Zabuza and Haku had been defeated. The bridge was fully constructed. The Land of Waves was celebrating. All thanks to Team 7 from the Hidden Leaf Village.
However, the team couldn't stay there long to celebrate with the villagers. They needed to go back home and then embark on a new mission. The journey back had to be made on foot. There were no faster means of transportation between villages. The ninjas didn't mind walking back, but the fatigue from the recent battles required more breaks along the way.
It was late afternoon, and Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi were approaching a small town. Few houses, few people, but there was a building that looked like an inn, which was all they needed at that moment.
Observant, especially after their first high-risk mission, Kakashi paid attention to the moods of his students. Naruto was very excited to return to Konoha. The fight against Haku and the reflections that followed had made the teacher proud of the maturity of the team's most boisterous member. The blond chattered all the way. Sakura, on the other hand, saw her own evolution. After all, she had shown spectacular chakra control, and Kakashi made a point of praising her many times, using her as an example to encourage the boys to improve. She was calmer, walking either scolding Naruto or glancing at Sasuke. The latter, however, remained a mystery.
Sasuke remained silent throughout the walk. He kept to himself, absorbed in his thoughts, not communicating. He had almost died in the battle and still had bandages from the various wounds he had suffered. When the fight ended, Kakashi found Sasuke in a deplorable state. The boy was bleeding heavily and had countless needles piercing his body from neck to legs. This, in fact, was the reason that extended the team's stay in the Land of Waves.
On that occasion, far from all his colleagues, Kakashi removed the needles from Sasuke's body, one by one. The process was painful, although the young man had managed to contain his urge to scream and the tears that flooded his eyes. He maintained a tough pose, despite his vulnerability. To distract him, the sensei asked about aspects of the fight against Haku inside the mirror jutsu. He was extremely curious about how the Uchiha survived. None of the needles penetrated a vital point, which was highly unlikely for an inexperienced ninja like Sasuke. Unless...
Kakashi didn't want to ask directly about Sasuke's Sharingan. He felt that this conversation should come from the student. Besides, Sasuke had seen that, somehow, the teacher also possessed the Uchiha Clan's special eye, but Kakashi didn't know what Sasuke thought about it. Did Sasuke hate him for it? Was he curious to know how it happened? Did he feel tempted to ask for tips and guidance on using the Sharingan? He wanted to know. He had to know. It wasn't randomly that the Hokage chose Kakashi as the team's leader with a member of the Uchiha Clan.
But Sasuke showed neither interest nor disinterest. He maintained an apathetic attitude, as if he didn't care about anything. It was painful to remove the needles, but after the process was over, he just got up, muttered a thank you, and walked away to pack his things for the departure.
When Team 7 arrived at the town, they headed straight to the supposed inn. Indeed, there were rooms available, and the ground floor was a small restaurant. After eating, the shinobi went to the single room they would have to share. The room had only two beds, which were left for Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke laid out their sleeping bags on the floor, on opposite sides of the room.
Settled, the ninjas took turns in the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed. Kakashi was strict when he said he wanted everyone to be asleep soon, in order to leave at dawn. Rest was necessary for the long walk of the next few days. The eldest ninja, after telling this to the students, said he would go downstairs to settle the payment for their stay.
Naruto was the first to fall asleep. As soon as he lay his head on the pillow, he was out, lying on his back. Sakura also fell asleep quickly, hugging the pillow. Sasuke, however, was the first to lie down but couldn't sleep, so he lay there staring at the ceiling.
The ceiling fan was on, spinning fast enough to be difficult to track with the eyes.
Sasuke looked at the fan, intrigued. It was like remembering the fight with Haku, when he tried to dodge the fast needles aimed at his vital organs. The feeling was the same. His whole mind went back to the moment of the fight, and he saw himself again, riddled like a sieve, bleeding. He felt pain, but his eyes seemed to get used to the speed of the enemy's movements, until he saw them more clearly, as if the world around him was slowed down, allowing Sasuke to see the shadows of the next movements.
He sat up on his mattress suddenly, shaking his head of the bad memories. Again, he looked at the fan. It was slower than it should be, each turn of the blades creating a shadow of where they would be next.
The boy got up and went to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He stared at the mirror, still in the dark. He didn't want to see his own face. Or rather, he didn't want to see his own eyes. But he needed to be sure, needed to see himself with those eyes, to confirm that all this change in his perception of the world hadn't been his head playing games with him.
Sasuke turned on the light and looked at himself in the mirror, for the first time in his life, with the Sharingan.
The scarlet eyes with two points in the iris were strange on his face. They were not normal eye colors, especially for someone with completely black eyes. Sasuke looked at his own reflection, unsettled, staring from one eye to the other.
It was like... He was exactly like...
Sasuke turned off the light and hurried out of the bathroom. He didn't want to look at his reflection anymore because more images from the past came back to his mind.
His heart was beating faster, and his blood would soon start to boil.
He needed to ignore his teacher's orders and clear his mind for a bit.
He left the room, putting on his sandals and quickly descending the stairs. He was wearing a black shirt and gray pants, his usual pajamas, but he didn't care about that. Sasuke reached the restaurant/reception on the ground floor and almost bumped into Kakashi, who was getting up to go back upstairs to the room.
"If I recall correctly, I told you all to sleep," Sasuke turned to the teacher, with a troubled look that evidenced the redness of his eyes. Then, as quickly as he had turned, the boy left the inn.
Kakashi understood everything. With a sigh, he followed him. He wasn't angry at all.
It didn't take long for Kakashi to find him on top of a random building, gazing vaguely at the moon in the sky.
"So that's how you survived the fight against Haku," said the sensei, approaching and sitting near the boy, "I was waiting for you to tell me you awakened the Sharingan."
Sasuke didn't answer and didn't turn his head. He didn't move away either. It was a good sign.
"When were you going to tell me about this, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, in a serious tone.
Sasuke shrugged.
"I don't understand why you think this is a big deal."
"Well, you are a member of the Uchiha Clan!" Kakashi laughed, as if he had to explain the obvious, "The Sharingan is the greatest mark of your family."
When he heard the word family, Sasuke shuddered and glanced at the teacher out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes. The greatest mark of disgrace," he said, dryly.
Kakashi didn't change his expression. He had a new hypothesis about what was going on and wanted to dissect it.
"Your eyes saved you from a nearly certain death, Sasuke," he took a deep breath, "You shouldn't speak of your blood heritage that way."
This time it was Sasuke who took a deep breath. He wanted to argue, opened his mouth to say something like "but it was eyes like these that killed my whole family an putted me inside a genjustu to watch that for several hours," but he was too tired to argue and fell silent.
"Or can't you still see yourself with them?" the teacher insisted
"You tell me then, since you have the Sharingan and you're not even an Uchiha"
Kakashi was unsure whether this was Sasuke wanting a conflict or if it was just his way of addressing his own curiosities. He preferred to go with the second option.
"It was strange at first, as if it would never belong to me," he began, "my body is not adapted like yours, and using it tires me out a lot."
"Just deactivate it," Sasuke commented, now facing the teacher.
"Unlike an Uchiha, I can't deactivate it. But it seems that you are also having problems with that, aren't you?" Kakashi teased, pointing to the young man's face.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and turned his head.
"Don't worry. Soon you'll learn to activate and deactivate the Sharingan whenever you want."
Sasuke didn't seem any less uncomfortable after hearing this information, which gradually confirmed Kakashi's suspicion.
"What do these eyes mean to you?"
Sasuke remained quiet, thoughtful, before answering.
"When I was younger, it was expected that I would awaken the Sharingan at some point. I always wanted to be able to use them..." Kakashi waited, hoping Sasuke would say more, "But today, I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time with them and..."
Sasuke swallowed hard. Kakashi was looking at him, expectantly.
"I looked very much like him."
And that's how Kakashi's suspicion was confirmed. Sasuke looked at himself in the mirror and didn't see himself, but rather his brother, or rather, the relative who wiped out the entire Uchiha Clan.
"You are nothing like him, Sasuke, no matter what your appearance may suggest," the teacher said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Your eyes awakened in battle for your own protection. You used them to protect Naruto too."
Sasuke continued to look into the empty sky, showing no reaction.
"Having the same blood will never make you the same. Don't be afraid of your eyes; they are a powerful tool and, now, one of your greatest allies in battle. Whether you like it or not," Hatake's voice was firmer this time.
Kakashi's words lingered in the boy's mind, crashing against the bad memories that were haunting him.
"So, when you have the same eyes as mine, come find me," that's what Itachi had said to his younger brother many years ago.
The Sharingan was inevitable, just like his revenge against his older brother. If that was the weapon necessary to kill Itachi, then Sasuke would train his eyes to exhaustion. Just like in everything else in his life, he would have to achieve excellence with the Sharingan as well.
"I know," the boy said. His vacant gaze acquired a determination that was noticed by Kakashi, "I will get used to this."
Beneath the mask, Kakashi smiled.
"I know you will. But what changed?" he asked.
Sasuke turned completely to the teacher.
"Maybe I'm just starting to accept myself as I am," it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Kakashi would never understand or accept Sasuke's murderous motivations towards his brother.
But Kakashi wasn't a fool. He noticed a different spark in the student.
"I can't stand here doing nothing. I need to train if I want to get really good with these eyes."
The teacher frowned at the unexpected change in the boy's determination.
"Well, well. We still need to rest; we've just returned from a difficult mission. Don't be in such a hurry."
Internally, Sasuke laughed at his own impatience. The teacher was right; he needed to reserve this time to rest and return to the Village. But he still needed to ask something.
"Kakashi?" the sensei was paying attention to him, "Would you teach me to use these eyes?"
Kakashi's smile widened, reflecting in his only visible eye. This was exactly where he wanted to get with the student.
"What a silly question, Sasuke. Of course I will," he said, feeling lighter in the conversation, "You know very well that I'm the only one who can."
Sasuke was now more relieved with everything. He looked around, at the rustling of the leaves in the trees, the nocturnal animals that passed by, the few people walking on the street... His perception of the world with the Sharingan was different, yes. However, he began to get used to and enjoy the feeling. It was something new, a little strange, and it made him remember many bad things from his past, but self-acceptance was essential for his eyes to become a powerful weapon for his main goal. And so he would keep moving forward his ambition.
"Thank you," this time the boy was sincere.
"We have a lot to face together, you can count on me," the teacher stood up, "stay here a little longer if you want, but don't take too long. We leave early tomorrow."
With a nod from Sasuke, Kakashi left.
He stayed there a few more minutes, with a more attentive look at the world and his perspectives with the Sharingan. He yawned and understood that it was time to go back to the inn.
Sasuke came down from the building and stood in front of the window of a closed shop. He saw his reflection with the red Sharingan eyes, but he no longer felt repulsion. He felt the chakra flow from his eyes to the rest of his body, and his irises returned to being completely black. He smiled.