Chapter warnings: Vomiting mention, Guilt Spiral


"Big Brother!"

Sasuke rushed over to a young man who had just arrived in front of the Ninja Academy's entrance.

The rest of the Academy students watched the scene in shock.

Were they under a genjutsu? Was Sasuke actually smiling?!

"Who's this, Sasuke?" a member of Sasuke's Fan Club asked. The rest of the club was also curious as to how someone could even have Sasuke's admiration.

For once, Sasuke was willing to talk with his fan club. He could never pass up an opportunity to show off his brother. "This is my big brother, Uchiha Itachi!"

"Wow! Sasuke's older brother is so handsome too!" Sasuke's Fan Club squealed.

Sasuke frowned with puffed cheeks. He grabbed onto Itachi, as if afraid that his fan club was going to steal Itachi away from him.

Haru watched all of this curiously from a distance.

Now that Sasuke's fans were crowded around the Uchiha brothers, Haru was glad she'd chosen to be a good distance away from being smothered by a bunch of squealing kids.

"Now who's this adorable little tyke?" a voice said from behind Haru.

"Huh?" Haru whirled around.

Shisui (fuck, it was Shisui) grinned at Haru. "Now what are you doing back here all by yourself?"

"Ah…um…" Haru was too stunned to form any words.

Shisui chuckled. "Not much of a talker, are you? No worries!"

"Shisui!" Itachi called. He walked over with Sasuke. "It's good to see you!"

Shisui laughed. "Just thought I'd pay you and Sasuke a visit."

Haru kept her eyes on the ground, not looking at any of the Uchihas.

Why, oh why did Shisui have to say "hi" to her? And why was he still standing so close to her?! She should've made her getaway when she had the chance!

"Hey. No need to be so tense. I'm one of Sasuke's friends!" Shisui ruffled Haru's hair.

Haru's breath caught in her throat.

"Is this one of your classmates, Sasuke?" Shisui asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah. She is."

Shisui smiled down at Haru. "With that spiky black hair and red eyes, I almost thought you were an Uchiha!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Her? An Uchiha? No way! She's too much of a wimp and cries a lot!"

"Sasuke! Don't be rude!" Itachi scolded.

Sasuke flinched. "...Sorry, Big Brother."

Once Shisui's hand left Haru's hair, Haru placed a hand on the top of her head.

It had been so long since…since…

Since anyone gave her any ounce of affectionate touch and kindness…

Slightly trembling, Haru looked up and caught Itachi's gaze.

Itachi sent Haru a reassuring smile.

Reassuring? More like chilling.

In the place of Itachi's kind eyes, Haru could only see the cold eyes of a killer.

A killer who massacred his entire clan.

The longer Haru stared, the more she felt like she was being sucked into those black voids.

In her mind, she pictured a sword slashing across her throat.

Haru trembled intensely.

No! She couldn't! She couldn't look anymore!

Haru gulped and hurriedly walked away.

Shisui sighed. "I think that's the first girl you've scared off, Itachi. Usually, they're all over you."

Itachi was taken aback. "Ah. I suppose I was too intimidating for that poor girl."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She gets scared easily. Like I told you, Big Brother, she's really lame."

Itachi looked at Haru in the distance. - So that's the girl Danzo spoke of…

Sasuke tugged on Itachi's hand. "Come on, Big Brother! Let's go home and train together!"

Itachi chuckled. "All right, Sasuke."


Haru slammed her apartment door shut behind her.

She took deep and steady breaths.

Calm down! Calm down! You're not an Uchiha! You didn't make yourself look suspicious! Itachi won't come after you!

Haru patted her chest. She inhaled and exhaled slowly.

Right…Right…That's right.

She should get started on her homework. That should help get her mind off of these stressful thoughts.

Haru opened her backpack.

Huh?

Wait. That piece of paper was never there before!

The paper was wrapped around something. Something in the shape of a stick?

Haru removed the paper to see…a stick of hanami dango?

She looked at the paper. It wasn't just plain wrapping paper, but a note!

The note read, "Sorry about scaring you earlier. Here's some dango from The Dango Shop! It's a really tasty sweet treat! Hope you like it! - Uchiha Shisui".

The Dango Shop was the most popular dango store in Konoha. So Shisui wasn't wrong about the dango being tasty.

But even so…

Haru tossed the stick of dango into the trash.

Didn't anyone tell Shisui that children shouldn't accept food from strangers? Especially if that stranger was a ninja.

Shisui…he was going to die soon, wasn't he?

Haru's hands gripped Shisui's note.

Itachi was standing right there! She couldn't have warned Shisui about Danzo and the Uchiha Massacre!

She just wanted to get out of there!

What could she even do anyway?

Why would the Uchiha clan trust some nameless orphan?

They'll ask her how she knew. Then they'd interrogate her and keep her in their custody, making her lose whatever little freedom she had left.

And she couldn't tell Sasuke! He wouldn't believe her!

And if Sasuke told Itachi what she said, Itachi would kill her!

And if Obito or Danzo found out about her knowledge...

Her head would be added to the chopping block.

No way! There was no way she could do anything without placing a death sentence on herself!

Haru tore Shisui's notes into shreds, scattering them into the garbage.

She crawled into bed, grabbed Mr. Tortimer, and tightly wrapped her blanket around herself.

There really was nothing she could do for the Uchiha clan…

She had no ninja clan of her own. No power or authority. She was just a civilian orphan scraping by.

Haru clutched her blanket and Mr. Tortimer closer to her. She squeezed her eyes shut.

It was hard to keep her breath steady.

This was all just a bad dream.

A nightmare.

It'll all be over soon…


The Uchiha clan was decimated, and the light in Sasuke's eyes was gone.


Haru stumbled into her apartment, panting.

Sasuke…

Seeing a little boy devoid of his former innocence was unnerving.

Sasuke did the class exercises with more intensity than before.

During spars, Sasuke's hits were harder and he did not ease up on his attacks.

Sasuke was angry, betrayed, and filled with the desire for vengeance. But he was also a little boy who just lost his entire family and was suddenly left all alone in the world.

A child should never have that kind of forlorn look in their eyes.

The bile rose in Haru's throat.

She rushed to the toilet and vomited.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Haru sobbed. "I'm so sorry…"