Forced Friendships
"Ne, Fledgling, can you tell me about the blond you were fighting earlier” Kagami says as Sasuke finally reaches her the eight-year-old glaring at the ground at the mention of his earlier fight.
“He’s an idiot” Sasuke says and Kagami bites back a laugh at her baby cousin’s cheeks puff out in annoyance. He reminds her so much of her baby brothers that it makes her either want to cry or laugh. Maybe both but that's not the focus now, the focus is trying to make Sasuke get friends because while Uchiha are incredibly antisocial they still need human interactions.
Kagami recalls how her younger brother would always complain to her how stupid one of his teammates was and wishes she had made more of an effort to make them befriend each other. Maybe then he wouldn’t have died on that mission, but now isn’t the time to dwell on the past. Instead, she needs to focus on the one of many emotionally constipated Uchiha in front of her. She is very much including herself in that count, she knows she's antisocial, it's a trauma response.
True but I will tell you this the best in the class and the dead last often end up on the same team and based on how things look that will mean you two will be put on a team together with whoever the best kunoichi is” Kagami says with a shrug ignoring Sasuke’s shock cry as she begins to walk back towards the clan compound, not that it’s housing much of a clan at the moment.
... And that is where Kagami needs to start listening again because that line of thought is not good for her mental health!
“How would I end up wi-with that DOBE!” Sasuke exclaims at the end of the rant Kagami has been tuning out the entire time.
“Trust me Sasuke you’ll understand once you're older and are a fully-fledged shinobi but until then just train until you're the strongest” Kagami replies as she ruffles the boy’s hair much to his indignation as he puffs up like an angry duckling.
Sasuke certainly doesn’t have the thick unruly curls of her particular branch of the clan nor the lines that most gain when young herself included. But the boy is the age as her youngest brother when he learned just how uncaring the rest of the world is. Sasuke may have already been exposed to that, but she can keep him safe for longer than she could either of her brothers.
“Look why don’t you invite him over for dinner tomorrow and I’ll help you train tonight?” Kagami asks softly, knowing bribery is going to be the only way to actually get Sasuke to interact with his classmates. It certainly the only way she started to actually invite Souta and Naeto over for dinner, though Souta was also an incredibly extroverted Aburame which added to how quickly their teamwork developed.
"Hn” Sasuke grunts as he leans against the older woman which makes her freeze up almost immediately because she was not expecting Sasuke to initiate physical touch between them until he knew her for more than two days.
Kagami smiles softly and wraps an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders as she wonders what she can teach him. Her mind drifts to the dances that she knows by heart that refined her form even more and taught her how to use her main weapons even if she doesn’t have her fans on her at the moment.
It seems she’s going to be teaching Sasuke the traditional dances that obaa-san taught to her and that Kagami should be teaching to her children but until then Sasuke can learn in the stead of any future children Kagami may have.
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Kagami pulls in a much-needed breath as she pushes open the door into the small home on the outskirts of the village. She left Sasuke in the main clan house, and he volunteered to cook dinner thankfully as Kagami visits here.
Here of course being her home which has of course fallen into complete disrepair. The woman brushes away cobwebs and ignores the way house’s current state, obaa-san would cry if she could see it.
But Kagami counts her blessing that she finds no blood stained onto the tatami mat flooring as she slides open the door to her room to find it completely untouched expect for her futon which has the indent of a body pressed into it.
Asuka’s breath catches this time because that isn’t obaa-san's body, that could have only been-
A choked sob comes from her mouth, and she covers her face with her hands and drops to the floor to curl into herself. It’s pathetic that the fact that her youngest brother who she knows could have only remembered her by stories and vague memories no doubt kept her room in good condition. That he at some point curled up onto her futon for some reason.
Asuka pushes herself up on shaky legs with shaky hands and wipes the tears running down her cheeks away. She takes in the deep breaths that Inori-sensei taught her to do as she begins to rummage through her drawers until she pulls out her makeup bag and tucks it beneath her arm. Asuka turns towards her closet hesitantly and freezes as her eyes catch on the fans hung on the wall.
Okaa-san's fans, the one’s Asuka trained with until they couldn’t lift their arms anymore. They pull down the familiar weapons with ease and flick their wrist to open the deadly weapons looking at the beautiful blades hidden in the fan.
These are what they want to train Sasuke with, the weapons that okaa-san used, that obaa-san used. The weapons that they used before the memories became too much and they started to use the tanto more and more.
Asuka turns their gaze away from the fans and sets them down as bile builds in their throat as they begin digging through their closet and they quickly find what they’re looking for.
The outfit is pristine even after all the years of wear and tear and the fact that even before they fell into a coma Asuka hadn’t worn it in years thanks to the countless mission due to the war. They used to wear the beautiful red and blue kimono all the time to dance with obaa-san when she was still able to dance. White silk ribbons dancing around her as her fans cut through the air.
Asuka sighs and pulls it out of the closet, folding it neatly and placing the fans between the folds and tucking it beneath her other arm.
Kagami however is quick to shunshin out of the house, and she makes no attempt to look back. She realizes then that perhaps the clan compound isn’t the best place to be staying at the moment. It’s full of old memories even for her and she wasn’t here during the massacre. She can see the old memories forming ghosts all around her all the same and she can imagine it's even worse for a child with no training to deal with that kind of trauma.
Sasuke has been acting fine around her but beneath the surface Kagami has no clue and she can’t force him into therapy with a Ameratsu damned meeting with the Hokage which is still in five days.
Five days which need to move indefinitely faster in Kagami’s opinion. She’s already nearing dangerous stages of restlessness, and she needs a decent spar in all honesty. People tend to forget the fact that behind all the postering the Uchiha aren’t exactly the most stable shinboi and that her clan definitely has instincts that aren’t human.
“Fledgling, are you in the kitchen?” Kagami calls out looking around for the blue toned hair of her cousin as she slips off her zori and swaps them for much more comfortable slippers. She doesn’t even know why she put on the zori this morning; she prefers shinobi sandals.
She can smell the slightly burnt chicken and the undercooked vegetables as she steps into the kitchen to find Sasuke setting out plates and thankfully notices that the pans he used to cook are already cleaned. Actually, changing that thought to not be so thankful because Sasuke had to have taught himself to cook, just because Kagami did the same at six does not mean it's alright for Sasuke to have done so. Kagami had obaa-san supervising her at the very least. (Not that it changed much, obaa-san was distracted with keeping kaa-san in bed since she was pregnant and neither woman had the time to look after the six-year-old)
“I finished making the food, it’s chicken curry and rice” Sasuke says as he sits down in a perfect position, legs folded neatly beneath himself as he whispers a thank you no doubt forgetting about his new housemate.
“It looks good fledgling; now eat I plan to work you till you can no longer walk tonight” Now most people would have immediately realized that Kagami’s jovial tone is not something to look forward to. Any ANBU who trained with her could vouch for the fact that a happy Crow during training means torture by a different name.
Sasuke Uchiha however is a small heavily traumatized nine-year old with plans to kill his older brother as soon as possible. Therefore Kagami Uchiha saying this is like catnip to him which in turn prompts him to eat as must of the frankly badly made curry as possible despite him knowing he is far from the best cook.
Kagami watches the scene with morbid fascination because the phenomenon known as Sasuke Uchiha is rarely studied. She then proceeds to pick him up under her arm like a wet cat when he begins to fall asleep and put him in his room, handing the robes to him thankful he’s too tired to actually notice how they look.
In the meantime, Kagami sits down grabs her makeup kit and begins to paint her face white with a large sponge.
Now the whole reason Kurenai hadn’t recognized Kagami immediately in the bar was the lack of her usual makeup. Which can’t exactly be called makeup as it is based on the festival face paint Kagami would wear when performing that she enjoyed enough to wear day to day because no one expected it. Plus, she looked hot with the massive red winged eyeliner if she had to say so herself.
Naeto and Souta were the ones who started the whole thing in all honesty, Naeto had come to training one day with very badly drawn eyeliner and Kagami couldn’t take looking at it after a few hours. So, she trapped her teammate in a very sweet genjutsu that let him cloud watch and proceeded to steal his new eyeliner and redo it.
Souta had ended up laughing so hard he couldn’t train anymore at the sight of Naeto after Kagami was done with the Nara, so Kagami pounced on him as well, armed with her own purple eyeliner instead. That had been much more of a struggle as Souta was expecting genjutsu so they ended up sparring until Souta’s reserves ran out and Kagami could pin him down and do his eyeliner.
Afterwards when Naeto finally woke up, having been too lazy to dispel the genjutsu until Inori-sensei did so for him the Nara began to show up at Kagami’s house with Souta in tow every morning without fail. Then Naeto found out where Kagami learned makeup from and told the eight-year-old that she should start wearing red face paint daily as it would distract from her general baby face. Kagami then of coursed proceeded to punch her teammate but still ended up wearing the festival paint in her day-to-day life.
So, all in all, Kagami hadn’t exactly been seen without her characteristic makeup in about a decade before she woke up in the hospital with no access to it and she wasn’t about to ask Chiori-san for makeup.
Kagami shakes her head and sets down the brush with a sigh, pulling out the small compact in her bag to look at the makeup before nodding happily at her work with a bit of sadness pulling at her chest. She hasn’t had good memories of her teammates recently, so her thoughts are bittersweet in the way chocolate and coffee are when paired together.
Though before Kagami can wish for a good cup of coffee the shoji door slides open and Kagami is hit with the classic Uchiha glare, a look which proved to be ineffective against Kagami after years of dealing with younger brothers.
“What is this” Sasuke hisses as he gestures to the very feminine kimono and hakama and the ribbons and bells now swirling around him. Kagami loved the outfit whenever she got to wear it of course but for a young boy who likely has never had a good outlook on the feminine side of things the outfit is embarrassment in clothing form.
“The clan’s traditional interpretation of Ameratsu’s clothing for the midwinter festival” Kagami says as she turns towards Sasuke and watches as he looks at the makeup surrounding her in barely hidden worry.
“Now get over here I need to do your face paint” Sasuke’s eyes widen in panic and he immediately attempts to run back into his room. Unfortunately for him Kagami is known for her speed and almost immediately catches him and sets him down, already spreading the white base paint onto his face before he can blink. She hides the slight flinch at the sudden movement when her scars pull but it's not bad enough to really bother her.
“Now no complaining you said you wanted to train and this is how I trained when I was your age, dancing even outs your taijutusu and will help you get flexible enough to pull off difficult movements” Kagami gathers her things and just leaves them in the bag on the floor before beginning to drag Sasuke out to the training grounds in the Main Family House.
“How is this training?!” Sasuke hisses as Kagami manipulates his small limbs into the proper locations, not giving him the fans of course.
“I just said how it is training now remember that position and go sit by the side” Kagami says getting on the end of her rope a tad bit, this dance is part of her life and she’ll be damned if Sasuke mistreats it.
Sasuke walks over in a huff and Kagami resists the urge to cuff him over the head for wrinkling the silk fabric with the way he is sitting. She lets out a sigh and flicks her fans open letting the low sun glint against the metal blades on the fan as she begins to run through the dance.
Sasuke doesn’t really know what to think of his cousin, he remembers whispers of her when comparing that man to the strongest kunoichi the clan had produced in decades but from what he knew she was just one of many Uchiha. She hadn’t died though and that's what matters the most because even Otou-san and Okaa-san had died.
But as he watches her run through the moves that apparently go with this stupid outfit and face paint, he can’t help but be mesmerized. That man didn’t know how to do that which means it's a perfect thing for him to learn. Especially since Kagami-san is obviously a master in the dance and based on the bladed fans skilled with the weapons that go along with it.
He thinks that she is the kind of shinobi he wants to be, the opposite of that man with beautiful clothing and deadly weapons, a person who tells the truth to those who need it the most.
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“Ne, Fledgling you're doing well” Kagami whispers under her breath as she lounges in a tree overlooking the Academy. Technically stalking your baby cousin isn’t a good pastime and taking up embroidery again would probably be better, but she couldn’t resist. Watching Sasuke stumble his way through attempting to make friends with Uzumaki is hilarious, the expression on his teachers faces only adding to the joy of the situation.
Ne, Fledgling you're doing well” Kagami whispers under her breath as she lounges in a tree overlooking the Academy. Technically stalking your baby cousin isn’t a good pastime and taking up embroidery again would probably be better, but she couldn’t resist. Watching Sasuke stumble his way through attempting to make friends with Uzumaki is hilarious, the expression on his teachers faces only adding to the joy of the situation.
Uchiha socializing is always an event and based on how Sasuke seems to act around others he’s never actually tried to befriend anyone before. Which in all honesty is very fair, Kagami was an utter recluse until she got her team and even then, the people she befriended had multiple things in common with her. Or they were extroverts like Souta but Souta was a rarity to find in people nowadays.
“I best go shopping for food if I’m having a guest over” Kagami muses as she hops down from her perch and stretches out. She can in all honesty wait a little longer though to get food because she really needs to visit Tamayo-sama and the flock plus she has no doubt Nanami and Shiro are missing her right now and the wolves will make her join a pack sleeping pile one she summons them.
She groans internally and drops her head into her hands before slipping into a alleyway. Tamayo-sama is going to try and eat her again and then her flock minus Kaisen will force her to climb to the top of the tree without help. She hadn’t done that since Akari hatched.
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Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” Kagami sways slightly at the use of chakra and the very disorientating shift in environment as she summons herself into the Crow Summon Realm, otherwise known as Sobeitatsu Forest. She shaks her head slightly and groans as her hair falls into her face, bangs not held back by her hitatae and apparently her hair tie broke. An unsurprising realization but an annoying one she has an insane amount of hair to deal with even when it's out of the way.
“Well let's get this out of the way” Kagami turns her gaze up the old, gnarled tree and looks down at the zori she still is wearing and sighs. She leans down and pulls them off, leaving them on the pine needle covered ground before hopping up and pull herself up onto the first branch.
She scales the branches carefully, winching at how out of shape she is despite how much she worked to gain back her muscle mass as she finally pulls herself up into the main nest.
“Ameratsu!” Kagami curses to her goddess as she tumbles forwards head over heels into the nest. With an internal groan she sits up and shakes her head in a vain effort to get rid of the sticks in her hair.
“Chick?” Kagami freezes as a massive beak nudges her and she opens her eyes to see Tamayo-sama. The massive crow’s eyes are unfocused and milky but are by no means unintelligent.
“Tamayo-sama, I’m sorry it took me so long to come home” Kagami says softly as she leans against the boss summon, fingers burying themselves in sleek feathers as she hugs the crow.
“Oh chick, I’m just glad you returned to us” Tamayo-sama says as she begins to preen Kagami’s hair.
“Though your flock may have objections to how long it took you to return to us” The crow laughs at Kagami tenses up.
Do not worry chick they were only worried and are rightfully upset that you only summoned my indignant chick to you after awakening” That just makes Kagami slump against Tamayo-sama even more, Shiki and Shoyo are going to be so annoying.
“Please tell me they aren’t already on their way” Kagami whines as she sits down to curl beneath Tamayo-sama's wing. She knows her words are counterproductive since she knows her summons are overprotective in the best ways. But Masaki, Shiki, Shoyo, and Mio are all very protective of the summoner who helped train them and then Akari is just Akari and will mother hen her to the ends of the earth.
“They are, but do not worry Kaisen-chan will make sure they do not overwhelm you” Tamayo-sama says with a laugh at her chick’s displeasure and sighs as she hears a frantic flapping of wings and mix of cawing no doubt coming from her grandchildren and their friends.
“Ameratsu preserve me” Kagami whispers to herself as her personal summons crest the top of the nest and begin to dive bomb their idiotic summoner.
“I cannot believe you!”
“Only contacting idiot Tou-san seriously!”
“Why didn’t you summon us instead of your stupid wolf!”
“Your more reckless than Shiki!”
“Hey!”
“Fledgling you are lucky that I missed you more than I am mad!”
“Of all the idiotic things to do! What did you learn from those wolves!”
Kagami looks at her summons with tears in her eyes even as they all summon her Kaisen just smirking at her from the edge of the nest. She pulls in a choked breath before pulling all of them, her family into a hug with a wet sob.
“I’m so sorry everyone!” She wails and she feels the sharp pecks on her arms and fluttering wings all around her stop as her crows’ perch all around and on her. Heavy sobs wrack her body as she curls into the slick feathers as her summons comfort her with soft words their anger melting away like the night every morning.
She finds herself in a state of pure peace in the in-between of the mind of the soul. She finds herself safe.
She is Uchiha Asuka
She is Uchiha Kagami
But the only thing that matters in the end is that she is a daughter, a sister, a member of a family.
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Kagami lets pushes the door open with her foot and adjusts the bags in her hands as she slides into the house.
“Shiki, Shoyo if you drop those bags, I will pluck you like chickens!” She calls out as she sets down the bags and turns around the watch the crows doing acrobatic movements they should not be doing while their holding the bags with the rice and eggs respectively. She needs those plus she put the coffee in with the eggs and will cry if it the bag rips open and spills everywhere. She hasn’t had honest to Amerastu good fucking coffee since before the mission.
She functioned on coffee before the coma and then Chiori would only allow her to drink watered down tea. Don’t get Kagami wrong she can appreciate a good cup of tea but only tea for months? That is a special kind of torture in her personal opinion.
But now she’s going to make onigiri, ramen, and honest to Ameratsu decent fried rice. The hospital food isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either and Kagami misses her usual spices that she puts in her food.
“Don’t worry Gami-chan!” The crows calls as they manage to drop the bags on the kitchen counter and then perch on the sink tap, iridescent feathers glimmering in the direct sunlight.
“You two always make me worry” Kagami says with a dull tone as she begins to put away the groceries. The twins had decided that they needed to watch over Kagami after she finally calmed down, leaving their parents and cousins behind in the summoning realm to watch over their older sister in everything but blood and spoken words.
“We know Gami-chan!” Shoyo says with a cackle and Kagami joins in on the laughter before beginning to wash the rice.
“Now let me cook, I’d rather not end up eating roasted crow”
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“Dobe" Sasuke calls out as class ends looking at Naruto as he flinches and turns towards him.
“What do ya want teme!” The boy shouts as he runs towards the Uchiha, soft cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
Sasuke rolls his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest attempting to imitate the pose Otou-san often used when speaking to the clan elders.
My...” Sasuke freezes because what exactly does he call Kagami, she is an Uchiha and claimed to be his cousin but still it's a tad confusing.
“My guardian asked me to invite you to dinner” he says with a huff not noting the incredulous looks from everyone around the room as they turn towards the two boys.
“Eh?” Naruto looks at the teme with wide mouth shock, he’s not being an uppity asshole for once and it's throwing him for a loop.
“You know where I live just-” Sasuke groans and waves his hands around before turning on his heel and stalking out of the classroom face burning in embarrassment.
Why did he even do that! He could have just told Kagami that he invited the dobe and he said no.
Sasuke kicks and hits a stone away from him as he shoves his hands into his pockets and huffs as he walks towards the compound. Hopefully if the dobe doesn’t come Kagami will still teach him, he did at least try,
The boy huffs again and continue on his way unaware of the young blond following close behind. Not because Naruto wants to eat dinner with teme but he wants to see whoever kicked him off his high horse because just yesterday he knows the teme would have rather been stabbed than invite him for dinner.
Not that most people wouldn’t have the same reaction but still! He’s Uzumaki Naruto the next Hokage and he needs to get to the bottom of this mystery!
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“Do you like ramen Naruto-kun?” Kagami looks over at both the boys, both currently glaring at each other over their rice bowls as they shove food into their mouths.
Naruto looks over at the woman currently standing in the kitchen balancing three bowls of homemade ramen
.
“Yes! Ramen is the best thing in the world dattebayo!” He shouts, raising a fist before Sasuke reaches out and hits the over excited boy on the shoulder to shut him up.
“Sasuke no hitting out guest” Kagami says coolly as she sits down and places a steaming bowl of ramen before each boy, handing each of them a pair of chopsticks as well.
“Well I hope you enjoy the food Naruto-kun" Kagami says as she takes her own bite, basking in the feeling of satisfaction because Sasuke invited Naruto which is a step in the right direction.
Kagami tilts her head in unison with Sasuke as they both watch Naruto struggle with his chopsticks and Kagami sets her own chopsticks down and reaches towards Naruto to fix his grip.
“Here, it will be easier to hold them like this” Kagami ignores how Naruto flinched as soon as she moved towards him and files the reaction away for later. If he’s going to be Sasuke’s new friend Kagami is going to make sure he is happy in healthy.
“Thanks for the help lady, but I’m gonna be Hokage and I don’t need any help with stupid chopsticks!” Naruto exclaims but he doesn’t change his grip back from how Kagami changed it and just goes back to slurping down his ramen.
“Of course, Naruto-kun, just remember that everyone needs help sometimes even Sandaime-sama" Kagami says with a soft smile as Sasuke shoots her a betrayed look for getting along with Naruto.
“Hmph, I guess” Naruto mumbles more to himself as he shoves another bite of ramen into his mouth.
Sasuke sends a slightly disgusted glance at Naruto for how much he is eating but otherwise ignores him.
Kagami just looks between the two trying not to laugh. Sasuke is almost like a slightly more introverted version of her baby brother and his teammates. She still remembers him slamming the door shut after him in a huff after losing in a spar to his much younger teammate.
The night continues similarly to this and eventually Naruto is waved at as he leaves with his hands in his pockets and his stomach full. As soon as Naruto leaves Sasuke is almost immediately pulling Kagami towards the training yard to train more.
Instead, Kagami drags Sasuke back to his room and forces him to put back on the dress and makeup, allowing him to touch up her own makeup to teach him how the brush works and how much pressure to exert when applying it.
They’re up until midnight when Sasuke finally passes out from exhaustion, Kagami wraps the boy up in her arms and puts him into his sleep wear before tucking him into bed. Kagami runs a hand through his pin straight hair and manages a slightly pained smile. She used to do this with her baby brothers, both of them curled up next to her in bed while she runs her fingers though tangled curls.
Eventually she migrates back to the living room and collapses on the couch with a tired groan. Pulling her hair out of its ponytail and letting it halo around her head as she wraps a knitting blanket that Auntie Mikoto must have made.
“Fuck, I really don’t know what I’m doing” She mumbles into the pillow beneath her head wishing for familiar people around her. But she isn’t curled up with her wolves or in-between her baby brothers. She isn’t leaned against Souta on a mission with Naeto resting his head on their legs.
Kagami’s being drowned in waters she didn’t even notice, and she doesn’t know how to pull herself back out.