Hi! And thank you eternally for reading my fic. I know how overused this whole genre of Sasunaru is, but it's my addiction, and I had to add my version.

This whole story takes place after the time jump, supposedly after Sasuke has been rescued by his Naruto and his teammates. Sasuke hasn't left his room for days, and isn't to eager to accept visitors, or any sort of contact with the outside word. Angst, angst, etc.

Warnings for thischapter: Pretty much nothing. Some references to past abuse, I guess. The rating won't have to get pushed up any higher until Naruto starts coming in in the next couple of chapters. grin

This is my first fic I've actually bothered to put up on the site, and I'd really appreciate any reviews I got. Thanks, and enjoy.

I don't own Naruto, or any related characters. ETC.

Sasuke lounged on this bed, with his hands behind his head, staring at the unbroken cloudy sky. His window was lightly streaked, and the rain pattered on lightly, without much conviction.

A raven lock fell into his eyes. He sighed, blowing it away. There was a constant pain, throbbing in his head, from continually reliving the past few months. The cuts and bruises were healing, they had mostly disappeared. It didn't seem, however, that the memories would heal over, and fade from his, or anyone's mind, soon.

And the mark on his neck would remain. That horrible reminder of how he had sold out his body and soul to his former master. The sign of a slave. Seeing it made him feel filthy. He could never wash enough to clean away the last traces of Orochimaru. Even thinking his name… it was proof of the sannin's true powers. Just the name brought back waves of fear and self-loathing.

Sasuke turned his head, and was suddenly being stared at my a group of accusing eyes. His team's—no, his ex-team's picture sat on his bedside table. Sasuke knew that he picture hadn't been given life, in some twisted way, for fate to torment him with further guilt. Yet, he still couldn't shake the feeling that the eyes were judging him and measuring him. He had been stared at… constantly watched… by many people before, mostly girls, and never cared. Now, though, he felt strangely self-conscious. Frightened of being found lacking, in the opinion of the few whom he genuinely cared for. Not that he had shown his caring. He had left, but they had still come again and again for him. His eyes started to burn.

What was this sentimentality? He angrily grabbed the picture and flipped it face down.

He had to get out of that house. He was obviously sinking into madness. He grabbed a shirt and wandered out the house, not forgetting to slam the front door on his way out.

The rain was letting up, but the air still felt heavy and wet. One fat raindrop fell on Sasuke's cheek and rolled down his alabaster skin. He didn't notice. He was completely lost in his thoughts as he wandered aimlessly throught the streets of Konoha.

He was spotted by Yakamana Ino as he passed by her house.

"Saskuke-kun! Hi!" she sang.

"Hi…" he mumbled, without even really noticing her. She stared at his receding back with an awkward half smile.

Sasuke wandered through a small park, hidden somewhere in a nearby quarter. He was all alone in the trees. The silence was calming. All around him the leaves and grass sparkled with dew. He put his hand to his forehead. It seemed appallingly naked. His Leaf and Sound head protectors had both been left. He remembered the day they had all received their protectors. Everyone had seemed so happy. To wear them meant that you were a shinobi. It meant that you belonged in Konoha. Could a missing-nin ever belong again?

Suddenly there was the crunch of gravel under his feet. Looking up, Sasuke realized in his unattention, he had come to the edge of the park. He was standing on the side of an empty road, across from a small apartment complex. Sasuke stared at it dumbly for a moment. How had he ended up here? This particular apartment… which stood less than 100 steps from where he had stopped, was the home of none other than his masked sensei. This was strange. Maybe he had actually had a destination in mind…

Before, he had always respected his sensei greatly. They had been fairly close. Sasuke knew that Kakashi was powerful but Sasuke had never felt threatened by his teacher. The competition that had existed with Naruto had just never been present with Kakashi.

Sasuke could imagine his silver-haired sensei. He didn't think that Kakashi's eyes were so much lazy as thoughtful. They had always looked to Sasuke with understanding. Something that didn't come very often to the boy. He had always told, never asked. But Kakashi hadn't need to ever ask him about anything. He had already seemed to know.

Kakashi had come to him before he left for Oto. He hadn't even made it a suggestion that the boy was considering leaving. It had been stated as fact. And Kakashi had tried to warn him what it would mean to leave. Then he had asked him not to let his hate overcome him and leave. He had been right from the beginning. But his words had been wasted at that time, as much as anyone else. And the past was what it was.

Sasuke bit his lip. He wanted to talk to Kakashi. But at the same time, the shame was too much. All these people who had cared about him… and had asked for almost nothing in return… Did he deserve to be with them? To ask to be forgiven… or even comforted?

Taking one last look at the window he knew to be Kakashi's, Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat and began to walk away. As he turned back towards the park, he stopped in surprise. On a nearby park bench, Kakashi sat, with the appearance of having been there for quite some time.

He jounin raised an eyebrow at him. Saskuke could tell that there was a faint smile, hidden beneath his dark mask.

"Looking for me?"

An uncomfortable feeling of foolishness washed over the teen. He attempted to not look so childish and lost. Shrugging, he replied, "Not really."

His teacher motioned for him to sit down. When Sasuke complied without comment, Kakashi laughed. "It wasn't that long ago when I had to tie you down to talk to you."

"Hmph." Sasuke smirked, before showing a more serious expression.

"Kakashi-sensei… How… how can you be able to speak so lightly… as if you have forgiven me!"

"Baka. Do you really think that you're the first to ever make a mistake? On our team… none of us have that much family. But… we have each other. So we can always forgive each other, simply because we love each other."

As Sasuke watched a single leaf drifted by in the wind. He suddenly realized how tightly his fists had been clenched, and released them. He looked over to Kakashi.

"Thank you." He said simply.

Kakashi flashed him an easy smile. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sasuke, I understand you. You have nothing you need to explain to me."

Sasuke shifted slightly under the weight of the hand. He still felt slightly uncomfortable with any degree of physical intimacy.

"It might be best… if you spoke with some others, though…" he continued seriously.

The boy fiddled with the clip on his wrist. "Yes, I … Sakura was so worried…"

Glancing up, he caught the surprised look on his master's face. "Sakura? She was contented just to know you were safe and had returned to us."

"Then…?"

"Naruto was always the first… to chase after you."

"Na… what!" Sasuke rose as if confronted. "I don't want to talk to him… about that…" he said, his eyes gleaming with anger.

"Sasuke…"

"NO!" Sasuke near-shouted in a spurt of anger. He then turned quickly, to leave, going back through the park.

I'm not ready for that…