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ANBU

Sasuke leaned against the wall outside of Kakashi's office in the Hokage's mansion. Him and Naruto had woken up at the crack of dawn to brief Kakashi on the happenings of their previous mission—one that Sasuke wasn't supposed to have infiltrated—and the Uchiha was swiftly asked to wait for the briefing to conclude before pleading his case. Sasuke had no problem confronting whomever alone, but he'd have liked to hear what Kakashi thought of Takahashi and whether Naruto would be safe or not. Naruto didn't seem to have any worries on the matter, which was typical of him, but Sasuke knew his rash judgement's often left him drowning in uncharted territories; At least as a child it did. He was still unpredictable in his attack and strategy, but perhaps his maturity had grounded him a little in his overall approach.

Sasuke turned his head towards the door, hoping to hear any sort of conversation that leaked out, but nothing came through.

Kakashi probably put up some sound barrier.

Sasuke sighed. Looked like he would just have to wait it out.

He went over his defense in his head, even though he had no idea if he would even need to defend his actions. When Sai had come to their campsite, it felt as though Sasuke would have consequences. However, Sai wasn't the Hokage. Sai wasn't even at liberty to vote on the matter at hand. He was merely in charge of the ANBU, something which Sasuke wasn't a part of, meaning he didn't report to Sai. He rarely trusted other's, but he knew Kakashi would see his choices as valid. The real question was whether or not Kakashi would be able to hold his own against the elder's behind the scenes.

Sasuke grimaced. He'd been standing outside the door for close to an hour and his patience was wearing thin. He walked over to the other side of the hallway and peered outside of the window, watching as the sun settled nicely into the sky, illuminating the Konoha village in its entirety. The traces of haze made the image before him look like a memory, one that Sasuke felt he could connect to multiple moments in his childhood. He could see his brother walking down the streets, his father patrolling outside of the Police Force, his younger self trailing Kakashi as they headed out to do some individual training. So much of his child like nature was etched into Konoha. And, now, as him and Naruto became to grow even closer, he was starting to see his adult self on the village streets. Maybe he'd actually be able to connect those two moment's in time and stay in the village, fighting for it, alongside Naruto.

Just maybe.

Sasuke heard a door open behind him and spun around to see Sakura, Shikamaru, and Naruto exit the room. All three of them caught Sasuke's eyes, Sakura's lingering longer than he'd expected. He broke eye contact with her, however, and let his eyes wander to the blonde's. Naruto's face wasn't revealing any information, which was odd for him.

"How are you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura broke the silence first, pulling his attention back to her.

"Good enough." Sasuke responded.

"Lord Sixth is waiting in there, but I'm sure you already knew that." Shikamaru chimed in, looking away with his hands deep in his pockets.

Sasuke nodded. The tension in the air was to be expected, but not even Naruto's presence was lightening the mood. It bothered Sasuke. He looked over at Naruto again, but Naruto didn't add anything to the conversation.

As the three of them stepped out of the door frame, Sasuke passed by them to enter into the office. He made one last attempt to connect with Naruto, but nothing came of it.

As soon as he was in the office, he let the door shut behind him. Now—it was him and Kakashi.

The light filtered into the office, silhouetting Kakashi as he sat behind the Hokage desk. It was quiet as the footsteps from his fellow comrades faded off into the distance. He didn't understand why Naruto's face had been so blasé as he left the office a second ago, but he couldn't dwell on it. Right now, he needed to focus on how he was going to prove his point and maintain his freedom.