Fated to Meet You
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, character or plot, from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.
Chapter Thirteen: Konoha Under Attack!
Uchiha Hikaku was sitting behind his desk. The Uchiha Clan's Office was in the Uchiha Clan Headquarters building located in the middle of what one would call the Uchiha neighborhood where many, not all, Uchiha's lived in the neighborhood. Setting down the scroll in his hand, the Uchiha Clan Leader rose up.
Closing the door behind him, he nodded at the Uchiha shinobi. "I'm heading to a meeting with the Hokage. If anyone needs me, take their message for me until I return."
The Uchiha shinobi nodded. "Yes, sir."
. . .
Uchiha Mai walked slightly behind her teacher. Apparently, all the Uchiha elders wanted to meet one last time in the Uchiha Clan Headquarters without Hikaku. All of them, even Elder Mio herself, was not happy with Uchiha Hikaku's decision to disband them. From what Elder Mio told Mai, the elders wanted to discuss ways to maintain the tradition of having the Uchiha Council of Elders.
The two Uchiha kunoichi entered the building and made their way to the elder's usual meeting room. Elder apprentices stood outside of the room. It was customary for all to remain until all the elders had arrived. It seemed that Elder Mio was the last. "Elder Mio." They male apprentices said in unison before bowing slightly.
"You are free to go." Elder Mio stated before sliding the door open and entering.
It wasn't that Mai didn't get along with the other apprentices. They were all cordial with each other. But that was where it stopped with her relationship with them other than Hikaku and Kosei. Uchiha Kosei was already close with Hikaku before Mai became Elder Mio's student. Like his teacher, Uchiha Kosei is skilled in kenjutsu (sword technique) and had made a name for himself during the Warring States Era. Mai and him comfortably walked with each other to make their way out of the headquarters.
"Do you think they're going to make a decision?" Kosei asked.
If Mai wanted to be honest, she thought they wouldn't. For years, the Uchiha elders never came to one conclusion as a whole. One side had to always fight with the other side. "I don't know." Mai answered.
Jing!
All Elder Apprentices stopped in their tracks, standing in the middle of the hallway. But before any of them could do anything, a wave of powerful air pushed them into the walls, crushing them with the other side.
"Enter!" the Hokage said from behind his desk.
Uchiha Hikaku walked into the office. "You called for me with your hawk, Lord Hokage."
The tanned Hokage nodded. "Yes." He laced his fingers together on top of the wooden desk. "I'm planning a mission, and I need your complete secrecy." Senju Hashirama began but waited for the Uchiha Clan Leader's approval before continuing. "It's a secret mission. S-class, if I were to use the mission rankings." He spoke slowly. "I can't give you any details yet. But I need you to give me the names of two people you trust the most in your clan."
The Uchiha Clan Leader was caught off guard for a second. His onyx eyes narrowed. Why was the Hokage asking this from him? What kind of mission was this? "Trust?" Hikaku asked to verify.
The Hokage narrowed his eyes and nodded.
"Uchiha Mai." He trusted her. Not only that, but he knew she was capable for an S-class mission. Uchiha Hikaku nodded firmly. "I trust her." Hikaku then added. "And Uchiha Kosei."
The Hokage looked at the Uchiha Clan Leader just a moment longer before saying, "Alright then." he leaned back. "I heard of your recent decision concerning the Uchiha elders." Senju Hashirama changed the subject.
Uchiha Hikaku remained still. "It was a difficult decision." His grim face explained the story. "I have always appreciated their advice-" The sound of explosion stopped Hikaku from continuing.
The Hokage rose from his seat and turned to the windows behind him. Uchiha Hikaku ran up to the window as well. In the distance, gray smoke rose to the air from three different places in the Konoha. And the Uchiha Clan Leader knew where exactly one line of smoke was originating. "The Uchiha Headquarters!"
Senju Hashirama stared hard at the origin of smoke that came from the Uchiha Headquarters. He knew where the other two explosions originated from: Sarutobi clan headquarters and the Senju neighborhood. For someone to initiate an attack like this in three shinobi clan neighborhoods, they had to be skilled. Konoha was under attack.
The Uchiha Clan Leader ran from the Hokage's Office to his clan's headquarters. How had he not known?
The Hokage also ran out of his office. His younger brother appeared in front of him, blue armor on and ready. "Brother, you have to stay here."
"I am not staying here when the village is under attack!" Senju Hashirama shouted. "Dispatch all shinobi to the Sarutobi clan headquarters, Uchiha clan headquarters, and the Senju neighborhood. Immediately!"
Senju Tobirama stepped back slightly, his face straight and red eyes hard. Who was behind this?
. . .
All Mai could hear was the ringing in both of her ears. Her body was numb. Crawling out of wooden debris, she coughed. Her eyes couldn't focus. Gray smoke was everywhere, and it collided with the white dust in the air. She could see movement out of the corner eye. Pushing broken wooden planks from her path, she crawled to the first open area she could find. And she sat there until she could regain her senses - until her eyes could remain still and until her ears could hear anything beyond the ringing. She didn't need her body to feel anything. What she needed was to find her teacher.
Bringing one knee close, she poured all her weight onto it to stand. By that time, her hearing had come back and she could hear the screams. Grabbing a kunai knife from her pouch, Mai whizzed to the room she had left the elders in.
"Elder Mio!" Mai clawed through the wooden debris, not paying any attention to what their sharp edges did to her hands. Her kunai knife laid beside her. By the time she had gotten there, some of her fellow apprentices were already there. And the other trickled in afterwards. Mai coughed. The smoke was stronger here. And she could hear the crackling of fire in the distance.
"We have to evacuate the building!" said an Uchiha that had run into the room.
The Elder's Apprentices were not listening. None of them were going to leave without their teacher.
. . .
"Lord Hikaku!" The group of shinobi called.
The Uchiha Clan Leader stopped in front of them. "Evacuate everyone within 30 meters of the headquarters!" Hikaku ordered. His onyx eyes landing on the fire that was eating up the wood and producing the smoke. Almost all Uchiha shinobi within the proximity gathered around the burning headquarters. Hikaku split half of them to evacuate everyone within 30 meters out of the area and the other half to find survivors within the building before the fire could consume everything.
. . .
A hand reached out to Mai's as she dug through the debris. Removing the rest surrounding the body, she gently pulled out Elder Mio. "Elder Mio!" Mai set her teacher down.
Elder Mio looked up at the smoke before landing her eternal eyes on her student. "I won't make it, child." She moved her hand to where a wooden plank had impaled her side.
Mai immediately pushed her two hands on top of the wound. "You will, Elder Mio."
Elder Mio breathed out slowly. "Go. Before the fire gets too close."
Mai shook her head. "I'm not leaving without you." She looked around. Some apprentices were still digging through the debris. Others had taken their teachers out and laid them down just like her.
Elder Mio placed her old hand gently on top of her student's. Her onyx eyes stared straight into her student's ones.
The young kunoichi could feel her bottom lip shake. Her eyes pooled up but she didn't let any drops fall. "I'm not leaving you." She repeated as steady and hard as she could to prevent her voice from cracking.
. . .
"Water Release: Water Severing Slash!" Hikaku expelled a stream of water from his mouth onto the fire. Konoha shinobi had gathered to help the Uchiha Clan evacuate and gather survivors. Some of the few with water affinity aided to stop the growing fire.
Hikaku stepped back and watched the steam clear. His last effort had killed the fire. All that was left was the rising smoke that continued to rise high into the sky, as if it was racing with the other two within the village.
"Lord Hikaku!" An Uchiha called. "The Elder Apprentice's will not leave without the Uchiha Elders!"
Hikaku knew the elders were meeting without him. His teacher had told him. "The fire has been put out." At least the biggest threat was out of the way. Elder Jirou came out of the destroyed headquarters with the aid of an Uchiha shinobi lifting him from his shoulders. "Elder Jirou!"
The male elder lifted a bleeding hand. The elder's small stature looked as if he could break apart. And he probably did break a bone or two or many. "Don't worry about us. The Uchiha Clan has each other and Konoha." His onyx eyes looked around at the shinobi surrounding the building. "Find who did this. Immediately." Elder Jirou said with deep seriousness.
The Uchiha Clan Leader nodded, his onyx shifted to red Sharingan ones. "I will." But he needed the Uchiha Clan's greatest sensor, if not, second to greatest sensor. Paying no attention to the chaos around him, he entered the Uchiha headquarters to find Elder Mio or her student.
. . .
"Mai!" Hikaku called out as he approached what was the Uchiha Council of Elder's meeting room. Before he could open his mouth, he stopped himself. In front of him was his friend and her teacher surrounded by broken wood. Her hand was pressing into her teacher's side. Her teacher's hand on top of her students. Walking up to the two, Uchiha Hikaku lowered himself down. His sharingan eyes looked at Elder Mio. The female elder was still alive. "Mai, she's still alive." He said softly. "But she needs medical attention now." He tried to persuade her out of the building.
"You stopped the fire, didn't you?" Mai stated. She had sensed her friend outside. "Then I can stay here long enough for them to come."
Uchiha Hikaku shook his head. "Elder Mio won't have the luxury of time for that."
Mai shook her head. "The only thing that's keeping her alive is me right now." She looked at her hands. "I can't leave."
"The village needs you right now, Mai." The Uchiha Clan Leader spoke. "We need to find who did this."
Mai kept her head low and shook her head. "No. I'm not leaving Elder Mio."
Uchiha Hikaku put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Do you trust me?" He asked.
"..." Mai nodded.
"Is there anyone here?!" Someone had shouted.
"In here!" Hikaku called out before turning back to his friend. "I need you right now. The village needs you right now." His red sharingan eyes watched his friend for any reaction. "They will take care of her as much as they can. As much as you have right now."
Mai remained still, hands on Elder Mio's wound.
"Right now, Elder Mio would want you to find who did this." Hikaku went on. "We need you right now more than ever to find who did this to us. You two," He looked at his friend and then at Elder Mio. "are the Uchiha Clan's best sensors."
Two konoha shinobi had already entered the room.
"She's weak." Hikaku got up. "An injury to her side."
The two shinobi nodded and ran past him to the female elder. "Miss, you must move your hand." One of them asked. "I am a medic-nin."
"Please, save her." Mai asked before she slowly took her hands off. Her eyes remained on her teacher before she stood up. Mai turned to her friend. Red sharingan activated and glowing. "I sensed four chakra signatures hiding themselves in the north east forest."
. . .
Uchiha Hikaku left in a team with Uchiha Mai and Uchiha Kosei to find the unknown attackers. He had ordered the rest of the Elder Apprentice's to remain near the headquarters to lead the retrieval process and evacuation. The three Uchiha shinobi scanned the rooftops of the Konoha. Each of them landed separately on different buildings. All three of them had their red Sharingan eyes on.
"I was wrong." Mai stated as she felt her chakra spread throughout the village. "There's more than four. There's eight." She looked over to the Konoha main gate in the distance. "They've separated into two." One beneficial skill her teacher taught her was to be able to sense those attempting to hide themselves. It was a matter of making sure your chakra frequency was almost identical to the other. No shinobi had no chakra frequency unless they were dead. The hard part was to match the frequency if you didn't know the frequency. And in this scenario, to match to eight different chakra frequencies in order to find them. But once she found them, she let her sharingan eyes take over to locate them.
"Lord Hikaku!" The Hokage appeared in front of the three Uchiha's adorn in red armor. Tobirama Senju was behind him in blue followed by five more shinobi. The two Senju brothers stopped themselves almost instinctively from going forward. Sharingan. Tobirama looked closely at the three Uchiha's. All three of them. He could tell his fellow clan brethren behind him had stopped too at the sight of it.
"Sharingan." Senju Jun whispered out loud. He looked over to Kaito next to him. Kaito had the same guarded look in his eyes.
"Our sensor sensed eight shinobi attempting to hide their chakra signatures." Hikaku gestured to Mai to his left.
"One group of four in the north east woods. The other in the north west woods." Mai relayed.
The tanned Hokage listened to the female sensor. His brother had only found the group of four in the north west woods. "Let's split up." He ordered. His dark eyes looked at the Uchiha's in front of him. "Lord Hikaku, you will lead your team to the north east forest." He looked back at the Senju's behind him. "We will head to the north west forest."
Mai looked amongst the group behind the Hokage. Her red Sharingan eyes landed on each individual before landing on Senju Tobirama last.
Senju Tobirama looked at the state of the two Uchiha's beside Hikaku. The two of them looked like they were in the blast. The man had small particles on his clothing. His hands were scratched and bleeding. Uchiha Mai looked the same as him but she had more blood. She had hit her head and it bled down the left side of her face. And her hands were covered in blood.
"I want at least one of them captured!" Hashirama ordered.
. . .
The three Uchiha reached the attackers hiding behind the trees. The three of them were outnumbered by one more. Uchiha Kosei drew his katana and fatally struck one almost immediately. Mai drew her kunai knife and clashed with one. Hikaku had already killed one and was face to face with the last one. Before the smoke stopped filling the air, the three Elder Apprentices captured one and killed the rest. Could they have captured them all? No one but them will ever know.
. . .
The village encountered its first tragedy that day. It had been found that three bombs were planted and timed to explode simultaneously. A large number of Sarutobi, Senju, and Uchiha clan members either died or were severely injured. The Sarutobi clan headquarters had been completely engulfed by the fire before it was put out. One of the bombs was placed in a restaurant at the heart of the Senju neighborhood injuring children, women, and men all alike. The Uchiha Clan didn't experience any short casualties to the other two. Uchiha shinobi lives were lost as much as the Sarutobi and Senju clan's. Some of the Uchiha Clan elders survived. Elder Mio wasn't one of them.
Uchiha Ayaka was becoming worried. Her mistress's student was not leaving the borders of her room. Throughout the day, Ayaka would leave food and come back to grab the dishes. But each time, Uchiha Mai would barely touch the food given. She slept most of the day, or so she appeared. The young woman laid on her futon while the sun was up and while the moon occupied the sky. Setting down black clothing onto the floor beside the kunoichi's futon, Ayaka informed softly, "These are for Elder Mio's funeral tomorrow." She could hear the young female hum lightly. Exiting the room, Ayaka slid the door closed. She watched as the image of Uchiha Mai's back side, her black hair flowing out of the white bandages on her head before landing in a swirl on the futon, be overcome by the paper that made up the door. The head maid looked down at the tray of food in her hands.
.
Mai entered the hospital. There were too many casualties that the hospital had to move beds to the hallway. She could hear the shouting of medic-nin's in the background. Mai had bypassed the busy nurse at the front. She didn't need directions to find her teacher. She could sense her teacher's small chakra force. If Elder Mio still had the chakra force, Mai was content. The female elder was still alive.
Stepping into the room, she made her way to the last occupied bed where Elder Mio lay. Kneeling down beside her teacher, Mai looked at her teacher's fluttering eyes. Elder Mio lifted her fingers, and Mai gently encased her scarred hands over her teacher's old wrinkly ones. This wasn't a thing the teacher and student duo would do. But Elder Mio asked for her to.
"I've taught you everything I know." The female elder said softly and slowly.
Mai could feel her teacher's chakra shrink at every word.
"And I am grateful to have had you as my student."
Mai swallowed the hard lump in her throat down. She knew nothing she could do would prevent what was happening. She had felt people's chakra signatures disappear many times on the battlefield. The sight of her teacher's hands blurred as her eyes pooled up with fluid.
Elder Mio breathed in softly. "There will be times where you reach a standstill." The female elder gripped her students' hands. "Keep fighting. Keep loving." Her eternal eyes looked at her student before closing them.
.
Clan Leader Uchiha Hikaku took upon himself to organize the funeral for those Uchiha's whose lives were lost in the attack. All Uchiha's came along with fellow Konoha shinobi.
"Thank you for attending, Lord Hokage, Lady Mito." Uchiha Hikaku thanked the tanned Hokage that came accompanied by his wife, Uzumaki Mito. He looked to Tobirama who came along behind the Hokage and gave him his thanks.
"It's nothing to thank about." Hashirama reassured him. "We are one in this village. Especially during a time like this."
Hikaku nodded. The Senju funeral was planned for tomorrow, and Uchiha Hikaku was planning on attending.
The Uchiha Clan Leader escorted the three out of the building hosting the funeral. Tobirama glanced back at one of few last people in the large room where the funeral was held. In front of the pile of white flowers, stood a female with an empty Uchiha crest back. Her head bandaged. He knew exactly who that was. Turning his head back, he followed his brother out.
"...Mai…" Sumiko said softly as she gently placed her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "They need to bury Elder Mio."
Mai looked at the pile of flowers in front of her. It laid in front of the line of closed coffins, one of them containing Elder Mio's lifeless body. Flattening the sleeve on her arm, Mai longed for time to slow - even better to stop. Tomorrow and everything after that was unknown to her. She no longer had a teacher.
Sumiko turned back to where her husband stood holding their youngest and Kagami standing beside him. She gestured to him to go ahead with their children before turning back to her friend. "Mai…"
"...I know." Mai said softly. She stood there a moment longer. She and Sumiko were the last to leave the building.
Uchiha Hikaku stood outside waiting for the two. He gave her a glance before facing Sumiko. "I'll walk her back, Sumiko-san."
Sumiko looked up at her clan leader. "Alright then." She looked at her friend one last time before leaving.
Senju Tobirama entered the room holding one of the attackers. The other one was being interrogated by Senju Kaito. He sat down in front of the attacker. When he investigated the bodies of the dead attackers, they were all wearing the same forehead protector with two stones. The attacker in front of him was wearing the same forehead protector.
"You won't get anything out of me." The man said. "Senju Tobirama." He taunted.
Tobirama's red eyes scanned the man. His entire body was tied by ropes. The man was incapable of performing a jutsu and move. "I don't have to get anything out of you." Senju Tobirama put his palm on top of the attacker's head. "I already know who you're working for."
For a month, Uchiha Sumiko watched as her friend stared into nothing. The kunoichi's eyes were once sharp, almost eternal like Elder Mio's. But it was no longer that. Now, it was blank. Her and Ayaka made sure to check up on her. Ayaka during the day, and Sumiko in the evening. As much as her son wanted to see Uchiha Mai, she couldn't bring him. As much as you tried to bring a smile to Uchiha Mai's face, you could see her eyes grow more blank.
Sumiko had yet to see her friend shed a tear. It was like there was nothing in Uchiha Mai. The Uchiha mother slid open the bedroom door. Walking softly, she sat herself down beside the kunoichi's futon.
"...Mai," Sumiko laid a hand on the white futon. "I'm heading home now." She heard her friend hum softly before standing up to leave.
Mai listened to hear her friend shut the door of the home. The bandages were no longer around her head. The physical wound had healed. But the emotional wound, Mai felt like it would be open forever. A wound like that will never fester. It will only make you feel like you lost a part of yourself. Mai couldn't sleep during the night. But her body made her sleep during the morning. She barely ate even though Ayaka would come by to cook for her. Hikaku would come by to check up on her when Ayaka was here but like all the others in her life, she merely hummed at them when they asked her a question.
The sun was about to set and Mai got up from her futon. One thing she did when no one was in the home was go to her spot in the furthest part of the village. And she would stay there until the moon rose high.
Konoha residents occupied the streets, and Mai walked through them paying no attention to them. Her spot was a bench in front of a park. The river bank had been developed and merged to be a part of the park so that residents can stroll beside the river. But the park was considered far out, and no one really came to enjoy what it gave. However, this time there was a family there. She sat down on her bench that faced the park and river. And she sat there, staring into the black of her clothing's fabric with no awareness that the sun began to set in front of her.
Mai wasn't herself. Because if she was herself, she would have sensed a presence walk up and sit next to her. She rolled her onyx eyes to the side to see who had sat next to her. The man was wearing black and Mai said, "I don't want to talk right now, Hikaku."
The man crossed his arms, his fair skin giving him away. Hikaku was more tan. "Who said I was Lord Hikaku?"
Turning her head slightly, she watched as the white haired man's red eyes watched her small movements. She turned her head back to face the park in front of her. She could see the family in the distance out of the corner of her eye playing. The two children's laughter echoed.
Initially, Tobirama did not take it seriously when she said she didn't want to talk until she didn't greet him. Elder Mio's student always greeted him, but this time, she didn't. Tobirama glanced at the people at the bank of the river. Moving slightly out of his seat, Senju Tobirama positioned himself to where his back was facing the Uchiha.
Mai glanced at the Senju. "What are you doing?"
Tobirama didn't look back. "I have a broad back. People won't see you cry." He indirectly complimented himself. "For shinobi like us, it's better to cry than to hold it in." The entire duration of Elder Mio's funeral, Mai stared straight into the ground. Tobirama had watched her. He knew what she was going through. He'd been through it many times. His father had ingrained in him that shinobi must never cry. But Tobirama had lost many loved ones, and not crying never did anything good for him.
The white haired Senju sat there with his back turned to an Uchiha. Never in his life would he ever think that he would turn his back to this Uchiha. But he just did it.
Mai let tears pool her eyes. She let the hard lump in her throat remain where it was. She let drops fall from her eyes. They trickled down her cheekbones and her nose to her dainty chin.
Senju Tobirama remained in that position until the moon rose high.
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