uzumaki shira | naruto

Act 18: "Don't catch a cold."

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She didn't attend the funeral. How could she when Naruto was there? When her brother hated her? She didn't need the reminder that she was hated. She was contended knowing that her brother is safe.

She didn't care. After all, Naruto was more important than her own. Shira sat alone in front of the cenotaph, reading her father's name over and over again.

Namikaze Minato.

"What should I do now? My little brother must be loathe me. I shouldn't have talked. I forgot how sensitive Naru is most of the time. I should've kept silent. No one wants me here. I don't need anyone besides family anyway. Maybe I really should leave the village, tou-san." Shira took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Naru is the only thing tying me down here but it seems like he doesn't need me anymore. He's stronger now. He doesn't need me to take care of him. Maybe he didn't need me at all. I must have been such a nuisance to him all these times." Shira sighed and ignored the tears that joined the rain.

Even the sky joined them in weeping for the deceased today.

She hugged her knees and welcomed the cold drops of rain. It was somehow soothing today rather than the usual shivering cold. "Tou-san, I... don't know what I should do." She mumbled to herself, never realizing the pair of red eyes watching her from afar.

The eyes never left her form, concern gleaming in those ruby red orbs for the well-being of the girl. The owner frowned, not liking how the redhead drenched herself in the shivering cold rain. She might catch a cold being under this kind of weather.

It watched as she talked and it listened to her words once more. "Tou-san, I know that you loved this place, this village you once ruled over but... I can't help it. I don't want to be here anymore..." The eyes softened and wondered just what exactly did that girl go through.

The owner of these beautiful pair of red eyes saw the look on Shira's face. It was the face of an older sibling facing an internal battle with themselves.

So, it's because of her brother? The Kyuubi jailer? That knucklehead of a ninja? The owner of these eyes somehow understood what that girl, Uzumaki Shira, was going through. Even he couldn't bear the hatred of his own little brother staring painfully at him.

Uchiha Itachi knew what she was feeling. The twins must have fought with each other and it must have ended up with Naruto saying he hated her. The elder Uchiha's eyes softened. He knew the little girl when she was still in the Academy. He could still remember the first time they met even.

She was a little kid with an interesting vocabulary back then. Her tongue couldn't pronounce words properly at all. She was a ball of sunshine much like her brother but she wasn't as obvious as her twin.

She was an interesting little kid and looking at her now, she grew up to be a young strong kunoichi. However, the one thing he could never forget was the day she had her first kill.

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Itachi had been at the dango shop ordering his usual five-ten sticks of dango. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sasuke's classmate- Shira was it?- from the gap of the entrance door.

She appeared to be hesitating. Hesitating from entering the shop perhaps? But it wasn't obvious on her expression. However, he always had easy times reading other's facial expressions. Although, there were occasions when Shira was unreadable because of her natural poker face.

The Uchiha tilted his head in a microscopic degree and wondered why she seemed so nervous. Was this her first time going here? If it was, then her reaction wasn't something he would have expected. Itachi contemplated if he should go and get her but decided against it when the girl invading his thoughts finally entered the shop.