Chapter 34 - Memories of That Tragic Day
As a celebratory treat, Itachi was buying dinner for everyone. However, by everyone, he meant his family, Lilly, Sasuke and himself. Lilly was now a Genin ninja and able to help Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 out on missions, especially while Sasuke still had this cursed mark on him.
"I'm so proud of you sis." Sasuke smiled.
"So am I." Itachi pointed out.
"I know." Lilly giggled happily. "I wish mom and dad could see this." She sighed a little.
"They will have." Sasuke said, patting her head. "They'll have seen everything."
"Their little girl has grown up." Itachi smiled, trying to hide the fact that he was close to tears.
"Awww." Sasuke chuckled softly. "Are you crying bro?"
"N-No," Itachi said, wiping away the slight tears. "there was just something in my eye."
"Are you sure big bro?" Lilly giggled a little, looking up at him.
"I'm sure." Itachi smiled, giving her a light hug, sighing a little. "I'm sure..." Sasuke wasn't up for believing it, although he didn't say anything else about it.
"Sooo...." Sasuke said. "What now?"
"We could go, see mom and dad?" Itachi suggested. "It's been almost 8 years..." He sighed a little.
"Yeah..." Sasuke sighed, clenching his fists a little. "Don't remind me..."
"I'm sorry about that bro." Itachi sighed, looking down. "Danzo ordered me, I had no choice. If I didn't he would've killed us all, even you two. I couldn't allow that." He explained, once again.
"You already told me this." Sasuke sighed. "I understand."
"Who is Danzo?" Lilly questioned. "I've never heard of him."
"He's one of the ANBU leaders... He was the one who ordered me to kill our clan. He felt our clan was becoming too powerful, and was close to taking over the village." Itachi explained.
"We wouldn't try to take over the village." Lilly said. "We wouldn't."
"I know little sis." Sasuke sighed. "But he didn't know that. However, Danzo is a strange man, for some weird reason, he had Sharingan eyes embedded into his arm. It's like he's been stealing them for any Uchiha member who he killed."
"That's because he..." Before Itachi could finish, Danzo appeared behind him, trapping Itachi in a Genjutsu. Itachi had no time to react, so for once, he couldn't escape.
"Don't bother." Danzo said. "All I need to do is require a few more Sharingan eyes to be one of the most powerful ninjas ever." He smirked.
"That's not going to happen!" Sasuke growled, shoving Lilly behind him, activating his Sharingan.
"We'll see about that." Danzo smirked, before getting attacked by some strange boy. To Lilly, he seemed to be quiet handsome, maybe she had found the guy for her. However, there was a little part of her that doubted it.
**********
After Danzo had decided that it wasn't worth the attempt to try and get their Sharingan, considering the amount of close friends they had, he left. Lilly cautiously approached the young brown-haired boy who had saved them, while Sasuke used his Sharingan Genjutsu to counter the jutsu Danzo used on Itachi to free him.
"Who are you? And why did you save us?" She questioned him, as he turned around to smile at her. She felt her heart skip a beat slightly, and she didn't know what this feeling was, but she knew one thing... She liked it.
"I'm Josh Hyuga." He smiled, before going on to answer her other question. "And why did I save you, because I couldn't let a sweet girl like you be hurt." He seemed to be only a year or two older than her, as he was already wearing the village headband, showing that he too, was a Genin ninja.
"Thanks Josh." Lilly smiled softly. "I'm Lilly Uchiha and these are my brothers." She said, gesturing towards them. Josh nodded in their direction a 'hello, nice to meet you' and so did they.
"You're very welcome Lilly." He smiled. "I hope to see you again." He said, before leaving.
"He seems nice." Itachi chuckled, sensing that Lilly had a little slight liking of him.
"Yeah, he does." She smiled, trying not to allow a blush to show.
"Let's go." Sasuke chuckled, heading towards what used to be the Uchiha part of the village.
The three of them slowly headed towards where their home once was, but was now no longer their home. The entire land in Konoha were the village was, had been destroyed and turned into a waste land. The only thing that remained was the cemetery, the Uchiha shrine, and one or two occasional homes. One of those homes, had been the home to the three of them, but they had no idea it was still there. Once they walked into it, and Itachi realised their home remained, he headed over there and looked inside. Everything was still the same as it had been. Lilly's room when she was little, with the crib and everything, Sasuke and his room was there, with all their belongings that they had long forgotten about, and lastly, their mother and fathers room remained exactly the way it was, before they had been killed, and by their own eldest son.
"This place hasn't changed..." Sasuke said, walking in the door of what had been their home.
"It truly hasn't." Itachi sighed, still agreeing with him. "Even the little bed Lilly was in that day is still here... everything is still here. I'm surprised at that."
"This was our home?" Lilly questioned.
"Yes." Both of them nodded.
"Oh." Lilly blinked, going to have a little look around the place. The pictures seemed to be familiar to her and bring back occasional memories of when she was 2. "These pictures seem so familiar..." She said, picking one up that was a picture of their mother and father before Itachi, Sasuke and Lilly had been born. They both looked so happy. "So this was mom and dad." She smiled, showing both of them the picture.
"Yeah it was." Itachi said. "Right before I was born as well..." He mentioned. "Sometimes I think they weren't happy when I was born, however a little part of me says that I meant the entire world to them."
"You did big bro." Sasuke said. "Remember, dad treasured you more than me..." He sighed, looking down.
"But that changed again when mom told us that she was expecting another child, and another sibling for us." Itachi smiled, giving Sasuke a gentle squeeze of a hug.
"Yeah it did." Sasuke chuckled softly. "That news changed everything..."
"That news was also the time Danzo had told me to kill you all... I managed to hold it off for 2 years, because I wasn't wanting anything to happen to mom while she was pregnant." Itachi sighed.
"I understand." Sasuke smiled. "I didn't know that was how long you had known, but managed to prevent the killing of the clan that long."
************
As the two brothers discussed what had happened within this house, neither had realised that Lilly was gone. She had decided to go for a look around this part of the village on her own. The part of the village that was her home. As she walked around, Hanzo appeared without a sound, grabbing her and knocking her out. What did he want with her now? And why now? What was going on?
*************
When Lilly came round, she immediately recognised where she was. The Akatsuki HQ. She wondered why she was here, then immediately remembered wandering around what was the Uchiha part of the village, before something happened, bringing her here. She looked around, tried to move, but couldn't. She tried to get her hands free, but something was holding them in place, not rope, a jutsu. Someone, somewhere, was using a puppet jutsu to prevent her moving.
"Let me go!" She shouted, where a familiar voice answered.
"Not yet, Lilly Uchiha of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"Grr.... Hanzo!" She may have grown up, but that voice still haunted her. "Let me go!" She struggled to move, when a snake-like figure appeared in front of her. Not Orochimaru. Kabuto. Somehow, he seemed different and a lot like Orochimaru was.
"We need you to lure Sasuke here." Kabuto smirked, his eyes more those of Orochimaru's, which made Lilly wonder what had happened to Orochimaru.
"Where is he...?" Lilly questioned. "What happened to the creepy-ass snake dude?"
"Dead." Was Hanzo's replied. "Dead and not coming back. He was a nuisance to us, as well as a liability."
