my one in million

chapter four

Heat was stirring in his gut; Tsunade was going to be the death of him.

Either that or he would destroy the village and every living thing within a ten miles radius in a rage fit.

Accidentally, of course.

"You're moving me here because someone got a bloody nose?" He tried to keep his arms crossed as tight as possible as to not break the old lady in half. She was Naruto's precious old bag and if he demolished her, he would have a thousand pissed-off Narutos on his case.

"He got a bloody nose because your fist hit him there." She pursed her lips. "Besides, what's better than training your eyes and serving the community at the same time?"

"I couldn't care less about your community."

She sighed. "You say that, but you eat our food, right? You live in our buildings, right? You walk in our streets and talk to our people, right? Guess what, that makes you part of the community." After an awkward pause, she added. "Buck up, it's your punishment for defecting."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm being bossed around by an old hag who wouldn't even show her real face to the world."

"It's for your own benefit, believe me." She pushed him down by the shoulder to sit in the chair. "All you have to do is use your sharingan to copy the books we have stacked here. The current technology in printers can't get a clear image because of how old the paper is."

"Years of training and this is what you decide to use the Sharingan for?"

The hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened, almost crushing his bones. "Remember that time you attacked us to assassinate our leader? Yeah? Well your amaterasu ate up the records, one by one, for seven days; this is what's left." She let go of him. "At least pretend to take responsibility. Oh, and don't punch anyone in the nose while you're at it."

He didn't even bother to respond when she stomped away, breaking pieces of floor in her anger; until she shut the door behind her with a loud slam that shook dust off the bookshelves. "Whatever…"

He glared at the large pile of books he was assigned to copy, and on the other side of him was an endless supply of blank paper. He didn't mind books, really; in fact he'd always dreamed of visiting the Hokage's record's library for it's one-of-a-kind books and some top-secret scrolls on missions and techniques.

He just didn't want to read them as a part of homework. Or as she put it: punishment.

Sasuke slumped in the chair, grabbed a random book and sifted through the pages in boredom. Records of missions: who came in, who went out, who died, what rank and how much they were paid.

The records were dated five years ago.

He shut the book and wondered if he could secretly just burn the rest into ashes and pretend none of it ever existed.

He wasn't even here five years ago, why should he care?

He grabbed another, older book, and opened it at the end where a thin amount of paper sat separated from the cover by a considerable gap; it was a record of the clans of Konoha. The Akimichi and Inuzuka occupied the first half and the rest was lost in the fire. The Uchiha clan, if one followed the Japanese alphabet, should have been after the Inuzuka; but now it's gone forever.

It happened again, he thought, their existence is once again demolished by the hands of one of their own.

He shut the book and whispered a quiet prayer of apology to his clan before setting the book aside, feeling even grumpier than before.

The door behind him opened and in came a pair heaving boxes in their arms, the first person smelled like wet dog and chatted loudly like one, the other was hidden behind boxes but Sasuke could recognize those ugly track pants anywhere.