Shizuka's Pov.

I was watching the old man fight the First and the Second Lord Hokage that Orochimaru had unfairly summoned.

Hoping to help him at least in this fight, I had tried to teleport myself into the barrier. Unfortunately it didn't work. I couldn't attack the four creators of the barrier either.

Since I just found myself completely useless, I told Ame, I would go to support the others, but he said we should wait here. In his opinion, there still might be a chance to intervene. He was optimistic. Why had he pulled me away anyway?

I looked into the arena where the Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf were still fighting.

It looked like Gai and Kakashi were competing. That was typical for the Jonin with the green body suit. In my early days, I've seen how both men performed an open-road competition from time to time.

That wasn't really good for me. I wanted Orochimaru's notes about Danzo. I would only get that if he stayed alive.

I was about to reconsider how I could get in the barrier when I saw Orochimaru chasing his sword through the old man's back. Poor Sarutobi. Although I wanted Orochimaru to survive, it wasn't planned that the Sarutobi would die.

But the Sandaime did not give up. He kept trying to seal the snake. But at some point his strength left him and he sealed at least the part he had already pulled out of Orochimaru's body. Successfully.

The four Sound-Ninja resolved the barrier and supported Orochimaru. They fled with him while the third Hokage died.

I didn't hesitate and ran after them. It took a while to catch up with them. The four had a tremendous pace on it.

»Hey Orochimaru!« I called after them.

The fallen Sannin showed the Ninja's to stop. They stopped and turned to me the next moment.

The snake looked miserable. His arms were purple. He grimaced and looked even paler than usual.

»Which hideout are you going to?« I asked.

»On the border to the Land of Wind,« he brought out panting.

»Expect me at midnight,« I said and turned around again.

During this movement, I thought I saw him grin before he started to cough.

I made my way back to the arena. Ame seemed to be waiting for me. He seemed everything but calm because he was pacing the roof. When I landed beside him, he exhaled with relief.

»They were too fast,« I said.

»That was more than stupid. Wasn't your last meeting with him enough?« he snapped.

»Nothing happened. I may be a kid, but I'm not stupid. I know what I can and can't do, and Orochimaru was weakened,« I replied calmly.

»Let's go back to headquarters, while the others are taking care of Hokage-sama.«

I nodded and followed him.

When we arrived at the headquarters, the events that had occurred were discussed and the losses pointed out. Ame missed the incident with my persecution and explained what had happened. The others were shocked when they learned that the Hokage was dead.

I only listened with half an ear. The talks dragged on until the early evening and we were released.

I hurried to get home. There I took a quick shower and changed my clothes. I put my mask, the ANBU gear and my headband on the bed.

The Tantou I took with me. I had exchanged mine with Shisui's, which my father had kept after his death. Then I took the picture of me and my brother and went to the front door, where my backpack stood. I packed it in quickly before I looked outside.

The dawn has started. It was the best time to go. The Shinobi were mostly busy and the dusk would give me enough protection to get out of the village unseen.

I put the keys in a cup on the small cupboard next to the door and stepped out over the engawa.

I closed the sliding door with the help of a shadow clone and walked through the woods within the village. When I was sure I wasn't being watched, I climbed over the wall and found myself outside the village.

It would take me a few hours to reach the border of the Land of Wind, but I was well in time.

One last look back and I disappeared in the darkness, which had meanwhile settled over the Land of Fire.

Sasuke's Pov.

I was still under investigation so they could judge if I could go home or had to stay at the hospital. My assurance that I was fine, was apparently not enough.

I still wanted to see Shizuka.

The exams were over and I wanted to make the things from three weeks ago clear. It was strange not to be near her.

Actually, Kakashi wanted her to be part of the training when she had free or time. And when she didn't come, he had gone to her.

He told me that she had opted for additional training with this Sai and was busy accordingly.

»Alright. You should rest for the next two days,« the doctor said when he finally finished.

I just nodded and made my way to the Uchiha-District.

On the way, I met Katsu from Shizuka's team, who recognized me and asked me to look after her. The blonde seemed to be worried because she had behaved even more strangely in the last few days than usual.

When I arrived in front of her house, I was a little surprised. The house was in complete darkness. I knocked on the door and waited. There was neither something to hear nor to see.

When, after another attempt, nothing happened, I jumped over the roof into the garden, as I suspected her on the engawa.

Nothing. But according to her comrade, she should be home.

I picked up one of the loose boards of the engawa and pulled out the spare key.

Only Shizuka could get such ideas.

I went to the front door and unlocked it. I searched in the lower floor. Since her key was in the ccup next to the door, she had to be there.

After not being found, I crept up quietly so as not to wake her, if she was already asleep. It was still quite early, but I didn't know if she had to fight today and maybe she was exhausted.

Softly, I knocked on her door. There was no answer. I opened the door a crack and peeked inside.

Her bed was empty. Now I opened the door completely and turned on the light. Her uniform and mask lay on the pristine bed. Besides her headband.

The photo that was usually on the nightstand was gone.

I was overcome by a strange and ungood feeling. I went to her closet and opened it. Empty.

I combed the whole house again. The most important things were all cleared out of the cupboards. Even the fridge was empty and turned off.

Shizuka was gone.

Alright, Mina! You did it! That was the last chapter of this book. I hope you liked it.

My best friend always told me not to cry because it's over, instead smile because it happened! And there is really no need to be sad 'cause there will be a sequel.

Please tell me what you think/thought of this book, which szene you liked/disliked the most and why. What do you think of Shizuka so far? Will she meet Sasuke again and if so, will she be able to open his eyes and get him away from his revenge on Itachi? What about Danzo?

It would make me really happy if you would answer a few of these questions in the comments.

Ciao