On the other side of the village, Sasuke ran Sakaria up the steps of a building and onto the roof where she almost see the entire city. "Wow, Sasuke!" She beamed, running to the edge and looking around, trying to take everything in. "I didn't know the Leaf Village was so big!"
"Sure it is... and look over there!" He pointed in the opposite direction of her stare and Sakaria turned her head, searching for what he was indicating. "That's the academy... That's where I go to school... and you will too some day."
"Hn." Sakaria looked down and kicked the ground with the tip of her shoe, "I'm never gonna get to be in the academy."
Sasuke looked at her saddened expression and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't be silly, Sakaria." He said, encouragingly, "Mom and Dad have to let you join the academy sometime. You're smart like me and Itachi so I know you'll be a great ninja some day!"
Sakaria, suddenly excited, perked up and smiled, "Can we go see it?"
"Go... see it? Oh, I dunno, Sakaria..." Sasuke said unsure. "We might get caught an-"
"Pleaaase, Sasuke," She whined, tugging at his hand, "You'll have to start going back to school soon, and we won't get to come out as much. Please Please Pleaaase!"
"Okay, fine," Sasuke sighed, giving in, "But we have to be quick."
The two took off again, running as fast as they could, but they were stopped by a group of girls on the street. "Who's this, Sasuke-kun?" One of the girls demanded. Her high-pitched question was followed by an onslaught inquiries, all demanding to know who his companion was. Sasuke simply rolled his eyes and took Sakaria by the hand, sprinting off again, leaving the girls to cry and wallow in their self created heartache.
"You're pretty popular, huh Sasuke?" Sakaria said, raising her eyebrow and smirking. "Who would've thought so many girls would like you... you know, since your head looks like a duck butt and all..."
"Shut up, at least I can't land a plane on my forehead," Sasuke griped, still dragging her along.
Moments later, they reached the academy and Sakaria looked up at the entry way in awe. She asked Sasuke dozens of questions about his sensei and what his tests were like and if he had homework and if they got to play outside. Sasuke answered each of them with a melancholy smile, half saddened by the fact that his sister hadn't been able to experience all of this yet and may never be allowed to. Suddenly, the two were startled as a yellow haired boy walked over to the swing that was hanging on a nearby tree. When he noticed Sasuke, he snarled a little, but still took his seat.
"Who is that boy, Sasuke?" Sakaria asked lowly, staring hard at him.
"It doesn't matter," Sasuke mumbled back, trying to blow him off.
"You're not friends?"
"No. He doesn't really have any friends."
"That's not good..." Sakaria said, feeling saddened for the boy, "He looks sad..."
"Just leave him alone, Sakaria," Sasuke commanded as he grabbed her shoulders, turning her back toward the road they had come from, "We aren't suppose to be here anyway, remember?"
Sakaria allowed Sasuke to walk her back, but her eyes remained on the yellow haired boy on the swing until he was out of her line of sight, her heart heavy with sympathy. On the way back, Sakaria spotted two more boys walking in the direction of the village, one with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and the other, a chubby boy with a scarf around his neck. The two were seemingly close, and Sakaria hoped they were heading over to play with the yellow haired boy they had just left. That is, until the boy with the ponytail muttered, "Teh. Of course Sasuke's got some other girl following him around."
"Yeah, but I've never seen that girl before, Shikamaru," his companion said between bites of his chips. "Who is that?"
"What's it matter?" The other young boy griped, "It's not like she'd give us the time of day. She's obviously just like every other girl here. All about that Uchiha kid for some reason. Girls are such a pain." As Sakaria listened to this while the distance increased between them, she took back her hopes that they were going to play with the boy on the swing.
Nevermind... Those boys don't seem very nice anyways... The young Uchiha thought, still walking hand in hand with her brother.
"We should get home..." Sasuke stated, his stare still fixated on the road before them. He was beginning to feel uneasy with all of his classmates noticing his sister. Knowing he was going to be bombarded with questions once they went back to school was one thing, but what if they went home and told their parents? That might cause an entirely new issue for the both of them. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by his little sister tugging her hand away and stamping her foot in the dirt.
"You said we'd go find a field of those sunflowers!" She growled, crossing her arms in front of her. She was reminded of his words by the hair color of the lonely boy on the swing and how it resembled the flowers she had seen earlier that morning.
"Yeah, but..." Sasuke looked around making sure they were alone. "We're gonna get caught out here if we don't get home."
"But you said we'd go, Sasuke! You said so!" She insisted. "You promised we'd get to see the whole village before you went back to school."
"Yeah, but if we stay out here, then we might run int-"
"Your father?" Suddenly startled from their conversation, the two Uchiha children looked up to see their father standing over them, glaring angrily. Suddenly feeling two inches tall, both children stared up at Fugaku who towered over them and eclipsed the sun, causing a shadow to cover the two.
"D-daddy... we-"
Fugaku held his hand up, signaling his daughter to save her excuses. His silence struck fear into her more than any words he'd ever say could. After standing there for a long moment, the vein in his forehead protruding in anger, he grabbed both of his children by the hand and lead them back toward their homestead through the woods so no one would see. The walk was long and filled with anticipation of what would come when the three finally reached their home, but they were stopped by Itachi before they arrived.
"Father..." Itachi looked down at his two siblings, slightly relieved that he had finally found them after looking hurriedly through the village, but still not at ease considering their father had found them first. "Please... Go easy on them. Sakaria is a curious natured girl after all and they jus-"
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat', Itachi? Do you have any idea what could happen if the village found out that Sakaria..." Fugaku stopped himself and swallowed his words to be sure Sakaria wasn't made aware of the reasoning she was kept in hiding.
"Yes, but-"
"But satisfaction brought it back..." Sakaria moused, her hand still clutched tightly in her father's. The three Uchiha males cast their direction down at her and Sasuke sent her a glare, signaling for her to quiet herself.
"What did you say?" Fugaku growled. His eyes didn't leave her as she looked to the ground and spoke more to her shoes than her father.
"The entire phrase is, 'Curiosity killed the cat... but satisfaction brought it back." Her voice was small and feeble, but sure as she corrected him.
"Don't argue semantics with me," the patriarch glared, forgetting for a moment he was talking to his five year old child. "You have no idea the stress you put your mother and I under."
"Then why don't you just get rid of me!" Sakaria shouted, pulling her hand away, "Let me go live with some other family who isn't embarrassed of me and doesn't want to hide me away!" She looked up at him at this point with tears spilling onto her reddened cheeks. "I hate hiding and not being allowed to go to school. I hate not being able to have friends. I hate being your daughter!" She screamed the last words, striking a chord with Fugaku and shocking him so his reaction time was delayed when she ran off into the woods.
"Sakaria!" Sasuke shouted, trying to pull away from his dad who's grip was solid and stone like.
Fugaku looked to Itachi, his mouth hung open as if he was searching for the words, but Itachi spoke instead, "I'll go after her father." With that, he jumped away into the trees, getting to higher ground so he could spot her easily. Sasuke, finally managing to pull his hand from his father's solid grip, looked up at his him angrily, all fear of punishment replaced with worry for his sister.
"You and mom always act like Sakaria is some kind of burden, but she's not. She's your daughter... and she's my sister... and now she's..." Sasuke tried to bite his tongue before becoming too emotional, but his mouth spewed out the words before he could catch them, "Gone!"
"Sasuke... Someday you will understand... I promise..." Fugaku lowered his head, walking in the same direction he had been heading in the first place, knowing that he would only get in the way of Itachi bringing Sakaria back. Sasuke stood still, not believing his father's words. How could he treat her that way and expect her to want to be a part of their family? He was always treating Itachi like he hung the moon, but never gave his younger two children the time of day. It was especially so in Sakaria's case. Sasuke not only felt badly for his sister, but he related to her. All of this rushed through his head as he ran ahead of his father towards their house, hoping Itachi had somehow beat him there already with their little sister in tow.
Later that night, when Itachi finally returned, he came in holding Sakaria, who was sleeping soundly on his shoulder. He was greeted at the door by both his mother and father who stared at the sleeping child sorrowfully and mouthed quiet "thank you's" to their eldest son. Itachi pushed onward, not looking up at either parent as he took Sakaria to her room, laid her in bed, set her favorite stuffed white bear beside her, and tucked her in, doing his best not to wake her. When he turned to leave, Sasuke was in the door frame, a look of heartache crossing his face where Itachi had expected relief.
"I don't get it, big brother," Sasuke said, sitting with Itachi in his room as he prepared his things for his mission the following day. "Why can't Sakaria go into the village? Why don't mom and dad want people to know she's our sister?"
"There are a lot of things you don't know, Sasuke," Itachi murmured, not looking up as he sharpened one of his kunai.
"Then explain it to me!" Sasuke begged, trying to catch his brother's eye as he searched his face, "It's not fair."
"Some other time."
"You're always saying that! You're just like mom and dad sometimes! You push us away and don't talk to us like we're people!" The younger brother said defensively, "If you don't tell me why we've kept our sister a secret for so long, I'm going to assume what we always have!" His statement was bold and sure, causing Itachi to look up at him solemnly.
"And what would that be...?" Itachi asked, genuinely curious.
"That mom and dad are ashamed of her." Itachi furrowed his eyebrows at this and shook his head vigorously.
"That's not true," He stood, seemingly angry and set his kunai on his nightstand, looking out the window to avoid Sasuke's gaze. "Our mother and father love all of us... we are very lucky to have the parents that we do, so please don't ever take that for granted."
"I don't think they love Sakaria one bit!" Sasuke said, still firmly defending his little sister, "Especially since dad just walked away and left her in the woods today. He didn't even try to catch her!"
Itachi took a moment to think, then turned and headed toward the door, sliding it open and motioning for his little brother to follow him. They both walked softly down the hallway and peered into Sakaria's room from the door frame, taking in the picture painted before them by the low light of a candle that hardly illuminated the room.
On her bed, Fugaku held Sakaria's sleeping form close to him and Mikoto brushed the stray black hairs from her small pale face. "I hate to see her so sad, Fugaku," the matriarch whispered, staring lovingly at her youngest child.
"It can't be helped," Fugaku replied, running his coarse thumb over his daughter's cheekbone which was stained red from all the crying she had done that evening, "Not until we regain power."
"Do you ever think we made a mistake... keeping her, I mean..." Fugaku looked up at his wife indignantly for a moment then shook his head and looked back down.
"She is one of the best things that has ever happened to us... All of our children are. I'm so proud of how intelligent and talented they are..." His voice trailed off and he smiled weakly, "You should have seen the way she stood up to me today. If anything, she's going to be a little fireball." They both laughed quietly at the thought of their daughter's bold personality and Fugaku continued, still smiling. "She is so passionate... and she has the biggest heart out of all three of our children... The leaf village is missing out on a wonderful little girl." Fugaku turned to Mikoto again, suddenly serious, "That's why the plans our clan have laid out are so important... Not only for us... but for our children. For her." Mikoto nodded, still petting her daughter's head.
Sasuke, no more enlightened than he had been before, looked up at Itachi and walked away from the doorframe, sighing. "Maybe they do love her... but they should show her that every once in a while." With that he went to his room and shut the door, putting himself to bed, still confused.