Chapter 19. The Aftermath.

A light breeze blew across the cliffside clearing by The Naka River. The sound of the windswept trees around almost deafening, drowning the sound of the conversation being held by the shinobi there. The air was clear, and so was the sky, a perfect afternoon by Konohagakure standards. The situation itself was depressing, regardless of the beauty of the setting.

Shisui and Itachi faced each other off, and talked. The sound of their voices was nowhere to be found, even if the rest of the scene's background noise was there. The attention to detail that Itachi had paid, reflected on the beauty and accuracy of the genjutsu. I walked around the pair with wondering eyes, as they held their silent conversation. I didn't even bother trying to read their lips, Shisui's last words to Itachi were no concern of mine, after all they had had a relationship of their own and it obviously did not include me.

I did notice though, the terrible state my brother had been in as he smiled at his friend. To say he looked rough would have been an enormous understatement. He had cuts and bruises all around, and his clothes were not only dirty but torn in places as well. But the one wound that would have caught anyone's attention was his bleeding, empty right eye socket. I had never seen my brother this beat up, but still in the eerie atmosphere and in spite of the dire situation, my brother was smiling.

I couldn't help but feel my heart shattering. To see my brother, my role model, my friend, in his last moments of life was something I could hardly take. In my own way, I was still mourning. I wanted to feel nothing, had no excitement towards life, I looked forward to nothing. Yet here I was smiling fondly at Itachi's last memory of Shisui with tears running down my face.

"Take care of Akane for me," I suddenly heard my brother say. "She won't take the news of my department very gracefully. Please, as selfish as it sounds, keep my sister safe."

The image froze there. Shisui's face strained for the first time, Itachi's desperate as I'd never seen it. It was then that I knew what was about to happen. Itachi had stopped the genjutsu before my brother killed himself. I silently thanked him. I didn't need to suffer any more than I already had, than I already was. I thanked my friend for giving me, once again, the chance to see my deceased family. And as the scene started over and time went back to the point where the genjutsu had started, I dried my tears and began my information gathering.

…

Hatake Kakashi's Point Of View (POV)

The heart monitor was stable, she had no need for a respiratory aid, and there were no unusual frequencies disturbing her system. Her wound had been completely healed, and thankfully no vital organs had been pierced. So why wasn't she waking up? I knew why. Yamanaka Inoichi had agreed to take a look at her and had explained why. Still the guilt made the wait that much unbearable. She could wake up soon, she had to. And then, I could finally make things right.

I had screwed up. That girl, that child who had taken an interest in me; who had cared enough for my health that girl, that child who had taken an interest in me; who had cared enough for my health to keep my fridge full, who had scolded me like she knew better; I had let her down. I had neglected her, I hadn't protected the single Uchiha that had managed to warm up to me even after Obito died and didn't actually blame me for having his eye. She had joined the same organization I had, she had –in fact – been training under my closest subordinate for over a year; and yet, I hadn't taken the time to make sure she was doing okay.

So now here I was, keeping guard next to a hospital bed in a restricted area of Konoha's General Hospital, where a comatose thirteen year old girl lay. It was pitiful, and I saw it in the eyes of every other ANBU operative whenever the guard shift changed. In the two days that I'd been standing next to Akane's bedside, I had decided to take upon myself the coordination of her activities in ANBU.

She would stay under Tenzou's tutelage, but would be taken in as a single apprentice, her potential would be wasted otherwise, and much time would be lost. I would also have to train her myself, after all, were she to awaken the Sharingan, there was nobody else who could. She needed to get better, faster, smarter, and more powerful than ever. Not only for her own sake, but for Sasuke's as well.

If possible, she wouldn't be living on her own for a while, not after the massacre, and especially not now that they both had no clan to protect them from possible Dojutsu enthusiasts. I would have to talk to Inuzuka-san about that. I would also have to keep her under the radar for as long as possible, if Itachi had meant only for Sasuke to live, then she would have to lay low for a while, Kami knows she didn't need a bounty on her head right now.

When she woke up, that is. If she woke up. This same thing had happened before, and it hadn't had the additional problem f a stab wound to the gut. Now that, that was something else. She either had an insane amount of luck, or, for some reason, Itachi had had surgically good aim. I didn't think he was that good though, he couldn't be.

My musings were cut short when the door opened to reveal the only other survivor to the massacre. Uchiha Sasuke was a child, talented as he might have been, and the fact that he wore the very same expression I'd seen in myself after my father's passing, sobered me up more than it should have. This was the child of a shinobi, who even before graduating the academy, had already experienced the amount of loss only life as a ninja could bring.

He sniffed when e saw me standing guard by the bed, he had obviously not expected an audience. Too bad I wasn't leaving any time soon. His guard was visibly up, he could do little to hide it, but even if he did, he had the fluidity and lightness in his step every other clan child had. Still, he was not like Itachi. I was aware that comparing them both was not fair on the kid, but even so, I found myself wanting him to grow up into everything Itachi was not.

Itachi.

The entire situation felt off. A prodigy, an ANBU operative, a clan heir, Shisui's best friend. He had been all of these, but never in his entire life had he been disloyal, as his team captain, I would have known. Or at least I hoped I would have. I was aware that there had been political disagreements between the Uchiha and the Hokage, but to which extent? Konohagakure was very well known for its camaraderie, its tendency to work in teams, they would never try to resolve an issue like this, or so I would have liked to believe.

Either way, the massacre had happened, and we were now left to pick up the pieces of what we had neglected. Two people had survived Itachi's wrath, and it was Konoha's duty to protect them. Sasuke would be very closely monitored throughout his academy studies and would be rather easy to keep track of. Akane, on the other hand, would have to disappear. She was never supposed to survive anyway. ANBU's confidential identity policy came in useful now more than ever, but additional measures would have to be taken regardless.

All of this I pondered in silence as the kid before me changed the flowers the Inuzuka girl had brought in a few days ago. This child was just that, and yet, he was mourning for an entire clan as well as waiting on the recovery of a cousin that might never even wake. Even so, he was still here, resolve on his face and the tension of excessive training on his shoulders as his only form of catharsis.

I suppressed a sigh… did that not sound familiar?

"Why are you always here?" he asked as he turned to leave once again, not sparing his cousin another glance, "there are others who could stand guard."

I smiled underneath my mask and, for a second, contemplated telling him the truth.

"I wonder why."

Uchiha Akane POV

"You do know, Uchiha-san, that in order for therapy to work, you need to actually say something, right? There's so much mind crawling I can do without damaging your subconscious permanently."

The tea in front of me had long gone cold, and even if the veranda facing Yamanaka Inoichi's backyard had the best view I'd seen, I couldn't help but still feel uneasy. It was pretty, it was too pretty. Just like the garden in my old house had been. Somewhere out there, the world wasn't as pretty. Somewhere out in the world beauty was empty of meaning, devoid of use, superficial. Here, it was not, here it was another tool, to trick the mind into thinking everything was fine, when it was so clearly not. Here, it was part of therapy.

Inoichi was trying, he really was; but I could not, would not burden him with what I knew, what Itachi had shown me, what deep within my soul, I had known all along. He was trying to help, but there was nothing he could help with, not where Itachi was concerned. Not without turning me in for treason.

"The only thing I feel like you could help me get through, Inoichi-san is with my brother's death and my best friend's desertion. The massacre is something I would rather you helped Sasuke with." I droned as I met the man's lilac eyes for the first time in a month.

"Why is that?" he asked, his eyes sparkling at the sight of an opening at last.

"My parents died when I was a child, my grandparents were killed during the attack of the nine tails. All were unavoidable; one cannot escape war or a tailed beast." I took a deep breath in, and as I let it out, I saw Shisui smiling one last time behind my closed eyelids. "But my brother committed suicide that could have been avoided. My best friend, one of the most faithful believers in the will of fire, murdered his entire family and deserted the village. To most, he went insane, but most did not know him."

Inoichi studied me closely, his pupil less irises somehow reading into my soul as if he could see right through me. It was fitting, that his clan had such transparent yet piercing eyes; they reflected their potential, both to heal and hurt. Just like the Byakugan, just like the Sharingan.

"I take it that you do not resent him? Did he have a reason behind his actions in your eyes?" the intensity of his gaze increased. I'd said enough. For today at least.

"I wouldn't know, would I? He tried to kill me as well, after all."

I sighed as I got up; I'd had enough for one day.

"Thank you for the tea, Inoichi-san. I will see you next week."

(…)

I ducked just in time to avoid the sharp edge of the other trainee's katana as I continued onwards; taking advantage of the opening his wide motion had created. I had a clear path to his torso, and had we not been training or on the same team, I could have easily killed him. But that was not the case, so as the hidden blade attached to my forearm was about to make contact, I pulled it back and hit him full force on the sternum with the ball of my hand.

The guy let out all the air in his lungs with a groan, and fell to his knees wheezing for air. I held my left blade to his neck and waited for the proctor to call the match. I had won yet again, as I helped my opponent up and made sure I hadn't broken any bones, Cat-taicho approached me from the corner of the training hall. Ever since I'd woken up three weeks ago, my mentor had given me no time to think about what had happened. With my wound fully healed while I was asleep, there had been no reason for him to do so, and I was grateful he hadn't.

He was pushing me to go further than I'd ever gone, and my progress was showing, which gave me the biggest sense of accomplishment. I had a living to earn and a child to maintain after all. Not that the clan hadn't left any money behind, but I still wanted to be an example of strength to Sasuke.

"Trainee number 0247, you are needed in briefing room 62." Said Taicho before leading the way.

I made sure to perform the unison sign with my sparring partner before following the man who had taught me so much. I had become so used to the coldness of ANBU head quarters, that the lack of color or natural light didn't bother me anymore; in fact it was rather comforting. The fact that we were no one but shinobi in here, the fact that we were all equal gave me the greatest sense of calm. I didn't have to prove myself to anyone but myself, the fact that I was here, amongst these people, was proof enough of my ability.

I had realized this the first day I had been back, the weight I had been carrying for the clan's sake all those years, the need to prove myself to others, to 'make things right 'for the family had completely disappeared. And I didn't know how to feel about it. The incident had come as a shock, I had been skeptical to believe everyone but Sasuke and I were gone, but I hadn't taken it as badly as Sasuke had. I'd been sad, yes, but not devastated and I couldn't bring myself to be ashamed of it. It was most likely because my sense of belonging had crumbled when Shisui died, and deteriorated further when Itachi left. I would have completely broken down had Sasuke been killed as well. I considered the kid my brother, so I was glad that at least two of the clan members I still cared about were still around.

Then there was the fact that Itachi was the one to kill the reminder of the clan. I still didn't know how to process all the information I had, which I clearly shouldn't find myself in possession of. Loose ends were a dangerous thing in shinobi life, and right then, I didn't know when I'd be cut down, because it was not a matter of 'if' anymore. I thought I'd find out soon enough.

The briefing room was more on the small side, intended for single squad or solo missions I guessed. There were only two people there, my mentor, and Hound-taicho. I didn't think having two captains, very highly regarded within the shadow ranks, alone in a room with a trainee bode very good news. So I kept my guard up.

"You can remove your mask, Uchiha-san," said Cat-taicho as they both laid their own on the table as well.

I did as I was told and took a seat once both my superiors instructed me to.

"We have received orders from the Hokage himself to let you know that your survival will be kept from public knowledge. Uchiha Sasuke will be announced the only survivor, and you will change your name and appearance and remain within ANBU to keep your identity from being discovered." Informed my mentor, watching me closely with his big, almond shaped eyes.

"No."

"You don't have a choice in the matter."

"I will not be anyone other than Uchiha Shisui's sister. I will not let the world forget him or what he stood for. No."

"This is a direct order, Uchiha." Said Kakashi sternly, pinning me to my seat with a look. "Shisui-san will live on in our memories. Do not disgrace what he stood for."

I was being childish, I knew that. This was the best course of action and I knew that as well. It was the 'direct order from the Hokage' that bothered me. He was trying to keep me from telling the truth, trying to lock me up and keep me hidden like he had done with so many before me. I was not angry at Kakashi or Tenzo, not only were they following orders, but they too believed this to be the best for me and Sasuke, and I couldn't resent them for it.

I bowed my head in understanding and said nothing more.

"Uchiha Sasuke will remain with the Inuzuka clan; you on the other hand will be assigned a room here in HQ. Contact with your friends and family will be limited, and will have to be arranged carefully, but it is not impossible." Tenzou's voice had dropped, he was trying to end the briefing with minimal fighting, and the only thing I could see in his face was pity. And I hated it.

"So," I said taking in a deep breath and looking u once again,

"What's my new name?"