Happy Holidays everyone!

It seemed that everyone was posting so look who conformed and decided to post too!

I probably won't post anything for awhile after this though. Going up to Berkeley/Oakland/SF area for a week and I am not taking my laptop. Staying away from technology while I'm up there haha.

But, I hope that everyone is having a great time and hope you enjoy the story!

P.S. For the parts that I skip and don't give much detail of what happened I will write side story chapters of. If you have any requests for parts you would like me to write about review or PM me. :]


"Great job Kakashi. Take Tsukiyomi to the T&I Unit and I will go report to the Hokage."

Kakashi nodded his head and carried the unconscious prisoner in the direction of the Anbu headquarters. Koumori began to make her way to the Hokage's office. Catching the guy was no easy feat. It took the two 2 weeks to find the guy and once they had finally found him they had to chase him over half of the fire country and a pretty huge fight until he finally surrendered himself to us.

Koumori continued walking to her destination nodding her at the familiar people in the marketplace. They returned her greeting, but there was something odd in their facial expressions when they greeted her.

"KOUMORIIIIIII!"

Koumori halted in her steps and turned in the direction that the voice was being projected from.

"Kenta."

"Koumori! Are you alright?!"

She looked at him quizzically. Maybe he was worried about her from being gone so long. It was a rather unexpectedly long journey.

"What are you talking about Kenta? Of course I will be fine. I have a few minor scrapes and burns but besides that I'm fine."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about Koumori! Of course I know you will be fine on a mission. I'm talking about –"

"Kenta, Koumori. I see you both have returned safely from your missions."

The two nins looked to the person that the voice belonged to and immediately bowed.

"Yes Hokage-sama."

"Kenta, I already received your report from Saori."

"Ah, yes Hokage-sama."

"If you don't mind Kenta, I would like to speak with Koumori alone."

"Yes."

Kenta bowed to the Hokage once more and turned to Koumori with a pained expression and went to grasp her hand. She looked at him quizzically and he gently clenched her hand and then let it go and went on his way.

What was wrong with everyone?

"Koumori, I'm taking the mission went well?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I sent Kakashi to take Tsukiyomi to the T&I unit."

"Good, good. Ibiki will know what to do from there."

"Hokage-sama. Did something happen here while I was gone? It seems that everyone's behavior is rather odd."

The Hokage drew out his pipe and inhaled deeply and then exhaled the smoke.

"Come walk with me Koumori."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Koumori and the Hokage both walked in silence. Koumori followed the Hokage until they reached the Memorial Stone of where all the fallen ninjas names were carved.

"I remember the day when your fathers name was carved on here along with many other ninjas who had also fallen that day. Your father was a great ninja. You strongly remind me of him sometimes. Your mannerisms, and behaviors are quite similar and you definitely have the same eyes of determination as your father did."

"My mother always told me that I was like an exact replica of my father. I can't quite remember much about him since I was young when he passed."

"Yes, and you even lost your mother at such a young age too, but luckily Mikoto and Fugaku were there to take you in."

"Yes, I am forever grateful for them. If they were not a part of my life, I do not know what would have become of me."

The Hokage shook his head and then took another drag from his pipe.

"Well then Koumori, there is some news that I need to tell you."

"What is it Hokage-sama?"

"There was a massacre of the Uchiha clan. Everyone is dead but two."

Koumori's eyes widened at the news that she had heard and snapped her head up from its downward position and stared at the hokage disbelievingly.

"Itachi and Sasuke are alive. However, it seems that Itachi was the one that has committed the massacre and has left the village."

"Wha- There must be some mistake Hokage-sama. There is no way that the whole clan could have been annihilated. That is nearly impossible."

"It happened and it was Itachi."

"But for Itachi to single handedly massacre the whole clan. That could not be."

"I understand that all of this is really hard to believe Koumori, but you will come to realize the truth of the events soon."

"You said that Sasuke is still alive?"

"Yes, he is fine. He was the sole survivor of the massacre."

"Where is he?"

"He's in the hospital still. We want him to stay for another week until we are sure that he will be fine enough to go back out."

As soon as the hokage's sentence finished, Koumori rushed off to the hospital.


"Which room is Sasuke Uchiha in?!"

Koumori slammed her hands down on the front desk of the hospital instilling fear into nurse.

"O-o-on t-the s-s-s-seventh fl-floor, r-ro-room 735"

"Thank you!"

Koumori took the stairs up the seventh floor and rushed to Sasuke's room."

When she entered she saw him sitting atop of his bed, looking out the window.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke slowly turned his attention from the window to the entrance of his room where he saw Koumori standing.

Koumori quickly glided to where Sasuke was and sat on the edge of his bed close to him.

"You're here Kou-nee-chan."

"Of course I'm here Sasuke. I would never leave you."

"Nii-san killed everyone Kou-nee-chan. Everyone. Otou-san. Okaa-san."

He looked up at Koumori with tears brimming his eyes.

"Why would he do that?!"

Sasuke began to bawl and Koumori just brought her arms around him and laid his head on her shoulder.

"It's okay Sasuke. Everything will be fine. I'm here now."

Sasuke cried harder into her shoulder gripping onto her tightly, afraid that if he didn't hold on, she would disappear too.

Sasuke's cries quieted down and all that could be heard was his muffled sniffles and his soft breathing.

Koumori brought Sasuke off her shoulder and saw that he had cried himself back to sleep.

She gently laid him back down on the bed and covered him with his blanket.

"I'll protect you Sasuke. I promise."


"I thought I would find you still here."

"Hokage-sama."

Koumori immediately got up from the chair next to Sasuke's hospital bed.

"May I speak with you outside in the hall Koumori? I wouldn't want to wake Sasuke."

"Yes Hokage-sama."

Koumori glanced back at the boy in the bed to make sure he didn't wake and followed that Hokage outside of the room.

"Here you go."

The Hokage handed Koumori two keys.

"What is this to?"

"I thought it would be wiser if you and Sasuke moved into the village instead of staying secluded in the Uchiha Compound. I don't think it would be good for Sasuke to even return to the compound with everything that has happened."

"Ah yes Hokage-sama."

"The apartment building is close to the academy so it will be easy for Sasuke to walk there and back home and there are many little shops nearby so it should be a convenient area for you too."

"I appreciate this very much Hokage-sama. You have my eternal gratitude."

Koumori bowed deeply to the Hokage and the Hokage just chuckled at her.

"It is all well Koumori. However, it is up to you whether or not you would like to this or not but I don't know if you would like to go retrieve yours and Sasuke's belongings from the compound."

Koumori froze at the thought of seeing the condition of what the compound would look like if she went. Would the blood still be there? The bodies?

"The blood and bodies have already been cleaned up and buried. So you don't have to worry about that."

"Ah, yes. Well then I shall go."

"Okay Koumori, here is the address to your house. You can begin staying there today if you would like and the healer said that Sasuke should be ready to go home in 2 days so you can take him then."

"Thank you once again Hokage-sama."

"It is no problem."

"Well then I shall be on my way now. You can be on break for the next two weeks Koumori. I will call for you after for your next mission."

"Thank you Hokage-sama."

Koumori gave another bow to the Hokage and with a smile he left the girl to tend back to the young boy in the room.

Koumori stood right back up and headed back into the room.

"Kou-nee?"

"Yes, I'm here Sasuke."

Sasuke breathed out a sigh of relief and began to tremble again.

"I-I I thought you left me."

"Oh Sasuke."

Koumori rushed back to Sasuke's side and held him once again like she did when she first saw him in the room and whispering words of comfort once again she lulled him back to sleep.


"So I finally made it."

Koumori stood in the front of the compound, staring at the entrance long and hard, mentally preparing herself to enter the compound.

The thought of knowing that when she enters its not going to be greeting the guardsmen in the entrance who always gave her trouble or the market people who always usher her to take some kind of fruit or snack with her or the ghastly old grandma that would always curse at every young child that would pass by her house.

Koumori inhaled deeply and heavily released it and began to take one step at a time into the compound. However, just as she entered it became to overbearing and her knees buckled in and she collapsed to the floor.

It was too empty. It was too quiet. There was nobody. There was nothing. There was no one there to greet her or to bother her. There was no one there to greet her home. There was no one there to go back home too. There was no family. There was no friends. And there was no Itachi.

"It's fine if you cry Koumori-san."

Koumori rapidly whipped her head to the intruder who had dared to enter and appear before her when she was at her weakest.

"Kakashi. What are you doing here?"

"I come here every now and then to visit Obito."

"I don't know if you heard Kakashi, but everyone has been massacred here."

"I know, but Obito died long before this happened."

"I see."

Koumori looked back down to the floor and slowly closed her eyes.

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and she looked back to Kakashi who had placed himself next to her on the floor and staring at the emptiness of the street before them.

"You truly don't remember how to appreciate people until they are gone. And all that is left is for you to do is choose to whether or not you'll grow stronger for their sake or become a living corpse."

"It seems much death has been present in your life Kakashi."

"There has been but all that I can do now is strive to become a better Shinobi with the memories of them embedded in me. If you want to cry Koumori-san, you may."

Koumori strained a chuckle out and looked out to the empty street.

"Don't you know that a Shinobi should never shed a tear."

"You can forget that you're a Shinobi for now and pretend that you are currently a girl that is mourning for her loss."

The unfinished tears that slipped from Koumori's eyes when she heard of the news of Shisui's death continued on that day.

She cried for her dead father.

She cried for her dead mother.

She cried for Mikoto-kaa-san.

She cried for Fugaku-tou-san.

She cried for the yearned days of her childhood.

She cried for the days where she trained so hard and wanted to give up being a Shinobi.

She cried for Sasuke who was all alone now.

She cried for herself and Kakashi stayed by her side as all of the tears that she had held back finally all came pouring out.