Sweet and innocent

A Little sweaty, more than a little annoyed and absolutely terrified. That was the inner state of Itachi when, with Naruto and Sasuke on each side of him, the three of them made it to Hokage Tower. Luckily, he didn’t let it show, and simply nodded reassuringly at the two young boys on each side of him. He could NOT let the children go into a panic state, so he had taken a few providences, and while they all got ready to leave the house, he had spoken to them a little more about what to do, what not to do, what to expect and how to react when meeting the Hokage and the Council. He made an especial emphasis on what NOT to say, if only for good measure, but was effectively put in his place by Sasuke, who was getting a little edgy all by himself, without having Itachi make him feel any more nervous.

Flashback!!

“We got it, Aniki… we’re too young to kiss and claim to love someone. Really, you act like we’ve done something bad, and not just “inappropriate for our age”. Relax. Naruto’s not THAT stupid, if you tell him to do something with small, simple words, he DOES understand you” The small Uchiha had said, and got a cushion to his head from a fuming blond for all his trouble. Itachi simply chuckled, his hand going to Sasuke’s gravity defying locks, and messing them, earning a scowl from the small Uchiha, but the young boy didn’t make a move to move his hand at all.

“The council will try to corner us at every chance they get. They will only question me, because im the one petitioning, but that doesn’t mean they won’t throw random questions at you. Be cunning, don’t say a single thing on impulse, think your answers throughoutly, don’t speak without being asked to, and for the love of God, even if you have to think your answers, don’t take forever to form a sentence, that will be even more suspicious” Were the older Uchiha’s last warnings, as they made it out of the house. He turned, and looked at his two little angels, who looked just about ready to go to war, and die while they were fighting the enemy lines.

Taking a deep breath, Itachi walked back to them, and sat on his heels in front of them, staring at the wide eyes, the confused expressions of them both, as they noticed the change in the older Uchiha. Itachi smiled softly at both of them, and took one of each boy’s cheeks in one of his hands, before saying:

“Most of all, relax… if we look like we’re gonna kill someone, or disrespect anyone, in any way, it could be taken as a negative comment, and take points from us. Be your charming, witty selves… no one could possibly be suspicious of two cute, sweet, beautiful little boys like you, specially with that innocent look you pull when you know you’ve done something you shouldn’t” A bright blush here, on Naruto’s tanned cheeks. Itachi laughed softly, while Sasuke rolled his eyes, but failed at keeping the smile from his face. “And let’s not get started on the infamous ‘I want something outta you, and I want it now’ pout” On Sasuke’s defense, he only managed to get just a tone above pink, and not entirely red like Naruto had, who didn’t even bother to hide his laughter at Itachi’s comment, or Sasuke’s temporary discomfort.

“I do not pout!” Sasuke protested. Itachi arched an eyebrow, standing up.

“Of course not, Otouto… you just make cute lip-based demands, that’s all” To Itachi’s surprise, he was barely able to dodge the flying object thrown his way.

End Flashback

To their shock, no sooner had they arrived to Hokage Tower, Kakashi seemed to come out of the thin air, which was probably just a few stories up in the building, and give Itachi a grave look. The older Uchiha was already apprehensive of what the gray haired man would say. “What the hell took you so long??”

“We came as fast as we heard!” Sasuke protested, not liking the way Kakashi was talking to his aniki. Even under the mask, the young boy could tell the older ANBU was gracing him with one of those large grins that made his one visible eye turn up in joy.

“I would say good morning, but today, that is not the case, little Sasuke.”

Oh, how Itachi hated Kakashi’s nonchalant way of speaking sometimes, almost sing-singing bad news, making a light tone out of grave situations. The only thing stopping Itachi from giving the other ANBU a very large, explicit piece of his mind, was the fac that, although Kakashi looked, and sounded like, the perfect bearer of bad news, his aloof demeanor would help to soften the blow, if only for his two little darlings. When Kakashi spoke, Itachi wished he had never hoped the man would speak out. “The Council pulled a strong move on you guys…. The hearing is today. Now. And its supposed to start in… ten minutes” Against anything he has previously thought about the other man’s aloofness, Itachi gave into the desire of punching his face…. And got an arm twist, and two battling chibis trying to get Kakashi as well as reward.

One hand twisting his arm behind his back, somewhat shocked beyond imagination, the other hand somehow holding both Sasuke and Naruto’s wrists, Kakashi sighed. He should’ve known these three wouldn’t take the news well, but he had never expected Itachi would be the one losing control…. Or that Kakashi himself would be able to contain with just an arm twist, and a few deliberate moves. The Uchiha ANBU was clearly out of his wits right now, and had lost his composure, and Kakashi knew something, if there were things Itachi needed to pull this off, these would be a clear head, lost of self-control, some charm, lots of wits, and that remarkable Uchiha emotional fortress. Leaning closer to Itachi, so that the tip of his nose touched Itachi’s backhead, tickling it, Kakashi smiled softly, one because he could feel the hairs standing at the light touch, and two, well, cause he just loved the smell of Itachi’s hair.

“You need to relax. If you don’t get a hold of yourself, you won’t last two minutes in front of the old geezers. You know it, so why aren’t you acting like the heartless, cold, unemotional know-it-all you need to be to pull this off” He let Itachi go, along with the children, who he knew without even looking, were glaring up at him. He focused on Itachi instead, who slowly turned around, and he couldn’t help but smile: stoic, cool, indifferent to the world around him, in control. That’s how Itachi looked now, like he always did before pulling a fantastic move; untouchable, all-powerful and high on the top of his Uchiha-ness... And oh-so-fucking-sexy while he did it! Without helping himself, Kakashi smiled.

“Welcome back, Itachi-kun” Said Uchiha didn’t respond Kakashi, but merely stared straight ahead, very much looking like the future of his family wasn’t about to be decided inside the building behind Kakashi, and reached out for the children standing next to him.

It was like watching a chain reaction. The moment Itachi touched the children, one hand holding one of each kid, it was like Itachi infected Sasuke and Naruto with the same confidence and self-control Itachi was portraying himself. Even Naruto had a lack of emotions going through his face very uncharacteristic of him. As Itachi walked past him, nodding to him, and leading the two children into Hokage Tower, Kakashi smiled, and only one thought went through his head:

/Those Council old Geezers will never know what hit them/

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The moment Itachi came within the upper floors of the Tower, where the Hokage’s office, and the place their hearing was located at, the young ANBU saw a distraught, worried looking Hokage coming towards him. As usual, he met the Hokage with his customary small lowering of his head in respect. The Sandaime, on the other hand, had no time for such pleasentries.

“Itachi!! Oh, thank Kami you’re all here” The Hokage exclaimed, and doing something even more uncharacteristic of him, he reached out, and set his hand on the shoulders of Naruto and Sasuke, creating a small, yet badly limited circle between the four. “I barely knew of the change of plans over an hour ago, I had thought my message would reach you late. My greatest apology for such an inconvenience”

Itachi nodded, conscious that the Hokage was not to blame for their current predicament, as his mind occupied himself by listing out any possible question the council could ask, and deciding which answer would suit him best. Naruto, though, didn’t seem as much insight.

“Really, old man, if this is a village under your command, you should command it!! And tell those old prunes to live us the fuck alone!!”

“Language, Naruto” The older Uchiha softly reprimanded, not even looking at the blond, but the Third was looking at the fuming young boy, he honestly loved what he saw: Naruto didn’t look a bit sorry about what he said, but he looked at Itachi like someone had taken a ramen bowl right from under his very nose, and as if the chibi would not fight to get it back. It was more of a surprise to see him mumble a very soft “im sorry” to Itachi, who gave him the softest of smiles, before releasing the boy’s hand, to have it lost in the kyubi vessel’s blond, wild locks.

The Third didn’t miss the fact that Itachi also tightened his hold of Sasuke’s hand at the same time, not wanting to leave the other Uchiha out of the moment, or how Naruto looked to be in a better mood immediately, or the way Sasuke lost some of his usual Uchiha composure, and leaned his head against the comforting squeeze of Itachi’s hand. The children loved Itachi, and the young man loved these kids, you could tell without even knowing them. He sincerely hoped they could get what they wanted, and lived peacefully together, for as long as possible.

“I do believe this is the first time this young rascal boy” Naruto glared at him in return. “has been scolded and has done nothing in return”

“I do feel like kicking you” The blond simply said, looking up at the old man.

“But he WON’T, will you, Naruto?” Itachi gave him the SUBTLE hint that Itachi wouldn’t like it if he did.

“Not in front of you”

“Sasuke!!!!” The blond yelled, offended by the fact his best friend had read his mind, and conveyed his thought to Itachi, who gave him a look that told Naruto the raven would not approve of such behavior. “Big mouth” was the only thing Naruto let out, in the tone of a dignified mumble. Itachi couldn’t keep a small smile from reaching his face, at his little angels’ antics.

“Are the Council members already gathered?” Like a thunder, the whole atmosphere around them changed in an instant at Itachi’s question. Suddenly, The third found himself subject to the gaze of three questioning, expecting, and piercing young men.

“They’ve been in the room where the hearing will take place for about thirty minutes.” The old man calmly responded, his voice infusing a sense of soothing onto the three youngsters. If he had pushed the matter, the Sandaime could’ve been in there with the Council members, but that would mean he would have no way of making sure Itachi and the children would make it in time, and he also wouldn’t have been able to change any of the Council member’s opinion on this matter. He would basically be doing nothing.

Not that he was doing much of anything out here, but at least he was not getting nervous, or worst, angered and annoyed by the old, meddlesome fools in the room a few meter from them.

“I do believe the hearing should start soon enough”

As in on cue, a young woman in her mid-twenties approached them, asking for Uchiha Itachi. The raven nodded at her, answering the call silently.

“The council members await for you. And they want the little ones to come too” she said, a sweet tone in her voice as she addressed Naruto and Sasuke, both who, Itachi noticed with great pride, were digging glares into her skull, immune to her sweet voice, and innocent looks. In the children’s minds, everyone in this building, except for the Third and Kakashi, was a potential enemy, and should be treated as such. “please follow me.” Then, she turned to the Hokage, and bowed. “Please, Hokage-sama” Then, she turned, and walked away from them. The Third, while touching his large white hat, nodded to the older Uchiha, and went on his way towards the room the hearing would take place in, the youngsters silently falling about five steps behind the old man.


----------------------------this is the separation line. Im here to place changes of scenario, time or POV XD. Nice meeting you!---------------------------------

The moment he walked into the room, Itachi knew for sure this hearing would be one of the hardest things he’d have to go through in his entire life. Everything looked like the Council was prosecuting a lethal missin-nin, and not simply discuss allowing him to take on the guardianship of a child, regardless of the Biju inside the little blond’s body. Just what the devil could be going through these old fart head’s minds, that they would just NOT let him keep his little angels?

Not wasting any time, Itachi guided Naruto and Sasuke to the place they were supposed to be seated, in a set of wooden chairs, which barely had any cushion on them, stiff and hard they looked, and were placed right in front of the large table were the Council members were congregated, along with the Third… and, to Itachi’s great displeasure, Danzo.

Itachi diverted his gaze from Danzo, who acted as though he wasn’t even looking at the raven-haired ANBU, to the small hand that set upon his own, to find Naruto’s face, barely concealing worry. A soft tone reached his ear.

“Who’s the mummy, and why doesn’t he stop looking at Sasuke and I, Itachi? He’s been staring at us since we came in”

Itachi fought the desire to activate his sharingan and trap the old mummy wanna-be in his strongest genjutsu; it maybe common knowledge that Itachi didn’t like just about anyone, but it was a perfect understandment why Itachi simply loathed the old ninja. Ever since Itachi became a Jounin, Danzo had been behind Itachi’s tail, doing anything and everything within his power to make the older Uchiha join his Root division, and the heated, lustful glances the old man threw at Itachi when he thought the Uchiha lowered his guard made Itachi’s skin crawl with disgust. It was that lust the number one reason in a never-ending list of arguments that stopped Itachi from even talking to the old man, unless it was completely, and absolutely unavoidable. The fact that Danzo seemed to be looking at his children with even the most minimum amount of interest only added to Itachi’s rage, nothing good could ever come from peeking up Danzo’s interest, specially something as delicate as the Kyuubi vessel, or the youngest of the few sharingan wielder survivors.

“Welcome, at last, children” one of the Council said, the head of the Aburame clan, Itachi knew. No one could mistake the outfit, or the total indifference to the bug running over the old man’s forearm. The council was formed by the eldest of each main Konoha family who had been, or actively was, a ninja, alongside with the Hokage, and his two old team mates, who gained the privilege not by family, but due to the dedication they had to the village thought their life; as head of the Root division, Danzo had the right to be part of the Council, but it was more of an advisor than an actual part of it, which somewhat eased Itachi’s mind, for his opinion had no weight in the decisions to be made, but for some reason, he had the loyalty of a few of the other Council member, which was, a rather troubling though.

Itachi bowed low, displaying respect, and was quicky followed by Sasuke and Naruto. He smiled, the children would not make it easy for any of the members. Afterwards, he met the gazes of each of them, going back in his memory to use whatever he knew of them, to use it as leverage, and silently judging which would be troublesome at all.

Inuzuka Rei wouldn’t be such a troublesome member, she had been on her side when the time came to decide Sasuke’s stay with him, so she trusted Itachi’s abilities to a certain extent. Stern looking, with the characteristics paint on her face, fierce looking, even at her age, somehow both Uchiha brothers had made it past her barriers, and they had a somewhat amicable relationship with her. Whether she believed Itachi was mature, or rather, reliable enough to take the Kyubi vessel under his wing, Itachi didn’t know, but he was at the very least, sure he could convince her.

Aburame Shinta was somewhat a…. trickier business, he was closed, silent, impenetrable to read, and you didn’t really know what was going through his head, until he displayed it to the world, and that was only when he had made his final judgment, which, consequently, was unchangeable. One thing stood out about Aburame amongst the other members was the following: he was logical, methodical and almost unbearably meticulous when it came to his decisions, and for that reason, he was constantly relied on to be the first to give his opinion to the rest of the Council, for it was usually throughout, convincing and overall just, which was one of the Aburame’s qualities. Shinta Aburame was a powerhouse amongst the Council, almost as influential as Danzo, it would do well to have him on their side. Only problem was, the man hated sentimental issues, and to convince him, he was to receive hard logical arguments, and let’s face it: How was Itachi to give hard logical arguments to take guardianship of a bijuu vessel, without them being turned into some sort of a Uchiha conspiracy against Konoha?

Sho Yamanaka was, by far, the most amiable of all Council members, and completely on the contrary to Aburame, she was the most emotional, which meant he COULD be convinced with a carefully displayed caring story. Itachi only had to imagine how to get this done, without losing points with Aburame, who was such a crucial part of his strategy. Akimichi could be less important than Aburame when it came to the big, logical picture, but the rest of the Council truly appreciated Akimichi’s honesty, and natural inquisitiveness, which seemed to bring out the true face of everyone’s intentions. Due to her natural mental abilities, she was the lie detector of sorts within this group.

Aoi Amikichi just had to be the most naïve member of the group, when not in a mission, he was very trust giving and sincerely believed in giving everyone a shot. Itachi had no worries about this man, he had slowly nourished a cordial, polite and almost friendly relationship with the man, precisely to earn his trust, and his vote, amongst the Konoha Council. Even now, the Akamichi’s eyes looked back at him with an ounce of resignation, and Itachi was certain that, given total control of the matter, Amikichi wouldn’t have let Itachi’s situation reach this point.

Haruka Hyuuga… The first thing that went through Itachi’s mind was: why didn’t I let him fuck me when I was fourteen? Then he came back to his senses, and realized that, even if he had let the Hyuuga fuck him, Itachi’d still be screwed, if only figuratively, when coming face to face with this situation. Hyuugas were all stubborn, hard-headed, old fashioned, neurotics, temperamental, and uptight, in the best of cases. This was a situation that dealt with the Kyuubi vessel, for he was never Naruto for the Hyuugas, so those qualities only had a chance to multiply by a very large number, making whatever could be going through Haruka’s head completely unexpected. With a deep breathe, Itachi moved on to the next Council member, he would play it by ear with Hyuuga, already labeling him as a lost cause.

Sitting next to a Hyuuga, Itachi could not be more relieved to see Kakashi sitting there. Even with an eye covered, Itachi could swear the blink everybody else saw, was actually a wink for him. Kakashi was the only Hayate to ever remain a ninja after the White Fang , and as far as Kakashi knew, the Hayate heir had never taken his pace in the Konoha Council. Just by sitting there, Kakashi had earned himself a voucher for whatever kinky thought could ever possibly go through his dirty little head.

Ibiki Morino. Itachi really had no idea what to expect from the head of the Investigation division of the ANBU. He wasn’t a fan of the man, and the man wasn’t a fan of him, but they didn’t really dislike one another. Morino was one of the only few adults in Konoha who didn’t saw more Kyuubi than Naruto, but saw just a kid, but he was known for his doubts about anything and everything walking God’s green Earth. Morino would be hard to convince, but it would be a great asset to his side, if Itachi could achieve it.

Nara Ryu. Methodical, too smart, too inquisitive, too fucking serene, and also, just like many of his descendents, too fucking lazy. The man would most likely make his decision in the first three minutes of the meeting, if the decision wasn’t already made, and stick with it until the end, if only because it was too troublesome to keep on pondering the matter.

Sandaime Hokage. On his side, Itachi gave him a smile, then carried on.

Horuma Mitokado was the male team mate of the Third, and was one of the most authoritative persons Itachi had ever met, he believed in strength of arms rather than spirit, and was a militant at heart. Mitokado was clearly influenced by Danzo, and more than once had agreed with the mummy-to-be, and clearly disliked the idea of Naruto running free around, mingling with the rest of the villagers. Not to mention, he was already quite weary of the Uchiha clan, but since the war, Uchihas had become a legend, due to the great losses they’ve had, and become nearly untouchable to the village, something that no doubt angered Mitokado.

Koharu Utatane is the missing third of Team Tobirama, and was just as militant and as trusty of Danzo as Mitokado. She was also much more careful about her ways than either Danzo or Mitokado, much more silent, patient, and therefore, harder to convince and much more devastating when she choose to open her mouth. The only angle Itachi could think of to convince her was how much Utatane believed in group work, and team strength.

So, eleven people sitting before him, eleven people were to judge him, and he had to overcome at the least three quarters of them, which mean that only left a void of three negatives, and eight Council members on his favor. So far, Itachi knew the following:

He already had two resounding No’s in Mitokado and Hyuuga. But that would not stop him from developing several strategies against them , if only to neutralize whatever damage they could conjure up.

The Hayate, Amikichi and Sarutobi votes were a given.

Inuzuka and Yamanaka were somewhat easy to convince, but their special abilities, such as Inuzuka’s fantastic smell, capable of the detecting the slightest change on one’s aroma, and Yamanaka’s “sensitivities” to others minds, to a point some people believed she coud read them.

Aburame, Ibiki and Nara were absolutely crucial in his purpose, if only for their influence in the other members.

Mitokado and Utatane were… tricky, if not, for lack of a better word, troublesome, to be brought to his side, but he needed them, for having four votes against him meant having his petition negated, and he simply couldn’t allow that.

Eleven votes, he needed eight to walk out a happy man, with his two little angels; three of them, he had in the bag; two were somewhat easy to obtain; another three were vital to his goal, but were owned by the most logical and uninfluenced in this Konoha; and the other four… he just HAD to assure one of them, it was only logical if he wanted to survive.

“Well, we are gathered here, to discuss the guardianship of one Uzumaki Naruto, and one Uchiha Sasuke” Itachi felt his face drain. They were judging Sasuke’s guardianship as well?? “under the care of Uchiha Itachi” The older raven barely heard what the secretary was reading, he could only feel Sasuke’s hand, tightening up over his, realizing the seriousness of the situation. “The hearing will go as follow: The petitioning part shall be questioned first, and as this is a high priority case, there shall be no boundaries as to what could, or would be questioned by the Council, and this first meeting shall come to an end.” Itachi resisted the urge to grimace. First meeting? How long were these people trying to drag this thing out?. “Afterwards, the Council will publicly discuss in as a whole the case, and give a preliminary result of the case for the sole benefit of the petitioning part, to then discuss it once more privately, both separately or united, as it maybe any of the Council’s wishes. The second, and final meeting shall take place in a week from now, in which the petitioning parts most remain apart from each other”

This time, Itachi barely controlled the groan, but Sasuke and Naruto weren’t as emotionally stable, and the older youngster could feel the heated rage just radiating from them. Subtly, he tightened his hand around their hands, willing some calmness into them, trying to remind them not to do anything rash, and to please not say a word unless absolutely necessary.

“And it is then, when the Council will give out their final decision. Are there any questions?”

The silence was so filled with so many different emotions coming from different persons, there was no need to say a thing.

“Very well, let us begin. Come forth, first of the three petitioners”

Itachi felt himself faint. First of the three?!?!?!? The Council had turned this into an interrogatory of the THREE of them?? No way, he could control what he said, he could form strategies based on politics, emotions, socially based, military motives, defend himself like a beast, but these were children, both under 10, against the high council of a Ninja Village!!! He didn’t expect this! He didn’t know this! Oh, Lord, who would they choose first??


/Please, don’t let it be--/

“Come, Uzumaki Naruto”

/I am so screwed/ was the only thing going through his head.