Chapter 1 – When Aniki Returns

No. This was bad. Sasuke whirred through various excuses, determined to fend off the boy somehow.

"I like to walk by myself." It was simple, but Naruto was simple too.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed, hands clenched into excited fists. "I like to walk by myself too! So that means we should walk together."

"That logic is beyond me."

"Huh?" There was innocent yearning on his face, and Sasuke felt discomforted by it. That was how he had once looked, every time he'd gone up to that man and asked to train.

Sasuke could see that the stupid kid was already convinced he had some sort of kindred soul in him. With a long suffering sigh that sounded so strange from his young mouth, he endured the dobe's presence beside him as he walked. Naruto was the kind who responded to reaction, which was something Sakura had never understood. If he ignored him for long enough, he'd go away on his own.

"So where do you live?" The boy chirped.

"Uchiha grounds, two and a half kilometers that way." He would take the longer route. It was a long walk for a young boy. Maybe that would make him think twice.

"Oh, great! I live that way too!"

Such a trite, childish lie. He lived in the opposite direction. Far in the opposite direction. Sasuke tried to think of ways to discourage him, but came up with none.

"Your name's Kaeru, right?"

"Sasuke."

"Oh. Sorry. I'll remember." The look on his face was troubled for a second, but it quickly merged back into his grin. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke didn't comment on that. He simply walked forward, staring determinedly down the lone side street that led to the side gates of the Uchiha compound. He preferred this route; it was longer, but he didn't need to come in contact with the milling crowds of civilians returning home early from work.

To their right, the road sloped down into a bank that led to the river, which resembled a long pond in the afternoon sun. He remembered that he liked to sit there, staring out at the ripples. He remembered one day when Naruto had stood at the top of the bank and watched him like the dobe he was. Annoying.

They managed to walk another two minutes in silence before Naruto took it upon himself to disrupt it with his chatter.

"Hey, Sasuke? Can I tell you something?"

Sasuke didn't reply. The boy seemed to take that as a yes.

"I'm going to be the Hokage one day," he said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be the great shinobi ever."

"Hn." There it was again. That silly, mindless goal. Naruto presence was like a heavy weight that settled around his shoulders and refused to budge. The only person who he'd ever recognized as a friend. He regretted it, now. He regretted it with a surprising fervor. He wished the boy would go away.

The view of the clan compound gates came in the distance amid the cloudless sky and the full trees. Naruto's chatter took on a new intensity, as if he could feel that they would be separated soon and grasped desperately at some sort of insurance. Some sort of knowledge that this rare chance would last.

"Hey, um, we can be friends, right? I think some of the other kids aren't allowed to talk to me … but you're different, right?" His voice was high and cheery and pointedly casual, masking the hope underneath.

Sasuke shot him a glance, feeling the irritation creep up on him. Sometimes, he understood why Sakura kept hitting the boy. He didn't take a hint when it was rubbed in his face. So what if he was alone? Many were, and they didn't complain about it. So what if no one wanted to be friends with him? So what if he didn't have a family. He … he hadn't had anything to begin with.

It was harder to lose than to never have. To never have was to be vaguely aware of some difference, some separation from the norm. To lose was to yearn and bear the memories with clenched teeth. To feel that crushing cruelty of loss settle down on him and whisper repeatedly in his ear that it was all gone.

Sasuke didn't pity him. Naruto wouldn't want his pity anyway.

He didn't give an answer, even through Naruto was clearly waiting for one. They reached the gates of the compound minutes later, and the boy had to almost jog to keep up with Sasuke's quick steps.

"Y-You're different, right?" There was still hope in his voice, the kind of foolish hope that only Uzumaki Naruto could ever have.

Sasuke slid the wooden bolt of the gate and pushed it open, stepping in quickly enough to close it behind him. He left the other boy standing outside, five kilometers from his empty apartment.

It was two hours before Uchiha Fugaku returned, and the sky had already begun to dim. Sasuke was sitting in his room reading through some of the academy scrolls – reacquainting himself with what had been happening at this time – when he heard the sliding door to the house being opened.

He stood up in pure curiosity, placing the scrolls by his futon and walking to the sitting room. Both his parents were sitting around the kotatsu, and there were some papers spread out between them. They barely noticed as Sasuke walked over and sat by his mother.

"Welcome home, otou-san," he said in a controlled voice. It wasn't as hard to keep his voice calm as it had been that morning with his mother. This man had never recognized him as much beyond an assurance if anything happened to his first son.

His father nodded at him briefly. Sasuke's eyes ran over his face, noting the new ruggedness of his skin and the wrinkles in his forehead. Even his clothes were slightly rumpled, as if he had clenched his hands into them more than once that day. He had been at the clan meeting for many hours; something had not gone well.

"There is no other choice," His father spoke stiffly. "They have not agreed to any of what we proposed." Sasuke listened in confusion, noting down the words in his memory.

"Where is Itachi now?" Mikoto asked, her voice tinged with worry. "Will he be there at that time? Must he witness it?"

"He will. He returns from his mission today, at eight."

Sasuke bristled at the name. But that was good information. If that man said he would be back at eight, then he would. He kept his word to everyone else, after all.

"Can I send him with Sasuke?" She went on. "That will be fine, will it not?"

Send where? The question lingered on the tip of Sasuke tongue, but he kept silent. He wasn't permitted to interrupt a conversation like this. He would ask his mother later on, when they were alone. She was always forthcoming with him.

Fugaku watched her sternly, as if disappointed at a display of weakness. "He will do more than witness, Mikoto. He must stay. We need him here."

"He's our son." Her voice rose slightly, "he's not one of your-" her eyes glanced briefly at Sasuke, who was busily warming his hands over the side of the kotatsu and pretending not to listen.

"Sasuke, leave. Go study in your room." Fugaku's voice was sharp.

Sasuke nodded and slipped out of the room, shooting one last questioning glance at his mother. She was looking at him with carefully contained sorrow. What was this about? Why did she watch him like that?

He closed the sliding door, but did not turn to walk down the hall to his room. Instead, he pressed his ear against the edge with trained stillness that betrayed his childish form. He didn't remember witnessing this conversation, but he had to hear.

"He's not one of your soldiers," Mikoto's voice was muffled as it strained through the sliding door. "He's a thirteen-year-old boy."

Sasuke's hands clenched until he could feel the moon-shaped marks of his fingernails against his palm. That thirteen-year-old boy may kill you five days from now, oka-san.

"He belongs to the clan," Fugaku's voice was low, "he has a duty, Mikoto. This is the will of the Uchiha council, and they would have reached it even without me. He is one of the strongest members of our clan despite his age."

"He's … our son," her voice was faltering, unsure.

"You have Sasuke. Itachi is for the clan, he always was."

"Until he dies, is it? Then they'll take Sasuke too."

There was silence in the room. Sasuke's heart hammered in his chest as he waited for some sound to bridge the gap of his understanding. Why was she talking about him like that? His mother was preferable to his father in most things, but she'd never cared so much beyond what motherly affection required.

She had probably protested about that man's assignment in anbu, while his father argued that it was for the benefit of the clan. Uchiha Mikoto had never approved of her son joining that place, where they trained assassins and mindless killers. She'd been one of those killers herself, but it was strange how people were so opposed to letting their loved ones turn out the same as they did.

But what would his father do, after hearing those words? They never fought so openly, it was considered low. The Uchiha had to show unity in everything to the outsiders, and all Sasuke had ever glimpsed were cold looks and colder bed sheets that he preferred not to think of. He didn't care either way; he'd long gotten over his parent's deaths. That place in his mind had been occupied by hatred for too long.

For most of his youth, it had been just him and Itachi-nii and oka-san, and his father had been a vague presence who had appeared shortly before he went to bed to make a brief presence at dinner, and occasionally talked to that man about clan matters. Oka-san fulfilled every other role, but only as much as she needed to.

Sasuke still held memories of resting on the steps with his head in her lap while they watched him train for his chunin exams in the forest behind the house. She'd run her hand through his dark hair and explain that he needed to grow up and become strong like him, so that he could please his clan. And he'd nod like the little fool he had once been and leapt up to ask that man to train him while she looked on proudly.

Finally, his father spoke.

"You should hold more trust in your son; he is strong. I have to meet with the west police squad in half an hour. I will be back after Itachi returns, I must tell him his role."

Sasuke heard the sliding sound as his father drew his knees back from under the kotatsu and stood up. There was the sound of paper being gathered, and a patter of footsteps as he left. After waiting for a few more minutes, he retreated to his room. Only to make it appear as if he had been there for all that time.

But he returned a few minutes later to the sitting room, where his mother was still seated, frozen, with her hands clenched on her knees. Her face was pale but set with determination. He went to sit beside her again.

"Oka-san, where am I going?"

She looked up at him, as if just realizing that he was there, and smiled softly. "We're sending you to oba-san's house in Kusa for a week. She's wanted to see you grown up, since she last saw you as a baby. You will like it, Sasuke. She has a large cat that you can play with. I think his name is dango."

Sasuke vaguely recalled some intermarried civilian family that had been mentioned once or twice. He gave her a small smile, only because it would be strange if he didn't smile at something like that. Even so, the expression felt strange on his face. "Are you and … aniki coming with me?"

"Sorry, Sasuke. I have to stay. Your father and I have duties here in the clan. Itachi will go with you."

So she was planning to hold her ground against the clan's decision. It was brave but foolish. Sasuke frowned inwardly at that, wondering why he hadn't noticed these things the first time. But before, he'd been an oblivious child. An oblivious, stupid child who'd stayed in his room reading his childish books.

The room was quiet for a while, with nothing but the sound of the evening breeze from the open windows. Sasuke pretended to look out the window, but he sneaked glances at her when she wasn't looking. Why was she looking like that, the woman who had done her duty as a mother and nothing more? Itachi had been in anbu for almost six months, why did she protest so much now? Shouldn't she have spoken up all those months ago?

His glance was too long, because she turned back and saw. Sasuke turned away quickly, but he felt a warm hand cover his own on the table.

"Sasuke, ignore what you heard," she whispered, gently squeezing his hand.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.

"Silly boy, as if I wouldn't know your presence. You've become surprisingly stealthy but I'll always know when you're nearby."

He bristled, and forced himself to apologize. "I'm sorry, oka-san. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. Itachi will go with you to Kusa. You won't be alone. I was just being foolish when I said that. Itachi won't die. I won't let him die." She sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself.

Ah, so that was it. It wasn't Sasuke, it was about him. It was about her more prized son's life, and she was worried. Maybe they'd given him some S-rank that he couldn't opt out from, something that put him in danger. Well that was fine. He'd stopped caring. It had only been curiosity.

Sasuke slipped his hand out from underneath hers and slid his knees out from under the kotatsu, "I'll be studying in my room, oka-san." He silently left the sitting room. When he turned to close the sliding door, he dispassionately watched her pale hand tangle itself into the cloth of the kotatsu blanket.

Later that evening, Sasuke sat behind the back door. It was creaked open slightly, where he could peak outside and watch for Itachi's return. He didn't remember waiting like this last time, but it was something he would typically do. His mother was still in the sitting room, and he'd heard the crinkle of paper when he'd passed. She was looking over the documents Fugaku had left her.

He passed almost an hour sitting there, and his feet were long asleep. The air was getting colder, and he had to tuck his small hands under his legs for warmth. Outside was the small yard that led into the forest, and that man always came in through the back, since he'd come in anbu uniform and didn't like for people to see, even though it was already already known. Sometimes he was accompanied by Shisui-nii, who would greet him after his missions.

Today, he came with another figure, exactly at eight like he'd said. He and the other person both wore their masks, one Crow and one Owl. They leapt out of the trees, silent as the falling night around them. Sasuke felt simmering hatred inside him as he watched the scene.

He was the person he'd sworn to kill, to make him pay for everything. To make him pay for that feeling of loss that had followed him and lingered in the back of his mind, the feeling that would never let him forget or recover. His vision went fiery red and he struggled to hold it down.

Now, that man would say goodbye to his anbu teammate and come inside. And Sasuke would obligingly act the part of younger brother while holding in barely contained anger.

But he didn't come inside. He made to head towards the door Sasuke sat behind, but the other person, the anbu Owl, stopped him by pulling at his sleeve. He turned around and stepped close to the Owl.

Sasuke watched in slight confusion as they spoke in silent whispers, as Owl leaned forward before tilting her head slightly towards the back door he sat behind. He knew that he'd been discovered, but couldn't bring himself to move. It would be in character anyway. He had always waited for that man to come home after missions.

After a few more seconds of talking, the Owl brought one hand to Itachi's mask, and pushed it upwards.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Anbu weren't supposed to do that.

That man simply obliged and removed the Crow mask, placing it at his hip. Then Owl slipped off his own mask, and dark hair swept down her back from where it had been tied into the band of the clay. Even in the dim light, Sasuke could see the glint of red in her eyes. A female Uchiha anbu.

So this was Fukurou, the outer-circle operative who'd he'd once heard his father speak of in passing. She was a specialized anbu, who only did tracking and was not involved in many of anbu's operations. For someone like her, the Uchiha clan ties were stronger than the anbu's rules on identity.

Some of the anger he felt was replaced by more confusion when she leaned forward to press her mouth to Itachi's. Itachi remained, neither responding nor drawing away. In five days, he'd once killed her too.

After a while, she drew back and replaced her mask. Then she disappeared into the trees, and he headed for the door. Sasuke sat, frozen, as he approached. He wouldn't be able to do it now, of course. He needed to have his guard down. He quickly slipped to his feet.

Itachi opened the door and gave him one of those insufferably kind smiles that made him itch to activate his Sharingan, "sorry, Sasuke. I hope I didn't make you wait for too long."

Sasuke was unable to speak. His tongue didn't move; it was too shrouded by the anger that he fought to keep down.

"We're to be married in the future, when I become clan head. She didn't want it to be one of convenience. She is two years older, so I thought to leave it to her."

It was ok if some of the anger leaked through to display itself on his childish face. That man would just think he was angry to see his brother pay attention to someone else. Sasuke didn't care what he thought.

"I told her it was fine if you knew. I trust you not to tell rumors," the kind smile was there again. "It's a little too late to train, Sasuke. I will go speak to oka-san." He reached forward with two fingers, and gently tapped his brother's forehead.

Sasuke clenched his teeth and remained silent as his brother walked down the hall to the sitting room. It had taken everything he had to keep himself from breaking those fingers while he had the chance.