Yūrei.
Sasuke heard the whisper of the sycamore trees as he ran down the dirt path winding along the Naka River from the Uchiha training grounds back towards the clan compound. Rubber-soled sandals thumping against the ground, he clutched tightly onto the kunai stored in his side pants pocket. The high collar of his navy blue shirt fluttered in the wind.
"I did it!" he screamed into the wind. "I hit the mark!" Sweat streamed in small rivulets down his back. Sasuke roughly wiped his face, grime etched into the pores of his very skin. He had practiced throwing kunai all day until his once smooth hands began showing the first signs of calluses. A small cut pierced his right thumb, where he had accidentally sliced the tip while trying to pick the kunai up from the grass. Sasuke sighed in contentment. It was quite a long walk back to the compound from here, perhaps twenty minutes. The training ground was deeper into the woods, a place where genin and sometimes chunin came to hone their skills. Occasionally, when Sasuke came here, he could hear the thunk of shuriken hitting their mark on a wooden tree or the whooshing of crimson-orange flames as a user performed a fire style jutsu. On the outskirts of the village, away from civilization, the air was fresher and more crisp. Leaves hid the training ground in a flurry of evergreen, barring outsiders with malicious intention. Perhaps, Sasuke thought, that was what Father said. That Konoha, our village, is hidden in the leaves to protect us. He smiled. Father would be so proud when he learned about what his second son had done today. The Uchiha patriarch rarely bestowed attention upon his younger child, instead preferring to dedicate time and attention solely upon his older one. Sasuke was determined to prove to his father that he was worthy of praise too, just like older brother Itachi.
Out of the corner of his eye, a flash caught his gaze. Sasuke turned around curiously and saw a red string draped around a tree trunk. Approaching it, he examined the fabric closely. It looked worn, brittle around the edges as if the elements had wrestled against it for a long time. Sasuke reached out to run his fingers across the string. The material felt rough and coarse, unlike the material used in Konoha these days. Up ahead, he suddenly saw another red string. Then another one.
It was a path of strings. Where did it lead? Sasuke dashed towards the next tree, which had a similar string of the same material tied to it. He followed the path of crimson through the forest. It took seven trees, seven strings symbolizing the seven days it took for a person's soul to cross over to the afterlife, until he finally turned a corner only to spot a small graveyard. The headstones were covered in moss, as if they had been laying there for a long time. This is definitely not a recent burial ground, Sasuke thought, observing the wilted flowers sitting beside the jizo statues set up along the perimeter. The more he wandered, the more Sasuke realized that the graveyard was actually a massive complex, stretching on for many yards. Some of the graves still looked well tended to, with offerings of impaled cucumbers and eggplants to carry the soul between this world and the next. The solitude and reticence of the place simply served to reinforce its sacredness. It was then that Sasuke noticed the red and white uchiwa symbol painted across each and every one of the stone markers. These are Uchiha graves, he realized. This is an Uchiha graveyard.
Yet in Konoha these days, Uchiha clansmen were buried in the main cemetery just like everyone else. The main cemetery was an area where people congregated once a year to pay respects to their ancestors. But Sasuke had never once known of this burial ground or had seen anyone come here. Who could possibly know of a location like this one, hidden in the leaves, forgotten and alone?
A cold chill passed through his spine. He felt a sensation like someone was touching his back. Sasuke whipped around, kunai in hand, but no one was there. Behind him, a trail of green leaves floated away in the wind. Ephemeral, transitional, temporary. How strange, he thought. It seemed for sure like someone was there. The golden sunlight was slowly leaking past the trees. The sunset was fading fast. I had better get back to the compound, Sasuke reassured himself. Before I get lost in this tangle of woods. He made a mental note to explore the graveyard more the next time he went to the training grounds, and took a step back towards the direction of the crimson string, when suddenly, something gripped his arm. Shrieking out loud in shock, Sasuke yanked his arm away, spinning around. Yet not a single object lurked behind him, save for another marker bearing the Uchiha crest.
Shivering in fright, Sasuke angled the kunai in front of him, ready to strike. "Is this a trick?" he snapped. "Is anyone out there? If you are, you should be afraid. I am an Uchiha and I will absolutely kill you! The Uchiha are the best and strongest clan in Konoha, so I am not afraid of you. If anyone is out there, reveal yourself!"
There was no response, only a bone-chilling silence that left Sasuke fearful to the core. He stood in that position for a minute, armed and ready. As the sunlight hurried from the burial ground, the atmosphere seemed to grow cool and dense. Cautiously, Sasuke trod along overgrown vines and clumps of weeds until he reached the next headstone. Still clutching the kunai tightly, he ambled his way to the following row of stone markers. He was about to take another step forward when his ankle hit a jagged piece of rock sticking out of the ground and he fell to the grass with a muffled cry of pain.
Cursing under his breath, he forced himself to get up. As he lifted himself to his knees, a sharp throb edged through his ankle. Perhaps I sprained it on the way down, Sasuke thought, and cursed again. Thankfully, he managed to fully reach a standing stance and stumble, awkwardly but effectively, toward the next row of headstones. There were only five more rows left until he was out of here. Sasuke quickened his pace. He had to escape the burial ground in haste if he wanted to reach home in time before dinner and not get scolded by his parents. His victory would be less sincere if Father chastised him for arriving late, overlooking the fact that his younger son had successfully hit the middle of the target for the first time while throwing a kunai. Sasuke did not want a pyrrhic victory. When he arrived at the fourth-to-last row, he stood still for a moment, listening for any sounds of disturbance. The air answered him with secrecy. The hairs along the back of his neck prickled. He pinched his arm to keep himself alert. By now, he could barely see the outline of his arm. The last vestiges of light were disappearing from the sky above. Red clashed with blue to splash a beautiful shade of indigo that peered down at the canopy of trees. The indigo melted into a deep blue, the color of sorrow and agony.
The color of mystery.
A color that was all-consuming.
Sasuke began to worry that he would never make it home at this rate. Maybe he would be stuck here until the next person came to the graveyard to pay respects, only to find a terrified and injured boy hunched over by one of the markers. They would scoff at him, a question in their eyes, as they interrogated him about what he was doing here and why he was not back at the compound like a good little boy. Pretty soon, word would spread. His father would catch wind of it and berate him. He would be shamed. The terror made his head pound. He could barely see the hand and the kunai in front of his eyes. He would be shamed.
All was still.
"I'm scared," he whimpered weakly, quiet enough so that anyone lurking in the treetops could not possibly hear, but audible enough so that at least he himself could confirm that he was still alive, alive and breathing.
"So you are, young one," a voice answered.
"Who's there?" Sasuke shouted in surprise, brandishing his kunai from left to right. He could not detect the source of the sound. It seemed to be echoing in the forest surrounding him. "Show yourself! Show yourself or I'll kill you!"
He heard the sound of footsteps nearby. A shadow materialized in front of him. Sasuke swung his kunai wildly in a blind attempt to fend off the attacker and sliced straight down the middle. The weapon passed through the darkness. There was no sound of tendons ripping or a body crashing to the ground. Just silence.
The impact of the swing had been far too wide for his small frame. Sasuke nearly fell as he stumbled to regain his footing. He gaped in horror at the figure who still stood upright, towering over him. There was an exhale and then fire erupted over a torch. In the light of the flames, Sasuke's eyes roamed over pale skin, rui phoenix-shaped eyes with pitch black irises, a double eyelid, and a slim, decisive brow. The eyes gazed down at him with a steady confidence. Sasuke realized that he was staring at the face of a young man. He looked older than Itachi, but clearly younger than Father. His skin was porcelain smooth, reflecting an eerie glow in the light of the torch. Midnight black bangs tumbled over his forehead, framed around straight inky locks that curled into tufts on the top of his head. The man's nose was high and narrow, while his lips were thick and pressed firmly into a straight line. The torch was radiant enough to illuminate his other physical characteristics. Beneath the youthful, masculine face, he was draped in a customary long navy tunic with a high collar, while his pants were a dark lavender stitched from coarse, waterproof material. Sasuke's gaze traveled down to his feet. They were wrapped in traditional wooden shinobi sandals, with bandages that traveled up his leg, much like the style of clan members before Konoha had been founded.
In the darkness, Sasuke squinted suspiciously at the young man. "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"
The man motioned his head deeper into the graveyard. "Let's talk over there. Follow me." Without another word, he strode away, a long ponytail swooping down his back. As his arm shifted, still holding onto the torch, the glare briefly highlighted the uchiwa symbol sewn across the back of his shirt. With its red and white fan, it was instantly recognizable.
"You're an Uchiha!" Sasuke shrieked, ecstatic to have discovered a fellow clan member that could help him. He rose to his feet crudely and limped his way over. He followed the young man past rows and rows of markers. In the distance, an owl hooted quietly. Twice, Sasuke nearly collapsed from the pain in his ankle, but he urged himself to keep on moving. This man would help him. They had trudged for about five minutes until the man abruptly halted. Sasuke stopped beside him.
"You can rest here," the young man said briskly. He held the torchlight to Sasuke's face. "You're new around here. I haven't seen you before." "Then again," he mused, "The only faces I see here are those of elderly people. Never any young ones." His face hardened in concentration.
"I've never seen this place before either," Sasuke chirped. "I've been to the training ground before, but this is the first time I've spotted that string. Maybe I dashed by it too quickly on my way back to the compound."
"Yes," the man mused. "The compound…" He seemed to lose himself in his trail of thought briefly. "Are they well? Tobirama has not been harming them?" His facial muscles tensed in rage. His coal black irises turned ever darker, inky and intense as the night around them. "Answer me, boy." The words came out sharp. It was a command.
Sasuke rather thought that the man appeared little older than a boy himself, but he had no choice but to answer his elder. "Sir…Tobirama was the Second Hokage. That's what I learned at the Academy. He died a long time ago. Now the person who leads our village is the Third Hokage. He took over again after our Fourth Hokage was killed."
The man grunted. "More of them? They keep coming and coming. How is the clan? Is the clan safe at least?"
Sasuke nodded his head. "Yes, they're all safe." He furrowed his brow. "Wouldn't you know these things since you're an Uchiha too?"
Frowning, the man clutched the wooden torch even tighter. The fire almost seemed to flow through his skin. Looking closer, Sasuke saw that his fingers were rough and calloused. Tiny scars littered the inside of his hand and stretched up his arm, evidence of past clashes and handling of weapons. "I haven't seen them in a long time," the man muttered. Bitterness suffused through his deep, husky voice. "They must all be gone by now."
Sasuke frowned. "I'm sorry, mister. That must be hard for you." He bit his lip, wanting to make this person feel better. "But I'm sure…I'm sure that they remember you fondly."
The man's lips curved in slight mirth. "So they do." He peered down at Sasuke, as if remembering a thought in his mind. "So then why are you here? You have no one to mourn here, do you? It is strange to see children in a place like this." His eyes flashed as if reliving a certain memory, then tapered down into his usual collected gaze again. "Tell me your name, child."
Looking down at his feet, Sasuke played with the gentle edges of the grass. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I am six and a half years old. I have nobody to mourn. I got lost here. I saw the crimson threads and followed the path. And then I ended up here, in this burial ground. I can't get back now because my leg is injured."
"Ah." The man blinked and turned his face away. "Then you don't know the significance of this place?" At Sasuke's inquisitive silence, he hummed softly. "Of course you don't. This was before your generation, far before your generation. These graves" - He swept an arm in the direction of the graveyard - "are ancient stone markers commemorating all of the Uchiha warriors who died in battle. This is only one of many burial grounds scattered across the Land of Fire in Uchiha territory. We had to hide them in places like this so that the corpses wouldn't be discovered by enemy soldiers and desecrated." He paused. "Three of my brothers are buried here, as is my father. This graveyard is protected by a special seal, hidden in the crimson threads that you saw while finding your way here, in fact. Long ago, warriors wove a seal into the crimson threads so that only those with the potential to awaken the Sharingan can notice this place. Only those of Uchiha blood, to be clear."
Sasuke's eyes widened.
The man regarded him composedly. "As one of Uchiha blood, you were able to find this place."
It suddenly crossed Sasuke's mind that the stone markers were imbued with a special meaning. They were the evidence of souls that had lived long ago. Each rectangular slab contained the family name and given name of the person who was buried below. Now that Sasuke was peering around the graveyard clearly, he could spot the groups of markers pushed together. Even within the clan, each individual had their own family. Children were paired with parents, while siblings were coupled near each other. The entire burial ground was a map of kinship relations.
Stepping closer to the tombstone in front of the man, Sasuke read the details carved into it with the assistance of the torchlight. Uchiha Izuna. Honorable clan head. Died at age 24. His eyes drifted lower. Below the carving lay a smaller carving etched into the footstone. Beloved younger brother, rest in peace. The bottom marking was rough. Unlike the words above it, this collection of words was clearly not engraved professionally. Instead, it looked mismatched and crooked, as if the person holding the chisel had suffered from trembling hands the entire time he was sculpting the kanji characters. As if the desperate final product was proof of his overflowing grief. Sasuke did not know the carver of the words. But he could read them like a book, read the emotions as if he himself were experiencing them in that moment.
His father had once told him about that particular sensation when they were alone in the main family meeting room one day. What seems indecipherable to others is revealed like the graceful current of flowing water to an Uchiha. We possess unique abilities that enable us to intuitively perceive the emotions of others. We feel those emotions as if it's our very own pain.
As he ran his palm across the cool stone, Sasuke closed his eyes. The artificial stillness of the rock pushed back against his palm, an object that would never wake. Was this what it was like to die? To close one's eyes and never breathe a single breath again? To float above the rest of the world in the afterlife, guarding the people who lived on? Sasuke hoped he would never find out. To see his brother, his mother, and his father all dead…that seemed too scary to think about. It awoke a dark sensation in the pit of his stomach that he disliked strongly. He shook his head vigorously and snapped his eyes open.
Beside him, he heard the man mutter softly, "He was my brother, my last brother." Sasuke could feel the heartbreak seeping through his melancholy voice. He glanced up at the man curiously.
"Do you mean Izuna?"
The man regarded him with a sharp look. "No, I do not mean Izuna." He eyed the marker again silently. Sasuke peeked at him, tilting his head, a question forming in his mind.
"Sir, you asked me why I'm here, but I think I have a right to ask you the same thing. Why did you come here? Did you come here to see someone you loved?"
There was a pause. Then, the man cast Sasuke a reserved glance that gave none of his sentiments away. "In a way. I came back here to remember someone."
"It is someone who is dead, right?"
"You ask a lot of questions for someone so young. I do not know what happened to him."
"Then…I want to know this. Who are you?" The biggest question of all wormed its way out of Sasuke. The blackness of the night around them accentuated the fact that Sasuke could barely see one yard in front of them. There was mystery in the air, a sense of foreboding. "You must have come from somewhere. And you came out when it was dark out, when night fell. Did you come to help me? Or did you come to mourn here? You are very suspicious."
Smiling, the man spoke. "You are keen for a child. However, I did not come here to answer questions. But as a future shinobi, I trust that you will be able to find the truth for yourself."
Sasuke chewed his lip stubbornly. "You're so secretive. You don't tell me anything, just like my big brother." He pouted, his lips puckering into a pout.
The man laughed. "That's what big brothers are for, I suppose. To teach their younger brothers how to figure things out for themselves."
Sasuke's pout grew. "You speak exactly like my big brother. But don't worry, I'll do it! Just like I taught myself how to hit the target with a kunai and throw shuriken. I -"
Bits and pieces of memory raced through Sasuke's head. "This was before your generation, far before your generation…ancient stone markers commemorating all of the Uchiha warriors who died in battle…We had to hide them in places like this so that the corpses wouldn't be discovered by enemy soldiers and desecrated…Three of my brothers are buried here, as is my father…Long ago, warriors wove a seal into the crimson threads so that only those with the potential to awaken the Sharingan can notice this place…I came back here to remember someone…I do not know what happened to him."
The flashbacks made Sasuke's head hurt. But there was one last crucial detail that he had seen, forgotten in the confusion of the moment. He strained his head to remember. It came to him in a flash. Uchiha Izuna. Honorable clan head. Died at age 24.
The grass fluttered lightly beside his feet in a serene night breeze. Delicately, Sasuke fingered the kunai in his pocket, then threw it straight at the man's head in one fluid, rapid motion. It sailed straight through his hair and out the other end without so much as leaving a mark. Sailing, the weapon flew upwards, then arched down towards the ground, finally hitting a tombstone and clanking onto a footstone.
Both Sasuke and the man stood eerily still. Sasuke's voice trembled as he spoke. "You lied to me. You're not alive. You died a long time ago, m-maybe in this graveyard here. You're a yūrei, a spirit!" He jumped backwards in haste. "My kunai went straight through you…Uchiha Izuna."
The ghost of Izuna nodded approvingly. "I knew you were a true Uchiha the moment I set eyes upon you. So I will tell you a story as a reward for your acumen."
Sasuke' eyes widened in astonishment.
"This is the story of how I became a yūrei.
"You are only a boy, but you have that fire in your eyes that my brothers and I had when we trained growing up. We sparred every day to be the best. I truly did not know happier times." He paused. Then, his face darkened. "Our father pushed us to be our very best, but he spoiled us growing up. After long, brutal training sessions, he would always give us the best chunks of meat sitting by the bonfire. I grew up happy in the shadow of my older brother and training with my younger brothers. My brother and I taught them how to be strong. Soon, they were throwing kunai even better than us. But…" He gritted his teeth. "They died anyway. The first one died with a Senju sword through his chest. The second one, his leg was sliced clean off in battle by a water style jutsu. He lived past the fight, but died soon afterwards of a severe infection. The third one died of influenza during one particularly harsh winter. All of them could have survived had I -" He hissed through his teeth and was silent.
"What about your last brother?" Sasuke asked tenderly.
"He and I both survived. We lived to adulthood. While the children around us died with blood streaming out of their eyes, streaming out of their nose, streaming out of their mouths, my brother and I survived. We thanked the gods every year that death had not taken one of us, for as the last two remaining brothers, we had made a pact to survive until we could at least drink alcohol. And we were wildly successful beyond our imagination.
"My brother and I eventually rose to become the top warriors in our clan. Through awakening our Mangekyō Sharingan at the deaths of comrades, we gained a power far greater than anything we had experienced before. People in the clan began to fear us. They began to covet the great power that we had for themselves. They schemed against us, plotted against us, desired to kill us.
"Then, one day, there was an assassination attempt. My brother managed to thwart it, but it was then that my brother realized that we had to act if we wanted to live. By using the power of our genjutsu, we slaughtered all of the assailants in a single night. None survived to see the light of day. We used the chance to take over the clan, my brother as the clan head and I as his right hand man. In truth, we worked together. I, as the younger brother, stepped aside to give my older brother the spotlight, but in truth, I was the one who formulated most of our plans. I was always one step ahead of Brother, guarding his back and mine, and reassuring him when he feared for the future of our clan.
"Alas, at the height of our power, we were very well respected. Daimyōs came to recruit our services from across the country. We were even requested to guard a royal family from another country. Assassinations, spying, infiltration, we did it all. We as Uchiha fought constantly against other clans, switching alliance for enemy for alliance. The only clans we never offered an alliance to, however, were the Senju and their affiliates. They defeated us in the end though. They defeated us in the end anyway." Izuna cursed softly under his breath.
"I do not know what date it is now, but I can tell a lot of time has passed since the people who return to visit this gravesite grow consecutively older each year and dwindle with each passing occasion. People forget customs and tradition, just as the winds of time sweep away things that are abandoned. Once, this burial ground was visited each year. I came here regularly with my brother, our family, and our kinsmen, in fact, to honor the dead and to give memorial to them. The last time I came here as a living man, little did I know that a month later that I would soon be placed into a casket draped in white mourning robes and bound here for eternity.
"It was the fall. My brother and I headed out with our army onto a rocky field by the mountains for a massive battle with the Senju. We had squabbled for some time over a territory dispute, and the anger had boiled over into an urge to settle the score once and for all. We commenced our fight on a clear sunny day, with a sky as brilliant as a blue jay's feathers. In the beginning, Tobirama and I tested our kenjutsu skills against each other. The fight dragged on, with us using our best jutsu and draining ourselves of chakra. To save energy, we fought each other using Iaidō sword motions. I grew bold and kicked Tobirama onto a rock. It was then that Tobirama pulled a deception technique on me, launching a water style jutsu in tandem with my fire style technique. The heat and moisture clashed to form a mist that enveloped the field. In the midst of the chaos, I activated my Sharingan. I really do curse myself for my cockiness, as I was too blind to notice the kunai with a Senju seal on it heading straight towards me. I dodged the kunai, unaware that the seal would teleport Tobirama Senju right in front of me so he could quickly slash me through the abdomen.
"When I realized what had happened, I was so shocked. Coughing up blood, I began to lose consciousness and nearly collapsed to the ground before my brother caught me in his arms. Drifting in and out of consciousness, I could only vaguely recollect the honey-dripped words that Hashirama Senju was uttering to my brother in an attempt to trick us into surrendering. He used me as leverage, promising to heal me as long as my brother agreed to make a peace treaty between the Senju and the Uchiha. I could see my naive brother taking a step forward. He desperately wanted to save me, knowing that I was mortally injured. The Senju's deal could make that happen. Knowing what agreeing to this would mean for the Uchiha clan, I summoned up all of my strength to warn my brother against the deal. I reminded him of everything the Senju bastards had done to us, done to the Uchiha. I told him that he was being used.
"At once, my brother summoned a smoke bomb and we disappeared off of the field, shunshining back into the Uchiha compound. By then, my condition was life-threatening. My brother laid me onto my futon and commanded the other clan members present to grab buckets of water, towels, bandages, any supply needed to stop my bleeding. Even back then, the Uchiha did not have many healers. I pushed my brother to get back on the battlefield and protect our clan. In taking me back to the compound, he had single handedly abandoned the rest of our troops. Who knew what trickery the Senju could use on them? My brother did not want to listen. He was too stubborn. He wanted to save me. Knowing that I was going to die and remembering a message I had read once on the Uchiha stone tablet, I urged him to take my ocular power. I offered him my eyes, knowing that he would become ten times more powerful than even Hashirama and Tobirama combined. I did it for the good of the Uchiha.
"By then, we had no choice. I was dying and there was nothing my brother could do to save me. He reluctantly accepted my gift with extreme sorrow. The transplant exhausted me so much that I died right after it was over. Before I lost consciousness, however, I vowed that I would watch over the souls of the departed Uchiha so that my brother would be able to protect those who were still alive. To this day, I keep my vow, tied to the very spot where I was buried."
"...And so you became a yūrei…" Sasuke finished breathlessly. He stared at the spirit in front of him in awe and wonder.
Izuna nodded. "Yes. For many years, perhaps even many decades, I have been haunting this spot, preserving the souls of deceased Uchiha from those who would want to corrupt them. If ever a shinobi misuses the power of the dead, they will at least not be able to lay a hand on the spirits laid to rest in this burial ground, for they will never be able to steal from a location they cannot see.
"I have done my part in imparting this story to you, young one. Now it is your turn to protect the Uchiha."
Sasuke's back straightened. He remembered what Itachi had told him one day when they were in front of the Konoha Police Station. Sasuke, you should be proud of being an Uchiha. We are the only ones who are strong enough to be trusted to protect the people of Konoha. Our father is the chief of the Konoha Military Police Force, and soon, you can join the KMPF too if you want to. Remembering his older brother's words, Sasuke's heart overflowed with pride. His dream was to become a hero who would uphold the Uchiha name. He wanted to become a member of the police force when he grew up. Perhaps he could even surpass Itachi and gain his father's good favor. But maybe there was another way, where he could defend the lives of the dead, as well as those who were living. "My father is the clan head," he said to Izuna. "So one day, I will be entrusted with the future of the clan too."
"Ah, young clan heir." Izuna's lips curved. "There are many similarities between us, it seems. Both of us have older brothers who have taught us much. We both are clan heirs. We both hold respect for strength. So I place my trust in you. I trust that you will come back here each year and honor the graves of the deceased when there is no one left to remember us. In case anything befalls the Uchiha, I leave you responsible for the souls here."
Izuna scrutinized him momentarily. To Sasuke, it was like being under the gaze of a hawk. His dark eyes bore into Sasuke's scrawny figure, as if measuring his capacity. It reminded Sasuke of the stern gaze of his father, and occasionally, his brother. It seemed that they had awakened a power which he did not yet have. Maybe Izuna too had awakened this ocular prowess that his father and brother whispered about only in hushed, solemn voices.
Continuing on, Izuna's voice rose. "I will have to leave you now, clan heir. When you re-enter the world of the living, do not neglect my words. As a talented and ambitious shinobi, you will face many upcoming trials. Your loved ones may die, some right in front of you. When that happens, place faith in your power. There is always a place you can come back to by following the trail of crimson. As a link between the living and the dead, I will guide you, so do not forget your roots. Learn our history. Become a strong warrior and guard our clan from the treachery of the Senju. Honor the memory of the dead, but never abandon the living."
With those words, he vanished into thin air.
Staring at the spot where Izuna had last stood, eyes wide and mouth gaping in astonishment, Sasuke lay there for what seemed like an eternity, yet must have only been a few minutes. He did not hear the shouting of his name until his shoulders were shaken roughly. "Sasuke!" a voice exclaimed. "Sasuke, are you alright?"
Sasuke turned around and stared weakly at his brother. "Itachi…Itachi, how did you find me?"
Itachi was panting hard, his brows creased in worry, yet the corners of his lips were lifting in relief. "You didn't come home for dinner. When I went outside to check if you were still in the training grounds, there was a trail of glowing red thread tied around the trees leading from our compound to here. When I saw it, I instinctively felt that it was a good sign, so I followed it to find you."
"Itachi…ugh," Sasuke embraced his older brother around the neck. "I thought you would never find me. This graveyard…I saw a ghost…and I think I found the brother that Madara so loved…he missed his brother…I so wanted to see you again."
Happily, Itachi patted his younger brother on the hand and helped Sasuke get to his feet. "Father, Mother, and I were so worried about you. We couldn't find you anywhere." He scanned at their surroundings. "It seems that you've discovered an old Uchiha burial ground. During the Warring States Period, before the founding of Konoha, our kinsmen used to bury their dead here. They would spread their grave sites in all different locations so that the corpses wouldn't be -"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Itachi." Sasuke pouted. "The ghost told me all about it. He told me everything."
His brother's eyes widened in surprise. "Who?" Then, he smiled affectionately and gestured for Sasuke to come closer. Excited, Sasuke beamed. It was then that Itachi teasingly poked Sasuke on the forehead, eyes glistening with mirth. "Sorry, Sasuke. There are no ghosts and you must have made one up."
"Did not!" Sasuke pouted. "You always look down on me like that, Itachi. I swear to you I'm right!"
"Another time, little brother," Itachi chuckled. "Are you sure you're alright, Sasuke? You were here for a while."
"Yes, big brother, I'm fine," Sasuke responded. "I think I've just sprained my ankle a bit." He broke out into a mischievous grin. "Could you carry me?"
Itachi pretended to pout. "My little brother is getting so heavy." But then he grinned as well. "Of course, Sasuke. I'll carry you all the way back to our house."
Sasuke let out a cry of delight as Itachi leaned over to allow Sasuke to climb onto his back. "Big brother, you're the best!" As Itachi began sprinting out of the burial ground, Sasuke turned his head back, only to see a glimmering trail of red thread weaving its way across the tree trunks. Izuna, thank you for bringing Itachi back to me, Sasuke thought. I'll be back again to visit, I promise. I will definitely do my best to become the best shinobi and protect the clan. So trust in me. Thank you…for everything.
A dash, a leap, and Itachi was soaring above the treetops with Sasuke on his back. Glancing up at the moon, Sasuke reminisced that it looked so very bright for such a dark night. The moon seemed to shine a striking shade of crimson. Like the eyes that reflect the heart.