My Clan, My duty- meeting Izuna

After Sasuke had been introduced, there were at least thirteen different people who asked the siblings if they were sure he wasn't one of their kids instead, mostly because Sasuke looked so similiar to Izuna back when he was young.
Aside from that some people were angry- Uchiha weren't supposed to be born outside the clan, that wasn't done and it wasn't safe- but Sasuke understood they weren't exactly angry at him. Just at Uchiha Tajima, his supposed father.
Sasuke dearly hoped that him pretending to be that man's illegitimate child wouldn't offend Tajima nor his parents too much- then again, Tajima was already dead and Sasukes parents weren't even born yet.
It hurt to think about the fact that Sasuke coming here effectively erased their existence, in a way, because while they weren't dead they hadn't ever lived here.
But Sasuke couldn't feel too bad about it. Not existing versus death for the entire clan- he was sure they would have made the same decision. And if they wouldn't, well, Sasuke would never find out anyways.

There was a lot of talk about politics- appereantly Sasuke was now fourth in line to the clanhead position because he was obviously from the main family but it wasn't sure how exactly and he was born outside the clan and his " first Cousin" Hikaku stayed the third in line as he had always been- which satisfied most people.
Sasuke didn't quite care about that. He would already die for any of these people because they were Uchiha and doing so was his duty, honor and life purpose ever since the massacre, no matter what position he would hold here. He was just glad not to be the spare anymore.

Then People introduced himself to him. Sasuke tried to be polite and not show how overwhelmed he was- he hadn't interacted with so many people at once, ever, and making small talk and conversation with so many people was draining. It was also exhausting that Sasuke had to keep thinking of ways to keep his cover, sort of, because Madara and Izuna couldn't lead the topic away from every person and they hadn't exactly thought of answers to all of them before this meeting.

After Sasuke and a woman, Miko who looked very much like the auntie Sasuke got his coat from finished talking about interior decor ( based on Sasukes story, he and his mother moved around a lot. And people here were eager for any knowledge or gossip away from the Uchiha compound and Miko apperantly had a passion about decor) a Kid introduced himself to him.

" Hi. I'm Kagami. Do you want to play with me and the others?" The boy gave him a sunshine-smile that reminded him of Sishui. Come to think of it, wasn't Sishui Kagamis Grandson or something? Sasuke hadn't met him and ever since Sasuke knew Sishui had been an orphan without direct relatives and collectively cared for by the clan. It was weird and it felt wrong to meet someone who was part of Sihuis family that Sishui hadn't ever met...then again...maybe, if Sasuke lived or left warnings when who died ( he had been the sole attendant at the shrine by necessity in the past two months, he knew when a lot of people died...) Sishui could meet Kagami too. Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts, now determined to try to get to know him. He owed that to Shishui who had been like an annoying add-on brother at times cause he and Itachi had often been a package deal. And he owed it to his deal with the Uchiha brothers too- if he was to stay alive, he had to integrate himself and where to start best then people his own age. ( Sasuke tried to ignore the excitement of maybe playing after so long...playing was for kids, after all, and Sasuke hadn't been one since that day, not really... Sasuke nodded to Kagami. " I would like to. But I don't know if I can." To emphasise his point, he subtly gestured at the other Uchiha around who were currently talking to the Uchiha brothers. " That's okay, we can just ask. Come on!" Kagami grabbed Sasukes hand and pulled him towards them.

He just interrupted them as if it was nothing, bluntly asking " Can Sasuke play with us? "
" Sure." Madara agreed easily. "But the usual rules apply. If you get hurt, get an adult or to the medical center. Don't try new dangerous jutsu without supervision and don't leave the clan grounds."
" I know." Kagami aknowledged. " Thanks."
He started pulling Sasuke away only to get interrupted by Izuna. " Sasuke...you can come home anytime. And if you need us we'll probably be here or at home and other people can always find us for you."
" Thanks. See you later." Sasuke aknowledged,scowling when Izuna pet his hair and then letting Kagami drag him off.
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There were a lot of Uchiha kids,thirteen of them, all of whom introduced themselves to Sasuke. Then they asked him a few questions, all of which were easier to answer than the ones of adult people because Sasuke didn't even have to lie. They ranged more from " What's the favourite place you saw? ( Waterfalls, somewhere, he had been there with his mother on a trip ones) to " What do you think would be a fitting summon for you? ( Something that can fly because Sasuke wished more than anything to be free).
Then, Hiroshu, a kid who was older than Sasuke but younger than Itachi, suggested that they could play hide and seek.
Kagami offered to Team up with Sasuke at first to show him the area a bit since Sasuke wouldn't know the clan grounds yet and the kids decided to all play tour guides for him at first and then play hide and seek cause that would be more fun.

Sasuke was shown everything- from the smiths, to the bakeries, to a clothing shop, to the trees, to where the guards were, to where his companions lived, to a small ponds and to their favourite places.
They also said, repeatedly, which invisible borders he really shouldn't cross.
It was a lot, a bit overwhelming and really, really kind. Sasuke made sure to thank them and awe accordingly when they showed him their spots.
Then they played hide and seek.

Sasuke lost a lot- everyone knew the place better than him, after all.
That was, at least, until Sasuke hid in the crown of a huge cherry tree that was blooming in a delightful pink.
He was found last, after more than an hour.
Hikaku, whose turn it eas to seek, eventually statted climbing up the tree untik he spotted him.
" Here you are! Congratulations, you're the last one.
We didn't find you for over an hour- we were starting to get worried...Good spot though. Who' d have thought an Uchiha would hide in a tree of all things?"
Sasuke, who had grown up in a Village literally called Village Hidden in the leaves, didn't really understand.
" It's a good hiding spot. And you climbed up here too."
" True. " Hiroshu nodded. " It's safe here, on the clan grounds. But outside it is not- the Senju leader can control the trees and he has killed many of us with them. That's why most Uchiha are wary of trees. You should be too. I don't want you to be squished to death."
Oh. Yeah. That made sense. " I'm sorry. I didn't know." Sasuke bowed his head. He hadn't wanted to make people uncomfortable, he felt bad for making Hiroshu do something he probably didn't want to and he felt...warm too. Because Hiroshu cared or at least pretended to care when he didn't have to- Madara and Izuna had to, for their deal and his cover story.
" Thanks for finding me." He said eventually, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
" It's fine." The teen said. " We should go down now, the others are probably waiting. Are you fine to climb down or do you need help? The teen asked.
" I'll be fine. You go first." Sasuke replies.
Hiroshi climbed back down.
Huh. Maybe he hadn't learned Tree-walking.yet. After Hiroshu had reached the ground, Sasuke just jumped down and landed gracefully with the help of chakra. " That was...so cool!" Kagami expressed, while Daichi, one of the older people in the group scolded him. " That was reckless. You could have broken your neck." Sasuke shrugged. Daichi would be right if that was Sasukes first time doing this ( and it was weird ge cared) ...but.... Sasuke didn't want to stop using the skills he learned in the last two months. " I've done that plenty of times. Don't worry, I know how to do it right." Ha answered, slowly, smiling a little. " Can you teach me how to do it?" Kagami interrupted. There wasn't really a reason not to...Sasuke almost agreed but was interrupted by Daichi before he could. " No. Don't . Or we'll if you show him ask his parents first and do it with supervision. You know your mothers will scolded you again if you keep being reckless." Well...that was a reson not to. Sasuke had to try his best not to be disliked too much right now ( he was an outsider, after all, in a way) and teaching a kid behind their parents back when he knew it wouldn't be okay for them would just be looking for trouble. " Okay. " He agreed easily. " Yeah yeah." Kagami scowled. Then, his face lit up, when he asked " Can we play again?" They did play again. Sasuke didn't hide on a tree this time, just on a building roof- and he didn't jump down when he was finally spotted by someone - but just walked down. The other kids were looking at him with wide eyes. " You already know how to do that?!" Daichi said in disbelief. " Ywah but it took some time to get it you know? And I haven't been able to do it for long yet." Sasuke admitted. " Can you teach us?" A girl, Kaya, who was about two headstaller than Sasuke, interrupted. " I...never taught anyone but I can try?" Sasuke admitted. " That's good enough". Hiroshu decided. But we do have to be careful not to go to high. That would end up being g dangerous.". " Hnn." Others agreed. " Well...How do we start?" Kaya prompted, having already lifted up a foot on a nearby wall " You have to focus your chakra on your feet and spread it in a layer, sort of like of you want to glue something together in an even layer. And then you just have to use the right amount of it...You get that by experimenting. If you use too much, things can be destroyed." Sasuke hadn't even counted the amount of holes he had made into the room he learned tree-walking in that way. " If you use too little, it won't work. Well and then you have to try to do the same with the second food, and eventually lift your first one..." --------------------------‐---------------------------------------------------------- When it was slowly getting darker, the children slowly dispersed and disappeared after they excused themselves from the group. Sasuke followed their example, going back to the place Izuna and Madara lived in.

Madara was already there, cooking something in their Kitchen while Izuna was launghing at the kitchen table.
He looked up when he saw Sasuke.
" Did it go okay?" He inquired.
" Hnn..." Sasuke agreed. Honestly the evening and meeting some of the uchiha kids in this time could have been more chaotic and gone worse. Kami, he even had fun, sometimes, though he didn't think he deserved that.
" I learned that right now we're scared of trees." He added, not sure what else to say and not wanting to nervously be here in silence.
" Ugh yeah. Fucking Hashimara... That senju can control the trees.. There's few things less terrifying than the very field turning against you and branches squeezing you to death..." Izuna commented.
" So don't give around climbing up trees, you could give someone a hearth attack." He advised.
" That would have been great to know sooner. " Sasuke aknowledged.
" Aaa. We should've thought of that. Well, how was it other than that?" Izuna asked
" They showed me the town, we played hide and seekand started tree walking." Sasuke explained, eyes slightly fond at the memory.
There was a long moment of akwards silence- until Izuna, eventually asked " Do you want to train? I mean it'spart of our deal...and you said you needed to train but we don't have to do it now..."
" Yes!" Sasuke agreed.
" Let’s go then. We probably still have some time till Nii-san is ready with dinner- I even burn rice so he kind of always cooks... I can show you some mean fire jutsu."