Flowers, as far back as Sasuke could remember, in his eyes, were just plants with no relevant purpose. It couldn't be used as food or medicine, serving only futile purposes like decorations, gifts for women, and...funerals.
One reason why he didn't like these things very much.
In fact, there were very few things that Sasuke liked, but that was beside the point.
His mother, on the other hand, loved flowers or plants in general and growing them.
One of the advantages of the clan occupying a significant area of the village, something that didn't change even after they were... "relocated" after the Nine-Tails incident.
That way, the Uchiha district had everything and a little to lessen the dependence on the Village itself.
A silent response against the measures taken towards the clan.
The Uchiha didn't need Konoha.
Simple as that.
Probably being one of the reasons the clan was exterminated in the first place.
If the Uchiha wanted to leave the village behind and start over, there was hardly a nation that would reject the chance to assimilate such power.
The Sharingan was, after all, the most coveted bloodline in the world.
Except that Konoha would never allow something like that.
They wouldn't even let Sasuke leave in peace after all they did to his family.
For he was the last Uchiha, his death represented the end of his clan's lineage and a valuable part of the village.
It wasn't for nothing that Sasuke constantly questioned whether that cursed village was even worth saving.
His hatred and resentment aside, the point was that amidst all that the clan provided, his mother was no different and grew everything in her garden next to a flower garden that she loved to tend.
A hobby she took up after she retired as a shinobi, probably due to the tension between the clan and village, thus also having more time to take care of her children...or son, since Itachi was never around, being much like their father in that regard.
And at that moment, Sasuke found himself standing in that garden as he watched a younger, smiling version of himself, who must have been five years old if much, standing next to his mother.
Both were dressed appropriately for the task, complete with hats for the sun that should have been present in this memory but was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, to provide light was a giant moon in pieces that shouldn't exist in his world.
A dream, he defined, knowing that illusions don't work on him; not after he had obtained the Rinnegan and that corrupted Six Path Mark would never bring up a positive memory like this. But why this dream, in particular, though?
Especially after so long and when normally he only had nightmares?
"Mom, mom, what about this one?" his younger self asked suddenly, his round, smiling face smeared with dirt as he pointed to one of the countless flowers present in this vivid garden that would make even the Yamanaka jealous. "It's really pretty!"
His mother, as always, had a happy smile on her face that seemed to be unwavering, standing right next to him while actually doing something instead of getting dirty as he was doing in an innocent attempt to help but only getting in the way.
The difference between brothers.
At that same age, Itachi was already considered a genius and had blood on his hands.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had dirt on his and was still a genuinely naive child, living happily in ignorance of the problems the clan had.
It's not for nothing that Itachi sought peace so desperately, Sasuke already knew and understood his older brother's motivations, but looking at it from this angle it seemed different; heavier. In his place, what would I do?
Everything changes when you have someone you love at stake.
Still, Sasuke could not help but condemn his brother's choice, where sacrificing his family shouldn't be an option.
Inevitably Naruto came to his mind and his fists clenched.
It was different, very different.
Naruto might be his only friend, the younger brother of his reincarnation, but the truth was that Sasuke resented him.
Just like he used to resent Itachi.
By having that fox inside him, Naruto had grown in power at an alarming rate over the years and made Sasuke almost despair for believing that he wasn't good enough.
Even now, after obtaining a Rinnegan that surpassed that of Madara, Sasuke was still uncertain about his chances of victory against Naruto, to the point of recreating a curse on his neck.
If Sasuke deserted Konoha and nearly went insane, Naruto was as much a part of the reason as Itachi.
Furthermore, Naruto wanted the status quo, where the system that the Elemental Nations relied on needed to change for things to really change as well.
Killing him would literally make the world a better place.
Sasuke needed to cut him out of his life one way or another.
Or so he wanted to believe.
After these last few days in Remnant, he isn't sure of anything anymore.
In fact, he didn't even know why he was having this particular dream.
If this really was a dream.
One thing I do know. A smile eventually formed on his face as he disregarded everything else and stepped forward to join his younger self and his mother. Reliving this memory is not a bad thing.
Although it hurt to know that his mother was gone, she still lived inside him, in a way that he could almost feel her gentle touch on his face to bring comfort and ward off the darkness that threatened to consume him.
Just as she promised.
But why did he keep attaching her image and affection to someone with blue eyes?
Something really wasn't right, but that was for later.
"That's a red rose," Mikoto answered the question asked, gaining the attention of both versions of her son. "One of the most beautiful flowers in the world and it represents love, which is why that color is part of the symbol of our clan and lineage."
It seemed to be true then, what the second Hokage said.
"No clan feels a deeper love than the Uchiha."
Sasuke knew it was true, having experienced such feelings for his family, but reluctant to believe it because such an explanation came from someone who seemed to breathe hatred for the Uchiha.
Irrelevant, though.
That man was dead, just like the Uchiha clan.
Sasuke preferred to watch his younger self, who hardly understood the meaning of love when even he himself couldn't say he did, having his eyes shine as he held that flower in his hands and inevitably remembered Ruby who bore the name, color, and beauty of that rose.
As well as her passion.
Someone who genuinely looked up to him as a hero he didn't believe himself to be and loved him.
Why her, though? That was the part that confused him; thinking about Ruby when he had other girls who fit the description. If it was about love, shouldn't I think about Sakura first?
The girl who had almost hunted him since childhood with a kind of obsession second only to the one Naruto displayed, but without the justification of being the reincarnation of a sibling from his past life...which was good, or it would be even worse than it already was.
As for the color, shouldn't I think of Karin? Sasuke would never forget this teammate he used until he discarded her, a girl from the Uzumaki clan, which was a nightmare of a combination for him, and her red hair...which wasn't as red as the blood he ripped out of her with a lightning spear. Maybe it's because I don't want to remember that.
The hateful things he did.
With Ruby, it was different, where the biggest problem he had with her was her excessive and fanciful admiration.
"Red?" His younger self might not be a genius like Itachi, but he was far from dumb. "There are roses in other colors?"
Sasuke was remembering more and more about this memory, his eyes focusing in the direction of the answer and his heart fluttering because of it; as he noticed a pattern forming and something else.
"Yes, there are several!" Mikoto really enjoyed seeing at least one of her children show interest in what she loved. "Right there, for example," she made a point of leading her little one to the nearest variant that she was so proud to have cultivated. "That's the White Rose, a flower that is as beautiful as the red one and represents purity, just like that of the snow, and loyalty, so its color is also part of and completes our clan's symbol."
Hardly had anyone believed that the world's most notorious clan carried love and loyalty on their backs, especially with all the blood and death left behind where they passed.
Even Sasuke contributed with what now sounded like sarcasm, for betraying and trying to kill people who loved him.
Reality aside, it was nonetheless an innocent way to explain the most commonly presented representation behind these colors, but not inaccurate, and Sasuke had Weiss in mind this time, another girl whose beauty present in this flower she could be proud to carry.
Someone of noble origins who had more in common with him than Sasuke could say, having a name to honor and seeking to redeem because of past mistakes that were possibly still happening even now.
Above all that, she also loved him rather than feared him.
She wasn't the only one.
Following in that same line, there was Winter too, the shadow that Weiss seemed to pursue with admiration, envy, and a little resentment, just as he used to do with Itachi.
Thinking of this woman; of her blue eyes that seemed to be more intense than those of her younger sister, for some reason brought out a strange feeling inside him, similar to the urgency he remembered from the gentle touch he had felt earlier.
Why?
He couldn't put his finger on the reason, but he could tell that something wasn't right, and having a small strand of his hair near his ear falling out because of what appeared to be a clean cut didn't help alleviate this concern.
"What about this one?" his younger self was quick to find the next variant right nearby, one in contrast to the white one. "I like this one!"
Of course, he liked it, as it was another characteristic color of the clan members, present in their hair and eyes.
Its meaning, however...
"That..." Mikoto hesitated, and with reason, being something she didn't even try to grow and was born on its own; a rare mutation that didn't represent a good sign but which she ended up keeping because Fugaku didn't believe in superstitions. "It's also a beautiful flower, a Black Rose that represents...the end."
A lie that contained the truth, where the end represented death.
Or so it should be.
Death wasn't exactly the end, and Sasuke knew that all too well now, where it could also mean new beginnings.
After all, technically speaking, he had died before and been reborn more times than he could say, with different names and personalities that were not passed on along with Indra's resentful Chakra.
A vicious cycle that almost came to a true end recently.
If not for the interference of the Sage of the Six Paths and Kabuto, Sasuke would have died along with his clan and there wouldn't have been a descendant for Indra to transmigrate.
Almost a revolution, if Sasuke stopped to think about it.
But he didn't want to, preferring to focus on this flower that brought Blake to his mind.
While this girl alone had nothing to do with death, the nature of their first encounter definitely did.
That night, Blake, with her animalistic instinct, recognized his darkness from afar, saw the skeletal avatar of his Susano'o, and called him death.
Still, she decided to follow him.
At first out of curiosity and concern for the other faunus he scared, then because of her instinct, and now because of her feelings.
A complicated girl that Sasuke didn't know what to do with, but that he definitely didn't hate having around despite everything.
Which was strange, really.
Sasuke had always hated being seen as a piece of meat, but with Blake, it was...different.
Maybe because she knew nothing about him, being attracted only to "Sasuke" and not to something related to his heritage, like all the girls before her; someone who saw and felt in her skin what he was really like and still chose him.
Following a similar logic, there was one more girl...or flower, in this case.
"And last, but not least, is the yellow rose!" Mikoto made a point of shifting the focus from the black roses to one she could feel comfortable talking about. "I believe this flower is the most 'alive' of them all, representing prosperity that is not tied to just one clan, but all of them."
Conciliating Yang with such a calm concept seemed silly, even more so when her personality screamed conflict and hostility.
However, that color represented much more than his mother possibly knew, also symbolizing the rays of the sun that girl's hair seemed to radiate, the energy that her fury turned into flames, the joy of being able to find humor even when under the influence of fear, and...her friendship that knew no bounds for the sake of someone she loved.
Many qualities that Yang definitely carried despite her flaws...including her love and hate for him.
A conflicting combination that Sasuke knew all too well.
Just one of the many reasons that made him respect her and maybe even...like her.
Despite everything, she was still the first girl he had ever kissed.
That aside, now that Sasuke had the opportunity to relive this memory from his childhood, which he suppressed along with everything else related to his family because he considered it a weakness and hurt him, and thinking of the girls he met in Remnant, it all seemed very much like...
Destiny, huh... Sasuke couldn't help but let a light laugh escape his lips at the irony. It would be strange if this damned concept would stop interfering with my life.
A part of him wanted to scream to the heavens in anger at this horrible feeling of the thought that he had no control over anything he do.
At the same time, however, he wanted to...be thankful? It was hard to describe, only that he didn't hate that he had met these flowers.
Definitely much better than anything else that had happened so far in his life.
"Mom, what about this one?" Sasuke was pulled out of his thoughts by his younger self to see something he had no recollection of. "That's a rose too, right?"
A white one, but one that had blue petals mixed in that made that nagging feeling from before return with even more urgency and think of the Schnee sisters.
Could something have happened to Weiss and Winter?
The possibility was there and that sense of urgency was escalating inside him.
"That was a...project, so to speak," Mikoto didn't much like the term "experiment" because of a certain white snake who was obsessed with bloodlines. "A white rose that I infused Chakra into to see what would happen and it ended up gaining some blue petals."
A result that would make the Yamanaka climb the walls, she was sure and proud of it.
"So cool..." his younger self simply loved everything related to Chakra and what that power could do, even calling it magic on more than one occasion. "Can I try it?!"
A rhetorical question, for him and all his enthusiasm, would not wait for an answer.
"Try what?" Mikoto took a second to understand what was about to happen and when she did she tried to stop him but to no avail. "Sasuke, wait!"
Her son's hand was on the stem of her unique rose, whose thorns were even sharper and more resilient thanks to her Chakra infusion, and before she could even try there was the startled cry of pain.
"Ahh!" His younger self was still just a child after all, and it wasn't long before his eyes were filled with tears. "That hurts!"
Drops of blood fell before any tears could and his mother was there to take care of him, as she always did.
"Own, Sasuke, it's okay," Mikoto had a cloth and water in hand to clean the wound in less than a blink of an eye. "It was nothing, let mom take care of it."
So she did while his younger self tried to put up a strong front and swallow his crying.
To Sasuke, however, it seemed as if a wound had been opened in his chest.
Reason?
Seeing that white and blue petaled Rose now stained with blood.
What's happening? He looked at his hand for an answer and all he got were more questions as he saw more strands of his hair fall out as if they had been torn out of him this time. What the hell?
With this he was sure that something even worse than he imagined was happening, feeling again the protective touch of someone on his body and seeing no one there with him.
Because there was no one.
At least, not here, that is, Sasuke came to an unpleasant conclusion about his current situation. If I am dreaming, I am sleeping and it seems that I am in danger because of it, but there is someone protecting me.
Weiss or Winter, maybe both, if these signals he was receiving meant that much.
But who would be crazy enough to attack him?
Unfortunately, more than one person came to mind, even if he disregarded everything else and thought only of Remnant.
There was that General of Atlas that Winter was following, which explained her possible presence in all this; someone who made a point of making his distrust and hostility known at the entrance ceremony while his lieutenant revealed her affection for him.
Certainly another reason to hate him.
Besides him was the Headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin, who felt just like the third Hokage, being someone who put up a smiling front, but who no one could tell what kinds of plans he was cooking up in the dark.
Last, but not least, or likely, would be that small girl who seemed to hate him to the bone.
There was no telling what each of them would do if they found Sasuke in a vulnerable position, only that it wouldn't be anything good, where being killed was a less cruel fate than being turned into a lab rat.
I need to get out of here, Sasuke was sure of that now and decided to try something as he brought his hands together in a seal and made his Chakra stir efficiently enough to break even Itachi's Tsukuyomi with ease. "Release!"
A second passed and nothing happened, proving for good that he wasn't trapped in an illusion.
Okay, this is a problem. Sasuke expected to be wrong about his ability to prevent being put under an illusion due to not knowing the reason for his current condition, but as expected it wasn't possible. In that case, if this really is a dream, how do I wake up?
Especially when being in danger didn't seem to be enough?
Which wasn't normal.
Sasuke literally trained his senses and body to wake up at the slightest variation of movement, sound, or smell near him while he was sleeping, especially when there was hostility or any form of threat to his physical integrity.
A necessity when one is under the tutelage of a certain white snake with psychotic tendencies.
It seems that there is something else going on here. Sasuke had his hand on his left shoulder, wondering if this thing he recreated had something to do with all this. Questions for later.
For now, he needed to focus on waking up before someone outside made sure he never did again.
Not to mention that Weiss or Winter could also be in danger.
"Everything okay now?" Mikoto snapped Sasuke out of his morbid contemplation as she finished first aid on the wounds of his younger self. "That's why you should be careful with flowers, especially roses. They may be beautiful and delicate, but they all have thorns that can hurt."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that.
Could Winter be the one threatening his life?
That had not even crossed his mind.
If that was really true, there was a chance sisters would be fighting each other because of him then, and not in a good way.
"Like Mom?" his younger self had a dangerous but not inaccurate opinion, considering his father only listened to his mother, almost being afraid of her. So did Itachi.
The two of them and a bunch more of clan members.
Which meant that his mother was amazing!
Scary, but amazing.
"Fu, fu," Mikoto stifled a laugh as she smiled a little, finding the kind of image he had of her funny. "More like all girls."
A truth, Sasuke knew.
He might have had several problems with the opposite sex, but he respected the strength some women had.
Even if Madara was more dangerous in his eyes, Kaguya was still the most powerful entity he had ever seen.
"So," Mikoto decided to change the subject, or just return to the main topic. "Which one do you like the most?"
A sudden question that was meant to keep changing the focus of the pain, but inevitably hindered Sasuke in his search for a solution to his current problem, because for him this was about much more than mere flowers.
"Hmm, I don't know," an honest answer, where Sasuke was in the same boat as his younger self but only until he heard the next part of his answer. "I just know that I like them all!"
Unexpected didn't even serve as a description of what he just heard.
These were the most honest and pure feelings coming from a version of himself that had not yet been corrupted by hate.
That had to mean something.
But it didn't matter.
At least, not right now. Sasuke had more on his hands to deal with, much more. I need to get out of here.
To do so, he would have to resort to extreme and uncertain measures.
Often, a fright or physical trauma was necessary to wake up, which was why nightmares woke people up...as well as dying in a dream.
After all, death meant not only the end but also a new beginning.
For that reason, he had a kunai in hand.
A dangerous gamble, but still the only one he had at the moment.
However, just when he was about to kill himself, something that shouldn't be possible, happened.
The sharp edge of his Kunai stopped inches short of piercing him in the stomach, his suicide attempt being barred by the delicate yet strong hand of a woman.
Sasuke felt his heart sink and his eyes widen for more than one reason.
For in front of him stood Uchiha Mikoto, his mother who at the moment should be no more than the remnants of a memory.
This raised endless questions in his mind, where Sasuke had his Mangekyou and Rinnegan flickering with power as he believed he was actually trapped in some sort of illusion, and this woman before him was a byproduct of that, taking this form precisely to shake his mind while preventing him from getting a way out.
Yet... not only did he find himself unable to escape this illusion, but the gentle touch he felt, the warmth, and the look she had for him, carrying regret at the sight of his eyes, didn't match his pessimistic theory.
Why would an illusion behave this way after it had revealed itself?
Such doubts were what left Sasuke speechless for a moment that felt like an eternity, not knowing what to do.
Especially if this really was just a memory or a conscious dream and not something else.
"Mom?" he decided to try, but without letting his guard down.
"Yes?" Mikoto just focused on those eyes before her, an incompatible pair that belonged to her two sons; a representation of the pain they had gone through, and seeing an overlapping image of them to fuel her inevitable expression of regret.
"How?" was the question Sasuke couldn't answer.
"I..." Mikoto thought for a second, but nothing that made sense or that could make this situation more acceptable came up for her to speak. "It doesn't matter," was all she could say, as she was also unsure as to what was going on; if she was really more than just a memory. "What does matter is that you don't have to hurt yourself anymore." Calmly, she took the kunai from his hand, assured that this was one of her purposes here; to protect this child of hers after she had failed to do so in life. "You can leave whenever you want."
As if to confirm her words, the world he found himself unable to escape even with all his power began to unravel and somehow Sasuke wasn't happy about it.
His chance to escape this state of vulnerability, to be able to defend himself against whoever was attacking him, and to protect those who were risking themselves for him, possibly preventing a tragedy between sisters from happening, was there, but that sense of urgency seemed to have vanished.
When would another opportunity like this arise to see his mother again, or remember her in such a tangible way?
Suddenly, it no longer mattered whether it was all a dream, memory, or hell that it was.
But just then, that special rose, instead of crumbling like everything else around, had its petals carried by a momentary breeze toward him to make him hear something more and fuel his conflict.
Sasuke, his name sounded in his ears in the form of a tired whisper. Please, a girl whose voice was familiar to him asked, almost pleading. You need to... wake up...
He already knew that, and he could feel blood trickling down his face after the sensation of the touch that these petals passed, as if it were the fingers of someone who had done everything for him but could no longer continue to fight.
Except.
"Mom, I..." even though he knew he had someone needing him and that the woman in front of him wasn't exactly real, and might just be a figment of his deepest desires before he passed out, he didn't want to say goodbye like this. "I just want you to know that..."
"I know," Mikoto interrupted, her hand resting on her son's cheek to dry a tear saturated with guilt and regret. "I know everything and it doesn't matter."
At least, not anymore.
"How can you say that?" Sasuke found himself incapable of accepting that. "After everything that happened?"
Of what he did.
"Because, unfortunately, no matter how powerful you are, the past cannot be changed." The very fact that she was dead would not change and Mikoto was okay with that because it was the consequence of her actions. "Besides, you're fine and that's all that matters."
Perhaps, if Sasuke could understand her point of view, as a mother, but that wasn't the case at all and so he didn't agree with her. In fact, he hated the fact that his life was put above all other clan members, regardless of the fact that he knew nothing about the coup plans.
Because, unlike what Itachi said, Sasuke wasn't the only child in the clan who didn't know anything.
Yet, he was the only one spared.
That didn't feel right.
"For what it's worth, I believe your brother was right, that perhaps if given enough time, you could have made your father and I change our minds along with the clan," there was regret in her voice because of the decisions she chose to support. "Unfortunately, that is no longer possible, but," not everything was lost, "you can change the future, starting with this world that so desperately needs help."
A place where the Uchiha's name had no meaning; a blank page that was being written in a completely different way than it had been in the Elemental Nations.
"Why would I do that?" a rhetorical question, he knew, especially the reasons. Or girls.
Something his mother could see through easily and more.
"It's just a guess, but I believe it has to do with the fact that you don't want to be a monster anymore," Mikoto recalls hearing some nonsense like that. "Even if you were never one, to begin with." Wrong choices and decisions were made, she knew, but that didn't change anything for her and a smile formed on her lips to add another extremely relevant reason, "Or maybe it's because of some particular "flowers"?"
Sasuke felt his face heat up.
This was quite embarrassing.
But somehow, it wasn't a bad feeling.
"'Alright, I get it,'" Sasuke gave up and eventually smiled until he let a small chuckle escape. "You know, I just realized that it doesn't matter if you're real, an illusion, memory, or a combination of all of these created by my subconscious..." his gaze softened along with his eyes as they returned to the normal, familiar pattern of the standard Sharingan, even if only in one eye." I am glad to see you again."
A hug was Mikoto's response to him, squeezing him while she still could.
"Me too," she said softly, her time ending with every second. "And know one thing, my son: you have always been loved and always will be."
Whether by his family, friends, or these flowers that had appeared to lighten the darkness that his life had become.
"I know," Sasuke probably always knew that, but he was too stubborn to accept that fact. Not anymore. He smiled as he returned the long-forgotten gesture but one that couldn't be more familiar. "And I thank you for that."
For always being with him, no matter what.
A smile and tears of happiness were all Mikoto had for him until the world around them shattered, where only the moonlight remained unchanged in an abrupt change of scenery and reflecting in his eyes, Sasuke had a flower of white and blue petals lying in his lap, now stained with blood after doing everything she could to protect him.
This time, however, he would return the favor and more.
Of that, Sasuke was sure.
This was a new beginning, after all, for him and this world.
Another one of those chapters that makes me nervous to post. The idea here was to do something similar to Re: Zero, where Subaru meets his parents based solely on his memories and feelings. But you can interpret this chapter any way you want, just as another reader from the P t r & on did, saying that he felt like Sasuke was having a conversation with himself. Or rather the part of his self that yearns to do good, that the entire chapter is a representation of Sasuke's broken psyche...
He made me think a lot about something that I myself wrote.
Anyway, that's all for now, so review, and if you want to support me and read ahead, take a look at my P t r & on (slash) Bertoti
The next one comes out on the 15th.