Shadow (Naruto)

Chapter Twenty One

Mira's POV

Age 19

Flashback - Age 8

"You're only getting good grades because you were the Fourth Hokage's little sister!" A boy twice my size barked as he shoved me roughly into the stone wall of the academy.

"Yeah, there's no way you could be better at taijutsu than us, you're so scrawny and weak!" Another boy added and took a swing at me.

It had been two years since the loss of my brother and sister-in-law, Kakashi had disappeared, he'd been gone for over a year now and Naruto was being raised in a hospital nursery by strangers who hated him. Rage bubbled up inside of me, I was so angry all the time, I lost everyone I ever cared about.

I caught the boys fist in my hand with ease, tightening my hold until I felt the bones in his hand began to crack and shift. He let out a cry of pain as I twisted his wrist. "Get the hell out of my way." My voice was no more than a hiss.

The group of boys that had been bullying me screamed and took off in a panic. I sensed a presence behind me and I turned ready for a fight only to falter as I spotted a boy one year my junior. He was the one everyone considered a genius in the Academy he excelled at everything, the only person I was second to in scores, Itachi Uchiha. His dark eyes swept over me curiously.

"What do you want?" I clenched my fists tightly at my sides preparing myself for an attack.

"You're bleeding." He said simply and extended a handkerchief to me, but he made no move to come any closer.

"What do you care?!" I growled.

Itachi shrugged. He stood frozen extending the handkerchief to me, watching me with dark eyes filled with disinterest. His indifferent attitude was really grating on my nerves.

I darted forward and smirked to myself as his eyes widened as I vanished from his line of sight, but my smirk fell as he reached out and caught my fist as I swung at him. He looked momentarily surprised by his action as if he couldn't believe he'd stopped me before reaching out to me with the handkerchief and gently pressing it to my nose that had started to drip blood. Why? Why was he being nice to me?

Tears welled in my eyes, tears I had long been fighting and refused to shed. Itachi completely broke through my wall of defense, with one simple action. I threw my arms around him, knocking him off balance and cried against him for what felt like hours. He didn't say a word, he didn't push me away, he just sat on the ground in a daze occasionally patting me on the back to try and console me.

I woke from my daydream with a shake of my head. Itachi had pulled me from my dark period of inconsolable rage. It was thanks to him, his friendship that I could heal. Kakashi was watching me, looking concerned as we sat in an extravagant garden filled with all kinds of exotic plants and flowers. I was once again wearing ridiculously fancy attire. My hair was pinned atop my head with jeweled hair pins. Lord Ayashi was lounging near the crystal clear sparkling pool filled with brightly colored fish. This is what he did, every day when he wasn't at a party or needed for a council meeting that he showed no interest in. I'd been trying to get him to take walks with me to the palace library and the records department.

He didn't appear to have any interest in politics, though I could understand why his father would choose him over his brothers to be the next feudal lord. Lord Ayashi's elder brothers were nothing more than brutes, they didn't care for others and would no doubt end up making their people suffer. One thing all the brothers had in common, none of them cared at all about their people or knew anything about them. We were supposed to be protecting Lord Ayashi and helping the transition to run smoothly. How could we do that, if he didn't care? He was spoiled.