Archive of Our Own

When Lord Fourth tells him that he's no longer going to be part of ANBU, the world falls out from under him. Itachi stares at the man, mind blank, uncomprehending. And when he finally gathers his wits, dutifully taking off his mask, he asks, "Have I performed insufficiently, Lord Hokage?" Because clearly he's made some sort of mistake — and if he finds out what it is, if he fixes it, then maybe the man will allow him back to his position.

But Lord Fourth smiles at him, warm and kind. "You've performed phenomenally, Itachi," he says. "I have received nothing but glowing reports from both your commanding officers and your subordinates."

"Then — please forgive me for speaking out of turn but — why am I being dismissed?"

Here, Lord Fourth treads carefully. "You are a profoundly powerful ninja, yes, and you've excelled on the field. However, the metric by which you truly stand out is your leadership and support for members on your team. You've already demonstrated potential at moving up the chain — and I don't intend to stop you. After you finish this task, if you wish to return to ANBU and maybe even vie for the Commander position, I'll gladly support you. But before that, there's something I want you to do."

Immediately, relief washes over Itachi. This isn't permanent, nor is it some sort of disciplinary action. Lord Fourth simply has a mission for Itachi, one that, for whatever reason, cannot be completed while Itachi is officially in ANBU. Perhaps it's extremely secretive, or it cannot be traced back to the Leaf whatsoever. Whatever it is, Itachi can do it. "What are your orders?"

Lord Fourth's lips twitch upward in a smile. "I want you to become a Jonin Instructor," he says. "There are three brilliant students in the upcoming graduating class of the Academy and I think they deserve a brilliant instructor to guide them."

Well. That's certainly not what Itachi expected. "I — yes. Of course," he says, even though he's riddled with uncertainty. "Who are they?"

And Lord Fourth's gaze twinkles. "You'll find out three days before graduation, same as the rest of the instructors."

Itachi leaves the man's office in a daze, returning to ANBU Headquarters to turn in his gear. Commander Bear, who seems unhappy with the situation, shakes her head. "Keep it," she says gruffly. "You can wear it again when you come back."

And so Itachi heads home, his ANBU mask tucked into a duffel bag which he places neatly in his closet.

And then he thinks.

He tells his father first, just to get it over with.

Fugaku Uchiha is just as imposing a figure as always, face set into a permanent frown that only seems to leave him when his wife enters his field of vision. He and Itachi are not very close, worldviews differing far too much, but they've long since reached a mutual understanding of sorts, if only for the sake of Mikoto and Sasuke.

Itachi finds his father in the kitchen, the man stoically chopping up some radish for dinner. It's still a jarring sight — all throughout his life, his mother has always stayed at home to handle the housework. Now, however, with Itachi being a fully grown man and Sasuke being a competent chunin, Mikoto Uchiha has finally returned to active duty, and household chores are handled by whoever has the time. Thus, Itachi's father is making dinner for all of them.

Itachi slowly comes up next to him, pulling aside the onions to chop on the other side of the counter. This is to butter the man up — Fugaku Uchiha hates cutting onions.

His father recognizes this. Itachi also hates cutting onions.

"What happened?" he asks gruffly.

"I've been dismissed from my position in ANBU," Itachi says. "Lord Fourth has asked me to become a Jonin Instructor for the upcoming graduating class."

His father keeps chopping the radishes, even as a tense silence falls over the room. Itachi doggedly focuses on his onions, relishing the stinging in his eyes as a distraction from his anxiety. Despite the two of them not getting along, he does genuinely care about his father's opinion of him. Any child would.

When the man speaks again, it's not with the anger or derision Itachi had been fearing. Instead, he says, "Jonin Instructor, hm? That does sound like something Minato would do." There's a vague edge of exasperation in his voice, as if he's not pleased but the brunt of his ire is directed elsewhere. "Don't take it as a discredit to your skills. Minato is the kind of man who prizes legacy over all else — from him, this is the highest compliment."

"Legacy is important," Itachi agrees. "Teaching the next generation is…an opportunity I didn't know I had."

"And you will teach them well," Fugaku continues. "That's the kind of man you are." His father finishes chopping the radishes, scraping the bits off the cutting board and into the pot of broth on the stove. "At any rate," he says idly, "I'm fairly certain Lord Third's grandson is graduating this year. Maybe you'll be teaching him."

"Maybe," Itachi agrees. "I won't know until three days before graduation."

"Good luck," his father responds.

They cook the rest of the meal in silence, but it's a comfortable one.

He tells Sasuke next, because he can.

By now, he's lounging on the front porch of his home, politely nodding at passing clansmen as he sips on some tea. Sasuke returns home, mussed up and bruised but sporting a satisfied smirk on his face. His expression lightens to affection when he catches sight of Itachi, pace picking up. "Hey," he says, "do you have the day off? You're usually not home until later."

"I'll be at home a lot more now," says Itachi. "I'm not in ANBU anymore, Sasuke. I'm going to become a Jonin Instructor."

The smile drops off of Sasuke's face as he peers anxiously at him. "What? I — I'll go talk to Naruto's mom or something. I'll fix it. Don't worry, Brother, you'll be back in ANBU in no time —"

Itachi laughs, fond. "You don't need to fix anything, Sasuke," he says. "I…I think I'm looking forward to it."

"You want to deal with twelve-year-olds?" Sasuke asks in dismay. "Brother, twelve-year-olds are insufferable. Even I was insufferable when I was twelve. Even Sakura was insufferable. Save your sanity and let me talk to Naruto's mom!"

"You weren't insufferable, you were adorable."

Sasuke flushes red in embarrassment. "W-Whatever!" he spits. "Teach the preteens! See if I care!" And then he stomps into the house.

Less than five minutes later, he returns with a plate of cut fruit, muttering an apology as he sits down beside Itachi, placing the plate on the floor between them.

"So," Sasuke says, "who are you teaching?"

"I won't know for two more days."

Sasuke frowns. "Well…it'll probably be fine. You're a really strong ninja, and you're really nice. You definitely won't be as much of an asshole as Kakashi."

"Kakashi-sensei," Itachi corrects, but he knows Sasuke will never call Itachi's old ANBU Captain anything resembling a respectful term. As predicted, the boy doesn't acknowledge him at all. "Anyway, how is your teacher?"

Sasuke shrugs. "He's okay, I guess. He mostly just sat in the shade and gave us pointers while we sparred. You know how it is."

Itachi hums, but the truth of the matter is, he doesn't. Sasuke's team has, for whatever reason, stayed together following their collective promotion to chunin. It's unprecedented. Sure, a lot of teams remain intact for a few months following promotion just so the Jonin Instructor can smoothly transition them to their new duties and help them figure out what they want to pursue on their own, but Sasuke and his teammates have been chunin for two whole years now. They should have all gone their separate ways, the way Itachi's team had after his own promotion. And yet, they've stuck together — they exclusively take missions as a four-man squad unless someone specifically requests otherwise, the three chunin have mainly remained under the tutelage of Kakashi regardless of their other, more specialized instructors, and Kakashi…never went back to ANBU.

Team Seven — now Squad Seven — is unusual. But.

But Itachi likes it. No, he envies Sasuke, in a way. He wishes he'd been closer to his genin team, wishes they'd stuck together following promotion. He misses them all, just a bit, even if none of them were ever close. How nice would it have been for his sensei to stick around and help him out in the ways his familial mentors couldn't? How nice would it have been to have someone outside of the Uchiha Clan to lean on for support?

Itachi says, "Kakashi is a very good sensei, you know?"

Sasuke's face twists, his mouth open and ready to disagree, but then he sees the look on Itachi's face — serious and wistful, gaze faraway. In the face of that sincerity, Sasuke can't joke about it at all. "Yeah," he says quietly. "He…he really is."

They eat their fruit in a contemplative silence.

His mother is still on her way back from Swamp Country and so Itachi doesn't have the chance to tell her yet. Instead, he seeks out the one person he can't stop thinking about: his old Captain, Kakashi.

He's reclined on a low branch of a tree near a deserted street, visible eye drooped as he reads through Make Out Paradise. Itachi, in a fit of teenage curiosity, had once stolen the book out of his slumbering Captain's mission pack and flipped it open, only to be greeted with two hundred blank pages. A decoy.

Now, as an adult, Itachi has read the actual Make Out Paradise but he finds that the decoy is still his favorite version of it.

The memory filling him with good humor, Itachi calls out, "Captain!"

Kakashi pauses, turning his head to peer down at him. "Itachi?" he asks, voice vaguely surprised. "Well, if it isn't my favorite former subordinate."

"I've heard you call Tenzo the same thing," Itachi says.

"My favorite is whoever is in front of me at the moment," Kakashi shoots back. "Anyway, what's brought you to your poor, misbegotten captain, hm?"

This is something that has always startled Itachi — ever since Kakashi left ANBU and started teaching Sasuke, the man's moods have been far milder, humor coming out more often. Itachi wonders if this is something that will happen to him, too, if he'll discover something new about himself that he hadn't been able to in ANBU. The thought is intriguing. In his mind, ANBU always laid the entirety of its members bare before the world, every mission leaving everyone raw and open. Maybe teaching will do the same, just in a different way.

Itachi climbs up the tree, seating himself on a branch adjacent to Kakashi. "I think I'm in need of advice," he says softly. "I've been pulled from ANBU to become a Jonin Instructor."

Kakashi inhales sharply. "That's not —" He pauses, tilting his head in consideration. "Oh. No, I see it. If there's anyone in ANBU I'd want to make a Jonin Instructor, I think it would be you, Itachi."

"Thank you, Captain," Itachi says, bowing his head. His father had said this is a compliment from Lord Fourth. Itachi knows this remark is also a compliment from Kakashi.

Kakashi waves him away. "Stop with the 'Captain' stuff, would you? I haven't been your Captain for a very long time."

Itachi smiles. Sasuke may be incapable of referring to this man respectfully but Itachi is the opposite. He will only ever treat Kakashi Hatake with reverence.

Kakashi, sensing he's lost this battle, sighs. "Anyway, you said you needed advice? Well, don't worry about the paperwork before you're assigned to your team — all of the real work begins after you accept them. Hmm, what else? Do the paperwork on time, or else the paper ninja will track you down and put the fear of God in you. Distribute pay slips the same day you finish the mission, otherwise you'll forget and your genin will try to mutiny. Oh, and remember that genin don't know how to regulate their internal temperatures properly. Sakura almost got hypothermia the first time we went to Ice Country, poor thing…"

"Thank you, Captain," Itachi says. "But I was hoping for a different kind of advice."

Kakashi grimaces. "Listen, I know you think highly of me, but to be honest…I'm probably not the best person to ask about this. Everyone knows I'm not exactly the best Jonin-sensei for…well, a variety of reasons. Just ask my students, they'll tell you all about it." He reaches out to put a comforting hand on Itachi's shoulder. "I know a lot of other good instructors I can lead you to, though. Might Guy's students still speak highly of him, and Asuma Sarutobi successfully taught Ino-Shika-Cho, not to mention Shikamaru Nara was the first chunin of his graduating class, and of course Kurenai Yuhi knows exactly how to juggle competing clan expectations —"

"I have heard good things about them all," Itachi agrees. "But I think you're better than them, Captain. At least, better at the things I want to emulate you in."

"What could I possibly have that other Jonin Instructors don't?" Kakashi asks.

"All the jonin you've mentioned, their teams are no longer together, not like Squad Seven is. Your team has formed such close bonds that the opportunities they've been presented with following graduation haven't been enough to let them drift apart. They're still teammates, not just comrades, and you're still their teacher, not just a former one." Itachi looks Kakashi in the eye and says, "I want to foster connections as strong as what Squad Seven has."

Kakashi retracts his arm, looking faintly stunned. "I. Um." His gaze darts nervously from side to side. "I…don't really know, Itachi. To be honest, I feel like a clingy mother when it comes to them. They should all be finding their way in the world but I'm just too attached to let go. Isn't that a bad thing? Of course I want my students to stay close, but I think I might have encouraged it at the expense of everything else."

"No, you haven't," Itachi says stubbornly. "They work well outside of Squad Seven when they need to. They have good social lives. They've grown strong and are still growing stronger. Captain, you're a good sensei." He leans forward, earnest and determined. "Please, teach me to be like you."

And Kakashi just stares at him, his visible eye slightly wider than before, only to turn away with a cough. "I'm meeting Guy later tonight," he says. "I'll set up a meeting between you two tomorrow. You'll find him far more useful than you'll find me — and his team is tightly-knit, too." And then he vanishes in a swirl of leaves.

Itachi stares at the place where Kakashi had been sitting, lips pursed.

Oh.

Might Guy is an…experience. The man all but dives through Itachi's window at six in the morning, loudly declaring a greeting. Itachi's mother is still on a mission and his father is already at KPD Headquarters so only Sasuke rushes into Itachi's bedroom to witness his brother's complete indignity of pointing a kunai at Might Guy in only his pajamas.

"Oh," says Sasuke, lowering his straight sword. "It's just you."

"Hello, young Sasuke!" Guy's voice booms. "How are you this fine morning?"

"It's too early for this," Sasuke grumbles. "Give Lee my regards, I guess," he says before leaving the room entirely.

Itachi frowns at the man. "When Captain said he would set up a meeting between us," he murmurs, "I was not expecting this."

"Kakashi recommended I meet you for lunch at noon," says Guy, "but what's more productive than a morning run? Come, Itachi, let's discuss over a light bout of exercise!"

The "light exercise" ends up being doing laps around the Village walls. It's a prospect Itachi finds tedious but it's not especially difficult so he calmly keeps pace. After the third lap, Guy finally says, "My Eternal Rival suggested you are looking for teaching advice?"

"I am," Itachi agrees amicably. "How do I promote strong bonds between my students?"

"Hm," says Guy. "I must admit, my Rival might be better to pose this question to."

Itachi says, "I tried. He sent me your way."

"Well, then I shall help you to the best of my abilities!" the man declares. "My students started out with a rather tumultuous relationship — however! It was nothing they couldn't overcome with the help of determination! And exercise! And — well." He pauses, then says at a more reasonable volume, "And exhaustion."

"What?" asks Itachi.

"I put them through an exacting regimen, you see. Hard work is the true equalizer of all! After that, they could only tolerate each other! Their bonds only grew naturally from there."

Itachi winces. That's not exactly what he was going for — oh, he's aware that trial by fire is a phenomenal bonding activity, but. Well. He's looked into Might Guy's team and he knows that they're all fairly close, still meeting up weekly for training sessions, but the only one who's really stuck with Guy is Rock Lee. The four of them are a well-oiled machine, of course, but to Itachi, Kakashi claiming that Guy's team is just as close-knit as his is absurd.

"I can see I have not assuaged your concerns," says Guy. "My apologies, Itachi."

"No, it's not your fault," Itachi responds. "Perhaps I just need to corner Kakashi again."

Guy brightens. "Always a fun activity! I wish you the best of luck!"

And Itachi thanks him and breaks away.

The next several days are an exercise in frustration. It should not be as hard to track down Kakashi as it is. He spends every waking moment doing just that, trying desperately to hunt the man down, and yet he remains suspiciously elusive. He learns from Sasuke that he isn't even showing up to squad practices, sending random ninken to make his excuses.

"I think you've spooked him, Brother," Sasuke says. "Naruto's this close to roping Kiba in to find him. He would have asked his mom for help but she left on a mission."

Itachi suppresses a sigh. It's just — exhausting. He feels the unfettered urge to see his old Captain, to talk to him, to make him understand that he's a good instructor, and a good man, and also clearly a good hider. His time is steadily running out — in two hours, he's to present himself in the Hokage's office and receive his tentative team assignment.

His father seems less sure of his potential position as the instructor of Konohamaru Sarutobi's grandson, and none of his inquiries have shed any further light on the matter. Itachi had taken a glance at the graduating class and noticed several children he recognizes as belonging to various clans, but there are many other children that he doesn't recognize at all. Short of breaking into the Academy to gather information on the various students' grades, he can't do anything to figure out just who he's going to be teaching.

"Well," says Itachi, "if you do see your sensei…"

"I'll knock him out and drag his unconscious body to you," Sasuke responds darkly.

"Thank you, Sasuke."

His brother beams.

Itachi leaves soon after, making his way over to Hokage Tower along with various other jonin of various ages and specializations. He waits patiently as Lord Fourth begins to announce which student is assigned to whom. Konohamaru Sarutobi, along with two other graduates, end up assigned to Ebisu, who has been tutoring the Honorable Grandson for several years now. A Yamanaka woman is assigned Hanabi Hyuuga. Genma Shiranui gets assigned someone Itachi is fairly sure is the son of a rural nobleman.

And then Lord Fourth gets to him. "Itachi Uchiha," he says. "You are assigned Himari Sato, Kaori Takahashi, and Ayami."

A chunin that has been handing out folders to each jonin as they've been called out hands Itachi three files. Itachi resists the urge to peer at them until after the meeting is over, transporting himself to a deserted bench on the very same street Kakashi had been lounging a few days ago when Itachi met him. Here, Itachi finally opens his students' files.

All three of his students are girls, and all three of them are from civilian backgrounds — Himari from a family of weavers, Kaori from a family of grocers, and Ayami is an orphan. All three of their grades are excellent, though they don't have any supplemental skills outside of what's taught at the Academy, which is understandable. Ayami has a noted interest in entering R&D. There is a highlighted note in both Himari and Kaori's files that the two of them don't get along all that well.

It's…

It's not bad, not at all, but Itachi still feels intimidated. Lost, even.

And maybe it's because he's sitting here, on this bench, with the tree towering up behind him, but absurdly — he wishes he could turn to Kakashi for help.

He goes home in the same uncertain mood, trying to figure out how he's going to test his students, how he's going to help Himari and Kaori get along, how he's going to help Ayami get into R&D when it's an absurdly competitive department. A million worries swirl through his head, so overwhelming that he almost doesn't notice when his Aunty Ena greets him.

All of his worries whirl away when he spots his mother lounging in the living area of his home, though.

She smiles at him, warm and joyous, spreading her arms. "Come here, love," she says, and Itachi dutifully gives her a tight hug.

"Welcome home, Mother," he says. "How was your mission?"

"It went well," she says. "Now, Sasuke told me that you've had a change in career."

"Well — yes. Do you want to see my students' files?"

"I think that would be an invasion of their privacy," Mikoto says with a laugh. "But if you want my opinion on something, feel free to ask."

"Two of my students don't get along. I don't know how I'm going to fix that," says Itachi. "And neither of them are close to the third one, as far as I can tell. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to test them, I —" He sighs. "I thought there was someone I could ask but he's disappeared."

"You mean Kakashi Hatake, don't you?" his mother says kindly. "Sasuke mentioned that, too. He said you can't seem to find him anywhere."

"He would have been perfect to give me advice."

"Maybe," Mikoto says. "Or maybe not. I've worked with him before, you know? And I've known him since he was a young boy himself, thanks to Kushina. In my opinion, he's never been the kind of person to give good advice. I fear he's come across most of his skills and fortune by accident, without much active thought." She shrugs. "At any rate, even if there are some things you want to learn from him, he's not obligated to teach you. And at the end of the day, trying to do things exactly as he did will never lead to success — you have to teach in your own way, Itachi."

Itachi blinks slowly, digesting his mother's words. "Okay," he murmurs.

Still, he can't help but feel…hurt. Yes, hurt.

He really thought that Kakashi still cared enough about him to help.

Two days later, one day before he's meant to meet his team, when he's all alone at home, there's a knock on the front door. Itachi, who has been scribbling out training plans on sheets of paper, pauses. He's not expecting anyone and anyone that's expecting his other family members would know that they're somewhere else right now.

When he opens the door, though, he freezes from shock.

"Um," says Kakashi. "…Sorry?"

"What?" Itachi asks.

Kakashi fidgets in place. "I'm sorry," he says, with more confidence this time. "For. For avoiding you."

Itachi frowns. "Did my mother put you up to this? Or Sasuke?"

Kakashi blinks in surprise. "What? No, I haven't seen them. I was just…thinking…and. It took me a while but it occurred to me that I was being unfair to you. So, I'm really sorry, Itachi." He gives Itachi a tentative smile. "If you want, I can still try to give you some advice."

Itachi peers at him, suspicious. His thoughts regarding the man over the past several days have gone from reverent to desperate to upsetting. Being all but abandoned was unfair and his mother's chat with him convinced him that he didn't need to seek Kakashi out for advice — he's a grown man himself, he can take responsibility for his students.

But now Kakashi is here, of his own volition, freely offering the very advice Itachi had been craving mere days ago.

Itachi silently opens the door wider before returning to his seat, leaving Kakashi to close it behind him. He does not offer tea or snacks or anything else a polite host would, keeping his head bowed over his training plans.

Kakashi, who slowly pads over to the table, peers at the papers. "You're actually planning out training schedules?" he asks. "I'd say you're already doing far better than I ever did." There's a note of humor in the man's voice but Itachi isn't in the mood to entertain him.

Itachi asks sharply, "Where have you been?"

Kakashi falters. "Well. Here and there. Largely outside of the Village walls."

Itachi gives him an unimpressed look. "Why?"

Kakashi opens his mouth, then closes it again. Takes a breath. "I know I wasn't the best captain," he starts, "and I know I'm a worse Jonin Instructor. No, don't disagree with me — you've always made excuses for my behavior, Itachi. Being a good, disciplined ninja does not translate well to good leadership. Even caring about your subordinates is only half the battle. So many good ANBU have died under my watch, even though I fought well beside them and cared for them. And maybe the teams I've headed have been close-knit, but they've not all been successful. You remember how many we lost, Itachi. I remember them all, too, and I miss every single one of them." He peers out the window grimly. "Squad Seven…I don't know what's different about them. I don't know how we've lasted this long. I care about them deeply and I teach them to the best of my abilities but…I can't help but think this will end up just like my ANBU teams. That I'm holding on too tight, not giving them room to breathe, and they'll suffer for it, because I'm more their friend than their leader."

Itachi looks at him, then, at his wayward captain who has always seemed a little out of place even in his own ANBU teams. Carefully, not wanting to startle the man, Itachi covers the man's hand with his own. "Captain," he says. When Kakashi gives him a half-hearted glare, Itachi amends: "Kakashi. I…I understand what you mean. Losing men under my command was also hard. Even recently, I've been worried that I've been doing something wrong. Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. But…" He takes a deep breath. "I've not been making excuses for you. I emulated you when I became an ANBU Captain and I never received anything but praise for it. Every comrade we've lost, all the pain we've felt — this does not mean we've been bad leaders. That you've been a bad leader."

Kakashi smiles at him vaguely. "I appreciate you saying that," he murmurs, "but that doesn't change my mind."

"Yes, I know," says Itachi. "But still — you are not suffocating your students. Squad Seven is thriving in ways that make me envious. I wish I had a team like that. I want to give me students the same experience my brother is getting. And I wanted you to help me."

"I don't know if I can," says Kakashi. "I don't know how I did it. Sometimes, I feel like Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura are just…excelling on their own. I feel like I'm some interchangeable doll, like I could have been replaced with anyone else and they would have been fine, but I would have been half a person for the rest of my life."

"You were never half a person," Itachi says, squeezing Kakashi's hand in his grip.

Finally, Kakashi glances down, acknowledging the way their fingers are linked. The silence stretches between them, and Itachi finds himself content in it. He doesn't fully forgive Kakashi yet, but the man is here, and he is trying, and his presence is enough to settle the desperate itch that has been plaguing Itachi for several days — first for advice, then satisfaction, and then simply for Kakashi.

He prepares himself for Kakashi to pull away, to continue this conversation in a more productive way, but that's not what happens. Instead, softly, Kakashi squeezes his hand back.

"You're a good man, Itachi," Kakashi says.

"So are you," says Itachi.

Kakashi says, "Maybe not. I did avoid you for a week. And I truly am sorry for that. It was just…hard, when you were looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you thought I was someone amazing."

"I still think that."

"You also think I'm an asshole, though."

Itachi sighs, finally letting go of Kakashi's hand. "A little, yes." But he gets it. If this conversation has revealed one thing, it's that Kakashi has phenomenally awful self-esteem. It's also revealed that the man is capable of looking past it. "You can make it up to me by helping, though."

Kakashi grimaces. "I don't know. I never actually made training schedules for Team Seven."

"But you told my father that you did," Itachi says.

Kakashi shrugs, a twinge of humor entering his eye. "I lied."

Itachi shakes his head, exasperated. "Okay, fine, don't help me with this. What else could you offer, though, seeing as you apparently stumbled yourself into a close-knit team?"

"Well," says Kakashi, and this time he's looking at Itachi in a way that makes Itachi a little loopy, like he has to vanish in a swirl of leaves for a week to process the look in Kakashi's eye. "We could discuss that over food. If you want."

Itachi is flabbergasted for a solid minute, but eventually manages to say, "Only if you pay. I'm not sacrificing my wallet for this."

"I will pay," Kakashi says solemnly.

"Good," Itachi says firmly. "Tonight?"

"Sure. Ichiraku?"

Itachi looks exasperated. "You're going to drag me into your team's mania for that place, aren't you?"

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a yes," says Itachi.

And Kakashi smiles.

Over ramen, Itachi asks Kakashi, "But still. Even if you don't know how you did it — Team Seven had to start somewhere."

"Well…" says Kakashi.

Itachi picks up his students from the Academy right on time. He leads them to the training ground, unwilling to pull the breakfast stunt that Kakashi had. Instead, he looks into the three eager pairs of eyes that stare up at him, and he smiles.

He extends his hand. "Your test," he says, "is to get one of these two bells from me. The loser will be sent back to the Academy. Any questions?"

They have none. They are ready to fight. But by the end of the exam, they are also ready to work together.

Itachi smiles, having finally accomplished step one.

(And Kakashi is going to be with him every step of the way.)