Training Ground
Given that Kagami is nowhere near the mental standpoint she needs to be to meet Sasuke she decided to head over to training ground three to warm up her very underused muscles a little bit. Thankfully after she left the Hokage Tower she was able to slip by the Uchiha Compound though unfortunately she couldn’t work up to walking in, so Kaisen went and grabbed her weapons for her.
While waiting for the crow to return the kunoichi shaky breathes in and out as she drags her fingers through Ichika’s fur to ground herself. She can’t feel any of the crackling chakra signatures of her clan. Not even the weakest flames of children she can’t feel the jounin’s chakra burning like bonfire’s, granny and baby brother's chakra burning like familiar campfires.
Ameratsu burn her if she doesn’t find the underlying cause of this. Kagami is no fool, she was ANBU and was skilled enough to hide said skill to prevent a jounin promotion during the height of the war. Itachi may have been a toddler when she last met him, but he was never cruel, he never attempted to hurt others for joy. Unfortunately, until she can get full access to the files pertaining to the...
Kagami sighs and presses her face into Ichika’s fur, she can’t actually think about it right now. Her mental state is too out of sorts, and she has not gone to Psych for a full evaluation purely because if Inori sensei is alive, she is not sure she can face him.
Thankfully before she can spiral even more, she hears a surprised squawk from Kaisen sounding from the compound along with a chakra spike that is definitely not the crow’s chakra.
“Fuck-”
She quickly vaults over the wall much to her muscle's protests and runs towards the sound praying Kaisen didn’t run into who she thinks he did.
Of course, her luck is absolutely horrible when she shushins forward to grabs Kaisen in her arms and tucks into a roll before coming face to face with a very small Uchiha. Her chest is heaving, and her muscles are tense in a way that they shouldn’t be, not when faced with a child.
“Who are you!”
Ameratsu save her. He’s so tiny, his fingers can just curl around the training kunai’s handle and his cheeks are still chubby with baby fat. Dammit she was not in the state of mind to meet him right now, but she knows that she looks Uchiha. She is an Uchiha after all and Sasuke can tell based off the small shake of his hands around the kunai and the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
With a soft sigh Kagami sits down on the ground and releases Kaisen who ruffles his feathers in annoyance and flies up to perch on the roof to preen his now out of place feathers.
“My names Kagami, I’m one of your many cousins”
She gestures for him to sit down next to her on the cobbled stone, but he doesn’t do so as his breathing starts to become shaky.
Thats a lie-”
The boy, because he is a child says shakily and with all the anger that soft still child-like face can muster. Kagami clicks her tongue before channeling chakra to her eyes with honed practice and she can feel the shift in color and hear the slight gasp as coal black eyes bleed crimson three tomoe spinning around the pupil.
“I promise you it isn’t”
And then she finds herself with an armful of tiny Uchiha as Sasuke throws himself at her with a choked sob, kunai clattering on the cobbled stone as small arms attempt to curl around her torso. She may not exactly be equipped for this but right now she has to focus on Sasuke, she’s quite literally the only living family he has left that hasn’t caused him tremendous trauma.
“Wh-Why weren’t you here-”
Kagami sucks in a heavy breath as she begins to run her fingers through Sasuke’s hair trying to calm down the boy as she attempts to figure out an explanation. He’s eight, he wasn’t alive during the war and was raised during peacetime even if she explains he won’t exactly understand.
But when a familiar chakra signature turns up behind her and a warm fur covered body ends up curled around both her and Sasuke, she forgets her thoughts and just stays in the moment. Also, she definitely isn’t going to the training ground now as she feels Sasuke slump against her. This definitely tired him out and based off the fact he had a kunai on him he had just come back from the Academy.
So, it looks like she’s breaking into the Clan Head’s house which shit-
She was Clan Head now as the only adult clan member who was still part of the clan which meant it was technically her house and that is definitely something she hadn’t thought about. With a near silent sigh, she finally stands up, wrapping her arms around Sasuke so she can comfortably pick him up without waking him and she begins to walk in the direction of the Clan Head’s house.
Ichika hasn’t spoken yet as the wolf presses up against Kagami’s side and Kaisen flies above head and Kagami is grateful for the silence as she finally reaches the house. She pulses her chakra to take down the wards, never more thankful that she was cousins with Mikoto-sama so that she was keyed to the wards as she slides open the main doorway and slips inside. It takes a few fortifying breaths for her to not break down even with Sasuke in her arms before she walks towards where the bedrooms are.
Ichika could you take Sasuke to his bedroom?”
Kagami turns to her summon, her voice a whisper as she waits for the wolf to respond. Thankfully Ichika nods and Kagami settles Sasuke onto Ichika’s back so that he doesn’t fall off and then turns to find the kitchen. Kaisen lands on her shoulder and affectionately nips her ears with a sharp beak to keep her grounded as she finally finds what she’s looking for.
“Kaisen could you see what food is here?”
The large kitchen is out of the way but it's obviously dusty except for a few cabinets that Sasuke could easily reach, and she has no idea what the food stores are like at the moment.
“Fine brat”
Kagami huffs a soft laugh at his tone, but she knows the crow loves her deep, deep down as she begins to sort through the cabinets to get a sense for what utensils and cooking supplies, she has to make food with.
“We have rice and that's about it”
Dammit, ok she can just make rice and maybe look around for eggs or vegetables because Sasuke needs a balanced diet.
“Any eggs in the fridge?”
She hears as claws scratch against the fridge door and then the sound of fans turning on along with beating wings.
“Eggs and a few vegetables but it's pretty sparse”
Kagami lets out another sigh, something becoming increasingly common in her life as she hears Kaisen’s wings come closer and a soft thump onto the countertop. She opens her eyes to see a small basket of eggs and some green onions, and a few other herbs placed in the basket as well. She flashes a quick thankyou in ANBU sign towards the crow who has now once again perched himself on her shoulder before she pulls out a pot and pan, maneuvering herself to the sink and filling the pot up before placing it on the unlit stove. Then she turns to where a sack of rice is leaned against the far wall and she walks over and picks it up. After measuring out an appropriate amount based off what she remembers. As she lets the rice cook, she pulls a slightly dulled down knife from the cutting block and resigns herself to cutting the vegetables without a cutting board as she doesn’t see one and is hungry enough to not really care.
By the time she is stir-frying the eggs and rice together in the pan she hears the sound of paws padding down the hallway accompanied by the sound of a barely trained child. Kagami does not fully recognize Sasuke as he wraps small arms around her middle and leans tiredly against her.
“You weren’t a dream?”
Well, it looks like Kagami is an older sister again as she pours the rice into two separate bowls and then picks Sasuke up.
“No, and I plan to make sure your never left alone again”
Looks like she won’t be getting to the training ground after all. Funny how things work out sometimes isn’t it