Notes: Just a head's up - this isn't a meaty, cover-every-little-thing kind of fic. I wanted to see a friendly, cheerful Sasuke, and then I wanted to see a Yamamoto-reincarnated-as-Sasuke fic. This is basically a bunch of moments cobbled together and will likely only be five chapters. I've written up to three, and when I post them will depend entirely on the response to this. That being said, I hope you guys like it!

The title is from that saying "red sky at night, sailor's delight/red sky in morning, sailor take warning" which I picked solely because it sounded cool.

Edit: Someone made a good point about the time skips being confusing, and I'll admit to having concerns about it myself. With that in mind, I'll be adding descriptions to each section to indicate what time has been skipped to. The canon timeline is pretty wonky, however, so I'm just roughly estimating everything. If it doesn't make sense, let me know!

I. [early afternoon, genin exams]

"You passed! Good job, Sasuke-kun," Iruka smiles up at him, kindly. He then gently places the symbol of Takeshi's new status as a shinobi of the Leaf in his awaiting hands. Everything about the man is always gentle, always kind. Takeshi likes him a lot.

"Thanks!" He practically chirps. He hadn't expected to fail, exactly, but Iruka's visible pride in him is both reassuring and pleasing. He pockets the hitai-ate, and after a reminder about the paperwork Takeshi now has to fill out and turn in to make his graduation official, he exits the exam room only to run into a sizable crowd of his admirers.

"Did you pass, Sasuke-kun?" One of them asks, excitedly.

"Of course he did!" Another one scoffs. "There's no way he'd fail!"

"Maybe we'll be on the same team, Sasuke-kun!" A third girl chimes in, hopefully.

"Thanks for waiting for me, ladies," he says, smiling placatingly at all of them and ignoring the questions with practiced ease. "Do you mind letting me through?" He explains, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'd like to head home to celebrate."

He can see the moment understanding dawns on most of them, their expressions of adoration morphing into sympathy. Takeshi thinks he hates them, just a little. They immediately part down the middle, allowing him access to the hallway with varied exclamations of assent.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun!"

He gives them all another grin, along with his thanks, which somehow elicits lots of swooning, and then he makes the trek to the Uchiha Compound in relative peace. He does stop to chat with a few friendly faces - elderly civilians he knows from helping them over the years, as well as owners of the shops he frequents - and their praise of him kindles the warmth in his chest enough that not even the uneasy silence of the Uchiha District can faze him.

Takeshi waits until he's inside his own bedroom to properly examine the forehead protector. It's the standard blue one that all of the other genin received, and while he knows he could trade it in for something more unique, he decides against it easily. With steady hands, he puts it in place and then ties it behind his head. The weight is unexpectedly calming, almost as if it had always been there or was always meant to be there - and that's relieving, too.

He's finally officially a shinobi, like his parents had wanted him to be. He turns around fully and regards himself in the mirror he'd placed in his room for this purpose - and as a reminder.

Sasuke Uchiha stares back at him, placidly, and even after twelve years in this body, in this life, in this world, the sight is an uncomfortable one. Because where Sasuke is pale, of average height, all sharp angles and innate grace, Takeshi Yamamoto had been tan, tall, muscular and graceful only if he was concentrating. Where he has to work to keep a frown off Sasuke's face, Takeshi's default expression had been a smile.

Takeshi had died young, before his father and all of his friends, protecting them from an unexpected attack, the intricacies of which have all been lost to him now - and he's unashamedly, stupidly grateful that it had been him and not anyone else.

He'd been reborn somehow, and he'd known right away that it was a different world entirely. There'd been some crazy powers in his old world - just look at what the Arcobaleno had been, before Tsuna had found a way to break their curse - but nothing had come close to the frankly insane potential of chakra. His new family... Well, they'd been distant but loving in their own ways, and Takeshi had mourned for them.

He shakes his head and pushes aside the gruesome, too vivid memories that arise without fail when his thoughts turn toward his family.

He observes his reflection again and forces Sasuke's uncooperative scowl into an easy smile, Takeshi's smile. He laughs, and Sasuke laughs with him.

"I'm a shinobi," he says aloud, testing the title out. He clasps the metal of his hitai-ate between two fingers. "Sasuke Uchiha, genin of the Leaf Village."

It feels- right. Even if everything about it is wrong.

II. [next day, mid morning, team assignment]

He exchanges pleasantries with a few of his classmates when he arrives at the classroom the next day and little more than that. It seems that no matter the world, Takeshi attracts sycophants and zealots like flies, and it's with them in mind that he keeps his distance - with the exception of one person.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Kiba shouts accusingly.

Shikamaru opens his eyes lazily and observes, "You failed yesterday, so where did you get that hitai-ate?"

Smug is really the only word to describe the expression on Naruto's face as he says, "Iruka-sensei passed me! He gave me his own hitai-ate, see?" The boy points excitedly at said item and then doggedly sidesteps any further questions on the matter.

Takeshi narrows his eyes in contemplation. There had been a call for jounin last night, high alert. He doesn't spot any visible injuries on Naruto, but Iruka definitely looks worse for wear. And while the man had never been outright hostile toward Naruto, he'd never been particularly kind to him either - until this morning. Takeshi recognizes that overwhelming fondness mixed with awe on Iruka's face. It's the same expression Tsuna's enemies-turned-friends had all eventually developed towards him, usually after he'd done something so wholeheartedly Tsuna that they'd had no choice but to like him.

Naruto had always given off a Tsuna-ish vibe. It's probably not a stretch to say this is the same kind of situation and that it resulted in Iruka passing him.

"Good morning, Naruto!" Takeshi greets him warmly. He doesn't ask for confirmation since it's likely the entire thing is confidential. It had involved jounin, after all.

Naruto's face lights up when he realizes that there's an open seat next to Takeshi and Sakura. "Morning! Sasuke, Sakura-chan!" He practically shouts - because Naruto practically shouts everything. 'Loud' is his default volume. When Takeshi had first met him, he'd almost expected to hear the word 'extreme' a couple dozen times.

He plops down gracelessly in the open seat, earning vicious glares from a few of Takeshi's admirers. They'd been none too happy when Takeshi had first befriended the kid, but he'd managed to charm most of them into actually giving Naruto a chance. The ones who'd insisted that Naruto would taint him somehow had been privy to one of his rare displays of anger, and then the threats had stopped, too. Naruto's thoroughly surprised but pleased expression had been entirely worth it.

He'd always regretted not doing the same for Tsuna, back then. He's happy with the way things turned out, but maybe both of them could have been saved a lot turmoil if they'd had each other to rely on - before Reborn arrived and brought that wonderful chaos with him.

"Good morning, Naruto," Sakura replies after a moment's hesitation. Because of Naruto's sometimes thoughtless but well-meaning comments about her, Sakura had had more reasons to dislike Naruto than the others. Regardless, Takeshi had managed to talk her around and make her realize that Naruto's infatuation was actually genuine, and she's been not exactly friendly but at the very least civil towards him ever since. It's more than most of their class can say, much less the rest of the village.

"Settle down!" Iruka calls from the front of the room, and almost everyone hurries to do so. Generally nice he may be, but Iruka-sensei can be pretty scary when he wants to be, hahaha.

III. [early afternoon, team 7 meeting]

"Aghhhh!" Naruto growls, running his hands through his hair irritably. "Where is our stupid sensei?!"

Takeshi shares some of his impatience since it has been at least a few hours since the teams were announced and everyone else left. "Maa, I'm sure he'll be here soon, Naruto," Takeshi attempts to placate him.

Sakura chimes in, worriedly, "It has been an awfully long time."

"Heheh," Naruto suddenly giggles to himself. "I'll teach him to not to mess with the future Hokage!" With that, he grabs one of the board erasers, pulls a chair over to the door, eases it open slightly, and then places the eraser precariously on top of it. It's a classic prank, if a little simple. Takeshi approves and gives Naruto a thumbs up when he looks to him in askance.

"Do you really think a jounin would fall for that?" Sakura asks him exasperatedly - which is a good point, really.

As if in answer to her question, a silvery head of hair chooses that moment to pop in. The eraser lands on him with a poof of chalk dust.

There's a beat of silence, and then...

Naruto laughs uproariously at the admittedly silly sight while Sakura apologizes profusely. Takeshi, however, has to stop himself from tensing as all of his senses scream that the man in front of them is a danger. His posture is languid, and his entire body is projecting that he is nothing more than a harmless civilian. He'd be inclined to believe it like Naruto and Sakura clearly have, even knowing the man is a jounin, were Takeshi not intimately familiar with that particular mask.

It's the same one he wears, after all.

"My first impression of you..." The jounin says, eyeing the three of them disdainfully. "I don't like you. Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

He disappears in a whirl of leaves.

IV. [early afternoon, team introductions]

Takeshi likes Kakashi. The man is funny and kind of reminds him of Reborn with his cryptic words and thinly-veiled amusement. The sadistic humor is strangely nostalgic.

Even when Naruto and Sakura are gulping in fear or shouting in aggravation, Takeshi finds himself genuinely laughing. He's always enjoyed overreactions, and his new teammates are great sources of them, especially with Kakashi there to egg them on.

"What're you laughing at, Sasuke-bastard?" Naruto yells, irritated, gripping the collar of Takeshi's shirt.

This is pleasantly familiar, too. "You guys are funny," he answers truthfully.

Growling incoherently, Naruto brings his free hand up to swing at him, but he's foiled by their new sensei's tight grip on his wrist.

"Now, now, let's not strangle each other before we even introduce ourselves!" Kakashi chides him cheerily.

Naruto lets him go, crossing his arms with a huff. Takeshi settles back in his spot with a smile. There's apparently 'something' about his cheerful nature that rubs people the wrong way, sometimes. Reactions to that are always good fun, as well.

"All right. You, the angry one. Go first," Kakashi points at Naruto.

Takeshi's smile grows a bit bigger at that, and even Sakura giggles. Naruto does not appreciate any of this in the slightest.

He shakes it off and plasters on a grin, excitedly introducing himself, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen and really cool jutsu and Iruka-sensei and the Old Man! And Sasuke-bastard is okay, I guess. I don't like the three minutes it takes to cook ramen and Miz- uh, bad guys! My hobbies are eating ramen and training!" His eyes light up as he finishes with, "And my dream is to become the Hokage! Believe it!"

Markedly unimpressed, Kakashi says, "Okay, you, the pink one."

Sakura blinks uncertainly. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like..." Here, she blushes and glances at Takeshi. "I dislike Ino-pig! Um, my hobbies are..." Another glance at Takeshi. "And my dream is..." She trails off, peeking at him and giggling girlishly. Takeshi tries not wince.

Kakashi visibly sweat drops. "...Right. And you?"

Takeshi says, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like-" baseball "-sushi and kenjutsu. I can't really think of anything I don't like," he admits sheepishly. "My hobbies are cooking and training. My dream is..."

He feels more than sees the rest of them - Kakashi in particular - holding their breaths, and he knows that something big rests on his answer here.

He grins. "My dream is to make my Clan proud by becoming a legend like you, Kakashi-sensei."

Takeshi manages to spot the sliver of relief in Kakashi's visible eye at his words - relief that he's not hung up on some sort of vengeance, no doubt - likely only because he was looking for it.

It's not unreasonable that a normal kid like Sasuke was supposed to be would get caught up in revenge after trauma like that, especially with Itachi's parting words to consider, but Takeshi's no normal kid - probably never was. No normal child would have sensed the unrest and tension in their family and subsequently carefully snuck around, eavesdropping on important conversations and slowly putting the pieces together. They wouldn't have realized their Clan was planning something dangerous and that their older brother was at the heart of it.

He'd known Itachi had been stressed, burdened with the responsibility of the Clan at such a young age, of playing the spy and lying to both sides, and he'd done his best to wipe away his brother's frown whenever he could, make him laugh and forget his worries, at least for a little while.

Takeshi could never have imagined that he'd find his brother standing over the dead bodies of their parents, trying and failing to keep his expression blank all while speaking of his betrayal in a deadened tone. Beneath his quiet terror and confusion, he'd thought Itachi had seemed small and fragile, as if a slight breeze would carry him away were it not for the weight of the world on his tiny shoulders.

(He was only thirteen.)

V. [next day, late morning, survival test]

"So now it's your turn?" Kakashi asks indifferently, attention trained on the book in his hands. The newly minted genin across from him doesn't even register as a threat.

Takeshi smirks, withdrawing his sword and falling into a familiar stance - because he's used to people not classifying him as a threat. He's also used to showing those people exactly why underestimating him is a mistake. Closing his eyes, he calmly finds his resolve, and with only a small tug at his core, he coats his blade in blue flames.

"That's a neat trick," Kakashi says rather blandly, but Takeshi can read the interest on his face.

Fugaku had been interested in the flames, too, until he'd dismissed them as useless when Takeshi had revealed they were cool to the touch. He may have grown fond of the man, might've loved him even, but Fugaku had never been very perceptive when it came to his own kids. That much had been made painfully obvious, and the entire Clan had paid for it.

Takeshi laughs. "Thanks."

He attacks without warning, and Kakashi dodges each strike easily. That's okay, though, because Takeshi isn't trying especially hard either, simply using the time to gauge his opponent - how he fights, how he reacts to Takeshi's swings, how much he's holding back.

After all, this is Kakashi Hatake, Sharingan-user and man of a thousand jutsu. His Clan members had complained about him more than a few times over the years, what with him being in possession of one of their special eyes, and Takeshi had eventually looked him up in order to satisfy his own curiosity. He hadn't had any expectations for their jounin-sensei, really, but it certainly makes sense to pair the only other (loyal) living Sharingan-user with the last (loyal) Uchiha. He seriously doubts the possibility of his dear, older brother dropping in to teach him.

"You're good for a genin," Kakashi eventually drawls, "but not good enough."

Takeshi laughs again. Maybe he should start on that whole 'underestimating him is a mistake' thing.

Shigure Soen Ryu First Form: Axle of Rain!

He charges and thrusts his katana forward in a blur of graceful movement. Kakashi sidesteps it, but Takeshi wasn't aiming to cut him. In the same moment, the flames surge outward and latch onto his opponent's hip. Kakashi's eye widens in alarm, but before he can attempt to remove it (a fruitless endeavor), Takeshi is on him again, faster this time.

Kakashi backflips away after a close shave with his jugular, and Takeshi follows up with a Great Fireball. The fight continues in that vein - with Takeshi upping his skill level at odd moments and Kakashi subsequently doing the same, even going so far as to put his book away - until...

"Now, Naruto!"

At the signal, hundreds of Naruto clones surround the two of them in the clearing, crowding in on Kakashi in particular. With his attention divided between Takeshi's deadly swings and the suddenly coordinated blows from the clones (all of whom had been getting in each others' way when Naruto had openly challenged Kakashi earlier), Takeshi manages to find an opening to sever the bells from Kakashi's person.

He makes an aborted movement to grab them, but Kakashi easily deflects him. The man either doesn't notice or pretends not to notice the lone Naruto who picks his way through the chaos and snatches up the bells at the same moment Takeshi and another clone force him to jump over their combined attack.

"I got the bells!" Sakura announces in disbelief, dropping the transformation jutsu. At this, Naruto dismisses his remaining clones, and Takeshi stops trying to stab his teacher. Said teacher's face is unreadable.

"Good job, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheers with a bright grin.

Takeshi can hardly stop one forming on his own face, not that he'd want to. "Yeah, good work, team," He addresses both of them, warmly. They all smile at each other, pleased with their results.

"Yes, very clever, Sakura," Kakashi chimes in. "Now, who are you going to give the other bell to? Remember that the one without a bell is returning to the Academy."

Predictably, Naruto declares right away, "Give it to Sasuke. I've failed before, and I can take the test again. You guys should be ninja."

"Maa, I can achieve my dream just as easily if I wait another year," Takeshi says easily.

Sakura glances between them, terribly uncertain, but she seems to come to a decision as she squares her shoulders and sets her jaw. "I'm not going to be the one to crush your dreams. Out of all of ours, mine can be put on hold. So take the stupid bells!" She holds the bells out towards both of them, her eyes daring them to argue with her.

"That's enough," Kakashi breaks the stalemate carelessly. Takeshi thinks he seems rather proud. "You all pass."

"What?" Naruto blurts out in confusion, and Sakura looks just as bewildered.

Takeshi breathes a sigh of relief. This whole scenario had rung familiar - like one of Reborn's schemes. The hitman had always set the stakes high, had always seemed like he'd go through with whatever punishment he'd cooked up if any of them failed, and in the end, when they inevitably succeeded, they'd realize what Reborn was teaching them and laugh it off. Well, Takeshi had laughed it off, anyway. Tsuna had usually been rather annoyed, and Gokudera had usually spent the aftermath berating Takeshi and praising Tsuna in turns.

As Kakashi explains what he'd tested them on and why, Takeshi's suspicions are only further confirmed.

"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum," Kakashi impresses upon them seriously. Takeshi thinks it's definitely something Tsuna would have said. He probably had said something similar, at some point. It's an ideal Takeshi can get behind, at any rate.

Kakashi dismisses them, and the three of them split up with little fanfare - Sakura off to tell her parents and Naruto off to brag to Iruka. Takeshi carefully hides his instinctual flinch to the unintentionally harsh reminder of his lack of anyone to share the news with. He heads home.

"Those blue flames," Kakashi says, acting as if they'd been in the middle of conversation and not like he'd just appeared out of nowhere when Takeshi was alone, "What do they do? What are they?"

Takeshi doesn't startle, more than used to mentors popping up without warning. "I call them Rain Flames," Takeshi reveals, having been prepared for some sort of questioning. "I've been able to make them ever since I was little." Not a lie, exactly. Reborn had taught him it was always better to tell half-truths. Scratching his cheek, he explains, "They have what I call the 'Tranquility Factor', meaning they can slow stuff down, basically."

He'd doused the man in rain flames with almost every swing, and Kakashi likely hadn't noticed his movements were slowing down, had assumed Takeshi was simply becoming faster - at least in the beginning. It's a trap his enemies fall into easily, especially if they're not familiar with his flames' particular abilities. And even if they are.

"Is that so," Kakashi says without inflection. After a contemplative silence in which they walk all the way up to Uchiha Compound's looming gate, he ruffles Takeshi's hair and tells him, "Don't forget. Six tomorrow morning on the bridge." He then vanishes as abruptly as he'd appeared.

Sasuke's frown pulls at his lips. Takeshi smiles.

End Notes: This chapter is shorter than the other two, both of which are over 4k, and the rest of the chapters will hopefully follow suit. The flames are fun to play with and will come into play later. I'm enjoying the Team 7 interactions quite a lot, as well as Takeshi's reactions to basically everything. A cheerful Sasuke makes for lots of interesting by-plays. Also, Sakura has way more screen-time later on than initially intended, but rest assured. There will be no pairings. All aboard the friendship train.

Canon diverges big time after this chapter, by the way. So no worries on that front!

Leave a review?