Truths Untold

It was early morning now but Anju had not slept a week since she began reading the diary last night. At the moment, her fingers were tracing the edges of the few pages that she had left to read. Right now she was debating with herself on whether she should read on. All night she had read about Eri traumatic time trapped in the dark cell. Not knowing what was meant to happen to her or her baby. No one even spoke to her. The only human contact she had was from the guard that slid her food through the gap of the door. But no matter how much she suffered, Eri strength grew stronger. Not at first though. At first she had been depressed, thinking of ways to kill herself so she could end the misery. Then after four and an half months of despair, something kicked. She had panicked at first, not sure where it had come from until it kicked again. That's when she decided to change. She was going to figure a way out of this place but had yet to come up with any ideas. Then one night, Eri happened to overhear that her own father would be requesting her presence soon.

Anju had slammed the book shut right there and then. Itachi had told her the clue to all the tombs secrets was inside this diary. Now she felt to frighten to even consider the possibilities. Raking her fingers through her hair, Anju swept away the strays of greasy hair out of her face; when was the last time she had a bath? Too long, she had been too busy with the compound and had settled with just tying it all into a bun. She decided now was the best time to actually have one; take a break from all the drama. Climbing off the bed, she wrestled with her clumsy feet over to the bathroom door, cursing herself as she stubbed her foot against the door frame. It seemed even trying to take a quick shower was proving a challenged for her lately. She had never felt so sad. She wished she had someone like Tadashi, not in a brotherly way but in the emotional state that Sakura and Tadashi shared. She wished Naruto was here. The hot water beating on her back was a small relief as it helped to massage the tension out of her muscles. It was nice to feel clean again. Feeling slightly refreshed. Anju sighed to herself and decided it was time to get on with her duties. Even with the all the paper work, she was able to put a small smile on her face with the surprise she had in store for everyone. Dressing herself and drying her hair, Anju eyed the diary still lying on the bed. After some thought she placed it back in her bedside table draw. The diary could wait for now, she needed a break; otherwise she would be driven crazy.

Half way through her day, Anju was surprised to receive an urgent summons from the Hokage. Switching her formal foot wear with her sandals, she left instantly for the village. Jumping from roof to roof, she sure a sudden increase of jonin moving around. Had there been a breech in security somewhere? It was impossible to know until she found the Hokage.

Approaching the Hokage's office, she did the usual three rapid taps on the door and then stepped back. After a few moments of waiting and not being able to hear any abusive language or objects smashing against the walls, Anju decided it was safe to step in. Inside the Hokage sat at her usual place behind the desk with Shizune position dutifully behind her and the Raikage to the left.

"Hokage, Raikage." Anju greeted politely and bowed. She could sense that this was a formal meeting and decided to act appropriately.

"Anju, thank you for joining us at such short notice." Tsunade answered (surprisingly very formal for the Hokage's usual way) directing the Uchiha to the seats that had been placed in front of her desk. Anju gratefully took one while the Raikage sat in the one next to her. Arms folded, heavy breathing and a twitch in his left eyebrow, Anju sense that the kage of lightening was not in a happy mood about something and through experience of past meetings with him, it was a debate over the Cloud Ninja's settlement again. "If it's okay with you Anju the Raikage has finally agreed to arrange his people's quarters over to the Uchiha compound." The Hokage smiled a little too smugly while the Raikage just seemed to get more annoyed but was still able to control the short fuse of his temper. Anju had never been so tempted to laugh at moment, as the vain on the kage's forehead began to visibly show against his temple. Supressing the urge to laugh, the Uchiha made sure now was no hint of amusement in her voice as she answered.

"I will need a little time to prepare some of the arrangements but the Raikage is allowed to join us whenever he likes." Anju smiled pleasantly, though her actions in no way seemed to ease the Raikage's temper.

"I wish to have my men move in tonight." The Raikage answered, speaking for the first time and trying to avoid all eye contact with the woman.

"That is acceptable." Anju replied, trying to look in the opposite direction as the throbbing temple on his forehead was quite distracting. Taking this as the matter closed, the kage decided it was time to take his leave and mumbled his thanks as he left the room. As the door slammed hard behind them, the woman listened and waited for the lightening kages footsteps to disappear down the hall.

Five, four, three, two, one! At the exacted moment all three woman still left in the office burst out laughing. It must have had something to do with the dis-comfortable look on man's face that set them off as they could not stop laughing for what seemed like an eternity; even when their lungs burned desperately for oxygen.

"Did… did you see his face?" Tsunade finally managed to splutter out, making everyone laugh even harder than they thought they possibly could. All of them had tears dropping from the corners of their eyes and were finding it hard to swipe all the liquid away as they tried to calm themselves down.

"I honestly thought it would explode." Anju grinned and began massaging her jaws because they were beginning to ache. Never had Anju felt so much better and she hoped it would remain like that for a long time.

Anju had the Cloud ninja's rooms ready just before the sun began to disappear. It had taken a lot of rearranging but somehow she and some of the volunteers had managed to get it done and now they were all glad it was over. The Uchiha decided it was the best time to take a power nap before having to introduce herself formally, which meant probably half an hour of herself and the Raikage trying to resist getting into some ridiculous fight with the giant man or worse try and kill each other. Plus, she had not slept a wink last night and wanted to look kind of normal and not like a zombie she had seen earlier in the reflection of a store window. One the way back to the house, Anju stopped right in front of the hospital, debating with herself on whether she should go and visit her family. In the end she decided against it on the account of two reasons. One was that she didn't want to interrupt any moments that she might interrupt and secondly, if any of them saw her like this, she would have her head chewed off. Power nap first, then I'll go and visit! Anju told herself as she dragged her heavy feet up the porch stairs and into her house. Then she inwardly groaned at the pile of paperwork and preparations she still needed to work on and decided that maybe sleep she wait for just a little while longer.

But the second she stepped into the hallway she knew she wasn't alone. Ninja instinct took over and dragging a kunai from the hidden pouch under her skirts she shifted her way through the rooms. The first room she came to was the living room. She checked every corner, every shadow, every inch of the room until she was satisfied. As she moved on to the next room, her nose picked up the scent of something cooking. Following the trail, she found herself in the kitchen when she found a big man, with dark skin and dark glasses on his eyes, standing near the micro-wave, impatiently watching the food cook. Before he took a chance to realise what was happening, Anju acted, knocking him to the floor and pinning him down as she held the blade to his neck.

"Who. Are. You?" She hissed, unable to control her rage as she pushed the dagger a little too hard against his neck. The man made no attempt to fight back as he held his arms out in surrender.

"Cool it yo!

It's just me

Uncle bee!

Happy to meet

Little Naruto's

Little chick." He smiled back with a big bright smile that reminded Anju of Naruto. The only reaction she could muster was a shocked expression. Anju decided right there and then that she was going to ask Tsunade to give her a check over because she must of bumped her head or something to be hallucinating this badly. What madness had she gotten herself into?

"What the hell!" A sudden cry from the hallway made Anju jump back to her feet with her kunai up and ready. Clang! The sound of metal against tile, as Anju dropped her weapon, suddenly hypothesis by the blue orbs she stared into. She tried to say his name but her tongue froze. When she tried to speak at all nothing came out and she could only just stare. If she was dreaming this was defiantly a cruel dream. The outraged look on the blondes face soon disappeared and was replaced by a look of concern. "Anju? Are you alright?" His voice was soft as he spoke, reaching out towards her as he tried to secure his hand in hers. For some reason she stepped back, afraid to feel his touch, almost as if she was trying to escape some kind of substance addiction, fearing if she got hooked on it then she would go crazy. Her actions seemed to startle the man before her and he stopped in his tracks. After some careful calculation, he brought his arm back. "Anju it's me Naruto. You're not in danger, I'm sorry if Bee scared you." He added, sending a quick glare to Bee who still remained on the floor. She could sense she was trying to explain something but all his words just seemed to bounce off her. The last thing she remembered was Naruto yelling her name before suddenly, the whole world turned black.

When she woke up, she didn't realise where she was at first. It took her a moment to realise she was back in her own bedroom. The only difference to the setting was the additional chair added to the room with a sleeping Naruto sitting in it. He was in fall glory with his mouth wide open and loud snores coming out of his mouth with the occasional mutter of some kind of sentence. Anju couldn't help but laugh at the scene. She wondered how she was able to sleep with all this activity when they slept together or maybe she was just a very (very) heavy sleeper. Suddenly she remembered that this couldn't be real, that she must be dreaming since Naruto was meant to be in some hidden location around the world. It was a weird dream to have of him; secretly she would have preferred something a little smuttier. But she decided to take what she was given at the moment. Grabbing a blanket from the end of the bed she wrapped it around Naruto, admiring him. Wiping away the drool from his mouth, she couldn't help the need to brush her fingers through his blonde locks. However, this movement startled him away. He jumped to his feet, a rasengan in his hand, prepared to fight off his enemy. He calmed instantly when he saw a stunned Anju.

"Anju…" The spikey blonde called out in shock, unable to find any other words to say. But he didn't need to say anymore. The Uchiha was suddenly overwhelmed with animal instinct and grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him towards her, until his lips touched hers. His arms surrounded her and pulled her body towards him, pressing firmly against his warm skin. Soon they were on the bed and Anju was happy to think she was getting her sexy dream after all.

She woke up again to find muscular, warm arms around her body. I'm still dreaming! Anju thought, mentally throwing a fist punch into the air as she turned around and snuggled further into her lovers embrace. She never wanted this paradise to end and was determined not to let it go so soon. Even when she stirred he did not wake. Even though it was a dream to her she could not bear to wake him from his slumber. Still in her dreams she sensed she had to finish reading the diary. Kami! Why do my dreams have to be weird? Anju complained and decided just to go along with it.

Dear Diary,

I write this in great haste as I hope to leave this behind and allow someone to read one day, to know the truth of what the Uchiha Clan is really like. It was the moment my water broke that everything began to make sense. I must have been screaming like a banshee for at least a good half an hour before a group of cloaked figures came in, tied me to a stretcher and carried me to some place. They led me somewhere deeper into the grounds. Finally, they led me into some kind of tomb that I have ever seen before and standing right beside the huge stone of my bed was my father. His face was completely emotionless as I was strapped to the giant rock. I was in labour for eighteen hours. All the while a small group of Uchiha's I recognised did stupid hums like they were performing some kind of ritual. Then she was born. My beautiful baby girl; Hope. I looked right at her and she at me. At that moment I knew we would be connected forever, she knew who I was I and knew who she was. But when the midwife placed her into the arms of her grandfather my heart stopped. He didn't even look at her as he took her away. I demanded that he gave her to me even if it drained all my strength. His only reply was that half-breeds could not exist in the blood line. I went cold to the bone. How did he know? Was all I could think about.

Even though I was tired and in great pain, I forced myself up to try and see where he was taking her. I had to activate my Sharingan to see through the darkness. Every cell in my body went cold when I saw the hole in the ground and every step he took closer made rage boil inside me. Now I was pissed. Adrenaline must have been pumping ten times the normal amount through my blood stream as I somehow managed to rip through my restraining bonds. Everything about me just became pure animal instinct and I ripped apart anyone who got in my way as I raced towards Madara, prepared to rip his throat out. I'm not sure what happened after that. All I remember is seeing red. Then next thing I knew I was watching the entrance of the tomb being caved in with my father on the other side. Right now I'm in my old room, grabbing everything I need. Hope is sleeping at the moment like nothing has happened. I don't know how but I have to find some place to hide, even though I am exhausted. I still cannot understand what it was all about and why my father distress half breeds. All that I know is that we have a chance and that Hope is safe.

I have already contacted some travelling friends who will sneak me past the fire nation border and across the mountains. Not much is known about what is over the other side apart from some small towns. There I hope to journey further east and disappear forever. I must be careful though, rumour has it that there are many travelling clans who work across there and some of them don't even seem human. I leave this under one of the loose floorboards of my bed. I hate to in thrust this knowledge on to a poor victim of my blood line but I can only hope that the future Uchiha have a much more kinder nature and that someone will make things right.

Anju stared at the large page for what seemed like hundreds of years. It must have been shock or something because she had an urge just to do something. Cleaning and dressing herself, the Uchiha paced around the room, trying to make sense of what was happening. Suddenly, anger burst inside her and with all her might, Anju threw the book at the wall, causing a dent to form in the wall paper. Jumping off the bed she leapt out of the bedroom window (she didn't want to face anyone right now) and ran to Itachi's prison house.

The guards surrounding the outside didn't dare stop her as she marched right passed them and kicked the front door down. Right now she didn't care about what she destroyed. All she wanted was to take her anger out on something and at the moment it seemed to be directed at Itachi Uchiha. She found him in the same seat she had seen him last, looking into the fire place, his blind gaze seeing something that seemed not to exist in this world. He only seemed to recognise her presence when Anju was standing over him.

"Why did you make me read that diary? Why didn't you just tell me that the Uchiha's hated half breeds? Hated people like me!" She yelled, unable to control the wave of emotions that flowed from her body. Itachi sat in his chair, he hadn't even flinched from his seat. He remained quiet which just seemed to annoy Anju even more. "Don't give me the silent treatment! We had a deal I read the diary, you give me some answers!" Anju snapped, poking him hard in the chest. With lightening reflexes, Itachi's hand lashed out like a snake and wrapped his hand tightly around her wrist.

"Calm down Anju." Itachi said, his voice soft like lambs wool. It shocked the half Uchiha to hear him speak like this but she refused to let him just shake her off the subject.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Anju shouted and tried to pull her arm back but her hand remain trapped in his iron grasp.

"I needed you to understand I wanted to show that not all Uchiha's were like them that it's not everyone's fault." Itachi gasped, as his weak voice cried desperately to be heard. "I not only wanted for you to see the truth but I wanted to show where your origins came from." At the word 'origins' Anju anger seemed to appear all at once and was now replaced with confusion.

"What?" She questioned.

"This is why I gave you this." Itachi whispered and slipped the silver necklace back into her hand. Anju had thought she had lost it, she had now remembered that she had thrown it at Itachi in anger months ago. "To help identify who you were when I lost my sight, so I could help you."

"Help me with what!" Anju demanded growing angrier by the second. Just as the rogue ninja was about to answer, the sounds of shouting from outside echoed from the distance. By the way it managed to echo all over the place with booming anger and enthusiasm it could only belong to Naruto.

"I'm sorry Anju, this will have to wait." Itachi apologising. If Anju had been paying more attention, she would have noticed his free hand performing hand signs. But it was already too late as her eyes lay onto the hand making a tiger sign and grabbed her around the neck. Wrestling with his grip she tried to free herself but there was something this that was different. Her body burn as energy flowed through her, this new source fighting with her own charka system until suddenly, they seemed to fuse together.