The Protector of the Scattered Flowers

Suddenly, I sprang to my feet.

It's eerily quiet. Again.

And this time, I have a really bad feeling about things.

A scream sounded, disrupting the silence. I instinctively ran towards the direction it came from and came face to face with the hideout. It was aflame, and everyone was running outside, with their hands covered over their mouths.

I saw Natsumi looking frantic and ran towards her. She saw me coming, and shouted, "I can't find Chikako or Itachi anywhere!"

I immediately changed directions and ran into the hideout instead. I was met with plumes of smoke and covered my mouth to prevent the intake of toxic fumes. "Chikako!" I shouted into the flames. I heard a door slam somewhere down the hallway and took after the sound.

"Chikako?!" I shouted again, flinging open the door.

I saw something I'd never expected to. Not in my three years of living with onee-chan, that is.

Itachi was kneeling on the ground, his hand pressed against his abdomen. A red liquid was seeping through his fingers. His head was bent towards the ground, but slowly raised at the sound of the door flinging open and hitting the wall.

And while the sight of Itachi Uchiha bleeding was frightening enough, there was something -- or rather, someone -- who scared me even more.

A pale-skinned, dark-haired figure was standing before Itachi. Even from the back, I knew who this monster was.

Orochimaru.

He turned slowly, as if deliberating each move he made. He was cradling a bundle in his arms. I stared at it, horrified and disgusted at the same time.

"You bastard! How dare you think you can touch my little sister!!" I yelled and threw a punch at him. He dodged the punch, leaped over my arm, and vanished into the fiery inferno that was just outside the door.

"Chikako!!" I yelled desperately, but to no avail. I knew he'd left the hideout already and was probably a couple miles away from this place.

Itachi coughed violently, and I hoisted him up and onto my shoulder. He put all his weight on me, and I knew he had collapsed. Looking around, I noticed the flames were threatening to overtake the hallway and come into the room, so that canceled out one escape option. There was another option: a window. I set Itachi against the bed and flung my fist into the window, shattering the glass and sending shards everywhere.

All right, you first, oji-chan.

With all the strength I had left in my body (and believe me, it took a hell of a lot to do this), I threw Itachi out the window and leaped after him.