Chapter 7: Fire Out the Fire Within

"Those mongrels are really getting out of hand!"

"Yeah, we know, but we need to do something about them! We can't just let them go on desecrating our good name. it's time for action!"

Fugaku stopped on his way to the bathroom, and his nagging feeling to do Nature's call disappeared. A soft, illuminating light was emanating from the guest room, and he heard many voices inside, his father's among them.

"We can't wipe all of them out... we just have to choose the ones who are the worst."

"And how do we do that? Pause and look at their faces? Most of them live on the side of the mountain. That is where we attack. Those bandits are trying to hurt our country!"

"Well, we can't wait any longer. We've got to wipe them out. Now."

"Today?"

"This very minute."

They whispered some more about their plans. Fugaku listened intensely, drops of sweat sliding down his face. When somebody announced the meeting adjourned, he quickly made his way back to the room. So the ever great Uchiha clan was going to wipe a tribe of bandits out. On the side of the mountain, where Mikoto lived.

Mikoto liived there! Fugaku sat up ramrod straight. If they were going to attack, they weren't going to pause and look at faces. That much he understood. If they saw Mikoto's face, they weren't going to stop. What's happened to the honorable Uchiha clan? They're engaging themselves in their own pride, and not the people's safety. He had to do something. Within minutes, he was dressed. And Uchiha Fugaku was clambering down the steep slope of the mountain which would shortly be on fire.

o0o

"What's happening?" Mikoto rubbed her eyes. She had already fallen asleep when she heard a short commotion happen. Going outside her room, she was surprised to see her parents with a group of people wielding knives. "Okaa-san? Oto-san?!" she exclaimed. "What's happening? Where's Ryen? Hey—"

"Don't try to take a single step further, lady," a man snarled, eyeing her from up to down and holding a knife to her throat. She stopped.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a not-so-nice way.

"Having some fun."

"Pick on somebody your own size."

The next thing she knew she was sprawling on the floor, and her vision swam with different images. She faintly heard voices, belonging to her parents. Mikoto sat up. A thin trickle of blood slid down from a corner of her lip. Slowly, she brought herself to a stand. There had to be at least eight men in the house, all of them smelling foul and dirty.

The man who hit her gestured to his comrades. "Get the others. Leave no one alive. And then kill the—"

"Mikoto!" her mother screamed. "Get out of—" she was unable to finish as one of the bandits thrust his sword through her stomach. Mikoto screamed. "Okaa-san!" she turned to the bandits and tried to hit them with her fists. They all laughed. At the same time, her father was struggling to drive them away.

"Mikoto! Do as I tell you. Get out of here before they do something!"

The man nearest him laughed. "Don't worry, we won't harm your girl. She's a pretty prize and she shouldn't go to waste. You know what I mean?"

Her father got up and slammed his fist into the man. "Say another word and you'll—ugh..." he went down, as a thick dagger was plunged into his neck.

Once again, Mikoto screamed and tried to break free of their grasps. "Look what you did! Animals! Get out... of my house!!!" she shouted. "Let me go!" she struggled. Summoning all of her strength, she bit the man's hand and stomped on his foot. Because of a hole they had made in the wall, she furiously ran and went outside, to where the whole countryside was on fire. The men didn't bother to follow, and she didn't bother to stop and rest.

Always running, Mikoto closed her ears to the villagers' cries and concentrated on getting herself safely towards a place. It had to be the worst night in her life. Blindingly clutching at everything she could hold on to, she dashed up the hill and ran without knowing where she was headed.

o0o

"Damn it, where are you, Mikoto?" Fugaku cursed. He had been up and about for thirty minutes, and fifteen minutes ago the fight had begun. Chaos was literally reigning the countryside, and when he had gone to her home, it was a burning mass of flames. He was ready to break down and cry, but by gathering information many people said they had seen the girl escape before her house was engulfed in the blaze.

"Hey, you boy! You want some fun?" a bandit approached him and grinned, showing uneven teeth and a crooked, evil smile.

Fugaku shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm looking for someone. Do you happen to have come across a girl with long black hair and emerald eyes?" he was saying it to get rid of the hooligan, but the man surprised him by answering, "Yeah, all of us did."

"Where?" his voice was raspy. "Tell me."

The bandit roared in laughter. "I couldn't have seen a more spirited woman anywhere. She fought us like a caged tiger. I had to hit her to make her stop."

Fugaku grimaced. "You hit her, huh?"

"Yeah, I did. Wanna know how?"

"Like this?" with a spinning axe kick, he sent the man flying away five meters or so. Fugaku brushed off the dust from his hands. "There." Suddenly, in the distance, he spotted Mikoto miraculously through the fire running frantically. Her hair was a wild tangle, a part of her skirt was torn off, and blood ran down a corner of her mouth. Some distance ahead of her, Fugaku saw a large group of the filthy men.

Running, he hid behind a tree. As Mikoto passed, he covered her mouth with his hand, stifling her scream while pulling her into the safety behind a huge rock. "Sh... it's me, Fugaku... I want you to keep quiet, alright? Just keep quiet, and stay close." She nodded, tears falling down her pallid cheeks.

Slowly, he crept out and faced the oncoming group of thugs."You going somewhere?" he called out.

One of them faced him. "You don't know what you're dealing with, boy. Or should I say who? Now get out of there and thank us on your knees for sparing your life."

"Why should I when you didn't spare theirs?"

"So you talk back, eh? Men, get him." in two seconds ten people rushed towards him but using taijutsu and his faithful shurikens, he knocked them all out. The leader gaped at him. "Who are you?"

He casually twirled a kunai round his hand. "Uchiha Fugaku. Why?"

"Uchiha."

"Yeah."

The next thing he knew, the fool was running down the path, away from him. Fugaku couldn't resist a small chuckle. It was then that he remembered: Mikoto. He went back to check on her behind the rock.

"Hey."

She looked up at him, and without warning, Hoshizora Mikoto flung her arms around Uchiha Fugaku, crying silently with her head on his shoulder. There was a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder, and Fugaku's shirt became damp because of Mikoto's tears, and the rain.