Chapter 7
Being in the lead cart, Mikoto saw the smoke from the oncoming town before the others. She still acted surprised when about two hours after that, the boys noticed the same smoke and got excited. Pointing to the smoke and commenting on what type of place it must be. Naruto was convinced it was a secret meeting spot for important people but Sasuke was skeptical. Sasuke was excited to see something change but figured he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the village.
Even without their symbol on their backs, if too many foreigners came to a small town without notice it would draw attention to them. All the children were shushed and the games put on hold until after they went around the town. When they pitched their tents a few hours away from the back gate. The games continued. The adults picked out a few people with empty bags and their money to get the supplies.
Most things like meat and spices could be collected and hunted by the shinobi but others such as cloth, glass, and weapons couldn’t be obtained until they settled in their new home and set down special equipment to make it. Mikoto prayed that the rest of their family would be at the meeting place they agreed on after sundown. It was decided to camp away from the meeting area in case something happened to the others but it would be difficult to track them down if they missed it.
The rucksack felt like lead on Mikoto’s back and she rolled her shoulders from the extra weight. Even if it was uncomfortable, she gave strict instructions that nobody in their camp or in the town was to use chakra until they left the next day. If an enemy was nearby, it would be child’s play to track down such distinctive chakra signatures. She realized she was beginning to rely on Sasuke a lot as she watched him gather his peers and explain things they could do to keep themselves busy while most of the adults were away.
He watched them leave and pushed down the bubble of dread that settled in his stomach that morning. He didn’t know why but he felt like something bad was going to happen today. One of the clan elders was sitting under a shade tree teaching a group of older kids about the plant life in the area and the younger ones were practicing their alphabet. Other adults were walking around the camp and leaving for a while at random intervals.
Sasuke knew that it was to do patrol. He was learning about patrol routes from his mother before all this had started. It was important to not draw attention to yourself and never get into a routine. He didn’t know why the adults were so tense but he did know the first time they split up with his father. This same feeling was in the air and nobody mentioned the rest of the family that stayed in the village since.
He tried to pay attention to the herbology lesson with Naruto but he just couldn’t focus. Naruto had been stuck to his side ever since they shared a buggy. The boy even asked to share a futon the night before. Mikoto seemed to think it was cute and it was far from the first time he shared with his brother. He felt warm as the three of them shared, like he was protecting something important. Sasuke wondered if his brother felt like this while he was training Sasuke.
Naruto was getting bored and drawing letters in the dirt while Sasuke stared at nothing in particular. Sasuke was drawn out of his musings as he felt something for an instant. He saw some of the adults stiffen as he looked around to see if he could place the feeling. The elder and none of the “class” noticed. He was about to go back to daydreaming when he felt it again. It was some sort of chakra coming from close to camp. It didn’t feel malicious, more curious and a few minutes later. Sasuke felt it again, only closer.
He saw the adults starting to subtly take down their camp and gather the kids back into the carts. Without Mikoto there to make Sasuke go, he became just as curious about the chakra signature. It felt familiar, almost like family but not quite. He tried to get Naruto to wait in the cart to check it out, but the blond wouldn’t budge from his side. After arguing for a few minutes, they decided to go together while everyone finished up.
“We are just going to look and come straight back,” Sasuke declared as they slipped away in the movement. They weren’t far before Sasuke felt the chakra signature of the person. Even when people weren’t using chakra, they still had it. “He probably doesn’t know who we are.” Sasuke reasoned.
“Yeah,” Naruto agreed. They only walked about 15 minutes from camp before the signature started heading straight for them. Sasuke tensed as a shinobi appeared in the clearing they were in the middle of. It was only one person with a Konoha headband on. Probably just heading back from a solo mission.
“Hello,” Sasuke greeted the white haired shinobi. He had his face covered and one of his eyes but Sasuke didn’t think that was too odd compared to some things ninja did. He did a half bow to show respect but never took his eyes off of the strange man.
“Yo, children.” he greeted. “What are you doing so far from home?” Sasuke wasn’t sure how he knew, but he knew that they were Uchiha.
Figuring the same story with some small adjustments will work on him like it did the librarian, sasuke answered. “Me and my family are just doing some traveling.” He tried to sound innocent but the suspicious look never left the shinobi’s face.
“Ah, how many family members are you traveling with, and where are you going?” The glint in his eye made it feel like Sasuke didn’t have a choice. He was starting to feel like checking things out was a bad idea but he needed to stall this shinobi so his family had time to reunite with his mom.
“Ya know, just a few. We’re going that way.” He gestured vaguely and hoped that the other wouldn’t call him out for lying.
“Well, I just got off a long mission but I don’t think you are supposed to be out here.” Sasuke felt Naruto tense as the stranger pulled out a shuriken almost lazily. “Maybe I should just escort your group home.” It sounded almost threatening.
Sasuke started getting into a battle stance. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against his enemy but he knew he couldn’t go with him either. Before the stranger could throw the first weapon, Sasuke felt a family chakra signature and his mother appeared in front of him and in between him and the other guy. She had drawn her sword.
“Kakashi, What a surprise.” She greeted the other shinobi. Now Sasuke had heard of Kakashi before. He was given a Sharingan by his best friend. Fugaku wasn’t happy about it but clan laws were strict with that kind of thing and they let him keep his eye.
“Mikoto,” Kakashi relaxed slightly as he greeted her by name. “Care to explain what’s going on right now?” The question sounded more like a question than the one he asked Sasuke.
“I think you already know, or at least suspect.” Mikoto sighed. “We’re not going back there without a fight and this far out, with no back up. I doubt you can take us all.” She was bluffing.
Kakashi holstered his weapon. “You know i’m a loyal shinobi of Konoha, but,” he paused and looked at Naruto “I don’t have any orders to fight the Uchiha right now. I don’t even know what’s going on.” He smiled and Mikoto sheathed her weapon.
“Well, we don’t particularly want to fight either.” Mikoto smiled back. “How about we have supper and talk about what’s going on?” she offered.
The scary part was apparently over because Kakashi agreed and the four of them went back to the campsite. Mikoto told the others to set the camp back up for the night and gave Naruto and Sasuke a tongue lashing that they wouldn’t soon forget. Mikoto then went to the cart with Kakashi to explain some things before sending the others off. She did give Sasuke the chalkboard he asked for before she left though.
Things were still tense but the feeling of dread Sasuke felt was slowly decreasing. Kakashi did indeed stay for dinner after he was done talking to Mikoto. Sasuke felt his eyes on him from time to time where he was sitting with the elders by the fire. Mikoto’s shoulders fell as she watched him leave the camp afterward.
“What were you thinking?” one of the elders questioned. “He could go straight to the village and tell them where we are.”
“I don’t think he will,” Mikoto answered. “He was much more concerned about us taking care of Naruto. He was ,after all, Minato’s student.” The elders got a contemplative look on their faces. It wasn’t long after that, most of the other children went to bed. Sasuke waited until Naruto was completely asleep before slipping out of his sleeping bag.
He silently watched his mother leave the campsite to hopefully meet up with the others. It felt like an eternity went by with him watching the forest. Occasionally the guard would look at him but overall left him alone with his thoughts. He hoped his mom was okay. That she would find his brother and father. He didn’t want anything to happen to any of his family. He pulled out some scrolls to try and calm himself down but he read the first chapter six times before he realized he didn’t remember any of it.
He felt his mother coming back with his father and brother. He felt fewer chakra signatures than they left in the village. Shisui was there but his was almost flickering. Sasuke had never seen chakra do that. He got off the wagon and started to meet them when they came into the clearing. Shisui was leaning on Itachi with his hand clutching at his stomach. He looked like it was taking everything he had to stay upright. There were many more injuries including a gash on Itachi’s head and Fugaku was limping.
“Sasuke,” Mikoto was leading the way and almost seemed startled to see him. She had a look on her face like she was thinking hard. “I need you to help everyone get comfortable, okay.” She was whispering, so he stayed silent and nodded. He started showing people where they could sit around the fire while Mikoto started telling Fugaku about what had happened. After a few minutes, several cousins and uncles were laid on some mats by the fire and Mikoto left to wake the clan elders.
Without being told. Sasuke started getting the campfire back up and gathered food to pass around. Some people turned green at the sight but others accepted gratefully and started eating. He made sure everyone drank something. By the time he was finished, his mom had returned and was helping the elders to sit among the injured. “Is everyone okay?” she asked.
Everyone looked around. It was Fugaku that answered “Nothing serious. Everyone that could get away mostly has small injuries.” Sasuke tried not to think about the missing chakra signatures. “It took longer than expected for the village to get suspicious but not nearly as much time as we thought for them to act.” His face looked grim.
“They attacked in the middle of the night. We tried not to kill anyone but I can’t guarantee anything.” He looked guilty at the admission and Sasuke thought of all the other kids at the academy and how he would feel if he had to attack them. He sat quietly between his brother and father as his father detailed the fight. “We tried to do enough damage that it would take a while to come after us. They stopped following us at the border.”
Mikoto spoke up. “We need to put more distance between us tonight.” It didn’t take long for everyone to agree and soon, they had everyone awake and traveling. The injured were tucked away and treated the best anyone could do. Sasuke saw his father wince as he climbed into the driver's seat of the wagon but didn’t mention it.