A note on the chapter is below/answers to some questions. Skip to the zeros and lines to proceed to the story.

Some of Sasuke's logic/POV on his clan and relationships were based on the intro of the "Sasuke's Story: Sunrise" book. This can of course be read without reading the book, but it will probably add clarity if you have.

And in response to the questions asked in the reviews of the last chapter: Itachi will be showing up within the next few chapters. Three or four, give or take. Naruto and Sasuke will be acquainted eventually-- but here's a reminder that this story will be focusing on Sasuke, Itachi, and Tobirama so their friendship won't be the focal point of the story. And finally, Tobirama will most likely train Naruto at least a bit. As I said, though, it might not be a very big part of the story. Thank you for reviewing.

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As the two settled at the table, Sasuke was quick to give his thanks and begin eating. After all, he'd need plenty of energy for their training later on today. The last thing he wanted was for Tobira to think he wasn't worth putting effort into.

No, Sasuke would prove that he was worth training. He'd impress Tobira enough that there wouldn't be room for doubt in the elder shinobi's mind.

With this thought fueling him, the ravenet took bite after bite of the tomato-filled omelette. The two ate in calm silence, Sasuke preoccupied with his food and Tobira not exactly being the most sociable of men.

It didn't take long for the food to disappear, Tobira taking the dishes to the sink to wash off. Meanwhile, Sasuke stood, moving over to get the fresh bento box on the counter.

"You should try to eat more today." the silver-haired shinobi noted from across the kitchen, glancing over at the boy only momentarily. "You don't want to be training on a half-full stomach."

Sasuke held the bento in his arms, pausing uncertainly before nodding. That would definitely make it more difficult to keep up with things. "I'll eat more today. There was just more in there than I was used to packing."

The young Uchiha picked up his backpack as Tobira finished up the dishes, the man seeming only somewhat discontent with the response. "Good. You need to get used to eating more if you want to have enough energy. You're tiny enough as it is."

"But aren't shinobi supposed to be tiny?" Sasuke couldn't help but ask as they headed towards the front door, Tobira leading him out. He didn't know of many large shinobi. All the best ones were small and lean-- Shisui, Itachi, the Hokage. Even father hadn't been particularly bulky. "So they can be sneaky."

Tobira's brow rose, the two walking along through the compound but not daring to look anywhere but at each other. "They can be." the man admitted, "But there are many ways to be a shinobi. Some are loud and straightforward while others choose to be silent and stealthy. It depends on their methods of fighting. This doesn't change the fact that they all need lots of food for energy. Bulky or lean, muscles are all a result of your body turning food into power. The exercises you choose to do and your natural build just so happen to influence which way the muscles will turn out."

Blinking, Sasuke found a small 'oh' leaving his lips. Having strong and explosive jutsu was one thing. There had to be a fight eventually. Having a big presence, though? He'd always assumed people from the Inuzuka or Akimichi clan were just naturally bad at being shinobi. "But how can someone stay hidden if they're bulky? It sounds hard."

Seeing Tobira's considering look, the young Uchiha explained as they pressed past the gates of the compound, "Shisui used to say that shinobi are supposed to get rid of threats secretly. So that the people who don't fight are safe without being scared."

"It depends." the taller man's voice lowered as they entered the streets of the village, the boy ignoring the occasional glance they got. Everyone seemed so interested in Tobira, the young boy had noticed. Not that he could blame them. The man was really...something. "The world needs many types of shinobi. Some are meant to lead, some fight head-on, while others focus on getting things done quickly. Strategy based shinobi, healers, jutsu inventors, silent protectors-- they all work together to create the shinobi world. Each is important, in their own right."

Sasuke couldn't help the way his eyes widened slightly as the man spoke. There were that many types of shinobi? They'd talked briefly about specialists, but those were mainly jutsu types...not like these. "What kind of shinobi do you think I'll be best as?" he questioned, thinking back to his clan. They'd mostly been leaders and fighters, if he had to guess. They had been the police force, after all. Other than Itachi and Shisui. They probably fell closer to the silent protector's role. Well, the boy noted with offhanded bitterness, Itachi would have before he decided to give up his act.

The boy stayed planted in place as he asked his question, bento held close even as students began passing him. Though they had arrived at the school gate, he didn't want to leave just yet. He wanted to know what the man thought.

Even as silence passed between them, Sasuke stayed still. Letting Tobira touch his masked chin as he looked the young uchiha over. Sasuke reflexively straightened as red eyes ran over him, shifting as Tobira seemed to decide on an answer.

"Though I haven't known you long enough to say for certain, nor have I seen you fight enough to be sure, my first impressions tell me this." Tobira's low voice came, bringing Sasuke to further attention. "I believe you would do well with speed or perhaps as a strategist. You definitely seem to have the mind for it."

Sasuke blinked as Tobira lightly tapped his own head, the ravenet nodding ever so slightly. "My family was really fast. I'll have to wait until I have my sharingan for that to really be an option, though." words laced with disappointment. "Until then, maybe I can try to be a strategist. I'll probably need it to fight Itachi..." looking upward as his brows furrowed in thought. He still wasn't certain he'd ever become strong enough to win against Itachi if he tried to have a forward fight. As long as he had a good strategy, though, there was hope.

He'd have to have a really good strategy to fight someone as tricky as Itachi. Even if his brother was evil, Sasuke couldn't deny that he was on a special level when it came to fighting. Speed, power, strategy-- the young Uchiha had heard praise of all types for his brother strung across the village before.

His thoughts were forced to the side as he noticed Tobira giving him a look that the young Uchiha couldn't quite place. Was it doubt? Curiosity? Discomfort? He had no idea. The red eyes that laid on him, however, lingered a moment too long for comfort before looking over towards the school. "We can discuss your sharingan and combat focus later on, during training. For now, you need to get to class and I need to head to the Hokage's office to discuss the details of the compound."

Dark eyes followed Tobira's line of sight, the boy eyeing the school. The front area was pretty much vacant, with the exception of a few lingering older students and some staff members encouraging them to move inwards. There were fewer sensei lingering out front than normal.

"Okay." he agreed, taking a breath and steadying himself as he saw the school. Right. Once class was over, he'd be able to train with Tobira. A productive day, if he was able to focus. "Do I have to stay here for you again?" he double-checked, not wanting to waste training time by having their days not come together right. The boy was satisfied as the silver-haired shinobi gave a nod.

"Yes. That'll be our rule unless I say otherwise-- I should be here to pick you up on time, but if I'm not, you know where to go." the man confirmed.

With that, it was time to part ways.

Sasuke gave a small nod, turning towards the school building with his bento in hand and bag on his shoulder.

The small boy walked forward, passing by some of the lingering older students and one or two newer students who still seemed to be having trouble parting with their parents for the day.

As he walked along the halls and towards his classroom, Sasuke noticed fewer and fewer teachers around. There was, however, a steady flow of people coming in and out of the staff room. The teachers looked...nervous?

Reflexively, the boy's back straightened and he held his lunch to his chest. Even as Sasuke forced a calm expression, fingers twitched around the full box.

They'd talked about what to do if there was danger. The teachers had to bring them to the shelter. Plus he hadn't noticed anything off in the village. So it was probably just a work problem. Maybe one of the teachers got in trouble or something?

Entering the classroom, Sasuke glanced around the sensei-less room for a seat, finding one soon enough. It was empty, but unfortunately, the two seats beside it were not.

The ravenet would normally try to arrive early so that he could sit next to someone less talkative-- like Shino or Shikamaru. If they already had someone sitting next to them, he'd opt for a seat by the wall so that he'd only have one person to deal with. This wasn't an option today.

Setting his bag and lunch by his feet, Sasuke slipped into the seat between Sakura and Ino. He half wondered if they'd set their differences aside just to plan it, false looks of innocence they sent him as they sat down. The boy rested his elbows on his desk, leaning on his hands and trying to make the disappointment that bubbled in his gut disappear.

It wasn't like he hated them. They were both smart, and it wasn't like they were terrible in a fight. It was just...they'd been acting so strange lately. It was fine at the start of the academy, and the times he'd met Ino before that had been alright.

The young Uchiha could remember the few times Ino and her parents had been invited over to the compound, as well as the times following that Ino had invited him over to her house to hang out. In the beginning, he'd just been mimicking his father. Trying to get along with Ino like the elder Uchiha had tried to do with the Yamanaka. It wasn't as hard as he'd thought it would be.

They would go out to the backyard and practice ninjutsu while the adults spoke. Sometimes they'd even sneak into one of his aunts' gardens and steal some of her cherry tomatoes. Sasuke didn't like them as much as regular tomatoes, but apparently they were Ino's favourite. It was fun to try not to get caught, but when they did, at least Ino was always able to charm even the strictest of his aunts into not telling their parents.

All in all, she'd been alright.

Still, the brief warmth he'd felt when they were together began to fade not long after it had begun to grow. Sasuke had no idea what had gotten into her, but she'd suddenly started refusing to participate in their usual sneaking games. That had been weird, but fine. She'd seemed pretty adamant about it, so he'd suggested they train some. She'd said no to that too.

The weirdest part was, even after the sudden change, she'd been upset when he said they could just sit and wait for the adults to get done. Sasuke still didn't completely understand why she was so upset about not doing anything after rejecting all their usual games and training. Nor did he understand why she kept staring at him for the remainder of that night.

The Yamanakas had left early, and the boy had a feeling it had something to do with the way Ino had suddenly stood and all but stormed off to pull her mother off to the side.

When the blonde returned with a polite yet direct offer of visiting their home for dinner, Sasuke had hesitantly accepted. The eyes of the four adults on him had made it too uncomfortable to question it.

Even now, thinking back on it, Sasuke had no idea why they'd all seemed to find it almost...funny? The young Uchiha shifted in his seat as he heard the girls silently arguing from beside him. That day had been so out of place. The dinner, the amused but almost pitying look from her father, the tour of their garden- the insistence from the girl that they shouldn't train because they were supposed to be relaxing together.

Then she just got stranger and stranger. Always wanting to spend time with him, but never wanting to do anything that he liked. Loudly insisting that they were very close to anyone who would listen. Doing things together began to make him feel the same cold discomfort as when his aunty would force sweets upon him back when he was younger.

Eventually, Sasuke found himself telling lies, no matter how guilty it made him feel. He was busy. His mother needed help today. His brother was going to train with him. It worked for a short while, until she started asking to join.

The young Uchiha wasn't sure why he'd said it, other than to get some of the weight off his chest. He'd admitted to it. To not wanting to spend time with her, to wanting to be alone. Strangely enough, it had just made her push harder.

At some point, he couldn't deny her following him around was annoying. No matter how quiet she was. It made something under his skin crawl. He didn't want to spend time with her. Especially not after his family was gone...the flowers hadn't made him feel nearly as good as she seemed to think they would.

He just...wanted to be left alone. Sasuke always had. The boy wanted to be alone with his clan-- the only ones who had ever been able to make him feel so warm and, well, loved. Their support made him...him. His father's love for his clan was the very same that Sasuke had. His mothers urge for productivity and what he had thought was his brother's holy devotion to the village. The air of safety Shisui had always carried when taking care of the clansmen younger than him.

Sasuke no longer had a chance of following in the footsteps of his father nor Shisui. It felt like a piece of him had been pulled out. The realization that he would never be able to go down in his clan's history book as one of their strongest fighters made his stomach feel cold. No one would ever write in the clan documents about how hard he'd worked to become powerful, or how he used his power to make everyone safe. No one would write in them at all. After all, what was the use of recording it if there would be no one to read them in the future? His only hope for being remembered was as the sole survivor of a powerful clan, so weak its destroyer didn't bother killing him off.

Ino hadn't understood. It was only then that he began to understand how selfish she was.

It made a different warmth fill him when she'd suggested he be included in his wife's clan's history. It wasn't a nice warmth. This one burnt. It was a feeling he'd gotten familiar with.

No one understood. How could they? He'd lost his clan. If Ino, who was not only a clan member but an heir just like him didn't understand, how could anyone?

Sasuke paused. He was having those thoughts again. The ones that made him feel like he was going to puke at any moment. The boy rubbed his face, quietly looking around the full classroom with desperate eyes. When was sensei coming? It was so much easier to not think about those things when others were near.

Part of him felt guilty as he shoved the thoughts away, but the other half couldn't help but want them to quiet down. The boy supposed he'd gotten a little too used to Tobira always being there. Even if the man wasn't very talkative, he at least gave Sasuke something else to think about. It was better than before, where all he could do to make the thoughts quiet down was train himself until all he could focus on was the ache of his body. Or, worse yet, before that-- when he'd not been able to distract himself, let alone let others do it. When he'd rejected what was happening completely.

Maybe one day the thoughts would quiet down. It'd probably be the same day Itachi was finally dead. Once his clan was finally put to rest. When their souls could really be in peace.

Sasuke hoped it would be soon. Maybe, if he focused especially hard on his training and used what Tobira would give him right, he'd be able to fight Itachi in a few years. Even if it seemed like a dream now, it was something he'd have to do eventually. For the sake of his family's souls and his own safety. He would need to avenge his clan, even if he wasn't sure he was ready to think about that just yet.

Really, if he could just stop thinking all together, that would be perfect. The young Uchiha knew it wasn't possible, but lately, he'd definitely been wishing it was.

"I think you've finally broken him." Shikamaru's dull voice came just as a finger pressed to his cheek, Sasuke reflexively yanking his head back with a warning look.

Shikamaru was watching him, turned around in the seat in front of him. How hadn't he noticed? Was he really that out of focus? "Shut up, Shikamaru." the grumble left his lips without much thought, not that he regretted it. The spiky-haired Nara only rolled his eyes, bringing his hands back to lounging over the chair as Sasuke rubbed at his cheek.

Ino's barky voice came from beside him, the blonde nodding furiously, "Yeah, Shikamaru! He was obviously thinking about something important!" she scolded, much to Sasuke's ire. Why she insisted on leaping to his defence and rooting for him he'd never get. He'd thought he'd made it perfectly clear how much she bothered him. He wasn't going to suddenly start wanting to be her friend again because she told people that annoyed him to shut up.

Unfortunately, Sasuke knew that wasn't going to be the last voice that gave an unwanted comment. The ravenet didn't bother speaking right away and, just as expected, a firm voice came from his other side. This one, no matter how shaky it might be, rang with the same second-hand anger as Inos. "Exactly! He was probably thinking about training or-"

Sakura's voice was cut off by a huff from Shikamaru, the brunet waving his hand lightly. "Okay, okay. I got it. Sheesh."

Sasuke had to admit, as annoying as it was to be poked, it might be forgiven since that got the green-eyed girl to quiet down. Again, he didn't exactly hate the girl, but it was weird how she acted just as bad as Ino without even knowing him.

"I don't really care about you all being a drag to Sasuke," Shikamaru promised, which somehow earned him dirty looks from the girls too. Was there any winning?

Leaning forward in her seat, Ino sent the Nara a displeased look. "Well, what do you want, then?" an obvious attempt to get him to go back to minding his own business.

It didn't seem to work, the dark-eyed boy tapping at his seat with a bored expression. "I was wondering if he had noticed it too, if maybe that's why he was looking around so much."

Probably too proud to ask what he meant, Ino merely gave a roll of her eyes, leaning forward on her desk to look at him. A silent command for answers.

Sasuke's fingers twitched as a low voice came from beside Shikamaru, their bug loving classmate balancing a beetle on his finger as he noted, "All the sensei have been in the staff room. Sensei was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. My father was acting off this morning."

Shino's voice was not one Sasuke heard often. Though he had to strain to hear it, the words made him pause. Shikamaru's small nod and addition of, "Mine was too." made him more uncomfortable.

So he had been right. Something was off this morning. "So was mine, now that I think about it." Ino's voice was smaller now, no longer holding the warning tone from before as the words sunk in.