SASUKE

Author's Notes: Here comes our crap ass project since the great cheese is on dictatorship frenzy once more. The cheese claims that the idea came ever since she came across a story where they attempted to portray Naruto as a genius rather than a hard working idiot. This is, in a way, our version.

Disclaimers: All characters from NARUTO belong to Kishimoto Masashi.

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Chapter I
Uchiha Sasuke

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It had rained; the small dark haired boy had wandered through the streets unsure of what to do.

They are...dead...all...dead.

He had thought they were simply asleep, tried desperately to rouse them but failed, miserably.

"Nii-san...nii-san..." The boy had whimpered between large sobs. His brother, his perfect brother would know what was happening. Perfect, intelligent, strong Itachi.

And when the kitchen door behind him opened, the powerless child had half expected his brother to stand there, ready to pick him, saving him from this horrendous sight.

There was no Itachi.

Instead, three from the Anbu squad had arrived, the painted animal masks covering there faces.

"You, what happened here?" One of them had said, as he caught sight of the small child cowering away, knees covered in blood, "Answer me, now."

It was then he had fled. Running away into the cold rain to hide away from the heavily armed men, for he had known they wouldn't believe him. Like the rest of the village, they would think the worst of him.

They glared, they kept away, they hated him for reasons he never understood.

Back then it was Itachi who kept the hatred at bay, but there was no Itachi now and it finally dawned upon the young boy that he was utterly alone.

But it was then when he had met him, the first ever person whose brilliant smile was directed at him, and him alone.

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To Umino Iruka, the day began in chaos.

"Naruto! Naruto! Where are you?" The young man ran through the streets of Konohagure calling the same name, over and over. The 6 year old Naruto had simply disappeared when Iruka had specifically told him to stay and wait as he went to buy his favorite instant ramen And whilst he was screeching with frustration, he worried. Although Konohagakure happened to be a relatively safe place (perhaps even the safest village throughout the whole continent) there were still exceptions.

Like the Uchihas...

Last night, the entire Uchiha family disappeared under the hands of a cold-blooded, murderous child. Disappeared meaning dead, destroyed, annihilated- massacred. It was unknown how such a catastrophe has come about, but it is known that only one survived the entire massacre; the brother of the murderer himself.

In truth, I couldn't blame him, thought Iruka as he continued his almost hopeless search for his missing child, He is after all-

"Iruka-sensei."

The man looked up, snapping out of his thoughts to face the owner of the voice. There stood a boy nearing his late teens with long bangs dark bangs limply hanging over his pale pointed face. The rest of his hair was tied back into a low pony tail whilst equally dark, pit-like black eyes watched him. He was wearing an Anbu uniform, his mask brought up to the side of his head in order to show his face.

Uchiha Itachi, Iruka mentally noted, before he flashed the by a rather forced smile.

"Hey." He greeted, but the boy's face remained pallid. It was expected really, for he was well noted as the clan's greatest prodigy, now even an Anbu. He was different from most kids, and being different never did well one one's behavior "Is something the matter?"

The boy shook his head, only slightly. "I am looking for my brother."

Iruka felt cold.

Closing his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts, Iruka took a deep breath. "So the council has spoken, is Sasuke to be killed?"

By law really, Sasuke would be considered a threat to the village. Even if he were a mere child, he would be-

"He ran away. He is now the equivalent of a missing nin." he sounded so matter-of-fact, as though the boy was talking about a dull lab rat rather than his own younger brother.

Isn't he your brother? Iruka found himself thinking, He's only 6 years old! The same age as...Naruto.

"Is there something you are looking for, sensei?"

"Ah, yes..." Iruka responded quickly as his mind desperately tried to explain how a murderous child, cold hearted brothers and children run off on their own when told specifically not to, happened to be something that happens everyday. "Naruto disappeared. We were shopping for groceries when he simply ran off." Iruka laughed sheepishly, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head. "Quite frankly, I'm rather worried."

Itachi nodded, once again only slightly, almost stiffly, as if refusing to keep his head lowered for more than a millisecond. "I'll keep an eye out for him then, sensei."

And before Iruka could respond, he disappeared. No sudden poofs of smoke like Kakashi, just...gone.

It took Iruka matter of 5 minuits if standing on the spot looking stupid, to realize he was shaking.

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About an hour later, Iruka had found himself back home, due to a sudden unexpected downpour, with no Naruto. Well, almost no Naruto, because he had only 'found' Naruto when he had actually reached home and decided to retire into his room.

Out of sheer habit, he had gone into Naruto's room, only to find the boy pulling out the bed sheets from the closet.

Iruka went beet red.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO." he had roared, and the small blonde boy simply toppled over in surprised.

"I-Iruka nii-san?"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU?" And as the man strode over to give the boy a good ol' smacking he'll remember for eternity to come, there came a small shuffling noise from the closet Naruto was previously emptying...or filling or...something.

Iruka froze. He didn't bring in a stray cat did he?

Letting go of Naruto, he walked slowly towards the closet. Sure enough, a bundle of blankets were moving, let alone breathing, and Iruka found a headache starting to emerge from the day's events. The bulge was too big to be a cat. If this is a burglar, he/she/it sure isn't very smart.

And in one quick motion, he grabbed the blankets covering the...thing, whilst arming himself with a kunai incase the ...thing decided to strike back.

Nothing in the world prepared him for what was underneath the sheets.

There was...much silence, but it was Naruto's small voice that cut through the thick fog of tension.

"Can I keep him?"

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Children are naturally curious about everything. An ordinary child would have found a soggy stinking stray cat/dog/rat/gecko/anything with legs, to keep as a pet.

Out of all the damned species that crawl miserably along the earth, Naruto has chosen to bring in a boy.

Ah, but not just any boy for that matter. It happened to be a wanted, crazed, murderous child who destroyed his entire clan, not to mention the vessel of-

Kyuubi.

It still amazed him how the fourth had complied to the Uchiha clan's request. That is, having Sasuke as the vessel sacrifice rather than Naruto. Whilst Iruka had to admit he was greatly relieved by this (Naruto was a cute kid, really) having the most dangerous fox ever to roam the earth sealed down into a child who would one day inherit the Sharingan (not to mention his killing spree the night before, which the fourth would undoubtedly NOT have known 6 years ago) seemed like the obvious construction of disaster itself.

And there he was, Uchiha Sasuke, eating Ramen for dinner with him and Naruto. The idea was definitely surreal, and still Iruka found himself wondering what he'd be saying to the council. For one, he knew he wouldn't, no matter how many people the boy had killed, hand the boy over to the open arms of death. He may be a ninja, but killing off little boys happen to be last of his 'to do' list.

I need to talk to Kakashi...dammit...

"Ne, ano sa ano sa! Iruka-nii san, can he sleep in my room?" The boys were obviously finished with their meal (If instant Ramen is even considered a meal that is.) and Naruto looked up at him with his special pleading, hopeful blue eyes.

I need to talk to him FAST.

"Ah? S-sure, but-" Iruka found himself desperately trying to inch away fro the eyes whilst trying to find a way of dealing with the problem known as Sasuke.

I can't leave Naruto here with him.

"-Can you first run along and call in Kakashi for me?"

At this, Naruto began to whine. "But nii-san, why can't you go yourself?"

"You're too short to reach the sink, who will wash the dishes while I'm away?"

"I'm not that little! Besides, I can use a stool!"

"And break a gazillion plates like last time? No chance Naruto." Now this was everyday talk, the things Iruka happened to be much at home to. That is, excluding the ever so silent little boy who simply sat there staring at the two with an expressionless face. "It's only a street away, remember to bring an umbrella."

"Yes mommy" he called back in Kakashi's annoying sing song voice.

"And don't start talking like Kakashi, he's really starting to rub off bad habits on you." It happened to be the same voice the man used when Iruka lectured him about reading pornography in front of children. He still does it, everyday, and Iruka had always wondered whether he purposely did it right where he would see.

"Hai"

And the boy (finally- after grinning at the 'guest' and saying he'll be back quickly of course) left the house with a small, bright yellow umbrella.

The house became quiet again.

"Ah well," Iruka said aloud, "I better clean up the dishes then."

There came no response from the boy, so Iruka tried his best to keep his every attention on dish washing. Turning the tap on, he began to hum, scrubbing away at the dishes and making sure not a speck of oil remained on the smooth white surface of his dishes.

"Iruka sensei, are you scared of me?"

The humming stopped abruptly. Iruka turned to face the boy who hadn't moved from the dining table, dark eyes boring into him.

"Aha...that's a silly question, of course not Sasuke-kun, why should I be?" The boy's eyes remained transfixed on him. Iruka found himself feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

It wasn't as if the boy had the Sharingan itself, it was simply the dark, dull way he was staring at him. Unlike Naruto, his eyes looked-

Empty.

"Because, I killed them right?"

Perhaps Iruka himself was truly too soft hearted to be a ninja, perhaps his short period of time in teaching has earned him bountiful liking for children in general. Or perhaps it's the way Naruto looked at the boy all through dinner, as though the boy was just another boy to be friends with. Iruka could have sworn there was something amiss in the boy's tone, because the boy was questioning him about last night. Why me? How would I know if-

"Did you, Sasuke?"

For a moment, the boy looked up at him with widened, surprised eyes. His forehead creased slightly into a frown.

The boy seemed to think the question through for a long moment, before coming to a conclusion he saw fit.

"...Maybe."

Iruka began to laugh.

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End Notes: I tried, I really did, but for some reason I can't seem to write any longer than that. We all hate the cheese, don't we our Lord cheese?

Next chapter would be yet another time jump, since nobody likes boy x boy relationships between 6 year olds do we?

...I shouldn't have said that. Now that's just sick...

Whilst I think perhaps my 6 year olds were acting too old, the fact Sasuke was allowed to angst like hell-a-lot at the age of 11 gives me every reason to bypass the age and maturity issue! (It's a puny argument, but hey, live with it ) )

I hope this all made more sense to you than it did to me (which is practically impossible) cause my English seems to be dying every year rather than improving. What the hell?

And now I think I'll bring the rating higher simply because my language happens to be rather vulgar at times how sad is that?

Oh, and last few things, just incase you guys were hoping it, Iruka and Kakashi WILL NOT be a couple in this story. Hell we might even be crazy enough to have Kakashi with Sakura instead or...something (hey, they LOOK good if the age factor never came in. Yes, he's practically a decade older.) but we're not much of the KakaIru fans so...sorry?