Out of the Ashes

Chapter 14

Homeward Fall

I don't remember much of what happened between Allison's death and me finding myself in the inn. Everything was a blur with Fushicho's dark taunts in my ears. When I came back to reality Kinoe was waiting for me. He was clean and must have showered after returning us to the inn. He was actually wearing pajamas and reading a scroll looking quite content.

He must have sensed my eyes on him, "Oh you're back with us?"

I nodded and he rolled up his scroll to give me his full attention. His violet eyes pierced into mine and I looked away.

"Did you ever have... another you?"

Kinoe blinked, "Another me...? Oh, I think I understand. You mean the real soul or, the real Kinoe, don't you?"

"You have one too?" I demanded immediately, leaning forward with my hands on my knees.

Kinoe nodded slowly, "They're a part of the reason Samsaras lose it. I was lucky. Kinoe was passive and perfectly fine with me being here. Some are content and some don't even let you know they're there. I haven't met anyone still sane who has had a bad one."

"What do I do about her?" I questioned quietly.

"There's not much you can do. They never leave you so you have to mediate with them to give you peace. Kinoe hasn't acted up in years. Some Samsaras never even know they have them." Kinoe shrugged, "You just have to live with it."

I snuggled into the blanket on my futon and listened to Kinoe's breathing. I let my senses spread out to the room beside us where Bu and Kyuketsu were sitting. Gunpowder and cinnamon was the majority of Bu while Kyuketsu was a very muted sweet flavor. They had changed a bit over the years but by now it was natural for me to just know who was who.

"What we saw today was sad, but we're all pretty sad aren't we? Tell me the story of how you died, Veronica." Kinoe murmured suddenly. I tightened my blanket around me.

The room was suddenly warm and I was brought back to my death.

"You're such a bitch, Veronica!"

"And you're an asshole!"

I closed my eyes and the flames were dancing in front of me and slowly taking over me, "I fought with my brother. He locked me in my bedroom while he was cooking because I was messing with him. He fucked up and the apartment started to burn. He forgot he locked me in my room and got out himself. I couldn't fit out my window and by the time rescue came the entire apartment went up in flames."

I swallowed, "Do you ever wonder what happened after you died?"

"I'm not sure you want to know." Fushicho whispered to me, suddenly standing amidst the flames and holding out a fleshy hand, "But I can show you."

I opened my eyes and she disappeared with a horrible amused shriek.

"I was sick." Kinoe began and I looked at him from behind my bangs. He lifted his hands and reached towards the ceiling, "Cancer. I went through it all once and then relapsed. I wasn't going through it all again so I killed myself. At the time I figured, why go through the trouble for such a shitty life? Quality of life and all that. It was like I blinked. One minute I'm putting a bullet through my head and the next I'm being ejected out of a uterus."

Kinoe rubbed the side of his head, "If you look there's a scar here from where I shot myself. It's like how you have burn scars. I think it's a reminder..."

When he didn't finish, I asked him what he meant. He didn't answer after that and I took it as a sign he'd tell me when he was ready to.

We left the town somber after dealing with an enraged and grieving lord. Kinoe took care of it all and before I knew it I was stepping into my home with the familiar smell of the incense Sasuke usually lit to make the house smell nice. Sasuke stuck his head out from a doorway and I was relieved to see him.

"I'm home-"

Sasuke, rudely, cut me off with a nasty glare, "A note. You left me with a note!"

I was bewildered, "What are you going on about?"

Sasuke threw the note I left for him at me. It fell to the floor slowly and I could see he had crumpled it up and probably threw it around a couple times. I gave him a questioning look.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You just left a note saying you were leaving. It wasn't even an informative note!"

"It's not like I'm going to go interrupt your class to tell you I'm leaving." I retorted and Sasuke was very displeased with this response.

"Whatever. Learn how to write better notes." and Sasuke retreated back into the kitchen. I picked up the note from the floor and looked at it. I felt a bit of remorse gather in the back of my mind but I pushed it away and went to throw my stuff in my room and wash my clothes.

That night dinner was quiet between Sasuke and I. There was hardly a goodnight between us and as I stared up at my ceiling I wondered when we had drifted so far apart.

The next day Bu was back to his usual antics. We had an off day but we all still decided to meet up and get food. When I got to the meeting place, Bu was surprisingly talking to Kyuketsu.

"Please?" Bu was in the middle of begging.

Kyuketsu, as soulless as he was, was having a hard time denying Bu's pout. I had to admit one thing, and that was that Bu could really pull off a puppy dog look. I didn't usually fall for it and Bu stopped bothering me with it. But Kyuketsu, cold and mean, seemed to be struggling against the big orange eyes Bu possessed.

"What's up?" I questioned as I slouched on the wall. Bu jumped an impressive height for not using any chakra and he wildly turned to look at me.

"Nothing!" Bu swung his arms around rapidly, insisting again, "It's nothing!"

Kyuketsu rolled his eyes, "You'll make fun of him for it."

Bu looked over his shoulder and I didn't quite catch his expression. He turned back to me and gave me sheepish look, "Yeah. Don't worry about it."

But now I wanted to know. I turned to Kyuketsu, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing!" Bu cried, shooting Kyuketsu a look that screamed for help.

"His crush." Kyuketsu, bluntly, stated, not caring as Bu nearly deflated, "He wanted help seducing her."

Bu made a choking noise, "Please don't use 'seducing' because that sounds vulgar. I'm not trying to... you know."

And here we have a pervert in the making. Remember when I was creeped out by the amount of academy girls interested in boys? Here we have the next level of that. Twelve year olds already thinking about sex. Of course, I don't really remember much about being twelve in my first life but I know for a fact it wasn't until late middle school I was truly educated on the subject. Moving on from this incredibly awkward subject.

Kyuketsu looked up at the sky. He pondered for a moment before nodding to himself.

Very seriously, Kyuketsu announced, "Beguile her, then."

I cackled at the negative connotations of the word while Bu sighed, "You're so mean to me."

"Beguile is the correct term." Kyuketsu decided firmly.

"Can we go eat now?" Bu nearly whined.

I grinned, "Only if you tell me who your crush is."

Bu visibly wilted. I turned to Kyuketsu who shook his head. Despite being such an aloof person he seemed to have an idea on how to be a bro. I could respect that.

Not.

I stood up on my toes so that I could be taller than Bu. He looked unimpressed by my intimidation tactic considering the fact he was still pretty eye level with me. I couldn't wait until I shot up before him and could laugh at him for being a short little fuck. Same with Kyuketsu.

"Race you to Teppan!" Bu shouted, sprinting off.

Kyuketsu started to jog after him, calling, "Umenohana is healthier!"

As the two disappeared I rolled my eyes. They were quirky assholes, but I had to admit that I enjoyed their presence. Even if Kyuketsu was a snarky bastard and Bu was a little bitch. I followed along casually and we had a nice meal at Teppan. I was a fan of their food and despite Kyuketsu still preferring the much stuffier Umenohana he also enjoyed their dishes occasionally.

That night I returned home and Sasuke greeted me with a half-assed welcome home and I was slightly insulted that he wouldn't even give me a proper greeting. But I let it go and with another stilted and uncomfortable dinner, my day off passed by quickly. Training started up again and I fell back into routine. Of course Sasuke and I slowly warmed up a bit more but we were still far more distant than we ever had been.

"I don't know what to do." I admitted to Bu, Kyuketsu and Kinoe one afternoon as we took a break under a tree. We were working heavy taijutsu recently and my muscles felt like they were going to melt off if we kept this up. Of course I was actually very pleased. I was in very good shape and my body was already starting to form those chiseled abs and sculpted biceps. I wouldn't actually have those for a few years. though, despite my bragging. I exaggerated my fitness early in my second life because I was already beyond my past life's shitty bodily limits.

Kinoe cooed and leaned over, pinching my cheeks, "Are we having boy troubles, wittle Fushicho-chan?"

I hyper-extended his elbow with a swift hit and Kinoe gasped before immediately healing it. He didn't even need his other hand to heal it. Show off. After his elbow could bend painlessly he retracted it and pouted at me.

"Not in the way you're thinking, you old fuck." I rolled my eyes while Kinoe feigned insult and Bu and Kyuketsu face-palmed at my language, "Sasu and I are fighting."

"You and Sasuke-san were always close though." Kyuketsu remarked, Bu adding, "Yeah you had that like, twin connection!"

"Well that twin connection thing isn't working very well right now." I snapped, "He's acting like he has a stick up his ass!"

"So like you." Kinoe hummed thoughtfully. I glared at him but didn't say anything in response. Bu snickered and Kyuketsu cracked a smirk.

I pushed off the tree and rolled onto my back. A leaf drifted down from the tree and landed on my forehead. I glared at it until it started to smoke. I stopped when I feared it would burst into flames. Kinoe's ever judging eyes watched me closely.

"Perhaps he's upset because of your personality?" Kinoe suggested, and I looked him in the eyes. His violet eyes shone with the dark truth, "You're not the best sister in the world."

I was insulted. I couldn't believe Kinoe had just said that. I took care of Sasuke! I cooked, albeit poorly, bought groceries and cleaned sometimes. And I made us money! (Even though we were pretty rich regardless)

"He's not wrong." Kyuketsu commented, looking thoughtful.

I glared at him. Bu kept quiet, but Kinoe spoke up again, "You don't spend time with him."

"I spend time with him!" I retorted immediately.

"Eating dinner doesn't count, Fu." Bu pointed out after watching me steam for a moment.

I went to defend myself again but as I opened my mouth, everything just died. I couldn't think of the last time Sasuke and I just... hung out. It couldn't have been back when the clan was alive? Definitely not. But I really couldn't think of anything within the last few months.

I grit my teeth and I could feel the heat rising in my chest.

How could I have been so stupid?

A handsome face appeared in my mind with light blue-gray eyes and straw colored hair. It viciously disappeared and was replaced by terrible flames. My eyes shot open (When had I closed them?) and I breathed in. All I could smell was smoke and ashes. My hands were clammy and Kinoe was in front of me. I vaguely heard him telling me to breathe and calm down.

"Veronica," Fushicho laughed cruelly, "You're a terrible sister, aren't you?"

What happened in my last life was unfortunate. No, that's a rather bland way to put it. It fucking sucked. My brother and I fought often and got along only when we both benefited. I doubt he killed me off on purpose, but the fact still stands he left me in a burning apartment. He forgot I was locked in. Right? He

"Fushicho!"

Knocked out of my thoughts by Kinoe shaking me, I looked between Kinoe, Bu and Kyuketsu. They all appeared worried but I ignored that and pushed Kinoe off me. He sighed in relief.

"Thought you were having a psychotic break there." Kinoe huffed, Bu nodding quickly in agreement.

"Have you always done that smokey thing?" Bu questioned after Kyuketsu didn't react in the slightest.

I stared at him. Kinoe fell backwards dramatically and he was ignored.

Kyuketsu looked like he had to stop himself from face palming, "You've known her for years and you just now notice it?"

"I mean I have seen it. When she gets mad she gets all hot and she kind of steams." Bu muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"And when is Fushicho mad?" Kyuketsu pushed.

"Alright alright I get it." Bu looked away in embarrassment, "She's literally always angry."

I was too caught up in my own problems at that moment to fight Bu for saying I was always angry. I'll have you know I was a ray of sunshine when nothing interesting was going on!

"It's an Uchiha thing." I dismissed easily, lying. Kinoe nearly choked on the pencil that always hung from the corner of his mouth. At least the choking covered up his snort.

Kyuketsu narrowed his eyes at me and clearly thought I was full of shit. But he didn't call me out on it so I simply stood up.

"I'm going to go do something with Sasu." I announced.

"Finally." Kinoe sighed, "Poor kid probably forgets he has a sister." Along with that statement was a pointed look.

"There's a new movie playing, you two should go see it-" I tuned out the rest of what Bu was saying. Movies here weren't as good as movies from my old life. Special effects sucked ass and while some of the cool shit was real, since you know, chakra and ninja, the other stuff was awful. And they don't have concessions for movies. You literally just chill and watch a movie on a bigger screen than the shitty TVs that you saw rarely used in the village. Correction: civilians use TVs a lot, ninjas kind of just do ninja things their entire lives. I was a ninja thus, a training montage is literally my life.

I walked to the academy and waited on the swing outside for about twenty minutes until the academy let out. When Sasuke walked out his eyes lazily scanned the schoolyard before he did a double take. He stared for a moment when he saw me and then he decided to ignore me and keep walking with Naruto talking his ear off.

Childish little shit. Ignoring me? How rude.

I was equally childish in how I showed off that I could do cool ninja things. I jumped between the roofs within his eyesight and casually walked on the sides of buildings and fences. Sasuke was like me in that he was pretty easy to piss off and like me, he sat there and simmered until he boiled over. Sasuke though, had a class I didn't have. He waited until Naruto was gone to confront me.

"What do you want, Fushicho!" Sasuke yelled.

I lost my grip on the wall I was standing on and I fell flat on my front. Sasuke blinked at me and I was surprised at how wounded I was. Not physically, by the way. That fall was nothing. Anyway, Fushicho? I had never been Fushicho to him. I was Shicho. Shicho-chan. I was not Fushicho.

"What did you say?" I asked quietly.

Sasuke frowned, and quietly demanded, "What do you want, Fushicho?"

"Fushicho?" I echoed, "Not Shicho?"

Sasuke scoffed, "We're not kids anymore. You should stop calling me 'Sasu' too. Your lisp isn't that bad anymore."

His words dug deep. I was silent for a moment and, as Bu would have put it, I simmered. The steam and smoke swirled around inside me before I hit my boiling point. Then, I exploded.

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" I snarled. Sasuke got defensive and took a step back, folding his arms.

"You're never home! You're always out training and 'working'! So stop acting like a child! Don't yell at me just because you're too pig-headed to notice!" Sasuke shouted. I pushed myself off the ground and leaned against the wall I had originally been standing on. I tried to cool my anger but I was just so mad. How dare he call me childish? I wasn't a child! I never was a child!

I wanted to grab Sasuke by his collar and shake him. Instead I balled my hands into fists and growled, "I have to train. You want me to fucking die too?"

A brief dark look flashed across Sasuke's face. His glasses glinted in the light and he stepped forward and got into my face, "You're not allowed to die. Don't think you can get off that easy."

"Get off easy?" I laughed, "You sound like a stupid little fuck right now! Who do you think you are?! Huh!?"

Sasuke breathed in, probably to try and calm himself, but it didn't work.

"I'm going to be the one who fixes our fucked up family!" he snarled lowly, "You and Itachi are the same, aren't you? Leaving me behind like I don't know anything!"

I opened my mouth to retort, but anything I could have said died in my throat. As I looked at Sasuke I realized I wasn't quite sure who I was looking at. He wasn't the sarcastic and nerdy little boy anymore. How old were we now? Eleven. We were eleven now. We were still kids. But were we really?

"Fight me." Sasuke suddenly challenged me. I blinked and tried to push away the thoughts of canon Sasuke that were starting to claw at me.

"Fight me," he repeated, "I'll beat you. I'll show you that I'm strong."

"That wasn't what I came here to do-" I tried to say, but Sasuke cut me off. He slammed his fist into the wall.

"You don't understand! You never do!" Sasuke's eyes looked glossy and he looked away.

I didn't want to fight Sasuke. Nothing against the academy or anything, but what they taught there and what I had been learning for years was different. Months of training with my team and years of being Kakashi's underling made me worthy of the title Genin. I was by no means ready for an actual life or death fight but I would wipe the floor with Sasuke.

"Alright." I conceded, "Let's fight."

We walked to the training grounds and everyone who was in our path there got the fuck out of the way. If Sasuke was any indication of how angry both of us were, I probably wouldn't have gotten in our way either. We went to one of the training grounds inside the Uchiha district. We stood across from each other and declared everything was allowed. Any jutsu, whether it Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, as well as weapons. I wanted to protest both those things but Sasuke was adamant so I let it slide.

Then, the fight began.

It began quietly. A simple 'Go!' and we were off. We locked up, kunai against kunai. We were evenly matched for a moment before I overpowered Sasuke. He looked like he didn't quite believe that I had so easily pushed his kunai all the way back. He abandoned that and jumped back, tossing shuriken at me. Kinoe, being a medic, taught us the ways of dodging like a pro. Not to mention whenever we fought against Kinoe he liked to catch us and fling us around like ragdolls with his chains. Needless to say, I was not getting hit by a fucking shuriken thrown by my silly brother.

I almost didn't believe how easy it felt to fight Sasuke. We weren't that much different but it really did feel like I was so much stronger than him. Sasuke got a good kick in towards my arms though and then I started to get a bit more serious. Our fight wasn't too impressive. It could probably classify as a friendly spar if you ignored how angry Sasuke was.

Of course, something I forgot is that Sasuke is my brother. That means he knew my weaknesses.

"Katon, Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Sasuke sounded very much like Itachi, those years ago when he first learned about my fear of fire. Sasuke learned much later than Itachi but I was frozen when I realized such a large fire ball was approaching me. It was in slow motion and I had time to compare it to Itachi's. It was nowhere near as large but it was just as terrifying in my eyes.

My body moved on its own and got the hell out of the way of the fire. I collapsed and stared at the charred ground that could have been me. That was me, once upon a time. When I wasn't shaking anymore I managed to turn to look at Sasuke. So many emotions were running through me and Sasuke looked just as conflicted.

"I'm stronger than you." Sasuke finally said. But it was clear that wasn't the case. Between the two of us, Sasuke was breathing heavily and had several bruises forming on his arms.

I stood up, "You want to fight with fire, Sasuke?"

I felt tears in my eyes and Sasuke blinked. As his own eyes widened I inhaled deeply. I could feel something different than the anger and rage that normally filled me. Something devastating sat in my stomach. I didn't hear Fushicho anymore and my mind was surprisingly clear.

I exhaled.

From my lips flames licked out and before I actually started to breathe fire, I closed my mouth and swallowed.

"How...?" Sasuke whispered, "No. I've seen your smoke before but..."

"I've been training hard Sasuke. Compare me to Ita all you want but we both know he's strong. If we want to find out what happened that day then we need to be just as strong, if not stronger." I told him confidently. Sasuke turned away.

I raised my hands over my head as I felt the odd feeling float away and Fushicho return to haunt the darkness of my mind, "I guess I'll try and spend more time with you though. Let's go bother Bu and see if his mom's making dinner."

Sasuke looked up in disbelief. For a moment something flashed across his eyes but I couldn't tell what. Then a small smile graced his lips and he shook his head, "Hardheaded as usual. Fine, let's go to your boyfriend's then."

"Fuck you! He's not my boyfriend you little-"

"Then the other one's your boyfriend."

"I should have ended you just now."

And yet as we bickered, a smile crept across my own lips and I found myself easing into a real sibling relationship.

AN

Hey. Guess what. I'm bad at monthy updates. I tried.

Blame college applications. I'm so behind it's not even funny. I'm ready to die now. Also someone in my family died and that was two weeks of stuff.

I was very inspired by looking at fanart for Catch Your Breath and Iryo Nin Kasa (That i'm on like chapter 20 of currently).

Fun Fact- Fushicho tries to hide her angry smoke but she's pretty hot tempered so that works... kind of.

Thanks to the following for reviewing(:

Thomas Drovin
lizyeh2000
LexisRee
kylC