"Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter."

Splattering, as if little children were happily playing around with paint, splashing colours everywhere.

Dripping, as if someone had carelessly forgotten to close the tap tight.

Stumbling, as if the little children had fallen onto the ground, yet do not cry.

Screaming, as if children were running around, playing an exciting game of catch.

Or so you thought. Simplicity masks the cruel reality as a fairy tale, but has the world ever been made of rainbow and unicorns?

Blood splattered on walls and dripped onto the ground as the cries and screams of victims were to no avail. All eventually met their fate as their lifeless body collapsed onto the ground, lying in their own pool of blood.

Ominous moonlight shone ever so brightly that night. Far ahead stood side by side, a duo with long raven hair that flew loosely as the wind blew against them. "I guess this is goodbye? I trust you take good care of him. See you soon maybe, my little sister"

"...Of course I will, you're such an idiot." She mumbled under her breath as she tilted her face sidewards. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye knowing she could do nothing about their parting.

The boy gave a chuckle and headed off into the dark without another word. She made no attempt to go after him, neither did she try to stop him. All she could do was stand there watching as his silhouette got further and further away every second. His words echoed in her head relentlessly. Her heart ached more than ever and tears formed.

"No feelings attached, Itsuko." She told herself, wiping off her tears, shoving aside whatever seemed to be her feelings.

An isolated place alone and a time-out would have been the ideal situation for her but she showed no waver to her inner desires. Heading over to an unconscious black-haired little boy, she took him to her house and settled him in bed.

"What about you? What're you going to do now?" Hearing concern from the supposedly highly dangerous nine-tailed fox that resides in her gave her some sort of comfort. At least some things didn't change.

Sarcastically, she replied. "What else can I do? Sleep? Of course, I'm going to pack his things."

"You're going to let him live with you?" The nine-tailed fox, Kurama questioned. It came as a huge surprise since the Itsuko he knew had always preferred living alone. She definitely wasn't one that liked change either.

"No. I'm living on my own. I'm just packing his stuff for him so he doesn't have to go back to that house again. It doesn't haunt me as much as it would haunt him." Itsuko answered without batting an eye. After all, she did take part in the massacre.

"What a caring sister." Kurama taunted and making fun of her, an attempt to brighten the mood. He had always joked with her whether it was during good or bad times. It was his way of helping her as her trusty companion.

-

Entering the Hokage's office, Itsuko greeted the Hokage half-heartedly.

"Itsuko, How've you been doing?" The Third Hokage looked up from his mountain pile of paperwork, placing a few stacks away. Itsuko could only cringe at this sight, pondering on the question, does he ever progress in his work?

Before Itsuko had a chance to hear what he had wanted to discuss with her, a group of Jounins entered the room. Itsuko could only stand aside and watched as Lord third announced the upcoming genin teams. Frowning, she tapped her feet in impatience. She had better things to do than this. Soon after, everyone was dismissed, leaving Itsuko and Kakashi in the presence of the Third Hokage.

"As I've just said, Kakashi will be taking team 7 which consists of Naruto Uzumaki, the nine-tails Jinchuriki, Sakura Haruno, a smart kunoichi, and..."

"Sasuke Uchiha, an Uchiha. So you want me to help train them when they already got Kakashi?" Itsuko cut him off his sentence. The Third Hokage nodded. She could only sigh as she shook her head. If she was going to do this, it would be torture. "Why? Kakashi is clearly more than qualified."

"All you've been doing is monitoring the ANBU's work since you wanted them to be independent, so you're pretty much free most of the time. Consider this as a mission. Now you're coming with us and you can get a rough knowledge on what kind of genin they will be." The Third Hokage demanded. He wasn't even giving her an option.

"I look forward to working with you again, Captain." Kakashi gave her a slight bow as respect, along with his famous one-eyed smile.

Itsuko nodded in acknowledgment as they left off to their houses. She was unwilling yet she had no choice. Starting an argument for this mere reason would not only be troublesome but also quite unreasonable and she wanted none of that.

Firstly, they arrived at Naruto's house. Disgusting was an understatement. There were bugs crawling all over the place and he even had milk expired for a whole month on the table, which he seemed to have drunk too. His stomach will surely have a storm coming his way.

Next up, Sakura's house. It was unfortunate since her parents were at home. Itsuko immediately escaped, noticing Sakura's parents. She wasn't afraid but she was uncomfortable. She was more than confident that her parents would dislike their daughter being trained by her. After all, no parent would want their child in the hands of such an infamous person.

After about an hour-long, Kakashi and The Third Hokage finally came out of the house. It was written on their faces that they had a rough time with her parents.

"Now we're off to Sasuke's. Itsuko, you know him best, he is your brother. How about you give us a briefing?" The Third Hokage requested. His voice was low and dangerous, as if daring Itsuko to refuse.

"I don't know him that well." Itsuko protested. They were biologically connected but she had never really get to know him.

"Oh yes, you do." Kurama teased.

"Shut up."

"Sasuke Uchiha. I don't think he particularly likes anything. He will stop at basically nothing to kill Itachi. There's too much hate in him. Summing up, he's just a powerless boy traumatized by his past, who wants to get revenge." Was all Itsuko could come up with to satisfy The Third's request.

Entering his apartment, memories of her past flowed back into her mind, when she first step foot into this apartment. After all, it was her old apartment.

"Good Job, that's my son." Her father complimented Itachi. Itsuko stood beside Itachi but she was invisible to them. She didn't expect any compliments or attention even though she was part of the successful mission as well.

"Father. Without Itsuko the mission would've failed." Itachi persuaded, trying to get his parents to acknowledge Itsuko's efforts.

"Itachi, you must be tired, your mind isn't thinking right." His father was convinced. His mother nodded in complete agreement.

It wasn't the first time it happened. They never acknowledged Itsuko much less compliment her. She'd consider herself lucky if they don't start yelling at her for no absolute reason.

"Itachi, why did you even try?" Itsuko questioned his action, her eyes filled with sorrow. They both knew it wasn't happening. Their parents were never acknowledging her.

"Because you deserved it! They never ever acknowledged you even though you do best at everything yet they compliment me when I barely did anything! It's not fair to you is it?!" Itachi burst out in anger. They were in their bedroom alone. They didn't think anyone would have overheard them but they were wrong.

"Itachi what is wrong with you?! Have you been brainwashed by this monster? Get to your senses!" Their mother slammed the door open, slapping Itachi in the face. It was the first. They have never laid a hand on him.

That did it. They crossed the line. She could withstand if they scolded her, beat her but not her brother. He didn't deserve to be hurt, not because of her. Itsuko packed her things and left the house that night. It was the last time she stayed in that house.

"Itsuko?"

Itsuko shook my head. She was in the midst of a flashback since she allowed her mind to wander off.

"Yes? By the way, when are we meeting the genin?" Itsuko asked, quickly changing the topic, the last thing she wanted was for them to be asking about it.

"Tomorrow." Kakashi replied. The Third Hokage briefly told them the upcoming events before he left, leaving Kakashi and Itsuko alone.

"I'll be late tomorrow, I want them to get the sense of having to be punctual." Kakashi stated, tucking his hands into his pocket before he took out a book to read.

"An Obito reference? See you tomorrow." Itsuko sighed at the thought of the trouble. If she knew this was to happen, she probably would have changed her mind about training the Anbu to be independent.

"Alright, rest well Captain. See you tomorrow." Kakashi gave another small bow before they parted their own ways.

"Itsuko sensei~" A familiar yet annoying voice teased through my head, laughing.

"Kurama! Stop or I'm not going to talk to you anymore." Itsuko warned jokingly.

"Alright, alright, you're no fun. Today was really unexpected. Don't be too strict. They're just mere genin kids."

"Yes, yes, yes. I got it."

❤️