This chapter was very hard to write.
It was very hard to edit.
I am sorry.
- Bows –
Please help me find the will to push out the next chapter, I am feeling demoralized after this.
That was your warning, btw.
Please try to enjoy it.
∪●ᴥ●∪ "Wanna touch my paw?" - Pakkun
"Kou!" A childish voice yelled for him. "Kou! Where are you?!"
Kou stretched up from sprawled out slumber on the grass that grew comfortably along the fence line.
With a wide jawed yawn and tensing of his neck, Kou pushed himself onto all four legs and plodded along the worn dirt path. His name was called again. And again. Kou rolled his eyes with a doggish grin stretching his canine mouth.
He kicked up his pace into a leisurely trot. And with a nudge of his snout, the small gate of the home opened up for him. Kou slipped under the engawa of the home and crawled through to the other side of the house.
"Kou!"
He barked twice from under the home and waited. A small head peeked under the wooden boards and short tuffs of dark fell toward the ground.
"Ah!" Konohamaru grinned widely.
With three more yaps, Kou launched himself out from beneath the home and fan to the other side of the small yard. Spirited giggles sounded from behind as Konohamaru took off after him in their sudden game of tag. Kou slipped, dipped and danced around the young boy. Eventually, Konohamaru tumbled to the ground in a clumsy shift of his little feet. Kou twisted, catching the boy against his soft body and fell to the ground, coaxing a round of pure laughter.
"All right boys, lunchtime!"
"Moms home!" Konohamaru scrambled to his feet and ran over, Kou stayed hot on the boy's heels.
He jumped into the home and trotted through the tatami floored room.
"Kou!" He jumped at the scolding tone in the voice. "How many times do I need to tell you not to come inside when you're all grubby."
Konohamaru laughed from behind his mother, "Kou's in trouble!" The boy sang.
Kou grinned at the way the frowning woman turned to the boy. "Konohamaru, don't even get me started." Konohamaru shrunk back, tucking his dirt caked hands inside his pockets and wiping his snotty nose on his shoulder.
"Ah! Don't do that! Both of you, baths. Now!"
Kou didn't need to be ordered a second time. He bolted for the washroom with the boy not far behind him. Bath time was always the best with Konohamaru. If mom wanted them clean, then she'd have to sacrifice the bathroom in the process.
Clearly, Konohamaru agreed as the boy quickly shed his cloths and tripped beautifully into the bathtub. Waves of water spilled onto the tiled floor and over his feet. With a fox-like leap, the bath lost a quarter of its water and Konohamaru burst into a fit of wild, mischievous laughter. In his hand, the boy the bottle of shampoo.
Oh hell no.
Kou launched for the bottle. Slipped in the bath with another great splash.
Konohamaru squealed in surprise and the tub was polluted with a fair amount of soap.
With their sporadic movements, it was soon a half-full bubble bath.
∪●ᴥ●∪ "Wanna touch my paw?" - Pakkun
It took about two weeks of crossing the many terrains of the land of fire. Through golden fields of rice, overshadowed mountains and across lake and rivers alike. Passing towns and little villages each and every day. With a grand total of just over two weeks journey by caravan, Kyoko found herself staring at the massive road polluted with travellers of every kind.
The caravan passed through the giant gates, even bigger than the ones back in the village. The well travelled road led them through markets and shops alike. Silks and jades, delicately crafted blades and jars of fine sake half as big as a grown man. Kimono and coats with the most intricate embroidery gently swayed in the warm breeze that passed through, carrying the scents of the master cooks that offered food to the weary traveller.
The walk carried on through the Capital city, through the beautifully structured entrance that allowed the shrinking caravan through into the Daimyo's residence. Kyoko thought it looked more like a palace, the estate was fit for a lord of the Land of fire.
The ten tenshu tall castle that looked vastly over the capital city was nothing short of awesome. Kyoko was glad for the Anbu mask that covered her face and her dropped jaw. All around, smaller towers stood shorter than the castle but were no less overwhelming. Most of the buildings were made of a beautiful stone white with lightly coloured bronze tiles. Some of the taller buildings spotted eye-catching paints of red, blue, green and purple.
The political capital of the Land of Fire was clearly very wealthy. Situated near four main trade routes had allowed the Lord's fortress grow more and more over its developing years. Kyoko wondered, would a city like this still exist in the next generation? It was too much of a target.
On the small red-painted bridge she crossed over as the caravan fell away, they were led through the city like the envoys they were. Kyoko took notice of a single, small detail. It was completely unrelated to anything. No relevance at all. A Shinobi was meant to notice things but never dwell on peculiarities until the situation called for it. But every step she took on the bridge, her eyes followed a simple carving as her mind whirled to understand something that was likely entirely unnecessary. This bridge didn't have a single nail. No rope, no nails, nothing. It was all just wood. Kyoko felt the urge to climb over the railing and walk on the underside just to have a more perceptive look. Maybe there was something underneath holding it up? She hadn't seen anything when approaching the bridge.
"This way." The guide said as Kyoko's pace had slowed some. She set aside her childish wanderings and continued after the group of five.
The closer they got to the ten-story tower, the more she began to assess the guards.
The Daimyo's guards stood unwavering from their stations even as Kyoko blatantly analyzed them. They donned clean, thick coats with plated grey armour that looked like an exoskeleton in the way it shifted at the joints and a strange mask that covered their entire head. Lacquered scabbard held their blades and Kyoko could only ponder the price of a single sheath alone. These guards carried two. She also wondered to the quality of their blades and the depths of the Lord's pocket.
Servants of all statuses rushed around the main compound. Kyoko's eyes fluttered about, taking in the excitement and bustle of the life these people lived. With each step memorized, Kyoko began mapping her path in an unconscious effort that any Shinobi worth his salt would be able to do.
"This will be your quarters during your stay here in the capital as the Lord Daimyo's guests. A maid will be stationed to the room and guards outside for your safety." The guide said after they had stopped just outside a large door in the high ceiling hallway. Kyoko only listened to them with half an ear. "Please do not leave this wing without an escort." They added and waited beside the door to their temporary room.
"Well then." Her captain walked into the room without any further instruction needed. He tipped back the porcine mask and glanced around the room that had been given to the small group. "Let's rest for a bit, they'll summon us when the Lord Daimyo is ready to meet."
Kyoko took her Captain's suggestion with rapid obedience. Rest? She was already passing out on the nearest piece of furniture. In all of the two weeks spent travelling, Kyoko had slept a grand total of four hours every three or four days. Her body was beyond exhausted, running on chakra pills for the energy boost and she could feel her patience get thinner and thinner as time passed on.
When she awoke, the room was quiet. Kyoko glanced around. Kakashi-Senpai had a book lazily balanced in the three fingers of a single hand, the turning of a single page was the only sound her captain allowed himself.
Sitting on the large windowsill of their room with the frame and glass pulled up was the Jounin Sarutobi Asuma. Asuma was the younger brother to her Genin teacher, Sarutobi Ruma, and the youngest son of the Lord Third Hokage. The Jounin drew the thin white cigarette from his mouth, flicked the ash out into the city and slowly allowed the smoke from his lungs to flow along with the light breeze.
"You're awake." Came the voice to her left. Kyoko turned to the man who was responsible for the negotiation of relations between the Leaf and the Fire Daimyo. A Chunin that wasn't particularly skilled in any form of the combative arts, for that reason Kyoko had mostly ignored him beyond her mission to protect him.
Their mission had been a joint mission. The caravan had originally requested a B-ranked protection but upon Lord Hokage's offer, they switched to an A-ranked guard mission so long as they didn't mind an extra passenger to accompany them. It was a clever tactic to ensure the protection of the Konoha ambassador.
A simple Chunin, with minimal skill, was currently worth more than her life. Simply because he had dedicated an unparalleled amount of skill and talent to his craft. A blade was not this mans sharpened weapon. His words were far more impactful than simple steel. For that reason, she was to be the blade in the man's stead, to protect what he couldn't.
"Uh…" She didn't know his name.
Oops.
"Ambassador Ginshu, when do you estimate Lord Daimyo will be sending his summons to fetch us?" Her Captain said. Kakashi-senpai to the rescue.
Ginshu eased away from his nearby position on the couch beside her. "Perhaps a couple more hours? Two days at most."
Kyoko frowned. A couple of hours to two days. There was a big gap of time in his estimations.
Kakashi-senpai hummed in response before turning back to his book. He paused, "Oh yeah. You can take your mask off, Kyoko. There'll be no need for it on this mission."
Ah, she slept with it on. Kyoko didn't even notice, she was getting far too used to wearing the mask. She pulled the white and purple spider mask away from her face and turned to her Captain.
"Any particular reason why I had to remove my mask?" She asked.
Kakashi made no move to reply.
"These missions are more of a display than actual negotiation, although there is some of that too." Sarutobi Asuma replied in his smoke toned voice. Kyoko turned to him with a brow raised in a silent question. Asuma shrugged, "You'll get it soon enough."
It was, much to Kyoko's annoyance, three and a half days until a servant of the Daimyo came for them.
They were lead through the inner paths of the central compound, passing Koi ponds, beautiful statues and stone gardens alike before they were to cross over a long bridge connecting a building that was built in the middle of a man crafted pond. They were guided inside, past the Samurai guards that were stationed at what Kyoko thought to be every corner and post.
The building so was dark in its wooden blinds that it kept the heat of the midday sun from the room. What little light illuminating the room only ensured to give off varying grey tones. All in all, the room was extensively bleak.
Kyoko stayed standing at the back of the chair where ambassador Ginshu took a seat. Captain Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma stood on her right respectively, eyes cast directly ahead not really looking at anyone or anything. The risks of actually being attacked in the centre of the Daimyo's main conference room, in the lord's estate, in a non-shinobi city, were ridiculously minimal. Neither of her companion Ninja was truly tense on guard, only ever keeping a basic attentiveness of their surroundings, prepared but unexpecting.
To Kyoko's insatiable curiosity, a man entered the conference room wearing a dark green kimono with a pale white sash wrapped around his waist. Tucked securely inside the sash were two sheathed blades, one noticeably shorter than the other. The man was followed by two armoured Samurai guards who stood much like Kyoko behind the man as he took his seat.
Soon the long table was filled with middle-aged men wearing weird hats as tall as her arm was long and multiple layers of cloth were visible under the dark grey Kimono that seemed to be their uniform. Kyoko cringed, it must be unbearably heavy and hot and impossibly restricting within all of those layers.
Once all of the councilmen were sat, the room waited quietly for the Lord of Fire himself. In long languid strides from beneath the arched hallway he strolled, wearing just as many layers, if not more. The fanning headpiece stood large upon his head, long white silver displayed three bright red fire crests. Kyoko made it a point to follow her Senpai, her eyes fixed directly ahead. Asuma's idle advice – weather he gave it out of boredom, kindness or for the good of the village, she'd never know – it replayed in her head. Do not move. Do not speak unless directly addressed. Keep replies short, unless the Daimyo askes specifically for detail. Take heed not to offend the Daimyo. The list went on and on.
Kakashi-Senpai had helpfully added to the long list at the end, 'Standard Anbu Respective Protocol' and Kyoko almost thanked her Captain. She had every protocol memorized, that she could cast aside most of the Saurtobi's warnings in favour for something she was explicitly trained in was comforting. She did keep some of them in mind, it would be foolish to cast aside plausible advice.
The meeting began monotonously. It stretched on in a bland update of the village's affairs and the expert diverting of sordid rumours that a Shinobi village unquestionably raised from the mouths of the common people of the Land of Fire.
Almost an entire half-hour later, the conversation shifted away from the vaguely interesting debate on the salt trade that the Leaf had secured for the land. Her face was schooled impressively blank at the words of the men, she tried to cast aside the memory of a particular moral shattering mission. Of blades and wire, betrayal and bargaining for anonymity, secrets of the worse kind locked in her soul with a slow staining filth of guilt and pure corruption under the pretence of being what was right in that moment but in the end was nothing more than a topic of discussion for these foolish old-
"And who is your entourage this time? The Lord Hokage does send the most interesting of Shinobi this way. I must say, the solid looking man seems incredibly familiar, have you visited before?" The Daimyo asked.
Ginshu smiled politely and gestured to Asuma on his furthest right. "This is Sarutobi Asuma, second son of the Lord Hokage."
"Oh my! Is that really you Sarutobi? I've not seen hide or hair of any of my old Twelve Ninja Guardian since it was disbanded after that horrible incident." The fan held by the Daimyo moved far too slowly to actually produce any sort of wind flow.
Asuma bowed lowly, "It is good to see you again, Lord Daimyo."
The Daimyo chuckled from behind the fan, "You have changed somehow since the last time I have seen you."
Asuma rubbed at his chin lightly, "Ah, I haven't shaved for a while, I'm thinking of growing it out a bit. What do you think, Lord Daimyo?"
The Daimyo hummed in thought then his eyes crinkled in a hidden smile, "Yes, it suits you. It makes you look far more professional, or perhaps more mature would be a better word for it."
"I see," Asuma said with a thoughtful look on his face. Whether it was genuine or a simple act, Kyoko didn't know.
"Who else do we have here?" The Daimyo's eyes shifted to Kakashi and then to herself with interest.
"This is our lead Anbu, Hatake Kakashi." Ginshu introduced.
"Ah, yes. I've heard many tales of the White fang's son. Many, indeed."
Her captain simply bowed.
"And the girl?"
"Nara Kyoko is one of our most promising young Ninja. She has newly been reassigned in taking the vacant position of the Hokage's aid. Her being here is mostly educational." Ginshu quipped almost proudly in her stead. Being reassigned from her squad was not something Kyoko considered an achievement, if anything it was an insult. A demotion. But it was entirely beyond her decisions and opinions.
"Nara Kyoko was it?" The Daimyo asked her directly, she swallowed the annoyance and schooled herself in less than a second.
"Yes, Lord Daimyo."
"Say… Hold are you currently?"
"I am eleven, Lord Daimyo."
The fan was snapped closed and his eyebrows shot up into his headdress. "And you are the Hokage's aid? That's quite… enlightening."
Kyoko had no idea what was so enlightening about her age or position.
"Kyoko is a highly capable and truly skilled ninja. She is the youngest graduate from our academy ever and the youngest Anbu in the history of the Land of Fire." Kakashi said. His praise almost had her taken aback from the sheer force he put into the statement.
The Daimyo leaned forward in what Kyoko assumed to be something akin to intrigue, "Is that so?" The fan snapped open again.
∪●ᴥ●∪ "Wanna touch my paw?" - Pakkun
In the dead of the night, Shisui stared up into the clouded sky. The moon ducked in and out from behind the thick grey. In a small moment where the moon disappeared once again, Shisui moved.
He slipped along the edge of a family building, up into a side along the tree and with a quick glance around Shisui flickered along the blind angle of the camera's he knew were there.
Itachi had told him.
At first, Shisui had been mildly disgusted but as time went on and the situation began to escalate slowly, Shisui had begun to feel relieved that the cameras were set up through the compound. If the other Uchiha knew that morning, day and night they were being monitored by the Anbu… Well, Shisui would probably be standing in the middle of the rubble that the Coup de ta would ultimately leave behind.
As Shisui arrived at the cliff, the clouds hanging in the dark sky steadily moved on. The moon glittered in its final quarter surrounded by the subtle glimmer of the stars. It was a nice night.
Shisui dragged his gaze from the heavens above to the raging river below. White foamy waves rushed and mixed with swirling currents in a forward surge that looked like a mad dash downstream. Somehow, the sight installed a small amount of nothingness, a lacuna that before was filled by some form of anxiety or nervousness. The hypnotic chaos of the Naka river quelled his negative emotions and reminded him of the reality of the world. Of the here and now where he could actually act.
A shift in the air was the only signal of Itachi's appearance. A slight breeze caused by his movements. "Sorry to make you wait," Itachi said.
"I just got here too." Shisui turned around to greet his friend.
Itachi scanned him over, "You look really tired."
Either Kyoko's blunt nature had influenced Itachi or Shisui looked so bad that Itachi, the quiet one of them all, felt the need to openly state the facts.
The inky eyes of his friend glittered in worry, the moons delicate light reflected the emotion deep in his black pools. Shisui suddenly found the ground more numbing to look at as he searched for an excuse, not like Itachi would be fooled by something like that. "Things have been happening." Was the reply Shisui settled with.
"I know I said we'd work together," Itachi's tone was unbearably gentle and sympathetic. "Sorry for always leaving things to you."
"You can't do anything that would cause you to neglect your missions," Shisui said quickly, catching the younger boys gaze once more. "We're both in Anbu, but I've got permission from the Hokage to move freely. It's only natural I'd be working. There's nothing for you to feel bad about." He reassured. Shisui was busy dealing with their clan members and Itachi was acting as the sole linking bridge between the Uchiha and the central matters to the village. If they wanted any shot in hell at merging the Uchiha with Konoha, then Itachi needed to be there as the prime example. As reassurance. As a guide for the younger members of their clan. Shisui thought of Sasuke for a brief moment and steeled himself.
"Before I get into it, there's something I want to tell you." Shisui said, a weight forming in his chest that needed to be cut off. Black eyes met black in a sharp gaze. "The clan suspects you."
"You don't have to tell me that." The almost audible eye-roll in his tone brought a twitch to Shisui's lips. It faded the next moment.
"A ninja of the clan's been ordered to monitor you." Gods, there was no easy way to say it, was there?
Itachi reacted as Shisui would have expected. Alarm in his eyes and worry paired with a decent amount of shock and nervousness.
"What?" Itachi asked in shock. Shisui stayed silent and watched as the boy connected the dots for himself in an impossibly quick amount of time. Shisui could see the moment of realization in the frown that settled into his brow. "I can't believe that he would-"
"It's true, Itachi. I witnessed it myself, there's no doubt about it." Shisui said.
"What do you mean?" Itachi asked, quick to dissect the nuance in his words.
Shisui held back a sigh, "I mean, the one given the task of watching you is me." He admitted. He fought off the memory of Itachi's own father ordering him to watch his best friend. To make sure the boy didn't sabotage the Coup. Well, they sure as hell picked the wrong person, didn't they? Not like any of them could actually keep up with Itachi in a fight anyway. They knew Shisui was the only Uchiha that could keep up with the clan heir.
"They're using the fact that I'm close to you. Three senior officials from the Military Police Force came to order me to monitor you." Shisui didn't have the heart to tell the boy that his own father had been there too, even though Itachi most likely already figured that part out.
"Yashiro, Inabi, Tekka. They suspect you. And you and Yashiro did have some fierce words at the meeting." Shisui said. "I probably don't need to say this but I'll make some stuff up and report back to them."
The tension slowly left Itachi's shoulders just a little.
"But there's no doubt that the radicals in the clan have their eyes on you." Shisui warned.
"I was ready for that." Itachi acknowledged.
"That firmness for yours is both a good thing and a weak point for you, you know?" Shisui smiled, "I like it." With the weight gone from his chest, Shisui looked up to the moon. The clouds had rolled halfway across the sky and opened up the midnight.
"You have this strength," Shisui continued wistfully. "Like no matter what happens to you, your way of thinking will never be shaken. If it's to do with what you believe in, you'll stand and face whatever enormous force might rise up before you without flinching. Which is exactly why I trust you. And… Why I can tell you what I've decided."
"What happened, Shisui?"
"You know what tomorrow is, right?"
Itachi nodded. Tomorrow was the regular meeting of the clan.
The only difference was that this meeting would be on deciding the schedule of the Coup. In other words, they were out of time. "If everything goes as usual at the meeting tomorrow, we won't be able to stop things."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Tomorrow, I am going to attack your father on his way to Nakano Shrine."
Silence.
"Relax, I'm not going to kill Lord Fugaku or anything. I'm going to trap him in a Genjutsu." Shisui reassured.
"The Sharingan you used that time with Mukai?" Itachi asked.
"Exactly." The chakra moved through his eyes as easily as breathing. "With the Mangekyo Sharingan, even the fearsome 'Wicked Eye' Lord Fugaku won't be able to avoid these eyes."
"But I mean, trapping him in a Genjutsu, what are you actually going to do?" Itachi's voice still retained a small amount of worry for the wellbeing of his father.
"When I awakened these eyes, I also awakened a certain Jutsu buried within my blood and chakra. It's hard to explain. That Jutsu is called Kotoamatsukami."
Itachi echoed the name in a small whisper.
"It puts the person trapped in the Genjutsu into a state of total unawareness; then, you can make them do what you want." Shisui described. Fairy coating that this particular Jutsu was essentially brainwashing. "The advantage of this technique is that the effect and duration are both amplified because of the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Itachi silently urged his continued explanation.
"For the visual Jutsu of the normal Sharingan, your gaze has to intersect with the gaze of your intended target to some degree. You need that direct action, and the flow of chakra. But the Mangekyo allows me to sidestep all that a bit. I just have to look at my target's eyes, and pour my chakra in, even if our gazes aren't intersecting. The amount of chakra is several times bigger than what's needed for a normal Sharingan technique, so the target falls into the visual Jutsu instantly. They have no idea anything's ever happened."
"So you mean, by the time the enemy sees you, they're already in the Jutsu?"
"That's exactly it."
"And you're going to use that on my father?"
With a forceful nod, Shisui steeled himself once again. "If I can get him into Kotoamatsukami, I can make Lord Fugaku tell everyone that the coup is off. I can make him believe for himself from the bottom of his heart that it was his own ideas and beliefs."
"You can write over the mind of the ringleader?" The way Itachi referred to his own father as simply a 'ringleader' was both comforting and unsettling.
"It's only the fact that it's your father that makes me hesitate." Shisui admitted.
"You don't have to worry about that." The younger boy responded immediately.
Then, that was that.
He had no excuses and all the reasons.
"Don't come to the meeting tomorrow, Itachi." Shisui asked out of worry.
"Why not?" The question was pure. He simply wanted to know the facts. Shisui was thankful of his friend's unending trust.
"The radical faction suspects you. If I make Lord Fugaku's attitude change abruptly, you're the first one they'll point their fingers at. I don't know what they'll do if you're at the meeting."
"You're saying that they'd attack me?" The contempt in Itachi's voice almost threw Shisui off guard. "If they attack me, I'll just fight them off." He said simply.
"Yashiro and the rest don't have a chance against you. But that skirmish would inevitably interrupt the important meeting."
"So you're going to take control of my father and force everyone to go the other direction, huh?"
"Yeah," Shisui gripped at Itachi's shoulder. "If I pull this off, the clan's enthusiasm for the coup will drop. We knock down Lord Fugaku, create an opening and gradually win the Uchiha over to the side of anti-war." Even as he said, the theory sounded far easier than actually winning over the stubborn members of their clan.
"Isn't there anything I can do?" Itachi asked
"Wait here until the meeting's over." Shisui insisted.
"But-"
"It'll definitely work." It had to. They were running out of options more and more as time went by. Soon they'd be minimalizing the damage instead of preventing it. They needed to act now while there was still a chance. "I'll come here to report the results of the meeting. Just wait 'till then. The next time we meet, the clan will have taken a step towards peace. We'll need your strength after that. I know you'll be critical, given how far beyond the clan you've gone. So you totally can't die before then, no matter what happens. Leave everything to me tomorrow." Itachi looked truly conflicted at letting Shisui act alone, it showed in his eyes as every other emotion had always been available to him.
"Please," Shisui asked.
"Sorry I can't help at such an important time as this." Itachi's head lowered to the ground and a faint shadow from the delicate moonlight above.
"Itachi." Shisui said, gaining the boy's attention. "Our fight starts tomorrow."
The ink of his eyes solidified, "I've been ready for a long time."
∪●ᴥ●∪ "Wanna touch my paw?" - Pakkun
"My Lord." One of the councilmen interrupted the Daimyo in whatever the hell this interrogation was. The Daimyo turned to the man with a great fat 'What?' spread entirely across his face in childish impatience. The councilman seemed bold or just purely unobservant of his Lord. "May I use this time to address the issue of the Taika Provence?"
The Daimyo sighed and Ginshu straightened. "Is this about the matter with the Land of Tea?"
"Indeed. But the matter has been settled for a few months now."
"My lord." Insisted the councilman.
"However," The Daimyo continued with a pointed look to the vocal councilman, "It has left the Land of Fire with a need of rearrangement."
"Lord Daimyo?" Ginshu questioned.
"If perhaps you could elaborate further? Any changes to the Lands territories is imperative knowledge to the Land of Iron. As per the Agreement every nation has with the Samurai."
Kyoko internally reeled in her shock. Then her awe. Then her childish giddy wonder. Holey crap, a Samurai! These guys were Samurai!
"Of course, which is the reason why I have asked that you join us today, Lord Mifune." The Daimyo acknowledged. With a clearing of his throat, he began.
"Roughly two years ago, the land of Tea was engaged in an internal debate over its successors. The eldest two sons of the Lord of Tea were equally in position in terms of influence to take over the Land, however, both sons had vastly different ideas on how their land needed to be run."
Two lavishly dressed attendants entered the room. One held a large white jug that looked far more expensive than anything she thought she'd ever owned. The other carried a trey of matching white floral cups.
"This problem escalated into a political bloodbath when the Lord of Tea passed away a year ago, supposedly of natural causes. The land divided, as did it's government, which separated into factions supporting either side or either brother if you'd prefer."
Kyoko quietly took a white decorated cup of water that one of the attendants handed to her with a bowed head.
"Eventually, the eldest son was poisoned and the land was then taken by the second son. The youngest of the Lord of Tea's sons was then pushed to be the next leader of the eldest sons faction, the supporting nobles scrambled to regain their lost influence like starved pigs. The youngest son, however, had in his possession the will and testament of his father whom was, of course, the preceding Lord of Tea."
The Lord Daimyo quietly sipped at his own water. Kyoko didn't know the tolerances and limits of non-Shinobi but she assumed the sip was for a break in speech rather than actual thirst.
"The land was to be divided between his sons in hopes that their shared skills would bring the Land of Tea to a new height of its prosperity. The youngest had withheld this information until one of his elder brothers killed each other off. He then makes the will of his father known and the Land of Tea had been separated with the northernmost half inherited by the youngest son."
Gracefully, the cup was set on the meeting table and a coy smile displayed across his face.
"The youngest has then propositioned to me, a trade. He will gift me seventy per cent of his land in return for aid in developing the remaining of his inheritance into a new land of his own with continued support and protection from the Land of Fire as the new land acts as a proxy and ally of the Land of Fire."
"And this new land will be called?" Lord Mifune, the Samurai, asked.
"The Land of Vines."
"Vines?"
"Indeed. Most of the land cultivated there is used for the export and trade of vine crops. The Land of Tea had begun to introduce several simple crops like berries, watermelon, even tomatoes in an effort to expand their market. The youngest has obviously taken notice in this profitable trade pursuit and claimed it entirely for himself."
"I see, with the vast land between himself and his brother, the Land of Tea will not be able to attack out of spite as easily. Epically is this Land of Vines is under the protection of the Land of Fire." Lord Mifune sighed. "Very well, if a copy of the new boarders could be shared with the Land of Iron, our records will be adjusted for the case of future negotiations and summits."
Kyoko honestly had no idea just how much the Lord of Iron was interconnected with the five great nations. All she knew was that every Shinobi nation would not dare evoke their wrath. That and the Land of Iron was explicitly neutral grounds for all Shinobi, heck, even the Kage summit was held in the Land of Iron. The Kage themselves avoided provoking the unnecessary fury of the Samurai. So, no fighting against the Samurai would ever be engaged by the Shinobi nations. They were too busy fighting themselves anyway.
"So what had become of the territory that has been gifted to the Land of Fire? What types of shifting are needed exactly?" Lord Mifune asked.
"It will be merged with the South-Eastern Taika Provence. Several outposts will need to be established along with the integration of the lands people who chose to stay and its distribution of value in land already owned by the commoners. All farmers will be transferred under our tax and support regulations. Towns and businesses readjusted and approved of. Minor things really." The Lord Daimyo said wistfully. Then he sighed in self-pity.
"The true problem, however, is the noble ruling of the land. Among my noble families, I have taken great measures to ensure the balance of power. Now there is more land, and a shift needs to happen somewhere in order to keep this balance..."
"I see." Mifune said, offering no council. Kyoko assumed that the Land of Iron tried to keep a respectable distance from actual influence beyond the export of their Samurai to various Daimyos to the respective countries expense.
"My Lord, this is more than just the tides of influence. These are the lives of those who are newly under the Land of Fire's boarders." That talkative noble spoke once again.
"Yes, I am aware of that. But this is about the tides of influence, as you so delicately put it."
"My Lord has a duty to these people!" He pushed. Kyoko idly wondered, why was this councilman pushing his Lord so hard? It was slightly unbecoming of a man of his particular standing.
"You will silence yourself." The fan snapped in his hand. It was a clear warning.
"But!" The stupid man pushed again.
"Oh, very well then!" The Daimyo snapped, "I'll give it to the girl."
The entire room froze.
The councilmen froze. The Samurai stilled. Her captain twitched exactly once. Asuma blinked. And Kyoko froze.
"Excuse me, My lord, what do you mean by 'The Girl' exactly?" Spoke a different councilman.
"I mean, the girl currently present in this room. The rising Flame of the Leaf. The Hokage's aid. The Eleven-year-old that is standing here in this room, of all places in the Land of Fire. Are you deaf to implications or just stupid?"
"But she is not noble!" The vocal councilman spoke up in outrage once again.
The Daimyo turned to the man, "Not noble? My councilmen are meant to be informed, educated and dedicated to this Land. To not know a small bit of history? Ba!" He scoffed and turned away from the baffled gaze.
"The Nara own the Nara forest. One of the five sacred lands in the Land of Fire. They have owned the land from before the Land of Fire was even formed as a nation." Spoke a councilman, this one only now finding it appropriate to speak.
"Indeed. I'll have you know that Konoha possesses many noble or previously noble clans." The Daimyo spoke, his tone miffed. "Many of them retain the deeds to much of the Hokage Province or have traded their land for the lands surrounding the Hidden Leaf! The Uchiha themselves owned the deeds to the land the village is upon, they then shared it with the Senju once the village construction was underway and the treaty finalized and documented. It was a token of goodwill and an investment into the future. Which is exactly what I am doing right now."
"By giving an Eleven-year-old an entire province?!" This guy just wasn't giving up.
"The Hagamitsu will still have its lands of the Taika Provence." The Daimyo argued.
"That leaves roughly Eighty per cent of the land in the hands of a child!"
"This girl is no child."
The room was silenced once again.
"The Shinobi clan territory is of no debate to the civillian Nobles. That is a matter for the Hidden Leaf village and the Hokage."
Her mind paused.
Hold on one freaken moment!
She would later confidently say that she was proud that she gave away absolutely no indication of the realization she had in that moment.
She couldn't speak. Her mind had been so disjointed by the vast strangeness of this room. She had been left so unconnected to everything but the simple facts behind works. Heck, she listened to the small history lesson more than the actual conversation. And now that she had finally pieced together the actual implications of what was going on, there was no room for rejection. She had not yet been addressed though so there was still a little time to readjust matters.
"That's settled then." The Daimyo clapped.
Or not.
Kyoko swallowed nervously. She felt eyes on her but kept her well-trained mask of passive comfort and alert control.
Internally, she was a mess.
A giant mess of 'WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?'
∪●ᴥ●∪ "Wanna touch my paw?" - Pakkun
At noon a messenger came to their door with a small note in a crisply folded cream paper pocket. The note was then passed to a hesitant Kyoko. She pulled out the small pieces of paper and stared at it in awe.
All her childhood she had been schooled by her mother, then by the academy, in writing and characters but never before had she seen such beautiful script on a small sheet of paper.
It was clearly written with the traditional brush and ink methods that were still popular even though recently pens and pencils were gaining traction in the trends. Each brushstroke was so perfect in its angle. Not a single mark of hesitance, not a single stained hair strayed.
She tore her eyes from the detail of the expert handwriting and spared some of her still functioning brain cells to what the note was actually saying to her.
She then paused and her cheeks lit up in a small blush, she rubbed at her forehead and turned to her Captain.
"Can you read this?"
"Hm?" Kakashi said with a raised brow, peered over her shoulder then gave his famous sadistic closed eye smile. "Of course." He said then he turned away back to his book.
Her eye twitched in annoyance.
"Something wrong with the letter?" Ginshu asked as he walked up to her.
Kyoko rubbed at the back of her neck and handed over the small slip. "Its an invitation to something but I don't know these Kanji."
Ginshu took the note and scanned it over. Kyoko watched as his left eyebrow rose then handed it back to her. "Its Imperial Ceremonial Tea."
Kyoko stared at him. "I'm sorry, what?" she took back the paper as he handed it back and ran through the rest of the letter.
"It seems that you've been invited to a tea ceremony with Lord Mifune." Kakashi said with a casualness so irritating she threw a couch cushion directly at him. Regrettably, the cushion was easily swatted aside. She should have used more force.
"Can I decline this?" Kyoko asked the room. Asuma snorted and Ginshu almost panicked.
"No!" The Chunin cried. "The insult of declining a personal invitation… I can't imagine what that passive-aggressive old Samurai would do. Absolutely not."
Kyoko had been schooled in tea ceremony back in the academy but that was only the basics if anything. That even had been spent receiving a thorough ear pounding with the endless information of what to expect from a formal tea ceremony. How she should react in certain situations. She had even been dresses up in a Kimono, one she was eternally grateful for her mother demanding she take. Kyoko had been so ridiculously practised in the last four hours by Ginshu that she had even dreamed of a freaken tea ceremony.
Kyoko arrived at the courters of Mifune, once again accompanied by a guide in the form of a servant of the Lord Daimyo. Kyoko was left at the door, waiting patiently in her furisode. It was one of her favourite things to wear outside of her shinobi attire. Not that she ever really got the chance to wear it beyond preening in her room in front of her mirror. The cream base colour accented the orange autumn leaves embroidered into the elegant silk. Her obi was a dark tan detailed in the Nara picturesque deer quietly grazing.
It originally belonged to her father's mother, and her mother before her, handed down as time wore on. It was the most cared for piece of clothing she owned. The most formal piece of clothing as well. It was beautiful. Kyoko never wore it, not even to those stupid tournaments that the clan elders insisted were the height of the clan's urgency. Kyoko had stalled them for years now, as she pushed against them, against the Nara clan, she came to realize that her clan's prestige was something that the elders of the village took far too literally to truly understand it. Those idiots didn't understand what it meant to be Nara. It was like they had never read the old texts of their clan.
The door in front of her opened and she was gestured inside by an armoured Samurai. Kyoko moved forward in through the doorway and into the room.
"Welcome." Mifune greeted. Kyoko bowed deeply. "I hope you will not worry too much about formalities. My niece will be hosting us today, as she is still learning the ways of the tea ceremony I will forewarn of any mistakes."
Kyoko almost sighed in relief, she held it contained. "This is relieving news," Kyoko spoke formally. "I admit, I've never attended a tea ceremony outside of my schooling in the academy."
Mifune chuckled, "I have asked you to join me for more of a discussion than the actual tea but it was an opportunistic time for Hanami to get in a bit of practice while away from home."
"I see." Kyoko focused her attention onto the Lording Samurai. "May I ask as to why you've called me here today, Lord Mifune?"
The Samurai scanned over her seated form from across the small table between them.
"I am interested in the ways of the Shinobi, I always have had a mild curiosity for the differences between our practices the variety of Shinobi culture. Every now and then I like to sit with a Shinobi and simply talk of varying matters." Mifune asked. "I also like to get the opinion of a Shinobi's view on the Samurai."
Kyoko watched the man, "My knowledge of the Samurai is noticeably lacking." She admitted.
Mifune nodded, "Yes, you are rather young. I didn't expect for you to have much insight into the Samurai Way."
"The Samurai way?" Kyoko asked in keen curiosity.
"It would take far longer than a simple tea ceremony to educate you upon the Way." Mifune smiled, "However, I can tell you that the differences between Samurai and Shinobi are not as great as you may think."
Kyoko stayed silent, waiting for the man to elaborate. "Do you know where chakra first came from?" He asked.
Kyoko pondered silently, "The Great Sage of Six Path."
Mifune nodded, "Indeed. The original difference between Samurai and Shinobi was how each of us took the teachings of the Great Sage. The Shinobi used chakra as a literal link between people to form values of understanding, empathy and insight between each other in hopes if achieving peace."
"Ninshu." Kyoko said.
"Ninshu?" Mifune asked.
"I think, no… I believe that is the teaching of Ninshu." Kyoko thought, trailing her memories and thoughts.
"Interesting…" Mifune hummed. "While the Shinobi developed their Ninshu eventually into Ninjutsu, the Samurai fostered Bushido. The Samurai before the Sage's teachings were mostly retainers and warriors of noble families of the Imperial courts of old that believed in a certain set of ideals. These ideals were deepened upon the introduction of Chakra. Each of our teachings stems from these ideals in some way or form."
"So, a Samurai is more focused on the spiritual usage of Chakra and the Shinobi are more physical?"
"Essentially." Kyoko dragged her eyes from Mifune's calculating gaze. "Say, do the Leaf Shinobi still believe in the Will of Fire?"
Kyoko blinked in confusion, "Yes. Why do you ask?"
"I believe that the Will of Fire is the closest thing a Shinobi will ever come to Bushido." He spoke. "Tell me, what do you think of the Will of Fire is?"
Kyoko had pondered this exact question once or twice before. "The Will of Fire… Is the emotional manifestation of desire put into intent and thus, a will."
Mifune smiled, "Do elaborate."
"The Will of Fire moves. It shifts and morphs like chakra and it is different for each person. To one, it may be the protection of the village and it's ensured survival. To another, it may be their beliefs and dreams. It is something that can be passed on, like one candle to another as one person's Will is to another. At the root of all these reasons, is desire."
"And what, if I may ask, is your Will of Fire?"
"My Will of Fire?"
The Samurai Lord nodded.
Kyoko stalled in thought for a short while, "My Will of Fire is also desire." Kyoko declared. "It is the desire to protect the village as it is more than the place of my family but the families of my family. It is of love, hope, loyalty and duty that sparks the Will of Fire within me. It burns because of the darkness that is Shinobi - and the greater the darkness, the brighter the flame."
"Is this something you have decided on your own?" Mifune asked cryptically.
"No." Kyoko smiled. "I share this Will with my Sensei, my Kage, my friends and my Father. It is because of what they have shown me in life that I am able to say this so truthfully."
Silence passed over as a trey of prepared snacks were set out. Mifune quietly chewed on one and Kyoko waited for the man to finish.
"That Katana you wore during the meeting, is it just for show?" The Samurai Lord asked.
"It is as much of a tool as I am." And Kyoko didn't believe herself to be a tool for others to use. Years of internal conflict had been quelled in her mind. No Shinobi was a tool. They were people. Lord Third himself had reassured her thought.
Even if, sometimes, she was needed to act as such from time to time.
"I see. Then would you perhaps like to spar with me later in the week?"
Kyoko almost floundered, "I doubt I can be of any challenge to you, Lord Samurai."
The older man just laughed. "Do not worry too much, young Shinobi. I simply wish to test your blade."
"Do you have time today?" Kyoko asked in an almost embarrassingly eager manner leaving the Samurai to smile.
"I may. Would you like to fetch your blade?" Mifune smirked.
Kyoko smirked, "I have it here with me." She pulled the long silk sleeves to show the tattooed seal in her inner forearm. Mifune peered at it curiously. With a small application of chakra shaped into the key needed for her Katana. The black sheathed blade poofed into existence. Kyoko caught it before it could drop a single centimetre towards the ground. The comfortable black painted wood cooled her warming hands.
"How cleaver. You Shinobi are most assuredly imaginative and creative creatures." Mifune praised. He stood from his seated position in the single most fluid movement Kyoko had ever seen outside of combat. "Shall we move outside for a little sport?"
Kyoko eagerly followed the man into the courtyard. Each stood a blades distance from each other. Mifune tucked his sheathed blade into his sash once again and rested a hand on the grip, the other angled the rest of the sword and held it firmly in its position. Kyoko drew her blade from its home, ready for the next needed movement.
"Let's not move beyond this. We don't want to ruffle ourselves up too much in these fine clothes." Kyoko agreed, not to mention that the silk she was clad in was near impossible to move in. Not ideal for any type of sparing but she'd be a fool to turn down this offer simply because of a bit of silk and tight clothing.
She was distracted.
In a single movement, Mifune drew his blade from the sheath and replaced it back quicker than she could blink.
"I am impressed," Mifune commented.
Kyoko stared wide-eyed, her blade rang in her ear from the force of the collision. She had been only just fast enough to reposition her sword to deflect the oncoming blade.
"You're reactions are quite quick," Mifune said. Kyoko called bullshit in her head, she knew this man could draw his sword even quicker. He wasn't even standing in position and he had still forced her swiftest reaction, a small dose of fear and that insatiable adrenaline.
"Let's see how long you last, shall we?"
Seven hundred and thirty-eight strikes later. Two hours after that, the sun disappeared. Kyoko stood in the same position as before. Her arms quaked uncontrollably. Her calloused hands had ripped anew for the first time in a long while and her heart was thundering in her chest and it races to push oxygen through her blood.
"Perhaps it's time to retire for the day." Mifune suggested.
Kyoko straightened, replaced her blade and bowed deeply in respect and gratitude. "Thank you for today."
"No, thank you. These trips are usually far more uninteresting." Mifune smirked. "Your skills with that blade are beautiful. They possess the refinedness of time and work and yet it still has the chaos of errors in the most minimal amounts. Very Samurai, if I do say so myself."
"If the Lord Samurai has any tips for improvement?" Kyoko asked.
Mifune hummed, "Have you ever crafted a blade yourself?"
Kyoko frowned, "No."
"Then, I'd suggest paying a visit to a blacksmith. There is much to learn from the birth of a blade if you seek to master it." Mifune offered and gestured to the hallway that led out of the wing. Kyoko bowed once more before moving away back to her own staying room.
"Why are you such a mess!?" Ginshu all but squealed upon her return.
"Looks like someone had fun." Asuma smirked and Kakashi peered up from the book he was reading in the corner of the room. Her Captain raised a brow at her.
Kyoko couldn't hold back the full-blown giggle and grin, "You have no idea!"
∪●ᴥ●∪ "Wanna touch my paw?" - Pakkun
"The Mangekyo Sharingan… I would be able to use it more effectively."
Those words signalled every single fibre of his being to leave.
He tried to jump back. To put any distance between himself and this man.
He couldn't.
His legs refused to shift. Not a single twitch. He stayed rooted to the ground.
Fear set in as his eyes widened in shock.
"Insects are such interesting creatures," Danzo said. Shisui was suddenly hyperaware of the squad of Foundation ninja that 'protected' the Elder Danzo. "If a mosquito were to bite a human, there isn't a single ounce of pain felt. Not even the sensation, perhaps only an itch."
Shisui struggled in vain, he was paralyzed. "Wh-what did you do?" Shisui hissed and his head began to spin.
Shisui felt the rupture of a chakra appearing behind him. With all his effort, Shisui turned his head so that he had the newcomer within the sight of a single eye.
A Foundation ninja.
"What are you calling yourself now?" Danzo asked the figure behind Shisui. The foreboding loomed over Shisui like a raised, freshly polished guillotine. His fingers twitched and the smallest muscles contracted beneath his skin.
He could feel the familiar and unsettling feeling of a nonexistent breeze brushing against his chakra. Kyoko… She was watching.
"I go by Sugaru now." The Foundation behind him spoke with exactly no emotion. It made Shisui's hair raise.
"Oh, that's right," Danzo said as a few long and languid strides had the older man within arms reach of Shisui. "Sugaru here is originally from the Aburame clan. I'm sure a wise young man like yourself would be able to figure out the rest."
Shisui would have stiffened if his body could accomplish anything. His teeth ground together in an effort to move.
"But don't worry. The poison won't kill you right away. There'll be just enough time to have both of your eyes plucked out."
Oh fuck.
"They're fresher when they are taken from a live subject, you see? They adapt faster too, unlike your fathers."
. . .
. .
.
"You… You took my father's eyes?" The words were whispered and suddenly all of his dread turned to seething anger. His eyes pulsed with heated power.
In a moment, Danzo reached out, pushed back the upper eyelid with his first two fingers while his thumb sunk lower. Pain erupted through his skull, fingers stabbed into his eye socket then his eye was gone with a painful ripping thud of it disconnecting.
Shisui's empty eye closed harshly in pain and a fresh warmth trailed down his cheek. His blood was hot against his skin.
"One more to go." Came the voice of Danzo.
No.
Donzo would never take his other eye. Pain rippled from his lower back as the poison pulsed through his blood. He couldn't die here. Itachi was waiting for him at the edge of the cliff. He had made a promise.
Shisui's chakra fluctuated in desire.
Suddenly, it felt as though he were consumed by flames. And yet, his skin didn't burn or peel from the moving energy around him. Shisui didn't feel the immense pressure that had left him standing in a crater. He didn't feel resistance as the energy pushed every ninja away from him. Shisui looked through a shimmering green haze at the Elder that stood calmly gazing in Shisui's direction. Three of his minions stood in a protective stance in the space between them.
Shisui clenched a fist.
Movement.
But all the Kami, that single movement left his breathing sharp and his mind blanking from the pain.
He needed to push through. He needed to endure.
He needed to figure out a way to get rid of these bastards and somehow make it to Itachi before the poison coursing through his body snuffed out his life. Shisui moved his arm out towards his enemies and felt the energy move with him. Shisui knew, in his very essence, how this power was meant to be used. A shower of green, Senbon-like chakra shot toward the group. Some of the Ninja dodged, two of the others took direct hits while acting as human shields for the Elder.
The impact of a single Senbon-like projectiles kicked up a fair bit of dust and rubble. After the shower he had just rained down on his foes, there was plenty of cover to make a quick getaway. The power fizzled away and Shisui moved in the only way his body knew.
With a single Body Flicker Jutsu, Shisui was gone. Already in the trees. By the eighth aching Flicker, Shisui had arrived at the cliffside, a place where he had so many precious memories.
Shisui came to a stop in crumbling agony.
Itachi whirled around at his ungraceful appearance. Eyes widening at the sight of him. Shisui wondered, when Itachi looked at him, what did his dear friend see?
"Sorry, Itachi." Shisui breathed, his lungs were on fire. "I failed."
Itachi took a quick step forwards, "What happened to your eye?"
Shisui ignored the question. "I couldn't even make contact with Lord Fugaku. The meeting's probably starting right now. They'll likely decide on the key parts of the coup at the meeting today. Our plan failed." Shisui had never felt so broken in his life. He had this one shot and now… It was all for nothing.
"That doesn't mean it's over." Itachi said determinedly.
His spirit ached for Itachi. The boy's hope and sincere pacifism made Shisui truly worry. Would Itachi be okay? Would he be able to live his life the way he deserved? Shisui, only now in this single moment did he realize.
His heart broke.
Shisui wouldn't be able to see the man Itachi was fated to become. Shisui wouldn't be able to protect him. Wouldn't be able to spar with him and argue over tactics. Shisui wouldn't ever learn the names of his friend's kids or see the day to have his own.
Shisui wanted a family.
He had wanted one so bad.
He wanted a daughter.
It was something he had aimlessly pondered over mindlessly. But now he knew he wanted a daughter.
He could see it in his mind's eye, picture a little girl with delicately long eyelashes framing midnight eyes.
"Who got you?" Itachi's question pulled Shisui from his thoughts.
"Danzo." Shisui spat. "One of his subordinates uses insects, right?"
Itachi frowned, "Was he wearing a white feline mask?"
The pain rippled again, it intensified. "He dosed me with a poison. There's no saving me." The ache in his body stole at his breath. "Itachi." His comrade, his brother's name fell weakly. "It doesn't look like there's any way to stop the coup. If Konoha starts fighting within itself, other countries will definitely attack, it'll be war."
Shisui laughed weakly at how pathetic he sounded, like his impending death had torn up the last of his hope. This… wasn't like him.
"Just as I was about to use the Kotoamatsukami to stop the coup, my right eye got stolen by Danzo." Shisui was bitter and frustrated. "Danzo didn't trust me. He intends to protect the village his own way, no matter how it looks." Shisui was angry.
Shisui raised his hands to his empty eye, fingers lightly trailed over it before drifting to his single remaining eye. "He likely would have taken my left one too." His fingers slipped past his eyelids. The pain in his eye bloomed again but it was nothing in comparison to the way his entire body throbbed. That sickening, ripping-like pop echoed in the depths of his skull. The warmth of his eye sat reassuringly in his closed fist where it was safe, secure. "Before he does that… I'm giving it to you." More than giving Itachi an eye, he was giving him the Mangekyo Sharingan. His expressed permission to use its abilities. Maybe this way, Shisui would still be able to see Itachi grow. Would still be able to aid and protect him in some way. Even if just marginally. Even if he were dead.
"You're my best friend. You're the only one I can ask. The village… The Uchiha name… protect them." Shisui held out his arm and a small pulse of chakra signalled a crow from the empty space above them. The crow descended in a mass of black feathers, landing on the outstretched arm Shisui provided. With an open hand, his eye offered, the bird bowed its head. In a flare of chakra, the bird rose from its bow with Shisui's spinning Sharingan. Protect them. Shisui silently ordered, preyed.
With a light shove up, the bird disappeared into the cold, sunless sky.
"There are other things I want to give you. I don't have much in terms of possessions. Mother and Father have already passed so… I've written a Will, like every ninja. That'll sort it out. There's a notebook I want you to share with Kyoko. It's got some of my notes and theories on a few Jutsu I've been developing. Use them to become stronger. Use them to protect each other. There's one more thing…" Shisui blindly smiled into the night sky. "But before that, there's something I want you to know.
"What?" The younger boys voice was quiet and strained.
"I killed my good friend with this hand," Shisui confessed. He clenched his hand into a tight fist in front of him. "It was a little before I met you, before Kyoko wrangled me into those cursed Shogi games." What Shisui wouldn't give for just one more game.
"I met a boy at the academy I could call a friend. He was on my Genin team too, and eventually, we went to war together. By then – we really trusted each other. But I…" Shisui hesitated in finding the right words. "That didn't even last a year."
"You saw the war… It was a bloodbath. We were surrounded by more enemies than we could count in the heat of the battle. It was just bad luck that we were even there. Fortunately, reinforcements arrived just in time. I managed to get out, but my friend wasn't… If I had just reached out to him, he wouldn't have died."
"It wasn't your fault." Itachi said, echoing voices of the past.
"No." Shisui denied. "I envied him. He was better than I was, more talented, and that made me jealous. I could have reached out my hand. But, deliberately, I didn't… My decision killed him."
"For several months I was completely destroyed by the fact that I had killed him. But then…"
.
The afternoon sun, he hated it. He was tired of training. It didn't do any good when it only helped him forget for a few hours at most. He wasn't really improving either, maybe he should just-
Looming above him was a small presence.
Shisui slowly turned to the new company. Surprise filled him just a little as, standing tense and hesitant, was a little girl. Short fluffy hair and steel black eyes, he first thought that maybe one of the kids of the clan had a message from one of the old ladies or something. But she didn't look Uchiha, something about her was different, somehow.
The little girl was dressed in a tan-coloured dress with white little ruffles at the ends of the skirt. Her cream-coloured coat was likely the only protection she had against the cool afternoon breeze that had settled in.
In her arms, held almost like a protective barrier, was a wooden box that barely fit into her tiny limbs.
"Can I help you?" Shisui asked, rasped more like, he needed some water.
The girl was trying so hard to look fearless that it was almost cute. "Are you Uchiha Shisui?" She asked.
She was obviously cautious of him, Shisui sat up to help her feel a little more level with him. "Yeah, that's me. What can I do for a little lady like yourself?" Shisui eased his tone of voice into something more gentle and lighter.
She thrust out her arms and shoved the wooden box in the open space between them with eyes squeezed shut and face screwed up. "Please spare some time and play a game against me."
.
"But then…"
.
The sound of the kunai embedding into the centre of the wooden targets hanging from the tree echoed. Shisui smiled. Damn this kid was good, he thought. He decided to voice this, "Not bad at all."
The youngest boy whirled around from his landed position and searched for the origin of the voice. Finding Shisui leaning against a tree, Itachi straightened and his eyes scanned over him. They began at his feet, no doubt taking Shisui's relaxed posture in mind and dismissing him as an immediate threat. Itachi's eyes stopped on the regulation headband that sat snugly on his forehead.
"How old are you?" Shisui asked, creating conversation, even though he already knew the kid was around the same age as Kyoko.
"Four." Itachi said shortly.
Shisui whistled impressed. "You're really something. Being that good with kunai at your age is impressive." Shisui complimented but the boys face remained passive and unresponsive.
Shisui flinched mentally, no reaction from this kid huh. He opted for a different approach and offered his hand in greeting, "I'm Uchiha Shisui." He said warmly.
.
"It was then. When I met you." Shisui smiled. "I watched you, so intently motivated in your training every day, and I just wound up making a fool of myself." He chuckled. "You were always so forward-looking, always running ahead, and spending time with you helped me pick myself back up again. To both you and Kyoko, I'm grateful." Even to Shisui, his words sounded like goodbye.
Shisui wanted to scream at the world for being so cruel and unfair. He didn't of course, Shisui didn't want to upset his friend any more than he already was.
"My friend's death gave me a new power. That was the Mangekyo Sharingan. It takes a fierce emotional blow for an Uchiha to unlock the power. Mine was probably awakened by the regret over killing my friend."
"Regret over killing your friend…" Itachi echoed.
"Kill me, Itachi. Then you'll also unlock the Mangekyo and become even stronger."
"But that's-!" Itachi went to protest but Shisui cut his friend off before he could argue.
"I'm dead either way. So then, it's better if I die after leaving you that power." That way, Itachi would be able to, at the very least, protect himself.
His body pulsed and his legs nearly buckled beneath him. He had lost feeling in most of his lower core and left leg. His arm was starting to numb too and his temperature had dropped, despite the burning sensation on the poison intensifying in its maturity within his blood. He didn't have much time left.
"All right – do it, Itachi!" It was selfish to demand this of the boy. To weigh his friend down with these emotions. Itachi was too young for this. He had always been too young for this world.
Itachi took a step closer.
"That's it." Shisui encouraged. He could hear Itachi's breath shake and falter in an uneven pattern in an attempt to hide his sorrow from him.
I'm sorry, Itachi. "With your abilities, something like the clan can't contain you. I mean, knowing you, you'll even be able to surpass the destiny of the clan. No…" The clan was small in comparison to Itachi.
"Shisui…" Itachi begged.
"I think your abilities could even swallow up the Shinobi worldview."
"My abilities?" Itachi asked. His voice trembled. It was the only time Shisui had ever heard his friend so weak. Itachi didn't understand his potential.
"I'm glad I met you." Shisui said.
A gentle hand placed itself over the place where his heart pounded. The hand shook violently. It was far too gentle to do anything other than be there. It was comforting. That hand had really grown a lot over the years.
Shisui tipped himself back.
Gravity did the rest.
The hand slipped away.
The wind rushed in his ears.
A delicate embrace engulfed his chakra.
Take care of each other, please.
He wondered of their fates, their destiny.
He wondered, would he find peace now?
Now that there wasn't a thing left for him to do?
There was a moment of everything. Of hot and cold. Of joy and anger. Of hatred and finally… of relief.
And as Shisui went to move on, went to follow his parents who beckoned him beyond, he hesitated.
In the darkness around him, a small forest appeared from nothing. He was dead, for sure. He could see - proof he was dead - all around him but it was distorted. This was the other side, and he only needed to move forward to finally be at peace.
Shisui walked over and sat with his back against the support of a single tree. He stared up into a newly materialized clear summer night sky. The filtered moonlight that streamed through the tree leaves gave him comfort.
Here, Shisui would wait.
The three of them would cross on to their next journey together.