Whispers in the Rain - Bleach X Naruto - Uchiha Itachi Love Story

Chapter 34 - Power

Saya pov:

"Saya! Are you alright?" Itachi and Sasuke landed next to me while calling to me.

I averted my gaze from the crater I had caused when I beat Shoji and I turned my head to look at them. I smiled apologetically and Itachi's expression fell at that. He didn't hesitate even for a moment to bring me into his arms in a hug. He had reactivated his Susanoo and we were inside it so I let my guard down a bit while closed my eyes and sunk into his arms. He placed a hand on the back of my head and kissed the side of my head as if consoling me.

"I heard about Shoji from Sasuke. I heard about your past and everything he did to you.....are you alright?" He asked softly.

"I should be asking you two that....after what Shoji did. Summoning your parents, making them fight you....I'm so sorry this happened." I apologized softly.

"You shouldn't apologize. In one way, we are glad that we got to see them again. We got to see them and be more honest than we had ever been with them when they were alive. We were a real family for those few moments and we were able to express ourselves without holding back. And I'm glad that you met them as well." Itachi said gently.

"But you had a chance of being with them again....why didn't you choose it?" I said pulling away a bit so I could see his face. "You had a chance to start over. I'm sure you and Sasuke wanted it."

Itachi smiled and my heart did a summersault. He looked so radiant at the moment and I wanted to keep staring at him. It was the first time I had seen him so content, after all.

"Because right now, you are most important to us." He said making my heart do another summersault – not in fluster but in deep gratitude.

My eyes stung a bit and I managed a soft laugh. "Thank you, Itachi, Sasuke. Thank you for supporting me, for believing in me and for giving me the chance to be loved. I know choosing me over your parents must have been a very difficult decision."

"Y-you don't need to thank people for something so stupid. And it would have been awkward with Tou san and Kaa san now anyway...." Sasuke muttered while glaring at me but I noticed the slight embarrassment in his voice that made me smile.

"But Saya, are you really alright? You don't look very good." Itachi asked, making me look at him again.

"I guess so...." I mumbled and averted my eyes from his. "I was really hurt by Shoji and I saw so many other children suffering because of him. I had already decided that I had to kill him to make sure he didn't hurt anymore people. And after what he did to your parents, that feeling got even stronger. But....I don't know why I feel so terrible about it now."

I don't know why I felt terrible about killing Shoji even though I'm sure he deserved it. But I felt even worse because I realized that if I was feeling this bad for killing someone who hurt me and so many others, Itachi must have felt much worse when he killed his own family despite them having done nothing wrong. And he was the one comforting me.

"You don't have to feel bad....you did this for a good cause more than you did for your satisfaction, right? It might have been terrible for you to have to take this upon yourself but just think about all the children you saved. Those children can smile again....and they won't be afraid anymore." He said while moving some of my hair out of my face.

I gave a slow nod feeling better and seeing truth in his words. He was right....I had prevented him from hurting any more people. Just as Yamamoto san always said, sometimes we had to take drastic measures and follow them through with a strong resolve so we could make a better future. It was with the same attitude that we had stopped the Bounts, the rogue shinigami and the hollows. And in this Shinobi World, situations like this weren't anything out of the ordinary – those who caused pain and suffering to others and posed a threat to the peace of the world had to be stopped no matter how dire the solution was. I couldn't and didn't have time to dwell on this and feel guilty now because we still had to defeat Madara and Obito to end this war.