*Waterfall Village*
The forest carried the stillness of night. The last traces of twilight had bled away, leaving only deep indigo sky and the faint scatter of stars peeking between drifting clouds. The air was cool and sharp, the smell of damp leaves heavy in the clearing.
On a flat rock near the heart of the grove, Sasuke sat cross-legged. His bare chest rose and fell in steady rhythm, the boy's body gleaming faintly in the starlight, still marked by hours of training. His eyes were closed, his face taut with concentration, though loneliness hung in the quiet like an unseen weight.
Footsteps broke the silence.
"Happy birthday, Sasuke."
The boy's eyes snapped open. He turned quickly, his small frame tense—until his gaze settled on the familiar figure.
"…Shisui?"
The older Uchiha's expression softened. He stepped closer, a faint smile tugging at his lips though it carried more warmth than ease. "Do you think I'd let you spend your birthday alone?"
Sasuke blinked, surprise flickering across his face before fading into something quieter. His voice was low, almost embarrassed. "…I forgot it was today."
Shisui chuckled softly, crouching until he was level with him. "Then it's a good thing I didn't."
In his hands rested a small wooden box. Its grain was smooth from careful keeping, its edges worn with age. Shisui held it out with both palms, his voice gentling. "I found this when I was looking through your home. Your mother kept it safe. I think… it was meant for you."
Sasuke's dark eyes fixed on the box, suspicion and longing warring across his young face. Slowly, he reached out and took it. The wood felt cool, heavier than it looked. For a long moment he only stared at it, then lifted the lid.
Inside lay a necklace. The thread was dark, woven from a strange fiber that shimmered faintly, as though holding light of its own. Hanging from it was a round pendant of polished metal, the Uchiha clan crest engraved sharp and proud.
Sasuke's breath stilled. His small hand trembled as it reached for the piece.
The moment his fingers brushed the pendant, a faint red glow stirred.
Shisui's Mangekyou bloomed instantly, tomoe twisting into their dreaded shape as he studied the chakra pouring from the necklace. From the shadows of the trees, another pair of Mangekyou Sharingan opened silently—Itachi's eyes spinning cold in the dark, unseen by Sasuke, but not by Shisui.
The glow deepened as Sasuke, hesitant but compelled, slid the thread over his head. The pendant came to rest against his chest.
The world ignited.
A blinding crimson radiance burst forth, flooding the grove. The trees shuddered under its pressure, shadows flung wild across the earth. The air vibrated, thick with power, the ground trembling faintly beneath the surge.
Shisui clenched his jaw, Mangekyou tracking the storm with desperate precision. From the treeline, Itachi's eyes tightened, his heart twisting as he beheld his little brother engulfed in the impossible light.
The Uchiha crest engraved on the pendant seared once, then vanished as the brilliance dimmed. What remained was a plain, smooth disc, glowing faintly with heat against Sasuke's skin.
And then came the flood.
Sasuke's chakra erupted outward, wild and crushing. Leaves ripped from their branches, the pressure pressing the clearing itself to silence.
Shisui's Mangekyou spun, and what he saw left him breathless. This was no passing surge. The change was permanent, woven into the boy's core. Sasuke now stood at the threshold of an elite jōnin's reserves—his chakra anchored, unyielding, reshaped.
Itachi's Mangekyou pierced deeper, reading truths no ordinary eye could. He saw a new nature bloom in Sasuke's chakra. He saw one sharpen to something fierce and unrecognizable, while another remained untouched. His hand curled against the bark of the tree. Mother… this was your safeguard. A piece of you, given to him when I could give nothing.
On the rock, Sasuke trembled, his hand pressed over the glowing pendant. His chest felt aflame, filled with warmth and force that terrified and comforted him all at once. His lips parted, and a broken word slipped free.
"…Mother…"
The glow softened, settling into a steady ember against his skin. The storm of chakra ebbed, but its strength remained—forever altered.
Shisui set a firm hand on Sasuke's shoulder, grounding him. His voice was low, steady despite the awe in his eyes. "That was her gift. A safeguard only you could awaken. Her strength is yours now, always."
Sasuke swallowed hard, his eyes wet but fierce as they clung to the words.
After a pause, Shisui reached into his cloak once more. When his hand emerged, he carried a dagger.
It was unlike any Sasuke had ever seen. The blade carried a subtle curve, just enough to give it an elegant yet dangerous shape, making it appear both graceful and deadly. Forged from chakra metal, its surface shimmered strangely, drawing in the faint starlight and holding it as though the weapon drank the night itself. When tilted, the steel revealed a faint, blood-red sheen that ran along the edge like liquid fire.
Etched faintly near the hilt, so delicate it might vanish if not caught by the light, was the Uchiha clan crest. The metal bore the mark not as decoration but as though it had grown there, fused into the very heart of the weapon. The crest glimmered subtly when chakra stirred in the air, almost as if the weapon itself acknowledged its wielder.
"This isn't just a weapon," Shisui said softly, holding it so Sasuke could see the faint pulse running along its surface. "It's forged from chakra metal. It will carry your chakra, answer to it. Every strike, every ounce of chakra you feed into it… it will return to you, sharper and stronger. As you grow, it will grow with you."
He placed it carefully into Sasuke's palm. The boy's small fingers curled around the hilt, and at once the dagger hummed faintly, a thin ripple of crimson light running across its edge as it responded to his chakra.
Shisui smiled faintly, though his voice carried weight. "It's one of a kind. I had it crafted years ago, but I never found the right person to entrust it to—until now. This is my gift to you, Sasuke. Wield it well, not just as a weapon, but as a reminder… that you're not alone."
Sasuke stared at the blade, his expression hard to read. Awe flickered there, but so did something deeper, quieter—something that steadied the fire in his eyes. He gripped it tighter, nodding once, firm and silent.
In the trees, Itachi's Mangekyou dimmed. His body turned from the scene, grief and pride clawing at him in silence. Forgive me, Sasuke. I could not give you this. But she did. And now Shisui does. Live… live and carry everything we could not.
The shadow withdrew, swallowed by night.
Shisui remained at Sasuke's side, the boy clutching the plain pendant and the dark dagger that thrummed faintly in his grip. The forest was silent save for the ember glow on Sasuke's chest and the faint pulse of chakra through steel. Two gifts—one from a mother's love, one from a brother's bond—anchored him in the dark, a promise of strength for the path ahead.
**End of chapter 12*