A/N: And here we are with the latest installment of trauma- I mean, Shinobi Rule Number Six. Hope you enjoy!
Warnings for the aftermath of the massacre, callous regard for murder and trauma, along with some massacre flashbacks. Gotta get through the grit before I can start cracking down on them Uchiha family shenanigans.
"…This is a mess."
"If by mess you mean the biggest clusterfuck since the Kyuubi attack, then yes- it's certainly a mess." The ANBU squad leader shook his head, and ran a hand through his mop of silver hair. He swallowed. "Headcounts?..."
His squad mate shook his head, his raven mask shifting slightly due to an improper, rushed clasp. "Only the one- while the other list only grows. Squad Beta checked the police station. It's the same there." Raven shuddered. "Kami, how could anything like this happen? Have you heard?..."
"Nothing. Just awful rumours."
"Rumours?"
The ANBU captain turned away. He looked upon the street that they stood, and idly stared at a pool of blood that leaked slowly beyond the confines of its taped off zone that stretched for nearly three meters. The body within was mangled, sprawled across the ground- whichever Uchiha it was had tried to run.
He sighed. "The worst kind of rumours that instantly jump to a missing ANBU of incredible skill- dangerous skill- and assume the worst."
His companion froze. "Weasel… he wouldn't do this. He's a softy, you couldn't possibly believe!-"
"What should I believe?" The captain's shoulders imperceptibly began to shake. "What can I possibly think, after finding his house like that? His brother, the only one we've found alive?" A mockery of a laugh passed his lips. "Alive- what a joke. He's in a coma, likely from some sort of genjutsu trauma, and even if he wakes up, he'll probably wish he was dead."
"Sir…"
"Am I wrong? To lose everyone… Is a burden I would only wish on my worst enemy. Never on an eight year old. But even worse- that it might have been a loved one that destroyed his entire world, maybe even his entire mind, and left him like a piece of trash by his parents' dead bodies? That's the stuff of ANBU nightmares." The captain blankly stared at the ground. He flinched as his comrade attempted to lay a hand on his shoulder, and his fellow ANBU awkwardly allowed their arm to drop away from its folly of comfort.
Both ANBU remained out on the street. Around them, other units and members scurried around, identifying and sorting the bodies left behind in crumpled heaps on the streets and in the homes of what once was the proud compound of the Uchiha. They themselves had been doing the same for the past hour, and should have continued as such.
Neither moved an inch.
The captain stared down at the cobbles of the street, and was just beginning to haul himself from his internal despair when another ANBU- Owl- suddenly deposited themself in front of him. Owl stumbled as they landed, and paused to lift a hand to rub at their temple as a groan escaped past their mask. They finally rose, and with surprising exuberance, faced their commander head on.
"Kakashi, you won't believe-" the commander, revealed to be Kakashi, threw up his hand in front of his overly excited subordinate. Owl squeaked, and clasped their hands over top of their masked mouth, for all the good it did. "Sorry, sir… I'm just too excited!"
Kakashi waved his hand, and his head tilted to the side. "What are you so excited about, while were surrounded by over a hundred dead people I might add, that you're breaking protocol?"
Owl vibrated in place. "They found another Uchiha! A not-dead one, that is!"
Kakashi froze. Beside him, Raven, who had been taking their conversation as a moment to sip from his canister of water in a pursuit to cure his hangover, choked, spraying water and spit on the inside of his mask that was tilted up.
Raven wiped off the corner of his mouth, and allowed his mask to drop back into place. He spun to face Kakashi. "Headcount: two!" he exclaimed, and flourished a mocking peace sign in Kakashi's face.
Kakashi was surrounded by idiots.
Kakashi waved his hand, and Owl stopped snickering at Raven and snapped back to attention. "It's a kid," Owl explained, and waved their hands in the vague direction of a sector towards the edge of the compound. "She tried to sneak in this morning. Squad Omega has her over in T and I holding, cause the police station is… well, you know. A crime scene."
"The police station is a what?" a gruff voice suddenly interrupted. Owl let out a half strangled scream at the older man's sudden appearance, and Kakashi internally bemoaned her recent promotion. In her defence, her (and Raven) were still recovering from The Broken Kunai, and even Kakashi hadn't noticed the man until he spoke.
Kakashi instinctively reached for the blade strapped to his back, but eye contact with the older man, and his now apparent companion too, stopped Kakashi in his tracks.
Three tomoe spun within each of the older man's eyes, and his wrinkled mouth twisted into a deep set frown as he watched the ANBU with bland appraisal. The young woman behind the man flickered her eyes from side to side, face blank as she kept a surprising amount of composure. At least until her eyes locked on the encroaching pool of blood leaking past its taped sector from what must be her mangled brethren. Her mouth parted slightly, while her companion slowly released the grip he had on her arm to bring a hand up to rub at his temple.
"Well Momo," he said, "at least your bootycall escapade is the least of our problems now."
Raven paused. Then he leaned over and hissed in Kakashi's ear, "Headcount: Four!"
Absolute idiots.
XXX
The young girl bit at her lip, and twisted the strap of the duffel bag in her lap between her hands. Her black braid of hair was beginning to frizz apart, but other than that and a few steaks of what appeared to be green paint dotting her arms and chest, she seemed perfectly fine.
She darted her gaze up and down between Ibiki and the bolted down table, her black eyes skittering away at the sight of the head interrogator's numerous scars. Her fidgeting finally stopped, but her white knuckled grip on the strap of her bag was hardly better.
Ibiki simply continued to stare her down.
They had been sitting like this for nearly ten minutes. When they had brought in Owl's 'Uchiha Number Two Survivor', Kakashi had been initially optimistic. Then he, and his squad, realized the idiocy of believing this 'girl' was truly an Uchiha. He really wouldn't put it past some rival village sleeper agent to take advantage of the chaos to remove one of the Uchiha bodies and attempt to truly ingratiate themselves in the chaos. After all- the Uchiha were renowned for being reclusive and practically chained to their compound. Who'd be able to spot an imposter with all the other Uchiha dead?
ANBU- that's fucking who.
And this 'Anzu' was doing a pretty shitty job of selling it. How did she think she would be able to play this? Whoever the killer was (please don't be Itachi pleasedon'tbeItachi), they had managed to cut down one hundred and thirty two mostly combative Uchiha. It seemed unlikely that an academy student would be the one to slip through the cracks, especially considering the Uchiha had apparently been under mandate to remain in compound. Anzu, not even a genin, wouldn't have rebelled against her clan head- no average Uchiha had, after all.
Kakashi could understand why Uchiha Hiroshi, a grown and retired man, could be out and about. He had escaped the massacre by virtue of alcoholism, and probably his frankly uncanny ability to mask his chakra signature. Plus- sharingan. He definitely wasn't an imposter.
Miss Bootycall Motoko Uchiha had a pass as well. She had a damn solid alibi, from the Sandaime's feisty undersecretary no less, and upon inspection, a similar (though not quite as strong) ability to mask her chakra signature like her uncle. With a resting bitch face like hers, she also seemed the type to rebel against the clan status quo, and she even had Hiroshi to vouch for her identity.
But a random academy student, racing about in the night, conveniently missing death? As if.
To further prove Kakashi's point that this was an inept invader, it begged the question on how Ita- the killer. The killer, who was not confirmed to be Itachi- would have missed Anzu in his mass killing. Hiroshi and Motoko had a pass again- they lived in a house that looked like it had been abandoned and overrun by doves- but Anzu had lived in a house with numerous family members (who certainly hadn't escaped) that had clear signs she lived there. Pictures of her and her brother resided on many of the walls in the house.
The infiltrator should have realized that this farce would be seen through in minutes.
Hence the current stare down between Ibiki and the enemy shinobi pretending to be an eleven year old. The Sandaime had forbidden torture or Yamanaka intervention until the final clean up at the Uchiha compound was complete, but that didn't mean they couldn't use good old fashioned intimidation to provoke a response. She would crack sooner or later- and Ibiki would see through any lies she had cooked up.
Almost there, Kakashi thought. Just a little bit-
"I want my call," 'Anzu' finally said.
Gotcha.
Ibiki leaned forwards. "Your call? You really think you deserve the chance to contact outside help after what you've done?" He sneered. "You must think we're idiots- you're a fool for not realizing that you'd be caught immediately."
The 'Uchiha' darted her gaze to the side. "I have no clue what you're talking about- or whatever you think I'm guilty of. All I know, is that you know, that I know my rights. I want my call." She turned back to Ibiki, and despite her pale face, wrinkled up her nose. "Unless you just brought me in here cause you're desperate for advice. My nice skin's natural- there's nothing I can tell you on how get yours to look this good."
Kakashi's eyes widened. A choked laugh sounded behind him.
Ibiki kept composure. He leaned forwards and smiled. The girl froze in response to the, quite frankly, pants-shitting-terror inducing sight. "Nice bravado," Ibiki murmured, "but it doesn't negate exactly why you're here, 'Uchiha Anzu'. I'll ask again- why did you think you could get away with it? You had to have known you would be caught." Ibiki casually slid a knife from its brace along his wrist. It was curved, and only sharpened on the hook at its end. Impractical- but proof to any shinobi that it wasn't meant for killing. Ibiki flicked it idly against the tips of his fingers, letting it glint under the harsh lighting of the interrogation room. "We are willing, or course, to cut a deal," he said, and split open the tip of his thumb for emphasis. "But if you don't come clean, things could get… messy," he whispered, and slowly brought up his thumb to lick at the beading drop of blood.
Kakashi smirked. Hook, line and-
"HMPH!"
Kakashi paused; behind him, the motion of his fellow ANBU and T and I personnel ceased as well. On the other side of the glass, while sitting across from Morino Ibiki himself- who had a terror warning in all other nations as being The Shinigami's Scalpel, the nightmare of torture who had never failed to make the most hardened of shinobi crack into husks of their former selves- 'Anzu' attempted to stifle her giggles. She didn't succeed.
"HAHA- Oh Kami 'Rama- pfff!- I didn't believe you when you said you had an uncle in T and I, and a couple cousins in special Ops, but I guess you weren't bullshitting me for once." She turned to the glass, and a wicked grin split her face as she proudly tilted her chin forwards. "I don't know how you mobilized so quickly, but I guess the jig is up. It was indeed me who ransacked your room, cut the heads off all your action figures, and made your precious, perfect garden look like a tomato and paint massacre. I get what you're trying to do here, but its dumb and you know it- I'm not a chicken shit piece of trash like you who abandons their friends- I don't scare easy! Try hazing your new bestie Hyuuga instead. I think you'll find that he's the real wuss."
'Uchiha Anzu' rose from her chair, and gave a dramatic bow, one arm tucking against her chest while the other extended to the side. She lifted her head to reveal her shit eating grin- and eyes that had shifted into unmistakeable red pinwheels spotted with a single tomoe each.
"I'd like my call, if you would," she said. She turned her head and smirked at Ibiki. "It's about time that I tell Dai that justice has been served- Uchiha style."
The crowd behind the one way glass watched the girl blankly. She continued to bask in her 'success', while behind her Ibiki had allowed his head to drop down into his hands.
"She's… not a fake?" someone behind Kakashi whispered.
There was no response to the random ANBU's question. The fucking sharingan was answer enough.
Uchiha Anzu's nose scrunched up, bunching together the few freckles that spotted her nose and cheeks. She allowed her eyes to fade back to their normal colour of nearly black, and crossed her arms. "Yo! So, are you guys gonna let me out, or what? My parents, my grandparents, and most importantly, my brother, are prob'ly wondering where I am."
…No. They weren't.
Kakashi didn't register what happened next. He was too busy thudding his head against the one way glass as what was, evidently, an actual honest to god Uchiha was hauled out. One who was about to be told the worst news of her life, and from people who she would learn had been on the cusp of torturing her.
In their defence… Who would have ever guessed Ita- the killer- could screw up not once, not twice, but three times?
XXX
Hiruzen was tempted to hide beneath his desk, if only to escape the three black eyed gazes staring him down. Things like this… Were never easy. But to this scale? Unheard of.
The oldest of the three- Uchiha Hiroshi, a fourty five year old ex Black Ops- gave little indication of what he felt beyond slightly narrowed eyes. Of the three Uchiha , he was the one who appeared the most relaxed. Which made sense. Hiroshi was one of few shinobi to reach past forty with his limbs and mind still intact, and despite the silver streaks scarring his temples and the faintest beginnings of a gut, he was still fit and able.
He was likely the only one as well that would be able to put together the pieces. It pained Hiruzen to think that despite having survived two wars, and the terror of the previous night thanks to a well timed bar visit, that he would have to be 'silenced' to prevent anarchy in the village. He would have to have a private conversation with the man afterwards, to discern what action would be required.
The other two Uchiha were not nearly as composed. The older- Uchiha Motoko, twenty three, Hiroshi's niece, and a crime scene investigator for the police force- managed to keep her face terrifyingly blank, but the fidgeting of her hands betrayed her. She wasn't old enough or of high enough rank within her clan to have known entirely what was going on amidst the Uchiha, but she was a detective.
Another who might have to be silenced.
The final- Uchiha Anzu, an eleven year old academy student a mere three months from graduating- was openly scowling, but the furrow of her brow hinted that her composure was more an act at being standoffish. Hiruzen had heard about her cocky attitude during her interrogation. Whatever confidence that had fueled her before had slowly leaked away as the hours stretched without her questions being answered. She was smart- she had probably picked up on the atmosphere, and the strangeness of the situation. That she had not been allowed to see her parents, and was here now instead in the Hokage's office… Well. Her outwards appearance was definitely an act.
Hiruzen felt a stab in his chest to think how worried she must be now, and how his future words would likely crush if anyone could be saved, it was her. Hiruzen, to the best of his ability, would try to ensure that the girl who wouldn't have known hide nor hair of the massacre would be protected.
Enough children had already died.
Hiruzen crossed his hand beneath his chin. He heaved in a breath, and exhaled, slowly. He lifted his gaze to meet the knowing eyes of Hiroshi. It was safer than looking towards the women who didn't know what was coming.
"I regret to inform the three of you of a terrible tragedy…"
XXX
"…last night. By chance, the three of you were not within your compounds walls…"
Anzu stared down at the toes exposed by her sandals. The right side of her left foot was smeared with red and whitish mush from her prank earlier that day, a vegetable that's demise had been her foot. The nails of her toes were scuffed with dirt, some of which had crept into the beds of said nails. Her gaze sharpened on a small ant, trekking its way across the edge of her right foot.
"…still being confirmed. But I want you to know that ANBU will find out for sure whether he was responsible…"
His beady eyes, brought into sharp focus, flickered in the light. His body wasn't just red- it was brown, and shining, with black antennae that twitched back and forth. She settled her foot against the ground, and escape in sight, the ant trekked from her foot to the floor.
"…Konoha will offer complete support. Lodgings will be provided, as your homes are examined…"
Upon making contact with the linoleum, he froze. His body crumpled in on itself, and a faint twist of smoke peeled away from his tiny body. The light went out of his eyes, and he remained like that- motionless.
Dead.
"…I offer again my condolences. This tragedy should never have happened."
Of course. The hospital had seals to keep pests out which lined the floor. Dai had gasped when she had told him about that lesson from the academy- he thought seals were magic writing, the 'coolest stuff since fireballs'. He wanted to learn how to draw the 'funny swirl magic' too.
He wanted. Because Dai was… He was…
"…a terrible tragedy…"
The dead insect finally finished smoldering- a mockery of what she knew was the truth.
Anzu forced her back not to tense. Her mind, usually racing with a thousand ideas, slowly edged towards an encroaching haze. The Sandaime's previous words faded, her mind clearing and cluttering at the same time as it was filled with wonderful nothingness. She was distantly aware of the eyes on her- a second away from pouncing if her breath so much as hitched. The hand, slowly rubbing circles in her back. She let it all go. All that she focused on was breathing.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In-
"It's no use acting, kid."
…Out.
"You can't stay in your head forever."
In. Out.
"Because this happened. It shouldn't have, but it has. And pretending it didn't isn't going to change the facts."
In- Out- In-
"And the facts are we're the only ones left. Are you really going to pretend that we don't exist? That you're the only one left?"
Out In Out
"Me. Momo. Coma kid. And you. So what are you going to do? Keep closing yourself off? You need to feel this- I can't, because I'm basically a walking body by this point- but you can't lose your passion."
InOutInOut
"Because if you lose your passion, you're dead too. Just like the others. Your mom. Your dad. Your broth-"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP S-SHUT, SH-SHUT, U-UP, shut up shutupshutup-"
Hiroshi carefully pulled Anzu's hands away from her ears. He tilted her head with gentle hands, and despite her continued murmurs, gently brushed his thumbs over either of her cheeks to clean them of the tears still streaking from her red, swirling eyes. His own sharingan activated. Their gazes locked.
Slowly, Anzu's mouth closed. It scrunched up slowly- her lower lip trembling- a step by step breaking of a person. Finally, she cracked. Sobs escaped her lips in stuttering hiccups, and Hiroshi collected her into his arms. Once her head was rested against his slowly dampening shoulder, he lifted his still spinning eyes to meet Motoko's dark ones across the hallway.
Motoko's bun had shaken loose during their mad scramble to the hospital, where they currently waited. Her face remained stony, though twin streaks on her cheeks revealed that she was not immune to what had happened despite her, as usual, iron clad composure. Slowly, she rose from the chair opposite Hiroshi. She crossed the distance between their chairs, and eased herself down on Hiroshi's open side.
His meeting with her this morning seemed so distant now- their walks of shame colliding, his from the alley of The Broken Kunai, and her's from the house of the secretary she was in love with.
Hiroshi wasn't an idiot. Motoko had been giggling more recently, which was in and of itself astronomical- Motoko hardly even smiled.
Naturally, though, he had had to scold her, if only for appearances sake. He hadn't expected their walk back to lead to a fenced off compound. And later, to a reveal that a distant part of him knew was inevitable. The only thing he hadn't expected was what had happened to the children.
He didn't think he could ever forgive Konoha for that.
Hiroshi shifted, twisting slightly away from Anzu so that he could spread open his other arm. Motoko tucked herself into the new space, and Hiroshi settled his head to lean against the wall, bumping with the two other black heads resting on either of his shoulders.
As Motoko too began to shudder, Hiroshi remained carefully calm. He continued to rub both of the girls' backs, while his gaze remained focused on the list behind the waiting rooms nurse's desk- and one name in particular that resided on it.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Hiroshi closed his eyes. A little piece of him hoped the kid didn't wake up. That he could stay in that hospital bed forever, away from the waking world that his brother had ruined. Most of Hiroshi, though, was just tired. Distantly, angry. But that feeling was damped. He had already used his emotional quota for the day, on the girls- and in the Hokage's office earlier.
Hiruzen's eyes had been so sad, when he asked what Hiroshi planned to do. Hiroshi had had no doubt that no less than seven ANBU had lied in wait, some purposefully there to rip through any lies that he could concoct, and others there to subdue the threat that Hiroshi might present. After Anzu and Motoko had been led, stunned, from the room, Hiroshi had given his response to Hiruzen's question.
The answer was easy- and it was even the truth.
"I'm going to look after the kids. I think we both know that I'm the only one in the village who can be trusted to."
The Hokage hadn't said anything in response. He had just slowly inclined his head.
"She doesn't know," Hiroshi had made himself say. "Motoko. About any of it. She won't find out." Hiroshi had lifted his eyes, and for a single moment, the barest gleam of his once roaring fire returned. "And for what we are owed- I think either side would do well to leave this case alone. I'd like to think enough wrongs have already been committed."
HIruzen had watched Hiroshi with careful eyes, before sighing. "For what it's worth, Hiroshi- I didn't want this either." Hiroshi wasn't sure whether or not that was the truth or empty platitudes. It didn't change the fact that one hundred and thirty-two people were dead. Hiruzen had closed his eyes. "Then it is done. I'll leave you then- all three of you- to find the final Uchiha. My ANBU will lead you to his room."
Hiroshi hadn't nodded, or given the Hokage any indication of what he felt. He simply stood, and walked out of the office of a murderer.
An ANBU in a Raven mask had alighted at his side. He'd indicated his head in the direction of the girls; Motoko had her arms wrapped around her middle, while Anzu blankly stared at the floor. Raven had gently placed his hand on Hiroshi's shoulder, and he had been mildly surprised to realize that Raven had been one of the ANBU leading the initiation for the new recruits the night before. It seemed so long ago.
Hiroshi had looked at Raven, and nodded.
Together, they had lead the girls out of the office. There was an awkward moment, where Motoko paused as her name was called by a secretary manning one of the desks at the entrance of the tower. But Motoko, after stopping, hadn't even look back at the woman who called her Momo. She just kept walking past, and out the door.
Hiroshi had spared the young woman a glance. Her hands had been clenched in front of her, and her face devoid of colour. Her gaze had hesitantly met Hiroshi's, but he hadn't been willing in the least to be the one to tell her the news.
Anzu's hand had dug into his sleeve in that moment. After, all thoughts of the secretary were abandoned for the child that needed the meager amount of support he was capable of giving.
Three shunshin's later, they were at the hospital, and a short walk later, they were halted in the waiting room usually frequented by families checking in on long term patients. Raven had whispered furiously with the nurse, but she had stonily blocked their passage.
It would have been too much work to try to strong-arm their way to meet a boy who wouldn't be awake anyways. Hiroshi had planted himself on one of the chairs immediately outside the door, and Raven had lead Anzu to the seat beside Hiroshi. Motoko had sat across from him, only two meters away, though the distance felt infinite. He had never known how to speak or interact with Momo- not when she was eighteen and in need of a home, and certainly not in the wake of the most terrible thing to ever happen to her.
And here they all were now. Hiroshi, attempting to be human again for the sake of the girls whose world had been destroyed by the evil Rooted in the village, while waiting for a boy Hiroshi hoped would die.
XXX
Sasuke woke screaming.
White coats desperately surrounded him, hovering and shoving towards him like vultures feasting on the rotten flesh of the dead. He furiously kicked out, lashing with arms restrained by cords and needles digging into his skin.
"Uchiha-san, please, we're trying to help you-" A hand clawed at Sasuke's arm. It pinned it to the table, and just as a needle attempted to bite into the flesh of his elbow, he wrenched it away. Sasuke gasped, salt staining his cheeks, as indistinct yells escaped his lips. Another hand reached to restrain his thrashing head, and he snapped with iron jaws at the appendage.
"Little monster- Raiko!" The hand snapped forwards again and slammed Sasuke's head back against the table. "Stop trying to be gentle and restrain his goddamn legs! The last thing we needs is another of your foolish-!"
"-little brother."
Time froze. Sasuke's vision shifted. The white coats, grasping hands and sterile room were replaced by a far more horrifying sight.
A red circle that held a black pinwheel turned in a single, dazing revolution.
.
.
.
A katana sliced across the neck of an old woman tucked within her covers- she choked on the blood welling in her throat, gasping as her eyes sputtered to turn red, dotting with two tomoes in each
("Oh dear," she said, and giggled in a way that belied her age. "You have to drink carefully, and take your time." She gently rubbed Sasuke's back, and shared a mischievous grin with his mother as he choked on the juice she had given him to drink. She looked at him with laughing, lively eyes-)
that failed to spin. Instead, they slowly faded into empty black pools like the koi ponds at night, though there wasn't even a ripple to hint at life beneath their surface.
A young man. Dragging himself across the ground. His head tilted back towards the bloody trail that his severed legs had left, the stumps weighing him down as terror seized his face into a gasping scream
("Hey little man!" Sasuke hid behind his father's leg. The young man tightened his grip on the waist of the dark haired woman beside him who rolled her eyes- her lips however quirked into a smile- as he puffed up his chest. The young man flashed a smile in Sasuke's direction, his eyes darting upwards to Sasuke's father. "Would you believe Na-chan finally agreed to marry me?"
Said woman laughed, and lifted her arm to cuff the man behind the head. "Agreed? I'm the one who proposed!" Sasuke's hid a giggle, and even his father gave a muffled snort. The young man blushed, but continued to smile, and gave a laugh himself-)
That abruptly ended as a shuriken embedded in his head.
A woman, sobbing as she held her body over top of a cradle, heedless of the blood leaking from her side to drip upon the wailing baby-
Two men, grabbing each other's hands and locking gazes despite the red staining the sheets of their bed-
A little boy, staring with wide eyes through an open door at the figure slowly entering, clutching at the stuffed cat within his arms and trying to muffle sobs as he cried for 'An-nee'-
"Hate me. Detest me. Curse me, and survive in an unsightly way."
Red swirled. Tomoe turned. Black iris shifted; starting in a hundred and more different eyes, sometimes wrenching its way into being.
Red slowed. Tomoe paused. Crimson eyes dulled in a hundred and more eyes into empty blackness.
Except for his
(Sasuke tugged on his brother's pant leg, and when said leg continued to move, he clung, legs and arms wrapping, rising and falling with the motion of his 'captive'.
"Nii-san," he whined, "You said we could train together today! I wanted to learn how to do that stuff- the flying thing- with the shuriken, and that spinny grab flip that you used to beat up Shisui, and maybe I dunno gettoseeyoursharingan-"
The leg stopped moving forwards. Sasuke buried his face into the fabric of the pants, lips pursed. A sudden pressure upon his forehead instinctively led him to wrench one of his arms away to slap at the hand that had poked him, but he was too slow- like always.
A laugh. "Maybe next time."
Sasuke groaned. "No fair!" He pulled at the pant leg again as a hand carefully began to ease his other hand's grips, his captive's hands gentle as they worked. Sasuke's nose wrinkled. "You promised!"
The hand gently cradled Sasuke's own, ceasing its attempts to detach him. A sigh. "If I show you my sharingan, will that be enough for now? I have a mission, Sasuke."
Sasuke's head remained shoved against the leg. Eventually, it tilted in a nod. When fingers reached to detangle him, he gave little resistance, and frowned as he was set upon the ground. His gaze finally tracked upwards, passed the tired smile, the too pale face, and met-)
Red.
Swirling.
Eyes.
.
.
.
"Run. Run, and cling to your pitiful life."
Mother and father's sightless eyes stared at Sasuke, blank and demanding- asking Sasuke why they were dead while he was alive. Asking why he had been out late at the park training with other kids- playing- when he should have been home, dying like a good son beside them.
.
.
.
In the real world, Sasuke continued to scream. Finally, the nurses managed to restrain his flailing limbs, and dose him with the drugs that were the solution to any ninja trauma. They sighed as his whimpers finally ceased- exchanged instead for shaky breathing- and congratulated themselves on a job well done.
But in Sasuke's mind, the red pinwheel turned once again. The cycle continued- because it never ended. The Uchiha continued to die. And all Sasuke could do was watch the massacre of his entire family.
Again.
And again.
And again.
