Disclaimer: I own nothing about this piece except the OC. I'm not sure how fast updates will be, but I'll try to be quick while also delivering a well developed piece. The following chapters will also likely be longer as well. I hope you enjoy the read and I will accept any and all reviews. I love improving and I can't do that without feedback.
I will be moving a little bit faster with the story. Doing small skips and telling small stories within. However it will still be slow overall, since I need to build a character there's no relation to. I did my best with the childrens dialogue, however any advice as to what I did wright or wrong would be greatly appreciated. It starts however the day after the Uchiha massacre. Enjoy.
Seishi Uchiha awoke in a plain white room. He was in a plain white bed with plain white sheets. The air around him felt cold and smelled like rubbing alcohol. Seishi recognized the smell from the many times his mother or brother would bandage his cut and scrapes after playing too hard. The open window to his right let in plenty of sunlight, illuminating the room and allowing Seishi to look around. He recognized the room he was in rather quickly. He was lying in a hospital bed. Noticing the lack of pain from any physical wounds that would require Shisui to bring him here, he could only think that last night really wasn't some awful nightmare. In all honesty, Seishi still didn't truly know what happened. He had seen the bodies of his fellow clansmen on the ground, Sasuke, and Itachi. He had seen death before, but the reason why so many people seemed to have died around him eluded his traumatized brain. Seishi felt like someone would know around here. Hospitals were full of adults, but when he went to move his body just wouldn't obey. Seishi felt tired. Every muscle in his body felt devoid of energy, so he just laid there staring at the ceiling.
Not too long after however the door opened to reveal what seemed to be a nurse in an almost all-white uniform. She made eye contact with Seishi almost immediately and gave him a sad smile. As she neared the small Uchiha she noticed that he tensed up. Trying to be gentle to the young boy she spoke,
"It's okay. I'm not going to harm you. I'm just here to make sure you're okay." She said to him as she came up to the bed. Seishi just looked at her blankly, his brain slowly processing everything before him. "You must be thirsty. Do you want some water?" She asked speaking softly. That got Seishi's attention. It wasn't until that moment he realized how dry his throat seemed. He nodded slowly to the nurse. She smiled and reached over to the bedside table where a pitcher of water and several plastic cups rested should Seishi felt the need to get himself water. She helped the boy into a sitting position, resting his back and neck against the cool metal bars that served as the headboard before she poured a cup of water and proceeded to give it to the boy.
Seishi slowly moved his arm up and grasped the cup. It took a little bit of concentration but he finally got the liquid into his mouth and down his dry throat. The cool liquid felt like heaven to Seishi and he proceeded to greedily drink the cup and beckon his empty cup for a refill. The nurse gave him a full refill before setting the pitcher back down and speaking to the boy. "A man will be by soon Uchiha-san. He will have questions for you and might answer any questions you might have for him. Just try and sit tight til then okay?" She informed the small child with a smile on her face. Seishi only nodded before slumping against the bars. After roughly half-an-hour a man did indeed enter the room. He was obviously a Jonin by the vest he wore. He had blonde hair done in a long ponytail and blue Shinobi pants and sandals. He also carried an envelope that seemed to be full of papers under one arm. Seishi stared blankly at the man, watching as he walked up to the bed, pulled a chair around to him, and sat down at the bedside.
"Hello Seishi, my name is Inoichi Yamanaka." The man introduced himself. His voice wasn't particularly deep but it had a slight rasp to it. The name rung a bell in Seishi's head, but he couldn't put it together at that moment. "The Hokage has asked me specifically to check on you and help you grieve over the next two weeks. I want to start with any questions you may have for me before I begin to ask you questions." Seishi looked at him for awhile before finally voicing a questions,
"Where's Itachi-nii-san and Sasuke?" The seven-year-old asked the man. Inoichi sighed. He knew there was no chance the young Uchiha before him would have any questions that were easy to answer without burdening him even more. However Inoichi knew that the mind of a child was fragile and he had to be very delicate about anything and everything he answered.
"I'll answer Sasuke first. He is currently in the room next door," Inoichi paused as he saw Seishi's eyes light up. He continued first before the young boy asked what he could not have, "However, you may not see him right now. He is currently asleep, and we're unsure when he'll wake up." Seishi visibly deflated before picking up on the rest of Inoichi's answer.
"Is Sasuke okay?" The young boy asked. This was also a tough question for Inoichi. He had never known anything like the technique Itachi used on Sasuke. The very thought that he would go that far on his own little brother left a bad taste in Inoichi's mouth. He himself was capable of corrupting someone's mind with his techniques, but when he looked inside of the brain of the comatose Uchiha, he had been shaken to his core. He was worried about the mental stability of young Sasuke and would be reporting to the Hokage of the potential flight risk. If he woke up. The images Itachi had burned into the child's brain would never leave young Sasuke's mind, and Inoichi doubted they would leave his either. Seishi saw the man space out a tad before calling back to him, "Inoichi-san are you okay? Is Sasuke okay?" The young boy asked again, his voice becoming a little bit more normal with more use.
Inoichi shook his head before looking back to the young Uchiha in front of him. "Sasuke is okay right now, but I'm not sure about soon." Seishi visibly looked more worried about that. Showing more emotion now than he had since Inoichi had gotten here. Sasuke was one of Seishi's good friends and it was good to see that he wasn't blocked off emotionally. "Let me ask a few questions in turn Seishi. This may hurt, but what do you remember about last night?" Seishi paled a little when Inoichi asked him that. He sat there for a while thinking. The events felt hazy to the young child, but after a short amount of time he finally did answer the Yamanaka.
"The first thing I remember is being hungry. I wanted to get something to eat so I was going to see Sasuke's and Itachi's mom. Then I remembered seeing someone on the ground. Then I saw Itachi. He looked sad, but then he left me. He left me like everyone else has." Inoichi opened his folder and looked into it. The events matched with the mission report the Hokage had given him of the aftermath. Granted Seishi didn't give him much, but it was surprising his young brain didn't completely block out the entire event all together. Inoichi looked back up to the boy to see tears falling down his face. Inoichi's felt a pang in his heart. What these two boys had to go through was awful. Sasuke lost everything in one night and was mentally tortured by Itachi, while Seishi systematically lost everything he held dear, starting with his own brother. Seishi looked up at him, tears spilling down his cheeks. He then asked Inoichi, voice cracking "Why is everyone leaving me? What did I do?" Inoichi heaved a heavy sigh. Dealing with enemy ninja was one thing, but dealing with heartbroken children was another.
"You didn't do anything wrong Seishi." Inoichi said softly to the child. "Sometimes the world is cruel and isn't fair." Seishi closed his eyes and sobbed. He finally spoke again,
"But why me?" He asked the man. Inoichi set his folder down before reaching out and embracing the boy. He may have been given this mission as a Jonin ninja, but the man was still a father and before him was a sad child his daughter's age. He hugged the boy as and let the child sob into his arms. It would take awhile for the boy to heal, if ever, but for right now he was here for him. Once the tears finally stopped Inoichi laid the boy down onto the hospital bed. The child had practically cried himself to sleep on his shoulder. Inoichi sighed again before tucking in the small Uchiha. The questions would wait until tomorrow. Tonight, he would get some sleep. Inoichi would be there for the two boys, at least while he was ordered too.
Two weeks had passed before Seishi was allowed to leave the hospital. He had heard that Sasuke had woken up, but the nurses wouldn't allow him to see Sasuke. When he was finally released he was led by an Anbu from the hospital to the new apartment he and Sasuke would be staying at until they felt comfortable enough to go home to the Uchiha clan compound. When he got there he was greeted by a plain looking brown haired woman named Akane, who said she'd be taking care of them for as long as they needed it. She seemed nice enough but Seishi would have preferred his own family. That was no longer possible however, and as hard as that was to admit, it was something Seishi had to get used to. Seishi had been granted one audience with the Hokage immediately after his release from the hospital where the old man had expressed his extreme regret and condolences over the whole affair. Seishi thought he meant well enough, but it still didn't take away the pain. The Hokage also expressed that if he or Sasuke needed anything, all they had to do was ask. Even Seishi knew that meant a lot coming from the most powerful man in the village, but he didn't know of anything to ask at that point so he just said thank you and left.
Seishi currently found himself walking the streets amongst the masses of people going about their business for the day. He'd been allowed to go out for the day but only until dark. He was currently in the market area, where people would sell their fresh grown produce from stands lined up and down the street. He remembered walking through here a few times with both his mother and brother, getting fresh produce for dinner or maybe a fruit for a snack on the walk home. Every once in a while when he was really good, his mother would buy him some chocolate from one of the stores that were located inside a building rather than outside it. He was a little hungry though which was why he was here in the first place. Seishi approached a stand selling a variety of fruits, and his eyes laid upon a particularly good-looking apple. Seishi picked it up and appraised it for a second. His mother had taught him how to tell good fruits and veggies from bad ones, and so he put that to practice here. The apple was a bright red with no soft spots or bruises, yep a perfect apple in Seishi's eyes. As he started to pull out his small pouch that kept his allowance money in it the stand lady spoke to him, startling the small boy.
"Oh don't you mind dear." She said to the boy. Giving him a large smile she gestured for the boy to take it. "It's a gift from me to you. Take it." Seishi was a little surprised, he had never been just given something before that wasn't from someone in his clan. Seishi gave her a questioning look before holding out his money to her. Her smile stayed the same as she pushed the hand holding the money back to him. "Keep your money dear, the apple is a gift." She said to the young boy, stressing the word 'gift'. Seishi nodded and put his money away, giving her a small smile he said "Thank you" before turning and walking away. He was still rather confused about the apple being free, but that thought was pushed out when he looked at the apple. It looked ready to be eaten, and that's exactly what he did. Taking a large bite he relished in the taste. The juices exploded out of the apple, some even dripping down his chin, which he was quick to wipe away. It was unseemly to have food on your face, or so his mom drilled into him and Shisui when they were younger.
Putting the kindness of the old lady away, Seishi continued on his slow path down the streets, enjoying the crunch of his apple as he did so. He soon made it to a small park, where he saw other kids playing and having fun, the parents not too far away chatting together or reading as their children ran around. His smile dropped and he felt his chest tighten at the sight. He'd come to this park before with Shisui and his mother Mayume to play. Shisui felt some tears resurface again and sat down on a nearby bench. He thought he was done crying, but apparently he wasn't as over it as he thought. He sat there with his head in his hands until he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see a girl his age looking down at him. She had messy platinum blonde hair that was cropped above her shoulders. She had pale light blue eyes and was wearing a pair of green shorts that had straps coming over her shoulders on top of a light blue t-shirt and she wore plain sandals.
"Are you okay?" She asked him, bending down a little to be eye level with him. Seishi shot back rubbing his eyes clear of tears. An Uchiha wasn't supposed to show weakness and he already failed that.
'Some Uchiha I am' he thought bitterly. As soon as he got done rubbing his eyes he gave the girl a smile and said "Yep. Totally fine." The girl gave him an odd look before glancing behind her and then back at him.
"Well do you wanna come play with us? We're playing tag right now and then I'm gonna show them how to make flower wreaths like my momma taught me." She asked the boy gesturing to the group of girls behind her that were doing their best to look like they weren't listening in. Seishi gave her an odd look. This was another first for him. He had never played with children outside of his clan, and even then it was mostly with Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke. So of course he asked a simple question since this was an anomaly,
"Why?" Asked the Uchiha. The girl looked slightly miffed before answering back quickly,
"Why not?" Seishi found himself unable to come up with an argument. So when the girl stuck her hand out to him he accepted it without thinking too much. As he was being led to the group of girls he had just one final question,
"What's your name?" Seishi asked, knowing it was polite to introduce yourself first. The girl stopped as she turned around.
"My name is Ino Yamanaka. Nice to meet ya. What's your name?" She said smiling to the boy. He smiled back before replying,
"Seishi Uchiha. Thank you for asking me to play." Ino's smile grew as she returned to leading him to the group. Seishi was nervous at first. He had never played with people outside of his clan, and especially being the only guy around all these girls. He was embarrassed at first but soon got over it and had fun. They played tag for a while and Seishi spent the most time not "it" because he was just faster than them. That is until they ganged up on him and doggy piled him making him the "loser", even though he was pretty sure there wasn't a loser in tag. Then they spent another little bit collecting flowers from the field they were in before they all sat down and watched as Ino made a wreath. Ino then went about teaching them all how to make one. The quickest to catch on was a pink haired girl that Seishi learned was named Sakura. He however, was the slowest. Ino had to basically sit down beside him and work with him step by step. He soon got it and was proud to say his looked the best, even if the other girls didn't think so. He put the wreath on his head and was happy it didn't fall apart. Not too long after that the girls started leaving one by one until it was only him and Ino left. After struggling for a few moments he finally got the courage to speak.
"Hey Ino". The girl just hummed in response while turning to look at him. Seishi felt his face heat up a little before speaking, "Thank you. I had a lot of fun and it's all thanks to you."
Ino looked at him, smiling as she spoke, "It's no problem Seishi-kun. I'm just happy we all had fun." Seishi smiled at hearing that. They spoke amicably for a little longer until a mature voice was heard.
"Ino. It's time to go home." They both stood up at the sound of the voice, and Seishi's eyes widened at who he saw. Before him was Inoichi Yamanaka, the man who talked with him and helped him for days at the hospital. "Dinner is probably almost ready, and your mother will kill me if we're late." He said reaching a hand out to his daughter. The man was smiling down at the both of them, having been here the whole time his daughter was. He had seen Seishi arrive and was going to go speak to the boy himself when he saw the distraught face the boy had, but had a genius thought instead. He had used one of the smaller of his clan's jutsu and sent it at Ino. All it did was cause her to look at a point of interest, which had been Seishi. He then let it take care of the rest, he knew his daughter would not just sit there while she knew Seishi was over there sad. When he saw her talk to him and then drag him over to her friends, he couldn't help the huge smile that not only appeared, but stuck to his face. His daughter loved being the hero and helping people in need, and he knew Seishi needed a friend. He didn't manipulate his daughter, god no, her actions were all hers. He just gave her a small nudge, and hopefully this will help them both out. At least until his daughter became interested in boys, then it was over.
"Yes Dad." Ino said with a sigh. Inoichi gave himself another pat on the back. It seemed she liked the boy enough that she still wanted to hang out with him. There would be time for that, but right now he needed to get home and prepare his folder for his questioning of Sasuke in the morning.
"Don't you have somewhere to be too Seishi-kun?" Seishi's eyes widened as he took in how dark it was getting. The sun was beginning to set and he didn't want to give a bad first impression. His mother had taught him that first impressions meant the most.
"Yeah you're right Inoichi-san. Bye Ino-chan." Seishi said as he took off running and waved behind him. The girl waved back and watched him go. She looked up at her father whose smile had never left.
"You ready Dad?" She asked him. Shaking the man out of his stupor. He looked down at his little girl and his smile grew wider. He bent down and picked her up laughing at her shriek of surprise from the unexpected lift. "I'm not a child anymore Dad. I can walk." She yelled as he moved her around until she was piggyback behind him. Inoichi laughed before saying,
"Nope. Still my little girl." He heard her groan which only caused him to laugh more. As they made their way home, his thoughts returned to the young Uchiha. 'It seems he will be able to live normal barring any other unforeseen trauma that shuts him up. Him playing with Ino proved that he still has some the innocence of childhood left in him. Now I just have to worry about Sasuke. He'll be a lot of work.' Inoichi grimaced at his thoughts. Sasuke would indeed be a lot of work for him, but he was the best at what he did for a reason. Sasuke may take a while to recover, but Inoichi was sure he would. He would make sure of it, even if he had to lock away those memories. Plus Sasuke wasn't alone, from what he saw of Sasuke's memories, he and Seishi had a good friendship. If his little Ino could get Seishi to come out this much so soon, he was sure Seishi himself would help Sasuke get over these traumatic events. Such was the blessing of children.
Two more weeks had passed until Seishi saw Sasuke again. He was told the night before by an Anbu visitor that his fellow Uchiha was about to be released so he was the first one to meet him just outside the hospital doors. There were many false alarms as the traffic to the hospital was quite frequent, but finally the doors opened revealing his Uchiha brethren with a boar masked Anbu by his side. Seishi jumped up from the small wooden bench he was sitting on and ran over to them.
"Sasuke!" Seishi yelled as he barreled into the slightly older Uchiha. Seishi gave him the biggest hug he could muster. He would have hugged even tighter but he felt resistance and finally broke it off to notice that it was Sasuke who was pushing him away. A little put off, but undeterred, Seishi spoke to him again. Throwing Sasuke's way a barrage of questions. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? Did the food suck?" Seishi pestered Sasuke with even more mundane questions. The only look he got from his fellow Uchiha was a dour look.
"Shut up." Was the reply Seishi got, and one he was not happy with.
"Hey Sasuke, what's the matter?" Seishi questioned again. Slightly hurt that was the first response he got from the only other Uchiha in the village. Sasuke just gave him another angry look before it melted away. Sasuke looked down and closed his eyes, trying to hold back tears. Sasuke then proceeded to run into Seishi, this time he was the one who initiated the hug. Seishi was confused but accepted the embrace. After a little bit Sasuke pulled away doing his best to try and look tough after almost crying. "Better?" Seishi asked him. Sasuke only nodded before walking past him. Seishi gave him a questioning look but shrugged his shoulders and fell into step beside him. The Anbu silently following just a couple paces behind. When Sasuke was about to go down a road that led to their clan grounds, he was tugged by Seishi who pointed in the other direction.
"We're not going home?" Sasuke asked his friend, to which Seishi replied with a shake of his head before replying,
"We're staying in this new place until we think we're okay to go home." Seishi informed his fellow Uchiha. A wave of relief flooded Sasuke's face at that news. He then began to walk with Seishi in the new direction. After a few steps he spoke,
"Good. I don't wanna go there anyway." Seishi looked at him again before asking,
"Why not?" Sasuke stopped walking and stared at him.
"You want to go back?" Sasuke asked incredulously. The very thought he would want to go there baffled him. He couldn't stand to be there right now. The only reason he had even started walking that way was because he didn't know he had another option. Now that he did know, he didn't want to touch that land or those houses with a thousand-foot pole.
"I mean it's home. I know it'll be weird with everyone… you know. But it's home." Seishi defended himself. Seishi knew it would be difficult for him as well, but he'd never known another home until just recently. Sasuke however couldn't fathom Seishi's viewpoint. The fact that everyone was gone just made it that much worse. That place was a graveyard now in his eyes. He'd much rather take whatever new home that Seishi was supposedly taking him to over his clan home. "The Hokage said we could go back when we're ready, until then no one would touch it unless it's being cleaned." Seishi informed Sasuke. Sasuke himself felt a second wave of relief at not being forced back there so soon. He started walking again in the direction Seishi pointed when he spoke again as they walked, "This new place is alright. It isn't home, but it's still nice. Also since you don't want to go back now, I'll just wait till you're ready to go back before I do as well." Seishi told the boy beside him.
"Thank you." Sasuke replied, touched that he wouldn't be alone. Itachi had taken so much from him, but at least he didn't take everything. He looked over at his fellow Uchiha and wondered how he seemed so carefree. He decided to voice his concerns,
"Why are you happy? Shouldn't you be just as angry and upset as I am? We both just lost everything we knew." Sasuke asked the boy in a small voice. Seishi heard him clearly however and stopped walking, his eyes becoming downcast. Sasuke turned behind him, seeing the boys shoulders stoop and subsequently the Anbu still behind him.
"I am angry. I am upset. I miss everyone so badly. I want Shisui. I want my mother." Seishi spoke. His voice was quiet, so much so that Sasuke came closer to hear him better. "I want to go home. I want to see Itachi-nii." Sasuke tensed up at the mention of that name, but Seishi didn't see and continued talking. "I want this all to be a bad dream. I've had a little bit more time to think about everything Sasuke, plus I lost my mother and brother before this happened." Seishi had a couple tears fall while he was speaking, but he pressed on, oblivious to the myriad of emotions Sasuke was going through at seeing the only other family he had being so upset. "I've talked with a ninja named Inoichi, and he told me of some ways to try and get over it. I'm obviously not yet but I'm trying. So to answer your question, yes I am upset. I'm not happy right now, but I'm trying. I've made a couple friends and I was so happy to hear you were getting out and I wouldn't be by myself anymore in a new home. That's why I'm smiling Sasuke." Seishi finished with a huff. Dumping an emotional load on a possibly fragile Uchiha that was just released, but Seishi didn't care. It felt good getting that off his chest, he just hoped he didn't upset Sasuke with that outburst.
Sasuke only stood there stunned. He had not expected half of what his fellow Uchiha just said. The mention of Itachi did irk him a tad, but that was outshone by the guilt he felt for asking questions he himself was not ready to answer. Sasuke shook his head before moving over to his clansmen and grabbing him by the shoulder. "I'm sorry." Sasuke began, "Let's go home." Seishi gave him a small smile before nodding his assent. The Anbu behind them filing this entire conversation for his mission report later, the Hokage would be happy to hear about the empathetic bond forming between the last two Uchiha this village had to offer. As they were walking a loud rumble was heard. Sasuke blushed in embarrassment while Seishi gave a small laugh.
"Food not that good in the hospital?" Seishi asked Sasuke. Sasuke just shook his head no. Seishi laughed again before speaking, "Well when we get there, I'm sure Akane-nee will be happy to cook ua a big meal."
"Who?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The Hokage assigned someone to us to cook and clean until we think we no longer need her." Sasuke felt displeased with that. He didn't need another mother, but Seishi had essentially called her an older sister, so maybe that was okay. He was a proud Uchiha, one that didn't need a babysitter. 'Although mom did say I couldn't cook yet.' Sasuke thought. His mental battle decided, he assented to the thought of someone looking after him. If he couldn't cook, how was he gonna survive? Plus Seishi also mentioned they only had her so long as they thought they needed her.
"So." Seishi spoke grabbing Sasuke from his thought war, "When do you think you'll be ready to meet my new friends? I was thinking tomorrow." Sasuke was taken aback for a moment, he wasn't sure he was serious about that. They still had to go to the Academy soon right? Shouldn't they be preparing for ninja stuff? Even if Seishi didn't want to anymore, Sasuke absolutely still did. Itachi had told him to kill him, so he needed to become a ninja and get stronger.
"No." Sasuke said. Seishi gave him a confused glance curious as to why not. "Itachi told me to kill him, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not going to see your friends, I'm going to get ready for the academy." Seishi was thrown for a loop. He had not been expecting this. Sasuke not wanting to meet his friends yet, maybe. Sasuke refusing to meet them so he could train, no. "You can join me if you want, but only you." Sasuke finished up. One thing that Sasuke said still rang in Seishi's ears.
"Why did Itachi say to kill him?" Seishi asked. He saw Sasuke flinch. He was genuinely curious. Seishi vaguely remembered seeing Itachi the night it all happened, but his memory was still foggy. The only thing he remembered about Itachi that night was the poke and the tears. He didn't remember anything about killing Itachi. It just seemed so wrong after everything that happened. Looking at Sasuke, Seishi saw his eyes flare in anger. Sasuke spoke through grit teeth, obviously extremely upset.
"He killed everyone Seishi. Everyone we cared about. Our family. My family." Sasuke closed his eyes. Still not yelling but raising his voice he spoke again, "He forced me to watch him kill everyone over and over again. Including my mother and father. Over and over I watched him do it. The only thing he said to me during it was to harness my anger, get stronger, and to seek revenge." Seishi's eyes widened, he had no idea Itachi had done that to Sasuke. He understood even more why Sasuke so angry. Of course Seishi was angry too. He grieved over the loss of his clan, but he had lost his mother and brother before that. What happened to him that night was nothing like what happened to Sasuke. The very thought that Itachi would do that to Sasuke was hard to understand to his little mind. Itachi loved Sasuke just as much as Shisui loved him. Something about getting revenge rung a bell in Seishi's head, but he couldn't place a finger on it. The thought of it all left a bad taste in his mouth, just like the thought of that night nearly a month ago still repulsed him.
"But why?" Seishi asked. "Why would Itachi ask that after what he did? I don't get it." Seishi questioned him. Sasuke scowled but answered angrily,
"Does it matter?" The Uchiha said. "All that matters is I get stronger and avenge our clan. To do that I need to train." With that final piece Sasuke stomped forward leaving Seishi behind in his thoughts. When Seishi realized he had been left behind he chased after Sasuke,
"Wait for me." He called out. "You still don't know where you're going." Watching the boys run ahead, the boar masked Anbu processed all that happened in his mind for his report later. Things weren't as nice as he had first percieved, but the Hokage would know about everything that transpired. He moved after his charges for the day, staying in the background as he had done the entire time. As other Anbu would do for the next two years of these boy's lives.