Acquiring Sentence (discontinued)

Blasphemy

Shiru was 12, turning 13 next week. Itachi and her were going to go get some Castella(1) at the sweets shop near the academy, but she'd been waiting for half an hour and he still wasn't there. She felt like those people who got ditched on their dates, except they weren't on one. It was a normal case for them to come here every time someone's birthday was near.

She began to become irritated and she sighed, thanking the shop owner for letting her stay here for that long quietly, and left the cafe, stomping over to her home.

Fine! If he ditched her, then she'd ditch him too. She went into her room and slammed the door shut, and came face to face with a crow at her window, waiting and holding a letter in its beak.

She carefully took the letter, and the crow immediately left. She stared at it weirdly and ripped open the goddamn letter.

She recognized the neat handwriting. It was Itachi's.

She dared not shake as she unfolded the letter and read its contents, letting it fall to the ground as she finished.

Dear Shiru,

I'm sorry for doing this. I feel like I've betrayed you, but it was a choice I didn't have a talk in. It was either that or the fall of everything. I have my reasons. I always do. Knowing you, you'd find out the real reason for my actions in a mere days. I hope you don't go doing that. For your own safety, please don't.

I'll miss you, don't change,

Itachi.

- - -

That night she silently cried as the moon began to look dimmer in her eyes.

- - -

She was the last to get the news.

The Uchiha Massacre. She immediately knew who was behind it. Itachi. That damned Itachi.

Is this what he meant by not having a choice or the fall of everything? It seemed to her that everything was already falling with the Uchiha, oh, all fucking dead because of you.

So she stomped, yet again, past her bewildered, but not shocked at her actions, parents, who didn't do anything to stop her from leaving. They heard the news, of course they did. But they didn't want Shiru to. But of course she knew now, it was such a large event. No ears were left untainted. Not even the children's.

She was only wearing a black tank top and matching sweatpants, her feet bare, and her long black hair in a mess. Her brown eyes glimmered with danger and she heard everything, every whisper, on her way. She had some clues now, thanks to that letter. He had a valid reason, not this...blasphemy of a reason Itachi had told to his brother; 'To measure my strength'. She silently snorted and entered the Hokage tower.

She just sat down on the couches provided. Stock still. She just listened. Listened to everything everyone had to say. Rumors, gossip. She heard it all. Yet it was all the same talk.

'Who knew such a prodigy would do that?'

'it was expected. Every talent comes with a price'

'He should have killed himself along with the clan'

'Talk about it. No wonder he was immediately labeled an S-rank missing-nin traitor'

She barred her teeth to stop from lashing out in fury and somehow kept her cool and went up to the second floor, where the ninjas comfort room lay. She was a chunin, so she was allowed there. She didn't go there very often unless Itachi or her parents dragged her up or for a mission wait.

She imitated her past behavior and sat still, her arms crossed, and her ears attentive.

Things got interesting. They all thought he had a reason for his doing, and her demeanor changed to a more acceptable one. She couldn't handle civilian gossip. It was all too wrong, and based on false facts. The shinobi gossip though, that was something else. Every reason had a fact to back it up. It wasn't plain talk, and it made sense, in a harsh way.

Some words were repeated that she kept close to mind.

'ANBU'

'Danzo'

'Root'

She knew what ANBU and Danzo was. The man was a village elder, and the ANBU was a harsh facility Itachi had recently been in. But he left. For good, she guessed.

She didn't know what root was. And despite her hearing it a lot, it was only said three or so times, by 1 or 2 people. She didn't know that the next day those two who mentioned Root were never found again.

- - -

Shiru went back that night with books on whatever information related to the village and whatever root was. There was only one book on 'Root', and it was in a hidden corner. The book itself was the thinnest she'd ever seen, consisting of only 2 pages. And of those two pages only one had writing.

'Root is an ANBU-like facility run by one of the village elders in secret after it was denied by the Hokage. It mostly consists of orphaned people and kids stolen from the streets of Konoha. This information isn't fully supported by trusted evidence, but it is just a bit of information gotten from general, hidden rumors. All members do not obey the Hokage, but help serve the village. The person leading it is-'

It continued off to the next page, so she turned it, only to come face with a page full of red splashes. Something told her it wasn't ink.

She closed the book and placed it into her shelf. She began reading about the history of the village elders and the Hokage, and it wasn't long before the clock stroke 12. She glanced up at the clock, and rubbed at her eyes, shutting her last book. She tucked herself in, and drank a bit of water from the bottle she always kept nearby.

She closed her eyes, her fatigue taking over, and fell asleep.

She wasn't aware of a sad look a figure sported at her window, which then flickered to crows into the night.

She didn't listen to him, but it was expected. His story was blasphemy, just as she foretold.

::

(1)Castella: a japanese sponge cake.