It had been over a fortnight since Rinn's 'incident' in the woods, and thankfully it had not happened again since. However, the two children were not unchanged by the events that had unfolded.

Sasuke, realising that Rinn really could take care of herself, pushed himself much harder during training (although he reserved practicing any fire-style jutsu for the lake!), and Rinn was forever trying to keep whatever came out that afternoon in the woods under wraps; this was a tricky feat for the young girl, who couldn't help but feel that something strange had awakened within her.

On the surface however, Sasuke and Rinn pretended that nothing had happened that day, and nothing had been mentioned since, until...

"Rinn, the Hokage has requested your presence this evening after dinner" Mikoto announced, as the two returned home via the kitchen after another hard day's training. They both stopped dead in their tracks, a look of panic creeping up across Rinn's little face.

"What?! Why? What have I done?! If it's about painting that pig, Sasuke..."

"SHHH!" Sasuke elbowed her and clasped his hand over her face in an attempt to silence her. Rinn ignored this and continued to mumble a list of inaudible excuses from behind Sasuke's hand as Mikoto chuckled at the spectacle in front of her.

"No, no, Rinn sweetheart you aren't in any kind of trouble don't you worry! The Hokage would just like to speak with you about a few matters that's all. You know, I hear he has some of the tastiest tea and the most wonderful biscuits in his office..."

"Really?! All right! When can I go?!" Rinn exclaimed, the promise of refreshments clearly piquing her interest. Sasuke glared at her sheepishly from the corner of his eyes, his face a picture of jealousy.

"Hey mother, how come she gets to go? Can I go too? I want some free food as well!" he said sulkily, arms folded across his chest.

Mikoto chuckled again, patting him on the head.

"Sasuke, Rinn needs to see the Hokage on her own. But do you know what might be nice? If she had a strong young man to see her there safely – isn't that right Rinn?"

Rinn giggled, looking over at Sasuke as he puffed himself up as tall as he could, obviously rather pleased with himself.

"Yes, Sasuke can you walk me to the Hokage's office after dinner please? It'll be really scary going there alone in the dark and I'll feel much better if I have my big and powerful best friend there to protect me!" Rinn answered, playing along.

Sasuke grinned, blushing, sticking his chest out further still.

"It's OK Rinn, I'll look after you! C'mon let's go!" Sasuke proclaimed, grabbing Rinn's wrist about the lead them out of the door.

"Sasuke..." Mikoto sighed, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Sasuke looked blankly back at his mother.

"Dinner numbnuts!" Rinn giggled, giving him a gentle whack around the head to bring him back to Earth. The two females chuckled at him as he quickly re-adopted his sulky pose from before, a faint pink still dusting his cheeks, huffing to himself.

"Well you two girls can stay in the kitchen and do your cooking then, and I'll go and get some supplies together for my big mission after dinner!" Sasuke announced, poking his tongue out at Rinn, earning him a glare.

"What dyu mean us girls Sasuke? Don't be so girl-ist! Maybe you should learn how to cook Sasuke! Why I oughta..." and with that, a furious Rinn chased her shining knight up the stairs to his room whilst Mikoto, smiling to herself, continued making their dinner for tonight.

Later on, once their plates were clean and their tummies were full, Sasuke and his fully "provisioned" rucksack (the young boy seemed to have got it into his head that they were going on a proper mission or something...) were waiting proudly at the back door, ready to escort the young Rinn to her meeting. Of course, deep down Sasuke was still feeling a little jealous that he himself wasn't getting any free tea and biscuits, but he was sure if he put on his best puppy eyes to his mother once he'd dropped Rinn off he may be able to wangle some treats out of her...

"Sasuke, what's with the bag? The walk isn't that far, I don't think we'll need a...tent?!" Rinn asked once she's tied her shoelaces, bemused at Sasuke's over-packing.

"Rinn, you never know what's around the corner! It is always always best to be prepared, and I wanna make a good impression on old man Hokage!" Sasuke huffed at his friend, who just responded with a snicker.

"Come on then Mr Bodyguard, let's go!"

- Hokage's Office -

"Thanks Sasuke, for walking me here!" Rinn said once they had arrived, "I wish you could come in with me... Now we are here I'm scared to go in by myself. What if he's really mean?!" The little girl began to nervously fiddle with her fingers, picking at the skin around her nails.

Sasuke gently grabbed her little hands, "Don't worry Rinn, I've heard the Hokage is a really nice old man, I'm sure he will be OK! Mother always talks quite highly of him. Go on, go in! Then you can tell me all about it when you come out, I'll wait right here for you OK Rinn?"

Just then, the door slowly slid open revealing the wrinkled face of the third Hokage. He smiled down at the children in a grandfatherly way.

"Ah Firinne, I am glad that you have come to see me. We have much to talk about – Sasuke, I am afraid you'll have to run along home now, I will be borrowing your friend here for an hour or so."

"But what about when you have finished Mr Hokage? I'm Rinn's bodyguard you see, and I need to make sure she gets home OK. I would be very upset if anything were to happen to her Mr Hokage, she is my best friend after all." Sasuke argued, partly because he wanted to protect his friend, but partly for his own very selfish reasons (Sasuke was a curious child and was hoping to eavesdrop on whatever "talk" they were having).

The Hokage laughed quietly at the boy's attempted insolence, he thought perhaps Sasuke was trying to threaten him in his own little way! He admired his spirit however, and his compassion for his friend.

"Sasuke, you may come back in precisely one and a half hours to pick up your friend, how does that sound?"

Sasuke folded his arms and huffed in response. He eventually came around though.

"Fine... Rinn I'll meet you here in precisely an hour and a half ok?" he said whilst beginning to run off home, "And not a minute later!" he yelled from down the corridor.

Rinn and the Hokage smiled at one another at the young boy's antics, after which the old man invited her to have a seat in his office, where there was already a freshly brewed pot of tea waiting for them, and a plate of biscuits, just as Mikoto had said.

"Now then Firinne, let us start from the beginning..."

- Precisely one hour and thirty minutes later-

The door of the Hokage's office gently closed behind Rinn as she stood outside in disbelief and shock. Desperately, she looked around for her friend, but he was not there.

Oh well... she thought, Maybe Sasuke got held up somewhere. I'll wait another few minutes…

And so she did. For another thirty minutes in fact. At this point, the realisation hit her that her friend wasn't coming, and she couldn't help but weep. The news she had received from the Hokage in their meeting was less than desirable, but she had managed to hold it in so that Sasuke wouldn't see her cry; now that she was sure he wasn't coming, she let all of it out. All of the frustration, the sense of betrayal, and the feeling of true and utter helplessness washed over her, and she started to panic.

And so, she ran as quickly as her legs would carry her; all the way back to the Uchiha compound. She hadn't realised how late it was, and the streets were completely empty. No – they were unusually empty, and almost pitch black, save for the full moon shining its decadent light across the night.

That's when she saw them both. The shadows in the moonlight.

There, in the street in front of her, stood Sasuke and Itachi. However, the interactions she saw unfolding seemed a lot less than brotherly.

In fact, to Rinn it looked a lot like Itachi was torturing Sasuke – but he wasn't even touching him? Without thinking, she ran to her best friend, desperate to help him, momentarily forgetting about the possible threat of his older brother.

"SASUKE!" She yelled as she ran to him. Pulling him off the floor, she shook him to try and get a response – any response from him, yet there was nothing. What has happened here…?

Itachi was momentarily taken aback by Rinn's sudden appearance. She was supposed to be with the Hokage.. what in God's name is she doing here? She's not Uchiha blood, she need not be harmed... But she's right in the way of my brother… what do I do? He thought.

"What are you doing to him Itachi?! Stop it! STOP IT!" Rinn cried at the older male, still clutching Sasuke close to her body on the ground.

I haven't got much time. I'll have to scare her off a little bit... or knock her out…

Itachi responded to the young girl's question by speedily and expertly throwing a number of kunai at her (not aiming anywhere vital, but she was not to know this), in an attempt to frighten her away.

However, as the kunai flew closer to little Rinn, where there should have been fear on her face there was now only anger, and suddenly...

*BANG* *CRACK*

All of the kunai dropped to the ground as they collided with a strange turquoise sphere surrounding Rinn and Sasuke. However, this sphere was not smooth and protective like the time it had appeared before. It was volatile and dangerous. Itachi could not hide the look of surprise held on his face, and he was about to reach for his shurikan when he realised he was running out of time.

He took one last look at his brother, and then at Rinn, who glared back at him defiantly.

"Look after my brother Rinn" he stated, emotionlessly, and then he took off.

Now that the threat had gone, Rinn's face softened and her protective shield carefully dissipated.

To say she was confused would have been an understatement. Rinn had absolutely no idea what had just happened, but she had more important things to worry about now.

"S-S-Sasuke..?" She gently sobbed, shaking the boy again. He was awake, but he wasn't really all there. It was almost like he had gone so far into his own mind that he was now trapped there, unable to escape. She continued to shake him, harder this time.

"Sasuke please say something! Please! Sasuke!"

Nothing.

"Help! Somebody HELP!" Rinn yelled, to someone, anyone that would listen, as she cradled her catatonic friend close to her. It soon became clear that nobody was coming, so Rinn decided to run back to the house to get help, and gradually got to her feet. She did not want to leave Sasuke alone, but it was no good for either of them to stay sat in the street on their own, especially at this time of night. Rinn turned, and was about to rush off to look for help but was stopped as a little hand grabbed on to the bottom of her trousers.

Although he was still unable to remove himself from whatever trance he was in, from this small action Rinn was able to tell that Sasuke needed her to stay with him. How could she have even thought about leaving him all alone after what had just happened? She scolded herself for what a bad friend she was. But how would she get help now?

There was only one solution – she would have to carry him.

"Sasuke, I need you to climb onto my back" she said, bending down in front of him and pulling his arms up and around her shoulders. He seemed to somehow understand her instructions, making an effort to do as he was asked, and in no time Rinn was on her feet again, this time with Sasuke in tow, clinging onto her back like a baby koala.

"I am going to find us some help Sasuke, I think we have some medicine at home..." she began, starting to head off in the direction of their house, but a small mumble into her neck stopped her from proceeding.

I'm so pleased he's responding at last... I was so worried!

"Sorry Sasuke I didn't quite catch that, what did you say?"

"They're all dead. We can't go home." Sasuke mumbled again, barely a whisper.

Rinn's stomach dropped, and she felt a lump creep up in her throat. She felt sick, but this time she was unable to cry, not even a single tear. She was too stunned to even move, or speak, or...

No. She had to be strong. Sasuke needed help right away.

Rinn's body took over and soon her little legs had run all the way to the hospital, where she burst through the doors like a mini hurricane, shouting:

"HELP! HELP! MY FRIEND IS HURT! HELP! QUICKLY SOMEONE! PLEASE! HELP!"

And sure enough, the medical staff came running as Rinn's tiny body finally gave way and she slid to her knees, gently placing Sasuke down onto the tiled hospital flooring. They all exchanged worried glances as they picked Sasuke up and rushed off with him down the corridor...

"Wait! Wait for me!" Rinn shouted, trying to run off down the corridor after her friend, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

"You need to give them space to work, Firinne", a female voice said from behind her.

"Kurenai-senei?" Rinn turned around to greet the Jonin, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"Sasuke will be fine in the end, but the doctors need to help him now OK?" Kurenai said gently, bending down to Rinn's eye level. "Now tell me child, what on earth happened to him? You two haven't been sparring too hard again have you...?" she began, winking at the little girl, but upon noticing her expression realised that this was no childish playtime gone wrong. Something had happened.

"Firinne, what happened to Sasuke?" Kurenai pressed, the gravity of the situation beginning to slowly dawn on her.

"Sasuke's family... They're all... D-D-Dead..."

Kurenai's eyes widened, unable to believe what she had just heard.

"What?! Mikoto, Fugaku and Itachi...? No..."

"Not Itachi... He's still alive... he attacked us! And it wasn't just them! The whole clan! All of them! They're all dead Kurenai-sensei! And now S-S-Sasuke's *sniff*..."

"Hush child, Sasuke is not going to die. Shhh Shhhh..." Kurenai gently stroked the child's hair, standing back up to her full height. "Nurse, please see to it that this young girl has a bed for the night? I have some errands to run."

The nurse came out from behind her desk, nodded curtly, and took the frightened child by the hand, leading her off to another corridor as Kurenai disappeared out of the nearest window. Rinn was beginning to feel numb and lethargic from both physical and mental exhaustion. Despite wanting to fight this nurse with all her might to go and see Sasuke, she felt her eyes get heavy as she was led into a room with an empty bed in it. The nurse smiled kindly at her, untucking the bed for her so she could get in.

"I'm sure your friend will be all right. I'll take you to see him in the morning myself if you'd like?" The young nurse proposed.

Rinn nodded and returned the smile.

"Good night then. Sleep well!" The nurse sang as she turned out the lights in Rinn's room, shutting the door behind her as she left.

Rinn hugged her knees as she tried to drift off to sleep. But her mind was buzzing with everything that had happened. Was Sasuke going to be OK? Where were they going to live now that neither of them had any parents? Who would look after them? Who killed the rest of clan? Surely Itachi couldn't have done it all by himself.

So many questions were flying around Rinn's little head, but one in particular kept coming back to haunt her.

How can I possibly tell Sasuke now, after everything that's happened, that I have to leave the village?