Hikari watched from the trees as Sasuke and Madara appeared in thin air with the red haired woman in tow. The deplorable man stood on the bridge of his demise, preparing for the oncoming battle. To both Hikari and Itachi's disgust, he uncovered his arm to reveal multiple implanted sharingan eyes. It took every bit of the woman's strength not to join the fight.
"Damn it. It's just like the man we fought when I joined the Akatsuki. He forced us into a corner and stole the last of your clan's power for his own gain."
"They weren't the only ones. Madara harvested a much larger collection of eyes for himself." The two shared glances.
"At least Madara is an Uchiha….." The two watched the fight in silence, prepared to interject at a moment's notice. Fists clenched, Hikari attempted to cement the moment in her memory. As the fight continued, several other Uchiha spirits joined in, standing alongside Itachi.
"Sasuke has certainly gotten stronger. I'm impressed with how my death has helped his sharingan mature." Not soon after his brother's optimistic statement, did Danzo grab the sensory ninja that had been assisting nearby. Just as suddenly, Sasuke's lighting style cut through the woman's body just beneath her heart.
"He's gotten stronger but at what cost? Sasuke has a lot of unlearning he must do as a person. I hope that one day I can help him to heal."
"Don't put it all on yourself, Hikari. I have faith in Naruto. Look now, and sear the sight into your memory." The horrid man was at his end. His two pawns watched solemly, as the man responsible for all of their pain ran in fear, bleeding out. Cornered, just as they too had been cornered, Danzo Shimura took his own life, all evidence of his cursed life exploding into nothingness.
With the man who had watched over her for half her life finally dead, a feeling of peace lightened Hikari's heart. If she hadn't known Sasuke, she would have guessed he felt the same.
"So, Danzo's dead. What will you do now?" The etheric form asked.
"Madara was right… I'm on nobody's side, aren't I? For the first time in my life, I'm lost. I don't know what to do."
Sasuke left the battle scene with Madara nearly spent. Miles away from the summit, the elder Uchiha lead him to a base no one in the Akatsuki had yet seen.
"This hideout was the first to be created. It is called Mountains' Graveyard. It is where I have hidden my laboratory." Danzo's corpse hands dragged along the floor beside Madara, who carried him. "I will attempt to extract the remaining sharingan from this body before we transfer your brother's eyes.
Sasuke rubbed his sore eyes and squinted in the darkness, making out the interior of the base. The cave was a maze of rooms, which only Madara knew the way to. He led the boy through the cave and several rooms to the left, where it opened to a large hall. A giant Uchiha crest marked the top of a large cabinet. Underneath was a simple operating table. Sasuke looked at the cabinet closer in the darkness and swore. Hundreds of eyeballs floated in labeled bottles of hydraulic fluid.
"Damn you. You've been keeping theses here since the massacre!"
"It was a nessicary precaution. I have them on hand in the case I might need replacements. You should be thankful, Sasuke. Would you rather I have allowed them to be stolen by the Leaf Village?" It was an argument that silenced the boy.
"Whatever. Just do the operation soon."
There was no fear or apprehension in Sasuke's heart. He would endure whatever pain was necessary to grow stronger. Even with new eyes, Sasuke would walk deeper into the darkness, just as his brother had.
That night, on the precipice of the largest war in all shinobi history, Hikari rested in a makeshift bed in her wooden cottage, having her first good dream in a long time.
... It was a mission during their second year knowing each other that had changed Hikari's perspective on her teammate for the first time.
They had come to a small city in pursuit of a bounty. Upon arriving, they were surprised to find the city desimated and in smoke.
"Hikari, you need to search for any survivors." The girl nodded and closed her eyes, searching for any signs of life. For a moment, it seemed clear that there was nothing. Then, to her astonishment, a small flicker shimmered in her consciousness to their right.
"I felt something! It was small and feint. We have to hurry." Lifting splintered wooden fragments of a house off of the spot, the woman gasped at the sight of a small boy and girl, barely alive. The girl squinted in the light, still conscious. Both were covered in bruises and small scrapes. At the sight of the two cloaked ninja, the girl burst into tears.
"They must have been stuck under the weight of the pillar," Hikari guessed as Itachi scooped up the girl.
"You're safe," Itachi told her, checking for any large wounds. The woman went for the boy, just a year older, maybe five or six. She grimaced. A piece of the debris had cut into his stomach, and he had lost a lot of blood.
"He needs immediate medical attention!" The woman laid him on the dusty ground next to him, grabbing some medical supplies. After cauterizing the wound, the woman began mending the open wound. Minutes later, the damage had been repaired and he was safe.
"The ones who attacked the city might still be nearby. If there are no other people you sense, we should leave this place." The girl agreed, and they carried the children to a safer location nearby.
Through piecing together everything the small children had told them, they deduced that the village had been attacked by a group of bandits seeking riches in the city. While the children didn't remember much, the two rogues were able to gather that there was a high chance of many escaping.
Ultimately, they decided to take the children to the nearest town, where they could find an orphanage in the case their family was not found. After feeding them, when Hikari was confident the two were healthy enough to travel, they set out.
Hikari walked a little behind the cloaked man, carrying their packs and admiring the setup that Itachi had chosen. While the girl sat nestled safely in his arms, the boy rode proudly on his shoulders, looking considerably more hopeful against the setting sun.
"Are we there yet?" The boy, named Gaman asked for the third time since setting out.
"We should be there before the sun sets in an hour or less," the man patiently stated. "Will you be alright until we get there?" The boy nodded calmly.
"I'll be alright. It's just a long walk." Itachi chuckled, fumbling in his pockets with his free hand.
"Here," he reached up to the child, handing him a small piece of candy. "That should last you until we arrive." The boy curiously gave it a lick and grinned.
"It's too sweet! My head is going to pop off!" He kept sucking on the treat anyway. Itachi had actually laughed, to Hikari's great surprise. It was a light, warm and gentle sound that Hikari had only heard a few times before. The genuineness of his delight and the child's joke had sent a familiar fluttering into the woman's heart.
"Hikari," Itachi had said, and for a moment she had feared he picked up on her reaction. "Would you look inside the front pocket of my bag? I have something for Katsumi." Hikari nodded, having become very familiar with Itachi's persistent sweet tooth. She found a red candy piece, similar to the first. She placed it in the waiting open mouth of the girl resting comfortably in his arms.
"Be careful not to choke on this," Hikari warned. For the first time, the traumatized child smiled at her.
"I won' choke, I'm like a woman!" The girl's high pitched statement caught them by surprise, and both of them chuckled. Happy to hear Itachi enjoying himself, she looked at him. It was then, that Itachi smiled back at her, looking relaxed and in relative peace with the children resting on his person. In that simple exchange, Hikari lost the battle over control over her own heart. Itachi had pulled it in, and there was no going back from it. The woman found herself bound to him not simply by circumstance, but by a secure sense of love and belonging. Just as soon as she was certain of her love, Itachi looked away to the other side, expression inscrutable.
Itachi set the children down at the orphanage, comforting them with the idea that their parents might indeed be alive as well as other survivors. Tears welling in their eyes, the girl had asked if they would come back for them. Faking a smile, Itachi told them he could not return; that they would be much safer there. Instead, he rummaged through his bag one more time, this time pulling out one of his own clean shirts. Using a kunai, he cut two large square pieces out of it, handing one to each. With how young the children were, the fabric functioned well as a comfort blanket.
"When you're scared, you can have these to remember us by." The kids smiled, weakly. The action had inspired Hikari to do what she could. The woman had marched right up to the keeper of the orphanage and handed her a bag of small gold coins.
"Please take this and use it to buy what you need for the orphanage. I wish you the best in hard times ahead." As quickly as they came they departed, leaving her with a feeling of sorrow.
"That was a generous gift, Hikari."
"It was from Hashirama's decendents themselves, so I don't deserve the compliment. You gave them the shirt off of your back because it was what you had. I did noting to earn my donation." Itachi looked at her as if he wished to debate her on that point, but decided against it. Gathering up the courage, Hikari turned to him. "You like kids, don't you?" The man smiled softly, eyes looking sad somehow.
"I always have." ...
The woman woke to the sound of late night thunder. At her waking, Itachi's presence drifted towards her from some place unknown.
"You would have made a wonderful father…" She whispered, unable to keep a tear from running down her cheek. Then from the deepest corners of her mind, she spoke perhaps the truest realization in a long time. "I… I miss you." To her surprise, she felt the spirit of the man, only a little ways apart from her kneel down behind her, wrapping the lost woman in his arms. Even without a body, Itachi was just as much with her as he had been while living. The man had decided to sacrifice some time he had in the pure land to watch over the two living people he loved most. Hikari cried for the first time in months.
Sasuke's eyes panged painfully as he looked up into the darkness. It was the pain of his sharingan, the limiting circumstances, that persuaded Sasuke to honor his brother in the way Itachi had planned.
"The procedure is simple, but you will must rest for the following week. Do you understand that? There's still time to reconsider. You can become stronger all on your own."
"You could say the same for Naruto. If he continues to get stronger at the rate I am going, I'll never be able to destroy the village. I need to be sure that I can cut him off. I'm ready. Do it already." He commanded to Madara, who stood above the table where he lay.
Up until this point, Sasuke's life had revolved around the goal of becoming stronger in himself in order to catch up to his brother. Now with his brother dead, he had no choice but to honor Itachi's gift.
"This is it, Brother… you will live on inside me. With these eyes, I will bring you justice."
In a few day's time, Sasuke's strength would exceed Naruto's. He would hold true to his promise, and kill him along with every other person in the village who mattered to him. Even if it was at the cost of his own life, the people who betrayed his clan and the system that they upheld would be forgotten to history. And a revenge on such a large scale would ensure that such a genocide happen would never happen again.
By the time Sasuke opened his new eyes for the first time, the war had already begun.
"It's been long enough. I'm going to take them off," he told Zetsu adamantly.
"Madara instructed me to watch over you until you had time to fully heal. It's best to take more time-" Sasuke interrupted the undesired response by pulling the bandages off regardless. He had long grown tired of the high, condescending voice of the plantlike creature. Sasuke's eyes flashed open, glowing in the darkness. He would be rid of the voice himself. "What are you doing? Sasuke-" Sasuke focused his intention and his body glowed violet. Ribcage forming around him, the boy slammed the babbling and shrieking creature against the wall, promptly killing him.
Light from the cave's entrance created grainy mirages across his field of vision and dizziness overtook him. He would wait just a bit longer, and set out after the sun set. In time, the pain subsided behind his eyes and his surroundings became clearer. Next to the room he had slaughtered the original Zetsu, a feint glow shone behind the door of his own room. Curious, he ventured forward, adjusting to the light. The room had been minimally furnished with only a bed, a desk, chair, and simple torch lamp.
On the desk lay a piece of paper and cloth bag. Assuming his mentor had left him a note, Sasuke halfheartedly grabbed the sheet, holding it up close so he could read. The boy instantly scowled.
Madara left one day ago and won't be returning. I took the liberty of speeding up your healing just a little, because I know how impatient you can be. The bag is filled with food pills, painkillers, and more energy patches. I advise you to use them wisely, because I won't be seeing you for a while. Take this time to get some rest and think deeply about what you want to do. Do your best to stay alive through the end of the war. I'll be waiting for you.
P.S., Thank you for killing Danzo so swiftly. Your brother would have been very proud of you.
Sasuke's fist clenched at the mention of his brother and he grimaced. Frowning, he slammed the note on the table. War? Was Madara soon to start his plans? Vertigo suddenly hit the boy. He eyed the cloth parcel, realizing he had not eaten in what was probably days. With a change of heart, he snatched it up and made his way out of the cave into the night.
Hikari walked through the trees in the moonlit night, being sure to evade detection from any prospective ninja. For her plan to go smoothly, she would have to go completely undetected. She closed her eyes, surveying her surroundings and far beyond.
Ahead of her, tens of thousands of Allied Shinobi gathered provisions and organized for the coming onslaught. Deep beneath her, and just a ways off, what felt like twice as many White Zetsu clones walked underground, through the great caverns Madara had discovered many years before. Hikari chuckled to herself. She had to admit, Madara had planned his onslaught well. Though each clone by itself was weak, it might even be enough to stall and weaken the Allied Shinobi Force, enabling him to capture the remaining tailed beast chakra.
In the distance, the lights of the Kage meeting place shown like a beacon for those nearby. And a half mile to the West of it, her targets sat guarded by four Leaf Shinobi. Hikari was just beyond sensory range of the makeshift camp. She took out both short swords from her pouch.
"Hikari, what are you doing?" The gentle, low whisper entered her mind.
"Doing something I should have done years before now." She whispered back to her husband. The woman made no effort to explain. After all, Itachi was a dead man. This mission was in her hands alone. And today, his opinion on it came secondary. This mission was for Sasuke.
Hikari erased her presence and took another step. Her foot did not touch the ground. Her lower half was ether. The woman silently floated to the camp like a phantom, knives in hand. In time, the central tent was in view. The entire campsite had very few ninja stationed there. It had been strategically placed to allow for provisions to be delivered to the allied forces a small distance from the battleground. Several ninja hauled shipments of weapons and food rations out of the encampment, while five others guarded the perimeter.
Of the five, the woman recognized two. One was a former ANBU who had superior sensory skills. The other, a Huga, had a superior sense of sight in the dark. Hikari choose the former. Using a majority of the chakra from her original body, the woman erased her presence to her maximum capacity and floated towards the unsuspecting man. Just as her etheric form passed around him, she partially solidified. With a hand on his mouth, she slit the man's throat. No sound.
"Hikari, you have to stop this," Itachi warned, a hint of urgency in his voice. "You're carrying our child. It's not worth the bounty that will be on your head from here on out."
"Our child will be fine," she answered back, mentally.
The tent was near. Illuminated in the center, Hikari continued on her course, invisible to the four guards that surrounded it. Even as ether, she could hear the muffed voices of three of the highest rank Leaf officials inside, discussing plans for the coming day. The guards positioning was inconsequential. She floated into the tent from the back.
"We need more rations. We successfully eliminated half of the white Zetsu but at what cost? If we want to last more than another day our troops need to replenish their chakra!" One voice, an older woman advised, in a scolding tone.
"We have what we need if we want to replenish our chakra. Our time would be better spent hunting down and sealing the Jinjuriki," another countered. Each was so distracted in debating the other that none had sensed her presence. It was time to strike. Hikari solidified where she stood, behind them.
"What you need is to invest in teaching more sensory ninja." Hikari looked at the astonished woman in the doorway with hostility in her eyes.
"Lady Hikari…" the older man whispered. Hikari made several hand signs, and before anything else could happen, the guards outside were paralyzed with poisonous vines. Still alive, the sensory ninja who guarded the perimeter had no reason to be suspicious.
There in the tent they stood, each aware of their precarious position.
Lady Tsunade stood at the opening of the tent, eyes fixed on the younger woman. In between them sat the two advisors, Homura and Koharu. Hikari's swords were already at the ready to do whatever was needed. The Hokage put her hand on her hip and shifted her weight.
"So my young niece decided to come by and pay us a visit. It's been so long that without my bingo book I wouldn't have recognized you. What an honor." The elder Senju's voice was laced with sarcasm. Hikari spoke in a soft but composed tone.
"Your guards are paralyzed by nightshade poison. If you leave this tent for reinforcements, it will result in the death of more of your army."
"To come in here with an entrance like that is the act of a fool. And to think that you were chosen by the Akatsuki! No, you're just as overconfident and headstrong as you were as a small child."
"You know nothing about me," the younger woman answered, arms still at the ready. Tsunade shook her head.
"Do you really think that I wouldn't have been informed about what kind of a fighter you were after you became a member of the Akatsuki? It is true that your abilities are a testament to my grandfather, but you're nothing but a traitor to the village that he created. If you attempt to kill me now, I'll have no choice but to finish you off, even if it does mean ending the wood style gene forever." Hikari chuckled darkly at her stall for time. More reinforcements were sure to be on their way, but it didn't matter.
"I said it once and I'll say it again. You know nothing about me. You left the village years ago condemning it for sending the ones you love to their deaths in war. And yet now you came back to send your subordinates off to theirs? How can you be so blind? Do you see that for as long as individual countries send ninja to fight and die for money and power there will be no end to conflict? Even if you band together now, there is no guarantee you will stay allies if you were to win the war. You're repeating the past you spent your whole life running from!"
"Don't tell me what to do. You might be family, but so is the rest of my village. And I'm not going to die at the hands of someone who believes that the only way to peace is living a lie!" Hikari sensed three jounin level ninja running towards the tent from two hundred yards away.
"Oh my dear great aunt, you are mistaken. I am no longer in the Akatsuki. You made your choice to defend the village… and this choice is mine alone."
"Hikari, please…" Lady Koharu begged quietly in terror. Hikari lifted her swords in preparation to strike, unkempt hair billowing behind her. Lady Tsunade gathered high pressured chakra in her firsts, bracing herself for impact. But it was too late.
Hikari's blades came down, swiftly severing the necks of the two chief advisors. The last two living shinobi largely responsible for the Uchiha Clan Massacre had been killed.
Tsunade, mid lunge, opened her eyes wide in shock and for a split second her gaze went to her left, looking at her fallen comrade, a beheaded bloody heap on the ground. Hikari took the opportunity to send a poison vine up the leg of the Hokage. The woman's mighty blow was almost upon her when the guards burst into the tent.
"Lady Hokage!" One exclaimed. The elder Senju's fist collided with Hikari's forehead, cracking her skull. And Hikari burst into smoke.
"A clone!" The second guard said. Tsunade swore, breaking off the vines that were laced in poison. It would be a hassle to extract the nightshade from her veins. The woman half wondered if the reason her young rival had told her the poison was because she hadn't wanted to kill her. Her subordinates fanned out to find the intruder, but she was gone.
It was quiet.
Sasuke walked through the graveyard of giant bones, wondering what types of creatures had died here and why. If he was honest, there was much he did not know. He wondered what other pieces of history had been left out while he studied at the academy or in the Sound Village. Perhaps every country and every individual conveniently left out pieces of the truth to better suit their agenda.
"I sound like my brother," he smiled and thought to himself. It made perfect sense as to why. Ever since his brother's eyes had been transplanted into him it felt as if he had taken on a small piece of his essence. Wether or not it was a trick of his mind, he felt as if he carried a small piece of him, clinging to him like a warm shadow. On occasion, throughout the healing process, Sasuke had been seeing small flashes of memories past. First it was of their old home and of a young him, then a battlefield. He closed his eyes, desperately trying to recall more to memory.
...He saw his brother, not quite full grown, standing on the store of some deserted city with another man by his side. The man had burgundy markings on the lower half of his face and a cold, harsh expression. He felt the wind on his brother's face and smelled the salt of the sea...
...He saw his brother stand over several corpses near a field of tall grass. He had stopped a trade caravan and executed an unknown target inside a palanquin for commission. Context aside, it was not unlike a mission assigned by the Leaf's ANBU. Killing had been his brother's profession for almost all of his life...
...He saw his brother grow sick, coughing up blood. For a year Itachi had self medicated with any feasible treatment he could find, all in secret. He felt his brother's insides, sore and hot like fire. He felt his brother's warm tears silently falling down his face as he coughed into the sink...
The flashes of memories flowed past his eyes as if reviewing pictures, movies, sensations, snapshots of a life once lived without having relived it. They came and went on occasion as if remembering a half forgotten dream. Each one brought Sasuke more sorrow and longing. For no matter what might have flashed in his vision, the truth was undeniable. Sasuke had never known his elder brother. No matter how long he had yearned to reach him as a child, no matter how long his life had been centered around his elder brother, he would never come to truly connect with him.
But Sasuke's life had never been about connection. Like his brother, his life had been to become stronger in order to do what was right. Sentimentality was a weakness that would prevent him from achieving his goals. He would walk deeper into the darkness alone if need be, just like Itachi had done. But unlike Itachi, he would do it his own way.
Hikari's legs gave way on the wooden floor of her kitchen. To maintain a clone for the length of time that she had, at a great distance had used up most of her chakra. Itachi's spirit appeared beside her, still not looking nearly as stern or angry as he would have been while living.
"That was reckless." His spirit said.
"That was worth it." She countered from the ground, wiping her forehead and flashing a slanted smile.
"Hikari, I trusted you to prioritize our child's life over Sasuke's vendetta. You further endangered yourself for the foreseeable future by killing those two."
"It was a clone, Itachi. My chakra was depleting fast. Besides, what danger will I be in while they're in the middle of a war? Sasuke took out Danzo so there's no second opportunity for him to assassinate them himself. I want to gain his loyalty. And also, what I told you in the months before you died wasn't a lie. There really is a place I can go if I need to hide where no village will ever find me or my secrets again."
"Where you speak of is not a place to raise children." So then, a spirit could learn hidden information while attached to the Land of the Living.
"But it is a place I could hide one until they became strong enough to fend for themselves. Itachi, it's me that is alive now and unless you can think of a way to change Sasuke's mind without me, I need to help him any way that I can. You have to trust me." Itachi's etheric form moved closer to his living wife and put his hand to her face tenderly.
"I do." The half-living tag team smiled at each other for a moment, but all to soon it came to an end. To her surprise, Itachi started to fade.
"What's happening?" She asked, worriedly.
"I don't know. It feels as if I'm being transitioned into a new state. I can feel myself slipping away." Hikari raised an eyebrow, fear creeping into her heart. There was much she did not understand about the pure land. It had always seemed to be that a transition into a new state was a concentual process. She feared she was mistaken. Desperately, Hikari transitioned her hand and arm into ether, in an attempt to catch him and pull him back.
"What?! No, don't leave. We promised each other we would work together! I don't want to live without you!" Hikari had always been independent. She was more than capable of living on her own. Yet now, at the prospect of being separated from him permanently terrified her. Death of a loved one was one thing. Eternal separation of a soul was another. She began to question wether she was the fearless, independent woman she thought she was.
"I don't want to leave you. Wait for me, Hikari. I'll come back." The form of her lover completely faded away.
"Itachi!" The woman found herself yelling to emptiness. Just as soon as she had reached to touch his hand, he was gone. Now she stood by herself in her kitchen, in her house, in the middle of nowhere, belonging to no nation. For the first time in a long time, she was completely alone.
For a timeless moment there was nothing but blackness. Then, slowly, the feint sensation of fabric against arms, chest and hands. A hand moved close. To the nape of the neck. Gradually, cells came to life throughout the body and brain.
Life.
Or was it life? Somehow it seemed significantly different. Sensations were muted, and the artificial mind struggled to rapidly integrate the basics of what once was deeply embedded knowledge. All at once, this 'life' grew from what one might have considered infancy to a fully functioning individual's subjective experience. A loud thud hit the ground, and slowly images came into focus. Moonlight shone on water to the right. Tall trees billowed in the wind to the left. Just ahead, a long path in the sand spanned for miles.
Who am I? The individual thought, memories flashing into consciousness incredibly fast. As soon as the question was asked, it was answered. One step, then two steps out of the darkness. The individual looked around once again.
"Itachi?" A voice came from the left, belonging to a white haired man he remembered very well.
"Where am I?"
Itachi's back for a surprise visit, y'all! Woo!
I know some of you might be thinking including Tsunade in the fic wasn't needed, but I've been thinking of writing a confrontation between the two of them for about a year so I went and did it. Besides, it accounts for the fact that the two elders literally separated from the cannon story from there on out. Next chapter might come in over a week because of a schedule change but I'll post it as soon as I can. Also wanted to give a quick thanks for the nice reviews I've gotten so far. I love when people brainstorm and share their hopes of what might happen. Thank you so much for those who took the time to share their feedback. You guys rock. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned. I just got a new job and I'm moving in a month, so it might be another two weeks before I come out with the next chapter.