'I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become. I am a survivor.'


Okay, before I begin this chapter, I would like to reply to AFC (Guest)'s review. I hadn't even thought that Mikoto didn't like Akito because of her vocabulary/unnatural baby-ness. I thought I'd made it clear very early on (but I bet I didn't and sort of implied it, probably -_-") that her parents don't even know the normal development rate of an infant. That was never even a reason for this hatred. But I hope you understand where Mikoto's thoughts come from, because I believe she's justified, given her background. However, it's perfectly understandable if you no longer want to read Welcome to Tomorrow anymore, because I understand completely.


1st of October
Time: 1600 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Home of the Uchiha Clan Head

Extract from chapter 10: Homely Hatred – Just before we left the Akimichi Clan compound completely, Shisui-chan stopped me for a moment and said, "I meant what I said though, about you being more than your parents."

Shisui knocked on Aki-senpai's door and, not hearing an answer, he decided to walk right in anyway.

Aki-senpai had said that she might be a bit late because Togari-san had wanted to treat her to some tea, so he was going to wait for Aki-senpai at her home so that they could walk to Yamanaka Enzen's house (Aki-senpai had taught three of his kids how to throw shuriken accurately, and how to focus their thoughts enough to manage their Yamanaka Clan techniques, so they were 'eternally indebted' to Aki-senpai).

As he walked in, he heard the shower and the tap in the kitchen running, thus identifying exactly where Itachi-chama and Mikoto-sama were respectively.

He headed into the kitchen to announce his presence, but just before he did, he heard Mikoto-sama say, "Why? Is Akito-chan not enough for you?"

"I don't understand where you're getting this idea from Mikoto, but you're wrong," said Fugaku-sama.

"Am I?" the cutting edge to Aki-senpai's mother's voice made him almost flinch. "I tell you that you need to buy more socks, and Akito-chan says you need more handkerchiefs and you went and bought more handkerchiefs when you know you don't even use them! But guess what, you don't have any socks without holes in them, and you come around blaming me for not telling you, and then Akito-chan comes along and says that I had, but you didn't believe me when I told you that I had. No! Because if darling Akito says so, it must be true, but if my wife of ten years says so, she might be lying?"

"You're overreacting."

Mikoto-sama smashed a glass plate in the sink as she threw it down. "I'm overreacting!? My daughter has more of a say in how this house runs than I do, and I can't even count on my own husband to believe me! I've lived here longer, I've known you longer, I should have a greater say in how this house ought to be run. But NO, Akito-chan gets that privilege too!"

The shower turned off, and both parents arranged themselves to look like they hadn't been arguing. So they don't want Itachi-chama to know about this…

Shisui didn't know how anyone could blame Aki-senpai for taking over their jobs, because as far as he was aware, she usually did the jobs and took on the responsibilities for things that no one would step up for.

He wanted to discuss this with Aki-senpai, but…at the same time, he didn't want her to know what her mother thought of her. It would break her heart, especially because Aki-senpai looked up to her mother and wanted "to be just as graceful and sassy as Okaa-san."

He'd never kept secrets from her before though…should he tell her and let her know in advance? Or should he hide it, and spare her feelings?

"Shisui-nii?" voiced Itachi-chama, and if Shisui hadn't been working on his awareness skills, he never would have noticed. "When did you get here?"

Shisui smiled at Aki-senpai's little brother easily and said, "Just now. I knocked but no one heard."

Itachi-chama nodded, and then asked, "Do you want to wait for Aneki upstairs? She'll probably head there first anyway."

Shisui nodded and followed him up the stairs, and they both went to Aki-senpai's room.

It wasn't the first time he'd been in her room (they'd been friends since they were two. It would have been a miracle if he hadn't seen her room and vice versa) and it wasn't the first time he'd marvelled at how peaceful he felt here, and how little it had changed over the years.

Even when they had been three years old and had had their first accidental sleepover (they'd both tired themselves out and had fallen asleep. Sleepovers just weren't done in the Uchiha Clan), the same pale grey walls greeted him (somehow, even though it was a disheartening colour, he'd never associated grey with misery because Aki-senpai made everything about her cheerful, including her room walls), the same sturdy oak study table stood in the corner—although there were far more books now than there were then, and the topics of the books had changed as well, from fairy tales, clan genealogy books and history manuscripts to medical texts, baby-care handbooks, a few recipe books, journals, school texts and jutsu scrolls, the same hand painted bed post (Aki-senpai had been ecstatic, content and sentimental when she'd found out Mikoto-sama and Fugaku-sama had made it just for her, even if it wasn't strictly well-done), the same side table with knickknacks artistically arranged on it (although now it had gifts that multiple people had given her because of the Ten Minute Riot) and the same red and white light shade covering her light bulb.

Things, of course, had changed over the years; Sasuke-chan's crib stood at the foot of her bed, the curtains were now a forest green instead of the previous pastel pink, and her dressing table now had more hairgrips than before because of how long her hair had gotten—just past her knees. Shisui loved her hair; it was as wild and beautiful as she was.

Shaking himself out of thoughts that made him blush, he sat on one of the white cushions stacked near her cupboard for guests to sit on and brought one for Itachi-chama as well. He, with his hair still damp from his shower, walked over to the crib and took out a cooing Sasuke-chan, who tried to grab at thin air for Aki-senpai's hair. Itachi-chama put his finger into Sasuke-chan's tiny grabbing fists and Sasuke-chan frowned before blinking blearily up at his big brother.

"How old is he now?" Shisui asked as Itachi-chama carefully sat down with his little brother in his arms.

"70 days today," Itachi-chama answered immediately.

Shisui stopped to consider exactly how dedicated Itachi-chama was to his Otouto before shrugging it off; Aki-senpai was inordinately attached to Itachi-chama as well. It was probably just their family thing.

"Which is…ten weeks. Isn't he a bit small for ten weeks?" asked Shisui.

Itachi-chama frowned lightly (and Shisui could see exactly where Aki-senpai was coming from when she said that frowny!Itachi was adorable) and said, "Really?"

Sasuke-chan, sensing his elder brother's discomfort, began cooing frantically and trying in vain to reach his face, presumably to pat it like both his elder siblings did for him.

Itachi-chama gently held his Otouto's pudgy arms and brought his face closer to him, placing Sasuke-chan's tiny starfish hand on his cheek. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. I'll ask Aneki why when she comes back."

If he hadn't heard Mikoto-sama today, he wouldn't have thought that, actually, it was pretty strange for a five year old to ask his only-two-years-older sister about these things instead of asking his mother, especially considering his mother was just downstairs and his sister wasn't currently home at the moment.

"Why not ask Mikoto-sama?" he prodded.

Itachi-chama looked at him like as though he were a llama walking sideways at a disco (he'd been spending far too much time with Aki-senpai…) and said, "Okaa-san thinks Otouto is developing slowly because he hasn't started crawling yet. Babies start crawling when they're six months old on average. Case in point."

"Ah."

Itachi-chama started gently prodding Sasuke-chan's tummy and mumbled gibberish* to him.

"Shisui-nii? I'm worried."

Shisui tilted his head, prompting Itachi-chama to elaborate.

He continued staring at his Otouto with soft eyes and played with his downy hair as he gurgled in happiness. "Okaa-san and Otou-san have been fighting a lot. I don't know what to do."

Shisui looked at him searchingly, wondering whether he knew why they were fighting. "Do you know what about?"

He shook his head. "They usually stop by the time I'm close enough to hear. But whatever it is, I want it to stop. But I don't know how to make it stop."

Itachi-chama looked distressed. "You don't want Aki-senpai to know." It wasn't a question, and Itachi-chama's nod proved Shisui correct.

"I don't blame you," said Shisui with a sigh.

Aki-senpai was overworking herself, and overextending herself. It wasn't very noticeable, but something seemed to be wearing away at her nerves. This was another reason why Shisui didn't want to tell her about what he'd heard downstairs. He didn't know specifically what she was worried about—and he knew if he asked her, she would just smile at him wearily and tell him not to worry about it, which would make him worry even more—but he had an inkling as to what it could be; Megane-chama was having problems with Danzou-sama. All three of them were worried about what he would do next, but no one was as worried as Aki-senpai was.

Aki-senpai worried too much about them.

It made him both happy and concerned about her health.

"What should I do?" he asked, and Shisui took a good look at him.

"How long has this been going on?"

"…a couple of weeks now."

Perhaps if he'd never known Aki-senpai, never spent the majority of his life with her, he wouldn't have thought or done what he did next.

But that was neither here nor there, because he did think that Itachi-chama was quite possibly one of the bravest people he knew for holding onto this stress for this long and having the courage to look past his pride and realise that he needed help but didn't want to bother his already-bothered Aneki, and he did get up and give the boy he'd watched Aki-senpai raise a hug that conveyed that he always had a Shisui to unload on.

Shisui and Itachi-chama were actually very close, both because they'd grown up together as well (in a way, Aki-senpai had been an elder sister to both of them) and because they were both very similar in temperament, more similar than Aki-senpai and Shisui were; they both thought before they spoke, prepared before they acted, and always had to think twice before they said something in case it might be construed as too rude.

The difference was that Shisui was far more adept at reading situations and people than either Aki-senpai or Itachi-chama, and therein lay his genius.

Shisui, Itachi-chama and Aki-senpai were actually very similar, all things considered.

But then, they were all different enough.

And Shisui loved that the most.

"Let it go for now. It's not your problem to solve. People fight all the time Itachi-chama. Your parents are no exception. Besides," he said, releasing him from the hug. "At least they aren't acting like my parents; those two haven't talked in months now."

Itachi-chama frowned. "This is the first I'm hearing of this."

Shisui shrugged. "Nothing worth mentioning really. Okaa-san went out for a couple of drinks and Otou-san said she was irresponsible. They'll come around. They've reached the 'pining for each other and really not talking to each other only because of pride' stage. Give it a week and they'll be back to being happily dysfunctional again."

Itachi-chama chuckled and Shisui felt that his mission was accomplished.

But…

When Itachi-chama stopped laughing, the laughter still continued.

Shisui's eyes widened in surprise and Itachi-chama very nearly squealed.

Nestled in his blanket, with a hand on Itachi-chama's face and a fist clenched tightly to his side, Sasuke-chan was laughing. A gurgling, joyful sound that was impossible to replicate.

"His first laugh?" called a voice from the doorway, and both boys nearly jumped, because neither one of them had noticed her presence.

"Hai, Aneki. Isn't it…early?"

"Very," she said, taking out pins from her hair and letting it all tumble out of its tight bun. With a smile on her rose-milk face and laughter in her shiny dark eyes, holding her inky tresses in place, Aki-senpai plopped onto her bed and began plaiting rapidly, her hands weaving the strands of her hair as fast as they moved through hand signs. "Looks like we have yet another genius on our hands!"

Itachi-chama, unlike what Shisui had expected at the happy revelation, frowned deeply. "Are you sure, Aneki?"

Aki-senpai seemed to have caught on to her Otouto's discomfort. "Relax, Otouto; Sa-chan's roughly three months old, give or take a few weeks. That's about the right time anyway. We're not getting him started on intensive genjutsu training."

Shisui felt that he'd missed something, but Itachi-chama's shoulders relaxed at this pronouncement, so he let it go.

"Still," she continued thoughtfully, tying her plait at the end, "Most babies laugh when they see their favourite person. Congratulations Otouto! Sa-chan wuvs you!"

She reached out and pinched Itachi-chama's cheeks before rubbing hers against his in a bear hug.

Shisui laughed at Itachi-chama's exasperated expression. "He loves everyone, Aneki."

"I beg to differ," said Shisui with a laid-back smile. "He can barely stand me."

Itachi-chama and Aki-senpai shared a blank look before simultaneously saying, "True."

And that, Shisui thought as Sasuke-chan laughed again, is that.


9th of October
Time: 1730 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Eda Street, Outside the Home of the Uchiha Clan Head

Uchiha Izumi was a very bright girl, both in terms of intelligence and in terms of personality. She was the type that looked at the positives of a bad situation rather than the negatives, and she had a habit of unnecessarily making things complicated.

Consequently, Izumi's worries about insignificant things and upbeat can-do attitude about others weren't very well-received by her more conservative and less open-minded relatives.

At least, that was until they met Akito-hime.

Izumi wasn't like the rest of the girls, who fantasised about cute boys and being swept away on a white horse into the sunset. Or at least, that was what she used to tell herself.

She used to tell herself that she wasn't girly, that she was a sensible, down-to-earth girl who would make a difference in people's lives. She convinced herself that fashion didn't interest her, dolls and make-up were for females who wanted to go into prostitution or civilian jobs, and that she was okay with having nothing in common with the other girls.

But then Akito-hime had happened, and suddenly Izumi-chan liked fashion, had a doll that she played dress-up with, wore jewellery when she wanted to, and had crushes (or you know, the one guy.)

Because if Akito-hime, the girl that everyone looked up to, the one that had (according to various sources) changed the Uchiha inside out without even trying, who had changed Konoha before even leaving the academy, could wear beads in her hair, discuss romantic fantasies with her girl friend, and still be considered respectable, then Izumi-chan could be girly and still kick ass too.

Izumi hadn't known how much of an impact this would have on her life, but now that she knew the extent to which her life had become lighter, she couldn't be more grateful that Akito-nee-sama existed.

So when that amazing, wonderful girl had asked her to remind her of a date that was otherwise insignificant, then Izumi had enough respect for her to not ask any questions, even though she was dying to know.

However, when she had told Akito-nee-sama that the next day was the tenth of October, when she saw the way all colour had drained out of Akito-nee-sama's face, when she saw the slight tremble in her hands, when she saw her dilated pupils and silent mumbles of "no, no, no"...

Izumi decided that she didn't want to know.

Not because she wasn't curious, but because she couldn't bring herself to ask Akito-nee-sama. Because it looked like she might cry if prodded.

And in that moment, Akito-nee-sama was so fragile.

And in that instant, she was no longer a guardian angel-warrior.

She was a guardian human.

"Thank you, Izumi-chan."

Izumi placed a hand on Akito-nee-sama's shoulder and said, "Stay here. I'll go get Shisui-san."

Akito-nee-sama forestalled her with a shake of her head.

"No, that's fine Izumi-chan. I'm fine. No need to bother Shisui-chan. He'll probably be at my house anyway."

"Are you sure?" asked Izumi in concern.

Akito-nee-sama smiled at her, and if Izumi had been any less observant, she wouldn't have noticed the new shadow in her eyes and would have happily carried on believing that she was fine.

"Really, don't worry about it. It's just been a long day, that's all," she said, and then straightened her back bracingly and smiled again, and this time there were no shadows darkening her already-pitch-black eyes. "Why don't you head on home. You look completely out of breath, and I'll bet you haven't finished the homework Otouto's been pouting about."

Izumi blushed, all thoughts of Akito-nee-sama's reaction swept away from her mind.

"Hai, Akito-nee-sama! I'll get right to it."

And with a pat on her head, Akito-nee-sama left her there and entered her home.

Izumi began planning the essay that was due in tomorrow, making her way home. It would be years before she looked back on this day and decided that, yes, this was the moment that really changed her life. Forever.


9th of October
Time: 1740 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Home of the Uchiha Clan Head

Uchiha Itachi was a very complex individual.

He had this strange duality of being both far too caring and being utterly aloof; of loving too deeply and feeling apathetic to his loved ones' plights; of having faith in humanity and despairing at their self-inflicted doom; of loving Konoha and hating it at the same time.

Itachi would be the first person to admit he wasn't the easiest person to get along with, and he would maintain that he could come off as arrogant and condescending. Sometimes, it was because he genuinely was condescending, and he actually did feel superior to most.

He'd spent a good hour working out whether it was a bad thing that he did, and he had concluded that, actually, no. Humility would not serve him anywhere, and the only reason he could think of that would make feeling superior a negative aspect of his character was if he let that stop him from identifying and improving on his flaws. And Itachi, even at his 'tender' age of five, wasn't one to shy away from his shortcomings.

Itachi knew that he lacked a certain charisma that endeared people to his Okaa-san, Aneki, Otouto, Shisui-nii and even his Otou-san (to a certain extent), and he had realised a long time ago that he could either get jealous and bitter about it, or accept it as a fact of life and move on from it.

It had been a bitter pill to swallow at a very young age, that he could never be perfectly assured of what his fellow humans actually saw him as, that he could read people easily but that they could never read him quite as easily, because he was…

He was not relatable.

And yet, his ideas were very charismatic, so much so that when people got over his uncharismatic personality, they couldn't help but be drawn to him like bees to honey. His ideas of peace, his notions on violence and their justifiability, his interest and understanding of history and its applicability to everyday life…many people had been ensnared by this dangerously alluring charm of his, and it had soothed his inner demon.

Itachi had, of course, hypothesised that all humans had demons. He'd heard and read the phrase often enough to understand it to be common knowledge, but he'd concluded that, actually, every human had only one demon, and that this demon was as alive as the individuals that had them themselves were. Itachi saw the demon to be all the suppressed emotions of an individual, all the facets of a character that society frowned upon, all the memories an individual would rather forget, all of those things combined into one animalistic being that allowed humans to be rational.

All of their primitiveness, their baseness, was kept at bay because it was absorbed by this demon inside them, and for some, it got to such an extent that the demon took over the individual, became more than the individual, and consumed them.

This, Itachi surmised, was madness.

It wasn't many five year olds that thought so deeply about the very nature of human beings and their duality, but Itachi had never been normal.

In another world, perhaps that would have made him unhappy; perhaps he would have isolated himself and hidden his true self under an nth number of masks to ward off others, before they realised how inhuman he was, that he ought to be locked up really because he was mad mad madmadmadmadmadmad

But that was not the case for Itachi, sometimes known as Itachi-chama or Otouto. Itachi, instead, was allowed to be slightly mad, because "everyone's a little bit mental, ne Otouto?" Here, Itachi knew that "normal" was relative, and that his odd theories, his introspective bouts, his "madness", were just a part of what made him Itachi.

And he was loved anyway, so what did it matter if sometimes he couldn't bear to see his own reflection in the mirror because his eyes reflected his objective callousness?

No, Itachi was, considering how well he fit into the mad genius stereotype, as un-anti-social and reclusive as he could be.

He had a best friend, he had several acquaintances, he was friends with some people from the District playground and his table partner, Seki-kun, and he had the Kami-blessed ability to make mindless small talk with people of lesser intelligence.

In short, even with his complexities, Itachi was functional.

And most days, he could look in the mirror and appreciate himself without feeling like gouging his own eyes out.

It wasn't that Itachi hated himself, not really. It was more to do with the fact that he knew he should be doing more. He should be, because he had both the brain capacity, the vision, and the power to do so, to make the world a better place.

Because when you have the power to make a difference and you don't, and then something goes wrong, it's your fault.*

So Itachi had both a superiority complex and a sense of self-hatred, as well as being uncharismatically charismatic and madly sane.

He would go so far as to say that, most of the time, he couldn't understand himself, because Kami-sama he was confusing!

But that wasn't what was important right now.

Because his Aneki had walked through the door, and he'd fed his Otouto too much milk in his distraction and now his baby brother's bib was soaked with undrunk milk, and something wasn't right.

"Aneki?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice as he saw his elder sister's figure from where he was sitting.

She didn't have slumped shoulders, she didn't have any sort of odd look in her face or her eyes, and there was nothing discernibly wrong with her.

But Itachi knew something was wrong, even if there was no indication that anything was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Straight to the point, because Aneki spoke roundabout with people outside the house, but never within. It was one of those things that made home special.

"Nothing, Otouto. I'm fine," she said with a smile, taking off her sandals and walking up to them.

His Otouto was asleep, his face peaceful and covered with milk. I'm going to have to clean this mess up, or it'll get sticky, he thought distractedly as Aneki thudded next to him.

She kissed his forehead and tucked a strand of his chin-length hair behind his ear, before bending down and doing the same with the youngest.

"You're not fine," he said.

"Can we not acknowledge the elephant in the room, please?" she said, not looking at him.

And Itachi let it go, because he knew his Aneki knew her limits, and he'd asked, had shown his concern, and now no longer needed to bother pestering.

In fact, he altogether stopped worrying.

Because Itachi was a very complex person, but never once had his relationship with his Aneki been complicated. If she said that she was dealing with it (in her own special way of course), then she would deal with it.

He trusted her. It was as simple as that.

Love, he understood, didn't have to be complicated if you didn't want it to be.


Two Hours Ago

9th of October
Time: 1540 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
En Route to the Uzumaki-Namikaze Apartment

Uchiha Mikoto had been friends with Uzumaki Kushina since both girls had been in the academy, when Kushina had been Tomato-face and Mikoto had been Precious-Princess. They had had fights over the years, had made up over the years, had fought in countless battles and protected each other's backs over the years, and not once had they regretted sticking around each other, even when Kushina had smashed Mikoto's wedding cake because she disapproved of the "stuck up prickly fish-faced lily-livered stoned anal crab with a walking stick and garlic for brains!", also known as the would-be husband.

Mikoto's head had been swimming with half-formed thoughts, mild regrets, anger and some animal clawing the insides of her stomach, filling her throat with acid and bile, and who better to talk to than the best friend that had been with her every step of the way?

So she walked the quarter of a mile distance between their houses, sashaying past the stalls and mutterings and wolf-whistles, and ignoring the looks of hate and pity directed at her with her head held high. The sky was a cornflower blue, the sun was ineffectual, the air was crisp, and Mikoto breathed but couldn't enjoy it, because every time she even touched on what she wanted to talk about, she felt like crying.

In fact, many a night when her husband worked late and her two sons were asleep and her daughter was out at goodness-knows o'clock, Mikoto had cried. She'd sobbed into her pillow, letting out the never-ending anguish and self-pity that she felt, because she was human and allowed to cry and it made her such a bad person but she was not sorry, never, never, never!

By the time her husband came home every night, and her daughter had finished ribbing him in the way he would only ever allow Akito-chan to, Mikoto had dried her tears, employed an undetectable genjutsu to hide the signs of her cowardice, and welcomed her husband home.

Every. Damn. Night.

Because she was the mistress of the house, and she was the adult, and she wasn't allowed to be weak because weakness was frowned upon, weakness was not forgiven, weakness meant you were useless, weakness meant you could be replaced.

Her mother had taught her that lesson a long time ago. And every time she'd seen her father come home with the scent of another cloyingly sticking to him, she'd clenched her teeth and remembered it well.

But Kushina had taught her that, if it was with Kushina, Mikoto could afford to be a little weak, a little mean, a little not perfect.

She knocked on her best friend's door and in a few moments, it was opened by the constant sun of her life. "Miko-chan! Come on in, I was just going to have some tea!"

Mikoto smiled gratefully and entered the spacious apartment, and unbidden, her mind compared it to her own home.

Mikoto had never known that this condescending part of her was a bad thing until Kushina had told her so, and when she mentally, instinctively, mocked her best friend's choice in decoration, well.

Mikoto was not one to hate herself. But feel inadequate? She could do it like the best of them.

Kushina told her to take a seat and then joined her after a spell, bringing a teapot and two cups on a tray for her best friend. "You look like a cloud's been raining on you all day, Miko-chan. What's up?"

Mikoto smiled genuinely. Trust Kushina to get to the meat of things without me even speaking.

"It's nothing."

Mikoto wasn't, of course, as blasé as that. She would wait and bring the ensuing conversation to her point sooner or later, but she could never jump around conversation topics like her friend could. Besides, she had yet to figure out exactly how she was going to verbalise what she wanted to say. "How is the pregnancy going?"

Kushina gave her a visceral grin. "Peachy! I can't feel my feet, my bladder's acting up, I waddle when I walk, I can't see my toes, my ankles are killing me, Minato's a dick, and I keep waking up every half hour damnit and I want to sleep! Kushina likes sleep. Kushina needs sleep. Kushina wants the baby to stop kicking or I'll fucking rip his legs off his body! What about you?"

Mikoto suppressed a smirk and teased, "Peachy myself. I had a nice, relaxing bath before heading over here, did the laundry, read a book, went through my kata in the backyard, mowed the lawn…you know, lots of physical activities, not many bathroom breaks…"

Kushina threw her a dirty look. "You know what, Miko-chan? Fuck you!"

Mikoto giggled at her best friend, already feeling some of the choking pressure lessen around her throat. Kushina muttered assorted dark threats under her breath, some involving quite inventive applications of ribbons and cat entrails. Mikoto mentally took note of exactly how Kushina planned on using the chopping board to gut a llama and nail said guts to the Hokage monument, right under her husband's nose (both literally and figuratively).

"That's a lot of abuse you're intending on dishing out. I thought you were a staunch supporter of animal rights."

"Lies!" said Kushina. "If it can move, it can fucking fight for itself, and if it can't fight well enough, sucks to be it!"

Mikoto hummed in amusement, well aware that Kushina was more likely to adopt the animal instead of eat it, being an on-again off-again vegetarian (depending on how sympathetic and insane she felt). "Is that so?"

Kushina's expression changed suddenly and she levelled Mikoto with a look. "Okay, enough of the obligatory foreplay. If you can't find the words, then spit it out like it comes in your head."

"We've known each other far too long," said Mikoto with a sigh before nodding.

Kushina put her cup of tea down and placed her arms on her bulging stomach. "Speak, woman."

Mikoto hesitated for a bit, not understanding how she ought to begin. "I…you know Akito-chan."

Kushina gave her an are-you-losing-your-shit-girl? look and said, "She comes over nearly every week. I think I know her, but that might just be me."

Mikoto ploughed on. "Then you must know…how…annoying she is."

Kushina blinked in confusion. "I'm not following."

Mikoto decided to try a different angle. "All my life, I've been told to follow…no, that's not right...from the minute I was born, my mother has decided everything in my life, from my food intake to my clothes to my friends to how long I should let my hair grow to what kind of shampoo I ought to use. I hated it, more than anything else…being controlled by someone else. I promised myself I would never do that to my daughter, to my children, because they were their own people and it crippled me, the lack of independence. It made me vulnerable in a world where I had to learn to stand on my own two feet. I promised myself that I would never let that happen."

Kushina nodded, indicating she was listening, her left hand slightly clenching to show how angry she was at what Mikoto's mother's actions had done to her.

"My mother always spoke for me, always decided what my opinions should be, what I ought to say, who I ought to speak to…she nit-picked my flaws in public, told everyone who praised me what a 'menace' I was at home…she dominated my very existence. When she was around, I might as well have not existed, for all the recognition I got."

Mikoto sighed, rubbing the tears that had fallen down her face, unbidden, at the memory of the woman she had both loved and hated.

"When Akito-chan was born, I told myself I wouldn't be like her, that I would be better, that I'd let my daughter shine because my mother never let me."

She took a shuddering breath. "I could never understand why my mother always belittled me and made me feel small, because I was her daughter, wasn't I? I was her flesh and blood; why would she need to outshine me? These past few months though…I think I can finally understand why."

Kushina's eyes widened. "Miko-chan?"

Mikoto didn't acknowledge her best friend, eyes staring solemnly at her still cup of tea.

"Before Akito-chan, when people came to the house, they usually came to meet me; now, not even one of my friends or family or acquaintances comes over without asking "where's Akito-hime?", and when I tell them she isn't home because she's never home during the day, they look all disappointed and some even outright leave without even saying "sorry for wasting your time", or "excuse me", because of course, I'm just the automated doormat that disappoints everyone!"

Mikoto gulped, her eyes watering with frustration and pain, because dammit, she had never been first! When she was a child, it was her mother, when it was her teenage years, it was Kushina, and now that she was into adulthood and her prime, it was her own daughter. Mikoto…she was never first, never the shiny new toy people wanted…always, always the last toy on the shelf that gathered dust, because people around her were so much more fascinating, so much more captivating and bright and bold.

Mikoto didn't hate herself. She figured that she didn't need yet another person to do that.

"Shujin-sama listens to her first, always listens to Akito-chan, because of course she's right, even about things she says she has no idea about! Itachi-chan goes to her with all his problems and goes to her for hugs and kisses and gives her the pieces of art he makes at school!"

And sometimes he gave things to Mikoto, but even Mikoto knew that, in her eldest son's heart, she came second to his precious Aneki. Always, always second.

"The clan adores her, the children of nearly every person I've even glanced at rally around her, the adults all pay attention to her like as if she's the second coming of Senju Hashirama—"

Kushina interrupted her. "Miko-chan, she kind of worked for that dattebane. You've seen her work for it! You sat on this very sofa two years ago and told me how worried you were about how much she was overworking herself! You know—"

"That's not the point!" Mikoto half-yelled, wanting to get all the words out now that the dam had burst.

Kushina let her, because Mikoto was the type that, once she'd said all that she wanted to say, she would be fine, would start working to get over her hang-ups, because that was just who Miko-chan was. She would rant, she would spill her darkest thoughts, and then she would forget about them, feel lighter about it, and get over it.

But Kushina found this time especially hard, because the last time Mikoto had ranted about a human, it had been Fugu-face, and she'd never really liked Fugu-face all that much anyway. Akito though…Aki-chan was her goddaughter, and she was brave and funny and honest. She was everything Kushina loved about humanity in general, and so it was hard for her to sit and not say anything, which was what Mikoto needed her to do right now.

So she tried to stay silent. Because that's what best friends do.

"She hasn't worked half as hard as I did at her age, and she just learns things like as if they're the alphabet! Representatives from the medic corps have been banging on my door this past month asking me to hand out recruitment leaflets to a seven year old not even out of the academy!"

Mikoto let out an almost hysterical laugh. "She can actually understand that medical jargon! And fine, okay, so she's good at medical stuff, fine, I was good at genjutsu too, just like that, but she's good at ninjutsu and taijutsu and chakra control too! And profiling and interrogation and espionage and tracking and—it's not fair!"

"Now you just sound like a two year old," Kushina said dryly.

Mikoto screeched mentally, not knowing how to convey what it felt like to be outshone by her own seven year old daughter, a girl who looked at her as just-another-one-of-those-people, because Mikoto knew the girl had a list of people she wanted to protect and…Mikoto was her mother.

Mikoto was supposed to be doing the protecting, not the other way round! Even without meaning to, her daughter was looking down on her, just like her mother had done, just like her husband was doing time and time again by not listening to her, just like her Itachi-chan was doing by going to someone else for affection and reassurance and a mother's love

"Sasuke does it too," Mikoto said, and she didn't notice Kushina's confused glance. "

Sasuke, who was supposed to be mine, the only child I could have because I'd already given the clan an heiress and an heir. Sasuke was supposed to be mine to raise, Sasuke was my baby, my turn to be a proper mother from the very beginning to the very end, but of course not, because he's formed such a deep attachment to her, to Akito-chan, and I—it…hasn't she taken enough from me?! It's gotten to the point where no one says, 'oh, that's Uchiha Itachi, Mikoto's son', or even, 'oh that's Uchiha Itachi, Fugaku's son', oh no! Now it's 'oh, there's Mikoto, Akito-hime's mother', 'there's Itachi, Akito-hime's brother, 'oh, that's Fugaku, Akito-hime's father who just, on a side note, happens to run the KMPF, but that doesn't matter! So long as you remember he's Akito-hime's father, you're fucking golden!"

Kushina looked stricken. "M-Miko-chan!"

Mikoto was sobbing now, the tears creating tracks of salt crystals down her pale cheeks, her eyes blurred because why? She didn't want to not like her daughter, but she just couldn't help it!

"And now, even the other clans have realised that Akito-chan is the real power behind the Uchiha name, because guess what?!" Mikoto yelled hysterically, all decorum having flown out of the window a long time ago.

"Akimichi Kimi invited my daughter instead of me, me, the Uchiha Matriarch, for the first 'Breaking of Bread' ritual between our clans since the tension died down! I mean, I get that Akito-chan actually got the two clans over the fighting, but that just basically means that a seven year old has more political clout than I do! I—I can't do this anymore!"

Kushina quickly moved forward and hugged the sobbing woman, who was still mumbling incoherently, the stress really getting to her. How long has this been eating away at her? Kushina thought sadly, stroking her best friend's hair comfortingly.

Right, thought Kushina bracingly. Now that she's vented her feelings, it's my job to bring her back to reality. And then, once I've given her the hard facts, we'll move onto actual problem-solving. And before you know it, Miko-chan will be back to normal, and Aki-chan will be none-the-wiser about her mother's thoughts about her.

Kushina nodded to herself and pulled out of the hug.

"Sometimes, I wish that girl had never been born!" vented Mikoto.

Kushina grimaced. Reel her in with a sharp tug Kushina! "Get over it then Miko-chan, because my goddaughter isn't going anywhere."

Mikoto's eyes narrowed. Kushina mentally grinned in triumph. Yup, now she'll start arguing with me, and I'll win because I'm awesome and no one can win an argument against me, and then she'll start apologising, and then we can do our nails and exchange baby-raising tips!

Mikoto hissed, "You don't get it, Kushina. If you had a daughter like her—"

"Akito-chan?" said Minato.

Huh? Kushina froze for a second. When did Minato get back? Wait—did he just say…

Mikoto, her eyes rimmed with red and head swimming with thoughts, paled the moment she registered her best friend's husband's words.

Both women turned their heads to the doorway, and Mikoto could have cried. Well, cried more.

Her beautiful, too perfect, vivacious daughter stood in the doorway, one hand clutching the door frame as though in an aborted move to enter the room. Her dark eyes were wide and pained, frozen, and her small mouth was trembling.

Mikoto couldn't think, couldn't breathe, because all that was going round and round in her head was what have I done?

Akito-chan ran, ran and Minato ran behind her, Kushina screaming something or another at him, but Mikoto couldn't breathe.

"Don't worry Miko-chan," said Kushina reassuringly, rubbing Mikoto's back in a calming gesture. "Minato'll speak to her dattebane! And you'll go home and talk things out with her and—"

"No!" Mikoto panicked. She glared at Kushina. "What do you mean, talk things out with her? You want me to tell her about this? Forget it!"

Because Mikoto was an Uchiha, and she could be stubborn with the best of them.

Kushina tried for another half an hour to get Mikoto to see reason.

"You two live in the same house! You can't just avoid this Miko-chan!"

"She's not home most of the time anyway."

She tried again and again and again and again, but Mikoto wouldn't hear anything of it. Kushina cursed mentally, because she knew that if Akito hadn't heard that, hadn't interrupted, then Mikoto would have been well on her way to recovery from her mental demons. Added to the fact was that Akito, well, probably wouldn't get over this one, because how could Kushina explain that, yes, her mother genuinely thought these dark things about her and, yes, her mother still loved her anyway.

Mikoto was not helping matters with her stubborn pride.

Minato returned to the apartment, presumably to collect whatever it was he'd forgotten to pick up that he'd come there for in the first place.

He took one look at Mikoto, saw the stubborn, unrepentant set of her face, and he couldn't, wouldn't stand for it anymore.

"Miko-chan! She's a little kid who thinks her mother hates her! You go talk to her right now or I'll—"

"Save it, Kushina," said Minato, his eyes hard. "You can't force people to stop acting like idiots."

He turned to Mikoto, her eyes wide at the reprimand he'd given her. Kushina tried to intervene. "Minato, you don't know the whole story! There's more to it than—"

"Get out of my house," Minato said.

"Minato!" screamed Kushina.

"Please," he said as an afterthought.

And Mikoto, her heart hurting, her head aching, her eyes swollen, but her back straight, gracefully got up and left her last safe haven.

Mikoto was now well and truly alone.

And it was all Akito's fault.

(It was all my fault. Why couldn't I be a better mother? Why couldn't I be a better wife? Why couldn't I be a better daughter? Why couldn't I be a better friend?

Why couldn't I be a better human?)


10th of October
Time: 0300 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Residence of the Uchiha Clan Head

Kabuto alighted on the window sill and knocked once. He saw movement from inside Akito's room and waited patiently on the boughs of the closest tree.

Akito came and opened the window, rubbing her eyes sleepily, and went back inside.

Kabuto alighted on the window sill once more and climbed into the room, as silently as a wraith.

He took his mask off as Akito smiled at him sleepily, her baby brother in her arms sucking on a bottle greedily.

"Welcome home, Kabuto."

Kabuto gave her a close approximation to a smile and waited for her to finish feeding Sasuke. Once she'd done that, she got up to put him back in his crib, pulling his blanket over him gently and tucking him in.

Before she could turn around, Kabuto had grabbed her fiercely, hugging with all the strength he could muster.

Akito, bless her heart, just let him, soothingly rubbing his arms in an effort to comfort him.

Akito was his anchor.

Kabuto was pretty sure he would have cracked a long time ago if he hadn't had Akito to go back home to.

"I'm home."


10th of October
Time: 0550 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Ha no Hiroba (Plaza of the Leaf), Apartment F, Fourth Floor

In an apartment that looked fairly standard for Hi no Kuni architecture, slept a family of three.

The Umino residence looked as though a hurricane had passed through it, felt bad about messing up the place, gone back to sort of fix it up a bit, messed it up even worse, and had then promptly given up and gone its merry way.

The parents slept soundly under their snug duvet, the father's snores in tandem with the mother's kicking feet.

Their ten year old son, on the other hand, was the furthest away from soundly asleep as anyone could get.

Umino Iruka's room looked like the birthplace of the aforementioned hurricane, with toys, books, scrolls and inkwells cluttering the desk, the side table and a good portion of the bed, dust bunnies breeding by the millions, bed cover tossed to the floor, clothes lazily balled up in a corner and thrown about, piles of both clean and dirty laundry practically leaking from their shelves…

And amid the chaos, Iruka clenched and unclenched his sheets, his eyes roaming behind his eyelids madly, sweat beading down his forehead and dampening his neck, his face twisted in a fearful grimace.

In Iruka's mind, colours were flashing and fire was burning too close to his face and claws were searing his flesh, trailing down his neck and seeping into his very soul and everyone was screaming and yelling and their eyes were so dark and frightening and merciless and—

Abruptly, his eyes snapped open, his body drenched in cold sweat.

He sat up and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, trying to forget the sensations the dream had awakened in him once again.

Iruka stayed on the bed for a while, the sun finally rising properly and the birds beginning their daily chirping at his window.

He remembered the Ten Minute Riot vividly, but more than that, he remembered what it had been like before the Ten Minute Riot.

Was it really just ten minutes? he thought fleetingly.

He remembered being out in the village centre with Mizuki and a couple of his classmates, all of them heading home after a day of playing and training. He remembered wondering whether his parents were back from their missions yet, and whether he'd have to ask their elderly civilian neighbour to cook him something. He remembered Mizuki calling his hairstyle stupid and retaliating with a shove of his shoulders. He remembered Mizuki grinning at him in the way only irritating good friends do, and he remembered grinning back, because Mizuki had been calling his hairstyle stupid since the day they'd met at the academy five years ago, when Mizuki had been in his fourth year at the academy and Iruka had thought he was the coolest thing ever.

He remembered the scuffle between that Uchiha guy and those other people (he had later been informed that they were Akimichi and Hyuuga clan members, although at the time, only the Uchiha was recognisable to him), and he remembered thinking that this was just another one of those altercations that had been happening in the village for as long as he could remember.

Then another person had become involved, and then suddenly there was an all-out riot, and almost immediately he'd been spilt away from his friends.

There were swords and kunai clashing, steel upon steel grinding against each other and setting off sparks, children screaming for their parents, parents screaming for their children, and Iruka was so scared.

Even though he'd be graduating this year, Iruka was still terrified, and he didn't think that was a good indication of how he'd take the more visceral aspects of his soon-to-be occupation.

A large beefy man, who had once been the local blacksmith but had now become the monster in his closet, had roared at this hideously beautiful woman, her face having become distorted and unrecognisable in her anger. "May all your corpses rot in Izanami-sama's retreat!"

Iruka had flinched, he remembered, because to wish someone to the world of the dead just wasn't done in Konoha, because it was an open secret that nothing good awaited murderers like shinobi. It was cruel and mean, and Okaa-san would have had his hide if he'd even thought of saying that to someone.

You didn't even tell your enemies that, not really.

The woman had screeched back at him, "I'll see you there, Traitor!"

Iruka's vision of the two of them had then become obscured, the taijutsu battle the two had been locked in forever inconclusive in his mind. Bodies had pressed against him, screams had rent the air, and angry howls had split the skies.

Iruka's hands had trembled, and his breaths had been coming out in gasps, and suddenly, there was fire.

Fire, fire heading right towards him, fire searing his face with its condensed heat, fire dancing in front of his eyes like a macabre god, beckoning him to his death. It was strangely alluring and devastating at the same time, and Iruka remembered not even trying to move.

He remembered a black blur darting towards him, and he remembered a bigger fire blooming from a girl's mouth that had swallowed his death sentence, the two fires eating each other and snuffing out into nothingness. And he remembered the girl coming to him, and he remembered thinking that she was the most awe-inspiring goddess of death he'd ever seen.

When he recalled the first time he'd seen her, his mind conjured bold black wings framing her small body, the shine in her eyes turning the pupils a scorching silver that quenched all fires in his mind.

When he'd seen her again a few days after the riot, he'd been thoroughly disappointed.

The dark angel who had saved his life had stood in front him, her back to him, arguing with people twice her size and more than four times her age, and Iruka couldn't stop his vision from swimming. He'd seen his life flash before his eyes, and his knuckles had been white (he remembered that with sharp clarity) and they'd held onto the dark fabric adorning Kami-sama's guardian.

Harsh words were thrown and still the girl had stood her ground, never wavering, never faltering, and then Iruka remembered the world trembling as dozens, hundreds, of little feet and large feet pounded the streets and swarmed the dark angel. Two of them had come directly towards her, and Iruka hadn't known whether they were hostiles are not. One placed an arm on her shoulder and the shorter one had held her hand, and Iruka still couldn't stop trembling, even a month later.

The blood had been rushing in his ears, and everything had gone blurry, and his breath had been coming out in ragged gasps as his knuckles had turned whiter and whiter. But Iruka had, inexplicably, felt safe in the centre of the hundreds of bodies that had stood guard around him, protecting him from the monsters that had once been human.

He remembered more people joining his dark angel's side, and he remembered her soft touch as she called him brave.

He remembered his mother and father hugging him, and he remembered her waving him goodbye with a smile that calmed his rapidly beating heart.

It would be a long time before Iruka could stand in the middle of a crowd without becoming jittery.

It would be a long time before Iruka could look at his local blacksmith without flinching.

It would be a long time before Iruka could gaze at a fire without dark suicidal thoughts swarming his mind.

But he would never forget the dark angel's voice whispering into his heart.

"Well done Iruka-kun. You were so brave."


10th of October
Time: 0900 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Evil Lair of Shimura Danzou/ROOT Debriefing Chamber

Shimura Danzou was not a stupid man.

Quite contrary to that, he was quite intelligent. Brutal, devious, clinical, but intelligent.

It was a crisp autumn day, and a sense of foreboding thrummed alongside the blood in his veins. He looked up from the scroll he was perusing, his mind and body both restless for the first time in decades. The latest recruits for ROOT initiation flinched as his gaze landed upon them.

Danzou frowned. He would clearly have to see to it that the fear impulse was removed from their minds entirely if they were to be useful to the foundation.

Even though his eyes did not stray to the far right, he knew that was exactly where one of his more troubling cases was stationed.

Kabuto the Orphan, thought Danzou. Exactly whose side are you on?

Danzou was a man that didn't let betrayal slide, but he wasn't blind; Kabuto was probably one of the more useful members of ROOT, being one of the minority of combat ready medic-nin. Shinobi of that skill set were hard to come by after all, and training another to be as proficient as him would be an exercise in futility, of that he was sure.

But his failure with the assassination of the Uchiha heiress was troubling. Kabuto's conditioning had clearly not been thorough enough, and that would have to be rectified soon. Yet, this failure of his conditioning was…disquieting. And he was certain the Uchiha heiress had something to do with it.

It had been nagging at him for months now, and Danzou was glad he'd taken action to…prevent the heiress from interfering with his business ever again, however unknowingly she might have done it to begin with.

Her suggestions had even led the green-horned Yondaime to keep a very close watch on all the orphanages and care centres in the village and surrounding towns. It had led to…several unwanted setbacks in recruitment.

In fact, the man he'd been most interested in had just had a son, but because of this extra scrutiny, he would no longer be able to obtain the kekkai genkai that allowed the creator to infuse their chakra with liquids of any composition imaginable.

Danzou was…displeased with the current status quo, and he had concluded quite objectively that the girl needed to be eliminated.

He'd already installed one of his younger, less emotionally desensitised agents at the academy, and soon, his efforts to prune the metaphorical weed would bear fruit.

It was unfortunate that he could not off her immediately, but the fact of the matter was that the girl had become far too important, both to the people and to the Hokage, for him to try any of his usual methods.

It would lead to anarchy, and Danzou did not want Konoha destabilised.

No, Danzou was going to have to remove this weed with patience.

And he was a very patient man.

The restlessness had not dissipated. Danzou was worried for his beloved Konoha.


10th of October
Time: 1000 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Sarutobi Residence

Only a few minutes ago, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been peacefully perusing an old scroll and smoking his pipe, content with the day.

Only a few minutes ago, Sarutobi Biwako had been happily buzzing about the place.

However, this was not a few minutes ago.

"I won't allow it," Hiruzen commanded, his voice threaded with a raspy edge.

His wife looked at him evenly and said, "Hiruzen, my Hokage has requested my assistance. I will not be stopped."

Hiruzen looked at her sharply from where he was sitting. "And you will not tell me what he wants you to do, even now?"

Biwako nodded. "It is none of your concern."

Biwako would not tell him that she'd been asked to be the midwife for the Hokage's wife, Konoha's jinchuuriki.

Her husband was in no fit state to listen to her rationally. Besides…

She was worried about him. The man had always had a firm grip on his temper, but these days, he was losing it far too frequently for her liking. She'd subtly looked for any genjutsu or seals affecting his behaviour but…

She'd shared her concerns with the only student of his that hadn't decided to abandon Konoha, and he'd promised he'd look into it.

Orochimaru was smart; he'd figure it out, Biwako was sure.


10th of October
Time: 1800 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Residence of the Uchiha Clan Head

I tried, really I tried, to get my mind off the impending doom I was sure was about to happen.

I mean, what's the point in worrying about it, right?

Right.

It was one of those slow days today, where Bunko-sensei taught us things that made us want to go to sleep, taijutsu lessons were a pain in places not quite polite enough to mention, and the Kunoichi Classes from hell were so…ugh, that I actually spaced out while Yuwaku-sensei was standing right in front of me, letting me know quite loudly why the begonias weren't supposed to be crushed for their nectar.

She said something about them not having any, but you never know unless you try, right?

Anyway, I was home early today because, not only was everyone out of the house and someone needed to stay in with Sa-chan until Itachi-touto came back from his day out with Koki-chan, but I also couldn't bring myself to traipse through the village and make civil conversation with people today.

You know those days where you feel like you need to recharge your batteries because you're spent? Yeah, this was one of those days.

In fact, it was such a normal day that I frequently kept forgetting that it was the tenth of October.

Kabuto had come back from his mission late last night, and then had to report to the ROOT HQ as soon as daylight properly touched the Hokage monument. He, of course, promised to get me some sweets when he got back, so I was looking forward to that.

Kami-sama, it's a miracle I don't have any cavities, considering just how much sugary stuff I ingest!

Okaa-san and I…it hasn't even been a proper day since I overheard that, and I don't think I've even seen her today. She went upstairs after making breakfast and because I was late for school (again), I didn't take much notice of it. Then school happened, and by the time I got back home, she had already gone out to do the grocery shopping and she hasn't come back yet. If she's avoiding me or just hasn't gotten the opportunity to talk to me, I don't know. I'm not even sure I want to talk, but...

I miss Okaa-san.

I think I'll always miss Okaa-san, even when we do make up.

If we make up.

Uchiha can be stubborn like that, unfortunately. Good thing I wasn't born one, or we'd probably have had a shouting match by now, with or without the opportunity.

I was sitting next to a gurgling Sa-chan, gently prodding his tummy to make him laugh, and he was emitting that laughter that only babies seem to manage, and it made me laugh too.

I was giggling, and my baby brother was giggling, and when Itachi-touto came back home, he started giggling seeing us giggling.

And then the giggling stopped.

I mean, my brothers still were, Itachi-touto having propped his head on one of his arms as he lay next to Sa-chan, but something cold had trickled down my spine.

"Otouto," I said, my voice commanding.

He sat up immediately and looked at me.

"Start the evacuation for this district. Spread the word, now."

And Itachi-touto, even though I'd given him no reason for letting over eighty families know that they needed to evacuate to the shelters, did exactly as I said without question.

I picked up Sa-chan, who was whining and wriggling, sensing the change in atmosphere, and headed out the door, directly to the Konoha Military Police Force Headquarters.

As fast as I could go without actually running, I marched through the building, bowing once in a while to the dozens of people that did the same, and knocked on Otou-san's office door.

"Come in," he called, and only years of indoctrinated grace stopped me from slamming the door open.

"Otou-san," I said with a steely edge to my voice I didn't know I was capable of, causing him to look up with startled alacrity. "Something big's coming. Please start the evacuation process."

Instead of arguing with me like I was sure he was going to (because I was giving him nothing but a hunch to work with, and the Uchiha couldn't afford to make mistakes in the current political climate, especially because false evacuations were time-consuming, expensive and damaging to the economy, for various reasons. If my hunch turned out to be wrong, I could literally have single-handedly destroyed all the progress I'd made with everything, from the bonds I'd forged with my family to the ties I'd made with the Orphanage. But it was worth it, because better safe than sorry), he nodded and sounded the alarm.

Within moments, the KMPF was mobilising and units were being sent out to various parts of the village to begin the evacuation process, some heading towards the Hokage Tower to inform the Hokage that an evacuation had been called.

But I knew Minato-sama wouldn't be there; he'd be in a safe house with Kushina-ba-chan, holding the Kyuubi at bay as his wife gave birth to the protagonist of the series.

Most of the members of the KMPF didn't question their orders, but some did, and Otou-san was dealing with it in the only way he knew how: pulling rank.

But unlike the KMPF, I realised as I headed towards the Uchiha Senbei to help Teyaki-ji-san with Ine-chan, other people weren't as well-trained to follow orders.

"What's going on?!" screeched a Yamanaka at one of the KMPF.

"Yeah, you can't just order an evacuation without Hokage-sama's express permission," growled an Inuzuka, and really, I get it.

I get it.

But at the same time, the feeling of something's going to go so so so very wrong Akito, get them out of here! hadn't gone away. In fact, it had gotten worse.

I've never done anything on just a hunch before. Like, okay, maybe fix what was bothering people on a hunch, or ticking option 'c' in a multiple choice test paper on a hunch, but I'd never done anything as major as call a village-wide evacuation on a hunch.

But needs must, right?

Right.

"Aki-senpai?" asked Shisui-chan, heading towards me from where rows of people were trudging towards the evacuation points. "I saw Itachi-chama on the way here."

I nodded. "Yeah, I asked for the evacuation. But not everyone's heard about it, not even in just this district. Help me."

He looked at my eyes searchingly for a moment, looking for something, although what it was was anyone's guess.

"Okay," he said finally. "But you'll tell me why when this is over."

And I nodded, because what else could I do?

He left after giving me a dazzling smile that dazed me for a moment, before I headed to the eastern part of my district, choosing to follow my own advice instead of going to check on Teyaki-ji-san.

And the seconds continued ticking by.


10th of October
Time: 1820 hours
Location: Hashirama Forest
Namikaze Safe House, Outskirts of Konohagakure no Sato

At the same moment that Akito made the decision to go to the eastern sector of her district, Minato was marvelling at the tiny bundle of orange blankets in Biwako-sama's arms.

It had been a six hour long labour, pretty short all things considered, but it was over now.

Rin-chan smiled at Minato in amused delight as Biwako-sama said, "The mother gets to see the child first!"

Minato, of course, agreed immediately, because hey, he knew women were better and far scarier than men; his wife was living proof of that.

His son.

His son.

His son.

His son.

Minato's face nearly split in half because of the grin creeping its way onto his face. Kami-sama, he was in love.

And he hadn't even seen Naruto yet!

Namikaze Naruto. My son. My baby. Our baby.

And was it weird that the "our" made him even happier?

At eighteen inches and seven and a half pounds, Namikaze Naruto had been born at 6:17 pm, crying his lungs out into the world.

Minato's heart was bursting with decidedly female sentiments, or so Jiraiya-sensei would have said if he'd bothered to show up for the baby's birth, which he hadn't.

Honesty, why did he even bother?! That man…closest thing to a parent...why did Minato even bother...

"Alright, I'll just reseal the Kyuubi…" he muttered, looking down at the seal to concentrate—it was a very intricate seal, and even one mistake would have fatal consequences.

"Minato-sensei!" yelled a panicked Rin, diverting Minato's attention from his task, his eyes honing in on—

A masked figure taking away his son.

Naruto was howling, his wife was screaming and Minato's calm descended on him like a guillotine.

"Rin-chan," he said briskly. "Bring him back."

Rin nodded at him before running behind the masked figure taking his Naruto away. Biwako-sama was breathing harshly, picking herself up off the ground from where the masked figure had shoved her and taken the Hokage's son.

"Permission to give chase, Hokage-sama."

"Minato, forget about me! Get my baby back!" yelled his wife.

Minato ignored them both, his mind a steel fortress, the mind set he had employed while on the battlefield where he'd gained his infamy. There were two objectives here: Reseal the Kyuubi. Save his son.

If Rin hadn't been here, he probably would have gone for "save his son and hope for the best with the Kyuubi", but he wasn't alone here, and so he'd sorted out the matter in quick succession.

No one else could reseal the Kyuubi but him. There was another pair of legs that could run after his son.

This was a no-brainer.

He resealed the Kyuubi, sweat beading down his brow but his eyes never losing focus, never wavering from his task.

It took him precious minutes that could mean the difference between the life and death of his student and son, but Minato was calm because panicking would not help.

Kushina snapped at him to "get out!" when he was done, and get out he did, because yes, he'd completed objective one, and now it was time to move onto objective two.

Another figure materialised behind Kushina as he left, stealthily pricking her with a needle full of gleaming purple liquid, before disappearing once more.

Kushina thought the prick was an afterbirth pain, and Biwako was likely concussed because her vision was fuzzy and she was slipping in and out of consciousness.

The red-haired demon keeper got off the bed, ignoring all the aches, pains and sheer exhaustion that was dragging her down. "Come on Biwako-sama! That masked freak is going to choke on his intestines when I'm through with him!"

Biwako slumped, however, and Kushina realised that there were two options: leave, or stay.

She wasn't a medic. She was a fighter.

She left after propping a pillow under Biwako's head, muttering a hasty apology before going after her family.


10th of October
Time: 1825 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Konoha Orphanage

Emiko heard several loud voices outside her room and, sharing a glance with the nine other children she shared a room with, she went to open the door.

Before she got there, however, one of the caretakers had already opened it and yelled, "Single file, leave everything, move out! We're evacuating!"

Emiko gulped and helped one of the girls, the one who had burst into tears the minute the caretaker had left, to the door and out of the orphanage.

What's going on?

She was muttering soothing words to the little girl, who couldn't be older than four, eyes taking in her surroundings out of habit. Shisui had trained his friends well.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of molten yellow eyes, and she snapped her head towards it, her heart pounding rapidly. Before she could cry out, the eyes had disappeared.

Later, when Emiko reached the evacuation shelter, she would realise that it wasn't just the pair of slit-eyes that had gone missing; Duru-kun had as well.

Later, Emiko would dream of those hauntingly familiar yellow eyes.

For now though, she shrugged it off, heading towards the evacuation point, clad in her sleepwear and clutching the four year old girl's hand.


10th of October
Time: 1829 hours
Location: Hashirama Forest
A Clearing

Minato had used his limited sage ability to pinpoint his targets before using his hiraishin to home in on the seal he'd placed on Rin back when she had first become his genin.

A battle was raging, Naruto in Rin's arms, oddly silent, and the masked figure hurling senbon after senbon at the medic.

Rin had several senbon littering her body, more on her arms than anywhere else, and that alone showed Minato that this enemy was skilled at using senbon and didn't have any qualms about hurting innocent children. (Rin would never have gotten hit that many times if she hadn't been shielding Naruto, after all.)

Immediately, Minato joined the fray and sent a compressed air wave at the masked figure, cracking the purple mask in the process.

Rin retreated instantly, taking Naruto out of range. The masked figure, Minato noticed, had begun to tremble slightly, although whether it was from exhaustion or fear, Minato didn't know, nor did he care to find out.

"Why did you kidnap my son?" asked Minato, eager to glean the reason. "Depending on the answer, I may make your death painless."

Because even an idiot would have sensed his Killer Intent and known that if he'd promised to spare the masked figure's life, it would have been a bold-faced lie.

The trembling had stopped and the masked figure straightened their shoulders. "My reasons are my own."

Minato mentally catalogued the fact that it was a woman that had spoken. "So you're working alone then?"

The masked figure moved into a fighting stance, and Minato studied his opponent. He nodded to himself and threw a three-pronged kunai at the woman.

The enemy dodged, leaping away from the kunai, indicating that she knew his technique.

His eyes narrowed. Someone I've fought before, a spy, or…a Konoha-nin.

The next few minutes of combat was a game of cat and mouse, with the masked woman dodging his kunai and Minato pelting her with them.

She dodged the seventh one with a cat-like grace, and Minato felt that he'd seen that before, although where was a matter of debate.

Minato took this moment to activate all of his seals, and one by one, they all exploded, leaving craters of roughly ten metre radii where each kunai had fallen. It was really ridiculous, he felt, that people would think he'd only place one seal on each kunai, because seriously, he didn't need those kunai lying around for people to peruse the seal and reverse engineer it, after all.

The masked woman must have been concussed, because she was shaking her head and trying to regain her bearings. Her mask had chipped from the bottom, and Minato could make out pale skin.

"I repeat, why were you after my son?" he asked, with a steely glance.

The woman was trembling again, and this time Minato was sure it was the Killer Intent. But her stance was firm and she tilted her head up, in a pithy attempt to fake bravery in the face of certain death. She hadn't tried a single attack on him. From the very beginning, this match was Minato's, and they'd both known it.

"Very well. Time's up. Goodbye."

And with a quick leap, one shunshin and one rasengan, the woman fell, her mask shattered, and her eyes saw no more.


10th of October
Time: 1840 hours
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Southern Shelter

I was ushering Noeki-baa-san to the shelter, the crowd getting restless both inside and out because nothing was happening but some of the people and all of the animals were feeling restless.

No higher up was questioning where the order for evacuation had come from, and for that I was both grateful and worried.

Grateful because, well, I couldn't explain it.

Worried because, if no one was questioning it, then my hunch, the feeling that something had shifted, was spot on.

I was still carrying Sa-chan around, Itachi-touto and Shisui-chan were still in the southernmost district, where most of the Uchiha family, the Sato family and various other minor and major shinobi and civilian families resided.

I was calm.

The chakra around me was thrumming with confusion and buzzing with agitation, Sa-chan was keening and yanking on my hair in distress, but I was calm.

I'd seen Okaa-san and Otou-san, and they were heading to one of the evacuation points. Obito-kun had made his way here, his ageing grandmother supporting him, and so that was one less person I needed to worry about. The western and northern districts had yet to be evacuated, the southern districts were nearly empty, and the eastern districts were heading towards this shelter as of right now.

I was calm.

Freeze the moment.

Just freeze it, because a SCREAM rent the air, the heavens tore, and rain poured like roaring waterfalls, and it wasn't natural.

The scream was agonising; children started crying, adults paled, dogs howled, several shinobi with sensitive hearing covered their ears and resisted the urge to vomit.

Because that scream was hurt and mourning and grieving and insane.

Immediately after that scream, the rain coalesced above the main gates of Konoha, and I could barely make out a figure standing on the left wall.

My eyes could have stared at that, but they didn't because my instincts urged me to find Shisui-chan and Itachi-touto and Okaa-san and Otou-san and—

There! They were heading to the shelter, but—

They're not going to make it in time.

The water that had collected started glowing, pulsating as someone infused it with chakra, and I ran, ran down the slippery uphill slope, protecting Sa-chan's head with one hand and thanking Kami-sama I'd tied my hair back this morning.

The glowing rain water compressed, and people started moving, screaming, yelling at their loved ones to hurry! Many watched, in morbid awe as the gigantic large bullet that could have taken the Kyuubi itself on pushed, flung itself towards the Uchiha District, taking out everything in its path—the KMPF headquarters, the Choumei Apartment Complex, the Sato Weaving Guildhall, my home

And I ran towards it, Sa-chan's cries ringing in my ears, because Itachi-touto was running out of steam. He was young, he was five, he had poor stamina anyway, he was going to drown in that large ball of—

It's like a tsunami…

I barely remembered to take a deep breath and close Sa-chan's mouth and nose.

The sky was made of the sea, the water floating above us for a split second, someone yelling at us, but I reached Itachi-touto, I yanked him to me, and the water fell on us in one burst of the purest, most dangerous, ocean blue.


Shisui's eyes panged, and his pupils turned a blood red. The rain crashed harder and harder, pelting against his pale skin, and he couldn't move, because Aki-senpai!


OMAKE

Kushina reached the clearing Minato was at, and saw her husband leaning over a girl with dark brown hair and porcelain skin.

Kushina slapped herself, because for the love of Kami-sama, this is ridiculous! Brain, shut up! He was clearly fighting! Not having kinky sex with some washed up harlot who could never be as beautiful and awesome in bed as Kushina-sama anyway!

She walked closer to him, and saw that his eyes were studying the girl with concentration of the quadrilianth degree.

He heard her come towards him and relaxed when he saw it was her, before his eyes scrunched up in concern. "Shouldn't you be resting?" she had, after all, just given birth.

Kushina slapped him, and Minato looked at her in hurt confusion. "Wha—"

"You want me out of the way do you?! So you can go back to making googoo eyes at my replacement!? I knew you had a mistress! Well, you know what? I have men on the side too, and they aren't half as flaky as you dattebane! They have muscles, and six packs! And they like tea and handcuffs, and sometimes for the same reason!"

Minato sweatdropped at his wife, before deciding to just nod along.

Clearly, the pregnancy hormones hadn't quite left her system yet.

"This is—"

"You're going to introduce me to your other woman!?"

"Kushina, please just listen to me," he said, the plea in his voice evident.

Rin held Naruto tightly against her and giggled at her favourite (read: only) sensei and his wife's antics.

Kushina huffed in indignation, and he said, "Look, this is the masked person that kidnapped our son, and no, I wasn't sleeping with the masked person that kidnapped our son. Kushina, quite apart from the fact that you're my wife and I love you and I've never even contemplated cheating on you, I also happen to have standards."

Kushina flushed and cleared her throat. "Who is that anyway?"

Minato quirked his lips at her in amusement before saying, "It's an Uchiha, although which one of them is the question…"

Rin looked closer at the woman that had fallen at a twisted angle, and she could see her glassy black eyes glaring at her, face set in a look of acceptance.

She looked down at the woman sadly, and she was about to say something, although she had no idea what, because Kushina asked, "Is she dead?" and Minato answered with a "Yes."

And the sky tore open and it started raining like Kami-sama Himself was crying, and someone screamed.


My first ever cliffhanger…I feel like this is a milestone.

*Itachi wasn't mumbling gibberish to Sasuke. He was murmuring to him in English. Make of that what you will.

*'Because when you have the power to make a difference and you don't, and then something goes wrong, it's your fault.' – Has anyone seen Captain America: Civil War? Yeah, this was one of my favourite speeches, and not just because it was Spiderman that said it. It was profound, and something I believe most geniuses would feel, even if they weren't all that introspective and couldn't put it into words. Also, I know it isn't word for word, because that would be plagiarism.

I felt that the Itachi monologue was a bit disjointed, but it was done on purpose because it was stream-of-thought, i.e. he was thinking too deeply and that's why he accidentally nearly drowned a sleeping Sasuke in baby milk. But I'm still a bit unsatisfied with that scene…There's so much more I wanted to add to this chapter, like for example, I wanted to write the aftermath for the 'Kyuubi Attack' in this chapter as well, but that was another 10000 words' worth, so I left it here. Sigh. Thoughts on this chapter?

Edited 3/03/2017