Two Loves, One Fate (Itachi & Sasuke Uchiha)

№.15 :: First Impressions

Chapter Fifteen 

The Snow Kingdom;

"Hurry!" the panicked king shouted to the ANBU following behind him. "We must find my daughter and make sure that she is safe and unharmed!" As the king continued to lead the ANBU, he didn't notice the silent muttering coming from the ANBU themselves. They knew better, knowing how the princess could get when she finally decided to get serious...The princess was very capable of taking care of herself and everyone knew that, except the king himself. The king had to be the only person in the kingdom who thought that Serenity was vulnerable and incapable of any kind of self-defense.

The worried king lead the ANBU through many bloodstained hallways, at times being forced to step over a body of an innocent bystander. The king's fear increased, his thoughts leading him to the conclusion that his very own daughter could be among the pile of corpses. He tried to block that thought from entering his mind once again, but it was eating him up from the inside. The fearless king made his way up the battered grand staircase, trying to block the smell of fresh blood from entering his nostrils. The king just prayed that he wasn't smelling Serenity's blood.

The ANBU surrounded the king once they arrived to the second floor since the most bloodshed had been done there and the ANBU suspected that the intruders could still be lurking around the kingdom. As the king neared Serenity's room, closely followed by his swarm of ANBU, his panic increased dramatically when he saw the blood seeping through the crack under the door. Going as quickly as his fancy robes would allow him, the king raced towards the door leading to Serenity's room and threw the door open.

The king soon regretted his actions when the sight of Prince Mayako's corpse laid in front of him. He signaled for the ANBU to check on the body, to make sure that he hadn't been mistaken on his conclusion. The king respectably stepped back to allow the ANBU to move inside, making sure to cover his eyes from viewing the sight of death. While the ANBU swept into the room to check for anything odd, the medical examiner kneeled over Prince Mayako's body, examining the wound that he had on his forehead. When the examiner couldn't do anything else for the body, he transported the corpse to begin the preserving process. After the body was removed from the room, the king finally stepped inside to stand next to the conversing ANBU.

'My God...' the king thought to himself as his tired gaze landed on the puddle of blood that was seeping into the white carpet. 'This will come as a blow to King Isuasha. It's going to be difficult to tell him that his only son was murdered...'

While the king was deep in thought about his discussion that he would soon have with King Isuasha about the murder of his son, the ANBU picked up the remaining pieces of Serenity's dress and her weapons that were thrown around. The leader of that ANBU squad brought the items over to the king, interrupting his thoughts. The king jumped a bit, not used to spacing out in front of people that worked for him. The king's gaze fell on the leader of the ANBU after he had calmed himself.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your Highness, but there seems to be some evidence that a stuggle had taken place in this very room," the ANBU leader said in his deep, raspy voice. The ANBU leader handed the remains of Serenity's dress to the king, who placed the cloth against his face to feel its warmth. The king closed his eyes, enjoying the scent of his daughter that still lingered on the clothing. It reminded him so much of his wife...the flowery scent that she had worn every day when she still was alive. Now her daughter carried it, the king beginning to realize the resemblance that Serenity had to her mother.

Once again, the king had spaced out into his thoughts. It was difficult to keep one subject in mind with all the recent events. The king realized what he was doing and he removed the cloth from his touch, his gaze falling on the weapons that the ANBU leader had in his hands. The king placed a small piece of Serenity's dress safely in his pocket and he took the katana into his hands. He never knew that Serenity had these weapons in her possession and he was a bit taken back. Serenity had hidden these from him, but why? There seem to be a lot that the king didn't know about his daughter. The king looked around the room and when he caught sight of the side of the door, he jumped a bit. A bloody hatchet was lodged into the siding...