Tsume sighed, shaking her head. This was getting nowhere. They hadn't found anything at all.
She lifted her head to stare over the racks of clothes, looking for her fiancé. Kakashi was too far over, though, and she couldn't see his gray hair. She sighed again.
"Sakura," she called. Her daughter emerged from the dressing room with a dark purple dress, and Tsume frowned. She cocked her head to the side.
"Yeah, Mom?"
"How do you like that dress?"
Sakura shrugged. "I like the style, but the purple's a bit too dark for me."
Tsume smirked. "Well, too bad! That's the dress I'm going with!"
Sakura sighed. Hana appeared behind her younger sister with the same dress, draping an arm over the pinkette's shoulders.
"Don't worry Sakura," she said. "We'll get through this together."
Sakura groaned.
/\/\
Sasuke frowned as he looked at himself in the mirror.
"I don't like this," he announced. Kakashi glanced over at him and lifted an eyebrow.
"Why, Sasuke? That looks great on you," he said.
Sasuke glared at him. "I don't care about the clothes. It's the store."
"Oh, well, that you have to live with. This is the only store in the entire village we can go to."
Kakashi stood up from where he was trying to figure out how to tie Naruto's dark blue tie. He stared at Sasuke. "Actually, I like that suit. Congratulations, Sasuke. You have found the one."
Sasuke shuddered and glanced down at his feet automatically, before remembering that dogs were not allowed in the store – even ninja dogs. Rusty was at home with the other dogs.
He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall.
/\/\
Itachi stood in front of the Hokage, twitching almost unnoticeably. Sarutobi sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the Uchiha.
"So, Itachi," he said slowly. Everything about the Hokage seemed slow today. "How are you?"
"Sir, I hate to interrupt you, but I was supposed to be with Kakashi and help put with the suit picking," Itachi said, gritting his teeth. He had a life, damn it! He was not some puppy the Hokage could call at his every need!
"I apologize, Itachi, but I thought you would like to know the improvement in your mission," Sarutobi said, cocking his head to the side. His Hokage hat tilted to the side precariously.
"Am I finally out of it?" Itachi asked hopefully.
"Um…No." The Hokage smiled. "But we're making improvement."
Itachi let out a breath and glared at the wall behind the old man. This was never going to end!
/\/\
By the time Itachi was finally able to leave Sarutobi's office, it was well past lunch and nearly dinner. He went straight home, hoping that maybe the family was still out and he would have a few moments of peace and quiet.
No such luck.
"Itachi!" Naruto called as soon as he got through the door. "Where have you been all day?"
"The Hokage's office," Itachi answered tiredly, pouring himself a cup of water. He gulped it down thirstily.
"What were you doing there?"
Itachi lifted his gaze to meet Kakashi's, and an understanding passed between them. "Oh, just talking about a mission."
"For five hours?" Naruto said, crossing his arms.
"Yes," Itachi said. "I had a few stops to make along the way." He held up a bag Naruto hadn't noticed before. "An apology for not being able to make it."
He extended the bag towards the blonde, and the Genin opened it. He grinned when he saw what was in it.
"Thank you, Itachi-niisan!" Naruto shouted, leaping forward to hug the teen. Itachi smiled and patted him on the back.
"You're welcome," he said. Naruto stepped back to stare into the bag at his wonderful ramen, practically salivating. Tsume frowned at him.
"Naruto, put that in the fridge," she said. "You are not letting your dinner go to waste."
Naruto pouted and deposited the bag in the fridge, sitting back down. He ate his food rather quietly, but then cheered up when he saw there was dessert.
"Yes! Cake!"
He dug into his piece with motivation Itachi hardly ever saw. The raven shook his head and accepted the cake Hana forced into his hands, turning to go to his room. His best friend frowned and followed him.
"What are you doing, Itachi?" she asked. "Everyone's downstairs having fun!"
"Hana, I can't do this anymore," he admitted. "I just can't."
The Inuzuka frowned. "What do you mean, Itachi? There isn't anything you can't do!"
"I just can't," he repeated, his gaze dropping to the ground. Tears pricked his eyes, and he angrily wiped them away. Hana sat down next to him on the bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Itachi, what are you talking about?" Her voice had dropped so that it was barely above a whisper. He shook his head.
"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. He felt like he was going to be sick.
"Why don't you come back downstairs?"
"No." His voice was choked as he rasped the word, his eyes closed tightly.
Hana stilled as her friend's words finally broke through and made sense in her mind. "No, Itachi, you can't do it."
"Hana, I have to do it, or else I will never be free."
"Itachi, you're a shinobi! You'll always have missions that you won't want to do. That doesn't mean you can just leave."
"It's not about the mission."
Hana sucked in a breath. "They came, didn't they?"
"They talked to me yesterday. They're getting more daring."
"Itachi, talk to Dad! He can help you!"
"He's busy with the wedding. I don't even know if he talked to the Hokage like he promised. He has way too much on his plate right now. I don't want to add to it."
Hana's eyes softened. "At least stay till the wedding."
"I can't make any promises."
"Please?"
Itachi didn't answer and instead buried his face in his hands and let the tears he had been holding back for so long fall.
/\/\
Kakashi sat in his study, frowning at the last mission report he had. He couldn't even remember this one it had been so long ago.
Tsume set his coffee in front of him and sat on the corner of his desk. He looked up at her.
"Do you remember the mission where I nearly ripped my mask?" he asked. She frowned and shook her head.
"This is why you fill reports out immediately after you finish the mission," she said. He didn't answer. Tsume stared at his face, then said, "Kakashi, what are we going to do about Itachi? You heard as well as I did what he said."
"Tsume, I don't know." Kakashi sighed, turning away from the report he would never turn in. "That kid never thinks about himself. I did talk to the Hokage. He said that he was working on it as fast as he could."
"Sarutobi is sure to have figured something out before he leaves," Tsume said confidently. "Right?"
Kakashi pulled her into his lap and let out a breath. "He's the Hokage. He's sure to do something."
A/N: I'm having doubts as to how long this story will actually be. My God, my plan was to have this be 30 chapters, but with the way this is going it's probably going to be 50 before I even think of ending it. AGHH!
Anyways, if you have any ideas for couples (for the kids), I would be grateful. I've been trying to get those arranged, and it's harder than I thought with half of them siblings. AGHH!
Hmm… I don't know if I should ask for reviews or not…
