Children are only Young Once

"Class today we have a new bright student today, she is a little young so treat her kindly." the teacher said in a jovial voice. Sasuke glanced up from the book that he was studying to see Priya waving her hand and introducing herself. She caught his gaze and gave him his own smile.

"Hey she can sit next to me", Naruto beamed loudly. "The next Hokage"

"That won't be necessary Naruto, we can't have a bright student sitting next to someone like you." Naruto deflated at the teacher's remark. And the class snickered and mocked him. However, Naruto quickly recovered and had a smile on his face. The effect of the teacher's cruel words didn't escape Priya.

"Actually sensei, I think it would make your class more orderly and a kounchi has to learn how to handle difficult men, right", Priya assured her teacher as she made her way to Naruto.

"Well, yes but Naruto is far more challenging than-

"Challenge accepted.", Priya interrupted enthusiastically as she walked over sat down next to Naruto. Whispers started to circulate around the room. The teacher recuperated from the initial shock of Priya willing to sit next to Naruto. And she began to reteach the class their lessons.

"Umm thank you, Pri-chan", said Naruto.

"Your welcome, I think if I sat next to Sasuke people would get the wrong idea and I would have been the most hated girl in this class", she chuckled. "Plus, I think you definitely need my help more". It was then Priya noticed Naruto's homework. "By the way, your homework is all wrong.", she pointed to the paper that Naruto was clearly trying to finish.

Naruto groaned at the remark and banged his head against the desk. "Where is Soraya when I need her", he thought.

Later that day

Sasuke was eating lunch in the shadows near a tree. He was avoiding the girls that always annoyed him. It was the attention he hated the most. It was the constant bickering; it was a competition to the girls, no one really cared about what he actually liked (which was peace and quiet). He especially hated how they touched him. He started to eat his food in an angry manner just thinking about it.

"You are a really greedy eater, and that food looks bland as fuck", said Eulalia. Sasuke choked on his food and pounded his chest. Not expecting her to say something like that at all. "Shh, the girls might find you", she had her fingers over her lips to emphasize her point.

"What are you doing here?" It was more of a statement of confusion than a question.

"Checking on you", she replied.

Sasuke looked at his food in slight shame. "I'm fine", he said. "Why don't you-

"Leave", she interrupted with a questioning tone. "I decided that you need me, so that's not gonna happen", she got her lunch and started eating.

"I don't understand"

"No one understands me.", she hummed to herself. "I'm sorry I can't help you", she said.

"If you kill him there will be consequences for me and for you", he said. "I saw your power, it's not...normal"

"I know, that's why I said I was sorry. I really wanted to kill him, what I saw him...", She kept eating out of nervousness. "We can't tell the adults I know that, you probably already did that by the way the teachers are avoiding you. My question is why haven't you fought back.", She asked out of curiosity.

"I did once", he answered solemnly. "It got worse, it's better just to sit and take it, it's usually done within an hour anyway"

Eulalia and he sat in silence. There wasn't really anything to say on the matter. They were completely powerless and they knew it. "What keeps you going", asked Eulalia. "I would have attempted suicide by now", Sasuke was very surprised at her bluntness.

"I can't I'm the last of my clan, it will be selfish." Eulalia took one of the pieces of his tomato dish and rice. "I have to avenge my clan by killing a certain man and restore my clan." Eulalia didn't give an indication that she was listening, she continued to eat his dish to see if she liked it.

"Not bad. Could use a little more seasoning, but not totally bland like a thought, maybe Basil", Eulalia noticed that Sasuke gave her a look of slight irritation. "Sorry, I was listening, but how can you avenge someone when it looks like you need to eat. No meat, you need some to build muscles", she squeezed his arm to emphasize her point.

"I just haven't much of an appetite", he stated simply. "And I really don't know how to cook"

"Why don't you work with Naruto at that Ramen place?", she asked. "He cleans for them for meals or maybe he's just there because he is lonely too"

"I'm not going to work with that loser" Sasuke stared down at the ground, with a slightly embarrassed look. "I can figure out how to cook on my own", he said in annoyance.

"Maybe, but tomatoes can't be the only thing you eat", she said pushing some chicken on his plate. Sasuke looked around. "You are thinner than Naruto was a few months ago", she said as she popped one of his cherry tomatoes in her mouth. "Someone was feeding him, he's grown two inches since I first saw him", she shrugged.

"I like what, I like, so stop harassing me", Sasuke responded fiercely. Eulalia gave him a scrutinizing glance. Sasuke could tell that she was studying him more intently, his response was firm, a little too firm for her taste. Sasuke could tell his response was out of line and glance away in shame

"Okay, so you respond to food like, I respond to most things", Sasuke glanced back at her with a puzzled look. "No one is saying you can't enjoy chicken and tomatoes" Sasuke shrugged and gave her questioning glare but restarted eating. They sat in silence eating their food.

"Isn't your class back in session", he asked.

"Yes", she answered nonchalantly not elaborating on her answer.

"Shouldn't you go back to class?", he probed.

"Tenten, Lee, or Nejii will give me classwork if needed", said Eulalia. "The teachers let me do my own thing after my outburst last year"

"Wait, the Hyguya, he is only a year older than I am and you are at least three years older"

"Like, I said, I had an outburst they pushed me back a few years, it's fine" Sasuke gave her a puzzled look.

"You are weird", responded Sasuke.

"Soraya would say unique", Eulalia replied finishing her food. "I don't like the term weird, strange, stupid, or slow", she stated matter-of-factly.

"Sorry", he quietly apologized

"I think you would do well working at the Ramen place, and training with Priya, she took a liking to both you and Naruto. It will numb the pain here", she tapped her chest. Sasuke recognized that she was talking about the pain that he felt inside of his heart. However, he buried those feelings long ago, not having any use of them.

"Priya only sees the good in people much like Naruto, I would like to keep it that way as long as possible", she said. "The rest of us, don't have that pleasure", she said referring to her sisters. Sasuke could hear the solemness in her voice and knew that there was something more that she wasn't ready to talk about. "I'm going to be honest, this village seems to be held together by clan alliances, your... situation will probably cause a rift in that alliance which will be bad for everyone. So people are going to ignore you unless you have something better to offer, or the help of a clan to restore your standing. A friendship with Priya who is going to do great things will help you"

"She is so pure and happy, I don't deserve a friend like that", he muttered his eyes downcast in shame.

"I think it's Priya's choice, not yours to deem if you are worthy.", explained Eulalia. Sasuke looked down in his meal and thought about the conversation. He didn't like being alone but he hated being annoyed as well. However, Priya was beginning to be considered a prodigy, so there would be some benefits to training with her.

"As long as she doesn't make me do girly stuff or annoy me like the other girls", he said scarfing down the chicken that he gave her.

"Priya won't make you do anything", chuckled Eulalia. "She will persuade you", she thought to herself. Her sister was definitely beloved, she wouldn't consider her spoiled, because she was naturally ambitious and a hard worker. Nevertheless, she seemed to master the art of persuasion since she was a little girl. And she was in fact still a little girl.

Itachi walked around Orochimaru's grounds when he noticed a messenger pigeon. He recognized it as Yahiko's. If it was from Nagato or Konan it would have been a paper bird. Whatever it was he knew it was urgent and Konan did not know anything about it. As if on cue, Konan's paper bird was right behind Yahiko's pigeon.

Itachi decided to read Konan's message first. It was good news. Masaru had woken up and wanted to tell his sister that he loved her and get well soon. He was glad that Konan didn't write about their impending marriage, even though Masaru did congratulate them.

As he read Yahiko's message his eyes started to become blurry. He knew that he had released the Sharingan in his furry. He read over the report that the Janjira had a bounty on Soraya to make her disappear.

Hanzo had gone too far.

Itachi closed his eyes to deactivate his Sharingan to calm down and decided to train to release some of the tension. It was well until the night until he calmed down and he went down to one knee. He knew that he overexerted himself and it took a while to regain his normal flow of breath. Another reminder of his short life.

It was then he heard clapping in the background and it was non-other than Orochimaru. "Magnificent show Itachi." Itachi gave him a hard look giving him a warning that he would not tolerate any of his games. Orochimaru ignored the clear warning and matched his threatening chakra levels. "It's a shame that Soraya missed the show, she would clearly love it, especially with your physique. Puberty is treating you very well"

It was then Itachi noticed that he was shirtless and the compliment made him feel exposed. The was sick and wrong coming from him. "What is it that you want Orochimaru"

"Does your betrothed know how fine a specimen you are? How dangerous you are? Do you even know anything about her? I mean is she telling you everything she knows. She is still a complete mystery", he asked in a nefarious tone.

"If you are here to manipulate me, you are wasting your time", Itachi started to walk away not wanting to be part of Orochimaru's clear manipulative tactics.

"Her clan didn't have an official motto, did you know that?", Orochimaru said under his breath. "But they had sayings if you will, my favorite, 'survive, by any means necessary", Orochimaru chuckled when he saw Itachi stop. "Did you think a warning would stop her from making a deal with me, one mention of her brother and her cousins...", Itachi's eyebrow shifted slightly in agitation. The atmosphere shifted as it got more dark and intense. Orochimaru could feel Itachi wanting to rip his throat and he revealed in it. "Oh that's right you didn't tell her yet, or were you ever going to tell her.", he chuckled some more.

"What did you say to her?", asked Itachi, his voice dropping an octave.

Orochimaru saw Itachi's flicker in between something he has never seen before, it was only for a moment so he brushed it off. His main intention was to goad Itachi, and that's exactly what he did. "I will have her and I have a purpose for you as well". Orochimaru's arms started to morph into snakes and wrapped around Itachi to bind him. "I got you now Itachi, your body will be mine, and my village will surpass the leaf"

Itachi struggled and went down on his knees. He broke out of Orochimaru's snake hold. He avoided more attacks from Orochimaru by doing a black flip and returned attacks with Fire jutsus. Some snakes did burn but Orochimaru was relentless. Orochimaru saw Itachi starting to get overwhelmed and decided it was the perfect time to use mud clones. Multiples of himself started to appear and one quickly went for the tallest tree in the area and one ran behind Itachi. Itachi caught the movement easily. As if timed perfectly, Itachi lunged for the original Orocimaru's body and shielded himself from the attack coming from the sky, and kicked the one that was going from his rear.

Both clones disappeared but Orochimaru laughed as his fangs elongated. Itachi jumped backward not wanting to get near his venom. "Stand down Orochimaru"

"Or what, it seems you are the one that needs to surrender", said Orochimaru in excitement. He finally had Itachi at the literal palm of his hand. He imagined all the ways that he would use his body, how he would become the most powerful warrior throughout the Hidden Leaf villages. But he wouldn't stop dominating there, no he will take down kingdoms, and establish his own rule how he saw fit.

"You will never take the Sharingan." Orochimaru heard a hint of confidence in his normally monotone voice. Itachi's voice seemed almost too graceful, like a father comforting his child. The tone didn't match his eyes, which looked like a predator about to strike his prey. Orochimaru knew something wasn't right, but continued his attacks. Orochimaru could feel his body start to have the symptoms of fear. But it didn't make sense to him when he was clearly overtaking Itachi.

"OROCHIMARU-SAMA", Orochimaru heard Sazume's screeching cry behind him. His face went pale and his breath hitched in his throat when Itachi had katana at his throat and another clone holding Sazume back. It was then realized that he was in a genjutsu the whole entire time. As he was about to deliver the final blow he heard Sazume's pleas. "STOP, you still need him for Soraya, there has to be something we can offer you please" Itachi didn't give her a reaction except the loosening of his grip on her. His eyes were still intent on murdering Orochimaru. She escaped the clone's grasp and started to rub her hands together pleading with him. "Please, Sora-chan has become a great friend to me too, I want nothing more for her to be healed and live, but we can't do that without him"

Suzume went down on her knees and started rubbing her hands together pleading to him. Itachi seeing her prostrate herself before him made him recognize how genuine she was about Soraya's friendship. Because even though she was an outcast she still came from a noble clan. Itachi growled in his throat punching Orochimaru in the face. Orochimaru groaned in response. "Tell me is this village location hidden", asked Itachi. Orochimaru didn't answer for a minute trying to gather his bearings. Itachi's impatience got the best of him as he punched him again. "Tell me", Itachi demanded fiercely.

"YES", Orochimaru answered "I don't need an overzealous shinobi trying to find me, only the ones I invite can find this place" Itachi released and exhaled deeply to regain his sense of self.

"How long is she going to take to recover", asked Itachi still holding Orochimaru's collar.

Suzume ran and tried to get in between them. "She is healthy and can do light training, but her chakra passages are still healing and repairing themselves, so she can't do any senjutsu for six months, but can use her own chakra, which is very minimal", explained Suzume.

"Answer the question", he demanded.

"Four weeks. That's just to ensure that she doesn't have a setback. But she can't use senjutsu until all her chakra channels are completely healed, Orochimaru is working on a seal that will block her from naturally absorbing chakra until her body can withstand it.", Suzume added.

"How can I trust you", he asked with venom and a kunai was at her throat. It was then that Sazume noticed she had no proof to give him. She read Soraya stories when she was in a coma. She nursed her and changed her clothes, but there was nothing concrete to make him trust her.

Itachi felt a hand on his and slight pressure to lower it down. It was Soraya. She still looked weak but he could tell by her regaining some of her color and the lack of dark eyes she was getting better. "She's my friend.", she pleaded. This isn't like you", she said softly. She slowly got in front of Sazume to block his view of her and also she could have direct eye contact with him. "I heard her every time she read to me, talked with me, and I could feel her worry and satisfaction every time she nursed me. She truly cares for me, she is kind", Soraya carefully took the knife out of his hand and held it close to her. Suzume seemed shocked that Soraya was aware of her presence. Soraya let out a breath she didn't know she had. "As your future wife, I'm asking you to spare them" Itachi perched his lips together in anger. He stood straight up and gave her a nod. But Soraya could still feel his impending rage and felt that he was going to explode. She felt her knees grow weak and Itachi caught her and his rage turned into concern.

"You should still be in bed.", he reprimanded darkly. Soraya looked down, avoiding his piercing gaze.

"I felt you-", her voice trailed off not knowing how to describe the feeling. It was so dark, like a predator about to strike. Then Suzume told her to come, she helped her out of bed. They walked along with the compound until they reached the scene of Itachi about to murder Orochimaru.

Itachi nodded at her response. Of course, she felt him, her feelings were going to be naturally more attuned to his mood especially since they have been in close proximity for months now. She probably knew all of his ticks and idiosyncrasies with her astute observation as well. The only person who would know more about it would be his own dead family or Kakashi. "Orochimaru do not double-cross me again", his voice was full of a calm deadly warning.

When the two were out of sight Sazume turned to Orochimaru in utter rage. "What were you thinking?", she huffed. "What would have happened had you died huh? What about the village", she shoved him in anger.

"I underestimated the-"

Suzume slapped him. "You are not some rogue nin. You are a Kage" She exhaled loudly after her voice rang through the compound. "Your life is too valuable for the village", she turned away from him in disgust that he would risk his life for something she thought was so little. "My father is dying, he is doing his best to live as long as he can to create a strong foundation for this Land. I'm willing to follow you anywhere you go but you are not just a Scientist anymore you are a leader. Act like it." Suzume stormed off and Orochimaru didn't know whether he was more embarrassed by being scolded, rightfully so, by a petite girl or Itachi beating him so easily.

Naruto started walking home alone after his chores at the Ramen shop. It felt odd getting paid for something that he thoroughly enjoyed, but he promised the chef that he would save and spend his money wisely. He studied the money in the envelope and smiled uncomfortably from his achievement. Maybe he would get something for Soraya when she got back or something for Iruka sensei. He had been really nice to him lately, inviting him over for dinner and helping him more with his school work.

Naruto suddenly noticed a negative emotion that intended to harm him and turned around. He didn't notice anyone there. It was then he noticed someone grab him from behind and pushed him to the floor. "Hey, get off me", he said.

"We got the Fox, time for extraction", said the man.

"I don't think he belongs to you", said Iruka coming from the shadows.

"Iruka sensei?", Naruto questioned.

"It's going to be okay Naruto", Iruka got into a defensive stance. "Cloud ninja? Why am I not surprised". Iruka created three clones to deal with the situation sensing that there were two others in the vicinity. Iruka went straight for the ninja that had Naruto hostage. The man held a knife to Naruto's throat and taunted him. One of Iruka's clones came behind him and twisted the man's wrist and drove a kunai in his throat. As soon as Iruka landed the critical hit, he pushed Naruto behind him.

As the cloud ninja rushed toward them, he noticed they were in ANBU gear and he knew his odds of surviving were nil. Nevertheless, he wouldn't allow them to take Naruto. "It's going to be okay Naruto", he repeated. More of himself than Naruto's sake. Time started to slow as enemies were coming toward , he saw a flash of white hair and blood on the ground.

"I see you got yourself into some trouble Iruka.", Kakashi surveyed his opponents with his exposed eye. He was in his regular ANBU gear, but without the animal mask. So it didn't escape him that the cloud ninja became more hesitant to attack. '`Which one of you am I going to keep alive today?", he said in a bored singing tone. One of the ninja charged at him and he blocked the incoming punch to his gut and face. He countered a kunai attack, grabbed the man's kunai, and shoved it through the top of his head. "Not you". Two others charged at him from both sides. Kakashi simply jumped when they were close enough, did a black flip and cut the back of their knees with his katana. Both of them went down to their knees and could no longer stand. "Now, which one of you will tell me why you are here, and why your Kage sent you".

The man on his left spit in Kakashi's face. "Fuck You, you orphan bastard.", Kakashi did an upward slash motion and the man fell face down.

"I guess you will be Ibiki's victim", said Kakashi. Kakashi revealed his other eye and put the man in a sleep genjutsu. "Sorry about the mess, but you should return Naruto home and give a report afterward"

"Umm Sir, do you know anything about Soraya-chan", Kakashi covered his eye before turning to Naruto.

"If you are worried, she is doing well", said Kakashi. Kakashi only knew because of the correspondence by Itachi giving him updates about Amegakure but they were gradually becoming more about Soraya. He could feel his heart clench at the thought. It didn't take much to realize his feelings.

"Can you give her this", Naruto pulled out a miniature portrait of him and her together. "I worked very hard on the dimensions, and I know she likes shadow coloring, well I hope she likes it", Naruto gave it to him shyly.

"I will do my best to get this to her", Naruto could tell that Kakashi was smiling at him through the brightness of his eyes. "Iruka you should take Naruto home and meet me at the Hokage's office within the hour. Good night Naruto.", with that Kakashi was gone.

Kakashi and Iruka stood patiently waiting for Hiruzen's assessment. The man smoked his pipe as he was reading the report of the recent incident. After a long exhale Hiruzen began to speak.

"Not surprising that the Cloud targeted Naruto, but how did they figure out who was the holder of the Nine-Tails", he asked.

"It would have to be someone that was there that night he was born", answered Kakashi "Someone from the leaf village leaked that information"

"Sir, with these recent events it's more imperative that someone stays and protects Naruto. Please say yes to my guardianship for Naruto"

"I have to decline", replied Hiruzen too quickly.

"But why? He has nobody and is constantly attacked by the village.", expressed Iruka

"This is precisely why. I can't have anyone attacking a good teacher like yourself. Half of your class is going to exceed the current generation in power by four-fold. We have never seen a generation with that many children that are strong and with that much talent. To occupy your time with someone like Naruto, I hate to say is a waste of time.", explained Sabutori.

"Hokage-sama you talk about talent, but Naruto is the embodiment of The Will of Fire, he is not the smartest but he's headstrong and hard-working. I'm begging you to allow me to show him an ounce of kindness and to have a family", pleaded Iruka.

"You are not the only one who has wanted Naruto, each of the Alpha clans have wanted him, and having Naruto a guardian will bring that person to great power in the village. The answer is No", Hiruzen said with a finality that the conversion was over. He exhaled after he noticed Iruka's defeated nature. "You can still have extra time with him after school, but if it looks like any type of care outside the realm of education, there will be consequences"

Iruka nodded and bowed respectfully and left fuming.

"I've never seen you so harsh", said Kakashi.

"When you get this position, you will understand the hard decisions that have to be made", replied the Hokage. "Anyhow, here is your mission, it's to backup Gai while we give the Stone Village a scroll" Kakashi took the scroll that contained the particulars of the mission. "Also have you had any correspondence with the Raven", asked the Hokage

Kakashi was perplexed at the question. That was Itachi's code name. "No"

"Is there a lovers quarrel, the new Rui getting in between you two?", Hiruzen chuckled

Kakashi exhaled. "No, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't think of me that way."

"Itachi is very thorough with relationships, I think there is something between you that you and him are not willing to admit." Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and gave an indication that he was done with this particular subject.

"Can we move on", he groaned. "I don't need dating advice from you"

"Maybe you should take a page from those novels you read", Kakashi narrowed his eyes at him and was glad that he could see his cheeks getting warm. When Kakashi didn't remark back Hiruzen decided to get back on the subject. "I'm concerned because the Janjira has been spotted and it happens to correspond with the ceasing of Itachi's updates."

Kakashi perked up at the new information. If it was enough for him to stop correspondence, he was trying to hide his whereabouts. Which meant this foe was formidable. Kakashi went to his bingo book but didn't find any information. "Who are they"

"Dangerous Merchants, they deal in prostitution and slavery we lost a few kounchi and a shinobi to their trade. They usually only pluck people during war, but it seems they are on a job. They have their two most powerful bounty hunters with them. They are nameless but these two together can bring down an army. I can only send you due to the nature of Itachi being involved. You are to withdraw if the situation is too dangerous and can be traced back to the leaf"

"I will do what must be done", said Kakashi. For the first time in a long time, he was worried about Itachi and now he had a feeling it had something to do with Soraya.