It started with a Whisper.
Second came the Uchiha.
It ended with the Demon.
After helping Junko and Akemi pack up the charity stand after the academy and giving Kiyoshi, Emi and Eri a brief overview of how to wall walk, Naruto and I headed over to Sasuke's to check in on him. We didn't like leaving him alone for long after Shisui had… you know.
But mostly we're going to eat Mikoto's awesome cooking, I thought shamelessly, not that I would say it aloud.
Except we never made it. We walked down the quiet streets of the Uchiha clan (eerily quiet), the moon bathing traditional buildings in dark light. Everything seemed to be in hues of grey, all colour gone with the light of the sun.
"Hey, looks like someone is following in our footsteps!" Naruto said with a giggle, pointing at the paint that had been splashed crudely on the walls and paths of the clan. Lots of it in fact.
"Yea, someone must have really held a grudge," I smirked, amazed at the quantity. "You don't think it was Sasuke finally seeing the light, do you?"
There was a soft trickle of water down the drainpipes on the side of the cobblestone, a sound one wouldn't normally hear in the bustling activity of a clan.
We heard something else, too. An almost indecipherable sound. Naruto heard it first, and his footsteps on the grey cobblestone stopped as he turned his head in confusion.
"Hey… do you hear that?" he asked, and I stopped too, a couple of steps ahead. It was deadly silent, not even the whistling of wind could be heard.
Where is everyone?
I strained my ears, and I heard it.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
I turned my head slowly, searching for the source of the noise.
My hands began trembling for reasons I couldn't understand, and my breaths began to come quickly and harshly.
Why is it so quiet?
Naruto began walking towards a house, the door strangely slightly ajar.
What is that sound?
Naruto knocked on the door and called out, but there was no response, so he shrugged and pushed the door open.
My heart tightened painfully, and oh god what was happening to me-
Why-
His face seemed blank as he stared at something in the house, but in hindsight I would realise his expression had frozen in place.
Then he screamed.
And oh god I was crying I couldn't breathe-
"Na-Na-Naru we n-need to g-go now!" I managed between heaving breaths.
Calm down calm down CALM DOWN-
Naruto was staring at me in shock, confusion and fear as I stumbled towards him, my body attempting to double over. His mouth was agape, as if he wanted to say something and yet couldn't get the words out.
I can't do this I can't I'm going to die the massacre help help HELP!
"RUN!" I screamed, and oh god my body was shaking so much.
He didn't question it. We ran, fast, so fast that I tripped yet I got back to my feet despite the grazes and stones lodged in my knees.
And I thought we would make it, I really did. The exit to the clan was only metres away, we would be ok, we would-
Naruto abruptly halted.
"Wait! What about Sasuke?" he cried.
I glanced about frantically, and how hadn't we noticed it before, it hadn't rained in weeks why was there water in the drainpipes-
And my eyes followed the flow of the oddly dark water, the colour almost hidden by the night.
But if I looked close enough, strained my eyes, the rays of moonlight revealed to me a touch of crimson.
And the paint splattered everywhere oh god that wasn't paint-
"SASUKE, WHERE ARE YOU!" Naruto screamed, his voice no doubt heard across the entire clan.
I lost it.
I punched him in the face, hard.
"YOU IDIOT!" I roared, but the damage had been done.
But it wasn't Itachi who appeared between us and the exit. It was someone else. Someone with a mask.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" his voice was deep, his one red eye regarding us with curiosity.
Naruto, clutching his face from where I had punched him, hard. He was gasping, eyes wide and confused.
My body was still out of control, tears streaming down my face and uncontrollable sobs leaving my body, but my mind cleared.
What does one do in a situation like this?
It wasn't a question I could answer, but it didn't matter anyway because just then Sasuke appeared at the end of the main street we had originally been running down, heading towards us.
He was in a similar state to Naruto and I, his eyes blown wide with confusion, fear, anger, his mouth open to breathe in deep gulps of air as he ran.
"Everyone's dead! Everyone's dead! Get out!" he yelled as he dashed towards us.
"OTHER WAY!" I screeched, grabbing Naruto and rushing towards Sasuke, away from Obito.
Of course things had to get worse. Itachi was the next to appear, just as we met Sasuke in the middle of the road he was there, blocking us. Now we were blocked from both sides.
"Nii-san! You're alive, oh thank god! What happened, everyone's dead!" Sasuke cried, going to step towards him but at the same time I grabbed his arm to stop him, he noticed the sharingan spinning in Itachi's eyes, and the blood all over his ANBU clothes.
"Foolish little brother…" he said in that deep voice of his that reached all ears despite it barely being a whisper.
The three of us huddled together in a triangle, a bundle of quaking bodies and confusion.
"Nii-san…?" Sasuke whispered, his breath caught.
What should we do?
I honestly had no clue. At this point it seemed we were going to die or be tortured.
"Is that your little brother, Itachi?" Obito asked, barely five metres away.
"Who are you, and what do you want!?" Naruto yelled at Obito.
Obito shrugged slowly, and eyed us contemptuously. "If you won't kill the two additions, I will," he said, looking at us but clearly it was aimed at Itachi.
The three of us froze.
"Very well," Itachi said softly, and he closed his eyes slowly. Suddenly Naruto broke away from our little triangular formation, running towards him.
NO YOU IDIOT!
I attempted to catch his arm, but I was too late.
"Stop, Naruto!" Sasuke cried, but Naruto halted only seconds before he reached Itachi.
"You didn't do this, did you? You must be under that guy's genjutsu!" Naruto reasoned, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to point at Obito. "Snap out of it, Itachi!"
I tore after him, just as Itachi's eyes began to open.
"NARUTO! DON'T LOOK HIM IN THE EYE DON'T-"
And it seemed so sudden, the moment Itachi's eyes opened and the moment everything changed.
...
Short breaths.
It will be ok.
It will be ok.
It will-
"NARUTO!"
But there was no Naruto. There were only two white discs on red and black and four waving tails and pressure pReSUre PreSURe PRESSURE-
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Sasuke screamed, but I couldn't answer because I couldn't breathe the air was too thick. I was choking on pure animalistic unsaturated chakra permeating the air.
I – I can't do anything!
I couldn't even stand being near it, let alone stopping it with my chains! On top of that, I'd never had a chance to practice on an actual beast! The most I could do was throw a few chains around. Yugi still had me learning chakra foundations and building up my pitiful reserves, not wanting me to move on until I had those covered.
I heard laughter start behind me, starting low, building up until it was like a raucous wailing of crows. Obito. But I couldn't look behind me because I was entranced by the beast before me, raising its claws as if examining itself.
And then it roared, and just as suddenly it was gone. A gust of wind so strong it knocked Sasuke and I over presumably followed in its wake, and just as quickly Obito's laughter was cut off and he was thrown through several buildings.
Itachi moved towards it, bringing his hands together into a hand-seal, but the kyuubi's attention turned towards Sasuke and I.
I moved on instinct, dropping my resistance seals to level 0 and throwing myself in front of Sasuke as he lay, propped up on his forearms, gaping at the monster leaping towards him.
I had no chance to create chains, no time to do anything except throw my arms up in front of my face. And my right arm paid the price.
The Beast didn't even need to do anything but grab my arm, its burning shell of chakra doing the work for it. The skin of my arm shrivelled and blackened as in mere seconds the chakra spread like a wave to the tips of my fingers and all the way up to my shoulder, bringing searing agony in its wake. I lost all coherent thought, simply trying to tear myself away even if it meant ripping my arm off.
And then it threw me away, like nothing more than a rag doll. The cobblestone rushed to meet me, and I landed in an awkward roll, biting back a cry as the impact seemed to set the nerves of my right arm on fire.
The pain, oh god the pain. I looked down. Oh god oh god oh goD I COULD SEE WHITE UNDER BLACK FLAKES-
"ITACHI!" I was forced to look away at Sasuke's yell, and I saw Itachi fighting the kyuubi single-handedly. He had a sword out, and he let loose a jet of water at the Beast.
The kyuubi roared and we watched, transfixed, as the thing opened its' jaws. Wisps of chakra gathered, red and blue alike, forming a floating purple ball of mass above its teeth. Itachi landed on the ground, his eyes narrowed, moving slowly so the beast turned, following his movements. The kyuubi was facing the Uchiha district now, away from the village but facing towards the three of us.
Sasuke and I watched, transfixed as the thing suddenly snapped its jaws around the floating ball and swallowed it. Then it swelled up, its stomach bulging into it was ten times as large as it originally was.
Itachi moved quickly then, grabbing Sasuke and throwing himself with Sasuke in his arms out of the line of fire.
Then there was light everywhere, as if sucked from the moon itself. A beam of brilliant blinding white shot from the demon's jaw. And it was blazing towards me and I didn't even have time to process what was going to happen. I shut my eyes.
As it turned out, I would live to see another day. Arms wrapped around my torso, and with a split second to spare, my saviour got us both out of the way. There was an odd ringing in my ears as the beam passed mere millimetres from where we were, a sound I never could quite describe. It wasn't loud, yet for several seconds I could hear nothing but the ringing.
I didn't dare open my eyes, and after the sound finally died down I could identify voices. Many voices, heading this way.
"All jounin form the formation for the capture of the kyuubi!" Came the voice of Hiruzen, magnified by a jutsu of some kind.
And relief so intense washed over me, my body finally let everything catch up to it and I knew no more.
"Danzo."
"Hiruzen."
The two men in question stared at each other standing metres apart, nothing between them but old tiles and flickering shadows. A torch behind of them lit their silhouettes in a glow of orange.
There was a silence that stretched between them, the only sound the rustle of robes as a cigar was raised to Hiruzen's lips, already glowing.
"The Uchiha clan is gone," the man finally said after a plume of grey smoke left his lips.
Danzo only stared back expressionlessly, leaning on his cane.
"I assume you wish to discuss the nature of what has occurred?"
Danzo nodded slowly.
"If at all possible, I wish to keep Uchiha Itachi. The destruction the the kyuubi reaped upon the clan destroyed all evidence of the massacre."
Hiruzen nodded, the slightest of smiles upon his lips.
"Ah yes, the situation may be salvageable after all. No one is to blame for this incident, it was simply an irregularity of Naruto's seal."
"No," Danzo interceded tonelessly. "Someone has to go. We must have a spy in the ranks of the Akatsuki. It just cannot be someone as valuable as Itachi."
To the untrained eye, Hiruzen appeared just as expressionless as Danzo. But few would notice the slight drop of his features.
"You know I am right," Danzo continued. "And I have already come up with a solution. With the village people already poisoned against the Uchiha, it would be no difficult task to pin the blame on the sharingan for releasing the Kyuubi."
The hokage's brow creased into a frown. And he took another puff of smoke, clearly decoding Danzo's cryptic suggestion. It couldn't be Itachi, otherwise Danzo was negating himself. It couldn't be Sasuke, he hadn't even unlocked his sharingan yet.
That left-
"Ah," was all Hiruzen said. And he inclined his head ever so slightly, though the tired sigh that escaped his lips did not go unnoticed. "I see. That is… a valid decision. It will be done."
"That is not all I wish to discuss. The jinchuuriki and Usagi require intensive training. That is clear from this incident. I wish to take them full-time under my wing."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
"No," he said bluntly, finally a hint of menace appearing in his tone. "You know how I feel about this topic."
Danzo inclined his head, but his eye remained fixed on Hiruzen. The movement threw further shadows over his face, making it seem as if he had no features at all but a gaping pit of blackness, out of which stared a single, lifeless grey eye.
"I believe we can come to a compromise. You know as well as I that with the Mokuton-user gone, we have no immediate defence against the Kyuubi. The village will be even more aggressive to the Kyuubi boy, and the village would be happier to hear he is in an intensive training program to ensure their future security and safety rather than roaming the streets like a ticking time bomb in their eyes."
Hiruzen briefly shut his eyes.
"You have reason, however let me lay out my terms. There is to be no brainwashing, and I wish for them to be able to leave the compound for at least an hour a day to visit whomever they may choose, be it in disguise or otherwise, with no restrictions or followers. They are to be teamed with another student upon graduation and that is when their training will end. I will have it no other way."
Danzo's eye twitched with repressed anger, but his tone remained neutral.
"Have it your way."
Danzo turned away, cane clicking on tiles.
"Oh, and one last thing."
Danzo paused, turning his head back slightly in a sign of politesse, though his bandages covered his would-be visible eye.
"Itachi no longer answers to you."
There was no visible tell, but the brief but intense release of killing intent told Hiruzen all he needed to know. It was with the slightest smug tilt to his mouth that he watched as Danzo walked away from him, his cane clacking falsely with each step, until not even the candle could keep him lit in the narrow passage. The blackness soon swallowed him whole.
And then Hiruzen let out a long, pained sigh.
"Just another day," he murmured, taking one last puff before vanishing without a trace, smoke and all.
A/N: Phew, that was an intense chapter. Short and sweet or... not so sweet. Whoever is still reading this fic, I love you. You have made my day. My writing is bearable enough to read and that makes me a happy noodle *cough friend quoting cough*.
Reviews = motivation = faster updates! Thanks peeps~
Question:
Who do you think Sasa's saviour is?