[A/N: Glad to get some reviews, remember my rule: The more reviews I get on a chapter, the sooner I'll update the story! Also, check out my profile for goodies!]
Sirens buzzed around the walls of the city as unarmed families barred their doors as police officers and available ninja both young and old leapt from their stations. Weapons drawn and elemental powers firing across the rooftops as men and women caught off-guard jumped to defend their homes. Leading the pack was the ANBU, followed by the ninja and a few stray police officers that weren't busy getting people safely inside their homes. Unfortunately the houses and apartments wouldn't offer any protection to the innocent villagers as the clouds above Kohona turned blood red and opened up, giant orbs of flame rocketed down and demolished the wooden structures big and small. Ninja that could managed tried to fire their own weapons and attacks to demolish the fireballs but they were far outnumbered and unprepared. Itachi was the first to make it to the front wall of the village and felt his heart fall into his stomach as he bore witness to the carnage before him. The forest was aflame beyond repair unless a tsunami could be summoned. Hundreds, no, thousands of sand ninja with weapons and jutsu drawn were advancing to the walls. Behind them were several dozen giant catapults, though with fire raining from the sky, what could they possibly be launching? His question was answered as the sound of rope and wood grinding against each other rumbled through the earth and a large round mass was launched through the air and landed somewhere within the city, wiping out the ninja academy to rubble.
But these warriors and weapons were the least of their worries as barely beyond the catapults stood a group of hooded men, one of which held a chain that led from his hand to the neck and hands of a small, red-haired child. Gaara cried and whimpered as one of the men pulled his cloak over his head to reveal a torn and beaten small body and another pulled out a whip and began to beat him mercilessly. With every lash the small child cried in anguish and the demon within him was drawn out. Finally the monster took over his vessel and the giant raccoon-dog sand-beast materialized several stories high in the air. If the gods existed, Kohona would need their help tonight. Several more of the metal balls were launched over the walls, only one or two managing to be repelled amidst the chaos. Itachi's blade was ready to meet the flesh of a sand-village warrior when a secondary alarm from across the opposite side of the Leaf Village sounded in his ears. A quick look back revealed that they were fully surrounded and enemy ninja were already scaling the walls and penetrating their homecity. The thump of another catapult launching caught his attention and one of the metal balls soared through his vision and landed in none other than the Uchiha district. He slid his hand into his vest and in a fluid motion five blades were drawn and thrown in a deadly fan, catching the throats and abdomen of five sand ninja. He would have to slip away and check in on his relatives, not trusting any of them with the life of his family.
The moment that the opportunity presented itself, the elder Uchiha brother slipped off and dashed across into his home-district. He immediately sensed the presence of toxins in the air. He covered his mouth with the cloak of his uniform and landed on one of many rooftops overlooking the district. He found that metal ball that had landed ontop of his aunties house, tearing through the roof and floorboards. Poisonous gas was being expelled through vents in the sides. So that was their game…keep the warriors busy while employing chemical warfare against the defenseless. The immediate area held the bodies of five dead Uchiha. They had all met the same fate of being suffocated by the thick gas, he could only hope that very little of the toxins would find his ototo. Screaming a hundred yards away alerted him to the presence of the sand-warriors cutting down Uchiha women and children. He witnessed none other than his mother standing bravely infront of a group of screaming, crying, shuddering women and elderly Uchiha with nothing more than a small sword in her hands. He couldn't have stopped her untimely death at the hand of an enemy sand jutsu that encased her in a coffin of sand and crushed her bones and internal organs, even if he tried. Two score of enemy ninja leapt over the walls behind him, this was where he would make his stand. Tearing a portion of his cloak off he wrapped his face to protect from inhaling the poisons and freed his hands for battle. Kohona might burn in hell tonight, but not without taking a majority of her attackers with her. Shukaku roared as the walls of the Leaf Village crumbled down before it and blood ran through her virgin streets.
X.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
The sun rose over a destroyed village. Ash and smoke filled the air as flies and wild birds feasted on the carcasses that lined the ground. The once mighty Hidden Village was now nothing more than ruins and the stench of death that cursed the ground. Itachi found the strength to stand on his weak legs and lean his back against what used to be a ceiling beam of a proud Uchiha temple. He lost count of how many of the enemy that fell before his blade during that battle before everything turned red. He cleaned the dried blood off of his katana on what remained of his cloak before trying to catch his bearings. His family home was mostly unharmed other than the imprints of bodies that were thrown against the structure and the blood that was spilled on and around it.
He stepped down that familiar outdoor balcony, hearing his own heartbeat as he walked towards the panel that led to his bedroom. Knocking the broken structure aside, the sun poured into the room and revealed an undisturbed chest resting at the opposite end. He slowly walked across the room and fell to his knees before the box, running his palms against the decorated top. If there was a corpse inside, then everything he had ever done in the name of Kohona was in vain. But if not…..then what would he do? He dug the key out of a surgically enhanced pocket of skin in his mouth and clicked the lock open. Tossing it aside he took one more deep breath and opened the trunk, feeling both relief and agony at what it held inside.
[A/N: Remember that reviews are my fuel to new chapters ^^ ]
