Sasuke walked with his hands clenched tightly in his pockets, wishing every pair of eyes looking at him would disappear. His mother wouldn't have approved of his improper posture, but it didn't matter anymore. His mother was dead—along with everyone else. All of them, murdered in cold blood…by him.
"This is it, Sasuke-kun," the Sandaime said with a gentle smile. "Your new home."
Sasuke surveyed the building with disinterest. It was a rather run-down apartment complex in a part of Konoha that he had never set foot in before—probably for good reason. They climbed to the second floor and the Sandaime knocked on one of the doors.
There was the sound of a loud crash followed by a yelp of pain. "Coming!"
Sasuke froze. He knew that voice. Sure enough, the door swung open and he found himself staring straight into the idiotic face of his classmate—Naruto Uzumaki.
"Eh?" Naruto looked as shocked as he felt, just a hundred times stupider. He pointed a stubby finger at Sasuke. "What's he doing here, jiji?"
"Naruto, I believe you've already met Sasuke-kun," the Sandaime answered pleasantly. "He's going to be your roommate from now on."
"Ehhhh?" The other boy's jaw dropped. "You want me to live with him?! You've got to be kidding, jiji!"
For once in his life, Sasuke found himself agreeing with the idiot. He turned to leave, but the Sandaime put his hands on his shoulders and steered him into the apartment.
"Now, now," the Sandaime said, "it might take some getting used to, but if you boys give it a chance, I think you'll find that it won't be as bad as you think."
"I'd rather live on my own than live with him," Sasuke muttered.
The Sandaime smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but this is what the council decided. An eight-year-old boy shouldn't be living on his own, and our orphanages are already filled to overflowing. This was the best solution we could come up with."
"But he was allowed to live on his own." He jerked his head towards Naruto.
The Sandaime nodded. "That's true, but that was only due to special circumstances. As you can see, we remediated the problem as soon as we could by having you come to live here as well. Now, is there anything else?"
Although the softness of the old man's voice never wavered, Sasuke could sense a will of iron beneath the amicable exterior. He shook his head sullenly. It didn't matter anyway. Nothing mattered anymore.
"Good," the Sandaime smiled. "I'm going to talk to Naruto outside for a minute, so please make yourself at home."
After they left, Sasuke dropped his bag and sank down heavily on the bed. He glanced around, taking in the peeling paint, moldy odor, and leaky faucet.
"I want to go home," he murmured without thinking.
Immediately, memories of blood-stained tatami mats and empty, silent rooms that smelled of
death bombarded him. He curled into a ball, trying in vain to force the images away.
That's right, he thought bitterly. He didn't have a home anymore.
Author's Note: Well, here it is. The first chapter of my shiny new story. As with every story that I post, I've already finished writing this. There are 31 chapters, and I will be aiming to post one chapter each day. It's going to be a fun ride, so I hope you guys enjoy. Thanks for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think!