The bunny meant nothing. It wasn't a vision—it was like picking out shapes in clouds; only he created a small scene for it. Once again, THE BUNNY MEANT NOTHING, IT WAS A JOKE.

XXXXX

Soon it was the Easter Holidays. Itachi had stayed up the last three nights thanks to a soldier pill, finishing all his homework so he could have the week free. While he had memorized all the facts he needed and thus didn't even have to open a book while he did it (to the annoyance of everyone else that had to spend hours searching for information), it still took him all three nights to complete the work. He slept a little that night, mainly just to shake off the after affects of the soldier pill, and was now at the bottom of the steps at seven o'clock that morning, waiting for the carriage that was plodding along his way. He had felt an odd, cold sense of dread sometime last night, at the end of his meditation, but he couldn't place it. He was a little... Anxious, as he was always taught to believe in his instincts, even if he didn't know what they were telling him. It wasn't something that gripped his heart in cold terror, but it made the hairs on the back of his neck raise. However, the calm carriage seemed normal enough and maybe it could have just been a ghost playing a trick on him. Damn Peeves.

Soon, a barest hint of a smile had found its way to his face again as the door burst open before the carriage even stopped and Sasuke came tumbling out. "Older Brother!" he called, running to him.

"Littlebrother," Itachi said, but the way Sasuke had immediately clung to his robes and glared back at the carriage made Itachi look up, the almost smile dropping instantly and the air around him plummeted ten degrees as he saw who exactly had came up to collect his report.

"Hyuuga," He said emotionlessly, looking at the tall Jounin who had walked out of the carriage and approached him stiffly. His white eyes, so cold and sharp, stared hatefully into his own black, frozen orbs. The man's long hair was pulled back to a low pony tail of a chocolate brown, and the headband worn around the forehead showed this was a Branch member and not a Main House. 'Of course,' Itachi's inner voice thought, 'Like they'd risk sending Hiashi here?'

"Uchiha," The man said, standing in his military stance. Technically speaking, Itachi was his superior officer, even if they were never paired together. "Kindly tell your brat of a brother to behave himself. I've had difficulties the entire way here—"

"You jerk!" Sasuke snared up, suddenly fearless next to his older brother, pumping a fist at the older ninja. "I am not a brat! And I didn't do anything!"

The Hyuuga ignored him. "Your chastisement for your incident with a boy named 'Weasley' has also been decided."

"Very well. Follow me, Hyuuga. We are to report to my employer first and foremost. Then I will give you my report and receive the sentence, and you will then be left to your own devices. Do not get lost." Itachi said emotionlessly, walking up the stairs of the entrance way, fully expecting all to follow him. "The student body is still present. You are not allowed to do any training or jutsu while here, to do so could expose the mission. If you brought your ANBU gear despite what Kakashi-sempai surely had mentioned in the last report, you are not allowed to wear it. You may only have, at most, a single set of kunai on you at all times—"

"What!" The Hyuuga snapped suddenly. "A ninja must never be unprepared. You are asking me to under equip myself and expose me to unknown dangers!"

Itachi stopped were he was, at the large wooden entrance doors, and slowly turned, his sharingan activated. As a response the Hyuuga activated his Byakugan, the veins bulging grotesquely next to his eyes as his iris stuck out abnormally in the white gaze. "Expose you to what dangers? These people here are nothing but civilians who can use a form a chakra. A competent ninja could take them out without any weapons. And I am not asking you; I'm telling you. Understood?"

They stood there, glaring at each other. Itachi didn't mind Hyuuga, really. It wasn't the clan he detested, despite the blood feud between his and theirs, it was just most of the members. There were a few he could tolerate, and one of them was even on his ANBU team. But this was not that Hyuuga. "You will turn in your weapons to me immediately. Now."

Itachi could see Sasuke looking up at him with slight anxiety. He may not like the Hyuuga, but he'd never seen his brother act so cold before.

The glaring match seemed to come to an end. Pursed lipped, the Hyuuga methodically took off every hidden weapon except for his kunai pouch and handed it almost forcefully to the awaiting hands of Itachi. Shuriken, extra kunai, small summoning scrolls, senbon, his ANBU katana—all were given over.

When he finished, he glared down at the boy not even half his age, with his fists clenched at his sides, lips pressed together in a very thin line, Byakugan still activated.

"Very good. Now, let us continue."Itachi put the items away in his cloak, somehow managing to keep them all hidden without odd lumps poking out. "And try not to react unless I do." He pushed open the door, and walked inside, his brother at his heels and the Hyuuga following angrily.

XXXXX

"Wait here, Sasuke." Itachi smiled down to his brother as the group made their way back out the front entrance after the standard meeting with Dumbledore. Said wizard was accompanying them, face set in a grim line, as he had been asked by the Hokage to be the official witness. "Hyuuga and I have to do something really quickly, and then I will show you around to the other students."

"What are you two doing?" Sasuke asked as he eyed the white eyed man, who had a look of stern arrogance, with a just a barest hint of glee.

"I had a fault in my actions a few days ago. I am accepting the punishment for it. Please don't interrupt, alright?"

"OK..." He said, frowning slightly. Onii-san couldn't do any wrong, in Sasuke's eyes, so why was he calmly accepting a useless punishment?

Silently, the two ANBU walked down the flight of stone steps onto the dirt driveway. Not a word was spoken between them, and the air was calm and settled. They turned in unison and took a single step before spinning on their heels and facing each other again, two paces away. Each took their military pose, arms behind them and feet at shoulder width.

"Present; perpetrator, Uchiha Itachi, ANBU Weasel. Present; envoy of Konoha, Hyuuga Neshi, ANBU Jackal. Present; witness by Hokage request, Dumbledore Albus, Headmaster of Hogwarts and current employer of perpetrator. Crime of Perpetrator recorded as use of unnecessary force against a civilian and endangering the mission there from. Uchiha Itachi, how do you plea?" Neshi looked down at the small Uchiha, face and voice carefully blank.

"Guilty." There was a small gasp heard from Sasuke, but Itachi didn't dare break the gaze.

"By order of the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, you have been sentence to two hits, open palmed for your actions, to be executed in public immediately. This offence has been documented, and further transgressions will result your suspension from the ANBU and shinobi duty for an undetermined amount of time.

"Please stand at attention."

Itachi shifted, dropping his arms to his side with a slight bend at the elbow and bringing his heels together at a ninety degree angle. He calmly watched the Hyuuga, not showing fear, shame, anger, resentment, anxiety, or any emotion at all. He was completely detached from the situation. He still did not regret his actions, but he accepted the punishment without any qualms.

Neshi took two measured steps up to him, bringing out his left hand and locking white eyes with pitch black ones. Swiftly, and with a resounding crack that echoed slightly in the air, the older man brought his palm straight against Itachi's cheek with enough force to snap his head to the side. Pain flared up, burning at him from the point of impact near instantly. Neshi had not pulled his hit in the slightest.

Calmly, Itachi brought his face back to his front, again locking his calm coal eyes with milk ones. His expression did not change as the Hyuuga brought his left hand back up, swinging it with the same strength as before. He didn't even flinch as his face was impacted again in the same spot, jerking to the side once more. This time, he paused to spat out some blood that had burst from his abused gums and inside of his cheek before turning around to look at the pale irises again.

"Does the witness confirm the hits?" Neshi called out louder then before so the onlookers could hear, but not looking away from the Uchiha.

"Punishment recognized." Dumbledore called over, his scratchy voice holding a bit of resentment for the almost barbaric form of punishment. He had never been one for violence against students.

"Confirmed. Account recorded. Ending chastise." Neshi took two steps back, and then bowed in unison with Itachi before turning to walk back to the others.

"Dear Merlin, Itachi!" Ron called, eyes wide. Next to him were Harry and Hermione, both with shocked and almost horrified expressions. "What the hell was that about?!"

"You're bleeding!" Hermione said, meeting him as he made it to the top step with the boys on her heel. She reached up and gently touched his chin, leading his face to the side so she could look at the damage. From the pain and merest glances from the bottom of his eye, he could tell it had already swollen and was starting to bruise. And from the barest feel of liquid sluggishly running down his face, he could tell the skin on his cheekbone had burst.

"It's nothing," He said almost quickly, moving his head out of her grip easily. She seemed too much like a worried sister, some times. "How much did you see?" He asked them, glancing from each set of worried and angry eyes.

"We saw that bastard over there knock you twice in the face, mate!"

"Oy!" Harry said angrily, taking a step towards the taller man who had been calmly talking with Dumbledore. "Asshole! Who do you think—"

But whatever he had been going to say was cut short as Itachi grabbed him by his wrist, keeping him from advancing on the bemused ninja (who didn't know English, and thus wasn't offended by the curses and thought the pint sized civilian threatening him was funny). "Don't," He said simply, but also in a sort of commanding away. "This was my punishment for my actions against Ron. He is merely the envoy sent to carry it out."

"Your school actually uses such violent punishments?" Ron scowled, disbelieving. "But it wasn't that big of a deal! And it didn't happen over there, so they shouldn't be able to punish you for it!"

"I ashamed the ANBU, Konoha, and myself for doing that against you, Ron. I got off lightly."

"You call that light?" Harry frowned, "You're going to need to go the hospital wing for it!"

"Had I done anything worse, I likely not only would have had to endure a complete beating, but I would have been sent to back to Konoha, had it done in front of all my colleagues, friends and family, as well as be suspended if not discharged out of ANBU for good. For people as strong as ANBU, the punishment for abusing that power is just as sever as the strength requires it to be."

"So they hit you until you bleed? Until your skin bursts? Bones crack?"

"No, they hit not to injure, but to shame. This is nothing. I've had worse." He brushed his fingers lightly over the wound, feeling the damage. "Let us go back inside now. I promised to show Sasuke the Gryffindors, and I do believe you three have quite a bit of homework?"

They all frowned at how he was brushing off their concern, their lips pursing, but they didn't say anything else and allowed themselves to be herded back into the castle. However, they didn't go to the tower, instead circling around Itachi and then herded him towards the Hospital wing.

Itachi sighed, knowing they wouldn't let him let the slight injury to heal by itself. What was the point of a punishment if it was just healed away? But he glanced down at Sasuke's face, and saw utmost concern there. Well, he'll allow himself to be fixed this one time. For the mission.

XXXXX

"...Brother?" Sasuke asked, swinging his legs slightly.

"Hm?" Itachi looked over to him from his own spot on the railing on the castle steps. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow across the grounds. It had been settled that Sasuke would sleep with Itachi on his futon (which was large and could easily fit two small boys) and Neshi would be the common room, taking up residence on one of the chairs. Where the twenty seven year old was now, as he had already taken Itachi's official mission report and thus he had the rest of the week free, was anyone's guess. Though, if one took to his reaction with the castle, it would be a wise to think he was prowling somewhere on the grounds.

Sasuke fidgeted, not looking at him. "...Nothing."

Itachi smiled slightly, before looking back at the setting sun and taking a deep breath. "So, Sasuke, were you happy to come back and visit me?"

His brother smiled, a complete innocent smile yet to be tainted with sorrow, a smile that was soon to be destroyed in the ninja life. "Yeah! I missed you! And this place has the best food! And I still have to ride—"

"No." He immediately said, poking the boy's head. "You will not ride the Firebolt and that's final."

"Itachi!" Sasuke smacked away the hand and rubbed at the red mark on his forehead. "Why not? Harry said it was alright!"

Itachi rolled his eye at the obvious lie. "Oh, and you speak English now?"

"Well, no, but... I just know, ok? Not everyone can be good at everything like you." He scowled crossing his arms and huffing. "And you still didn't tell me why not! It's perfectly safe! You did it!"

"I do a lot of things you can't, Sasuke." Itachi smiled at how Sasuke's scowl deepened.

"Is that it, because you're jealous I might be good at something more then you?"

"No, it's because a lot of the things I do are very dangerous and you'd be killed if you attempted them."

Shaking his head, the elder Uchiha leaned on a hand looking out into the distance, glancing at how the younger child still stared at him as time wore on. "Tell you what," He said, smacking his hands lightly onto his legs. "If you can convince Madam Hooch—the Flying Instructor of this school—to teach you, then it will be all right by me."

"Really?!" Predictably, his face lit up in expression of pure joy. "Thank you, Older brother!"

"But remember, you have to convince her."

Sasuke grinned in an almost evil way, "No problem."

Patting him on the head while vaguely wondering what he had planned for the older woman, Itachi placed his hands on his seat in preparation to slide off. "Come on, dinner's soon. And we still have to find the Hyuuga. Make sure he isn't lost, or been eaten or something." With that he jumped down the ten foot embankment onto the soft grass below, landing lightly. Sasuke soon landed next to him with nary a sound, a mark to his budding skills.

After finding his temporary subordinate lurking near the lake, they made their way to dinner. Tired of people staring at his eyes and asking if he was blind or not (and of course not understanding them so he just gave them an odd look and resumed whatever he had been doing), the Hyuuga spent the entire meal with his eyes closed to the amusement of Sasuke, who started poking him at odd intervals.

As they had been introduced earlier that morning, the two Uchiha sat in the common room playing chess (Neshi meditated in the corner—eyes closed) completely undisturbed as everyone else had lots and lots of homework to, and Itachi received many a glare because of it.

However, as the night wore on and people started flecking off to bed, Itachi took the sleepy, protesting Sasuke up to their dorm. He was setting up their futon as Neville, the last dorm mate to get into the room, came in and nearly tripped over them.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said, scrambling up. He had been looking at a piece of parchment, muttering to himself, being completely disorientated to where he was and walked right to Itachi's spot instead of his own.

But those simple words made Sasuke stare, eyes wide in disbelief. "The foreigner! It... talked! Ow!" He cried as Itachi smacked him in the head. "What was that for, Itachi?!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that they're not foreigners?"

"You're the foreigner here, brat." Dean said from his own bed, wrinkling his nose at Sasuke, who jumped and stared at him as well before catching the meaning and scowling.

"Hey! I'm not a brat!"

"Yes you are, now change." Itachi said impatiently, holding out Sasuke's sleeping clothes.

"Itachiiiiiii!"

"Change."

Sasuke pouted, but did as told, glaring at the ground. He yawned slightly as he shrugged on his night shirt, and then yawned even louder as he plopped down in his spot on the futon. He clutched at the pillow Itachi drew up with his wand, and muttered small curses under his breath as he stifled another yawn. Itachi shook his head slightly as within a few seconds Sasuke was snoring lightly, confirming that he had been exhausted.

The elder Uchiha settled down in his meditive stance, as was his usual, only this time Kneazle-Sasuke took up her spot next to her namesake. The room settled down as the clocks ticked away, and soon it was nothing but purrs and snores filling the space.

Itachi suddenly opened his eyes, feeling a chill go down his back in the calm silence. That... thing he saw in Divination kept popping into his mind. He would have to speak with Dumbledore about it... After Sasuke left. He wasn't going to ruin this week because of that little thing, whatever it was. He tried rationalizing it out. But why would a Chinese Fireball play with a Kneazle, and then why wouldn't it just fly off when the water came? Why did the water flood anyway? The smoke in the room had to have been getting to him. It was a hallucinogenic, he just knew it.

Sighing, he glanced at the clock and realized he'd been sitting there in thought for over an hour. He went under the comforter (after pushing both Sasuke out of the way, as they rolled into his spot) and tried to relax. He would solve this mystery... Another time.

XXXXX

MDF: You guys are so lucky to get this chapter. You see, I am grounded, and my mother took my laptop—thus my internet and story—away. I only just found it this morning. It was in my mothers towel cupboard (her bathroom and mine have separate everything, even linen closets), under a few towels. Nothing can stop, however, a desperate teenager with nothing on her hands.