Title: The Three Motions
Author: Keitorin (a.k.a. Chou ni Natte)
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing/Characters: implied Kakashi x Sasuke / Naruto, Sakura, Itachi
Rating: PG
Type: AU
Summary: Sasuke's brother is not the one who killed their clan. Only Sasuke and Itachi know this. But they can never tell and are forced to act as if the elder brother is the murderer.
Author's note: Summary and plot came from cheysuli.envy.nu/. I wonder just how long ago it was submitted, it being on the first page – and there's 14…

Note: Definitions from dictionary dot com.

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Naruto and I make no profit from writing fanfiction.

-1-

con·dem·na·tion

1. the act of condemning

2. the state of being condemned.

Eight-year-old Sasuke took one final deep breath and let it out.

"When I woke…h-he was gone."

The official nodded and wrote his statement down before leaving with his parting condolences.

The doctor pulled her chair over and sat beside the patient's bed.

"Listen, Sasuke. I don't know how hard this must be for you…"

You have no idea.

"But I want you to know that we'll be here the whole step of the way to help you, okay?"

Sasuke nodded to let her know he'd heard. She gave him an encouraging smile and left the room after telling him there would be someone to check on him again later.

He was staying in the hospital while everything was being sorted out. There was no way anyone was making him return to the Uchiha compound anytime soon, especially since he had no idea if the…mess, had been cleaned up yet.

Sasuke was still in shock from everything that had happened. He suspected he wouldn't have been able to get the story out much less edit the necessary bits otherwise, having never been a great liar.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, his entire family had been slaughtered. Well, almost all. His brother lived because he had been ever later arriving home than Sasuke, having been away on a mission. The other survivor… Sasuke didn't want to think about that, as it brought up bad memories.

Not wanting to sit still for any longer, Sasuke slid out from under the sheets, clad only in a hospital gown, and made to leave the room.

However, he'd failed to notice that someone had been standing in the doorway and he bumped right into them. A steadying hand reached out to steady him at the shoulder.

Sasuke turned slightly wide eyes up to meet those of an older man whose gray hair surprisingly didn't remind him of an old man's, because the man just looked too young. He wore a mask on the lower half of his face and his hitai-ate covered his right eye from sight.

The eight-year-old wondered fleetingly what was underneath before he realized that he was staring rudely and backed away, letting the man's hand fall off of his shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry."

The man didn't move from the doorway as Sasuke returned to sit back onto the bed.

Sasuke stared up at the man and waited for him to introduce himself, but he seemed to be preoccupied with his thoughts.

The hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck stood up as he had a thought.

What if he knows something?

The man must have seen the terror in his expression, because he stopped looking like a statue and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

That only served make Sasuke even more nervous.

"W-what-?" He started to ask.

"Sasuke." The man paused. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. …I wasn't close to your family, but I was once friends with one of them."

He stopped to let that sink in.

"Once?" Sasuke questioned, wondering whom it had been, and if they'd been slaughtered the night before. The thought made him sick to his stomach and he almost missed the answer to his question.

"He died years ago." Kakashi scratched his cheek behind his mask. "I know you're still in shock, but I wanted to come and tell you that if you needed a home – if you decide not to return to the compound – you can stay with me. My house is nothing special, but…"

Sasuke stared at him for a few minutes, surprised at the stranger's offer.

"Of course, I understand if you don't want to." Kakashi amended after a few minutes of slightly uncomfortable silence.

"N-no, …thank you, Kakashi-san. I-I don't know what I'm doing yet, but I'll keep your offer in mind. Thank you." Sasuke slid off the bed and bowed politely, just like his mother taught him to do.

"No problem." Kakashi replied after a moment.

Sasuke wondered if the man would ask him if he was okay. Everyone he'd met so far had, even though it was obvious that he was not nor ever going to be.

Surprisingly, the man remained silent and didn't stare at him with the pity he was expecting. Instead, there was a different emotion that Sasuke couldn't quite recognize.

Kakashi left soon after, probably realizing that Sasuke wasn't going to break down and cry on his shoulder anytime soon, casting one last glance over his shoulder before disappearing completely.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to think about what he would do next in detail; he just wanted to curl up in a ball (not nap; nightmares), in hopes that when he next got up, everything that had happened the day before would disappear.

…That his beloved brother hadn't been taken away from him and forced to take on the blame for his clan's murder.

…That Sasuke hadn't been left behind to pick up the pieces of his shattered life.

Mostly, he wondered where his brother was now, and if he was okay - but then he remembered that the man had said he would be, along as he cooperated.

…

Kakashi had stared at him with empathy.