A/N: The episode referenced in this chapter is Naruto Shippuden Episode 181, "Naruto's School Of Revenge".

Hesitantly, Sasuke reaches out to shake Yamato's hand. He's not. Sure what to expect from this man who he has NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN HIS LIFE, and it's kind of unnerving. Usually, he knows at least a little better than this. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke," he introduces himself, despite the pointlessness of it all.

Yamato chuckles slightly, his handshake warm and firm, and withdraws his hand. "I know." He sobers, just a little. "Kakashi-senpai told me you wanted to talk about your brother?"

Brother. The word sits uncomfortably in the air, and Sasuke can't quite manage to hide his scowl. THAT MAN is in no way his brother, not anymore, never again, and it makes him feel ill to here him called such. Yamato's face twists into something a little softer, and the Uchiha looks away - he won't accept any pity. There's a moment of silence, his hands clenching into fists, before Yamato clears his throat and breaks through the boy's anger. "What did you want to start with, Sasuke?"

It's staggering. The amount of questions he could ask, information he could get, that it's both overwhelming and pointless at the same time. It's been almost five years, now - his fighting style will have changed and developed. THAT MAN'S personality doesn't matter, not now. He's evil, the worst of the worst, and knowing how he was as a child won't help him succeed. Sasuke looks up, meeting Yamato's eyes, and his tongue locks in his mouth. What does he ask- What can he say-

He hates this. How a simple conversation about THAT MAN reduces him to silence, to feeling as though he's on the verge of breaking.

That soft look hasn't left Yamato's face - it looks WRONG, there, not a man meant for that soft look - and he speaks again. "How about I tell you a story of one of our non-classified missions?"

Sasuke is so grateful he despises it. He gives Yamato a short nod, and they sit together, folding their legs as they face each other on the bridge. "Most of my missions with Itachi are classified, but there were a few that were not," he says, his face pulling into a slight frown as he thinks. "But there was one where we had to retrieve a statue for a client..."

After a moment, he nods slightly to himself. "Yes. That one." Sasuke leans forward in anticipation. "It was about… six or so years ago, now. My team was myself, Kakashi-senpai, Shisui, and Itachi – all very good at genjutsu. You see, we had to retrieve the statue for Lady Tomi, but not let a single soul recognize us."

He gives a small smile. "Seems simple? It was… an interesting mission. You see, everything started going wrong when…"

"…finally, Shisui managed to whack the officer in the face with one of his cabbages, and we ran like hell to get out of there."

To be honest, Sasuke hadn't been expecting anything but pain when he was to hear a story of Itachi. But Yamato-sensei? Is actually good at storytelling, and slowly but surely, a small smile has been spreading across the young boy's face.

"They didn't catch you?"

Yamato-sensei shakes his head. "No. They were civilians, all of them – it's easy enough to seem faster than normal by boosting just a small amount of chakra to your legs, but not enough that people will know you have to be a shinobi."

Sasuke mentally notes that down, as he has a lot of things Yamato-sensei mentioned over the course of his story. Mostly infiltration tactics, which he's not sure will come in handy while trying to take down his brother, but they should be somewhat useful for at least one mission along the way.

Besides. You never know when a skill might be useful, and he'd be a fool to pass up on any sort of training just because.

There was something he noticed, though – throughout his tale, Yamato-sensei had seemed… unmistakably fond of the others on his team. Kakashi makes sense; even years later, Yamato-sensei seems close to Sasuke's sensei. Itachi and Shisui, though… "Were you close with them? Shisui and… him?"

Yamato-sensei smiles, a soft, sad smile. "Itachi was… a little too young, then, for me to really consider us friends. We were comrades. But I was… close, to Shisui." Sasuke wonders, then, that he had never heard the name 'Yamato' pass from Shisui's lips. Why had his cousin not mentioned Yamato-sensei to him? And, for further matter, why had Kakashi not mentioned that he had dealt with Itachi before, as well?

The boy frowns slightly. "Yamato-sensei," he says, noticing the small start that Yamato-sensei makes at his name, "Why did-"

He can't finish his sentence. "Sasuke!" calls a familiar female voice, and the Uchiha suppresses a groan as he turns. Sakura is walking down the street – no, running, picking up the pace at his attention and waving, a giant grin starting to form on her face.

Damn it all.

"Sasuke!" she chirps again, literally jumping to a halt, bouncing the last few steps and landing firmly a few steps behind her teammate. "Who's your friend?" She squints at Yamato-sensei, suspicious, but doesn't get rid of her smile. (She looks like she's in pain.)

"This is Yamato-sensei," Sasuke says, and the brunette starts again at the sound of his name. (Seriously, what's with that?) "He's giving me some extra training."

Her eyes light up, and she plops down right next to him, their knees banging. Sasuke very carefully doesn't wince. "I want extra training, too! Teach me, teach me, Yamato-sensei! My name's Haruno Sakura, and I was the top kunoichi in the academy!"

It's a stark reminder that though Sakura seems weak, oh so weak, she's actually extremely intelligent, so Sasuke glances sideways at her as he turns back around to face Yamato-sensei. He doesn't want her assistance with Itachi – never, never ever – but if he presented a situation as a hypothetical, maybe she'd have something good to say…

Or maybe it would at least make her a little more serious about training or anything, really, he'd take just about anything.

Yamato-sensei doesn't appear to be on the same page as Sakura, and he grimaces. "Kakashi-senpai is your sensei, you two, not me… I really should be going, anyway. Isn't it almost time for you to start training?"

Sakura pouts, puffing out her cheeks. (It's a decidedly cuter look than the one she wore just moments ago.) "Kakashi-sensei's always late! And he never teaches us anything!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Both of the genin whip around, nearly falling over at the sight of Kakashi standing right in front of them. They pale. They see their life flash before their eyes.

Kakashi is on time.

Yamato-sensei sounds so profoundly relieved behind them that Sasuke hates him for just a moment. "Kakashi-senpai! Perfect timing! I was just about to wrap it up!"

Their sensei smiles at the brunette, his eye crinkling. "Thank you, Yamato. I'll see you later."

Sasuke manages to tear his terrified eyes away from his teacher long enough to give Yamato a slight bow. "Thank you, Yamato-sensei. Can we meet again sometime?"

Yamato smiles, just a little. "Of course. It was nice to meet you, Sasuke, Sakura." And then he's gone, and the two genin are left along with the on time Kakashi.

The Uchiha isn't sure anything more can frighten him. Kakashi pulls out his book, holding it in front of his face, and meets Sasuke's eyes steadily with his own. "Now," he murmurs, his voice a quiet curiosity. "Is there any reason he's Yamato-sensei and I'm just Kakashi?"

Sasuke isn't sure he's getting out of this one alive.

Thankfully – and god, is Sasuke so thankful he could kiss him right this very moment – Naruto bumbles in. (Seriously, Sasuke could kiss him. He shoves that thought far, far away and locks it up with a key.) "Oy, oy, I was almost late!" Naruto practically shouts, running full tilt down the road towards the bridge, behind Kakashi. "I can't believe I fell asleep after-"

His teammates can tell the exact moment he sees their teacher, because Naruto stops in the middle of the road, gaping. "K-Kakashi-sensei!" he stammers, and Kakashi turns slowly, oh-so-slowly, the impending doom growing in the air. "You're- why are you here!?"

"Maa, maa," says Kakashi. "You're late, Naruto."

The blonde sputters. "B-But you're always late!" He yells, pointing a finger accusingly at their teacher. "Who cares if I'm just a few minutes late if you're not gonna be here anyway!?"

Privately, Sasuke agrees. Privately, Sasuke has wanted to yell those few choice words at his teacher before. Privately – okay, not so privately – he thinks Naruto is a colossal idiot for actually saying them.

Kakashi closes his book and puts it in his pocket. He leans forward, towards Naruto, and smiles very, very carefully. "A shinobi should always be on time, Naruto!" he chirps – oh god he chirps. His demeanor darkens. "If you think it's okay to be late just because your clients are… well! Guess it's time for more training, huh?"

Mother, Father, Sasuke thinks, staring at his teacher. It'll be good to see you again.

Over an hour later, the Uchiha desperately wishes that were the case. He's sure all his teammates agree with him, actually. He can't feel anything.

His limbs tingle from sheer exhaustion, weak and unable to move, he think he still has a streak of dirt coating half his face, and he definitely pulled at least one muscle. Leaning against this tree is about all he can do right now.

Sakura, slumped into his side, is worse off. She threw up about a half hour ago, wiped her mouth, and just kept running. Her knee is skinned and bleeding, her dress is torn at the hem, and he honestly doesn't think she has the strength to sit up properly. He doesn't have the strength to push her off his shoulder. (Okay, okay, he just doesn't mind it.)

Naruto looks the best out of the three of them, and Sasuke kind of hates him. Unlike Sasuke, who had collapsed by the tree when his legs finally gave out, and slowly managed a sitting position, or Sakura, who had collapsed midrun and been carried over by Kakashi afterwards, Naruto made it to the tree under his own power. He complained the whole way, and his frontside was covered in mud, his jacket torn, but he still made it there under his own power. Right now, though, he's leaning into Sasuke's other side, asleep and snoring softly.

Turns out? Kakashi can be absolutely vicious at training when provoked. The three of them have been chased around by all of Kakashi's dogs for about an hour, and it's exhausting.

The man in question approaches, looming over them, and both Sakura and Sasuke turn bleary glares on him. He leans down, eye-smiling at both of them. "Well, now, my cute little genin! It's time for our next task!"

Sasuke can't help it – he groans. Kakashi giggles. Giggles! A grown man shouldn't giggle! He waves a small scroll in front of them. "We have a mission! Pack for two days, and meet in the front gate in an hour. Wake Naruto and tell him." And then he's gone.

"…I'm going to murder him," Sakura says, with absolute finality.

"I'll be your alibi," Sasuke replies without missing a beat.

That decided, the two of them shove themselves to their feet, half-leaning on each other and half on the tree. That means Naruto falls over, and he wakes up with a shout and that means the two of them have to explain the situation to their third teammate, and hear his curses fill the air.

"We're going to kill him," Sakura tells him.

Naruto jumps, pumping his fist in the air. "Damn right! Damn right, that bastard! Ughhhh!" He slumps over, and then squints at the other two. "Uh, are you guys gonna make it home? You look kinda… tired."

Sasuke, currently throwing all of his weight on the tree behind him, balefully glares at him. He wants to say he can – his pride demands it – but he knows he. Actually can't.

Sakura is more than willing to admit it, though, and shakes her head. "I'm too tired."

The blonde beams. "I can help, I can help!" He makes a familiar seal, and two shadow clones pop into existence right next to him. "Look, they can each help you home!"

Immediately, the clones drop to play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who takes Sakura home. They tie on paper. They tie on rock. They tie on Scissors. Finally, as they try a fourth time, Sasuke takes a step forward and leans into the nearest Naruto. "You get me," he tells it.

The clone blinks at him, surprised, before shrugging. "If you say so, Sasuke," it says, wrapping an arm around him.

They part ways, and the silence… is. It's not uncomfortable, or comfortable, or anything else, just is. They don't talk as the clone helps Sasuke home, and the only sound is Sasuke's heavy breathing that slowly evens out as they go on, in the same way he puts less and less weight on the clone as they walk.

Finally, he feels he can stand on his own feet, and he pulls away from the clone. "I can get back the rest of the way by myself," he tells it. "You can dispel."

The clone grins a little, tipping his head to the side. "Well, okay, Sasuke," it agrees. "But- you know I'm the original, right?" Sasuke didn't. Naruto laughs, just a little, eyes closing. "See you in a bit, Sasuke! I gotta pack!"

Sasuke stands and watches him until he disappears.

It doesn't take him long to throw together enough supplies to cover two days, shower, change, and eat, and so he ends up the first one at the gate. The second is Sakura, who greets him with a smile – she's looking a little better. Naruto is the third, racing up from behind and greeting them both with loud, joyous yelling.

Kakashi finally shows up, only twenty minutes late.

Sasuke, however, is completely unimpressed by the contents of their mission. "We're retrieving an ostrich?" he asks incredulously. "Named Condor?" He's pretty certain this is worse than the cat. And after today, he has dealt with too many animals. Dogs are enough. He doesn't want to deal with a misnamed bird on top of it all.

Kakashi shrugs. "Maa, maa, it's an easy enough mission." He eye smiles at them. "A good choice after this morning, no? And you get to leave the village!"

There's not much they can say to that, and they start walking.

Naruto takes point, running ahead with another loud yell, and Sakura follows, scolding him slightly. It's funny, Sasuke thinks. He doesn't realize how much being out of the village takes… a weight off his neck, until he actually takes a step out and the pressure rolls away. He can't pinpoint why, but it does.

Kakashi glances at him out of the corner of his eye, falling in step, and the boy knows he noticed. It grates him at him a little, but still, if it means they take more missions outside the village, he'll take the small blow to his pride.

It'd be worth it.

Unfortunately, they move slow. Sasuke's sure it's because of their beatdown earlier that day – while he feels better, he's still exhausted, and starts noticeably wavering far faster than normal. Sakura is the same, falling from her point position until she's trailing after Sasuke, dogging his steps in an effort to keep up. Only Naruto seems alright, and even his body starts to droop with exhaustion after a little.

Kakashi calls it an early night and says he'll take the watch, and the Uchiha aches with gratitude. Literally. It takes all he is to set up his sleeping mat and collapse next to Sakura.

But sleep won't come immediately, and Sasuke curses himself. Kakashi is keeping watch, not within visible distance, Naruto is already snoring on his mat, wrapped around his extra pillow, and Sakura-

Sakura taps him on the shoulder.

Sasuke rolls over on his mat, blinking blearily at her. "What?" he whispers.

She twitches a little, barely visible in the darkness. "Sasuke?" she asks, voice just as hushed. "Why were you getting extra training from Yamato?"

He considers telling her it's none of her business (because it's not), but he knows from far too much experience how much she'll just… latch onto things and not let go, so she sighs. "He knew my brother."

"Oh." She's quiet for a moment more, and Sasuke is about to roll back over, when she speaks again. "Sasuke, can… can I come to training, too?"

His immediate reaction is no. No, because this is for him and it's about his brother, and besides, how much would Sakura really learn, anyway? But… But…

Sakura really doesn't do a lot of training, he thinks. Not enough. It's why she's so physically weak, and it irritates him so much. Why is she a shinobi if she doesn't want to give her best, for one? Why does she have to drag the time down like this? She's worse than Naruto, most of the time, even though he's far more of an idiot.

So… He sighs. "Fine. But I don't know when the next training with Yamato-sensei is."

She grins slightly. "Okay! Just let me know when, alright?"

"Fine."

And then he rolls over and finally – oh god, finally – goes to sleep.