Rain Awhile

Chapter III

Covered in silk we sleep

Once in a blue moon something will catch your attention,

As a moth entranced in a flawless incantation,

If the dawn of a new day was the sign to a new life,

Shall it ever be considered relief?

All the same, its soiled silk like wings would turn to dust...

Then, a moth is maybe all I am meant to be.

"I guess I'll just to enjoy a silent yet comfortable ride…" whispered Kakashi after eyeing the raven boy napping next to him.

His eyes didn't really want to detach themselves from the peaceful face but his mind always so rational kicked him onto not dozing off, he was driving after all. With a little willpower push the silver haired man finally focused his senses back on the road and after a few more moments rolling on Tokyo's streets the silver car was finally taking the highway toward the suburban area named Konoha.

Meanwhile, at Konoha Gakuen a certain blonde couldn't seem to unstuck his eyes from the classroom clock. His teacher, Umino Iruka, had already scolded him twice for being inattentive which although normal, worried him a little.

After all, Uzumaki Naruto was well know for causing constant ruckus but quite unusually he was not, which was something new for the experienced teacher. Something was amiss; or better say someone was missing, he thought switching his eyes to the empty spot next to his pupil.

'Sasuke has not made it to school today, how strange…' making note of talking to Naruto and inquire about his absent classmate Iruka turned back to the board and resumed his class.

About half an hour later Iruka finished dictating some physic theory and passed onto to its application, his class moved onto the laboratory at the opposite wing of the school building which allowed them to chitchat for a bit. Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet which ended picking up his classmates' interest.

"Hey Uzumaki!" came a voice along a tap on his shoulder and Naruto snapped out of his reverie at one.

"Yes, Sai?" the blond replied not really sure about what the Shimura teen wanted.

"Well, I'm wondering what happened. Wasn't Uchiha supposed to come with you?" he asked in what seemed a curious tone.

"Yeah, he just couldn't make it on time. But he will be arriving soon." The blond simply replied, reminding himself of not screwing up. Sai Shimura was not in all too friendly terms with Sasuke so it made him guarded in a way.

"Oh, I see. That explains his lateness." smirked Sai making Naruto vaguely wonder what the other teen was thinking about, picking up on the blonde expression Sai only seemed to smirk more.

"I suppose this time someone will bring him here since there's no other train until mid-afternoon." He said in an innocent tone that didn't match his body language in the least.

Upon hearing that sentence Naruto stopped dead on his track. Sasuke never took a different transportation to school.

For the whole year they've known each other, the boy had always taken the Tokyo-Konoha train at 7.30 am sharp on Mondays and the Konoha-Tokyo train on Fridays at 3.00 pm.

Nobody would ever take him nor bring him back to place for a start, or just anywhere else actually. Naruto couldn't help thinking it was strange but when he had brought it up to Sasuke sometime after knowing him, his friend had just shrugged and said his pseudo-adoptive father, his guardian Orochimaru as the blonde would soon after get to know, was too busy and he preferred doing things on his own.

This had surprised Naruto back then and shortly afterward he had decided to stop going to school on the Uzumaki household limo and started taking the train with him.

Needless to say Sasuke had not been pleased by that in the least, but Naruto said it would be funnier that way and he wouldn't sleep on his way to school out of boredom anymore, additionally to some other crazy things like enjoying the ride for a change.

In a way, this simple weekly-ritual had made Naruto closer to Sasuke, and he had felt the teen did it not because he was poor, which mind you was a bit impossible at Konoha Gakuen, but because Sasuke would not enjoy being driven.

Why? He wouldn't know and he had never truly pressed the point at hand either.

However, today someone would change that.

'It's probably going to be a cab.' He thought at first but his curiosity was always too strong. 'But what if…?' His ingenious mind was suddenly invaded by the image of an older version of the raven at the wheel of a black slick car driving into the school grounds to end parking at the main building gate and then Sasuke stepping out the car with a huge smile on his face saying waving his father off.

'Right, that's so not going to happen' thought Naruto shaking his head, he knew father as well as a lot bunch of his relatives had passed away years ago but what truly made the scenario unbelievable was Sasuke displaying a genuine filled with happiness smile.

What was that made Sasuke being a stuck-up bastard almost all the time anyway? This little question had bothered him for as long as he had known the boy but Sasuke was always so enclosed about everything it was truly a miracle that Naruto knew his house.

Well, in common terms it would actually be a pent-house, and even if the Uzumaki teen knew what living in a fine and luxurious home meant he had been enthralled by the Japanese styled construction at the top of the Cerulean Tower.

Friday, September 27th, 2013.

Time 3:58 pm. Shibuya station, Tokyo.

The background story of how exactly the topic of his house had popped out in a random conversation between him and the Uchiha was a tad fuzzy but he could never forget the moment Sasuke extended an invitation to visit it.

"Right, you're saying you live in Shibuya's Cerulean Tower? As if!" Naruto was absolutely not going to believe the words that just seconds before had rolled off the raven's lips.

"Are you calling me a liar?" the Uchiha inquired lifting an eyebrow in annoyance, there it was, his bitter attitude kicking back in.

"I'm not; still I won't believe you until you show it to me!" The blonde dared him pointing a finger right at his friend's face. Used to him avoiding personal questions, he expected Sasuke to shrug it off and move back onto whatever topic was at hand before the –where do you live?- question had been raised.

"Whatever." He shrugged, just as Naruto had expected, however surprising his friend, he also raised a hand and waived it in a –come here- motion. Naruto could not help himself and kept staring at him a little dumbstruck, as the train station speaker repeated '…Shibuya station. We are currently at Shibuya station. Passengers to…'

"Didn't you want to see it?" asked the Uchiha in matter-of-factly tone, the glimpse of a smirk hanging on the corner of his mouth.

Naruto had only nodded, his ability to speak not quite planning to return yet, with that he stepped off the train and followed the raven out the metro station as they walked right onto the Shibuya district busy streets.

Naruto remembered how they had walked up a few blocks from the station until they both arrived to their destination, the blonde couldn't help then looking up in front of him and back to Sasuke in a doubtful manner. The Cerulean Tower was impressive but it mainly held office floors and a hotel, or that's what the blonde had always thought.

After walking across the main hall and taking an elevator, in which floors board Sasuke inserted an electronic key, they both arrived to the top floor. Naruto could never forget the feeling of steel doors opening to a richly decorated mahogany genkan.

While Sasuke stepped out the elevator and sit on the edge of the genkan to remove his shoes, the blonde had his eyes stuck on the yonkyoku byōbu standing behind his friend.

The erected panels were splendid but held a very wrong scene, a strange version of the scene of Susanoo slaying the Yamata no Orochi, the most disturbing fact wasn't having it at the entrance of a house but that the whole scene seemed reversed and Orochi was actually winning the battle instead of losing it as the myth went.

The imagery had the Uzumaki boy thinking that something wasn't right and that perhaps there was a hidden meaning carried in it but he couldn't quite pin-point it and so, he failed to notice that Sasuke was silently staring at him pondering his actions.

The blonde being a member of the Uzumaki family was in no immediate danger of course, but making him enter this house, Orochimaru's house, was it even a good idea to begin with?

He didn't know, he only hoped that at the very least the snake-man would be out for the day attending one of his medic board's reunion or whatever he did on regular working hours, if not week-days.

The raven teen looked over his shoulder with sheer expectation; it didn't seem there was someone at home. 'Home' he mentally scoffed at the word.

"Hey Sasuke, you really do live here right?" Naruto had shaken off his trance and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I thought we had already established that Naruto" he replied motioning his friend onto stepping in the perfectly polished wooden hallway.

Not too long afterward…

"Sasuke, seriously this house of yours is awesome!" Exclaimed Naruto, he had been sneak-peeking into every other room for a while his initial shyness completely forgotten, as sheer excitement on whatever awaited behind each shoji door he came across.

"It's not m-" the raven stopped dead on his track deciding against letting the blonde know of his personal affairs even if involving him. "Yeah, it's great." The raven followed swiftly behind his visitor taking care of closing the aforementioned doors behind him, a pair at a time.

While Sasuke focused on his task at hand, Naruto reached for a different pair of shoji doors, they had the same scene that had greeted him at the entrance. Curiosity had the best of him then and before the Uchiha behind him could react he reached for the handles and stepped inside the room.

"Wow" was the only thing Sasuke listened when Naruto stopped to take in a full view of sanctuary, albeit unknown to him at the time.

To his relief the room still looked somewhat normal, most of the furniture was spotless, paperwork on the magnificent mahogany desk and various items were all neatly organized, and most importantly no traces of anything out of the run of the mill for a study room was on sight.

'Damn. Scratch that…' right on the center of a pile of various patterns silk pillows lying on the tatami part of the room was a discarded stained but otherwise white shirt next to a vibrant red and black uchikake, both clothing items were as familiar to the raven as would the very shirt he was wearing today.

As if the irony wasn't enough already, the remnants of a bottle of sake and two cups rested not too far on a finely carved ebony table. The whole setup could easily be taken for more than just simple clothing scattered around and the raven teen knew it, feeling a sudden rush of shame running on his face Sasuke found himself sweating cold.

Had it been a mistake to allow Naruto in this sinful place to begin with? Regret was growing fast in his heart as the blonde turned around and shock was written all over his face to the young Uchiha's dismay.

"Uhm…Sasuke, what the hell is that?" At the same time, the previously closed shoji doors behind Sasuke re-opened and a hand rested on his shoulder.

"You brought a visit, how nice of you Sasuke-kun" the voice was flat and cold, Sasuke recoiled.

Monday, October 6th, 2014.

Time 9:11 am. Konoha Gakuen…

Not caring much about being in the middle of the laboratory, and not quite remembering how he made it to his seat, Naruto took out his cell phone and entered a text message. He was covering for Sasuke, having already notified the headmaster just before classes, so the Uchiha should reply his question in exchange to saving his ass.

Napping time was interrupted by his cell phone brought to life in his pocket and caused him to jerk up from the comfortable leather seat. The short and repeated tune indicated it was an incoming text message.

-Hey bastard. Headmaster all clear. Already covered for you. Who is bringing you here?-

"I would have thought I was better company than that Sasuke." Came out an amused comment from the pilot seat on his right and caused his cheeks to warm up.

"I apologize, I didn't really mean to..." The Uchiha started apologizing but he was promptly interrupted by a hand on his shoulder giving him a gentle squeeze.

"It's okay. I'm not sure if I would be able to take you there in time given you had been awake." Grinned the gray-haired man playfully, although he kicked himself mentally for it.

Was it really time to engage in some cheap flirt anyway? He thought. Luckily Sasuke didn't catch the cue and distracted himself with his cell phone taking it out of his pants to read message and reply to it at once.

The boy taped a quick reply and was about to press the send key but his thumb lingered above it for a second.

"Kakashi" he spoke the name softly yet sternly catching up the older man attention.

"I truly appreciate your help, thank you." The boy strained the last couple of words although they were heartfelt but Kakashi couldn't help filling a sting in his chest. 'Is it really so damn wrong to expect something other than a mere thank you in exchange? Sasuke…' Couldn't help but think the gray-haired man.

"There's nothing to.." started the driver but was interrupted by the boy who was now looking at him with a serious yet slightly shy face, his bangs darkening his pale features.

"Yes there is. Let me repay you Kakashi, please." Again, that strained tone thought Kakashi, he started to feel Sasuke never sought help but couldn't understand the reason behind that strange behavior.

'Be more natural Sasuke, this man is helping you.' Mentally scolded the raven, he knew Kakashi was engrossed with him, he had seen it happen more time than he wanted to remember but on the other hand he couldn't help and think he could accept kindness.

Even if he was driven by a sense of likeness towards the boy, he seemed sincere enough and that was something new for him, it entranced a part of the teen, albeit perhaps against his better judgment.

"If you insist Sasuke" Kakashi raised his hand to turn off the already almost silent radio. "I would ask you to go lunch with me but you obviously have school" he almost chuckled and Sasuke held his breath for a moment at the sudden proposal as well.

"However, if I remember this right you should have Wednesday afternoons free after PA, isn't that right?" as he said that the car slowed down and gently parked on the sidewalk of the road.

"Don't worry, it's not like I know anything about you Sasuke. I just studied at Konoha Gakuen as well." He offered a gentle smile to the shocked teen seeing his previous comment had raised surprise and doubts on the teen's face.

"I thought you would have guessed it by now. So, what do you think?" he looked at the raven expectantly but the boy was still processing this new information.

'I really started to think he knew more than he let on…' the idea made him shudder unintentionally.

"Yes, we do have free-afternoons and, I'll call you earlier that day by lunch time." He finally replied, he felt trapped of course but smile dissipated it and Sasuke couldn't help thinking this man was strange, although not in a bad way and he felt himself clinging on that idea.

"Sounds good to me Sasuke. Now, get ready we're only about a half a mile from your destination." His hand reached the raven's head and patted it gently lingering a bit there more than it should and finally descended to his cheek stroking it so softly that he almost didn't feel it at all.

"You make me do strange things Sasuke, since the day I've known you." The older man soothed and with a shrug of his shoulders he added laughing "Ï didn't think I would ever come back here. The Big mama is going to grow wrinkles." Sasuke stared at him for a second thinking the man had gone mad but a strong blond lady with piggy-tails appeared in his head and he hold up a laugh.

"If only headmistress Tsunade had heard you, she would have your head chopped off without a doubt." Added the raven inwardly shivering, he too had to face her in short.

A few moments later and truth to his word Kakashi finally pulled the luxurious car onto the familiar school road only a few moments later and headed towards the parking lot in front of the main building.

Closing the door of his shared bedroom, Sasuke started walking swiftly towards the school main building following behind the dorms caretaker Mizuki.

It took them a few minutes to finally reach the headmaster, or in this case headmistress, office but Sasuke only wanted to get over it so he could close today's chapter and resume his usual weekly school life.

'Well, I suppose it's not going to take much since Naruto already gave an explanation on my behalf and Orochimaru would have called me if he knew anything new.' Sighing he knocked the door and opened it at once when he heard the typical 'come in'.

"Good to have you joining us, albeit late, Uchiha Sasuke" greeted the Senju Tsunade from behind her enormous desk in the center of her office, motioning the teen to have a seat on the left leather armchair in front of her.

"Good morning headmistress Senju." said the teen politely bowing his head. If there was something he excelled at it was using appropriate manners when and where as needed. However, his politeness earned him a chuckle ready to glare if need be he eyed the headmistress only to find her glaring at a spot on the other chair in front of her desk.

"He called you Headmistress Senju, who on Earth calls you that?" the chuckled turned into a scoff but the voice he did recognize it.

"Kakashi what are you doing here?" slipped through his lips the same moment Tsunade, brows crossed, punched her desk full force. "That's what I was wondering myself." Stated the blonde in a not-too friendly tone.

'Ugh, goodbye whatever excuse Naruto pulled out' shrugged Sasuke whilst Kakashi gently pushed him into sitting on the armchair next to his.

"Well, I just happened to be on my way to attend a business in Konoha and thought I could say hello." he replied totally dismissing the point Tsunade was heading for causing her to further frown.

Noticing the 'what the hell?' expression on face he decided to add something on the boy's behalf. "Oh, and I brought dear Sasuke since he didn't feel well enough to take the train this morning but you already know that."

Sasuke was about to roll his eyes as thought he was in the presence of his blonde friend again but something unexpected happened. Tsunade actually receded and seemed to accept lame explanation.

"Well, I had no idea you had met Sasuke before. Shows you're not a complete and hopeless lazy lawyer after all." The headmistress shrugged dismissively, before directing her eyes on the raven teen.

"Next time just tell your guardian to call if you're going to be late. I'm pretty sure Orochimaru can provide you with transportation, really Sasuke." Sighing she motioned his dismissal for her office.

"Have a nice day at school Sasuke." Smiled softly the gray-haired man as the Uchiha was reaching for the door. The raven boy could only sigh in relief as soon as he had left the office.

'Call that snake? As if…'he shuddered at the thought and resumed his walk toward his classroom.

Time 11:03 am. Konoha Gakuen.

He kept on walking away from the headmistress office and towards his first class of the day, well at least for him. 'At last' his mind whispered nonchalantly, finally worries-free.

Sai was running amuck, that much could tell the raven from looking at the Shimura's facial expression and that was saying something when it came down to the usually inexpressive boy. They unexpectedly had come across each other in the hallway leading to his classroom, however as he couldn't pinpoint the cause of his behavior he decided to brush it off for the time being.

The serious and hard glance Sai sent him did not pass unnoticed alas, hurried as he was Sasuke did not ponder about it; after all there was more important business to focus on, rather than wasting time and thoughts that would lead to nowhere.

However, the one thing he spotted before Sai swiftly resumed walking in the opposite direction was that he held his cell phone tightly in one hand 'Perfect'-Sai risking detention by making a call, during school-time, if any member of the school staff were to catch him in the act that would surely enough ruin his perfect record.

'How unusual' was his mental remark, quirking an eyebrow before focusing on the class door in front of him. Sasuke could really care less of Sai's school record or anyone's else.

Sasuke sighed in relief has he noticed he had managed to enter the last class before lunch a few seconds ahead their home-room teacher.

"You finally arrived to school, Sasuke. Did you go to the headmistress's office already?" asked his home-room teacher Umino Iruka, to which the raven only nodded and handed him a note signed by Tsunade before sitting to his appointed desk next to Naruto, said blond pounced him throwing an arm around his shoulders so they could talk cheek-on-cheek, quite literally and much to embarrassment.

The blond has literally no understanding of 'keep it down in public' concept, furthermore since Iruka had already started his class speech.

"Grandma Tsunade was okay right? I gave her heads-up and all so she wouldn't be too angry, you know how she gets when someone doesn't call in sick as due and all…and well, sorry. I guess I owe you that much, right?" he whispered at the end, visibly ashamed from his earlier behavior.

Sasuke limited himself to sigh; he was in no mood to dwell on this matter any longer and really wanted to focus on school but his blonde friend was seemingly determinate to keep bringing it up.

"Yeah, she just scolded me as if I was some brat." Shrugging his friend off, he took out a tablet from his desk and turned it on, ready to take notes.

"Anyway, it wasn't that much of a big deal so forget it, ok?" He said so with such a gentle tone, Naruto looked at him visibly embarrassed yet unable to take off his eyes from his friend's very own as a soft pinkness overcame his cheeks.

He was entranced by the raven but couldn't say so to himself, much less think on a reason as to why he felt that way; not that he had time to dwell on it anyway as an annoyed "tch" sound made him snap his head right at the front of the class, Iruka was telling them to pay attention.

"…alright class, I know some of you find this boring but History is very important to your lives.

And remember, there's no way people can move forward or pretend to change this world if they don't know where they come from.

The present we're in and the Future that is coming is a consequence of the Past, in other words of History.

So, Naruto if you would stop distracting Sasuke so you can pay attention and I could carry on."

Muffled laughs and a couple of sniggers ensued as a several pair of eyes made their way to the pair. The dark-haired boy could only frown in an exasperated manner as his friend quickly released his arm and jolted.

"So-sorry!" stuttered Naruto scrambling with his chair onto his right, focusing on whatever Iruka was talking about. Unaware of what was going on in the blonde's head Sasuke started taking notes fully intending on catching up for the day.

"By the way Sakura, can you see that Sai is alright before going for lunch?" requested the teacher to the pink haired girl on the front row, to which she simply nodded. "He was a little too pale I hope Shizune will fix him up." Iruka added in a very fond way, he held each and every one of his students close to his big soft heart after all.

'Sai was sick? He didn't look like it to me. Not one bit…bah, not that I care anyway' mentally shrugged Sasuke replaying his encounter with the Shimura boy.

Sai acting out of character and breaking a school rule was strange but, his Shimura classmate he never truly understood him to begin with.

Not too far from the class, in the staircase Sai held his cell phone close to his ear.

"I have a report." He breathed on the phone waiting for the reply on the other end of the line.

"What is Uchiha status?" spoke a cold calculated voice.

"He managed to arrive to school. A member of the Namikaze Group, legal branch, made it happen."

"Oh really? Did you identify him?" this time the person at the end of the line sounded genuinely curious.

"Affirmative. Hatake Kakashi." Swiftly replied Sai, to which the person he was reporting at told him to await the next communication and ended their phone call with an immediate 'click'.

Sai breathed in, resting the back of his head against the wall. Shimura Danzou was a powerful yet mysterious man and not someone you would want to mess with, he knew it too well being his adopted son.

However that was as far as his knowledge for the man went, for as long as he had known him and learnt his quirks, he had never truly understood what his interest in this Uchiha brat –the brat bit was an opinion of his own of course- had to do with anything at all. Much less why on earth he, Sai, had to keep an eye on him and report whatever unusual happening went on with his classmate.

Sure the teen was one, if not the last, remaining Uchiha in Japan, but what could that possibly mean after the family had lost its renown almost a decade ago.

Wasn't it the Uchiha conglomerate sudden downfall that almost cost the whole country going bankrupt in the first place?

Wasn't it Uchiha Fugaku, the then head of the group, who got suicidal and took the fall, quite literally by the way considering his body ended stamped on the street after, allegedly, voluntarily falling thirty floors and out the man's office?

Truth to be told Sai always wondered if Danzou had anything to do with the mysterious hacking that took place within the Uchiha group, the man had not seemed an ounce surprised when it occurred and Sai would be lying if he hadn't noticed the dim trace of a smirk at the corner of the man's lips the day Fugaku ceased to breathe.

However, as juicy as this tidbit of information would have sounded to anyone else, perhaps a journalist or detective, the whole affair really didn't hold much of an interest within Sai's priorities though.

Danzou had legally adopted him when he was five but he soon realized it was more of a public cover than anything else, his one true role was to be his eyes and ears in circles he could not have access to otherwise.

That's how he had been raised, that was the only thing he needed to know, and this arrangement worked just fine by him. Better than being adopted by an abusive family or going back to the slums, anything but that.

"Seems like I will be keeping tabs on you a little longer, Uchiha." This said he pushed himself from the wall and resumed his walk in direction of the infirmary taking note he had to pull out a new 'performance', but of course he was too accustomed to such things and really didn't mind at all.

Growing up under Shimura Danzou's roof required of acquiring some of the man's quirks and Sai was not his favorite son just for show.

Terms used:

Genkan: traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house

Yonkyoku byōbu: Four-panel screens, displayed in hallways during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. They were later used in Seppuku ceremonies and tea house waiting rooms in the late Edo Period.

Susanoo slaying the Yamata no Orochi: representation of the legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon that was slain by the Shinto storm-god Susanoo.

Uchikake: The Uchikake is often heavily brocaded and is supposed to be worn outside the actual kimono and obi, as a sort of coat.

Remember that Japanese terms usage might be more or less accurate, and if you're not familiar with a word please Google it just as I do. Also, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong somewhere.

Author's Notes:

The Cerulean Tower does exist and is located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward, however it is in fact an office and hotel building and doesn't have Orochi's house on its top. I just made it fit there since it's one of the most significant buildings in Shibuya and I needed it to be in Shibuya.

Sai will carry Shimura as his last name which is originally Danzou's. Same goes with Tsunade, she will be taking the first Hokage's family name thus, Senju Tsunade. Other characters lacking a family name will receive a similar treatment.

Edit: 6/9/14. Performed some minor adjustment for a better reading of flashbacks, now in 3rd person.