Changes
Chapter Five
Changing Destiny…?
Just like every other ordinary six-year-old, Tsumi and Itachi were quite the ambitious ones. Usually by saying that, people would probably mean that they were nosy, annoying, and had some strange obsession for something. I wouldn't say that Tsumi and Itachi were obsessed over each other – which they don't – but they were still quite ambitious.
Why don't you think back to when you were six years old? Weren't there always the few that were always being avoided by people because everybody thought they were dangerous? Or – actually – too cool?
That was the category that our two favourite characters fit in. Tsumi and Itachi were always being avoided by people because their classmates were either scared of their powers, or were constantly being stalked, groped…etc.
However, telling you all of this doesn't really have anything to do with this chapter.
Itachi
'Poor Tsumi!'I thought as I watched her sleep. 'Damned Mesu!' I almost felt myself slamming my fist into the wall as I remembered that stupid idiot!
I looked up when I heard noises coming from Tsumi. I watched closely as her closed eyes twitched, and she started to murmur something. I tried to hear what she was saying, but it didn't take long for me to figure out that she was having a bad dream.
"No…no…" Tsumi started to say. Then, her eyes shot open and she sat up straight in her bed.
"Tsumi? Are you ok?"
"Huh? Oh, Itachi, it's you!" Tsumi flung her arms around my neck. "I was so scared," she started, and mother opened the door.
"Tsumi! Are you alright?" she looked worried. After all, some jerk just came over and groped her!
"Yes mother, I'm fine," Tsumi yawned. Looking relieved, mother turned around and walked out of the room. "Itachi, don't you get bored watching me sleep?"
"…"
"I mean, after all, you sit here for most of the time watching me snooze."
"Well, it is kind of boring, I guess."
"Just as I thought…don't worry about me, I'm fine alone."
"I don't trust it."
"Oh." Tsumi smiled. She hugged me tighter.
Just then, mother walked back in the room to deliver Tsumi's chicken noodle soup. I saw a smile creep across her face at what she had just witnessed.
"Here Tsumi, eat up," she said while giving me a 'what-are-you-doing' look. She laughed as she pointed at my confused look, which wasn't usually displayed on my face.
"Si…si…sis…ta?" murmured a little voice. The three of us looked up to see that little baby Sasuke was peering in from the crack of the door, holding it in place so it wouldn't creek if it opened.
"Sasuke! What are you doing?" Mother was obviously worried because Sasuke could have squashed himself in the doorway.
"Sister," he repeated confidently.
"Sasuke!" Tsumi exclaimed as Sasuke started crawling into the room. He managed to climb up onto Tsumi's bed beside her. Tsumi had already let go of my neck as she went to hug Sasuke.
Tsumi
I let go of Itachi's neck as Sasuke climbed onto the bed beside me. I hugged him tightly and I kissed him on his forehead as he started staring at me strangely, as if trying to say something. "A-awoo-aw-wii-tte?" he managed to say.
"Yes, Sasuke," I smiled back.
"Mother, can I have my dinner now?" Itachi suddenly asked. I noticed the clock on the wall and it read eight forty-five.
"Yes Itachi," mother sighed as Itachi walked out of my room. "Ok Sasuke, you'll have to let Tsumi finish her dinner now," mother tried coaxing Sasuke to leave me alone.
"No!" Sasuke put on a frown as mother tried pulling him away. She sighed.
"You can stay here with Tsumi as long as you're in bed by nine o'clock, and you let Tsumi finish her dinner," mother gave in.
"Yay!" Sasuke cheered as he grabbed a Kleenex box and sat beside me, just incase I spill my food.
Mother shook her head as she left the room after Itachi. Sasuke was watching me silently as I finished my chicken noodle soup, and put it aside. He held up the Kleenex box for me to wipe my mouth.
"Thank you very much," I thanked Sasuke as mother walked back into the room at around nine.
"Ok Sasuke, we have to let sister get her sleep now," mother said.
"Yesh!" Sasuke trooped out of the room in a crawl after mother, who turned around and told me that I could watch some TV if I wanted too.
'I guess…? I mean, I rested quite enough today, and I'm practically wide awake!' I thought to myself as I slipped on my slippers and walked out of my room.
Third person perspective
Tsumi walked down the hall to the living room which was connected to the kitchen, but on a lower landing.
"Sorry," Tsumi said to Itachi as she walked over to the couched and picked up the TV controller. "I made you miss dinner!"
"S'ok." Itachi was chewing on his negi ramen, which the rest of the family obviously didn't have for dinner.
'Aww, I made him skip a better dinner! Now I feel bad…'
"It's ok, really." By now, Itachi had put his dishes away in the sink, and walked over to sit down besides Tsumi on the couch. However, Tsumi was too busy feeling bad about it that she didn't notice what was going on.
Itachi had put his arm around Tsumi, and rested his head on her shoulder. He instantly fell asleep, being tired and all from the events of the day himself.
Tsumi started to stroke his cheek, wondering how his skin could possibly be so soft. 'And now I know why all of the girls drool over him,' Tsumi thought with a smile. She turned around to see that their father had brought her a blanket.
"I don't think you should wake him up," he whispered as he handed Tsumi the blanket.
"Thank you," Tsumi whispered back as she spread the blanket over Itachi and herself.
After her father had left, Tsumi turned on the TV and the volume down. She started flicking through the channels, stopping here and there to see what was on.
"Argh…" Itachi moaned as he rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. Then, he leaned on Tsumi with such force that she fell over on the couch with his head now resting on the armrest beside Tsumi's head.
'Great,' Tsumi thought as she pulled up the blanket, turned off the TV, and turned her body so that it wasn't all twisted up. 'And now I can't sleep…'
She lay there for quite a while, trying to doze off to sleep again. Every once in a while, Itachi would turn his body around, pull up the blanket higher, or suddenly twitch his head. Observing this, Tsumi started to wonder what he was dreaming about. She put her forehead to his, and startled herself when she saw something in her mind.
Premonition
"What am I doing here?" There was an evil laugh as a response. Itachi was extremely confused, but when the shadow stepped into the light, it revealed the jerk. "Mesu!"
"Haha, you stupid Uchiha! You'll never escape!" Mesu laughed again as Itachi tried untying his wrists when he realized that they were bound by ropes. Mesu walked over and kicked Itachi.
"Get away from me!" he yelled.
"I already have what I want." And Mesu laughed once again.
"What do you mean…? What did you do with Tsumi?" Itachi demanded.
"That, I don't have to tell you!" Mesu sneered.
"Itachi! Help me!"
"Tsumi!" Itachi heard Tsumi crying out for help, and he struggled even more. "Let her go you coward!" Itachi yelled at Mesu.
"Shut up, moron!" Mesu smirked. "So maybe I'm two years older than everyone else at the academy, but that doesn't really matter for anything! That means I'm older, stronger, and smarter than you lot!"
"You're…two years older?" Itachi found this hard to believe. 'I mean, this kid is just about the same size as me, so much weaker, and brainless. That's sad.'
"Itachi!"
'I'm certain that's Tsumi!' Itachi yelled in his head. "Tsumi!" Mesu pulled out a whip, and slashed it across Itachi's body. Itachi yelped in pain. "Let her go!"
Mesu laughed again. "Watching you suffer is far too amusing," he mused. "Should I finish you off quick and painless? Or torture you for long, endless hours?"
Suddenly, the pictures started getting blurrier, and it started to swirl and mix into one huge blob.
End of premonition
Tsumi found herself lying beside Itachi on the couch. 'Oww…my head…' she rubbed her temples, and shook her head. 'That hurt…I wonder what happened?' Tsumi looked down at Itachi, who was still sleeping soundly. 'It wouldn't hurt to get some answers, would it?'
'
She crept out of the warmth of the blanket, and slipped on her slippers. Then, she quietly tiptoed to her parents' room. Just as Tsumi raised her fist to knock on the door, she heard a voice. "Come in Tsumi," said her father.
Tsumi pushed the door open slowly to make sure that it didn't creak. Her mother was in the bathroom, and her father was reading a book in their bed. "What is it?" he asked Tsumi.
"Well, Itachi was sleeping, and he was stirring around, and then I started wondering what he was dreaming about," Tsumi started. "So I put my forehead to his, and then suddenly I saw something different." She told her father about her dream.
"Oh, Tsumi, that was no dream!" her mother said as she walked out of the bathroom.
"Then what was it?" Tsumi was confused. If it wasn't a dream, what else could it be?
"Tsumi, you have the advanced bloodline ability to see into the future. At times, you can have premonitions – a kind of vision into the future – that warn you about things to come. If I were you, I'd pay attention to them, because ninety-nine percent of the premonitions people have are true," her father explained.
"I have…an advanced bloodline ability to see into the future?" Tsumi was quite amazed. "So that's why they call me a child prodigy…" Tsumi wondered. 'Wait, did I say that out loud?'
"Yeah, that's why," her mother answered her question.
"Oh. Is an advanced bloodline good or bad?" Tsumi wanted to know more.
"It's usually a good thing. However, in other countries and places, it may be a bad thing. Like here, in Konoha, it's a good thing. Take the Sharingan, for example. It's a good thing because it helps us Uchihas to predict and copy moves," her father explained. "However, some other advanced bloodline abilities – which I'm sure – can be a bad thing. I haven't exactly heard of any specific ability, but I'm sure there are some out there, and they can't be all that great.
"Your ability to see into the future is a rare ability, Tsumi," he continued. "Not many people can see into the future, and have a heads-up about what's going to happen. You're very lucky to have the warnings to tell you what you should avoid, Tsumi."
Tsumi was lost in thought. 'If the premonition I had was ninety-nine percent true…then…' Her thoughts were interrupted when baby Sasuke thudded into the room.
"Mommy!" he whined.
"Come here Sasuke," she sighed as Sasuke started to climb up onto the bed.
"I think I should go now…" Tsumi started.
"We can talk more about your premonitions some other time," her mother said and made a gesture meaning 'because Sasuke's here now'.
"Good night," Tsumi said as she turned and walked out of the room.
Tsumi quietly tiptoed back to the couch where Itachi was supposedly sleeping. Just as she turned around to get back under the covers, Itachi's eyes fluttered wide open. Tsumi was startled by this.
"I heard everything," Itachi started. "I know about your advanced bloodline ability and your premonition."
"…" Tsumi had nothing left to say. Itachi continued.
"What did you see in your premonition?"
"I…uhh…"
"Tell me."
"I…don't know…"
"It's okay, really. Just tell me what you saw," Itachi said.
'If I tell him…he's going to worry, and I don't want him to worry…but if I tell him, he's going to be so overprotective about it that, well, I just actually might not like it…' Tsumi thought for a while. "I…saw…"
"Go on…?" Noticing that it was making Tsumi uncomfortable to say it, he edged over to let Tsumi lie beside him – which she did. He covered them with the blanket, and pulled her close. "You don't have to tell me if you don't feel like telling me. If it bugs you that much, then we can just forget about this and get some sleep."
"I guess I should tell you, just so you know what will most likely happen in the near future," Tsumi started. Itachi was listening intently as Tsumi continued. "I saw you tied up in some old building, and Mesu was laughing at you and threatening to kill you." There was an eerie silence, but Tsumi went on. "I heard from Mesu that I was kept somewhere locked up, and I knew he was going to do something to me. Also, I heard Mesu say that he was two years older than everyone else at the academy."
Itachi was stunned at such a premonition. 'For a first premonition…it's amazing that it can be so accurate,' he thought.
"I know, for a first premonition, it was quite scary, eh?" Tsumi answered the question that was lingering in his mind as if she had read it.
"Yeah. But it's not going to happen. I'll make sure of it." Itachi turned to his side and faced Tsumi's back. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and whispered into her ear. "I'll never let that happen to you. I promise."
There was a moment of silence. "Are you going to attempt to change destiny?" Tsumi whispered.
"I…don't know. However, I can try to prevent that from happening." Itachi kissed the back of Tsumi's neck lightly. Shocked by this, Tsumi said nothing as he buried his face in her hair, and fell asleep.
It took her quite a while to get to sleep. So many things were swarming in her mind. Thought about her premonition, and what fate and destiny had in store for them.
The next morning…
Sunlight had flooded into the room. Tsumi awoke first to find that Itachi still had one hand wrapped around her waist, and but his face was no longer buried in her hair. Carefully, Tsumi turned around to face the sleeping form of Itachi. 'He really is cute,' she thought as she took in his sleeping expression.
"Sister! Brother! Up! Up! Up!" Sasuke chanted happily as he crawled into the room.
"Aww…" Itachi moaned as he rubbed his eyes. Watching this, Tsumi thought he looked even cuter. Itachi's eyes fluttered open, and he was surprised to see Tsumi staring back at him less than three inches away.
"Ohayo," Tsumi said cheerfully.
"O…hayo," Itachi said with a confused expression as if he couldn't remember what happened the previous night before he fell asleep. Then, he noticed that the blanket wasn't covering them, and everyone in the world could have seen that his arm was wrapped around Tsumi's waist, and he looked like he was pulling her into him. Sasuke, who already noticed this, was staring strangely.
"What you doing?" Sasuke asked curiously. Even for a one-year-old, Sasuke could speak the simplest sentences because he listens in on conversations quite frequently, and he could easily imitate people's sayings.
"Tsumi was cold last night," Itachi lied.
"Oh." Sasuke noticed the blanket. "Bankit!" he pointed to it. Sasuke obviously didn't think that Itachi's explanation was very convincing.
"Well, I didn't want to wake her up to get it," Itachi lied again.
"Oh." Sasuke seemed to have understood now, and stopped his interrogation as he crawled off to the kitchen to wait for his breakfast.
"That was so close," Tsumi whispered in Itachi's ear.
"Yeah, I know. I don't think it fully convinced him, but it's good enough. At least he doesn't talk all that well, and if he tries to tell our parents, I don't think they'd understand…thankfully," Itachi sighed and he lifted his arm off of Tsumi's waist.
Tsumi got up from the couch, and slumped off to the bathroom after a very long night. She slipped off her pajamas and took a reeeeeeeeally long shower. By reeeeeeeeally long, I mean over thirty minutes of letting the hot water run down her back.
Banging was heard at the door. "Tsumi! Hurry up!" Itachi shouted over the water.
"Hn? Oh, right…" Tsumi quickly finished her shower, washed up, and brushed her teeth. Then, she slipped on her bathrobe and ran out of the bathroom at the speed of light to her room, earning confused looks from Itachi, who nearly got ran over.
"What the…?" Ignoring Tsumi, Itachi walked into the steaming hot bathroom, and ran back out because he almost suffocated because the air was so hot from Tsumi's shower. "It feels like…a sauna…in there…" he panted. Itachi quickly zipped back in to turn on the fan, and then ran back out so that he could breathe.
"What's wrong, Itachi?" his mother asked him as she was walking by.
"It's so hot in there!" he whined.
"From what?"
"Tsumi's shower!"
"…"
"What?"
"She's a girl! Give her a break!" his mother said finally.
"Hey, you're just sticking up for her!" Itachi pouted as his mother walked off to do the laundry. By this time, the room had cooled down, and Itachi gratefully walked in to take his shower.
Meanwhile…
"Sister! Sister! Sister!" Sasuke chanted happily as he ran into Tsumi's room and attached himself to her right leg.
"…?" Tsumi was confused, but she decided to play along. 'Thank god I change fast…'
"Sister!" Sasuke started up again.
"Sasuke," Tsumi sighed.
"Sister!" Sasuke kept saying.
"Yes?" Tsumi was trying to remain patient.
"Hungy!" Sasuke pouted.
"Then to the kitchen we go!" Tsumi picked Sasuke up in her arms and walked down the hall to the kitchen.
"Ohayo," their parents said.
"Ohayo," Tsumi responded. Sasuke tried to say 'ohayo', but ended up with "oho!" Tsumi giggled at this.
"What did you want for breakfast?" her mother asked as Tsumi set Sasuke down in his highchair.
"Umm...a bagel please," Tsumi said politely.
"Coming right up." Her mother popped a bagel into the toaster, and her father set down Sasuke's baby food. Then, he sat down at the table, took a sip of his coffee, and unfolded the morning paper.
As their mother set the bagel on the table in front of Tsumi, Itachi slumped into the room and plopped himself into a chair beside Tsumi. "And what would you like?" his mother asked him and rolled her eyes.
"A bagel?" Itachi was busy glaring at Tsumi.
"What?" she asked him.
"Your hot shower nearly suffocated me when I tried to go in after you," he growled. Tsumi giggled. "Have you ever heard about turning the fan on?"
"…well, yes."
"Then why don't you use it?" Itachi frowned when Tsumi started laughing at his face.
"Because I didn't want to, that's why." She laughed again when Itachi lifted an eyebrow at her.
"Right…" His mother set the plate with his bagel on it in front of him, but he didn't seem to have noticed.
"Brother!" Sasuke pointed at his spoon that had fallen on the floor beside Itachi's chair. When he realized that he was being ignored, Sasuke started kicking his feet furiously against the highchair.
"Huh? Oh." Itachi bent over to pick up the spoon, and tossed it into the sink. Then, he went to get a fresh spoon for his brother.
Tsumi giggled. She walked over to Sasuke and kissed him on his tiny forehead as she went to put her plate into the sink. Sasuke, who didn't know what happened, looked curiously at her.
"Sister? Foe!" Sasuke said.
"Yes, Sasuke!" Tsumi went and picked him up and carried him off to the living room. Itachi, who finished shortly after their departure, put his dishes in the sink as well, followed his siblings and joined them in watching TV in the living room.
"Brother!" Sasuke pointed at Itachi, who sat down beside him.
"Hai, Sasuke, brother," Tsumi rolled her eyes. Sasuke laughed with the fingernails on one hand on his chin. Suddenly, he started crying on the spot, and his mother rushed in and picked him up.
"He needs a diaper change," she mumbled to herself, and turned to the two kids. "You two go out and play for the day," she sighed as she rushed off to the bathroom.
"Well, there's nothing else to do," Tsumi muttered as she grabbed Itachi's hand and dragged him out the door.
"I want to study!" he complained.
"Just take one day off?"
"No!" With that, he managed to pry his wrist free of Tsumi's strong grip, and made his way back to the house. However, he was caught by Tsumi, who had jogged after him and grabbed his two wrists.
"Come on! Have some fun!" She dragged him into town.
Meanwhile…
"Hey, isn't that Itachi-kun?" Kawa pointed at the small black speck in the distance. She was drinking lemonade at a café with Miharu, Suru and Tamaru.
"Yeah!" Miharu immediately straightened her clothes, and fixed her hair, hoping that Itachi would notice her.
"Sorry Miharu, but Tsumi's with him. I doubt he would notice you," Suru pointed out.
"Shut up!" Miharu yelled in Suru's face. Everyone gasped.
"Miharu, you said a bad word!" Kawa gasped, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand.
"So?" Miharu was enraged. It was the first time that somebody said that a boy would not notice her because of another girl. She stood up ever so suddenly, and her chair almost toppled over behind her. "I'm going to get Itachi-kun to notice me even with his stupid sister with him!"
Miharu suddenly stormed off in the direction of the two little specks in the near distance.
"Wow…she's really taking this better than I thought," Kawa shook her head.
"That's…considered as good?" Suru's voice was shaking.
"Umm…yeah…"
"Let's see what she does now," Tamaru suddenly added in.
Miharu was quickly approaching Itachi and Tsumi, who were holding hands. Itachi, who finally gave in, was slowly strolling beside Tsumi. Seeing Miharu storm up to him was quite amusing because he didn't know what to expect.
"Let him go!" she yelled at a confused Tsumi.
"Wha…?" she had no idea what was going on, and before she knew it, Miharu was trying to pry Tsumi and Itachi's hands free. "What are you doing?"
Miharu didn't answer. She was trying her hardest to separate the two hands. Laughing was heard in the distance.
"Seriously girl, what are you doing?" Itachi asked with a raised eyebrow. Miharu looked up at his face, and she tried resisting the urge to throw her arms around his neck and hug him. "Umm…do you mind?" Itachi wasn't used to the fact that some girl had randomly walked up to him and his sister, and tried to separate their hands.
"Augh!" Miharu was frustrated, because the grip of Itachi's hand was too strong.
"Honestly, can you leave us alone?" Tsumi asked. Miharu turned to face her.
"Let go of my Itachi-kun!" Miharu screamed in her face.
"What…do…you…mean…?" Itachi didn't understand what was going on. "What do you mean by 'my Itachi-kun'? I belong to nobody but myself."
Tsumi started laughing. "Are you meaning to say that you like my brother?" she managed to get out before she burst out laughing again.
Kawa, Suru and Tamaru were watching this from under their umbrella at the café. Kawa took a sip of her lemonade.
"You know, this is getting more hilarious by the second!" she mused.
"That Tsumi is pretty smart!" Tamaru said, clearly impressed. She turned her attention back towards her ice cream.
"Honestly, Miharu – that's your name, right? – what are you doing?" Tsumi asked.
"Girl, I would appreciate it if you stopped bothering us. If you keep this up, I swear I won't mind hurting you," Itachi said with an icy tone.
"Itachi-kun!" Miharu threw her arms around Itachi. She could no longer resist – she longed for it too long.
Itachi said nothing. Instead, he grabbed Miharu by the shoulders, and shoved her off.
"That was mean!" Kawa ran up to Miharu, who had fallen to the ground from the impact. Suru and Tamaru were still sitting at the café, watching the scene. Kawa turned to her best friend. "Miharu, are you okay?"
"Yes," Miharu answered weakly.
Kawa turned to Itachi, ran up to him, and said an unexpected "now that Miharu's out of the way…do you like me?"
Itachi, who was stunned by this, stood there blinking. "What…the…hell…?"
"Please say yes!" Kawa pleaded.
"Umm, no. You girls are so annoying!" Itachi rolled his eyes, and pulled Tsumi after him.
"I told you guys already! Itachi wouldn't notice any of us as long as Tsumi's there with him!" Suru called over from the café.
"You…shut up," two angry girls muttered.
Meanwhile…
Tsumi burst out laughing. Itachi just frowned at this.
"That…was…the…most…hilarious…thing…I…ever…saw…in…my…life!" she managed to get out between laughs. She fell over on their front lawn, and grabbed her ribs as she was laughing.
"No, it wasn't."
"Yes it was! Well, of course you don't find it funny because you were the guy that had girls fighting over, but from somebody else's point of view, it was hilarious!"
"…" Itachi said nothing. He didn't like the idea of having girls fighting over him. It made him sick.
When Tsumi had finally finished laughing like a maniac, she sighed and rolled around in the grass. Itachi, who was getting tired from standing up, sat down beside her. He was wearing a navy blue t-shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, and a pair of black shorts, and sandals.
Tsumi rolled over to him, covering herself in sakura petals. She was wearing a crimson t-shirt with a black design on it, and black shorts with the little Uchiha fan in the corner of one of the legs.
Itachi lied down beside her, his hands behind his head. The gentle breeze blew the sakura petals from the tall tree in the air, making a beautiful sight as the clouds slowly passed by. "Tsumi," he started.
"Yes?"
"What does it feel like to have a premonition?" he asked ever so randomly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, is it scary?"
"Well, it was my first time, so it was slightly scary, I guess."
"Oh." Itachi sighed, and he closed his eyes. "Wouldn't that be so great if we could change destiny…" he drifted off to sleep, as did Tsumi.
The pair lay there on their front lawn, sleeping as a gentle breeze blew the sakura petals around. Sasuke, who was taking his afternoon nap, was snoozing inside, when he suddenly sensed something and woke up in tears. His parents ran into the room to see if he was okay. "What's wrong Sasuke?" his mother cooed.
"Brother an sister!" he yelled with his little voice.
"What? Brother and sister? What about them?" his father asked curiously. "Maybe he's picking something up with his senses?" he suggested to his wife.
"Pobem!" Sasuke yelled again.
"There's a problem with Itachi and Tsumi?" his father guessed. His mother went to look at the window – the two weren't there.
"Where could they have gone? Only two minutes ago, I saw them drift off to sleep!" their mother exclaimed.
"Bad!" Sasuke said.
"Bad…?" Sasuke wasn't helping in any way.
"Bad pobem wiff brother an sister!"
"Bad problem with Itachi and Tsumi?" his mother guessed.
"Hai!" Sasuke said confidently.
"I think this kid has been watching too much TV," his father said as he put Sasuke back into his crib and left the room with his wife.
Meanwhile…
"Where am I?" Itachi's eyes opened, but shut themselves again. They needed time to adjust to the light.
"You're in my lair," said a familiar voice. When Itachi finally opened his eyes again, he saw a shadow standing a distance in front of him.
"What am I doing here?" There was an evil laugh as a response. Itachi was extremely confused, but when the shadow stepped into the light, it revealed the jerk. "Mesu!"
"Haha, you stupid Uchiha! You'll never escape!" Mesu laughed again as Itachi tried untying his wrists when he realized that they were suddenly bound by ropes. Mesu walked over and kicked Itachi.
"Get away from me!" he yelled.
"I already have what I want." And Mesu laughed once again.
"What do you mean…? What did you do with Tsumi?" Itachi demanded.
"That, I don't have to tell you!" Mesu sneered.
"Itachi! Help me!"
"Tsumi!" Itachi heard Tsumi crying out for help, and he struggled even more. "Let her go you coward!" Itachi yelled at Mesu.
"Shut up, moron!" Mesu smirked. "So maybe I'm two years older than everyone else at the academy, but that doesn't really matter for anything! That means I'm older, stronger, and smarter than you lot!"
"You're…two years older?" Itachi found this hard to believe. 'I mean, this kid is just about the same size as me, so much weaker, and brainless. That's sad.'
"Itachi!"
'I'm certain that's Tsumi!' Itachi yelled in his head. "Tsumi!" Mesu pulled out a whip, and slashed it across Itachi's body. Itachi yelped in pain. "Let her go!"
Mesu laughed again. "Watching you suffer is far too amusing," he mused. "Should I finish you off quick and painless? Or torture you for long, endless hours?"
"Let Tsumi go!" That was all Itachi cared about; Tsumi's safety.
"And if I don't…?" Mesu slashed Itachi's helpless body again. Itachi grunted from the impact.
'Dammit! Mesu holds all of the cards right now,' Itachi thought. 'What can I do to save Tsumi…? And hopefully escape with my own life, too? I can easily save us both if I could somehow undo these damned ropes! Then I'll know for sure that I can beat up Mesu and his gang!'
"What's wrong? You're too quiet! I can fix that…" Mesu whipped at Itachi again. Itachi didn't do as much as blink. Mesu whipped harder. Itachi still blinked. "Why aren't you screaming, yelling, or panicking?" he asked Itachi with a scowl.
"I don't know. Am I supposed to?" Itachi asked with a smirk.
"You dare smirk at me!" Mesu broke into another long laugh. "Uchiha, you truly surprise me." Mesu closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Where's Tsumi?" Itachi asked calmly.
"Your sister…? Oh, you mean your girlfriend?" Mesu glared. "Correction: she's my girlfriend now!"
"She's not my girlfriend. That's wrong to be going out with your sister, Mesu." Mesu, who didn't like to be outsmarted, slashed at Itachi's mouth. Itachi did nothing; not even a blink.
"Shut up! I never said you could talk!"
A door creaked open from behind Mesu, who now had one leg up on a folding chair, and his arm rested on it. Two shadowy figures stepped into the room – Kensa and Keiren.
"What do you want?" Mesu snarled.
"Boss, the chi – err, I mean girl, won't shut up, and it's near impossible to keep her still," Kensa reported.
"Really now?" Mesu wondered out loud, and the two other boys nodded. "Bring her in," he decided.
Itachi felt a rush of hope when he heard that Tsumi was going to be brought into the room. 'It obviously can't be a good thing,' he reminded himself. 'I'll have to watch for my actions. I hope Tsumi does the same.'
Kensa left the room to retrieve Tsumi. "You're happy to see her, eh?" Mesu growled at Itachi.
"What do you mean…?"
The door open, and Itachi instinctively looked up. He saw Kensa, Samasu, and two other boys trying to drag Tsumi into the room, but they were failing miserably. Tsumi lashed out a few hard kicks at them to get them off of her. Of course, they had to touch her to keep her still, but it gave Tsumi the idea that they didn't want to touch her for just that reason. She looked up.
"Itachi!" she cried as she lashed out one last time at Kensa, and ran towards Itachi, who was sitting down in the corner, her hands also tied behind her back.
"Tsumi! Watch out!" Itachi yelled as Mesu suddenly grabbed Tsumi's shoulder and pulled her back, making her lose balance, and she fell into his arms.
"Get off me!" Tsumi's voice no longer sounded of one of a six-year-old; it had changed, and it sounded more firm, stern, and mature.
"And if I don't?" Mesu pushed her onto the floor, and sat on her stomach, his legs pushing into both of Tsumi's sides, locking her in place.
"Get off her!" Itachi growled, and tried to get up, but was immediately pushed back down by a heavily bruised Samasu.
"Tsumi…" Mesu started stroking her face.
"Don't touch me!" She attempted to kick him, but he held down her legs. He chuckled at the sight of Tsumi trying to free herself.
Mesu lied down on top of Tsumi, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. "Pervert!" she bellowed as Mesu tried pulling down her shorts, but failed miserably when she kicked his head away.
'Come on Tsumi…just a bit longer…' Itachi thought desperately. He was trying to break through the thick ropes by slicing them with a sharp part of the pipe that was on the wall. 'Yes!' He had broken free. Now he just had to wait for the right time to attack. He quickly glanced at Samasu, who looked like he was going to perform a hand seal for a jutsu any minute now, just in case anything happened. 'Hand seals…I've read about those before. Shinobi perform hand seals before they use a jutsu,' Itachi reminded himself before he went on with his attack.
"Tsumi…" Mesu kept murmuring as he started trying to lift up her shirt.
"Get off me! Pervert!" Tsumi was screaming. 'Itachi…make your attack now! Samasu's not looking!'
Just then, Itachi made his attack. He jumped up, and elbowed Samasu in his gut really hard. Samasu obviously doubled over from the pain. Kensa, who was standing nearby, ran up to punch Itachi, but he was too slow – Itachi was already gone. When Kensa finally saw Itachi, he had already beaten the other two guys, and was going after him. Kensa, who was slightly stupid and slow, couldn't even see where Itachi went to, was caught by surprise when Itachi appeared behind him and put him into a headlock. Then, Itachi remember something he read in a book about knocking someone unconscious, and he did just that. Whacking Kensa on the right spot of the head, Kensa collapsed on the ground in front of Itachi. 'The power of books…amazing,' Itachi thought. Then, he spotted Keiren coming up behind him, trying to kick him in his back. Itachi whipped around and lashed his leg out at Keiren before he could even respond, knocking him out instantly.
Samasu, who had somehow revived from the blow, had started staggering at Itachi. Suddenly, Samasu lunged at Itachi with speed, and tried to hit him with the same whip that Mesu had left on the ground. Itachi reacted fast – his left hand shot out and he caught the whip in mid air. Wrenching it out of Samasu's grip, Itachi had the whip under his control. He whipped it back at Samasu, which somehow knocked him out.
"At least now I have a weapon," Itachi spat. He glanced around the room – Mesu and Tsumi were gone. "Crap!" he cursed. Itachi ran to the door and tore it open, revealing a staircase that led up. Having one last look around the room to make sure that Mesu wasn't still there, Itachi ran up the stairs.
When he reached the top, he didn't know where to go. He had reached a fork – there were two paths that he could take – of two doors. 'Umm…which to take…?' Itachi suddenly felt a strange burst of energy surging to his eyes. 'What's going on…? Suddenly, he felt something happen to his eyes. He blinked. His vision changed. Everything was now different – he seemed to have been able to see things more clearly, and more…advanced? 'This is weird…' Ignoring it, Itachi looked around. 'Something tells me that I should go this way…'
Itachi turned to the left, and continued walking. He read in a book to always trust your first instinct, and he did just that. He walked down the dark, gloomy hall, and started looking right and left. There was a mirror, and he looked into it, and gasped. His eyes were red! And there were some strange looking black dots in his irises too. 'What's wrong with my eyes…?' Once again, he ignored his eyes, and continued looking on. Ever so suddenly, a piercing scream erupted from down the hall. "Tsumi!" he whispered and he ran towards the sound.
At the end of the hall, there was a door. Itachi didn't care where the door led to – he just knew that Tsumi's voice was coming from behind it, and he had to follow it. He kicked open the door, and there was another hall. He sprinted down the hall as the sound of Tsumi's screaming gradually got louder and louder. There was one, final door. Itachi burst through the door, and saw Mesu licking Tsumi's bare stomach – her shirt seemed to have been ripped shorter by hand. Tsumi looked up and saw Itachi, and she immediately gained new strength. She kicked at Mesu, and it sent him flying backwards. Itachi ran over and untied the ropes that bound Tsumi's wrists, and she was happy to be free from the thick, painful bindings.
"How dare you, bitch!" Mesu swore. He lunged at the Uchihas, but was immediately stopped by Itachi's kick, which sent him, once again, flying backwards into a wall. The room was almost empty with the exception of a window that led towards a balcony door. Mesu was lying in an awkward position against the wall like a rag doll. Slowly, he managed to lift his head, revealing bloodshot eyes, and a twisted smile. He laughed like a maniac, which made Tsumi grab onto Itachi for comfort.
"Did you seriously think that you could kill me, Uchiha?" he said insanely.
"I had no intention to kill," Itachi replied slowly. Suddenly, Mesu picked up the shuriken set that he had stolen from his father that was on his belt, and he took out a shuriken. Then, he threw it with all of his might. The shuriken went slicing through the air like a bullet, and flew towards Itachi. Tsumi grabbed Itachi's waist and pulled him down to the floor on top of her so that he wouldn't get killed. However, there were consequences for her action – she landed in a position that almost dislocated her left shoulder. Tsumi cried out in pain.
"Tsumi, are you okay?" Itachi asked with concern.
"I'll be alright." She winced when she tried to get back up.
"Too bad you two aren't going to be together ever again!" Mesu cried as he took out another shuriken and threw it down at Itachi, who just barely dodged it.
"Dammit!" Itachi cursed.
"What's the matter?" Mesu sneered. "Am I too fast for you?"
'Calm down…let me think this through…' Itachi slowed himself down, and regained his confidence. 'I can do this…I just need a plan…' He was still covering Tsumi, and he got off of her. 'Mesu's good in long-range combat…and I'm good in hand-to-hand combat…so I'll have to get near him, and I'll be able to attack him.' Itachi thought it through. He had a plan.
"Answer me!" Mesu screamed and he threw another shuriken, which Itachi dodged with amazing speed. "What the…where did he go?"
Before he knew it, Mesu was on the floor, and his shuriken set was lying on the other side of the room beside Tsumi. Itachi was standing over him with one foot stepping on his back, and he looked murderous with his strange, red eyes.
"Get off of me!" Mesu screamed. Itachi looked even more murderous.
"Not after what you have done to my sister!" He stepped down on Mesu even harder. Mesu screamed in pain.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard coming down the hall. Tsumi used her strength to push herself over to the shuriken set, and she grabbed it. Now she had defense against whoever was coming down the hall. She opened the set, and found the word 'Kotowaza' written on every single weapon. Tsumi grabbed a shuriken, and brought her remaining good arm to bring it up to her head's height, ready to launch at the door if more of Mesu's gang members came in.
Itachi grabbed a steel rod that he found lying on the floor, and he held it at his side, just incase something went wrong, he would have a weapon.
Then, the door burst open to reveal two figures with ANBU masks on – one was male, and one was female. The girl pulled her fox mask off to reveal the mother of the Uchihas.
"Tsumi! Itachi!" she cried as she ran towards Tsumi, who obviously was in worse shape than Itachi.
The man pulled his tiger mask off to reveal the man of the Uchiha household. "Its okay guys, you can come in!" he called down the hall. Two more men came in and pulled off their masks – one was a wolf mask; the other was a hound mask.
"Itachi, are you all right?" asked his father.
"Yeah, I just got slashed across the face with a whip countless times, that's all," Itachi said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
"Your son's just about as sarcastic as me," the man with the wolf mask stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm Raimei," he informed the kids, "and this is my twin brother, Inazuma," Raimei introduced.
"Hey," Inazuma said. "You kids all right?"
"Yeah," Tsumi and Itachi responded in unison.
"Now what about this kid…?" Inazuma walked over to Mesu, and motioned for Itachi to stop stepping on him. Itachi reluctantly lifted his foot, and he collapsed on the floor. Inazuma picked Mesu up by the collar of his shirt, which was covered in blood on the front.
"Let me go!" Mesu screamed and tried to kick Inazuma away.
"Jeez, this kid thinks that he can beat me up?" Inazuma scowled when Mesu gave him the finger. "He's a Kotowaza, eh?"
"Yeah," Itachi said.
"God mom! That hurts!" Tsumi yelped as her mother accidentally pushed her shoulder.
"So sorry!" her mother looked worried, and she picked Tsumi up in her arms, and carried her out the door. "You're going to the hospital," she announced.
"Aww man!" Tsumi pouted.
Mesu's eyes followed Tsumi out the door. "Don't even think about it," Itachi growled at him.
"Damn you Uchiha!" Mesu cursed.
"Shut up, twerp!" said Raimei. He and Inazuma, the twins from an unknown clan, were left with their uncle when they were young. Their uncle passed away quite recently, and left them to live by themselves. They had black hair, well built figures, and looked firm and strong. Raimei had a slightly larger jaw, and Inazuma had a smaller face and was fairly skinnier, making that just about the only way to tell them apart. They both went over, tied up Mesu's arms, and they dragged him out the door, leaving Itachi and his father behind.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Itachi was busy gathering up the shuriken that were stuck in the wall, and he put them back into the set. "I think we'll need these as evidence," he said.
"Of course." His father continued. "Itachi, I think we need to talk about your fights with Mesu lately," he started. "I think that if all possible, you should avoid Mesu as much as you can."
"I didn't know that he was spying on us!" Itachi whined. "Me and Tsumi were sleeping on the lawn, and first thing I knew when I woke up, I was tied up in a clammy, dark basement, and Mesu was mocking me, teasing me, and slashing at me with a whip."
Itachi left an eerie silence. His father spoke first. "I think we should bring you to the hospital to make sure that you don't have any serious injuries," he said.
"'Kay." The two left the room, and walked down the hall, stairs, and out of the door. Itachi turned around to look at the building – it was an abandoned warehouse. "There is no way that I'm ever coming back here again," Itachi said quietly as he followed his father to the hospital.
Later that day…
The Uchiha family – even Sasuke – was at the Midori Hospital.
"Isha, is there anything wrong with my children?"
"No, Uchiha-san, there isn't anything that's life threatening to your children. Tsumi just has a dislocated shoulder, and several bruises on her body. Itachi had several cuts and bruises all over his body as well, but they're fairly deeper than Tsumi's because his were cut in with a whip. I'll write a prescription for a medical cream for both of your children, and if they use it twice a day – once in the morning, once in the evening – for about a month, they'll be all right."
"Thank you."
"Mother, where's father?" Tsumi asked. She was listening in on her mother's short conversation with the doctor.
Her mother sighed. "Your father is at Hokage-sama's office to register a restraining order," she said. "Ten feet, I think he said he wanted."
"Oh." Tsumi looked over to Itachi, whose bed was beside hers. He was sleeping soundly from exhaustion.
"That's ten feet for both of you!" her mother continued. "That Kotowaza Mesu! He has no courtesy or politeness for others!"
"Morhwe, his whole clan is like that."
There was silence for a while. It was broken when Tsumi's father walked into the room.
"Fadur!" Sasuke cried.
"Shh!" his mother covered her lips with one hand, pointed to the sleeping Itachi with the other.
"Sowie," he whispered, and put his own finger to his lips.
"So?" she turned to her husband.
"Hokage-sama has agreed to the restraining order," he whispered to her.
"Thank god! Did you hear that, Tsumi? You won't have to worry about Mesu ever again!"
"Well, not really, I mean, he can still get his friends to get me," Tsumi said quietly.
There was a long silence. "I'm…going to go back to Hokage-sama and register a restraining order for them too," her father said finally, and he pecked his wife on the cheek as he walked out of the door.
"Repain ober?" Sasuke asked curiously.
"Never mind Sasuke; never mind." There was another pause. "Say, Tsumi…"
Tsumi had already fallen asleep.
A week later…
Tsumi and Itachi were allowed home. Tsumi, of course with a dislocated shoulder, still had her bandages and sling on.
"Mother! This thing is so annoying!" she complained.
"Tsumi, it's like that! Just wait until the end of the month and you should be fine," her mother repeated for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. "If you're careful, you'll only have to wear it for about a month."
"I know already!" Tsumi rolled her eyes as she drank her orange juice from her sippy cup.
Itachi was alone in his room, lying in his bed. The cream really burned his face, but he only had to live with it for about another five minutes. 'I wonder…why Mesu did that to Tsumi.' He always cared about the safety of Tsumi more than his own life.
The window was open, and the gentle morning breeze blew through his hair.
Meanwhile…
Kotowaza Tanto was sitting in front of his TV, drinking deeply from a glass of wine. His wife, Kogatana, was out to collect Mesu from the hospital, so he was left alone in their house. 'Of course, Mesu was an accident – he wasn't meant to be born. The stupid bitch wasn't supposed to give birth to such a runt,' he thought.
"Tanto, we're home!" Kogatana called. She brought Mesu to his room, and then she came back downstairs to hear sounds of moaning and groaning coming from the TV. "Are you watching porno again?" she asked with a frown.
"So? What's it to you?"
"You know, Mesu's leaning all of that stuff from you, and he's only eight!"
"And your point is…?"
"He tried to rape some six-year-old Uchiha girl," Kogatana said.
"So?"
"Hey, geezer! I want to watch too!" Mesu had run down the stairs, and sat himself on the couch beside his father, who stuck his hand down Mesu's shorts.
"Tanto! What are you doing to my son!" Kogatana cried.
"Meh. I do this all the time, eh, Mesu?"
"Yeah," said Mesu. His mother couldn't take it – she screamed and ran upstairs to her room, and slammed the door behind her.
"Who cares about her?" Tanto sneered.
"Yeah! Who cares about her!" Mesu sneered after his father.
…
'I guess we really can't change destiny, eh?' he thought to himself.
TBC