CHAPTER 10

Drip… drip… drip

The sound of some water drops echoed in the enclosed area. She was wrapped in silence, as if at the bottom of a pool. Down there, death was neither dark nor fearful. Like amniotic fluid to a fetus, it was natural, self-evident. This isn't so bad, Misaki thought, and almost smiled. That was when she heard another sound.

Drip.

The sound of this lone drop was loud and clear. It brought a warm sensation to her whole body that awoke her senses. Like a person surfacing from deep under water she took a long breath, and exhaled, as if replacing every molecule of air within her. Is something or someone there or is it just my imagination? Misaki opened her eyes and found herself in a wide soundless space that seemed surrounded by walls, only they were so far away that they couldn't be seen but felt. She was standing on the water that covered the whole floor and the only light originated from under the water.

"You're awake." A deep male voice said. In front of her, an elderly man she somehow hadn't noticed until then was standing in front of her. He had spiky hair and a goatee, he was wearing a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six blacks magatama around a high collar. Both his eyes showed the Rinnegan, and in the center of his forehead, a round Sharingan.

"Am I… dead?" Misaki asked shyly. Once she said it, she regretted instantly. This was her consciousness and her body was on the brink of death. Whether she lived or died wasn't up to her at this stage.

"You were close to. Though you had not yet die, this place is thine inner mind. However, there are people making sure you live. A girl with immense chakra and regenerating abilities is looking after you as we speak, so we don't have much time. My name is Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki." The man introduced himself.

"It's a pleasure to meet the Sage of Six Paths." She replied, somehow, she knew who this man was.

"I'm glad you know who I am, it'll save me time from explaining again. That young blond boy took most of my time a moment ago, at least the other one was more understanding."

"You mean Naruto and Sasuke?" Misaki asked.

"Correct."

"Why are you here, if may I ask?"

"I had foreseen that the incarnates of my two sons wouldst end up in such a state as that. Hence, I've come to share my power with them to help them defeat the man that has gained the power of the Tailed Beasts. They now have the power to seal this person in the same way my brother and I did with our mother Kaguya.

On the other hand… You're the descendant of my younger brother Hamura, the ancestor of the Hyūga clan and the founder of the shinobi of the Moon. Unlike with the two young shinobi, I'm not here to share my power with you because you already posses that power within you.

This is because you grandmother was a direct descendant of my late brother and your grandfather was a descendant of my younger son Ashura, from whom the Senju clan originates. On top of that, you've gained some of the visual prowess of the Sharingan after bearing an Uchiha, who are descendants of my older son Indra. Because of this, you already have both of the powers I've shared with Naruto and Sasuke in the same way I did with my sons. And the power that I couldn't give you, my younger brother's, you already possess.

Your destiny in this world has not yet arrived but I foresee that in the future you'll be able to achieve things others haven't been able to with the power that lies inside you. All I can do at this moment, considering your condition, is help you awaken these abilities until you're able to make use of them. You've inherited my brother's powerful chakra, the proficiency of wielding a sword and sensory abilities. All this combined with the combination of byakugan and sharingan in your system will let you unlock the Six Paths Senjutsu which is an heightened form of senjutsu. You can feel it inside you, don't you?" Hagoromo asked.

"Six Paths… Senjutsu? Me?" Misaki couldn't really believe his words.

"Yes. In the past and the present, wars had occur between powerful siblings and shinobi with a brother-like bond and it will be your duty to ensure history doesn't repeat itself with your two sons since they will both grow to be very powerful."

"Huh?" Misaki was lost for words for a long moment. "I only have a son, Hagoromo-sama."

"I see. Excuse me for getting ahead of myself. However, you're with child with your second son. I can clearly sense his powerful chakra inside of you. To be more clear, I can feel him retaining most of your chakra to protect himself, and that worries me because it reminds me of my mother who wished to keep all the chakra to herself."

Was she dreaming? Could this man be telling the truth? If he was, Misaki was carrying Kakashi's baby and that made her so unbelievable happy. A child that would be on par with her son Tetsuya, a gifted genius shinobi who was following after his father's steps in terms of skills and intelligence. Itachi, was after all praised as one of the best of his generation and one of the most powerful Uchiha of all time.

On the other hand, Kakashi was recognised as a prodigy among all Five Great Nations, who graduated even younger than Itachi from the Academy at the top of his class in a single year. He had exceptional abilities and a heart of gold. Misaki couldn't wait to see what their son would look like. However, without letting her dwell on the news, Hagoromo approached her and placed his hands on the sides of her temples then closed his eyes in concentration.

"For generations, your ancestors have not awaken the Byakugan. Nonetheless, it's prowess still runs through your veins but your chakra system is not completely active in the area surrounding your eyes. I don't think it'd be safe in your state to make use of your chakra for powerful jutsu, at least not for the time being. Nonetheless, I will unlock the tenketsu around your eyes that will enable you to unleash your true dōjutsu when you're ready."

"Misaki!" A commanding voice called out to her. The voice sounded far away, as if coming from a distant time. "Misaki-nēsan!" At that, Misaki's eyes flew open.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" She said in a hoarse voice. "You're alive?" Her vision focused slowly to find Sasuke, Orochimaru and the others around her.

"She's going to be fine, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru consoled him. "Karin's given her some of chakra. You don't have to worry."

"But I used up a lot when we had to get through that gigantic wooden thing so I couldn't give her enough to recover completely, not that I had it anyway." The girl named Karin complained.

"Thank you, Karin-chan." Misaki expressed her gratitude. If it weren't for her she probably would be dead by now.

Misaki looked at Sasuke who seemed to be making sure she was alright when she noticed on his left eye a Rinnegan similar to Madara's. "Sasuke-kun… your eye…" Sasuke stop the examination and met her eyes.

"It's a long story, Misaki. And right now, I need to go and stop Madara with the new power I've been given." He said before standing up to go and free Tobirama from the black rods that were keeping him immobile.

"Can you teleport, Nidaime?" Sasuke asked the Second Hokage who seemed bewildered at the fact that Sasuke had held the rods without being affected.

"Yeah… since I'm linked to Yondaime's markings. But at my current strength, I can only teleport one person."

"That's plenty, I alone need to go."

"No, wait!" Misaki yelled. However, Tobirama ignored her and sent Sasuke to the Fourth Hokage's location by placing his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Misaki-chan." Tobirama turned to look at her and apologised. "You haven't yet fully recovered. It'd be too dangerous to go right now. Somehow Sasuke has gained an incredible power and I can sense Naruto has as well. This is their fight."

Misaki placed both her hands over her still flat belly. After what the Sage of Six Paths had told her, she felt afraid to go to the front line and fight. When she had just woken up a moment ago, she thought it was a possibility that she'd only been dreaming. However, Sasuke had awoken the Rinnegan due to the power given by Sage of Six Paths which meant that she hadn't been dreaming and everything Hagoromo had told her must've been indeed true. There was a life growing inside of her and she had to protect it no matter what. The only thing she could do was rely on Sasuke and Naruto and trust that they would be able to defeat Madara. From the chakra she was sensing from them, each of them had more power than she currently had so if she were to fight, she would only be in their way.

The floor suddenly started shaking, large chunks of it breaking into pieces. Misaki jumped a few times to avoid being sucked into the gaps that were forming. But then, everything stilled as the night suddenly turned into light, making everyone squint at the unexpected brightness. Looking up, Misaki could see a Rinne Sharingan reflected on the red moon. This is bad. She thought to herself.

Tobirama materialised next to her. "Are you okay?" He asked her. When she looked at Tobirama, she noticed that behind him Orochimaru and Karin appeared to have Rinnegan eyes as they stared into the moon.

"Those eyes… is that…?" She murmured and then gasped, placing her hand over her mouth.

"Yes, Madara has launched the Tsukuyomi already. Everyone seems to be already under the genjutsu."

"It's so strong…" She whispered when she felt a current crawled up her spine. Automatically, she joined both hands in front of her chest and gathered her chakra to try and stop it before she realised what that could mean. The Sage of Six Paths advised earlier that it was dangerous for the baby to use her chakra on strong jutsu, and for the looks of the scale of this one she would have to utilise all of her remaining chakra. It was too risky and for that, she stopped fighting it, dropping her arms in defeat.

"Misaki, fight it! You can counter this jutsu!" She heard Tobirama call out to her but his voice already sounded far away and her sight seemed to had been taken away. The light, now so bright, blinded her as a sense of tranquility invaded her heart and mind. Powerless to fight, she let the genjutsu take over her.


"Misaki-chan! Hey, sleepy head, open your eyes" a gentle voice called out to her. Misaki opened her eyes and found Shisui kneeling in front of her. She sat up rubbing her eyes confused. "Where am I?" Her voice sounded strange to her ears.

"Huh? You really need to be careful, you've overused your chakra, that's very dangerous. You gave me quite a fright when you just collapse and didn't react for a few seconds. We're behind the training grounds, don't you recognise the place?" Shisui asked her, concern on his face. "Y-Yes, I recognise the place but… why are you here?"

"What do you mean? We were sparring five minutes ago, I put you under my genjutsu but after a while you managed to break out of it, again! However, you used up all your chakra and dropped, but now you're back. Here, have some water." Shisui handed her a bottle. She took a sip while trying to remember what has happened earlier. She vaguely remembered what Shisui has just told her and she remembered drinking from his bottle water with a sense of déjà vu. Didn't she have have some rice balls that Mikoto sent over?

"Hey, I brought some lunch, Okāsan thought you two would be hungry by now. Let's have some lunch together." Itachi said as he approach them. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. Itachi looked confused by the question, "I've just finished the mission I was assigned to and when I went home to change okāsan gave me some lunch to bring over. Are you ok? You look kind of pale, Misaki." Itachi placed a hand on her cheek.

"She used too much chakra again, she'll be back to normal after having some food. Don't worry Itachi-kun." Shisui took one of the rice balls and handed it to her. She took a bite but kept looking from Shisui to Itachi over and over, an unusual feeling clutching at her chest, she was feeling content just seeing them but in an eerie kind of way.

I met Shisui when I was 5 and Itachi a year later. They were both from the Uchiha clan but they welcomed me into their lives and we developed strong bonds, we were like a family… This is the place where I belong, with them. They both look so cheerful and untroubled… she suddenly had a flashback of an older Itachi's with a concerned face.

This isn't right! "I'm under a genjutsu" she muttered.

"What? No, you broke out of it. And why would I put you under a genjutsu eating rice balls?" Shisui laughed but she started to have trouble to simply breathe. A family where I belong… but I have my own family. Well, the only person left is my father… hold on, this is… Her heart seemed to stop.

"Misaki! Hey, take a deep breath, what's going on?" Itachi was holding both her shoulders and shaking her lightly. She had stopped breathing and her lungs were burning, she hadn't realised she wasn't breathing until then.

"Well, she was worried about your last ANBU mission, Itachi." Shisui told him while placing a hand on his shoulder, then looked at her with one of his goofy smiles on his face. "I told you he was going to be fine. See? He's back. You don't have to worry about anything, we will always be here with you." Here… with you. The words echoed in her mind like a warning bell.

"No! This isn't real! I need to break out of this genjutsu!" she stood up and started running away but Shisui used his Body Flicker jutsu and materialised in front of her. "Hey, stop. You're worrying me." She struggled against his hold while Shisui kept talking. "It us, Misaki-chan, Itachi and me. We're your family, you know that, right? We're both here, with you, we'll always be here…"

Misaki knew this wasn't right but unconsciousness won over her again.


Misaki found herself looking at the blue sky from the top of the Hokage's building. "It's finally happened. I always knew he could become Hokage, and know he is in a position to change the shinobi world." Misaki looked to her right to face the person who had spoken, Shisui was standing next to her, he was in his mid-twenties wearing the standard jonin attire and looking proud. She followed his gaze and found the Third Hokage handing his hat a man already wearing a standard white and red Hokage's cloak. She gasped when her brain registered that the man was no other than Itachi. "I'm counting on you, Fifth Hokage," Lord Third announced. "From this day on, I shall protect Konoha with my life as the Fifth Hokage." Itachi responded turning to the villagers who started cheering loudly. She felt joy fill her heart, the problems between the Uchiha and the village would come to an end, the village would be protected. He could even bring peace to the country as he had the mindset for it.

After most of the people came to him to congratulate him, Itachi approached her and Shisui, a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth. "With you as my right-hand man," he said to Shisui, "and you as captain of the ANBU under my command," he told her, "there's nothing that will stop us from achieving our goals."

"Hai! Godaime-sama!" She answered, making Itachi laugh. "Oh, please. Address me as you always have, can't have you calling sama." Both Itachi and Shisui started laughing and when they saw the confusion on her face the laughter turned even louder. "Alright, let's go home Misaki. Our friends will be arriving soon to celebrate, I'll see you later Shisui."

They walked towards the Uchiha compound in silence but Misaki could feel Itachi's eyes on her. "Niisan!" Sasuke called out to him as he was running towards them. "Sasuke?" she asked out loud. Sasuke was wearing Konoha's Police Force attire. "Sorry I missed the ceremony, how was it?"

"It went as planned, we're on our way home now. Will you be able to make it later?"

"Sure, I just need to finish a report in HQ and I'll be on my way. I'll see you both later." Sasuke smiled before running off. Misaki felt her heart grow fonder at the friendly interaction between the siblings for some reason. Her smile turned into a frown.

Itachi stopped her at the entrance and placed a comforting hand on her cheek. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her.

"No, everything is perfect. I'm happy for you, for your clan and the village."

"So why do you look like something is missing?"

"Do I? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm just trying to take in all these changes, I guess." Misaki answered in a confused way.

"You say that like things have happened all of a sudden but we've been working for years to be where we are now. I… wanted to ask you later on but maybe it'll be better if I do it now…"

"Ask me what?"

"Misaki, everything I've ever envisioned has come true so far. When I first met you, I was filled with light and hope. The time that I first saw you stopping mid-spar to run to my little brother, I knew we were meant to be. Before I came to know you I was trying to find the meaning of life, now I'm a better person because of you. We both love to have a family full of love and dream of a shinobi world free of hate, so together we can accomplish that. And those are just a few of the reasons I'm hoping you'll spend the rest of your life with me, because I need you by my side, always. Marry me and be called Misaki Uchiha. Marry me and stay with me and never leave me, I cannot bear another day of my life to go by that does not have you in it."

Misaki was so shocked she couldn't speak. She had dreamt of becoming Itachi's wife since she was probably only 10 years old, she was 21 now and it seemed like hadn't thought about that dream for a very long time. How was that possible? Isn't this what she wanted for so long?

"Y-You don't want to?" Itachi asked seeing her hesitation.

"Of course I do, I'm just shocked that's all." She jumped into his open arms, her body fitting perfectly into his. This is where I belong.

"You scared me there for a second. But now I can't wait for spend the rest of my life with you, build a family, seeing our kids run around, calling us mom and dad… Mom? Her heart skipped another beat and it suddenly it felt like it was breaking into two. She clutched her chest and took a step back. Mom. The voice of her son echoed in her mind.

"We-we already have Tetsuya, our son. I need to go back to him."

"What? Misaki, what are you talking about? This is what we both wanted, don't you see this is where you belong?" Itachi kept urging.

"No! This isn't right! It's still a genjutsu, it just keeps getting stronger and my resolve is weakening. I need to get out of here!" She started running with a heavy heart from the dream world she once wanted but she also knew it wasn't real. It wasn't right for her to be here no matter how much her heart longed for it. She closed her eyes and gathered her chakra in another attempt to break out of this place.