Author's Note:

This story is a SEQUEL! If you have not read the first story, "The Saga of the Auralen Twins", then I suggest you read that first. Just click my name to get to it quickly.

This sequel went through many variations. The first version had another girl name Uzumaki Kari, Naruto's daughter, who was named after the great Auralen. But I hated that. It was turning into the exact same story again and I wasn't too thrilled with the idea.

The second version involved Itachi marrying a woman named Aya and having a daughter named Lei. Lei is supposed to be really upset with her mother or something, and Itachi doesn't know how to get through to his daughter anymore. But this story had no connection whatsoever to the "Saga", so it wasn't really a sequel.

The final version that you're about to read is focusing on Sasuke's blooming life in Konoha. His daughter (I borrowed the name Aya again) is the newest prodigy to the Uchiha clan. But she's constantly underneath her aunt's shadow. This is the story of her search for an identity and how following in someone's footsteps is not always a bad thing...

Enjoy!

Sasuke sighed as he looked up at the stars. The night breeze was calming and soothing to his troubled mind. The stars reminded him of his sister's eyes. Kari's eyes were always shining like that. Not like Itachi's...they were always dark and clouded.

I wonder if his eyes shined that way when he was with Kari. I bet she made his pain insignificant.

The boy turned to look at the girl sitting next to him. Sakura was enthralled with the stars as he was. Her pink hair swayed ever so slightly in the wind. The two had spent the last four hours or so talking about everything. Now that he had returned and the Hokage had granted clemency for his betrayal, it seemed that a beautiful friendship was beginning to bloom. Sasuke turned his attention back to the night sky.

A pair of green eyes turned to look at him accompanied by a soft chuckle. "That night you left us, you said 'Sakura, thank you.' What were you thanking me for?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment, his eyes lingering a little longer on the largest star he could find. Lowering his gaze, he met Sakura's eyes and smiled. "I think a part of me that you still believed in was thanking you for still seeing me as I was supposed to be. The part of me that Kari saved." He looked across the field towards the horizon. "I still can't believe I was gone for a year..."

Sakura nodded. "Kari used to train in this very field constantly while you were gone. She was learning techniques that she said would help bring you back. All of her effort was set to get you back. Even with that, she still found time to train as many as were willing. Kari was generous like that. I wish...I wish she was still here...she was a good friend."

The boy nodded, his ebony eyes shining with a memory of him and Kari, the day that she promised to send her swans to show him she was alright. "She was a wonderful friend and a loyal sister. I miss her a great deal too."

The two friends fell into silence. For once however, the quiet between them was not uneasy or painful, but filled with all kinds of communication that words would have made awkward. They were friends, and everything was back to how it was supposed to be. Team 7 was no longer broken to pieces and Sakura and Sasuke were closer than they had ever been. That was all they needed.

Sakura grinned. "Naruto is thrilled that you're back. He's going to treat us to some ramen tomorrow."

Sasuke smiled sadly. "I guess he took care of you while I was gone, huh?"

"Yes, he did. He is a very caring boy. I was lucky..."

The quiet settled again. This time it was more uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

The girl turned and shook her head. "Don't feel bad about this," she said gently. "You did something that most people in your situation would have done. I forgave you for it long ago..."

Sasuke was silent. He was the lucky one. To have such wonderful companions who would stand by him no matter what stupid crap he got himself into. To have a wonderful sibling who would never give up on him, no matter how hopeless things looked. He should have been stronger for his team. For his friends. For his family.

For her.

He turned to look at her. "I-I would like to...take care of you...now...as well..." Sasuke's eyes were question marks. Would she trust him...could she trust him, just one more time?

Sakura nodded and patted his shoulder. "I would like to take care of you too, Sasuke. I became stronger while you were gone. Tsunade-sama says that with another few months or so I will be a full-fledged specialist and that I learn the healing arts quickly. I suppose it was my aptitude all along."

The two sat there, the girl's hand still resting on his shoulder. Her touch was gentle. "Naruto says you also have become a very capable fighter, Sakura." Sasuke smiled at his friend. "How true is that claim?"

The girl shrugged. "Well...your sister did train me. A little bit. I learned some new tricks." she said lightly. She was, of course, downplaying her talent. Sakura had become one of the shinboi world's strongest kunoichi, more so than Kurenai or even Temari of the Sand.

Sasuke chuckled and stood up. Sakura stood up as well and the two looked at each other, absorbing how much the other had changed or remained the same.

Then Sasuke did something unexpected. He pulled the girl into an embrace and hugged her for several minutes. Tears welled in his eyes and he let out a sob. Sakura's own tears began falling silently down her cheeks.

"You were always valuable to me, Sakura. No matter what I said or how I acted. You know that, right?"

Sakura pulled away and nodded. "I know that."

The pair gazed at each other for several minutes before Sasuke took her hand in his own. Sakura smiled and the friends walked away towards their village metropolis.

25 years later

Sasuke smiled at his beautiful daughter who was trying a new technique on the daisy field we just left. Uchiha Aya was the newest blood to the Uchiha clan. She was proving to be quite a prodigy as well, a source of pride for the village of Konoha. She had inherited her mother's aptitude for the healing arts and her cleverness, while she received her father's Sharingan and instinct. Aya had the standard Uchiha eyes and ebony hair, her father's child through and through as far as looks were concerned.

Sakura and Sasuke had watched their daughter grow up to become one of Konoha's finest shinobi. Now seventeen, she was creating new jutsus and was said to be a Sharingan genius. She achieved powers with her bloodline limit that rivaled the Mangekyou without the same price tag. For her safety, Sasuke forbade the mentioning of that particular branch of Uchiha power and the Hokage had had all records of the Mangekyou destroyed. There was no need for something so evil in Konoha.

Some claimed Aya was the Auralen incarnate. Sasuke dismissed these claims as ridiculous and grew angry when people would mention the girl's aunt to her face. He had explained to Aya, when she was about ten, the story of Uchiha Kari, telling Aya that she was Kari's niece. His daughter was awed by her famous relative and happy to have such a powerful family legacy, but was confused when people compared her to Kari.

And compare her they did.

It was no secret that Aya was the spinning image of Uchiha Kari. Those who had known the Auralen would do a double-take when they saw Aya in passing. It didn't help that she was quickly becoming stronger than even her father and more skilled than the Hokage. By age seven, Aya had unlocked her Sharingan abilites - a full year earlier than Uchiha Itachi had unlocked his. By age twelve, she had already mastered medical techniques that most shinobi did not achieve until their late twenties.

So it was no surprise that people would make the comparison.

Aya was currently working on a technique that did nothing more than add ammunition to the Kari-Aya theory. She was experimenting with the idea of having a shaped chakra base from which one could issue attacks. Being able to have a visible shape to her chakra and being able to build it up in this shape could prove useful. The body could only support so much chakra at once. But if it was carefully controlled outside of it, then maybe stronger attacks would be possible. Also, having a specific shape would be easier to concentrate on and therefore control. And though Aya did not know it, this was percisely the reasoning behind Kari's creation of the Swan Method and its accompanying seal. Aya's shape, however, was to be started with another unique seal, the phoenix (her own creation), and to resemble the fiery, lengendary bird.

Sasuke watched Aya as she formed the seal and then began forming chakra into a massive blob above her head. But the chakra could never be stabilized long enough to make any sort of visible shape before Aya lost control and let it go. After about a hundred attempts, she sat down in the grass and sighed.

"I am never going to get this right, Father."

Sasuke smiled. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, Aya. It's impressive that someone your age is already creating jutsus. You have plenty of time to perfect it."

"But I don't! Everyone says that a war with the Snow Country is brewing. I need to be at my best and this jutsu would be perfect for that..."

"Aya, we don't know yet if there will be a war."

"I should be prepared though." Aya looked at the clouds and sprawling out over the grass. A smile played across her lips. "I wish there was no war, though...I wish that we could all be like those clouds up there...floating lazily by." She giggled. "Shikamaru-san says that a lot."

Sasuke smirked. Typical Shikamaru. "Let's go home, Aya."

Aya frowned and stood up. She began to walk away with her father then stopped, turning on her heel. Her eyes lit up. "I want to try it one more time..."

"Ok...why the sudden enthusiasm?"

"I have a feeling...that's all."

With that, Aya formed the phoenix seal once again. Then closing her eyes, she began to form her chakra. For awhile it seemed that everything was progressing much as it had earlier that day. But suddenly, Aya's eyes shot open, a crimson Sharingan in place of the obsidian. There was unexplainable joy written across her face. Her chakra began to form into the stunning shape of the phoenix until the detail was astounding. The strength of her chakra doubled...trebled...quadrupled...till it was ten times the strength of her normal capacities. Aya combined this built up chakra with a Katon technique and with a flash the girl shot a thick column of the chakra embedded flames into a tree twenty yards away. When everything was clear and the phoenix had disappeared, father and daughter saw one huge, gaping hole in the trunk of the poor plant. Aya's eyes were shining.

"I did it..."

Sasuke gaped at his daughter's work. How did she accomplish that? And so suddenly? He recalled her strange look when she had abruptly felt the urge to try her technique one last time. She should have been too exhausted to do that...

"Father...?"

Sasuke shook his head and looked at Aya. Her eyes were questioning. "What's wrong?"

The man smiled and shook his head again. I suppose I looked a little glazed over. "Nothing at all, Aya. That was terrific. I'm extremely proud. Your mother is going to be thrilled."

Aya grinned and ran down the hill. "See you at home!" she called over her back.

Sasuke watched his daughter run away. He was more than a little frightened. The last time I saw an attack of that caliber...was when Kari was alive.