“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.” 
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

 

Ren uses Sasuke to pass the hair accessories to Sakura for many various reasons, really. Firstly, because that simply delays her being glomped by a grateful and amazed eight-year-old for about six to seven hours. Secondly, she realizes that Sasuke himself is very much wary of and uneasy around ay of his fangirls, Sakura included. And what's better for treating such uneasiness other than placing him right before the cause? Thirdly because, Ren noticed before, Sakura isn't exactly popular with other people in her class, especially since she drove Ino off (yet Ren starts to doubt that there really was that glorified by the show, close bond between them at all, given what she learned and then saw), and suddenly the most popular boy in school gives her a gift. Must have been quite a shocker.

Fourth, and perhaps most important reason for Ren was to see what Sakura would fawn over; that Sasuke was the one to bring it, or that Ren was the one who was behind it all.

And, much to Ren's surprise, Sakura actually cares more about who it's from, not who brings it to her. But that's not an unpleasant surprise – it means that Sakura doesn't 'love' Sasuke in completely blind way if at all (assuming eight-year-olds are even capable of romantic love, of which they aren't), but wants someone to acknowledge her instead, and thus follows the crowd. And that needs rooting out, Ren decides. Even if she's to gain yet another shadow, she decides she can live with that. Sakura is, after all, one of those characters she liked more as Renee.

---

"Thank youuuuuu!"

Ren only grunts when Sakura collides with her legs and waist with a force even Naruto can't really muster, and after tiny pinkette nearly damages her hips in bone-crushing hug. That kid is already frighteningly strong, she decides. Also, what doesn't slip past Ren's attention, Sakura has her hair held firmly in the style she managed yesterday, with help of three black hairclips with cherry blossom flowers, and a cherry-red headband.

"No problem, kid," Ren huffs, "but you don't really have to thank me by trying to kill or damage me, I'm okay being fine, you know."

"Oh!" Sakura squeaks and lets her go with an embarrassed blush. "Sorry. But… But when Sasuke-kun brought me those hairclips from you, I was so happy! And they're so pretty! Thank you, thank you a lot!" girl beams at her, and Ren rolls her eyes, but with a small smile on her lips. It was, after all, (arguably) better than the scrap of fabric Ino tore from the sheet she had with her, really. It wasn't just a scrap lying around without purpose, but accessories that were actively chosen and bought for her.

(As to why exactly, don't ask Ren, really. She was just walking by the business street, saw the store and thought, well, why not.)

Hana joins them shortly after and Sakura is in awe again, because it's another older girl who wants to talk to her. It appeared to be quite a big deal to pinkette, in all honesty – bigger than Ren would think. But she and Hana let themselves indulge the girl, as Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba are apparently running late.

When they finally show up, fifteen minutes later than usual, Ren can't exactly fight her eyebrow going up. Because there was an addition to the trio in the form of no one else than Shikamaru and Choji. And Naruto seems very uneasy, even more so as they approached her. Enough for Ren to know that he perpetrated something.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?" she asks, crossing her arms on her chest as boys approach, making Hana raise her eyebrow, too.

"Naruto slept during the lesson with the new guy, Iruka," Sasuke says, earning a chocked shriek from the blonde, that sound suspiciously close to 'traitor'. "He made him, and those two," boy motions to Shikamaru and Choji, "stand outside the class, and then gave them a lecture, because they fell asleep again. Kiba made me wait for Naruto, and they just tagged along."

Wow. That's perhaps the longest Ren heard Sasuke speak… Ever, at once.

"Say what you want," Kiba huffs, "But I didn't even ask you to stay. I stayed and you could go, but you stayed, too."

Sasuke shoots him a look that promises a homicide, but the Inuzuka remains unaffected by it, and Ren snorts, as faint pink graces her little cousin's cheeks.

"Guilty as charged, huh, squirt?" she asks, ruffling his hair. "Can't deny you care now."

"I don't care!" he hisses, but it's not… Well, strong. As if he doesn't mean it in the first place.

"And you two?" Hana asks the newcomers, and Ren somehow knows that they will end seeing the Nara and Akimichi heirs on greater frequency from now on.

"Iruka-sensei made us stand outside the class, too," Choji admits from above his chips. "And then he asked if we wanted to come, so we did."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru rolls his eyes and yawns, but otherwise doesn't seem to be negative towards being dragged around by the blonde. And, well, Naruto just does that to people.

"A Nara, huh?" Ren asks. "And Akimichi, I'd assume. Well, I'm Uchiha Ren. It's nice to meet you, and even nicer that Sasuke is finally making friends."

Sasuke might or might not have mumbled something about that he's not making friends at all, but nobody bothered to notice.

"I'm Inuzuka Hana," Hana smiles. "And you two are?"

"Akimichi Choji!" boy offers with a smile. "Want some chips?"

"Troublesome," the other huffs. "I'm Shikamaru."

"So…" Hana starts. "What do we do now?"

"Hm…" Ren pats her chin, and then snaps her fingers. "M. Hound!"

There's a crash, and a snap, and maybe a cat's yowl, but someone very soon and very loudly answers with a very firm "NO!".

"Aw come on, don't you have a heart?" Ren smiles sweetly and everyone except for Sasuke appears to be very, very confused. "Be a good ANBU babysitter."

"I quit!" Kakashi calls at her. "I quit right now, what on Earth did Third even thing assigning me to you, you monster?" he shunshins suddenly, appearing before Ren, clad in ANBU attire and all. The girl, however, seemed nor amazed by his appearance at all.

"Why not?" she asks, and poor Kakashi (oh how she loves tormenting the man, it shouldn't be allowed) facepalms his mask.

"Kid, no. It's not even about how many of you are there, or that I'm an ANBU- But him and him?" he points at Naruto and Choji respectively. "And you added to that?! You're going to eat me out of my wallet!"

"Pfft, s if," Ren waves her hand. "I know just fine that with all the S-Rank pays you get you could build yourself a palace by now, so don't you use that against me. I know perfectly well that what you fear are, in fact, all the gossips," she wiggles her eyebrows, and Kakashi stiffs, mortified. Then, he looks around in slightly hectic manner and sighs, apparently having spotted anyone anywhere near. It helps that they are in rather secluded portion of the Academy's courtyard.

"You," he points at her, "are a monster. And manipulator." He then bends his fingers and whispers something, and suddenly, instead of crazy-haired, dog-masked ANBU, there is a tall man looking like schematic Leaf citizen, with short, brown hair and gray eyes, and a dog-mask in his hand, except it's all black. "And I hate you. And your minions. And now I understand what you meant by creating your own minion army. You may call me Ryōken while we're at."

"Still a Hound, huh?" Ren raises her eyebrows.

"Maybe he's secretly an Inuzuka?" Hana proposes, making Kakashi – Ryōken – wince.

"And I think he's old," Sasuke butts in, making Kakashi suck in his breath. Way to go, squirt, Ren thinks. Offending your future teacher like that, he'll surely love you. "How else do you explain his gray hair?"

This time there's a chocked, muffled sound of laughter coming from somewhere, and Kakashi groans.

"How about you actually help me handle a bunch of… One, two, three… Eight monsters, Tenzō?" he calls. "See how fun is that?"

Tenzō shunshins before them gracefully. At least as gracefully as he can while his body is still shaking with poorly-covered laughter.

"It's just…" he manages. "You hate children, senpai, and here you are, ordered around by one like she owns the place."

"Because I do!" Ren throws her long braid back and crosses her hands on her chest. "Someone has to be in charge of dis dysfunctional family, no?"

Especially if this someone is, in fact, mentally oldest of everyone present, she adds in her mind. Kakashi will be her age by the end of Shippuuden, which is in about… Ten years from now, actually. Wow, he's twenty-one. And she called Jeremy, who was twenty-six, a kid. The fact had given some sort of odd satisfaction, honestly.

"I'll pass herding them," Tenzō snickers. "I'll make sure no one mistakes your Henge for hostility or anything weird, though, okay?"

"Fair," Kakashi agrees, and they shake hands, before Tenzō shunshins away. Ren makes a mental note to learn this 'ninja teleport' as soon as she can.

"Ren-onee-chan, you're so awesome!" Naruto, previously silent, cries out of the blue. Ren doesn't miss the way Sasuke's face morphs with pang of jealousy at the honorfic. "You can tell ANBU-san what to do! This is so awesome, even awesomer than awesome!"

"No, I'm just mean kid who will throw a fuss if a polite adult won't heed my orders," she rolls her eyes. "You see, kids. Key to being a kid is making adults do what we want. It's a natural ability most people loose in time."

"With you, it's all to prominent," Kakashi muses, earning a grin in return. "Okay, kids, since I already stepped as low as to agree to take you somewhere, where you want to go?"

"Ramen!"

"Barbecue!"

"Sushi Bar!"

"Curry Stand!"

"Uh…" Kakahi looks at the kids a bit horrified, and Ren chuckles.

"Yakiniku," she says. "I got nice ANBU-san buy us food, I decide where we go. And I feel like quality meat."

"But you always eat meat," Sasuke huffs.

"I'm carnivore, what else can I do?"

"Eat tomatoes!"

"I'm not you, squirt, I can't live off of tomatoes alone."

---

All in all, it went just exactly as Kakashi feared it would go. And Ren? Ren almost managed to outeat an Akimichi. And that was not the order those two words appeared in the same sentence, ever, even if said Akimichi was all of eight and reaching his hips. In all honesty, the only ones who didn't eat inhuman amount of meat that day were Sasuke and Shikamaru, who ate moderate. But then, the Nara heir appeared to be too lazy to move his hands so much, and Sasuke ate half worth of his share in salads. The Inuzukas, also are a lot and, what he didn't expect, the little pinkette trailing behind Ren wasn't too far behind. Reluctant at first (her parents were most likely civilians or long-retired shinobi and adapted civilians dumb dieting habits), after she realized just how much Ren herself ate, girl apparently made her point to eat at least half that.

And Uzumaki. The son of his beloved sensei. Kakashi grieved at how the kid was treated, but he himself couldn't take him in. And it wasn't only his ANBU job, no – it was the fact that, for some reason, people with the closest connection to his parents, were forbidden from directly approaching the boy. Wasn't that the cause, Kakashi would perhaps even gotten over his hate for children and adopted the kid right away.

At least the Uchihas seemed to take him under their wings now.

But the amount he ate almost made the wallet in his pocket hurt no matter what.

"Why so gloomy, Ryōken?" Ren asks with a sly, borderline malicious smile, looking at him from across the table. He eyes her with his henge-concealed Sharingan and winces.

"I hate you," the man hisses, but hardly finds any venom to put in his words. "I hate you all so much."

"Of course," Inuzuka Hana chuckles, wiping her brother's chin with a tissue. "You hate us so much you fund us all a dinner. What's next? You'll clean our rooms? So much hate, I can't even stand it!"

"You," he hisses, "spend way too much time around her," he motions his head at Ren, who apparently can't help herself and bursts into quite malicious, villain-ish cackles. It's befitting to her as of now.

"Oh, Ryōken, we're just beginning," the Uchiha manages through the cackles, and she's doing it so hard that the pale spider decides to relocate itself from under folds of her kimono onto Kakashi's shoulder.

"Oh, Awai," Sasuke notices. "Haven't seen him in a while. Guess he's just been hiding in nee-san's clothes all that time."

The pinkette – Saskura – visibly winces at the creature, but manages to forcefully relax herself, and Kakashi just sighs in exasperation. ANBU headquarters will be buzzing with gossips by the time sun sets properly, he's certain.

God damn his life. God damn those kids. He should quit the business the soonest he can. He really should.

(And he knows he won't. He still really, really hates kids, just this bunch… This bunch he can stand. Yes.

His wallet still hurts.)