Chapter 2: The Elder's Decision
Sasuke rushed to the normal meeting place for Team 7. He just knew he would be the last one to show up, which was rare for the top rookie. He saw that Sakura and Naruto were already there and slowed his pace to a walk, not wanting to look like he was in as much of a rush as he was. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked at a nonchalant pace for the rest of the distance. Sakura heard him coming and turned to wave and smile at him.
"Sasuke-kun!! Good morning!" Sasuke almost twitched at her over excited greeting. Sometimes her obsession with him and her never ending quest to impress him got on his nerves. Usually he was able to just tune her out, much like he did Naruto, but sometimes even Uchiha Sasuke had bad days. And this was one of them.
Sasuke walked past her without a word as she continued to happily spout question after question at him. He tried to ignore her but even her voice was starting to grate on his nerves. All he wanted was to see Kakashi, but the teacher had yet to arrive apparently. This only made Sasuke's mood even worse.
Naruto was seated on the ground, legs stuck out in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. He glared up at his rival and Sasuke in turn glared back as he walked past him. "You're getting to be as bad as Kakashi-sensei."
"Shut up stupid..." Sasuke mumbled as he picked a spot on the railing and leaned his back against it.
Naruto was about to jump up and pick a fight when Kakashi finally arrived. "Yo.." he said simply, holding up one hand as he walked up from the opposite direction that Sasuke had come.
"You're late!" Sasuke and Naruto shouted. Sasuke just looked at Kakashi from the corner of his eye as the other two voiced their disapproval of Kakashi's late entrance.
"so what is our mission today? Protecting the ruler of a nearby village? Saving a kidnapped child from a mob of vicious ninjas?" Naruto jumped to his feet and looked at Kakashi hopefully.
Kakashi shook his head, "No missions today."
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, some hope flooding his body that they would have the day off and he could maybe go back to bed. That would make his day a whole lot better.
"Are we going to be training today?" Sakura asked, walking up to stand next to where Sasuke was leaning.
Kakashi shook his head again, "Nope."
"Then what are we doing!?!" Naruto crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.
"Cleaning," Kakashi said, a smile evident beneath the blue mask.
"CLEANING!?!" All three genin piped. Even Sasuke looked at Kakashi shocked. Cleaning was not his idea of a good day.
Kakashi walked past them, "Cleaning." He headed towards the direction of the Hokage's manor. All three of his companions grumbled behind him but followed. They knew there was going to be no arguing over the matter.
They were silent until they started to climb the stairs up to the main offices of the Hokage and the elders. Sasuke's steps slowed a little the higher they got until he fell behind Naruto. He had been here a few weeks earlier when Itachi had shown up suddenly. Both Uchiha's had gone before the council and Sasuke had been shocked to learn that Itachi wanted to stay in Konoha.
"We'll be cleaning out some of the Third's rooms to make room for the new Hokage's things," Kakashi said, breaking through Sasuke's memories.
Naruto whined loudly, "Tsunade-bachan should clean that herself. Why do we have to do it?"
"She requested you specifically Naruto and so the elders made it a group project. Think of it as a mission to move in the new Hokage," Kakashi walked down the hallway towards the rooms that were to be cleaned. Naruto continued to grumble as he walked but didn't push the issue any further.
Kakashi stopped and pulled out a small yellow piece of paper. He looked down at it, "Sakura, you take this room. Naruto the next, and Sasuke the one after that." He looked up from his paper and turned his head to look at his team. "All items need to be packed up and set aside so we can transport them to a storage area." All three groaned but headed to their assigned rooms.
Before Naruto entered his he looked back at Kakashi, "And what are you going to do?""Supervise," Kakashi said, his eyes smiling at them.
"EEEHHH??" Naruto almost fell over. "That's it!?! Why do we have to do all the work??"
"Quit complaining and just do it idiot," Sasuke said, growing tired of Naruto's complaints. He walked into his own room and sighed heavily. This room was full of books. He could hear Naruto yelling at him from outside but he ignored it as he started to walk around the room. He saw several boxes stacked in the corner and assumed those were there for him to fill. He walked past the shelves of books to the window and looked outside. His eyes scanned the village below and they immediately fell on the familiar figure of his brother seated on top of a nearby home. Sasuke glared at the figure below him and almost as if Itachi knew he was being watched, he turned his head to look at the window that Sasuke was in. The glance was brief but enough that Sasuke knew that Itachi knew he was up there. It sent a shiver of fear down his spine. He may hate his brother, but he also feared him.
Sasuke's mind wandered back to the day they had gone before the elders. They had summoned Sasuke and Kakashi to their meeting room. When Sasuke had walked in he had noticed Itachi immediately.
"Itachi..." Sasuke almost spat his name at him as he glared at the brother that had taken everything from him. "What the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke tried to appear calm, but what he really wanted to do was to rush at him and tear out his throat.
"Uchiha Itachi has requested to live in Konoha," the male elder said.
Sasuke's heart almost choked him as he heard these words, "You aren't really considering are you? He'll kill everyone one in the village without a second thought!"
"We have thought about that fact, and according to Itachi, he has no motives for killing anyone in the village," the woman said.
"And you believe him?" Sasuke growled and took a step forward but felt a hand on his shoulder holding him back. He looked up at Kakashi who was staring at Itachi, his eyes serious.
"Please sit down, both of you, so that we may begin the proceedings," the man said.
It was only then that Sasuke realized that Tsunade was also in the room. Kakashi led Sasuke over to a place behind Itachi and slightly to his left, as Sasuke looked at Tsunade, who seemed to be deep in thought.
Once they were seated the elders started. "Uchiha Itachi. We have heard your statement and vow to not harm the village in any way. Although we do not trust you, we want to try. We are providing you with a home that is located just outside the village boundaries that you can consider your own. You are herby permitted to enter and leave Konoha Village at will, but the following restrictions will apply..."
Sasuke leapt to his feet, "I can't believe you are going to just let him run around free!" Shock was written one very inch of his face. "Do you not remember what he did?? Don't you think he will do it again if given the change? This is just the opportunity he needs!"
"Uchiha Sasuke, please sit back down and wait until we are finished before speaking. Otherwise we will have you removed," The female elder said, staring sternly at the youngest of the surviving Uchihas.
Sasuke sat back down slowly, his body trembling a little from the anger that was cursing through him. He felt Kakashi's hand lightly touch the small of his back in an effort to calm him. He looked over at Kakashi but the man beside him was staring straight at the Elders, his eyes still very serious.
The male elder continued, "Itachi. If you don't follow the following restrictions you will be dealt with accordingly. Breaking any of these rules in any way could resulting immediate execution." The elders looked at Itachi to make sure he was listening and understood what they were saying. Itachi merely nodding his head silently, his typical stoic expression upon his face. "These are the restrictions...One...any form of violence towards any village member at any time will not be allowed. Two...you are not to use any form of jutsu within the village boundaries. Three...you are not allowed within the village boundaries after dark. Four..You are not allowed within 100 feet of Uchiha Sasuke." The elders were quiet for a moment before looking towards Tsunade to finish the proceedings.
Tsunade was now glaring at Itachi. "Uchiha Itachi, do you understand and agree to the aforementioned restrictions?"
Itachi looked at her, "I do."
"Do you understand that breaking any of these could result in your immediate death?"
"I do."
"Do you think that will stop him? Do you honestly think anyone in this village is any match for him?" Sasuke growled as he halfway stood up but Kakashi pulled him back down. The older man had yet to say anything. Sasuke looked over at Kakashi, "Are you going to let this happen?" He looked around at them again, his anger starting to mix with the fear that had been hidden deep inside his heart for so many years, "Don't any of you remember what he did?"
Itachi had turned his head to look over his shoulder at his younger brother. His expression still not changing from one that almost seemed bored with the whole proceeding. As Sasuke met his eyes an expression passed through them very quickly that made him immediately sit back a little. He couldn't place it but for a brief second he wanted to be able to trust his brother, and that almost made him sick to his stomach. Itachi turned back to the elders then to listen to the rest of what they had to say.
The elders chose to ignore Sasuke's latest outburst, "Itachi, you are hereby reinstated as a member of the Konoha community. You may go, but please remember the restrictions."
Itachi bowed low to the elders before standing up. Sasuke also got to his feet but was immediately stopped. "Sasuke...we want to talk to you."
As Itachi was leaving he paused at the door long enough to look over his shoulder once again at Sasuke. "Foolish little brother..." he whispered just loud enough for Sasuke to hear before he left, closing the door behind him.
Sasuke looked at the elders, waiting to hear what they wanted to say to him. Nothing would be able to calm the anger he was feeling towards them at this moment though. "Uchiha Sasuke...you are also required to stay away from Itachi. We would prefer you didn't go searching for him or attempt to provoke him in anyway. We are willing to give Itachi a chance, we hope you will to. We understand how much he has hurt not only you, but the village, but we also know that everyone deserves to have a second chance to make amends for their actions. Please take care and don't do anything rash...."
"What happened to cleaning the room?" A familiar voice broke Sasuke from his daydream and when strong arms wrapped around him, he almost collapsed against the warm chest behind him.
"I got distracted..." Sasuke said simply, his gaze once again going to the figure on the roof below.
Kakashi immediately saw what Sasuke was looking at and gave him a comforting squeeze, "Its been two weeks and he hasn't done anything...I'm as surprised as you are and I'm sure you are thinking the same as me...that he's just biding his time."
"he was in my house this morning..."
Kakashi immediately drew back and turned Sasuke so that he was facing him. He put his hands on his young lovers shoulders and leaned towards him. Sasuke noticed that he had pulled his mask down and the forehead protector was pulled up to reveal both eyes. "He broke one of the restrictions? Are you okay? Did he say or do anything?"
"I'm fine...I'm not going to tell the elders about it." He stared into Kakashi's eyes, "It doesn't matter." He put his arms around Kakashi's waist and laid his head against his chest. "I don't know what he is planning, but I'm going to stop him before he does anything."
"Sasuke..."
"I know...don't do anything rash. I don't plan on it." Sasuke stepped back, dropping his hands and moving past Kakashi towards where the boxes were stacked. "I better start packing...I'm sure Naruto thinks of this as a race by now."
Kakashi laughed and replaced the covers on his face as he walked over. He wrapped his arms once again around Sasuke and nuzzles his ear from behind, "In fact he does...so good luck. You know who I'll be routing for." He let him go and headed towards the door.
"Let me guess...Sakura." Sasuke said with a small smile on his lips as he picked up the first box.
Kakashi chuckled as he opened the door and left the room. Sasuke watched him leave before heading over to the first shelf of books and starting to pack them up.
--- --- --- -------------------- ----------------------------
Thanks for reading! Please review!
