"You are a goddamn idiot," Kakashi informed him as soon as they were behind closed doors. This was not the first time and would probably not be the last time Sauske's old sensei had said as much to him. And perhaps, in this case, for once, it was somewhat justified. Things tonight had so quickly spiraled out of his control that Sasuke was not even sure exactly at what point he had made a misstep, but it was clear he had thoroughly fucked this up.

"We were worried," Naruto argued. Because Naruto was an idiot who thought intentions mattered. That the fact that they had had Harry's best interests at heart made a damn bit of difference as to whether or not they had thoroughly screwed up the mission.

Kakashi did not even grace him with a response. The four of them stood stiffly just inside the entrance to their quarters. Sakura hadn't said a word since returning late, but she seemed to have some idea of what had happened. She had positioned herself carefully not on either side, but the fact that she wasn't standing with her teammates spoke loudly enough. Naruto meanwhile had his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket and his shoulders hunched forward as if he thought he could somehow hide within the orange monstrosity. Sasuke at least had the dignity to stand up straight under this. He even resisted the urge to rub at his dominant hand as if the stupid thing hurt. This was hardly the first time he had hit someone and it wasn't even the first time he had hit his cousin. They had been sparring together for months now, and even if Sasuke was being very careful with him, he still had to lightly strike him occasionally to show where his openings were. That was how you learned and it had never bothered Sasuke before.

And while Naruto slouched and Sasuke refused to, Kakashi-sensei stood very straight and tall and stared at Sasuke with the kind of focus he rarely showed when someone wasn't dying.

Sasuke scowled back. No one was dying. No one that mattered, anyway. Harry was going to be perfectly safe. Even if Sasuke did have to force him into it and even if it did mean that his cousin hated him. It did not matter if Sasuke had perhaps not handled the argument out on the lawn the way he should have. He was self-aware enough to admit that perhaps Naruto may have had a point. That you simply could not deal with a non-nin the way you would a nin. Disagreements and arguments had to be handled differently. It was so rare for Sasuke to even have to have an argument with a civilian, much less about a security issue, that perhaps he had not handled it as well as he could have. He certainly did not need Kakashi to tell him as much.

"What were you thinking?" Kakashi demanded. And it was not a rhetorical question. Kakashi did not waste his time on pointless questions.

"Someone is using him," Sasuke replied as calmly and levelly as he could when the very thought made him want to melt things into slag.

"Of course someone is! Do you think any of these people would waste this much time protecting someone who wasn't useful? Do you think the Hokage sent us out here for someone who wasn't useful?"

Naruto gaped at that, and the look of sheer stupidity on his face made Sasuke flush even more at the implication he had been just as stupid. That he had been even remotely as foolish as to have also thought Harry could be more than just a tool to these people.

Naruto, being yet an even greater idiot, tried to argue the point. Kakashi cut him off before he could even get further than the first vulgar outburst. "Not now, Uzamiki!" he snapped. "If you want to wax poetically about how things should be, then perhaps first you should take pains not to royally fuck the whole mission!"

"I cannot protect him if I cannot control him!" Sasuke snapped back. It did not matter if Sasuke could or could not have done better at handling Harry's emotional responses to things if Sasuke could not manage the basics of knowing where the hell his cousin was at all times and keeping him away from danger in the first place. Being kind or gentle would not matter if Harry was dead.

"And you're doing such an excellent job of that." Kakashi sneered back. The stark derision was far more effective than it ever should have been. Kakashi-sensei normally could not be bothered to do more than mutter deadpan sarcastic remarks. On occasion, he managed dire warnings that if you were going to be stupid enough to mess something up, then he was not going to take responsibility for it. He so rarely lost his temper.

And just like a highly trained nin, when he did lose his temper, he did not lash out or hit. Physical disagreements were effective in settling minor disputes between nin and maybe Sasuke had forgotten that that was not the way to handle a stubborn civilian. Real arguments between nin however were silent and still and full of the promise of much more significant violence that would be so swift and final that there wouldn't be any tussling about like school boys.

"Did you even manage to gather any form of intel before you alienated our most important access point?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Sasuke scowled. He wanted to be able to say yes but they both knew he had not. Kakashi was right, only a fool would assume that there were no powers at play, even among civilians like this. And of course Harry was right in the thick of it. It had been unacceptably naïve to think Harry would not get caught up in it.

"What did you find?" Naruto demanded. Which sounded terribly childish at first, until Sasuke realized Naruto was actually staring at the other man with the kind of focus usually reserved for new jutsus and ramen bowls. He wasn't trying to turn this argument around on their teacher in some kind of schoolyard taunt. He legitimately thought Kakashi had something.

The hesitation must have shown on Sasuke's face because Naruto rolled his eyes. "He's never here and he took off the second we told him Harry was missin'. He's got some kind of trick, don't ya, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi mimicked Naruto's body language, shoulders rounding suddenly as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Sounds like far too much work," he demurred. "But one of us had to do something, I suppose."

Goddamn bastard. Sasuke clenched his teeth but kept his mouth shut. Kakashi-sensei loved riling him up and would not hesitate to use this to torment him if Sasuke raised to the bait. And sure enough, there was one eye peeking up at Sasuke waiting for something.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined in the kind of piercing tone of voice better suited to their childhood years. It was a blatant attempt at manipulation and if it was any other nin, they would have gotten nowhere with it. But for some reason people liked annoying things when Naruto was the one to do them.

"Fine, fine," Kakashi relented. "While you were busy estranging what should have been our best source of information, I've been making good use of my own insider information source."

"You what?" So much for this being a team assignment!

"Problem, Sasuke-kun?" Kakshi asked.

Hell yes it was, but apparently Kakashi was determined to teach him some kind of lesson by saying inflammatory things and then threatening to withhold vital mission information if Sasuke gave him an honest reaction to it. They had all already agreed that things had not been handled well. There was no need to carry on about something that could not be changed.

"No, sir," Sasuke replied with far more forced civility than he ever used.

"Good. We aren't the only players in this game. The old man has spies of his own, I'm sure and so does our enemy. And so do we."

Naruto frowned. "You mean someone other than us?"

"Why, Naruto! You three are just students. Clearly, there is no spying going on on your side of things."

"Who then?" Sasuke asked but all he got in response was a narrowed eyes look, like an affronted cat offended that he would even ask such a question. Fine. Kakashi could keep his source a secret. "What then?" he demanded instead. Because there was no point in bringing this up now unless it had paid off somehow.

Kakashi made them wait for it, drawing out the silence for dramatic effect or just to further tweak Sasuke or just because Kakashi liked to be annoying. Who knew. "The old man is looking for something. Likely a weapon. And one of his best sources of information was murdered immediately after the visit by your dear cousin."

"Not during?" Sasuke asked immediately. Harry wouldn't tell him anything. And if Harry had been there, either as another potential victim or even worse a perpetrator, Sasuke was going to have to do something. He was not sure what that something was, but it was going to have to be major.

"No," Kakashi confirmed, for once not drawing it out or making Sasuke work for it. "The timing was close. One might even suspect intentional. It would have been helpful to know what Harry knows."

Naruto huffed. "Not likely. Even before Sasuke-kun lost his temper, Harry was acting shifty as hell and not talkin' about nothin'."

Kakashi nodded. "Gag order?"

Most likely and Sasuke scowled at the very notion.

Kashi nodded. "Honey likely would have worked better than vinegar in that case, but I suppose we will have to make do with the mess we have left. It wasn't a wizard."

Sasuke's stomach dropped as sharply as if he had fallen off a cliff edge again. "What?"

"How?" Naruto added sharply. He did not miss the implications. Bad enough that they had to worry about some crazy magic user going after Harry as part of a long drawn out vendetta. They were already stretched too thin to also add in a possible body-snatcher nin on the hunt.

"My source was quite…insistent. No wizard did that. Apparently, it was a bit too violent for their tastes. They prefer their murders to be esoteric rather than visceral. They're still unclear on motive, but considering nothing was taken, and the timing, one would have to assume information was the goal."

"About Harry?" Naruto fretted.

"Or whatever Harry is helping seek, which means almost the same thing."

Sasuke's fists clenched. Part of him may have felt like the worst kind of filth for putting that frightened look on his cousin's face, but a whole other part of him was clamoring to go find the other boy right this moment and shake him until he saw sense. This was not just an abstract possible threat of the unknown or even the constant hovering low level threat that had been hounding Harry all of these years. This was a very immediate, focused danger and Harry needed to understand that. "I should have pushed harder."

"You should have been less of an idiot, but I suppose there's no helping that!" Kakashi snapped. "From now on, you follow orders, do you understand Uchiha? I do not want you putting hands on that boy unless there is a clear and present danger. Or I will pull you off this mission."

"And what the hell do you call this?"

"Playing the long game! Not a childish tantrum. We have more threats than we knew about. Rushing in blindly will help no one. Keep your head down and your eyes open and try to pretend that you know how to run an undercover mission. I will manage Potter from now on," Kakashi announced and that more than anything made Sasuke feel like someone had hit him hard enough to knock him off his feet. It was one thing for Harry to become difficult, but to be sidelined when it was his own cousin's life on the line was inconceivable. Harry was his responsibility. Not someone else's.

Kakashi huffed sharply before turning away just enough that Sasuke would not feel like he was being watched. "You are too close to this, Uchiha." It was blunt and cold and as close to being sympathetic as the two of them ever managed. "This may be a new situation for you, but it's the same old problem. You have got to learn how to balance your personal and professional demands. Before you get your cousin killed."