Darkness that is all I can feel when I enter the Uchiha compound... The sad and painful memories that are buried here with every single one of my friends are here. It doesn't look like a day old from the massacre. It has been years since that dreadful time, but yet it still lingers into the hearts of those that remember... Sasuke was the one most affected by his clan being murdered, but honestly, he wasn't the only one that felt pain when it happened. I understand that he was only a kid back then, but it doesn't give him much an excuse to act the way he has been for all these years. Shutting away his heart to avoid happiness and pain was never something his brother would have wanted for him. I would know, since I was one of his best friends...
I remember the faces he would always pull off when he saw how accomplished his little brother was becoming. As I remembered these facts I slowly walked through the main streets of the compound and stopped at the main branch house. Not wanting go inside, I stopped at the gates and rested my hand gently on the wooden gate, tracing the old cracks with a light brush of my finger. I sighed, knowing that this was going to be the last time I would be visiting this grave sight. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead upon the wooden gate remembering the old times I had with my Uchiha friends...
Back when I was nine I came to Konoha as a transfer ninja from the Land of Hot Springs (just like Hidan). Since my village had become much more tranquil over the years ninja were not needed in the services of the village. The trained ninja that wanted to continue the life as a shinobi had to transfer, become rogue, or make the switch to becoming civilians. I didn't want to become the last two, so my sensei used his connections in Konoha to help me transfer there. I honestly didn't want to move away from my village, but becoming a civilian wasn't very appealing. Itachi, Obito, Kakashi and a couple other ninjas were my first friends in the village. Although I was a stranger they were the first, and one of the only, ones to actually welcome me as a Leaf comrade. I smiled to myself as I remember the good times I had with my Leaf ninja friends.
The Uchiha clan were the first ones to actually open up to me, although they were a bit hesitant at first. Tears streamed down my cheek as I remember the faces of each Uchiha I had befriended while they were still alive, but the one I missed most was the one that was still alive... Sasuke had left to go with Orochimaru some years ago, but he wasn't the one that I desperately wanted to see. The one I wanted to see was the one and only Itachi Uchiha, but of course my birthday wish would never be granted... Yes, today was my birthday, but it is also one of the worst days of my life. With no family to congratulate me, and all my friends were off on important risky missions, so I couldn't help but to feel abandoned; just like that night long ago.
I sighed again and looked up at the sky. The once blue sky was turning pink, for night would soon come. The breeze of the wind became slightly colder, making me hold my thin shawl closer to my body. Hospital clothes didn't really give much warmth, but then again I wasn't supposed to be outside in the first place. I hesitantly walked away from the main branch gate, and started my way out of the compound and to the hospital.
(At the Hospital)
Lady Tsunade scolded me for three hours when I came back to the hospital. She hates it whenever I leave without telling her, but it's not like my sickness is going to get worse just because I went I outside. To be honest I think it's better if I walked a little throughout the village to jog my memory from time to time. I've been honestly forgetting things a little too much nowadays. I've forgotten the names of my students that I have taught for five years, the way to my house, and soon I would forget the most important memories that I've been storing so preciously in my mind. If you haven't guessed it, then I will tell you; I have Alzheimer's. I just found out a couple months ago when I kept forgetting names of important places, missions, and other important things I had to do as a ninja. Lady Tsundae checked my body, and eventually said that I had Alzheimer's disease, and a serious one at that. Pretty soon, I won't even remember my name and where I am, let alone my friends. Ninja duties are out of the question now; I've been dismissed of all of my duties by Lady Tsunade. Right now, the only thing for me is to wait to die in a month or so.
I laughed to myself at how pathetic I've become. I don't care about dying, but the one thing I wish to not forget is the one person I won't be able to see. My birthday wish was to see him again to always remember his face even though I may forget his name. Itachi, where are you now?
*Flashback*"Hey, Karin?" a smooth voice said, trying to get my attention.
"Yes, Itachi?" I asked while I turned to face my friend. We were walking down the main street of his compound coming back from a mission report from the Hokage. I was just walking with him back to his house, so we could show that we were still alive after our mission. I was walking without a care in the world before he called out to me.
"I've been wondering about something..."
"And what would that something be, Mr. Prodigy?" Itachi frowned at my prodigy comment, but he just ignored it and pressed on with his thoughts.
"How do you know that you are truly in love?" His question came a bit of a shock to me, so I stopped walking and immediately faced him.
"Why would you want to know that? You already have a girlfriend, so you should already know the answer." I stated to him, but all he did was frown and kept a distant look in his eyes.
"I know, but somethings been bothering me recently."
"Hmmm... well first, you shouldn't tell your girlfriend that we had this conversation because if she did she would probably kill you. And the answer to you question from me is that... I don't really know... It's different for everyone when they fall in love with someone..."
"What about you, Karin? Do you have someone you love right now?" I had a faint blush on my cheeks when he asked me this, but I hid it well. By turning back around to get in front of him all Itachi could see was my back as we walked, and that was how I wanted it. I didn't want him to know that he was the one I liked.
"Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?" He paused for a minute, but I didn't really think too much into it.
"How did it feel when you found out that you loved that person?"
"Well...I don't quiet remember. I don't remember how I felt when I realized I loved him, but I do know how I feel when I'm with him.""And what would that be?""I feel complete. Whenever he talks I get butterflies in my stomach, and whenever he smiles I feel like I could fly. I never feel sad when he's around, and my heart beats really fast when he's with me. Is that a good enough answer, Itachi?""...yeah..."As our conversation ended we found that we were in front of Itachi's house. We said our goodbyes, and I quickly walked away before his girlfriend saw that I was with him. Itachi's girlfriend didn't really like me, but then again, I didn't really like her either. I half jogged out of the compound that day without knowing that his eyes were on my back the whole time I was leaving...
*a few months passed. day before the massacre*
"Hey, Karin." said the smooth voice trying to get my attention."Hmmmm...?" I mumbled with my eyes still closed. We just finished training with each other, and were now resting on some tree branches."Do you trust me, Karin?" I opened my left eye to look at him to see if he was joking, but like always he was serious. I pushed myself up into a sitting position to face him seriously before giving my answer."Of course I do, Itachi. From now and forever I will always trust you." I said while looking him dead in the eyes. All he did was sigh from my answer and looked anywhere but my face."What is it, Itachi? Is something bothering you, again?""...i guess..." He said, barely above a whisper."Karin, will you trust me no matter what that happens? Will you not judge me for anything that I do?"I just continued to look at his face as he asked me these questions. I couldn't believe that he was asking me this! Of course I would trust him no matter what happens...but of course I couldn't get mad him, since he was so serious about this and my answer..."I promise to always trust you, Itachi. No matter what happens in the near future, I promise you that I will never judge you for things you have done." I said in a soft yet serious tone.He closed his eyes with a look of relief, but there was some doubt inside him."Thank you, Karin..."
(Of course back then I didn't know what he was about to do to his whole clan, but still all those years I kept my promise.)
-
That night I fell asleep with a weird feeling in the back of my head. I felt like something big was about to happen, but I wasn't exactly sure what. I found out later that Itachi had massacred his whole clan except for his little brother, Sasuke. That very morning that I found out was the morning I found blue and purple roses on my nightstand. I knew that was his good bye to me, since he couldn't say it to my face the day before...(Rose meanings: Blue- symbol of love Purple- love at first sight)*End of Flashback*
I smiled to myself as I remembered the few memories of Itachi that I didn't forget.
'I kept my promise, Itachi.' I thought to myself... and with that thought I fell asleep...
*3 months later*
I was lying on my hospital bed starring up at the white ceiling. No thought came to my mind as I was left alone in the lonely room. The window was open to show that the sun was setting, but I didn't really notice. In fact, I haven't been noticing a lot of things lately. Weird people have been coming to my room to see me, but I don't really recognize them. A man with silver hair that defied gravity while spiking up to his left often came to see how I was doing, but honestly I don't remember his name. A man with black hair that was shaped into a bowl cut that wore a green jumpsuit sometimes came with the silver haired man to ask me questions on how I was feeling, but I don't want to talk to either of them since they are strangers...or are they?
So far, the only person I am most comfortable with is this busty blonde lady with a diamond on her forehead. She's my doctor that checks up on me everyday, but I can't really seem to remember her name. Everyone at this place is really nice to me, but I feel as if I'm forgetting too much. When I leave my room, which is very rare, a nurse has to accompany me because I always lose my way.
'I wonder why everyone babies me?' I thought.
I closed my eyes for a brief second, but as soon as I did a slight breeze came into my room. I opened my eyes to find a man with a straw hat covering his face and a long black cloak with red clouds decorating it standing about 3 feet away from my bed. I looked at him curiously, since I didn't know him...or at least I think I don't. I thought I should be screaming since this strange man has come into my room, but surprisingly I was calm. He gave off this friendly aura that I knew was something I could trust...
"Karin, what happened to you?" the mysterious man asked with a hint of sadness.
"Hmmmm..? What do you mean? Who's Karin? And most importantly...who are you?" I had a very childish tone of voice as I talked. As I asked these questions the man in the room tensed up, and sadness could be felt in waves from this strange man...
"Karin, what are you talking about? It's me... Itachi..." the man said while taking off his straw hat. As I could see his face for the first time...(?) I could tell that his face was indeed handsome, but I still couldn't remember who this man was...
"I'm sorry...I don't remember..." I said in my most apologetic tone... I could see one tear escape from the man name Itachi and roll down onto his left cheek. When this happened the door to my room swung open...
The busty blonde lady with the diamond on her forehead, my doctor, came in without knocking. She stopped at the sight of the man and frowned while looking between the stranger and me. Before the man could do anything, my doctor grabbed him by the shoulder with lightning speed, smiled at me with a friendly smile, waved, and left the room...
'I wonder what that was all about...'
*Itachi's POV*
I needed to visit Karin one last time before I faced my brother. She never knew, but she was my first love and to this day I still love her. Seeing her face would give me the courage to face my brother, and leave this world forever... I was on her way to her house when I saw Kakashi and Guy coming out of the Yamanaka flower shop.
"Do you think Karin will like these Forget-me-not flowers?" said Guy. It was kinda strange since he wasn't jumping all over the place with his energy. Instead, he looked like he was sulking about something.
"I think so. It's a real shame that she forgot you though..."
"YEAH! I KNOW RIGHT?! HOW COULD SHE FORGET THE HANDSOME GREEN BEAST BUT STILL REMEMBER SOMEONE LIKE YOU?!"
"Pipe down, Guy. She remembers me because I've been her friend longer than you. But to be honest, I think this is the day that she won't remember me..." Kakashi said in a sad tone. To be honest both men looked bummed...
'Is there something wrong with Karin?' I thought. Just in case, I followed the two shinobi until they reached the hospital. There, I found that they were actually meeting with Karin, but something was strange with this picture... Karin would smile at them when they came in, but would ask for their names and acted as if she never even knew them...
'Karin, what happened to you?'
When both shinobi left, I waited until the sun was about to set to go meet with Karin. I tried to talk to her, and even told her of my identity, but it seemed that she actually forgot about me... It wasn't long until Tsunade came into the room, and was obviously shocked that I was here. Before I could escape she grabbed my arm, smiled at Karin, and left the room with me still dragging behind her. She didn't stop dragging me until she found an empty room where we could talk privately.
"Why are you here?!" she asked more shocked than angry.
"I came to see Karin." I said in a monotone voice. Tsunade sighed and put her hand on her forehead.
"You do know that you are still a missing nin, and that I could arrest you immediately."
"Yes, I know. After I talk to Karin I will leave." After I said that, Tsunade still had a grave look on her face...
"Did Karin remember you?" she barely whispered.
"No, and I don't understand why she doesn't remember... Did something happen?" Tsunade looked down, not able to face me with a shadowing hiding half of her face...
"Karin has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. We found out a year ago, but didn't think hers was too serious and tried to help her with medicine, but we later found out that we were dead wrong. Karin's condition got worse and it got to a point that she had to be released of her ninja duties."
"And what of her now? What's going to happen to her now?" I asked with my voice shaking from fear for her.
"Karin won't make it for another two months... Her memories will keep fading away, and soon she will forget how to feed herself, walk, talk, and eventually breath. She will keep forgetting until she is like an infant, and then eventually die... There is nothing I can do for her anymore..."
Silent tears filled my eyes as I heard this news. Karin will die, and there was nothing I could do to stop it... She wouldn't be able to raise a family like I wanted her to, or live to remember the faces of her friends; almost as if she was dying alone... My whole body shook from the shock and sadness that occurred from the news that my one and only love will die.
After my conversation with Tsunade I went back to Karin's room. She heard me come into the room and turned her head towards to me and smiled. I went over to her and sat next to her on her bed. She didn't seem scared of me at all, but there was still something missing from her eyes...
"I'm sorry." she said suddenly.
"Hmmm...? What about?"
"My memory. That busty blonde lady that took you away earlier said that I have Alz...Alzh...Alz..."
"Alzheimer's?"
"Yeah, that! I'm sorry if you knew me before. I don't remember anyone..." I cut her off before she could finish her sentence for I embraced her. She seemed shocked by my sudden action, but she didn't mind since she embraced me back.
"Don't blame yourself. Please, don't take all the blame. It's not your fault since you can't control it." Tears threatened to fall from my eyes as I continued to hug her. I didn't want to let her go after I found out about this. We stayed like that until she drifted to sleep. I stayed with her until the sun rose up. I kissed her on the forehead, promising that I would come back to visit before she and I both died...
*one week later*
A week passed since I last visited Karin. I got her purple and blue roses from a village in the mountains before going to the hospital. This was for a last desperate attempt to make her remember me from the past... I waited until it was dark to enter through her window this time. Karin had her eyes closed, as if she was sleeping peacefully without any worries. I placed the roses next to the fresh Forget-me-not flowers that were replaced by Kakashi and Guy the week before. Karin heard me placing the roses down on her nightstand and so opened her eyes to look at me. She smiled, but when she saw the roses her eyes became wide. Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she started to ...remember?
"Itachi... is that you?" My eyes widened from Karin saying my name... she remembered me! I hurriedly went to her side and held her hands with a tight grip.
"Yes, it's me, Karin... I'm here." Her eyes lit up and before I knew it, she was embracing me with all of her strength.
"Itachi, I remember! I remember the roses you gave me. The questions you used to ask about love, the missions we went on, my friends, and ...and all of it.. I remember everything.," she said while leaning her head against my chest. It was as if the disease was never there in the first place, but we both knew this was just a temporary thing that would soon go away...
"I'm glad you still remember..."
"Yeah, but after this...I'll forget everything... Lady Tsunade told me that during my final stage I'll probably remember everything for a moment, and then forget everything again..." she said as she clutched onto me with slight fear in her motions. I couldn't help but to embrace her and comfort her, as if she was my girl, my woman that no one could touch except for me...
"It's okay if you forget, Karin... Because I'll be the one remember for both of us if you keep forgetting." I said to her with a reassuring.
"Itachi, I'll tell you a secret before I forget again..."
"And what would that be?"
"I've always loved you, Itachi. Forever and always, I have always loved you..." I kissed her after that, for I couldn't believe that the girl I've always loved had always loved me back.
"I've always loved you too, Karin..." I said as I leaned my forehead against hers..
"What about your girlfriend back then? I thought you loved her first?"
"No, she was just an Uchiha girlfriend I had to make my parents happy. I've always loved you, I just could never say it to you properly." and with that we kissed like never before. I could see fireworks going off in my head as I put every bit of passion I had for her in that kiss. We stayed like that for a couple of more minutes before we stopped to talk before she forgot again. She told me of all her secrets, making sure that at least someone knew of her thoughts before she forgot herself. Most of those secrets were about me, and how she always thought about me back when my clan was still alive. We stayed in each other's presence until the sun came up and she slowly started drifting off to sleep. We both somehow knew that when she woke up again, all of her memories would be forgotten forever. So, before she eventually fell asleep she said a few words that became engraved into my heart.
"Itachi, I love you. Always will and always have... Please, remember me?"
And with those words I lay her down to sleep, kissed her one last time, and left through the window while looking back once to see her sleeping face.
Three days after I visited Karin, she died. I didn't go visit her grave until the day after her funeral to avoid not being seen. I promised to remember her forever and that soon I would be seeing her in eternity.
After my brief visit to her grave, I went to go see my little brother, Sasuke. We battled fiercely, but in the end I let my brother win. As I dragged my feet closer to him to poke him on his forehead, the clouds in the sky separated to reveal light. Sasuke couldn't see it, but I saw Karin's spirit coming down to meet me... I poked my index and middle finger on my little brother's forehead and collapsed with a smile. Karin dragged my spirit out of my body and embraced me.
"Karin" I said with a sweet and loving tone.
"You remembered me!" she said with a huge smile.
"Of course! And you remembered me..." We kissed a sweet loving kissed, waved good-bye to Sasuke as he stood next to my body, and rose up to the sky. All the while, we both thought...
'We Remembered'
Hey guys! I made this story some time ago in one of my other accounts in a different website. I hope you all like it, and if you really did then please leave me some reviews. If there are any requests for stories, I'll see if I can make it happen. :)