In the village of Konoha on sunny days, one would normally think of outdoor activities. A citizen might fantasize about a picnic or frolicking in meadows or whatever it was citizens did. If it was hot enough the ninja in training would find themselves conjuring up images in in their minds of swimming in a nearby lake. The heat of a summers' day in Konoha though was absolutely nothing compared to the heat radiating from the desert. As Sasuke and Akio trudged along the path, it took all of Sasukes' effort to not fall over and let the desert heat consume him. Death had to be better than this. At least colder anyway.

After leaving Mei's village the two travelers had stuck to the road, only stopping for supplies three times. In each village they passed Akio asked around to see if anyone recognized Sasuke or had heard of any accidents involving bandits nearby. Each time he came up empty and by the time they had passed the last village he had only been asking out of sympathy for the kid. Akio knew he'd be leaving Sasuke behind in the next village they stopped in, Suna, and couldn't help but cringe at the thought. Sure, the kid was quiet and seemed to have nearly no sense of humor, but he was also polite and didn't demand much attention. He only needed some food and water, then he was good to go. Akio shook his head.

'That's why I can't take care of him.' He thought to himself. 'I don't even know what to do for him. Obviously he needs more than that, but I don't have whatever it is that he needs.'

He looked over at the object of his distress. As usual Sasuke was a step behind him, searching the sides of the path for anything that looked strange or threatening. Akio wasn't sure what he thought was going to jump out of the sand, but Sasuke was diligent. He wondered sometimes if maybe Sasuke had come from a ninja family, the way he walked and the amount of attention he used to focus on tasks was unusual for a regular six-ish, seven-ish year old. Akio looked back to the path and focused on ignoring the heat of the sun crashing down on their backs.

Sasuke could hardly think. The constant fire scorching against his skin consumed his mind. During the evening when the land began to freeze over, he and Akio would huddle in their blankets fighting off the biting cold. During the hours before and after the raging heat, right as the temperatures were changing, Sasuke battled the never ending war against the sand that invaded his clothing and caused him to itch insanely.

'This place is awful.' Sasuke thought dejectedly as he fought the urge to itch. 'I wish I could just go home.' A claw grabbed at his throat and he forced back tears.

"Hey, don't look so down!" Akio said as he sat down in front of the fire cooking dinner. "It could be worse."

Sasuke looked at him in disbelief.

"Ha-ha, that's right, it could be dust storm season. Then you'd be breathing in this cra…sand." He amended quickly.

Sasuke stared at him in barely disguised horror. He was going to live the rest of his life in a place that had sand in the air?!

"So," Akio continued, oblivious to Sasukes' inner dilemma, "we are just a day walk away from the village. After that I'll be making my way out of the country. I'm sure you'll be fine here without me though."

He pulled out his blanket and Sasuke pulled out his.

"Well, we better get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day." Akio soon took his own advice and was fast asleep, snoring loudly as he pulled the blanket closer around himself.

Sasuke looked over at him for a moment then turned to the fire. After all the traveling they'd done together Sasuke would have been lying if he said he hadn't become used to Akio. He'd known the end destination for him was Suna, but the ache was illogical. He laid down and shoved aside whatever he felt about what awaited him tomorrow. Soon he'd be all alone again.

The gates of Suna were huge. As they passed through he noted a pair of guards sitting close by, watching the travelers. Sasuke unconsciously took a step closer to Akio when he saw them. What if they could tell he was from Konoha? He shook the worry from his head. It was pointless to think anyone here would know who he was. After asking around for some time, Akio finally gathered enough information to find where the nearest orphanage was located.

He stubbornly refused to look towards Sasuke as they made their way to the street that they'd been directed to. A tall dome shaped building stood in front of them and a lady walked out with a line of differently aged children following her organized by height.

Akio cleared his throat. "Huh…uh…I…" He cleared his throat again. "Well, I guess…this is it."

They both stared at the building, slowly making their way inside.

A woman with glasses and brown hair sat at the desk wearing a simple set of clothing meant to keep the sun and wind off her skin and smiled as they came near her.

"Hello," She said warmly. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I, uh," Akio felt his face growing warm as he tried to explain that he wanted to get rid of a child. The lady seemed to understand without him needing to go much further though.

"Hold on one second." She pulled out some papers and began to write. "So, I'll need to start up a documentation of the child before we can accept him. To start, what is the child's name?" She looked at Akio expectantly.

"Oh, right, uh, Sasuke."

"Family name?"

"We're not sure."

She rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Isn't he yours?"

"No! I mean, I found him while I was traveling and he can't remember anything except his name."

She looked at him closely. Nodding she wrote something down on the paper.

"Okay then, we'll take him from here. If you have any questions, just ask and we'll be happy to answer." She walked towards a door leading to a back room and left for a moment. Akio turned to Sasuke.

"Well, I guess this is where we part." He said sadly. Sasuke refused to look at him, instead turning his attention to the rest of the room.

"Look, uh, I'll be sure to stop by if I'm ever passing through, alright?"

Sasuke nodded and Akio began to say something else, but the lady had walked back and the moment was over. She looked at Akio questioningly and walked around the desk. Akio cleared his throat and said his good-byes. After he'd left the lady turned to Sasuke. She smiled kindly.

"I'm sorry about your situation, but I'm sure you'll feel very welcomed here." She said as she walked closer to him.

"My name is Hana, if you follow me I'll show you to the room you'll be staying in for now."

She crossed the room to a set of stairs leading up to the rooms. She walked into a room where a set of bunk beds were placed on both sides of the wall.

"This will be your room and you may discuss with the other kids which bed you get. You can place your bag where ever for now." She said as Sasuke entered. The room was tiny. Along with the beds there were dressers pressed against the wall next to the door and a desk was placed in front of the small window that overlooked the backyard.

Hana began back down the stairs. After setting his things down on the bed closest to the door, he followed her. The walls of the hall were completely blank as Sasuke walked passsed. Hana made it back down the stairs and turned to the right, going past the office room. In the back was a small kitchen and a table with different sized chairs.

"Breakfast is early in the morning, if you don't get up on time you miss it. Lunch is at noon and dinner is around six. Younger children can ask for a snack once during the day after breakfast. I would guess your age to be around seven so you can still be counted as young, but you're older than many of the kids here so you'll be expected to help with many of the chores. Lights out is at eight for the younger children and at ten for the older kids." She stepped out of a door leading to the backyard where a gate enclosed a small patch of dirt and an old looking tree that stood against the building.

"This is where the youngest children can play in the evening while the rest are cleaning up and getting ready for bed. You'll be starting school next week so you have a few days to get in routine before then." Hana walked back into the building and left Sasuke to settle in.

Sasuke felt surprised. School? What kind of school? What did they teach here? Sasuke thought about it while he made his way back to the room he'd been shown. He stood at the door with a sudden hesitation to enter. It was quiet, omitting the distant sounds of village life on the street. Left alone, he was faced with a harsh blast of his new reality.

He, Uchiha Sasuke, one of the last of the Uchiha clan, was in a distant village, far from everything he knew, in an orphanage that was unaware of his name, left behind by a stranger, and about to start a civilian school. While he'd been with Akio, the thoughts of whether or not this was really happening had always been easily ignored. Now that he was sitting still he couldn't help but feel shocked into a dreamlike state. He laid on the bed where he'd sat his belongings and fell asleep.

Kiato was what the adults would call a troublemaker. Before the orphanage had taken him in he'd been one of Sunas' self-proclaimed greatest thieves. He could snitch an apple from in front of nearly any merchants' nose and everyone knew to look out for their belongings if he was nearby. He was almost always late for curfew and often times' skipped school. So it was no surprise when seven o'clock rolled around and he was only just making his way back to the orphanage. His short, spiky hair matched the color of the white cloth he used to keep the sun off himself, making it difficult to see. The rest of his clothes looked to be covered in dirt as he dragged his feet to his destination. His blue eyes glared at anyone who dared to look at him. He walked through the door and past the front desk, making his way to the dining room. There he found the last of the kids finishing up their meals. Sitting down he grabbed himself a small bowl of soup and some bread.

"Where were you?" A younger man with blonde hair stepped into the room holding one of the three year-olds.

"Nowhere." He answered angrily.

The man sighed and went to take the younger children out to play. A brown haired boy around his age came to clean up the table.

"Hey Kiato!" He smiled as he picked up a plate. "What'd you do today?"

Kiato grinned. Ryo was one of his closest friends and only roommate. They had both used to live on the street together before they found themselves here. While Kiato was good at stealing, Ryo had been the one to help him by distracting people. Ever since they'd started school though it'd become harder because Ryo refused to skip. Kiato knew he was just too scared too though, so he didn't mind.

"Nothing." He answered as he took another bite of his meal.

Ryo looked interested and sat down.

"What do you mean nothing? There's always something."

"Well maybe." Ryo leaned in.

"But I guess you'll never know!" Ryo got back up and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you should come with me. Then I won't have to tell you." Kiato said as he stood up to help with the table. Ryo ignored him and took the dishes to the sink.

After clean up the two made their way up to the room they shared. They'd nearly fought tooth and nail for a room together when they found out that they were going to be separated.

"Lights out!" They heard Hana call up the stairs.

Kiato rolled his eyes and opened the door. He quickly walked across the room in the dark to lay on his bed. Ryo walked in and closed the door, eliminating the light. Kiato heard him stumble towards his bed and he started to laugh as he heard Ryo run into a desk. Ryo finally found his bed and jumped onto it.

"Ow!" Kiato heard another voice yell out and he jumped out of bed. Ryo cried out in surprise as he fell backwards out of bed. He grabbed at the air looking for something to help him and clutched at something he'd found. A yelp of surprise told him it was alive and he tried to let it go, but it was too late. Whatever it was began to fall with him and a large thump accompanied their fall. He tried to get up, but found himself pinned down by whatever he'd accidentally grabbed. Kiato walked over carefully to see what was going on and tripped up on something in the dark. He landed on what he assumed was Ryo, as it was struggling underneath him. He tried to get off him and found that the task was harder than he'd thought it would be. Suddenly the light flickered on and he yelped covering his eyes.

Saburo loved children. Really, he did. That's why he took up a part-time job assisting in the orphanage, helping young children find themselves new homes. Sometimes though, some of the children were a handful. Every night, without fail, Kiato would return late with no answers as to where he'd been or why he was late. He thought back to when he'd found them on the street. Ryo was talking to him, asking him about something or another, when he found Kiato snooping through his pockets. He wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't randomly decided to place his hands in his pockets. After that he'd promised them a good home if they came with him and after some convincing they followed. He knew Kiato was a good kid, but sometimes it was hard to remember when the kid was glaring at you. Saburo placed the three year-old he was holding on the ground to play outside.

After the kids were done playing outside he handed them over to Hana. She smiled at him in thanks and he walked to the room behind the desk to grab his belongings. As he made his way to the door he heard Hana telling the kids it was lights out. He waited for her to come back towards the desk so he could tell her good night. Smiling as he waited he thought about how amazing Hana was. She lived here taking care of the children day and night and she never complained. She had been the one to inspire him to take a profession working with children.

He heard a thump upstairs and frowned. The kids should be sleeping, or at least faking. Worried something was wrong he went up the stairs after he heard yelling. He stopped in front of Kiato and Ryos' door and paused. After more thumping he opened the door. Some yelling could be heard as he turned on the light to find himself confronted with one of the funniest yet cute images he'd ever seen.

In a pile on the floor three seven year olds lay strewn across one another. At the bottom of the pile was Ryo trying to push the others off him. In the middle was a new kid Saburo hadn't seen before, who was also trying to sit up. On top of the pile was Kiato covering his eyes and yelling. He couldn't help himself. He started to laugh.

As Kiato opened his eyes he rolled off of the others and stood up to see what was going on. A kid his age was on the floor trying to stand up while Ryo was pushing him off. He stepped in and pulled the kid off Ryo and helped his friend up. Suddenly he heard laughing and he turned to glare at the offender. Saburo was at the door grinning. He felt his anger die down some and they all turned to look at the new person. Sitting on the bed staring at them was a kid with black hair that stuck up in the back. His eyes were black too and he was looking at them angrily.

"What's going on? Saburo! It's lights' out, what are you doing?" Hana opened the door and looked in. She looked angry for a moment before her eyes found Sasuke. Her eyes widened and she looked mildly embarrassed.

"Oh! I'm so sorry you guys! This is Sasuke. He's going to be sharing a room with the two of you. I forgot to tell you when you got back, I'm sorry." She explained.

Saburo smiled. 'So that's what happened.'

Sasuke looked less angry and rubbed his eyes. Ryo grinned, but Kiato looked furious.

"What are you talking about?! We're sharing a room with some freak?" Sasuke stood up and glared at him. Ryo turned to Kiato surprised.

"Excuse me!" Hana stepped fully into the room and towered over him. "This is not up for debate young man! This is an orphanage, if we need to use the room for more children to house comfortably, then that's what we're going to do! And if I ever hear you complain or calling one of the other children names again I'll have you sleep in the kitchen!"

Hana nearly never raised her voice, especially to a child. So the impact that her lecture had was felt at full force. Shocked Kiato nodded his head dumbly.

"Now, Sasuke," She said lowering her voice. Sasuke stood straighter and looked her in eyes.

"Hai?"

"I want you to take the top bunk for now. If you want to change it then you can talk with your roommates tomorrow. Now everyone lay down."

Sasuke nodded and took his things up to the top with him. The other two went to their normal beds and laid down.

After making sure they were situated, the two adults turned off the lights and closed the door. The room stayed silent and soon both Kiato and Ryo were asleep. It took much longer for Sasuke to finally find unconsciousness.

After he'd been rudely woken up and, sort of, met his new roommates, Sasuke could honestly say that this was the start to an awful beginning. Already he disliked one the boys he was sharing with, though maybe if he ignored him he'd leave him alone. Seeing how Hana had reprimanded the kid, Sasuke resolved never to retaliate to anything the kid…no anyone…did to him.

'I wonder how I'm supposed to get stronger as a ninja if I can't go to an academy.' Sasuke thought to himself. He didn't want grow weak. He'd always been taught that you should strive for perfection. To strengthen yourself and to never show weaknesses.

He felt hopelessness and loss begin to worm its way into his mind. Suddenly anger at himself surged. He couldn't cry and he couldn't give up. If there wasn't anyone to teach him then he'd just have to teach himself.

He nodded and swallowed the choking despair from his throat. With that in mind he felt the darkness of the night fill his mind.

In the morning, before the sun had fully risen, Sasuke got up before the other kids and went down stairs. Hana was in the kitchen already, making breakfast so he helped her set the table.

Sasuke sat at the table and looked to Hana for permission to eat. She sat down with him and they quickly ate in silence. Some of the other children came down as the smell of food awoke them.

"Good morning!" Hana said as more children got up. "Sasuke, would you mind getting the younger children up? They sleep right down the hall from your room. After you finish you're free to explore the street a little while."

Sasuke nodded and proceeded to do as she had asked. Climbing the stairs, he passed his room and headed to the end of the hallway. Walking as quietly as he could, he opened the door to a room full of three year-olds. Watching them sleep, he hesitated before entering. The rooms for the younger children were slightly larger than his and had regular beds instead of bunks. He guessed it was so they didn't fall off the top. There weren't any desks and there were a few stuffed toys lying on the floor. Stepping over a teddy bear, Sasuke made his way to the closest bed and shook the shoulder of a sleeping brunette. The little girl woke up slowly and stared at Sasuke in confusion.

"It's time for breakfast." He said quietly. Her eyes widened and she got up completely. Running across the room she helped Sasuke wake up the rest of the kids. Once all of the younger children were awake they filed into a line behind Sasuke. He stared at them all, wondering what it was they were doing, before leading them to the table.

"Thank you!" Hana smiled. Sasuke nodded and walked out of the front door, ready to inspect the new area he lived in.

One major difference between here and Konoha was the insufferable sand that seemed to endlessly irritate him. It covered everything. Sasuke itched his arms for the hundredth time since coming outside. Another notable difference was the architecture. Konohas' buildings were square and tall, while Sunas' buildings were very round. Sasuke looked at them, wondering why anyone would build round buildings, it didn't make sense to him. After some searching, all of the buildings and streets looked the same to him, he found himself in a library.

Inside was cool and full of shelves lined with books and scrolls ready to be read. As Sasuke walked further into the world of information, an old man with grey hair and a white beard appeared before him. Sasuke jumped back in surprise and stared at the man. A croaky voice spoke up from beneath the beard.

"So, who are you, what are you and what is it you want from my collection?" He peered at Sasuke waiting for an answer.

"Sasuke, human, books." Sasuke replied in quick succession. The mans' reply confirmed the state of his sanity.

"Are you really?! Hmm?" He searched Sasuke looking for any signs of deceit. He finally relented. "Well than, Sasuke the human, what kind of information are you looking for?" Sweeping his arm out in front of himself as he turned away he said, "I have all kinds of things!" He started to rant about the various things you could learn from his library as he showed Sasuke around the large building.

After nearly an hour Sasuke was just about ready to gauge his ears out. How this man could continue to talk for this long was beyond his understanding. He just wanted to find the scrolls and books on ninja training techniques and go, which, out of all the random things the lunatic had told him he'd learn from his library, was apparently not here. Just as Sasuke was about to give up and go back to the orphanage, the man stopped and began to pull a few scrolls off a shelf.

"Now here is my personal favorite corner of my collection. This is where the ninjutsu scrolls and chakra description books are located. As you can see, I have a very large variety to look through. It'd take years to read it all and to understand it, but I'm sure you're not interested in this." He said flippantly.

After the feelings of exasperation died down Sasuke began searching for beginner level work books or scrolls. The scrolls were full of ninjutsu far above his level, but he hoped to get to them at some point.

The lunatic pointed out a few good books for him and checked them out.

"Hope to see you soon!" The man called as Sasuke bolted out the door. After having seen the time, he realized he only had an hour to find his way back to his temporary home. Running as fast as he could he ran into something and crashed back into the sand. Although the sand cushioned his fall, he'd have rather had the bruises than the itching from the onslaught of sand that assaulted his clothing.

He stood and began picking up his books and looked around to see what he'd run into. A boy around his age stared back at him with green pupil less eyes. His short red hair stood up on all ends and his face lacked any eyebrows. With the strange boy was a young man with light sandy blonde hair and a bag of groceries. The boy looked at Sasuke apprehensively as the man walked closer to him.

"Hello there, are you alright?" The man asked kindly.

Sasuke nodded then apologized for running into them. The man looked surprised by Sasukes apology.

"Oh? It's okay, where are you headed?"

"The orphanage." He said pointing down the road.

"I see." The man nodded and smiled. "Well, my name's Yashamaru and this is my nephew Gaara." Gaara looked at his uncle oddly and took a step behind him.

Sasuke nodded to them, "Sasuke."

"It's nice to meet you! Well, we don't want to take up any more of your time, good-bye." Gaara gave a half-hearted wave and Sasuke nodded in response.

'I hope I'm not late for lunch.' Sasuke thought to himself as he slid through the front door, not even thinking twice of his encounter with the strange red-haired boy and his uncle.