Sasuke: Frozen Memories is a fan created work. Naruto and it's recognizable characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Hatake Tora, Hatake Hana, and the horses they raise and own, or propertyof Rayen King. Please support the official release.

Rayen: Thank you, Sasuke. Now here. *hands armor and camoflauge.* You might want to hide now.

Chapter 11

"What the hell was that?" I muttered as I stood, looking around. The boat had hit a high wave, and everyone got knocked down.

"Kakashi-Sensei, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine… Thanks for asking," I looked over at where Sasuke and Tora were, and couldn't believe my eyes.

Sasuke and Tora were frozen on the deck, their lips locked together.

He is kissing my little sister… I don't care if he is my prized student. He is so fucking dead! I thought as I started storming over. The boat lurched again, but I was prepared and used my chakra to stay upright. As I closed in, I grabbed my student by the back of his shirt, and yanked him off of Tora, throwing him against the cabin.

In the back of my head, I know they didn't mean to kiss because of the ship, but at the same time, they both should have pulled away by now. And knowing what I did about Sasuke, I was not going to allow him to break my sister's heart when he chose revenge and power over her. She was a fragile being, no matter how strong she pretended to be. Especially right now with her mind and heart recovering from being proven wrong about me after so long.

I stormed after the teen I had thrown, and grabbed the front of his shirt and glared him down. I was ready to hit him.

"Kakashi," my sister's voice snapped. "Stop."

I blinked once, and then saw Tora standing sort of between Sasuke and me, my wrist firmly held in her hand, nails digging in. She was glaring at me, and breathing heavily. Either from the exertion of the spar, the shock of what just happened, or from getting up. I took a slow, steadying breath, then spoke. "Tora… are you alright?" I swear, if she told me no, I don't care if Sasuke is the last Uchiha Loyal to Kohona—He. Will. Die.

She growled. "I'm fine, but you won't be unless you let Sasuke go this minute."

Now, that surprised me; though they didn't have open hostility like Sakura and her, but it was also wasn't exactly friendly like her interactions with Naruto. It was like just an understanding to just stay out of each other's way. I sighed, but slowly released my student's shirt. Once I let go, Tora released me, turned and walked down below deck, as if nothing had happened.

As I saw the royal purple cloth at her belt disappeared, I watched Sasuke follow her after a few minutes.

It had been about twenty minutes since Sasuke had followed my sister down, and I had spent all of it pacing the deck, glaring at the door waiting for one of them to come back up.

"Sensei—" Sakura started, only for me to finally give up waiting and storm below deck.

As I came to the bottom of the stairs, I heard my sister's voice. "I'm sorry for kicking your ass."

"It's fine… I guess I did get a little cocky," Sasuke actually… chuckled in response.

"Yea… you kinda were. But I can't believe you fell for me faking!" my sister laughed, and I followed the sound, then frowned as I heard Sasuke laughing as well.

"Well, to be honest, I was scared shitless that if I had actually hurt you, your brother was gonna throw me off the boat…" he replied.

There was a soft… giggle. My sister just giggled. I peeked around a corner and saw them sitting together on the floor, near the phone closet. My sister looked like she had been crying, but was now laughing, and Sasuke was… actually smiling. A real smile.

"You should smile and laugh more," Tora said, looking up at him. She was a head shorter than Sasuke, even sitting on the floor side by side. "Makes you look your age."

"Then you should too. 'Cause you always look like you're about thirty-five."

"HEY!" she punched his arm. "Are you calling me old?! I'm the same age as you!"

He chuckled. "Then why do you always have an old lady scowl on your face?" Tora went quiet, and the smile she had that reminded me of when she was a kid faded, and I felt a jab in my heart even as Sasuke's own smile melded into a frown. "Hey… what's wrong? Did I say something?"

"You don't get the worries I always have…" her voice was soft. "Ivan is my only client right now… Since Orochimaru's invasion, I've lost so much business… I need this job so badly…" she sniffled softly. "If this movie turns out to be a flop, I'll be lucky if I don't have to sell half my herd…"

"Why?" Sasuke asked, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders as her knees pulled up to her chest.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I had to mortgage my property to pay for Luce… If I hadn't bought him, I don't think he would have lived to be four years old…" her voice was soft and small. "It took me a year to figure out his quirks… and then another year to just get him ground broke. I literally just finished saddle breaking him before Ivan insisted that I use him for Santos's replacement!" her fingers gripped her knees tightly. "Every night I work him, I'm terrified that he will spook so bad that he will go right over the side… or hurt himself. The closer we get to the Land of Snow, the icier the deck gets at night… Hell, I don't even know what I'm gonna do with him while we escort Yukie… I mean we're still gonna have to shoot, so I won't have a choice but to bring him, but what if we get into a real battle? I have no way of keeping him out of harm's way, and if I turn him loose I stand the chance of losing him forever. He cost me over five hundred thousand yen! Do you understand how big of an investment that is for me? What Hana and I could lose?"

Sasuke was quiet, processing what she had said. Then he spoke softly. "You're right… I don't get that… I don't have anyone but myself to take care of." He pulled his arm away, and rubbed his forehead. "I don't understand the investments or anything else you're talking about, but I guess I can see why that would make you worry… but I'm sure Kakashi would—"

"No!" she snapped, standing and starting to walk away. "I started this business on my own, without my brother's help! I did this to prove to him and everyone else that I can do this by myself." She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "I am Hatake Tora. I'm not a shinobi, but instead, I am the best and youngest stunt horse trainer and handler in all of Fire Country. And I don't want my brother's help!"

Sasuke stood and walked up and placed a hand her shoulder. "Tora, Kakashi loves you. I can see that. Ever since he saw you at the lot back in Fire Country, he has been trying to show you that. But at every turn you fight him… until this morning… When I walked in and saw you two together…" he looked away. "It made me think of when my brother and I got along…" Tora's eyes snapped open, and she turned to face him, staring at him. "Itachi… Itachi would tutor me in jutsus… to try and show our Father I was capable… but Father always threw my brother's success in my face. So, I started to get jealous, and started practicing on my own." He looked away from my sister's face, and I listened quietly as well. "If I hadn't been practicing… he would have killed me too when he slaughtered our clan…" his eyes had that faraway look he got when he thought of that night. Tora reached forward, her bare fingers gently brushing his cheek, and he flinched, his eyes coming back to the present before he looked back at her. "Anyway… Kakashi wants you to be able to relax… to be able to be a kid…" Tora looked down, and Sasuke gently took her chin in his hand. "Tell me about why you thought you hated Kakashi."

Tora's shoulders went stiff, and then she looked away. "It's… it's complicated…"

"Come on, talk to me," my student encouraged. "Make me understand."

She sighed, and then she slowly started telling him about that night, as well as a few other times she misunderstood something I had done before she and Hana moved out. I looked at the floor as I listened, recalling one myself.

Six Years Before.

I had just gotten home from a mission, and I shrugged out of my vest and sat my ANBU mask on a table before I put my weapons away, then kicked off my shoes and put them on the shelf.

"Hana, Tora, Ms. Atou, I'm home," I called sighing as I pulled my wallet out, counting out the old woman's pay.

"Ah, welcome home, Hatake-San," the old woman said, setting down my five year old youngest sister so she could run to my arms as I knelt down.

"Big brother!" Hana yelled as she leapt into my chest, and I hugged her close, kissing her silver hair. "Welcome home!"

I smiled, standing with her in my arms. "Hello, Hana. Where's Tora?" I asked, looking at Ms. Atou as I handed her the yen she was owed. She was so far the only babysitter Tora hadn't ran off yet.

"She left this morning, she wouldn't say where she was going, but at her age I'd say she would be at the park."

I sighed, but nodded. "Alright… thank you for taking care of them this week… I'm sure Tora was a bit of a handful…"

"Actually, she was surprisingly easy. She came home, had supper, helped Hana with her homework, and then even she put her to bed before she crashed herself."

I frowned. That didn't sound like my sister, but maybe she had finally gotten over whatever that tantrum was. But then again, it did at the same time; Tora had been coming home tired most days and she would only have enough energy for a few things—namely eating, helping Hana with homework, and then usually helping her to bed. I wondered idly what she was doing that had her so exhausted.

"I started dinner—pot stickers and rice soup with stir fried veggies," Ms. Atou said, pulling on her jacket.

"I don't have missions for another couple weeks, but if something comes up would I be able to drop the girls off?" I asked, knowing sometimes things came up at random.

"Of course! You know I don't mind," she smiled, and then waved as she walked out.

I waved, and then blinked as Hana pulled down my face mask. "I like seeing your face, big brother! Don't hide it!"

I laughed, kissing her cheek. "Alright, Hana. Now, you go wash up while I go check on dinner."

"Okay!" she hopped out of my arms and ran down the hall, and I chuckled.

I walked to the kitchen, and inhaled the delicious smell of food before stirring everything. The phone rang as I did, and I reached over and answered the phone. "Hatake household, this is Kakashi," I said with a soft yawn. Damnit I was tired. And sore. I was gonna take a nice, long, hot bath once I had eaten.

"A-ah! Just the man I was looking for!" a voice said in a concerned and nervous tone. I frowned, pausing in my work of stirring the pots. I did not recognize this guy's voice.

"Yeah… Who is this, and can I help you?" I grunted. If this was a prank, I was not gonna be happy.

"Oh, um… this is Itou Hiraku… I'm your little sister's boss out at Hiraku Acres?"

I blinked. Boss? Tora doesn't have a job… unless… well that would explain why she is so tired in the evenings. "I… see… I was not aware Tora was working… but might I ask what you need?"

"Well…" he seemed even more nervous. "There was… an accident… and I had to take Tora to the hospital."

My eyes widened, and I glanced to the hallway as Hana yelled about not being tall enough to reach the water facet. "What happened?" my hands flew to all the knobs, shutting off the stove and covering the pots, as I then ran to get my jacket as well as my youngest sister's.

"Well, as best as we can tell, she slipped on something in the hay mow, and fell in a pile of new shavings, and then somehow rolled into a wall and got knocked unconscious."

I gritted my teeth. As best as we can tell—no one was with her?! "I'm gonna be there in fifteen minutes. And you better have an explanation as to why no one was keeping an eye on her." I hung up, and I went to Hana. "Hana, change of plans, you have to go hang out with Ms. Atou for a little bit ok?"

"Why?" she asked as I helped her into her jacket.

"I have to go pick up Tora. She's late for supper," I lied slightly, and then I took a deep breath to keep myself calm. "Now go get your shoes on."

"Okay!" she ran to get her shoes on, and I called Ms. Atou and explained everything. Then I dropped her off, and ran to the hospital, quickly finding my sister's room once I checked in.

"You," I immediately stormed towards the man who I assumed was her boss. "Why wasn't anyone with her to keep her from slipping?! That was a fucking liability!" I was seeing red. My baby sister was hurt because this guy was negligent. "What in the hell made you think it was ok to leave her alone?!"

"We were trying to catch a horse that had gotten out! She was getting a bale of hay to try and bait him! I thought she was gonna grab one that was already down!" Itou snapped in response, clearly already stressed out. "And how the hell did you not know she was working?!"

"She didn't tell me!" I snarled in response, my hands clenching. Tora didn't tell me anything anymore… she used to tell me everything. Always. "But that isn't my point, I shouldn't be finding out about it because she got hurt—I should be finding out because you were inviting us to a work event or something!"

There was a whimper, and my head snapped to look at my poor sister, who had her left arm in a cast, and her head had bandages wrapped around it. She looked so… small… in that big bed. I stepped closer. "Sis?"

"Why is it so bright...? And why does my head hurt?" she groaned, keeping her eyes closed.

I sighed and started to move closer. "You took quite the fall," I explained, crossing my arms.

"Oh..." She took a breath, then got herself scooted up to a sitting position, and looked at Itou. "Did you catch the horse?"

He nodded. "We had just caught him when we heard you scream. He's in a paddock right now."

I never felt more hurt than when my sister pretended I wasn't even in the room…

Present Day.

I came back to Tora and Sasuke once again leaning against the wall, sitting together, my sister's voice still going. "And so I grew away from him, and once I had learned enough from working at Hiraku Acres and a few other farms, and then bought my own horses and farm, and started my stunt horse business once I had a few good horses ready…" her story wrapped up, and she was staring at the floor.

Sasuke was quiet for a while, staring up at the light on the wall across from them. "I see…" his voice sounded thoughtful. "I guess, I really don't have nothing to counter that."

"Is that so?" she nudged him in the ribs, giggling in an attempt to feel like she felt better. "The great Uchiha Sasuke has nothing to say?"

"Shut up," he nudged back. "So… I noticed you called me "Sasuke" when you told Kakashi to let me go," he said quietly.

I noticed that too. That might have been for my benefit though…

"Yeah, so what?" Tora answered, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I like it when you call me 'Spiky' better."

Rayen: I hope I gave Sasuke a big enough head start...