Age 7

Sasuke is currently walking the streets of the Uchiha. Is eerily quiet. You could only hear the occasional laugh or the sweeping of a broom. It has been like this for a couple of weeks now. Sasuke first noticed it when his favorite shop closed doors. He used to go there everyday after school only to hang out and study. Ever since then he keeps noticing other things. Like that grandma that always smiled at him, he hasn't seen her in a week.

And it isn't only the other people. His own family has been acting strange too. Itachi has started his rebellious phase and is rarely home. His mother keeps cleaning the house and his father is home late every single day. Something is happening and Sasuke doesn't like it. Which is why he is currently sparring with his favorite sparring buddy, Rock Lee.

Sasuke has to admit that the boy is a strange one, but also strangely motivated. Because Lee doesn't have chakra to use he can focus all his time on taijutsu and it shows. Since their first meeting years ago the boy improved leaps and bounds. He even got noticed by several of the higher up ninja, some even wanting him as an apprentice.

'Partner, you have to focus, or I'll hurt you!' And then Sasuke avoids a kick to the stomach. Lee is such a good partner because he too is great at taijutsu, which currently is Sasuke's specialty as well. It's nice have someone at the same level as you to keep improving.

And thus, Sasuke gets ready for his own attack. 'Who says I'm not paying attention!' Then he lands a punch, but the other boys didn't seem too fazed. Sasuke is pretty good at landing his hits but the power he has to improve. Then Lee kicks him in the side. That boy is fast!

'Ugh! Alright you win this time.' That hit hurt!

'Are you already done? I can go on a little longer!' Lee responds like he always does. It most certainly is one of the most annoying things about him. Now isn't really too bad but even if they have spent an entire day training he still wants to continue. Doesn't he understand that breaks are a necessity as well.

'I have something to do today.' And he does. His personal training has been stagnating lately and thus his father decided that it's a good time to test Sasuke's techniques. He has been set up to do a demonstration match against the most annoying person he knows, Shisui.

Shisui has a habit of obsessing over something for a few weeks before jumping on the next obsession. You never really know what he is up to. He is also the only person that doesn't seem too affected with whatever is going on right now. Though that might have to do with his current obsession.

'Oh, can I come?' Please don't! Sasuke doesn't want his annoying friend to yell at him if he does something.

'Sorry, clan matters.' He gives the other a wave and walks to the field where the fight will be taking place. Luckily for him it isn't too long of a walk. When he arrives at the field he sees that Shisui is already there.

'Sasuke, I'm here!' said Uchiha roars from the other side of the field. And then he appears right beside the young boy. 'Look what I just got,' and the teen holds up a book that is teal in color with as title 'The exploration of the eternal abyss' by Ōtsutsuki Kurama. His books started gaining popularity lately, Sasuke loves the books even though he doesn't want to admit it. It is the long awaited third book in the professor turbulence series, which is a spin-off of the lonesome puffin chronicles and thus, Sasuke tries to steal the book from the older boy.

'Tsk, tsk Sasuke. If you perform well during our duel I might let you borrow it.' Sasuke is desperate because the book had sold out in minutes both digitally and in the store. Sasuke has just barely missed the release. 'Don't pout. I never said you had to win, just do well.'

'You really mean it Shisui?' At this the teen only smiles and that pisses Sasuke off more.

'But beware my magic spells because I'm one of the strongest wizards in the village,' the teen proclaims with a fist on his chest. The he suddenly gets wacked on the head.

'Shisui we're ninja not wizards, how many times do I have to tell you this?' Itachi says while looking slightly embarrassed. 'Not only that this is taijutsu only, no fancy tricks. Oh, and the others have arrived, please try to act professional.'

'Yeah, yeah whatever,' Shisui waves to the people in the crowd. He doesn't seem too surprised seeing the Hokage in the crowd. The hokage also brought Naruto to watch what is happening. The two of them are discussing something but Sasuke can't understand what they are talking about.

The match is starting soon but Sasuke isn't nervous. He has enough practice against many of the elites in the clan and most of the time he had beaten them. Shisui doesn't know what is coming.

Then the referee signals for them to take position and then the match begins.

The start is simple, all Sasuke has to do is watch Shisui. He has to dodge until he finds an entrance. Just the millisecond of Shisui switching focus is the perfect spot. And Sasuke starts dancing. That is how Sasuke can describe it best. Fighting is attacking each other but a dance is a pair working together to reach their better potential. Which is also the reason why people fight better than they ever had. It hypnotizes them and lets them lower their guard which then leads to the perfect moment to strike. But Shisui is an experienced ninja and manages to catch on before Sasuke lands the final hit. The referee then ends the match.

The people watching had seen what they wanted to see and Sasuke could see them starting to talk. Most look impressed which is good. It also is a good thing that the Hokage and Naruto are the only ones from outside the clan, less secrets coming out the better. Now that the match is over he could ask Shisui what is going on with the clan.

So, once the people start leaving he quickly runs after the teen. 'Shisui wait!' Shisui turns around and waits for Sasuke to catch up.

'What's wrong Sasuke?'

'Two things: I want that book,' Shisui only smiles at that, 'and what's up with the clan?'

'What'd you mean. They were very impressed with what you just did?' Sasuke can feel that something within wants to lash out but he holds himself.

'No not that.' Shisui looks worried. 'The last couple of weeks there has been this weird atmosphere, and nobody wants to tell me what's up!' Shisui takes a moment of silence.

'You shouldn't worry about that Sasuke. This is something for the grownups.' Shisui disappears before Sasuke can ask more. But Shisui did leave the promised book behind. At least that's a good thing.

A few days later at the academy Sasuke is reading under the tree. He has put a fake cover on the book to avoid attention and to make sure he can return the book in one piece. But reading a fun book does not ease his worries about the clan. This must be showing on his face as not much later Sakura approaches him. After she was absent those few days a few years ago she changed a lot and for the better. Sasuke does not know what happened but it stopped her from being a fangirl, which is a good thing in Sasuke's opinion. It allowed them to get a little friendlier with each other.

'Sasuke-kun what's wrong?' she sits down next to him. He looks down and contemplates if he should tell her. They aren't exactly close, but he really needs to get it off is chest.

'My clan has been really down the last couple of weeks,' he begins. He looks at Sakura and sees her eyes focus on him. She is paying attention. He uses that as his clue to continue. 'The people rarely come out of their houses, the festival that we have next week got cancelled, and whenever I want to talk to someone about it they just ignore me!'

'Do you think that if you know what is going on you can change it?' she asks him. He looks at her. How is he supposed to answer that?

'I might not be able to change it myself but maybe I can get help from people who can help out?' Sasuke says but he isn't really sure of his words. 'But I don't know if that'll work, after all I'm just a kid.'

'Do you think something bad will happen if nothing changes?'

'Yes,' Sasuke doesn't understand why he is so certain.

'I've learned the hard way that sometimes you just have to be stubborn, especially if your gut is telling you that something bad will happen,' Sasuke can't help but think that whatever incident lead to Sakura feeling this way had to have been traumatizing.

'Thanks, I'll keep that in mind,' they smile at each other and then break time is over. Sasuke stands up and as he does so the fake cover on his book slips just a little. Sakura takes one look at the book and stares Sasuke dead in the eye.

'Can I borrow that book?' Sasuke now has to explain that the book isn't his.

The only good thing about the strange happenings in the clan is that he can freely use the library. Usually there is this old lady sitting at the counter but nowadays she is strangely absent. Which means that he can sneak into the hidden sections without anyone finding out. This is how he has been spending his days for the last couple of weeks.

The Uchiha library has many records, some reaching back millennia, and Sasuke loves this. It is usually the old scrolls or records that catch his attention. There is just something about reading the stories of his ancestors that makes him feel proud. It can be a bother to skim past the thousands of layers of propaganda though. Just what did his family have against the Senju for so long?

As the skims past the outer layers of the records there is one that catches his attention. It's a relatively small scroll, probably a journal of sorts, with dark blue binding. It's actually looking really average for an Uchiha scroll but something within him is drawn to it.

He takes the scroll of the shelf and opens it slightly. The title reads: 'origins of the Uchiha style.' Does this mean the taijutsu style or something else, like the cooking style? He continues reading.

After reading the first couple of paragraphs it has become clear that this is about the fighting style. It is actually rather interesting. It's like an essay about the origins of the style, or perceived origins as the author has no idea what the origins are and thus lists of a variety of stories that could be the origin. The author even goes in about how likely each theory is.

One of the theories reads that it was thought to the Uchiha by the gods. Sasuke knows his clan has always been rather spiritual, so he files this under the more likely theories.

Another tells the tale that there was once a princess that fell in love with an Uchiha and she thought him how to dance, this eventually evolves into the fighting style. It's a bit strange but plausible.

The one that tells about someone eating a mushroom and creating the style is probably the weirdest and rather unlikely.

There's also a theory that the style has been created by professionals by combining complex information. It's a rather boring theory.

The scroll itself isn't all that old. Maybe a hundred years or so. A quick look at the author will do. Uchiha Tamaki. Not a name he is familiar with.

After a quick look in the family tree he could see that Tamaki was born about 150 years ago, way before the founding of the village. He died at age 26, the records don't show how. Sasuke doesn't know if he could do the style but it would have been awesome if he could.

'Sasuke what are you doing here?' A voice suddenly says and Sasuke jolts in surprise. He looks in the direction the voice came from and sees his father. He's not happy if his face is anything to go by.

'Sorry, I'll go now.' Sasuke shoves the scroll back onto the shelve and quickly runs outside. His father doesn't stop him, which is odd, but Sasuke is grateful for it. Why did his father have to go in there now?

Later at dinner it doesn't even get mentioned. It saves Sasuke's butt, but it's doesn't feel right. Usually he has to clean the house or something.

It is only a few days later that something significant happens. Shisui comes to Sasuke's house one day slumped over Itachi's shoulder. One of his eyes is missing and he is covered from head to toe in cuts. It's not a pretty sight.

'Shisui what happened?' comes from Sasuke's mother. She quickly grabs the first aid kit.

'I don't know, I found him like this near the river. And since home is closer than the hospital…' Itachi responds. Shisui does seem rather out of it. What was Itachi doing near the river anyway?

'Should I get Haruka-obaa-san?' Sasuke asks his parents. Even if she is one of the older people in the clan, she is still an amazing medic-nin that happened to learn from the first Hokage himself and even invented some of the modern techniques still used in hospitals all over the elemental nations.

'No, the hospital is better in this case…' Itachi begins but he is interrupted by his father.

'No, I don't want the Hokage to find out about this.' Ignoring the children's protests, he orders Sasuke to get the old lady and she got there in minutes. She cleans and closes the wounds and puts the poor boy to sleep. They will get their answers tomorrow. She also instructs every family member with treatments for the different issues that could arise. And then she leaves the house.

'What will we do about tomorrow? The Hokage will find out if Shisui doesn't turn up?' his mother asks his father.

'We'll put him sick leave,' his father says with a straight face. Ever since the second Hokage had gone to work sick it was possible for active ninja that weren't sent out to have sick leave. Meaning that this will work for a couple of days.

The next morning Shisui still hasn't woken up but Sasuke still has to go to school so nobody will get suspicious. For some reason school lasts longer than the other days if you are waiting for it to end, but when it is finally over Sasuke goes home immediately. When he gets home he goes to the room Shisui is sleeping in and sees that he's still asleep.

It looks rather pitiful. Shisui, who is usually so happy and cheerful, still and asleep completely covered in bandages. One of his eyes missing. The afternoon sun only highlighting how banged up he is.

Sasuke sits down next to the bed and starts doing his homework. He wants to be there when he wakes up, but he also has to do something. His homework this time is studying trivia in honor of the 4th's trivia quiz track record. Next week they have a competition to see who the quizmaster in their class is. Sasuke doesn't get the appeal of random knowledge but he has to uphold his perfect reputation.

It took a little while but eventually Sasuke starts to hear grunts. Not much longer Shisui opens his remaining eye.

'I feel like I just fought a dragon,' the teen says while trying to sit up. But he quickly falls down again. Sasuke takes this as his que to call his mother, who races into the room and helps the teen. Not much later his father enters as well.

'Shisui can you tell us what happened?' Sasuke's father asks. Apparently, he has gotten home a little before the boy had woken up.

'It was Danzo,' Shisui says completely serious. Sasuke knows why, stealing a bloodline is a serious crime, especially in one's own village.

'Explain.' Sasuke saw that his father's eyes have narrowed. Does he suspect something?

'I was supposed to meet him to discuss a mission but then he took my eye instead,' Shisui takes a deep breath, 'I ran away but he and his servants were following me. He wanted my other eye as well. I only escaped because Kakashi-senpai was teaching Naruto something in the area and he managed to take out most of them.' After Shisui finishes his story Sasuke could hear his father think.

'And what are you going to do now?' he decides to ask the teen. It may have been because the man himself did not know what to do.

'I will report what happened to the Hokage,' Shisui says while looking down. Sasuke can't help but feel that the boy is expecting backlash. And backlash he gets.

'What makes you think he would care?'

'Why wouldn't he? It is a serious crime to steal a bloodline limit. He is legally obligated to care!' Shisui all but screams at his father.

'The last decade they haven't cared about any of our shit! Whenever we have a complaint they put it aside and forget. What makes you think this is different!'

'This isn't something like budgeting or whatever you… old people do, this is a rare item being stolen. Thievery!'

'By the Hokage's best friend! What makes you think he will take your side?'

The conversation quickly turns into a full-blown screaming match between his father and Shisui. The logic behind the arguments has been forgotten as they start throwing insults. Sasuke can see that Shisui was on the line of breaking down, the tears are already appearing in the corners of his eyes. And his mother is getting more stressed out by the second. Then Sasuke decides to interrupt, remembering one of the political lessons they had at the academy.

'Can't we just ask the Hyuuga's for help?' Sasuke asks the two yelling occupants. They turn around to look at Sasuke. His father is already glaring.

'And why would we ask those bastards anything?' his father asks. Sasuke does his best not to flinch.

'They wouldn't want the same thing happening to them and ignoring our plea for help would be really hypocritical.' He sees his father consider the option and while he doesn't like it, it would be the best option at the moment. And that is how he finds himself together with his parents, Itachi, and Shisui at the Hyuuga compound.

As Sasuke had predicted the Hyuuga's take the matter seriously and his family quickly makes a case file. Itachi had gotten home a little while ago and had been send out immediately after to collect testimonies from Kakashi, who then also got Naruto to testify. His father orders some of the few non-Uchiha employees in the police force to collect evidence, they don't want to come across biased. And by the late evening they have everything together to step to the Hokage and request a formal trial. Of course, they have to wait for the morning to come because it is now too late.

'Mom?' Sasuke asks.

'Yes sweetie,' she responds.

'Why are these people here?' Sasuke is referring to the people his father as well as the Hyuuga head brought along. There are around ten inside his house and judging by the conversations of the others there are more outside.

'They are here to make sure no one attacks us.' And that does makes sense, Sasuke supposes. If they are dealing with shady business, they might do something shady.

And they did try something shady. The next morning there is this buzz around his house. Apparently, there were some people that tried to get in. The guards took care of them, but it does scare him. What if the guards weren't good enough? Would he be dead then?

And thus, after breakfast Sasuke stands with his family and a couple Hyuuga's in front of the Hokage. Sasuke can't help but feel fancy. They carefully explain what happened and Sasuke doesn't understand half of it. The only thing he really knows was that the Hokage takes this matter seriously. They hand over a folder in which the evidence is filed, of course they have a copy stored away safely. Once the Hokage finishes through everything, most people, excluding those majorly involved were excused and thus Sasuke has to leave, but inside he knows that they have won. He lets out a small victory smile that only Itachi seems to have caught.

'You were pretty smart there yesterday Sasuke.' Itachi ruffles his hair. It feels good being acknowledged for your deeds. He presses his head into Itachi's hand.

'Dad and Shisui were being stupid.' Sasuke says. To be fair if a seven-year-old could come up with that then so could they. Especially if they are so called geniuses.

'I guess it was pretty stupid.' Itachi laughs out. 'Luckily we have you to give us advice.'

'And the best advice I give!' Sasuke exclaims proudly.

'I'm not so sure about that. I do recall that time with the carrots-' Itachi begins but Sasuke interrupts.

'Stop. We agreed not to talk about that!' Itachi just laughs. Sasuke looks at his family, they all seem happy.

A few days later Sasuke is reading under the tree again. The previous lesson had been taijutsu spars and he had been paired with Naruto. Sasuke won, of course, but because of Sasuke using his clan style Naruto had performed better than usual and thus received better marks. It is the least he can do to thank the other. Even if the other still acts pissed at him. He can take it.

Then Sakura decides to sit down next to him and she flashes him a smile. 'Did everything work out?' she asks him. Sasuke figures she sees him being happier and she isn't wrong. Things are better. The tension that was previously looming over the clan like one of its hawks has disappeared. His favorite shop is open again. Too bad he can't sneak into the library anymore.

'Better than we had imagined!'

The next couple of weeks would be amazing! Itachi has become part of the police force, something about justice. Shisui got a promotion, and his eye back. Danzo's in jail. And not only that the next book in the lonesome puffin chronicles has been announced. Things couldn't be looking better!

Thanks for reading. One more chapter of Sasuke left and then I'll move onto the next character. Please leave a review if you have something to say.

Eliescool