Like they said, there's nothing as rewarding as feedback.

Seriously, you guys don't know what it means to me to read your reviews. I especially love those who try to guess at the pairings and the politics. It gives me an insight of what I'm doing as an author and whether I'm conveying my meaning clearly enough.

Heh, I feel very stupid getting all fuzzy over 20 reviews. But whatever.

My goal is to hit 30 reviews this time within 24 hours… YOSH!

BTW- I might have mentioned this before but I repeat. Please view my story in 3/4 format. Stylistically, it looks better and it's how I envisioned my story to look like on browser windows.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Dedication: To my reviewers. Certainly. Obviously. Naturally.

As Far As Innocence Goes

Chapter 11

"Onii-san." Although he tried his best to look casual and impassive, there was no mistaking the light in Sasuke's eyes or the softening in his expression.

It was cute, in a very Sasuke way.

"Oh my god!"

Sasuke's smile promptly vanished.

His face twisted into a scowl as he whipped around to glare at his boisterous orange-clad teammate. Although Itachi's own ears were ringing painfully from the loud shout, Itachi couldn't help but be amused as Sasuke began to snarl and even hiss. It was nice… seeing Sasuke behave his age.

"Shut up Naruto!" shouted the girl dressed in garish pink. She blushed when she noticed Itachi's inquisitive eyes.

"Aw, Sakura-chan…"

"Haha Naruto! Still deadlast, aren't you?" Kiba jeered as Akamaru barked.

"You just shut up!" Naruto retorted.

"Shut up Naruto!" the girl hollered again.

"Deadlast, deadlast!" Akamaru seemed almost to bark in time with Kiba's taunts.

Wait just a minute…

It may be appropriate for Kakashi's kids to act like obnoxious brats, but Itachi certainly wasn't going to let his Genin behave that way even if they were Inuzaka. Ignoring Kakashi's own mocking look, Itachi narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth—

Only to blink as Shino's hand snaked out, grabbed the back of Kiba's collar in one long sinuous motion, and jerked the boy backwards. Although his ears couldn't exactly hear what Shino hissed over the noise that the blonde boy and the pink haired girl were still making, whatever it was, it was enough to make Kiba pale and actually settle down.

Even Kakashi looked impressed.

Well, well, well, look what we have here.

Itachi couldn't help but arch an eyebrow smugly at Kakashi, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Hello Uchiha-san…"

While her voice was soft and really almost covered by the din, Itachi heard it. Curious, he looked away from Kakashi, who naturally flicked his eyes away as well. Swiveling their heads, they were both met with the sight of a certain Hyuuga heiress greeting a certain Uchiha brat.

Hm.

What do we have here?

Although Kakashi and Itachi would never know it, at that very moment, both of their eyes had taken on an eerily similar calculative gleam. It was, Shino deduced quietly from his position as an observer, the irrefutable mark of geniuses.

And although Shino would never know it, at that very moment, his eyes had taken on a similar glow as well.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. This was the student that Itachi was taking time to train… time that was surely better off invested on him!

Sasuke was not fond of Team 8 at all. They were mostly second class as far as he was concerned, not even close to Sasuke or the Uchiha Clan's own brilliance. But— even he had to acknowledge that Shino and Kiba had some skill.

The Hyuuga girl?

Che.

A sneer flitted over his face. He opened his mouth to give a cutting remark—

Paused. Glanced over Hinata's head.

Paled.

"… hello," he finally muttered sulkily even as he inwardly shuddered.

Hinata gave a small smile that momentarily distracted Sasuke from his disturbed thoughts. She was, he was surprised to find, surprisingly soft and gentle looking. She sort of looked like his mom from this angle.

Ara?

The moment she looked away however, all thoughts of Hinata and "cute" flew out the window. He glanced over Hinata's head and twitched as he made eye contact with his brother.

Itachi very rarely glared at him. But when he did…

Cold.

Itachi's eyes had carried out a silent order and an implicit threat, and Sasuke had naturally, instinctively obeyed out of fear. ( Hinata, of course, was totally oblivious to the whole exchange.)

Even now, Itachi's eyes still held a deep warning that made Sasuke shift his weight guiltily. It was oppressive and Sasuke felt as if he were pinned against a wall.

He sulkily nodded his head in a silent apology.

After what seemed like an eternity, Itachi's dark eyes slowly and purposefully slid away from Sasuke's own.

Sasuke relaxed slowly… and then immediately hardened. Despite the lingering shivers, Sasuke was twelve, young, immature, and he couldn't resist glaring at Hinata's back resentfully.

Jealously.

"Hey don't scare your otouto too much," Kakashi murmured quietly underneath his breath.

Itachi ignored him even as he forced himself to set aside his irritation. It was surprisingly difficult.

"Sasuke should have known better," Itachi said simply after he was sure all his emotions had been carefully boxed away.

"Ah." Kakashi's tone was carefully neutral. "It couldn't have been because it was that particular chick, could it?"

Itachi was silent.

"Well, well, well, you really are overprotective hen, shielding the little cute chick from the big bad Sasuke hawk— "

"Let's not keep Gai waiting shall we?" Itachi smoothly interrupted, pretending not to notice the way Kakashi's face tightened in barely restrained grimace.

Payback's a bastard in a green jumpsuit.

How amusing.

As Shino kept two kikai focused on Kiba's relatively subdued form, one on Hinata's still too-silent form, three on the escalating brawl that was Team 7, he kept both of his own eyes on the two Jounin.

Although he was too far away to hear or try to lip-read what they were saying, Shino could get a hint of the emotions that were flowing two and fro between the two Jounin. While Itachi-sensei was as polite as always, Shino didn't miss the undercurrents flowing between his Jounin-sensei and Hatake-sensei, despite their impassive faces and black facial masks.

Still, although Shino didn't miss the irritation that was spiking back and forth, Shino thought that were was an unusual sense of camaraderie. Standing next to Hatake-sensei, Itachi-sensei looked relaxed. It was as if, for once, he didn't have to whip out kunai and shruiken out at any given moment. Although he was mature as always, his face had subtly shed the hard mask he always wore and he seemed to implicitly and unconsciously let the older Jounin "mother" him (if that was the right term).

Right then and there, even with all the extraneous irritating elements (cue Naruto), Shino decided that this combined training session was well worth it even if it turned out to be nothing more than an imminent clash between two legendary shinobi with a bit of Maito Gai's famed eccentricities sandwiched in between.

Shino adjusted his sunglasses to hide the amused glint his eyes.

Yes, today would be interesting indeed.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival!"

"Hello Gai," Kakashi drawled in response, his hand already itching to use his orange book as a physical shield against Gai's blinding smile.

"Gah! Kakashi! Why do you have to act so cool!" (*)

Kakashi shrugged and chose instead to observe the humiliated and resigned faces of Team Gai. They were infinitely more amusing to look at than Gai's own visage in Kakashi's opinion. Especially the Hyuuga brat, who looked an interesting mix of mortified, appalled, and yet managed to look stoic all at the same time.

Hyuuga's so called famed impassivity was really overrated. (Kakashi ignored the niggling voice in his head that said after years of observing Uchiha Itachi, most people simply couldn't compare, never mind a thirteen year old genius.)

"How wonderful it is today! For us all to come together to celebrate the glories of youth… and if it isn't Uchiha-san!" Gai exclaimed.

Itachi inclined his head respectfully. "Good afternoon, Gai-san."

"Ah, the power of youth! I swear, Uchiha-san, you look as if you've been touched by Konoha's beautiful lotus herself! Jounin life is agreeing with you, no?"

Itachi gave a tight smile in response. Doing his best to ignore Kakashi's sudden coughs (that sounded suspiciously like chortles), Itachi turned slightly to give a meaningful glance behind him at his shell-shocked students.

Surprisingly enough, it was Kiba who first wiped off his flabbergasted expression.

"Good afternoon Gai-sensei," he said, giving an appropriate bow after a moment's hesitation. Shino and Hinata bowed as well as they echoed his words quietly.

"Good afternoon Gai-sensei," Sasuke murmured quickly if not a bit impulsively, obviously not wanting to be shown up by his brother's team. Sakura, although surprised, followed along willingly and Naruto wasn't about to be left behind either, even if he did execute the bow rather poorly.

Kakashi didn't even bother hiding the self-satisfied glint in his eye. It really was far easier to get others to do the dirty work of teaching correct shinobi etiquette—and besides, it wasn't entirely fair for Itachi to get saddled with three privileged children while Kakashi was left with two barely non-civilian brats.

"Ah, youth! How lovely it is to see their eager expressions and beautiful innocence!" Gai sounded near tears.

Itachi ignored him, focusing instead on a distinctly unfriendly aura that was causing his fingertips to instinctively twitch for a kunai. His eyes drifted from face to face before he finally zeroed in upon a certain Hyuuga.

Ah.

Out of a group of cooperative-albeit-noisy Genin, only his presence was… distasteful. It showed in the tilt of his proud nose and the arrogant turn of his neck.

Itachi decided that he didn't like the little princeling. Even if said princeling noticed his gaze and gave a polite, respectful nod.

Hm.

"Anyway, let's introduce ourselves!" Gai chattered on earnestly. "My name, as many of you probably know, is Maito Gai! People often call me Leaf's Noble Gentleman! You may, of course, call me Gai-sensei!"

Itachi didn't know what was more amusing—Gai's victory pose, Kakashi's appalled twitching, the resigned looks of Gai's Geninor the dismayed expressions on Team 7 and 8.

He settled on all of the above.

"This," and Itachi really was beginning to think that this was all some set up from some crafty god somewhere, "is my disciple Lee!" Gai proclaimed proudly as he reached over and grabbed what looked like a mini replica of himself dressed in the same garish green jumpsuit.

"GOOD AFTERNOON!" the boy boomed.

"This here is Tenten—" a girl with two buns on the top of her hair gave a small wave, "and that there is Neji!"

Neji scowled at the almost pitying looks Team 8 and Team 7 directed at him. He didn't need to pitied by those younger, and more importantly, weaker than himself.

"Ara, ara, your clones look interesting…" Itachi almost snorted at the sheer mockery infused in Kakashi's words.

"They are, aren't they?" Gai preened even as Neji sneered.

Itachi mentally shook his head. Gai, for all his insanity, was a shinobi of the highest caliber. Appearances could be deceiving. For all of the Hyuuga's pompousness, Itachi had to wonder if he really had the skill to back it up.

Speaking of Hyuuga--Itachi inwardly frowned at her expressionless eyes and her tightly clenched fingers. While Itachi had been somewhat succesful in grooming out that irritating habit of poking her fingers together, there were times Itachi caught her clenching her hands tightly in an effort to calm herself.

"Anyway, my name is Hatake Kakashi. You may call me Kakashi. That's Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke," Kakashi drawled as he lazily pointed at the respective Genin. Sasuke nodded politely as Sakura, who had been refraining from throttling Naruto for a good five minutes, gave a shy sweet smile and a giggle while she stepped on Naruto's foot casually. Naruto winced and wisely refrained from launching into a speech about being the next Hokage.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. You may call me Itachi-sensei." Itachi paused, and then gave a side glance at Shino.

"My name is Aburame Shino," Shino said smoothly. "This is Inuzaka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata. Pleased to meet your acquaintances."

"What beautiful cooperation! I never knew you had it in you Uchiha-san! Why, it's almost similar to Lee and my own relationship!"

Itachi decided Shino's look of revulsion was more than enough to convey both of their disgust.

"So, sensei, what are we doing today?" the orange-clad blonde boy questioned as he danced away from his teammate's fists (Itachi's mind mentally supplied the names Naruto and Sakura).

Itachi exchanged a look with Kakashi and Gai thoughtfully. They hadn't actually planned beforehand.

Just as Kakashi was about to suggest a simple training exercise, Itachi's eye took on an aggressive gleam.

Uh oh.

"Since it's not often that we are able to get together like this, I think a bit of sparring would be educational."

The clearing erupted into enthusiastic shouts and smirks, the only exception being a certain terrified Hyuuga.

"What a wonderful idea Uchiha-san! The power of youth must truly be burning deep within you!" Gai crowed.

Kakashi was not pleased.

"I thought we agreed to a combined training session," Kakashi hissed underneath his breath as he dragged Itachi into a discreet corner.

"Sparring can be training too," Itachi replied evenly, even as he carefully watched Kiba and Naruto argue good-naturedly over Kakashi's shoulder.

"It's dangerous," Kakashi stressed.

"I never thought I'll hear that from you," Itachi said dryly.

Kakashi refused to be intimidated. "These are Genin, fresh out of the Academy. They are in no position to be doing anything as dangerous as full out spar."

"You act as if the world will wait for them," Itachi replied lowly, the unsaid 'you of all people should know better' lingering in the air.

"They weren't trained the way we were Itachi," Kakashi countered even as his voice suddenly sounded weary and tired.

They have emotions that we didn't have at their age.

Itachi tilted his head in assent. Nonetheless his voice had a determined quality to it. "You're about to have your first C-mission, and you won't even let your team spar?" Itachi continued. "You can't protect them forever Hatake."

And besides… I want to see exactly how Sasuke measures up.

"You can't expect them to be as rational as we are," Kakashi hissed even as he glanced at Sasuke's taut competitive face and Neji's own bitter one.

"This is also more than a simple spar Itachi," Kakashi urged. "You don't just throw Uchiha, Hyuuga, Inuzaka, and Aburame into one area and call it a 'spar'!"

"It'll be better to keep trouble within the family," Itachi quoted an old saying. "Outsiders have no business meddling with Konohagukare affairs."

Kakashi didn't miss the implied Chuunin Exams. What worried him was the way Itachi had utilized "Konohagakure".

He'd utilized the formal term, the political term.

"You really are that worried about Danzo, aren't you?" Kakashi murmured.

Itachi suddenly looked tired. Much too tired than a seventeen year old ought to look.

Kakashi finally sighed. "I suppose we are close enough to medical facilities," he muttered quietly.

Itachi's bowed head, just a fraction lower than a casual tilt, was his only indication of thanks.

Author's Notes:

Gah. This chapter was difficult to write. Fun, of course, but difficult.

Yes, many of you would probably be surprised by the sheer amount of detail in each of their every action. My goal for As Far As Innocence Goes isn't just to explore each character's limits, but also to explore the shinobi lifestyle, culture, and mindset. Hopefully I was able to successfully incorporate the subtle nuances and etiquette of being a shinobi of Konohagakure into their interactions.

Hopefully it'll become clearer once I incorporate shinobi from other villages (such as Suna and the Sound) into this.

Originally ASAIG was meant to mostly a romance story. However, although I know some of you may protest, I've decided to consider ASAIG as more of a drama, action packed story with lots of romantic overtones rather than romance story with action/dramatic overtones. It's more fun this way for me at least, and other characters like Shino and Kakashi get to be more thoroughly explored.

(*) Is a direct quote from the anime.

Sasuke and Sakura? Over my dead body—not until I feel it's justified. I have no exact planned pairings, but there are some I am leery to touch simply due to the fact they're cliché, over-utilized, and abused beyond all belief… And the fact I think if Sakura ever really dated Sasuke it'll actually be bad for her. As Far As Innocence Goes is meant to be a refreshing bit of fanfiction in the midst of all the junk and jewels on this site. I think there are enough well-written SasuSaku fics out there without AFAIG needing to join the pack, just like I think there aren't enough Itahina fics out there.

Itachi's respect for Gai? If you look at canon, you can see multiple instances where Itachi warns the other Akatsuki of Maito Gai's strength. 'nough said.

And yes Kakashi is a hypocrite. And damned proud of it. It's his shameless qualities that make him such a joy to write.

Itachi and Kakashi's relationship. Yes, this is being thoroughly explored here. Kudos to anyone who pick up the hints.

Well, folks I hope there is enough humor, because next chapter will be solely packed with fight scenes. And those can get a bit bloody…

I am patiently awaiting the poll results…

REVIEW. GOLDEN CYCLE… happy reviewers makes a happy author which makes more chapters which makes happy reviewers which makes a happy author… and on and on and on…

Even a short "I love it" makes me happy. =D

ADVERTISEMENT: I have a new sasuhina fiction called Pandemonium coming out. Please look for it. =D