RIG=VEDA 3
I received some more info about the original Rigveda (or is it Rig Veda?) from some of the reviewers and I'm silently taking enjoyment from it. I love learning new things, especially about things like stories in religions, or myths or anything that sounds a bit mystical really. And nah, I do not know the details about the original Rigveda since one, I'm not a Hindu, and two, I just did a light reading on what Rig Veda is. Precaution, in case I kind of made someone angry or offended by using that as a title (even if I didn't even know it existed until someone mentioned it to me…), you know?
But yes! I'm aware about Indra (not about Ashura tho so woooow) and hAHAHAHA should I use the symbolism here? In this fic? We'll see :')
Warnings: this chapter is diabetes, it doesn't contain as much messed up!sasuke because I find it necessary not to include too much drama. Besides, this story's genre is family and friendship lol. expect darker things next chapter, okay? For now, enjoy the sugar.
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"Sasuke," his father says to him one day, and it takes Sasuke's every strength not to flinch. Still he thinks he can't hide it as well as he wants, for Fugaku looks crestfallen for a second before he's back to wearing the typical Uchiha stoic expression. Still, eyes are windows to the heart, and with Sasuke being his youngest son, he sees no qualms in wearing full blown poker face, and thus his eyes convey enough emotions for his child.
Not that he thinks his child can comprehend those emotions, but it's the thought that counts.
His hand reaches to pat Sasuke on the head, and Fugaku will admit to Mikoto later on that his lips twitch upward when Sasuke simply looks confused, not scared.
Not scared of him.
He's never been so glad.
"I will never kill you."
A strong word, perhaps normal children will not be able to comprehend, but he's heard Sasuke's fearful mutters before, and so he says it as it is.
"I will never make a decision that I know will harm you directly."
Sasuke stares at him for a long moment, and all is silent.
Tiny hands reach up to his hand and move it away from his head, then Sasuke speaks.
"Really?" He says, something akin to childish wonder and disbelief lacing his voice. "But Father, you're the clan head!"
Fugaku almost frowns. What is he talking about?
"Don't you and the Elders send Uchiha children to die in the war, Father?"
What—
"Won't you push the children to their limits just for clan popularity?"
What is he—
"I heard the Elders don't care about Uchiha children's wellbeing! Well, mentally! I think!"
"Sasuke, what are you—"
"They get sent on so many missions, won't they feel tired and sad?"
"Sasuke—"
"Isn't that the same as sending them to suffer and die, father?"
"Who said that to you, Sasuke?! That is not true; the Clan protects its members! We will never do that."
"But father," Sasuke's wide eyes are settled on him, his lips quivering, "isn't that what you're doing to Aniki right now?"
Fugaku sucks in a sharp breath.
"That… is not true. Your brother's sharingan is unstable. He needs the training. We are doing what is best for him."
"But that's what they always say."
"Sasuke," Fugaku frowns, looking stern, "we are not pushing Itachi around. He agreed, and there's that. Now, who told you all of that?"
"Mm." Sasuke hums, non committal.
"Sasuke."
"Mmmm."
"Sasuke."
"Dunno," he shrugs, then, and Fugaku's eyebrows furrow.
"What?"
"I don't know their name."
"You don't know….?"
"Nope!"
"…Then, do not listen to them. It is unwise to listen to strangers."
Sasuke blinks. Once, twice, before he grins to himself, as if finding a private joke that only he knows of.
"I feel like Eyeliner, now."
"…Who?"
Sasuke simply shrugs.
.
.
.
Sasuke forgets the name of The One Who Drowned, their identity and many other facts about them.
All he can remember are of that show called Naruto (and even then his memories of it are blurry and he can't remember names and events correctly. Like, does Eyeliner abduction happen right after Naruto gets into the village, or does it happen months or weeks afterwards? Who dies first, the Loud Scythe Guy or the Green Eyed Stitches? How does Smoker die, again? Bloodloss? Shock? Penetrated chest? He knows there is some war… but there had been three great wars before and he could very well be having info about those three wars, not a new one) and the hazy memories of Back Then, when he was The One Who Drowned.
It angers him, sometimes, that all he can remember clearly is That Woman's face, her freckles and braids, her expressions and body shapes, her favorite clothes and foods and Sasuke hates it, he hates hates hates hates hates hates and hates because why must he remembers HER? He can't very well use these… silly, unimportant information about her! He can't kill her either, so what the hell.
He wants to know about himself, Back Then. Before he became The One Who Drowned. When he was still just 'Them'.
Was he a boy? A girl? A nonbinary? Transgender, maybe? Who the heck knows. He himself doesn't.
And so he refers to that old self as something else entirely, our of pure amusement and the need to not confuse himself by saying 'them' or 'me Back Then' over and over again. Because he may be Them once, but now he's Sasuke.
He recognizes himself… as Sasuke.
He thinks maybe he can call them as They-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who, too, actually. And after the massacre, he can be The Boy Who Lived.
Sasuke smirks. As if.
And then it gets too long for him to say.
He wonders for a split second as to how the heck the Wizarding Community settles with long name callings such as that.
Dobe is much more shorter, obviously.
And well.
Sasuke likes irony.
And thus, the name Umi is born.
For he was drowned by the sea, for he was brought here by the sea, for he became Uchiha Sasuke thanks to the sea.
.
.
.
He hates sea, though, so there's that.
Fuck it, that's why. As if he can like something that killed him the first time around.
Bleh.
.
.
.
.
Uchiha Sasuke stares at Uchiha Shisui.
Uchiha Shisui stares at Uchiha Sasuke.
Uchiha Itachi stares at Uchiha Sasuke, gauging his reaction.
Uchiha Fugaku stares at Uchiha Shisui, daring him with his dark gaze to upset his youngest son.
.
Clearing his throat, Fugaku says, "Sasuke, meet your tutor." He gestures toward Shisui who has yet to cease his staring contest with Sasuke. "He's going to help you with your… fears, and also train you in anything you need to be a proper Uchiha ninja."
Itachi glances at Fugaku at the word 'fears', frowns a bit before he settles with watching Sasuke's reaction again. Sasuke is… eerily silent, his dark eyes watching wide eyed at Shisui—who is still yet to relent from the staring contest, does he think this is a game? Itachi thinks Shisui should be let know that Sasuke never does this before, so something must be wrong with Shisui's presence in Sasuke's mind or something—and his body unmoving.
Finally, Shisui grins, and does a flourish bow toward the youngest boy in the training ground.
"Hello, Sasuke-chan! I'm going to be taking care of you from now on, so you have to endure it, okay?"
A pause.
A rather long pause. Sasuke is still staring, and does he even blink? Fugaku twitches, wondering if Sasuke will refuse. If Sasuke asks for training from Itachi instead, well, it's normal, he thinks, but Itachi is not well-trained just yet, and he can't possibly risk his eldest son losing control of his sharingan again. He is not prepared for another breakdown from Sasuke. Just once is enough. And it's bad enough already.
…And then…
And then, well, Sasuke opens his mouth.
Fugaku will never admit that he winces when he hears what his son has to say.
"Oh! Since you'll die by drowning, right!"
.
While Itachi's gaze snaps to Sasuke and stays put, Fugaku's instead strays from Sasuke's blank look to Shisui's wide eyed one, the latter opening and closing his mouth akin to a fish, very much blatantly shocked from the words that Sasuke let out.
"What?" Shisui's question comes out harsher than he probably initially thought, for he winces and glances worriedly at the still spectating Fugaku. But then he looks back at Sasuke, who shrugs.
Fugaku almost wants to slap his hand on Sasuke's mouth when the next onslaught of words come forth.
"You're going to die, by drowning, while smiling, with your eyes taken out of your sockets. Nobody is going to find your corpse," Sasuke seems to be simply letting out facts, as if he's listing a shopping list, and Fugaku almost wants to either hide or faint. Eyes stolen… What is his son insinuating?! Shock, disbelief, anger, and the sheer what the fuck is this? Are written on the future Shunshin master's face, and Fugaku can say he understands.
Then a smile comes, pretty sardonic but a smile nevertheless, and Sasuke keeps on speaking and as Fugaku watches it unfold all he can thinks is oh god stop speaking son, stop speaking.
Sasuke doesn't stop speaking.
"I guess they predicted your death when they named you, right!"
.
.
.
.
.
Shisui looks at Fugaku, and with a cheerful smile, points at the smiling Sasuke and says.
"Hahaha! I don't like this kid, Fugaku-sama."
Fugaku winces. Again.
Meanwhile Itachi almost blanches at Shisui's words. Oh no, his father can't possibly let Shisui teach Sasuke! Shisui says he doesn't like Sasuke, and okay, it may be Sasuke's fault, with all those that he said,but Sasuke's traumatized, and if Shisui doesn't like Sasuke, wouldn't that mean he's going to be absolutely ruthless in trying to kick that trauma out of Sasuke's system?
He can't afford anybody hurting Sasuke.
He done that already, even if it's accidental.
He still done it, and he hasn't forgiven himself for it.
No more, he thinks. No more hurting Sasuke.
"That's okay!" Sasuke chirps, titling his head a little bit similar to a cat, and God, does he find Shisui's shock and frustration over his words amusing? "I still like you a lot, Stagnant Water-san."
….
Shisui grins, and it's absolutely menacing.
"That's it, brat," he says, unrepentant even when he knows Fugaku is there watching him like a hawk. He cracks his knuckles, and cackles when Sasuke finally sports a worried-for-his-life look.
Good, Shisui thinks, he better be.
"Run, Sasuke-chan," he chirps, "I'm gonna Suiton you away."
Sasuke appropriately shrieks like the young kid he is and runs away just as Shisui starts making handsigns to start a water jutsu.
.
Itachi stares at Fugaku like This is The Worst Decision You've Ever Made.
As Fugaku listens to the sound of rushing water, noting that Shisui deliberately aims so his jutsu misses Sasuke (that boy really is too soft hearted for his own good), he silently agrees.
.
.
In his defense, Sasuke didn't remember how Shisui looked like before his father introduced Shisui to him.
And information just flooded—ugh, how he hates that word—itself into his brain and he just… blurted it out.
Kids have no tact in real life anyway, so Sasuke pushes the tiny weeny itty bit of guilt and shrugs to himself.
Umi liked Shisui.
He'll like Shisui better if he just stops those Suiton jutsu.
Right now.
And the Umi part of him grumbles,
Who the fuck designed therapies in this world?
.
.
"Dip your feet to the water bowl."
"Why would I dip my feet to the water bowl?"
"Because I told you to, you brat."
"But I don't wanna."
"Do it, Sasuke-chan."
"I don't wanna."
"Just dip your feet, easy and nice!"
"Aniki, I want ice cream. Can I get ice cream?"
Shisui dumps water on Sasuke's feet.
"Aah, it's cold!"
Itachi sighs.
.
"Aniki, it's cold, I don't want ice cream now. Can I get ramen instead?"
"Of course, Sasuke."
"I love you, Aniki."
Itachi smiles, perhaps a bit pained. "I love you too, Sasuke."
.
.
.
.
"Sasuke, I'm sorry."
"For what? You didn't do anything wrong, Aniki."
"I hurt you. I'm sorry."
"Mm-hmm. I love you, Aniki."
.
.
"…I love you too, Sasuke."
.
.
Sasuke smiles, and Itachi distantly notices that this is the most genuine he's seen Sasuke after that night.
.
.
Sasuke is not afraid of a small puddle of water. He doesn't mind if he gets trickles of water on his face, he doesn't mind when water is dumped on his feet. Or when he washes his hands, or when he takes a shower, no matter how quick he does it.
However if someone sprays him when he's unaware that he's going to get water sprayed to his face, he panics like a drowned cat. He sweats and trembles when he's near a large bank of water, even a filled bathtub.
Shisui thinks it's a problem.
After all, he won't be able to learn to water walk if he's so scared that he can't even approach large banks of water.
"You're going to take baths on bathtub now."
"The po-ssi-bi-li-ty—" Sasuke almost scowls, because he struggles with hard words, even when he has the mind set of a seventeen year old, "of me getting into the bathtub is as high as the pro-ba-bi-li-ty that you won't have your eyes stolen by a power hungry Konoha-nin."
"…."
"…."
"….That's a joke. That's a joke, right?"
Sasuke smiles.
"No."
.
"Your little brother is cute, okay, but he's a brat sometimes. Who the heck jokes about getting their sharingan stolen? Not an Uchiha, that's who!"
"Hn."
"And he keeps on calling me Stagnant Water. In Amaterasu's name, I swear I haven't seen anybody who is so scared of water capable of making jokes about water."
"Hn."
"And he says I'm gonna die by drowning! Me, Uchiha Shisui, drowning and dying? Please. I can swim!"
"Hn."
"Are you even listening to me, Itachi?"
"Hn."
"And I'm gonna prance around the compound wearing Maito Gai's green jumpsuit. On my hands."
"Hn. I'll make sure to take photos for my father."
"…."
.
"Okay, Sasuke-chan, I'm gonna teach you a water jutsu!"
"I'm three and a half."
"Yeah, yeah, doesn't matter, it's an easy jutsu."
Sasuke has a funny look on his face. "I'm three and a half."
"So?"
"…." Sasuke blinks, looks away and tugs on Itachi's hand. "Aniki, can I have cherry tomatoes?"
"Oi, don't ignore me!"
"Of course, Sasuke."
"Oi!"
.
"I don't know why you bother," Sasuke says one day, while he slowly pours water on his feet before moving to his hands. The water is cold, and as long as he can breathe, he doesn't mind the cooling sensation for a little while. "I'm not gonna swim. Forever."
Shisui raises his eyebrow, looking amused. "There's this unwritten rule that a ninja must be able to swim. Unless you're in Suna, then you must be able to swim in sand."
"Stupid rule, not gonna follow it."
Shisui sighs, "Sasuke-chan, it's an important skill to have. You can't be scared of the water forever."
"…I'm not scared."
"Right," he rolls his eyes, "then you can't avoid water forever."
"I'm not!"
"Large banks of water."
"…I don't wanna."
"Sasuke…"
"Umi died there and I don't wanna swim there because Umi died there so I don't wanna swim there because Umi died there."
Shisui spends the first few seconds wondering how many times he repeated those words before—
What.
"Wait who's Umi?" Shisui furrows his eyebrows, mind whirling to remember any Uchiha kid with the name Umi.
None. As far as he knows.
"Umi? Where's there? Who is Umi?"
Sasuke's answer is as infuriating as ever.
"Yes."
.
"Okay, so this…. Umi died, and now you're scared of water."
"Not scared."
A roll of his eyes. "Uh-huh. Now, back to Umi. Who the heck is Umi?"
"Yes."
"….I hate you sometimes, Sasuke-chan."
"Yes."
"Uuuuuugh."
.
"You have to think a way so you won't be scared—" a glare from the younger boy, Shisui rolls his eyes again, "so you won't avoid large banks of water ever ever ever again. I don't know, maybe so this Umi person gets closure?"
Sasuke becomes silent, contemplating.
Then, to Shisui's disappointment, he shakes his head.
"Can't."
"Can't?"
"Can't."
"Why?"
"Because," Sasuke looks down, face blank, and the next words send chills down Shisui's spine. "That means I have to kill mother."
I will—Umi will—only ever be satisfied if mother dies.
Painfully.
While she's begging for her life.
Apologizing for abandoning me.
Begging for me to help her.
Apologizing for being a coward.
Sasuke grins maniacally at that thought, unaware of an alarmed fellow Uchiha watching him.
Yes, Sasuke thinks.
I'd like that.
.
.
NO UMI IS NOT INNER. I REPEAT, UMI IS NOT INNER. Umi is Sasuke's past life memories, Sasuke can't remember who he was exactly so he called himself Umi. Umi will NOT converse with Sasuke through a supernatural mental link because Umi is Sasuke as much as Sasuke is Umi. If he refers to Umi, he's talking about HIMSELF. But of course people will think Umi and Sasuke are two different people. BUT THEY'RE NOT. Get it?
Anyway, since Sasuke is a little kid I think he needs to still have his child-like innocence, yknow, even if some of them are fake, haha. (Can you make guesses on which ones are fake in this chapter?)
And we can't have this fic filled with too much drama, can we? We need some light-hearted things after all.
Anyway, because I absolutely hate writing childhood stories (I breezed past it during EI, and even then Rin is still 8-9 in the current moment because PLOT POINTS) I'm going to do MAJOR SUPER TIME SKIP in the next chapter.
Like, super time skip. Blasted through time with Kamehameha. Only important things will be shown and I think it'll only be snippets, yknow.
Oh well. Thank you for reading this chapter, I love you all, please review!
(PS: I have decided to update my Bio once a month to tell you on my progress, so you can know how far I am in the chapters!)