Disclaimer: I do not own the Anime or Manga Naruto, or the characters contained within it. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Through the Darkness

Chapter 3 - Suicidal Drowning

It was early in the morning when you were roused by your alarm clock. Dressing in the attire befitting a Chunin, you quickly made your way through the Uchiha District and toward the Ninja Academy.

Today would be your first day as a teacher, or at least your first day learning how to become a teacher. You would be observing the other Chuunin teacher as they instructed the students, at least for a few days. Once you had a general idea of how to work things, you would be set to your own devices. There was, of course, a certain curriculum that you would be required to follow, though.

Second thoughts filled your mind the moment you saw a horde of seven and eight year olds filing into the school. Even from such a far away distance you could still hear all the noise the rowdy children were making.

'...Ungh... Hokage-sama, are you serious? You honestly think I should be a teacher? No exciting missions. Nothing of importance. I'm going to waste my days away teaching brats in a school building?'

"Ah! Tisane-san!"

Inclining your head, you smiled the moment you spotted your fellow (suffering) Chuunin."Ohayoo Hiro-san!"You greeted with a bow of the head."It's a pleasure to be working with you."

"No, no.. It's an honor to have an Uchiha teaching at the school once again. You'll be everyone's favorite teacher."He chuckled.

'Their... Favorite teacher..?'

Your eyes were as wide, large, and white as saucers as you stared at him with your mouth wide open.

Sliding an arm around the back of your shoulders, he continued to laugh as he directed you toward the school doors."Tisane-san, you are such a delight already. I can tell that it won't be hard to get along with you."

'Drive a katana through my heart, gut me with a kunai. Tear my wrists wide open with a shuriken, but... Don't make me teach!'

Your inner self screeched, erupting into tears.

Once the both of you had entered the classroom, Hiro stood behind a podium while he instructed you to take a seat in a nearby chair. At this point he explained that you needed only watch him while he taught the students. He assured you that it was all very simple, and you would have no difficulty.

'I certainly hope that's true...'

The 'horde' of students you had seen outside filled the room rather quickly, spilling out into the chairs until the entire classroom was evenly filled. Although the class was rather large, it contained only about thirty people.

"Class, please meet Uchiha Tisane. She will be the new teacher for some of you, since this year's class will be split in half after this week."He smiled at all of them before making a motion in your direction.

At this, half of the class seemed to cheer. Perhaps only because they knew the Uchiha name so well. This was mostly due to the fact that the majority of the population of Konoha was 'in love' with Itachi. After all, he was a very powerful for his age. He was a prodigy, a genius.

'Itachi...'

"Alright, alright, now it's time to—"

At this moment the door to the classroom was jerked open, gaining the attention of everyone, including you and the teacher as well as all of the students. Only you were truly surprised by the person standing in the door way, however.

"Shisui..? What are you doing here?"

Perspiration trickled down his face as though he were having an intense cold sweat. Swallowing hard, he managed to part his lips and make use of his voice,"Tisane needs to come with me."

'Baka! What's he talking about so seriously? To be interrupting me during something so important as this..! Maybe I really should set him straight.'

Your eye twitched in anger as you stood and traipsed over to your brother, shoving him into the hallway before turning to the class. With a bow of the head, you apologized,"Gomen. I'll only be a moment, and if I'm any longer, please continue the class without me."Immediately slamming the door shut afterward.

Shisui lowered his head. Obviously he had been prepared for a mission himself, considering the typical ANBU outfit that adorned his slim, sinewy figure. The racoon mask that he usually wore was pushed to the side of his face.

"What's you're problem? Don't you know that I'm busy trying to learn about my 'new mission' as a teacher for the Academy? I told you just yesterday, you should know better than to interrupt something so important!"You scolded playfully, with a goofy smile. Typically, Shisui would reply in a sly, sarcastic manner, but this time he merely stared deep into your eyes with a sullen expression upon his face.

"Tisane..."

Concerned, you tilted your head,"What's wrong, nii-san (big brother)?"

Outstretching his hands, he grasped your shoulders tightly, yanking you forward into his chest. Tightly wrapping his arms around you, your elder brother held you in a secure embrace.

"S-Shisui..."

Since the time you were children, your brother rarely hugged you unless the situation was truly horrible. When the animals you'd kept in your childhood would pass away, he would embrace you and shield you from the eyes of others, so that you might shed your tears without fear of being mocked.

"Something truly horrible has happened, hasn't it, nii-san?"Your heart was beating at an uncontrollable pace, as fear embedded itself into your system. What could it be? Why was Shisui acting in this way? What had happened?

"To-san..(Father)"

You furrowed your brothers,"What about him, nii-san?"

"Apparently some time last night... In the Nakano River... He suicided.."

"Wha... What do you..?"Staring straight forward with your mouth slightly ajar, you stood frozen in your elder brother's arms. A lump formed in your throat, but no tears could be supplied to the ducts of your eyes, for you couldn't comprehend the meaning of your elder sibling's words.

"Tisane..."He mumbled, voice trembling,"To-san took his own life late last night.. He drowned himself in the Nakano river."

"What're you saying...? To-san would never..."

Somehow the very thought that your father would take his own life seemed completely impossible. Shisui's words didn't even register in your mind, the information he was feeding your wasn't quite sinking in. You couldn't believe what your own ears were hearing.

"To-san would never say... He wouldn't ever..."You mumbled, lips trembling.

Shisui cradled you in his arms, allowing you to cry safely into his chest even as people walked by, completely unaware of the situation.

Rather than returning to the class room, you ventured home with the help of your brother, who guided you the entire way. He had yet to shed even a single tear for your father, but there was no doubt he was devastated. You could only imagine how your mother would feel.

The moment Shisui slid the front door open, you could hear violent screaming as various objects were thrown to the ground, shattering upon impact. You could hear your mom's voice, faintly, as she yelled obscene insults directed toward your father.

Leaving your side, Shisui rushed in,"Ka-san!"He called out desperately as he dashed into the kitchen.

Immediately the noise stopped and the only thing your ears could perceive was the sound of quiet sobbing. Apparently your brother was comforting your mother now. Therefore he would obviously not be capable of comforting you too.

Regarding the sun, you estimated approximately what time you thought it would be, according to the position of the golden object in the sky. Apparently it was close to noon, but unfortunately that was a bit too early. For that you would have to wait until a little later.

'I'll go. I'll wait now...'

Shuffling away from the opened doorway that led into your family home, you disappeared down the streets as a mere silhouette. For the moment, your mother and brother were the most important people. You couldn't come in between them comforting each other. Therefore, you had to find your own source.

Tears spilled down your cheeks, like water left running, it merely continued to pour in uncontrollable amounts. A large lump formed in your throat even as you tried to push various thoughts out of your mind's reach.

Speeding up the pace of your movement, you hurried toward the nearby docks (or, rather, dock, since there was only one, after all).Here would wait until he came...

Author's Note: Similar to Through the Darkness, I will be combining the chapters in The Black and White. This means updates will be slower, but chapters will be 3x larger. So I'm going to be leaving things the way they are for a few days. The way I'm going to do it, is I will make every 3 chapters into 1 single chapter. So, the next chapter you should look out for will be Chapter 2. Nothing will change in the story from the combining process, so you needn't worry about reading chapter 1 again. Just wait for the second installment. :)

I also appreciate all review(s). Thank you so much:D

Kyori