Chapter 29
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The Purge
The twelve masked figures moved swiftly and silently across the village. No one, civilian or Shinobi noticed their passing. Their destination was out of the way, located on the periphery of the village, the actions of the Nidaime Hokage had seen to that.
They circled around the village to avoid the highly populated village centre and markets, they would still be busy despite the latish hour. With their diversion around the majority of the village complete they all came to a halt on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound. Without a single word he delivered his orders, his hands moving fluidly through the sign language all ANBU knew.
With a silent nod Team 20 vanished, their task to swing around and strike to the west of the compound. They were quickly followed by Team 21 who would enter from the south-east. Team Ro would hit from the north.
Itachi and his team waited, no nervous jitters, no fidgeting, just four stock still, deathly silent Shinobi ready to carry out their mission. Each had an electronic headset/ microphone in one ear, it too was silent.
The first of what they were waiting for rang in their ear, the light crackle of electronic static. They avoided any speech whatsoever unless absolutely necessary. The other teams when in position would push the button to talk but would say nothing, the crackle doing the talking for them. Now they awaited the second.
They had to wait nearly a minute but the second crackle finally sounded in their ear and with that they all began their mental countdown. 'Juu, Kyuu, Hachi, Shichi, Roku, Go, Shi, San, Ni, Ichi.' On one all twelve ANBU made their move.
The first to fall never saw Itachi coming. The young ANBU appearing behind him as he walked down a street, Itachi's tantō driving through the back of his neck severing his upper spine. He was dead before he hit the floor.
The second quickly followed, utterly oblivious, they whistled as they cut through a side-street. A hand clamped over their mouth as they were dragged backwards, a kunai plunging into their chest several times. They only saw a flash of purple as they died.
Both corpses were dragged into darkened corners where they were sealed away. The other two team Ro members watching over them.
Itachi flicked the blood off his tantō as he shunshined to a rooftop. His team was spread out across a few buildings. His team members could take care of themselves so Itachi turned his attention back to the task at hand.
He saw a flash of colour through an open window. He took a moment to make sure he wouldn't be caught entering. Seeing nothing he re-sheathed his tantō and slipped inside.
He was in a narrow corridor, rooms were at either end, sounds of movement came from his left, it looked like the kitchen was that way so he went right. Peering around the corner he spotted another figure sat on a sofa, their back to him.
With chakra coating the underside of his sandals he walked in total silence up behind them. Pulling out a kunai he clasped his hand over their mouth pulled their head back and deeply cut their throat open, blood spraying out over the furniture. He didn't have time to seal them away so he plunged the kunai into both eyes, only pulling back when the blade struck the bone of the eye-socket.
It took a few seconds for them to stop struggling, Itachi keeping his hand over their mouth lest they alert the other down the hall. He hadn't, however, considered their legs which thrashed about, bouncing off the floor and striking the table.
When the struggling finally ended Itachi moved to hide behind a piece of furniture as a voice came down the hall, "Shijo-kun? You alright?" They walked around the corner into the room, the lights were low so she couldn't see the blood. She walked towards the now dead Shijo, she never reached him. A kunai shot through the air, embedding itself in deeply in her heart. She hit the ground with a thud.
He sealed her away and jumped back out the window, he saw Cat was waiting for him, one of the two female members of his team. With a nod to her she moved to the next building, she entered while Itachi waited for her to re-emerge. It was standard procedure for such a mission, the team split into two groups of two. And each duo would take turns either assassinating or keeping watch. It also allowed for them to periodically rest in between kills.
It was only around thirty seconds or so before she re-appeared. She held up a single finger for him, he nodded and held up two fingers in reply. The number of fingers indicated the number killed.
Itachi had personally chosen the northern sector of the compound for his team, it was the major residential zone. But as they carved their way south it would bring them to Itachi's home and the top priority target, his father.
He and Cat, Uzuki Yūgao was her real name. He and his team all knew each other's real names although they rarely interacted outside of their ANBU duties.
They continued butchering their way down the street. By the time they'd reached the end of it, 15 Uchiha were dead, there were 156 for the three teams to collectively kill.
Itachi had only caught fleeting glimpses of the other members of Team Ro, they were one street over, moving from building to building as they were. The four ANBU had so far been unchallenged, no more than one or two Uchiha had been encountered at a time but a group of three were walking up the street towards them.
The two ANBU moved into position, Yūgao and Itachi were on either side of the street atop the roofs, they'd be patient and bide their time, waiting for the opportunity to present itself.
They were almost directly beneath them when a loud shout off in distance drew the attention of the three Uchiha below. They all turned around and wondered amongst themselves what the shout was. Turning back around they were confronted by Yūgao. The presence of an ANBU mask made the three of them recoil in surprise.
"Uh, can we help you ANBU-san?" With their attention focused on her the two slightly further back never saw Itachi drop down from above, a thin layer of chakra coating two kunai, each penetrated their skulls with a sickening crack. The disturbance made the third turn again, Yūgao's katana moved and in an instant she slashed.
The Uchiha stood there a moment, a mixture of shock and surprise, he stood there for a few moments before collapsing to the ground, a fountain of blood shot into the air as his head slipped from his shoulders. All were quickly sealed away.
'Onto the next street,' Itachi thought to himself as he and Yūgao disappeared.
Between the four of them they cleaned out half a dozen streets within the first twenty minutes with nearly 40 kills amassed.
Next up was a much more difficult task, the residential areas of the compound also hosted the few bars and restaurants the compound had. They all came back together on a roof across from a fairly busy looking bar.
Itachi turned to face the second female team member, nicknamed Owl. He made a series of hand signals 'Count them.' She understood and wordlessly activated her Dojutsu, unseen to them the blood vessels around her eyes swelled. She took a few seconds to tally how many were in the bar. 'I count thirteen, one of them is behind the building.'
Itachi thought a moment before dispensing his orders. 'Owl, kill the straggler behind the building, wait for us to breach then come in through the back. Cat, Dove, you'll position yourselves near entrances and wait for my signal after I've entered.' His hands went to his pouch and he pulled out a batch of seal tags and split them between the three of them.
'Each of you place these around the building and on the roof. They're sound suppression seals so we can be loud inside, activate them the moment you hear a commotion.' They each nodded, took some of the tags and were gone from Itachi's sight.
He wiped away some of the blood splattered over his ANBU gear and placed his mask on its hip holster. His reveal as an ANBU in the bar would be of little importance, firstly because everyone within would soon be dead and every Uchiha seemed to know he was an ANBU operative anyway despite the secrecy surrounding the organisation.
Dropping to the ground Itachi de-activated his Sharingan before casually walking through the door. Some turned to see who'd entered and some of them were surprised to see Itachi of all people walk in. The heir to the Uchiha clan wasn't exactly known for his social side.
He sat on a stool at the bar and even ordered a drink. He had to wait, wait for everyone to stop paying attention to him. Nearly ten minutes passed, he was about to pull a kunai when a hand fell on his shoulder. "Well, well, lookey here, if it ain't the heir himself. I ain't ever seen you in here before," an Uchiha drunkenly said to him.
Itachi didn't reply but he gave the man a very annoyed look. It did nothing to deter the drunk though who's hand on Itachi's shoulder kept pulling him to and fro. This brought words out of Itachi, "Take your hand off my shoulder." Nothing happened, the hand remained but he tried again, instead opting for a firmer voice this time. "Take. Your hand. Off. My. Shoulder." But still the hand remained. 'Oh fuck this,´ he thought as he took a breath. The man's other hand was resting on the bar.
So he slammed a kunai through it.
"ARGH!" the drunk howled out as his hand was pinned to the bar counter. He struggled hopelessly to pull the weapon out as everyone else was startled out of their seats by the commotion. Itachi had his tantō buried to the hilt in the chest of another before anyone could react. Then his team arrived.
Yūgao's katana weaving through the body of another leaving what better resembled a pile of meat. The bartender tried to escape out the back but ran headlong into Owl, a quick Jūken strike to the chest ground their heart to a halt and they dropped. Needing to assist her team she quickly stabbed out both eyes.
She emerged from the back to what could only be described as a bloodbath. The Uchiha in the bar stood no chance, all couldn't match the ability of an ANBU and that was before they'd started drinking. Already thirteen were reduced to six, those remaining half dozen trying desperately to defend themselves.
Itachi ducked under a backhanded kunai slash before replying with a horizontal slash of his own right across the Uchiha's belly, their intestines spilling out all over the floor. Their cry of pain was quickly cut off as the head was detached from the body thus leaving five.
Two were trying to team up on the final team member, Dove. The newest member of Team Ro, he had quickly established himself as a very talented ANBU despite his young years, he was a year younger than even Itachi. When the mask was on, Dove was just as merciless and efficient as the rest of them. But when the mask came off, however, Dove was reputedly to be one of the nicest, well-mannered people you could ever hope to meet. It was this that earned him the Dove mask.
Dove blocked a kunai with his tantō and with his free hand he threw a flurry of well-placed senbon at the other. All of them digging into nerves or ligaments stopping the Uchiha in their tracks where they were quickly cut down by Itachi. Smashing the kunai out of the way Dove stabbed his tantō up through the chin and out the top of the skull, they went limp and he was forced to let go of the tantō and jump back.
Meanwhile Cat had another by the hair and was bouncing their head off a wooden pillar, the blood flow increasing with each impact, a resounding crack signalling the nose giving way as they slipped into unconsciousness.
The final two soon succumbed to Team Ro leaving just the one pinned to the bar. He was still trying desperately to extract the kunai from his hand. He was alerted to the silence and fearfully turned his head to find the four ANBU staring at him, the pain had shaken him out of his drunken stupor. "Ww…Why?" he blubbered at Itachi who raised the weasel mask back to his face, "Because it needed to be done."
The four of them exited the bar, the bodies sealed away. Both groups of two nodded to one another and moved to tackle another street.
Another twenty minutes, another two streets were cleared. Now all that remained for Team Ro was a single street, there were fewer houses but they were larger. These were the residences of the clan elders.
Itachi caught Owl's attention, 'How many do you count?' The Hyūga went from house to house tallying the number of Uchiha present. 'I count 16.'
'Do you see any with wearing a necklace with the Uchiha symbol hanging from it?'
'Yes, I counted six.'
'Good, the clan elders are all here. Cat, Owl, take the left-hand side, Dove with me.'
Dove took point as they broke into the first house, the two elderly occupants who were already sleeping were silently killed so they moved to the next house. There was just the one occupant this time, Dove snuck up behind them and with his arms wrapped around their neck and mouth he twisted them violently. With a sickening crack they went limp in his arms.
They moved from house to house with extreme efficiency, bodies were sealed away in short order and they moved on to the next one. Owl and Cat kept pace across the street. It wasn't ten minutes before they reached the largest property at the top of the street.
Owl suddenly appeared in front of Itachi, her hands flying through words, 'There's one more coming up the street to the east.'
'Leave them to me,' Itachi replied, 'I'll deal with the final house too. You three wait here.' While he couldn't see behind their masks he got three slightly sympathetic looks, the final house was Itachi's own. 'Your father is inside,' Owl confirmed.
He steeled himself and moved to deal with the straggler. He moved at maximum speed, the poor fool didn't have a chance. He was walking home and saw and felt nothing when he suddenly collapsed to the floor. One stab through the back, the blade slipping between two discs, a quick twist severing the spine in two, two quick jabs to the face dealing with the eyes. A quick kill with minimal blood splatter.
He hefted the body onto his shoulder and swung round to the back of his house. The curtains in the kitchen were still open, with his Sharingan he could easily peer into the darkened room. His father spun around suddenly and Itachi took his chance. He tossed the body through the back door, it's light wooden frame easily giving way under the weight of the corpse.
Itachi stood in the doorway, his father had jumped back and had just activated his Sharingan, he recoiled a little as he realised it was a body on the floor. Itachi stood stock still, his tantō in hand as Fugaku's gaze turned to him.
"Who the fuck are you?" he angrily demanded. Itachi lifted a hand to his mask and slowly removed it, with the mask removed he span his Sharingan menacingly.
It took Fugaku a moment but he recognised the person in front of him, it was his own son, his heir. But there wasn't shock, there was no sadness, perhaps it was a sign of how committed Fugaku was to the Coup because all he felt was anger. "What the fuck do you think you're doing boy!" He shouted but Itachi only stared back impassively, the tomoe in his eyes occasionally spinning.
"I am doing what is necessary. Tou-san." The use of Honorifics seems to only fuel his rage as he pulled a hidden Kunai from under a kitchen counter and rushed Itachi. Itachi jumped back into the open back garden to give himself some room as Fugaku charged after him.
Despite not thinking his father overly capable he wasn't about to be lax as Kunai stuck tantō, the sharp ringing of steel echoing through the silent night. Fugaku did the pressing and Itachi kept conceding ground, effectively leading him in circles around the garden.
Fugaku threw the kunai at him and used the time it gave him to weave hand-seals. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." He fired a fair sized fireball towards Itachi who upped his speed to simply Shunshin out of the way. Reappearing off to the side as the fireball struck a stone wall which was blown apart by the explosion.
"Gah, you couldn't have just stood still could you, traitor." Again all Fugaku got was that apathetic, emotionless look. "How many? How many of your own clan have you kill?"
"Besides you… All of them, all the disloyal ones anyway," Itachi said succinctly. His words made Fugaku pause, "All of them?" he quietly asked. "Everyone who chose the Coup, everyone who chose the clan over the village has been eliminated," Itachi elaborated.
"All those men and women. My clan.. Your clan! HOW DARE YOU!" Fugaku bellowed as his anger returned. "You're going to pay Itachi, son or not, you will pay," he declared as he channelled more chakra to his eyes. A secret known only to Fugaku was his possession of the Mangekyō Sharingan he'd awoken years prior during the third great world war.
Now Itachi was surprised as his father's eyes morphed, taking the pattern of three dots followed by three curves that spiralled counter-clockwise towards the pupil. 'Perhaps this is how he intended to control the nine-tails?' he wondered.
"Can you see it, Itachi? Your impending doom. Even you cannot best the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan," he confidently called out. Itachi was only half listening to him, there were questions flying around his mind that were more important. 'Does this mean Tou-san has read the true inscriptions on the stone tablet?' The contents of that tablet had been of concern to Itachi since he had first read it with his Mangekyō.
The secrets of the Mangekyō, how it can control the tailed beasts. Warning of the misfortune the Sharingan can bring, clan secrets long forgotten. The story of the Rikudō Sennin, of a being named Kaguya and of a 'God Tree'. A warning about the Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi) but also bizarrely, how the same technique would be the Uchiha clan's saviour.
"Come boy, no games let us end this," Fugaku challenged as Itachi turned his attention back to his father. "Very well," Itachi replied.
Fugaku wove hand-seals and set the stage for a powerful Genjutsu over Itachi, he caught his eldest son's gaze and cast the illusion. The Mangekyō, Fugaku had found substantially increased the power and potency of Genjutsu, if only he knew what he was going up against.
Itachi saw the illusion begin to take shape around him, 'That's not going to work, Tou-san.' He directed more chakra to his own eyes, the tomoe spinning and morphing into the three-sided pinwheel that represented his Mangekyō.
Using only his eyes Itachi dispelled the Genjutsu, the arrogant smirk on Fugaku's face practically slapped off. "Y-you, you have the M-mangekyō?" he stuttered.
Itachi couldn't quite believe how much of his father's confidence had been sucked away but he took his chance. "Yes. And now Tou-san I will show you the real power of these eyes." Channelling even more chakra into his left eye. A line of blood fell down his cheek as he spoke, "Tsukuyomi."
Fugaku couldn't move, he couldn't even look away. The world seemed to melt away as colour was replaced with black and grey. Itachi seemed to turn to smoke and vanish only to reform just to Fugaku's left. "W-what is this?" he asked, fear evident in his voice. "This is my Tsukuyomi, here I am both King and Kami. What I will to happen will happen."
To prove his point, Fugaku suddenly found himself hanging upside down beneath a tree, a rope tied to a thick branch and around his feet. Now Itachi's face was only inches from his own. "Here, time has little meaning. One second will pass in the real world but to your mind it will feel like a day. And your day in here will not be pleasant. You will experience the other ability of these eyes."
To Fugaku Itachi seemed to float backwards as the blood streaked down his right cheek, "Amaterasu."
Fū peered through the branches of the tree he had positioned himself in, he was observing the house in front of him and had been for some time. While he would never question Danzō-sama's orders in person, it didn't stop his mind from asking itself questions. For example; Why did Danzō-sama choose now to try and snare the Kyūbi Jinchuriki when he was defended by Kushina and Tri.
'Of all the times Danzō-sama, why now? This may be one of the worst times to make such a move. Everyone's on edge thanks to the Uchiha playing up.' He turned his head in the direction of the Uchiha compound, 'Speaking off the Uchiha, the purge should be well underway by now. I need to make my move or any chance I may have will pass.'
He dropped from the tree in utter silence and snuck up to the houses outer wall which he quickly scaled, he had been able to figure out the upstairs layout through his observations and perhaps his luck was in tonight because a window upstairs was wide open.
Reaching the window, he carefully peered through, he could see the upstairs landing, he could hear activity downstairs, he had caught glimpses of Kushina through the downstairs windows. There was someone upstairs but he couldn't tell who it was. He had to hope it was Rezano, if the boy was downstairs he'd never get him.
He had been given the option of withdrawing but that was only if it was impossible to catch the child alone and he wasn't able to lie to Danzō. He carefully clambered through the window. He peered through a door, he found a bedroom fitting of a young girl so he moved on.
Another door, another bedroom. This time the room's walls were covered in seal designs and the desk was stacked high with scroll paper but this room too was empty. The third door led to yet another bedroom but this one wasn't empty. Sat at a desk with his back to the door was Fū's young target, his mind almost shouting in jubilation at his good fortune. He waited a few moments, listening for any other activity upstairs, he heard and felt nothing.
He slowly crept forwards, Rezano was looking down at his desk, an ink brush in hand. Fū with a small paper seal in hand gently pressed it against the back of the boy's neck. "What th…" Rezano's head fell forward, Fū caught him and gently setting it down he turn it towards him. The child was out cold.
Fū pulled out a pair of tongs that he'd use to hold his tongue while he applied the seal. Normally Danzō was the only one who could apply the seal but he had provided Fū with a paper variant that would apply it for him.
Holding open Rezano's jaw, handling the tongs and a paper seal took a fair amount of his attention. More than enough for him to not notice there were more than two people in the room. So Fū never saw in a dark corner of the room the three tomoe Sharingan morphing into a four-pointed pinwheel. He would also never remember the single whispered word.
"Kotoamatsukami."
Fugaku collapsed, he couldn't raise his arms to break his fall, his limbs twitched periodically. Physically he was fine but his skin felt as if it was scorched. The pain receptors in his brain firing constantly despite there being no reason to.
In his mind he had spent 24 hours being burned alive over and over by flames he thought to only be a myth, despite what the stone tablet may have said. He couldn't resist in any way as Itachi grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him back into the kitchen. With a great heave he threw Fugaku up against the Kitchen counter top.
There were no words spoken, Itachi just wanted to get it over with. The tantō was pushed through Fugaku's back and out his chest. His mind barely even registered the life-threatening injury. It was still trying to come to terms with what had happened within Tsukuyomi and simply couldn't process anything else.
His eyes stared at the counter top, nothing of what he was seeing was recognised by him, even as his gaze fell on the small golden band, it never dawned on him that he was looking at the ring he had given his wife almost two decades earlier. Even as his vision darkened, the golden band remained, it would become the last thing he saw.
He fell sideways, hitting the floor hard, Uchiha Fugaku was dead. Itachi slumped down next to him, he didn't pull his tantō out of his father's body in fact he didn't do anything.
And that's how his team found him, the ten minutes time limit had elapsed and they'd moved immediately. Seeing the way that Itachi reacted to their presence, or lack thereof Cat as the team's No.2 took command. "Owl, seal the body away. Dove, carry Weasel. We're done here." They both immediately complied, Cat pulling the tantō out of the corpse and wiping away the blood.
The four of them withdrew to the collective 'extraction point'. The other two teams were already waiting for them, just as Team Ro were, Teams 20 and 21 were also painted red. "Is he alright?" a masked Kakashi asked. "Yes, he's fine. Tonight's events have… caught up with him."
"Are we all done here?" Dove asked, everyone nodded. "We report back to Hokage-sama. Our job is finished. Move out," Kakashi ordered.
Unbeknownst to all of them, they were being watched. A figure clad in a plain dark cloak and a spiral mask with only the one cut out for their right eye.
"After the ten-minute time limit had expired we moved in. We found Fugaku already dead and Weasel like he is now. We immediately sealed his corpse, secured Weasel and met up with the other teams and headed here," Cat explained to Minato.
Eleven ANBU kneeled in front of him, Itachi had been set down in a chair, he hadn't looked up since, Minato had already called for Tsunade.
He spent another minute or two questioning his ANBU before there was a knock at the door. "Enter," Minato called out. The door was opened by Shizune who was followed in by Tsunade. "You asked for me?" the blonde Sannin said. Minato simply pointed to Itachi.
The two medics immediately attended to him, "What happened?" Tsunade asked the gathered ANBU, "Physically he's fine, but.. I don't know enough about the mental side to draw any conclusions," Cat answered.
Tsunade cupped her hand under Itachi's chin and gently lifted his head up. "His eyes are incredibly bloodshot," she noted, the normally white sclera of his eyes were shaded red. "Strain from overusing the Sharingan?" Shizune offered. "Possibly," she said, but she'd seen strained Sharingan before, but nothing this extreme, she could see the dried red line running down either cheek, both starting beneath each eye.
"Shizune, can you hold his head still please." Shizune's hand replaced Tsunade's under Itachi chin. The Sannin moving both her hands to his temple where she began calming his overstressed mind, it had completely seized up. She focused on restoring his ability to focus and be aware of his surroundings. Slowly but surely she felt his mind respond, his eyes moving just a little, his fingers reactively flexing.
It was nearly twenty minutes before they got a word out of him, everyone else in the room just silently watched the two medics work. Tsunade gave a brief nod to Shizune who made sure her face was right in front of his, so he could look at nothing but look at her.
"Itachi-san?" she tentatively said to him, there was a flicker of understanding as he blinked, he focused on her face, "Shizune-san?" he awkwardly asked. She smiled as she leaned back to give him some breathing space, "How are you feeling, Itachi-san?" He sighed deeply, "About as well as can be expected."
Minato turned to the eleven other ANBU, "Team 20, 21. You're dismissed. And thank you." The eight ANBU inclined their heads and vanished leaving just Team Ro.
"Hokage-sama?" Cat said, she was curious as to why they four had been kept behind. "Team Ro, I want to personally thank you for what you've done tonight. You might be comprised of some of the most talented personnel who currently don the mask but you have the youngest average age of any active team by far. All of you are under the age of 25, and two of you are still teenagers. For the record, the mission you have just undertaken will be given an S-Rank rating, you'll be paid through the secondary method."
All four of them, even Itachi took heed of Minato's words. There was an unwritten rule within ANBU, 'Your team wasn't considered a true team until you'd completed your first S-Rank mission.' It had made for a weird situation in ANBU headquarters because Team Ro was considered one of the elite, who answered solely to the Hokage despite their lack of an S-Rank mission under their belts. You were still considered a 'junior' team until you had done.
This primarily was because they weren't the first Iteration of Team Ro, it was originally lead by Hatake Kakashi until he left ANBU, at which point the team was dissolved. It was revived when Itachi was promoted to ANBU captain and awarded its captainship. Minato had tasked the young Uchiha with moulding a talented young team, something he'd done splendidly.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Minato heard Itachi say. Despite what was required of them, i.e. the suppression of emotions there were a few giddy smiles behind the masks. "As the laws of ANBU dictate upon the completion of an S-Rank mission, you get the next week off but I'm extending it until the end of the month," he glanced briefly over at Itachi as he spoke.
"Cat, Owl, Dove. You're dismissed and thank you." They too inclined their heads and vanished.
Minato turned towards his young captain. "Are you going to be alright, Itachi-kun?" he seriously asked despite his soft tone of voice. "Hai, Hokage-sama." Minato's eyes narrowed slightly, he didn't sound very convincing. "Itachi-kun, I know you're a private individual but I'll be referring you to a Yamanaka therapist to help you through this. I've seen what happens to Shinobi who repress emotions like you do when they reach breaking point. And I've no interest in watching you snap."
Itachi looked down glumly, "I understand, Hokage-sama," he weakly replied. "Your mother and brother are with Hiruzen-sama." Itachi took that as his leave to go, "Thank you, Hokage-sama," he said before vanishing.
Minato sighed, "No Itachi-kun, thank you," he quietly said.
Somewhere underneath Konoha
"Ah, Fū, you've returned. Were you successful?"
"Unfortunately not Danzō-sama. The Jinchuriki was always in sight of someone else and I deemed it highly unwise to attempt to get close to the child with Kushina-san within striking distance."
Danzō glared at his subordinate, he had been rather hopeful Fū would succeed despite the potential difficulties. In Fū's mind he was being completely honest and the seal under Fū's tongue agreed when it didn't respond. "Very well then, a shame. In future we'll have to plan more effectively. You're dismissed Fū."
With Naruto and Kurotsuchi
They both watched as the Iwa delegates were escorted away by members of Konoha ANBU. They'd all been confined to that single room for some time now and nobody had said a word. Everyone had sat in silence, one read a magazine, two played a board game, the pieces of which were just left and not packed away, another had just stared at the wall as if it were an object of great interest. Kurotsuchi had watched on as Naruto paced back and forth, she was convinced he had worn a hole into the dull blue carpet.
And now with the crisis seemingly over Naruto looked out the window, a grave look on his face as Kurotsuchi moved to stand next to him, the last Iwa delegate bar herself exiting the room to the corridor beyond. "How're you holding up?" she asked him apprehensively.
He turned to face her. At first, he'd been understanding, the events of tonight had to happen, there was no alternative. But as the operation began the nerves, the concern quickly set in, concern for his close friend, what he felt must have paled in comparison to Itachi. As time ticked by and his laps across the room racked up the nerves were replaced with apprehension; What if something went wrong? What if the coup started anyway? Would it mean Civil war?
Such thoughts only heightened his anxiety so he tried to force them from his mind, he failed. The speed of his pacing only increased as the night continued, each minute that ticked by worse than the last. What must it have felt like for the Uchiha who'd been saved? If this operation failed they'd surely be among the most prominent targets as would Naruto's family.
Then the all-clear had arrived, it was over, Itachi and his fellow ANBU were successful, Konoha had averted civil war. But despite that Naruto still had misgivings, these weren't some two-bit bandits or a group of missing-nin, these were members of the Uchiha clan. Members whom the general populace would believe, until morning at least, were loyal to the village and by extension them. The political and social upheaval this would cause could take years to settle again.
Might the populace demand concessions of the other clans? Might they demand they shrink their clan holdings? Loosen their monopolies on specific goods and services? In reality, probably not, Konohagakure, after all, was a military dictatorship but even the discussion of such questions might lead to fractious relations within the village. Only time would tell, perhaps that was for the best since so many considered time the greatest healer.
"I'll be alright, I-I guess I just need time to... come to terms with the night's events."
"Ok," she placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. "I know we agreed to talk about us. But... could we do it another time? I-I've suddenly lost my enthusiasm for.. well everything." Naruto sounded utterly disconsolate. The feminine hand on his shoulder squeezed slightly, "I understand," she said.
"Thank you, Kuro-chan."
It had been several hours since they'd been informed it was over. And still, Itachi hadn't been seen. Izumi had been searching for him for a while now and she now had a decent idea where he was.
Pushing some branches aside she stepped out into a small clearing on the edge of a steep hill and low and behold there he was, still clad in his blood covered ANBU gear, his legs tucked into his chest with his arms wrapped around them.
He didn't respond to her presence but he flinched when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "It's me," she reassured him. He relaxed upon hearing her voice. She leaned her head against his and stared out over the barely distinguishable trees below them.
"How can I face them?" Itachi asked, his voice cracking with emotion, something neither of them was used to seeing Itachi display. "How can I face them?" he said again, "After what I've done." He added, his words barely coherent. "I…" she hesitated, what was she supposed to say? Was there anything she could say that would help?
She couldn't think of anything and her silence inadvertently pushed Itachi over the edge and for the first time Izumi witnessed Itachi cry. She tightened her grip on him and allowed his tears to run its course.
"You did what had to be done Itachi-kun," she softly reassured him. Thanks to the events of tonight, Izumi no longer had a family. Her mother had died when she was young and she detested her father and older brother. She'd moved out the first moment she could, in fact the young man crying in her arms was the one who'd paid the deposit on her apartment. So eager was he to see her freed from her family.
She owed a great deal to Itachi and right now it was her turn to help him.
End Chapter
