Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ After the Dream ❯ Fading Like A Flower I ( Chapter 32 )

~b~ normal story

~B~ flashbacks

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Fading Like A Flower

 

“As you all know, the other shinobi nations, with the exception of our allies in Sand, decided to remove the restrictions on Sound. Since one of their Genin made it to the final round, Orochimaru and a small delegation will be attending the tournament in one week. They will be arriving two days before the matches. I don't want any incidents. If I hear of a single confrontation between any of my shinobi and one of those from Sound, the person or people involved will find themselves permanently demoted as well as any other punishment that crosses my mind at the time,” Tsunade said to the group of shinobi that had gathered in her office. She surveyed the group, mainly Chuunin and Jounin that had known Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, hoping that they would understand that due to their involvement in the exams they would have to be on their best behavior.

“For the four of you that are competing in the upcoming exam, especially you Konohamaru, I don't want to see any unnecessary irresponsibility during your fight. If on the off-chance Konohamaru loses and one of you come up against the Genin from Sound…the same goes for you. Do you understand what I'm saying?” she asked, looking hard at the six Genin in front of her. A dark look flashed across Konohamaru's face but he and his friends nodded.

“Good, you're dismissed,” Tsunade stated, turning back to her desk. “I only ask that you also remember to treat the diplomats with respect as they spend the next week here. The Daimyo arrives two days before the tournament and he has shown a great deal of interest in all of you. That said, enjoy the festivities and good luck in your matches.”

With the Hokage's dismissal, Anko ushered her students out behind Gai, Lee, and Neji. She glanced back at Itachi's nonchalance as his students followed him out as well. He raised an eyebrow at her staring and she opened her mouth to ask when Rin was coming in town when Gai's exuberant shout caught her attention. “A-ha, my eternal rival, why were you not present tonight?”

“I was busy,” Kakashi answered noncommittally, not even bothering to turn around from his position in front of the window to look at Gai.

Gai's legendary exuberance didn't falter after Kakashi's response; instead he approached the silver haired Jounin preparing to challenge him with a sneak attack. He jumped towards Kakashi, both feet aimed at the other man's back. His attack nearly ended with him flying out the window when Kakashi disappeared from in front of him, but he was able to catch himself and immediately began trying to spot his rival.

Kakashi reappeared behind Itachi and gave Gai a dirty look as the baby in his arms shifted in her sleep. “Nakera,” Rishito muttered excitedly, hurrying over towards his sister. Anko fought the urge not to snicker as the others gaped at the softness with which Kakashi held the child and knelt down to let the younger boy see her.

“When did Rin get in?” Itachi asked.

Genma interrupted Kakashi's answer and asked, “When did you and Rin have another kid?”

Kakashi was relieved from answering either question when Tsunade yelled from her office, “Get in here, you're late!”

Kakashi glanced at Genma lazily and shrugged, standing back up. “Take her and head back to Rin's house. She's there with the girls and they want to see Rishito and his teammates. I have to talk to Tsunade,” he said, handing the baby to Itachi.

Itachi gently took the baby and turned back around so Rishito could see her again. Kakashi slipped into the Hokage's office and closed the door behind him, blocking the others' view of his meeting and forcing them to find other amusement, which wasn't difficult since the last Uchiha was holding a baby that Genma had identified as Kakashi and Rin's.

“Is the baby really Hatake-san's?” TenTen asked no one in particular.

“Wouldn't doubt it,” Genma replied, turning to look at Itachi expectantly.

“It can't be. She said she was married to Rishito's father so the baby has to have to same father as him,” Ino reasoned.
“Who said Kakashi wasn't Rishito's father?” Genma asked rhetorically.

Ino opened her mouth to attempt to answer anyways, but she couldn't come up with a good answer.

“Let's go, I want to see Hana nee-san and Takara,” Rishito said, ignoring the conversation going on behind his back.

“Hana and Takara? Weren't those the two girls from Kumoma?” Raidou asked a bit too lecherously in Itachi's opinion.

“I wouldn't let Rin catch you talking about them like that,” Anko warned him, leading her students out of the hallway with one last glance at Itachi and the others. “Rishito when you see your mom, tell her I need to talk to her,” she added, walking away.

“Let's go,” Rishito repeated, gaining a nod from Itachi. He stood up with the baby and began to walk out, but turned to make sure all three students were following.

“They want to see all three of you,” he said, beckoning Moegi and Inari to follow as well.

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Halfway to Rin's house Itachi was growing increasingly annoyed by the constant stares. Rishito laughed lightly next to him and Itachi glanced down at him and muttered, “This is your parents' fault.”

“Is Hatake-san really your father?” Inari asked quietly so that the other pedestrians couldn't hear.

Rishito glanced back and nodded discreetly.

“I never would have guessed that,” Moegi muttered, although she was starting to understand the picture she had seen of a baby with cheek marks and silver hair.

“Hana nee-san says I have my mother's face and my mom dyes my hair so that I look more like her,” Rishito explained quietly as they entered the house.

“We're in the kitchen,” he heard his mother call out and he quickly hurried through the hall and to the kitchen in the back of the house.

“Hi Rishito!” Takara greeted him happily before turning to his sensei and teammates. “Oh good he brought the two of you as well,” she greeted, smiling at Moegi and Inari.

“Nami-san,” Inari returned in greeting, gaining a polite snort of laughter from Takara.

“Use my first name,” she ordered teasingly.

“Inari-kun, are your mother and grandfather coming for the tournament?” Sakura asked, changing the topic.

“Yeah, I told them they didn't have to since I didn't make it past the preliminary round, but they decided to come in anyways,” Inari responded, following Rishito to sit at the table. Rin stood up taking Nakera from Itachi and walking back to sit down. Itachi walked over and stood nearby leaving the last chair for Moegi.

“Has Itachi been training you this past month or has someone from your family been working with you?” She asked Moegi.

“I've worked with Itachi-sensei and my parents, but they couldn't really teach me anything new,” Moegi explained.

“Not enough time?” Takara asked

“There was plenty of time, but it would have been pointless to give her a trump card that wasn't even a surprise for her first opponent,” Itachi replied, leaning against the counter behind Sakura.

“You're up against Hanabi in the first round?” Rin asked.

Moegi frowned and nodded. “I don't know how I'm supposed to beat a Hyuuga. Naruto nii-san is the only person I've ever heard of managing to do so and no one will tell me how he did it,” she muttered.

“Naruto nii-san?” Takara repeated in confusion.

“Oh sorry, Uzumaki Naruto. He was a Genin a few years ago. In his first Chuunin exam he fought Hyuuga Neji, Hanabi's older cousin, and somehow managed to win. I didn't see the fight, but I heard that even after having his chakra points closed he somehow managed to reopen them or something and then defeated Neji,” Moegi explained.

“How would Hanabi learn whatever they teach you?” Takara asked in confusion.

“The Hyuuga are spying on your training sessions, aren't they,” Rin answered, rolling her eyes. “Have you and Kakashi had trouble with that?” she asked Rishito.

“Nope, but they're pretty convinced I'm going to be knocked out in the first round by the chick from Hidden Mist that I'm fighting,” he answered.

“Your best bet against a Hyuuga is to avoid close combat and hit them when they're vulnerable,” Rin commented.

“Hanabi isn't ever vulnerable,” Moegi muttered, frowning at her hands clasped on the table.

“Sure she is, you just have to think hard and figure out when that is,” Sakura replied, smiling calmly at her. Moegi blinked up at her in surprise.

“You should work with Rin at least one day this week. She can help you perfect a few of the techniques we've worked on. And if Rin will work with you, I can keep anyone from spying on the session,” Itachi stated, drawing Moegi's attention to him and away from Sakura.

“Rin do you have a minute,” Kakashi interrupted, walking into the room. Rin handed Nakera to Sakura to and got up to follow him back into the front of the house.

When they had disappeared, Takara got up and walked over to one of the bags sitting in the corner of the room. She drew out three packages and brought them back to the table, handing one to each of the Genin sitting there. “What are these?” Inari asked.

“Presents for the three of you,” Takara responded.

They looked at her in confusion but quickly unwrapped the packages. They each drew out a leather wrist cuff with the leaf symbol on it. Moegi looked curiously at the belt Rishito pulled out before finding that hers was nearly identical; it was a bit wider than most utility belts that shinobi wore and it had small flames bordering the lower half of it. Inari held a similar belt, but the border design was waves instead of flames. They looked to be more of civilian design than shinobi.

“Don't worry we didn't just give you boring clothes,” Sakura quipped at the three confused pre-teens.

“They're of civilian design because they'll be less conspicuous that way,” Takara added.

“What do you mean?” Inari asked.

“Do you remember the seals Itachi gave you about two months ago in Kumoma?” Sakura asked, gaining a nod from the three. “Flip the belts over to look at the back side,” she told them.

On the sides that would be primarily hidden from view, they noticed several small knots. “Underneath the knots are similar seals. The knots are there so that you know their location even when you can't see them; and your opponent won't be able to see them either. The knots don't need to be moved either. These seals are activated almost like the other ones,” Sakura explained.

“Almost?” Moegi asked.

“Open the cuffs up,” Takara replied.

On the inside of the cuffs was a small string of symbols, too small for any of the Genin to make out. “All you have to do is key the cuff to you. Once you've done that you simply line it up with one of the seals on the belts and that activates it. Itachi will explain it further; he's better at this stuff than us,” Sakura told them, smiling serenely.

“We just helped pick out the belts and deliver them to you,” Takara joked.

“Thank you,” Moegi squealed slightly, grinning over at her sensei.

“Slip those on and try not to draw attention to them. Rin and Kakashi shouldn't know about them just yet,” Itachi told her.

“Are we gonna get in trouble for having them?” Rishito asked.

“No, but these will end up being the real trump cards, and the fewer people who know about them the better. I'll make sure the two of you get them set up before your matches,” he promised

“Will we have time?” Moegi asked.

“They won't take long,” Sakura promised. “Even Takara and I could use them and we aren't shinobi.”

“We needed chakra to activate the scrolls,” Inari countered.

“We have chakra. Just not as much or the same amount of control as you guys. We don't really need either of those to activate these, although it would help. Hana would be able to activate it much easier than me,” Takara claimed.

“So did you come in early just to bring us these?” Moegi asked.

“Neh, Rin came through Hifukidake on her way in and we decided to come with her and enjoy the village before the festival and tournament,” Sakura answered.

“Do you perform on the last night of the festival?” Inari asked.

“Yup. Reiko and the rest of the performers will be in town by then. We even changed the routine a bit so not even you guys will get bored watching it again,” Takara promised.

“Can we watch the rehearsal anyways?” Moegi asked excitedly, turning to Sakura.

“That all depends on Itachi,” Sakura snickered back, poking her tongue out at the younger girl.

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“But Itachi-sensei,” Moegi whined. “She promised we could watch if you'd let us off.”

“You have training,” Itachi replied with his usual monotone.

Rishito eyed his sensei warily as he spoke. He just knew the man was laughing inside as he tormented Moegi. If Itachi wasn't, he wouldn't have chosen to train just fifty meters from the stage set up for the demonstrations and just behind a curtain of trees that blocked their view of said stage. Moegi was dying as she heard the drum beats drift along with the wind and into their little training area. It also explained why Itachi had scheduled a team training period yet taught them nothing at all or even bothered to shoo off the spectators as the trio of Genin sparred.

“But we aren't actually training,” Moegi countered.

“You know, you could just let her run over and watch them for a few minutes while Rishito and I keep training,” Inari offered. At Itachi's responding glare he added meekly, “Or not.”

“Itachiiiiiii!”

Rishito sighed in relief at Sakura's greeting as the girl flew into the clearing and pushed past the admiring hordes of Itachi's fangirls - honestly hadn't the man already scared them all off?

“We're training.”

Sakura paused at Itachi's cold response before storming up to him and placing herself between him and his students. “I don't care what you were doing. We need your help,” she stated.

“What could you possibly need my help with?”

“Well you see…Takara and I were running through the first half of our routine because we changed it. And it turns out that we use up more floor space when we perform it. We fit on the stage right now, but with the drummers and the other performers on there, we won't,” she told him.

“Again. What could you possibly need my help with?”

Sakura smiled benignly, scrunching her nose slightly and narrowing her eyes at him. “Well you see, we thought that, big powerful shinobi that you are, you might know a jutsu that would allow you to extend the platform like by manipulating the ground so that it was level with the already existing platform,” she crooned.

“And why would I do this?”

“I can think of quite a few reasons. Most dealing with the fact that Takara and I will be in town for at least another week - we could probably even convince Rin to keep us here a bit longer - and that leaves us plenty of time to make you regret not helping us today,” she whispered devilishly.

Itachi's eyes widened slightly and he glanced at his students behind the girl. Moegi was trying to suppress her giggles and she lost it completely when Sakura added, “And perhaps this time, I'll remove the rest of your hair.”

“Fine. Show me what you need me to do,” Itachi told her, as dignified as was possible.

Sakura laughed in delight and turned around once again brushing through the throng of onlookers as she led the way back to the stage. Itachi frowned as he pushed his students ahead of him and walked towards the stage. His frown deepened when Kakashi and Rin came in view, the former cursing the minute he saw Itachi. “I told you she'd be able to con him into it,” Rin commented, pushing away from the stage and handing Nakera to Takara as the lone percussionist moved farther away from his spot in front of the stage.

“If you two are here, why did you need me?” Itachi asked.

“They need the stage extended on three sides. It's easier to have each of us take a side,” Rin told him.

“Easier for whom?”

Rin smiled at Itachi's retort, “For me of course.”

Itachi's gaze slid towards Kakashi but the white haired man ignored him in favor of watching Itachi's crowd of fans in amusement as they slowly moved onto the field. “Let's just get this done. I was training my team.”

“You weren't training us, you were being mean,” Moegi hissed under her breath.

Itachi gave her the most affronted look of innocence that he could muster but Moegi's glare only deepened.

“Right lets get this done. Itachi you take the left side, I'll take the front, and Kakashi will take the right side. Both sides need an extra ten feet,” Rin stated, moving to the front of the stage and ignoring Moegi's growing temper. Kakashi and Itachi each moved to their sides and the three quickly performed a doton jutsu. A moment later there was a small earthquake as the three raised the ground to the stage's level.

When they were done the three moved back over to stand near the Genin as Sakura jumped onto the stage to check its size. “This looks right, thanks!” she shouted to the three.

“That aftershock was a little more than I remember from the last time I used this jutsu,” Rin muttered, ignoring Sakura's shout.

“No one else would have noticed,” Itachi responded, preparing to leave.

“Takara let's run through the routine one more time,” Sakura shouted.

“We've done it enough times for today,” Takara responded lazily as she sat down next to Rishito and Inari to let the former play with his sister.

Sakura stormed to the new edge of the stage and prepared to yell when Moegi appeared next to her. “Can you teach some of it to me instead?” she asked eagerly.

Sakura sighed and nodded leading the girl to the middle of the stage. “But I'm not showing you how to use any of the props. If you want to learn that, we'll work on it later,” she added.

“You mean I can't learn how you did that cool whip move where you twist it around your leg to make it go faster?” Moegi pouted.

“Like I said, later. Even if I were to start you probably wouldn't learn enough to be able to use it against Hanabi,” Sakura explained, turning to face the girl and winking.

“You're as mean as Itachi-sensei.”

“Whatever, now do what…what's going on?” Sakura trailed off as she looked up and noticed the growing crowd near the front of the stage. “I thought no one was supposed to be able to watch,” she muttered frowning.

“Alright people get out of here, get out of here.”

Sakura straightened nervously as Jiraiya pushed his way to the front of the crowd allowing Tsunade to move in behind him. “Why did the Hokage come down here?” Moegi frowned glancing over at Sakura.

“Let's go find out,” Sakura chirped, not betraying her own nervousness.

“Would any of you happen to know whose little show of power caused the earthquake earlier?” Tsunade asked walking over to Rishito, Inari, and Takara. Jiraiya followed her over and watched the nervous Genin in amusement until he caught sight of Nakera. He leaned over the little girl curiously only to have her reach forward and grab the two tufts of hair that hung around his face.

“You might want to take her. She's not going to let go until she gets bored,” Takara apologized, handing the little girl to him.

Tsunade shot Jiraiya a glare as he gingerly held the little girl and opened her mouth to continue her questions when Sakura called out, “Godaime-sama!”

Tsunade turned demurely to glare in the chipper red head's direction and noticed Itachi's student laughing beside her. She walked over and looked up to her asking, “Who am I here to yell at and who are you?”

“Shin…well really now it's Nami Hana. Anyways Rin, Kakashi, and Itachi used a jutsu to raise the ground around the stage. We changed the routine and Reiko apparently forgot to tell the company that built the stage that we needed it to be larger,” she explained.

“You wouldn't by any chance know where they ran off to, would you?” Tsunade asked.

“They're hiding under the stage,” Sakura answered. When Moegi looked up at her in confusion she added, “I saw them sneak away when I turned to answer you.”

“Under the stage you say?” Tsunade interrupted.

“Yeah, the newly raised area hides the hollow underside. Otherwise you probably would have seen them,” Sakura answered.

“I see.” Tsunade responded by leaping up onto the stage next to the girls. “Cowardly brats, I should have known they were hiding.”

Moegi and Sakura turned to glance at each other in confusion, but Sakura's look quickly turned to one of horror when Tsunade jumped towards the center of the stage and landed a kick. The middle planks splintered and the supports collapsed under the force of her kick, leaving a giant whole in the center of the stage and Rin, Kakashi, and Itachi gaping up at the Hokage from their hiding place.

Tsunade moved back to the edge of the hole and glared down at them. She opened her mouth to yell at them for their irresponsibility when Sakura shrieked, “My stage!”

Tsunade's eyes widened as if finally realizing what she had destroyed. She glanced back at the stricken red head as Moegi tried to reason with her about how it could be repaired. Her attention was drawn back towards the hole when Rin started to laugh.

“I'm going to make your lives hell for this,” Sakura shouted running forward and ignoring Tsunade's warning as she jumped into the hole. “This is your fault. You should have known this would happen. I bet that's why you hid under the stage. This is some cruel joke isn't it? I am so setting Kyokki on you later. I swear you will regret this for-“

The girl's rambling rant was cut off when Itachi appeared in front of her and slapped a hand over his mouth. She continued to glare at him and much to Tsunade's amusement he slipped his other hand around her waist and jumped back onto the platform and out of the debris. Rin and Kakashi followed a minute later and Rin moved over to console the girl. Unfortunately for them, Moegi had found it amusing that Sakura had actually talked back to Itachi.

“Hana nee-san, you said you'd show me some of those whip moves, right? And Itachi-sensei isn't teaching me anything, so even though I won't be able to have them ready for the tournament…would you maybe teach me some to help me the next time he gives us the bell test?” she asked nicely squeezing between Rin and Kakashi and looking up at Sakura - who was still being muffled by Itachi's hand.

Sakura eyed the younger girl for a minute and nodded. Itachi withdrew his hand with a curse as Sakura's teeth bit down onto his palm. Once he had released her Sakura walked off with a huff leading Moegi away. “She just bit me,” Itachi stated aloud in disbelief.

“So that's the little brat I heard about you teaching. Good thing she inherited your attitude,” Tsunade smirked walking behind Rin.

“She didn't just get it from me,” Rin muttered in response. “And what are you going to do about the stage you just destroyed? We'd offer to fix it, but the extensions caused more of an aftershock than we expected. Clearing out the debris and then raising it to fix the hole would probably bring down the closest building,” she added.

“I'll find someone with a bit more skill to fix it,” Tsunade responded.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Tsunade ignored Rin's question in favor of looking back down at the little girl still clutching onto Jiraiya's hair. “How old is she?” Rin's eyes widened and she chuckled nervously. “Oh please, you didn't honestly think I wouldn't see her even once while you were staying here, did you?”

“I could only hope,” Rin responded. “And she's almost one.”

“Will she be joining Rishito and Kakashi in Konoha? And if so will you be joining them as well since now I know it was more than three random teenagers you needed to return to.”

“Those teenagers are tucked away in Hifukidake now anyways. But no, I'm not returning, and if she returns it will be her choice when she's older,” Rin retorted.

Sensing a conversation coming that he didn't need to hear, Itachi decided he would be safer spying on Moegi and Sakura's training. He moved down to his students and ignored the large white haired man making faces at the giggling little girl in his arms. “Did Takara leave with Moegi and Hana?” he asked.

Rishito and Inari nodded. “Then let's go. We have stealth training. Jiraiya you may want to interfere before their conversations goes to things that are better left for private discussion,” Itachi stated, leading his remaining students out of the field.

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“I don't remember the festival being this lively when we participated in the Chuunin exams,” Ino stated as the drum beat coursed through the throng of people gathered around the stage.

“When we participated we didn't have the Sandaime's grandson among our number,” Kiba muttered. “What's with these performances anyways?”

“They're demonstrations of skills held among the daimyo's people. It's his way of showing off Fire Country while Konoha is able to show itself off as well,” Hanabi said, repeating what the daimyo's guard had told her in Kumoma.

“I'd be more likely to believe it's his chance to show off to Konoha, not alongside it,” Tsunade muttered.

“Pouting doesn't suit you Tsunade,” Rin stated, walking towards the Hokage and then past her as she ignored Tsunade's response in favor of turning towards her son. “Rishito, the girls want you and your teammates to wish them good luck; they're waiting by the side of the stage,” she told him.

“We were gonna wait for Itachi-sensei before we went over there,” Rishito responded.

“He's already over there; now get going,” Rin answered. Rishito grinned and took off dragging his teammates behind him. “There's a surprise with them as well,” she shouted after them. Rishito paused for a moment to glance back at his mother; Rin winked at him and his face split into a grin before he took off again.

“What do you think the surprise is?” Moegi panted.

“I don't know. But I'm hoping Kyokki and Eiki arrived - I want them to see the tournament,” Rishito bemoaned.

“Kyokki and Eiki? Is Eiki the one that stayed with you when Mitsutori had to leave, about a year ago?” Inari questioned.

“Yeah, he's Hana's brother. Kyokki is Takara's cousin. He's friends with them.”

“So why didn't they just come with your mom and Hana nee-san?” Moegi pressed.

“Well they aren't performers. At least not in this routine so I guess they didn't have any reason too.” Rishito didn't sound very pleased with the only excuse he could manage to give them. “Anyways, let's just find them,” he added almost soberly.

“Well, your mom mentioned that Itachi-sensei was with them and I see his fans in a crowd over there so we should probably check there first,” Moegi offered trying to cheer him up with the prospect of seeing their sensei deal with the numerous women surrounding him.

As they drew nearer the various attempts at flattery towards their sensei grew more audible and the three Genin had to stifle their laughter at the horrible comments about his hair, his team, his clothing, and just his wonderful presence in general. “Is it just me, or have they gotten more aggressive in the past several months? I mean they almost never went near him for the first year or so because he scared them all off,” Moegi whispered, skirting through the crowd right behind Rishito; she could feel Inari's arm clutch at hers as he tried to keep up with them.

“My mom said that because he hasn't shown himself to be dating anyone they're starting to get more bold,” Rishito said back pausing suspiciously before turning back and adding, “I think it meant more than I caught but Itachi-sensei just ignored her so I really don't know.”

It was Moegi's turn to pause suspiciously, but her teammates failed to notice as they pulled her out of the swarm just to the right of their sensei where he was conversing with a black haired teen in sunglasses and civilian clothing. Moegi's train of thought was torn away from Itachi and what may or may not have been Rin's attempt at a joke and towards the newcomer whom she barely recognized as Shingao Eiki - Rishito's temporary guardian the summer before.

His clothing was vaguely reminiscent of what Inari sometimes wore when he wasn't in his training clothes. He was wearing plain black shorts that reached just past his knees and the same boots that she had seen the Daimyo's guard, Reiko, wearing, which almost went high enough to meet the hem of his shorts. His shirt was almost the same as the sleeveless one that Hana had worn except that it was red and had white flames stitched circled around the hem. He was also wearing a white vest cinched over the shirt at the waist. She turned away blushing lightly when he glanced over at her - she had still had enough time to notice the sword strapped onto his back.

“So Itachi-kun-”

Moegi was jarred back to her surroundings at the woman's unfortunate attempt to gain her sensei's attention. “Do not speak to me so familiarly. If you wish to address me and have any hopes that I might actually respond, call me Uchiha-san and nothing else,” Itachi retorted, turning to the woman sharply. She opened her mouth, but whether she meant to apologize or continue with her flirting was never known as a bejeweled hand delicately swatted Itachi across the back of his head. Moegi had a feeling that it had hurt more than he let show as he turned around angrily only to come face to face with a scowling Sakura. “You're a real jackass when you're in Konoha, you know that Itachi-kun?”

“Maybe that's because here it actually manages to ward off annoying girls like you,” he retorted.

“I'm not annoying. I'm charmingly attentive.”

Itachi quirked an eyebrow in amusement but Moegi was beginning to think Rin's suspicions had been founded. Even the man's swarm of admirers had begun to back off as he bantered back, “Who told you that?”

“Kyokki, who by the way, also had a crush on her for the first year that he knew her,” Eiki cut in explaining.

“It wasn't the whole first year. Just the first couple of months,” Sakura reasoned, much to Moegi's amusement. “And I have no reason to believe that he was lying for my benefit.”

“Then maybe he was lying for his own. I'm sure you left him alone after that,” Itachi shot back. Sakura crooked her head curiously and blinked as if trying to remember, when her pursed lips spread into scowl Itachi's smirk widened.

“That's beside the point,” she finally retorted. “Your admirers are gone by the way. I don't think they like me very much. Do you think I offended them yesterday when I asked you to help fix the stage?”

“I can only hope.”

“Oi, Hana nee-san, my mom said you wanted to see us?” Rishito piped up moving next to Sakura and grinning brightly, glancing once at Sasuke to stick his tongue out at him.

Sasuke snorted and turned away from the group beckoning towards several people conversing nearer to the stage. “I wanted you to wish us good luck. I know this isn't the real performance but I need all the luck I can get. I never perform in front of this many people,” Sakura moaned dramatically, fluttering her eyes at Rishito for effect.

Rishito immediately turned away from her when he saw the real surprise his mother had been speaking about. “Mitsutori! Yori!” he greeted excitedly.

Sakura deadpanned before turning to Moegi with a dramatic sigh. Moegi giggled and moved closer to the older girl preparing to ask a question when Mitsutori spoke, “Rishito-kun, I'm glad we could make it here to watch you tomorrow.”

“Yo Yori,” Sasuke added trying to coax the younger boy away from Mitsutori. “Where'd Kato and Daiki go?” he asked.

“It's Yorimasa,” Takara interrupted. “And they went to get my father so you might want to hide. He'll probably tell Rin the moment he sees you.” Sasuke's eyebrows arched comically above his sunglasses and he took a step closer to Sakura and Itachi. “Moegi, Inari, this is my aunt Mitsutori, who I'm sure you both know. And my brother Yorimasa. My sister-in-law, Kato, and her son Daiki are around here somewhere,” Takara added turning to Rishito's teammates.

“Now we have to go. So you three stick with Itachi-kun and Eiki while we're up there and we'll meet you again afterwards. This show is pretty short so you can show us around the festival a bit before the one later tonight,” Sakura said, pulling Takara away from the group and waving to them. Sasuke sighed in relief and turned only to find Yorimasa stifling silent laughter at his expense. “It isn't funny, Yori. The woman is going to kill me.”

“How is that not funny?” Mitsutori asked.

Sasuke frowned at her and glanced down at his brother's students; Inari and Rishito both seemed to find his unknown predicament hilarious, but Moegi was watching him curiously.

“Did you and that other boy ever beat up Itachi-sensei for what he did to Hana nee-san's hair?” Moegi finally asked.

“No. Haven't had the chance since I just got here this morning and Kyokki couldn't come along,” he answered, smirking in his brother's direction. “It'll happen. He'll be crying like a baby when we're done with him.”

“Can I watch?” she asked eagerly, sending Itachi a small glare.

Sasuke snickered as his brother glared at his student - apparently she still hadn't forgiven him for the training session the day before. “You can continue plotting my `beating' when the show is over,” Itachi finally stated, pointing to the stage.

Moegi's eyes lit up and she turned eagerly only to find that she couldn't actually see very well. She was tempted to plead with Itachi to let her perch on his back, but he had already lifted Yorimasa into his arms so that the younger boy could watch his older sister. She was beginning to despair when she heard Sasuke lift his sword from his shoulders and set in the ground next to him. “Come here so you can see better. Hana mentioned you actually enjoyed watching these things,” he said waving her over.

“What's that supposed to mean?” she asked approaching suspiciously.

“Just that more civilians are likely to enjoy this than shinobi,” he countered leaning down slightly so that she could grab onto his neck and pull herself onto his back.

“Hanabi didn't like it much, but Anko-sensei said it was really impressive. I think it looks cool and Hana nee-san can even catch Itachi-sensei off guard with her whip,” Moegi whispered back as the crowd silenced and the percussionists began playing.

“You want to hear a secret?” he whispered back as three dancers appeared onstage. Moegi noticed suspiciously, even through the masks that they wore, that none of the three was Sakura or even Takara.

“What?”

“All of the performers, including the percussionists and the dancers you'll see later tonight, are members of the Daimyo's guard. Hana and Takara are the only two that aren't. They may look like simple performers, but they could take out most of the shinobi here,” he told her.

“Are they here as the Daimyo's guards?” she asked.

“Of course not. He doesn't need that many guards inside Konoha. They're here because they enjoy what they do and they haven't been able to perform here since the Yondaime was named Hokage. The real show is tonight when the other foreign dignitaries will be here to see it,” he explained. “They'll get the show they came to see.”

“Are you staying to watch Rishito fight tomorrow?” she asked glancing up only to see nearly the same routine that her team had first witnessed in Kumoma. It took her a moment to realize what was off about it: Sakura and Takara weren't actually onstage.

“We're here to see all of you fight. We'll probably actually stay for about a week since the Daimyo has business to take care of. You know how to beat Hanabi yet?” he added with a wink.

“Of course not. Hana nee-san taught me a little, so I can sort of use a chain whip if I need to, but I don't what good that will do,” she told him glumly leaning her chin against his shoulder.

“But you learned how to use those belts, right?” She nodded and continued to frown. “The knot on your right hip is a jutsu that will work. It's part genjutsu, part ninjutsu. She'll be able to see through the genjutsu, but that will only serve to distract her from the rest of it. Trust me, it was designed for you to use in this way.”

Moegi had crooked her neck to look suspiciously at his face and noticed that he had barely moved his lips while he was speaking, he must have realized that they could be being watched. “How do you know that?” she finally asked.

“Just trust me on this. We're not ones likely to let down Itachi's favorite students,” he quipped back.

“We're his only students,” Rishito muttered, looking up at the two suspiciously.

“The fact that he took you on as students gives you the right to be called his favorite students,” Sasuke commented. “You two still watching this?”

“We've seen it ten times before. They know we aren't really watching this, don't they?” Rishito asked.

Sasuke mouth twisted up into a smirk and he noticed his brother's do the same. Itachi turned to him and nodded his head away from the stage giving them permission to leave. “Of course they know. We just needed an excuse to get you away from that other team for a few minutes, and Hana's not one to get stage fright,” Sasuke added, glancing back in question as he turned away from the stage. “Especially when she's not really on stage.” Moegi nodded to him and Sasuke paused only to grab his sword before leaving, and Rishito and Inari followed discreetly through the crowd.

“So where do you wanna go?” he asked when they were far enough away from the stage not to disturb the enraptured spectators.

“Why did Itachi-sensei stay there?” Moegi asked.

“He'll wait until Takara and Hana change back into their regular clothes. They won't want to wear their costumes the whole time,” Sasuke answered.

“Why are you wearing those dumb glasses again?” Rishito asked.

Sasuke smirked and reached up to pull the glasses off, handing them to Moegi. She laughed and put them on, sticking her tongue out at her teammates.

“And I still don't get why Kyokki wouldn't come. I wanted him to watch the tournament too,” Rishito went on to complain.

“We may or may not have pissed off Reiko and Lian and I may or may not be here as part of my punishment. But for now let's just say that he wasn't feeling up to it,” Sasuke added.

“And his punishment is to stay there while all three of you are here,” Rishito commented noticing that they were nearing his mother and Anko. He glanced back and saw that Sasuke hadn't noticed yet.

“Well really he got lucky. He wasn't really up to seeing Rin at the moment, what with the new tattoos and all; she probably would have killed him. Staying behind might suck, but at least he's safe.”

“He got a tattoo?” Rishito repeated, turning to face Sasuke.

“Yeah, two stripes on his right cheek. One from the bridge of his nose to the middle of the cheek bone,” Sasuke said, drawing a line about a half inch below his eye in the area he had described. “And a second one about a fourth of an inch below that that goes out just below his cheekbone and stops near the edge of his face.”

“He got a tattoo!”

“Yeah I just said that,” Sasuke said, turning in confusion to the person who had spoken only to find himself face to face with Rin. Moegi was giggling on his back.

“Well I suppose since you did as well, that makes you much braver than Kyokki,” she commented upon seeing the two vertical stripes down Sasuke's left cheek. One from the middle of his eye and continuing down for an inch, in what she supposed was in imitation of Kakashi's scar, and a second one that started near the inner corner of his eye and went down diagonally to the center of his cheek, most likely imitating Itachi's stress lines.

Sasuke wavered slightly under her intense glare and the amused laughter drifting from Anko, Iruka and the amused Jounin behind her, Jounin he wasn't technically supposed to know, was beginning to tick him off. “Not really,” he answered honestly. “But like I said, I didn't have much of a choice. And Kakashi and Itachi swore they wouldn't let you anywhere near me all week.”

“Oh did they?” Rin questioned, leaning in towards him and pretending not to notice that he was now four inches taller than her. “I don't see them anywhere now.”

“I noticed,” Sasuke answered, taking a step away from her. Rishito and Inari's giggling next to him wasn't helping to lighten the situation at all.

“Would you like me to count down the seconds towards your impending doom or would you rather just run back to Itachi?” she stated.

Sasuke set Moegi back on her feet and draped his sword back across his back as he slowly moved away. “I'll just run,” he finally stated, taking off towards the stage.

When he disappeared, Rishito turned to his mother and said, “At least they were cool tattoos.”

“I knew I shouldn't have let Sho talk me into sending those three there,” Rin said, glancing wryly at her son. “Those guards have been horrible influences on them. They never would have thought about getting tattoos if they had stayed with me.”

“Only because they would have been too frightened to see your reaction,” Lian commented from his spot next to the Daimyo as they walked towards her.

“There's nothing wrong with using fear as a deterrent towards certain behaviors,” Rin replied loftily.

“Oh please. And don't try to pass off us as the bad influences. Their behavior always gets worse right before and right after your visits,” Reiko retorted.

“That's just because they aren't getting enough work on those days. You should tire them out more and then they won't use all that pent up energy on pranks.”

“Really? Because Eiki and Kyokki were pretty damn tired the day after the girls and Reiko left with you and that didn't stop them from putting soap in all the ponds and fountains before encouraging Raiko and his friends to play in the bubbles. It also didn't stop them from dying the guards' uniforms pink and somehow arranging for half of the bells in the capitol to be set off at 3 in the morning the day after you left with the girls for Konoha. If we hadn't brought Eiki with us who knows what the two of them would have done without someone to supervise them,” Lian continued.

“I'm starting to see how Eiki could have been in trouble,” Moegi giggled to her teammates.

“Well I was kind of hoping they'd go through with their threats to you about skipping all of their training sessions for an entire week by hiding if you didn't let Takara out of hers. They were also overheard talking about condemning the school house so that Raiko wouldn't have to attend classes on his birthday. Then there were the plans we found for the welcome back `party' they were planning for Reiko. That was the real reason she forced Eiki to come along and `support' his sister,” Suzu interrupted, walking over to Rin.

“If that was the case, leaving Kyokki there won't prevent the party from happening. If anything Eiki was probably making him tone it down a bit. He's always so concerned about how achievable our…Kyokki's plans are that they end up dumbing everything down. Without Eiki there the welcome will probably just be more outrageous,” Rin reasoned ignoring her earlier slip of the tongue. She reached over and steadied Rishito as he began to have trouble containing peals of laughter.

“What exactly did this entail?” Itachi asked glancing back at Sasuke as the younger man cautiously walked several feet behind him and Sakura so that Rin couldn't get near him.

“I'm not sure but at one point he mentioned putting lighter fluid in everyone's shampoo and then setting off fireworks. But that was after Reiko said that I was going with her so he was in a pretty bad mood. I don't think he'd actually do something that dangerous. If he really wanted to burn off someone's hair he'd probably just take a page out of Hana's book and practice fire breathing a bit too close to his spectators,” Sasuke commented.

Anko and Inuzuka Hana snickered behind the group of Jounin. Rin didn't even bother hiding her amusement as Itachi glared at the younger man for his nonchalant comment. Sasuke coughed suspiciously and Itachi increased his glare towards Sasuke. “Keep this up and I'll leave you to deal with Rin on your own,” he threatened.

Sasuke continued to struggle with his laughter until he heard a suspiciously familiar voice call out to the Jounin, “Hey old people, you were supposed to meet us five minutes ago.”

He moved closer to Itachi and Sakura as he saw Ino and Kiba run up towards their former Jounin sensei and Anko. “Ino behave when you're around visiting diplomats,” Asuma muttered as the blond stopped in front of him. It probably didn't help that the Daimyo and his staff were laughing quietly at her behavior.

Ino straightened and turned to look at them in horror but before she could apologize Lian cut in for her. “Don't worry about what she said. It's nothing compared to the utter disrespect Eiki and the other brats show all the time,” he explained a bit bitterly.

Sasuke probably would have laughed at Lian's insulted tone if it weren't for the fact that his statement had brought him to Ino's attention. “Hey it's you!” she exclaimed, skipping over towards him. She not so subtly skirted around Itachi and Sakura so that she could latch onto Sasuke.

“They're over here,” Kiba shouted to the other former rookies as Ino smiled sweetly at Sasuke and attempted to pull him out from behind Itachi. Much to Rin's amusement Sasuke remained steadfastly where he was.

“So why are you visiting this time?” Ino asked sweetly.

“His sister is one of the performers,” Takara answered for him stopping next to Sasuke and looking oddly at Ino.

“I would have been far more flattered if Kyokki had come; I like him more. He's not as mean as Eiki,” Sakura bemoaned moving over to settle in next to Rin and looking up at her for pity. She grew slightly unnerved by the intense scrutiny Rin began to give her and she straightened up looking at Rin suspiciously. “What did I do?”

“I'm not sure yet. You didn't get a tattoo like the other two did you?”

“No, we had to leave early on the day that Kano took them. He promised to make time to take me when I got back,” Sakura answered innocently.

Rin gently placed an arm around her should pulling Sakura a little closer. “Shijimi-sama I don't think Hana will be returning to Hifukidake. I just remembered that they desperately wanted me to bring her down to Anraku instead.”

“We did?” Sho asked, walking up to Rin with Mitsutori and Yorimasa in tow. Rin, Itachi, Sakura and Sasuke all glared at the fourth member of his party - the guard, who only smirked at them in return. Sho stopped a foot past Takara and Sasuke before backtracking and scrutinizing Sasuke's face. “Is that a tattoo?”

“Yeah, doesn't it look cool?” Sakura commented. Sho turned to look at her suspiciously for a moment before turning back to his daughter.

“Don't look at me. I didn't get one and I don't plan on getting one in the future,” she informed him.

“Good answer,” her father told her before walking back over to Rin. Yorimasa stayed behind with his sister and laughed when he heard her whisper, “You two obviously need more practice when it comes to lying to adults.”

“I heard that,” Sho commented without bothering to turn and look at her.

“You obviously need to practice controlling the volume of your voice,” Sasuke muttered. “And I don't see why this is such a big deal to you. Aren't those tattoos?” Sasuke asked Rin, pointing to the two stripes on her cheeks. He figured out that it was a mistake when Itachi slapped a hand over his mouth and Anko began laughing.

“These are birthmarks,” Rin growled. “How else did you think Rishito ended up with the same markings?”

Sasuke blinked at her and Itachi made the mistake of releasing him. “I always kind of figured you had them tattooed on him to piss off Kakashi,” Sasuke answered honestly. Admittedly, like the many explanations for Kakashi's mask the origins of Rishito's facial markings had come from Naruto as well, but it had actually sounded rather credible to Sasuke when Naruto had suggested it.

“Why would I do that?” Rin asked.

“To get him back since Rishito was born with white hair?” Sasuke suggested.

“Wow, so Kakashi really is Rishito's father?” Ino quietly asked looking back towards Asuma.

It was Itachi's turn to cough suspiciously as Sasuke cringed at Ino's question. Rishito snickered while Sasuke tried to look apologetic towards Rin who was a bit less than convinced. “Didn't you agree to keep me out of trouble?” Sasuke asked Itachi.

“No, I promised to keep Rin from killing you. The amount of trouble you get in is purely yours to deal with.”

“Shit,” Sasuke muttered, turning away as he tried to figure out a way out of his current predicament.

“If you really want help staying out of trouble you should probably look for Kakashi,” Itachi suggested.

“You wouldn't by any chance know where he is?”

“Walking over here,” Itachi answered, pointing behind them to Kakashi and Nakera's approaching forms.

Sasuke sent one glance back towards Rin and Sho before sprinting away from the group for a second time. He halted Kakashi in his tracks and spoke with him for several moments before Kakashi sighed and handed Nakera to him before walking in front of the two towards Rin.

“I have been told to inform you that I was the one who told Kano that you wouldn't mind the tattoos. The fact that I am telling you this under threat of blackmail does in no way mean that it is untrue. Nor does the fact that Kano does not understand sarcasm mean that it is not completely my fault. So you should forgive Eiki and Kyokki,” Kakashi said as flatly as possible.

Rin gazed at him for a moment before taking a step closer to Eiki. “What exactly are you using to blackmail him?

Sasuke smirked wickedly until Anko muttered, “I wonder if this has anything to do with Icha Icha Paradise?”

Rin glared at Kakashi for a moment before turning back to Sasuke and smiling triumphantly. “You're running very low on countermeasures,” she informed him taking another step closer.

Sasuke glanced between Kakashi and Itachi who both appeared very unhelpful before glancing down at the little girl in his arms. He looked back up and Rin before sighing in defeat. “If you hurt me Kyokki will use everything he has to make you regret it,” he tried.

“What he can pull is nothing compared to what I can do back,” Rin retorted and reached over to hit him.

Sasuke quickly held Nakera out in front of him and said, “Baby shield,” before ducking slightly behind Nakera's giggling form.

Rin deadpanned and glared at him. “Wow, that's low,” Ino commented from next to Shikamaru.

“You try pissing her off and surviving it,” Sasuke retorted, before Rin snatched Nakera out of his hands. Sasuke took her temporary distraction of settling Nakera into her arms to run off behind Itachi.

“Why are you hiding behind me again? I told you I wasn't going to help you anymore,” Itachi told him.

“Why are you hiding anyways? She's holding a baby, she isn't going to hit you,” Konohamaru snorted.

“You're joking right? That isn't going to stop her, especially since Nakera's learning to walk,” Sasuke told him.

“What does learning to walk have to do with anything?” Hanabi asked.

“You know that if that ever makes it back to Kyokki he will never let you live it down, right?” Itachi said, ignoring the Genin.

“Well no one here is going to tell him,” Sasuke stated back positively.

“Is that so?” Itachi asked.

“You and Rin aren't going to tell him and neither can Kakashi.”

“Why wouldn't I?” Itachi asked.

Sasuke turned to his brother in shock. “You wouldn't dare?” he threatened narrowing his eyes slightly. Itachi's smirk grew and Rin watched in interest and Sasuke suddenly truly smiled in response, an admittedly rare expression on him, and swung an arm around Itachi's shoulder. Much to the entire group's amusement Sasuke leaned over and spoke in low tones for a moment before smiling. For the first time, Moegi realized that if Itachi's hair was just a bit longer and straighter, and if Eiki's eyes were black instead of a dark blue to match his sister's and the Nami's, the two would look almost identical. Itachi listened quietly to what the other boy had to say before laughing out loud, his face lightening a great deal.

Sakura noticed that most of those around them had paused to glance over at the group and were staring at Itachi. She laughed and turned to Itachi remarking, “You know you catch a lot of attention when you laugh.”

Itachi's smile wilted slightly and he turned to glare first at those around them and then at Sakura; the second recipient was far less swayed by it as she continued to smile at him. Sakura giggled slightly and added, “And you look a lot like Eiki when you pout.”

“Eiki doesn't pout,” Itachi said at the same time that Sasuke defended himself by cutting in, “I don't pout.”

Moegi, Rishito, and Takara all began laughing when they glanced over and saw that Sasuke was in fact pouting at Sakura's insult. Itachi looked over and deadpanned when he saw his brother's expression; he sighed and turned back to Sakura who was still smiling sweetly at him. “Told ya,” she crooned.

“So you won't tell?” Sasuke asked, going back their original conversation.

“If those are the terms then no I won't,” Itachi responded.

“It's pity I can't tell Kyokki,” Sakura pouted, turning to Takara as they moped about not being able to rag on Sasuke.

“I get the feeling this guy is really good at blackmail,” Kiba muttered, to Shikamaru. “My mom overheard Kakashi say that he and his friends could find a way to blackmail Jiraiya for being a pervert.”

“If that's the case I want him on my side,” Tsunade said, walking towards the group with Jiraiya in tow. “Shijimi-dono,” she added nodding towards the Daimyo.

“Tsunade-hime,” he responded smiling at her. “If you have a moment this afternoon I'd like to speak with you before the real excitement starts tomorrow.”

“Since the real show doesn't start until tonight, I'm free. Any time you want to excuse yourself is fine,” Tsunade answered.

“Now is fine,” he replied.

“Would you mind if Rin and Suzu came with us? I need to speak with them,” Tsunade added nonchalantly. Both women paled slightly and Rin cautiously watched Tsunade out of the corner of her eye.

“Not at all,” the Daimyo replied, nodding once to Sho before walking forward. Suzu and Lian moved to follow but the Daimyo shook his head. “Kano will be enough,” he told Lian. The man stopped in his tracks and glared in the Hokage's general direction being careful not to alarm the shinobi around her.

“Are you coming Rin?” Tsunade asked politely.

Rin glared at her but rescinded slightly at Suzu's pleading look. “Sometimes I really hate blonds,” she muttered as she lowered Nakera to the ground. The little girl pouted up at her and Rin shook her head before allowing Sakura to take Nakera's hands. She began to lead her towards Kakashi's expectant form, but instead turned towards Itachi.

Rin watched in amusement as Sakura allowed Nakera to walk towards Itachi, who was fighting the urge not to smirk at Kakashi who everyone was sure was pouting under his mask.

“What do you think you're doing?” Kakashi finally asked.

“Reminds me of the time they told him he couldn't hold her until he took off his mask,” Rishito muttered.

“Did he do it?” Moegi asked.

Itachi, Sakura, and Sasuke cracked up as Nakera looked at them curiously and Kakashi turned away. “You actually fell for that?” Sho asked.

Kakashi pointedly ignored him as he continued to watch Nakera make her way over towards Itachi and Sasuke. “You seriously fell for that?” Rin asked, ignoring Tsunade's impatience.

“You were the one who wouldn't let me near Rishito until I took it off,” Kakashi countered more childishly than many of the Jounin had ever heard.

Nakera and Sakura had stopped in front of Itachi and Sakura turned towards Sasuke laughing as Rin and Kakashi continued to argue. “It would have scared him,” Rin countered. “But why would you honestly listen to something Itachi said when he had been around Kyokki or Hana or even Eiki all day. They're horrible influences on each other,” she added.

“Oh leave them out of this,” Kakashi countered much to the amusement of the other Jounin. Itachi was ignoring them in favor of cautiously watching the little girl at his feet. She was smiling up at him in a way that he new would have him cracking. He tried to glance away but ran into Sakura who was smiling expectantly at him.

“Excuse me? It's the truth. You can't trust Itachi when he's been around them. Just two months ago after you and your team left he conspired with Hana to trap the Genin in the upper floor for over eight hours. Later they claimed it was an exercise in Genjutsu detection.”

“That was you?” Inari asked, turning to his sensei. Itachi's smirk wiped any doubts out of his mind, especially when Sakura mirrored it.

“There's nothing wrong with that they have to learn sometime,” Kakashi responded, fondly remembering several genjutsu tricks he had used on his own students.

“They didn't use any genjutsu, they simply blocked the stairways and temporarily glued the windows shut,” she countered.

Sasuke blinked at Itachi and Sakura as they began shaking while they tried to hide their laughter. “I was wondering why the five of them disappeared that day,” Takara commented. Sasuke turned to her and blinked once before slowly raising his eyebrow above the line of his sunglasses. “Don't look at me like that; I'm not stupid,” she countered.

“You don't see anything wrong with that, do you,” Rin stated as Kakashi continued to stare at her blankly. “Just like you don't see anything wrong with reading that stupid book in public,” she added glaring at him.

“They're acting like a married couple,” Ino commented, still standing by Sasuke and the others.

“That's kind of the point,” Sasuke replied.

Comprehension dawned on her face again and she chuckled, “Oh that's right.”

“Hey I write that book and it isn't stupid,” Jiraiya countered. Itachi had glanced down enough to notice that Nakera was beginning to pout at being neglected for so long. He stubbornly refused to look her in the eye and turned back to her parents.

“It is too,” Rin countered.

“I'd like to add that the only reason I even own it is because you gave it to me,” Kakashi countered.

“It was a prank,” she said in exasperation.

“Why would you give him my book as part of prank?” Jiraiya asked in confusion.

“Because Arashi-sensei was so horrified I would even hold that in the presence of two `ladies' he practically tried to kill me. How he could see Rin and Anko as ladies is beyond me,” Kakashi muttered.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Rin and Anko shouted in tandem.

“Geez where's Kyokki when you need him? He'd stand up for me,” Rin growled out.

“That's because he's more terrified of you than he is of me,” Kakashi retorted. By this point the majority of the other Jounin watching the match of insults were cracking up at their behavior. Anko was seething because she had been dragged into it and Iruka was trying to calm her down. Tsunade was simply bemused as Jiraiya seethed next to her after the insults thrown at his book.

“You know really our prank wasn't that bad. There was that one day when they trapped Eiki and me up there while they talked to Kyokki and then forgot about us. I almost had to eat Eiki's leg,” Sakura commented remembering it fondly.

Ino looked at her oddly before getting the feeling that something was wrong when TenTen, Kiba, and Chouji showed up next to her watching the Jounin warily. Sasuke glanced at them once following their line of sight and shivering slightly.

Gai and Lee were watching the wedded banter with tears flowing down their faces. He looked up at Itachi in horror and nudged his brother in their direction. Itachi took one look at them before quickly picking up Nakera and taking a step backwards. Sasuke reached out and slowly drew Sakura towards him as the tears began to soak the ground.

Finally Gai burst. “Oh the beauty of such young love and camaraderie. It is wonderful to see that your youthful banter still persists after such hardships and trials and tribulations to produce such beautiful progeny,” he began indicating in Nakera and Rishito's direction. Rishito looked at the man in horror for a moment before zipping over to hide behind his father.

As Gai continued rambling on about the beauty of marriage and relationships and children, managing to make Iruka blush bright red when he referenced his and Anko's relationship, Rin and Kakashi continued staring at each other both refusing to lose ground. Itachi glanced over at Rishito's slightly cowering form to the abandoned figures of his other two students. Moegi looked at him desperately before Itachi nodded for them to walk over. Moegi disappeared and reappeared in front him with Inari on her tail. She quickly clutched onto Sakura as Inari stood next to them.

Tsunade watched them in amusement. She hadn't been aware that Gai was particularly frightening. Shizune didn't remember Eiki or Hana being afraid at Gai when they had incited him in Hifukidake. Yet now they were almost cowering away from him.

Gai finally finished his oratory with a flourishing nice-guy pose, which Lee mirrored, and everyone finally realized why Itachi's students had been so frightened. As Gai's pose persisted and crickets began chirping the two turned towards him in unison and said, “I'm sorry did you say something?”

Rin watched him for a moment as Gai deadpanned before he and Lee began bawling again. “Oh it is truly wondrous to see that my rival and his mate have become so integrated so synchronized. What a truly hip, modern, and youthful couple. It is no wonder I have chosen him as my rival,” Gai despaired.

“Did he just call me your mate?” Rin asked turning towards Kakashi. He numbly nodded in response before taking a step back with Rishito and wincing as Rin turned around.

“I am not his mate,” she stated, glaring at Gai. The exuberant man faltered slightly as she took a step closer.

“Gai-sensei!” Lee exclaimed in fear as they cowered before her. A moment later, both were laid out flat as Rin turned furiously back towards Kakashi.

Tsunade coughed lightly bringing the majority of the group's attention back to her. “Shall we?” she asked Rin and the Daimyo.

Lord Shijimi nodded in amusement as he continued forward with Suzu and Kano. Lian continued his glaring as they walked away and Kakashi joined in as Rin sighed with resignation and turned to follow as well. This continued well after the two women had disappeared and Anko noticed that Itachi and the two teens seemed to be having trouble not laughing at the twosome's expense. Sakura finally lost the fight and her laughing broke Kakashi and Lian out of their glares as they turned towards her frowning. “What's so funny brat?” Lian asked her.

“I'm sorry it's just so cute that you're worried about them when you know nothing can happen to them. It's even funnier since they can both pretty much kick your asses so anything that would get them in trouble wouldn't really be handled very well by either of you,” she pondered. There glares doubled in weight and she straightened looking between the two nervously before squeaking and dodging behind Itachi.

“Why do the two of you insist on using me as a shield?” Itachi asked completely un-phased as he looked at the two `siblings'.

“You scare them,” Sasuke explained.

Itachi rolled his eyes and sighed glancing down at the little girl looking transfixed by hair. Sometimes he really hated them.

“Why are you two still mad at being locked on the second floor? Eiki stopped complaining about it two days after it happened,” Kakashi finally said turning back to Itachi and Sakura.

“Well somehow Eiki managed to not be bored out of his mind for an entire afternoon,” Sakura shot back.

“I'd like to point out that I figured out the windows weren't warded and was barely up there for more than ten minutes,” Itachi added.

“Yeah but I can see Eiki getting bored I just don't get how you were. I'm sure there was plenty of stuff you could've come up with doing while Itachi was there,” Takara offered, ignoring Itachi interjection.

“You mean aside from making fun of him,” Sasuke muttered.

“But if…they were on the s-second floor, the only things up there are bedrooms,” Yorimasa said in confusion.

Itachi and Sakura both turned to Takara realizing the insinuation but everyone else seemed to find it very amusing. Itachi definitely hated them sometimes.

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

“What can I do for you?” Tsunade asked once the small group had made the retreat to her office. Rin was standing off to the side, leaning against the wall and watching Tsunade and Jiraiya - whom Tsunade had invited for moral support - warily. The Daimyo was sitting across from Tsunade, watching the two Sannin curiously while Suzu and Kano stood behind him.

“I'm not sure how much you have learned through private investigation, so forgive me if I'm telling you something you are already aware of,” the Daimyo began. “Despite managing to completely avoid detection, if either of you were in Fire Country during your time outside of Konoha, I am sure you were aware of the…tension between my office and that of the Hokage and Konoha.”

Tsunade and Jiraiya glanced at each other and then nodded for the Daimyo to continue. “I disagreed with the decision to simply reinstate Sarutobi as the Sandaime instead of choosing a Godaime immediately. That being said, I was willing to work with his administration,” he paused and glanced at Rin before continuing, “One year into that administration's reign, it was brought to my attention, by a shinobi, that there was an ongoing custody battle between the administration and a…respectable family from the eastern coast of Fire Country.”

“The Nami Family,” Tsunade interrupted. “We've been able to guess that much; although, no one involved has been forthcoming with information.”

“It was an ugly affair. The boy's mother had died shortly after birth; however, his godfather, a shinobi who died in the Kyuubi's attack, had convinced her to choose a civilian as the other guardian. After his death that night, the boy should have been given to her custody but the administration interfered.

“When he was four, against the advice of many, Senma chose to temporarily rescind her family's claim in order to allow the child to become a shinobi. They were supposed to be notified when he became a Genin so that contact could be reestablished,” the Daimyo finished.

Tsunade frowned and nodded. “I'm not here to stir up trouble, neither is Nami Sho. However, I would like to request that you at least meet with him. The two of you may be able to clear a few things up for each other.”

“Does he want to hear from the full council, or just me?” Tsunade asked.

The Daimyo looked at her in surprise and added reluctantly, “I suppose that depends on your definition of `full council'. Sho will most likely not speak in front of the elders; however, I doubt he would have as much trouble with the Clan Heads.”

“I can have a meeting scheduled for two days from now, the day after the tournament, if all of you will still be here,” she offered.

The Daimyo nodded and stood indicating that he was finished. “Do you mind if I speak with Suzu? You can be here if you prefer,” Tsunade asked before he could leave.

“My presence is not necessary for village business,” he stated nodding again before walking out with his guard. Suzu drifted closer to Rin and waited for Tsunade to begin.

“Do you mind if several others sit in on this?” Tsunade finally asked.

Suzu's eyes snapped to the Hokage's face and she firmly responded, “I won't speak in front of the elders.”

“We have something in common then. I only want several other witnesses here, several of the clan heads or Shizune for example. That way we'll have more people to support claims of your statement at a later date.”

Suzu finally nodded and Jiraiya moved to open the door and motion to someone in the hall. Nara Shikato, Inuzuka Tsume, Aburame Shibi and Shizune walked in and seated themselves in the chairs that Rin and Suzu had been ignoring. Rin scowled at Tsunade when she realized the Hokage had had the four shinobi waiting in the hall.

“This shouldn't take long,” Tsunade promised as Jiraiya moved back to stand near her. “Obviously the elders falsified the information about your departure. I'd like to hear what happened so that we can clear your record.”

“Where do you want me to start?”

“When did you get the assignment to work with Naruto?”

“I requested it when he was about a month old. I would have done so earlier, but I had been under the impression that Rin was his guardian within the village, so instead I had been working at the hospital. My teammate, Kara, mentioned that Rin was working with ANBU, like Kakashi; they had, within the three weeks Rin had been in ANBU, forced the Sandaime to remove two of Naruto's caretakers. I was confused, so I went to speak with Rin; after she explained the situation, I went and spoke with the Sandaime and was finally given the assignment a month later. They had another caretaker dismissed during that time,” Suzu claimed.

Tsunade started in surprise at Suzu's bluntness and she noticed that Rin's frown had deepened and she was refusing to meet the eyes of any of the shinobi in the room. “What confused you?” Jiraiya asked before Tsunade could go on.

Suzu looked over at him and said, “Before she left Konoha, Mitsutori had left me with the impression that as long as Naruto was in the village Rin was supposed to act as his guardian - like I said, that was the main reason I hadn't thought to check in on him earlier. Rin explained that she had been his guardian for the first week until she had been reassigned to ANBU. She couldn't continue as his guardian.”

Tsunade sighed and nodded. “How long did you act as his nurse?”

“Seven months. I started as his night nurse and was switched to daytime less than a month later.”

“Why the switch?” Tsume asked.

Even Suzu was surprised when Rin spoke up and answered, “Naruto had already started to adopt a nocturnal sleeping pattern and we wanted to break him of it. By putting Suzu on duty during the day it gave him a reason to be awake during those hours and sleep when she wasn't there.”

“If you requested the move and vouched for her, why was she released?” Shizune asked Rin.

Rin frowned again and glanced at Suzu hoping that she had an answer to give them. “The night nurse at the time accused me of abuse to cover up her own neglect. Rin and Kakashi stepped in and vouched for me and the council was forced to release the other nurse instead. A week later I was relieved of my duties anyways. Six months after that I left the village,” Suzu answered.

“Why did you leave the village?”

Suzu frowned and turned to Tsunade claiming, “I wasn't given a choice or a reason. After I left, Rin suggested I go to Anraku. I knew the Nami family and they helped me get the position in Hifukidake.”

“And you didn't sign this request,” Tsunade said handing a file to Suzu for clarification.

“No,” Suzu said only briefly glancing at it.

“Alright. Thank you for cooperating with us - it was refreshing,” Tsunade stated with a pointed glance in Rin's direction. The younger woman rolled her eyes and shifted to stare out at the window. The sun had just begun to set signaling the onset of night. She wanted to be able to leave and find Kakashi and the others before the final performance began that night. Tsunade rolled her eyes as well and turned back to Suzu dismissively, “Thank you again, you can go.”

Suzu nodded and both she and Rin moved to the door when Tsunade interrupted, “I still need to speak with you Rin.”

Rin paused and turned around in a huff. When Suzu paused to stay with her she was met a discouraging look from Tsunade and Jiraiya so Rin simply waved her away. “Tell my brats I'll find them when I'm finished here. And if I don't make it down there in time, apologize to Hana and wish her good luck for me.” Suzu nodded and left.

“Well?”

“Why on earth did you join ANBU when you were supposed to be taking care of Naruto?” Tsunade asked.

“I didn't join. I was drafted in. They were short on medical support and I was one of the few medic Nin that had shown real capabilities in the field.”

Tsunade cursed and instead turned to Shizune. “Get Daika.” Rin frowned when she finally recognized the name and her frown deepened when she recognized the face that went with it. “Well, now that you're not feverish, do you still recognize her?”

Rin sighed and turned to stare at the man, only to realize that instead of prisoner's garb he was wearing a Konoha uniform. “You recruited a missing nin,” she stated in disbelief.

“It's her. Even the voice the same,” Daika stated. “She was going by a different name, Yu or something like that. The hair was a shade or two darker, browner, and the tattoos on her cheeks weren't showing, but it's still her.”

“Shintei Yu checked into a hotel in Utsuro and left very, and unexpectedly, early the two mornings later with three siblings that had been working and living in the town for several months. She later wrote to the inn keeper, Boke Mato, assuring him that the siblings were in fact still with her, studying. Rin, I spoke with Anko, you've used the name Shintei Yu before,” Tsunade stated, frowning at the young woman.

“It's an obvious alias Tsunade. And I have very common features. You have nothing to connect me to this person. And why the hell are you interested in this anyways?” Rin retorted.

“Daika?”

“The two brothers, or whatever they really were, spoke during the match. The younger of the two called her Rin twice. He covered up each time with the alias, but I wouldn't doubt it if even Zouri heard the slip ups. Also one of the men that went after her and the third sibling heard the woman admit that she had had some shinobi training, especially in the field of medical jutsu which she learned from her father,” Daika stated.

“What did I do to you? Kill your father or something during the war?” Rin asked angrily.

“So it was you,” Tsunade stated.

“Yes. It was me. Why do you want to know?” Rin asked.

“Where or who are they now?”

“No Tsunade.”

“They had shinobi training,” Shikato interrupted.

“Who cares? They aren't the business of this village.”

Tsunade's glared for a moment before turning to Daika. “Did you recognize any members of either the Daimyo's party or the Nami family?”

“Yeah. Nami Sho's guard was in the Yozoku; I haven't been close enough to see any of the others,” Daika admitted apologetically.

“Tsunade I swear if you if you step in I might start to have reason to dislike you. And if that happens, you will learn nothing from me,” Rin stated, glaring at the Hokage.

Tsunade's eyes widened at the seriousness in her tone and the malice in her eyes. “You mean what you have now isn't dislike?” Jiraiya asked stepping in.

“Trust me Jiraiya, if I disliked her, I would have had the Daimyo demand that she turn over Naruto's custody to the Nami family the moment she took power. If I disliked her, I never would have recommended that the Nami family come forward and speak with her after Naruto's death. If I disliked her, I never would have allowed my son to live in this village with his father, and I certainly wouldn't have allowed my daughter or Eiki and Hana to set foot in this village even temporarily,” Rin stated before leaving the office, ignoring Tsunade's protest behind her.

Her anger abated slightly once she had exited the tower and she kept going towards the festival. It wasn't quite dark so she hoped she could still make it to see the big performance Sakura had been raving about. At the very least she could warn show that he might be facing equal scrutiny when he met with Tsunade in two days. “Rin if this is going to happen every time you come to Konoha why don't you just cut off your ties with it?”

Suzu's question snapped Rin's attention to her and she realized that she had already found the group. “Too much in both places to cut off the other,” she finally replied. “And Sho, don't take him with you when you meet with Tsunade. Eiki or Hana either. She's suspicious about the Chuuin siblings so keeping them away from her would be your best bet.”

“And by suspicious you mean she already knows,” Sho sighed in response.

“She knows about your pet guard and is suspicious of the rest of your party. She also knows I took the trio from Utsuro,” Rin replied.

“How?”

Rin sighed and turned to see Sasuke, Kakashi and Nakera, and Itachi approach from the general direction of the stage. She could see the three Genin behind them but they were still fairly far away. “Apparently a member of the Yozoku was a missing nin. When Itachi and Kakashi cleaned them up they had to bring him here. He got sick, I diagnosed him, but he recognized me and it got back to the Hokage,” she told him.

“Daika told her,” the man behind Sho snorted. “Probably held off further information until she gave him something. He was good at that. That's why they let him go in the first place.”

“We weren't in any condition to take him out and go after Rin and Hana,” Sasuke retorted.

“Your little friend managed to take me out. If he could do that then at the very least the two of you together could have taken out Daika even if you were in no condition to fight normally. He looks stronger because he's large and you would have recognized skill because he moved like a shinobi. But if that idiot ever made it to Chuunin level, I'd be shocked.”

“Are you serious?” Rin asked.

“Yeah. Don't blame the brats though. From the sound of it he made even the Hokage feel like he had something more than he did. She's probably regretting it now since digging into this is only pissing you off. If you want I can take care of him,” the man added grinning a bit maliciously.

“Cut that out. Inari's on his way over here and he's likely to recognize you from your presence in Wave under Gatou,” Sasuke interrupted, nodding in the Genin's direction where they had been temporarily stopped to wait for Mitsutori, Kato, and Daiki. Rin glanced around in concern before spotting Yorimasa several meters away in the pudgy clutches of Lady Shijimi. “She thought he would be able to see better if he sat with the diplomats,” Sho stated before Rin could ask.

“That and they are hoping to show that the Nami family is once again reaching outside of Anraku,” Suzu added.

Rin nodded and finally relieved Kakashi of the squirming little girl in his arms who apparently wasn't very happy that he had refused to allow her to pull his mask down in public. Any further conversation was cut off when the torches lining the stage were lit and the beating of the drums drifted towards them.

The Genin finally reached the group and Moegi scampered over to Sasuke and grinned up at him. Realizing what she wanted, he once again took off his Katana and handed it to Rishito before helping her onto his back so that she could see better. “Is this one a lot different from what we've already seen?” she asked quietly.

“I can guarantee that you have never seen anything like this,” Sasuke whispered back. “Shinobi don't know what they're missing out on by limiting their talents to jutsu. Too few ever branch out.”

Moegi started slightly but chose to believe that he was giving her another hint on how to beat Hanabi. Instead of continuing their conversation she turned back to the stage and watched silently as the performers moved fluidly through a new and much longer routine. She could easily pick out Sakura and Reiko because they were the only two to use chain whips. They manipulated them with ease, managing to not hit any of the other performers as the danced along the surface. Takara was easy to pick out at the very least because she didn't move like the other performers; there was a bit more grace to her steps, probably because she hadn't had to march in patrols at the palace and had focused more on the dancing aspect than any combat use of the moves she was learning. She also moved more boldly than the majority of the other performers who at least appeared wary of the damage Sakura and Reiko could cause if they slipped up. She didn't bother dodging when the whips looked like they were going to hit her, and she was well rewarded as they always missed by at least a hair's width.

Moegi drifted off a bit lulled by the motions on the stage and smooth percussion. She didn't wake back up until she heard an older woman croon, “What an adorable girl. She's your student Itachi?”

“I'm still trying to figure out who's taught her more: me or Hana,” Itachi remarked wryly as Moegi blinked wearily and lifted her from Eiki's shoulder.

“I like Hana nee-san better,” she told him, pouting for effect.

“Oh you'll be a fire cracker just like those girls when you're a bit older,” the same woman that had woken her remarked. Moegi turned in her direction and her eyes widened when she realized that she had been speaking in front of Madame Shijimi. Sasuke chuckled and set Moegi back on her feet, keeping a hand in place to make sure that she was awake enough to stand on her own. “Well I'll leave all of you to have a good night,” the Daimyo's wife added merrily before turning to Moegi, “Good luck to you and make sure to tell Rishito the same thing for me. I'm not supposed to take sides tomorrow and I do adore the Mitarashi girl but I'll be rooting for the two of you first.”

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

Konohamaru frowned at his opponent as he waited for Genma to announce the start of the match. Rishito had already won his first match; he had dominated from the beginning in what had quickly become a taijutsu match. His final, and winning, move had been the third jutsu of the entire match and with it Rishito had easily knocked his opponent unconscious and the winner had been announced as Hatake Rishito.

Konohamaru wasn't sure if this new information was supposed to make him take Rishito more seriously - if it was, it wasn't working. That didn't mean it hadn't surprised him when Genma had originally suggested the relationship earlier in the week. Hanabi claimed it had been obvious, Rin had to have been pregnant before she left the village and the only man she had been remotely connected to was Kakashi. Anko had cut in and quipped that he was simply the only man Rin had ever gotten drunk with. According to Iruka, Anko was the only one who would know something like that. When it was made clearer the day before at the festival, his teammates had obviously already been told and the three teenagers with them acted like it was common knowledge.

“Match three: Sarutobi Konohamaru of Konohagakure versus Yukira of Otogakure.”

Genma's tight statement brought Konohamaru's focus back to his lavender haired opponent and he noticed her begin to smirk at him. “I've been looking forward to this all month. They should have known better by now than to let a rookie compete in an event like this, especially after what happened to those other three rookies. Three years ago, wasn't it?” Yukira asked snidely as she watched the younger boy's glare deepen.

“I'm even more surprised they would actually let you participate. The grandson of the very same Hokage that Orochimaru-sama killed. He would have killed the current one too if that little blond idiot hadn't gotten in the way. We took care of him in the end.”

Maybe it was the fact that she looked so much like the woman that had split Sakura from them that day. Or maybe it was the way she treated him like he was some precious gem that should have been hoarded away by the village. Later he would try to pass it off by blaming it on the comment about his grandfather and the Godaime. Genma would back him up but even he wasn't dumb enough to doubt that Konohamaru knew who the `blond idiot' she had been referring to was. He didn't call the match in Konohamaru's favor until violet haired girl was unconscious.