(( Oh jeez. I just learned at the dinner table that my dad read the first two pages of this chapter when he was transferring them off of his computer for me. You can only imagine how red I turned.
Anyways, he suggested that I get an editor. Gee. Thanks, dad. My point being, if anyone with noted spelling and grammar skills is interested in the position, just say so in your review. ))
CHAPTER 4: MEMORY
Kakashi pressed onwards through the rain, wet strands of his pale hair sticking wetly to his masked face before being blown away by the fierce winds. It was pitch black outside, and he kept to the muddy ground in speed's best interests; if what he had heard earlier was correct, there was little time. Pak-kun and the others weren't with him. As sharp as their noses were, nature at its worst would have long washed away the scents of his quarries.
He had every reason to worry for his students' safety. As skilled as the three of them were, they were no match for the danger that awaited them, even accompanied by two others. With such a fabled and feared enemy on the loose, chaos would befall the Fire Country once more if he wasn't stopped. There was no secret as to his motives.
I should have known better, the former ANBU captain berated himself, increasing the strength of his strides.
He had been concerned for Sasuke. Even after rising in the ranks of Konoha's elite ninja, the brooding prodigy showed no signs of forgetting the revenge he had vowed so long ago. As much as Kakashi liked to think his student could let the past go, he knew otherwise. Allowing him to finally fulfill that oath had seemed the best course of action nearly twenty-four hours ago, but now he saw what a mistake it had been. One of the biggest mistakes he had ever made.
He prayed he would make it in time to fix that mistake as he hurried through the underbrush. Although thick, leafy branches hung over the rough path he took, rain fell through like there was nothing to block its descent at all. He remembered a time at which the water dripping into his eyes would have bothered him greatly. But after many years of enduring worse conditions, the weather hardly concerned him anymore.
The same could not be said for the small animal off the side of the road, huddled shivering beneath a sopping bush. Recognizing the creature, Kakashi stopped and stooped by it. It shook the rain having gathered on its white hindquarters off, the ruffle in its fur passing along its small body to the scruff of its neck. It shook its head in turn, brown-tipped ears flopping as the tiny dog tried in vain to keep itself dry.
Akamaru stood and sniffed the Jounin's hand in a gesture of greeting. He normally never condoned to such actions with his dogs, and they normally never considered them in the first place. They were more comrades than best friends, or even companions, as per ninja tradition. This pup was too young to know, and his owner too kind.
Even so, it was remarkable what aptitude he showed when sniffing out an opponent, or ally's chakra, given the sheltered circumstances of his upbringing. It was undoubtedly the only way he could have found him, what with the pouring rain. But now was no time for pondering.
"Where are they?" Kakashi asked, resuming both business and personal concern.
Akamaru barked, then bounded off into the thick woods.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Hanabi blinked the loose strands of hair from her eyes, arms straining with the weight she carried. Even with her Byakugan activated, it was nearly impossible to see through the thick storm that beat through the shelter of the trees and on to the exhausted, battle-worn travelers. All-seeing eyes glanced down at the comatose being suspended between her and Kiba, penetrating his flesh. His heartbeat was weak and uneven, and as a result his skin had taken on a deathly pallor visible even through the suffocating darkness of the night.
Her luminous eyes wandered. With his back turned to her, the full brunt of her sister's energetic teammate's injuries could not be seen. But she had seen him bleed. With little time and resources, the wounds had simply been disinfected and bandaged before they had continued in their pressed search for safety and shelter.
A small distance beyond him was Sakura. Draped over her back was Naruto, lifeless and unmoving as his friend and rival. From what Hanabi could see, his vital signs were normal. But a festering mass of chakra hovered thickly in his navel area, twisting around nearby veins and arteries and snaking its way through his entire body. The same occurred in Sasuke, the phenomenon originating in the strange mark on his neckthat had bled into existance like a spilled blot of ink.
Well versed in the Hyuuga style, Hanabi knew precisely how to insert chakra forcibly into another. Through her palm and fingertips, the human body was literally her plaything. But although perfectly capable of inflicting damage on the organs of her target, the harmful energy she sent into them never stayed for long. How such large amounts of chakra lingered inside and seemed to infect two of Konoha's most accomplished ninja completely escaped her. Such an ability was fearsome, and far beyond the scope of her power.
Sakura stopped for a moment, shifted her weight, and continued walking. While she kept a consistent pace, it was evident how exhausted the young woman had quickly become. With three members of the team gravely injured, she had no choice but to take on the leadership role, and the pressure hadn't taken to her kindly. Though she had admirable intelligence and resolve, the kunoichi was used to acting as support on all of her missions, supplying strength and knowing when it was needed.
She was excellent at thinking on the spot, Hanabi knew. But taking responsibility of the lives of four others was not something she could do successfully. And the youth didn't doubt the immense burden of leading many more than oneself; she herself had simply followed orders for a great part of her life. She had been expected to eventually lead the Hyuuga family for an amount of time, but her sister had finally stepped up to the plate and proven more fitting for such an important job. But it was no big disappointment, as she preffered to be on the sidelines, wheras Sakura was undoubtedly used to being put there instead of backing down.
They continued on through the forest for an immeasurable amount of time. It grew no darker, no lighter, no less wet, and no more muddy. And all the while, nobody spoke.
Then suddenly, Kiba turned his head warily.
"What is it?" Sakura asked, hearing the footfalls stop behind her.
"I think..." Kiba started, looking perplexed. "... I just smelled Akamaru."
"But isn't he with you?"
A shake of the head. "I sent him off a while ago to look for help."
"Oh..." Sakura sighed somewhat dejectly. She added quietly, averting her gaze out of habit, "Good thinking."
"Someone's coming," Hanabi interjected, peering through the wind and rain.
"Is it an enemy?"
"I'm not sure. It's too dark to tell."
"We should prepare ourselves, then." Sakura slid Naruto off of her back and layed him down on the ground, instructing the other two to follow suite with their burden. She drew a small knife from her back pouch and held it at the ready.
Several minutes passed, and nothing happened. The three ninja stood waiting, staring into the woods as if transfixed, expecting another Hidden Sound shinobi to come bursting from the wet leaves with the intent to kill.
And eventually, someone did step from the dark foliage.
"Akamaru!" Kiba exclaimed surprisedly, as a white shape came leaping towards him. He caught the small dog in his hands and allowed him to climb on to his shoulder. At first, he scrambled for purchase on the wet clothing, but Akamaru was quickly able to sit comfortably like he had done so many times. Once he was settled, he sniffed at the long mark running up the side of his friend's face, then down at the numerous bandages wrapped tightly around his torso, beginning to whine softly.
The rugged man winced, as if reminded of his injuries. "I'm fine," he replied, putting one hand in his pocket and patting his companion briefly on the head with the other.
A small ways away, Hatake Kakashi surveyed the scene in front of him. Behind Kiba, who had obviously been wounded, lay two of his students in a form of stasis. Resignation flooded his veins as he realized he had been too late after all.
The third of his pupils had nearly dropped to her knees in relief, and strode towards him. She was soaking wet and covered in bruises, but yet the most alarming feature was her hair. When he had seen her last, it had been long and groomed for a special occasion, but a moment ago he almost hadn't recognized her because of it.
While identical to the evening before in colour, it had been hacked mercilessly short and uneven. The locks in front of her ears were of different lengths, and stray hairs longer than the rest fell down on to her shoulders and back. He didn't think for a second that this change had been of her own accord.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked, casting a regretful glance at the prone forms of Naruto and Sasuke. The outcome was already apparent, but he could only base his next move off of the details he was to recieve.
Sakura followed his gaze for a quick second, then trained her eyes slightly to the right. "Earlier today," she said, "we were attacked by a ninja from the Hidden Sound. We defeated him and went to an inn for the night, but we were attacked again by a giant snake and many more ninja."
"This all happened without much incident, but when we were about to leave..." She trailed off, trying to remember. "It was odd. I'm not sure what happened, but everything seemed to freeze and then Sasuke suddenly got a strange mark on his neck and collapsed."
Kakashi was thrown momentarily at what she said. It wasn't as if he was surprised at the events she described; he had known that to be what had happened as soon as he layed eyes on the Uchiha prodigy. But rather it was the absence of a certain suffix that was normally said at the end of his name. He wished to inquire as to her suddain change in speech, but that was another matter for another time. He listened further as she continued to explain.
"There was a woman from the bar on the main floor behind him. She conjured a ball of oddly coloured fire in her hand, and let it burn her skin right off. And there was an entirely different person underneath. He had long hair and pale skin, and eyes like a snake's."
"It happened so fast... He used some manner of paralasis technique on all of us, but Naruto managed to dispell it. The man grabbed him and held him in place with a long tongue, then used a strange seal on him. He fainted right after that. Kiba bit himself and attacked then, but the man drew a sword right from his mouth and cut him across the chest a few times. Hanabi tried to attack too, but she ended up being thrown against the wall."
"I didn't even have time to react before he was behind me, and..."
Sakura's voice had begun to break. She looked desperately up at the sky, eyebrows creasing, and Kakashi could have sworn he had seen her carefully wipe stray tears from the corners of her eyes. His stomach churned. Had she been raped?
"He held my by the hair," she spat, utter contempt suddenly dripping from her words, "and do you know what he said? He told me, 'It would do you great good if I killed all four of your friends right here, right in front of you', like I was some weak thing that needed to toughen up. So I cut my hair, and stabbed him in the hand."
"And the bastard laughed! He grabbed me by the throat and tossed me against the wall like some piece of trash, and said, 'But that's not why I came here'. I remember every word!"
Still seething, Sakura looked angrily at her feet. She took a few furious breaths, then said in a smaller voice, "And then he left. I thought more ninja would come and attack us, so I tried to get everyone to shelter as quickly as possible without carefully looking at their injuries. Now we're in the middle of nowhere, and the only person we've seen since then is you, Kakashi-sensei. I've made a mistake."
"That makes two of us," he would have liked to say. Instead, he offered what comfort he had.
"There's nothing we can do about it now. The best course of action is to get everybody indoors and safe, and I know a town a few hours' distance from here."
Sakura nodded, and started towards Naruto and Sasuke.
Kakashi stopped her, and said, "You're tired. I'll get one of them." After a moment, he added, "If that is all, do you two have any comments to make?"
Kiba and Hanabi, who had been standing nearby the entire time, had the decency to look embarassed. The former shrugged and turned away, whilst the latter simply replied, "I've always been better at listening to conversations than having them."
As Kakashi hiked Sasuke up on to his back, the two of them reassumed their positions in carrying the other. It was inconvenient from a tactical standpoint to only have one tired kunoichi able to respond immediately to an attack, but it was a matter of ability. Kiba was far too weary, although he tried his best not to look it, to carry such a weight, and Hanabi was built too small to carry a full grown man. She was amazed that Sakura had been able to for such a long time.
Kakashi immediately took to the front of the group as they set out again, eventually deciding that a direct route to their destination would be best, while not the safest option. He doubted they would run into anymore enemies at this point, however. Sakura happily fell to the back, content with carrying the bags the others seemed to have forsaken.
oooooooooooooooooooo
At first, everything was dark and silent. He couldn't move nor speak. He knew not whether his eyes were open or closed, or if he was sitting or standing or laying down or simply floating through empty space. Was he moving? He didn't know. He didn't know where he was, what he was, who he was, what he had seen, heard, felt, touched or been touched by.
And then suddenly he was falling, and there was noise and colour and words and feelings. Everything he had ever experienced or known or seen or heard or felt swirled around and over and under and into him, and he was full. He looked down and plunged into cold, black water, and feeling bled and bubbled from his lungs as air towards the surface, where it would never be seen again. He fell further and further, closer and closer to the bottom.
He touched the water's surface. Ripples spread from his feet, from which sprung grass and sky and clouds. Sasuke looked around. He stood in the precise middle of a vast field, and tall grass reached up to his waist. Each blade stood perfectly erect and was exactly the same length and thickness and colour, a pasty gray. Dark, slate-coloured clouds hung completely still in the pale sky, suspended by thick wires that stretched to above the world itself.
A chilly wind blew through the field, and he shivered. But nothing else moved. Unsure of how to take all the oddities presenting themselves before him, he stole a glance behind him. Only more grass met his eyes, stretching on for miles and miles. Feeling he was getting nowhere quickly, he turned to take a step and nearly bumped into something.
There was a tall house in front of him, so close that if he moved more than a foot he would walk right into it. Growing uneasy, he turned around again only to come face to face with the same brick wall he had been faced with not seconds ago. A quick glance to the right, and sure enough, there was the house. Sighing, he reached for the handle and pulled the door open.
More brick lay behind the doorframe. Sasuke frowned, beginning to get frustrated. He took a step back to get a better look at the house so he could find another way in, and found himself somehwere completely different from where he had just been.
He stood at the beginning of a long corridor, furnished in the grays and browns that seemed so prominent in whatever strange world he was in. Numerous doors extended down both sides of the hallway, but after his encounter moments ago, he decided against opening any of them. So he started to walk. Further and further down the corridor, the doors began to grow smaller. With every step he took, they became littler and littler until they were completely gone.
A new section of the hallway began, and when he stepped into it, he heard a note being played on a piano somewhere far off. It repeated itself again and again like a pulse, never differing in length or volume. While walking down this particular part of the hall, he started to notice something strange. Every once in a while, a part of the wall that didn't match the rest would appear. Its wallpaper was a different pattern, and there would usually be a hall-table with an empty vase or basin jutting out into the corridor. Like parts of another house had randomly been taken out and put into this one.
After a while, Sasuke found his footsteps falling into rhythm with the endless chords echoing throughout the hall. At this point, other corridors had begun branching out from the one he roamed. But still he went forwards; the corridors were much too small for him to fit into, and were more resemblant to cracks in the wall.
But then an abnormally wide one jumped out at him. He stopped walking to look at it, and the piano died out completely. The entrance looked wide enough for him to fit through. He turned sideways and took a step into it, his palm flattening against the wall. But when he moved to bring his other foot in as well, the corridor suddenly narrowed considerably and he had to leap out to avoid being crushed.
He stared at disbelief in the incredibly thin crevace that now stood before him, taking barely an inch of the wall's space. He wished desperately to try and pry what had once been a corridor apart again with his own two hands, but knew the futility of hoping when such a task was beyond human capability. He turned to continue down the main hall, but saw something else. There was now a wall in front of him, with a steel door.
Sasuke looked behind him, only to see the same. Seeing that there was no other choice, he twisted the handle and decided that whoever had created the world he was in had an increasingly sick sense of humor.
oooooooooooooooooooo
It must have been three in the morning when Dairei Jin was awoken from his sleep by a knock at the door. Who in their right mind would be awake at that hour, and in that weather? Nevertheless, he reluctantly slid from under the sheets and smoothed his ruffled hair before throwing on a housecoat. It was his duty as headman to answer any concerns of the village, or its visitors, no matter what the circumstances.
He flicked on the hallway light as he stepped up to the door, and peered through the window on the side to see who it was that had disturbed him. He leaped back with a surprised smile and hastily slid the door open.
"It's been too long, Kakashi-dono." He caught a glimpse of the young man sprawled over his old accomplice's back, and of the exhausted-looking ninja behind him. It didn't take ten years of business experience for him to see that something was amiss. "May I ask what brings you to Fuuma no Sato?"
"I would explain," the silver-haired man said, "but we're in desperate need of a hotel and a hospital. I apologize for the trouble." He gave Jin an earnest look from his uncovered eye.
"I see. I'll make reservations right away." The headman was half-way through the door to his study before he turned to face the small group again. "Come in, before you catch cold." They greatfully obliged and begun to slide their sandals off, but before the door had been closed again, he noticed another individual suspended between the boy with white eyes and the man with the dog on his shoulder. "You can put those two in the guest room."
Once he had disappeared, Sakura asked, "Who was that? You seem to know each other."
"Dairei Jin," Kakashi answered. "The headman of this village. I worked with him for a while ten years ago." He stepped up into the hallway, beckoning for the others to follow.
They went past the study, then to the right as the hall stopped and divided at the end. Just around the corner was a large enough room, with the same beautiful wooden floors and panneled walls as the rest of the house. Hanabi felt embarassed for tracking muddy water all the way through it.
As if perfectly acquainted with the dwelling, Kakashi strode to the closet and withdrew a folded futon, which he held under his arm before setting it up on the floor. He leaned over and let Sasuke slide gently on to it. Kiba and Hanabi padded over as well, and carefully set Naruto down beside him. Sakura hesitated for a moment, before putting the numerous traveling bags she carried beside them.
As they passed the study again, Jin stuck his head out and covered the phone he held with a hand. "Make yourselves at home in the living room," he said, before sliding the door shut and resuming a heated discussion. "I don't care if you're booked, Yamada! There are six people here, and..."
Kakashi led them to the left of the entryway, where there was a large room. In the centre there was a low table, underneath which were stacked many thin cushions for sitting. An enormous window took up most of one of the walls, and there was a sliding door opposite it that lead to the kitchen, from what could be seen through the rice-paper.
Kiba contentedly sat down in one of the corners and leant into the crook where the two walls met, closing his eyes. Akamaru curled up beside him. Hanabi sat on her knees in front of the table after withdrawing one of the cushions, and made do with pretending to stare interestedly at the flower arrangement in front of her. And Kakashi stood stationary at the window, either lost in the rain that continued to pour outside or all that had recently happened.
Sakura was unsure of what to do. Everyone looked to be too tired or toodeep in thought for her to try and start a conversation with them, and knew that even if she attempted to it would end quickly. So she said more to the room than its inhabitants, "I'm going to check on the other two," and started back the way she had came, unsurprised that no-one answered.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Sasuke looked around, puzzled. It was pitch black again. He glanced down at his palms to see that they were completely visible, as was the rest of him. His skin and clothes glowed palely, like those of a ghost's. Shrugging it off as another one of the many side effects of this world, he took an experimental step. He couldn't have been standing if there was nothing there to stand on, even if he couldn't see it.
Sure enough, his feet met something that felt like a hardwood floor. Confident that whatever it was he was standing on wasn't about to give away beneath him, he continued in what direction he hoped was straight. Although the place felt safe, wandering around in circles with zero visibility wouldn't get him to wherever he was supposed to be going.
He stopped. What was he doing? He was acting like there was purpose to where he was headed. All he had been doing for God knows how long was following a hunch that there was something waiting at the end of the invisible path he followed. The only thing he had accomplished was acting like an idiot. Just acting for all this time.
As soon as he had such thoughts, something hard crashed into his nose and he fell backwards off his feet. While picking himself up from the floor, Sasuke thought of how hard Naruto would be laughing if he could see him blundering around like this. He bittery brought his hands in front of him to feel smooth wood. It moved forewards slightly under the pressure, and he came to the conclusion that there was another door before him.
He sighed. As much as he resented to admit it, it would be extremely pointless if he were to go back to wherever he had started at this point. So he pushed the door open, and nothing changed. He stood in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but darkness stretching out on all sides.
Then another something came plowing into him, and he had to step back several times to avoid falling over again. Growing angry, he strode forewards and furiously pushed the second door open, expecting to be faced with more of the same.
Instead, there lay a scene that had been etched into his mind like permanent graffiti ever since it had happened.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Sakura was suddenly jolted from her light sleep by a small noise. Her eyes opened slowly and blearily, but she quickly found the source. While he had been in a nearly deathlike state before, Sasuke's breaths now came audibly and in short, occasional gasps. His brow had furrowed in his fitful sleep, and though it could have just been lingering raindrops from outside, it looked as if a feverish sweat had begun to break out on his face. His skin was flushed. And beside him, Naruto looked as peaceful as if he was simply taking a nap.
She reached out and put the back of her palm on his forehead, but surprisedly drew it back. He was extremely warm. Beginning to panic, she fumbled the seals for a basic healing technique and held her hands over him. As soon as they began to glow, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over her. Her eyelids began to grow heavy and she had trouble staying upright, and after a moment she would have pitched over backwards if someone hadn't caught her by the shoulders.
"There's no need to overexert yourself if there's nothing that can be done," Kakashi said as she embarassedly straightened herself up again.
"Has something happened?" Sakura asked, rubbing her eyes to clear her senses.
"Jin managed to get you and Hanabi a room at the hotel," he explained, gathering Sasuke up off the futon again.
"But what about...?"
"Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke have a spot at the clinic for the night. Don't worry," he added, noting her concerned look. "Someone will be keeping an eye on all of them."
"What about you?"
"Jin and I have some catching up to do. There's business that needs immediate attention."
"I see." Eyes downcast, Sakura gathered herself from the floor. She lifted the straps of numerous travelling bags over her head and on to her shoulder.
Kakashi stifled a sigh, and said, "You'll find out eventually. But it's late, or rather, early."
By this time, Kiba and Hanabi had entered the room and lifted Naruto from the thin mattress.
"Let's go, then. The clinic is nearer, so we'll go there first."
Jin bade them farewell as they left his home and stepped on to the wet street, quickly becoming lost in the flurry of raindrops. It was a short walk, but a wet one; in five minutes, they became as wet as they had been upon entering the village an hour ago after being out in the horrid weather for many times as long.
The clinic was a small building, and low to the ground. And in the traditional style that seemed to be so common in this small town, the tiled roof that hung over the entrance gave a good foot or so for them to attempt at drying off before entering. An elderly man sat awake at the reception desk, and peered at them through small spectacles before leaving his seat.
"I was told to expect some ninja a short while ago, and here they are. This way, please." Without waiting for anyone to reply, he started further into the building.
Naruto and Sasuke were put in similar rooms, both very close to each other. While the clinic appeared small, it was actually much larger and had a dozen or so rooms with a bed and window. Sakura left Naruto and Sasuke's bags on the chairs in their respective rooms.
After this was done, Kiba turned to leave only to be stopped by Kakashi.
"Look," he said, raising an eyebrow in annoyance. "I'm fine."
"Don't argue," came the reply, "unless you want to bleed to death overnight." The speaker glanced pointedly at the blood beginning to seep through the worn bandages Kiba sported.
He paled considerably at such a sight, and followed the old man down the hallway without a word.
From the clinic, the trip to the hotel was but a minute or two long. But by looking at the tired faces of the two young woman that arrived there when they stepped up to the counter, one could have easily guessed they had been outside for hours.
"Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hanabi, am I right?" The girl at the counter asked, as the man who had escorted them there went out into the rain again. They looked repproachful; their last encounter with a young lady at the entrance to an inn had ended disasterously. But eventually they consented.
"You've been expected. Your room has been prepared for you," she said, coming from behind the entrance desk. "It's right this way."
Feet heavy, they followed her down the corridor to where their room was, beginning to grow tired of the same old-fashioned style of dwelling. They eventually stood in front of a sliding door, two paper lamps on either side, which the hotel clerk opened for them before rushing off again. And it was a nice enough room. The futons were already set up, with fresh pillows and sheets. But it was just more of the same, and it was too early in the morning for anyone to have a relatively good opinion of anything.
Sakura would have liked very much to simply fall on to her futon with her soaked clothes on, and fall asleep right away. But before she could do so, Hanabi spoke up tenatively.
"Um... I was just wondering, Sakura-san," she said with a hint of nervousness, "if, since your hair is already wet, I could try and even it out for you."
The kunoichi blinked, surprised. She had completely forgotten about the pink mess on her head. In any case, she would eventually have to fix it herself anyways, or else go around looking ridiculous to the general public.
"I'd really appreciate it," she answered with an apologetic smile, and sat down cross-legged on her futon.
Hanabi drew a kunai from its holster and stationed herself behind her, speculating what to do for a moment before beginning to cut. Sakura allowed herself to drift off, falling in and out of a trance-like state of sleep. The words of the snake-like man continued to haunt her, pushing her back from the beckoning frontier of dreams every time she strayed closer to it.
And then the young Hyuuga stood, walked around to the front, and continued her work. "You know," she attempted to joke after a while. "You did a very good job, considering the circumstances."
Her hand flew to her mouth almost immediately afterwards. "I'm so sorry!" she cried, appalled at what she had said.
"It's fine," Sakura assured her, wincing inwardly. It had been a good effort.
There was silence for a while more, before she noticed the speedy progression at which her hair was being trimmed. "Where did you become so good at this?"
Hanabi looked mildly surprised before answering. "When I was younger, I used to cut the hair of my dolls when I was bored."
"I made clothes for mine," Sakura replied with a small laugh. "But I'm afraid most of my talent for sewing has left me since then."
She recieved a short giggle in return, before Hanabi drew back, finished. She handed her the kunai for her to see herself in, before standing and beginning to gather the severed hair from the floor.
Sakura marveled at the reflection on the kunai's multiple smooth facets. While her hair had once been able to reach the small of her back easily, it now framed her face in wet streaks. She turned her head, and saw that it was the shortest at the back, just covering the base of her head. It became longer in a slant that eventually reached the strands in the front. Another thing she hadn't noticed before was that there were a few bangs swept across the sides of her forehead.
"You must have had a lot of dolls," she said, aghast.
Hanabi just smiled, and replied, "Or I was just bored a lot. It will look a lot better when it's dry."
With that, she flicked off the lamp in the corner. Sakura handed her the small knife, which she put away in her small sack. And the two of them curled up underneath their covers, in much better moods than a few minutes before.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Sasuke lowered his gaze to his feet, away from the garish sight before him. "I don't want to see this again," he muttered, hoping for the bad memory to simply disappear and leave him at peace.
A shadow suddenly appeared in the moonlit impression the window created, and he reluctantly looked up. A younger version of himself stood across from his parents' bodies, all dressed in black like the grim reaper of his past.
"You weren't strong enough," he wept, sobs hiccuping from his throat. Tears fell freely from his face and into the blood at his bare feet.
Sasuke shuddered angrily, gritting his teeth. "What?" he asked, voice dangerously low.
"You weren't strong enough," the phantom repeated, closing his eyes in grief. "If you had been stronger..."
"Even then, what makes you think I could have stopped all this from happening!" He gestured to the room, eyes narrowed as he shouted. "What makes you think anything could have been done to prevent this!"
"Stronger... If only you... Only..." The phantom echoed again and again, growing more and more quiet with each word he repeated. "... Hadn't been acting..."
"Answer me!"
"Acting..." the image of the young boy suddenly sneered, lips curling into a menacing smirk. He reached up to clutch the skin over one of his eyes. Sasuke's fury suddenly turned to fearful bewilderment as he tore the skin from his face. Underneath was an eye. It was yellow and slitted, like that of a snake's.
"You've simply been acting all this time," the boy said, grinning wickedly. His voice cracked, and aged several decades as he continued. "You desire the true strength you've been pretending to have. And I can give it to you."
In the darkness of the early morning, two crimson eyes snapped open. For outside the town's limits, an almost identical pair lay watching and waiting.
(( Don'tcha just love those cliffhangers? ))