A week had passed and no one had come to town asking for him. Not that Sasuke was truly expecting anyone to come, but during the time he was waiting he had felt a spark of hope that it was all a dream.

Now that the stitches were out Sasuke was given new clothes and a pack to help carry his own weight as he and Lee walked out-of-town.

He was now wearing brown clothing like Lee except his were slightly darker. Sasuke had ripped the Uchiha symbol off the back of his jacket and kept the fabric hidden away in his pocket.

"Come on now. No need to waste time. The sooner we start the sooner we can finish." Lee said grumply, marching out of town.


Two weeks had passed as they traveled from town to town. At each one Lee stopped to question if anyone knew Sasuke. And each time, as Sasuke expected, Lee always came up empty.

"Last town Sasuke. After that I'm going to have to leave, lets hope someone knows you." Lee sounded extremely guilty, as if though Sasuke going to an orphanage was his fault.

"Okay." Sasuke said without emotion. He honestly didn't care, rather he was feeling very unreal at the moment. It was nice walking around because it stopped the thoughts that scared him and the numbing fear that threatened to engulf him from time to time. But aside from that there wasn't much being dropped at the orphanage would change.

After a few hours of walking Sasuke looked around. He was in a desert.

When did that happen? He thought to himself. Everywhere around him was sand. He looked back at the path behind himself and saw a small smudge of green on the horizon.

I should probably start paying attention. Sasuke decided. Suddenly he noticed just how hot he was. There was a small breeze moving his clothes around and everything itched.

What! I have to live here! It's nothing like back home! It's terrible. Sasuke began complaining to himself.

"How ya holden up?" Lee asked him.

Sasuke was about to answer that he was just fine but stopped as his eyes began to sting.

"Ouch!" He said involuntarily.

"Whats wrong?" Lee asked looking back. "Oh, your eyes bugging you? Here."

Lee pulled out a straw hat and gave it to him. It covered the top half of his face and made it hard to see.

"It's a little big but it should do the trick." Lee grinned as he tied off the piece of string under his chin.

"What trick?" Sasuke glared at him. Of course Lee couldn't see it as he stood back up.

"It'll keep the sun and sand out of your eyes. Now lets keep going."

Sasuke pulled at the hat a little so that he could see as he was walking, then gave up as it kept falling back down.


Lee began his ritual of asking everyone in the village if they knew Sasuke as said kid wandered around aimlessly.

As the day drew to an end, he found himself sitting on a bench outside of an orphanage.

"Alright Sasuke. I guess it's about time we say good-bye." Lee said gruffly.

"Bye." Sasuke answered apathatically.

Lee looked slightly upset. "Well I'll be sure to check up on you if I'm ever in town, okay?"

"Okay." Sasuke said.

"Make sure you wear that hat I gave you. Wouldn't want to go blind out here."

"Alright."

Lee finally turned and left with much effort.

Sasuke got up and entered the building.

He walked towards a lady with brown hair and grey clothes, on her leg she had a pouch for small weapons. Her hair was up in a bun and she was messing with it as she walked towards him.

"Hello there. I'm Chun. I'll be taking care of you for now. Its my job to insure that you settle in nicely so if you have any questions feel free to ask. I'll be taking you to the place you'll be staying in and stay with you the first night but as you look nearly old enough to go to school your expected to keep yourself out of trouble, understand?" She read off a piece of paper.

"What?"

She pulled out a piece of paper and read some instructions.

"Now follow me please."

She brushed past him and began walking down the street. As he struggled to keep up with her long strides he noticed all the stares he was earning himself.

"Here we are."

Sasuke walked into the small building by Chun's side. She walked up to a desk and handed the slip of paper over to the women on the other side.

"Here ya go." The women said as she turned around and handed them a key.

"Thank you. Lets go." Sasuke started after her as she walked past the desk and down a hallway.

"I thought that other place was the orphanage?" Sasuke questioned.

"It is, but you look old enough to take care of your self, so were going to give you a small apartment instead. Someone will come and check up on you each week and you will be given a box of food each month and if you need anything you need to tell the person that checks up on you so that we know." She again read off the paper.

Sasuke allowed himself a moment to process that information.

"Hn." He finally answered.

"Were here." She sang out as they stopped outside of a door with the number thirteen on it.

She unlocked the door and stepped in with Sasuke one step behind her.