Sound came first.
Voices overlapped in a dull blur. Laughter, arguing, chairs scraping against the floor. It pressed in from every direction, irritating in a way he could not place.
His thoughts drifted without anchor. No past. No context. Only the faint awareness that something was wrong.
He tried to open his eyes.
Nothing happened.
His body lay heavy, unresponsive, as if it belonged to someone else. Panic rose for an instant, then stalled, cut short by a sudden, searing pressure behind his eyes.
Pain surged.
Fragments followed it. Faces, places, names. They crashed through him in rapid flashes, disordered and sharp.
A weak sound escaped his throat.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun?"
A girl's voice. Close. Uneasy.
He forced his eyes open.
A classroom swam into view, edges blurring before snapping into focus. Desks. Sunlight. The familiar arrangement of a ninja academy room.
Two girls stood in front of him.
One had pink hair tied back with a worn red ribbon. Her wide eyes were fixed on him, concern written openly across her face. The other, blonde and impatient, had already stepped closer, leaning into his space.
"Sasuke-kun, are you feeling sick?" the blonde girl asked quickly. "Should we tell the teacher?"
Before he could react, the pink-haired girl clenched her fists. "Ino-pig! What are you doing?"
The blonde scoffed. "Big forehead."
The pink-haired girl bristled. "You're the one yelling! You'll scare him, idiot!"
Their voices sharpened, clashing like sparks. Around them, the rest of the class barely glanced over before returning to their own conversations. This scene was routine.
The noise drilled into his skull.
Sasuke straightened slowly, resting his chin on his hand the way his body seemed to expect. The motion felt practiced. Natural.
"Enough," he said quietly.
The argument cut off at once.
Both girls froze, eyes turning to him. Expectant. Anxious. Too close.
"I'm fine," Sasuke continued, voice flat. "And you're loud."
He paused, letting the words land.
"Move. Both of you."
The blonde girl hurried to speak. "I can stay quiet, Sasuke. I won't—"
"I said both," he replied, irritation slipping through despite his restraint. "You're in my way."
They hesitated, then retreated, faces tight with disappointment. Their whispered bickering followed them as they returned to their seats.
Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment.
Needles of pain still flickered through his head. Along with them came memories that were not his, yet settled into place with unsettling precision.
Uchiha Sasuke.
The name surfaced without effort.
By afternoon, the classroom was washed in red light. The sun burned low over Konoha, its glow pouring through the windows and painting the desks in warm color.
Sasuke remained still, chin propped in his hand, expression unreadable.
Inside, he sorted through what had surfaced.
Home. Training. The compound. His mother's voice. His brother's back, always a step ahead.
He focused on today.
This morning, the Uchiha district had been crowded. Too crowded. Faces he rarely saw, shinobi who should have been on duty. Even distant relatives had returned.
It had felt wrong then.
Now, the pattern sharpened.
Class should have ended by evening. Instead, their class alone had been kept back for extra instruction, supposedly for upcoming exams. Other classes had already left. Other Uchiha students among them.
That was wrong too.
Sasuke exhaled slowly, keeping his face still.
Fragments aligned.
The tension at home. The unspoken strain between his father and brother. The disappearance two years ago. The rumors that never quite faded.
Understanding settled in his chest, cold and precise.
Tonight had already been decided.
The bell rang.
Chairs scraped back as students gathered their things, voices rising again. Sasuke stood, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed for the door without looking back.
Outside, the sky burned red.
He walked on, steps steady, expression calm, as if nothing had changed.