Many years of Mikoto's patient training had made it fairly easy to tell when staying any longer would probably stretch the visit too far; Sasuke had never been as astute as Itachi (in anything, he was fully aware), but he wasn't unteachable. And Kakashi was far from the worst of the crotchety older Uchiha they had to visit on their New Year's rounds, especially given the fact that he was providing hangover advice.

"I'll get a water bottle to take everywhere today," Sasuke promised as he headed for the door, something of a smile still lingering around his mouth before it dropped away at the reminder of the Hyuuga situation. "They are, but that clan ..."

He made a face, one that he hoped clearly expressed that clan has problems without needing to get into the details. Not that his own were flawless, but Hyuuga was a can of worms that only got weirder with time.