Ｓｅｌｆｉｓｈ Ｐｒｉｎｃｅ

X

"Will you sit?" Itachi asked, an underlying tone of annoyance in his words. "The guards will take care of it, there's no reason for worry."

The entire situation had been kept a secret from the guest who continued enjoying the festivities in the ballroom. Both Itachi and Iruka had insisted on having Sasuke stay in his room while the ANBU investigated silently without alerting anyone.

"No reason for worry? Brother, they're out there after him! Meanwhile, I'm just stuck here!" The young raven couldn't sit still. "He's special to me, I have a right to be worried."

Itachi sighed heavily, rubbing his temples for what was the millionth time this evening after dealing with noblemen. "Sasuke, you literally only just met him today," Sasuke said nothing. "Look, I have to go now. I will have Iruka report to me and until this ordeal is over with, you can either stay here in your room or join me—you'll have security with you, of course."

"But—"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight, Sasuke. I know the second I leave, you're going to try to jump out the window or some other nonsense."

"I'll join you on the condition that I get an update every five minutes."

Itachi only shrugged, scoffed at his brother's child-like behaviour, and beckoned the younger to walk with him. At least the young boy's mind was a bit at ease.

"Oh, Sasuke dear! I've been looking for you!" Lady Haruno turned and hurried over to him as soon as she saw him walking downstairs. "I'm so sorry about my daughter, it was improper!" 

Sasuke, recalling the incident from before, only frowned and kept quiet. Itachi, raising an eyebrow, gently nudged the teen. Sasuke gave him a look before clearing his throat and completely changing his expression before turning towards the Lady.

"It's... fine, Lady Haruno. Please, have no worries and enjoy the party," He smiled, catching Sakura in the background looking at him with a glass of champagne in her hand. Once she caught his gaze, the girl raised her glass and smirked before taking a sip.

"Sasuke, you're too kind, my dear," The woman smiled, pinching the boy's cheeks. "If you'll excuse me, then," She bowed before heading over to Lord Hyuuga.

"Nice act, but next time try to look like you mean it," Itachi advised.

"She bought it, didn't she?"

Itachi scoffed silently, looking out at the ballroom where his guests were thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was completely different from the parties he remembered his parents throwing—old fashioned and boring—but this... it was more casual, less formal.

He kind of liked the small tinge of freedom he felt. As a kid, he'd always be expected to stay in one place by his parents and only speak when needed. Now, though he dreaded talking to the noble Lords, he enjoyed the liberty of speaking whenever he wanted, of walking around and interact with others. 

Sasuke had added his own influences here and there, adding a feeling of youth amongst the adults, but this too was fine.

"Deidara!" Itachi's thoughts were then interrupted by his brother's sudden burst of excitement. Watching as Sasuke ran over towards the tall blond, the young King noticed his friends arriving behind him.

"Kisame, Pein, Konan... you guys made it safely," He greeted.

"No greeting for me?" Deidara asked teasingly, Sasuke's arms locked around his waist.

"Dei," Itachi smiled genuinely—and this caught them off guard. "Welcome back. You look healthy."

"Woah," Deidara chuckled, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "That's... unexpected. I was expecting more of a... formal answer."

Itachi merely shrugged and held his arm out, waiting patiently for the blond to finish greeting his little brother before guiding him towards a table. Such act left the other friends feeling curious about what was going on before placing all their attention on the birthday boy.

 Sasuke laughed, the others showering him with jokes about his height before congratulating him on his birthday.

After a while, the group had disbanded—Konan and Pein immediately following Itachi and Deidara for food while Kisame had received a call from Tobi and thus headed outside to answer. A few minutes later, Kisame walked back inside with Tobi at his side.

"So what's this about a breach in the Palace and some kid trying to fit in?" Tobi asked, completely ignoring Sasuke's greeting and getting straight to the point. "I couldn't get in. I had to call Kisame. I didn't know the ANBU were still operating." He grabbed a glass of wine from one of the waiters and pulled down his medical mask to take a sip from it.

Kisame only shook his head, nudging the man harshly on the side.

"Oh, hi Sasuke. Happy birthday."

Sasuke, smiling either way, greeted his friend and asked: "Who told you about that?"

"Oh, well, Iruka's out by the gates with his men. And I figured... Iruka is outside the palace; some shit went down." He shrugged. "The questioned me and overheard Iruka commanding squads all over the place. Man was pissed."

Sasuke nodded, glad to know Iruka was doing his job—and when Iruka did his job, he did his job right. The man wasn't ranked the highest commanding officer by his parents for no reason. He began recounting the events that had taken place, Deidara and Pein arriving just in time to hear the last part about Sakura and what had happened soon after.

"Yikes," Pein began. "I knew that Sakura was sneaky," He turned to look at the aforementioned, watching her carry herself with elegance as she spoke to her friends.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Deidara agreed. "So what happened, then? Any updates?"

"Nobody's come to tell me anything..." Sasuke looked around, seeing his brother from the other side of the room catch his gaze and simply shake his head—a sign that neither he had gotten any updates.

As if on cue, Sasuke's attention was diverted towards an operative that had appeared by his side. "Your Highness," He bowed before whispering into the young Uchiha's ear. "He's nowhere to be found but the two men after him have been captured. Sir Iruka has taken them to his quarters."

Tobi, having an unusual knack for hearing things not meant to be heard, chimed in. "Perhaps you should send someone out to look for him."

Needing no words from Sasuke, the guard simply nodded before placing a hand over his chest. "I will lead a small squad."

"I want him brought here," Sasuke added before the man disappeared. "Excuse me," He then said to his friends before leaving. 

"Don't you think it's odd?" Tobi whispered over to Deidara, the two watching Sasuke walk to his brother.

"How they just met and somehow Sasuke is overly obsessed with this kid? Yeah," Deidara nodded, waving his hand to shoo Tobi away from his ear.

"Want to know what's creepier? Sasuke never acts like that," Pein chimed in. "When he meets someone, he doesn't really care if he'll see them again or not," Tobi and Dei looked at him. "Guys, he just sent out his own personal guard to retrieve this kid. You're telling me something's not wrong here?"

Before anyone could answer, they all began clapping along with the crowd—no idea what they were clapping for, but the small group only looked at each other before looking at Sasuke who was now the center of attention.

"It's weird," Tobi commented once Sasuke said some words to the crowd and walked away to some relatives. 

"I mean, I guess..." Deidara said, uncertain. He looked at the boy and noticed how he kept glancing out towards the balcony, making eye contact with one of the guards who only shook his head; no news. "Maybe a little..."