This chapter was beta-read by: Sakura's Unicorn
The old Uchiha compound is the only part of Konoha that has not been demolished in the name of progress. Sasuke gazes across the unpaved road at the old police station, crumbling and lifeless but for the ghosts that inhabit it. Like the other cracked ruins of his former life, it remains undisturbed, moss and vines creeping across the faded uchiwa emblems.
His former home was never rebuilt properly after Pain's assault on the village, or in the frenzy following the war. Most inhabitants of Konoha believed it was time to let the past go. With the last two Uchiha dead and itinerant respectively, there was no one to champion its restoration.
Naruto offered, once, in the days while he and Sasuke recovered from their last battle.
"I can talk to Granny Tsunade – and I bet Kakashi would agree," he said, picking at his bandages. "So you have something to return to." He narrowed his eyes. "Because you are returning."
The 'or I will drag your ass back here even if I have to rip off your other arm and beat you unconscious to do it' went unspoken.
"There's no need," Sasuke had replied. Since conceding defeat to his long-time rival, he was experiencing an oddly peaceful outlook on the future. "That time is over."
He doesn't want the constant remembrance of the segregation his clan suffered due to the villagers' distrust. Still, every so often, he needs to come back here and reminisce—to remind himself of how bad a legacy of hatred can make life.
Sarada has never felt that type of isolation. She and Sakura made a life in the heart of the city, surrounded by people who love and care for them. She and this next child – the son he never expected – will also grow up undefined by the sense of otherness that Sasuke and Itachi experienced.
Oh, there are comments and awed whisperings, of course. He's noticed them more since he's been back permanently. But his daughter – his children – will be strong enough to weather them. Sarada already has her mother's temper and monstrous right hook, so he doesn't worry for her in that respect.
He knows that she is dealing with other challenges. Chief among them being all of the sudden changes in her life; specifically, the prospect of a younger sibling. She has become more reserved over the last seven months and her tongue just a little sharper.
He suspects she's inherited his tendency to stew in bitterness, but he doesn't know how to address this with her. Naruto is the one who likes to give long, heartfelt speeches. Sasuke has always dealt with his feelings by getting his fists bloody. As for Sakura, she's full of maddeningly unhelpful advice of late.
"Darling, she's a teenager," she insisted when he made an offhand remark about Sarada's recent attitude. He hoped his wife would magically infer that he wanted her to talk to their daughter and find out what's going on. "Do you remember what we were like at that age? I was a mess of hormones and self-esteem issues, and you... If anyone had asked you how you were feeling back then, would you have answered? Or tried to set them on fire?"
Which is all true, but it doesn't make experiencing his daughter's surliness any easier, especially as he knows she's unhappy.
It is, of course, just another conundrum he is dealing with since returning to the Leaf for good.
With the remaining members of the Ōtsutsuki gone, he lost his reason for wandering even before Sakura announced her pregnancy. In this time of unprecedented peace, most villages don't even need help to recover anymore.
Sasuke is very much at a loss for what to do.
He's travelled the world since he was thirteen, and in that time, discovered a craving for drifting that he never even realised he harbored until abandoning Konoha. But now there is no vengeance to carry out or redemption to find. It's all over now and he does not understand what he's supposed to do. With the exception of supporting his wife and preparing for the birth of their next child, the last few months have been unbearably dull.
Sasuke has an actual daily routine now.
Waking to Sakura spooned against his back while the baby kicks him in the kidneys. Cooking and eating breakfast with his family in the mornings. Walking Sarada to meet her teammates. Pretending he doesn't notice her watching him train Boruto, or the way she has starts blushing whenever the moron Hokage's son teases her (and he refuses to contemplate the implications of that for at least another thirty years).
He wouldn't change any of his life now, except...
Sometimes he misses the concrete sense of purpose he had while hunting down the last of Kaguya's spawn.
Naruto sometimes suggests – half-joking, half-serious – that he should take the Chūnin and Jōnin Exams during the next sessions then join ANBU.
"If you don't do something, you're gonna end up like old Kosuke – a genin for over sixty years! And it looks bad for me, ya know? I'm the great and powerful Hokage, and my rival's a lowly genin. Not cool, Sasuke!"
"You look bad all on your own," Sasuke replied which led to a predictable argument but no more was said on the subject.
Sasuke has no intention of defining himself by some arbitrary rank. Naruto may have needed to jump through hoops in his bid to become Hokage, but Sasuke knows himself without any official titles.
He is one-third of the most powerful shinobi force in the world.
He is both the last of the Uchiha and the first.
His is the disciple of a Sannin.
He is the Shadow Hokage of the Leaf.
Most important of all is the fact that he is a father.
Sasuke is still staggered by the overwhelming love he has for his daughter. He knows that he has never loved anything or anyone in his existence (current and whatever possible lives he had before) the way that he loves Sarada—the same way he will, no doubt, love the child to be born. Given the frightening depth with which Uchiha love, that means everything.
If he was ever forced into a situation where he had to choose between anything and his children – even Sakura – there would be no choice. And not just because his wife is more than capable of saving herself from danger (a far cry from the weak-willed waif assigned with him to Team 7). Or because she would murder him if he ever so much as hesitated in such a situation. Sasuke knows that Sarada is one of the few good, pure things that he has ever helped create and she must be protected at all costs.
Especially, he thinks, hand moving to the hilt of his sword, from this psychopath.
"What are you doing here?" he asks out loud, not bothering to turn around. There's no need, not when he would recognise that aura anywhere.
"Oh, so suspicious, my apprentice! I am simply passing through, checking on my offspring."
"Then why are you lurking here and not looking for him?"
"Mitsuki has a tendency to keep me at a distance."
"Smart kid."
"Yes, he is," the snake Sannin agrees readily. "But Rogu's expressed some concern. And Kabuto worries so... He's been reading those useless parenting books again and insists it's self-esteem issues. I say it's only youthful rebellion – which you would know all about, eh, Sasuke, my boy?"
"Is there a purpose to this?"
Orochimaru is not the type to stop by and exchange stories about their children or reminisce about old times. Even if he were, Sasuke wouldn't bother indulging him. Sometime-ally or not, if the circumstances are ever right, he will kill his former teacher.
"Straight to the point, as usual. All right. We'll do this your way. There has been a troubling development with your...hm. Is it indelicate to call them cousins?"
Sasuke tightens his grip on the handle of his katana. "The clones."
Perhaps he will kill the man now. It would save time later.
"Yes. Based on the updates I receive from Kabuto, many of them have died. Complications stemming from the cloning process, as I understand it. Of course, in the end, they were copying themselves without the proper procedural knowledge. I hear they're down to about fifty now. Kabuto has stabilised some – the older versions – but the rest are likely to die out."
"Your point being?"
"He's concerned about the future of the survivors. Given his own background, he doesn't want them to end up the way he did – spies and assassins to be used as the Leaf sees fit."
"Naruto would never let that happen."
"Oh, I have no doubt of that. I simply assumed you might want a say in their future as well, considering they are connected to your illustrious family."
Sasuke does turn now, his Sharingan activated as he glares at Orochimaru. "They are not Uchiha. They're leftovers of your failed genetic experiments that Konoha is still cleaning up."
"What a backward rational," Orochimaru sighs, although there is no genuine emotion or regret on his face. "Do you think that's how your precious daughter feels about Mitsuki?"
"You will not talk about my daughter."
"Very well. What about your associate? The one who goes by Yamato. You and your team don't think of him that way."
"The situation is different. Children you experimented on differ from clones."
Orochimaru doesn't answer, instead glancing around the ruined compound. "What a pity this place has fallen to ruin. I remember it being so full of life. It could be again, you know."
It takes a beat for the implication to hit him, and Sasuke is almost surprised by the audacity of it. Almost.
"The place of the Uchiha is no longer on the outskirts of Konoha. Nor are we in the habit of taking in strays simply because they posses the Sharingan."
His people may have produced more than their fair share of monsters, but Sasuke has decided that is not the legacy he wants to re-establish for his clan.
"Perhaps you're right. The clones are not true Uchiha. They lack that convenient and easily manipulated legacy of hatred you and your predecessors have," Orochimaru allows. "And they are a completely blank slate when it comes to morality. Should any of them survive, they would suit my purposes rather well. Of course, Kabuto and his brother may protest – they've been so dedicated to teaching the clones those bothersome notions of ethics and bonds..."
Sasuke refrains pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief. "Kabuto is teaching them ethics?"
"He is a fully qualified medical-nin," Orochimaru replies innocently. "Or would you rather it be your dear wife? I considered it, but I sensed I should approach you first."
Try it and I'll murder you, Sasuke silently vows, although out loud he replies, "Sakura doesn't need my permission to talk to people. I trust her to make decisions that are best for the family and Konoha."
"Well, there's that..." Orochimaru concurs. "I had hoped you would be the one to bring it up to her, however. She can't refuse you anything. And, ahem–" something like discomfiture flickers in his usually empty eyes "– she has never truly forgiven me for the curse mark, I suspect."
It makes sense. Sakura was the one who watched Orochimaru fundamentally change Sasuke. She was the one who dealt with all the emotional fallout. Sasuke may have physically beaten Naruto nearly to death, but he waged an equally (if unintended) emotional onslaught on Sakura. The days of the curse mark are long passed, thanks to Itachi, but Sakura's ability to hold a grudge apparently endures.
Sasuke smirks. "The legendary Sannin fears one woman?"
"Your...adorable wife is far too much like Tsunade. And while my dear former teammate has seen fit to forgive me in the recent years, your Sakura retains absolutely no feelings of amicability toward me." If Sasuke didn't know him better, the Sannin's tone would suggest he actually regrets this. "I imagine she would crush me without hesitation. And far quicker than I would have a chance to regenerate. The whole thing would be rather more effort than I feel like expending."
"Maybe I should let you speak to her after all," Sasuke muses and then narrows his eyes. "But not any time soon."
"Ahh, yes. I had heard the news. I don't believe I've congratulated you yet."
"Then don't."
Orochimaru laughs at that, but he turns to leave.
"At any rate, think on it, Sasuke, my boy. I know you've finally gotten serious about restoring your clan, but it will be quite a while before you're successful. The traditional method may provide momentary gratification, but it takes so long, does it not?"
"Now you're just asking for your tongue to be ripped out."
"Heh. Many have tried."
"You've certainly changed your tune over the years, old man."
His former mentor raises one hand in a dismissive wave. "It's simply another experiment, Sasuke, my boy. In all things, I will always be a seeker of knowledge first."
With a flicker of movement, he is gone and Sasuke is left with only the echoing, lilting voice whispering on the wind.
"Consider it..."
つづく