Warning!! Significant amounts of gore!! Ahhhhhhh! If you don't want to read this, it probably will ruin the rest of the story... but if you hate gore, skip the second set of italics... its not THAT relevant... well it is, but whatever.

It was a drafty day. Autumn winds were blowing in from the East and bringing along the hot and humid weather. Winter wouldn't come for another three or four months, and even then, temperatures wouldn't drop far. In the lazy blue skies, thin, white clouds drifted by, but further to the East, massive black storm clouds collected menacingly. It wouldn't be long until the first of the thunderstorms hit.

In Konoha there were two types of storms. One were the regular, run of the mill thunderstorms. They were fueled by the changing density and composition of the air above; the casual rotation from hot to cold atmosphere. These storms were easy to predict due to the thunderous clouds and previously made weather forecasts. Now, on the other hand, there were storms that occurred called chakrastorms.

Chakrastorms were caused by the mass release of chakra into the atmosphere. When jutsus are initiated, you would expect all of the energy released to be converted into that particular technique, wrong. No system is one hundred percent efficient, not even the human body. You see, for once a jutsu is activated, a small portion of the energy used is emitted into the air, via subatomic particles, sound, or heat waves. If there is a mass buildup of these particles composed primarily of kinetic energy, it affects the air.

During the time of the great ninja wars, a seemingly never-ending stream of these chakrastorms appeared. The storms were dangerous; corrosive and poisonous to those exposed to them long enough. Soldiers in the wars often grew ill from these storms and were forced to leave the battlefield, or die on it. However, certain clans were immune to such attacks as the storm. For instance, the Senju bloodline has never been hurt by the rains, neither has the Uchiha. Due to this advancement, the two clans were often the last alive, or functional in battle. Along with their incredible abilities, this made them the strongest of all clans. With strength and power, often comes adversity...

-An excerpt from 'Konoha: People and the Past' by Ichiro Kouzo

Sakura and Kakashi walked through the village in silence, the only sounds made were the crunching of gravel and dirt beneath her feet. Kakashi walked in utter silence, his steps like a ghosts. Sakura tried to quiet her own feet, but no matter what she did, she could always hear that blasted crunch. Soon, it began to infuriate her. She turned to Kakashi with a high, frustrated blush on her cheeks. Kakashi paused, glancing at her inquiringly.

"Could you just TRY to be less... haunting!" she called out, angrily. Kakashi furrowed his brow and looked at his feet.

"I don't know what you mean, Sakura... Are you okay?"

Sakura opened her mouth to explain what she meant when a light clicked on in her mind. 'I wouldn't be saying such things. Kakashi may not be a psychology expert, but he's smart enough to know that a person in their right mind wouldn't say the word 'haunting' to describe footsteps.'

Sakura immediately clamped her lips shut and turned on her heels, muttering 'nevermind' and 'excuse me' over and over again. Kakashi shrugged carelessly and continued walking a few paces behind her.

Inside his mind, he couldn't help but wonder... Who was it that was haunting Sakura Haruno?

XXXXXXXX

The skies were dark and a steady rain still pounded down from above. Each raindrop felt like a hot needle and sounded like a hissing snake. Itachi reached out in front of him with his short arms and watched as each raindrop that hit his skin fizzled in a quick burst of smoke.

It was easy for him to be distracted by such trivial happenings, most children were easily amused, even ones who have seen and lived through the worst.

Itachi wandered slowly through the field of bodies, being careful not to step on anyone's fingers. He remembered he had stepped on his cousin's fingers once and that landed him a bruise to his arm that didn't fade for days. When he went to the academy the next day, he told everyone that he got it from his training, because that would make Teacher proud and when Teacher was proud, that made his father proud too.

Itachi's day of fame was abruptly ended when his cousin appeared to pick him up from school, calling out, "Hey, still have that bruise I gave ya?" All of Itachi's classmates burst out laughing, calling him a runt and a liar. His cousin waved his fist at the children who were all older than Itachi by at least nine years, and called them a large variety of names as well.

As they were walking home that day, Itachi's cousin had asked him why he didn't fight those kids, and proven who was stronger. Itachi only shrugged and continued walking, and eventually began chasing a butterfly as it floated down the street.

Once Itachi had made it through the first one hundred or so meters of corpses, he began to feel scared. Why were all these people just laying there? Should he be laying there too? But there was something about the stench in the air and how the grass was so red that even the stinging rain wouldn't wash it away that made him worry.

That day, Itachi had been sent out with a group of his family to patrol a small section of the Konoha forest. Attacks on the village were coming in on a regular basis, so even the academy students were being put on teams to patrol.

Among the group Itachi was assigned was his cousin, Shiiju. The very same cousin who had taught him not to step on fingers. While they were patrolling, some men jumped from above and began fighting his group. Itachi tried to help, but Shiiju told him to get back and stay out of it. As Shiiju shouted this to his younger cousin, a kunai was driven through his heart, emerging on the other side of his chest, spouting blood.

Shiiju screamed out in pain, but stopped in mid-howl, a small stream of blood dripping from his open mouth. Itachi only stood in horror as the life fled from Shiiju's eyes, and the blood ran from his chest. Grasping his own kunai, Itachi ran at Shiiju's killer, hollering loud, angry wails. The man smirked as the child of four years threw the kunai, missing him by a good foot. A few handsigns were made, and Itachi saw no more.

Itachi awoke to a massacre. It seemed that reinforcements had been called, but none prevailed, not even the opposition. Trying to stand, Itachi slipped in a pool of blood, smashing his arm against someone poor fellow's face.

Itachi yelped in pain and in horror at the gore that he had hit. Staring back at him was a decapitiated skull, eyeless with an expression of sheer horror. Itachi instantly closed his eyes, letting tears drip along his face. He wanted to go home, this wasn't fun anymore... Shiiju might have actually been hurt. He had to find Shiiju...

The young boy, have already seen much more than a child should have, clamored over piles of smoldering flesh and decaying remains to enter the field. The field with the piercing rain.

Once Itachi had gotten past the finger hazard, he decided to head home. Shiiju was probably already there, safe and waiting for him. Imagine how proud father would be! Fugaku would pat Itachi on the shoulder, and tell him he did a good job, maybe even let him ride on his shoulders.

Itachi was so excited for his eventual prize, he nearly tripped over the last few bodies that still lay on the path ahead. Practically splashing through the blood, he rounded a corner. Feeling something hard collide with his foot, he fell forward. Wincing in pain, he rolled over to see what he fell over.

Itachi Uchiha nearly lost all sanity that day. He certainly lost his childhood on that day... when he stared into the dead eyes of his cousin.

How was it?

Fallen: Next chapter... secrets uncovered... woooo keep an eye out!