It was a dark night like any other. The thick trees native to Konoha seemed to loom taller than ever, blocking out what little light the moon had to offer.
Far away from the safety of Konoha's walls, Danzo Shimura stood rigid in the tree line. The dancing shadows from the overhead branches twisted into a semblance of a mask and obscured his face from view. By his side, three figures cloaked in black crouched attentively, weapons drawn as they waited for a silent command.
A howling wind blew past, brushing past their ears as it carried with it the sounds of clashing metal. If he were a man of lesser patience, Danzo would not have hesitated to leap into the fray. Instead, he dipped his head slightly, and the figures next to him disappeared in a whirl of leaves. Drawing himself up taller, Danzo linked his fingers together, allowing his sleeves to cascade over his hands as he steeled his gaze.
Tumbling out of the shrubbery in a flurry of limbs, a bloodstained woman fell to her knees in front of the man, shoved forward by one of the figures cloaked in black. Her breathing was ragged as she crumpled to her side, all the while clutching a small bundle tighter to her chest.
The tips of Danzo's mouth turned up in an emotionless smile, neither a grimace nor a smirk. A mere formality. He stepped forward towards the fallen woman, crushing blades of grass underfoot.
"Hiromi Uchiha," Danzo mused aloud, now circling the woman with sharp, hawk like eyes, "It has been quite a while. It seems that even being labeled KIA has not kept you down."
Hiromi coughed violently, her entire body shaking as she strained to look up at the older man. Her spinning red eyes shot venom at the man, and if she were capable of speaking without causing herself further pain, she would have cursed him with every fiber of her being.
"Get away." she hissed venomously, unconsciously gripping the bundle closer to her chest.
"And leave you at the mercy of these Iwa nin?" Danzo raised an eyebrow, "My dear, surely you do not think that poorly of a fellow Konoha nin." As if sensing the tense air, a garbled cry rose from the bundle of cloth, and a small, pudgy, infantile hand grasped at Hiromi's shirt for reassurance.
Danzo stopped his pacing. "So it seems that my sources were correct," He stared down at the baby girl in Hiromi's arms, "Iwakagure's bloodline theft attempt succeeded. You've bore a bastard child."
"She won't be Iwakagure's if I have anything to say about it." Hiromi growled defensively.
"Of course not," Danzo agreed easily, his eyes flashing with hidden mirth, "But the problem remains that the Uchiha do not take kindly to impurities in their bloodline. You would subject your child to such a fate?"
"At least here she'll have a fate."
"A tragic one at that. You yourself have witnessed firsthand the ruthlessness of the clan."
Hiromi wisely did not reply.
"You know very well how they are. She will be ostracized and scorned within days of her arrival," Danzo carried on, well aware of the fading sounds of battle in the distance, "But you have no need to fear, there is a simple solution."
The very forest seemed to hold its breath, as a haunting undertone crept into Danzo's voice.
"She will be safe in the roots of the tree." He suggested softly.
"No." Hiromi interjected sharply before Danzo could continue. The seal on her tongue throbbed in response, bringing back vivid memories of spilled blood and dimly lit rooms.
"My dear," Danzo chuckled humorlessly, "It seems you are under the impression you have a choice in this matter."
Even exhausted and injured, Hiromi was still a ninja of high caliber. She dodged the first blow with ease, quickly replacing herself and the baby with a large stump from nearby.
But fatigue had long since taken it's toll on the woman, and in her haste, Hiromi miscalculated her switch. She was transported atop a thin tree limb that immediately snapped underneath her weight, forcing her and the baby to go into free fall.
Hiromi recovered quickly, clutching her daughter closer to her chest as she gathered chakra to her feet. Bits of bark sprayed everywhere as the kunoichi braced herself against the tree, attempting to slow her fall. Carefully adjusting her hold on the infant, Hiromi quickly scanned the horizon for any pursuers before dashing away. Konoha had various outposts near the bordering countries between the country of fire and the country of earth. If she just made it within sensing range of one, Danzo would have no choice but to retreat.
Seemingly unconcerned, Danzo followed after the source of Hiromi's chakra, flaring out his chakra to alert his subordinates to help pursue the kunoichi.
Hiromi did not make it far.
Malnourished and chakra exhausted, it did not take long for Danzo and his operatives to catch up to her. But Hiromi would not go down easy. Gathering what little of her chakra she had left, Hiromi turned and spewed scorching flames out of her mouth, narrowly missing the four other nin as they scrambled to get out of the path of the unrelenting fireball. It provided an adequate enough distraction for her to turn and continue fleeing, but Danzo would not allow it.
With an impressively precise body flicker, the seemingly defenseless man frail with age flashed forward into the air above Hiromi, delivering a devastating axe kick that sent the kunoichi plummeting straight towards the ground. She hit the ground unceremoniously with a shattering crunch. The baby in her arms began to wail, small pudgy hands beating against her mother's chest as if urging the woman to get up.
Arms shaking, Hiromi tried to stop her head from spinning as she attempted to pick herself back up. Without any hesitation, a figure in black unsheathed their tanto with a fluid motion and thrust it into Hiromi's back.
She did not scream as the blood gushed out of the wound in flowing rivers. She did not even have the chance.
The tanto was quickly pulled out, and the operative delivered the next slash to Hiromi's neck.
Her head rolled to the ground, sharingan red eyes glassy and lifeless.
"Tsu, retrieve her eyes," Danzo ordered tonelessly, "We will implant them once we are in Konoha. Dispose of her body with standard doujutsu user precautions."
He took slow deliberate steps towards the corpse. Crouching down and tugging the bundle out of Hiromi's lifeless embrace, Danzo brought the child up to his chest to inspect her closely.
Obsidian black eyes stared back at him, and something indescribable flashed through her eyes.
And then, that's when the child began to scream.