Chapter 4
“What?!” Naruto shouted from the group's spot at Ichiraku’s. Their team leaders, Kakashi and Guy, join them. “He has to be covered in burning ash?!”
Neji sighed and rubbed his temples, “Yeah, I know. I thought the same thing! That’s why it’s called Ash Day, but that’s not even half of what we need to do.”
“Well, Neji,” Tenten started, “spill. We couldn’t hear very much from behind the cabinet.”
“And Sasuke is a quiet guy,” Sakura added.
He groaned, “I feel like we can’t do any of this because it’s so intricate and specific to their clan!” Neji grabbed his chopsticks and angrily broke them in two, “First, Sasuke can’t eat the day of. He has to fast the entire morning and I don’t know how we’re going to keep it a surprise if we tell him not to eat!”
“Let me handle that,” Kakashi stated calmly. “What else did you find out?”
“There are different roles that people play. Firstly, he’s supposed to be given ceremonial robes from his elders, like we have that!” He stabbed a narutomaki in the bowl, “Secondly, the entire family is supposed to circle him with candles, but they’re special candles that don’t melt from the heat! They light them with their fireball jutsus!”
“Are we forming a cult?” Naruto quietly and nervously pondered out loud.
“It gets better.” He seethed sarcastically, clearly frustrated by Sasuke’s complexities. “They have a well that they pour the ancestral ashes into. A well. And his father has to read off this ancient scripture that can only be read by someone with the Sharingan! So, not only do we not have his father, we don’t have the scroll!”
“Well, Kakashi-sensei could read the scroll, but why don’t we have it?” Sakura asked.
“Sasuke said that he was pretty sure it was destroyed with the rest of the compound.”
“Destroyed?” Lee questioned as he and Naruto competed on who could drink the broth the fastest.
“Yeah,” Neji solemnly confirmed, “the Leaf bulldozed the compound after they were wiped out. He was in the hospital when they did it, so he doesn’t have anything from his clan.”
Silence.
“I’m not the only one thinking about how wrong that is, right?” Tenten rhetorically asked. Everyone nodded.
“Regardless,” Sakura pointed out, “we don’t have the scripture, we don’t have these…ceremonial robes he’s supposed to have, the candles,” she shivered, “and we definitely don’t have his family’s ashes.”
“Or his father.”
“Or his father. Gee, Neji, you’re really hung up on this.”
“Because we can’t carry out this plan efficiently!” He spat out as Naruto choked on broth in the background.
“Aw, come on!” Naruto slurped, “Just go back to him and milk him dry for information!”
“Forget it!” Neji snapped his chopsticks in half, which only fueled his frustration, “I humiliated myself for you! I have no obligation to continue to help!”
“Man, what’s with your attitude?! This was your fault, to begin with, and we’re trying to do something nice for a friend! Can’t you be nice?!”
“Perhaps you should tell your friend that first. Not once did he call me by my name no matter how nice I tried to be! He even said I was exactly like you!”
“You?! Like me?! I mean, I can’t see it, but what’s so bad about that?!”
“That’s the worst insult there is!”
“THAT’S IT-“ The blonde threw his sticks and jumped across his seat at the brunette, but Kakashi held him back with both hands.
“I’m sure we can modify the requirement a bit.” Kakashi reasoned while Guy kept Neji’s attitude at bay.
“Modify what?” A new, raspy voice spoke up from behind the group of seven.
They turned their heads and Naruto beamed, “Shikamaru!”
The lazy boy dipped underneath the curtain along with the Yamanaka princess and pudge boy. Shikamaru gave a lazy wave, “Hey. This is an odd group. What’s going on?”
“Hi, guys!” Sakura smiled uneasily, “We’re just trying to plan a party and we ran into a dead end.”
Choji gasped, “A party?! We love parties! Right, Shikamaru?” He elbowed his friend.
Shikamaru sighed, “You like parties. I prefer to stay at home on my own.” Choji slumped and he shrugged with a smirk. “Anyway, I’m assuming the party is for the Culture Fest?”
Naruto groaned, “I wish that’s all it was, but it’s actually a birthday party for Sasuke.” Naruto spoke his name like he was sucking on a sour lemon.
“A birthday party for Sasuke-kun?!” Ino gushed, “Count us in!”
“Ino, you’re the only one of us that would want that.” Shikamaru spat at the girl, who retaliated in response. It seemed like everyone’s teams were holding someone back as Choji kept hold of Ino’s arm.
“In any case, why would all of you be throwing a party for that guy?” Shikamaru asked, completely ignoring his angry teammate.
Neji turned to the boy who rivaled his genius and pondered the benefits of telling them the plan. On one hand, too many cooks in the kitchen could make their lives harder, but this team, seeing as who was paired together, would understand.
“Sasuke is thirteen now, which is the Uchiha’s coming-of-age year, but he has not had his ceremony due to his circumstances. He’s been thirteen for almost a month.”
“Oh, shit.” Shikamaru and the other two Team 10 members were shocked.
“You know how important those rituals are.”
“Well, yeah. All of the major clans have one.”
“Is it really that big of a deal?” Naruto asked, which received multiple looks of serious judgment.
“Of course, it is, Naruto!” Ino spat, “Traditionally, you can’t become an essential member of society without one! If Sasuke missed his coming-of-age ceremony, he probably feels as if he’ll never grow past this point!” They all knew that she didn’t mean anything about growing in height.
“So, we are slowly figuring out how to recreate the Uchiha’s ritual and it is much more complicated than we initially anticipated.” Neji rubbed at his temples as the others, aside from their senseis, sat with their heads hung low.
Shikamaru hummed, “Well if you need help, I say we’re in, right guys?” Ino and Choji agreed.
“Yeah! We’ll do what we can!” Choji confirmed.
“Really? You’ll help?”
“Sure, Sakura!” Ino declared with a raised fist, “Our clans are all about holding traditions, so we can be a great resource!”
“What do you need to know?” Shikamaru asked, “My dad knows everything. Whatever questions you have, I’m positive he could answer.”
“Oh, well, their ceremony is called Ash Day, or as Sasuke said, Haino’en’sai,” Neji explained, making sure to include the confusing clicks to the best of his ability. He then told them their dilemma and all of the things that were required of the ritual.
“Ok,” Shikamaru thought, “I’ll see what my dad knows, plus he has access to private records. I’m sure we’ll find something.” He turned to Choji, “Do you think you could ask your mom if they had any special food for those things? Your mom knows how to make everything.”
“For sure!”
“And I’ll ask Dad if he remembers anything about those missing artifacts! He was part of the investigative team to search the grounds after the massacre!”
“Shikamaru, you guys are the best!” Naruto exclaimed.
He smirked, “We’ll get back to ya on it. On one condition…”
“Sure, what is it?” Sakura treads carefully.
“Choji wants to be invited to the party.” He nods from behind the Chunin. “We all do. I don’t like the guy, but we won’t see another event like this one in a handful of decades.”
“You got it.” Kakashi agreed, “It’s a huge event for the Uchiha, so we were planning to invite you all anyway.”
“Awesome!” Ino exclaimed, “Well, we better get going! There’s only a couple of hours of daylight left and I want to get this ball rolling!”
“I thought we were going to eat ramen first!” Choji moaned as his stomach growled angrily.
“You heard the boss,” Shikamaru dragged, “See ya later, Naruto,” he waved, “and the rest of ya.” Choji groaned as he followed his teammates out, but didn’t argue.
“Well, look at that!” Naruto smiled, “Looks like we got some help!”
“What if they can’t find anything we don’t already know?” Sakura said, “What do we do then? I didn’t even think about what food to bring.”
Neji suddenly felt a pair of green eyes on him, followed by three other pairs of eyes. He turned over each shoulder to see the culprits.
“No, no way!”
“Come on, Neji! Please?” Tenten asked.
“Sasuke hates me!” He defends, “There is no chance in hell that he will hang out with me again. Plus, how suspicious would it be for me to spend time with him two days in a row?”
“Technically three, Neji!” Lee announced with his perfect shiny teeth and confident wink.
“Whatever.” Neji dismissed, “It’s not happening.”
“Damn it.” Neji sighed as he and Sasuke walked down the streets of Konoha in silence. Awkward silence. He was shocked Sasuke even agreed to come out with him again, although he clarified that he had to run errands anyway, so did he really want him to be there?
“So,” he started, “what errands did you need to run?”
Sasuke shrugged, “Stuff that isn’t your business, Hyuuga.”
“Neji.”
“Whatever.”
Neji hung his head in defeat. That was the first conversation they had in ten minutes and that could hardly be considered that. What was he supposed to do here? Distract him? Extract more information? Befriend him and gain his trust?
The more he thought about it the more it sounded like he was planning a coup de’état. That he had an ulterior motive…shit, he did.
“Hey.”
Neji was startled and shifted his gaze to the raven.
Sasuke, hands in his pockets, stared pointedly. “I can feel you thinking from here. Calm down.”
“I’m fine.”
“I never said you weren’t. I said you’re thinking too much.”
He hummed and crossed his arms. “You can tell that, huh?”
Sasuke smirked, “Of course. Naruto and Sakura do the same thing.”
Neji was confused. “...they think?”
“Too much. You can see the cogs turning in their heads. You think more like the dobe.”
He cringed; there was that insult again. “Do I even want to ask?”
Sasuke looked devilish, “He’s a little rusty, so the steam emits from his ears when he’s trying to come up with something. You do the same thing.”
Neji glared at the Uchiha, “I can assure you that I am much more intelligent than Naruto.”
“I know that, but you make the same faces he does.”
“Faces?”
“You’re surprisingly expressive. You look constipated when you think.”
He sighed, “Thank you for making me aware.” Sasuke chuckled meanly at his reaction.
They walked for another fifteen minutes in silence. Silence that was not comfortable. He wasn’t sure what it was, but Sasuke was a hard individual to get comfortable around. He had an imposing aura that seemed to ward people away from him, like bug repellent.
As they were walking, Neji noticed lingering eyes and aggressive whispers directed at the Uchiha, which was the opposite of what Neji expected. Usually the girls, at least, would crowd around him and praise the boy for his looks and talent, but the village itself kept their distance. He scowled at the adults that they passed as they pointed fingers at the two of them. Civilians weren’t very smart, were they?
“Ignore them, Hyuuga.”
Neji looked back to the Uchiha boy, “How could I? They’re not being subtle.”
“No, but recognizing them makes it worse.”
“Why do they look at you like that?” He didn’t mention how it was almost the same look the villagers gave Naruto, almost. Like, Sasuke was a walking spectacle for them to ogle at.
“I have a reputation and some of that reputation precedes me.”
Neji didn’t get to ask what he meant by that before a group of familiar faces crossed their path.
The white pup turned to them and barked at seeing the two, alerting the rest of the team.
“Hey!” Kiba exclaimed, “If it isn’t Sasuke,” he cocked his head, “and Neji? You too are an odd pair.”
“What are you doing here?” Sasuke asked instead, ignoring the obvious prodding.
“We’re all going to see a pop-up gallery! Right, Akamaru?” The dog confirmed with a high-pitched bark and wagged his tail. Shino nodded and Hinata smiled shyly.
“Pop-up gallery?” Sasuke inquired.
“The clans show off artwork, jewelry, and other pieces there.” Neji explained, “The Hyuuga takes up an entire street.”
“That’s right,” Kurenai-sensei confirmed with a soft smile. “The biggest clans tend to have the most to show off.” Neji didn’t miss the tension in Sasuke’s shoulders or the grief that suddenly struck his face. It was subtle, but Neji could tell.
“You should come with us,” Kurnai offered sweetly. “They are offering up more food at the stands, as well.”
Neji turned to the Uchiha, “What do you say? Would you like to go?”
“Y-you don’t have to, i-if you d-don’t want to.” Hinata clarified, looking between the two of them. Milky eyes lingered on Sasuke’s stiff form.
The girl was always good at reading people, Neji thought.
“It’s fine.” Sasuke clipped, “I have nothing better to do.”
Neji’s interest was piqued; what about those errands?
When they arrived at the street with the art, Sasuke was shocked by the… extravagance. The street was lined with gaudy displays, humble displays…retro? He scoffed, guess it depended on what the clans were trying to prove. It was broad daylight, but there were still lanterns hung and flickering about. Kids were running around happily, mindlessly, with finger foods and paint on their hands and faces. There must be a stall somewhere more suited for their age groups. Sasuke watched fathers and mothers chase after them, scold them…play with them…it awakened the grip on his heart.
“Look! There’s the Inuzuka stall!” Kiba bolted in front of them all, Akamaru right by his side. “Come on Hinata! Shino!” The duo hurried to catch up to their teammate and listen to him ramble about their stuff.
Kurenai chuckled, “You boys can do whatever you like. If you need anything, I’ll be at the Yuhi exhibit.” Neji nodded and watched Kurenai walk away to their left.
He looked at Sasuke, who seemed uncomfortable. Neji put a gentle hand on his shoulder; he startled, and turned to the brunette.
Neji retracted, “Apologies. You seemed spaced out.”
Sasuke clicked his tongue and glared, “You have got to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Do you want to go somewhere specific?” Neji ignored his comment and started walking. “We could check out Kiba’s stuff.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sasuke answered.
Neji hummed and tried to think of something to make him feel better. He knew that the boy must’ve been dwelling on his dead family.
A lightbulb went off and Neji snapped his fingers, “You know what?” Sasuke turned, eyes absent of any interest, and Neji smiled. “The Hokage usually displays some pieces lost to time that they keep locked up in the building. Ones that were thought to be destroyed in the wars and so on. Let’s head down there.”
He shrugged, carelessly. “Sure. Whatever.”
Neji goes to grab Sasuke’s hand, but decides against it, and leads the way making sure that the Uchiha is following him.
Once there, it was clear that Sasuke was much more intrigued by the articles here than the ones focused on specific clans. Good, he thought. That’s what he was hoping for. The two observed old weapons recollected from the First Great Ninja War, which were amazingly intact, armor that was rusted and chipped from the 2nd, and scrolls written in code from the 3rd. Sasuke and Neji mirrored each other; arms crossed and heads tilted as they analyzed a map of the ancient enemy territory.
They continued to examine different pieces in silence before Sasuke caught a glimpse of a mirage in the distance.
“Is that…” Sasuke’s eyes went wide, “No way…!” The raven turned over his shoulder, eyes wide and bright, shocking Neji. “Come on!” Then, Sasuke grabbed his hand and hurried Neji along.
“Where are we going?” Neji asked, hyperaware of the fact that Sasuke, the individual who hated touch, was currently holding his hand.
His hands are rough, Neji found himself thinking, as Sasuke flashed an innocent grin.
“If this is what I think it is, you’re in for a treat.”
How odd. Sasuke seemed almost…childlike. It was kind of…cute.
Neji blinked, but he didn’t have time to spend on that stray thought, because Sasuke stopped in front of one of the Hokage’s displays and smiled at him, which made Neji stop in his tracks.
“This,” Sasuke pointed with his free hand, “is Uchiha art.”
Neji gapped, “What?” Somehow, the grip on his hand tightened. He couldn’t tell if it was him, or Sasuke. “Why is it here?”
“I’m not sure. The Uchiha didn’t have possession of any of these pieces. I had heard the stories, but I’ve never seen the artifacts that told them.”
Neji found it odd that the Uchiha didn’t have ownership of their antiques, but didn’t want to ruin the moment, so he kept quiet.
“This one here,” Sasuke dragged him to a collection of abstract paintings that Neji found horrifying. “These are from our most famous artist, Kazuo Uchiha. He was a man who never gained the Sharingan because he had no talent for ninjutsu, so he was shunned by most of the family. However, he did have a passion for artistry, so he painted.”
“They’re…um…”
“Speechless? Yeah, they’re scary. You can say it.”
Neji breathed a sigh of relief, “I didn’t want to offend you.”
Sasuke nodded in understanding, and then turned to look at the paintings, “It’s alright. They aren’t supposed to be comfortable. He was trying to make a point.”
Neji turned to him, “And what was that?”
“You see, Kazuo’s art is important not because it’s good, the man wasn’t that talented, but because he was a victim of abuse. His paintings helped to pass one of the Uchiha’s most cardinal laws.”
Neji blinked expectantly and watched Sasuke’s face change to something unreadable.
“This artist was shunned and was considered a disgrace amongst the Uchiha,” Sasuke explained, “so, his father would punish him by putting him under intense genjutsus.”
“Are you serious?!” Neji gasped.
“Afraid so,” Sasuke declared. “All of that torture permanently damaged his mind and he would have moments of psychosis. These paintings,” he pointed again, “they’re all his visions that he saw. He documented each genjutsu he was under, and all of the hallucinations after that.”
Neji was amazed. “That’s…that’s incredible. It’s also heartbreaking.”
“Yeah,” Sasuke agreed, “his situation brought awareness to the power that we held with our gaze alone, and the clan made it illegal to cast a genjutsu on anyone under the age of ten soon after he passed. It became an unspoken rule to wait until an individual is ranked genin to practice illusionary jutsu.”
“Amazing. I had no idea.”
“Most people don’t, but the act of casting genjutsu on a minor was punishable by death.”
Neji turned to say more but shut his mouth when he saw the infuriated look on the boy’s face. His eyebrows creased and his teeth clenched, his eyes were suddenly so hateful.
Shit, did they accidentally trigger something?
“Hey,” Neji squeezed his hand to try and comfort the boy, but Sasuke squeezed tighter. “Why don’t you show me another piece? Like,” he walked them over to another large portrait. This one was of a lady painted white, with dripping red eyes…
Why were all of the paintings so creepy?
“...this one. Mind telling me a little about it?”
Sasuke’s venomous stare shifted to the white and red painting. He took a deep breath and sighed, seemingly to calm himself down. “Right.” He clipped, “This is a self-portrait of Shiro Uchiha. In this time, she has been deemed a witch and evil, but in reality, she’s the only Uchiha to be born with albinism.”
“Wow. Why are her eyes bleeding?”
“It’s symbolic, I think. My auntie always told me that she was sensitive to the sun, which the Uchiha worshipped, so she would cry in despair. Since her eyes were inflamed by the light, they’d bleed.”
“Sasuke,” Neji started and turned to look at his developing companion, “your culture is incredibly fascinating to me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I could listen to you talk about it all day and night.” Sasuke smiled and Neji noticed a small blush on his cheeks. He smiled back.
Neji turned to the last major painting, much bigger than the others. It was drawn with black ink and each character painted in was adorned with millions of threaded red beads that glistened in the light.
This one was beautiful to look at. The lines were so simple and yet so elegant. “What story does this one tell?”
Sasuke looked up at the display and smiled wider, “Oh, this is a visualization of our wedding ceremonies. We called them K'ainaru.”
Sasuke sounded so eloquent in his native language, Neji thought.
“What does it symbolize?”
“So, this is going to sound stupid.” Sasuke finally let go of Neji’s hand to cross his arms and look in the opposite direction.
“Try me.” Neji challenged.
He sighed, “Alright, there’s this Uchiha legend, right?”
“Right.”
“And it tells of how an Uchiha loves so strongly that they’re born with a flame where their hearts should be because their love burns brighter and brighter with every connection they make.” Sasuke paused to see if Neji was listening, and he was, very intently. “The legends say that an Uchiha can only fall in love once, like swans, and that flame gets hotter when they meet them–that’s what those gems and beads are supposed to be.”
“Oh! Those are your hearts!” Neji found that very beautiful, but something was wrong with the picture… “Is this a misprint?”
“What do you mean? This is the original.”
“It must be a copy because there are clearly pairs of the same gender scattered about.” Neji furrowed his brows in thought. “Perhaps, it was a mistake?”
Sasuke chuckled and then the blush returned, “No, that’s–the Uchiha didn’t believe in that.”
“In what?”
“I get it. It’s not normal for most of the world, but the Uchiha? We didn’t see gender the way everyone else does. For us, you loved who you loved and if it was pure and true, your flames burned brighter together.”
Neji paled, “What…are you saying?”
Sasuke’s face turned stony and serious, “I’m saying that it wasn’t unusual for two men, or two women, to fall in love. Love is love. That’s it.”
“...I see.”
He glared, “If you have a problem with it, just say so!”
“I never said that,” Neji began. “The Hyuuga customs are just…different, is all.”
“Hm.” Sasuke ticked.
The awkward silence returned and Neji wanted to salvage it with his honest thoughts, “Sasuke, it’s a beautiful piece and a wonderful story. I hope to hear more.”
Sasuke cracked one eye open and smirked, “If you think the art is pretty, wait until you hear our music! Traditional K’aibi songs are entrancing.”
Neji smiled, despite the sudden pit in his stomach and uneasy nausea, “I’m looking forward to it.”