Shinobi of the Force
Uchiha Dim-Mak
Naka River: ?
It was a full-moon night, and two men stand upon a precipice, overlooking a deep, wide, and fast moving river. One of them, wore a high-collared, dark-coloured outfit along with a ninjatō strapped to the right side of the back of his shoulder, sheathed in a harness, which ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders. The other one wore the standard ANBU uniform complete with arm guards, a flak jacket, his own ninjatō on his back, and a porcelain mask, which was fashioned to resemble a weasel with a red, triangular marking on top. The odd thing about the second figure, is if one were to look closely at the left eye, the socket would appear to be empty.
The man in the mask, stood behind the other one, who turned to give the other person a smile of familiarity. The bare-faced man was moving his mouth as if speaking, but there was no sound coming from his throat. In fact, there was no sound coming from anywhere, the river itself was silent, and this much water, moving this fast, is never so quiet. Not even the wind, rustling through the trees was making noise, all anyone observing the scene would witness is what they were seeing.
The bare-faced man grew a suspicious gleam in his eye, from whatever the man in the mask was saying. As the masked-man continued speaking, the one with no mask began to get agitated, he was subconsciously falling into his fighting stance. Turning his body so his draw could be used as an opening move, his hand was on his sword hilt, the masked-man must have said something terribly wrong because, the bare-faced man suddenly charged…
Uchiha Compound: ?
The masked-man, stood outside the compound door, there was resolve in his stature, as if, whatever led to this was inevitable, and at this point, unavoidable. He suddenly disappeared from in front of the gate, and the perspective changed as well.
There was a blur, as the man streaked through the streets of the Uchiha clan estate, whenever he saw a member of his clan, there seemed to be a flash of light, and the person would be laying in the dirt, dead. Bleeding from wounds that no one could mistake for anything but mortal. He entered buildings with lights on, there would be a flash of movement, as all the lights in every room went out, before he left the same way he entered. Not even the Uchiha Police Department was spared his visitation, though it was not a huge structure, it was still a substantial building, with many rooms, enough to hold every member of the clan, should the need arise. He only took slightly longer with that building, simply because of the amount of ground he needed to cover, than any of the others.
Nobody was spared his visitation, man, woman, child, even infants suckling at their mother's teat were not spared his murderous intent. Ninja, civilians, even the elderly or infirm, any Uchiha that crossed his path that night, died. Until, eventually, he came to the Uchiha mansion, the home of the clan head and his family, he knew that tonight for many reasons, only the clan head and his wife were at home. The man canted his head up and brought the full-moon into view…
30 December, 126: Uzumaki Caldera; 23:00
Naruto came out of his meditative pose, that vision had occurred many times in the past year and a half, whenever he would practice his meditations. At first, the visions would be blurry and difficult to perceive, but as the past eighteen months went by, they became clearer, and he was able to see more of what was happening. While he was not sure who the man in the weasel mask, and one eye, was, he knew from meeting him through Izumi-chan, who the other guy on the bank of the river was, Shisui Uchiha, aka, Shunshin no Shisui. One of the strongest Uchiha, and thus, one of the strongest shinobi of the Leaf, with only a handful of shinobi able to best him in a fight, three of them in his own clan alone. He seemed friendly enough, with a bright smile, but the feeling he gave off through the Force was all over the place. His moods seem to shift from one extreme of happiness and joy, to the darkest melancholy and spite, he made Naruto jumpy.
Naruto had been practicing his movements in the Shien-Djem So form of Hikari-tsurugi-ryu, the fifth form in the style, using the fifth ring of Go-Rin-Ryu, Void, as a boundary. By this point in his training, the concepts he learned from Shi-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, and Ataru, have become as a part of him as his own arms and legs. Once he began to incorporate the concepts of the Five Ring style, the signature style of the Uzumaki clan, it seemed as if his combat training accelerated quite a bit better, than when he would train in one, before moving to the next kenjutsu style. He would practice the sequences and forms of Light-Sabre Style, while employing the different strategies and mentality of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void, from the Uzumaki style. When he reached the Void ring, he would use the Force, and Chakra Control, to ingrain the movements and strategies into his body and mind. Naruto refused to progress to the next form, until the movements of the current one, were as instinctive as using his arms and legs.
As these concepts became instinctive, they bled over into other weapons training, such as kunai-taijutsu. The biggest change happened in his taijutsu training; it was not an exaggeration when he mentioned ingraining the movements into his being. The concepts he trained in through kenjutsu, were melding, and harmonizing with what he learned using Uzumaki Aikijutsu. The Force was perfect for helping Naruto harmonize with his opponents, and with the addition of his kenjutsu training, allows him to incorporate strikes and kicks, making him an all-around versatile fighter.
The last five years have been better for him, overall than the first five years of his life. He gained his first friend that was close to him in age, and the backing of one of the more prominent clans of Konoha. After the whole Hyuga Affair, where he and Hinata took down a Jonin-level ninja from Kumo, nevermind the circumstances that led to his downfall, Cloud was so embarrassed they immediately disavowed the diplomatic delegation, and tried to put them down as a subversive, splinter group within the village. If they thought that would be enough to avoid any consequences for their actions, they could guess again, because Kobayashi-san, forgot to destroy the mission scroll, detailing the mission given to them from the Raikage himself.
Being five-years old, none of what he heard about the consequences were told to him directly. He got most of what he knows about Kumo's comeuppance from his kichōna ane, and what he learned when he would be at the Hyuga estate, training with Hinata and her cousin Neji. Kumo became, Konoha's bitch, but they did it in a way that only punished the upper-echelons of Kumo while keeping the low-level ninja, and civilian population happy. They kept trade open between, the Leaf and Fire, and Cloud and Lightning, and even opened up trade routes to Sand and Wind, keeping the fat-cats happy and purring in all three nations. The Hokage, however, blunted Kumo's international political power, they were not allowed to send more than two delegates into any foreign nation, a clause backed by every nation on the map. Kumogakure could form no alliances with any nation or ninja village, without the consent of Konoha, and 40% of all missions, ranked B, and above would be sent to Konoha, where the Leaf would decide if they could manage the missions or not. If not, the missions they could not oversee due to distance, personnel, or what have you, would be sent back to Kumo. Of course, by that time, the client may have gone elsewhere, or the issue resolved itself, during Konoha's deliberations.
The machinations of international politics were above his pay-grade, by a wide margin, so while he found the consequences of Cloud's spying quite funny, beyond that, they meant little to him. Other than sparring and throw/ survival training, with Hinata and Neji, and then later, Hanabi, as she began her training, Naruto got a better general education, and even began to enjoy reading. He read at night, by firelight, his favorite became the one that inspired his name, according to his mother, written by his father's sensei, Jiraiya, seijin no Gama. His handwriting and calligraphy were quite good as well, so much so, that Kushina and Mara began teaching him elementary fuinjutsu, enough that he was able to make his little cave by the lake a little more cozy. The seals he learned, allow him to retain the warmth of his fireplace, while venting any smoke it gave off, from another place on his mountain, and made the place he slept, feel as though he was sleeping on a tatami-mat. Not to mention the storage seals, he carved out of the rock using the Force, wherein he stores the things he needs, both as a person, and as an Academy student.
Naruto has been making his way to the village proper, since coming out of his meditation trance. Not much had changed with the civilians, as far as how they treated him. Most of the time they ignored him, unless they saw him with any of his sisters, or one of the Hyuga, if that happened, he was treated just like a normal customer, no better, no worse. Not that he needed much from them, he still made his own clothing, the skins taken from animals he hunted. The only clothing, he bought were his underclothes, and items he bought from them were items he used to make warmer versions of his clothing, like wool, which he sewed between layers of deer hide, which soaked up moisture on damp days. These days, Naruto's attire consisted of a hooded, deerskin jerkin, and leather trousers, sewn together like ANBU pants, wearing rabbit skin moccasins over the pant cuffs, going half-way up the calf. The ninja tool pouch, also made of rabbit hide held his shuriken and kunai strapped to his right leg, but one noticeable change from when he was four, two gifts from his surrogate sisters, for his most recent birthday.
Two blades, made in the ancient style of Uzushiogakure, they were called ginunting, and like katana they were curved and only had one edge, but for these style of blades the edge was on the inside curve. The hilt of each, carved from bone, in the shape of a fishtail, followed the curve of the blade, they were each, from tsuba to tip, about as long as Naruto's entire arm, from wrist to shoulder. They had provided him with a sheathe, and the blades were so cunningly made that they could both be housed in one sheathe, which he had strapped to the side of his left thigh. He could choose to use them as one blade or separate them and use them in tandem, with no change in strength or density, should the need to do so arise.
Tonight, was New Year's Eve, and a full-moon, and Naruto was allowing the Force to guide him, into a part of the Village he had never been to before. It was of course, heavily forested, as were most areas of Konoha, but this area seemed to be especially over grown, as if very few people had been to this part of the forest in a long time. After a good half hour of walking through dense forest, Naruto came to a run-down building, it was a small, derelict temple, it was built differently than most temples Naruto was used to, it seemed barely big enough to hold one or two people at a time. This one almost looked like a house, with a saggy roof, except it had a tower in the center of the building, and at the apex of said tower, was the symbol of the deity worshiped by whomever built it. The symbol, (Փ) looked like a wheel with a staff thrust through it. The church of the Redeemer, he heard his mother breathe out in astonishment, the church of the religion observed in Uzu, by our people, Naruto. This must've been built for Mito-oji-sama, when she married Senju Hashirama, she surmised.
'The Redeemer, mom,' Naruto asked?
Yes, according to the lore I was taught as a child, the Redeemer was Kami made flesh, she began to explain, He was born to a woman, who had never known the touch of a man. He was born, at least two-thousand years before even the Sage of Six-Paths, and the advent of chakra, to save and redeem all people, He taught peace, and understanding, Kushina instructed her son about their people, He performed many miracles, and healed many people as well, some say, He could even bring the dead back to life. This man went against many of the established rules of His society, which did not brook well with the status quo, especially those with prominent position, Kushina continued explaining, many times they sought to capture Him, or ensnare Him in His words, but He always managed to get the better of them. Until one of His followers betrayed Him, Kushina continued with passion, for a few silver pieces one of His friends, a man who travelled with Him, led soldiers to His encampment. They did try to fight, but the Redeemer ordered His forces not to fight, this was the purpose for which He had been born. The same people He was sent to this place to save and redeem, were the ones to accuse Him, and would be the ones to condemn Him, Kushina was now seething in anger, one of the greatest sins a ninja can commit, especially as Konoha-nin, is to betray your comrades, they beat Him, persecuted Him, and tortured Him, but no matter what they did to Him, he remained quiet. I mean except for exclamations of pain, He stayed as quiet as a mouse, finally the people that captured Him, had enough and decided to execute Him by nailing Him to a tree.
'How are we still here if this was Kami in the flesh,' Naruto wondered in his mind, 'why has Kami-sama not erased this planet from the universe?'
Because the Redeemer forgave His accusers, Kushina answered her son, He forgave His persecutors, He even forgave His betrayer. He understood that they didn't know what they were doing, He saw their limited understanding, and allowed His Love for them and all of this world, to shine through.
'Is there a reason you're talking to me about forgiveness, mom,' Naruto asked her, 'because while I don't love the village, I don't think I hate it either.'
No, baby, I'm not talking about forgiveness, Kushina answered, I'm talking about the power of Love. It was through Love that the Redeemer stayed the hand of the most powerful force in the Universe, even greater than the Force.
Naruto listened to his mother, and since his Force-sensei was staying quiet, she either agreed with Kushina, or else did not know if she was correct or not. Naruto approached the temple doors, they looked to be in relatively decent shape, considering how much time had passed since they were used. He pushed them open and came into a single room building, it had an altar, where another representation of the Redeemer's symbol Փ was hung upon the back wall. The room was rectangular in area, and upon both walls were a bank of porcelain masks made to symbolize different creatures, mythological or real. They looked quite a bit like the masks ANBU usually wore, only they were more dynamic and vibrant in color, when one looked at a mask, any mask, there was no guesswork over what the mask represented. Naruto, seemed to be drawn toward two of these masks, one of them was a Noh mask with horns, and a leering grin, which would make him shiver from the negative feelings coming off it.
The other mask that caught his attention, was not much of a surprise, once he zeroed into it, a fox mask, not unlike the one held in his gut, except the ears looked more like a fox's than Kurama. It had the reddish-orange spectra of a fox, except where most foxes have white in their muzzles and other places, this fox, was dark-grey. Kurama, if you looked at his ears and the shape of his head, looked like a rabbit, it was only once you saw the rest of him that he took on the appearance of a fox.
Naruto took the kitsune mask down and inspected it, these were masks usually worn by Whirlpool's equivalent to ANBU, Naruto, we called them SEALs, not for fuinjutsu but for the animal. Strategic-Espionage-Assassination-League, as bad ass as most Uzumaki were, these guys could give S-ranked ninja nightmares, if they knew they were coming for them. People often thought wrongly that their extra power, came from the mask directly, but that was more of a mental thing, like a placebo effect with medicine. They believed they were taking on the spirit of the animal or being they wore, which boosted their chakra-skill level to even higher levels than if they were bare-faced. When Uzushiogakure fell, SEALs were among the many that inflicted the most casualties on the besieging horde, three Villages, sent a total of nine-hundred ninja to destroy our homeland, Naruto, for fear that we may have entered the war against them. Only three-percent of that army survived, and it was such a catastrophic loss in personnel, that the villages fearing we'd enter the war against them, lost the war anyway.
'Do I have the right to wear this though,' Naruto wondered to his mom, with a shake of his head, '…can't imagine the hours of training that went into getting on such a renowned corps of ninja?'
That you ask such a question is precisely why you have that right, Kushina assured her son, humility was one of the characteristics SEAL-sensei looked for. No matter how powerful you are as ninja, there will always be those who are better, faster, stronger than you, it is that recognition of stronger opponents that marks a true ninja. Besides, weak ninja have been known to prevail over powerful ninja, because the strong one forgot, even if they are strong, they are still mortal, and subject to bad luck. A lowly bandit has less power than a week-old genin, and yet there are bandits who've defeated powerful ninja, even if the bandit dies immediately after the ninja, the ninja still lost and paid for it with his life.
I agree with your mom, my Padawan, Mara Jade chimed in, in my home galaxy, a ragtag group of rebels, were able to destroy a weapon as big as a small moon, with nothing more than a collection of snub fighters, the Force, and a whole lot of luck. For them it was do or die time, they had no choice but to succeed or the entire Rebel Alliance was doomed, because this weapon, had the capability of destroying an entire planet, as Mara was speaking, she was showing him and his tenants images from her own mind, showing them the Death-Star, from plans she had seen while under the employ of Emperor Palpatine. She shared memories of holo-vids of the destruction of Alderaan, before and after the Galactic Civil War, even holo-footage of her husband's X-wing firing the torpedo that killed the monster. Remember Naruto, through the Force, size matters not, and there is no try, you either do it, or do it not, you do it because you must do it, or many will die that should not.
"Hai, Mara-sama," Naruto bellowed, as he placed the kitsune-mask over his face, and it was like a change came over him as the mask dropped over his eyes. He knew who he was, he was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze; Academy student of the Village Hidden in the Leaves; a fourth dan, kenjutsu master of Zandaka no Gorin (Five Rings of Balance); Padawan-learner of the Living Force; Jinchuriki of the most powerful biju, Kurama no Kitsune no Kyūbi; but at the moment, he is Kitsune-nin, of SEAL.
Always in Motion…
Uchiha Compound: 1 January 127; 00:30
The masked-man, stood outside the compound door, there was resolve in his stature, as if, whatever led to this was inevitable, and at this point, unavoidable. He suddenly disappeared from in front of the gate, and the perspective changed as well.
There was a blur, as the man streaked through the streets of the Uchiha clan estate, whenever he saw a member of his clan, there seemed to be a flash of light, and the person would be laying in the dirt, dead. Bleeding from wounds that no one could mistake for anything but mortal. He entered buildings with lights on, there would be a flash of movement, as all the lights in every room went out, before he left the same way he entered. Not even the Uchiha Police Department was spared his visitation, it was a substantial building, with many floors and rooms, enough to hold every member of the clan should the need arise. He only took slightly longer with that building, simply because of the amount of ground he needed to cover, than any of the others.
Nobody was spared his visitation, man, woman, child, even infants suckling at their mother's teat were not spared his murderous intent. Ninja, civilians, even the elderly or infirm, any Uchiha that crossed his path that night, died. Until, eventually, he rounded a corner and came face to face with his father, "Itachi, what is the meaning of this, why are you murdering your clan?"
The crimson-eyes of his son stared back at him with clear intent, Fugaku viewed his son's chakra and recognized the chakra signature of another one of his clansmen interlaced with his. A powerful compulsion had been placed upon his son, only a few people in the whole village could do something like that, to someone as powerful as his eldest son. Fewer still trustworthy enough to be able to get close enough, most of them from within the clan. Other than Fugaku himself, Izumi was out of the village on a mission as Kuro-mibōjin (Black Widow) of ANBU, Naori was on a bandit extermination mission for the week, that only left…
Naka River: Same Time
It was a full-moon night, as a single man stood upon a precipice, overlooking a deep, wide, and fast moving river. He wore a high-collared, dark-coloured outfit along with a ninjatō strapped to the right side of the back of his shoulder, sheathed in a harness, which ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders. Izumi-chan, you will be mine, before the end of the month you will be placed in the Clan Restorative Act. Once my patsy finishes his grisly mission, there will only be you, me, and Naori-chan, not to mention Sasuke, for diversity of the blood if nothing else. For years I've loved you with my entire being, I waited for the day we would be old enough to get married, but you were stolen away from me and given to some nameless brat!
What was Fugaku-sama thinking giving you away to some brat, who wasn't even born when you were promised to him? If I knew who he was, tonight would have never been necessary, I could've gone after him, and you would be free to choose whomever you wanted as a lover, now because of that secrecy, our entire clan must pay the price. What were the clan elders thinking, letting you become affianced to someone outside of the clan? First you had to become Genin, an adult in the eyes of the law, then according to Konoha statutes you needed to be Chunin before you could take on a lover, and to further block our being together, The Uchiha Clan requires you to be sixteen to be considered old enough to start dating. All that is understandable, the clan and the village, want young ninja to concentrate on becoming stronger, not dating, I get that, but when I go to confess to you, a few months after your sixteenth birthday…
Flashback: Three-months ago – Kaishi (Begin)
"Huff… huff…," I knelt to the ground, sweat pouring out of me like torrential rain, I looked up at my opponent. She had grown to become a rather, voluptuous woman, with dark-violette hair, reaching to her lower back, her scarlet-red hitai ate, acting as a hairband for the fork-like bangs, spilling over her brow. Her eyes as black as coal, looking at me, her eyes were as steady as a tomb, though the rest of her face was quite expressive. Her lips were turned up in a pleased smirk, not in a mocking sort of way, but an encouraging sort of way. She was not mocking me for weakness, because both of us knew that I was anything but weak, if I can intimidate whole squads of hunter-nin with my mere presence, weakness was not a word that could ever be used to describe me. No, that smirk was her way of encouraging me to try harder, even if I had been doing everything in my power to fight her toe-to-toe, she was taking my best and turning it back upon me, without seeming to break a sweat.
"You're doing really well, Shisui-nii," Izumi complimented, "your high-speed techniques would be incredibly good, against someone not used to sparring with a person, who can predict where my attacks will be before they get there."
"Who can possibly give you, the Black Widow of ANBU, a tough time in a fight," I scoffed, "whomever they are, they'd have to be at least on equal footing with the Sanin?"
"You'd be surprised, Shisui-nii," she answered, "I've never defeated him in throwing shuriken, and he's a kenjutsu master."
That day, she was wearing her normal off duty gear, an ebony, sleeveless, high-collared, qipao top, with a decorative, scarlet-red hour-glass, descending from just below her breasts to the hem of her blouse, it concealed yet emphasized, her now generous bust. On the back of the blouse, if I could see it, would be the symbol of the Uchiha clan, a red and white fan. She wore black, knee-length shorts, her ninja-tools strapped to her supple and toned, right thigh, and a pair of black, solid, manganese and tungsten steel hanbo, on her left. She wore gray, low-heeled, knee-high boots, and elbow-pads, along with fingerless, black gloves, which had their own scarlet-red hour-glass, along the back knuckles.
I came out of my, hopefully subtle perusal of her body, when what she was saying about who she trained with clicked in my head, "Him," I asked as casually as I could muster?
"Yeah, him, as in a boy, a human with testicles, and an adam's apple," she retorted sarcastically, showing off her exposure to Anko, "we train together when time allows."
"Nice," I said with a nod, but in my mind, what the fuck, I bellowed, I was raging in my mind, you're not supposed to be with anybody but me, but on the surface, I asked, "where did you meet this person, is he from another clan…"
"Yes, he's from another clan, he's the last of his clan living in Konoha," she answered as she began to approach me from the front, "we met on the day I got back from Suna, after earning my Chunin-vest. He came upon me and my team, as we celebrated our achievement," she continued approaching me, as she drew her hanbo from the thigh holster, "one more exchange, Shisui-nii, winner buys dango," she asserted, as more of her best non-Uchiha friends' influence showed itself!
I nodded and drew my ninjatō, I decided to employ the Sharingan on this exchange, the normal one since we were not fighting for real. Izumi did not take the bait, and remained with her normal eyes, so she's trying to challenge herself, trying to see what she can do on her own. Izumi began twirling her metal hanbo idly as she approached me, I noticed, she closed her eyes, so she was going to come at me without her main sense, she's giving herself a handicap, or so I thought.
With nothing but a thought, I was gone, the secret to my shunshin technique is to imagine a grid, with my opponent at the origin point or zero, these kinds of grids stretch out into infinity. My sword-length, or if I'm using taijutsu my leg and arm-length marks the distance from the origin to one or negative one.
I shunshinned to her rear, but that was intended as a feint, which she could tell, because while she turned seemingly before I arrived, she didn't offer up any form of resistance. Her hanbo never remained still, it was as if they were cycling up and down her body, a continuous barrier to any attack I could muster. Thinking to make her second guess herself, I shunshinned directly at her this time more serious, if she didn't block this and I was an enemy, she would be dead. She didn't block it, because she was no longer where my sword fell, she side-stepped to the right and brought one of her metal sticks into my belly, which knocked the wind out of me, but she was like a woman on a mission now. Izumi definitely came at me with the intent to destroy me, she took a half-step back diagonally, and brought her weapon down on my wrist, I felt the crush of my wrist as I dropped my sword.
Izumi continued to rain down, blow after blow, if she were using her full power, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have died. When she finally let up, there was no doubt in my mind that I had lost this round, it's like she knew right where I'd be when I completed my shunshin. She stepped back, returning her hanbo to her thigh, and came back from that place all ninja go to, when they are in a murderous mindset, she smiled sweetly, while leaning down with an extended arm.
Izumi pulled me up, and checked me over closely, she invoked her Buddha's Palm technique, "you're not too worse for wear, Shisui-nii, just a few bruises, which should heal just fine on their own." I felt the pain in my wrist subside, as she healed me, and today was the best chance I would have, to make my confession. What better timing would I have than while we were having dango?
Since Izumi won, like always recently, she took me to the best, and most expensive dango shop in all of the Leaf. She had already finished a few trays of the pastry, and the smile on her face was the equivalent to a little girl, getting a pony for her birthday. It was exuberant and care-free, and just so beautiful and radiant, so I decided it was time to confess to her, "you took me down pretty quickly today, Izumi-chan, did you want dango that badly?"
At the sound of my voice, she jerked up as if she had forgotten I was there, as soon as she looked at me, she turned her face away sheepishly to wipe her mouth. When she turned back, she was every inch the lady her mother taught her to be, when not on a mission of course. She leaned back and sipped her tea, "of course I wanted dango, and that is precisely why I took you down so swiftly. You should know, never to threaten a kunoichi from my Genin team, when dango is on the line," she quipped, adlibbing a line from a movie she once saw.
"So, do I have to bribe you with dango, if I wanted to see more of you," I asked her with a smirk of my own, but there was a serious gleam in my eyes?
Izumi had returned to her unwavering eyes, from before she kicked my ass, I had a feeling, what she was about to say next, would do exactly the same thing as her metal sticks, only it would hurt even more than when she beat my ass. "By see more of me, you mean as your girlfriend, I assume," she stated, not really as a question, even if I still nodded, she took a deep breath and let out a sigh of displeasure, making her shoulders sag, she leaned forward and covered my hand with hers. "Shisui-nii, I do love you every bit as much as I always have," she gave me a beautiful, but sad smile, as she looked me in the eye, "you have been an exceptionally good friend, to me and Itachi-otōto. Any woman would be lucky… no, blessed, to have you consider them worth pursuing," as she spoke her hand slipped away from covering mine, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you down."
"Wha… Why," was my only reply as my heart got torn asunder? You fucking bitch, what gives you the right to turn me down? I could use my Kotoamatsukami and make you fall in love with me! No, you can't because you've vowed, you would never do that to her, and it wouldn't be real, it would just be your will forcing her to love you. You need her to want to come to you, because she wants to, or out of necessity, either way it'll mean so much more, if she comes to you of her own free-will.
All of that, took place in less than a second, as Izumi continued to look at me with sympathetic eyes, "few people know this, outside of my immediate family, except Sasuke, we don't want him to blab it out, but I'm already engaged to someone else. It's been that way since I was six," she added, then went on to further explain, "it just, wouldn't be fair to you, Shisui-nii, to date you knowing that it couldn't lead to anything more than that."
"Who is he, do you even know who he is," I asked in astonishment, "this is not right, you should be able to be with whomever you want?" As long as who you want, is me, I continue in my heart of hearts.
"It doesn't matter who he is, the betrothal contract is clear, legal, and binding, ratified by our own clan elders, and the Hokage as a witness," she answered, then added to alleviate another one of my concerns, "but yes, I've met him, in fact we've known each other for more than five years, and I can say that I do indeed love him. He's already strong enough to give me a good fight, when I want to train with him," as she spoke about him, her face seemed to take on a vibrancy I've never seen on her before, it even outstripped the good feelings, she had while eating her dango earlier, I listened as she began to talk about him some more. "I would be proud to be his wife, just from being alive he is already a hero to the village, he's seen as a pariah by most of the populace," she told me, "but if they understood him even a little bit, they would understand how ludicrous their hatred for him is. Because of their indifference, he lives alone, away from the village itself, he only comes into town to attend the Academy, though he could graduate at any time, he chooses to stay there and complete his education, something I wish I could've done, but I had to uphold our clan's honor. If Itachi was going to graduate earlier than everybody, I, as his older sister and clan heir, and equal in skill to him in every way, could do no less than he…"
Then, something she said earlier blossomed in my mind, "hold on, are you saying the person you're going to marry, hasn't even graduated from the Academy? That makes no since," I declared in exasperation, my normal, calm demeanor was crumbling away like rice-paper, which meant her future husband could be anywhere from five to twelve-years old, a two to eleven-year age gap,"that's insane," I shouted, not caring if I brought every eye in the establishment to us!
"Lower your voice, Uchiha Shisui-san," my clan heiress, and thus my superior within our clan ordered!
I took a deep breath, held it for a second, to let go of some of the tension I was feeling, then I released it and returned to my calm façade. "Hai, Izumi-sama," I replied, then with a seated bow, "and I apologize for my outburst, as an Uchiha, it was disgraceful, as a ninja, it was unbecoming, and as a man it was humiliating. Please forgive my unseemly behavior, I promise you, it will never happen again," I finished my show of contrition with my forehead laying on the table.
The silence that came after my apology was deafening, even if the dango shop was still quiet, when finally, "You are forgiven, Shisui-nii, please remember what it means to be a shinobi and an Uchiha," she began, before adding, as if by rote, "a shinobi, endures, and Uchiha does so with poise …got that?"
"Hai, Izumi-sama," I replied with shame in my voice.
"Yes, my fiancé is still in the Academy," Izumi went on as if the last few moments reprimand never happened, "and the age gap isn't that ridiculous, he's only about five years younger than me. Besides, it's no different than girls from noble houses, or wealthy merchants, being married off to men, old enough to be their fathers for some intrinsic benefit to all parties involved. It happens all the time in our world."
"But, why would the clan elders and your father, allow such a union, they're usually obsessed with keeping the clan, pure," I asked, trying to wrap my head around the fact that my woman, was taken from me right under my nose?
"There were a lot of factors that went into their deliberations, before they accepted the proposal," she answered, "most of which are classified, since it would identify who my fiancé is, which isn't supposed to happen until he gains his hitai ate. What I can tell you, is the elders believe that the Uchiha blood has stagnated, increasing generations are unable to acquire the Sharingan, without some serious negative stimuli, which they believe is the reason for the Curse of Hatred, our clan is known for. My mother was as far removed from my father's family that they could find in the clan, and she's still a distant cousin of his. More than a few of our clan, have shown up barren or sterile, in the last few generations," she said to me with deep gravity, "so they've theorized, if they relax the restrictions concerning marrying outside the clan, it could bring in new blood, to help revitalize the clan and insure future generations…"
Flashback: Toma (End)
"That meaningless drivel, is what's keeping me from my woman," Shisui said aloud, as he glared into the implacably, swift-flowing river, "the only way for the Uchiha to remain a strong clan is to remain pure. That way, we can keep the Sharingan within the clan, and remain the strongest clan in the Leaf," Shisui continued to rant, as he paced up and down the top of the cliff, "that's why I did what I did to my best friend, that's why I turned him into a clan killer. If the clan has grown weak, then like a cancerous tumor, it must be excised, and let new flesh grow in its wake…"
Shisui of the Body Flicker stopped dead in his tracks, as he felt somebody approaching him, he looked back to where he felt the presence, but saw nothing, he was staring into a dark section of forest. This section of the village was known only to him and Itachi, they had trained here when Itachi first became a Genin, Itachi had assured him that not even Izumi knew of this place. So how was it that Shisui could sense someone here, but not see him, this was when he deployed his Mangekyō Sharingan. His perceptions sharpened and changed as his brain, began to process data coming from his eyes at a much quicker pace, and like a high-speed camera, his perception of the world slowed significantly.
When Shisui's enhanced vision came online, it still was not perfect, but what he saw startled him. All he saw was a shadow, with what looked like a fox's head floating about five feet above the ground, a good seven inches shorter than the Uchiha. Whoever this shrimp was, he was good enough to get right up, to about fifty feet away from Shisui before he was detected. There was a green, ethereal luminescence coming from his eyes, and a similar glow coming from the fox's pointed ears.
Shisui just scoffed, "the glow is a nice touch, but you're going to have to do better than that to give a Jonin of Konoha the willies."
The fox-masked-man remained quiet, but all of a sudden, a cascade of violet-blue energy seemed to arc-up from the ground. As soon as it reached Fox's shoulders he lunged forward, throwing his arms forward with his fingers spread, and a fork of lightning from all five fingers, lanced out of the man's digits, the only thing he said was, "Force Lightning!" They connected with Shisui, or seemed to, except after a puff of smoke a log received the full salvo, which bore a hole right through it. The Fox launched himself into the trees moving directly for the stand of trees off to his right, a sheen of wind engulfed his hand, and with a horizontal, chopping motion, unleashed his wind-chakra right at the trees. There was an ominous creak from the entire section of trees, followed immediately by a rumbling, as ten, good sized examples of the healthy, arboreal organisms crashed to the ground.
"So, you are a wind-user, not very many of you in the Leaf so I'm going to assume you're from a foreign village, looking to take the Sharingan," Shisui assumed wrongly, his voice seeming to come from all-around Kitsune-nin, "well it's going to take a lot more than third-rate ninjutsu to take these eyes." Kitsune stood still, in the middle of an accessible area on the bank of the river, with his head cocked to one-side as if listening for something, when all of a sudden there was a rushing sound, like air was being displaced a little too quickly. There was a faint whistling sound, only someone, who knew what to listen for would notice it. Shisui shunshinned into the clearing directly behind Kitsune-san, slicing his sword down at the SEAL, who pivoted to the side, as the blade came down where he once stood.
Before Shisui could withdraw, Kitsune-san grabbed his sword-arm, and redirected the Uchiha's momentum further along the path of his swing, forcing his body to follow the same path, flipping him through the air. The body-flicker technique had already given Shisui's body, plenty of energy, so the redirection, took that power and ran with it. His body went sailing, half-way to the forest, then Kitsune-san thrust his palm toward the flying body, accelerating Shisui's body the rest of the way across the twenty-foot clearing, and into a tree on the far side.
"Oof," came the wind, rushing out of the body on the floor, another puff of smoke and it turned out to be a deer, another substitution, which was laying on the ground.
"Force Acceleration," came Kitsune's call, as his surroundings appeared to slow to a crawl and he charged toward a specific area, just before Shisui appeared there via another shunshin. While Kitsune's surroundings appeared to slow down, Shisui appeared to be moving at normal speed, as if he were just running out across the field at a leisurely pace. Kitsune drew his ginunting from the sheath on his belt, and Shisui only had time to widen his eyes, before their blades crossed. Shisui parried Kitsune's sweep as it angled for his body and jumped back, as he aimed a round kick for his flank. Shisui riposted with a side-step, which Kitsune dodged with a back-step to the left, followed by a pivoting lunge forward, while his blade took a slice out of Shisui's right leg.
"Hiss," said the Sharingan ninja, "I'll admit you've taken me by surprise with your skill, but you forget, you're facing an Uchiha, who has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and you've been looking into my eyes the entire time we've been… entertaining each other. Kotoamatsukami," Shisui …
Kitsune came to an abrupt stop, as if he suddenly, did not wish to move, and Shisui gained a smug look on his face. He walked over to Kitsune with a swagger in his step, "so you thought a piece of trash like you, was capable of taking on an Elite Uchiha, did you really think someone with your mediocre skills, could take on the best of the best? You're a small shrimp in a wide ocean, and we are the sharks," Kitsune sheathed his blades while Shisui circled him, "I am one of the Elite among the Uchiha, after tonight, I will be the greatest shinobi in the Leaf. Greater even than the Yellow Flash himself, he was said to even have surpassed the Sanin in his power, but after tonight, once Itachi finishes the little task I gave him, I will head over there and take him down as a traitor. He'll put up a good fight, of course, I can't have the ones meant to remain alive to witness how I saved the clan, thinking that the fight was too easy. Itachi will put up a strong fight, as I have instructed him, but at the last possible moment, when all seems lost, he will make a critical error that will allow me to kill him. By that time, the Uchiha clan will be dead, and Izumi-chan will have to become mine, so that we may rebuild our clan from the ashes of the former. Whatever betrothal agreement she is a party to, will take a back seat to the village's need for a strong Uchiha clan, with an intact Sharingan, the clan, must remain pure…"
"Did you really think, your genjutsu was affecting me, Shisui-san," came the growling voice of Kitsune-san, "that glow you seemed so eager to dismiss earlier, was from a Sealing array that allows me to be immune to any dojutsu based abilities? It was already embedded in the mask when I put it on, my clan was worth the fear they garnered from fuinjutsu." Shisui by this time was standing next to the river, as he heard what sounded like lightning right behind him, he whirled around to face the sound, just as a raiton-enforced uppercut, connected with Shisui Uchiha's chin. The punch was what it felt like to get hit by an avalanche, to his face, the energy of the punch picked Shisui up and flung him out over the chasm of the river.
"Force Acceleration," and the world seemed to slow yet again, as Kitsune-san's body seemed to blur, faster than gravity could react to Shisui's flight, as he jumped after the Cursed Uchiha. He landed upon the stricken, falling Uchiha, right as he began his descent toward the river, and deftly plucked both eyes from the Uchiha-sockets, before using the falling body as a platform, leapt back to the bank of the Naka River. His movements were so quick and dexterous, Shisui did not even have time to cry out in agony and despair as he plunged to his watery grave. Kitsune stood still for a long time after his fight, looking down into the watery abyss, when finally, he stated with something of an epiphany, "even sharks get eaten, Shisui-san," he muttered.
Uchiha, Touch of Death
Uchiha Compound: 01 January 127; 06:00
When the Uchiha Police were noticeably absent from their patrols the next day, the Hokage naturally sent someone to see what happened. A young Chunin, who had just achieved that rank after two failed attempts, he had seen a lot of conflict on his missions for the Leaf, but he was one of the few lucky ninja to never have been in a war. What he saw when he walked through those gates would haunt him until the day he died, everywhere he looked, dead bodies littered the street; men and women, thankfully no children under six years of age could be seen, and they all lay as they fell.
The unlucky Chunin, did his duty and raced back to headquarters to report what he saw. Sakumo, called out the ANBU to secure the site, and ordered forensics teams to process the scene, of course he was personally overseeing the clean-up and investigation. They had found video from CCTV footage, showing Itachi killing several of his clansmen, "why, Itachi, why did you need to do this, what were you trying to prove?"
They were in the middle of collecting bodies when there was a shout from one of his ANBU, "we have a survivor!"
"Who is it," Sakumo barked as he rushed over to the voice, he found the youngest member of the main house, unconscious with a small wound in his shoulder? "Take him to the hospital, on the double," Sakumo barked!
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Inu acknowledged!
Those words, were no sooner out of his mouth when a commotion erupted at the front gate, "what's going on here, what happened here," the Hokage turned to see Izumi Uchiha, barely being restrained by an entire squad of his strongest ANBU? She was dressed in her ANBU uniform, which was much like any other ANBU armor, except for the twin metal hanbo that peaked up over her shoulder, and her mask which was all black with little adornment, except an ivory-white hour-glass descending from just below her eyes to the chin. The eyes themselves looked like two crimson diamonds, turned on their sides, like a horizontal hour-glass, but more menacing than the vertical one. Her mask was down now, laying over her chest, she was not ANBU's legendary Black Widow at the moment, she was a frightened teenage girl.
"Let her through," Sakumo ordered!
Izumi came dashing into her home, which was now a butcher's yard, they were just now, zipping up body bags, and she saw several of her fellow Uchiha's faces disappearing. She was doing her best to maintain her kunoichi and ANBU bearing, she was due back today from border patrol, she had wanted to come here to clean-up, before reporting to the Tower. Border patrol was a standard mission for all Konoha ninja, above Genin, paid for by the Daimyo of Hi no kuni, it was business as usual and of no immediate importance, so she knew she could refresh herself and make her report later.
Izumi's confident strides as she drew closer to her leader, began to falter while she took everything in, until her pace became like a frightened little girl's with her face to match. She had begun to tremble, it started at her lower-lip, but was really at multiple places at once, it was just more noticeable there, because Hatake was looking at her face as she approached him.
"Hokage-sama, please, tell me I'm being held in a Nightmare Genjutsu," she practically begged with a trembling voice, "tell me my family is still alive."
"I'm sorry, Izumi-chan," Sakumo confirmed with deep regret, and grave sympathy, "we found the compound this morning with everyone in it murdered. We've only found one survivor, your brother, Sasuke," he said, then added, "we were just about to take him to the hospital when you arrived."
Tears were already leaking from her eyes, but with a deathly whisper, she asked, "Who did this?"
Sakumo was about to answer, with the only answer he knew, when an ANBU with a cat mask, shunshinned to the Hokage's side and whispered into his ear. There was an immediate look of peculiarity on the White Fang's face, when he asked, "What did you say," which brought Izumi's attention as well?
"Please, Hokage-sama," Neko beckoned, "t'would be easier to show you, follow me."
"Yes, show me," Sakumo agreed.
Thus, the Hokage and the distraught clan heir, followed ANBU Neko into one of the homes, and into what could only be described as a child's bedroom, there were two beds, with toys scattered about, it was in relative order. There were, of course, bloodstains on both beds, but when Neko pulled the covers away from the mattress, they found an anomaly, instead of the nightmare inducing horror of seeing the remains of a dead child, all they saw was the carcass of a dead rabbit. Neko did the same to the bed across the way, and the same phenomenon was found, a dead rabbit lay in the place of a child.
"What's the meaning of this," Sakumo asked, not really expecting an answer?
"We do not know, Hokage-sama," the ANBU replied crisply, but added, "this isn't the only place we've found rabbits in place of victims, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind it. Whomever these children are, their parents did not survive, they were both Uchiha Police Officers. We've gone into some homes to find everybody dead, or just the adults, or into places where there were no children, and there would still be rabbits in their beds. Whenever we found children's nurseries with cribs, there were rabbits in all of them, there was a senbei shop along the main road leading into the compound, we checked it, and found rabbits in the shop owner's bed."
Izumi's eyes were wide, "children, infants, Uruchi and Teyaki Uchiha, they were civilians that ran the senbei shop here in the compound, their family have been civilians since the founding of the village." In her heart a flicker of hope fluttered to life, but she tried to smother it with anger, you're a ninja, Izumi, we do not hope, we see and insure, even if he could have done something like this… no, it's too much, The Force doesn't make him omniscient, he even said it himself, he doesn't pay attention to his premonitions, beyond a day or two, because the future is always in motion.
Sakumo was listening to his ANBU, and his chest was igniting in hope as well, he did explain to me that his Force Compulsion abilities only work on the weak-minded, and never work on anyone that has unlocked their chakra even a little bit. Whether they became ninja or not, once they unlocked their chakra, they were beyond his compulsory powers, like an arm blocking a kick, or something to that nature.
They were lost in their thoughts, when out on the street there was a loud sound, like that of a lot of voices talking at once. They all shunshinned to the gate of the compound and made their way to the front of the ANBU, who of course made way for their leader, and the new clan-head of the Uchiha. Outside the gate, marching down the lane like a victorious army, with happy smiles and gleeful steps, were men, women, and children, some carrying infants, usually their older brothers and sisters, sometimes one or both of the infant's parents, but there were as many elderly couples carrying them home, as they walked home from a night of merriment.
In their minds they had spent New Years Eve at a festival thrown for them by their shinobi and police officer family members, to thank them for always being there for them to support them as they did their duty. Several of their significant others who were ninja for the village and police officers of the Uchiha clan, came to thank them personally, they never hugged them or tried to touch them, and even the most exuberant kids among the partygoers, never felt the impulse to reach out to their loved ones. That would be the statement, given by all of those interviewed in the next few months to come. They never could remember any actual details of the party. They did seem to remember, being in a bowl-shaped crater, but could never remember exactly where it was, nor what it contained. They all remembered feeling safe while they were there though.
For now, Sakumo and Izumi watched the spectacle unfolding for them, right before their very eyes. They were not the only ones gaping at the sight of people they thought had died overnight, suddenly seeing them reappear before their very eyes. This was something, even their ANBU training could not seem to overcome, there were mutterings of evil spirits, even demons being involved, until a dark look from their Hokage and the legendary Kuro-mibōjin, quieted those whispers. Whatever this was, there was nothing sinister about it, this was a bonafide miracle from Kami-sama, even if, they were going to have to tell them that their family was most likely dead, it could have been so much worse.
Everybody stood to the side to allow the survivors to enter their compound, though the Hokage sent ANBU hand sign to get them to corral them into one area until they could be told the tragic news. One little boy, as soon as he entered the gates, began to look around, until his eyes fell upon Izumi, he looked to be about four-years old, and had bright, intelligent eyes, with bushy, black hair, gathered into a small tail. He broke from the pack and ran up to her with wide excited eyes, and a pleased smile, "you're Izumi-sama, is that correct?"
One of the ANBU, placed a hand on his shoulder to gently restrain him, "she doesn't have time right now, son, she has many things that need to do before she speaks to you."
"But I have something for her from Kitsune-nin," the boy complained, "he gave me a mission that I have to complete, its my job as a ninja!" The ANBU shrugged his shoulders, then looked at his Hokage and the Uchiha, who nodded to let the boy approach them.
Once released, the boy hustled over to the group, though his enthusiasm waned as he got closer to them, he realized he was approaching two powerful shinobi. He looked nervous, he reminded Izumi of Sasuke when he was that age, which made her smile and kneel down to his eye-level, "hi there, my name is Izumi, what's your name, handsome-chan?"
"Sh- Shinta," then, overcoming his shyness, said, "Uchiha Shinta, future Hokage of the Leaf, at your service," he declared, with a courtly bow.
"Well, you are certainly ambitious, Shinta-chan," Izumi declared with a beautiful smile, "but you said you had something for me, what do you have to show me?"
The boy pulled out a scroll, and handed it to her, "Kitsune-san, asked me to give this to you, it'll explain what was behind everything last night."
Izumi accepted the scroll, and inspected it, as far as she could tell it was on the up-and-up, then she listened in as the Hokage questioned Shinta further, "would you be able to describe this Kitsune-san, Shinta?"
"Yes, ji-san," he was four, he knew about the Hokage, he just did not know what he looked like, "he was bigger than me, almost as big as my nii-san, but not my tou-san. He wore woodsman's clothes, and shoes, with a hood, and he had the head of a fox, with green-eyes." Shinta stopped as if he were finished, then as if something clicked in his mind, he added, "oh, and he had a crooked katana."
Now, Izumi was trembling for a different reason, excitement, that hope which had begun to flicker earlier, started to gain strength. She reached over and brought the little boy in and hugged him, "run along, Shinta, even if you're going to be Hokage someday, you're still an Uchiha, remember that," then she kissed his cheek, and let him go.
Izumi stood up and turned for her house, "please follow me, Hokage-sama, we'll open this scroll together, in private."
"Lead the way, Izumi-dono," Sakumo turned to follow with his ANBU detail, "this is your house now."
"Yes, but I would've preferred to take it, after my father walked me down the aisle," Izumi's emotions were just now starting to take her over. "After my mother saw me have my first baby, to teach me how to be a good mother. I wanted to become clan-head, when my father stepped aside after showing me how he does it, and being proud of how I do things, even if they are not exactly how he did them."
Uchiha Mansion
They stepped into the family room, there were two separate bloodstains on the carpet, but at least she would not have to witness the mortal remains of her parents, laying where they fell. As soon as she stepped into the room, a light began to shine from the entertainment center, and the television kicked on, she saw her parents smiling at her with sorrow in their eyes. Izumi decided that she wanted to remember whatever they had to say, in case they had to destroy the tape, so she invoked her Sharingan.
Her father began to speak, "Hello, my tenshi, if you're seeing this than we are dead, and we died at the hand of your brother, Itachi." Izumi gasped and brought her hand up to cover her mouth, tears began to fall from her eyes, how could Itachi-otōto do this, for the Mangekyō, I don't believe that, but Fugaku was not finished, "but do not blame him. Izumi, I saw him through the eyes of a shadow clone, he was being controlled by someone," the patriarch of their clan asserted through gnashing teeth, "you know there are very few people that could control your brother, fewer still in our clan, and even fewer that he would trust to let get close enough, and only one of them we know, was in the village last night."
"Shisui," she growled, as she began to weep blood, while the tomoe of her fully-matured Sharingan, began to spin rapidly, "did you really do all of this, just to get me, a man such as you could've had your pick of women? Why set your sights on me?" She was no longer caring if her Hokage was in the room with her, all she saw was what was happening on the screen, but if one were to look closely at her eyes, they would notice the tomoe, beginning to converge on her pupil. When the metamorphosis was complete and her irises had changed shape, they now looked more like fully deployed demon-wind shuriken, and they appear to be turning clockwise at a steady rate.
"I could have stopped your brother, angel," her father said, "but I couldn't raise my hand against any of my babies, Itachi, you, Sasuke, are worth more to me than anything, even the clan. I'm a hypocrite and I know it," Fugaku admitted, "I always spoke at length about doing what's right for the clan, even at the expense of myself, but how can I raise my hand against my own son? I know now what it takes to be Hokage, you have to love the village more than your own clan, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything for the village, my best friend, Minato Namikaze understood that when he Sealed the Kyūbi into his own son."
She watched her father crumble in front of her, he turned his head away as if ashamed to let her see his eyes. This was when her mother who had lain her arm over Fugaku's back, and squeezed, turned to face the camera, her own Mangekyō blazing in her eyes – it looked like the red petals of a flower on a black background, four-petals opening to receive the morning dew – smiled proudly at her daughter. "I could tell you how proud I am of you, baby girl, but it should be self-evident," she told her daughter, "that I love you, and both of your brothers, doesn't begin to scratch the surface of how much you mean to me, and I could no more harm my baby boy than your father. If you're as distraught as your father and I at the moment, you've probably awakened your Mangekyō by now, remember what we've taught you about it, and use your father's eyes to take you, to the Eternal Mangekyō, so you won't go blind. If Sasuke awakens his eyes, give mine to him," Mikoto ordered, "and when you get married, know that I have faith in you, when you came home and told me you'd met your fiancé and formed a bond with him, I couldn't be happier. Kushina was my best friend, we were closer than sisters, and if your bond is half as strong with her son as mine is with your father, then you will live in happiness for the rest of your life. Which is all any parent could want for their child, live in happiness, baby, we love you, and make sure your brothers, both of them, know we loved them too."
The video ended, and Izumi bowed her head and let her tears fall down her face, she hugged her arms to herself, then she let out an angry scream as she crumpled to her knees. She balled up her right fist and punched the ground so hard, she left a tiny crater in her family's living room's marble floor. She was about to do the same thing with her left, but as she started to close her fist, she heard the paper crinkle on the scroll. She swung her gaze to look at it, remembering that because of who she believes sent her this scroll, she still has a clan, even if her family is mostly gone.
Izumi opened the scroll and found that it was a storage scroll, so with a small bit of chakra, there was a puff of smoke. When it cleared, she was holding three things, because in her hands, were a set of Sharingan eyes. Every Mangekyō Sharingan from Madara to today, is recorded in the village and Uchiha records, including how it was acquired and their shape, especially Shisui Uchiha's shuriken-patterned Mangekyō Sharingan, both of which she held in her hand. The other two items were another seal, he learned from his mother, it was meant to record every sound that propagated in its vicinity, and a video tape from the security office of the Uchiha guardhouse, it was dated, 31 December 126. Izumi whirled around with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, she was staring at her Hokage, who had remained silent the entire time she worked through her emotions.
It was no real mystery to them, who had intervened to prevent a substantial portion of the Uchiha from dying last night. The only thing they wanted to know was how exactly he did it. If all he had done last night was that much, he was already Izumi's hero, and she was really looking forward to rewarding him for the rest of their lives, just for doing that much. But for an especially critical component of the bane of Izumi's existence, to appear in her hand without the rest of him, there was only one thing she could ask, "how the fuck did he do this?"