Disclaimer: The Naruto characters do not belong to me. Everything else does.

Author's Note: I skipped to about the time when the Naruto series starts, just in case anyone gets confused.

Author's Note: I decided to change a few things, so I had to delete the original chapter 2.

Chapter 2

Inside Sasuke's apartment, Konoha

Sasuke was pissed.

He glared at Yoshi, the cause of his current frustration, and spat out, "Absolutely not. I'm not increasing my mediator training hours; I have to get ready for my academy exams!"

The ghost gazed at the enraged boy in exasperation. What had he done to deserve such a pigheaded and uncooperative pupil? The gods must hate him. A lot.

Sighing, Yoshi fixed Sasuke with a stern look. "You are a mediator, so make use of the powers given to you."

"I would rather use them on Itachi!"

Yoshi silently groaned. Ever since Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, had massacred the Uchiha clan, Sasuke seemed bent on revenge. "Killing Itachi won't bring back your family," the ghost reminded his student, "Living for revenge is neither healthy nor beneficial."

Upon hearing those very familiar words, Sasuke angrily shouted, "That's just a dumb excuse! How can they say, 'Just forget it and move on' when they don't know what it's like to be me?

Yoshi's face darkened. There were no traces of mirth or kindheartedness in his eyes when he hissed, "At least you still have a life! If all you can do is wallow in self-pity, you deserve no one's respect!"

After giving Sasuke one of his famous 'death-glares,' Yoshi teleported away.

Sasuke stared at the spot his teacher had occupied a few minutes before. His gaze lost focus as he absorbed Yoshi's words and tried to make sense of them.

Then, the position of sun made him recall an important piece of information:

School started in 5 minutes.

Cursing his luck, Sasuke hurried off. His last thoughts were, "I'll deal with the mediator thing later."

A few hours later, Outside Konoha

Sunlight shown on (or rather, through) the figure perched in the branches of a rather ugly tree. A few birds chirped cheerily and hopped around, seemingly ignorant towards the brown-haired man sitting a few feet away from them.

Guilt gnawed at Yoshi. He felt horrible for being so harsh to Sasuke, but the kid really needed someone to beat some sense into him. "I was right in telling him exactly what was wrong with him," the ghost tried to convince himself.

He still felt guilty.

Same time, Inside Sasuke's Apartment

Sweat rolled down Sasuke's back as he collapsed on one of the sofas. He groaned. Training had been harder today; Iruka-sensei was out on a mission, and his substitute had a 'busier' training schedule than most.

He also had to avoid all his fawning fan-girls.

Wincing at that particular memory, Sasuke leaned over to pick up a glass of water. His eyes flashed as he glimpsed the katana lying in his bedroom. Its red hilt stared innocently back at him, betraying none of the trouble it had caused its owner.

Sasuke frowned. He still had to practice that new exorcism technique that Yoshi had –

Wait.

Memories of their previous argument came flooding back to the young ninja. "It isn't my fault," Sasuke groused to himself, "If only Yoshi wasn't so difficult!"

Somehow that didn't feel quite right.

Ugh.

That thought flashed across Sasuke's mind as he drew the wrong symbol on the exorcism circle he was working on. Not again! He just couldn't seem to concentrate.

Standing up, Sasuke picked up his katana and headed out the door. Perhaps a walk would help clear his mind.

A few minutes later, training field in Konoha

Why did this always happen to him?

Sasuke glared at the floating ghost before him. The girl didn't seem to notice his blatant hostility as she continued to prattle on.

Sasuke was about to sneak off when Yoshi's words resounded in his head.

You are a mediator.

"So what?" Sasuke thought as he tried to ignore the rising feeling of unease in him. He was right, and Yoshi was wrong.

Right?

Make use of the powers given to you.

Sasuke sighed. He'll never be able to get away from that annoying voice (aka his conscience). Turning around, the mediator-in-training did the unthinkable.

He asked the girl, "How can I help you?"

Yoshi hurried towards the training grounds. He had sensed a rise in Sasuke's reiki and was worried about his student.

"I hope he's safe," the ghost thought frantically. Praying that the boy was still in one piece, Yoshi teleported onto the field and began, "Sasuke, are you al –"

He stopped, his expression turning into one of shock as he noticed the faint………white mist in the air – the mark of a ghost that had departed peacefully. Sasuke had always exorcised ghosts that were reluctant to leave; he had never tried to help them resolve their problems before.

Sasuke turned around, noticing his teacher. "What?" he asked grumpily.

Yoshi noticed that his student's eyes didn't glance up to meet his. "Embarrassment," the ghost thought amusedly, "at being caught doing something nice."

A grin broke out on Yoshi's face. Perhaps Sasuke wasn't so hopeless after all.

Perceiving his instructor's smile, Sasuke scowled and muttered, "I'll take on the extra hours."

If it was even possible, Yoshi's grin became even wider. "Ok. We will be training three more hours every night starting tonight."

Sasuke groaned. He was not looking forward to losing sleep.