Chasing After You || Itachi

Ch. 7 - A New Resolve

Blood. There was blood everywhere. Why was everything drowning in warm crimson? Where was Itachi?

Tora woke up with a gasp and immediately sat up, her body covered in sweat. She clutched her shirt over her chest as she tried to calm her breathing to no avail. Something happened yesterday, but everything was blurry. That dream just now... She could feel a headache forming as she thought about it.

Suddenly, everything hit her. She had left her room last night and went to the Uchiha compound with Hana. That's where she saw red and... Izumi... Covering her mouth with her hand, she raced to the bathroom across the hall and collapsed over the toilet, emptying anything her stomach had left. Unfortunately, the images of the bodies she had seen kept reappearing in her mind. However, what she couldn't piece together was how she got back to her room; everything went blank after she and Hana left Izumi's house.

Once she had nothing left to regurgitate, she sat back against the cool wall and tried to contain herself. Why couldn't she remember anything? The layout of yesterday came across her mind again, however the scene changed - the environment was more rocky and there was a heavy mist, like she was surrounded by clouds. Bodies were dropping like flies around her and someone kept yelling at her not to stop. She was there and she could feel the fear as her body was shaking. There was no way this wasn't real.

"Tora? Are you home?" A voice called, however the said female was still frozen against the wall in her daydream, drenched in a cold sweat. In her dream she was still running, but she was younger - much younger. She was being told to just keep running and as she glanced at the hand that was holding hers, her eyes traveled up their arm and to their face, which was her mother's. Hana walked upstairs and immediately dropped to her best friend's side once she located her. Tora looked like she had seen a ghost and automatically, the Inuzuka was concerned. "Hey, Tora... Earth to Tora..."

Blinking, Tora tried to force the images out of her head as a strong headache came out. Holding her head, she glanced to her side and saw the worry on Hana's face. Not saying anything, she leaned over and laid her head on the Inuzuka's shoulder. Tears rolled down her cheeks, however she couldn't determine whether they were coming from the fact that she was facing the inevitable of Izumi's death or the unknown thoughts she just saw. After a while, Hana wiped her eyes of her own tears and spoke up to break the silence.

"A few days ago, we went to the Uchiha compound, and we saw Izumi... resting peacefully in her bed." Hana started, telling herself more than she was telling Tora. "All the members of the Uchiha are dead, besides one - Sasuke Uchiha. They're holding a funeral today. I understand if you don't-"

"We should go." Tora mumbled. "After all, Izumi was our friend and she was my teammate..."

Hana looked at her best friend sorrowfully. "Tora, there's more. About how it happened, they're saying that it was a homicide and..."

"I don't want to hear about that right now, Hana." Tora stood up and walked out of the bathroom to go to her room. "I just want to pay my respects to Izumi and Ms. Mikoto."

With a frown, Hana watched Tora go before getting up herself. Normally she would've continued, however she decided that she would let it go for now. Today would be about celebrating the life of their friend so she left to get dressed. Once she and Tora were dressed in all black, they made their way to the burial grounds. The sun was shining brightly, which greatly contrasted the mood surrounding the day.

There weren't many people at the funeral; a couple of shinobi were sparsely covering the area and there were some villagers who probably knew some of the Uchiha personally. As Tora approached Izumi's gravestone, she frowned at the newly cut rock that had 'Izumi Uchiha' engraved on the front. It was way too soon for this to be made for her. She must have known something was going to happen when they were talking at the barbeque restaurant. How could she do this? Why was the only thing that she said to her, 'thank you'? Who does this and then leaves without saying goodbye?