The seasons passed. The end of my first year at the Academy was nigh, but before my moving up in the world could be celebrated, our annual December traditions had to be observed.

Kouko, Shuu, and I had made it a yearly event to go to the New Year's festivities as a unit, but Shuu and I had been concerned over whether Kouko would agree to it this time or not. I knew that when I was twelve—a weird sentiment for a six-year-old to think—I wouldn't be caught dead babysitting baby relatives. Thankfully, Kouko was more than happy to participate and tag along to the festival with us.

At present, Imiki was trying her damndest to get the obi tied tight enough that it wouldn't sag and drag down my kimono, which was already a little baggy for me. I groaned as she tittered to herself, untying the obi again and tying it even tighter. This year, Kouko and Shuu had been too preoccupied with missions and clan training respectively to attend the summer festival, so I had gone by myself and hadn't bothered to dress up, pulling a Shikamaru and deciding that putting on a yukata would be far too troublesome. But boy did I miss the relative comfort of a yukata now. Alas, it was too cold to wear anything besides a kimono, one that Imiki happily provided for me just a few days ago.

"I think you're probably a bit big for last year's dress," she had commented. "So I had this one custom-made for you! Look, it's got water-lilies on it."

Admittedly, it was a very pretty dress. In every world I'd lived in, children's clothes were always superior to their grown-up versions, and children's kimonos were clearly no different. The kimono Imiki was currently trying to attach to me was a pink with water-lily designs tastefully dotted about, the green leaves and white petals adding accent colours to an already elaborate dress.

Once the obi was finally on and tight enough for Imiki's liking, we set out, hand-in-hand. The air was crisp and chilly, especially since the sun had set long ago, and I found myself begrudgingly thankful for the thicker fabric of the kimono. Lantern light coming from the marketplace of downtown Konoha was visible, even from the street of our apartment building. Festivals like these were some of my favourite things about this world, and I allowed myself to act my age and skip along, ignoring Imiki's urging to be careful as I swung our linked arms.

Shuu and Kouko were already in the midst of the festival crowd when we got there, Kouko waving from under a tree. My aunt and I uttered several excuse mes as we edged through the bustling mob, eventually making it to where the two kids were sitting.

"Took you long enough!" Shuu sprung to his feet, and I noticed bitterly that he was wearing shinobi-grade sandals instead of the uncomfortable zori I was forced to wear. His dark blue kimono looked a lot more breathable, too, I observed wistfully. "Come on, there are a bunch of game stands this year! Bet I can beat you at all of them!"

"Hold on," Kouko said, placing an authoritative hand on her little brother's head. "We'll go around as a group, got it?" Shuu grumbled but fell into step with us. We ended up having to link hands and form a train of sorts to make it through particularly busy areas of the festival, with Imiki in the back and Kouko in the front.

The further we ventured into the festival, the less dense the crowds. When there was finally enough space to breathe, we unlinked and regrouped. "Gosh, big turnout this year," said a winded Imiki. "I could swear the whole village is here."

"I heard that the Hokage is attending today," Kouko explained. "Security is extra strong this time because of it."

While Kouko and Imiki were content to walk along slowly observing each festival stand, Shuu and I had other priorities. The two of us streaked about, finding new games to compete against each other in and new goodies to buy with our handfuls of pocket change.

"You should be good at this one," Shuu said, elbowing me and indicating the goldfish scooping minigame before us. "Remember your tadpole trick?"

"We'll see," I hummed unsurely. "I don't know how to channel my chakra into objects very well yet…" I heard this was going to be one of the first things we learned in second year, though, so I was definitely excited for that. Imiki continued to discourage me from learning anything beyond basic chakra control and utilization because of my condition, but I couldn't help but be curious.

Shuu stepped ahead in line, cutting in front of a few indignant kids that made sounds of complaint that went ignored. "Scared, Asagiri?"

I rolled my eyes and joined him in his newly coveted position in line. "Uh-huh. Sure am."

"If you scoop more fish than me, I'll give you my oni ring," he offered, showing off the ring he'd won from another game. "But if you lose, you have to get me a stick of dango." I looked down at the tacky ring with the ugly face of a generic oni, trying not to smirk when I mentally likened it to Enma's visage.

"Fine, you're on!"

The competition was neck and neck as we cut through the water with our paper paddles and cycled fish into our assigned bowls. Years of training and previous festivals made us seasoned professionals at this game, so when the man running the stand cried out that time was up, we were left with more fish than we knew what to do with.

"Damnit, looks like a tie," Shuu muttered. The children behind us, who had been enthralled by the whole spectacle, tried their best to peer around each other and gasped at the now-empty tank.

The clerk fretted, murmuring about us rotten kids clearing out his stock, but I was too busy considering my school of goldfish. "We both win, then. I'll get you dango, you give me your ring," I concluded cheerfully.

Eventually, the clerk convinced us to settle with claiming one fish each, but neither of us had any particular use for goldfish—the first year I had won at this, I had lovingly taken care of my fish until he died a week later. I wasn't ready to go through that kind of pain again. Therefore, I turned around and offered the fish to the first child in line behind me, whose eyes widened in sync with mine when we made eye contact.

"Sakura?" I stammered.

"Futaba," she answered with the same tone of bewilderment. "It's so dark, I didn't recognize you!"

"Yeah, um," I looked at the bag containing my goldfish, then back to her. The last time I'd interacted with Sakura to any significant extent was our spar all that time ago. Since I had beaten her, she and Ino had avoided me in all classes afterwards, from kunoichi classes to field trips. It didn't seem to be Sakura's idea, though, seeing as Ino was usually the one glaring daggers at me while Sakura would carry on, unaware. "Nice to see you here. Happy new year?"

"En," Sakura agreed amiably. "Happy new year, Futaba."

I managed a weak smile and offered the fish again. "Sorry about...beating you up in class that one time. Take this fish as an apology—his name is Ruperuto-san." I winced at the awkward name I'd spat out in the moment, a bastardization of the name Rupert that I'd given my first hamster in my other life.

Sakura's mouth fell open in an O-shape, her hands taking the bag from me gingerly. "I-it's fine." She looked even more befuddled than before. "Thank you...Futaba-chan."

Noting the honorific upgrade, I managed to flash her a genuine grin before I broke away to catch up with Shuu.

"What happened to your fish?" He still held his, swinging it haphazardly like it was a grocery bag.

I quickly caught his wrist to spare the poor goldfish of its motion sickness. "I gave it to my classmate. What will you do with yours?"

He tilted his head to the side as we approached another vendor. "Hmm…is goldfish sashimi any good?"

I swatted at him. "Don't talk about sashimi in front of living fish, dummy. Also, give me that ring, it's mine." Shuu shook his head and tossed the oni ring in my general direction. I caught it and slipped it onto my middle finger, admiring its cheap tackiness. The paint had already started to chip off, revealing the unpolished metal beneath it.

"It's my birthday, so why am I the one giving things away?" Shuu grumbled, pouting to himself.

What a big baby. "Then I'll get you two sticks of dango instead. Deal?"

After the eighth game or so, Shuu and I grew hungry and bored. Imiki and Kouko were sitting at a resting area, looking like two birds of a colourful flock with their fanciful kimonos and all. The four of us navigated the sea of people once more, this time in search of food. Festival food was always hit-or-miss—not in that it would either taste good or awful, but rather in that it would either pass through you like anything else or cause the worst case of food poisoning you'd ever experience. After attending for the last two years, we were street-wise enough to know which vendors were comparatively more hygenic, and now, we headed towards the area that hosted our favourites.

The lineup for dango was a no-man's land that you had to fight tooth and nail to maintain your place in. Kouko fiercely elbowed whoever dared budge in front of us, while I counted how much ryo I would need to buy Shuu's two dango sticks. When it was finally our turn to order—or when the person who should have ordered was no longer able to fight, I couldn't tell—I shouted what I wanted at the vendor, hoping it was even remotely audible.

"Give me that," Kouko snapped, taking the ryo in my outstretched hand away. "Get out of here, Futaba-chan, it's too chaotic—she said she wants two sesame sticks!"

She didn't need to tell me twice—I was out of there in an instant, people edging me out of the mob-line entirely.

Ironically, on the one day a year that people would often eat zoni, today I was craving something else. "Imiki-nee, I want takoyaki," I cried over the din, hoping she heard me from wherever she was in the horde. "I'll be right back!"

After tracking down the nearest takoyaki stand I could find, I headed back towards the dango stand's part of the street with my sacred boon in hand. It seemed like the horde of people in this exact area had dissipated in the time I was gone, and I was able to walk freely now without fear of being knocked over by some random passerby's knee.

"Imiki-nee? Shuu? Kouko-nee?" I called out, hoping any one of the heads in the vicinity would turn around. When none responded, I began to feel a bit nervous. I continued to wander down the street, clutching the cup of octopus balls in my hands. "Imiki-nee?"

Looks like I had no other option than to continue on and search for them. I felt sweat start to bead at the base of my neck as I threw myself back into the thrumming crowd. Adults towered over me and I had to be as abrasive as possible with my shoving so I wouldn't get trampled alive.

"Imiki-nee!" I repeatedly called out, ignoring the odd looks coming from various faces in the crowd. "Shuu!"

It was hard to see where I was going, but the more I ventured forward, the more frantically the people moved. It seemed as though everyone was moving forward towards something, but it was almost suffocating by that point, so I did my best to wriggle out of the crowd and caught my breath between two vendor stands. From here, I could see just how packed together the people on the main street were, but I was too short to see over their heads and at what they were moving towards.

Maybe Imiki and the others would pass by in the crowd. I sighed, feeling defeated and only a little worried, and chowed down on the rest of my takoyaki.

After chucking the empty tray into a nearby garbage can, courtesy of a kind vendor who noticed me standing around with an empty tray like an idiot, I decided the smartest course of action would be to retrace my steps back to the entrance of the venue.

Humming an off-key tune that may have been from my past life, I started my way back, only to slam right into a hooded figure as I turned a corner.

"Oof!" I fell onto my bottom, my zori sandals clattering about and slipping off my feet. "Watch where you're…" I trailed off when I saw the hooded figure towering over me, the shadows and low light concealing their face. All I was able to register was an eye staring down from the shadows, lantern light glinting off of it dimly, before I was overcome by an intense dizzy spell.

Nausea swirled and climbed up my throat until I couldn't breathe properly. My legs and arms felt alight with adrenaline, and a sense of panic gripped me, screaming in my ears to get up and run, to get up and get as far away as possible—

"Urgh…" I grunted, staggering to my feet, but the dizziness only grew as I attempted to steady myself and I fell over again. The ringing in my ears was loud, getting louder, an insatiable pounding in my head accompanying each wave of dizziness. My blurred vision recognized the dark figure advancing towards me, and the whispers telling me to get away from them turned into full on wailing.

Stay away from me, I tried to say, but my tongue felt like lead and I could only squeak out a couple pathetic whimpers. Whoever this person was, whatever they wanted with me, I was unable to process any of it with the inexplicable fear clouding my mind. It was fight or flight in its purest form, but my body was demanding I get away so intensely that I couldn't even move.

My stomach heaved, and the figure recoiled in disgust. The pounding grew so heavy and the beating of my heart so quick that soon I couldn't distinguish the two sensations, and together, they created a violent whirlpool of disorientation. I could swear I heard Shuu's voice piercing through the swirl of noise before everything faded to nothing and the world went black.


"What are you watching?"

I sat on a bed covered by an aqua goose-down comforter. My hands were soft, unscarred. "It's a show about ninjas. Have you heard of it?"

The scene morphed into a screen that covered the entirety of my vision. Whirring colours and rhythmic drumming slowly separated into moving characters against a thrumming soundtrack. I saw a flash of pink hair, a blue tunic, and highlighter-bright blonde spikes flash by, then disappear. Grey hair—teacher. Sharingan. Uchiha.

"So he's the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan."

The voices were speaking in a tongue that I didn't understand before, but took to easily now. Still, my eyes were fixed on the subtitles that blinked by almost as swiftly as the characters had. I couldn't look away.

"What happened to the rest of his clan?"

"Don't you know?"

The scene convulsed and changed, showing the blonde boy again.

"That's my ninja way," he declared with a tone of finality.

"So that's the power of the Kyuubi."

The boy grew, his face lengthening and his expression changing. He was older now. "We'll bring Sasuke back, no matter what."

With a slight tremor, the image of the boy shattered into fragments and was replaced by two figures dancing with knives on a shingled roof. "Orochimaru," the old man hissed, his black uniform whipping about in the wind.

Suddenly, as though the world had been put on fast-forward, the scene transitions started to blend into each other with increasing speed.

A red cloud. "You will know the true meaning of pain," a deep voice intoned.

Then, a pair of statues framing a waterfall. The dull thudding of fists colliding with flesh.

A boy with blood-red hair and a deep red scar on his forehead. The crunch of bones.

A man with an orange mask. Then a boy whose face was too brief and blurred to identify.

A lady with red hair. A lady with blonde hair and familiar amber eyes.

Like a slideshow from hell, I saw image after image. Soon, they were going by too quickly to distinguish at all, but despite the speed at which the images flitted by, I could hear snippets of conversation that alternated between languages and realities loud and clear.

"—oh yeah, I know a few people that watch it—"

"—no, what happened—?"

"—they say his older brother massacred the whole clan, then left the village—"

"—my foolish brother...if you want to kill me, curse me! Hate me! Run away...run away, and cling to your pitiful life."


"No!" I hurled myself forward in a panic, arms flailing for anything to steady myself onto. All I could see was light, blurry light, and faint shadows that obscured the light. Everything sounded muffled, as though I was underwater, and after a few moments, I registered a vile, sour taste that almost made me gag.

"Futaba!" One of the muffled voices cried. Someone shook me. "Futaba, are you okay!?"

I groaned, narrowing my eyes blearily as things slowly came into focus. Dark sky. Lantern lights. An uncomfortably tight kimono. I was at the festival, the one shaking me was Shuu, and the surface that I was now leaning against was Imiki. Kouko knelt in front of me, an untouched stick of dango in hand. I moaned, feeling a faint throbbing in my skull—god, I felt like shit.

"Futaba!" Shuu's face invaded my line of sight and my personal space. "What happened? You disappeared, and when we found you, you were all passed out like that!"

I could only stare back, analyzing every inch of my friend's face. Coal-black eyes. Dark, tufty hair. Pale skin.

Imiki patted Shuu's back, and he leaned away slightly, giving me space to breathe. "Easy now, Shuu-kun. Futaba, what happened?"

"I…" I could barely make a sound, still reeling from what I'd just remembered. My eyes were glued to Shuu, who stared back and shifted anxiously. A deep, dark sense of dread began to grow in the pit of my stomach.

Oh, fuck.

Imiki began to say something, but her words were cut off by a series of deafening explosions somewhere from above. We looked up at once, just in time to catch the fireworks in full bloom painting the sky all sorts of colours. One after the other, fire flowers dyed the heavens with light and colour, officially welcoming in the new year. Celebrations were happening somewhere behind us. People around us ooh-ed and ahh-ed, while others clapped and cheered, all excitedly anticipating what was to come this year.

And I sat as silent as a mute, feeling nothing but an urgent need to puke again, then maybe cry after. I felt a stinging sensation at the back of my eyes and numbly let my eyes well up with tears as I watched the fireworks light up and fade to nothing, over and over again.

Finally, all this unfounded dread I'd been experiencing had a name. The Uchiha Massacre.


finally!

whenever i've done a particularly large amount of writing for this story i'll update twice a week but i think i'll mostly stick to the default, weekly friday update schedule i had planned… university scheduling has been kicking my ass lately, and i hope everyone's schooling methods aren't as convoluted and sticky as mine will be _

for anyone who is still sticking around for her story, thank you all so much :) please stay safe!