Sight and Sound

Vengeance Vs. Forgiveness

Aster trudged toward the school. She really didn't want to go. What was the point? She longed to run from this village and all the pain it made her remember. But her brother, it wasn't in her to leave yet. He'd want her to stay. Dejected, she continued to move slowly in the direction of the academy. She looked up after so long. The sun was higher than it should be, almost noon. I'm late! She broke into a mad dash. She would die before disappointing Hikaru. Aster made her way through the empty halls in the ninja academy. Her steps echoed and she felt sick. Why was she doing this? All that she found here was suffering. She rounded the corner that would reveal the classroom door with Iruka waiting inside. Instead, she found him standing in the corridor with someone. She skidded to a halt as they turned in unison. The older boy stared at calmly. Iruka glared at her. "Glad you decided to show up. Wait inside; I'll get to you in a minute." He turned back to the boy. "So, your excuse for this is?" he muttered, thinking Aster wouldn't hear. She walked by slowly, eyeing the boy. He wasn't much older than her, barely eligible for the genin test at best. That's when she saw it, the Uchiha crest on his back. She gasped, almost coming to a stop before forcing herself to continue through the door. Glancing back over her shoulder, she realized his eyes were following her and he was ignoring Iruka. She shrugged it off. A boy like that wouldn't have any interest in her, not that it mattered. He would get in trouble for so blatantly disregarding the class's sensei anyway. The class watched like hyenas as she moved meekly toward her seat. As she passed by a girl with pigtails, she heard her muttered, "Finally decided to show up?" Aster shuddered, striding past her quickly past her. Sliding into her seat, the Uchiha boy walked in with an obviously irritated Iruka. The class gave a collective gasp, and Aster watched ass the girl next to gaped in utter shock. "W-what's going on?" Aster whispered to her. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she noticed his eyes on her face again. "You don't know?!" she hissed back. "That's Uchiha Itachi! He's the youngest person to ever graduate the academy and a member of the Uchiha clan!" Aster knit her eyebrows together. "So?" The girl scowled back, "You're an idiot." Aster pursed her lips. "No, I just don't see what's so great about him." But the girl wasn't listening. The boy was reading off que cards in monotone, as bored with his own lecture as she was. The rest of the students were hanging on his every word, but Aster twiddled her fingers, watching his mouth move. The rest of the day was listening to him talk and make halfhearted attempts at teaching. As soon as class was out, she rushed from the building. Itachi watched her go. He noticed her because of the way she seemed disconnected from everything. For some reason, he wanted to know where she was going, and why she was in such a rush. Itachi took a few steps to go after the girl, but Iruka caught him by the shoulder. "Being that late was inexcusable, we need to talk." Itachi pulled out of his grasp. "I have more important things to do." Iruka gasped and glared after him. Being a prodigy has gone to his head. His parents need to knock some sense into him before someone else does. Itachi weaved through streaming crowds of children about his age, searching for the mysterious red head. But it wasn't long before he gave up, he had lost her. Disappointed, he shuffled down the empty back streets. Abruptly he heard faint yells. He shuffled closer. "Bring it on! I can take you!" he heard a girl shriek. "Sure you can," he listened as a boy obviously older than him answered, and several more laughed. He sat patiently, not sure if he wanted to be caught up in this. The slap of blows and blocks was over before it began, and the fence concealing them from his view shook as someone was slammed against it. That's enough. He hopped up from the squat he had unknowingly sunk into, coming to the aid of whoever was getting the worst of it. Itachi almost stopped in his tracks. It was the girl from the school. One older boy held her against the fence and two others were taking turns kicking her and hitting her with all the force they could muster. Already she was coughing blood. "So this is all you've got?!" she goaded, smirking up at them. One was about to give her another solid punch to the ribs when Itachi finally intervened. "You need three people against one dropout?" The boy stopped, looking Itachi over before grinning in a way that said he thought he could take him. "Tough little man? She asked for it. Who are you to interfere anyway? Just go home kid." Itachi took a confident step forward. "Uchiha Itachi." All three stopped, the girl glaring up at him for reasons beyond him. "No.. No way." The boy who was holding her looked at him skeptically. "Let me prove it." Itachi had taken down the genin before he had a chance to respond. The other two grabbed their friend, scurrying away and yelling threats after Itachi. He ignored it, looking down on the beaten girl. "What did you do that for?!" she asked, giving him a chilling look. "Y-you were about to be seriously injured. Did you want me to let them beat on you?" Itachi was astounded by her reaction. "I didn't need your help! I could handle it!" she screamed, tears springing into her eyes. "Don't be a fool," he muttered, returning the hateful stare she shot at him. "Shut up! What's so great about you anyway? You're just some snobby Uchiha kid!" she shrieked, then as she realized what she had said, she turned and ran. Itachi watched her go. Her words had struck a chord somewhere. Was he just some snobby kid? No... I'm not spoiled or egotistical... Am I? He wanted to chase her and ask what she had meant, but she was crying, and he barely knew her. He would probably never talk to her again, but she had changed something in him for good.