I'm amazed at how fast this is going, chapter six already. I think I have a new personal record on updating. This must be the most motivating story I've ever worked on!

So thank you guys so much for leaving me those nice reviews. I'd also like to thank narutofan for leaving me a review on every chapter! (For everyone who leaves a signed review, I will reply to it.)

Also special thanks to my great Beta en muse upbeat!

Alright now that that's said I have one more thing before chapter 6: I do not own Naruto.

Ready, set and go!

When Autumn Arrives

Chapter 6: Sasuke

Minato was currently visiting Kakashi, to see how he and Sasuke were doing. It had been close to a month since Sasuke was released from the hospital and had started to live with Kakashi. To put it blunt the two disliked each other with passion. Or that is what they believed. Minato knew that Kakashi was just awkward, not knowing how to deal with the boy. It was true that Kakashi was fine with Naruto, but he had seen him grow from a newborn into a child. Other than that Naruto was pretty open and talkative. Sasuke was silent and drawn back. This was not strange as the boy had just lost his family. The problem however was that Kakashi and Sasuke were alike. Both had been through some heavy ordeals, both lost their parents in a terrible way and both didn't know how to express their emotions about it. If you add all those factors together it would create tension, a lot of tension and at one moment that tension would need to unload.

"You deal with him sensei," was the irritated reply from Kakashi as he walked away. "I'm not training someone like this."

Sasuke gave Kakashi's back a cold stare. Minato was amazed with the looks the boy could give. It made it clear all the more the two didn't get along.

Sasuke claimed he needed to train to get stronger and to kill Itachi, but Kakashi refused to train him only to have him kill Itachi. It seemed that Kakashi had enough of the tension and walking away was his way to show that. Minato focussed on the six year old in front of him. In comparison Naruto was still so little. Sasuke had seen a lot, including the corpses of his parents, which would have anyone grow a couple of years.

"Sasuke," Minato called to get the boy's attention. The boy looked at him with the same cold stare, but Minato could also see a sulk in there and it made him chuckle. Sasuke gave Minato a deadly glare.

"What's so funny?" he cried out.

Minato placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, giving Sasuke a stern glare. Sasuke seemed to settle down a little and was thinking something over.

"Train me," was the request.

"No," Minato answered, earning him a glare. "I think you should rest, you have been through a lot."

"No! He'll get away! I need to get stronger!" Sasuke screamed his voice almost panicked. Minato gave the boy a sad smile. He wanted to tell Sasuke the truth so bad, but he couldn't he had promised. Minato sat down on one knee getting down to Sasuke's level.

"Revenge will not help you, no matter how much it feels it will."

"How would you know? You know nothing!"

Minato looked away and let out a sad sigh. Images of the people he had lost flashed before him. He closed his eyes briefly before turning back to Sasuke.

"Everyone has to carry around something painful, some more than others, but everyone knows suffering." He explained to the boy, his own pain clearly showing on his face. He placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, hoping to give his point a bit more strength. "Revenge is just hurting other people while getting hurt yourself. It's not going to take the pain away."

Sasuke was looking at Minato with a look of disbelieve, his mouth set in a thin line.

"Go away," the boy said.

"No, I'm not going anywhere."

The boy took a step back and forcefully removed the hand from his shoulder.

"Go away. I hate you! You don't understand anything!" the boy spat out. "I need to become stronger, stronger than him. I will kill him, kill him!"

Minato watched the boy struggle with his demons with a sad face. How could Itachi have done this, hurting him so much. Minato saw the tears that were falling from Sasuke's eyes. He got up and hugged the boy close. He felt Sasuke trying to get out of his hold, but Minato didn't let go. After a bit the boy stopped struggling and Minato loosened his hold a bit.

"You will get strong one day, but there is no rush," Minato said softly. "But being strong is more than to train your body; it's to train your spirit and heart too. A true Shinobi will walk this world with his head held high, no matter what hardships he's been through."

Sasuke wasn't looking at Minato, but Minato knew that Sasuke was listening.

"Dealing with hardships doesn't mean you turn sadness away, it's allowing yourself to grieve and to give it a place in your life."

Minato could almost feel Sasuke frown in confusion and it made him chuckle. He let go of the boy and kneeled down to his level again.

"I know it sounds weird now, but one day you'll understand," Minato explained. "For now it's okay to be sad and even to be angry, but do you want to become like Itachi?"

Sasuke looked up to give Minato a glare and shook his head.

"To kill him means to become like him. To become strong is to be better like that, do you understand."

"Then how… it still hurts…" the boy mumbled, fresh tears in his eyes.

"Time, it'll take time. Lots and lots of time."

This made Sasuke snort and he gave Minato an annoyed look. Minato gave him a smile.

"Annoying, yes I know, but I promise it'll get better."

Kakashi had come back in the room and Minato gave him a nod. Kakashi had been listening to the speech of his former sensei and he knew he had been an idiot. He just wasn't one to deal with other people's emotions.

"So what do you say Kakashi?" Minato asked him.

"Fine," Kakashi answered shrugging.

Sasuke's face seemed to light up a little and he wiped the tears from his face. The boy put his hands in his pocket and fell back into his usual mask of indifference.

"Then go to the training field, I'll be right there."

Sasuke nodded and left for the field. Kakashi turned to Minato and let out a sigh.

"Still think I'm cut out for the job?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes I sure do," Minato laughed. "Now go, don't let the boy wait to long."

Kakashi let out a sigh in defeat. He walked Minato out before going to meet Sasuke on the trainings field. Why his former sensei had so much faith in him was beyond him. He knew nothing about dealing with six year old brats, especially if they had seen their entire clan murdered.

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Kakashi woke up from a scream coming from across the hall. He got up; feeling slightly drowsy and walked to the room of the boy he was blackmailed into taking in a few months back. After his former sensei had talked some sense in the boy he had started to train him. Since then things had been a bit better between the two, although Sasuke wanted to do more than basic Taijutsu. Even though it annoyed Kakashi, he did understand the boy better on the trainings field. That was his thing reading people through their fighting, not dealing with emotions in daily life. He himself just put all those painful things in a box and stored them away, right where they belonged; in the past.

He opened the door and saw the kid tossing and turning is his sleep. Kakashi let out a sigh; this hadn't been the first nightmare. Truth be told the boy wasn't sleeping much because of it and when Kakashi had finally agreed an training him the boy was somewhere else with his mind. He was sloppy and unfocussed. Kakashi walked to the bed, where the boy let out another agonizing scream. Maybe he was too hard on the boy, but pity wasn't going to make someone grow. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, shaking him awake. The boy shot up, his eyes wide open in terror and his face glistering with sweat. The boy looked at Kakashi, his eyes still glazed by what he thought was the nightmare. Kakashi studied the boy as he let out a few coughs. He frowned and placed a hand on his forehead. The skin was burning and he cursed. That explained a few things.

"Why didn't you tell me you were getting a cold?" he asked, but the boy did not answer. "Sasuke?"

Kakashi shook his head and made the boy lay down again. He got a cold cloth and placed it over the kid's forehead. Sasuke just lay there staring at the ceiling. Kakashi left the room to find some cold medicine. Now where had he put that stuff again? He hardly ever got a cold himself, so he never used it. He did have some, because Minato had given it to him a couple of weeks back. "Just in case." Now Kakashi understood and he cursed again. Kids get sick all the time… he remembered getting sick a couple of times when he was little. His memory was a bit hazy on how parents would deal with that. He glanced at the clock and decided that three am wasn't the time to call his old sensei.

After half an hour of going through the house with no result he decided he would buy some in the morning. He went back to Sasuke's room and heard the boy coughing. He sat on the edge of the bed wondering on what to do.

"Go back to sleep," he said, patting the boy's hair awkwardly and left the room.

The rest of the night Kakashi didn't sleep a wink. He was up all night listening for screams, coughs or other signs that the boy was not okay. By morning Sasuke's fever had gone up and the boy refused to eat or take the medicine that Kakashi had gotten him.

Frustrated Kakashi had just left the boy's room, he sat down on his couch downstairs. He heard a knock on his door and went to open it. His old sensei was standing there with Naruto. Right today he was supposed to look after Naruto too…

Minato raised his brow at him and Kakashi gave him a look that told him not to comment or to ask. Minato didn't and just lead Naruto in Kakashi's new apartment.

"Well I should get going. Sure you're okay?" Minato asked.

"Just go…"

"Alright, I'll pick him up tonight," Minato answered and then left.

Naruto gave him a curious blue eyed stare and Kakashi raised a brow.

"What is it kid?"

"Had bad dreams?"

Kakashi looked surprised at the six year olds comment. So he looked sleep deprived enough to worry a six year old. Great just great…

The boy looked around the living room looking for something.

"Where is Sasuke?" the blue eyed boy asked and as if on queue a coughing fit was heard down the hallway. Naruto went to investigate and Kakashi figured it was best to follow. The blond boy walked over to Sasuke and took the empty glass from the bedside table. He left the room to fill it, before he got back and handed it to Sasuke. The dark haired boy glared and continued to cough. Naruto just pushed the glass in his hands. Kakashi watched the scene from the doorway.

Naruto put the now empty glass on the bedside table and saw the cold medicine, recognizing it. His dad had given it to him when he had a cold. Like he had seen Minato do before he put a sachet of the stuff in the glass and filled it with water. He held the glass in front of Sasuke who glared at it before glaring at Naruto.

"Take it, it'll make you better," Naruto stated, but Sasuke shook his head. "Why not?"

"It tastes bad…" he answered as he gave the glass a disgusted look. "It's sour."

This made Naruto frown as he thought on the comment. He got up and took the glass to the kitchen. He looked through Kakashi's kitchen and found what he was looking for. Kakashi was just about to ask Naruto what he was doing when he saw the boy put some sugar in the glass and mixing it with the medicine. The boy took the glass back to Sasuke and gave it to him.

"There is sugar in it," he stated with a beaming smile.

Sasuke eyed the glass suspiciously before taking a sip. He decided that it tasted good enough and emptied the glass.

"Now you should sleep," Naruto ordered, earning himself yet another glare. "I can read you a story."

Sasuke looked absolutely murderous and turned his back to Naruto throwing the blankets over himself.

The day went on and Naruto happily took care of Sasuke and Sasuke somewhat did what Naruto told him. By the end of the day Kakashi had developed a twitch in his eye because of frustration, making him look slightly insane at times. Naruto had asked questions about that: "'Kashi, your eye is strange." Kakashi decided to ignore the questions and prayed the day would be over soon. The fact that a six year old did a better job at taking care of a sick Sasuke then him did bruise his pride. He had done something bad and the Gods seemed to hate him, because when Minato came to pick up Naruto, the boy told his father what happened that day, in detail.

Minato gave Kakashi one look and fell into a laughing fit. Kakashi gave him a glare, but this only made things worse.

"I'm glad you're amused," Kakashi commented bitterly.

Minato tried to stop laughing, he honestly did, but no matter what he just couldn't. He knew how Kakashi felt when he had seen him that morning and the way he looked now confirmed it. He had been up night after night because of Naruto, so he knew the feeling. Kakashi was standing before him looking like a worried parent who didn't know what to do, but instead of a new born and worrying about diapers or feeding, this was a sick six year old.

Minato pulled himself together and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I know."

Kakashi gave him a questioning look and Minato gave him a smile.

"When Naruto first got sick I rushed him to the hospital. The nurses told me it was just a cold and the next day he was just about healthy. Trail and error Kakashi, trial and error."

Kakashi felt even more stupid now. He didn't have the desire to become a parent, ever and yet he looked like one. He let out a sigh.

"If it makes you feel better I can check up on him," Minato said with a slight playful smirk.

"Whatever makes you happy," Kakashi answered, tiredly.

Minato gave him a nod and went to check up on Sasuke. He was sleeping peacefully and his fever had gone down.

"He should be fine in a couple of days," Minato said to Kakashi. "Just make sure he drinks enough and have him eat soup if he doesn't want to eat anything else."

"Yeah, yeah I got it."

Minato picked up Naruto, ready to go home. "If you need me you know where to find me."

Kakashi gave a slight wave, signalling he understood. When Minato and Naruto had gone home, he lay down on the couch and was asleep instantly.

0000000000000

It was cold outside, even for February. Today Minato didn't mind sitting in his office doing paperwork. Naruto had been impossible for the last couple of days. Sasuke had beaten him in a spar when Naruto was over at Kakashi's. When he gotten home he was very clear on the matter: it was no fair that Sasuke was stronger then him. So he had bugged Minato about training. He wanted to learn something cool. Minato had told him that he would stick to the basics only and would learn Naruto 'cool' Jutsu when he was older. Naruto wasn't happy and was resorting to sulking and disobeying Minato in every way possible.

So now Minato was sitting at his desk reading mission reports. It was nice and quiet and Kakashi could deal with his son today. That sounded unfair, but Naruto was just different around Kakashi and his former student could be very strict if he wanted to. He was very proud of him and the way Kakashi handled Sasuke now a days. The dark haired boy seemed to talk a little more and allowed himself to grieve, even if he shut himself in his room to do so. Sasuke seemed pretty relaxed around Kakashi and Kakashi had earned some credit by helping Sasuke work on his family fire Jutsu. Even though Minato had not agreed on that, feeling that the boy was still too young, it seemed it was the right thing to do. The down side was that this had Naruto jealous, but Minato was going to stick to basics with Naruto. Even if Naruto was going to give him hell about it, he was his son and that was just unfortunate for the boy.

He forced himself back into concentration. These mission reports needed his attention now, he would deal with the other stuff when he was back home. He had made the mistake of letting his private life interfere with his work as Hokage once and it cost them dearly. Itachi was still to be found and he could only pray that Sasuke would turn out okay. He let out a sigh and focussed on the report of an S-classed mission in front of him. The old man Sarutobi had asked him to send some ANBU to check up on Orochimaru. The man who was the third Hokage's former student had fled the village after his forbidden Jutsu's were discovered. Sarutobi feared that it would be those Jutsu that would come back to haunt them again. The report told him nothing new on the matter and he had already gotten the info from the ANBU before. He put the report in the folder and went on to the next one. It would be nice to have an assistant to do these things. Being Hokage was only 'cool' when the village was in danger. In daily life he was nothing but a hero doing paperwork. There probably was something noble in that too.

There was a knock on the door and Minato looked up from the report.

"Enter."

His eyes went wide at the new stack of paper that entered his office. Today was going to be a long, long day.

"These need to be signed, Hokage-sama."

"Just put them… somewhere."

The papers were placed on an empty spot on his desk. Minato glared at the papers and the person who brought them in quickly left the office. Minato let out a sigh as he felt a presence enter his office through the window.

"Use the door," he said annoyed to the new presence, which probably was Kakashi.

"The pot and the kettle," was the answer.

Minato turned around with his chair and his eyes went wide.

"Long time no see."

So a little more on Sasuke this time. This chapter wasn't planned, it wrote itself. I guess Sasuke needed some spotlight too and it gave me some change to work on the interaction between Sasuke and Naruto.

I'm sorry for those of you who wanted more of the Uchiha to live. I hope that this makes up for killing all of them.

I know that people like to leave suggestions; I've had a couple of them. I'm sorry if I don't use them very often. The storyline is pretty much set, but I do take any suggestion into consideration, so please keep sending them. If I have room for it in the story I will surely use it!

Please leave a review, I would really like the feedback. I'm not a writer that will only continue with a certain amount of review, but I do like them.

So let me know your thoughts, feelings and idea's on this chapter or other chapters and remember that it's the readers that make a story truly great!

21-12-2011:

I did some editing on some of the chapters. I was rereading what I have so far and came across some stupid mistakes. It's nothing life altering and the base of the story is still the same. It was mostly that I changed Naruto's age, because when the idea of the story came to my mind, Naruto was older at the start of the story. Later on I made him a couple of years younger. I had forgotten to also change that in the first chapters. I'm sorry for that...

If anyone notices more mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them.