The surroundings started to fade as a child younger than Itachi appeared with Itsuho in a training ground. The boy was pouting as the girl was ruffling his hair, and the little boy shyly leaned into the touch.
"Sister Itsuho, why doesn't my brother isn't teach me anything? Does big brother hate me? He once again ran away with that Shisui!!!!" The child asked with a pout as he was annoyed by his brother's busy days, as well as the 'cause for that' in the little kid's mind.
"Really!! Did our family's Itachi do that to our super duper adorable duck!! And that Shisui!! Both deserve punishment!! Don't worry, I will steal Itachi's dango for ya! And I will not give any to Shisui!!"
The girl said dramatically as the little boy pouted more. "Don't call me duck sister Itsuho!!!"
He rolled his eyes, obviously knowing she was justifying her thefts of his beloved brother's dango despite being young, as it is like everyday rice to him.
"What can I do when you look like a little duck, Sasuke-chan!!! How can you be so fatally adorable? You are killing me with cuteness!!!!" The girl took him into her arms and hugged the boy tightly while ruffling his hair like crazy.
"This must be some kind of powerful ninjutsu, Sasuke-chan. You really got me with it. Let's call it Kawai no jutsu!!"
Hearing that, the child blushed as he shyly looked at Itsuho's smile. Seeing that, his face reddened even more, like a tomato.
"It isn't like that, Sasuke-chan. Your big brother loves you more than you think. When you were this little, he was stuck to you, and you guys stuck together like glue. He is the one who took care of you almost all the time, you know"
Her gaze became softer, and she looked at the lake like she was seeing the distance beyond the lake, as a look of longing appeared on her face for a moment while her voice became calmer, way more different from her dramatic cheering tone.
"Really?! Brother like me that much?!" His gaze lit up as the little boy tried to look at her face, but his face was pressed into her shirt, making it difficult to see her expression.
"Yep, really", she smiled as she remembered something. The sunlight framed her pale features while glistening on her black, soft, spiky hair, making a beautiful image.
"You know, he even knew that you were going to be a boy even before you were born."
"Big brother is amazing" Stars literally appeared in the little boy's eyes, letting others see how much he loved his older brother as he started to bounce around the girl.
"Sasuke" Her tone became calmer and more serious, unlike the cheerful smile on her face, as if she was going to advise the boy like an adult.
"Yes, sister Itsuho?" The boy was startled by her change of tone as he looked at her curiously.
"Don't ever doubt your brother's love for you. He might never show that to you like you want to. But we can see he is a hardcore brocon," she chuckled, regaining her dramatic and funny tone like a goofball.
"Sister, what does brocon mean?" Sasuke asked, showing the childlike curiosity on his small, immature face.
"Oops, just slipped out; never mind that part. Well, it is broccoli," Itsuho scratched her head with a mock embarrassment.
"My brother isn't a broccoli, and he isn't green either", Sasuke retorted immediately with another adorable pout.
"I mean, he is someone who has love for you more than this lake. Like your parents," she started to show how much love they had for him.
"Like a sea, then" Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Yep, that much"
"Wow!!!" Sasuke exclaimed cheerfully as his eyes widened with childlike innocence and happiness.
"Can you teach me how to do shurikenjutsu, sister Itsuho?" He suddenly asked out of nowhere as Itsuho chuckled.
"Shurikenjutsu! Alright, let's go~" she said with a cheerful pose as both of them started to laugh at her action.
The surroundings changed again. The sky started to get darker; the sun had already set as dusk arrived in no time.
She stood up near the Naka River waterfall with an indifferent expression. But her trembling lips and the despair in her eyes betrayed that indifference as Itachi, who is now thirteen years old, stood beside her.
Both of their eyes were directed at the figure that stood face to face with them near the edge of the cliff from which the waterfall cascaded into the beautiful Naka River.
It is the place that she, Shisui and Itachi always like to stay while training, or they exchange small talk about daily life and experiences.
Usually, it is when she feels more relaxed and even sometimes feel little joy with those small talks and little spars with her brothers.
But today, the atmosphere around them is far from joyful and relaxed as they looked at the figure in front of them with a look of exhaustion and many more complicated emotions. Rage, despair, disappointment, betrayal and even fear are mixed with those.
This figure is none other than Shisui, who is now looking disheveled and on the brink of exhaustion, with a slightly bloody appearance. His right eye is closed, with blood dripping from the socket; letting others see his eyes was taken out of the socket.
Itsuho tried to walk towards him.
"Itsuho!"
He stopped her from coming forward with a hand and a look of an elder brother who was demanding she stay still as she gritted her teeth while looking at him with worry and horror, despair and her own helplessness, making her mind trapped in a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.
"Big brother!!!" Her lips trembled as she tried to talk to him, but nothing came out... while Itachi looked at the siblings with a concerned look that came with the uneasiness he felt from the girl's expression. "... Your eye is bleeding. Come here and let me help you."