Not This Time

Author's Note: This is a YAOI story. That means there will be at least one male x male romantic pairing. It is also a reincarnation story. If any of those things bother you, you might want to turn back now. For those of you still here, I hope you enjoy this story and reviews are always appreciated.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit off of any of my fanfics.

Chapter 1

"So you really accepted Professor Creepy's offer to become his research assistant?" Suigetsu asks Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded. Of course, the professor's name wasn't Creepy. That was just his friend's nickname for Professor Sannin.

Privately, the youngest Uchiha agreed with the Marine Biology Major. Orochimaru was creepy. That was why he flat out refused to be alone with him. Thankfully, that wouldn't be an issue as his research assistant.

"Yeah. I'm half ready to file a restraining order against the guy, but he's one of the best in the field. It's too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, it's only for a year or so anyway. I'm about to get my medical license. This counts towards finishing up my internship/residency requirement." Sasuke tells him.

To be an Uchiha meant that you had to excel. His family had quite the impressive reputation for producing a long line of prodigies. It didn't matter whether you went into politics, business, the arts, medicine, or the military. It was just a given that if your last name was Uchiha, you were exceptional in some way.

"Yeah, but can't you finish that requirement with someone else though? I'm not going to lie. I'm kinda afraid what'll happen, if Orochimaru is left with a pretty boy like you." Suigetsu taunts him.

Sasuke felt himself twitch. There was no way that he was going to allow THAT remark to go unaddressed. There were times when the raven haired medical student seriously wondered if Suigetsu might be at least moderately Masochistic.

SMACK! It didn't matter though. Any way that one looked at it, Sasuke wasn't going to let the violet eyed man get away with calling him a pretty boy. There was really only so much his pride could take!

"Owe! Jeez, Sasuke. You don't need to be so sensitive about it! I mean you're pretty, deal with it." The other graduate student grumbles as he nurses his now swelling cheek.

"I am NOT pretty. Though it sounds like you are switching teams. I thought you were straight." Sasuke retorts.

That was the fastest way to get Suigetsu's feathers ruffled without involving Karin. Sasuke knew that it was fighting dirty, but the other man had started it. It served him right!

"What?! I'm totally straight. I prefer chicks. Sorry, you're just too flat for my liking. Anyway, the guy gives off bad vibes. Are you sure that it's worth it?" The snowy haired college student inquires.

"I don't know. For someone who claims to only be attracted to women, you seem obsessively focused on my looks. Nevermind. That's not really the point though. It's worth it. Professor Sannin could really kick start my career, if he wants. If he wants to stare at me all day in exchange, I'll put up with it." Sasuke says with a sigh.

"Well good luck. Maybe you should bring some pepper spray with you or something though. You know, just in case." Suigetsu suggests.

Meanwhile Kakashi walks into Orochimaru's lab. To say the least, the History Professor was furious. His colleague's obsession with a certain Uchiha had gone entirely too far for his liking.

"I heard that you asked Sasuke Uchiha to be your assistant." He says, hiding his fury behind a deceptively cheerful voice.

"That's correct. He's a very bright boy. A true prodigy. Well I suppose that's expected. He's an Uchiha. It's a shame that Itachi specialized in different field than mine. I would have very much liked to have worked with him as well." The other professor replies with a wistful sigh.

Kakashi tries his best not to glare at Orochimaru, but it was a futile battle. He was far too incensed to hide his true feelings at this point. The other man apparently viewed Uchihas as collectibles.

"The Uchiha family is not a bunch of baseball cards for you to collect. Your obsession with them isn't healthy." The History Professor states irritably.

"Are you really in any position to lecture me? Do you honestly believe that I didn't notice? Do you really think that I haven't seen the way you look at him? A teacher and their student having a relationship would be quite the scandal. Though I suppose it is legal. He's of age. The university technically couldn't stop you." Orochimaru muses.

Kakashi had never wanted to hit someone more in his life than he did at that moment. How DARE the medical researcher speak to him like that?! He made it sound as if he had actually tried to seduce Sasuke and have an improper relationship with his student!

"He's no longer my student and hasn't been for a couple years. That and I have no intentions of entering a relationship with him. I must say that I find your fixation on my love life to be rather unnerving. Perhaps I should get a restraining order for myself and for Sasuke. He'd likely appreciate it." The erotic literature lover warns him.

"And under what grounds would you file that restraining order? Do you think the police would grant you one because I offered one of my students a research position and teased you about what type of man attracts you? Don't be absurd. I've done nothing wrong." Orochimaru replies.

Legally, he was correct. The older man hadn't actually done anything. Well nothing besides make suggestive comments and offer his student what amounted to an internship. The cops would laugh in his face.

"You haven't done anything wrong yet. I do hope for your sake that it stays that way. I'm not going to allow you to terrorize Sasuke because you have some twisted fixation on his family!" The silver haired man growls.

"The Uchihas are rather well known for their academic gifts. I'm far from the only one who would like to have him as my assistant. Though you seem be more interested in him for less scholastic reasons. I wonder what his Curse is." Dr. Sannin taunts him with malice sparkling in his eyes.

It was an old saying. Uchihas were known as being extremely gifted in their chosen fields, but like everyone else they had their weaknesses. It was referred to as the Uchiha Curse. There was always an Achilles' Heel , if you looked hard enough.

Sasuke had once told Kakashi what his brother's was. The man couldn't cook anything, besides scrambled eggs. Everything that he touched in the kitchen turned to dust. (The silver haired man honestly thought that Sasuke was being a smidge overdramatic with that last part, but he digressed.)

"Apparently, his Curse is that he attracts older men. Men who he has no interest in romantically." Kakashi snipes at Orochimaru.

"I wouldn't say that. Sasuke has never actually turned either of us down. Just because you are too scared to pursue your desires, doesn't mean everyone is. We're going to be spending a lot of time together in the lab. Perhaps I'll win him over." He says.

"You're older than his father. Orochimaru, you're delusional. You don't seriously believe a college student is going to be interested in a man almost three times his age." The History Professor informs him.

Orochimaru shrugs. He would love nothing more than to have Sasuke's brilliant mind in his lab and his gorgeous body in his bed. He knew the latter was the more unlikely wish. That wouldn't stop him from trying though.

"Age is just a number. Now, kindly get out of my lab. I will call the Campus Police, if you insist on continuing to harass me." The college instructor warns him.

Kakashi sighs and heads off. There was no point in getting the Campus Police involved. He had said what he had come to say.

What was most infuriating about the matter was that Orochimaru was right. The silver haired man knew that it was wrong, but he was attracted to Sasuke. Far more than he should be.

There was at least one major difference between him and the Medical Professor though. He was never going to act on those feelings. Kakashi knew they were inappropriate and likely wouldn't be returned. Orochimaru apparently hadn't gotten that memo yet.

"Sorry." Someone says as they bump into him, interrupting his thoughts.

Such an occurrence wasn't uncommon on the college campus. After all, it was loud and there were tens of thousands of students and employees inside. Sooner or later, you were going to bump into someone in the hallways.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it." Kakashi says.

"Thanks." The familiar voice says as the person in question takes off, heading towards Orochimaru's lab.

That's when Kakashi realizes who he had bumped into. It was Sasuke. Damn it. His former student was heading straight into the Serpent's Den and there wasn't really anything that he could do about it!

"Professor Sannin, are you in here?" Sasuke asks a few minutes later as he knocks on the door.

"Of course, please do come in." Came the immediate reply.

Sasuke pushes on the door and to his surprise, it opened easily. Apparently, Orochimaru didn't think that he had to worry about anyone barging in without permission. Most likely for good reason.

Orochimaru was known to be very territorial when it came to his lab. It had been nicknamed Dr. Frankenstein's Lab. The man had everything that any college student pursuing a scientific or medical degree could possibly want inside it.

Frankly, Sasuke didn't want to know what was in half of those vials and beakers. There was quite the impressive rainbow of substances and an army's worth of scientific equipment. Orochimaru had everything that you could think of, all in one place.

"So what exactly are you working on? You were a little vague in your explanation." Sasuke asks.

Damn it. They were alone. Orochimaru had more than one assistant. Sasuke knew that he at a minimum also had Kabuto and there were likely others. The fact that they were alone, made him want to come up with an excuse and leave.

Had that been Kakashi that he saw on the way here? Probably. He could say that he needed to speak with Kakashi about an assignment. Orochimaru might believe it.

"We are exploring truly groundbreaking work. Are you familiar with chakra networks?" The professor inquires.

"Vaguely. Centuries ago, people were able to use chakra networks to summon chakra to accomplish various tasks. No one's been able to use chakra in a long time though. After the Ninja Era ended, there wasn't a reason to use them and eventually people's chakra networks just shrunk. They became too small for anyone to use them." The youngest Uchiha replies.

Orochimaru smirks and nods in approval. He was such a clever boy. Clearly, he had done his homework. Most likely, Kakashi had touched upon the topic during one of his classes and Sasuke had remembered the information.

"That's correct. Very good." He coos at him.

Sasuke frowns. He didn't like it when the other man did that. It was obvious that he had more than just research on his mind and that was a disturbing thought.

He was almost old enough to be his grandfather. Granted, Kakashi was older than him. Significantly older, but the age difference wasn't as vast. That was probably why his infatuation with his former teacher hadn't completely disappeared yet.

"I didn't come here for a history lesson. What do chakra networks have to do with my position as your research assistant?" He demands.

"We are going to see if we can't find a way to make them usable again. Think of all the applications that chakra has. It would change the world." The other man replies.

Sasuke pauses as he considers that. Orochimaru was right. If they could find a way to make chakra networks usable again, that would change the world. Medical Jutsus for instance were truly the stuff of legend.

"And you actually got permission to conduct this type of research?" Sasuke asks skeptically.

He could see many benefits to this project, but there were also risks. Sooner or later, they would need human test trials. There was no way of really knowing what kind of effects this type of experimentation would have on people.

"I have permission yes. I know exactly what you are thinking. Don't worry. I have it all sorted out." Orochimaru assures him.

"Don't delude yourself. You have no idea what goes on in my head and it's going to stay that way. I agreed to be your assistant. I didn't agree to be your friend." Sasuke snaps at him.

"My, my. You do have such a temper, Sasuke. That's going to get you in trouble one day. You're fortunate that you're so gifted and that makes people more willing to overlook that icy demeanor of yours. That might not always be the case though. You'll have to work on that." The professor warns him.

Sasuke feels himself twitchl. Maybe, Suigetsu was right. Taking this slot, might not have been his best idea.

"I'll give that suggestion the due consideration that it deserves." Sasuke hisses at him.

"Excellent. So what do you think of our project? It's exciting. Isn't it? This is truly groundbreaking work!" Orochimaru exclaims.

The youngest Uchiha bites his lower lip as he considers the best way to respond to that. It was exciting. This was a new (or ancient) frontier and it could help a lot of people.

The fact that he would be doing such work with Orochimaru though, that made him nervous. Still he doubted the older man would actually try anything too scandalous. He did value his reputation in the scientific community and harassing your studenet was a very quick way to ruin one's reputation.

"I'll do it. So let's get started." Sasuke says with a smirk.

A few hours later, Sasuke heads back to his dorm room. It was fascinating work. He couldn't deny that.

Orochimaru had found lots of ancient primary sources about chakra networks. Some of them had been written by actual ninja medics. It would take awhile just to get up to speed by reading them, but Sasuke was sure it would be worth it.

"Hey, Jugo." Sasuke greets his roommate was he walks inside.

"Sasuke, how did it go?" The gentle giant asks.

"Well the actual work is good. Orochimaru is Orochimaru." Sasuke states.

Jugo nods in understanding. Sasuke quite liked his roommate. Well most of the time. The poor guy was prone to blacking out and lunging into rages. For some reason, he didn't do that as much around Sasuke.

If Jugo lost control while he was around, Sasuke ewas usually able to stop him with ease. They had discovered that fact in high school and had been best friends ever since. Jugo called Sasuke his Cage and he was Sasuke's Shield.

"Ah I see. Too bad Kakashi is a History Professor instead of Medical one." Jugo says slyly.

Sasuke gives Jugo a dirty look. He was the only one that knew about his feelings towards his former Professor. Jugo could keep a secret. The rest of his friends just couldn't.

Mercifully, the worst that the gentle giant did with this information was occasionally tease him in private. The youngest Uchiha could live with that. Besides, he had to tell someone or else he would have gone crazy. (That and he had been a bit intoxicated on the night that he told Jugo about his admiration for his constantly unpunctual professor).

"Yes, it would be nice not to have my boss undress me with his eyes constantly." Sasuke retorts.

"You'd like Kakashi to undress you with his eyes though." The orange haired man replies with a teasing smile.

That was really besides the point. Unlike Orochimaru, Kakashi did have SOME morals. He might read erotica in class while the students took their tests, but he wouldn't actually date one of his students.

"Jugo, that is really NOT the point." Sasuke insists.

"You know, you aren't his student anymore. He might say yes to a coffee date or something." Jugo suggests helpfully.

A coffee date?! Really? His best friend must be joking. He didn't seriously think that Kakashi would go out with one of his former students for coffee, did he?

"You're not serious." Sasuke mutters in disgust.

"What? He doesn't like coffee? Well what about just for lunch or something? It's a lot less formal than dinner and breakfast is too early. You're a night owl. You'd be half asleep, if you went out with him for breakfast." He continues.

"Kakashi wouldn't go out with me. We both know why. Even if I wasn't his former student, the guy would probably want someone closer to his own age." Sasuke reasons.

The thought was an appealing one. Forget breakfast, lunch, or dinner though. It would have been nice if Kakashi had asked him to be his assistant instead. Sasuke could think of several interesting ways to make full use of Kakashi's rather sturdy looking desk.

"Age is just a number." The giant points out.

"Oh great. Now you sound like Orochimaru." Sasuke scoffs at him.

"Ouch. That one hurt." Jugo states as he places his hand over his heart as if he was mortally wounded.

That's when Sasuke's cell phone rang. He quickly answers it. Sasuke sighs when he sees the number. Oh boy.

"Hey, bastard!" Naruto's voice says cheerfully.

"Loser, what do you want at this hour? It's like ten at night. It's too early for you to be stranded at some part somewhere and most of them have already started. You really should have known better than to join a Fraternity." Sasuke scolds him.

"Hey! Konoha is amazing! You really should try it. Anyway, a bunch of us are going to go to the lake tomorrow. We're inviting as many people as we can. So I figured that I'd try to encourage you to socialize more. I mean Jugo, Suigetsu, and Karin are great, but you need more than just the four of us for friends." Naruto exclaims.

Sasuke considers informing Naruto that it was the quality of your friendships, not the quantity that mattered. The raven haired youth dimisses that thought almost as quickly as it came though. Naruto was Naruto. Once he got an idea in his head, there really was no stopping him.

"Alright. I guess I can come. After all, Suigetsu loves swimming and he's never going to pass up a chance to see Sorority Girls in their swimsuits. Jugo will probably go on a nature hike. Karin would probably enjoy working on her tan." Sasuke offers.

"Sounds perfect. What about you though?" The blonde inquires.

"I'll go just to make you shut up. You'll never let me have a moment's peace otherwise. So I might as well go." Sasuke says smugly.

Naruto chuckles. Yeah. That was true. The bastard was way too antisocial for his own good. He was in his 20's. In Naruto's mind, you weren't allowed to consider being boring until you were at least in your thirties. (He was never going to be boring though. Believe it!)

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow then. Don't worry, bastard. I'll distract the girls from slobbering all over you. Once they see me, they'll forget all about you." Naruto teases him.

Naruto was his second best friend and knew that he was gay. Sasuke had two best friends. He did realize that kinda defeated the purpose, but whatever. It wasn't like there was an actual rule against it.

Jugo and Naruto were just two completely different people. They filled the best friend role perfectly. It was just they did so in completely opposite ways.

"Pft. Please. I don't think half of them believe me when I tell them I have no interest in women. They all think that I'm secretly bisexual or lying to them, I guess." Sasuke mutters in disgust.

Naruto had told Sasuke hundreds of times that he didn't see what the attraction was, but he was cool with it. What mattered was that his favorite bastard was happy. Though sometimes, the idiot did ask Sasuke some really embarrassing questions about his sexuality. Other than that,, the blonde didn't give him any grief about it.

"Well you know that there is an easy way to prove that you're serious, right? We just need to find you a boyfriend." Naruto suggests.

Oh Dear God, no! Just no! The last thing that Sasuke needed was for Naruto to try to set him up. That just wasn't going to fly.

"No, Naruto. I'm not going to let you set me up on a blind date or whatever you are plotting." Sasuke says frimly.

"I never said anything about a blind date, but that's a great idea. Seriously, Sasuke. You're in college now. People aren't nearly as skittish about being OUT as they were in high school. We can find you someone. We'll find you someone cool!" Naruto insists.

Sasuke groans. He didn't even want to know who Naruto had in mind. That and he couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto had tried something stupid like this 's when a strange daydream flashes across his mind.

"That's what he gets for being late!" Naruto said with a giggle.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He couldn't believe that a ninja had giggle. Even more disturbing was the fact that the loser actually thought a Jonin was going to fall for this.

"Naruto, there is no way that he's going to fall for that. He's a Jonin. An elite ninja." He observed with contempt.

"Sasuke's right!" Sakura cried out in agreement.

A few minutes later, someone did open the door. The bucket filled with erasers fell on top of a silver head of hair and Sasuke blinked. He actually fell for that?

"Hmm. How do I say this? My first impression of you three is that you're idiots." The masked ninja observed.

Sasuke mentally groaned. Thanks to Naruto, their instructor thought they were idiots. He was going to kick that loser's ass later.

For some reason, he was twelve again. So was Naruto and Sakura. That was the least strange thing about the daydream though.

Why had he just daydreamed that he, Naruto, and Sakura were twelve year old ninjas. That didn't make any sense. Weird.

"Naruto, I can find my own boyfriend. I don't need any help." Sasuke retorts.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow. We'll find you someone. Oh and try to smile. People are more likely to want to go out with you, if you smile once in awhile." Naruto says cheekily, before he hang up.

Sasuke sighs and shakes his head. He couldn't believe the nerve of that guy sometimes. Naruto might have been one of his two best friends, but that didn't mean that Sasuke didn't want to strangle him half the time.

"You might as well humor him." Jugo says.

"I guess so. How bad can it be?" Sasuke asks and as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

Sasuke Uchiha was known as a genius. He should have known better than to ask that. Never ask how bad something can get or say things can't get any worse. Things could always be bad or get worse. In hindsight, he had just been asking for it by thinking that.