Thank you everyone for your support, reviews, follows and favs! I appreciate it a lot. This chapter is extra long, just for you lot. As always, a huge thank you to my winteralley, for always being the best beta
Edited: 04/25/18
Life independent from her parents was interesting. It wasn't unbearable, as she once had thought it would be. But it wasn't the most comfortable experience either. The things she used to take for granted, things she never had to think twice about were now things she became increasingly concerned about. She became hypersensitive to the Uchiha around her, who only tolerated her because she was an "honored guest" of Mikoto and stayed silent to Eri's stay. Otherwise, she herself would have had to wash her own laundry, cook her own food, and set her bedding every night; instead, the Uchiha did those things for her, biting their sarcastic tongues in the presence of their leader.
She didn't mind their bitter attitude. She understood she was an inconvenience, and tried to limit the amount of work she made for the others. She folded her own clothes as best as she could, so that the others wouldn't have to; she swept the room with her mini-broom when she could. Mikoto was kind enough to take care of her while her parents were gone, so Eri didn't want her to have to deal with petty things like her clan members' jealousy.
Itachi, being the kind little boy that he was, seemed to recognize this fact just as quickly as she did, and tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible within his home. From the first day of her stay, Itachi suggested that they share a bedroom, so that Eri would not have to sleep alone. Mikoto ignored Eri's protest (and the general horror expressed by the other Uchihas), and with a wide smile, organized Itachi's room so the two could lay side by side at night.
During the day, the two spent their times reading books that Kushina had left with Mikoto on fuuinjutsu and Uzushiogakure. The fuuinjutsu books were at a level low enough for a beginner to understand their content, and Itachi was more than happy to explain difficult vocabulary to Eri. The initial part of their first book, which took the longest time for both Eri and Itachi to translate into layman speak, was mostly about physical and spiritual chakra, and how the two worked together to create the chakra that shinobi manipulated to use jutsus and fuuinjutsu.
The books on Uzushiogakure included rare photos of the place, and Eri would pause on each page of the photographs for hours, trying to understand what it would've been like for her mother to grow up in such places.
The most frequent pictures in the books were of the people of Uzushio. They were always laughing, their mischievous eyes twinkling in the sunlight. More often than not, there were children in the background, running to or from something, their expressions open with happiness. Though the pictures were in black and white, Eri could tell by the gradation from black to grey to white that most of the people at Uzushio had light colored hair and fair skin.
The second most frequent pictures were ones of the sea surrounding the island. Eri could imagine that the blue water surrounding the island would sparkle a rippled pattern in the day and reflect an endless abyss at night. The boundless sea was beautiful.
Itachi sat silently beside her during these times; she didn't know what exactly he was thinking, but she knew he was curious enough to examine the pictures with an intensity similar to hers. She was glad he was there next to her. She wanted to share this experience with someone, this acknowledgement that these people are a part of my family; look at their smiles, and hear their laughter; they were once alive.
Occasionally, the two played outside, but they didn't make it a common occurrence. Though the two never admitted it to each other, they both knew the reason they tried to stay inside. As the war continued, day by day, the number of people who lost people precious to them grew, and the mourners tended to be loud and their voices terrifying. The anguished cries of pain and loss were something Eri didn't really want to hear so early in the morning, something she didn't want Itachi to be exposed to (she herself was familiar with it in a disgustingly intimate way; she didn't want to be familiar with it, though, not at all). So the two tried to stay inside as much as possible, where the buildings had been built so cool air could enter the rooms in the hottest of days.
The two were always together, and there were never others who joined them, not even the clan children. Mikoto and Itachi never explained to her why this was so, and Eri knew better than to ask. She figured it was about some kind of clan politics. So she was left with just Itachi, and she didn't mind this fact so much, seeing as he was easy to get along with and made great company. Besides, there wasn't anyone else she could meet; everyone on her father's team was on mini-missions. Eri knew the overprotective Uchiha matriarch would assign a horde of Uchihas to the two of them, and that Orochimaru would be disgusted (and somewhat offended) to have a group of suspicious Uchihas roaming around him, just so Eri could hang out with the man. So Eri remained quiet and stayed with Itachi.
Eri supposed she shouldn't have been so surprised when Mikoto sat the two down in front of her, her face stoic and closed, a couple of weeks after Eri had first entered the household. She knew Mikoto had been nervous and concerned about something for awhile, her aura contracted and tense, vibrating with an anxious energy only seen in people with bad news. Eri stayed quiet, sitting in sieza beside Itachi, who was just as quiet.
"I have received a letter from Fugaku that addresses something important," Mikoto began, her eyes knitting together into a frown. "About your training."
As excited as Eri was about getting stronger, she couldn't help but feel doubt bloom within her chest. She was only just nearing two years old. Sure, she could now eat with a seal-less spoon, draw accurate circles on paper, and pick up small things with her finger; but she was not going to be able to throw any senbon or gut people with a kunai with her limited strength.
Apparently, Eri's face tended to be as open as those of the Uzushio children. Mikoto laughed, before reassuming her stoic expression. "Physical training won't start until later. Both you and Itachi will start with chakra training starting from tomorrow. I'm hoping Itachi can start his physical training as soon as he turns three, and you join him once you reach the same age."
Eri pursed her lips as she glanced at her friend, who remained impassive (he'd become a lot more quiet than he had once been, and Eri guiltily wondered if it was because of her). She turned back to Mikoto. "OK."
Mikoto beamed, and cleared her voice before declaring, "You may enter now, Kagami-san."
Eri's eyes widened in surprise as the door to the patio slid open. She had not sensed anyone behind the door; physical objects blocked the aura of others from her view. But aside from her limited seeing abilities, she hadn't heard anyone approach the door, even after Mikoto had settled herself in front of the previously distracted children.
A short man with dark bouncy curls exited the room and entered the patio, closing the door behind him. While the man had the typical Uchiha dark eyes and hair, Eri was intrigued by the friendly smile that was pasted across the man's face. She'd never seen an Uchiha smile so brightly before; even Mikoto smiled in a restrained, refined way. This man smiled like someone from Uzushio.
Eri watched like a hawk as the man limped across the huge patio and sat down diagonally from Eri and Itachi. She eyed his injury on his left leg, which was bandaged up tightly. His face was also adorned with scars, obviously from exposure to intense battles. He didn't seem a day over twenty (Eri didn't know what to do with the uncomfortable notion that Uchihas were much more handsome when they smiled). A warm red aura wrapped itself around the man.
"Hello," he beamed. "My name is Uchiha Kagami. I will be the one teaching the two of you for the next couple of weeks." Eri glanced at Itachi, who remained calm. Her friend seemed to be OK with Kagami, so Eri relaxed.
"Nice to meet you," Itachi said. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I am grateful to make of your acquaintance." He bowed, bending the top half of his body and coming up slowly.
Eri copied him with less grace. "I'm Namikaze Eri."
"I will be at the Clan Administrative building," Mikoto stood. "You three get to know each other."
"Yes, Mikoto-sama," Kagami bowed deeply as Mikoto left (Eri always forgot her pseudo-mother was an important person, and was only reminded when the other Uchiha showed their respect towards Mikoto). The man turned to Itachi and Eri. "You two are kind of quiet, ne?" He shifted to sit in a more comfortable position once the door shut behind Mikoto, while the two children remained in their sieza.
"So! What do you two know about chakra?" He asked.
Eri paused, wondering if she should really say everything she knew. She shared a look with Itachi, who gave a mini shrug. It didn't go unnoticed by Kagami.
"Alright, Itachi-kun, I'd like you to sit farther along the patio with your back towards us. Eri-kun, I'd like you to sit on the opposite side with your back towards us as well."
Eri's lips tightened into a thin line once she realized what her new sensei was trying to attempt, but complied anyway. Once Eri sat with her back to the others, Itachi and Kagami were both beyond the scope of her vision. While she could feel the warmth of their auras, she couldn't see exactly what Itachi was feeling.
Eri heard the man boom, "I'll just direct this question to Eri-kun. What do you know about chakra?"
Eri decided it wouldn't hurt to tell the man everything she'd learnt (because she needed to get stronger, she needed to get stronger fast). She figured it'd be fair to just quote word-for-word from the fuuinjutsu books Itachi and she had studied from. "Chakra is a vital energy source that is needed for people in general to survive, which is generated through our chakra coils. We shinobi manipulate and transform the chakra within and around us in order to act out defensive and offensive techniques, such as jutsus or fuuinjutsu.
"Chakra is created by two forms of energy-spiritual and physical. As their names imply, the two forms of energy require a shinobi to be healthy in their physical body as well as their spiritual self. The spiritual form can—"
"OK. That's enough," Kagami interrupted. There was an uncomfortable silence, and Eri squirmed, so unused to her back being bare and exposed (no, no, Eri was used to her back being bare and exposed. Whomever she'd been before wasn't used to having her back exposed). "Hm. That was definitely a lot more than I thought you would know. I'm going to take a wild guess and say Itachi-kun is just as familiar with chakra as you are. Who taught you all of that?"
Itachi answered, "Eri's okaa-san left us with many books regarding fuuinjutsu. The basics of the book explained chakra and its usage in depth."
"I see," Kagami murmured. "Do you two have any practice with chakra?"
"No," Eri said as Itachi answered, "yes."
"Perfect!" Eri could basically hear Kagami's beam in his voice. "Then I know how to proceed with our classes. You may return to your seats now."
When Eri got up and walked back, she made sure to sit extra close to Itachi, just to see how Kagami would react. The man gave a slight frown. But Eri saw that he was not uncomfortable because she was not an Uchiha while Itachi was the Uchiha heir.
"Eri-kun, Itachi-kun," he began. "You shouldn't be so dependent on each other."
Eri merely raised her eyebrow.
"It is important for Konoha shinobi to be reliant on each other, especially their teammates," Kagami conceded. "But shinobi should initially have some form of independence so they can work on their own skills and talents. Then, when they do join a team, they can use the skills that they developed by themselves to contribute to the team's success. Right now, you two are too dependent on the other. If you keep that up, we're going to have classes separately."
Eri made sure to inch away from Itachi at that statement, and noticed him do the same.
"Good," Kagami's eyes disappeared as the man smiled again. "For the rest of my visit, and until Mikoto-sama's return, we will meditate."
Eri's lips twitched in irritation, but she pressed them into a thin line. This was all for the sake of becoming stronger, for her parents (whom she missed so dearly, when were they coming, it was so lonely at night). So Eri shut up, closed her eyes, and remained still, attempting to become one with nature and everyone around her.
Her efforts lasted for a whole five minutes, much to the amusement of Kagami.
Let it never be said that toddlers cannot be trained, especially in the field of chakra. Uchiha Kagami oddly reminded Eri of her own father, what with their deceiving innocent exterior and demon-like interior. Kagami was merciless, driving Eri and Itachi to their very limits every practice, which lasted hours per day. Honestly, Eri could see how Itachi was so advanced in the anime. One would have to be a complete idiot to not improve under Kagami's watch.
Every day, Eri was forced to run up and down the patio. It was hilarious, honestly speaking. It should not have been so hard for her, considering the patio itself was only about ten meters in length. But for her to run all the way to one end, then back to the other end was difficult beyond imagination. She sweated heavily, and her face flushed bloody red by the end of her five laps (but she also found it ridiculous that she was so tired, because she used to be able to run miles without losing her breath). Apparently, Kagami was unsatisfied with her initial level of stamina (despite her not yet being two years old, she might add), because he always timed her runs and pushed her to run faster than her last record from the day before. And this was just warm up.
Once she was finished with warming up, she had to stretch in ways that she hadn't known were possible until that point. Her arms jutted out left and right, her legs bent in directions that made her feel uncomfortable just from watching them dangle in the air. But the stretches did feel good, pulling muscles she didn't know she had.
Then, Eri had to do a variety of jumping jacks and lunges. She didn't have to do any push ups or sit ups, because Kagami followed a weird logic regarding what children of her age could and couldn't do. But still, Eri had to do multiple jumping jacks and lunges before she could take a break and get a drink of water.
After that, Eri had to sit in her stinky sweat and meditate for two hours. Yes, that was right; Uchiha Kagami forced Namikaze Eri to sit on her butt and meditate for two hours. Because Eri had the tendency to fall asleep whenever she closed her eyes, she had a hard time actually meditating. But she quickly lost that habit of hers when Kagami gleefully flicked her forehead every time he noticed her fall asleep. She could never figure out how he knew when she was just on the brink of losing consciousness, since it wasn't like her upper body swayed or she started snoring. And she swore the man didn't know the meaning of mercy, as every flick he gave her left dark bruises on her forehead.
After meditation, Kagami instructed Eri to feel her chakra, and push it to her palms. In theory, it sounded easy. But it was frustratingly difficult. Sensing chakra was like trying to see through the back of her head: an impossible feat. Even after a week of Kagami's instruction, Eri still hadn't managed to push her chakra to her palms. But Kagami didn't say anything about how slow she was (or about how Itachi had apparently managed to complete it on his first try). Instead, he patiently gave her more tips. Sometimes, he zapped her with his own chakra to help her recognize the feeling. But Eri didn't like it when he helped that way. It felt like she was cheating, like she wasn't good enough to learn how to do it on her own.
During her brief breaks, she got to witness Itachi train in the yard beside the patio. And Eri saw just how much of a genius Itachi was; there was absolutely no doubt about it. Itachi only had to learn a concept once to understand it completely. Things that required more practical experience, like chakra control, took a bit more time for him to master. But still, it took him significantly less time than an average shinobi child.
In fact, Itachi had already mastered sticking leaves and sticks onto himself. Eri could see that Kagami was hesitant to start the tree-walking exercise with Itachi (since that would take a significant more amount of chakra to complete), so he continued to assign heavier objects with rougher textures for Itachi to stick to his hand. And, as expected, Itachi did well, needing to only try once or twice to manage it. Nothing seemed to be challenging for him, and it was reflected in the bored way he finished a lesson.
In the end, the only thing keeping Itachi back from being the true master he was were his physical limitations. If he had more chakra, he would've been permitted to learn the tree-walking exercise and the water-walking exercise.
Eri didn't know how to feel about the ugly, dark thing that grew in the pits of her stomach when she saw how easily he achieved every new skill, while she struggled to move her own chakra.
One day, a few weeks into her training, she had stopped her own stretching to watch him attack piles of sticks to himself, his eyes dull with boredom. But when he caught her eye from across the yard, he tensed, his aura coiling tightly around himself defensively. The next stone that Itachi added to his arms dropped as soon as he laid it on his arm, and the boy stood in silence, watching her.
After a while, in which even Kagami stayed silent and watched the two, Eri finally frowned. "Don't do that," she scolded.
When Itachi took a step back, his aura created a wall around his chest. Eri rolled her eyes. "Don't fail on purpose, Itachi. I'm not stupid." Then, after a long pause, she added, "And I need you to be strong. I need you to be as strong as you can be. You slacking off won't make you strong."
Itachi looked uncertain, and Eri watched in amusement as she recognized how nervous he was. "I'm not going to hate you just because you're so much better than me." She tapped her chin with her index finger in a familiar rhythm (of hut-two hut-three). "Well, I did feel jealous, I'll admit. But that's OK. Jealousy is OK. Hatred isn't."
She turned back to Kagami expectantly. "You should teach him how to tree-walk now. He's running out of things to stick to him, and you're only holding him back at this point."
With that, she returned to her stretches, avoiding the surprised gaze of the two Uchihas.
Yes, Eri was jealous. She wished she had Itachi's talent and penchant for picking things up immediately and mastering them. If she had Itachi's skills, she'd definitely be able to prevent her parents' death. And yet, here she was, incapable of even expanding her chakra from her coils to her palms.
But she didn't hate him. Itachi deserved whatever skill he acquired, because he put in a lot of effort to learn the techniques. He never slacked off. He never approached lessons half-heartedly, even if he got bored mid-way. (Plus, Eri had a feeling that Itachi was constantly expecting her to reject him just because she was jealous, and that really pissed her off; as if something so petty would destroy their friendship).
Kagami did teach Itachi how to tree-walk, but only after Itachi turned three years old. At this point, both Eri and Itachi had gotten used to Kagami's harsh training, which only increased in intensity as the days passed. Now, Eri ran more than twenty laps around the patio, and began sit ups and push ups.
Eri was also more conscious about Kagami, watching the way the man walked with the ease of a feline cat, a hunter of his own right. When he walked in the house or in the yard, he made no noise, no indication of his movement or trail of his walk. His posture was excellent, straight and balanced. And Eri always was startled by the man's open and honest smile. As much as she liked to think his innocent smile was deceptive, there was a significant portion of it that was honest and sincere. She felt something clench whenever she saw that kind of openness, and she didn't know what to do about it.
With every passing day, Eri was pleased to see the progress Itachi made with tree-walking, as challenging as it was. She knew he would need something to focus on, something to challenge him at least some point in his training. Itachi would stare at a tree, with his palm against its thin bark, and stretch out his chakra to penetrate the tree. He would then attempt to stick to it in all forms and manners, and once he was successful, he tried to climb it. But he was always out of breath after a mere five minutes. Eri didn't blame him. A three year old had physical limitations that he couldn't just push past through mere will power, after all.
It was also around this time that Eri finally learned to expand chakra to points in her body.
The three were outside, since the weather had taken a turn for the better and warmed. The smell of freshly cut grass filled the air, and just the barest of winds drifted, enough to keep Eri cool. A plate of sliced apples was off to the side, left untouched as both Eri and Itachi were immersed in their training. Itachi was by the tree in the garden with Kagami, his hand placed against the bark of the tree, the one with the thickest and most rough bark amongst the many in the yard.
Eri was in a very content state. She'd received a letter from her kaa-chan earlier in the morning, so nothing could bring her down from her happiness (even Kagami's cruel training didn't faze her). When she thought of her parents, fighting for her, her heart clenched; but there was also something warm that spread in her stomach, a kind of pride.
It was then that she noticed something else that mingled inside her. It buzzed quietly, and it was deep, deep inside her. If her body were the abyss, then what she felt was at the very bottom. Once she recognized the feeling, she mentally imagined the energy as being a ball, as Kagami had instructed, and imagined the ball being elastic and soft. She then imagined it being stretched, like a string of melted cheese, from the center of her body, to her hand.
When she felt the warmth on the palm of her hands, Eri's eyes widened in shock and surprise. Her mouth gaped as she finally felt something in her hands. When her eyes turned to Kagami and Itachi, she saw they, too, were proud of her achievement.
Itachi had the biggest smile out of the three of them.
Dinner never tasted so great before, and though Kagami scolded her for passing out from chakra exhaustion, Eri still continued to stretch her chakra from her solar plexus to different parts of her body. Only after Itachi warned her in a gentle voice about how chakra exhaustion could be fatal did Eri finally recede her chakra back in, and allowed sleep to dominate over her.
Training resumed for the two.
Every day, Eri noticed how much more easily Kagami walked, and realized he was slowly healing. She didn't know how to feel about the fact that the man would leave the two once he was fully healed, so he could join the active forces on the battlefield. She didn't want him to leave, but couldn't bring herself to tell him to stay. He was a Konoha shinobi, she realized; he would rather die than to not work for the sake of the village.
But he was also her sensei, her very first sensei (despite what Orochimaru had said, he hadn't actually taught her anything. Besides, he was something a lot more to her than what the title 'teacher' insinuated). Kagami also could read her like an open book, reassuring her when she thought she was failing in everything, and when she was worried about Itachi's development.
True to his word, Kagami only trained Itachi and Eri for a few months before leaving as soon as his injury was healed. His declaration to the two came unexpectedly.
Itachi stood by the pond in the yard, attempting to finally stand on water. Eri was off to the side, attempting to extend her chakra to somewhere beyond the limitations of her own skin. She held rocks and sticks near her, trying to stick them to herself.
"Eri, Itachi," Kagami called.
When Eri looked up, and saw how rigid his form was, she felt her heartbeat accelerate. She frowned, and dropped what she was doing to toddle over to Kagami. He gave her a brief, short smile that was so bittersweet Eri was taken back by it.
"As you know, my original duty was to train you two for several weeks," he began. "It has now been three months. And my fractured leg is fully healed. It is time for me to fulfill my duty as a proud shinobi of Konoha to return to the battlefield."
Eri felt herself shake, and her eyes swell with tears. Itachi slipped his hands into her own, and she clenched onto his tightly. "But… But why? Our training isn't over yet."
Kagami gave Eri a bright smile, and patted her head. "Sorry, Eri-chan. Konoha is not doing very well, and as someone who has a fully developed Sharingan, it's kind of imperative that I be on the front lines. The only reason I was excused to heal in Konoha is because my injury got really infected. And also because I'm Fugaku-san's cousin."
Eri shook her head. "But… But—"
Itachi bowed, tugging Eri down with him. "Thank you for everything, Kagami-sensei." He rose, dragging Eri up with him. "Please return home safely."
Eri clenched her teeth, unwilling to allow Kagami to leave (because not him, not him too; everyone was leaving and she'd be all alone).
Kagami inhaled deeply, and his exhale came in the form of a sigh. He entered the room and pulled out two boxes, handing one to each of them. "These are my farewell gifts. I made them myself."
With shaking hands, Eri opened the gift and marvelled at the smoothly cut wooden kunai. "Ah… Thank you." She looked up, clenching the boxes against her chest. "Thank you, Kagami-sensei."
And then he'd left the next day without any further ado. Because that was what war was, something abrupt, something that took away those precious to you, something that forced you to be concerned about everyone you loved, wondering if they would live to return home. The two were left to practice only what they'd learned from him.
The days felt empty without the man— her sensei, as she had begun calling him. So Itachi and Eri continued as they always had with Kagami; she ran laps with Itachi, though Itachi ran double her distance in half her time; she stretched with Itachi; and Itachi walked across the pond in the yard as Eri focused on sticking stones and sticks to her body.
But it was different without an instructor, who hid behind a deceivingly kind smile. They didn't know when they'd made a mistake, and relied on the other to point out simple things, like Eri, you have to pile the stones on top of the other, and Itachi, your feet are a little submerged in the water. The days became quieter, too, without the loud and cheerful voice of Kagami. And Eri did not know what to do with the fact that she now had one more person she was worried about, one more person she had nightmares for, who would get pierced in the back with a sword, or stabbed in the throat with a kunai in her dreams.
So Eri tried to distract herself from her worry by watching the things around her, as she was now. She knew Mikoto was getting worried that Eri was withdrawing into herself. It was understandable, after all; Eri talked less around Mikoto. But she was still as friendly as ever, if not more, with Itachi. And that was enough for Eri.
"Eri, come back inside. It's cold."
She stayed silent. It was not that cold, really. Though the air was a bit chilly, there was no wind to carry it, transform it into something more vicious. Besides, Eri was bundled up in a warm blanket, which kept the cold air away from her, and was seated on the patio, not completely in the garden. The warmth of the room behind her kept her cozy in the blanket. It was not cold.
She eyed one snowflake that fluttered, swinging left and right as it drifted from the sky. It collided with several others, then landed, slow and gentle, onto the frozen koi pond. A pile of snow had already collected along the border of the pond. Eri wondered how thick the layer of ice was. It was her first time seeing snow in Konoha (and apparently, snow itself was quite rare in Fire Country).
She heard Itachi's footsteps approach her, which she ignored, until he sat down beside her. When she glanced down, she saw he had placed a plate of dango between the two; long, wooden sticks penetrated several of the dango to keep them in place. She reached down and picked up a stick and ate, side-by-side with the silent Itachi.
Sitting on the balcony, when she saw how quickly her breath fogged up, Eri opened up the left side of her blanket. On cue, Itachi slid in, and Eri lowered the blanket over him. Now, Itachi would not be cold as well. The two were silent.
"Okaa-sama wants you to go inside soon," Itachi said first.
Eri gazed at the old fence across from her. They were bound together in two groups, with an Uchiha fan painted on every other group. To Eri, the amount of pride that the Uchihas exuded was so great, it was almost tangible.
"How about we clean the room up together?" Itachi asked.
Eri frowned. That was a low blow by Itachi. To be honest, it had been awhile since she'd last cleaned up her room. In fact, in the last couple of days, her clothes adorned the floor of her side of the room, and her mother's books were piled messily. But she still didn't want to get up, so she ignored Itachi for the umpteenth time that day, and continued to count the snowflakes falling in the garden.
Itachi did not sigh. He did not show signs of discontent. He merely snuggled in closer to Eri, and kept quiet with her. Eri found that she loved this part of him, the part that left her with her personal space and time when he really knew she needed it. Lately, he never forced anything onto her, no matter how much his mother tried to use him as a middle man. He would ask verbally, then seemingly give up. Then he would join her in her meditation, in her succumbing to the general silence around her.
The two children stiffened when they heard light, but fast, thumps heading down the hallway towards their room. When the door to the room slid open, Eri sighed, preparing herself for Mikoto's scolding. But instead of a cold, warning voice penetrating the room, something light landed on the top of her head. When she looked up, she saw it was a small scroll.
Eri barely saw Mikoto's soft smile behind the scroll as she scrambled up to receive and open it. She lowered it so Itachi could read as well (she didn't mind if he knew what her parents wrote to her; she trusted him).
"My Eri," she read aloud, the tips of her mouth curling just a little at those words. "I'm sorry I'm writing so late. It has been almost a month since my last letter, hasn't it? From the way the clouds were moving, I'm guessing it is snowing in Konoha— look, Itachi, tou-chan knew!"
At Itachi's encouraging smile, Eri continued. "I can't tell you where I am now, nor what I'm doing, but I want you to know I always think of you. I saw a group of children the other day, and one even had the same name as you. I miss you a lot.
"I hope Mikoto-san hasn't been spoiling you. I'm sure you are listening to her and following directions. Have you been eating properly? I wonder how much you've grown in the last year, since the last time we saw each other was a little more than a year ago. How about you measure your new height, and tell me in your letter?
"I will write to you again when I have the time. For now, I have to get going. Your father, Minato."
Eri's smile faltered when she flipped the scroll over to find a blank page. When she looked up at Mikoto, her smile vanished completely, and she wordlessly folded the scroll into a little square, tucking it into her pocket.
"He didn't say when he would be returning," she mumbled.
Mikoto raised a hand as though to pat Eri's head, but Eri pushed past her into the room. It wasn't fair of her to treat Mikoto like this, she knew, but… She waited one month for either of her parents to reply to her, and this was it? Was he really so busy that he couldn't write to her?
Then, Eri felt guilt tug at the bottom of her stomach. Of course he was busy. He was fighting off shinobi so she could be safe in the village. So Itachi and Mikoto and the other grumpy Uchihas and everyone else in the village could be safe.
With a deep breath, Eri turned around and beamed at Mikoto. "It's OK. I'm sure he'll be home soon." She turned to Itachi, her cheeks hurting from how hard she was pulling at them with her smile. "C'mon, Ita-kun. Let's clean up the room."
Mikoto and Itachi shared the same unconvinced look (and Eri would've laughed had she been in any other state of mind). But Itachi joined her in organizing her things, sweeping the floor, and resetting the books. Mikoto left, probably to tell the clan elders that "No, we cannot bring back just the Uchiha shinobi from the war" and "Yes, Itachi will be joining the academy later, but not now" and "Fugaku will return when the war has settled," then regulate the clan spendings and observe the Uchiha markets and everything else that the other Uchiha were apparently too incompetent to do by themselves.
"It will end," Itachi said, twenty minutes into the quiet cleaning of their room and startling Eri.
Eri paused her dusting, and lowered her eyes. "I know."
Screams.
Smoke rises in the far east of the city, and she watches as the building diagonal to her bursts outwards, surrounded by a wall of flames. People in ragged clothes, both civilians and soldiers, run aimlessly, trying to find a safe place in this warzone. The unfortunate ones have buildings collapse around them and boulders fall and break and shatter their legs; the fortunate ones slump down like rag dolls as her team shoots at them.
Shoot, shoot, shoot.
Allah, Allah. Praise Allah.
The first time she tries to stop her team from killing civilians, her captain uses the butt of his gun to hit her across her face. She flies onto the ground, her temples pounding and blood dripping down the side of her face and collecting in a puddle below her face. Her eyes spin, and the boots that appear in her vision are blurred.
"Your father would be disappointed in you," her captain says. "Get up."
God save them all.
So the next time her team and she arrive at a little Afghan village, she wordlessly shoots everyone, from the grandparents to the parents to the sons and daughters.
Eri wondered if Itachi ever regretted sharing a room with her. Because the day he decided to share his room was the his first day of many sleepless nights, always being woken up in the middle of the night by Namikaze Eri's nightmares. They had been rare in the beginning, and had only started when her parents had left. But they'd worsened over time, especially after Kagami-sensei had left for the war. Eri didn't know what to do about it, these horrifying, haunting dreams that she'd forget once she woke up.
So she stayed as quiet as she could, and bit her tongue when she awoke from her nightmares.
Somehow, Itachi woke up anyways, no matter how hard she tried to remain silent, and settled in next to her in her futon. He soothed her, his fingers running through her now-shoulder length hair. Eri fell asleep with his short, stubby arms around her, every night.
