Chapter 6: 10 Years Ago

His hands held the one book that might unlock the secrets of Isui's mother. He shouldn't have trembled as he moved to brush the remaining clods of dirt and gravel off its cover, but he did. He may be standing at the foot of an Uchiha grave and the feeling was not something he ever got used to.

Sasuke flipped to the first page, and though the pages were yellowed and brittle, to his relief, the ink had stayed.

September 18, D980

19 fish.

25 roots.

Boil over a medium fire with three cups of water.

The dates were from several decades ago, not just the one, and most entries were logs about the birds, animals, and food from the nearby area.

"Anything useful?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke continued to flip through, and suddenly, after several years, the passages grew longer, and the logs turned into journal entries. The girl had turned away from fishing and foraging in the remote areas of the Fire Country and took up a job at the local teahouse in Shinja, the tiny village not too far from where they were.

No customers today. If this continues, Shuno is going to have no need for me and I'll need to find work somewhere else. I don't want to leave the village, but I may have to since it's so far from the main road and anything that might intrigue a traveler or two.

Sasuke flipped the page.

Two customers! I don't know why this made me so happy. They seemed weary from their travels, and stopped in for a cup of hot tea and some dango. I was embarrassed that we didn't have any dango as it takes such a long time to import the flour for the dough and no regulars come to order it, but the man was so kind. He was just thankful we were able to host him at all, and he paid twice as much as he should have. I couldn't possibly accept it for just two cups of tea, but he insisted and told Shuno that he was lucky to have me working at his teahouse. I missed him the moment he left. Important business in Konoha, he said, but nothing more than that.

I don't know why I wait by the door as if he'll come back. Maybe I'm hoping that his business in Konoha is short and he'll take the side route on his way out, but that's unlikely to happen. I bought some flour from the market and started kneading the dough to make fresh dango, but I'll likely have to eat for it myself if no one buys any.

Sasuke flipped through the next few pages and his eyes darted through the words like a rabbit in the woods. It seemed apparent that the dango was not very good when she started. She began working hard at the task as she went village to village, trying to sell her creations. Though she had come to terms in the realization she would never see her stranger again, she felt a newfound purpose in perfecting the dumpling craft. He had inspired her that much with just one fleeting moment.

Hard work will overcome. Naruto believed it and so did Sasuke. Even if everyone proclaimed him to be a genius, he would have been as weak and muted as a failed academy student if he didn't hone his skills, day in and day out. Even those who did something as simple as making dango, it was a skill to be learned and a skill to be mastered. Before the girl seemed to have little to no calling in life, trudging on day by day, but the stranger had seemed to give her a something to strive towards, and that was not a feat short of inspiring.

I did it! I sold a whole basket without even trying this time! I didn't even have to go door-to-door as I usually did. Everyone came running up to me, and I sold out in the first twenty minutes! I was so shocked. The elders said they've been waiting for me all week! They said they have never had such good dumplings in their lives, and the fact that it's delivered right to their doorstep is heaven on a plate. I feel like I could jump so high, I could fly!

"Anything important?" Hinata asked.

"Maybe… I'm not sure yet…" Sasuke answered, but held his tongue the moment he flipped to the next page.

I shouldn't be here right now. I should be dead. My heart has never fluttered like it does now. My body has never been alight with thrill, and my head has never been spun like a top.

The stranger was staying in the local inn and visiting the teahouse every day for the last week when I was selling dango to the neighboring villages! I didn't faint… but I was light-headed because I knew it had to be a dream. He was sitting in Shuno's teahouse, drinking a cup of green tea, and reading a book! Though before he had kept his collar high and his cloak covered, I knew it was him. From his words alone, I knew.

He has a slight husky tone in his voice, and his words are never hastened, never in alarm. His voice is always calm and genuinely appreciative. I swear I have never met a kinder soul than him.

He said he was on his way back out of the Hidden Leaf, but couldn't go before trying one of my famous dangos he had heard so much about. I wanted to get to know him better. I wanted him to stay. Maybe it was petty, but I started blubbering excuses as to why I couldn't make any dango yet. The flour hadn't come. The season for the best beans had just passed. Yellow cane sugar was still on a caravan heading this way. I know it wouldn't have kept him behind if he was in a hurry to go, but to my surprise, he stayed. He wanted to try my dango before he left, and that seemed important enough to place all other engagements he has on hold.

While we waited for the ingredients to arrive, we had more time to talk. He told me he had difficulty opening up to people, so he apologized in advance. His eyes were deep. Charcoal black, but filled with sadness, but stern with no regret. I only wanted to touch him, to hold him, to nestle my head into his shoulder, and tell him everything was going to be all right.

I told him of my family. No-name father and a no-name mother who lived peasant lives and died in an oxen accident. Unfortunately there was nothing exciting or heroic about that, but they did pass on some good judgements to me before they parted. I wanted my child to grow up loved, cherished, and above all, ambitious. The village I had grown up in has its beauty, but I made an oath for my child to have more than I ever did.

He asked me what I thought if my child was loved truly and deeply, but never knew it. Would it matter? I believed it would. I would want to have a son or daughter to know that he or she was loved even if I couldn't express it. But as I said that, he fell silent again, fighting inner demons he couldn't confess.

The ingredients for the dango came today, and my heart sank as they did. I made the dango slowly and precisely, not wanting the seconds to pass as they did. But when they finally did, I had to let him try one.

Again, I'm a terrible woman. I took a bite and threw the rest away. They were trash. I didn't want him to taste trash.

I made them again, and the second batch was just as horrid as the first. But when I binned this batch, I noticed Shuno replaced the trash bag and collected it after they were tossed. I ran to the back and saw him eating them in the back of the store! The nerve of that man!

I told my stranger that perhaps there was something wrong with my hands and that they would stop shaking tomorrow. He smiled gently and said if that were the case, he would be back tomorrow.

I'm an absolute mess. I dropped the pans. I turned the oven too high. I slipped and threw the flour into a bucket of water. I apologized for my clumsiness, and I couldn't understand why.

That's when he held my shaking hands and pulled me close to his beating heart. He asked me if I was finding excuses to keep him from leaving, and I couldn't find an answer for him to respect.

I wanted to say no and that I'm just a peasant girl without an ounce of grace, but my head just dug into his chest in a quick nod. His arms were strong like steel. His eyes met mine, I swore they flickered red, and he said I was falling in love with a damaged man. He wasn't sure how many years he had left on him, and he had a mission he still needed to fulfill.

He asked if that mattered to me.

It didn't.

This was the man, Sasuke was certain. This was the Uchiha he had been seeking. The charcoal eyes, the flicker of red, the black hair. The eyes that knew sorrow and melancholy like no one else did. The next page was going to tell him exactly who he was, but only… it didn't.

The next passage was many months later. An entire gap of time was not accounted for, and Sasuke was beside himself with anger. The stranger had left the Fire Country, and perhaps he asked her to never disclose his name, but Sasuke needed it more than ever.

Pregnancy is hard. Everything hurts. Everything is out of reach. I don't understand how other women do this.

There was only one passage left - the final written page in the journal.

Many asked me if I regretted him. A man who came and went as quickly as a sunrise and set. I didn't and I never will. Because of him, I strove for greatness. Because of him, I have a beautiful baby boy to love and to raise. Isui has the same face, the same eyes, and the same kindness as his father did. I will love him always. I will love him forever.

I only wish Isui had a little brother like he had.

A/N: Sorry for the bazillion lines separating the passages, but fanfiction doesn't allow for dashes to signify passage jumps? That needs to change...

And OMGGG so we all know whose kid he is, right? ;) Happy Friday everyone, and leave a review if you can!