A.N.: Hey guys! I hope that you are all safe and sound. This chapter's title refers to chapter 4 named "A smile beneath the mask" and the events that took place then, in case you need to refresh your memory! Thank you so much for reading this story, I hope you enjoy it! Stay sharp 3
"They've done it before and they'll do it again and when they do it - seems that only the children weep. Good night."
―Harper Lee,To Kill a Mockingbird
A frown beneath the mask.
1.
There are things that one could expect and things that one could assume. Mirai was always aware of omens, signs and common sense. Once March arrived, the cherry blossom trees would bloom. If the clouds were dark and the earth smelled of water, it was probably going to rain. A crow's caw meant something bad would happen.
However, a shinobi can predict the future and act upon it in various ways and Mirai possessed the skills for all of them. Therefor, when she felt Itachi's chakra almost materializing around him and once his eyes glowed red and furious, she didn't stop to think. She prepared herself for the first blow -since she couldn't avoid that under any circumstance- while her eyes started planning out the combat.
He attempted to grasp her neck and once he failed, he immediately turned around and kicked her in the stomach. She didn't avoid getting hit for various reasons. First of all, she would use his strength at her advantage, putting some distance between them. Then, considering the fact that it had been years since the two of them had engaged in battle, she wanted to calculate his strength. Finally, she wanted to delay the combat in order to figure which outcome would be in her favor.
His blow sent her flying for a few feet but she quickly landed gracefully on the trunk of a big maple tree, balancing herself by infusing chakra on her soles. He moved fast and approached her again but this time she dodged his attack and climbed higher.
Right then he appeared right in front of her extremely fast and attempted to punch her again.
"Your speed is irrelevant; my eyes can follow." She scoffed quietly while dodging another blow.
"I will kill you." He declared, his eyes blazing with determination.
"I was afraid you were going to say that, however," she whispered viciously "I will not allow it."
She blocked his next attack directly placing herself inside his immediate threat zone as a wild smile colored her usually stern expression.
"Ha!" she exclaimed while assuming the gentle fist style form. One powerful blow, charged with massive amounts of chakra hit Itachi on his left shoulder, barely missing his heart.
Itachi noticed that his chakra points were blocked on that area. Hadn't he move, she would have hit him directly on his heart. She was trying to kill him!
Every last drop of sense evaporated as he glared at her.
"Katon…" he thundered ominously as his hand seals were concluded, "Gōka Mekkyaku!"
2.
Ryo ran back home and hid inside his mother's office. A few moments of absolute stillness and silence passed and he was able to breathe again. Was it Mirai's ferocious eyes or his own insecurities that made him feel uneasy? He focused his big onyx eyes on one of the artworks on the wall of the luxurious room. The painting depicted a tiger with bared teeth, roaring against a river of gold. Ryo removed his mask and stepped closer to admire the unusual color selection. He did not recall seeing this particular artwork before but then again, he quite often found himself forgetful when it came to details about this particular room.
The silence was deafening now.
"Mother?" He asked the Void.
And the Void replied "I am here, son."
"Are you mad?"
"Always."
"Will you forgive me?" the child stuttered, feeling uneasy.
"Yes, I will."
Ryo sighed in relief until the Void spoke again.
"However, I will not forget."
The child realized his mistake. His mother always warned him not to stare at the walls of this room.
This wasn't her voice. It was her jutsu, lying demonic powers of illusion that would be dressed in the faces and voices of one's loved ones! He looked at the artwork again and realized that the Tiger was missing. He was hunted. He tried to escape the room but the door wouldn't open or break.
"Help!" he shouted but no one was there.
Right then everything went dark, the floor collapsed and the ceiling disappeared. In the nothingness only one thing could be heard: The growl of the Tiger.
"HELP!"
3.
The blazing inferno scattered around Mirai's swirling defense.
"Your flames will never touch me!" She shouted at her opponent, closing the small distance between them once again.
Itachi observed her carefully. Her flawless form, her pearly eyes that spoke of cataclysm, her white robes, moving around her like the spirits of the dead were at her command.
She extended her porcelain arms and he noticed that they looked like the limbs of a noble youth. Her whole figure did. He smiled to himself briefly, thinking about their morbid inheritance. Not only did they possess every weapon on the list, their features were the perfect diversion as well. However, he wasn't the one to fall for such a cheap trick.
He felt his body heavier as he moved and he realized that in his current state this battle would not end in his favor. She wasn't dying out, she was at her peak performance with many aces still hidden inside the folds of her kimono.
The child could blow everything up. All of his efforts, all of his sacrifices and all of his torment could be in vain.
Itachi, still avoiding her repetitive attacks that could crush mountains, wondered what was her reason for hiding the existence of this boy. If he knew Mirai as well as he thought, it was probably an attempt to obtain more knowledge and with it more power. Nevertheless, he couldn't shake away the feeling that he knew almost nothing about her person. She never spoke of her feelings. He did not think that she harbored none but her decisions were always based on her sense rather than her heart.
That's when his thinking process was interrupted by a devastating blow above his left lung. He felt the familiar taste of blood in his mouth but he swallowed it, keeping his cool and showing no sign of affliction. Another hit landed on his body, this time paralyzing his spleen. Once again he didn't react to the pain and strain, he just put the maximum distance he could between them.
He was flirting with the idea of going at her with full force but he knew that would end with him dying tonight. His blood was boiling as he felt stingy bites beneath his eyelids. Tears of rage, injustice and despair were trying to escape him but he would never allow it. She wouldn't see him vulnerable.
"You are considered a monster, Mirai, however three times now you've missed my heart. Seems like your new position as the head of the Hyuuga has made you rusty." He provoked her intentionally, "Unless you don't have the guts to kill me. Very feminine of you."
Her white hot rage showed all over her beautiful features, transforming her to a feral demon.
"Come, Uchiha Itachi, and meet the destiny you forced upon your Clan!" She snarled, chakra accumulating in her every pore. Her short hair was violently slashing her snowy shoulders, the fabrics of her attire flew around her in unison with the currents that her aura created.
"How cruelly you speak of the fate of your own offspring, woman!" He thundered as his hands moved, forming the seals of his next jutsu.
"You will not touch a hair of his head!" She exploded as she charged at him.
Right then, before their attacks landed against each other and while the forest sat silent, breathlessly watching their battle, Mirai heard her son's voice in her mind.
"HELP!"
4.
Mirai was determined to kill him after he threatened Ryo's life. She always knew that the darkness inside him had won the day he decided to end his entire family without regret. He was ruthless when it came to his actions and Mirai would never allow him a chance to hurt Ryo, although she somehow had hoped that he wouldn't be hostile against his own son. She felt like a fool for even considering such an option. She was a shinobi herself, she knew very well that sentiments were not to be expected when they clashed with one's interests. Her only hope was the fact that he spared his younger brother.
She was wrong but she could fix it and she would.
Right then, she heard her boy's voice. His image flashed before her eyes, scared and defenseless, as it overlapped with the image of his father, powerful and relentless. She moved as fast as she could in such short notice, avoided two of his attempts to confront her directly and landed a few feet behind him as he turned around and she felt the weight of his eyes pressing against her senses.
At their age, their genjutsu adaptation wasn't debatable. He was a natural and it was showing while she had to put all of her effort not to succumb to his illusions. Hadn't she decided to pursue the path of genjutsu as a child, she would have lost this battle already.
None of this mattered at this point. She would go to her son and attempt to neutralize him on the way or even then and there. She felt a grin spreading on her face as the monster that she fed since she was small was waking up inside her body, replacing her heart with power and pride of steel.
He was focused on her as she pulled numerous explosive tags from her clothes and revolved, swiftly sending them at every direction. She then used the distraction created by the massive explosion to escape him momentarily. She knew that his Sharingan would follow up effortlessly with her small trick.
She ran, consuming so much chakra in order to reach her residence, that she felt the lightheaded bliss of blood loss. She entered her house like a hurricane. The hidden guards around her district would probably stall Itachi, buying her sometime but she had to free her child from the genjutsu first. Such a powerful jutsu could cost the life of a boy his age. She fled towards her office where she saw him, standing perfectly still in front of the River God painting.
Ryo was pale as a sheet, one hand held his mask and the other clutched his own chest. He was soaked in his own sweat and his eyes were fixed in another place, out of existence. His lower lip trembled, silently asking for help and Mirai could hear his racing heart, ready to succumb to pressure.
"Release!" She commanded and the boy gasped like a dying creature and then collapsed on the wooden floor.
Mirai knelt by his side and took him in her arms, kissing his wet forehead with relief. He would be alright. Right then she felt his presence behind her and she turned her head towards him, throwing her most lethal glare at his direction while she hid the boy with her body.
5.
Itachi found her in her study and she resembled a vicious beast as she held the boy hidden from his sight. He exposed his blade before her eyes and wiped the blood off with his coat. Whoever he met on his path had died. Soon the district would be alarmed.
His eyes wondered towards the small figure that she held. He could only see his feet and his small hand that held even in slumber, his mask.
HIS mask.
He remembered the day he gave this mask to the woman before him. It was raining heavily and the forest was a different world on its own. He had sensed her, sitting by the river and he had followed her essence blindly, making no sound. It was the day he would leave behind everything he was left with, which included only Sasuke and...a glimpse of Mirai. A shard of her image, like a photo of a girl that soldiers take with them before they go to war.
He had observed her for a while, like a voyeur, as she lowered the silk off her shoulders. He had felt like he could taste the rain on his tongue as her exposed neck bent and the edges of her hair had touched her wet skin. He didn't know yet but he felt it: She had enchanted him entirely. He almost left, however he was drown to her, he wanted to see her face and he wanted her to see him as well.
They had fought and argued over important matters that were as heavy as the willow curtains that surrounded them and equally easy to irrelevant. He couldn't focus on her words while so much of her skin was showing. Her voice was so clear and severe. Her gaze spoke of bravery and resolution and her every move was elegant and beautiful. She was crafted like the finest of silk and used as the sharpest of blades. He didn't know why he felt like that but he knew that they were made of the same material, somehow he and she.
"Your mask" she had pointed out and he replied "I don't need it anymore. Keep it."
He didn't know why he said what he said, why he gave her his mask. He never thought that she would have kept it all these years. Keeping a memento was a sign of sentiment and she rarely gave into these. What kind of emotion made this girl keep that object?
He had always thought of her as someone who would cut everything that was in her way. Was he tricked by her? Had she been using the same methods that he was, leading everyone to believe him heartless, monstrous? Were they finally able to see each other for what they truly were now, two products of war and death, two deserted monuments of a world that slowly turned to dust? They were the last of their kind, that was certain. For no one would be in his place ever again (he had secured that) and no one would be Hyuuga Mirai.
He knelt on the floor, trying to sustain his vision clear, since she wasn't wrong. His eyes were awfully damaged.
He then proceeded to remove his robe and tossed it outside the room, revealing his simple military attire beneath it.
He bowed in front of her, his scratched headband touching the floor.
"Forgive me." He whispered before her stunned glare. "I have wronged you."
"What are you doing?" She inquired, not believing in her own eyes.
"I am begging for your forgiveness. I owe you an explanation and if you want it I will tell you everything. You deserve to know, everything" He explained quietly as he raised his head and sat straight.
Mirai's eyes opened wide, as she saw the tears on his otherwise empty expression and his hollow, black gaze.