Title: Personal Account
Characters: Moegi, Konohamaru, Udon.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None, really.
Summary: Moegi doesn't know why, but she's fascinated. (The strange story of a strange girl.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Notes: Set a few years into the current Narutoverse future.
Personal Account
Since the first time she had heard her mother mention it, she had been interested in the matter. Which was a shame because no one ever talked about it in full. Well, no, that statement wasn't entirely true because everyone was talking about it, even years after the fact. How could they not? It was a horrid event, apparently one of the largest tragedies to hit the village since the founding and the Fourth. But everything they said was just as good as the glossy magazines her mother had stacked up beside the living room couch.
Even knowing this, Moegi couldn't help herself when she listened in to her mother's conversations. Moegi-chan, it's so nice to see you taking an interest in more feminine things, her mother said whenever she offered to bring the tea in for the gossipy women that were over. She doesn't say anything to that (she never does) and instead transports tea and makes small talk whenever the guests take notice of her.
Sooner or later their chats would veer off from which woman from outside their circle bought the ugliest kimono that week and onto the newest news of the oldest tales. Since her mother's friends weren't ninja, the only events they could get their hands on were declassified reports or secret missions turned common knowledge. And the Uchiha massacre was hard to ignore, even if precautions had been taken to hide it from the general public.
It was strange how such a touchy subject was something everyone talked about flippantly. Out of respect for the dead, she probably should have let her fascination die, but Moegi found herself becoming more and more entranced with every tidbit she managed to glean.
Gossip nights were the easiest ways to come by them, anyway. The history books still didn't include the facts and maybe they never would. Newspaper clippings in the library she read whenever she and Udon managed to convince Konohamaru to step into the building did nothing to alleviate her desire to know more. If anything, spending an hour or two searching backdated clippings made her offer to help out at the dinner parties more.
Sometimes when her mother was being especially gossipy, white-tipped nails holding a cup of tea to her lips as if the barrier made her words less intense, the idea that the bodies still needed to be exhumed (just in case the genetics needed to be reused) would come up. Moegi nearly dropped the tray of green tea then. The idea that there were still Uchiha's around the village, even dead ones, gave her a strange thrill. Her rational side knew it was wrong, but she was a pretty good girl and if she didn't take her weird thoughts anywhere but around her brain then she found no foul in it.
And then one night, Konohamaru dared them to walk through the deserted Uchiha compound. She had always considered the idea of going there. A fanciful idea she'd wanted to pursue, but wasn't yet very brave enough to enact solo. And while she wanted to see it, deep-down she was hesitant and tried to convince Konohamaru not to go. It's disrespectful, she whispered, can't we visit the other old buildings?
It never worked that way with Konohamaru and she found herself slipping out of her bedroom window when both her parents were fast asleep to do some breaking in. Udon had cast her a sidelong glance as they attempted to keep their exuberant teammate from waking up Moegi's entire block.
The walk to the compound was long and more than a little nerve wrecking. Curfew was tightly enforced and with security heightened, she worried about the chances of them getting caught. But it was worth it, in her opinion, when they finally sneaked onto the Uchiha main street. She turned around in a circle, noting the peeling paint and the cracked wood; if she were younger, it might have been scary.
Udon stood stiffly by a wooden post, hands in his pockets, while Konohamaru jogged up and down the long span of perimeter fence.
"Hey," Konohamaru said, waving her over. "Do you think that's blood?"
She squinted at the smear, wondering with fascination about whom it may have come from. "Maybe, but I don't think so."
Konohamaru sighed loudly and rubbed at his cheeks. "This is way more boring than I thought it'd be."
She smiled to herself as he led them out the same way they came in, Konohamaru in the front and her at the rear. If they had visited a few years ago, Moegi had no doubt he would have found it an exciting place to play around in. Growing older dulled the magic and myth that surrounded rumors, she'd learned. Though, it was less dull for Konohamaru at times and especially for her whenever she indulged in her hobby.
As she helped tug Konohamaru's scarf free from a splintered part of the fence, she wondered if one day she would ever be able to get a personal account.