For a while I made no further progress with Sasuke, though many times I had tried. I followed what Kakashi had said, attempting to show my affections for Sasuke much more clearly, but thus far I think I have only confused and bewildered him in my awkward attempts. The first time I had tried patting him on the head, however in my keen focus I had accidentally patted him too hard and hurt him, making him flinch and complain. "Hey! What was that for?"
"Hm?" I had frowned in confusion then wandered off into my own mind to think. It did not feel very natural, and I had used too much strength. A different approach might be better. The next time I had seen an opportunity was when Sasuke was eating breakfast at the table and I had looked at his shoulders, noticing that they were a little stiff from where we had trained a little too hard the night before and he had not correctly soothed his muscles. I had gone up behind him and started to rub his shoulders without a word, but my silence surprised him and he accidently knocked over his drink of water into his food.
"Miyuki! Don't do that!" I had quickly pulled back my hands and flinched as Sasuke glared at me darkly, looking at me with sharp dagger like eyes before angrily getting up from the table to clean the mess I had inadvertently caused him to make. A little hurt that my intentions had only caused trouble, I had retreated to rethink my strategy. Each time I tried to show my feelings of kinship and love towards Sasuke, they somehow ended up in disaster.
When I attempted to hug him, my arms had been stiff and I had not known what else to do so I'd crushed his face into my torso, almost strangling him until he struggled his way free and ran away from me. Similar to my first try, when I had punched Sasuke lightly on the arm, I had missed and accidentally caught his jaw with a little too much force, meaning that he went on a mission later that day with a swollen face and a very irate expression. Next was the sisterly kiss attempt, however before I had even managed to get close to Sasuke with puckered lips he had yelled and pushed me away before bolting, almost as if he were terrified. Holding hands had also ended in failure, as Sasuke had immediately stuck his hands into his pockets and told me that he wasn't a little kid anymore and didn't need me to coddle him.
I was at an utter loss, my logic unable to account for where I was going wrong. Mayhap I was simply very unskilled at showing affection, as terrible as it sounded. The last suggestion Kakashi had made was to poke Sasuke with a cute smile, however this transpired to be the worst attempt of them all. Smiling was a strange expression to twist my lips and face into, so when I had tried to force it, it came out more like a grimace, but when I had lifted my hand to prod Sasuke on the brow with two fingers, he had stared at me with eyes so wide I thought his irises would disappear. Then he exploded.
His rage had shocked me to the core as he had released his voice in a furious bellow, ordering me never to do that again and swearing he would never forgive me if I did. "You are not my brother and I do not ever want to think of him, so don't ever make that disgusting expression ever again, and never make that gesture, or I'll kill you!" I had been so astonished by his powerful outburst that I had simply stood there dumbly until Sasuke had leaped out of a window and disappeared from sight. He did not return home that night, even though I waited for him sat at the table with dinner which eventually went cold.
Dutifully I put everything away then knelt in the middle of the room facing the door, waiting all night for him to come back until eventually I fell asleep against the chabudai, resting my arms upon it. The next morning I knew that Sasuke would be going on another mission, so I gave up in my waiting. I shall have to find a way to fix this. Could I possibly ask Kakashi for help? No, I should learn to amend my own mistakes, and although it had been unintentional, I could see by the near tears in Sasuke's eyes that I had hurt him. It was a foolish thing to do, now that I think about it.
Unable to do anything for the moment, I went through my daily routine like clockwork, starting early and finishing late before then repeating the next day. It continued like that for several days until my routine was interrupted by a summons to the Hokage office. I was unaware that I done anything warranting Lord Third's attention, perhaps there was a special mission that he required me for, though I will have to remind him that I had taken up temporary retirement in order to fully provide for Sasuke.
Everything was exactly as it had always been. Even the carpets were the same as when I had rushed here all those years ago on the night of the Nine Tailed Fox attack. When I knocked on the door and entered, the Hokage was not sitting at his desk as I expected him to be, rather he was standing upright by the window and upon its reflection, I saw he wore a grave expression. "Miyuki Uchiha." His voice was old and gravelly, weary from his extended position as Hokage of Konohagakure. "There has been an unfortunate development in the mission of Team Seven."
"Please report it to me." I requested, immediately lifting my hands to press my palm against my fist in a respectful gesture, keeping my eyes lowered to the floor as Lord Hiruzen exhaled deeply.
"I received news from Kakashi that his team had been attacked en route back to the village by rogue ninja. He has been wounded and two of the young ones have been carried away, and I fear that my suspicions concerning their motives are nothing good." My heart jolted and physically felt sickened by the news, all warmth draining from my body as I immediately pictured Sasuke's face and worried for how he might be injured. "I presume you do not need me to tell you which two were taken." Forcing all fear to evacuate my voice, I spoke with perfect clarity and calmness which I prided myself in.
"Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki." Lord Hiruzen nodded his head, finally turning to face me.
"I know that you are temporarily retired, but this event calls only for our best and the most delicate hand. Were we to send anyone else, I know that those rogue ninja would either kill their captives or flee into the wilderness, never to be seen again. However, I am counting on their greed, for if another Uchiha approaches, then it is likely they will allow you to approach them, to get close enough to free our young Genin."
"Agreed, it is a logical assumption." Already I had made up my mind to go. No matter what, I will return with Sasuke and I shall utterly vanquish any who dared harm a single hair upon his head.
"Good. Your mission is this, Miyuki Uchiha." I knelt down to one knee in order to receive my orders, listening carefully though struggling to focus entirely on his words. "Miyuki Uchiha, you will go to go to where Kakashi Hatake and his remaining student are hiding, and together you will discover the location of the rogue ninja and our captured Genin, learn all you can and then return back to the village with everyone safely. Do you understand this direction?"
"Perfectly, Lord Third. I shall go immediately." Humming deeply, Lord Hiruzen handed me the missive Kakashi had sent with his location then gave me leave to go immediately, so I disappeared in a heartbeat and without a trace. I returned home in order to prepare myself swiftly, casting aside my ordinary civilian clothing in exchange for my ninja attire. I wore a sleeveless mesh shirt for protection, black leggings and the open toe shoes, a kunai pouch upon one leg then pulled on my Uchiha robe shirt. The single long sleeve flickered as I thrust my arm through it, folding the lapels one over the other then secured it with my obi.
My headband was settled around my arm, secured by the long sash with the tails tucked in neatly as I secured my hair away from my face, flowing well past my hips in intense white strands. My parting lay in the middle, allowing two locks of white to frame the sides of my face as I pulled the rest of my hair over my shoulder, braiding the lower half before then tying it off to keep it from irritating me.
Last of all I pulled on my two specialised gloves, the thin black leather shaping to my fingers perfectly with the wire mechanism sitting on top, containing many yards of impervious thread so fine it was almost completely invisible to the eye. Not wanting to spend any second longer than I had to, I grabbed hold of my sword and strapped it to my back as I went, leaving the village with all the speed I possessed as my crimson eyes flashed, revealing to me the sequence of events which were to follow.