Here's a new chapter of Shades of Red!

Enjoy and review!

. . .

After my strange revelation, Hiroshi had seemed to take staring at me blankly as an art.

Not that I could blame him, though. He was blind, after all.

"Alright, then," I mumbled, casting my eyes toward the ground, "Let's go and find my mother."

Hiroshi continued on staring blankly until I worked up the courage to lightly poke his cheek. As I predicted, the little boy flinched as if he'd been struck.

Unlike last time however, his arms remained pressed to his sides like super glue, his posture stiff and cold.

"Of course," he murmured, peering at me through a fringe of ghost-white snow, large, sightless eyes gazing at me fixedly. The sight almost made me frown, but then I remembered that Hiroshi could supposedly "see" the chakra of beings around him.

"Yeah," I replied awkwardly.

The boy made a noncommital grunt.

I felt my eye twitch.

What was he, an Uchiha?

The noise he made sounded vaguely like a "hn".

It took everything in me not to giggle, but in all my effort to stifle it, a sort of breathy chuckle escaped my lips instead.

At the sound of my chuckle, Hiroshi looked at me sharply, his sightless eyes wide and his mouth slightly parted.

He really did look adorable like that, but I dared not say it out loud. He was too young to hear such thoughts considering that we were both only four years old, after all.

So I just shook my head almost sadly, consciously aware that he could not see my movements.

"Let's go, then," I murmured.

Hiroshi merely nodded, following on behind me.

I easily located the door, and as it was a shoji, I slid it open and slipped through. When I was out of the room, I noticed that Sasori's entire home was an expanse of hallways that I knew I would never find my way through without proper help.

Sighing, I poked Hiroshi who was standing beside me. The answering flinch I received was more than enough for me to believe that he understood, as well.

He understood he fact that it would take us ages to find my mother.

"Hey, Hiroshi?" I muttered.

The little boy nodded absently, showing that he was listening.

I frowned. I wasn't really used to such a detatched persona, but if this was truly Hiroshi, then I would have to accept it.

"Could you, uh, use your chakra sensing to find them?" I stammered awkwardly.

"I could," Hiroshi murmured, "But you could also use your own, Yū-chan."

Huh?

Yeah, he's right, and in that moment, I flushed in realisation.

I can't believe forgot about my own sensing abilities!

I was more than embarrassed by this point, so I didn't say anything, merely nodding stiffly and smiling quite fakely.

"You forgot," Hiroshi stated blandly, his question a statement.

My smile became stiffer than I ever thought was possible, and it stretched my cheeks almost painfully.

I didn't answer him, either, merely falling into the hold that my big brother had shown me only two days previously.

My fingers clumsily and terribly mirrored the hand sign that Takashi had shown me, and I felt for the tell tale flicker of my chakra.

It didn't come.

I didn't feel alarmed at first, but when it still refused to come almost six tries later, I began to feel the tell tale flicker of panic in my gut.

It was an ugly and horrible feeling, and not something I wanted to feel again. It stirred deep in my soul when my chakra refused to come, and for the first time in this life, I felt truly scared.

What was happening?

My chakra should have come by now!

Unless...

Unless I'm like one of those ninja without the ability to use chakra, like that boy called Rock Lee from the manga...

But I had felt it not two days ago!

Chakra can't disappear that quickly!

And as quickly as that thought came, something bubbled to the surface.

It was acidic and poisonous, everything that equated to pain.

I didn't know what it was, but everything in my body was screaming that it was bad!

A soft grunt slipped from between clenched teeth, and I would have hit myself in frustration had the pain been so great.

What was happening to me?

And just as quickly as the pain had come, it was gone, leaving me sweaty and very mch breathless.

"W-What was that?" I whispered.

It was as if my...

"It was like your chakra tried to reject you," Hiroshi murmured, sounding deeply puzzled.

"Rejected?" I repeated.

Hiroshi nodded, still looking as lost as I currently felt.

"Explain," I demanded shortly, crossing my arms over my chest.

"The same thing happened to Otou-sama once," the little boy elaborated, crossing his own arms. "I don't know how to explain it, Yū-chan, but it was after we sparred. Otou-sama seemed really ou of breath, and I took that opening to land a hit. He was in pain for days after that."

"What do you mean?" My tone was confused, but all Hiroshi did was smile at me kindly.

Damn him and his horribly gentle smiles!

I soon felt terrible after that thought, though, and I kept my gaze at my feet- my bare, pale feet.

"You can ask Otou-sama when we get out of here, Yū-chan," Hiroshi said.

"That's if we get out of here," I huffed.

Hiroshi didn't seem too bothered with my sudden venom, so I felt quite put out whennhe suddenly began to walk, his sightless gaze hazy and unfocussed.

I understood what he was doing, then. He was locating the people by their chakra signetures.

I followed on behind him, feeling self conscious of my own failing chakra. I didn't know what was happening, and I don't think I'll know until we get out of here.

Which I don't know how long it will take.

So however long that will take, I'm quite content to just follow on behind Hiroshi.

We walked for what seemed like hours, Hiroshi cautiously feeling the walls with his chakra as he went. Finally, we reached an unfamiliar shoji door, and without having to listen for the soft tenor of my mother, I knew she was in there.

So I rapped firmly on the door, and at the sound of my knock, all the talk in the room abruptly stopped.

Awkward silence...

And then...

"You can enter," a slightly frail voice called. "There's no need to loiter in the hallway."

. . .

Third Person's POV- Yūmaru's mother, Kita

Kita barely stifled a yawn, but a whisper of it escaped anyway.

She was always tired these days, but she attributed that to the fact of the baby growing inside her.

Kita looked down at her robe-swathed body. Those cream robes hid the gentle swell of her belly, and from another perspective, it didn't even look as if she were pregnant at all.

Kita raised her head, her gaze connecting to the woman seated opposite her.

Chiyo was a greatly respected figure in Sunagakure, and for the life of her, Kita could not figure out why she had been summoned by her. She wasn't a ninja, nor did she want to be, so while she made her way over to Chiyo's home, she had beem quite confused indeed.

It was not until Chiyo had lead her to an isolated room in her home that Kita had understood.

Upon entering that room, Kita had seen Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, easily discernable by his rust-red hair, kneeling over a motionless body.

Of course, upon discovering that it was her own daughter that was on the futon, Kita had demanded answers. Chiyo had answered her crisply, stating that she had found them passed out in the streets.

Nonetheless, Kita had been very shocked and angry- after all, who wouldn't be?

Kita blinked as a firm knock on the shoji door brought her back to reality.

Chiyo didn't seem surprised, though, merely calling, "You can enter. There's no need to loiter in the hallway."

With that said, the shoji door slid open, revealing what Kita hoped was her daughter.

It was.

Though she wasn't precisely wearing the clothes that she had left in.

Kita had always thought that Yūmaru had been a beautiful baby- she was an exact spitting image of her father, Sosuke.

And now she was standing right there at the door, another little boy that Kita knew very well in tow.

Yūmaru was smaller than average, but she was only four, so that was okay. Her hair was crimson and fell to her chin, curling slightly at the ends. Her black eyes seemed huge on her face, heightened due to the fringe obscuring half of them.

All in all, Yūmaru was very cute.

Cute, but not beautiful.

But that was enough for Kita. Her little daughter was the spitting image of the husband that she loved more than anything else.

Even Takashi didn't look so similar, granted, he did have Sosuke's hair colour; but everything else was Kita.

Kita watched as Yūmaru stepped inside the room, her eyes gazing around curiously. Kita found the sight endearing, and she barely managed to stifle the urge to coo at how cute her daughter was.

And Kita refrained from doing so- she knew, justknew that Yūmaru was smarter than she let on.

Yūmaru spoke in near-perfect sentences at the age of four, for Kami's sake!

Her daughter's dark eyes pierced her own green ones, and Yūmaru said in a soft, almost shy voice, "Hello, Kaa-chan."

Kita smiled, gettting up from her seat and approaching her. When she was this close up, she noticed that there was a bright red flush spattered over Yūmaru's cheeks.

She must still be running a fever, then.

When she got to her side, Kita eveloped her daughter in her arms, pulling her close. Yūmaru sighed, burying her face into Kita's shoulder.

Kita then saw the little boy, Hiroshi, standing off to the side almost awkwardly. She didn't even do so much as sigh, merely pulling him close, as well.

Hiroshi stiffened at the contact, but he didn't move to pull away, and that made Kita give a silent exclamation of relief.

Kita knew how hard it was for the little boy to get even an ounce of affection from his father. From what she knew, the boy's mother had died in childbirth, and from that moment, things had been terribly difficult for him.

He had been born blind, and it only made things for him that much harsher. Hiroshi Akashi lived in a Shinobi household, and thus, he had probably been trained to use the kunai from the moment he could walk.

When Yūmaru had been born Kita had not wanted that for her daughter. And what made things better was the fact that one of the medical ninja at the hospital had deemed her "allergic" to chakra or some such thing. Kita didn't really know what it meant, but the nurse seemed to know.

He had soothingly told her that her daughter might not make it past her fiftieth birthday, and if she were to ever become a ninja, then her age expectancy would gradually reduce.

Supposedly, it was sort of like the very rare "chakra virus". And maybe it was, Kita didn't know, but what she did know was that it meant that her daughter's "illness" would gradually get her body to reject her chakra.

It would break down her coils until she could no longer use ninjutsu- this "illness" was deadly for a Shinobi as their chakra was their greatest weapon. If Yūmaru never became a Shinobi and never put her chakra to use, then Kita was sure that she could survive it.

That was the reason why Kita would have a talk with Sosuke to not allow Yūmarunto enter the ninja academy and possibly stop her lessons with Hiroshi's father.

Kita knew that her daughter would resent her for this decision, but she wanted to see Yūmaru live, not wither away if she put her chakra to use.

Thay was why, when she returned home, Kita sat her daughter down, explaining everything to her in a gentle, soothing voice.

"Yūmaru," she began, "I know how much you want to become a ninja..."

When Kita left the sentence hanging, she knew that Yūmaru suspected something, given that her eyes narrowed and her lips slightly parted.

Kita merely smiled sadly before continuing the inevitable news, "But I'm afraid that you never can become one."

By the time Kita finished, her aughter's eyes were wide in a rare visin of vulnerability.

"W-What do you mean?" Yūmaru finally said, her voice thick with emotion.

Kita clasped Yūmaru's hands in her own, marvelling at how tiny the hands were compared to her own.

"When you were born," Kita said gently. "You were diagnosed with an extremely rare form of what I believe is the chakra virus. As you grow, your body begins to reject the chakra that's already flowing inside you. If you became a ninja, then I'd estimate that you would only live to see the age of fourty, that is, if you haven't already been killed. Do you see now, Yū-chan, why I don't want you to become a ninja?" Her voicd broke off at the end and tears gradually began to stream down her cheeks.

By the time that she had completed her explanation, Yūmaru had gone eerily silent.

Kita was beyond worried by that point. After all, how would she feel to know that all her dreams had been shattered by the admission of that one secret?

Finally, Yūmaru mumured, "Why didn't you tell me, Kaa-chan?"

Her daughter's pale fingers twisted almost angrily into the mesh shirt she wore, but Kita didn't hesitate.

Not one bit.

Yūmraru deserved to know.

. . .

First Person's POV- Yūmaru

I was shocked to say the least, after all, how would you react to the admission that you could never become a ninja?

But that was the point: I would become a Shinobi.

I wasn't going to let some stupid "illness" get in the way of my goals.

Goals?

They were important, formulated right after I met Sasori.

Firstly, I woul try to befriend him, but I knew that whatever I tried, I would never be able to change him.

Sasori was too cruel for that, too nihilistic.

He took things to a new height when he began to use human corpses in his experiments, but I couldn't blame him.

Wait...

This vaguely reminds me of a fanfiction that I once read where the main character, a girl like myself, told someone else about the fact that she had been reincarnated and that she knew everything that was going to happen.

I wonder if I should do that. It would certainly explain how I knew about Orochimaru.

But the question remains.

Just who would I tell?

I couldn't just tell anyone.

By this time, I had retreated into my room, and I was splayed out on my bed, my face buried into my pillow.

Who would I tell?

Who...?

I fell asleep, after that.

. . .

More than eight months had passed after that day, and despite my mother's warning, I continued to train in private.

Since then, I had paid one visit to Rin's house without either of my parents knowing, and I had seeked out his advice.

When Hiroshi had opened that door, I had immediately latched onto his arm, begging him to find his father.

It had been so long since I had last seen them, but when Hiroshi dragged me to his father, I was surprised by the sight of him.

Rin Akashi seemed to have gotten thinner from the last time I had seen him, and the clothes that he wore hung off his frame. There were dark circles under his eyes and his face was gaunter.

"Hiroshi," Rin murmured after one glance toward me, "Leave us."

"Of course, Otou-sama," Hiroshi answered, not sounding surprised in the slightest.

I watched as he left, but then my attention snapped back to Rin when the men let out a particularly terrible cough.

I watched as he hacked into his palm, and to say that I was surprised was an understatement.

A few suspense-rackimg moments later, Rin finally stopped coughing, and when he removed his hand, a dribble of crimson ran down his chin.

"What just happened?" I ventured, watching him with wide, wide eyes. "You suddenly started coughing and-"

I was cut off when Rin raised a hand.

"Enough," he said simply.

I nearly exploded right then and there.

"Do you really want to know?"

I nodded, crossing my armsover my chest.

"Very well," the man sighed. "I haven't told anyone this, not even Hiroshi or Sunako. But I believe you're a special case, Yūmaru-san. I'll make this simple: I have the same illness as you."

"But you're a ninja!" I burst out.

"I am," Rin answered mildly. "And I have paid the price for it. My chakra is already rejecting me, and I suspect that I don't have much time left, three ornfour years, I'd say."

"How old are you?" I asked curiously, still unable to believe that Rin Akashi has the same illness as me.

"Thirty five," the man answered dryly.

I stayed silent, then I blurted out, "Canyoustilltrainme?!"

Rin didn't even blink. "The most I'll train you in is Taijutsu. Even then, you can't let your mother know, the rest you will have to learn in the academy.

I frowned. "Kaa-chan won't let me enter the academy!"

Rin snorted, "And you'll listen to her? Listen to me, Yūmaru-san, if becoming a ninja means so much to you, then you will use every resource at yoir disposal. And if you want to enter the academy, then you may. Don't letnyour mother stand in the way of your path to greatness."

I laughed, path to greatness?

Don't make me sick.

That day, Rin taught me the basic katas to the academy style of Taijutsu. It was simple enough, but when the man made me apply it to combat, I was instantly at a loss.

While my limbs were flexible for my age, I had nowhere near the strength or stamina to keep up with a seasoned Jōnin such as Rin. Added to the fact that he was already so sick, yeah, wasn't I pathetic?

We continued this routine for another week, and by that time, I had not been able to land a single hit on him.

And he was going easy on me.

When I returned home that day with the usual excuse of playing at the park, it was my mother who confronted me with a white face, one hand clutching her over-swollen stomach.

"Your Tou-san is in the hospital, Yū-chan," she gasped, her eyes wide with pain. "They're not sure if he'll make it!"

"Where's Onii-chan?" I immediately demanded.

"He's already at the hospital," she said. "Yū-chan, what-"

I cut her off by grabbing her hand, pulling her into the street. Mum gasped loudly, staggering after me.

I paid her no mid, despite the fact that I knew that she was possibly in labour. We arried at the hospital in record time, Mum having taken the lead after I had gotten us spectacularly lost.

A nurse in the reception stood up upon seeing my mother's ruffled state.

"Help her!" I demanded, my black eyes piercing his dark brown ones. "She's in labour!"

After that nurse took her away, I got another one to take me to my father's room.

"They're not sure if he'll make it..."

Those words haunted my head, but in my heart, I knew something bad would happen. The nurse gently opened the door, kindly pushing me in.

My eyes were insantly drawn to the figure on the bed. They were slightly relined by a number of pillows, and upon a second look, I knew that it was my father.

Takashi was already there, clad full in his Chūnin gear, head band and all. He was standing at our father's bedside, head bowed.

He was thirteen, while myself was nearly five.

We were both so young, not ready to lose a parent, and despite the short time I had spent in this world, I had grown to love my new family fiercly.

I would be crushed if something happened to them.

Keep smiling, Yūmaru.

I forced a smile on my face as I approached my father's bed, sitting on the edge of it. But it comoletely faded away by what I saw.

Dad was swathed in bandages, all of them soaked in blood. His black eyes pierced mine, and they were sort of incoherent, but I knew, just knew that he could see and hear me.

"Hey, Tou-san," I whispered. "It's kind of ironic that it's you who is here this time."

Dad's eyes widened sharply, and so did mine.

Where had that come from?

"Yū... maru..." his speech was garbled. "Where... Kita...? I... die..."

"Kaa-chan is fine," I answered soothingly, and he seemed to relax. Funny, I've never been good at comforting others.

"Where...?

"She's in labour with your child, Tou-san," I answered easily, inwardly I was alarmed at how quickly he was fading. Shouldn't someone be working on him?

"He refused," Takashi said flatly. "He was given a 50/50 chance to survive, but if he did, then he'd be paralysed from the waist down and his days as a Shinobi would be over."

That explains it, then.

After his family, Dad valued his Shinobi lifestyle. It was the only thing he'd ever known, and to have it suddenly ripped away from him, then he'd be overwhelmed.

I didn't know how long I satnthere for, but it must have been hours for I was suddenly shaken awake from the light doze I'd fallen into.

I looked up to see Takashi's unreadable face.

He raised an eyebrow, turning his head to gaze at our mother who was being wheeled into the room, a swath of blankets encased in her arms.

Dad raised his head blearily, and I could see that the life was gradually beginning to fade from his eyes.

He would be dead by the next day.

He silently accepted the bundle of blankets that Mum offered him, and he gazed at my new sibling with a soft, tender smile on his face.

"What's his name?" Dad managed to choke out.

Mum shook her head sadly. "You can name him, Sosuke."

Dad was silent for a long time, and for a while, I thought that he had died. But finally, finally he said, "Name him... Akito?"

Akito? Didn't that mean "Autumn"?

That meant I had a brother.

After this, I'm eginning to see the simularities that this life has with my old one.

Two sisters, and now two brothers?

Mum let out a sharp breath, her face tired ans gaunt, "Akito it is."

When it came my turn to hold my new brother, I examined him curiously.

Akito's face was still red and wrinkly, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. But on his head sprouted locks of bright red, which was strange considering that mine, Dad, and Takashi's hair is crimson coloured.

Now I see where Dad got the name.

I felt a burst of warmth as I cradeled Akito.

From then on, I knew that I'd protect him always.

Is this what Itachi Uchiha felt when he first held baby Sasuke?

This burst of such love that you'd be willing to die for them?

Wel I did.

We stayed in Dad's room for ages, not even moving when visiting hours were closed.

Dad was slipping away, and fast.

We all said ournown individual words to him, and when it was my turn, my heart felt like it was ripped to pieces.

I knew what I was going to do.

I was going to tell him.

Tell him that I wasn't really from this world, that is.

I whispered it in his ear, just the basic facts, and he stiffened. But I knew that he believed me.

Why?

Because he didn't push me away.

Keep smiling, Yūmaru.

I couldn't, though.

And my father's last words simply broke my heart.

"Keep smiling... Yūmaru," he whispered.

I just stared straight ahead, unable to comphrehend his words. My hand tightened around his, and that was when the tears and snot dripped down my face. I sobbed great big sobs, and I didn't care if I looked horrible.

Because.

My.

Dad.

Was.

Dead.

I pressed my fingers to my eyes, trying to stem the flow.

Would I cry if someone else close to me died right before my eyes?

Yes.

Yes, I would.

But what if something prevented them from dying?

Like... like knowledge of the future?

No.

Nothing would work, I had read fanfictions like this where the Mary Sue main character used her knowledge of the future to save everyone and eliminate the bad guys.

But this wasn't a fanfiction, and there were no bad guys.

It was only live or die.

Keep smiling, Yūmaru.

I can't keep smiling.

I can't use my knowledge of future events to save everyone, either.

Who would I save, anyway?

Konohagakure?

Don't make me laugh.

What about everyone else who have lived horrible lives?

Like... like Sasori, or even the Ame Orphans?

What about them?

What about their families?

What about mine?

I glanced toward them. They were in various states of disarray, but the sight of them didn't make me smile like it usually did.

I would protect them.

Whether they wanted me to or not.

No more smiling, Yūmaru.