Prologue
"Father, father, tell me where have you been?
It's been hell not having you here!
I've been missing you so bad,
And you don't seem to care!
When I go to sleep at night,
You're not there…"
—Sleeping With Sirens
Tears fell on a tattered teddy bear. Those tears, that now soaked the teddy, originated from big, soulful tropical ocean green eyes. Those beautifully sad green eyes adorned a lovely cubby, child-like face. Flaming red hair crowned the child's face. The hair was not long enough to cover the blood red marking on the father left side of his forehead.
"What is that thing doing?" the crying child heard someone ask. Where that person was, he did not know. He didn't even know how many people were in his room as of right now. He was encased in a small ball of sand that only had an opening the size of his head, and that was located in front of his face. The only thing the child could see was the night sky.
The child marveled at how the big and bright the moon seemed to be as it was surrounded by a thousand tiny stars. More tears escaped the child as the moon reminded him of a song his special person would sing on nights were the moon hung dynamic and proud. He never realized how sad the song was until he whispered the first words he could remember. His voiced, as small as it was, carried on a haunted tone.
"I'm feeling kind of famous, the talk of the town…they say I've gone mad…" the words reached the ears of the men that surrounded him. They all gave each other looks of fear. They did not know what to do as the demon child of Suna sung. As one, they all swallowed their fear down, taking cautious steps around the floating orb of sand that took residence just a breath's away from the balcony.
"Men." A strong voice swiftly gathered the attention of the hundred or so ninja in the room. It was their Lord Kazekage, the father of the demon child. The ninja calmed significantly at the man's mere presences.
The singing child paid no heed to the man that helped create his existence. He just continued on as if he were the only one there.
"At night when the stars light up my room, I sit by myself…talking to the moon."
"Gaara." The Kazekage had called the child's name in a tone that demanded immediate attention.
"Trying to get to you..." was the child's reply.
The kazekage's chakra levels spiked in annoyance. The ninja of Suna fears grew for they knew a blood bath was on its way. Quietly, they edged out the way. Gaara, if he felt the warning chakra spike, showed no signs of being affected. He just continued to sing. However calm he was on the surface was a false, sweet heaven compared to the hell that was breaking him on the inside.
She's gone was the only thing he could mentally repeat to himself over and over again, creating his own little mantra. Another voice, the one that had haunted his every waking moments, whispered hellish things to him. The voice promised of death and chaos. It begged to be let out. It grew angry when the boy refused to listen to it.
She would not be pleased if he had succumbed to the wishes of his devil. So, he ignored the voice as he ignored everything else. He sung.
"In hopes you're on the other side…"
"Child!" the Kazekage yelled, throwing a deadly looking knife in the child's direction. It was a centimeter away from the sand that cocooned the child before a tail of sand grabbed it, throwing it back without any prompting form the child.
The Kazekage carelessly pulled the closes ninja in front of him, watching dispassionately as the knife embedded itself in the ninja's throat. The child sung through the sounds of a man drowning on his own blood.
The ninja in the room couldn't help but wonder who the real monster in the room was at the moment: the father or the child. They would find out in the next few seconds, not that they knew that tidbit of info. If they did, they would have either stayed in bed that night with their wives, or they would have contemplated killing their own Kazekage.
Good thing that every ninja in that room died that night, or the Kazekage would have had mutiny for uttering the young, crazed boy's trigger words.
"Where in the hell is that bitch you insig—"
The Kazekage never finished is sentenced before the blood curdling scream came from a young ninja, no more than sixteen, whose body was being torn in half by a sand shaped hand.
All sanity left the boys mind as the demon took over with glee. The boy had given it permission.
It's his fault she left, the thought filtered through the child's mind until it somehow left his mouth in a demonic roar that had a very effeminate ninja fainting in fear. Some ninja even had pissed their pants. There was one or two ninja that had not heard the roar, but had seen the demonic red eyes that promised a beautiful, long drawn out death. Those unlucky souls just happened to shit themselves.
The combined smells of blood, urine, and vomit caused the demon possessed child create a very wicked smile on its face. The smell of fear, so fresh and potent, should have been bottled off as a seductive perfume.
Who would buy it? Damn sure not Jesus.
The demon child let another almost endearing sound of glee as another men was tore limb from limb, painting the child in more red and other reddish globs of something that used to be hidden in the normal human body.
Not surprisingly enough, the Kazekage had fled the scene before those arms could be wrapped around his heart.
(X.X)
Tears ran down small, round cheeks as small, chubby legs moved one after another. The only sound in the dank alley were the soft pitter patter of tiny, bare feet running across cold, wet concrete. Even though the small figure that ran throughout the alleyway labyrinth was crying, no harsh breath left his closed lips.
He learned long ago that they could find him quicker when they heard him sucking air, trying to allow his lungs to restore the lack of oxygen in them. After that, he learned how to breathe out his nose with a calm ease that most shinobi didn't master until years of field training. Many shinobi learned it through practice—he mastered the skill for survival. He also learned how to run quietly for someone of his age and size. Most people his age walked with their whole weight, they did not understand the meaning of "light footed."
But, then again, most people his age weren't outside in the middle of the night running from their death. Most people his age where at home, tucked in bed, surrounded by love and warmth. They were resting while he pushed his tired legs to go another step, to gain some distance away from those who chose to follow him on this night, when the moon shone high and proud. Most people his age were in dream land while he begged his tiny body not to give up on him yet, for his ribs and sides to stop burning, for his lungs to get a little more air.
Not for the first time, he wondered why he couldn't be like most people—why he had to be so special. He done nothing—hell, he's seen people worse than he—and yet, he was the only one who the night watched running through the village to escape to nightly beatings.
"No." a tiny, childish voice whispered as small feet tripped over something small and round. As he fell he could hear the sound of heavy feet thumping the ground. It was getting closer to him.
"I heard something come from this way!"
His heart seized up. He had to get away.
Now.
He tried to move his body, but found that it feel heavy with hunger and fatigue. He pleaded with his body to move. He knew that if he didn't move know, the angry villagers that followed him would beat him shitless for making them run. Last time he made them run and they caught up to him, he almost died. His body froze with fear at the memory of his own blood choking him from the inside.
"Please…please…"he sobbed quietly as his body refused to move. He closed his eyes, hiding blue diamonds that cracked with fear and hopelessness. He was so scared. He would have thrown up, but he didn't have anything in his stomach to throw up. He cried harder as he felt the wetness of the alley's ground soaked up into his stained, ragged clothes.
The boy did the only thing he could do, as useless as he knew it was. With his eyes closed, tears flowing out of them still, his body trembling with undiluted fear, he opened his mouth and began to speak to two people whom he never met.
"Please…Mama, Daddy…please…if you love me…save me." He whispered, wishing with all his heart that somewhere, the parents he never knew heard his small pleas of help.
A small voice in the back of his head told him to give up all hope. No one would come. It was something dark that twisted into his hopeful heart, tearing it to shreds as he heard the thundering sound of feet getting closer to him. He could hear the words that spewed from the mob's mouth.
"Monster."
"Demon."
"Spawn of Satan."
"Bastard child of the Devil!"
"Kill him!"
"When I see'em, I'mma wring that little bitch's neck."
"He should be the one dead. Not my poor Ukido." One woman wailed.
Why did he deserve to die? What did he do? Gods, what did this little child do to deserve such hatred? It wasn't like he pissed in someone's ramen. Okay, he did that, put the lady he did it to isn't even chasing him. That lady had just smiled at the boy and accidently spilled—if you can call fling it over the group's heads an accident— the pissy ramen on a group of people who just happened to be talking about the "demon."
He never saw the long haired lady again after that incident. All he could recall of her was the fact that she had jet black hair that reached towards her back and the weirdest shade of red eyes ever.
A small laugh left the child's mouth as he held on to the fond memory, preparing himself for the worst beating of his life. The tears dried as he opened his eyes, mouth wide to sing a song to his self—something he did on nights like this, which were often.
When oceanic blue eyes finally reappeared, they widened in surprise.
There, before him stood two figures that were highlighted by the full moon's light.
He could tell that they were adults and that they were of the opposite gender, despite the concealing clothing they wore. Both were dressed in skin tight black outfits, with a shiny chest plate and other protective wear. A mask adorned their faces. They were both of different kinds of birds. Silver hair sprouted from the man's head, whereas the woman's hair cascaded in deep, mahogany, brown hair that whispered past the grimy concrete ground.
As the he looked up at the two new players in this morbid game of cats and mouse, his vision began to blur. He felt light, as if he were swimming on a cloud. The tell-tale signs of passing out didn't stop him from taking in the weapons that plagued the bodies of the two before him.
As he looked up at them, and they looking down, the child's heart skipped several beats as fear began to blind him.
The vile villagers that chased him day in and day out finally went through on their threat. They had finally had ANBU come and get rid of the "shit trash" that had the audacity of walking the streets of Konaha.
This time, the child let out the loudest wail he could muster. The sound was filled with anguish, horror, and futility. It was the cry of a dying man. He cried so hard and so loud that he could hear the mob yell in excitement that they finally found out where he was hiding. He didn't care anymore.
At the age of seven, Naruto Uzumaki was going to die.
He didn't struggle as hands, surprisingly soft and small, grabbed him of the ground. Naruto didn't fight the arms that wrapped themselves around him in a hug-like grip. He didn't fight back when the person who picked him up, the woman, shifted her mask so her mouth was visible, placing it next to his little ears.
He just cried harder.
"Naruto…Naruto, ssshh. Please stop crying child." The woman's voice was soft and young. No one with such a voice had ever graced the child's young ears. It calmed him down more than the actual words did. He felt a hand gently pat his back as the woman continued to murmur comforting words to the distraught child. Naruto did not question her actions.
He was just happy that she wasn't hurting him.
He briefly remembered sometime early that day he saw a mother comforting her child in a manner such as this. Was that what this woman was doing? Was she trying to comfort him? But...she was ANBU. Wasn't she here to kill him? He was so starved for love and warmth and other things besides the negative feelings the villagers threw his way that he instantly forgot his earlier thoughts once the woman began to sing a lullaby in his ear tenderly.
"Mocking Bird, we need to move." The man spoke with a deep voice dipped in anticipation. Naruto, who had unconsciously laid his head on the woman's shoulder, looked at the man. He watched as the crow masked man looked his way before lifting his rather large hand, inching it towards the child.
Naruto flinched. The hand hesitated in its quest towards the child for a mere second. Naruto wrapped his legs around the woman as that hand got closer and closer to him. Once again, he closed his eyes in fear.
The hand found its way in Naruto's dirty, golden locks. Naruto blinked in surprise. "What have they done to you while I was gone?" The male asked softly while he rubbed the child's hair.
Naruto could not answer that question for three reasons. One, he didn't have the answer. Two, he could smell the villagers getting closer to him and it petrified him, regardless of the comfort the woman gave him so freely. Finally, the third reason as to why he couldn't answer that question because a bout of dizziness came over him. For a second time that night, his vision blurred while black spots curled before him.
"Crow." The woman called out to her male partner, readjusted her mask and the small boy in her arms, and then took to the sky. The silver haired main followed suit. Naruto watched the ground become smaller as wind pushed past him. He watched as the villagers rounded the corner of where his body had broken down. His eyes grew in mirth as the villagers screamed about losing the "demon" once more.
He escaped! And with the help of the ANBU that he was constantly threatened with!
For the first time he could remember, he felt utter and complete joy. He looked up, smiling at the moon as he passed by it. He laughed. All he could think about was that someone had come to his rescue—just like he asked.
His mommy and daddy had heard him. He felt giddy with this knowledge. They heard him! Little ole' Naruto. The demon of Konoha's streets.
"That's right honey, we got you." The woman, Mocking Bird, laughed with him. "They can't get you now."
"And we'll make sure they never will." Crow spoke up from somewhere behind them. The blue eyed child smiled at the thought of protection.
In all his excitement, Naruto didn't notice that black dots that coated his vision began to increase until he could barely see the giant full moon before him. Eyes closed as he let the warmth of Mocking Bird seep into him, mingling with the emotional and mental relief and joy he found on this grand night. He fell asleep with a smile on his lips while Mocking Bird song him the lullaby she first song to him in the alley.
"I will never let you fall. I will stand with you forever. I'll be there for you though it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven…"
(O.O)
Tear raced away from blood red eyes as a blood soaked hand tightened its grip on the eerily clean katana. Was the youth, who was clad in the traditional garb of a member of ANBU, shedding tears because another woman whose eyes matched his own fell under his foot? Were the tears for the screams that filled the night as he calmly made his way to a beautifully crafted house, cutting whomever or whatever was in his way? Could the tears be a result of his knowledge that his soul will forever burn in hell with the rest of his cursed family? Was it because he felt remorse for what he was doing?
No remorse.
As his blade became thoroughly intimate with another one of his fellow clansmen, the youth felt no mercy. The love that normally flowed through family, and would have allowed anyone to hesitate in delivering a fatal stroke, was not present in the youth. There was no regret as he killed a pregnant woman.
No regret.
The youth did not panic as a large group of his brethren surrounded him, their own Sharigan activated to kill their traitorous prodigy. The youth's beautiful features gave no hint at the emotions that played in his heart. One of his uncles took a doubtful step towards him. The youth could smell the fear of the men circling him like the pathetic shits they were. One man, a cousin of the youth's who was only a few years older, took timid steps towards him, arms raised in surrender. He gave the youth a small smile, one that did nothing to dispel the fear evident in red eyes.
"Itachi…what are you doing? Please, stop. We are family. We love you." The youth's cousin spoke with a tremble in his usually deep voice. He watched as his cousin's father followed suit, declaring that if Itachi stopped now, the n all would be forgiven.
Itachi could not help the slight twitch that overcame his left eye. He tightened his grip on the slippery sword.
"Is this your definition of family?" Itachi asked, interrupting his family from speaking words they would only utter in shear fear. Mistaken his words for one of hope instead of their immediate demise, they smiled, singing a chorus of approval. Itachi looked them all in the eye.
They all had his black hair, his blood red eyes that twirled with three black comma-like dots. They all shared Itachi's ivory skin and ethereal beauty that almost made them seem unreal. The blood that gave life to Itachi was also the blood that gave life to the men before him. They too shared the same name he was cursed with. By pure definition, they were his family.
Nevertheless, Itachi never lived his young life by definition.
The men before him were complete monsters. They were cold, heartless bastards that would do anything to gain power and fame. They were insane. These men were not his family.
Hey, call Itachi the black sheep.
He smiled at thought of his true family. Only two of them were related to him by blood. The rest, how small that group was, consisted of men and women, who were of different heritage, yet shared the same soul he did. They were the family he wanted for him and his otouto.
Not this gang of merciless, blood thirsty, power hungry fiends.
"We are not family." Itachi declared, allowing his Sharigan to reach its second stage. He could feel the power surge through him which in turned, heightened his dark emotions towards these pathetic men. He let his anger, hatred, and betrayal sink it his eyes, stealing them into the eyes of a murderer.
No one had time to scream.
"…Otouto." Itachi sobbed the endearment as he held the body of an unconscious child close to him. The once proud standing youth fell to his knees, speaking incoherent sentences when two shadows hung over him. Not gracing the new comers with a look, the Uchiha prodigy shakily stood up. His head pounded in a rhythmic beat of pain. He briefly wondered if the sharp pain that threatened to crack his skull in half was from the extreme use of his blood limit or if it was because he cried more than he ever cried—even when he was just a babe he didn't cry as much as he did tonight.
He knew each tear he let go was for the small bundle of love unknowingly seeking warmth from him, despite the horrible things he had done to him for the sake of the future. He also knew that some of his tears were for other people.
For the Itachi that had died tonight.
"Raven?" Itachi gave a small smile to the woman who called him by his ANBU. The woman removed her own mask, allowing Itachi to see a familiar enchantingly crafted face that gave him a reassuring smile. Even through his deteriorating eye sight he could still be blinded by her smile. He also took note that she too held a small child in her arms. Itachi looked up at the bright, full moon, thinking whatever gods existed that their missions were successful.
Well, almost successful.
Dull gray eyes that once were tinted in blood lovingly gazed at the child in his clutches. He pushed a stray ebony lock away from his precious otouto's forehead, cherishing the sight of his brother's face in a peaceful slumber.
He knew that when he saw that face again it will be contorted with rage and hate. He didn't care though. He knew he would still love the child even if he gave him the stank face once they meet again.
"Raven." This time a deeper voice called for his attention. The male, who was also part of ANBU like himself and the woman, slowly took his mask off, letting mixed colored eyes hold the gaze of the oldest Uchiha alive as of now. The look in those two-toned eyes dried up the remaining tears Itachi had left. He gave the man a curt nod.
The woman took a step towards Itachi, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Raven, you don't have to go."
"Mocking Bird, I must. It's the only way and you know it."
"No it's not! Crow! Tell him there has to be some other way." The woman pleaded. The male beside her, Crow, didn't look into her eyes. He couldn't. He needed to remain strong and in control of his emotions. They had to do this.
The man chose to stay quiet to notify his female partner of his resolve to go through with the rest mission.
Crow took a step towards Itachi. He held his own arms out as if he were waiting for someone to pass something to him. Itachi gave him his dear little brother—gave him the rest of his heart.
Mocking Bird tried to muffle her sob as to not wake the two slumbering children.
"Thank you Kakashi." Itachi murmured before disappearing with the setting moon.
Both Kakashi and Mocking Bird watched the eldest Uchiha until his chakra could no longer be felt, praying for his poor soul.
During the week that followed the incident of the Great Uchiha Massacre, many things had happened. The child who thought he would have everything forever lost it all, gaining the status of orphan that was taken away from another child, who thought he would have nothing forever. Another child caved into the thing he was rumored to be. Love was taken and Love was given. Truths were hidden as an inflamed haired boy and an ebony haired boy began to harvest dark emotions that left them three-quarters away from insanity; whereas, a boy with a halo of sun on his head gave way to a sanity that seemed to have alluded him for years. Two boys, regardless of their family ties, were still shunned by the village that gave birth to them, while one was exulted like a god by a village he cared nothing about. All three were held by an imaginary short leash by a greedy council; however, only one knew about the leash.
He bit that leash ragged with a vicious sneer most days.
So much happened so quickly. So many things were stolen and some things remained the same. Because of selfish people who lived in constant fear of 'what could be' and 'ifs' caused the lives of three small children to change within a heartbeat who had done nothing but what children do. Some people joked that the people that night had suffered ill luck on the full moon because of the vicious devil that dwelled inside it.
Sometimes, fate just liked to be a bitch and fuck up some shit just because it had nothing good to watch on TV.
Hello my dearest shit-turds. This is the remake of Mother We Never Had. I had started on it, but it got out of hand before the fourth chapter. So, I decided that I would not torture you lovely dickheads by taking some time off and getting my shit together. Now, I come to you with this version which will be better than ever, I promise or you can have your money back.
Mmmm, I have contest for you all that read this before I post the next chapter. Can any of you tell me what I purposefully did in this chapter? Can anyone do it? The lucky winners will get whatever he or she request. Whatever you want, it's yours, you earned it champ.
I mean, I really made the clues and stuff really fucking easy XD. But…it's best that I don't overestimate the cells that flow through your brains XD
I kid I kid. You little shits are pretty fucking smart. But whatever. There can be a prize for the person to put in order which of the songs I listed below go with who and at which moment in the chapter.
Haha, shit, I like giving shit away my sweet little fuckers.
The songs I played while writing this up were: Life House—"Hanging by a Moment" and "Me and You"; Simple Plan "Welcome to My Life"; The Red Jumpsuit Apparently—"Your Guardian Angel"; Aerosmith—"Don't Want To Close My Eyes"; Sleeping With Sirens—"A Trophy Father's Trophy Son", "Don't Fall Asleep at the Helm" and "Fire"; Crown The Empire—"Memories of A Broken Heart"; Bruno Mars "Talking To The Moon"; and The Fray—"How To Save A Life." To let you guys know, the Sleeping With Sirens song is the same song in the quote. "Talking to the Moon" is the song Gaara was singing as his lullaby. The Red Jumpsuit song was the lullaby song to Naruto. Can anyone guess who the Aerosmith song is for?
Fuck, let me leave you guys alone. Just know that I love you all to Death! 33 (X,..,X)
—Jammett
