Chapter Twenty Four: Dawn of the Dark Night

It was Izumi's seventeenth birthday, but of all the people, it was Itachi who suggested that they go drinking to celebrate.

"You aren't even of age yet," Rin scolded.

"If we have to lay our lives on the line for the village since we were seven, why can't we drink? As shinobis, we are considered to be adults the moment we become genin," Itachi countered. Well when he put it that way...Rin couldn't really argue.

Even at the age of twenty one, Rin still hadn't tasted a drop of alcohol. Kakashi had, only because Gai challenged him to a drinking contest on Kakashi's eighteenth birthday. When the two of them showed up at her doorstep with splitting headaches and spent the remainder of the day groaning in agony, Rin wasn't sure she ever wanted to taste alcohol.

But she heard that alcohol was good to help her forget her problems. And she did have a lot of things on her mind that she didn't want to think about.

So Rin agreed. Only to find out that Izumi was going to drag her out shopping for "normal clubbing" clothes that civilians wore. If she had known about it ahead of time, Rin definitely wouldn't have agreed.

"What about this one?" Izumi asked, holding up a black leather mini skirt. Rin eyed the article of item in distaste.

"It's too short."

"Ah c'mon! The point of going out tonight is for you to relax and maybe go home with a guy tonight," Izumi whined. "Please, it's my birthday! Can't you just agree with me?"

"But I don't want to go home with some random guy. That's weird. Besides, I can't hide weapons under that and it restricts too much movement."

"It's completely normal!" Izumi protested. "Do I have to tell you how many strange girls I see walking out of Shisui's place in the mornings?"

Rin didn't know about that particular piece of information and would have rather if she hadn't known at all. "Too much information, Izumi." She would rather keep the image in her head that Shisui was a world class feared shinobi with a strange sense of humor, rather than as Konoha's biggest flirt.

"Fine. But don't you want to move on to someone else? You and him clearly aren't going anywhere."

Izumi hadn't been the biggest fan of Kakashi after she found out exactly what he told her after he sought out Izumi's advice. But her conversation with Ichika seemed to restore Rin's faith in him, to be patient. But for how much longer could she wait?

"We'll see."

At Izumi's scathing look, Rin amended her statement. "I won't be opposed if someone else comes along, alright?" That had been enough to appease Izumi.

But an appeased Izumi also meant she poured all of her focus back into shopping. It was going to be a long day…

Boutique after boutique, Izumi dragged Rin along to the point where she suspected the two of them went through all of the clothing shops in Konoha. By the end of the day, both of them were carrying an insane amount of shopping bags; most of them belonging to Izumi.

"How do you even have that much money from your chunin missions to spend?"

Izumi had the audacity to look mildly offended. "Hey! I'm going to be a jonin soon. Besides, Shisui and Kakashi just gave me money for my birthday gift."

Typical. That way the two men wouldn't have to put any thought into what gift to buy her and Izumi was content because she got to buy whatever she wanted. And not have to receive boring medical textbooks from Rin for the first few years they had known each other.

At least Itachi was thoughtful. He had an actual gift prepared, or so Rin assumed as the man in question was nowhere to be seen. Or maybe he had prepared a surprise party at the bar?

Shisui and Kakashi had tried the same thing on Rin, to just shove money at her on her birthday, claiming that only she would know what she really wanted. Rin declined their offer, money no longer having an appeal to her. In fact, what was the point of taking their money when she knew she made more than them with her hospital salary added on?

So they changed tactics. Year after year, they would shove some scrolls at her, usually on ninjutsu as that was her weakest area, and pay for dinner.

And Itachi? Well, he always came up with some practical, but thoughtful gift in some way or another. One year it had been a pack of senbons to replenish her stash, another year he gifted her a brand new medical coat, to replace her old and dirty one.

But this was Izumi, Itachi's sort of girlfriend (only because he hadn't officially asked but everyone knew that the two of them remained exclusive for each other) so Rin had high expectations that he would pull through with a jaw dropping gift. She couldn't wait.

Izumi managed to coerce Rin into a skirt, but Rin only agreed if she was allowed to wear boy shorts underneath. As for the battle for what she wore as a top, it was safe to say that Rin won the battle and was able to wear the usual kimono style top she always wore when she was off duty or went on missions as a jonin status, not Anbu.

"Meh, you have no fashion sense," Izumi complained as Rin brushed her long, brown hair. "All you ever wear is your Anbu uniform, the standard jonin wear, or your off duty outfit. Your off duty outfit is okay, I suppose, and wearing the Anbu uniform can't be avoided, but do you really have to wear the standard jonin outfit? That's for boring people like Kakashi to wear."

"What's wrong with that? It's very practical. Listen, when you get stuck in the Land of the Snow, you'll learn to appreciate the long sleeves and long pants. It's very warm and comfy."

Rin omitted the fact that the only time it was really warm and comfy was when she was half freezing to death or when she wore Kakashi's top. On regular days, Rin could agree it could get very hot and itchy in the Konoha warm weather.

"If you say so." That was Izumi's way of saying that she really didn't buy into Rin's response, but didn't wish to argue any further.

"Say, what do you think about me asking him tonight?"

There was no question who "him" was.

"Ask him what?"

"Making it official," Izumi elaborated. "I know that he's under a lot of clan pressures to marry someone else, and I think he's scared how the clan will react if he officially announced that he was dating me, but…"

Itachi will be eighteen soon and I don't want to lose him.

I'm ready to fight against all of the prejudice from the Uchiha clan alongside him.

I don't care what anyone says anymore.

"Go for it. Regardless of who he marries, I don't think the Uchiha clan will fully approve anyways. Even that girl, the one that he is supposed to marry, Shisui told me some of the clan doesn't like the fact that she has a very distinct Uchiha bloodline, even if she is an exceptional kunoichi. Even now, the Uchiha clan still doesn't like me either."

"You're right," Izumi said, her voice full of resolve. "If he doesn't ask me, I'll ask him tonight."

When Rin stepped into the bar, she couldn't wrap her mind around how civilians and shinobis enjoyed this place. To her, it just looked like a bunch of drunk people grating against each other on the "dance floor." It was crowded, to the point where they couldn't walk anywhere without bumping shoulders against anyone. Or have some of the drunk people bump into them as they stumbled forward without the aid of a hard surface to guide them. It was loud, to the point where Rin had to practically yell for Izumi to hear her even if they were sitting side by side. By the time Kakashi bothered to show up, fifteen minutes late, the loud music was already grating on her nerves.

Izumi was a lightweight, her face already flushed red after her second drink. Her body swayed slightly, but Itachi, who was sitting to her left, subtly arranged his position so that Izumi would lean against him.

Kakashi had supposedly built up his tolerance through all of the drinking challenges with Gai, or so he told her. Still, it seemed to her that Kakashi was moderating his intake to pace himself so he could last through the night. As for herself, Rin didn't have to worry. Being a medical ninja, she could flush the alcohol right out of her system if she needed to, all without the nasty side effects including the infamous splitting headache.

As for Shisui and Itachi, both were only drinking small sips. When Izumi urged them to drink more, to let loose, Shisui responded that they had a mission early tomorrow morning. A blatant lie, but Izumi didn't know that.

Kakashi and Rin exchanged questioning glances but didn't press the matter any further.

Seeing the somber mood, as none of them really knew how to let loose completely, Izumi proposed a drinking game which she dubbed "Truth or Drink." Simply because dares among shinobis never ended well, especially for the owners of the bar. And none of them really had the urge to move.

The three males quickly declined their participation in the game, so Izumi couldn't do anything more than turn her head and beg Rin to play. When Izumi pulled the "it's my birthday" trick again, Rin couldn't help but agree.

After all, Rin had done the same thing to Izumi on numerous occasions to prevent Izumi from pestering her.

"Fine, but it's not fun if there's only two of us," Rin conceded, sliding down the booth to fill up her glass.

"So convince them for me, please?" She should have known it wouldn't have been as simple as agreeing to play.

So Rin shot all three males a look that read "You owe me, so you will return the favor now," and all three of them had no choice but to agree. It probably hadn't been necessary on Itachi, as he looked like he was going to concede just from Izumi's puppy eyes.

Izumi started off the game, asking low embarrassment questions. The rest of them followed her lead, asking questions that they already knew the answer to. Well mostly. Until Izumi kicked it up a notch, asking Kakashi to pull down his mask.

Kakashi chose to drink instead, pouring alcohol through his mask and into his mouth. Rin didn't want to know if that was hygienic.

So Izumi tried a different tactic to fish information about Kakashi's face. "Rin, have you ever seen him without his mask on?"

"Yes."

"When?"

Rin wanted to protest that Izumi had only one question, but Izumi had a determined look in her eyes. One that told Rin that Izumi wouldn't rest until she got all of her answers. Admittedly, Itachi and Shisui were both interested in the topic as well, so if Izumi didn't ask, they would take turns.

"The first time was a long time ago. We were still on the same genin team and he had to take off his mask so I could heal his injury."

"And since then? What does he look like?"

"A couple times." Understatement of the year. Rin practically saw his face everyday, every time he came over to eat dinner at her place, but she wasn't about to give Izumi that piece of information to latch onto. "As for what he looks like, well-"

Rin never got to finish her sentence as Kakashi suddenly appeared by her side, tipped the bottom of her chin upwards, pried her mouth open with his thumb and pointer finger, and proceeded to tip the contents of her glass down her throat. She sputtered, coughing as the liquid burned straight down her throat.

"What the hell, Kakashi?" Rin shouted after her coughing fit subsided. "I could have choked, you know!"

Kakashi shrugged, his thumb casually wiping away some of the spilled alcohol that dribbled down her chin. "You were about to spill my secrets, so I took some reasonable measures to prevent that."

"More like drastic measures," Rin muttered under her breath, crossing her arms in annoyance. From that moment forward, Rin vowed to get Kakashi back for it somehow. Maybe she would spill his secret when he least expected it.

The game continued.

Itachi was normally a private person, but it seemed that he rather tell than drink tonight. Well, Rin didn't blame him; she didn't particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol either. For the rest of the night, she pawned off all of her drinks to Kakashi, as her form of payback for earlier. Kakashi took them wordlessly and was only slightly tipsy by the time Izumi was flat out drunk. Shisui was marginally buzzed while Itachi and Rin stayed sober.

"Didn't you have something you wanted to ask Itachi?" Rin asked Izumi, as her question for her turn in the game. If it was even possible, Izumi's face turned even redder.

"Ano, I was wondering ifyouwouldbemyboyfriend?"

The words were so rushed that Rin was sure that Itachi had missed it, but he hadn't. The playful look in his eyes waned, flickering out, before it was replaced with something akin to guilt? Remorse?

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispered, his dark eyes fixated on his glass. "I can't."

No one missed his choice of words, except Izumi who could only seem to register his rejection. Tears began to stream down her eyes. Her fingers tightened around her glass, downing the shot in one go. Izumi didn't even bother to refill her own; she stole Rin's glass, then Kakashi's, followed by Itachi and Shisui, before resorting to drinking from the bottle. Throughout the entire ordeal, she was muttering something incomprehensible under her breath. Rin reached out to comfort her, but was pushed away each time.

"I should probably go," Itachi spoke. He tried to make his voice sound apathetic, but Shisui heard the quiver in his voice. "I'm sorry for ruining the mood. Please take care of her."

And then he was gone, with Shisui following after him, after conveying his intention of looking after him to the rest of the table. Only Rin and Kakashi had caught on, as Izumi was too busy sobbing to even notice that the Uchiha cousins were gone.

Izumi wanted to drink herself into oblivion. Kakashi and Rin tried to stop her, but she was extremely stubborn. In the end, Kakashi was coerced into a drinking challenge with her.

"Don't," Rin had told him.

Kakashi's lone eye stared solemnly at Izumi. "If it'll make her happy, then it's worth it." Rin couldn't really argue against the fact and just sat at the sidelines as she watched two of her best friends drinking like there was no tomorrow. One to numb the pain creeping into her heart. The other, to numb the pain he acquired over the last two decades.

Eventually the two passed out on the table. Rin was left with the bill, an outrageous amount she was sure to get back from Kakashi later, and the duty to carry both of them home. Propping both of them on either side of her, Rin began the slow walk home, burdened by both of their weights.

Izumi was alright, as she was similar to Rin's size and weight, but Kakashi's lanky form and heavy mass weighed down upon her. At this point, Rin wasn't even carrying him; she was dragging his feet along the street.

Supporting his weight had been so much easier ten years ago.

The eight minute walk to her apartment on a leisure day turned into a twenty minute one, with her trying to support Izumi's weight and dragging along a grown shinobi. At least there was no one in sight, if there had been, the odd sight would surely turn some heads.

Going up the stairs had been worse. Izumi had difficulty putting one foot in front of another, while Kakashi had completely passed out at this point, leaving her to pull along his deadweight. In the end, Rin settled for leaving Kakashi at the base of the stairs, carrying Izumi up the stairs on her back to her apartment. Once inside, Rin made a beeline to her room, dropping Izumi onto her bed, before slipping her under her covers.

Only to almost trip on something on her way out. Upon closer inspection, Rin realized it was Sasuke, sleeping on the floor of her room in a sleeping bag. Why was he here?

Deciding that she would find her answers in the morning, Rin hurried back down the stairs, where Kakashi was slumped over against the wall. Tossing his arm around her shoulders and wrapping both of her arms around his waist, Rin pulled him off of the ground. She grunted as Kakashi's weight pressed down on her, almost sending her toppling straight forward. With the help of her chakra and sheer strength, Rin managed to haul him up the stairs into her apartment.

By the time she reached the couch, Rin was already dead on her feet. Unceremoniously, she tossed him onto the couch, moving his legs so that they dangled over the arm of the couch. Padding her way quietly through the house, Rin retrieved an extra blanket and pillow from her closet. Gently propping his head, she slid the pillow underneath before draping the blanket over his long frame.

On her way to the kitchen, she spotted two cats curled up on her dining table.

"Akemi, Momo?"

Akemi lazily stretched, raising his head upwards upon hearing her voice. "Itachi says he is sorry for the short notice, but he wants Sasuke to stay with you tonight." Then he promptly went back to sleep, curling up in a tiny ball against Momo's sleeping form without even waiting for her response.

Short notice? He could have told her anytime at the bar. Unless there was a change of plans after he left. In that case…

Rin didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"If we do this, there's no going back."

"I understand."

Two figures perched atop an electricity pole, staring down at the Uchiha fan that was proudly displayed on the gravel walls of every home. With one last look at the moon, one of them flashed the signal and they scattered in opposite directions.

The first blood was spilt in the main house, where the head of the clan and his wife quietly accepted their fate. Two clean thrusts of his sword to the back and they crumpled forward, one on top of each other. Hugging, even in their death.

The second blood was spilt in one of the homes located on the eastern side of the compound. It was almost secluded from the bustling noises in the center of the compound, but they enjoyed the peace it had to offer. The two youngest girls died peacefully in their sleep, dreaming of pleasant things. The head of the household smiled silently at the silhouette of his killer, closing his eyes to accept his fate.

He didn't utter a sound when a sword was driven straight through his heart.

From that point forward, both of their hands were stained with the blood of their loved ones. Both of their hearts were burdened with the resolve to carry out their mission. Both of their minds were endlessly silently offering apologies as their sword cut through their clansmen, one by one.

And little by little, the Uchiha compound turned into a bloodbath.

Rin awoke when she felt a foreign chakra signature appear in her apartment. The Anbu motioned to her that there was an emergency and turned to wake Kakashi up as well, but Rin held the Anbu back, signalling to him that he was unfit to fight. The Anbu nodded, teleporting out of her apartment as Rin scrambled to pull on her Anbu uniform.

In her haste to get out of the door, she swiped the half filled weapons pouch off of her desk and haphazardly tied the bandages on her thigh to attach her kunai holster. She forgoed bringing her flute, unable to find the holster for it in the dark. Pulling on the Anbu issued black sandals, a mask went over her face and she slipped out of her apartment, darting across the rooftops to the Hokage Tower.

The Hokage was staring grimly over to the village with his hands clasped behind his back as the Anbu continued to land on the rooftops, standing neatly line by line. Already, thirty Anbu members had showed up for duty and more to come.

It was rare to see so many of them in the same place.

Rin's heart dropped when the Hokage informed them about the Uchiha massacre. Already, her mind was reeling from the shock of it all, while the other Anbu murmured quietly amongst themselves.

Had they done it? Was it Itachi's plan all along to get them drunk so Kakashi and Rin wouldn't be able to interfere?

Tears slid down her face, hidden by the mask, as Rin followed the rest of the Anbu to the Uchiha compound, where the Third ordered to check for survivors. All bodies were to be hauled away to the morgue, in preparation for their burial.

Her gloved fingers brushed lightly against the streak of blood on the wall. Still fresh. Barely half an hour after the slaughter. She felt sick to the stomach.

Ignoring the Hokage's orders, Rin ran to the main house to find Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha lying face down on the floor in their pool of blood. Itachi was nowhere to be seen.

Her next stop had been Izumi's house, where Rin found Izumi's mother body laying on the couch. Her blood stained the covers; the blood had splattered all over the white walls.

The third stop was Shisui's house, where Rin found his two sisters presumably sleeping peacefully on their backs. Unlike the others, there were no open wounds, no blood to be seen. Yet two fingers to the pulse confirmed their deaths. In the adjacent room, Rin found an older man who died with a smile to his face.

Shisui was nowhere to be seen.

Even if she wanted to convince herself otherwise; there was no mistaking who had done this. For an entire clan to be reduced down to four living Uchihas…

Rin rushed out the door when she felt a flicker of Itachi's chakra in the distance. Following his chakra signature, which was rapidly moving away from her, Rin flipped herself over the walls of the Uchiha compound. Landing onto the soft grass on the other side, Rin took off through the field. Crossing the distance in record time, Rin jumped onto the first branch in the forest, feeling that the distance between them was growing smaller.

Itachi was moving at his normal speed, while she was moving at her fastest.

When Itachi felt her chakra signature, he attempted to move faster, but his effort was thwarted by Rin, whose clone jumped down from the trees, landing right in front of him. Her real body caught up thirty seconds later, closing in on him from behind.

Itachi had drawn his sword, his blood stained sword, in preparation for a fight. Itachi was still dressed in his Anbu uniform sans the mask and Rin wanted to desperately believe that he just came back from an outside mission. But she couldn't. Now when Itachi had submitted his resignation letter a while ago.

"Why?" The wind carried her question throughout the clearing.

"A testament to my own power."

His response was so full of bullshit that Rin didn't know how he expected her to believe him. Itachi, on a power trip? His five year old brother was more likely to go on a power trip before Itachi ever did.

"Tell me the truth."

"Like I said, it was simply to test my skills."

Itachi didn't waste any more words, lunging to slice through her clone. Her clone dissipated into a puff of smoke. Rin drew two kunais as Itachi turned towards her, Sharingan already activated. Her eyes automatically flickered down to look at his feet.

And their blades clashed. The sound of their weapons clanging against each other pierced the silent air.

A particularly brutal hit had knocked one of her kunais out of her hand. His sword continued its descent, ready to slice through the tendons in her thighs but Rin jumped out of the way, landing atop his sword. One foot charged with chakra lashed towards Itachi's hands, while the other maneuvered the sword out of his grasp. Itachi was forced to drop the sword and retreat as Rin's foot crashed into the earth, creating a crater.

The kunai left her hand, deflecting Itachi's kunai. The force knocked both of them off trajectory, landing in the grass on either side of them.

Neither of them bothered to draw anymore weapons as they rushed at each other.

Right foot kick. Left hand block. Bend knees to duck. Shift momentum to side to dodge. Right hand captured his punch, twisting his hand backwards. Take foot to stomach. Channel chakra to feet to root her into place. Movement of finger to capture her in genjutsu. Break out of genjutsu and take a punch in the face as a result of her momentary delay. Sweep left foot in arc, forcing him to jump into the air. Left hand punch. Left hand caught. Right hand forming a chakra scalpel. Cut through the nerves in his wrist if Itachi hadn't landed and backflipped out of her range.

No flashy jutsus were needed. No words were spoken. Just the sounds of hand to hand combat emitted through the air.

Itachi was fast as always, but at this point, Rin caught up to him in terms of speed. With his Sharingan to predict her movements, and her sensory skills to predict his, they were on par. Every hit that she landed, he returned one to her.

Neither one of them gained an upper hand in the six minute clash. In their minds, both of them desperately wished it was just a spar. In their hearts, neither of them wanted the upper hand because that meant they were forced to make a decision.

But one of them had to die tonight.

Itachi jumped back a considerable distance away, hands already forming the seals for a fireball jutsu. At the same time, Rin's fingers were moving to execute a water dragon. The jutsus collided, showering the area with evaporation mist.

The two met in the middle once more, kunai against kunai. Itachi dropped an explosive tag onto the ground, forcing Rin to leap backwards as the bomb exploded. Itachi's clone met her from behind, kunai ready to drive it into her shoulder. Spinning her body around, Rin's kunai deflected it as her free hand made contact with the clone.

It exploded into a flock of crows.

Having seen this trick many times during their spars, Rin quickly dispelled all three layers of genjutsu. When she came back into reality, Itachi was already on her, driving a kunai into her stomach as her hand wrapped around his wrist. She poured chakra into Itachi's body, latching onto his arm to prevent him from drawing back.

A trickle of blood dribbled down her chin, but she was smiling as Itachi broke free of her grasp. A one handed tiger seal was formed. Pain ripped through Itachi's left wrist, sending him hurling towards the ground. The pain felt like a thousand needles stabbing inside of his hand.

Rin was on top of him in the next moment, one hand pinning him down by the chest, while the other pressed the tip of the kunai against his throat.

But she couldn't find it in herself to do. Couldn't find the courage to kill him, just like she wasn't able to kill Obito. The tears spilling from her eyes dripped down from her chin, landing on the metal plate of Itachi's Anbu uniform.

Her hand shook as the tip of the kunai grazed the skin of his throat. Just a bit more force and it would be all over.

But she couldn't do it.

Her hold on the kunai loosened. Taking advantage of her weakness, Itachi swiped the kunai out of Rin's hand. Pushing her weight off of him, Itachi pinned her down onto the ground with enough force to knock the mask off of her face, revealing her tear stained cheeks.

Her large brown eyes were full of tears and resignation as Itachi pressed the cool metal against her throat.

"I suppose I was never destined to win," Rin murmured softly.

In his head, Itachi disagreed. If Rin didn't hesitate and went all out on him, Itachi would have been dead a long time ago.

And just like Rin, Itachi couldn't do it.

Instead his Sharingan spun, forming into the pattern of the Mangekyo. His eyes met Rin's and together they were pulled into the Tsukuyomi landscape.

Rin didn't even bother to fight the genjutsu, allowing her body to limply hang from the chains that kept her rooted to the cross.

"You must understand that the Uchiha planned to take down the Third Hokage first," Itachi told her, showing her his memory of a particular council meeting in which Itachi and Shisui were forced to betray Konoha by revealing the layout of the Hokage Tower and the weaknesses in his security measures.

"Then they would have attacked the Hyuga when they least expected it. Shisui and I were ordered to take out you and Kakashi. The Uchihas deemed the two of you our greatest oppositions in our quest for a successful coup."

At that, a false image was planted, playing out what would have happened if Team Ro was forced to turn on each other. All four of them were in the field, panting heavily as blood was splattered on all of their uniforms. Dried blood caked underneath their fingernails and in their hair. Weapons littered the ground. Trees knocked over, some burnt to a crisp. All of them out of chakra and standing on their feet out of sheer willpower.

All four of them were reluctant to deal the finishing blow.

"Why not?" Rin whispered. "You and Shisui would have won."

But at what cost was the lingering question on both of their minds.

"We couldn't allow that to happen," Itachi said. "Shisui and I swore to maintain peace. We tried every method that we could to keep the peace, and this was our final mission as shinobis of Konoha."

"A mission? How could the Third ask you and Shisui to slaughter your entire clan?"

"It was of our own will. Please do not try to stop us any further...allow us to live as a missing nin. If we ever shall cross paths in the future…"

"And what will you do now?"

"There has been word of a criminal organization forming. Shisui and I will infiltrate it and stop any harm to the village. To protect Konoha...we will do it until we draw our last breath."

"A mark of a true shinobi is to protect the village from the shadows," Itachi continued. "It does not matter how the village views us as long as peace is maintained. Please take care of Sasuke and Izumi for me. Get Kakashi to teach Sasuke the secrets to the Sharingan when he awakens it…"

Tears were streaming down phantom Itachi's face.

"I will leave Akemi and Momo in your care. Should you ever need to contact me, send one of them out and they will be able to find me. If I ever need to reach you, I will send one of my crows."

"So you rejected Izumi because…"

Itachi nodded. "It will be a heavy burden, but I ask that you keep this knowledge to yourself. Hatake might suspect, but please don't let anyone know the truth, especially Izumi and Sasuke."

"When I'm dead," Itachi added, choking on his words. "Tell the two of them that I will love them, always."

"Wha-"

"I'll run out of chakra soon. When I break the Tsukuyomi, it will put you in a one day coma." So you can't come after me, was the underlying message.

"I'm sorry, for everything."

That was the last thing that Rin heard before darkness claimed her.

"What took you so long?" Shisui asked as Itachi landed on the branch next to him.

"Ran into some...complications. She knows."

Shisui eyed Itachi's bleeding hand. "I see. How did she take it?"

"She won't be able to come after us," was Itachi's cryptic response. "It's time to go."

Both of them raised a single kunai to their forehead, drawing a slash across the Konoha leaf symbol. Two figures darted into the forest, leaving behind the place that they once called home.

Towards their new life.

As S class missing nins.

END of PART ONE

A/N: Hiiiiiii.

Well this is the end of the first part of the story. Can't believe we've already got to this point! Don't worry though, there's a part 2 coming up.

So I guess you've figured out by now that Shisui was left alive because someone needed to help Itachi kill the Uchiha clan since Obito is dead. Izumi is alive, Sasuke isn't traumatized so I guess that's a start? This was so hard and sad to write, but I think we all knew it was coming with Danzo fueling the Uchihas' hatred once more with his tricks.

Second half of the story will cover post massacre spanning all the way to Shippuden era so there will be plenty of time skips to help speed the process along. Hope you guys will stick with me until the finish. :)

Next chapter will be called Peace?

As always, thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think and until next time!

-MM