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Umino Iruka had no manner of luck at all. First he ends up as the Hokage's night guard. Then some crazy man kicked down the Hokage's door and Mizuki along with it. After that he had to drag Mizuki's sorry ass to the hospital. Now he was taking over Mizuki's shift as gate guard…oh, and the crazy man was back.

It had been a rather uneventful night. The funeral for the Uchiha clan was yesterday and the whole village seemed rather subdued. Just as dawn was breaking a small horse drawn cart rolled up to the gate. The crazy man had been at the reins. A woman who looked about Iruka's age had sat beside him. A small blonde boy had sat in the back of the cart, amidst the luggage. It was the boy who caught Iruka's attention.

"Naruto?"

"Iruka-sensei? Iruka-sensei! I was hoping I would get to say goodbye!" The boy cried with delight

"Goodbye?! Where are you going?"

"My family is taking me away for awhile." Naruto proudly stressed the 'my family' part.

Iruka was about to ask more questions when a hand on his shoulder silenced him. He turned around to see the Hokage.

"It's alright Iruka. Kano here is now Naruto's guardian."

Iruka nodded dumbly. The Hokage turned to Kano and Michie.

"You have everything?"

Kano shrugged "All the important stuff, yeah."

"Then I wish you a good journey. I will keep in contact." Hokage stepped away from the cart and looked at Naruto.

"I trust you will grow strong while you are away."

"Of course I will. I have to come back and take your job don't I?" the blonde replied pertly

The Hokage threw back his head and laughed. Naruto leaned over the edge of the cart and hugged Iruka.

"Bye Iruka-sensei. I'll see you later. Tell the Old Man and Ayame that I'll see them in five years."

Iruka blinked at the blonde, totally confused.

Kano set the horse into motion. The cart rolled away. The Hokage waved to the departing family until they had disappeared into the distance.

Iruka turned to the Hokage "Hokage-sama, what just happened?"

"For his own safety, Naruto is being sent out of Konoha until he is ready to be a genin."

"Oh…."

"You realize that you can tell no one what you just saw."

"Yeah, I figured…Hokage-sama?"

"Yes Iruka?"

"With all do respect, I don't want to be a guard anymore. It's confusing."

The Hokage laughed and began to walk back to the tower. Iruka looked back to where that Naruto's family and disappeared to.

"Take care Naruto."

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Sasuke couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the bodies of his family. The young Uchiha reclined back against his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his new room. Kakashi had set up the room for him before he was released from the hospital. He had painted the walls blue and set up a bed in the corner beneath the window. The room also had a desk, a bookshelf, and a dresser. It was really very nice, but at the moment Sasuke didn't care.

The boy stood and exited his room. Walking slowly down the hall he entered the kitchen and got himself some water. He sat at the table and stared blankly at his glass. He must have zoned out, because he jumped when he felt someone shake him slightly.

Itachi worriedly looked down at his brother "Sasuke? What are you doing up? It's barley past dawn."

"Aniki…I had nightmares."

Itachi sat beside Sasuke and put an arm around his shoulder.

"So did I"

"Will they ever go away?"

"I'm not sure..."

A new voice spoke, "No"

Itachi and Sasuke turned to see Kakashi. The older man was entering the apartment, having just returned ANBU watch. Iruka was just behind him; the chunin had been roped into gate guard duty and must have just gotten home as well. Kakashi continued to speak.

"The nightmares will never disappear. They will lessen, though. As time passes you'll find you only have such nightmares once a week, or once a month. You'll find that you can battle them back."

"Battle them…" Sasuke whispered

"The best way to fight a nightmare of the past is not to dwell on it. Live your life, do great things. My sensei told me something similar when I had nightmares about the war with Iwa; about Obito's death. He told me to find happiness. Find people and things to live for. That way when the nightmares wake you in the middle of the night you have something to set against them."

Sasuke nodded slowly, the barest hint of a smile playing on his face. Iruka spoke softly from his place beside the door.

"It is better to live for the living than to have died for the dead." The chunin smiled sheepishly when everyone looked at him "It's a proverb from the far west. I read it in a story, something about a wise fool."

Kakashi chuckled at his friends embarrassment before turning back to the Uchihas "So…who wants breakfast?"

Within a few moments Kakashi was frying eggs and bacon while Itachi and Sasuke set the table. Iruka sat on the couch staring blankly into the distance. Itachi looked at him questioningly.

"Is something wrong Iruka?"

"Hmm? Oh…nothing. It's just been an especially...eventful morning."

The four of them sat down for breakfast. Kakashi harassed Iruka; something about a disastrous date. Itachi laughed at the chunin's mortified expression. For the first time in the last three days, Sasuke had the feeling that everything would be alright.

Life moves on.

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Sorry its been a long time. I am almost failing a class (don't tell anyone) so i got to study more

the next chapter should be out within a week - Peace out- Piggy/Santa/phatpigeats(anyone of these are OK)