Chapter Ten; The Funeral
Before Keiko knew it Sasuke had teleported her to a cemetery. "Where are we Sasuke-Kun" she questioned him while he carried her over to a tombstone at the end of the row.
"This is where my brother Itachi is buried." He told her.
"I didn't know that you had a brother." She began. "What happened to him?" she inquired.
"He died." He replied.
"Obviously I know that captain obvious." Keiko responded. "I meant, how exactly did he die?" she wondered as Sasuke took a rather large breath and then let it out again slowly while hanging his head.
"I killed him." He told her. "It's all my fault that he's gone." He admitted.
"Don't feel bad." Keiko began. "Wasn't Itachi the guy who caused the Uchiha massacre?" she questioned him.
"Yes, but that's only because the hidden leaf village ordered him to do it." Sasuke began. "I didn't know the truth until it was too late, I swear I didn't." he told her as she smiled warmly at him.
"Then there's no reason to blame yourself then is there?" she said as Sasuke slowly started smiling back at her.
"No. I guess there's not." He told her.
"Well then come on, we better get back to the sand village. Big sis and Naruto are probably really starting to worry about us, and besides that, big sis and I need to go and pick up our dresses for father's funeral." She said.
"Alright, are you going to be okay?" he questioned her.
"Yeah,.." she began before letting out a tiny sad little sigh. "I'll be fine." She told him while Sasuke softly kissed her cheek before they disappeared again.
….
As Keiko went into the store with Sakura she quickly pulled her over into the corner. "Big sis can you keep a secret?" she inquired.
"Yeah, sure, what's up Keiko?" Sakura questioned her back.
"You swear that you won't tell anybody?" Keiko asked her eagerly as Sakura shook her head.
"I won't I promise." She replied.
"Pinky swear?" Keiko questioned her while she stuck her littlest finger out towards her.
"Pinky swear." Sakura answered as she stuck out her own pinky and then linked it together with her sister's. "Now what is it?"
"It's Sasuke-Kun." Keiko began. "He told me all about what happened between him and Itachi and well, I think I know how to help him." She said.
"Really? How?" Sakura questioned her eagerly while Keiko slowly leaned her head in towards her sister's and whispered through her hand.
" Well in addition to see the future and moving things with my mind,.. I can raise the dead for an hour." She told her.
"What!?" Sakura hollered suddenly forgetting her promise.
"Shh!" Keiko snapped inside a whisper while waving her hands up and down. "You promised that you wouldn't tell anyone remember!?" she exclaimed still inside those same hushed tones.
"I'm sorry Keiko, but how do you expect to keep something like that a secret? Everybody in the hidden leaf village already knows that Itachi's dead. I think that they would notice if they suddenly saw him walking through the streets." Sakura replied.
"Good point." Keiko admitted. "Well don't worry, I'm sure that we'll think of something."
"Well, what's the big deal if anybody knows about your ability to raise the dead?" Sakura wondered before her little sister let out a deep and heavy sad sigh.
"Because every time that I've told somebody about it in the past they always think of me as some kind of freak." She admitted. "But I really like Sasuke-Kun now and I don't want him to be sad." She said. "I think that I will surprise him with it as soon as we make it back to the hidden leaf village. Right now we have to focus on finding our dresses." Keiko said as she caught sight of a tiny black dress and then grabbed ahold of the hanger and quickly raced back to the changing rooms to try it on.
…..
Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Keiko all rode a limo to the church. After the service they rode over to the graveyard where Sakura's and Keiko's father was going to be buried. Tears rolled down Keiko's cheeks while she stood in-between Sasuke and Sakura as the minister read from the Bible.
"Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." He read. Keiko sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand while they all watched as her father was buried deep inside the ground.
"Goodbye Daddy." She whispered. "I love you." She added. As soon as his grave was filled in, Keiko knelt before it and stared down at the grass beside it. Her eyes turned white as a bouquet of beautiful red roses magically started growing out of the ground. That's when suddenly she felt a light touch on the back of her shoulder.
"Come on," Sakura began. "let's go home." She told her. Keiko silently nodded before she sniffed, rubbed her eyes, and then slowly stood back up while Sakura hoisted her up inside her arms and carried her away with Naruto and Sasuke following along behind them.
I realize that was another short chapter, but tomorrow there SHOULD be more and now is the point when it starts getting really rather exciting and interesting.