In the spring, it was never about the new leaves. It wasn't about the wind through the trees or the fresh buds forcing their way up through the moist earth. It wasn't about the way the ice on the mountaintops melted down and sent fresh, clear water bubbling down the streams.

It wasn't even the freshness in the air, or the way that the newfound warmth seemed to brighten even the most grumpy of the elders' moods.

No, it was never any of that.

It was about how… for even a fraction of a moment, if he could catch it, over the bare trees that were just beginning to regain their leaves….

Itachi could see the other side of the river.

Every wintertime the mountain pass would be backed up with clouds and wintery storms, it was impossible to see through the pass during the icy cold of the winter. And even on sunny days, free of the constant blizzards, the snow was too reflective, its twinkling blinding to the eye.

In the summer, the leaves were too dense to see through to the other side. And in the fall, harvest season occupied every minute of Itachi's time, and he was unable to sneak out of the village and into the forest.

But in the springtime, on that one perfect day before every single tree erupted into a sea of soft pink blossoms, in between the frigid cold of the summer and the choking lushness of the spring and summer, the mountain pass was visible.

It wasn't that Itachi was displeased with his life, no, anything but. In fact, he was more grateful than ever for the life that he led. It was just… this wasn't all that there was out there.

And he couldn't help but wonder….

What lay beyond the mountain pass.

So every spring morning when the weather lined up just right - which was for but a fraction of time - Itachi would leave the village and perch in the trees.

The Clan lived in isolation from the rest of the world, and though Itachi had been told his entire life that all he could ever need was within the constraints of the village, he'd always found himself drawn to the outside world.

Madara called him crazy.

Obito called him foolish.

His father reassured him that there was nothing out there at all.

Sasuke was far too young to get a word out.

But Shisui…

"There you are, up in the trees again?" came a teasing voice from the ground.

Itachi blinked, and glanced down to the muddy forest floor. Tiny shoots of bright green grass were just starting to pop up from out of the half-frozen earth. The remnants of the final snow of the season clung to the shadows in patches of icy white, and the ground was shot with the zigzagging shadows of naked trees, though they wouldn't stay unadorned for long.

Down at the bottom of Itachi's tree of choice, stood Shisui. Dressed in the Clan's usual black, his curly mop of hair shifted in the chilly morning breeze. His dark eyes were warm and twinkling with mirth as he carried two water buckets rather than one, Itachi having ditched him at the creek ages ago.

"Why don't you come down from there and quit farting around, huh?"

Itachi sighed, turning his gaze back to the mountain pass. Had it been anyone else, he would have scurried back down the trunk in shame. He was supposed to be helping, not fooling around in the trees. But this was Shisui, and Itachi didn't have the mind to try and hide his fascination with the pass from him.

Itachi felt Shisui's questioning eyes on him, but he ignored them. He didn't want to come down, he wanted to stay up here. This was his only morning of the entire year that he'd get to experience this view, he hadn't been up here for nearly enough time.

Shisui sighed dramatically, setting down the water buckets with a huff and a telltale slosh of liquid. Itachi was surprised, however, when he heard the other boy begin to climb up after him.

"What are you…?"

"If you're gonna sit up here all day long then I might as well join you, eh?" Shisui snorted, shoving Itachi over to join him on one of the uppermost limbs. Itachi scrambled to keep his balance, quickly adjusting his weight and shuffling over to make room on the branch.

Shisui's playful gaze tickled against Itachi's face, he knew he was being stared at. But he didn't care, he wasn't coming down. Not quite yet, anyway.

"What are you so fixated on, anyway? It's just a bunch of trees," Shisui sighed, leaning against the trunk and kicking his legs back and forth.

"Do you believe that we're the last people left on this earth?"

Shisui snorted again, "Cutting right to the chase as always, I see."

Itachi didn't laugh. He was being serious.

He continued staring out at the mountains.

There.

He could see it, just above the distant tree tops: a distinct sparkling way out on the horizon.

It was the ocean, or perhaps a lake. Itachi just knew that it was a large body of water. It was glaring proof that there was so much more to this world than their little village nestled in the mountains. So, if there was so much more out there, then why did they all insist on staying put right here? Wouldn't it be so much… better? If they tried something different for a change?

Didn't any of them ever get… bored? With this monotonous life?

What was out there? Itachi desperately longed to know. He held his hand out, shutting one eye and reaching for the distant sparkling of the sea, framed by the enormous peaks and lined by the scraggly mass of trees that stretched for miles in every direction. He pretended he could touch it, he reached for that far off land.

But as always, there was nothing before him but empty air.

"No," Shisui murmured to the silent mountain peaks. "I don't necessarily believe that. I believe that it's a lie, a lie that we all tell ourselves."

"But why?" Itachi asked, glancing over at Shisui.

Shisui's eyebrow furrowed, contemplative. "Because it's easier that way."

"Easier how?"

Shisui laughed, "You're always full of questions! Don't get ahead of yourself, alright? Be happy with what we have here! Aren't you happy, Itachi?"

The younger boy sighed, turning away. He tilted his head down, hiding his eyes with his hair. "Yeah…"

"Come on, let's head back up to the village!" Shisui chirped, aggressively tousling Itachi's hair.

The younger boy grumbled, shoving his annoying friend off. Shisui barked a laugh, and then slid down the trunk, picking up his water bucket and giving Itachi a glance that told him he wasn't getting out of his chores any longer. Spring was coming, they had a lot of work to do.

Itachi glanced at the mountain pass one last time, drinking in the sparkling of the distant water with longing. He understood how valuable their clan's peace was, he knew that better than anything. But still. He couldn't help but wonder.

"Tachi, come on!" Shisui called up playfully, swaying his bucket back and forth.

"Alright," Itachi mumbled, dropping down from the tree.

AN: yeah... i have no idea where i'm going with this, but we'll find out!