Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or setting. No copyright infringement intended.

Kunai are flying and people yelling, his team had been ambushed. A quick spin found that Shikimaru was down. He yelled to Sakura to tend to him, back flipping out of the way of an arrow and then springing forward to avoid a kick. He used a quick Jutsu, his clones spreading out to compensate for their numbers. Five against three dozen are not even odds. His clones, created on the thought to fight, did just that. The odds evened out, they held their ground. The surprise was wearing off and they flew through the opposing ninja's with quick efficiency.

That was, of course, until he came.

Getting a summons to the Hokage's office was not a regular thing for Sasuke. It worried him actually, he kept to himself, didn't cause trouble, and the town mostly ignored him. He liked it that way, much better than in the beginning when every time he'd go to market people would give him a wide birth and ninja's stood their guard higher. Now a days the town chose to forget about the Uchiha family and their two crazy traitor sons. So getting a summons from Tsunade was very out of the ordinary. Traveling up to her office in the tower, Sasuke found himself being trailed by two Anbu. He wasn't that surprised really, more annoyed. It wasn't like he could hurt anyone anymore.

Tsunade looked horrible. Her face was pale, her eyes red, and her brows pinched. Sasuke became even more worried. He bowed to her respectfully, and waited for her to address him. It took a while; she was bent over a stack of mission reports, reading like a madwoman whose final hope was in the scrolls. And the longer Sasuke stood there, the more worried he became. Just as he was tempted to fidget, she spoke.

"Sasuke."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" If she was surprised by the way his voice sounded, she didn't show it. Sasuke didn't feel the need to find out.

"I need you to do something. You won't like it, but it needs to be done." Sasuke stayed silent and let her finish. "I understand that you are technically not a ninja anymore, and that you can not use your Chakra."

"Technically." Sasuke felt the need to add. Tsunade just nodded her head. You couldn't really keep a ninja from being a ninja, it was in the soul.

"Having said that, I am aware that you have continued your studies. You are very talented, Sasuke, and very strong. Even without access to your Chakra. I have no doubt that you could pass the Jounin test easily, and you are nineteen."

"Hokage." The tired woman sighed.

"Something happened on Naruto's last mission, Sasuke. His entire team is missing. Relations have been tight recently with some of the other villages, and trouble has been brewing for sometime." Her fingers stapled together and she stared thoughtfully over the dark haired boy's shoulder. "A war is at hand, Uchiha. It will be much different than the last." Sasuke waited for the Fifth Hokage to continue, knowing she couldn't possibly be asking for his support. There was something else. "I need you to take up the training of some Genin teams. I just can not spare the Jounin anymore for their training, and they need to be trained."

"I will not be able to take them on missions like this." His words like this echoed in the room. The Honorable Fifth Hokage knew what he meant.

"We are not spread so thin as to not be able to spare Kakashi every one in a while. We do not, however, have the time for constant watch and training of young and foolish Genin. That is why I need you to train them."

"Their parents will not like it." Dark eyes probed her, looking for the reason, the truth. Tsunade was very glad his Sharingan was not in place, his skill with that so great that she suspected him to be on level with the Mangenkyou. Maybe better, he had been practicing a lot, she knew. It was the only ninja ability left that he could do, really, besides taijutsu. The man clung to that.

"They will not." She acknowledged, handing him the files on his teams. Sasuke took them silently, and left. Tsunade sighed in relief that he did not protest.

Just because his Chakra was bound didn't mean Sasuke wasn't still dangerous. The Uchiha prodigy indeed.

Megumi looked over at her two teammates, headband on her forehead making the top of her ears itch. Sanosuke and Makoto were sparring lightly, and she had a book open in her hands. Naruto-sensei was two hours late. She was annoyed. He was usually only about ten or fifteen minutes late. This was so pushing it.

"Ow Ow! Mako!" Sanosuke whined when the other boy had pulled a dirty trick and pinched the underside of his elbow.

"Aw, come on Sano! If Naruto-sensei saw you whining over that little thing, you'd so be in for a beating. Suck it up, be a man."

"Speaking of, he's really late, isn't he? Maybe he ditched us, or went off on a mission and forgot to tell us again."

"It doesn't matter. We wait until nightfall or someone comes to tell us where he is." Megumi interjected, brunette ponytail swinging as she looked up to the boys. Sano grinned and opened his mouth to comment, but instead shot to his feet. Megumi and Mako followed suit, all three looking around wearily.

"What is it?" Megumi asked striding over quickly to join her teammates, all three with their backs to each other.

"I'm- not sure. I felt something, but it's gone now." Sano replied, still searching with his senses around the clearing.

"Naruto-sensei playing a trick?"

"No, it was definitely not Naruto-sensei. This was much darker, and concealed."

"I appreciate your trust and team work, but putting your backs to me is not really a good idea." All three whirled around to the voice, surprised to find him standing in the place their triangle had left open. Right in the middle of them.

Makoto, stupid and high strung as he was, went for the man almost immediately. Megumi let surprise and frustration flash through her even as she lunged to intercept the boy. Sanosuke had done the same on the other side, and both hooked their arms under his and hauled the boy a good ten feet from the stranger.

"Idiot." She hissed at him. Even she could tell this guy was dangerous, all the more so by the lack of ninja uniform. He wasn't even wearing a headband. Megumi kept her eyes on him, examining him as she did so. He wore a pair of black pants and sandals, ninja tools and weapons hanging from a belt around his waist. A dark blue sleeveless shirt hung loosely from pale skin and his forearms were covered by black leather gauntlets, held tight against his skin by the laces crisscrossing on the underside. Chin length black hair shone with a bluish tint in the sun, and onyx eyes watched them with a sort of consideration.

"Who are you." Sanosuke demanded, and Megumi was proud of him for keeping the tremble out of his voice.

"Did Hokage-sama not inform you? I'm not surprised." The sound of his voice made her stiffen. Sano flinched back on Mako's other side, both still holding him, and she knew he had thought the same thing she did. That voice was worn and scratchy, like it was never used. Or like he had screamed a whole lot. "She's like that, probably wanted to see how I'd react."

"He asked you a question." Makoto bit out beside her.

"Sasuke. Naruto is away on a long term mission, and the Hokage asked me to fill in on your lessons."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"Suspicion, that's good. Maybe Naruto didn't totally mess up your training." He pulled out a scroll and tossed it to them. Makoto caught it and opened it. He passed it to Megumi silently, and she found that it did indeed say that Sasuke Uchiha would be temporarily replacing Naruto-sensei. Megumi humped and let go of Mako.

"Fine then, train us." The slight curving of his lips made her blood go cold.

Sasuke sat in a tree and watched one of his new Genin teams. He'd been given the teams of Naruto and some Jounin he'd never met before, and he thought it very ironic. Hokage-sama probably did that on purpose. Naruto's team was doing okay, he'd met them yesterday. They weren't particularly strong or skilled, but they were a balanced team. That was just like Naruto, to focus more on teamwork than power. Megumi was the balance, skills and smarts, and just enough power. Makoto was not so bright, but he was good, really good, and his powerful Chakra definitely showed that. Sanosuke was the weakest of the group, but that boy had skill and a good amount of Chakra control. He'd sensed Sasuke when he hadn't been paying attention.

The team he was watching now would need more work. There was Shin, who was arrogant, egotistical, and dismissive of any one but himself. Then there was Atsuko, and Sasuke could tell from here she had a lot of anger in her. Finally he watched Ryou, a shy stuttering kid who let him self be pushed around. A lot, very easily, and by both teammates. Shin and Atsuko butted heads every two minutes, and none of them were on guard. Pathetic. He said so.

The reaction was more than he could have hoped for. Ryou jumped a foot in the air, Atsuko twitched, and Shin whirled in a circle, looking for him. Shin and Atsuko then got in an argument about whose fault it was for distracting who from sensing his approach. Sasuke watched for a minute, and then laughed. It was a very disturbing sound, even to his ears.

"I had hopes for this team; your sensei is a respected Jounin. But it seems like that was nothing more than stories as I watch you." They had followed his voice and were now looking up at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Atsuko sneered angrily.

"You should speak nicer to your new sensei."

"Why? We never spoke nice to our old one." Shin scoffed. There was a flash of metal and then more than a few of Shin's blonde hairs fell to the ground.

"That's why." Sasuke said, dropping to the ground. "Your former sensei may not have demanded respect, but he's not here now, and I do demand respect. Especially when that could have easily been your eye. Get in formation." Sasuke barked in a commanding voice. He was annoyed, but was sure his face didn't show it. Yes, this team would need a lot more work.

He had team trainings with Naruto's group once a week, and individual trainings for each twice a week. They already worked well together, the best he'd seen in fact. So he worked them separately for the most part. Team three was different, and he worked with them entire team every day. They were required at precisely five in the morning, and he trained them ragged until noon. At one he then spent six hours with that day's student from Naruto's team, Wednesday's were team days.

Squashing team three's attitude wasn't as hard as he'd thought it would be. After he'd beat them down that first day they tried to rebel even more. Sasuke had told them to show up at four the next morning, and then he had made them run until they puked and past that. Shin had complained about training on a Saturday, and so early in the morning. That was run out of him. He'd taken to praising Ryou whenever he did something right, and correcting him gently when he didn't. With Atsuko he'd be logical, countering her anger with reason. Sasuke knocked Shin down whenever he got too high, and took care not to treat him as an equal.

It was different for Naruto's team, as most things seemed to be. Sanosuke he was brutal with, never pulling his punches. The boy needed to know that there would be pain in being a ninja. Megumi he challenged, throwing obstacle after obstacle after her, forcing her to work her own strengths and not that of her team's. Makoto he taught, and then sparred, demonstrating time and again the importance of thinking and the need for skill as well as power.

Today he waited for team three, and wondered how he thought of them differently in his head. He called team ten 'Naruto's team.' He thought back on the past two weeks, and marveled. Since when had he been a good teacher? Since when had he bothered to care? He hadn't cared for anyone but Itachi, Naruto, and Sakura; not for a very long time. He could see why Naruto had taken to this, when he'd become a Jounin two years ago. These Genin, these kids, they grew on you. They made you proud that you taught them something, and that it might help them survive in the future. If he wasn't careful, they might just heal his broken soul.

When the team showed up, waiting expectantly for him to give his first training exercise for the day, Sasuke pondered even more. Shin was limping still, and Ryou was babying that wrist he'd almost broken. Atsuko did not look injured, but Sasuke could see the tightness around her eyes. He'd really beat them down the past two days, the constant strain of practice seven days a week taking its toll. Slowly, a plan began to form. He'd been helping, sure, but their teamwork hadn't really improved. Something needed to be done about that.

"Sit down." Sasuke told them. His voice had improved because of its continual use, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Naruto would be surprised when he got back and heard it. If he got back.

"What are we doing today?"

"We're not going to train today." He got various exclamations of surprise over that. "All three of you are injured. It wouldn't be productive. Instead, you should tell me about yourselves. Your files don't tell me much, but as it seems I'll be your sensei longer than intended, I have to get to know you." So they talked, slowly at first, but then more as they got comfortable, and eventually to each other and not him, and Sasuke smiled mentally. They talked and played games as a team for the entire seven hours, Ryou a little bolder in the companionable setting, the boy even had a sense of humor. Atsuko's anger was less bite and more bark, her and Shin even getting into arguments were the words were playful and not meant to hurt. Shin was actually just as insufferable, but more in a relaxed likeable way than on the battlefield.

All three went home with smiles on their faces, and Sasuke started springing situations that tested trust on them whenever he could. It was getting better, slowly, painfully, but team three was starting to actually look like a team. So when the next Tuesday came around, he announced that they should show up at one tomorrow, instead of six. Shin's incredulous 'In the morning?' made the corners of his mouth curve. And so another step was taken.

The two teams showed up at the exact same time. They eyed each other, neither prepared for this. Sasuke hadn't told them they would be training together. He hadn't wanted them to know, to make any sort of preparations. They hadn't, they were caught off guard and that was how he'd test them.

"Team's ten and three," he addressed them, "You'll be training together today. Attack me." He wasn't sure that was a good idea, there were six of them, even if they were Genin, and he couldn't access his Chakra for Genjutsu. It turned out he hadn't needed to worry. It took three minutes before it fell apart. Atsuko and Makoto got into a shouting match; apparently Makoto had stepped on her foot and ruined her attack. Makoto's defense was that Atsuko had been in his way and thrown him off balance. Ryou had pulled away almost immediately, shy mannerisms firmly in place. Shin and Megumi were both trying to pull their teammates apart, and Sanosuke was nursing the blow to the ribs Shin had 'accidentally' given him.

"Look at yourselves." Sasuke said softly. All fighting stopped and both teams looked at him. "Already fighting each other, and over petty things I'm sure you know better about. You're not always going to be Genin in these groups. You will have to learn to work with others, people you don't know, have never met. You six know each other, and you can't even have the patience to work out how to work together." By then all six heads were bowed shamefully. "Again. And work it out his time; don't be so quick to jump at each other." They worked then, and worked some more. They went through various exercises, him mixing the teams up and pitting them against him or each other. None of them got home until ten, but it was worth it. He'd taught them something.

Since when was he a teacher?

How is it? Feed back would be nice; I want to know how I'm doing.