“ I know.”
It had been exactly two years, eight weeks and four days since Boruto Uzumaki had been labeled an S-class missing-nin, and Sarada Uchiha had just left the Hokage’s office, quietly fuming. She’d known how strong Eida’s strange jutsu was, back when everyone’s memories had been wiped, but she had hoped that one of her mother’s generation would have broken through it. The fourteen year old had done so, back when she was twelve, and for all of the Konoha Twelve’s prowess, not one had done the same.
That was part of the reason the only Uchiha in Konoha was storming through the civilian sector. The other had involved Kawaki. The bastard had brought her here, the very bitch that was the reason for the drama in all of their lives. It was honestly a wonder Sarada hadn’t attempted anything when she first caught sight of the cyborg’s unnerving eyes. And she was sure that her cover had been blown as well. Two years of pretending like she thought Boruto was a traitor and a kinslayer, only to crumble under Kawaki’s words.
“I know.”
The rat bastard had looked her dead in the eyes as he said that. And Eida had grinned- grinned- as if it was some funny joke he’d said instead, and not two damning words that could spell the deaths of those she cared about.
At least the interim Hokage had shared her apprehension of Eida. Shikamaru may have been a disappointment, but his instincts and intellect were sharper than his sons’, and Sarada had to grudgingly admit that he wasn’t the worst choice for Hokage.
Far from it. If only she could get him back into his right mind.
She shook herself free from her musings and made a turn onto her street, pausing when she saw a shadowy figure at the door. A kunai made its way into her hands, and she cast a genjutsu, to keep herself out of sight. It was only when the figure turned that Sarada relaxed, albeit slightly. A flame of hope seemed to take root in her heart.
At the doorstep, scratched and bruised, stood Uzumaki Himawari.
“Hima. What can I do for you?”
The girl jumped, blue eyes wide- she has byakugan, Sarada remembered.- as the older girl seemed to materialize from the shadows.
“Sarada-nee. I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I wanted to ask you about something.” There was an unsettling look in her blue eyes, a look that made Sarada’s heart sink.
“I see. Do you mind if we go on a walk?” she replied smoothly.
Himawari nodded, and gestured for Sarada to lead the way. They both passed the archway in front of the Uchiha household, and entered the part of the civilian district that was reserved for recreational use. Sarada could sense the uncertainty of the girl behind her, and detected a slight lag in her gait, but continued onward.
They paused at a bench, painted bright blue but an odd grayish shade from the setting sun. Sarada sat first, and gestured for Himawari to do the same.
They stewed in silence for a moment.
“I assume you want to talk about him.” Sarada said softly.
Himawari let her head droop a little. “Yes.”
Sarada closed her eyes, breathing in once, twice, before : “ I need to stop him.”
“You want me to tell you his weaknesses?”
“That would be wonderful, but I also wanted to ask you for something else.” Hima replied hurriedly.
At Sarada’s raised eyebrow, she elaborated, “ I know how highly he used to talk about your skills, and Sasuke trained you, so I thought maybe- if you wanted of course,- you could,” She paused here, “ train me?” Her voice trailed off at the end.
There was another pause before Sarada spoke: “What do you know about my father.”
“Huh?” It was safe to say that Himawari had not been expecting that question. The kid jolted up, giving the older girl a priceless look of shock. Sarada merely looked back at her, a mellow look in her eyes.
“I- I know he and my dad are best friends, and they were on the same genin team.” she began. “ I know that they’re like brothers, and that your dad was the last Uchiha for a while.”
Sarada nodded at that. “ That’s what I want to talk about.”
Himawari raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “ Which bit?”
“The last Uchiha part.”
“Oh.”
For a moment, Sarada wondered if all Uzumaki were somewhat dim. Boruto had been the same, and Lord Seventh had his moments of foolishness. Karin could be airheaded too, but instances were increasingly few between the years, as her father had told her.
With a sigh, Sarada continued. “ My father lost his family when he was younger than you are now, before genin teams were formed. That led to him becoming estranged from the rest of Konoha, as he swore to kill a certain someone.”
Sarada looked at Hima then, noting the way the younger girl’s eyes widened in understanding.
Hm. Maybe the Hyuuga clan’s brainpower had pulled through. She continued, “He swore to kill the man who had massacred his family, and gave up his life as a Konoha nin to seek him out. It led to him following that man down a road of self-ruination.”
Himawari’s eyes seemed to glow in the ever darkening light. “I- didn’t know this.”
“I doubt Lord Seventh would have told you. My father only told me before he… left.” Sarada admitted quietly.
“Oh.”
The elder girl cleared her throat, steeling herself for what was to come. “My father sold his eyes and body to another who chased immortality, just to gain the power needed to kill that man. He hadn’t planned to survive the encounter;” Sarada said. ‘He wanted to take that man with him to death.”
Himawari was unsettlingly quiet. Sarada continued. “ He told me that after the war, he was lost for a very long time, and that Konoha hadn’t felt like home. He told me that nowhere had felt like home for a long time. He was wandering the world; because that man was dead, and he had not gone to death with him.” She was lying- of course she was- but it did not feel right to tell this girl next to her about her father’s war crimes. She didn’t think Hima would end up that way, because Konoha had almost no involvement in Boruto’s defection.
If we were playing the blame game, Sarada guessed that Lord Seventh would be at the start for taking Kawaki in.
“But he met your mother- he loves her? Right?” There was a slight desperation in Himawari’s tone. She was not ready to live the same life as Sasuke Uchiha. Sarada, with a guilty twinge, pressed on.
“He did, but not until years later. Even then, it was to fulfill the second duty he had: to restore his clan.” Not all of it was a lie. Sarada knew that her parents loved each other- everyone did.
But it was when she decided to become a ninja that she began looking past the surface.
A shinobi must see underneath. The letters, the old clothes, the way her mother had always waited for her father, Their characters, personalities.
Sarada had realized, at the age of thirteen, why they tried so hard. Her father had fed to her exactly what she wanted to hear, how she was the bridge that connected them.
But if that were the case, how come Sasuke Uchiha had not sent a single letter to them? How come her mother seemed to be fine with waiting for him, as if it was a habit at this point?
She often wondered how their relationship would have progressed if she had not existed.
Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha were shinobi who put duty above all, with Sasuke atoning for his crimes, and Sakura as a prized medic who could not afford to be anything less than perfect. And part of that duty was raising the Uchiha heir. Perhaps they did love each other; Sarada knew they loved her, that was evident, but she didn’t really know her parents. Too much had been kept a secret, and too much still was.
She could love her Mama and Papa, but not Sasuke and Sakura.
But now was not the time for that, so Sarada smiled at Hima, and continued. “ He was floundering when he met her, and I guess something clicked. I never really asked for the specifics.” She paused again then. It was getting awfully hard to see Hima’s face, a warning her father gave her whispering in her ear.
“He left the village soon after I was born, to work as the Shadow Hokage to keep it safe. That meant leaving his wife a second time, and his child the first.” Hima was getting blurrier as the sun went down.
“I won’t say it wasn’t necessary, but he felt that was his duty, for leaving this village as a genin and for staying a missing-nin for so long.” Her blue eyes were all Sarada could make out at this point, and for a second, she could easily image them on another face, with blond hair and an insufferable smirk saying, Sarada- chaaan in that stupid, stupid tone.
But it was Hima who responded, saying, “I’m not your father.”
“But you could be.” And the worst part was that it was true.
And even worse, Hima’s blue eyes were getting darker and darker, and Sarada felt very much like her late uncle, Itachi, watching someone younger and dear to her go astray.
In a damning voice, rid of any emotion, Himawari asked, “Who was the man your father killed.”
There was no mistaking which man Himawari was talking about. “ His name was Itachi Uchiha.” A pause. “And he was my father’s older brother.”
“He is not my brother. My brother is here, protecting Konoha.” When had she grown up? The little Hima from Sarada’s memories was replaced by this angry, angry girl, with the Byakugan activated and so much hate in her expression.
The way she said the words nursed the little flame of hope Sarada kept burning.
She said them as if she was trying to convince herself of that statement, trying to believe that Kawaki was her brother.
I know.
“But you knew him as one.”
And that took that infernal anger out of the girl. The Byakugan was replaced by blue eyes, and her shoulders sagged. She looked up at the older girl, and back down, so sad where anger had been before.
Sarada stood up . It was fully dark by then, and little moths had come to gather by a flickering light. Himawari’s blue eyes seemed to flare in the dim light, so much like her brothers’.
“I’ve done all I can to warn you now.” she said quietly. When she met the younger girl’s eyes, she let the sharingan be seen, careful to keep the three tomoe spinning softly. To her credit, Himawari Uzumaki stood her ground, and in a perhaps foolish move, met the older girl’s eyes.
It was dark, two years, eight weeks and four days since Boruto Uzumaki had defected, when the last Uchiha in Konoha last spoke to the last Uzumaki in Konoha.
“How much are you willing to lose?”