Metal sang through the air.
The squelching of flesh and blood reverberated through the quiet night.
Bodies fell lifeless to the ground with a thud.
Itachi held his tears in and kept his face stoic as he cleaned his sword of blood. His clan members hardly stood a chance when he decided to kill them. They were caught off guard in their sleep and in their arrogance. Not expecting him to kill them also played a role.
He willed himself forward to the last house, his house. His parents were sitting, back facing him. They knew he had entered. They knew his choice. He finally let tears fall.
"This was your choice, Itachi," his father said. The words stabbed into his chest and threatened to make him break down into a sob. "You chose the village over your own clan. I am proud of you, don't ever forget that."
Itachi's grip on his sword tightened. There was no going back, he had already started and stopping now would make his mission meaningless. His tears poured out and his mouth went dry. He could not respond in words to his parents.
Itachi rose his sword into the air and prepared to strike.
"I love you," those were his parent's last words as they fell to his blade.
The doors opened. Itachi threw three shuriken in a warning. Sasuke jumped, fear momentarily taking over. Despair soon replaced it as he saw his parents, dead on the ground.
"Big brother, who did this? Big brother!" Sasuke cried, moving forward slowly. He saw the bloody sword in Itachi's hand, but refused to make the connection.
Itachi could only cry more. He could not bring himself to kill his little brother, no matter what. He already had it hard enough.
"It was me," Itachi simply said as an idea blossomed in his head. "I killed everyone here, all of them!"
"Why!?" Sasuke barely managed to get out in his overwhelming fear and despair.
"To test my strength. I am a genius and prodigy, and what better way to test that then to kill the strongest people in the village?" Itachi said. He saw his little brother's face morph into anger and hate. "Yes, hate me. Hate me with all your being, and use that hate to end me if you can. Mangekyo Sharingan!"
And suddenly all Sasuke knew was his clan being killed repeatedly in front of him. Seventy two hours in a single second, Itachi recalled. Sasuke fell unconscious almost immediately.
Behind him, the Uchiha heard clapping. He grit his teeth in aggravation.
"Good job, I did not think you had it in you!" an orange masked person said. He went by the name Madara Uchiha.
"Let's leave," Itachi said, walking past him.
"Before I forget, there were two Uchiha that managed to escape. Your first assignment will be to hunt them down and kill them. Give me the eyes."
Itachi turned red eyes to his accomplice and glared for a moment. He silently nodded and continued to walk out of the house.
Both suddenly vanished into a swirl, leaving behind only a bunch of bodies.
The white walls of the hospital room served as a good place to stare. She could only lay on her back and turning her neck hurt her shoulders. The sun was shining through the window harshly, and when she had tried to look it blinded her for a moment. It made her empty eye socket painfully obvious to her.
She wished she had a book to read. Shino did say he would bring her one the next time he visited. The academy was almost over and he said he volunteered to bring any work she needed to complete. He was awesome, and it managed to bring a smile to her face.
Nurses entering the room caught her attention, her eyes drifting over to the bed they were wheeling in. Her view of the person on the bed was blocked by the curtains being drawn. Her gaze turned back to the ceiling. The nurses whispered so it was hard to listen in on what they were saying. It was something about their patient, Naruto was sure.
A moment later they left, leaving the room silent again. Only the draw of breath gave attention to the person on the other side of the curtains. There was also the occasional sound of shifting sheets in what seemed to be a restless sleep. Naruto moved her stare to the curtain, wondering of the person on the other side and who he or she was.
She did not even realize when her eyes grew heavy, or when she fell asleep.
So when she woke up it was a surprise to her. The screaming that woke her up even more a surprise. She looked over to the commotion on the other side of the room and found a nurse trying to hold down Sasuke. He was kicking and thrashing and crying. The cripple winced and pulled a pillow over her ears, wondering if she should be witnessing this moment. It seemed a little private.
After a few minutes a doctor came running into the room, needle in hand, and calmly sedated the young boy.
Naruto removed the pillow from her ear and attempted to sit up. A jolt of pain crawled up her side, painfully reminding her of the torture she had recently endured. Gritting her teeth she pulled through.
Looking to the doctor she asks, "What's wrong with him?"
The older looking doctor startled, as if he forgot she was there. He turned to her and spat out, "I am not allowed to say." He spit in her direction before turning and leaving.
Shino raised an eyebrow as he came into the room, books in hand. He briefly looked to Sasuke before climbing right onto Naruto's bed.
"Hello Naruto, I brought over today's work. And that book you asked for. It was pretty hard to find," Shino said. He set the text books onto the bedside stand for later.
Naruto nodded. Happy and grateful. She pulled her friend into a very awkward hug.
"Thanks Shino! It's really boring in here with all the white walls. And let's not talk about that smell!" Naruto said quite happily, "they don't serve any ramen either, only mushy bad food."
Shino hugged back, careful of Naruto's sore spots she had pointed out to him the day before.
"Are your injuries healing okay?" Shino asked as they broke the hug.
Naruto play winced, "Yes, but they still hurt."
"I'd imagine. My mom and dad said they were really bad."
"Yeah…" Naruto reached up to where her eye used to be, covered with a medical eye patch. "I'll get used to it. Just like with my arm."
Shino remained quiet for a moment. The he spoke lightly, "My mom and dad are coming by tomorrow. They mentioned something about a deal of some kind."
That pulled at Naruto's curiosity. She tapped her hand to her chin, looking thoughtful for a moment.
Shino watched her frown, then smile, then heard her laugh lightly.
Moments later Naruto replied, "I wonder what it will be."
It was a simple statement, which made Shino wonder what went through her head in those few seconds. Shaking his head he decided he didn't want to know.
"Anyway, you should get started on your work. I'll help whenever you need. And maybe I'll buy a few bowls of ramen for you if you work real hard."
"Alright, the boring part! Thanks again Shino."
Shino pushed his glasses up, "Your welcome."
They sat in a comfortable silence as Naruto worked. It was only broken a few times when the blonde had a question and Shino would answer with the exact words Iruka said during class.
"Alright, done!" Naruto grinned. She purposely avoided stretching because of her still sore injuries.
Shino reached into his pocket and pulled out two hair ties. "My mom said you might want your hair put up. Pigtails or ponytail?"
Naruto beamed, "Pigtails!"
Shino scooted over and helped Naruto move so she was in front of him. He took a brush out of nowhere and vanquished the mess that was Naruto's hair. He easily bunched her hair into two separate locks and tied them.
"That felt nice," Naruto commented.
"Any time you want, I'll do your hair," Shino said.
"Any time?"
"Any time."
"You won't...leave me will you? I have many problems and those tend to scare people-"
Shino held a hand over her mouth, "Of course not. Remember you're my friend, and the Aburame don't take friendship lightly. Don't let anything ruin what is yours, especially other people."
"Thanks, I needed that. Hearing you say it just calms me, 'ttebane."
The two went silent. Naruto smiled which went unnoticed by Shino who glanced at the clock.
"Leaving already?" Naruto pouted.
Shino nodded, "I better get going, my parents want me home for dinner. I'll be back in the morning with a board game."
"Tell your parents I said 'hi'," Naruto said, "and that game better not be boring!"
"I'll make sure of it," Shino waved as he left.
Now with her friend gone she turned to the book he left. In doing so she noticed Sasuke had woken up and was staring at the ceiling like she had earlier. She paused for a short moment, before resuming and flipping to the first page. Whatever that was, Naruto did not want to find out. If she did she might end up helping her rival, the one who looked down upon her like she was nothing. He did not deserve her help she decided with a mental nod.
But...looking over to him one last time she saw the dead look in his eyes. She didn't know what to call it actually, she didn't understand what he was feeling at the moment. Did she even want to know? She asked herself and the answer came up unclear.
He was hurting though, and no one was there to help him.
Grunting, Naruto put the book down and opened her mouth. A moment later she snapped it shut. She realized she had no idea what to say to help him, if she even could. So she sat silently for a few minutes, contemplating her words.
"Sasuke?"
He showed no signs of reacting.
Naruto tried once again, "Sasuke?"
His eyes lazily landed on her. As the young girl was about to start talking, he looked back at the ceiling. A sharp intake of breath indicated frustration in the female occupant of the room.
Naruto reeled in her impressive temper so she could do what she reluctantly set out to do; helping Sasuke. Of course she should have realized it would not be that easy. They were not friends and barely knew each other. Yes, this would be much harder than she first thought.
"Listen to someone when they're talking to you!" Naruto yelled, "It's polite, 'ttebane!"
Sasuke, startled, turned to his blonde room mate. He snapped out of the trance he was in. His surprised look morphed into anger. Anger at the girl who yelled at him with her own anger. She had no idea what he went through, so why does she think she has the right to be angry with him? Why was she angry in the first place?
"Don't yell at me, loser," Sasuke said, "You have no right."
"Sorry, care to repeat that? I couldn't quite hear you over your moping," Naruto said. She cupped her ear and leaned towards Sasuke.
Sasuke grit his teeth and replied angrily, "You heard me. Besides it's rude to be angry at someone for no reason."
"No reason? You've got to be kidding me! I was just trying to talk and you ignored me. Its rude to ignore a lady you know," Naruto said. She waved her hand in a fist, as if to punch the Uchiha on the other side of the room. Only afterwards, she regretted that action as pain shot through her arm and sides. "Ow, ouch."
Sasuke lost his anger as he took notice for the first time Naruto's injuries. He gaped openly at her. "What happened?" he inquired, forgetting their argument.
Naruto huffed and turned away. She answered simply, "Nothing."
"Your arm isn't wrapped, so you've been missing it for a while. How long?"
"I'm not answering any of your questions."
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Nevermind, I don't want to talk any more."
"Come on, please?"
"You're not going to give up are you?"
They were suddenly interrupted by the door opening for the umpteenth time today. The hokage walked in, robes flaring and ANBU black ops following close behind. The usual pipe in his mouth was missing. He had several papers in hand, and two pens in the other. He seemed to be contemplating something momentarily when his eyes gazed over the occupants of the room. He pulled a chair up and sat between both beds. He had the children's attention, if he could even call them that after what they went through.
"I suppose I should tell you why I am here," HIruzen said, "I am going to talk to you about your future as ninja."
Sorry for the wait, and for such a short chapter too. Well I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway. Remember to point out any mistakes I made and point out stuff I may have missed.
We're two chapters away from a time skip, which will see some developement on Naruto's arm, which I have not really mentioned in a while. And don't worry, no sharingan for Naruto.
