Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sasuke woke up to see a white ceiling above him. Everything around him was bright and white. He saw a woman in white looking at a clipboard next to him. When he tried to sit up, the woman turned to him and smiled sweetly. Then he remembered everything, his brother, Kaen, and the death of his clan. He almost jumped off his bed when the nurse quickly held him in place.

"Calm down, Sasuke-kun, wait until I call for the doctor," The woman left quickly.

Sasuke didn't know what happened after Kaen knocked him down. Seeing that he was still alive meant that he had defeated Itachi. The words from his brother still were ringing in Sasuke's ears. He killed everyone, all the clan members, including his parents. He wanted this to be a nightmare, as even thinking about it, Sasuke couldn't breathe.

When the woman in white returned, she didn't return with the doctor as she said but with the Third Hokage. There was a lot on Sasuke's mind, and he couldn't think straightly. When the Third Hokage put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him back to the bed, Sasuke calmed down. Seeing the old man's benevolent smile put Sasuke at ease, as everything was all right.

"I am sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I will need to hear what happened yesterday," The Third Hokage said with a sad tone. "Don't try to push yourself and tell me what you know, slowly. I can stay all day."

"My brother, the clan, my parents," Sasuke didn't know what to say. He didn't know what had happened.

"I am sorry, but your parents and the rest of the clan are dead," These words confirmed what Sasuke knew, yet it only hurt more.

The Third Hokage waited until Sasuke calmed down and then offered a class of water. Sasuke gulped down the cold water and sat up on the bed. He started to remember what had happened yesterday. From the moment he woke up to the moment he was knocked down. The more he remembered, the more he wanted to forget.

"I was returning home," Sasuke started slowly. "Kaen was with me. Once we reached the Uchiha compound, Kaen got vigilant as he expected something. Before we arrived at my house, we saw bodies lying on the ground. I ran to my house, where Itachi was waiting for me. Itachi said that he killed everyone to test his eyes. Then Kaen pushed me back and faced Itachi. I don't remember anything else."

"It is fine, Sasuke. Please rest for now," The Third Hokage looked at Sasuke with pitying eyes.

"What about Itachi? Kaen? What happened to them?" Sasuke almost yelled out his questions.

"Itachi managed to run away. We still didn't find Kaen's body," The Third Hokage informed Sasuke. "When we arrived, you were under a protecting barrier. Not far away, a fight occurred. We found some of Kaen's arrows and seals and blood."

Sasuke knew it wasn't uncommon for a shinobi body to be destroyed or incinerated by fire. From the Third Hokage's words, Sasuke concluded that Kaen had been killed. Everyone in the clan was dead, and his brother was the one who did it. Sasuke felt sick and felt his stomach churn inside.

He felt anger, hatred, betrayal, and guilt. If not for him, Kaen might have been able to escape. But he stayed to protect him. Realizing this, he promised not to let anyone else die for him. He will not let anyone else get hurt because of him. He was the last Uchiha, and he would avenge his clan and not make Kaen's sacrifice futile. He will do it alone.

…

Kaen was in heaven, surrounded by fluffy kittens who purred as he petted them or scratched their heads. Some lay on his stomach, some on his legs and nuzzled near him. He watched the blue sky while playing with these kittens on the soft ground. To Kaen, this was heaven; he could just lay there, not doing anything else.

"Enough of resting, you damn human," A cat suddenly jumped on Kaen, scaring the rest of the kittens. "You must pass my test if you want to leave his place."

"But I don't want to," Kaen replied and started scratching the cat that was talking to him. "I would like to stay here forever."

"Then I will bury you here."

The cat at first enjoyed Kaen scratching its shin but then bit his finger and jumped away. When the cat landed on the ground, he turned into Kaen. Kaen looked at himself. It was a perfect copy. It was expected as the cat was Bakeneko, at least that's what other cats called him. Kaen sighed. He stayed for too long there, anyway. It was time to finish the test.

"Fine."

Kaen slowly and lazily got up and stood in front of Bakeneko. His sharingan blazed into three tomoe as he unsealed his bow and arrows. Bakeneko couldn't copy sharingan, but everything else was on the table. As they looked at each other, they jumped back simultaneously and fired a single arrow. The arrows collided in the air and dropped to the ground.

"Remember, I am an almost perfect copy of yourself. I can use all the skills you can. I know all your abilities and weaknesses."

"Yeah, I know," Kaen replied, as it wasn't the first time-fighting Bakeneko.

Kaen knew of his weakness too. Close combat was his biggest weakness, so he chose to rush at his copy rather than fight it from a distance. Their bows clashed, but the copy wasn't pushed back. Bakeneko knew what Kaen would do before he did it. Kaen knew that too. So, he needed to counter his counters.

It was a chess game, with each player knowing his opponent's moves. No matter what, he couldn't gain the advantage in this fight. Yet he didn't grow frustrated as he wasn't at a disadvantage either. Bakeneko was as strong and fast as Kaen, but he didn't have a sharingan. Kaen could see more, and the only way to win an even battle was to use the terrain.

Kaen pushed himself and Bakeneko to a small pond. There he broke off from Bakeneko and fired Great fireball jutsu at him. The same jutsu was returned to Kaen. As the fireballs collided, they created an explosion that boiled the water in the pond, and steam rose, covering both of them.

Kaen couldn't see through the steam, but he could see movements in it. The slight wind disturbance indicated the movement of Bakeneko. Finding him, Kaen needed to decide where he should attack him. Moving to his back would take too long. He could easily protect himself if Kaen attacked from his side, so above was the only choice left.

When Bakeneko moved towards him, Kaen jumped above him and delivered a kick to his head. The kick was the same that Kaen received from the masked man. It was powerful, and Bakeneko didn't manage to put his defenses up in time. Kaen's copy was sent flying through the steam to the soft grass. Bakeneko turned back to himself as he hit the ground.

"That's why I hate kekkai genkai. I can't copy it," Bakeneko looked fine as he spoke, but soon, he turned back into a white cat. "Well, you used something I couldn't counter, so it is your win."

"Thank you," Kaen walked to the cat and petted him. It took a few tries to find a way to win, but he finally did.

"Now that I have acknowledged you, you will have my contract and can summon me," Bakeneko said, and a scroll appeared in the smoke. "Leave a drop of your blood on the scroll, and the contract will be made."

Kaen did as he was told, then picked Bakeneko in his arms and returned to the resting place he had stayed for the last couple of days. His hands were healed mostly, but after using them for the fight, they got stiff. Kaen didn't know what to expect when he returned to Konoha, so he rested for a bit longer.

"Kaen boy," Rinka, a ninja cat that almost looked like a tanuki, jumped on Kaen's head.

"You passed the test, mew," Hina, another ninja cat, rubbed her head on Kaen's leg, waiting for a treat.

"Sorry, Hina, I don't have anything to offer you," Kaen said as he took Rinka from his head.

"Then you should return home, mew. Bring treats to me, mew."

"Fine, I will do that," Kaen scratched Hina's head.

"Enough, don't bother us," Bakeneko yelled at the cats as he rubbed his head against Kaen's chest.

Kaen lay on the grass and waited for the other cats to come and lay next to him or on him. Closing his eyes, Kaen felt like he was in heaven. The soft purr of the cats soon put Kaen to sleep. After so long, he didn't have any nightmares.

…

Yugao was investigating the Uchiha compound with Kakashi Hatake. Their purpose was to identify the bodies. Nobody apart from ANBU could enter the compound, not even the last surviving member of the clan. There were plenty of blood splatters, cracked walls, and even body parts. Still, only one place looked like a battlefield and not a massacre.

"I have never seen any jutsu that could make such marks," Yugao commented, looking at the ground.

"It was fire jutsu," Kakashi replied.

"It should be well concentrated to leave the ground burned in one straight line. Maybe it was fire dragon jutsu."

"It is complicated to control fire jutsu, so most of them spread in all directions. Even fire dragon is no exception," Kakashi responded. "This one is. The wind restrained it."

"What about this explosion?" Yugao asked, jumping to a massive crater at the trail's end.

"It wasn't just the fire jutsu that made it. I can't discern what kind of jutsu it was. If I had to guess, it was a defensive one."

"I know Itachi is a prodigy, but I didn't think he would be so powerful," Yugao said. "The question is, who was his opponent?"

"It could have been Fugaku Uchiha, but from what Sasuke-kun has said, it is more likely was Kaen Uchiha."

"He is the only Uchiha who uses a bow and arrows," Yugao agreed. "He should be a genin, a fallen prodigy. How is it possible for him to exert so much power?"

"Captain," Another member of ANBU appeared before Kakashi could reply. "We found another dozen seals hidden in the ground and poles."

"The whole compound was like a death trap," Yugao commented. "It should take months to prepare this much."

The more their investigated, the more they were surprised, at least she was. There were still a few bodies missing, including Kaen's. The consensus was that Itachi took the bodies with him or destroyed them to hide the jutsu he was using. After the massacre, shinobi teams were sent to look for him, but he disappeared. Not even Kakashi could find him.

It was difficult to look at the last smaller crater that still had blood stains in it. It was where presumably, Kaen had died. Yugao didn't know Kaen well, but she felt she could call him a friend. She didn't have many friends, so the ones she had, cherished all that more.

"Comb the compound once more," Kakashi ordered, looking at Yugao. "Then we will leave it to others to clean it up?"

"Yes, captain," Just as we prepared to leave, a burst of smoke gathered our attention.

"Yo," A young man with black hair appeared as Yugao turned to look at him. "Still have not to clean the mess up?"

"State your name," Four members of ANBU surrounded the man.

"Kaen Uchiha, genin of Konoha," He replied without a worry. "And yes, I will come with you to Hokage-sama."

"Good," Kakashi said behind Kaen.

"Oh, Kakashi-san, don't scare me," Kaen laughed as he turned to face Kakashi. "I almost attacked you. That would have been awkward."