When Kakashi was informed that he was to take on an apprentice or he would be doing D-ranks for a month, he expected his student to be a snotty know-it-all or a whiny little brat.

When he was notified the fact that it was an Uchiha he was teaching, he briefly considered going missing-nin to Suna. But then his monthly subscription to 'Icha Icha Paradise' would be cancelled and women from all around Konoha would probably start a bonfire with his house and burn all his precious books. And anyway, he could deal with angsty or moody Uchiha brats. All Uchiha children were like that, except Itachi. But Itachi was just plain odd.

He mentally prepared himself for an on slaughter of complaints and curses that no child should know when he arrived a few hours late at the designated meeting point. But there was only the bright chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves. If anyone had been around and had bothered looking closely, they would have noticed what looked suspiciously like a sweat drop on his oddly spiked silver hair. But there was no one to see, because this was one of the residences that had not been rebuilt after the Kyuubi attack.

Just before he decided to give up and return to the Hokage's office, he noticed a figure dressed in white down the road. His only visible eye squinted into a happy upside down 'U'. He didn't realize where he was headed until he was only a few metres from the house. This was the Main House of the Namikaze Clan.

It would have sounded terribly cliché to say that his heart skipped a beat, but that was exactly what happened. He hadn't been able to bring himself to visit this deceased teacher's house since the Kyuubi had gone on a merry rampage through Konoha. Gathering all the resolve and determination he could, Kakashi snuck up on the poor kid.

From his very insightful and intuitive observations, the boy could barely six years old and looked rather skinny. He felt a disturbing urge to clap his hands over his unfortunate visible eye. Damn, there was so much white. The child had skin like a pale porcelain doll and white Chrysanthemums in his onyx hair. Wide livid eyes curtained by ridiculously long lashes stood out starkly against his skin. He wore a short sleeved ivory white kimono that reached the ground.

If Kakashi had been feeling particularly poetic that day, he would have remarked mentally on the way the boy's spiked ebony black hair and slightly long bangs contrasted nearly artistically against the soft bleach white of his face.

Kakashi followed the boy's gaze and spotted a window on the second floor and watched as his eyes drifted almost lazily to the ground under the window. He remembered that had been the place Minato-sensei had proclaimed his undying love to Kushina-san as he tried unsuccessfully to woo her with cheesy love lines. That had also been the same window Kushina-san had used to throw insults and sharp objects down at the lovesick Yondaime.

He tapped the boy on the shoulder and watched in amusement as he jumped and spun around to look at him but his mood quickly shifted as those eyes only rested upon his person for a moment before flickering to the empty space next to him.

"Yo. I'm your Jounin teacher, Hatake Kakashi. Introduce yourself."

He watched in mild curiosity as the child's eyes seemed to stare a bit longer at the space next to him before sharpening to stare at him.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I'm turning six soon. I like the color black," at the dubious look in Kakashi's eye, he elaborated. "It hides bloodstains easily. I dislike the color white," again Kakashi interrupted with a pointed glance at the color he was clothed in. "Because it reminds me that I don't have much time left. I don't have a dream, but I want to keep a promise before I die and my hobbies are … Actually, now I think about it, I don't have any hobbies. I seriously need to talk about my psychiatrist about that."

"Right… meet me tomorrow at five in the morning."

"Ok, I'll be there at ten after my appointment with the psychiatrist."

Kakashi sweat dropped. There was something seriously wrong with his new apprentice.