Chapter 8: Drawn to the Other World

"You will never stand up against the Uchiha clan."

"Oh yeah? I thought I was part of it." Furious fighting followed after the flash of lightning, and went on for a matter of time.

"I never thought you were the one who set those bandits up. You are just a disgrace to us."

"It doesn't matter as long as you die. Katon Goukkyou no Jutsu!"

"Sharingan!"

The battle continued on and on. Finally, when it was over, at about four in the morning, a servant discovered the body among the scattered dirt and debris. "Oh no... Master... what will I tell your son? How do we break the news to Fugaku? You're... dead." Slowly getting up, he looked at the mangled body one last time, and finally, walked away.

o0o

The rain stopped. Fugaku had brought Mikoto to the meadow earlier, where they sheltered in its cave. For an hour or so, she sat down there, unmoving, not saying a word, except to tell him that her family was gone. Fugaku had gotten off his cloak and given it to her. Finally, Mikoto dozed off to sleep, but the sadness was still etched in her face even while she slept.

Somehow, after all the ghastly tumult that night, Fugaku felt very tired and worn-out... he found himself also asleep beside the woman who now was and wasn't his.

The next morning, when the Uchiha awoke, he found his cloak beside him and Mikoto gone. Instantly, he got up and went outside to find her. When the girl really wasn't anywhere to be found, on an impulse, he started going for the path to her home.

Ten minutes later, he had reached the farmhouse, which was now covered in ruins. Mikoto stood at the end of the house where the front door would have been. Everything was charred and burnt, and the smell of it was heavy in the air—in fact, smoke still continually rose now and then from the countryside's remains.

Fugaku approached cautiously. "Mikoto?"

She looked at him, apparently startled. Stifling the urge to cry, she hurriedly wiped her swollen eyes which were felling tears just a moment ago. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you... be... in your...house?"

He tried to smile. "I don't mind... being here with you." Silence.

"They're all... dead." she said this as though a realization had hit her. Mikoto shivered.

"I'll help you get to any relatives you've got..." his voice trailed off. It was then that Fugaku realized: just yesterday he was chasing her because he had a stupid childish crush on her. Now that he had seen her break down, seen Mikoto in front of her family's destruction, seen her at her vulnerable moment, what did her think? What did he feel? Was it still a crush...or something more? Or had it all gone away?

"I don't have any... both my mother and father were the only children in their family. My grandparents are dead... we're not like your clan... numerous."

"Ryen?" he regretted mentioning it after seeing the tears fall down her face again.

"No sign of him. Nothing. I didn't see him last night. And I don't know what happened to him." she sniffed.

"I see." Fugaku dared go closer. He touched her shoulder. "Why don't you go with me?"

It made her look up. "What do you mean?"

"Go to our house. You're not thinking of living in that cave, are you?"

She shook her head. "I never thought of it."

'I suppose that you don't have any food, money, clothes and shelter. Or do you have something else in mind?"

Mikoto hurriedly stood up. "Maybe I can find a job."

"Yeah, if you're up to it."

"Up to what?"

"Walk for about a minimum of three miles to the nearest civilization. As you can see, this one's wiped out."

Fire flashed in her emerald eyes. "Then I'll have to. Wait," she suddenly said. "Why aren't there any bandits here? What happened to them?"

"The Uchihas wiped them all out too."

"They did?" she looked the teeniest bit satisfied. "How?"

Fugaku looked away. "They...uh... they..."

"Say it." Mikoto looked him in the eye, searching his face for any helpful sign.

He took her hand. "They burned the whole countryside so that the bandits would be trapped in the fire together with... the villagers." His voice ended in an undertone. Fugaku could practically feel all the blood drain from her hand.

"Then it was your family that made me lose my home?" her voice was a mere whisper. "But... how did you know? You were with me last night... that means... it means you knew! You knew about it! Why didn't you tell me?" Mikoto's face was a mask of horror. She snatched her hand away and turned to the other direction.

"I only knew minutes before they took action. I didn't have any time to warn you and I couldn't stop them..."

"So now you're offering me your home as exchange for the loss of mine?" she spoke in an icy cold tone.

He didn't answer. After a moment, Fugaku decided to tell her the truth of what he felt. "I don't know exactly what you're going through, if you'll forgive my saying. I can't even imagine the pain you're feeling after finding your parents dead—"

"I didn't just 'find' them dead, they had blades thrust through their bodies in front of me."

'...Yeah. well—"

"There you are Master!" a familiar hated voice sounded.

Dammit, Fugaku thought. I don't need any disturbances now. What's that fool doing here? Mikoto was likewise staring at him with a look that plainly said it all: Get out of here and return to your nice big mansion with servants calling 'Master! Master!' wherever you go.

Before any of them could say a word, the man had run up to him and broke the news, "I'm so sorry to say this, Master Fugaku, but you ought to know: your father's dead. We found his body charred beyond recognition and it was only because of the weapon near him that we identified as his."

At the sound of this news, Fugaku felt all the wind blow out from his lungs, and he felt as if his whole body was numb. He could just remember the statement he said: I can't even imagine how you feel. Now, he knew. And once again, they were just the same with Mikoto after all. Little by little, he felt himself drawn to her as Fate made them closer and closer to each other in spite of one fact: their lives were a world away from each other.