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Meddling In Fate.
Chapter 3: Saving Grace.
Shisui headed straight into the Uchiha District through one of the secret escape tunnels. He'd sent a summon ahead to the village and already knew enough time had passed that his note had been found by his clan, and his family had mourned.
Once he entered the streets of the compound he shuddered to a stop. Bodies were scattered around the district, some women, men, even children. He'd known what his failure had sentenced his best friend to do, but seeing it was another thing all together.
For a moment his heart was overwhelmed by the loss and anger he felt. The hatred; not at Itachi, but Danzō and even Fugaku who had thought the coup was a good idea.
He had to pull himself together though. He couldn't afford to loose himself to his emotions right now, so he ran until he found himself at his house, which wasn't far from where he'd entered the compound at.
On the floor lie his mother, an older woman around her late forties, mid-fifties. Mid-back length black wavy hair, as black as his and eyes just as dark. She was covered in blood, almost choking on it in fact but she was alive. Barely.
"Okaa-san," he muttered, knowing this was partially his fault.
Uchiha Asuka looked up, her eyes widening in shock, anger, and then finally becoming relieved. While Shisui was known as the fastest Uchiha to come out of the clan, a prodigy in his own right, Asuka was the best sensor ever born into the clan.
She had worked to memorize every last corner of her families chakra signature, so that she could always find them if needed. There was noway she could forget the feeling of her youngest son's chakra.
When Itachi had come she'd been beyond startled that he could do such a thing... for a moment she started to believe he had been behind Shisui's disappearance. She refused to believe he was dead. After her beloved Kagami's death, and then her oldest son, Obito's death in the Third War... she couldn't take another death.
"My baby..." blood streamed from the corner of her mouth as she got to her knees, shaking. "I told them, you weren't dead."
Shisui's eyes prickled with tears and he came to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to help her keep her balance, placing pressure on the large wound on her stomach. The blood just wouldn't stop, it wasn't anything he could fix.
"Okaa-san... I'm sorry. This is my fault."
Asuka smiled sadly.
"I... understand. The coup was a bad idea from the start. Kagami would have never agreed, he'd have been so proud of you though, Shisui. So proud... just like I am." Asuka sighed, smiling one last time before leaning up and whispering something in his ear.
Shisui's eyes suddenly widened, a single tear falling.
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Sachi arrived only minutes after Shisui, a look of horror painted across her face at what she found. So much death around her. From the chakra or lack thereof Sachi could easily tell the living from the dead.
She decided then that this had something to do with Shisui's rush, but he couldn't have been responsible for this. Some of these were long dead.
Looking around at the carnage around her she made her choice, she would help who she could, starting with the children and then anyone else she could. Children were an important part of the future and whatever was going on the children didn't deserve this sort of fate.
Sachi steeled her resolve and took off in a run for the first chakra signature she could feel. This led her closer to where Shisui was, but also where a certain masked man happened to be.
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"No please, spare my children!" a tall ash-brown haired, black eyed woman pleaded. She knew though her pleads were for nothing. She'd be showed no mercy, so she would give none.
She swung her arm at the orange masked man. The kunai she had in her hand went through him like he were a ghost, and the few seconds of shock on her face were all Tobi needed to attack. Slitting her throat so deeply her head nearly rolled off her shoulders.
A four year old and two year old wailed as their mother fell to the ground unmoving. Tobi cringed at the sound and walked towards the two cowering children. He raised his blade ready to finish it when he noticed the chakra signature of someone coming towards him.
A tantō coated in fire chakra slashed towards him, and he leaned back out of the way, avoiding a follow up kick by jumping backwards.
He saw a flash of red as her hair flew behind her, and she continued to kneel in front of the two children. Wrapping her hands around their shoulders for a split second. He tilted his head curiously at the mystery girl, who seemed oddly familiar.
"Now what do we have here?" he muttered, not bothering to play the fool. Sachi went through several hand-seals, muttered something and to Tobi's surprise the two children disappeared, as if they'd been summoned. "I see..."
Sachi's eyes widened at the speed the masked man showed, leaning backwards until her hands hit the floor to avoid being bisected at the torso. Pushing up, Sachi kicked her feet into the air, and gasped as she realized her kick had gone right through him.
"Ahg!" she gasped when a fist in-bedded itself in her gut, sending her out of her flip through the air and against the wall harshly.
She groaned before getting back to her feet. Glaring harshly at the masked man she made a single seal and smirked.
"Boom..." she muttered, and Tobi took a step back.
He had only a second to react as explosive seals on his cloak ignited. Sachi was sure she'd gotten him this time, even if he could somehow avoid attacks because of whatever jutsu he used to turn intangible, he couldn't possibly have time to use it this time.
She'd given him no warning... she stared in disbelief as the man in the mask just disappeared completely. Discretely she made a hand sign, then another few, before suddenly the redheaded girl gasped in pain. The sword the masked man had been using had exited through her chest.
Somehow he'd gotten past her defense and senses.
"That was impressive. You were able to somehow create seals without ink or a brush... an Uzumaki indeed. To be able to place them on my cloak without me noticing, truly impressive. None have gotten that close in a long while," Tobi's deep (and she'd admit to herself, attractive) voice said before she began to laugh.
She collapsed into lightning, and Tobi groaned at the shock sent through him from the blade. Stepping back he glared with his one visible eye. He had underestimated the girl, whoever she was (other than an Uzumaki. After seeing her ability with seals it was obvious to him what clan she was from).
The last time he'd even felt pain in a fight had been when he fought the Yondaime Hokage, and he'd put up a much better fight. Than again Tobi had been trying harder then, he'd honestly been testing the girl... but he hadn't thought she'd escape through the simple use of a clone and then switching with said clone.
Tobi growled, his eye narrowed. It didn't matter if he'd underestimated the girl or not, she needed to be stopped, but she could wait. He had a mission to complete here.
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Running around the compound, and somehow avoiding Shisui the entire time, Sachi saved as many as she could. Many had to be healed, which drained her of even more chakra, added to the reverse summoning she was preforming on them.
It was much harder considering she wasn't at the location she was summoning them to. The only reason it was possible was because of the seal she'd found at the storage temple. It looked like it had been put there a long time ago, but with a little work it had become as good as new.
She'd decided to use it as a safe-house of sorts in the future, but hadn't thought it would come into use so soon. She was still running low on chakra, if she weren't an Uzumaki she would have dropped after the fifth person she reverse summoned to the temple.
As she leaned against one of the houses, hands on her knees, she took deep breaths. Sweat was wiped from her brow and she stood back up straight. She'd had two more run ins with the orange masked man, barely getting away from him each time.
He was seriously dangerous! She was taught the ninja arts by her parents, but she had mainly focused on fūinjutsu and herbal mixtures. Her father had taught her some ninjutsu, but his main focus was teaching her the Uzumaki taijutsu and to use a tantō.
That man was way out of her league, she was still too inexperienced. Even her past life didn't prepare her for someone of his skill, back then she'd had magic to reply on, now she had different skills at her disposal. Sometimes she really missed magic.
It was because of this she tried to stay away from the chakra signature that appeared to be his partner in crime. Shaking her head, she was startled when a hand reached out and grabbed her, pulling her between two of the houses.
She was pushed against the outside of one of the houses, and she found herself looking into two crimson red eyes. At first she was so shocked she screamed into the hand covering her mouth.
The shade of red... it looked so much like Voldemort's own red eyes that it surprised her. It took her a few seconds to be calmed down enough to realize these eyes were more vibrant, a bit darker... almost similar in color to her hair. There was also three black tomoe in each eye, they didn't resemble a snakes at all.
"Are you calm now?" Shisui asked, and slowly uncovered her mouth and released his grip on her shoulder.
"Shisui-san?" she questioned, blinking with some confusion over the whole situation. She'd pieced enough of it together to know there was a Massacre going on but the whole thing reeked of something bigger. "What's going on here!?"
Shisui sighed. "You just had to follow me didn't you, Sachi."
She grunted in frustration, and some pain as she jarred her shoulder with her sharp movements. Shisui's eyes darted to the area on her left shoulder, blood had soaked through the bright yellow coat, staining it. He hadn't noticed at first in the lack of light the night gave.
"You're hurt," he said, pealing the coat aside to look at the wound. It wasn't deep, and barely bled any more. He assumed she had healed it, but he didn't understand why she hadn't healed it completely. "Why didn't you heal it? Can you not heal yourself?"
She sighed. "There is a weakness to my ability. I can heal myself, but not to the same extent I can others. I don't know why... but wounds as severe as missing limbs or organs are something I can't heal on myself. I do heal quicker than most people though, because my healing ability aids my natural Uzumaki healing. As for this wound... I'm low on chakra, I need to reserve it and using it to heal such a wound completely is wasteful."
She shook her head. "It's not important. You didn't answer my question, and even more we should be out there helping survivors."
"You've been healing those you've come across..." Shisui trailed off, eyes narrowed.
On one hand he felt good about that, but then again if she was healing those who were all for the coup... well things could get ugly.
"I've only been able to save a few... children." she sighed, looking away as if ashamed. "It might sound cold, but I've been focusing mainly on the children. Their the most important for the future... it seems they also have a stronger will to live since I've yet to be able to save anyone above the age of eleven."
Shisui sighed, nodding in something like relief.
"I can't explain in detail what's going on here right now, Sachi-san. You're right we have to do something, but at the same time this was ordered. My clan has been planning to overthrow the leader of Konoha, this was the consequence of my failure to change their mind." He sighed.
"I see..." she said sadly, then turned her head upon hearing the heart shattering scream of a child. "What was that?"
Shisui's eyes widened, recognizing the sound of Sasuke's voice.
"Come on," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and disappearing in a quick shunshin.
Sachi felt like her stomach had been left behind once they reappeared inside a house. She didn't complain though, it was much less nauseating then Portkeys, Apparating (though similar to a shunshin), or even the floo network.
She followed Shisui without asking any questions, her tantō (which was simply a short blade she preferred over longer blades. It had been her mother's, and was older, with a white wrapped hilt with a pale blue Uzumaki spiral proudly engraved).
When they entered the room they found the culprit gone, but three bodies. The male was dead, the female close to death, and the boy seemed unresponsive, had a little cut on his shoulder but otherwise was alive. Her instincts had her running to the side of the female first, but by this time she'd breathed her last.
If the heart wasn't beating there was nothing her ability could do. She couldn't heal the dead, so she turned her attention to the boy no older than eight.
"I'm sorry, I can't help them," she muttered, hovering her glowing hands over Sasuke's body.
Shisui nodded sadness in his eyes. He knew at least that Mikoto hadn't been as convinced that the coup needed to happen as her husband was. She was also a cousin from his father's side of the family – once or twice removed. Looking back at Sasuke he frowned.
He knew the signs of a heavy genjutsu, the only one he could think of with this kind of effect was the Tsukuyomi. At least now he knew Itachi had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"I'll go after him, you stay here with Sasuke," Shisui said, turning towards the exit. "Don't let him follow after us. He'd already been through enough tonight."
Sachi nodded and Shisui left after Itachi.
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'Shisui... you're alive.'
Shisui sighed as the words echoed in his mind. He was indeed alive, though he had a feeling this would inconvenience at least one person (Danzō). He would have to watch his back for Root ANBU until he could figure out what to do about the old war-hawk.
Itachi had escaped, or more like Shisui had let him go. He knew Itachi's real motives, and he in part blamed himself for being unable to stop Fugaku as the Hokage had ordered him to.
'I'm glad. Take care of my brother for me, wont you Shisui?'
'Of course, Itachi.'
He'd replied before the younger teen left.
The ANBU had arrived about a minute later. To say they were surprised to see him of all people standing there was an understatement. They were still just staring at him, eyes surely wide under their ANBU masks.
"B-But how?" Cat asked, her voice breaking with a small stutter in her shock.
Shisui smirked, and answered. "Hey.. I'm back."
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Sachi stayed in the main house with Sasuke for the next ten minutes, until three shadows dropped into the house. She'd been alert the entire time, just in case the masked man returned, but thankfully she hadn't seen him again. She assumed he'd left with whoever else had been responsible for the massacre.
"Miss, I'm sorry but you're gonna have to come with us to see the Hokage," a masked shinobi said, and Sachi nodded.
She lifted the boy Shisui had called Sasuke off her lap, handing him over to another waiting ANBU and standing.
"Sasuke is fine physically, I healed all external injuries, which was just a cut from a kunai on his arm. I can't heal psychological damage though. I also slipped him a sedative absorbed through the pores of his skin, so he wouldn't try and follow whoever Shisui was after," Sachi explained before she allowed herself to be taken into custody.
It was actually rather familiar to Sachi, who had memories of decades in the Auror department. The protocol for situations like this was probably similar (though as Violet she'd never dealt with a massacre like this, not since before the war ended).
To her surprise she wasn't taken straight to their T&I division. Instead she was led to a building where the Hokage office was located, what was also the Shinobi Academy. Inside she saw Shisui already there talking to who Sachi presumed to be the Hokage. He was older than she'd imagined given the fourth head on the mountain.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes widened for a slight second when the ANBU escorted the teenager into his office. Apparently they'd found her just where Shisui said she'd be with young Sasuke. From the looks of it she hadn't put up a fight.
When Shisui, someone he thought was dead, had told him he'd been saved by an Uzumaki survivor he hadn't completely believed him. He'd thought Kushina was the last full-blooded Uzumaki after Mito died. Naruto was as far as he knew the last of his clan, and he'd taken more after Minato in appearance.
The ivory skin, somewhat round face, and dark red hair were all Uzumaki clan traits. Shisui had not been wrong, the girl could only be an Uzumaki with that shade of red hair. Hiruzen smiled.
"Ah I'm glad you're here. Shisui was just explaining to me how he survived and what happened." He removed his pipe for a moment before continuing. "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage. Shisui said your name is Uzumaki Sachi."
Sachi nodded. "It is. It's a pleasure to meet you Hokage-sama. My parents said many things of Konoha. Though I wonder if you're the third, where is the fourth?"
Shisui looked down a bit melancholy, and Hiruzen sighed. She regretted asking, but she really wasn't up to date with Fire Country. They tended to stay in lesser known countries before her parents died.
"I assume you're not aware of the Kyūbi attack eight years ago then," Hiruzen muttered. "Our Yondaime unfortunately lost his life that night destroying the Kyūbi no Yoko."
Sachi's eyebrows furrowed together at this, knowing that couldn't be right. One of her later lessons in fūinjutsu and her chakra chains was that they were good for subduing a Bijū.
When she'd asked her mother had told her everything she knew of the nine tailed beast and there was no way to kill them as they were masses of chakra. They had to be sealed, which meant the Hokage wasn't telling her the truth.
She shrugged it off mentally. She didn't blame him, right now she was a stranger claiming to be from a near extinct clan. If the Kyūbi had been sealed she wouldn't be allowed the information.
"I'm sorry for asking, I usually don't travel far into the five great nations. I actually only did to see if I could find a secluded place to stay for a while before moving on," she admitted. "I am afraid my finding Shisui-san in time to save him was pure coincidence."
"I see, and how were you able to get into Konoha without anyone noticing?" Hiruzen asked. "Shisui said he was falling towards the Naka River when you found him."
Sachi nodded. "I hadn't truly noticed until I already passed the walls... my summon was running ahead of me and said she'd found a good area with herbs I was running low on. I decided to check it out, but Seina didn't tell me the area was inside Konoha. When I realized I decided it couldn't hurt since I wasn't inside the village area itself. I did activate a seal I created."
Sachi held out her wrist and pushed minimal chakra into it to make the usually invisible seal show up in dark ink, linking around her wrist.
"It's an invisibility seal, it not only turns me invisible but partially masks my chakra. I have pretty good chakra control so what isn't hidden I can hide myself."
Hiruzen blinked in surprise as he inspected the seal around the girls wrist, like most if not all Uzumaki clan seals there was the spiral in the center of it, on the inside of her wrist. It looked pretty simple, but he wasn't a fūinjutsu master as Minato, Kushina or Jiraiya were.
Still, to be able to create something like this so young, there was now no doubts in his mind Sachi was indeed an Uzumaki survivor. She was too young to have witnessed the destruction of Uzushio, so that meant her parents must have been survivors.
"That's very impressive, very useful," Hiruzen said.
"Yes, unfortunately one must have chakra reserves big enough to fuel it. Just an hour needs chakra of a low-level chūnin to work. If the chakra runs too low or is cut off then the seal releases."
"I see, it makes since that such a seal would have it weaknesses," he said, nodding. "I know you are not one of my ninja, but I would appreciate if you'd give me a report on how you helped Shisui and what happened in the Uchiha district."
Sachi looked at the taller boy beside her for a split second before nodding.
"Of course," Sachi said, and went on to explain her finding Shisui, her taking him to a safe place to heal him completely.
How she had to heal his eyes little by little since she was forced to regrow them as his had been plucked from the socket. At this Hiruzen looked at Shisui in worry and question – she realized the Hokage must be concerned about whoever had wanted to take Shisui's Sharingan for themselves.
She may not have been up to date on Fire Country, or Konoha as a whole, but word of clans spread even to the smaller countries. The Uchiha were not a name she was unfamiliar with. Give the clans history with the Senju, distant cousins of the Uzumaki.
She explained the injuries she'd healed, how Shisui had mostly slept through chakra exhaustion and the process of having his eyes regenerated. How she had followed him when he left, feeling something was wrong. She told them about her arriving in the compound to the massacre, and choosing to save those she came across, starting with the children.
How the temple she'd kept Shisui at belonged to the Uzumaki and inside was an old summoning seal, meant for their animal contracts but also easily used for reverse summoning of humans with the right sealing knowledge.
She told them how she'd cleaned up the seal in hopes of using it in the future in case she came across hostile ninja on her travels, as a safe house of sorts. How she'd used the seal to send any survivors to safety.
She even spoke of the masked man who she'd fought. That was news to them, neither had any idea of another helping Itachi.
"How many were you able to save?" Hiruzen asked, part of him relieved and the other concerned.
"About a dozen, give or take a few. Most are under the age of nine, I couldn't save anyone over the age of eleven. I can only heal those that are still alive. They're still going to need rest though, I can't heal blood loss with my ability alone. It'll take a medic-nin and medicine to heal something like that. I didn't have time to treat more than the fatal injuries," Sachi explained the best she could.
"You're healing ability, it's because of your special chakra?"
"Yes. My special chakra not only allows me to heal others like I did Shisui, but it boosts my natural Uzumaki healing as well. It also strengthens my chakra chains a little, and heightens my sensory ability," Sachi said, feeling no need to hide anything.
He reminded her a little of Dumbledore, and even herself in her later years before her death. It was probably for this reason she felt she could trust the old man. Hiruzen blinked, startled by how trusting the redhead appeared to be, but he also felt she was confident in her ability to leave Konoha whenever she wished.
He remembered what she said about the seal at her safe house, which he had some idea of the location if it was the place he thought, and realized she could probably reverse summon herself when ever she wanted. If not there then to the home of her animal summons.
The idea of another Uzumaki with such special chakra though, he had thought Kushina was the only one to possess the chakra chains, at least since Mito herself. He knew though that the Adamantine Sealing Chains of the Uzumaki clan, which could almost be treated as a kekkei genkai was just hard to control and harder to awaken. Those with a special chakra usually always did.
He was no expert on the Uzumaki clan abilities though, only a Uzumaki would be. He already knew Sachi probably would not offer more on her abilities than she already had. He did wonder if she'd accept his offer.
Not only would it bring a new capable ninja into the village, an Uzumaki, but maybe Naruto wouldn't be so lonely anymore. He did what he could but he was a busy man, he couldn't spend large amounts of time with the blond boy.
"Hm, I suppose you are confused on what happened tonight," Hiruzen began. "I can not give you much more than the fact that Uchiha Itachi, prodigy of the clan and son of the clan head, massacred the clan, except the ones you saved and his young brother, Sasuke."
Sachi frowned, a sad light in her eyes at the news. She'd always hated having to kill or see so much death, even as Violet, but she also wasn't above resorting to it. She knew this new world was filled with it as it was a world of Shinobi, and she'd been brought up to know that when it was kill or be killed your only option was to survive.
To survive one had to kill. It was the same when she'd been an Auror in her first life, though with magic one had a bit more ability to stun. While similar the jobs of Auror and Shinobi were very different. Shinobi were basically glorified assassins and mercenaries for a certain village. But it was the life she knew now, even if she wasn't affiliated to any of the Shinobi villages.
She realized Hiruzen was again not telling her everything, glancing discreetly at Shisui she realized he had told her the reason earlier. Maybe it was a slip of the tonque, but he'd told her the clan was ordered to be massacred, because they were going to rebel.
"I want to thank you, for saving those you could. I am sure this will help young Sasuke, knowing he is not the last of his clan. I of course ask you to take Shisui and one of my ANBU teams to the surviving Uchiha," Hiruzen said, and Sachi nodded.
"Of course," she began. "My summon, Seina, is currently with those conscious to keep them calm."
"Good. I do have one more question before I allow you to go. As you know I'm sure, Uzushio was once Konoha's greatest ally," the Hokage began, choosing his words carefully. "As an Uzumaki you are more than welcome to find a home here in Konoha. As a shinobi or civilian is up to you."
Sachi felt her mouth run dry. Of all the questions she hadn't been prepared for that one. Her life had always been on the move, her family was rather nomadic. They never stayed in one place for longer than two years, sometimes not even that. Her parents had lost everything when Uzushio fell, they were rather distrustful as a result. Especially her mother.
Having a home again, one that wouldn't change year by year... it was foreign to her. Yet also rather comforting. She remembered what having a true home felt like, from before her birth as Uzumaki Sachi. Grimmauld Place had been close but Hogwarts had always been her true home. She wondered if she could make Konoha her home? She didn't have only herself to think about though.
Sachi smiled thankfully at the elderly Hokage, before bowing politely.
"Thank you for your offer, Hokage-sama, but I must consult my Imouto about this before I make a decision for us."
Hiruzen and Shisui both looked startled by this, neither expected the girl to have a younger sister. To be honest they were unsure if the girls parents were even alive, she acted rather independent and never mentioned them in the present tense.
After a second the Hokage nodded.
"Take your time. The offer always stands."
"I'll show her to the gates," Shisui said. "We'll meet the ANBU team there. We should leave out as soon as possible."
"Do either of you need an medic before you leave? I noticed Sachi-san's coat is stained..." Hiruzen inquired.
Sachi placed a hand over the area on her shoulder, wincing just a little when it brushed the tender flesh underneath. The wound was pretty much healed except for what couldn't be more than a cut. Pulling her still low chakra into her hands there was a faint glow of her chakra before the wound was completely healed, not even leaving a scar behind. She breathed out, and despite the Uzumaki vitality she felt the wear of the nights events and last week and a half.
The hole in her coat had already repaired itself, thanks to seals lining the inside of the coat in such a way that her coat would have to be shredded for it not to repair itself. She'd have to wash it later to get the blood stains out though.
"That is indeed a remarkable gift," Hiruzen said, smiling kindly at the teen and Sachi couldn't help smiling back before following Shisui out of the room.
Once gone Hiruzen called for the ANBU and began giving them their orders.
Even after they had left he had a lot to think about.
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"Are you going to tell me what happened for you to be falling to your death when I found you?" Sachi asked as they walked through the silent village – many unaware of the tragedy that had befallen one of their most noble clans.
To Sachi the clan system was a bit like the Pureblood system of the Wizardry World, intermarrying and all. She supposed chakra stopped any defects as long as the relation was distant enough.
It was one of the reasons clans tended to have main houses and branch houses; though her parents had told her some clans took it a bit too far, ostracising their branch families and using them as little more than servants. She'd never liked that at all, she knew what it was like to be treated like a house elf.
At least unlike those in her old life who were blood supremacist, the clans were not unwilling to allow new blood to marry into the clan. For males it usually required them taking the brides clan name though. Especially for bloodline clans from what her parents had taught her growing up.
She and her younger sister (who she hardly told anyone she met about in order to keep her weaknesses to herself and protect her sister) didn't go to school as most civilians or even shinobi potentials did.
They were taught everything they knew by their parents. Mostly their mother who was almost always at home unless she went out to the nearest stream to do laundry. Living in solitude some things, some simple technology others in the villages had access to they did not.
Sachi had never minded. She loved her parents, her sister, and their way of life. Though she had memories of darker times she wasn't ashamed to admit she'd been naive.
She'd not thought of when her parents would die, that some shinobi that may find them would be a threat despite knowing why they hid away. She'd been a rather happy-go-lucky girl who was perhaps too wise and intelligent for her age. Most prodigies were though.
The day their rather quiet life was attacked by ninja passing through (of all things it had been ninja simply passing through, who happened to know how to spot an Uzumaki and bring down seals. Seeing a family with bright red hair hadn't helped make them blend in either).
Iwa may not have been as greedy as Kumo when it came to bloodlines, but they apparently couldn't pass up the opportunity to return with some of the last Uzumaki, full blooded Uzumaki's at that. Even if the Uzumaki gifts couldn't technically be called bloodlines they still ran in the clan
Both her and her sister's lives were turned inside out that day. Being older and having the memories she did she had handled it a little better, but she'd still been depressed for weeks afterwards.
She'd pulled through because it was what she did, she survived. She'd always been a survivor. She also couldn't afford to give in to hate or fall to pieces, not with someone else depending on her.
Sachi realized as she was lost in thought that she needed to hurry. She'd been gone two weeks, Karin would come looking for her if she didn't get back soon. Even if she had sent one of her messengers to make sure her sister stayed safe and inside the barrier seals around their current safe-house.
Shisui had noticed the redheads descent into her own mind, and the emotions that flashed through her eyes. As they neared the front gates he wondered If she would accept the Hokage's offer. He was a little upset she would be leaving soon, he felt he owed her a debt. Not only for saving his life but for saving the life of some of his family as well.
Before Sachi had shown up he'd talked to the Hokage, who was just as shocked as the ANBU that he was alive. After briefing Hiruzen on what had happened after he'd gone to complete his mission of using the Kotoamatsukami on Fugaku, the two had shortly discussed what to do about Danzō having his right eye.
The old warmonger might have had the best interest of Konoha in-mind, but what he'd done was too far for even the Hokage to ignore. A plan had not been reached yet, but what was known was that Danzō could not be allowed to keep Shisui's eye. It had to be destroyed. There was also a watch on the bodies of the deceased Uchiha, all with active Sharingan must be accounted for.
"I can't say much. I was given a mission, on my way there I was ambushed by a certain man who did not wish to see a peaceful end to it. Instead he attacked me, and caught me off guard stealing my right eye. I later found my best friend and entrusted him with my mission, giving him my left eye so it would not be taken as well. I fell backwards off the cliff, and that's when you found me."
He felt he owed her the truth, and he had been vague enough that she knew nothing besides the fact his mission had gone wrong and he'd ended up near death.
"Thank you, for not ignoring the question completely," Sachi said, knowing there was more to it but also knowing he couldn't say anything more on the matter without her being a shinobi of the leaf that was allowed in on the truth by the Hokage. Most shinobi villages worked like that.
"I should be thanking you. If you hadn't followed me Sasuke would probably have been the only survivor. I don't know much about healing," Shisui admitted.
He felt a little ashamed he hadn't even thought much on trying to save anyone. He'd been to caught up in his own problems, and the fact he knew the truth of the massacre. He hadn't even thought of the few children the clan had, to be honest he hadn't thought the Hokage would order their death as well. Most weren't even shinobi yet.
"You're welcome," she said, smiling and they both stood a little more alert when a team of five ANBU appeared at the gate.
They were all dressed in similar armor, one stood in the front, most likely the captain of the team. The mask was that of a dog, and there was distinctly styled silver-gray hair sticking up.
"It's good to see you're alive, Shisui," Dog said, and Shisui nodded his acknowledgement.
The dog-masked ANBU almost seemed startled by her, staring for a few seconds longer than necessary before he shook his head.
"My apologies," he said. "You remind me of someone I once knew. Hokage-sama said you were leading us to where the survivors are. I'm Dog, this is my team; Cat, Squirrel, Panther and Shark."
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Sachi," she replied, not bothering to hide her clan name.
The fact she'd given it to Shisui when he woke spoke of how tired she'd been, and after being around him over a week his chakra never once felt threatening to her. She considered herself a rather good judge of character, and ones chakra signature usually said a lot about a person.
Shisui's chakra was rather calming to her, even with the little darkness she noticed in it. Most Uchiha appeared to have traces of it... those with the Sharingan at least. She figured telling these ANBU wouldn't be of any risk, they most likely had been briefed by the Hokage anyway.
"We should go, before it gets closer to sunrise," Sachi said. "Just follow me. It's right on the outskirts of Konoha."
.
.
.
Reaching the Uzumaki clan's storage mask temple didn't take long at full speed. The ANBU seemed almost expectant of where they were headed, she supposed the Hokage was one of the few still aware of the old storage temple.
Once inside they saw a large black panther with a silver diamond mark on it's forehead. The panther had startling red eyes and was rather intimidating. When they walked in it was comforting a few of the awake children.
"Hime, you've returned," Seina, the panther summon greeted. She inspected the other six; she recognized Shisui right away and accepting the ANBU as non-threats.
One of the children looked up, spotted Shisui and leaped through the air and hugged his leg (the girl could be no older than four and was small in stature).
"Cousin Shisui!" she nearly yelled. "I told mama you weren't dead!"
Shisui smiled, patting the top of the girls head. He recognized her as his mother's sister's daughter. He was happy to see her alive, and a little ashamed the whole ordeal had come to what it had. The once proud Uchiha clan, in one night, had been reduced to one adult, and a dozen children. None of which were even shinobi yet.
The other children now awake looked relieved and happy to see Konoha-nin, especially Shisui who most recognized instantly. Of the twelve Uchiha children she'd been able to save they ranged in age from one to eleven years old.
"You saved us," a boy about six said, walking over and Sachi nodded. "Thanks, Red-san."
Sachi blinked at the nickname, thought it could have been worse, before grinning. "You're welcome. I'm glad you're alright now."
.
.
.
It took a while to get all the children back to the village and to the hospital. After which Shisui walked with her back to the gates.
"Thanks again for all your help, Sachi-san," Shisui said.
"Just Sachi is fine..." she trailed off and Shisui chuckled.
"Then just call me Shisui," he told her and she smiled.
"Maybe I'll see you around, Shisui. Good luck with your clan," she said, shaking the offered hand. Her long red hair blew behind her in the light breeze, and as their hands fell away from each other Shisui gave one last wave and turned to leave. Sachi did the same.
For now the two went their separate ways.