Prologue
The pair of small hands clutched the wrapped box. Her footsteps were hesitant, pausing every once in a while. When she spotted the dark figure down the dimly lit street, her clamy hands squeezed the box even harder.
"You can do this. You can't let Ino-pig beat you. You'll prove to her that you're not a scaredy cat!" The girl mumbled to herself. She glanced at the present in her hands and took a deep breath. She picked up her pace to catch up to the person in front of her. "Sasuke-kun!"
The boy stopped in his path and turned around, his onyx orbs blending in with the dark sky. The girl smiled wide and ran towards him. Her feet stopped inches from him, and her large emerald eyes stared at his dark ones. She turned to the cold ground out of nervousness, squeezing the present in her hands until the box became deformed. She took another deep breath, and looked up with determination, only to see the boy walking away.
"Wait! Sasuke-kun!" This time, he didn't stop. Rather, he walked faster and began to run, as if suddenly remembering that it's past his curfew. "Sasuke-kun! Wait for me! I want to talk to you!" When he suddenly stopped, the girl's small body bumped into his. She rubbed her large forehead and frowned. "Why did you..."
The girl inched over to see past him. In that moment, the distorted box fell onto the ground and her lips parted in shock.
There was so much blood.
Feeling nauseous at the sight of the blood stained roads and walls, she didn't realize when the boy ran into the compound, leaving her alone at the gates. The girl peeked her eyes open again, making sure that she wasn't hallucinating. When she saw that everything was real, her small feet stumbled and took off unconsciously. By the time she realized that she was running away, the girl found herself amidst shadows of large trees. She looked around, and concluded that she was completely lost.
"Okaa-san... Otou-san... I'm scared..." The girl sat down and hugged her knees. The images of the bloody bodies wouldn't go away. She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the thoughts. "Sasuke-kun..." She cried harder, the salty liquid soaking through her sleeves.
Through her blurry vision, the girl saw a pair of feet stop in front of her. She looked up, seeing a dark silhouette staring down at her. Her shaking body instinctively backed away.
"Sasu...ke... kun...?" A sigh of relief was brought to her lips when she saw the familiar black hair. However, when she looked harder, she knew that Sasuke didn't have those scarlet red eyes. "You're not Sasuke-kun... W-Who are you..." Her eyes trailed down to his chest, and finally saw the bloody katana in his grip. "Blood..."
Letting out a blood-curdling scream, the girl fell into a world of darkness.
"It's not like you to pick up a stray kitty." The masked nin nudged the small body curled on the ground. He leaned closer when the pools of emerald opened slowly, squinting to see clearer. When the girl saw the stranger, she crawled away on her knees pathetically, hugging her knees and shaking in a corner of the room. "What's your name?"
"Where am I..." She felt the tears blurring her vision once again. She looked around the plain room made of stone. It was so icily cold, sending shivers down her spine. She hugged her knees closer to her.
"Why did you bring her?" The masked nin turned to the other side of the room. Realizing that there was another person in the room, the girl followed his gaze and found a pair of bloody red eyes, glowing in the darkness.
"Blood... The katana... You killed Sasuke-kun's family..." The girl pointed accusingly, backing away more into the corner until her body pressed against the walls. "Are you going to kill me...? Don't kill me..." She begged, letting the tears fall freely.
"She saw us." The man with scarlet eyes finally spoke softly. In contrast to his cold gaze, his words were smooth and polite, giving off an aura that says he was brought up in a well-mannered family. The girl continued crying, ignoring the conversation.
"Why didn't you get rid of her, like the rest of your clan. Seems like this little pet you brought is quite annoying. Let's kill her so she'll stop crying." The masked nin once again turned back to the girl, walking towards her slowly as if mocking her fear. She tried to back away more, but found the walls stopping her. Her small body shook, frozen in fear. "What a pity, she is quite cute."
"No... Sasuke-kun's family... YOU MURDERERS!" As if a surge of courage and anger rushed through her, the girl grabbed a kunai from her new weapon pouch, running towards the other side of the room. She stared into the pools of scarlet, for the first time feeling a raw emotion called hate.
The girl froze in her spot when the air changed, and images of the massacre flashed through her head. As if in the murderer's point of view, the katana in her hand swung down and ruthlessly slaughtered the men, the women, and even the children. Blood tainted the walls and floors. Unable to control her body, her feet took her into a house, mercilessly slaughtering the couple sitting in the middle of the room. Through her eyes, she saw a familiar face run into the room, staring wide-eyed at the man and woman laying on the floor, drowning in their own blood. His eyes turned in her direction, filled with pure horror.
The scenes suddenly paused, rewinded, and played repeatedly for what seemed like an eternity. Like a broken record with no Stop button.
"Stop... Stop... STOP!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs, clutching her head. As if to block out the images, she felt her body weaken, until she finally fell to the floor, unconscious.
"How cruel, Itachi." The masked man mumbled sinisterly, a smirk plastered on his hidden features. "Aren't you being a little too harsh?"
"You feel her potential, don't you. She is an excellent genjutsu type and has expert chakra control as well. A non-Sharingan user, especially at her age, wouldn't have been able to last so long in Tsukuyomi and only faint as a result." The man named Itachi explained, his eyes planted on the body curled on the ground. "She will be a powerful kunoichi if trained properly."
"Are you saying we should keep her alive? You're too soft for your own good." The masked man asked, eyeing the girl as well. "Very well. She will be your responsibilty then." Turning back to the Sharingan user, he grabbed a cloak and threw it at him. Itachi caught it effortlessly, and looked at the ring in his hand that came along with the cloak. It was a red ring, with the word 'Scarlet' inscribed onto it. "You will stay here for a month, until the Hokage suppresses the commotion after the massacre."
With that, the masked man disappeared from the room.
The Sharingan user sat there silently in the darkness with the unconscious girl laying several feet away.
A/N: Hello! I thought it would be fun to play with the plot of my favorite anime, so this is the result!
For the few of you who might have read Sacrifice before it was deleted, you'll find that this story is similar in its tone, and some parts are almost identical. So if you enjoyed Sacrifice, I think you'll definitely enjoy this story~
I want to put a big WARNING sign because this fanfic will contain a lot of SPOILERS
Lastly, thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated, but as long as one person enjoys this story, I will be very very satisfied! :)