Chapter 47 - Uchiha
Countless scrolls scattered around me, masking my newly minted floor.
I heard a sound from my left - someone slid open my newly installed shōji - but I paid it no attention. My eyes are fixed on the scroll, craving the knowledge on the scroll.
"Will you kill me if I accidentally step on one of the scrolls?" I raised my head to see Shun standing at the door. My eyes conveyed a 'Yes', but I understood where he's going with this.
Stretching my arms, I leaned over and picked up the scrolls scattered by the shōji. Shun also picked up a few scrolls as he made his way towards me.
Eventually, he eyed the scrolls scattered on the other side of the room and glanced at me who made no attempts to do anything about it. Feeling a sigh coming, I said, "What? I'm not done with them yet."
"Not judging, but do you not feel tired?" Shun asked as he settled into my little nest, careful not to disturb my piles of scrolls.
"Trust me, all I can do is rest." I pointed at my leg in the stone cast. "If I don't get some intellectual stimulation, I will get mold." By intellectual stimulation, I meant the Uchiha ninjutsu scrolls left in the compounds and the shrine.
"That .. doesn't look very peaceful." Shun stared at the wall behind me. I turned around and saw the wall filled with tiny holes. Right, that. "Do I want to know what happened?" Shun raised an eyebrow and I just raised my hand and let the lightning crackle.
A small group of five senbon condensed in my hand from that small ball of concentrated lightning. The sound of birds chirping whispered in the room as I released the delicate senbon. Instantly, five more needle-sized holes appeared on the wall. Less than a second later, sounds of explosion and the smell of something charring leaked from the room beyond the wall.
"Apparently, boredom with imprisonment are really good conditions for practicing chakra control," I said, flashing a smile at Shun that was full of sarcasm. "Oh, I forgot, being blind in one eye is really good for practicing aim as well."
"May I inquire whose room is it behind that wall?"
"That would be Itachi's," I answered without hesitation. Immediately, Shun dropped the topic.
"Now, now, you are not imprisoned. The Anbu are here for your safety during the investigation of Root. It's important that you stay out of this before the investigation is over." I supposed that he was trying to comfort me. I did have a choice - the hospital or the compound. I chose the compound, simply because I didn't want to smell the disinfectant 24/7.
"I know you are angry, but I bring good news," Shun said as he casually placed the cups on the floor in front of me with a large bottle of something.
"Please tell me that the good news you spoke of is not the suspicious liquid which you are pouring in the cups." I stared at him as he poured the light coloured liquid into the cups before he handed one to me.
"It's iced tea, very healthy. But no, this is not the good news." With nothing better to do, I accepted the drinks and took a sip. After a slight pause to make sure that he had my attention, he continued, "You're cleared, Maiko. Based on the evidence and testimonies, the government has concluded that it's indeed Danzō who had orchestrated the civilian riot and the prison massacre. Also, with Danzō convicted of charges which included raising illegal military force, consorting with Orochimaru, conducting illegal experimentation, and murdering shinobi of Konoha, your action of killing him is officially justified as an elimination of a traitor."
I took a moment to process that, because what he had said made me feel relieved and angry at the same time. Danzō did more than that, yet some of the atrocities they had done could never see the light.
"And how long did it take for them to get that far?" I asked sarcastically. Before he could say anything back, I answered first, "Three days, a bit long to clear up something so obvious, don't you think?"
"It might be obvious to the lot of you involved, but it's awfully confusing to the people from the outside," said Shun, not at all angered by my bad attitude. "Once Danzō's dead, the curse seal on Root agents disappeared. Ryuu was quick to dump out everything he saw in the prison, after that, it's easy to get the truth from the Root agents that kidnapped you using the mind probe. In the end, it was Danzō's, um, incriminating arm that decided his status as a traitor. The official statement given to the public was: After his crime of illegally sanctioning Root operations was exposed, he was desperate, and therefore orchestrated the genjutsu riot and the prison massacre to frame you - a perfect target with a questionable history and no backing - in order to escape."
"You know, our kouhai was quite smart. He sent you a message the first instance that he noticed something was wrong, then he hid in one of the empty cells in the corner and assassinated one of the Root agents who were systematically going through the cells. The boy disguised himself as the Root agent and proceeded to hide himself at the lowest floor to buy time, since it was empty at the time. He tried to stop the last suicide agent from planting the evidence for framing you, which really was a well choreographed drama, by the way. The Root agent was supposed to kill himself while clutching onto your sword, as if you had killed him right before the patrol arrived and didn't have the time to retrieve your weapon."
"Back to our kouhai, please?" I reminded him. Despite my immense curiosity, I really didn't think I could handle hearing another version of "a thousand ways that Maiko got framed".
"Right. Anyway, he failed, got stabbed, but you found him before he could die." Well, that was on point, I supposed.
"And the means of casting genjutsu? How did the Hokage explain the Sharingan in his arm?" I asked again, curious about how the Hokage had planned to deal with the Uchiha Massacre.
"Right now, it's being explained that Danzō took advantage of the Uchiha massacre and pillaged the Sharingan from the dead bodies." I shook my head at the simplified story, despite knowing that I shouldn't really expect much. The truth could only be told to a select few, something as absurd and atrocious as the deal behind the massacre couldn't possibly be passed off as lunch gossip.
"And Root? If the curse seal disappeared, how can you identify the Root agents?" I inquired. After two days in this isolated place, information was one of many things that I didn't have access to.
"After Ryuu told the Hokage the location of Root's secret base, the Hokage mobilized the Hyūga Clan and the Nara Clan to surround the base and every single Root agent inside was caught. They may not have the curse seal anymore, but the scents are very abundant in the secret base as well as various Root exits that Ryuu gave us. The rest of the Root agents in the village was quickly sniffed out by the Inuzuka Clan. After that, a quick Yamanaka mind scan determined if they are really involved with Root. It's amazing really, how the Hokage and the Jōnin Commander moved so fast at the moment's notice, it was as if they had planned for it." Even without that obvious look he gave me, anyone with a brain could tell his intention with that last sentence.
"So, how many Root agents did they find?" I asked before taking a sip from the cup. Perhaps, hearing the news did make me feel better.
"According to the amount of scent trails and the corroborated information from the Root agents, there should be a hundred and twenty-five Root agents. However, only a hundred and thirteen were arrested and sorted through, which means―"
"Which means, there are twelve rogue agents on the run, probably thinking of ways to kill me, Kakashi, Ryuu, and Tenzō. Meanwhile, since they are in Root, we don't even have a picture to put on Bingo books." I finished the sentence for him. After a pause, I placed the now empty cup on the floor in front of me, allowing Shun to pour me another cup of tea.
"Some of them might be dead already, just saying. We have no idea if some of them had died recently on unauthorised missions." Despite Shun's best effort, I still had that unimpressed expression.
"The Yamanaka Clan is still trying to find information from the Root agents in our custody to track the missing ones. But yes, all of you that were involved in Danzō's death should be careful, that's why there's Anbu outside of your doors." Suddenly, his voice turned serious. The stream of water was pouring in the background as I thought about all those that were involved in this mess. The one in the front line would definitely be me, the proclaimed killer. Then, there was Kakashi, who assisted me in killing him. Tenzō and Ryuu, they would be seen as traitor to those who had gone rogue. These twelve, they were a danger to all of us and to Konoha if they were to leak out secrets of the deeds they had committed. If they were not dead yet, then they definitely would be, if the Hokage could get a lead on them.
"What about the spy in the Nara Compound, did they find one?" I just seemed to be shooting out unanswered questions today, but Shun seemed happy to answer.
"Yes, we sniffed him out, still trying to figure out if he was willingly working for Danzō or was coerced through other means. But it seemed that he wasn't the one who used a genjutsu on your brother, nor did he let Danzō in." I furrowed my brows at that. If not Danzō, who else could have put a genjutsu on my brother that worked out so well in Root's favour?
Without getting a response from me, Shun continued. "It turns out, Danzō had claws in almost every clan in Konoha, except for the Hyūga and the Uchiha, for obvious reasons." I glared at him for that last phrase, which caused him to add immediately, "I meant the dōjutsu, not the massacre."
"You know, it's almost unbelievable, how most of the Root agents wholeheartedly believed that they were completing orders for the sole goodness of Konoha. In their defense, they were just reporting to Danzō, who delivers the Hokage's wish as his right hand man. Therefore, almost all of them just transferred their loyalty to Hokage-sama immediately after knowing Danzō's demise." He paused a second to let the words sink in, before asking me, "Do you believe them?"
"I don't know, and right now, I hardly care about them. But, if you are really asking for my opinion, Root and Anbu are not that different in terms of intended functions, so rather than putting all the blame on the operatives, I would rather prosecute the one who runs it." I took another sip of the tea, drinking in the bittersweet taste. "I wanted to ask before, but why are you allowed here?"
"Hokage-sama is calling another hearing tomorrow with all the Clan Heads. It will be a meeting for conclusion. He would like you to be there." I frowned slightly at Shun's ambiguous words. I didn't quite understand why the Hokage was adamant that I come. By the sound of it, the issue with Danzō was resolved while I was in isolation, so I wasn't sure how my presence is needed now.
Nevertheless, I nodded, telling him that I would come.
"By the way, from the Root agents that willingly confessed to Hokage-sama, it seems that Danzō did issue many missions as 'favours' to foreign nations, including Amegakure. I don't know how Inoichi-sama didn't pick it up during the first trial. He's blaming himself quite hard on it, and there's been some questions about the credibility of his techniques," Shun said suddenly while taking a sip of his own cup of tea.
"It's not his fault, Danzō casted a special genjutsu on him. It's something that even my Mangekyou couldn't break since …" I stopped halfway through the sentence, realising that I couldn't explain Kotoamatsukami without explaining Shisui which would lead to the Uchiha Massacre.
"It's fine if you can't say it, as long as I know that there's an explanation for Shishou's action, then I'm content," he said quickly, pouring another cup of tea for me.
"The Hokage should explain everything tomorrow in the hearing, if he hadn't done so already, so that Inoichi-san's reputation and credibility is not affected," I reassured him. It was unfortunate that we didn't warn the Clan Heads beforehand, even though I knew that Danzō was going to hex someone.
"You should go to sleep and get some rest when you're done with all of this. You'll need it for tomorrow," Shun said, eyeing the scrolls scattered around. "By the way, happy birthday, Maiko." I paused for a moment upon hearing his words.
That's right. Yesterday was my sixteenth birthday. The date slipped past my mind like a breeze of wind in summer. But then again, we all had more important things to worry about.
"I bought some tea from the Country of Tea. In fact, you're tasting one of the flavours." Huh, no wonder the tea is not bad. I thought as Shun continued to say, "Sadly, I can't bring them here today, but surely tomorrow, when everything ends."
"Thank you, Shun. It tastes nice," I said with a chuckle. On second thought, I asked Shun, "Do you have any alcohol with you? The tea's not strong enough for the bullshit I'm in."
"No," he said without mercy. "People use alcohol to drown the sorrow, but the problem with you and alcohol is that if you don't use chakra, you will pass out before the sorrow and be drowned. On the other hand, if you use chakra, you will miss the magical component in alcohol that actually drowns sorrow." He placed a cup of cold jasmine tea on the floor and pushed it forward. Reluctantly, I took the cup and chugged it down.
"So no, alcohol is off the table, or floor if you want to take it literally. However, I'm supposed to be here for a psych evaluation. I'll just pretend that I've asked the appropriate questions, and if you want some peace and quietness, we can just drink tea for an hour." I raised my eyes and saw the pale blue eyes, and he stared back fearlessly, determined to stay for an hour just so the pretense of a psych evaluation was filled.
"Just drink the tea, Shun," I said with a sigh, picking up the bottle and refilling our cup.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Damn, I had to push down the urge to say the word out loud. The meeting was everything I had expected, and even more.
To summarize, the first half of the meeting was a reiteration of Danzō's crime. The Hokage listed every single crime Danzō was convicted of and answered every question that the Clan Heads and the Council had about it.
The newly appointed Shimura Clan Head wanted to know what effect this would have to the Clan. The Hyuga Clan Head wanted to know what Konoha would do to prevent such an atrocious act of bloodline theft. The Yamanaka Clan Head wanted to know more about the jutsu that could alter people's mind without a trace - just imagine the amount of chaos kotoamatsukami could cause to a village's security measures.
The elders on the Konoha Council, however, wanted to know what would happen to those who chased Danzō outside of the village and killed him. Well, it was mostly just me they were wondering about, considering what I did in such a sensitive time.
The Hokage declared 'They acted on my order to eliminate all the traitors to the village', and that was the end of the conversation.
Then, the Hokage proceeded to remove the two elders from power by declaring them retired, clearly without informing them, if their reactions were any indication.
"I think we all would agree that what Danzō did is a breach of trust. The village cannot allow such a divide in power, especially given out current circumstances. I'm sure that Elder Shimura's action had hurt the trust of the Konoha Council greatly, and Elder Utatane and Mitokado had expressed their regret for overlooking Danzō's actions. Isn't that right?" The Hokage asked, but no one would think he would appreciate opinions.
Like I said, damn.
With the path paved out for them, the Elders had no choice but to renounce themselves from their position of power. At least they would still be a respected figure in the village if they retire, much better than being an accomplice to the worst criminal since Orochimaru.
After that, the Hokage pulled the Jonin Commander, the Yamanaka Clan Head, and the Hyuga Clan Head up temporarily to fill the positions of the Advisory Council. At this point. It was clear that the Hokage is recycling the power held by the old Konoha Council and Danzō to his factions and those who had expressed loyalty in the removal of Root.
All those Clans who had received favours from Danzō and the Elders now shuddered, afraid that the next one will be them.
When the meeting was adjourned, I slipped to the back and headed for the back exit. As soon as I opened the door, I saw the person that was missing from the meeting, leaning against the wall.
This was one of the rare instances when Kakashi was not reading his novel, or doing anything else, for that matter. I tilted my head and looked behind him, only to find Sasuke leaning against the wall a few metres away, trying really hard to avoid my eye.
"Did he hear everything?" I asked lightly.
"Hokage-sama set up a jutsu in his office, so he was allowed to see everything in the hearing. The drugs are out of his system this morning, so he's free to go with you." He pointed at the unhappy boy behind him and moved aside, ready to leave.
"Wait," I called out just as he was leaving. With a slight pause, he turned around and looked me in the eye.
"Did, um, did the matter with Danzō affect you and Tenzō … harshly?" I added the last word after realising how stupid my original question sounded. Of course it affected them, one of the implications was the fact that they needed to watch their back more than usual because of the Root agents - both the ones that had gone rogue and the ones that had stayed in Konoha.
To my surprise, he let out a lighthearted laugh. "Don't worry, Tenzō and I are just hiding behind your spotlight. Tenzō's anonymity in Anbu is keeping him off the spotlight; My reputation in the village is not that flimsy, especially now that Danzō had a million charges on him. On the other hand, I should be worrying about you." Suddenly, the lightheartedness turned more serious.
"The shinobi population are quite reasonable, and they understand the need for execution in terms of traitors. However, the civilian population, they bought into Danzō's militarization proposals because he offered to protect them with the shinobi force. The civilian riot that Danzō had orchestrated, affected them directly. And now that Danzō's dead, some of them are going to blame it on the next closest cause, the Sharingan." Kakashi's warning sounded a lot more like what the Jōnin Commander had told me. Ah, just when I thought that the Uchiha's reputation was still salvageable.
"It's not like I can do anything about it. This? This is stuck with us forever." I pointed to my eyes, feeling the red irides bleeding into existence.
"I know, and no one's asking you to do anything." Quickly, he threw something at me and without blinking an eye, I caught the twin swords and the pouch that were confiscated after the fight with Danzō. "I'm just warning you so that you are prepared to ignore them, and if things ever become too much, you still have a temporary sanctuary." Despite the emphasis on the word 'temporary', he still placed a rabbit mask in my hand. It was a new one, since my last one got lost in battle.
"Also, I came bearing an invitation." To my surprise, Kakashi handed me an envelope. "Zebra's daughter is turning 100 days old. They are having a celebration and all of the team members are invited. He wanted to invite you a few days ago, but well, you've been busy."
Busy might have been an understatement.
"Has it been that long?" I exclaimed as I pulled open the letter and read the words written in calligraphy. It felt like not long ago when Zebra was taking days off to be with his pregnant wife.
"Can I assume you'll make it?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
He gave me a rare smile which was kind of hard to tell with the mask, and then he left. With just two people here, I turned my attention back to my brother.
"Are we in agreement that you were under a genjutsu when you got the first version of the story?" I asked him in a light voice, unsure of where to start. A second later, he gave me a nod.
"You've seen my version of the truth, do you believe me?" This time, the pause was longer. But in the end, he still nodded. With that, I felt a piece of rock finally dropped in my heart.
"Do you have any questions?" I asked again, which gained me another nod. However, he didn't ask anything right away.
"How about we take a walk? There's some place I want to visit." I stretched out my hand for Sasuke to take, but he didn't take it. I tried hard to push that sigh down my chest, so the heartbreak wouldn't escape my throat. As casually as possible, I retracted and started to walk. A moment later, I could hear Sasuke following me from behind.
I walked very slowly, because my leg is still in cast and I still need the crutches. It wasn't long before Sasuke naturally passed me in speed. However, as soon as he realized that, my little brother slowed himself down until he is walking just beside me,
"Why did he do it?" My little brother spoke up suddenly as we walked on the street. It was only early afternoon, therefore, the sun shined brilliantly over our head, completely disregarding our current mood. "Why did Itachi choose to go against the Clan and help Konoha instead."
I stopped my steps for a second, readjusting the grip on my crutches. His eyes were so big, so innocent. Yet it was full of hurt and confusion. I understood, Father and Mother was his home; Itachi was his role model; the Uchiha Clan was his pride. To have your role model betray your identity, that was something unthinkable.
"Would you rather have him go help the Uchiha Clan rebel against Konoha?" I asked instead. "You've never seen the war, but Itachi has seen the field of corpses. People would die; lots and lots of people." He opened his mouth to argue, but no sound came out. However, I could still more or less guess what he would want to say.
But my clan wouldn't die. My family wouldn't die.
"Sasuke, let me lay it out for you, using my experience and knowledge. If the Uchiha Clan were to go and rebel against Konoha, regardless of who won and who lost, eighty percent of the clan's population would be decimated. Those deaths would include you, me, and Mother for sure, because in a war, it's strategic to strike for those close to the enemy leader and Konoha is not nice enough to spare children who can fight. We would be among the first to be killed off in battle." Perhaps, I was being too harsh on the speculations, but he needed to see what Itachi was seeing, in order for him to decide whether or not he wanted to forgive Itachi.
"Look at what you've had over the years. Heartbreak, pain, desperation. But you kept your life, and I kept mine, along with a name that we can be proud of. So you tell me, why did Itachi choose to help Konoha." With that, Sasuke lowered his head.
"What about you, Mai-nee-chan. Why can't you take me out of the village? We can leave this place together, they don't even treat you worthy." When we started to walk again, I heard the second question.
"I have a life here, and so do you. You have your friends, Naruto, Shikamaru, and I have mine that I don't want to leave. Life as a missing-nin is not a joke, Sasuke. I've hunted them all my life, most of them are not happy, especially when they die. I didn't leave not because I can't; it's because I think Konoha has the best future for you, for me, and for Itachi." I really meant my speech, really. However, I doubted that the light whispers on the streets that just started to increase in volume was helping my case. I tuned them all out because right now, no one in Konoha mattered more than my brother, and he needed to know that. "Moving past the prejudice, the discriminations, and the rumours, Konoha has security and resources. It doesn't look good right now, but one can hope. After all, that's what the word 'future' represent."
"You could have told me. I would have believed you if you had just told me the truth first. That way, I wouldn't be so … doubtful." Ah, I could tell, he wanted to accept everything so badly. It was always a difficult battle when you see someone accepting something so easily, yet you couldn't do the same. You started to ask, 'What's wrong with me?'
In a battle against the world, it was hard to distinguish if you were wrong, or if the world were wrong.
"Sasuke, I've learned the truth, I think, nine days ago. Between those nine days, I was either in captivity for being framed or running around finding ways to clear my name. Do you know why I was framed? It was because I've learned the truth and there are people who don't want the truth to be known. You have to believe that telling you the truth was the first thing I wanted to do once I made sure that all kinds of retribution disappeared. And now, I've more or less taken care of those threats, I can finally face you with transparency," I explained in a calm voice. The tuned out chatters lessened once we were out of the populated area. In front of my eyes, I gazed upon the small hill covered with headstones.
Here we were, the Uchiha cemetery. Headstones lined the hills up and down, all with a beautiful red Uchiha crest carved on them. Including Shisui, a total of one hundred and thirty-six headstones were made. Some of them were cut off in my broken vision, and the ones farther away faded in fuzziness - and experience that I had never had before.
"I think that Itachi's intention was pure. You've probably heard this from the hearing, but Itachi and Shisui were planning to reverse the Coup peacefully, and how much I wish I was there with them, so I could have helped. There was only a short window between when the plan was made and when the Clan would rebel, and Itachi was desperate. I killed Shimura Danzō because he rushed in and took advantage of our brother and our cousin's trust; that's unforgivable." My voice suddenly turned harsh at the person that I hated the most and I just couldn't stop it. I paused for a second, trying to recollect myself so that this conversation could stay peaceful. Sasuke was listening in concentration as his eyes glanced over the cemetery. This was a sad place, but sorrow could make people angry as well as make them reflect in calmness. I hoped that Sasuke was feeling the latter.
"That's the kind of person he is, Itachi I mean. He takes everything on himself, and he takes them on without a single complaint. But I'm still angry with him, because he didn't tell me. What about you?" I asked him as I led him through the Uchiha headstones, passing by names that I only ever had faint recollections of. Beside me, my little brother nodded without any hesitation.
"Being a sister, especially after this, I sort of understood what Itachi was feeling when he decided to hide the truth from us. Some truth was just so horrible that it made me think that ignorance was a blessing. I learned the history and at each step of the way, I wish I didn't know them. But really, the truth was going to come out some way or another, and I would rather hear it from Itachi than someone like Danzō. The truth hurts, it hurts a lot, but can you take it?" I eyed the boy next to me. He bit his lower lip with frustration, struggling to answer my complicated question.
"To be honest, before I knew the truth, I thought I could take on any explanation; while I was learning the truth, I thought that I can't handle it anymore, can't believe something so absurd; after I've known the truth, I realised that it doesn't matter whether I can take it or not, I'm taking it." I smiled a bit at his answer. It was a good one; one that described perfectly what we were feeling. Truly, he had grown. Not so rash and headstrong, instead, he was thinking through his actions, taking the chance to reflect and learn from the past. I had once thought that hardship would break him, but it didn't, and I was extremely content.
There was no such thing as 'things one can't handle'. Horrible things crashed into us regardless of whether we thought we could handle it or not. We just had to handle it.
"Exactly, so now, I'm not hiding any truth from you. I don't decide, and Itachi sure as hell doesn't decide, whether you can take the truth or not; you do, and have faith that it will never break you." I made sure to look him in the eye, because it was a lesson I wanted to teach him. Truth always comes out, and whether they were meant to hurt us or not, we were stronger than to let it break us.
"Anything else you want to ask?" I asked just before I stopped my steps; Sasuke did the same. We were here, in front of our parents' graves. Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto. I loved them, and so did Sasuke.
"Whose fault was it? Mai-nee-chan, ever since I've heard the truth, I've been trying so hard to understand how this tragedy happened. You've blamed it on Elder Shimura, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. But what about Konoha? What about our clan? What about Itachi? What about the Hokage? What about the Nine-tail ? Mai-nee, I really wanted to be like you, to be able to put down revenge in exchange for truth. But it just seems so unfair that out of everyone, only our clan and Itachi had to suffer." By the end of the speech, he was screaming. Anger, but more so, a deep rooted bitterness that would probably stay for a long time. His eyes were bleeding red as he screamed out each words, it seemed that even the Sharingan could feel his pain.
"It is unfair, but that's life." I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to understand where I was going with this, simply because I had no idea how to answer. "I was angry, so angry before that I decided to take it out on Danzō. I needed someone to blame so that I wouldn't blame everyone around me. At that point, Danzō seemed like the trigger of the Uchiha massacre, but I knew very well that he wasn't the only one who had set all the scenes. Like you've said, there are so many people to blame, but if we were to blame them all, there would be no one left."
I reached out, trying to pull him into a hug. But before I could touch his shoulder, I hesitated. He didn't want to touch me before, so I faltered. But a second later, I decided to just screw it and promptly pulled him in for a hug.
"Some of them are trying to look for atonement, like Hokage-sama. We may not be able to forgive what they have done, but we can try to appreciate their effort." I whispered to the boy whose head could only reach to my chest. "I'm not that great, Sasuke. I can't fully put down the grudge, the anger. But I'm trying to, because I want to be able to trust people. You may think that you won't be able to live a normal life, and yes, I'm still trying to figure out how as well, but we can always try. Does that answer your question?" I could feel him shaking his head initially, but then, he started to nod. Ah, that's good enough.
A second later, I slowly pulled apart and turned my attention to my parents' graves. "Kneel down," I ordered, doing what I had asked in the process as well. As we kneeled in front of Father and Mother's graves, I said, "Say thanks to them, Sasuke. You weren't there just before they had died, but I was. They had regretted their decision to rebel against Konoha, but they were accepting of the deal Itachi made to exchange the clans for our safety. Imagine the sacrifice Father had to make as a Clan Head in order to be a father. So say thanks to them, Sasuke, not as the Clan Head and his wife, but as our parents who loved us more than anything." With that, I lowered my head on the ground and closed my eyes.
Thank you, Mom, Dad. Thank you for this life; thank you for the sixteen years of my new life.
I could even imagine their smiles. Mother's overflowing smiles; Father's rare smiles that was always followed by some lecture. How I'd miss them, both of them. I sincerely wished that they would be proud of me, if they ever had a chance to look upon us from wherever kind people went for afterlife.
After a minute or so, I raised my head slowly. I waited for Sasuke to finish his closure and after another minute, he raised his head as well. I could see the faint tear marks on his cheek, yet, he still stared determinedly at the headstones, giving it one more bow before he turned to face me.
"While we are on the topic of truth, I want to expose the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre once I find Itachi. However, that will also expose the Uchiha Clan's attempt of rebellion. I need to know if you are okay with it," I asked him in a soft voice, unsure of what he would say. Exposing the Coup was basically painting our name black. Of course, time and diligence to the village might be able to wash it white again, but it was a fragile hope in contrast to the mountain of risk.
Sasuke scrunched his eyebrows again as he looked at Father's headstone in hesitation. "Is there really no way to rebuild the clan again?" He asked in a small volume, full of sorrow. I wondered for a second, if he was asking Father, or if he was asking me. Then, he turned his confused eyes back to me, silently pleading for an answer.
"Sasuke, what do you think is the core of a clan?" I prompted, switching my position to be on my knees again so that we were more or less on the eye level. My brother bit his lips harder and I could just see the gear in his brain turning. For the longest time, he didn't answer me. But for more than once, he opened his mouth, only to close them again.
"From ancient times, the clan was made of a close knit of interrelated families. Instead of splitting into nuclear families, we chose to stay together. Deep down, they are not brought together by political interests or financial prosperity, and it definitely has nothing to do with the Kekkei Genkai. They just stick together because it's better to be together than to be alone," I uttered slowly as I raised my hand and touched his chest, where his heart would be. "In my opinion, 'clan' is just another word for 'family'. And the most important thing in a family is the people. Not those people outside, but the people within."
"Can I just think for a moment?" When I heard his innocent question, I nodded. There were some things that he had to decide on his own. Sasuke turned his gaze back to Father's headstones again, as if praying for some answer from our father who knew more about the clan than the two of us combined.
While Sasuke was pondering over the meaning and the future of the Uchiha Clan, I moved a few steps to the right until I was three headstones down. Under the familiar Uchiha fan, it wrote 'Uchiha Shisui'. Unlike the hundred other headstones here, there was nobody buried here, but it was the closest thing I had to connect with him, I supposed.
"You know, Shisui, I've always thought that you would appear again in front of me. A ghost, a shape, a beam of light even." I totally thought that I could keep it together, but the moment I had spoken his name, my voice cracked.
"Damn it, Ghostly Shisui, where are you?" I yelled weakly to the gravestone which made no sign of wanting to answer. No ghost, no shape, and no beam of light.
My hands went to the pouch that was tied to my sword belt and fished out the small container in it. Inside, there was a white eyeball that was completely void of any identifying pattern.
"Fine, you idiot, don't appear then," I said with a hint of childish anger, but then, my expression softened. "It's good. If you are not here, then I guess that you have moved on already. I'm glad, I'm really glad."
I held out the small container and started to stare at it as if it held the answer to life. With a determined heart, I took a large breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, my right eye turned into a tri-petal flower.
"I'm going to assume that Itachi erased your body using Amaterasu, and therefore, I shall do the same with your eye. This way, no one can use you anymore, and you can go freely." My voice trailed off indefinitely in the end, and for a second, I couldn't bring myself to erase Shisui's eye - my only proof of his existence. Eventually, a small shoot of black flame ignited on the glass container. Soon, Amaterasu engulfed Shisui's eye and it didn't extinguish until there was nothing left.
I dropped my hand in exhaustion, but I could swear that I felt a sense of relief. What made this sense of relief even better was the fact that somewhere along the timeline, Sasuke came beside me and took my hand.
"Mai-nee, let's tell them the truth. The Uchiha Clan is not so weak that a mistake can break us." The boy said the sentence with so much courage and perseverance that it made me so proud just to hear him. As we intertwined our fingers tightly, Sasuke added, "Let's go find Itachi-nii. I'll admit, I am still very confused and angry at his actions. It's like he was seeing something I couldn't and I want to find out." You and me both, my little brother, I thought as I stroked his hair fondly.
"Come on, I'll send you to the Academy, you might still catch the afternoon class," I said as we were leaving the cemetery and immediately, Sasuke gave me a pout.
"You know you want to go see your friends, and probably beat someone up in taijutsu class." I could see my brother contemplating my suggestions (although I take no responsibility for promoting violence), however it was my next sentence that sealed the deal. "I'll take you to the Uchiha Compound for tonight, although it's quite empty in the house, we can pull out a futon and call it a bed." With that, Sasuke's eyes beamed in excitement, but he still tried really hard to act all mature and suppress that creeping smile. It was adorable.
"Can we have a training session as well? I want to practice more on genjutsu." Based on that sour tone in his voice, I would guess that he was still sulky at being caught in a genjutsu.
"Of course. Since we are on that topic, do you remember anything odd about that incident?" I checked his brain chakra circuit multiple times using the Mangekyou Sharingan, but I couldn't find any tampering. It would make sense if it was Kotoamatsukami, but Sasuke's experience about hearing and seeing a fake vision of the Jōnin Commander seemed more like a genjutsu than a suggestive mind trick like Kotoamatsumaki.
It was very possible that there wouldn't be a trace left if the genjutsu was casted some time ago for only a short period of time. Of course, the control must be very intricate in order to cast and dispel a genjutsu without being noticed; nothing short of a very skilled user. However, it was hard to believe that someone as observant as Sasuke couldn't even catch anything, even if the genjutsu was being casted using the Mangekyou.
"I'm not sure. The experience was so natural at that time, but only after I had some time to think, I realised how ridiculous it was for me to be able to sneak up to Nara-san while he was openly discussing something so secret." He scrunched his eyebrows in concentration, trying to pull out any relevant details. After a few seconds, he continued, "I think I saw a man around that time, but his presence was so low that I just ignored him for any Nara Clan member. There was black and … red, but I can't remember where these colours were exactly."
Black and red, it matched Danzō's robe and the Sharingan. It would make sense that the Sharingan was the most significant detail he saw.
Casually, I told him not to worry about it anymore. Danzō was dead, I saw him die twelve times and checked his body personally. On the other hand, I definitely needed some help with my paranoia.
It was unfortunate that when we returned through the streets, the chatter commenced again. This time, I found myself having nothing to use to tune them out.
"... That's her, she's the one who killed Elder Shimura …" "... The whole prison, all massacred, just like the Uchiha clan …" "... the Sharingan, it's so scary ..."
That was the last straw for Sasuke, seeing that he whipped his head to the side and glared at the man who had made the last comment. The middle aged man took a step back and immediately covered his son's eyes as he turned his body around. I could see the fear on his face as he tried hard to hide from our gaze.
"Don't." I stopped Sasuke at once and pulled him back with force. "They've only known the violent outcome, but they don't understand the whole story. They never made sense of the motivation behind the violence; that's why they don't believe the explanation." I whispered the explanation as I glanced around the streets.
All the mutters stopped on the streets. That was when I realised that they were afraid of the Sharingan; afraid of what it could do and afraid of the events associated with it.
"Leave them be; it will pass with time," I hope. Reluctantly, my brother reverted his gaze and blatantly ignored the civilians.
I took Sasuke to the Academy and made a promise to pick him up soon. Then, I started to walk to my next destination.
The hospital was still as rushed as I remembered. However, for some strange reason, the hospital was always very calm. It was like a battlefield, no, perhaps, ever calmer than a battlefield.
I retraced my steps from the last time that I had been here, until I reached a generic door. There was no name outside of the door; generally speaking, the hospital did a good job of keeping confidentiality a priority for shinobi.
I walked past countless nameless doors, occasionally, one could actually see some patient names. I didn't actually know where Hokage-sama had put Ryuu, but based on the cluster of hidden Anbu near the room, I would assume that I came to the right spot.
They didn't stop me when I opened the door (they just never appeared outside the window), and therefore, awkward silence ensued.
Ryuu and I never had the best relationship, despite our close association with each other through Akira-shishou's tutelage. That relationship became even weirder now that he was in my Anbu team. Eventually, it came to this - complicated.
"Umm … ughh … mmm…" It seemed that with his voice returned and he was dying to try out all kinds of different onomatopoeia.
"I'm glad that you can speak again." My first sentence came out without much thinking; when in doubt, start somewhere. "I wasn't sure that I could get your voice back since I don't know anything about seals, but I'm glad it worked out." For the longest time, I thought that I would fail him. But I was desperately hoping that his situation would work out just like Tenzō. I escaped from OLYMPUS, Tenzō escaped from Root, and I just wanted Ryuu - a child all too desperate like the rest of us - to have the choice as well.
"Thank you." I didn't expect him to say that, considering that it was the first coherent phrase he had said to me since the whole Danzō thing started. The boy shifted is gaze around awkwardly, then he let out a large sigh.
"When I first came to Konoha with seven orphans, I saw you walking past the gate." I widened my eyes a bit, completely unfamiliar with the event in his confession. "Before that, I wasn't sure if I wanted to come to Konoha. The shinobi village was very suspicious of us and we were tired and afraid after a month of running in the wild, begging from villages on the way. I wasn't even sure if Konoha would be a better place than the hell we were in."
"But I saw you - the one who gave me hope. You were walking with your brother back then, so you couldn't have remembered me. At that moment, I finally knew that I made the right decision, that I came to a place where children like your brother could smile and laugh with their family instead of dragging those orphans who believed me to another hell hole. I was desperate to stay, so I did everything I could to secure a place for myself and others in the village. Elder Shimura gave me a promise that I can't refuse - like you had done back in Kusagakure." Immediately after he made the last comparison, he covered his mouth as if realising how inappropriate it sounded.
But it was true, I couldn't remember ever seeing him in the village and even when I had known of his existence, I stayed away as far as I could. if I had just paid a little more attention to him, I might have been able to give him a choice that was different from Danzō's.
"Where do you live?" I asked.
"I live in the Root facility … that's where every Root agent lives. Everyone knows that I'm an orphan, so they tried to steer clear of any topic relating to family or home, it's, umm, part of the cover identity Elder Shimura had taught me," the boy answered me. Once again, I felt angry for Danzō's shameless exploitation of Ryuu. Ryuu's answer was so naive, how could Danzō force him to be something as dark as Root.
The Root facility was currently closed as part of the crime scene and therefore pretty much not in any living condition. It seemed that Ryuu had also realised the issue, because he let out a dumbfounded 'oh'.
Yeah, I thought so. "Okay, so you need a place to stay. I have thirty empty houses, although only five rooms are really in living condition but that's enough." I paused a bit, before continuing to propose, "If you want, you can come live with us - Sasuke and I - in the Uchiha Compound."
Silence. Okay, maybe that was a rushed decision.
"Do you … not hate me?" There a fair share of curiosity and disbelief laced in that tentative voice as the boy shifted awkwardly on the hospital bed. He was still resting from that severe abdominal bleeding. "I mean, I did try to kill you …" And why would you mention that?
"Yes, we all have our rebellion phases." I tried the joke approach, but the skepticism didn't wane in Ryuu's expression. I guess that it only works with Falcon. "Let's look on the positive side. You saved me a life on the run by alerting me of Danzō's plot, so I think we are way past that phase now."
I stepped forward until I reached the end of his bed before I spoke again. "Ryuu, like it or not, we are sort of tied together now in this mess. You and I, along with a few others, will be the prime assassination targets for the rogue agents and I want to keep you safe. The Hokage had offered your pardon for your time in Root, but he can't be there all the time. Although I'm not sure that I am a good shelter to be resting on, I am going to do what I can to protect you. I can give you the same kind of protection I would give to Sasuke."
I was doing a terrible job as his senpai and captain, but I wanted to change that now. I wanted to train him everything I knew about assassination and close quarter-combat so that he could protect himself. I wanted to correct that neglect; I wanted to be the same kind of influence to Ryuu as Kakashi was to me.
There was a slight pause as my words soaked through the air. Then he smiled. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before. It's so peaceful, he should do that more often without Root's suppression. "Thank you, Maiko-senpai, I'll help you protect your brother as well."
"Good kid, but I think you should focus on yourself first." I would take his help, all trusted help was welcomed, after all. "I understand that 'Ryuu' is a codename that Danzō give you for Root, is there any name that you want to change to, now that the restraints are gone?"
"I don't have any name other than that. When I was taken by Nishikawa, I must have hit my head, but I couldn't remember my family or my name." Right now, he was like a sad puppy.
"I can try to propose some investigations about your heritage, after all, the Land of Grass is not very big and your Kekkei Genkai could be a clue. In the meantime, what would you like to be called?" See, I liked this part; picking your own identity, making your own choices. It wasn't always easy, but it was a start to something closer to freedom.
"Ryuu is fine, umm, just Ryuu … is fine." The pause in his sentence told me a lack of belonging - something I refused to neglect this time. Ultimately, he would need to figure out that belonging himself, but before that, I could perhaps offer him a starting point.
"How about the last name 'Uchiha'?" I prompted all of a sudden, startling the boy. "I know that my clan doesn't have the best reputation, especially after this and it may get worse in future. As a clan head, I can 'adopt' people into my family, grant them the same treatment as a blood member. With my name, you would have a legitimate excuse in living in the compound and I would have more say in your problems if you ever get into any trouble with the upper echelon. But I'm not going to lie, it's dangerous for an Uchiha in this age, even if the Sharingan is missing from the equation."
In the old times, clans often adopted talented rogue fighters in order to increase their own protection. The Uchiha Clan had never adopted anyone who didn't have the bloodline, but hey, since everyone left me to the job of the clan head, I got to make some pretty whimsical decisions.
I gave him a few minutes to think it over, after all, it was his choice. Taking up my last name would be a double edged sword. For a lone agent with no group to belong, the association to a clan might give him some advantage, especially if people were still afraid of the Uchiha, or perhaps they were afraid of me. Since he worked in Anbu, identity was less of a concern without the flashy exposure of Sharingan. However, my name might bring him more hatred than now, but I figured that it was worth a shot, especially since he wasn't all that popular with the remaining Root agents anyway.
"Uchiha Ryuu, can I use that?" Eventually, he asked. A bit unsure, a bit hopeful. I nodded with reassurance. "What do I need to do … to help you?" Right now, the boy was like a newborn puppy. A bit of curiosity, a bit of excitement.
"Get better first would be the best thing you can do for now," I said with a newfound lightheartedness. "After that, I think I need some help with the weeds in the garden."
A/N: Umm, the next few chapters will be dealing with the aftermath, and also issues about the Uchiha Massacre. As for Ryuu, Maiko sees herself in the boy. Right now, she has experienced the familial bonds through all its flavours and it's more or less the only way she can think of to ease him back to a life where he can live for himself. Besides, I think it's fun lol, so I wrote it that way.