{open} It was a beautiful morning.

[youngesthokage]

He was in a wonderful mood. He'd gotten in later than intended due to the rather long talk with his mother, which had been oddly easier with this one than the one from home ever was anymore, and by the time he'd made it home is good mood had returned and he'd settled right to bed.

Morning, on the other hand, had brought the flowers and he found himself looking out the window in curious fascination at them, mussed from sleep and somewhat bewildered.

Since when did snow bring flowers?

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[youngesthokage]

Amused that the boys were teaming up on them, he just shook his head and moved along. "Alright, alright we're going."

[itachi_san]

Itachi knew the way, but he still wrapped his arm around the Hokage's as they walked. He didn't want to accidentally trip over Minoru... who was literally running circles around everybody.

[youngesthokage]

That was more than fine with him, and he hummed softly, content for the moment. He'd finally made some peace with his mother so it worked out well, these visits.

[itachi_san]

Itachi could feel his partner's peace, and wished he had some of it for himself. But he wouldn't... at least, not until the bandages came off.

"You think Grandma Mikoto's had breakfast? I can make her toast too!!" Minoru went through his hand signs and shot a fairly decent plume of fire into the empty road ahead of them.

[youngesthokage]

"Minoru if you catch anyone on fire on our way to Mothers I'll be sure she knows about it."

[itachi_san]

"You guys were all behind me!" he pouted. He sulked for about a minute before getting bored of sulking, preferring to walk on his hands, do backflips, and generally bounce around the street again.

[youngesthokage]

"I wasn't talking about -us-, you do realize that, yes?"

"Course he doesn't. He's dumb."

[itachi_san]

"See, 'dumb' is too your favorite word! I told you so!!" Minoru restarted the earlier fight. "Maybe it'd be harder for you to say it once I've got my fist in your mouth!"

[youngesthokage]

"Well if you wanna be dumb, I can't -not- say so!"

Sighing, Itachi picked up Isamu by the back of his shirt and tucked him under his free arm.

[itachi_san]

"Yeah, well, you're just slow. And weak. And lazy. And jealous!!" Minoru shouted in Isamu's face. "You are sooooo jealous of me!"

"Both of you... stop that kind of name calling."

[youngesthokage]

"And you're a great big -jerk-." Isamu practically hissed the words, refusing to even look at his sibling after saying that.

Itachi just sighed, looking between the boys.

[itachi_san]

"Am not." Minoru countered, jumping on a fence and walking across it.

[youngesthokage]

At Isamu's stony silence, he eyed them both. Clearly Minoru had pushed things too far with that last comment. Excellent.

"We're almost there. Come down."

[itachi_san]

Minoru, of course, was too busy grinning about finally getting the last word in what he decided was a winning argument.

"Minoru. Get down, we're almost there." Itachi repeated, louder and sterner.

That shook the boy to his senses a little. He pouted, and then jumped off the fence.

[youngesthokage]

Shaking his head, the man put the son he was carrying down as they finally reached his mother's house, letting out a soft breath as Isamu promptly moved to between his parents. "Alright, time to settle down, we're here."

[itachi_san]

Itachi was nervous, but his mind had settled somewhat when they got inside. Sasuke sounded optimistic. And that made him feel more at ease.

"So... It's finally time to take the bandages off?"

[youngesthokage]

"Just take a deep breath and relax Niisan, time for you to see. Now, it'll be pretty bright at first."

[itachi_san]

He decided it was best to sit down.

"Isamu, Minoru, come over here." He waved them toward him. "If this works, I want you two to be the first thing I get to see."

[youngesthokage]

Isamu perked up at that and moved to plant himself right in front of his mother.

[itachi_san]

Minoru perked up at that too. And he practicaly climbed on top of his brother to get there.

[youngesthokage]

Isamu went tense and promptly shrugged his brother to the floor before looking expectantly at his uncle for him to start unwrapping his mom's eyes. Which he finally did!

[itachi_san]

Minoru huffed, and was about to push Isamu back the other way when Itachi interrupted.

"Sit still, boys. I don't want to see a big blur. You've been blurry to me your entire life."

At that, even Minoru quieted down and sat patiently.

[youngesthokage]

Once the boys were settled, he started to unwrap, noting that his Aniki went to join the children. Good. He should be part of the moment too.

[itachi_san]

The last of the dressings fell off his face, and Itachi drew a big, deep breath.

"All right... Here we go..."

He opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he saw was brightness - intense brightness - and he promptly brought his hand up over his eyes. But slowly, that started to recede. He moved his hand, still squinting, until he became more accustomed to the light.

He blinked. He blinked again.

He didn't turn his sharingan on.

And he stared, jaw dropped, at the faces of his partner and children.

[youngesthokage]

Isamu stared up at him, solemn and serious as he waited, hands clutched in front of him as he stared at his mother, holding his breath.