Sealing Salientia - Chapter 14: Revolt - Author: PenSmoke
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.
Trigger warning: Violence (graphic descriptions). Domestic abuse and rape (no actual description within, just implications that it happened). Please be aware.
Previously on Sealing Salientia: Danzo now had the opportunity to do something much better though. He had initially wanted to use the strife within the Uchiha clan to create an opportunity for himself. The opportunity had presented itself, just with a different clan with a special eye-based bloodline ability.
Konoha
September, Year 68
Two days after the kidnapping of Hinata Hyuuga
Hizashi Hyuga lay writhing in agony on the ground of the Hyuga complex, unresponsive to outside stimuli, left alone with only his thoughts and insufferable pain. His twin brother had activated the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead for his failure to retrieve his own niece. As if he hadn't tried his hardest, knowing that was his own family that was taken against her will. He had taken three of the best trackers of the entire clan and set out for 48 hours straight of searching, to no avail. The man who had took the princess of the Hyuga had fled quickly and without much of a trace. They had found a small trail in the woods with a few broken branches, but the markings hadn't lasted for long. The most that they had been able to return with was that the man had evidently fled to in a easterly direction for the first couple miles, but beyond that they didn't have any idea.
That had obviously not been enough to satisfy the clan head, as he had brutally and without remorse activated the accursed seal that was on the branch members, as if they themselves were to blame for the loss of his daughter. He had seen the rage in his brother's eyes, but never dreamed that Hiashi would go so far as to hurt his own brother for the issue at hand. They had conversed many times in the past about how the caged bird was ruining the family, the branch of the clan being bitter and hating the main part of the clan for both the seal and their treatment. Hiashi had always expressed a commitment to reversing the current course of the clan, but apparently that had been all talk to pacify his brother.
As he finally regained some muscle control and managed to open his eyes, he could see the fellow members of the retrieval party looking in just as bad of a condition as he was. He feared for his compatriots' lives, but found that he was unable to do much more than control his own breathing at the moment. He watched helplessly as the slowly rising chest on one of his branch members turned ragged and choppy and shortly thereafter stopped. He tried to scream out for help, but nothing came out of his throat but a raspy wheeze.
He would have hoped that someone would see them, but the four of the lay on the floor of Hiashi's office of the clan head, having dropped where they were after delivering their report. It was one of only a handful of rooms shielded from Byakugan vision on the complex and meant that even if someone went looking for him, he would not be spotted.
Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his twin brother peering over the desk, no doubt having heard the noise he just made. Seeing the look of utter disgust and anger that slid over his face until it restored to the passive and calm façade that Hiashi always wore, he felt himself betrayed by his blood.
He forced himself to rise as far as he could using what remained of his willpower. This only amounted to him being partially vertical, on both knees, one hand on the ground for balance. He shuffled his unfeeling legs forward, muttering out in a barely audible voice "By your leave, Hiashi-sama." He knew that if he showed anything that amounted to disrespect in this case, that Hiashi would activate the seal again, which would likely be lethal right now.
He slowly crawled out of the office door and heaved himself onto a bench next to the nearby koi pond to try and recover. Chest heaving as he attempted to greedily suck in air and regain control over his body, he thought about the future. For years, he had felt that his brother was going to try and bring change to the Hyuga, possibly dismantling the system of the two separate branches and uniting the clan as a whole. He could now see that was nothing but a pipe dream, the anger over losing his daughter overriding all of his carefully programmed demeanor and revealing the true person that lay beneath, cold and heartless.
Again, noticing movement, he craned his neck as far as it would go to see a new figure enter the garden area. Tears were streaming down her face, she looked like she hadn't slept in days, hair completely disheveled, clothes dirty and stained. He immediately recognized her regardless of her state, it was hard to miss Hitomi Hyuga. She was walking in her own little world, seemingly completely unable to interact with anything outside of the ground beneath her feet. As she clumsily made her way across to the bench on the other side of the koi pond from him, he noticed that she seemed to be in as bad of a state as he was, at least mentally.
He watched as she sat down across the pond from him. In a way, he desperately wanted to leave as to not show his own weakness to others. Especially to such a kind and caring soul as his sister-in-law, when she was already suffering so. Hizashi knew that the woman would immediately try to help him, furthering her own burdens, even potentially putting her in trouble with her husband if he walked out to find her caring for Hizashi.
In another way, he knew that he would need assistance to even move right now and Hitomi was one of the few Main family members that was seemingly always kind. Torn on what to do, he didn't notice when her eyes rose up to meet his form, apparently realizing that he was there for the first time. The light gasp was the only thing that alerted him to her realization. He must have looked as physically horrible as he felt, as her hand flew to her mouth and she immediately got up to go over to him.
As her slender arms edged under his shoulders to support him sitting up, he felt a sharp pain stab through him again as he managed to sit upright, his breathing taking several more seconds to stabilize back into a steady rhythm. He registered her voice through the pain, asking what had happened to him.
"Hiashi... activated... cage..." Hizashi said through still ragged breaths, unable to speak more than one barely audible word at a time. Hitomi's eyes broke through with tears again. He knew that she had overheard some of their talks over the years, as well as knew of the promise from her husband to never use the seal that graced his brother's forehead. Glistening drops fell from her eyes for another minute, as they both sat in the near silence.
"Hiashi… He… He isn't the man I married anymore. Last night, he..." she sniffled aloud. "He..." This time the tears broke out even more and she continued to cry until there was nothing left. Hizashi was grateful that Hiashi hadn't yet walked out of his office, as seeing his wife and brother together in a slightly compromising position where she was crying on Hizashi's shoulder would likely be met with yet another violent reaction. From the behaviors she was displaying, he was guessing that his brother had abused his wife in some manner last night, which infuriated him even more.
"He... needs to... be stopped." Words were coming slightly easier through the shallow breath he managed to draw. The pain continued with each rise and fall, but was slowly easing with the more time that passed. "We should... not be... seen here... together... Meet me... dusk... at the... Memorial Stone." She nodded and slowly broke their embrace, the body warmth that she had given him slowly dissipating as she walked away.
He took a few more minutes to gather himself, noting that not a single one of his comrades had managed to leave the office yet and feared them to be dead, not being quite as resilient or strong as he was. He slowly managed to get himself to his feet and started to head back to the branch part of the complex, hoping that no main family member would call on him to do anything, as he was barely able to support his own standing weight, much less do anything else.
Trudging along the beaten tiled path that was the primary passage between the two parts of the complex, he heard the whispers and saw the pointing at him. Apparently, the news of Hinata's kidnapping had spread completely through the clan at this point and it seemed that everyone was talking about him. He noted that the branch family members were looking at him with pride and sorrow, whereas the few main family members looked at him with disgust apparent in their gazes.
Suddenly, he tumbled to the ground, the victim of an excellently executed sneak attack at his calves. He looked at the assailant. It was his son Neji, all of 4 years old, practicing his ninja skills. Even though he was tired, dirty and in pain, he looked at his son with a smile on his face. Neji was already being hailed as a great prodigy within the clan and Hizashi was always finding himself the target of attacks from his ninja-in-training boy. He was always at least aware of the incoming 'threat', but usually caught Neji right as he was about to connect, sometimes just dodging him outright. This was the first time that the long-haired child had managed to connect with him and even though his body was filled with anguish at the sudden trauma, he was filled even more so with pride.
"Gotcha Papa!" The boy exclaimed from the tangle of body parts, voice obviously exuberant in his victory. The boy quickly and dexterously untangled himself as only children can and quickly hopped up to his feet, face beaming. The smile fell a moment later, as he noticed Hizashi struggling to get up. "Papa! Are you okay?" The child's voice was suddenly filled with worry, completely replacing the joy that had been evident just a moment ago. Hizashi frowned, knowing that his own pain was now trickling over into his son's emotions. As with any father, he wanted his son to be happy above almost anything else. So, he sucked it up through the pain and quickly stood up, trying his best to hide the wince from the massive spike of fresh agony that tore through him.
"No, Neji, you just got me good! I was surprised, that's all." Hizashi lied smoothly, not wanting to dampen his boy's mood. It evidently worked quite well as Neji's face brightened once again. The boy grabbed his hand and started to try and drag him towards home, apparently satisfied with the story and probably wanting to head home to brag about his exploits to his mother. Hizashi allowed himself to be practically dragged back home. He needed time to think anyway and the best place to rest up would be his own bed.
After several hours of rest and recuperation and a hot meal lovingly prepared by his wife, Hizashi set out towards the Memorial Stone at the edge of Konoha. The sky was just starting the darken, as the sun had only moments ago dropped below the horizon, smearing the remaining clouds with streaks of amber, honey, violet and indigo. The painting above him was indeed beautiful, but he had no appreciation for it at the moment. He had been careful to leave the compound quietly, only the gate guards should have known he had left. It wasn't exactly illegal for a branch member to take off without direct permission from the main family, but it was often seen as unusual. So, he had been trying to ensure that he wasn't being followed by any main family members. While he was positive of that, he still felt as if he was being followed. Whispering "Byakugan", he let the bloodline ability of the family activate. Immediately able to see nearly everything around him, he continued walking and kept track of the surrounding people.
Tracking and dismissing dozens of people within the crowd after a minute, he finally settled on a figure hopping along the rooftops. It looked to be an ANBU patrolling, however, the masked ninja was seemingly keeping pace with him. Possibly coincidental, he made an unprompted turn into the nearest stall, brushing aside the curtains on the front. While the welcoming call of the storekeeper was acknowledged with a nod of the head, he was still focused on the ANBU patrol. As suspected, the man had stopped as soon as he entered the stall. He had no idea what an ANBU would want with following him, as the Hokage should not yet have heard of the activity within the family and therefore wouldn't have any invested interest in him. He had avoided the village's patrols, which was easy enough having been a ninja himself, often put on patrol duty and knowing their typical paths and schedules. He never got Hokage's approval for the 'mission', so there should be no paperwork. And he had reported directly to his brother, nobody else.
A frown passed over his face as the thought of his brother came to mind. It seemed to both him and everyone that he spoke to around the compound that losing his daughter had irrevocably changed the man. While never known for having a tender side, Hizashi had been around long enough to know the man under the façade. But, it appeared that now the façade had taken over and that the feeling and caring man that he had once known was replaced by this emotionless husk. That was why he wanted to meet with Hitomi tonight.
The call from the shop keep rang into his consciousness again, this time seemingly slightly annoyed at having a person just taking up space in his shop. He blinked and looked around. While he hadn't picked any particular stand, he ended up in what seemed a small, but cozy, food stand. Judging by the pictures on the wall, as well as a deliciously intoxicating smell, they served various noodles here. The proprietor was a man about his own age that he felt a vague recollection of having been before, though he wasn't sure where. Not intending to be rude, he quickly asked for an order of miso ramen to go, as that was the first thing on the menu. He continued watching the mysterious ANBU that was perched on a rooftop a couple of blocks away while his order was prepared. A few minutes later, a steaming order of ramen tucked away in a takeout bowl, he walked back out of the shop, Byakugan still active. As soon as he visibly exited the stall, his pursuer rose back up to attention and became active again, jumping along the rooftops to follow him at a moderate pace.
Confused as to why he was being followed, but knowing that calling out an ANBU on duty was never a good idea, he continued towards his destination, keeping his bloodline limit active the entire way. Crossing the market district and entering the training area, he noted the follower's transition from rooftops to tree branches, always staying far enough back to be thought of as out of sight. Hizashi kept a steady pace as he walked towards his destination, not wanting to alert the ANBU that he was aware of his presence.
Approaching his final target at last, he saw a figure already at the stone, long black hair draped over a feminine frame that was bent over, with an arm reached out tracing names on the rock. The Memorial Stone was carved with the names of fallen shinobi throughout the history of the village and nearly everyone in town had at least an acquaintance memorialized there. He personally knew of at least 4 family members and a couple of teammates that were there. He had watched a couple of them die on missions he was serving with them. Knowing all too well the feeling of sorrow that accompanied visiting the stone, he had still felt it an appropriate place to meet. He had an idea that he wanted to talk with Hitomi about and it would change the future of everything within the clan. He walked up beside her, making sure that his footfalls were audible enough to alert her to his presence. No matter the state it was never a good idea to sneak up on a Hyuga, as the Gentle Fist could be lethal very quickly.
Once he knelt next to her sister-in-law, he put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her as best as he could with a simple gesture. He noted the quick recoil of muscles away from his touch, which quickly stopped once she mentally processed whom it was. "Hello Hizashi," came the rough voice, clearly hoarse from crying over the past day. The emotions that the woman was feeling were quite clearly painful to her judging by her appearance. While she was slightly cleaned up from the state that he had previously seen her in, she still had tear-streaks running down her face, though currently devoid of the offending moisture. She had put on a fresh change of clothes and bathed in the recent past, now smelling of lilacs and fresh rain. The scent poured into his nostrils and he inhaled it deeply. While he loved his own wife, he had always harbored affections for Hitomi, having fought with his brother over her before their marriage. She had chosen Hiashi due to Hizashi already being a branch house member and she did not want the seal adorning her own forehead, which he had never blamed her for. As she lifted her head to meet his gaze, he saw the large bruises that were not previously present on her cheeks. Seeing her like this immediately rekindled all those long-gone feelings and he felt incredibly protective of her.
"What did he do to you?" Hizashi asked quietly, not liking what he already knew to be the response. He watched as her hand rose to meet her cheeks and saw the marking on her wrist too. Anger bubbling up inside of him even more, he realized that she had probably been tied at some point too. She only looked down in response, unable to tell him anything. He was irate that his own brother had stooped so low as to attempt to kill his own blood and then beat a defenseless woman.
"Hiashi beat you, didn't he?" He only received the slightest nod in acknowledgement.
"Did he do anything else?" Hitomi only sunk more into herself at this point and he realized that there was more. Hiashi couldn't have, could he?
"What else did he do?"
At this request, the woman next to him collapsed, blathering incomprehensible words aloud and sobbing heavily. Her body heaved and spasmed as she let go of the pain and hear that she had been carrying. Hizashi heard various bits such as: "I'm such a failure.", "I let go of her.", "He said he wanted another.", "One to replace what was lost.", "He tied me down." and "I don't know what to do now." That last one was said with her hand moving to cover her stomach and he realized exactly what had happened. It was even worse than he had previously thought, which he found heightened the animosity he already felt.
"I have a plan, though I need your help." He waited until he had Hitomi's full attention before continuing.
"Hiashi has lost his mind and the ability to lead the clan. His treatment of both the rescue party and of you are evidence of that enough to me. I hear rumblings already spreading through the branch members of how crazy he has been since Hinata disappeared. He murdered the other three members of the branch family that were sent out to try and retrieve Hinata and almost killed me. He has beaten and raped you, in your own words, trying to regain what was lost. These are not the actions of a clan leader. We need to get rid of him. Surely there is another better equipped to lead the clan. I would place my faith in you."
He watched as Hitomi's eyes got wider and wider while he spoke. He knew that what he was saying was akin to treason against the clan. If it was anyone but her from the main family, they could easily make one hand sigil to kill him immediately. He was taking a huge leap of faith here, but didn't know whom else in the main family wouldn't immediately kill him for plotting to take out Hiashi. He was hoping that between his treatment of her and that she had never been known to use the Caged Bird, that he could work with her. As her eyes reached the point where he thought they couldn't open any more, he reached the next part of the idea that had been brewing in his head since that morning.
"Hiashi is clearly unstable and needs to be removed. There is no chance at removing him politically, the elders unanimously put him in charge once he started the next generation and nearly everyone else outside of the four of them and yourself that is of age has been sealed. They would never allow a branch member to be head and the only other unsealed people are the children, as Hinata had not yet turned three. It is either you or a clan elder."
Hitomi appeared as if she was not even breathing at this point. He decided to press what appeared to be the weak spot, continuing "If we do not stop him from taking this path of madness, he will do to the rest of the clan, what he has done to you."
That seemed to shock her enough and in the correct direction. Hitomi's eyes turned from frightened and wide, hardening to a steely resolve in an instant galvanized by his words. She looked at him directly and for the first time held his gaze. She nodded in affirmation at the idea he had presented.
Hizashi kept pushing forward. "Give me a week to get the rest of the branch members together and organized. One week from tonight, leave the compound, we will overthrow Hiashi in a way that he doesn't expect it and put you in charge of the clan."
The nerve behind her eyes wavered for just a moment. She obviously had a hard time pushing down the feelings she had for Hiashi, for which he didn't blame her. He cared for his brother too, but the person that ran the clan was no longer his brother. That person died when there was no remorse shown about nearly killing him. She seemingly reached a similar conclusion and she agreed, verbally this time.
"Okay." Her voice was quiet and low, scared just strong.
"I will meet with you once, in the morning of the seventh day from now, to ensure everything is still good to go. I'm going to head back and begin assembling the resources needed." Hizashi let his voice, which had been rather low to begin with, fall off to nothingness. The silence encompassed the two of them as he slowly stood and meandered off, leaving the gradually cooling ramen behind.
He left the site of the monument with his mind racing as endless possibilities continually forced themselves to the forefront of his thoughts. He was so agonized by Hitomi's appearance and the discovery that his brother had beaten and raped her, that he had completely forgotten about the shadow that had been following him previously. Said shadow leapt from the treetops as soon as he stood up, off back into the depths of the darkness of night.
One of the multiple nameless agents that he had assigned to follow the Hyuga's activities since the kidnapping of their heir was now kneeling in front of him, having just finished his report. Danzo dismissed the ninja, unafraid of needing to swear his subject to silence on the matter, knowing that the seals placed on his tongue would take care of the issue of privacy.
Danzo Shimura was not a man easily moved to action, he had seen far too many people rush into a situation that they were not wholly prepared for and suffer needlessly as payment for their foolishness. He much preferred to gather intel about a situation and plan for as many different outcomes as possible, choosing the one that benefitted Konoha the most in the end.
He had led his organization, ROOT, through plenty of scenarios that would have been deemed abhorrent by the general populace if word had ever got out. But, they were always for the greater good. If not for the greater good of Konoha as a whole, they enhanced his own organization or himself without hurting the village. And since he considered ROOT to be something that also was for the betterment of Konoha, what made it stronger was of prime importance to him.
Now, he had a choice to make. It was eerily similar to what had been happening about three years ago with the Uchiha. A clan was on the brink of splitting itself wide open and causing a civil war within the village.
When it had been the Uchiha, nearly the entirety of the clan had been on the brink of treasonous actions towards the village. He had already set in motion plans to remove the threat from being an issue and while it would have weakened the Hidden Leaf more so than he would have liked, it was still far superior to the alternative on letting the village split itself in two and have in-fighting for what could be generations. A similar civil war had been raging in Kiri for years and it was ruining them. He would not let something like that happen in his home town if he could help it.
Now, the Hyuga were on the verge of splintering. Viewed by the public as perhaps the most noble of the clans in town, if the Hyuga split, it very well could lead to the exact same civil war scenario. Some other clans would undoubtedly back the main family of the clan if it survived and yet others would back the branch coup. This would lead to a clan versus clan nightmare that would split the village. Even if the branch coup were completely successful and wiped out all main family that they intended to, there would still be politics played that could very well end right back up where the other scenarios did. And if the main family decimated the branch family for their insubordination, it would likely destroy the clan wholly. Even then, it could still cause a divide in town.
What started running through his mind was the same idea he had started to build for the Uchiha. Break it apart on his own terms, scavenge what he could from it and rebuild it in an image that was perfectly loyal to the village. All without having any retaliation pushed back at him.
The ideas started spilling forth. He needed a few things, a couple of which already had fallen into place. First off, a scapegoat was needed. Hizashi was auditioning for that role spectacularly well. Next, he needed a pliable mind to take over. It seemed like Hitomi Hyuga would be excellent for that, especially if their suspicions of having another baby Hyuga on the way were correct. After that, he needed a time and place. While a week of preparations was not desirable, as he would prefer to have much more time to go over possibilities, he had performed more work in less time. Lastly, he needed to ensure there were no loose ends.
He called for a meeting of several of his team captains and issued to them an order to recall all members of ROOT home. His numbers were small, having hidden in the shadows to take care of the great tree, but he was certain that his entire force would be able to handle it when the time came. He also informed them that all active personnel of ROOT were to assemble at first light tomorrow to start mission planning.
He left them to their duties after that. Danzo Shimura had work to do.
For Hizashi, the next six days seemed to pass both instantly and incredibly slowly. He had to check every corner he walked around and doubted he ever used his Byakugan so much during his entire life, having kept it on from just after waking up until just before going to sleep, only turning it off when a main family member was directly in sight. He felt like there were ten shadows always watching him, but he could never see them.
He had spent the week pulling branch family members aside and talking to them about various subjects, gauging their reactions to Hiashi's recent behavior and Hinata's disappearance as a guide for how well he believed they could be trusted to not reveal his plans. After dozens of clandestine meetings, he had 27 other conspirators ready to go on his word. This created a force of almost a full third of the branch family, which should prove to be enough to overthrow and take down 5, hopefully caught off-guard, main family members.
Himself included, they had most of the Hyugas best fighters, with only Hiashi being an active ninja anymore. Hizashi had always been able to defeat his brother in any spar they had ever fought and Hiashi was too busy with the duties of the clan head to be a mission-ready ninja, whereas the same could not be said about the sealed branch member. He felt confident about the ability of his recruits and doubted there would be any issue with the actual coup attempt, provided that they were able to take them by surprise.
The initial plan had been to try and get Hiashi to assemble them all inside the clan council hall that was located on property, which was also one of the few shielded rooms within the compound. Using the shielding to hide all of the branch members from being detected, the thought was to ambush them as they entered, removing them one by one. This plan had fallen through when he realized that there was no way to guarantee that they would all show up individually or even show up at all to a summons from either Hitomi or a branch member.
The next idea he had was also similarly scrapped after it was pointed out that doing an attack at night wouldn't necessarily work either, as it was pointed out that Hiashi often stayed up late into the night doing work, which had been taken to the extreme over the past few days and only main family members could open his office from the outside. He had considered for a moment to have Hitomi open the office, but that was a non-starter, as Hizashi wanted no chance of any mishap involving her. He wanted her off the compound entirely when the event happened, so that no suspicion of having been involved could be placed upon her. He also wanted her to have an alibi for where she was, so that even if his coup failed, no harm would come to her as to being part of it.
What had been eventually agreed to on all sides and not had any immediate holes found in the plan was to create a fake emergency. The branch members were always the ones on patrol, as that was a job beneath the elders and the clan head. If they raised an alarm from within the compound, but didn't sound anything out that would call Konoha's general forces to respond, they could get the entire group of elders to gather immediately in the emergency bunker located under the clan compound. It wouldn't matter that the bunker was not hidden from the Byakugan, or that the elders would likely have their Byakugan activated, as it would be expected to have many branch family members gathered there as well.
There were two issues with it, but those had been sorted. The first was that many branch members who were not aware of the coup would see it happen before their very eyes. This had been solved by having the vast majority of the branch members put in the bunkers before the fake attack happened and explaining what was going to happen after they were secured. This way, if any of them were found to not support the actions, something that he found rather unlikely based on the current mood of the clan, they could be dealt with in a place that wouldn't allow for escape or warning the main family.
The other and bigger issue, is that Hiashi would be out and Byakugan-ready to fight. While Hizashi knew that he could take down his brother in a fair fight, he also knew that Hiashi would show no mercy on him and used the Caged Bird Seal immediately upon realizing it was a branch family member. That's why his plan involved Hiashi never realizing that it is a branch family member. While the Byakugan gave great abilities to detect a genjutsu being cast, Hizashi had found through many experiences that it provided no ability to discern one already in place or help the owner dispel one once the target was already engulfed within.
He had realized this many years ago and had since been working on his abilities with the illusionary arts, trying to improve the areas that he knew he was weak in. He wouldn't call himself a master of genjutsu, but at least reasonably adept. He had practiced over the past week as well, testing all of the branch members that the trusted and seeing if they could see through his idea or even discern that they had been affected. None of them had. While Hiashi's Byakugan was more viable than theirs, he also knew that typical of the main branch, Hiashi valued sticking only to the main clan abilities. His brother only fought with the Gentle Fist, only used the traditional katas and shunned any variations from what was deemed proper or appropriate.
Hizashi knew that was fine for those who remained inside the village at nearly all times, but those who fought on the front lines knew better than to expect the Gentle Fist to beat all opponents. It was a death sentence to only be reliant on one system as an active ninja.
He had multiple fighting styles down and simply would use nothing of the Gentle Fist in his attack, coupled with an area-effect genjutsu that hid his true identity. He knew that he would likely have to kill Hiashi in order to pass on the title of clan head, as just defeating the man and subduing him would never work. It would end up being a fight to the death.
He had put those thoughts beside him already though, as the man he was going to be fighting was not his brother. His upcoming opponent was just an enemy that threatened to destroy him, his family and all he cared about. For that alone, he would lay down his life. If this failed, he doubted that his family would be spared from retribution, but as it was now, the path they were going down would lead to certain death to dozens of Branch members, not to mention his son would be branded with the caged bird seal, doomed to forever live as a servant to forces beyond his control.
Tonight would change the course of the Hyuga clan forever. He just hoped that it would follow a better path than ever before.
Danzo Shimura woke on the morning of the ninth day after the Hyuga princess had been kidnapped, ready to go. He knew that after today, the Hyuga clan and Konoha as a whole would be irrevocably changed.
It was going to happen, whether he wanted it to or not. He had been through the scenario multiple times with his top lieutenants and they had always reached the same conclusion. There was no way to stop the movement after it had been discovered, except to eliminate the members of the branch house that were involved. And, despite his best intelligence gathering, he didn't know all of the members that planned to take part. Which meant the only way to stop the coup attempt from within would be the eliminate the branch family in its' entirety.
Since that was already a possible outcome of the coup, it wouldn't help to get his own hands dirty to not actually change anything. He had no choice but to pick a side, as to know of such an event that was going to happen when no other authority figure seemed to be aware of it was a huge waste of potential.
There were four outcomes that he could see of the coup attempt and he was forced to pick the one that was keep Konoha in the best shape.
First was that the coup would succeed and only the main family would be removed. While this did preserve the most manpower for Konoha, it also left him with the problem of creating a precedent of a clan destroying itself from within. It also created a huge amount of political fallout that would be near impossible to predict. So, he couldn't let it succeed cleanly.
Second was that the branch family was discovered and the entire branch would be eliminated. This potential outcome would still cause a large amount of internal strife in what would likely be viewed as partial genocide. This also created a nasty precedent of the clan head being able to kill clan members with impunity, which was also not good. And additionally, this still allowed politics to be played. This couldn't be allowed either.
The third outcome that was envisioned was that only the clan members participating in the coup were killed. While this might be the best for the clan, it was something that he had no control over. It was completely within the main family to enforce this outcome and Danzo didn't want to leave such a decision in the hands of an unknown factor.
The last outcome was that the clan disintegrated. While this hurt Konoha more in the sense of manpower, it would leave no political ramifications in the form of a civil war or divided clans fighting against each other. The potential for outside news spreading of it could also be turned as a way into boosting Konoha's image. If they set up a scapegoat, to be viewed as a strong enough ninja to destroy a whole clan, the quality of their ninjas overall would go up, even if that particular ninja was viewed as a missing nin. Image was everything and if the other countries believed that Konoha could raise one such shinobi, they'd believe there were probably more still within.
And with the right direction, not only could he place the blame entirely on one person, he could reap the rewards. There were 6 currently alive adult non-branded Hyuga. While one would still be needed to rebuild that clan, that left 10 available unsealed Byakugan capable eyes to be harvested and used. He was certain that with proper timing and patience, he could amass quite the collection in a short time. He had thought similar about the Sharingan when it had been the Uchiha on his mind and while that had failed, he still had the one eye hidden behind his bandages. The combination of Byakugan and Sharingan in his own body was a concept that would even have Orochimaru salivating.
Speaking of the serpent man, Danzo would have to pay the snake a visit sometime soon. The man was a genius when it came to scientific research and he had made several interesting discoveries over the past years in genetic adaptation and body transformation. How to properly integrate the Sharingan into himself had only been possible with the Sannin's help previously and it had only cost him some people for Orochimaru to experiment on. Which had ended up being beneficial anyway, as the only survivor of the group he had got back after having been deemed a failure. And that boy was showing promising results in his training, possibly being capable of special skills that were thought long extinct.
Getting back on task, he began creating the plans for how to infiltrate and secure the Hyuga compound during the coup attempt. He had already surreptitiously changed out the ANBU patrol schedules to ensure that the 2 patrols that ran near the Hyuga compound were both loyal to him and they would set up a perimeter ensuring that no non-ROOT shinobi entered if a scuffle did end up drawing attention. He had one Hyuga within his ranks currently that had effectively joined the resistance movement and would be sequestered inside the emergency shelter to secure the bodies of the fallen for removal of their eyes. He also had the rest of his troops set to move in and remove all threats from within the compound after the coup had started.
He knew of the plan to have Hitomi safely away from the compound and had assigned the only agents that would not be involved in the raid to protect her from anything that evening. They were to detain her once out of sight of the complex and move her to a secured ANBU room until morning. She would be the only survivor of the clan, hopefully already carrying the next generation within.
He rolled up the final scroll that was to be distributed to his troops. All orders were set and it was mere hours until the fireworks began. The pieces were in play and he had analyzed it every way that he could, made the best plan he thought was available and instructed his every resource into it. Nothing more could be done.
Hizashi looked around at his handiwork as the clouds obscured the moon for a dark night, perfect for his plan. The members of the battle team were already in place, moving quickly here and there to put the finishing touches on their work. All the other branch members outside of the normal gate guards, who were already in the know and would be the ones signaling the alarm, were already being slowly gathered into the emergency shelter underneath. He had his byakugan active so watch for the final pieces being moved into place and to ensure that Hiashi stayed in his work quarters. While he couldn't directly see the man inside, his entry had been monitored and there had been no exit since that time. The elders were already resting in their quarters, seemingly completely unaware of the activity that would be present in mere minutes.
He watched as the last family was led into the underground chambers and saw a couple of the people below being restrained by others. It looked as if there were about 6 in total that were main family sympathizers, which was not wholly unexpected. The only thing that could go wrong would be that the elders, during their movement to the shelters would either notice nearly all of the branch family already in place or see a couple of people in the shelter tied up, which could raise some alarms. There was little else that could be done about it and the branch members below had gone through pains to make them look as natural as possible. He could only tell they were tied up by knowing what to look for and watching it happen.
Following this, the members of the resistance save enough to keep watch on the shelter left to come back above ground. This was to create the effect of the branch members also running to the shelter. The main family was to be alerted to such things first and if they saw all the branch members already sheltered, they would assume that there was something wrong. As it was, the coup would have multiple members on the ground converging on the shelter to make it look more realistic. They had devised a separate knocking code for entering the shelter to distinguish resistance members from elders, to let those inside know whether to attack upon entry or not.
With the last people in place and the only ones outside the emergency shelter were Hitomi, having left much earlier, the members of the resistance, the four clan elders and the two twin brothers, he put the finishing touches on the genjutsu that would disguise both himself and the area around the office of Hiashi, he gave the signal if the form of a thrown rock to the two gate guards. As the rock landed between them, Hizashi watched as they turned and ran into the complex, loudly banging on various doors in a code known to be an emergency signal.
They first hit the main family, as was protocol, but instead of hitting all four doors directly in order, they gave a few seconds in between each, as to hopefully separate the elders out, thereby not letting them arrive in groups. To facilitate that even more, a branch member sprinted up to the elder upon them opening their door, as a façade to safely escort them to the shelter. The remaining members of the coup raced around the branch complex, making an appearance of moving the branch family to safety as well.
Lastly, once all the elders had been awoken and started on their way, the last above ground members of the coup tapped the emergency code on Hiashi's office. As it would only take seconds more for the elders to be neutralized upon entry, Hizashi began making his 'entry' loudly crashing through the trees, brandishing a sharp-edged katana and looking as though he were an enemy nin.
Hiashi burst out of the door not two seconds later, Byakugan already activated and in the Gentle Fist stance, ready to do combat. Exactly as Hizashi expected, the man made no move to disperse the genjutsu he had already laid around the office and for dozens of feet around it. Trapped within upon the illusion even before activating his Byakugan, he never thought to look inward before the battle started, assuming that he had not yet fallen under anything.
Hizashi had already deactivated his own Byakugan, not wanting to reveal the bulging veins to the clan head's own vision, which would still possibly show even through the illusion. He didn't need it anyway and didn't feel like creating the risk. He knew the Gentle Fist inside and out, knew the pacing and the movements and knew exactly how to dodge and deflect.
There were eight branch members left above ground, all members of the plot and they fell into place around Hiashi, taking up their duty to 'protect' the clan head. As they flew into battle with the mystery assailant, he disabled them with punches and kicks that were intended to only knock them out. As part of the plan, the branch members let the attacks connect in a realistic way and they dropped unconscious left and right. The hits were real, they would hurt and bruise and they had power behind them. But it was all part of the show and they had already agreed to such treatment.
Downing the last standing branch member with a particularly vicious neck chop for the sake of realism, he stared down the real opponent of the night. Hiashi Hyuga stared back with a calm demeanor, graceful even in the face of danger.
"You dare to attack the Hyuga clan? Prepare to know the humiliation of defeat." The clan head spoke in a tone that carried no room for bragging, only a serious threat. Hiashi immediately dropped into his standard Gentle Fist, just as Hizashi predicted.
The clan head charged forward at the 'intruder' with a palm drawn back, chakra gathering around the fingers. A classic maneuver, intended to quickly end the battle with a jab to a vital organ. It would work on a great many opponents, especially as Hiashi was still capable of attaining jonin-level speed. The coup leader was faster though and quickly put a swipe through exactly where the arm would be as it attacked, forcing the finger strike to be aborted.
Hizashi jumped back a couple steps after the sword didn't connect and hopped up to a tree branch behind the man, going for an overhand strike. He knew wouldn't be a problem for Hiashi to deflect, but one that would be common for an enemy ninja to attempt if they didn't know the Byakugans abilities. He expected Hiashi to sell it as well, fully anticipating the man to not turn around and look around as if confused where he went. And indeed, the show commenced, with Hiashi making the display of confusion as Hizashi launched himself down at the man, preparing both his attack and the counterattack for what he expected to happen.
So far the battle was going exactly to plan as the clan head quickly rotated on his feet after the attack had been launched, forming a blue dome of chakra around him. "Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation" came the call from inside the dome, full of confidence of thwarting the incoming blow. Hizashi watched the chakra barrier form and released the technique he had been holding, "Earth Style: Earthen Wall". A barrier of earth came up in front of the dome, where he landed safely outside of the rotations damaging energy and he took up multiple projectile weapons in hand, laced with ninja wire and ready to throw.
While the man below was still expending chakra on rotation, he threw four of the projectiles at marks on the far side of his opponent, with the ninja wire connecting them to the remaining weapons in his hand. He knew that Hiashi could keep spinning for a very long time, easily lasting multiple minutes, but the chakra drain would be pretty harsh if he kept it up for that long. He anticipated the technique to be cancelled after a couple more seconds as Hiashi realized that his attacker hadn't been blasted apart.
His knowledge ringing true again, the spinning man waited a handful of seconds and then slowed enough for the chakra barrier to part as the technique died. Hizashi knew that it took a moment for him to be able to regain his footing and spin back up again and that he was currently outside of the range of the deadlier close combat styles. He threw the remaining eight in quick succession at marks of his side of the barrier that had been present, encircling that area that he wanted Hiashi to stay within and crisscrossing the area with wire thin enough to be barely noticeable and razor sharp, easily able to slice through flesh if one walked into it.
The wire itself wouldn't really be a problem for Hiashi either. He knew that the Byakugan could easily see even the thinnest of threads when mastered to the level that was being used. It was more of a limiting factor. Hiashi preferred to fight defensively anyway and this would hopefully make him even more inclined to do so and keep him within range of the genjutsu obscuring Hizashi's true form. What it would do though is create opening for the extended reach of a sword to gain a significant advantage over just the palm techniques that his brother used.
Hizashi jumped down off of his earthen wall, letting it crumble behind him, landing in an area mostly clear of wire, even though he could see several lines glinting in the tiny amount of light visible. Because of how dark it was and that he didn't have his own Byakugan active, it was likely more dangerous to himself than to Hiashi, but it further served the purpose of limiting movements. The last thing that he wanted was for this to become a moving battle, alerting people outside the compound. He had timed the start to be just after the last patrol went by and they wouldn't circle around again for a good 45 minutes, more than enough time for a ninja fight to be resolved.
The slightly younger twin jumped over the wire deftly, even spring-boarding off of one that was close by using the metal soles on his ninja sandals as a protective film between the slicing wire and his soft flesh. He went for a lunging strike that he knew would be deflected with a parry from the Gentle Fist and entered into an almost minute long sequence of sword strikes being blocked or deflected by the Gentle Fist user. He stayed just out of reach of the occasional palm strike sent his way, making sure to keep at least one line of wire between them so that he wouldn't be unexpectedly charged. After trading blocks for a full 60 seconds of back and forth, he abandoned the position of attacker, bounding back over several expanses of wire.
Hiashi made no move to follow and stayed in position, speaking yet again. "As you can see, you have no chance to hit me. Your tricks are as useless as your sword. Surrender now and you will not be killed, but only handed over to interrogation for eventual release. You have not yet hurt anyone of importance within these walls, so you would not be executed for trespassing and attacking. This is your only chance to do so." His voice dripped with utter contempt, clearly regarding the man across from him as incapable and inferior.
This is exactly what Hizashi wanted too. His brother always had been susceptible to the sin of pride, allowing himself to think of the clan style and his use of it in particular, to be far superior to anything else. The younger knew that if he could get the older to be over-confident, an easy killing blow could be placed. He faked a look of being unsure for a moment and lowered his sword like he was considering it. After a couple seconds, he resumed his attack, purposely slowing down just a little, enough to be noticed, but not enough to allow Hiashi to get the drop on him.
Another deflected blade from a palm strike, a quick dodge around a finger thrust at the chest and a slash to counter what would have been a fatal shot to the head and he pulled back again, feigning being out of breath. While he was definitely exerting himself, he wanted to play at being more tired than he felt to get Hiashi even more over-confident.
What he didn't expect though was for Hiashi to suddenly abandon the defensive style and charge at him, maneuvering around the wires with ease, as they were plainly visible to him in the near pitch black of night. Caught off-guard, he desperately swung and blocked strikes until he was forced to quickly abandon swordplay and create another earthen wall to get separation.
When Hiashi appeared behind him on the other side of the earthen wall in a burst of speed, it wasn't so much his presence that frightened Hizashi, but it was the words that followed next. "You're in range of my divination."
What most enemies did, which was their fatal mistake, was try to stop the first two strikes, which were not aimed at vital areas, but intended to slow the target down from reacting to the rest. This led them to waste what could be escape time from the technique before it got rolling. If done improperly, they might block to first couple only to be overwhelmed with the later sets. Hizashi knew once the words started leaving his brother's mouth that the full 64 strikes of the technique would be used and turn him into mush if it connected.
So, he did the unexpected. Instead of trying to block or dodge the first two strikes that came at him, he launched himself into them. They hurt, but it caused Hiashi's attack pattern to be thrown off just enough. The first strikes were always aimed at one arm and one leg, the idea being to throw off balance of the enemy and since Hiashi was right handed, he would lead with his right hand aimed at the target's left hand, with the left hand dealing a blow at the right leg. And indeed, the blows came with pinpoint accuracy becoming of the clan head. He instantly felt his left arm and right leg seize up from the intrusion of the foreign chakra. This also ruined his concentration on the long-term genjutsu that he had been holding the entire time.
As the edges of the body shimmered, revealing his true form, he drew back the sword in his right arm, knowing this would be his one chance to strike true. The next four strikes were already incoming, rote memorization pushing Hiashi to carry out the attack as he always had. He knew that as soon as the Hiashi's divination was over, if he didn't strike true now, he was a dead man. He already saw the look of recognition start to cross his brother's face as his form was revealed. The field of divination though, would not be interrupted. Hiashi would finish, as once the attack started, it was proper form to complete it. The strikes would continue to flow and Hiashi would not be able to use the Caged Bird activation until after his divination had ended.
The next four blows landed off-target, as Hizashi's body was much closer to his brother than the technique called for. The Sixty-Four Palm Strikes technique didn't work well for something coming even closer within the range of divination, it was more far blocking things from afar or pushing one target back. The strikes missed tenketsu that they normally would have flooded, but this actually only made the technique hurt even more, as the chakra was blasted into internal organs instead. He was immediately aware that he probably had ruptured something by charging in, but it had been worth it.
The sword strike came crashing down, cleanly slicing off the arm in the middle of the forearm. While not a fatal blow, it did ruin half of the divination field and removed the ability for Hiashi to activate the curse seal that remained a blemish on his now revealed forehead. Hizashi had taken quite a bit of damage to his body and was breathing heavily, but had dealt a decisive blow in doing so.
His brother had carried through the strikes that he was capable of and now was cradling the injured arm that was bleeding onto his pristine white robes, staining them with the life-giving crimson liquid. He looked enraged as he stared alternatingly back and forth between his arm and his brother.
"TRAITOR!" came the yell, which was not unexpected. But, being caught off guard for the second time tonight, Hiashi charged him blindly swinging in rage, foregoing Gentle Fist for straight up brawling. He was tackled with a muffled thump as one fist and one stump started raining down blows on his body.
Looking up into the maddened pupil-less lavender eyes of what used to be his brother, he felt the pain of the blows, but realized that something else was causing much more pain. He had been tackled into one of his own wire traps and then combined with the weight of his brother landing on him, it had cut down into the bone of his leg, severing the arteries and veins within.
He realized that he was going to quickly bleed out unless he did something. Both legs already useless and one arm completely deadened, he only had one option. He dropped the sword that he had been carrying, pushed chakra down the one working appendage that remained and pushed off. The wires embedded within his legs carved out flesh with a gleeful song of wire reverberating against the background of crickets chirping in the night. The agonized scream caught in his throat as the man who used to be his brother smashed him in the neck with a fist, likely crushing his larynx.
The two of them went sprawling in the fields, tumbling against the mesh of ninja wire, craters and dirt mounds that had transformed what previously was a relaxing courtyard into a messy battle ground. As he slammed into the ground anew, he heard a yelp that died off into silence. Trying to move his head, he found it hard to move much of anything as the blood loss from the bisected arteries in his legs was leaving him already woozy. He tried to whisper to activate to his bloodline limit and produced a cough. Thankfully, the chakra system in his head still responded and his vision exploded into range.
He could see his own beaten and battered body, bleeding out into the dirt, turning the dirt under him into a thick brown slurry. The eight unconscious forms of his clansmen still splayed out in the dirt, it only having been a couple of minutes since they were removed from battle. Laying a few feet to his right, he saw his brother's form and realized what the yelp had likely been. The neck had been cleaved in two by a line of the ninja wire that now lay limp in the dirt. Head separated from torso, eyes set in a disturbing eternal stare that was aimed directly at him. Shuddering at the vision, he focused his sight on where the emergency shelter was. Looking closer he found that many more than four figures lay on the floor of the shelter.
Suddenly very concerned, he studied the scene in front of him carefully. He found that only a few of the people within the chamber were moving. And only one of them seemed to be a familiar person to him. He watched as the multiple figures, dressed as ANBU cleared the bodies from the area, sealing what appeared the be the deceased elders into cadaver storage scrolls. Frantically, he started looking for his son, trying to identify him amongst the bodies below.
He was so caught up in witnessing the incomprehensible scene playing out underground that he never saw the two men landing next to him until the sword dove towards his head. The last thing that Hizashi saw was the head of his brother being scooped up by what looked like tree branches growing out of the ground and an ANBU blade penetrating his own cranium.
AN: Hot damn, that was a good chapter to write. Ten thousand words never seemed so easy. This is one of the main scenarios of the story that I wanted to hit and it's one that I've never seen written about anywhere before. I remember one fic that I read long ago that had a time-altered older Neji kill the Hyuga clan off and become a missing nin, but I've never seen a scenario with Hizashi doing it, or with Danzo taking advantage.
Tell me what you think. It's the first time I've written a longer battle sequence, or one in which a character dies. I'm looking for feedback. For reference, Hizashi, according to everything I've read, was stronger and superior to Hiashi in combat, though not by much. So, I wanted to battle to be relatively even. I also dislike the overused idea that a ninja battle should go on forever. In my mind, a true ninja battle should be short and quiet. Big flashy techniques defeat the purpose, unless you are trying to show off, like at the Chunin Exams.
Also, if you see spelling/grammar errors, PLEASE tell me. I have re-read these chapters over and over and each time I keep finding new mistakes. I go back through and change what I find, but with your own writing, it is always so hard to catch everything.