(11) Aftermath and Shishui’s death

KIREINA POV

I was kneeling on one of the mats that helped your knees, kneeling on the hard floor hurts. With a pen in hand, I was quickly scribbling down different methods, hand signs and Jutsu's.

This is gonna work! I know it will, is has to! Were the thoughts running through my brain, not even feeling the growing ache in my hand.

What I was trying to accomplish was to create my own Jutsu! By looking over existing ones, I was trying to see what hand sign movements I could use along with a new method to create an all new Jutsu! If I did, my name would go down in the history books forever, I could see it already.

Giving the writing a small break, I reached up for more scrolls, but when I grabbed the bottom one, the rest came toppling down, falling on me. "Ah!" I cried out, not really being hurt but surprised. Gently shoving off the parchments which had all unravelled, I let out a long whine. They always took so long to roll back up...

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After a very long time of writing and reading beside bad candlelight, I was now heading to the secluded parts of the forest to train. My parents had forbidden me the life of a Ninja. But I knew that it was my destiny, every other path seeming so bland and boring. I needed to be a Ninja, even at the cost of disobeying my family.

_____---___--FLASH BACK---____---____

"You can't do this!" I said to my mother.

"It's for your own good, Kiri. It's just too dangerous!" She scolded, desperate to change my mind.

"its not fair! Itachi and Sasuke are Ninja, so why can't I?!" I shouted, my anger at my mother growing rapidly.

"Kireina, you need to understand we mean well. That's why we're doing this." Mother said.

"It's not like I asked to be captured! If I had the training, then I could have taken him, easily!"

"You were barely conscious. Even with proper training, they still would have overtaken you, and most likely would have killed you." Father said sternly, his eyes narrowing.

'I'm in serious trouble, aren't I?'

"But-" I hear him say, his voice more quiet than before. "You need to swear you won't let yourself get into such a situation ever again." I muttered angrily under my breath. How could they blame me for all this? As if I had a sign over my head that said, 'Please kidnap me!'.

"And you're also in trouble for stealing your brother's weapon. Don't think we forget." I faintly flushed, averting my embarrassed gaze. "I fully expect you to offer a proper apology."

"Of course. Thank you father." I gave a slight bow, a fake smile plastered on my face.

___----____----____----____----______

-what was I talking about? oh yeah, not being a Kunoichi-yeah. if they ever found out, hmm, lets just say I didn't really want to deal with angry parents, that's the last thing that I would want.

3RD POV

Itachi heard a knock at the front door, followed by a stern gruff voice ."Hey! Is Itachi in there!? We need to talk, come out now!" The voice demanded, clearly leaving no room for argument.

"What is going on? What do you three possibly want at this hour?" He calmly asked, being slow to anger.

The three men shared a look before one stepped forward. "Two members didn't attend the meeting last night. One of those being you. Explain yourself! Now!"

"I was preoccupied with more important matters. I apologise and will try to correct my mistakes. Now, you must leave."

"We have another thing to ask. It's about Uchiha Shisui , the second member who failed to attend. Know anything about that?"

'Shisui...'

"He committed suicide. He threw himself into the Nakona river. We believe his death is related to you."

'They...they're lying! No way Shisui killed himself! He was so happy, always smiling. Someone must've set it up!' Thoughts were buzzing in her skull as she was perched in a tree. Kireina and Sasuke were hiding nearby, unable to resist listening in on the conversation.

"And we, the Police force, decided to launch an all-out investigation towards such an unprecedented event."

"Investigation...?" Itachi questioned.

They handed him a small slip of paper. "This is the apparent suicide note we found. It's already been examined for fingerprints. Despite no sign of foul play with only Shisui's fingerprints being found, that won't halt our search for more information."

"He was a man who took missions for the sake of the clan. It's hard to believe someone like that would kill himself, we'll leave his note with you, given your close relationship. We expect you to report any and all information you know of to the ANBU."

Itachi nodded. "I understand." He saw no use in fighting them.

When they were just a few feet away, they began to whisper amongst themselves of their suspicions, Itachi's name being the main one.

"Why don't you just come out and say it?" Itachi demanded quite loudly, fed up with them beating around the bush.

The three turned around, all with their Sharingan activated, the blood red contrasting sharply with the black.

"If you must you, you little punk, we and everyone else think you offed Shisui because he did something that made you unhappy. If we found out you really did such a thing, it would be a betrayal to your own blood. And I'm the first to admit I won't be heartbroken locking you up." Itachi frowned, and within the blink of an eye, had knocked all three down with ease, his tipping point having finally fallen over.

"How dare they...." A young voice growled. They looked over to see a furious Kireina, her fists balled and eyes full of rage as she glared at the men. "How dare you accuse Itachi of killing Shisui! They were best friends! You're even dumber to accuse a person with no evidence!" shouting her thoughts out loud, tears now filling her eyes.

"Stay out of grown up matters, kid."

"You're all so pathetic..." She angrily muttered. Kireina grabbed a Kunai and flung it with all her anger to the wall, hoping to let out even a fraction of her pent up frustration.

Suddenly her father appeared beside her, the Kunai she'd thrown in hand. "You know that's not how you're supposed to speak to your superiors, Kireina." He said warningly, she huffed in annoyance.

"I don't care," She muttered, "They're no superiors of mine."

She clenched her fists, digging her nails into the soft palms, leaving scratches. "Why are you def-"

"Enough!" Fugaku shouted.

She lightly flinched, but quickly masked the brief fear. "No! Unlike you, I won't just stand here while they accuse Aniki of Shisui's death! You may not care, but I do!" She states.

He ignored her outburst, shifting his gaze to his son. "Why weren't you at the meeting last night? It was mandatory for all Uchiha, you know that."

"Achieving the next state." Itachi said coldly, hurtling a kunai towards the wall. "I've had enough of this pathetic clan. It's all the same, you focus on trivial matters and what's not important. You're all grovelling dogs, constantly seeking attention and causing trouble." He said coldly, his eyes empty.

'Why's he acting so strange, its scary...even his aura feels off...'

"I've had enough. One more word and I'll throw you behind bars and toss the key."

'Aniki stop!' the young girl held a concerned look in her teary eye

"captain just give us the orders to arrest him!" Reika let out a low growl to the three on how much they were berating her older brother

"big brother, stop!" Sasuke cried out

"Onii-san! this isn't you. just apologize, please." She cried as she suddenly appeared a few feet in from him with a pleading gaze; Tears lightly glide down her cheeks. "Just...stop" she softly muttered, her gaze on the ground beneath her, balled fist were shaking, only those with a keen eye would pick up on the fact her body was trembling slightly. "Please, nii-san." she quietly pleaded.

Once he saw tears drop from her eyes, Itachi dropped to his knees bowing before his father. "Oto-san I did not kill Shisui and the reason I wasn't at the clan meeting was because I was sent on a mission by the Hokage. I apologize" he said

"You must understand Itachi. Ever since he has became an ANBU, he's been incredibly busy. He hasn't had much time to recuperate and the stress is overwhelming. I assure you it'll never happen again." Fugaku assured, though not even believing in his own words.

When the three officers left, incredibly angry they'd been unable to arrest Itachi, Fugaku scooped up his youngest in his arms, petting her hair and softly consoling her. He quietly whispered into her ear, slowly soothing her soft cries and stopping the steady stream of tears. No longer crying, Kireina's face was now blank, her eyes empty and hollow, the life sucked out from Itachi's display.

Itachi followed shortly after, passing Sasuke who was still standing by the doorstep. Sasuke noticed something different in Itachi's eyes, something darker that had never been there before. Or perhaps had always been there, but he'd been too blind to notice.