Chapter 30 – Where the Tree Leaves Dance

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been the Hokage for as long as Itachi could remember. He only knew the Fourth's face from his likeness carved in the mountain, as he had died not long after Sasuke was born. But the Third had been Hokage for the entirety of Itachi's shinobi life. It was he who had shaped Itachi's perspective on what a Hokage should be like.

The kindly old man who sometimes took his time to visit at the Academy, whether it was to impart his wisdom upon often dismissive young minds or to quietly watch their progress from one season to another. The old man who looked so weighed down by the white and red robes of his office, but who wore them with all the dignity his rank demanded. The wizened man who tottered about all the time, but who had probably died fighting, defending Konoha like so many others, decades younger than him.

That Hokage was dead.

The news hit like a punch in an already battered stomach, yet Itachi barely registered the pain. It felt surreal for Konoha to lose two good people in the span of less than twenty-four hours, in a time of relative peace. And who knew how many more? Most of the dead were likely unaccounted for, so soon after the attack. They were friends and relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. The shinigami had been greedy. It seemed Konoha would mourn as one.

"Shisui isn't with you. Was he injured?"

His father's question hit like a kunai to the gut and that pain did register, like ripples in a pond. Itachi confined them under a layer of ice. Of course, Fugaku did not know. His own voice felt foreign as it shaped the words that came out of his mouth.

"Shisui died on the mission."

Itachi could not remember the last time he had seen his father taken aback. Emotion did not often grace Uchiha Fugaku's face and there was little that surprised him. Shisui would have been flattered to know he had had something to do with it, Itachi thought idly. But Shisui would never know.

Fugaku's face eventually reset itself into its usual stony expression. Only a marked crease between his brows betrayed it, but he allowed himself this one concession. Shisui had been one of the clan's best, one of the pillars of its future. The news of his death had struck a heavy blow, closer to home, as if today's nightmare was not enough. He grasped at the one thread of light remaining to him at the moment: relief, knowing that Itachi was safe and sound. But he knew nothing about Sasuke or Mikoto, who had been at the stadium.

"There's nothing you can do here," Fugaku told Itachi. "If you want to help, go look for your mother and brother."

Itachi nodded and vanished. He would begin his search at the hospital, the most likely place he would find them if they had been injured. He could not bear to consider something worse than that, but the possibility loomed like a shadow, regardless. If anything, these days had proven no one was safe from the shinigami.


The Konoha Hospital appeared mercifully undamaged both from above and from ground level, when Yatagarasu finally landed in the courtyard. As the old crow vanished in a burst of smoke that billowed in the breeze, Tenzo and Tsume carried Hiashi up the steps to the front doors. It was not until Akane pushed them open that it became clear where the damage was.

The hospital's foyer was overflowing with people, filled with a cacophony of talking, crying and moaning. The smell of blood and disinfectant permeated the air. Every available piece of furniture was occupied, and many patients were sitting on the floor. Most of them did not appear to be in critical condition, but nevertheless, Akane saw no medics tending to any of them. They were likely wrapped up with the worst of cases. In the midst of all that remained, she spotted a lone flash of white: a single nurse, overwhelmed, zooming from one patient to another like a crazed bee. Akane cursed under her breath and went to her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Sand and Sound attacked during the chuunin exam," the nurse replied in a clipped tone, without pausing from her work on bandaging a leg gash.

The answer only raised more questions, but Akane decided now was not the time. "I need a bed or a gurney for a patient in critical but stable condition," she told the nurse, while starting to unclasp her armguards.

The nurse looked up, irritated that someone, even an ANBU, could think of demanding such things at a time like this. "Who-?"

Akane removed her ANBU mask only briefly before putting it back on. There was a flash of recognition in the woman's eyes, followed by relief.

"I'll be joining you shortly, although I'm afraid I don't have much chakra," Akane added, already making for the locker room.

Tsume watched Akane leaving the foyer and her mounting frustration peaked. While the rest of them had fought against Suisen and Juri, she had been swept to the sidelines. Much as she wanted to believe otherwise, Tsume knew why Itachi had relegated her to watching over Hiashi, away from the fight. Like many of his decisions, it was two-fold: to eliminate the danger she posed as a wild card, as well as keep her safe for her children's sake. Deep down, Tsume understood the former and was grateful for the latter. What she resented was feeling so damn useless.

Which is why, the moment she and Tenzo finally laid down Hiashi Hyuuga on a hospital bed and were free of their charge, Tsume made up her mind.

"Come, Kuromaru."

Tenzo realized what she was about to do and trailed after her towards the exit, minding his step around the injured people lying on the hospital floor. "You should stay until the Captain returns."

"I'm not hurt," she said. "There's nothing I can do here, but they sure as hell need help out there."

It was the fact that Tsume was not raising her voice in her usual, temperamental way of arguing, that conveyed her determination. Tenzo realized he stood no chance of winning the argument and sighed.

"Well then, I'm coming with you," he said. "An extra pair of hands won't hurt."

At that, Tsume whirled around and barred his way toward the exit, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't mold chakra, you told me that yourself. You're staying here for your medical check-up and that's an order." Thankfully, Itachi had not demoted her yet. She was still his second-in-command, officially.

Tenzo pursed his lips, but his back straightened up ever-so-slightly – a deeply ingrained reflex among the military in response to receiving an order. It was how Tsume knew she had won.

A smirk curled her lips and she placed a hand on Tenzo's shoulder to reassure him. "It's alright. You've done your part. Now it's my turn."


Akane showered in record time, then donned a white medic coat over the fresh set of clothes she always kept in her hospital locker. She could not remember the last time she had needed them, but they certainly came in handy today. Her ANBU uniform had soaked up enough blood to stiffen the fabric now that it was dry. She ended up tossing it into the infectious clinical waste bin for incineration.

The rest of her items went inside the locker. However, she hesitated for a moment before shutting the locker door. After a short deliberation, she removed two storage scrolls. One of them contained her personal effects. The other one was inscribed with the seal for "corpse". Akane's eyes then lingered on her blood-spattered ANBU mask until the door clanged shut, sealing it in the darkness within.

The lobby was no less crowded than before when Akane went back. If anything, the nurse only looked more frazzled.

"They're starting to bring in more genin," she said, casting a sorrowful glance toward Akane while clearing her med cart of bloody pieces of gauze and disinfecting it. "There was a case of poisoning, but Eiji-san took that. There's three of them who came in just a couple of minutes ago, however. Two out cold, vitals stable. One said he was fine, but wouldn't leave their side. I had them all placed in 102, if you'd please have a look at them."

Akane nodded and thanked the nurse before making her way down the hall to the room she had indicated. Somehow, she was not surprised to find a familiar face inside. It appeared Konoha was not so big, after all.

There was no sign of recognition in Sasuke's eyes when he looked up at her. He was sitting in the only chair in the room, between the beds occupied by the two she assumed to be his teammates. At first glance, Sasuke appeared moderately unharmed, aside from the almost depleted chakra reserves. Exhaustion was written plainly over his face, but there was an unnamed fire burning in his eyes, something restless and discontented.

"My name is Akane Nara, I will be your medic today," she began. "Could you tell me what happened to your friends?"

The pink-haired girl's pulse was more sluggish, so she went to her side first. She looked up at Sasuke, whose reply was short and on point.

"She got slammed into a tree and crushed."

Akane nodded. Indeed, she found a few fissures in the girl's ribs and a mild concussion, which she assumed was the cause for the loss of consciousness. As she began healing the damage she could, she was surprised when Sasuke addressed her on a more personal note.

"You're his teammate."

It had been an affirmation, not a question, so Akane saw no reason to deny it. The boy was better at dissimulating than she had thought. She did find it curious, however, that Sasuke had not uttered his brother's name.

"I am."

There was a small pause before he spoke again. "Does that mean he's back?"

Was that relief or something else? Akane could not tell, but it did occur to her that perhaps, one day, Sasuke would follow in Itachi's footsteps straight into the ANBU. Although he had not asked about Itachi's state, she thought some reassurance was still in order.

"He's back and he's alright," she said.

Sasuke said nothing more. The healing chakra around Akane's hands faded. The girl would be alright, so she turned her attention to their remaining teammate. From the blond boy's vital signs alone, she could sense nothing wrong – his heartbeat was strong, textbook in its rhythmicity. It was not until Akane saw the whisker-like markings on his face that she realized why, given his seemingly battered state.

Naruto Uzumaki. The Kyuubi's jinchuuriki.

A monstrous, nine-tailed shadow, darker than the night sky. A howl that shook the ground. Buildings crumbling. The smell of smoke in the gusts of wind. Running in the night, panicked voices all around, children crying. Her own heart hammering in her chest, loud, louder than the silent plea she kept repeating in her head over and over again as she ran.

Please be alright, mom and dad, please be alright, please, please, please, I'm scared

Akane realized her hands were trembling, hovering uncertainly halfway between herself and the boy. She could feel Sasuke's gaze pinned on them, on her, gauging her reaction, trying to make sense of it. Didn't he know what was sealed inside his teammate? What could come out?

Stop, she commanded herself. You're a medic. Get a hold of yourself and do your fucking job.

Sasuke saw the medic hesitating and realized she must have been waiting for him to fill her in on what had happened, like he had with Sakura. She could have said something, he thought, disgruntled. But then, what was he supposed to tell her? That Naruto had fought a monster? If the image of that creature were not burned into his mind by the sharingan, he would have thought he had only dreamed of it.

"He… I think he used too much chakra," Sasuke said, eventually. "But he got tossed around a bit, too, so…"

"Thank you," Akane said quietly. Using his voice as an anchor into the present moment to pull herself from the past, she finally managed to force chakra in her hands. It was not the boy's fault. He was not the monster inside him.

But the kyuubi's presence certainly made itself known throughout its vessel, she thought as she delved into Naruto's body. The visible cuts and bruises, the wound on his forehead, where his skin had split – they were already healing at an impressive rate. Although still at a cellular level, the speed of the process suggested all his injuries would be gone within a day, at most. And that was likely only because Sasuke was right in saying he had used too much chakra. Whatever the underlying cause, she could not help but be in awe.


The moment Itachi set foot inside the hospital, he knew he would find Akane wearing a white coat instead of an ANBU uniform. Although most of the attackers had been driven off, a few stragglers remained. He had encountered some himself on his way to the hospital. The Police Force was sweeping through each district, dealing with the remnant of Sand and Sound, as well as rounding up more of the injured, but being thorough also meant slow. It would be a while before the influx of patients dwindled.

Itachi saw Tenzo, but no sign of Tsume and Kuromaru. He had an inkling what her absence implied, which was soon confirmed by Tenzo. Team Yon was falling apart and Itachi felt like he could not grasp at the pieces fast enough to keep them together. Another bitter pill to chew at. He was beginning to lose his sense of taste after one too many of those. Tenzo, however, unwittingly provided him with a drop of honey, as well.

"Your brother and his teammates were brought in a little while ago," he said. "I think Akane might be with them now, ask the nurse over there."

Itachi barely registered the next few moments until he found himself in front of the door marked 102. His hand was numb when it knocked and the door knob almost felt warm against his skin. But the instant he opened the door, Sasuke's dark eyes met his and relief washed over him in a cool wave. His little brother was alright. Itachi's lips cracked into a fleeting smile in the darkness behind the ANBU mask. He wished nothing more than to stay with Sasuke, to make sure he was truly alright, within and without. Unfortunately, he could not.

"Do you know anything about kaa-san?" Itachi asked.

For once, Sasuke did not assume he was being brushed off. He understood there were greater things at stake than sibling rivalry at the moment. "She was at the stadium," he said. "The last time I saw her she was watching from the tribune, along with everyone else."

His brother had barely moved when Sasuke jumped from the chair. "Wait. I'm coming with you."

Itachi's heart cringed. In what concerned Sasuke, "alright" was a relative term, given the present situation. He was not a medic, but even he could tell his little brother was very close to his limit. Not long after Orochimaru had placed the Cursed Seal on him, Shisui had kept his word and contacted his former classmate, Anko Mitarashi, who bore the same mark. She had warned them that the seal might activate irrespective of Sasuke's will if he ever pushed himself too hard. Perhaps it had done so already, though he was loath to consider it. On the other hand, Sasuke would certainly take another refusal from him as an affront.

Before Itachi could brace himself for the inevitable, Akane's voice cracked like a whip. "Absolutely not," she told the younger Uchiha. "Sit. I haven't even started with you."

Whether she had picked up on his hesitation before Sasuke could or understood the danger better than he thought, Itachi did not know. He was, however, grateful that she had stepped in to play the bad cop. Especially when Sasuke was stunned enough to do as he was told, for once. Itachi nodded in approval.

"I'll see you soon," he told Sasuke.

"Take care of kaa-san," his little brother conceded morosely.

"Will do."

In the dozen minutes Itachi had spent inside the hospital, the sky had clouded over and scarce snowflakes were now falling over Konoha's deserted streets. Itachi had dashed across the village's rooftops so many times over the years sometimes he felt like he knew them better than the streets. Here, the blowing wind carried a newfound chill that warned of the waning day. Soon, the sun would set. If the attack had been well planned and executed, Konoha would remain in darkness, its generators taken out. It would remain vulnerable. He hoped that was not the case.

The stadium loomed just ahead, smoke still rising from its side, black bleeding into the grey clouds above. Itachi pushed more chakra into his legs, tapping into his carefully-managed but still dwindling supply. To recover his strength, he should have slept over the night, or had a wholesome meal, or better yet, both. Given the circumstances, it seemed he would have to go without either for a while longer. Still, only one thought echoed in his mind.

Please be alright, kaa-san.

Itachi ran vertically along the stadium's wall and perched like a hawk at the top to survey the area below. He heard the distant clamor of weapons clashing and tired battle cries, though only a few figures could be seen and most were wearing masks. ANBU masks. He spotted Kakashi and Gai's telltale silver hair and green leotard and they both appeared to be fighting off ANBU in what remained of the arena. So, this was how they had gotten to the heart of everything, he mused, removing his own mask to avoid confusion.

Before he could make his way down, however, the light of a familiar Fire style jutsu lit up half the stadium, drawing his attention. He sensed his sharingan activating because without it, he could not believe his eyes. There were four figures standing in the middle of the arena, surrounded by enemies wearing Konoha ANBU masks. Two of them were Kakashi and Gai. The third, Itachi recognized as Genma, one of the Hokage's bodyguards. The fourth was none other than his own mother.


Mikoto's sharingan burned as bright as ever, though she had been forced to borrow some shuriken from Kakashi since she had not brought her own weapons to the chuunin finals. Who would have thought? The tribune and the arena were both littered with corpses by now and in spite of that, the enemy still outnumbered them, much to her growing frustration. She had initially joined Genma in covering Sasuke's pursuit of his treacherous opponent, while Kakashi and Gai had cleared the tribunes, but it seemed the enemy had come well prepared. In numbers, more than anything, she told herself.

The three ANBU-masked enemies on her side of their four-man circle charged at the same time as the rest. Mikoto drew air into her lungs while her hands worked through the required seals and chakra whirled within her once more. The flames came out in a roaring blast, which her sharingan saw right through, monitoring each and every move of the figures who thought they had so cleverly avoided a direct attack. What they did not know was that Mikoto Uchiha's greatest pride in her shinobi abilities came from her shuriken jutsu.

A momentary genjutsu was all it had taken to conceal her shuriken, launched at the same time with the Great Fireball jutsu. One seal and the whirring stars burst into flame beyond the enemy line, along with the threads which connected them to her fingers. Mikoto used those to dexterously maneuver the shuriken into position. The enemy did not move quickly enough to escape her trap.

One of them, however, had somehow countered her genjutsu and evaded the subsequent techniques. She caught his movement past her defenses from the corner of her eye and managed to shift her body enough for his kunai to only graze her side instead of pierce it. The weapon clanged against another sharp edge instead of her flesh.

"Itachi!" she exclaimed at the sight of her son interposing himself between her and the attacker. Pride swelled her heart, coursing along with the adrenaline. It had been a long time since she had fought, after all. She had almost forgotten what it felt like. "You need to go after Sasuke. That boy from Sand-"

Itachi filled her in while fending off the attacker. "Sasuke's alright. I saw him at the hospital. One of my friends is a medic, she's taking care of him."

Mikoto's eyes stung with tears of relief. One son gone on a confidential mission for over a week without word. The other sent after a creature beyond his capabilities. Her family in shambles, since long before all that. If they did not make up with one another this time around, after everything, she swore to herself she would knock some sense into them.

"Let's finish this, then," was all Mikoto Uchiha said, her voice heavy with resolve.


Akane could not remember the last time she had slept. Two days before, she had returned from a mission only to slip into her medic coat and keep on fighting, albeit on a different level. Stolen hours of sleep in between surgeries did not count. Half-eaten meals at the cafeteria did not count.

By the time she stepped into the locker room after her last overnight shift, she was so tired she almost fell asleep in the shower while inwardly debating whether she should hang that white coat for good. Blood from the blisters on her feet formed its own rivulets in the water as it washed down into the drain. Her skin burned after she had peeled off her gloves from chakra burns. She was a husk, woven from pain.

Well, since none of them appear to have been run through with the Chidori, or are even in the least bit singed, I'd say you've held up admirably.

Akane burst into a fit of laughter. Then tears. She clamped a hand over her mouth to keep quiet even as she shuddered, halfway in between, opting to blame it all on the exhaustion. Her hands did not and could not still feel sticky with Shisui's blood. She must have washed them hundreds of times since.

Thanks, Shisui-san. I appreciate it.

The water was so hot that by the time she stepped out of the shower, her whole body steaming in the air coming through the open window, Akane was dizzy. She paused on the bench by the lockers for a moment, waiting for her blood pressure to return to normal.

That's what friends are for.

She needed to get home. Sleep. Now, not a moment later. Before she lost her mind entirely. Akane fumbled with the small key to her locker, which kept jiggling with the other keys as it slipped in her grasp, missing its destination. At long last, the lock clicked and the door opened. A single, dark hair fell from within the locker. Akane's eyes watched it all the way down to the floor. Such a small thing, carrying such weight.

Rest slipped off her mind entirely. The telltale sign she had put in place as a precaution, a sigil for her eyes alone, had been broken. Someone had picked the lock and been through her things. Even in her state, Akane would have sworn it with a hand in the flames. Even though on a closer inspection the lock showed no visible signs of tampering and nothing was missing from her locker.

From the pocket of her medic coat, Akane removed her one remaining scroll after a visit to the morgue. She wondered if aside from the clue she had committed to memory there might have been anything in it of interest to someone within Konoha.

The remaining question was not how. It was why.

The title of this chapter is a quote from the Third's last thoughts in the anime: "Where the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village… and once again tree leaves shall bud anew."