Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
An Uchiha Tragedy
"Mom. Dad. I'm home."
She slipped her shoes off at the door, a bag of groceries in one arm. The house was pitch black, but a sliver of moonlight streamed through the open window in the kitchen. She set the groceries on the table, fumbling for the light switch. It was then she saw the first clues. With the lights still off, the moon reflected against the shattered glass. The shattered glass of the window.
Her heartbeat accelerated as she backed into the hallway. "Mom! Dad?"
No answer.
The panic kicked in, and she sprinted down the hallway, slamming all the doors open until she reached her parent's room. The sight brought her down on her knees, sobs jolting her whole body. Her parents were slumped on the opposite wall seemingly asleep. Her father's arm still draped across his wife's shoulder, but the distubing pool of red underneath them slammed the truth in her face.
They were dead.
She stumbled out of the room, scrambling away from her dead parents. Her hand covered her mouth and stifled the loud sobs. This was too much. She could not take this. The stench of blood lingered in her nose, and she retched the moment she stepped out the door. The air outside her house could not calm her like it normally did.
Help, she thought. Please... anyone. My parents...
A flutter of fabric and the screech of metal against metal stopped her thoughts instantly. The killer. He was still here.
Her obsidian eyes squinted in the dark, searching for the enemy. She was no ninja, but she wanted to know. Who was it? Who killed my parents?
Black. More black. And then... red.
She gasped, tripping backwards in surprise. I... can't believe this.
Those blood-red eyes. There was no recognition in them. They were blank, not even a flicker of emotion. He was a perfect weapon. Silent and alert. Swift and clever. Sly. Unstoppable.
... Lethal
She was dead. She knew it. She was not even a ninja, but he was more. He was a genius. A prodigy. A shinobi respected with fear.
A murderer.
Her arms trembled with intense fear, and her heart pounded painfully in her chest. The despair clung to her skin like the sweat perspiring on her forehead. He walked towards her. His steps certain and deliberate. A predator. And she was his prey.
Death. It frightened her... but waiting with knowledge that death was the only escape... it killed her. She was amazed she did not die right then and there.
With one slash, she was dead. She slumped forward, just like her parents. The light vanished from her eyes and her eyelids shut. The killer flicked his katana and the blood splattered against the floor.
He sheathed his sword, treading towards his own home. His parents. His beloved younger brother. What would they think? But he could not come up with an answer because his mind was already numb. Numb with sadness and pain. Numb with guilt. No one would know what happened, no one but him. The now infamous Itachi Uchiha.
This was the price he paid. His reputation. His home. His clan. His family. His sanity. It was all for the village.
His duty to Konoha.
A/N: The unnamed girl may or may not have been Itachi's lover... I'll leave that to your imagination. Review?