06-06-2016
Away
"Sakura…"
She heard someone calling her name, she opened her eyes a little bit, "Sakura…" she looked to her left, there wasn't enough light for her to be able to see who it was clearly, but she knew her voice. She blinked again for a few times until her eyes finally got used to the light.
"Mikoto-san?"
Suddenly she remembered what had happened yesterday, "Mikoto-san! Someone—"
"It's alright. We're alright now…" Mikoto gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder while her other hand caressed her hair. She smiled, "Look who is here…" she rolled her eyes to her left, signaling the younger one to follow her eyes. Sakura rolled her eyes to the other person who had been sitting there for the whole night.
Her eyes grew widen, "Eh…" her heart couldn't stop screaming his name, yet her body didn't have the same response. She didn't know what to do or even what to say. For months she had been looking for him, but when he was there, in front of her eyes, she just froze. She glanced at Mikoto again before looking back at Itachi, "Itachi-sama…"
Mikoto touched her shoulder again, "Sakura, I'm sorry to wake you up so early in the morning, but we have to move out now…"
Sakura gave a confused look at Mikoto, the last thing she remembered was when she was attacked by the snakes, then the shock of meeting Itachi hadn't disappeared and now they had to move out. Mikoto understood her confused look, she gave her a weak smile, "I will explain everything later, but now, you have to get up, pack your things, and we're leaving as soon as you're ready."
Sakura nodded, she was sitting up when she realized that her right hand was occupying something. She saw that she was holding his hand, she immediately removed her hand from his, "I-I'm sorry…"
"Hn." He stood up while putting on his head protector again, he gave Mikoto a slight bow before heading to the door. Sakura was about to jump to follow him but Mikoto held her wrist, "Sakura."
Sakura had that sadness in her eyes, she turned back to the older woman, "Is he going leave us?"
Mikoto shook her head, "No, he'll come back. He just need to do something, we'll see him again in Yugakure."
"Yugakure?"
Mikoto let go of her wrist, "Yes, it was a hidden village before, but now it's just a normal village. We'll go there. Now pack your stuff." Mikoto handed her the silver kunai, "And make sure you don't leave any important things." said her before leaving Sakura's bedroom.
Sakura had a lot of questions, but since she was told they didn't have much time, so she kept her questions for herself for time being. She took out her bag, she put her clothes and her notebook in, not forgetting the silver kunai in her hand. When she opened the small side pocket, she noticed there was something forgotten inside, she saw a shiny object, she put her hand inside, pulling it out.
Her heart skipped a beat, it was her hairpin, the one he gave to her. She used her fingers to trace the pearls, staring from the red one, yellow, green, and blue. The pieces of her happy memories of him started to return one by one.
Mikoto tied the bags containing her books and her weapons all on Jyu's back, she caressed the falcon's neck, "I'm sorry for troubling you these days… I'll see you in Yugakure."
Jyu had already out of her sight when Sakura closed the door behind her, each of them only had one bag left for them to carry on their journey to Yugakure. Mikoto touched the door once again for the last time before changing her attention to the sky, "We're leaving now."
They could only walk to reach Yugakure instead of riding on Jyu's back since Yugakure was quite similar with Yukigakure, the village was no longer a ninja village. So coming to such place while riding a giant bird would attract too much attention, and they didn't want it, especially it might be their next home. The trip would take a day of walk, if they were quick enough, they would arrive in Yugakure before sunset.
As they were walking, she explained to Sakura about what had happened when she passed out, the fights, the meeting with Yuki and how Orochimaru finally met his end. She also explained why they should move out from Yukigakure, "Yukigakure is a neutral area, remember I told you about this before? This also means anything that relates to fighting, weapons, ninja… are not allowed there."
She knew that they wouldn't be able to stay there anymore, after she saw the police lines. Though if she wanted, she could insist to stay, but the villagers would definitely see them differently. Even though she didn't blame anyone for it, Sakura still felt guilty. She kept apologizing on their way to Yugakure.
"Stop apologizing…!"
"But…"
Mikoto realized that no matter what she said, she would still feel that it was her fault. They decided to stop by a small village to have a short lunch break, it was so small to the point there was only one small restaurant and they didn't have table or chair for them. They ended up buying some sweet dango to repress their hunger as it might take another hour or two before reaching another village.
They sat down under a dense tree by the roadside, they finished their dango in no time. Mikoto decided to bring up the topic, "Sakura, now that you've found Itachi, what do you want to do?"
The roseate had a slight blush on her cheeks, "I-I don't know…" but it disappeared immediately, replaced by a sad expression.
"Why? Didn't you leave the village to find him?"
Sakura gave her a weak smile, "I… that time I only thought of him… I wanted to be with him, but now that I met him… these thoughts emerged. Why? Even though I want to be with him, but does he want to be with me? And what am I to him?" she didn't realize that her tears had flowed, "I was only a slave, I was only a house maid. I don't think I deserve to be with him…"
Mikoto sat in front of her, lifting the younger one's wrists to her chest, "You were, but now you are just a normal girl, like everyone else… don't think that you don't deserve to be with him."
Sakura shut her eyes, "But I still don't know what he thinks of me, maybe he thinks that I'm just a bother to him…"
Mikoto wished to shout at her for thinking that her son would ill-treat someone, but the Itachi in her memory was the old Itachi. She remembered her husband had told her how the children were, he never told her about any drastic change in them. She wanted to tell her how she knew her son, but then she thought again. She couldn't say she knew her son, she hadn't lived with him for almost fifteen years. She only knew him from her husband stories and pictures.
"What if something did happen in those three years after Fugaku passed away?" she thought
She didn't know what had happened to her son in those three years, she heard rumors from the ninja that visited her restaurant that Itachi went crazy or he was just tired of life with the clan. She had prayed every night, wishing every bad rumor she heard were never true.
However, after meeting him yesterday, she knew he was still the same Itachi she had known. Even though he didn't want to tell her, there must be a reason why he did such brutality. She cursed herself for having even the slightest doubt at him, she should have trusted him.
The Uchiha put her hands on her cheeks, "Do not pull such conclusion without asking him in person yourself."
She still continued sobbing, Mikoto said, "Look at me!"
Sakura's eyes shot open, "Aa…"
Onyx eyes gazed at the emerald ones, "Think! How did he treat you? Do you think he treated you like you're a bother to him?"
Flashes of memories barged into her head,
"Good morning, Sakura…" Itachi smiled at her.
"The foods are delicious…" said Itachi with a slight smile.
Itachi caressed her hair gently.
"Sakura, will you accompany me to the Summer Festival?" asked Itachi
They finally arrived at their destination; the top of the mountain, and then, the fireworks started. Itachi smirked, "At the end of summer festival… the fireworks will be far better than these…" Sakura stared at the dark-but-bright sky. She could see the fireworks there, at the mountain, even with Itachi…
He took his hand out of his pocket and pulled out a small thing wrapped with a present paper, "Get better…" was all he said before he left her. She opened the paper… there was the hairpin she saw at the festival… Be Happy Be Alive Be Strong and Be Brave
He took out a band aid from his pocket and wrapped the wound. She stared at his face. He'd done with her finger and felt her stare, he stared her back. Realizing his stare, Sakura watched his sandals immediately.
She couldn't continue her sentence because his lips had captured hers.
"What if I have drunk the medicine, I have eaten, and I have had enough rest… But angel of death still comes?" He smirked; pinched her nose. Sakura aww'ed, she watched as he stood up and walked to the door, he spun; holding the slide door handle, "I'll defeat that angel of death so it won't come to take you."
Sakura shook her head, "He always took care of me…" she wiped her tears with her palm.
Mikoto sighed in relief, she patted her head gently, "See…? You're going to be okay…" she gave another smile before lifting her bag, she mouthed 'let's go' to the younger one. Sakura lifted her bag as well, she jogged slightly to catch up with Mikoto who had started walking first. She was adjusting the bag on her back when the particular question popped out in Mikoto's head.
"Do you love him?"
The younger woman blushed again, "Mi-Mikoto-san!"
The Uchiha smiled playfully, "So…?"
Sakura smiled, "I don't know…"
"Why do you keep answering everything with 'I don't know', then what do you know?"
She put her palm on her chest, "I don't understand what love is. Kunio-san told me that if I care deeply about someone that means I love them, if I want to be with someone, that means I love them."
"And how do you feel about him?"
"It hurts." Mikoto tilted her head slightly in confusion, Sakura put another hand on her stomach, "I care about him, I want to be with him… but when I think of him, my chest hurts, my stomach feels weird, and even sometimes I can't think clearly when…" she unconsciously touched her own lips.
Mikoto giggled a little, she bumped her head with hers lightly, she looked at her, "Sakura… you're really in love with him."
He stopped on a tree branch for a second to catch his breath, he had ran from Yukigakure since before dawn. He needed to reach his destination before afternoon so he could reach Yugakure before late night. He was already close, but since he was a criminal, he couldn't just walk in leisurely. He had to wait until the guards changing their shift, so he could enter the village without being noticed, he took the chance to rest for a while.
He held his hand, the one she held yesterday night. He could still remember the warmth that seeped into his skin. He could have forced her fingers to release him that night, but something in his heart stopped him.
He watched from afar as the guards finally left their posts. He jumped over the wall, he casted a simple transformation technique on himself, he used Kakashi's figure when he was one of his partners in ANBU. He send a crow to pass his message to the person he was trying to talk with while he headed to the meeting point.
"Here." She gave the younger one the last paper she had signed, she put it on the pile of papers on the floor. She lifted them all before heading to the door, "I'll take the next ones."
With that, she was left alone in her office. She lifted both her arms, signing all those hundreds of papers took her whole morning. She could hear her ribs produced cracking sounds as she stretched her arms, she let them fall on her sides. She exhaled loudly, she closed her eyes, waiting for the black hair woman to return with more papers.
KA!
Her eyes shot open as she heard the familiar sound, but it had been months since the last time she heard that. She turned her chair to see the crow sitting on her window, she approached the particular bird, she closed the curtain after it jumped onto her arm. She took the letters from its leg, there was nothing written there but a tiny map, a very familiar map.
She crushed the paper in her hand, followed by the disappearance of the crow. She looked at the moving curtain, "So you're here…"
Shizune brought two piles of paper on her hands into the office, she dropped the papers on the desk, "Here you go, Godaime-sama." She heard no answer. She peeked through the piles of papers, she wasn't on her chair. She looked around, finding no one but herself in the Hokage's office.
Tsunade could feel a kekkai was created as soon as she walked passing the red gate of Naka Shrine, she knew of course he wanted this to be a secret meeting, and creating a kekkai is the best answer to prevent anyone from finding them there. She sat on the stairs, waiting for the particular man. It wasn't long before a figure appeared in front of her, he was wearing ANBU uniform including the mask, but she could still hear him panting slightly.
"What is it, Itachi?"
He discarded the borrowed appearance immediately, he bowed at the sitting Hokage. She stood up, lifting her hand at him as an answer, "I heard what Akatsuki did to Kazekage."
"Hn." He took out a scroll from his pouch, he raised his hand in front of him, "This scroll contains the information I have about the Akatsuki, and also its aim to capture all the Jinchuuriki."
Tsunade took the scroll from his hand, she unrolled it immediately, taking a glance at the beautifully written letters.
"Sasuke." He stated
The Godaime averted her gaze back to the sharingan user, but she quickly looked away. She needed to think what to tell him that his brother disappeared two months after the massacre. She did promise him to take care of Sasuke, but she easily broke the promise in just two months. If he was still the old Itachi, she could think of a good way of telling him, but the Itachi standing if front of her now, might not be the same person. She still remembered her last encounter with him, and he still didn't have any emotion on his face.
"He is not here, he went after you two months after the incident." Said Tsunade while putting the scroll into her pocket, she could see his eyes twitched a little bit, but his blank expression remained intact. She continued, "And Sakura too."
Itachi replied calmly, "She is with my mother at the moment."
Tsunade didn't hide her surprise at all, "You found Mikoto?" he replied with a nod.
"Where is she? Is she okay?"
"Her home was attacked yesterday, by Orochimaru. She is on her way of searching for new home."
Her eyes were filled with anger for a split second, but knowing the ex-ANBU captain, she knew then he would already be dead by now. It took her a minute to process everything in her head, she came to a conclusion that right now, Mikoto and Sakura are somewhere out there with no home, which also meant…
"You are here not because of this scroll… but them."
It was rare for him to give a slow response, but he gave her a slight nod as an answer. He didn't want to tell that Madara was using them to threaten him, so he needed to make sure they were somewhere safe.
"The only safe place I know is here."
Her gaze didn't leave him. Even though he didn't tell her his reason and his expression remained the same, but knowing he came to her because he cared about someone else, somehow she felt relieved. She was the one who changed him, she was the one who sent the order, and deep down she felt responsible being the one who changed the gentle ANBU captain becoming an S-class criminal. But looking at him now, she realized that the considerate Uchiha Itachi was still there, behind the mask of a criminal.
She nodded understanding what his intention was, she told him that they could stay at her empty two bedrooms apartment, she also said that actually Mikoto wasn't in missing-nin list so she could come back to the village anytime she wanted.
"When will they arrive? I'll prepare the letters."
"Tomorrow."
She frowned, "Then I have to go back to my office now to prepare the letters," he replied with a short 'hn'. She was walking past him when she realized, "He is still out of breath…"
Tsunade turned to look at his back, she noticed that he tried to hide it, but he was still panting. Her experiences being a medic-nin had helped her noticing even a small anomaly in someone's body.
"Something is wrong." She took another step closer, "Itachi," he tilted his head, telling her she had his attention, she put her left hand on his shoulder, "Stand still." She put her right hand on his back as green chakra began to appear on her palm. She didn't care if the person in front of her was an S-class criminal, a patient was still a patient. It surprised her that he really listened to her and not moving away from her hand.
She did a full examination on his organs, she wished that it was just a small problem with his health, but what she found shocked her. She removed her hand after she finished examining the Uchiha, "How long has it been since you knew it?"
He didn't respond.
"Do you get treatment?"
He didn't respond.
She pulled his shoulder forcefully, it made him facing her once again, she sent a slap to his face using her free hand, but she caught her wrist easily. She yelled at him, "Answer the freaking questions!"
He released her wrist, "My health is no longer your concern, Hokage-sama."
She gritted her teeth; she whirled around, heading back to her office.
Itachi watched as her figure disappeared from his view, he sat down on the shrine's front porch. He let out a sigh, he tried to take a deep breath, but he ended up coughing severely. He could taste the fishy aftertaste as he swallowed his bloody saliva.
"It doesn't matter… it doesn't matter…" he kept repeating the mantra. He put his hand inside his pocket, he took out a small bead, the one he found under his bed on the day he was hospitalized. He lifted the bead in front of his eyes.
"Shisui, maybe this is my punishment from God." He closed his eyes.
It took her less than an hour to prepare everything, she arrived back at Naka Shrine, he was there, sitting on the porch of the shrine. She stood only a meter away from him, she handed him two scrolls, which he received without looking at her. However, he finally lifted his head to look at her when she handed him a small paper bag. He took a peek from the opening, there were several small clear bottles, he could see different colors of pills and tablets.
"It's just to prolong your life," she put a small note into the paper bag, "And this is the instruction," she watched him folding the paper bag, "It can only be healed if you receive proper treatment by a very skilled medic. If you delay even longer, the chance of survival will be almost zero."
She took a few steps backwards as he was standing up, she sighed, "Itachi," she turned her back to him as she watched the village, "They believe in you." His eyes followed her back, as she walked heading back to the gate.
"They were mad when I brand you an S-class criminal,"
"It's impossible! Itachi-senpai will never do such thing!" yelled the blond haired Jounin
She sighed inwardly, "Naruto, Sasuke was the witness, he saw Itachi did murder the Uchihas, and now he is missing. If I am not sure, I won't send all of you here to try to catch him."
He pointed at the other Jounins in the Hokage's office, "I bet no one believes it!"
Kiba scratched his head, "I'm not too close with Itachi-senpai, but judging by how he treated us, I think he won't get that angry to the point he kills people like that."
Hinata quietly whispered, "I-I agree…"
Tsunade tilted her head, now gazing at the interrogators, "Any other witness?"
Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other, the black haired one decided to speak up, "Other than Sasuke, there're two other witnesses, the first one only saw Itachi-san leaving the area,"
"And the other one?" asked Naruto
Shikamaru continued, "The other witness is the maid who worked at his house. She said that he saved her from the real culprit who was wearing orange mask."
"See—" Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's mouth to prevent him cutting Shikamaru's story, "Ibiki-san stated that it might be him making a clone to complicate the investigation. However," he looked at Neji who gave him a nod, "She also mentioned Madara."
Now all the eyes were looking at him, Kakashi was the first to response, "Madara? The Uchiha Madara?"
Neji continued, "We also thought that she might only randomly pick his name or heard the name somewhere, but my eyes didn't see any lie in her story."
Ino raised her hand, "Godaime-sama, I am the one who is responsible for Sakura's post-treatment; she also told me that it wasn't Itachi-kun who did it."
An uncomfortable silence hugged the Hokage's office, Tsunade leaned back on her chair, if she didn't know the truth, she would also believe that Itachi didn't do it, but she knew and she couldn't tell everyone that it was her who ordered him to do so.
"I think he might do it."
This time all gaze was directed to the single sharingan user, "I say he might do it."
"How could you!" Naruto shouted
Kakashi lazily explained, "I've known Itachi longer than all of you here, I know he is a gentle person, but I also know him as a shinobi. For example, you know all Hinata," he pointed his hand at the byakugan user, "Normally; will you believe that she is capable of killing someone?"
No response.
"But if her life is on the line or any other reason, I believe she will do anything, including taking someone's life." He mouthed 'sorry' to Hinata for using her as an example, then he continued, "I've seen Itachi killed people before, and it was always because he had to. That's why, if he really massacred the whole Uchiha members, I believe Itachi had his reason to."
They all went silent. What Kakashi said about Hinata and Itachi was also directed for each one of them, none of them would randomly kill people unless they had to, "And, if we believe Itachi didn't do it, it also means we believe Sasuke was lying." Kakashi ended his long explanation.
"That's enough." Tsunade stood from her chair, "The news of Uchiha massacre will spread quickly like a storm, even if we don't want to label him S-class criminal, the other countries will. And if you all believe he didn't do it, go, find him, and ask him yourselves, ask him to prove his innocence."
"Up until now, against all the rumors, they still believe in you." She looked back at the quiet Uchiha behind her, she lowered her head at him, giving him a formal bow which she hadn't done for a long time.
"I apologize for throwing you into this mess, I'm sorry that I failed to prevent it to happen." she lifted her head, regret filled her eyes, "Please stop torturing yourself like this."
He made a seal with his hands, his appearance changed into one of Konoha's ANBU, "You shouldn't bow to a criminal like me, Hokage-sama." Was all he said before he released the kekkai and disappeared.
She looked at sky, "Please don't waste your life."
Mikoto sent an uppercut with her palm to his chin before kicking the other bandit on his stomach. She restored her fighting stance once again as one of them was still standing, but the look on his face told her he was hesitating, "Leave." Said the Uchiha
He quickly ran away, followed by his fellows though some of his had to drag the others who had passed out. She raised her hand to Sakura, indicating that she could give her bag back. Sakura handed her bag, she watched as the older one looped the strap over her head. They were only an hour away from the village which was well-known for its hot springs.
"Mikoto-san, it was already the third time…"
Mikoto put her hand on her own cheek, "Well it can't be helped, that means this neutral country safety is really poor. We'll see what the village can offer."
Sakura showed her as she thrust her palm forward, "What did you do just then?"
"This?" Mikoto sent an open palm uppercut to the air, the pink-haired girl nodded, Mikoto used her index finger to point at her own palm, "It's one of self-defense technique, attacking the enemy from below their field of vision," she repeated the movement again, "See?"
Sakura used her knuckle to mimic the movement, "What's the different with this?"
Mikoto held the younger one's wrist, while pointing at her fingers, "If you use that, there's a chance you will break your fingers or strain your wrist," she let go of her hand, she lifted her arm up high, "And if you miss the target, you can follow with other attacks." She showed how to follow up the attack. Sakura mimicked her movement again, "I see…"
Mikoto taught her some other self-defense techniques as they still had another hour until they reach the village.
They finally arrived at Yugakure, the giant gate stood in front of them, it was opened like they had never closed it before, Sakura could see the sea of people standing or walking inside the village. But something didn't feel right, the village gave an intimidating aura, a feeling like the one she had when she met the man with orange mask for the first time during the massacre, unlike Yukigakure; where you could feel the friendly welcome from the village.
"Is it… the place…?" Sakura hesitantly asked
"Well… they used to call it 'a peaceful village' in the past…"
Sakura hooked the Uchiha's arm tightly as they walked through the gate, even though the sun hadn't set yet, the village sent chills down her spine. She watched her surroundings as they walked past the buildings. There were people dressed like those bandits who attacked them before, they had those hungry eyes as if the people were their preys. There were women with heavy make up, standing by the road side, wearing only skimpy clothes, either they were talking with each other or flirting with the men.
"What are they doing, Mikoto-san…?"
"Who?"
"Them…" Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to the older woman whom she meant.
Mikoto looked at the direction she told her, it seemed that she was pointing at a bunch of prostitutes.
"They are prostitutes, they sell their bodies for money." There was a slight confusion in Mikoto's eyes as she thought people around her age should have known about this.
"How do they do it?" this time Mikoto didn't hide her surprise as she stared at the younger one, "I-I mean how do you sell your body? Is it wrong to ask this?"
Mikoto sighed inwardly, "Let's find a place where we can spend the night safely." She put a hand on her arm, trying to avoid the topic. They walked as fast as possible so they could leave the damned place.
The road was getting wider and wider as they continued walking down the road, more tourists could be seen around them. More tourists occupied the road; to the point all their shoulders bumped into each other as they walked but Sakura felt less intimidated. She loosened her arm from the older woman until she finally decided it was okay to let go.
Mikoto finally found the blue three-stories building at the intersection, it looked less dangerous. They asked the waitress on the first floor about where the reception for the inn was, she told them to climb up to the second floor directly as the reception was just at the end of the stairs.
They rang the bell on the reception table, a woman dressed in black yukata showed herself from behind the high table, "Yes?"
"Do you have two vacant rooms for the night?" Mikoto asked
"Do you want the one closer to the hot spring or?"
"The one that has window facing the road."
The receptionist told them to wait for a moment, she went under the table once again. Sakura looked around as there were only normal tourist could be seen walking around the inn.
She looked back at the receptionist as she showed herself once again, "Miss?"
"Yes?" the receptionist answered
"Why… is it so crowded here? Is there any event going on?"
She glanced at the open window behind her, "That crowd?" the pink-haired woman nodded as an answer, she continued writing something on the paper, "There's no special event, this village—city-soon-to-be—had always been like that. It's like having summer festival everyday, the food stands stay there all year long."
"How about those bandits and…" Mikoto continued
She put two pieces of paper on the counter, asking them to sign them, "Bandits? Ow… did you enter the village from the north gate?" they gave her a shrug, "The city is divided into two area, north and south. It used to be one, but because of one or two reasons, which I don't know why because I just moved here last year." She whispered 'thank you' as Mikoto signed the paper before continuing, "Simply said, don't go to the north area, the south area is for tourist like you."
She put two keys on the counter, "Here you go, rooms on the third floor, the bathhouse is downstairs from the other stairs there. There are also mixed bathrooms on each second and third floor. Have a pleasant stay."
Mikoto took the keys before they climbed up to the third floor, Sakura followed behind her, "Mikoto-san, why do we need two rooms?"
Mikoto looked at Sakura from the corner of her eyes, "Are you forgetting that I told you Itachi will join us here?"
She unlocked the door in front of her, revealing a small room with two futons in the middle and a small table at the corner. She put her bag beside the table before sticking a star shaped black paper on the window, she looked at the confused Sakura, she explained with a smile, "To tell him our location."
She picked the folded yukata on their futon and gave one to Sakura, "Let's take a bath, then we can go to the festival…"
Sakura smiled as she heard the word 'festival'.
It was true, there was a plenty of stands like the ones in summer festival in Konohagakure. They wandered around the south area of the village, it was quite complicated to wander around as the village's roads were not always straight. Luckily, the village information center handed them the map of the village when they visited it but the map only told them about the south area, they left the north area blank.
Sakura stopped by a small stand that was selling hair accessories, she couldn't help but smiled at the sparkling items. Mikoto picked a hairpin, she showed it to the roseate, "This one looks similar with the one you're wearing now." Sakura looked at the hairpin with four color pearls between her fingers, she smiled, "True."
"Where did you buy yours?" Mikoto put the hairpin back to its place again before continued walking down the road.
"I didn't… Itachi-sama gave it to me after the summer festival…"
Mikoto smiled, "I see…" She looked at the sky as it was getting darker now, "Sakura, Itachi said he should be here before late night so I need to go back to the inn now, do you still want to walk around some more?"
Sakura gave her a nod hesitantly, "They said there will be a parade after this… I want to… can I watch it first?"
"Alright." Mikoto handed the map to her, "Here's our inn," she pointed at a small red dot on the map, "and here's where the parade will be. Don't forget to come back, okay?" she gave her a pat on her head softly
"Yes, Mikoto-san."
Mikoto inserted the key into her room, she was pushing the door open when she saw a figure standing at the end of the corridor. His red-black cloak didn't make any sound as he walked closer to her, he gave her a slight bow when they were close enough. She replied with a smile, "Good evening, Itachi-kun."
She opened the door wider as she asked him to enter the room first. Without further ado, he sat neatly on the tatami before putting two scrolls in front of him. She unrolled the scroll as she was sitting down across him. Her eyebrows met, "Eh…"
She tried to meet his eyes, but his eyes were fixed on the tatami in front of him, she read the other scroll, which containing same information with different name. Mikoto rolled the scroll back, she put them in front of him. His gaze rolled up slowly, his sharingan finally met the onyx eyes. Her eyes were different than the ones he saw on the previous day, it had been a long time since he saw her with those eyes, the eyes of a mother, an upset one.
"I'm not going back to Konoha," his expression didn't change, but she could see his eyelids twitched slightly, "Unless," she put both her hands on her lap, "You tell me what really happened."
He knew the one she wanted to know was about the Uchiha massacre, his gaze returned back to the tatami, lying to her would not end nicely as he didn't forget she possessed the sharingan, she would see through his lie immediately, unlike his brother whom he could deceive easily. He chose to remain silent as no one but the Hokage herself should know about it.
"You're on a mission." She noticed his eyes twitched again, she thanked her good relationship with him when he was younger so she knew his small habit, "And it's an official one from the Hokage." She could hear he held his breath. She smiled inwardly as her mother instinct still worked just fine. She took her scroll, raising it in front of his eyes.
"If you're really an S-class criminal, whoever the Hokage is now, won't give you this. They won't even talk to you, not to mention the attack you will receive when he or she sees you." Mikoto put the scroll back down, her eyes softened as she took another look at her son, "Seeing how you act all quiet like now…"
4-years old Itachi sat on the living room, he took a red color pencil as he proceed to color the mask on his hand. Mikoto had scolded Fugaku for Itachi's non-stop training after the war ended several weeks ago, she insisted that he should do what children at his age do. So she gave his some color pencil and asked him to draw or color something on the blank white mask.
He looked up as Mikoto entered the room, "How is it going?"
He averted his eyes to the mask on his hand, "I don't know… what do you think, Okaa-san?" he showed her the mask. She titled her head slightly as she tried to understand what he was drawing, "Is that a cat?" she quickly said as she noticed the drawing had whiskers on its cheeks. He gave her a nod, he continued to thicken the whiskers, "I saw someone wearing a mask like this when I brought Otou-san lunch to his headquarters."
"Oh, an ANBU…" exclaimed Mikoto
She looked at the slight confusion in his eyes, though he didn't actually ask, but she explained anyway, "They are Konoha's special squad, mainly to do higher level mission, like A-class or S-class missions."
"Why do they need to wear mask?" Itachi asked
"It's to hide their identity and their emotion."
"Why?"
Mikoto sighed as she smiled, she wished that his curiosity was directed somewhere else other than anything that had to do with shinobi world, but now he asked; she had to answer. She took a seat beside him, she put one arm on the table as she sat facing him.
"An ANBU's job is mostly about assassination or something dangerous that if the enemy find out about your identity, maybe they will target his family or find out about his weakness." She caressed his hair, "They have already sacrificed themselves to do the job, you don't want them to sacrifice their loved ones too, right?"
He took a blue color pencil, "What kind of sacrifice they do to do the job?"
"Conscience." She put her head on the table so she could see his face clearer, he drew a small triangle on the mask forehead, "Why?"
She put her index finger on his chest, he put the color pencil on the table as he touched his chest, Mikoto smiled, "Each time we take someone's life, a small part of our conscience crack. How many cracks do you think they can have until their conscience completely destroyed?"
"But they still can have conscience, right?"
Mikoto took the mask in her hand, "That's why they wear the mask." She put the mask on her face, "Their conscience and emotion may hinder their job, but of course not always, just sometimes. That's when the mask comes in handy, when their conscience makes them hesitate on doing the deed, it will show up on their face, but their mask will hide it completely from their enemy."
Itachi took the mask from her face, he put it back onto the table before continued coloring it, "Then Otou-san doesn't need a mask."
"Why?" this time it was Mikoto who was curious, but Itachi remained quiet. She knew that when Itachi didn't answer her question, meant he didn't want to continue discussing the topic, but she tried anyway.
"How about you, Itachi-kun? Do you need a mask?" She gazed at the little Uchiha beside her.
He glanced at his mother, "I think I can manage without the mask."
She gave him a light pat on his head, "We'll see…"
"…I reached a conclusion that you're in a mission." Mikoto dug through an old memory when they had a conversation about the mask. After then each time she asked him to do some 'missions' for her, like delivering a letter or getting some things from the city, he would turn into an expressionless doll until she said 'mission accomplished'. But no matter how expressionless he was, she could still see the life inside his eyes, unlike the total emptiness she was gazing at right now which made her wonder if he still had his conscience.
He closed his eyes, he didn't expect his mother were still able to read him like an open book, even though he knew she would try to nag him about the truth if he didn't tell her. Deep down, he was afraid that the bond he had with his mother would come in the way of his plan but secretly, he was glad those 8 years of relationship he had with his mother didn't go into waste.
Sakura pressed the map into her obi, she stood by the road side, waiting for the parade to come. She chose to watch the parade from the intersection, she already remembered the road to go back to the inn. She didn't have to wait for too long as the parade came just in time. There were more than twenty wagons being pushed around the village, her heart was moved by how beautiful the parade was. Unconsciously, her legs pulled her closer to the parade, giving her a better view.
The mesmerizing light hypnotized her, she couldn't take her eyes off them. She watched as the last wagon moved past her, she decided that it was time for her to go back, but before she was able to turn her body, she realized that she had already drowned in the sea of people, no matter how she tried to push, no one was opening a way for her, instead the human wave started to push her to the other direction. No matter how loud she screamed, no one seemed to listen.
It took her more than 30 minutes until she finally managed to jump out of the sea of people. She panted to the point she was gasping for air. In the middle of her struggle to breathe, someone bumped at her side, she fell on her knees. She was about to look at the person who bumped into her, but as she lifted her head, a sudden realization that she was lost finally hit her.
She clutched her kimono tightly, she whispered to herself, "It's okay… don't panic…" she reached out for the map inside her obi, but she couldn't find it, the map fell off her obi during her struggle to leave the sea of people. Once again, chills ran down her spine, she gulped quietly, her heart beat faster, her hand was trembling as she started to feel the fear she felt in the afternoon again.
She gathered her courage, she tried to steady her breathing. She started to walk to the direction which she felt where she came from. The road had less people walking around, she suspected that she might had been dragged to the north area. She didn't know how long she had walked until she stopped abruptly when she saw the bandit from before stepping out of a small restaurant, she froze for a moment. She couldn't think of what should she do at that time. She tried to pull the kunai which was tied to her thigh, but their shrill laugh snapped her.
She quickly hid herself in a small alley nearby. She squatted behind a cart, she hugged her knees, trying to curl her body into a ball as small as possible so they wouldn't find her. She heard them talking as they passed behind her, she clasped her mouth using her own hand, trying to muffle the sound of her breathing.
She steadied her breathe once again as their voice finally disappeared, she stood up slowly, she walked out of the alley, looking at the direction they were going, she was sure they were heading to the north area, so to return back to the inn, she had to go to the opposite direction they were going. She turned around to leave that area, however, before she could take another step, she bumped into someone.
"I'm sor—" she couldn't continue her word as she looked up at the person, fear crept into her neck. He was the other bandit.
He looked down at her, "Ow…" he spat his toothpick from his lips, "Hey aren't you…"
A wide evil smirk appeared on his face, he grabbed her wrist, he tried to pull her to the small crowd behind him, "Boys! Look what I find here!" she could see 3 other bandits were now looking at her, she used her other free hand to scratch the back of his hand, causing him to release her immediately. She didn't think anymore as her legs decided to run away from him as quick as she could. The sound of footsteps behind her multiplied quickly as they were getting closer and closer while the sound of her footsteps had disappeared as her geta slipped off.
She staggered as her bare feet stepped on a small pebble, before she could regain her balance completely, they had surrounded her. She scanned at the ruffian around her, they definitely didn't bring any weapon with them, she couldn't find a way how to escape from them as her brain was clouded by fear.
"What are you afraid of?" she turned her head to the speaker,
"Yeah, where is that scary mother of yours?" she turned to the next speaker,
"Let me guess, she's busy!" she saw one of them pulled out a pocket knife, but before she could think again, she felt both her wrists were pulled back, her back was slammed against the hard wall behind her. She gasped as she felt a hand cupped her chin, her emerald eyes stared at the shiny metal object he raised in front of her eyes.
"I'll make you pay for the humiliation your mother did to us…"
He pressed the cold metal at the base of her neck, a stinging pain attacked her as he moved the knife until it reached her collarbone. Fresh blood could be seen pouring out from the thin line, he lifted the knife again until she could see her own blood dripping from his knife, "Look! The color of your blood!"
She shut her eyes tight, she had never liked blood, it only brought negativity into her mind, it reminded her of the bodies on the ground, it reminded her of the pool of blood she fell into.
He let go of her chin as he couldn't force her to look at him anymore, he grabbed the collar of her yukata as he licked the fresh wound. The tingling disgusting sensation on her neck made her eyes shoot open.
"Stop!"
He smirked as he pulled away slightly from her neck to look at her frightened expression, however, instead of her expression, something else caught his attention.
Her emerald eyes had turned into blood colored ruby.
To be Continued...
There goes another chapter... the update will get slower each month as I work from 7 until 4 and I'm getting less free time to write during my office hours, so please bear with me, at least until I can finish these last pieces.