Clouds drifted away from a full moon, drenching the room with a ghostly pale light, highlighting the white ceiling.

Sasuke's eyes were open, following the clouds movements without really moving his head. He used to love the night sky, he admired the night and its shadows and lights. There is something mysterious and mesmerising about it.

Although, he is no longer able to enjoy it anymore the way he used to do. It reminds him of a lot of things he doesn't want to remember, not because he wants to forget (which is impossible at this point), but because he doesn't want to associate something so precious to him, like the night sky, with the massacre, but it happened anyway, so there is no point at trying at this point.

Nights means red, nights mean the eye of the blood moon peeking through the heavy clouds. Nights mean blood and steel. It means the smell of blood and dampness mingles. It means the sins of kin-butchering. Nights are so nightmarish, so merciless — yet, so fascinating.

So he stops looking at the skyline, at the moon that holds a hellish hint of the Tsukuyomi. Of Itachi's hand around his throat, as he whispered "My foolish brother… If you want to kill me… curse me.—"

Of him losing his breath and clinging into life by slipping through his brother's crepe and running away, of Itachi slowly, not too far followed behind. He stumbled upon a corpse of one of his younger cousins lay lifeless, a clean cut through the throat. Eyes still open and stare back at Sasuke, accusing him silently for running like the coward he is.

Sasuke flinches visibly, memories flashing lifelike before his eyes. He clings into his blanket and opens his eyes wide, unblinkingly. He will never forget anything, because the kin-slayer made sure of that anyway. The raven-head moves his body slightly toward the open window. Feeling uncertain for some unknown reason.

The moon is stone-still in the leaden misty sky, the moving clouds floating around him, again it gives him another flashback of that night. Perhaps it's a trick of the mind, he told himself, moving uncomfortably, but this feeling, this eerie unexpected fear that makes him clench his jaw and want to end his life now and here, deep-seated in his heart and bones. It is too real to be a mere illusion.

It seems that the nights he loves so much become manifestations of a horrible nightmare. Pushing away his dark thoughts, he takes a deep breath.

Perhaps he still does love the night and what comes with it, and likely always will. It's hard to tell if he still does love it or not — when all he thinks about is the red moon, and the bloodstained floor of his home.

His brother, who was no longer his brother, stood over his parents with eyes the same color as the blood it spilled.

At night, his brother became a kin-slayer and threw him into the world of the Tsukuyomi for 24 hours straight. It's an unbearable pain to remember, but he does anyway. The side effect of the Tsukuyomi is to always remember everything perfectly.

Sasuke can remember, it seems like it's the only thing he can do now anyway. Sasuke can remember many things, few of them are not that important, but nonetheless he's holding tightly to them, Holding onto the thin lines his memories offer him. Sometimes, he wishes he had his Sharingan before the accident— before the massacre

so he can capture every detail of his mother's features forever, from the way she smiles when he helps her, or when she kisses him or touches his face, his mother always loved his face. She told him he looked just like his grandfather when he was young, the man that he never got the chance to meet in the first place.

Sasuke's eyelids drooped and he drowsed. Thinking —like always, of the things that might be. He has school tomorrow, Taijutsu class for two hours. He needs to get some sleep, no matter how good he is at his Kata, or how his classmates' stances were always sloppy and off-balance, but still he needs to be better.

But then again, his eyes are wide open, following innately the movement of the clouds and the moonlight. From this angle, it must cast the grey shade upon the roof of the Naka shrine, Sasuke muses, painting the deep water of the river a soft white. And the plums blossom around the lake where he first learned how to breathe fire fills the air, if they are still there, he didn't visit the temple long time ago, but they are an ever-present vista wrapping around it. It's part of it somehow.

His grandmother said to him it symbolizes many things in their cult, the beauty thriving in adverse circumstances, hope, just as what the phoenix symbolizes, reborn from the ashes of the things we used to be, stronger. More fierce. And Sasuke thought she just loved to give strong meanings to the most random meaningless things, she always does. Used to dose.

Sasuke can remember what his grandmother whispered to him, explaining why he had to kneel in front of the altar, looking at the floor, those floors always smooth and dark paved. The floor under his kneeling knees is always cold even though the temple is always lit up in innumerable torchlights that hang in the walls. A place like that is supposed to be nice and warm inside rather It certainly gave the dreary place a spookish aura.

That is why Sasuke always wonders, never saying what he thinks out loud for fear of offending someone or embarrassing himself, but he still wonders, particularly on rainy days when his mother lights a candle for them, and he is bothered by the unbearable heat and humidity coming from the candlelight. How the many torchlights in the temple main hall don't have the same impact as a single candle in his house's large living room is beyond him — in fact, the temple's fire used to never go out. After all, there was always an Uchiha available to help and keep the fire on.

The only way he could feel the temple's warmth is get closer to the altar itself to offer his sacrifices and pray as quickly as he could before sweating.

He always likes the winter, the cold against his exposed skin, the nights when he cuddles up in his father's office while the man took a sips of his fragrant tea, and reads out loud the cases he's working on to get his opinion, his father like to think out loud and Sasuke really enjoy it.

His father used to produce a fire jutsu from his body to cover Sasuke's body as if it were a heavy protective blanket. He said it used to keep the men alive in the coldness of war. Something so simple yet so critically useful.

He tried to use the same jutsu inside of the temple one time, and it embarrassingly failed. Making him a target for Shisui's quips for a whole week. His grandmother's firm– yet gentle hand on his shoulder as she made him kneel again that day.

She showed him how to pray like a good little Uchiha. Along with Shisui, who was pouting the entire time, Sasuke prayed for many things, most importantly strength and power, he pleaded for infallible wisdom, for an unbreakable and sharpened sword, and armor thick enough to protect him against any weapon. He doesn't have a sword, and he doesn't know how to use one either. But he prayed with all his heart, and his grandmother's smile has never been this wider before.

He prayed and appealed to the old gods for the power he needed to honor his father. 'Father was never proud of me,' To earn respect. To be known and loved. 'They used to refer to me as Itachi's younger brother, not Sasuke.' To live up to their expectations of him 'Usually only his mother has high expectations of me.' — but all mothers do the same thing: they expect great things from their children. His grandmother once said.

Sasuke made a valiant effort to confirm his own holdfast, and he continues to do so because he has no choice but to die or survive.

When it comes to him, there is always a rush; life itself appears unsteady, racing, stealing his time. And he needed time since, unlike his brother and Shisui, he was a slow learner, or as his mother used to joke, 'a learner who never truly learned'. Because Sasuke is impatient, rash, and naive. In him there is this eagerness to prove himself, to be worthy of his name, to be great.

Despite all of this, nothing happened. He couldn't stop Itachi since he lacked the necessary strength.

No. no one was. Not his father, a war hero and the strongest Uchiha in his generation. not Shiro-san, their priest, who prayed to the gods every day like a true believer. And certainly not his mother. No one does.

That traitorous bastard, Itachi, had won. He seized everything from him in one night and forsaken him. In their home, waiting for this madness to end or, at the least, die with the rest of his family. He didn't believe in anything else after that. He never set a foot inside the temple after that.

He becomes more blasphemous than the drunk old man Hitaro who had lost everything in his life; Sasuke had lost everything as well, and he felt the same way he did; it was betrayal, the foul stark truth of all you had ever believed in was a total lie.

Sasuke suddenly became aware of a stillness in the atmosphere. Tonight, the Uchiha compound is as quiet as it had always been; but, this silence was heavier and thicker than usual that harmed his ears. The Uchiha compound had always been a tight-knit community; a society unto itself. They have their own religion and gods, which no one on this side of the world worships. His uncles used to make jokes about having their own village within the village. a place just for them

He thought he heard voices from outside, and for a little bit, he assumed he was dreaming, as he was in the peaceful condition between awake and slumber. The strange thing is the feeling spread through his chest. Perhaps a hallucination, he told himself, but it is too strong to be just a hallucination.

a moment of silence, it comes again, more clearly, it appears to be faint singing of an old woeful ballad that he has always heard his mother sing on the nights where she allowed herself to grieve what she had lost in the war or in life. Somehow, its way of singing made the gloomy atmosphere more prominent. it makes Sasuke close his eyes tightly again. He listens to it tenderly, with not well-hidden longing ticking in his heart, and nothing ticking in his heart but hunger. a crave, for the very same voices that means many things to him — home, family, protection. Mother.

"still like a mountain." he hears, these voices were soothing, yet with a tinge of enthusiasm,resembling the sound of thousands of a tremendous blaze of fire. "Don't be afraid, beloved one," says the voice. One of them, his mother's, but not really her, it is divine and inscrutable, repeating one of the first distinct sentences he heard from them – from these beings – These frightening, eerie voices chant gently again, soothing his fears, uncertainties, and self-loathing. It was difficult to decipher the meaning of the words, but it was obvious enough to grasp some of them. "Stay still like a mountain, reborn again–"

"W..what? — who are you? Show yourself." Sasuke demands, his voice unsteady. color drained out of his face, dismayed when his limbs felt too heavy to lift. "wha"

Something stops him in his tracks. Why is it that he feels this way, he wondered pancincly? He acts as if he's invincible and unafraid. Shielded by an unknown force, but he is not safe from it; whatever they are, he is vulnerable in their hands, and they could kill him if they really wanted to. With one swift move, snap his neck or crush him like a useless bug.

It's almost as if these whispers were calling for him to stand, to come to them. But the physical pain in his limbs kept him in bed after hours of self-harassment in his private training ground, where he practiced jutsus and Katas mindlessly until chakra exhaustion overtook him. He has to drag his not-too-willing feet back to the house, too tired to wash up or make something to eat. In his estate, he was alone. Except for the invisible ANBU who were taking turns watching over him and – sometimes, forcing him to eat, no one was with him, no one was in the entire property. But most of the time, they don't care if he eats or not.

Sometimes, a few of them break protocol and carry him to his bed and leave him there without saying a word. Sasuke likes to believe it's to make their work easier rather than act out of pity.

He convinces himself that the ANBU are nearby and will appear at any moment to deal with the genjutsu. as well as taking down the intruder who dared to put him in such misery. Sasuke could, on the other hand, contemplate what he would do if something went wrong, things always seem to go wrong when it comes to him.

If the voices were someone after him. As he is now the last of his kin, the last of the feared lineage known in history, there will always be someone seeking him.

What if the ANBU isn't strong enough to defend him, what if they can't, what if this intruder is the same one who stripped him of everything and crumpled him?

Sasuke could feel another rush of adrenaline flowing through his veins as he tried to stave off hysterics.

Then again, they failed to capture the traitor before he fled, and they failed to see the obvious signs that he was about to crack. Don't they keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't fall to the insanity that their job is causing?

that's what Shisui used to say, complaining about his approaching examination and how boring those Yamanaka therapists were all the time. And Itacchi used to scold him for saying that in front of Sasuke, because he had always been strict with procedure, or at least good at pretending to be. Sasuke, to be honest, has no idea at this point

It doesn't matter; Shisui is dead, whether by suicide or homicide by Itachi. It makes no real difference; all that counts is that he is no longer alive, and that is forever.

Sasuke's eyes burn, he's exhausted, he feels the uncertainty of his sudden paralysis crushing him, and the helplessness of not being able to protect himself in the face of a potential danger reminds him of how limitless his self-loathing is. How pitiful he is, a helpless foolish boy.

He closes his eyes tightly for a few seconds as he realizes that if he wants to get out of here, he needs to restrain himself and ignores the terror underneath his skin grows. the feeling he didn't like —fear— crept into him.

With a rush of adrenaline, his survival instinct pushes some force into his body, but it's not enough. He wants to move, shout at the ANBU, do whatever he can, so he can have to survive, he has to avenge them, since no one else would.

His head hit the pillows again the minute he went to take the kunai from his nightstand, almost as if pushed back by an unseen power. He was in his bed one second, drifting into nothing the next, or his mind was floating into emptiness, as he still could feel the heavy blanket above his chest.

It brings back awful memories of his nightmares inside the Tsukuyomi realm, where the sky is crimson as blood, crows feast on his kin's corpses, and the foul scent of death tingles his nose.

But there's something else, something more sinner than that night, and it seems divinely beautiful. The type of power, pure, tremendous, and impenetrable, is only known in stories and myths.

The unfathomable amount of power that has only been heard about in legendary beings' tales. Something that is unquestionably inhuman.

Unlike that night, he felt that he was exactly where he belonged, exactly where he was supposed to be, in this mysterious metaphysical limitless realm of red sky, the same skies that coloured his dreams and its inhabitants.

He felt empty, and his body was so fragile, too fragile, as he wandered around inside this divine force. Pulling in a direction where the power and voices are more clear. In comparison to this unknown enormous thing, whatever it is, he feels pitiful, as if he is nothing, a nobody. And Sasuke loathes it. It's a shameful thought. But he still thinks about it most of the time.

That's funny, he thought sourly, because that's exactly what he secretly wants. To be no one. He admitted this realization a long time ago in his moments of doubts, when he washed the rage away by training until he had no chakra left, until he felt powerless to even feel, until the rage could no longer push him. miserably in the training ground gasping for breath and hate himself just for that.

Fire and blood, the taste of brimstone, that familiar scent that singularity his clan shrine. That reminds him of how he abandoned the shrine, which his clan worshiped so fervently, perhaps too fervently, in his opinion. He takes a deep breath and exhales forcefully.

The anguish was mingled with the memory of those sweet, cruelly familiar voices, his family images, and a sense of isolation. He opens his mouth to speak, to condemn whomever dared to put him through this agony again, for the first thought that comes to mind is that someone has put him inside Genjutsu, an enemy.

Something stopped him from speaking. Those voices whisper finally, once more, all at once, like a rain of echoes. "Dearest one, son of the sea and the sun—" they say "no usurper may not remain standing against you."

At the same time, he feels secure and frightened. astonished, then confused. And for a second, he held his breaths since these were his family's sounds. He bitterly concluded that it was merely another daydream or a sweet and cruel memory of everything he'd lost. His stomach was tangled up in knots. He will not see them, ever, again. and that was just another reminder; not like he ever forgot.

"I finally lost it," he laughs, biting his lower lip to keep from sobbing.

The voice of a woman soared over all the others. It was all too familiar, and it made him want to cry. The sound of his mother's voice. He doesn't cry. Uchiha does not cry. and, since his tears did him no good, he ceased crying.

Something warm pressed on his heart. The sensation of waking heals his aches and sorrows, allowing him to breathe properly once again. For the first time in a year, he felt alive. a distant voice says, sounding nearly like his mother's "Little one, wake up. come to us."

"Kai," a Chakra flare blanketed the surroundings, but nothing occurred. The voices haven't gone away. and they're still having a good time with his bewilderment.

In the midst of his vertigo, he couldn't think of anything save a feeble inquiry that came out of him shivering, "where?"

"To the shrine."

"Why?"

"The Gods desire you to have a great future, Sasuke Uchiha."

"it is too late", he wants to say "Where were the gods when we needed them?" he wants to yell. But he prudently kept his lips shut. He isn't dumb enough to defy gods. Whether or whether the voices in his brain were aware of what he was thinking, they remained silent.

He felt that it was necessary to comply without question. He can't ignore it since it's too strong. As a result, he obeys. A feeling wrapped itself around him; it gives him a little energy to walk. The moment he lifts his head off the pillow he feels dizzy, and he hears the voices in his brain humming, pleased, the next second everything becomes clearer. His room was still dark, with a moonlight streaking across the sky from the window, its light not bright enough to illuminate everything. Nevertheless, he can see every inch of it through a foggy glow.

He glances in the room's lone mirror and sees crimson eyes looking back at him. In each eye, two tomoes are slowly spanning. His legs were trembling, and his heart was beating. He whispers softly "Sharingan…"

The warm, empathetic voice spoke to him once more "Yes. Come, child. Do not be afraid. We will provide you with whatever you need and more."

The street is full of eyes that were following him the moment he stepped outside his home. They were watching him intently. He feels them with slight prick of awareness in the back of his neck, along with the ANBUs that now a whole squad were watching, not just like the lone ANBU who supposed to stop him if he overworked himself out of spite and anger, they were all tense and ready to do something, but too confused to do anything–

There were felines that weren't here before or he would definitely notice them. He could recognize their shining eyes, all over the place Unlike the street cats his mother used to feed. those were much significantly bigger, and he could see why his ANBU had requested backups with his newly awakened eyes.

These felines were summons, Sasuke realized with a hint of amusement. He rushes past them all, barely feeling the uneven road beneath his footfalls and paying no mind to the dust collecting on his bare feet, he ignores the squad that landed on the nearest house, exchanging signs with each other.

"Why are they following me?" he ventured to ask, his voice too faint to be heard by anyone else.

"They fear for you. You are the last of their masters, and they'll always protect you, much as we will do too"

"And who are you?" says the boy, faintly.

"You know who we are..." remarked a new voice. The voice wasn't kind or feminine this time. It was harsh and terrifying, with nothing but fear and respect expected. It's the same as his father's.

"You always knew, little one," another adds softly. And Sasuke was well aware that the holy three siblings were talking to him. Tsukuyomi, Susanoo, and Amaterasu

He remains silent the rest of the way, He takes a step off the mound, and the ANBU squad vanishes into the woods behind him. He straightens his clothes and walks on to the Naka shrine's dusty stairwell. It was a dark and dull template. Since the massacre, no one has used it. Sasuke was so filled with rage and brittleness that he had lost faith in the gods.

He stops, and takes amusement to appreciate the smell of the plums blossom and its pink leaves swayed from the gentle zephyr that crossed its path, The air is still thick with the petrichor of post-rain beauty form hours ago, and in this side of the woods, it's always surrounded by the saccharine scent of blossoms spread about in the steady breeze. Sasuke raises his palm up to the light that filters through his fingers, pink and gray streaming through his fingers and entering deep into his bones.

He crept to the doorway threshold holding his breath. The interior hall had brightened, as someone had taken the trouble of lighting the torches. He can sense the ANBUs chakra flashing anxiously behind him as they realize what has happened: someone has slipped into the compound beneath their noses and no one has noticed. That concept amused him for some reason he can't explain. He strolled inside, taking a deep breath and ignoring them.

Footfalls thud inside; shadow falls upon him, and golden-yellow eyes open from the darkened hall peer down at him from the dimly lit corridor. The flames dancing in every direction within the hall cast shadows on the feline and bathe it in warm yellow, but the figure itself is covered in a black thick coat, the gloss indicating that it must be silky and smooth, he assumes.

Over the hammering of Sasuke's heart and the vibrations in his veins, the feline appears in front of him in the blink of an eye. It was a massive black tiger with sharp, protruding fangs and fiery golden eyes. "Tigers are vehicles of numerous deities," his grandma said softly, and it was all Sasuke could think about at this moment. "Sasuke-kun. These magnificent creatures signify something terrifying – it's difficult even for us to sign a contract with one since it's a privilege reserved for the temple's servants — or the gods' favorites."

The magnificent creature examines Sasuke, lowering its head to his level and grinning at the little boy shivering in front of him. "You must be the last." He says, and Sasuke hates those words. Sensing the boy's dissatisfaction, the feline's eyes shine lightly.

"What a fussy little thing." he remarks, amusingly observing the ANBU who has landed close to them with a hand on his sword handle.

"Uchiha Sasuke-kun." a masculine voice proclaims "we don't recognize any of those summons–"

The head of unkempt raven locks, moves slightly to the side to glance at his surroundings, he looks back to the feline, then to the ANBU "it's fine, ANBU-san, they are mine."

'Now and always,' the tiger says, pressing his forehead to Sasuke's. Vows taken under the moonlight felt deeper, more special than normal ones. He used to think it has its own sanctity.

Sasuek's eyes glimmer with a mixture of determination and the light shining down from the moon, a burst of killing intent hits Sasuke, as he feels the tiger against his forehead annoyed by the standing man near them. It was thick and Unbearable. So heavy that he felt his knees under him start to tremble, and his breath became hard. For a long moment, it finally stops.

The atmosphere seemed thick and strained. Sasuke isn't sure if the Hokage will be furious over a massive cat challenging his ANBUs, and as such the captain gradually Shunshins away to his seat above the tree and observed calmly.

The tiger slowly returns to the temple and stops waiting for Sasuke to close the gap, the boy stumbles after him. As he utterly slipped away under the veil of the temple's shadows, he could feel the ANBU's chakra stiffen once more.

"Carry out your responsibilities. Little cub. I will be wait for you"

Sasuke remained silent. He took a look around to see if he could remember anything. This place has always been full of memories, but now it's also full of ghosts. For the second time that night, he was sad. He recalls his grandmother's lovely grin as she taught him how to pray like the rest of them for the first time. He got down on his knees in front of the altar. As he whispers while performing the hand signs, tears fill up in his eyes.

"Amaterasu, grant me the strength to overcome my foes. Dear Tsukuyomi, grant me knowledge so that I will never be deceived, and you, dear Susanoo, give me a sharp sword with which to intimidate my enemies" Sasuke then breathes a little ball of fire into the shrine, completing the task himself. Someone had already brought in wood and meat, and Sasuke assumed it was the tiger's doing due to the smell of blood emanating from him.

"You may have everything. Child. You might have everything you want and more. I, Amaterasu, enchant you with fire never seen before. Swords and bones will be melted by your flames. And you will never be burned by any fire. I give you the power to defeat your foes." Says the woman's voice, Sweet and lethal

"And I, Tsukuyomi, bless you with eyes that see through all lies and illusions, eyes that create indestructible illusions. Little one, knowledge is power, and I am giving it to you."

"And,I Susanoo will give you a sword that will not break. A blade will cut deeper than it should. Your sword will never betray you."

Sasuke's lips twitched, and he wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. He was not going to cry again, no matter how weak he felt. He vowed in front of the three gods, and for the first time since his family's death, he had a strong feeling that everything will be fine. It must be fine. He looks into the flames and replies, "Thank you."

———

A/N

— I already published the fic on ao3 under the name Azyan

English isn't my first language, so if you find something unreadable and doesn't make sense, please point it out for me I'm trying to learn through writing.