Ho-shit, I should have more cliff hangers—Over 40 reviews for that one chapter, double my average amount for every other chapter!

And I've been trying to up-load this chapter since the 14th in the morning, but ffnet freaked and wouldn't let me. But yeah, this chapter's dedicated to Tainted-reflection-126 who reviewed every chapter, and made a lovely image of the carriage scene! She also commented on a beloved part in a previous chapter that no one else mentioned—I like it when people enjoy my little humorous quips.

XXXXX

Itachi grit his teeth against the pain, closing his eyes and throwing his head back slightly as he tried to get up from the slightly burnt ground—dirt getting into the various small shuriken and kunai wounds on his back. His left arm was nearly useless after a kunai went through his shoulder muscles, his right lay on the ground gripping the Hyuuga's sword he was thankful he forgot to take out of his robe. His left leg was slightly burnt by a Katon that went by too close, and he had landed too hard on his right leg so it sent shooting pains up into his thigh. There were also countless small wounds from shuriken and kunai scattered about him, biting deeply into his flesh. But he could handle those. They were mere annoyances. What really was bothering him was the slash wound he had from his left chest to his right hip. It was deep enough to cut to his ribs, slicing off skin and making him bleed profusely. His left eye was swollen shut but his right eye still watched with swirling red sharingan, and he bled freely from his mouth by either internal bleeding or abused gums.

Shisui stood above him, not in any better condition, panting heavily and favoring his right leg greatly as his left was twisted at an odd angle, but he was still smiling. "I told you Itachi," He said between panting breaths. "I'd make you remember." He struggled to move his katana so it hung above Itachi's chest, waiting to plunge down and finish the fight that had been raging on for over three hours. They could only fight in ninjutsu and taijutsu, as genjutsu was useless against two sharingan users, causing a bloody battle. Itachi was the faster of the two, but Shisui had reach on him. They were matched, making blow for blows, but Itachi had made a mistake. He didn't jump away quick enough from a slash, and now was going to die because of that. Such is the way of the ninja, life or death is decided in the flash of blades. "Don't worry, Itachi... You're going to be reborn... as my eyes... my new Mangekyou Sharingan. With me... for always until I, too, die. You put up... quite a fight, as expected of Uchiha Itachi. Once this is out of the way... I'll test out the eyes for the first time... On the last of the Uchiha... Then our pact... will be completed." His eyes gleamed maliciously, the wicked smile on his face growing in anticipation, and he brought up the katana even more. "I'll make this quick... for you."

But Itachi, while Shisui's younger, was still an ANBU captain, and it was not an idle seat. He waited until the key point before he used what little strength he had left and lashed out with his own Katana, going for the uninjured leg. He sliced clean through it right at the knee, where he'd meet the less resistance. Shisui got an extremely shocked look before he wobbled and fell away from Itachi, his only support gone. He landed on the ground with a thud, letting out a small agonized cry as his weak arms went to clutch at the new stump.

Itachi forced himself up, using his katana as an almost crutch. He crawled on his hands and knees slowly until he made it to his cousin's side. What could be described as feebly had you been talking about anyone else, Itachi moved his supporting crutch up just enough, and brought it down heavily to where the bone armor just began, slightly tilted so it would go through his best friends' heart.

Shisui stopped screaming very suddenly, and locked gazes with the panting Itachi for the last time in pure shock. Slowly, his sharingan dulled into glazed black eyes, and Itachi knew he was dead. He had killed him. He had killed his best friend.

Suddenly a pain like he never felt before burst inside of his mind. He fell backwards and clutched at his head, feeling himself scream but not being able to hear it through the agony. He squirmed and writhed as much as his broken body allowed on the bloody battle field, the torture growing with each second until everything whitened out into oblivion.

He didn't know how much time had past, or what had happened while he was incomprehensive, but by the time the pain dulled to a small throb, and he could open his eyes, he was lying under an unharmed tree, head propped up against the trunk, shoulders nestled between the roots, and the sun was casting a shadow inducing light. He, his mind and body numb, stared at the corpse that was a good thirty feet away, katana poking out of it signifying the killing blow.

He could tell he was being watched, he could feel it. But he didn't care. Let the centaurs come and finish him off. He came back into their forest without permission, so it was justified, right? He didn't care anymore. He had killed his best friend. No matter how twisted he was, how wrong he was, what he did, what he attempted to do, Itachi couldn't bring himself to hate Shisui. They had shared so much, done so much together, that their bond had been unbreakable. And he had killed him.

He continued to look at the body, scarcely breathing, feeling blood flow out of the corners of his mouth, his eyes burning, his many wounds stinging and throbbing and the ever watchful stares.

Movement caught his attention, bounding to him, but it wasn't a centaur to come and kill him. It was... Sasuke?

Kneazle-Sasuke carelessly hopped over Shisui, running through the field to him, dodging the various weapons that were scattered all over the ground. Soon she came up to him, crawling onto his chest and mewing frantically, though he couldn't hear a thing. His arms were too weak to be able to lift and pet her small head, to greet her like he normally would.

'Now, Sasuke,' his mind thought with surprisingly clarity. 'What have I told you? Stop worrying over me. Look, over there. See? I killed my best friend. I'm a horrible person. So stop fretting and go find someone who will take care of you.'

But the kitten was heedless of his thoughts, continuing to yowl seemingly silently, worry in her slitted irises. She was the last thing he saw as his eyes and mind dimmed into darkness.

XXXXX

"We have to search the area. We have to find Itachi, he our last hope. If you find him send red sparks into the air. If you find an unknown human body, send up green sparks. If you find anyone else who doesn't respond with 'Snicker' when you say 'Pickmen' attack them to kill." Lupin's mind rang with Dumbledore's words as he searched the woods, sometimes warding off a forest dweller that got too close.

He didn't know what was going on, almost no one did. Only Snape, Flitwick and McGonagall knew other then Dumbledore, and that was only because of the situation. They had been forbidden to tell anyone else, or speak of it to anyone who knew. What was going on?

"Meow!" The cry of a cat made his head look up and he saw a spotted Kneazle standing a few feet away on a root. It cried again before disappearing. He stared after it, and then was shocked when it stood on the root again. "Mew!" It called, looking behind it then back at him before turning and running off once more.

Getting the hint, Lupin readied his wand and ran after the cat creature. It bounded around trees and bushes with ease, occasionally glancing behind it to make sure he was following.

Finally led somewhere, he stopped at the edge of the clearing, eyes widening in horror. The area had been unnaturally widened, whole trees ripped from the ground as if they were mere weeds. The ground had been slashed, smashed, torn up, burnt, soaked, and anything else he could possibly think of. Weapons of the strangest kind he had ever seen were carelessly thrown about, sometimes imbedded into trees and large stones. The small pond had been almost completely drained, the water scattered all over the nearby area, slowly draining back. How could anyone do so much damage?

But what made his heart stop was that there was a body lying not ten feet from him. It was shredded and nearly unrecognizable, clearly dead with a sword protruding out of its chest, under the blood splattered white armor. He was Asian, a mere child, black hair tied up in a messy topknot with a half-shattered mask on the side of his head.

He raised his wand and sent green sparks high into the air, shining brightly in the twilight.

Yowling brought his attention away from the body to where an unmistakable Itachi, despite the grave wounds over his own flesh, lay perfectly still. He skirted the corpse as he sent up a shower of red sparks, and made his way over to the bleeding boy.

"Itachi? Itachi, can you hear me?" Lupin asked, crouching down next to him. The Kneazle cried pathetically, rubbing her head against the unresponsive cheek.

"Dammit," he muttered. He shoved the Kneazle unceremoniously off the bleeding chest, and pointed his wand at it. Bandages flew out of his wand's tip and wrapped themselves tightly around the boy's chest, instantly being stained red. He preformed the spell over and over on any and every wound, until he was completely wrapped up from head to toe, only part of his face remaining unwrapped. For some odd reason, there was none of the odd weapons that were scattered about on him. Maybe he removed them before collapsing here?

"Snicker!" Dumbledore's voice called. "Lupin!"

"Pickmen!" He called back, turning to see the man approach. "I've found Itachi! He's really injured; we have to get him to the hospital wing!"

"Oh Merlin," He said as he looked upon the bloody, still child, before his eyes started to scan the area. "Hurry, you must get Madam Pomfrey. Take Itachi to the castle, but don't allow him to be seen by anyone but her, understand? Go, quickly, there's not much time."

"Yes, sir." Lupin said, standing. He conjured a stretcher under Itachi, and it floated up until it could glide over the largest of roots. Quickly, he used his wand to direct it and ran off towards the castle, the Kneazle following diligently.

Dumbledore watched them go, before turning to Professor Snape, who was just entering the clearing and paused to stare at the body of who could be no one other then Uchiha Shisui.

"Snicker. What happened...?" He breathed, looking at the gore that lay at his feet.

"Pickmen. Itachi killed him. Lupin has already taken him to the hospital. Go, catch up, and make sure nothing stops them."

Snape nodded dumbly, eyes not leaving the body until he was beyond the tree line again.

Dumbledore sighed, turning to the bloody battle field. He waved his wand, fixing this, removing that, making the clearing go back to some sense of normality. No one would know this was a battle field, if he had any say in the matter.

Soon a centaur stepped from the edge, where he'd been watching carefully since the battle was weaning to an end. "Dumbledore," He said, his long flaming red hair thrown over his scared shoulder.

"Zuko." Dumbledore nodded in return, just about to turn the corpse into some flowers.

"The forest does not like the almost human child." He said, glancing in the direction to where Itachi and Lupin went. "But the forest cries in agony over that." He spat in the direction of Shisui. "The alignments told nothing of this, of this blood letting. The almost human child killed that, and the forest thanked him. As we are part of the forest as well, we did not kill the unnatural almost human child in his weakened state." The centaur stomped his foot then turned and clopped back into the forest, disappearing. All the centaurs respected him, and while he could understand their motives most of the time, this was not one of them. Why did they tell him? Perhaps they were justifying it themselves...

With a flick of his wand, the body was no more. Wearily, but knowing he had a lot to do before the day was done, he made his way back to the castle.

XXXXX

"Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley." Dumbledore's voice called from the portrait hole.

The friends glanced at each other before getting up and moving as one over to the door. The past hour one, sometimes two or three people had been called out of the Great Hall, and there were only a handful of students left; the enchanted ceiling showing crisp, twinkling stars. There had been rumors when the first people were called out, that they were suspected of god only knows what. There had been rumors of killings, to theft, to helping Black, to being Black. But as the list of people who got called out grew, seemingly at random, the rumors died down till people just waited to be called.

They crawled out the hole and followed after the Headmaster, silently, but occasionally hearing muted chatter of students studying as they passed by door ways. Bah! How can anyone study after what happened?

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Have you seen Itachi?"

"We've been looking for him, but we haven't seen him since this afternoon." Ron added, scrunching his eyebrows.

Hermione nodded her way into the conversation, "He wasn't in the Great Hall at all."

Dumbledore stopped walking, hands clasped behind him as he looked at the ground for a moment. He seemed to be weighing the options of something, but he apparently came to a decision after a while. "Come with me," He said, and turned down another hallway.

"Where are we going?" Harry whispered over to the others. They shrugged in response, but soon it became apparent without a single word being spoken.

"Poppy, is he stable?" Dumbledore poked his head in through the door, talking with Madam Pomfrey who was in her side office at the entrance of the Hospital wing.

"As stable has he'll be. I've done all I can for now."

Harry and the others exchanged worried glances, but soon they were ushered into the hospital wing by Dumbledore.

There, lying without any apparent movement on one of the beds, was Itachi. If Harry thought he looked bad back in October, he had been fooling himself. He thought that, now, a load of clicking, ticking, beeping machines all hooked up to him would fit quite well. He was lying on his back, with the blankets pushed down to his waste, chest covered in freshly stained bandages, as if he was still bleeding. There were also bandages around his arms and head, over his left eye, and probably his legs as well. A potion was simmering on the table next to him, giving off a heavy air and smelled slightly of seaweed. Itachi's brother was sitting in a chair next to him, looking broken, staring at his hands as his feet twitched, hanging above the ground.

"Itachi!" They all said, running up to him. Sasuke raised his head at hearing the voices, but he realized who they were, and bowed his head again.

"Madam Pomfrey stabilized him, but healing the wounds of the flesh would be too strenuous on his body right now." Dumbledore said quietly, walking up to them.

Harry looked back and forth between the deathly still boy and the headmaster, finally struggling out the words, "What happened?"

"The reason everyone was in the Great Hall. You see, there was a dragon that came to the school. It was an unusually mean Norwegian Ridgeback, and seemed to have an abnormal fixation on Hagrid's hut." Harry's, Hermione's, and Ron's eyes all widened tremendously—Norbert! "Young Itachi spotted it and drew the dragon away to the forest, but by the time the trained dragon wizards came, Itachi had already been severely injured.

"This is an enclosed issue. A complete secret. No one is to know a dragon was raised at the school, and yes, I know about Norbert—Hagrid told me when he came to tell me to secure the school. If parents found out, a panic would spread, and Hagrid could very well be sent to Azkaban for a few years." The unknowingly dubbed Team Six gasped as a collective. "That's why what happened will not be told to anyone. The teachers and I have even come to an agreement that what will be told that happened was that someone, presumably Black, attacked a student who was out of bounds. We'll use the facts that Itachi looks similar to Harry from behind, despite the longer hair. And the fact that Itachi has a fascination with Magical creatures, and that he went to the forest to follow a rumor of the colony of Acromantula that is there, but stumbled upon the person. The attacker didn't have a wand, so he attempted to kill him via a butcher knife."

"...Will he be alright?" Hermione said in the silence that followed, settling over all present.

"We don't know. At best, he'll make a full recovery. At worst..." He trailed off, but they caught the meaning even if he didn't say it.

"Now, come on, we have to leave. Itachi isn't supposed to have visitors."

"But what about his brother...?"

Dumbledore looked long and hard at the dark haired child sitting in the chair, who was twitching his foot ever so slightly but otherwise didn't respond to anything. "...It would be crueler to force him away."

XXXXX

Itachi opened his eyes, and looked up onto a blurry ceiling he saw once before; it was streaked with orange then too.

Hm, throbbing pain throughout his body, bandages wrapped around him from head to toe, horrible taste in his mouth... How much, and what did he drink last night?

Pushing away the oddly humorous thought while blaming Ron for it, Itachi assessed the situation as his mind cleared. He was heavily injured, he was in the hospital, and there were two Sasuke around him.

Kneazle-Sasuke was on his feet, and his little brother was leaning against the bed, clutching at his hand while he slept. Itachi looked at him for a moment, just watching blankly. 'Oh, that's good,' he thought after a pause. 'He's ok. Shisui didn't get him.'

With that thought, what exactly happened came crashing back to him, and he let his eyes go back to observing the high ceiling. What was he doing alive? He fought more then he ever fought before in his life, nearly being killed only to end up killing, taking the life of his best friend. He was somehow under a tree, and then his mind started to fade, like it should have. Who saved him and why did they save him? He was meant to die. There was nothing here for the likes of him.

"Onii-san..." A small voice drifted into his thoughts and he was drawn out from his dark path to look back next to him, where his younger brother was. Sasuke, having awoken to who knows what, looked at him with tear filled eyes, pure concern and relief in them as well.

"Hello, Sasuke." He breathed... or had he just thought it?

"Onii-san... You're ok. I was so scared you'd die too..." A tear dripped from the boy's cheek, and he bowed his head again, crying over Itachi's hand as the ANBU in question watched in silence, face blank. "Everyone... Everyone is gone... Mother, father... Everyone... I don't know what I would have done if you died too..."

Ah. So that was why he was alive still. He couldn't just leave Sasuke all by himself. How could he kill his best friend to protect him, and then just throw him to the proverbial wolves, all alone in the world?

"No! Not again child, you're supposed to let him res—you're awake!" The attending witch-nurse had just come out of her office, probably to tell Sasuke off for disturbing him. Of course, it wouldn't have made much of a difference, as Sasuke still didn't speak English.

She came running over with her wand, and a tray of various goblets. She hurriedly set them down on the table next to him, and then made movements to shoo Sasuke out of the way.

"Work around him," He said quietly, somehow having moved his free hand to catch her wrist. She looked at him for a moment, in somewhat shock, but then she nodded, and he let her go, his arm limply falling to the bed, strength gone.

He was poked and prodded, forced to sit up, lay back down, drink this, take that, how are you feeling, does this hurt, can you feel that, are you up to eating, do you need to use the bedpan?

He submitted willingly, answering when he needed to, taking what was given to him. By the time she was done, he was feeling the strong need to sleep again, and the sun had fully risen, casting the room in a bright, comforting light. But he wouldn't fall asleep, he needed information. He wouldn't...

He blinked, and suddenly Dumbledore was smiling down to him, golden glasses twinkling in the late afternoon sun. Dammit, he fell asleep.

"You've been asleep for four days." He said by way of a greeting. "We induced it for the first two while you were being healed, but afterwards your body naturally slept to regain its energy."

"How did you find me?" He asked, knowing it would have been impossible for them to have found the path the two ninja used.

"While we were searching for you, Lupin said your Kneazle led him, and he signaled for the rest of us."

His eyebrows bunched as he tried to process that information, but relaxed his face as he found it too painful. "Why were you searching for me?" He said instead, voice nothing more then a small, scratchy whisper.

"Because the Third Hokage contacted Sasuke through that red scroll. He gave the message that Uchiha Shisui had slaughtered the Uchiha clan, and was making his way here to finish the job." Itachi swallowed at the mentioned of the recently departed, but didn't say anything. "We were looking for you so you could have guarded the Great Hall, for which everyone was gathered in. Your partner was killed first, and was found by Professor Snape and Flitwick. Mr. Filch cleaned up the scene, and he has been put to rest. A replacement has been sent, and is now secretly guarding Harry and will continue to do so until you have made a full recovery—"

"Who is it?" He asked, before Dumbledore could continue.

"He's the one who came here last time... Kakashi, I believe it was. He was rather worried about you, you know. But, as I was saying, your replacement will guard Harry until you are well. Once that happens, you, he, and your brother will go back to Konoha."

He turned his head and look at the elder man in confusion. "Why?"

"In light of this incident, I view it best for your mission to be annulled. As due to the agreement of the contract I signed in Konoha, I will give you the other half of the mission payment for your return trip. We will just have to watch Harry ourselves."

"...No." Itachi said, staring at the ceiling.

"Oh? I would have thought you'd want to go home. Having such a thing happen to your family..."

"I've never liked my family," He said in a small, blank voice. "The only two I liked were my brother, and the man I killed, Shisui." He closed his eyes, feeling a burning behind them. "My family were very power hungry people. As a prodigy, I was forced to do their bidding my entire life regardless of my own will or desires. Shisui was also a considered prodigy, and went through the same treatment. You see what came of that." He opened his eyes and turned his head to face the shocked one of Dumbledore, letting his eyes swirl into sharingan. "He came here, mainly to kill me, his best friend... To achieve these." They mutated for the first time into three blades, spinning slightly. He didn't know quite how he knew how to change them, for the first time, but he did. "By protecting Sasuke, I received them instead." He blinked and they were gone, back into almost glazed black orbs.

"I... think it would be best if you went back to Konoha—" He said, worry for Itachi in his eyes.

"Dumbledore," Itachi breathed, closing his eyes as a fresh wave of pain crashed over him, making his heart tremble but refusing to show it. "I need this. I have been changed by this mission, I was on the brink, the same brink Shisui fell over, before I came here. Acting like a civilian, protecting Harry, Ron, and Hermione, keeping the naïve little fools out of petty trouble... I've grown dependant on it. I have planned and plotted and organized so much, that to suddenly just abandon it wouldn't do me, nor anyone else, any good. I need the closure of the completed mission, when this school year ends, and you need me to finish what I started."

"..." Dumbledore shifted in his chair, making it creak slightly in the long echoing silence that dragged on as he made his decision. "Very well. I will not break the contract, but if the Sandaime—"

"He has no say in whether I stay or not if there is no direct need for my presence in Konoha or elsewhere." Itachi said, keeping his eyes closed as he pushed away the pain and fatigue. "A mission, once accepted, is the sole responsibility of the ninja involved."

"I see..." They lapsed into silence for a moment, "What about your brother?"

Itachi opened his eyes and looked to the chair where Sasuke sat—it was empty. "Where is Sasuke?" He cursed himself for his laps in awareness, his heart speeding up slightly as his eyes scanned the small, closed off area he had to himself. He should have instantly known his brother was gone! Where is he?!

"He has gone to dinner, escorted by Kakashi." Dumbledore said quickly, placing a hand on Itachi's shoulder to keep him from painfully sitting up."He had not left your side since he first saw you after you came here, not even to eat. We only just now convinced him, and I've been watching over you. He hasn't spoken to anyone either. Now, as I was saying, what are we going to do about your brother? I know that you are all he has left, and that to separate the two of you would be cruelty beyond comprehension. I will allow him to live with you for the rest of the year, let you both to heal, but I cannot speak for your leader. Sasuke is not part of this mission, and should be leaving, technically, the day after tomorrow."

"Kakashi-sempai should have an emergency scroll with him. We can communicate that way."

"It's decided then." Dumbledore stood with the squeal of the chair against the wooden floor. "I'll leave you to rest." He patted his arm in a comforting manner, and Itachi had the decency not to wince as it sent shooting pains up into his shoulder.

"Dumbledore-sama," he said, and the old man paused before exiting behind the tall screens. "Thank you."

XXXXX

"OK," Kakashi said in a careless manner, propping his feet up on the table as he sat lazily in the chair Dumbledore occupied the day before. A red scroll was open in his lap, the black lines of the words 'Uchiha Itachi, Weasel ANBU, mission code Red Moon.' glistening and his writing brush was twirled absently in his fingers. "Now we need to wait," He said in his accented speech, not as bad as one would think as he just learned it over the last few days. Then again, he also had the Sharingan, and had been previously exposed to the language. Perhaps he decided to learn it in the sudden free time he had since leaving the ANBU?

Sasuke, sitting in the chair he had occupied for the last few days, scowled, not liking that the silver haired ninja had learned English. He wanted to know what was going on, dammit. But he wasn't going to say anything, oh no, not while Kakashi (or anyone else but his brother) was here.

Itachi lay on flat on the bed, unable to write himself just yet. Most of his bandages had been removed, but sitting up still drained on him, so he was going to speak and Kakashi would translate it to writing.

"Return code Mourning Ocean." The silver haired ninja said in a bad imitation of their leader's voice, "What the hell took you so long?"

Itachi frowned at Kakashi for embellishing, but the man just grinned silently in return behind his mask. "Mission status unaffected, request of new plans."

"Fire away," He said, twirling the brush in his fingers again as he watched the scroll.

"Request for the extended stay of Uchiha Sasuke in light of recent events to the end of the mission. Cleared with employer. Will see to his ninja training in absence of a proper instructor. It is my personal belief that it would be harmful to both of our minds to be separated at this delicate time."

"Aw, I'm touched," Kakashi said in his normal voice. "I never thought you had it in you to be caring."

"Just read what he writes, Hatake."

"Hey, I'm waiting, he's yet to reply. I think you shocked him into having a heart attack. Good work, dunce; you've killed our leader—oh, there we go." He cleared his throat and adopted the almost 'all knowing' voice of the Hokage again, "Request accepted."

Itachi relaxed slightly. "Confirmation recorded. End Transmission."

Kakashi wrote the last bit and blew on the paper so the ink would dry faster before rolling the scroll up until he could tie it off and slip it into the jounin vest he wore.

"So, how're you feeling?" He asked, placing his hands behind his head. "You looked like shit when I first came."

"The medical abilities here are not limited by capacity, merely skill. The attending nurse is quite adept, even though she has dealt with mostly magical grievances previously."

Kakashi sighed, letting his head relax fully so his face looked towards the ceiling, completely supported by his hands. "Your communication skills still need work, I see." They lapsed into easy silence, the sour face of Sasuke—for still being left out of the conversation but refusing to voice it—the only uncomfortable thing in the small space.

Itachi turned his face towards the other ninja, away from his brother. "Did you know there is another level to the Copy Wheel Eye?"

The Copy Cat nin's eyes widened just a hint. "Hm?"

"It is called the Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye." He let his eyes morph into the three blades of the ultimate sharingan for a moment, keeping his face turned to Sasuke was not to see. Not yet, Little brother, some other time. "The ultimate eye ability, it creates an unbreakable genjutsu in an instant, stoppable only by a fellow blood Mangekyou Sharingan user. The cost of the eye is to kill your closest friend. I received this eye from Shisui when I refused to allow him to kill off Sasuke." He blinked, and they were gone in a swirl.

The boy in question perked up at hearing names he recognized, and he blinked at his brother to the jounin who was looking slightly... Startled? Blank? He couldn't tell.

"So that means I'm safe then?" Kakashi said, grinning suddenly. "I don't know to feel relieved, or annoyed I'm not your closest friend."

"Hn," Itachi smiled slightly at the happy tone, knowing that Kakashi was one of the few who would joke with him at this point. It made him feel better, slightly.

"Well, I have some stalking to do. Excuse me," Kakashi laboriously stood up and made a seal, disappearing in a poof of smoke.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke asked as soon as the other ninja had vanished.

"I've made arrangements that you are to stay with me until the mission is over." He turned his head to look at his brother. "Whether you like it or not."

Sasuke pretended to scowl, trying to cover the large, relieved smile.

XXXXX

MDF: My personal favorite part of this chapter is Kakashi commenting on his stalking.