Chapter 15

A Blast from the Past

"Is she awake yet?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Naruto, calm down. She's in Acoma and you can't rush someone's recovery time," Sakura explained, "Right Kakashi sensei?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, of course," he replied, probably while reading the book Make-Out Paradise by the one of the legendary sannin, Master Jiraiya.

Sasuke was just sitting next to my bed with his hand on top of mine. I could tell that he felt really bad and wanted to beat himself senseless. I honestly felt bad for him. So, I decided to let everyone know I was awake.

"Huh? Who's there?" I called out, faking being weak and quiet.

"Asami! Thank goodness you're alive!" Sasuke said happily, "Sis, I'm really sorry about hurting you like that."

"It's all right big brother," I assured him, "Besides, it was mostly a stupid move on my part that caused this whole mess to begin with."

"I guess you're right," he replied.

"We all have to get home, Asami. Sorry we couldn't stay longer," Sakura chimed in.

"It's alright Sakura," I looked over at Sasuke, "You should go home too, big brother. You need to get proper sleep."

"Alright Asami," he told me as he got up to leave, "I'll be back soon."

"Ok," I replied, "Oh, and Sasuke?"

"Yea, what's up?"

"I know this is random but," I paused for suspense porpoises, "Kamikaze watermelon!"

I giggled to myself.

"I think that medication is getting to your head," Sasuke remarked as he left.

That's when Nerugui sat up quickly from lying down on my chest.

"What's up Nerugui?" I asked him.

Then, my eyesight started to materialize again. I sat up and looked over at the windowsill. Sitting there was a ferret that looked like Nerugui, but was light pink with a white bow and light blue eyes. I stared in awe at the resemblance. The mysterious angelic-looking ferret then leaped over and landed right in front of Nerugui and sat down. Nerugui walked up next to her and pretended to stretch and put his tail behind her in a romantic way. She scooted away from him. He scooted closer to her. That's when I intervened.

"Nerugui, this is neither the time nor the place for romance. If you haven't noticed, we're in a hospital," I told him.

I turned to look at the angelic ferret.

"Sorry about him, uh… What's your name?"

"It's Mitsukai Tenshi," the pink ferret told me.

I just stared in awe at the fact that the ferret could talk. Then, she stud up and jumped back to the windowsill. I snapped out of it and asked her to wait.

"Yes, what is it?" Mitsukai Tenshi asked, looking at me.

"Three things," I replied, "One, why do you keep appearing and disappearing? You're not a mysterious superhero you know."

"You will find out, in time," she replied.

"Two, how can you talk? You're a ferret! Not a human!"

"Once again, you will find out, in time."

"And three, can I call you by your last name, Tenshi?"

"You will…" she paused and rethought her answer, "Yes, you may call me Tenshi. Now, it is time I take my leave. Good-bye, young Asami Mai Hisoka of the Uchiha and Inuzuka clan."

My eyesight disintegrated once I saw Itachi walk into the room.

I gasped in shock for two reasons. Reason one was that my eyesight disappearing once again. Reason two was that Itachi actually coming to see me while I was in the hospital. I could tell he was smiling a kind smile. I sighed a relived sigh.

"Good, he doesn't plan on hurting anyone," I thought to myself.

That's when a flashback hit me.

Sasuke was giving me a piggy-back ride home because I twisted my ankle running around the house while on a sugar rush. For some reason, we were talking about how I could lose a few pounds.

"I'm just saying, maybe you could lose a few pounds of extra weight," he told me.

"And I'm just saying that according to mother, I'm at the right weight," I replied, "Besides, maybe you should gain some muscles so you wouldn't be in a world of hurt right now."

Then, I realized I went a little too far with that remark. So, I apologized to Sasuke and he accepted my apology. Then he apologized for the comments on my weight, and being the kind person that I am, I accepted his apology. All of a sudden, Sasuke stopped moving. I looked at him with worried eyes.

"Sasuke, are you ok?" I asked him in a worried tone.

"Yea, I'm fine," he told me, but I didn't believe him.

Then, he started to run for home. Once I sensed we were standing in front of our ally, Sasuke's aura changed from worried to fearful.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" I asked in a worried tone.

"Everyone is…" Sasuke paused, trying to decide if he should tell me or not, but he figured, for my safety, he would tell me, "dead."

"Sasuke, I'm scared and worried," I exclaimed in a fearful tone.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you sis," Sasuke told me.

"But who's going to protect mother and father?" I asked, full of fear and panic.

"Oh no! I forgot about mother and father!" Sasuke exclaimed, "We've got to go home and make sure they're ok!"

"Then let's get moving!" I said.

"That's easy for you to say. You're not carrying a six year old on your back," Sasuke claimed.

"Sasuke, who ever did this could already be at our house! We have to hurry!"

"Alright, alright. Let's get going."

Sasuke started to run home with me on his back. When we got home, Kei came over to me in a limping motion. Kei told us that Itachi attacked him and was about to kill mom and dad.

"Kei, where's Nerugui?" I asked in a concerned tone.

That's when Nerugui jumped onto my shoulder. I stroked his fur.

"I'm so glad you're ok," I said smiling.

I heard a loud thud coming from one of the many rooms of the house. I got up and ran toward the room where the thud came from. Sasuke ran after me. I barged into the room where the noise came from and felt someone hit the back of my neck. That's when I blacked out…

When I awoke, I was in a room on top of what felt like a wood frame bed with a mattress, blanket, and a pillow. I tried to sit up, but I failed miserably. There was a loud creek from the opening of the door leading into the damp, humid room. I felt Nerugui jump into my lap and lie down. I just stroked his fur as he stayed curled up on my lap. I heard footsteps as someone entered the room.

"Who's there?" I called out in fear, "And where am I?"

"My dear little sister, you're awake," a familiar voice said.

"Itachi, is that you?" I muttered.

"Yes, it's me. My dearest sister," Itachi claimed, "I've been so worried about you."

"Where are we?" I asked, finally being able to sit up.

"We are at the Akatsuki headquarters," he told me, "I'm now officially the leader of the Akatsuki as well."

"Why am I here and not with Sasuke?" I asked him curiously.

"Because Sasuke will have a hard time taking care of even himself, Asami," Itachi said, "So how do you expect him to take care of both of you at once?"

"I guess he couldn't," I answered disappointedly, "But Itachi?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" he asked with caring aura.

"Why did you do it?" I questioned him, "Why did you destroy almost everyone in our clan?"

"To protect Kohanah and everyone in it," he told me.

Then he explained everything to me. Once he did, I asked him a question that had a saddening answer.

"So, you weren't and aren't and aren't really going to hurt Sasuke, right?" I asked with a hopeful smile.

"Well Asami, now that Sasuke hates me, he'll one day try to kill me in revenge for the village," Itachi claimed, "So, I may very well have to hurt Sasuke, or even worse."

My smile faded as tears filled my eyes. Itachi made vibrations showing him kneeling down in front of me with comforting aura.

"But you know what?" Itachi started.

"What?" I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes and looking up in his general direction.

"No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

"Really? Do you promise? Would you pinky swear on that?"

"Yes I would and will pinky swear on that."

Itachi extended his pinky out in between us. I did the same and we rapped our pinkies around each other to complete the pinky swear. And to this day, he still hasn't failed to keep that promise…

"What are you doing here Itachi?" I asked in a concerned tone, "What if you get caught?"

"I'm here to keep the promise I made to you a long time ago," he replied, "You remember, don't you?"

"I just had a flash-back about that," I told him.

"Well that was convenient," he remarked, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel pretty good," I told him.

"Well then, I guess you won't need this then, huh?" he said as he pulled out of his pocket a…

"Unicorn Horn lollypop! Can I please have it? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" I pleaded.

"Oh…" he trailed off teasingly.

"Come on, please?" I begged him.

"Oh, all right, take it," he said unwrapping the delectable smelling treat and handed it to me.

I smiled as I wolfed down the delectable delicacy. Once I finished it, it was time for me to go to bed. So, Itachi tucked me in and kissed me good-night on my forehead. I fell asleep instantly. And I awoke, I found a surprise visitor waiting for me…