Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. However, the OCs do belong to me.

"It's said life's encounters are governed by fate. Within the tangled threads of destiny cursed flowers bloom – pitiful and frail; lost in their anger, their sorrow, their tears. Beyond midnight's veil lies the revenge you could not exact alone."

Jigoku Shōjo

November 3rd

"Brother, where are you taking me?"

It was a familiar clearing, one that I had only visited once. I had my doubt, but the cacophony of rushing water confirmed my suspicion. We were definitely somewhere close to the Naka river, or rather, the deep ravine near it.

Was Itachi going to throw me off of the cliff?

Itachi pried my hands away when I tilted myself sideways and clung to a nearby tree.

"Somewhere where there won't be any ANBU agent around," he said. Itachi deftly shifted me to the front of his chest and held me close, making sure that I had no means of escape. Like those who are currently loitering around the compound, was left unsaid.

They were invincible, sure, but anyone and their grandmother who was half-decent at chakra sensing would immediately feel their presences. It might seem strange at first, but being undetectable was not their goal.

It was to make sure we knew that they were watching.

In Konoha, ANBU alongside the Konoha Military Police Force were the two forces that maintained 'peace'. As such, there was no clear line what was the jurisdiction of the police and what was the subject for investigation by the ANBU. At the discretion of the Hokage, the nature of the investigation would simply shift from one to the other, leading to the two factions clashing.

It would simply be an ordinary day in Konoha.

However, when three ANBU agents 'disappeared' without a trace as they investigated said police force for treason, things just got serious.

I huffed. "You're an ANBU agent."

"I haven't been one for quite some time," Itachi said. "Dog, the commander, personally discharged me the following morning. I am quite certain that I was demoted to a genin. But still… I suppose it is better than being an academy student."

"But that means you have only been an ANBU for a week..." If Itachi was truly demoted, I had expected Fugaku to throw a fit, but the man had done nothing of the sort. Fugaku seemed quite content actually, he looked serene these days. I was not sure whether it was his true feeling or if he was simply trying to throw the ANBU agents off.

"I did."

I peered up into Itachi's face. Did he lie to me? If he were truly fired, shouldn't he at least show something? More than that, why did I rarely see him at home? Logically speaking, he should have been more available if he were truly unemployed. He couldn't possibly hide himself away due to shame, could he? If the preteen was disappointed by his current predicament, he did not show it; but he did not seem to be happy either. He was just… there. Existing.

Knowing that I was fighting a losing game, I simply shrugged and said, "Meh… We're rich anyway. You can be unemployed. It's pretty fun."

The boy's lips twitched.

"Just don't do drugs," I said sagely, "because then you're gonna die and Sasuke will be the heir, and we'll be dirt poor."

Itachi smiled and poked my nose.

I resisted the urge to sneeze.

"Don't worry, little brother. I'm not going to die, not anytime soon."

"But aren't your friends going to kill us? To kill me?"

Itachi's hold tightened.

"I don't know what you're talking about. No one will dare to lay their hands on you."

What the hell was he talking about? No one will dare?

I leaned back as far as I could to take a good look into Itachi's eyes, practically drilling a hole into his face. My eyes roamed about and I took note of his terse brows, of his dry mouth and taut skin.

"You're scared," I remarked, my voice full of wonder.

The boy's jaw clenched.

"Why are– why are you scared?" I floundered. "And not– not even for me, but for them…?!"

"You know why."

The sheer amount of indignation that coursed through my being was almost enough to make me spontaneously combust. "I'm not– I'm not going to kill anyone!"

"You already did, Hide, and I understand why you did what you did. You are a child and you are scared of strangers. Those white ANBU masks certainly can be quite unnerving. More than that, Yōji-san breached the mission parameters when he made contact with you and Sasuke, thus everything that happened afterwards was my fault as the mission leader for not considering you as a possible detrimental factor."

I felt my limbs tremble. I didn't know from what. My guilt – which I was often reluctant to admit – had always resurfaced at the oddest of time with the strangest result. This time it incited rage.

"What are you talking about?!" I screamed shrilly. "You're talking as if I'm something… something–"

Awful.

"–something dangerous!" I exclaimed. "I'm sick, remember? I've been sick all of my life. You said I was so sick that I barely have enough physical energy to live, but now you're talking as if I'm going to be the next serial killer!"

Yes, I had knowingly condemned them to die. Yes, I did not feel as much remorse as I should have. I understood if he did not really care or think of me as an acceptable loss, but I had thought that he would be more mindful with Sasuke. I had looked into his eyes and I knew those gripping fear and desperation that the boy had felt were real; he genuinely thought that he was going to die.

"You knew we'd be alone…" I accused, "but still, you let them in anyway…" My lips twisted into a cruel, plastic smile. "Everything for Konoha, huh?"

"Brother…" Itachi grimaced at my petulant glare. "Hideyo-chan…" he called gently, and I inwardly cursed myself for giving in to his soft voice and kind eyes. "There's a lot of things going on that you do not understand; things that I cannot in good conscience disclose to you. We're in the middle of a… ah…. Precarious situation… Again, you are sick, yes; but you also carry a tremendous strength inside you. You could – should – have died a long time ago, but you didn't, so that has got to mean something, ne?

"Honestly, I don't think you know what you're doing or what you're capable of, neither does anyone for that matter. Father, Mother, and I are not around; and Sasuke… well… I adore that boy, but he can be quite self-absorbed on most days. Point being, you are a child that is capable of mass destruction and none of us are present to help you learn control. If what Father and Mother told me about you is even remotely true, then we're lucky that there has been no major incident before this."

I pursed my lips together and blinked my blurring eyes, trying to curb away the sense of wrongness and paranoia that had threatened to drown me ever since the ANBU had started watching the compound. "I don't like them," I confessed.

They were there when I was sleeping. They were there when I was eating. They were there when I changed my diaper.

"My head hurts really bad…" The paranoia ate me like maggots. "Please… make them go away."

Itachi rubbed my back, his eyes apologetic. "We can't do that, Hide… We need to show the Hokage that we are on our best behavior, and that means having the ANBU watching over us."

I felt like banging my head against the boy's chin. "Then send me somewhere else! Find me a babysitter, like– uh, what's her name – Ha, I know, Izumi-san! Sasuke-nii said she like likes you, so we don't really have to pay her. No, you know what, send me to the academy. I can sit very, very still. Honest! It's a win-win situation. We all live in peace and nobody dies!"

"I don't agree about the academy, but a sitter sounds nice. Of course, considering your condition, I would have to ask Fat–"

"Arrrggghhh–"

"Now, now, Hide-chan, stop screaming or I won't give you cookies. Look, there's a pretty flower! You like flowers, don't you? There's plenty of them in the Naka River, I'm sure you will love it. We're going to meditate and practice chakra control in there and it's going to be so much fun–"

November 11th

I craned my neck and observed the throng of kids. There were many of them, with various ages, sizes, and appearances. Some of them stared at me – the strange, definitely rich if judged by the quality of his clothes, kid that truly had no business being there – but they quickly grew bored and became engrossed in their game again.

Earlier today, Fugaku had dropped me at the orphanage – probably the closest thing that Konoha had to a daycare – with a strict order not to throw any tantrum (read: maim anyone). The orphanage itself was located on the outskirts of the village, with soft brown wooden walls and blue wooden roofs, surrounded by evergreen trees. It was very pretty, and most importantly, had no ANBU agent in vicinity.

It was pure heaven.

I explored the orphanage a bit, examining the packed, but homely sleeping area; noting the diminishing pantry in the kitchen and made a mental note to ask Fugaku to give the kind lady – Nonō-san, the mother superior, I recounted – extra money. I settled myself on an open space behind the orphanage and plopped down onto the lush grass and stretched my limbs, simply basking on the warm hug of morning sunlight. Lazily, I rolled onto my side and observed my potted plant, who now spotted small, green leaves on its growing stems.

"How's Amegakure?"

"Unbelievably wet, Sir, but the soil is very tasty."

I hummed, pleased. "Good."

"What about you, Meister, are you well?"

"Well enough," I replied, "definitely on edge… There's only so much that I could do with those bastards hovering inside my space. My sense is sending me danger warnings twenty-four-seven."

Because unlike other infants who were born with a blank slate, I already knew how a normal body was supposed to feel like, and suddenly having chakra inside my body was akin to having parasites that slither through my vein every waking second. Chakra as a whole was not something that I could automatically ignore like background noises, especially not when my chakra points constantly leaking spiritual energy – and a tiny amount of physical energy – bit by bit, into the ether; as I had found out when Itachi made me sit down and have meditation.

Sensor type 'leaked' their chakra too, Itachi had explained, when they entered their 'sensory mode'. Their chakra then dispersed into their surrounding and resonated with other chakra sources, enabling them to sense their targets. A skilled sensor could detect their targets from a great distance, as well as differentiate persons by their chakra signature alone. They were even able to tell when other sensors were using their abilities. Outstanding sensors would be able to tell exactly who was among a crowd of people and even able to tell if their targets were lying based on any fluctuation of their chakra. Legendary sensors like Mū and Tobirama Senju could discern between chakra signatures of shinobi from different populations and even link them back to relatives. Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze were even said to be able to detect enemy presence and numbers by simply touching the ground with their index finger, which I postulated were done by sending controlled pulse of chakra through the soil – which were a great conductor for chakra – and required perfect chakra control.

Similar to dimples – where genetics defects manifested in form of shortened facial muscles – larger, therefore comparatively looser, chakra nodes or tenketsu also appeared to be a product of genetic defects with currently unknown family or environmental predisposition, as sensor types more often than not popped up in a random family with no similar trait. Unlike other sensor types, however, I did not know how to exit the constant hyper-sense condition – I didn't even know how normal chakra was supposed to feel like – or whether I physically could. To regulate my disproportionate chakra, my body would have to adapt and create a mechanism to expel the excess spiritual energy and maintain homeostasis, which might inadvertently cause irreversible changes to my chakra system.

One thing that I highlighted from Itachi's explanation of sensor types was that practice made perfect, thus longer time spent in sensory mode would increase the distance that a sensor could cover, and with experience also increase the accuracy and precision to do specific tasks, i.e. detecting specific chakra signature in crowded places from miles away. Because I lacked a turnoff switch, however, as my sensing distance grew, the amount of stimuli that I received every day also increased exponentially. Sometimes it was useful, i.e. to evade the ANBU agents, other times it was downright useless, i.e. sensing two chakra signatures huddled together at the other side of the compound, only realizing a second later that they were copulating. Most of the time I would focus my sense towards specific targets, mainly Sasuke, who was at the academy, near the Hokage mountain, which was quite far from our house. Granted, the center of the villages was bustling with chakra signatures, but they were also fainter, because they were barely inside my sensing zone. It was one of the reasons why I loved a secluded place so much. Being among crowds of strangers might actually drive me insane.

"I could eat them for you," Shinju offered.

"And have the village send even more ANBU agents? No, thank you. We will lie low for a while. Also… it has been almost a week. I don't feel comfortable leaving you in Amegakure. There are too many dangerous ninjas in there. I think it's time to move, don't you think?" I tapped my chin, contemplative. "Any preference?"

"Somewhere near my main body."

"Which is?"

"With you, Sir."

"Huh?" I did not know whether I misheard or misinterpreted what it said. The tree often used archaic words and spoke with older dialect, thus I could be wrong. Perhaps I had spoken in English and it had misinterpreted me? But I was sure that the tree understood me either way…

I almost asked it to clarify its meaning, but I hesitated. I did not want to sound like a fool. The tree was rather fond of mocking me.

A chakra signature made my head tilted unconsciously to the left.

"Meister?"

"Later," I murmured, "someone's coming."

The plant stilled, accurately mimicking a nearby plant in the vicinity. I myself laid down on my back, pretending to take a nap. My glasses dimmed down into dark gray under the glare of the sun.

I saw the person approach me through my mind's eye. His chakra indicated that he was an adolescent, but I could be wrong. I forced myself not to tense when I felt a hand patted my shoulder. Slowly, I opened my eyes and was greeted by a face framed by ash-grey hair. His black rimmed circular glasses were the next thing that caught my attention.

"Kabuto?"

What in God's name was the boy doing in Konoha? Not that it didn't please me to see fewer children being in the field and risking their lives for this very strange village, but wasn't he supposed to be away, spying on neighboring villages or something? I had always liked Kabuto for being a resourceful scientist and medic, thus I had followed his story quite a bit. I was quite certain that currently Kabuto was still Danzō's subordinate. Danzō had visited the orphanage one day and threatened to withhold Konoha's funding if Nonō-san didn't turn one of the orphans over to his Root organization. Thus, for Kabuto to suddenly return to Konoha…

Exactly how much money did Fugaku give the orphanage?

The boy knelt down, his brows furrowed. His posture tense. "I'm sorry, have we met?

I quickly made an excuse. "You're Kabuto-san, right? Nonō-san's son?"

Kabuto visibly relaxed and flashed me a sheepish smile. "Ah… I see… You must have recognized me from my pictures." His eyes flickered towards the orphanage, his eyes fond. "Anyway, I brought snacks for everyone." He lifted his grocery bag. "Come on, let's go get the others."

Kabuto helped me up and held my hand with his free hand. I left Shinju in the backyard, trusting it to behave.

"You must be new here," he remarked. "I don't think I have caught your name."

"I'm Hideyo-chan."

"Nice to meet you, Hideyo-chan."

"And you."

"Do you know where Mo– Nono-san is?

I craned my neck up.

"Oh… you haven't seen her?"

His smile momentarily slipped. "No… I haven't. You're actually the first Konohan that I have seen for a while… Is everything alright?"

I considered his question and racked my brain for an answer. I did not think any of the orphans or the caretakers would die anytime soon, thus that should constitute as 'alright'. But then again, what the hell did I know anyway?

I shook myself out of my stupor and I wrapped my hand around his thumb before leading him through the backdoor. "I think we should go see something first."

I dragged him past the kitchen, onto an open space whose walls were decorated by rows of colorful books and frames upon frames of picture. On the upper part of the cream-colored wall, few old pictures of Kabuto were hung; the latest one was probably from around five years ago. From then on the pictures slowly diverged, each time looking less and less like the boy that stood frozen behind me, until the person was completely replaced with someone else.

Brainwashed, I thought.

"What… what happened?" Kabuto stammered.

I gave his finger a comforting squeeze. "I think bandage-man made everyone's brain all fuzzy."

"But why…? I've done everything perfectly... What have I done that could have possibly displeased him?" I heard his breath hitched. "I don't… I don't understand…"

Because you've become too good, I wanted to say, you've become so good that you become a threat and liability.

Caught up inside my thoughts, I barely registered the tingle that went through my mind. Before I realized it, I had already been unceremoniously pushed aside and in turn crashed against the wall, much to my forehead's chagrin. Adrenaline quickly coursed through my blood, allowing my body to finally catch up with my mind.

Nonō-san and Kabuto-san were caught in a deadlock. Both of their hands glowed green. The former was missing her rectangular glasses, but her eyes were fierce and her bare forearms were steadily pushing against the latter's arm-guards. Kabuto-san himself looked quite shocked at being attacked by his adoptive mother, only dodging through ingrained instinct alone.

"Stop it, you two."

As usual, no one paid me any heed.

"I said, stop! Mother Nonō, he doesn't mean any harm!"

"That vest that he's wearing is an Iwagakure uniform, Hideyo. He does mean harm."

I quickly racked my brain to conjure a lie. "I don't know why he wears the stupid vest, but he's my bodyguard!" Kabuto's eyes caught my blazing sharingan. I sent him a sharp look. "Tell her!"

Kabuto did not need to be told twice. Years of being an accomplished spy and trained liar had served him well. "Hideyo-sama is correct, Yakushi-san. With the current political situation; his parents, who worry for his safety, have commissioned me to look after the young master. I understand that you are confused by my attire, but I promise that I have no intention of causing you or your wards any harm. I am simply guarding Hideyo-sama, nothing more, nothing less."

"Then why didn't Uchiha-sama tell me…?" Nonō san muttered, confusion bleeding into her tone.

"Because I was supposed to remain invincible," Kabuto rebutted. "However, the young master here asked me to deliver those foods," Kabuto gestured towards the fallen grocery bag, "to fill the orphanage's pantry, and now we are in this situation."

I quickly bowed remorsefully. "Gomen'nasai, Mother Nonō. I just want to help."

Nonō-san carefully stepped away from Kabuto and gave him a chilling look. She then tugged me closer and gave me a warm smile. "It's alright, Hideyo-chan, no harm done. But it is my duty to take care of you and every child here, not yours. The money that your father has given us is more than enough, so you really need not bother your guard. Regardless, thank you for your kind intention, I appreciate it."

"Nu-uh, don't thank me. I didn't do anything, Mother, it's all Kabuto-san doing."

Nonō-san inclined her head, though she did not show any sign that she recognized her ward. "Thank you, Kabuto-san."

Kabuto smiled blandly.

"What are you?" Kabuto asked.

We were currently sitting at the corner of the front porch as per Nonō-san's order. Kabuto, who sat besides me, was brooding beneath his low-grade notice-me-not genjutsu whilst I fiddled with Nonō-san broken glasses, silently contemplating on how to return it to her without raising any question. The fracture on the frame itself was quite clean, thus it did not take me long to polymerize the macromolecules and attached the pieces together. The crack on the lenses had also disappeared, though I might have accidentally altered the prescription while I was at it.

"Hooman, obviously."

Kabuto sent me a deadpan look. "How did you know who I am? Or about Danzō-sama for that matter."

"I'm a fan," I said, to which Kabuto responded with a snort. "Also, speaking of bandage-san, I'm pretty sure he wants you and Nonō-san to kill each other, so you should probably run and start anew somewhere else since the village is now busy with my clan."

Kabuto cocked his head, his onyx eyes narrowing. "I don't understand… I am trained to recognize lies and deceptions – every twitch of muscles, every breath and inflection. I know a liar when I see one. But you... You're not lying. You really mean everything you said."

"Duh."

Kabuto twitched. "You're annoying."

"It's called a personality."

Kabuto rolled his eyes.

"Here." I handed him the now intact glasses. "You should give it to Nonō-san. Maybe then she will dislike you less."

Kabuto looked annoyed, but the hands that gently cradled the frame in his palms said otherwise. "What a lazy child."

"I'm in a time out, Kabuto-san. I'm not allowed to go anywhere except to pee or poo, which is a moot point since I'm wearing a diaper."

The teen let out a disgruntled noise. "How did you do that? I saw your hands moving earlier, but I don't really comprehend what I'm seeing. It's not something that I have ever seen before, certainly not something that I expected from a child your age – and trust me, I have seen plenty of strange things. This result is…" he peered through the lenses, "…quite magnificent."

"Well thank you. I might just tell you my secret if you teach me that green-blue-thingy."

"Excuse you, that green-blue-thingy is an A-level technique which requires fine chakra control and copious amount of time and focus to master–"

"Which I shall have."

"It's not a child's play, Hideyo-bō," Kabuto drawled sarcastically, "you could seriously injure yourself or someone else with it."

"I know."

"And yet you don't care, you spoiled child."

"You don't care either!" I argued, "Stop pretending like you do. It's a waste of time and very unbecoming of you. I assure you, I will never hurt anyone unless provoked, especially not residents of this place, who already have unfortunate lives, mind you." I had a feeling that bringing up the orphans would help to sway Kabuto away.

The teen looked unconvinced.

"Come on… I know you're curious," I waggled my finger, where faint colors danced over my knuckles as light passed through the condensed energy on my forefinger, "we're not going to live forever, so share your knowledge with the next generation."

Kabuto sighed in resignation and peeled off his left glove. "Just so that you know, I don't like you and I pity your parents for being stuck with you."

My sharingan bleed into existence and I watched with rapt attention as the teen's other hand glowed green before condensing into deep blue, forming a beautiful chakra scalpel. I almost vibrated from sheer excitement alone.

"No problem. Mummy said I will grow on people like fungus."

"Whatever you say, kid," Kabuto dismissed. "Now, pay attention. This is chakra scalpel. It can be used for highly accurate incisions necessary for surgeries and anatomical dissections. Unlike regular scalpels, chakra scalpel can make cuts inside the body without actually creating an open wound, which can limit the risks of infection."

"Awesome," I breathed out.

Kabuto smirked. Nonō-san had taught him well and he knew it. "Just wait until you see the other iryō ninjutsu. This is simply the tip of the iceberg."

"Come on, Kabuto-san, make the incision already!"

"A spoiled and impatient brat that has no respect for his elders. What a wonderful combination."

I stuck out my tongue.

April 4th

"Happy birthday, Hideyo-chan!"

I stood on my tippy toes and blew the candles. My face instantly went red when Sasuke and Mikoto smooched my cheeks whilst Itachi bumped our noses together. Fugaku then, on a rare show of affection, gave me a peck on the forehead. Happiness bloomed inside my chest and I held back a grin. I have an image to maintain, duh.

I had officially survived another year today and we were celebrating it at the orphanage. The orphans could certainly use the free new clothes and the free pastries. Birthdays were usually a quiet affair in our household; my previous birthday passed just like any other day, Sasuke's were celebrated with simple cakes, whilst Itachi were simply given pats on the shoulders and new weapons or books as gifts; thus the change of pace, though nice, was also unbelievably suspicious and strange. We were still watched by the ANBU of course, I could faintly sense them around the perimeter, but there were only three of them if one discount Itachi, whom to no one's surprise, had rejoined the ninja force as quickly as he was kicked. I honestly was not sure if the boy was an ANBU or a jōnin or a military police officer.

I shimmied away and wandered into a small table that had been set nearby. My fingers hovered over the assortment of gifts, not really searching for something in particular. My eyes locked onto a nondescript envelope that was attached into a small, green box, that smelled exoticly foreign. I quickly skimmed its content.

"…very rich with exuberant vegetation in spring and summer. The soils are carpeted with flowers in every color. Every temple has these marvelous gardens of flowering plants and vegetables, where they would then praise their Gods and Goddesses through sacred celebration with songs and dances.

I heard from the locals that the island harbored all sorts of exotic plant life. There are plants which assist in chakra control, illnesses, and other various impairments as well. One man even said that he owned an eel that could drastically increase the potency of lightning chakra users–"

"Hideyo-chan!" an annoyingly familiar voice called me.

Ignoring it, I quickly skimmed the letter and then skipped into the last page.

"Enjoy the flowers, bocchan. Send my regards to everyone (or don't).

- YK"

I shoved the letter into my jacket and poked at the small box, one that contained what Kabuto-san had said to be an edible flower. I honestly did not know whether the teen was serious or was simply messing with me; I didn't even know how he managed to send all of his letters and gifts from wherever the hell he was right now, but I was certainly not complaining. The flowers were very pretty.

A sudden presence behind me alerted my senses and I quickly wrapped my fingers around the nearest projectile that I could find and hurled it towards the newcomer. The plastic fork bounced innocently off of his clothes. The young man grinned whilst I resisted the urge to face-palmed.

"Shisui…"

"Happy birthday, nephew!" the curly-haired teen bellowed jovially.

Shisui was actually our cousin, whom I had mistakenly called uncle once because he was so darn tall and because I did not know anyone in the clan barring my immediate family. Needless to say, the teen still wouldn't – and probably would never – let it go. I grumbled halfheartedly when I was scooped off of the ground and gathered into a bear hug. It felt nice.

Shisui carried me back to my family and made it his business to make sure that my hair was as messy as they could become.

I futilely tried to smack his hand away and protected my hair, much to his amusement. "Yes, yes… Thank you for your enthusiasm. I'm sure I shall live for another year. Put me down now, please. Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

The teen jokingly scrunched up his face. "Aww, you're no fun…" I was given another smooch on the cheek before I was deposited onto my giggling mother's waiting arms. Shisui then snagged his arm around Itachi, who was trying very hard not to smile, and gave us all a salute before disappearing with a swirl of leaves.

"Ja, ne!"

Sasuke gaped. "I can't believe him... He stole Aniki again! From a birthday party!"

I hummed. "They probably have a mission or something… it's fine, really."

"Actually…" Mikoto interjected slowly. With care, she put me down besides Sasuke. Her hands lingered over my shoulders, as if she did not want to let go, "your father and I have to go too… We have an important clan meeting coming up in five minutes, so we cannot stay long."

I warily watched Fugaku step closer and knelt beside Mikoto, one of his hands squeezed Sasuke's shoulder whilst his other hand squeezed mine. "Both of you, listen to the orphanage matron, understood? Sasuke, I want you to take good care of your brother. Hideyo, behave. I don't know how long the meeting will go, but I don't want to hear any shenanigans."

My eyes narrowed. What kind of meeting was this? Why would they bother to set up a birthday party if they did not even plan to stay anyway? Was the party only served as a front?

"On one condition," I said.

Fugaku, Mikoto, and Sasuke all looked questioningly at me.

I shrugged off Fugaku's hand and rolled up my left sleeve, tying its end and forming a rudimentary tourniquet. I blinked my sharingan into existence and eyed my antebrachial vein, for once thankful for my pale complexion. Behind my back, I channeled chakra into my right forefinger, condensing it into dark blue. Before my family could intervene, I made a shallow incision over the subcutaneous fat and then grabbed an empty vial on my pocket, quickly filling it with blood.

Fugaku and Mikoto stared at me with wide eyes. Sasuke looked downright horrified.

"What the f-fudge!" Sasuke screeched.

"We both know that compared to everything that you have seen me done, this is actually a quite tame one, Aniki."

Seeing that it had reached a sufficient amount, I quickly capped the vial and applied pressure towards my forearm. I flicked the vial towards Mikoto, who reflexively caught it.

"If things go south," I said, "I need you to pour it to the ground and run, no question asked. Would you do that?"

They both remained silent.

"Don't make me cut off my whole arm just to save you," I threatened. "You have less than 45 seconds before the meeting concur. I suggest you go now."

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other.

"We're going to have a talk after this, Hideyo," Fugaku said. "Sasuke, please watch over him."

"We love you very much," Mikoto continued.

Then they too, disappeared into thin air.

.

.

.

A tendril of wood climbed from my ankle and wrapped around my forearm, applying an adequate pressure as red-blood sap seeped into my skin, leaving an unblemished skin in its wake.

"Master… your order?"

I felt Sasuke's clammy hand wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

I gazed into the horizon, where the afternoon sky was filled with shades of orange and pink, peach and magenta, amber and rose, each one of them radiating hope of a new beginning, of the good that tomorrow could bring.

In a few hours they would all be hidden by the black despair of night, a symbol of the suffering that tomorrow was going to bring.

I closed my eyes and linked my hand with Sasuke, its firm weight and surprising strength comforted me.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

I exhaled.

"Kill every hostile."

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