Chapter 4

It had taken a while for Sasuke to let go of his disdain for his new living conditions, but once he grew used to it, he admitted that it was a less stressful environment than his previous residence. He hadn't felt this relaxed since he had found out his brother was going to survive after he had come back from a mission drenched in his own blood. But after a week, he grew to enjoy the camaraderie between his two, dare he say, friends. The three worked well together, Haru was street smart, Sakura was charming and innocent, and he provided book based knowledge that the others hadn't had the opportunity to amass. They made a good team. No reasonable person would expect kids to be capable of stealing to survive. He laughed darkly. No child should have to steal to survive, yet here they were, sitting in a cave, and completely alright with it, preferring it.

He was shaken from his thoughts as Haru walked into the cave, his face normally emotionless face drawn with emotions that Sasuke wasn't used to seeing on his face. He observed the blond. Anxiety, nervousness, anger and pity flickered across the other boy's face in various proportions.

"What's your surname?" the blond asked in his usually succinct manner, his voice not betraying what his eyes did. Sasuke looked up in surprise. It had never occurred to him that he never shared his family name.

"Uchiha," he replied, seeing no need to hide it. After all, he had dissociated himself from his former family. If it was possible, Haru's face became even tighter. The black haired boy frowned, worried at the strange behavior. He watched as the other boy procured a newspaper from somewhere underneath his old shirt and thrusted it in Sasuke's face. Sasuke took it, quickly skimming through the front page. He found nothing that merited the amount of worry that the boy was showing.

"I thought so," the blond muttered. "Third page," he sighed out, raising his voice so that Sasuke could hear it clearly. The Uchiha turned to the aforementioned page and scanned it quickly. He paused, blinked, and read it again. The Uchiha Massacre. The three words floated in front of his eyes, but his brain didn't comprehend them. Blood rushed out of his face as he clenched the newspaper with white knuckles. The black haired boy's eyes filled with thinly veiled anguish. He looked up at Haru his shaking hands almost tearing the newspaper apart.

"Is this true," he asked weakly, not wanting to hear the answer, yet yearning to at the same time. The blond didn't reply. "Is this true?" he repeated, louder. A hint of anger seeped into his voice. The black haired boy wanted, no, he needed answers. He stood up and stomped up to the unresponsive blond. "Is it true?" he screamed, shaking the blond, tears welling up in his eyes, but Sasuke refused to let them fall. Calm blue eyes met anguished black ones. The blond gave a short nod, and that was all it took for Sasuke to collapse into Haru's arms. The blond patted the other boy's back soothingly as he sobbed for the death of his relatives. He didn't attempt to say any comforting words, but Sasuke didn't mind. Just knowing that he had someone there for him was enough. He eventually cried himself to sleep, taking comfort in the presence of the blond. The blond lowered himself so that he was sitting on the ground with the raven's head on his leg.

An hour later, Sakura arrived, slightly panting, her pockets bulging with stolen, she preferred the term donated, food. She arrived to see Haru gutting a few fish with Sasuke's head on his lap. She placed the loaf of bread and the small handful of berries on top of an old shirt. "What happened," she asked, noticing the tear tracks on the sleeping boy's face. Haru brushed his hair away from his eyes and gestured to the half crumpled newspaper lying on the floor. The girl picked it up and glanced at the article, before pausing and rereading it. "Is it true?" she whispered. The blond nodded. "And him?" she asked, gesturing to Sasuke. The blond nodded again. "He's the last?" Another nod. "And the culprit?" she breathed. Haru shook his head.

"Escaped," he elaborated, cleaning the small blade he had used to gut the fish. "Switch with me," he muttered, gathering the entrails of the fish up with some leaves. Sakura replaced Haru so that Sasuke's head was resting on her leg. She stroked his hair as Haru exited the cave. A few minutes later, he returned, the leaves nowhere to be seen, and his hands clean. He sat next to both of them, watching the flickering flame that illuminated their home. The fire was smartly positioned so that the smoke could exit the cave, but the flame wouldn't be noticed with boulders and sticks blocking the entrance. Sakura idly stroked the boy's hair as Sasuke began whimpering in his sleep. Haru hated seeing his companions distraught, but being alone most of his life, he didn't know how to deal with emotional children. Deciding to occupy himself, he got up and distracted himself by starting a fire and roasting the fish he had caught earlier that day.

"What are we going to do?" the girl's voice rang out, eerily loud in the silent cave. Haru didn't reply immediately.

"I don't know," he muttered, poking at the fire with a stick. Sakura was struck by the three words she had never heard him say. In her eyes, he was always a pillar, always steady, always knowing what to do. She relied on his street smarts and his uncanny ability to captivate the people he meets. To hear him admit that he didn't know something was a blow to her world. She didn't recognize the confident blond that had approached her at the swing set; she saw was a boy her age that had been forced to grow up too fast. The blond got up, holding a stick out to her. "Eat," he murmured, reaching out to shake Sasuke awake.

"Wake up," he said, shaking the black haired boy. The boy blearily opened his eyes. He saw Haru and Sakura watching him warily.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" he muttered sadly. They shook their heads.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sakura asked cautiously. Sasuke looked down and twiddled with his fingers.

"I'm going to become strong," he declared. "Strong enough to defeat Itachi."

"Revenge?" Haru asked curiously. Sasuke's eyes darkened, but he shook his head.

"As much as I dislike Itachi, I dislike my relatives more. As far as I'm concerned, he did me a favor," he said, applying the twisted logic of a child. "Besides, you two are more family than my parents would have ever been." The other two nodded, but Haru still sported a small frown.

"There has to be a reason," he muttered to himself. Sasuke snapped his head towards him.

"What?" he demanded. Sakura just looked confused.

"A reason?' she asked. "For what?" The blond was deep in thought.

"For slaughtering all the people," he explained, his eyes narrowing. Sasuke breathed in. A steely glint formed in his eyes.

"I will find out the reason," he stated, his black eyes fierce. "He won't know what hit him. That is my promise, my promise of a lifetime."

Itachi looked back at his home, tears still dripping down his face. The thirteen year old knew that he wouldn't be welcomed back to the place he called home. Everything he had done for the village weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he allowed himself one brief minute to collect his thoughts. His hands had killed for his family, the same family that he had killed with his hands.

"We'll always be proud of you, son." His father's voice rang out through his head. He stifled a sob. Father, would you be proud of what I am about to do? He couldn't help but wonder. Tears streamed down his pale skin, but he pushed the emotions away, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. He thought back to the last time he had seen Sasuke, his little brother had been with a blond boy and a pink haired girl. He had looked happier than Itachi had ever seen his little brother. It was what had allowed him to slaughter his own family without regrets. He would have to trust the two to keep an eye on his brother, and for some reason, he didn't have a problem with it. "Time to go," he muttered, shutting his eyes to prevent tears falling and pushing off the branch he was perched on.

"Are you ready," a man with an orange spiral mask asked, appearing out of nowhere. Itachi merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He steeled himself to begin the second part of the mission. Itachi locked his pained heart away as he followed the masked man to Amegakure; his face was a perfectly blank mask, concealing his inner turmoil. I'm sorry, little brother. Looks like I won't be able to protect you anymore.

A few months had passed since the massacre, and the new school year was quickly approaching. The three had been able to enroll in the three year ninja Academy, all because of Sasuke. The Uchiha taught the other two the basic essential knowledge to pass the written portion of the entrance exams. Being raised in a prestigious clan, Sasuke had been taught basic arithmetic and history from a young age. Sakura also knew where the library was, and Haru had figured out a way to slip in through the windows when everyone was asleep. The three often roamed around the library, looking for books that piqued their interest.

Sakura was interested in medicine and poisons. She often studied images of the human body, so that she would know the most effective places to inject poison and medicine. She also learned how to create her own salves and how to apply medicinal herbs. She spent hours in the forest, learning the names of herbs and their uses. She hadn't been able to tinker with poisons, to which Sasuke and Haru were thankful for.

Sasuke was more focused on weapons and combat. He read scrolls on the most effective way to disable someone through combat and how to handle different types of weapons. It was all theory, he didn't have the weapons to actually practice. That didn't stop him from training his body though, he would often wake up early to go on a small run. He also set aside time each day for conditioning, where he was joined by Sakura and Haru, the latter more frequently than the former.

Haru had a surprising interest in sealing. He was disappointed to learn that he would have to perfect his handwriting before he would be able to learn the seals, so he practiced by copying down the scrolls so that he could work on both his calligraphy and the theory. That wasn't all that interested him though. He had found a particular fighting style, the Whirling Fist, and began to train in it with gusto. He frequently joined Sasuke during his workouts and Sakura during her journey's through the forest in order to help her identify herbs.

The three were confident in their ability to excel in school, even though they hadn't attended the first three years of supplementary schooling, where both civilians and aspiring ninjas were sent to learn how to read and write, as well as basic arithmetic and history. The two groups would then be split up based on what they wanted to do in the future. The ninja would enter the Academy, while the civilians were sent to secondary schooling. The trio would be jumping straight to the ninja academy, both due to their ages and their test results.

"Don't you think we should go back?" Sakura asked, eyeing the sky, which was slowly lightening as the sun rose. Sasuke glanced up from the scroll he was reading and agreed. The villagers would be waking up soon. He could already hear the birds chirping. The two looked at the blond boy, who hadn't moved. He was staring at the scroll in his hands.

"You two go on ahead," he muttered, his eyebrows furrowing. "I just need a bit longer," he said, still staring at the scroll. His blue eyes were glazed in shock. The girl exchanged a glance with the black-haired boy. They knew that the blond could take care of himself, but they didn't want to leave him. The girl sighed.

"Fine, if you aren't back in two hours, we will come and find you," she warned. The blond nodded, still engrossed in the scroll. Taking one last look at Haru, the others jumped out the window, landing with small thuds a second later.

Left on his own, Haru dropped the scroll. He frantically peeled at his ragged clothes, only to see the dark spiral that had always marred his stomach. Only after months of studying seals did he recognize it as one. He glanced back at the scroll that had fallen open to a picture of the a nine tailed fox. He clawed at the mark on his torso, but it didn't fade. He fell onto his knees in anguish.

"Why?" he whispered, clutching at his stomach and looking at the scroll in horror. One word stood out to him. Jinchuriki. Human sacrifice. The seal on his stomach. "Why?" he cried out. He was so preoccupied with the new revelation that he didn't notice that he wasn't the only one in the library anymore.

A strike to the back of the neck knocked the boy out.

"Why indeed," a low voice repeated, hoisting the unconscious boy over his shoulder before jumping out the window and disappearing.