A/N: Update done! Here is the last chapter about Sasuke:) enjoy.

His first impression of Sasuke was far more complex than the ones of Sakura and Naruto. Why? Well, he hadn't been observing Sasuke for a long time (like he'd been observing Naruto), nor was now the very first time he's seen him (like he's first seen Sakura), in fact it was something in between.

He never met him personally, true. But he remembered very well a face of a child which he saw every time Itachi opened his closet at the ANBU headquarters couple of years before. A smiling, dark-eyed boy, so similar to his older brother, so innocent and smiley.

There wasn't much left from this child now. Only some face features, if he was honest. There was no innocence, no smile on his lips, and his dark eyes were piercing him to the ground every time he looked at him. Sweet irony… He remembered Itachi's gaze and back then it'd been so calm and reassuring. People were repeating over and over again how Uchiha Sasuke's face was similar to his brother's, but really, Kakashi hardly saw any resemblance.

When he met Itachi, he liked him almost instantly. When he met Sasuke… he wished Team Seven didn't pass the bell test. Sasuke was a walking store of negative emotions and Kakashi felt it from the distance. Dealing with this kid would be such a pain.

But the world just had to prove him wrong, when he watched Sasuke giving Naruto some food during the test. He wondered if the young Uchiha knew that he'd just saved himself and his new teammates from going back to the Academy. Okay, NOW he couldn't fail them… Well, he didn't really want to fail Naruto in the first place, but he considered it as Sasuke was in the team too.

Oh, whatever. Karma or something. At least he didn't have to go to Hokage's office and explain himself before the man from failing the third genin team in a row. So there were some profits after all.

Four days: it was enough to understand that Sasuke was not only lost in a jungle of negative emotions, but that his arrogance was second to none (save the Hyuuga) and that he lacked basic social skills. And Kakashi meant it, Sasuke LACKED social skills. He was left alone for too long. And now… it was Kakashi's job to fix it, because Naruto may have had Iruka-sensei, but Sasuke didn't. He had… him. Joy. How to become a parent/big brother/guardian instant course, and you better do it right or else you'll end with a socially disabled teen on your side.

He didn't like spending time with the Uchiha boy. But he knew it's for the best, so he was giving him his time anyway. He was deceiving himself that one day, maybe ONE DAY it would do some good to Sasuke.

It did, actually. The mission in Wave ended and Kakashi had to proceed everything very slowly:

He almost died.

His cute little students almost died.

Sasuke activated his sharingan.

Sasuke… did he save Naruto?

Yeah, he did. Suddenly a flicker of hope made its way to his mind and really, he almost relaxed. So maybe those long training sessions with Sasuke haven't been for nothing. Maybe the boy has been really listening to him, when Kakashi mumbled some comments about life, people, being ninja…

In fact their team meetings became FUN. Sasuke visibly relaxed (fine, Naruto didn't see it, but at least Sakura did), he spoke more, he interacted more with his friends. Yes, they were finally his FRIENDS and the change was breathtaking: there were more of their ramen lunches, there were sleepovers (at SASUKE'S place!) and, the best of all, the kids tried to get a look under Kakashi's mask. Truth be told, he hadn't had this much fun ever before. Their efforts were just so innocent and hilarious that he got unusually curious about how all of it looks from their point of view. So he dressed up as a photographer… Good time, indeed.

BANG. Chunin Exams. Orochimaru. Curse mark. The tension was almost unbearable, but he sighed with relief when he saw all three of them alive. He then sealed Sasuke's mark and took him for a month training outside the village. Naruto needed him too, but he knew Sasuke wouldn't bear his presence well, so he convinced Ebisu to train the blonde. Not that he thought it would be a great idea, but it WAS an idea. Fortunately, Jiraiya DEIGNED to appear in Konoha just before he left the village with Sasuke, and told him that he want to train Naruto. Kakashi was relieved, really. He left him in good hands.

Training with Sasuke was… hard. Kakashi was teaching him the chidori and he knew the kid would master it, but the real problem was the curse mark. Sasuke needed to work very hard on keeping it under control. He was doing a good job about it, he really was, but it wasn't enough. The mark affected him heavily and activated a couple of times. The first one was the worst, then Kakashi learnt how to deal with it. Mostly.

Having Sasuke twenty four hours per seven for a month had an impact on Kakashi. He was sure he'd already understood the young Uchiha, but honestly, he hadn't. Sasuke… opened up. He told him about his family. About his life after the massacre. He told him everything about what Itachi had said to him when he murdered all those people. He CRIED. He admitted that he didn't know what to do anymore, because he needed to avenge his clan, but his life in Team Seven was just so amazing… This night he fell asleep with Kakashi's hand on his head and only after swallowing a sleeping pill. And Kakashi stayed awake the whole night.

He was thinking. How to keep Sasuke in the village? Man, being an adult was such a pain when you had a kid under your care.

But now he knew he needed to keep him in Konoha and he was determined to succeed.

He did see Sasuke started to be a little jealous of Naruto's fast improvement, but it didn't seem dangerous then. The Oto attack was over, the fight with Gaara was over too and there came again sweet Team Seven's days. Some missions, some lunches at Ichiraku, some sleepovers. As if nothing had happened. Sasuke came to him two times at night, when he struggled with the curse mark, but they just dealt with it, no problem.

Itachi appeared.

Where has Kakashi been when it happened? Well, in a place he should have been, believe it. He was just enough of an idiot to look into Itachi's eyes and let the Tsukuyomi devour him. So when he woke up, everything was already over.

Tsunade came back to the village and healed Sasuke. Kakashi was on his way to visit him in the hospital, when he noticed a bunch of Naruto's shadow clones on the roof. He had a bad feeling about it… He got there fast enough to save Sakura from the rasengan and the chidori and parted two fighting boys not too gently. To say he was disappointed was an understatement, because he was pissed. He didn't show it to Sasuke though: the boy was furious himself and an argument would have only worsened his state, so he only gave him a short lecture and decided to talk to him in the near future.

He never get a chance to, of course.

Naruto and Sakura were blaming themselves for what's happened and he even told them it's not their fault, but it didn't work. Naruto left with Jiraiya and Kakashi was pulled into a whirl of endless missions. He was asking himself if he's at fault here… And realized that no, it wasn't his fault. He hadn't been passive in all the process, in fact he tried to help Sasuke as much as he could, but it was for nothing anyway. No, he wasn't the one to blame.

So he couldn't help a tiny flicker of anger directed towards Sasuke. The flicker has been growing for almost three years and when Kakashi reunited with Sakura and Naruto, he hoped that his students wouldn't force a conversation about their former teammate, because he knew they wouldn't accept his way of thinking.

A reluctance towards Sasuke he felt at the beginning came back, but this time it was justified and much stronger.

And the kids has gone on a mission with Tenzo to drag this idiot back to Konoha. And they failed. And there was a lot of sorrow aftermath which he only pretended to feel. But they couldn't know. So he accompanied Naruto after the Pain attack, he even supported him before the Raikage. They heard Madara's story and everything started to make sense. And then they met Sasuke.

Yes, he tried from all his strength to kill him. He would admit it to anyone who asked him about it. Uchiha Sasuke was a threat, he killed Itachi, he killed Danzo, he was a missing nin and, what's the most important, he almost killed Sakura and that was unforgivable. Because Kakashi promised himself that he won't lost any of his comrades. Not ever again.

War. War. War. And suddenly this idiot appeared, claiming that he was on their side. No kidding. Kakashi observed his every move, ready to react should the last Uchiha try something on Sakura or Naruto. And really, if he hadn't been exhausted when they'd defeated Kaguya, he would have tried to kill him where he stood. Fuck. Sasuke was going to kill Naruto, he knew from the beginning that it wouldn't be this easy. He should've slit his throat when he had a chance to, so what if the world would end? That heartless bastard.

But Naruto dealt with him in his own way and of course everything ended fine, it's Naruto we're talking about.

Kakashi had a long battle with himself. When he sorted some things up in his head, he got into Sasuke's cell and settled down just next to him. And the Uchiha recognized him. With his chakra restrained and his eyes covered, he recognized him instantly. They had a long conversation, quiet and peaceful, so similar to the one they had had five years earlier during their training away from Konoha. Just too similar. Only Sasuke was ten times more lost than before.

And then it just hit Kakashi that maybe… just maybe it wasn't entirely Sasuke's fault either.

He wasn't sure if he should allow him to go on his atonement journey, but Tsunade waved him away and told him to do what he wanted. So he did.

And every new message a hawk brought to his office reassured him that he made a right choice.

A/N: All right, it's done:) Have a nice life everyone!