Six Months Later:

Sasuke certainly wasn't expecting a send-off party, but he also wasn't surprised to find Kakashi waiting for him by the gate. The older man appeared to be alone, but Sasuke knew better; hidden in the shadows, ready to strike, ready to do anything he commanded were Konoha's highest-level assassins – two of them, was Sasuke's guess.

"I'm surprised you have time to see me off," Sasuke remarked, smirking at the Village Leader.

"Oh, I always have time to remind my operatives of what's at stake." Kakashi brought himself to his full height as the wind rippled the hem of the long robe that named him the Sixth Hokage of Konoha. The clouds shifted and a beam of moonlight trickled down through the trees, revealing the one Kakashi had named Koto. Since seeing her face that day, Sasuke had become acutely aware of her presence – it felt nostalgic and left him wondering what that meant. He caught her gaze from behind her mask and glimpsed something red. Before he could think about it, a baby's cry shattered the silence – his baby's cry. Sasuke turned sharply in the direction of the noise, not thinking how her voice could carry over such a distance. Something inside him whispered, 'Genjutsu,' but before he could dispel the illusion, the noise stopped. He turned full circle to find he was once again standing with Kakashi at the Village gates. He looked for Koto but she was gone too.

"What was that?" he demanded from his superior.

"It's amazing what six months of bonding can do," Kakashi noted casually. Sasuke suddenly realized that his heart rate had increased and his skin now felt clammy; his muscles were tight, his senses heightened, and he carried a dull ache in his chest – the results of hearing the desperate cry of his child. "Now you are adeptly attached to your child, as she is to you."

Sasuke didn't believe Kakashi was the kind of man who would wager a child's life to keep someone in line, but he also wouldn't put it past him. Kakashi did what was necessary. Apparently reading his thoughts, Kakashi sighed, adding, "I'm not using her life to threaten you – because I don't have to. Her life is already intertwined with your life. You will be loyal to me and to Konoha because your life now requires it."

To his own surprise, Sasuke laughed. He had never really understood the Will of Fire – the belief that love is the key to peace, but he felt he was starting to grasp it now. He walked past the older man, patting him on the shoulder affectionately as he did. "I'm off now," he said with a smile. "Look after my girls for me until I return, okay?"