Heavy trigger warning: This chapter contains suggestions of child abuse and graphic violence.
Back with another installment of this rollercoaster ride. This is a kick off to more of the complicated plot of this story, not that it's not complicated already, but real life is a mess anyway. This is the beginning of a downward spiral for the Uchiha's, so bear with me as this is so different from cannon.
This story is my love child and I am so happy people have enjoyed it so far. I hope everyone sticks with me because this is stuff I have been planning since the very beginning. Some things may not entirely make sense yet, but they will in later chapters.
This story isn't everyone's cup of tea but it's my little cup of weird tea. It has kept me sane during these difficult times and I am forever grateful. So I would like to take this time to thank everyone for even clicking on this story and thank those that have been enjoying the world I am weaving.
This chapter and every chapter till the bitter end is edited and beta'd by the gorgeous and talented katydid001. Without her help this story would be nothing and so would I.
Months had passed and not a lot had changed in the village. Sasuke had started school early at the demands of his father, but Naruto had yet to turn five so he was still at home driving his mother up the wall. Luckily, Kushina had her faithful student to take over for afternoon duties.
Katsumi sighed as she peered up at the grey clouds that loomed over the busy village. Today's mission was surprisingly short but that didn't mean she was free. She had barely reached the steps of the Uzumaki household when Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the playground. There were scattered children out today, most of them gathered in their own friend groups. Katsumi could tell some of the childrens' clans by their distinct hair colours and scents, others were more ambiguous. Naruto immediately approached a group of boys and cheerfully introduced himself.
At first an Inuzuka boy with a tiny white puppy laying on his head spoke up. "Aren't you the Hokage's kid? We don't want to get in trouble! I bet you're a tattle-tale." The other boys snickered in agreement. "And Choji's Dad says you're bad luck! Right, Choji-kun?"
The chubby boy with red hair panicked for a moment before he nodded under the pressure of the crowd. He was definitely from the Akimichi clan.
"Yeah! Get out of here!" One kid cried. "Go home!" They all started talking over each other, echoing the same message. No one wanted him there.
Naruto's entire demeanor slumped and tears welled in his wide eyes. He hadn't expected such brutal rejection.
Katsumi gripped the seat and lurched forward to stand, but she stopped herself. Deep down she knew that defending Naruto would only isolate him further. In her mind, the actions of these young children only reflected on the teachings of those surrounding them. Her knuckles tightened as she cursed herself for being useless.
The children jeered as they all started to move away from the yellow-haired boy. They started the game off from where the eager blond had interrupted.
Except for one kid with a dark spiky ponytail who stood to the side of the group with his hands buried deep in his pockets. He had been silent during the entire encounter. The Akimichi boy tried to call him into the game but he shook his head with a bored yawn. His lazy demeanour was distinctly Nara, which to Katsumi made a lot of sense. The Nara boy turned around with the intent to find a good spot to nap, but he couldn't help but pause when he observed the utter heartbreak in Naruto's body language. A silent battle between his nature and kind soul played out on his face.
The actions of this innocent young boy made Katsumi relax into her seat. Content to observe the actions of the odd one out.
With an exaggerated sigh, the black-haired boy sauntered over to the downtrodden blond.
"What a drag… You know they just listen to their parents. But my Dad makes me do all my thinking myself..." he spoke as he turned to Naruto.
Naruto raised his eyebrow and screwed his face up in confusion."Uhh…" he knew the boy was being nice but the significance of his words flew over his head.
The Nara tried a different approach, "We can play catch... if you're good…"
Naruto lit up and pumped his fist in excitement. "Believe it! I'll be the best catcher ever!"
Katsumi heard the long, bored sigh that left the lazy boy's lips as he pulled a small ball from his pocket and followed his new friend over to the opposite side of the playground. She
snorted while she silently observed, nose tucked in her book but her eyes fixed on the events unfolding. Whoever ended up having to teach this bunch had their work cut out for them.
After half an hour, kids started to drift towards the pair playing catch. One-by-one they asked to join and Naruto, being the forgiving soul that he is, nodded and immediately threw the ball to whoever wanted to play. It was like they had all forgotten about the icy reception they had given Naruto and he slipped right in.
Their comments didn't sit well in her stomach, even if Naruto didn't seem fazed at the end. She was definitely going to keep an eye on them.
About an hour later, a familiar face came trotting into the playground, with an unfamiliar Uchiha attached to his wrist. Sasuke had discomfort written all over him which immediately had Katsumi on guard.
"Sasuke-kun!" cried Naruto as he made a beeline for his best friend. The young crowd watched in confusion and surprise. It looked as though most of them didn't expect the jinchuuriki to have friends.
Sasuke ripped his hand from the grip of his stoic guard and ran to his blond companion.
"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun! You wanna play?" Naruto gestured to the group of kids watching their interactions with curiosity.
"Okay. What game?" Sasuke observed the expressions of the other preschoolers and frowned slightly when he noticed a few of the boys exuded hostility.
"We are playing catch!" The blond child grinned like he was the luckiest kid in the world.
Sasuke on the other hand, huffed and turned his eyes towards Katsumi. Before they even landed on the kunoichi, he snapped them back and shook his head. "Can we play hide and seek?" he offered with an attempted smile.
Something was very off about the youngest Uchiha brother and Katsumi was hyper-aware of his guarded body language. He hadn't even acknowledged her presence, which was completely out of character. But as she scrutinised the Uchiha stranger that stood off to the side watching like a hawk, she figured the heavy surveillance had a hand in it. Where is Itachi? This feels wrong. Her mind began to reel with worst case scenarios.
Naruto nodded enthusiastically and turned to the other boys to rally them up. "Let's play hide and seek! Who wants to seek?!"
All of the boys nodded at the game idea but they all refused to be the seeker.
"Why don't you do it, Naruto-kun?" The little Inuzuka boy shot back, adding the honourific with a snarky undertone.
Sasuke wanted to interject but he didn't want to embarrass Naruto by admitting his friend couldn't count yet. "Uh, what about Katsumi-nee?"
Katsumi didn't want to let on that she was paying attention so she ignored them, choosing to wait for them to approach her. She didn't have to wait long before Naruto slapped her knees with his palms and screamed her name. His cry echoed in her sensitive ears and she winced a little. She dropped her book with a soft smile and her usual silence.
"You can count to ten right, Katsumi-nee?" He beamed up at her with his signature cheeky grin. She was putty in his hands.
The wolf kunoichi nodded but realised a big problem with their plan. 'I am not counting out loud. How will you kids know I'm done?' she signed to Naruto, knowing full well it would be Sasuke who answered. The Uchiha boy stood a little behind Naruto, keeping his distance from her. He's acting so strange. She thought to herself but kept her expression gentle and her eyes trained on Naruto.
"Uh… here." Sasuke picked up a discarded stick and held it out for her to take, "You can bang this on the slide when you are done?" For a four-year-old, Sasuke was one brilliant problem solver. It still blew her mind how creative a young mind could be.
"Yeah! Do that! Please, Katsumi-nee!" Naruto slapped her knees again and again until she finally snapped her book shut.
"Guys! Katsumi-nee is gonna seek!" Naruto ran back to the chattering group of boys, shouting to get their attention.
Sasuke followed behind explaining the rules. No going past the bridge or out onto the street. Keep close to the forest and when Katsumi bangs on the metal slide it's time to be quiet.
Katsumi strolled up to the group as Sasuke spoke and stood in front of them with a bored expression. The kids looked her up and down, some staring in curiosity, some in awe. She hated the attention on her but she wasn't about to show weakness in front of a bunch of children.
Sasuke finished speaking and turned to watch his sister figure before pulling Naruto around to face her too.
Katsumi fought the inner panic and gave a sly smile. She held up one finger, watching as every pair of eyes followed it intently. Suddenly, she sliced her hand through the air in a signal to go. The tiny humans scattered into the surrounding forest. She spun around and headed towards the slide with the stick slung carelessly over her shoulder. To the average observer it looked like she wasn't paying attention. In reality, her keen senses were watching the now disgruntled Uchiha chaperone, whose Sharingan glowed ominously in what had to be Sasuke's direction.
Katsumi counted slowly in her head reaching the slide on nine and slamming the stick down on it on ten. The metallic sound rang through the playground. Katsumi tried not to laugh at the furious expression from the strange Uchiha as she began to saunter towards the first lot of kids she detected in the bushes nearby. Were her ninja skills a terribly unfair advantage? Absolutely. Did she care? Absolutely not. She reached the bush and pried the tightly packed branches apart to reveal both the Akimichi and the Nara boys huddled underneath with stunned faces.
'Found you. Go wait at the slide,' she signed as they crawled out of their hiding spot.
The dark haired boy nodded and dragged his friend towards the playground equipment.
"What did she say, Shikamaru-kun?" the crimson-haired boy whispered to his friend, which made Katsumi snort as she moved onto the other kids.
Eventually, Katsumi had found and sent every kid off to the slide, except for Naruto and Sasuke who were hidden quite well for two young troublemakers. Katsumi had to scale a tree to find them. She climbed with ease, not even bothering with chakra, before perching on the branch the two sat on. The eighteen-year-old smirked at the indignant look on the small blond's face. Sasuke gave another attempted smile, but he only managed an uncomfortable grimace.
'You win,' she signed, trying to keep the worry from her face.
"We won, Naruto-kun. We should go now." Sasuke immediately began to climb down the tree. As he stretched his arms to lower himself down onto the next branch Katsumi noticed fresh purple bruises peeking out from under his sleeves. Her blood began to boil but she sucked in the rage, knowing that pain in the ass guard was definitely watching their every move. She wanted to tear the skin off of the bastard who had the audacity to lay even a finger on such a precious soul, but she knew now was far from the time to ask about it. Instead, she ushered Naruto down the tree and followed after them. Her mood was thoroughly wrecked by this new observation but there was nothing she could do about it at that moment.
They made their way back to the kids but some of their parents had started to collect them from the play area. As soon as they were out of the woods, Sasuke's arm was snatched by the Uchiha guard and he was wrenched away from them without a word. Katsumi's rage peaked at that moment and she took a step towards them to confront the nasty Uchiha shinobi, but she was pinned by two wide, black eyes, pleading for her to stay out of it. It was the first time that day that she had been able to meet Sasuke's gaze. Immediately, she gritted her teeth and held her position, the look in his eyes held more than she could decipher. Her stomach twisted in agony as she watched her sweet boy being handled and she had to stand there helplessly. Naruto tried to reach for him but Katsumi reluctantly held him back.
"Nee-chan! But Sasuke-kun-" He bit his lip when he looked up at his big sister to see her holding a finger up to her masked lips. They both watched their friend get dragged away with breaking hearts.
Soon the playground cleared out and only Katsumi and Naruto were left. Katsumi took the now quiet boy's hand and gently tugged him in the direction of his home. They meandered in silence, both of their brains caught up in their strange interactions with their Uchiha friend.
When they were almost home Naruto suddenly spoke up, "Oh, Nee-chan? Sasuke-kun said I had to tell you something."
This stopped Katumi in her tracks. She knelt down beside him and looked him directly in the eyes, giving him her undivided attention.
"He said to tell you: She sweet rubble," Naruto said with a completely serious expression.
Katsumi cursed her luck as she tried to gesture for him to repeat himself.
"She… Sweet… Rubble," he eventually repeated slower for once comprehending her gestures.
Katsumi bit her lip under her mask and nodded. She nodded to Naruto in thanks and they began to walk again. What on earth does that mean? She sweet rubble. She repeated it over and over again in her mind as she dropped him off at his mother's house. In a completely out of character move, she refused to stay for dinner but thanked her sensei for the offer.
After she took her leave and leapt onto the rooftops. With a busy mind, she began to make her way to visit Obito, in hopes he may be able to help her decipher the riddle the four-year-old had given her. That was until the Uchiha compound came into view and she noticed the two powerful guards stationed at the village entrance. Two regular shinobi were turned away from the compound in a concise way that left no room for argument. She immediately crouched low to the tiles and pondered her next move.
She... Sweet... Rubble… She… Shi… Shisui rubble? Shit! Shisui trouble. It was so painfully obvious that it made the kunoichi want to face palm. It had taken her that long to figure it out that the sun was already beginning to set on the horizon. The plan of going to Obito's was swept to the side as she concocted a plan to get into the compound to check on Shisui. Sasuke never would have risked warning her about it if it wasn't incredibly important. How did he know? Is that why he was being guarded? Where is Itachi? She had so many questions and no one to answer them. Her stomach twisted in uncertainty, there was something serious going on and Katsumi was on her own. It wasn't like she could tell anyone about it, because she didn't even know what was going on herself.
She silently hopped across the rooftops until she was far enough away that the Uchiha on guard wouldn't sense the burst of chakra. With a deep breath, she focused her chakra and created a perfect shadow clone. Her own heterochromatic eyes stared back at her as she nodded in approval. The plan was set in motion as Katsumi headed over more buildings to the right side of the compound. She was happy Shisui lived in the outer part of the village because it wasn't the biggest task to get to his home. Her shadow clone approached the main gate of Uchiha compound as Katsumi set herself up for a jump. She was far enough away that she couldn't pick up the voices of the guards, even with her keen hearing. Knowing this gave her the confidence to take the risk and sneak in.
With a deep breath, she leapt over the fence without touching it. It took her three silent steps before she could launch herself onto the top of Shisui's home. There wasn't any point in going to the front door, especially if Shisui was in some kind of trouble. As she landed on the roof, the memories from the freshly dissipated shadow clone flashed through her mind. The Uchiha's had turned her down in a harsher way than they had dismissed the other shinobi. That didn't bother her too much, she knew most Uchiha weren't too fond of her constantly invading their space. Now that her distraction was gone she was even more cautious as she lowered herself down to Shisui's bedroom window. She stopped to sense for chakra signals inside but came up empty. No Shisui. What she did find was a mess, it was as if everything in his usually tidy room had been tossed all over the place.
Katsumi perched on the window sill and carefully tested the window. It slid up with ease, neither stiff nor locked. This made her even more concerned, but she pressed on. She lifted the window just enough to sniff for his scent. The stench of fear smashed her in the face full force, underneath the strong smell was unfamiliar scents which confirmed others had come looking for Shisui too. Even though the smell was strong, it was also stale which told her it had to be a couple of hours old. The fear slowly revealed deep familiar undertones and Katsumi realised that the scared scent was from Shisui himself. It was then that she caught the same scent trailing from the front door and back over the Uchiha fence line. Not wanting to risk sticking around for the guards to find her, she decided to follow the new trail. She closed the window and checked her surroundings before she took off once more, this time tracking her frantic friend. The trail led over the boundary fence and veered into the forest behind the compound towards the Leaf Village boundary. Katsumi didn't think twice as she scaled the wall and took off into the woods.
Night had fallen. Her adrenaline and panic caused the forest to take on an ominous aura in the enveloping darkness. She pushed her worry to the side and focused on the scent path her friend had created as he fled. As she got Deeper and deeper into the woods, her stomach started to sink. She could pick up the permeating smell of fear, pain, fire, and worst of all, blood.
The wolf jounin was now a long way from the village and incredibly isolated. About a mile ahead, she could sense a battle raging between one powerful chakra signature and one much weaker signature. Six hostile chakra signatures lined the trees close to the battle as she slowed to a stop. Now was the time to bring out her trusted companion, for a second opinion.
Minori appeared in a puff of smoke and immediately began to sniff the air. The panic and rage in the air was enough to immediately have her ninken on high alert.
'Six in the trees? Two in battle?' she signed to her pup, who replied with a silent nod. 'You distract them, I am going straight for the fight, it's my friend in there.'
Minori whined in concern but Katsumi's mind was made up and they both knew it. It was a stupid, irrational idea that was doomed to fail. Yet, Katsumi was going to jump in blind regardless. She couldn't just stand by as her friend fought alone. With a flick of her fingers, Minori went one way and Katsumi went the other. As she approached the battle, another familiar chakra signature entered her senses but it was too late to stop now. Minori's shrill howl diverted the attention of the ninja in the trees as Katsumi shot underneath them, bursting into the clearing.
There on a cliff's edge stood one of the respected elders of Konoha towering over her kneeling friend. Danzo Shimura had the fingers of his right hand buried deep into the socket of Shisui's eye. Whether out of distraction or pure arrogance, the older shinobi didn't even turn to acknowledge the kunoichi as she broke the treeline.
Katsumi saw red.
Not too far from her she spotted Shisui's blade, broken laying on the grass. She snapped together a plan in her mind before she dove into action, ignoring the shinobi racing towards her back. In one swift motion, she ran forward snatching the blade from the ground and unfurled her whip.
Danzo finally turned to face her with an irritated grumble which turned to surprise as he felt the sting of her whip as it wound tightly around his elbow. Katsumi launched herself into the air as she tugged her whip tight to keep his arm in place. With one perfect stroke she hit her mark.
The broken blade sang as it split flesh and bone, fresh blood splattering across her masked face. There was a wet slap as Danso's severed arm fell limply onto the ground at Shisui's knees. The whip slipped off Danzo's arm as she pulled it back and stood protectively in front of her seriously injured friend. A gutteral snarl ripped through her teeth as she glared at the older man as he staggered back in shock.
A pained cry wrenched itself from Danzo's throat as the adrenaline wore off and pain hit him full force.
The shinobi who had made a beeline for her never made it. They put up a good fight but all met the sharp end of Itachi's blade before they could even get close.
"You petulant bitch! How dare you?!" Danzo screeched as he clutched at his injured arm. The stump poured crimson liquid even as the elder tried to stop the bleeding with the sleeve of his white haori.
Shisui stared at the back of his saviour in total awe. He had thought he was going to die here, alone in this cold clearing. Out of all the people to stand between him and death he never expected it to be Katsumi Hatake.
Danzo then looked to his agents to find half of them slaughtered at the feet of an incandescent Itachi Uchiha. The elder knew he was in for a fight.
"You fucking Hatakes always get in the way of things. I'm so glad your traitorous father took a knife to his stomach before he could cause anymore damage to my village. You young shinobi are all the same. You have no idea what pain you will cause by doing this. Violent and fucking stupid," he literally spat in fury as his mouth salivated from the tremendous pain. His eyes flickered to the arm that now lay limp on the ground, the fist clutching Shisui's eyeball.
Katsumi stomped her foot on the dirt in front of the distraction and growled in wrath. Summoning the tiny amount of strength left in his body, Shisui pried his eye from the gory arm and held it close to his chest, protecting it from the leering man.
"You stupid whore, you will regret this! Mark my words." Danzo's voice was weaker now but the same madness coloured his tone.
Katsumi sunk into her fighting stance, ready to attack this man so they could bring him to justice. A sudden loud explosion from the tree line distracted the three young shinobi for barely a millisecond, but it was enough. The kunoichi fretted for her ninken for that split second before she turned back to her opponent to find he was gone. He had fled like the fucking coward he was. The trail of blood droplets led over the edge of the cliff but she heard no splash. She peered over the cliff and cursed as she found no movement except for the dark rushing river below. Itachi came to her side, his sharingan glowing in the dark of the night.
"What a pussy, didn't even want to fight when he was out-numbered. Didn't like the taste of his own medicine, huh?" Shisui gave a pained laugh, resulting in a stuttering cough fit.
Katsumi was at his side in a heartbeat, her hands fluttering around him as she tried to figure out how to help.
"Don't worry, senpai, you already saved my life." The curly-haired Uchiha threw her a grateful smile that hit her smack in the chest.
Itachi knelt next to his cousin and placed a patch over his empty eye socket. "Katsumi, you were, at best, a distraction. What you did was stupid and brash. You could have gotten yourself killed."
The silver kunoichi knew he was right. She bowed her head in humiliation before she bravely raised her shame-filled gaze to meet Itachi's.
"And I have no idea how to thank you for what you have done, Katsumi-chan." There was a mixture of relief, pain and thanks in Itachi's deep onyx eyes.
Katsumi felt a tear roll down her blood splattered cheek as she wrapped her arms around Shisui's shoulders and rested her forehead on his curls. Shisui was alive, even if his chakra was in dangerous territory. And in that moment that's all she cared about. She breathed a sigh of relief as the injured Shisui relaxed into her arms and his cousin continued to tend to his injuries with the medical gear he had on him.
It wasn't long before she heard the all too familiar howl of her ninken as she burst through the trees followed by a Leaf medical team. "Mistress! I brought help!" Minori came to heel beside her master, licking at her thigh.
Then from the trees came a horrified Minato Uzumaki. "Katsumi-chan?! What happened here?" his voice was laced with alarm.
Reluctantly, Katsumi let go of her friend and sat back on her feet as the adrenaline wore off, not yet ready to answer her sensei. Itachi gave her a rare smile of support before they turned together to face their Hokage.
Oh my, poetic justice at it's finest. I have always wanted to see Danzo's greedy arm sliced off. Any who thanks for reading! I am already working on the next chapter, so at least it's on the way.
Arohanui e hoa. Kia kaha, kia atawhai, kia haumaru te noho xx
(Big love my friend. Be strong, be kind, and stay safe xx)