Chapter 5
Sasuke wished his mother didn’t drive so fast even if he knew why she was in such a hurry. The horses in their caravan weren’t at a full sprint but they were moving as quickly as possible. Sasuke tried to talk to his mom a couple of times but he kept almost biting his tongue when they hit bumps on the unused road.
On one of the smoother sections of road, Mikoto said “Hang on dear, once we get to the main road. It won’t be so hectic.” Sasuke remembered being present for that conversation. None of the carts had the distinctive Uchiha mark on them and all their belongings with their mark were sealed away and hidden until they got to their new home. After they hit the main road, they would slow their pace to match a civilian to throw off any shinobi that might be patrolling the area.
Konoha had enough traffic coming in and out that one group of wandering tradesmen wouldn’t seem suspicious. Sasuke wanted to ask how long it would take to get on the main road but his mom hit another bump and he slid towards the back of the cart.
It felt like he was moving around trying not to get squashed by boxes and scrolls for hours. He looked at the sky and saw it was way past his lunch time as well. Telling the time by looking at the sky wasn’t a trick he learned at the academy but one that Shisui taught him while they were pla… training in the woods by the compound.
He was able to take some sips out of a water bottle he usually kept in his bag from school in between the jerks. He wished he filled it up before they left. They had been traveling next to a river for some time, maybe he could refill it when they finally stopped. Eating was out of the question though.
Sasuke was too worried that he would bite his tongue and besides, he didn’t want to bother his mother while she was so focused on the road. She had turned to look at Sasuke a couple of times since they started but other than some stilted instructions, she’d been focused on right in front of them. Sasuke was also exhausted. The cart did have room for him to lay down and even had a roof on it, but the one time he tried to close his eyes. They cart jerked so badly he almost fell out and got a scolding from his mother about being careful.
Sasuke was so focused on his mother that when one of his cousins from the police force jumped on their cart from the one next to it, he was startled. His cousin smiled and Sasuke turned red from embarrassment. Not many people tried to sneak up on the clan head’s second son so he wasn’t used to having to pay so much attention. That would be something he could work on as they traveled though so it wasn’t all bad.
“We’ve been traveling alongside the main road but the trees are too dense to stay off of it,” his cousin reported.
Mikoto slowed down the lead cart and chewed her lip in an unusual sign of nerves. “We’ve gotten further than we intended so it should be fine to continue on the main road. Tell the others to slow their speed and follow me.”
His mother waited a few minutes after that before they seemed to appear from the woods on the road. “We’re lucky it’s so late in the day.” Mikoto commented as the cart finally settled down and the horses started walking. “These roads are so busy in the morning, we would have had trouble finding a way to them without being noticed.” Sasuke wanted to talk to his mother and respond to her but the hours he spent in the moving cart were beginning to take their toll and he could barely fight to keep his eyes open.
He leaned against the cart and watched the blurry figure of his mother, looking as weary as he did, until he slipped into sleep. Sasuke didn’t know how long he was asleep but the sun was down and he was in his mothers arms when he woke. They were on a pallet in the cart and his uncle was driving the cart. The sun was going down by now and he really didn’t want to wake his mother from her sleep so he carefully wiggled out of her grip.
She must have been tired because she didn’t move as he made his way to the front. It was much easier to move in the cart now. “Hello, uncle.” He rubbed his eyes and wished he could was his face. Since his uncle didn’t seem to mind his lack of manners, Sasuke figured he was in the clear and he climbed into the front seat. He couldn’t do that earlier either. The clan kept all their kids in the carts hidden just in case the village realized something was happening.
His uncle smiled at him. “You should get some more rest. It’s been a long day for everyone.” Sasuke wanted to go back to sleep and the idea of going to his mothers arms was almost too much to ignore but for now, his body was telling him it had other plans. His stomach growled so loudly that his uncle jumped a little before he started laughing.
Sasuke reddened again before he looked down the side of the cart. He had not eaten anything since breakfast because of how fast they had been traveling and now it was dark. None of the adults seemed to be having any trouble so he was quick to apologize. “Sorry uncle.”
His uncle waved him off and started rummaging in his shinobi bag on his side. “Don’t apologize, Sasuke. Most of us are trained to skip meals for a day or two for special missions. It’s our fault we didn’t think of you kids in our rush. Here,” he handed Sasuke some sort of granola bar. It tasted like cardboard and Sasuke knew he made weird faces as he ate it but he was hungry enough to eat anything.
“I know they don’t taste good but don’t worry. Soon, We’ll stop and take a break for a few hours. That should give us enough time to eat something before we head back on the road.” They were running but his uncle seemed happy as he spoke to Sasuke. The boy couldn’t remember the last time an adult sounded so free. Apparently his uncle enjoyed his company because they started talking about the local plants and poisons and he even started quizzing Sasuke on what he had been learning from school.
Before he knew it, his uncle asked him to wake his mother up and the carts were led off the main road and into a clearing. “We made it here in better time than I thought.” His uncle commented as Sasuke shook his mother. Mikoto jerked awake and grabbed Sasuke. She almost pushed him down before realizing where they were. With an apologetic smile, she let go of his arm and stood up. Where Sasuke could completely stand in the cart without touching the ceiling, Mikoto almost bumped her head and had to walk out stooped before she could stretch.
“We’ll make camp for a couple of hours. We need to replenish our water skins and relieve ourselves. We also need to let the horses rest for a while.” She sounded like a general leading an army to Sasuke.
“Also, I think we need to make a fire and feed the kiddies.” Sasuke's uncle responded to her plan. Mikoto’s sharp eyes found his uncles before going to Sasuke’s. Just like that, she went from General to parent.
“Oh my goodness. You must be starved. We didn’t get to eat at all today.” She grabbed Sasuke and hugged him before turning to uncle. “Could you round up some volunteers to do some hunting?”
With an “of course,” he popped out of existence. Sasuke hoped they would teach him that Jutsu soon. It took a while and a lot of “its okays” before Mikoto let Sasuke go refill his water bottle at a nearby river. Sasuke could sense his family surrounding their chosen campground and could already pinpoint where his mom was setting up a campfire in the clearing. It didn’t take long for Sasuke to clean up some in the river and refill his bottle. The water was clear and clean. He almost got distracted looking at the minnows swimming along the bottom.
When he returned to the clearing, there was a fire started and what looked like several large deer being cleaned in a tree near the edge of the border. Sasuke's stomach growling softly at the thought of more food. He went straight to his mother by the fire and asked if there was anything he could do to help. She seemed to think hard for a few minutes before she decided. “Why don’t you go and get the other children and see if everyone is okay. I really didn’t mean for all of you to go hungry.”
Sasuke could tell she was still feeling guilty about the day but they couldn’t do much about that now except make sure it didn’t happen again. It was already close to midnight before they stopped and they would be leaving at first light. Everyone would take turns sleeping in the carts and they would move at a snail’s pace compared to how quickly shinobi were supposed to travel but they couldn’t do anything about that either. Right now it was the safest option. It would also give the others time to catch up when the ruse gets discovered.
Sasuke went to wake the other children. As of late, the Uchiha didn’t have many and Sasuke wasn’t the youngest or the oldest. There was maybe a dozen children but they all deferred to the clan head’s son. Sasuke played with the regularly so they knew that he was just trying to help. He gathered the others before going to the final cart. He had yet to meet the child Shisui had sort of adopted/kidnapped so he wanted to meet him alone.
He told the others to get ready to go to the river so they could clean up like he did so that the kid wouldn’t feel like they were crowding him. “Hey, it’s time to wake up.” Sasuke almost yelled outside the cart. He didn’t want to be rude but all that met his call was a grumble. He remembered how hard it was to wake the others so he only felt a little bad for getting in the cart and shaking the bundle in the middle. “Hey, trust me. You want to get up for a little while.” When the bundle started moving and he saw a blond head peak out, he counted it as a win.
Trying to be polite, He started the introductions while the bundle untangled himself. “Hi, I’m Sasuke. I.”
“I know that, duh.” the bundle answered before the blanket was flipped up and Sasuke was looking into a pair of familiar eyes.
“Naruto?!” his voice cracked a little. It wasn’t like he was upset. It was just so bizarre that one of the few children he sort of wanted to come with him was here. Apparently Naruto didn’t think the same because he just grumbled. “Yeah, so what. What are you gonna do about it.” Sasuke could see Naruto’s hands start to ball up in a fist and was quick to understand what went wrong.
“No, No” he quickly corrected and kind of laughed. “I just think it’s funny that it was you that Shisui adopted. I always thought you needed to get away from the village.”
Naruto seemed stuck but now on Sasuke’s lack of manners “Adopted?” he asked, confused.
“Yeah,” Sasuke tried to explain. “Shisui told my mom and dad that he wanted to help you. So he’s sorta like your big brother now.” Sasuke smiled when he realized what that meant. “That means we're cousins now too.”
Naruto looked more confused than ever. “Why would that make you happy? I’ve heard your family is really smart and I’m just stupid. Everyone says so!” He looked like he was going to cry so Sasuke said the best thing his young brain could think of.
“Then they’re stupid.” He said it with such conviction that Naruto’s tears dried right up. Sasuke has always believed in right or wrong and even though he didn’t know why people were mean to Naruto, he knew that Naruto didn’t do anything to deserve it. “Why would anyone call a kid stupid anyway. Kids can’t be stupid. My mom said if a kid isn’t smart, it’s because the adults around him are the stupid ones.” catching himself going into a rant. Sasuke ended with “and even if you aren’t smart, you can learn with me and we can both do better.”
Now the teary face was back but it didn’t seem so bad now. Sasuke’s mom always held him when he felt bad, so he didn’t think it was strange to hug his new family. Naruto froze for a moment in his arms. Almost like he thought Sasuke would push him before he slowly put his hands around him. Sasuke gave him a few minutes to compose himself before telling him the plan. “After were done with the river. I’ll take you to mom and ask her if she can teach you too.” He took Naruto’s hand and led him to the other group of kids.