Out Of Our Control, Something Had to Give.
Chapter 2 - Operation Flaming Fan
Sasuke
Sasuke spent the last two weeks recovering from the eye transplant. He was fully healed and ready to head back out into the world now that his eyes were healed. He decided to take it easy with the Sharingan for the time being until he could fully acclimate to Itachi's eyes. Zetsu informed Sasuke that Tobi was away at the Hidden Rain Village of all places and that he shouldn't be hasty in heading to the Hidden Leaf Village so soon.
Sasuke agreed. He couldn't afford to be hasty with his plan. This wasn't some small compound of 300 or 400 people being taken by surprise at night by Itachi and Madara Uchiha. This was a well fortified, numerous shinobi village full of capable shinobi like Kakashi, Might Guy, Tsunade, Asuma Sarutobi, Jiraiya and others. He won't be able to just storm in and wreak havoc, he'd die.
He couldn't afford to die just yet, seeing as though his only reason for living was avenging each and every member of the Uchiha Clan. This plan would require meticulous work and Team Taka would have to serve as his personal guard for now, unless something comes up and he absolutely has to face it head on. The best way to take out The Hidden Leaf would be to flip their own strategy on them, turning their own against one another would have to be the plan. Just as they allegedly did with Itachi, he would do with them.
For now, gathering the evidence of the Uchiha Genocide being just that, a genocide was the first piece of information he would need to gather and he would wield that proof and evidence like a weapon against the village if it happens to be true that this is what took place.
Half of him wishes it isn't true. If it isn't he can head home like he originally planned. He wasn't going to stay away from the village forever, he truly intended to go back, but he would go back on his own terms, not Naruto or Sakura's. If none of this is what Madara is alleging, he can go back to normal and have his team back.
Something told him that all of it was true, and that he wouldn't be going back to normal.
He got out of bed and went skulking around his room and found his clothes. He got dressed and rounded up all the Taka from their individual rooms.
"You're up early today Sasuke what gives?" Suigetsu asked, rubbing his stomach while yawning.
"We need to head out early today, the breakfast restaurant in the nearest town will definitely be crowded within a few hours and I don't feel like waiting so we'll need to get a move on." Sasuke said.
Suigetsu put his hands up in surrender.
"Alright, alright I'll get ready." Suigetsu replied.
Sasuke woke up Karin and Jugo and the team got a move on after getting ready and taking care of their hygiene. They made it to the breakfast shop ahead of time and found a table for four and ordered their food.
"So, Sasuke...what's the plan from here?" Suigetsu asked.
"From this point on you guys already know what my intentions are...rest assured that I don't plan to rush head first into this like a child. We're going to properly plan this operation out completely from top to bottom. Right now though, we're heading to the Land Of Fire's Feudal Lord Office." Sasuke said.
"The Land Of Fire's Fuedal Lord Office? Sasuke you're wanted in the Land Of Fire. The fact that you went rogue is classified Land Of Fire information, information that the Daimyo is sure to be aware of." Karin interjected.
"Yes Karin I know, however I'm confident that we can get an audience with the Daimyo of The Land Of Fire." Sasuke replied.
The Hidden Leaf Village
Sasuke Uchiha
Age 12
Village : Village Hidden in The Leaves
Affiliations : Hatake Kakashi is the Jonin Sensei of this ninja and his teammates are Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki of Squad 7, Tora Company 1st Battalion - 5th Hidden Leaf Regiment
Clan : Uchiha Clan
Kekkei Genkai : Sharingan
Possible Kekkei Genkai : Sharingan
Abilities : Sharingan, Fire Style, Lightning Style.
Rank : B ranked shinobi possibly A ranked.
Bounty : $10 Million Ryo with eyes intact, preferred alive. Presumed to be the last member of the Uchiha Clan, value will increase when and if his relative Itachi Uchiha dies.
Kurenai Yuhi almost gaped at the value on Sasuke's head as it was as high as a Kage's, almost as high as the Yellow Flashes. His Bingo Book profile definitely hadn't been updated. Tsunade claimed to have made it simply to please Danzo, but Sasuke's entry was not only Hidden Leaf but also Land Of Fire accessible as well, a mishap Tsunade claims to have Danzo's name written all over it. The value on Sasuke's head makes sense though, as the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan he's incredibly valuable, Sharingan or not. Him being able to sire children with the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai alone is worth at least $1,000,000 Ryo, but being the one of the only two people on the Earth who can do it would definitely sky rocket your value.
Now that Itachi's dead, Sasuke's value will most certainly increase. She surmised that the only reason no one was in pursuit of Sasuke was because only Hidden Leaf HQ and the Feudal Lord's office were in possession of this special type of Bingo-Book.
She sighed, looking at the boy's entry.
Kurenai wondered if Obito was looking over her shoulder reading this with her. What would he think about Sasuke? What would he do in this situation?
'He's all that's left of your people, Obito.' Kurenai thought.
Kurenai thought back to when she first knew that she had a crush on Obito. Growing up everyone asked her if she was an Uchiha because of her eyes and hair and she of course always said no. As a result though she was always curious about Uchiha's. They weren't common in the academy or in the village, mostly choosing to train their children within the clan instead of sending them to the normal academy for general students. When Obito Uchiha graced the academy with his ancient Uchiha crest and his unbelievable clumsiness, Kurenai's curiosity peaked.
He never noticed that she liked him, or at least acted like he didn't notice. His fellow Uchiha; Ruko, told her that even Uchiha without the Sharingan have keen observation, and that Obito was aware but in denial.
Obito wanted Rin desperately, but her rejections made him unsure of whether Kurenai could really want him.
Kurenai smiled at the memories of visiting the Uchiha compound so frequently to see Obito that they treated her like she was one of them. Even after the Nine-Tails attack that her father died in and even when the villagers were whispering conspiracy theories about the Uchiha being behind the attack, Kurenai still visited and felt the warmth of the Uchiha Clan years after Obito was killed in action.
When the massacre struck, she was torn into pieces. People she looked at as damn near family, all gone in the blink of an eye. She learned the ins and outs of genjutsu from some of the clan's more eager members like Shisui, the ones who didn't mind trusting or teaching outsiders. Her specialty in genjutsu was partly owed to the Uchiha Clan's generosity, along with her own talent and hard work of course.
When they were all wiped out, a part of herself went missing. She was one of the very, very few villagers who could walk into that compound and not feel eyes on her. When people like Kakashi or others visited, they mentioned a sharp cold feeling of eyes on them. Kurenai couldn't relate. When all that was left was Sasuke, she did what she could to let him know that she cared and that someone else was feeling his loss. She didn't have a relationship with Sasuke's nuclear family in particular, but his father Fugaku was always polite to her and never gave her a hard time, even when tensions were at their highest between the clan and the village.
She was the only person in the whole village who knew Sasuke's birthday and would bring him ninja tools as gifts each time. He always told her that she didn't have to do it and once he got old enough to access more of the Uchha's funds, he would pay her back with even sharper and more high quality tools than could be found in the village, crediting them to someone called Granny Cat that he placed orders from.
They didn't have a firm or strongly established relationship but were friends, sort of.
When Sasuke and Kakashi were soundly defeated by Itachi, both locked in a coma, Kurenai felt that same feeling she felt when she got the news of the Uchiha being wiped out. Sasuke was in bad shape and it was possible that neither him nor Kakashi would wake up. The fact that Sasuke took off just two days after being healed and ran off to Orochimaru was hard for Kurenai to handle.
What had gone on in those two days? Then again whatever Itachi did to Sasuke might have psychologically warped Sasuke just like before. Then her own student had luckily come out of the retrieval mission unscathed, but Neji, Chouji, and Naruto nearly lost their lives because of Sasuke's recklessness and selfishness. Sasuke's thirst for power almost made him responsible for the deaths of his friends. In the end, he got what he wanted though, didn't he?
Now Sasuke was a capable rogue ninja who killed Orochimaru and Itachi, and fought off a team of Naruto, Sakura, Yamato, and Sai. She needed to know how to take him down and bring him back to the village. A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts and she placed a restaurant coupon on Sasuke's profile page in her Bingo Book. She needed to remember to return the book to Tsunade by the end of the week.
'This must be Kakashi' Kurenai thought and opened the door.
Kakashi was standing there with Naruto and Sakura, both Naruto and Sakura were smiling.
"Hey Kurenai, mind if we come in? Lady Tsunade sent us to discuss intel pertaining to the mission." Kakashi said.
Kurenai welcomed them all in and they all sat down at her table.
Naruto plopped down right in front of the Bingo Book, spun it around and opened it.
"Woah, why is Sasuke worth so much in the Bingo Book? I swear he's always one step ahead in something!" Naruto grumbled with a pout.
Kakashi chuckled and Kurenai laughed.
"Naruto, being in the Bing Book is a bad thing. That's why the ANBU have no identity outside of their face-masks, to protect them from being entered into documents like the Bingo Book. Plus, Sasuke's value is mostly attached to being an Uchiha and his Kekkei Genkai, so you shouldn't worry too much about not being in there." Kurenai replied.
"So, Kakashi what kind of intel did you have for me concerning Sasuke?" Kurenai asked before the conversation derailed into Bingo Book measuring contests.
"From what I remember, seeing as though I wasn't there to encounter Sasuke in Orochimaru's hideout, Sasuke can use a handful of Fire Jutsu; Fire Ball, Dragonflame, and Phoenix Flower. He can obviously use chidori, however that's where it get's tricky. Sakura and Naruto should be able to explain the chidori part a bit better than I can." Kakashi replied.
Kurenai wondered why Naruto and Sakura would understand Sasuke's chidori better than Kakashi.
"Oh yeah, so Sasuke can emit chidori from his entire body, kind of like how Neji used that rotation jutsu during the Chunnin exams." Sakura said.
Kurenai raised her eyebrow in surprise.
"He can also use a sword, and run chidori through his sword too. He's much faster than he was back when he fought Gaara, and his Sharingan is complete now." Sakura continued.
Kurenai hummed to herself for a second. If Sasuke's Sharingan was complete, unlike the last time they crossed paths, then he would definitely be much better at genjutsu than before. Not to mention the fact that he's been training his entire life to kill Itachi which would require exceptional genjutsu ability to accomplish.
"Okay-
"But then he was gonna use this weird jutsu that even Orochimaru stopped him from using. He was gathering a lot chakra in his hand, and I don't know why Orochimaru would stop him." Naruto said, interrupting Kurenai.
"Well that's good information but seeing as though he couldn't launch the jutsu we'll have to skip over that for now. This is the most important thing I need to know. Did he use any genjutsu with his Sharingan and if so what was it like?" Kurenai asked.
"Yeah...but I dunno if I'd call it a genjutsu. He was able to see into my mind and talk to the Nine-Tails with me by using his Sharingan." Naruto replied.
Everyone at the table blinked.
"He was able to do what?" Kurenai asked, gaping.
"Naruto why didn't you ever mention that?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eyes.
Naruto raised his hands in surrender.
"Hey look, the reason why I didn't say anything was because my pride was kinda hurt ya' know. After three years I thought I'd have caught up with Sasuke but he outclassed me completely. He just looked into my eyes and in an instant he was in my mind space." Naruto replied.
Kakashi turned to Kurenai.
"Is that something genjutsu users can do? Is it something you could do?" Kakashi asked her.
Kurenai shook her head.
"No. If I could it'd make the Yamanaka Clan's job pretty useless wouldn't it? It's probably something only the Sharingan can do, and to be honest Naruto, you and the Nine-Tails might need to get on the same page concerning Sasuke. If he can enter into your mind, that makes our job a lot harder as a whole." Kurenai replied.
The team continued to plan and strategize until the afternoon. Team 7 eventually left and Kurenai sat back down at her table, reading Sasuke's bing-book entry. A knock on her door made her get up with a frustrated sound to find Kakashi on the other side.
"What, did you forget something?" Kurenai asked, slightly annoyed.
Kakashi raised his hands in surrender.
"No, no of course not. Lady Tsunade asked that I informed you of some information or rather a conclusion that I've come to concerning the masked man that you need to know about in particular." Kakashi replied.
Kurenai poked her head forward in expectation, motioning for him to explain.
"Kurenai...I believe that the masked man might be Obito Uchiha or at least have Obito's right eye." Kakashi said.
Silence passed between the two of them. Kurenai wasn't angry at Kakashi for the theory, he had watched Obito die himself, so for him to come before her with this theory, knowing how they both feel about the name, Obito Uchiha, it must be a theory with solid reasoning behind it.
"Kakashi...do you even realize what the hell you're saying?" Kurenai asked with a whisper.
He looked down to the ground in semi shame.
"Kurenai, you know better than anyone how I feel about this topic. You and I have never spoken about Obito, ever." Kakashi replied.
He was right. Kakashi confided in no one about Obito's death. If any Uchihas that were friends with Obito asked anything about what happened or about Kakashi's mental well-being, Kakashi gave the cold simple facts of what had happened and left it at that. The fact that Kakashi was even willing to verbalize this theory meant that he had come to a calculate conclusion based on deductive reasoning.
Or at least she hoped.
She let Kakashi inside and they sat down at the table.
Kakashi smiled.
"I just want you to remember that this is just a theory, nothing more, nothing less. Lady Hokage doesn't want to believe it because it's an even bigger mess of crap for her to deal with as Hokage, but this is a possibility I don't want to ignore." Kakashi replied.
Kurenai sighed in response.
"Okay, so what's the reasoning? Of all possible Sharingan users who should for the most part be extinct, why Obito?" Kurenai asked.
"As we've established, his Mangekyo ability is similar to mine. Of course all base Sharingan abilities are the same, but with Mangekyo Sharingan things become more exclusive to the person using it. Itachi can use a genjutsu called Tsukuyomi as you remember. He used it on Sasuke and I three years ago, back when Sasuke first defected from the village. I myself have Mangekyo Sharingan but I can't use Tsukuyomi." Kakashi replied.
"And you mentioned earlier that this masked man has the same ability as you. What if this masked man is just using Obito's right eye?" Kurenai asked.
"Well, therein lies the problem. I wear an eye patch because uncovering the Sharingan underneath it would take up too much of my chakra. Just having a Sharingan is a drain on my chakra enough, covering it only helps it by maybe fifty percent. The masked man has no such eye patch and in fact has an eye hole in his mask specifically so he can see straight through it. He can use the Sharingan just fine without covering it." Kakashi replied.
"We also know that only the Uchiha can use the Sharingan, whether implanted or their own Sharingan, without negative drawbacks." Kakashi replied.
Kurenai had to admit, Kakashi's deductive skills are almost as sharp as a Nara's.
"Everything you've said is true and makes sense...but Obito? Obito was trapped under multiple boulders, the size of the exact same one that killed him. How could it be him?" Kurenai asked.
"I don't know. It could be possible that it's not him, but if it is, Lady Hokage needed you to be ready for it ahead of time. The possibility of this can be extremely stressful to think of ahead of time, but if we were to battle him and it turned out to be exactly who I think it is...then I don't know if either of us would be psychologically equipped to handle that without both of us accepting this reality ahead of time." Kakashi replied.
"And to top it all off Kurenai. Sasuke is the only Uchiha to have left the village without authorization, either kidnapped or through desertion, Sasuke was the only one to leave since Obito's death. The only two Uchiha that should be outside of the village, either dead or alive would be...
"Obito and Sasuke Uchiha." Kurenai replied, finishing his sentence.
Kakashi nodded.
Sasuke
It would be three days before they would reach the Feudal Lord's Office. Sasuke knew that he needed to bide his time and be patient. Buying out an order from the Feudal Lord would be easy to do, especially with the kind of cash Sasuke had stolen from Orochimaru's hideouts. Sasuke grimaced. If all of these allegations that Madara was making about the massacre are true, then he would truly have to go to war with The Hidden Leaf.
If it is all true though, the Feudal Lord would be furious. Him finding out that The Hidden Leaf cost him the money that having the Uchiha Clan in the Land Of Fire usually brought in per year would piss any Feudal Lord off. The top leaders and politicians in the Land Of Fire probably hired the Uchiha for all sorts of missions, and the cuts that the village higher-ups and more importantly the Feudal Lord's Office got were probably handsome.
Furthermore, the Hidden Leaf would have cost the Feudal Lord a precious military asset. The Sharingan was invaluable before, even when there were 400 Uchiha in the village. With the clan narrowed down to one, the Sharingan's value is out of this world. The fallout of the Feudal Lord factoring all of these into account in the presence of the Hokage would surely spark some sort of conflict between the village and the Feudal Lord.
This would surely cause tensions within the Land Of Fire, tensions strong enough to cause real infighting.
From there, Sasuke can manipulate things from the shadows. If need be, he can control the Feudal Lord with his Sharingan if things don't go as planned. Something told him that the Feudal Lord would be thoroughly angered, and the need to use the Sharingan shouldn't come up unless the Hidden Leaf somehow finds a way to placate him.
That would be step one.
Step two is spilling the beans to the public. If the Feudal Lord decides to keep things in house, at that point controlling him would be the only option. From there Sasuke would publish the news of the crime to the public of the Land Of Fire. The disruption it would cause between the clans of the village and the village leadership would be damaging. The only way to prove it would be with a reliable source which would obviously be one of three elders.
Sasuke had already decided on Koharu Utatane, to be his pawn. An old woman like her would be way out of her shinobi prime, and unable to resist Sharingan genjutsu, much less Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu. She would be the one to confess to the Daimyo, and then she would be the one to return home and confirm the truth to the rest of the village once the news had broken out.
Sasuke also knew that he needed to watch out for Danzo. The moment the word about the truth of the massacre comes out, he'll more than likely have his fellow council member assassinated to keep her quiet. He'll have to put all of the blame on Danzo at the Feudal Lord's Office. At that point, anything that happens to Koharu will immediately look like a strategic move made by none other than Danzo.
Sasuke chuckled.
This plan wouldn't work for long but it would most certainly get the job done. The main job that is.
Destroying The Hidden Leaf.
Within the ensuing chaos he would eventually locate Danzo and they'd have their battle. Once Danzo falls, the Shimura Clan in particular will fall with him. Every single member of that clan will die, all the way down to its newborns. The Sarutobi Clan would be next along with any family members of Homura and Koharu. Sasuke was sure that once he got the big players out of the way such as the Hokage, Guy, Kakashi, and of course Naruto, he'd be able to trade the Uchiha clan's return to the Land Of Fire for the extermination of the Sarutobi clan, and the Shimura Clan, along with any Utatane or Mitakado family members.
Sasuke wanted their exterminations to be known to the entire ninja world, and for the entire shinobi world to know why they were being exterminated. Their family names would go down in the history books, forever synonymous with treachery and genocide.
Pure Land
Itachi had been wandering the Pure Land for some time now. If it could even be called time. Such a concept was almost impossible to place in this realm of existence. He knew the Uchiha were here, he could feel it. He could feel the presence of many souls, including that of Shisui. Itachi had no intention of facing anyone from the Uchiha Clan. He couldn't.
While here in the Pure Land, Itachi kept a close eye on Sasuke and got a glimpse into the psychological damage he had caused Sasuke. Sasuke was now planning to destroy The Leaf. This was the exact opposite of how everything was supposed to go. Now Sasuke had the power of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and would be strong enough to decimate many of the Leaf's more Elite shinobi.
The village was in danger.
Although, Itachi supposed that it didn't matter now. He was dead and the village would have to be its own guardian from this point on. Itachi decided that he would refrain from watching Sasuke for the time being, and from now he would work on repairing his own soul. His crimes of murdering his clan, his parents, and destroying his brother's life required redeeming, cleansing. The life of a shinobi is poison for the soul of a man.
Before he could face his parents he needed to redeem himself.
Before he would dare to face a single Uchiha in the realm of the Pure Land he would cleanse his soul of his sins.
Then he would face his judgement. The judgement for betraying his clan.
Itachi was in an open grotto. The cave led to a small tiny forest enclosed by a mountain. The sky in this particular realm of the Pure Land was purple, blue, navy blue, and mostly made up of oceanic colors he had never seen before. The skies were full of so many stars that he couldn't count them all accurately with the Sharingan.
When he first arrived, he was informed by an animal spirit that if he meditated and called upon a spirit for guidance they would answer. Itachi decided that he would call upon a spirit of judgement, wisdom, and morality.
The Hidden Leaf Village
The original team assigned to Operation Flaming Fan was standing in the Hokage's office. It had been three weeks, and as Tsunade promised, they would be fielded again in search of Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha.
They're target was The Village Hidden In The Rain. The same place that Jiraiya had been sent to and hadn't returned from yet. Tsunade was obviously concerned about Jiraiya being gravely injured, kidnapped, or dead and decided that since the intel on the Akatsuki's leadership led there, it'd be best to send the team in that direction. They only had a limited amount of time to get in and out.
But unlike before, Naruto Uzumaki was not allowed to take part in the mission.
Tsunade had no intention of sending the blonde to his potential captors on a silver platter. If the Akatsuki thought she was so stupid that they could use Sasuke and Itachi as bait to send the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails then they most certainly had the wrong one. Tsunade had no intention of allowing Akatsuki to have both the Sharingan and the Nine-Tails, such a combination of power reads nothing but assured destruction for the victims of the one who wields them.
It would be like wielding the storied Rinnegan. If it were real.
The arguing that took place was heated and nasty. Naruto refused to be kept off of the mission but relented. Tsunade never knew Naruto to ever relent in the history of Naruto, but for now she would have to place surveillance on him. Naruto for one didn't want to lose Sasuke again simply because he wasn't present this time but he also didn't want his teammates to be in a village that Jiraiya himself couldn't even return from.
As a result, Tsunade had to replace Naruto with Might Guy.
It would leave the village without three of its top Jonin. With the death of Asuma, The Hidden Leaf's elite Jounin unit was narrowed down to three with the next best Jounin being the Tokubetsu Jounin named Anko.
"You all are to head to outpost 1230. There you will meet Raido and Genma and they'll transport you all to the Hidden Rain with their group Flying Thunder God technique. You have one week to complete this mission. One. The top priority is acquiring Sasuke Uchiha, if Itachi Uchiha's body can be retrieved then by all means retrieve it but your main priority is Sasuke Uchiha. I want this mission done by the book and to the letter. No heroics, no theatrics. For some reason every time I issue a mission to rescue this Uchiha child, it has a chance of wiping out the entire team involved, so I'm begging you to be careful on this mission. All of you." Tsunade said.
The team of Shino, Sakura, Hinata, Guy, Kakashi, Kiba, Sai, and Kurenai resounded with the teams yes Ma'm's.
They all said a prayer before the team was to depart.
Operation Flaming Fan was back on.
Ending Notes
Sasuke's headed to the place they least suspect, while they're heading to where they think he might be. Interesting stuff.