Itachi could only blame himself, as they cleaned up the leftovers, or finished them off. Sakura was sleeping next to Sasuke, and though Sasuke had his eyes closed Itachi knew better. Sasuke was awake. Too afraid that if he slept his family would end it all.
His father was digging a mass grave, his mother was looking for survivors, meanwhile Itachi watched over Sasuke and Sakura. He heard someone begging for help, his mother's voice then carried in the night, "it's alright, I am here to help." Then he heard the body hit the floor. Another corpse to pick up and hide, "that should be the last one." His mother announced as she approached him, "its not your fault," his mother said as she placed her hand on head, a form of comfort from his younger days. She could say that all she wanted; no warmth reached the coldness that had enveloped him since Sasuke found him asking for his help.
Mikoto's focus moved from one son to another. She went to sit by Sasuke, but he tensed up, no more fake sleep. When his eyes opened, she was unsurprised to see the sharingan. "I am not going to take her away; I want to talk to you." Suspicion still covered his features, but his shoulders relaxed, "why did you change her?"
"I did not want her to die." His voice went soft at the end, as if afraid the very mention of it would awaken Sakura or summon death himself to take what was rightfully his.
"Humans, they are meant to die," Mikoto tried to explain, "we cannot change them simply because their absence will cause us pain."
"You said she could stay."
"She will be staying with us, but there are things you must know." Mikoto sighed, and thought of the best way to continue, "she will not be like us, she will be a shadow of what we are but not like us. What your brother failed to mention of changing humans is that they do not age past their death day."
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, he looked to Sakura who remained blissfully unaware. "I thought she would be like us."
"Sakura will forever be eight years old, while you will continue to grow. You will leave her behind one day," Sasuke seemed ready to interrupt her she lifted a hand asking him to wait. "Now she is your friend, you are of the same age, but as you grow she will remain as she is. One day she will stop being a friend-"
"She will always be my friend." He interrupted, offended at the prospect.
Mikoto ignored him and decided to skip ahead in her speech, "unlike us, she cannot survive on animal blood, she can only survive on human blood." Mikoto watched carefully as her son's sharingan deactivated, Sasuke was young but he was smart he understood the implications.
"She must not go into the sun, she may be very sensitive to the sun, and it is impossible to know how sensitive she will be to it." Sasuke nodded, taking in every word his mother said, "it may kill her on the spot, or it may just make her uncomfortable, we do not know."
"She likes playing outside," there was a hint of worry on his voice.
"We will help you with her until you are old enough to hunt by yourself, after that she will be your responsibility alone." Sasuke nodded, as worried as he seemed he also seemed to relax, Sakura was staying, he did not have to worry about his parents taking her away.
"Mikoto, Itachi, let us hurry the sooner we finish the quicker we can get out of here."
Mikoto made to go to her husband when Sasuke's words stopped her, "will she remember what she did?"
"She will not, she acted out if impulse. From animalistic need to survive, her instincts took over, her mind shut down."
"Good," Sasuke answered. With no more questions to hold her back, Mikoto left to help with the clean-up. Dread filling her gut, thinking of the words Sasuke had not let her convey, and become a burden. A weight Sasuke would not feel right away, but a burden his family would slowly pass to him.
A/N: I was so happy to get to write i really didn't edit this at all... so sorry about that
as always thanks for reading!