Chapter 11

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" I screamed my head off when I entered the courtyard. Having never being in here, I don't know where to go. But I headed for the largest looking house and dove straight in. I was right, because I saw the body of Mikoto lying of the floor.

Needless to say I puked my guts out. A dead body is something I was used to, and will never be used to. It's a little immoral, but I vomited in the corner until I heard faint scratching sounds coming from inside.

I barged in without any regards for any consequences, and it was stupid of me to do it, but the thought of those nin not entering and inspecting the crime to scene to see if there was any survivors outraged me. There is just no possible way for a kid to be left alone here any longer than neccesary, and sure enough, I saw Sasuke curled in a ball in the corner of his room with a kunai in his hands. He rocked back and forth while whispering, "I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him."

I approached him with caution, "Sasuke?"

He raised his head to look at me, and the next second he was charging at me like a wild baby animal with the kunai. It slashed my arm and my stomach as I grabbed onto his little arm and yelled, "Calm down, calm down!"

"Kill, I need to kill him, I'm going to kill him..." Sasuke's eyes were out of focus completely. His entire body is shivering uncontrollably as he held tightly on his little kunai. I tried to hug him, but he was thrashing around and rather it was hard to do so. I tried very hard to make him regain focus and come back to the reality, but his eyes are spinning like mad, and they're blood red. A sudden wave of nausea hit me as I closed my eyes and hugged him tightly, making him loose the kunai.

He let go, but his eyes are still spinning and wide open. I suspect he is in a self induced trance at the moment, and there is no way to break him out of it. I resist the pain on my arm as I used much force to carry his little body in my arms. I wobbled a few steps before deciding to not take the most obvious route, which is through the main living room.

"Sasuke, it's going to be alright." I repeated, "It's all going to be alright, you're going to be alright."

He stopped his struggles as he clung to me tightly. I wobbled a few more steps down some steps before deciding to sit at a fake rock in the gardens. I can see the gates about two hundred meters away from me, but I can also feel my body loosing blood fast.

"Help!" I screamed to the gates, "Help us!"

Sasuke buried his head in the crook of my neck, and I can still hear his muttering, "I swear I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him..."

"Help! Someone please get in here!" I screamed louder, feeling I'm loosing conscious too, also Sasuke is squeezing me so hard I think I'm lacking oxygen. Either that or I'm loosing too much blood.

After another minute, Kakashi appeared in front of me using some form of jutsu, followed by a team of ANBU in their uniform and masks. I gestured quickly to him, "Sasuke, he's ok, but-"

My eyes stared on to the scene in front of me, and as I was bleeding, I seemed to have lost the sense of hearing. I see others teams of shinobis running in and out, carrying around bodies after bodies, and yet I can't seem to hear what they are actually saying, Kakashi's movements seemed to have slowed to a tenth of a second, as I saw him walking up towards me in an excruciating slow pace. When time has slowed down, my head seemed to be so clear-in fact it was so clear I have never been able to achieve this level of conscious ever since I came here. I looked on ahead far, above the light poles and roof tops, I see a distinct and clear figure standing there quietly, with only a pair of red eyes. I did not now know how I achieved to see his eyes, perhaps I instinctively knew they were red-but I can't help but feel they are staring down on us with the most intense emotion imaginable.

I have never been so sure of anything in my entire life, I have never been so absolutely certain this was what I was going to do, and I will do so or die trying.

I will show him my entire knowledge of this world, and ease his suffering and his pains.

I touched my stomach, feeling warmth down there, then looking at my hand, it's covered entirely in blood. And I was speechless, looking up at Kakashi, but I felt as if someone slashed a kunai across my eye, because everything has been filtered through a shade of red, and everything in front of me is completely red. The red is becoming so intense that every outline, every contour of the scene in front of me begin to face and replaced by different shades of red. I tried to speak, but was terrified, and the actual feeling of having blood dripping off from my hand intensified the feeling.

There's something to be said, between looking at other people's blood and your own. My first question was, I didn't know I had that much blood in me. And the next one was I wish Sasuke would stop squirming.

After that I fainted.

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In my semi-conscious state, I heard talking. Well, more like arguing.

"Sir, I was sure. Jiraiya-sensei can confirm, he was with her the entire time before it happened. How could she possibly know right then that the boy was in there? She must've known before. It may be too far a stretch to say this, but she possibly have co-conspirated in this entire thing."

"She's not a shinobi, Kakashi."

"I am well aware of that, but out suspicion on her hasn't been lifted. She knows something we don't, you can't deny that, sir."

"That's enough, Kakashi. Leave her be."

"But she could possibly be involved in a cri-"

"Enough!"

Then there was silence.

"Very well, sir. Excuse me."

"Go."

Then the old creaky voice said to me, "Open your eyes. I know you're awake."

I opened my eyes slightly, and then groaned, "You knew you're going to wake me. Why are you having an argument with Kakashi in the middle of the room with a sleeping patient?"

"Oh you're fine." He sat down beside me and puffed out a smoke ring, "The doctor said you just suffered slight blood loss."

I sighed, "Does that mean I can go now?"

"Not yet." The Hokage said.

I waited for him to continue.

"I think it goes without saying..." He begin, "Whatever that has happened is strictly off limits. You may not talk about it to anyone."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Which is why, I would like to ask your consent in the performance of a seal."

"A seal." I blinked, turning my eyes straight to him, which he nodded with full seriousness.

"Wh...what kind of seal, and specifically, about what?"

"About the massacre." He replied.

I was too tired to even argue. I slumped my head back onto my pillow and sighed, "Sure."

"Excellent. And of course, because of your bravery two nights ago, we decided to award you the highest civilian honour imaginable-the leaf plate."

"Yay."

He ignored my sarcastic comment by instructing me, "Try to sit up, but you have some stitches on your abdomen and arm so try not to rip them. Then watch me perform the seal, and then open your mouth."

"Just so I know." I asked, "to be safe, what exactly are the side affects of this seal?"

"Oh, the usual." He said, "Even the thoughts of you talking about it will slow down your movements and numb down your tongue if you try to speak aloud and ignore it."

"And is it fatal?"

He frowned, "It can be, but this particular seal is different. I did not make it fatal, however, I made it so that it's painful to talk through it."

"Pain, huh."

"Yes. I am sorry to have to do this."

I watched as his leathery face closing his eyes, and then his hands clasped together as he muttered various symbols and his hands changed pattern. He then shed a drop or two of blood across the seal, then said, "Open your mouth."

I did, and he immediately shoved the seal inside my mouth, so it completely imprinted on my tongue. I coughed for almost two minutes after that while trying very hard not to rip open my stitches, but thing stung on my tongue and it felt like hot iron touching it.

"Better?" He handed me a cup of water.

I gulped it down and then tried very hard to bury myself inside the covers. "Leave me alone, please."

I heard the door open and close, my eyes begin to water again.

There was a moment back there, when I was trying to rescue pull Sasuke out of that hell hole-there was a moment when I vividly saw my own world. The world with jets, rockets, iPads, and touchsceen everything. I saw the luring qualities of it, the bright lights and the high sky scrapers. a life of complete comfort, debauchery, and ease. The standard of living and quality of life has been raised so high we were not even aware. It made me wonder if I were apart of this at all. If I even should be here in this world, I don't belong here at all.

But how did Itachi came into this world? How did he even adapt to our world when he has been so roughened up over here? Wouldn't be living there be a breeze? I want to run back in time and curl in his arms and ask all these questions. I want to cry in his arms and tell him all the things I have experienced, and then ask why did he had to leave me and force me to travel over here.

When I tried to doze off, a small sound came from the door. I opened my eyes weakly to see it's Naruto. He has been crying and wearing a saggy shirt with a half eaten sandwich. I tried to lift my hand and motion him to come in, but before I did, he bounced to my bed and shoved the sandwich to my face, "here."

I bit a small piece and chewed for a long time.

"I was so worried." He sounded mad and sad at the same time. I immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, Naruto. I'm going to be fine. According the the law of fiction, the protagonist is not going to be die before he or she achieved their goal first. What happens after that is anyone's guess."

"What?" He didn't get it.

I shook my head slightly and turned my head back onto the pillow. I wish the rule of fiction applies, so it may seem that my body can endure through anything. Jumping off a cliff, being stabbed or being hated.

"How is Sasuke?" I asked.

"He's in the shelter right now." Naruto said, "but with his money, I bet he can afford a shelter of his own."

"I see."

"Oh, and he tried to come and see you, but the Hokage ordered him to stay there."

I immediately cursed the old man. He has such little faith in me. I knew I cannot tell Sasuke what happened in order to fulfill Itachi's wishes, but I also knew that he stripped me of that privilege before I had the choice to exercise it. I personally don't think I can survive the pain of tell him about it, especially when I'm all stitched up. I really do wish I could see him though. So I said, "well, if he decides to come now, I don't think it matters."

"I'll tell him." Naruto said while he eyed at the sandwich, "You're not going to finish that, are you?"

I tired to laugh, but a crazy frenzy of cough came out. Naruto stared at me, looking scared.

I waved my hand, "It's ok. Go. Naruto, you're supposed to be in school. Let me rest for a while, please-"

"Ok." Naruto nodded, "Oh, and should I tell other visitors you need rest too?"

"What other visitors?" I looked at the door and discovered Sakura standing by, eyes peering at me.

"Give us a few moments alone, please, Naruto." I smiled warmly at Sakura, who held a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She walked over tentatively as Naruto went past her and closed the door behind him.

"How did you get here?" I asked in surprise, "You must've walked for a long time."

"It was ok. I know everyone in the village." She put the flowers by my side, "These are for you, sensei."

"Thank you." I blushed because I don't feel I deserve the title, but I didn't bother correcting her. "They're lovely. Are they from Ino too? Tell her I said thank you."

"I will." Sakura nodded. She seemed to be a bit fidgety for a six year old girl. I peered at her in curiosity, and finally sher blurted out, "I'm so glad you saved Sasuke!"

"What?" I stared at her.

"You! You saved Sasuke-kun, didn't you? You rescued him out of that massacre." She had difficulty pronouncing the last word, but did it to her best ability. I knew that she didn't really knew what the word meant, but took it from the adult's mouth.

"I didn't really save him... he wasn't really dead." My mind turned and turned. What were the villagers thinking? I could single handedly save a small boy from an ANBU captain? "Sakura, what did they say?"

Sakura averted her eyes slightly.

"Tell me." I put some force upon it.

"Well, they... they said that you were involved with Sasuke-kun's older brother. So... you must've known ... something about a conspiracy..."

That was when I decided I had enough. Enough, enough, enough, enough. I hate this village and its villagers. Their ignorance and uneducated prejudice. Their fear of safety over privacy, their unwavering hate towards anything they don't know. If this was what Itachi had to face with, no wonder he became a member of Akatsuki. It's a miracle how Naruto didn't grow up to be the next best villain.

"Sakura-chan," I whispered, "Please let me rest for a while."

"Yes, sensei." She bowed to me and then left the room.

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A month later.

"I'm very sorry." I hugged Anko and kissed her forehead. "Please stay safe."

"I'm very good at my job." She winked at me. "I don't understand why you have to leave, though."

"There's nothing left for me here." I whispered, looking around at everything, "I have... I'm just... I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She waved her hand, "I'll find another roommate."

"That's the spirit." I said. But was quickly reminded, "Naruto, I already bought the presents and I-"

"Hid it in the pantry. I know." Anko nodded, "I'll take care of it-and him."

I smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you, for everything you did, thank you, thank you, thank you."

She turned her back on me, but I could see her shoulders shivering.

I took my backpack and placed it across my shoulders. If I hurry, I can make it to the next village south of here without camping out. But there's someone I need to see first, so I quickly ran to the shelter.

Sasuke is sitting at a bay window, staring out to the streets. I made a sound, and he saw me. His eyes are a pool of emotionless waters that I'm afraid to touch.

I sat across from him and tried to pat his shoulders, but he flinched away.

"Sasuke." My eyes watered again, and it seemed that my eyes could do nothing but water lately.

Neither of us said anything for the next five minutes, until he finally snapped at me. "How did you know?"

I was surprised by this question. "Excuse me?"

"How did you know? Tell me, how did you know I was alive." His pretty little face grew fierce.

I recite the line that has been asked for the past few month repetitively, "I didn't. I felt someone in there must be alive, and it just so happened it's you."

"No." He shook his head. "You knew I'm going to live. You knew. You knew even before I did."

I tried to touch his head, but he slapped me away before I could.

"It took me a month to figure it out." He spoke, "I replayed that scene over and over again. You seemed to know where to go, who to call out. I remembering faintly hearing you screaming my name. You knew, you knew didn't you?"

I shook my head sadly, and bit my tongue.

"No. You knew. I'm sure you knew." He is becoming agitated, "If you knew, you probably knew what was going to happen to my family, didn't you? Didn't you?"

"Enough!" I said, my hand pushing his little body down to the seat before he spring up and attack me, "Sasuke. If you want to know the truth-be stronger. One day, you will figure it out. Only when you have enough ability to do so. Because right now, you're not even half the man your brother is, not even close-"

"Don't talk to me about that murderer!" He screamed, raising his little fist to slam them at me.

I quickly dodged and put him in his place, "Enough, Sasuke, enough!"

He sat back down, crying. I looked at him and felt so helpless that it scared me.

"Sasuke." I said, "come with me."

He ignored me, so I took his hand and walked out of the shelter. We walked down the corridor and I found Naruto, who was eating ramen. He saw me first, was about to yell in greeting, but then I shifted my body to show that the crying Sasuke was behind my legs. Naruto didn't say anything, and I whispered softly to him, "come with us."

We stood at his door while he gobbled down the rest of the ramen, and then wiped his hands on an old towel and bounced to me. I took a last look at his shabby room, and decided I shall write a letter to Anko and at least ask her to get him some drapes or something.

I took them to the edge of Konoha, where the city and the forest met. There was a small clearing and an ancient Sakura tree beside it. We sat at the bench as I announced, "I'm leaving Konoha."

They stared at me, and I said to Naruto, "dearest, if you're good, Anko will give you the presents, and she will try to look out for you. I already talked with Iruka, he is a very good sensei."

Naruto snorted, but didn't say anything.

I look towards Sasuke, and I found that there are no words I could say that would make him feel better. I sighed while I dug for the cloth bag Konan give me through Jiraiya. She asked me to open it when I was really sad, and I'm really sad now. Knowing Konan, she must've prepared something spectacular for me.

"Watch this." I laid the bag down on my laps, and slowly opened it.

The moment I tore off the seal, a burst of light erupted out from the bag itself, and it lit up the entire night sky. We stared in wonder as it dimmed down just a few notches and the light themselves turned to cranes, butterflies, birds, flowers-all made from origami. They were swirling and flying around us, dancing in the air.

Needless we were all amazed. I reached out a hand, and a crane landed. Before it turned to ashes, it made a final combustion into a mini firework. It felt so warm, and the flames sparkled into iridescent colors in my hands.

The boys all did the same, and each origami flew to our hands and combusts into different colors.

When it's over, I kissed each of them on their forehead. "The shelter isn't far, you can find your way back, right? I'm heading towards the gates"

They didn't swat me away as I hugged them together one last time, and said, "Goodbye. I hope you guys both find love somewhere."

And the rest that followed everybody knew.

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TBC

A/N: And there ends the Konoha chapters. Many adventure will follow. Aren't you guys curious what happened between the time of the massacre and when the series begin? I am and I hope to make it as interesting as possible while staying within the frames of the series.

I am sorry to inform that I don't have any backup chapters after this, and this week has been crazy with moving and stuff. I need to write more, which may delay update. But rest assured this story will be updated. It is after all, my favorite one :)

Thank you for reading.