C H A P T E R 1

My hips pressed painfully into the cold ceramic moldings of the bathroom sink. The sound of rushing water filled my ears as my cupped hands brought cold water to my face. Cold water streamed down my arms, wetting my sleeves. Cool palms pressing vigorously against my eys, trying to erase the bloody images that violently flooded my mind.

A  contentious sigh fell from my lips as I pulled my hands away from my face as splotchest of black and white shadowed my vision. Looking into the mirror I was met a bloody sight. The person staring back at me was spattered with blood. It dripped for her hair, and painted her clothes and cheeks in dark streaks. A sad expression etched on her face as she stared back with hollow black eyes.

My heart clenched at the sight of the sorry girl.

My eyes fell from the mirror, I couldn't bare to look at her anymore. My hands slipped back under the running water, again water splashed against my face in an attempt to cleanse away the image of the girl who haunted my every reflection.

My eyes clenched shut. The darkness behind my eyes brought with it vivid memories of a time I had tried so desperately to forget. The sound of metal sinking into skin, sounds of men, women, and children begging for their lives, the grunts and moans of pain as life seeped from their bodies, the warm sticky feeling of blood running again my skin, the smell of iron, the weight of the sais marred in the blood of my clan.

All of it came rushing back to me. The dead faces of the members of my clan flashed across the black canvas behind my eyes.

My eyes snapped open, darting around the room, "feels like I keep living the same nightmare over and over." My eyes returned to the mirror. The girl dyed in blood was gone, only to be replaced with a clear reflection of myself.

'I look so tired'. I thought staring at myself hard in the mirror. The same nightmare keeps replaying over and over in my head; in my sleep, during missions, during surgeries, it consumed me.

My fingeres curled around the knobs twisting shut.

My feet moved against the wooden floors, the sound of clicking heels followed as I busied myself. My legs stopped as I walked passed the window in my room that overlooked most of the village.

'It hasn't been long since the 3rd was killed.... The village resources are spread pretty thin as it is, and now without a Hokage to offer any leadership and strength to the villagers we would surely be vulnerable to attack'.

My first balled. 'I can't let anything happen to the village. I made a promise to keep the peace'. Slowly a familiar face floated into my thoughts and a sad smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"At all costs...." My voice sounded almost recongnizable. "Protect the village at all costs."

The soft sounds of knocking floated down the hall, 'Who could it be at this time? It was a little before dawn, most of the village should still be asleep.'

Yanking the door open I came face to face with a familiar face. My eyes widened, a panic yanked at my chest.

'Itachi!'

...............

"Shiori?"

'Get a hold of yourself!'

"Sasuke? What are you doing here so early?" My voice came out colder than intended. Much like Itachi my predisposition to conveying emotion was severely lacking. It wasn't intentional, it was just hard for me to show emotion, even more so now after the massacre.

"Can you... Help me with some training?" His question didn't fully register, but I was lost in my own thoughts of Itachi.

Since that night it had been hard to look Sasuke in the eyes. It wasn't fair for me to cut him out of my life. I was after all the only "family" he had left.

'Would he hate me too if he learned the truth?'

"Sure." I forced a soft smile, my hand landing on his head ruffling his hair. He huffed in response to the familiar gesture, his cheeks puffing and deflating with a sigh. He shoved my hand away, "Don't treat me like a child".

'Stubborn as ever'.

Stepping over the threshold I pulled the door shut behind myself. Silently we began our walk to the training grounds.

"So how has training with Kakashi been?" My voice sounded flat and uninterested. But Sasuke knew it was an unflattering affect of mine.

"Same as always." His response was less than, but it was to be expected. "I heard Kakashi taught you his famous Chidori for the chunin exams." His head turned to meet my gaze, a smirk crossing his face.

"Yeah." Another simple response, but again to be expected.

"Safe to say you mastered it already?" I asked smirking back. A soft blush washed over his face as he turned and grunted as a response.

'Just like Itachi'.