Awaken from the Ashes (Naruto Childhood Friend Story)

Prologue 3: Uchiha

It had been about a year after she'd started at the academy when Kaya started hearing strange rumours going around. People were talking, and seeing as she has a friend who is often enough a topic of gossip, she had trained her ears to be able to detect it. But what they were talking about wasn't Naruto this time. They were all talking about one thing, a shocking event that had taken place just recently. "The Uchiha clan has been massacred."

Upon hearing the name, Kaya was instantly reminded of one of her more quiet but talented classmates. Uchiha Sasuke. She remembers seeing him in class on the day the rumours had started, and he wore a dark look in his eyes. It wasn't until she started hearing the gossip everywhere that she realized it was true, not just some rumour someone decided to start for no reason.

When she thought of her dark haired classmate, Kaya couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with sadness. In just one night, he lost everything. She couldn't imagine how awful that would feel, or how stressful. Remembering the look the boy recently started to wear in his eyes made Kaya realize that what he was going through was not something she would be able to bear, and it wasn't fair that he had to go through that.

Kaya hadn't spoken much to Sasuke since she started school because he's always been the distant type, always quiet and filled with pride. But she knew he would be different now. On the outside, he would still be the quiet genius of the class, the one who always keeps up a cool façade, but she knew he wouldn't be the same on the inside. She only hoped there was some way to help him through it.

When she got into class that morning, she couldn't help but allow her gaze to drift in his direction. Sasuke sat at the back of the class, near the window. He had his head rested on his hand as he gazed out the window, seemingly in thought. Kaya noticed the sad, longing look in his eyes, as well as something similar to rage that seemed to boil underneath. He was no doubt thinking about his clan, his family.

Kaya looked away as she walked to her seat. She had gotten to class early that day, so there weren't many people there yet, Naruto being among the missing since he doesn't normally show up until class is about to start. She took the time to consider what she would do. Is there anything she can do to help Sasuke? It's not like she can revive the dead, but maybe... maybe there's a way she can help support him?

During lunch that day, she decided to follow Sasuke outside, where she found him sitting alone in a tree. She jumped up to the tree as well, finding that there was plenty of space on the branch Sasuke was on.

"Hey." She spoke gently and calmly, trying to keep her voice considerate and supportive rather than loud and obnoxious. Sasuke shot her a brief glare before looking away and speaking.

"Go away. I don't need your company." He said in a cold tone. Kaya sighed, realizing that her initial plan had failed. But, she understood.

"Y'know, it's okay if you want to be alone to deal with your emotions and stuff, but sometimes it can be too much to handle alone. If you ever need a friend or someone to talk to, I'm always around. It's always good to have people around you who care about you. So, um, I guess what I'm trying to say is don't push people away too much or else you might lose your bonds of friendship and it will only make it hurt more." She tried explaining thoughtfully.

The anger that Sasuke had kept bottled up came slightly to the surface and he snapped. "You don't understand, so stop talking to me like you do! I don't need you or anyone else. I'll do things on my own."

Kaya's heart hurt when he said that. She could see it in his eyes that it wasn't true. He was lonely, she could tell. Before she could think about it, Kaya gave Sasuke a gentle hug to try to help support the boy. He froze, unsure of how he was supposed to react. After a long moment, it started to rain, but only around them. Kaya knew it wasn't coming from the sky, but she would never tell anyone that she had seen Sasuke cry. She knew he wouldn't appreciate that.