The Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, was busy training his adopted son, Kawaki, with his biological son Boruto, and Boruto's teammates, Sarada and Mitsuki, by his side.
Suddenly a whirling black vortex which they all recognized as a space-time rift opened up. Kawaki and the new Team 7 all tensed, but Naruto held out his hand to assure them things were fine. Nonetheless, he looked vaguely confused when Tamana and Dango stepped out of the portal, bringing the wagon with them, followed by Amai, Aiko, and Sasuke with the still unconscious Nozomi in Amai's arms.
"Papa!" Sarada exclaimed in mild surprise as she rushed over to her father, having not expected him to open a rift right in the middle of the training field, Naruto quickly following.
"Why'd you suddenly appear with, um..." Naruto didn't bother to finish his sentence.
"It's no surprise that you don't know." Amai said. "I recall Shikamaru-san saying that he would have Rokudaime go over the paperwork in your place."
"Paperwork?" Naruto asked, looking even more confused.
"Neesan!" Sasuke's wife, Uchiha Sakura, suddenly exclaimed as she entered the training field, "You told me you were coming today, but I didn't think you meant like this..."
"We were attacked, Sakura-chan." Amai replied, "If it hadn't been for Aiko-chan's visual prowess and Sasuke-kun's aid, who knows what would've..."
"Huh? Aiko-san?" Sakura asked in confusion. She only grew more confused when she took in the sight of Aiko's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Aiko said nothing to Sakura, only looking at the form wrapped in a bedsheet in the back of the cart, her eyes filling with tears.
"Aiko-chan..." Amai said with concern.
"I'm sorry, Amai-neechan... but could you look after Nozomi for a little while longer?" Aiko asked, "I... I need to be alone for a bit..." Without waiting for a reply, the brunette suddenly disappeared.
Amai sighed sadly, her expression grievous. "She must be in so much pain... I was at least prepared for it when Itachi-kun passed, but... Aiko has lost someone she loves yet again..." She looked up at Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, could you go look after her, please? You might be the only one who can understand what she's feeling right now... And it's really not safe for her to be alone."
"I don't mind, but I don't know where she would've gone..." Sasuke admitted.
"The forest a little beyond the Uchiha Training Grounds, most likely..." Amai speculated, "That was where she used to play when she was Nozomi's age. It's where she met Naruto-kun when they were young. But she's level-headed enough not to go beyond the sensory barrier under the circumstances."
Sasuke nodded before looking at the others, "Naruto, look after Neesan and the others for me. She can explain things to you." He looked at the cart that had been brought with them, "The body in the sheet there needs to be prepared for burial."
"Who exactly is it?" Sakura asked, even though he suspected that he already knew.
"Aiko-chan's husband, Koujirou..." Amai said softly.
Sasuke noticed that Tamana was rubbing at her eyes again and sighed before looking at Sakura, "Sakura, see if you can find something to soothe the pain in Tamana's eyes."
"Sure, but... wouldn't it be better for me to just to correct the problem?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"It would if there were a problem for you to fix." Sasuke replied before disappearing to go after his cousin.
"So what happened?" Naruto asked, and Amai sighed.
"Like I said, we were attacked." Amai replied. "...by Jigen..."
The others immediately tensed and Naruto's gaze hardened a bit.
"What did he want...?" The Orange Hokage asked.
"He wanted to recruit Aiko-chan into Kara, apparently." Amai replied, "He threw a black chakra rod at Nozomi-chan. He said he was aiming away from her vitals, so I suspect he intended to take her hostage. However, Koujirou-kun's reaction speed was much higher than I had thought. He pushed Nozomi-chan out of the way, but was killed in the process."
"How terrible..." Sarada lamented.
Amai frowned as she nodded, her brow furrowed with concern. "There's more though. He didn't directly state it, but he indicated that, somehow, he knew about my marriage to Itachi-kun." She looked up at Naruto and Sakura, her anxiety obvious, "How could he have found out though? That entire matter is incredibly classified information. Only those present for the Agreement of the Three Tomoe and the top brass in Konoha knew of it until just now."
"There's isn't much that we know about Jigen, or Ōtsutsuki Isshiki as it were." Naruto admitted, his expression thoughtful. "It's possible that he found out even before Itachi died."
Amai frowned thoughtfully, fiddling with a strand of her hair in thought, "Now that you mention it... the Shirozetsu used during the war knew about us, which means that Kurozetsu did as well. Isshiki came to this planet with Kaguya. There's no telling how much contact he and Kurozetsu had with each other."
"Wait, what do you mean that Kurozetsu knew?" Sakura asked.
"The link between the Shirozetsu and Kurozetsu allowed him to gather intel from everywhere without detection." Amai explained, "The Shirozetsu attacked me after I had hidden from the Infinite Tsukuyomi in an attempt to drag me into it. But Kurozetsu was their commander, so he must've known about me too." She sighed softly, "If the Sage of Six Paths hadn't come to my aid that night... I and the twins would've..."
"So the Sage helped you out too?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Naruto, that's not important right now." Sakura scolded.
"At any rate, as much as he knew about the twins and I, he seemed to be unaware of Aiko-chan's heritage." Amai pointed out, "He was surprised when she began using her Susanoo to protect all of us."
"She's a survivor of the Uchiha, right?" Sakura asked, "But how?"
"She left the village about a year before the tragedy." Amai answered, "Thank goodness she was Itachi's pupil. I'm quite certain that's part of why we made it out alive. Most of us at least..."
At that, the others fell silent.
一族
Sasuke found Aiko sitting beside the Nakano River in the forest, curled into a ball and sobbing like a child. With a sympathetic expression, he walked over to her and sat down beside her. Sensing his presence, she lifted her head slightly and sniffled.
"It always seems to happen this way..." She whimpered, "My mother and father both died protecting me... and now Koujirou-kun has died protecting Nozomi." Her breath hitched and she continued, "Maybe it would be better for everyone if I disappeared... the people I love most... always end up dying for me... Nozomi might be safer without me here."
All that we love and hold so dear could disappear one day without warning
We fear if we get too close to it, we'll lose it all in a heartbeat
"I understand how you feel, Aiko, but what you're saying is absurd." Sasuke told her as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "Nozomi needs you now more than ever. She just lost her father, how do you think she would feel if her mother just left her after that?" Aiko said nothing as she looked back at her knees, silently acknowledging Sasuke's point. "I know how you feel." Sasuke told her, "When I began growing close to my team as a genin, I was terrified of how it would feel to lose them all over again. 'I lost everything once... I don't want to see any precious comrades die right before my eyes again.' I said that to Naruto when we were fighting Gaara back then. I was so afraid of that, that I left Konoha. Back then, I thought that unless I gained the power to defeat Itachi, I'd be unable to protect them. For that same reason, even though I could've killed Naruto in the Valley of the End at that time, I didn't. I told myself it was because I was following a different path than my brother, but in reality, I was afraid of seeing him die, and even more afraid of being responsible for it. At that time, I truly intended to return to Konoha after killing Itachi, because I'd have the power to protect them." His gaze saddened as he recalled those days, "However, when I learned the truth about Itachi and our clan, I snapped. I had never wanted to see someone precious die in front of me again, but that was exactly what had happened when I battled Itachi. After that, lots of things didn't seem to matter anymore. I was scared to think of anybody as being precious ever again. Acknowledging Naruto meant acknowledging the fear that I'd been running away from." Sasuke smiled wryly, "But in the end, Naruto was persistent and stubborn, and eventually, I found that I could no longer run away... from him or from the fear I didn't want to face. And I mean that in a rather literal sense. When you're lying half-dead and unable to move at the bottom of a destroyed valley, it becomes pretty hard to run from your own thoughts and fears, to say nothing of the words of the friend lying beside you."
Aiko looked up at him with her own wry smile, remembering that day all too well before she said, "And yet, from what I hear, you're hardly ever home. You still tend to put distance between yourself and the ones you love."
"That's because there are things that only I can do." Sasuke remarked, "It's not because I'm afraid of being close to them." He looked at the river, "After the war, there was a time when I believed I didn't deserve to be in Konoha and be with the people I treasured. It was Naruto who finally convinced me that it was where I truly belonged, in a letter that he wrote to me after the exploding humans incident."
Aiko's expression turned nostalgic. "Where you belong, huh...?" When Sasuke looked at her in confusion, she elaborated, "I chose this spot for a reason. Apparently, our families were once very close. My father's position in the clan was as your father's right-hand and advisor. That was his birthright, according to the rules of the clan. However, sometime after Danzo began using the Kyuubi incident to persecute us, your father dismissed Otousan from his post. He understood and respected my father's feelings, but believed my father's ideas on how to restore peace between the clan and the village were too simple to be realistic. After that, my parents withdrew from the clan a bit. It wasn't that they had any hard feelings, but most of the clan had been caught in the Curse of Hatred, and my parents didn't want to risk drawing that hatred toward me because of their own strong belief in the Will of Fire. However, it was in this very spot that I learned that even though we held different beliefs, the Uchiha Clan was where I belonged..."
子供の時
'It was during the time of Itachi-niichan's Chuunin Exam, in the thirty-day period between the second and third rounds. Otousan had brought me to this forest to play hide-and-seek with him. In his mind, it was the most practical form of training for a child only four years of age. A means to teach stealth, tracking, and how to avoid being found. Skills that could be useful, even for a child, in times of danger.'
"Are you ready, Aiko?" Uchiha Nichi asked his young daughter.
"Yes Papa!" The little girl chirped cheerfully.
"Then–" Nichi stopped short and frowned, feeling a wave of chakra pass over them. Genjutsu. He was highly skilled in these techniques and resistant enough that his chakra remained unfazed. He moved forward to ensure that Aiko would be all right, but she quickly formed a sign with her hands.
"Kai!" The child exclaimed, instantly freeing herself from the genjustu.
"Oh... I knew you would be skilled, but I didn't expect that your daughter would already be able to dispel genjutsu at her age." A voice said. Aiko instinctively hid halfway behind her father's leg as three shinobi and a kunoichi from the Hidden Stone appeared.
"You guys... are here for the Chuunin Exam, aren't you?" Nichi asked, "So why did you attempt to catch us in a genjutsu?"
"To be honest, I expected that you would resist the genjutsu, so it was only to make your daughter fall asleep." The oldest and only adult of the group answered before chuckling, "Leave it to the Uchiha Clan."
"That doesn't answer my question. What is your business with us?!" Nichi demanded.
"Hm. To think that the talented analyst, Shimura Megumi would have a child with Uchiha Nichi, the one that they say is as brilliant as the sun." The Jonin replied.
Nichi's eyes widened, "Aiko, listen to me. I want you follow Danger Plan Number 1. Go!"
"Right!" Aiko exclaimed, quickly rushing away as her father activated his Sharingan. The three genin moved to follow her immediately. Nichi tried to stop them, but found his path blocked by their Jonin instructor.
"I'm afraid that I'm your opponent right now."
'My father had taught me various procedures that he called "danger plans" that I was to follow in case of emergencies. Number 1 was simple. Run back to the compound as fast as I could and don't worry about avoiding the security cameras used to monitor the clan. In fact, it was better if I was seen on them. Make as much noise as possible and try to get the attention of other villagers or clan members. It wasn't about evading the enemy as much as gaining the attention of allies.'
"Help! Help!" Aiko screamed as she ran. "Somebody, help me!" As she continued to run, her path was suddenly blocked by one of the genin. She turned and quickly found the kunoichi of the group to her side and the other boy behind her. Having no other choice, she ran in the fourth direction, but soon found herself at the edge of the Nakano River. She bit her lip nervously. At other times of the year, this part of the river was calm and even a child like her could cross it, but right now, in the early spring, when the snow on the mountains melted into the river, it was flowing rapidly. She bit her lip nervously as her eyes took in the swiftly flowing water.
"Nowhere to run now, brat." The kunoichi remarked, causing Aiko to turn around and look at her as the three genin closed in. Tears filled her eyes. It was obvious that they had herded her toward the river on purpose in order to trap her. If she were older, she could try to outmaneuver them, but right now, at the age of four, she couldn't hope to compete with the speed of three full-fledged genin. She started to step back, but stopped. The bank of the river was saturated at the moment. If she stepped too close to the edge, she'd fall in.
"What do you think you're doing?" A young voice called. The trio of genin turned to see a young boy wearing a Konoha forehead protector standing nearby. Aiko instantly recognized him.
"Itachi-senpai!" She exclaimed in relief.
'It so happened that Itachi-niichan had been sparring with Shisui-san nearby and had heard my screams. Realizing the situation, Shisui-san had gone to assist my father while Itachi-niichan came to help me.'
"Oh? You're that Uchiha Brat that's taking the exams alone, aren't you?" The kunoichi remarked.
"Never mind that." Itachi said with his eyes narrowed, "I take it that the three of you are in Konoha for the Exam, but this area is part of the Uchiha's private training grounds. People from outside my clan aren't allowed here."
"Well! Aren't we stuck up?" The girl sneered.
"More importantly..." Itachi continued, "Even if this were a public training ground, attacking children who are not shinobi is impermissible for any applicant of the Chuunin Exam."
"Heh. Well then it's a good thing we aren't applicants anymore." One of the boys said. "We got dropped after the second exam."
"Not that we were trying to pass, mind you." The other boy remarked, "After all, our real objective from the beginning was this girl here."
"Koko," The first boy said, "You get the brat, we'll take care of this punk!" He and the other boy quickly ran toward Itachi. Aiko immediately tried to make a break for it now that she was no longer cornered, but the girl named Koko immediately grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm above her head, causing Aiko to cry out in pain.
"Where do you think you're going?" Koko sneered.
"Let her go." Itachi demanded calmly. The two girls looked and saw that he had already defeated both boys.
"How did you..." Koko began before she caught sight of Itachi's glowing red eyes and smirked dryly. "I see... genjutsu, huh? I'm a genjutsu-type myself, but it's clear that I don't stand a chance against you." Her grip on Aiko's arm tightened as she pulled the younger girl slightly closer, "However, our orders were to either bring this girl back with us, or at the very least... make sure she can't grow up to be useful to Konoha!" With that said, she suddenly threw Aiko into the river, the little girl screaming as she plunged into the water.
"Aiko-chan!" Itachi called, swiftly running forward to jump in after her, slashing Koko with a kunai to fend her off as he did.
Aiko coughed and struggled desperately to keep her head up in the strong current. "H-Help me!"
"Hold on!" Itachi called as he swam toward her, using the current to his advantage. Just as Aiko slipped beneath the surface, he managed to grab her hands, pulling her arms to his neck before wrapping an arm around her body, now working to keep them both above the water.
Aiko coughed again. "Itachi-senpai!"
"It's all right! Just hold onto me!" Itachi assured her.
"Itachi!" Shisui's voice called out, and when the older boy threw a kunai with a rope attached toward him, Itachi caught it flawlessly with his free hand despite the current. "Just hold onto that! We'll pull you out!" Shisui called. He was holding the other end of the rope, along with Aiko's father.
'Because of the increased volume created by the melting snow on the mountains, the current was really strong that day, and it seemed determined not to give the two of us up. However, soon your father came, along with other members of the Police Force, and together, they all managed to pull us out.'
Aiko coughed as she and Itachi were finally pulled to safety on the bank. Her father instantly embraced her tightly. "Aiko! Oh thank goodness!" Wrapping a blanket that had been brought around his daughter, he turned and looked at Itachi. "Itachi-kun, thank you so much."
"No problem." Itachi replied politely as he wrapped himself in the blanket Shisui had handed him.
"What about the Hidden Stone shinobi?" Fugaku asked.
"The Jonin with them was well prepared to battle the Sharingan." Nichi answered, "I finally managed to subdue him with Shisui's help, but then we noticed Aiko and Itachi in the river, so there's a chance that he regained consciousness and escaped."
"I knocked out two of the genin with genjutsu before the other threw Aiko-chan into the river." Itachi added, "When I ran past her to rescue Aiko-chan, I slashed her with a kunai to prevent her from stopping me. I'm not sure to what degree she was injured though."
"We'll search the forest for all four of them." Fugaku replied, "Itachi, for now, take Aiko back to our house. You two need to get dried off and warmed up and Aiko needs to be protected. Megumi is on duty at the precinct right now and I need Nichi to come with me for the report."
"Right, Chichiue." Itachi replied. He turned and looked at Aiko, "You must be tired from falling in the river. Let me carry you back."
"Okay." Aiko replied.
子供の時
"Here we go. Red bean soup with dumplings. This will warm the both of you right up." Mikoto said as she placed two steaming bowls in front of Itachi and Aiko after they had reached Itachi's house.
"Yay!" Aiko exclaimed happily.
"Blech!" Sasuke said in disgust. Mikoto rolled her eyes.
"Don't complain, Sasuke. You're having tomato soup." She told her younger son.
"Yeah!" Sasuke cheered.
Aiko giggled and looked at Itachi for an explanation.
"Sasuke doesn't like sweet things." Itachi told her as he handed her a soup spoon. "But he loves tomatoes. What about you, Aiko-chan? Do you like sweets?"
"Uh-huh!" Aiko said with a smile, "Especially red beans!"
Mikoto chuckled as she set Sasuke's soup in front of him.
"Itadakimasu!" The four of them chimed before beginning the meal. As they were eating, Mikoto noticed that Aiko appeared to be deep in thought.
"What's the matter, Aiko-chan?" She asked as she lowered her soup spoon.
"There are... there's some things about today that I don't understand..." Aiko admitted. "That girl from the Hidden Stone... she said that she and her comrades were ordered to... kill me... if they couldn't capture me... that was why she threw me into the river. But I don't understand... why am I so important that they would go that far?"
Mikoto sighed, "During the war, your mother became very famous for her ability to analyze enemy troop movements to predict what strategies the enemy was about to implement. This allowed the head of the Nara Clan to form counter-strategies, so she became an asset to Konoha. It was also during the war, that your father became well-known for his ability to instantly adapt to new situations. As their daughter, there's a chance that you've inherited both of your parents' talents. Iwagakure was our primary foe during the war, so it makes sense that they would be both interested in and threatened by your potential."
"Are they planning to start another war?" Aiko asked nervously.
"I hope not." Mikoto replied, "More likely, they just want to prevent Konoha's strength from exceeding theirs."
"But didn't we win the last war? Doesn't our strength already exceed theirs?" Aiko asked in confusion. Mikoto laughed lightly at her open acknowledgment of the obvious.
"Well, yes, but they don't want us to grow stronger." The woman explained.
Aiko seemed disturbed by this. "Is it common? For a shinobi village to just up and kidnap a child from another village, even if they aren't a shinobi themselves yet?"
"I'm afraid it is..." Mikoto admitted.
"But why?!" Aiko asked as she looked up at Mikoto with fear and confusion. "What gives them the right to take a child away from their home and family?!"
Mikoto sighed. "You're right. It isn't right, Aiko-chan. That's why Konoha doesn't engage in such practices. But other villages aren't like us..."
Aiko looked down at her soup, "There's something else I don't understand... Itachi-senpai, why did you jump into the river after me?"
"The water there was too rough for me to walk on the surface to pull you out." Itachi said bluntly.
"I figured that much, but what I mean is... If Shisui-san hadn't thrown you that line, you could've easily drowned along with me. You couldn't have kept us both afloat forever." She explained. Itachi blinked. He hadn't really thought about it. For him, as a shinobi of Konoha, allowing a child of Konoha to drown wasn't an option. "And it's not just that." Aiko continued, not noticing his confusion, "It wasn't just you and Shisui-san who came to help us. It was everyone. Even people who don't like Papa."
Mikoto smiled gently, "Aiko, the kanji for clan means 'one family'. Even if we don't all get along all of the time, everyone in the Uchiha Clan is your family. Whenever you're in trouble, we'll always come to help. That's what family is."
今時
"In that moment, I understood, that no matter what, I belonged to the Uchiha Clan, and the Clan would always be where I belonged." Aiko explained as finished her story, "Even though I've lived most of my life elsewhere, my heart has never left Konoha or the Clan. When you came to my village when we were kids, I was desperate to connect with you, but it was hard, because my lineage was classified information. It wasn't like I could just walk up to you and say 'Hi, I'm the cousin that you probably forgot exists.'"
"I'm kind of annoyed that I did forget." Sasuke admitted.
"Don't be." Aiko said with a shake of her head, "You were only five when this happened, and because of my tendency to isolate myself from the Clan back then, you hardly saw me after that."
Can you reminisce, can you recall
The last time you felt some joy at all?
"If you knew the Clan was where you belonged, why did you isolate yourself?" Sasuke asked.
"I have a natural awareness of the feelings of those around me. Something I got from Okaasan I suppose." Aiko explained, "I could feel the hatred that was consuming most of the adults, and it disturbed me, so I kept my distance." Her eyes became downcast as she said, "There are times when I regret that. I can't help but feel that I should've tried to become closer to our family. On the other hand, if I had gotten closer, it might've hurt even more when I learned of the tragedy. At that time, a lot of the details were hidden from me. I didn't even know that Itachi-niichan was involved until my mother finally revealed everything to me just before her death."
Or maybe you are so blessed to a point
Where you can't remember anything
"I understand your feelings, Aiko." Sasuke said, "But things are different now. The Uchiha are no longer a clan consumed by hatred, nor are we isolated from Konoha." He stood up and offered his hand to her, "You don't need to be afraid of losing Nozomi, because you aren't alone anymore. You're finally, truly, back where you belong." Aiko blinked in surprise, but then hesitantly took her cousin's hand and allowed him to help her to her feet.
The fact we're alive right here and now
We take it for granted, but that's how
We'll find hope when we may need it most
When we realize the miracle
This chapter is sad, but I still like the little exposition into Aiko's past and being able to have Sasuke offer support to someone, in the same way that he does to Chino in Sasuke Shinden.
The lyrics are from Amalee and PelleK's version of Closer. Used with permission!