Sarada walked back to the compound after school. In a few days she'll be graduating from the academy. She studied hard and knew she could pass with flying colours. Her parents helped her with both the written exam and the practical. She knew for a fact she will become a genin. Once reaching her house she opened the door and entered before taking off her shoes.
"I'm home." said Sarada.
"Welcome home Sarada-chan." said Sakura from the kitchen. "Did you have a good day at school?"
"I did. Where's papa?"
"In the garden. You should go talk to him, he has something he wants to give you."
"He does? What is it?"
"You're gonna have to ask him that yourself birdie."
Sarada pouted but went to the garden to speak with her father. She found him by the pond, feeding his goldfish. She took a seat next to him and Sasuke smiled at her. He asked her about her day and they kept talking for a while until her curiosity got the better of her.
"Mama said you have something for me." said Sarada.
Sasuke smiled at his daughter. "I do. I'm sure you remember your uncle Kagami." Sarada nodded. Kagami had always been her favourite. No offense to auntie Koharu, but Kagami had always understood her better. She always felt that she could tell him anything.
Sakura often said that Uchihas have a special person who they adored and had a special connection to. It's someone that they loved unconditionally and felt the safest around. Not necessarily romantic, they were more like a platonic soulmate. And to Sarada, that special person was Kagami. Her uncle will forever have a special place in her heart.
His death marked her deeply. He was killed on a mission when Sarada was 9. Kagami and his squad were surrounded by a team of Iwa-nins. With no choice left they had to fight. Out of the 6 ninja that went on that mission, only 2 survived. They were unable to recover his body as a rock avalanche buried almost all of them under a mountain of stones.
"Well you see when you were a year old he left me with a gift for when you are older. Me and Sakura had a talk and we decided that you are old enough to receive it." continued Sasuke.
"A gift? From Kagami-oji-san?" said an excited Sarada.
Sasuke nodded. "As I'm sure you remember, your uncle had a summoning contract with the crows. I recall you badgering him to let you to sign the contract. You see the reason he didn't allow you to sign it was because he didn't have it anymore."
"You mean-"
"Mhhm. The gift he left for you is his summoning contract."
Sarada teared up. "R-really? Kagami-oji-san left me his summoning contract?"
"He did. Are you ready to sign it?"
"Yes."
...
Kushina excitedly took Sarada's hand as he led her towards one of the lakes near the Uchiha compound. Her nee-san promised her that if she masters Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu by the end of the month, she'll give her a gift. And after a whole month of hard work, she finally mastered it. At this point she didn't even care about the gift, she just wanted to show her sister what she can do.
Once she reached the lake, she walked with Sarada on the dock before releasing her hand. The redhead took a few steps forward before going through the hand seals. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger and she spit out a medium sized fireball at the water. She turned around when she heard the sound of clapping. Behind her, Sarada smiled as she looked at her proudly.
"Good job squirt. That was really impressive, especially for someone who doesn't have a fire affinity." said Sarada as she ruffled Kushina's hair. "I'm proud of you."
Kushina beamed at the Uchiha. "Thanks nee-san. It was pretty hard, but I'm glad I mastered it."
Sarada smiled again before taking a seat of the dock, Kushina mirrored her and also took a seat. They stood in pleasant silence, watching the sunset before Sarada spoke again.
"Now if I recall correctly I promised you a reward, right?" Sarada chuckled as she saw Kushina's eyes light up. "I already told you about my uncle Kagami and what a great man he was, but what I didn't tell you is that originally, my summoning contract belonged to him."
"Really?"
”Mhhm. He left me his summoning contract, as a gift for my one year birthday. Obviously I couldn't do much with it as a baby, but I like to think Vares and his murder of crows have been of great aid to me.”
”That's really cool nee-san, but why are you telling me all of this?”
”Well my dear imouto, I think it's time I continue the tradition and gift it to someone else.” Sarada smiled at Kushina before poking her forehead with two fingers. ”And that someone, is you.”
...
Shisui dutifully walked towards the hospital after school, just as he had been doing for the past year since meeting Sakura. He greeted the young woman at the front desk who, already used to his presence, pointed him towards whatever room Sakura was in. Lucky for him, today she was doing paperwork in her office. He carefully walked up the stairs to the 3rd floor before knocking on the door of her office. A feminine voice granted him entrance and Shisui pushed the door open.
"Hi Sakura-ba-chan, did you miss me?" said Shisui.
The pinkette chuckled. "Hello to you too, kiddo. And yes, in fact I did miss you."
"I knew it." said the young child as he neared her desk, when he was close enough, Sakura picked him up and set him on her lap.
"I heard you'll be graduation soon." said Sakura after a while.
"Yeah...part of me is really excited because...I'll be a genin soon! But...I really don't want to go to war...I...I'm scared ba-chan."
Sakura sucked a deep breath before putting down her pen so she can hug the small child in her lap. "I'm sorry kiddo. If I could stop all of this from happening I would..."
"I know...It's ok ba-chan, I get it."
"But while I can't stop you from going to war, I can at least make sure you'll be alright."
”What do you mean?” asked Shisui confused.
Sakura set him off her lap and walked towards a cabinet, there she opened one of the drawers and pulled out a scroll.
”I already told you about my daughter and how she gifted Kushina-chan the crow summoning contract, right?” Shisui nodded so Sakura continued. ”But did you know it originally belonged to your grandfather, Kagami?”
”It did?” asked Shisui, surprised. He never met his grandfather. Kagami Uchiha died when his daughter, Shisui's mother Kimiko had been only a few months old. His wife, Ryoko cut herself off from Sakura and refused to talk about her late husband. Anything Shisui knew about his grandfather came from the medic.
Sakura hummed in agreement. ”He left it as a gift to my daughter, who in turn would gift it to her little sister. But you see, Kushina never found that special person that she can gift it to. So we thought it was time that the scroll returned to its rightful owner.”
Shisui's eyes widened as he realized the implications of that statement. ”Wait- Y-you...you want me to-” Sakura smiled and Shisui jumped to hug her. He thanked the pinkette as she pet his hair.
...
Itachi walked through the forest as he followed Shisui. The elder Uchiha had came at his house bright and early to drag him for an impromptu training trip. He told him to pack a few training clothes, his weapons and to kiss his little brother goodbye for now, because for the next 3 days they'll be living in the wilderness.
Once Shisui designated they were far enough from Konoha, they started looking for a place to camp. They found a small clearing next to a lake and started unpacking. The curly haired Uchiha set up the tents while Itachi went fishing. He caught several pike fish before bringing them back. They lit up a campfire and let them cook.
Shisui took a small box from his bag and opened it to reveal several homemade dango, courtesy of Sakura. After they ate the fish, Itachi helped himself and took a few dango sticks. The two of them talked in front of the fire until the moon was high in the sky. A bit later Shisui though it was time he tells Itachi why he wanted them to go on this training trip. The younger boy listened curiously to his best friend talk.
”As I'm sure you know ‘tachi-chan, I have a summoning contract with the crows. You see this contract has a really cool story behind it. It originally belonged to my grandfather, Kagami. He gave it to Sakura-ba-chan's daughter, Sarada and in turn she gave it to Kushina-san. You see those three had a tradition of giving it to their most cherished person. It kinda broke with me, but I wanted to restart it.” said Shisui before handing him the scroll. ”So I want you to have it.”
”Oh...” was all Itachi could say. Shisui snickered at his reaction before giving the younger boy a one armed hug and prompting him to write his name on the scroll. Itachi opened the summoning contract and read all of the names signed on it.
Uchiha Tajima
Uchiha Kagami
Uchiha Sarada
Uzumaki Kushina
Uchiha Shisui
...and now.
Uchiha Itachi