Chapter 8 – The Mirror of Crows
"The past does not forgive. It only waits for us to recognize it."
The village was empty.
Sasuke arrived at dusk, his cloak wet from the mist rolling off the mountains. Smoke curled from the remains of huts; the scent of charred wood and fear lingered.Children's toys lay scattered in the mud, trampled. A dog barked somewhere in the ruins, cautious and hungry.
He walked silently. Every step seemed to echo his own failures, every shadow reminded him of the lives he had once destroyed — and the lives he still could not save.
Then he heard it — a scream.High-pitched, terrified, human.
He followed it and found a boy, no older than ten, backed against a broken wall. His eyes were wide with terror, hands trembling as he clutched a small wooden sword.
Sasuke froze. The boy's gaze was accusatory, as though he saw not a protector but a monster.
"You're… a shinobi?" the boy whispered, voice shaking.Sasuke nodded slowly."I won't hurt you," he said. The words felt hollow, even to him.
The boy's expression didn't change."You look… like… like him," he stammered. "Like the man who destroyed my village… like a demon."
Sasuke's chest tightened.He remembered every face, every cry. Every scream that haunted him at night.
"I am not him," he said, almost to himself. "I am… trying to be better."
Suddenly, a shadow moved.A group of mercenaries, armed and merciless, emerged from the wreckage. Their eyes glinted with greed. The village was their prize.
Sasuke's Sharingan activated.He moved like wind and shadow, precise and silent. Each strike disarmed, each movement incapacitated — never killing. Every blow was a reminder of restraint, every dodge a lesson in control.
The boy watched, wide-eyed.At first, he saw the demon. Then… he saw someone protecting what he could not.
After the fight, the mercenaries fled, leaving the village trembling but alive.Sasuke knelt beside the boy. "Are you hurt?"
The boy shook his head. Then, hesitantly, he asked:"Why… do you help us? Why risk yourself for people who fear you?"
Sasuke's gaze drifted to the horizon. The sky was dark, yet the first stars began to appear."I… don't know if I deserve to help. I only know I cannot stand still while others suffer."
The boy nodded slowly, as if understanding and not understanding at the same time.Sasuke turned away, feeling the weight of his own reflection in those young eyes. The mirror of who he had been — the boy who wanted power, the shadow who once destroyed without mercy.
He walked toward the forest, silent and alone, carrying both the victory and the reminder that the past would never release him.
And somewhere in the wind, he imagined the cries of those he had failed, and of those he had saved, mingling together — a chorus that would follow him wherever he went.