Kakashi closed the window after Tenzou slipped in and locked the bar. "Stand back," he said and tucked his kunai into his mouth; he formed a series of seals, hot chakra flooding through his coils, and slammed his palms down on the wall. For a long moment his dark room was lit up with the dim light of his security seals activating, exuding so much chakra that it made Kakashi's eye water just looking at it.
"Senpai, those are at least S-Rank seals," Tenzou said and his voice was tinged with an awe that his twelve year old self would have reveled in. Thirty year old Kakashi just felt tired.
"Tell me exactly what happened," he said and fell into the familiar stance, hands clasped behind his back, kunai in hand. Tenzou immediately straightened and he automatically fell into a ready position.
"At about 2000 hours, Councilman Shimura Danzou summoned Captain Shiranui to attend to him. Captain received an S-RANK mission from Councilman Danzou, detailing the elimination of target GARI of Iwagakure, of the Bakuton kekkei genkai and the Explosion Corps. Failure is not acceptable and Konoha must not be implicated in this mission. Delta Squad is to leave the village in three days time and expected back in the village in two months."
Kakashi didn't get angry very often. In fact, he didn't get very anything often. Extreme emotion was better suited for Gai or Naruto; Kakashi just preferred a book, some tea and a quiet afternoon sitting with one of his dogs. But, Kakashi realized dimly, as Tenzou stared back at him uncertainly, right now he was fucking furious.
"All ANBU squads are given three weeks of leave in order to integrate new members into their team," Kakashi said in a very quiet voice. Tenzou swallowed hard.
"C-Councilman Danzou said that this mission could be trusted to no other," Tenzou said, his voice cracking a little at the end. "And that Uchiha Itachi had proved himself particularly well before."
"Oh?" Kakashi said. "Is that so?"
"Y-Yes."
"And is Councilman Danzou also aware that Konoha has an extremely tentative peace right now with Iwa and that Gari is currently listed in all five of the major Bingo books, noted to be worth at least seventy five million ryou dead and a hundred and fifty ryou alive? And that he has managed to survive every assassination attempt for the past fifteen years?"
"Councilman Danzou- he said that Captain Shiranui was not to question his orders," Tenzou said faintly.
"Did he?" Kakashi asked, gripping the handle of his kunai tight behind his back.
"Senpai, y-you're bleeding."
Kakashi unclasped his hands behind his back and realized that he was holding the kunai by the blade instead of the handle. The edge had cut deeply into the palm of his left hand. "So I see," he said slowly and calmly placed the blood kunai onto his desk.
"I didn't know who else to go to-" Tenzou swallowed again and his sunken brown eyes looked nervously at Kakashi's bloody hands. "Captain Shiranui was in the middle of updating his will when I came," he finished quietly.
Kakashi automatically pulled out his desk chair and sat down, clenching his fist tight to stop the bleeding. Danzou, Councilman Shimura fucking Danzou was sending his team on a mission that was almost a hundred percent guarantee to fail. Against motherfucking Gari. Kakashi growled deeply. Gari of Iwa, who'd single-handedly managed to destroy a battalion of Konoha soldiers; Gari of Iwa, with flee on sight orders straight from the Hokage. Gari.
And Danzou had ordered this to clean ANBU of Kakashi's friends, his allies and to make way for the ROOT operatives he was no doubt training. Danzou was, essentially, eliminating his teammates because they were associated with him.
He was going to kill Danzou.
Tenzou's pale face hovered into view. "You- you can't kill Danzou, senpai."
Kakashi blinked. Had he said that aloud?
"You did," Tenzou said, looking a touch apologetic. "But if you kill him, you'll marked a criminal and whatever Danzou's planning will probably still go on."
Kakashi closed his eye and felt Obito's eye start pounding, a dull bell constantly ringing in his head. "Alright," he said quietly. "This is what we'll do. Go to Genma immediately and fill out form 36B-AZ. Ask him to request me and give the paperwork to Morita along with a box of candied ginger. She'll have it filed within the hour. Then tell Genma to brief the team and have them meet me on the roof of The Rusty Kunai in about three hours. Everyone but Itachi. I'll take care of him."
"Understood." Tenzou saluted and then headed for the window, waiting as Kakashi undid the seals with a flash of hand seals.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, senpai," he said, dark brows drawn together.
"No," Kakashi said gently as he opened up the window, the evening breeze brushing his silver locks of hair. "I'm sorry for involving you. Now, go. You have three hours to get everyone and everything together. Pack for a long term infiltration mission, sealing scrolls, tags, disguise kits, everything."
"Yes, sir," Tenzou said obediently and flew out the window, disappearing into the darkness.
Kakashi shut the window again and went to work.
Fugaku swept out of the house, dressed in an elegant robe and kunai bristling in his hands, Sharingan swirling dangerously in his eyes.
"What's the emergency?" he barked at the sentry kneeling on the ground- Mariko's youngest son, Shinji. Clever boy but too excitable for his own good.
"S-sir," the boy stammered and held up a chakra-sealed scroll with trembling hands, not quite daring to make eye contact with the formidable Clan Head. "A summons dropped this off at the gate and said it was for your eyes only, Fugaku-sama."
"From the Tower?" Fugaku asked, alarm faintly tinging his voice and instinctively pushed more chakra into his eyes.
"N-no, Fugaku-sama," Shinji said, his voice cracking. "F-from Hatake Kakashi, sir."
Fugaku hurried down the steps and re-holstered the kunai, heavy silk robes rustling in the air. What could the damned boy want at this hour and so soon after the dinner? Fugaku forced himself to slow down at the last moment and reach out for the scroll in a dignified manner. His Sharingan detected streams of chakra coiled tightly around the scroll, sealed only to open to a specific chakra signature. Very, very clever work.
He nicked his thumb with a blade and swiped it across the seal, the dark kanji marks sucking up his blood hungrily. With a faint puff of smoke the scroll unrolled and Fugaku almost raised his hand to dismiss the boy when he read the missive inside.
By the Shodai, the boy was asking for the impossible-!
"Shinji," Fugaku said slowly and his Sharingan spun wildly in the moonlight. "Did the summons mention anything else?"
"A-ah, maybe that Hatake-san would be by. Soon? To confirm the response?" Shinji squeaked.
"Is that a question or an answer, boy?" Fugaku asked wearily and he waved a hand dismissively when the boy opened his mouth again. "No, don't answer that. Go back to your duty, you did well. Your Mother would be pleased with your efforts."
Shinji bowed deeply, forehead almost touching the gravel path. "Your words honor me, Fugaku-sama," he said and for once it seemed like he was too awed to stammer. A faint twist of chakra later and the boy had melted back into the shadows, leaving Fugaku alone with a bloody thumb and a deep desire to throttle the Hatake boy.
"Mikoto," Fugaku said, raising his voice slightly. His beloved wife appeared half a moment later at his side, hair only slightly windswept by the body flicker.
"Yes, beloved husband?" she said gently and rested a slender hand on his arm.
"Hatake requests that we look after the Uzumaki demon boy while he is away on an extended mission," Fugaku said, looking deeply aggrieved, the lines of his craggy face deepening. "Months, it may seem." No, throttling was too good for the boy. Fugaku would first trap him with a genjutsu they normally used to question criminals at the station and-
"Oh, Sasuke will be so pleased. I'll have to prepare an extra room and of course, Naruto-chan would have to need an extra set of bedding and a place at the table..."
"What?" Fugaku stared at his demure wife, all thoughts of torturing the Hatake boy long gone.
"Naruto-chan is such a sweet boy, of course we must help a fellow Clan Head in need and look after him," Mikoto said, her dark eyes wide and sweet. "It's very brave of Hatake-san to trust us with his heir, isn't it dear?"
"But he's-" Fugaku fumbled for the right words. "The boy."
"A very strong one," Mikoto nodded and her grip on Fugaku's arm tightened. "To hold back a force so devastating to the village. You'll allow this, won't you, dear?"
"I'll think about it," Fugaku said gruffly and tugged his wife back towards the house, unconsciously matching his steps with hers. "Outrageous of the boy to ask us such a thing on such short notice."
"I'm sure he has his reasons," Mikoto said agreeably and pressed a soft kiss on her husband's cheek. "Now, I'll have to ask Itachi-kun to help me air out the bedding and we must have the two of them stay for breakfast at least. Yesterday, Kenji-san had a whole fresh catch of mackerel straight from the coast and he promised to set aside a few for me. It would go splendidly with the miso and rice and there's the natto I was planning on..."
Even Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, Master of a Thousand Jutsu, ex ANBU Hound, protege of the Yondaime Hokage and son of the late White Fang, was no match for the determined will of a housewife and a tray of tea. Before he knew it, Kakashi was ushered into a room with Itachi and Fugaku and a cup of steaming green tea placed in front of him on the table along with a plate of freshly cut fruit.
Fugaku, it seemed, was long resigned to the domestic machinations of his wife and was already settled into his cushion and sipping at his tea, Itachi sitting at his right hand like a loyal retainer.
"Let me know if you need anything else," Mikoto said softly and pressed a gentle, reassuring hand on his shoulder, but not before giving his bandaged hand a concerned look. She swept out of the room and the sliding door closed with a dull finality before her.
"An unusual request," Fugaku said in that damned smug voice of his and Kakashi fought to keep a rein in on his temper. Calm, he repeated to himself and tried not to think about how close Danzou was, how so very easy it would be to slit his throat and leave him hanging on the walls of the village, a warning to all those who dared to go against his pack. Instead, Kakashi drank his tea.
"Unusual circumstances demand unusual measures," Kakashi said and wondered if a Chidori through Danzou's chest was too quick, too merciful. "My presence has been requested for a mission and I thought it best to leave Naruto in the care of people I trust."
Fugaku raised an eyebrow. "I would hardly call our brief acquaintance a particularly close one."
Kakashi bared his teeth under his mask and his tenuous control on his killing intent grew thin. "Better with the enemy I know than the enemy that I don't." He forced himself to loosen his grip on the cup.
"If I may ask," Itachi said, speaking for the first time since the three had entered the room. "But it seems that your attire is different this morning, Kakashi-senpai."
Kakashi plucked at the hem of his black cloak. "I've volunteered for a classified mission," he said and his mouth twisted.
Fugaku's eyes narrowed. "You don't mean-?"
"It seems he thinks that he can do whatever he likes with the Corps." Kakashi set the cup of tea back down on the table and wondered what Danzou's fear would smell like. "In my short absence, he seems to have wrought a great many unfavorable changes. Including the planned elimination of my old team." Sour and sickly, probably, twisted by hate and darkness.
"You have made a powerful enemy," Fugaku observed, his dark eyes unreadable.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Kakashi said. "The Councilman has made some very bad choices. He's made an enemy of me." The air in the room suddenly grew a good ten degrees colder and Kakashi wondered, dimly, that Danzou's death would probably be the first he would enjoy. He knew some genjutsu not as powerful or as dangerous as the Tsukiyomi, but just as devastating with careful application. Danzou was the root, the cause of the death of his pack. Danzou had ripped Sasuke's psyche apart, had crushed Sakura, had nearly killed Naruto and driven Five Shinobi Countries to war because of his ambitions.
Death, Kakashi realized, was too good for the sack of shit.
"Kakashi-senpai," Itachi said faintly and Kakashi snapped out of his thoughts, blinking rapidly. Odd, Fugaku and Itachi looked paler and he could smell the heavy stink of fear in the air-
Ah. Kakashi tamped down on the intent that he was exuding, slowly coiling the power into a tight knot inside of himself. "I would be in your debt, Uchiha-dono," Kakashi said calmly, "if you would be so kind as to look after Naruto in my absence."
"I-" Fugaku paused and swallowed. "It would be my honor, Hatake-dono. Your trust in my clan is one that I do not hold lightly."
Kakashi's shoulders relaxed a little and he bowed his head. "Your generosity knows no bounds," he said and breathed a very quiet sigh of relief as the pieces of his hastily put-together plan slowly fell into place. Reaching into the sleeve of his voluminous ANBU cloak, he pulled out a packet of seals and placed them on the table.
"Security seals," he explained at Fugaku's questioning look. "To keep you and your household safe." Mostly Naruto and Sasuke, he added silently. It had taken a good hour to create powerful seals that could easily be integrated into the Uchiha seals already in place. If used properly, no harm would come to the Uchiha household. "Directions are enclosed."
Fugaku looked faintly impressed and he took the packet with a dignified gesture, setting them aside to be properly looked at later. It would rude to open gifts in front of the giver, no matter how much Kakashi could smell Fugaku wanted to.
"I don't mean to be rude but time is running short," Kakashi said and rose swiftly from the ground, pulling his dark hood up to cover his shock of silvery hair. "You have my deepest gratitudes, Uchiha-dono." Meet me outside, he signed at Itachi while discreetly adjusting his hood.
Fugaku and his son also stood up, he and Itachi a smoothly oiled machine rising as one and Fugaku inclined his head. "Go swiftly so you may return successfully."
A deeply cynical voice in the back of his head wondered if this would be the last time he would see the Uchiha Clan Head.
"Mission?" Naruto asked and for the first time, the enormity of Kakashi's absence seemed to hit him. "You're going to be gone?!" Naruto swallowed and his dark blue eyes, Minato-sensei's eyes, started filling up with tears.
Kakashi hesitantly reached out and rested his bandaged hand on Naruto's head. "Only for a very little while. I'll be back before you know it."
"Why do you have to go?" Naruto whimpered and his tiny hands were buried deep in Ryou's fur. The dog whined pathetically and licked at Naruto's shirt, trying to comfort him.
"I've sworn to do my duty to the Hokage," Kakashi said. "You remember him, right?"
"Old jiji?" Naruto wrinkled his nose and scrubbed furiously at his eyes. "He's a dumb old man and he doesn't even like ramen, why do you have to do stuff for him?"
"He protects and leads Konoha," Kakashi said and it was suddenly much harder to speak; strangely, his throat seemed to be tightening up, like he was coming down with a cold. "It's your dream to be the Hokage, right Naruto-kun?"
"I don't want you to go," Naruto said in a very, very quiet voice.
Kakashi closed his eye. He could still see Father's broad back burned into his mind, his hair pale against the dark green of the flak vest, tantou strapped to his hip, growing smaller and smaller in the distance. "I'm sorry, Naruto," Kakashi said and pulled away, catching Itachi walking towards them from the corner of his eye. "I have to go. Be good and listen to Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san, alright?"
He turned away and forced himself to leave the small boy behind him, forced his legs to move, up and down and away from his most precious person in the world. Two quick heartbeats later and Itachi smoothly joined his side, the younger boy barely reaching his elbow.
"Good luck with your mission, senpai," Itachi said.
"What, no complaints about leaving you back home?" Kakashi tried to joke, but it fell flat- all he could think about was Naruto and Ryou behind him, his two tiny pack members all alone without him.
"I could see the logic of your decisions." Itachi tilted his head. "With Delta Squad away, the Councilman has more control over the Corps. My presence will at least deter him from both acting against the Commander's interests and against Uzumaki-kun. There are also the Clan politics to think of. We are few but growing and my absence will surely result in unrestrained actions by the elders."
"I always did think you were a better genius than me," Kakashi said, tugging at the edge of his hood. "Keep them safe for me, will you?"
"Of course," Itachi said. "If I may be so forward, I would like to request Delta Squad safe return to the village in two months' time. I have grown fond of their presence."
For the first time since Tenzou had dropped by unexpectedly by his window, Kakashi smiled. "How was dango with Tenzou?"
The corner of Itachi's mouth tugged up. "Enjoyable and informative," he said. "I had never realized that so many new varieties of dango existed."
"I can't make any promises," Kakashi said in a quiet voice. "But I'll try my best."
"That's all anyone ever asks for," Itachi said and saluted, fist over his heart. "Good hunting, Captain."
Kakashi tapped his forehead protector lightly, returning Itachi's salute in his own way. "Good hunting, Itachi."
When Tenzou had knocked on his door, white-faced and looking like he'd done a couple of rounds with Kumo-nin, Genma had been in the middle of revising his will and packing up his possessions, so that it would be easier for the administrators to distribute them to his family. Death and Genma were more than passing acquaintances; he reckoned they were more like neighbors now, with Death swooping past him nearly every day, a reminder of how very little time he had left in the world. Some days, he wondered how he'd even made it out of the Third Shinobi War alive; others, he wondered how made it this far in ANBU alive and with most of his mental faculties intact. But mostly he thanked the gods, his luck and just went on with his job. Today, it seemed like his luck had finally run out. Death was coming for him, whether he wanted it to or not.
"Come in," he said, trusting Tenzou to dodge the various traps and tripwires he'd set up near the entrance. By his reasoning, if you weren't good enough to recognize and avoid them, Genam really had no interest in knowing you.
"Captain-"
Genma looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You look like shit," he said drily.
"I-I met with Kakashi-senpai," Tenzou said, hands clenched tight.
Hell, classified ANBU mission or not, Kakashi was probably near about Tenzou's only family in the world, as pathetic as that sounded. And it was the Captain Tenzou was talking to; the man probably forgot more secrets than most people knew in their entire lifetimes.
"Did you give him your goodbyes?" Genma asked kindly and went back to sorting through his photo albums, stacking them up in a box clearly labeled ℅ SHIRANUI FAMILY. His sister would probably need some photos of him to add to the family shrine she had in her house.
"Not exactly," Tenzou said slowly and there was something in the younger man's voice that made Genma look up, senbon twitching in his mouth.
"What do you mean, not exactly," Genma said.
"Kakashi-senpai said that you should file form 36B-AZ requesting him and file it with Morita-san right away along with a box of candied ginger. The team is supposed to meet up on the roof of The Rusty Kunai in about two and a half hours, packed for a long term infiltration mission. He would take care of Itachi separately." Tenzou took a deep breath and then swallowed.
Genma blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say form 36B-AZ?"
"Yes," Tenzou said, sounding a touch defensive.
The sneaky bastard. Genma whistled, long and low and for the first time since he'd been called before Councilman Danzou's feet, he felt a tiny twinge of hope. "He's having me request him as a non-ANBU special associate specifically for the mission. And he has the clearance rank for it which means-"
"Captain's going to be back on the team?" Tenzou asked, his voice high and hopeful. Genma couldn't fault the kid for calling Captain, Captain. Hell, even Genma still thought of Kakashi as Captain; Genma was just filling in temporarily for the man while he was on vacation babysitting the demon brat, probably on the orders of the Hokage.
There was a reason why space on Delta Squad was so coveted, why they were ranked as the best team in the whole of the Corps. They had the best mission completion rate with the lowest amount of casualties. Entrance into Delta Squad meant that Captain Hatake, possibly the greatest and strongest ninja in the whole of ANBU, second only to the Commander, thought you had the chops to make it. Entrance into Delta Squad meant you would be going through the toughest, hardest, worst missions and you would come back to the village alive, because Captain Hatake fucking Kakashi never left a man behind.
And Captain coming back meant that Delta Squad might actually survive this crazy shitshow of a mission. Genma waved cheerfully goodbye at his neighbor Death and shoved his box of crap off the desk and propped his feet up instead.
"Let's get that paperwork filed," Genma smiled. "Run out and get me a box of the candy that Morita likes, would you? And let Raidou know that he doesn't have to pack his shit up, because the odds of us coming back alive just went up."
Tenzou smiled, a tiny curve of his lips, and he saluted. "Yes Captain Genma, sir."
"What're you sticking around for?" Genma demanded. "Get out, we've got a mission to prepare for in less than two hours, get your ass moving, rookie."
Tenzou rolled his eyes and made for the window, slipping out with the lithe grace of a cat. Genma wasn't sure whether or not he was imagining the parting shot Not a damn rookie anymore but he pretended not to hear it. Good to hear that the rookie was finally growing a backbone of his own.
"This," Kakashi said, holding up a sheaf of papers Genma had handed to him. "Is shit." A finger sparked with a tiny hot flame of chakra and the stack of papers instantly burst into ashes.
"Shodai's balls," Raidou said, looking deeply impressed. "Intel's gonna have a hissy fit when they see what you did to their information, Captain."
"Assume the worst," Kakashi said dispassionately, wiping his hands clean of the dust. "Danzou gave out the assassination to eliminate my team, he's not going to make it easy for us to complete the mission."
"How're you so sure that Danzou's out to get us?" Genma argued, rocking on his heels, hands shoved into his cloak pockets. "We're the best team in the Corps, maybe he thought we could handle it, sir."
"Danzou personally summons you to assassinate one of the most notorious ninja in the Five Shinobi Nations, and user of a kekkei genkai that's had particularly devastating effects during the Third Shinobi War against Konoha. If any word of this mission leaks out, the treaty between Iwa and Konoha would be broken and all blame of the next war would be pinned on us. If we fail, which is very likely, and we manage to keep Konoha's involvement quiet which is unlikely, Danzou can easily pretend that we were sent out on a different, less politically dangerous assignment. After all," Kakashi said, smiling thinly. "Most ANBU missions leave no paper trace. He can make up whatever he wants, he's a Councilman and we're just pawns in a game."
"But if we come back," Tenzou said slowly, comprehension dawning on his face.
"Danzou's caught between a rock and an angry Konoha nin," Raidou said, his dark eyes looking very amused. "We show up with Gari's head, keep Konoha quiet in this whole mess, maybe implicate some other fuckin' village and everyone congratulates us. Meanwhile, Hokage-sama's mighty pissed at Danzou for fucking around with his private force and giving us such a stupid ass mission."
"Maybe even take a good hard long look at ANBU and stop whatever Danzou's doing to the Corps," Genma said in a surprisingly quiet voice.
"You know?" Kakashi asked, his voice neutral.
"They don't even act human," Raidou said, Tenzou nodding along with him. "How could we not know? And when you left." Raidou shrugged.
"There were more of them," Kakashi continued grimly. "All the more reason we need to successfully complete the mission."
"Yeah, you know, no big deal," Genma drawled, fiddling the senbon in his mouth. "Infiltrate Iwa, kill an insanely talented shinobi without revealing that we're involved, make it out of the village alive, take his body back for T&I and report to the Hokage about what a fucker Danzou was for assigning this shit mission."
"All in a day's work for Delta Squad," Kakashi said and no one on the roof missed the subtle undercurrent of tension in his voice.
"Hey, hey." Raidou raised his hands in the air. "We'll get through this alright, Captain. Just think about how much fun you'll have thinking about fucking with Danzou for the next two months."
"I've already started," Kakashi said quietly. "He won't dare to mess with my team again."
Sasuke had woken up and it had instantly become the best day in the world ever because Naruto was there, eating breakfast with Aniki and Mama and Father and there was grilled mackerel which was his favoritest in the whole world.
Of course, he had to say good morning in his indoor voice and then eat breakfast quietly but it was so hard because Naruto was sitting right next to him and Aniki was home and Sasuke wanted to play more games and show him the gardens near the house where Aniki had built him a cool treehouse in the old maple tree.
"ThankyouforthemealMama," Sasuke blurted out the minute he finished his bowl of rice and dragged Naruto away from the table towards his room.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke drooped and let go of Naruto's arm, trudging back to the table and hoping that there wouldn't be another lecture about manners and not running in the house again.
"Naruto hasn't finished his meal yet," Father said.
Sasuke looked over at Naruto's bowl and strangely, it was still half-full of rice and fish and it looked like he'd barely touched his miso. That was weird because last night, Naruto had almost had three times the amount Sasuke did and ate nearly half the mochi snacks Mama had given out for dessert. Naruto loved food.
"No, s'okay, Fuguki-san," Naruto said and didn't even flinch when Sasuke jabbed him in the ribs, hissing, "Papa's name's Fugaku, dummy."
"You should still eat more," Mama said and she looked worried, like when Aniki was hurt on a mission or sick. Was Naruto sick? Sasuke pressed a hand on Naruto's forehead like Mama did. Naruto did look kind of sad and not at all Naruto-like; even the bright orange shirt he wore made him look all droopy.
"I'm not hungry," Naruto mumbled and he made a little weird frowny face. "Can I go wif Sasuke now?"
"Alright," Father said and Sasuke nearly jumped up and down but he remember his manners and said thank you in his bestest nicest voice.
"Don't make a mess, boys," Father said and Sasuke wasted no time in dragging Naruto away from the dining room and towards his own room. He hurtled down the hallways and slid around on the hardwood floors expertly in his socks and in a few minutes they had made it to his room.
"Woah," Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking a little brighter than he did before. "That was fun!"
"Me 'n' Aniki do it all the time," Sasuke said smugly. "Aniki calls it sock sliding 'cept we can't tell Mama or Father because they'll yell at us but Aniki can go super fast like swoooosh." Sasuke mimed Itachi sliding across the floor with his hand and puffed his chest out proudly when Naruto looked suitably impressed.
"Nii-san and I play a game too with Ryou-chan and-" Naruto's face suddenly crumpled and he started crying, face turning an ugly mottled red.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked and put a hand on Naruto's forehead again. Maybe Naruto really was sick and that's why he was here so Mama could help him get better.
"Kakashi-nii has to go away on a mission," Naruto sniffled, voice sounding all clogged up and weird. "And he left me here all alone with only Ryou."
"Oh," Sasuke said and grabbed Naruto's hand again, this time heading for the gardens outside. He knew how to fix this.
"Where're we going?" Naruto mumbled, looking vaguely alarmed and excited by the speeds they were sliding around on the floor and within minutes they were out of the house proper and in the gardens, where Mama had planted more of her pretty rose flowers. Sasuke headed straight for the maple tree and scrambled up onto the wooden platform Aniki had built.
"Come on," he called out, leaning over the edge, reaching out with an open hand. Naruto looked scared for a moment, but only for a moment, before he took Sasuke's hand. He clambered up the tree and onto the platform, shaded by brilliant red leaves and carpeted by a worn regulation blanket Itachi had given him.
"Wow," Naruto breathed, his bright blue eyes taking in Sasuke's secret ninja house.
"Whenever Aniki goes 'way, I come up here," Sasuke confided, pulling over a box of old shuriken and kunai he'd collected from the forest, the edges all blunted and rusty. "We made it together and I play up here all the time with him."
"Itachi's a ninja too?" Naruto asked curiously, scrunching his face up and his face whiskers got all scrunched up too. "Like for real? I thought you were just making stuff up."
"He's a chuunin," Sasuke said and rolled his eyes. Honestly, Naruto could be such an idiot sometimes. "That means he's super strong and good and he's only eleven."
"Eleven's old," Naruto said disgustedly. "And Kakashi-nii-san's twenty."
Sasuke frowned. "That's like super old! He's a ninja too, innit he? What rank is he?"
Naruto scratched his head. "I- eheh- don't know," he admitted. "But I know that he's super strong and everything and he's a great ninja, yeah!"
Yeah, Naruto was definitely a dumbo. "He's gonna come back from the mission," Sasuke said confidently. "He and Aniki are great ninja so he'll come back so stop worrying."
"Yeah, he's gonna come back," Naruto echoed and smiled so wide his eyes turned into tiny little lines.
"So, whatcha wanna play?" Sasuke asked, sorting through his box of super shinobi tools. "We can practice with our weapons or we could play tag and we can mebbe visit Aunt Mariko about-"
Itachi dropped onto the platform, a cloud of red maple leaves swirling around him. Sasuke dropped his box and went straight for Itachi's knees, whooping with joy. "Aniki!"
Itachi did that stupid poking thing but Sasuke was too happy to see his brother to care too much. Now that Itachi and Naruto were here they could play ninjas and pirates and maybe Itachi could take them training and then later they could all have okonomiyaki from Kenichi-san's shop.
"Kakashi-senpai left behind something I think the two of you would enjoy." Itachi pulled something out of his pocket and Sasuke zeroed in on the stack of papers he was holding.
"Exploding ink papers," Naruto breathed and Sasuke looked at his friend with wide eyes. "Like yesterday?"
Itachi nodded and ruffled Naruto's hair too even though he was Sasuke's aniki but since Kakashi-nii-san was away Itachi could be Naruto's aniki for a little bit too. Maybe.
"YEAH!" Naruto bellowed and charged into Sasuke and Itachi and somehow aniki picked up the two of them up from the ground and swung them around in a giant circle. This, Sasuke firmly believed, was the bestest day in the whole world ever.