Crimson Seal - 2

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The stone slid down, concealing the contract that lied beyond.

It was only the first precation. The only one they really needed. She could sense the chakra moving within the small section of the wall. The edges of the stone seemed to glow as the chakra from the stone and contract merged, her own chakra. It wouldn't have worked if the chakra came from a different source for either the paper or the stone.

Mikoto turned and walked out of the small room, closing the door after her. She pressed her hands to the door a moment later, pouring her chakra into the surface until it filled the whole door to fix the timed seal in place. So it would only open again on the day Hinata would become sixteen. Until then it would remain closed.

Well, unless she opened it herself. Otherwise the seal would stay in place for years, and she had no intention to go and open it beforehand.

This was all to keep the agreement between their two clans safe, and to keep it from prying eyes of other clans or villages. With this another contract couldn't be made with anyone else for either of their clans heirs. Without it well... the Hyuuga clan wouldn't see this door open.

With one last check that the door was sealed Mikoto climbed up the ladder into a back room where Fugaku was waiting for her. "Is it done?"

"It's done," she confirmed, wrapping a single arm around his frame. "Hinata Hyuuga will be the only Hyuuga remaining after we control the village."

Fugaku just nodded, not saying a word. She could understand it though. The clan hadn't made a move yet against the Hokage and even though no one could hear them in here he still didn't want to take that chance.

Because when they did make their move other clans in the village would protect the Hokage. One of them being the Hyuuga's and their byakugan. Which meant they had to go, every single one except Hinata, otherwise the byakugan would be lost.

It would be preferable for them to move quickly on this manner, but this sort of thing took time to plan. Not the whole fourteen years before the door opened, but it would take a couple of them before the clan was ready to attack.

"Did you tell Itachi yet?"

Mikoto glanced up at Fugaku, torn from the morbid thoughts of the future. She really wished there was another way to get back at the village for what they did to the clan, but there was none. "Yes. Inabi said he followed Itachi to the Hyuuga compound. Apparently he went to see Hinata before going on his mission." Which didn't surprise her. Itachi was loyal to his clan and even though this marriage was arranged he would honor it.

/ / /

The flame flickered as a breeze slipped through the panels, the light splintering over the walls. It was the only light in the room and with each draft of wind the flame would get smaller, until it blew out entirely, leaving the room pitch black. The continous flow of wind coming into the room though still made it impossible for Hiashi to fall asleep.

That sound of footsteps coming down the hall didn't help either. An erratic series of taps as bare feet met the wood unevely, nearly tripping if a soft curse was any indication.

Hiashi was up from the bed and throwing the door to his room open in the next moment, coming face to face with Iroha. "What is it?"

He didn't reply right away though, breathing heavily, his eyes wider than usual. From the sounds of more people getting up within the compound something was up. Those voices just sounded like whispers from where he was though, very frantic whispers.

All of this noise was too much to take this early in the morning. "Iroha. What is going on?" The whole compound must be awake by now and he still didn't know what the hell was going on.

Iroha must have finally found his voice, "It's the Uchiha residence, sir. Everyone inside was... was killed earlier this morning - night."

"Everyone was killed?" That seemed like an impossibility, and not only because of the sharingan that the clan possessed. Still, that wasn't really what was surprising. Iroha hadn't mentioned a word of who the perpatrators are. They must have gotten away and that's what was worrying. A whole clan murdered before the village could react? These people were dangerous and could easily come after his own clan. He would need to increase security in the compound to make sure the same thing didn't happen here. He would need to speak with the Hokage immedietely so they could actually find these people and-

"Well, there was one survivor."

His gaze and thoughts centered back on Iroha. "Who?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." He wasn't what to feel at that moment. Relief? Guilt? It was a good thing that atleast one had survived the massacre and he was certainly relieved that he had never told Hinata about the arranged marriaged yet - there never seemed to be a good time - so he wouldn't have to comfort her over her future husband's death, but that still didn't help him pin down his own thoughts.

With that arranged marriage was he now obligated to take the family-less child in? Surely someone would need to or at the very least send a person over to help the child. Even though there had been less tension surrounding the two families these past few years it wasn't something he felt he could do. Especially without raising suspicions that Sasuke would be joining the clan through marriage. Which he wasn't.

Now that the contract was broken with the death of the whole clan... What did he do? Hinata wouldn't have to know about it, that was for sure. There was no reason to tell her now with this happening. So... now she could just live her life and choose who she married rather than being told when she came home sometime in the future talking about butterflies and some boy, where he would need to shoot those hopes and dreams down instantly because of an agreement when she was merely two years old. Just something that likely would have inevitably happened.

He didn't have to worry about that anymore. Which was certainly something to be relieved about. So the only remaining issue was... "Do they know who did it? Who killed the Uchiha clan but left Sasuke alive?" Sloppy work. That's what that was. A group of people who could kill the most powerful people of that clan without causing a racket, but left a child alive. That child had to have luck on his side to get out of there. "How did Sasuke survive?"

"Sasuke was found inside his own house. It seems he wasn't present for the murder and got there after those events took place." Lucky indeed. "He was sitting in the room where his parents were killed, probably in shock and was taken to the hospital."

It actually took a second for Hiashi to move his tongue, "His parents? What about Itachi?"

"Itachi?" Iroha looked even more distressed than he had when he first arrived at his door. "He's missing. They haven't found his body at the massacre. They say he's the one that did it. Itachi murdered his own family."