To Protect His Dream…

Nine Days Ago: (3rd person's point of view)

Haruno Sakura saw them sitting on the dock, bare feet dangling in the darkened waters of the lake and the sliver of the moon casting a faint light on their backs. Forming a couple of one-handed seals, she used a genjutsu to hide herself from their sights. The faint tingle of the illusion jutsu however drew attention and their heads whipped back to look for an intruder. But all they saw were darkened trees that lined stood silently behind them.

Shishui activated his sharingan and scanned the area once more. He gasped as he saw a woman that looked amazingly like his sister…except her hair was pink…the color of cherry blossoms. She smiled sadly at him and when he blinked his eyes, she was gone. The trees remained silent, as if they were keeping many secrets in their gnarled branches and waiting stoically for more to spill out during the night.

Maybe it's a sign Shishui glanced worriedly at his sister, her own sharingan eyes activated and swirling. Maybe…it's her future self saying goodbye to me…Telling me to take this road instead…

"One more hour until the Counsel gives their decision to Kagome-san." He returned his attention back to the lake, studying the faint reflection of the waning moon. "We should leave. Find Otousan and help him out. This is fate."

Sakura shook her head, tendrils of black hair waving in the slight breeze. "If they reject her request, she can ask for another. We have to see this through. We are the heirs of the original Uchiha clan and we are adults in the Counsel's eyes since we can perform the Katon Goukakyuu no jutsu."

"They have to grant her request," Shishui softly whispered, thinking back to his conversation with Tenten-san, one of the two Anbu members that were present in yesterday's meeting.

Flashback:

"Uchiha-san," a warm hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to look at the Anbu, her mask hiding her face from him. She lifted her mask and warm brown eyes greeted his green ones. "Just leave your sister alone. She needs time to think."

"There's nothing to think about!" he snarled, pulling back with disbelief. "The Counsel will never permit such request to go through!"

"My name is Hyuuga Tenten." She offered a smile to him, ignoring his scowling face. "You met my husband the other day, Hyuuga Neji. I believe he was the one that tested you and your sister. He was also the other Anbu member at the meeting." She sat back on her knees and looked wistfully at the garden through the window. A single nightingale perched on top of a lone tree was singing a sad song. She sighed before continuing. "The Counsel have allowed such requests before."

"WHAT?" It was so tempting to run, to hide, to ignore the words that was pouring out of this Anbu's mouth. But something inside him told him to stay still, to listen, to hear the truth from this woman.

"You were too young to remember. But your father had appeared at these meetings before. He stopped attending when one of the requests was for him to stay clear of the proceedings. It was not meant to prohibit your father from overseeing clan meetings as the Head but rather the little girl did not want 'Uncle Sasuke' to hurt anymore because of the 'mean people'. At that time, fifteen people had already converted their last names to Uchiha and formally joined the clan. However, ten people had also requested your father's death. Four of the ten people wanted a fair fight, a chance to beat and kill your father honorably. The other six asked for his head."

"The Counsel allowed it?"

"Your father was the only one who made the decision before…When the sixth 'Uchiha' was formally welcomed, your father decided to make a Counsel with only those six members. However, two of the six originally requested for a fight with your father, thinking that he was weak because he was never able to kill Itachi. And one had asked for your father's head."

He shook his head, unable to believe that half of the Counsel had wanted his father's death. "Who…who were they?"

At that question, Tenten smiled. "Kenji, although the oldest, was the sixth and last member to enter the Counsel. He was the one who asked for your father's head. Minako, a former Mist kunoichi, and Aoshi, who originally came from the Sand village, asked to fight your father."

"But Tenten-san," Shishui frowned as he thought about the Counsel members. "Those are the three oldest in the Counsel. The rest are only 14 years old."

Haku, Hige, and Chisara…all three were only seven years old and were rescued within weeks of each other…they were the first three to adopt the Uchiha name. They asked at the same time. They came up to your father when he brought the tenth survivor and asked for one request for each of them. At that time, the whole proceedings did not even exist. Chisara, you could say, was the leader among the three, although the other two are not exactly meek followers. She argued her way through to get their requests granted. And when your father granted their requests, naturally, others followed suit."

"So what did otousan do with Kenji-san's request?"

"Your father was ready to grant his request. The baka even gave Kenji the katana to kill him off. The katana was a family heirloom, used by the previous members of the clan to execute traitors."

"Otousan must have evaded the katana then…"

"No." Again, Tenten smiled wistfully at the memories. "Your baka father knelt and supplicated himself in front of the old man. He kept his head on the ground, the Uchiha fan blazing on the back of his black shirt. Just as Kenji swung the sword, Chisara rushed in and put her head on top of your father's. The old man, thankfully, was able to stop the sword before it reached her neck."

"Chisara-san truly did that?"

"…hmmm…" and with that Tenten grew silent, contemplating on whether to give the young boy the entire truth of the ordeal. It was true that Chisara was the one that argued with Sasuke about the name…but the idea was suggested by someone else. And it was true that someone did save Sasuke…but it was not the seven year old girl…for she was in the medic center with a bad case of the flu. Someone who treated Chisara was that very someone who planted the idea of the young lost children adopting the formal name of Uchiha…and that someone was the one who ran in to protect and save the Uchiha clan leader...That someone was Haruno Sakura.

Tenten continued with the story, praying under her breath that the boy would not notice that she did not answer his question. "The other five people who wanted your father's head had the exact same thing happen to them. It was not …Chisara…the whole time…"

Shishui nodded his head. "Hige and Haku."

Tenten, again, fell silent. She did not lie to the boy but gave out the half-truth without him even noticing. 'It was not…Chisara…the whole time…' The other half is 'It was Haruno Sakura, your okaasan, the whole time…always protecting your father.'

"Anyways, after your father stopped coming to the proceedings, we still sent word out to him to tell him what each request was. Many others have sought to kill your father as their request. All have failed. Unlike within the village, your father fought back. This is due to the fact that nobody would be able to protect you and your sister if he should die. In Konoha, your father has many strong allies that would have gladly protected and cared for both of you, one of them being Uzumaki Naruto. Also, others who have tried, upon seeing you and Sakura, would change their heart and leave your father be. Some of them came back to the village and formally requested to be adopted into the Uchiha clan. Others formed new paths, new homes, away from Konoha."

Shishui clenched his fists, finding it hard to believe that many who are now in the clan had sought his father's destruction in the past.

Tenten continued softly, "Although the Counsel has said that the request have to be within certain limits…Truth be told, there is no limit save that the person cannot ask to seek out Itachi nor ask an Anbu to do it. It is the one thing that your father will not allow. Itachi's death must be at his hands and his hands alone." She paused and glanced out the window again. Sometime, the nightingale had stopped singing its song. "Uchiha-san, go talk to your sister. They have to grant her request. Please prepare and expect the unexpected."

End of Flashback

"Oniichan…"

Sakura's soft voice brought Shishui back to the present. He shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Even if they grant her request, they cannot force my hand to kill you."

His feet splashed a little water up her legs and Sakura let out a giggle. "Oniichan, it's cold!"

"I'll make it colder…"

"What?" Sakura instinctively brought her hands up to block the fist coming at her from her brother. However, Shishui shifted his momentum to the other hand that was coming straight for her back. A loud shriek broke through the quiet night, immediately followed by a splash.

Minutes later, the twins were back to their original positions, sitting on the dock with their feet dangling in the water. Their clothes were just slightly damped as each took turns executing a Katon Goukakyuu no jutsu to warm themselves up.

Sakura watched as her brother manipulated the fireball larger and larger before going in reverse and making it smaller and smaller. She wrung her hands nervously, hoping that he won't lose control of it due to what she was about to say.

"Oniichan…you have to grant her request."

The only indication that Shishui heard what she was saying was the furrowing of his brows. Sakura continued, her voice solemn but unwavering.

"You can achieve the Mangekyou Sharingan this way without guilt."

Shishui stopped the fireball all together and just stared in shock at his twin. Emerald green eyes looked into his own challengingly, daring him to defy what she said.

"No Sakura."

"It's the only way."

"No Sakura."

"You know what I say is true."

"No Sakura."

"Uchiha Shishui!" Sakura jumped to her feet and glared down at her brother. He kept his eyes on her, eyes that look so much like her own…and according to otousan…eyes that look so much like their okaasan's. She stomped her foot down angrily, her hands fisted at her side. "You were the one that brought up the Mangekyou Sharingan. You have to kill your best friend. AND I AM YOUR BEST FRIEND, NE?"

Shishui held back a shiver of fear as his sister glowered above him. He could swear he saw flames dancing in her eyes as she shook her fists at him.

He smiled sadly at her and took one of her fisted hands, tugging her down to sit next to him. "Of course you are my best friend..."

"Then you have to do it," Sakura nodded her head, and if the issue was anything but beheading her, Shishui would have caved in.

"No Sakura…not like that. It's not fair."

"Then how oniichan? HOW?"

"I want a fair fight between us, just like how Otousan and Naruto-san fought in the Valley of the End…you can activate the Mangekyou Sharingan too. I will not gain it any other way but a fight between us. That way…it is fair. Whoever wins goes and helps out otousan. At least that way, we both gave it our all."

Footsteps came up right behind them and they both turned around. Kenji, the grandfatherly counsel member, bowed to them, telling them that the Counsel has made their decision and the meeting was about to start. Shishui pulled Sakura up and embraced her, then grabbed her hand and walked solemnly behind Kenji.

Haruno Sakura waited until they were inside the building and out of sight before releasing the genjutsu. She whistled and a few seconds later, a falcon swooped down and landed on her outstretched left arm. She winced as the talons dug into her soft flesh. Writing a few words down on a scroll, she attached the message to its legs and let it loose. She could only hope and pray that the falcon will deliver the news quickly and safely. Their children's lives depended on it.

I don't own Naruto. I am not making any money off of this fanfic so please don't sue me. I'm just a poor college student. Please review if you like the fanfic. Warning: this is going to be a long fanfic. Also, if you completely missed it: Sakura is helping Sasuke restore his clan in two ways- By giving him children to pass down the Sharingan Bloodline limit and by "adopting" survivors (suggesting them to adopt) into the clan.