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Hey! It's me again!

So here's a new chapter. I was not planning to post it today, but here it is! I'm currently working on Chapter Four (if you take into account the introduction, it will be the fourth chapter to be posted, but it covers the second episode with Naruto and Konohamaru encounter). I hope I will finish it today so things will start getting serious!

Another thing: I don't use english words here, as I can often see in the Naruto fanfictions (things like nii-san, ohayo, etc.). Do you think I should or are you fine with it? Also, I already said that to you, but are you fine with Sakura not being on Team Seven or would you like her to be part of it? Squad with four members had always been cliché, to me at least, but what do you think? Are you fine with things going canon, too? Just tell me what you think.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter! It covers Itachi's siblings learning Shisui's death, the massacre, and what happened on the morning after the tragedy.

Introduction – Part Two

It happened the night before our eighth birthday.

Well, before Sasuke's birthday, as I was technically born the day after him.

It had been another normal day at the Academy. By "normal", I meant that Naruto and Sasuke had fought against each other, as they always did. I did not really know why, but since our entrance to the Academy, the blonde had somehow decided he wanted to surpass my brother in any way he could, and was always trying to show to our class that he was better than him. Was it about using Jutsu or throwing shuriken, the blue-eyed boy had this deep desire to prove his superiority to Sasuke… But no matter how hard he tried or what he did, Sasuke always was the winner of their little fights, and Naruto ended up being the one who was ridiculous. At first, these funny situations had made my schoolmates laugh, but now they were starting to be fed up with the blonde-haired boy's behavior. Even my brother had enough of it; actually, Naruto had been annoying him since the very first day of school when they had first met.

I, on the contrary, had become closer to Naruto than nobody in Konoha had ever been; my brother did not understand our friendship, bye the bye. But I did not care about that. Being with Naruto had allowed me to understand him better. He had told me he had no parents, and that he lived since recently in an apartment not so far from the center of the village. Another thing I had learnt was that I was his first and only friend. This was due to the fact that most of the citizen despised him and hated him. I could not believe that when he had told it to me, but, on thinking about it, I had never seen someone be actually nice with him. The worst was that he did not know why everybody was acting so disdainfully when he was around. They glared at him with resentment and hatred, and I could not understand why; my mother had been very happy when I had told her I had befriended Naruto; it was like she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. She regularly asked Sasuke if he had decided to be Naruto's friend too, but my twin brother did not seem to be ready for that. It's only a matter of time, I had told myself numerous times. And I was sure mother thought the same way as I did. Until this day came, I tried to play with the blond as much as I could, when school was over.

That afternoon, however, I had stayed with Sasuke in order to practice shuriken throwing. Though we both were at the top of our class, it still was not enough for my brother, and I think Father was not uninvolved with all this. It seemed that Sasuke tried to impress Fugaku the same way Naruto tried to impress his classmates. I remembered how hard it had been for us to learn the Fireball Jutsu. Father always compared us to Itachi when he had the same age as us. Well, it was especially Sasuke that he criticized. I was a girl, so, just like my mother, having basic techniques was enough; when I would be older, I would be married and a perfect housewife. It seemed logical Father was expecting more from Sasuke than from me.

It had been an intensive training, up to the point we had not seen time pass. Of course, when we saw what time it was, we immediately headed back to the compound, before anybody began to worry, especially our parents or our brother. The white full moon was shining brightly in the dark as we were running back home. Sasuke was complaining on how late we were, when something made us stop at some distance from a big wooden post, situated near our house. We looked up, but there was not anything special.

"You've got it too?" I asked Sasuke.

He nodded. "That feeling that there was someone there…"

We exchanged a knowing look. It did not exactly look good to us. And unfortunately, we did not know how right we were to think that. The nightmare… had just begun.

What made us twitched first was that there were no lights, and it was quite unusual, at this time in the evening, especially as Father and Mother must probably be waiting for us. The Uchiha was a big and powerful clan, so there always was animation, people moving behind the windows, smell of meals and so much other things that made the compound… lively. But there was nothing of the sort, tonight, and it was not normal.

Sasuke was the first to discover the bodies of our uncle and our aunt lying on the floor. We immediately knew they were dead. My brother called them, but there was no answer. As for me, I was not able to move when I saw them motionless like that, and put a hand on my lips; tears began to roll down my pale cheeks soon after. Who… who could have done that? And why?! I sobbed and closed my eyes. It was too much to bear for me. Two members of my family had been killed; I did not know how it was possible. Maybe the murderer was still in the compound. If that was the case, then our lives were to come to an end soon if he found us here. And, I could not lie to myself; he probably had killed other persons of our clan. That was indeed confirmed when I saw other bodies lying on the floor further away; corpses were covering the way leading to our house; I could not see them because it was dark, so I put the other hand on my lips and stepped back, in shock. Sasuke saw the corpses too and took me in his arms as I was crying. I had not thought for a second to witness such a vision of horror, except when it had to do with horror movies, but I was not fond of that. Besides, I was too young to see such things: I was only seven, eight soon. Blood was staining the walls of the compound, and kunai and shuriken could be seen anywhere. It was a real battlefield.

And the worst was yet to come.

"It's going to be alright," my twin brother said, hugging me as much as he could. "Let's find Father and Mother, and then we'll be safe and sound. Okay?"

I just nodded. I could not say anything anyway. I know Sasuke was trying to reassure me, but I did not feel better at all. Nevertheless, I let him grab my hand and lead me towards our house as quick as he could. It was hard to follow him, because he was running faster than me, but he was firmly holding my wrist, so I did not lost him and focused on my breathing. The images of the dead bodies of the members of our clan were swirling in my head and I began to feel seek. I would not be able to stand something like that again or I would throw up for sure.

As soon as we went inside the house, we removed our schoolbags and our shoes and left them on the floor. It was dark but the moonlight was enough for us to see our surroundings. All was silent; there were no lights, and there no sign of life either. I thought I would have heard my mother humming while she was cooking, or out Father talking with Itachi about how strong and clever he was. But I could not see anyone in there. So, when Sasuke slightly called my name, I followed him and we headed to the family room.

Sasuke hesitantly opened the door, with trembling hands. The first thing we saw was Itachi standing just before us, his eyes closed, in his ANBU uniform. At his feet, right in front of us, were bodies Sasuke and I immediately recognized at our parents'; Fugaku's corpse was laying over Mikoto's. My twin brother did not wait any longer and began to shout, as I stepped back in horror. What– What happened in here?!

"What is this?! Father! Mother!" Sasuke did not make a move but he was shaking with fear, and shook his head while clenching his fists at the same time. His eyes closed. "Big brother! Father and Mother are …!"

His voice trailed off and he could not finish his sentence. It was not possible. They could not… They could not be dead, not just like that? What had happened while we were training? And why Itachi did not seem to be shocked or shattered? Why was he staying so calm while the bodies of our parents were near him? Tears rolled down my cheeks and only my sobs could be heard for one moment in the room. But I was sure Sasuke was on the verge of tears too, even if he always said that a true ninja does not show his feelings. I quickly lost all my senses, as well as the notion of time. I felt sick, sick, and I just wanted this nightmare to end, one way or another. I wanted to know everything would go back to normal in a few second. Maybe all this was a very bad joke, after all. Maybe all this was just a dream. I might have somehow fallen asleep during the training with my twin, and it was only a matter of time before I woke up. That's what I was telling myself, at least, because I could not admit the simple truth.

"Why?" Sasuke's voice echoed through the room. "What happened?! Who would do such a thing?!"

That's when Itachi suddenly throw a shuriken at Sasuke, which missed its target by a few inches. It had been so close that it tore Sasuke's sweatshirt and blood escape from the wound the weapon had left on his left shoulder. My twin brother stopped breathing and so did I. The weapon almost killed Sasuke! We glanced at each other in terror, before looking at Itachi, who had not move at all. Itachi…! For God's sake, will you tell us what's the meaning of this? What at are you getting at by threatening us in such a way? It did not make sense. Nothing since we had returned to the compound made sense, actually. Itachi was acting stranger than he had in the past few months, and I could not figure out why.

"Foolish little siblings."

Before I or Sasuke could do anything, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and focused on his little brother. The latter was immediately trapped in a world of illusion and began to scream in pain, his hand on his head.

I instinctively hugged him, in order to try to calm him down or at least, to support him. I could not do anything anyway. I did not have awakened my Sharingan yet, so I could not break the genjutsu Itachi had put our brother under. And even if I had had this ability, my eldest brother was that strong that I could not have freed Sasuke. Itachi had always been a genius; he still was and would always be one. We were too young to have a chance to win a fight with him. He was more powerful that we would ever be. He was praised by our father for a good reason.

"Please, that's enough, big brother!" I pleaded him, my cheeks wet with tears.

"Stop it, Big Brother! Why are you showing me all of this?!"

As soon as Itachi deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke fell all sprawled out on the floor. His complexion was paler than it had ever been, and saliva came out from his mouth. He was struggling to breathe and his eyes were empty of any sign of emotion. It was like… he had been broken from the inside. What did Itachi had done to him? Why was he in such a state?

"Sasuke!" I gasped and fell on my knees by side, taking his hand and trying to feel a pulse. I needed to be sure he was still alive. Fortunately I felt him squeeze my hand, and I sighed in relief. Whatever he had just been through, he was not dead. I did not know what I would have done if he had. Only this morning, we were the perfect family: Father was reading the newspaper, Mother was cooking breakfast, Itachi was talking with us, and now… everyone had been killed and our big brother, the one who should have protected us, was threatening us.

"Why? Why did you do this?"

I jumped and looked at Sasuke, who still had not enough strength to move. The words he had just say had petrified me. Did I hear well? He couldn't possibly mean… Itachi is the killer? But why would he have done that? There was no reason for him to commit such a crime!

This was what I thought, until those words came out from his very mouth.

"To measure my abilities."

I swallowed hard, trying to hold back the tears shining in my eyes. What was wrong with him, all of a sudden? Why was he telling that to us? He could not have killed our parents just like that! I refuse to think that! Itachi has always been a pacifist; I can't imagine he would do such a thing! At least, not without a good reason! It was not like him. What was going on his mind?

"To measure your abilities" Sasuke repeated, between two sobs. "That's all? Just for that you killed everyone?"

"It is of great importance," he replied, without further explanations.

It's so hard to believe… I winced, and hold Sasuke tighter. I had somehow the feeling that if I hugged him as much as I could, nothing would happen to us. Was I a fool to think that, knowing that Itachi had slaughtered our entire clan effortlessly, and that he would probably do the same with us, without feeling pity for us? I would like to know… Does he feel something, about what he has done? Does he feel pride? Does he feel guilt? Does he feel shame? Does he even care at all, in the end? I shook my head; he could not have killed our clan and then, do not feel anything about what had happened, no matter how crazy or mad he was! He was human, not a killer without any emotions inside of him! I know how he was, I had known him since I was born! So why could not I recognize him? Why could not I believe he was a murderer despite the truth lying before us? Why could not I help myself but finding that something was off, with him, tonight. That Itachi was not the loving and caring Itachi who had been by our side for years. There was something behind all this.

I could not reflect upon this much longer, because my attention was caught by Sasuke who was trying as he could to stand up. He was still shaking, but his rage was so strong that he was finally able to somehow stand on his feet and rushed towards Itachi.

"Sasuke no!" I exclaimed.

"Are you kidding me?! I feel like I'm going to be crazy! Just answer!" he yelled

By way of answer, our big brother just punched my twin had in the gut, and the latter collapsed again on the floor. Tears come up to my eyes, and I let them roll down my cheeks as I cried his name. My legs were shaking, but I could not stay like this, watching my brother being beaten up by my eldest brother. I have to do something, I have to take Sasuke and get out of here before Itachi kills us too! I don't want to die! I want to live!

But…

Did living while everybody was dead still made sense?

Father… Mother… I looked at their corpses, in front of which Sasuke was now lying. I… I'm sorry… I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry Sasuke and I came back home so late. If we had make it time, we… We would have been to save you. We could have do something. We could have prevented Itachi from murdering the clan… Fugaku and Mikoto had been good parents, even though our father were speaking highly of Itachi and did not really know how to show us his affection. But I was sure they both had deeply love us. And now it was all over. The good times and the good memories.

Then, all happened slowly. I saw Sasuke stand up once again, and he said something but I could not hear what. I then saw him turn, while I was staring blankly at the scene, as if I was not even here. He grabbed my hand and, without completely realizing it, I found myself running with him in the compound. Sometimes, I could see corpses laying on the streets, but what I would remember above all from that night would be Sasuke crying and begging our brother to spare us. He was crying so much, just like me; we were at loss, we had nowhere to go and we were alone. All that made us happy, our daily joy, all of this had been taken away by a person we had loved more than any other and maybe more than ourselves. And that was still the case for me. I loved Itachi and I could not stop loving him, even after all what he had done. I wanted to believe that he had a good reason to do this; I wanted to believe he was still our big brother who had taken care of us and had watched over us. It was what I clung myself to. I needed to believe in something, right know. I needed to know there was still hope.

And maybe Sasuke needed that too, in a sense; when Itachi caught up with us and suddenly appeared in front of us, my twin was the first to say something, while our eldest brother was looking at us with no emotion in his eyes. Was he acting? Was all this just about acting? It had to be. It really had to be.

"It's a lie! This isn't like you, big brother! It can't be!"

I felt his hand squeeze mine. I took a deep breath to relax, and spoke in turn.

"You had always been here for us, Itachi. You had plenty of moments to test your abilities, so why now? You can't have done that, we know you too well!"

"I acted like the oldest brother you desired in order to measure your vessel," he simply responded, as if he did not really care about all this.

Sasuke gasped and my eyes widened. To measure our vessel? That's all? But we were not even eight! How could he have decided such a thing while we were so young? Itachi had never been interested in power. He believed in peace. Why would he have renounced to his convictions and his ideals like that, just for us? Did he want us to fight him? What was he expecting from us, exactly?

I quickly had an answer.

"You will become rivals to measure my vessel against. You have that hidden potential. You've been jealous of me and resented me. You've harbored hopes of surpassing me. That is why I am allowing you to live."

I never was jealous, Itachi! I admired you, I dreamed of being like you and in one single night, you shattered all what I was holding dear and believing in! It doesn't matter what potential I or Sasuke have. I just want everything to go back to normal!

But my eldest brother did not care about all that. He talked to us about this particular power he possessed, the Mangekyō Sharingan, and how we would be able to obtain it too, on the condition that we would have to kill our best friend. As soon as he said that, the image of Naruto soon came up to my mind, and it was crystal clear for me that I would never kill him or anyone else to gain this power. I had no intention to follow Itachi's order, and above all, I did not understand why he was telling us all this. Did not he really care about us that much that he wanted us to kill someone we loved to end up as criminals? He was not himself at all, tonight, but I did not know what the meaning behind all this was. And, contrary to what he told us, I refused to believe that he have been able to kill Shisui. They were like brothers, and Shisui would not have let himself be murdered like that. They were to close and Shisui was as strong as our brother. Plus, nobody had been more peaceful than those two. The more I thought, the more I found things did not add up.

He evoked the Nakano Shrine and the Uchiha's hidden meeting room under the tatami, as well as a member of our clan who would still be alive. Knowing that was a shock of course, but it was Itachi's last words that stayed etched in my mind above anything else.

"If you wish to kill me, resent me, hate me, and survive in obscurity. Keep running and cling to life. Then one day, come before me with the same eye that I possess."

I hiccupped when I heard that. Itachi…! He could not have said that! He was part of our family, why should we do that? Did he really want things to go that way? Were we so useless that he was just leaving like this, without finishing properly his work? Did we have so little worth that he had claimed? I shook my head. Itachi, you've never been good at acting. You could not have been so caring and loving with us if we were just vessels for you. You love us… right? I bit my lips, and my eyesight became blurred by tears. All the dear times we had shared together were not a lie. Something in my heart told me that there was more behind all this. Sasuke and I were too young to know what is was all about, exactly. And I would not blame Itachi until I knew what had really been going on, on that night. Our brother wanted us to hate him so badly that it had been the opposite effect on me. And now…

"I'll never hate you, Itachi."

He gasped in surprise, but it was so slight that I would have thought I had dream if I had not seen his lips move.

"Asuka!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"No matter what you said, no matter what you did, I'll never hate you."

"I just slaughtered the entire clan, told you I have never been the perfect brother you thought I was, and you're just… fine with it? What else do you need to despise me?"

I looked down. "You didn't understand. I'm not fine with it. But you're my brother. I love you more than anything else in the world. And for love is stronger than hatred, I will love you always."

There was silent for a few seconds after that. Sasuke did not speak, neither did Itachi. They both must be surprised. Sasuke probably did not understand why I still had feelings for our brother while he had slaughtered our clan, and Itachi certainly did not have expected me to love him after all he had just done.

But feelings can't be controlled, can they?

I finally gathered my strength to speak to my eldest brother one last time, and my lips curved upwards.

I wanted his last memory of me to be a smile.

I will love you always.

"Until… the very end."

Then, I felt my legs give out because of so much pressure, and I fainted. Everything becomes black after that.

When I woke up, the morning after, the first thing I saw was white. White all around me.

It did not take me long to notice I was in a hospital. I sat up in my bed; stiffness made me winced in pain, but it looked like I had nothing more serious than that. That was good to know. If I'm here, it means what happened… was not a nightmare, then? My chest tightened, and I felt like I was going to cry. How had we come to that? Only in one night? Was it all because of Itachi? It seemed quite hard, even for him, to kill all the members of our clan in so little time. And, on top of that, he had committed this murder the night before Sasuke's birthday…

I suddenly jumped.

Sasuke!

Where was he? It had been a total blackout and I did not know what had happened to him after that. I have to find him! I pulled away the blankets and tried to get up. I was still wearing my casual outfit, that is to say a navy blue tee-shirt and a grey skirt; they had not give me a hospital coat, it probably meant my condition was good and that they did not intend to keep me long in hospitalization, so there were no problems if I left now…

… Were there?

"Miss Asuka, where do you think you're going?" a nurse with black haired tied into a ponytail asked, stepping into the room. "You're not allowed to leave for now!"

Despite my protests, she ordered me to go back to bed and put the blankets on my legs again. It seems like I haven't a lot of options. I sure needed to rest after all what had recently happened. If I did not, I was going to collapse again, and this is not what I wanted. What's more, she could probably tell me where Sasuke was.

"Excuse me, do you know where my brother is?"

"Actually, I… I don't know. His bed is next to you, but when I came to see how you both were doing, he had already left. No one knows where he went, but he probably left the hospital. We'll let you know if we find him."

I thanked her. She smiled at me and then did a blood test, while telling me I would be allowed to leave tomorrow morning. She had just removed the needle from my skin when the door suddenly swung open, with Naruto standing in the doorframe.

"Asuka!"

I could hear others nurses were yelling his name in the corridor, but he did not seem to care about them.

"Asuka, are you all right?"

"Naruto! I had told you to stay in the waiting room! I was in the middle of an exam!" the nurse shouted.

Even if it was just a blood test, she was right. Should Naruto have come sooner, maybe the nurse would not have jabbed properly and would have had to do it again. On the other hand, Naruto was not really known to be patient, and as one of his closest friend, I could certify it. But he was just worried, after all. And I was happy to see a familiar face in this place.

"Sorry…" he apologized, scratching the back of his head. "It's just that when I saw you entering in Asuka's room, I thought she was awake, and I really wanted to see her."

The nurse sighed "I'd do well to leave you alone. I'm done with the exams for now, anyway."

She left the room and closed the door behind her. Naruto then took a seat and sat by my side.

"So… How do you feel?"

"I'm… fine. Physically, at least. But how did you know I was here in the first place?"

"Well, this morning I was looking for you to know if you wanted to play with me. This is when I learnt what had happened with the Uchihas last night, so I rushed to the hospital."

I looked away. Great. All Konoha is aware of the massacre. Gossips must be rife, then. This was exactly what I needed. I just had lost a brother and all my family, and know the whole village was going to talk about me and Sasuke, I could not have asked better. Maybe I was going to ask to stay a little longer in the hospital, after all. I did not really want people to look at me with pity and compassion, even though it meant well. I just… needed some time for myself, at the moment. That was just what I was wishing for, nothing more.

"You would not appear to have seen Sasuke, by chance? I'm really worried about him, he left and nobody knows where he is."

"Actually… I saw him when I came to the hospital. I followed him a little and it seemed like he was heading to your compound."

I was relieved and shocked at the same time. Now, I know where he was, so I could tell a staff member of the hospital and they would bring him back. The question is: what is he doing over there? There surely must be "Do not cross" cordons all around the house, after the massacre. What was he looking for? Maybe he needed to see with his own eyes that what had happened was real. I had thought it was a nightmare too, the first seconds when I had woken up. Alas, I soon had realized that all had occurred for real. It did not make things easier though: I was feeling deeply betrayed by Itachi's action. Not only had he slaughtered our whole family, but he had bluntly told us that we were worthless and he had no interest in us until we grow up and obtain the same eyes as his. Were not we his siblings to begin with? This obsession with power was unhealthy. If Itachi had killed everybody just to get stronger, there was no way I would get that same power that he had used for very bad reasons, to say the least.

I sighed. Oddly enough, I could not bring myself to hate him. He was my brother before anything else and he would stay my brother forever, despite all what he had done. On top of that, hating him would not bring anything positive for me. Hatred only leads to more hatred, and I did not want to live that way. There were enough shinobi wars in this world not to make things worse than they already were.

"I apologize. I should have brought Sasuke home when I saw him," he explained when he saw I was looking at him in surprise, "but he seemed to be fine, and I was just so concerned about you! I did not really think about what to do," he said, ashamed.

I giggled and offered him a smile. "Don't blame yourself for that. I think it was important for him to return to the compound after… what we have been through."

"Speaking of which… you want to talk about it? I mean, maybe you'll feel better afterwards? Before I met you, there was nobody I could talk to, because everybody in the village hates me. I'm really happy we're friends, believe it! I would like to help you in turn."

I looked up. I had not thought of talking of what have happened, actually; I was surprised the nurse who had taken care of me did not ask question about that tragedy. Wasn't it the first thing she should have asked me? Maybe she had thought I still needed some time. Yet, I could not keep all that for myself, or I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I needed and I wanted to talk of what had happened to someone. Life was going on, and I had to overcome my fears in order to free myself and not dwell on the past. Furthermore, Naruto was my best friend, and friends were here for that, right? What I meant is that Itachi used to do all by himself; he had never been the type to ask for help, somehow believing it was better to be alone. I did not want to make the same mistake as he had did, and so, my mind was made up.

I told him everything, without forgetting any detail: how my twin and I had seen corpses of our clan's members all around our compound while coming back home late; I told him how I had seen my eldest brother standing in front of our dead parents' bodies; I told him how he had acted to be the perfect brother, and that he wanted us to take revenge on him, and how I had collapsed in the end. I finished with the fact that I still loved Itachi and did not intended to take revenge on him for that reason. I did not really know why I said all this to him all of a sudden, but it felt good to know you could talk of such a thing with somebody. I wish Sasuke had been here, he did need to express himself about that, too. He was just as broken as I was.

When I finally stopped talking, Naruto's eyes were shining. And then, without warning, he stood up from his chair and hugged me very tight, so much that I let a pain cry slip. Wow, steady on! I'm suffocating…

"I'm so sorry for you and Sasuke… If I can do anything to help you... I'll do it!"

Thanks, Naruto. I'm glad I can count on you. He seems to notice he was holding me tight because he broke the embrace after that, slightly embarrassed. That was then I saw his eyes shining and tears coming up.

"Naruto, are you crying?" I softly asked.

He looked taken aback.

"What? No!" He wiped his face with a wave of his hand. "I'm not a crybaby, believe it! It's just that…"

His voice trailed off, and he stared down. I looked at him in concern. Was it again about the inhabitants of Konoha who had given him a hard time? Could not they mind their own business? I knew Naruto was somehow feeling better since we had met, and I did not want him to be sad because of people who could not see how so big-hearted this boy was. He just needed some attention; he never had had a family to start with, and all parents forgave their children to play with him, even though the blonde had never known why and neither had I.

"… when I learnt what had happened, I thought I you were dead! I thought I had lost you and I would never see you again!"

I gasped. So, this is what it's all about… Now that I came to think of it, Naruto sure had been shaken when he had been aware of the news… probably like everybody in the village. It was the first time everybody who was not from ma family cared about me. It looked strange, but with friends such as Naruto in my life, I felt like I could get back on my feet and move on.

I took his hand in mine – it was so warm – and gazed at him. Today he was wearing a grey tee-shirt with what I supposed to be the symbol of his clan on it – it was a habit for everyone to have clothes with the symbol of your family visible somewhere on the fabric. That and black pants with blue sandals that fitted him very well. This time he did not have the green goggles he was usually wearing, but his golden hair was spiky as ever. He blushed a little when he felt his hand on mine, but quickly looked at me, and grinned. On the end, we both laughed out loud and it only stopped when a member of the staff came to ask us to keep it down, but I'm not sure we even really cared, at the moment. It made me feel good to laugh after all what I had been through, and to know that I had people who were by my side.

It was time to forge ahead.

-Footnotes-

That's all for today! As I have already said, English is not my mother tongue, so I can only rely on you to tell me about the mistakes.

I hope Asuka is not too Mary-Sue for now, even tough I guess you can't really escape that fail with an OC. Did you like the Naruto/Asuka moments so far? Those two look cute, right? Next chapter will cover the first episode of the series, and there will be more NarutoxOC moments! I can't say when I will publish it, though. Maybe when I will have finished writing the "bell test" part. I'll try to update regularly. Don't hesitate to fav or to follow the stories, and thanks to those who've already done it! It's always glad to see you have support!

Stay tuned!