Chapter 9: Reaching Out

"I don't get it!"

Pacing back and forth in my hospital room, I was frantically thinking as to why the massacre still happened despite all the changes.

"It doesn't make any sense! The coup d'état was planned in canon because the Uchihas were ostracized for presumably being related to the Kyuubi incident, but that never happened here. Yondaime-sama is alive and cleared their name, the Uchihas weren't relocated to the village outskirts, and there's no way Minato is dumb enough to keep watch on them like wanted criminals. So what gives!?"

My body slumped onto the bed before pain coursed through, "Gah! Oh right... I'm still injured."

A headache is coming, I can feel it, "Come on Ken, think. There must be something I'm forgetting, something hilariously obvious in my memory. Although Shippuden ended years ago, I'm still an avid fan, everything is in my head. I just got to remember."

Taking a deep breathe, "After the Kyuubi Incident, the Uchiha clan was relocated. Itachi became a double agent for Konoha and the Sandaime, yet couldn't stop the coup and sought out Obito. The Uchiha's shouldn't be dissatisfied with anything in this timeline, or at least Fugaku-san doesn't. He doesn't want the coup when his former teammate and best friend's son is here. So then what? It's not like there is anyone else who wants the coup to happen... except... for...

Realization dawned upon me as my thoughtful face twisted into one of irritation and rage, my hand clutching the bed frame until it was crushed into an unrepairable shape, "That fucking mummy! Don't tell me that he's also the traitor who's been feeding intel to those Iwa nin!? How could I forget that fucking piece of shit!"

Burying my face into my pillow, I screamed out my frustration and profanities even more vulgar than usual. After about five minutes of non stop screaming, I gasped for oxygen.

"Great, so whatever I'm trying to prevent might still happen because of motherfuckers like Danzo." I lamented in my powerlessness, "He must have used another method to escalate the Uchiha's anger, and not to mention the Kotoamatsukami. It's not like I can just go kill him either. Not strong enough, too much political power, revealing my secrets etc..."

"Then again, I do have a no-killing policy. On the other hand, he might be one of the very few I won't feel too guilty from murdering." A melancholic sigh escaped my mouth, "What now? If I want to change the future, I need strong allies, not just in strength but also in authority. I know I can trust Minato though if my secret is leaked, kaa-chan and my friends will get targeted because of me."

The sense of powerlessness and anxiety was almost overwhelming, "What should I do?"

God dammit. What's done is done, I can't undo the massacre yet I can still try to change the future. The Wave Arc shouldn't be too big of a deal, the soonest major pain is during the Chunin Exams Arc. I still have a lot of time so until then, I'll decide whether giving out my secret is really worth it.

Right now I have more immediate matters to attend to. Changing into an all black attire, kaa-chan came to pick me up to the funeral. While I'm still hospitalized, they permitted me to come out for this occasion.

When kaa-chan arrived, she had traces of sadness on her visage. Silently taking her hand, we left.

This funeral was hosted by Yondaime-sama to honor the Uchiha Clan. Despite not appearing in canon, the Uchiha is still one of the two founding clan of Konoha, it makes sense to have one.

Quite a number of villagers already arrived, including the clan heads. Kaa-chan met up with Kushina, neither of them were very enthusiastic. Naruko was by the latter's side, the complete opposite of her usual demeanor. All of the Rookie 9 was present, all except one.

"Is Satsuki not here?"

"We tried to convince her, but she refused."

Keeping the answer short, the mothers went back to their gloomy moods. Naruko made eye contact, wordlessly conversing me with her eyes.

"You think she's okay?"

"No, there's no way she is."

"I'm worried about her."

"So do I, though it might be too painful for her to see this."

The sky dimmed, dark clouds covering the sun. As the funeral began, drips of water poured over our heads. It was already depressing enough, the rain just made it worse. Why does it always have to rain on funeral days?

Kaa-chan wept as she placed flowers for Fugaku and Mikoto, two of her friends since her genin days. She and Kushina sought comfort from each other.

I stared at Fugaku's name on the memorial stone. I always thought that he was a jerk at first, but he's always been pressured by the Uchiha's dissatisfaction as well as Konoha's ostracization. Stuck in between a rock and a hard place, the Uchiha head still accepted Itachi's decision to the very end, even feeling proud of and loved his children before he died.

We only met for a short while on that day, yet it felt like a close bond was severed away from me and kaa-chan.

Throughout the funeral, from beginning to the end, Satsuki never showed her face.


*Drip*

Satsuki stared at her own reflection in the lake, sitting with a lifeless look on her face. The once neat clothes are now ruffled, and her long hair turned messy. Even after discharging from the mental ward, her mind was still in a disarray. Losing everything, her face was devoid of any hope, only blank and unmoving.

*Drip*

'Dead... Everyone is dead.'

It took a while for the lone Uchiha to sink it into her mind. And by a while, it was more than a few days. Despite the massacre happening over a week ago, Satsuki couldn't register what happened.

The nice old couple occasionally giving her sweets.

The neighbourhood kids practicing shuriken throwing.

The Uchiha Police Force members patrolling the area.

They were all gone. Satsuki walked around the clan grounds, there wasn't a single other Uchiha besides her left. She walked, and walked, yet she only found the cold dead silence of the large compound. No life, no familiar faces, just empty houses. She didn't even know why she wondered there and stared as if they would magically come back to life.

Then she went around the village, she couldn't find any of her kin either. No matter how much or how fast she ran, none could be found. Everything happened in that genjutsu was real. Instead, all she got were sympathetic gazes from the villagers. The moment they see her, their expressions immediately become one of pity. Satsuki neither needed nor wanted to see that.

Kushina and Chika offered for her to stay with them, though she declined. Satsuki couldn't bear to be with anyone right now, she couldn't even bear going to the funeral. The Uchiha knew that they only wanted to help her with good intentions, Satsuki just can't.

Memories of her happy days flashed to her mind. Her strict father praising her successful fireball jutsu, her caring mother cooking her favorite food, her cool brother showing off his skills-

"My foolish little sister."

Fear struck into Satsuki's heart as Itachi's cold words rang in her ears.

"To test my abilities."

She gritted her teeth, hatred brewing darker and stronger in her heart.

"Once you have the same eyes, come and find me."

Itachi's reflection appeared in the lake. Satsuki saw what her older brother really is, a murderer who killed their family just to acquire power.

"Fine!" The innocent child was gone, replaced by a cold hearted avenger. Satsuki accepted those conditions her brother set for her, sharingan flaring, "No matter how deep I have to plunge into darkness, if I can get the power to kill you, then I'll-"

"Finally, I found you."

Satsuki spun around in shock, not noticing the presence until he spoke up. The hatred in her eyes dimmed slightly as she came face to face with a boy her age, "Ken? I thought you're still hospitalized."

"I snuck out. Wonder how long it will take for the ANBU to realize that I substituted with a clone." He shrugged nonchalantly, amused that he's playing hide-and-seek with Konoha's elite shinobi, "Kaa-chan told me about how much you're distancing yourself from everyone."

A scowl marred her pretty features, annoyed, "Did Chika-san ask you to find me?"

"No, finding you was my decision. I came to make sure that you're not too depressed."

"Too depressed?" Satsuki stood up, glaring at him at eye level, "My entire clan was slaughtered in a single night! Everyone I know and care about died! 'Depressed' doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling right now!"

"So how are you feeling right now?"

"Are you mocking me!?"

"No, I'm worried about you."

"Well I don't need your pity! Go away!" Satsuki turned around, walking away until-

"Are you running away again?"

Her feet stopped the instant Satsuki heard those words, 'Running away?'

Rage boiled in her being. Those words triggered the Uchiha as running away meant weakness, it meant that she let fear overwhelm her. Satsuki never wanted to be weak again.

Weakness meant that she could never kill Itachi.

Weakness meant that she's still the same little child as before.

Weakness meant that everything she has worked hard for will turn into nothing.

Satsuki looked back at Ken who was still wearing a calm visage as if he's staring at someone beneath him. Slowly getting into his face, sharingan spun as the uchiha practically growled, "Take back what you said."

"Okay two things. One, I didn't mean anything rude, I only meant that you constantly run away when someone tries to help you. Two, when was the last time you took a bath? Isolating yourself doesn't mean that it's fine to neglect hygiene."

"This is none of your business!" Satsuki yelled, almost embarrassed by her body odor. Key word, 'almost', "What do you know!? You lost your father without even meeting him! I lost my entire family and watched how they died! Don't talk as if you understand me when you've never seen someone die right in front you."

"Maybe you're right, maybe I really don't understand you."

When Ken agreed, Satsuki backed away from him, thinking that he's done digging into other people's business.

"But who I do understand is myself. When I see you going through this pain then I just can't leave you alone."

"So you're doing this just to make yourself feel better."

"That's not wrong. At the very least, I know that leaving you alone like this feels like it will only make you worse."

Her fists gripped tight, she becomes more annoyed with each word uttered from his mouth, "Then what do you want me to do!?"

"Fight me."

"Wha-" His answer was so unexpected that Satsuki faltered for a second, "Fight you?"

"Yeah, it's the best way to let out steam. Don't worry about my injuries, I've recovered a lot already." A taunting smirk then looped on Ken's face, "Or are you scared to go up against me? Do you want me to go easy on you?"

"Tch." Satsuki glared, whatever concern for him was gone, "Fine, don't blame me when you get more injuries."

Activating her sharingan, Satsuki charged forward to his weak spot, aiming for a straight punch. Ken simply sidestepped before ducking from a high roundhouse kick. Irritated, the Uchiha focused harder on his movements, jabbing towards the right shoulder but was thumped away. With a scream, Satsuki unleashed everything she got on him.

Backhand punches.

Elbow thrusts.

Even a fireball.

Nevertheless, Ken either dodged or parried them all, he wasn't even trying hard. Seeing him nonchalantly blocking her barrage with one hand, Satsuki grew more frustrated, 'This guy! He's barely even moved from his spot!'

This kept up for a good while. As the Uchiha vented out over a week worth of anger on the one guy she can't land a hit on, she grew more tired. The fact that she was too depressed to take care of her health didn't help. After running towards him, Satsuki pulled a feint, dashing to his back and went for his spine. Ken caught her wrist before tossing her into the lake.

Her world spun as she arced in the air, too disoriented to recover. A big splash happened at the center of the, a little bigger and a rainbow could've appeared to glamorized the sunset.

Satsuki eventually resurfaced, gasping for air before swimming back to land. Panting, she got on all fours while being disappointed in herself. With eyes shut and teeth clenched, she was reeducated about how weak she was once more.

The sound of steps caught her attention. Satsuki saw his ever present calm visage, "Tch."

Realizing that whatever she does is useless against him, the Uchiha gave up on battling and preferred to dry herself. While she was wringing her wet hair, Ken decided to take a seat near Satsuki, staring at the lake in silence.

She continued to dry herself, ignoring the boy. Once she was done, Satsuki saw him looking at her, 'This is so stupid.'

Due to her wet clothes, Satsuki felt cold. Although it wasn't that bad, she should still go get a change of clothes.

...

Yet the Uchiha didn't leave, the sunset was compelling to gaze at for some reason.

...

Minutes passed, Satsuki didn't even feel cold anymore as she sat down, hugging her knees. Both of them were silent.

...

Various emotions swirled on her mind. Unease, hatred, confusion etc. Despite not doing anything, Ken somehow still pisses her off, 'After all that, why is he silent now?'

...

Time continued to pass, long enough for her clothes to mostly dry off. At first she doesn't understand him, now she doesn't understand herself. Why she hasn't leave yet was beyond her comprehension. Although Satsuki wants to leave, she felt like she doesn't want to leave.

...

Unable to deal with her conflicting emotions, the Uchiha finally caved, sighing in exasperation, "Why do you care so much about me?"

"Because we're friends."

Satsuki turned her head towards Ken in disbelief, "Us? Friends? Since when?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Does it really matter? We talk and hang out sometimes, we even went through a crazy adventure together with Iwa shinobi. It just feels normal to call you my friend now."

"I've already told Naruko this and I'll say it to you. Just because we know each other or our parents do, that doesn't mean we're friends."

"Then I'll officially ask; Satsuki, will you be my friend?"

That amount of straightforwardness almost made Satsuki do a double take, permeating the atmosphere around them with awkwardness. No one has asked to be her friend before, most of the time people just have sheer admiration for her skills. That, and she was always too busy improving and training at the academy. Satsuki avoided his gaze in embarrassment, "You're just pitying me."

"Perhaps so. If that tragedy didn't happen, I wouldn't be asking you this question. However, it doesn't change the fact that I've had fun hanging out with you. I'm sure you've noticed that the times we spent together had everything except pity."

"... Unlike Naruko, I won't chat pointlessly with you."

"So what? Naruko is Naruko, you are you. You can just be yourself, that hasn't stopped us from having fun before."

"..."

"Is it a 'yes'?"

On one hand Satsuki doesn't understand his motives, befriending someone just like that just because he wants to? The people around her were in awe whenever she outperformed everyone else, or because she is from the prestigious Uchiha clan. Ken asking to be his friend sounds like a waste of time.

But on the other hand... Satsuki always wanted to make a genuine friend, or at least someone not as loud as Naruko. Her socially withdrawn nature and lack of communication skills had always held her back. Ken was different, he was asking just because he wants to, he's better than her as a shinobi and most importantly, she felt that he understands her.

These contrasting emotions just made her indecisive. The Uchiha doesn't know if this is the right choice, though ultimately, she wanted to fulfill at least one childish wish she has always longed for so long. Still avoiding eye contact, Satsuki did a very (a seriously VERY) subtle nod, if he didn't catch that then there's no way the Uchiha's doing it again. For some reason, she could practically feel the smile Ken was making behind her, embarrassing her further.

*GROWL*

Satsuki was about to combust from the amount of blood rushing to her face. Of all times, why did her stomach had to growl in front of someone? The Uchiha was about to say something to avoid the topic-

"Come to think of it, it's almost dinner time. Guess I'm hungrier than I thought." Ken stated while rubbing his stomach. Getting up, "Wanna get something to eat? My treat."

- until her newly made friend covered it up by lying that it was his stomach. To be honest, Satsuki doesn't know whether him showing consideration was more humiliating or not.

Without saying a word, Satsuki stood up and walked beside him. Ken led the way to the village, making sure to take the route with the least people in consideration for the Uchiha. They arrived at a simple shop, albeit earning a raised eyebrow from the store owner.

"Shouldn't you kids be at home right now?"

"After dinner. I got money."

Shrugging his shoulders, the owner went to prepare their orders, thinking that it's too much of a trouble to handle them on his own. Ken got salmon stuffed- while Satsuki ate tomato flavored onigiri.

They ate in silence as Satsuki recalled the times she had with Ken. Initially, she thought that he was just an ordinary civilian the dope was strangely attached to until her mother revealed that his parents are his father's old genin teammates.

While Satsuki would never admit it, she has deep respect for Ken. The strength he displayed against that Iwa shinobi and selfless drive to save her made her understand why Naruko likes him so much. The fact that Fugaku is concerned about him piqued her interest as well. After watching her whole clan slaughtered, hearing him wanting to be her friend made Satsuki... happy.

Dinner was currently pretty appetizing. They ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, one Satsuki was grateful for. Steeling her nerves, Satsuki mustered her courage, "Ken... th-... tha-... Hm."

Ken nearly chuckled, he got the message and whispered softly, "You're welcome."

As the Uchiha took another bite of her onigiri, the figures towering behind Ken made her stiffen, "Uh Ken..."

"The ANBU are behind me, aren't they?" Turning around with his food in hand, Ken saw two masked shinobi giving him the stink eye. He simply raised his other hand, "Wassup?"

He was instantly tied up with ninja wire and dragged back to the hospital, being lugged like luggage.

"Hey! At least let me finish my dinner! Oh yeah, Satsuki! Visit kaa-chan every once in a while, she's worried about you!"

Satsuki didn't know whether to deadpan at his constant flippant attitude or giggle at the sight of ANBU getting serious on a kid. Regardless, she went back to enjoying her free meal.


AN: That's all for now. Hope you all like it.

Ja Ne