The Hokage met her gaze, eyes hard before his gaze softened and he nodded, "Very well. Akari Uchiha." He spoke with authority and she straightened unconsciously despite her current state, "You are hereby suspended from the shinobi force until you are cleared by the required professionals. Effective immediately."

Akari nodded numbly and the Hokage turned away from her and began walking back to the entrance to the cell. As he reached the doorway, he paused, "And miss Uchiha," he began, looking back toward her once again, "I as well as all of Konoha am sorry for your loss."

He turned and left the room, white robes fluttering as he closed the door behind him and leaving Akari in darkness.

All alone once again.

----------------------------------------

The glaring white ceiling of the hospital room hurt Akari's tired eyes. The cloying scent that was common in all hospitals hadn't abated in the slightest in the two weeks the Uchiha had been there, still irritating her nose with the stinging smell of antiseptic and cleaning products. She sniffed in a futile attempt to clear her nose.

The Uchiha could feel the chakra of the anbu operative assigned to watch her shift in boredom. It was always the same one too, Akari knew that for sure. The man or woman had an extremely strong lightning affinity, the feeling of crackling ozone filling her head any time she reached her senses out to them.

Akari shifted in the hospital bed, paper thin sheets falling down her body and exposing her pale skin to the frigid air of the hospital room. She shivered and sat up, arms moving to lift the sheet back into place for some semblance of warmth. As she reached her arm out to grasp the sheet she froze, staring at the spot where her left arm used to be. She sighed in despondent realization, "That's right, I don't have a left arm anymore…"

She let her body fall back onto the bed with a soft thud, feeling tears attempt to emerge from the corners of her eyes. Taking in a deep breath, Akari turned her attention to the clock in the corner of the room; it read 12:45, she had only fifteen minutes until a doctor or nurse came to give her a final check and discharge her.

Akari turned back to the ceiling, thinking about all she had learned in the two weeks she had been here. Her clan was gone, reduced to a measly three members: Itachi, his little brother Sasuke, and herself.

The girl nearly laughed at the irony of it all; the Uchiha clan once touted themselves as the most powerful clan in the entire village and now they were reduced to nothing but a crippled chunin, a seven year old in a coma, and the missing nin supposedly responsible for it all in the first place. They were barely a clan at all anymore.

Akari took in a shuddering breath, she had barely known Itachi, the other Uchiha choosing to keep to himself at the academy in the short time he was there but what she did know was that he was considered the most promising shinobi of their generation. He had all the skill and technique of a shinobi thrice his age when he was a seven year old, a true prodigy, one that was treated as such. She also knew that in the years since, he had only grown even more powerful and skilled. And yet for all his power and skill, everyone in the clan knew Itachi loathed violence.

Which was why it made even less sense for him to have done what he did.

Akari's grit her teeth so hard they creaked, lone fist clinching as she recalled what the nurses had told her; the entire clan gone, the lives of over 200 men, women, and children snuffed out in the dead of night, babies stabbed in their cribs and civilian mothers strangled in their beds. No hesitation, no remorse.

It was suspicious, the way such a gentle teenager had it in him to kill those who had no way of fighting back. Akari herself still hesitated when faced with sleeping bandits or enemy nin despite know they were not truly innocent nor defensless. She couldn't imagine someone like Itachi being willing to kill children.

The fact that there were apparently no reports of rouge jutsu being fired off in the village proper was even more suspicious. The Uchiha is a clan full of pyromaniacs and that was a well know fact all across the Elemental Nations. It was tradition for the Great Fireball technique to be passed down from father to son; mother to daughter, practically everyone above the age of ten knew it. So the idea that none of the nearly ninety ninja in the clan never so much as fired a jutsu was laughable.

It didn't matter that the compound was on the edge of the village, there should have been something. A fireball lighting up the sky, a crack of lightning startling an Inuzuka ninkin, an earth jutsu collapsing a building anything. Instead there was nothing, just a peaceful night like any other and nearly an entire clan massacred in silence by a single person. It just didn't make sense.

Akari was broken out of her rumination by the door to her room opening as a male nurse stepped in. He gave her a small smile as he approached her bed, clipboard in hand, "Alright miss Uchiha, if you will just follow my instructions we'll have you out of here in just a few minutes." Akari nodded and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to plop down onto her feet.

The nurse nodded, brown hair swishing as he wrote on his clipboard, "Looks like your sense of balance is alright, that's good." He held out a hand, index finger extended, "If you will please follow my finger."

Akari nodded, doing as he asked as he moved the finger back and forth in front of her. After he finished, he nodded and wrote down something else with quick strokes of his pen, "Alright, vision looks good. How is your left shoulder, any phantom pains, aches, pins and needles?" He looked toward her expectantly.

Akari grimaced slightly, bringing her right arm up to grasp the stump of her left, "No phantom pains or anything, I just sometimes forget it's gone…"

The nurse just nodded, "That is to be expected as your brain adjusts to such a large part of your body missing. It will be gone in a few weeks or so." He sat the clipboard and pen on a small desk beside him before going through a few handsigns then holding out a hand, glowing a soft green with the medical chakra running through it, "Please extend your residual limb."

Akari did so and gasped slightly at the cool feeling of the medical chakra sinking into her shoulder . The nurse hummed slightly before smiling, "Well judging by the state of the chakra coils in your shoulder, your body has a high chance of accepting a prosthetic. Nothing fancy mind you, just something to help you do things around the house." He shut off the diagnostic jutsu before reaching over and writing something down on his clipboard.

Rubbing her shoulder, Akari asked the nurse hesitantly, "What are the chances I can continue being a kunoichi?" He froze slightly before turning to her with a considering gaze. He stared at her for a moment before turning away from his notes to face her completely.

"Well," he began, "If I were to give my professional opinion, it would be best for you to retire from the shinobi force completely." Akari felt her heart sink but the nurse continued before she could object, "However I can tell just by looking at you that isn't a possibility."

He sat down in a chair next to him and leaned back slightly, forest green eyes seemingly staring into her soul, "If you are determined enough to continue being a kunoichi there is technically nothing stopping you aside from the missing arm as despite your best efforts, the numerous soldier pills you consumed have not completly shredded your chakra coils. I'm a medic nin so I can't personally attest to how difficult learning jutsu with one arm, but I know it's theoretically possible."

Akari herself had heard of ninja using one handed jutsu but she also knew it required either immense chakra control, something she didn't currently have, or years of practice, something she also didn't have. Her mind raced as she thought of a solution and she asked desperately, "Is there any way I can heal my arm or reattach it? Any way at all?"

The nurse hummed, rubbing his chin in thought before shaking his head to Akari's chagrin, "No, your arm has been detached for too long, it's likely necrotic by now. Not to mention the amount of damage it sustained would make reattaching it extremely unfeasible. And growing an entirely new arm would put an immense strain on your chakra network, it would definitely kill you." Akari hung her head despondently.

The nurse continued however, "Although, I suppose if you could find a good enough seal master they would theoretically be able to make you a prosthetic that melds perfectly to your chakra network. The only issue is that there are no seal masters in Konoha good enough that I can think of." He shook his head, "Outside of master Jiraiya and he's almost never in the village anymore."

Akari's sighed slightly, it wasn't much of a solution but it was a solution nonetheless, "Thank you sir."

The nurse just smiled lightly, picking up his clipboard and gesturing for her to follow him out the door, "Of course, helping my patients is my job. It also helps that you've been one of the most well behaved ninja we've ever had in here. I swear most of you are allergic to hospitals." He shook his head wryly as they made their way into the hall. "Now let's go get your items and get you out of here, I'm sure you're sick of this place."

Akari smiled tightly as she followed the nurse down the hall. They soon arrived at a door labeled 'Patient Item Storage'. The nurse pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door before gesturing her to wait, "I'll need you to stay here for a moment, patients aren't allowed into storage."

Akari nodded as the nurse disappeared into the room. She didn't have to wait long as he soon reappeared holding a storage scroll in his hand. He held it out to her, "Here you are, all your items should be in here. There is a changing room down the hall to the right if you'd like to change out of your gown."

Akari took the scroll, staring at it for a moment before turning and lightly bowing to the nurse, "Thank you for all your help sir."

His green eyes blinked in surprise for a moment before he laughed, "Of course miss Uchiha, and call me Takuya please." He smiled down at her, "While you've been a model patient, I hope you don't take offence to me saying I hope I don't see you back here for a while." He winked wryly at her.

Akari giggled lightly shaking her head, "No offence taken Takuya-san. I agree completely, and call me Akari please."

Takuya nodded, giving her a small wave as he began to make his way back into the depths of the hospital, "Have a lovely day Akari-san."

Akari waved back as he disappeared into a room down the hall. She turned away and made her way toward the changing room. Reaching it and stepping inside, she unsealed the scroll with a puff of smoke, releasing it's contents onto the small bench in front of her.

Taking off her light blue hospital gown, Akari took a moment to study herself in the mirror to her right. She looked terrible. The light tan she had gotten during her failed mission had completely dissapeared during her time in the hospital, her skin having returned to the usual pale tint all Uchiha were known for. Light purple bruises ran along her ribcage and scabs littered her body, not yet having turned into scars. There were bags under her eyes, standing out on her pale skin and one of her earrings was missing.

She ran her hand through her hair, fingers catching in the various knots inhabiting the raven tresses. She wouldn't be surprised if there were a few twigs stuck in there from her tree hopping. Her headband hung loosely around her neck, the ribbon it was sewn on was fraying badly, it would need to be replaced.

The chunin stared at herself for another moment before turning to her clothes sitting on the bench and smiling slightly at what she saw. Her jacket was in pristine condition, the various gashes and cuts she had gotten from the mist kunoichi's sword having been repaired flawlessly. Her pants had been similarly repaired. Her chunin vest was missing, although that was most likely due to the fact she technically wasn't a part of the shinobi force at the moment.

As she got dressed, Akari held her jacket in front of her and stared at the Uchiha fan emblazoned on the back. She contemplated not wearing the item of clothing before shaking her head violently. She was an Uchiha. She would not deny her clan simply because they weren't around anymore. She pulled the jacket on and looked in the mirror once more.

Akari noticed the improvement immediately, she no longer looked like she was moment's from keeling over in exhaustion. Her black and red jacket sat snugly on her shoulders. A dark red shirt sat just below a dark red ribbon containing her Konoha headband. Dark blue ninja pants ran down her legs, the ends wrapped in ninja tape to prevent them from moving too much while fighting. Black, open toed shinobi sandals finished the whole ensemble. She looked like a kunoichi again.

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Or at least she would have, were it not for the left sleeve of the jacket which hung limp, nothing but empty space to occupy it.

Akari stared at it for a moment before turning sharply and exiting the changing room. She walked briskly to the exit of the hospital, ignoring the looks she got in the process and stepped out into Konoha proper.

The village was bustling this time of year, the street was full of merchants selling their wares. Mothers and fathers walking hand in hand, child toddling in front of them as they made their way to the parks. The sun sat high in the sky and the scent of blooming flowers hung heavily in the air as Akari made her way back to her clan's compound.

As she walked, the Uchiha became increasingly aware of the stares she received, or more accurately the stares the symbol on her back received. She picked up the pace, shoving her hand into her jacket and hunching her shoulders in a futile attempt to avoid notice.

The gazes of the civilians around her burned into her back, her ears overhearing the hushed whispers that followed her as she strode briskly down the streets.

"Is that an Uchiha? I thought that little boy was the only one left." One woman whispered to another who shushed her as Akari passed the tea shop they were sitting in.

"I heard she was out of the village when the Massacre happened. Pretty suspicious if you ask me." A bearded man spoke to the younger man beside him, eying her as she walked past his storefront. His gaze burned into the back of Akari's head.

The whispers of those around her assaulted her ears as she quickened her pace. She attempted to block out the hushed voices of those around her to no avail.

"Do you think she had anything to do with the Massacre?"

"She must have, look at her. She's probably only a genin, there's no way she could have survived when even the clan head didn't."

"From what I heard, she got her entire team killed on a simple courier mission. Probably sabotage."

"Pathetic, I hope the Hokage took her off of the Shinobi force. We don't need someone like her protecting the village. She can't even protect her teammates."

Akari stopped in her tracks, lone fist clenching in her pocket as she processed the statement she had just heard. The area around her became silent, the civilains watching her warily as she stood in the center of the street. On the edges of her sense, she could feel the chakra of her anbu watcher shift in preparation to stop her if it was necessary. It wouldn't be.

Gathering chakra to her feet, Akari leapt into the air with more force than was probably necessary as the cement cracked beneath her. She soared to the roof of an adjacent building, landing with a soft thud and immediately pushing off again to leap to the next building.

Her leaping lasted several minutes, during which Akari could feel her watcher following her as she made her way through the village. As she came upon her destination however, she could feel the chakra of the ambu member fall behind and eventually fade completely.

Figuring that her watcher had decided to keep an eye on her from a distance, Akari continued hopping from building to building and eventually tree to tree as the building's around her gave way to the forests that made up Konoha's borders. After a few more minutes of tree hopping, the Uchiha came to her destination, a large clearing in which sat a massive stone inscribed with hundreds of names.

The memorial stone stood as a testament to the dangers of shinobi life. The names of nearly every shinobi or kunoichi killed in service to Konoha sat inscribed on the massive slab of marble. Countless names, countless lives snuffed out while preforming their duty to their home village. And now the names of her team sat engraved along with countless others.

Akari's eyes darted all around the stone before stopping as she found what she was looking for. Her hand reached out, calloused fingers softly tracing the fresh engravings that was all that remained of her team. Of her family.

Denji Hiroto, Iwabi Kuroki, Haruka Inuzuka. Three lives ended before their time, the only thing left to remember them by being a trio of names chiseled into cold marble.

Her mind was assaulted with memories of her team. Visions of Haruka teasing Denji as Iwabi watched with a amused smile. The way Harkua looked at Denji when she thought no one was watching and the way Denji looked at her the same way. The way Iwabi's eyes lit up when they expressed interest in a technique he showed them, or the way his expression melted when his fiance paid him a visit.

A small sob forced it's way out of her mouth and she fell to her knees, apologies forcing their way up her throat even as her vision was obscured by tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you guys." She spoke breathlessly as shudders racked her body, "I failed you all. You should be here, not me." Tears trailed down her chin, gathering at the bottom before falling to the cold stone beneath her with soft plops.

She looked up at the stone, her blurry eyes finding Iwabi's name, "Sensei, I don't know what to do." She confessed through her tears, "My family, my entire clan. It's all gone. I have no one left. No one to turn to."

She took another shuddering breath, "You told me I had the potential to become a legendary kunoichi, but how? I couldn't even keep my fucking arm!" She waved her stump around for emphasis, "I couldn't keep my team alive, I couldn't keep myself in one piece, what am I supposed to do?" She sobbed.

"You survive." Akari whipped around, hand coming to her thigh where her tool pouch once lay only to grasp empty air, having not yet replaced the puch since she lost it.

"Maa maa, a bit jumpy aren't we?" She studied the figure before her, he was wearing a jonin uniform. A mask was pulled up above his nose and his headband was slanted to cover one eye, the other left exposed. Silver hair jutted upward on his head, seemingly defying gravity. She recognized him, Kakashi Hatake, the one her clan called Sharingan Thief.

Another thing she recognized was the feeling of ozone filling her head when she sensed his chakra. This was her anbu follower. He was no threat. She turned back to the stone, fingers once again tracing the names of her team. Kakashi came to stand beside her silently. They stood there a moment before he spoke,

"Your team gave their lives for yours, don't waste it like I did." Akari looked over at him and found him staring solemnly at the stone. She followed his gaze to find three names, Rin Nohara, Minato Namikaze, and Obito Uchiha. She recognized the names of the Uchiha and the Forth Hokage, but didn't recognize the girl.

"Were they your team?" She asked, voice hoarse and he nodded.

"They were. I lost them both within a few months of each other. And my sensei a year or so after that." He stared at the stone for another moment before turning to face her. His visible eye looked tired, "They all sacrificed themselves for the village in some way. Obito for me, Rin and sensei for the village itself."

Akari gazed back at the stone. Everyone knew about the Forth Hokage sacrificing his live to save the village from the Kyuubi, and she herself had heard from other Uchiha that Obito had allegedly thrown Kakashi out of the way of a falling boulder and gifted him his Sharingan. She didn't know who Rin was or what she had done but one look at the man beside her and Akari decided not to ask.

They stood there in silence for a while, a gentle breeze flowing through the clearing and rusting the trees around them. Akari looked up at the silver haired man beside her and asked quietly, "Does it get easier?"

Kakashi was silent for a long moment before he spoke, "In some ways it does. Eventually your memories of them fade. Little things you always remembered about them dissapear and the pain isn't so fresh." The look on his face was pained, "But the pain never truly disappears. Not completely."

He looked toward her again, "Use that pain. Use it to remember them, to better yourself. So that in the future, you can prevent it from happening ever again. As long as you're alive, they live on through you." He turned back toward the memorial and went silent once more.

Akari nodded silently, fingers tracing her team's names one final time before she looked up at the setting sun. It was getting late, she shoiuld probably head home, as much as she was dreading it.

She turned toward the silent jonin, "Thank you Hatake-san." He nodded silently, still staring at the memorial stone and Akari took that as her cue to leave. She leapt to the trees once more and began heading in the direction of her clan compound.

Three minutes of tree hopping later and she was met with the familiar sight of the Uchiha clan compound. Nestled along the outer section of Konoha, the massive walls of the compound barred anyone not permitted from entry. The tops of buildings could be barely seen peeking above the edges of the gate.

Akari landed in front of the main gate and was immediately put off by how silent and still the compound entrance was. Normally, Uchiha would be seen guarding the gate or patrolling along the walls, the sounds of a bustling street could usually be heard through the thick stone walls. Now however, there was nothing but silence and the stale smell of iron in the air.

Taking a deep breath, Akari pushed open the gate and walked inside.

She was met with silence, the too empty main street seemingly stretching on forever with nobody there to occupy it. Her footsteps echoed along the faces of empty buildings as she slowly made her way through the compound, taking in the damage done to her home.

The buildings around her were in various states of disrepair, bloody shoji screens lay cut in pieces by sword swipes. Kunai and shuriken lay in the middle of the street, some in pieces, some intact and covered in blood. The lack of bodies made the whole thing even more unsettling to the increasingly numb Uchiha.

As Akari turned the corner onto her own street, she paused. See, her family was quite wealthy, mostly owing to her mother's S-rank status though her father still made his fair share of money, they were even wealthy enough to have quite a bit of land to themselves in the already crowded compound. Her parents mostly used the land for gardening, arranging beautiful clusters of plants in any way they felt

Nothing was forbidden in the garden, from the most poisonous breed of Hemlock to the juiciest breed of tomato. Death and life bloomed in conjuction in their garden. Her parents often received compliments for their beautiful field of plants.

Now however, that beauty was gone, destroyed by the violent battle that had taken place upon it's soil.

The garden lay in ruins, massive chunks of earth having impacted the ground, cratering it with no regard to the life around it. Hastily constructed walls of rock had been blackened and scorched by fire jutsu. Several trees lay in pieces, having been shredded by torrents of water jutsu as evidenced by the massive pools of water that lay by the pieces. Shuriken littered the yard, having landed at impossible angles. A telltale sign of Uchiha shurikenjutsu

It was like someone had brought a tiny piece of war and dropped it upon their property.

Akari looked to her house and gasped at what she saw, a large hole had been punched into the wall of the lower floor. Rushing over, she entered the hole and froze in shock.

A large two handed axe was embedded into the floor, having splintered the floorboards around it. A sturdy oak shaft lead up to a dual steel head inlaid with numerous seals. Akari walked numbly toward the weapon and grasped it by the handle and heaved it up. She stared at it, recognizing it for what it was. Her father's weapon.

He had often bragged about cleaving through the bodies of innumerable Iwa shinobi with this very axe. Inevitably leading to him and her mother arguing about who had the higher kill count, usually ending in her father's defeat and her mother's victory. He would not have brought it out unless he was facing a truly dangerous opponent. Moreover, he would never leave it discarded on the ground.

She numbly placed it on the kitchen table and looked around at the rest of the house. 'It's surprisingly intact if you don't count the hole in the wall.' She thought to herself distantly. She turned and made her way up the stairs toward her own room slowly, numbly opening the door as she reached it and flipping on the light.

Her room looked exactly the same as she had left it, if a bit dustier. Light gray walls were covered in posters and a large painting of the Uchiha fan. A small desk sat by the window in the corner, with a stack of papers on top, mostly consisting of paperwork she was supposed to have done after her promotion ton chunin. Her bed was still made, dark red sheets pulled flush with the grey pillows at the head. A small bedside table sat next to it, upon which a picture of Team 12 sat in a small frame.

She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the picture. She reached out and grabbed it, bringing it closer for better scrutiny.

In the photo, Akari stood in the center with a large smile on her face, chunin vest held up for view. Flanking her were Haruka and Denji with similar smiles on their faces, they each had an arm slung over her shoulder. Behind them all was Iwabi, smiling the same as all of them, he had his arms extended with his hands behind her teammates heads, two fingers extended to mimic rabbit ears.

Akari chuckled fondly as she remembered Haruka's shouts of indignation when the Inuzuka saw the photo, demanding they take it again.

Those chuckles soon turned to sniffles the longer she gazed at the photo. The sniffles soon turned to sobs and sobs turned to wails of grief as she slowly came to terms with what was now lost. Her team, her family, her clan. Gone, never to return, the memories in her mind the only thing left of them.

She clutched the photo to her chest as she fell back on the bed, heartwrenching sobs escaping her throat as tears flooded her eyes. Visions of all the moments they had shared flashed in her mind. Haruka jumping on her back in some sort of surprise attack. Meeting Denji's family for the first time, his face turning bright pink when they brought out the baby pictures. Iwabi introducing his fiance to them, a redheaded civilian woman who owned a dango stand.

She remembered the way her father and mother would dote on her when she came back from a particularly rough mission. The warm feeling of her father's arms wrapping around her as her mother whispered words of comfort in her ears after her first kill. All things she would never experience again.

Her parents were gone, the memories would remain just that, memories, never to become reality again. They'd never again greet her as she returned from training, helping her with her injuries. They'd never tell her how proud they were of her accomplishments.

She gasped in horror as she realized something. Her head throbbed painfully, pressure building up with no chance of release as she came to terms with the cruel hell she'd been forced into.

Her mother was pregnant. She'd never meet her eventual brother or sister. Never get to watch them take their first steps or catch them when they fell, be there when they scraped their knee.. She'd never have the chance to become the big sister they could look up to, could aspire to be.

All those things were ripped away from her. By one man, the man who was responsible for the whole thing. Itachi. Any doubts she had about him had been laid to rest the moment she had seen the evidence of shurikenjutsu. Itachi's specialty.

He killed them.

He killed them!

They're dead because of him!

Her family, dead!

Her clan, dead!

They're dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!

All Because of Him!

Something snapped.

Pain flooded her head as the pressure in her skull finally released. Her vision bled crimson as tears of blood ran down her cheeks. An agonized wail escaped her throat and she flung the picture across the room to impact a painting of the Uchiha fan on the far wall, shattering it and sending the pieces of it clattering to the ground, glowing softly with seals.

Akari didn't notice the glow, preoccupied with clutching her head as agony pulsed throughout her skull. It felt like someone had planted a spike directly into her brain, white hot lightning flashing behind her eyes with every breath she took. She fell back onto her bed and lay there, sobbing in pain for what felt like hours before finally passing out into blissful unconsciousness.