A.N.
Bless all of those who have reviewed, faved, and followed my story. I really, truly appreciate it!
If you have not kept up with the manga from here on out there may be spoilers.
Disclaimer: Naruto does NOT belong to me.
Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga and/or anime are completely original.
Please Review!
"Lady Sayuri!" She turned to see Takeo followed by one ANBU as they rushed towards her.
The ANBU reached her first and took the girl by the shoulders looking her over. "Your mother told you not to wonder off into the forest." He scolded.
"But, I…I was following Tobi."
Takeo shook his head at her. "I've told you this before, Tobi is not real."
"He is!" Sayuri exclaimed. "He wanted to take me somewhere special."
The ANBU stiffened. "Where was he taking you?"
"I don't know…" Sayuri mumbled. "I just didn't want to go anymore…I think he's mad at me now."
Takeo sighed. "I'm sure you'll see him again, Lady Sayuri. Let's get you home."Gently he picked the girl up and took off into the trees followed closely behind by the ANBU.
Inochi watched as the three arrived to the temple and entered the building before it blurred. Sayuri stepped aside and looked on worried. Something about that man seemed familiar; he just couldn't put his finger on it.
The man turned to Sayuri who quickly took his hand as another gate appeared before them. It opened slowly but she didn't make a move to lead the way.
"It's ok." He assured. "I'm here, you're not alone." Blue eyes watched as the little girl took a deep breath before stepping forward.
Unravel
"Sayuri…" The brunette stood before her mother. The woman wore a serious expression as she regarded her daughter. Not willing to meet her mother's piercing blue eyes she kept her gaze on the wooden floor. "I told you not to go into the woods."
"I'm sorry…" she whispered and gripped her kimono sleeve tightly. She heard a sigh and then rustling. Nagisa bent down to her daughter's eye level and took her by the chin gently.
"Don't do it again, understand?" The brunette nodded rapidly and ran into her mother's arms as she began to cry. Nagisa turned her blue eyes to Takeo and the ANBU questioningly.
"She said she was following Tobi." Takeo answered her un-asked question.
"Tobi?" Nagisa asked her daughter, only to have the little girl burry herself further into her blue kimono. She stood, easily picking up the child and turned to walk into one of the rooms. "It's getting late, you should sleep." She told the two men who nodded in response.
Inoichi was led by Sayuri into the room following the silver haired woman. The two sat on the bed with Sayuri's back towards he mother as the older woman brushed her daughters hair. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the girl reach for her own brown tresses sadly as she watched her mother.
"Mother…?" The girl asked as she felt the brush run through her hair. "Are you still angry?"
Nagisa sighed and put the brush away before turning Sayuri to face her. "I was worried. Something could have happened to you." Sayuri tugged at the sleeve of her sleeping gown. "Something else is bothering you." She placed a hand on top of her daughters brown head. "What's wrong?"
The girl hesitated. "What if Tobi hates me now?" Nagisa frowned.
"Sayuri look at me." When she did, Nagisa took her by the shoulders lightly. "I need you to listen to me." Sayuri nodded. "Tobi is not real. He's imaginary. Do you understand?"
The brunette's brows dipped in confusion. "But—"
"No buts, Sayuri." Nagisa shook her head. "You created Tobi because you were bored."
"Tobiis real…I didn't make him up, I promise!" Sayuri exclaimed suddenly angry because her own mother wouldn't believe her.
Nagisa shook her head. "Tomorrow we'll go home and I'll take you to visit Itachi and Sasuke, how does that sound?"Sayuri agreed after a second of consideration. "Now go to sleep." She ordered as she tucked the young girl into bed.
Inoichi watched as Nagisa turned off the lights to the room before closing the door. He turned back to the girl holding his hand as she looked on after her mother.
"Tobi is real…" she grumbled.
The blonde man turned back to Sayuri who lay on the bed arms crossed over her chest stubbornly. The image suddenly disappeared leaving everything in complete darkness. Suddenly he felt their surroundings tremble. Out of protective instinct her drew the girl closer to him and took her into his arms.
The sound of an explosion woke her. Immediately Sayuri sat up and looked around the room. She clutched the sheets to herself as she saw nothing in the darkness. Suddenly the door burst open making her cry out and hide under the covers.
"Lady Sayuri…" Recognizing the voice she pushed the covers down. She saw the ANBU rush to her picking her up from her bed. "We need to find your mother." He said as he ran out of the room, the girl in his arms.
Inoichi ran after the ninja following him as he made his way down the corridor.
"Keep your head down!" Said the ANBU that held her in his arms as he ran down the hall, but Sayuri didn't listen. She managed to catch a glimpse of destroyed parts of the temple and of injured people scattered around the area.
She gasped and clutched the man tighter. Suddenly they came to a complete halt. She heard the ninja pant and press himself closer to the wall as he let out a curse under his breath. The grip he had on her tightened but she couldn't see what was going on.
"What…?" Inoichi asked as Sayuri turned her head away from the sight. There were pale men everywhere. Half of the temple was pretty much rubble by now. There were bloodied priest, priestesses, and monks. Those who were still alive ran away from the scene or at least attempted to before being cut down where they stood.
He turned to the ANBU who slowly turned back and ran the way he came from. He veered left at the end of the hall, heading toward one of the few remaining bridges. Just as the ANBU had ran halfway into the bridge it began to collapse behind him.
The Yamanaka grunted and hurried after the ANBU as he tried to stay alive. Once on the other side the two men stiffened as they saw a pack of white men, all identical looking at them with large grins.
Sayuri turned around and watched as the men began to rush at them only to suddenly freeze and fall face first, kunai embedded in the back of their necks.
"Mother!" she cried out as the silver haired woman ran to her and snatched her daughter from the ANBU's arms.
"Are you alright?" Sayuri nodded and buried her head in the crook of her mother's neck. "We need to find a way out."
"What about the others?" The ANBU asked as he followed the silver haired woman and her daughter down the stairs.
"We were separated. But—" Nagisa was cut off as he pushed her out of the way just as one of the white men was about to attack.
"Go on ahead. I'll keep him back!" The ninja ordered as he avoided a blow to the head.
With her grip tightening around her daughter, Nagisa nodded and continued down the stairs until she reached the base level. She looked from one end to the next before deciding to head right only to reach a dead end. Sharp blue eyes turned to look out the window only to see complete and utter chaos as another building was destroyed while men and women alike were chased by the few white men that were left.
Nagisa turned to one of the rooms and opened the door before rushing in closing the door behind her. Sayuri watched her mother scan the room before landing on a door in the far corner. Quickly Nagisa ran to it and opened it placing Sayuri inside.
"Stay in here and no matter what, don't come out." Her mother whispered as she hid the girl in the closet.
"But—" Her mother hushed her and cupped her cheek.
"Stay." Slowly she closed the door to the closet leaving Sayuri alone in the dark once again. She pulled her legs up to her chest and leaned her head against the door.
Still holding the girl in his arms tightly, he watched as Nagisa searched the room. Her attention went from the book case to the desk as she pulled open the top drawer. Suddenly the door was kicked open and in came the same masked man he had seen Sayuri with before. The girl in his arms whimpered and clutched the man closer.
"Nagisa…" He stepped forward watching as the woman stiffened. "Where is she?" when she didn't response he laughed. "Come now, Nagisa. Just tell me where your daughter is and I'll let you go."
"Forget it!" The woman spat. "Leave now, before I decide to kill you."
The masked man laughed only to be cut off by the kunai she suddenly sent his way. The sound of the metal object hitting wood echoed through the room.
"My, my, my…Aren't you a little spunky for a commoner."
Nagisa narrowed her eyes. "I haven't forgotten my training. Leave my daughter alone!"
"I don't think so." He leapt at her just as Nagisa moved around the desk, throwing shuriken at him. He turned and kicked the desk at her but she managed to jump out of the way just as it crashed against the wall. He appeared behind her and took her arms shoving her against the wall. He twisted her arm making her cry out in pain before throwing her aside.
"I'll ask again." He stepped forward. "Where is she? Nagisa?" when she didn't respond he yanked her head up by her hair. "You're too stubborn for your own good." Suddenly he stumbled back as Nagisa punched his masked face only to have him take her by the neck and throw her against the closet door.
"I'm not going to tell you anything. So either kill me now or leave."
The man shrugged. "All right then. But remember…you asked for—"
"STOP!"
Blue eyes widened as Sayuri ran out of the closet towards her mother's side.
"Please don't kill her!" She cried.
"Well if it isn't Lady Sayuri." The man said happily.
Sayuri turned her gaze to the man to try to catch a glimpse of his face but found it impossible. The night covered him showing only his frame and the glare of his katana as he raised it in the air ready to swing down. She squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the pain but after a few seconds passed and she felt nothing she gathered her wits to take a peek at what was going on.
"Sa-Sayuri…" her mother called out too weak to move from the loss of blood. She turned to her mother only to watch her piercing blue eyes flutter shut.
"Mother!" the girl cried as she tried to shake her mother awake.
Inoichi forced Sayuri to look away as her mother was struck down in a last ditch effort to save her daughter. The woman fell to the ground, silver hair slowly turning red as he blood seeped into it. Not that it mattered much if he prevented her from looking at the death of her mother. She had already lived through it once and the memory was still there. However it mattered to him, because he felt responsible for persuading her to show him her past when it had been obvious that there was something that she did not want to see.
"What a pity." The masked man's voice caught his attention. "She would have lived if she had only given you up."
Red and blue eyes turned to the man before letting out a startled gasp. "T-Tobi…?" she whispered as she recognized the mask.
"Poor Lady Sayuri…you should have come with me when I told you to." Sayuri trembled as she looked up at who she thought was her friend. Tobi pointed his Katana at the girl's forehead. "I only wanted you to come with me. I could have taught you how to be a great ninja. You could have been my protégé. "
Suddenly Tobi was shoved aside. She turned to the other figure recognizing him as one of the ANBU that had escorted her and her mother to the temple. "Lady Sayuri…" He lifted his arm to give her his hand. The child looked down at her mother one last time before taking it.
In a blink of an eye she was pulled up against the ninja's chest as he dashed out of the window avoiding the kunai and shuriken that Tobi sent after him, before losing the man as he disappeared into the forest with the child in his arms.
A gate suddenly appeared before Inoichi and the child. He glanced at the girl who only buried her head in his chest. With a sigh he decided to keep going.
"Yūkan…" A pair of piercing red eyes glanced up at the doorway where the figure of a young woman stood, and back down at the pile of papers on the desk. "Big brother please…you have to get out of your office." The man in question signed a few more sheets of papers and put them in the pile to his left. "Yūkan your daughter needs you!" The young woman slammed her hand on the desk catching the man's attention.
"Sayuri is fine she's not injured or sick." His collar was promptly yanked as the woman pulled him to her eye level his red clashing with her yellow.
"No, she's not sick or hurt, but she is mourning just like you are except that she needs her father but the idiot is busying himself with work because he's too much of an ass to understand that his only child needs him to comfort her!" She shoved him back to his seat and turned on her heel to leave.
"Kaminari!" The door was slammed close as she walked out the room.
Golden colored eyes met somber red and blue. "Sayuri!" She exclaimed with a smile and walked over to the four year old. "How are you feeling?"
Sayuri only stared at her aunt who sighed. "You heard that didn't you?"
"What's 'ass'?" Kaminari froze golden eyes wide.
"Remember those words I told you not to repeat because I'd get in trouble?" The brunette nodded. "Just add that one to the list." Sayuri nodded as the two headed out of the house. "Do you want ice cream?"
Sayuri frowned. "Sasuke says that's bri…brib…" She huffed trying to say the word right. "Briry!"
Kaminari raised a dark eyebrow. "Bribery?"
"Yes!" Sayuri nodded.
"So you don't want ice cream?"
"I do!" Sayuri exclaimed and Kaminari laughed.
"Right, right." The two walked around the village hand in hand. "So you're talking to the Uchiha kids again, huh?"
"Yes…" Sayuri responded just as they arrived to the shop. Sayuri quickly asked for what she wanted as her aunt paid the owner.
"You're not mad at them anymore?" Sayuri stopped mid lick and frowned.
"No." She shook her head. "You said it wasn't their fault that they had a mom and I didn't…I apologized for being mean."
Kaminari smiled. "Wow! I didn't have to force you to apologize, I'm proud!"
Sayuri grinned up at her aunt only to frown after a couple of seconds. "Aunt Kaminari?" The brunette asked as the continued their walk around the village.
"Yes?"
"Is father mad at me?"
Kaminari came to a sudden halt. The dark haired woman turned to her brunette niece. The ice cream was gone. The only evidence of there ever being any ice cream to begin with was the brown sticky stains on the girl's cheek. Sighing she wiped the melted treat off the girls face.
"Why would he be mad at you?" Sharp golden eyes watched Sayuri's every movement.
"It's just…he doesn't talk to me anymore." Kaminari watched as tears began to roll down the four year olds eyes. "I think he's mad because mother didn't come back and I did."
"Sayuri," the konoichi took the girl by the shoulders. "He's not mad at you. What happened back there was not your fault…understand?" Sayuri nodded. "The thing is…" she shook her head trying to find an easy way for her four year old niece to understand the situation.
"The thing is that you remind Yūkan of your mother."
"Remind father of mother?"
Kaminari nodded. She stood and took the girls hand in hers. "People may talk all they want about you looking like Yūkan, but in reality you look more like Nagisa than anything." She risked a glance down at Sayuri who only looked puzzled. "You have your mother's hair…not the color but the type. You have your mother's eyes…and your mannerisms are similar to hers."
"What is 'manissms'?"
"Mannerisms…" Kaminari corrected. "It means the way a person behaves…what they do…like when you tug at your sleeve when you're nervous!"
"Oh…" Sayuri muttered sadly.
"It's not a bad thing!" She quickly added. "Your father loved your mother very much…he just doesn't understand that her death didn't only hurt him, but you too."
Kaminari tugged at Sayuri's hand a little. "Come I know something that will cheer you up." She led the brunette to a training field when she finally released her hold. Kaminari walked to the middle of the field and turned to Sayuri, hands on her hips. "How about I train you?" At that Sayuri immediately brightened and ran up to her aunt awaiting instructions.
Inoichi watched as Kaminari showed Sayuri basic stances before having the brunette mimic her. Several times the ninja had to correct her posture, legs, or hands but the little girl didn't seem to mind it. In fact she seemed to bask in the attention.
"Aunt Kaminari was always nice to me." Sayuri whispered as she watched the woman train. "I wanted to be like her and mother."
"I see." The blonde nodded his head. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a dark figure. He immediately tensed as he looked around and noticed that there were two others hidden in the nearby woods.
Suddenly there where kunai and shuriken everywhere, he watched as Kaminari quickly took the child in her arms and leapt out of the way. She fled into the woods with the ninja right on her tail. How the hell did enemy ninja manage to get into the village? Inoichi wondered as he chased after them.
"Ow!" Kaminari and Sayuri yelped as the older landed on a tree branch. Golden eyes shifted to her thigh where a senbon was embedded. Without hesitation she pulled it out and examined Sayuri. The girl had a senbon on her shoulder.
"I'm going to take it out, ok?" Sayuri nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Kaminari quickly pulled out the piece of metal before leaping unto another branch. She could still hear their attackers behind them as she fled further in.
As she moved to jump to a next branch he vision blurred as she missed the branch completely and fell down. Grip tightening on Sayuri she managed to turn on her side before colliding with a lower branch. Letting out a curse under her breath she stood and jumped down.
The dark haired Marihasha stumbled in her steps as the world around her began to spin. She looked down at her arms where a half awake Sayuri was.
"They drugged us…" She moved to run but felt her limbs become sluggish. Eyes landing on a nearby bush she stuffed Sayuri under it.
The brunette whined but Kaminari quickly hushed her. "I promise, I'll come back." She whispered as she made a couple of hand seals and placed her hand on Sayuri's forehead.
"She concealed your chakra…" Beside him Sayuri nodded.
He watched as the dark haired konoichi stood up with much effort and stumbled back before regaining her bearings and running away from the bush. She didn't get far as the three ANBU that had been chasing them suddenly surrounded her.
"Kaminari Marihasha." One of the ninja spoke.
Inoichi's blue eyes widened. What the hell was going on?! These were ROOT…Danzo's men!
"Where's the girl?" Asked another.
"What girl?" Kaminari asked as she tried to focus her eyes on their blurry figures.
"Don't play dumb, we saw you with a Marihasha child. Where is it?!" Asked the third.
"Aren't you ROOT?" Kaminari asked. "Why are you attacking me? I'm a konoichi of the leaf!"
"Not to Lord Danzo you're not!" One of them stepped closer. "As of today you and your clan will be eliminated one by one."
The image became blurry. There was a cry of pain and a few whimpers. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were doing. They were left in the middle of a white empty room. He looked down at the girl. She looked slightly taller, hair a bit longer.
Another gate appeared before them. Slowly it slid open.
XXX
Kakashi looked up from his orange book when he heard the ruckus outside the room. There was grunting, something heavy colliding with the wall, a yelp, a frustrated scream, and an indignant screech. Suddenly the door to the room flew open and there stood Moriyo in all her fury.
Bright orange eyes scanned the room. They landed on Sayuri and Inoichi, still in the jutsu, and then on him as he lounged on an empty chair by the desk. With clenched fists she stomped over to the silver haired ninja and yanked him up by the collar.
"Kakashi!" Two ANBU appeared at the door way. "We're sorry! We tried to keep her out."
The silver haired man looked around Moriyo and smiled, well at least they thought he did…it was hard to tell with his mask on. "Don't worry gentlemen, I'll take it from here."
The two nodded and disappeared back to where they came from. His eye slid back to the dark haired woman holding him by his clothes, her glare particularly murderous. He didn't know if it was due to lack of sleep, since he had been awake well past three in the morning, or if maybe he was going crazy but for some reason as he stared up at the angered konoichi he thought she was quite pretty.
"I come over to head quarters to talk to Kenji and I find out that you brought Sayuri to Inoichi to have him probe her mind?!" she shook him roughly.
"I was kind of hoping you wouldn't find out." Kakashi began.
"You're an idiot!" she yelled and shoved him back into the chair. However her grip on his collar remained strong. "You brought her here knowing very well that I was against this! Do you have any idea of what could happen?!" she released him and threw her hand in the air exasperated.
Kakashi stood from his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "I understand you're upset, but she needs this. You didn't see her yesterday afternoon. She was walking around in trances, her mind was leaking out her past. It was causing problems so I brought her here to fix them. She needs this Moriyo."
"You don't know what she needs! Sayuri is—"
"Not Kaminari!" Kakashi interrupted. "She will never be Kaminari, she will never come even close to being her, and do you know why?" he didn't even give her a chance to respond. "…Because she is her own person. Stop trying to find in her someone that's been long gone."
Moriyo gaped at him at a complete loss for words. Kakashi on the other hand looked long and hard at the woman before him. He understood that she was Kaminari's best friend, and that her death took a serious toll on her but that did not give her the right to stop Sayuri from being herself.
"I…I'm not..." She shook her head and looked over at the sleeping Sayuri.
"You were." Kakashi nodded. "Moriyo, it's time for Sayuri to grow up. Let her be herself, don't try to mold her into another copy of your best friend."
Moriyo could only stare at the troubled face of the brunette. He was right. Most of the jutsus she had taught Sayuri were ones that Kaminari had known herself. Her fighting style even had a bit of Kaminari's mixed in along with her own. She needed to back off and let Sayuri do her own thing.
When he saw he shoulders relax Kakashi placed a hand at her back. "She'll be fine." She clenched her fists at her sides.
"Yeah, you're right." She nodded with a determined look in her eyes.
XXX
A five year old Sayuri stood beside Inoichi inside a bathroom. Paying close attention to the girl before them that scrutinized her appearance on the mirror.
"I have mother's hair…" Sayuri mumbled. "…And her eyes." It had been a day after the burial of her clan…if that was what you could call a bunch of empty coffins being buried in the ground.
The blonde man that was now her guardian had said that there was nothing but ashes left of the people that were there. That all they could do was gather as much as they could and send them to the temple where they would be laid to rest.
She might be five but she was not stupid. The coffins were nothing but a show, something to try to appease her. Sayuri felt her eyes begin to sting, before tears rolled down her cheeks. She was alone, she had no one.
Looking back in the reflection she tugged at her hair. She hated her hair, she hated her eyes, she hated her clothes, she hated this bathroom, she hated this house, her new guardian, the stupid dark haired boy that came to babysit her, she hated everything.
Clenching her small hands she looked around the room until her eyes settled on the scissors. She reached for them quickly, took a segment of her hair, and began to cut. Strands of reddish brown hair fell unto the white tiled floor.
"So that's what happened to your hair." Inoichi rubbed his chin thoughtful. He remembered the day Saito had stormed into head quarters at a complete loss, talking about how Sayuri had cut of her hair in a random fit of rage.
"My hair reminded me of mother." Inoichi's eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at the girl beside him. She no longer had long brown hair; instead it was short, a bit boyish. She no longer wore a kimono instead she donned a long sleeve blue shirt and black pants. "I thought that if I cut it, I wouldn't remember."
Inoichi looked up just in time to see the door to the restroom burst open. A tall blonde man gaped at the hair on the floor before turning his gaze to the little girl on the sink. He watched as Sayuri threw the scissors at him before she reached to the soap bar and threw that as well. He watched her scream and kick trying to squirm her way out of Saito's grip.
Another gate appeared before them and just like the others they walked through it hand in hand.
"That's enough!" A tall blonde man with bright green eyes glared at a young Sayuri who was tied to a tree. "I'm done with your attitude!"
Sayuri glared up at him from her spot on the ground. "Let me go!"
"Not until you listen to me!" He sat down before her so that they could be at the same level. "I understand that you're upset that you're parents are gone, that you're entire clan is gone. But that does not give you the right to be a brat to the people that are trying to help you!"
Sayuri squirmed but she couldn't get free.
"I don't know what to do with you anymore." Saito sighed. "I tried being nice to you, I tried giving you space…nothing works! All you do it throw a fit at everything. I tried to be understanding and—"
"You don't understand me!" Sayuri screamed. "You'll never understand me."
"Well then let me understand! Don't just shut me out, I'm trying to help you!" Saito demanded. "Tell me what' you feel…what you want."
"I'm alone…" Sayuri began to cry more out of frustration than anything else. Why did he care so much anyway? "I don't want to be alone."
"You're wrong." She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at a smiling Saito. "You're not alone, you've got me, Kenji, Itachi, Sasuke, even Neji. They're all trying to help you just have to let them."
The rope around her loosened and fell at her feet. In a matter of seconds she had flung herself into Saito's chest her sobs muffled by his green flask jacket. After a few minutes of standing there Sayuri stopped crying and laughed.
"What's so funny?" the man asked.
"I only have guy friends…"she giggled.
"Well then make some girl friends." The blonde man instructed.
Suddenly the memory blurred and they were left in the dark once again. He looked around him then down at Sayuri. She gripped his hand as the sound of laughter filled the void. They were suddenly on green grass somewhere in Konoha.
"I've got you!" He saw a nine year old Sasuke tackle a seven year old Sayuri down to the ground. "Now you're it!"
"What! No fair!" Sayuri exclaimed as she squirmed from under the young Uchiha. She stood and turned to the boy under one of the trees. "Itachi tell Sasuke that he's being mean!" she stomped.
Itachi chuckled. "Just because he caught you it doesn't mean that my little brother is being mean."
"Yeah!" Sasuke exclaimed as he crossed his arms triumphantly. "You're just a sore loser." He smirked the same way he had seen his brother do so many times before. Maybe this time Sayuri would say that it was cute like she did last time Itachi had smirked at her. On the contrary Sayuri huffed and turned away making his smirk fade into a frown.
"Come now, Sayuri…" Itachi kneeled down beside her as Sasuke crept closer to the two. "You can't win at everything."
Sayuri looked down at the grass before meeting the older Uchiha's eyes. "No…" In a blurred movement Sasuke was on the ground with Sayuri a top of him. "Now you're it!"
"Hey!" Sasuke stood up and pointed a finger at Sayuri. "You cheated!"
"No I didn't…" Sayuri grinned. "You're just a sore loser!" she stuck out her tongue and ran as the younger Uchiha let out a battle cry as he ran after the girl.
"That's quite a change." Inoichi nodded at the scene. "You were happy."
Sayuri smiled. "Saito helped me a lot."
Inoichi smiled. He wondered if she knew that she was growing or if she was oblivious to the fact. Once more another gate appeared. The now seven year old glanced back at the memory of the Uchiha and her playing before turning back to Inoichi.
"This is the last one."
"Last one?" He asked and she nodded before taking his hand and leading the way.
"Go to sleep Sayuri." A nineteen year old Kenji stood by the doorway as Sayuri pulled back her bed covers.
"But—"
"No buts. Saito gave strict orders to have you in bed by eight."
Sayuri grumbled as she got under the covers and laid back on her pillow. "Fine! But tomorrow you have to train me."
"What?!" Kenji exclaimed. "You're dreaming if you think I'm going to waste my time on a seven year old kid."
"Ok, then I can just tell Saito that you made me clean the restroom when he told you to do it."
"You wouldn't…"
Sayuri smirked in the same manner that the two Uchiha brothers had done so before. "What did you think I was just going to let it go? You owe me!"
Kenji gritted his teeth. "Fine! Just hush up and go to sleep."
"Ok!" she grinned and closed her eyes just as Kenji shut the door behind him leaving the room in darkness.
Inoichi smiled. The kid had learned how to blackmail to get what she wanted at an early age. He glanced down at the girl beside him, but she kept her eyes trained on the window. Curious Inoichi turned his gaze to it as well noticing a figure appear on the other side.
He tensed expecting Sayuri to do the same but the girl simply stayed still. Warily he turned back to the window only to find it open, the figure making its way towards the bed. He watched as, whoever it was, raised his arms and began to form some seals. Just as he had finished and had begun to reach for the girl, a pair of mismatched brown eyes opened.
The Yamanaka tensed for a horrified scream than never came. Instead the girl smiled and sat up enthusiastically.
"Itachi!" she exclaimed and the man tensed.
Itachi? Inoichi walked towards them to get a closer look.
"Sayuri, you should be sleeping." Said the teen who sat down beside her.
"Well I was but then…" she trailed off brown eyes landing on the red stains on his person. "What happened? Did you get hurt?" she reached to touch him only to have Itachi grip her hand tightly. "Itachi?"
"I need you to listen to me." Sayuri frowned in concern. She had never heard him so serious before. "I did something bad," he covered her mouth to keep her from speaking. "I'm going to go away for a while now and I need you to do something for me."
Hesitantly she nodded. "O-ok."
Itachi smiled and reached one hand to her head. "I need you to forget." His dark eyes suddenly turned Sharingan red, the coma like marks around his iris began to spin. "I need you to forget all the bad. From now on you will not remember anything from the past. You will stay sane. You'll help Sasuke…understand?"
Inoichi watched how the seal had come about. He watched as Itachi instructed Sayuri to keep her memories hidden to make sure no one saw them and then he looked on as he tucked her in bed before disappearing into the dark.
The image disappeared he was left standing alone in the middle of the void.
"Sayuri?" he called out. "Sayuri?!"
"Inoichi sensei?" he turned around to see the Sayuri he knew standing before him.
"Sa…" he trailed off, feeling as if something was amiss. Something about Sayuri had changed.
A.N.
So this chapter is longer than all the others. I hope you like it either way. Please leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.