Kana's whole body ached. She had just finished training with her team and it had just so happened that Guy decided halfway through that he would join in so they didn't get off the field until long after the sun set. Her stomach rumbled, starved, and she shifted the weight of her backpack to her other shoulder as she began to approach the outskirts of the Uchiha territory. It didn't violate any rules for clan members to cross through each others' areas, but it was still weird to walk through without her friends. If it wasn't so late she probably would have just ran around, but she wanted to get home as soon as possible so she had decided to take the main road to cut about twenty minutes off of her travel time.

It was strange to see the buildings so dark – it was only about nine or ten at night so, while it was still late, it wasn't so late that it made sense for the whole clan to be asleep. She heard rustling nearby and Kana spun around just in time for a figure to flash in front of her in an inhumanly fast blur. By the time she had grabbed a kunai from her leg, a strong hand wrapped around her thin wrist in a firm grip; the person used his free hand to remove the knife from her grip and gave her a grim smile.

"This is why I never wanted to play tag with you," Itachi said in a painfully fake amused tone as he pushed her mask to the side of her head, "You don't respond well to someone sneaking up behind you." He slipped the cloth mask down so that her face was fully exposed.

Kana rolled her eyes and snatched her kunai back to put it back into her leg holster. "The whole point of tag is to blatantly chase people, 'Tachi, not to sneak up and scare the living daylights out of them." She looked up at his face finally and froze as her eyes locked with the shockingly intense Sharingan that stared at her grimly. She noticed the faint redness and swelling in the skin around his eyes, too. The dark silence of this part of the village creeped back to her attention and the kunoichi fought to hide the level of concern that billowed up inside of her chest.

"Itachi, what's wrong?" she whispered, feeling his grip on her arm lessen; she allowed it to fall back to her side, but the teenager grabbed her hand in his own in a much softer hold than before.

His next words caused her heart to stop for what felt like forever.

"Shisui's dead. I'm leaving the village, and I can't come back."

Kana's lungs forgot how to function, and her mind went blank. The only thing she could do was stare into those piercing red eyes in horror and hold onto his hand as if her life depended on it.

"Wha," she choked out, "Itachi what did you do?"

Pain flickered in Itachi's eyes and she saw that whatever happened, it was tearing him apart at the seams. Itachi reached up with his free hand and grabbed onto her fingers in a gesture that they both used when they were in a desperate need for comfort. Kana's breathing soon came back to her in short bursts, her years of training forgotten. "Please understand," he said solemnly, "I only did what was best for the village, and that meant branding myself as a monster. I was the only one that could be trusted to do this."

"Then let me come with you." Tears stung at her eyes."I don't care what it was, just please let me come with you." Itachi was the only person she knew that was like her – an overachiever to the extreme. Someone that people both respected and feared. Someone that was never allowed childhood, and mentally grew into an adult even as their bodies lagged behind. Neji was like a dear brother to her, but Itachi was like the second half to her existence - how many nights had they slept under the same blanket together, huddled together in a tree or foxhole while on missions? She couldn't count the number of times they had been there for each other, both in battle and back home. How many times they had worked through existential crises together? It wasn't as if she depended on him like a parasite, they needed each other on a level that no one was capable of understanding.

Itachi took a deep breath and hung his head, finally closing his eyes. "You know that if that was an option I would have your bag already packed, Kana," he whispered, agony written all over his face, "But the next part of my mission has to be done on my own. You have to stay here. Protect the village – protect Neji and Sasuke." At the name of his younger brother's name, Itachi almost looked like he was about to physically fall apart. It occurred to her that the redness around his eyes was most likely due to him crying. "He will hate me, but please promise me you'll keep him safe for me until he becomes strong."

Pain gripped Kana's heart in a cold and violent hold as the finality of their conversation set in with her. She struggled to control her breathing and nodded her head clumsily, a tear finally racing down her cheek, "I promise. I promise, 'Tachi. I'll watch over him," she sobbed.

He seemed to find some sense of relief in her vow, even if only barely. Itachi raised his head, his Sharingan deactivated, and used the hand on her forearm to pull her body against his. She instinctively threw her arms around him to return the crushing hug that threatened to force her breath out of her body. "Itachi I love you," she sobbed desperately into his shoulder, "Please be safe. Please, please Itachi be safe."

The tremble in Itachi's shoulders was subtle, but there. Kana wasn't sure if she envied his self control, or pitied him for being unable to break his stoic demeanor.

"I promise," she heard him whisper with a shudder. He then broke the hug and placed a gentle, feather light kiss on her lips. The tenderness in the way he touched her was a complete 180 from the almost violent hug he just gave - Kana felt his calloused fingertips graze her skin as if she were made of a thin crystal that was about to shatter. She cupped his cheek with one quivering hand and snaked the other into his impossibly soft black hair, bringing him in closer; Itachi gasped at the change and she heard him choke back his own tears.

Kana was the one to pull back only a few moments later, knowing full well that if this kept on she would only beg for him to stay.

His hands slid down to the tops of her arms in a gesture that she knew was his final expression of care. "I have to go bargain for Sasuke's life. I left him in his bedroom. His bag is packed." Itachi said, having regained the most of his composure. His Sharingan activated and the sudden change made his eyes appear to nearly glow in the moonlight, like two glittering gems set into porcelain. They stood there, gazes locked, for only a couple moments longer.

Kana nodded, understanding what he meant. "Run," she breathed.

Without another word the pair spun on their heels and sprinted impossibly fast in opposite directions. The kunoichi flipped into the air and onto a roof, fearing what she might encounter if she ran in the streets. She activated her Kurogan and did everything she could to not stare at the faint outlines of bodies that littered the ground , the glow of chakra extinguished in every single one - Kana's gut twisted and she willed herself to run faster, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Her heart ached. Her body hurt. A throbbing pain was building in her forehead as the stress and exhaustion began to finally take its toll on her.

'Itachi, why did they make you do this?' she thought to herself as she crossed over to the other side of the residential street, fully aware of the Umino's triplets lying in a lifeless pile below.

As she approached the Uchiha house, Kana slowed her pace. She dreaded what she would find inside, knowing full well that both Fugaku and Mikoto were dead inside; she couldn't have possibly cared less for the boys' crude father, but Mikoto was nothing short of a beautiful and caring mother that Kana had grown very fond of over her years spent as Itachi's friend. She was a woman that truly only deserved the best, and knowing that she was inside…

Kana grit her teeth and pushed the image out of her mind. She needed to get to Sasuke and take him from this place, not worry about something she was unable to control. As she pushed the boy's paper window to the side and began to climb in, Kana saw that there was a team of shinobi making their way into the clan's district. She suddenly wished Itachi had told her what was happening - was he in danger? Kana was fully aware of the tensions that had been building between the clan and the rest of the Leaf, so was this all to avoid an uprising? It made sense in her mind, but would they kill Sasuke just out of spite to the Uchiha? Why did Itachi need to blackmail the leader of their village just to keep him alive?

The teenager dropped to the tatami floor without making a sound and swiftly made her way over to the child's bed; Sasuke's cheeks were stained with tears and his hair was a mess, but other than disheveled clothing and dirt on his hands he appeared to be alright. She wondered if he had seen the slaughter, as he clearly had only been asleep for a short while. Knowing Itachi, he probably used the Mangekyo to induce sleep so she tried to not think too much of it as she used some ninja wire to tie his backpack to her own. Kana lifted a framed photo of the family and stared, nearly dumbfounded at how happy they looked. It was almost like this was some family from a parallel universe, one that wasn't just violently torn apart. The shinobi wrapped the photo in one of Sasuke's black shirts and dropped it into his bag, well aware of the team's presence in the Uchiha district.

Slinging the bags over her shoulders, Kana turned to the sleeping child and scooped his small body into her arms; her heart felt as if it was tearing in two as Sasuke unconsciously wrapped himself around her torso, a sob escaping his lips. For added security, Kana extended the belt that normally strapped around her waist and clipped it behind Sasuke's back, tightening it so that it pressed his body closer to hers.

'Don't worry, Sasuke, I'll protect you,' she thought sadly as she briskly strode through his home. She wouldn't be able to get out of the window like this so she took them to the back of the house, desperately fighting the urge to look down the corridor to her right. She knew the doors to Fugaku's and Mikoto's room was open. She knew it was their bodies she saw slumped together in a pool of their own drying blood.

The air felt too cold for summer time in Konoha, Kana noted subconsciously as she stepped out onto the wooden deck. She pulled her mask back over her face before leaping up to the top of the house; her black eyes scanned the area for the ninja squad she spotted earlier, heart pounding. Adrenaline turned to fear, though, as she saw that only three of the four shinobi were Anbu. The fourth was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. And they were quickly making their way over to them.

The kunoichi tightened her arms around Sasuke's sleeping form and took off to the forest. If she could get to the trees then she could use the shadows to hide, but where would she go? Where was she supposed to take Sasuke? 'Dammit, Itachi, what do you want?!' she screamed desperately in her head as she tried to force the building hysteria away. Kana focused a spare amount of chakra to her legs and feet to propel herself forward faster than she thought she could move, the momentum allowing her to jump farther than normal – she had never been so thankful to have Might Guy as her sensei.

Her sandals sounded agonizingly loud against the heavy silence of the dead district, like firecrackers going off one after the other, even as her hands flashed the signs for a silencing jutsu. Her heavy breathing bounced back at her against her mask in hot puffs and Kana was mildly aware of Sasuke's spiky hair brushing against her exposed ear with every step she took. Kana saw the four shinobi stop in their tracks, and the three Anbu members looked in the Hokage's direction; her old friend and mentor, Kakashi, pushed her headband up as he and Tenzo turned in her direction. Kana bit her cheek and gripped Sasuke's clothes tightly – she knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to take on Sarutobi, but she might be okay with those two, even if just outrunning them.

Kana couldn't run any faster, though, no matter how hard she willed it. Training with Guy today took too much out of her body, and the panic slowly creeped back up her throat as she realized that if those two caught up to her then there was a good chance they would kill her and Sasuke.

Behind her, she saw that the pair had begun their pursuit: Tenzo sprinted towards her on the rooftops, jumping from building to building, while Kakashi took to the ground. They were still a good distance back, with Kana almost being out of the Uchiha's territory, but they knew exactly where she was heading and it occurred to her that Kakashi's tracking skills wouldn't do her any good once they got to the treeline.

Her mind raced for alternative options. She couldn't try to escape through the mountains, not with the Anbu headquarters being right next to the Hokage Monument. She was fast approaching the Hyuga Clan district, and beyond that was the wall with a thick forested area lining it. She couldn't take Sasuke outside of the village, where would they go? It wasn't as if they could just move to a new village like this, she had no doubt in her mind that carrier birds would be sent out informing the other villages in the Land of Fire that she was a criminal.

Was she a criminal? Kana realized she had no idea what was going on. She only knew that for some reason, the Hokage wanted the Uchiha clan dead and that meant Sasuke. Did that make her a traitor?

'Now isn't the time to be thinking about that!' she scolded herself. On a snap decision, Kana twisted her body and launched herself to the right. It would allow the two jonin behind her to gain some ground on them, but if Kana could just get out of the district she could make a beeline straight for the Konoha Memorial area. There were enough trees for her to hide long enough to use a transformation jutsu and-

Her thoughts were cut off by the whir of shuriken flying past her ears, and the thump of one hitting her backpack. Kana was suddenly grateful that she had decided to keep Sasuke on her front. The sound of her labored breathing was joined with the sound of Tenzo's sandals clacking against the tiled roof; he was only a dozen or so meters behind her, Kakashi just as close. Kana didn't realize how much ground she was giving the men when she changed her course, but it had been her only option at the time.

She moved her arms so that her forearms kept Sasuke in place as she began making hand seals. The chakra in her left hand flared and Kana flung her arm back, "Chakra Senbon!"

The kunoichi was fully aware that she was going to miss, but Tenzo had to slow down in order to sidestep her attack which was exactly what she had intended. She shoved her hand into the pack that was clipped to her hip and unrolled two paper bombs as she pulled them out. Kana placed them between her lips so she could grab a kunai out of her leg pouch. Having Sasuke in her arms made her movements clumsy, but she was able to pull one bomb from her mouth and stick it to the kunai before throwing it into the wall of a building Kakashi was fast approaching. The explosion hardly registered in with her as she pulled the second paper bomb from her mouth. She dropped down from the last building, swinging from a streetlight so that the paper bomb stuck.

The added momentum threw her through the air and Kana used the opportunity to reach into her pouch again for wire. She knew she would be cutting it close as she grabbed another kunai and tied the wire to the handle. She was only about 30 feet from the ground when Kana threw the knife up and to the right, hearing the second paper bomb go off.

"Fire style, Fire Dragon Bullet!"

'Dammit!'

At the very last second Kana was able to pull on the wire and use the inertia to backflip to the ground, just before her wire was engulfed in flames.

"Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The kunoichi had barely regained her footing before she found herself diving to the left to dodge the five fire balls that curved towards her. Kana twisted so that she landed on her back, shielding Sasuke's head with her hand as she slid against the dirt road.

"Four Pillar Prison!"

'NO!'

Kana could only watch in horror as wood shot out of the ground from all directions to encase her in a small wood cell. She laid on her back and struggled to calm herself; steadying her breathing, she groaned at the ache in her left shoulder. The kunoichi wasn't given much time to land gracefully, so she landed hard. Kana took a long, deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it slowly – she was still exhausted but she was at least able to breathe well enough to think properly.

It was only a matter of time before Sarutobi and Yugao caught up, so Kana wasted no time to feel around in her hip pouch for one of the five little wax paper balls she kept there. "Please forgive me, Sasuke," she whispered as she unwrapped the paper and popped the food pill into her mouth. The effects were slow but began immediately, and that was all Kana needed for what she was about to do next. The teenager pressed a hand to the center of Sasuke's back and her chakra immediately flared; he squirmed against the discomfort in her arms as Kana slowly sapped his chakra - she didn't need much, but she was running on fumes by this point and she wasn't even halfway to their destination.

Sasuke's breathing became labored in just a few moments. She removed her hand and kissed the side of his head. "Thank you."

Kana stood up and channeled her chakra to her fingertips; she wasn't able see past the prison walls, as the chakra-infused wood was nothing but a bright blue box to her, and it was going to be difficult to break through for essentially the same reason. With that in mind she made two clones, who instantaneously followed her example. Chakra began to wrap around their wrists in a matter of seconds as Kana's mind continued to work. There was no point in trying to have the other clones run in different directions, not with Kakashi's Sharingan at work. Itachi had told her that some wielders of the kekkei genkai could tell what was a clone and what wasn't; she assumed Kakashi' would be weaker, especially now that he had been using it alongside other jutsus, but she wasn't going to take that chance. At the very best she would only be able to use them as a way to buy herself time.

The black chakra had formed into a dense ball and Kana charged towards the farthest wall. Her fist connected solidly with the chakra-infused wood with a satisfying crunch. She jumped to the side as the first clone slammed her own fist in the same spot, the wood visibly splintering beneath the inhuman strength. Less than a split second later and the second clone had smashed her way through the wall, jumping forward and flashing hand signs while the first clone rushed out after her.

Kana sprinted out of the opening and into the small forest as the clones fired off jutsus; she heard the sound of Kakashi's chidori, but it wasn't coming from near the prison. "What?" Kana gasped as she side-stepped just in time to see the ball of lighting punch through the now empty air. She didn't see him with the Kurogan, how-

Tenzo launched himself down towards her, foot extended. Kana stopped her dodge halfway through and kicked herself backwards. "You can't have him!" she exclaimed as she landed. Her hands quickly formed the necessary signs for her protection jutsu and a small barrier of chakra covered the still sleeping child.

"Kana, what are you-"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, effectively ending Kakashi's question, "I know what they made him do! I know what you're trying to do. I won't let you hurt Sas- STAY BACK!" Kana could hear the hysteria building in her voice as she pulled out her last kunai and held it in front of her. The men slowed their advance but didn't halt their movements entirely. "I will kill you where you stand," she shouted, "Do you understand me?! I will fucking tear your throat out with my teeth if I have to, Kakashi!" She began to focus her chakra to her left arm for effect, knowing full well that they could see the black flame-like energy encase the limb.

"Sweetheart I promise you we have no idea what you're talking about!" Kakashi pleaded. The use of his pet name for her only fueled her building rage. "I will explain why we were there if you just calm down and talk to me! What happened to the Uchihas?!"

Her chakra had morphed into a long blade that extended from her elbow to about ten inches past her fingertips. It was called the Demon Dark Arm Jutsu and Kana knew she only had a little while before this and the barrier would sap her chakra stores completely dry. Panicked tears sprung forth and immediately poured down her cheeks – she held Sasuke's fragile body as tight as she could and nearly doubled over. "I promised I'd keep him safe!" she screamed, "Don't you understand?! He's all I have of him now!"

With that, she charged at them head-on, "And I won't let you take him!"

Her legs were charged with some of the last of her chakra reserves, allowing her to move too fast for even Kakashi's Sharingan to keep up. Her friend only had a split second to turn his body as Kana's chakra blade plunged into his body; she missed his abdominal aorta by a centimeter, but she felt the edge of it slice through his kidney. Kana looked up into his mask and watched his eyes widen in agony behind the slits as her Demon Dark Arm changed shape from a smooth blade to a row of spikes.

As she began to pull out, tearing his insides, Kana felt an unnatural stiffness in her body.

"That's enough."

The sound of the Hokage's voice caused fear to return to Kana's exhausted body. Tears still streaming down her face, she let go of the jutsu; the barrier remained, though she knew that this fight was over. Tenzo pulled Kakashi off of her still-extended arm. Tirahashi, her teammate, was already by his side performing medical ninjutsu to stop the blood that spouted from the wound.

Her possessed body turned around to face the Hokage, who stood next to Shikaku Nara. She figured as much. Her eyes followed Tirahashi and Tenzo as they sprinted off with Kakashi's limp body on a portable stretcher.

"Kashi…" she choked, realizing what she had done.

The Hokage gave her an intense look that shook her to the core – all this man had to do was snap a finger and the two of them would be dead within moments. She realized this as the barrier over Sasuke finally faded with the last of her available chakra. The boy was still nuzzled into her shoulder, fast asleep, and if the situation had been any different she would have marveled at Itachi's genjutsu skills.

Itachi…

"You can let her go now, Shikaku, she's too weak to fight any longer," the Leaf's leader ordered.

Kana's weak legs finally gave out beneath her, forcing to collapse to her knees and clutch Sasuke to her body as despair hit her in the gut like a train.

She had failed.