A Couple Steps Back

Chapter 18

Third person pov

Unsurprisingly, they found Naruto at the Hokage's building.

It wasn't hard to track him down. With Naruto's huge chakra, he was like a beacon for any ninja in the village. Even some civilians were able to feel him as he walked past, although they were untrained in the field of chakra detection. "Sasuke, if Naruto's with the Hokage, we will not disturb them." Fugaku said sternly as his short son struggled to run up the stairs, his short legs moving rapidly as he tried to scale the steep steps. Itachi followed behind worriedly, shadowing Sasuke as a silent guard. He wasn't going to be taking his eyes off his younger brother in public for a while now, and he was already wondering if he should begin sleeping in Sasuke's room in case he tried to sneak out again.

Sasuke didn't even look at Fugaku, determined on climbing the stairs. Fugaku watched him go sadly, his heart beating oddly fast. Perhaps with fear, or worry. He supposed it could be just... pain. Pain he felt for Sasuke. His heart ached for his youngest son, and he suddenly had so many regrets. He wasn't a good enough father to Sasuke. That had to be why this had happened. Sasuke felt unloved, or something along those lines, and ran off into town with his friends. Fugaku hadn't been encouraging his training enough either. He wasn't able to defend himself from his attackers. 

It had to be his fault. It had to be.

Sasuke marched into the Hokage building like he owned it, but quickly seemed to come to the realization that he had no idea where Naruto was in the building, or how to get there. His senses had dulled considerably since coming back, so Naruto's presence was faint. Faint, but there. However, it wasn't strong enough for him to pinpoint it himself. He found himself cursing to himself in his head. Of course. Why did his child body have to be so weak? He'd have to work on it. 

"He's this way, Sasuke." Itachi patted the boys head to get his attention. Sasuke, snapping out of his trance, jumped in surprise. Sasuke noted dryly that his reflexes were no longer nearly as good as they used to be. Not even close. Yet another thing he'd have to work on. "He's in the Hokage's office." Fugaku's communicated a clear point. Naruto was busy with the Hokage, and that was their cue to leave. He obviously didn't want to draw more attention to himself than he already had, as he was a rather prideful man who didn't like to be questioned. 

Sasuke wasn't having it. "Nii-san, you'll take me to see Naruto, right?" Sasuke looked up at Itachi with big eyes that he knew would work, reaching up and tugging on his older brother's hand. Itachi nodded immediately with zero hesitation. "Will it make you feel... happier?" Itachi asked as they began walking towards the staircase, hand in hand. Fugaku sighed heavily through his nose, shaking his head lightly at his two sons. Itachi had been quick to cave before, but now the reaction was instantaneous. 

"Naruto always makes me feel happier." Sasuke assured. Itachi nodded, evidently satisfied by the answer. They didn't seem to notice, or care, about all the people staring at Sasuke and whispering amongst themselves. Fugaku had to grimace as he shuffled after his two boys. Eyes trailed after him, but he didn't dare look over. He couldn't let them know that this was getting to him. That this was bad, and that nobody was supposed to know. He had to act like everything was completely normal.

~

Sasuke didn't bother to knock, instead flinging the door open and charging into the spacious office without warning. He tore easily out of Itachi's grip, ducking into the room without pause. The teen prodigy raced after him, surprise and worry showing in his expression. It was extremely rare to see Itachi show any sort of emotion on such a scale, as he was a generally calm, level-headed teen. 

"Itachi! Sasuke!" Fugaku boomed with clear irritation, marching in stoically after them. He held his head high, despite the circumstances. The Hokage looked silently between Fugaku, Itachi and Sasuke, who was already climbing into Kakashi's lap and next to Naruto. The ANBU looked like he wasn't sure what to do, looking up in search of help. No matter how bad he felt for Naruto, that didn't make him good with kids. That, and this other boy, Sasuke, had appeared and crawled into his lap in under thirty seconds. After hearing Naruto's horrific tale, it took a second to process. 

"Sasuke." Fugaku tried not to let his embarrassment show at his youngest son's shameless behavior. "I apologize, Hokage-sama. He insisted on finding Naruto. I did not think he would... barge in." Itachi gave a deep bow to the Hokage, although he kept his eyes on Sasuke. Hiruzen waved Itachi off politely. "Nonsense, Itachi. Think nothing of it. I'm just sorry this happened to poor Sasuke-kun." The Hokage said sincerely, shaking his head sadly at the thought. To think such people were lurking about his village. People so disgusting and cruel. And right under his nose too...

"This is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is... Well, Jiji says his name is Kakashi." Naruto murmured to his curled up companion. Sasuke gazed up at Kakashi with large, watery eyes. "He's the one who keeps you safe, right?" Sasuke looked at Naruto again. Kakashi gained another stab to the heart. "Hai, that's him." Naruto rubbed his puffy eyes, sniffling for effect. Sasuke looked up at the sad Kakashi once more. "Will you protect me too?" His voice was so sad and scared, and so pleading too. Itachi felt his heart crack. Why wasn't Sasuke asking him? Why was Sasuke trusting Kakashi Hatake, and not his own older brother? Was it because Naruto trusted Kakashi, or was it because Itachi had failed Sasuke? 

Kakashi's heart melted all over again, and he enveloped the two boys in a warm embrace, letting them curl into his body and take any comfort he could provide. "Of course." He promised in a hushed tone, rubbing the two boy's backs softly. Fugaku, Itachi and the Hokage watched silently at the exchange. Fugaku, while he didn't like Kakashi in the slightest, said nothing. Because he was sure this was the first time today he'd seen Sasuke stop shaking completely. 

~

More... action, as you might call it, should start next chapter. Thank you for baring with me through one of the most important parts of this book. Things should begin speeding up in the next few chapters. I do not think we will have another long, drawn out moment like this. Thank you for giving me time to get their lie in order, and such.