Fallen (ItachixOC)

Chapter Ten

第十章

Konohagakure was never the same after the day of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Of course, the pain and absence the village felt was nothing compared to the pain and absence that two individuals felt. One was Uchiha Sasuke, the survivor of the massacre who turned cold and whose hatred for his elder brother started to rule him. The other was Haruno Miyako, who lost not only a teammate and best friends, but two people who – she had to admit five years later – she had a slight crush on.

Of course, the sense of betrayal Miyako felt had pushed her into becoming stronger. She wanted to know why Itachi did what he did, and she wants to protect Sasuke from the darkness slowly growing within him. Because of this, a year after the massacre – and after Sasuke was declared fit (both mentally and physically) – she demanded that she become Sasuke's guardian and that the two move into a two-bedroom apartment together. At first, the Hokage was against her request. But the more she pushed, the more he realised he couldn't deny her and so – with the permission of the Haruno's – Miyako became Sasuke's legal guardian and the two moved in together.

Currently, Miyako was preparing breakfast for her and Sasuke, consisting of green tea, natto, a banana, white rice, and slightly cooked eggs. She was humming to herself, whilst Sasuke was just starting to wake up. For the young Uchiha, today was important as it was the day that the exams to become a genin began. Miyako remembers her exams, which – over the course of three days – consisted of a written test for spelling, reading, and grammar, a substitution test, a written test for mathematics and strategies, a written test for history and political knowledge, a test on basic taijutsu and weapon throwing, a transformation test, and – finally – the clone test. Overall, there were seven tests, and one had to pass at least two to become a genin.

"Morning, Sasuke," Miyako greeted as the Uchiha walked into the kitchen-diner of their apartment, his hair sticking up every which way and sleep still in his eyes.

"Hn," Sasuke replied groggily as he sat down at the table as Miyako placed his food in front of him before grabbing her food and sitting across from him.

"Are you ready for your exams?" Miyako questioned Sasuke as she mixed the natto, rice, and eggs together with her chopsticks.

"Hn," Sasuke replied as he brought his food to his mouth.

"I'm glad your so confident, I was so nervous during my test, I almost vomited right there in the exam room," Miyako explained, shuddering as she remembered that day back when she was seven. "Anyway's, I'm going on a mission today, so I might not be back until next week. I spent all of yesterday and last night preparing your Bentos. You'll have to make breakfast yourself."

"Won't this be your first mission as a jonin?" Sasuke questioned, knowing that a 'hn' wouldn't convey his question properly – even if Miyako was a master in 'hn' speech.

"That's right. I'll be going with Takeo, Gina, and Tsuneo-sensei. The Hokage gave me the mission last night. We need to take some highly expensive, and rare, medicines to Takumi Village in the Land of Rivers. I should be back by next week, assuming everything goes well," Miyako explained before smiling ruefully. "It'll be nice to work with Gina, we sort of drifted apart after I graduated. We're still friends but..."

Sasuke's dark eyes looked at Miyako who looked sad. He never knew what to say or do when she fell into these moments of sadness, so he finished his banana and tea before getting up to have a shower and get ready, leaving Miyako to gaze out the window of the kitchen.

目

"Miyako!" a female voice called as Miyako walked towards the gates of the village three hours later.