PREVIOUS NIGHT
It was two o'clock in the night, and the entire Uchiha clan compound was completely drowned in a heavy, silent darkness. The lively, bustling neighborhood from the daytime had vanished, replaced by quite stillness.
The air was crisp and freezing cold, biting gently at Sasuke's skin as he walked through the shadows.
The grand traditional houses looked like massive, sleeping giants under the dark sky. Their sliding paper doors were shut tight, and every single light inside had been extinguished hours ago.
Thick, heavy fog rolled in from the nearby forests, clinging lazily to the stone-paved pathways and the curved tiled roofs. The only sounds echoing through the empty district were the low rustling sounds of the wind through the tall bamboo trees and the distant, rushing roar of the Naka River.
Moving like an absolute ghost, twelve-year-old Sasuke slipped through the pitch-black alleys. He kept his footsteps completely silent, blending effortlessly into the darkness where even the relaxed night guards couldn't see him.
His eyes were locked straight ahead, his instincts fully alert as he headed directly toward the quiet, isolated grounds of the Naka Shrine, completely unaware of the terrifying trap waiting for him in the deep blackness below.
Sasuke slipped through the creaking wooden doors of the main hall of the Naka Shrine, his body moving so smoothly that he did not make even a fraction of a sound against the polished floorboards.
Inside, the shrine was an absolute void of darkness. The only light came from the faint, silvery moonlight slicing through the high, narrow windows, casting a long, shadow across the empty room.
The air inside was entirely different from the outside. It was completely freezing cold, and smelled heavily of old wood, dust, and ancient incense.
Sasuke stood perfectly still just inside the entrance for a few quiet seconds. He held his breath, his dark eyes scanning every single corner of the hall. Nothing moved. The silence was so heavy that he could hear the rhythmic thumping of his own heart inside his ears.
'Perfect!' he thought to himself, a small sense of relief washing over his tense muscles. 'The guards don't patrol inside the holy grounds at this hour. I can hide down below until morning.'
With his target in mind, he moved deeper into the shadows of the hall, walking toward the large, heavy door at the very back. Right in front of the altar lay the main tatami mat.
Sasuke knew the grand secret of this place. He knew that beneath this ordinary piece of straw flooring lay the hidden stone staircase leading down into the deepest, most sacred room of the Uchiha clan—the secret underground meeting hall.
He dropped to one knee, the wooden floor cold against his shin. He reached out with both hands, his fingers gripping the rough edges of the tatami mat.
He was careful, incredibly careful. He lifted it just an inch at a time, sliding it back with agonizing slowness so the friction wouldn't make a scraping sound.
SLIDE...
The mat moved, revealing the dark, square opening in the floor. Below it, a flight of steep stone steps descended into a pitch-black place.
Sasuke let out a very faint, quiet breath through his nose. He took hold of the edge of the opening, shifting his weight so he could step his right foot down onto the very first stone stair.
But just as the tip of his sandal hovered over the dark stair—
TAP
It was a sound so microscopic, so incredibly faint, that a regular person would have completely missed it. But Sasuke was a trained ninja. His ears twitched. It sounded like the soft, deliberate press of a boot against stone, echoing from the absolute bottom of the stairs.
Sasuke's entire body froze instantly. His foot remained suspended in the empty air, completely paralyzed. His heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second. 'What was that?' his mind whispered, a sudden jolt of fear was shooting his nervous system.
He strained his ears, his body locking into place like a stone statue. He didn't dare to breathe. He didn't dare to blink. He just listened, staring intensely into the black void beneath him.
CLINK
A second sound followed. It was the sharp, metallic brush of cold steel. The unmistakable, terrifying sound of a kunai being slowly drawn from a leather holster down in the dark.
'Someone is down there—' Sasuke's brain screamed, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. 'Someone is hiding in the secret room!'
Before he could even process who or what it could be, a suffocating wave of pressure suddenly leaked out from the opening of the floor. It wasn't a visible attack, but a chakra signature.
It was incredibly faint, masked with master-level skill, but the sheer quality of it was horrifying. It felt heavy, entirely malicious, and oozed a toxic, freezing coldness that made Sasuke's skin crawl instantly.
The sheer weight of that dark presence felt like an invisible hand wrapping tightly around his throat, choking the air right out of his lungs.
'This chakra... it's disgusting—' Sasuke thought frantically, his eyes wide in pure, unadulterated terror.
'Who is this? How did anyone even get down there?!'
Down in the blackness, another slow, deliberate footstep echoed.
STEP
It was moving closer to the bottom of the stairs. The presence was rising. Whoever was down there had heard the tatami mat slide.
They knew someone was at the top of the stairs. And they were walking up, completely ready to slaughter the intruder without a single shred of mercy.
'If I take one step down, I am dead—' Sasuke realized, his future survival instincts violently taking over his 12-year-old brain.
Every single nerve in his body was screaming at him, a wild, chaotic alarm blasting inside his mind. 'RUN! RUN RIGHT NOW! DO NOT LOOK BACK!'
His survival reflex snapped the paralysis. Sasuke didn't try to close the mat. He didn't try to hide his tracks. Acting on pure, raw adrenaline, he spun around on his heel, pushed off the floor with all the strength in his legs, and launched himself backward.
He became a blur of motion. He sprinted across the main hall, his feet barely touching the wood, and threw himself out of the shrine's side window, vanishing completely into the foggy, silent night just as the dark presence reached the top of the stairs.
Down in the suffocating darkness of the underground stairwell, the heavy fabric of a dark cloak rustled as a figure slowly ascended the stone steps.
The shadow stepped into the dim, silver moonlight of the main shrine hall, pausing right beside the open, square hole in the floorboards.
The cloaked man stared down at the empty space where Sasuke had been standing just a second ago. He slowly loosened his grip on his cold kunai, a low, raspy chuckle vibrating in his chest.
"Smart brat..." the man muttered into the quiet room, his voice dripping with a chilling, dangerous amusement. "Good that you escaped... or else it would have been the last day for you."
He turned around, his cloak swirling around his ankles as he prepared to head back down into the absolute blackness of his hiding spot.
But as his eyes caught the messy layout of the floor, he stopped again, letting out a heavy, thoroughly annoyed sigh.
"At least you could have closed the mat—" he muttered under his breath, shaking his head in sheer disbelief at the kid's bad manners before sliding the heavy tatami mat perfectly back into place himself.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was running through the foggy, freezing night like a wild animal fleeing for its life. The wind whipped violently against his face, stinging his cheeks, but he didn't care. He didn't dare to look back over his shoulder even once.
His heart was hammering so loudly against his ribs that it felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest. His lungs burned for air, gasping in the misty air as he leaped across fences and slipped through the pitch-black shadows of the alleyways.
'What was that... What the hell was that?!' Sasuke screamed in his own mind, his teeth chattering from a mix of adrenaline and pure horror.
He kept running until his legs gave up, eventually diving into the deep, messy bushes near the edge of the rushing Naka River.
He curled his small body into a tight ball, pressing his hand firmly over his mouth to muffle his heavy, frantic breathing. He stayed hidden in those dark, wet leaves for the rest of the night, awake, terrified, and staring blankly into the dark fog until the first light of dawn finally broke over the horizon.
PRESENT DAY: AFTERNOON
SNAP.
A warm, gentle breeze suddenly swept across Sasuke's face, snapping him right out of the terrifying memory.
The dark, freezing night vanished in an instant, replaced by the bright, golden sunlight of the present afternoon. Sasuke blinked quickly, finding himself standing right back on the dirt path just outside the stone torii gate of the Naka Shrine.
He lowered his hand, realizing he was still gripping the bamboo paper containing the two remaining onigiri.
He took a long, shaky breath, forcing the cold sweat on his forehead to dry under the warm sun. He looked down at his hands. They were still trembling slightly from the memory of that suffocating chakra. 'Calm down—' he told himself, clenching his jaw tightly. 'It's afternoon now. The sun is out. I'm safe.'
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sasuke took a large bite out of his half-eaten rice ball, chewing quickly to give his body some energy. He couldn't afford to be distracted by fear. He had a mission to do, and he needed to find out exactly what was happening in this era.
With his lunch held tightly in his hand, Sasuke turned away from the creepy shrine and began walking slowly down the scenic path that ran alongside the sparkling, rushing waters of the Naka River.
The beautiful afternoon light danced over the riverbanks, making the entire world look peaceful and safe—a total contrast to the nightmare he had survived just hours ago.
Sasuke veered off the dirt path, stepping onto the lush, vibrant green grass that carpeted the banks of the Naka River.
The afternoon heat was perfectly balanced by the cool, refreshing mist rising from the sparkling water. Finding a nice, gentle slope under the shade of a large, whispering willow tree, Sasuke let out a soft sigh and let his body sink down.
He laid flat on his back right there in the soft grass, stretching his legs out comfortably. He tucked one arm beneath his head to act as a cushion, staring up through the canopy of leaves at the vast, bright blue sky above.
Holding his half-eaten lunch in his other hand, Sasuke took a slow, peaceful bite of his onigiri. The savory crunch of the seaweed and the warmth of the seasoned rice tasted absolutely incredible after a long, exhausting night.
He chewed lazily, listening to the soothing, rhythmic rushing sound of the river flowing over the smooth river stones nearby.
For the first time in hours, the heavy tension completely drained from his shoulders.
Laying here in the grass, relaxing in the gentle afternoon sun, the terrifying memory of the shrine basement felt miles away. It was just him, the warm breeze, and his favorite rice balls, enjoying a rare moment of absolute peace in his clan's beautiful past.
Sasuke was just about to take another slow bite of his food, completely relaxed in the soft grass, when the calm afternoon air suddenly shifted.
Right in front of his eyes, the gentle blue sky above him was instantly erased. A violent, blazing reflection of bright red and roaring orange light flashed across Sasuke's face.
The heat hit his skin like a sudden wave, making the cool river mist evaporate in an instant. The bright, explosive colors danced wildly in his wide pupils, painting the green willow leaves above into a fiery gold.
Sasuke's ninja reflexes kicked in before his brain could even process what was happening. He instantly vaulted his body upward, snapping from a flat lay to a sharp, defensive crouch in the grass. His half-eaten onigiri nearly slipped from his fingers as his hand instinctively reached back toward his weapons pouch.
'What the—?!' Sasuke thought, his teeth clenching tightly as his dark eyes locked onto the source of the sudden, blinding heat. 'An attack?!'
But as the smoke cleared over the rushing waters of the Naka River, Sasuke's entire universe came to a screeching halt.
Standing on the smooth river stones just a few yards away was a tiny, small child. The boy couldn't have been more than five years old. He was wearing a small, dark blue high-collared shirt with the Uchiha fan proudly stamped on his tiny back.
His small fingers were still woven together in a perfect, flawless Tiger hand seal, and a few stray embers of orange fire were still drifting out from his small, puffed-out lips.
The heat radiating off the river stones was immense. The child had just unleashed a beautifully massive, perfectly formed fireball that had scorched the air right above the water. It was the signature Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu—a technique that usually took mature Genin years to master.
Sasuke's hand froze entirely against his pouch. His breath was completely trapped in his throat, and his jaw went slack as he stared at the little boy's face.
The child wiped a small smudge of charcoal from his chubby cheek with the back of his tiny hand, breathing slightly hard but keeping his dark, intelligent eyes focused intensely on the water.
It was him.
It was....
"UCHIHA ITACHI —"
Sasuke stood completely frozen in the grass, his wide dark eyes locked onto the tiny five-year-old boy. The world around him seemed to lose all its sound.
The rushing of the Naka River faded into a dull, distant hum as a violent, suffocating wave of post-traumatic stress crashed over his brain like an ocean.
Suddenly, the bright afternoon sunlight fractured into pieces.
In his mind, the peaceful riverbank vanished. It was replaced by a dark, blood-red moon hanging over a silent, frozen street. Sasuke's vision blurred as a horrific rush of memories flooded his consciousness—the smell of fresh blood filling the air, the cold, lifeless bodies of his clan's aunt and uncle slumping onto the floorboards, and the terrifying shadow of a man standing over his parents' corpses, holding a dripping, crimson blade.
The image of that cruel, adult murderer overlapped perfectly with the innocent face of the small child standing right in front of him.
'He killed them... He's going to kill everyone...' a dark, frantic voice whispered inside Sasuke's fractured mind.
He didn't want to do it. Deep down, his conscious mind was screaming at him to stop, to think, to hold back. But his body completely betrayed him. Trapped in the memories of trauma, his muscles reacted entirely on survival reflex.
His hand moved completely on its own, snapping backward into his weapons pouch and ripping his sharp, silver kunai from its holster.
SHHHK!
With a sudden, violent burst of speed, Sasuke unleashed a desperate Shunshin no Jutsu. He vanished from the grass in a blur of smoke, tearing through the air across the river stones.
An instant later, he materialized directly in front of the tiny toddler, his face completely twisted in a mask of pure, agonized rage.
Tears welled up in his wide, trembling eyes as a raw, blood-curdling scream tore right out of his throat, echoing violently across the quiet riverbank.
The last shred of reason inside Sasuke's mind finally shattered.
"YOU MURDERERRRRRRR!!!"
Itachi's eyes widened in absolute shock. He didn't even have time to raise his small hands or form a defensive seal. He was just a small child, completely defenseless against the terrifying speed of a ninja from the future.
Sasuke swung his arm forward, his teeth bared, the cold edge of the kunai slicing through the air, aimed directly at the little boy's exposed throat.
He was a mere millimeter away from ending the future tragedy right then and there—
But just before the sharp steel could pierce the child's skin, a blinding blur of white and blue crossed his vision.
SLAP!
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⚡NEXT CHAPTER⚡
One meeting changes everything.
A forgotten promise...
A pair of tear-filled eyes...
And a single step that can never be taken back.
As the river continues to flow beneath the fading evening sky, hidden truths quietly begin to surface.
Some wounds refuse to heal.
Some names refuse to be forgotten.
And for one broken soul...
...this is only the beginning of an even greater tragedy.
👉Chapter 51: Beneath The Willow Tree
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
".... I will not hesitate to strike you down myself."
"....Let her be safe. Let my children be alive!'
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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