Akihane sighed as she slipped through the doors of the Hokage's office, three others following her. Shikamaru took up his stance on her left side while Sasuke and Sakura were to her right. They all inclined their heads to Tsunade as they entered the room, meeting her gaze as they rose their heads.
The four were ready to debrief the Hokage on what had happened while they were out, including the unintended excursion that that took to Uzushio.
The whole squad had been gone three days over their expected time of arrival and Tsunade had even sent out some Chunin to check on them. They had run into them hallway to Konoha from Wave and explained part of the situation then before the Chunin returned to inform the Hokage. The rest of the group had taken only a day more to get back, resting along the way as they were.
Tsunade nodded to them and ordered Shikamaru to report.
The Nara set to work outlining the mission that they had been assigned and how everything had gone. He also mentioned Akihane and Sasuke's run in with Aoi and what had happened there. After mentioning the rest of the mission specifics, he also hinted at the green chakra that Akihane had used to heal her teammates unknowingly.
Akihane stiffened at the mention of the chakra, having had enough time to talk it over with Tobirama and Hashirama. Apparently Hashirama had utilized her chakra, her nature chakra to be precise, to heal her injuries. Upon becoming accustomed to the chakra Akihane was able to then transfer it over to the others. She had healed them without intending to all because her body had grown accustomed to the feeling of healing.
She couldn't quite say that in front of the others though. It would raise a lot of suspicions about her and the tenants in her head. Tsunade didn't even know that she was Akihane's cousin even.
Akihane shared a glance with the Godaime, letting her know that she would tell her more later. The woman nodded to her and turned to the others for their debriefing of the mission. The same pattern continued when it came to the Uzushio incident, thought this time Tsunade took a longer time to ponder the significance before she dismissed Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke.
"Oi, Gaki, come and take a walk with me." Tsunade ordered Akihane as the others filed out of the room.
Akihane nodded to them before she stepped behind Tsunade and followed her out of the room.
The two walked down the halls, coming to the next floor down where the Hokage's Library and the hidden Hokage Vault was.
They entered and Akihane was struck with how long it had been since she had stood in this room. Since before Hiruzen had died.
The kunoichi shook her head, trying to will away the ache in her chest as she thought about her Jiji. Later she could think about and mourn him. Later, Akihane would visit his grave and let him know just how much of a mess she had gotten herself into.
Tsunade sealed the room behind them, walking toward the Vault. She opened it, waiting for Akihane before they both entered.
Inside Akihane felt the pulsing seals as they blocked anyone else out, leaving her to look at the familiar setting.
Her eyes drifted to the spot the Thunder God Blade would normally reside and she curled her fingers around the scroll in her pocket.
"So Gaki, when were you going to let the cat out of the bag about Tobirama-Oji?" Tsunade asked her, following her line of site.
Akihane winced and glanced over at the woman, earning a raised brow as she sighed.
"Oh, I take it Jiji let you know in his will to you?" She asked the woman. Receiving a nod, Akihane took a deep breath and then reached out to trail her fingers along the happuri faceguard and the armor on the walls.
"I was going to let you know after this mission, actually. I needed to figure out how to let you know. After…After Aoi I figured it would be best. I'm sure you also heard about my abilities with Mokuton and…well you know about Kaa-San and Tou-San." Akihane offered up, her gaze shifting to the Flying Thunder God Kunai that also hung along the walls. Akihane took the kunai down, trailing her fingers up and down the shape in longing.
"Its…crazy to think about. Sasuke once told me that he wanted to see the faces of the villagers when they realized that they treated the Princess of Konoha the way they did, but I just…I just wondered how knowing these things would affect me. It wasn't until I saw Uzushio and felt all of them that I understood."
Akihane turned to Tsunade, smiling gently as she met her gaze.
"So how about we start again. I'm Uzumaki-Senju-Namikaze Akihane. It's nice to meet you cousin." Akihane held out her hand to the woman she had found, to the only blood family she had left.
With a jolt Akihane gasped as she was tugged into a sharp hug by Tsunade as the woman laughed.
"How about you call me Aunty and we ignored the specifics. It's odd to be called that by a squirt." Tsunade whispered into hair.
"Or godmother since that was what Kushina named me as. Fitting with that oaf of a godfather of yours." Tsunade told her, earning a choked laugh as Akihane hesitantly hugged her godmother closer.
When the two managed to pull away Tsunade took the time to start leafing through her grandfather's things while Akihane told her about the green chakra and what she could of the topic without revealing the two souls in her head.
While Akihane trusted Tsunade, Yin ahd been right when he said that the less people who knew about the Kage, the better. Even though it made Akihane's chest ache over the thought of keeping either of the nin from Tsunade.
Akihane focused instead on the enigma that was the green chakra, earning a surprised hum from Tsunade as she withdrew several scrolls from below.
"That sounds a lot like Hashirama-Jiji's famed healing. From what I remember he based it in nature chakra, which increased it's potency. I…I was never qualified to become a sage, but Jiraiya did." Tsunade said softly, thinking back.
"I was going to before Dan passed away." She told Akihane, giving her a sad smile before she settled in to dig through the scrolls. She was making a steadily growing pile next to Akihane while the kunoichi watched her
"It was very warm. Almost like a hot spring but…Unintrusive. The last time I felt nature chakra was down in the catacombs during the first task of the Chunin exams. Apparently Ero-Sennin set up a trap that summoned the mouth of the Stone Toad, which filled the room with nature chakra. I nearly passed out from feeling so much…so much life." Akihane told the woman, leaning don wot pick and view the scrolls that Tsunade was putting down.
To her surprise they looked like more extensive sets of scrolls than the Forbidden Scroll, filled with detailed accounts, scrawling's and…comments about the jutsu. These accounts were done in a familiar writing, one that Akihane had seen not only at the Namikaze house, but also in her mind when Tobirama was teaching her new sealing techniques.
"Those must be our person scrolls. I'm surprised that they saved them for so long, and that they are in that kind of condition. I never expected this." Tobirama told her as she looked over the details regarding the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Shifting to another scroll Akihane found the marks of several jutsu she readily used and others she did not. The Shadow shuriken jutsu was one she had wanted to learn from Hiruzen, but he never had the time to teach her. There was also the exploding shadow clone, and Akihane chuckled at that one.
Kakashi wouldn't know what hit him when she used these against him.
The Uzumaki found a seat on the floor while Tsunade went through the scrolls, hardly noticing the silence the two had settled into comfortably. Akihane even found the scrolls detailing the examination of the Shunshin, and surprisingly, Tobirama's remarks for the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Akihane poured through that scroll, going over each detail with rapt interest before searching for its brothers. She was emersed in those scrolls, reading them quickly.
Tobirama was the one that commented in her mind, taking note of how after his notes had been jotted down her father's had joined them. Namikaze Minato's own recollections of the papers and his ideas melded well, settling into paper as though they were always there.
Akihane took a deep breath as she read the last few lines of Minato's neat script. He had figured out that in order to use the jutsu he had to tie it to himself. He used a different seal compared to Tobirama's, and his problems had been solved.
Akihane stiffened and shot up, ignoring the surprised look that Tsunade sent her as she held up the scroll.
"I need to go see Genma-Ni!" She told the Godaime.
Tsuande chuckled and nodded.
"Take that pile of scrolls while you are at it. I'll send the Uchiha over with the rest when I'm ready to." Tsuande told the Uzumaki, earning a surprised but sharp nod as Akihane grabbed the scrolls and sealed them away. Then, the girl shot form the room. The seals pressed against her as she left but let her go.
Akihane dashed out the room, passing the doors in a flash as she fell into a Shunshin to race to Hayate's home.
She spread her chakra out to pinpoint Genma, turning on her heel and launching to the gate as she felt him there with Iruka and Iwashi. Raidou was also there, though his chakra was more concealed and hidden in the shadows of the trees, leading her to believe he was on ANBU duty.
She shook her head and nearly slammed into Genma, twisting, and skidding beside the Jonin as she grabbed onto his and Iwashi's arms.
"Sorry Iruka-Sensei, I need to steal these two!" She shouted, barely paying attention to the shocked looks sent her way as she willed Genma and Iwashi to follow her, tugging them through a Shunshin toward their private training grounds.
They made a few stops along the way, mostly to reactivate the jutsu, before stumbling into the area.
Akihane turned to her surprised brother, matching Genma in height as she bounced up and down in front of him.
"I know how to fix the Hirashin!" She told him sharply, her eyes bright as she felt her chakra thrum in her veins.
The man stuttered, starting down at her while Iwashi rose behind her.
"Woah, Aki, slow down and start at the beginning-"Iwashi began to tell her, only for the Uzumaki to round on him as she drew the scroll.
"No, look, seriously I know how to fix it!" She said and nearly shoved the scroll into the man's chest. He grunted, taking the object while Genma took hold of Akihane's shoulders to keep her from bouncing everywhere. Neither of the Jonin had ever seen the girl this excited about something before.
Iwashi's eyes rose even further as he read the information.
"Oh…Oh I see." Iwashi said and swallowed a thick lump. He handed the scroll to his friend and Genma read the notes quickly, his own eyebrows rising as he looked to Akihane.
Akihane was gazing at him with determination.
"I want to try it." She said firmly.
The two older brothers shared a look, before they nodded and handed the girl her scroll back.
"Alright, let's give it a go." He told the girl.
Akihane nodded and they set to work, diving into figuring out her symbol first.
I~~~~I
Akihane lay back against the grass of her training ground, her chakra thrumming as she gasped and laughed happily.
Lying next to her was a chuckling Genma, the two panting after their heavy spar. Akihane could feel her chakra rising up, wanting to be used as she felt the seals across the grounds. Pride rose in her chest, and she wanted to cry and scream in happiness. The girl settled for letting her gin fade into a soft smile as she gazed up at the sky.
"Congratulations Akihane, you have managed to perform Hirashin." Tobirama offered, his pride leaking into his tone as Akihane looked to the side where one of her seals was scrawled.
The symbol, one of the Namikaze diamond with two swirls jutting out form opposing points, and along the join of the point of the diamond and the start of half of the Uzumaki swirl were simple lines. Lines that marked the Senju symbol for her.
The seal was all hers, encompassed everything that she was and all she knew of herself It had the parts of her that she never showed and the parts that shined. It was hers.
And it worked.
She could feel the buzz of blitzing through the training ground, of being in one place one second and another the next. She could feel the heat in her bones as she rose to sit up, wanting nothing more than to do it all again.
Instead, her head swam and Akihane fell back, right into the waiting arms of Genma.
Her world had been twisted around so many times she had no sense of balance left. Her chakra had been thoroughly used as she attempted to figure out the right amount of chakra and fine-tune her control to use Hirashin the most effectively.
It was a lot like the water walking exercise, but this time putting in too much chakra didn't disrupt the water, nope, it changed her trajectory and over or undershot her.
Akihane chuckled, leaning into Genma as she glances up at his face.
"We got it. Now…Now you guys can learn it too!" She spoke, remembering the way that Genma had figured out his own symbol, a winding of lines and pillars that drew his crazy family together. Now, now they both had the technique. The Hokage Guard Platoon had been able to give her the legacy her father left behind. They had given her back a piece of her family.
Akihane felt light, like she was dancing in the clouds as she laughter carried over the grounds.
She still needed a lot of practice, but it was a start. Just like with the Rasengan, it was a start.
I~~~~I
Sasuke felt like the world was crashing down on him.
He stood in the records office of Konoha, having slipped in while no one was looking. He was now going through records and had stumbled on not only Yin's, but also that of his wife. Hyuuga Orama, a woman that Sasuke knew the face of.
The woman he had met on the ship, the one who had known things she should never know, she had been Hyuuga Orama.
Sasuke stared at the picture, at the words on the surface and recalled exactly what the Sandaime had told him and Akihane. The old man had told Sasuke that Orama was dead, that his teammate had perished not long before the whole of Uzushio was destroyed.
How had that woman come to him then? How had she appeared and given Sasuke such a cryptic message?
The Uchiha bit back a snarl and placed the records back where he found them. He rose up and shifted, leaving the building as he now had a new destination. The Shrine in the Uchiha compound, the one that Sasuke had only last been to after Itachi had murdered the whole clan.
Sasuke didn't want to return…but he needed to know. He needed to know why Orama had mentioned Izuna and what was left for him to discover.
When he arrived at the shrine, Sasuke had to take in a deep breath before he entered the room.
He felt memories rush through him, but he pushed them aside as she grabbed the matt over the secret passage and slipped it away.
He was reminded of the similar entrance that the Uzumaki had, one that Akihane had no doubt already compared. He had brought her with him the last time after all.
Shaking his head Sasuke walked deeper into the hidden area, past the shrine and to the older clan archives.
Sasuke sifted through the records, looking for any mention of Uchiha Izuna.
It took some time and Sasuke was growing impatient by the time he found a mention of the name. It was a portfolio of the man. And the file was written by his father.
Biting down a bit of bile, Sasuke opened up the file and began to read. He knew from the shrine that Uchiha Izuna was Madara Uchiha's younger brother…but he learned a lot more as he read into what his father had written.
Uchiha Izuna was the only surviving younger brother of Uchiha Madara during the warring clan's era. Several compilations of records and logs also showed that he had died at the hands of Tobirama Senju in one of the worst battles between the Senju and Uchiha.
Sasuke paused, reading over that part again.
It seemed that no matter the timeline, no matter the situation, Senju and Uchiha would be drawn together. This time though, as close friends as Sasuke thought of his Akihane.
He smiled gently, reading more.
There were several snippets of a scroll that Sasuke realized was actually written by Izuna himself, and Sasuke wondered how his father had found or gotten ahold of them.
Then, there were the notes that made Sasuke's blood run cold.
Mangekyo Sharingan, a stage beyond the fully matured Sharingan. The version that his brother now sported.
And the version his father was desperate to figure out how to achieve. Loss was the only detailed way, but Sasuke knew better. There had to be something else, had to be another trigger.
Sasuke looked at the notes and his stomach twisted as his father made passing comments of those in the clan who could possibly awaken the power, a power that would serve as the Uchiha's pressure on the Hokage.
Sasuke reread the words, and his world crumbled as he realized exactly what his father was saying.
A coup d'état? Against Konoha?
Sasuke shook his head, gritting his teeth and looking back at the notes.
There were drawings of different patterns of Mangekyo Sharingan, and among them was one Sasuke swore he saw before. One of a four bladed shuriken.
It was Shisui's Mangekyo that Sasuke had witnessed only a handful of times when the boy was with Itachi, and once when someone had threatened Akihane.
Sasuke felt his stomach tumble, thinking about how his father had analyzed the ability, about how he had notes of the different manifestations and how useful they would be to him and the Uchiha Clan.
Sasuke looked down at his hands, thought about the pain that had sparked as Sakura had fell, as he had been helpless.
That type of pain, that anguish that lit his body like fire and made his eyes burn as chakra rushed into them…. That was only a fraction of the pain that Shisui had felt to activate the next stage.
Sasuke looked back at the notes, and his mind wandered to his brother, to Itachi.
Itachi had also achieved Mangekyo, Sasuke was certain. He had watched as his brother's Sharingan had morphed into that of three blades in a pinwheel.
Sasuke felt more bile rise up as he remembered just when exactly Itachi had shown him those eyes.
It was right after Shisui had committed suicide.
Or had he? Itachi wasn't as strong as Shisui, no matter what Fugaku believed. Sasuke had watched the two spar constantly, had seen the way that Shisui was always holding back as the two worked together. He had seen the way that Akihane recognized Shisui as stronger, how she had always told him his chakra was so much more than Itachi's.
Sasuke thought it over along with the words of Orama Hyuuga, thought about his father's notes and he promptly shot to his feet and began to search for the files on his father, Itachi, and Shisui. He needed to know. Sasuke would no longer keep himself in the dark about this. He needed to know why his clan was killed, why Shisui died…and why Itachi had been there for it all.
I~~~~I
Akihane shifted on her feet excitedly, walking toward Tenten's shop with Genma and Hayate in tow. The two were watching her with amusement as she thought about her next steps. She finally had some down time and could get to work on not only her blades, but also her kunai. And now she had a new idea dealing with the Thunder God Blade.
Akihane called out a greeting as she entered the building, waving at Tenten as the girl finicked with some more kunai. The weapon's mistress waved back before returning to her kunai, inscribing something into the metal.
If Akihane read the seals right, it was a kunai that would automatically trigger the shadow shuriken technique when the appropriate amount of chakra was added. That was rather impressive.
Akihane turned away as she reached the opposite counter and found her target.
Tenten's dad met her gaze and waved her over, grinning at her tails.
"Finally free to start on the project?" He asked her, and with a grin she nodded.
The man hummed before waving her to follow him out back. Genma had walked over to ask Tenten about her creation, and so it left Akihane to walk with Hayate.
The two shared looks as they saw the forge, along with the shattered pieces of Akihane's former blade. Akihane walked over, taking out her scroll and another that looked much older. She unsealed them both along the surface, summoning the shards of the Nidaime's Thunder God Blade, along with some detailed sketches of the first two blades and how they were crafted.
The smith walked over, pausing as he looked over at the plans, his eyes narrowing for a moment on the Thunder God Blade. Then, he looked up and nodded to Akihane.
"Show me what you want to do." He told the girl and she nodded, guiding him through some of her own sketches next to the originals as the two bent over the work table, ready to work on the weapons.
Akihane had drafted a plan, with help from Tobirama, on how to combine the two blades. They would melt down the metal of the Thunder God Blade, forming a Chakra infused Damascus alloy with the other metal of the shattered Katana. Akihane would also add seals along the surface of the blade and redesign the hilt to be reminiscent of the original, only she would use Mokuton so it would allow her chakra to flow even better through the blade.
The two were like gremlins in Hayate's eyes, but he could only smile fondly at Akihane as she brightened over sharing her genius with someone else.
The kunoichi really was something else. She had the ferocity of her mother, but her father's genius and they were tied together with the cool personality of a girl who had worked hard to make sure she succeeded. For all of Akihane's natural skill at being a shinobi, she was also a genius of hard work. It showed in the way she drove herself into the ground training, pushing herself to the limit even over something so trivial as her clone jutsu, all the way to learning Mokuton.
Another figure joined in on the circle, Tenten coming out of the shop to help them out as she dove right in to the design process. Her and Akihane both through ideas at one another of the seals that would be placed on the blade, before they all set to work gathering the materials. Tenten's father set to work on getting the fire of the forge right for melting down the metal of the Thunder God Blade, and Tenten went to retrieve several metal cores while Akihane took her time crafting several spires of Mokuton wood outside.
She was getting a lot better at the Jutsu and didn't collapse over something so small like she did before. Now she could manage to use one or two of the Jutsu that Yamato had taught her without fainting.
Of course, Hayate wasn't supposed to know about Yamato being Akihane's teacher, but he hadn't been ANBU for nothing. The rest of the former Hokage Guard Platoon also knew, though only Genma was allowed to sit in on the sessions.
Hayate had his ways though, especially with his health beginning to get better with the continued treatments that Tsunade had put him on with the overseeing eyes of the Nara Matriarch.
If the two could agree on a treatment for Hayate, then the Tokubetsu Jonin was sure he was getting the highest form of care that could be provided in the Elemental Nations.
A hand settled on Hayate's shoulder, and he looked up to see Genma standing next to him. His fellow Tokubetsu Jonin was finding amusement in the three blade fanatics.
"I think she found some people who share her ideas." Genma told his friend, his eyes sparking with happiness.
Hayate, thinking about how Kushina always had Mikoto to bounce ideas off of and how Minato would always go to Jiraiya when something came up, could understand the feeling of relief that Genma got from Akihane finding someone to work with.
Hayate turned back to the scene as Akihane walked in and started to formulate the metal composition with Tenten. She also brought along her own personally sourced Chakra Metals, a gift from the Daimyo of Fire Country upon her return to Konoha for making Chunin.
Tenten looked to be vibrating in her spot as she held up the metal, her eyes shining as she turned to Akihane in glee.
"We get to work with this?!" She shouted, her voice surprising her father and dragging his attention over. The man whistled as he looked at the chakra-infused metal, the bars a deep blue from the amount of chakra that was running through them.
Akihane laughed and rubbed the back of her head, relaxing as she looked at the two shocked blacksmiths.
"The Daimyo wanted to congratulate me." She offered up, and that was enough to make Tenten grin.
"Friends in high places do get you nice toys I suppose. Alright, lets get started!" The girl called out and all three set to work under the careful instruction of the weapon mistress' father, listening to his commands as they were guided on how to melt the metals properly, how to blend them together, and then they were set to work hammering several sheets together and folding them over and over.
Genma and Hayate found a place to sit and watch, calming talking to one another as they heard Akihane and Tenten working the metal.
Tenten's father was settled into drafting out the plans for the handle and the core of the blade, as well as the best style for absorbing and distributing chakra. Hayate offered some ideas, though he was mainly thinking of Akihane's style of fighting with swords compared to the channeling. Asuma was a far better person to ask about that type of thing after all.
Akihane also set to work with two other custom orders, ones that made Tenten gasp in shock.
"Wait…no way…I wish I was your teammate!" Tenten called out, grinning at Akihane as the girl shrugged, her cheeks pink.
"I have to use a different blend for my Kunai so that the chakra in the metal doesn't mess with my seals, so if you want, you can have the remainder Tenten." Akihane told the girl, and the other kunoichi grinned at her.
"Yosh! I'm gonna make some fun toys after this!" Tenten shouted, before they both set back to work on getting the metal folded over the right amount of times. In truth…Akihane felt at home here in the shop. It reminded her of Uzushio and she resolved to pour through her scrolls at another time to figure out if there was a reason.
They worked through the day and only ate when Genma and Hayate brought them some takeout. They managed to finish the sheets and set to work getting them together next, folding them over the core metal and leaving Tenten's dad to manage shaping the blade.
The girls worked on casting the two other weapons that Akihane had wanted to get done, and after that they began to map out the seas that would be placed on the surface of the blade.
Akihane took her time in this step, knowing one wrong move and she would mess up the whole thing.
From there they waited for the metal to be tempered. Akihane prepared herself and waited until just after the clay had been set to the edge and the rest had been fired.
After that she instantly got to work trailing her chakra through the air, layering the seals on the cooling metal from the gloves she used to hold it.
The balde glowed as the chakra funneled through it easily, setting into the surface and etching the marks as they crawled up and down the blade.
When she was finished she left it to Tenten to sharpen the blade while she worked on the handle of hers and Tenten's father finished up the straggler projects.
The three never stopped to rest, working in tandem and trading out tasks until the sun had finally dipped below the Hokage Mountain and the stars lit up the sky.
Akihane took a deep breath and looked down at her creation, the winding handle of the blade reminiscent to that of the Thunder God Blade, while also holding her own touches and being split down the center.
Akihane gave the handle to Tenten and she set either of the pieces to the side of the Katana, working in the pegs to hold it together. From there, Akihane set to wrapping the blade's handle while Tenten guided her. They used the same wrap from before, Akihane finding the sentimental value too much to let it go to waste.
Finally, as Genma was dozing and Hayate had already gone home, they finished.
Akihane slumped against the wall while Tenten set the blade inside of a metal chamber that blocked out chakra, allowing the metal to adjust and meld in with the natural chakra of the handle.
Akihane watched her close the door before she glanced to where Tenten's father was sharpening another set of weapons.
Chuckling, Akihane wondered what Sasuke would think of her gift, and just how badly Sakura would mess up her enemies now that Akihane was giving her a battle axed that channeled chakra.
That was a terrifying thought, but it made Akihane glad she wasn't on the girl's bad side.
Sasuke's gift was a lot less…volatile. Still, Akihane figured the boy would appreciate it.
She looked at the blade that Tenten's father was working on, the one that gleamed red in the right light.
That one had been one she had custom-made the metal for, infusing it with her own fire chakra over and over. While Sasuke's would have been better…It would take him far longer to infuse the amount of chakra Akihane had into the blade. It had a much slimmer build than her own and was about Sasuke's height, but it weighed a lot less than Akihane's did. It would also channel fire jutsu much better than his older one did until the boy was able to get his hand on an Uchiha Fan.
Akihane closed her eyes, feeling the pressure of the day and the wariness seep into her bones, before she allowed herself to slip away.
Faintly she registered the sigh of Genma as the man picked her up, holding her close.
She smiled, leaning into her brother's arms as she was lulled to sleep.
I~~~~I
Sasuke rested his head on the wall, scrolls laid around him as he stared aimlessly at the ceiling.
Itachi hadn't killed for power. The proof was in the writings his father had hidden amongst his personal reports. His father had coded them into the reports, that way only the Uchiha would see and be able to read them.
Sasuke threw the scroll across the room, leaning down to hold his head in his hands.
Everything burned. His soul ached at the thought of what his parents had tried to, the way that the rest of the Uchiha had plotted against Konoha.
Sasuke felt sick as he read through the carefully constructed plans, the suspicions about Itachi and Shisui, about the note that Shisui left that said something entirely different than what Sasuke remembered.
Sasuke took a deep breath, his eyes burning into the Sharingan as blood dropped onto his hands. His fingers gripped at his hair and the Uchiha snarled.
Most of all, Sasuke felt furious. He was angry at his clan, above angry even. He felt no remorse for their deaths, didn't even blame Itachi.
Why? Why would Sasuke not care that his brother had slaughtered his entire clan after learning everything?
It was simple. Fugaku had made a comment, written amongst the most hidden documents that Sasuke had only found because his father had never thought that anyone would look over his last induction document that was supposed to be about new police force members, but was instead a secret letter to another conspirator in the clan.
Fugaku had made the comment of how his Mangekyo Sharingan would be enough to control the Kyuubi.
Sasuke looked up from where he clutched at his head, bile rising in his throat again as he thought of Akihane, of the little girl he had first met before he had learned to care for her. Before he learned that she was his whole world.
He thought of how desperately Shisui had protected Akihane, how in the boy's note he had mentioned that he would never turn his back on the girl even before he mentioned that the Coup was tearing the clan apart.
The Uchiha had planned to use Akihane, to twist her and change her into nothing more than a weapon for them to control in order to overthrow the Hokage and take over Konoha. His very own father had bragged about how he could control the Jinchuuriki no problem.
Sasuke let out a shuddering breath and rose, fire rising with him. The flames licked at the scrolls under his feet and Sasuke stormed out of the room, barely looking back as the flames consumed everything. They flickered blue, before shifting again in a burning white-hot blaze that consumed everything behind him.
Sasuke felt the pain gripping at his chest, but he pushed on, stepping out of the hidden temple. He barely registered kicking the matt into place before he flickered out of place.
He kept flickering, vanishing across Konoha until he felt his chakra strain and tug at him.
Sasuke dropped down next to the river, the water rushing by as he saw images of Akihane, of the younger version of her at his bedside as she looked at him with sad eyes. Sasuke saw the girl he had come to care for, and then he saw his father…His father standing over her as she clawed at her head and screamed for it to stop.
Sasuke gasped and heaved, gasping as he threw up in the dirt. The rushing of the water faded out like white noise, and instead of his father in the image…It was replaced with Itachi. With the man telling him to protect Akihane because he would take her away.
Itachi had known. Itachi had known. His brother had known the plan of the Uchiha, had destroyed it before it could take place and murdered everyone that Sasuke knew or loved except for Akihane. He had saved Akihane.
Would Sasuke have cared for Akihane if he had known? If his father had told him of the Coup and the plan to use Akihane…At the time, would Sasuke have fought for her like Itachi and Shisui had?
The image in his mind change, and Sasuke saw not his father bending Akihane to his will, but Sasuke.
Sasuke, who ignored her cries for help as he looked at his father for any light of the pride the man once held for Itachi.
Would Sasuke have done what Itachi had done?
I~~~~I
Oof this is a bit of a heavy chapter. So Akihane is tying things up, while Sasuke is learning some things he never wanted to. There is a lot to unpack here, but the main thing is that Sasuke is struggling to comprehend not only the fact that the Uchiha wanted a coup, but also the fact that they planned to use Akihane for it.
Keep in mind Akihane was welcome in the Uchiha compound. It was the only place Shisui could walk around her without needing to be in his ANBU uniform. She often stayed with him when she couldn't stay with Hiruzen and she learned a lot from those at the compound because, at least as far as Sasuke remembers, they never treated her like a monster.
Alright, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things are getting good and we are nearing the start of Shippuden! I also wanted to know if you guys wanted me to make a separate story that is Shippuden when I hit there, or if you want me to keep publishing chapters under this one. Thanks for the feedback!
