2: "Change The World"
Black orbs narrowed as enemies abound, the forest not withstanding in her defense against the unknown around Konoha.
'There!' a sudden wind cleared a path for which she was to take, finally choosing the final stage of her plans.
Running as fast as her tiny little legs could carry her, Akimichi Yuuna knelt next to one of the ancient looking trees found within the Shrine of Fire in Konoha, a bottle of ink and blood mixture in one hand and a brush in another.
'This is the last one-' the three-year-old toddler frowned, tongue delicately protruding in concentration as she carefully inscribed the kanji for "Control" in the ancient bark beneath the tree's roots.
"There," the toddler nodded to herself, an out-of-place look of seriousness in her face as the complex seal she'd been tinkering with for the past... well, ever since she was finally 'able' to think and learn the damn basics, activated in a silent and non-conspicuous manner.
'Let's see if that damned Madara could go in here and do his little massacre, shall we? I'd like to see him try with everything finally in place.'
She had been two when it happened. Well, Akimichi Yuuna had been two, and she, well, she was 29- Point is, she had just regained her conscious will after suffering a whole year of being a slave to baby instincts when the Kyuubi attack happened.
She had been incredibly grateful to have lived through the ordeal, but alas, it was not exactly a happy time.
Her second parents dead, countless other clansmen as well as is the rest of the village, she'd been forced to acknowledge the glaring hole in her plans for the future.
See, she was told to wait 25 years before returning to The Base to, hopefully, go home, and her basic plan was to wait it out in safety in Konoha. Hey, its obviously the major power in this world, right? Forgetting the fact that every damn chaotic event is centered on the place, she had been in for a bad wake-up call when all of a sudden, while having her afternoon nap, a terrorizing growl erased all notions of peace from her mind.
To make things simple and short, her simple plan of waiting it out has a glaring hole in it, namely: The Snake, Akatsuki and the insane Uchiha. And adding the large amount of other hidden villages just waiting to screw Konoha over, it wasn't exactly a savvy plan either.
Konoha was safe because she knew what will happen; but it was also a dangerous place to be for very much the same reason. And she doesn't exactly have the choice of living in other villages; not only would the move increase the danger for her compared to living in Konoha, there is also the fact that her deceased 'foster' parents had negated revealing her not so Akimichi-related genes to anyone.
Nowadays, her Uncle Chouza grew a tad bit panicky every time she disapears, viewing her as the last connection to his now deceased younger and only brother. And since the man had been pretty much a doting surrogate father to her...
She was stuck in Konoha, period.
Which brings everything down to The Plan: Since she obviously could not leave Konoha until 25 years into the future, and she knows for a fact that there's a very good chance of her becoming a casualty if ever things go the way they were supposed to in canon, she needed to do everything she can to make her village as safe as possible, sans putting herself into the spotlight.
She may be currently Mary Sue-ish in her position in FF terms, but she was not stupid. She had to do what she needed to without anyone the wiser.
For her survival, and the continued existence of her surrogate family, who by the way had been TOO overlooked in her opinion, she had to protect Konoha with everything she's got. Mainly, with time, knowledge and precognition; well, 'almost' precognition. No one can really fault her if ever, yeah? Not that they'll ever know.
Fortunately, people of this world, shinobi or otherwise, are mostly suckers when it comes to seals. And more lucky, the people who might possibly be considered experts on the field are either had just gone on indefinite leave, or members of Akatsuki, who are not Konoha citizens and definitely would not be making a visit until a few years into the future.
Lastly, as if Lady Luck herself was on her side, Konoha allows full disclosure of sealing basics to the public, obviously as an attempt to somehow not let the art die down as most just use storage seals.
To make things short, obtaining a copy of 'The Fundamentals of Sealing' had been easy, and so was mastering it. Blame it on being a reasonable adult stuck inside a child's body, maybe she was a repressed genius, etc., but sans the fact that she wasn't exactly a master of sealing bijuus or whatnot, she had the basics all down and good. Which was great since the basics are all you need anyway.
It took her a full year to perfect the design away from any prying eyes, and another to bend the hurdle she was sure to encounter but did not.
Fact is, she knew she was not native to this world and couldn't possibly have the ability to channel chakra or have even an ounce of said energy in her. Fact is, she'd originally planned on just stealing some of the blood-ink mixes her uncle kept in his study for the seals.
She did not expect to undergo clan-mandated chakra checks and find out that little Vincent's tub of shrinkage not only made her deage, but also incorporated chakra coils into her biological system.
Fact is, she can use and have chakra, which sped up her plans just in time to stop one giant tragedy waiting to happen in Konoha.
Checking to make sure her seals are in full effect, Yuuna hurried to run her way home so she can begin the next step in her scheme: Stop the fall of the Uchiha.
Judging from the fact that it had been approximately one year since the Kyuubi attack, she had just about three to four years to stop exactly THAT, at least she thinks so (Oh boo-hoo, her perception of time is screwed).
Akimichi Chouza was worried. It never really occured to him before, but now that it has been pointed out, he does feel like the Uchiha were not exactly treated fairly. It took his three-year-old niece for him to realize that not only do most civilians and Konoha nin fear the silent clan, they were treated with suspicion.
"Uncle Cho," the sweet innocent child of his dear brother began during their weekly family trip to the market, looking at a man yell angrily at a KMP officer, "why is that man yelling at the nice policeman?"
"Ah, its probably a misunderstanding, Yuu-chan," he answered gently, inwardly frowning as he kept an ear out at the conversation.
"Why the hell should I listen to you, you stuck-up bastard!" the clearly drunken man screamed some more. "You're not even a REAL shinobi, demoted to a policeman you Uchiha scum-"
"Please calm down, sir. I was only trying to make sense of what happened-"
"This fucking bitch is what happened!"
Chouza twitched, covering his niece's ears as he watched his wife do the same with their son, Chouji.
"Chouza," his wife Sachiko frowned worriedly, "perhaps I should go ahead to Yakiniku with the children first..?" and then sent a glance at the growing more aggravated group of drunkards surrounding the lone policeman.
"Hai, I think you should do that," the kind man nodded, smiling as he set down his niece to walk.
Watching as his family went their way, the Clan Head turned back to the scene just in time as one of the drunkards took out a knife and leaned to stab the lone Uchiha.
Needless to say, it had been a useless effort as the skilled shinobi easily disabled the attack, resulting in the attacker's broken wrist.
"Ahhhhhhhh! My hand!"
"I must ask you sir, to please stand down," Uchiha Yashino calmly intoned.
'No fucking doubt this goes up to the elders again-'
"You-! You-!" the man was clearly in pain, trying to lash out.
"If you please would cooperate," Yashino asked politely, "I will now escort you and your friends to the station."
Watching as the officer and the detained walk away, Chouza was both relieved that he was not needed to intervene and a little bit edgy, feeling that the issue was not over at all.
Watching as some of the onlookers visibly glare at the Uchiha walking away, Chouza worried and decided to perhaps keep a closer look into the goings of the village police.
It worried him that the citizens of Konoha held no respect for the policeman who clearly had been only doing his job.
What he found out next was shocking and a little bit disturbing, to say the least.
Shikaku blinked, lazy countenance a bit subdued at the sudden information.
"The Uchihas... kidnap civilians..?" the Nara head repeated, voice incredulous even to himself. "Chouza, what?"
"You heard right," the kind-hearted man was visibly worried. "Not only that. Apparently, they do it to test every new jutsu they obtain from enemies and even those stolen from fellow Konoha nins."
"That's..." Yamanaka Inoichi frowned, "ridiculous. I've known Fugaku since we were kids and that man is if not duty-obsessed, a little TOO anal about honor. I doubt he'd take kindly to the kind of practice the rumors suggest."
"I know that!" the Akimichi patriarch practically bristled. "But you wouldn't imagine what kind of malicious rumors has been circulating about their clan. There was even one about Orochimaru- Like how the Uchihas had used their doujutsu to control him and get him to turn traitor so they would have greater chance to the Hokage seat. Or how they were the ones who had set the Kyuubi toward Konoha-"
"Those are..." Shikaku frowned, "all a little TOO realistic for mere rumors. Their founding father, if I'm not mistaken, Uchiha Madara had been able to control bijuus. And that information is not at all available for civilians to talk about."
"So you see what I mean?" Chouza worried. "Something is really REALLY wrong."
The three veteran shinobis grew quiet in thought.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Inoichi nodded. "Someone is obviously doing their worse to discredit the Uchiha, and I think that someone is up somewhere where secret information is easily reached."
"Ho-Hokage-sama would not," Chouza paled at the very thought.
"I don't think so," Shikaku frowned, mind furiously going through every scenario he can think of. "The Sandaime may be a bit cautious towards them, but he would never sanction this kind of campaign. Suspicious or not, the Uchihas are half the founding clan of Konoha and any damage on them is a major tarnish on Konoha itself. No- Someone else is pulling the strings," a few minutes of thoughtful silence.
"We have to do something," Inoichi broke in. "These rumors are not exactly mild if what is happening now is taken into account. I remember an investigation just a couple days ago that had been closed because one of the civilians apparently complained that the Uchiha officer who detained him had used him as a practice dummy."
"Right," Chouza frowned. "I don't think Fugaku liked that one even though he never said anything even now."
"Hn," Shikaku nodded. "Perhaps. Even without knowing the culprit behind this, I fear we need to move now before this goes any further."
The two patriarchs suddenly looked paler at the implication.
"You..." Inoichi carefully begun, "don't think the Uchiha would do something, don't you?"
In reply, Shikaku pursed his lips, choosing to impart an age old wisdom that has been passed down through generations.
"To anger a woman, burn her beauty. To enrage a man, attack his pride."
"Really bad feeling," Inoichi mumbled, massaging his forehead.
Yuuna resisted the urge to run as far away as possible.
Sure, her plan worked, judging from the fact that it was now two months later since her little bit of manipulative push and she was now seated as one of the many clan children joining the first ever Unity Festival of Konoha, a celebration of Konoha's founding clans and their contribution to the village.
She knew, that while in public it was a so-called 'unity' thing event, among the many clans in attendance, it was an acceptance of the Uchiha Clan back to the heart of the village.
It took some considerable effort and empathy on her part, but she had watched in secret as the situation got considerably better with such efficiency, she suspected that the Nara Head had been the master planner.
Now she didn't know exactly what had happened, but judging from the fact that the Uchiha Clan seemed somewhat less tense than what she was used to, or how Fugaku would always look at her Uncle Chouza with grateful respect, or how the same man would grudgingly tolerate Nara Shikaku's lazy ways, she was pretty sure that everything pretty much happened just as she predicted.
Although, judging from the fact that the three geriatric stooges are still around and hanging by the clueless Sandaime's side, Yuuna suspected that whatever happened in the shadows is not exactly without loose strings.
'Fucking Danzo and his cronies- Geezer geriatric psychopaths who can't let go-'
"I better upgrade the seals just in case," the strange Akimichi mumbled incoherently to herself, fiddling with the loose red tie in her hair.
She understood that anything could happen now that things are changed. She understood perfectly.
Aside from the main plan, she just have to make sure that Konoha's unity remains and gets stronger so she didn't have to worry about anything so tragic in the near future, like the village being destroyed, etc, and thus her imminent demise.
No, she understood too well to think otherwise.
Although, she wondered if getting into such close quarters with what could only be a recipe for disaster is necessary.
"Ne, Yuu-chan," the strangely cute and bubbly three-year-old Akimichi looked up in mild apprehension as the Uchiha matriarch, Mikoto, came over to pick up the dozing two-year-old Sasuke beside her, who had been gently snoring and giving her dress some tiny little drool droplets. "It seemed like your playmate had fallen asleep, yeah?" Mikoto smiled kindly at the three-year-old.
Yuuna nodded, for really, what else is there to do?
"Okaasan," the source of Yuuna's REAL apprehension cut in. "May we see the kunai range? I would like to try for the prize."
"Hai, hai," Mikoto smiled at her eldest. "Would you like to come with us, Yuu-chan?" the matriarch glanced at the nearby Sachiko, who smiled back in assent.
Yuuna was at her wit's end at the very question.
She could handle a drooly Sasuke anytime. Give her the doglike Kiba, the incredibly traumatizing Aburame, but never, never could she handle the five-year-old in front of her.
Face strangely innocent but poker-like nonetheless, the Uchiha Genius was someone who could easily figure her out in a heartbeat.
"I-iie," the three-year-old adopted the shy girl route, hiding in her aunt's protection, face burried in cloth.
Mikoto smiled.
"Perhaps next time."
'No fucking hell, lady,' Yuuna thought vehemently. 'I save your family in secret, but that's it. Keep your brainy possibly nosy son within your sphere, ok? Thanks.'
She'd just gotten a major victory. She will not be creating a new hole to fall through.
'Stupid genius Itachi,' she glared at the back of the five-year-old, face still half-buried into her aunt.
In retrospect, that last action was pretty stupid in her part.