It all happened so fast, too fast to comprehend.
Just a moment ago, one precious breathe ago, everything seemed so peaceful, so tranquil. It was quiet in the house as Kouta sat on the couch with one of his toys, which previously belonged to Keiji's son, while Asami was putting the supplies which Keiji brought in earlier away.
Nobody would have thought that something terrible would occur that evening.
Unfortunately, of the five people who were present at the well-hidden residence, three died, including Asami and Kouta.
Asami had always been afraid for intruders. It happened before, but never had there been so much thirst for blood and death. Those three people, who easily forced themselves into the house after breaking down the door, weren't just there to steal or take the house to have a place to sleep, like most rogues Asami encountered.
These people were out to get their hands dirty, wanting them covered in a beautiful red as the thick liquid dripped down on the corpses whom the blood belonged to.
They weren't just rogues.
They were coldblooded murderers, who enjoyed the act of taking others' lives.
The moment the door broke down, Asami was startled by the sudden incursion and accidentally dropped the box with supplies, which drew Kouta's attention. The boy looked up, seeing his mother frantically open one of the drawers.
Never had he seen her so panicked, so afraid, as she took one long bread knife in her hands, holding it firmly as if her life was depending on it.
And it was.
Asami's hands trembled, but she held the handle firmly, determinedly. Determined to protect her son and herself, although this resolve would crumble to nothingness only a few minutes after this.
She yelled at Kouta, but what words she had chosen at that time was something neither of them remembered. The anxiety they felt at that moment must have caused them to forget.
Kouta climbed off the couch, nothing but fear visible in his dark eyes. He hesitated, unsure of what to do.
Asami yelled again, this time much more urgently, desperately as the two men and one woman slowly closed in, careful to avoid the knife as Asami swung it around to keep them at a distance. It was when Asami shouted for the third time, that Kouta's legs started to move, and he left the living room as quickly as possible, following his mother's directions.
Asami spared the door one more glance before she moved her gaze back to the intruders in front of her. The Uzumaki had never been a great fighter, and after leaving Konoha, she never trained and only fought when needed, which made her unconfident of her own skills.
''Go after the kid.'' One of them said, and the one on the left nodded, turning away and walking toward the door to the hallway.
Asami's eyes widened, and panic and anxiety set in once more. More instinctively than rationally, she threw the knife.
The sharp tip of the serrated knife buried itself in the man's neck, and he let out a horrific scream which filled the whole house. While it must hurt a lot, it didn't go in far enough to kill him.
Asami gritted her teeth and reached for the drawer with the cutlery to grab another knife, but the other male took her arm with bruising strength, twisting it before forcefully pushing her onto the ground. Asami closed her eyes tightly as she took the blow, her head hitting the wooden floor quite hard.
Not wasting any time, the Uzumaki reached into her kimono and took one of the small scrolls she kept there. She brought her other hand to her mouth and bit her thumb, causing it to bleed.
The same man already noticed what she was trying to do, and before Asami could mould her chakra with hand seals and then press her finger against the contract, the man used all his strength and stamped his heel on the hand which was essential to the summoning, since that was the hand she signed the contract with long ago.
Asami bit her lip, letting out a silent scream as she tried to endure the excruciating pain as the man kept pushing and rubbing his foot on her already fractured hand.
''Go get that boy already!'' The man hissed, his patience obviously running out, and the woman who was tending to his injured comrade nodded and stood up, hastily leaving the living room.
Asami's eyes widened in fear and she wrapped her free hand around the man's ankle, digging her sharp nails into his skin. He grunted in return, instinctively stepping away from the Uzumaki.
Asami quickly crawled to the man she wounded earlier, his back turned to her as she held her broken hand against her chest. The knife she used was now lying next to him while he was still trying to stop the bleeding by covering the wound with his hands as he sat on the ground.
She reached out, taking the handle of the bread knife firmly, and before the man could react, she came up behind him and slit his throat.
Breathing heavily, Asami wanted to stand up and run after the woman. She couldn't let her find Kouta, if it wasn't too late already, but before Asami could do anything, the man forcefully pulled her hair, dragging her away from the door.
Whimpers and cries left the Uzumaki's lips as she was hauled across the room. Gritting her teeth, she started to swing the knife again, cutting her hair a few times before the blade dug into the fingers of the one who was almost pulling her hair out of her head.
Blood streamed down his trembling hand, but instead of letting go, his fingers only tightened around Asami's long red strands, pulling violently. He was livid, and the bloodthirst was now even more visible in his rage-filled eyes.
Angrily, he kicked Asami's arm, but since she was still firmly holding onto the knife, the blade only cut deeper into his skin, into his bones, before it left his hand without a few of its fingertips. This time, the man did let go, and Asami quickly backed away, trying to catch her breath and think of a plan, but her head hurt too much to think clearly.
Suddenly, cries came from the hallway, and the familiar sound made Asami's chest tighten in fear as she looked over her shoulder to the door.
She got onto her feet, quickly glancing at the man behind her, only to be surprised to see the man right behind her while he was just screaming about the loss of some parts of his digits a second ago.
Not giving her time to react, he grasped her wrist, squeezing it violently, and kicked the side of her knee. Asami managed to keep standing, but flinched when the man was the one digging his nails into her skin this time. They weren't as long or sharp as the Uzumaki's, but it still hurt.
The force he used caused blood to trickle from her wrist down her arm, and he twisted it once again, restricting her movements. ''You wench.'' He grunted, kicking her knee once again. This time her legs did give out, and she as forced into her knees. The man crouched down behind her, making sure to hold her tightly.
While her broken hand may not have any use anymore, the rest of her free arm did. Grunting, Asami repeatedly struck the man in his face with her elbow, but this quickly didn't work anymore when the guy leaned away, evading the blow with ease.
Asami frowned when she felt him turning her arm back into a natural position, only for her face to scrunch up in pain when he slammed her hand against the floor with incredible power. In the moment of the impact, the knife slipped out of her hands.
At the exact same time, the woman came back with a struggling Kouta in her arms. He was crying and fighting, but no matter how hard he tried, the mere child was no match for the adult.
The woman's eyes narrowed when her gaze fell on the dead body and her injured comrade. Then a hateful look was thrown at Asami, who was now being pushed to the ground, her cheek pressed against the cold floor as she looked at Kouta with watery eyes, blaming herself for the current situation. She wanted to get up, but the man was too strong for her.
The despairing expression on Kouta's face, his dark eyes, glistering with tears, were crying for help, for saving, since that's all the powerless boy, unable to defend or protect himself, could do while being held hostage.
But there was nothing Asami could do to help him, no matter how much he wanted her to.
Defeated, she sent an apologetic look to Kouta, wishing she could have done more to save her own son at least. He was innocent, dragged into this mess simply because Asami refused to stay in Konoha, a village protected by walls to keep murderers like these out.
''What now?'' The woman asked, annoyance flickered through her eyes when Kouta wouldn't stop trying to fight himself free.
''What we always do.'' The man replied, pressing his knee against Asami's back to keep her down while he reached for the knife with his uninjured hand. ''We kill them.''
Asami froze at his response, and her body filled itself with extreme fear. She wanted to run away, escape together with Kouta. Get away from these people who wanted to end the lives of strangers just to take their belongings and supplies to live a day longer.
It was unfair.
''The kid too?'' The woman asked, looking at Kouta. ''He can't go after us.''
The man grunted and pushed Asami's head against the ground when she tried to get up. She felt the warm blood that was still streaming down her neck from what was left of his fingers. ''That boy won't survive here on his own anyway.'' He spoke. ''We're only doing him a favor.''
Asami started to struggle more, but her efforts were in vain. She was frustrated at her own powerlessness. Kouta meant everything to her, and she'd do everything to make him happy, to protect him and make him feel safe.
She had always done so, but the lack of strength and power prevented her from what she wanted to do for the rest of her life,
which was taking care of her only son, who she loved with whole her heart.
The woman seemed hesitant about taking the life of a child, and the man noticed. He sighed irritably. ''I'll do it.''
''No!'' Asami cried, trying to get up once again by using her good hand. She was desperate to save him, to save Kouta from these cruel people, from a fate he definitely didn't deserve, but the man wouldn't let her. He took her wrist and gave it a yank, causing Asami to slam back against the ground. Taking the knife, he raised it before stabbing her hand, skewering it to the wooden floor.
The intolerable pain caused Asami to scream, which made Kouta cry harder in response as he called out for his mother.
Asami trembled, the agony more than her body could take. She wanted to pull the knife out, but with the fractured bones in her other hand, that was an impossible task.
The man got up and approached the woman, who already held Kouta out for him to take. Asami cried and wept, actually begging those abhorrent people to show mercy, telling them they could take whatever they want, but the intruders wouldn't listen.
They didn't care for what Asami had to offer them, for they were already going to take whatever they wanted, including their lives.
And Asami didn't want to die.
She was afraid of it.
Distressed, with the little determination she had left, she lifted her hand from the ground, whimpering as the knife sliced her skin. When her hand pushed against the handle, she pulled with all the power left in her body, trying to endure the almost insufferable pain.
When she was finally able to pull the knife out of the floor and has thus freed herself, Asami let the blade slide out of her hand and loosely took the handle between her fingers. Turning around, she threw the knife at the male.
Unfortunately, even though the man was busy keeping a struggling Kouta still, he was very well aware of what Asami was trying to do, and caught the knife with ease, throwing it back with ease and much more force than the Uzumaki.
Less than a second later, Asami felt pressure on her stomach. It actually felt as if someone had punched her, and the place where she was hit started to throb. There was no pain whatsoever, at least not until she looked down, and saw the handle of the bread knife sticking out of her stomach.
Blood poured out of the wound, soaking her already dirty clothes as her breathing quickened. Shaking, she blinked, trying to process what just happened and looked up. The man looked at her smugly, satisfied with his little achievement. Maybe he saw it as some sort of revenge. As if she deserved it for taking three of his fingertips, while the man already crushed one of Asami's hands and injured the other.
Her vision got hazy, and as shaky breaths left her lips, she let herself fall to her knees, her legs unable to support her. Unbearable pain replaced the throbbing and panic started to set in. Due to her own carelessness, she was going to get them killed. Not only was she going to have to confront her inevitable death, which was going to occur much earlier than she hoped, Kouta was also going to face this fate, which pained her even more.
He'd never have the chance to grow up normally, like the children in the village, but Asami still tried to make every day as enjoyable as possible. It was fun, spending time with her son, laughing about trivial things, keeping each other company.
She wanted to protect him.
And she really tried, but as soon as her energy started to leave her body, Asami knew it was too late. She wasn't strong enough, brave enough to protect him nor herself.
The moment Asami was stabbed, their fate was sealed.
Kouta started to cry louder, kick his legs and swing his arms, doing everything in his might to get free, but all in vain. He was frightened, confused. He didn't understand what was going on, and all he wanted was for his mother to embrace him, stroke his hair and tell him everything was going to be alright, which was something she'd always do whenever he was upset.
The man grunted and struck his neck, causing Kouta to lose consciousness. The male sighed, holding the boy tightly against his chest using his arm so he could hold out his uninjured hand to the woman. ''Give me a kunai.''
Asami wanted to protest, but a wave of dizziness came over her. Slurred words came out of her throat, but it sounded nothing like the pleads she had in mind. Tears pooled in her eyes. She didn't want to give up, but what could she possibly do now with her feeble body?
Asami wanted to stand up and fight, take back what was hers, and continue this life in peace. She didn't want it to end. Not yet. It was too early, and there was so much she still wanted to do, to see.
The woman reached into her pouch and took out the dagger, handing it over to her comrade.
Asami whimpered, crawling, using only her legs, to get closer to them, as if she could still stop them, as if her body would magically heal so she could save Kouta. Asami had never been superstitious, but she was praying for a wonder to happen.
She wanted Kouta to live at least.
''No.. no..'' Asami garbled, her eyes wide in fear as the man brought the kunai to Kouta's neck. Unable to keep sitting in her current position due to the lack of strength in her body, Asami fell on her side, unable to look away from the scene in front of her.
There weren't enough words to describe just how much she wanted to hold Kouta in her arms, take him to a place far away from human beings; people who could harm him, and fall asleep with him in her embrace, only to wake up and find out it was all just a bad dream, so she could close her eyes again and continue to sleep peacefully.
Unfortunately, she was still in the middle of the agonizing nightmare, unable to awaken.
After all, this wasn't just occurring in her mind.
Asami was living this awful dream.
And at the end of the dream, her eyes wouldn't open again.
Never waking up to the sight of her sleeping son, getting to run her hands through his soft locks and caressing his plump cheeks. Reading stories for him, cooking for him, comforting him, taking walks through the quiet and dense forest, playing in the snow with him, caring for him; these were all things she loved doing. Asami was prepared to dedicate her life to taking care of Kouta. She'd happily do so.
Two and half years weren't enough.
Asami wanted to spend so much more time with him, watching him grow up. She had always been curious about what kind of man he'd become, but she'd never be able to find out.
Their story was going to end this night.
A simple movement of the wrist.
That was all it took.
Blood streamed down chest, his legs, and eventually dripped on the ground. Soon, a pool of the red liquid formed around the murderer's shoes.
Asami screamed, feeling a pain much more intense and fierce than anything she'd ever felt before, right in her chest. The aching of her broken hand, the wound on the palm of her other hand, being stabbed just now, and even the stabbing from when she still lived in Konoha; all these painful experiences were nothing compared to the agony she felt in this moment.
The man sighed and dropped the body, which fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Warm tears streamed down her cheeks as Asami watched her son, lying motionless on the wooden floor. She couldn't stop weeping, and started to cough violently when she almost choked on her salty tears. Her head spun. The physical pain had disappeared, she didn't feel anything anymore aside from the ferocious burning in her chest as she grieved for her son.
''Go upstairs.'' The man spoke. ''I'll see if there's anything we can use here.''
Asami wasn't paying attention anymore to these intruders, the people who caused her misery. Her eyes were glued to the small body in front of her. She wanted to hold him, touch him one more time, but all the strength had left her body. She felt numb, her limbs limp.
She wasn't afraid of death anymore.
Now, it actually didn't seem so bad. Not if it meant that she got to be with Kouta, which was all she wanted, her only wish.
Asami didn't know just how much time passed. Her eyes felt heavy, but she tried to keep them open. The sight in front of her was burned into her mind, yet she kept looking, her vision blurred by the neverending tears.
And as her eyelids closed, she felt peaceful.
For her only wish was now fulfilled.