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Why Itachi? Why? Why did you do it? Why did you kill them all? Mother? Where are you? Is there really such thing as Heaven? Is that where you are? Is that where you are, Father? Grandmother? Grandfather? Aunt? Uncle? Why Itachi? Why did you do it?
"Sasuke-kun? Why are you standing out in the rain all alone?" Iruka-sensei's voice said, piercing through the silence and the six-year-old's reverie.
Sasuke looked up and emotionlessly stared into his teacher's face. The man wore a look of concern across his tanned face. Sasuke's eyebrows knitted together as the images flashed through his mind again and again and again. His father and mother lying dead on the nightingale floor, his aunts and uncles and cousins littering the street, their blood staining the grass, Itachi standing above their parents' corpses without any sign of emotion at all, not even regret or psychotic glee.
"Come, Sasuke-kun. How about you stay at my apartment for the night?" Iruka-sensei said, handing the boy his umbrella.
Sasuke rejected the invitation and the umbrella with a shake of his head. He walked off down the road, his thoughts engulfing him again.
"If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm always here, Sasuke-kun!" Iruka-sensei called after him.
Sasuke stopped in his steps and glanced back at his teacher. He watched as Iruka-sensei walked in the direction of the man's apartment. His dark blue bangs fell into the boy's eyes and his wet clothes clung to him. Images of Itachi returned into his vision. His fists and teeth clenched. He needed to do something with this depression. He couldn't let it get to him, keep him back. He needed to turn it into something else, something that could help him become a better ninja. Anything to numb the pain, to not let anything like that happen again.
-
Have to train harder! Have to train harder! Have to get stronger! So I can kill him! So I can get revenge! So I can protect . . . !
What was he thinking? Protect who? Well, obviously himself, but that wasn't what he was going to say. He didn't understand why he had this inclination to protect that person, he only knew that he wanted to. It wasn't like he thought it was a bad thing. Anyone would want to protect him, to keep him out of harm's way. But he wanted to know why it was so important to him.
"Sasuke-kun, school is over!" said Iruka-sensei. "Come back in!"
Sasuke refused to follow his orders. Didn't he understand that he had to do this? That he needed to do this? That he didn't just need to do this for himself, but for his family and Iruka-sensei, too? He didn't yet know why he had to do it for Iruka-sensei, but it felt like a need to be satisfied. It scratched at his brain, especially at night, when the nightmares of murders and Itachi struck the most. Iruka-sensei slowly appeared more and more often in each and every one of those nightmares, being killed, beheaded, mutilated, and various other bloody ends.
"Sasuke! You've been out here for over two hours! If you keep working that hard right now, you'll . . . !"
Faint from exhaustion? A little too late for that warning, Iruka-sensei.
Sasuke hit the ground, unconscious, panting and Itachi's last words to him echoing in his ears.
-
He opened an eye to find himself in a strange room. He sat up, sheets falling off him, and looked around. This wasn't the Uchiha mansion. It was a large apartment at most. Where was he? Sasuke glanced at the window. Moonlight poured into it. What time was it? Sasuke removed himself from the bed and gasped. He quickly covered his mouth so he couldn't make any more noises. Iruka-sensei lay sleeping on a futon on the floor. So this was his apartment? He took care of him? Sasuke lowered his hand from his mouth and stepped quietly toward his teacher.
"Thank you, sensei," he whispered and left a light kiss on the man's cheek.
Why'd I do that? he thought. Maybe I'll understand later.
-
Understand he did. He didn't like it though. He couldn't like a guy! He had to carry on the clan! He needed to be attracted to girls! Father and Mother, if alive, wouldn't stand for that! He couldn't be gay! He couldn't!
Sasuke glanced up at his Academy teacher as he called out names for teams. He groaned a little. Iruka-sensei's voice was a turn-on, however, and he was fairly sexy. No! Can't think like that, can't think like that, concentrate on being on the same team as Haruno and Uzumaki . . . . . I'm on the same team as Naruto and that empty-headed girl?
-
He had betrayed the village. He was working for Orochimaru. All of this just to kill Itachi. Why was this feeling like torture? He was doing what he had wanted to do for years. Why was it hurting, and why was it hurting this much?
"How is my new protégée doing?" asked Orochimaru.
Sasuke turned around and glared at him.
"Like how the village looks?"
Sasuke refused to answer.
"I was thinking. Usually when one switches villages, there's this form you have to sign and fill out, but I have a different option."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. Orochimaru walked closer to him and extended a hand to grab him. Sasuke smacked it away.
"Don't touch me," Sasuke growled.
"Tsk, tsk. So ungrateful. I'm the one teaching you now, remember? I believe I'm allowed to have a little fun with you."
"Shut up! You're to keep your hands and every other body part off me!"
"But what's the fun in just looking at you?"
"I'll never allow you."
There's only one person he'd allow to do anything like that to him . . . . Sasuke fought back a blush at the thought of an intimate relationship with Iruka-sensei.
Get those thoughts out of your head, Sasuke, he's out of reach now. He'll never think of you that way now. You're a traitor and almost killed Naruto, the boy he thought of as a little brother. Iruka-sensei's off limits. Forever.
-
Naruto had brought Sasuke back to the village. Tsuande-sama required Sasuke to be around ANBU at all times, or at least a competent ninja. Anko literally chewed him up and interrogated him for Sound ninja and Orochimaru information. Most of Rookie Nine were still suspicious of him. Sakura wasn't as interested in him as she was before anymore; he didn't think that was really a bad thing, though. He hadn't run into Iruka-sensei since he returned, however.
Sasuke sighed. He accepted defeat a long time ago, but this crush wouldn't dissipate and go away. It nagged at him everyday for the past years. It was really annoying. The fifteen-year-old decided that it probably was revenge for the horrible stuff he did, and that he was most likely going to die with this problem. Curse being an Uchiha.
"Hello, Saskue-kun," said a familiar voice.
Sasuke jumped, turned around, and stared.
Iruka-sensei . . . .
"How are you today?" the man asked.
Sasuke gulped, "Uh . . . ."
Iruka-sensei blinked. Sasuke shook his head and mumbled a fine. The fifteen-year-old looked around and blinked. He just noticed that his sentinels were gone. He glanced at a store and sweat dropped. They were at the Icha Icha Paradise sale. There were way too many perverts in this village. Sasuke looked back at Iruka-sensei and fought back another blush. It had been too long since the last time he saw him.
"How are you?" Sasuke managed to spit out.
Iruka-sensei smiled warmly at him and answered kindly. Even after all he had done, Iruka-sensei was still being nice to him. A small smile won its battle with Sasuke's pride and appeared on his face.
-
Sasuke was sixteen now. Tsuande, after the Icha Icha incident with the ANBU ninja, assigned Sasuke to help Iruka-sensei with papers and assigning missions. This meant more time with Iruka-sensei, which meant more blushing, more smiling, and over all more being happy. Sasuke's transformation scared the hell out of Rookie Nine, Kakashi-sensei and pretty much everyone else. There was now a rumor going around that Iruka-sensei could replace negative personalities with positive ones. The Uchiha wouldn't put it past him, but he doubted it was true.
The younger one glanced at the older one. They could both feel the afternoon creeping its way into the day because of the increased drowsiness in the air. Sasuke stretched and glanced at Iruka-sensei. The man was still immersed in his work. The Uchiha looked up at the ceiling again. He bit his lip, contemplating. Should he say something? He glanced at Iruka-sensei again. He turned a little red and looked back at the papers in front of him. Continuing with his work, he periodically glanced at Iruka-sensei. Part of him hoped the man noticed, the other part prayed that he didn't.
Kakashi-sensei teleported into the room.
"Sorry, Iruka-kun, I've brought more papers," Kakashi announced.
Both Sasuke and Iruka-sensei glared at him.
"Papers that were due last week," they said in unison.
Kakashi sighed; they knew he thought that was a little scary. That was exactly why they were doing that.
"I know, and I'm sorry."
Apologizing was the only way to get them to stop talking at the same time any time soon.
"If you were really sorry, you'd stop doing it," they said together.
Sasuke smirked as Kakashi-sensei sighed again. The silver-haired man gave Iruka-sensei the papers. The youngest one went back to his documents, thinking that Kakashi-sensei was going to leave now, just like he always did.
"You know, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi-sensei said; Sasuke looked up, surprised; he hadn't been called –kun by anyone except for Iruka-sensei ever since he got back. "One step in dating someone is telling him that you actually like him. I suggest you do it now before someone else gets him first."
Blushing furiously, Sasuke said, "How the hell do you know about that?"
Kakashi grinned under his mask.
"Have you forgotten that I was your teacher?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to say more, but Kakashi teleported away. Sasuke pouted a little and glanced slightly at Iruka-sensei. He looked confused.
"Like him? Does that mean you're . . . ?" Iruka-sensei asked innocently.
Sasuke's face resembled a tomato dipped in the darkest red paint. Iruka-sensei smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's okay. I don't mind. Who's the lucky guy?"
If possible, Sasuke turned redder. He swore that most of his blood had rushed to his face. He bit lower lip and squirmed in his chair a bit.
"If you don't want to tell me, that's perfectly understandable."
The Uchiha glanced at Iruka-sensei as he went back to his documents.
"The lucky guy's you, Iruka-sensei," Sasuke said.
Iruka-sensei looked up from his documents, obviously surprised.
"Uh, I've got to go. I just remembered I had something else to do! Bye!"
Sasuke teleported away, leaving an Iruka who was still trying to process what he just heard.
-
Days later, Sasuke heard a knock on his apartment door. He opened it and gulped. Iruka-sensei stood in the doorway.
"Iruka-sensei! Hi! What are you doing here?"
The sixteen-year-old blushed crimson and mentally cursed himself for it. Iruka-sensei smiled warmly at him.
"I wanted to talk to you about what you said earlier. It's not everyday I hear a love confession," Iruka-sensei replied.
Sasuke gulped again.
"Ah, it's nothing, nothing at all. Sorry to waste your time."
Sasuke tried to shut the door, but Iruka-sensei stuck his foot between the door and its frame. The boy frowned and looked up sheepishly at Iruka-sensei.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Sasuke-kun. I don't mind. In fact, I return your feelings."
Sasuke blinked and stared in shock at him.
"For a long while, actually. When you betrayed the village, it was a nightmare for me as well, and not just because I taught you. It was because I cared about you so much."
Iruka-sensei kept his warm smile in place as he said this.
"Care to give us a try, Sasuke-kun? If you don't think you're ready for a relationship, that's fine, too."
"No! Of course I am!" As long as it's with you.
"Keep in mind that since you're still under age, we can't do anything."
"I turn seventeen in a week."
Iruka-sensei chuckled nervously.
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Red Roses2: You know the drill. Review, report OOC-ness, grammatical errors, ect. Flames for this one will be mailed to Sasuke's door step instead of being banished.