Was it Yura's fault that she had no answer? Probably not, but Sasuke couldn't differentiate that. To him she was someone who may have been able to stop the massacre, and yet she'd been off on some mission instead. A mission so intensive that it kept her away from him for all of his life, how else could he not know about her? Had she shown up prior to all of this he'd be delighted to have another clan member, someone he might call family one day. Now though he couldn't accept it, or he was having an awful time of doing so. He ought to be elated that there was someone left, and yet at the same time he felt betrayed by the selfsame person. 

Did he want to be alone? Did he want to accept Yura? Sasuke had no answer, he was torn between these two ideas and was finding it impossible to pick either side. Maybe it was just too soon for someone to be showing up like this; the loss of his family was still raw, and the idea of forming a new one hurt. Wanting to be rid of all this pain, the young Uchiha did the only thing he could think of and tried to leave, desperate to make the discomfort stop. With his book clutched possessively to his chest, Sasuke left the dining room in a hurry and left the house, wanting to get back to the secure, if lonely, home he'd grown up in.

He hadn't made it even out of sight of Yura's home before she came chasing after him, making his pace quicken slightly. If he stopped and talked to her then he might stay, but staying was only going to hurt more. It wasn't until she suddenly grabbed hold of his shoulder and spoke that he stopped, albeit he didn't turn around to face her. He could hear the pain in her voice, and was terribly confused by it. Why was she upset? Her family hadn't died, so what was she crying about? 

[i]This was my clan too...[/i]

That's right... It had been her clan. Away on a mission or not, Yura must have had some family here. Even if she didn't she must have known someone, or been close to someone. Sasuke hadn't really considered that before, he'd only thought of his own losses without considering hers too. Was she just as sad as he was then? But she was managing to smile, why? Because of him? Again his heart twisted painfully, but for a different reason this time; Yura was able to find happiness in this and yet he couldn't. There was only one way he could feasibly see doing so, yet that meant accepting a woman he was still unfamiliar with, and somehow moving on from what had just happened. Could he move on? There may never be a 'moving on', but maybe he should try living at the very least.


Nervously, Sasuke turned himself around to face Yura, glancing up at her face to meet her gaze. His own eyes were still red around the lids and raw from crying, his cheeks damp with tears and his lips still quivering. She was trying to help him through all of this, and while he may still be reeling, for the first time he had a true sense of support. She was here now, even if she hadn't been then, and in its own way that was just as important. His shell of resilience, however thin it might have been, finally broke at that second, giving way to the ruined child beneath. With a loud, pained wail he dropped his books at his feet, shuffling over to Yura and burying himself against her stomach, clutching to her and desperate for comfort. She was not his mother, nor would she ever be. She couldn't replace his family or undo the tragedy that he had witnessed, none of that was possible. But maybe, just maybe, she could help him start over. Maybe life wasn't so pointless after all.