This is short-- I'm sorry and thank you guys for being patient-- but next chapter I should be switching over to the Akatsuki and other children to talk about what they're doing

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Sasuke sat in the Hatake household on a barstool in the kitchen. The silver-haired man had cut him loose from his bindings and was now preparing them both some lunch. Sasuke was rubbing at his poor arms, rope burns not completely healed. After all, he was still a possible threat in the village's eyes. They couldn't be healing him fully while their Kage had just been shot down.

Kakashi handed him over a bowl of miso soup, freshly prepared. The leaf ninja smiled at him, "There you go."

Sasuke took it, nearly gagging at how fake the other's actions were. Tch, and to think, sensei thought he was bad at expressing himself. Ignoring this, Sasuke moved to drink the soup. He didn't particularly like miso, but it was better than an empty stomach. He drank it in one fell swoop, just as he had for years.

Bits and pieces of the soup littered his mouth as he took it down, wiping it on his sleeve as he felt a bit dribble against his cheek. Growing up in a house full of loud and excitable men didn't give Sasuke the best mannerisms to look up to. Itachi, Konan, and Sasori could only teach him so much in terms of manners.

Sasuke noticed Kakashi giving him a mildly amused look, so the teen sent him a glare. Kakashi mused, "You're quite messy, aren't you?" he hummed in his fake-sweet attitude.

The ravenette only crossed his arms, shooting back, "You're quite judgemental, aren't you?"

A hearty laugh pulled him from his confident pose. Why was this other man laughing? Cocky bastard. "Oh, cut the crap. I'm not here to discuss table manners." Sasuke scowled, standing from his chair to send a fierce glare into Kakashi's now bored eyes. "What do I need to do to be let go of? Or rather, how much longer will this investigation take place? I have better places to be."

Kakashi's pretend face of shits and giggles had faulted, and the silver-haired man was only eyeing Sasuke with a none caring look now. "You lied to the nurses. You don't live on your own, and you are in some way connected to this assassination. You won't be released until we figure out if you're relation is a mere victim, or something more."

Sasuke had to admit, the man's bluntness was a bit startling. He kept his calm, however-- his homeroom sensei had taught him better than to be too free with his wording near enemies. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Kakashi-kun." his words echoing with arrogance despite his gut screaming at him to shut the hell up.

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Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the boy's tone. Such a saucy boy he seemed to be. His eyes quickly returned into their infuriatingly happy selves, the man straightening up. "If you say so, kiddo." the man not missing a beat as he headed out of the kitchen and into the living room, not bothering to guard Sasuke nearly as harshly as he had promised the ANBU he would.

After all, why would he bother doing so to his dear subordinate's little brother?

Kakashi had held his suspicions that he was Itachi's younger brother back in the woods when he had seen the way the boy moved. It was that same slick and precise strategy that set him off first-- the boy using moves he knew for a fact the Uchiha had prided. Then, seeing him in the hospital bed, his pale skin and dark black eyes, he fit the profile.

The thing that had set it off, however, was that damn attitude. His stoicism matched Itachi perfectly, with a dash of that firey Uchiha spirit sprinkled in. It would be amusing, that he thought he could get away with it, if not for the time in which he had come.

Kakashi hated to think about it, but while he did love his Itachi as a younger comrade, the boy had committed genocide. Even if it seemed impossible, thinking of the sweet little ANBU boy he had taken under his wing, it was undoubtedly. Sasuke had been found soaking in the blood of his clan, in hysterics over the fact his beloved brother would do such a thing.

He hated linking people to their families and giving them titles-- he did-- but he had to admit that Sasuke was a huge suspect for the assassination. Even if he did seem to be nothing more than an overly skilled teen, so had Itachi. No one would have thought the young Uchiha heir would have ended ninja thirty years his seniors, yet he had. He couldn't make the same mistake and underestimate Sasuke, though that didn't mean he would need to be too decisive about it. He wouldn't be needlessly cruel to the boy, but he wouldn't lower his guard. He had to keep an eye out, even if he couldn't help but feel sad as he thought of his old comrade.

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As Kakashi left, Sasuke straightened up a bit. He didn't seem to be watching him very closely, so perhaps this would be a good chance to escape.

No, he quickly changed his mind, he needed to build the man's trust first. That's what would be best. If he tried to flee now, he would have leaf ninja on him from all angles. If he took it slowly, however, he could let himself heal and be on the move when the man trusted him more. Sasuke never did like playing on other people's emotions, but it was necessary at times, he supposed.

The teen stood, leaving the bowl in the sink, and made his way around the house. It would be good to know the enemy territory since he was stuck in it for a bit.

He moved into all the rooms, peaking around. Nothing looked too strange-- the basic house, he supposed. It was small compared to his own, but then, he did live in the Akatsuki base. This house only had two rooms, one bathroom, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a training room. It didn't look like Kakashi had a front or back yard worth checking out.

There wasn't much decoration, but it was somewhat clean at least. The only room that seemed to have any personality was the one in which he assumed Kakashi slept. It had an old ANBU mask on the wall and some framed photos of an older ninja on the wall. He had grey hair, so Sasuke assumed he and Kakashi were related. It wasn't like natural grey hair was all that common.

It was the photo on the end table that caught his attention, though. A young Kakashi was standing next to a young Uchiha boy and a rather bland looking girl. He said Uchiha, but that was only an assumption based on his uniquely dark eyes. The only thing making him doubt himself was that smile. Uchiha never smiled that wide, not once they aged past the age of ten or so.

The Uchiha boy wasn't what had caught his eye, however. It was the man standing over them. He had bright blonde hair, with the same shape as Narutos. He tilted his head a bit with a scrunch of his face. Looking into the man's similar blue eyes, Sasuke almost scoffed. No way that loser was even on the Fourth Hokage's radar, let alone related to him.

Sasuke noticed a few other photos ranging around the room but didn't have time to check them out as he heard Kakashi's footsteps. Well practiced in escaping a room without notice, thanks to his constant curiosity about what Neji was doing, he slipped out of the room and quietly moved the other way. Tch, figured he'd get stuck with one of the only people in the village who was at risk of recognizing him.