Title: Life Goes On

Author: nikki (nikkichan0829@yahoo.com)

Chapter: 1.5/?

Chapter Title: Memories of Blood

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Enough said. The title was from the song, "Life Goes On" by Leanne Rhymes (is that the right spelling?).

Warning: YAOI. OOCness? Not betaed.

Author's notes: It took me a while to get this up. I hope you guys aren't mad, as this isn't exactly chapter two. And... it's awfully short. I am sooo screwed... =.=;;; *sees the readers and ducks* Please don't kill me...

Replies to reviews:

Zenegami - Thanks. I'm trying to make the chapters longer. It's been my problem since I started writing stories. Sorry about the replies to reviews chapter. I kinda got so used to it that I'm doing it to all my fics lately.

evafreak - Err... I'm trying to hurry up... About Itachi... Hmm...

Raspberry-Swirl - Hehehe. Imagine Itachi-kun would be easy. Just imagine he's sitting in front of you eating ramen and... *nose bleeds* Oops! Went too far on that one. Anyway, hope you'll like the chapter I've put up.

kkoganei - Thanks.

Pyro Dragon - Hehe. New chappie up! Thanks for the compliment. I'll try to update as often as I can.^^;;;

~Interlude: Memories of Blood~

There was once a child, an angel, a morning star...

Who fell from the heavens, a fallen angel, battered and broken...

~~~~~

Itachi sat apart from the other boys his age. He was never really welcome among them. They all regarded him with resentment and contempt. He hated those looks. It was as if they saw him as something that wasn't even human, a demon. A monster.

Sighing, he stood up and left. He found himself sitting in the park and a few moments later, he started opening his lunch bag. His mother always made one for him even if he could already make one for himself. But he indulged her anyway, thinking that it was just her way of keeping in touch with him despite his busy schedule.

Then, he heard a soft mewl and something nuzzling against his leg. Itachi allowed himself to smile at the cat. //Cute.//

He placed his lunch beside him as he petted and stroked the cat's fur. Then, sensing danger, he dodged projectiles in the form of stones, taking the cat with him in his arms. He looked up and glared at his assailants, his Sharingan activated instantly. His attackers were merely four boys who shouted at him.

"Weirdo!"

"Freak!"

"Demon!"

"Monster," the last one sneered out.

Then they left. Itachi looked down and realized that he may have evaded the stones but his lunch apparently didn't. He sighed. //So much for having a peaceful lunch...//

He gently placed the cat beside his overturned lunch and said, "Well, looks like I won't be having lunch today. You can have it." Then he smiled at the cat meowed at him before turning its attention to the food.

Itachi frowned as he stared at nothing in particular, dark thoughts surfacing in his mind.

Everyone thought about him differently. The adults viewed him as a genius, the shining star of the Uchiha clan but at the same time, they were wary of him like he was some wild animal that they had to keep a close watch on at all times. The other kids viewed him as a know-it-all, a snob, a weirdo, a teacher's pet and worst of all, a monster. His clan... Well, he didn't really know what they really thought of him. But he knew what he thought. He felt like a prisoner. Day and night, there was someone always watching him. He was not alone yet he felt that way. He felt isolated and left out. He didn't know if they thought he was a demon or otherwise, whether to kick them in the shins or to thank them.

He was always told he was talented, skilled, intelligent, and special and that everyone adored him. If that were so, then why did he feel differently? Mothers ushered their children away from him, people turned their backs on him and ignored him and the children shunned him, branded him an outcast without even knowing anything about him and called him a "red-eyed demon." What was so wrong with being who he was?

He couldn't figure it out. His thoughts kept spiraling downward into the darkness that clouded his mind. Then, he was suddenly pulled back at the sound of pitiful mewl.

He glanced down at the cat and stared in horror, his eyes widening.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

~~~~~

Itachi sat outside the sliding doors to the dining room where his parents were speaking with the elders. He was hugging his knees to his chest, biting his lip as he tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out.

He had gone straight home when he saw what happened to the cat. The poor feline had ingested a large amount of poison. Of course, the dosage wasn't enough to kill a human being. There was only enough to make that person incredibly weak and sick. Unfortunately, it was enough to kill the cat.

Itachi supposed that it had been bad timing on his part. He got home and saw his own mother pouring a packet of crystalline powder in what looked like would be given to him for lunch when he went out tomorrow. There were more of those packets on the counter. He couldn't believe his eyes. His own mother would do this to him? It had to be a joke, a trick, a form of genjutsu... His own family wouldn't try to kill them now would they?

It didn't take long before he sensed someone else arrive and hid himself. It was his father with the elders of the clan. They went straight in just as his mother had finished doing what she had been doing earlier.

As soon as they had entered and slid the door close, Itachi crept closer, pressing an ear against the door but at the same time being careful so as not to be found out.

"We've received a report that Itachi had found out about the poison in his food," one of the elders said.

"Really? How?" the familiar voice of his mother said. It lacked the concern a mother should have when her child was threatened. In fact, it was so cold and detached that it made the young Uchiha sick.

"One of the clan members spotted him, well rather, heard him screaming at a cat that apparently ingested the food. Then the boy ran off. His jounin-sensei had not seen him after the break."

"We should be more careful now so as this demonic child would never find out what we're doing. For the future of this clan, that monster should die. He's more of a threat than anything else."

"My wife and I understand. We will not let you down."

Upon hearing his father's voice, Itachi burst into tears.

A few moments later, the door slid open and a pair of strong arms wrapped around him.

"Itachi, what are you doing home so early?"

The child did not respond to the man he had known as his father. The older Uchiha tried to comfort him with a hug. But the expression on the man's face was one of great distress. Had Itachi found out about them?

Wanting to keep this illusion of a family for much longer, this form of comfort, Itachi opted to feign innocence. "The-the cat..."

He couldn't help but flinch at his parents' relieved sighs.

~~~~~

Itachi never trusted his clan ever again.

A year later, he became a chuunin and he drifted further away from his family.

He vowed to himself that he would one day leave and he would never look back.

~~~~~

There was once a child, an angel, a morning star...

Who fell from the heavens, a fallen angel, battered and broken...

He was only nine years old.

~~~~~

*Interlude End*

Author's notes: Man... I suck. Oh well. I hope you guys liked that. I had part of the real second chapter done on paper but once I reread it, I absolutely, positively hated it. So I'm back to square one: Trying to figure out what to write next. Sorry but I'm a very impulsive and spontaneous kind of person so I don't write something that is too planned. I write my chapters on a whim, how I want it and when I want it.

Dunno if I portrayed Itachi right. I know that everything that I'm writing right now will all lead up to the Uchiha massacre but I have my own twisted little version of what happened. Hehehe. Please bear with me as I figure out how to get to that part first (as I'm currently writing the parts that are two years or more before the massacre).

But don't worry, if I don't find anything to put up, I'll type up one of these kinds of chapters for you. Is that okay?^^;;;

If I feel like it, I just might reread this and edit it but for now, this will have to do.

As for those who are looking forward to the seventh chapter of "Remembering My Love"... Err... I'm not done yet. Gomen, gomen! *bows repeatedly* I'm having trouble putting things together. Haven't really been inspired enough lately despite reading other people's fics (no offense to the other authors out there)...

Anyway... Please review. Flamers can go to hell and kiss Zabuza's ass (but they'll have to get through Haku first)!

Started: October 29, 2003

Ended: November 6, 2003