||| [T] h e [C] a f e |||^Itachi Uchiha^|||-Chapter Twenty Six-

Chapter Twenty Six: Run

"If a woman possesses manly virtues one should run away from her; and if she does not possess them she runs away from herself."

Leaving…le-ea-aving…no,

Not again.

This can't happen again…

It killed.

It killed to watch the wind pat his lose clothes.

It killed to watch his delicate body sway to an unheard rhythm.

It killed to watch him slowly disappear into the unsettling night,

It killed me to let him go,

No, no, no, no.

I had repeated the words over and over in my head. Everything around me had seemed to calm and serene. The two people that meant so much to me were walking away. Kyou was north while Itachi was south.

There was only one thing left to do and it came to me like an inner instinct that I had finally conjured.

"Itachi." The words were faint to my ears but were loud enough to stop him. He turned his head and smiled.

[*]

"Okaasan!" A whiney voice had spoken up from behind a wooden railing. The stair case had been the child's safe zone. It was her sanctuary where she felt that none of the monsters her brother had told her about would get her. She believed that every time they (the monsters) would take a step on the wooden stairs, they would disappear into little dust. But most children would believe and or make up something like that, and that's exactly what-

"Okaaaaasssaaaannnnn!"

"What do you want Mariko?" A stern but sweet voice had replied from the kitchen. A brown haired middle aged woman had walked out to check on the little monkey attached to the stairs, "Are the monsters bothering you again?"

The little one shook her head hard enough that the woman had though she would lose her balance and fall down a step or two.

"Then what is it, bobo?" The child though hard and long and then flashed a toothed smile.

"Where's Nii-san." She giggled.

The brunette inhaled and then walked back in the kitchen.

"Okaasan…" Mariko walked down the stairs carefully and found her mother holding a tissue close to her face. She has peered down at the child before bursting out into guilty tears. The child patted her lap affectionately before asking her what was wrong.

Her mother sobbed for a few more minutes before coming to stop. She began to dry away her face. The child couldn't understand why she was so upset. All she asked was where her brother had gone. She also couldn't understand why she was so much more worn out. She was always excited and had an unlimited supply of energy. Mariko left her mother, unwilling to watch her cry any longer. Mariko had slide past the wooden door and raced outside to meet an orange sun down. There Mariko found her older brother speaking with another person. He held no trace of emotion on his face; she hadn't been familiar with such uneasiness.

"Ichiro san. It seems like we have an audience." The male she was related to looked over his shoulder and down at her. His faced changed to pain one.

"Hi bugger." He smirked at the little girl.

That's the brother I know, she was about smile but decided it would be better to argue with him, "At least I don't smell funny."

She pinched her nose and began to swat away invisible flies. Her brother kneeled down in front of her and ruffled her hair.

"She's your sister I take it. You two look a lot alike." That's when Mariko decided to make a full inspection of the stranger. He had slick back silver hair binded in a low pony tail and round glasses. He looked fairly nice, but something about him had danger written all over him. Plus, the way her brother turned to look at him made her want to run to the hills. Her brother never looked at anyone with such hate. And the man, oh ho, the man was completely oblivious to his glare, "How old is she."

Ichiro was about to respond, but Mariko cut him off, "I'm seven and a half."

Her brother didn't roll his eyes like usual, but instead stood up and walked away from her. She tilted her head.

"Mariko, go back inside."

"I don't want-."

"Please." She stuck up her nose and crossed her arms.

"Only if you come back inside, Okaasan's sad."

He filched.

Ichiro ended his conversation with the silver haired man and had ended up coming back to the house, Mariko smiled up at him but he hadn't responded. Supper was also deadly silent. Suddenly, she had the urge to break that silence.

"Who was that, Nii san?" She asked.

Ichiro was quiet.

"Nii-san."

& then their mother began to weep again.

Ichiro left the table, and Mariko offered to clean up after supper.

Before she knew it, it was bed time. But, she couldn't sleep. When the sun had completely vanished Mariko decided to leave her room. Her mom was obviously sleeping so she wouldn't know she would have still been awake. Mariko walked down the stairs. She was hesitant on the last step and that's when she saw her brother walking towards the front door. The brunette girl started to fallow him and she was only forced to hide once from her brother's stunning blue orbs. Soon enough Mariko found the silver haired man waiting outside in a hooded cloak. She peeked from behind a flower pot and began to eaves drop on their conversation.

"Well, well, well, it seems like you kept your promise." The stranger had said. Ichiro grunted and tugged at a lose string on his shirt. Mariko took that as a sign of fear. He had always done that before the exams had started.

"You thought I would back out of an opportunity like this one." The silver haired man just laughed.

"I'm sure lord orochimaru would have a great pleasure in assisting you.

Wasn't orochimaru the one who had been behind the several murders of kages and other innocent civilians? She was absolutely sure that he was. But why was her brother…

"Ichiro…" She moaned from behind the plant. Revealing herself in front of the two hadn't been that difficult. His blue eyes had whipped towards her. He stared at her for a few minutes. And then he smiled.

& it was as simple as that.

[*]

A smile…