Last week the coup began as the Uchihas attacked. However, the Hokage has been spirited away by Danzou, who it turns out is staging his own coup.
Thanks for all the reviews! I always look forward to reading them.
And I wanted to explain something that may have been confusing. I am under the assumption that a ninja may know his neighbor or friend is in ANBU, but not be able to recognize them if they were in their ANBU gear, or know what job they do within ANBU. So if he was wandering around Konoha unmasked, you would say "Oh, there's Al, he joined ANBU a couple years back." But that is all you know.
Disclaimer: While Pein was busy monologuing instead of escaping with Naruto, Kishimoto was able to regain rights to his manga. You know, someday bad guys will learn… You don't need to explain your evil plot to the person you are about to kill / kidnap, just destroy the world and get it over with. Sigh…
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Chapter 3 – Nakano Temple
It was mid-morning when Toshiro walked into the Hyuuga compound and headed toward the meeting hall. Fugaku had instructed the side-branch to hold Hiashi and the other members of the main-branch in the large building. He shook the rain out of his short black hair and yawned. The previous evening, over a period of three hours, he, Fugaku and six other Uchihas had removed the seals from around one-hundred-and-twenty Hyuugas, with a promise to remove the rest of the seals later. Because it had to be done at the last minute in order to prevent anyone from finding out, they couldn't do everyone. Toshiro was still shocked that they had been able to accomplish as much as they had without loosing a lot of chakra, but Fugaku was a genius when it came to seals and had worked closely with a few members of the Hyuuga clan over the last three years to figure out the procedure.
It turned out the seal itself was rather basic in its construction and used little chakra on the part of the person creating it. The complicated part had been figuring out how to draw the casting seal on the ground. However, the side branch had managed to steel some important documents and Fugaku was able to assemble the collected information to determine how it should be assembled. From there it was just a matter of the seven assembled Uchiha activating their Sharingans and then watching Fugaku draw it once. They then copied his design. After each use, about fifteen percent of it had to be reconstructed. Even so, each person was able to go through fifteen Hyuugas each.
The rain was still falling steadily but the neatly manicured streets and paths of the Hyuuga compound contained no puddles. He found it a little disconcerting though, when he didn't see anyone. On a normal Saturday the street he was now walking down would be packed with people doing their morning shopping or standing around gossiping. But this was no normal day. Toshiro glanced at his watch just as he reached the meeting hall. The building was about three times larger than the temple in the Uchiha compound. In fact, the Hyuuga had both a meeting hall and temple, whereas the Uchiha used their temple for both purposes. It was fifteen minutes after ten o'clock. It was beginning to look like it would be a long day.
Toshiro stopped in his tracks when he heard screaming and crying coming from within the hall. Rushing forward he slid open the double doors and gaped at the sight within. Blood was splattered all over and corpses were piled up against one of the walls. In the middle of the huge hall Hiashi and Yuka were sprawled out. Blood covered the floor beneath them and stained their clothes.
A scream from a young girl broke Toshiro out of his shocked stare and he jerked his head over to the right where two grown men were kicking a child who was curled up in a ball on the floor. The girl was screaming and crying, while a younger child lay unconscious on the floor nearby.
"Stop it! What the hell is going on here?" Toshiro yelled, anger and frustration welling up inside of him. Seven Hyuuga side-branch men looked at him and smirked.
"We're taking care of a little problem. It's none of your business." One of the Hyuugas sneered at him.
"You were ordered to subdue them, not harm or kill them!" Toshiro yelled.
"We decided to change the terms of our agreement."
"That is not acceptable! If this is what you had planned, Lord Fugaku would never have helped you!" Toshiro stated angrily.
"It's not what the others wanted, so we sent them away and took care of the problem ourselves. I'm sure they will thank us for it later." The Hyuuga smirked.
"You think so, huh?" Toshiro activated his Sharingan and attacked, using an advanced Genjutsu to freeze the men in place he used a flicker move to quickly slit their throats with a kunai. The attack took about three seconds, too quick for the Hyuugas to activate their Byakugan and fight back. He bent over, putting his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. Breathing heavily he shook his head to clear it. The amount of chakra that jutsu used was tremendous and he was not a young man. He looked back at the corpses of the seven men. How had they been able to kill this many people? Of course, the chakra seals would make them vulnerable, but still… something was not adding up. After all… if those seven were strong enough to kill over a hundred people how had he been able to kill them so easily?
"You…" Toshiro turned his head at the faint sound of a man's voice. "How did you… do that?"
"They were weak." Toshiro responded truthfully as he picked up Hinata and set her down next to the unconscious toddler. The girl wiped her eyes and looked up at Toshiro fearfully. "I won't hurt you." He said kindly. Checking the toddler he realized that she had a slight concussion but was otherwise unmolested. "Stay here."
Toshiro walked over to Hiashi and bent down next to him. The man's injuries were severe. He had been cut several times with a sword, most of them shallow, as if he had been tortured.
"Yuka…" Hiashi said faintly.
"Is dead. I'm sorry. It… doesn't mean much to you now, but Lord Fugaku did not want this to happen. He didn't want you injured, just incapacitated. He wanted to speak to you himself." Toshiro's voice was full of regret and he reached down to brush the hair away from Hiashi's face. He realized he wouldn't be able to question him about what had happened. He probably wasn't going to be alive much longer. That left Hinata… if the memories of a traumatized child could be trusted, that is.
"I… can't forgive him… but… I… don't blame… him for this…" Hiashi started coughing and blood spilled from his mouth. He reached up and grabbed Toshiro's arm, "Side branch was… my fault. I could have changed things… but… I didn't."
"Lord Hiashi… it wasn't your fault. That wasn't why we helped them."
"Listen…" Hiashi's voice grew a little stronger, "Danzou… he is up to something. Maybe… this coup is…"
"Yeah, we figured that out a few hours ago." Toshiro admitted, "He kidnapped Sarutobi."
"Unfortunate." He closed his eyes as more blood bubbled out of his mouth.
"Hold on a little longer, I can get you to the hospital." Toshiro pleaded.
"Too late. You… you as conqueror are responsible for raising… daughters… old tradition..."
Toshiro nodded. He remembered the old ways from the history books and stories. The conquerors would either kill the entire family or raise the underage children and merge them into their own clan. "I will defend them with my life. My wife and I will adopt them. Please go in peace and know they will be well looked after."
"Hinata… clan chief…" Hiashi's voice was becoming weaker, but it was clear he was only hanging on by a thread, trying desperately to tie up loose ends.
"She will take her place as chief when she reaches fifteen. That is a promise." Toshiro swore then frowned as Hiashi finally closed his eyes for the last time and succumbed to his injuries. He sighed, "It wasn't supposed to be like this."
"Father? Mother?" A small voice came from behind him and he saw Hinata and Hanabi standing a couple feet behind him. The older girl was moving her mouth like she wanted to say something else, but nothing came out. She was badly bruised and when Toshiro put his hand on her back to push her toward the exit she flinched in pain and started limping.
Looking back at the carnage he couldn't wrap his mind around what had happened. How had they missed this? Why hadn't they guessed something like this might happen? Of course the side branch hated the main branch, that was why Fugaku had sought them out as allies, and why they had agreed so readily to help. From what that man had said, they had sent away those who did not want Hiashi harmed. Did that mean they didn't know what was going to happen, or didn't want to watch? Either way, he hoped those seven were the only ones involved. But then again, nothing else was working out as planned, so the chances of that being the case seemed minimal.
"I'm going to take you someplace safe, so if you can be quiet while we move through the village…" Toshiro knelt down and picked up Hanabi and Hinata climbed onto his back. He made his way quickly to where Kisa was perched on top of a building near the Hokage's tower. Leaving the girls there, after a short explanation, he left to rejoin Fugaku and give him the bad news.
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Mikoto moved though the streets alone, quietly assassinating Konoha ninjas who were attacking Uchihas. If she saw a fight in progress she would throw poisoned senbon at the enemy to quickly disable them. She was one of several Uchiha women who were doing the same thing.
"Fifty-three." Mikoto said quietly to herself.
"I've gotten two-hundred-thirteen." A deep masculine voice whispered in her ear, causing her to quickly pull out a kunai as she swiveled around.
The man grasped her hand to deflect the weapon and smiled. "I just couldn't stay away from all the fun. But you're going to have to do better if you're planning on beating me."
"Madara! I seem to remember Fugaku telling you to leave." Mikoto hissed.
"You're so sexy when you kill. Why don't you leave Fugaku and marry me?" He taunted.
"Humph. Aya not enough for you now?" Mikoto asked angrily.
"Not interested in sixteen-year-olds. I prefer women with experience. And you are definitely experienced." He gave a short laugh, then pushed her up against the wall, capturing her lips with his own.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" Fugaku said angrily as he approached the pair. Mikoto tried to push Madara off of her, but he held her fast as he turned his head to look at the clan chief. "Getting tired of Aya already? I guess you won't mind returning her then."
"Why? Five or ten years she'll be ready for me and, well, that should be worth something." He chuckled. "Of course, if Mikoto would agree to come with me now then I could have both of them. It's kind of fun to have two women at once, as I'm sure you know Fugaku?"
"You're sick. You know that, don't you?" Mikoto said with disgust.
Madara stepped back from her and laughed. "I've been told that before." He changed the subject, suddenly turning serious, "Where is Sarutobi? I was looking forward to seeing you fight him. He is certainly no 'Hashirama' and you are most definitely not on my level, but still, an Uchiha defeating a Hokage would have been worth watching."
"Danzou has him somewhere and his ANBU are moving about without their uniforms, attacking the villagers." Fugaku said calmly.
"Humph. That man. Well, it should be interesting to see what happens next then." Madara frowned.
"I want you to leave." Fugaku sighed and shook his head. Even though he was saying it, he knew the man would refuse.
"I'm having too much fun. Ha! But don't worry, I'm only attacking Konoha ninjas."
"Attack ANBU instead. They are the real enemy." Fugaku suggested, realizing that if the man wasn't going to leave, then perhaps he could at least be useful.
"ANBU huh? That makes sense. And it's a bigger challenge since they aren't wearing their uniforms. Alright then! Back to the fun!" He laughed then used a jutsu to disappear.
"That man's impossible." Mikoto said angrily. "How does Itachi put up with him?"
"With difficulty. However, he grew up with the man breathing down his back. I think he probably would have an easier time controlling him than we ever would." Fugaku snorted, "But I have a feeling whatever control he may think he has over his sensei is probably illusory."
Mikoto coughed as thick smoke suddenly blew into the area. "What's on fire?"
"The housing area near the front gate. Unfortunately about twenty-five percent of the village lives there. I just hope everyone evacuated when they were told to." Fugaku said quietly. "I think Danzou's people set the fire using some kind of incendiary. Our fire-style jutsus could have done it, but so far as I know, no one was near the area when it started. Several Konoha ninjas are fighting it now. The fact that it's been raining all day helps, but if the wind picks up it could spread." Fugaku looked suspiciously at the gray sky.
A loud explosion was suddenly heard and Fugaku and Mikoto turned their heads and gasped.
Mikoto put a hand over her mouth, "That definitely came from the compound!"
"Fugaku!" The crackling voice came over the receiver, "The temple's been bombed and we're being attacked!"
"Understood. Lead them away from the temple and I'll send some people over right away." Fugaku spoke hurriedly into the transmitter, then relayed the message to his wife.
"That means no one is guarding the temple!" Mikoto paled visibly as a vision of her youngest son crushed to death under a building went through her head. "How did they know to attack it, though? There are dozens of buildings in the compound."
Fugaku frowned at her and they both said the same thing, "Itachi." It was obvious the boy had said something at some point to tip off Danzou about the existence of the hidden chamber in the temple.
"Danzou, when I find you…" Fugaku was so angry he couldn't even finish the statement. However, he didn't have time to dwell on it as his received crackled to life again.
"Fugaku! The ANBU are wearing Uchiha fans on their clothes and attacking civilians." The voice yelled into his ear.
"Why are there still civilians in the village?" Fugaku yelled into the transmitter.
"They are being told to return to their homes. They are hearing things like 'the evacuation is in stages and it's not your turn yet', or 'only the west side is being evacuated'. Also a few other stories, whatever works."
Fugaku growled. This was not good. The villagers had no idea who was an Uchiha and who wasn't. Most of the clan did not have Sharingan eyes so that couldn't even be used to distinguish them. Only a few ever developed the advanced eye jutsu. Considering the fact that he had told his clan not to attack civilians outside of self-defense this new ploy of Danzou's would make things much, much worse.
"I'm going to go check the temple." Mikoto said, worried.
"Okay. That's a good idea. Grab some other Uchihas on your way to help you." He watched as his wife took off running toward the compound.
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Breakfast consisted of rice, apples and bottled water. The general mood was somber and a little tense. Sasuke, who was still tired from his restless evening, fell asleep again a couple hours later, but woke up around noon when he heard people talking excitedly about something. Jumping up from the futon he quickly shoved his feet into his sandals and rushed across the room to find out what was going on. Several elders were also gathered at the base of the stairs looking up anxiously at the door.
A huge explosion was heard overhead and the chamber shook as sediment dropped down on the inhabitants. A huge cracking sound came from the other end of the room. Loud gasps and screams were heard as several beams collapsed into the area where Sasuke, Sheeta and Nui's futons were resting.
Daylight filled the chamber followed by rain and thunder. One of the elders cautiously walked over to the rubble and looked up through the opening. Then said in an urgent voice, "Sasuke, Sheeta, Nui, get over here!"
The three trotted over and cautiously looked up at the stormy sky. The man rubbed his temple wearily as he watched Sheeta quickly grabbed a photograph off the floor and pocket it. He pointed to one of the beams. "I want each of you to climb out of here on this beam. Nui, you go first, then Sheeta, then Sasuke. Keep a lookout for enemies. And by enemies I mean anyone that is not an Uchiha. At this point Konoha is to be considered our enemy and avoided. If you are attacked and cannot get away, attack with deadly force. You three are our children and our future and must survive at all costs."
"But how will you guys get out?" Nui asked, concerned. The beam was steep and many of the people in the chamber were elderly or sick, meaning they had weak chakra and probably couldn't escape without assistance.
"Not your concern. Now get going, now!" The man ordered as he grabbed Nui by the arm and shoved her toward the beam. The nineteen-year-old gingerly climbed onto the beam then stood up at an angle, sending chakra into her feet to steady herself. She slowly walked up the beam, then stopped when she neared the top. Sasuke looked up and could see her searching the area for a few seconds before walking the rest of the distance and climbing out of the hole. Sheeta followed her next, moving exactly the same way as her sister.
When it was Sasuke's turn the elder lifted him up and placed him on the beam. Sasuke started crawling up on his hands and knees since he hadn't yet learned how to use chakra to climb.
The elder watched him, concerned. The rain was pouring down through the hole and the beam was obviously slippery. Sasuke got halfway up and slid back a foot. "Sasuke, use chakra to grip the beam."
Sasuke stopped and looked down, embarrassed, "I… don't know how yet."
"We need a rope!" The elder called back into the chamber. Someone near the altar pulled one out of a box and gave it to him. "Sasuke, catch this and tie it around yourself, then throw it up to Nui. She and Sheeta will have to haul you up."
"Can't I jump? I can reach the opening if I jump." Sasuke looked up and it was an easy reach.
"The pressure you would use to jump off the beam could make it collapse the rest of the way. Plus, the floor around the opening is week and might collapse when you land on it." The elder threw the rope up and Sasuke caught it, then tied it under his arms with a knot he was taught in school. He threw the length up to Nui who caught it easily.
"Don't move until I tell you to, Sasuke." Nui yelled down at him. She then ran off and wrapped it around a strong beam on what was left of the porch. "Sheeta, stand by the hole and guide the rope, that section over there is the strongest so we need to keep the rope from moving away." She started pulling slowly and Sasuke continued to crawl up the beam, only this time he had the rope for leverage and didn't slip.
After Sasuke was safely at the top, Nui tied off the rope and threw the end back down to the elder. "You guys can climb up on this, we'll take off and hide."
"Good luck to you all!" Several voiced called up.
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Nui and Sheeta cast a Genjutsu around themselves and Sasuke to hide from any enemies before running across the street to a covered sidewalk. Thunder and lightening crashed overhead and the rain pounded down on top of them. It was October and chilly out and the three were not wearing coats.
"Where do we go?" Sheeta asked as her teeth chattered.
"Inside this building to borrow some coats." Nui answered. She kicked in the door and they entered the foyer. Luckily there was an assortment of jackets hanging from hooks next to the shoe rack. Unluckily they had obviously broken into the house of an Uchiha male who was apparently very tall. Oddly enough, whoever it was seemed to be using their foyer as a closet and it contained about a dozen coats and hats. They all grabbed a jacket and put them on, but Sheeta and Sasuke practically disappeared in the clothing.
"This sucks." Sheeta said despondently. Her hands were about a foot from the end of the sleeve and Sasuke's coat was so long it reached the ground.
"Don't forget hats." Nui deposited the kasas on their heads and then looked around the foyer.
"We should go to the police station." Sheeta suggested.
"Why? They'll be looking for us there. It's an Uchiha facility." Nui said calmly.
"I know a secret way into the station and how to get into the isolation cells. We can hide there. Hardly anyone even knows they exist." Sheeta said happily. She had watched Yotsua with her Sharingan when he opened the isolation cells and was sure she could do it herself.
"Perfect, then. With any luck they won't bomb the jail, there are civilian prisoners in there." Nui moved to the door and opened it carefully, then looked back at Sheeta and Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you okay? You haven't said anything."
Sasuke blinked and looked up at Nui. "I guess. I just… there isn't anything I can do to help so everyone has to baby me. Itachi wasn't like this when he was eight."
"You don't want to be like Itachi, Sasuke. Just be yourself." Nui answered after she turned her back to the two children.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sheeta asked stubbornly.
"Just… something is wrong. I don't know what. We don't have time to talk about it now, let's just try get to the station in one piece." She walked through the door, followed by a confused Sheeta and Sasuke.
The street appeared empty and neither Sheeta nor Nui sensed any chakra nearby. They stood for a couple minutes, extending their senses but they could only feel the people in the temple and a small group a little ways beyond it.
"Why would they bomb us then take off? I mean… in the movies the bad guys always run to the bombed building to make sure everyone is dead." Sheeta was getting very worried at the apparent "oversight" and wished more than anything that she was home in her bedroom, nice and safe.
Nui shook her head in frustration, "I was wondering the same thing. They must be here though… hiding their chakra probably. Perhaps they don't see us as a threat. Perhaps the Uchihas that were guarding the temple chased them away. I really don't know. Let's just get going. The longer we hang out here, the more time they have to re-think their actions. And Sheeta… you need to quit watching so much TV."
Sheeta laughed half-heartedly at her older sister's complaint. It was something Nui teased her about frequently, especially when the woman came home from work at six in the morning to find her little sister asleep on the couch and the TV still on. And, of course, Itachi liked to tease her about it as well since she had gotten in the habit of quoting "sappy" lines from soap operas to him. She wasn't sure if she was doing it to make him feel better, or to bug him, but she did know that he would at least smile a little bit and that had to be a good thing.
They reached the front gate of the compound a few minutes later. Sheeta unlocked the opening mechanism and large double doors swung slowly open. Just as they were walking through them a bright flash followed by an explosion threw them to the ground. When they looked up they saw what remained of the temple at the far end of the street crumble to the ground. Sasuke jumped up and started to run back, but tripped over the hem of his jacket.
Nui picked him up and set him back on his feet, "We have to hide, Sasuke, they would never forgive us if we went back now."
"No! Auntie is…" Sasuke yelled, panicked. He imagined Auntie crushed to death him and started crying.
"We don't have a choice, Sasuke!" Nui yelled back, "I'm sure other's will come and dig them out… You know they will. We always… look after each other." Tears were streaming down the woman's face by the time she finished speaking. She didn't want to leave the temple like this; it felt too much like cowardice. But she had Sasuke and Sheeta to look after, and as a medic she had been taught to avoid battle so she could heal those who fought. It was a hard decision, but also unavoidable.
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It took Mikoto thirty minutes to reach the broken temple after having been delayed by a group of ANBU wearing fake Uchiha symbols on their shoulders. She and a team of three real Uchihas fought them, but ended up backtracking because of collapsed and burning buildings. Finally reaching the temple they saw that the whole structure was flattened.
"Sasuke!" Mikoto ran up to where the porch was and looked around helplessly.
"Mikoto? Is that you?" A woman's voice yelled up faintly from the ground.
"Is Sasuke okay?" Mikoto yelled back.
"The children got out. They were told to hide. We don't know where they went." The voice called up.
Mikoto pushed a button to activate her transmitter, "Fugaku, the children got out, but no one knows where they are."
"Got it. I'll tell everyone to keep their eyes open. We'll just have to trust that they can keep under cover. Nui is with them so… it should be okay." Fugaku answered in a worried voice. Many buildings had collapsed or burned down and there was still a lot of fighting going on in the village. While Nui and Sheeta could be comparable to Chuunin, Sasuke was still a student and nowhere near as powerful as his brother had been at his age. Also, the two girls would have problems if they ran into any powerful Jounin.
Mikoto knelt down on the ground as the rain fell down around her. Thunder and lightening flashed overhead as she closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. Things weren't working out the way they were supposed to. The destruction, the loss of life. The numbers were far higher than expected because of Danzou. She wasn't fooling herself though, she had walked into this knowing a lot of people would die… but the corpses were easily in the thousands and it wasn't even one o'clock yet.
"Please, Sasuke, Itachi, Fugaku… please be safe." She whispered to herself as thunder exploded overhead, drowning out her prayer.
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There were no civilians to be seen anywhere. The city appeared deserted, except for the occasional sound of kunais or yelling in the distance. They were halfway to the station when they came upon their first corpses. Sasuke quickly counted thirty-seven as they made their way carefully around them. Blood and gore leaked from the bodies and empty eyes stared blankly at the sunless sky. Rain washed the blood onto the streets and stained their shoes. The next street over had about fifty bodies. Then came the worst sight of all.
The next set of bodies were all civilians, and in a surge of panic Sasuke quickly recognized some of his classmates. He ran up to a black-haired girl and grabbed her arm, "Ami! Ami! Get up!" He ran to a fat boy with swirls on his cheeks, "Choji! Ami needs help!" He ran to another boy he didn't know the name of and shook him, "Get up! Get up!"
Nui and Sheeta were standing shell-shocked, watching Sasuke run from body to body. He finally stopped running and dropped to the ground, sobbing bitterly.
Sheeta whispered, "I knew this would happen. I knew it."
"Uchiha scum." A man in a green Jounin vest walked up behind Nui and Sheeta, "Look what your arrogance has done to my home. You don't deserve to breathe the same air as me."
"I got the fox brat Shinji." A second man in a Jounin vest walked out of a building hauling a small blond boy with whiskers behind him. The boy's blue eyes were wide open and he was so scared he couldn't speak. His head kept turning around and looking at the dead bodies.
"Good. Humph. We get to kill the fox and the clan that caused the Kyuubi attack eight years ago all in one go." Shinji laughed
"You're not going to be killing anyone!" Nui announced, "Release the boy!"
"Ah, how sweet, the Uchiha whore is defending her pet fox." Shinji laughed, "Sayama! Slit the boy's throat!"
Sayama laughed and pulled out a knife, the boy suddenly came to his senses and started struggling. "Let me go! Let me go! I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Let Naruto go!" A loud boy's voice came from twenty feet away. Sasuke stood up and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Sasuke! Stay out of this!" Nui yelled back at him. "Let me handle it! Sheeta, go to Sasuke and stay out of the way."
Sasuke frowned. He didn't want to stay out it. He wanted to help. But when it came right down to it, he realized there was nothing he could do.
Nui attacked Sayama as he brought the knife close to Naruto's throat. She used a flicker move to appear in front of him. He was caught by surprise and momentarily loosened his grip on the kunai. This allowed Nui to grab it and plunge it into his throat. She pulled Naruto out of Sayama's grasp and shoved him away.
"Run to Sasuke and stay there!" She yelled. Naruto quickly did what he was told.
Shinji advanced on Nui and she turned around quickly and attacked. He turned out to be better trained than his companion and they were both engaged in a kunai fight. However it was interrupted when four more Konoha ninjas appeared. Three came up behind the children so fast that Sheeta was knocked out before she noticed their presence and Sasuke and Naruto were quickly restrained. Nui was momentarily distracted by the sudden attack, giving Shinji an opening. He plunged his kunai into her side and she dropped to the ground. He hit her on the back of the head, knocking her out.
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"Do something, Sasuke!" Naruto pleaded as he kicked at the man restraining him.
"I can't! I'll hit Nui!" Sasuke was panicking. He wanted to use his fireball jutsu but Nui was on the ground in front of Shinji.
"You're the best student in school! You must be able to do something!" Naruto was also panicking and his voice came out as a whine.
"We should kill the two girls while they're unconscious." Shinji said calmly.
Sasuke decided he didn't have a choice and quickly formed the hand signs for a fireball jutsu. He concentrated very hard on making the size small and then shot fire out of his mouth. The fireball was about three feet in diameter and hit the surprised Shinji directly in the face and upper torso. He fell immediately; screaming in pain for a few seconds before dying. The man holding Sasuke released him in shock and backed up a foot. This gave Sasuke the chance the start forming the hand signs again.
The man who had knocked Sheeta out, however, was faster than Sasuke and plunged his kunai into the right side of the boy's chest, just below the collar bone. Blood spurted out and Sasuke fell to the ground. The man backed away and laughed.
"Your clan has killed a lot of my comrades. I think I'll just stand here and watch you bleed to death." He laughed and backed away. The man holding Naruto released him and the boy quickly ran over to Sasuke.
"Sasuke! I'm scared, what are we going to do?" Naruto started crying and Sasuke, who was on his knees felt tears dripping out of his own eyes as well. He was just as scared as Naruto. Looking up, however, he saw Sheeta and Nui were still unconscious. If he didn't do something they would all be killed. They were his friends, probably his only friends in the whole world. How could he fail them like this? And what would Itachi say if his girlfriend died because he couldn't defend her? How could he face his own brother after that? Or even his parents?
"It's all up to me." Sasuke whispered. "I have to do this. I have to do this!"
"I'll help." Naruto sniffed a couple times and stopped crying.
"Okay." Sasuke turned his head and looked at Naruto but frowned when he saw the shocked expression on the boy's face.
"Sasuke… your eyes… they're… they're red!" The amazement in Naruto's voice made Sasuke touch his face to see if it was bleeding.
"What…" Sasuke winced in pain as his shoulder started throbbing. He looked up at the three ninja's. They were walking toward Nui. "Go to Sheeta and wake her up! Now!"
Naruto quickly ran to Sheeta as Sasuke ran through the hand-signs for the fireball jutsu and launched it at the ninjas. The attack was rendered faster by the boy's new Sharingan and the targets were engulfed in flames before they realized what was going on. It helped, of course, that they also hadn't expected an injured and crying boy to attack and had dropped their guard.
Sasuke ran to Nui and roughly shook her, "Nui! Wake up!" He winced and started gasping as he fought back against the blinding pain that engulfed his right arm.
Nui opened her eyes and looked up. The rain was pouring onto her face and she squinted to keep the water out of her eyes. Intense pain wracked her body and she moved her hand down to the stab would to shove chakra into it. The wound was deep but had missed all the organs. The bleeding stopped and she noticed that Sasuke was swaying.
"Sasuke, what's wrong?" She sat up with great difficulty.
"He was stabbed in the chest." Naruto said as he and Sheeta ran over and knelt down in the ground next to Sasuke and Nui.
"Where?" She quickly pulled the bulky jacket off the boy and saw his shirt was soaked with blood. Pulling out a kunai she cut it open, revealing a stab wound on his right side directly below the collar bone. She laid him down on the ground and forced chakra into his wound, then breathed a sigh of relief. "It's shallow and hit a rib so it missed his lung. Thank God. The thick coat probably hindered the kunai somehow." A couple minutes later the bleeding stopped. She pulled the jacket closed and everyone stood up.
Sheeta looked around and tried to sense more chakra sources. "We need to continue on to the station."
"Yeah. Naruto, stick close to Sasuke. You're coming with us." Nui said sternly.
"Okay." Naruto looked over at Sasuke. His right arm was hanging limp by his side and his left arm was held tightly over his stomach. It was obvious that the boy was feeling sick. "Do you want me to carry you Sasuke? You can ride on my back."
"No… I'm fine." Sasuke said quietly. He didn't want anyone to think he was weak. However, a few seconds later he bent forward and expelled the contents of his stomach onto the ground.
Nui looked at him and sighed. She quickly noted with relief that there was no blood in the vomit and decided he was just very stressed. When she had seen him standing bent over she was afraid he had been hit in the abdomen. "Well, we're almost there." She replied in a weak voice.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
"The entrance is here." Sheeta led the small group to a blank wall on a building two blocks from the police station. She formed several hand-signs and a pattern appeared on the wall. Sheeta then put her palms on the wall at specific locations and pushed her chakra into the seal. It flared up in a red light and the wall disappeared. "Quickly! We have fifteen seconds before it closes."
"Everyone be quiet, there might be people inside here." Nui whispered.
The companions made their way single file through the narrow hall. Nui was in front, then Naruto, Sasuke, and finally Sheeta. They reached a crossroads and Sheeta directed them left. As they walked further into the tunnel they noticed it went down. The overhead lights were sparse and cast long shadows on the dirt floor. The tunnel itself was about four feet wide and the walls were made of bricks that reached up six feet then curved into an arch that was seven feet above the ground. It was dry, but they could hear water dripping in the distance.
"It's just up ahead. I'll have to get up front so I can open the door." Sheeta whispered. In the quiet of the underground hallway her voice sounded loud. She walked up to a steel door and looked in through a window placed about five feet off the ground. "I don't see anyone, or feel any chakra. Once we go through this door we'll be right next to the door that leads to the secret isolation cells. We're already on the same level they're on."
Sheeta quickly opened both doors and the four walked into the isolation cells. She shut the door and re-sealed it then turned around and looked at her companions who, for some obscure reason, were standing stock still in the middle of the room staring into one of the cells. She walked over to see what was going on and gasped.
"Itachi…"
Next week – "Chapter 4 – Safe Haven". The children settle into their life of incarceration, Itachi has second thoughts, and the first day of the coup finally ends.
Sorry about killing Hiashi, Choji and Ami. But… I wanted to see Hinata in a different environment – and it seemed a good way also to keep Toshiro and Kisa in the story since they no longer have Shisui. How Hiashi died will be explained in a later chapter, there is something else going on here, as Toshiro speculated. I promise, I'm not being malicious. As for Choji and Ami… well, people die in war and it's worse if its someone you know, so Sasuke and Naruto (and the rest of the academy students) are going to be hit pretty hard by this.
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