Hey... Sorry it's been so long since I last updated... My internet bill didn't get paid... I've had this chapter ready for almost three months...

Chapter 5-

Kakashi rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that night. Sitting and talking with a very drunk Shiroi was not his idea of a good time. He didn't like the guy at all. Actually, the man pissed him off to no end, the way he talked about Naruto. And it was worse when he was drunk. But he wouldn't talk when he was sober, and so far, this man had been his only source of information about Naruto's and Sasuke's past friendship, and he was hoping to get as much information as possible before he ditched this guy. Or killed him. Whichever came first.

"…and that Itachi! Boy! He was a creepy one! The first time he showed up at my door with the little bastard I almost wet myself! And you know what-hic-? That prick threatened me! He told me I wasn't to lay a hand on the demon again! It's no wonder he went Psycho and killed his whole family! Who in their right mind would stick up for that thing in the first place?"

Kakashi glared at the man. "Lay a hand on him?"

Shiroi frowned. "Yeah. He told me I had to stop beating him. Not like it mattered anyways. The kid was a freak! He was completely healed after a day."

"When was this?"

"When was what? When the Uchiha-bastard threatened me? I dunno… I think Naruto was five… Yeah. Because I just got an increase in pay for taking care of him for five years. You know, things started to go downhill from there. The wife is a nag, and I couldn't even take out my anger on the little demon boy anymore. I couldn't even give him a good smack when he back talked." Shiroi frowned down at his glass.

"So how long were they friends?"

Shiroi shrugged. "Right up until Itachi went bonkers and killed the entire clan." He started laughing, pausing long enough to down the rest of his drink. He laughed some more, and suddenly puked all over himself.

Disgusted, Kakashi got up and left.

Naruto sat on his bed, staring at the empty pack of cigarettes in his hand. He really wanted another one, but it was too late. One of his neighbors bought them for him, but he was sure to be in bed by now. It was 2:00 in the morning, after all.

Sighing, he got up, rummaging through his stuff. He did have something else. His neighbor had sold him some pot. But he wasn't sure if he wanted to smoke it yet.

He found the little bag of weed and stuffed it in his pocket. He grabbed a lighter and headed out of the apartment, not bothering to put a shirt on. It was a decently warm night.

Naruto walked slowly through the dead town. No one was out, no one could see him. He liked it like this. He made it to the bridge where team seven met every morning. In fact, he knew he would be back there again in a few hours, once the sun had risen. It seemed like a fitting place.

Sitting with his feet dangling over the edge of the bridge, he pulled the little bag out of his pocket. He took out a little paper and rolled half of the dried green leaves. He brought it up to his lips and lit it, inhaling deeply, sputtering and coughing, and breathed out shakily, watching the smoke slowly disappear in front of him.

He took another drag and delighted in the calm feeling the started spreading over him.

"You know, you can smell that from a mile away." Naruto jumped at the familiar voice, and looked up to see Kiba standing behind him, with Akamaru on his shoulder. Akamaru barked in agreement.

Naruto shrugged, turning away from the dog-boy and taking another drag. "Why do you care?"

Kiba snorted. "I don't. I just thought you deserved fair warning so you know why you get caught."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Clearly, he wasn't too concerned with it.

Kiba frowned down at Naruto's back. "You sure have a lot of scars, even for a ninja."

Naruto shrugged. It was something he had no desire to talk about. Kiba got the hint and left.

It was at this point in time, that in his relaxed state, Naruto felt someone else approaching. He recognized the chakra, but appeared unfazed.

Kakashi caught a whiff of something. He was on his way home from the bar, still milling over what Shiroi had disclosed to him.

'Someone's doing something they shouldn't be.' He thought to himself. He didn't actually care. But he was a curious son-of-a-bitch, and went to find out who was doing the dirty deed.

He really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was to find that the culprit was Naruto. But he was surprised. He was very surprised. His student was smoking a joint. He was almost furious. Almost.

Kakashi couldn't help but think about what Shiroi had told him. He had beaten Naruto when he was only five. It explained a lot.

But that didn't mean that he was just going to let the kid get away with smoking pot.

Stealthily, he snuck up behind Naruto and put a Kunai to his throat.

"Now, now Naruto. I'm disappointed. Hasn't anything I taught you been worth it? You can't let your guard down. And you shouldn't be smoking that."

Naruto started laughing, and suddenly he popped into a cloud of smoke.

"Who said I let my guard down, eh sensei?" Came Naruto's voice behind him. Kakashi turned to see Naruto jumping down from the high post on the bridge. He was still smoking the last of his joint. "I can't believe how much easier it is to focus when I'm calm."

Kakashi looked at him carefully. Yes. Naruto looked calm. Unusually calm and relaxed, standing there in a pair of sweat pants looking like he didn't have a care in the world. Other than the smell, that was the only indication that the boy had consumed a substance of any sort.

"Do you do it often?" Kakashi asked. His voice was surprisingly passive, even to himself. He couldn't be angry, even if the lesson he had been planning on teaching Naruto had just backfired.

Naruto shook his head. "This is the first time. Are you mad?"

Kakashi thought for a second. Was he mad? Could he still be mad at Naruto's antics, now that he was starting to realize just what kind of hell he had been through? No. He wasn't mad. "I'm not mad. Just disappointed."

Naruto winced at the solemn tone of Kakashi's voice.

"I wouldn't expect you to run to substances for your problems, Naruto. Although, I'm blind because I didn't see it coming. But I guess I can understand. I know what happened at the foster home."

Naruto froze, and his eyes widened. He dropped the roll on the ground. "Y-you know?" The calmness was gone.

"Yes. Shiroi told me."

Naruto was staring at Kakashi with a mixture of pure shock and disbelief. "H-he told you?"

"Yes. And I know it was bad, and that he was cruel, but that really isn't reason enough to head down the path you are taking."

A dark look passed over Naruto's face, and he suspected one of two options. Either Kakashi was just as much of a bastard as his foster father was, or Shiroi hadn't told him the whole story. He was betting- or maybe he was praying it was the second option. He didn't know if he would be able to handle finding out that Kakashi thought "what had happened" was so trivial that it shouldn't matter anymore. There had been too many people that had just brushed it off like it was nothing. He couldn't handle that- not from his sensei.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, frowning. The boy was starting to tremble and was apparently lost in thought.

"Yes, Sensei?" His voice was forced- formal even.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto smiled. "Nothing! I think that smoke just went to my head! I'm gonna go to bed now." And he was gone, leaving Kakashi frowning and seriously wondering what he was missing out of the whole picture.

3 ½ Years Earlier

Sasuke smiled and hummed to himself as Itachi walked him home. It was the day before his birthday, and Itachi had something special planned for him and Naruto.

Itachi smiled at the joy he felt radiating off his younger brother. It seemed that his sole purpose was to make sure his little brother was happy. It was the only part of his life that was going right at all.

But he wasn't discontent.

Sasuke gave Itachi a big hug when they reached the gates of the Uchiha compound.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Itachi said quietly, playfully ruffling Sasuke's hair. Sasuke smiled a huge smile and darted off into the compound while Itachi turned and walked back the way they had come.

Any other day, he would be heading back to his apartment. He had finally had one fight too many with his parents and had gotten a place of his own. But he wasn't heading there now. No. He was going to the dreadful prison, also known as a foster home, where a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy was waiting for him.

And Naruto wasn't exactly waiting patiently. He had been pacing in front of the door since the moment Itachi and Sasuke had dropped him off. He was excited. Itachi was taking him to the toystore to buy Sasuke a birthday present. He had been looking forward to this since his own birthday, a few months before.

Finally, there was the tell-tale knock on the door, three short, quiet knocks that had become Itachi's signature. Naruto flung the door open, beaming up at Itachi.

Itachi offered only a small smile in return, but Naruto had known Itachi too long to think much of it. Any smile from Itachi had huge significance.

Naruto started chatting up a storm as he walked with Itachi, who for the most part remained silent. But his silence didn't phase Naruto at all. It was just another one of Itachi's trademark traits, if a relatively new one. Sasuke and Naruto had taken it upon themselves to interrogate Itachi about his growing determination to remain silent.

Itachi had simply responded "I would rather listen than be listened to."

It had been enough for the younger boys, who had no problem telling Itachi anything and everything that popped into their heads.

And Itachi truly enjoyed just listening. It made the world seem less complicated, when all he had to think about was the meanderings of a nine-year-old and a soon-to-be nine-year-old. It was very calming.

Naruto squealed excitedly when they entered the store, and darted off to look at the toys. Itachi was reminded of the day, just months before when Sasuke had reacted in much the same manner.

It took Naruto a lot longer to choose a present than it had for Sasuke. He kept darting back and forth, and Itachi suspected that he was too excited to really see what it was he was looking at.

"Choose something yet?" Itachi asked, walking up to the blonde that was paused momentarily in front of some action figures. Blonde hair waved from side to side as Naruto vigorously shook his head and darted down the aisle.

A yell was heard, and Naruto collided with the store owner.

"Oops! Sorry mister." Naruto said sincerely, helping the man pick up the toys he had been carrying.

"Don't worry sonny." The man said kindly, taking the toys. "I just need to watch where-" His eyes narrowed as he looked down at the little blonde. Itachi tensed as he watched the blood rush to the man's face.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing in my store?" Naruto shrunk away from the man's suddenly harsh voice.

"I'm looking for a birthday present for Sasuke." Naruto whimpered. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Itachi standing behind him.

"Is there a problem with that?" There was an unspoken threat in Itachi's voice, and the man's eyes widened even further.

"No. Not at all." He shot Naruto a dirty look and shuffled off to put the toys back on the shelves.

Naruto smiled at Itachi, and suddenly pointed at a package of play shuriken. "I want to get Sasuke that!"

Itachi smiled, picking the shuriken off the shelf and leading Naruto to the cash register.

"Sasuke, I know it's a day early, but I wanted to tell you what you're getting for your birthday."

Sasuke looked up from his plate and at his father. "Really?"

His father was smiling fondly. "Your mother and I have decided that you are going to be enrolled in the Ninja Academy."

Sasuke's face broke into a huge grin. "Really?" He jumped up from the table and cheered. "When?"

His father smiled at his mother. "We'll go there tomorrow to get you enrolled and you'll start the next day."

Sasuke started jumping up and down. "Oh wow!" He flung himself at his father and hugged him tight. "I can't wait to tell Itachi-sama!"

His father's smile faltered a bit, and he exchanged a look with his wife, but returned his son's hug.

"Thank you!" Sasuke released his father and plopped back down in his chair, shoveling the rice in his mouth, suddenly finding it hard to chew with the big smile still plastered on his face.

There was a knock on the door, and Sasuke smiled at his mother as she got up to answer it, dribbling rice down his front.

A few moments later, she returned and whispered something to his father. Sasuke stared as the smile completely disappeared from his face and he got up, storming out of the house and leaving his dinner unfinished.

"Where's dad going?" Sasuke asked, staring worriedly after him as his mother started clearing the table.

"He has to talk to your brother." She said simply before whisking off to the kitchen.

"Oh." Sasuke said to the now empty room. His previous happiness was suddenly gone, replaced with a feeling of intense worry. It was never a good thing when his father and brother "talked".

Itachi knew the moment he got home that he wasn't alone. He could feel the presence in his small apartment. Better yet. He knew exactly whose presence it was.

"What do you want, father?" He asked carelessly as he flicked on the lights and turned to look at the man that was glaring at him.

"You think you're pretty clever, don't you?" His father hissed, walking up to his oldest son and staring down at him. He was only a few inches taller than Itachi, but he was using the small height difference for all it was worth.

"No." Itachi said simply, turning from his father and walking into the kitchen. "I know I am."

"Don't walk away from me, boy!" Itachi felt a hand on his shoulder and was suddenly spun around to face his father. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"Find out what?" Itachi would have turned and walked away again if his father didn't have such a strong grip on his shoulder.

"Don't play stupid! I told you, Uchiha's don't associate with trash! I told you that Sasuke wasn't to be friends with a demon!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers at the man he was ashamed to call his father. "His name is Naruto. And it isn't your place to decide who your son can be friends with. I proved that to you long ago." He jerked away from his father and began rummaging in his cabinets. He could feel the anger radiating off the man behind him.

"I don't want you stepping foot inside the compound." His voice was shaking with barely suppressed rage.

"Hn. It's not like I do anyways."

"I will not allow you to see Sasuke, ever."

Itachi paused in his movements, glaring down at the package of rice he had just pulled down. "Do you really think you could stop me? That you could stop him? He loves his big brother, even more so than his parents." He finally turned to face his father. "It's not all that surprising, really, considering you didn't even give him a second glance until you discovered that he wasn't growing up to be a spitting image of you. Did you even see him between the time he was born and the time he made his first and only friend? No. You just pawned him off on the only available subject. It's really not my fault he adores me so, but I adore him. And as powerful as you think you are, you can't severe a brotherly bond."

Itachi smirked as the elder Uchiha clenched his fist. Without another word, he turned on his heel and stormed from the apartment, pausing at the door.

"If I catch you anywhere near him, I will personally strangle you."

Itachi laughed as his father slammed the door.