Of Teachers and Students

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei owns the awesomeness of Naruto. And it's screwy timeline.

Pairings: KakaSasu-ish, SasuNaru implied. Maa... KakaIru implied if you really squint.

Summary: Kakashi doesn't love Sasuke.


Kakashi might not be the most sensitive of guys, but he could certainly tell when someone had it bad. It helped that though he may have started puberty at roughly the age of six, it'd been sort of an on-going thing. He'd only gotten better at hiding it from the rest of society. Of course, the whole reading-porn-in-public has been somewhat of an obstacle to get around, but when people knew you had a tragic childhood, they tended to let you get away with the weirdest things.

He used to pride himself on the fact that he was the first one to catch the fact that Sasuke wanted to boink Naruto, and he didn't even need his Sharingan. In fact, he used to boast this loud and clear in the mission room when word first got out that the two had actually kissed, accident or no. Then Iruka had butted in (the bastard) and said he had known the instant the two entered the academy. When Kakashi had demanded proof of this, Iruka proudly stated that he had witnessed the two holding hands at the age of 8.

Kakashi had promptly thrown a shuriken at the man on behalf of his bruised ego. It didn't help much when Iruka simply dodged.

Either way, Kakashi still could see that Sasuke and Naruto on a team together would either mean the end of the world, or some new jutsu that involved the ability to make babies without the hot dog ever once meeting the doughnut.

Then, the Chunin exams came around. After that, all the kid did was bitch, bitch, bitch.

"Kakashi," (he never attached the 'sensei') "You're late."

"Hmm… sorry, I guess I kind of got too involved in my romance novel here."

"It's porn."

"Romance."

"It's disgusting."

"It's beautiful."

"It's sex."

"Like I said, beautiful."

"…You said you were going to teach me some new jutsu."

"Yup."

"We've been training for three weeks and all we've been doing is taijutsu."

"Yup."

"… what are trying to teach me, One Thousand Years of Death?"

"Unfortunately, to learn that jutsu, you must be completely naked. Why, got someone in mind?"

"Pervert."

"Yup."

The days usually started with motivating words like that. At first, Sasuke never mentioned when Kakashi was late. Then 2 hours became 4 hours, 4 became 5, and soon they were training in the hottest part of the day.

That's when Sasuke started to get grumpy.

Well, grumpier than usual, anyway.

Of course, Kakashi, being Kakashi, just grinned took notes. His "Ways To Annoy An Uchiha" list had grown surprisingly since he had met the kid. Too bad there was only one to use it on now.

"Oi. Kakashi."

"Hn?"

"Training. Now."

"Yare yare, Sasuke-kun. So demanding."

"Now."

The two had trained for nearly 3 and a half weeks before Kakashi deemed it time to screw with the avenger. The being late, making perverted jokes, and encouraging a minor to read por- romance; that had just been warming up.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun. When're you going to fuck Naruto, anyway?"

"…What the hell?"

"Just curious."

For the next four hours, he was subjected to the infamous Uchiha glare, and learned that Sasuke and Obito had had something in common after all when he saw the avenger blush for the first time.

The next day, when he made his usual offer of Icha Icha Paradise to Sasuke, he wasn't surprised when the kid didn't refuse.


"Maa… I think he'd probably like it best on top. But if you're not into that, you could always just stick to oral."

"Who asked you?"

"Your hard-on."

"…Shut up! It just happens sometimes, okay?"

"Sasuke, if I didn't know that already, these past few weeks certainly would have given me a clue."

"Shut. The. Hell. Up."

"…Ever thought of taking Prozac?"

Sasuke fought surprisingly well when angered, Kakashi decided.


Kakashi never took Sasuke to the Hot Springs. For one thing, he was too lazy and didn't feel like wasting money on the kid. But the other thing was that he'd noticed Sasuke seemed to enjoy heat, and his eyes sort of went almost-peaceful when he entered the water. And, defective personality or no, when he looked like that, it seemed like he had lost ten years.

When he looked like that, it was hard not to think of Obito.

"Kakashi. Stop fantasizing about Iruka, and stop evading me. If we're working on my taijutsu, don't you think it would be smart if we actually, I don't know, fight?"

"My, my, Sasuke. I think that's the most I've ever heard you say."

"..."

"Also, you're going to have to catch me first."

"..."

"Don't smile, Sasuke. Every time you do, a puppy dies."


Kakashi never understood why people seemed to think he and Sasuke were alike. They definitely didn't look alike, and they didn't act alike either. Even when he was a rotten, stuck-up kid, he would have never looked twice at Sasuke. See, Sasuke was far too emotional, despite what people said. He cried more than Kakashi, he smiled more than Kakashi, he got angry more than Kakashi. Even as a child, Kakashi had thought the idea of revenge was stupid. There was never anyone in particular he wanted to kill, he just did it because there was nothing else he could do, nothing else he could be.

But just like Kakashi, Sasuke had lost important people. Just like Kakashi, Sasuke was afraid to get too close. Though the masks were different, the feeling was the same.

Sasuke hid from love behind anger and wangstiness. Kakashi hid from love behind distance and stoicism.

Maybe they were more alike than he thought.

"Ne, Kakashi."

"Hn?"

"Move your knee. It's digging into my leg."

"…just go to sleep, Sasuke."

"…."

Kakashi sighed and pulled Sasuke a little closer.


Less than a year later, Sasuke defected to Sound. Three years after that, Kakashi once again stood face to face with the avenger. A vicious sneer twisted his former student's face, and Kakashi's heart.

"Don't talk like I'm still you're student!"

No, you're not. But then, you never really were, were you?

"I've been dying to kill you… Kakashi."

Sharingan met Sharingan. The Jounin licked his lips.

"No matter how far Orochimaru fell…"

Maybe we're different. Maybe we're the same.

"He still loved him."

Kakashi's eyes closed.

I think, maybe, that's why the Third put me in charge of you, knowing I'd fail.

You were never the student, Sasuke.

"Now I know how the Third Hokage felt."

I was.


:Owari: