Fanning the Flames
Shisui's altercation with Danzou ends without the former's death. Still, the Leaf Village faces the threat of the Uchiha coup. The fate or doom of the Uchiha rests in the hands of two traitors.
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Be brave, my little one.
Our pain compared to yours will be over in an instant.
A decision that cannot be undone.
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The tree shade provided him brief relief from what he had to do next. Shisui Uchiha had once dreamed of the Leaf and the Uchiha unifying themselves together for once, though he believed in a little prodigy boy becoming the first Uchiha Hokage to make his dream come true. With every passing day, it seemed less and less likely that dream would ever come true.
Somehow in his pursuit of justice and equality, Shisui found himself on the corrupt side of law, an enemy to both his clan and village. Somewhere along the line, mass brainwashing became an acceptable decision to make even though if he asked himself to do the same a decade ago, his younger self would reply without thinking, "Absolutely not!"
He continued to remind himself these steps were necessary to bring about peace. He understood that his clan was so blinded in self-interest they failed to see the importance of preserving the entire village. Shisui knew it wasn't entirely their fault for doing so. After all, the Second Hokage had taken great efforts to separate the Uchiha from the heart of the village. The Uchiha's anger was justified but still not commendable.
Shisui took the time to fully reflect on his decision, knowing it would be a great, irredeemable sin to turn his ability against the clan. Still, he believed it was okay for one person to take upon the dirt and grim of the world if others could be happy.
That was why he found himself sympathizing with Danzou Shimura ever so slightly.
The summer breeze picked up around him. A sound of a thousand leaves fluttering in wind muffled all noise. Something pricked at Shisui's subconscious, tensing his muscles and jerking his hand towards his kunai pouch. He humored the reaction, looking around and training his crimson eyes over the sunset-dyed forest.
It came from his peripheral.
Shisui lept out the tree he rested under and headed for another tree, mind racing. Where his back was once slumped were kunai dripping with an ominous fluid. The unnatural nature of kunai already alerted the young man that whoever threw the blades, they were not the typical ninja.
Shisui ducked under a particularly dark tree shade and calculated where the thrower was. They could have likely moved. He could be surrounded. Who ever thrown those kunai, they were watching him from afar for a long time.
Enemy ninja? Criminals? Shisui's mind sped faster and faster until yet another disturbance distracted him.
They came from the shadows, silent as night. Their form was somewhat nostalgic, for they were ninja and nothing could change the fact every ninja learned the same fundamentals, but it ended there. They were clad in brown, beige clocks with their porcelain white masks demonic under the elongated semidarkness. Their weapons were trained solely on him and Shisui could not betray himself otherwise.
Someone wanted him dead. By the looks of it, these attackers were not sent from the Uchiha.
"Shisui Uchiha!" a male voice shouted, voice unaffected by his facewear. "Stand down or die for your crimes!"
Crimes? I've done nothing so far. Shisui glared and flickered away, a rather short distance away, just to understand his assailant's intentions.
They looked upon themselves in brief confusion before picking up his trail once again.
Shisui jumped tree branch to tree branch, finding nothing was easy to hear with the obnoxiously loud leaf fluttering and the wind whipping around his body. He had to rely on his eyes, but he could not see behind himself. Shisui kept looking over his shoulders to see his attackers were not very far away at all.
Persistent. Who ordered them to hurt me? Are they going by their own orders? On a whim, Shisui ducked under a pure black shadow and flickered far far away. He landed on the top of a tree 50 meters above and 100 meters east of the attackers. He could see their small silhouettes resting on the tree, apparently talking to one another. No, they were definitely ordered. Nothing about this is chaotic at all if they were a pair of lone ninja.
Following that line of reasoning, these ninja mimicked Anbu ninja but were actually Root ninja, created in secret by Danzou Shimura, who most likened as an administrative assistant to the Third Hokage.
Danzou was just in the meeting with Shisui, the Hokage, and the Leaf Council about the fate of the Uchiha Clan. Danzou knew exactly Shisui's plan was. And now he was attempting to murder him only an hour after it ended? Something wasn't adding up. Danzou of all people loved to proclaim his love of the Leaf Village. He and Shisui sometimes disliked the Third's tendency for gentle slaps on the wrists instead of more serious punishments. Why would he want to kill the Uchiha?
Shisui reappeared before the Root agents, feeling their chakra jolt, the only indication he had startled them.
"I want to talk to Lord Danzou," he told them, attempting and failing at a bright tone. "This must be some mistake."
"Why should we listen to you?" an agent out of the four replied, some agent Shisui couldn't detect. "Is this a trap, Shisui of the Body Flicker?"
"It's just two friends chatting over the safety of our village," Shisui responded, smiling slightly at his own humor. "That's all there is. We can meet in that clearing down yonder." He jerked his head in the direction and four heads swiveled simultaneously.
"Kawauso, Mukade," the biege cloak called, moving his hands into an original hand seal. "Keep watch while we go speak to Master about this." With that, two ninja disappeared.
The breeze only then stopped, as if to emphasize the awkward silence between the three ninja who were once neutral to each other, now turned enemy.
"How long does contact usually take?" offered the young Uchiha, just to listen to his voice.
"We would never tell you."
Shisui was undeterred. "What's it like, being kidnapped as a child and forced to do the deeds of a cruel god?"
An agent's hand shot dangerously close to their kunai pouch. "If you think your words will sway us, save your breath."
Shisui shrugged and the silence stretched. Finally the missing two returned.
"He agrees," said the agent in beige. "So long as you try nothing suspicious."
"I won't. This is just a misunderstanding."
Though Shisui felt that no-one was convinced by this.
Shisui had come tete-a-tete with Danzou. The old warhawk looked just as foreboding as ever, his one visible eye a narrow slit. The way he strutted into the fading sunlight showed how unbothered he felt by killing Shisui.
"I'm glad you wanted to meet me eye to eye," Danzou said quietly yet his voice carried despite the rustling leaves all around him. "I was under the impression most Uchiha were angry, irrational heathens."
Shisui kept a small smile on his face despite his disgusting words. "I was concerned why you sent agents to kill me. I only want to end this potential war now. Surely you understand, Lord Danzou?"
He kept his Sharingan activated, daring the man to make a move.
The man sneered. "You don't deserve those eyes. You children are short-sighted. What happens when you use those eyes? You've wasted a perfect ability. What will happen if the Uchiha Clan threatens to revolt once more? See, the problem is that you're too young, too idealistic to see what a poisonous leech your family is. Unfortunately, I must take matters into my own hands."
It annoyed Shisui. The way he spoke. As if he was right and never wrong. The smile fell quickly.
"What would Lord Hokage have to say about this?" he shouted. "Killing an innocent child because these so many years alive has made you paranoid?"
"My boy, Hiruzen will never know. Hiruzen will be swayed by an apology and bow by me far more easily than a boy he's known only a year from such a savage clan," Danzou retorted and, for a moment, Shisui doubted. "How naive of you to declare such a thing with no influence, no power in the shinobi world. My boy, talent only gets you so far. Itachi should have been your first warning. His aloof nature has gained him many more enemies than admirers. And when Itachi dies, no one will remember him at all."
"Shut up," growled Shisui, hating how the man cornered him so.
And because of this mistake, Danzou smirked and said, "Already upset? I'm not surprised. Oh, I'll be taking your eyes now."
Shisui, as fast as he was, stared baffled at his casual tone. As he did so, Danzou lunged with a speed unimaginable from his appearance, outstretched arm reaching for Shisui's right eye.
Shisui grabbed the man's wrist right as his fingertips brushed his eyelashes. He heard the Root agents fall in step behind Danzou.
The man stared at him.
"Oh, look, you caught me. Are you going to turn me in?"
A whim occurred to him. Danzou was right. He had no real connections, no one to trust on the inside. For a long time, he was contented just being at Itachi's side.
So Shisui said, eyes burning bright, "You'll be giving me Root."
He did not take him seriously. Danzou smirked and faded out of Shisui's grasp. The younger body dashed away from the sudden phantom. What kind of power is that?
"You Uchiha and your arrogance. Never change, won't you? It'll make killing you all the easier." As he spoke, he unwrapped the bandages covering his right eye. With the hidden appendage free, Shisui saw the red of a Sharingan fade to a white more imperfect than the Byakugan.
This man is insane, Shisui thought, horrified.
"Do keep your Mangekyou activated. I'll be needing it soon, to replace this eye."
By using a Sharingan, he can evade any attack? But it seems like one-time thing. If it required multiple uses, I doubt he'd throw away his last attempt so easily. Unless... I'm nothing compared to him.
Shisui realized he was going to die before night broke. The calculating and cunning Danzou was no more. The young man knew that there probably wasn't much hope of winning anyways. It was like facing his own Uchiha coup.
Wait. He used up his last attempt.
Shisui grabbed his dagger and pointed it at Danzou. "You can have my eye. I won't need it to defeat you."
"Oh, certainly, continue thinking that way..."
"Try to take my eyes, Danzou. I'll show you. Go ahead and get your invulnerable technique back."
"If you think this is a skill a Sharingan can copy or I'll somehow teach you the secret, you're beyond hope. Either you figure it out yourself or you never use it. The end. But I will accept your offer..."
The war hawk signalled to the agents.
At once the four launched kunai at Shisui and Danzou lunged once more.
Eyes trained on both enemies, Shisui reprogrammed the command he'd been practicing for a long, long time.
The world seemed to be moving in slow motion. Shisui's dagger was just making contact with the kunai while Danzou began the beginning seals of some technique. His eye ability could be activated so instantaneously, so insidiously.
Kotoamatsukami.
And the order he programmed was short and sweet.
Die.
At once, the Root agents grabbed their kunai and slit their throats.
Danzou hands stopped forming seals. He grabbed a deflected kunai with a twitching hand while his eyes stared at Shisui.
"You stupid, stupid child. The file said you never made a reckless move! Do you understand what my death means? You've doomed the Leaf with your stupid teenage melodrama! You sorry example for a human race!"
He swore. He spat. In his final moments, Danzou Shimura was reduced to an angry coward. His hand moved on its own. It dragged the blade across his stomach, spilling red as it went, then the crimson blade approached his neck.
"...you fool! I'll see you in hell once you're finished dooming the home I love! Fool!"
The kunai cut his watery cries silent. Danzou Shimura's last act was tugging the kunai from out his throat. This indirectly caused the clearing to be splattered with the fluids of life. Like rain.
It was everywhere. The agents also helped to create the crimson mess Shisui couldn't look away from.
Everything is so red.
He dropped to his knees as he felt his Mangekyou lock. He caused this. Their deaths. He has no-one to blame but himself.
Could this altercation have ended differently?
Would he still be alive?
The sun set and darkness fell upon Shisui Uchiha, who doubted the integrity of the Leaf Village.
The leaves stayed silent.