Ninja-style tag continues as Rouzakura, refreshed and wide awake, ventures downstairs for breakfast. Her mother just finished setting the table, and her older siblings are already seated. She goes for the chair next to her older brother.
"Morning, Rouzi!" He playfully pokes her cheek.
Rouzakura pouts and bats his finger away, but her mood soon changes to a radiant smile. "Ohayou, Rakuen-niichan."
"Sleep well, Imouto?" Asks the older girl sitting across from her.
"I slept fine, Rinkwa-neechan." She amiably nods. '… For the most part.' Her train of thought accentuates the continuing clamor outside.
The siblings' mother shakes her head as she sits at one end of the table. "That boy, such behavior."
"Aw, cut him some slack, Chihiro-chan." The man of the house rolls in, "With his life, it's amazing the kid can laugh at all." His wheelchair parks before his family.
"I understand that much, Totsuka-kun." Chihiro concedes, "However, I'm still dubious to allow our youngest child to associate with that boy."
Rouzakura huffs. "He's completely convivial, Kaachan, pure harmlessness. Besides, it's not like I'm an accomplice to his shenanigans."
Chihiro turns to her daughter. "Yes, your family knows that, but all those who don't know could potentially assume otherwise."
"It's been six years now, Ma." Rakuen rolls his amber eyes, "That whisker-faced kid hasn't corrupted little Rouzi here." He ruffles his baby sister's hair, making her squeal.
"Stop messing with my hair!" She swerves her attention to her giggly sister. "And who're you laughing at!?"
Rinkwa prettily tilts her head. "Oh nothing, just a fluff of cotton-candy."
Rouzakura cutely mimics the gesture. "Oh, and what does that make you, my sickly saccharine sister?"
"Sickly and saccharine are synonymous."
"They differentiate enough, and one word is never enough to describe you."
Rinkwa leans forward. "Is that so, dearest Imouto?"
Rouzakura responds in kind. "Very much so, sweetest Aneki."
"Whoa-whoa, Rini, Rouzi…" Rakuen gets between his sisters, "Why don't you two settle down and agree that you both are nothing but masses of sugary pink goop?"
Both sisters gasp. "HYPOCRITICAL ONIICHAN!" They each grab and yank the fringe of their brother's pink hair.
Rakuen yelps. "Help! I'm being pummeled by these pinky powder puffs!"
"DAMARE*!"
A sharp banging sound ceases the siblings' bickering. Turning slowly, they see their mother with a spoon she used to smack on the table. Chihiro wears a sickly saccharine smile. "Children, it's much too early, and I know I've raised you better than this."
Cue a unison of audible gulps. The three pink-haired siblings are effectively subdued and slump in their seats in perfect sync.
"Gomenasai…" They meekly chorus.
"Good. Eat up, Rouzakura, I know how much you prefer being in class early."
Rouzakura frowns. "Hai, Kaachan." She fills her plate in stale silence.
Sasuke sits alone in a kitchen area, drinking green tea while eating some rice balls, and a lone tomato in hand. The laughter of the goofball is not as loud but can still be heard clearly. The boy gives no sign of acknowledging the other boy's antics, he's just minding himself as he looks off through the walls into a distance he can only see.
"Sasuke?"
He doesn't respond to his name, not even as the girl addressing him comes closer. She looks a lot like him, only with long violet tresses instead of short black spikes, and longer eyelashes. Only the length of the table keeps them apart.
"Izumi-nee wanted to know if you'll join us for breakfast this time. She'd come in person, but she was called in earlier due to the commotion going on right now."
Sasuke spares the girl a fleeting glance. "No."
"But Juukei*—"
"Harumi." He emphasis her name.
His cousin – Harumi – flinches. The following silence is heavy and suffocating, and naturally Sasuke isn't the one to end it. "Okay…" Harumi whispers, rheumy eyed over giving up again. "Just remember that I'm here… that we're here." She doesn't wait for him to never say anything, Harumi leaves as quietly as she came.
Once her presence no longer lingers, Sasuke turns his eyes to the place where she once stood, his expression sullen. 'I know you're all here, and I want you all here… but, I can't.' Lamenting over his weakness, Sasuke takes the first bite of his tomato.
"YOU BRAT!"
"YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!"
More insidious laughter. "IF YA CAN NAB ME, YA BITCHES! DATTEBAYO!"
Sasuke sighs. 'Dobe…'
Said "dead-last" had managed to do graffiti on the village's most sacred landmark under ANBU surveillance. That same "dead-last" is now easily evading chuunin and jounin level shinobi in impressive speed from building to building, barely stepping on ground more than a millisecond.
The hysterical havoc does little to disturb Rouzakura, as she sits alone in her homeroom, reading a book titled Mythos of Ninja. Right now she's on the chapter concerning the enigmatic existence of a woman named Ootsutsuki Kaguya. She reads aloud:
Widely believed to be the origin of chakra, Kaguya's story remains one of many speculations; yet, two particular opinions have become renown. One theory suggest she's an avatar of one of our deities, delivered to the mortal world with the purpose to awaken humanity's subtle body of inner power. The second explores the notion that Kaguya is a preternatural being not of this world, or even this dimension – rather she is a mutated form of life from another realm, or possibly an extraterrestrial of an unknown planet. Because there are no sound documentation on Kaguya's official appearance, innumerable images from plainest woman to spectacular goddess to grotesque demoness have festered to this day.
As plainly notified, majorities believe Ootsutsuki Kaguya to be an essence beyond mortal comprehension. In fact, even the vague idea that Kaguya could plausibly be natural born of earthen soil is borderline (if not utterly) cockamamie. Though there remain the few who steadfastly believe there are secrets of our own Earth we have yet to uncover. One in particular is one Ky—
"Having fun at your corner, Bookworm?"
Always invested when reading, Rouzakura is easily startled when disturbed. She lets out a short shriek and the text slips from her hands. Taking a few seconds for her heartbeat to regulate, she turns discontent to her disrupter. "Why are you here, Miyu? Shouldn't you be at your table with your prattling posse?"
Miyu stands over Rouzakura, casually twiddling with her short orange hair, and an unpleasant smirk curving her face. "I felt the need for a change of scenery, so I decided to see what it's like being in class before class starts." Her violet irises mockingly surveys the vacant room. "As I figured," she turns back to the pinkette, "it's rather boring."
"Then by all means, don't waste your precious time here. All those seconds you'll never get back." Rouzakura retrieves her book. She skims through the page she left off when a sudden nudge almost makes her drop it again. "What are you doing?" She demands the other girl.
Miyu, now seated, gives another none-too-gentle nudge of her hip. "I know your game," she begins with a hiss, "just because you got close to Sasuke-san once, doesn't mean that you can do it again, that you deserve to."
Rouzakura returns to reading, intent on ignoring the extreme personality next to her, only for her means of escape being snatched away.
Miyu tauntingly waves the book in her face. "Come now, is that any way to treat the granddaughter of the Sandaime Hokage?"
On the outside, Rouzakura glares at her. On the inside, she's raving.
'My father got me that book, give it back or I'll yank your hair straight from your skull! SHONNORA~!'
A stare off commences, and neither are willing to back down. It could've lasted until class began, but an outside force literally forces them to scoot over. Barely keeping herself from tumbling over, Rouzakura looks over her shoulder and narrows her eyes.
'Sasuke…'
As expected of a shinobi prodigy, Sasuke kept his presence unknown until it's apparent he had to enforce to claim his self-designated spot by a window.
"Oh, Sasuke-san!" Miyu shoves Rouzakura's face out of the way, "Why are you cramming yourself at the edge? There's plenty of room for you over here."
Rouzakura rolls her eyes. 'If you pay any semblance of attention, you'd know that Sasuke likes to sit near a window. He feels far away from his shallow fan-base when he can look out whenever he wants.' Of course, Rouzakura would never share such intel.
Sasuke, naturally, doesn't humor Miyu with a response. He sits perfectly still with his fingers loosely laced under his nose.
Not liking that she's being sandwiched, Rouzakura snatches her book back and elbows Miyu off none-too-gently. "Personal space Miyu. As the honorable granddaughter you should know the rules: space between three students per row."
Miyu glares at the audacious pinkette then risks a glance at Sasuke, who isn't giving her the time of day. To save some dignity, Miyu eases her composure and stands up. "Well, since I no longer have any business here, I have more important matters to attend with." She saunters to the door, not doubt hoping Sasuke is peeking at her backside, and when it's shown that he's never strayed his eyes, she briefly hitched in her step before smoothly leaving the room.
Sighing in relief, Rouzakura returns to her book. After a few minutes, she glances at Sasuke, and he's as frozen as a marble statue.
岐
路
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Here's the next segment, further displaying who Rouzakura is as a character. She has a full family: a mom, a dad, an older brother and an older sister.
And for those who want a know the meaning behind her family's names:
Totsuka (十拳) is from the name Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, which means "Sword of Length of Ten Fists". His name is open to mean something different in the future.
Chihiro (千尋) means "thousand fathoms", though a good number of you should know that from Spirited Away (a highly recommended masterpiece).
Rakuen (楽園) means "paradise" or "pleasure garden".
Rinkwa's (輪花) name (and the character herself) has the most interesting origin. It's actually the reverse spelling of hanawa (花輪), which means "garland of flowers" or "wreath". Rin and wa are of the same kanji (輪) that means "circle", "ring", etcetera. Hana (花) is widely known to mean "flower", ka is the modern sound for the historical sound kwa. Furthermore, Rinkwa is the reboot of the OC, Rini Uzumaki – created by retired DeviantArtist LuckiiNana. We've chatted about her character before she decided to call it quits. With her giving me the okay to use her character how I saw fit, I decided to have Rini introduced in a new light, now as Rinkwa Hagaromo (Rini now being used as a nickname by her brother).
Rouzakura also has an adversary she'll have to deal with for a while. Hopefully this sequence further emphasizes how she is where Sasuke is concerned – that there is a history between them yet to be explored.
Furthermore, there is a mentioning of Kaguya Ootsutsuki much earlier than in canon. Only, it is purposely made for Kaguya's origin to be made a mystery, so there's potential differences in comparison to how she was portrayed in the original. Kaguya will be a recurring factor in this story, her significance made known bit by bit.
And as you may have noted, Sasuke in this story is not the only survivor of the Uchiha clan. One may think that because he's not alone anymore, he'll lighten up. But I think having fellow survivors would add more weight to Sasuke's turmoil.
Harumi Uchiha belongs to fellow deviant Uchiha-Harumi (Mary Harumi). Be sure to check out her content on the DeviantArt website.
*Damare—"Shut up" in japanese
*Juukei—Japanese for "cousin", particularly an older male.