To say Sasuke was frustrated was an understatement. For weeks after the attack he tried his best to investigate on the very slim chance that she might still be alive, but the ANBU had thoroughly cleaned up the scene and now a new family had moved in. The new tenants even had the audacity to put fresh potted flowers out on the balcony as if nothing bad had even happened there.
It was late evening near the third training ground. Sasuke peered through the leaves from where he was perched, watching the ANBU carefully. It was the same dog masked man with stupid grey hair that had taken him home the night Sayuri disappeared.
Muscles in his legs bunched up beneath him as he prepared to confront the ANBU when a voice behind him said, "Yo."
When did he-
Sasuke spun around to stare into the round black eyes of the ANBU dog mask looking down at him. One of them is a clone, he thought. Or both of them.
"Why are you following me?" the ANBU asked.
"I want answers," Sasuke said.
The man's unkempt hair shifted as he tilted his head slightly.
"What happened to Akahane Sayuri? Was her body ever found?"
"ANBU investigations are classified," the man hummed. "Brats like you should stay out of the way."
Sasuke clenched his fists, festering anger swirling inside him as he glared up into the man's mask. "I won't stay out of the way. Sayuri-chan is my friend and I will find her."
The man was silent, giving no outward sign that he'd registered what Sasuke said at first. Sasuke turned to leave, when a soft voice murmured, "A clearance request could be submitted to Hokage-sama. Go through the administrative section."
Sasuke blinked, and the ANBU was gone.
The administrative section was a stucco building with tiled roof adjacent to the academy. The next day he couldn't wait to give his classmates the slip during their lunch break, and eagerly filled out the request form. Under "Reason For Request" he paused, then carefully wrote:
'Clan Business'
A bored chuunin filed it away, and Sasuke returned to the academy for his afternoon classes.
He almost didn't hear the questions Iruka-sensei asked, he was so preoccupied with the request. When would the hokage see it? Would they grant it? What would the report say? It must say something useful if the ANBU hinted he should request it.
A week passed without any word from the hokage office. Then a second week. By the third week, Sasuke couldn't wait any longer and went back in to the administrative section. He stood before a different bored chuunin seated at the intake desk.
"What is it kid?" he drawled.
"I filed a records request almost three weeks ago. What is the status?"
"Name?"
"Uchiha Sasuke."
The chuunin brushed shaggy brown hair out of his eyes, open a scroll and squinted. "It says here the request was denied."
"What? Does it say why?"
"Nope." He turned to rummage through a file and pulled out the request form. There was a big red stamp across it. Sasuke reached across the desk and snatched it from his hands. "Hey! Calm down kid!" the chuunin snapped.
Sasuked stared it it, his hands crinkling the paper as they tightened.
How dare they. How dare that wrinkly old crackpot deny this!
"Hey get back here! You can't go up there!" the chuunin's voice echoed behind him as he sprinted away. Leaping up the stairs several at a time, he slid past another pair of chuunin in the hallway and shouldered his way through the hokage's office door.
The old man sat behind his desk, warm musty pipe tobacco filling the air.
"Uchiha Sasuke, what an unexpected surprise." He smiled pleasantly, his mouth curving around the pipe between his lips. He set down the papers in his hand and smoothed them out. "You look troubled."
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke thrust the request form at him. "Why was this denied?" he growled. "I need access to the files about Akahane Sayuri's disappearance." He wished he knew her mom's name so the request would sound more legitimate. Then added, "and her mother's death."
"I'm afraid I can't authorize you to view those records," he said sternly. "You're still only an academy student. But if you have any more information about that night you can tell me now."
"I have a right to know." Sasuke's shoulder's trembled. "I have every right. My father was the head of the Uchiha clan, which means I'm now the head."
"What does that have to do with the Akahanes?" The hokage arched an eyebrow.
"Sayuri-chan, is the daughter of Uchiha Shisui. She's an Uchiha like me. She survived, and now she's gone. You can at least tell me if they found her body."
If the Hokage was expecting some grand new revelation, it certainly wasn't that. He caught his pipe as it clattered out of his mouth and sprayed hot ash across his paperwork.
"I can tell you there was no body found."
Sasuke exhaled, some of the tension leaving him. "So there's a chance she might still be alive."
The old man steepled his fingers, sighing. "Anything is possible at this point, but I don't want to get your hopes up. Whatever happened to her, she was badly wounded before disappearing. You know that much already." He rose from his chair and went to gaze out the window, deep in thought. "I wish I had known before this happened who she really was. We could have found a better way to protect her. The tragedy that took your clan was a terrible blow to the village, and her survival would have lessened it a little. Shisui was a powerful shinobi."
"I think, maybe Itachi came back. That he came back to kill her after her sharingan awoke." There was a desperate accusation in Sasuke's voice. "He must have found out somehow that he'd missed her."
"There was no evidence of Itachi's return, but I will have my ANBU investigate all possibilities. And considering this new information about her parentage, I will inform you if we learn anything new."
Realizing this was the best he was going to get for now, Sasuke inclined his head. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen watched the young Uchiha retreat from his office.
The attack made more sense with this new revelation. If there had been another young Uchiha who escaped the massacre, he could think of one other person in the village who would be extremely interested.
Danzo.
The question was, had she suffered the same fate as her father? Or had Danzo forcibly recruited her? Hiruzen had ordered ROOT be disbanded after the massacre, but suspected his old teammate still kept it operating on some level. He would need to find out, and soon. If the latter, she could still be saved.
Overwhelming guilt for what had happened to the Uchiha haunted him. It would be a great mercy for both Sasuke and Itachi if Shisui's child still lived. For that matter, Itachi may know what became of her. He was certain that if anyone in the Uchiha clan was aware Shisui had a child, it would be Itachi. If nobody else knew of her, he couldn't blame Itachi for deliberately overlooking her when Danzo ordered him to kill them all.
It was only a few days after the holiday feast that Sayuri moved out of the castle.
Dumbledore had loaded her into a big covered sled pulled by some strange seeming animals, and together they'd ridden on a winding icy road past a cottage at the edge of the forest, through the village Miu the traitorous oversized crow had mentioned, until it finally skidded to a stop in front of a building on the far outskirts.
She was pretty sure it was a village anyway. There were people moving around in a pattern that suggested streets, clumping up here and there. If this was a village and they were clumped inside buildings, then she was delighted that these structures didn't impede her ability to "see" her surroundings the way the stones of the castle did.
Part of her wished they had walked, it would have been easier to get a feel for the people and everything. She didn't like not knowing exactly where she was in relation to the castle, but it seemed that if she went around the edge of the forest she could find it, the lake, and even her tree again.
Wearing her warm cloak with Koeda tucked inside the collar, she rubbed at the comforting pressure of the blindfold and hugged the soft cat toy in her arms. Her nose wrinkled when they slipped inside the door of the building. It was warm and smelled a lot like livestock and something she would later find out was old stale alcohol.
There were three people inside already. Two were huddled at separate tables in opposite corners, their chakras dampened with too much to drink. The third felt rutted and craggy, with chakra that spread and filled the room like Dumbledore's. An animal, like maybe a goat or a sheep, was fast asleep on a tabletop nearby.
"Aberforth, may I introduce Miss Sayuri?" Dumbledore said pleasantly.
The man's chakra hardened, and he didn't say anything. If her hold on the toy cat could have gotten tighter, it would have.
"Hello Mr. Aberforth," she ventured, in a very small voice.
"Don't know why a little girl like her would want to be in a place like this. Why don't you ask Rosmerta instead?" the new man muttered in a gruff voice.
"Rosmerta has quite enough to handle running The Three Broomsticks right now. Besides, you're more experienced at this," Dumbledore replied.
While they talked, Sayuri edged over to the table with the animal on it. She liked animals. They were full of nature energy, and this animal had a tranquility to it that made her feel more calm even if he did stink like a dirty litterbox.
"That's Matey. You like goats?" the new man asked.
"I think so. I never met one before."
"Go ahead and give him a pat. He doesn't bite."
She reached out, trying to be mindful of the fact that not only Dumbledore and Aberforth were watching, but the men in the corners had started taking interest. Matey pushed a velvety nose into her palm. His warm breath tickled. Her fingers felt out the gummy fur on his face, the way his eyes sort of bugged out, and found his bony forehead where the broad ridged horns began. Not knowing what goats liked, she just gave his head a nice rub as if he was a cat.
"Well I suppose you're all right," he said gruffly. "Matey likes you anyway."
Matey made a nasal, nickering sort of sound in agreement.
She tried to ignore the hushed conversation Dumbledore was having with the man, instead concentrating on rubbing Matey around the base of his horns. He had some funny little dewlap things on the sides of his neck too. Her nose wrinkled again. The dirty litterbox smell was now was all over her hand.
Mr. Aberforth didn't seem very eager to have her there. She wasn't sure if she liked it much either, but she could deal with it for now. If he agreed to it.
Finally they seemed to come to some sort of conclusion.
"Miss Sayuri, would you like to stay here with Mr. Aberforth?" Dumbledore asked, his voice kind as always. "He says he has a room you may stay in."
"Not as if I ever have enough patrons to fill them up," Aberforth grumbled.
She straightened, folding both arms back around the toy cat and dipped into a bow. "Please take care of me, Mr. Aberforth."
"Alright then, no need for that," he said in a rough voice. His chakra softened a bit. "Follow me up the stairs here. Watch your step, I'll show you where your room is."
Dumbledore called out that he would have the rest of her things brought down from the castle, and promptly disappeared. The two men in the corners sank back into their alcohol induced stupors as she slipped up the stairs after Mr. Aberforth.
"This will be your room. It's right next to mine. If you need anything or anyone bothers you, just shout. I'll be close by somewhere."
"Thank you, sir," she bowed again.
"None of this 'sir' business," he growled. "Sir is what people called my father. And none of this 'Mr. Aberforth'."
Sayuri paused in thought. Aberforth was a big mouthful for her, and she was pretty sure she'd butchered it when she tried to say it earlier anyway. He didn't seem to be very formal, keeping goats indoors and all that. His voice sounded rough and old.
"Can I call you Jiji?" she asked.
"Jiji? What's that stand for?"
"It means gramps. Or do you say it like, grandpa? I never had a gramps before. Or I can call you gramps?"
"Jiji is fine," he said. "If you call me gramps that'll make me feel old."
"Thank you Jiji!"
He bit back a snort of laughter, and shooed her into the little room. It didn't take long for several owls to appear at the window with the rest of her bundled clothing, and a big piece of fabric that she felt all around the edge of and recognized as the tablecloth she'd torn her blindfold from.
After she'd tucked it away in a little wooden dresser with drawers that stuck when she tried to open and close them, she flopped down on the lumpy bed and rolled onto her back. A few moments later, her panicked shriek had Jiji flinging the door open.
"What is it?" he shouted, chakra flaring at the end of one arm.
"S-something bit me," she pointed at the bed from where she crouched on the windowsill.
"Oh, that'll just be the bedbugs. Don't mind them. They'll just take a little nip out oh yeh once in a while."
She shivered and pressed her back to the cold glass. "I don't like bugs."
"How does someone who doesn't like bugs get along out the Forbidden Forest then?"
Koeda tickled her neck. She reached up and pulled him out of her collar then cradled him in the palm of her hand. "Will he eat bedbugs?"
Jiji came further into the room and seemed to be crouching near her. "I don't see why not. Why don't you let him have a go at it?"
Sayuri slid down off the windowsill and gingerly set him on the blanket. "Go Koeda. Go eat bugs."
"Koeda, that's a nice name."
"It means twig."
"Fits him too. Are you going to be all right now?"
"Yes, sorry for the scream."
"S'allright. Now, the sun is setting. It always goes down bit early in winter but you should get settled for the night anyway. I'll get you a sandwich. You can eat it while your friend there checks the bed over, and then you should be getting to sleep. The loo is down the hall. I'll be sleeping in the next room and Matey is downstairs if you need anything."
A knot of warmth settled in her stomach. It was all so different from her mother, from her apartment in Konoha, from the academy she'd grown used to. But she thought she might like this village. Jiji seemed nice. There was nothing trapping her there. And Koeda was already crunching away at the the first of the bedbugs he'd detected.
For the first time in a long time, the ghost of a genuine smile flitted across her face. "Thank you, Jiji."
Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who left such kind reviews! It means a lot to me and is really helpful to hear what is being done right. Just about ready for the time skip. Phew.
