Chapter Two: Bloodlines
Two years later…
Naruto and Sasuke were walking with each other to the Academy, just as they had always done for the past two years. They were discussing what the different uses and applications for the standard shinobi weapon set were, because they were about to have a test on the subject in school.
"Sasuke, I keep forgetting; why would you need a regular large shuriken when you have collapsible ones?" asked Naruto.
"Because, since the collapsible large shuriken have hinges near the center, they have less rigidity when they impact the target, resulting in less damage," said Sasuke. "But then why use the collapsible one?"
"Because when it's folded up, it takes up less space, and you can carry more of them in your travel pack. Not to mention that they're lighter than regular large shuriken," answered Naruto.
"I knew the lighter part," said Sasuke.
"So how much faster can senbons travel than kunai when thrown with equal force? I can't remember if Mizuki-sensei said it was two times or three times," asked Naruto.
"I'm pretty sure it's two times," replied Sasuke.
"Because the thinner needle shape produces less drag," continued Naruto.
As they entered the courtyard of the Academy, Naruto asked, "So what's Itachi-san been teaching you this weekend?"
"He hasn't been teaching me anything," said Sasuke. "He said he had a very important mission for ANBU. It must be really important, because this is the fourth day that he's been gone. He never said exactly when he'd come back, but it's usually just a one or two day thing. Or maybe…"
They entered the building, and then their classroom. Naruto and Sasuke took their usual seats on the left side of the room, about halfway up.
Naruto picked up on what Sasuke was worried about, but thought about the right thing to say as they went to their seats. He finally said, "Nee, Sasuke, if he died or something, the Council would have told your family, dattebayo."
But would they have told me? wondered Sasuke.
"Sasuke, they're handing out the test now," said Naruto.
"Huh? Oh, right," Sasuke was lost in thought.
As Naruto put his name on the paper and looked it over, he noticed the first question:
1.) Under what circumstances would it be more practical to carry a collapsible large shuriken as opposed to a fixed large shuriken?
Naruto put down, When you're going to need a lot of large shuriken and you don't have extra space to carry them all. Naruto smiled. He had a feeling that he was going to ace this test.
Later…
"Remember class, that the practical part of the test will be in conditioning class tomorrow," said Mizuki.
"And if anyone wants to stay afterwards with me to help practice with your weapons, I'll be glad to help," added Iruka.
Sasuke turned to Naruto, saying, "Since Itachi nii-san isn't here, and Tou-san is probably going to be busy with police work, as usual, I guess I'll stay after with Iruka-sensei. After all, I can only get better."
"That's right, dattebayo!" responded Naruto. "I'll go home by myself, then."
"Bye, Naruto," said Sasuke.
That night…
"Arigatou, Iruka-sensei," said Sasuke as he began to head home from the Academy. "You were really helpful."
"Well, I am a chuunin, after all," said Iruka. "Goodbye."
"Yeah, bye," said Sasuke.
The sun was setting when Sasuke walked home, and his parents didn't like him out after dark alone. He passed by the KPD headquarters to see if he could get his dad to walk him home, but the receptionist at the front desk said he had gone home himself an hour earlier. Sasuke hurried to get home before dark.
When he got to the Uchiha clan's complex, there was nobody out on the streets. He looked in a few windows, but the buildings were empty. Suddenly, he thought he saw someone on top of a telephone pole out of the corner of his eye—but when he turned to look at it, there was nobody there.
Where is everybody? thought Sasuke. He was getting more worried and scared by the minute. This realization made him even more scared, because Naruto had always commented on how Sasuke wasn't afraid of anything.
Then Sasuke turned the corner, and he was terrified by what he saw.
His family was lying dead—murdered—in the streets. Bloody bodies were everywhere.
"Wh…what…is…this…?" said Sasuke, horrified.
He rushed back to his own house. When he got to the door to his parents' room, he cried out, "Otou-san! Okaa-san!"
"Sasuke, don't come in," said a voice from inside the room.
But Sasuke slid the door open anyway. When he did so, he saw his mother and father lying on top of each other, dead. Blood was strewn all over the room.
Itachi was standing in the shadows behind them.
"Nii-san! Nii-san! Otou-san and Okaa-san are…!" cried Sasuke. "Why? Why?"
Suddenly, a shuriken flew past Sasuke, grazing his shoulder, and stuck itself into the door behind him.
"Foolish little brother," said Itachi.
Itachi closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were different from ordinary Sharingan; rather than having three comma-shaped marks in them, there was a black three-pointed pinwheel shape.
"Mangekyou Sharingan!" declared Itachi.
Sasuke suddenly started having flashbacks to everything that happened in the past few days: the day he went to train with Itachi in the nearby woods, his discussion with his okaa-san about his otou-san and Itachi's unsteady relationship—and the time that his otou-san had said that he, Sasuke, truly was his son, and right in front of Naruto, no less. Then, he saw images of Itachi murdering their parents.
"Why did you…?" asked Sasuke.
"It was to measure my capacity," responded Itachi simply.
"To measure your capacity…that's all? That's the only reason…you killed everyone for that?" stammered Sasuke.
"It was essential," replied Itachi. Again, he made it sound like he was describing the weather.
"What? That's…complete crap!" said Sasuke as he charged at Itachi. He knew he couldn't possibly kill his brother, but he had to do something. His parents, and his entire family except for Itachi, had just been murdered by Itachi. But he stumbled to the floor.
Sasuke ran outside, and was followed by Itachi.
"You can't be my nii-san," said Sasuke, crying. "Because…"
"Because the Itachi-niisan that exists in your mind would never do this, correct? Foolish little brother, the nii-san you wanted to spend time with has done this to measure your own capacity," said Itachi. "I continued to act as your ideal nii-san, and I became your companion to see if that potential lies hidden within you. You found me disagreeable, so you hated me; you were jealous of me. You continued to want to surpass me. Because of that, I will let you live, for my sake. You can activate the same Mangekyou Sharingan as me. However, there is a requirement:
"Your closest friend…you must kill him."
K…kill Naruto? thought Sasuke.
"Um, nii-san," began Sasuke. "Were you the one that murdered Shisui-san?"
"Hai. It was because of him that I was able to obtain the Mangekyou," responded Itachi. "At the main temple of the Nakano shrine, on the far right side, under the seventh tatami mat, is the clan's secret meeting place. There, you will find the original purpose that the Uchiha clan's doujutsu served. The real secret is written there."
The real secret? thought Sasuke.
"If you open your eyes to the truth hidden in the scrolls in that room," continued Itachi. "You will be the third person, including myself, to activate the Mangekyou Sharingan. In which case, there would be reason in letting you live. It would be pointless to kill someone like you, given the pitiful condition you're in.
"My foolish little brother, if you want to kill me, then curse me! Hate me with all your heart and soul! Live a long life, run away, and cling to your pathetic existence. And some day, when you have the same eyes as me, come before me."
After Itachi said this, he walked away. Sasuke stood there and watched him go. Even after he was gone, he merely stood there for a few minutes, crying.
Eventually, he mustered the courage to move. He went to the only place left where he knew he could go.
"So, Kaa-san, we had a test today at the Academy," Naruto told his mom over a dinner of udon.
"That's nice, Naruto-kun," said Kushina. "How do you think you did?"
"Well, since Sasuke and I helped each other study before school started, I knew all of the answers, dattebayo," said Naruto, smiling.
"That's great," smiled Kushina.
At that moment, there was a rapid series of knocks at the front door.
"Someone must really want to see us," mused Kushina. "I'll get it, Naruto-kun."
Kushina got up from her seat and went across the room to the front door. The knocks continued until the moment she opened the door.
Sasuke was standing there, weeping uncontrollably. He seemed to have been leaning on the front door, because when Kushina opened it, he fell right into her. Kushina was a little startled at first, but quickly welcomed Sasuke inside and hugged him.
Something terrible must have happened, Kushina thought, for Sasuke-chan to show up alone at our door during supper, and crying like he is…
"Hi, Sasuke!" said Naruto, but it soon became apparent that his usually upbeat attitude wasn't appropriate for the situation. He went over and put his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, what happened?"
"Now, Naruto-chan," said Kushina. "Obviously Sasuke-chan is in a lot of pain. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to."
Sasuke merely continued to sob, so Kushina took him to the living room, where the two of them, plus Naruto, sat down on the couch.
"Nii-san…why?" cried Sasuke.
"Did something happen to Itachi-san, Sasuke?" asked Naruto.
"Hai. I mean no. I don't know…" said Sasuke, sobbing.
"How about we start from the beginning," suggested Kushina. "What happened?"
"Well, I was coming home from the Academy—I had stayed late to practice throwing weapons with Iruka-sensei—and when I got to the Uchiha complex…" Sasuke broke into a fit of tears.
"What hap—" Naruto began, but his mom motioned for him to be quiet.
"Let Sasuke-chan take his time," said Kushina.
Sasuke cried for several minutes. In that time, Kushina told Naruto to go get a box of tissues for Sasuke. Kushina also brought Sasuke some udon from the dinner she had served herself and Naruto. Sasuke happily dove into it, embracing the warmth of the broth and udon noodles.
Finally, he regained his composure enough that he was able to speak. He told them the whole story; how he saw his family's bodies covering the streets, how he found his parents dead, how it was all Itachi's doing, just so that he could "measure his capacity". How Itachi told him to go to a room under the seventh tatami mat on the far right in the main temple of Nakano shrine, how Itachi admitted to killing Shisui, how he told Sasuke to come before him with the same eyes as him…
"He said that, in order to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan, I had to kill…my best friend," Sasuke even said.
"Kill…me?" asked Naruto. "But you'd never kill me, dattebayo!"
"I don't know," wept Sasuke, confused. "I don't know anything anymore! My whole world has been destroyed!"
"We're still here, Sasuke," said Naruto.
Suddenly, Kushina had an idea.
"Nee, Sasuke-chan," began Kushina. "How would you like to join our family? We've got room for one more."
"Kaa-san, that's a great idea," said Naruto.
"You mean…you want to…adopt me?" asked Sasuke.
Kushina responded, "If you don't want to, that's OK—"
"No, no, I'd love to join you and Naruto! You two just always seem so happy together, and you're the closest thing to family I have left!" said Sasuke.
"Cool, Sasuke, we'll be nii-sans, dattebayo!" said Naruto, trying to make light of the morbid situation.
"Well, it's settled, then," said Kushina. "We'll go down to the Hokage's office tomorrow, and we can go through all the official paperwork there."
"Arigatou, Uzumaki-san," said Sasuke.
"Please, you can call me Kaa-san now," said Kushina.
The next day…
The Sandaime Hokage looked over the report with horror. He was sure what little brown hair he had left had bleached when he heard the news of the Uchiha massacre. Itachi had been so promising; he had had so much talent as a shinobi. Why did he kill all of his own clan?
Well, all but one, thought Sandaime.
Just as he thought this, he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he said as he looked up from his papers.
The door opened, and in walked the Uzumakis, along with Uchiha Sasuke.
Speak of the shinigami, Sandaime mused.
"Hokage-sama," began Kushina. "I would like to adopt Uchiha Sasuke-chan here as a son."
"Dattebayo!" added Naruto.
"Yeah," said Sasuke. "I have no one else to turn to."
Sandaime was surprised, but he realized that he shouldn't have been totally shocked. Sasuke had been best friends with Naruto since their first day at the Academy, and their friendship had only strengthened from there.
"Well, if you've both agreed on this, I'll go get the adoption papers," said the Hokage, silently glad for an excuse to stop reading the report of the massacre. He went over to a shelf on the right side of the room, and pulled out a small scroll. He went over to Kushina and presented it to her, saying, "Just fill in the blanks with whatever information it asks for. Names, dates, signatures, and so on. And Sasuke-chan will have to sign his name somewhere in there, too."
"Arigatou, Hokage-sama," thanked Kushina. She took the two boys outside, and sat down on a bench right outside the Hokage's office. She opened up the scroll, and read it over, occasionally writing something in. Naruto stood there and tried to keep Sasuke in a good mood by talking about exciting missions they might one day take, exotic ninja weapons that Kushina had told him about, and so on, but the conversation always seemed to lead back to Sasuke's family. But Naruto didn't give up. He eventually decided that a game would be a good way cheer Sasuke up.
"Nee, Sasuke, I've got another idea," said Naruto. He went over to a nearby tree and marked an X on it with a kunai. "How about we see who can hit this X the most times with kunai?"
"Sure, Naruto," said Sasuke depressedly. He got his kunai out of the pouch he carried on his waist, as did Naruto.
"You wanna go first?" offered Naruto.
"Sure," said Sasuke.
Sasuke threw the first of his kunai straight at the tree. It hit the X dead-center.
"Nee, that training you did with Iruka-sensei yesterday paid off," said Naruto.
"Your turn, Naruto," said Sasuke as he retrieved his kunai.
Naruto flung his own kunai at the tree; it hit the exact same spot where Sasuke's had hit.
"Kaa-san must train you well, too," Sasuke commented.
Kushina looked up from the scroll she was filling out and thanked Sasuke.
Naruto and Sasuke kept throwing kunai at the mark on the tree, and since they both were always hitting the middle of the X, it quickly turned into a competition to determine who could go the longest without messing up. Since Sasuke had usually trained with Itachi and Kushina trained Naruto, it went on until Kushina was almost done with the adoption papers.
"Sasuke-chan, come here," she said. "You need to sign your name right here."
"There are two lines, Kaa-san," noted Sasuke.
"Hai," Kushina said. "One is for your name now, and one is where you would write your name again, if you wish to change your surname. Think carefully about whether or not you want to. This is your name, after all."
Sasuke quickly wrote his name on the first line, but paused thoughtfully before beginning to write his new name on the second line. After a minute or so, he wrote down, "Uzumaki Uchiha Sasuke."
"Interesting choice, Sasuke-chan," commented Kushina. "Care to explain why you chose that name?"
Sasuke answered, "Because, although you are my new family, I am all that is left of my clan, and I will not let it die out completely."
"Wise beyond your years, Sasuke-chan," said Kushina.
"Nee, Kaa-san, I know how we can cheer Sasuke-niisan up!" said Naruto optimistically. "Let's take him out to Ichiraku's for some ramen, dattebayo!"
"What's Ichiraku's?" asked Sasuke.
"It's ramen stand in the middle of town run by a man named Teuchi-san," replied Kushina. "I used to go there with Minato, and more recently, with Naruto-chan."
"All right, then," said Sasuke.
Sasuke walked with his brother to Ichiraku's. He was finding it difficult to ignore the snickers of the villagers who wondered why the last of the Uchiha was hanging around with Naruto, let alone calling him brother. He understood that Naruto was the village pariah, but he never understood why. He now realized that he was going to receive similar treatment now, being brothers with Naruto, though.
"Ah, Uzumaki-san!" said Teuchi as the Uzumakis entered the establishment. "And Naruto-chan! Oh, and you've got company!"
"No, Teuchi-san," said Sasuke. "I'm not company. They've adopted me."
"Oh, then I'll give you a bowl of ramen, on the house!" said the perpetually happy Teuchi.
This cheered Sasuke up enough to make him smile as he said, "Arigatou, Teuchi-san."
"Don't mention it; Minato-san and his family have always been my best customers!" said Ichiraku. "Ever since he was my first, they've kept me fed and clothed. It's my way of welcoming a new Uzumaki into the family."
"Naruto-niisan, just how often to you come here?" asked Sasuke.
"About twice a week," said Naruto, who was vigorously eating his own ramen.
"Although Naruto-chan says my ramen is the best," began Kushina. "I can't cook every night, and I like to talk with Teuchi about old times occasionally."
As they continued their dinner, Sasuke's spirits seemed to lift. He was finally feeling the warmth, the comfort of having a caring family. Perhaps it helped that the ramen stand was warm itself. Whatever the cause, Sasuke was, for the first time since the death of his clan the previous night, happy.
He knew he was going to be alright.