I do not own NARUTO or any of it's characters! Enjoy~

Interlude: Pt. III

I looked at myself in the mirror. The water from my bath cascaded down and my long, red hair stuck to me like a second skin.

My breasts were fuller than two years ago and I was finally filling in. I had an oval shaped face with large eyes, defined eyebrows and full, pink lips. I was content with the way that I looked. I wasn't ugly, but I definitely wasn't a beauty either. The only thing really eye catching about me is that I had two different colored eyes, one russet and the other gray-blue.

I covered my russet one.

When my home was attacked, my eye got damaged to the point of uselessness. Auntie Kana used my mother's gray-blue one to replace it. I'm not angry about it or anything. To tell the truth, it made me feel better knowing that I have a part of my mother always with me, always looking out.

I smiled at my pun.

I dried the rest of myself off and put on my white cotton kimono to lounge in. My hair just got wrapped in a towel when my Auntie came barging in.

"Sorry I took so long, Auntie."

"Aria, you're leaving."

"Wait! What? So soon?" My cheeks flushed in anger, "But… You look fine! I have to say goodbye-"

"THERE IS NO TIME FOR GOODBYES, ARIA." Even sickly she was scary, "The village is being attacked and I believe they're after you."

"Sasuke..." My eyes grew wide.

"Grab the essentials and go immediately, Aria."

"But, Sasuke..."

"GO!"

I immediately scrambled out of the bathroom to my bedroom and grabbed the emergency pack in my closet. I then grabbed a thick, purple kimono jacket that would keep me from getting chilled. My hair tumbled from its fuzzy cage and I let it be, I didn't have time for this.

I heard a crash and froze, blood pounding in my ears.

What's the point in running?

I dropped the pack on the floor and ran to the main entrance. Auntie stood a few steps back, her skinny hands clasped together.

"Auntie!" I saw that she had sealed the front door.

"I thought I told you to leave, Aria? Now go, before he breaks down the door! I can't hold it forever!" I saw that beads of sweat started rolling down her face, her teeth clenching together.

"Auntie... Please, let me help you. I'm a shinobi too!" I felt a sudden rush of anger; I can't leave her like this! I can't keep running anymore…

"Auntie, I-!"

"Aria... Don't... Please..." I could see her start to weaken; the look in her eyes weakening my resolve as well. I was about to turn back to my room when there was another bash at the door, splintering it to tiny pieces.

"Shit!" Auntie backed up a few paces as a shadow flew through the smoke, its katana slicing at her, hitting their mark, the spray of red droplets splattering across my face as the shadow stepped back into the smoke.

Time seemed to stand still.

After what felt like an eternity, my Auntie Kana, the only family I have... The only mother I have ever known fell to her knees and collapsed to the ground.

Dead.

I stared at her lifeless body, its crimson contents slowly pooling out. Its life force gone, all gone.

I looked at her murderer. Shaking, I fell to my knees suddenly feeling afraid. I couldn't move, I should've listened to her. I felt paralyzed as I looked upon the same face that helped me collect the raspberries. The statue of cold marble was now decorated in red.

He seemed like a raging demon; covered in blood and gore, raised from hell itself, with a maniacal grin that could scare the devil himself.

Maybe that's why he was thrown out.

"Why..?" I whispered, a tear rolled down my cheek.

His face went serious all of a sudden, like he wasn't just killing countless people. He looked down at me making me feel small and feeble, "Orders."

I blanched.

I need to fight… why can't I stand? I can't let him get away with this…

My legs wouldn't agree with me and I was about two seconds away from pissing myself. I trained for so long, so hard to become stronger and it all came down to this.

Nothing.

I couldn't fight, I didn't expect this.

What did you expect?

He suddenly lashed out and gripped my arm tightly, causing me to wince and brought me to my feet. Not realizing what he wanted, I fell and hit my head.

I remember thinking; I didn't want to expect anything...

Everything after that was hazy; I would really not remember anything.

Nothing, not anything at all.

So I would miss the deadline again, as usual. Haha.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I edited it like five times before being a tad satisfied with this.

Questions/comments are most welcomed!

Thank you so much for reading this far and I'm sorry about being late so I'll definitely update on Friday!