Chapter Twelve - Vulnerable Moments
"When can I be discharged?" Izumi groaned, irritated at the prospect of eating another meal consisting of bland hospital food. She felt completely fine. For the first couple of days, the doctor had placed on her IV drips to inject nutrients into her system after suffering from malnourishment due to starvation in the days they were held in captivity. Three days ago, the staff deemed her well enough to eat solid food. And meal by meal, Izumi slowly regained her appetite.
At the mere thought of hospital food, her appetite became nonexistent, which was exactly what they didn't want. At this rate, Izumi would never fully recover.
That, and Izumi was simply jealous that Itachi had been discharged from the hospital for a few days already. They had been in the same predicament; it wasn't fair that he was already free.
As expected, Itachi gave her the answer she had already heard a million times over. "Soon." If Izumi was a seven year old kid, then that answer might have placated her, but it was simply insulting that Itachi and the rest of them thought they could get by with that kind of low effort answer.
Impatience grated on her nerves. Izumi was itching to get out of the hospital so much that she already started plotting her escape. Normally she would have shared these plans with Itachi, but knowing him, he would be the first to disapprove.
And well, there was a slight wrench in her plans. This was unfamiliar territory; Izumi had no idea where to go. As far as she knew, her cousins were camping out in Kakashi's apartment that was meant for one person. Beyond that, there was nowhere else she could go. Who knew if the villagers were still hostile towards the Uchihas? From the interactions she had with the medics, the reactions were mixed from everything ranging to flat out disgust, strict courtesy, or genuineness.
Knowing that Itachi wouldn't budge on the subject, Izumi changed topics. "So what about your eyes? Can the medics heal it?"
"No," was all Itachi had to offer. When Izumi proceeded to ask follow up questions, like whether he was permanently blind or temporary, what the medics said to him, and so forth, Itachi gave her curt responses to all of them. Izumi huffed in annoyance; what was the point of him being here if he was going to dodge all her questions? Why does everyone treat her like she was a child?
Her memories were damaged, but that didn't mean she didn't have the brain capacity to function like an adult. It was infuriating. And here, Izumi thought Itachi would treat her differently. How wrong she was to assume so; he treated her just like Obito and Shisui did.
A scowl was present on her face. In the past, when Itachi sensed her unhappiness, he would always be the first to remediate the situation. Most of the time, the source of her anger was Obito's antics and while Itachi never explicitly picked sides, it felt good knowing that Itachi was on her side. At least in her head, he was. His unspoken support fueled her confidence and always made her feel better.
But now, Izumi felt horrible. There was no Itachi siding with her this time...because he was the source of her anger. Izumi jerked her head to look in the opposite direction of where Itachi was. Her lower lip jutted outward. Her arms were crossed over her chest.
Itachi couldn't see that she was ignoring him, but the least that Izumi could do was not to speak to him. It was impossible to argue with him; Itachi was always the voice of reason, so she elected not to so that Izumi could feel somewhat justified by her actions. It was childish of her, Izumi could admit, but if they wanted to treat her like a child, then she would act like one.
"Izumi?" Izumi instinctively opened her mouth to answer, but caught herself just in time. Itachi's inquiry was met with silence. As expected, he was smart enough to quickly figure out that something was wrong.
"Izumi, if something is bothering you, talk to me. Stewing in silence isn't going to solve anything."
"Then stop avoiding my questions," Izumi retorted. "We can talk when you're ready to give me honest answers."
So that was what this was about.
His original intention was to reveal as little as possible to Izumi, that way he could keep her out of this mess. Izumi could focus on healing and not have to worry about anything else, but he should have known that Izumi was far too stubborn to be left out.
"Okay," Itachi conceded. "I'll tell you everything that you want to know."
From there, it was a rapid fire line of questions, most of them focusing on how they ended up in Senju territory. To answer the questions fully, Itachi found himself going back to their childhood, explaining how the resentment caused a rift between the older and younger generation. From there, Itachi went on to recount a simplified version of the war; they won, in the sense that they were able to establish a peace treaty, but not without cost. The following eight months, it felt like the council was indulging Itachi's antics, as waiting it out to see what else he could do.
Then captivity. Itachi felt like he didn't need to explain that part, since Izumi had been there with him, even if she was unconscious or delirious for most of it.
"So they wanted to execute you because you were painted as a traitor. And I was part of your group, the one working against them, so that's why I was captured?"
Itachi nodded. "I assume so. At the time, you were stationed at one of the outposts. When Shisui escaped, he should have sent you a missive for you to retreat. Maybe it was intercepted and you got caught? All I know was that they put you under so many layers of genjutsu, so they were probably extracting information from you."
Izumi frowned. "Is that why my mind is so messed up?"
"There's a barricade around your memories," Itachi murmured, recalling what Inoichi told them. "I suspect that because there was a barrier around your memories that when the Uchihas tried to use genjutsu to extract information, they couldn't get anything. But at the same time, since the memories had nowhere to go, it ended up fragmenting and scattering."
"Barrier?" Izumi echoed. "The Uchihas put it there?"
Itachi shook his head. "Inoichi san believes that you were the one who erected that barrier. The Uchihas wanted to get information from you, there would be no reason for them to put the barrier themselves."
"I put it there?" There was a lilt of incredulousness in her voice.
"Yes. And thanks to you, none of our other comrades have been captured." Itachi placed his hand on the hospital bed, fingers sliding across the soft sheets until his fingers touched Izumi's arm. Trailing down the side of her arm, Itachi found her hand. Wrapping both of his hands around hers, Itachi gave it a comforting squeeze.
"You've done well." There weren't enough words to describe exactly how proud Itachi felt at the moment. How proud he was of her to protect their secrets, even to the brink of driving her to insanity. How proud he was of their ragtag group of accomplishing their first goal: obtaining peace.
There was still a lot of work cut out for them, but with his comrades by his side, Itachi felt like he could take on the clan. Just like he had been her light when Izumi was wallowing in darkness, they would become his eyes.
Izumi squeezed his hand back. He couldn't see the bright smile on her face or the tears of happiness that threatened to spill from her eyes, but she hoped to convey her feelings through her action. While she couldn't remember exactly what she did, it felt nice to hear Itachi's acknowledgement.
"Can you tell me more about our past?"
There was a two hour lull between when she finished checking up on her last patient to the time when she would start her next round. As usual, Rin retreated to the common lounge, only to find that it was already occupied by a group of gossiping nurses that were on break. Rin tried her best to not eavesdrop as she headed towards the shelf to retrieve some books.
Yet she couldn't help but overhear bits and pieces of their conversations, enough to put together that they were talking about the Uchihas.
Unlike her, there was no hostility in their voices, but rather curiosity. The conversation circled around each of them throwing guesses as to why they were in the Senju village and speculation as to what happened to Itachi's eyes.
At the mention of his blindness, Rin visibly flinched, but they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice her reaction. At the mere mention of the subject, the memory of her run in with Shisui at the hospital surfaced once more. Hastily grabbing a few random books from the shelf and clutching them tightly against her chest, Rin quickly exited the room.
Her decision was made. Thinking about even more would only cause her to wallow in guilt. Guilt wasn't even an emotion that she should be feeling; after all, they were the ones who owed it to her and not the other way around.
With that resolve at the forefront of her mind, Rin marched to the conference room. The conference room was rarely occupied because meetings were often scarce. The director of the hospital often sought out individuals or small groups, rather than calling a large meeting. In the five months that Rin worked at the hospital, there had only been one meeting and she hadn't been called into attendance.
Since she was new, Rin didn't have her own office, yet the director of the hospital recognized her talents to where he knew that if she performed the duties of a medic's assistant, then her talents would go to waste. So he had given her the same authority as an experienced medic, much to the skepticism of the other medics.
Some knew her history with the Uchihas, but her reputation wasn't as widespread as Tsunade's, so for the most part, their skepticism lied in the fact that she was new. Most had a hard time believing that she was capable, especially after the news began to spread that she had no formal medical training.
Rin wasn't deterred. She had the skills to prove them all wrong. And so she did, establishing her own footing at the Senju hospital as one of the most skilled medics, especially in the field of ophthalmology. As much as she hated it, Rin had to admit that being the Uchiha's medic for almost a decade was what honed her skills. After all, when she was responsible for healing two of the most prominent clans known for dojutsu, her knowledge of the eye couldn't have been anything less than stellar.
The conference room was dark. Light flooded the room after the light switch was flipped on. Shutting the door behind her, she dumped all of the books onto the table. Pulling out the nearest seat, she sat down. Noting the clock on the wall, Rin made a mental note of the time before she grabbed the first book on the stack. Without even sparing a glance at the cover, she cracked the book open and started reading.
As a child, Rin learned the basics of medical ninjutsu from reading books. As she got older, Rin continued to expand her knowledge with every chance she could get. Every medical book that she could lay her hands on, Rin would read. Through the books, she learned more than she could ever dream of.
Old habits were hard to break. Rin still preferred learning through reading rather than someone teaching it to her. After all, Rin had gotten as good as she was today by herself. There was no one to teach her anything.
It hadn't taken her very long to grow bored of her current book, that was detailing the inner workings of the eye, which Rin already knew. Skipping ahead and skimming the section headers, Rin realized that this entire book was about the eye. Snapping the book shut, she tossed it onto the table before reaching to grab the next one.
It had been another book on the eye. Rin stood up, rummaging through the pile of books. Tossing aside book after book, the pile dwindled at a rapid pace as Rin realized that all the books she grabbed were related to the eye.
What was wrong with her? This was the last topic that she needed to expand her knowledge on. Furthermore, Rin wasn't working with any patients that had eye problems. So why did her subconscious pick out books all relating to the eye?
Was it because they had mentioned Itachi's blindness? But that wouldn't have influenced her decision...unless, subconsciously, Rin felt compelled to help him.
Her eyes flickered down to the last book in the stack: Corneal Diseases. Blindness was in there. A damaged cornea was the fourth leading cause of blindness, so there was no way that it wasn't included. Even if all the information in the book was something that Rin probably already knew, she still felt compelled to read it.
So she did.
Her finger scanned quickly down the table of contents, locating the section on blindness. Thumbing through the pages, she stopped on page one hundred and twenty-two, the start of the section on blindness. And proceeded to spend the next hour reading through the entire section, brain soaking up every single detail.
Like she expected, everything written in that section was something that she had seen before, but time had corroded the clarity of the details. Yet as her eyes roved over the pages, it all began to come back. It had been so long since she dealt with blindness in a patient that wasn't caused by the Sharingan that Rin had forgotten.
It was pathetic that her life revolved around the Uchihas so much that she had forgotten what it was like when it wasn't. And just when she was regaining some sense of normalcy, it was disrupted. That thought didn't sit well with her.
Rin abruptly snapped the book shut, tossing it onto the table to join the rest of the pile of discarded books. Scooping up the pile of books in a haphazardly manner, Rin marched out of the conference room. She didn't care to rearrange the books so that the sharp edges didn't dig uncomfortably in the crook of her elbow; all that she cared about was getting rid of these books as quickly as possible.
The gossiping group was gone by the time Rin reached the break room. Upon finding out that she was the only one in the room, Rin let out a sigh of relief. At least, she could get some peace and quiet before it was time for her next set of rounds. Walking up to the bookshelf, Rin absently began to place the books back in its rightful spot. It wasn't too difficult as she had been the only one to take any book in the first place. Yet the thing that scared her the most was her subconscious' choice of books.
The books in her possession hadn't been grouped together. On the contrary, all of them were from different areas of the shelves, since the books were grouped by the level of difficulty, then in alphabetic order. And somehow her subconscious had pulled books from all three different levels of difficulty and found her way from Corneal Diseases to Ophthalmology.
Jamming the last book in its place, Rin quickly left the room. While her departure hadn't been planned, she couldn't stand being in the same room with the bookshelf staring mockingly back at her. As if it was a reminder that no matter how hard she tried, Rin would always be tempted to help the Uchihas.
It was purely her instinct. In her entire medical career, she had never turned down a patient. She had never tried so hard to go out of her way to avoid a patient either. It was just her kindness. None of that meant anything.
At the end of the day, she still wasn't going to help him. Not that Rin could cause blindness was usually irreversible. But still, she wasn't even going to try.
No, her resolve couldn't waver. They had caused her so much pain and suffering that they didn't deserve her kindness.
Her feet carried her to the last hospital room at the end of the corridor. Rin froze when realization hit her exactly whose room this was. But when she moved to head back the way she came from, a soft voice halted her to her tracks.
"And so what happened at Daisuke's place?"
Daisuke. That was a name Rin hated hearing more than the Uchiha name as a whole, but she couldn't help but to be intrigued. She remained rooted to her position, her shoulder pressing against the wall as she leaned against it.
"He showed me how he treated his servants. He made them fight among each other for his leftovers. Survival of the fittest, he would say. And Daisuke wouldn't really care if any of them died because as long as there was war, then there's always spoils of war for him to collect."
That was Itachi's voice. Rin could recognize it anywhere.
"And then? Are they still there?" She assumed this was Izumi's voice.
"Yes." In just one word, Itachi managed to convey a myriad of emotions. Regret. Guilt. Helplessness. Anger. It wasn't something that could easily be faked. And what for? He didn't know she was listening in on their conversation. "I hate that I wasn't able to free them before all of this happened. I hate that I hadn't been able to do anything about it since I knew that it was happening. I was eight years old when I found out; it's been ten years. Ten years and nothing changed." His voice broke.
"But didn't you say you were able to save a girl?"
Her. They were talking about her.
"I saved her life and then ruined it all at the same time. From the day I vouched for her to live, I knew that the Uchihas wouldn't easily let go of her since she was so talented in medical ninjutsu. But she hated the Uchihas, so there was no way she would willingly help us. The council plotted to set her free, let her develop her skills under the pretense of freedom, and then we would forcibly take her back. And I just watched all of it as it happened."
"You were a child."
"What about when I wasn't? I could have freed her from the genjutsu at any time, but then the war happened and one thing led to another and I just-" An audible exhale left Itachi's lips. "I just feel like a failure." It was hardly above a whisper; Rin had to strain to make out his words. And once she did, a part of her couldn't help but feel his pain.
"You're not a failure, Itachi."
Rin peered over past the door frame just in time to see Izumi's hand reach out to grasp Itachi's hand, squeezing it tightly. A small smile played on her lips as her brown eyes stared intently at Itachi.
"Trust me on this one. You'll succeed this time."
"And if I don't?"
Izumi's smile grew wider. "Then you'll try again. And again. And again. The Itachi in my memories doesn't ever give up. And because you never gave up, I'm not going to give up either."
Itachi cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"
Izumi pointed towards her head, even though Itachi couldn't see what she was doing. "I'm going to find a way to piece my memories back together. By the time you take back the village, I'll remember everything."
Take back the village? So the rumors of Oto's occupation in the Uchiha village were true?
"You shouldn't push yourself too hard."
"I know. Maybe you should take your own advice for once. I know you've been training so you can get back onto the field."
"I'm fine," Itachi insisted. Anyone with eyes could see that he wasn't. His chakra levels were so dangerously low that he couldn't even sense her presence even though she hadn't been trying to hide her presence.
"You're slouching. You have bags under your eyes. Your complexion is unnaturally pale," Izumi pointed out. "You can't see yourself right now, but you have never looked so haggard in your life. I'm sure that it's taking a toll on your body right now too."
"There's not much time left. The longer we drag this out, the harder it will be to take back the village. They won't be expecting us to strike so soon."
"But it won't do anyone any good if the leader collapses in battle," Izumi stated with a frown. "You need to rest."
"But-"
Rin couldn't stop herself. She didn't know whether it was because she felt compelled to help him even if he once wronged her or it was pure medical instinct, but she finally stepped forward to reveal her. Rin liked to think it was the latter, but lying wasn't her speciality.
"She's right. You do need to rest."
Itachi's head snapped towards her. His hands were balled tightly on his thighs, nails digging painfully into the palm of his hands, like he was unnerved that she had caught him off guard. Hopefully that set off enough alarms to convince Itachi that he needed to rest.
After a few moments, Itachi's hands began to relax. "Rin san," he acknowledged, tipping his head in her general direction.
He recognized her voice. Why she was still here, Rin didn't know. She hadn't imagined that she would willingly strike up a conversation with an Uchiha, much less stay longer than necessary. Perhaps speaking to Shisui and Obito had numbed her to the point where she no longer felt the compelling urge to run away.
It might have also helped that he was wearing a plain navy shirt, probably belonging to Kakashi, devoid of the characteristic Uchiha clan symbol on the back.
Izumi perked up at the mention of her name and saved her from having to respond to Itachi's greeting. "Oh you're Rin san! Nice to meet you."
"You know me?" Rin asked warily.
Izumi nodded vigorously. "I heard about you. Everyone says that you're the best medic in the hospital right now." And then Izumi went on and on about everything she heard, from Obito or Itachi or Kakashi or the gossiping nurses and assistants. But in her entire spiel, never once did Izumi mention healing Itachi's eyes.
And Rin was grateful for it. She wouldn't have known how to respond to that.
"So when can I be discharged?" Rin didn't know how Izumi had effectively switched from one topic to another so abruptly, but she was glad that the topic was no longer on her. "If you say I can be discharged, there's no way Itachi can argue against that."
It was almost comical in a way how Izumi was so oblivious to the tension between Rin and Itachi. He didn't even dare to face her direction and Rin tried to look everywhere but at him. What do you even say to a person who once saved her life, betrayed her trust, then set her free, and now needed her help that Rin didn't want to give?
"I'm not sure, but I can find out for you." It was for the best. The sooner that Izumi left the hospital, the less chances that Rin would run into the Uchihas. They would be far on the other side of the village, where Kakashi lived. And in the meantime, Rin would just avoid spending time with Kakashi, just in case she happened to run into them.
It sounded like a plan, only...something tugged at her heartstrings.
"Have some patience," Itachi admonished. "What is wrong with the hospital?"
"Everything!" Izumi exclaimed. "No offense Rin san, but hospitals suck. Especially the food. It's so unappetizing."
It was a nice feeling. Despite knowing that Izumi was an Uchiha, she didn't beg for her forgiveness. She didn't have a guilty look in her eyes. She didn't watch her words in case she said something offensive. She treated her like Rin was a normal person.
Rin wondered if it would all change if Izumi was aware of their history, but for now she was content watching the two of them bicker. Well more like Izumi was trying to annoy Itachi by countering everything that he said, while Itachi kept his cool. The scene in front of her reminded her so much of what Kakashi and Obito used to be. What she and Obito used to be.
That was something she would never get back.
And maybe the combination of longing and sympathy was what pushed her to try to preserve their relationship. She may have lost hers, but they didn't have to lose theirs too.
And maybe she had already let go of her past, but she kept denying it out of fear that they would take advantage of her kindness again.
And maybe she knew all along that she would help him from the moment her subconscious picked up a stack of books all relating to the function of the eye.
And maybe she believed in Itachi, believed that he could be the one to free the other servants from Daisuke's hold so they didn't have to continue to suffer.
And maybe he hadn't ruined her life. He was the one who saved it. He had given her a second chance.
Maybe he deserved a second chance too.
The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"I'll heal your eyes."
Izumi's mouth fell open as she glanced back between Itachi and her. Itachi's forehead was creased in deep thought. If it had been anyone else, they would have been delighted, yet Itachi's reservation only confirmed Rin's thoughts.
He never expected her to help him in the first place.
She made the right choice.
Shisui's crow flapped its wings, circling lazily above the tree. The two Oto shinobis that were passing through the area hardly spared the crow a glance, having been too engrossed in their own conversation. Sensing that the guards would hardly be a threat, his crow settled down on one of the branches.
Still, it waited until they were completely out of sight before it swooped down from the branch and into the hole in the tree. Opening its mouth, the crow angled its head forward to allow the tightly bundled note roll out of its mouth. The note bounced against the surface before settling itself in the corner.
The crow's work was done. Exiting from the hole, the crow made its way back to his owner.
The bugs that lived in the hole stirred the moment they felt a foreign presence, but upon recognition of a familiar pulsing chakra signature, they stayed quietly in their corner. Once the crow left, the swarm of insects moved to scoop up the tiny note, ready to deliver it to their owner.
Yui stirred lightly as she heard light footsteps in the hallway. She moved herself bit by bit towards the wall where she used the wall as support to push herself into a sitting position. Her shoulder dug painfully into the surface, but she didn't let up on the pressure until she was finally upright. A groan escaped her lips, a combination of the exertion and the fact that every part of her body ached.
Having all four of her limbs bound together with chakra restraining ropes and having to stay in that position for however long since she had been thrown in here had taken a toll on her body. There was a blindfold over her eyes, which was an utterly stupid move on their part because the Byakugan could see through objects. If only she had the chakra to activate it, then Yui would have gotten out of here a long time ago. But now she didn't even know whether it was day or night or long she had been in here or if everyone else was alright.
She wasn't the only one that they were looking for.
It felt like deja vu. As much as the Hyugas hated to admit it, they were more similar to the Uchihas than they cared to admit. Hiashi should have killed her on the spot, yet he wanted to execute her publicly.
To make an example out of her was what he said.
It sounded like Itachi's predicament was happening all over again, except this time, it was her.
Hushed whispers floated to Yui's ears. She frowned. No one ever came here, except the person who came once a day to shove liquid food down her throat so she wouldn't die of hunger before Hiashi got to her. And from the lack of the characteristic sound of the door sliding open, Yui concluded that they weren't here for her.
Another group of clansmen who were looking for privacy but didn't realize that she was here?
Yui shifted herself closer to the direction of the voices. She had no idea where she was going, but as long as her shoulder didn't ram into anything, then she was good. Closer and closer until she could finally make out the words clearly.
"You can't honestly believe that Hiashi san is okay with this." A male's voice.
"Well what am I supposed to believe? He's acting like he is okay with this. Even the branch has made more of a move than we have. What are we even waiting for?" This time, it was a female's voice. Yui didn't recognize either of their voices.
"You know things are complicated right now. The branch shouldn't haven't made a move so soon."
"They wouldn't have if the main family showed some indication that they were going to do something about it. You expect them to take being under Oto's occupation quietly? Hell, even most of us in the main family are furious." Inwardly, Yui cheered her on. Whoever she was, she was voicing everything that Yui wanted to say.
"Yes, I know," he tried to placate. "But you know how they are. They fear revolting will bring repercussions. We are still recovering from war; just with the strength of our clan, we cannot win."
But what about with the strength of the Aburame and Inuzuka clans? Yui tacked on in her head. Yui was certain that not even the entire Uchiha clan would fight for their cause so their odds looked good if all three clans became allies.
But of course, Hiashi just had to lock her in here while she could be the one forming plans with the other two clans. Sometimes, the Hyugas were too prideful for their own good. Yui sighed.
"So what are they planning to do about it?"
"I don't know."
"That's not an acceptable answer. If they're not willing to act, then we'll do it for them." Their voices faded away as their footsteps indicated that the girl had taken off, with her companion running after her.
That wasn't a conversation that Yui was supposed to overhear, but that had been enough to put a smile on her face. And that smile was still plastered on her face even as she drifted off into sleep once more.
Toshiro was half asleep as he sat in on yet another one of the council's meetings. Or at least what was left of the council. The clan heads were notably absent. Itachi and Shisui weren't present to argue against the council. Sora, Daisuke, a couple of his father's friends, his father, and Orochimaru.
Even thinking about his name left a horrible distaste in his mouth. The sinister look in Orochimaru's eyes sent chills down Toshiro's spine, and a quick glance around the room informed him that he was the only one. Everyone else looked at ease. Aside from the civilian Uchihas, who were probably more oblivious, even Sora and Daisuke, two veteran shinobis, at ease.
He didn't understand what possessed them to form this alliance. What was wrong with working with the Hyugas, Inuzukas, and Aburame? And now the Uchihas had to go and piss them all off.
In a room of old, stubborn men, Toshiro was quickly growing bored. He vehemently disagreed with everything that was said, but had to pretend like he agreed. The worst part was always when his father's eyes would land onto him and ask for his opinion.
"What do you think, Toshiro?" he would always say. Out of the corner of his eye, Toshiro noted that Sora would scoff, indicating that he didn't care about the opinion from a twenty year old. Daisuke would tune out everything he said. Only his father and his friends would actually listen to what he had to say.
The worst part was that Orochimaru's attention would always be on him, eyeing him like he was a specimen. The second worst part was the bile that rose up in his throat and each time Toshiro would forcibly swallow it before his mouth began to spew lies to agree with everything they said.
Toshiro couldn't help it. He was their only source of information at this point. He had to keep up the act. Luckily, both Sora and Daisuke didn't perceive him to be worth their time, so they never bothered to pay attention to him. If they did, Toshiro imagined he wouldn't be able to keep up the charade for long.
Once again, their topic of interest revolved around the missing Uchihas. First, there was outrage at Itachi's disappearance. Then, they found out about Izumi's escape. On top of that, Shisui and Obito were both still roaming freely. Blow after blow to their egos, but that only made them more determined to bring them all back.
Toshiro feared that they wouldn't get so lucky next time.
What was even supposed to happen now? Everyone was alive and safe, but it couldn't just end like that...could it? Was their original plan still on?
Toshiro wished he knew, but there was no one left he could turn to for answers. He was the last of the Uchihas on their team. The most that he could do was to keep fishing for information and hope that Itachi didn't expect him to stay here forever. But he supposed that he trusted Itachi would make a move once he healed; otherwise, he wouldn't have voluntarily come back.
Now, he could only wait.
Toshiro's fingers drummed incessantly against his thigh as he listened to his father drone on and on. At one point, his father even proposed that Toshiro become the next leader, to which Sora quickly shut him down.
"Absolutely not. Did you forget what happened last time we put a teen in office?" The subject was dropped altogether, but Toshiro knew that his father still harbored hopes that he would become the successor. Perhaps his father was bitter that Itachi didn't pick him as his second in command when he was the top contender. Perhaps his father was bitter that Toshiro supposedly allowed Itachi to walk all over him by giving an outsider a ranking higher than him.
Now the opportunity presented itself once more and his father wouldn't stop at nothing to continue to advocate for him. As long as Sora was there, it would never happen since he perceived Toshiro to be a weak shinobi. So Toshiro continued to straddle the happy medium, being close enough to be allowed in on their secret meetings, but not having to be forced into the position.
The conversation moved on. His focus scattered when he felt something nudging his foot. Peering discreetly under the table, Toshiro spotted a very familiar creature.
Akemi.
Fighting the smile that threatened to appear on his face, Toshiro turned his attention back onto his father. There was finally correspondence.
It was finally time to make their move.
A/N: Hi again!
I think someone did guess that Rin would eventually cave for plot purposes...and I guess it did happen that way. :) I hope that the transition didn't seem too unnatural or forced - I tried to convey her conviction, followed her turmoil, before her resolve softened.
LadyHokageSama: Thank you for reviewing! I didn't realize that you haven't read In the Name of War yet! Better stop leaving spoilers in my notes haha. You're right about poor Izumi :( Honestly, Izumi's brain damage and Itachi's blindness were both not in the plan...but they just happened. Guess it makes things a bit more interesting.
I also posted a new story yesterday. It's a one shot exploring Minato's thoughts after Obito and Rin's death if you're interested in reading. Thank you so much for reading and until next time!
-MM