Author's Notes:

Ha! Longer than the previous chappie! How d'ya like me now! *evil laughter* *smacked down by little brothers*

Lil bros: "We have you now, iiiiiivil queen of nerdland!"

Me:"... You guys... are not supposed... to be here...!" *faints*

(This is one of my alter egos, and yes, you have to deal with it from time to time. I'll control the urges as best as I can E:3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter Four: Realization

I was dozing off at home. Alone. Aneue wouldn't be back till 11 PM, Chiyo-baa-sama was out of town- as usual- and Sasori-nii-san-

Why the heck am I thinking of HIM! Maybe because I was so lonely? Well, true, we haven't met for more than a week… I was worried about him too. I heard that he had been receiving a bunch of A rank missions… Even an S rank…

The old bell tolled… 1… 2… 3… 9 times… Two more hours until I could associate with someone. I sighed, glancing to the paper on the table. The picture of a brunette stick-woman that I had drawn was smiling and holding her child's hand. The child was me, of course. I've always pictured my mother as the person Otou-san described during his occasional visits. Always gentle and caring, her smile as bright as the sun and was obsessed with cats. Mother wasn't from Suna and father never told me her original birthplace. Sometimes I dreamt about her, but oddly her face was never visible. The lack of pictures didn't help either. Otou-san said that she hated to be photographed. I went to my room and pinned the paper to my collection board, which was my whole room. There were a lot of drawings of me, me and Aneue, me and mom, Otou-san and mom, mom and cats, sometimes me, Otou-san and Aneue, but there were none of us really together. And there was only one picture of Sasori... He and Aneue. I had stuck it on the ceiling above my bed.

I returned to the living room and waited impatiently. A knock disturbed my utter boredom. I skipped to the door, a smile plastered on my face. The thing was, when I opened the door, no one stood outside. I heard eight following knocks filled with frustration.

"Oh, it's you. I didn't know they send messenger birds directly to houses," I pushed the window open and untied the letter from its foot.

This one seems oddly heavy…I rushed to the kitchen, threw the letter to the dining table, took a handful of seeds and fed it to the bird.

"I had saved those seeds for the other messenger birds, but I have a lot so I think I can share. Besides, you've carried such a burdensome thing from God knows where." I smiled and stroked its light gray feathers, silently thanking him for accompanying me. I put the letter on the table and struggled to untie the knot.

Whoever tied it is cursed for as long as he or she lives! I grunted. Minutes later I gave up. I took a knife from the kitchen and cut it open... Never had I thought that I would someday see something like this.

My heart was beating in an incredible pace, if not erratic. Thrashing my head right and left, I tried to search for any sign of the living. No one.

Where is everyone! It's only nine PM!

"Aneue" I whimpered, continuing to run as fast as I could. My soundless prayer was answered only several seconds later, when I caught a glimpse of two red-heads...

Aneue... She is supposed to be in a mission... Why...? What is she doing with him! But there was another thing I had never seen before... A smiling Sasori-nii-san. Feeling betrayed, I disappeared into the night, my emotions unstable and my heart cracking from the inside...

Kireina's POV

"Aaaah... I'm so glad that I was able to finish that one quickly" I stretched my arms and grinned.

"So why do I have to follow you?" The little boy narrowed his eyes while staring at me. He didn't look all that threatening… Adorable; that was what he was and what he'd ever be in my eyes. The adorable, baby-faced, grumpy Sasori.

"But my poor little Itsumi-chan is alone by herself… I'm sure that she is very lonely and would like extra company. Besides, my Imouto really likes you" I could see his form tensing. Teasing the boy was one of the joys in my life. He mumbled something and turned his face away. He must've thought that I couldn't see it, but I did. The small twitch on the corner of his lips grew wider every second, but it wasn't a smirk- it was a genuine smile.

"Itsumi-chan, I'm home!" I shouted, opening my arms, awaiting the embrace from my lovely little sister. It never came.

"There's something on the table." The puppet-controller stated. I honestly didn't notice it until he pointed at the dining table.

"A letter?" I approached the table slowly, closing my nose with both of my fingers. Something stank like rotting corpse here and I hoped that it wasn't the meat I bought yesterday.

It was worse.

"Itsumi... Itsumi-chan! ITSUMI-CHAN!" I ran throughout the house, frantically searching for my Imouto.

What is that doing inside the letter?

"Kireina-nee-san!" A hand stopped me from moving anywhere further.

"The finger in the letter... Whose is it?" I slumped down, my legs were trembling and nausea was building up inside of me. I regretted the fact that I left her alone even more than usual.

"Otou-san... His right ring finger was slashed once, in a mission... And the ring, it was his wedding ring-"

"But anyone could've slashed the right ring finger of anyone..."

"You don't understand... Firstly, the bone... It broke once and healed wrong, but Otou-san never bothered to fix it... Second, Otou-san never wears his wedding ring. He hides it really well... If it is here, then-"

"He might be kidnapped. We have to report to the Kazekage"

"Yes... you're right..."

Itsumi's POV

I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU! I was once again crouching in my favorite hiding place: the green house. No one would think that a little girl would be able to come in there, since it was prohibited. Suna was a country in the desert, the only plant that could grow here was the cacti, so this place was important for the whole citizens.

Blaming fate and my own father for everything that happened, I cried- not out loud. Soundless wails and screams erupted from my throat, with a pair of rivers flowing down my cheek. I couldn't find anyone else to point my finger at. It was part of the human nature to do so.

Why did you have to move? Why did you leave us? You said it was for the 'greater good'... Was this the greater good? I hugged myself to stop the trembling that had even started to make my teeth rattle. Useless effort.

Why did Aneue lie? Why wasn't she on a mission? Why was she with him? Why was she with Sasori-nii-san? Why… Why did she leave me alone? My brain was going to explode with the flood of memories that were slamming my heart: memories of Otou-san... Of Aneue... Of Sasori-nii-san... I recoiled as if they had really hit me with an invisible force.

Why were they smiling...? It wasn't the last question I thought about, but I couldn't pick any that was clear enough out of the hundreds that were swirling inside my head.

Otou-san... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I killed mom... I'm sorry that I am such a burden... I'm sorry for what I thought about earlier... I'm sorry... But you can't leave so soon! You just can't! What about Aneue? Don't you love her? Then how can you leave her? Otou-san, please come back... Please…I didn't even have time to rethink about my illogical wish when someone touched my hand.

"Go home" Even without lifting my head, I recognized the person already.

"L-Leave m-me alone!" I retorted through the sobs. Anger and sorrow both mixed into one and evolved into an emotion that I could not understand. Was I shaking because of the rage or sadness? I couldn't even make a difference.

A hand brushed my hair out of the way; I smacked it hard.

"D-Don't touch m-me! G-Go a-away!" The very hand that had touched me so gently grabbed my wrist and yanked me up ruthlessly, my feet dangling in the air. I avoided his gaze before attempting to pull free my arm.

"I-I said, l-leave m-me alone!" He then did something I had never expected.

He slapped me.

I never thought he would use violence against me in fear that he would be hated by Aneue.

I was wrong.

And oh how I hated it when I was wrong.

"What are you doing here weeping like an idiot? Haven't you learned anything? Shinobi aren't supposed to show even a single tear. You want to be pitied? Go somewhere else. Now go home. Your sister asked half of the village to search for you" My mute moans stopped; my tears didn't. Nor did my body stop vibrating. My wrist wasn't the problem, despite the fact that he was still crushing it with his big hand. No. It was my heart that ached most.

"Itsumi!" I gasped at the voice.

Onii-san... I had forgotten what he had done with Aneue. My mind was so messed up right now that I didn't care.

"O-Onii-san..." He had finally noticed why I wasn't moving.

"Let go of her!" Juukiri did exactly what the younger boy said, but not from fear. As soon as there was no contact between Aneue's boyfriend and me, I launched myself to the red-head and swung my arms around him, burying my head on his stomach, just because I could only reach that height.

"What did you do to her? Can't you even see that she's cold?" His words came out like venom. The very tone I disliked.

"Nothing. I found her here crying and curling into a ball. She refused to go home"

"Who would want to go home after seeing something like that!" Sasori-nii-san half-shouted while prying my fingers off his cloak. For a second I thought he was going to push me off.

He didn't. Instead he gave the cloak to me and let me cling to his shirt. I was quivering because of the cold.

"She needs to get used to it"

"She's seven!"

"Age doesn't count" Onii-san lifted me up with one swift movement, regardless of my weight. Just like last time.

"I'm taking her"

"Be my guest" Puppet-boy left without another word. He was running... Fast. I could notice from the breeze.

"Why do you always disappear like that? It's such a bother." I didn't answer.

"Why can't you just whine normally like other kids when there's something you don't like?" Silence.

"Don't try to act like an adult. You're a kid. Enjoy it while you can." It was hard to believe that words like these actually came out from the arrogant boy's mouth. Come to think of it, he even defended me back then with Juukiri. I cried. Freely, no hesitations. For once, I could stop acting. For once, him saying that I was young actually relieved me. For once, I truly felt that I was seven.