Hi there. Another fanfic ft. my OTP. I own nothing but the plot. I hope you enjoy this, I'll try to upload on a weekly basis. I'm pretty sure there are grammar mistakes. English is not my 1st language, so forgive me.

Chapter 1: Wrong place, wrong time

"Everybody's dead! There's no one left!"

"Who could have done this?"

"Hurry! The fire is spreading!"

In the midst of chaos, nobody heard my muffled crying. The muffled crying of a child that had found their family dead at home. Uncles, aunts, friends… Even their father and mother. And the fire… Oh, the fire. I didn't notice it at first. I was in shock. When I heard the first steps it was already too late to ask for help. The room I was in was full of smoke and I passed out. Or so it seemed. My body was soft, wouldn't obey me. My voice wouldn't come out. But I was still shaking and the tears fell down my face. And my sobs wouldn't stop.

"I'm here!"

That's what I wanted to shout. My heart tightened in my chest. I was gonna die there, beside my father and mother. I shut my eyes tighter, accepting my fate.

"See you soon, mom, dad…"

"Captain! Senpai, no! You're gonna be surrounded!"

"Go! That's an order!"

"H-Hai!"

I heard the steps going away. Eventually, the only thing I could hear was the crackling of the fire burning the house to the ground. It didn't take long until I heard the burning wood falling. And steps.

"Hey!"

Someone was there with me! Someone had come to save me!

"Shit…"

"Hm!" I grunted and tried to open my eyes, but there was too much smoke. I felt a cloth on my face. I could breathe.

"Easy…"

Whoever that was took me into his arms and got out of there with me. Just in time. We had just left when I heard the loud noise of the house coming down. He took the cloth off my face but didn't stop. He ran fast with me in his arms. And faster by the second. I filled my lungs with air. What a relief. I stared at the strange man. He had a mask. I immediately recognized it. He had a tattoo on his arm. The mask was one of a dog. He was an ANBU.

"Senpai!"

I looked in the direction of the voices I was hearing and saw a few other ninjas, all ANBU. Each one had their mask. I coughed. He stopped and seemed to stare at everybody there.

"Izamu, take him." He said, handing me over to a colleague of his. I was taken into the other's arms. "Take him to the hospital, I'm gonna write the report. As for the other,

"Ah!"

In a flash I was sitting on my bed. I had just awoken. I was all wet. Face, hair, clothes… I lifted a hand to my face and sighed. I felt my heart beating violently in my chest. Took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. My room was illuminated by the moonlight. I stared at the clock on the nightstand beside my bed. It showed four twenty-seven.

"This dream again… Holy shit…" I complained, shoving the sheets away and standing up afterwards. I headed for the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water.

It was almost always like this. For four years now. Since my clan's massacre I had been having this dream. I mean, it's more like a replay of events than a dream. Ridiculous, isn't it? I, Uchiha Sasuke, who swore to have revenge on my brother for what he did. But here I am, having these dreams. Waking up all sweaty and scared. Because it is too real. Too agonizing. Too painful. And I could never thank him. To whoever saved me. I couldn't thank him back then, I can't thank him now and I never will. I couldn't find something about him before and now it's impossible and it will always be.

"I'd like to know… who's the one that did not give up on me." I thought, staring at the moon through the window. I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "He didn't give up on me when even I had already given up on me."

I shook my head, trying to send that thought away. There wasn't much time left to sleep and I would be going on a mission next day. I moved, so that I was lying sideways and closed my eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

It was midday. He told us to meet at the bridge at nine. Meaning that my colleagues and I had been standing there for three hours. Waiting for him. Waiting for the person that had set the time. The person that never – never - had the decency to be at the right place at the right time. Typical. Hatake Kakashi did not know what arriving on time meant. And I'd had enough of Naruto's bullshit.

"Sakura-chan… Do you want to go out with me when the mission's done?"

"I've told you a thousand times that no, Naruto!"

I shook my head and remained where I was. I looked over my shoulder and saw the water streaming under the bridge. Suddenly, I saw the plant on the side of the river shaking. I felt the breeze hitting my face and brushing my hair. I looked to my right and there he was.

"Yo!"

I rolled my eyes and said nothing.

"You're late!" The other two yelled, poiting a reproving finger at him. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that…" He started, staring at his right hand. Then he stared back at us. "I confused the super glue tube with the lube tube. It was complicated, not to mention traumatizing."

I think I lost myself for a second there. What? Did he really say that? I kept staring at him. I had no idea what face to make. I was too shocked to even express myself. Sakura, on the other hand, leaped backwards and pointed a finger at him again. She expressed shock quite well. And Naruto… Well, Naruto reacted the way I had expected him to react. He looked at me, then at Sakura and finally at Kakashi.

"Lube?" He asked, with that dumb face he makes when he understands jack. In other words, his most-of-the-time face.

I swear that, at that point, I still had hope he wouldn't finish it the way I'd thought he would finish.

"What's that?"

Damn, I fucking knew it. I facepalmed. Sakura did the same and Kakashi just kept staring at dobe. You know that look one gives when internally judging? That was the one. Kakashi only shows about 10% of his face, but I was able to read everything going through his head just by looking at that one eye.

"So? Ain't nobody gonna answer me?"

Kakashi stared at me and I back at him. We exchanged looks and honestly I couldn't believe it. He didn't know what to answer. He had no fucking idea how. I shook my head slightly, disapproving. Then I nodded and answered.

"It's an aftershave brand. Duh."

"Yeah, that's exactly it." Kakashi said, taking a scroll out of one of his pouches. That trick always worked. Naruto forgot any possible question regarding the lube right away.

"It's a mission, right?" He asked, with noticeable excitement dancing in his voice. He would never change.

"Hai. B-rank."

Naruto didn't waste a second and threw himself onto Kakashi's arms. I rolled my eyes. He was such a child. I had no idea how he would turn out to be a decent ninja behaving like this.

"So? What are we gonna do?" I asked, looking forward to the details. The faster he would tell us the details, the faster we would go.

"Hai. A scrolling belonging to the Hidden Rain Village was stolen… We have to retrieve it before it's too late. It was stolen near the border with the Land of Fire, so that's where we're heading. We meet at the gate in one hour. Go!

We wasted no time and vanished.

"Aff, what a silly excuse." I thought, at home, while packing a change of clothes, canned food and my tent. Then I checked my weapons. "Shurikens, kunais, steel wire…"

I finished there and left. Approaching the gate, I noticed that Sakura was already there. But Naruto wasn't. So I jumped onto a tree and did my waiting there. I wouldn't take the risk of putting up with the girl. She was far too annoying. Even more than Naruto, who had arrived in the meantime.

"Only Kakashi is missing… What will the excuse be this time?" I said out loud, smirking.

"None. I want to avoid embarrassing questions."

Holy crap! When did he get there? And why there, on my tree, and not at the gate? He was the one to set the goddamn meeting place!

"Hmpf. Don't tell me that now, besides failing hours set by yourself, you also fail places." I said, in a provocative tone, cocking an eyebrow. "If you want to avoid embarrassing questions then I suggest you avoid embarrassing themes." Having said this, I jumped off the branch and joined Naruto and Sakura.

Kakashi was right after me and we wasted no time in leaving. On our way there, he would give us more details.

"The scroll was stolen by a group of ninjas from an unknown village. They are, most likely, chuunin. Once we arrive, we're gonna split in two groups and search the area. We set a meeting place and every hour and a half we meet there to change intel. Sasuke and Naruto, you're one group. If you happen to find ninjas, you withdraw. Am I clear? No fighting alone.

We nodded. Promising mission.

Just like Kakashi had said in one of the few times he had opened his mouth to speak, it was almost night when we reached around half way. We should be there by the next day's afternoon. We set camp in a forest, in a covered spot. We set watch shifts while eating. As soon as I was done, I went to my tent to try and have some sleep. Yes, try. The owls made too much noise and it was so annoying. It wasn't a pleasant sound. Fortunately, Naruto was taking the first shift. That would give me and the others time to fall asleep peacefully. With him sleeping right next to us it'd be impossible. There wasn't much of a difference between a tractor and Naruto's snoring. I think I can say Naruto's worse.

I didn't even notice the moment I fell asleep. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I woke up startled, already holding a kunai in my hand. Kakashi deflected effortlessly.

"Hmpf." I gave him a side look and got out of the tent, jumping on a tree afterwards. Everthing was so quiet and calm. The noises in the forest were now barely noticeable. There was a fresh breeze and moonlight. It was a beautiful night.

Nothing especial happened during the time we were there. The same happened the next day, on our way to the destination. When we finally reached the border, Kakashi spoke.

"We're gonna scatter now. We meet here in an hour rand half." He then looked at Naruto and said, as if speaking to a child. "Do not engage in a fight with likely enemies. You're supposed to withdraw. Clear?"

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

Having said this, we all disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of dust. Naruto and I went deep into the forest and started looking. We covered a lot of ground during the first hour. And nothing. There weren't any signs. No signs of anybody. They had most likely left that area by the time. Feeling exasperated, I stopped.

"Wait, dobe." I said. He stopped and stared, approaching.

"You're worn out already, teme?" He said, with a provocative smirk on his face.

"Hmpf. There's something back there I wanna have a look at."

And without waiting for an answer, I made my way back. I only stopped once I'd reached the front of what seemed to be an abandoned sanctuary. There was a big statue in the center. I grinned.

"What is it, teme? This ain't the time to pray!"

I gave him a menacing look.

"Silence." I hissed and pointed at the ground near the statue. "It was obviously dragged several times. This is not a stupid, abandoned sanctuary."

He looked carefully and nodded. I sighed.

"There's not much time until the agreed time. Go meet them, Naruto, and tell them about this. I'm gonna stay here and keep watch, while waiting for you."

"Hai, teme."

"Take this." I opened my bag and gave him the extra shirt I had brought with me. You know, one have to be cautious. What if he forgot the way there? With my shirt, Kakashi's dogs could track my scent. No problem.

"What for?"

"Just take it. Don't ask questions, it's a waste of time. Go!" I gave him a rough push and he disappeared between the trees. I sighed in relief and hid myself on a tree. Or at least I thought I was hidden there. It didn't take much to realize I was wrong. Before I could know how many they were, I passed out.