It was late at night; I was about to enter Dad's study to talk to him but stopped when I heard the voices of the other elders coming from inside.
I wouldn't usually care and would have just left or entered, but as I overheard what one of the elders said, my blood ran cold: "Hiashi, the Uchiha clan has been... massacred."
"What! By who?!"
"Itachi Uchiha."
"Any survivors?"
"Just one. Sasuke Uchiha."
They continued talking, discussing the issue, but I wasn't listening anymore; I wasn't able to. My mind was somewhere else.
It had been a while since I hung out with Sasuke, mainly because I'd been spending more time with Naruto.
Memories of how I first met Sasuke came flooding back to me.
I was only four and had skipped training, wandering down the street when I bumped into two people, one being a kid and the other a teenager.
"Sorry, I should've been paying closer attention," I said, looking up at them.
"It's fine. Are you okay?" they asked in a soothing voice.
"Yeah."
"Looks like you're the same age as my little brother."
I turned to the boy next to him and introduced myself, "I'm Hinoka Hyuga. What's your name?"
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," the boy replied, glaring at me for some reason.
My stomach suddenly growled, making me blush out of embarrassment. Sasuke stifled his laughter, and the teenager chuckled before suggesting, "Why don't we get something to eat?"
"Really!" I beamed with a big smile.
I got to know Sasuke better but had to leave. Soon, I found myself frequently going to their house to hang out with Sasuke, or more accurately, to compete with him. We weren't exactly friends; we were more like rivals, competing in everything—eating, smarts, speed... We'd also watch Itachi train, and his sessions were intense and cool. Both Sasuke and I aimed to be stronger than Itachi.
His mother, Mikoto, was always kind to me, while all his father did was glare at me. He looked at me as though he wanted to kick me out, but Mikoto always seemed to calm him down and lead him away from us.
It was simply unbelievable that Itachi would massacre the Uchiha clan. He was always kind to me and loved Sasuke. I needed to find Sasuke, I needed to know the truth, and of course-
I sprinted towards where Sasuke and I usually sparred, bypassing the Uchiha compound, knowing he'd be training for revenge.
I had to be there for him; after everything, there's no way he wouldn't be traumatized or at least scared.
Spotting him mid-spar, I rushed over.
I stopped in front of him, hesitating. What do you even tell someone who just had their whole clan massacred?
'How are you? Or maybe at least you don't have to deal with your mom nagging you anymore.'
Sasuke stared back at me, a slight look of surprise on his face as he said, "Hinoka."
I didn't have time to think; my body moved faster than my mind as I ran towards him and hugged him. He didn't push me away, but he didn't hug me back; tears welled up in Sasuke's eyes.
We sat on a bench for a long time.
There was a suffocating silence before I finally managed to speak, "What happened? Did Itachi really... you know? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to of-"
"He killed them, Hinoka. He killed them all," Sasuke said without letting me finish my sentence, "our entire clan, his best friend, our parents! And then..."
Sasuke's hand began to tremble, "And then he made me watch it, over and over and over again. He made me watch him kill our parents! 'When you have the same eyes, come stand before me.' Those were his last words to me. I can't believe he's the same person I admired so much. I will kill him, no matter what. I'll kill my big br- I'll kill Itachi and avenge my clan."
He turned to look at me, and I could see in his eyes he wasn't lying.
Now when I looked at him, I didn't see the kid I'd compete with over dumb stuff; all I could see was someone who wanted blood, someone who was willing to do anything to kill Itachi Uchiha, his own brother.
Yet there was still a hint of a scared boy.
If he went down this path, I'd lose him completely; there would be no trace of this scared boy, of the boy I know and call my friend.
I didn't know how I knew this, but I did, and for some reason the thought of losing him absolutely terrified me.
I placed my hand on his trembling hand, a smile on my face. "I'll help you, Sasuke, if this is truly what you want to do. I'll help you, I promise. After all, no matter what, I'll always be by your side, because... you're my friend."
His face softened, and he slightly smiled before saying, "You're still the same as always." He held my hand, our fingers interlocking.
We stared at each other; it felt as though the whole world had paused.
All I could hear was the rapid beating of my heart. Why? Why was it beating so fast?