Day 8: Ask not for whom the bell tolls
The crispness of the cool early morning air in Konohagakure refreshed the lungs of one Misaki Uchiha who woke up just before the sun peaked over the Hokage Mountain. The early morning birds sent a cacophony of whistles and noises echoing through the valley and the ever lightening sky pronounced the colours of the Japanese garden and burnt orange trees that stung Misaki's honey eyes with its beauty. She couldn't remember the last time she stopped to freshen her mind in nature.
The long white kimono she wore with its long sleeves dragged on the damp grass that cooled off her bare feet as she picked some bright flowers from the beautiful garden and bound them together to form a bouquet. Her peace of mind now far outweighed all the thoughts, feelings and emotions she had experienced throughout the week. Remembering her brother last night, her father finally showing his caring side and her intimate day with her boyfriend had helped put things straight for her. No more worries. With the bouquet done she set off to a house a short distance away from hers. It was the right thing to do.
She walked up the stairs to the main entrance of the house and knocked twice on the door. A minute later the door opened to reveal the man clutching his wife's shoulders for comfort, both he and the woman looked at her with sorrow in their eyes. She knew the grieving eyes of parents all too well. She bowed and held out her arms of the flower bouquet to them beckoning them forward to accept her gift.
Kagami Uchiha and his wife looked at each other in surprise; they weren't expecting to receive a gift of condolence at sunrise. They both turned back to her and the woman stepped forward to take the flowers from Misaki and give her a hug. Shisui's mother supported the testament of the kind nurturing nature of Uchiha women.
"I promise it'll get better, take it from me" Misaki said.
"Thank you so much Misaki" whispered Shisui's mother while a pained Kagami bowed to her. Misaki bowed to him and bade them goodbye and good luck. They had a long and arduous journey towards healing from the sudden and unexpected death of their only son Shisui Uchiha…
Misaki walked back to her home and picked some more flowers along the way through the Uchiha clan as she was not done yet. There was one more stop she needed to take. She left the Uchiha clan area and walked out to the training grounds where she and Itachi had sparred just days earlier. When she got there the sun was already up warming the day and stretching over the Hokage Mountain. She reached the clearing at the training grounds to get to the Konoha memorial stone dedicated to all the shinobi killed in action. But unfortunately when she arrived, she found that someone was already there...
Kakashi 'the copy ninja' Hatake was standing at the foot of the memorial stone staring at it and standing very still. Growing up she'd heard stories about 'the copy ninja's' ability to utilize the sharingan he'd gotten from someone in her clan. She'd also heard that he came here every day but why she wasn't sure. She really didn't want to disturb him during such a personal time so she waited; but luckily he didn't make her wait for too long.
"If you want to come to the memorial stone, you can come now because I'm going to be here a while" he said. She walked up to the memorial stone surprised that he'd seen her in the first place and stood next to the silver haired elite ninja. She looked at him from the side and saw that he didn't take his eyes off the stone.
"Is it true that you come here every day before sunrise and stay for a long while after? To visit the memorial stone I mean?" she asked him.
"It depends who you ask I suppose. Some might say that I get lost in the path of life or help an old lady with groceries, or a black cat crossed my path"
She quietly chuckled at herself not really understanding what he meant by that. She looked back at the stone and scanned the writing of all the names etched onto it. Until she found the name she was looking for:
"Uchiha, Masahiro"
Seeing her brother's name stirred up the emotions inside her. She ran her fingers over the engraving of his name and bent down to kiss it. Then she stood up and placed the second bouquet of flowers on the stone and said a silent prayer. When she was done she stood back up to stared at the name.
"Uchiha Masahiro huh. You don't happen to be his younger sister? The only female ANBU black op right now?" asked the copy ninja.
"Well yes to the first question but I'm not so sure about the black ops thing. I might have to leave the ANBU for another offer to master genjutsu from a specialist"
"Sounds like a good idea to me" he said
This gave Misaki a thought. "Wait a second; Kakashi-san I've heard that you were also an ANBU black operative once, isn't that so?" he nodded.
"So it's possible to leave after all; but wasn't it difficult for you? I mean you lose your high level ninja ranking"
"Working with the black ops is rigorous as you well know but it's also rewarding in its own ways. Also, being in such a high position means your chances of moving on up are limited as ANBU is the highest ninja rank apart from being a Kage. But leaving, as difficult a decision as it is, doesn't mean downgrading your ninja rank; it only means you're attempting to enhance your skills to break that glass ceiling you find yourself reaching. I left for my own personal reasons and you should too only if you think it's best for you. You'll be allowed back on the team if you work hard and are stronger than another more advanced ninja from another generation taking your place"
It made so much sense to her what the copy ninja just said. It wasn't doing any good to stay in the black ops if she wasn't improving herself even with the difficult ANBU training sessions. Feeling slightly confident now about her decision she smiled at herself thankful that she'd ran into the copy ninja.
They both stood in silence taking their time to think about their loved ones until Misaki spoke to him again.
"By the way, how are your new graduated genin students keeping with you?"
"I don't have any graduated genin students to train this year. They failed my 'bell test' just like all the others before them so I have yet to find a trio that has passed"
"Again this year as well? This bell test sounds difficult. At least you haven't lowered your standards even if no one has ever passed. Maybe I'll try it one day. But don't worry, somewhere at the Academy there will be a generation of three kids who will pass your bell test and become your new students" she said laughing lightly.
"I hope so…By the way, what is your name again?"
"Uchiha Misaki" she said to him as he smiled under his mask and nodded. She then bowed to him ready to leave.
"Well it was nice talking to you 'copy ninja' san. Thanks for the insightful advice. See you around" she said turning to leave as he waved back and pulled out a curious looking orange pocket sized book. It really was one of life's true pleasures for her to have a random conversation with a somewhat stranger.
With the sun up hitting noon and Misaki done with her refreshing morning, she decided to go home before going to the Konoha police station later for her duties on finding out more information about the imposter ninja from last week.
When she got home, she sat on the roof of the house overlooking the whole of the clan including old man Uchiha feeding his pets. She took out her trusted tiny white diary that she wrote down all the important events and emotions that had happened to her for the past two days and especially wrote in great detail of her intimate day with Itachi the previous day. Afterwards she took a deep breath and opened a new clean page to start writing and reflecting…
"Dear: diary
This week has been nothing but long and harrowing and exciting at the same time. I got to attend my first ANBU meeting-without my boyfriend and party with my friends. But the death of Shisui shocked my world. I have a feeling that I will never fully understand what happened to him but that's not the point. Admittedly it's because of his death that I fear for my clan as our numbers dwindle to a handful, we've lost so many a great people in this clan and I don't know what the future will bring for us Uchiha.
Speaking of, as much as I've been worrying of Itachi, I still feel confident that we'll get closer to each other so I can help him overcome the pressure he faces that could be changing his behaviour. I love him so much that I want to be with him. Forever. Curiously though yesterday he did say that he wanted to remember the feeling of my lips but I can't understand why, since he could always do that when he wants to…Strange one that Itachi.
Lastly in terms of moving on, I have decided to accept the apprenticeship of Kurenai Yuhi and master genjutsu. I want to be as exceptional at the jutsu as Shisui was in honour of his memory. This means that I might have to leave the ANBU black ops for a while but we'll see. I'm glad that I got some clarity from the copy ninja today. I'll have to talk to Captain Ichiro and the hokage about it tomorrow. It feels so good to be moving on up in life…
Xoxo
Mi"
She closed the tiny white diary containing her soul. She went back to her room to place it under her pillow and walked out to the kitchen to eat some of her mother's delicious home cooked food.
"So momma, I've decided to take the opportunity to learn genjutsu from the specialist jonin Kurenai Yuhi. I sent her a letter early this morning via messenger bird later" she said eating.
"Really! Oh Misaki I'm so happy for you baby girl" she said sitting at the same table. "It's nice seeing you grow and mature in your shinobi life. Your father and I will be supporting you all the way"
"Yeah how about dad last night? It was so unexpected" she said.
"He saw that you were in pain over your brother and wanted to comfort you. I told you that you just needed to be patient with him" she said mockingly shaking her finger at her daughter.
"I guess that I couldn't see that. But I appreciated it" she said honestly.
"I'm glad you did honey. We seem to be on a great path to healing"
"Well I'd better get going, I have to go to the Konoha police station for some information on a case" said Misaki wolfed down the rest of her food, kissing her mother goodbye and leaving the house to the police station.
Konohagakure looked so beautiful during the afternoon; she loved watching people going about their day. It made her want to work harder at her ninja job to protect them. As she walked to the police station and walking past people she saw every day from her own Uchiha clan, she waved at them and they waved back at her; it gave her a sense of happiness. The widening smile growing on her face inspired a playfulness inside of her. She pulled the tight braid out her hair and shook her hair free. She let the wind catch her hair in between its fingers and toss it to the sky. She let the wind grab onto her flowing robe and force itself into the wide sleeves and pull at the bottom train of the robe. It felt sensational.
Misaki was so busy enjoying the breeze and looking at the sky that she didn't see that someone was in front of her and only realised that she had bumped into a little boy when it was too late.
"Ouch lady! Watch where you're going!" came a loud voice from below her. Misaki looked down to see the young blond jinchuriki boy with the nine tailed fox sealed inside him who attended the Academy that she'd been profiling for the person of interest files for the hokage. He was standing next to Sasuke who had a satisfied look on his face. The jinchuriki boy rubbed his head painfully and looked up at her with a scowl on his cute whiskered face.
"I'm sorry for bumping into you. But why are the two of you standing in the middle of the street anyway. You weren't fighting were you Sasuke?" she asked.
"He started it! Sasuke is always being a jerk!" yelled the blonde haired boy shooting an accusatory point at Sasuke. Talking loud seemed to be a trademark of his.
"Shut up you loser, nobody wants to hear your loud annoying voice" whined Sasuke broodily folding his arms.
"Oh yeah! Well-
"Say kid what was your name again?" she asked the blond boy hoping to quieten his loud talking. The blond boy gave her a dazzling wide smile and shot his thumb in the air.
"I'm NARUTO UZUMAKI and one day I will become hokage!" he shouted. Misaki smiled to herself remembering those words and writing them down about him when she was still compiling his file. Seeing the rivalry of this Naruto and Sasuke made her laugh, she wished that she could still be that young and innocent. She bowed to them both and left for the Konoha Military Police Station as the two boys came at each other the moment she was gone.
The Konoha Military Police Station was as busy as ever with members of the force hard at work uncovering the truth's hidden in the village especially working on the case of Shisui's death. Misaki walked inside the station at mid-afternoon to the receptionist who was her brother's long-time friend and colleague when he was alive.
"Hello Aiko Mizuno" she said smiling to her and beating a drum roll on her desk.
"Misaki! Long-time no see! Are you on duty?" said the surprised brown haired woman looking at Misaki's lack of ANBU uniform.
"Not exactly. I'm off duty but I've actually come here for some information on a case I'm working on"
"Really, what information is that?" asked Aiko
"I don't have it with me now but I wanted to find out; have you ever seen a red cloud outlined in white on a black cloak? I found it on a cloak that an imposter inside our village was wearing last week. I think it might symbolise something"
Aiko thought about it for a while then shook her head. "Sorry it doesn't sound familiar, but if you're looking for symbols, you can look in the organised crime bingo books. It's mostly gangs who use symbolic references to represent their identities and ideals"
"Okay thanks Aiko, see you in a bit" she said walking to the classified information room that only black ops and jonin had access to. She was hoping to find something listed in a bingo book which contained information on notorious rogue ninja and criminals...
Misaki was busy through late afternoon searching relentlessly through the many bingo books under the heading of organised crime but nothing came up about the strange red cloud. Only after searching for several hours and the sun starting to slowly dim in the background did she notice something peculiar about one of the bingo books.
She looked at the bottom of the double sided pages to see the page numbers go from 68, 69, 72, 73…There was a page missing in the book. She looked carefully at the pages and noticed that the jagged edges left behind in the middle meant that a page had been torn out.
"Hey Aiko, did you know that there's a page missing from one of these bingo books? It looks like it was torn out purposefully" she said taking the book to the front for Aiko to see.
"Hmmm that's strange. I'll have to send it in to Chief Fugaku Uchiha to inspect but he already left for home for some reason. Sorry Misaki, guess it means that you'll have to come back and look when it's ready again"
Misaki gave a slightly frustrated sigh; it seemed that the red cloud would remain elusive to her once again but she didn't want it to get to her. "Okay thanks for your help Aiko, it was nice to see you again" she said leaving the Konoha Police Station.
With the sun dimming into early evening and with her realising that she'd spent way too long at the police station Misaki headed into the village to get some food at a food stall.
She arrived at a ramen noodle shop and waited in line for an open seat when someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away but, she was all too ready for it. She flipped over her captor and landed behind him, grabbed both of his hands into her one hand behind his back, place a kunai underneath his chin and pulled him backwards.
"Wait, Misaki; I have something for you!" said Izumo gasping in pain.
"Izumo, what are you doing sneaking up on ninja. You should know better than that!" she joked letting him go.
"I'm sorry Misaki but I didn't want anyone to see us. I have something that you need to see but I had to steal it" he said.
"You stole something? As a chunin you could be placed on probation for stealing something, depending on what it is" she lectured.
"I know I know, but it's not like I didn't have a good reason. I found this letter, it's the suicide note from Shisui, he must've wanted to give it to someone but he didn't have a chance"
Misaki observed the neatly folded scroll paper letter; it was definitely Shisui's beautiful calligraphic kanji writing of course but there was something strange on the corner of it. It looked like a smudge.
"So why did you have to steal it? You're defeating the ends of justice if you stole it from anywhere where the investigation into Shisui's death is taking place" she said serious faced.
"That's the thing Misaki, I stole it because, it was from Shisui addressed to whoever finds it… but I found it in Itachi's mission schedule file at ANBU headquarters in the Hokage building" he whispered so they wouldn't be overheard by people lining up at the ramen shop.
"What! Are you telling me that you stole Shisui's suicide note from Itachi's file?" she asked hit by a shock. Izumo nodded.
"I noticed it sticking out of his file and took it because he was supposed to have handed it in to the black ops Captain Ichiro"
"Oh my God Izumo…he knows…Itachi already knows" she said staring absent mindedly at the letter. She could feel the worry she had worked so hard to remove creeping back inside her.
"What! How do you know?" said Izumo also starting to worry.
"This is Itachi we're talking about. Nobody steals from Itachi Uchiha without him knowing…this is bad Izumo, you could really get into trouble for this"
"I don't care, I did the right thing. He wasn't supposed to keep Shisui's suicide letter with him. Look since you already have it, why don't you go and have a look at it" he said confidently.
"You're right; I should go and have a look at this. We can't return it now or we'll get busted for stealing" she said. She said her goodbye to Izumo and skipped out on eating at the ramen shop.
Misaki hurried back home to the Uchiha clan as dusk arrived determined to examine the suicide note. The chill of the night started settling in with the wind picking up and biting at her skin. She walked in long strides in her loosely tied ivory kimono and her black hair hanging down straight at her sides to her waist. A short distance before entering the clan walls, she walked past nearby merchant fast asleep selling clocks that began ticking loudly in her ears and with the rhythm of every step she took…
When she walked inside the clan walls she stopped abruptly and looked around. The place was deserted. Nobody on the usually bustling main street of the clan where parents should have been returning from work, neighbours should be chatting and other Uchiha people generally walking about. The only people not expected at that time were the Uchiha children attending The Academy who still had just over an hour left of school for the day. It was highly unusual. But she brushed it off as she was in a hurry to examine the suicide note.
Misaki continued walking to her house when a flash of something in the moonlight caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She turned around to look at the torii or red gate at the entrance of the sacred Nakano shrine of the Uchiha clan nearby. She could have sworn that she'd seen something standing on top of it but there was nothing there now…until the silhouette of a bird flew down and sat on the red gate. It was a crow. The unnerving sight of a black crow sent chills down her spine as she hurried home feeling uneasy.
The moment Misaki dashed into the house she noticed that it was quiet. She looked around the house throwing open all the fusuma panels but it was empty. Her parents weren't there. It was bizarre to her because at that time, her mother would be in the kitchen preparing dinner while her father would be busying himself in his study. They had never been away from the house at that time without telling her first...something about the quietness of the house spooked her especially after seeing the scary black crow and the quiet street. In the meantime she decided to go to her room to inspect the suicide note while she waited for her parents to come home.
Sitting at her desk she placed the suicide note in front of her and switched on the desk lamp to properly read it. Shisui had written his sincerest apology for being weaker than he'd imagined and that he couldn't carry on his duties for the clan anymore because it was too much for him, and hoped he hadn't let the clan that was 'his lifeblood' down…It was so unbelievable and heart breaking to her that he would ever kill himself.
Misaki opened her desk drawer to find an old letter that Shisui once wrote to her. She found one lying underneath a picture of her brother and compared the handwriting. It was exactly the same as expected. But, she still wanted to know why the letter had a tiny ink smudge on the front so she held it up to the light of the desk lamp and scrutinised it. It appeared that someone had scratched over a word on it that could be crucial to the investigation of his death. Luckily she knew just the right jutsu to help her. She held her finger on the ink smudge and pressed down hard then held two fingers in front of her face.
"Ninja art: back-to-the-past jutsu!" she said and a puff of smoke erupted from the sheet of paper to reduce it back to its original form. The ink smudge evaporated to reveal what it had been covering. She could feel her heart beating in nervous anticipation.
Misaki looked at the kanji word on the piece of paper. She realised that it wasn't a word but rather…a date. She looked carefully at it. But something about the date written on it made her heart skip a beat. It was the date that the letter was written…
A day after Shisui's death…it made sense…the letter was found on Shisui's person the day he was discovered in Nakano River after dying on the ANBU assembly day according to the post mortem. Someone must have written the letter and somehow stuffed it in the clothes of his dead body lying in the river using some jutsu a day after he died…but the handwriting was perfect; which could only mean one thing…
She gasped out loud when she realised it, the only explanation…someone must have killed Shisui Uchiha by drowning him in Nakano River and used sharingan to forge the suicide letter. But how could that be? Only the Uchiha's with the exception of 'the copy ninja' possessed such powers…Misaki felt a frightening worry engulf her body. She had to go to the hokage at once and tell him of the evidence.
"BANG! BANG! BOOM! CLANK! SCREEEEAAAMM!"
A thunderous explosion of screaming and chaos stung the quiet and still night outside Misaki's house….then stopped as suddenly as it had come. The heart stopping noises made her jump up startled and run to her bedroom window to see what the outside commotion was all about. The last time somebody had screamed-Shisui had been found dead.
But there was something wrong…really, really, wrong. Strange. She grabbed onto the curtains covering the window to pull them open but they wouldn't open. Her curtains wouldn't open… She couldn't understand it; curtains were made from soft fabric, it should be too easy to pry them open but they just wouldn't. Desperation to know what was going on outside sparked panic inside her; she then realised her parents weren't home yet…
Misaki tried not to let the mounting panic stress her; a shinobi should never panic under stress, it clouds their judgements. She quickly headed for the fusuma panel door of her room to slide it open…but once again it wouldn't open…
She stood back for a moment in confusion to stare at the door then tried once again to open it but it wouldn't open. She couldn't begin to fathom what could possibly be going on and fear was threatening to drive her insane.
Her panic was rising; the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own furiously beating heart and quick breathing. Beads of sweat formed on her head…She ran up to her wall and seized her katana and a kunai to try and wedge the door open. Then she tried kicking and punching the door open. No matter what she did it wouldn't slide open. Feeling frustrated and panicky she stepped back breathing hard and threw her weapons on the floor. That's when a frightening thought crept inside her head…Was it possible that she was under a genjutsu? It was the only reasonable explanation as to why her curtains and doors wouldn't open. It would at least be a start… she breathed hard to calm herself down so she could close her eyes and smack her hands together to overpower any chakra that could be controlling her mind.
"Release!" she said and the room immediately swam in her eyes then went back to its normal state. So it had been a genjutsu after all. But why?...who?...
She slowly walked up to the door and took another deep breath before slowly sliding it open with ease this time. She carefully peeked out of her bedroom and took a few steps out and looked up. Her heart gave a startled jolt when she saw that she wasn't alone in the house after all. Someone was standing in the kitchen of the house staring at her, waiting for her to come out…
Itachi.
He was standing still and silently in the kitchen in the shadow of the outside moonlight from the window, his skin a ghostly pale, watching her, unblinking and stoic. He was wearing his ANBU black ops uniform and leaf headband...
When Misaki saw that it was her boyfriend standing in her kitchen she stared at him in surprise. She hadn't expected it to be him. It was the middle of the night so he didn't have any reason to be there and she'd just been placed under a genjutsu. She slowly glided into the hallway in her white kimono towards him, step by step, slowly and stopped when she reached the kitchen wall and stood in front of it. For some reason, she couldn't drop her guard when she got to him.
"Itachi, what are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice sounded strange and unwelcome in the unnatural quietness.
"I came here to see you" he said in the most expressionless and blank tone of voice. It sounded like he was forcing himself to remain blank and distant.
Misaki stared straight into his dark shiny eyes and pressed her hands to her chest, feeling guarded. There was something different about his eyes. No scary. Something off...something unkind and biting and cruel. They were cold, shut off, empty…the light was missing from his eyes like he had no soul. But that was not as terrifying as the way in which he looked at her. The intensity of his sharp glare…he looked at her like she was his prey; his gaze was piercing her, stinging her inside. But there was something else about them. It looked like he was hiding something behind his eyes; like he had locked any emotion behind this front he had on his face. It caused her whole body to tremble to the point that she couldn't even move.
"Wha-why did you need to come and see me" she said unable to look away at his gaze. Her blank mind searched for answers as to what could be happening. Why was Itachi looking at her like he had venom coming out of his eyes?...it dawned on her that she was feeling an emotion that she had never felt around Itachi-fear.
"I want to know why you're so weak. Why, as a shinobi do you allow emotions to play a part in your decisions?" he asked.
She felt the cruel sting of his words cut her like ice inside. He'd never referred to her as weak before.
"I don't know what you mean. Why would you say that to me?" she said hurt.
"Many people have speculated that I'm untrustworthy time and time again yet you wouldn't even allow yourself to contemplate it. Your feelings for me stopped you from considering what everyone said" he said in his blank voice.
"That's because I told you that I trust you and I do" she said though she couldn't be sure at that moment.
"Is that why you didn't tell anyone when you were spying on me that you caught me talking to a wanted imposter in the forest last week?"
Bomb! The shock hit her like a bomb and made her heart beat dangerously too fast. So he had known about her spying on him last week talking to the imposter after all but he hadn't said anything to her. Nothing. Misaki stood frozen where she was.
"You knew that I was spying on you-Why didn't you say anything to me Itachi?" she said frozen.
"Because I knew that I didn't have to. I knew that you wouldn't tell anybody or confront me about it because of how you feel about me. You didn't do anything about it and I knew you wouldn't"
She was dumfounded, Itachi knew that she wouldn't get him into trouble when he broke shinobi rules. He had taken complete advantage of her trust and loyalty. Painfully she realised that this was not the Itachi she had grown up knowing. The person standing in front of her was someone else.
"I can't believe you did that to me" she said softly with her lips quivering.
"Why, why Misaki would you hide all my wrongdoings from the authorities to protect me?" he asked. She could sense him trying harder to keep his emotions locked away.
"Because I trusted you. I trusted your integrity as a leaf shinobi that you had a good reason for everything you did!" she said tears stinging her eyes.
"No. You wanted me to remain be the perfect shinobi in everyone's eyes. You thought I was so closed off that I didn't have any real feelings of my own! Isn't that why you made out with Shisui!" he said raising his voice slightly.
Bomb number two! The realisation hit her like a ton of bricks and pulled the tears out from inside her eye lids and sent them sliding down her face as guilt washed over her again. Itachi also knew about her kissing Shisui, it seemed like he knew every secret she'd kept from him.
"You can't blame me for that. You were so distant and aloof most of the time when I needed comforting and he was the first one there for me" she sniffed teary eyed. She still couldn't even believe they were having this conversation.
"I expected you to be more understanding but instead sexy Misaki who can get any man she wants went behind my back to my best friend! I thought you were a decent woman but now I see that you're nothing more than a slut!" he spat.
"No, I didn't sleep with him!"
"I don't care!" he hissed. With one quick movement he dashed forward and slapped her across the face with such an impact that she fell sideways onto her chins. She let out a stifled scream before hitting the floor…
The only sound that could be heard in the entire world was of two people in a kitchen breathing shakily. Misaki sat where she was head down with her soft black hair covering her face feeling numb. She felt no awareness or sense of self after what had just happened. There were no words to say how she felt at that moment but it was real. The moment was real. Itachi had insulted her with his one scathing vitriolic word then he'd lost control of his temper and blatantly and shamelessly assaulted her with his own hand. It was inconceivable to her what was happening in the kitchen to the both of them that night. She touched her burning left cheek where she had just been hit by the man she loved and stared up at him trying to let it all sink in.
"Who are you?" she whispered finally standing up trembling with her long black hair falling down her face.
"You have no idea what your betrayal did to me" he choked in pain. It was the only time he'd allowed any of his angry jealous emotions to slip out. She could tell that what happened between her and Shisui had hurt him deeply.
"I'm sorry Itachi. I'm so sorry okay; it happened during a moment of weakness. But I fail to see how that betrayal is different to what you're doing to me right now" she whispered pained.
"I'm merely pointing out your mistakes to show you what happens to shinobi with bleeding hearts. I'm trying to help you become a better ninja. You have to learn Misaki" he said finally gaining his emotionless composure again.
"How did you find out about it anyway?" she whispered.
"What do you think Shisui told me before I killed him?"
Bomb number three! She gasped out loud and cupped her hands over her mouth and stared up at him. She would have never believed what she had heard if she wasn't there in person to hear it. His words crushed her so hard in the stomach that she felt sick. He was a different person. She realised what his words meant...Murderer. The life ruining word screamed inside her mind. The world as she knew it was slowly ending for her.
"What did you just say?" she breathed.
"It's your fault, you didn't even have the guts to ask me why I didn't attend the ANBU assembly and because of that, I got away with it. So many other Uchiha's suspected me but you wouldn't listen to them"
"It was true. She hadn't asked him directly about his whereabouts on the day and now no one but the two of them knew about the truth. She had been blinded by love to the point that it overshadowed her duties. He was right; it was her fault and yet her only sin was loving Itachi.
"But still this can't be you. You're not a murderer. Shisui was your best friend; you wouldn't betray him like this…" she said shaking her head at him.
He reached out his hand to grab her by the neck and slam her head against the wall behind her. The back of her head throbbed painfully at his head splitting attack and powerful blow with her neck tightly in his hands. Nobody would believe her if she ever told them later…Itachi was abusing her. He brought his face closer to hers so she stared into her eyes. Then Misaki saw it. The answer to all this or at least she hoped with every fibre of her being. His eyes turned to its hereditary red power tool but the shape of his iris was a four point pinwheel.
"Oh my God…you have the…is that the…the mangekyo sharingan… you killed Shisui to awaken the legendary sharingan. Then you must have awakened the curse of hatred. That's why you're acting like this. Like a bully. Itachi let me help you; I help you get rid of the curse if you give me a chance" she gasped as he let her go. Less than a handful of people in her clan had ever succeeded in attaining its dangerously omnipotent powers. Itachi didn't speak but simply looked at her, his eyes boring into hers. She made sure that she didn't look straight at them for long or she would be pulled into in the powerful visual genjutsu.
"I don't have the curse. I'm showing and telling you the truth. Speaking of the truth, you have no idea how close you were to finding out the truth before you kept quiet about what you witnessed me doing"
"What do you mean?" she whispered trying to catch her breath.
"Six months ago your brother Masahiro Uchiha was en route to the sound village to investigate and gather intelligence about the 'suspicious' village causing trouble but was ambushed by a shinobi he didn't know had allies with him. Allies with black cloaks, rings and red clouds. They were going to the very same place and didn't want any spies hanging around so they killed him" he said with his blank face. Misaki stared carefully at him wide eyed…
The shinobi who killed you brother goes by the name of Kisame Hoshigaki, phantom of the mist village and member of the Akatsuki who wear the cloaks with the red clouds. I tore out that information in a bingo book at my father's work earlier this week. Kisame used his shark sword or samehada to cut your brother up from his limbs and steal then store his chakra. He was the very same shinobi I was talking to in the forest last week…"
The very ground that Misaki was standing on was shaking in front of her. She didn't know how to process what he'd said. She struggled to breathe and to open her mouth to speak.
"No. No. Y—you knew…you kn-ew ab…my, my brother all. All, a, all this time" she stammered shaking her head and clutching the wall behind her for stability…
"You tried so hard to find your brother's killer when you were already looking him in the face. This wouldn't have happened if you'd just told someone about me meeting an imposter in the forest…"
"No" she slid down onto her the floor unable to keep her trembling body in balance and cowered before him. Itachi had known her brother's killer and had kept quiet about it knowing just how important it was to her. Her mind refused to process it. It was impossible. She didn't know how she would go about trying to believe it. The pain felt so physical that her heart-felt like it was seconds away from exploding. The shock and horror were unbearably agonising; she could feel it like a poison seeping into every cell and pore in her body. The realisation that he knew what he knew. It paralysed and nailed her to the ground.
"Th—this isn't you. No Itachi. No. No. No. You wouldn't do this to me…You're not like this. It can't be. I will not believe it. You don't have any reason to want to do this" she cried hard clutching her chest.
"Actually I do have a reason" he said.
She examined him with tear stained eyes and a broken spirit.
"Why. Why did you pretend that you loved me all this time when you were just playing sadistic games with me?"
"I'm not pretending. You made me a promise yesterday that you would understand"
She couldn't even remember what had happened yesterday; her mind was trying to process the mind-blowing ongoings of that evening. She examined him up and down. She couldn't tell what was worse, his violence towards her, his confessions or his blank remorseless face. It burned her inside and brought out a righteous anger. She couldn't allow herself to be a victim of his spite. She had to finally put her feelings aside and act like the emotionless shinobi that she was meant to be. No more protecting Itachi. He had committed a capital offense by murdering Shisui, a leaf shinobi comrade and ANBU, not to mention keeping the truth about her brother's death a secret, meeting with a wanted stranger and assaulting her. She stood up again still shaking and sniffed back her tears.
"My parents will be home soon so this is what's going to happen. You're going to leave, and when they get back, I will request a warrant for your arrest from the Hokage" she said breathing hard but finally calming down.
"I'm not going anywhere until I do what I came here to do" he said
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" she yelled at him in angry pain but he didn't even flinch.
"How are you going to guarantee that? How are you going to make sure that I come quietly?" he asked.
"Don't try and challenge this. What did you think was going to happen after your criminal confessions? I can't let you get away with this" she asserted in full shinobi mode taking a step towards him.
Itachi reached behind him and drew out his katana and placed it under Misaki's chin which made her stop in her tracks.
"And I can't let you go anywhere either" he challenged with the katana. Misaki looked at him outraged; there's no way he would dare…he couldn't be serious. Was he actually so desperate on getting away with his crimes that he was willing to fight her or worse? She couldn't tell…they both stood watching each other.
They had reached the highest point of escalation; Itachi wouldn't give himself up to authorities but Misaki couldn't let him escape for nothing…she gazed into his now darkened eyes and saw how serious he was. Something about his eyes now made the fight stronger inside of her that she shouldn't believe he was a bad guy; it looked like he was trying with all his will to hide regret and guilt behind this blank façade. She really wanted to believe. They had both been in love with each other for so long…and now it was possible that he was threatening to kill her…But before she could even respond, before he could even move the forceful shifting of a door behind them made Misaki jump.
Her father Tsuyoshi Uchiha and mother Reika Uchiha came rushing in shocked at the scene in front of them. Misaki's fear eased ever so slightly seeing her parents and her father's fury at Itachi.
"What is this? Itachi what the hell are you doing to my daughter? You bastard, I'll kill you if you ever touch her!" he yelled seeing the katana under Misaki's chin bruise on her cheek, dishevelled appearance and teary eyed face. Itachi remained silent and didn't move but shifted his eyes to glance at him.
"Misaki!" exclaimed her mother rushing to her daughter's side embracing her. Misaki clenched tight to her mother and buried her head in her warm shoulder. When Tsuyoshi ran to his daughter and wife Itachi tried to stop him with the katana but he shielded them by stretching his arms in front of them.
"Don't move" Itachi warned placing his katana in the air in front of Misaki's father. Tsuyoshi just stared at him with a vein in his neck visible.
"It's not very wise to threaten me boy. Lower your weapon or I'll have you arrested" he demanded through gritted teeth but Itachi didn't move.
"Daddy he's got the mangekyo sharingan, I think he's awakened the curse of hatred" said Misaki from her mother's arms finally looking up at her father stare down with Itachi.
"No Misakie. I don't think this the curse. This is something else, isn't it Itachi. What exactly is in your head boy? I know you've been up to something for a while now so tell me what it is"
"What are you referring to?"
"Do you really think that your father Chief Fugaku and the rest of us clan would overlook all the suspicions you have brought about and not monitor you ourselves, the future leader of our clan. We've been discussing you for days while I foolishly allowed you to continue seeing my daughter. We know that you planning to betray this clan but didn't figure out how you're going to do so" Misaki looked up at her father; so the clan members had indeed investigated Itachi…
"None of you ignorant people would understand. I'm so sick of all you Uchiha. Clan politics have nothing to do with me" said Itachi.
"You're lying; you have another motive for whatever you want to carry out. What is your real problem?" when Itachi remained quiet he continued. "Well whatever you're planning to do; it ends here.
"I'm not going to let anyone stop me from carrying out my duties" threatened Itachi.
"Reika, Misaki get out of here. I'll handle him" said her father. Misaki was rooted to the spot in shock of having to let her father face off with Itachi. He had no idea what he was up against.
"No dad, you can't beat him trust me. Itachi don't you dare lay a hand on my father"
"Reika get her out of here" her father yelled turning on his own sharingan while Misaki's mother tried to pull a stubborn Misaki off the floor to run away. Misaki had no choice but to do what he said. If her father just continued talking to Itachi maybe he would come back to his senses. Misaki finally stood up and grabbed her mother's hand to run down the hallway but slipped in startle when she heard a yell behind her. Both her and her mother stopped and turned around to see that Itachi had just stabbed his katana through her father's chest killing him instantly…
Misaki screamed and cried in horror as her trauma suffering mother tried to pull her up and carry her away. Somehow her unshakeable strength and determination to protect her offspring helped her drag her hyperventilating despondent daughter to the bathroom in Misaki's bedroom. When she got there she brought them both down to their knees and she took Misaki's face in hers and tried to calm her down. Misaki's hyperventilating anxiety attack stopped her from hearing anything. Her father… an excruciating pain. She would never mend the broken relationship they had only started fixing… All by Itachi…Itachi.
"Misaki, Misaki, Misaki baby please listen to me. Look at me. Don't think or look at anything else. Concentrate on my voice. It's just me" said her mother with burdening pain and tears shining her dark Uchiha eyes and slightly shaking Misaki's head to snap her out of shock.
"Listen you need to get out of here. There's something wrong with Itachi" Misaki slowly noticed that her mother's indomitable maternal instincts were keeping her from crumbling into despair from her husband's death. She was clinging onto her only reason left for living-her daughter.
"What do you mean?" she breathed looking insane.
"Your father (sob) told me about the Police Force's concerns about Itachi. He placed a genjutsu on us to try and stop us from interfering. I don't know where they are right now but they believe that he's going to do something awful but they didn't know what exactly it was he was going to do. What he just did now confirms it. He's willing to do anything to carry out whatever plans he has and wants no one stopping him"
Misaki sat there numb at the information.
"Listen, you have to go to Chief Fugaku Uchiha and tell him what his son has just done. Then you need to go to the Hokage and tell him that Itachi is up to something dangerous for this clan and we need help. We have to stop whatever he's planning at any cost. C'mon you need to get out of here right now. Just climb out this window" said her mother getting up and opening the bathroom window.
"Wha- what do you-I can't I can't, he'll come after me" she said frozen with tears.
"You're one of the fastest shinobi in this village Misaki you can get to them in minutes" cried her mother with her voice shaking.
"No. No I won't leave you behind. I can't"
"Forget about me, I'm not important. Misaki you and Sasuke and Itachi and all the other Uchiha children are the future of this clan. You are the ones who have to carry on this legacy. Even if it means Itachi arrested"
The bathroom door slammed open and in walked Itachi, his katana at the ready. Misaki and her mother were trapped. Reika Uchiha stood in front of her daughter to protect her from Itachi. Misaki couldn't even recognise the murderous rogue ninja standing in her bathroom anymore. He wasn't Itachi anymore-he was her father's ruthless killer...
"Itachi don't do this. If you have any morale left you would know that we will try to stop you. But I ask you to leave my baby girl alone. Please don't hurt my daughter, she's all I have left" she pleaded. It was destroying Misaki inside to see her mother begging Itachi that way. She got up and stood in front of her mother now trying to protect her.
"Misaki get out of here" said her mother but she didn't do as instructed.
"No I'm not leaving you" she said firmly.
Itachi brandished his sword at them and Reika Uchiha launched herself at Itachi trying to buy her daughter some time to flee.
"No momma!" Misaki yelled running at Itachi trying to shield her mother; Misaki couldn't let her non shinobi mother fight against the likes of Itachi never before seen with his talents. A chaotic struggle ensued. Misaki tried to grab the katana from Itachi's hands while her mother tried to block Misaki from the struggle altogether as Itachi tried to pull it away from their clutches. Itachi managed to pull back the katana and thrust it in their direction…and stabbed it in Misaki's mother's chest who let out a quick scream of shock.
The falling woman with the knife through her upper body fell sideways into the hands of the statue young girl behind her. Blood splatters flicked onto her wide eyed mouth agape frozen face. The world had finally stopped… She stood there for the longest time stupefied. Until her bloodshot eyes looked down. Misaki's slow motion frozen scream rushed out her mouth and found an escape through the tiny bathroom followed by what appeared to be a quick flash of pain flicker in Itachi's eyes.
"MOTHER, MOTHER! WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP MOMMA!" she screamed with tears bursting from her eyes while she tugged at the arm of the woman's corpse who had once been her mother. Her mother. Unendurable haunting pain. She would never hear her voice of someone who gave her life, who was her backbone or feel the comforting touch of her skin. She lay the corpse down softly on the floor in a zombie like state.
The fire. The overwhelming inferno burning in her heart was consuming her from within. Her eyes turned a deep red and her chakra a darker blue than usual as she punched Itachi who caught her fist in his hand but couldn't stop the impact of the powerful blow. The force of the punch threw Itachi straight through the bathroom wall and he slammed into her bedroom wall on the other side. He had taken her life away from her-all in a couple of minutes.
A monstrous Misaki stomped out of the bathroom to her bedroom nostrils flaring with fire and murder in her heart. She swiftly grabbed her own katana and chakra-eating bow and arrow left on the floor from earlier and got up. Seeing the picture of her brother on the wall gave her a boost of confidence. She was about to bring the katana down onto Itachi against the wall but he moved too quickly and picked up his own sword.
He swung his katana at her face and she jumped away. The fire was burning ferociously inside her like an evil demon. He swung his katana at her again but she moved out of the way to the side with her well known speed. There was no time to think. She had to defend herself from the man she loved so she overcame the paralysis caused by grief. He swung his sword at her in front of her but she fell into a split and swung at him from below as he jumped straight over clashing his sword from above with hers from below. She had to stop him for Konoha's sake then find out, after Itachi's arrest, who this 'Kisame of the Akatsuki' was.
Itachi swung at her again as she flipped herself back up and blocked it and pushed him backwards with her sword to allow herself to get out of the room. Itachi bounced back and kept coming at her swinging his katana dangerously close to her face. They both came at each other rapidly swinging and blocking each other's moves when just the day before they were kissing passionately.
The sword fighting led them to the narrow hallway of the house hindering them to fight efficiently as there was no arm space to swing their weapons and Misaki needed to get help from others outside to take him down and restrain him. She knew that he was too powerful for her alone so she blocked one of his swings and kicked him far back enough to jump to the left of the hallway and propel herself to jump out of the window of the house covering her head with her arms and katana and bow and arrow and land on the hard ground with a great thud that flung her bow and arrow away from her that echoed thought the uncharacteristically quietness of outside. Finally she was outside…
The darkness of the night was brightened by the moon providing natural light to the Uchiha clan area. The moon was very helpful in shining its light on the scene below. Without it, the horror wouldn't be able to be seen… All the other lights of that particular area were completely off and would remain so. Forever.
Misaki opened her eyes and lifted her hands used to shield the impact of breaking through the glass. She breathed hard to calm her shaking body and lifted her head still holding onto her sword. Even at that hour there were still no lights on in the area, only distant lamps from inside Konoha village. It filled her with fear. She looked around in the dark but couldn't make out Itachi anywhere so she crawled on all fours away from the house the gravel scraping harshly and abrasively against her knees and palms, but something hit her katana as she did, or rather her katana hit something…it was a hard and solid something that she grabbed onto to feel what it was. It felt like a foot…
She didn't know what to think. She got up steadily but slightly trembling and walked into the moonlight to see why it was the only light visible in the Uchiha clan area…
She turned the corner and walked forward slowly… She repeatedly turned around and around to see…something or many something's on the ground were getting closer and closer for her to see. It looked like…
Bodies, people, people, loved ones…
Dead bodies, nightmare. Uchiha's…
Dead bodies awashed, strewn, people, and littered in every direction on the ground…
Dead bodies awashed, strewn and, innocent loved…littered, nightmare…in every direction on the ground drowning in blood...
Dead bodies unreal…awashed, strewn and littered in every direction on the ground drowning in blood of all the Uchiha's…
All of the people she had ever known from her clan were lying in masses on the ground. They were lying among weapons of their own which meant they had tried to fight back. They were no more.
Misaki Uchiha felt a supernatural visceral force seize and pull the life out of her body and suck her soul out. Every one of her senses was under attack from the swimming vision in front of her and tried to block the understanding of the horrible sight from entering her mind. She was looking at the world from outside her body because she didn't have a body anymore, she couldn't have…She lost the ability to feel any emotion. Her legs acted out of their own accord and moved her non-body forward to get close to the nightmare as possible.
Her eyes peered down at the masses lying directly in front of her and scattered in every direction with blank faces and lifeless eyes all floating in blood. Old man Uchiha. A searing pain. She would never hear his wisdom and be amused by his humour. Kagami and his wife. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Innocent children. Itachi's aunt and uncle but none of his immediate family, all slain at her feet. Her knees gave way and she crumbled onto them and shaking. Barely alive. She lifted her head up to let it out. A high pitched roaring, thunderous scream that pierced the cold night air.
But suddenly a blast came from behind her. The few remaining drops of adrenaline inside turned her body around to watch a section of a very tall wall bearing the Uchiha crest slowly crumble; she watched it piece by piece of the obliterated wall fall to the floor. The apocalypse was raining from the sky that signified the end of the world. The image burned into her memory of the crest now a part of history just like her revered clan. She was witnessing the end of her family; the highly dignified Uchiha clan.
"See"
It all made sense to her now. The voice behind her made it clear. His strange behaviour, his bad mouthing of the clan, his being distantly closed off, his planning to betray the clan like the corpses of the women and man who had once been her parents had said, his pained eyes yesterday were being haunted as he knew what he was going to do to her and their clan tonight. The secrets, the absence from the ANBU assembly to kill Shisui and obtain the mangekyo sharingan, spending one final intimate day with her, the suspicions of the ANBU and the Konoha Police Force, the meeting up with the imposter. It was all because he was planning to kill them all along…
"Echoes…Maybe you should stay away from Itachi for a while or at least until this investigation is over… I'm sorry but I don't see anything, not in your near or distant future…up to something Misaki that could be bad for you…NO I'M WARNING YOU… suffer from back pains or metaphorical back pains? Stop and take it all in, you don't know how long you going to be around…don't worry so much for the people behind you as for the ones directly in front of you…one thing you can always be certain of, your enemies will never be the ones to betray you" …echoes…echoes…
She had missed the signs and warnings from people throughout the week; all because she blocked them out of love for him.
She slowly turned around to stare into the red eyes of the devil, eyes of a monster but, the eyes she wanted to hate but somehow couldn't. They stared at each other in realisation of what it all meant. There was no longer any trace of the man she once loved. She stared at him blindsided and shook her head at him in horror and disbelief her honey coloured eyes shining with blankness in the bright moonlight. Nobody but him would know the events of that night would reach the level of hell it was currently in. But there was a sudden surge of anger that threatened to burst out of her. It made her heart pump and her fist clench, giving her emotions that she'd thought were beyond her now.
"Evil and cruel Uchiha Itachi. You did this. You killed the whole clan and my parents. You've stripped every one of their dignity by slaughtering them like animals and leaving them to die" she cried in every kind of pain.
"Yes. I need this to make Sasuke desire to get stronger and hate me. It is also to protect this clan from itself and keep its good name just the way Shisui wanted. The Uchiha's are too powerful for their own good and the good of the village and so is their lust for power. I've placed a genjutsu on my parents and I will deal with them shortly before Sasuke comes home from The Academy. He will be the only survivor. This is best for the clan"
"IT'S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR THIS CLAN. WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE THE FATE OF OTHER PEOPLE? You've abused the same power you're trying to protect us from" she screamed. "All these people, all our innocent loved ones that we can't live without are gone! And I will not let you do this to Sasuke by killing your parents!" she cried shaking.
"This was the only way…"
It made her blood explode, he didn't realise what he'd done. She was now more prepared to kill him than ever before. With her vengeful heart pumping with fury, her eyes blinded by vicious anger, she bent down to pick up a fistful of dirt from the ground and clenched it tight.
"Uchiha Itachi. Son of the soil of the ancient and noble clan Uchiha of Konohagakure of The Fire. By the promise of our ancestors, I will write your name on this sacred soil with your blood that this clan has given you" she said throwing the dirt on the ground and turning on her sharingan feeling fired up. Itachi didn't move but looked at her waiting… until…
"Mist jutsu" she said making quick hand signs for a jutsu she had copied using her sharingan from the shinobi that she'd found out killed her brother and that Itachi had been talking to last week. Immediately the whole area was covered in dense mist and the visibility was weak. Itachi tried to escape from the mist but she cut him off as speed was one of the advantages she had and launched forward to strike him with her katana but he dodged it even in the mist. She swung at him again from his face to his hands and feet but he avoided every move or blocked them with his own sword. It was exactly the same as it had been a few days earlier when they were sparring but now it was the real thing. Life or death. She knew that there was a chance she could beat him just like she did a few days earlier.
Through the mist she grabbed his hand but he swung his katana at her fingers so she was forced to let him go. She took out her kunai and tried to stab his hand, but he was moving his hand too fast even for her sharingan to keep up, she struck, he moved his hand, she struck again, he moved his hands again and again with rapid speed. She exclaimed out in angry frustration and tried to stab his face as he didn't get out of the way. She stood there looking at him and him at her.
"C'mon Misaki, I thought you wanted to kill me. I killed your family and this clan yet you still can't kill me. I've just given you a chance. A shinobi needs to put their feelings aside to get the job done" he said blankly.
She looked at him with pained and angry teary eyes and the kunai shaking in her hand. He was right; even after all he'd done, she wasn't as prepared to kill him as she'd thought. She was so mad that she didn't have enough hate to kill him. It seemed like he was maliciously playing with her, as he wasn't fighting to his full capacity. But as one of the last surviving Uchiha's she had the responsibility to kill him and stay alive for the sake of this clan. She really needed to kill him then… but she didn't want to…
Itachi swung his sword at her. She leaned back to avoid it but it sliced a big cut along her shoulder. She howled out in pain. Now it was his turn to go after her. He grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground so that he can bring his sword down on her but she crawled away dirtying her white kimono and ran away but he caught one of her big sleeves and pulled her up. He grabbed her head and brought it inches from his to make her stare into his now pinwheel red eyes. She screamed as she was pulled into his mangekyo sharingan genjutsu…
Time was warped. The world was moving too fast or at least it seemed that way judging by the clouds and the colours of the world escaping. Everything appeared to be black and white except the fiery red sky. Misaki Uchiha looked at her black and white self. Itachi was standing in front of her… but so were the people of her clan. Her heart almost leaped out of her body when she saw them all alive again. But then she saw Itachi standing in front of them holding a katana…the Uchiha's were protecting and shielding their children and loved ones, some were trying to attack him with their own weapons in groups to defend each other, some running away… and some begging him not to kill them. But he didn't listen and sliced them across the face as blood washed over them all then blasted the remaining few away with his powerful merciless eyes. She screamed in horror as she desperately tried to help them but she was rooted to the spot…
Misaki felt her body drop to the floor as she screamed and writhed on the ground in torture after Itachi had used his mangekyo sharingan to force her to watch how he killed their clan. She lay on the ground unmoving and losing hope until she heard a faint noise in the distant.
It was the iron bell signifying that someone from the village was standing just outside the Uchiha clan walls waiting to be allowed inside. It gave eeriness to the quiet night. She wondered who the bells could be ringing for…If she could just reach the person at the bell.
"Help! Somebody help me please" she screamed in dying hopelessness.
That's when she realised-she needed to get out of the Uchiha clan area and get help outside from the village, she could call the emergency ANBU black ops telephone. She tried to run as fast as she could towards the main street leading out of the clan but she had been so drastically weakened by the effects of the mangekyo sharingan that she was far too slow to get there. She stumbled and staggered forwards to try and get onto the road and noticed Itachi was right behind her. He caught her by the waist and ran with her back to the yard outside her house filled with dead former Uchiha bodies. She managed to kick him and he let her go but only had one final attempt at getting to him.
She crawled on the ground trying to reach her chakra eating bow and arrow lying on the ground somewhere nearby. She only needed one arrow to shoot him and drain his chakra, and then it would be all over… but she couldn't find it in the dark even as the mist had since cleared because her chakra was reaching a low point but she still couldn't find it. What a waste...She clutched her painful bleeding shoulder to ease the pain and got up.
She was near exhaustion from a lack of chakra and all the horrors of the night she'd experienced and wanted it to stop. Leaning on a wall with blood splatters of her people she wondered if she should just give up. She was physically and emotionally drained. Itachi hadn't given her a moment's rest since she saw him standing in her kitchen…She could no longer hear the iron bell outside the clan which meant the only person who could help her was gone, he probably turned away as no one came to answer his bell call…If only he knew what was going on… She breathed hard and stood waiting… and waiting…no weapons but her katana feeling paralysed by everything. Everything that had happened that night had changed her life forever. How was she ever going to live after this, live past this… She had had enough and had reached breaking point. She remembered painfully her parents' faces, the faces of all the clan and felt the intense pain of having let them all down…
Itachi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and she fires her arrows at him but he kept dodging them but Misaki kept firing at him relentlessly… then Itachi came at her with his katana as she abandoned the bow on the floor… she only had a split second to make a decision and act on it… he was getting closer…before…
A katana flew into the air and swung towards Misaki's body to pierce into her right side diaphragm and stick out from her back...both her and Itachi had their hands on the sword stabbed her through her body…but Itachi's hands were over her own hands. He stared at her in shock. And took his hands off the sword to see her hands holding the hilt of the katana.
Misaki had stabbed herself in her right diaphragm with her own katana.
She pulled it out swiftly and exclaimed out in pain.
Then the blood came. It came rushing out of her body spilling itself and staining her former white kimono. She clutched the deep gushing wound trying to stop the blood pouring out and losing balance but she looked up at a stunned Itachi…
"No. N, n, no Itachi. Y-ou don't win. You ca can-n't say that you killed a, all the Uchiha's. If you're try…ing to make me hate y, you then you lo…se. You ca, can't make me ha...te you. Love is sssstronger th, th…an hate. I w-won't be like you, like a mon, monster…" she said struggling to speak. She looked in his stunned eyes before she felt her eyes droop and her body falling backwards… but before she hit the ground, someone caught her…
"Misaki, Misa?" she heard someone call her name from a distance. She opened her eyes.
Itachi was rocking her like a baby cradling her in his arms. She squinted up at him in surprise to see from the slits of her eyes, his pained and grief stricken face. He was sobbing, really and actually crying with a shaky voice in her ear.
"Itachi, why are you crying? You should be celebrating. This is what you wanted isn't it?" she whispered smiling weakly and feeling faint.
"Don't. Say that. I never wanted this. I had to do this to protect the clan and my family please understand (sob). I tried to think of an alternative to spare your life but it would conflict with the plan. It was the single hardest sacrifice I've ever had to make and it's tearing me apart inside. I didn't mean any of it; I would never do this to you (sob) I wanted to protect you…I'm sorry. I thought as a shinobi I could handle this but I too am ruled by my emotions. I can't do this. I don't want to live like this anymore" he whispered in her ear. She looked at him dried eyes all cried out; he was pointing a kunai at his own neck with his blood-stained hands shaking violently.
"No Itachi. I get it now, I wasn't meant to survive. But don't kill yourself. You did all this for a reason. How is little Sasuke supposed to live his life without ever having an explanation? Don't let the Uchiha's die for nothing... Give us a purpose. At least give us that" she whispered sweating excessively. Itachi cast the kunai aside and took her in both arms.
She lay there being rocked back and forth listening to Itachi's soft cries. His warm tears fell gently on her face as he repeatedly kissed her forehead. She didn't know how to feel, how was it that just a minute ago he was trying to kill her and now he was crying out in pain. He always was a strange one Itachi, right up to the end. She let go of clutching her blood pouring wound and took his hand in hers. He kissed her blood soaked hand and clenched it tight. She looked up at him in his eyes and saw that he was suffering just as much, if not more than she was. This was all by his doing. Her pain was almost over but he would have to live with his pain for the rest of his life. Now all she had to do was lie in pain and wait to die…The worst way to die. She'd never imagined what it would be like to wait for death but she wasn't afraid. She only wished that she'd taken old man Uchiha's words to heart and took time out to appreciate everything around her because she knew a shinobi life is amazing but could be brief as taught at The Academy. So maybe all psychics weren't all fakers after all.
Her slowing heart ached for poor Sasuke who was just ten minutes away from coming home to discover his life would be changed forever with Itachi having killed their parents and the clan. At least according to what Itachi had said he would remain alive. One of the last Uchiha's…Her mind drifted to what would become of the nine tailed fox jinchuriki boy she'd profiled…She would never understand why Itachi did what he did but it wasn't her problem anymore. For him he had to stop crying soon and harden his heart to do the same thing to his parents and let little Sasuke live.
"Misaki look into my eyes. She stared at the red pinwheel eyes and was drawn into his genjutsu again…
…Long time ago a tiny boy with shiny black eyes stood next to his mother carrying another infant boy in her arms at the gathering place for all Uchiha's attending a clan meeting. He stared fixatedly at the little girl holding her mother's hand. He blushed and hid his face behind his mother's skirt when she looked at him with her big kind golden eyes. He poked his head out to glance at her and they both smiled at each other… the adolescent genius boy was now sitting alone in a classroom watching other students chatting when he saw the girl from his clan walking down the stairs clutching her books and laughing with a purple haired sassy girl, he stared at her daydreaming from a distance until she saw him staring at her and headed his way. He glance at her now sitting next to him his face blushing… the teenage boy smiled and laughed at his friend's jokes as he taught her how to throw a kunai she was so funny, but he wished he could just tell her…the older teenage boy gazed into her eyes as they both leaned in to each other and he finally kissed her in the sacred shrine only to find his furious draconian father at the same place…he looked to the side and watched his bride gliding towards him wearing a white embroidered kimono with white lace sleeves, such beauty, he took her soft hands in hers and saw his happiness reflect in her eyes as they danced together like she'd always loved…She beckoned him forward as he walked up to her in the house for leaders of the clan and stroked the soft hair of their infant boy she cradled in her arms…She ran around and laughed trying to catch her two boys playing in the lounge as he watched her happily as he joined in the chase and pretended to be slow to give his youngest son a head start until he caught the tiny boy with the dark eyes and the sacred crest on his dark blue high collar clothing and placed the boy roaring with laughter on his shoulder, he and his wife spun the boys in their arms…Itachi Uchiha held onto Misaki Uchiha's hands and led her to their favourite place to be alone, Nakano River to watch the stars just as they had been all these years as he embraced her and she rested her head on his shoulder…
Itachi pulled her out of his genjutsu and looked agonisingly at her pale skin and felt her cold skin that caused him to cry out softly again. She was dying.
"No I disagree. It would have been one boy and one girl…" she whispered lightly teeth clattering. Itachi choked out a stifled chuckle at her. She could feel her internal organs thirsting for the blood that no longer came its way but rather out her body.
"Who knows right?" he choked.
Her breathing was slowing down so much that it couldn't support life much longer…her eyes were flickering on and off. She had lost so much blood that she knew that her body was going into hypovolemic shock. (shock caused by severe blood loss)
"Itachi I love you" she whispered and meant every word and clutched his hand tighter.
"I love you more. I will never forget you Misaki. The beauty, the blossom, my heart…
"And soul forever…
The pain was going away and, although she wouldn't see her friends again, learn genjutsu from Kurenai Yuhi as Itachi had robbed her of a future, she lay there in the arms of the man she still loved, grateful, that at least she wouldn't have to live without or long for her loved ones anymore and go to a place where her parents lie and someone who she couldn't wait to see…of course her big brother Masahiro...
The cold night wind softened its sharp breath to allow the beautiful honey coloured eyes bid its last farewell to the night sky of the village it loved to take in and allowed the light of the eyes to escape out of a lifeless body, never again to see another sunrise peering over the Hokage Mountain that had stung them with its beauty…
Itachi cried out loudly as the body of his love lie still in his arms and he stood up; he gently lay her down on a soft patch of grass with a single white rose then went to wash the blood off of himself with a hardened heart because his love was gone. Now. It was his parents Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha's turn, as Sasuke was only a few minutes away from returning home...