Life as a shinobi wasn't at all what Sasuke had envisioned.
Every day, they would gather together for training and missions, but Kakashi clearly had little intention of teaching or training them.
So every day was really just them doing a D-rank mission or two before calling it a day.
Though calling them missions was far too generous for what they really were. They were just chores.
Paint a fence, clean some gutters, find a lost pet, and help carry some stones around the village.
Small-time jobs that people didn't want to do, and yet, here they were, slaving away day after day.
Still, Sasuke tried to see through each mission, to follow Kakashi's advice, to look underneath the underneath.
Yet all he saw was how poorly everyone treated Naruto, to a degree that was getting more and more absurd. Many people didn't even want them to do their so-called mission once they realized who they were.
It was only because they didn't dare skip paying for an official mission that they didn't withhold Naruto's cut.
Even Sakura, as dense as she was, had noticed it and was clearly uncomfortable, assuming he was being mistreated for his pranks. While they were annoying, they didn't warrant this kind of behavior.
Sasuke, however, who knew the real reason, only found it even more absurd.
But this wasn't the worst of it. The worst was the fact that Kakashi didn't seem to care at all. He was as useless as a sensei as he could possibly be.
All he did was read his stupid book and make them feel like they were a waste of his time.
This was the reason why he was starting to get more and more frustrated, and Naruto, who didn't know how to hide his feelings, clearly shared that feeling. Only he wasn't frustrated.
He was angry.
So today, after returning from a mission of weeding an old woman's garden, Naruto had had enough.
"What kind of stupid mission is this!?" Naruto shouted, grabbing Kakashi by the collar. "We are shinobi! We should be doing something important, not pulling weeds!"
Yet, despite his outburst, Kakashi barely looked up from his book and just gently knocked his hand away. "Is that so?"
"Yes!" Naruto roared. "We should be hunting down a dangerous missing-nin or something! Not this!"
"We do what the Hokage gives us," Kakashi said calmly, "and he gives us what we are ready for."
"Ready for? We are more than ready for something better!" Naruto continued to argue.
Sasuke agreed with Naruto, but he wasn't going to say anything. Arguing with Kakashi was clearly a waste of breath, as the man was just too stubborn.
"Oh, is that so?" Kakashi asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Alright, tomorrow, I'll see if I can get us a real mission," he said, before he vanished, leaving the three of them standing there.
"See! I told you I could do it!" Naruto cheered, punching the air.
Sasuke couldn't help but sigh. He knew Kakashi was just trying to shut Naruto up, but deep down, he did hope they would get a real mission.
...
"Alright, today I have a special mission," Kakashi announced once he arrived the next morning.
"You are late!" Naruto yelled in frustration.
A frustration shared by both Sasuke and Sakura, though after days of trying to make him show up on time, they knew it was pointless to say anything.
"Sorry I'm late, a black cat crossed my path..." he started to say, only to stop when he saw the angry looks on their faces. "Alright, my bad," he said, though his tone was anything but sorry.
"Now, about the mission," he continued. "This one pays pretty well, so I'm sure you will be very satisfied. It wasn't easy getting you this one."
"What is it? A B-rank mission?" Naruto asked, already excited.
"No, not a B-rank. It's a C-rank mission," Kakashi said.
"C-rank? That's not much better than D-rank," Naruto complained.
"It's better than nothing," Sasuke said, not wanting to miss the chance to get a real mission.
They couldn't see it due to Kakashi's mask, but underneath it, he was smiling.
"Come, the mission is inside the village," he said, as he led them towards the edge of the village.
It didn't take long before Sasuke started to suspect something was up.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as he stopped.
He didn't say anything, he just looked over at Kakashi, who gave him a knowing look.
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Naruto, seeing that both he and Sakura had stopped and were giving Kakashi a dirty look, looked back and forth between them.
"What? What is it?" he asked.
Sasuke didn't answer. He just moved forward on his own.
"Come on, you two, can't you see how eager Sasuke is?" Kakashi teased.
Naruto looked confused, as did Sakura. They shared a look and shrugged their shoulders before following along.
Sasuke didn't need to be told what the mission was. He didn't even wait for Kakashi to tell him.
He just moved forward.
He kept going even as the road grew quiet and silent.
"So, what is the mission?" Naruto asked, clearly hoping for something exciting. Even if it was inside the village, it surely couldn't be as boring as the rest. This one was C-ranked, after all.
"I guess I can reveal it," Kakashi said with a sigh. "You will be cleaning, weeding, doing some repairs, and some painting as needed. A big, full, exhausting day of maintenance!"
Naruto looked at him, clearly confused. "But you said a C-rank mission? This sounds like another D-rank mission."
"Yes, a C-rank one," Kakashi confirmed.
"If I have to paint one more fence, I'm gonna knock it down!" Naruto raged.
"No," Sasuke shot back.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, still confused.
Sasuke didn't have to say anything. The answer was just ahead of them.
A gate allowed entrance to a small, separate section of the village, and atop that gate was a symbol: a red-and-white fan.
The Uchiha district.
It had been years since the clan had been wiped out during a single night, with only one adult and a dozen children making it out alive.
The story was known to everyone in the village, how one brave and wounded kunoichi had crossed the village, desperately carrying as many children as she could.
Even Sakura had heard this story countless times back home when it had first happened.
But it wasn't really until now, when she looked at Sasuke's back, the fan symbol on it, and the symbol on the gate, that she really realized what that story meant for Sasuke.
For the first time, she really looked at Sasuke. Not as her crush, but as the survivor of one of the biggest tragedies the village had ever seen.
"What are we doing here?" she finally managed to ask.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kakashi asked. "We are here to clean up the Uchiha district."
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Clean it? Why?"
Kakashi just looked at Naruto. "Because that is our mission, isn't that right, Sasuke?"
The person in question just glared at him, but he still explained. "Every two weeks, we pay a team of Genin to clean it up. We might not live here anymore, but it is still ours, and just like how we haven't fallen, neither shall this place."
"He is right. This mission is C-rank, but only because the pay is higher and because we have to be careful not to break anything. Other than that, it's just the same as a D-rank, but due to the higher pay, it's very popular," Kakashi said cheerfully.
"Wait... so Sasuke is paying himself to clean his own home?" Naruto asked, confused. "Why?"
"Because Kakashi-sensei accepted the mission, you idiot, and he is paying you to clean it as well." Sakura was tempted to slap him, but she knew Sasuke didn't like it when she did that, so she resisted the urge.
"This is stupid," Sasuke shot back. "The Uchiha pay other Genin to do it, not my team. I thought we were going to get a real mission today."
"I don't see any problem here. This is the mission I got for you," Kakashi said with a lazy shrug. "You're the one who asked for a 'real' mission. This is it. Now, get to work."
Sasuke clenched his fists, but he knew Kakashi was right. There was nothing he could do.
With a sigh, he pushed open the gate, and the three of them stepped into the Uchiha district.
It was a ghost town.
The streets were empty, the houses were silent, and the only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds. The district was in a state of disrepair, with weeds growing through the cracks in the pavement and a layer of dust covering everything.
It was a stark contrast to the rest of the village, which was vibrant and full of life.
This was a graveyard, a place where a proud and powerful clan had been systematically erased, not just from the world, but from the very memory of the village.
Sasuke walked through the streets, his expression unreadable, but Sakura could see the pain in his eyes.
"Sasuke? If your family owns all this, why do you live at Hinata's place?" Naruto asked.
"Because it's not safe here," was all Sasuke said before he walked over to a small shed and took out supplies. "Now, get to work," he commanded, the authority in his tone leaving no room for argument.
Sasuke hadn't been back here since that night, when he returned and found... everyone dead.
He had woken up in the hospital, all alone, not knowing what to think.
It was then that Aiko limped in, flanked by Hiashi and Hizashi, and dragged him off to the Hyūga clan.
She told him that he wasn't alone, that there were others, and they had to stick together, because it wasn't safe out there.
He hadn't questioned it and had no desire to return and face these painful memories.
He pushed the pain down and went to work. Uncle Ryoga's house wasn't looking too bad, but the grass had grown in the last two weeks, and a spider had covered the door in its web.
He didn't hesitate to get to work, tearing the web apart and grabbing the lawnmower.
He didn't want to be here, but he also didn't want the Uchiha district to fall into ruin.
He worked with a single-minded focus, trying to ignore the memories that threatened to overwhelm him.
Naruto and Sakura watched him for a moment before they too went to work, but they were slower, more hesitant.
"This place... it's kinda sad," Naruto said.
(End of chapter)
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