Crowded streets brought little comfort to a young and lost child as she struggled to make her way through the throng of people, wanting only to lose herself in the sea of laughter and reach her home. It was the night the Uchiha clan would let their guards down and would mingle with the residents of Konoha without the restrictions of etiquette or formalities.
Among the ranks of the police force stood Uchiha Fugaku and his eldest son Itachi, both standing proudly beside the woman of the house and a young and very excited Sasuke. Mikoto smiled and waved at the passing women and children, greeting many by name happily as they exchanged the latest gossip. Itachi's eyes wandered over the crowd and eventually settled on the small figure of a girl around his age who was weaving through the crowd with much difficulty, her dark hair dully reflecting the light from the lanterns as evening wore on and day gave way to night. He watched her small form disappear into the growing shadows until his father's hand fell to his shoulder and forced him to put on a strained smile as the unofficial festival wore on and the girl eventually left his mind.
The girl eventually found herself at her door and opened the door, ignoring the creaking hinges as she pushed and forced it open. Empty rooms were filled with the ghosts of the past, the hollow laughs that she could hardly recall seeming to echo loudly and forcing the girl to blink quickly to stop the flow of tears. She found herself debating whether or not to mingle with the other villagers and ended up losing herself in thought, cutting her hand with a kitchen knife and causing her eyes to water once more. Her mother's shy smile seemed to taunt her as she entered the small bathroom while searching for antiseptic and bandages, its warmth lost in the fading photos on the walls. "Make sure to clean it well, and don't wrap the bandages too tightly; you don't want to cut off circulation," she would've said after scolding her for not being more careful. Her father would laugh and tell his wife to be more compassionate for their injured baby girl, talking about how she would sustain much worse when she became a ninja. That had always been their plan for the girl; she would become a shinobi and protect the village, making them proud. It had never bothered them that she did not have the best scores in the class, nor were they concerned when she would come home after a failed physical exam; she was making the effort and that was more than enough to the couple.
The day she received notice that they had been killed in a battle with skilled rogue shinobi was the day she quit the academy and began pursuing other interests for her future. The third hokage had been kind and understanding towards her, recognizing the lack of will to fight and the burning intelligence in her dark blue eyes. She worked hard for him, running the simplest of errands and helping to organize his paperwork until he found the one thing that she took absolute interest in: writing. As she expanded her vocabulary, the girl began to take on heavy writing assignments ranging from poetic works to inspire the future shinobi to short stories for the local paper. Her polite tone and pleasant voice made her easy to work with to all adults but rarely allowed her to mingle with children her own age and that would often cause her to feel lonely when she would pass the parks and sweet shops filled with children laughing together. Amaterasu, one who illuminates the heavens, was the only name she knew and that was more than enough to enrage her. The only thing she could do was write pretty poems that were so completely generic that all of society accepted them, and that was doing nothing regarding illumination.
The days following the festival were uneventful for the girl until she received word that she was to give a short speech at the Uchiha compound for a fallen clan member. As she thought about the life of a shinobi and how short his was, Amaterasu found her heart was aching for the stranger and his abandoned family. The day of his memorial, she appeared before a startled crowd of mourning Uchiha wearing her black kimono embroidered with golden koi fish and her light hair neatly straightened. Itachi recognized her as the girl he had seen walking alone at the festival and found his curiosity aroused, if only a bit. Her young pink lips parted as she spoke of the sacrifice and loyalty the man had felt towards his clan and village, spinning a tale of honorable beauty around the average young man and moving the clan to tears. At the end of her poetic speech, Mikoto hugged her gently and smiled kindly at the young girl. Amaterasu smiled back and began to leave the gathering only to be stopped by a hand on her arm, startling the child. She turned around and was surprised to see the young Uchiha prodigy clutching her arm and staring at her intently.
"Can I help you, Uchiha-san?" Itachi watched her silently as he tried to recall where he had known this girl from before the festival. "You are not a shinobi, yet I remember knowing you at some point in my life; who are you?" he asked bluntly.
Amaterasu smiled kindly at him as she felt her chest constrict, the butterflies rising as they always did when he talked to her. "We went to the academy together for a while before you were moved ahead and I dropped out. You sat next to me and we would talk when the teacher wasn't paying attention." Itachi nodded, vaguely recalling a toothy smile accompanied by bright eyes. "Ama, I remember you now," he smiled gently at the girl, his eyes softening considerably as his grip loosened. Unbeknownst to the duo, Mikoto and Fugaku were watching the pair from a short distance, a smile tugging at even Fugaku's lips as his son talked to the girl. Ama smiled at the young heir kindly, her eyes brightening considerably as they exchanged kind words. The world slowed down for the two children as the former friends connected emotionally once more.
"I saw you at the festival, but you were alone and leaving the celebration; why?"
Ama smiled sadly at the older boy, wringing her hands together nervously before she looked away, her answer nearly incoherent. "I have no one to see at social gatherings anymore, no one to come home to. My mother and father were casualties in a failed mission, Uchiha-san." Itachi tousled her hair gently, much like he would Sasuke and smiled kindly at the sad girl. "Why don't you join us for dinner sometime, Ama? And don't call me Uchiha-san, there's no need to be formal with me."
"Okay, Tachi-kun," she smiled teasingly at him as she poked his cheek, forcing him to glare mockingly at her and causing the clan members who were watching the exchange to smile. Beneath the fading sunlight and lost in a sea of solemn faces, a powerful and life-long bond was formed, one that would end the life of one and bring color to another. Their's was a beauty formed by shattered remains.