Sasuke stood next to his mother on his ladder as she watched him cook his breakfast. He quickly yet carefully sliced pieces of cooked fish before putting them over his rice. His mother looked over the food and after a quick glance, she smiled at him.
"Good job, sweetheart," she said. He felt her eyes as he took his plate to the table. Sasuke closed his hands and said a quick prayer before digging into his meal. He gulped the food down with near-musical precision and finished it in a few moments, clearing his plate to the last grain of rice. When he was done, he walked his plate to the sink and then grabbed his bag.
As he headed towards the door, he said, "I'll see you when I get back home!"
"Wait," his mother said. The boy slowly pivoted around, trying his best not to turn his lip in annoyance. Mikoto's raven-colored hair framed her pale face, bringing out the dark severity in her eyes. "You need to come home immediately after school lets out. I know that you like to stay afterward and train. I promise that I'm not taking that away, but please, do what I say."
Sasuke blinked at her, then nodded slowly. "Ok."
His confusion built upon itself as he walked towards the school. He cut from the path and headed into the forest. He had a little under half an hour before class would officially begin. If his mother wouldn't allow him to train after school, he'd make due some other way.
The snow was falling heavier on his head and he could feel the cold creeping from his toes into the rest of his foot. But he didn't feel it in the air or when he built internal heat to perform a fire jutsu. The flame burst from his mouth, a sphere that then separated into small ones that simply fizzed away. His fireball hit a tree and sizzled against the snow that fell from the canopy.
Almost, he thought, annoyed. He had been studying a new fire jutsu that could send smaller bursts of fireballs in a wide area. As of now, he'd only been able to get the original fireball jutsu to spit out little embers that burnt out almost immediately. It was still pretty impressive to him, though. Just not what he wanted.
Itachi wasn't in his room when Sasuke woke and his father was gone as well. Usually, that meant that the two of them were busy discussing a mission for his brother to go on. If so, there was a chance that he could learn the technique before Itachi came home.
And if I show Father too...
He went over the hand signs again then bounded onto the path towards the Academy building. The flurries had struggled to stick to the stone until now.
Sasuke had three minutes to spare when he walked into class. The other children were still talking among themselves and as he shut himself off to their voices, it became marbled gibberish. He noticed that Naruto wasn't present as time ticked by and as the boy entered the classroom ten minutes late, Sasuke was surprised that he didn't have his normal bright smile on his face. He was quiet when he sat down next to him and the Uchiha gave him a quick glance over before turning back to the front of the class.
Iruka-sensei had been going over the third and most complex shinobi skill, genjutsu, for the past few minutes. It involved injecting and controlling a target's chakra network and manipulating their senses. That must be what the Eye of Hypnotism does, Sasuke thought. It had still surprised him that his father had revealed that secret of the Sharingan to him. Perhaps he did see something in him. Sasuke just needed to hear it. He longed for it, those lofty words.
That's my boy.
He knew though that meant only one thing for him. He needed to do better in class and get stronger. Not just for his own recognition, either. His eyes looked down near the middle of the class where Hinata sat. She'd been a bit shaken by what he'd shared with her, but he didn't have a chance to speak with her yet. The way the snow had been falling, Sasuke suspected they would get out of school a bit early.
His mother had told him to come straight home regardless of what time they let out. But, if I get out early, I could train in the gym until our regular release time. He didn't think that she would care that much if it wasn't extremely late. But, it didn't look like Naruto would be in any mood to train with him. The boy had a thousand-yard stare and his blue eyes seemed to stretch like an ocean into a night horizon.
Iruka-sensei's voice emerged and Sasuke raised his head to pay attention. "We'll be doing a genjutsu breaking exercise next week so make sure that you take time to practice with someone at home if you can. For now, clear your desks. It's time for a quiz on the Second Shinobi World War," he said.
As the time ticked by, and he scribbled down answers, Sasuke paused to look out of the window. A crow was perched in a branch, picking at its wing. Torn and ragged, it seemed to be broken. The black feathers were sparse, exposing pink and red flesh beneath. The bird lifted its head and looked toward him. Sasuke felt a chill hit his spine.
He thought he heard his brother's voice call out to him.
Then the bird fell to the ground.
Itachi?
He blinked a tear away and looked back at his paper. He calmed himself enough to finish the quiz and put his pencil down. He hadn't truly heard his brother's voice. It was just his imagination. He gathered himself and walked past Naruto. The blonde boy was lazily tracking his pencil over his paper as he seemingly read the questions. His droopy, sad eyes gave him away though and Sasuke had never seen the boy look so defeated.
Iruka's gentle face seemed to morph into slight shock when Sasuke walked down to hand in his test before he gave a small smile. The Uchiha kept his visage stony as he turned on his heels. As he began walking back to his seat, he saw Hinata looking at him. Her cheeks turned pink, and she diverted her eyes down to her quiz.
The snow had climbed half from the ground to the window, Sasuke saw. His classmates had begun to exit the building, greeted by their concerned parents and other, older relatives. He, however, did not bother to put on his coat and instead went to the indoor gymnasium. The school's hallways were chaotic and if anyone noticed Sasuke slinking through the crowd, they didn't say anything.
He set his bag and coat down by the door and then stretched. When he felt that he'd gotten himself loose, Sasuke started to run laps around the gym. As his body moved, his brain settled into a soft trance, focused on nothing but the work he was doing now. His chest was hot and his legs were burning when he'd finished his sixth lap around, and he stopped by his bag to get his water. He paused though.
I have to push through, he thought. His limits had to be broken if he wanted to get better. He swallowed his saliva and forced himself to ignore the pain in his body.
He wasn't able to go much longer. When he attempted to do a set of pushups, he could only get through a few before the pain in his chest was too intense. Begrudgingly, he took a break and went to his bag. One swallow of water was enough to offer him relief and the boy sat on the bench for a while so that he could take a breath.
"You're still here?"
Sasuke felt his heart flutter when he turned. Hinata stood in the doorway, clothed in a rich burgundy coat with a cream scarf that hung around her neck. In the bright gymnasium light, he could see the dark blue highlights in her hair.
"Yeah," Sasuke said. "I thought I could get some training done here before I went home."
"Oh." Hinata blinked at him. "Can I watch you?"
The Uchiha fought back an anxious smile and blush. "Sure, but isn't Kō coming to get you soon?"
This caused her face to fall. "I...don't know," she admitted. "Everyone else is gone, but he hasn't shown up yet."
That was odd, Sasuke had to admit to himself. For all of the time that he'd known Hinata, Kō was almost always constantly around her. He had only been late once before, though. Perhaps, the circumstances were similar? Either way, he wasn't here now.
"How high is the snow now?"
"Up to my knee," the Hyūga princess replied.
Sasuke sighed and stood up. "Then I guess we need to leave now before it gets worse. I'll walk you home."
Her smile was sweeter than any dessert his mother could make. "Ok."
The snow fell, white flakes against the misty grey fog. Sasuke tightened his coat around him, guarding himself from the chill of the wind. Hinata drew her scarf over her nose and mouth as they started their journey.
The silence in the forest was eerie and the swirling snows were blinding. They kept moving forward, following the trail that they'd always taken. He heard what he thought was a crime but, Sasuke couldn't help but feel that they had been walking far longer than normal and a few times, he thought that they'd passed the same tree twice.
The further they walked through the dense fog, the more lost Sasuke became. He felt Hinata squeeze his hand. Her milk-white eyes grew intense and her veins protruded from her temples. Tears flowed from her eyes, her breath quickened, and she grabbed Sasuke's sleeve.
"No," he heard her whimper. All he could do was gulp.
A blue-haired man appeared from the frosty fog, blood dripping from his fingertips. The mist didn't shift as the man stepped through it, almost as it was a part of him. Sasuke felt a chill in his spine as the shadow came out of it in front of them. Hinata shuffled behind him, gripping tightly on his shirt and bag. His heart was pounding in his chest and he chanced a move to the holster on his right thigh.
"Don't," the man said. His voice was deep and stern. The young Uchiha's eyes looked up into the man's gaze, but he saw nothing behind it but the same coldness that surrounded them.
Sasuke gulped. "Who are you?" He knew the blue-haired man was not a Konoha Shinobi from the way he dressed and the fact that his forehead protector had a strike through it.
The man's eye went up and past his head. "Is this the one?"
Hinata gasped and fell behind him. A voice slithered forth into Sasuke's ears. "It is." They were surrounded so he didn't want to turn to face the source of the voice. But something in the air made Sasuke's hair stand on his arms and his muscles stiffen in fear. Fear made him unable to choose between fight or flight. He was still. Even his shivering had stopped.
A phantom moved in front of him, long black hair framing a gaunt, grey face. Deep gold, snake-like eyes bore into him. They dilated. "Fugaku won't dare pursue me so long as I have you." The Uchiha boy gulped. What did this man intend to do? Was he kidnapping him? Before he could think of his next move, the other shinobi made his.
"Then I'll take the girl," the blue-haired man said as he extended his hand toward Hinata. A kunai whistled through the air and Sasuke pulled Hinata down as the two intruders backed away. To Sasuke's relief then overwhelming horror, it was Kō.
However, he looked ragged and beaten. His right eye was closed with blood flushing down his cheek. His fingers appeared broken and what strength he seemed to have was used throwing the kunai. He fell to one knee. He glanced at Sasuke and Hinata then looked towards the intruders.
"My lady, young Lord Sasuke..." he wheezed. "G-get beh–"
His head fell into the snow, made crimson as it drank his blood. Hinata squealed loudly and dug her face into Sasuke's shoulder. Kō's body fell in front of the blue-haired man who materialized out of the fog. He cleaned his hands in the snow and then walked over to them.
Hinata was weeping. Sasuke's head boomed between his ears. The blue-haired man reached to grab the crying princess. The boy who vowed to protect her went for his knife with one single goal.
To fulfill his promise.
His vision blurred, but for a moment he thought he could see flickers of chakra strings.
Then, he thought he saw two boys in front of him, like a memory viewed from someone else's eyes. One of the boys had almost white silver hair and wielded a sword. The other boy was–
Darkness.
