Unrest had been stirring for years. It had started when she was a young girl. The Kyūbi attacked her village. Many of her clansmen had died protecting their home from the beast. Even so, several blamed her clan for its attack.
The Sharingan could control the Kyūbi, shinobi from the upper ranks muttered.
An Uchiha must have set it upon Konoha.
After the attack, the Uchiha clan were forced to live in a clan compound together. They were constantly watched. The clan was shunned by several factions in Konohagakure.
Uchiha Miki was not as oblivious to the running of the Uchiha clan as she would like. Many an occasion, the chunin-rank kunoichi walked home after a mission, only to stop in the doorway. Her mother and father would be at the kitchen table, discussing rebellion against the village.
The first time it happened, she was completely floored. Her parents spoke about their plans as if they were discussing a trip to the circus.
A thirteen year-old Miki tiptoed into her house. She just returned from a mission. It was three o'clock in the morning, so she didn't want to wake her parents.
Heading for the kitchen for a bite to eat, she froze. Her parents' voices carried from her intended destination.
"So, we're going to the meeting Fugaku-sama is proposing, Kazuya-kun?"
Her mother's voice held a tone of excitement, something rare for the proper lady her daughter knew her to be. The chair she was in squeaked.
"Yes we are, Asako-chan. In the Naka Shrine, we will discuss Operation Phoenix. Many have agreed to be a part of it. In time, the Uchiha clan will be great again."
Her father's voice stayed level, but the black-haired girl detected a hint of seriousness. The girl found his somberness discerting.
"I wish I could assist more in the plan. I guess it's bad luck that the same border scuffle with Iwa that left me unable to bear more children forced me to retire," Asako sighed.
Miki pressed her ear against the door. Kazuya patted his wife's back.
"It's not your fault, dear. Once Fugaku-sama assumes the Hokage position, he will search for the best medic-nin in the Hidden Countries so you can go back on active duty. Assassinating the Sandaime should be easy at his age."
Miki forced her hand to her mouth, her black eyes wide. She hadn't expected her parents to be such traitors!
"Are you sure? He is called the 'Professor' for a reason!"
Her father cooed to her frazzled mother.
"He may have a large knowledge of ninjutsu, but age has left him a shadow of his former self. Being younger, Fugaku-sama would last longer and eventually would overpower him. His age has left him unfit to rule Konoha any longer. His counselors don't even respect him anymore. I've heard how they do things behind the Hokage's back."
The girl's pigtails flew back. She snuck out of the house. She could not stand overhearing this talk of treason any longer.
What idiots! Overthrowing the Sandaime?! The things they are speaking of could get them executed!
Miki jogged to her friend Makuda Kinu's apartment. Her sleeveless blue kimono fluttered in the breeze. Surely, she could stay with her old friend for a few days. The blonde would understand.
Thankfully, Kinu's residence was on the first floor of her complex. The Uchiha girl knocked on the short-haired kunoichi's door as softly as she could.
In a few minutes' time, she was greeted by a girl with bleary blue eyes.
"Miki, what are you doing up so early? No, what are you doing back from your mission already? You told me it would take a week."
The black-haired kunoichi shook her head.
"The missing-nin were caught just inside of Kaze no Kuni. They weren't as powerful as we expected. I had just gone home, but I got in a fight with my mom again. She didn't think I was being 'proper' by not greeting her and tou-san when I entered the door. Obviously, it's late, so can I stay with you for a bit?"
She was not going to tell her best friend what really occurred in her household. Miki had no intentions of dragging the kunoichi into her family's treason. She would deal with it herself and use her time in her friend's apartment to think about it.
"Sure. Let me go fetch the guest bed for you."
Even as she settled on to futon provided for her, it took a long time for Miki to succumb to sleep. She could not help but think about what her parents wanted done to the Hokage, and the many people who would suffer because of it.
While staying at her friend's house, Miki weighed her options. She could turn her parents in for treason, join in their plans, pretend that the conversation didn't happen, or spy on them for the village.
In the end, the raven-haired kunoichi chose a fifth option. She wouldn't intervene at present, but would refuse to undertake her parents' betrayal, and tell the Hokage if it became more serious.
The last several months had been taxing. Uchiha Shisui had died of apparent suicide. The death of the curly-haired shinobi sent the Uchiha clan into hysterics. None reacted worse than Miki's arranged fiancé, Uchiha Itachi.
Miki and her lover were sent on an S-rank mission far away merely months afterwards. It had been in a foreign land outside of the Hidden Countries.
The mission in question was top secret, and had been announced a year-and-a-half before it was activated. The around fifty or more young shinobi chosen for it had to attend classes about the enemy and his subordinates, how the locals used chakra, organizations helping to undermine their target, the country's customs, and their language whenever they were off missions.
While the mission was ultimately successful, many of the others sent with them perished. Those chosen had been caught off guard by their strange techniques. One of them was a jutsu that killed someone instantly. Among the fatalities were Miki's longtime teammate Aburame Takuro and her friends Saya and Hyata Toyoharu. Itachi lost his former teammate Nara Shiyoko as well.
Both teenagers were on mission leave. The Sandaime told them that they needed at least a month of rest to process their losses. He had shot a furrowed glance in Itachi's direction as they left his office. The village leader likely thought that the young ANBU captain casted a lot of blame on himself for the high amount of fatalities.
Miki slurped the last of her beef stew, trying to ignore the flashes of Takuro's last moments popping up in her head. Her mother gave a reproving look, but she turned her head away.
"Miki-chan, such behavior is crude for the wife of the future clan leader. You should scoop up your stew with your spoon, not slurp it directly from the bowl," her mother scolded.
In contrast to his wife, Miki's father gave a hearty laugh.
"Asako-chan, leave her be. You're too hard on her sometimes. Miki-chan is enjoying her food, just like her dad. At least she doesn't diet like some of the other crazy kunoichi."
Kazuya softened his eyes as he uttered the last of his statement. Lips quirking into the frown the kimono-wearing kunoichi hated to see, he patted her on the back.
The lithe girl gathered the bowls around the table. Stacking the bowl on top of one another, she brought them to the sink. The water was turned on as sounds were heard outside.
Objects seemed to be hitting the buildings. They gave a thunk that Miki knew had to be kunai. Soft screams echoed outside.
Odd. Outside of emergencies, we aren't allowed to use kunai in the compound. What's going on?
Not a minute later, a fist pounded furiously at their door. Miki's mother opened it, revealing an unkempt visitor.
Uchiha Yashiro of the Konoha Military Police Force breathed heavily, struggling to catch his breath. Sweat ran down his face like a rainstorm.
"Negotiations with the elders failed. Itachi has betrayed us. He's killing members of the Uchiha clan as we speak!"
The kunoichi's parents glanced at each other, and then their daughter. The jaw of her usually jolly father set itself into a thin line.
"We'll come out to help our clansmen. Miki, stay here."
The statement startled Miki.
"Stay at our house? Why?!"
Her father frowned slightly at his child.
"Itachi was betrothed to you when you were young. It would be difficult for you to see him as an enemy. If, by some chance, he comes here, you may be the only one able to talk some sense into him."
The blue-clad girl's mother bowed her head.
"Itachi is one of the village's most powerful shinobi. We might not make it back. If we don't, remember that we love you."
In a flash, Miki's parents and Yashiro were gone. The Konoha kunoichi turned off the sink. She ran to her room near the back of the house.
The room was among the cleanest ones in the house. Her bag and equipment were by the entrance, ready to be grabbed for a mission at anytime. The bed had no sheets or pillows out of place. If there was one thing the black-haired girl could do right in her mother's eyes, it was cleaning.
On a wooden desk, photos of her friends and family were set in a row. Miki's family photo was in the middle. Her mother's frown contrasted her and her father's beaming faces.
One to the right held her friends in the Uchiha clan, Hiroto, Kaori, and Seiji. Hiroto smiled, while Seiji waved to the camera, and Kaori held up one of her hands in a pumped fist.
Right to the left of her family photo was the official team photo for Team Kage. Her sensei Washiba Akahana smiled into the camera and so did she, but Takuro only quirked his lips slightly upwards and their eldest teammate Komatsu Kanbe glared at the Uchiha girl. Kanbe's dislike of Miki had disappeared as they worked with each other, learning that she wasn't some snobby upper class girl as he had first assumed.
They had hugged at Takuro's funeral only a few days ago. The two young chunin cried as they placed flowers in his coffin, and then performed something unexpected.
The two teammates placed their comrade's dark sunglasses over his closed eyes. Their dark-haired comrade had wore his sunglasses at all times, even when he was asleep. Since death was the 'final sleep', Team Kage's membership thought that it was appropriate.
Her mother threw a fit about the hugging, but Miki had blown her off and vanished to her bedroom to nap after the funeral. She couldn't deal with Asako at that time.
The pale-skinned girl gazed fondly at Itachi's photo. The longhaired teen sat on a high ledge, lips in a light smile. Behind him was a field of bright grass.
He had been put through a lot of grief in the last few months. His best friend had killed himself, and he had been put on a mission with a high body count. Among the deceased was one of his own teammates from when he was a genin and chunin.
Wait! That mission. When we had finally dealt with the enemies, Itachi let slip that his father didn't approve of the Sandaime's reign. His father wanted to take over.
Itachi spoke with disapproval about his father's aspirations. The wording indicated that the Uchiha clan head was part of the rebellion.
Miki ran to her lover. Itachi collapsed against the castle wall. His body shook with exhaustion.
"You overexerted yourself, didn't you?"
The shinobi barely nodded. His shorter companion removed his blood-soaked shirt. Deep cuts littered Itachi's abdomen and chest.
The black-haired kunoichi brought her glowing hands over the wounds. She hadn't known that medical jutsu would be so useful. She had mainly studied it to further her expertise with poisons.
The locals awed at the display, until Kanbe stood in front of the two Uchiha. He shooed them off.
"I'm sure you find Miki's skills amazing, but she needs room to work. If you want to help her, grab some water and food so she can keep her strength up. Maybe find a few towels, too. Otherwise, head back to the Great Hall."
The locals widened their eyes, shocked at being ordered around by a teenager, but did as he requested.
The tall shinobi left as well, calling behind his shoulder.
"I'll leave you here. Call for me if you need anything, Miki."
Gradually, the cuts started to fade. Sweat beating down her brow, Miki healed one last wound on her patient's chest.
Her lover tried to rise, but she pinned him down with her hands.
"Itachi, listen to me. I healed these up, but the muscles need time to knit back together and you lost a lot of blood. You are only moving away from this spot if you agree to be carried, or are placed on a stretcher. Understand?"
After a moment of silence, the Uchiha clan heir nodded.
"I'm sorry I got myself injured like this. Those 'Death Eaters' took me from surprise. I do not want anyone to blame you for my errors."
Miki grinned as broadly as she could under the circumstances.
"If it's about the clan blaming me for not protecting you, I don't care about most of their opinions. I'm used to my mom's nagging, and Hatsumi and Nori calling me an embarrassment. The people I care about are you, tou-san, Kanbe, Akahana-sensei, Hiroto, Kaori, Seiji, and Kinu."
Already, a void filled the Konoha kunoichi's heart. There would be no more occasions where she and Saya would work together on joint missions. No more days in the library pouring over poison-related texts with Toyoharu. No more team meetings with Takuro present, with the older boy watching butterflies flutter over the trees.
Itachi allowed a small smile to grace his features. He chuckled softly.
"You know what, Miki-chan? I agree with you. I don't care what the clan thinks anymore. There are only a few shinobis' opinions I consider important nowadays. One of them is the Hokage's."
The fourteen year-old gasped.
"The Hokage gives you his personal opinion? I should feel jealous."
The younger teenager frowned.
"You shouldn't be. My father has been cooped up in the Military Police Force's Headquarters. Whenever he has been home, he avoids me and says strange things. He claims he want to become the Godaime Hokage."
It was Miki's turn to frown. She was quickly reminded of eavesdropping on her parents and hearing of Operation Phoenix.
"But, our leader is the Sandaime! It isn't Fugaku-sama's place to question his leadership!"
The black-haired girl thought she spotted a longhaired girl with pale eyes spying on them from one of the entrances, but she didn't stop shouting. She was sick of the Uchiha clan's treason. If an outsider overheard, so be it.
"I know," her lover sighed.
From where he lay, Itachi reached out to cup Miki's cheek.
"A lot of our clansmen do not look on Konoha favorably. Certain shops do not allow them inside, and there is an unofficial ban on Uchiha clan members entering politics. They don't view Sarutobi-sama as a good leader who can protect them. They want change, and if a coup is what is required, they will overthrow the Sandaime in a heartbeat."
The pale-skinned girl gulped.
"What about you? Do you support a coup?"
Trembling, Itachi shook his head.
"No. It would cause a civil war, and many lives would be lost. If Sarutobi-sama cannot lead anymore, he should pick his successor on his own accord. I care for the village more than the clan I will inherit," the teenager whispered.
With the wedge between Konoha and the Uchiha clan, it was not surprising how the Uchiha clan heir chose. He was putting the village at large above his clansmen.
The shinobi, unlike his lover, must have reported the Uchiha clan's treason. The Sandaime may have ordered their murder. One of Konohagakure's founding clans suddenly turning rogue was not an event that could be tolerated.
I won't be able to talk him out of it, Miki thought sadly.
Itachi followed any orders from the village. So did the kunoichi, for that matter. She would do anything for its sake.
That would include carrying out her own death.
The cheerful girl wished to spare Itachi the anguish of having to kill her himself. The idea of the black-haired teen sobbing as he stabbed her with his tanto was unthinkable. He already blamed himself for what happened to Shiyoko.
From her bag, she slipped on a pair of gloves. With a morbid fascination, the girl fingered a square tin. A round found its way into her hand. The phial contained her most lethal poison.
Unlike many Uchiha, the kunoichi preferred using poisons instead of jutsu. Out on missions, Miki coated needles with toxins of her choosing and threw them at her enemies.
Opening up the phial and square tin, the kunoichi dipped a senbon needle in poison. Laying it to the side, she coated three more needles.
As she worked, Miki thought of the Uchihas out of the village. Of the clan members she was familiar with, her uncle Hiromitsu and her friends Kaori and Seiji were out of Konoha at the moment. Hiromitsu was on a joint mission in Takigakure, Seiji was on a border patrol between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, and Kaori had landed a mission all of the way in Tetsu no Kuni. Another uncle of hers, Yoritomo, had left for Kusagakure just that morning. There were likely more.
How will Konoha deal with them?
Itachi would have to be declared a missing-nin after his actions tonight. To acknowledge the Uchiha clan's issues with Konoha would put the government in a negative light, for them killing children who had nothing to do with the coup, and not resolving the problems peacefully. He would not be able to stick around and wait for every last Uchiha to get home. Kaori's team was scheduled to stay in their current location for three months.
Would a special ANBU squad go out and slaughter those out of the village?
Faintly, she heard the door being torn down.
Itachi's here. It's time. I'm sorry for this, Takuro.
Kneeling, Miki aimed the four senbon at her chest. With a quiet prayer, she flicked her wrist, releasing her coup de grace.
In seconds, the kunoichi's body collapsed to the floor. Every muscle burned, as if she were on fire.
But, the child felt no regret for her actions. She had given her life to protect the village. And, her lover would not need to shed her blood.
Miki thought she could see the spirits of her dead comrades by her side. Saya, as pretty as ever, shook her head. Toyoharu frowned. Takuro knelt beside her.
"It's okay," he whispered.
"You will be with us soon. Akahana-sensei and Kanbe will know the truth. They are assassin specialists, just like we were."
Her vision growing dark, she watched as Itachi entered her room. Covered in the blood of their kinsmen, he halted upon seeing Miki's crumpled form.
"Miki-chan, what have you done to yourself?"
There was no anger in his voice. Just the sound of a boy trying to fight back shock and tears.
"For Konoha," the girl whispered.
A smile formed on Miki's bloody lips. Her spirit rising to meet her friends, the last thing she heard was Itachi's voice.
"Miki-chan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in the middle of this …"
A/N: I needed to get out of a writer's block. While creating a profile for a New Gen Naruto OC of mine, Hara Naoki, an idea came to me. This idea being about Itachi's lover he was forced to kill during the massacre.
What if she died that night, but not specifically by his hands? And, what if she opposed the coup like Itachi and Shisui? It gave me a plot bunny.
The mission the kids were on just before the massacre would be a crossover one. It did not end very well. The world of my stories is a multiverse. Take a guess which series was crossovered with Naruto (the jutsu that kills a person instantly and the phrase 'Death Eaters' are giant clues).
I will admit that Kaori survived the massacre, but a ROOT team came along and killed her sensei and teammate in an attempt to eliminate her. She and her remaining teammate, Inuzuka Taiki, never returned to Konoha. They stayed in Tetsu no Kuni and became samurai.
As for Hiromitsu and Seiji (along with any other Uchiha out on missions during the massacre), you can come up with your own theories. Just remember that ROOT agents aren't unintelligent (they're not going to attack their target in the middle of an allied village and strain international ties), and Itachi has joined the Akatsuki so he's too busy to try killing off the remainders of his clan.
If a certain part of the second flashback wasn't noticed, there is another person who knows the truth of the Uchiha clan massacre. This OC will have a few stories of her own once I'm up to it. She is a member of the Hyūga clan's side branch.
I have altered this story greatly to show more of Miki as a person. She isn't just Itachi's lover before the massacre. She is her own person with her own desires, issues, and interests. She is only distantly related to Itachi, so I made her some family members. They don't share the same friends, either.
Hiruzen would not be able to stop the Uchihas from taking missions without suspicion. A big part of the massacre is that few know why it happened. The Hokage and his elders had to play it business as usual until the big date came.
I try to (mostly) stick to canon on subjects like this one. Very few know about its' reasons until after the Fourth Shinobi World War in my fanfics.
Before that time, Danzo, Koharu, Homura, Hiruzen, Tobi/Obito, Itachi, and Airi (my Hyūga OC) are the only ones in the know. After Itachi's death, Sasuke, Mitsuki (Itachi's lover post-massacre that he meets during the Timeskip), and Naruto came into this knowledge. Our favorite blonde hero tried to keep it a secret, but by the time of my New Gen crossover fic Whirlpools of Lightning, all of the Hidden Countries know the truth.
I would like to comment on Takuro's ghost speaking about their sensei and teammate. As assassins, Akahana and Kanbe are trained to be observant. They will notice the senbon punctures on Miki's corpse when they are allowed to view her body. There is no big reason for her teammates to be barred access to her body, even if a mass funeral for the Uchiha clan is planned later.
The Sharingan gives someone the ability to copy jutsu. Weapon use is not covered under that banner to my knowledge. Itachi used a sword during his ANBU days. He has not used senbon needles at all during his lifetime, and using them during the massacre for the first time would have been a poor choice. Needles are difficult to use. A long time is needed to train proficiently in such a delicate art.
Team Kage do not learn of the massacre's true purpose until after the war and/or their deaths, but they come to the conclusion that Miki killed herself. They realize that the Uchiha clan massacre is more complex than it seems. Danzo wants them eliminated for their suspicions, but is unable to do so because of committing his ROOT forces to taking out Uchiha clan members still on missions.
It would of been a bad move to kill Akahana and Kanbe at that time because of the mysterious causes of their teammates' demises (the massacre and their S-rank mission beforehand (the latter of which was classified). Miki and Takuro died within weeks of each other. Outside parties like Kinu or Takuro's family could claim that someone had it out for Team Kage. That would be bad for both Danzo and ROOT, wouldn't it?
As for Itachi's reaction at the end … he may have been ordered to kill the clan, but he didn't expect Miki to kill herself. Her actions brought him into shock. Any comments on this dark fic?
