Don't own anything.
The Uchiha tensai was coming back from one of his rare solo missions. Just a C-rank, fairly simple. He wasn't granted with such an opportunity often, to have some time to himself. As he tree-hopped from one branch to another, unpleasant and irritating thoughts were plaguing his mind. Thoughts he would rather not think about.
Such as his recent chunin exam. He had passed with flaying colors. Efficiently wining against a boy four years older, making him fourteen. After the examination though, he was selected by the Morino Ibiki to became an Anbu trainee. The clan elders immediately jumped into such an opportunity, not living him a choice of his own. He was ordered by them and his father to accept the invitation for the good of his clan, his family.
'Some family,' The young Uchiha thought bitterly. No one asked him if that was what his wished for. The Anbu position was not appealing to him by any means. Itachi was a peace lover. Every kill he committed was only pulling him down into darkness and shredding his innocence, what was left of it, to nothingness. And as an Anbu operative, he would be obligated to kill. There would be no more simple D, C, or B-ranked missions.
Nowadays, after Itachi's display of skills on the chunin exams, it was indeed really a rare thing. Some alone time to himself. No pressing elders. No clan issues. Just him, his thoughts and the scroll he was delivering to his Hokage.
The raven-haired heir was brought back from his troubled thoughts by a soft sound of sobbing. At first, he thought that it was probably some kid who scratched his knee, but then realized that it was past two in the morning. No one should be out at this hour, especially not a little child.
So as a dutiful and devoted shinobi to his beloved village, Itachi went in the direction where said sound was coming from. After some walking he reached the abandoned area where he saw an amazing cherry blossom tree at it's full bloom. He looked forward, behind, on the left and on the right but didn't saw anybody, yet the sounds of sobbing could be heard clearly now.
This time Itachi closed his sharingan-strained eyes and concentrated on finding some chakra signature. Finally, just when he was going to stop scanning the area, some little flickers of very faint and weak chakra hit his keen senses. It was barely audible is if the person was canceling it on purpose; some other Shinobi without very keen senses would surely overlook it, or maybe even mistake it as some small animals' chakra, but, Itachi weren't called the prodigy for nothing, after all.
Now, he understood why at first the person he was looking for couldn't be located. She, he could tell by the light voice, was sitting on the other side of the large cherry tree. The trunk of this tree was so massive that you could easily hide behind it and would be not noticed when canceling your chakra properly.
He started quietly, with the grace that only ninjas could posses, approaching the other side of the said tree. When he was getting closer and closer he was able to see the one who's whimpers brought him here.
It was a little girl around the age of his little brother, she was maybe four or five. Well, that would be making her some five, six years younger than himself.
But what actually shocked Itachi was her appearance. Her shirt and shorts were all overspread in blood. And it weren't just her torn clothes, her whole body was all over in that crimson liquid. Her legs, arms and even her short pink hair.
Her pale yet creamy skin was covered in cuts, scratches and bruises. It was oblivious that something bad has had happened to her. Her bloody appearance couldn't be caused from simply playing on the swings. Even if she would be thrown out of them.
When young Itachi finally reached her, she didn't even looked up. She was still crying with her head hidden in her small arms, but, who could blame her for that, she probably didn't even hear him; Itachi's ninja footsteps were inaudible.
So he bent down and put a hand on her shoulder. Then asked, trying not to sound cold as to not to scare her even more.
"Hush, little one, what has happened to you?"
The reaction that he's received weren't surprising at all. She jerked from his unexpected touch and immediately looked up at him. She gasped quietly for some reason unknown. Her face also was injured. She had a nasty cut on her left check.
Her eyes were puffy and red, probably from intense crying. She also looked very frightened, like if she was expecting Itachi would strike her in the very moment. After a second, though, she looked away and again started crying. Then she whispered between sobs so quietly that he barely heard it.
"Ple-pleas d-don't h-hur-hurt m-me."
'Hurt her?' Itachi was once again shocked. Why would he hurt her? She was a mere child. "Now, why would I hurt you, little one?" The raven-haired boy inquired with the soft tone he used with his younger brother.
"Y-you look just like h-him, just ol-older. " The small girl replied with broken words. She was shaken and scared.
'Just like him? Just older? Like who?' The young tensai quirked an eyebrow at her. He would never have guessed who Sakura was mentioning. It was just beyond his imagination that his brother Sasuke, little Sasuke-chan would have done such an act. Who would be such a scum to do something like that? To someone who had no chance to stand up for herself. Maybe he, that bastard was an Uchiha man. After all, Itachi's looks were rather common between his damned clan. But then again, Itachi was only ten, still a child by age himself.
The young Uchiha was a patient person most of the time, but such a matter was something he needed to know. Especially if it concerned his clan. So he once again asked the pink-haired child, but this time Itachi's voice was firm and strained from trying to keep it in control.
"Girl, what has happened to you?"
Itachi flinched slightly himself as she did too. Instantly regretting his tone of voice. But finally the young child-girl tried to calm herself and finally stopped crying. She bent her head down ,as if in shame, and started talking.
"I- I was in the park o-on the s-swings, and then the other chi-children come up to m-me. The-they first j-just stared at me w-with smirks. I didn't know w-what they wa-wanted from m-me, so I asked the-them if they wanted to p-play with me, b-but they just laughed at that. Then Sa-Sasuke-k-kun, one of them, started calling me names and the rest followed him in doing so.
They called me a pi-pink-haired freak, u-ugly-fo-forehead, crybaby ,forehead-girl, wea-weakling and such. They said that I am un-unworthy of living, of begin a kuno-kunoichi, or even of breathing theirs' air and that it would be for the best if I would just k-k-kill myself.
They were always doing things like that to me, but after a moment they started throwing rocks at me. I- I didn't kno-know w-what to d-do, so I- I just ran as... as fast as I could a-and co-come up he-here in this pla-place and s-sat un-under that tree as I- I always d-do. A-and I- I just wa-wanted to be-befriends with them. I ne-never had a-any."
She ended her speech with another burst of uncontrollable cry, and young Itachi was completely lost as to what to do.
The only thing that was at the moment in his rambling mind were her eyes. Her large beautiful emerald eyes. Those two diamond gems. Her green irises were illuminated by the shining moon making them even more unique. But they were also pained, very pained. They held such sadness that it was simply wrong for a little girl such as herself! They were so empty, so hollow.
'They were just... just like mine.' Young Itachi thought bitterly once again.
Just when he was going to sooth this child, realization hit Itachi with full force. It couldn't be mistaken. In Konohagakure was only one Sasuke. And it was no other than... 'Little foolish brother.' Itachi thought with clenched teeth.
He didn't know why, but the urge to just hug her was there; to hold her close to him and shield her from everything that could hurt her. And Itachi openly deed exactly what was in his heart. He embraced her with all his might. Then suddenly he felt a strange filing of tugging in chest. It was nice in some way, but still strange. Itachi never had felt something like this before in his whole dull life.
Then, she stirred slightly with her head as if looking up. Itachi thought at first that she didn't want him to hold her, feeling rejected once again. But then he felt her sneaking her own little scratched arms around his neck.
She was hugging him back. And that felt nice too ; to be accepted by someone other than his mother and little brother who practically worshiped him. Such strings of thoughts were running trough Itachi's head as he relaxed in the shared, dare he say it, hug.
