DISCLAIMER:

Aherm… cough cough* So, here's how life's been going by lately. I have a two weeks holiday to write as much fanfiction possible… 5 weeks later, the only thing that comes out is one chapter. Forgive me guys… I did all I could do.

I do not own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would have married Hinata already, Sasuke would have had his butt dragged back to Konoha a long time ago, Orochimaru would still be cute and I'd be chilling somewhere in Amegakure with my best buddies Pain, Itachi, Rock Lee, Deidara, Gaara, Gaara's dad, Obito, Hashirama, Madara, Kiba (list goes on and on) …

Just hurry up and read the chapter.

Once I had a Sister

Chapter 6

Aftermath

"There was an explosion. Itachi had been followed faithfully almost to the edge of the South Forest before he'd set sleepers into the explosive tags. He got everyone, Wolf included. No injuries save from potent drug inhalation and a knife strike on Wolf. Recon squads had found them after sunrise."

Danzou twirled the handle of his cane thoughtfully. He hadn't believed a word of it. Hiruzen had taken it calmly, the other elders disapproved but accepted nonetheless, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it. It nagged at his mind, had him poring over it since and was certain she was hiding something from him.

Almost a day had passed since the mission report. He was still no further from where he had started.

The elder could sense the beginnings of an arrogant smile puckering at the corner of the Wolf's lips. Insolent girl. Of course he knew she wasn't easy to read (when she set her mind to it) but if she thought she could bide her time until one of them gave up, she was going to have a bad time. He would interrogate her until she broke. Sleep deprivation hadn't worked, and so far water treatment and chakra manipulation had generated the same results. Oh but there were other ways to get a person to talk, some in which the person didn't actually have to utter a word. After lodging a kunai into her thigh and twisting –she didn't scream but the look in her eyes was positively feral – the bandaged man walked out of the cell in search for someone he knew wouldn't fail him.

Haruna had just managed to suppress the pain in her right thigh to a manageable size when the cell door swung open, this time with another person at Danzou's side. She blanched visibly at the sight. Yamanaka Inoichi – the phrase "safe inside my mind" did not, I repeat, did not work with him.

Stay calm Wolf, she told herself. You've lasted this long you can do it again. Just hide it all away. Deny, deny, deny. That it sounded pathetic inside her head she was aware, but if she was going to keep her runaway mouth shut this was the only form of self-motivation available.

It was silent in the cell; twelve-by-twelve stonewalls with chakra infused iron bars weren't meant to enclose an ANBU agent like her. The sight itself was not unfamiliar, she just preferred being the one dragging enemies inside – not the other way round. Hazel eyes fixed themselves defiantly on the wall behind the two men. Focusing on one point was the first step in creating barriers inside one's mind. Yamanaka-san smiled apologetically at the kunoichi before placing his hand on her head, the stance of mind-jutsu.

Danzou's voice cut through the pregnant silence like a knife, "When was the last time she was with Itachi?"

The girl's voice and tone was airy, "Oh, why it was but last night, Danzou-sama." A bolt of hot chakra ran through her handcuffs, causing Haruna to wince in return for her unwelcome sarcasm. 'Well screw you too', she mouthed, internally poking her tongue out because that was still an offensive gesture in her opinion. A vicious backhand brought another wave of blood to her mouth.

The bandaged elder repeated his demand. "Well, Yamanaka?"

To explore one's mind was an art of its own kind. The powerhouse of an individual's hopes, talents, memories – everything that made up a person was miraculously compacted into the space in one's skull. There were not many, nay, it was rare to train people in the art of mind-jutsu. It required unnatural amounts of strength-of-will to delve into another's mind whilst keeping control of your own. Which is why not just his enemies feared Yamanaka Inoichi. Resistance was practically futile, especially when one was chained down, exhausted and aware of this fact.

"You don't have to believe me," Haruna began, forcing herself to sound calm instead of exhausted. "But there's no reason to doubt the others who were with me. Itachi took us down. Why would it surprise you when the people he faced last night were no less than Uchiha?"

Danzou chose to ignore this question and signalled to the blonde-ponytail to commence without delay. Haruna's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she felt the intrusion into her intellect. The man was inside her head, inside, sifting through the memories. Inoichi's brow was furrowed in concentration. Inside the mind of the ANBU Wolf, it was like watching something on rewind. "I can't tell yet but I believe…."

He could feel Haruna's body shift uncomfortably under his hand. He worked quickly, skimming over the messages each of the senses was sending at that moment in time before the victim's conscience could get in the way. He saw it from her point of view; being dragged into the cell, limping and seeing blood on her hands and from a still dripping gash on her chest when she looks down. Puffs of smoke thick with sleeper, and the rest of the team going down with her. Images and snippets flew by so quickly it was hard to make sense of but the man continued further down the track, skipping over the everyday things without a second glance. She lived rather eccentrically actually, the young ANBU Wolf. He came across memories of other missions, climbing into the jinchuuriki Naruto's apartment window; giving someone she calls an egotistical jerk a knuckle sandwich on the front teeth. She's told to see the Hokage for losing her temper towards a fellow shinobi and then there's Itachi –

They both realised it at the same time, Haruna's breath quickening as the other man stopped at the memory. "She's talking to him," the Yamanaka relayed. "Night time, alone."

Danzou gave a sharp nod. "When?"

Inoichi looked again, but Haruna was already receding inside her mind, walling them away wilfully from the mind-master's reach. Such blockades would seem wasted serving only to stall him in his thorough search, but Haruna was not giving up. "I… hmm"

The command was repeated and Haruna grit her teeth at the added pressure working on the insides of her brain.

"Please have patience, Danzou-sama" Inoichi replied drily. " She's put up barriers in her mind."

'Some people just didn't know when to stop.' Danzou hated it. It angered him that someone from his own ranks would think to oppose him. The girl had nothing, should have had nothing to hide. Despite that irritating carefree attitude of hers she was nothing but an orphan and indebted to the village of Konoha for letting her live. A rule breaker with a fiery will and a strange, warped sense of justice who'd fallen further in his regard since her friendship with the Yondaime's son. Right now, with chains roped over her she was vulnerable and weak and yet… Her opposition was meaningless, she could never hold her control in the state she was in.

There was no other choice for it. From behind the folds of the bandages Shisui's eye glowed.

The strongest of dotusus…

.

.

.

The day is warm, and the two young shinobi raise their weary faces to the sun, enjoying a rare, well-deserved break. Leaning atop the training posts, they watch the first of the clouds begin to drift across a blue sky.

"Hmm?" She asks, not listening to the conversation in favour of the butterfly-shaped cloud in the distance. "What was that, 'Tachi?"

"My cousin, Shisui."

"Oh, him." The young girl yawns and snuggles comfortably next to the wolf beside her. "What about him?"

Itachi's fingers play with a leaf absent-mindedly. "He's already activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, and he's someone you should be careful against."

"Why?" she asks, yawning because she doesn't like the topic. Genjutsu sucked, and to Haruna's eyes it is only gaining an unfair advantage over someone. Of course rules didn't work in the battlefield, but she had her prize. Genjutsu seemed liked a cheat code.

"His genjutsu is the greatest of our clans. He can control anyone, even without them knowing it."

"Woooooooo. Scary."

He nods. "It's a scary thing when you're under genjutsu. That's why you really need to learn how to defend it, because if you don't, a powerful-enough genjutsu user will win over you easily. They can manipulate you, your mind, body, everything…"

"Okay… so, tell me how to beat your cousin then."

To her surprise, her partner shakes his head gravely. "I can't. His genjutsu far overpowers mine."

.

.

.

Everyone's discernment of pain was different; it's form and magnitude inconstant. Sometimes it was lightning, running jaggedly through. Other times, a fire permeating the very essence of one's being. Or a cold douse of water that left you gasping. But no matter what it was, pain caused by an external attack was still pain. When it came from inside however, it was beyond imagination. If she weren't chained down the kunoichi would have collapsed. Nonetheless a stifled cry escaped her lips before she clamped them shut again. She was choking. She could practically hear her ribs cracking under the pressure of being contracted, her diaphragm squeezing her lungs like a fist. Her whole body it seemed were closing in on itself. Blocking the air. Crushing her from the inside. Forcing her to lose her grip on the barricades in her mind - dying… She was going to die.

"Your body isn't going to help you." Even though she was in too much pain to actually listen the underlying superiority in his voice was still detectable. "It's doing all it can to shut itself down."

The string of expletives she had been screaming was replaced quickly with raspy, strangled gasps and white was seeping into her vision. The urge to scream was unbearable, but that would be a blatant display of weakness on her part. Danzou wasn't going to win, even if she could literally feel her chest begin to break because her body wouldn't listen to her no matter how hard she struggled against the influence of the Sharingan. Copper-scented liquid pooled in her mouth when she clamped her lips and clenched her teeth tighter. Some of the liquid escaped, creating intricate red lines down her chin and throat.

Hot liquid was escaping from her eyes and her breaths were painful, aching gasps and it wasn't long before Inoichi found what he had been sent to find. "The moon is new – the memory is about a fortnight ago. It appears he's just come out of a mission briefing – she must have listened in on it."

There was an audible hiss of anger. The Yamanaka was dismissed without any further information and for some reason, Haruna felt a little of her resolve fade when she heard the doors close. The chains were released; she was helpless enough without them. And, with a yank, her head made contact with the wall, followed with a heavy fist to the stab wound in her thigh she'd almost forgotten about.

"So you know?"

She coughed, "I don't have to tell you a thing."

"You are aware, then?" He sounded near breakdown. "Of your teammate's true mission?"

Haruna's arms flew to embrace her upheaving stomach, inhaling rapidly. Her hands were shaking but she was able to get to her feet with a hand to the wall for support. When she looked up this time, all Danzou could see on her was anger. "Damn right I am!" she spat out. "Good on you for realising it was all a sham – the others didn't notice it at all, did they? To think you'd go so far to hide it all, you sent out orders to hunt down the only person who did something about keeping the peace in the village! You sick freak, what else are you hiding under those bandages, huh? Does the geezer know what you're doing?" She clenched a fist, trying to conjure up chakra to summon something to her aid but nothing sparked. Close to tears at her helplessness she turned to the object of her vendetta with added spitfire.

"You're sad, you know Danzou? Are you happy you finally figured out someone knows how crazy our shinobi system has become? Just what did you want me to say, that I'll keep my mouth shut about it? That I'll just stick to being the jinchuuriki's protector because no one else wants to be? What are you going to do now, kill me?" A scornful laugh pealed scarily through the cell. "Don't think anyone else won't start piecing the puzzle together. I bet you're happy with the massacre – you've got plenty of prize Sharingan for grabs –"

This time Danzou sent a blow to the gut. She spit body juice over the cell floor, knees buckling with the force. Shakily, she regained her balance, eyes flaring. The man's voice was like steel, and twice as hard. "You are as naïve as ever, Wolf. If you know everything as well as you assume you do, you'd be aware that Itachi wanted this to remain a secret."

She spat a red glob and wiped the corner of mouth. "Of course I know that. I was prepared to keep my mouth shut about it all. But, thanks to you letting someone inside my head and see memories I'd never allow anyone to so much as glimpse, it's not worth it anymore."

Danzou was never a man of many words. No matter how dirty the method, the end result always justified the means and disloyal, disobedient kunoichi had to learn their place. If she wasn't so completely drained, Haruna would have landed a very heavy kick between his legs and bolted. Her kindled rage was the only thing keeping her conscious and when that source depleted she was a sitting duck. The ANBU head simply gathered chakra into his thumb and first two fingers, paced the four steps between them…

and let the flames sink in.

"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun?"

Iruka looked over the studiously (or sleepily) bent heads to see the young Hyuuga Hinata, shyly but persistently reminding Naruto-kun to focus on his work "Before sensei sees you."

The chuunin instructor sighed. "Naruto."

The spiky blonde head popped up from its laid position on his desk, but instead of going off on a long rant on how boring the class was or a passionate justification of his attentiveness Iruka saw a look of consternation on the small face of his student. Neechan hadn't visited for more than a week. The other ANBU nin he'd managed to ask only left him cryptic monosyllabilic replies on her whereabouts. Unwilling to disclose this background information during a class lesson however, Naruto took the chance to inquire where ol' Sa-soo-kay was ditching school for.

The shadow that flickered across Iruka-sensei's face did not escape the notice of his students. Iruka didn't exactly know how to explain the situation to these gakis when even he knew only the barest of the facts. "He's been sick Naruto," the man finally answered, knowing full well it was going to come back to bite him to say so. "He's had a spot of fever, I think, and he'll be back as soon as he feels better. Is that alright?"

Naruto nodded and Iruka heaved a silent sigh of relief as he resumed the lesson. Though the teacher carried the class activities through as usual, the Uchiha massacre he hoped not too many of the children were aware about rested heavily on his mind.

He hoped, as he chalked up another diagram on the board, that his young Uchiha student was coping. After all, he knew just as well as any orphan what it was like to lose your family. Although to lose it at the hand of your own brother … Iruka wasn't too sure he would do much good trying to empathise with that.

Itachi reached the Fire Country border just as the first rays of sunlight rolled over the horizon. The wolves who had led him safely through the night recognised the place, and stopped at the edge of the great forest. From here on out, he was on his own.

"The way we think is different, but I'm still proud of you…"

Realizing that this was his cue to say his farewells, Itachi patted each wolf gratefully before they vanished. Shiro, instead of disappearing, nuzzled Itachi's arm as if to remind him. "Oh, that's right Shiro – something on your collar?" The wolf huffed. Ignoring his aching arms, Itachi managed to reach two fingers under the white wolf's thick collar and pull out a tightly wrapped package.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Shiro," he said. Having retrieved the last of what Haruna had planned, Shiro nudged the raven-haired boy in farewell. Itachi felt a lump in his throat because he knew that once the wolf left he was alone. With nothing save the blood-spattered gear he was wearing. "Tell Haruna I said thank you, okay?" he whispered into soft, white fur before that too, all too soon, vanished.

Now he was on his own, the strength that had carried him on through the long night sputtered and died. He sank to the ground, spent. It took him a while to realise that the hand lying beside him was his own, a part of him that had committed the unspeakable. Slowly, with difficulty, the outstretched fingers balled themselves into a fist. He had to get up, because if he didn't do it now he never would.

"If anything's wrong, you'll tell me right, Itachi?"

A light metallic rattle sounded from beneath him; the package! As he opened it, he felt the first tendrils of apprehension for his teammate and what would happen to her gnawing at him. Haruna, who didn't have a home to lose because she'd already lost them, who needed every single penny she earned, who had to live with the shame of being an ally of his. He wondered how she was going to bail her way out of this one, and he shuddered because he knew all too well what Konoha did to their traitors.

There was money - coins and a modest wad of notes. As well as… A serious him, a smiling her, and even though it blurs dangerously for a second it was the team photo and it was safe.

It was everything he needed.

The traumatised, broken Uchiha Itachi clenched his jaw firmly, reverently placing the picture into the spaces of his ANBU armour. If he could not live for Konoha, he would at least ensure its safety from the outside and he would consider it reparation.

"You truly are a gentle child."

Resolve strengthened, the Uchiha stood up to greet the sunlight. His journey wasn't over; he turned his steps towards the rains of Amegakure, forcing his tired limbs to move. One foot in front of the other…

The girl in the mirror scared her.

Not that she wasn't unrecognizable. No, the dark hair bundled into a regulation ponytail, the hazel eyes, the freckles from too much sun were all hers. When she looked at the figure in the mirror, taking in the small shoulders, the scars running across her skin in mapping lines, the figure toned through years of relentless training; such familiar sights.

She should have seen Haruna. Someone who'd come to terms with being alone, who had grown accustomed to replacing her fear with a smile, who hid her cries behind a brash, loud front. That was Haruna. The girl in the mirror was Haruna.

Purple and black hues marred her arms, she stood cautiously at an awkward angle, her left leg bearing most of her weight. She even had the same dark shadows under her eyes.

But at the same time the reflection was unfamiliar, and it scared her.

The girl was Haruna until she opened her mouth.

Three thick, dark lines. Four small lines drawn out on top. The mark of the Root. Black immovable seals on the back of her tongue. Disbelief, then realization dawned on her. She knew this mark and what it signified. Be it Itachi, the interrogation, or any other secret the man buried - the price she would pay for revealing the truth was complete paralysis. For how long it would last, she did not know. No one had ever attempted to, or survived it.

Trembling, her fingertips hovered over the lines, wishing she could erase each one. Through prison, behind bars, underneath chains, she had experienced it before. Such physical barriers were not unknown to her. But up until now, it was her speech that had always been hers to control.

For the first time, the wolf was under a new enchainment, and it was far heavier than any she had borne before.

Danzou had won.

All her efforts to oppose him were rendered meaningless now. Haruna gritted her teeth, and slammed a fist against the glass. She may have worn the same uniform, but deep down she had no desire to be one of the awe-inspiring Root, to be Danzou's tools. Their legendary grace and skill earned them the respect of many. But for their entire prowess, they were mere silent puppets with their tongues tied. Ever since she loudly refused to join Root as the other orphans had, Danzou had made clear his dislike for her. A compromise was only reached once the Hokage stepped in.

She could become an Uchiha prodigy teammate, an obedient shinobi, an elder sister to a loudmouth jinchuuriki and come to love it. But somehow, she didn't think she could ever become the broken girl in the mirror.

Her teammate had it impossibly hard. From now on, a murderer would haunt him in every mirror. He would have to live with his reflection, in suffering, in silence.

But now she realized, he wasn't the only one.

When Konoha's last remaining Uchiha woke up, he thought he was in heaven. Everywhere was white. White walls, white sheets, white-clad nurses instead of his mother coming in to say good morning.

It was the spasm of pain at his shoulder that brought the memories of the night before like an ice shower over him, waking him up to the fact that he was far from the afterlife. Okasan, Otousan – niisan – all gone. Gone where he couldn't follow. He wasn't dead after all. Itachi-nii hated him too much for that comfort.

The seven-year-old tried unsuccessfully to get up, but his limbs didn't seem to listen to him, much less bear his weight enough to walk with. Exasperated at his weakness, Sasuke felt disappointment in the form of hot liquid pricking the corners of his eyes as, strength gone; he flopped on his back on the hospital bed, feeling that the white walls were nothing more than a cage.

They were gone and he was alone. He had nothing, nothing except a desperate, all-absorbing need to grow stronger. Strong enough to protect himself. Strong enough to get revenge.

The boy started hopefully at the arrival of someone at his room, but his hope crumpled to the ground like a deflated balloon when it was the Hokage and several impassive shinobi superiors who just wanted to have a little talk. Sasuke didn't want to talk. He wanted to go home. To Okasan. To Otousan. To a loving aniki who'd poke him on the forehead instead of trapping him in an endless Tsukuyomi.

No chance of that. They surrounded him, questioning or if not, peering at him curiously. As the sole survivor of a massacre, he was immediately the target of inquisitive, probing observations.

"Was your brother display any unusual behavior before the incident?"

"Did he say anything strange? Give you any important information, even if it didn't seem like it to you?"

"Can you tell us about anything else that might help us track your brother? Any ideas on where he would be thinking of staying?"

No, no, and no- even though I wish I did know where he was, was what the boy really wanted to say, but he was tired of talking and wanted nothing more than solitude. "No Hokage-sama," he said, grinding the words out between clenched teeth. "I don't know anything. Can I go home now?"

No. They were no closer to finding his rogue elder brother and as he had nothing to do in the hospital, he had better try to help them as much as he could.

But he couldn't talk. It was always his parents, relatives, who would do the talking and explaining and serious grown-up stuff while he'd stay behind them and only watch. If not, it was Itachi. Itachi who'd come in and say something so smart the other people would look down guiltily and leave quickly. Not him. He knew nothing; no one had ever taught him what to do when you were surrounded by questions you couldn't answer.

The patience was stretched so tight at the mouths of his interrogators that he knew his repeated denials of anything irritated them.

Sasuke yearned to sprout wings and fly. He had to go. He had to be training to take Itachi –not his aniki, just Itachi – down. Down to the ground where he'd lie, bleeding profusely as Okasan and Otaousan and everyone else had been because of him. Chasing after his traitor of a brother and, and…

"Sasuke?" Hokage-sama puffed a long breath at his ever-present pipe, watching the youngest Uchiha closely. " Can you answer me just one question?"

The boy swallowed, before nodding mutely.

"The orphanage has its vacancies. Do you know where you'll live from now on?"

"Can't I live at home?" the boy asked. He was an Uchiha; where else could he go?

"I'm afraid not."

"But-"

"It is a condition that stands."

This time, the little Uchiha couldn't keep the pleading-and the desperation-from his voice as he repeated the question. He was shaking now, but the old man was adamant. He could no longer return to his home, did he understand? There was no home to return to…

AUTHORS NOTES

Chapter 6

So, I know you all want to throw shoes at me for being so late to update, but NoeticSky had to be there or your eyes would have peeled off and burned away after reading total garbage. On that note, I hope you weren't expecting it to be happy. I had intended it to be a little happy but…. ehhhh…..

As Konoha is in the Land of Fire, I assume that any of the high-level secret jutsus used in the Foundation or by the elders would have a flame element touch to it. Dunno, it made sense in my head when I thought about it. Also, now it makes sense why Danzou seems to hate our OC's guts. Oh, and the italicized thoughts running through Itachi's head? Those are all quotes from his last meeting with his parents as shown in the late chapter 500's. (I know, it made me sad tooooooooo T.T )

Shisui's jutsu seemed as if it had more to show. Seeing as his genjutsu was strong enough to control someone without their realizing it, because the mind is the powerhouse of the body, complete control of a person's mind over their body seems to come along with the package. Damnit, Shisui. I want you on my team!

I hope I can come up with Chapter 7 soon. Well, when you all Read and Review.

Till then, and amidst much praise to NoeticSky and her AWESOMENESS,

Alatariele C.

-in collab. with NoeticSky.