Chapter Thirty-Nine: The 999th Mission

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Shisui

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Sparing with Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto in the mornings was Shisui's preferred way to start the day. However, this morning he had to sludge through a clan meeting. It was regarding Naruto's tailed-beast and helping him best form a working relationship with the beast. Shisui and Sasuke used the Sharingan often to help manage the foul-tempered fox, but they were about to up the ante and would be using the Wood release powers of Tenzo. Shisui and Itachi had worked with him before in Anbu, usually under the command of Kakashi Hatake.

Unfortunately, they anticipated needing one to two months of intense training. They'd be in the mountains for it under the supervision of the Sannin Jiraiya. And since the chunin exams, when all the junior members of Team Seven had achieved their promotion the three had been inseparable. Particularly, Sasuke and Sakura — whom Shisui knew was inevitable. He knew Sarada, did he not? But it was still hard for him to watch the two childhood sweethearts, knowing what he knew. But, he didn't know everything, did he?

He did know that Kakashi was pissing him off. He always flaked out of hanging with his old friends. At least he finally stopped sleeping around with anybody that had two legs and available hole. That had especially upset Shisui, but he let it go — it wasn't his business.

Then Kakashi had surprised him, paying for the suite in Suna a few months back. He'd also shoved three packages into Shisui's arms the night before when he'd returned from his last mission. He asked him to deliver it to his former students. Shisui wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he had an idea given the size and weight. He and Itachi had received similar packages a few years back.

He couldn't stay mad at Kakashi when he did things like this.

"Can you hurry up, Shisui? We need to get to Sakura's," Sasuke murmured as he and Naruto followed Shisui to his house after the clan meeting.

Shisui snorted in amusement. Sasuke literally just left Sakura's place a few hours ago and he was itching to go back. Maybe it would be for the best to keep those two separate for a while. He'd done the math, and wouldn't be surprised to learn those two were 'in the family way' any day now.

"Calm down. Let your girlfriend sleep in for a change," Shisui teased. "It's a present for making chunin."

"I made chunin two years ago," Sasuke scoffed. "They're a little late."

"Yeaaaaah, they're late a lot," Shisui sighed. "If it's what I think it is, it's custom made and they probably waited until all three of you were promoted to be fair."

"Is this from Hatake?" Sasuke asked, ever the perceptive one.

"What do you think it is, Shisui?" Naruto asked. "A gift fit for a chunin—maybe some fancy kunai? Gai-sensei got us all those weights."

Shisui led them into his house and sitting on the end table in the front foyer were three packages. They were identically wrapped with only a symbol drawn on the pack for two of them. Sasuke's included a moon on it. Naruto's had a sun drawn on it. The third one for Sakura actually had her name written in careful neat script and cute doodle of a dog and cherry blossom branch.

Naruto ripped open his package first and cheered upon revealing the mesh ninja armor within.

"They'll be a little big for now, should accommodate your next growth spurt," Shisui explained.

Sasuke pulled his out and studied it. "What's this made out of of?"

"No one knows. Some say mithril, but that's a mystical metal," Shisui answered. The armor came from a lightweight and hardy material.

"I didn't know he cared." Sasuke ran his fingers over the fine material.

"He doesn't show it, but he does," Shisui answered. "He wanted to be sure you had it before we left on our training. And if you'll bring Sakura's hers?" He handed the box to Naruto.

"Why doesn't he give these to us himself?" Naruto asked.

"I won't pretend to understand him, Naruto. He's been through a lot. I think he's worried that if he actually shows you that he cares it will somehow endanger you all." Shisui grinned and then reached over the ruffle Naruto's golden hair. "He just finished his nine hundred and ninety-ninth mission. I'm sure Genma and Gai are going to drag him out somewhere to celebrate. You should get him a token of appreciation and we can join whatever party they're having. You should see him before we leave. Sakura too, she's got an upcoming mission too."

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke agreed. He grabbed hold of Naruto's elbow and started to pull him bodily out of the house. "We'll be at Sakura's, come find us later!"

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OoO

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Sakura

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It was late-May, just a couple of months after her fifteenth birthday. Sakura spent most of her mornings training in physical endurance — without the use of her chakra. Gai Might had gifted all the chunin of their generation with weighted vests, ankle and arm weights. And Sakura made good use of them, meeting Tenten in the evenings to go for runs weighed down by the extra fifty pounds. Sasuke and Naruto would also wear the ankle and vests weights when they went for runs. Ino complained that it was incredibly unfashionable, but she too wore them when Sai told her that he'd continue to have a better mid-drift thin her unless she tried the vest.

Well, nothing motivated Ino Yamanaka more than a competition and she was determined to have a better mid-drift than her future husband. When Sai and his brother had been adopted into the Yamanaka clan it had always been with the intention of diversifying the bloodline, but without competing with their unique kekkei genkai. When Ino and Sai were ultimately attracted to one another, it made the marriage proposal something to cheer and not something to dread.

Sakura wasn't jealous of Ino's parents arranging her future. She was quite happy to live in the present and not worry about settling down. There was no way Sakura was going to give up active duty to marry and start having babies. Thankfully, the Godaime was of the same mind. She didn't want to start losing half her talented shinobi just because they had an uterus. If shinobi starting their families wanted time off, she was all for supporting that, but she was making efforts to change the laws within the village. She may have gotten rid of the elder council, but there were still the clan heads and the daimyo to appease. It was a work in progress and Sakura was quite proud of her Master Tsunade.

There was a knock at her door that roused Sakura from the kitchen where she'd been making brunch. She intended to use up her perishables before her upcoming mission and what better way than having a feast with friends. It had been nice sleeping in that morning, especially after Sasuke had kept her up half the night— not that she'd been complaining. She assumed it was Sasuke and Naruto and a quick scan of the chakra signatures confirmed their identity.

"Come on in, you two! I'm in the kitchen!" Sakura called out. She'd given Sasuke a key a few months ago, but after a few days he gave it back. She'd been upset at first, then he explained he'd learned earth chakra and had memorized the key and would make a key out of chakra to open the lock in the future. He'd gotten quite adept at the skill. He was working on unlocking unfamiliar doors with the same technique to help with future infiltration work. He'd already mastered using a standard issue lock pick set. She'd been impressed, especially when he'd excitedly taught her the technique.

Naruto settled at the breakfast table and Sasuke went straight for the kitchen, standing behind Sakura to hug her. She wore her hair in a high ponytail like she did during surgery, exposing her neck. She was glad she did when Sasuke pressed a kiss to the juncture between her throat and collarbone, right where he'd left a hickey the night before, but she'd healed the evidence.

Then Sasuke slid his hand down her arms and took the skillet from her. "Let me finish this, Naruto has something for you."

Sakura leaned her head back against his chest for a moment, just appreciating his warmth and then ducked under his arm. She watched a moment longer, appreciating her boyfriend in the kitchen. Sensing her gaze he looked towards her and smirked. "You're going to make me blush, Sakura, if you keep looking at me like that."

Sakura felt her own cheeks heat up, grabbed the plate stacked high with pancakes and a bowl of fruit. She scurried towards the breakfast table balancing the brunch carefully. "Are Ino and Sai coming? I've basically made a feast with plenty to share."

"Aw, you didn't want to invite Choji?" Naruto teased.

"There wouldn't be enough if I invited him," Sakura sighed. "That boy consumes more calories than you, Naruto." That's when she spied the package sitting in front of Naruto on the table. "What's that?"

"Someone got us gifts for making chunin!" Naruto explained. He shoved the package towards her.

There was a tiny label on it, with her name written in neat print and a tiny cute dog character with a party hat on its head and a cherry blossom branch, and it was neatly wrapped in plain brown paper. With care, Sakura opened the present and gasped. Nestled within the box was a very expensive ninja under armor shirt — the kind of mesh material that would keep a kunai from piercing your heart, but wouldn't stop a bruise from forming.

It was the kind of material that would cost a year's earnings for an average chunin. Shisui and Itachi both had these, but she'd learned that they had been a gift to them as well. They'd not bought them, thinking it an extravagant cost. There was no name attached to the note. "Who's it from?" Sakura asked.

Naruto shoved aside the neck of his jacket, revealing his own mesh ninja shirt. "There was one for me and Sasuke as well! Shisui delivered them to us and said they were from a mutual friend, but that they didn't want to reveal their identity right now. However, it's obviously from Kakashi-sensei. However, we have to act like we don't know." He picked up the discarded paper with the portion of the dog and carefully smoothed it out. "He didn't draw a dog or a flower on ours." He looked up and grinned. "I guess you're more special."

Sakura stared down at the soft yet durable material. It was lightweight and felt almost like silk in her hands. She wouldn't have thought Kakashi Hatake would do something this thoughtful. Maybe he did care? It had been several months since they turned chunin, and a couple of years since Sasuke was promoted. Maybe he wanted to make sure he treated them all equally, which was a change. Sakura felt her eyes water at finally being acknowledged the same as the boys by the enigmatic man— even if he did it behind a wall of anonymity.

She blinked away those tears and set the box aside. "This is our last day together before I go on my mission with Ino and Sai."

"Oh, I'm aware. Sasuke is super depressed about not having his snuggle bunny to get frisky with while you're gone," Naruto teased, waggling his eyebrows. "When he came dragging in last night at one in the morning he was extremely grumpy he didn't get to stay over because we had a clan meeting earlier."

"She's not my snuggle bunny, she's my girlfriend," Sasuke growled, taking the skillet off the stove and letting it cool on a trivet. "And who wouldn't be upset having to wake up early for a clan meeting?"

"Yet, you two don't deny the frisky part," Naruto added, rubbing his jaw and laughing. "I can't wait to lose my virginity, you both are much less uptight since you starting doing the horizontal tango."

"Don't call it that," Sasuke snapped. "You cheapen it with such slang."

"Maybe next time I can join you two?" Naruto suggested. "You'll find that I'm a very fast tactile learner."

"No thanks, I don't want you feeling up my girlfriend," Sasuke protested as he plated the breakfast. "Again."

"Aw, I'd feel you up too, Sasuke-kun," Naruto assuring him with a playful wink at Sakura.

She shook her head and before she could think of what to say to this odd conversation, Ino and Sai were at the door.

"Sakura! We're here! Stop your orgy and come let us in!" Ino shouted in her mind, startling her.

With a scowl on her face, Sakura opened the door to let the couple in. They would be her new teammates for her upcoming mission to Amegakure. She still didn't know who the jonin captain leading the mission would be. She'd hoped it would be Shisui or Itachi, but Itachi had clan business and Shisui was going to be working alongside a man named Tenzo to master some unification power between Naruto and the nine-tails alongside Sasuke to make them the ultimate power duo. There was concerns about Naruto leaving the village since tailed beasts had started disappearing over the last six months.

When Sasuke sat next to her and the five of them started eating, Sakura already felt herself missing her best friends. At least she was comforted knowing the boys would have each other and it wasn't like she and Ino weren't good friends.

Sai picked up the discarded wrapping paper and carefully tore out the part with her name and the dog character and cherry blossom branch. "This is pretty good," he murmured. He handed the slip of paper to Sakura. "Great care was taken into drawing this doddle."

Sakura doubted that, but she slipped the paper into her pocket anyway.

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OoO

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Kakashi

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He'd reported to Anbu Commander and was now finishing his oral report to the Godaime for his last mission. Tsunade sat leaning back in her chair, arms folded over her breasts, tapping her fingers over her biceps. "So, Hatake, this is mission number nine-hundred and ninety-nine that you've completed."

"Is it?" Kakashi asked, his eyes drifted towards the large windows to the Hokage office. He'd stopped keeping track of the number of missions a long time ago. He focused on Minato's stone visage. It wasn't fair that someone like Kakashi had a chance to complete so many missions when Minato— the best person Kakashi ever knew — died at the age of twenty-four. "Yay," he said quietly and without enthusiasm.

Tsunade picked up a reference book from her desk and tossed it at Kakashi's head. He ducked and let it sail past him to slam into the wall, cracking the plaster. "Don't be an ungrateful brat."

Kakashi sighed. "When's my next mission?"

"So eager to try to get yourself killed, huh? Well, I've decided you're no longer taking solo-missions. I have something special planned for mission number one-thousand. It's a simple good will trip to Amegakure," Tsunade explained. "It should last six weeks — two for travel and four for work. It's a regular mission, not Anbu."

"Rain?" Kakashi asked in disbelief. Konoha did not have a good reputation with Amegakure. Foreign shinobi were not allowed within the borders.

"You'll be leading a mixed team — two chunin and two jonin. It's a humanitarian trip medical care," Tsunade explained. "It's part of the treaty Jiraiya has been forging with the leaders of Ame. Danzo orchestrated a great deal of destruction to that village. Hanzo is their kage, but he doesn't interact without those outside his council. You'll be dealing with Konan — the Angel of Ame. Naturally there will be a plethora of security checks so Jiraiya advised me to only send a team of my most trusted and strongest shinobi. Even he is not allowed within the village."

"May I ask who my teammates are?" Kakashi asked. Amegakure was a very suspicious place. He generally tried to avoid the village when possible. When his hair plastered against his skull in the rain he looked way too much like his own father for comfort.

"You're familiar with Sai," Tsunade said.

Kakashi nodded. He knew the man. Sai Yamanaka had been a Root rescue a few years back and had been promoted to Anbu fairly young. He was often teamed up with Tenzo and Shin Yamanaka. He had a sneaking suspicious he knew at least one of the medics. Considering just who had recently been promoted to chunin at the last exams. Idly, he wondered if she liked his gift.

"There are only three medical ninja that would be accepted by Ame. Anyone less than myself or one of my apprentices would be seen as an insult," Tsunade explained. "Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka will be the medical team on your detail. You and Sai are to serve as escorts and bodyguards — though I don't think either of those girls need babysitting. Sakura will be performing delicate surgeries and she requested Ino to assist her. Ino is a fair medical ninja, but her greatest asset in her ability to communicate telepathically. I don't have to tell you just how dangerous Amegakure is for outsiders." Tsunade narrowed her eyes, expecting him to respond.

"I'm aware," Kakashi answered. "Too many wars between Konoha, Suna, and Iwa spilled over into Amegakure."

"That's why I'm labeling this an A class mission. Amegakure is an industrial village. Parts still haven't recovered from the Third War. Your team will help with some of the reconstruction and with whatever else Konan asks of you — she's the one you'll be working for once you get to Ame."

"I've read about her — the Angel of Pain. So we'll be working directly with the leader's right hand?" Kakashi confirmed. He was curious about the leader of Amegakure. Supposedly, it was still Hanzo, but the man had to be as ancient as the Third was. Could such a man still be in power? Or was he a puppet to someone stronger and more ruthless?

"Do they know I'm the captain?" Kakashi asked. He tried not to be irritated that not one, but two Yamanaka— though one was adopted — would be on his team. He still suspected the Yamanaka to be behind the gaps in his memory. He clenched his hands into fists, the leather of his gloves creaked softly.

"They'll find out tomorrow when I officially call a meeting with your team." Tsunade braced her elbows on her desk and leaned forward. "I'll be honest, Hatake. You weren't my first choice. However, Shisui Uchiha will be training with Sasuke and Naruto regarding the nine-tails. The jinchuriki in other villages are disappearing and we need to make sure Naruto can defend himself."

Kakashi had been part of an investigation regarding the killed jinchuriki of the six-tails and the three-tails. The belief was that the Akatsuki was responsible for the abduction and extraction of those tailed beasts. There was rumor of a man in an orange mask, another with a scythe, a zombie, and a shape-shifter. There were probably more, but the details were few and far between — there usually weren't survivors. "So I assume I need to find out if the Akatsuki still have any intentions towards the nine-tails?"

"That's one part of it," Tsunade agreed. "But mostly, you'll be keeping an eye on my precious medics. This could all be an elaborate attempt of Amegakure to hold hostage someone precious to me — my apprentice."

"I read the report on the last chunin exams," Kakashi murmured. While he had read the official report available to all the jonin of the village, he'd done something a little extra. He'd donned his alter ego, Sukea, a civilian photographer - retired from shinobi life, to attend the third and final round at the competition in Suna. He'd only managed to watch for a few hours on the actual day of the matches, but he'd been able to witness both Naruto and Sakura perform impressively. He was happy to see their progress and had no doubt they'd be promoted. He'd actually been so confident he'd had the custom-made ninja armor ordered months before. "I look forward to working with the team."

"In the mean time," Tsunade mused, pushing away from her desk and ambling towards the large windows. She faced out towards Hokage mountainside with her back facing Kakashi. "Go and celebrate your mission success." She pointed her hand towards a part of the office's rafters where her bodyguards perched. "Genma, you're dismissed. Take this man out to celebrate. The first round of drinks are on me."

Genma landed softly on the floor and twirled his ever-present senbon in his mouth. "Let's go, Hatake."

An hour later, Kakashi sat at the bar between Gai and Genma, nursing his beer. He'd just finished his nine-hundred and ninety-ninth mission — most were classified. Asuma and Kurenai had dropped by to offer congratulations. Yugao and Gekko were on a mission. Tenzo was also finishing up a mission. Itachi had clan business.

"You have to take some time to appreciate being alive!" Genma cheered, knocking his bottle of beer against Kakashi's. "This is a huge achievement, Hatake! Stop acting like someone danced all over your grave."

"This is an accomplishment I cannot hope to rival, my Rival," Gai added. He waved the server down and ordered another beer for Kakashi. "All our sweet, precious genin are now chunin and Kakashi Hatake the Copy Ninja has now completed his one-thousandth mission!" Tears sprang to the Blue-beast of Konoha's eyes.

"Mah, you're embarrassing me," Kakashi mumbled sipping at his beer under his mask. "And it's my nine-hundred and ninety-ninth." He watched the door to the bar, always disappointed but not knowing why. There were plenty of patrons giving him that come -hither look, but he wasn't interested. He'd tried a few weeks ago to lose himself into a willing companion in the back alley. While they left satisfied, Kakashi felt even emptier inside. It didn't help that he'd belatedly noticed the familiar chakra signatures of Sasuke and Sakura. Nothing quite had the same effect of making you feel like a perverted old man like having your former students catch you in the act.

He was hollow and nothing and no-one seemed to fill the void. Honestly, the only time he even remotely enjoyed himself was reading Jiraiya's book series. Even more effective than smutty books, his A and S class missions kept him so occupied, he didn't have time to dwell on his ghosts.

And while he considered Genma and Gai his friends, Kakashi really felt like they didn't have much in common, nor did they seem to understand him. Tenzo was always subordinate to him, no matter how often he tried to encourage him to loosen up on formalities. Yugao and Gekko were both nice, but three was a crowd. Honestly, Shisui and Itachi Uchiha were probably Kakashi's closest friends. Itachi was busy with clan business and Kakashi worried he was mad at him for being a poor sensei to his brother's team. And Shisui— well, he was always supportive and gave Kakashi updates on his former genin. Unfortunately, they were seldom in the village at the same time.

"I bought my old genin fancy kunai and upgraded body-weights when they were promoted. I also purchased chest, arm and leg weights for your old genin and Asuma and Kurenai's teams. Did you do anything special for your former team?" Gai asked.

The question was simple enough. Kakashi had done absolutely nothing for his former teammates. Well, that wasn't true. There was a trunk at the Hatake estate with a whetting stone for Sasuke, a custom-made cookie jar in the shape of a toad for Naruto, and a fresh pair of battle gloves for Sakura that were made out of the same durable material as his own. He'd also gotten all three of them ninja armor mesh undershirts— those should have been delivered already, but they wouldn't know they were from him.

He had paid for their suite in Suna during the Chunin Exams — he just made Shisui promise to tell them it was from Fugaku.

"I haven't really crossed paths with them much — I'm always on missions or they're off training," Kakashi protested.

"Well, now here is your chance," Genma said, leaning over. He pointed towards the front door where Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all stood, along with Shisui Uchiha. "Don't worry, I invited them. They wanted to congratulate you as well."

Upon spying their booth, Shisui elbowed Naruto whom raised his hand and waved. Gai waved boisterously and gestured for the quartet to join their table. He noticed that both Sasuke and Sakura were carrying packages. The table was rearranged to accommodate the new arrivals. Kakashi found himself positioned between Genma and Sakura with Sasuke on her other side. Gai made room for Shisui and Naruto on his side of the booth.

It had only been a few weeks since Kakashi last saw Sakura and she was still very much an attractive fifteen year old. If he'd been the same age as her, he'd have been falling at her feet trying to get her attention. Hopefully, their upcoming mission went smoothly. He really didn't want to deal with awkward crushes.

Sakura placed a silver wrapped package in front of him and then Sasuke set another smaller black box beside it. Then Kakashi noticed the two holding hands under the table, out of view of everyone except him given their proximity.

"Well, if it isn't my former precious students. And Shisui," Kakashi greeted, flashing them all his eye crinkle smile. He was actually pretty relieved to see Sakura and Sasuke holding hands, it was sweet. Though, it also bothered him for reasons he was unwilling to explore. He touched the finely wrapped packages. "What's this?"

"In honor of your completion of nine-hundred and ninety-nine missions!" Sakura explained. She smiled up at him and the sight made his chest feel warm. It was a kind smile and genuine. She didn't care that he'd been a jerk. Had she seen underneath the underneath? Did she know he was just a depressed depraved man hoping to find solace in a bleak existence?

Kakashi sighed. "That is very kind." He looked over his former team. "Tell you what, why don't you follow me back to my place after this. I have gifts for you — belated birthday presents."

"The cheapskate of Konoha actually purchased presents?" Genma scoffed. He held his arm across the table. "Pinch me, Shisui. I must be dreaming."

Shisui started to reach for Genma's arm and then abruptly slapped him upside the head with a laugh. "I guess it's true."

"You really got us presents?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide in surprise. He shared a quick confused look with Sasuke and Sakura.

"Mah, it's not that big of a deal," Kakashi protested. "They're at my family's estate." He stared down at his half-drunk beer, no longer particularly thirsty.

"Have you eaten?" Sakura asked. She gestured towards the unopened menu in the center of the table. "Our treat, Kakashi-sensei."

"You shouldn't call me sensei," Kakashi mumbled. He stared at the menu for a hard moment, not wanting to look into the greasy options.

"It's nice weather this evening," Sasuke pointed out. "We could get something to go from a different restaurant."

"That's a great idea, Sasuke! We could have a picnic under the stars!" Sakura turned back to Kakashi. "What do you think?"

He looked between Gai and Genma and the many patrons starting to fill up the bar. The amount of body odor was getting exponentially worse and even with his mask it was becoming an unpleasant place to spend a celebration. "I could go for some barbecue."

"Eh, I mean, are you sure you don't want ramen?" Naruto asked. "Sasuke, Shisui and I have to leave in the morning with —," he turned towards Shisui in uncertainty.

"We leave in the morning with Tenzo for tailed-beast training," Shisui explained. "We'll be gone for a month or two. We'll pick up barbecue as takeout."

"We can eat at my estate," Kakashi suggested. "It might be a little dusty." He gestured towards the presents in front of him on the table. "I can open these then."

"My Rival, go and spend time with your former students," Gai gushed as he shoved Shisui and Naruto away from the bench.

"Dust is something my shadow clones can easily handle!" Naruto cheered. "Though, you'll need to pay us for Chunin-ranked mission."

"You're not charging our former sense for a little house-cleaning," Sakura scolded as she and Sasuke stood from the table. She tapped on Naruto's shoulder for emphasis. "We're supposed to celebrate his achievement, not try to extort him."

"Ah, but, Sakura-chan, we're about to go on an unpaid training expedition!" Naruto protested.

"It's fine, Sakura. Naruto, I'd be happy to pay you for your work," Kakashi answered, giving the blond teen an eye-smile and actually meaning it when the young man smiled back cheekily.

Sakura pinched Naruto's cheek gently. "You're lucky you're cute. Even Kakashi caves when you lay on the charm."

Naruto laughed, caught Sakura's wrist and then licked her palm, earning a squeal of disgust from the pinkette.

In spite of himself, Kakashi smiled under his mask at their easy friendship. He caught Shisui's knowing gaze and promptly shoved his hands into his front pockets and schooled his features into a familiar mask of indifference.

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OoO

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Sasuke

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Naruto carried the take-out bags, Kakashi held the gifts from them in the crook of his arm, and Sasuke was happy to hold Sakura's hand. He would be heading out in the morning for more training — at least six weeks. He'd be working with Naruto to control Kurama. The tailed beast was full of rage and there were times when Sasuke's mind touched Kurama's that he sensed intense feelings of sadness, loss, and rage. He didn't understand why he could relate so strongly to the tailed-beast. Nothing truly terrible had happened to Sasuke — aside from a few battles and a couple of close calls.

"Hey, where has your mind wandered?" Sakura asked, then squeezed Sasuke's hand.

"It's nothing, let's just have a good time this evening," Sasuke murmured. He tried to smile, but settled for a faint twitching of his lips. Kakashi and Naruto led them towards the Hatake estate. Genma, Shisui, and Gai trailed behind them. They paused just outside the gates and the family crest with the twin wolves was beautiful. There was an overgrown garden and the trees could use some shaping. Maybe Naruto and Sasuke might be able to earn a bit more pocket change helping with some of the yard maintenance.

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't you summon your ninja hounds?" Sakura suggested.

Sasuke smirked at the stiffness in Kakashi's shoulders. He really hated the sensei title. Good thing Sasuke never bothered to call him that.

"Mah, they aren't pets, Sakura," Kakashi chided. Though he slipped his thumb into his mouth, bit down on his thumb and summoned his eight ninja hounds. The silver-furred one lunged straight for Sakura and she released Sasuke's hand to catch him.

"Aren't you a handsome one!" Sakura laughed, scratching behind the dog's ears. "What's his name?"

Kakashi watched her with an odd look in his visible eye. "Shiba," he said. "He doesn't usually take well to people."

"It's nice to meet you, Shiba!" Sakura cooed, setting the dog back on his paws. "We'll see if your daddy well let you have any scraps from dinner tonight."

"My ninja hounds don't eat table scraps," Kakashi protested. "They could choke on the bones."

"We eat the bones of the rabbits we catch," the pug, Pakkun countered gruffly. Sasuke remembered he was the leader of the pack in spite of his smaller size. His little stubby tail wagged. "And I can smell the ribs, please, Boss!"

"Fine, Sakura, if my ninken choke, will you help them?" Kakashi asked.

"Sure," Sakura agreed, leaning over and rubbing the pug between the ears. "We all deserve to celebrate. I suspect Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have completed nearly a thousand missions without assistance from his ninken!"

Shiba barked in agreement. "You're right about that," Pakkun added.

An orange furred dog with sunglasses perched upon his snout rubbed his wet nose against Sasuke's trousers. While he preferred cats, he didn't begrudge the dog a scratch between the ears.

Kakashi led them inside his house, pulled out a couple of large blankets from the hall linen closet and tossed them at Sasuke. He caught them with ease.

"Wow! This place is huge, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto spun in a circle in the middle of the den, arms spread wide.

"It's been a while since I've been here," Genma confessed. "It looks basically the same, but dustier."

"I use it more for storage than anything else," Kakashi answered. He vanished into a back room and returned with a clone next to him carrying three packages. The two Kakashi's led the way to the backyard.

Sasuke followed and spread out the blankets while Sakura and Naruto set out the food. Before they could dig in, Kakashi's clone placed a gift in front of Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

"Happy belated birthdays," Kakashi murmured. He looked down at his own two packages.

"We should just open them all at the same time," Sasuke suggested.

Apparently, Naruto's impatience had him halfway through unveiling his gift by the time Sasuke spoke. He laughed nervously. "Oops," Naruto whispered. He finished opening his package and gasped. "What? A toad cookie jar? How did you even find such a thing?"

"Custom-made," Kakashi answered. Sasuke noticed his visible eye was watching Sakura as she opened her gift — the pair of gloves made her squeal in delight as she held them close to her chest. The Copy Ninja smiled under his mask.

Sasuke focused on his own gift and snorted at the high quality whetstone. Practical gifts for him and Sakura and a weird trinket for Naruto — for a team captain that hardly saw any of them in the last two years, Kakashi sure seemed to know them pretty well.

"Nice," Sasuke commented, holding up the stone. It was a yellow-gray stone with a natural seam down the middle splitting the yellow and blue layers. It would offer both a fast-cutting surface for a bevel and finer surface for refining. He gestured towards the packages sitting next to Kakashi's knee. "You should open yours."

Kakashi chuckled. The one package had a new black face mask. The other was a green apron with embroidered pug faces stitched over the front.

Genma snorted. "A lifetime bachelor should have an apron for all the cooking for one he does." He ripped open his box of barbecue and started to dig in. "The village is going to be so boring with all of you gone on missions."

"I'm sure Lady Tsunade keeps you busy," Shisui said reassuringly.

"More like Shizune does," Sakura teased before taking a sip of her tea. She took the stone from Sasuke's hand and brought it close to her eye. "Quartz is an interesting stone. I've never seen one like this before."

"That's because they don't exist in the Land of Fire." Sasuke shifted his gaze towards Kakashi. "Something like this would be from deep in the mountains of Kumogakure."

"I just picked it up on a mission," Kakashi said with a shrug.

"Would you believe that someone gave us all ninja armor under shirts? From what I remember the metal also comes from Kumo," Sasuke mused. "That's quite the coincidence."

Kakashi leaned back on the blanket, arms braced behind his head and stared up at the stars. He said nothing — he neither confirmed nor denied.

"Let me tell you all about my team's latest accomplishments!" Gai boasted. "Lee is able to run around the village's perimeter on his hands ten times before getting fatigued! And my boy Neji may already be promoted to Jonin before the end of the summer. And Tenten has mastered so many weapons— she's practically a sage!"

"Is that right," Kakashi mused. "Well my old team are the Neo-sannin."

"You better believe it we are!" Naruto chimed in. He finished off his dinner and was tucking away into Sakura's uneaten half. Sasuke shoved his uneaten portions towards the bottomless pit of his best friend as well. Naruto gratefully snatched his plate up as well.

Sakura shifted closer to Sasuke and he looped his arm over her shoulders, tucking her against his side. He was going to miss her like crazy over these next few weeks. "I don't suppose you heard about my upcoming mission to Amegakure, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I might have heard rumor of it," Kakashi mumbled.

"Rumor?" Sakura scoffed. She laid her hand over Sasuke's cheek and drew his ear close to her lips. "Master Tsunade was going to talk to him as if he wasn't her first choice on the mission," Sakura whispered.

Shisui cleared his throat. "If I remember correctly, that's because I was her first choice to lead the mission. She knew I wouldn't embarrass the village with my reading material."

"Make Out Paradise is fine literature," Kakashi grumbled. He cracked his eye open and looked over at Sakura. "I guess you'll find out tomorrow, Sakura."

Sasuke let his fingers run idly through Sakura's long hair. He was a little worried about Sakura having a mission in a foreign village without either him or Naruto with her. Sai was a decent fighter — though he got on Sasuke's nerves. Ino was surprisingly resourceful. However, knowing that Kakashi Hatake would be the captain helped ease some of his concerns. While the Copy Ninja was most certainly the most emotionally constipated person Sasuke knew, he trusted Kakashi wouldn't abandon his team. All he had to do was think back to their disastrous mission in Wave years ago. Except this time, there would be two medics on the team, so it should have better odds.

"You want me to stay over tonight?" Sasuke whispered, keeping his voice low. He didn't want Naruto or Shisui to overhear and tease them. He did catch the ever so faint stiffening in Kakashi's shoulders. That was weird.

"Definitely," Sakura sighed.

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