The Calm Before The Storm (II).

"What shall we do, Captain?"

Shisui was glad that his current teammates weren't bothered by his young age. No matter how much they tried to hide it, he could always tell when they disliked him for outranking them while being not even half their age. Understandable as that was, not having to deal with that on this mission was a relief, even if he still made sure to not let his exhaustion be shown on his face. You couldn't show weakness in front of people that were possibly just looking for an excuse to doubt you.

"We're going to retreat," he finally said. "We have no idea how many others have infiltrated our borders and going around and trying to kill all of them is too risky. If we miss just a few of them, they will know that we know they're here." He turned to one of his teammates, the milky eyes of the Byakugan looking back at him. "Hirate, can you manage to keep an eye on them on your own without being found by anyone?"

He got a curt nod in reply.

"Good." He turned to his other teammate, an Aburame. "What about you, Akira?"

"Positive."

"In that case, I will return to Konoha as fast as I can and get some ANBU teams here to let them take over. We will let them believe that we're unaware of them while simultaneously continue watching them as well. If necessary, split and follow another group if they do the same, and make sure you write down exactly what they do. Hand your notices to the ANBU when they arrive, understood?"

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

With nothing left to say, he vanished in a shunshin. He was by far the fastest member of their team, making him the logical choice for this task, but even he would need almost two days for that distance. The ANBU would probably need a bit longer for the journey, which meant his teammates would need to handle themselves for at least four days.

He trusted them, but he could still worry.

What also worried him was how these intruders had managed to get this far behind the borders in the first place. Having to deal with spies was nothing new, it was a part of how their world worked, but this was the third group they encountered in just as many days. With how tightly guarded the borders were at the moment, not to forget the insane number of ANBU that patrolled the lands since the purge of Root, they shouldn't have been able to hide that many of their men.

They don't act like spies, though. It wasn't just that they were traveling in surprisingly great numbers, each group numbering between three and nine, but also the way they held themselves. It was hard to explain, but his instincts have never led him astray so far.

Hokage-sama will want to hear about that, he thought. Something fishy is going on and we need to know what it is.

.....

"Are you sure about this?"

The young girl- no, the young woman that knelt before his desk nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

He sighed. It wasn't as if he didn't understand the logic behind such a request, because he did, but the risks involved in such a thing…

Still, it was better to hear her reasoning first before coming to any conclusions. "And why do you want to do that?"

Anko obviously tried to hide it, but he had been a shinobi for longer than she was alive, so he easily noticed the way her shoulders tensed for a second.

When she started to speak a moment later, however, her voice was calm and controlled. "Ever since Itachi joined our team, he constantly outshines everyone else. And that's okay! He's a prodigy, I get that and it's not that I'm jealous-" She stopped and shook her head. "No, I am jealous, but it's not his fault and I don't blame him. But… I don't want him to leave me behind, rising through the ranks too fast for me to do more than look at his back from afar. I think that this way, I will have a chance to keep up with him while also doing my part to protect the village."

He hid his smile by taking another puff of his pipe. That was pretty much what he thought she would say, although he was a little surprised –and impressed- that she acknowledged her own jealousy as easily as this.

"You're aware that you might encounter your old sensei if you go through with this, aren't you?"

Her face grew cold. "I am."

"And you're also aware that as you are now, he will kill you?"

"I am."

"Hmm."

What to do, what to do...

Anko was right when she said that it would not only allow her to grow stronger but also help to protect the village if she succeeded. The problem was her odds of actually doing so. On the other hand, while he knew from Itachi that his wayward student did indeed succeed when he tried to find the place she was talking about in the other timeline, he never mastered the techniques that were taught there. If Anko actually manages to find it, it would be a great boon not only for the village but for her personally as well.

"What do you think are the chances that you will reach your goal?"

"Almost zero," came the instant reply. "Even if I look for it for years, I will probably fail."

"And yet you're willing to try it?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

For a moment, he allowed himself to remember what he had been told about the 'other' Anko, little as that had been. A person that was eaten alive by her guilt for something that wasn't her fault, blamed for a foolish decision of her youth by many of her comrades, and held back by a cursed seal on her neck as much as by her own mind. The young girl in front of him couldn't be further away from being that person even if she tried.

He made his decision.

"I approve of your request."

....

"No, Sasuke," he said, no matter how much he hated to deny his brother anything. "It's almost time for dinner, you don't need-"

"Ah, it's alright," Teyaki said with a wave of his hand. "Let him have a cracker, it's hardly enough to spoil his appetite."

Itachi opened his mouth to reply, but a weak pull at his right sleeve made him look down instead. He instantly knew he made a mistake when he saw Sasuke looking at him with puppy eyes. "C'mon, Nii-san. Only one, please!"

The sound of a gentle chuckle made him look at Uruchi who was Teyaki's wife and co-owner of their senbai shop. "I see you know how to get what you want, Sasuke-chan. You will make a great ninja one day!"

He sighed, which was enough for Sasuke to know that he would get his wish. "Yeah! You're the best, Nii-san!"

How was he supposed to say 'no' to that?

"He has you firmly in his grip, hasn't he, Itachi-kun," said Teyaki, who had come to stand at his side while his wife took care of Sasuke.

"It's not easy to deny him something if he looks at you pleadingly like that," he agreed.

"Hah, don't I know? Little rascal does the exact same thing every time he passes by with your mother. Just last week, he even managed to convince Fugaku-sama to get him some!"

That image made him smile. For all that his father loved them, he usually kept up a more neutral, controlled façade while in public. It was nice to see him cave in every time he got the chance to observe it.

"Even Otou-san isn't immune to Sasuke's charm."

He had always liked Teyaki and Uruchi. The two of them had been some of the few people who never told Sasuke to be more like him, never tried to push him into being someone he was not. They were also much more gentle than most of the other members of their clan, but that might just come from them being no shinobi. Unfortunately, he had never had much contact with these parts of his clan. They weren't treated worse than other clan members nor were they excluded from anything, but his career path never left much time for anything that wasn't related to his duties.

It didn't make it any easier when he killed them.

"Here we go," Uruchi said with a smile when she and Sasuke came back, his brother almost jumping into his arms."

He reached for his money. "How much is it?"

"Ah, it's on the house today. Sasuke-chan comes here almost every day, such loyalty must be repaid."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Because I have more than-"

"Let it be," Teyaki interrupted him. "Once my wife has got something into the thick head of hers, you won't be able to change her mind. It's easier to just do as she says."

"In that case, thank you very much." He gave a small bow in gratitude before gently pushing Sasuke a step forward. "What do we do when someone gives us something, Sasuke?"

The boy's eyes went wide before he bowed as well, lowering his upper body lower than necessary and with so much energy that he almost toppled to the ground. "Thank you very much, Oba-san, Oji-san!"

Teyaki ruffled his hair with another laugh. "It's no trouble at all. You deserve a little treat from time to time, you know. Now, run along. I'm sure your parents are already waiting for you."

He took Sasuke at the hand to make sure he didn't run off, which was a bad habit he had at this age, and said his goodbye to the two adults before starting to walk home.

Today was a good day.