Sarada has nightmares. She has nightmares that last for hours; hours where she is locked in a world that does not seem of her own creation. The young woman likes to think she could not think up such things…but perhaps that is not true. Perhaps her mind is darker than she previously thought. While both her mother and her father that occasional swings into the village has not told her much about her clan, she is a smart girl. Sarada has looked up the information herself. At some point in the recent past, the entirety of the Uchiha clan had vanished. It did not take much to put two and two together. Reading the accounts of how “horrid” and “cursed” the Uchiha’s were, she could imagine monstrous people doing something horrible to her family that no longer existed.
Was it possible she was like those now non-existent family members? Was she cursed; cursed to dream of death and destruction?
It’s the same every night, the things she dreams about. She knows they are Uchiha’s; well she knows for sure that one is, the other is built like an Uchiha with black hair but that’s about it. They are fighting and the destruction is immense but before long the battle is over. What is left is a dead body at the feet of the mysterious “possible” Uchiha.
The deceased can’t be more than 24 years old. He is shockingly young; beautiful even in death, even with his pale color and hazy grey eyes. They are red rimmed with drying blood pouring from the right. His lips are covered in blood; clearly having coughed it up at some point before he passed. He is beautiful with long hair and a fine face, just the barest hint of wrinkles like smile lines around his nose and mouth.
At that point in the dream she knows he is dead for even though his chapped, blood covered lips are parted, he is not breathing. The rain comes next but then she is awake and sweating.
Sometimes Sarada goes days without sleeping; or at least sleeping in her bed. The few minutes she gets passed out at her desk at the academy doesn’t bring the haunting dead beauty to her mind. It’s usually just blessed darkness with her face smushed against the wood. Not that she minds. She knows her mother is getting worried so if Sarada looks even slightly less like a zombie than she usually does than all the better.
That’s sort of a nightmare situation in and of itself. Sarada knows full well her mother’s feelings towards her father, the only full blooded Uchiha in existence. If she were to tell her mother about the dead Uchiha in her dreams she is sure she would get a LONG talk. That or she would end up in the newly established therapy wing of the hospital. That’s the last thing Sarada wishes for.
When the school day finishes and she and Chocho are leaving, the rain is already pouring down; nothing she can do to stop it. Sarada had not even brought an umbrella. Never the less she turns to her friend with a sigh. “You can stay over if you want.” That’s how it usually occurs since her father is never around and she and her mother have the room. Plus Chocho and Sarada love her backyard.
Sarada does not even get a verbal response from her friend and “partner in crime”; not that she needs one anyways. They are always on the same wavelength, understanding without a word. So the two turn and head down the soaked roads of the village. Some are casually walking, umbrellas overhead to not worry about the rain. Others, more, are running to take cover in restaurants or their homes.
Sarada and Chocho move at a pace between the two categories. It is a casually jog that gets them to the Uchiha household before too long. Thankfully there is a large archway to reach cover under before even entering the abode. Sarada is sure her mother would be more than upset with them if they were to track extra water through the hallways of their home.
She sees the kitchen light on, movement behind the curtain so Sarada knows her mother is home and making dinner. When the two girls move in through the front door, they just miss the movement of another form behind the curtains.
It does not take long for them to realize Sakura is not alone though. Both girls hear voices; multiple sets though they are all quiet. The loudest voice is one Sarada does not recognize but none sound malicious or threatening. Both she and Chocho slowly move down after taking their shoes off at the front.
Sarada reaches the kitchen first. As she suspect, there are three others in the room with her mother who is at the stove. Her father is home, standing near the back door of the house as though he is unsure of what to do. There is another person standing near him and Sarada realizes that’s the loud voice she had heard; he is strange looking with blue skin and other features that are strikingly similar to a shark.
It is the man standing next to her mother, with his back turned to her, that enchants her the most. There is something about him Sarada cannot place her finger on but she stares for far too long.
Long enough for her and Chocho to be noticed in the hallway.
“Please come in.” It is the man standing with his back to her and Chocho that says it. His voice is deep; far deeper than she perhaps had been expecting. However it has her mother and father twitching to a state she has rarely seen; agitated and nervous.
“Sarada you are home! And Chocho, hello there.” Sarada’s mother rushes over and pushes them to the dining room table. The shark like man is just grinning at them with a wide set of teeth but he turns towards the mystery man. With a gentle touch she did not think such a creature could possess, the blue skinned man puts his hand at the small of the other man’s back and turns him.
For a moment, Sarada thinks she is asleep. She thinks she perhaps passed out at school and the bell for the end of the day had not wrung yet. However, she knows she is awake. She knows this is real life.
It’s the Uchiha from her dreams. He looks much better, of course, standing there before them. He is very much alive; a faint flush to his cheeks that fits him well. His hauntingly beautiful face is not covered in blood though he is slightly gaunt. Those eyes behind glasses not too far off from her own are nearly as hazy as they are in her dreams. They have a faint hint of gray to them and she wonders as the shark man guides him over if he can even see.
Sasuke, Sarada’s father, pushes over from where he has been standing and looks to fret over the Uchiha even with the largest individual in the room guiding him to a chair.
“Come Sasuke, I am fine. Kisame has me.” Kisame. She knows now the identity of one of them. She has never heard that name in the past and can’t help but wonder who he is. Clearly Kisame and the pretty Uchiha know each other intimately.
Sarada thinks they must be together with how soft they seem to be. A quick glance at Chocho and she thinks the Akimichi has the same idea.
Then it hits her.
She and her father are not the only Uchiha’s in existence. There is a third and he is the one who has been haunting her dreams. She stares and stares and stares, even as Kisame takes up the spot at the man’s right and her father takes the spot closely to the man’s left. Her mother flutters over to the side of the table to Sarada’s right so she is standing next to her father.
“Sarada honey. We have…” Her mother starts but fades off. It’s rare since Sakura has always been so strong headed in the past. It has Sarada staring once again at the pretty Uchiha. It is the stranger that speaks next and she and Chocho are enraptured. While surely he cannot see them clearly from this distance, his soothing voice and the energy he gives off does wonders and they lean in.
“It is nice to meet you Sarada. I was unaware you would be bringing someone home but I am glad this young woman is your friend. I am Itachi Uchiha, your father’s brother.”
Everything screeches to a slamming halt. Her ears ring and Sarada’s heart rate beats wildly. From what she has been told, her fathers brother died some time ago. It hurt her father terribly. Yet here he was. There was a bare hint of a smile on his lips; though she only knows because he is an Uchiha and she is an Uchiha and it seems to be engrained in their brain.
“I…I don’t understand.” She starts but stops. Sarada briefly looks at her friend but Chocho is clearly entranced by Itachi. He is beautiful; striking in a way her father is not. Kisame shifts closer to Itachi and it is clear their relationship.
“Itachi was severely ill.” Sasuke says and stops just like her. Three Uchiha’s in one room and the one that seemingly came back from the dead is the most emotionally competent. “He could not stay in the village while he was healing; but your mother and Lady Tsunade are the ones that saved his life. That is the reason I have been gone for so long; keeping Itachi safe.” Sasuke’s hand comes to grab Itachi’s shoulder as though HE was the one that has been sick and Itachi is the only thing in his life that can hold him up. It’s as though Sakura and Sarada both have vanished.
Itachi simply gently puts a delicate hand over Sasuke’s and gives it a soft squeeze. “There are things that I must tell you in the future since it is apparent neither your mother or father have explained much.” There is a hint of a bite and an accusatory tone in his voice that has both Sakura and Sasuke flinching. Sarada cannot keep her eyes off of Itachi.
He is beautiful. She wonders if he is something of an omen; her dreams would confirm such a thing. Never the less she watches him with eyes that suddenly shift into the sharingan. Itachi does not back down and she wonders how far his have gone. “However right now is not the time; not with this company.” It is clear he is speaking of Chocho but the Akimichi does not seem to understand. No matter. “I must apologize before hand. The status of my illness is still severe enough that even with Kisame I cannot live on my own. I will have to live here with you and your family for the time being. Please forgive me. I do not wish to intrude but it is this or going back to the undisclosed location and your father wishes me here.”
And Sarada wishes her father here. She will not push Itachi out. There are so many questions she has and she will not waste time. If his illness has put him out of commission so severely he cannot get by on his own, she wonders how much time he has left even with Sakura and Tsunade.
“I see. Please make yourself at home Uncle Itachi.”