each other a little. Shisui was still wondering whether he would join them too
should, but he stayed with his friend Itachi, who was a bit outside.
It was one of the rituals of the old people that konoha had adopted to gather on New Years with no lights and nothing to keep them warm, whether it was freezing or not.
They waited together for the fire, which was brought to the shrine by a procession train. If it is unscathed at the turn of the year
could be brought here, it was a sign of a good year.
"Is it ... taking ... a long time?", Sasuke stuttered. Even if he thought it was great that his breath was like white mist, the cold was unbearable. It felt like death was creeping up their necks.
"Hopefully ... not ..." Sayuri replied. It had never been so long. Did something happen?
With these thoughts, little lights flared up at the end of the great staircase. They stood at the shrine, but they could already hear the singing of the torchbearers.
The main Hyuuga family led the ritual for years. It had something to do with their Kekkegenkai because it was similar to the light that was worshiped here.
Low and high voices that formed a harmony, and the snow-white robes of the torchbearers filled the hearts of the people even without the fire.But it blazed, it crowned the tip of the torch like a king on its throne.
Sasuke's eyes lit up and Sayuri remembered that it was his first time at the ritual.
The procession advanced slowly, Sayuri bobbing to the rhythm of the music
With.
Since Ilian had taught her the power of music, she had gotten a feel for it.
She hummed softly and quickly noticed that Sasuke was doing the same, even if he didn't exactly hit the note.
At last the procession had reached the shrine. Some stood with their torches on the side of the road, waiting for a sign to put the torches in the basin in front of which they were standing.
A young, brown-haired man, whom Sayuri recognized as the head of the Hyuugas, stood with a larger torch in front of a large basin.


"The new year has come,
The light is born again.
The flowers will bloom again
Defiant against the cold times.
The days are getting longer again
The warmth of the sun, however, will last forever "

He put the torch in the basin and instantly high flames reached for the sky.
There were cheers.
The torchbearers standing by the wayside did the same to their chief. It was like the welles of a stone when thrown into the water.
Sayuri released Sasuke and he ran into some other kids, laughed and played with them.
After a while, Sayuri felt warm hands on her neck and she was shocked to see that it was Itachis.
She followed his silent invitation to go after him.
When they could only easily hear the others, their heart suddenly beat as loud as never before. It hurt my chest.
When they both became Anbu, they didn't speak to each other anymore, they hardly saw each other anymore.
They didn't speak now either. They didn't have to either, he didn't want to.
He touched her lightly on both arms and pressed her against a tree as he kissed her tenderly ...
~ House of the Uchihas[Konoha-Gakure]~Staring at the ceiling didn't help much in solving problems.
She just got back from a mission and she still wondered why Itachi had kissed her.
Did he really feel that way? Did he mean it first?
She just couldn't get rid of these questions, they didn't see each other enough for that.
Her heart ached for him, his closeness, his warmth.
I love him!
She started up. How could she think of that?
When she couldn't stand it any longer in bed, she left her room and walked along the wooden path that was enclosed on one side by the garden.
Sasuke ... and Itachi were sitting there, they seemed to have talked for a while.
It was an unusual sight to see the two of them together.
"Say!", Sasuke seemed to have noticed her first, knowing that Itachi had noticed her before.
She sat down between the two and ran Sasuke's hair.
"Hey, I'm not a little kid anymore!" He grumbled.
"Is that when?" Sayuri scoffed.
She tickled something and he slid away from her a little.
Itachi took her hand in silence and stroked it. Then he put his head on her shoulder.
Despite the fast heartbeat, which mostly robbed her of all senses, Sayuri felt that something was wrong.
There was a knock on the front door and the three of them jumped up.
There were three members of the Konoha Police Department. What did they want?
"Itachi Uchiha. We need to talk to you."
"What is it?" He looked at the three with narrowed eyes.
"There was an important meeting yesterday and you weren't there."
"Unfortunately I didn't find the time. I was on a mission ..."
"Have you seen Shisui?" Said one of them, "he was the second who didn't show up yesterday."
Right ... he wasn't there ...
"He disappeared."
Sayuri felt for Itachi's arm and held it tightly. "Really?" She breathed almost tonelessly.
Somewhat calmer, more compassionate one continued: "I know how close you were to him, so ... I find it difficult to say that he apparently jumped into the Akani River ..."Sayuri shivered violently and she thinks she started crying.
"But Shisui is a good swimmer!" She protested.
"But the river is a traveling current"
"But ..." before she could contradict again, but Itachi gestured for her to be silent, otherwise her feelings went through with her.
"Now do you think I killed my best friend?"
He approached the three and Sayuri was reluctant to let him go.
She didn't notice what happened that landed on the floor.
But before he had a chance to attack the three, Sayuri intervened.
"If you think Itachi would kill his best friend for no reason, arrest him and expect his father to get rid of you.
If you are not sure, I advise you to leave on the spot. "
The three backed away, but she did not take it because her pleading
Look was on Itachi.
Please say they are wrong, she pleaded.
When they were gone, Sayuri fell to her knees and began to cry uncontrollably.
Itachi took her in his arms and she buried her face in his hair.

Sayuri wandered the house like a ghost. In the last few days she hardly ate, she couldn't.
Shisui's body had only recently been fished from the Akani River.
It was terrible.
The knowledge that she would never see him again, never hear his stupid jokes again, tormented her.
Where once there was joy there was a big hole, a void that seemed infinite.
Itachi was barely there to comfort her. The grief over the loss of his best friend probably took him along too, but he didn't show it.
He's always been a withdrawn person who doesn't like showing emotions. Or was he hiding?
She couldn't imagine that. Even if he was acting strangely in the time before Shisui's death, Sayuri could not imagine that he would kill him. What reason should he have to do so?
"Tell me, papa," she heard Sasuke say.He was sitting in the kitchen with his parents, "Are there actually many different types of Sharingan?"
Sayuri stopped in front of the door and waited for her uncle's answer.
"Why?" He asked. "Uh, just like that."
The older one was pensive, until he said, "Yes ... There is another variant, but very few have managed to get it so far."
Sayuri didn’t take what they said then.
She ran to the front door, put on her shoes, and left the house without telling anyone.

~ Shrine[Konoha-Gakure]~

It was quiet when she entered the shrine where the New Years ritual was taking place just a few weeks ago. Nobody was here.
She walked across the room with quiet steps. It has to be here somewhere ...
There was a hollow space under the wooden plate on which it stood.
She crouched down and picked up the plate. Below was a staircase that led into the darkness.
She lit a torch and followed down the stairs to a sealed door.
It wasn't long before she opened the door.
Behind it was a room with a small altar.
She walked into the room and immediately saw that someone had been there.
Itachi?
On the altar was the open envelope containing the secret file on the Mangekyo Sharingan.

~ Neighborhood[konoha-Gakure]~

Sayuris ran as fast as she could. It was already night and the sky was crowned by the silver full moon.
She had a bad feeling, it was far too quiet, no lights were on in the houses.
Finding Itachi was her only thought.
Shivering, she entered the house after having lived eleven years of her life.
There was dead silence. "Aunt? Uncle? Sasuke?", She called into the darkness, but no one answered.
She was terrified when she saw two of them lay on the floor. Hoping they would just sleep, she ran to them.
She placed two fingers on the carotid artery, through which no more life flowed.What happened here? She asked horrified.
She got up and followed the invisible, but still fresh, chakra tracks that led out of the house.
Where is he?
She saw Sasuke and Itachi in the square where it was teeming with people the day before. First she wanted to run to the two of them and find out how they are and what happened here, but then she decided to wait in the dark alley to listen to them.
"Why did you let me live?" Stuttered Sasuke. Tears ran down his cheeks, Sayuri would have loved to run to him and hug him. It must have been more terrible for him than it was for her.
"Because you're not worth dying for," his brother replied coldly.
Sayuri ran cold down her spine. Was that the Itachi she knew? Who she'd grown up with and been through so much? Who kissed her?
What had happened to him?
She was taken out of her thoughts by a scream. Sasuke fell to the ground, Itachi stood calmly next to the small body.
"Don't you dare touch him," Sayuri hissed as he bent down and tried to grab Sasuke.
surprised that she could say anything at all, she left the shadow of the building.
Itachi was silent as he eyed her.
"Why did you do that?"
He shook his head "You wouldn't