Chapter 1

The Storm

There was a torrential down pour all throughout Victoria that night. It was reported to be the worst storm of the year; lightening lit up the sky, the roar of thunder vibrated walls. The wind blew rapidly through the trees also making the rain pelt down on an angle hitting the ground, windshields and windows as if it was hail. The streets were already beginning to flood from the overflowing city drains that were no match against the fierce power of the storm. Cars were left abandoned in foot deep puddles, the passengers long gone with no other choice but to walk through this storm. Kakashi Anderson was attempting to drive home from work in this dreaded weather, his windshield wipers were going at full speed but did nothing against Mother Nature's true power. He was half way home from work when his phone rang. He quickly reached down never removing his eyes from the road and grabbed his cell phone, the source of the annoying ringing.

"Hello"

"Hello there boss. I'm sorry to disturb you, but there is a question I need to ask you."

"That's alright. What do you need?"

Kakashi was a professor at the University of Victoria. He was only twenty eight, but he had started school at a young age. That and skipping a few grades here and there didn't hurt either, he was a true prodigy genius. On the phone with him was his Teacher's Assistant Roy Ferguson. He was an interesting man, wound up too tight at times when it came to preparation though. That was never a strong characteristic that Kakashi held; although, he did manage to become a professor regardless of his bad childhood habit of being late for everything.

"The assignment you asked me to print off for tomorrow, was it assignment 418 or 421?"

"It was 421 for tomorrow Roy."

"Okay! Great! Thank you boss. I'll see you tomorrow morning, that is if you make it home alright in this horrible weather. I swear it is like you have a death wish."

Kakashi let out a soft chuckle at his young friend. Roy didn't like to drive when it was just spitting out, little lone a storm as this one that filled the sky. He had already set up camp in the teacher's lounge, he absolutely refused to go out and attempt fate in the storm.

"A little rain never hurt anybody."

"True, but a lot can kill you to you know."

"Yes well what are the odds of that Roy? Thank you for getting everything ready for class tomorrow. Don't spend too much of your evening there at work go out and have some fun once and a while."

"Well I doubt there are a lot of young attractive women who would be out at a bar in this weather. If they are, they are not the type that I could bring home to my parents. Have a good night sir."

"Good night Roy."

Kakashi went to hang up the phone when it slipped out of his hand and rolled around till it was on the floor of the passenger side. Carefully Kakashi reached for his phone; he was trying to see if he could reach it without having to take his eyes off the road. After trying a few times to reach his phone he had to look down briefly for a second to grab it from the floor. He grabbed it and placed it back in his bag that was sitting on the passenger seat. Kakashi kept his eyes on the road while he did this; however, the next thing he knew his car was spinning out of control. He tried to control the car, though keeping it straight was becoming problematic between the heavy rain and the road being flooded. His wipers were moving at full speed but he still could barely see in front of him. After a powerful blast he was at a complete stop. He turned his brights on, only to find that he had crashed into a tree. Thankfully it was not a huge tree so the impact did not hurt him, the air bag didn't even go off. He tried to turn the engine over hoping it would work, he tried numerous times, but the engine just wouldn't turn over. 'Okay what do I do now?' he thought.

Thankfully he remembered his cell phone; he grabbed his phone to call for a tow or a ride. Unfortunately his phone had no signal. Apparently the person that invented his cell phone didn't think of putting in a strong signal. Kakashi looked around to see where he was. He was only a block away from the Nicholson Estate. He decided he would go there and find a place to stay for the night or to get a ride home preferably. He grabbed his umbrella and began to make his way outside, the rain was hard and the only light was that of the lightening that lit up the dark evening sky. He was lucky he had his trench coat and umbrella with him otherwise he would have been soaked to the bone within seconds. He began his treacherous journey through the storm. The wind burned and slashed at his cheeks, the pelts of rain hitting hard and soaking him deeper and deeper. He could see the Guard shack just up ahead, he felt like he was walking in slow motion using all of his strength against the powerful bone chilling wind. When he reached the front gate of the Estate the guard on watch approached him.

"Where are you heading to?" The guard spoke very loudly even boarder line yelling just to be heard over the storm. Kakashi was forced to meet the guard's volume.

"My car crashed into a tree a block away and I can't get it started. My cell phone has no signal I was just looking for a phone or a ride home."

"Follow me please."

Kakashi nodded and followed the man down the driveway. They approached a house a few minutes later. The house was huge even though it was dark he could still see all of the plants and greenery all around the front of the house. Kakashi had to wonder if they would even survive this down pour of rain. There was a deck that wrapped all around to the side of the house and Kakashi had assumed that it went all the way around the back of the house as well. The guard knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. After a few moments the door opened and a woman stood there in front of them. She was not tall but not short either, she had black hair and her eyes were brown. She had pale skin and a slim figure; she welcomed their presence with a smile a worried smile but a smile none the less.

"Sorry to disturb you Mrs. Nicholson, but this man was in a car crash. May we come in?"

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, of course please come in."

She stepped aside of the doorway to let the gentlemen into her home. The inside of the house looked just as beautiful as the outside had. There was wood flooring, a fireplace in the living room, the kitchen had stainless steal appliances and it was as big as his whole apartment. The walls were painted with soft colors and had famous works of art from Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Van Gogh hanging on each wall. The stairs to the next level of the house were wooden that spiralled down into the living room. Kakashi had known that the Nicholson family were wealthy but he had no idea they were this wealthy.

"I'll go inform my husband of your presence." With a nod from the guard she walked out of the living room.

Kakashi couldn't help but wonder what the man did for a career, whatever it was, it had to of been a very well paid job to afford all of this. Kakashi noticed the pictures on the mantle above the fireplace. There was the lady and a man who he assumed to be her husband and a little boy as well. 'So they have a son.' Kakashi thought.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see the man that was in the photos standing in the living room. He was a tall man, built, black hair just like his wife, with brown eyes. He was not a very old man only in his thirties Kakashi figured. He motioned his hand to the couch for Kakashi to sit down. Kakashi took off his jacket and sat down on the couch. As the man spoke he sat down in the chair with his wife standing right beside him.

"My name is Fugaku Nicholson and this is my wife Mikoto. She tells me that you were in a car crash near the Estate."

"Of course Fugaku Nicholson the top defence criminal attorney in British Columbia. No wonder he can afford a mansion like this." Kakashi thought.

"My name is Kakashi Anderson and yes I crashed into a tree and my car won't seem to start."

Fugaku motioned towards the guard letting him know that he was safe to leave his house and go back to his post. The guard nodded and left the house.

"It's much too dangerous to be driving in this weather, and it is not supposed to slow down anytime soon. So please stay the night we have an extra room you can sleep in. In the morning I will take you to your car and if it doesn't start I'll give you a ride to work. In the meantime my wife will show you to your room."

"Thank you Fugaku."

Kakashi got up from the couch and followed Mikoto to his room for the night. The room was big and it held a queen size bed that looked so damn comfy and irresistible that he just wanted to crawl right in. There was a closet and a desk in the room so at least he could work on his marking tonight. He had to admit he was falling behind on his markings. Kakashi always did enjoy reading his students works; it was just the task of inputting the information into the computer. The system that the professors were required to use was always crashing and losing data regardless of how many times you clicked the save button, it was frustrating to say the least. Kakashi remembered how this one time, he spent four hours inputting data only for the system to crash when he had only one more to input.

"Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. I hope you like chicken."

"Yes I do thank you."

Mikoto closed the door and went downstairs to the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready. Kakashi was amazed by the house he just couldn't get over how beautiful one house could really be. After all, he only lived in a two bedroom apartment and yes it was a nice apartment, but it was nothing compared to this house. Once he placed his bag down he got out his work and begin to read over some essays. About twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door and Mikoto walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt you Mr. Anderson, but dinner is ready."

Kakashi nodded and walked out the door after Mikoto. When he got to the kitchen he noticed that there was the boy that was in the photos, he was bigger now though at least eighteen. He looked identical to his father it was amazing.

"Kakashi this is my son Itachi. Itachi this is Mr. Anderson."

"Please to meet you Itachi."

"Please to meet you Mr. Anderson."

They all sat down and began to eat dinner. Once dinner and desert was done Kakashi helped with the clean up and the dishes. Throughout the course of dinner he had learned that Itachi was a student in high school and had applied to a very high level University in Victoria. He was studying to be a lawyer just like his father. Kakashi had remembered that he had heard Fugaku Nicholson's name before on the news. He was a well known lawyer for those that are in the position to pay for his services. He mainly dealt with government officials or celebrities. Although, his claim to fame was his handling of the most dangerous criminals and his ability to get them found not guilty regardless of the truth. It was a few minutes after eleven when they all went upstairs to go to bed. Kakashi found he was unable to sleep in a place like this. He couldn't stop wondering what the rest of the house looked like. He tried to focus on the essay he was marking at the time; however, once it was one in the morning and he was still on the same essay he just had to go and satisfy his curiosity.

He went down the stairs and started to wander around the house. He noticed a door just a little ways past the kitchen he opened the door and saw that it was the garage. The garage looked like your everyday garage the walls were painted the same color as the rest of the house; though he couldn't help but wonder why anyone would waste their time painting a garage. He turned around and closed the door. He was going to turn in when he noticed at the end of the hallway, there was a door that was partially open and a light shinning through it.

He walked down the hallway and carefully looked through the door to see if anyone was in there. Lucky no one was and he opened the door all the way, which earned him a squeak from the hinges that seemed to blast through the quiet house. Kakashi made his way down the metal stairs. The room was cold he could almost see his breath; there was a blanket in the corner of the room filled with holes and a pillow on the floor. There was a small window, but it was nailed shut. The main difference in this room was that the walls were full of designs that someone hand painted on. There were note books hiding under a shelf. Kakashi just couldn't help his curiosity and walked over and opened one of the books. To his surprise it was full of songs, poems, and stories. The writing looked like that of a female and the English itself was very well written, the female that wrote this must have been at least of a grade ten level. Kakashi assumed that they must be Mikoto's old writing books. Once he was done in the room he went back upstairs. He decided that maybe a warm glass of milk would help him get some sleep. He walked into the kitchen and to his surprise the fridge door was open. He turned the light on and there by the fridge stood a boy.

The boy closed the fridge door immediately and looked scared. Kakashi had no idea who this boy was. He was in none of the photos and the family never mentioned that they had another son at all. The boy had black hair, was very pale and thin, he had soft facial features just like Mikoto, but what Kakashi couldn't stop looking at were his eyes. His eyes were blue a very mesmerizing blue. He couldn't tell why but something inside him told him that this boy had seen many things with his eyes.

"I'm sorry to startle you. My name is Kakashi Anderson, I was in a car crash by the compound and your family was nice enough to offer me a place to spend the night. What's your name?"

"Um…Sasuke Sir"

"Hello Sasuke nice to meet you." Kakashi gave him a nice genuine smile to help ease the boy. Though it didn't do any good the boy's eyes were locked on the floor.

"Having trouble sleeping as well?" Kakashi asked

The boy just nodded his head.

"You know what I found out that helps, a warm glass of milk. Would you like me to get you one?"

"Um… Sure Sir"

Kakashi could tell that the boy was shy so he tried to make him feel comfortable in his own home. At least he thought it was his own home. Kakashi went to the cupboard and got out two glasses. Though, despite Sasuke's attempt Kakashi did notice how he backed away from the kitchen the closer Kakashi got. By the time Kakashi had reached the cupboards the boy was standing by the table. Kakashi tried to ignore it just chocking it up to the boy being shy; he continued what he was doing and went to the fridge and grabbed the milk. He poured some milk into both glasses and put them in the microwave for thirty seconds. Once they were warm he placed them down at the table and motioned for the boy to come and sit. Sasuke walked over cautiously and sat down across from the man he had just met. Sasuke wasn't sure what it was, but he seemed to have this feeling like he wasn't here to hurt him, that this man was safe. He had a medium build with brown hair; he had green eyes, one of them though held a scar that ran vertically through it. Sasuke never looked at anyone in the eyes, but he couldn't help to sneak a peek when Kakashi was looking at the microwave.

"So how old are you Sasuke?"

"I'm twelve Sir."

Sasuke never looked Kakashi in the eyes; he never looked anyone in the eyes. Kakashi noticed this, but again he just took it as a sign of his shyness; it wasn't his place to push after all.

"What school do you go to?"

"I've always been home schooled Sir."

"Oh I see. What is your favorite subject?"

"English I love to read and write but I'm not allowed to do English Sir."

Sasuke's eyes filled with panic he didn't mean to say that part out loud. It had just been so long since anyone had spoken to him. Kakashi noticed the look in Sasuke's eyes and took advantage of the boys slip up.

"Why not?"

"Father says it's a distraction from learning the law and becoming a lawyer like him and brother Sir."

"He's good at making answers up off the top of his head. Why I think he's lying about that I don't know, but my instincts say he is." Kakashi thought.

"Is that what you want to be?"

Sasuke just sat there and shook his head no.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Sasuke sat there for a few moments not saying anything. Kakashi was about to say something when he heard Sasuke faintly say the word alive. Kakashi didn't know what to say to that or if he should say anything to it. Sasuke said it only to himself probably didn't even realise he said it loud enough for Kakashi to even hear him. So Kakashi decided to change the subject, at least for now.

"Where's your room?"

Sasuke shifted in his seat and Kakashi could tell that he really didn't like that question. For the life of him though he couldn't figure out why. It seemed like it was a simple question.

"Um…I'm tired so I'm going to go to bed. It was nice to meet you Mr. Anderson Sir"

Sasuke put his glass in the sink and went off to his room.

"Nice to meet you to Sasuke."

Kakashi watched as the boy went off to the stairs to head up to his room. Kakashi then got up and placed his glass in the sink when he heard a door opening. He recognised the squeak as the door to the basement he heard it himself when he opened the door. He glanced around the corner and saw that Sasuke was going down stairs, 'He sleeps downstairs? Maybe he forgot something down there.' Kakashi thought. After a good five minutes had gone by and Sasuke never made his way back up Kakashi shook his head and headed to the stairs.

Kakashi walked upstairs to his room. He went and laid down to get some sleep, he wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that he would never get that boy out of his head. Not until he figured out what was going on with him. He looked at the clock it was almost two AM. Kakashi thought he couldn't get that boy out of his mind, there was just something about his eyes, they were full of this special spark that was the only way he could think of to describe it. However his eyes also held something that he just couldn't put his finger on it. Eventually he was able to fall into a restless sleep.

Kakashi woke up to his alarm at seven am. He got up and opened the curtains and was pleased to see the sun shining through. The rain had stopped and the part of town that he could see didn't look too bad. He was sure that some of the streets would still be a little flooded, but that wouldn't last too long. He got his papers together and fixed himself up then made his way downstairs. He was surprised to see that everyone was up and sitting at the table with the exception of Sasuke. He wasn't sure why, but something inside of him told him not to mention that he saw the boy last night.

"Good morning Mr. Anderson would you like some coffee?"

"Good morning and yes thank you."

"What would you like in it?"

"Two sugars and milk please."

Kakashi sat down at the table with the rest of them and thanked Mikoto when she brought the coffee over to him. After the coffee was done Kakashi thanked them for their hospitality and then he and Fugaku made their way to Fugaku's car which was a fully equipped black leather seating, it was a BMW, once inside they were on their way to Kakashi' car.

"So Fugaku you're a defence attorney, what is that like?"

"It's an interesting and intense career. I enjoy it very much, it comes with multiple perks."

"I can tell. Your home is beautiful to say the least."

"Thank you; I definitely have been blessed with a wonderful wife and son. I'm assuming that is your car right there."

"Yes that would be my pride and joy."

"Well let's see if we can get it started, if not I'll give you a ride to work."

"Thank you Fugaku."

Once they arrived they tried to get the car to start for a good twenty minutes, but the car was going nowhere today. So Fugaku gave Kakashi a ride to his work. They talked about meaningless small talk at first then Fugaku began to speak of Itachi. He was very proud of Itachi and had high hopes for him. The odd thing that Kakashi noticed was that he never once mentioned or gave any indication that he had another son. Kakashi naturally found this odd and he decided he would have to look into it.

Maybe Sasuke wasn't really his, maybe he was a relative or his wife had an affair and the boy was the result of it; after all those blue eyes had to come from somewhere. What confused Kakashi was if the boy did in fact live downstairs, why would Fugaku have the boy live in the basement? It was freezing down there last night little lone how terribly cold it would be in the winter. He had seen what the boy had to sleep with and it would do nothing against the cold concrete floor. None of this made any sense to him, so he would have to find out one way or another the truth behind all of this. The sound of Fugaku's voice snapped Kakashi back into focus.

"You said that you are a Professor. What do you teach?"

"I teach English mostly."

"The reason I asked is that Itachi is having some difficulty in English, he isn't at the level he should be or needs to be in order to obtain his 90% average. Would you perhaps be interested in tutoring him? I would pay you of course."

"I would be delighted to tutor him. Here is my number give me a call and we can set something up. Thanks for the ride and allowing me to stay at your home last night."

"Your welcome, I'll call you later this afternoon."

Kakashi got out of the car and walked up the steps of the university. 'This is the perfect opportunity to find out what is going on in that house.' He thought as he entered the building.