"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 10: The Hammer Falls

The day after Shisui's "Disappearance"

If the Uchiha Clan was tense before Shisui seemed to disappear, after his disappearance, it was on lockdown. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a kunai. They had lost the strongest member of the clan overnight, with no real clues on what had happened. All they had was a strange suicide note from the missing man.

There was a lot of talk around the clan about what this note meant. Many doubted his disappearance as a suicide, as it was very unlike Shisui to just die like that. Itachi was suspected by some, as he was the one of the two key members missing from last night's clan meeting. The other had been Shisui. Many even thought he had killed Shisui on the Hokage's orders, as Shisui had been an integral part of their plans for the coup.

Some clan members, who were police, gathered to go confront Itachi.

"So where were you last night?" one Uchiha asked.

"I was busy with ANBU duties, and then met with Izumi before dropping her off home. Is there a problem with that?" Itachi responded.

"You know who else was missing from the meeting last night? Shisui. The same Shisui that supposedly drowned in the Naka River last night." A different Uchiha mentioned.

Itachi's face betrayed none of his thoughts, though he was grieving his part in Shisui's death. "So Shisui has died. That is most unfortunate."

The Uchiha members that had gathered shared looks with each other. What a strange response for someone who was so close with Shisui.

"As the police, we have taken it upon ourselves to investigate what happened. We have come across his suicide note." The first Uchiha told Itachi.

"This is Shisui's suicide note. We have already finished the handwriting analysis. This is no doubt, his writing." An older Uchiha clansman informed Itachi as he handed him the suicide note.

Itachi responded. "If it's suicide, what is left to investigate?"

A different Uchiha, slightly younger than the leader of the gathered bunch, replied. "For those who can use the Sharingan, it's quite easy to forge one's handwriting."

"I doubt a man like him would leave something like this behind and die." A different Uchiha clansman accused.

"He was someone who'd do any mission for the clan. He was feared as Shunshin no Shisui, and one of the most talented Uchiha…" the oldest clansmen present commented.

Itachi just read the suicide note quietly. It read:

I'm tired of the duties…

There is no future for Uchiha…

And for me…

I cannot walk out the "path" any further

He realized it was indeed written by Shisui, but half of it was missing, torn away by somebody. He realized the hidden meaning behind his note. It was his last warning to their clan to turn from their current path.

Itachi finally spoke to the clansmen who were awaiting his response. "It's not wise to judge others by your preconceptions and their appearances."

"We'll leave that note with you. Why don't you take that to the ANBU and have them investigate as well." The leader of the bunch told Itachi.

"Understood." Was Itachi's one-word response.

"We hope they can find more evidence. Just know, as the police, we have other connections to the ANBU as well. We'll know if there's anything you hide." One of the Uchiha told Itachi, a thinly veiled threat that Itachi caught immediately.

Itachi stood quietly as the gathered Uchiha turned to leave. They had reached the gate of Itachi's home when he spoke to them. "Why don't you be more direct?"

The leaving Uchiha stopped in their tracks. They turned their heads to the side, to look at Itachi.

"So, you're suspicious of me?" Itachi's Sharingan activated.

The older Uchiha clansmen all activated their Sharingan as well. "Yes, brat. We won't give you any special treatment just because you're Fugaku's son. If you betray the clan, you will be punished."

There was a tense silence for a few seconds, before everyone blurred into action, Itachi weaved through all of his opponents' attacks, delivering swift kicks and punches to key pressure points that caused them to collapse.

A couple of the Uchiha policemen jumped back and pulled out their kunai and charged at Itachi, hoping to incapacitate him by injuring his limbs. When one of them lunged to stab him, Itachi wrapped his arm around the outstretched arm, and punched the arm in the elbow, causing it to shatter. The man went down screaming.

The last Uchiha policeman standing attacked him from the back, which Itachi responded by stabbing behind him with his own kunai, which embedded itself into the attacker's stomach, and then quickly proceeded to pivot off of his back foot to turn around and deliver a nasty kick to the man's neck, sending him to the floor.

"As I've said just now… don't judge others simply by your preconceptions and judgements of their appearance. You assumed… that I have patience." Itachi calmly told his defeated opponents, who were writhing on the ground in front of Itachi's house.

The whole fight had ended within 10 seconds.

Fugaku had been walking home, when he saw Itachi standing in front of 5 policemen, who all collapsed suddenly. He saw the Sharingan in Itachi's eyes and realized what had happened. They had been in a genjutsu fight, and Itachi had defeated all of them. The way they fell from a mere genjutsu fight implied they never even realized they were in a genjutsu. The whole fight and all the damage they received was all in their minds. What a terrifying level of genjutsu proficiency.

Fugaku walked over to Itachi. "Son, what happened here?"

Itachi looked at his father in silence for a moment before speaking. "I suppose we are all just tense from Shisui's death."

Fugaku decided not to push this further. He simply nodded. 'We need to set off our plan sooner than later. The clan is reaching its boiling point.' He thought to himself as he and his son walked inside.

At the Academy, a couple days before Shisui's disappearance

The news that Shisui was planning on being Narumi and Sasuke's Jonin sensei if they became Genin had spread throughout the school. They had gotten a lot of questions to see if the rumors were true, and while all of their peers were jealous, some doubted someone like Shisui would be the Jonin sensei of someone like Narumi. What made her so special? Sure, they understood Shisui training Sasuke, after all he was the handsome prince of the Uchiha.

Narumi was getting tired of all these people coming to ask her the same thing, only to doubt her when she told them it was true. She rolled her eyes when she saw a pink-haired girl approach her with her gang of bully friends.

"So, we heard you're going to get Shunshin no Shisui as your Jonin sensei. Is that true?" Sakura asked Narumi.

Narumi sighed. Yup. Just as she expected. Another one. "Yes… it's true."

"Now why would someone as cool as him spend time with a loser like you? You probably won't even make Genin with your pathetic grades." A purple-haired bully named Ami sneered at her.

Narumi was getting frustrated. Why was it so hard to believe that someone would see value in her? Was it that hard to believe?

"Shut up! He knew me since I was a baby, ok? We are super close! So shut up and go away!" She yelled back at them.

"Gosh, no need to get so angry. Obviously its hard to believe a living legend of the village would be close with an orphan girl like yourself." Sakura fired back at Narumi. "If you guys are so close, why don't you ask him to come to school and greet you? Maybe pick you up from school?

"I can! And I will! Just watch, he'll come to school and show you how close we are, and all of you are gonna feel so stupid!" Narumi blurted out without thinking.

"Fine. Then tell him to come to school on Friday. We'll believe you then." Ami told Narumi, and the bullies walked back to their seats.

"Fine! I will!" Narumi yelled at their retreating forms.

Now that they had left and Narumi had calmed down, she started to think. 'Oh no, what did I just do? Shisui nii-chan is probably super busy! He rarely even has time to train Sasuke! But if he doesn't come, I'm gonna look like a liar and a huge loser! I can't deal with that! Oh, what to do… what to do…'

Sasuke came back to his seat from his bathroom break, and saw Narumi sitting at her seat with her head on the table, her hands on her head, agonizing about something.

"What's wrong Narumi?" he asked.

She told him what just happened, and Sasuke offered to ask Shisui himself when he saw him in the compound. Narumi hugged him in thanks, relieved at having that burden lifted from her mind. The other girls in the class saw this and gave her death glares, which she was oblivious too.

The next day, Sasuke told Narumi that Shisui agreed, and word began to spread around the class that Shisui would be coming on Friday to see Narumi. Shisui was very popular amongst girls, and had his own fan girls, even in the academy. They counted down the days until Friday, waiting to see their idol.

When Friday came, Narumi waited all day for Shisui to show up. She kept her eyes by the door the whole time in school, and when it was break time, she kept an eye out for Shisui. Eventually, the day came to an end, and the students began to get picked up by their parents from school. She sat on the stairs in front of the Academy's main entrance, waiting for him to arrive, but he never showed up. The last of the students left, sneering at Narumi. "I knew he wasn't gonna show up to see you loser. Don't know why I bothered waiting around."

She had told Naruto that Shisui would pick her up, and told him he didn't need to come. She was left alone, her face red with embarrassment. Finally, the tears began to fall. Her tears held a multitude of emotions. First, she was embarrassed in front of the whole school, second, she felt all alone, and finally she felt like no one cared about her. She sat there bawling her eyes out when she felt a hand on her head.

She looked up and saw her brother looking down at her with a smile.

"You alright there princess?" He asked her.

"Onii-chan!" She cried out loud as she leapt into Naruto's open arms. She hugged him and cried into his chest.

"Shhhh. It's alright. You know your onii-chan will always have your back no matter what. Now how about we get some ramen for dinner, hmm? You can get anything you want." Naruto softly told Narumi.

She looked up to her onii-chan, tears still falling, but a small smile started to form on her round face. Naruto always knew how to cheer her up.

At the Naka Shrine

Shisui's disappearance threw a huge wrench in the Uchiha Clan head's plans. He had wanted to use Shisui's control of the Kyuubi through his Mangekyo Sharingan as a distraction. A distraction that would have gathered all of the village's top brass, allowing them to be taken hostage in one fell swoop. He would have even allowed them to live if they turned over the position of Hokage peacefully.

Now his hand was being forced to take more drastic measures. If the Hokage was willing to get rid of his top Jonin in an attempt to keep his position, then that means he knew the clan was scheming behind his back, and meant he was willing to kill whoever threatened his position.

Shisui had been a crucial part of the plot, but he was still loyal to the Hokage in many ways, a firm believer of the Will of Fire philosophy. If Hiruzen was willing to kill him, then no Uchiha was safe. Maybe the whole clan would be eliminated.

Fugaku gritted his teeth. He would have to reveal his own secret. Unbeknownst to all, he had the Mangekyo Sharingan as well. His Mangekyo had an ability called Oyamatsumi, which was a combination of genjutsu and space-time manipulation, which essentially allowed the user to send the minds of people into a separate genjutsu dimension.

He had planned to use his power on the council and the rest of the Konoha brass when they had gathered to discuss how they would deal with the Kyuubi. Things had changed however, and now he would have to control the Kyuubi himself.

Fugaku and the top conspirators had met in the underground shrine, to discuss what would change now that Shisui was gone. Now that Fugaku couldn't peacefully hold the leaders hostage, they would have to kill them, as they were sure to fight back. He began assigning people to specific targets, targets they would eliminate whilst they were distracted with the Kyuubi. He no longer wanted them to gather at the same spot, which would allow them to band together and fight back. Fugaku began to make plans accordingly, perhaps destroy the meeting points? Make preemptive strikes?

As the leaders and key members of the conspiracy plotted, Itachi stayed quiet. He would most likely have to kill Naruto to prevent him from fighting to protect Narumi. Shisui had been right. He had to make a decision quick, or the decision would be made for him.

At Ichiraku's

Izumi had seen Naruto walking hand in hand with a distraught looking Narumi, so she had joined them to see what was wrong with the redheaded girl she saw as a little sister. Narumi perked up a little seeing her, and invited her to have dinner with them, which made Naruto wince a little. Great, more mouths to feed with his poor wallet.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's! How may I-" Ayame stopped when she saw her favorite customers walk in, and frowned a little when she saw Narumi's eyes puffy from crying. "Narumi-chan! What's wrong? Is everything alright?"

"Ayame nee-chan!" Narumi cried out as Ayame came out from behind the counter to give her a hug. She explained to her nii-chan and nee-chans what had happened at school, with a voice that was still shaky from crying.

Ayame didn't know about Shisui that well, and all she could do to console was to give her a hug. "I'm so sorry to hear that happened. Let me know if there's anything I can do to make you feel better. Your first bowl of ramen is on the house, sweety." She told Narumi, who gave her a small smile accompanied by a still crying face.

Naruto and Izumi just gave each other a small glance. They both knew Shisui had gone missing the previous day. Naruto didn't know the full extent of what was going on in the Uchiha clan, and only saw Shisui's disappearance as just that, but Izumi did, and knew whatever had happened to him was connected to the Uchiha plot which she was somewhat left out of, as she was still a relatively young Chunin, and only half Uchiha. One thing they knew in common was that Itachi would know what was going on.

A few minutes later they were digging into their ramen, and Narumi was feeling much better. A warm bowl of ramen always seemed to do the trick for her.

"How about we go blow off some steam and go for an evening session of training? Why don't we show Izumi here your secret chain jutsu?" Naruto suggested.

"Really nii-chan? Can I really?" Narumi asked excitedly. "But you told me I shouldn't show that to anyone?"

Naruto smiled, she always did listen to his words. "I'm glad you remembered. And you shouldn't but Izumi here is special. We can trust her. Can't we Izumi?" he asked Izumi.

Izumi smiled back at the two siblings. She felt good knowing she was so close and trusted by the two. Especially Naruto, who barely trusted anyone with any of his secrets.

"Of course! I'd be honored to see your jutsu Narumi-chan." She told Narumi with a smile.

Narumi beamed in pride as she pulled the two teens away, all her earlier worries forgotten.

At a training ground used by Naruto and Narumi

At an isolated training ground that was rarely used by anyone other than the Namikaze-Uzumaki siblings, Izumi watched the two spar, Narumi using her chakra chains to fend off Naruto's attacks. As she watched the two train, she couldn't help but think about Sasuke and Itachi, who she compared them to.

That reminded her of the conversation she had with Itachi a few days ago. Now that Shisui was gone, it meant that whatever was being plotted was going to be changed, and pushed forward. Time was running out. She remembered her promise to Itachi not to tell Naruto, but things had changed. She was sure Naruto could help them, and she wanted to tell him so bad.

She struggled internally, fighting against herself. One side wanted her to keep her promise to Itachi, while the other side wanted to tell Naruto and get the burden off of Itachi's shoulders. After a long, quiet struggle, she decided to tell Naruto. She took a couple minutes to gather the courage to tell Naruto.

She stood up to call him over so she could tell him, when one of the Hokage's loyal ANBU appeared next to her.

"You have been summoned by the Hokage for a mission." The ANBU told her. "It's urgent."

Izumi sighed at the terrible timing. The courage and conviction she had worked up melted away. "Fine. I'll be right there." She called out to Naruto and Narumi. "Hey! I have a mission I need to go to. I'll see you guys later!"

Narumi and Naruto waved goodbye to her, and she vanished with the ANBU in a shunshin.

At the Hokage Office

Itachi stood in front of the Hokage's desk, telling him how to plot had been progressing. He had decided to follow Shisui's path and protect the village from his clan. He just wished it could still be done without any violence.

"I see. That is very troubling. I suppose we let things fester for too long." Hiruzen told Itachi. Itachi didn't respond, but continued to look at the Hokage, waiting for him to continue.

"How soon do you think they'll make their move?" Hiruzen asked as he stood up turned around to face the window.

"I would say anytime between 1 to 2 weeks, Hokage-sama." Itachi informed the Third.

"I see. We don't have much time then. I'll come up with a final decision regarding the matter and let you know within 1 or 2 days. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You are dismissed."

Itachi silently nodded and vanished in a shunshin of crows. Hiruzen brought out his pipe and lit it to smoke as he thought about what to do next.

A few minutes later, Izumi and the ANBU he had sent to summon her appeared in front of him. He turned around and dismissed the ANBU.

"Ah, Izumi-san. How are you doing today?" he asked Izumi.

"I'm personally doing quite well, but people close to me seem to be having a rough time, Hokage-sama." She responded.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at her response. Did she also know about the situation with the Uchiha?

"Izumi-san, are you aware of the current situation behind the Uchiha clan?"

Izumi winced. Yup. The Hokage definitely knew. This was trouble for her clan.

"H-hai, Hokage-sama" she responded quietly.

"I see. You know, perhaps I should have called you earlier. You were always talented in understanding what people want and need, perfect for negotiations. What do you suggest we do to avert this situation without bloodshed?" Hiruzen asked Izumi.

She paused for a moment to think. She didn't know the details of what was being plotted, but she knew the reason why the Uchiha began to scheme. "The clan is unhappy with their treatment. They contribute much to the village, but they receive very little in return. In the past they had at least received respect, but now that respect is dwindling."

She looked at the Hokage, who nodded at her to continue. "At every turn, their opinions and interests are shot down, and they feel alienated. They have no say in how the village is run, even though they are one of the founding clans, and contribute more than any other clan. They feel like they are slowly being driven further and further from the village, both physically, and in spirit. They don't feel like they have the village's trust, and they have lost trust in the village as well."

The Sandaime sat down at his seat again. "I see. It seems I have been blind to their issues. Perhaps Fugaku's suggestion to place Itachi as Hokage was their last effort to find their place in their village peacefully."

The old Hokage had many regrets. It seemed to him that he had fumbled in his treatment of the Uchiha, always asking them to sacrifice for the village, but never rewarding them properly. All they wanted was a voice in the village's affairs, but the other clans had feared their power, and had always opposed whatever they proposed. He had merely gone along with the council, not bothering to see the festering frustrations that hid underneath.

He closed his eyes to think for a moment. After a minute he reopened his eyes. "Thank you for your counsel, Izumi-san." Hiruzen told Izumi. "I decided its time for me to retire once again."

Izumi's eyes widened. "But Hokage-sama! If you step down who would take your place?"

The Sandaime gave her a small smile. "How do you think your boyfriend sounds as Hokage? I think he would do a fabulous job."

Izumi was speechless. Perhaps this could appease the Uchiha. Afterall, they wouldn't attack the village leadership if the leadership was an Uchiha. Perhaps this could all be settled peacefully.

Hiruzen smiled at the speechless Izumi. "Now. Back to why I summoned you. I've heard from Suzaku about what an excellent job you did on your last mission to Kusa, and how you befriended their leadership. That's why I'm putting you in charge of the mission this time. Kusa asked for you specifically, to deal with a dispute that needs to be settled as soon as possible. If you leave tonight, you could make it to Kusa by evening tomorrow."

Izumi snapped back to attention as the Hokage gave her the mission details.

"Any questions?" Hiruzen asked, and Izumi shook her head. "Good. I want you to gather your team, and leave immediately."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Izumi responded, before she rushed off to gather her team.

Hiruzen gazed out the window. Yes, Itachi would make a fine successor. He should have chosen him to be his successor earlier. Perhaps then Shisui might have survived as well. Another regret to add to his list. He hoped this would be enough to appease the Uchiha and settle things peacefully.

Secret ROOT base, beneath Konoha

Danzo had overheard Izumi's conversation with the Hokage, and found out that Hiruzen planned on choosing Itachi as his successor. He frowned. This was not good. While Itachi was a powerful enough to protect the village, he was too young, and soft like Hiruzen. The young Uchiha would not understand the value of ROOT, and not understand Danzo's value. With such a young Hokage, many villages would test the young Hokage's mettle, and make many provocations, which Danzo didn't believe Itachi could handle. Most importantly, if Itachi became Hokage, Danzo knew he would never get the chance to be Hokage again. He decided to make his own moves.

He ordered his ROOT ANBU to summon his fellow elders, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura. He would tell them the dire situation of the Uchiha conspiracy, but leave out the decision Hiruzen had made to attempt to come to a peaceful conclusion. Together, the 3 elders held almost as much power and respect as the Hokage, and could order shinobi, granted they had Hiruzen's permission. The permission could easily be forged.

He ordered some other ROOT ANBU to summon Itachi back to the Hokage's office. He would get rid of several risk factors in one fell swoop.

Back at the Hokage's Office, an hour later

Itachi entered the room to find the 3 elders of Konoha instead of the Hokage.

"I've been summoned?" Itachi asked with a blank face.

"We've heard about the developments in the Uchiha conspiracy." Koharu told Itachi, which made him tense up. What kind of conclusion had the village come to? Was the Sandaime able to come up with a peaceful solution? Or were they thinking the unthinkable?

Homura asked Itachi a question. "Is it true that the Uchiha clan is planning to overthrow the village leadership, and use the Kyuubi?"

He didn't want to reply, but he found himself nodding.

"I see. I'm afraid this is treason of the highest order. You are aware, hmm? Koharu asked Itachi.

Itachi was unable to respond.

Danzo finally opened his mouth. "We, the elder council, order you to eliminate the traitorous Uchiha clan, on the charges of treason against the village, by the authority invested in us by the Sandaime Hokage." He showed Itachi a scroll that had the Hokage's stamp on it.

Itachi couldn't let that slide. "The whole clan is not treasonous. There are many innocents amongst them, such as the many civilians that make up a large part of our clan. You would have me eliminate them as well?"

Koharu answered his question. "No. Just eliminate those involved in the conspiracy."

"Kill all the shinobi. We cannot risk their vengeance, letting some slip through the cracks while we try to figure out who is involved and who isn't." Danzo added.

The 3 elders nodded. There was no backing out now.

"And my family?" Itachi asked in a low voice.

"We must not have the blame fall unto the village. We will need you to sacrifice. We need you to take the blame for what happened as an act of your own. That way, as long s we keep silent, the Uchiha remaining will keep their honor, and they won't desire revenge against the village. If you can promise this, your brother will be allowed to live." Danzo informed Itachi.

"But Sasuke is a civilian! My mother is a retired kunoichi! They're innocent!" Itachi protested.

"Sasuke is a shinobi in training, who shows skill almost befitting a Genin. Your mother was once a formidable warrior herself. They are candidates for elimination as well. We are doing you a favor by allowing at least your brother to live." Danzo told Itachi.

"Now go. You have a mission to accomplish." Homura told Itachi.

Itachi said nothing, and turned around to leave. If they could see his face, they would see tears falling from his eyes. He consoled himself, at least he could save some of his clan through his actions.

However, Danzo had no intention of keeping his promise. He didn't like to leave loose ends. It would be very easy for an Uchiha civilian to give birth to a shinobi, and if they harbored ill will towards the village, the emotional clan was surely to pass it on to the next generation. He never actually stated the civilians would be allowed to live. He merely didn't have Itachi do it himself. He had his ROOT who could take care of that.

Now some might wonder why a pragmatist like Danzo would waste a valuable resource like the Uchiha Clan, losing its power. To that Danzo would reply that he had no intention of losing their power. He would simply put that power under new management.

At the Uchiha Compound

A figure could be seen crouching over an electric pole, as he looked down at his clan. Sure, there was a lot of tension, but not all the shinobi were involved. He looked down and looked at all the faces. Some happy, some sad, some angry, some laughing. There were old people, young people, children, parents, happy couples, vendors, and all sorts of people. They were just living life.

Tonight however, everything would change, and he would be the instrument that ended their lives as they knew it, one way or another.

He waited until most people left the streets and entered their homes for the night. He drew his sword from his back, and said a silent prayer under his breath for all the lives he would end tonight.

Naruto and Narumi's Training Field

"Whew! I'm beat Onii-chan! That was fun! I guess that's what they mean by blowing off steam huh!" Narumi commented to her brother as she lied on her back, looking at the stars in the sky. Their training had gotten out of hand, and gone on way longer than they had intended. Maybe they should have gone home when Izumi left.

Naruto smiled at his sister. It was good to see her in a good mood again. A smile suited her much better than a crying face. "It's quite late. Let's go home."

"I'm too tired nii-chan, can you carry me on your back like you used to?" the redhead asked her blonde brother.

He knew she had more than enough energy to walk back on her own, but he decided to oblige. He wouldn't have long before she was too big to carry. He would cherish the moments while he could. "Sure, why not. Hop on, imouto."

Narumi sprang up with a grin and hopped on to his back. Yeah, she had more than enough energy.

She rested her head against his back and shoulders, and they began to walk home.

They walked back enjoying each other's company, reminiscing about fun times they had, and even the silences they shared were comfortable silences. The two were completely comfortable around each other.

They were in one of those comfortable silences, Naruto almost thinking Narumi was asleep, when she suddenly perked up.

"N-nii-chan? I'm sensing a bad feeling. It feels like a lot of people feel really sad, or scared. T-their feelings are disappearing one at a time? Nii-chan something bad is happening! It's near where Sasuke lives!" She shouted out to Naruto.

He remembered how her senses had saved Hinata from being kidnapped in the past, and immediately took off. He had sensed some weird vibes from the Uchiha Clan recently. Itachi's strange behavior and Shisui's disappearance put him on edge. Something big was going down.

When he got closer to the compound, he could sense chakra signatures disappearing, one by one. He sped up to reach the compound faster. When he reached the gates, he was shocked. He immediately put a hand over Narumi's eyes. She couldn't see this.

At the Uchiha Compound

There was blood everywhere. Blood on the streets, blood on the walls, blood on the rooftops, there wasn't a surface that didn't have blood somewhere. Bodies of shinobi and civilian alike were littered all over as well. Whoever had killed them hadn't discriminated against children, the elderly, civilian, or shinobi. All were treated equally in their slaughter.

"Narumi. Don't look inside the compound, ok? I want you to hide yourself. Remember the shinobi hide and seek game we played? Hide yourself like that, ok?" he instructed Narumi calmly. He didn't want her to panic, so he had to keep his cool.

Despite his calm demeanor, Narumi could sense something terrible had happened. Her voice shook as she responded. "O-ok, nii-chan."

"Ok, good. Now go!" Naruto sent her off to hide, as he closed his eyes and starting focusing his wind chakra across the entire compound. Once he had sensed every chakra signature in the compound, he crossed his fingers into a cross shaped hand seal, and yelled out his jutsu. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)"

He formed as many shadow clones he could, while still staying in combat condition, which was around 50, a massive number for anyone. Even the Sandaime at his prime could maybe form 20 or so. They sprinted off in all directions at their fastest speed, which was pretty damn fast. The original Naruto sensed the chakra signatures he cared about, clustered around one house. He sprinted off in that direction.

Naruto's clones found several strange ANBU slaughtering the civilians. He had been in the ANBU for a while now, and knew everyone in the forces, at least in passing. He did not recognize any of these ANBU, and decided they needed to be eliminated.

Now in a straight fight, no ROOT ANBU stood even the slimmest of chances of winning against Naruto. Even his shadow clones could defeat any Chunin level ROOT ANBU, and was more than a match for all but the strongest of the Jonin level ROOT ANBU. That was in a straight fight. Naruto liked to fight stealthily, and with his unparalleled level of stealth, none of the ROOT stood a chance, no matter what numerical advantage they had.

Naruto's clones began the process of systematically assassinating the ROOT ANBU, as easily as they themselves had slaughtered civilians. His clones sealed up many of the ANBU's bodies for investigation later.

Danzo argued his ROOT ANBU were superior to regular shinobi, as they didn't have their emotions to hinder them from missions. This was sometimes true, but that also made them very inflexible, due to their single-minded drive to complete the mission at all costs. The moment the blonde had shown his face, all of them should have retreated, but they didn't. They had a mission to complete, a mission to slaughter all the Uchiha civilians. In return for their dutiful service, they were rewarded with a blade through the back of their skulls.

At the Uchiha Clan head's house

Fugaku knew what was going on outside, and realized his son was behind it all. Itachi had finally made his choice. He knew Itachi's heart wasn't fully in the coup, but he didn't quite expect this. However, he wasn't angry or disappointed with his son.

They were both faced with a dilemma concerning the survival of the Uchiha Clan. Fugaku had done what he thought was best for his clan, and put his all into what he believed was right. His son had done the same thing. He knew Itachi had to make the difficult decision of killing some in the clan, to make sure it wouldn't be destroyed outright. Cutting off a cancer if you will. The thing that saddened him the most was the guilt and pain his son would have to live with for the rest of his life.

Fugaku was a powerful shinobi in his own right. He was often compared with the Yondaime in terms of power, and his name struck fear into the hearts of the enemy in the 3rd Shinobi War. With his Mangekyo and his experience, he was even stronger than Itachi was right now. He knew he could beat Itachi, but decided to face his fate rather than harm his own son. He would entrust the future of the clan to him tonight.

He went to his wife, and shared a look. Her lips were shaking, and there were tears in her eyes. He gave her a passionate kiss, and the two sat down at the table in their living room, hand in hand, and awaited what was coming.

Itachi soon slid the door to the living room open, his Sharingan blazing, and covered in blood. He looked at his parents who had accepted their fates. That only made what he was doing harder.

"I'm sorry I drove you to this, my son." Fugaku told Itachi. "I know what a gentle soul you are, and how much this hurts you. I wish you would have been on our side, but I know you've chosen to do what you believed was right. I want you to know I'm very proud of you, no matter what happens tonight."

The tears Itachi had been holding finally burst forth, as he clenched his fists so hard, it began to draw blood. "T-tou-san…"

"Don't cry my son. Do what must be done. I leave the clan's future to you. Only please spare your brother."

Itachi's body shook as he wept, but he nodded. Fugaku stood up and walked over to Itachi.

Itachi's hand shook as he lifted his blade. He forced his shaking hand to strike down the man he had looked up to his whole life.

"I love you Itachi, you are my firstborn, my pride." Fugaku said as he was struck down. He had a smile on his face as he died.

He turned to face his mother, who had a brave face on, but was still crying for the death of her beloved, and the pain her son was feeling.

"I love you, my baby. I'm very proud of you. Please take care of your brother." She sobbed out to Itachi. She stood and cupped his cheeks with her shaking hands and gave him a tender kiss on his forehead. She hugged him, awaiting the blow to come. Itachi couldn't bear the thought of killing his kind and gentle mother, but he had to.

He stabbed her, and blood began to pour out of her mouth as she fell to her knees.

Itachi lifted the sword above his head, and brought his sword down to end the life of the woman who had given birth to him, who had given him all the love he could have asked for, who had raised him and nurtured him.

His sword was stopped mid-swing by a blonde shinobi, who stopped Itachi's blade with his own. Naruto immediately followed through with a devastating kick to Itachi's chest, which sent him through the walls of the house, and onto his back on the street. Naruto formed a shadow clone, and rushed out to continue his fight.

Sasuke came downstairs and opened the door to his living room, rubbing the sleep out of his eye.

"Tou-san? Kaa-chan? What's all the commotion out there? Do you-" He stopped speaking when he saw his father, dead on the floor, and his mother, quietly crying with blood pouring out of her mouth. Naruto stood over her with a seal.

"N-naruto nii-san. What's going on? Wh-why are you doing this? Did you k-kill tou-san? Did you kill kaa-chan?" Sasuke stammered out in fear and confusion.

"I just got here and saved Mikoto oba-chan ok? Now be quiet, I need to concentrate." The clone placed the seal over Mikoto's stab wound, and focused its chakra into the seal. The seal split the chakra in the shadow clone into yin and yang chakra. It then directed the yang chakra into Mikoto's chakra network, giving her the vitality she needed to hang on, while the yin chakra closed her wound. She passed out, but she would live. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke when all the chakra was used up.

Sasuke saw the clone vanish after healing his mother, and knew that Naruto was telling the truth, and came to help. He looked outside the hole in the wall, and saw Naruto engaged in a fierce duel with Itachi, who was covered in blood from head to toe. He understood then, that it was his beloved brother who had killed his father, and attempted to kill his mother as well. His heart and mind began to break, as he screamed out in pain.

Narumi had been hiding just outside the compound, like her brother had told her too, but when she sensed unspeakable pain from a very familiar source, she couldn't stay hiding. Danger or not, she would be there for the boy she saw as a brother.

Sasuke was weeping over the unconscious body of his mother, when he felt a hug around him, and saw a flash of red. He looked over and saw his best friend hugging him, crying. He latched onto her as well and began to cry with her.

"Why the hell are you doing this! What's gotten into you!?" Naruto asked Itachi, even as they dueled. Itachi was deadly with the sword, but Naruto was even better. Itachi had his Sharingan to track Naruto's movements, but even with that advantage, he was on the defensive side the whole time, unable to match Naruto's skill. He was barely managing to deflect or block Naruto's relentless blows.

"It's time to end this!" Itachi yelled out as his Sharingan morphed into his three-pronged pinwheel patterned Mangekyo Sharingan. "Tsukuyomi!" He yelled out as he looked Naruto in the eye. Naruto's eyes glazed over, and became still.

The ANBU had sensed the disturbance in the Uchiha compound, and had come to investigate what was going on. Seeing the massacre, they were extremely disturbed, and looked for any signs of life. They sensed a fight going on a short distance away, and rushed over.

Off in the distance they saw two figures fighting. When they arrived at the scene, they saw one of their captains stab their other captain through the stomach, blood flying out of his mouth and his back.

"ONII-CHANNN! NOOOO!" Narumi's scream rang out loudly into the night, and Naruto fell to the ground, bleeding heavily, and the ANBU rushed to save their captain. Itachi took this opening to escape. Narumi pushed the ANBU out of the way, and fell over her brother, crying her eyes out.

"Onii-chan… you can't die… you're all I have in this world…" The redhead wept bitterly, as the ANBU pulled her away to deliver first aid to their captain who was slowly bleeding out. His blue eyes closed slowly.

The last thing he saw before he went unconscious, was the full moon hanging over the compound. It seemed redder than usual, as if the blood of the Uchiha had splattered onto it as well.

*Author's Note*

And there's another chapter of the Jinchuuriki's brother! The Uchiha Massacre! Hope you guys liked my take on it!

I wanted to cover some plot holes I made earlier, so I went back and made a small change to the story and gave Fugaku a Mangekyo as well. Since nothing was described about Fugaku's Mangekyo ability, I made one up for him. I didn't want to pull it out of my ass completely, so I based his power off of existing Mangekyo abilities.

I called it the Oyamatsumi, continuing the theme of Mangekyo powers being named after Japanese gods, and combined aspects of Kamui and Tsukuyomi. It basically is a weaker version of Tsukuyomi in some aspects, instead of having the ability control every aspect of the genjutsu such as time and space, it can only control a limited amount of aspects, like other genjutsu.

Its strength is in its ability affect multiple people at once, as long as they make eye contact. Instead of affecting their senses, it actually teleports their spirit to a different dimension, similar in a way to the Yamanaka's mind jutsu, or Kato Dan's ability to separate his spirit from his body.

I hope you don't think it's too OP. Not like it matters though, as it won't show up again in the story, unless I change my mind. If I do, I'll try to think of some weaknesses for it, to balance it out.

There will also be a new format to voting. If you want your vote to count, you'll have to use the format. Here's the format.

I vote: (choice 1)/(choice 2)/(choice 3)

Example: I vote: Shizune/ Izumi/ Mei

Here are the scores for the pairing vote for Naruto! I'll put out a new vote for Narumi soon too.

Shizune 84

Samui 52

Izumi 44

Mei 54

Anko 39

I'm getting busier these days, so I don't know if I'll be able to update as often as I used to, but I'll try my best to write as often as I can.

Thanks for reading everyone! I'll try to come back with a new chapter soon! Please leave a comment or review!

Until next time!