Scarlet Justice - ep. 10
"Semper Fidelis"

The morning comes. I end up examined by the same nurse as before, and she sends me home with Luna. I have no appetite and head into my room as soon as I can, sitting on my bed with my knees pulled up to my chest.

I sit. And do nothing else.

Sometimes I shudder and shake, sometimes I cry quietly. The memories move and sway inside of my head. I feel cold and numb. Luna comes in to check on me, and I simply shake my head whenever she asks a question. She leaves me alone each time.

"Miss Lilith. I brought you something."

Luna quietly leaves a glass on the table beside my bed, then exits my room. It's already night, and I have spent a long time reliving that recent nightmare. My stomach growls and I leave my position for the first time to drink the mixture Luna has left for me. I can't taste much of anything, but it feels nutritious. The glass is drained and I set it back down before lying down in my bed.

I sleep.

"Master Umino said that it's perfectly fine if you take the week off, and beyond that."

I make my way to breakfast this morning. Two more days have passed. Luna's cooking tastes like cardboard, and it makes my heart sink. She puts her love into everything, I know that for sure.

Iruka cares. I also know that. And I remember what I saw...Sasuke's eyes changing to red as he had his hands around my neck, choking off my air. It was a brief moment, enough to make my body lock up.

"..."

But I also saw...fear. And intense anger. As if he had lost something important. Did I shatter his ego that badly, or was it something beyond my understanding? The Uchiha are a clan on the brink of extinction. Only two are said to remain: Sasuke, and the man who betrayed him and the rest of his clan. Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke's older brother in blood.

I don't know if I want to go back. I'm not sure I'm ready to face those people, or see the place where I was nearly brought to ruin. It's difficult.

"I'll go to class," I say quietly.

"Miss Lilith...you don't have to..."

"I...want to. Please. Even if it's just to find my way again," I say. "I...can't do much else."

"Consider staying another day, at least," Luna pleads gently.

I shake my head. "I'll only sink further. It's for the best."

"I understand. I'll...prepare your clothing, then." She reluctantly takes away my plate of half-eaten food, and I excuse myself from the table to take a shower. After getting dressed, I gather my things and pull on my sandals slowly.

"Shall I come with you?" Luna asks. I shake my head again, and she nods. "Please take care, then...I am at your service forever, Miss Lilith. Please don't hesitate...even if it means..."

"I know, Luna." I hug her with the strength I have left. "Thank you..."

I depart.

As soon as I reach the front of the Academy, Iruka is there. He gently takes me through the halls and to a quiet classroom, away from the other students. There are already books and scrolls on top of the teacher's desk.

"Go ahead and sit. Anything you want to eat?" he asks.

"Nothing."

"Alright. Did you want some milk as usual?"

"If it's...not a hassle."

"Far from it. The lesson plan today starts from the ninjutsu books. You remember the pages?"

"Yes, sir."

He smiles kindly "Good. I'll be back in a bit."

I open the book and start reading.

The silence is soothing and peaceful.

I return home after a short day, and Luna is out running errands. It's still hard to eat, so I shovel down a sleeve of crackers and plain tea before taking a shower. I drop onto my bed and stare at the ceiling for a long while.

The match keeps running through my head. I don't know what I did wrong. I don't understand much of anything right now, and this slow haze that hangs over me is becoming...irritating. I can feel something starting to solidify, but I don't know if it's good or bad at this point. I just know that I don't want to wallow in self-pity for the rest of my life.

"Miss Lilith?"

"Luna...please, come in."

She opens the door and bows. "I'm sorry that I wasn't home when you arrived, I was attending to an urgent matter."

"Of course...it's not a problem, Luna."

"It...was regarding you. I finished speaking with Master Iruka, and he said that before he would let you back into the regular flow of classes, he wanted to speak to us both about what happened with Sasuke. It's in part because I'm your official guardian on all the documents, but he also has a strong desire to keep me in the loop with all of these things."

"I see..."

"The meeting will be scheduled at your pleasure, Miss Lilith."

"..." I might need more time. But I want to get this done and over with. I want to move on. "Tomorrow. What do we need to do in terms of arrangements?" I ask.

"We will simply show up in the morning. He has a room ready for us, as he told me."

I nod. "Then...that is what we will do. We will see him tomorrow, and talk about exactly what happened..."

"Understood. I will prepare myself accordingly. Would you like me to mix another drink for your supper, Miss Lilith?"

"Yes. I don't...feel up to eating a proper meal yet. And I don't want to waste more of your cooking."

"You shouldn't worry about things like that."

"Hm." I allow myself the first smile in what feels like a long while. "Perhaps. But I'm within my rights to worry about my Luna."

"...you are, yes." She smiles back at me. "Then I will carry out your instructions, Miss Lilith. Please excuse me while I prepare."

"Yes."

Luna bows and closes the door to my room. After a long while, I get up from my bed and go towards my bookshelf. Along with the light novels and manga, there are academic books that I saw and took an interest in. Some history on the Leaf...

"..."

Something I can make use of, perhaps.

Another morning. I still am excused from classes, but from what I have been told, I have not been missing very much in terms of content. Sparring sessions still go on, and people are talking about Kiba on the boys' side and Ino on the girls' side. I'm not terribly shocked by Ino's mention - she has great perception and physical flexibility, much like I do. Our differences come from overall athleticism and talent, which I have over her. That's a bit more justification for her snobbish attitude, I suppose.

Luna has gone with a more formal look for our meeting, wearing a neat jacket over a long, dark dress as she escorts me to the Academy. Iruka is out front waiting for us, and waves as we approach.

"I have a room set up, like I said. It's good to see you again, Miss Daidouji."

She smiles and curtsies for him. "Thank you, Master Iruka."

"Lilith, I'm glad to see you most of all. How are you feeling?" he asks.

"Better than before," I tell him honestly.

"I see. I really want you to take it easy, but it looks like you've insisted on doing this...so I won't stop you. Please, this way."

Iruka takes us down the halls and towards one of the fancier offices, which I can tell isn't his. We sit in the luxurious leather chairs, and he leans back against the polished wood desk. It has several drinks on it already and some snacks, in case we get parched or hungry in the time we're here. He's far too much sometimes.

"The reason I wanted you both here is because of the sensitive nature of the information that I'm going to provide. There's a lot that I probably shouldn't be talking about, especially to people still considered outsiders to the village. But...I'm not going to let something like that stop me. Even if it means my career, I'm going to do the right thing."

"You really shouldn't speak like that, Master Iruka. If I might speak out of turn, you do have a sort of boyish recklessness about you," Luna says.

Iruka laughs heartily. "You're right about that. I was a troublemaker in my youth, a big one, too. Just like someone else we know, right Lilith?"

So that's what it is. He sees himself in Naruto, and so...well, it explains a lot. "You really think he can change, then."

"I know he can. That's why I put up with him all day...he's really a good kid, just a little lost sometimes. A person to help him on the right path, even if it is a little bit...well, I know that can make all the difference in the world. For me, it was the Third Hokage. He cheered me up a lot, and I thought that I wanted to be like him one day. That's how I got into teaching, you know?"

"That's a remarkable thing," I say. "You're right, simply showing someone that they're cared about and valued...it can change their lives. I know the feeling very well." I would be in a completely different place if not for Midori loving and recognizing me. That was what set off everything else. The discovery of these talents, my stepmother's acceptance, and making my first friend in this world. Everything started from that moment, that pure expression of love in a garden of flowers.

"I can tell," Iruka says with a smile. He coughs into his hand and I can see his expression change a bit. "Well...to business, as they say. The results of your examinations show that there was an aberration in your chakra consistent with the effects of being hit with a genjutsu. Physically, you've recovered fine from the attempt at strangulation. All of that combined with the other things I saw told me that it was a Sharingan genjutsu, and that Sasuke took advantage of that to hurt you."

"Sasuke is the last of his clan, if I've been hearing correctly," Luna says.

"That's right. And based on that...there's a hypothesis that I've constructed. Sasuke hasn't been talking much about what happened on his end, and as much as I would like to give him a proper punishment, there are a lot of outside forces that make it difficult to apply more than a slap on the wrist. Even then, there's a lot to consider with the Sharingan."

"Sensei...what is the hypothesis you've constructed?" I ask.

"This is where the sensitive information comes in," Iruka says. "Sasuke was purposely left alive by his older brother Itachi after the massacre of the entire Uchiha Clan. Even the children were killed. Part of Sasuke's motivation to continue being a shinobi, ever since that day seven years ago, was to track down and kill Itachi in order to avenge his fallen clan. While we can make as many suggestions as we like and bring down our authority, in truth we can't actually stop Sasuke from choosing to pursue his brother at any time if he makes the declaration. We would be bound to provide him as many resources as he needed, and then he could be on his way. That's clearly counterproductive, and Sasuke has made no such demands since he knows where he stands. This...creates the issue that boiled over with Lilith."

"..."

"Sasuke was the class number one, by leaps and bounds. He was respected and admired by everyone, he was held up as a shining example of an academy student. But then you arrived, Lilith. You weren't much of a threat before. You were very much a 'nobody'. But you worked hard, leveraged your talents, and started to climb the ranks. Instead of trying to gain favour with the other students like Naruto with pranks and antics, or bowing to pressure like Hinata used to, or simply going with the flow like Sakura perhaps, you stood up for yourself. You walked alone, confidently. Showed off impressive strength and technical ability, did great in academics and athletics. And you did all of that without associating with anyone. Yes, it doesn't make sense - they were the ones who shunned you in the first place. But to him, and to many of these children, you are the picture of arrogance. A foreign, rich girl who bought her way into the shinobi world and was looking down on everyone from her perch."

"I see..."

"But that might have been it, if not for the fight," Iruka says with a sigh. He rubs his temples with one hand, a distressed look on his face. "Sasuke wanted to challenge you and put you in your place. You were just a small girl with no actual combat experience. He thought he would crush you. He thought he would take you down as many pegs as needed, and that you would learn your lesson. That didn't happen. You outclassed him. And though you did everything you could to be a good sport, to show him respect, to follow the social contracts laid out before us...he still saw you sneering at him. Being so thoroughly outclassed, and more than that, surpassed in such a short time...it must have made him frightened beyond belief."

"Frightened?" Luna asks. "Whatever for? What has Miss Lilith done?"

"No, no...I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. The fear comes from the gap between them...between him and Itachi."

"He was frightened that all of his work was going to come to nothing. That he would never become good enough to complete his mission," I conclude.

"Yes. All of that pain and frustration and fear must have mixed together...it must have overwhelmed him even as he tried to control it. And that sort of grief..."

"...unlocks the powers of the Sharingan," I say.

"We tried to get him to do it manually, but he can't. It must have been a temporary burst, which is a thing that happened with Uchiha. Sometimes their Sharingan would activate in dire times, before shutting off until they experienced enough to have it stay on permanently. I...really don't know what his actual feelings were. I don't know what he could have been thinking, or if he was hallucinating, something like that. With all of the grief and chakra running through his system, it could have put him into some sort of psychosis and he would have been attacking a nightmarish enemy. I don't want to sound like I'm making any excuses for what he did - Sharingan or not, it was unacceptable. But it's been largely out of my hands...he's said to be fit for the rest of his classes, and I have to accept that much if it's what the higher ups will tell me after all the examinations. I can't..." Iruka rubs at his hair in frustration. "I can't promise that he'll be perfect. Or that things similar to this won't happen again. I turned my back for a moment..."

"Don't blame yourself," I say. "Please."

"I feel responsible even if you say that. I was supervising you, I was supposed to keep you safe."

"You are. Right now, you are."

He looks at me with sadness in his eyes. "Lilith. I..."

"It's not your fault. And I won't let this stop me from moving toward a better future. Sensei...you risked a lot to try and soothe my soul. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart."

"I echo Miss Lilith's sentiments. Master Iruka, you have done us a wonderful service, one that most educators would shy away from," Luna says.

"You will be paid back a thousandfold for your faith," I say. "I promise you."

"Lilith-"

"I promise you," I say firmly, staring into his eyes. "And I will not turn back on my word. That is what it means to be a Kobayashi woman."

"...understood." He relents, giving me a relaxed smile. "No sense in fighting someone so stubborn, anyways."

"She is a handful at times, yes."

"Oh?" I say with a brow raised. "Is that so, Luna?"

She has a smug look on her face. "Without a doubt. But you wouldn't be Miss Lilith otherwise. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Hmph." I close my eyes and smile. "Well said."

We work out what will happen next, and it's decided that I will take more time off until next week. Classes will be going at the same speed, and I will easily be able to catch up to anything that I missed. Iruka is forcing Sasuke to work on an apology; it's slow going but should be ready by the time I return. He will tell Hinata that I am doing well, and inform the rest of the instructors of my status.

The Third Hokage is also aware of the incident, but as usual, there is all kinds of politics that ties his hands in these matters. I see no reason either way to hold him in contempt...Sasuke is an important figure within the Hidden Leaf. My feelings don't change any of that.

Luna and I bid Iruka farewell, properly, with warm hugs for him. He still fusses over how it might look if he was seen 'inappropriately' touching a student, which is the same as ever with him. I hug him tightly anyways to show my appreciation.

We head home, and though I feel a bit better, food still doesn't taste the best. I settle for one of Luna's blended drinks and go to work on my studies a while. Luna and I watch an old movie on television together at the end of the night.

"Your eyes have changed, Miss Lilith."

"Have they..."

Luna turns off the television as the movie ends. "Yes. I saw the strength in them when you made that promise to Master Iruka."

"It took a while. Dark nights, ones filled with tears and suffering. But I have found myself." I turn myself to face her on the couch. "I have come through too much, and I have come too far to give up. I don't want to waste the faith that my stepmother has in me. I don't want to waste the love that Midori poured into me without fail. And I don't want to waste your sacrifices for me, Luna. I cannot let any of that disappear into nothingness."

I hold my hand up to the light, and slowly close it into a fist.

"I am strong. I will endure."

"Yes. I believe in you," Luna says. "I will always believe in you."

"That is all I will ever need from you, Luna. Thank you."

"Forever and always, Miss Lilith." She hugs me tightly, and I hug her back.

No matter what happens, I will not run away. I have already overcome this darkness.

Now, I will overcome the world.