Sorry for the horribly long time for an update. I promise the next one will be faster! Enjoy!

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"Happy birthday, brother!" Sasuke's older brother said while grabbing his hands. Sasuke felt something was horribly wrong but he couldn't remember feeling this relaxed since he was very young.

"I have a surprise for you. Come on!"

His brother led him down a pathway. He desperately tried to keep up, wanting so bad to know what his surprise was. They finally reached a large tent with two red lakes by it. Before Sasuke could ask why they were red; Itachi gave him an explanation.

"I needed to clean you're present."

They entered the tent to find a large stage with his families' corpses tied with strings. The wandered aimlessly across the stage like a marionette. Sasuke found strings suddenly attached to his body.

"They were too hard to control alive. You'll be easier; won't you, brother?

Sasuke woke up breathlessly. It only had been two weeks since the nightmares began. He would get roughly two or three hours of sleep and spend the rest of his time with his nose in a book or quietly training. He wasn't sure what his guardian would think of his horrible sleeping habits, but he didn't want to find out. He found that Kakashi usually got up at four in the morning. His guardian was very well disciplined and spent most of the morning training at an extraordinary level. He found this by watching through a crack in Kakashi's door.

It was 2 AM this morning; he tended to stay up late. It wasn't that he wanted to stay up that late. He just stared at ceiling counting the hours as anxiety play with his nerves. His dreams carried so much blood, so much loss, and so much anger.

Sasuke had yet to find out why someone with everything going for him would take care of some burdensome boy. He found that his guardian kept a very close eye in him and knew things that were impossible for him to know. Kakashi and he sort of reached an understanding after the jounin incident. In a way Sasuke gave him a bit more respect while Kakashi gave him some help with training. They had gotten a little closer this way. He hoped he would find some way to thank Kakashi for all he had done; even if Sasuke didn't understand why he'd done it.

He wondered how long he could keep his irregular sleeping habits to himself. He sighed deeply as he wearily pulled himself up, and walked to his bathroom. He threw up his dinner in such a casual manner as if he had been doing it for years. It worried him, as his body began to get heavier as the days passes by. His anger was the only thing that fueled him these days.

He tiredly walked to his training equipment and began his exercises. He was slower this morning. It angered him; he pushed himself harder till wave of dizziness passed through his eyes. Was he that weak? He began to train faster than ever.

It only took an hour for him to realize how thirsty he was. He was hot all over and felt himself weakening. He was so hot yet he was shivering from cold. He'd have to ask Neji for some tips on increasing stamina. He deftly crept down the stairs to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He leaned back slowly to the counter as a slight pain in his temple prodded through. Headaches were becoming more common as his world began to be more complicated and as he pushed himself passed his limits. He wondered if it would ever slow down. He groaned as he rubbed one of his temples.

"Are you alright?" a soft voice startled him out of the pain. Before he could answer a cool hand was placed on his head. Much to his embarrassment he leaned to the touch. It felt so relieving to have the cold hand against his head. He heard Kakashi sigh as he lowered his hands below Sasuke's jaw to check if his glands were swollen.

Sasuke woke out of his small reverie and pulled himself reluctantly from the cool hands. He wondered briefly why Kakashi was up so early. As if Kakashi read his mind.

"I've noticed that you've been waking very early. I assumed that since you've been going to sleep at nine-thirty that you were getting enough sleep I believe I was wrong since the past few days you've been looking ill. I decided to watch you tonight to see what exactly the problem is. You go to sleep at midnight and wake at two or three just to spill your dinner and you foolishly train into exhaustion. You're staying home today." Kakashi said resolutely.

The protest stuck to his throat as he looked at the usually barely discernable face tensed with seriousness. He rubbed his tired eyes as they burned with exhaustion. He felt he couldn't get out of the leaning position he was in at the moment. He didn't realize that he gotten himself so sick. He felt the glass that he was holding, taken out of his hands.

He opened his eyes to see Kakashi putting the cup in the sink. Sasuke grudgingly got out of his position and went up the stairs gloomily. He hated getting sick. This time he felt sicker than ever, and he didn't think he could get good enough sleep to get better. He walked to his bedroom and flopped right on his bed. His eyes immediately dropped as he fell into a nightmare once again.

Sasuke sat in the middle of a dark room. He felt himself revolving in a circle while at every inch there was a familiar scream. He tried to cover his ears from the painful noise. Suddenly his brother's voice came to his ear in a quiet whisper.

"Why do you cover your ears? Don't you realize, this is music!"

The lights suddenly turned on as his chair revolved to see a symphony. Each instrument played a familiar scream as it dripped blood. The screams belonged to the corpses that were playing them.

He turned to see his brother smiling evilly, dressed as a conductor.

"We just need one more violinist for it to be complete."

Kakashi watched as Sasuke slept for only about ten minutes and bolt right up while running to the bathroom. He heard the telltale sounds of spilling one's guts; so he worriedly walked to the bathroom to check on his charge. The boy roughly ran his arms across his eyes to hide his tears. Kakashi wasn't fooled. The boy looked drained as he dry heaved over the toilet. Kakashi knelt down near the boy and rubbed his back.

"The nightmares, they bother you; don't they?" Kakashi said softly. He remembered the time after Obito died, and how violent the nightmares were. Sasuke looked at him with startled eyes, but they quickly hardened.

"It's none of your business." He said coldly.

"It is my business if you're getting sick because from it."

"You don't know how it feels." Sasuke whispered while shaking his head.

"You'd be surprised of how many feelings I've felt, Sasuke."

"What if he comes back…?" A voice so low said that Kakashi could barely hear it. Before Kakashi could answer he begun again. "What if he comes back and I'm not ready. What if he brings the memories again and I'll throw up like a weakling; like I'm doing right now. How can I beat him? How can I avenge my clan if I'm not good enough when he comes back?" Sasuke said more of his feeling than he ever had before. His voice was shaking but his features were tense. An arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Simple, I'll protect you." Sasuke looked up quickly with confusion. Kakashi couldn't help but think how cute he looked confused. Before Sasuke could give his input Kakashi gave his explanation.

"You're eight, about 4'3", and about fifty pounds. You're too young to carry those responsibilities on your shoulders. If you hold all this in too long it'll eat you up. I'm your guardian. I promise that I'll never let you get hurt." Kakashi said with a mass of conviction.

Sasuke looked up, trying to wrap his mind around what his guardian just said. He still couldn't understand why someone would go out of their way to do this for him.

"Why?" he said in a desperate attempt to understand.

"Because," was the curt reply.

"That doesn't make sense." He mumbled tiredly.

Sasuke's eyes drooped as a shiver went through his body. He heard Kakashi getting up and then felt arms lifting him up. He tried to struggle at the closeness of touch but Kakashi didn't budge. Sasuke was held against Kakashi chest and his head was lying on Kakashi's shoulder. Strong arms encircled Sasuke.

"It doesn't have to." A voice rumbled to his fogged up mind. Sasuke didn't think that the nightmares would go away, but he know this time they would be scared away by the ninja that would protect him for no reason. He drifted off to sleep as Kakashi closed his eyes with slight anger to the older brother.

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After holding the feverish boy for ten minutes, he carefully extricated him from his grasp and put him on his bed. The boy seemed to look better and he hoped he would sleep longer than he had the nights before. Kakashi decided to take the day off just to make sure nothing happened to his sick charge.

He spent the first several hours watching him sleep and reading his usual book. He was startled out of his book when knock came from the main door. He gave one last glance to Sasuke and walked down to the first floor. When he opened the door, he found himself looking at a surprised Iruka.

"You're Sasuke's guardian, Kakashi?" Iruka said clearly taken aback. Kakashi's eye twitched with annoyance.

"How'd you know it was me?"

Iruka just smiled with a harsh reply, "You're not exactly creative. Your other disguise as a Chunin teacher at the academy is completely ridiculous."

"You're good. Though you overreact, I'm not being ridiculous I'm being careful with Sasuke."

"If you would stop telling the kids ways to play tricks on me I wouldn't be so annoyed. You can be so immature sometimes!" Iruka said with exasperation.

"What are you doing here?" he said, changing the subject quickly.

"You are aware that Sasuke wasn't at the academy today, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"May I ask why? I know you may not think school to be all that important but-,"

"He's sick. He is allowed to stay home if he's sick, isn't he?" Kakashi interrupted in a patronizing tone. Iruka look mildly embarrassed.

"Well, yes, but you're supposed to let the academy know when stuff like that happens."

"Well, he's sick. You'll pass on the word, won't you?"

Iruka sweat dropped.

"Well, it doesn't matter now since the academy is done for the day."

"So, did you come all the way over here to tell me that or is there something else?"

"I also came by to give him his homework."

"Your students must really hate you."

"You don't have the slightest idea about teaching. Here." Iruka roughly handed him a small stack of papers.

"He's too sick to do work."

The papers were handed back.

"I'm sure he'll get better."

The papers were once again shoved back to Kakashi.

"Tell him that I wish him well." Iruka said before bolting off. He always had the hardest time making a conversation with Kakashi. Kakashi used him as a source of enjoyment. "Stupid bored jounins." was the last thing Kakashi heard. He gave an amused smile before looking at the work and giving a thoughtful hum.

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Sasuke woke up to a scratching of a pencil. He looked around to find Kakashi sitting idly on a chair, writing something on a paper that looked like a familiar worksheet. He squinted to see his name written on the paper with his sensei's handwriting.

"What're you doing?" were Sasuke's first words. He was unable to keep the hint of suspicion out of his tone. Kakashi looked up with mustered innocence and genuine surprise. He found in his boredom yet another way to annoy his easily irritable friend.

"Oh, you're up. How are you feeling?" Kakashi said, purposefully ignoring Sasuke's question. Sasuke gave up on his guardian's suspicious activity and tried to mentally evaluate his body's health. He felt more rested but oddly lethargic. All drowsiness left his mind and a question immediately popped in his head.

"What're you doing here?"

"I took the day off."

"What? Why?"

"That's unimportant, and you still haven't answered my question." Kakashi said pointedly.

Sasuke propped himself up and deduced that he felt fine. He just had this feeling of weakness that he needed to get out.

"Good enough to train a little." he said trying to get out of bed. He heard a chuckle and found Kakashi's hand on his head quicker than he could blink.

"I disagree. Wait here I'm going to get something."

Sasuke resisted his urge to brood. It will be attractive when he's thirteen, but when he's eight it just looks like an adorable pout that Kakashi never ceases to tease. Within a minute's time, Kakashi appeared with a large bag with hundreds of tiny capsules holding herbs and plants. There was also a small pouch full of medical equipment and a small bowl.

Before he could blink a thermometer was stuck inside his mouth. While waiting for the thermometer, Kakashi started sticking things in his ears and doing things Sasuke could remember from a doctor's checkup. Except Kakashi was quicker and didn't ask an insane amount of questions.

The thermometer was taken out of his mouth. He heard Kakashi mutter something about it still being high.

"How did you learn to do this stuff?"

"An old friend of mine was a medic Nin. She taught me the basics."

Sasuke noticed the strain in Kakashi's voice and decided not to question further.

Kakashi looked at the notes he wrote down and start looking at the unlabelled capsules. He pulled out several different colored capsules as if he had them memorized. He measured a little of each and carefully poured them into the bowl. He poured some water in the bowl and heated it with a fire jutsu.

"I thought you said she only taught you the basics. That seems a little bit more advance." Sasuke pointed out, unable to stop his curiosity.

"Medicines are a bit different. You learn how to do basic ones at the academy. I was considered some type of genius when I was around your age. I studied every art that made a successful ninja. There were some I wasn't too good with, but this I became very interested in. I learned how to make many medicines throughout my travels. What I'm making I've done many times. It's to treat your exhaustion and malnutrition. In your bookshelf there are a few books on medicine. I suggest you read those."

"You're the bookish type and the training type. That's rare at the academy. You must be very powerful." Sasuke muttering more to himself than to Kakashi

. He held a small hint of jealousy.

"No matter how powerful of a ninja you are; it isn't everything." Kakashi said resolutely. Sasuke scoffed silently.

"What's better than being a powerful ninja?"

"Your teammates, your friends and, in some cases, your family. You'll find that there is more to being powerful. There are many things you can lose but that is irreplaceable. You can't hold yourself together by yourself because you'll break easier."

Sasuke could feel the definite amount of emotion swimming in Kakashi's words. He decided not to comment even though he found the explanation far-fetched.

He felt a warm cup being placed in his hands. He stared at the muggy concoction and looked at Kakashi in mild disgust. Kakashi sometimes forgot that his charge was eight, yet Sasuke never stopped giving little reminders.

"Come on I'm not trying to kill you. Just drink it."

Sasuke downed the whole the quickly and cringed with disgust. He felt his body suddenly rejuvenated. He hadn't felt this much energy within weeks. He wondered why Kakashi hadn't given this to him in the first place.

"The sudden burst of energy is a small side-effect."

Sasuke snorted at how Kakashi made it sound like a bad thing. He was about to get up to train but Kakashi handed him a cup. He drank this one without any questions. He felt a weird sensation and looked at Kakashi curiously. Kakashi looked a bit smug.

"That's to counteract the side effect."

Sasuke suddenly felt very drowsy, "Bastard." was his only reply before he dropped off to sleep. Kakashi made a mental note to lecture Sasuke on respect and language. He put away all his stuff neatly. After that he went back to "helping" Sasuke with his homework.

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The next day Sasuke was heading to the academy. He felt a whole lot better but that didn't stop him from being completely pissed with Kakashi. He had slept all of yesterday away. He couldn't help but think what a complete waste it was. Kakashi handed him a stack of papers to give to Iruka-sensei right before he left. Sasuke didn't even want to ask.

His walk to school was uneventful to say the least. He couldn't but feel that something wasn't right, but it was probably just paranoia. As he walked slowly to the classroom he handed the papers to Iruka. His eye twitched. He looked at Sasuke.

"You probably didn't know you had homework?"

Iruka was rewarded with a look of confusion.

"That's what I thought." Iruka sighed and sat down while Sasuke slowly click the puzzle in his. He didn't know if he wanted to thank or strangle his guardian. He slowly went to sit down and found Neji sitting right next to him. He felt an uneasy feeling as Neji gave him a cool look.

"Where were you yesterday?"

"Kaishi made me stay home. He thought I was too sick or something."

"It's about time."

"What do you mean by that?" was the indignant reply.

"I'm just saying you seemed to look more tired than the Hokage himself. Well, now that I think about it you looked older than him also." Neji said with a mocking smile. Before Sasuke could properly reply class had commenced.

It wasn't that Iruka was a boring teacher. It was more his topics of teaching were more just of encouragement to get extra hours of sleeps.

"When stuck in a forest the first good thing to do is to make a fire before there is no more light." Iruka droned.

The rules of survival certainly didn't seem like a boring topic but Iruka seem to make it that way.

"Now gather the sticks and stack them neatly. I'll show you an example of stacking sticks so that you get the most out of your fire"

He was very good at explaining things, a good encourager, and kept his class in control. He just lacked the certain finesse in making things interesting.

"Now after you have a perfectly stacked fire. You now must put stones around the fire to control it. Do not put it too close or too far."

Sasuke tapped his pencil gently on the table as he tried to listen to the key points of what Iruka was saying. Sasuke had a distinct talent in listening but not listening. His notepad currently had various notes. Mainly of new techniques he thought he would do while training.

"Let's have a little fun. Sticks and stones have been gathered for you to stack neatly. You can work together to make them efficient."

The class groaned at such a boring project. Once someone found out going to the academy was very boring it became such a chore. Yet, when Iruka added that whoever made the best stack would be allowed to light it, there was quite a bit more enthusiasm.

They were grouped into threes. Neji and Sasuke were grouped together and a girl named Tenten joined. She was one of the only girls in the class and she really was the only one who stood out.

They expertly stacked the sticks without a problem. Neji put the stones around then they sat back waiting for the class to finish.

"Sasuke right?" Tenten said looking at him with a small smile.

Sasuke nodded not really wanting to respond. He felt weird about talking to Tenten. She was a bit shy. The kids mostly saw her by a creek a mile down from the academy swishing a sword about. She practiced with many weapons but her long sword was what she treasured.

A lot of the students saw her as an obsessed and stuck-up for her lack of communication. Neji and Sasuke, on the other hand, saw her as diligent and unable to relate since the goal of being a weapons master was her life.

She looked at us as we watched each other silently. She took out a kunai and started flipping it around without a second thought. It must be a nervous habit of some sort was what Sasuke thought. Neji finally fed up with the silence started a topic.

"So what types of swords do you usually practice with?"

"I mainly use shoto blades since they work well with my speed, although daito blades are what I hope to master. I'm working with my katana. I hope to improve. Have you guys practiced with any swords?"

"I don't have much experience. My brother knew a bit about swords." Sasuke trailed off from there. He shuddered a bit. He was quiet for the rest of the conversation.

Neji continued the conversation about the swords and thought that it would be good if they practice when they got the time. Tenten agreed. They could talk no further because the whole class had finished the assignment. Sasuke was trying to breathe. The conversations about swords had brought up the horrible memory of how some of his family members died. The memory of his brother had forced into him so vividly.

The class started to light one of the piles of sticks in a contained environment as Iruka-sensei said. Suddenly Sasuke started to smell the smoke. He couldn't breathe. He felt hot all over and it fell like the whole room was on fire. He didn't know what was happening. He started to hear screaming and his brothers sadistic laughter. He felt himself fall to the floor and his name was called multiple times.

The whole class watched in horror as Sasuke fell to the floor. He looked like he was having a seizure and a panic attack at the same time. Iruka got a sane student and had him get a nurse. Sasuke stopped suddenly and blacked out. The class was in chaos. Instead of a nurse arriving a strangely dressed Chunin arrived and ran to Sasuke in a very advanced speed. He took him, and they disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Kakashi was, of course, the ninja that picked up his charge. He pulled all the details from a student rushing to the nurse's office. When he found that Sasuke was having a panic attack, he knew he had to be there. He was rushing to the hospital and when he made it, Sasuke was immediately taken from him.

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He waited for what seemed like hours and a medic Nin came out. Kakashi immediately stood up and looked at her with solemn eyes. She looked at him a bit apprehensively.

"We are not sure what happened. We know that the panic attack happened by the trauma. We do not know why there was a seizure or what triggered it all. We have a few theories but we need a more time. He needs to stay in the hospital."

"If that's what you think is best. Can I see him?"

"Yes, he is in a stable condition as of right now."

Kakashi quickly entered the room his charge was in. He looked down in worry. He didn't know Sasuke was traumatized so badly. The boy suddenly woke up breathing heavily. He looked around with fear trying to see where he was. He seemed to be heading towards another panic attack.

Kakashi quickly put his hands on the boy's shoulder. "Sasuke you are in the hospital. There's no one here who is going to hurt you. Calm down. You're fine."

The boy slowly started to relax and his breathing evened out.

"Do you remember what happened, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up slowly with fear.

"The room started to burn up and my brother was laughing."

"Sasuke, that was all in your head. You had a panic attack and than you started to have seizures."

"It all seemed so real." Sasuke said shakily

"The doctors don't know what's wrong. You need to stay in the hospital longer for them to do some tests."

"What about my training? I can't just get weak like this. " Sasuke said. Kakashi resisted the undying urge to roll his eyes. The boy just had a seizure and he still focuses on the training.

"I believe your health is little more important." Kakashi stated sarcastically. Sasuke pouted a bit.

"Do you have any Idea what triggered the panic attack?" Kakashi asked getting straight to the point.

Sasuke stared at him as if thinking slowly. He looked away. "No." Sasuke brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin onto them. Kakashi had a feeling the boy knew exactly what triggered it.

"You don't have the slightest idea?"

"I said no." He said burying his head into his knees.

"Hmmm, you know this is important for us to know. I know you know at least something."

"I don't want to talk about it." Kakashi was silent for a moment and decided to let it go.

"I'm going to go speak with a doctor." Kakashi said.

Kakashi left the room and Sasuke looked up. He was tense. He didn't want to think about what happened. It all felt so real. He knew he was getting paranoid. Yet he felt that his brother was near. He was getting closer and that he was going to torture him.

He suddenly felt that suffocating feeling. The glass shattered and his brother walked through. He looked straight at him. He smiled peevishly.

"Hello, brother. Do you think it's paranoia now?"

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A/N: Cliffhanger. Oh no! Well anyways I decided I want to add Tenten. I really like to play with characters that aren't really focused on that much. I didn't want to have another team seven story. (Not that I mind that stuff). I'm having a hard time on where to put Kaishi and where to put Kakashi in the story. So I'm just going to use Kakashi unless Sasuke is talking about him. If you have any suggestions I would love them. I really like the help on Neji character. I'm trying tone him down a bit. Thanks for the reviews! I have an unexpected twist that you guys will love!