Kaiya took the steps leading up to the veranda that wrapped around the entirety of the compound. She approached the door and reached for the handle. Unlike the traditional compounds, their parents had designed the entrance to their home with a thick wooden door that opened on hinges rather than sliding it over. The wood had survived all these years of neglect, but the hinges were covered in rust and not too far away from corrosion. No doubt a rare flaw in her parents' design.
Time slowed down as Kaiya's shaky hand came closer and closer to the metal grip of the handle. She paused but managed to recover quickly; she carefully pulled the unlocked door forward, just wide enough for her to fit through, afraid if she opened it any wider it would come loose completely. She peeked inside, coughing as the dust riled up from within and entered her lungs swiftly, along with the rust-mold odor, this time much stronger. Taking one last breath of clean air from outside, she entered the abandoned home, before she could change her mind.
It had been a recurring thought in her mind to come here for years. But until recently it had been heavily monitored by Jonin and ANBU throughout the day, as if they were waiting for someone to return to the ruins. But that was impossible. Everyone besides her that had lived there was gone. There was no reason for anyone to come here now.
Kaiya would never admit it, but she had feared this place all this time. Once she had snuck here, only a few months after the tragic event that led to its abandonment, but she was caught and swiftly returned to her new place of residence. They scolded her and had threatened to take dire consequences should she attempt to return again, and so she hadn't. Then she was relocated a second time, but after suffering yet another loss, she had decided she couldn't bear the weight of any more heartbreak. But she had heard whispers from the ANBU the past month that the Hokage was considering tearing it down. There was no reason to keep Kaiya's family home standing.
So, she had to see it now, before it was gone. Before she ever found out what really happened that night, whether it was reality or some terrible nightmare. Even six years later, Kaiya couldn't decide.
This forsaken property was off limits to all citizens except those appointed by the Hokage to monitor it. It was especially off limits to Kaiya, and she could get into a lot of trouble if she was caught. Normally, the ANBU watching her from the shadows would have cut her off before she diverted onto the path that led to her old family home, but they were dispersed for a mission that the Hokage assigned them, so this was a rare moment in which she was free to roam around on her own. The random Jonin that guarded the property were also away on missions and other duties, and there was no telling how much time she had before they returned.
If any of the other villagers saw her around here, they would probably accuse her of following in her family's footsteps, plotting to sabotage the village or some other traitorous act. For what other reason would she be there now? They would demand the Hokage lock her away in the most secure prison in Konoha forever—just like they had done six years ago.
Despite the risk, Kaiya had to see everything for herself. She didn't remember much about that fateful day, only that it was a bloody affair. She could still smell iron as she walked through the entryway, the metallic scent mixing with the other old smells of the place, making her nauseous. She hadn't been in the main part of the house when it happened. She was in her bed, asleep. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night to a masked ANBU agent standing over her bed silently, his head tilted as he stared at her, before disappearing like he had never been there in the first place. Then, she remembered hearing a soft voice, before being alone again. It was a different presence than the first. She thought it was all a dream.
But then she heard the noises. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't move for what seemed like hours. When she finally did manage to force her body out of bed, she ran to see what had happened to her family, but before she could enter the house, everything went black as a hand covered her eyes and mouth. She couldn't breathe or see. She thought she had seen an ANBU agent escape from the bushes just before that moment, but that didn't make any sense. Nothing about that night made sense.
When she woke up, Kaiya was in a bed that wasn't hers, surrounded by people she had never seen before. An emotionless ANBU operative gave her the news—her family was dead, and they had been accused of treason. She was to remain detained until her innocence was proven. She had no idea what they had been talking about. Her parents loved the village and designed their buildings and landscapes. Her siblings were proud shinobi that risked their lives on missions to help the village thrive. They could never be traitors. They couldn't be dead.
Kaiya squeezed her hands into fists, knuckles paling. She hated remembering how vulnerable and confused she was at that moment. She was so afraid; all she wanted was her parents to comfort her, but they were gone. She was alone.
Too bad it took her so long to realize that she had always been alone.
Those feelings were in the past now, she told herself. She was going to see the place where her parents and siblings died. If no one would tell her anything, she'd take matters into her own hands and find out for herself. Her subconscious led her to the living room first.
Kaiya shivered as she looked around. Nothing was the same as she remembered it from the last time that she had stepped foot in this room, just a few hours before the incident, earlier in the day. The wooden tiles and walls were covered in splattered blood, now brown and dry, peeling. The metallic scent of rust was unbearable; she covered her nose in disgust as it twitched uncontrollably. The furniture—an allotment of carefully designed wooden tables and chairs and leather couches, all made by her parents' hands—was covered in blotches of blood just like the walls, shredded to pieces and scattered all over the floor. There was a broken window to her left, in the interior of the home. Whether someone had broken it entering or exiting was a mystery.
Then there was the chalk outline of an ANBU's corpse next to the window. She would have thought it was her father's, but of the tiny bit of information she was given of that night, her father was killed in an explosion outside, along with a second Black Op. There had been nothing left of him to sketch on the charred dirt. Only a gaping hole in the left side of the compound remained as evidence.
At the entrance into the hallway there was another chalk outline, this one smaller than the first. Kaiya knew right away that it belonged to her mother, as her siblings hadn't even reached that height, and they died in custody in prison, after being tortured by Ibiki for several days. Those chalk outlines were still visible, though they were fading now. She frowned in question when she caught sight of something on the floor next to where her mother had perished.
"Hmm?" Squinting, she approached the object, half hidden under an overturned lamp, bending down to examine it. Tilting her head, she realized what she'd found. Her eyebrows furrowed as she reached down to pick up an old picture frame. It was small and thin, lying face down on the floor, tiny shards of glass underneath it; she shook them away.
It blended in with the wooden floors, so from far away it looked like it was just another uprooted tile. Kaiya stood up with the frame, running a finger over its dusty, cracked glass lightly, careful to avoid cutting her finger. She stared at the faces in the photo with contempt, biting her lip as the back of her eyes began to burn.
There were five people in the photo: A rugged, handsome man with chestnut-colored hair to his shoulders, speckled with gray, pulled back in a low ponytail; he had dark, green eyes that stared into the camera as if he were looking straight at Kaiya. His face was stoic, but his eyes were young and mischievous, like he was hiding a dark secret. The man's left hand was wrapped around the waist of a beautiful young woman with a small frame. Her auburn hair flowed around her shoulders and down her back in a long wave, and her amber pupils gleamed in the artificial light provided by the photographer. Unlike the man next to her, she wore a small smile, her nose pointed and her cheeks rosy. Her gaze was soft and gentle, but there was a fire in her eyes that made Kaiya wonder what she was truly capable of.
The man's right hand rested on the shoulder of a young man who resembled him almost exactly, except he had the same eyes as the woman, and the same smile. His dark hair was unkempt, sweeping over his eyes in a wild mess. His arms were crossed, but he seemed relaxed otherwise. On the woman's left was a girl only slightly smaller than the boy, although they were born only minutes apart. She had short, sandy hair in pigtails and the woman's amber eyes; freckles dotted her nose. Like the man, she wore no smile—in fact, her expression was almost cold. She stood tall and stiff, her hands resting at her sides.
And then directly in the middle, like a divide between the other four family members, was the youngest. No one touched her, like she was some foreign object they were unsure of; yet there she was, with a stupidly wide smile on her face, a front tooth missing, her hair pulled back in a simple knot. Kaiya's entire body tensed as she surveyed the seven-year-old memory in her calloused hands. Her teeth gritted together so roughly she thought she might snap them in half. In the photograph, she had been the only one who was gleaming, unaware of the monsters surrounding her.
She wanted to scream and throw things around the room—and it wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference, since the place already looked like a hurricane had gone through it.
Lies. It was all lies. Every single photo in this house was just a façade put on to fool everyone—including her.
How could they put on those fake smiles and pretend like they were one big, happy family? How could she have believed they loved her, when the entire time they had done nothing to prove that? They were just pretending to be people they weren't. All the hugs, kisses, laughs, tears, and words…they were all just empty promises, lies they made up to appease her and everyone around them. She would have been better off if they would have just killed her from the beginning. It would have saved her the pain of being abandoned over and over.
Kaiya felt like setting the entire compound on fire and watching it burn to the ground, but she knew she'd regret it if she did before she finished exploring her old home, as bitter as these memories were to her. Who knows what other things she could discover by snooping around? It's not like anyone was going to tell her about the secret lives her parents and siblings lived behind her back. She was just going to have to find out for herself.
She made her way over to her old bedroom next, stepping over broken glass and debris as she went. The floor groaned with every step she took, and she did her best not to exert too much pressure, just in case the old floors caved in. Finally, she stepped out of the back of the compound, past the kitchen and dining room and into an open area in the backyard, where wood turned to ceramic tile. Kaiya's older siblings would sit out in this area sometimes, laughing and talking about their Academy homework and then, when they were older, their missions and teammates, and even crushes. Kaiya would listen behind her bedroom door and smile, dreaming of the day when she would be in their shoes and get to go on her own adventures with her own friends.
She scoffed at the memory.
Once she passed the open space, she glanced to the left and right of the compound; connected to the main house were three bedrooms: her parents', sister's, and brother's. She would explore them later, but first she had to see her own. Unlike the rest of the family, Kaiya's bedroom was a separate entity from the compound, situated behind the small koi pond in the back, close to the small shrine. It was spacious for a child, to distract from the realization that it was isolated.
Kaiya stared at the shed from the outside, now thinking of it as no more than a doghouse. So many emotions coursed through her in only a moment, and she swallowed them all back in, blinking away what might have been tears if she dwelled too long on the past. She took in a deep breath, knowing heavy coats of dust awaited her, and then kicked the door in.
A colorful mosaic of wolves welcomed her—her favorite thing about her room. She had requested her parents make her one similar to that which greeted their guests in front of their compound, and surprisingly, they obliged. It was just as beautiful as the original, and even now it took her breath away when she saw it again.
Instinctively, Kaiya's hand moved to her chest, where her pendant hung around her neck, hidden underneath her shirt. She pulled it out slowly, running her fingers over the engraved obsidian tooth, feeling the indents of the wolf figure intricately carved at the top of the necklace.
Ookami, the wolf spirit that my family adored, she remembered, gripping the pendant firmly before placing it back under her shirt. Could such a thing be real? If so, have I displeased him? Am I cursed to walk my path alone?
More dust flew her way; she was so taken aback by the mosaic that she had forgotten about it. In a sneezing fit, she covered her face and stepped all the way inside, ignoring the broken door as it lay in two pieces at her feet. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as her blurry vision rested upon the very place she had slept every night for five years, even as an infant. Everything that hadn't been removed when she relocated was still intact, and aside from her missing things and the dust that covered every inch of the room, it was like she'd never left.
Kaiya sucked in a shaky breath (instantly regretting it as she swallowed a mouthful of dust) and ran a clammy finger over the eggshell walls before closing her eyes and turning around. Without a second glance, she exited the room and moved on to another. There was nothing for her there. As she walked by the family shrine, her pendant seemed to burn against her chest. She paused for a moment and glanced at it, the neglected stone wolf glaring daggers at her, as if daring her to walk by it without tribute. She sighed and shook her head, moving on.
Her brother's room was closest, then her sister's, and her parents' last. The other three rooms weren't like hers. They were all in tatters and ruins: the windows were broken; shards of glass littered the floor, crunching under her sandals. Lamps lay on the ground, the bulbs busted, their dressers split in half, spilling out colorful robes. Even without being there, Kaiya knew exactly what had happened: the beginning of an ambush, which eventually ended in the living room, where her parents and siblings were cornered. Kaiya had always imagined the four of them had stood side-by-side until the end, fighting until they took their last breaths. They had always been a pack, protective of one another. There was no such thing as pride when it came to them risking their lives for their family.
Kaiya remembered the day the silver-haired captain of the Black Ops told her that her siblings had died from their injuries after Ibiki had interrogated them, the day after the investigations ended, and she was found innocent of her family's heinous crimes. Thankfully, she didn't have to be tortured for them to exonerate her. She had wondered how evil they thought her siblings to be if they had to torture children to death. Even now, she shuddered at the thought.
After examining all the bedrooms, Kaiya ran back to the living room, her eyes wide with disbelief. Somewhere deep down she had hoped to find some evidence that maybe her siblings or her father were still alive, perhaps in hiding somewhere where she could track them down someday, but that didn't look like it was possible. Not after what she had just seen. She slumped against the nearest wall that had the least amount of damage and slid down to the floor slowly.
"This…was worse than I imagined," she mumbled shakily, hugging her knees to her chest tightly. "Why did I come here? Why did I put myself through this? I'm…" Tears slid down Kaiya's face as she stared at the wall across from her, the faded blood seeming to dance on the walls as her eyes clouded over. They stung; it had been so long since she had shed tears, it was such a foreign feeling, and she didn't like it. It felt like the breath was being stolen from her lungs, prickling her insides and making every sniffle uncomfortable.
She was glad to be alone, because she couldn't allow anyone to see how vulnerable she really was in moments like these, when she couldn't hide behind a mask of anger or indifference. Everything that she'd been keeping bottled up for years was resurfacing in the face of her past. She wasn't ready to face it after all. If someone saw her in this state…
"I haven't seen you cry since we were kids. I didn't think you had it in you anymore. What happened to the tough bully that beat up everyone in the Academy?" Kaiya stiffened as a jolt shot through her spine, her eyes widening. That annoying voice…what is he doing here?
She glanced to her right, shocked to see Sasuke standing next to her in the space between the living area and the hallway, hands in his pocket, stoic expression on his face. He almost blended in with the shadows crawling around him, like they were coming directly from his tainted soul.
"…"
Sasuke stepped out of the hallway and into the living room casually, staring down at Kaiya with a curious expression, no doubt studying the emotions swirling around her like a dark aura. She turned away quickly, frantically wiping her tears away with her arm, embarrassed, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good—he'd already seen them. She gritted her teeth as anger immediately replaced shock.
"S-Sasuke, what the hell?!" She tensed, jumping to her feet, fists clenched. "What are you doing here? You can't just go around spying on people, ya know!"
Sasuke grinned, a hint of sympathy in his smile, only for a moment. He scoffed halfheartedly, leaning against the frame of the opening that led to the living room, his hands still comfortably stuffed in his pockets.
"Hn. That's funny, coming from the stalker," he retorted, closing his eyes. Kaiya flushed, her embarrassment increasing. Her ears were on fire, now the color of beets. She was pretty sure steam was rolling out of them. Sasuke let out a soft sigh. "I saw you heading this direction from the dock, so I followed you. I thought you might be heading to a training ground, so imagine my surprise when you ended up in this shithole." He shrugged as he looked around the dump they were currently standing in, taking in the tragic sight. Kaiya knew he'd seen this situation before—with his own home. She stared at the floor guiltily. The last thing she wanted to do was bring back those dark memories for him too.
"I just came by it and thought I'd check it out…" Kaiya's sentence faded. She didn't even believe herself. She slumped back onto the floor, giving up on the ruse. Sasuke made no noise as he moved to sit next to her quietly, staring at the chalk outlines across the dim room. His eyes narrowed, and a tinge of pain rippled through his gut like someone had punched the air out of him. This scene wasn't unfamiliar to him. He'd been haunted by the same demons Kaiya was facing right in that moment, and they both knew it.
A pregnant silence filled the room until it was almost unbearable. "You had to see it for yourself, right?" Sasuke's voice was surprisingly gentle, understanding. "You had to convince your mind that it wasn't all a bad dream. This is the reality of hell." Kaiya frowned, leaning her head back against the wall. She stared at the broken rafters of the ceiling this time, gathering her thoughts. She knew Sasuke had done the same, years earlier. But just because there was an understanding between them didn't mean she wanted to divulge her feelings to him. She didn't want to connect with anyone, no matter how much they had in common.
Kaiya closed her eyes, thinking about every broken window and floorboard in her family home. How the hell was this place still standing, after all the damage it was dealt?
She asked that question about herself often.
"I…" Kaiya couldn't speak at first without crying some more. There's no way she was going to give Sasuke that satisfaction a second time. She opened her eyes.
The late afternoon sunlight glimmered in the broken glass of the window, and the light reflected in her usually dark pupils. Sasuke could see Kaiya's disappointment, confusion, shame, sadness, and even deeper than all that, her bottled rage. He could feel it all because he had been there. He waited for her to compose herself.
"I…guess you could say that," she finally said. She was quiet for a long time, before speaking again. "I don't doubt their betrayal, but…part of me wanted it to all be a lie. I thought…I thought that if I came here, I might find some clues that proved they were innocent, or maybe that they were somehow still out there, but…all I'm left with now is more questions. And then I found this. Just looking at it, I know that I had my hopes too high."
Kaiya picked up the picture frame beside her and handed it to Sasuke. He noticed how her hand shook, which was unlike her. She always had a steady hand and steeled nerves. He took the frame, studying the photo closely, a frown marring his features. He didn't understand what was wrong with it, other than the condition of the frame itself. He glanced at her in question, waiting for an explanation.
Kaiya cleared her throat, trying to find the words and the courage to say them out loud. "My entire family was part of something together—all of them except for me," she said. "They kept me at a distance, and I didn't even know it. The first six years of my life were just a thread of lies, one after the other, and I was too foolish to notice it. I wanted…" Her voice shook, and she counted to ten to calm herself before beginning again. "I just wanted to believe for once that they really did love me, and maybe I could find something to prove it, but…even in pictures, the truth is clear." She shrugged, at a loss.
Sasuke placed the frame face down on the floor next to him. As soon as she'd said it, he'd noticed—the way they had isolated her, captured forever in a portrait, as if to eternally remind her that she was an outcast.
"Nothing is going to change what happened, you know," he pointed out, staring at the shattered glass that littered the room, making the sunlight glitter across the floor. Kaiya kept her eyes trained on the glass too, but she kept her ears on Sasuke. The latter's eyebrows creased as he lifted his leg and rested an arm on his knee casually. "I don't know the whole story, but I know enough… Your family did something unforgivable, and they paid the ultimate price, leaving you to bear the weight of all their sins. But you won't find any relief in a place like this—only regret. Turning to the past to find answers that aren't there won't make the future any brighter."
Kaiya's throat was full of cotton, dryer than sawdust. She felt nauseous, like she would throw up any second, though she had nothing in her stomach to release. She resisted the urge, having already embarrassed herself enough. "I can't say what intentions they had for not including you but look at it this way: they protected you, whether they meant to or not. You weren't thrown in prison or killed; you weren't raised to be an enemy of the village, so you were innocent and able to carry on with your life. You're still here, and you don't have to pretend to be something you're not. You're free to choose who you are and what path you take. You can choose to be better than them."
Kaiya blinked, surprised. She had never heard Sasuke say something so profound, especially to someone like her. She didn't even know why he would.
Well, that wasn't true at all. Of course she knew. He was speaking from experience.
Kaiya tore her eyes from the glass at last, staring at her open palms now. Tears slid down her cheeks, hitting the floor lightly. She didn't even try to hide them this time, sniffling. "You really think I can escape the shadow looming over me?" she asked, glancing at Sasuke finally. "Can both of us really break free of this darkness?" Sasuke sighed, standing to his feet slowly. Dusting himself off, he looked down at her with an unreadable expression—as he often did.
She thought he was just going to leave her there, but she was surprised when he said, "Let's take a walk, Kaiya. You've been in here long enough; this place is depressing. I have something to show you." Kaiya's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but then she realized with stubbornness that he was right. If she stayed in there any longer, her throat would develop cobwebs. She nodded, a small smile appearing on her face as he stuck out his hand for her to take. She hesitated, but then accepted it, letting him pull her to her feet. She followed him out of the compound and into fresh air, breathing it in appreciatively. It was so stuffy inside that she found it hard to take in air.
As they walked away from the property towards the heart of the village, Kaiya slowed and turned around, giving her childhood home one last look. She released a breath of air, as if releasing all the bad aura she had collected by returning there. Then, she continued following Sasuke through the brush.
After a few minutes of walking in content silence, Kaiya frowned at the back of Sasuke's head. The path they were walking now was familiar, and she almost let it slip from her mind because her feet were just moving on their own at this point. But when Sasuke's feet began to drag and his shoulders slumped, her curiosity turned into confusion, which suddenly turned into suspicion. They were nearing the edge of the village, opposite of the way they had just come.
Kaiya's eyes narrowed. "Wait, Sasuke," she stammered, realization dawning on her suddenly. Her steps slowed significantly as she glanced around the thick trees frantically, as if someone might pop out of the canopy and swoop down on them. "Are we really going there?" Her eyebrows furrowed. Confusion and anger and sadness hit her all at once like a ton of bricks, almost knocking her over. She finally stopped completely, dumbfounded.
Sasuke didn't answer her at first. He walked a few more steps before stopping ahead of her, turning his head around to look at her, his hands still in his pockets, fists clenched. His expression, as always, was hard to read in the heat of the moment. But by the way his body had stiffened, on alert as if he expected an ambush as well, Kaiya knew he wasn't here because he wanted to explore. He was on a mission, as much as he hated it. Still, that didn't make sense to her. What was so important that they had to be there now?
"Is there a problem?" he wondered, like what he was doing was perfectly normal, and she was the one being unreasonable. Kaiya's entire body shook, no matter how much she willed it to stop. She gritted her teeth to steel herself; it helped little. She frowned, outstretching her arms in disbelief. How could he act so nonchalant when the demons of his past hung over him like a cloud?
"You just told me my old home was depressing, and then you brought me here?!" she shouted angrily, tears threatening to fall once more. "Do you think that's going to make me feel better? It's not! And not to mention that this place is where you…" Lost everything. Her voice faded to nothing, hoarse from the overhaul of dust and mold she had breathed in earlier. She hadn't been here since the incident occurred, and she had no desire to see the ghosts that still haunted this place, a place that she had once loved, that filled her with so much happiness and relief at a time when she thought those things were lost to her.
Sasuke reached out and grabbed Kaiya's wrist, gripping it tightly and without remorse as her sentence died on her lips. Her eyes widened slightly, shocked at the amount of force he used. His hand was shaking, but she didn't realize it was because this place unsettled him just as much as it did her. He would never admit that, not even to himself. She glanced up at him in question. "Sasuke—"
"Who said I wanted to make you feel better?" he spat. His eyes were set, stony and dark like obsidian. Kaiya couldn't look away from his intoxicating gaze, as much as it unnerved her. She felt like a ball of yarn slowly unraveling, until she was nothing but a heap on the floor. "I said I have something to show you. Are you coming or not?"
She studied him for a few seconds, her eyes searching him meticulously, trying to see past his façade of steel. Unlike her, he couldn't be read easily, and that frustrated her to no end. She didn't have the patience it took to chip away at his stoic countenance to find the truth. Finally, she nodded, breaking eye contact. The stern expression melted off Sasuke's face slowly, and he let go of Kaiya, turning his back to her. He resumed walking, placing his hands back in his pockets, fists clenched. She watched him for a moment before following behind him once again. They were silent the rest of the way. Irritated, Kaiya rubbed her wrist, where a bruise was forming.
It took a few more minutes, but at last Sasuke and Kaiya made it to their destination: the Uchiha Estate.
Kaiya glanced at Sasuke to see his reaction. A foreboding shadow covered his eyes, and his bangs hid part of his face, so it was hard to tell, but she thought she caught a glimpse of disdain. But his countenance wasn't what concerned her—it was what he was feeling on the inside, the storm brewing in his heart, stirring the darkness within.
Her own heart wrenched and twisted inside of her chest, begging to be set free, to flee from this place. Her stomach had tied itself in knots with her intestines, filling her with dread and nausea so deep she could have vomited all her insides right then and there. Her knees buckled; her hands trembled. What is there to show me here now? she asked herself, frowning. Why would he put himself through this? If she was feeling this bad, she could only imagine how much worse it was for him. But he would never show his true feelings, just how much this weighed him down. He wasn't weak like her; he would never cry.
"Sasuke, wait—" Before she could try and change his mind, he took a step forward, towards the narrow entrance to his own childhood home. She had no choice but to follow him, or he'd drag her through by her hair if he had to. They'd come this far, so there was no point in backing out now. Besides, she was more curious than concerned at that moment.
Kaiya remembered what it had looked like back then, when the Uchiha Estate was full of livelihood. Now, it was as empty as she felt.
Taking a deep breath, Kaiya made her way through the maze of tape at the entrance without removing it, letting Sasuke lead her to wherever it was he wanted to go. Along the way, she surveyed the damage done by Sasuke's older brother the night he killed every member of his clan, except for him. Sasuke had to witness seeing everyone he loved dead, their blood and guts and bodies strewn across the streets he once played in. No doubt that memory was playing in his mind now as he walked through his former home now.
"Here." Sasuke stopped in front of a familiar compound in the center of the estate. Across from it was a concrete wall that ran through the entire Uchiha property, lined with their clan insignia.
The wall was cracked where one fan was painted, as if someone had purposely damaged it to make a point. Her eyes narrowed sadly as she ran her fingers over the fissure lightly. Itachi… She remembered when the older boy had thrown a kunai in protest, not too long before her last day there. It was the first time she'd seen him angry. Even though she had been at a distance, it had still scared her.
"It seems like we were just here yesterday." Sasuke tried to sound casual, but that just made his pain all the more evident. Kaiya sighed, a small smile appearing, despite how much her heart ached.
"Yeah," she said, letting out a long breath through her nostrils. "It doesn't look so different from the outside…it's in much better shape than my house." She averted her eyes away from the wall. "So, what's here that I need to see? It's just as depressing as where we just came from, you know. Actually, I think it's worse." Sasuke chuckled humorlessly, making his way up the steps to the front door.
"Come on."
Sasuke was just the same as Kaiya He had come home to find his family—everyone in his entire clan—murdered, their bodies littered everywhere, like leaves fallen from a tree. His brother was a traitor to the village, just like her family. He was an outcast, abandoned and left to shoulder the weight of an impossible burden by himself. He and Kaiya wouldn't admit it, but that's why they got along well–in their own way–and why they felt so close to each other, even though they would never say such a thing out loud.
Sasuke was one of the few people Kaiya didn't hate. Sure, he was an annoying, smug asshole, but those kinds of things didn't bother her much. They had known each other closely for years now, and at one point she had lived alongside him here, in the Uchiha Estate. No one knew that, and neither one of them wanted anyone to know. It was their secret, something they could keep between them. In a way, it tied them together, even though they didn't know what kind of bond they had. And to tell the truth, Kaiya wasn't quite sure what a bond felt like anymore. But that question had been gnawing at her for several days now, ever since she met Riichi.
She stared at the ground as they walked inside. "Hey, Sasuke…" She sounded meek, making him raise an eyebrow in question. "Do you…do you think we might be friends?" she asked coyly, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. It was unlike her to ask such a thing, or even care. Kaiya hadn't considered anyone her friend since her classmates turned their backs on her and treated her like a traitor. She had mere acquaintances, and Shikamaru was like a brother to her, but Sasuke was different.
Sasuke stopped in the hallway of the main section of the compound, glancing back at her in question. After contemplating the weight of her inquiry, he turned forward again and scoffed. "Since when do you care about something like that?" Kaiya deflated, embarrassed even further. He was right. The air around them suddenly became awkward, almost uncomfortable. She thought back to Team 11's first meeting.
"Have you ever been so close with someone that you can basically read each other's thoughts and movements without speaking? No words between you, yet you can clearly understand what the other one is saying and feeling? You recognize their footsteps even if you can't see them; you feel their presence when they're nearby. You can even sense when they're in trouble from far away. You know them so well, in and out, that you can almost predict what they're going to do and act accordingly. It's like you share a body, soul, and mind."
"It's just that…" Her cheeks flushed a bright red. "Something Riichi-sensei said, it got me thinking, that's all." Sasuke closed his eyes.
Ever since Riichi had said those words, Kaiya had been longing for that kind of connection with someone. Well, actually, she had always longed for it, but pushed the desire away at the thought of being abandoned yet again. How could she trust someone so completely, when her own family betrayed her? And when she had been abandoned by people that she loved more than her own parents and siblings?
Maybe Riichi was lame, but he had unknowingly struck a chord inside her, and she wondered what it would be like to be true friends with someone, to care about someone more than her own life. Although, she couldn't quite define what a friend was, other than spending time together and tolerating one another. Other than Shikamaru, she had never truly had that with anyone—that wasn't dead, at least. Not until now.
Kaiya's family had been distant, so she never even had the affection of her own flesh and blood. There was no connection that she could define that was anything close to what her sensei had spoken about. Anyone that she'd ever loved had let her down and left her alone. After that, she expected it from everyone else and just kept her distance. She didn't want to get close to anyone anymore. It took years for her to warm up to the Nara family, and as stubborn as she was, it was only because Yoshino was even more tenacious. But the more she got to know Sasuke, the more she felt connected to him somehow. Not only because of their similar trauma. There was something more there, but she didn't know what it was. Just a feeling, at this point. She wondered if he had felt the same way at all.
Sasuke had heard enough. "Hn." He scoffed, moving on to the next room, which was the kitchen, covered by cobwebs and dust. Unlike Kaiya, he had no interest in snooping around his former home. He'd seen everything he needed to back then. "Neither one of us has any need for something like that," he replied solemnly. Kaiya blinked, wondering if that was true.