Well after dark, after she\u2019d run her errands, showered and changed back into her shinobi clothes, Sakura scaled a building wall in the center of Konoha, hopped over the spine of the roof and down into a secluded balcony. Several nins were already there, leaning out and watching the parade a story below. Sakura landed soundlessly. An on-duty anbu agent, lazily propped against the back wall, nodded to her. She nodded back.<\/p>\n
There were clusters of nins at the railing, talking and pointing at the crowd below. Some she knew, some she didn\u2019t. But they gave the black-haired nin in the middle extra space. She smirked at the picture it made. She was sure he didn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n
Sakura leaned onto the railing beside Sasuke and saw him in profile. His expression was always a mask at these things, but he gave her the slightest of nods when she slid into his view.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She smirked. \u201cHello to you too,\u201d she said softly and was gratified to see that a small smile cracked his mask for a moment. Then she turned to watch the parade unfold beneath them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Festivals usually unified both the shinobi and civilian sides of Konoha, and tonight it looked like most of village had turned out to clog the parade route. It began at the Hokage\u2019s tower, threaded down through the edge of several neighborhoods as if sewing them together, then ended at an old temple down by the gate.<\/p>\n Drums and cymbals exploded beneath their balcony suddenly. Just then, a group of dancers in matching kimonos began to perform, while raucous bands of musicians danced around them, teasing the audience into clapping along. Behind them, the first of the clan floats was rounding the corner.<\/p>\n Many more shinobi she knew were dropping down, while others were leaving. None stayed for the whole thing \u2014 it could take hours for the parade to go by \u2014 just the parts that had meaning for them. Kakashi dropped down and nodded at his former students, but he preferred to lean against the wall. However hen he saw Shikamaru at the other end, arms propped on the rail, he spoke up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNara, shouldn\u2019t you be down there representing your clan?\u201d There was a decidedly \u2018teacher\u2019 tone to Kakashi\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n Shikamaru tried to shrug it off and not answer, not wanting to draw attention to himself. But Kakashi continued. \u201cAren\u2019t they one of Konoha\u2019s oldest clans?\u201d<\/p>\n Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but when he finally looked back over his shoulder, everyone was looking at him. He sighed. \u201cYou know my parents<\/i> aren\u2019t interested in that old stuff.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kakashi laughed and leaned back, satisfied. By \u2018parents,\u2019 Shikamaru clearly meant his mother. She probably didn\u2019t want to spend the time and energy on something as frivolous as this. Having met her, now Sakura could understand. And knowing how much her old sensei loved to tease, it was clear that they he and the elder Naras were friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Shikamaru\u2019s shoulders bounced once with a good-natured \u201ctch,\u201d before he hung his head back over his hands and returned to watching the parade. Hiding her smile, Sakura turned back to the parade too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The clan floats rounding the corner consisted of teetering wooden platforms. They moved on wheels now, but in years past they were carried by the strongest young men of their clan. They were like miniature towers, wrapped in elaborately carved and painted decorations that held some meaning to their clan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Atop the platforms, in matching family kimonos, sat the clan elders. Behind them stood their most powerful family leaders, most promising youth and any guests that might elevate their social value any higher.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In other words, it was a big show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Behind them walked the rest of their clan, in matching kimonos of course.<\/p>\n Another float rounded, and although Sakura didn\u2019t know the meaning of banners hanging down or the stories told in the carvings around the base, she did know the colors. Deep purple and black. This was Ino\u2019s clan.<\/p>\n Ino did not have high enough status in her father\u2019s clan to ride on the float, but Sakura was certain she didn\u2019t mind. Ino walked behind the float with the rest of her family, waving and smiling and flipping her spun-gold ponytail while she passed out sweets shaped like flowers to children who thought she was a princess.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She saw Sakura, her teammates and the other nins and waved brightly. She motioned to her new kimono and gave a thumbs up to Sakura. Sakura cringed and waved quickly back \u2014 she knew her father had procured the fabric at the last minute. Sakura wasn\u2019t sure, but she thought she heard a low teasing laugh from Sasuke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Iruka dropped in at the back, waved briefly at them before spying Kakashi, then strode over to have a private conversation with their old sensei. Sakura noticed that Kakashi listened seriously to Iruka\u2019s whispered message, nodded once, twice, and then, without a word, he was gone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Iruka joined them, speaking more to Sakura than Sasuke, even though he was addressing them both. \u201cAren\u2019t you missing a teammate?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura smiled. \u201cHe\u2019s on duty tonight.\u201d She looked at the angled shadows on the roofs across the street. \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s perched somewhere around here.\u201d<\/p>\n Iruka smiled. \u201cAh, good. He\u2019ll still get to see it then.\u201d She nodded. He waved goodbye to them and everyone else gathered there \u2014 some had been his students too and they waved back \u2014 and left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More clans were passing below them. Smaller ones, without large floats. If a clan wasn\u2019t big enough, then they just walked together in a show of solidarity. Some of them carried staffs or banners or other relics that only they knew the significance of. Others, well\u2026. They brought clan \u201csymbols\u201d that needed no explanation.<\/p>\n A raucous barking was echoing from around the corner and burst out into the lane in front of them. It was the Inuzaka clan with all their oversized dogs. Suddenly, one dog pulled free from its young Inuzaka master, and the rest of the dogs wanted in on the action. The small clans around them scattered like marbles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The happy beasts dove in and out of the crowd, licking faces of children while parents pulled them away, darting at food from vendors\u2019 carts, and drawing deep frowns from the other elders. They turned in their seats at the top of floats that were spaced far out in front and behind the rowdy clan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The oldest Inuzuka men and women rode the largest dogs, and both human and animal seemed proud of the impact they made as they strode by. They were in no hurry to round the youngsters back up again.<\/p>\n Kiba nodded up at the nins smugly, riding proud atop a well-behaved Akamaru\u2014 until the enormous white dog got a whiff of something he couldn\u2019t resist and bolted. A ripple of laughter went down the balcony as Kiba tried to wrangle the oversize white fluffball back to the parade route.<\/p>\n Behind the next float was a slow moving processional of priests and acolytes that walked to the steady beat of a large drum. The white-clad men and women carried sacred relics from different temples. Scrolls, banners, chimes. Tall hooks with delicate swinging lanterns. Pots of spicy incense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All of these men and women were much older than her parents. But one priest was very old, as frail as the scroll he was carrying. She realized she only saw him once a year, at this festival. And she couldn\u2019t believe he was still alive. He looked the same as he did when she was a child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More men and women walked behind him, carrying more talismans for honoring ancestors. But this time Sakura recognized the symbols from her mother\u2019s notes. A tree branch. A folded piece of fabric. A hunk of metal. On and on. Each had some meaning\u2014 The last one carried a length of oversized twisted rope with a conspicuous red knot at the bottom. It was the precursor to the braids she\u2019d been making all last night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She laughed to herself. Maybe she was in fact participating in these weird old traditions like the little old village grannies wanted her to, only she just didn\u2019t realize it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke\u2019s low voice intoned beside her. \u201cWhat are you laughing at?\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura covered quickly. \u201cOh nothing. It\u2019s just, some of the people here are so strange, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He chuckled too. \u201cYeah I guess this festival empties all the little temples out. Then when they come back to Konoha, they bring their special \u2018thing\u2019 with them.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s right, Sakura thought. These people came from all sorts of different sacred places. Both inside and outside Konoha.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She was just wondering if Tsunade\u2019s old granny from the Senju temple might be among their ranks, when she caught sight of the wrinkled little man and woman from the market. Ma and Pa.<\/p>\n Almost at the same time they saw her. Ma pointed, then Pa squinted, and Ma waved grandly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura could see her mouthing \u201cpink hair\u201d into the old man\u2019s ear. He caught the color, then saw her and waved too. Sakura couldn\u2019t avoid it. She lifted her fingers for a quick wave at the edge of the railing. She hoped no one would notice\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cWho are they\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cUm\u2026who?\u201d Sakura spied a train of heavily decorated floats rounding the corner. She pointed quickly, \u201cOh wow, look at those\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was only half meant as a distraction. They were very elaborate, especially the last one.<\/p>\n But beside her, Sasuke straightened. He was watching the coming floats as if waiting for something awful to leap out of them.<\/p>\n Sakura looked closer. They were Hyuuga floats. The first two went swaying by with elders and family members in the top. They sat still, looking resplendent in matching dark robes underneath a canopy of fabric strung with ropes and tassels. They didn\u2019t wave as the other families had, instead nodded formally. It was all very posed and perfect, almost like a painting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The last float was the most elegant. Elaborately carved mythical beasts flew through wisps of clouds, only to turn into a new creature at the corner of the float. The top and bottom of the tower were framed with carved flames. The details were so masterfully highlighted in gold that the whole thing shimmered as it moved, as if the carvings were coming to life and the flames might suddenly leap off the float.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the top, inside a railed-in platform, sat the head family. None of them smiled or nodded. Their classmates Hinata and Neji were up there, seated at the front, but they were too rigid to give the balcony more than a spare glance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A large flag hung off the side. As they trundled closer, Sakura grew more certain that this was the flag her mother worked so hard to repair. It was big enough. And she thought she saw a boot print on it\u2014<\/p>\n At that moment, one of the Hyuuga men on the platform looked up at the balcony \u2014 at Sakura in particular \u2014 and whispered to the family head. Sakura had a moment of cold dread, and raised up from her casual stance with her arms propped on the railing, before she realized they weren\u2019t looking at her. They were looking next to her. At Sasuke.<\/p>\n The head of the Hyuuga clan nodded at Sasuke, then following his lead, the rest of the men around him did too. They were stoic, but nodded respectfully. Sakura glanced sideways. Sasuke was grim faced. But he nodded back firmly. Just once. Like he\u2019d rather not being doing it at all.<\/p>\n Sakura whispered under her breath, \u201cWha\u2014 What\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke huffed. His mouth twisted, as if he\u2019d rather not say. Finally, he whispered cryptically. \u201cSee the flag?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUh, yeah\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait till the float rocks again. When they turn,\u201d Sasuke said, eyes on the float, \u201cthen tell me what you see.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura watched the flag, the men, the surrounding float, but there was nothing amiss. The float approached a bend in the road and rocked from one side to another. The flag billowed out for a moment, away from the side of the platform\u2014\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There, carved in wood, outlined in faded paint, and completely covered by the Hyuuga banner, was an Uchiha fan. It was unmistakeable.<\/p>\n Sakura gasped softly. \u201cThat\u2019s an Uchiha float!\u201d She turned to him. \u201cWhy do they have it?\u201d Sasuke\u2019s face was stony. He didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The fabric banner fluttered down again. No one had seen it but her. The Hyuuga float turned and was gone behind another clan float.<\/p>\n Sakura watched it go. \u201cI don\u2019t understand\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a bitterness in Sasuke\u2019s voice. \u201cWhat\u2019s there to understand? There are no Uchiha left\u2014 So why not let them have it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh\u2026. I guess, um, that makes sense\u2026.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She turned back to watch the parade. Only, she didn\u2019t see it. She never thought about Sasuke\u2019s family. At all. But if his family had lived, then he would probably be down there right now too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He stepped back, voice suddenly firm. \u201cI\u2019ve got to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura thought he was angry again. But he was uncharacteristically fidgety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something I have to do,\u201d he half-mumbled. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve been putting it off\u2026.\u201d He surprised her, looking back over his shoulder at her\u2014 \u201cDo you\u2026uh, want to come with me?\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura recognized it as a moment of trust, after the moment in the village when he accused her of not telling him everything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She watched his face, hearing the parade cheers in her ears. She\u2019d be leaving it all behind, but her family wasn\u2019t there anyway. Civilians didn\u2019t participate, only watched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He glanced over her shoulder at the parade too, realizing belatedly that he was asking her to leave the festivities behind.<\/p>\n Certainty suffused her features. \u201cYeah\u2014 I\u2019ll go with you\u2014\u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A small apologetic smile touched his lips for a moment. Then he turned and, before anyone else might see, it was gone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n His face was an emotionless mask as he nodded to the few remaining shinobi and anbu who noticed their departure. And Sakura mimicked his serious demeanor, even though she had no idea where they were going.<\/p>\n They took the back roads away from the parade route. It was quiet, almost feeling forgotten in the festive atmosphere that was going on just a few streets over. There were few lights here, and the woods pressed in on the road as if trying to take it back while no one was looking. All except one area.<\/p>\n Off the darkest part of the lane, barely visible beyond the crowds trees and undergrowth was a small grassy circle. In the middle stood a single ghostly grey stone. It was a large, almost as big as Sakura, and stuck out of the ground at a slight angle as if it had been thrown. The shape always reminded her of a blade jutting from the earth, like a lone kunai left behind on the battlefield.<\/p>\n It was the memorial stone, and the trees never encroached on this space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As young nins, they were told that if you died on a mission, away from Konoha, your name would be etched there and remembered forever. But the truth was there were no names. Just the characters on the top, carved in a beautiful, flowing script no longer used in Konoha, saying, \u201cWe remember.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The message was clear: The names live on in you. They are etched into your mind as you go on without them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The custom was once a year, you stopped by the stone, touched it and said those names aloud. You remember them. You say it to the darkness or the dawn, or to the birds or the staring squirrels. You say that you still carry the ones you\u2019ve lost with you. And that\u2019s all. There were no floats here, no parades. No lit candles or incense or plates of food left out as an offering. That was not the shinobi way. Instead it was just the name spoken aloud. That was enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The stone had also become a sort of rite of passage for young genin. Every year, the story would circulate through the schoolyard that a ghost haunted the stone, but only on the night of the festival.<\/p>\n It was the source of many dares and giggling jump-scares among the classmates. But only a few were brave enough \u2014 or foolish enough \u2014 to find out if the stories were true.<\/p>\n Sakura glanced at Sasuke, then looked past him to the field. She thought she glimpsed the stone through the trees, pale grey against the darkness. But it wasn\u2019t scary. It was actually quite peaceful. Crickets chirped and happy parade sounds were still echoing down the streets.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you ever come down here at night?\u201d Sakura couldn\u2019t keep the smile out of her voice. \u201cYou know, when you were a kid? To see the ghost?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke snorted, and Sakura was instantly glad she\u2019d come. When he was relaxed he let an entirely different side of himself show.<\/p>\n \u201cCome down here to get scared by the upperclassmen? Of course not!\u201d He cut his dark, laughing eyes at her. \u201cWhy, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo! Of course not!\u201d Sakura shook her head emphatically, but she quickly turned her face away so he couldn\u2019t read her expression. Not that it helped. She was pretty sure he knew she was lying anyway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Because of course she\u2019d gone down. Ino said it would be so much fun. That everyone did it. That it was a Konoha shinobi tradition. And what did she know about shinobi traditions? So she went.<\/p>\n The story was that a ghost visited the stone, very late on the night of the festival after everyone was asleep. He came out of the woods to listen to the names of the clans. But you didn\u2019t want him to see you. Cause if he said your name, then that meant you were dead and you\u2019d have to go back with him too. Or, he\u2019d take you away from everything you\u2019ve ever known. Or something\u2026.<\/p>\n It was terrifying. So it was tantalizing to the academy students. Each year, someone said they saw it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the parade, she and Ino met up with Shikamaru, Choji and a handful of other students that she didn\u2019t know the names of and walked down to the field. It was all fun and daring and not very scary, until they crept through the trees to find a shinobi already standing there. An older one, with a shock of white hair, who looked serious. Even sad.<\/p>\n Sakura stayed back, instantly feeling terrible for intruding on a place that was meant to be a memorial.\u00a0<\/span>She wanted to leave, but some of the others wanted to stay, including Ino, and Sakura didn\u2019t want to disappoint her friends. So they crouched in the bushes and watched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The man was solemn. His hands were slung from his pockets, and there was something that looked like a tattered book in his back pocket. He looked down, kicked at the ground, spoke something softly, bowed once and was gone in a black blur of motion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And then they were alone. They waited in silence. Watching\u2026. Nothing happened. Just a gray stone in the middle of an empty field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Feet shifted in the dirt. A few kids coughed. Someone shushed. Others shushed loudly, for which they were even more loudly shushed back. Shikamaru whispered grumpily for them to watch the stone, that\u2019s where they\u2019d see it. But others countered that they were sure the ghost would come out of the woods.<\/p>\n They started arguing loudly and Sakura was relieved. Hopefully they could go home soon. But something cracked in the woods. They all went silent and watched the dark pockets between the trees. Leaves moved and white eyes looked like they were looking back. But nothing happened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The loudest gave up. \u201cSee I told you\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n The bush over their heads was suddenly ripped open. A ghostly ninja bellowed down at them, \u201cWHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He had no color, only glowing eyes and hair from an unearthly light that seemed to come from nowhere and shine straight up his face. They screamed and fell over each other to get away, as the ghost pushed forward into the shrubs, saying the clan names of some of the kids. Hands clapped over their ears, they screamed to drown out the death sentence hearing their name called might mean, and scrambled away in all directions.<\/p>\n Sakura was terrified, but she wasn\u2019t sure if she should cover her ears or not. So she just closed her eyes and ran as hard as she could, listening for Ino\u2019s crying beside her to know that at least she hadn\u2019t heard her name and been dragged off to the woods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Racing down the gravel road, Sakura was trying to decide what she would do if her friend did get called \u2014 hold on to her for dear life or run back to the village to get help\u00a0\u2013 when she collided with someone in the dark. A hand steadied her shoulder. Ino\u2019s father looked down at them. He was stern but not altogether angry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStaying out late after the parade?\u201d Tearfully, Ino stumbled over an excuse, but thankfully he didn\u2019t press for more. \u201cYou all look like you\u2019ve had a fright! Better walk your friend home, then come straight back. Wouldn\u2019t want anything to happen to you\u2026.\u201d His eyes glittered as if he knew exactly what they\u2019d been doing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura smiled to herself at the memory. Of course Inoichi knew it was Kakashi. And she knew Kakashi well enough now to know that he was probably waiting around at the memorial, hoping some kids would show up so he could scare them. He would have known as soon as they set foot in the woods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura and Sasuke turned away from the quiet patch of road that passed in front of the stone and walked up out of the shadows, towards the softly glowing street lights and widening avenues that led to the clan compounds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was quiet and peaceful down these roads. The crickets were chirping and there was a soft breeze in the trees. It felt much less daunting than when she\u2019d been heading down the road to the Nara\u2019s park.<\/p>\n They had walked for a while in comfortable silence when Sasuke broke it with a sudden question.<\/p>\n \u201cSo\u2026uh\u2026how\u2019s work\u2026?\u201d He coughed. \u201cYou know\u2026at the, um, hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura tried not to laugh at Sasuke\u2019s terrible attempt at some kind of normal conversation. They never talked about these sorts of things. But she supposed he was trying. So she answered him seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really work there anymore. Not regularly, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I thought the Kage\u2019s errands were for your medical work?\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura did laugh that time. \u201cNo. I really don\u2019t know what she had me doing. I think it was more for old herbal cures for the festival.\u201d She sobered. \u201cThe medic-nin studies have kind of\u2026leveled off.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura expected this to be answer enough, but Sasuke surprised her again. \u201cHow so?\u201d He laughed softly. \u201cDid you run out of people to heal?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHa. Ha.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cOr did they run out of things to teach you?\u201d<\/p>\n She was thoughtful for a moment. \u201cActually, it\u2019s a bit of both.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe it was the darkness making her more bold. Or the fact that Sasuke was asking \u2014 and he never asked. Or that they were walking through an area of Konoha that was truly beautiful and absolutely empty. But she could feel Sasuke\u2019s eyes on her, waiting for an honest answer. So she took a breath, and spoke the things she\u2019d never shared with anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cSo\u2026.I don\u2019t learn the way other nins do. And I don\u2019t use my chakra to heal like the other med-nins do. Not exactly. So it\u2019s difficult for me\u2026.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou mean you have to catch up to them?\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura shook her head slowly. \u201cNo\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n He gave a breathy laugh. \u201cThat\u2019s what I figured,\u201d he said, a note of pride in his voice.<\/p>\n Sakura smiled too. She\u2019d never told anyone that. But it was true. She\u2019d out-paced the rest of her classmates early on. And then the teachers.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess I\u2019m a fast learner. And then I adapt what I\u2019ve learned to get the job done\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve always been like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura curled a lock behind her ear. She knew he recognized her skill now. But sometimes it still took her by surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not what they teach you to do though,\u201d she continued. \u201cThey want you to follow a strict procedure. I don\u2019t exactly fit into the traditional medic mold.\u201d<\/p>\n She slipped into more comfortable territory, splaying out her fingers to recount the program. \u201cYou have to follow a regimented healing course where you identify the the cascading impact of an injury, from its source to secondary reactions to any underlying conditions and back to the external mitigating factors of the injury. That\u2019s the order of operations for civilian medics. But if you\u2019re a shinobi then you have to factor in chakra depletion and jutsus and wound types\u2014\u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She stopped herself, curled up her fingers and rubbed her hand up the outside of her arm as if she were uncomfortable from the cold. Except it wasn\u2019t cold.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was never very good at sticking to \u2018orders of operations.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke laughed, and she laughed too. She relaxed and dropped her hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTsunade said I had a knack for it. But I was always just feeling it out. That\u2019s the only way I can describe it. I figured things out, then skipped ahead. So I was always able to finish \u2018the heal\u2019 faster than the other students.\u201d It was a tidy enough explanation. She shrugged. \u201cAnd then it wasn\u2019t long before I\u2019d outpaced my teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t surprise me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are still things I don\u2019t know, techniques I\u2019d like to train at. But there is no opportunity here. And there\u2019s no where to test my skill and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s mostly just standard civilian hospital care, healing kunai wounds and the like. Nothing else. No deeper chakra-inflicted ones. Or jutsu-specific injuries. Tsunade has told me about things she\u2019s encountered. And I\u2019ve read about things in medical journals. But that\u2019s as far as I\u2019ve gotten.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke was quiet, considering her words. \u201cSo\u2026there\u2019s no one else you could learn from? Tsunade didn\u2019t have a teacher?\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura shook her head. \u201cNo. Not that she\u2019s ever said. Apparently she just picked it up on the battlefield. There was no official medic-nin corp when she started. That\u2019s why she created one.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They passed the door of a clan compound. It was completely dark except for a lit lantern flickering just beside the door.<\/p>\n Sakura knew she could stop, but there was more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, there is no one left to teach me. Just Tsunade and Shizune, and they are busy enough running Konoha. It\u2019s not like I could learn from the other teachers, and definitely not the students. Besides, no one even knows where I got my abilities from. Being from a non-shinobi family and all\u2014\u201c she coughed. \u201cI\u2019m a bit of a special case. I only got as far as I did in the program because of Tsunade\u2019s support.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n He nodded. \u201cI never considered that\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded back. \u201cIt isn\u2019t like academy. Where as long as you get the kunai to the target, you get the point. Iruka never cared how you got it there. Just as long as you could. As a medic, there is only one way. By-the-book.\u201d She added finally, \u201cSince my chakra doesn\u2019t work like theirs, I\u2019m kind of,\u201d she shrugged, \u201cstuck.\u201d<\/p>\n She exhaled and looked away. For shinobi, control of your particular skill was the most important thing. Above all else. So it went against everything she knew to admit that she, in fact, did not know how her chakra skills worked. They just did.<\/p>\n Sasuke\u2019s silence caused her growing concern. The Sasuke of old would have thrown it in her face. She was trusting him to be different. She dared a glance over at him, but he was looking off, eyes focused and serious. He was very closed off and hard to read, even to her. Maybe she had been wrong to admit it\u2014<\/p>\n But Sasuke surprised her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He broke the silence. \u201cI think\u2026.. Your ability doesn\u2019t have to work like the rest of them. Let them catch up to you.\u201d His voice was firm, decisive. \u201cYou\u2019ve handled everything that\u2019s been thrown at you. Better than anyone.\u201d He paused, then added softly, \u201cI think you\u2019ve done alright.\u201d<\/p>\n She tipped her head up at him, genuinely surprised. He glanced at her, face transformed to something softer, kinder, in the blue light. He gave her a half smile, as if knowing he was exposing some long hidden part of himself in exchange. But he couldn\u2019t hold it. He glanced away.<\/p>\n When he looked ahead again, Sakura saw the soft expression was gone from his profile. His thoughts were coalescing on another point.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no one to show me either. Not really. My family\u2014\u201c he exhaled softly. \u201cWell, there was no one left to teach me. There\u2019s Kakashi of course. But he didn\u2019t get taught either. He just figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n They never spoke about these things. No one did. But especially not Sasuke. Not in all the years she had known him. He had never spoken about his clan. But she never considered that Kakashi played a role in it. She was too curious to be silent.<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean, the Uchiha didn\u2019t teach him?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke looked sideways at her. His look said it all.<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But he surprised her by continuing. \u201cLooking back now, I\u2019m surprised they let Kakashi keep it. His teammate\u2019s eye would have still rightfully belonged to the clan\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d do that?\u201d Sakura gasped. \u201cTo a boy?\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke looked sideways at her again, confirming her worst thoughts.<\/p>\n They both knew the story. Their teacher\u2019s team had been ambushed, and his Uchiha and medic teammates were killed. But not before the Uchiha gifted Kakashi with his remaining eye, so he could always see a head of him and protect others. The medic performed one last selfless act, preserving their bond instead of saving herself. And Kakashi was left to return to Konoha alone. Eye bandaged. Broken, but alive, and determined to carry his teammates spirit and courage with him always. He was the embodiment of Konoha\u2019s will of fire, the spirit that all academy students strive for.<\/p>\n All students knew this story. It was whispered among them, and reinforced by facts as true. Sakura had never thought it otherwise\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cA non-Uchiha to have an Uchiha eye? It\u2019s\u2026unthinkable.<\/i>\u201d Sasuke looked off in the distance. \u201cMy father would never have let someone like Sai even live<\/i> with my eye\u2014\u201d He shook his head. \u201cBut Obito\u2019s parents\u2026. Well, they must have believed Kakashi\u2019s story. It\u2019s the only way that he was allowed to go on with his life with an Uchiha eye in his head. His parents must have forbidden any retribution because that was apparently Obito\u2019s last wish.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura was shocked. \u201cY-Your clan thought Kakashi was lying<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. And Kakashi knew it. He was shunned. That\u2019s why he started wearing his headband over his eye. So that clan members wouldn\u2019t retaliate when they got the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura was astonished. She looked around her, mind racing, eyes tracing the steep walls of clan compounds, the darkened doors, never seeing any of it. She had never considered what the tragedy meant for their teacher\u2026and for Sasuke himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about you?\u201d Sakura said suddenly. \u201cDo you think he was lying\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke shrugged. \u201cNo\u2026. I don\u2019t think so. He didn\u2019t start using Obito\u2019s eye again until after my clan was\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n Sakura could hear the word \u201cmurdered\u201d even though he broke the sentence off with a silent shrug.<\/p>\n Sasuke cleared his throat, refocusing. \u201cHe told me that\u2019s when he changed. When he decided to use Obito\u2019s gift to protect others, like Obito wanted. He said he couldn\u2019t save his teammates. And he couldn\u2019t save Obito\u2019s parents or his clan. But he\u2019d never make that mistake again. He\u2019d use it any way he could to protect the ones he was responsible for.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke was stoic, but his face was smooth, free of tension. \u201cI believe his story about how he got the eye. I don\u2019t think he took it.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura nodded, thoughts leaping ahead\u2014 Suddenly she gasped, \u201cBut then he was assigned as your teacher\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n Sasuke gave a humorless laugh. \u201cYeah, I guess they thought he was going to replace my whole clan. But what could he teach me? I think I knew more than he did when we started.\u201d Sasuke shrugged. \u201cHe made the eye work, but it\u2019s kind of his own thing. It\u2019s not with Uchiha techniques.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He added quietly, \u201cHe\u2019s done alright, though.\u201d He gave her a brief smile, and she nodded back.<\/p>\n His understated praise spoke volumes. She knew that Sasuke had always respected Kakashi. But now she understood that Sasuke was breaking with his family to say that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She breathed deeply, having new-found respect for both of them.<\/p>\n They walked quietly down the lanes, each deep in thought, past the Nara gate and around the bend, to a part of the road that was weedy and had leaves piled at the edges. The signs of abandonment were visible even in the low light.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They were approaching the Uchiha compound, but Sakura had barely noticed it.<\/p>\n \u201cSo,\u201d she continued delicately, \u201cyou got to know some of the Uchiha techniques then. You know\u2026.from before<\/i>\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n She was happy to find that Sasuke was still feeling talkative.<\/p>\n He shrugged. \u201cNot much. And I was always told I had a lot to learn. I was not as fast as\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n He exhaled. Sakura knew he\u2019d never say his brother\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A single wooden door was rising out of the stone wall. Nothing special or remarkable. No fine decorations or elaborate stonework. But Sakura knew they were close because Sasuke was reaching around behind him, unzipping his hip pack.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were lots of secret techniques,\u201d he continued, fishing out a large key. \u201cThings I was too young to know, or too slow, or had to pass some clan test or another\u2014 But now it\u2019s too late. There\u2019s no one left to show me.\u201d<\/p>\n He sighed. And they both turned and faced the dark, weathered door. There were weeds to either side, and the sturdy lock looked rusted in place. There might have been a fan painted on the wall \u2014 the Uchiha clan symbol \u2014 but it might have been a trick of fleeting moonlight that painted everything around them in shades of pale blue for a moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He jammed the key in, rattling it around and twisting it upward a bit until it fit deep enough into the keyhole to trigger the mechanism.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Uchiha had a lot of secrets. Hidden rooms, locked chests of ancient clan scrolls, secret weapons that could only be activated by an Uchiha eye at the highest level\u2014 Yeah, they were very private.\u201d The lock opened with a loud crack. \u201cAnd very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHuh,\u201d she said. \u201cLike the Hyuuga.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWay worse\u2014\u201c He said with a laugh, pushing the door hard with his shoulder. \u201cI remember when I was a kid, they didn\u2019t like the Hyuuga very much. Always suspicious of them. But they were very suspicious in general. Like at any moment they might be attacked from the outside.\u201d He grimaced. \u201cThey had no idea\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The door opened. There was no more talking. Sasuke\u2019s open face closed like he was preparing for battle. \u201cCome on,\u201d he said quietly, and closed the door behind them.<\/p>\n The mysterious Uchiha compound unfolded before them in blues and blacks. It was an enormous area, much bigger than she ever imagined. Just steps from the wooden door, the flat ground on either side of the path fell away to sunken fields, and the walkway became a raised gravel road. It ran straight ahead to a cluster of buildings built on elevated land and encircled by a low wall. The tiered, swooping rooflines of an old castle-style building rose in silhouette from the center.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They walked in silence, with peaceful night sounds as their only companion. Weeds and wildflowers edged the raised road. Stretching out on either side of them were fields that had been farmed years before. The forest was still dark at the edges, but saplings were slowly reclaiming the land. A marshy area ran through in the center, following a tributary, and frogs croaked loudly from the clumps of reeds.<\/p>\n Sasuke stopped, looking out over one of the fields. Sakura\u2019s heart jumped, thinking he was on alert for an attack\u2014 But he laughed softly and pointed. \u201cThe deer\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n As if responding, several heads popped up and looked at them, ears twitching.<\/p>\n \u201cWha\u2014?\u201d That\u2019s not the attackers Sakura was looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Nara deer. They must be getting over somehow. Coming into our park.\u201d<\/p>\n His smile vanished at his own misspoken word. Sakura understood. There was no \u201cour\u201d here anymore.<\/p>\n The whole place had such a lonely feeling that Sakura found she preferred speaking than silence. \u201cSo you don\u2019t share land with the Nara\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n He looked at her as if she were crazy, but Sakura shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve never been in one of these compounds. I went to the Nara\u2019s house for the first time yesterday. And the Hyuuga\u2019s\u2026. But that when I was a kid.\u201d She looked away nervously. \u201cI don\u2019t remember much about that though\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHn. Well, what do you remember?\u201d Sakura looked sideways at him, suddenly stricken, but Sasuke wasn\u2019t interested in her childhood memories. He was looking straight ahead at the deer. His voice was quiet, but firm. \u201cWhat did you learn about the clans from academy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh! Well, just that the Uchiha and the Senju were the first clans here. And the Senju moved out of the forest as part of a peace treaty with the Uchiha. Both were equally powerful. Both suffering at each others hands. Both suffering losses from outside attacks. Their peace treaty formed the first hidden village.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight, but what did the teachers say,\u201d he pressed, \u201cabout the clans?\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura thought, remembering what was common knowledge to all students, although she couldn\u2019t pinpoint a formal lesson about it.<\/p>\n She frowned. \u201cNot much, just that the clans all moved to a place on the river where there was already a village being built. But when the Senju rose to power, the Uchiha moved out. They formed their own compound, and\u2026.\u201d Her voice trailed off. Sakura wasn\u2019t sure if she should continued.<\/p>\n Tension edged his voice. \u201cAnd? Go on\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n She cleared her throat. They both knew the rest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd\u2026. They walled themselves off. Even after the Senju made them protectors of the village or something, and they extended the wall to surround their lands too. The rift between them was never mended\u2026.\u201d She paused, wanting to stop, but Sasuke nodded sharply at her to continue. She felt awful repeating these things, but she did as he asked. \u201cThey said the Uchiha never forgave the Senju. And that\u2019s why the clan never mixed with the rest of Konoha again\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Saying it aloud made her realize just how biased their history was.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke\u2019s voice crackled with anger. \u201cQuoted exactly as if you were back in academy class.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura regretted being so honest and was trying to find a way to excuse the beliefs, but Sasuke wasn\u2019t finished.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, you were only partially wrong. The clans did all move to one location\u2026. But it was the Senju who left, not the Uchiha.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He turned and threw open his arms to the cluster of buildings. \u201cThis is it. The beginning of Konoha.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She turned her head and looked again at the setting in front of her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The houses built shoulder to shoulder on a raised island of land looked very much like a small village. The castle-style building in the center could have doubled for a Kage\u2019s tower. The low decorative wall that surrounded it could have easily been defensive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura\u2019s mouth dropped open. It was unmistakeable. It looked like a smaller version of Konoha itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI see it,\u201d she said \u201cThis\u2014 This was the first village.\u201d Sasuke nodded at her, pleased. It seemed to take some of the edge off. He turned and looked at it anew with her.<\/p>\n They continued walking. The isolated compound, the raised road.\u2026 Sakura realized it wasn\u2019t just for a dramatic effect. It was very much a defense tactic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She felt very exposed, which was probably their intention. As far as she could see the lands wrapped around the compound, making it impossible to sneak up on them. Any intruders would have been seen from all angles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd it was all just houses out here,\u201d Sakura asked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh no. There were shops and farms, a blacksmith and a bladesmith. Everything you\u2019d need. People lived their whole lives here, just like in the village. There was a little market, schools\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cA school?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOf course. The Uchiha trained their own. Shinobi and non-shinobi. It was only until someone decided to build the academy and train all the different clans\u2019 shinobi together that they started even allowing outsiders to even see their skills. Let alone train them to be lifelong teammates.\u201d He paused, then clarified. \u201cIt was supposed to unify everyone under Konoha, to fight off other hidden villages doing the same thing. I\u2019m not sure how well that worked.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt must have been grand then, full of life,\u201d Sakura said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. Parades like that one,\u201d he nodded back in the direction of Konoha, \u201cfloats, festivals. Everyone would have come out, everyone would have participated\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike the Hyuugas,\u201d Sakura interrupted, wondering if maybe they visited their clans were close, because they were so large and secretive. \u201cDid you go there when you were a child, for events?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he said, laughing meanly. \u201cThey came to our compound. Not the other way around.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura was very familiar with the Uchiha arrogance, so the fact that his clan looked down on their next-largest neighbor was not a surprise. But she was beginning to piece together a very different picture of Sasuke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It must have been hard for him, when he was younger, having to listen to one version of history in their academy classroom, only to return home and see a different truth staring him in the face. And then, after the murder of his clan, to be forced to watch the Hyuuga quietly take over his family\u2019s place of power and prestige.<\/p>\n It seemed the Uchiha background was much more complicated than she ever imagined. Even with the terrible tragedy. And Sasuke somehow shouldered it all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m here for,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to get something for the Hyuuga clan.\u201d He sounded like he\u2019d rather not.<\/p>\n They walked through the entrance, past two small open-fronted stone buildings that could have been guard stations, same as at Konoha\u2019s ringed wall. Just inside was a stone lantern with a bird\u2019s nest in the hollow. Sakura noticed an unusual design carved into the base.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that a\u2026a cat\u2019s paw?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke just shrugged as they walked past it. \u201cNo idea.\u201d<\/p>\n They passed through the intersections of several dark lanes, and Sasuke occasionally pointed out personal landmarks. They didn\u2019t get too close to the darkened buildings, instead staying at the center of the widest lanes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere was a school and a blacksmith, and down there was a market. It was mostly shops and services here. Residential housing was farther in.\u201c<\/p>\n Sakura would glance down where Sasuke pointed, off where the lanes turned into shadows, but she noticed Sasuke never did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura followed his direction with curious surprise. \u201cIt really was its own village. You never needed to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cAre the other clan compounds this\u2026self sufficient?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke shook his head with a laugh. \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh. Like I said, I\u2019ve never really been inside any others so\u2026.<\/p>\n Sasuke looked sideways at her before admitting, \u201cI always forget you\u2019re not from a clan\u2014\u201c He shrugged one shoulder as an apology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura nodded once, not taking offense. Where others saw her as an anomaly, Sasuke had simply forgotten she was not brought up exactly like him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Had she not done the same thing?<\/p>\n Here they were, side by side, raised in the same village, went to the same school and were on the same team, but Sakura realized that in some ways they were worlds apart.<\/p>\n She caught a glimpse of the castle\u2019s soaring rooflines between the lanes. It loomed over the buildings around it, even though it appeared to be still several streets away.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is that building,\u201d Sakura asked.<\/p>\n He raised his head. \u201cThe tall one?\u201d She nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s the Main Hall. It was where the clan held important functions, had meetings, kept their official documents. Important stuff. Like histories, scrolls detailing their secret techniques.\u201d He paused for effect. \u201cIncluding stolen ones\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n She gasped. The corner of his mouth hitched up into a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Uchiha stole techniques?\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke snorted. \u201cAll the clans steal techniques. And other things too. Land. Goods. Weapon smiths. Even their best shinobi, if they could acquire them through marriage\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh my,\u201d Sakura said. \u201cI never thought about it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke nodded sagely. \u201cYes, the \u2018honey trap\u2019 works just as well inside the village walls as it does outside. Maybe even more effectively, especially since the clan elders were involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura was silent. Iruka taught them that the \u2018honey trap\u2019 was one of the biggest dangers to a male shinobi. A beautiful woman would get them in a compromising situation and kill them for their mission scroll, or worse, let them live and use them for information. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura glanced down. Yes, she knew of those dangers first hand, even though girls were never warned about it the way the boys were.<\/p>\n But she\u2019d never once thought a clan would try it, and inside their own village. \u201cSo a pretty girl from one clan would be picked to try to catch the attention of another clan\u2019s shinobi?\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke nodded. \u201cBy far the easiest way to get a nin to give up his duties to his family, make him forget his obligations.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They continued through more intersections, but the buildings around them were changing. These places were smaller, closer together, with rows of overlapping roofs. Sakura didn\u2019t need to be told that these were residences.<\/p>\n Sasuke\u2019s sudden voice pierced the silence. \u201cDown there,\u201d he cleared his throat, \u201cI had an aunt. Across the street on that side was my mom\u2019s best friend. Her son was my closest playmate until I left for school.\u201d The crossed another intersection. The houses in these lanes were nicer, bigger.<\/p>\n Sasuke stared straight ahead. \u201cThe biggest house in that<\/i> lane\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura turned her head instinctively and her eyes landed on a large dark building in the middle of the lane. It was very stately, with swooping roof lines and a wide entrance.<\/p>\n His voice softened. \u201cThat was my grandparents’ house.\u201d<\/p>\n The words stole Sakura\u2019s breath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All around her were traces of nearly a decade of neglect \u2014 a cracked window here, a clump of weeds there, and leaves piled at nearly every doorstep \u2014 but the big house that was his grandparents had been carefully closed up. The doors and windows neatly shuttered, as if waiting for someone to open it up again. A stack of empty flowerpots leaned against the wide steps, like a child would against someone\u2019s knee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura felt a sharp stab of pain for him, but there was hardly time to dwell on the loss of his grandparents. Sasuke moved swiftly passed the lane and more empty buildings closed in. The home disappeared from her sight.<\/p>\n When Sakura dared a glance at Sasuke, he was guiding them to another landmark.<\/p>\n Beyond the intersection, taking up one whole side, three shallow steps rose to an open courtyard. Across it was a closed gate to an enormous building complex. Sakura could only guess this that behind it was the Main Hall.<\/p>\n Sakura punctured the silence with a remembered question. \u201cSo, you said there were schools. Is there a textbook of Uchiha techniques? Something you can learn from now? Maybe there are still some around\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke shook his head. \u201cNo, the Uchihas kept all their techniques secret. Some skills were only taught by your family. Like the sharingan. Each one is unique, but they often run in\u2026in pairs.\u201d He stopped suddenly, something troubling him for a moment. But he dismissed it. \u201cOther skills were not taught until you reached certain ages or certain levels in the clan. Or until you were safely married within the Uchiha<\/i> clan and the danger had passed that you might be picked off by\u2026you know, by someone else\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cBy someone like me,\u201d Sakura interrupted, cutting to the truth he was hinting at. Sakura was just beginning to grasp how much of an outsider she was to so many aspects of clan life. If his parents had lived, any attraction Sasuke felt towards her would have been completely suspect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke shook his head once, startled then confused. Then he laughed softly. \u201cNo, not you.\u201d He cut her a look, angling more of his face at her so that she could see the warmth in his eyes, the sly curve of his mouth. \u201cNot that you aren\u2019t a dangerous<\/i> distraction\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura looked down, chuckling to herself.<\/p>\n They stepped up into the enormous pavilion. Pale blue pavers stretched out in a wide square around them. She didn\u2019t know if it was his moment of levity or the fact that they had some breathing room from the empty buildings, but it felt like a relief to be out in the open. If she had to guess, he did too.<\/p>\n He breathed out some of the tension he\u2019d been holding. \u201cNo, the danger I\u2019m referring to is from another clan.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura was silent, working through the information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The moon slid out for a moment, erasing the shadowy lines between the pavers and making the pavilion look like a vast blue lake bed, with only occasional weeds breaking the surface.<\/p>\n Sasuke had been looking ahead, but he stole a glance at her just to see if she figured it out. To watch the moment it broke across her face. He knew she\u2019d be turning his words over, looking \u2018underneath the underneath,\u2019 as Kakashi always put it. And by the delicate frown line forming on her forehead, he knew she wouldn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, if the Uchihas hid everything about themselves, even from each other, until a shinobi was deemed fit to receive it,\u201d Sasuke nodded. \u201cThen they were protecting themselves from outsiders, because they didn\u2019t stand to benefit. The Uchiha had everything the needed. But others in Konoha didn\u2019t\u2026. Other clans, who would like to have more, to raise their status\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura looked up at him suddenly, eyes shining in the low light. \u201cIt was the Hyuuga, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t stop the smile that spread over his face. \u201cLong ago, the Hyuuga were just another small clan with some average powers, including a watered-down variation of the sharingan that occasionally surfaced. It was the arranged marriages with the Uchiha that brought them to where they are today. And the Uchiha elders never let anyone forget that fact.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I guess this \u2018arrangement\u2019 wasn\u2019t open to all Uchiha.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke nodded. \u201cRight. Only the lower level shinobis were allowed to marry Hyuuga. But that was it. That\u2019s why some skills weren\u2019t even allowed to be accessed until you were an adult.\u201d There was a glint in his eye and a dangerous tone in his voice. \u201cIf they thought you might reveal their techniques to another clan\u2026they would kill you themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cO-Oh my,\u201d Sakura said. She was horrified. And enthralled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They approached the enormous wooden gates. From across the courtyard it appeared closed, but it was open just enough for a single person to pass through. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke took no notice of the once-grand carvings. Sakura couldn\u2019t look away.<\/p>\n On either side, fantastic mythical beasts, identical to the creatures on the floats, were carved into the wood. They were enormous and wreathed in stylized flames and clouds. Sasuke went first. Beside Sakura, she noticed the open mouth of the fanged beast was easily the size of the upper half of her body. Passing between the gates made it look as if it were going to devour her in one gulp. But its menacing air was diminished a little by the peeling paint and piles of leaves blown up against the base.<\/p>\n Beyond the gate they went up another three steps and into the dark shadow of another covered walkway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo there are things that you weren\u2019t taught yet,\u201d Sakura asked. \u201cTechniques you were meant to be learning right now?\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke was silent.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you found some scrolls, Kakashi could help you. I<\/i> could help you\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n When Sasuke still didn\u2019t answer, she added. \u201cCould there still be scrolls here, hidden somewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n They came out into the open. In the pale light, Sakura could see that Sasuke\u2019s face had hardened. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said, adding quietly, \u201cand it\u2019s not like I could tell you if I did\u2014\u201c But he stopped himself.<\/p>\n \u201cOh\u2026.\u201d Sakura realized her error too late. She was still a civilian. These were his clan\u2019s most forbidden secrets. Even if they were gone, it still had meaning to him. She continued in a much more subdued tone, \u201cI understand\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n Sasuke brushed it off. \u201cEh, I haven\u2019t seen that stuff in years. Doesn\u2019t really matter now, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside the gates, a pattern was emerging. Ahead of them, ascending courtyards and rising rooflines were leading toward the elevated Main Hall. The courtyard they were crossing was lined on all four sides with covered walkways, as were the ones on either side of them. As they got to the center, Sakura could see more square courtyards on this level, each divided by covered walkways, going out to either side and wrapping around the center in an enormous square.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On this level, the courtyards had wooden training dummies, targets propped in corners and mock weapons hanging from hooks.<\/p>\n \u201cThese were the Uchiha training pavilions?\u201d Sakura knew the answer, even as she spoke it. And everywhere she looked it was as if an army of shinobi had just stepped away. Their weapons were still at the ready, waiting to be picked up again.<\/p>\n Without really looking, Sasuke explained the structure as they walked. \u201cThis level was for training in hand-to-hand combat, defense and strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura nodded. They walked up another three steps, under a covered walkway and into another row of smaller courtyards. In the center of each one was a pillar of bamboo, some wrapped in reeds mats, some bare. The ones closest to them were chopped at extreme angle.<\/p>\n \u201cThis area was for blades.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura saw a delicately curved sword hanging from a shadowy pillar behind him. It glimmered like the sharp edge of the moon, almost calling out to be used. She had a feeling it was that sword that had made those ferocious cuts.<\/p>\n Three more steps and under another darkened walkway. Ahead of them was another smaller courtyard. But this one was different from all the rest. And there was a strange sound coming from it.<\/p>\n Sakura slowed, worried they\u2019d stumbled upon some creature now inhabiting the Uchiha grounds. But Sasuke didn\u2019t stop. He strode into the dark courtyard, unfazed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The area was paved with black tiles and interspersed with small stones. A movement flickered on the other side, at what looked like a large stone bench. The sound started again, soft bubbling, building slowly, followed by a single, hollow knock. After a pause, it started up again\u2014<\/p>\n Sasuke turned his head to the side, seeing she was not right behind him, and waited for her in the center of the courtyard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura caught up to him, recognizing the source of the familiar sound on the third time. It was a bamboo fountain over water, scooping it up and dropping it again in a clever bit of mechanics that kept its rhythm even when there wasn\u2019t a soul to hear it.<\/p>\n What she\u2019d thought was a bench was in fact a stone trough. A little stream ran through a stone channel, nearly hidden before the steps on the other side of the pavers and pooled in the hollowed out stone. Identical hollow knocking sounds echoed softly from other troughs in the courtyards on either side of them.<\/p>\n She looked at the open square. On closer inspection, the stone markers looked more like targets. And the black pavers weren\u2019t completely black. The color faded at the edge\u2014<\/p>\n Sasuke answered her unasked question. \u201cFire. This is where we\u2019d practice fire.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, the floor is black with scorch marks! Then that\u2019s why there\u2019s water here.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke nodded. \u201cEarly on, they rerouted part of the river to run through the compound.\u201d He shrugged once, adding quietly, \u201cThis was the Uchiha\u2019s most secretive technique.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sakura watched him. He looked at the whole courtyard as if he hadn\u2019t seen it in a while. He looked around the square and Sakura wondered if he was remembering memories associated with each spot. The ground in front of the targets was scorched deep black, done by generations of his clansmen and women in training.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He looked back at her and Sakura knew how out of place she must look there, all pink hair in the middle of fire-blackened stone. But he didn\u2019t take his eyes away from her.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t have to say it for her to know that she wouldn\u2019t have been admitted half this far into their compound if his clan had lived. And she wondered if maybe Sasuke was having second thoughts about inviting her, about revealing his last ties to his clan. He could easily ask her to wait, to not go any further. Perhaps he was considering it\u2026. But he surprised her.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on,\u201d he said finally, then turned and crossed the small courtyard.<\/p>\n She followed him under another shadowed archway and was surprised to see the Main Hall rising up on the other side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Across from them, beyond a wide gravel square, dark stairs rose up to a dark, old-style castle building. It was stacked in the center, with multiple roof lines sweeping off at the edges. It was pristine, no signs of neglect or destruction. The closer they got, the more it loomed over them. They walked up several grand steps to the flat platform and the front door.<\/p>\n From there, Sakura could see everything in the compound. The roofs of the town the around them, the courtyards they\u2019d just passed through. But behind the tower, cutting into the blocks of a residential area, was a large black scar. It was as if the shadow of the building had fallen across the land there. But she instantly knew that was wrong by the way the dim shadows fell at the opposite angle across her feet\u2014<\/p>\n Metal scraping rent the air.<\/p>\n Sasuke was at the wide double doors. There was no key, only a single heavy bolt that hadn\u2019t been touched in a long time and had rusted in place.<\/p>\n Sasuke scraped it again, and this time it came loose. He lifted the bolt, pushed open the door and stepped over the threshold.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For the first time that night, Sakura grew concerned. She knew it was childish. She was in no more danger inside a building than she was out on the street. But still\u2026.<\/p>\n She hovered at the entrance. \u201cUm\u2026. Where are we going.\u201d<\/p>\n Sasuke stood in a wedge of light, his pale shirt illuminated against the darkness, and looked back at her expectantly. The faintest smirk touched his lips. \u201cCome on.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He pushed the door open wider and Sakura could make out more of the inside. It didn\u2019t seem as bad as she imagined. She followed him in.<\/p>\n Inside, polished wood floors stretched back into an expansive room. Moonlight shined down through high windows, casting long lines across the floor. In the center was a sunken fireplace with a teapot hung on a delicately arched arm. The long-dead coals were the same cold grey as the floors. Screens wrapped the outside walls, painted with dreamlike scenes of arching trees, misty mountaintops and cranes rising into flight. Some were partially open, revealing more expansive chambers with more cold floors.<\/p>\n Above, the open ceiling rose up several stories, with enormous criss-crossing black timbers that must have come from the forest outside Konoha. Thin spears of light shot down from cracks in the highest part of the roof. It felt vast and dark\u2026and very much like standing in the Forest of Death. This was the Uchiha meeting hall. It was meant to impress. Or terrify.<\/p>\n It was working. Sakura felt very, very small. This was where Sasuke had grown up. And Itachi. This was the world they lived in. Hers was simply her mothers kitchen. Her modest bedroom. But this\u2026this was a legacy. It was a heavy burden to carry. And to carry it alone\u2026.<\/p>\n Standing in the middle of a darkened room that looked as much like a castle as anything she could imagine, she realized that maybe she\u2019d never really understood Sasuke. Why he was the way he was, and what he\u2019d lost. Until now.<\/p>\n Now she understood why he wanted revenge on the one who took it all away.<\/p>\n She turned to look for Sasuke, but he was not where she last saw him. Fighting panic, she turned quickly only to see him across the great floor, bent over at a wall, examining a bit of paneling. She was glad he didn\u2019t see her momentarily nervous, and quickly closed the space between them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He didn\u2019t look up. He continued thumping, tapping, listening, and pushing against different parts of the wall.<\/p>\n This section of paneling was painted with a stylized version of Konoha. There was a great dark forest, a flat grassland with a river cutting through it, and at the center was a stone outcropping, just like the carved monument that loomed over the village. A pair of white cranes rose up into the sky just above it. But notably, in this rendition, the Hokage Rock was bare. No carvings of past Kages jutted from the cliff face.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s here somewhere\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sasuke slid his hand down the scene as he walked until he was right over the stone outcrop.<\/p>\n Sakura couldn\u2019t see what he was doing. But suddenly a dim blue glow reflected back on the white of the cranes above his fingertips.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There was the pleasantly singed smell of chakra being used, and from Sasuke\u2019s hand she saw the familiar blue of his chakra, growing brighter\u2014<\/p>\n Sakura was suddenly alarmed and about to step forward and tell him to stop, not burn down his family\u2019s history\u2026for she was certain his hand was going to burn right through the painting. And indeed it was falling out of its frame, going backwards, though it hadn\u2019t caught blaze yet\u2014<\/p>\n When she heard a heavy metal click, as if the panel had locked into another position. Then Sasuke lifted up his hand. There were no scorch marks, only the faintest blue glow of his hand print, surrounded by looping ancient script in a spiraling pattern. It was a seal, remarkably similar to the partial one she\u2019d seen in Tsunade\u2019s old book\u2014 The next instant, it was gone.<\/p>\n Sasuke smiled at her look of concern. The wall sunk back to reveal that it was a sliding door. Sasuke put both hands on it and slid it sideways, dividing the scene between the dark forest and the fields with the cliff. It revealed narrow, steep stairs descending behind the panel. He shot her a smug look over his shoulder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI knew it was one of these.\u201d He was pleased with himself, and had forgotten the sadness of this place for a moment. His voice had something of excitement in it now. \u201cThis way.\u201d<\/p>\n Sakura followed him into the darkness that had opened in the center of Konoha, ducking under the low edge of the square panel and placing her foot on the top stair. The rest disappeared. She went slowly, step by step. She couldn\u2019t even see him, but she could hear his footsteps getting farther away.<\/p>\n Sakura blew out a steadying breath, let her feet feel the wood, her hands slide down the polished walls, and tried to forget that it was so dark it didn\u2019t matter if her eyes were closed or open. She just imagined that they were closed. And that she was at home. And this was simply another made up game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n