Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews! Let's keep them coming, so close to 100! ^_^

I do not own Naruto, if I did, Sakura would not exist :)

Enjoy! But this chapter might be a little shorter... ;/ I introduce a character, (not mary sue)

*You bring nothing

But pain

In your memory*

Seconds turned to minuets, turned to hours, turned to days. Four months had passed.

My stomach was forming, and the chakra of the child was growing. And did the unknown terrors come for me. From morning sickness, to strange food cravings, to my aching muscles. I was restless. I was tired.

Constantly, I was walking around on ice, I had to do my every move with extra caution, in fear that I would harm my baby. I wasn't used to any of these feelings, it was all brand new to me. Already, did I want this baby to be born.

I made it a habit not to go into the village to much.

My stomach was now noticeably round, and when I would walk throughout the village to shops, I could feel the eyes, the whispers. I even heard someone say that I must have been Itachi's whore. But the truth shouldn't hurt so much anymore.

My otouto, he had gotten an apartment by himself, across the village from mine, as far away from the compound as possible. But maybe the spirits still haunted him. He refused to live with me. If he wanted to wake up alone to darkness after nightmares, that was not my concern.

Naruto would constantly visit me. He would tell me of his days at the academy, how everyone seemed to be wary of him, how much of a bastard Sasuke was, and how he harbored a crush on a girl named Sakura, but how she would always hit him. I knew who she was. When I would sometimes get him from the academy, I would see the brat hit him for simply saying "Hello." I was no expert, but it was obvious that she was not cut out for the shinobi life. She'd be killed the moment she stepped on the battlefield.

This child was not making it easy for me. He decided what I wanted to eat, she decided when to go to sleep. Already, I was tired of this. Sometimes I would wish that I would've gotten rid of the baby, but that was not what I wanted at all.

My mother once told me, all the pain a mother goes through is worth it once you get to see the face of your child.

I just hoped that would be the case for me.

I was woken up to the sound of banging on my door.

The baby had my body screaming in protest as I got up, mumbling to myself who would be dumb enough to come knocking on the door past midnight. I may of always been exhausted, but at this time it was justified.

I opened the door to see a soaked Kakashi, cradling something in his arms. Or shall I say, someone. I ushered him in, he would catch a cold if he stood out in the rain for to long.

He laid the bundle on the soft couch, and removed the blanket covering the figure's face.

It was a child. A little girl. sickly, pale skin and chocolate curls that fell a little past her shoulders. A tattered, white ribbon was tied into her hair. By the looks of it, she was around seven or eight years old, around Naruto's age.

"I found her unconscious in the forest on my way back from a mission. I figured you can use a new friend." I could hear the smirk in his voice, the smirk hidden behind the mask.

I had him carry her into one of two extra rooms, where he laid her gently on the bed. I placed my hand on her forehead, which was burning up. It felt like she was in a furnace. I went into the bathroom to retrieve a bowl of cold water and a towel. I placed the cold rag on her forehead, and she slowly stirred before her eyes flew open. Large, lusterless hazel eyes stared at us in alarm as she jerked around.

"W-who are you?" Her voice was small, weak. It barely rang against my ears. But I saw something in those eyes, as she stared up at me with a strange mixture of trust, anxiety and fear.

Kakashi spoke. "Calm down. We mean you no harm. What is your name, little one?"

Her eyes were so warm. Yet they held so much...cold. Her eyes were the eyes of the scarred. Hesitantly, she spoke. "I-it's Hikari. He named me Hikari."

"Who?" He asked.

It was then she laid on the pillow, her eyes flickering open and shut. Minutes later, she was asleep.

"I guess we can take her to the Hokage tomorrow. Or wait awhile, so she can get adjusted. She doesn't seem to trust us yet." I nodded, as a cold drift suddenly flowed into the room. Kakashi left, as I tucked Hikari in. And that look in her eye, is one I would never forget.

When I looked into her eyes, I saw myself.

It took her weeks to get used to Konoha.

Everywhere she looked, she made it seem like someone was going to get ready to attack her. She was timid, quiet, only spoke when spoken to. And her eyes held a lot of torment, I could tell.

I would only be able to get a few words out of her. I would sometimes here her whimpering in her sleep. The words that repeated themselves like a record. "Don't...don't..."

The Hokage had enrolled her into the academy after she was checked by the hospital and Ibiki. Nothing appeared to be wrong with her, she was in good health and nothing tricky in her mind. Although there were strange bandages on her arm, and she refused to let anybody touch it.

She was keep herself away from the other students, but I could tell that they were interested in her. Nobody really bothered with her, only fangirls of Sasuke who threatened her if she went anywhere near him. But their petty words meant nothing to her. The only one who approached her, was Naruto. He would talk and talk about all sorts of things, Hikari didn't really seemed interested but she didn't push him away either.

Naruto grew fond of her. She didn't seem to mind him much, although she would say how 'loud' he was. But over time, Hikari grew fond of him as well. When she joined the academy, and quickly made her way to the top. It surprised me at how good she was, someone must have taught her a lot.

She would protect Naruto from the bullies, defend him whenever someone made fun of him. She forged grew a bond with him, something that Naruto eagerly returned.

"So then I told him how I would marry Sakura-chan, but then she came and slapped me! Then Hikari-chan came and told her never to lay a hand on me again, then Sakura-chan was like, 'you're not the boss of me', then she..."

I placed the ramen I made into two separate bowls as I listened to Naruto babble on about his day at the academy. Placing the bowls in front of them, Naruto immediately dug in, whereas Hikari murmured a quiet 'arigato' and calmly began to eat.

My taste buds had changed, not being able to withstand the smell of ramen, yet I endured it for Naruto's sake. Hikari had taken a liking to it as well, it being her favorite dish now.

My back was aching, it felt like centuries since I've last rested. The baby prevented me from really being able to relax, he kicked so much. It was a strange feeling, when my child made his first kick. He was very active within me, and it was too much to handle at times. But it was a good feeling,being able to feel the baby grow.

And at times, I pondered what Itachi would think if he knew. Sometimes I wondered if he knew before I did. But I doubted it...if he knew about the child before me then he probably would not have tortured me so much.

I placed my hand on my back, gasping as he suddenly became very active. Kick after kick came, as unbearable as it was, at least he seemed healthy. It was only a couple of more months until I would see him or her.

Hikari came up to me, placing a hand on my stomach. "Is the child moving again?" She said. A small smile crossed her lips when she felt a wave of movement under her hand.

I smiled. "It's his way of telling me he's still alive."

Her hazel eyes shone. "Sasuke asked me about you today."

That brought my attention. "Is that so? What did he ask?"

Her eyes were solemn. "He didn't seem so comfortable with asking, but he only wanted to be aware of how you were doing. He also seemed pretty melancholic."

A wave of guilt hit me. It had been months since I've last seen Sasuke. But the way he acted, it was obvious he wanted nobody to approach him. I kept away, not out of respect for his wishes, but because I was still caught up in my petty reasons. Itachi had not inflicted half as much on Sasuke like he did to me. But was it that we had not shared the same views? I had not been as affected by the murder of the clan as Sasuke.

But it was selfish of me to keep my distance. Sasuke was still my brother whether either of us liked it or not. He needed somebody, he needed a family. I did not want fo fail him as an older sibling.

I didn't want to abandon him like Itachi had.

It was late at night at night, after Iruka had came to get Naruto and Hikari had been off to bed, I placed my coat on and traveled to the location of Sasuke's apartment. From what I could see, there was a small, dim light barely shining through the window. He was still awake.

I knocked softly on the door. After a few minutes and the sound of shuffling, the door opened to reveal a tired looking child. Far too tired to be a child. His eyes widened in surprise and another emotion I couldn't quite catch, before reverting to a blank stare.

"What are you doing here?" His voice came out somewhat cold, yet also soft. I stepped forward and he moved aside to let me in.

"I came to see you, otouto. It's been awhile." He yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"So?" A part of me was bothered by his tone of voice, but I did not come to start a brawl. I could never sleep at night, knowing Sasuke was by himself. I felt guilty. Sasuke was too young to be alone, no matter what I felt towards him in the past, I had to let it go.

"How's school going? Have you made any friends?" I was bad at creating conversation. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at me, believing my concern to be false. His eyes dropped to my stomach, where my hand was resting. A tiny wave of movement.

"It's fine...what is it that you want?"

He was always so quick to the catch.

A stronger wave of movement hit, and I went over to the couch to sit down. Sasuke followed and sat across from me.

"There's something I need to talk to you about, Sasuke."

He blinked at me, as if telling me to get on with it.

"I know I may not be the person you wanna talk to, but we need to clear some things up." I motioned to my growing stomach. "Whether you like it or not, I'm the only family you've got left. And in a few months, so will he."

Sasuke eyed my stomach with a glare, before flickering back up at me. "But it's his."

"But the child is mine as well. Itachi is no longer apart of our lives, Sasuke. If you act the way you know he wants to act, then you're letting him win."

"And what makes you any different? Don't patronize me!" His voice rose.

I sighed. Stress was not something good for me. But this was coming for a long time, Sasuke and I couldn't act like strangers. We'd be giving Itachi what he wants. He was gone, yet we were still his puppets to play with.

But no more.

"I know, I am no different from you. It's true, he haunts my mind, day and night. I can't close my eyes without seeing his image, burned into my brain. But if I want what's best for me and this child, than I have to move on, If you want to free yourself from his grasp, which you still can, you have to move on. But you can't move on alone."

He was silent, his fringes covering his face.

I stood up, fixing my coat.

"I'm making onigiri tomorrow night. With tomatoes, just the way you like it. You shouldn't waste all that money on ramen. I'm not going to force you to come."

I left with that, out into the cool night.

As I lay in bed awake that night, I couldn't help but wonder where Itachi was now. Was he dead? Was he alive? No matter how hard I try to push him into the back of my mind, he would always be a passing thought. He would always have that over me.

Sasuke could break free from it though, unlike me.

He could forget the scars Uchiha Itachi inflicted on him and move forward to the future, all the pain he inflicted would be nothing but a bad dream. Not an endless nightmare.

I finally fell into a dreamless sleep, nothing but blackness over my eyes. My mind was clear.

I felt alone in the dark, but I was fine with it.

But it was too bad I missed the bleeding, crimson eyes watching me from the outside darkness.

I have no words. I can only express how sorry I am for not updating and how I could only produce the mess of chapter.

Do I still have readers? I hope I haven't lost you all :(

I still love you guys, I've just been a mess lately. I couldn't focus on anything. Plus I'm struggling to keep my grades up, and I have a lot on my plate...it's gonna be hard to update...but I AM NOT gonna abandon this story.

And about my OC, I'm gonna do my best not to make her Mary Sue. I have a bad feeling that I gave her "Mikasa Syndrome" tho...I know I did more telling than showing, but I do plan on fixing that later and going into detail. So I hope you'll like her :)

Next chapter...time skip...

Please review! I hope ya'll are still out there! But I need to do A LOT of editing to this story...I'm looking back at it and it's like ugh...

I'll shutup now. REVIEW, No flames

~Sayanora!