Fire Country, Konoha
W 62, 25.06.08
The annual inappropriately-named Unity Festival Tournament was underway. Konoha's biggest stadium was packed with ninja as the summer heat bore down on them. The Hokage and all clan heads and their councils were here. For the ninja chosen to compete, this was the opportunity to make it big or fall from graces.
Yamanaka Itsuki stood in the stands. He was a jounin with an admirable record but he knew he'd only been chosen as clan representative because they'd cycled through all their best ninja and repeat entries of the same ninja were frowned upon. He didn't plan to make it big but he wasn't going to disgrace his clan.
He watched as the current match ended and the host picked two paper balls out of the bowl.
"Match 23: Yamanaka Itsuki… versus Kurama Sakura!"
The crowd clapped politely as he headed to the arena. A full minute later, a little girl bounced into the arena, her pink hair ribbons swirling around her long black twintails. She wore a knee-length pink yukata with peach flower patterns and fluffy hello kitty sneakers. A black and white kitten rested on her shoulder.
She beamed brightly and waved at him. "Hi-hi! I'm Sakura ❤~! Who are you?"
She couldn't even remember his name. Itsuki wondered why she was their representative. Despite being eight, she was Clan Head as the last main house member that wasn't in a mental institute. Their extremely strong genjutsu kekkei genkai tended to cause psychosis, schizophrenia, clinical depression and bipolar disorder, all stemming from a disillusionment of reality. Attention deficiencies, lack of social awareness and memory loss was common.
Waving back, he couldn't help but pity the cheerful girl. She was probably here because of dumb clan politics. As the last of the main house, she no doubt had all the boys and clan elders vying for her favour.
"I'm Yamanaka Itsuki. Nice to meet you."
"Yamanaka? Yamanaka…" She tilted her head.
"We're famed for our mind transfer jutsu."
"Yes! Mind powers Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ!" She turned to her kitten. "Isn't it great, Mimi? This is Mimi! Say hi, Mimi!" The kitten continued to lick her cheek. "You don't want to say hi? Okay then."
The host cleared his throat. "Kurama-sama, would you like to start?" She continued to pet her kitten. "Kurama-sama?"
Itsuki smiled and lowered his voice. "Sakura-sama? Sakura-sama?"
She turned towards him. "Yes?"
"It's about to start."
She nodded. "Okay! But call me Sakura. No -sama. Just Sakura."
"Then you can call me Itsuki."
"Can I just call you Ki?"
"Sure."
The host cleared his throat a little louder. "Very well. Then Match 3 commences in 3… 2… 1… and START!"
The match ended as soon as it began. Itsuki dashed forward and gently held a kunai to her throat. She giggled before surrendering and her kitten meowed as it pawed his kunai.
The rest of the matches were uneventful and he went home to find his wife smiling at him.
"Anata…"
"What is it?"
"I'm pregnant!"
He blinked in shock for a few moments before a giddy grin spread across his face. He picked her up and spun Chika around before kissing her. After a few heated seconds, they pulled back and stared into one another's eyes, still giddy, still giggling.
"Boy or girl? Any names?"
"It's too early but I was thinking…"
Months later...
"Anata! Anata! It's coming! The baby!"
Itsuki woke up, instantly alert and scooped her up. "Chika, Chika, don't worry. I'm bringing you to the hospital."
He rushed to the hospital and stayed by her side for the 20 hours of pain she was in and the two hours it took for her to push the baby out. The baby came out and…
"It's not breathing!"
Meanwhile, Chika was panting and trembling. A seizure.
The medic-nin chased him out of the room. He waited for 10 hours before…
"I'm sorry. Your wife didn't make it."
But Chika… Chika was… "What about my daughter? How is she?"
"Her chances of survival are slim. Her lungs and heart are weak and she's incredibly light even for a premature baby."
2 hours later, he was allowed to hold the dead bodies of his wife and child.
He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face and snot clogging his nose. "Chika… Chika… Chika…"
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a stadium. He looked around this was… the Unity Festival?
Across him, Kurama Sakura giggled. "Oopsies." The stadium turned to a child's pink fever dream. He was kneeling on a fluffy cloud, his legs immobile. Sakura sat cross-legged atop a mushroom in front of him. Her kitten jumped down into her lap and she petted it.
Itsuki shook his head and blinked his eyes, his chakra flaring out but the genjutsu didn't break. "You… how?"
Sakura smiled. "No idea. Pretty artsy, right?"
"Why?"
"Mind powers are always useful! They're my number one (๑・ω-)～ !"
Itsuki snarled. "You will not be getting anything from me."
"Okay ~! Round 2 it is!"
Chika being burned alive.
"I will not give in!"
"Round 3 ❤~!"
Chika getting raped and murdered by Iwa-nin.
"Is that all you've got?"
"4 （。＞ω＜）。!"
Iwa and Kumo-nin flooding a broken Konoha. Thousands of ninja being executed.
"Fuck you!"
"5-"
"This is not real!"
A giggle. She twirled her pink ribbons. "Silly, silly, Ki-chan. Reality is just our fabrication ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧~! Round 5 ~!"
A ten-year-long war. Everything was vivid. Everything was… real. Yet Itsuki could never shake the feeling of a dream. When his wife was murdered, when his parents fell in battle, when his clan went extinct, when the very existence of Konoha was threatened, nothing was real, everything was fake. No matter how he felt, no matter what anyone said, no matter what the therapy books and research papers said. This life was not real.
After ten years, he opened his eyes to the pink little girl in front of him. "Why?"
"Reading minds is OP!"
"I can't."
"You can! I've been seeing you do it for like 12 years now. You taught your daughter and you learned the advanced stuff. I can figure it out but this is easier."
"Then figure it out. I will not betray my clan!"
Itsuki gathered all his chakra, drawing on even his essential life force and pushing it outwards. The illusion shattered, leaving them in the stadium. He charged at her, stabbing her in the neck.
The pink little devil smiled and whispered, her words clogged with blood. "I am not real. Your memories are mine."
She died in seconds as the host hurriedly rushed to her side. In aiming for her neck, Itsuki had taken off the kitten's front right paw. He scooped the kitten up, cauterising the wound. The kitten let out pained high-pitched mews as Sakura's body was carried away and he was surrounded by ninja.
"Yamanaka Itsuki. You are under arrest for the murder of Kurama Sakura."
Fire Country, Konoha
W 62, 27.08.08
It took two months for him to be released and forced into retirement due to mental health concerns. Itsuki was fine with that. After a ten-year-long world war, he just wanted to go home to his wife.
The sun was unbearably bright as he stepped out of the T&I building and he was struck, once again, with the feeling of being in a dream. Had he escaped? Was this still a genjutsu? He was escorted to the Yamanaka compound where Inoichi-sama was waiting. Was this real? Was he real? No Yamanaka had interrogated him for fear of clan bias but Inoichi was trusted greatly and incredibly honourable. Was it realistic even if it followed protocol? Was this really real?
"Welcome back, Itsuki."
"Inoichi-sama."
"I know you are innocent. Fear not, the Yamanaka welcome you back with open arms."
He looked around. Welcomed back after killing an eight-year-old? Was this real? "Thank you, Inoichi-sama. Where's my wife?"
"Wife?"
"Yes, my wife."
"… Itsuki, you've always been single. You were never interested in romance."
"I married Chika. Yamada Chika. Chuunin."
"… I'm sorry, Itsuki. I don't know a Yamada Chika."
Itsuki stared blankly at Inoichi as the distant feeling of disembodiment crept and settled in his veins. "This is not real."
"I'm sorry, Itsuki."
"No. This… this is not real."