Omake

It may have happened, it may not, you decide.

Uchiha Itachi was one of many ANBU tasked with watching over the Kyuubi vessel on the night some intel came in from the streets about angry, drunken civilians making threats against the boy. It wouldn't be the first time this happened, and it wouldn't have been a first if they actually went through with it either. Sometimes the team often thought that they weren't needed though, because the small girl that the fox constantly trailed after. Oh, she let him do the talking in most situations, and she stood in the shadows, but anyone with half a brain could see she was in charge. If there was a hint of danger she grabbed him and they simply disappeared. The landlord knew which apartment was the Kyuubi brat's, and he gave that information out freely. The policy wasn't actually law, so nothing could be done about it. But the girls apartment was under the radar, as was the Uchiha compound. The amount of times ANBU trailed after the trio there in the past year was uncountable.

Uchiha Itachi only met them face to face recently, and if he hadn't seen the girl from a distance he wouldn't have known her to be the mastermind. Watching them all together like this, her gauging their behavior and treating them accordingly, never acknowledging their fear, it spoke of higher intelligence than she let on in public. Her comments to movies, some made no sense, obviously references to something he had never heard of, perhaps an inside joke with the other two, but mostly with a vocabulary that didn't belong to a six year old.

The Kyuubi boy also surprised him. The file had him at slightly below average intelligence, with a foul temperament, and overall horrible personality. Of course, he knew the last two to be false from his meeting with him in person, and now his own snide comments and counter-theories about whatever film also suggested that perhaps the teachers couldn't be trusted to make assessments about him.

And his brother. He hardly ever saw his brother so happy and alive. Lately he saw him miserable and disappointed as he disappeared off to another mission. But here among his friends he was lively, a bit of a smart aleck, but cheerful all the same. It was heart-wrenching for him to not be able to be that way at home because of his father.

After so long of watching them the girls quirks caught the collective attention of ANBU once again. Itachi had learned from his mother that the girl was a sensor, able to pick out nin-cats from the normal animals. When he had heard from her own mouth that this was even before her chakra system became active and reachable he deemed it necessary to submit it to the debriefing. Following a natural sensor was always tricky, but ANBU usually had no need to do so in the village. Anyone who had the ability was usually trained to such a position that they understood the code made up of lengths of chakra flashes unique to Konoha and jealously guarded, through that they could be put at ease and everyone go on their way. Either they had gotten lax in their in-village maneuvers or she was better than they had thought.

Crane was left in an unintentional staring match with her for upwards of 32 seconds until he finally gave in and admitted to being spotted, curling his chakra in on itself and hiding further in the leaves. The girl looked away, finally noticing that she had been staring, and not reacting more upon realizing that they were being watched. All present and aware of what was going on wondered about her sanity, allowing an unknown party to hang around outside her window while they were alone and vulnerable. That is, until she looked at Itachi. Oh, she knew it was him, and she knew exactly where he was. He was unable to stop most of the motion, scowling under his mask and pulling his chakra in even further. Someone really needed to tag this girls file. If they already didn't have her tagged for that intelligence of hers anyway. She was a prodigy and she wasn't trying to hard hide it, though she wasn't exactly flaunting it like his family had forced him to do early in life. Her reading material alone vouched for that intelligence, advanced cryptography was soon finished and replaced with intermediate sealing theory, careless notes forming on a notepad on the couch beside her. It was the only couch cushion left in place, the others having been stolen by the boys when they began building their blanket fort. For no discernable reason the girl became restless, putting the book away and retreating to the kitchen, not noticing how the boys perked up when she retrieved a mixing bowl and she definitely didn't realize the way they did little victory dances when she brought out short-grain rice and a mortar.

There were several different colors and each color was dusted with a different thing, from coconut to katakuriko. The obscene amount of the sweet that she had made didn't seem to hit her until she noticed the amount of drool pooling below the boys feet. Her solution was to put it into one bowl and set it outside.

"I guess it's for the animals then."

There was a collective twitch, either they were being insulted or it was a reference to the animal masks. Itachi prefered to believe it a reference to the masks, after all, she was giving them sweets. In the shadow of the mask he allowed himself to stare at them mournfully. Tanuki was the first to give, risking the Captain's ire. He flashed forwards discreetly, grabbing a handful and retreating back to his former position, body language showing no remorse as he slipped them deftly under the mask and began munching. Itachi could see Hound-taichi from where he was sitting, as well as Neko, who was usually never far from his side. The irritation in Hound was almost palpable, but as was the resignation. After that most of the others surged forwards, a larger group than normal. Itachi joined the second wave, enjoying the mochi while it lasted. He would have to prod Sasuke into getting his little friend to bring the leftovers home occasionally.

Neko was in the last wave, holding out the longest by proximity to the source of the ire. It got stronger when he returned to his post with two handfuls of sweets, nervously holding a hand out flat with the mochi resting there. After a moment of irritated silence there was a swoosh of air and the mochi was gone, Hound's mask twitched and the others stifled their amusement before it could earn them hell in training later.

The satisfaction in the girl's face disappeared after her mention of squirrels, a slight, almost unconscious shiver following. Tanuki practically radiated curiosity, as well as Crow, tho there wasn't much either could do, the story would behind the reaction would likely never reach their ears.

After the boys finally went to sleep, passing out in front of the television, the girl covered them with blankets and curled up on the couch behind them, eventually nodding off in her tea. A pair of gloved hand caught it before it could hit the ground, a different set cradling the book, flipping through the pages and marveling at the content. The tea was gently placed on the end table, with the book laid open to the correct page beside her. Hound eyed Tanuki as he set down the tea, watching the slight movement of the mask as he reacted to what he saw. When their eyes met it took one hand signal and they cleared out, not leaving a trace.

~TimeLordOfPie