The Moon is White

Chapter 24

Kagami sulkily kicks the dirt beneath his sandaled feet, his bottom lip jutted out in a petulant manner.

He didn't want to be here. In the compound's market area. But his mama was being mean today; had carried him - kicking and screaming - out of bed and dragged him here against his will. She also has a tight grip on his hand, not budging no matter how much he tries to pull away.

Usually, Kagami loves helping his mama with her chores, especially if it takes him out of the house. But he hates it now. For whenever he leaves the house to go to the market with her, he would hear many of his aunts and uncles say mean things about Madara-sama, which makes Kagami angry enough to throw handfuls of dirt at them.

Mama always scolds him for that. But Kagami refuses to apologize (even when she pinches his ear until his eyes water. And no, they weren't tears. He was a big boy - and big boys don't cry).

Those baddies had no right to say such things about Kagami's favorite person. It was all their fault that Madara-sama looks so sad and doesn't take walks around the compound nowadays. It was also their fault that mama won't let him approach Madara-sama no matter how much he throws himself on the floor and screams.

Glaring at the group of housewives his mama was chatting with - his curly hair all but floofed at the bad gossip they have concerning Madara-sama - Kagami makes sure to memorize their faces. He plans to smear Kaitou's poop on their shoes the next time he sneaks out of the house.

It was at this moment that Kagami notices that mama's head was turned away from him, paying more attention to the fruit vendor, enough that her hand slackened for him to slip out of her hold.

He didn't hesitate to take this opportunity to rush into the crowd of shoppers, hiding him from her sight easily when he only reaches an adult's hip at best. In addition to that, he makes sure to pull his chakra inwards into a ball at his tummy to prevent leakage, just like how Madara-sama taught him to.

With a stubborn and illogical determination that only naive children could muster, Kagami, in all his three-year-old glory, enters sneakily into the Uchiha main family house, expertly climbing over the wooden fence surrounding the two-story building.

At the doorway, he furrows his brows, thinking deeply if he should remove his shoes or not. It took him all but a second to decide that he should. The last time Kagami enters Madara-sama's house with his shoes on, Izuna-sama (the evilest adult ever) had force-fed him a big bowl of nattō as punishment for tracking mud all over the house.

Kagami still has nightmares about the nasty smell and taste till this day.

Shuddering at the memory, Kagami quickly swapped his sandals for a pair of black bunny slippers. They were Kagami's, Madara-sama had said, for whenever he decides to drop by.

When Kagami did not find anyone in the living room, kitchen, garden, or the aviary, he ambles to Madara-sama's bedroom. Peering inside, he brightens immediately upon seeing Madara-sama, slumbering the morning away. He doubts he could follow Madara-sama's example without his mama scolding him for being lazy.

Kagami knows that he should probably do the polite thing and leave, but Kagami hasn't seen Madara-sama for so long. So the man wouldn't mind if Kagami stays for a while longer, right?

With that decided, Kagami walks into the bedroom with tippy toes and makes himself comfortable beside Madara-sama's futon. His tiny hands soon grab a fistful of Madara-sama's hair, pudgy fingers clumsily weaving the soft strands into loose braids while he hums a lullaby mama always sings to him.

Within the blink of an eye, before Kagami was even aware that Madara-sama was awake, he feels the tip of Madara-sama's fingers brush lightly against the side of his neck. He stares in wonderment, enthralled by the older Uchiha's crimson red eyes. Kagami has seen many Sharingan with one to three dots in them before, but he has never seen a Sharingan with patterns inside.