A/N: The update schedule is still not set in stone, but each chapter should take about a week to update (graduating high school, life is busy). The only reason that the first four chapters are up so quickly is because I have written some before hand. But seeing the school is starting in five days, and I have loads of courses this year, I can't promise the chapter will be up as quickly as right now.

As usual, Beta'd by the awesome Alice J. Enjoy!

Chapter 4 - Trauma

I woke up in the hospital, staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to remember what I could from the hazy memories. I willed my sharingan to activate, and they did without a problem. A sharp image flashed in front of my eyes, the red kunai dripping blood onto my face, dying my eyes red. My hand twitched for a second, but I bit my lip and kept myself conscious through the flashing of that image.

You are safe, your eyes are safe, and nothing will ever happen to you eyes again if you become stronger, I thought to myself desperately. I was no stranger to trauma; physical trauma would heal eventually, but mental trauma was not that simple. However, I learned how to deal with it very early during my time in OLYMPUS. I walked on blade tips everyday in that organization, if I broke down every single time something traumatic or some near-death experience happened, I would be disposed of before my second mission.

There were no major physical damages accompanying the pain, except for a little red thin line by my eyes. The persistent image was most likely due to the supervision of my sharingan and I would probably be seeing the flashbacks a few more times before it would fade away into a manageable level. I would need to keep in check my emotions. I couldn't gave in to the negative emotions and fears when the flashbacks happened, instead, I needed to face it and accept the fact that it happened. It's funny how I have the courage to face my trauma, but not the courage to express or accept my feelings.

The image slowly disappeared, and I didn't seemed to be suffocating during the end of it compare to the beginning. Next, I pulled the white cover off of my body and started to inspect my wounds. A huge bruise on the side of my stomach, a few more scratches on my arms and a few minor burns and a wound on my left shin. Finally, thick dressings covered the huge laceration wounds on my right thigh. I was glad that there were no internal injuries, at least none I could feel.

"Uchiha-kun, you should rest, please lie back down onto the bed." The nurse - Hanami, or whatever it was on her nameplate - said to me, and I lay back down obediently.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Not very long, you were unconscious for 20 hours because of chakra overuse and blood loss, and you will have to stay in the hospital for another two or three days. It's almost dinner time and I already alerted your family members, so they should be here soon, don't worry." She gave me a trademark hospital smile and left the room.

I rubbed my head, trying to fit the missing pieces together. Sasuke, what about Sasuke? I saw a figure walking into my room, and I immediately yelled out "what happened to Sasuke?"

"Not even a word of thanks for your savior, really, hime?" two familiar male figures walked into my room, one of them with messy black hair, the other one with the long black hair pull into a small ponytail.

"Itachi-nii and… Shisui-senpai" I said slowly, maybe sounding a bit more surprised than I had planned.

"Sasuke is fine. He escaped the main house with only a few scratches." It was Itachi who answered my question.

"What happened?" I asked, feeling like I am missing a huge part of the story.

"Are you telling me you don't remember my valiant effort in saving you?" Shisui took a step back, and I just stared at him confusedly and unimpressed. Shisui gave me a sigh and he continued speaking, his voice suddenly turned serious.

"Yesterday night, when Itachi and I were returning to the compound, We found Sasuke running out the compound. He seemed distressed, but he quickly explained the situation." Shisui explained, "After we heard about the attack, Itachi went and get the clan head, who was very close to the compound at that time, and I went inside to get you. After I disabled the enemy, Itachi returned with your father, and they captured the two attackers and brought you to the hospital."

"Sasuke couldn't explain things very well, so we don't have all the information. I believe father will be here soon to discuss the event with you. You should rest a bit before he comes." Itachi said to me.

I shook my head, not feeling like falling back to sleep again. I turned my head to Shisui and said "Thank you, Shisui-senpai, I promise I won't dislocate your shoulder anymore in the next year." very rarely, I expressed my true gratitude, but this time, I meant it, and I couldn't help but saying a joke to him.

"You hear that, Itachi? Told you that you should have traded place with me." Shisui patted Itachi in the back, seeing him winced at the future to come.

"No, I probably wouldn't have gotten there in time, seeing your body flicker is so much better. Mai, how are you feeling?" Itachi quickly composed himself and asked with unusual gentleness.

"I'm fine, a bit lightheaded from the blood loss, but they said I can get out of the hospital in two or three days." I explained, but before Itachi could ask anything else, the door opened and entered my father and another adult.

"Maiko, this is Yamanaka Inoichi-san, head of Konoha intelligence department." Father introduced the man with the pale blond hair with his usual serious voice.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yamanaka-san" I attempted to get off of the bed and bow, but Yamanaka-san stopped me from doing so.

"No need for formalities, Maiko-chan, I just want to talk to you about happened yesterday. As you know, we lack information on the attackers, as one of them was killed on the spot, and the other committed suicide before we had a chance to extract information. So please, tell us what you remember." Yamanaka-san said in a soothing voice.

"I was alone with Sasuke yesterday night, approximately 2100, I noticed the strange presence of a genjutsu. After I dispelled it, the enemy attacked me with projectile weapons and lightning ninjutsu. I attempted to run away with Sasuke, but I only had time to get Sasuke away before the two enemy shinobi cornered me." I paused a bit there, and then continued, "they claim that their goal was to take Sasuke, mostly likely for his potential sharingans, since they attempted to extract my eyes after I got Sasuke out. One of the attackers claimed he had a 'leader-sama'."

Father looked downright furious, and Itachi and Shisui gave off a dark murderous intent. Yamanaka Inoichi nodded at my description and said to me: "Would you mind if I look into your mind a bit, I needed to see those memories myself. It might be a bit traumatizing to you, so please, take your time deciding." I shook my head and responded: "No, please do what you have to do."

Inoichi nodded and walked towards my bed side. He placed his hands on me and immediately, I felt my conscious slipping, traveling in a mind palace, and rewinding my memory to what happened yesterday night. I saw it all again, but it was less traumatizing than I thought. I was lucky, that the shinobis didn't expect someone at my age to be able to perform powerful fire releases. I barely escaped the brink of death, now I just need to gain more strength for survive. I was an Uchiha, my kekkei genkai was vulnerable unless I had the power to protect it, and this won't be the last time it happens.

The memory ended at the sight of someone kicking the shinobi who attempted to gouge my eyes away, and then everything went black. I felt a presence leaving my mind, and when I open my eyes again, Inoichi was already talking to my father, and I saw the concerned faces of two Uchiha boys.

Inoichi waved at me and smiled before quickly leaving the room, presumably to report the information. Father walked to the side of my bed and reached for my shoulder, "you fought very well in protecting your brother. Don't worry, Maiko, I will get to the bottom of this, the Uchiha must never be underestimated." After the short speech, he left. Of course it's all about the Uchihas and their pride, why would I ever think otherwise.

~(◡﹏◕✿)

The doctors let me out of the hospital on the third day, seeing my injuries were mostly healed. During my two day hospital stay, both Itachi and Shisui visited me whenever they could. Mother and Sasuke also stayed with me for a while. Even my teammates, Daichi and Shun, visited along with Akira-sensei. Father, however, never came after the time he questioned me with Yamanaka Inoichi. I didn't blame him, it was only natural, he was the head of a clan and he must have a lot to deal with especially after this attack.

That's interesting considering the fact that the moment mother took me home, Father was waiting for me in the living room.

"Have a seat, Maiko, we need to discuss the incident three days ago." Father said sternly, and I took a seat with mother beside me.

"We still could not find the origin of those attackers, but I highly suspect it's from Kumogakure, those people had a reputation as the bloodline theft." Father said with rage. However, despite the obvious connection between lightning ninjutsu, bloodline theft and Kumogakure, I didn't think they were the ones. The way that shinobi said 'leader-sama' was different from the usual respect and piety those from the big village had for their kages, it's full of madness, desperation and even a tinge of fear. Besides, how would one explain how they got into the Uchiha compound and choose to attack at the exact moment when there were only two children left behind.

"Hokage-sama refuses to do anything about Kumo unless we have firm proof, as if we need more. I will not let this attack on Uchiha slide, we cannot be shown as so weak and organized that we couldn't even protect our own. Think, Maiko, is there anything else, anything you need to mention, that can help us identify the attacker?" Father pressed further, then I realized: he wants me to fabricate the truth, so he could pin the crime on someone, he is using my testimony, so that even if it's wrong, he could leave it as child's words due to the emotional trauma.

"I will not lie, if that's what you are asking, father. I said all I could, and Yamanaka-san already checked my memory, everything I know, he knows." I said calmly, and I knew that father won't be pleased by my answer.

As I expected, he slammed his fist down onto the table, "You disrespectful child, how dare you talk smart with me. I'm doing this for the family, for the Uchiha Clan! You are only a child, what do you know!" He yelled furiously, I closed my eyes and readied myself for his rage, but before Father could yell at me one more time, Mother suddenly stood up.

"I will not set here and listen to you yell at my daughter, when she was attacked in her own home, due to our negligence. Fugaku, this is not the first time you disregard the will of our child! I allowed you to train her when she should have been enjoying her childhood, I allowed the elder to take advantage of her talent. But I will not let this continue! She was hurt, her life was endangered, where were you?" mother yelled at father in a voice I've never heard before, it was stronger and more determined than anything I'd heard before. At that moment, I remembered the forgotten fact that my mother was a Konoha jonin before becoming a housewife.

Father looked at Mother stunned, but he was unable to say anything else. Finally, after a stalemate, he sighed. "Fine, I'll let this incident pass. Mikoto, I will try to be more considerate, but you know the responsibility I have as a Clan leader. Maiko, you should go rest." his expression softened at the mention of my mother's name, but the softness went away as quickly as it appeared. Then, he walked away.

"I'm so sorry, Maiko, I should have stayed with you, if I didn't leave you and Sasuke alone…" As soon as Father left, Mother's voice cracked and tears streamed down her cheek. She moved toward me, wrapped her arm around my body and hugged tight.

"Your father means the clan well, but he neglected you. But from now on, I will always be there for you. I don't ever want you to be alone again." She said as she caressed my hair softly, even if her voice was cracked and on the verge of breaking, it's the warmest voice I've ever heard.

"Mom…" I said softly, as tears swell up in my eyes, yet I didn't feel sad. Is this the happy tears people talked about?

"Wait here for a second Maiko" mom quickly went into her room and then she came back with a box.

"Here, I want you to have something to protect yourself with. I used to think that you are not suited for bloodshed, but now I see that you need to protect yourself the best you can. In events where I'm not there with you, this will always be with you in my place." She opened the velvet wrapped box, revealing a beautifully crafted tantō. The tantō was guardless, the hilt was wrapped in dark teal fabrics, the teal sheath was perfectly polished, and when mother pulled out the blade from the sheath, the silver metal glistened. There was a carving of oni symbol on the blade near the hilt.

"This tantō was named Hyakki Yakō, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. This sword, along with another, used to be my family's prized possession until no one can master kenjutsu anymore, so imagine my surprise when I heard you took an interest in Kenjutsu. I thought the size of this tantō will be perfect for you right now, and I will give you the other sword when you become a Chunin." mom explained to me as she passed the tantō to me. I touched the hilt of Hyakki Yakō, feeling the comforting touch of teal fabric resonating with me. It was a beautiful sword, no doubt, but most importantly, it was a sword from my mother.

"Mom, thank…" Before I could finish the sentence, mom hushed me with her finger.

"No need to thank me, I just want you to protect yourself and your loved ones using the blade, in case I'm not there to protect you, my little Maiko."

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

"So when can we do another C-rank mission! It's been ages since we did our last one!" Daichi complained like usual as we walked back to mission assignment desk after completing a minor mission. This time I couldn't help but agree with him. It's been a week after my hospitalization, and all we did was group training and cat hunting. Itachi had been rolling in C-rank missions recently and completing them without a fail. Just recently, his team was given a task of Guarding the Fire Daimyo during his annual visits to Konoha. Although the task was highly symbolic, father was still very proud of him.

"Hmm, maybe we can try another one now. Maiko, how are your injuries?" Akira-sensei asked.

"All healed up sensei." I told him. It's true all my injuries are mostly healed, all that's left was a nasty scar on my right thigh and I got in the habit of wrapping bandage around my thigh over my shorts to cover it.

"Okay, then, let's go get you guys as C-rank mission." Akira-sensei said and Daichi cheered.

We arrived at the assignment desk, "Team six here for another mission" Akira-sensei announced. The shinobi who managed the table gave us a wave, and he asked "D or C-rank, Akira?"

"Let's try a C-rank, it's been a while, I think my team can take it." Akira-sensei said.

"Very well, your team's last C-rank mission had been well received. How about this one, it's a delivery, shouldn't be too hard, just do what you guys did last time. You guys are going to deliver some supplies and letters to our outpost near Kirigakure. It's pretty standard, and unlikely to get attacked. Although keep in mind that you should protect the supplies and letters with your life, just don't lose it and you will be fine." the shinobi explained.

"Okay, team, we will meet here again in two hours, and then we will pick up the delivery at the gates and go." Akira-sensei said as he accepted the mission and we all nodded. Quickly, I went home and grabbed the supplies for long journey. Some camping supplies and some storage scrolls. This time, I took Hyakki Yakō instead of my bokken. I'd been training with it ever since I got it from mom. I felt safe when I had it, and I was determined to never leave it behind, not wanting to be stuck in a sticky and weaponless situation like last time.

We met at the gate and Akira-sensei picked up the delivery. It was about medium size, including five small packages and one stack of letters. We divided up the packages between the three of us, Daichi and Shun both took two packages and I took one package and the stack of letters. Then we left Konoha.

The outpost was about four day's journey for Shinobi, it was very close to the sea separating the Fire Country and Water Country. Konohagakure had never been in great relations with Kirigakure, and thus the route traveling to Kiri from Konoha were mostly desolated. The forest seemed quiet, with only the sound of leaves brushing and animals moving. The whole way to the outpost seemed peaceful, very peaceful. If not for Daichi's constant chatter, the whole trip would have been boring as hell.

I grabbed the poor rabbit and broke its neck quickly, letting its life slip away as quickly as possibly. Then I brought it back to the camp and started to clean it. We were on our third day, and due to the constant requests from Daichi, I finally gave in and hunted a rabbit for him. Shun and Akira-sensei watched silently as I skinned the rabbit and cleaned the insides with ease. But Daichi, well, he was watching my motion with a feverish passion. I ignored him and continued to prepare the rabbit. When the rabbit was finally grilling above the flame, Daichi couldn't keep the boring silence anymore.

"When did you learn to do that, I thought you were kept in Uchiha Compound or whatever that is forever." Daichi asked while he was drooling.

"No particular time, just a little here and there." I responded with the simplest and vaguest answer, and then we fell into silence again.

"Why are you guys so quiet?" Daichi asked.

"That's only because you are too loud." Shun summarized, and Daichi groaned.

"Actually, I believe it's a good time to do some team bonding." Akira-sensei suddenly spoke. Pretty sure he wasn't here ten minutes ago, but then he reappeared when I started the rabbit

"Team… bonding?" I eyed him with suspicion.

"Let's talk about your dream and aspirations." Akira-sensei clarified. As usual, it was Daichi who spoke first.

"Ok! I'll go first. I want to be a great Shinobi. My parents are all civilians you know, they don't want me to be a ninja, learning how to fight. But it's been my dream since I was a child to become a Shinobi, the kind that can travel on roofs and do all the cool jutsus. I know my talent is average, but I will never give up, they say the lack of talent will have to be fixed with practice!" Daichi punched his chest, I had never seen him being this serious before, he always seemed so playful and carefree. But now, his determination shocked me, a strong will to follow one's dream, something that the Uchiha never taught their children.

After a moment of silence, Shun went next, "I never really had a set dream before, I wanted to be a sensor because I am a Yamanaka. I planned to be a support because I'm not good at fighting. The Clan had many more talented youth, so I wasn't particularly hard working. Honestly, I have no idea what I want, I am passive and indecisive. But please, give me some time, I will find a dream, for the sake of this team." Despite his confessions about being indecisive, he said with unwavering certainty. Daichi smacked him on the back and laughed when Shun glared at him.

Now everyone was staring at me, curiosity and expectations. Did I really want to open myself up to them? The old me would have never done that, I would flee or kill them on sight depending on the order. But maybe, this time, this life, I can take a chance.

"I… My life is planned out for me. I awakened my sharingan at birth, a feat that had never happened before, and from there, my life was drawn out for me." I paused a bit, seeing Daichi's confused expression, Shun's stunned face and Akira-sensei's sad eyes.

"I started training as a kunoichi when I was just three. The elders wanted to mold me and Itachi into the perfect heirs. When we grow up, Itachi will be the prominent clan leader, and I will be his second in command, supporting him to make the Uchiha clan great. See, it's all planned out and executed, everything except an actual carving in the stone." I said sarcastically, suddenly I found a tinge of rage in my voice. Geez, where did that come from, when did I start to let emotions appear so easily.

"My dream, such as faraway thing. I thought my dream was to support Itachi-nii from the beginning to the end, and I still think so, but not in the way the Uchiha elders wanted, not abiding by the rules they set. I don't know how yet, but maybe one day, I will figure it out." That must had been the longest speech I had ever given to anyone, and it was definitely not inspirational. I looked up again and expected seeing blank and confused faces, but instead, I felt Daichi and Shun's hand on my shoulder.

"Sucks to be in a clan doesn't it? But oh well, I guess we'll just have to figure out our dreams together from now on." Shun said warmly while he gave me a smile.

"Not sure if I understood you wholly, but whatever you want to do, just remember the amazing shinobi Daichi is here with you, and there's nothing we couldn't do!" I couldn't help but chuckle at Daichi's innocent words, and Shun just right out sighed loudly. Behind us, Akira-sensei seemed relieved. For the first time, all three of us laughed together.

(╯✧∇✧)╯

Everything went to hell the moment we returned from the outpost.

Everything was fine before, the day was sunny, the shinobi at the outpost received our packages with happiness, and we left.

It was so normal, so unspectacular, that nothing should ever happen because it made no sense for anything to happen.

Except it did.

We were only one hour away from the outpost, Daichi was in the lead, Shun in the middle and I was the last. Akira-sensei was right behind us, getting a full view of the perimeter. Suddenly, a cold feeling, a natural survival instinct stopped me on my track, in front of me, Shun also paused, and Akira-sensei seemed to furrow his eyebrows.

Immediately, I activated my sharingan, Shun concentrated his mind to sensor the surrounding, but Akira-sensei, the most experienced of us all, drew his glistening katana from his waist. As he drew his sword, he yelled to Daichi, who did not feel anything unnatural and went ahead for another 50 or so meters, "Daichi! Fall back!"

Then, it all happened in a flash. I saw through my sharingan the clear image of a shinobi cladded in black with a kirigakure hitai-ate appear out of nowhere behind Daichi, who just turned around because of Akira-sensei's voice. I saw it, but my body wasn't fast enough to do anything.

Akira-sensei body-flickered immediately toward Daichi, in the blink of an eye, he was in front of him, but what he saw contorted his face in horror. That shinobi must at least be a jonin level, because his speed was just as fast as Akira-sensei. The moment Akira-sensei body flickered, his long sleek sword penetrated Daichi's body. I could only watch in shock as the sword entered from his back and exited through his front, the left side of his chest, where his heart should be beating.

That shinobi flicked his sword and let Daichi's body fell from his blade, then he proceeded to attack Akira-sensei. It seemed like that Akira-sensei would be kept for a while since he was parrying the attack seriously with full power.

Damn it! We don't have time to stand in shock! Immediately, Shun and I rushed to Daichi's falling body in mid-air, hoping to catch him. Unfortunately, we were stupid to think that there was only one attacker. Another man appeared in front of us and he brought his sword down with lightning speed. Immediately, I drew Hyakki Yakō from my back and met his sword in mid air. When our swords clashed, it was clear I was at an disadvantage. His blade pushed mine closer to my chest, and I only managed to stopped the attack when it was one inch from my face. No matter, I gave Shun a look that told him to go get Daichi without me. Shun hesitated for a second, before running to Daichi like I asked him to.

Obviously, I could not beat a jonin level shinobi, no matter how talented and mature I was, I was only seven and a genin. I knew that, Shun knew that. But Shun also knew that his fighting skill was not his forte, so instead of standing here with no help to the battle at all, he might as well go and find Daichi, and gave me a chance to maybe hold back the jonin, before Akira-sensei could finish up the other one and come back.

I had no idea if I could, even with the sharingan deciphering his every move, it was useless if I couldn't counter it fast enough with enough strength. He retracted his blade and struck down again, this time toward my waist. I flickered away quickly to a meter behind him in the nick of time, but he was smart enough to duck when I swung my sword and launch a counter attack by kicking my sword arm. I knew there's no way I could retract my arm fast enough, or to body flicker away as my position was all wrong. So instead, I twirled the sword around and lined the flat of my blade against my fragile little arm. Chakra rushed to the arm to enhance its durability, when his leg struck down I still felt a searing pain, but there was no cracking sound, so whatever material the sword was, it absorbed the worst impact.

The shinobi seemed surprised that my arm did not break when he retracted his leg. The moment his leg left my blade, I threw the blade to my left hand and lowered my body. I slashed his leg in an attempt to hinder his movement and get away.

I was naive if I thought it'd ever work, the shinobi just mocked me by side stepping away. The moment it failed, I realized that I was doomed, my position was low, and he could easily catch me by bringing his sword down. I was sure that it would hit, no second chances anymore.

An unexpected turn of an event happened, just as his sword was about to strike down, it stopped in mid air as he looked to his left in horror. A blade was sticking into his side chest cavity, half of the blade was stuck inside him. The blood from the entry wound spat out and smeared my face, but it didn't stop me from seeing a figure wearing a mysterious animal mask resembling a dog. Anbu… my thought registered, remembering what Shisui told me.

I should have let them handle the things and move away, this was not a battle I should fight. However, seeing Daichi's chest pierced by the blade, an irrational rage surged in me. It's all their fault! I screamed inside, as I stepped up and grabbed his arm. One hand on his shoulder and the other hand - still holding the tantō - grabbed his elbow. Then I twisted, hearing the familiar crack and scream as his shoulder was dislocated by my chakra enhanced force. Shoulder joint was already a weak spot, and this shinobi was definitely not putting protecting his shoulder as his priority right now seeing there was a blade sticking into his side.

He dropped his sword as his right arm slumped, but I wasn't finished. Just like what I practiced, but this time, with a real human and a real blade. My right hand grabbed onto his shoulder despite the pain from earlier, and I jumped. Using his leg as a launching point, I pivoted my body around his torso while grabbing onto his shoulder. The moment I arrived behind him, I slammed my knee into his spine with a swift motion, feeling the pain of impact on my knee and his loud gasp.

I wasn't finished, the point of this attack lies in the blade. I didn't even hesitate as I plunged my blade into the back of his neck and pushed it up his skull with all my might. The blade penetrated his neck like butter, even though it did not went very far against his skull, I was sure it destroyed his brain stem. When I pulled out the blade, there wasn't even a lot of blood gushing out, but the man's body slumped down, there was no way he was surviving this. The Anbu agent by his side already retracted his blade the moment I pulled out mine. He was looking at me. That didn't matter, he didn't matter, all that mattered was…

I ran to where Daichi fell off, and saw him slumped in Shun's arm. I saw the pool of blood under his body, it dyed the forest ground and Shun's clothes red as he was trying to stop the bleeding.

"It's no good, Maiko, I can still feel his weak heartbeat, but I can't stop the bleeding. I think the blade went through his chest!" Shun said in a panic, at this point, he put Daichi on the ground and tried to stop the bleeding from his chest by pressing on the wound.

"Damn it!" I cursed as I pulled strip of clothes from my vest and helped Shun applied pressure on the wound. None of us were medic, and we had no idea how to use healing chakra. What about the Anbu? "Please, is anyone a medic here?" I yelled as I scrambled to keep the blood from flowing, but no one responded, where's Akira-sensei? With Anbu's help, he should have already done fighting! Unless, there were more enemy…

"Crap! I can't feel his heartbeat anymore, there is no pulse!" Shun screamed, obviously too shocked about what to do next. Daichi's life was slipping away, right under our hands.

I immediately started CPR, I rhythmically compressed his chest, in an attempt to get his heart keep on beating, but the blood just kept on flowing. It's his heart that was damaged, a part of me knew that, unless he was able to receive cardiac surgery immediately, there was no way to save him. Yet, I kept on going.

I didn't know how long I was doing the CPR, but I kept going until there was no more sound of fighting anymore; until my arm was sore from the hard compressions,;until I feel any warmth in Daichi's body slipped away under my fists. But I kept on going.

I felt a hand resting on my shoulder, urging me to stop, "Stop it Maiko, he's gone." Akira-sensei said in a solemn voice, but all I could hear was desperation.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" I slammed my fist onto his chest, "Wake up, you idiot! Make your heart beat!" I screamed hysterically, but there was no one to respond, even the blood stopped running.

It was natural for humans to blame others for unfortunate events, but who could I blame? The Kirigakure shinobis? They were all dead. The Anbu? It's them who chased the Kiri-nin but failed to kill them before they reached us. But it was their job and there was no guarantee they could do better. Besides, Anbu was probably not healing oriented, they couldn't help Daichi even if they tried. Akira-sensei? He was only one person, and he was protecting all of us. Myself? That's just stupid and irresponsible, people blamed themselves and lived their lives in a stupor, not accomplishing anything and couldn't even repent themselves.

So was that it? Daichi just died because of bad luck? He just died for no particular reason but being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Oh life, you are so cruel…

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