Chapter 1
It happened four years ago, before the great tragedy of Konoha. Before my world fell into darkness. Even before I gave up on finding out why.
"Kara!"
"Yeah mom, I'm coming!" I shouted back, still brushing my unwieldy long hair. Running out of the door, I managed to grab an apple for breakfast and a small colorful box with a ribbon on top of it. Today was an exciting day for me. It was one of the few days that Itachi ever came to visit Konoha, away from his missions. It was official business with the Hokage, probably reporting from one of his Anbu missions.
I ran straight from my house to the Hokage's office, eating the apple on the way. After sneaking past the guards, I skulked toward the Hokage's office. The door was open just enough so that I could hear the conversation inside.
"What?" shouted the Hokage.
"I'm sorry sir, but that's the only way that I'll do the mission," said Itachi with the silky-smooth voice that I loved so much.
"Is it really the only way?" the Hokage asked. Itachi must have nodded because the next thing the Hokage said was, "Alright then."
"But I warn you sir, if you don't keep Sasuke safe, then I will reveal why I did what I'm going to do."
The Hokage sighed. "Itachi, you can just call what it is: genocide."
"I prefer not to in front of minors."
"Minors?" the Hokage asked, puzzled. I scowled. Damn him, how does he always know when I'm there?
"Kara?" he quietly said, turning around to face the door. Slowly, I pushed the door further open, and peeked my head in. Itachi smiled at me, and motioned with his hand to come to him. I grinned and rushed forward to stand by his side, my hand grabbing the back of his uniform. The expression on the Hokage's could only be described as grim. It was an anomaly to see something other than a smile on his face.
"How much did you hear child?" he asked with the scariest look I had ever seen.
"Uh-um..." I mumbled, trying my best to avoid eye contact.
"Tell him," Itachi said, smiling down at me.
Still avoiding eye contact with the Hokage I stuttered, "Since-since you shouted at It-Itachi. R-Right before Itachi s-said that t-that's the on-only way he'll d-do the m-mission."
Sternly looking at me, he quietly chastised me, like an owner would scold his dog. "You are never to tell anyone of what you've just heard. Anyone, hear? And you shouldn't make a habit of eavesdropping on people's conversations."
Itachi smiled. "Are you sure you should tell her that? She's going to be a ninja isn't she?"
At this Hokage's expression softened into a smile. "True."
"May we go Hokage?" Itachi asked. The Hokage merely nodded. Itachi bowed, and put his hand on my head and pushed it down so I would do the same. We walked out of the Hokage's office and building, and I was still clutching the back of his shirt.
When we were finally outside, he gently took my hand off his shirt and bent down to my level so that our eyes met each other. "Kara, you shouldn't sneak into the Hokage's office, ever. Got it?"
I slowly nodded. Then, his eyes wandered elsewhere, behind my back. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the colorful bag I had carefully tried to hide. He tried to grab the bag, reaching his hands around me. The close contact, like that of a hug, made me blush. However, this didn't stop me from getting away from him, so as to stop him from getting the bag. Today's date was June 9th, Itachi's birthday. I grinned. "I'll give it to you if you buy me ramen."
Itachi sighed. "Alright. If that's the only way."
I giggled and led the way to the ramen place nearby. As we neared the little store, I saw the little blond boy that was always there, and the shopkeeper who was chasing him out.
"You have no money! How
can I give you ramen?" he shouted.
Looking at Itachi, I asked,
"Can we buy him ramen too? He loves it so much."
Silently, he nodded.
"Hey, little kid!" I shouted, running to stop the shopkeeper from chasing him down the road. When I finally stopped the shopkeeper, I told the little kid that we would buy him ramen. A smile lit up his whole face, moving the little whiskers on his cheeks. "Itachi! Hurry up!"
"Coming, coming." He pushed aside the white pieces of cloth hanging from the roof of the shop, being the only one who was tall enough for them to bother him. Looking at the shopkeeper he put up three fingers, signaling for three bowls of ramen.
We all sat down, the little blond kid between me and Itachi. The little kid kept on staring at Itachi. "So what's your name?" I asked the kid with a smile.
"My name's Naruto," he said, still looking at Itachi.
The tall shopkeeper gave us our ramen. "Uchiha. I haven't seen you around lately."
"I haven't been around lately."
"I see. ANBU's more than it cracked up to be?"
Itachi smiled. "Yeah."
"Uchiha! I knew it," said Naruto. "You're Sasuke's brother aren't you?"
Itachi nodded, questioningly looking at the kid. "Why?"
"You're an ANBU squad leader, right?"
Again, Itachi nodded.
"And you're thirteen?"
"Mh-mm," Itachi mumbled out, slurping his ramen.
"Wow! That's so cool. I wish I had a brother like you!"
Itachi smiled wryly. I giggled a little. I bet everyone wanted a brother like Itachi. A genius, and kind, and handsome. He was probably the most beautiful person I had ever seen, both inside and out.
"-bag?" he asked.
"Huh?" I asked, snapping back to reality.
"Can I see what's in the bag?" he asked. Then, seeing my hesitation, he added, "You promised."
Slowly, I untied the ribbon on the small box. I opened the box and took out a small picture frame, 6cm by 8cm. Inside the picture frame, a picture drawn by me: me and Itachi sitting down side by side, and smiling. The picture was drawn beautifully, if I say so myself. I had spent a couple hours on it, changing it to make sure it looked like Itachi and me. The proportions were accurate and the perspective, perfect. This is what all my pictures had looked like since around five. It was my special jutsu after all, making things I drew come to life.
He smiled at my present. "It's beautiful."
Beaming, I responded, "I have an exact copy of it at home. That way we can both have one."
Again he smiled. As we got up from the little stools inside the shop, he put his big hand on my the top of my head, completely covering it. At the time, we had completely forgotten about the little boy for whom we bought ramen.
The sun was lazily setting, signaling Itachi's departure. We walked to a road that was a half-way point between our two homes, and I walked as slowly as possible. That day we chatted about seemingly random things, and unimportant topics. That day, however, was the last day we would get to do those things together. We neared the road where we were to split.
"See you," he said, quietly.
"Can I come visit you sometime?" I asked him energetically. I didn't want to let him go.
"Sure." He smiled, but his eyes weren't smiling, not this time. I wondered why this subject would make him fake a smile like this. I had visited his house many times before, especially since they usually got a lot of mail (I was a messenger then). Lately, however, things had quieted down, mail-wise, and it was wierd. Almost like an omen.
Suddenly, a question arose in my mind. "Itachi. What does genocide mean?"
His eyes hardened a little at this. "That's for me to know and for you to find out."
Again he smiled that fake smile of his. He usually never showed me this smile, and now, he just did it twice. What a strange way to end the day, sorrowfully. Silently, he patted my head once again and walked off. I watched him walk away until he disappeared into the horizon.
It was only when walking back home did I realize how strange that day had felt, how it felt like the last. And it was only when I got to my room that I felt that ominous feeling that everything would change soon, that we would never be happy like in that picture I had drawn.
The next morning felt like any other, except for the fact that it was cloudy. I got up, brushed my teeth, and rushed downstairs to eat my breakfast. While eating, I remembered the question I had asked Itachi. "What does genocide mean?"
He had answered that it was for me to find out. And I was going to find out. "Hey, Mom?"
"Yeah?" she answered, not looking away from her cooking.
"What does genocide mean?"
She almost dropped the knife when I said genocide. "Goodness, child!" she exclaimed, turning around. "Why do you ask?"
"I heard it somewhere. Why? Is it bad?"
My mom turned around all the way now. "Well, since you're a ninja. You're going to have to know someday. Better sooner than later," she talked to herself. "It basically means the killing of one race, or tribe, or people."
"What do you mean?" I asked, not fully understanding what she meant.
"Like if somebody decided to, say, kill off all of the Uchiha's, that would be called genocide," she explained. I gagged on my drink. All of the puzzle pieces suddenly came together.
My mother came up to me and pounded her fist on my back, making sure that I wasn't choking. I got up and ran for the door, my mom shouted something behind me but I payed no attention.
"Itachi, call it what it is-genocide."
"That's the only way I'll do the mission."
No, no. That couldn't be the mission, could it? I kept on denying, but a little voice in my head told me otherwise. I sprinted all the way to the Uchiha clan's part of the village. I felt like I was breathing in fire, my legs burning when I got there, but not as much as my eyes burned when I saw what had become of the village. The signs were ripped, the lanterns still burning, blood everywhere. Bodies were lying around, like ragdolls thrown away by small children. Their expressions were full of terror, imprinted on their faces since their moment of death. My legs started shaking as I walked through the town, my stomach threatening to throw up the orange juice in it.
"Can I visit you sometime?"
"Sure."
Liar. Tears cascaded down my cheeks. He was a liar. He told me I could come visit him, but there was no way I would see him again. No possible way.
Slow footsteps made me turn around, tears still flowing. Itachi's little brother trudged toward me, his face looking down at the ground. He put his small head on my hip and his arms wrapped around my waist, and he started crying. I put my arms around the little boy and cried along with him. I slowly walked with him back to the Hokage's office, crying all the way there. After I had dropped him off at the office to let them deal with what to do next, I walked back home. The sunset that had always been so beautiful suddenly took on a more tragic hue, the reds reminding me of blood.
As soon as I walked through the door I walked to my room, ignoring all the questions my mother kept asking. I sat on my bed, the springs creaking slightly. I stared at my hands, not really seeing them. My mind flashed back to all the bodies lying around. I never wanted to see them again. I didn't want to see them! I started crying again, over the memories in my head. I never wanted to see such a thing again.
An idea came to my head. Maybe if I never saw again, I'd never have to see those bodies again. Maybe they'd disappear. Maybe, maybe. I grabbed the kunai lying on my desk. Looking at it reassured me of my decision. I pointed it at myself, and dug it into my right eye. Warm blood trickled down my cheek, mixing with tears. The pain hurt me, but not as much as that liar had hurt me. I dug the kunai into my left eye. More blood flowed down my face, it oozed down in a steady stream. My eyes burned so bad, the pain almost bringing me to my knees. It wasn't worse than seeing those bodies though, not even close. The blood trickled down my neck. The world was black, I couldn't see a thing. Not a thing. I would never see again. And I was fine with that.
It happened four years ago. And now I stared into the face of Itachi once again.