Chapter 5 – The Spark That Ignites the Flame
The explosion reverberated through the ground under their feet from blocks away. Akane looked over her shoulder for a moment as fire roared in the distance, visible over the rooftops. Her attention then turned to the Konoha Police Force Headquarters, as most of the Uchiha stormed out of the building, headed for the explosion site.
Her older brother, Enki, was in charge of this part of the mission. There were ten of them and likely only a handful of Uchiha remaining inside the Police Force Headquarters. They waited, hidden, until the Uchiha rushing to put out the fire were out of sight and out of mind. Now their only concern were the ones inside. Akane took a deep breath as Enki finally gave the signal to move out.
The two Hyuuga shinobi on the team went in first, followed by Enki and herself. Then came the others. The Uchiha were taken aback by so many shinobi suddenly rushing into the building, but there were more of them than Shikaku had anticipated. Enki moved before half of them had a chance to pull out their weapons or bring their hands together to form a single seal.
"Kage Nui no Jutsu!" he said. (Shadow Sewing Jutsu)
One of the chuunin on their team screamed as he made the mistake of looking into an Uchiha's sharingan. He fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Enki's jutsu had not ensnared all of them, either. The Hyuugas tackled some, while others decided to break Enki's Shadow Sewing Jutsu. Akane deflected their kunai and shuriken with her ANBU blade, protecting her brother.
Don't look in their eyes, don't look in their eyes, don't look, don't, she kept chanting in her head, forcing her eyes to look at their chests instead. It was difficult to anticipate their moves this way, difficult to keep up with them. Her eyes stopped wandering as she noticed one of the Uchiha start making hand seals in rapid succession.
Tiger. No, she thought.
Ram. Even they would not be so stupid as to-
Monkey. Boar. "Fall back!" she shouted, though her scream barely reached the others as they fought their own enemies. Enki turned his head and realized what was happening, but he was torn between releasing the rest of the Uchiha and escaping.
Horse. Akane made a step back.
Tiger. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
Time seemed to slow down. Akane saw the flame as it burst from the Uchiha's mouth, growing into a scorching ball of death coming their way. She raised her arms to brace herself for the attack and jumped backwards, but the moment she landed, the blast threw her backwards through a window and smashed her against the concrete, shaking the very soul within her.
She coughed and blinked fast, but the world seemed to be coming in and out of focus of its own accord. Her ears were ringing, but at least her body was in too much shock to register pain just yet. Akane forced herself to stand, failed and fell back on her knees. She tried again and managed to avoid an Uchiha's kunai by a hair's breadth.
Akane jumped backwards as the Uchiha charged again and again. It was all she could do to avoid his attacks as she gathered her strength and harnessed her chakra. She brought her hands together while she ducked and feinted. Dragon, Tiger, Rat.
"Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu!" (Shadow-Neck Binding Jutsu)
The hand-shaped shadow swiftly wrapped around the Uchiha's body and settled on his neck, squeezing until his windpipe collapsed under the pressure. Akane released the jutsu and stepped backwards, panting. The Uchiha's body fell with a dull thud. She looked around, taking in the aftermath of the fireball jutsu.
The ground floor of the Police Force Headquarters was burning, all of its windows smashed. One of the Hyuuga was now holding off two Uchiha. A jounin and three chuunin were still alive, facing off another sharingan-wielder.
Looking for her brother, Akane turned around only to come face to face with Akira Uchiha, who had confronted her in the street after the assembly. His kunai clashed with her sword, Akane raising her weapon in the nick of time to deflect his. She pushed him away and turned, aiming to deliver a kick to his side, but his sharingan saw through it and he moved to the side.
"Give it up, Nara," he said, "you don't stand a chance."
He had not recognized her, as she had been wearing her ANBU mask then. Akane charged, pushing him back. Her body was pumped full with adrenaline and moving on its own now, without waiting for her mind to process everything. Akira was caught off guard by the sudden change in her stance and reacted a moment too late. Chidori came to life in her fist and went straight through his chest. Akane felt a pressure in her abdomen, but thought nothing of it and pushed Akira off her arm.
She turned her attention to the remaining Uchiha. Her hands moved before she even knew it. Rat. Bird.
"Kage Nui no Jutsu!"
The three Uchiha halted, held in place by her shadows. Game over, Akane thought. Her mind was starting to work again now. Feeling returned in her body as the effect of the adrenaline began to pass. She held the jutsu until her remaining teammates took care of the Uchiha. Her knees buckled under her. Enki, she thought as her eyes drifted to the shattered remains of the ground floor. Pain exploded in her body. She looked down and saw the handle of Akira's kunai poking from her abdomen. Akane closed her eyes and darkness swallowed her whole.
Five minutes after the explosion rattled the windows of the Hogake's tower, Shisui ran up the stairs and stormed into the Hokage's office without paying attention to Itachi, who was standing by the door. Itachi waited, ears listening for the crash of the vase. For a couple of minutes, all he heard was the muffled conversation between Shisui and his father.
He was starting to worry he had missed the cue when-
Crash.
Itachi rushed through the door.
"Hogake-sama, is everything alright?" he asked.
Shisui had activated his Mangekyou and he was staring into Fugaku's eyes. His father was standing, not a muscle on his body moving. Itachi waited, unsure what to do. Was this the Izanami, then?
"Hokage-sama?"
Itachi took out his blade, but before he could make another move, Fugaku's sharingan bled into his dull colored eyes and in an instant his kunai pierced Shisui's stomach, slamming him into the wall. Itachi stared, paralyzed.
"Shisui!" he cried out.
Fugaku pulled out the kunai and Shisui's body slid down the wall, leaving behind a trail of blood. Pain shot through Itachi's eyes and he took his hand to his face, but his fingers hit the mask and he remembered. You are not to remove your ANBU mask under any circumstances.
"Itachi…"
Itachi felt something warm on his cheeks, but ignored it. Fugaku turned to face his son.
"Shisui betrayed us," he said.
Itachi nodded, but his eyes drifted to his friend's body. He felt sick to his stomach. Shisui's plan had failed. For a moment he had actually thought… he had believed… hoped…
Fugaku watched his son straighten up, awaiting his orders. "You are dismissed," he said.
Itachi opened the door and returned to his post. Pain bloomed in his chest as if he had been stabbed, too, but he gritted his teeth and endured. His mind felt numb. He closed his eyes and fought the pain. He would grieve for his friend, but he would not do so here, so close to his murderer.