(A\N: Sorry this chapter took so long you guys...but my muse seems to have returned! So...enjoy, while I go and try and write and update my other stories. :D)

"Sasuke will never forgive me."

Sakura's hand rested on the door handle, and she looked back over at the bed. Itachi was sitting up, the blanket pooling at his waist. He wore no shirt, and the moonlight from the open window shone against his skin and hair. His eyes were a dark onyx, glinting in the half-light.

Sakura merely swallowed. "I know." And she did know…and it hurt.

She turned the door handle. "I'll be back in a few hours." And she walked away, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

Chapter 11

Run Away

Take me away: A secret place.
A sweet escape: Take me away.

Take me away to better days.
Take me away: A higher place.

There's a place that I go,
But nobody knows.
Where the rivers flow,
And I call it home.

And there's no more lies.
In the darkness, there's light.
And nobody cries.
There's only butterflies.

Take me away: A secret place.
A sweet escape: Take me away.

-excerpts from Pocket Full of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield

The road wasn't very long. She made it to the small grave twenty minutes after she left the Uchiha compound. Her feet had taken her there almost unconsciously. A few tentative raindrops fell onto her hair, and one hit her nose.

She hadn't expected it would storm, but she didn't let it bother her as she continued to stare down at the small grave. She crouched down, running a hand over the stone. It was well kept, and she saw a handful of withered flowers placed at its base. Someone had put them there a few weeks ago, probably.

She gave a tentative smile, even as she took a shaky intake of breath that ended in a small sob as she read the writing on the grave.

Here lies Chigiri. A loyal and affectionate spirit.

He was more than just that, even if the stone didn't say that. A friend, almost a child. She missed him terribly—had missed him ever since she had buried him in this small little clearing.

The rain pelted her now, soaking her yukata.

"How are you doing, boy? I guess Sasuke is the one who leaves the flowers for you. It's very nice of him. I know he only does it for me, but it's still nice of him."

The sound of the droplets hitting the stone seemed to echo in the darkness.

Sakura slowly reached inside of her shirt and pulled out a small necklace. She held the small clay paw in her hand, staring down at it as tears filled her eyes and drifted down her cheeks. She was a bit glad that it was raining. At least now no one could tell she was crying.

She slowly took the necklace off, and placed it around the small headstone.

"Goodbye Chigiri." She whispered, before she watched the mud splatter onto the little clay paw.

"Goodbye…Deidara…"

And she closed her eyes.

And the rain stopped.

She blinked, opening her eyes and turning her head to the side. Itachi loomed over her, holding an umbrella over both of them, shielding them from the cold droplets.

"Kisame is watching Mikomi."

"Isn't she sleeping?" Sakura asked, voice still clogged with tears as she slowly stood.

"I knew that you'd still want someone guarding her."

Sakura nodded.

There was another moment of silence, as they both just listened to the soft pitter-patter of the rain against the umbrella. Then Sakura slowly grabbed his hand and held it tightly in hers. His long finger entwined with her slender ones and she knew he was doing it just to comfort her—Itachi disliked most contact that wasn't sex related—cuddling was something he only did when he knew Sakura was distraught. So this was…nice…and it made her smile as she brought her other hand up and brushed the tears hastily from her eyes.

And then she and Itachi both froze as a familiar chakra signature appeared behind them.

The umbrella dropped.

Sakura lunged.

Sasori jumped backwards as the ground in front of him erupted into a pile of rubble, his hold on "Tobi's" body tightening as he landed on the balls of his feet, ready to dodge another attack.

Sakura looked up from the rocks, her eyes bright with the Sharingan.

"You."

Sasori hadn't known it was possible for Sakura to have so much hatred in her voice. He was used to the calm, gentle Sakura. Yes, she sometimes became violent—but never had he heard so much loathing for a person in her voice before—even with Madara it had been pure anger.

It…made him feel strange.

Itachi stood beside her, his own eyes flashing crimson.

"What are you doing here?" he asked coldly, but Sasori wasn't given time to answer as Sakura leapt forward with a battlecry.

He barely managed to move to the right as her chakra-filled fist swept past him. His eyes widened slightly before he tripped, Tobi's added weight in his arms catching him off balance, along with the abrupt movement of him trying to get out of harm's way.

He caught himself from falling, stumbling a few feet to the side. "Please, let me explain myself."

Sakura whirled around, ready to attack again, "YOU BASTARD!" Angry tears filled her eyes.

She made to lunge forward again, but Itachi appeared behind her, holding her still.

"I HATE YOU! I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!" Sakura screamed, as Itachi's hands locked at her elbows. She leaned forward, tears streaming down her face as she tried to escape Itachi's grasp.

"Sakura—" Itachi began.

"I hate you, IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou, he's dead and you're NOT and you SHOULD BE YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!"

And then she was pressed against Itachi's chest, his arms tight around her body, trapping her against him. "Sakura." his voice was soft, breath warm against her ear. "Please…listen to him."

"He's dying, Sakura."

Sakura blinked, as shock slowly made her anger and despair fade. It was the first time Sasori had ever said her name like that. Just…Sakura. It had always been Haruno-san or Sakura-san or, more recently, Uchiha-san. It was…a way to distance himself, she had always thought. To prove that he was not a friend, just a teammate.

What did he mean by it now?

And she looked down at the body in his arm, the body that was slowly staining his dark cloak an even darker color.

"No, nononononono." Sakura shook her head, as the tears continued to fall. "I won't heal that murderer, you bastard. I won't heal the man who killed him."

"He isn't Madara anymore, Sakura."

"LIAR!"

And that was when five Konoha Police-nin appeared around them, with Sasuke at the head. His eyes were burning bright crimson and narrowed in fury. He tapped the edge of his sword hilt. "Sasori of the Red Sand and the Akatsuki…I didn't believe you'd have the courage to show your face in Konohagakure."

Sasori didn't even bother to look at Sasuke and his shinobi. He merely continued to watch Sakura, his gaze calm.

"Sakura."

She didn't want to look at him, but she forced herself to. "What?" And it was a broken, tormented sob.

"You need to heal Uchiha Obito."

Mikomi yawned softly as she stretched, a small smile tipping at the corners of her mouth before they disappeared, quickly hidden beneath and indifferent mask as she sat up in bed. Sunlight filtered in through the open window.

It was morning.

She frowned a bit, wondering why her mother hadn't come in to wake her up. Judging by the angle of the sun, it was around ten. Mikomi always woke up at seven to eat breakfast. Why hadn't her okaasan gotten her up this morning by kissing her on the forehead like she always did?

She slipped out beneath the covers of the bed and took a step towards the door before turning around with a sigh. Her mother always told her that she should make her bed each morning before breakfast. It was an old habit, so she found herself pulling at the blanket to straighten out the wrinkles. She leaned her little stuffed bear against the side of a pillow, before she made her way to the window.

She stood on her tip-toes so she could get a better view. The entire compound was deserted—she'd expected that—but it seemed to have a lighter feel to it than before. When she and her mother had returned the other night the air had been tense. Now it was…calm.

A bird flew through the air, chirping loudly as it did so.

Mikomi smiled softly.

"Deidara will always live forever right here." Sakura pressed her palm against Mikomi's heart. "So don't worry, ok? Every time you see a bird just remember…it's him sending you a nice little kiss and a 'hello Miko-chan'."

Mikomi's eyes closed for a brief moment, before she opened them.

"Hello Uncle Deidara." It was a soft whisper, but the thought of him watching over her made her smile widen.

She closed the window and made her way towards the door and stopped, eyes narrowing. There were several unknown chakra signatures in the kitchen with Kisame. Her mother and father were nowhere that she could sense.

Was something wrong?

Panic shot through her chest. What if something bad had happened to them too? What if Madara had come back for them!? What if they had died like her uncle Deidara?

She threw the door open and bounded down the steps, taking them two at a time. As she reached the foot of the stairs she rushed down the small hallway, before sliding to a halt at the doorway to the kitchen.

She blinked.

Kisame was sitting down at the table, frowning at the four people standing a few feet away from where Mikomi herself was.

"Miko-chan!" One of them exclaimed, grinning down at the little girl. Kisame grunted.

She recognized her immediately: Ino, her mother's best friend. Another one was vaguely familiar as well. The young boy who had hugged her mother when they'd just escaped Rain.

The other two she didn't know. One was a tall woman who looked to be a few years older than Ino. She had sandy-blonde hair tied back in four pigtails and wore a black kimono. She had a baby in a sling around her chest, and it cooed and gurgled happily, reaching out to grab the brunette boy's ponytail.

The last person was a young girl standing beside the woman with the baby. Her hair was around the same color as the woman's, but her eyes were darker and speculative. Mikomi saw intelligence and suspicion flicker in them as she spotted Mikomi and their eyes locked. The two of them seemed to be sizing the other up as either friend or foe.

The others watched in silence.

Finally, the other girl took a step towards Mikomi and held out her hand. "My name is Nara Karura. Who are you?"

Mikomi merely stared at the offered hand, eyes narrowed a bit, before she nodded at her, taking the other small hand in her own and shaking it once, before dropping it.

"This is Uchiha Mikomi, Sakura's daughter." Ino explained to the other young girl.

"Doesn't she talk?" Temari asked, but Ino shook her head.

Karura seemed to absorb this information for a moment, processing it and storing it in the back of her mind somewhere to remember later on. Then she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her shorts and looked to the side, gaze cool. "Talking is too troublesome anyway. At least she won't be annoying like the other kids."

"Karura!" Temari reprimanded sharply, but Mikomi merely snorted before nodding at the other girl, as if she accepted her. Karura merely smiled back.

"So where is Sakura again?" Kisame drawled from where he still sat at the table, after the little exchanged between the two girls was done.

"Last night Sasori of the Red Sand appeared in Konoha with a dying man in his arms that he claims is Uchiha Obito." Ino answered back.

Kisame choked on the sake he'd been drinking. "What?"

Mikomi blinked. Uncle Sasori was here? But…hadn't he turned into a bad man? Why would he come here?

"Apparently Sasori has left the Akatsuki as you have done and brought Obito with him after Madara separated from his body." Temari chimed in, "Sakura is currently at the hospital trying to keep the guy from dying. Itachi went with the Konoha Police-nin squad that met them at the scene to take Sasori back to the Police headquarters where he will be questioned."

Kisame raked a hand through his hair, sighing loudly.

"And Sakura asked me if I could come and watch Mikomi." Ino began.

"And I decided that it would be a good chance for her and Karura to get to know one another." Temari continued.

"So…we decided to take the kids to the park!" They finished together, grinning. Atsuko merely smiled softly. He had a mission later that day, so he'd only be able to spend a little time with them.

Kisame raised one eyebrow, before giving another loud sigh. "If Kitten says it's fine then do what you want. I guess I had better go to the Police headquarters and see what all this is about." Kisame stood before walking over to Mikomi and ruffling her hair. "Play nice, kid."

Mikomi merely scrunched up her face at his order, watching him go.

"Alright, let's head to the park!" Ino yelled out, reaching for Mikomi's hand. The girl flinched and made to draw her hand away, before stopping. She frowned a bit, swallowed, and then placed her hand into Ino's larger one.

Temari had never seen Ino smile so big. Ino merely grinned at Temari. "You know what this means, right?"

"What?"

"I am OFFICIALLY Mikomi's only aunt."

Sakura gave a tired sigh as she leaned back in her chair. She flexed her fingers to get the blood flowing in them again from holding them above Obito's body for so many hours. Her muscles ached from her stillness as well as chakra strain.

She'd almost lost him. His heart had stopped a few times, and the other medic-nin who had been helping her had panicked when his vital signs dropped and the monitor began beeping wildly. Sakura had lectured all of the ones in the room with her, sending one girl running out in tears. Sakura didn't regret it, however. Being a medic was a serious business and you couldn't let yourself panic or hesitate. If you did so your patient could very easily die because of your ineptitude.

She knew that Tsunade was going to give her hell for it later—barging into the hospital and ordering around the staff while her old shishou was having her one break was probably not the best thing in the world to do. But luckily Ino and Shizune had been there and both women had hurriedly told the others to listen to whatever Sakura had to say.

Shizune had helped Sakura with the healing while the pink-haired kunoichi had asked Ino to go and look after her daughter.

Shizune had not found Sakura's harsh treatment of the medic-nin healing Obito humorous at all, unlike the woman at the receptionist desk. She was, however, appalled at the other medic-nin's unprofessional response to the situation.

But everything was fine now. Obito was stable and had been moved into a simple hospital room for Sakura to finish up the minor healings. He was sleeping peacefully, and Sakura studied his face. He looked as boyish and gentle as she remembered, so unlike the cruel man who had taken over his body.

While she watched over him, Sakura finally realized that "Tobi" was no more. Tobi had been a third persona that Madara had created, and now that Obito would be in full control of his body once more, it would most likely disappear. Tobi was, after all, only a replica of Obito's boyish nature from his genin and chuunin days.

Obito's lips parted as he gave a moan that sounded raspy and dry, ending in a choked gasp. Sakura hurriedly helped prop him up, putting a cup of water to his lips. The man drank greedily, his eye still closed.

When he was finished, his one eye slowly opened. It was dark, just like Sakura remembered. The eye of an Uchiha. His gaze was unfocused and confused as he slowly sat up.

"R…in…?"

Rin…who was she? Sakura bit her lip, unsure of how to answer him.

"Where is she?" Obito's face became panicked. "She was captured! We have to go save her, is she alright? Did Kakashi and sensei help her in time?" he reached over and grabbed Sakura's shoulders, shaking her roughly. "WHERE IS SHE?"

"Calm down, Obito-san." Sakura said soothingly. "Everything is going to be alright." She figured Rin must have been Obito and Kakashi's other teammate. Sakura swallowed. How was she going to tell him that she and their sensei were both dead?

"I…I don't know where Rin or your sensei are, Obito-san."

"Why…why are you calling me san? You're older than me." And Obito blushed slightly as he looked into her face.

Sakura blinked in confusion, before a sudden realization hit her. Obito still believed he was a young Chuunin. He…he thought that they were still fighting Stone-nin. She understood why, of course. He had, essentially, been in a comatose state since the day he 'died' in Stone on the mission that her sensei had told her about briefly only once.

Obito still thought he was a 13-year-old boy.

Oh god…

"You said you don't know where Rin or sensei are but…but where is Kakashi?" Obito finally asked, and his voice was filled with panic. "Do you know where he is? Where's Kakashi?"

"I'm here." Came a soft voice from the doorway and Sakura looked up to see her old sensei standing there, his one visible eye filled with tears.

"…I'm right here…"

Children shrieked as they ran by, playing a game of tag. One of them jumped onto the jungle-gym to get away from whoever was 'it' and the others followed suit, yelling and teasing.

"They're so loud. It's annoying sometimes." Karura muttered.

Mikomi merely nodded from where she sat beside her. They were currently sitting in a large tree at the edge of the playground. In the beginning the other children had asked Mikomi if she wanted to play with them. But after her stony silence, many of them had deemed her "creepy". It was something Mikomi had never noticed before, having grown up around adults. She hadn't understood children could be so cruel until that moment.

Mikomi looked around the playground with her head bowed, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. It was strange, because she was used to staring down a six-foot tall Akatsuki member during training, but she couldn't handle the nervousness that filled her stomach now as the seven other children at the playground watched her.

One giggled, and Mikomi's eyes narrowed slightly. Where had Karura gone? She had said that she needed to go ask her mother something and she still wasn't back! And now Mikomi was stuck surrounded by a gang of gaggling kids that couldn't tell the difference between genjutsu or ninjutsu if it came and bit them in the ass.

"So…who are you? We've never seen you here before." One of them began. She seemed to be the leader, a green-haired girl who looked to be a year or so older than Mikomi herself. All of them seemed at least a year older than her. Some even seemed to be around nine or ten.

Mikomi merely looked all of them over, not answering. Yes, that one had a decent amount of chakra for a ten-year-old, if there was a fight that one would have to go down first. A simple fire jutsu could take them all out if something happened. She was thinking like a shinobi, not a child, because she had never met other children. The most she had done was pass by a few of the children playing in Rain.

This was new to her, and it was uncomfortable. She was hurriedly trying to find an escape route.

The children didn't like her silence, apparently.

"Well?" The green-haired girl asked again, impatiently this time.

"She doesn't talk. Leave her alone." Karura drawled as she appeared beside the Uchiha child.

"Doesn't talk?" The other girl wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What is she, some kind of freak?"


"Almost as much of a freak as a girl with green hair." Karura taunted back lazily, and Mikomi almost smirked at the flustered look on the other girl's face.

"She's weird!" One of the other kids exclaimed.

"Yeah, she doesn't talk and she doesn't smile!"

"She's a zombie or something."

"Yeah, yeah!"


"And look at her forehead." The green-haired girl snickered, "It's so big, you could probably summon the Toad King on it." And then she leaned forward to poke it. She never got that far, however, because a small hand grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip.

Karura stared in surprise. Mikomi's hand had moved faster than she could follow. Her fingers were white with the pressure she put on the other girl's wrist.

"You freak!" The green-haired girl screamed out as she tried to pull away. Mikomi didn't budge.

"You're just like your parents! My dad says they're monsters." One of the other kids spat.

Karura saw a flicker of crimson fill Mikomi's eyes as they narrowed dangerously.

"Hey! Let her go!" One of the other kids screamed out.

Mikomi's grip merely tightened, her eyes cold. Karura's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Mikomi was going to snap the girl's wrist!

"HEY!"

Karura and the others turned to see Ino run up to them, bouncing little Yashamaru on her hip. Temari came up behind her.

"What's going on?"

"She's hurting me! She just grabbed me!" The green-haired girl cried out, sniffling. Mikomi let go of the girl, her own gaze a bit surprised as the other kids called out agreements.

"That's not true!" Karura snapped back. "You guys were bullying her. They called her a freak and were making fun of her forehead and that she can't talk, okaasan." She felt as if mentioing what the other kids said about Mikomi's parents wouldn't be a good thing at the moment, so she kept quiet.

"WHAT?" Ino's nostrils flared as her eyes narrowed in the direction of the children.

Temari cross her arms in front of her chest. "That wasn't very nice. I think everyone here just needs to calm down and apologize."

The other group of children merely turned to walk away. "It doesn't matter, the freak can't talk anyway, so I don't expect an apology." The green-haired girl muttered as they all headed back towards the playground.

"GOOD!" Karura yelled back, "Because she doesn't HAVE to apologize to you, you, you…jerks!"

Mikomi merely looked down at her feet.

"Hey…" Karura turned to see her friend looking as close to tears as she'd ever seen her. "Don't worry about it. Actually, it's better this way. If I knew that I could get them all to leave me alone by not talking I would have done it a long time ago."

Mikomi merely shifted on her feet.

Karura looked at her worriedly, before grabbing her hand. "Hey, do you know how to tree walk?"

Mikomi blinked, before nodding slowly.

"Let's go practice. I'm not that good at it yet, but my dad says that I should probably get started working on my chakra control now, before I get to the academy. That way I can sleep during the lessons like he did."

Mikomi nodded, and the two headed towards the side of the playground, while Ino and Temari watched them go, saying nothing.

"So, you'll be going to the academy here, right?" Karura asked finally.

Mikomi merely shrugged.

Karura nodded. "I'm kind of hoping that I can be good enough beforehand so I don't have to go to the academy at all. That way I don't have to sit in class and listen to the teachers drone on and on. But then again, if I go ahead and take the Chuunin exams early then I'll have to actually do work for the village. It's so…troublesome…"

Mikomi smiled softly at Karura's favorite word.

"I bet you won't have to go to the academy. You already have perfect chakra control, and you know a lot of jutsu already, right?"

Mikomi nodded. Karura had asked her about the jutsus she knew already and Mikomi had written them down for her.

"Yeah. You'll make Chuunin easily, I bet." Karura leaned back on the tree branch. "Man…I can't even see the clouds from here."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Do you even want to be a shinobi?" Karura tugged at the ends of her newly curled hair. Ever since that day when she'd asked Ino to help her with it, she'd kept it curled. It made her different than her grandmother, made her a separate being than the woman that everyone expected her to be. She liked it that way.

Mikomi shrugged.

"Sometimes I think that everyone wants us to be shinobi because they want us to be like our parents. That's stupid. We should make our own choices. But it doesn't matter. I'm guessing I'll end up growing up, maybe becoming Jonin. I'll marry some guy and he'll be ok looking, not too handsome, not too ugly. We'll have two children and I'll outlive my husband and grow up to be some old crone who plays shogi all the time, and then I'll peacefully die in my sleep."

Silence.

"But sometimes…I wish I could run away from it. I mean, it doesn't have to be like that, does it?"

Mikomi merely looked over at the older girl. She reached out a hand and slowly traced a finger over Karura's open palm. They had been communicating like this for a while now, so Karura read what she wrote easily.

I want to run away sometimes too.

"But you seem to have a lot. I mean…your mother and father love you. And no one expects you to be anyone other than who you are, right?"

My uncle wants me to be like his mother. He wants me to be the clan he doesn't have anymore.

"Yeah." Karura whispered. "Same with mine."

There was another long moment of silence.

"God, this is depressing. Most kids our age are still playing with dolls. Why are we so different?"

We're prodigies.

"It sucks." Karura finally concluded. "It's too troublesome to be worrying about adult problems when you're only five."

"Hn."

Karura's eyes widened, before she grinned brightly. "You spoke."

Mikomi raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, it wasn't a word but it was a grunt. It was something."

Mikomi merely shrugged. She had never see Karura so excited. The other girl was usually lazy and laid-back. Why did the fact that Mikomi said something make her so happy?

"You're my friend, Mikomi. It's nice to see you happy." Was Karura's only answer to the question in the Uchiha's eyes. "Do…do you miss your uncle that much?"

Mikomi's grip tightened on the branch, before she stood.

"Sorry." Karura muttered. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Mikomi shrugged, before closing her eyes and letting herself fall backwards. Karura let out a choked gasp as she leaned over the branch. "Mikomi!" But her friend wasn't lying on the ground beneath her.

She heard a small half-laugh and her eyes narrowed as she looked down to see Mikomi hanging by her feet from the underside of the branch. "Don't scare me like that. Tch." She merely looked away, putting on a bored air, before she stood and then dropped as well, standing beside her, upside down.

"MIKO-CHAN!!"

"KARURA-CHAN!!"

Both girls blinked, before landing on the ground beneath them and looking up to see Ino and Temari standing a few feet away, smiling at the two girls. Ino had her hands on her hips, while Temari rocked Yashamaru in her arms. The young baby was sound asleep, breathing softly.

Mikomi merely turned to Karura.

"Come on girls, it's time to go home!" Ino called.

They smiled at each other, before grabbing each other's hands and running as fast as they could back into the forest.

"KARURA! GET BACK HERE YOUNG LADY!"

"MIKO-CHAN! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO GO HAVE DINNER WITH YOUR MOTHER AT THE HOSPITAL!"

But the two girls merely continued running.

Karura ran from her family's expectations—from the looks and stares of her uncles and the people in Sand. Because she was tired of being in her grandmother's shadow and not living up to her name. She wasn't her mother, and she wasn't her father. She was something in between and nothing like them at all. She wasn't her grandmother, and she wasn't anyone else they wanted her to be. She was just Karura.

And so she ran.

Mikomi didn't know what she was running from. Grief, loss, everything she knew she would have to face sooner or later and she didn't want to. She was afraid of what could happen to her family and friends because of her power. She was running from Konoha's hatred of her father and mother. Because she wasn't her mother or her father. She was just Mikomi.

And so she ran.

They were both trying to run—as the Hyuugas put it—from fate. Because they were so tired of being what everyone else wanted. They had known each other for ten hours, but it was enough. They were alike and the same and exactly what the other needed. And they wanted to escape.

And so…they ran.

(A\N: Again, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get to you guys. I just wanted to introduce Karura more, because she and Mikomi both play vital roles in this story. And their situation is very similar, I think. Karura looks like her grandmother, and so people want her to be like her. The same with Mikomi. And the reason their conversation was so in-depth even though they're so young is because both of them are prodigies, even if Karura is more just an intellectual genius than good with jutsu and all that yet.

Next chapter…Obito and Kakashi have a talk. Sakura, Itachi, and Sasuke have one too, and Mikomi gets stuck in the middle of their argument. Pein's plans start unfolding, and we'll get to see the scene with Sasori, Itachi, and Sasuke at the Police Headquarters. I hope you all enjoy it. :)

Sincerely, Lady Hanaka)