DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Naruto characters.
I was informed shortly after the first death.
Go, you have a job. We trust you to take care of this.
It was more painful watching them die then I thought it would be, but I couldn't stop. I could tell the murderers were skilled. Itachi and Tobi, I watched them slaughter their entire family in cold blood. The things Itachi did to his little brother, he must have hated him.
It was worse dealing with the spirits. Some of them were weeping, some of them were seething with anger. The rest were shells, frozen in the last moment that they lived, stuck repeating the last words they said.
"Someone help me!"
"Please don't kill me!"
"Take me but don't hurt her!"
"I don't want to die!"
Some of them just screamed. There were children of every age, wailing in huddled balls. They had no idea what was happening. They were scared of me. They didn't know what had just happened to them.
I tried to get the angry ones to tell me what had happened, but they couldn't respond to me, they were becoming angry spirits, the kind that haunted people. The kind I couldn't send to the afterlife. Instead I had to exorcise them. I drew my sword and… they were not allowed to move on. It killed me to know I was sending children into the middle plane of existence where they would undoubtedly wait for a father who would not arrive.
The wives were weeping as they relived the moments their husbands died. Begging a non-existent Itachi not to kill their families. Some of them clutching children that were no longer in their arms, trying to soothe them.
"It's going to be okay, Musume, you're going to be okay."
"Quiet, Musuko, they won't hurt you."
"Don't cry, please don't cry, Musume."
He killed the children first, ripping them from their mothers and ending them quickly. I suppose it was almost gracious to them, keeping them from witnessing the slaughter of their mothers. It made it harder for me to send the mothers on their way, however, as they were still mourning their lost children.
There was one couple who were as spirits should be, when they haven't been murdered. They could communicate with me. Hearing what they had to say was worse than being kept in the dark. Itachi was their son, and they subjected themselves to death rather than fight him. They still loved him, even after what he did. They begged me to let them speak to him one last time. When I refused they asked me about their youngest son, Sasuke. I told them he was still alive and they wept with joy.
They would not tell me anything else. They were able to pass on easily. They are waiting in the middle plane of existence for the day they may speak to their son, to tell him they love him, to say they never blamed him. I am glad that they never saw what I witnessed, they will continue to love him, to cry over him, and to be glad he is still alive. They will wait patiently until he arrives in their, tired, open arms.
Aren't plot bunnies great? I wrote and published this at three in the morning so if you see any spelling/grammar mistakes please let me know as I would like to correct them asap. Please review!