As soon as Itachi and I reached the door, we were surrounded by our family. Mom took me in her arms. It looked like she hasn't slept in days. The first thing she did was give me water. Then she fed me. It was like she had read my mind.
Dad, well he had this stern yet relieved look on his face. He looked tired as well. He was probably going to scold me later on.
Itachi, he was comforting Sasuke who was crying. He must have been worried sick. They all must have.
Mom took me to the bath, I was dirty and the water felt so good against my skin. Mom helped me wash myself. It was only then that I remembered the tattoo. I looked at my stomach. It was gone. Did I imagine it? Was I just so tired that I made things up? It couldn't have been my imagination.
"Ichigo?" My mom called to me with her sweet soothing voice.
"Yes?"
"Can you tell me what happened to you?" I was just about to tell her. Tell her about the old lady that I would visit all the time. It didn't feel right. Like I shouldn't say anything about it. So I did just that and made up a story.
"I may or may not have fallen into the river and walked three days." That was my answer. That is the story they would come to know.
"You didn't come out with a scratch." She said.
"My body hurts all over though."
"I'll have your father get the medic."
"Alright." I left the bath, drying myself with a towel that was given to me. "Sleepy..." I muttered.
"Go ahead and change. You can go lay down." I did as I was told as mom got dad to get a medic. About fifteen minutes later later a medical ninja came along. I always thought medical ninjas were 'So Cool!' The way you could see their chakra as the inspected your own.
"I need to speak with you in private." The medic informed my dad.
"Yes, alright." They walked out of the room. Something was wrong with me and then, I didn't know what. They had a lengthy conversation, I tried to eavesdrop catching a few words like her or different or chakra. That led me to believe there was something wrong about my chakra. Like any four year old I told my mom about my worries.
"Mom... Is there something wrong with me?"
She looked at me, as if she couldn't answer. "I'm not sure... I'm not sure.."
Dad walked back in a concerned look in his eyes.
"Just keep an eye on her. I've never seen anything like it before." The medic left as soon as he finished his sentence. We all stayed silent. It was painfully silent. I couldn't deal with it.
"Am I okay?"
"Yes. You're fine. Your an Uchiha. You are strong." He said it as if he was trying to convince himself. I just let it be.
"Is it all right if I sleep?"
"Go ahead." Mom smiled at me, tucking me in. She must have been relieved that I was okay.
"Good night Ichigo." Dad turned off the lights.
"Night." I fell asleep quickly.
The days after that we're as if nothing had happened. I never brought myself to hate that woman for whatever she did to me. There was no need to hate her. My days went about, I was a ninja in training. I was a fast learner, picking things up faster than Sasuke but not as fast as Itachi did. He was on another level. If I wanted to I could beat Sasuke in a fight. I could keep up with Itachi if he were to go easy but he didn't find that any fun. As I got older, I kept my boyish image, I got stronger, my face slimmed down. I was happy, yet little did I know then, that those days of bliss were about to end.