2016-4-14

I have nothing to say but I am really sorry that it took me 7 years for an update. This chapter is a mixture of my writings from 7 years ago me until yesterday me, not only I had forgotten the original plot, but my writing also changed a bit.

Please excuse the grammar.

Please don't kill me.


Deep

Yuki smiled weakly before jumping out of the window. Sakura immediately approached the window, but she had already disappeared.

"The worst scenario…" she realized the worst scenario she could have was definitely death and the only way for her to avoid death once again was to be prepared for it.

A week had passed. That morning, the sun hadn't risen yet, she stepped down from her bedroom quietly. The house she stayed at had a backyard behind the building where she lived. She brought her Odachi along with the silver kunai. She tugged her jacket tighter to her body as the wind blew incredibly great, bringing the cold and snow along. But such weather wouldn't stop her for the training which she had started since three days ago. Yes, she had made up her mind, she'd do the things she did when she was still in the Uchiha compound. No one knew when or where, accident could happen anytime and anywhere. So that when that time comes, she should be ready for everything.

Sakura unsheathed the odachi half way, listening to its shrieking sound as metal scraped with metal.

Click.

She sheathed her odachi immediately before whirling around, she gasped as she found Mikoto was there.

"Mi- mikoto-san…" She couldn't hide the weapon, she could only wait.

"What are you doing in such early morning?" She glanced at the weapon then to her. She couldn't help but smile as she approached the younger woman in front of her,

"Training, eh?" Mikoto did a swift spin, stealing the chance when Sakura was too shocked to take her odachi, they stood back to back in the backyard, she whispered, "Sakura…"

The particular girl snapped out of her trance and soon turned around, only to be stared by a pair of beautiful bloody red sharingan, "Who are you…?"

Sakura gripped her clothes tightly, she knew she couldn't lie before those eyes, but she couldn't tell her the truth… She gritted her teeth while her emerald eyes hid behind those pale eyelids. She listened to the shrieking sound as once again, her odachi was being unsheathed.

"This country, Sakura… This country is the only neutral area between those great nations which ruled by ninja. Ninja, or everything that has connection with it aren't allowed here. And this weapon of yours, isn't the kind samurai used."

"I… I don't…" She stuttered as Mikoto raised the odachi high, close to her neck. Mikoto chuckled softly as she blinked once; vanishing the red orbs from her eyes, she sheathed the odachi slowly, "But don't worry, you're safe here with me." A comfortable smile decorated Mikoto's face.

"I used to be a kunoichi," she turned around, facing the innocent tree, "But that was 20 years ago."

Sakura got a grip of Mikoto's sleeve, she witnessed the older woman's confusion at that time, she had to think fast, she had to make a reason, "Mikoto-san! Please, make me your apprentice!" Mikoto's eyes grew widen, she parted her lips into a narrow gap, "Give me a good reason,"

Think quickly! Sakura placed her palm on her chest, "I… I can't give you a reason." Mikoto gave a slight sigh while walking past her, "Then I can't help either."


Another month had passed again, she still couldn't find any information about Itachi's whereabouts. She checked the bulletin board regularly, she read all the newspaper she could find, and yet, she got nothing. The only thing she could still do was to train.

Why do I keep running? She slashed, Why am I still here? She spun the Odachi, Why I can't be honest? WHY! She sent her last assault to the air. Sakura bit her lower lip as she tried to get rid the urge to cry, she hate it when she had to admit her cowardice.

She sheathed her odachi, No, this is wrong…

"What is your purpose, actually…?" she had never wanted to hear that question, she kept staring the grass between her feet, "You won't understand." She answered without looking at the questioner.

Mikoto was already beside her before she noticed that, holding her wrist while pulling it up, revealing a palm which was full of scratches, "You won't try so hard if it's not important, these palms aren't supposed to hold a weapon, tell me the truth, Sakura. Tell me, who you are and what your purpose is."

Mikoto felt the hand she was holding stared to tremble before letting it left her grip. The owner of the emerald eyes fell on her knees, covering her face by her scratched palms, through the wounded hands, she could feel the wetness as her tears flowed from the twin pearls, the older woman could only stay still in front of the broken frame.

"I…I hate myself… I hate myself for being weak and helpless…" she thought that after she left the village and became free, she could be stronger, she could do whatever she wanted. But the reality she had was different.

She gripped the edge Mikoto's skirt, staring the onyx pearls with a slight hatred, "You're an Uchiha, what do you know of being weak…" Mikoto's eyes grew widen, she never told her that she was an Uchiha, and she had only showed her the sharingan once. "Sakura… you…"

Sakura quickly averted her gaze after realizing that she filled hatred within her gaze, "I used to be no one… I used to be… nothing…"

Mikoto bent her body, she used her warm hand to grip Sakura's cold ones, "Sakura, we are going to talk about this inside, you're freezing!" She tried to pull her up, but Sakura pulled back, "We cannot talk about it Mikoto-san! I told you already, I can't tell you my reason…" she suddenly lost her power, her vision ignored brain, the cold fingers started to loosened their grip,

"Sakura!" was the last word she heard before darkness swallowed her.


"You catch a cold, get a rest…"

"As I remember, I told you to take a rest, didn't I…"

Mikoto came to her bedroom after she'd done cleaning the restaurant, she removed the towel from her forehead before dipped it into the cold water, she put it back to its previous place. Sakura stirred a bit as the cold towel touched her warm forehead. Mikoto took a look at some things on her table, even though there were only a pencil and a small notebook.

"Forgive me…" Mikoto turned her head as she heard the younger kunoichi's voice, but Sakura's stable breath told her that she was just talking in her sleep, although Mikoto didn't know what was happening in her dream, but she was sure that the apology wasn't for her. She made her way to the door, as she shut the door quietly, another word came out from the Sakura's lips,

"…Itachi-sama."


He sat there, alone, in the darkness, without anyone to talk with him, nothing would try to disturb him in him private time when he was alone in his room. He was lying down on his bed, his eyes were closed firmly, yet he wasn't sleeping, he dived deep through his thought.

He remembered his first plan after slaughtering his family-his eyelids twitched slightly-he decided to live alone, bearing the burden of a criminal, but then he ended up with some criminals. He never stepped into a decision without thinking about it for a long time.

His eyes snapped open as he noticed there was chakra movement outside his room, since his room was at the corner of the inn, he knew that person's purposed place.

"Itachi, we'll go to Yukigakure, just got the order, un."

Since his last mission in Konohagakure, he always hated that 'order' word.


Kunio-san, it's been several months since I passed out, do you remember when I lost my consciousness and was sent to hospital because of fever? I had a dream about that day, you would have scolded me if you were still here with me because I didn't learn from the experience I had.

Mikoto-san doesn't ask about the reason anymore, she has been teaching me some basic things when she was still a kunoichi, however, becoming a kunoichi cannot be done in months, I cannot become a kunoichi. Then again, she said that I might be able to be a samurai.

The girl named Yuki comes by once in a while, Mikoto-san always treats her wound and gives her some sweets, she said it was for her brothers and sisters. Although, I remember she told me she had no family…

Kunio-san, I actually don't want to disturb your peaceful rest, but still, I don't know whom I will speak to if it's not you.

Sakura closed her notebook and put her pencil on it, she looked out of the window, the snow was decreasing slowly these days, but it still was snowing though. She pushed the window open, feeling the cold breeze kissed her reddish cheek. She recalled the first day she came to this village, she couldn't bear the cold weather with only a layer of kimono.

"Another day, another destiny, another chance to find him…"

She closed the window again before her body would turn into a snowman, she went downstairs by jumping two steps at one time only to find Mikoto crossing her arms in front of their storage room,

"What is it?" Mikoto waved her hand while shutting the door, "I forget to buy something. Are you going to the market now?" Sakura answered it a slight nod

She took out some money from her apron's pocket, "Can you go to medicine shop on your way back here? Buy a box of ginger powder."

Sakura took the money and put it inside her pocket carefully, "Anything else?"

Mikoto watched as her face seemed brighter these days; she caressed the cherry blossoms colored hair softly, "Be careful, okay? Don't forget your coat…"

Sakura jogged back to her bedroom, she wore her dark blue coat, which its end reached her knees, she pulled out a white scarf from her dressers, circling it around her tiny neck. She stood in front of a small mirror on her desk, "Perfect."

She hugged herself tighter at the moment she opened the main door, it had been a long time since the last time she went to the market alone. Even though every day she would go with Mikoto at the early morning before they opened the restaurant, but there would be a time; once a month she would go there alone to buy stuffs.

She slipped on her boots before stepped into the snow.

"Good morning, honey…" said the old lady who owned the shop, she lifted some boxes of soaps and detergents, "Like the usual, right?" Sakura handed her the money before carried the paper bag, "Thank you, Baa-san."

"You look happy today, what's up, honey?" She just turned her head back to the old lady with a big grin plastered on her face, "I have a good feeling today."

The old lady waved as she walked further. Sakura took out a small note, she noticed a small amount of money she still had in her pocket, wondering what she'd forgotten. She snapped out of her thought as she saw the medicine shop, "Ginger powder!"

She slid the door slowly, as she wasn't sure if the shop was open due to its dark windows, she unclearly saw two men in black cloak near the counter, the red clouds patterns were unseen because the shop was out of light.

"Oji-san?" she called out, her voice made one of the duo turned his eyes towards her, even though she couldn't see his face which was hidden by his big round hat.

"Oi, Sakura-chan, I was wondering why Mikoto didn't come to take her ginger," he handed her the box as she put the money on the counter, "there you go…"

None of them realized that one of the cloaked men turned his head when he heard the name 'Mikoto'.

"Why do you turn the light off, Oji-san?" she put the box into her paper bag, he laughed, "I don't know, the electricity cable seems bitten by some rats, luckily I kept some candles from the last festival." He lifted his hand as an excuse; he put some small packages into a medium-size paper pouch, he put it on the other side of the counter, near the men.

Sakura hugged the paper bag carefully, "You should clean them quickly or they will eat your whole shop." Said Sakura cheerfully as the old man approached her again.

The cold breeze seemed like hugging her fragile body, as the two men opened the door, she could haven't heard the sentence, she could have ignored the first two words, but not the last one,

"Let's go, Itachi-san."

She whirled her body around, just to see his back for a split second before the door was slammed shut. She might have seen a wrong person with same name, but this opportunity would not come for the second time, she dashed towards the door, forgetting her paper bag on the counter; the old man's voice was inaudible for her in that state.

Sakura slid the door with all her force; she scanned the area quickly, but she found no trace of them, she ran out screaming his name, she caught a small glimpse of their cloak, she approached him immediately, "Itachi-sama!"

"Hm? Who are you, miss?" she noticed the nonexistence of the hat they had before, no wonder she mistook him as Itachi, "I'm sorry." She bowed slightly as her apology.

She turned her body around scanned the area once more, but, her effort was useless. He was no longer there. Unnoticed by her, two men were watching from above the roof not far away from where she was.

"Do you know her, un?"

"No…" Itachi watched as she ran around looking for him.


Mikoto closed the door of the restaurant, breakfast time had passed, they usually closed the restaurant for an hour between breakfast and lunch time. She took some cleaning tools from the storage room before climbing the stairs to Sakura's room. She used the duster to clean the dust on the bookshelves; she stood on her toes to clean the upper part of the shelves.

Suddenly, the duster was stuck. She tried to pull the duster back, but it still wouldn't let go. She took the small table from the corner then put it near the shelves. She stepped onto the table, she reacted out, trying to find what had caused the duster to be stuck. Her fingertip finally felt something, she tried to feel what it was. She took the thing from the top of the shelves.

A silver kunai.

She stepped down from the table, she used both hand to hold it, she could feel hot tears dropped on her hands. Her legs finally lost their power to sustain her own weight. She fell on her knees, a river of memory rushed into her brain.

"Fugaku…"


Sakura slid the door of the medicine shop, the old man was seen packing her previous paper bag, his wife was wrapping some powder when she saw her stepping in, "Oh, honey, she's back…"

He turned to her immediately, "O my, what had gotten into you… You suddenly rushed out of my shop…" Sakura merely walked past him and hugged her paper bag, before heading to the door again, "Oji-san…Obaa-san… Thanks… and good bye…"

As the door was shut, the old man turned at his wife, "Don't you think she's a little bit sad?"


She drew out her dresser, taking out her weapon, clothes and a rucksack. She folded everything and placed them in the rucksack. Her hand stopped moving for a moment, remembering about Mikoto, yes, she had to leave, but did she have to leave without telling her the reason? She clenched her fist, she had no other choice.

She clipped her rucksack as everything was finally well-packed. She looked at the clock on the wall, almost midnight, she had to wait until it was 2 o'clock in the morning, yes, it was the best time to leave this place, when everyone in the city was asleep, including Mikoto.

She shut her eyes for a moment, planning what to do, even though what up ahead wouldn't be predicted. The memories which she had when she lived in the restaurant; all flew around inside her mind,

"I'm going to leave this place soon…" she looked at the plain white ceiling above her, soon, it would change to a night sky with or without star. She stretched her hand to the bed, caressing it, feeling its softness.

Sakura lifted her rucksack, settling it on her back before opening her window; She had no choice but to jump out of the window or she'd wake the sleeping beauty downstairs, even though she had never done that before, she had to try...

STEP!

A perfect landing... For her surprise, her rucksack was heavier than what she thought, she lost her balance and fell on her butt, "Ouch..." she tried to stand up, but suddenly a figure appeared in front of her. A familiar pair of red eyes met her green eyes, "No… why…" she lost her consciousness almost immediately.


She could hear his sinister laugh from behind the door. It hurt her inside as those laughs always made her recall the day he killed her family. She felt a small hand touch her finger, she looked at the boy beside her, he was one of many children he kidnapped to be used as his experiment.

"姐?" (Sis?) she put her hand on his head, caressing his hair, "没事。" (it's okay…)

She knocked the door twice before opening it. She could feel that the temperature in that room was definitely different from the usual, there was white smoke every time she exhaled, even the room was full of white things, as if it was winter already. She could see him though the fog covered most of her vision.

"冷,很冷." (cold, very cold.) She held the boy's hand tighter as he stated what she felt. Orochimaru stepped out of the fog, together with a small child beside him. A very low chuckle was heard from him, "Ahh…Mii…你看(look)," he showed her the child's hand, snow was dripping from his fingertips. He looked at the boy who was standing beside her, "我不用他了 (I don't need him anymore), 你可以把他扔掉 (You can dispose of him.)" he took the child with him, leaving them in the cold room.

She fell on her knees, whenever he asked her to dispose the children, she had never wanted kill them.

Itachi, how long should I wait…


Itachi put his hand on the door of his room in the inn he was staying, he stopped his hand immediately before he pushed the door open. He felt someone's presence in his room.

"Take you a while…" someone opened the door from inside, a man with orange mask was seen.

Itachi walked passing him before he closed the door.

"This organization is making slow progress… Itachi why don't you do something for me…"

Silence filled the room…

Madara threw a piece of paper on his bed, "Orochimaru's experiment has been bothering me for a while now… End it, finish him, and don't let him return… that… is if you still care about them…" he melted into the ground after he finished.

Itachi sat on the bed, he looked at the paper Madara left for him. It was none other than the map of Orochimaru's lab. He put both his hands on his knees, he looked out of the windows in front of him, "Okaa-san…"


Mikoto opened the door of her bedroom, she smiled as she watched two babies were sleeping soundly on the futon. She walked quietly to her dresser, she took out a notebook before starting to write something on it. She noticed the window was opened slightly, she put her notebook down before standing up to close the window. The moment she was about to close it, she could see Itachi practicing with some shuriken from the gap.

She pushed the window open wider to have a better view of her first child. He noticed the window moved, so he stopped to take a look.

"Okaa-san…" he smiled at her.

Mikoto waved at him while whispering, "Ganbatte-ne…" he realized that the babies might be sleeping there because his mother would always shout when she said those words, he continued after nodding as a reply.

She closed the window and made sure it was closed tightly this time.

Sakura leaned her back to the wall behind her, she tried to understand what was happening and where she was. She remembered that she was supposed to leave the restaurant tonight, but when she jumped down, Mikoto showed up in front of her and then there she was. When she came back to her sense, she was there, standing inside a bedroom where she could see two sleeping babies. And just then, she was sure she could see a younger Itachi. She noticed that she was wearing her old black kimono.

"You're inside my memory." She turned her head immediately to the source of the voice. Another Mikoto was standing across the room, right beside the other Mikoto who was still writing on the notebook.

"What…?"

Mikoto turned her head down, looking at the babies, "You're her, right? You're Sayuri's daughter."

"Yes, Mikoto-san…"

She closed her eyes. Sakura took the opportunity to run to the door, but as she opened it, it was the same room.

"I will repeat… You're inside my memory…it's no use trying to escape like that."

Sakura closed the door again, "What do you want from me, Mikoto-san…" Suddenly the door disappeared, including everything but her and Mikoto, only darkness surrounded them.

"I only want to get to know you…" a candle appeared, followed by another one until the room was bright enough for her to see another piece of her memory. They could see Kunio; and Sayuri who was trying so hard to deliver the baby. Younger Mikoto was seen wiping Sayuri's forehead using a towel, while her other hand was holding her hand tightly.

Mikoto looked back at her, "And I can tell you about your mother…"

Sakura averted her gaze from her, "What do you know about my mother…"

"What do you know about your parents, don't you want to know about them?" Mikoto raised her hand, the surrounding once again turned black, "Tell me, Sakura… tell me everything that you know that I don't…"

"Why…"

"You were one of the survivors…" Mikoto's expression turned sad, "You're the last people I know from my past…"

Sakura hesitated for a sec, however had no choice but to tell her what had happened to her all those times, from the beginning of her memory, when she was little, how Sasuke would treat her poorly, how she learned to cook and write. No matter how she felt before she started telling her the story, she had forgotten all about it, the fear of being trapped in Mikoto's memory, the urge to hide the truth, everything had been washed away.

As her story went, their old home was built slowly within Mikoto's realm of memory, Sakura could see herself running around the house together with Kunio, Azumi, and Yae. Her tears overflowed as she felt as if they were still alive and everything was normal like nothing had happened. Mikoto approached her, caressing her back to calm her.

Sakura wiped her tears off as she noticed another change in the view. She watched as another three familiar figures appeared from the door, they were Sasuke, Itachi, and Fugaku. She noticed that Mikoto's expression changed as she saw her husband entered the house.

Sakura realized how she would make her sad if she told her about Fugaku's suicide, but she had to as she was told that she was the reason he committed suicide.

"I'm sorry…" she apologized

"It's not your fault…" Mikoto smiled weakly while caressing her hair.

The story finally went to her fifteenth birthday when she received her first birthday present, continued to her first summer festival experience. Sakura paused, to continue the story, she had to recall all the attacks she received from the masked men, and it hurt her. Not only about the attack, but it was also the beginning of Itachi's change of attitude towards her.

Mikoto hugged her, "It's okay, you don't need to force yourself. It's okay… you don't need to tell me…"

She nodded, still she told her about all the attacks that happened, starting from the attack at the hill until the massacre of Uchiha clan.

"Itachi-sama… saved me from the mask man and that was the last time I saw him… I knew no one, he's the only one I know in my whole life… so I left the village to find him… until… yesterday, I saw him." Sakura clutched her kimono. Mikoto didn't hide her surprise expression when she told her she saw him, but her expression quickly changed into a serious one.

"When did you know, that I am me?" Mikoto asked.

Sakura remained silent, she didn't know if it was okay to tell her that she knew it from Yuki.

"Was it the brunette?"

Sakura looked at her with a surprised expression, "How—?" Before she could end her sentence, the darkness had already engulfed her whole body.


After she returned the kid back to his room, Yuki walked through the hall to reach her own room, when she was still a few meters away from her door, she could feel there was someone inside her room. She stopped midway, "Itachi…? No… he'd send a crow instead of coming himself…"

She made some hand seals with her left hand, while her other hand pushed the door open. As she finished her technique, she tried to find out who the intruder was.

"You… you reek of Uchiha… where…" she knew whose voice it was. She stepped into her room, quickly turning the lights on, revealing her intruder.

"Orochi—ACH" her word was cut off by a blow which was landed on her stomach. She fell on the floor, hitting her head hard, "Urgh…" as if it wasn't enough, he stomped on her, she coughed hard as she barely breathed.

"These things… reek of Uchiha… Where did you get this?!" he hissed, she tried to open her eyes to look what he meant, "The sweets…" he had lost his patient, he had been searching for the remaining Uchiha since a long time, "You will bring her to me!"

He slithered out of her window, bringing all the sweets with him. She still continued coughing, followed by cracking sound. She cursed under her breath for not keeping the sweets in safer place, she put her hand on her stomach, followed by another cracking sound. She used her elbow to help her sit up, pieces of ice fell off from within her shirt, if only she didn't prepare for the blow since she was still outside, she might have suffered some broken ribs.

"I still have a couple days until he runs out of his patience…" she took two needles from her pocket, she clenched her hand tightly, a drop of blood fell from her palm. She opened her palm, revealing two black butterflies; she stretched her arm, letting them fly into the sky.


Sakura opened her eyes slowly, she saw the same ceiling she had been seeing for months then. She raised her hand to block the light from her window, "I'm back…"

She then remembered her encounter with Mikoto within her Memory realm. She sat up quickly, just to find Mikoto was sitting across her, "Mikoto-sama…" she shifted her sitting position, she lowered her head until it reached the futon.

"You don't have to do that to me anymore, you're not my slave." Mikoto touched her fingers, while her other hand touched her cheek asking her to raise her head.

"A—Y-yes…" Sakura raised her head hesitantly, Mikoto gave a small sigh, "I'm sorry for pulling you into that realm… Let's continue our talk here…"

Sakura gave her a slight nod.

"Let me repeat my question, was it the brunette?"

Sakura nodded again, "She… told me you were the reason he joined some kind of criminal organization after he… after the massacre." Mikoto closed her eyes, she gripped her apron tightly.

She opened her eyes, showing her sharingan once again to the younger one, "Now is my turn to tell you what I know…" she inhaled deeply

"We were threatened, if we do not follow the Elders in the Clan, something bad might happen to the family, especially for what I asked my husband to do. After they did an investigation to our house, they still thought that I was guilty. Fugaku sent me out of the village to ensure my safety as he was sure they wouldn't try to do anything to our children.

At first, I was sent to Mist, due to my knowledge in medicine and herbs, I worked there as pharmacist in their hospital for a while before moving to other place and on. After a few years living as a nomad, I finally found this village, a safe place from war and everything. My husband decided that I couldn't send any message home, as it might reveal my location, he even hid the fact that he actually knew when I had been all the time."

Mikoto noticed how confused she was about their way of contacting each other, she continued, "We, had our way of contacting each other… but then his last contact was a couple of years ago, just before his death. After that, I had no information at all about the village, or about my children, until…he…"

She paused before continuing, "Itachi came."

She could see how Sakura's eyes grew widen, she used her hands to cover her gasp, "He… he did? Wha—what happened then, when?"

Mikoto closed her eyes, remembering that fated day.

Mikoto wiped the table as her last costumer finally left the restaurant. She brought the dishes to the sink beside the bar. She was washing the plates when she heard the bell on her door rang as someone opened the door. Without raising her head, she shouted, "I'm sorry, we're closed."

She waited until the bell rings once more, however the cloaked figure didn't move from his position. She finished washing her dishes before raising her head, just to find he was still there, standing by the door. His face was hidden by the hood of his cloak. She wiped her hands using her apron while leaving the bar, "I'm sorry, sir, but we're closed now." She noticed that even though he hid his face, his gaze was still following her movement.

"Sir…?"

He stretched his arm, raising his hand to touch his hood. Slowly he pulled his hood, revealing his face.

"Itachi…?" it had been several years since she saw her oldest child face, but she was sure it was him, "Itachi-kun…?" even though she was a little confused of how he could find her here, she was really glad being able to see her child after a long time. But her smile only lasted a few seconds, as she approached him closer, she noticed something was definitely wrong with him.

"Itachi-kun…" she noticed how his expression was far from when the last time she saw him, his lips were curved downward, he looked much thinner than how she imagined he should be, his sharingan didn't show any light of living people. As their eyes finally met, the familiar sharingan dissolved away, his gaze slowly moved downwards until he could only see the floor.

Mikoto stretched his arms, reaching out to her son's face, who had outgrown her. She could feel his heat radiated through her cold hands, his gaze finally went back to face her.

"Okaa-san…" his vision of her didn't last long as tears started to overflow uncontrollably. His power and his strength finally abandoned him, he fell on his knees. She embraced the helpless figure in her arms, she repeatedly patted his back gently while whispering, "It's alright… It's alright…" she kept saying the mantra over and over again as scream of agony eventually drowned her voice.

His scream could be heard for a long while that night.

Mikoto put a cup of warm tea on the table in front of him, she managed to bring him to sit down after he finally calmed down, however he remained quiet as if his voice had already left him too. She wished to know what might cause him to become like that, she knew him; she knew how he was when he was sad, but she had never seen him broken like this. She held the urge to ask him immediately as she was afraid it would trigger another painful memory for him. She felt helpless, being his mother yet she didn't know what to do to help her own son.

She sat beside him, she put a piece of paper and a pencil on the table, she looked at him, "Remember when we wanted to talk but we kept it a secret from your father?" she took the pencil and wrote,

Enif ma i

She put the pencil back onto the table, a sad smile appeared as deep down she was afraid that he might had forgotten about this, she waited patiently for him to react. She had only waited for a few minutes but it felt like a few hours as her eyelids were getting heavier every second, nevertheless she tried her best not to fall asleep, she pinched her finger once in a while to prevent her dozing off. However, her body finally gave up after a while, she fell asleep.

The sound of bird chirping eventually woke her up the next morning, she sat up immediately, he wasn't there anymore. She jumped from her chair, heading to the door quickly, however, he had already long gone. She sighed heavily, she returned back to her restaurant. She was about to head to the bar to prepare her breakfast when she noticed the paper she left on the table. She didn't even have a slightest thought that he would write something, she took the paper without looking at it again.

She was about to tear the paper when she realized there was something written under hers.

Efas eb esaelp

"Mikoto-san?" Sakura's voice snapped her out of her thought, "Aa… I'm sorry… He… only came to tell me to be careful, then he left without me noticing." She noticed a slight hope Sakura had had in her eyes disappeared just like that.

There was a short pause, "That girl, she started to visit me not long after then, without her realizing it, there was one time I actually used my eyes to force the truth out of her."

Sakura asked, "Was it Itachi-sama…?"

Mikoto gave her a slight nod, "It seemed Itachi asked her to keep an eye on me, something about the man in orange mask…" Sakura gripped her kimono, "He… was the one who attacked me during the massacre, and then she said… now he threatened Itachi-sama in exchange for your safety…"

She lowered her head, "That's why… I don't want to be a burden for him, I trained myself in case if there's another attack… so… I won't trouble him… or you… because of my weakness…"

Mikoto put her hand on her head, "Then why did you try to leave…?"

She remained quiet.

Mikoto realized that the younger woman wished to find her son, trying to find him would not be impossible but it wouldn't be easy as the world was vast. Not only that, they never knew what kind of evil might await them outside, no one could ensure their safety in their way out there, especially she wasn't trained to survive out there. No matter how much she had trained with her or by herself, it was still far from enough to even defense herself.

"Sakura," she raised her head, "Don't leave."

She paused before continuing,

"You said you saw him, then it means he knows you are here. If he wants to see you, he can just come, but if you leave…"

Sakura looked down on her knees, "But if he… doesn't want to see me again, I can't…"

Mikoto embraced the younger one as tears had started to fall from her emerald eyes, she patted her back softly just like how she did to him, "It's alright… I know my son… he'll come back… one day…"

To be Continued