Chapter 11 : Portrait of Innocence

Fiddling with the edge of the laminated page Kotori stared with uneasy eyes at the colorful, clear portrait in front of her. Clutching the binder of the photo album she felt her heart swell up with anger and sadness.

"You know, I did it all for you love,"

Remaining unmoving Kotori led her hand away from the binder to trace the frames of the picture.

"I miss them too...but, I do not regret anything."

Flinching she sat stiff as a board her seat in a chair by the bookshelf as a pair of long slender arms appeared from either side of her forcing the book away from her numb fingers. With a chilled breath she watched sadly as the face of an innocent boy disappeared from her view.

'Come back...'

"No matter what you do, you can not bring them back. So you should stop torturing yourself," the amused speaker spoke.

Practically hearing his smile she growled quietly keeping her eyes on the book as it was carefully slipped back into the gap between a pair of books.

"...Where is Naruto?" She asked quietly with a raspy voice.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Dante turned around sharply to face the fire.

"He is...fre-"

"Liar! Where is he! Have you hurt him!" She cut off strongly.

'Has he hurt him! That's a stupid question..' she thought to herself sighing inwardly.

Chuckling lightly Dante tilted his head slightly to eye her face from the corner of his eyes.

"I assure you, it is not I that you will have to worry about," he commented as he turned fully around to stalk in front of her. Tapping her chin twice he draped a blanket over her curled up figure.

With a wide grin he suddenly asked, "You really do not know, do you?"

Silence and a glare answered him.

"Well anyways you should stop worrying about him, and think about our up coming wedding, my love," Dante emphasized darkly as she stepped out of the room slamming the door angrily.

'How dare she, I guess I waited a bit too long,' Dante thought angrily as he stalked down the hall slowly calming down, 'No matter though, everything will fall into place soon."

'She is after all, mine now. Though I should have finished off what Itachi failed. Hmph. He is no longer important anyways,' He thought with a smile as he clasped his hands behind him.

Closing her eyes tightly Kotori felt her bottom lip tremble quietly. Burying herself into the blanket she shook as tears began falling quietly. Spotting her wrist she felt herself fall deeper into the darkness.

–Flashback–

"LET GO OF ME!" Kotori screamed as she drug back into the very house she ran from. The Uchiha household. Closing her eyes she screamed inwardly for being a fool.

"You amuse me, this has to be the fifth time you escaped, yet not fled. And you don't know why, do you? Don't you get it? This is your home," Dante said chuckling from his seat on the floor mat in the tea room.

Shutting her eyes tightly Kotori remained silent while sitting on the ground helplessly.

"...Very well, I was afraid I would have to take drastic measures," He said bitterly as he stood abruptly moving in front of her.

Snapping her eyes open she began to back up in a crab walk just before she was grabbed by the back of the neck and left wrist.

"Veykt ee lyoht idyk lynn," Dante muttered quietly as his grip on her tighted.

With wide eyes she arched her back in shock as a chill at the brink of pain shot through every nerve in her body. Rolling her eyes back she fell to the floor with thunk as he calmly let her go staring in pride at his work.

Adorning her wrist and neck, a pair of blue rings imprinted on both appendages. Between the rings a sleek unreadably writing was burned into her skin letting fumes of burnt flesh waft from her neck and hand.

–End Flashback–

'A seal, hmph,' Kotori thought as she felt an invisible cage around her heart. Closing her eyes she saw from under lids a flash of red slitted eyes as the invisible cage inside, rattled furiously. Rubbing her neck quietly she thought of Naruto and the others.

'So this is how it feels to have a leash, poor Naruto...'

Dragging her eyes to the brown photo album Kotori slipped out of the chair as she wrapped the blanket around her. Ignoring the cold wooden floors, she walked to the book shelf pulling out the book from earlier. Leaning against the book shelf she slowly slid to the floor clutching the book. Shaking she opened the book to the same page that captured her full attention. Trembling pulled out the picture holding it close to her heart.

'Do you hear it beat? Because I no longer can...'


Glancing back at his battered students Kakashi felt a string in his heart be strummed. He felt bad for dragging them into his family matters.

'Then again, one of them is meant to know,' He thought with sympathy as he shot the dark fair headed individual, 'Sasuke, Kotori, I'm sorry you don't know...'

Closing his eyes tightly for a brief moment he calmly opened them as he stopped on a large branch with glaring eyes.

Blinking Kakashi's team stopped beside Kakashi on the same branch.

"Wha-AH!" Sakura screamed as she was pushed away by Naruto as everyone else jumped off the branch onto other tree limbs to dodge the rain of fire.

With wide eyes Sasuke instantly recognized the intruder.

"Itachi!" Sasuke and Kakashi recited angerily.

"Hm, sharp as usual...some more than others," A quiet voice echoed as a dark clad figure landed on what was left of Kakashi's previous branch as he directed his last comment to the frightened pink hair girl.

Shivering Sakura Haruno glanced at Itachi's face swooning slightly.

'He looks so much like Sasuke-kun!'

'He looks like the future Sasuke! But we shall remain faithful to Sasuke-kun!' Sakura's inner conscious declared as it pumped a fist into Sakura's nonexsistant brain matter. Fireworks blew in the darkness as Kohana's symbol on a flag waved.

Blushing lightly Sakura looked around hoping no one was staring at her, but to her suprise Itachi was glaring at her with a bored look.

"I see you've lost her...again, Kakashi," Itachi spoke sharply before anyone could open their mouths.

Remaining silent Sasuke and Naruto watched with a shocked look while thinking, 'He knows Kotori!'

"I thought I could rely on you to take care of the future of our clan, Kakashi," Itachi spoke with a hint of bitterness and anger.

"Dante," was Kakashi's only answer.

Instantly Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi noticed a slightly twitch of Itachi's figure.

"Hm, does he know?" Itachi glancing quickly from Kakashi to Sasuke and back to Kakashi.

Shaking his head Kakashi relaxed realizing that Itachi was not there to harm them.

Stepping foward Sasuke shook in anger, about feeling everything burst inside. Sasuke finally burst as Itachi turned his head fully to him and Naruto with a slight grin.

"ITACHI!" Sasuke screamed as he clutched onto his kunai attacking his brother.

"Hm," Itachi replied as he simply jumped away onto the same branch as Kakashi. Standing confidently next to the tall silver haired man.

Growling Sasuke stood on the burnt branch glaring from Kakashi to Itachi wondering with the rest of his teammates why Kakashi was not attacking the missing-nin.

"He is not here to fight us, guys. Chill," Kakashi said in his usual bored manner with a slip of seriousness.

Smirking Itachi stared at the glaring students that all jumped onto the burnt branch parallel to them.

"He is-"

"To assist you, this once." Itachi finished with a strict expression.

Smiling slightly from under his mask Kakashi nodded at the dumbfound and angery expressions.

"BUT HE IS THE ENEMY!" Naruto exclaimed loudly as a vein looked like it would pop from his forehead.

Clutching his kunai tightly, Sasuke shook furiously in anger as he glared at his teacher and past brother.

Staring sadly at Sasuke Kakashi though solemnly, 'You'll know soon...'

"You know, the longer you wait to tell them. The more of a chance they'll act rasher..." Itachi drawled quietly to his temporarily-parnter.

"Yes, I know...where is Kisame anyways?" Kakashi asked as he and Itachi continued their journey toward Kotori and Dante.

"...ten feet underground," Itachi replied bored.

Blinking Kakashi glanced at Itachi for a second.

"I'm so-"

"Finding some mushrooms for a witch," Itachi added.

"...Oh"


"DAMN YOU ITACHI!" Kisame yelled as he found yet another rock, and not a mushroom. Chucking the rock into the air he fell to his knees panting, for three days he searched the same damn hole where the witch told him where the mushrooms were.

'Stupid Wi-'

Before he could finish that thought, the same air-born rock pummeled down onto the fish-man's head. Falling over Kisame twitched as tears fell down his cheeks and gills.

"No fair..."