The next morning was rainy. Sunlight filtered through dark clouds to slowly illuminate Naruto's kitchen in pale light.

Naruto stirred. His bowl was empty save for particles of miso that clung to the sides and chopsticks that rolled off and fell onto the table as he moved his arms to push himself up.

For a moment he couldn't remember where he was. Then he did remember where he was and wished he hadn't. Last night had really happened then.

He got up. The bowl and the chopsticks went into the sink before he went to the bathroom to run a shower and brush his teeth. The water running down his face reminded him that he still had a promise to fulfill that he had been forced to put off for a week. Naruto rubbed at his eyes as he got dressed again and pulled his rain gear on. Kakashi-sensei had dropped them off after the mission, probably.

It was pretty miserable outside. If the rain had been warm, Naruto could have skipped the shower to save himself the addition to his water bill. He could stay pretty dry if he wasn't moving, but running in the rain always got water in his face unless he tipped the hat down to block the moisture. If he did that he couldn't see ahead, which meant he'd slip and die falling off a roof, and that'd be a terrible way for a future Hokage to go.

Or something.

Naruto sighed and headed out, making his way towards the outer gates. He reported to the gate watch that he was going out for some training and said he'd be back around lunch. It wasn't a lie, and he would be back around lunchtime, because he didn't have any food with him and he hadn't felt like eating breakfast.

Half an hour's run had his legs and face soaked. The water was making its way down into his shirt and into his shoes so that he could feel it pool inside when he walked. It was better than open-toed sandals at least—his toes were warm. And well, it actually wasn't so bad. He remembered that trick from Kakashi-sensei to dry himself off, and now that he wasn't being slapped in the eyes by raindrops it actually was pretty pleasant out away from the village.

He'd stopped at a creek on top of a large stone outcrop that hung over swollen currents that eddied past into a deep pool, where foam and detritus collected in the center of the spinning water. The water was dark with silt washed down from the slopes. The spot was surrounded by trees which leaned out from the steep slopes of a ravine, and the banks were sand and gravel between boulders and rocks.

Honestly, it wouldn't be a bad place to meditate. When it wasn't raining.

Naruto sighed and pulled at the Kyuubi's chakra. It remained still for a moment, before bending to his grip. He tried to remember what it had felt like in his mindscape but came up with nothing. With nothing better to try, he reached out with his left hand and pulled towards himself while flaring the Kyuubi's power.

There was a sound like the cork coming out of a bottle, then Kazuko was standing in front of him. She looked very upset at him.

"Sorry for taking so long," Naruto said. He grimaced and wiped a piece of hair off his forehead. "I was being watched, and I thought you might not want to fight the first time you get out of me."

Kazuko's face went through a gamut of emotions before she settled for nodding her head at him. "I understand."

"So anyway," Naruto said, gesturing at the stream. "It's raining and the water's real high, but I dunno, do you want to go swimming?"

"Swimming?" Kazuko asked, nonplussed.

"Yeah," said Naruto, shrugging. "I haven't got anything for you to do, obviously. You wanted to get out of the basement so, well, here you are."

Kazuko blinked at him, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Is this a trick? Someone's watching right, to see how I behave?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. "Look man, I told you, we're in the same boat here. We should be scheming to trick the Kyuubi into canceling our bonds, not fighting each other. I swear to you, we're as alone as I can pull off. Anyone who shows up wasn't part of the plan."

Kazuko's gaze didn't change in its suspicion, and she sniffed the air cautiously. "…I suppose. You're the only other thing here. Other than the fish. And a tanuki."

"A tanuki?" Naruto asked, turning around to look into the trees. "Like a spirit tanuki?"

"No, you idiot, like the furry animal," said Kazuko. She pointed. "Look, do you see?"

Naruto squinted and saw the animal in question. It was busy pawing at something in the underbrush. "Oh. That's neat."

"Tch. So I guess you're telling the truth," Kazuko said. She turned to look at the water. "…Thank you. For bringing me here."

"Anytime," Naruto said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets under his rain cloak. "So we're good, yeah? No more trying to kill each other, right?"

Kazuko nodded. "No more." She turned to smile bitterly at him. "I couldn't do it before you burned me alive, anyway."

Naruto huffed. "Yeah well. So what do you wanna do? You sure you don't want to jump in?"

"The stream is too high to swim," Kazuko said. She sighed. "I expect upstream, the water will only be faster. May I— we should go downstream. Maybe there is a slack pool there."

"Alright," said Naruto. "Lead the way."

It was almost cute. Kazuko may have been a spirit of tremendous power and an age that was probably impolite to ask about, but she still looked like a thirteen-year-old girl wearing a kimono who was hopping from boulder to boulder as she made her way downstream. She was still suspicious and kept one eye on Naruto while she jumped, but that was only to be expected. He was the idiot who'd gotten her enslaved after all.

"It seems to me that you are a greater fool than I first thought," Kazuko said out of the blue. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her.

"Alright?" he said. "Did you bring this up for a reason, or…?"

Kazuko tsked and twitched a shoulder from where she was standing on a large boulder next to another deep pool. "You are the one with a physical body. How did you manage to bind your soul to His Lordship? Truly, only a fool could accomplish such a feat."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"So long as you know. You humans can be so hopelessly ignorant."

"We're not that stupid."

Kazuko turned to regard Naruto with an expression that betrayed deep skepticism. Naruto scowled at her.

"Fair enough," said Kazuko. She turned away again and sighed. "Something troubles you."

Naruto almost said that it wasn't anything important but his breath caught in his throat. "You wouldn't care."

Kazuko sniffed and crossed her arms. "I care if you and I are to work together. His Lordship is cunning, and we must not work at cross purposes, lest we destroy each other. So I need to know if something has happened which could impact your judgment."

Naruto scowled and looked down at his feet. He scuffed the top of the boulder with his shoe. "I had a fight— I broke up with my girlfriend last night."

"I see," said Kazuko. She turned slightly to look him over. "You are upset?"

"Obviously."

Kazuko pursed her lips. "Do you want to talk about it further?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment before: "It's about clan stuff. She's— she has to marry a guy from her clan because she's heir or something, right? And like, I don't want to be option two out of two. So we broke up."

Kazuko seemed skeptical. "Is that all?"

"I mean her clan is bullshit," Naruto said. "We didn't have to break up, it's only 'cause of their stupid clan's stupid way of being organized. It doesn't even make sense!"

"Can you… speak about why?"

Naruto explained what Hinata had told him last night. Kazuko seemed unsurprised.

"Typical for humans," she said. She flicked the sleeves of her kimono in irritation. "A clan like the Hyuuga has enough members that you might not know all of your family. It would not be strange to have never met your third and fourth cousins and you need not hate someone to be jealous of their influence or their wealth. It is the only undeniable similarity between spirits and humans, though we spirits handle it better."

"Spirits have families?" Naruto asked.

Kazuko flicked him a disparaging look. "Don't be stupid, of course we have families," she said. "We even have clans, though not the way humans have clans. Spirits do not live in the huddled masses that humans insist on."

"Why not?"

"Why would we?" Kazuko asked. "You've seen the problems it causes."

Naruto honestly wasn't sure what she meant. He had lived his whole life in Konoha—cramped apartments and neighbors you could hear through the walls was normal to him. He hadn't seriously thought about any alternative.

"Some spirits are more social, others more solitary, each should live in a way best for them," Kazuko continued. "The deer on the mountain live and work together, but the bear spends most of his life alone. This is the natural course of things, but a human would ask why the bear is so unfriendly."

Naruto huffed. "Pretty stupid, I guess."

"Indeed," Kazuko said. She paused and sighed tiredly. "Let us speak of our arrangement. His Lordship will expect you to make use of me. I, of course, do not wish to be used, but we must make do."

Naruto grunted. "Sure. What do you want? I'm okay with whatever."

Kazuko looked at him. "…Naruto-san, you really shouldn't say something like that to a spirit like me. I could kill you, you know."

"Yeah, but you won't, so…"

"That is not the point," Kazuko said. She rubbed at her temples. "Who knows what sort of things a spirit might ask from you? You must guard yourself."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Everyone says that."

"They are right!"

"Yeah, yeah. So did you have an idea, or…?"

Kazuko sighed and pressed her hands against her eyes. "Why is fate like this to me," she muttered, but said more loudly: "The traditional arrangement between lords and vassals is service in battle. If that is amenable to you, then I am willing to do that at least."

"Sure," said Naruto with a shrug. "Kinda like a summon?"

"It is similar," Kazuko agreed. "The contract is not so formal, of course."

"Cool."

They went silent again. Naruto was staring down at the water sullenly. He seemed like he was still lost in his bitterness.

"This girl," Kazuko said, jumping down to the water to stand in front of Naruto. "You are not the sort of fool to assault the gates of her home to take her back by force?"

Naruto glanced up at her from beneath his hat. "Don't be stupid. Hinata-chan would never forgive me for getting her family killed."

Kazuko leaned over to look under the brim at his eyes. "Truly? I cannot defend you against one hundred ninja."

"Yeah and I'd end up killing half of them and Hinata-chan would hate me forever even if I died," Naruto said. He stepped back. "Stop asking. Even I know that it's impossible."

Kazuko leaned back and folded her arms into her sleeves. It would have to do.

"What are you planning to do now?"

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I should get my own clan stuff sorted," Naruto said. "It doesn't help with Hinata, if you're about to ask. Without the Hyuuga eyes I'm still useless to her."

"I see," Kazuko said. "What tasks remain? Is there a bounty to gather, perhaps, that could use my assistance?"

"No," Naruto said. He rubbed his nose. "I gotta do some kind of task for the village, I guess, and I guess you count as a summon so I need to register you as a clan special technique or something."

Kazuko scowled again. "I see. You will remember that this is a useful fiction for survival, or else I will claw your eyes out before you can use His Lordship's power to burn me alive."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah."


Hyuuga Tadaaki was a year older than Hinata. He had been a genin for two years and his Byakugan was characterized by its great clarity. Unfortunately, his Gentle Fist had not advanced to match, so his strikes lacked the precision needed to take advantage of his bloodline. His mission record brought no dishonor to himself or to the clan, and he had participated in the Battle of Senfuku in a manner befitting his age and experience. He was acceptably attractive, at least in the way the Hyuuga thought befit men, and had a penchant for brightly colored hair ribbons to hold back the long hair that so many Hyuuga men had.

Idly, Hinata pondered the shortness of her own hair, and wondered if her father considered it a stunning act of rebellion. She had worn it this way for many years, but Hanabi favored the more traditional long, waist-length style. Curious.

"Thank you for meeting me," Hinata said quietly. She bowed from her seiza position, leaning forward slightly and tucking her hands into her lap. "I understand it is an imposition."

"It is an honor to be imposed this way by the heir," Tadaaki said with practiced stiffness. His bow was significantly deeper. "I thank you for the confidence you have in me."

Hinata swallowed and took a breath. She had managed to find a suitable room for them to meet in where the usual chaperones could do their duty but be unable to listen too closely. It was an unfurnished space with a few tatami mats, one door, and no windows. The only light was a small lantern Hinata had brought with her.

"I have asked you here to this room s-so that we may speak f-frankly with one another," Hinata said. She tried to channel as much of Naruto's personality as she had absorbed over the years—this was no time to let her stammer clutter her sentences. "I have n-no doubt that you are opposed to our engagement."

"I am," Tadaaki said. "I have a girlfriend, and would like to marry her instead."

Hinata glanced down at her hands and smiled ruefully. "I had a boyfriend and feel the same way."

"Truly? I had thought the rumors were false."

"They were not," Hinata said. She sighed. "I am not unwilling to be s-second in your heart, if your girlfriend is w-willing to be second in your duty."

"I have no doubt she would be, and so I will do everything I can to make such a choice unnecessary," Tadaaki said with words that were flattened under the weight of his restrained anger. "She is a common girl of a merchant family, and values herself inadequately. The elders would say she values herself correctly, of course."

"Of course," Hinata agreed. No doubt the daughter of a merchant family would be stunned and delighted to be, effectively, the concubine of the heir of the Hyuuga clan.

"I am not any better than any other eligible Hyuuga," Tadaaki continued. "I would ask why I, in particular, am of interest."

"It is because you are w-willing to tell me your opinions, r-rather than conceal your thoughts," Hinata said. "Your devotion to y-your girlfriend is commendable as well. I think perhaps you also v-value yourself inadequately, Tadaaki-san."

Tadaaki settled back onto his heels silently in response to this. He was quiet for what felt like a very long time. Hinata looked down at her hands, gathering herself for the next bout. She really was very bad at these sorts of confrontations, especially with people she didn't know well. But she could do it. She had to do it.

"I have sealed my own coffin," Tadaaki said quietly. "This is not a deterrent to you. Instead, you are impressed. I had thought you would like someone quieter."

"I admit, q-quieter sounds good today," Hinata said. "My heart aches and a g-gentle boy to soothe my pains is appealing. B-but I do not trust that man to hold firm in dire times."

Tadaaki looked down and away. "It is said by some of the Branch Families that the heir is unsuitable. She is too weak, too pliant. I have never paid any heed to those words, always considered myself loyal to your succession, if only because I had more important worries in my life. But I see that you have heard such words and wish to combat them."

"It is n-not just the murmurings that I am considering," Hinata said. "I do not think that seeking the p-peaceful path is weakness. I do worry that I will s-seek it when it is w-wrong to do so. You, I hope, would speak up in these times."

"Am I truly someone to trust with such things?" Tadaaki asked. He looked up at Hinata with a face full of conflicting emotions. "My sensei says I am overly aggressive. I often make things worse."

"Your sensei also commends your analytical thinking and says that violence is always a solution, just not always the best solution," Hinata quoted from the information her father had assembled. "There is time. W-we have many years before we must be w-wed, and temperance comes w-with experience."

"Easy enough to say. The doing is harder."

"Yes."

Tadaaki scowled silently at the tatami. Hinata counted thirteen knots in the wood panels on the wall behind him while she waited for him to speak.

"Why did you call me here?" Tadaaki asked. "There is no real way for me not to accept this offer. It is my duty as a Branch of the tree."

"Yes," Hinata said. "If I wished, I could order you to my chambers and you would have no choice."

"Yes."

"This is an abuse of my power as heir," Hinata said. "Or at least I view it so. It is not fit for the heir of the Hyuuga clan to order about her family in this manner."

Tadaaki looked taken aback. "I— I see."

"More practically, would that not breed hatred in your heart?" Hinata continued. "You would be justified, even, to conspire with others to take my life. So I shall do no such thing."

Tadaaki looked off to the side again and twisted his hands into his clothes. "I am… glad, for your consideration. But it does not make me want to marry you. We do not know each other, except in the most passing way."

"It is unnecessary that either of us want to marry each other," Hinata said. "All that is strictly necessary is that we have children eventually. Not hating each other when that happens would be good, yes?"

Tadaaki narrowed his eyes at her. "You have given this a lot of thought."

"I merely have wise tutors," Hinata said. It was true: Haruka, her maid, had a lot of advice on the subject. She had taken care of Hinata since she was very little and always seemed to know what to say.

Tadaaki sat back and sighed. "…I will speak to Nami-chan. How should I contact you to relay her response?"

"Please give m-my maid a note," Hinata said. She bowed slightly, but respectfully, as if she was bowing to an equal. "Thank you for speaking with me today."

Tadaaki bowed more deeply. "Thank you for thinking of me. I will bring her response as quickly as possible."

Hinata got to her feet, Tadaaki following her, and smiled at him.

"I am s-sure we can find a good compromise."


Tadaaki and Nami's reply came later that evening. Haruka brought the note to Hinata while she was finishing the last of her correspondence for the day.

"It worked," Hinata sighed, setting the sheet of paper down on her desk. "Tadaaki w-will accept the p-proposal."

"It appears so," Haruka said. She sat across from Hinata and poured a small cup of tea.

"T-thank you for your help," Hinata said. She took the tea and sipped at it. "I could n-not have done it without you."

Haruka inclined her head humbly. "I am sure you would have worked something out eventually, Hinata-sama."

Hinata would have rolled her eyes if she was the sort of girl to do so. Instead she sighed and wondered what Haruka would have done with her life had she not been assigned as Hinata's maid. She had retired after marrying to have her children, then found that she was infertile due to injuries suffered in battle. Hinata did not know much about how her husband had taken it—Haruka preferred not to speak of it—but she was now a spinster in any case.

"I am g-glad that you are here, Haruka-san," Hinata said. "Without you, I would n-not have had anyone to p-practice with. I m-must speak with F-f-father about a reward."

"No reward is necessary, Hinata-sama," Haruka said, bowing again and more deeply. "It was simply my duty to critique your talking points for the meeting with Tadaaki-san."

"It was r-rather more than s-simply critique," Hinata said. She put her tea down and picked up her brush with a sigh. "Th-three nights of p-practice and little sleep. And, forgive me, b-but you are not so young anymore."

Haruka inclined her head. It was true that three nights of poor sleep had taken their toll on her, though Haruka hid it well with her makeup.

"It was simply my duty," Haruka said firmly after a moment of silence where Hinata wrote out the ending of her letter. "As it is also my duty to ask how you wish to handle Hanabi-sama."

Hinata sighed again. "She is m-my sister, how can I handle her?" she asked. She put her brush back down and waited for the ink to dry. "I w-wish to remain s-someone she can confide in and s-seek out for comfort. Inheritance s-should not change that."

"It will be a challenge," Haruka said. "There are some who would manipulate her against you."

"Keeping her at a distance would m-make it easier for them," Hinata said. "B-better that we are close, so that Hanabi-chan r-rejects their scheming."

"This is true," Haruka said. "Has Hanabi-sama spoken with you about this at all?"

"No," said Hinata. "I am worried. Do you think she resents me?"

Haruka paused, but: "In truth, it is likely. She is the more talented fighter, and the Elder Council prizes strength over placidity."

Hinata's lips twisted sadly. "There is nothing that can be done about it is there?"

"There are perhaps some things," Haruka said, "but it will not happen with dramatic speeches. You can only hope that Hanabi-sama sees the efforts you go to be close to her and repays your love with love."

Hinata folded her letter up silently. She did not believe in fate, but fate seemed intent on enforcing itself upon her. Conflict with her family seemed increasingly inevitable, and she felt awfully unprepared to deal with it.

She felt terribly alone.

"Send F-father a message, p-please," Hinata said, and slid the letter into an envelope and closed the flap. "Inform him of T-Tadaaki's response. I will n-need to meet Nami-chan soon as w-well. Could you p-procure an appropriate gift?"

"Of course, Hinata-sama."

Hinata took out her glue bottle and pasted the flap of her envelope shut, then pressed her seal over the top. "Thank you."


The Uchiha estate that Sayaka was supposed to be retrieving her temple donation from sprawled across three hot, humid, and damp mountain valleys whose peaks were shrouded in perpetual fog. Her family's manor house had been built at the top of a convenient hill with good sightlines across the traversable terrain. Behind it lay a particularly tall peak that was close enough to limit approaches but far enough away that only a particularly powerful enemy could manage to use it to bombard the house. Chances were, if that was a concern, the manor should have already been evacuated to the nearest of the border fortresses that defended the passages leading to the heart of Fire Country from the Land of Wind.

In times of peace, the house gave a pleasant view from the second story study that Sayaka had occupied. The estate's owner within the clan had been Uchiha Toji, an influential and powerful retainer who had married into the family and been blessed with a son Sayaka's age. Sayaka had known the family in passing, Uchiha Yuji being an occasional playmate, but fortunately she hadn't known them very well.

The entire house had been left empty since the massacre, and it felt somehow disrespectful to disturb the silence. Fortunately, it held little in personal possessions. The clan compound in Konoha was sized to house the entire clan, having expanded significantly when the Uchiha had been given the responsibility of policing Konoha by the Second Hokage, and members spent almost the entire year in Konoha proper, only occasionally visiting the estates which they collected taxes and income from. It was only natural that the personality of the inhabitants was left most deeply in the place where they lived the most.

Only the barest of maintenance had been done to keep it from falling into complete disrepair, which Sayaka supposed she couldn't precisely fault the Chikurin for. The Chikurin clan had its own estates to manage, and many of its members were dispersed more widely to their holdings across Fire Country, so nobody had felt the need to take up residence. The roof was becoming overgrown with moss and the courtyard walls needed new fireproofing plaster, but the house had been built soundly so that the interior had only the smell of dust and not mold. The space above the ceiling boards had a few small leaks that Sayaka made sure to patch when she checked inside, D-rank missions coming in handy, and she otherwise was free to focus on gathering the herbs she needed for the temple.

The task was not small. She had known that she was in trouble the moment the abbot had asked for three scrolls of herbs, but it had really hit her during the run out to the estate how bad her situation really was. Even though the abbot had asked for anything she could find, the sheer volume of herbs requested was impossible to gather alone. Sayaka needed help from the village that was supposed to owe her its loyalty.

She wasn't sure how much help she would get. It was very late in the year, and the… abrupt loss of direct support from the Uchiha had been harsh on the village. If nothing else the people needed to eat and she would need to make sure not to make anyone starve.

Not, of course, that the village head could say such things openly when he invited her to dinner the evening Sayaka arrived.

"Of course, the village is honored to help in any way it can, Uchiha-hime-sama," the village head said with his head bowed deferentially. "It is only natural given the circumstances that we would do whatever we could for the clan to which we owe so much."

Sayaka bowed back, careful to be as respectful as possible without bowing more than the village head. "I am gladdened by your words," she said. "I am sorry that I could not be more attentive, but the circumstances as they are, I can only manage to complete the smallest of my duties for now."

"Understandable, understandable," the village head said, nodding vigorously. "Certainly it is no dishonor, and word of your exploits has reached us here. I think I speak for the village when I say that we are proud to serve the Uchiha."

"Thank you, I am very grateful," Sayaka said, bowing again. "Even so I do not wish to ask too much of the village. Let us make arrangements so that even if my requests are burdensome, the burden will be lessened and the winter will pass easily for the village."

"You are gracious and kind, Hime-sama," the village head said, bowing again. "Let us discuss."

The news was exclusively bad. The year's herb harvest had been no better or worse than usual, but the village had already converted the majority into hard currency, which was often better for rent, taxes, or emergencies. It wasn't that the village couldn't have helped, it was that they had already shipped off the merchandise. What remained was less than a quarter of what the abbot had asked for.

Sayaka had expected to be disappointed by whatever she found here. Three scrolls full was hard to accomplish, but it should have been doable. The Uchiha were supposed to be good enough—wealthy enough—to put something like that together. She didn't need that much wealth right now, so why not?

But things were worse than Sayaka had ever imagined. Had she really been so naive? Had she really just expected there to be some useful amount of herbs to be lying around for her to take? A quarter. If she could have gotten even half, it would have been pathetic but at least a worthwhile effort, but a quarter?

Sayaka held herself together and declared that she would retire to think on the problem. The village head agreed, because it was a difficult problem. He would think about it some more too, and they could meet when it was convenient for her to compare notes.

What a joke.

She left the village head's house and began walking back to the manor house in the dark of the night, her path lit by only the moon and her footsteps followed by only the wind.

It was like a dark haze had fallen over Sayaka's mind. Her mind kept repeating over and over: failure, failure, failure.

Objectively, Sayaka had failed before. Failure was not unfamiliar. It was impossible to train and improve without training and failing first. But it was easier when the only person whose expectations she was failing were her own. The abbot had asked and she had agreed and now she had failed in her responsibilities.

What could she have possibly done to prevent this? She had not even comprehended the scale of the problem. She had a child's understanding of the world and had thought to play in adult problems. Too naive by half.

In this moment Sayaka felt her soul burn with resentment at the world she lived in. A future where the clan was relevant was a future where she began taking on duties now, not three, five, ten years in the future. Failure to start now meant that by the time her children were born the Uchiha name would have fallen into the past. A once great clan laid low with pretenses to power but offering only arrogance as proof of their strength.

Was she simply incapable? Was she just a failure of a clan head?

Hiroyo would have said she was expecting too much of herself. That a girl who was thirteen who had her clan torn out from underneath her could not be expected to know all the things that she would have known in a different past with its own different future. And yet.

Sayaka pushed open the manor house's gate, then closed it behind her and activated the seal wards. She breathed in slowly, then sighed.

She needed to… she needed to make a plan. She couldn't disgrace herself by just allowing herself to fail completely. Surely there was something she could do to lessen the humiliation.

Sayaka sighed again and walked to the entrance of the manor house. It was late, she should go to sleep. It would be hard to sleep, probably, but she couldn't plan while tired.

She didn't notice anything was wrong until she walked into the kitchen.

"Good evening Sayaka-chan."

Sayaka flinched backwards. Her brother was sitting at the table next to a pot of tea. The lines on his face had deepened and his eyes gleamed garnet red rather than smoky black, but he wore the same clothes he always had, sat in the same tired-but-ready way he always had. In different light in a different time he could have been waiting for her to come home from school, resting between missions but so soon to depart on another one.

The world fractured into glass around Sayaka. A feeling like rushing fire swallowed her, roiling nauseously through her belly and strangling her windpipe with smoke and ash. Her fingers were already twitching for her kunai, her chakra lashing against her throat, burning her from the inside out, desperate to scorch the man who sat before her so casually, as if nothing had ever happened six years ago.

"Tch, silly little sister," Itachi said into Sayaka's ear.

Bands of iron fastened themselves around Sayaka's body as the weight of her brother's chakra suddenly crushed down upon her. Sayaka's arms were pinned against her sides and her half-wrought flames were forced out of her mouth. A flicker of chakra fluttered over Sayaka's skin as the fire was guided away, flashing mutely against the floor and ceiling.

Her body bucked, fighting the thing that had captured her. Sayaka could feel her mind spiraling, spinning away and back to Senfuku while her body stayed here, jerking spasmodically, desperate to free itself. The scar on her chest began to burn and she fought to bring her mind back to ground. She had to— she had to slow her breathing, had to fight the situation and not what her mind was afraid of. Just— just—

Itachi lifted Sayaka up to carry her and she screamed. She thrashed and tried to fight, her knee cracking against the side of his head, and Itachi dropped her. She hoped, and then her hope died when Itachi just grabbed her by the ankles and bound those together too.

"I suppose I should have expected this," Itachi sighed as he lifted Sayaka again. "I just want to talk, little sister."

"Fuck you!"

Sayaka was dropped into a chair with a thud. Itachi looped more rope around her to tie her to it, immobilizing Sayaka completely. Her vision started to go dark around the edges. Fuck. She had to stay calm. She had to stop hyperventilating. Calm. Calm.

A minute passed.

"Are you ready to speak civilly now?" Itachi asked.

Sayaka swallowed heavily and glared.

Itachi sighed. "I will take that as a yes. How have you been?"

Sayaka grit her teeth, but replied. "Fine."

"That's good," Itachi said. He took a drink of his tea. "I have been doing alright as well."

There was a moment of silence.

"I see you have awakened your Sharingan," Itachi said. "Congratulations."

"Why are you here?" Sayaka asked instead of thanking him.

"Isn't it natural for a brother to be curious about how his cute younger sister is doing?" Itachi asked.

"You—"

"The stories about the Uchiha-hime are quite fantastical," Itachi continued. "You burned fifty men alive where they stood, according to the rumors."

It had not been that many, but Sayaka knew how rumors worked. She was sure Itachi did too.

"I had heard you are courting a boy for marriage," Itachi said. "The… son of the Inuzuka matriarch, yes? An interesting choice."

Sayaka's gut jolted. "Don't touch him," she hissed.

Itachi tilted his head at her. "Why? Would it hurt you if he was injured?"

Sayaka grit her teeth and looked away. She shouldn't have reacted. Now Itachi knew that Kiba was a useful target.

She felt something sting her temple and flinched back with a yelp.

"Silly little sister," Itachi said, hand outstretched.

Had he just flicked her?

Memories flooded her mind unbidden. The time she had been whining about kunoichi classes to him. The time she had been impatient and nicked herself with his kunai before she knew how to throw properly. The time she had tried to jump him from the ceiling and nearly cracked her head open on the furniture. The time—

"Attachment is a weakness, don't you know?" Itachi asked. "You must fill your heart with hate if you want a hope of killing me."

Fire ripped out of Sayaka as she screamed. She would show him hate. She had never stopped hating him and her rage would make him burn.

Two fingers jabbed Sayaka in her throat, just in the hollow above her clavicle. She choked.

"Now, see what you've done?" Itachi said scoldingly. He sighed and went around with a minor water jutsu putting out the fires that Sayaka had started. "You'll have to get this replaced now."

Sayaka was crying. She tried to breathe through the paralyzed muscles around her throat and could only manage choked gasps. Itachi looked over at her with disappointment, exactly the way their mother had used to when Sayaka had been bad.

"Did you forget your purpose?" Itachi asked. "You are supposed to come find me, little sister, so that I may test myself against your fervent hatred. Why have you allowed weak feelings like love and affection fill your heart?"

The world had gone blurry and Sayaka pulled at the ropes, rocking the chair through her sobs until it fell with a crash and Sayaka felt her shoulder hit the floor. Fear gripped her heart while grief and anger ripped it open. There was nothing she could do, no fire she could summon to burn the effigy to her deepest suffering which stood before her, taunted her, asked her questions she had asked herself in the deepest parts of the night when the world was cold and the stars were masked by clouds.

Failure stood upon failure to force her head underwater and Sayaka's flame fizzled out.

Footsteps, then the rasp of rope coming undone. Sayaka felt the bonds around her loosen.

"Still so weak," Itachi sighed. "It would be pointless to kill you now. We will meet again, little sister. Please try to be stronger by then."

The weight of Itachi's chakra vanished, like a heavy blanket being whisked away. Sayaka curled in on herself, pulling inwards into a tight ball, and wailed. She cried for her mother and for her father. She cried for the cousins she had played with and the brother she had once trusted and loved. She lay there and cried on the floorboards of the kitchen until dawn, her sobs left unanswered by man or beast until they died, drowned under the angry sea.