The light piercing his eyelids scorched his retinas, and Sasuke's consciousness slowly resurfaced.

An antique wooden grain ceiling. A colorful toy box. A simple but weighty chest of drawers and desk. Glaring light streamed into the room through the cracks in the curtains, and a stuffed monster was held in his arms.

All of it felt somehow familiar.

(My room...?)

He delved into his distant memories, finally reaching the answer. It was a story from over a hundred years ago.

The last time he saw that room was before he left the village. By the time he returned to the village after the reconciliation, his Uchiha clan home had been reduced to a pile of rubble by Pain's Six Paths.

It was a symbol of grief and suffering, a place that fueled his hatred, but it was also a house where memories slept. Even though he had heard about it beforehand, the shock of actually seeing it was great, leaving a gaping hole in his heart. It was also one of the reasons he decided to go on a journey.

This stuffed animal was also one of those memories. The fluffy texture was nostalgic, and when he hugged it tightly, it smelled like sunshine.

The Uchiha clan had dwindled in number, and there were no children his age, so he always played alone or trained. It wasn't a hardship, but it would be a lie to say he didn't get lonely. That's why he would cry and cause trouble whenever his older brother, who played with him, was away at the Academy or on missions.

This stuffed animal was what his older brother bought him for his third birthday, seeing how lonely he was. Come to think of it, his first friend might have been this guy.

After that night, this beloved stuffed animal became something he hated, but he still couldn't bring himself to throw it away and hid it out of sight.

───Why is it here?

Suddenly, that thought struck him, and Sasuke's dazed mind sharpened abruptly. Sasuke jumped to his feet and looked around the room again, but the sight that met his eyes didn't change at all.

(What's going on? It doesn't seem like I'm under a genjutsu...)

He didn't feel any disruption in his chakra flow. But the very fact that he had such a feeling was strange.

"Good night, Grandpa."

He traced his memory and recalled that smile. He remembered the moment his heartbeat gradually slowed and relaxed.

That day, he died. There was no doubt about it.

The possibility of this being the afterlife had also crossed his mind, but his heart, now beating in a regular rhythm, denied that.

"What the hell...!?"

A high-pitched child's voice like a rolling bell entered his ears.

He snapped his mouth shut and looked around the room, but there was no one else besides him.

───Surely not.

Despite dismissing the thought as impossible, his feet slowly moved forward. He was both hopeful and afraid of the disappointment that would come when his hopes were dashed. But he had to check.

Grasping the hem of the white curtain, he gulped and took a deep breath. With a determined look, Sasuke pulled it aside in one swift motion, squinting at the flood of light for a moment... and his eyes immediately widened in surprise.

Familiar faces walking down the street.

The Uchiha clan crest, without a scratch, was painted on the walls separating the houses. The mansions stretched as far as the eye could see, and the view from the second-floor windows was clear.

And one more thing stopped Sasuke in his tracks.

"Why..."

A young "Uchiha Sasuke," unable to hide his confusion, was looking back at him from the glass window.

Sasuke stood there speechless, stunned by the unreal scene before him, but just then the alarm clock went off, jolting him back to reality.

Still half in disbelief, he turned off the alarm. He could feel the ringing sound of "Ting!" in his palm and quickly pulled his hand away.

The house he thought he had lost, the scenery.Then, maybe───.

As he sensed the presence of several people, Sasuke rushed out of the room in his pajamas.

With a small stature, short limbs, and a surprisingly heavy head, Sasuke ran with unsteady steps due to the unfamiliar balance of his body.

From the end of the corridor that seemed unusually long, a regular sound of "ton, ton" echoed.

───It's no good to have expectations.

Even though he thought that, he couldn't stop his body from shaking. He clenched his fist tightly and took a step into the kitchen.

A long-haired woman was there, her back to him as she moved from left to right, cooking.

Noticing Sasuke's dazed presence, she stopped cooking and turned around.

The moment she saw Sasuke, the woman smiled warmly.

"Good morning, Sasuke. Oh, you're up early today. You never get up until your brother wakes you up."

"Mom...?"

"Sasuke? Oh, you're shaking! Are you cold? Does your head hurt?"

The person peering into his face with concern was none other than Sasuke's mother, Uchiha Mikoto.

He could feel the warmth seeping into him from the palm of her hand on his forehead. His chest filled with a warm feeling that should have been lost long ago.

"That's good, you don't have a fever... Oh dear. What's wrong, Sasuke? Did you have a bad dream?"

Stroked gently as if to soothe him, tears welled up in his eyes even more, held in his mother's familiar arms.

How long did they stay like that? As Sasuke was about to stop crying, a voice filled with anxiety entered the kitchen.

"Mother! Where is Sasuke when he wakes up...? Oh, thank goodness, Sasuke, you're here."

The familiar, gentle voice made his heart tremble. It was a bit higher than he remembered, but there was no doubt.

"Nii, sa..."

"Sasuke? What's wrong, Mother?"

"I don't know, he's been crying ever since he came here. He must have had a bad dream."

A large hand was placed on Sasuke's head, who couldn't hold back his tears and started crying again.

When he looked up, his brother, Uchiha Itachi, stood there with a troubled and worried expression.

He should have lost him. He should have killed him with his own hands.

"Sasuke. It's okay, it's okay. I'll protect you, no matter what..."

Even those kind words were now all turned into tears.

It goes without saying that he started crying again when he saw his father Fugaku sipping his tea.

There are reasons why Sasuke is becoming emotional:

1. He is being dragged down by his physical age.

2. His soul has merged with that of a 6-year-old Sasuke, so part of his heart is still that of a child.

Please choose whichever interpretation you prefer.

Or maybe it's both (lol)

Speaking of which, Sasuke actually lived in his family home even after the night of the tragedy. I was shocked when I found out about that. Living in the family home where his parents were killed, all alone in the ruined Uchiha district... I can imagine Sasuke didn't want to leave.