Chapter: None

I. The sun is rising

Yumi woke up. She must have fallen asleep when it got quieter. She propped herself up against the wall to get up. Her limbs ached from the uncomfortable sleeping posture. But that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She carefully searched the room for the stairs. Sure it was already bright day, but no light came into this room. It was pitch black. What might the room look like? What did her parents use it for? Suddenly she touched something sharp and immediately noticed the warm blood that ran over her hand. She cut herself, just on what? She carefully tried to find out what kind of object it was. Her right hand got a grip and not far from it she felt another under her left hand. There were two swords. She took them and decided at that moment to learn to fight with them so that she could finally defend herself and never have to hide helplessly again, like that night. But she had to face the truth again, there was no one left to teach her. Now she was completely on her own and she wouldn't be able to do that for long. Yumi buckled under the load that had been lying on her shoulder since last night, she crouched on the floor and noticed the warm tears running down her face again. She was weak, but she knew that too. She wouldn't get very far without help. What if the enemies were still around? They wouldn't be considerate even now. She could guess who was responsible for the atrocity. The neighboring village, the other clan. The two clans have always been enemies, envied each other. Until now, the Hiroshi clan had always come out victorious, but this time it was an ambush. Nobody expected such a sudden attack. She wiped the tears from her face, she wouldn't cry anymore, whoever is crying is weak and Yumi definitely didn't want to be that. She held both swords tight in her hands, that was all she had left. She got up, a few steps further she found the stairs. She climbed up and reached the kitchen. Everything was so unnaturally calm. Now she was standing there, alone in the kitchen. What now? Just run away? That did not work. Where should she go? The next village was the enemy one. She ran towards the door and took a step out into the morning sun. The light blinded her, she blinked a few times to see the area around her. A shock. Corpses lay everywhere. The dead bodies of their relatives. She was shaking, it was a mixture of deep grief and superhuman anger. She would love to take revenge, but what could a little girl be able to do? She walked a few yards until she heard voices and stopped abruptly. Who was that? But not the enemies?
"Look at that, Itachi, that's awful.Isn't that the village of the Hiroshi clan? "
"Yes, better said it was. Nobody here seems to have survived the massacre. We should report this in Konoha, so it cannot stay here."
She heard the two of them walking around. Yumi looked cautiously around a corner of the house to see the two boys. They weren't much older than she was, maybe three years. The two came from Konoha, a village that was a little further away, but what were they doing here? Obviously they hadn't come to harm anyone. The one called Itachi let his gaze wander until he rested on the corner of the house where Yumi was standing.
"Shisui, there is someone here.", He said and slowly walked towards Yumi.
She wiped away, was a little afraid of the stranger, even if she knew she didn't need it. He looked at her kindly and stopped in front of her.
"My name is Itachi Uchiha and what is your name? Are you a survivor of the Hiroshi clan?"
"Well, my name is Yumi. And yes, I'm probably the only one."
"Shisui, we should take her to Konoha. I'll talk to my father if we can take her. She needs a home, she can't stay here." He looked around at his friend. This looked at him thoughtfully.
"Yes, you are probably right. Let's take her with us."
The boy named Itachi went up to Yumi again and this time only stopped in front of her. He made as if to take the swords from her hand, but she clung to them.
"Little one, the fight is over, you don't need them anymore."
"Yes. They are the only thing I have left of my parents. I want to learn to fight with them."
Tears welled up in her eyes again.
"It's fine. I'm not taking it away from you. But let me carry it, okay?"
Yumi nodded in agreement and handed him the memories. Itachi gestured to Shisui, whereupon they started back. Yumi ran close to Itachi's side, he was very sympathetic to her, he was the person who pulled her out of the hole and would give her a future. He didn't know yet, but she was all the more precise for it, she would take him into her heart and keep him there forever as her savior. She looked up at him, in his face and immediately felt a pleasant warmth in her heart. He noticed her look and smiled at her, it was a friendly and honest smile, she could trust him. She looked down at the ground again. Only now did she really notice how exhausted she was from the rigors of the events. Her stomach made a sound that was a sign of it.
"Shisui, we should take a little break. Yumi should eat something and rest."
"Yes, but we have to get back to the village as soon as we can. You know, I'm going to Konoha and stay with her. I'll notify someone to meet you."
With these words he had disappeared into the thicket of trees. Yumi looked after him, amazed at how fast he was."Sit down. I still have enough food for both of us. Eat your fill."
"Thank you. That's very nice of you."
Then she reached for it and slowly began to eat. She kept looking shyly at him. If he wasn't smiling, she couldn't read any emotion on his face. She would have loved to know what he thought of her or in general what his thoughts were at that moment, but nothing could be seen.
She liked his hair. They were black, just like his eyes, and long, tied in a braid at the nape of the neck. He wore the Konoha headband on his forehead. What ninja rank do you think he was? She also noticed a chain, the pendant represented the symbol of the Uchiha clan, just like the one on the back of his T-shirt. She had already heard some stories about this clan, it is said to be very powerful. The members of this clan rule a certain Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan, which bequeaths some powerful Justu to the owner.
He would certainly be able to protect her with it. The only question was how advanced his talents were so far.
Suddenly he looked at her, it was a serious look and yet he seemed to radiate uncertainty. He didn't know how to behave towards her. So he eyed her for a few moments in silence. She wiped his gaze, but she still felt him resting on her. It was a strange feeling to be looked at so intensely by someone. She noticed how he wanted to start saying something, but he stopped. Apparently he couldn't find the right words. To distract himself from his gaze, Yumi looked at her surroundings. It was a beautiful day. The sun wasn't very high yet, it must have risen recently. Yumi loved sunrises. She often got up very early with her father to run to the rocks and watch the rising red fireball there. They sat there for a long time without either of them saying a word about it. Simply enjoying the moment, even if it could last for hours. Without realizing it, tears rolled down her cheeks again. Itachi gently stroked her from her face and took her in his arms.