Sasuke grimaced as he woke up the next morning. A cool breeze was washing over him, but it wasn't the familiar blistering wind he was used to. It was in short, even strokes, which felt pretty good. He cracked open of his eyes open to see a blur of white. After a moment, he focused enough to realize he was in a hospital room.
The soft blowing had been coming from a fan. A fan being held by a medical assistant, from the looks of it. He squirmed a bit as he noticed he was tied to the bed with his hands held apart to prevent any jutsu. He groaned, trying to protest, but no words coming out. The assistant had stood up, looking started by his waking. "You're awake! Calm down, we aren't going to hurt you. You were found badly wounded in the forest by one of our Jonin. He had to knock you out to prevent you from hurting yourself. You're just tied up so you didn't panic and go on a rampage. He said you were in hysterics." a cool wrist pressing to his forehead.
"You seem to have eaten something bad. It's upset your stomach, plus the wounds you sustained has you in bad shape. Here, let me loosen these. You need to eat something easy on your stomach." loosening the ropes as she sat him up into a sitting position. She didn't untie his hands as she shoveled some oatmeal into his mouth. "You're lucky the leaf found you. There are a lot of dangerous ninja on the loose in the area between the sand and the leaf. Both our kages have just been killed by some monsters, you know?" a sad look crossing her face. "If you had run into them they might have killed you on a whim. Is that what happened? Were you attacked by them? You seem like a strong ninja despite your age. If so, I'm impressed you escaped." she smiled.
Sasuke scowled as he was forced to eat the oatmeal. Those 'dangerous monsters' were his family. They would never do this to him. He couldn't say that, though. "I don't know. I was just heading home when I was attacked out of nowhere." he lied easily. "I didn't get a look at who it was that attacked me. They were fast."
He noticed a brief look of skepticism on her face, but she quickly hid it. "Oh, I see! Where are you from? We can send your village a message." she offered.
"I don't live in a village. I live alone in the forest between Suna and Konoha. There is no one to call. I can head home myself." he lied once more, not wanting to lead them anywhere towards his actual village.
She nodded, standing up as she finished feeding him the bowl. "Alright. Well, you get some rest, and we'll let you head out. You should wait until you're rested though. We've healed your stab wounds and the rest of your wounds. The only one we couldn't do anything for was your lips. They're too infected right now. We'll heal them in a few days."
He nodded, watching as she headed for the door with an unsettled feeling in his stomach. Soon she left, and he was alone, though unable to sleep very well as she had told him to. How could he in such a strange area?
When Sasuke woke up, it was to the sound of an approaching ninja. His eyes snapped open, his muscles tensing on reflex as a tall silver-haired man came into view. The man seemed to be paying him little attention until he arrived at the bed. It was only then he snapped shut the book he was reading and sent Sasuke a smile. Sasuke knew it was fake-- he had seen enough of them to know. This man was trying to warm him up. This only made the young Uchiha all the more nervous.
"Hello, I'm the Jonin who has been put in charge of your housing until you recover fully. The village has decided that it would be best for you to stay with an experienced ninja, just in case the ones who attacked you come back." and because they didn't trust the conveniently injured teen, found just after the assassination of two kages. Not that he said that, but it was clear. "So, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself. It doesn't look like you'll be healing anytime soon. Name? Likes and dislikes?"
Sasuke sat up in his bed, crossing his arms a bit with a glare at the older ninja. He must have got the message as he carried on easily, "Alright, well, I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like a lot of things. I don't particularly dislike much. There now, it's your turn."
Kakashi Hatake? Hadn't Itachi mentioned that name before? Sasuke paled a bit. That was right-- this was his brother's former ANBU captain. Which meant he would easily be able to identify him if he wasn't careful. Sasuke kept his arms crossed, looking away as he answered. "I'm Tasukeru. Most people call me Tasu. I like it when other people aren't annoying. I don't like it when other people are annoying."
Seemingly not thrown off by his sour response, Kakashi nodded and motioned the boy up. "Alright. Let's head out then. Once we make it to my house we can get you untied. Your arms are all torn up with rope burn." though not from the ones the leaf had put on him, Kakashi noted.
Sasuke bitterly followed after him, keeping his eyes lowered. He hated looking as though he was shy or nervous, but he also knew the rage at being reduced to a glorified prisoner of his old village would spark his Sharingan. He didn't need them automatically flashing on because he was feeling a bit off. That would blow his entire cover. He needed to lay low-- at least until he figured out how to get out of the village and towards home.
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Around this time, Itachi and Kisame had finished sneaking into the sand village. It was a lot harder than normal-- the kage had just been assassinated-- but Itachi had insisted on not killing off any of the troublesome guards. Sometimes Kisame wondered why he loved his pain in the ass of a boyfriend.
They heard whispers of the kage's death, but nothing on any captured prisoners. So that could mean two things. Either the council of Suna had it under wraps and was keeping it a secret from the villagers, or Sasuke had escaped. Itachi hoped for the escape option, but it didn't seem likely. There was a lot of sand ninja who claimed to of been knocked out. Sasuke would have been far outnumbered.
As such, they would have to go undercover. They needed to get access to the main building, but no matter how much they provided at it, there was just no opening. Itachi didn't want to hurt the guards, but he also was going crazy with worry over where his little brother could be locked up.
Kisame wasn't fairing much better. He had come to see the young Uchiha like a younger brother himself-- how could he not, watching the little squirt grow from angry babbling to confident trash-talking? The only difference was that Kisame knew Sasuke was a strong ninja. Itachi did too, of course, but his overprotectiveness clouded his reasoning.
As it was, oddly enough, Kisame became the voice of reason on this mission. "Itachi, I'm sure he's fine. We'll find an opening, the squirt is tougher than you give him credit for." though he had a bad feeling in his stomach as they peered around the corner at a pair of diplomates discussing business in their private yard.
Itachi glared at his partner. "You don't know that. He doesn't have the necessary skills to survive that many people. He could have been killed on the spot for all be know-" his words were cut off as Kisame covered his mouth. Itachi's Sharingan flashed in warning, only stopping as Kisame motioned to the two men speaking to listen in.
"Yes, did you hear? The little runt they found at the scene of the Kage's murder got away. Temari-Sama and Kankuro-Sama haven't released his name yet, but I hear rumors that they're pissed at the kid. I doubt he'll get far." one mused to the other, who nodded.
"Yes, yes. I hear the kid was foolish enough to leave his chakra prints going north of the village. It looked like he was headed straight for Earth County Territory. Doesn't the kid know we have a treaty with them? They'll hand him over the moment they hear about the huge reward Suna is putting up."
The men seemed pleased with their conversation, so pleased they never even noticed the increasing look of anger on Kisame's face, nor the cold stoic one on Itachi's. The two slipped out easily-- they didn't have time to deal with idiotic gossiping politicians. They needed to head north, after Sasuke.
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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.
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It didn't take long for Itachi and Kisame to realize that they needed to have more people on the job. The tracks were fake, the villages were all on high alert as two of the Kages were assassinated, and now apparently Itachi's sickness was choosing to peaken as he put so much extra strain on it. Kisame held his unwilling partner up by one of his arms as the Uchiha violently coughed up blood. "Itachi, we need to take a break. If we run while rested, we'll go twice as fast than if we ran while winded and ill."
It was a cold day in hell when Kisame became the voice of reason for the duo. "I told you, I'm fine," he growled, yanking his arm away, very uncharacteristically. "We can't just stop to sip tea while Sasuke's out there, possibly dead or dying. We know he's hurt, given he was interrogated by the sand. He's skilled for his age, but if he finds himself lost and hurt, there is no village in their right mind who would offer help instead of attack. Everyone has heard about the 'surprisingly young ninja' who attacked Suna.
Despite his words, luckily, Kisame was able to get Itachi to sit down beside him on a log after a moment of refusal. "Listen, if we're going off what we heard, no one's mentioned finding the kid. So it's pretty obvious, either he hasn't been found, or the village that found him has something to hide from the others. Something they're worried that the kid could squeal about." the shark ninja trying to think over what on earth it could be.
He didn't have to think too hard however, his attention pulled to Itachi as he saw the younger ninja's pupil's dilation. Kisame got a cold chill-- he had never seen Itachi act like this. Silence filled the air, despite Kisame being sure that Itachi knew exactly what was going on.
After a long moment of internal doubt, Itachi's voice came, quiet and unsure. Nothing like Kisame had ever heard before. "Kisame, you love me, right?"
Kisame sent him a look of bafflement, his blue skin tinting to purple at the question. What the hell did this have to do with Sasuke be captured? "What kind of idiotic question is that?" he growled.
Itachi only sent him an icy glare as he heard him, so Kisame swallowed down his confusion. "Yes. I do," he growled, never having openly said it much despite their closeness.
Kisame's world seemed to freeze as he heard Itachi speak. "I've been lying to you."
The mist ninja felt his muscles tensing up, faint veins appearing in his eyes. He tried to keep his temper under check, something he had been forced to learn while living in the same house as so many children. "About what?" he seethed, having to resist grabbing his sword out of mere instinct.
Itachi's Sharingan blazed, though, it was more out of instinctual activation than him preparing for battle. The raven-haired man had to admit-- he hadn't been expecting Kisame to hear him out. He had expected to have to pull him into an illusion and kill him. A strange knot of guilt welled up in his stomach, "I didn't only kill my clan to gain power or because they threatened Sasuke." he admitted, "I was ordered to. By the leaf village." his eyes barely held contact with Kisame's, his shame overwhelming.
He knew he could take the shark ninja, even in his weakened state. That didn't mean he wanted to. "Then I left, to join the Akatsuki. As a double agent. I lied to you." the Uchiha hissed, hating himself with each word he spoke. Maybe if he hadn't obeyed, Sasuke would be safe. Maybe if he hadn't obeyed, they could have run away. Maybe, if he hadn't obeyed, he would have never met Kisame to lie to and betray.
"So, it's all been a lie then," Kisame concluded, staring him down coldly. Itachi didn't like it. Kisame was supposed to be the overly aggressive one. He was supposed to attack Itachi before he could explain. He wasn't supposed to be this understanding. "The missions. The healing. The conversations. Us. It was all a lie. All to get more information." Kisame laughed, catching Itachi off guard. "No, it wasn't. You aren't like that, Itachi. You value your comrades. You value the support. You value us." he repeated as if trying to convince himself.
A curt nod caught him off guard, however. "I do."
Kisame looked over at him, once more bewildered through his anger. "What do you mean, you do?"
"I do. I value you very much. I value the Akatsuki very much. Even more so than the village. That's why..." he closed his eyes briefly, "That's why I've been feeding the village false information. It's why I've been saying that there hasn't been much movement within the organization. Because I value you all. I know you all. I know that you're mostly good people. It's why I believe that you guys can change. There is no need for you all to be killed. I never kill without purpose."
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Kakashi had to admit, it was amusing to watch the young Uchiha. The way he thought he was being sneaky, it was almost like watching a cat or small child. Given, Sasuke was very talented for his age, but he was no match for a well-trained ninja such as himself.
He watched as each morning, Sasuke would wake up early on purpose. Or, perhaps the elder ninja just slept in. He couldn't be sure. Sasuke had snooped the place out pretty good on the first day. Not that Kakashi really had anything to hide. His Icha Icha books were lined up by his couch, so the only thing that could possibly be considered hide-worthy was out in the open. Sasuke hadn't paid them much attention since they were so out in the open.
Sasuke had stopped his search as soon as he noticed Kakashi. The silver-haired man noticed the way Sasuke would eat anything. He noticed the way Sasuke would force down sweet foods he was given the first few days, despite clearly hating them. If Kakashi had to guess, he didn't trust his surroundings so he was eating as much as he was given.
It was about three days in when Kakashi finally got some meaningful conversations with the kid. Up to that point, it was mostly just grunts and growls for responses. It was when he was reading his books on the couch, having just got back from a day of gate duty. Sasuke had sat on the other side of the couch, glaring him down.
Kakashi gave a heavy sigh. "Yes?" glancing up from his book only momentarily to seem uninterested.
"Take me out into the village."
Alright, well, whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. Kakashi only rose his single visible brow, "Now, why would I do that. I know you know that you're here as a suspect. Why would I go through the trouble to take you out into the village?" he hummed.
"Because you know I was involved." the boy spoke confidently. Kakashi could only blink. This boy was quite the firecracker, wasn't he? "I can tell you're watching me, and I can tell you don't feel hostile or defensive against me, even if you're trying to force yourself to. Your core chakra doesn't lie. Not to mention, it's clear you've figured out that I'm the boy that ran away from Suna. The one caught by the guards there. I'm sure it would be one of the first bits of information they gave to Konoha. You're all just trying to figure out what to do with me. So, it's doubtless that I'm involved."
He snapped his book close, "So, this makes you think I'll let you into the village? Personal feelings aside, it would be a foolish move. Especially now that you've admitted to being involved." he noted.
"Actually, it would be quite smart of your village." Sasuke corrected. "Surely, if I am guilty, I'll have backup. If that backup hears that I'm here, it'll draw that person's attention and have them return. They'd undoubtedly be looking across the nations to see where I ran off to. It would lead you straight to the ones in charge."
Kakashi's lips tightened into a tight frown. Well, that could work both ways. It would draw the ones who killed the Hokage's attention, yes, but would the village be in any shape to take them? They all wanted the man responsible taken down, yes, but at what cost? This wasn't for him to decide-- this was a council matter.