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Konoha was not home. Konoha was wary glances and snide comments. Konoha was others whispering the Uchiha name in hushed tones. Konoha was being surrounded by hatred and fear.
Home was the battlefield, where fear meant that you were strong. Home was black hair and red eyes. Home was charred lips and the caw of a crow in the middle of the night. Home was headaches and sore eyes.
Konoha was not home, but the clan was. The fact that the clan, at its core, was part of Konohagakure was simply an unfortunate fact in Emiko’s life. For as long as Emiko could remember, her loyalty was to the clan, and to Konoha only by extension. No matter the pain the Hidden Leaf Village caused her, this particular Uchiha would remain a part of it, so long as her clan was there. She would go wherever her clan went, and protect whatever they protected.
It was for this reason only that Emiko stayed after the massacre. After years of being herded into a far-off corner of the village, feared and hated even as a child, and now completely alone, Emiko still stayed. Her brother, Shisui Uchiha, died with the wish to protect Konoha, and she would honor that wish.
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For the first few years after her clan’s downfall, things were not so bad. She, Itachi, and Sasuke, the children that they were, still had each other. The compound was too quiet at night, and most days were filled with painful memories, but they all still came home to each other. Emiko looked back on those years with fondness now, no matter how painful they had been at the time. She missed the simplicity of that time. Sasuke went to academy. Emiko and Itachi took missions, usually when the other was home to take care of Sasuke. Having all of the Uchiha clan’s savings at their fingertips meant that there was no real need for earning money, but the young shinobi were still determined to become skilled ninjas.
Both Itachi and Emiko had left Anbu directly after the massacre. Itachi because he wanted to be there for his younger brother, and because of the horror he felt realizing what the organization had nearly pushed him to do. Emiko sympathized with his reasoning, but would have stayed had Itachi not asked her to leave one tear-filled night. The older Uchiha so rarely showed emotion, but those first years Emiko saw him cry often. Whenever Sasuke was not there to be brave for, or when there were no other shinobi to impress, the boy acted his age and broke. So, when he told Emiko he was afraid that ANBU would break her the way they broke him, or that she would be killed on a mission before her time, she left.
Emiko had a family and home for four years following the massacre. Eventually, Itachi accepted an S-rank mission to spy on the Akatsuki. Sasuke became a genin and became close to his team. Emiko was happy for him, of course, and rather liked his new teammates and mentor. Soon after the chunin exams, however, Sasuke left Konoha. He was finally old enough to see the pain that surrounded the village, and without Itachi, he had little urge to stay. Naruto, his best friend, followed him. The team disbanded, leaving only Sakura and Kakashi, the earlier of which began studying under Tsunade. Emiko was alone in the compound, her two clanmates having left the village.
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Emiko found herself spending more time with Kakashi. She had known the man first through Itachi and her brother, and then through ANBU itself. It seemed appropriate that he, the only other sharingan user left, would mentor Sasuke and then herself.
Emiko was a Jonin already and didn’t truly need a sensei, but without an Uchiha clan to train with, she felt that she was lacking something. Sasuke having left, Kakashi was without a trainee to pass on his techniques. So, Emiko pestered him into teaching her. She was only 15 at the time and had plenty of youth left. She was also already a killer, and Kakashi was unafraid to saddle her with the horrors of the battlefield.
The remaining Uchiha fell into her own pattern for the following four years. She took whatever missions possible and disregarded the elders that told her to be careful, reminding her that at the moment, she was the last remaining Uchiha, that if she failed to have children before her death, her line would be over. She would snarl and bite back with the fact that Itachi and Sasuke, sons of the last clanhead, were still alive. She would train with Kakashi, eager to practice with another sharingan user. She attached herself to him as closely as possible. She stayed out at night, avoiding going home to an empty house. A completely empty compound. She claimed the title of clan matriarch. She hoped for a crow or hawk to deliver a message from her clanmates, anything to remind her that her family wasn’t dead, that she wasn’t truly alone.
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She received letters from Sasuke, after a while. He said that Orochimaru had been after him, but to not worry. He and Naruto were still together, and had met with the legendary Sannin Jiraiya. Sasuke said he had plans to take care of it. Emiko shuddered, hoping that the youngest Uchiha would not have to delve into the darkness that she and Itachi were consumed by.
Itachi sent a crow to Konoha occasionally, informing the Hokage and her people of the Akatsuki’s plans. But the messages were rare, and Itachi said he was concerned that the Akatsuki was spying on its own members. The messages slowed to a trickle.
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Emiko forced herself to continue life in Konoha. She became a woman. She became harsh and bristled against most of the other village. She gained respect and fear on the battlefield. She mastered jutsus and made old ones her own, thinking of her brother as she took his evasive Body Flicker and made it into something cruel. She went out drinking. She dated even, but stopped when she realized that he could never be part of her clan. She waited for her family to return. She killed enemies on the battlefield, and earned titles such as Raikiri no Emiko. She and Kakashi went out for drinks with his friends in celebration of her victories, since she had few of her own.
She was willing to be used as a tool for the village if it meant that in the end her clan would be safe and together once more. The village recognized her abilities, often sending her on recon missions where her use of Body Flicker and crow summons could be put to use. The Hokage noted that had Emiko not been the possible end of her line, she would want her back on Anbu. The Hokage also asked the now 18 year old if she had thought of marriage, to continue the Uchiha line. Emiko wanted to laugh. The village that once wished for the end of the Uchiha was now desperate for her to build the clan back again. Maybe they thought that her loyalties were to Konoha, and that her children would share the same views. But Emiko was not her brother, and she did not truly hold the Will of Fire.
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When Itachi’s messages came to a complete stop, Emiko decided that she would be the one to retrieve him. It had been four years since he left. Too long. Emiko decided that if her clanmates would not come back to her on their own, she would force them together once more. She disregarded the opposition Lady Tsunade gave her, claiming that she could do what she wished with clan matters. So, Emiko left to retrieve her family and create a home once more.