like me very much," Hinata admitted. "But he's very strong. He… he would probably be a better fighter than my father, if he was allowed to learn the Main House secret techniques."

"I don't know you very well yet, but I'm pretty sure l like you," Tenten announced. "Neji's just... he's only nasty to people who don't deserve it because the one person who does deserve it, he can't go after."

"Hold up, hold up," Naruto said, gesturing with his open palms for silence. "I'm kinda slow, so let me know if I've got this screwed up. You're the first Hyūga clan heir in a million years who wants to stop this Main House-Branch House crap once and for all. Your dad is going to kick you to the curb because he doesn't think you're strong enough. The kid who is strong enough, and who gets zapped by your dad whenever he sticks a toe out of line, is too busy being a mean-spirited, whiny, prissy princess to even given you the time of day, never mind help you train. For a genius, Neji's not too bright, is he."

He waited a few seconds. Tenten looked like she was about to contradict him. She didn't.

"Maybe I can try talking to him again," she said. "He's probably closer to me than any of his own family, 'specially after his mom got tired of the special brand of Hyūga crazy and bolted. Deep down, I really don't think he's a bad guy. He just kind of… gave up." She looked up at Hinata. "But if you can throw him a lifeline… who knows?

"You'd do that?" Hinata whispered, her fingers pressed lightly to her lips.

"Sure thing," Tenten said. "Besides, missions would be a lot more fun if he wasn't moping about 'destiny this' and 'Main House that' all the freaking time. He's been really unhappy for as long as we've been friends, so if I can help, I'd like to try. Lee would too. Neither of us likes seeing him so depressed all the time."

"Naruto-kun… Tenten-san… thank you. Thank you so much."