It was already nighttime when the second greatest tragedy in Konoha's history took place.
The moon was high in the sky, brightly shining in the dark night. Dark clouds hovered above Konoha, covering the moon, almost as if signifying an ill omen.
In the dark of night, a lone figure stood on a tall pole. The figure was dressed in the standard ANBU gear, Konoha's headband wrapped around his forehead and two red eyes shining from beneath his dark hair.
The figure was Itachi Uchiha.
Under the orders of Danzo, he had comitted a crime that will haunt him forever. His hands were now stained with the blood of his clansmen, friends, parents. The only consolation he had is that his younger sister had survived.
Itachi was standing on the pole, burning the image of Konoha into his mind before leaving. His lean figure was shaking, he felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he still held on.
Suddenly, he felt a pressence behind him. Itachi moved his chakra and extended it behind him, only to relax once he found out who the figure was.
"I'm sorry, Itachi," An aged voice came from behind him.
Itachi slowly turned around and looked at the roof of the building behind him. There stood a figure clad in white robes and with a white hat.
"Hokage-sama," Itachi greeted quietly.
The two figures stood silently, neither of them moving. Both of them knew what had happened tonight, yet neither of them blamed each other.
"This is already the best case scenario, Hokage-sama," Itachi's voice was quiet, full of sadness.
Itachi's shoulder started bulging and moving unnaturally. A crow burst out of his shoulder and then his entire body exploded into a bunch of crows.
The flock of black crows flew around in circles, cawing and looking around. The crows then dove to the roof, starting to converge into a black mass which transformed into Itachi.
Itachi's hand moved inside his pouch and took out a vial with two objects inside. Inside the vial, Hizuren saw two eyes floating, submerged in liquid.
Hiruzen's two eyes scanned the pair of eyes in the vial. However, once he got a closer look, Hiruzen felt short of breath.
"Mangekyo sharingan," Hiruzen said, his eyes wide.
Itachi only nodded his head as he watched the pair of eyes. His own eyes clearly reflected his own unstable emotions and his great attachement to these eyes.
"Whose are these?" Hiruzen couldn't help but ask.
"Shisui Uchiha," Came the answer.
Hiruzen felt his body grow cold as he observed the pair of eyes. Who was Shisui Uchiha? Probably the most patriotic shinobi in Konoha and the holder of the most powerful sharingan in recent history. And yet, some time ago, he had gone missing after leaving behind a suicide note.
Itachi's eyes shifted from the vial to Hiruzen. After a moment of consideration, he extended his hand towards Hiruzen.
"I-I can't..." Hiruzen said silently.
Itachi then took a few steps forward, his hand outstreched, "Hokage-sama, I know Shisui better than anyone. He had always dearly loved this village, so I am sure that he would want his eyes to stay here, to be used by a person who truly loves this village."
Hiruzen only took a few steps back, dodging the outstretched hand, "I have failed, Itachi. Because of my foolishness, so many tragedies had happened recently. What right do I have to decide who is worthy to wield these eyes?"
However, Itachi didn't stop. He took another step forward and almost shoved the eyes into Hiruzen's hands.
He then said, "Hokage-sama, I don't have much time. Come morning, I will be branded as the greatest traitor in Konoha's history and countless shinobi will be coming after me. If I die, my and Shisui's eyes will fall into the hands of a stranger. I can't let that happen."
Hiruzen wanted to fullfil the last request of this man, but he just didn't dare to take these eyes. With so many failures in his portfolio, he was losing faith in his own judgement.
Silence.
Suddenly, Itachi spoke up, "Hokage-sama, I believe that there is one more person who should be worthy of getting these eyes."
Hiruzen looked up, asking, "Who?"
Itachi's voice was resolute and firm as he said his answer, "The jinchuriki of the nine tailed fox, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto Uzumaki, the holder of the nine tailed demon. Indeed, if he were to gain the sharingan, then he would no longer have to fear its corruption. However, there was a slight problem with this plan.
"I agree with you, Itachi. If someone in this village is worthy of these eyes, then its young Naruto. However, Naruto is too young and doesn't understand the significance of these eyes. I just don't see a way to give it to him," Hiruzen shook his head.
On the other hand, Itachi already had a plan. His hands moved up, untying his heaband from his forehead. He took out a kunai from his pouch, moving it closer to the headband.
Hiruzen's body became cold as he could predict what would happen next. Just as he expected, the kunai was stabbed in the headband. Then it was slowly dragged across, leaving a deep horizontal mark.
As Hiruzen watched the mark slowly form, it felt as if the blade was slowly slicing him apart.
After the horizontal mark on the headband was finished, Itachi tied it to his forehead again. He then walked to the edge of the building, looking down to the silent streets.
"Hokage-sama, you don't have to worry about it. After all, I am a traitor," Itachi then looked down in silence. Moments later, his fists were tightly clenched as his sharingan glared with determination. "It can't be helped if a few victims appear once I was running from Konoha."
Hiruzen wanted to shout to him to stop, but he noticed that his jaw was tightly clenched, his teeth ground against each other. His whole body was rooted on the spot, feeling like a statue.
At this moment, his human side and his hokage side were clashing against each other.
However, before he could do or say anything, Itachi exploded into a flock of crows and disappeared into the village, leaving behind only a few feathers.
Seeing the crows disappear, Hiruzen's body gave out and he almost fell to his knees. He felt so dirty, useless.
What was the right decision?
Forcing the eyes onto Naruto for the benefit of his future?
Holding onto them and explaining it to Naruto once he grows older?
Maybe it was best to completely destroy these eyes?
Hiruzen could only release a deep sigh as he sat down on the ground and lit his pipe.
"Useless... I am simply too useless," Hiruzen mumbled as he felt the weight on his shoulders increase.
Chapter end
Author Notes:
Hello, everyone! I would like to dedicate a bit of space here to talk about the novel and myself.
To begin with, let me do an introduction of myself.
My nickname is Sypnotick, at your service. I am an aspiring novelist, who is here to brush up on his skills. I already have an idea for my novel, but I thought I should let it brew inside my head for a bit longer. Meanwhile, I can write some fanfictions to work on my writing skills.
With that being done, let's move on to the story itself, shall we?
I think there are several things I should discuss briefly here.
First of all, I think most of you quickly noticed the fact that this story will have a female Sasuke.
In my honest opinion, I believe that the purpose of a male Sasuke is to be a friend/rival to Naruto. However, this story is a bit different in that Naruto will find his path early on, making a male Sasuke seem a bit redundant.
Sasuke's character is an essential one to the story and I don't want to waste it. That's why, I believe that a female Sasuke would make more sense, because it would be easier to integrate her into the story.
Secondly, there is the whole pairing thing.
I already have an outline for this story, but I still haven't decided on some things yet; pairings being one of them.
I enjoy pairings because they add more to the story (if done right). However, once you read a bit further, you will see that this Naruto doesn't seem like the type to be fully devoted to a single person, which would mean that a harem would make more sense.
In other words, I am torn between doing NarutoX? Or turning it into a harem just for the challenge and the fun.
Thirdly, there is the beginning of this story.
You will find that the beginning is a bit slow and doesn't deviate too far from the canon one.
The reason for going a bit slow in the beginning is because Naruto will be strong in this story. That's why, I want to give the characters more attention here. The first few chapters will let you get a feel for the characters with some action mixed in.
As for the story itself, it is just the beginning so the butterfly effect hasn't kicked in yet.
And finally, there is my release schedule.
I am currently on break, so I have some free time. You can expect me to work a lot on this fanfiction and to pump out a lot of chapters. Though I still have some real life stuff, so I may slow down at some points.
In any case, chapters will come out when I feel like it. On one day you may get several chapters, while others may go completely empty. My goal is to release at least several chapters per week.
Alright, my small rant here is done.
Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. This fanfiction is more of an experimental canvas for me, so don't hold back on the criticism, suggestions, flame and stuff like that.
I hope to see you in the next chapter.