Petals of a Sunflower that Shouldn't Bloom

Author's Note:

This will not be one of those slam bam thank you sir stories so sorry there will not be any smut for a couple of chapters.
For those who are inquiring Sasu/Naru is one of the pairings in this story. There are pairings which are fixed and will not revealed at this time but many others are not. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear about them. The people who are not paired with anyone is the following: Iruka Umino, Shikamaru Nara, Neiji Hyuga, Juugo, Suigetso, Kiba Inuzaki, Rock Lee, Gaara, Kankaro, Sai, Kakashi Hatake, and Kabuto Yakushi. Think of it like the dating game and you are Chuck Woolery (by the way does anyone else think that is a fake name). If someone could tell me how to do the bold and italics when typing on the site, I would really appreciate it.

;) Thanks for the encouragement when I read your review it really made me smile. I hope you enjoy his chapter i believe the people you was looking for will make an appearance.

Crimson Vixen: Thanks so much for the help, and I will try using your advice. I am kind of slow but hopefully I will be able to change the other chapters during the edit, and I will try and make the next chapter better. So I want to dedicate the next chapter to you.

DesperadoSweetie: Thanks for the compliment. When someone I know went to read the story I found that all of the chapter had not uploaded. The first chapter I typed on the site and had to fix it. This time I tryed uploading the chapter and all of it still didn't come up and I ended up typing on the site again. Sorry about that as I said I am a new author so please bare with me and my mistakes. I hope you still like that chapter when you read the rest.

I Also Do Not Own The Song In This Chapter The Artist Is Shinedown
Brent is so hot.


Chapter 2: Burning Bright


"I wonder if the things I did was just to be different"
"To spare myself the constant shame of my exsistence"
"I will surely redeem myself in my desperation"
"Here and now I express my situation"
"The more the light shine through me I pretend to close my eyes"
"The more the time consumes me I pretend I'm burning bright"
"There's nothing ever wrong but nothing ever right such a cruel contratiction"
"I know I cross the line it's not easy to define I was born to indecision"
"There's always something new sometimes I supposed to choose with no particular rhyme or reason"

While Sasuke sat reclining and looking relaxed, black hair almost blending into the the darkness of the sofa, with white pale porcelian skin contrasting he created a picture of relaxed sophisticaton. He in reality was in turmoil though to look at him many would not be able to tell. For many would have easily forgotten in persual of the elegant sight of the reposing young man to look into onyx eyes swirling with confusion.


As he sat there contemplating what he should do now, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder. What would Fugaku Uchiha, the former head of the Uchiha clan and ex-anbu member have done in his situation. Even though his father didn't start to pay attention to him until he and Itachi had started to grow apart. Sasuke had always admired his father's aura of untouchability and regal carriage, which he had tried to emulate when his father passed. He felt that as the last Uchiha it was his reponsibility to be his father's legacy. To set and be the example of how the perfect shinobi should be. What Fugaku had been training Sasuke to be before he was murdered. To erase the stain on his family's name and honor due to the betrayal of his family by his brother.


The one rule that Sasuke remembers his father telling him the most though was


"Sasuke, a shinobi must never let his emotions rule his actions. A decision made while your blood is running hot and you are not thinking can turn even the easiest mission into a life or death situation. He would not only kill himself but others as well. Since shinobi must quickly be able to analyze a situation and can only do that with a cool head. I can't stress enough how many important clues in an investigation have been lost or mishandled due to investigators losing focus due to their emotions. As the founders of Konoha's police force we more than anyone else are expected to remember this."


At this Sasuke remembered his father's dark eyes becoming vacant and getting a faraway look in them. He would then lower his head until his eyes was then covered by the midight hair. His body tense while tightly clenching his fists and then he would be his same self again. Then he would began lecturing again as if the moment had never happened.


Saying those words always seemed to bring forth a bad memory or experience. Even though his father never said a word about such a thing happening. The thick cloud of sorrow that momentarily blanketed him was so paliable that even Sasuke as young as he was could feel it. Afterwards Sasuke would swear to himself that he would always stay calm and in control of his emotions.


All Sasuke had thought about and focused on was getting more powerful than Itachi so that he could avenge his clan. In his mind setting a goal and having a plan to set that goal in motion automatically meant that he was thinking logically and rationally. Had Sasuke been allowing his emotions to run away with him since the masacre.


"Maybe the only way to clear my head and make sure that the decisions and actions I have been making are the right ones is to visit the place where everything started." Sasuke stated decisively as he rose from the couch and headed towards a room he had not entered for five years. Not since the day after his family was murdered and he escaped from the hospital, to see the entire Uchiha district covered in blood.


To honor his mother who believed in taking pride in her family and love for them by cleaning herself. Sasuke did all the housework and cooking himself rather than have someone interrupting his training and evading his privacy by using the excuse of cleaning his house. Everything was kept as meticiously as when his mother was alive. The only rooms spared from his cleaning frenzy was his parents and Itachi's rooms. Plus Sasuke didn't mind the simple dishes he could prepare and if he wanted something different there was also the many excellant resturants that Konoha had to offer and as an Uchiha he never had an problem with getting items to go.


Recently though instead of the lonely dinners he used to have by himself he ended up at Ichiraku's with the Dobe, or taking some of the ramen to go so that they could eat at one another's residence. His refrigator and trash was full of the take-out containers as they usually ended up at his house. The comradarie that he shared with Naruto was to special to him to just throw away. But on the same token he needed to focus on getting his vengence and not allow anyone to distract him. Sasuke was caught between the past, the present as it is, and the present that could have been. With a wistful heart he wished that in the place where he died his father's spirit lingered and would help to guide him in his seemingly indecisive moment.


Walking to the southern part of the house he stood in front of the door and took a moment to clear his thoughts. He wanted enter this room with the reverence it deserved as the bedroom of the head of the Uchiha clan for over seven generations and as the last place his parents was alive.


Sliding the door open he walked inside charcoil eyes blinking rapidly as the dust motes in the air relentlessly attacked them. Walking rapidly into the room where mentally time stood still, yet physically everything within the room was slowly decaying from years of unuse. Just not wanting to experience the room with his eyes Sasuke took in his surroundings with all his senses. The damp and stale unmoving air with the hint of death blood and his mother's perfume.


The crisp sheets of the futon made by his mother's hand with a layer of filth and grime covering it. What would Mikoto Uchiha think to see the furniture that she worked so hard on looking so neglected and shabby. How was what he was planning to do, kill her oldest child a testament to her. She had loved Itachi just as much as him. Would she thank him for killing her child to avenge her, Sasuke could not say with all honesty that she would.


Walking to his father's weapons cabinet he peered through the dingy glass to the still pristine weapons within. Even though there was priceless heirloom weapons given by past hokages for the clans services throughout the years, as well as those collected by his ancestors were promately displayed where all could see the clans prosperity and history. Fugaku never cared about those letting his wife deal with the maintence but the weapons housed in this cabinet was his father's most prized possessions. His father used to personally clean every weapon and the cabinet as well never even allowing his mother to touch it. Some of the weapons were gifts, some was earned through service as an anbu captain but they all had one giver in common. All were given to his father by the great Yondaime himself before and after he became hokage of the village.


Even though Fugaku never shared any of his childhood memories with him or mentioned any relationship besides that of a subordinate who held respect for a charasmatic powerful leader. Sasuke's mother had told him stories about their great lifelong friendship and how deeply the death of the fourth hokage had affected him.


When he was younger he thought that his brother attained the higher form of the sharigan because he was stonger. Since the night of his brother's defection when he so ruthlessly destroyed the clan and crushed Sasuke's innocence forever when he told him how to obtain the power to defeat him. He now knew the reason that his father never attained the mangekyou sharigan. He valued his comrades and loved ones to much to sacrifice them for power.


Never being a verbouse man Sasuke always took note when his father would talk because his father was never one to waste words and if he spoke it was to say something important. Sasuke was shocked that he never thought about the things his father had said before now looking at them through more mature eyes. In trying to be the perfect Uchiha he had not thought about but half of the things his father spoken to him about; just focusing on the things he would praise Itachi for. Not the little conversations where him and his father would sit together and talk about what was really important like when Sasuke asked about the leaf.


Sasuke recalled Fugaku bending down so that black gazed into black as he looked his son in the eyes when he told him, "Sasuke the life of a shinobi is often harsh and cruel. At any given moment we are expected to give up our lives for the sake of the village. There is no greater honor than protecting the village and the hokage, for to protect them protects those whom you hold as precious. Our family motto is if you make something yours never let go at the cost of your life. This village and all the people in it are ours even if they are not part of our clan, and as the founders of the Konoha police force it is our privelage and honor to watch over "our people". Like the symbol of the leaf we all wear we are connected to the same tree."


"The bonds that connect us to each other should never be broken except by death. If you are lucky some bonds even out live the death of the other. Then Fuugaku suddenly paused using the silence to emphasize the words. People who so easily meet then discard people are no better than liars who break their word. With their disregard to others feelings and never connecting to anyone how can they support their fellow shinobi. People like that cause others to second guess themselves their abilities, stregnths, and intelligence because they will began to see themselves as flawed."


"You are an Uchiha and there are many people who envy and admire our clan. But be they villager or shinobi there are those who will like you for that alone, but do you want someone who will like you because of a name. Or do you want to have someone acknowledge Sasuke. Rarely do you find individuals who accept you for who you are and when you meet one you should treasure them."


So much he said and alot more that he didn't say always conveyed the same message. He now knew what his father would have thought of the situation with Naruto and their friendship. His father would not have approved the legnths that Sasuke was willing to go to avenge his clan. He would have thought it beneath Sasuke to be jealous of Naruto because Itachi seemed interested in him. Instead of channeling his envy into attacking Naruto, he should have been training to protect his last precious person from a rampaging psychopath. But what other way was there in order to satisfy both his need to honor the clan and protect the bonds that he cherished.


Glancing down once more at his father's most priceless treasures he noticed something. The kunai in the middle of the third row was crooked. Wanting to just straighten out at least that one thing in the neglected room Sasuke opened the cabinet. When he reached inside and touched the weapon still slick with oil and put it into it's correct position the most amazing thing happened two drawers opened from the sides. Coughing as the movement of the drawers caused a large cloud of dust to cover Sasuke and settle on the items in the drawes and stick to the weapons inside.


Sasuke was floored. He never would have guessed that the cabinet held secret compartments. Since his father had the cabinet built himself he was even more mystified. Since Uchihas were the police force there are many secrets that they became privy to and the guardians of. Even minor members of the clan had secret places in their homes to guard top secret material. But Uchihas believed in hiding their secrets in the walls, making it more harder to get. So why did his father hide something in the open.


Looking first at the right drawer he noticed some books but on further inspection they turned out to be personal journals. Deciding to collect all those to peruse later he turned his attention to the left drawer. There was several scrolls ,four long senbon needles and three short senbon needles in a clear evidence bag, and a large envelope which by the stiffness of it seemed to be some photographs. Not being a genius for nothing Sasuke quickly surmissed that the contents of the drawer must have been a case his father was working on, possibly when he died. Since the scrolls did not have the special seal that signified that the case was closed that meant it was unsolved.


Sasuke knew that his father could not possibly be resting in peace since he always believed in finishing anything he started. Here was the answer he was looking for. A way to redeem his family's honor without hurting the one whom he thought of as precious. He could do this by taking away the blemish on his family's record of solved cases. Thanking his father for guiding him in the right direction Sasuke collected all the materials from both drawers and went to his room to began his detective work.