The Demon They Once Feared. {BOOK 2}

|11|Bye bye~

Mina was frozen on the spot. Time seemed to be frozen, yet, time could never stop. Time was a precious thing, once someone wastes it, there's no going back. Time will never stop in this merciless world for one person, it won't stop for anyone. It will keep moving, continuing, just like the circle of life... of hate. A clock is a circle, correct? Time is never-ending. It goes by, not caring about what was happening in the world, not caring for a person.

It is ignorant of the things around it, it acts as everything revolves around it. But doesn't everything link to time? Everyone knows of time, it's something that every single person will know of in the world. People underestimate the power of time. It's a dangerous thing. Someone's life could change in a second, or a minute, hour, day, week, month, year, decade...

Someone's life could change, someone could -will- die, yet time stops for no one. It's a deadly thing that can not be stopped. The ultimate weapon, the undefeated champion.

"You can only learn from the past," She finally managed to do something other than stare, eyes wide, at the Uchiha that sat next to her. She blinked, the skin between her eyebrows creasing underneath the cloth that had a piece of metal attached to it. On that piece of metal was a swirly leaf design. "But you have to make the decision to learn from it."

It was silent for a moment, "What's your point?" Itachi asked, looking at her with the usual blank expression.

She huffed and turned to look elsewhere, crossing her arms over her chest and puffing out her cheeks. "I don't know, ya know!" She responded, "Give me some time to process everything! I'm not bright, ya know!" She demanded, the crease in between her blonde eyebrows increasing as a thoughtful look overtook the childish one.

"I'm sure you're really bright," The dark-eyed male responded chuckling.

"Oh," She laughed quietly without any humour, "trust me. I barely have any light left in me." The seriousness of her voice was clear as she gave a certain look to the forest below them. "Anyway," She broke the tense silence, turning to grin at the Akatsuki member. "What I was trying to say was, what you did was for the better. I know that I won't ever be able to feel the same way you do, simply because we're on different life paths. But, Itachi, you saved a whole nation from going to war. Sacrifices need to be made, that won't change. I haven't known anyone that would turn their back on their family for the village." She saw him cringe a bit, making her smile sheepishly. "I have no right to tell you this since I'm not innocent myself, but what you did- thank you."

A soft smile replaced the grin, she watched as his eyes widened a bit, but she didn't stop there. "You're a true shinobi that I could only dream of becoming. Someone who protects from the shadows." Her smile slowly turned into a grin again, "I can't justify your actions, simply because I don't know if there is such a thing as justice in the shinobi world, ya know. We fight for our own concept of justice, but if the enemy is doing the same thing, who is wrong?"

She turned away, looking back at the destroyed village, and forest. "I won't be able to protect the village from the shadows like you have, that's for sure. I-" She brought a shaking hand to her face and clutched her head, like it was in pain, though it wasn't. "I don't even know anymore?!"

The man stayed silent, listening to every word of her rant. Her rant of confusion, her rant of frustration, her rant on life. It mostly consisted of unanswered questions. She almost started screaming at him for the answers. He silently reached the arm that was closer to her, his right, and pulled her into a side hug.

The sudden movement made the girl stop her rant, and stay rigid in his embrace. Time passed by, it felt like forever, but it was only a mere couple of seconds. Her posture relaxed as she grabbed on his cloak tightly with both hands. She buried her face further into his chest, her grip on his tightening, sending a silent message of thanks to him. His embrace tightened along with hers.