"Sasuke! Get up you lazy bum!"

  Sasuke rolls over onto his stomach and groans. Reaching back, he grabs the blanket and pulls it up over his head. Snuggling back into the bed, he hopes that if he just stays quiet the idiot standing outside his bedroom door would either give up and go away, or take the hint and leave him be. He knew better though, and as much as he tried, he couldn't relax, waiting for the next call from the other side of the door. Instead, just as he starts to let himself relax, he hears the bedroom door click open. Sighing, Sasuke slides his arms up under his head, then turns to bury his face in his arms. Sasuke listens to the silence until he feels himself straining for any little sound, and just before he gives up and throws the blanket off to yell at the intruder, he hears soft footsteps moving across the floor. Sasuke sighs silently when the footsteps stop at the side of his bed. Turning his head to the side, he waits for the next comment.

  "I know you miss Kakashi already, but really, you can't spend all day in bed."

  Shifting his legs, Sasuke pushes the blanket down off his head, pulling until it slid down just past his shoulders, allowing him to glare up at his best friend. "I wasn't planning on staying in bed all day, Kyousuke. I had a late night last night and then didn't manage much sleep. I did finally manage to fall asleep after Kakashi left, but thanks so much for interrupting that sleep. It's not like it was really important or anything. I can sleep any time."

  Kyousuke drops down on the edge of the bed, staring out the window Kakashi had watched the sunrise from several hours before. He stays silent for a long while, then slowly turns and grins down at Sasuke, giving his best friend only a few moments to brace for what came next; Sasuke knew that look of mischief too well. "Yeah, I bet I know why you had a late night, too. It's a good thing you're not a girl, or Kakashi'd have you knocked up by now, with an whole houseful of kids."

  Rather than give Kyousuke the blush he wanted, Sasuke smirks up at his friend, then rolls onto his side, lifting an arm to prop his head in the palm of his hand before he answers. "Oh like you have any room to talk. I'm sure you and my brother were up just as late as Kakashi and I, and for the very same reason." Sasuke grins at the look on Kyousuke's face, then rolls onto his back. Lacing his fingers behind his head, he stares up at the ceiling for a few moments, then sighs as he continues. "And having Kakashi's children wouldn't be a bad thing. I'd be proud to raise his children." Sasuke pauses briefly to glance at Kyousuke and grin again. "Besides, couldn't you imagine a little Kakashi running around here? He'd be adorable."

  Kyousuke laughs then shakes his head. "Yeah, your brother said something similar about me. I wouldn't mind being a father, but I certainly don't want to be a mother. Not after watching Tenten and Sakura go through their pregnancies."

  "Oh, I don't know, Sakura's wasn't that bad. Seemed pretty normal to me. At least, from what I've observed about pregnancies in the past, anyway."

  "Yeah, but what about Tenten?"

  Sasuke chuckles, then shrugs. "I guess you have a point, but I guess that's just luck of the draw. Who knew it was going to be twins? Though, I've never heard her complain once since the boys were born."

  Kyousuke nods and chuckles. "Yeah, and Neji has been walking with his head in the clouds ever since. They're nearly a year old now right? You'd think the novelty of fatherly pride would have worn off by now."

  "Well, no, maybe not. He is a Hyuga after all. Family is very important in the Hyuga clan."

  Sasuke smiles absently, then shakes his head slowly. "It's no less important in the Uchiha clan. Unfortunately the only two members of the clan left aren't likely to be fathering any children. The Uchiha clan dies with us. Part of me is still sad about that. A larger part of me is sad that Kakashi will never father any children either. He would be a great father."

  "Well, you know, the option isn't completely gone. There are ways to father children outside of the traditional, you know."

  Sasuke turns his head to look at Kyousuke again, frowning slightly, eyebrows drawing down. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

  Kyousuke laughs nervously, then shakes his head, glancing at Sasuke only briefly before turning his attention elsewhere in the room. "No. Not yet anyway." Kyousuke steals one more quick peek at Sasuke, just long enough to register the stunned look on his face before he continues. "Itachi and I have talked about it quite a bit. I think guilt is still eating at him. He wants to rebuild the clan."

  "Well, that's certainly not a reason to father a child."

  "No, it's not. But it is a reason to bring up the idea. I think Itachi wants to be a father. I kind of like the idea of being a father myself. So, we've talked about it, that's all." Kyousuke glances at Sasuke again. "Don't tell me you wouldn't love being an uncle."

  Sasuke chuckles distractedly, then shrugs as he looks up at his friend. "Yeah, I suppose so. I've always liked kids. And let's face it, as nice as it is to be living here, four people isn't near enough to make living in the Uchiha clan compound even slightly worthwhile. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I let Itachi talk us all into moving in here, but... it's just so empty. It's sad."

  Kyousuke sits quietly for a while, thinking over what Sasuke said, frowning. Tossing his hair back over his shoulder, he turns in the bed and looks fully at Sasuke for a few moments, then leans closer as he speaks. "Maybe Itachi has been wanting to be a father for longer than I thought. Maybe that's why he wanted us to move out here. Maybe he wants to start rebuilding the Uchiha clan again. All of us."

  Sasuke looks up at Kyousuke, thinking about what he'd said, then slowly nods. "You could be right. I don't know though. Kakashi and I have never even hinted at the idea of children before. I guess we both just assumed since neither of us had the needed parts, it wasn't going to happen." Sasuke chuckles softly and shakes his head. "Then again, he could have been thinking about it all along, but just never said anything to me about it."

  "Only one way to find out."

  Sasuke nods and sighs. "Yeah."

  Kyousuke reaches out and grabs the blanket, tugging at it hard, threatening to uncover Sasuke completely. "Anyway, you need to get up and stop being such a lazy bum!"

  Sasuke grabs the blanket and holds it in place over himself and gives his friend and mock glare. "Stop that!"

  "Well, get up and I won't have to."

  "You're just trying to see me naked! If you don't stop, I'm going to tell Kakashi!"

  Kyousuke gives Sasuke back his own mock glare, then sniffs disdainfully. "I'm not scared of that old man."

  "Old man hell! Kakashi is only a couple of years older than Itachi!"

  Kyousuke snickers and shrugs his shoulders. "Still an old man."

  "Fine! If you don't stop, I'll tell Itachi!"

  Kyousuke gives Sasuke a look of mock horror at this prospect. "You wouldn't dare!"

  "I would!"

  "Oh please, no, you can't!"

  "Then leave my blanket alone!"

  Both men stare at each other for a few heartbeats, then dissolve into raucous laughter. When the mirth finally subsides, Kyousuke is laying back across Sasuke's legs, panting and rubbing tears from his face. He turns his head to look up at his best friend, still grinning, but his words are serious when he speaks again. "When are you leaving for your mission?"

  "Late this afternoon. I shouldn't be gone very long. It's a minor escort mission. I wonder how we keep getting stuck with all these escort missions."

  Kyousuke sits up slowly, then shrugs. "I don't know, but I'm not complaining. Except for the occasional rich fool acting like a spoiled brat, the missions are so easy they're almost laughable. I'd take that to some of the harder missions we could be getting stuck with any day."

  "Do you think Lady Tsunade is giving us these easier missions because of our relationships, and because of what happened to Kakashi."

  "Maybe, but does it really matter?"

  Sasuke glances away from his best friend and really thinks about his answer before he replies. "No, I don't guess it does. It certainly has made it easier on me to let Kakashi go on all these missions over the years."

  Kyousuke nods. "And that's probably Lady Tsunade's thinking." Kyousuke pauses for a moment, then smiles at his best friend as he pushes to his feet. "How about you get dressed and we go grab some lunch before you head out on your mission. Who're you teamed with this time, by the way?"

  Sasuke nods and sits up, quickly slipping out of the bed and moving across the room to gather up clean clothes. "Lunch sounds really good right now." Glancing back over his shoulder at Kyousuke, Sasuke makes a face, then shrugs irritably as he begins to get dressed. "Naruto, Sai and Ino. This mission is either going to be a breeze, or a real pain in the ass. If I can keep Sai and Naruto from griping at each other, or keep Sai from pissing Ino off, it should be easy enough."

  "You know, Naruto seems to dislike Sai more than I would have expected. I understood why he never liked him at first, but why now?"

  Sasuke shrugs as he finishes getting dressed. "You know Naruto, he doesn't need a reason to hate anyone. I can't help but think that it's because Sai was the one that won Sakura's heart in the end."

  "But I thought Naruto was blissfully in love with Hinata? I thought they were happy."

  "He is and they are. Naruto's just really good at holding a grudge. To be honest, I don't think Sai ever liked Naruto much either because of the way he treated him when he was first assigned to Team 7 to take my place while I was sick. Since then, Sai's gone out of his way on more than one occasion to piss Naruto off. Usually about Sakura."

  "Geez, don't those two idiots realize they're not kids anymore?"

  Sasuke shrugs irritably, then heads for the bedroom door. "I'm tired of being in the middle of it. If they start in at each other again on this mission, I'm going to talk to Lady Tsunade about it. Those two need to learn to get along. They can't be very effective as ninjas if they're always glaring at one another, rather than paying attention to the job at hand."

  Kyousuke nods as he follows Sasuke out the door. "Good idea. Now, let's go grab some lunch!"