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Why was he doing this?
Why did he have to waste his time doing the impossible?
Why go through the trouble?
Time was limited, he doesn’t know the exact timeline anymore, but he was four years old now.
He knew that it would be happened during his early academic years. That was going to be very soon, and all he had was a half baked plan.
Being reborn as an Uchiha after dying was something that he had read in his past life. He wishes that he had paid more attention because he was in dire need of information. Especially more so because he was reborn as Sasuke Uchiha.
At this moment, Sasuke was babysat by Izumi, his distant cousin. Mikoto, his mother had asked Izumi to look after him, Sasuke remembered a little that Izumi had a crush in Itachi.
His mother was probably playing matchmaker, she knew that where Sasuke was Itachi was bound to follow.
It was curious, how closely woven the clan was.
The cursed clan, they called them, cursed to hate as deeply as they loved.
He saw the other members of the village had mingled well and for the most part got along with each other.
However, his clan had a tight knit interaction subtly going on. He had difficulty putting it into words but it is as if, as cheesy as it sounds, they were one big family. All the pros and cons included.
His mother, outside her role as a homemaker, had many meetings with the clan aunties. They conversed like old friends, but they were also handing in information on the clan’s situation.
Who were ill? Was that family’s monetary struggle going well? How was the new shop built on the neighbourhood to the Uchiha Compound?
Many topics were discussed in a single sitting.
The Uchiha clan also had a strange dedication to the ill, the grieving and the dead.
Mikoto would sometimes allow him to tag along to visit the sick or injured, and if anyone had passed away, his mother would personally offer her condolences as soon as possible both as their Matriarch and as herself.
The dead were always cremated.
The cremation was a whole another affair, a lengthy funeral service. Praying for the parted souls. Praying to Amaterasu, and her unquenchable fire.
The Uchiha were deeply spiritual- they viewed this ceremony as something extremely sacred.
Another was his grandmother leading something like a charity group.
It collected monthly contributions of however much a household was willing to give, which is then separated into many aspects of giving assistance to the community. Money was never outright handed to the needy, Uchiha were proud creatures, unless they had lost their limbs or lost their minds, they never wanted to receive alms.
Instead, these were used to buy produce to sell at a lower price. Depending upon a household income, clan members were sorted on to what rate they could purchase these produce.
Even the members of the clan who were on the outskirts, for where people gathered outcasts were bound to be found, even they were treated with decency. After all, they were still Uchiha.
It was.. a functional community that baffled Sasuke at times, especially within another community like Konoha.(It was a testament to the degree of seclusion and disconnect they suffered)
The aunties and Mikoto also discussed many clan related topics.
Who had been sent on a mission, who had returned, who was on patrol, what little they know about the military force and cases.
There were...discrepancies.
It seems Uchiha members had high mortality rates.
However, it was all hushed up whenever this topic was brought up.
Although he acted disinterested at times, nothing gets past his mother’s eyes, she knew he was listening to everything they said. It has not been brought up again.
She never liked worrying him, she wanted to keep him innocent for a while longer. (“Someday Sasuke, when you’re old enough, you can listen to everything all you want. For now, Let kaa-san keep this, alright?”)
History now and then called them cursed. But all Sasuke saw was how deeply they loved. It bled into every interaction, every action, every word. Sasuke pondered if his love was the one that made him move towards his goal.
No, he didn’t have to hesitate. It was. He dearly loved his clan.
And he had to save it.