Softjunk

NOTE: Changed the title since I noticed it was wrong! Akai Kage is the original name from my drafts, I don't know where Akarikage came from lmao.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Chapter introduction of Haruno Sakura.

Haruno Sakura woke up hearing birds chirping outside. It’s morning already?

            Sitting up, she stretched her arms all the way up and yawned. The sun was shining on the window pane, casting sunlight all over her bedroom, and perking up her mood. She could smell the strong aroma of food from the kitchen and hear the familiar pan searing of her mother’s cooking. 

            She had to admit it; waking up with the sun already up in the sky was a little foreign to her. She was used to setting her alarm clock just before sunset, so she could get many things done before she went to school. But school was over. For now. 

            This did not mean she was complaining, of course (she could already hear the buzzing of mockeries from her friends).  

            What a beautiful morning.

            Then she remembered all of last night’s events. Apparently, on the way to the Uchiha residence, her friend, Naruto, discovered a murder in one of the alleyways on their street (sadly, this wasn’t his first time). It was terrible! The guy had killed his girlfriend—reason still unknown. It was a good thing Itachi and Sasuke came just in time. If they hadn’t shown up when they did… Sakura didn’t even want to think of how things would’ve turned out, then. 

            Seriously, if Sasuke and his family were ordinary people, Naruto wouldn't stand a chance.

           Sakura knew Naruto was no ordinary boy himself—even without the ability to float, she wouldn’t call him ordinary—but his… gift wasn’t exactly helpful whenever he had to escape a situation where he could get himself killed. Sasuke was the one to rush in to save him every time.

           And every time, Sakura would feel a needle slowly piercing through her heart inch by inch; the pain growing the longer she imagined the “what-if” scenarios.

           She only found out about all of it when the police knocked on their door during dinner last night—amidst post-graduation celebration—asking questions. They quickly notified them about the incident and advised them to lock all doors afterwards.

           Not that they needed the heads up. Her mother went into frenzy paranoia; she double locked everything and added some extra layer for security around their apartment. She put some of those white-looking ashes that always smelled strange (she never touched them). They were spread around every corner in every room of the apartment, including the windows.  Plus some talismans. They supposedly warded off bad spirits and even hengeyokai.

            They were an ordinary family who knew how to live in Konoha.

            Even though the police didn’t suggest any abnormality in the situation, her mother never took chances. One time, a suspicious figure was rumored to be breaking into their neighbor’s kitchen to steal fruits, and her mother forbade her from walking into their house’s direction for a week, only for them to find out that the suspicious figure was a cat.

            A murder was definitely worse than a cat burglar, so this time, Sakura thought her mother’s actions were justified. You never know what else could be lurking around unknown…

            As someone who was born and raised here, these things weren’t uncommon for Sakura, they even get a bit tiring a few times. But when it involves a family or a friend, she would always become a bundle of nerves. Because when these things happened, the outcomes were not definitive; there was no scale to weigh them, no scenarios, no numbers or figures to predict with because… anything could happen. No logic or reason applied, when it came to these things.

            It could be just murder, she had told herself last night. Not that murder was anything but just. Still.

            Sakura couldn’t sleep afterwards, her mind set to overthink about all the possible worst-case scenarios, worried about both Naruto and Sasuke who were probably alone that night because Itachi-nīsan would be working that time. Even though she knew Sasuke was skilled enough to protect himself and Naruto, she just couldn’t stop the incessant thoughts. In the end, she decided to dial their house. She wanted to hear either of their voices and reassure her that they were all right. Which was obviously the correct choice because she slept well. 

           It was important for Sakura to know everything. In this city, knowledge is a person’s weapon against a mystifying force. You needed to be aware and learn to adapt, otherwise, you would end up dead. There were folks who remained in denial, writing them off as mere strange phenomenon and, foolishly, became victims of their very own hometown.

           The first time she encountered such a phenomenon was when she was just seven years old. Well, it was more of a weird phenomenon, rather than ominous. Sort of.

           One day, that knucklehead, Naruto, was climbing a tree at the schoolyard, trying to reach for something—she couldn’t remember what. He was climbing too high up and she and the other girls were telling him to come back down. He didn’t listen, because, of course. And then they heard a snap. Before they could react, Naruto was falling off a branch, headfirst, and he was still too high up.

           Sakura thought he was going to die. Right before their eyes.

           Then the falling stopped. She blinked and he was back on his feet, hand on his chest, face red from the summer heat and sweating buckets. She on the other hand, felt her heart and mind froze. What in the world just happened?

           That was the day she found out Naruto could float. She had mixed feelings about it, to be honest. It really wasn’t a dangerous ability. But then again, he was Naruto.

           He was always in the center of chaos.

           Sakura shook her head and took a deep, calming breath. Last night was over. Naruto and Sasuke were both safe.

           Everything’s fine. There’s no reason to panic anymore.

           Right. It could be just murder. It was the problem for the police to solve now. Naruto didn’t sound traumatized at all over the phone, he was as happy as ever talking to her, and Sasuke was calm and cool, like he always was.

            Before she could get carried away with that last train of thought, Sakura mentally pushed his image and the bad thoughts from last night away and rose from her bed to stand in front of the tall mirror against the bedroom wall.

            She couldn’t help but smile, finally able to relax. She just remembered how she finally graduated from elementary school, so yesterday wasn’t all bad. Now, in just two weeks’ time, she would embark on a new academic challenge in junior high school. And honestly, the ambitious pinkette couldn’t wait. 

            In fact, she had already planned out what she would be doing during these next two weeks. Unlike some of her friends, she wasn’t going to just sit around all day long, playing video games and slack off until the new semester rolled around. She needed to get a head start of their syllabus if she ever wanted to keep her honor student status and get those academic credits that would help get her into any college she wanted (she had a list and was taking the time deciding which one would be a perfect pick). Also, she recently enrolled into a cram school with Ino, the Hyūga cousins, and… Sasuke.  

            Don’t think about him! Not right now, at least. She still needed to categorize this week’s agenda in her head. And as much as she loved swooning over the ever-aloof Uchiha and his naturally charming looks and mesmerizing—

            Sakura shook her head, willing her imaginations away. No, Sakura, no! You can’t afford to get distracted. Remember, this is for your future! Sasuke’s only looking for the best girl out there, and it’s going to be me, shannaro! 

            Even though she was incredibly brilliant for her age, the girl still didn’t know exactly what degree she wanted to take in college or what career she wanted to pursue for that matter. But this didn’t concern her. After all, she had a lot of time to think about it. Right now, she was focused on excelling at school. 

            Giving her mirror reflection an encouraging smile, she walked closer to the mirror stand and took the sticky note attached on the upper left side—“syllabus overview: notes on the first 3 lessons”. 

            A few weeks ago, she received her acceptance letter before their graduation, so that was one step she accomplished. Today, she planned on collecting her books and uniform, so she could get started on her notes before the semester began. 

            “Sakura!” Her mother called out. “Breakfast is ready! Don’t tell me you’re still in bed.”

            “I’m up!” Sakura walked away from the mirror and stepped out of her bedroom.

            In the kitchen, she could see her father already seated on his usual chair and reading today’s newspaper. Her mother, in the meanwhile, was preparing their cooked morning meal to set on the table.  

            “Good morning,” Sakura greeted and made her way to the kitchen with them.

            Otōsan looked up from his newspaper, and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling with mirth. “Ohh, good morning! Come join us for breakfast! Since it’s your vacation now and all. After all, no school, no diet, right?” He then proceeded to let out a boisterous laugh (she randomly imagined her friend, Kiba, an older version of him, laughing in the same manner). He looked silly with his star-shaped pink hair all messed up from sleep. 

            She groaned—Seriously? That’s not even a joke—and sat down at the table in front of him.

            All her life, Sakura had never learned to take her father too seriously. Haruno Kizashi had a frivolous personality, and she believed he was aware of this, too. He liked to make “jokes” on all occasions, especially on inopportune of times. What’s worse about it was when he would make the same joke. Sometimes on the same day! He actually had favorites, like those involving condiments in their coffee shop downstairs.

            “I keep telling you, Sakura, that dieting will do you no good,” Okāsan reminded for what seemed like the fiftieth time this month. She was carrying a tray of their plated dish and bowls of rice. And unlike both father and daughter, her short blonde hair was neatly combed back. “You’ll only hurt yourself. It might work for some, but what happens when you get sick?” She set them down on the table. “Anyways, your thin enough as it is. You don’t need to diet.” She gave Sakura a pointed look (it was one of those rare moments when she could actually recognize how she inherited Kāsan’s piercing green eyes). ”You remember what Asaki-obasan said the last time she was here?” 

            Where Kizashi lacked the ability to scold Sakura, Haruno Mebuki passed up no chance on reprimanding her only daughter whenever she had the opportunity. She didn’t support her dieting or understand the reason behind it. She was critical in every choice Sakura made, big or small: from what shoes she should buy to what school she should enroll in. What’s more, she would always bring up her older sister, Sakura’s aunt—the very person she herself constantly argued with and contradicted. It was hypocritical. 

            “Now, now.” Otōsan lowered his newspaper to look at her mother who finally took her seat. “Give it a rest, Mebuki-chan. Our daughter is twelve—”

            “—She’s turning thirteen next Tuesday, anata—” 

            “—Oh, yes. Right. But all the same. Sakura is just about to become a teenager. Let’s not worry too much.”

            “And why wouldn’t I worry? Kids her age don’t realize the mistakes they make half the time. You remember when we were teenagers? Good grief. Can you imagine?”

            “All I’m saying is that our Sakura is still young and likes to follow the trends. You know how they are. She’ll grow out of it eventually.”

            “She still shouldn’t starve herself…”

            Sakura was seething internally, her frown deepening by the minute. All she wanted was a delightful, peaceful breakfast, yet here were her parents, talking about her as if she wasn’t even in the room! Shannaro! 

            As if the heavens had mercy on her, the telephone rang. She quickly got up to answer. “I’ll get it!” She walked over to the brown table by the genkan hallway where they put the flower vase and the telephone. She picked it up. “Hai.”

            “Is this Sakura?” 

            She smiled as she recognized the voice to be Yamanaka Ino’s. Her best friend. She laughed a little. “Yeah, this is me. Thank goodness you called!”

            Ino chuckled back in response. “Your parents giving you a hard time already?”

            She grumbled, pouting. “All I did was say ‘good morning’. So, what’s up?”

            “Oh, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go on a delivery run with me. We can hang out afterwards with Hinata and Tenten, if they’re not busy.”

            “A delivery run?” 

            The Yamanaka family were famous in Konoha for their beautiful flowers. They had flower shops all over the Hī region and a flower garden, the Yamanaka Gardens of Konoha City. It was one of their best local tourist spots. 

            “Hm-hm. Okāsan’s finally letting me go on deliveries. So, will you come?” 

            “I see.” Sakura pondered about it for a moment. She could go buy her books and uniform afterwards. “Yeah, sure. Sounds fun.”

            “Sakura!” Okāsan called out. “Say goodbye to Ino-chan and eat your breakfast. Your food is getting cold!”

            “Okay!” She turned her ear back to the telephone. “I gotta go, Ino. I’ll see you later!” Their conversation ended and she hung up before going back to the dining table. 

            Otōsan finished reading his newspaper and was now talking to Okāsan in between bites. “Well, I’m surprised is all. They usually have it all over the papers the next day. There were a lot of reporters last night. I was so sure they were on a race to finish writing up their articles, so their publishers can send print outs in the morning. Or so I thought.”

            “I don’t think we’ll be hearing anything officially from the police, anata. I went down to the market earlier and you remember Kaori-san? The fruit vendor?” Otōsan nodded, taking a sip of black coffee from his mug. “One of the police involved came to her house earlier this morning to ask about that friend of yours again—”

            “He’s not my friend. Can you please not spread that rumor?”

            Sakura let out a sigh before taking another bite of her tamagoyaki. Yep. That friend was the same guy who was arrested last night. The one who murdered his girlfriend and almost killed Naruto. It turned out Otōsan was acquainted with him. He mentioned about having him as a customer a few times in the coffee shop they owned downstairs. They had casual conversations. And for some reason, her nor Okāsan had never met him. What were the chances her overly chummy dad would befriend a future murderer? Makes you think of the other odd people he talked about over the years…

            “I told you,” Otōsan began explaining what he already explained last night to Okāsan, “he came by a few times, he ordered the same black tea, and he was always alone and depressed. I thought it wouldn’t hurt if I talked to him whenever he dropped by—quick hello’s and how are you’s. He was harmless! At the time.”

            “Wait,” Sakura decided to join in. “Why was the police asking about him again this morning?”

            Okāsan gave Otōsan a distasteful look. “Kaori-san told me they were looking at the case in a new angle. Apparently, there were new developments and they need to dig up more information from people who knows the guy.”

            Otōsan threw up his hands. “I barely know the guy!” He still had this humorous curl in the corner of his lips though, as if he found this whole discussion silly. Or maybe he found his wife getting overly suspicious of him sillier. 

            “All I know is that those police will drop by to ask you questions. I just hope they come upstairs here, and not through the café downstairs. People talk you know.” Okāsan added a scoff. “Especially in this neighborhood.”

            You mean people like you? Sakura fortunately, had the wisdom to keep her mouth shut.

            “Hmm…” Otōsan folded his arms. He was wearing one of his rare stern expressions. “No papers. A new angle…” He turned his gaze towards his wife and hesitated. “You think it means what I think it means?”

            Okāsan paused for a moment. Her expression also changing. “I… sure hope not.” Sakura noticed the tightening of her fingers around the chopsticks.

            Just like that the mood changed.

            The worry in their eyes were obvious. They were thinking about the possibility that a different police would show up in the neighborhood to ask questions. If that was true, then she would have to retract her previous statement about last night being ‘just’ a murder.

            Great. This also meant that those police would undoubtedly show up at their front door. Those guys were from the underground division of the Uchiha Police Force—TONINBU agents. They were strictly made up of hengeyokai and kaminochi alike.

            She knew this because her family was on their list of kaminochi clans. Plus, Sasuke’s older brother and cousin were one of those agents.

            The Uchiha family were one of the prestigious hengeyokai clans in Konoha, and almost all of them worked in law enforcement. So, she would assume it was natural for them to learn every hengeyokai and kaminochi family residing in the city.  She guessed that was how Sasuke found out about her before they met in school.

            Well, there was nothing to reveal, really, since she had no gift. The same went for her parents.

            They were just an ordinary family.

            Kaminochi were people with gifted abilities. Even though in her family’s case where the trait wasn’t passed down, the Haruno family was still listed as a kaminochi clan.

            Speaking to every hengeyokai and kaminochi within the area of an incident was mandatory for the TONINBU department, and since the Haruno family was on the list, they were one hundred percent coming over.

            Which also meant her father was doomed.

            “Well, I guess we should stock up on tea,” Otōsan chuckled, completely dismissing their worries. (And was that supposed to be a joke?)

            Okāsan groaned. “I have a bad feeling about this. You have a habit of saying the wrong thing, Kizashi. So, please, try not to say unnecessary things.”

            “Oh, relax. We’re going to be fine.”

            “When did I say ‘we’? I’m talking to you!”

            Otōsan laughed and Sakura was now getting the same bad feeling as her mother.

            At this rate, her father was going to be a person of interest in this case.

“Here you go.” Sakura handed over both the hot, medium sized espresso and change of coins to the customer, before giving him her customer smile (the one Tenten dubbed as her “I’m-a-perfect-student-and-you-know-it! smile, to which Shikamaru counter-remarked as her people-pleaser smile, to which he earned a sniping glare).

            The customer bowed in thanks and pocketed the coins into his brown slacks. He was a new customer, so Sakura made an observation. He looked to be in his thirties, and he wore a very boring corporate attire—brown pants and brown coat with a white buttoned up shirt and black tie—and didn’t looked too happy to be up and about so early in the morning. He adjusted his squared glasses and turned around to leave.

            Sakura waved a hand, all smiles and cheerful. “Thank you and come again!” The bell above the door jingled on his way out and jingled once more when a customer she recognized walked in. “Welcome!” This one was a regular. He was a mechanic. Otõsan usually called him whenever he needed advice for an affordable car to rent. “Good morning, Kōji-san!”

            “Ah, Sakura-chan…”

            Sakura fell into her usual routine behind the counter, taking orders, passing them over to her dad, handing over takeouts and accepting payment. Otōsan made the coffees while Okāsan prepared the food. Both of them would take turns in serving customers. Sometimes, Sakura would make the coffees herself when Otōsan became busy serving tables. They had one server, Ukyō-onēsan, but she recently took a one-week break for a short trip with her family. Although, the three of them could manage the café by themselves, they needed help to get through the morning and afternoon rush whenever Sakura was at school.

            It was half past eight o’clock in the morning already, so customers were flooding in. Haruno Café was pretty popular in their neighborhood and often recommended to people coming over to Senju District, which was the heart of the city. The municipal building and other city government-affiliated agencies were here, as well as some of the biggest private companies, schools and commercial buildings. Many of the people who worked in these establishments were their regulars, since a lot of them live in an apartment complex nearby.

            As more people occupied the tables, the café settled into a more relaxing service.

            Then a ceramic mug shattered, startling everyone for a moment.

            When Sakura looked over, she noticed that it was that clumsy, awkward guy who was hunched over the broken mug. She sighed. Seriously? He broke another one? This was the third time. The guy had become one of their regulars two weeks ago. She suspected he was new around Senju. Last week, he inquired them about directions on local areas. He looked unsure of himself and looked like the type to search frantically about for his reading glasses that he was already wearing.

            Otōsan wiped his hands with a towel. “Ah, here we go.” He hung the towel over his shoulder before grabbing the cleaning materials.

            “Please don’t tell me that’s another mug,” Okāsan frowned as she stepped out from the kitchen, wearing her apron.

            “Yup.” Sakura nodded, putting her hands on her waist. “It’s that same customer from three days ago, too.” 

            Okāsan put a hand on her forehead. “Oh, not this one again.” She went over to join Otōsan and the customer. “Hey, you there. This is getting ridiculous. Just how many times are you going to break our dishware? Those aren’t cheap, for one thing. Not to mention…”

            Sakura just shook her head and focused on the new arriving customer after hearing the bell.

            She was very surprised to see none other than Uchiha Sasuke walking into the front door. “Sasuke,” she uttered his name absentmindedly. Almost like she was programmed to say it whenever she saw him. Recently, she and her friends dropped the honorifics from their names, and she was still getting used to saying his name as it was. It felt foreign to her tongue but exciting, and every time, her heart raced.

            “Ah.” Sasuke walked over to the counter and looked sideways with slight confusion. “What is going on?”

            She suddenly remembered the current commotion with their customer and her very upset mother. Stricken with sudden embarrassment, Sakura tried to brush it off and divert his attention. “Oh, it nothing! My parents are just… having a friendly chat with one of our regulars.”

            “If you’re not paying, then you’ll have to work here! We are running a business here, you scrawny bastard!”

            “I see.” Sasuke continued to stare as her mother berated the fumbling customer.

            Sakura let out an involuntary nervous laugh. She wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. This is so embarrassing! Why do stuff like this always happen whenever Sasuke’s around! Shannaro!

            “Anyways, I came here for this.” Sasuke placed an item wrapped in brown paper bag on the counter. Sakura didn’t even notice he was carrying anything with him. She was distracted by his face. “My birthday gift.”

            Sakura blushed. He bought her a gift. And came to her place just to give it in person.

            Her heart was racing again. At this rate, she would die of palpitation and not caused by caffeine. She peeked at his face.

            Sasuke didn’t look at her. “Naruto thought I should give you something better than a cupcake.”

            Right. Last year, he gave her a strawberry cupcake. She didn’t really complain. She treasured everything he gave her. And that cupcake had pink frosting on it, so he must have thought about her when he bought it. And ultimately, that was what counted! She remembered the spring in her step on the way home, holding the precious delicacy. She kept it on their refrigerator for days, refusing to eat it, until Okāsan scolded her for wasting food. Sakura, you can’t possibly immortalize a cupcake! It’s going to spoil any day now!

            The cupcake didn’t taste good. It tasted like cardboard—but that was beside the point! He thought about her enough to give her something and—he just bought her a gift!

            Sasuke put his hands inside his pockets and closed his eyes (it was something he did whenever he was embarrassed and was too stubbornly adorable to show it). “It’ll be annoying if everyone saw me give it to you, so I’ll just give it now. No doubt they’ll make a big deal out of it like always.”

            Naruto really coerced him into buying one. Honestly, she didn’t want to make him feel obligated to give her anything, especially if it made him feel uncomfortable. Dammit! Now she was feeling guilty. “You really didn’t have to bother this year, Sasuke. Really—”

            “Just take it.”

            “R-right.” He was looking at her now with that same annoyance in his expression, so she quickly took the brown paper bag. Her fingers immediately recognized the texture. It was a book. She looked back up at him and gave him a soft, shy smile. “Thank you, Sasuke.”

            He made an awkward grunt in acknowledgement before looking away. “See you.” He turned around to leave.

            “Wait!” Sakura almost forgot to ask. “How’s Naruto? I know he occasionally gets himself into trouble, but i-is he all right?” She knew she already called, but after this morning’s conversation with her parents, she thought maybe Naruto was not out of the woods yet.

            Sasuke turned halfway to look at her and sighed. “Don’t worry, he’s fine. You know him. He always gets back up on his feet. But if you’re really worried about him, you can come over to my house and ask him yourself. He’s staying with us for a while.”

            “He’s staying at your house? Why?”

            He shrugged. “Itachi-nīsan’s orders. It’s only until the crime scene in your street is cleared, and the news dies down a bit. They don’t want neighbors hounding Naruto with questions.”

            Ah. Sakura understood it well. Since one of those said neighbors were her parents. The police didn’t want anyone to risk people spreading misinformation. “I see. Then, I’ll drop by later.”

            “Right.” Sasuke turned to the door once more, then left.

            Reassured that Naruto would be safe, Sakura freely expressed her giddiness. She sighed dreamily while embracing the brown paper-covered book. She had always been an avid reader and always got excited around books. But now, it was even more special, because someone precious to her gave it as a gift.

            She pulled out the book to inspect it further. Her mouth fell open. The title read: Medical Terminology & Basic Surgery Procedures. It was that same book she was reading through whenever she stopped by the bookstore before going home from school. She had initially picked it up out of curiosity and to exercise her memorization skills, but ended up deeply immersed about the wonders of the operating room, the doctors and their functions. She was meaning to save up to finally buy the book—it was expensive!—but she hadn’t realized Sasuke actually paid attention to it.

            Oh, Sasuke… He would make such a cute boyfriend (in the future, like she promised her parents).

            Sakura’s mouth twitched upward. Ha! She couldn’t wait to rub it into Ino’s face.

“No way.” Ino gasped after Sakura told her about Sasuke’s visit. She picked up Sakura at the café after lunch and were now on their way to deliver a basket of spring flowers. “He actually gave you a gift first?” She scoffed. “Doesn’t he realize that only makes his situation worse?”

            Sakura smiled, blushing from the memory. “I think he’s just shy to give it in public.” It was still so cute, though.

            “And a book about medicines?” Ino huffed and turned her head away. “It’s not even romantic. So, I wouldn’t call this a win, Dekorīn.”

            Sakura couldn’t help but be amused and proud that she was going to let the nasty nickname slide.

            It was difficult to one-up Ino most of the time because, well… because she was Yamanaka Ino. She was downright beautiful; kids at their school would turn heads every time she walked down the hallways. Her now long blonde hair that she recently tied to a ponytail was always so soft and glossy, a few girls in their class were jealous of it. Her charming sky-blue eyes never failed to attract attention. She was confident and poised and blooming. And on top of that, she was an honor student. She was Jōryoku Elementary School’s model student.

            “Ohh? Is Ino-pig jealous?” Sakura gave her best friend a victorious grin, throwing her own foul nickname for the blonde, and folded her arms to further accentuate her dominance.

            As expected, Ino shot her a glare. “Ehh?! Of course not! Get real! Why would I be jealous over such a boring gift?! As if!”

            Sakura giggled at her response.

            Months after Sakura told the other girls in their class that she had a crush on Sasuke, she found out Ino liked him, too.

            Ino had become distant and a bit snobbish after Sakura’s admission, resulting to one of their first fights. And so, Sakura ended up venting to a mutual friend, who blurted out the reason why Ino was acting indifferently, and that was when she found out. Sakura was shocked. For weeks, they barely talked. And when they did, it was to hurl insults towards each other. Their relationship had become so strained that even their friends were affected by it.

            After another heated argument, they both actually declared that they never wanted to speak to each other ever again.

            Although, that statement stayed true for barely a week. Sakura had sorely missed her best friend. In the end, they found themselves running into each other’s arms and sobbing. They made up and decided to compete for Sasuke’s affections together—a friendly rivalry.

            “So, where exactly are you delivering those?” she asked, gesturing to the basket of flowers.

            “It’s for one of our regulars. Their last order must have wilted by now,” Ino explained. “They live two towns over. We’ll take the bus uptown.”

            Sakura nodded and followed her friend. Realizing something, she paused. “If we’re going to the bus uptown, then we should’ve turned the block from the café.” She half turned around, trying to decide whether they should still go back or continue walking on the path if they were already too far.

            All of a sudden, she felt Ino firmly grabbing her arm. “We can’t.”

            Startled by the shift in tone of her voice, Sakura stared at her. “Ino?” Her friend had an uncharacteristic grim look on her face.

            Ino looked away, contemplating. She sighed. “Look, we’re already far ahead.” she said, somewhat resigned. “For now, let’s take the long route.”

            Sakura’s pink eyebrows creased, but she didn’t argue with her. “Okay.”

            Ino was a kaminochi. She was a different type though.

            There were two classifications of kaminochi: the common type and the hereditary type.

            Sakura’s family were the common type. One notable aspect common kaminochi shared was the gifts they possessed—the common gifts. There were three subtypes: the elementals (they wielded one of the five elements - fire, water, wind, earth and lightning), the chōmono (heightened senses, strength or speed), and the healers. Her grandfather was a chōmono who had super strength.

            Unfortunately, this type often skipped a generation or two. Which was why she and her father didn’t possess any of the common gifts.

            Ino’s family, on the other hand, belonged to the hereditary type. As the term suggested, their family was able to pass down their gift to their children consistently. Not only that, but the gift they possessed was unique and only existed within the family.

            The Yamanaka family had the uncanny ability to see souls and spirits. They could sense it, even if they can't see it. 

            They continued to walk on the longer path. They would have to turn a couple of blocks to exit the neighborhood, but in all the years Sakura had known Ino, she learned not to argue when she was like this.

            She couldn’t help but wonder though, did it have something to do with the incident from last night?

            Ino stiffened, startling Sakura once more. They didn’t stop moving but Sakura frowned. “You just read my mind, didn’t you?” She stated, rather than asked. Part of her unique abilities was mind reading.

            A pause. Ino closed her eyes for a moment. “We’ll talk about it later.”

            Sakura knew how much Ino wanted to respect the privacy of those she was close with. Trust was important to her. Her ability to read minds was incredible, but it also made Sakura uncomfortable the first time. She didn’t like the thought of someone having access to her thoughts.

            Ino understood this as well. She also didn’t like reading people’s minds—unless absolutely necessary. Which could mean—

             “I can hear your thoughts, Sakura,” Ino softly cut her off with a scoff. “I’m not peeking, but your thoughts are jumping out.”

            That didn’t make Sakura feel better. She blushed. “Fine! I’m worried. Is Naruto involved?”

            “Don’t worry, he’s fine.” Ino groaned. “Seriously, that guy is always getting into trouble, yet you’re worrying as if it’s the first time.”

            “But—”

             “Can we please just forget about it for now, so I can enjoy my first flower delivery?” Ino gave her a pleading look. “Please?”

            Sakura finally gave in. “Fine.” She took a deep breath to ease her anxiety. “But tell me later?”

            Ino nodded with a sad smile. “I will.”

            Honestly. Part of the reason why she was constantly worried was because she felt helpless. If something happened to any of her friends or either one of her parents, she didn’t know how she could help them. She wasn’t like Sasuke who could jump in and save people before they were harmed, or sense one coming their way like Ino. She wasn’t like the rest of her friends who had an extraordinary edge that enabled them to protect those they loved. All she had was her big brain behind her big forehead.

            This was one of those days when she wished she wasn’t so ordinary. 

NOTE: Changed the title since I noticed it was wrong! Akai Kage is the original name from my drafts, I don't know where Akarikage came from lmao.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Chapter introduction of Uchiha Sasuke. Trigger Warning: mentions of violence - blood, stabbing, strangulation.

Voices. He could hear voices.

            Then, a siren.

            “They’re still inside…!”

            Running footsteps among running footsteps.

            “They can’t get out!” 

            A house on fire.

            “…why can’t they get out?!”

            Flames after flames. Panic rising.

            “Dammit! …it’s too late!” 

            The converging voices getting louder and louder.

            Labored breaths. His labored breaths.

            His knees, smaller than usual, hitting the ground. “Tōsan… Kāsan.”

            “Sasuke.” Nīsan?

            “Get out of here!” Why?

            “…Sasuke.” How did this happen?

            “Sasuke! Get up!” 

            Uchiha Sasuke was gasping for breath as his eyes snapped open. His body shot upright on his bed before he could become fully aware of his surroundings. The moonlight cascaded down his bedroom. And somebody was knocking on the door.

            “Sasuke.”

            He was a little confused. He must have fallen asleep…

            “Are you awake yet?” Ah. So Itachi woke him up. “Food’s already on the table. Let’s have dinner.”

            Another nightmare. It was starting to get difficult to distinguish reality and dreams these days.

            With a sigh, Sasuke collected his thoughts and wiped away the sheen of sweat he hadn’t realized formed on his forehead. “I’m up.”

            He spared a glance—he always spared a glance—on the row of picture frames sitting atop the bottom bookshelves, over by the window, before standing up to fix his bed. The sun was still up when he took a nap earlier. Admittedly, he was also a little disoriented with time upon waking up to a dark bedroom (“Is it nighttime? Or morning already?”).

            He approached the door and let himself out.

            Itachi was waiting for him outside. He was still wearing his police uniform. He went to work after dropping him off when the ceremony ended earlier this morning.

            “I hope you’re hungry. It’s a special occasion, so I overdid it with the dishes tonight.” He greeted Sasuke with a soft smile that made him think he wasn’t aware about the nightmare the latter was having a moment ago. But of course, Sasuke knew better than to doubt his big brother.

            Itachi was always aware; especially with his little brother’s inner feelings and the nightmares. Sasuke could always feel his presence—he was always watching over him.

            Ever since their parents died almost eight years ago, Itachi had taken both their parental roles and diligently took care of Sasuke. And Sasuke, in his own way, also looked after his older brother whom he admired so much. After all, the two of them were all that each other had now. 

            That last thought reminded—and distracted—him of someone else, someone who was supposed to join them for dinner tonight. Tch.

            Sasuke turned his head left and right, trying to feel the moron’s presence around the house. Then, he scoffed. “He’s late.”

            Itachi huffed in amusement before turning around. He headed for the staircase. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. But we should go ahead and eat. Naruto-kun is—”

            Sasuke’s sudden sharp intake of breath cut off Itachi mid-sentence and made him halt on his tracks.

            Body rigid, Sasuke’s black irises changed into purple ones, his pupils glinting with a black swirl.

            Images flashed in his mind:

            Naruto was in a dark alley, staring up at a man in fear. 

            The man, whose face expressed nothing but contempt, held a bloody knife over his head. 

            Naruto couldn’t move—too shocked (too stupid to move away) 

            The mad man screamed in rage before dragging down the knife. 

            Jerking back to reality, Sasuke’s eyes returned to their normal black shade. He blinked a few times before pressing the heel of his palm against his forehead after a stinging pain shot through his temples and radiated around his eye sockets. He could feel his eyeballs throbbing as he screwed his eyes shut.

            Itachi’s own charcoal eyes narrowed. He waited.

            Once Sasuke recovered, he wasted no time. He clenched his jaw before speaking, “He’s in danger. Now.”

            “Where?”

            “Five blocks on the west from his apartment. An alleyway.”

            Without another word or any further elaborations, the two morphed their bodies into balls of energy (both with their color signatures—red for Itachi and bluish purple for Sasuke), then bolted out of the house and straight for Naruto’s location.

            Sasuke learned how to change his body’s form into mass energy as early as seven years old, and mastered it in less than four months. It was second nature to him now.

            They moved with inhuman speed, faster than most hengeyokai known in Konoha. They were flying far through the city for more than twenty-four hundred miles per hour. Despite this though, the two brothers still had a full grasp of their surroundings in vivid detail. To another person’s gaze, they were zooming across like a neon bullet train.

            Sasuke led the way, his older brother barely half an inch behind. The former had the image of the location in his mind, after all. He had to lead the way. He just hoped they make it in time.

            As a mangekai, Sasuke was blessed with an eye prowess that enabled him to perceive danger or impending death on people he could link with. And the phenomenon he experienced earlier, was an example of just that.

            The Uchiha, a clan of mangekai creatures, were hengeyokai who had incredible powers residing behind their eyes, each possessing a unique ability, one which Sasuke developed early into his childhood (the first time he had a visual premonition was eight years ago: the attack on his parents and their deaths, which eventually, and unfortunately, became a reality). He was barely five at the time.

            As mentioned, this particular power of Sasuke’s, involved linking himself with others in order to have premonitory access. He soon learned from their clan’s deity of flames, the one called “Tamaen” (as it is customary for every Uchiha heir to speak with Tamaen-sama to discover what visual prowess they inherited at the age of six), that this link naturally existed with his nuclear family. Furthermore, if he wanted to link his prowess with another individual, he had to send them a thread-like trace of mangekai energy through physical contact of any means—Sasuke usually did this by touching their hands.

            It would be like leaving a trace of himself to their person; his own tracking device.

            A year later, after the murder of his parents, Sasuke began linking himself to his close relatives and friends, and ensured nothing like that would happen again. Not while he was alive.

            So, he was linked to Naruto. Annoyingly, (and some might not find it a surprise) this wasn’t the first time Sasuke had a premonition of Naruto in imminent danger. The half-wit was always getting himself into heaps of trouble, which then opened doors for death to claim him.

            Dammit. We just graduated. Usuratonkachi!

            Even if this wasn’t the first time Sasuke was rushing in to save Naruto, he still fought the apprehension crawling up his chest on the way to mess with his head and stir his paranoia.  Damn you, Naruto!

            In less than twenty seconds, they finally found his friend and morphed back into their bodies. He reappeared beside Naruto.

Itachi on the other hand, was in front of them, facing the attacker, his one hand already grasping his wrist, which was a moment away from stabbing the boy, and his other hand hovering over the gun on his holster, ready to grab, point and shoot if necessary.

            “That’s enough,” said Itachi, holding him back with ease.

            Naruto barely noticed them at first, too focused on the terrifying man in front of him, until Itachi’s back had blocked his view. “Itachi-nīchan!” He turned his head. “Sasuke!”

            Sasuke wanted to keep his eyes trained on Naruto’s would-be attacker, but the stench of blood and the unmistakable fading energy of a corpse further behind stole his attention altogether. He stiffened.

            Hidden in the wall’s shadow, was a woman’s body, lying in a pool of blood, and despite the darkness, he noticed her widened, empty eyes. She was no longer seeing, though. Sasuke looked back up at the man holding a bloody knife once more and glared.

            Naruto must have caught him red-handed, and that’s why he wanted to kill him, too.

            The man looked bewildered—and still angry—at the sight of newcomers. Sasuke expected him to struggle and fight Itachi, but he was taken aback when his bloodshot eyes rolled at the back of his head and he collapsed, forcing Itachi to let go of his wrist.

            “What just happened?!” Sasuke demanded, staring down at this individual who was supposedly full of rigor and ready to murder a thirteen-year old boy.

            Naruto took a step back, still not letting his guard down. “No way! Is he… hurt or something?”

             That wasn’t it. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. That killing intent I felt earlier vanished all of a sudden. 

            Itachi was observing the scene quietly.

            Sasuke did the same. Immediately, he noticed a subtle shift in the shadows. It was easy to miss, but Sasuke managed to catch it. The blood and shadows scattered all around must be coalescing in his view enough to play tricks, because for a moment, the shadow on the other wall looked red in color. It had only been for an instant—he had blinked and the shadow was black again. And yet…

            This feeling…

            “I’m going to call for a squad from the headquarters to come and seal off this crime scene, And the paramedics,” Itachi spoke, cutting off Sasuke’s trailing thoughts. He was putting handcuffs on the man on the ground. “You two stay here. Don’t touch anything.” He stood up and pulled out the radio from his utility belt before moving away. “I’ll call for a police car to pick us up as well.”

            It’s gone. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. That glaring feeling; an ominous energy wrapped around something he couldn’t exactly pinpoint. Whatever it was, it disappeared, and posed no threat any longer.

            Sasuke finally turned to Naruto with a chiding scowl. “Why didn’t you move?  That wasn’t like you.” It was true. Even if the blonde prioritized keeping his abilities hidden, Sasuke knew he was skilled enough to dodge or run away unscathed (at least, he had hoped).

            There was a hint of blush dusting Naruto’s cheeks, enhancing his whiskered-like birthmark, before he stubbornly turned away. “Sh-shut up, dattebayo! I was going to do something, okay! But you guys suddenly showed up!” He crossed his arms, trying to look smug as if he was in control of the situation the entire time (and failing). “How’d you guys find out, anyways?” 

            This loser. Sasuke expression turned grim. “I saw.”

            This time, Naruto flinched. “You…saw? You mean…?”

            “Ah. I had a vision.”

            Naruto’s mouth fell open a little.

            There had been times when this happened in the past, yes, but it still came as a shock to both of them—to everyone. And even then, it had only occurred a handful of times. And every time it did and he somehow managed to prevent the worst case scenario, he couldn’t help but think: next time, will I make it?

            And so, he continued to scowl at his friend. “You’re so hopeless, usuratonkachi.”

            Naruto winced, but maintained his annoyance. “Yeah, yeah I get it already.” He continued to grumble, “If you’re so mad about it, you should’ve stayed home. Jeez.”

            “You should be thanking me for saving your ass again.” Sasuke sighed. “You really are going to die first.” It had been a…reoccurring dark joke amongst their friends that if anyone was going to die first, it was going to be the number one hyperactive idiot of the group.

            “Oi!” Naruto’s eyes rounded. He pointed an angry finger. “Whoever said I was dying?! Don’t say stuff like that,dattebayo! That’s really creepy coming from you! Besides, it was Itachi-nīchan who saved me, not you, bastard!”

            Sasuke crossed his arms and scoffed, condescending. “Hn.”

            “Why you—!”

            Before they could start their regular banter, two police cars and an ambulance arrived, mutely pulling up at the scene. Sasuke suspected the absence of siren was probably not to attract the neighbors and draw them near the area. Although, he doubted anyone could ignore the flashing blue and red lights they decided to turn on.

            Itachi walked over once the police men stepped out from the cars. “Please, come with me. You two,” he addressed the two younger boys, “wait for me in the car. And no mischief tonight, Naruto-kun.”

            Naruto nodded. “Got it.”

            They got in the backseat of the police car and waited.

            “I’m so screwed once the old man finds out about this,” Naruto was complaining. “Probably get another lecture. Man, I should’ve just…”

            But Sasuke was no longer hearing him. His thoughts were pulled back to the glimpse of that red shadow in the alley. Was it just a flicker of his imagination? He was starting to doubt that.

            A red shadow… Could it be a yōkai? But Itachi didn’t react any differently. And if that was the case, both he and Itachi would have picked up a scent.

            Hengeyōkai heavily relied on their physical senses. Mangekai, in particular, have visual prowess that allowed them to see beyond the physical realm. Nothing could escape their field of vision.

            If Sasuke was right, and the red shadow was a yōkai, then it was skillful enough to hide from a mangekai. That would be an incredible feat, considering there hadn’t been anyone on record who could do that. It’s impossible.

            There had to be another explanation.

            Could it be a yūrei? They could’ve poisoned and manipulated the man they just caught. Which means the murder could be their doing.

            Sasuke frowned. No. That wasn’t it, either. It was even less plausible that a yūrei of any kind could evade a mangekai.

            I must be missing something. 

            “Oi. Sasuke.” Naruto poked his shoulder, cutting off his train of thoughts. “Are you even listening to me?”

            Sasuke threw him an annoyed glance. “No. Can you just—” Then he realized something that made him pause. “Naruto.”

            “What?” The disapproving look on Naruto’s face remained unchanged.

             Before Sasuke could ask, something in his peripheral view caught his immediate attention.

            He turned to the car window and looked outside.

            Then he froze. His jaw slackened and his eyes were wide open.

            “Sasuke?”

            His hands shook. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sasuke knew this had to be some twisted type of illusion.

            Because right across the street, stood Uchiha Fugaku—his father.

            Charcoal eyes met their identical pair ones. Sasuke found himself staring back at his father after so long.

            Tōsan. 

            “Hey, Sasuke.” Naruto, on the other hand, was getting irritated at being ignored. “Earth to asshole! Oi!”

            Tōsan broke eye contact and walked down the streets.

            “Sasuke!” Naruto whisper yelled as he watched Sasuke opening the car door to step out. “Itachi-nīchan told us to stay in the car!”

            “Then stay here.” Sasuke paid him no mind after that and followed his late father’s trail. It looked like he was turning towards an alleyway. What was going on? Why was Tōsan’s ghost appearing in front of him?

            Naruto followed him.

            They crossed the street.

            “Where are we going, anyways?” Naruto asked.

            “Be quiet.” Afraid to lose him, Sasuke hurried his pace.

            A part of him, the logical one, was telling him it was a trap. It was pleading him to go back to the police car and lock the doors. But another part of him, the five-year-old child missing his father, was hoping Tōsan was reaching out somehow to tell him something. Whichever the case, Sasuke needed to know. He needed to follow him.

            He took a right into the alley, then stopped. What the hell?

            It was a dead end. The end of the alley was nothing but a brick wall, and no sign of Tōsan.

            He was gone.

            A chill crept up Sasuke’s nape at the inkling realization that whoever that was, it wasn’t Tōsan.

            The same ominous and glaring feeling from earlier came back as a breeze swept by. It lured me here.

            “I thought I told you two to stay in the car.” Itachi appeared from behind, startling the boys. Naruto cussed.

            Sasuke didn’t realize he was holding his breath until now. His heart was beating loudly against his chest.

            What the hell just happened? 

Once the forensics team arrived at the crime scene, Itachi drove over to Konoha Police Force, so the three of them could write their official witness statements. This was the city’s police headquarters where Itachi was currently stationed at. Sasuke also planned on working here one day. Just like practically almost everyone in his clan (he hadn’t met an Uchiha who didn’t work as a law enforcer).

            When they arrived at the building, Itachi was already talking to another police officer. He was relaying his report to him while they walked inside. Sasuke and Naruto were taken to an empty room where they were given forms to fill up and sign before they went into detail of what they witnessed.

            After the police in charge collected their official statements, Sasuke was pulled out and brought into another room to be interviewed for more details. Naruto had grumbled about how repetitive everything was. Sasuke scoffed.

Earlier, after Itachi scolded them for leaving the police car and wandering off on their own, the backup police asked them about what happened prior to their arrival and what they saw. And now, they were telling it again just after putting everything on writing.

            Sasuke shook his head. He didn’t understand why the knucklehead was whining. They’ve done this a few times already. It was the same routine and the same procedure. He should be aware of this already.

            It wasn’t uncommon for any citizen in Konoha to report an incident to the nearby police station from time to time (he was pretty sure Naruto and their friend, Kiba would be reporting in regularly if they didn’t have school). Konoha wasn’t a quiet city. And it definitely wasn’t peaceful. To Sasuke, this was a normal Thursday night.

            Interview completed, Sasuke went back to the previous room where Naruto was waiting.

            “Namikaze Naruto-kun,” the police officer from earlier called out. He held the door open outside, while leaning in to find the other boy. “Please come with me.”

            Naruto stood up from his chair and followed the officer.

            Itachi was probably still talking to his superiors.

            Sasuke sighed. He hadn’t told his older brother about what happened earlier. He didn’t want to give him another reason to worry. Although, he was sure Itachi already suspected that something was amiss. He wasn’t able to hide his discomfort during the car ride.

            A few moments passed by before he felt a familiar hum coursed through his body. It was Itachi. He was close by.

            He strained his hearing to listen. He could hear telephones ringing from different rooms, the loud typing on keyboards and people busily chatting and moving about on the floor. Then, he found Itachi walking down the hallway with someone.

            “Are you reporting in?” Itachi was asking.

            “Yeah. Has Shisui-keibu arrived yet?”  It was the same police officer who greeted them at the entrance earlier.

            Their footsteps echoed into Sasuke’s ears. “No. He’s meeting with the family of the victim. I’ll be on my way to join him after I drop off my little brother and his friend. Share me your findings, and I’ll relay them over to Keibu-san.”

            So, Shisui was leading the investigation.

            Uchiha Shisui was a police inspector under the homicide division. He was also their older cousin and Itachi’s best friend. It was him who monitored Itachi’s training at the Uchiha Police Force Academy and during his field training (he managed to complete them in less than a year). A few weeks ago, Shisui gave them the good news about Itachi’s recruitment in the Force. He was assigned under Shisui’s unit.

            “Ah. Very well then.” Sasuke heard a shuffling of paper. “The victim suffered from many fatal wounds, and heavy blood loss,” the officer went on to explain. “Strike to the heart, lungs and kidneys are determined to be the cause of death. And apparently, she was also strangled.” Damn. That bastard didn’t hold back. “They’ve just started the autopsy, so it would be a while before we could get a full detailed analysis. But there’s something else,” he paused. The footsteps stopped. “Something the paramedics mentioned that was quite bothersome.”

            “And what is that?”

            “They said there were fresh burn marks on the body. Particularly, on her arms and neck where she was strangled.”

            “Burn marks… that’s certainly unusual.” Sasuke agreed with Itachi. Fresh burn marks? Where would those come from?

            “Yes. That one has me on a bind. I don’t know what to make of it. We didn’t find any other weapon, other than the kitchen knife on Hayashi-sanr.” Hayashi-san was the man they caught earlier. He was currently in the hospital after collapsing.

            “Can you describe the burn marks to me?”

            “Of course.” The officer flipped a paper. “There was a burning smell. Initially, that’s how we knew how fresh they were. I couldn’t get a proper look on the body since she was mostly covered in blood, but I did see handprints on her arms, and then around her neck. The skin looked red and they were blistering.”

            “Handprints?” Itachi repeated.

            “Yes. They were the burn marks. It’s really strange. I had the forensics collect them for fingerprint analysis, see if they match with Hayashi-san.”

            “I see. I’ll relay your report to Shisui-keibu. Good work, Keiji-san..”

            “And you as well..”

            They exchanged a few more words before Sasuke heard their footsteps going to different directions. Itachi was coming closer. And so was Naruto.

            The door opened and as anticipated, Naruto walked in.

            “How’d it go?” Sasuke asked.

            “It was fine.” Naruto put his hands behind his head. “Can we get out of here?”

            Just then, Itachi came back. “Let’s go, you two.” He ruffled Naruto’s hair. “I’m dropping you off at the house.”

It was decided that Naruto would be staying with the Uchiha brothers for a few days, just until the police were finished with the crime scene on the street of his residence. The case was new and they wanted to avoid any interaction with nosey neighbors and prevent spreading misinformation. Especially with the Haruno’s. And knowing Naruto…

            At any rate, Itachi had driven both Sasuke and Naruto to the house, so they could have dinner while Itachi would go to meet up with Shisui. Sasuke had to reheat the all the food.

            The boys were quiet for a while, focused on finishing their meals (Sasuke hadn’t even realized he was starving). He was having a tomato chahan, and Naruto was chewing on an ikayaki—his third meal on the table.

            During the drive on the way back, Sasuke had been wanting to ask Naruto to explain what happened in detail to him, but his brother being there stopped him from talking. Itachi didn’t like it when Sasuke involved himself with yōkai-related crimes. But still, Naruto might have noticed something important about the red shadow or what could have caused the burn marks on the dead body. He didn’t know why, but Sasuke had a feeling it wasn’t the last time they would be seeing that red shadow.

            Now that they were alone, Sasuke finally found a chance to talk.

            “Naruto.” He looked at the blonde boy across the table, who was still chewing.

            “Hm?”

            “Aren’t you going to tell me what happened?”

            Naruto soundly swallowed down his food before looking at him impatiently. “Didn’t you already see it? I’m trying to eat here you know.”

            “No. What I saw was what could have happened,” Sasuke clarified. “I want to know what happened before that.”

            Naruto gave him a tired look before giving in. “Fine.” Tilting his head in thought, he tried his best to describe everything that happened before Sasuke came with Itachi.

            He was riding his bike on the way to Sasuke’s house when he heard something in the alley. That was when he decided to check it out and witnessed Hayashi-san, the murderer, repeatedly stabbing the victim with a knife. Besides getting shocked and feeling incredibly disturbed and disgusted by the guy’s actions, Naruto mentioned feeling something “weird”.

            “Weird how?” Sasuke asked.

            “I don’t know. But…” Naruto looked up in contemplation. “That guy didn’t feel normal. I-I mean, the entire thing didn’t feel normal, of course!” Naruto was now frowning. He crossed his arms. “I feel like… like I missed something.”

            Sasuke sighed. Maybe it was too much after all. The entire ordeal was still too fresh and overwhelming. They could talk about it some other time.

            “Forget about it,” Sasuke told him. “Let’s just eat—”

            “Come to think of it,” Naruto continued, however. “I had the same feeling after the graduation ceremony.”

            Sasuke stayed quiet and listened.

            “When we were outside, I felt like someone was watching me from our classroom. I can’t really explain it, dattebayo, but I could feel my body warning me about it. Then I found that guy in the alley later, and—” Suddenly, Naruto stiffened. His eyes widened.

            Sasuke sat up straighter. “What is it?”

            “Just before you guys came, I was going to leave, but he caught me. He was glaring at me, and I swear… when he raised his knife, I saw red eyes from behind him. It was the same feeling as before.”

            Sasuke flinched. Red eyes? A red shadow… with red eyes. Watching. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

            “That’s why at first, I thought maybe the guy was like us,” Naruto further explained. “But he didn’t do anything when you guys came.”

            He was right. The guy collapsed instead. Itachi didn’t react any differently, either. If he had been a hengeyōkai (animal shapeshifters) like Sasuke and Itachi, or a kaminochi (people with supernatural abilities) like Naruto, Itachi would call for a TONINBU squad, and not the regular police force.

            The TONINBU is a specialized task force of Konoha’s law enforcement—an underground division strictly of hengeyōkai and kaminochi recruits. They were the ones who discretely dealt with crimes related to yōkai. The agents within the division all worked in the surface as police officers for cover.

            Wait a minute. Shisui was also an agent in the TONINBU task force. Was Nīsan the one who called for Shisui-nīsan to investigate?

            That was it. Itachi much have seen something in the alley like Sasuke had and kept quiet about it.

            Sasuke scowled. He hated it when Itachi often did this. Itachi would treat him like an innocent child. But he wasn’t. Not anymore. Not ever since that night eight years ago.

            “Sasuke?”

            Blinking away the simmering rage he felt inside, Sasuke turned his attention back to Naruto, who was now looking at him with a stupid look on his face.

            “Are you okay?” he asked. “You’ve been spacing out a lot tonight.”

            “I’m fine.” Sasuke stood up and began clearing the table. “Let’s just put these away, so we can rest.”

            Thankfully, Naruto didn’t pry any longer and helped him with the dirty dishes.

 While Naruto took his turn in the bathroom, Sasuke brought out the futon. He took out some extra blankets and pillows as well. He laid them out on his bedroom floor for Naruto to sleep on.

            After all of that, Naruto was still not finished. Sasuke could hear him brushing his teeth in there. He himself had already changed into his blue T-shirt and white shorts and was ready to turn in for the night.

            While waiting, he wandered over the windows with the photographs atop the bottom bookshelves. Personally, he didn’t like having his photos taken and putting them on display, most of them were developed by his brother and friends (Itachi was usually the one putting them on frames and displaying them in his bedroom).

He was thankful for it now, though.

            Sasuke picked up the one he looked at the most. It was the standard family picture taken a few years ago before the incident. Tōsan hadn’t been smiling in the photo, but in all the years Sasuke spent his time with him, Tōsan never smiled in pictures. Even so, Sasuke could see the happy lines around his eyes in here. He had noticed it the fifth time he looked at the picture frame.

            Tōsan and Itachi shared the same black-haired color. Sasuke’s hair was also black but with blue highlights, a trait he most likely inherited from Mikoto, their dark blue-haired mother.

            People always said that he looked more like Kāsan and that Itachi looked like Tōsan. But as Sasuke was growing up, he was starting to look more like Itachi.

            Sasuke put down the frame and picked up the next one.

            It was him and Itachi. The picture was taken after a day in the Jofuku forest years ago. He had forced his big brother to take him on his little expedition to find their granny’s missing cat. There was still dirt on Sasuke’s clothes and smudge on his left cheek and forehead. He was beaming with pride as he held the small animal in his hands with a big smile on his face, while Itachi was crouched down to his level and a hand on his shoulder, also smiling at the camera. Even then, Itachi was very meticulous and clean-looking.

            Sasuke looked at the other photographs lined up. One was of Sasuke with Naruto on their field trip back in fourth grade. Sasuke refused to take a picture but the others insisted, and so, he ended up scowling and trying to pull away when it was shot. He wasn’t able to escape because the moron had a strong lock around his neck while grinning down at him, his eyes closed.

            Sasuke didn’t really care about him at first. He was the class clown and could be very annoying without even trying. But that changed when Sasuke learned he was an orphan like him. He slowly began to understand just how lonely it must have been for Naruto. He finally realized why he was acting the way he was.

            He wanted attention. Acknowledgement.

            Sasuke still had his brother and Shisui, but Naruto didn’t have any other family other than his guardians, who were also always away. There was Konohamaru, but it looked like the kid needed Naruto more than Naruto needed him. After all, Naruto’s guardians were Konahamaru’s parents, and most of the time, they couldn’t be there for him (and his grandfather was the mayor, which was pretty much self-explanatory), so he only heavily relied on Naruto. Sasuke thought Naruto needed someone he could depend on himself.

            So, when Naruto approached him one day, he didn’t shut him out and talked to him. Somehow, they had become alike. From then on, they did everything together and acted like brothers.

            And Sasuke wouldn’t change a thing. He was content having Naruto as his best friend. Even when they were always arguing and teasing each other, Sasuke was happy to have him.

            The last frame contained of him and his friends. The picture was from a year ago on his birthday, which they celebrated out in the city.

            Sasuke smiled to himself. He might have lost his parents, but he managed to find people who could fill the spaces left in his heart.

            However, he was still determined to find out who murdered his father and mother.

            Sasuke turned at the sound of the doorknob clicking. Naruto came in, wearing a white T-shirt and green loose shorts.

            “Hey, you think maybe we could play Knight Shades for a while?” Naruto grabbed his backpack from the floor and began rummaging through it. “I’m still stuck on—”

            He was interrupted by a knock downstairs. Sasuke waited for a bit, but the person knocked again. Sasuke and Itachi didn’t have that many friends outside the compound, it was unlikely that anyone would come knocking at the door at almost ten in the evening. If it was someone from their clan, then they would have said something by now to alert their presence. Mangekai shared the same heightened hearing, and were naturally cautious people. It was customary to knock and state your name at an Uchiha household, otherwise, you would be seen as a threat.

            “That’s probably Itachi-nīchan!” Naruto exclaimed.

            “Wait.” Sasuke gripped his shoulder before he could dash. He was now suspicious. Itachi wouldn’t knock at his own house. He had a key.

            They both went downstairs and stopped at the genkan. Sasuke cautioned Naruto to be quiet. Naruto gave him a confused look in return. Another persisting knock followed.

            Sasuke raised his voice. “Who is it?”

            “Huh? Isn’t it just Nīchan?” Naruto asked in a hushed voice.

            “No.” Sasuke glared at the door. “It’s not.”

            Another knock. This time, there was a response. “Sasuke. It’s me.” It was Itachi’s voice.

            Sasuke and Naruto continued to talk in hushed voices.

            “See? It’s him, dattebayo!”

            “Be quiet!” Sasuke levelled his voice to speak with the person behind the front door. “Who are you?”

            “Why are you asking me that?” The person continued, “It’s me—your older brother, Itachi.”

            He glanced at the table top beside the shoe rack of the genkan where the telephone was and thought about dialing the police headquarters. He could check whether Itachi was there or not, but he already knew this scumbag at the front door was a fake. He stayed alert. “Then what happened to your house key? It’s not like you to forget it, and it’s not like you to lose it, either.” He wasn’t going to be fooled. “So, where is it?”

            Sasuke didn’t know who this person was, but he was sure it wasn’t Itachi. He didn’t feel like Itachi. Sasuke had his brother’s aura and energy embedded into his senses. So, immediately, he knew this person was lying. Even Sakura could lie better than this.

            What does he want? 

            There was a sigh behind the door. “I honestly don’t know how, but it is missing. I am not as flawless as you think I am, Sasuke. But I’ve been going to different places tonight, going about my duties as per Shisui’s instructions. I am also very tired. Could you please open the door now?”

            His eyes remained glued to the door. “What are you going to do if I don’t?”

            “Sasuke! This is too much! Even for you, ‘ttebayo!” Naruto finally yelled in frustration. “Hurry up and open the door already!”

            Sasuke ignored his friend’s outburst. 

            “If this door isn’t open in thirty seconds, I will break it down,” the stranger was threatening him.

            Dammit! What should he do now? 

            “Sasuke—! Oi! Where are you going?!”

            Determined, Sasuke marched over to another room in the house. It was a sacred hall dedicated to Tamaen-sama. At the end of the room, there was a glass case. Inside of it was an ancestor’s relic—a sword. It was breathed with blessed fire by Tamaen-sama underneath a full moon. They said it could cut through anything, even a soul or spirit.

           Opening the glass case, Sasuke carefully took the sword and went back to the genkan.

            “Oi! What the heck is that?!” Naruto yelled from behind him.

            “Just stay back.” Sasuke gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands. To be honest, he wasn’t sure if this was going to work. He could bolt out of the house with Naruto like he was taught to do, but he didn’t want to run. I have to do something.

            “What are you going to do, ‘ttebayo?!” Annoyingly, Naruto wasn’t done squawking like a damned parrot. “You asshole! Are you out of your mind?!”

            “Shut up and get back, usuratonkachi!”

            Naruto groaned. “This is ridiculous! It’s just Itachi!”

            “Open the door, Sasuke. I’m not fooling around.” Itachi’s tone pitched lower, darker.

            Sasuke didn’t budge.

            “For crying out loud!” In a flash, Sasuke was pushed to the side and Naruto was at the front door, turning the knob.

            “No wait, you idiot—!”

            “—Itachi-nīchan—”

            Naruto opened the door. Both of them froze on the spot.

            There was no one there.

            The wind picked up. The room felt unnaturally colder. 

            It was quiet for a full minute. Naruto’s face looked discomfited, and that worried Sasuke. “What’s wrong?” His expression stirred his own gut.

            “It’s…” Naruto closed the door and offered a hesitant smile. “Probably nothing.”

            Sasuke had loosened his grip on the sword and was now holding it in one hand to his side. He walked over and locked the door.

            The telephone rang and the two of them jumped, startled.

            Dammit. His heart was pounding again.

            They both hesitated until Naruto reached out and picked it up.

            “Wait—”

            “Moshi, moshi.”

            This guy's curiosity was worse than a cat. 

            Sasuke’s gripped on the sword tightened once more. He was anxious yet again. It couldn’t be that imposter… could it?

            “Naruto?”

            Both boys sighed in relief.

            Naruto’s face brightened. He smiled his usual happy smile. “Sakura-chan…”

            They talked over the telephone, and Sasuke noticed how easily Naruto reverted back to his laid-back, carefree self. He talked to Sakura as if nothing happened just now. Sasuke, however, felt another weight on his shoulder and his thoughts were muddled for the second time tonight.