I do not nor will ever own Naruto
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Goddamnit, Goddamnit, Goddamnit, Goddamnit!
Shisui agitatedly paced the length of the dock, fingers roughly rubbing his face and slithering up to tangle and yank his own hair.
Itachi. Fucking traitor.
"Goddamnit!" he howled at the water. It echoed back, and he ignored the few lights that flickered on in the houses after his outburst.
His mind was blank with rage. He couldn't think past trying not to rip his own hair out and not to bite his tongue to the point of cutting it.
And Itachi.
Fucking Itachi.
"How dare he?" he hissed, nearly putting his foot through the wood when he turned.
Children. He wanted to kill even the children.
"We're not trying to ruin the village," Shisui snapped to the silent air. "They're corrupt. We're helping the village."
But that isn't how it will work out, is it?
"No," Shisui bit out. "It's simple. Kill the Hokage, kill the council, take down the people who stand between us."
But really, that would be the majority of the village, wouldn't it?
"We're not trying to hurt the village!" Shisui growled. "They're militant. They're untrustworthy. They're the ones who would start a war."
Because the Uchiha would start one with them.
"We're not trying to start a war."
They wouldn't be planning genocide otherwise.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" he groaned. He kneeled down, harshly pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes. "Just lie down and take all this shit?"
What about Itachi's way. The peaceful way.
"You call that peaceful." Shisui grit his teeth.
The massacre is the Hokage's way. Think of Itachi. Itachi hates violence. Ever since the war, he's tried to avoid it. What does that say, that he's considering wiping out the whole clan?
Shisui bit his lips to the point of bleeding to contain the brief surge of fury.
There are no other options for the Uchiha.
"But how are we supposed to live like that?" Shisui muttered, clenching his eyes shut. His fingers knotted more tightly in his hair. "Under all this oppression? They have us herded in this compound like lambs waiting for slaughter! The shinobi can't get good jobs, they don't trust us enough to give any of us high-rank missions or promote us past jounin. It will get worse, like it has been doing. We didn't cause the Kyuubi attack. The coup's the only way to stop it."
Because that will definitely show them we aren't traitors.
"They betrayed us first."
But what if it does start a war?
Shisui stilled, gritting his teeth.
Hokage elections will take time. The council won't be there to select a stand-in. The Raikage is not a fool, and will act fast. Who will protect the village? With the leader of the Fire Country shinobi force dead, who will lead the shinobi to protect the country?
A war is inevitable. A terrible one, at that.
"Goddamnit, Shisui, do you really want to see another one of those!"
Shisui clenched his fists.
Did he?
Did others deserve to see that hell? The innocent people of the village, of other countries? Innocent like he and Itachi had been? Innocent like Akane was now?
No.
Even the corrupt and wicked ones?
Shisui sighed harshly. No, not even them. No one deserved to see war.
Was that enough, though? Which was the lesser of two evils? A full-scale war, a hell, for everyone in the entire elemental nations to experience, or the Uchiha's own personal hell? Would it be better for a hundred people to die, or for thousands? Hundreds of thousands?
Shisui, even though it made him sick, knew his answer. The Uchiha Clan wouldn't give up. The Hokage had enough reason; he wouldn't let a war be started. Unless the coup was stopped in its tracks, the clan would be massacred. But the Uchiha clan was an unstoppable force when it wanted to be; how could he stop the massacre? How could he stop the coup?
Should he tell his father? No, that might even speed up the coup, therefore the massacre. Should he tell the Hokage he knew what he was planning? No, it could even cause the massacre to happen right then and there. If he didn't say anything, the plans for the coup would be completed eventually. They would all be slaughtered eventually.
"What do I do?" he whispered, clutching his head.
God, he was so scared.
"Fuck," he sobbed. "What do I do?"
So many peoples' lives were at stake here. His sister. His father.
How could he stop the Uchiha Clan?