[A/N] Here's another chapter for y'all!
I've added a cover image just to make this story easier to find. Nothing fancy.
Please enjoy!
She activated her Sharingan, staring at the three tomoe for a moment before channeling even more chakra into her eyes. The tomoe converged in the center before exploding outward into blooming petals once more. Not that she was focusing on it, she could feel the barely restrained power held behind the red irises. She stared intently at her reflection..
She would escape and become powerful enough to destroy all who had a hand in the destruction of her team and clan. She swore it.
After spending some time cleaning herself up in the bathroom, mostly taking a shower as she hadn't had a warm one in several days, she made her way to the master bedroom to retrieve the gift they had described in the note.
Entering the bedroom itself had been an experience, she had purposely avoided the master bedroom upon her entry into the house to prevent unwanted memories from spinging up. Walking into the darkened room had solidified the fact that her parents were never coming back. Needless to say, she broke down in tears again.
Knowing she didn't have the time for that however, she pulled herself together and approached the large wooden chest sitting against the wall to the right of the door. Opening it with the key, Akari was met with the armor the note had described. She had some trouble putting it on, owing to her missing arm, but eventually she managed with some difficulty.
Now Akari scrutinized herself intently in the full length mirror that had been set beside the chest, Sharingan taking in every detail as her gaze moved back and forth over her new attire. Her grandfather's armor fit her perfectly thanks to the refitting seals. The armor was clearly a custom design as instead of the lighter armor most other Uchiha went with, his was made to be more protective, a fact Akari herself was happy with.
The breastplate was made up of two dark grey plates, seperated horizontally just below her breasts to allow for better range of movement. The two pieces were joined together at her lower back by a dark red sash, allowing the Uchiha clan symbol to be seen displayed proudly on her upper back. Akari had originally debated wearing robes without the symbol to give her better anonymity but ultimately decided against it, she was an Uchiha and no matter how bad thing's got, she would never hide that fact.
A heavy black robe covered her entire upper body down to just below her waist, where it split in two to allow her legs to move more freely, hanging around her thighs like a curtain. The robe was made of a tough material created to withstand thrown kunai without being pierced too deeply. Originally on her lower back were two straps meant to hold ninjato or similar weapons but Akari had moved them to her upper back and placed her father's axe inside, it would make a good backup weapon should she not be able to use Rumi.
Her lone forearm and shins were covered up by guards made of the same dark grey material as the breastplate. Looking closely, Akari could just see the soft glow of a storage seal inscribed onto the armguard, most likely holding kunai to allow for easier retrieval as a simple burst of chakra would spit one out of the seal into the user's hand. It would be useful if she needed a backup weapon.
Underneath the armor she wore a simple dark blue shirt, black shinobi pants, and a black pair of high ankle shinobi sandals.. Strapped to her thigh was a tool pouch she had found in the chest with the armor, inside the pouch was a complete set of ninja tools, most likely a second gift by her parents as they knew how bad she was keeping her toolpouch stocked.
Inside were two 12m spools of ninja wire, fourty kunai and shuriken, bandages, and a full bottle of soldier pills. Akari grimaced at the bottle, vividly remembering the feeling of her stomach having to be pumped to prevent the pill from wreaking havoc on her chakra coils after she took so many on her failed mission. While Akari would try to be careful with them in the future, they were useful to have in a pinch.
Akari brought her hand up to her face, she had cut her hair short, leaving her raven tresses to hang down to her chin, cupping her face gently and emphasizing her pale skin. Her headband was nowhere to be found, missing from it's place on her neck. Instead, it was held in her hand, awaiting the decision she still had to make..
She looked down at the gleaming strip of metal held in her hand, turning it this way and that as branching paths appearing before her. She had two options, she could put the headband on and continue pledging her loyalties to the village who had allowed her clan to be exterminated without so much as a peep, and most likely be assasinated before the week was out. Or she could defect, leaving the only place she had ever known for the slim chances of survival that lay beyond the village's wooden gates.
Akari took a deep breath, the choice was obvious.
She placed the headband on the table to her right and reached into her toolpouch, retrieving a kunai. Channeling chakra into it to make it sharp enough for the task, Akari placed the tip against the leaf insignia inscribe into the metal, whispered a silent apology to her team, and raked the kunai across the insignia with the screech of steel sliding across steel.
Akari brought the defiled headband up to her face, crimson eyes staring back at her through the sullied piece of metal. A large slash now ran across the length of the headband, severing the leaf symbol on it's surface in the same way she had just severed her ties to the village that had been her home since she had been born.
She stared at the headband for a moment longer before placing it back in it's place upon her neck. She took in her reflection one final time, eyes lingering regretfully on the headband before she turned away. Her choice had been made, there was no going back now. She had to focus on escaping the village as quickly as possible.
She walked over to the black cloak hanging in the corner of the room, she stared at it for a moment before nodding. She needed to disguise herself at least until she made it out of the village and this would do perfectly. She grabbed the cloak off the hook it hung on and threw it around her shoulders, clasping it in the center and pulling the hood over her head.
Walking to the window of the room, she gazed up at the moon hanging brightly in the sky, casting it's cool rays down upon the sleeping village. She took a moment to simply stand there and take in the eerie feeling of peace radiated throughout the empty compount before beginning to expand her chakra senses as far as they would go.
She felt the chakra of three anbu members directly in her way to the gate, two bunched together and one off to the side, as well as the chunin who guarded the gate itself. Feeling the chakra levels of the third anbu, Akari smiled slightly. Their chakra pool was about the size of her own, small for an anbu member, which most likely meant one thing, they were a Genjutsu specialist. And now that she had her Sharingan, normal Genjutsu wouldn't work on her.
As her chakra sense expanded, Akari felt a tingle in the back of her eyes that she had never felt before. After a moment of this tingle persisting, Akari realized it was likely her Mangekyo trying to activate. She was hesitant to allow it as she remembered that using it would lead to eventual blindness but decided that now was probably the best time to use it, as she would likely not have a chance to experiment while running for her life.
Giving in to the tingle behind her eyes, Akari experienced the massive rush of chakra that she had now come to associate with her Sharingan evolving. After a moment, the initial rush of chakra subsided and Akari gasped at what she now felt.
Akari was one of the best sensors in the Uchiha clan, a fact that she had often boasted when on missions with other Uchiha. But even with her powerful sensor abilities, the maximum range she had was around eleven hundred meters, or a little over half a mile, just barely able to reach the edges of the Uchiha compound if she was standing in the center.
Now, not only could she sense past the edges of her compound, she could sense even further beyond. The Uchiha clan resided on the outskirts of Konoha, near the western gate. And yet despite that, Akari could sense the edges of the what she assumed was the Aburame clan compound nearly four miles away, though the chakra at the edges of her senses was fuzzy.
Further investigation revealed that she could not only sense their chakra, but she could even differentiate each of their chakra natures! The majority of the people she could currently sense felt like a raging bonfire, most likely fire natured, a few though felt wispy like smoke. Akari considered the chakra for a moment before eventually coming to the conclusion that it was most likely the Nara. They were the most likely clan to be awake this late and she imagined shadows probably felt like smoke anyway.
She could even feel her own chakra! Her own felt like a rumbling earthquake mixed with a bonfire, though there was a hint of something else in the background. Before she was able to examine this possible third nature, her attentioned was diverted as she felt a familiar chakra on the edges of her senses.
This chakra nature Akari recognised immediately even from this far away, the static feeling of ozone made her arm hair stand on end. What puzzled her was the place it was coming from.
"Is he still there?!" She muttered to her self incredulously as she examined the chakra coming from the memorial stone. It felt slightly fuzzy so she attempted to hone in on the chakra signature and was rewarded with the feeling of ozone becoming almost overwhelming. She shook her head in bewilderment at what she felt.
Kakashi Hatake had apparently continued standing in the same place since taking to her over ten hours ago. He was still standing in front of the memorial stone, most likely staring at the same three names he had been when they had spoken.
"At least I don't have to worry about him coming after me if I'm quick enough. Time to get out of here" The Uchiha spoke to herself quietl, crouching and sending chakra to her feet in preparation to leap.
She was interrupted by a massive spike of pain behind her right eye, like someone had taken a hammer to her optical nerve. She cried out in pain, ceasing the flow of chakra to her eyes in an attempt to stop the pain and immediately she was rewarded with the sensation ceasing entirely.
"I guess trying to channel chakra while my senses are expanded that far is a bad idea." She muttered, rubbing her eyes to alleviate the phantom pain in her eyes. She would have to experiment more when she had the time, though she was leery to do so, it would be bad to suddenly freeze up in pain in the middle of a fight like that.
Taking another moment to gather herself, Akari crouched down and gathered chakra in her feet once more, this time being successful. She took a deep breath, whispered a prayer to her parents and team, and leapt off into the moonlit night.
Toma Shizuka, aka Mole, took a puff from his cigarette and held it in his lungs for a moment to absorb the nicotine before exhaling the smoke. He had to move his mask off to the side to do this and exposed his face in the process, something strictly against regulation, but he couldn't really bring himself to care at the moment. He just so was tired.
Besides, it's not like his teammates were around to see. Hawk and Rabbit had gone off to suck face somewhere and had told Mole to stay and watch their post. He had agreed, partly to see what would happen if they were to get caught, and also partly because he was too exhausted to argue.
This was mostly due to the fact that he hadn't gotten a full night of sleep in what felt like weeks. His anbu captain had wanted all hands on deck, watching every entrance to the village for intruders, which included Mole even though he was still a new recruit, having just gotten his mask. Not only that, every operative now had to go through a rigorous security test to make sure there weren't any more wannabe defectors.
"And it's all thanks to that damn Uchiha." He muttered angrily. Itachi Uchiha had been one of the most effective anbu operatives in the village, so when he defected, it kicked up a shitstorm at HQ. Commander Bear was angrier than anyone had ever seen him, practically frothing at the mouth as he kicked them into gear, literally in some cases.
Mole himself wasn't even really supposed to be out here, he was a stealth specialist, not a front line combatant. But because they were spread so thin, mole had been assigned to gate duty, technically not a front line role but he would still be expected to fight if a battle were to break out.
Toma sighed, taking another puff of his cigarette while staring up at the moon hanging in the sky. He was tempted to close his eyes for a moment but he knew if he did that he was liable to fall asleep. Maybe that wouldnt be so bad…
His thoughts were interrupted by a thud to his right, he turned and was met with a gleaming kunai approaching his face. He yelped, bending backwards and watching as his cigarette was sliced in half. He turned in the direction the kunai had come from and saw a cloaked figure approaching rapidly, another kunai held in hand.
He bent back forward, drawing his tanto and rushing to meet the cloaked figure in battle, sword clashing against their kunai in a shower of sparks. He was immediately put on the back foot, tanto coming up to deflect the kunai again and again as he backpeddaled. Any attempt to go in the offensive was stopped immediately like they knew what he was going to do moments in advance, all the while his opponent never made a sound.
'I need to gain some distance!' he though frantically, deflecting another kunai strike aimed toward his liver. They were much faster than him, one movement blurring into another as they kept up their assault and it was all he could do to stay alive.
He lashed out desperately with a chakra enhanced kick and was rewarded with a grunt as it made contact with his opponent's chest and they were sent flying back several meters. As they flew, Toma began flipping through handsigns. He knew his kick hadn't really done much but surprise them, as he had felt the distinct feeling of armor take the brunt of his kick from underneath the cloak.
He was proven right as his opponent simply flipped themselves upright like they hadn't just gotten hit with and attack that should've at least cracked their ribs. They began to rush toward him once more but Toma had finished his hadseals, he threw his hands out at his opponent as they grew closer.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
His technique was successful, his opponent stopping their rush at him and freezing in place, overtaken by their greatest fear. He panted lightly at the chakra expenditure his jutsu had taken. The Hell Veiwing Technique was a jonin level jutsu and he just barely had the chakra to pull it off. He found it odd that they had frozen in place as most people fled when confronted with their greatest fear but he just shrugged it off, they were likely either frozen in fear or more disciplined than most.
He took a moment to catch his breath before approaching the frozen form of his opponent. As he approached, he watched as the grip on their kunai tightened slightly, knuckles popping with the force of their grip and he laughed lightly.
"Not so fun facing your greatest fear is it?" he mocked lightly as he came up to them. He bent over to look them in the eyes, "Now who exactly had the balls to attack an anbu opera- OH SHIT!" From under the hood of the cloak, a pair of three tomoe Sharingan stared at him as the owner spung her arm up and stabbed him in the abdomen with the kunai. White hot pain left him breathless as his stomach was punctured.
There was a moment of silence before the Uchiha ripped her kunai out of his side with a sick *Squelch. He staggered backwards, his assailant following after slowly. He didn't get very far, tripping over his own feet, mask clattering to the ground a few feet away as he lost concentration on the chakra keeping it attached.
His opponent bent down to look at him, crimson eyes staring at him in what seemed like regret as his vision blurred with blood loss. She pulled her hood back, revealing his assailant to be a young girl around sixteen. She muttered something Toma couldn't hear before standing up, pulling her hood back on, and walking away.
Toma attempted to follow her with his head but the black around his vision was so very inviting. He sighed, staring up at the full moon in the sky. 'At least I'll finally get to take a nap…' he thought to himself blearily.
As the black creeping at the edges of his vision made it's way in, Toma closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Akari moved faster than she ever had before. Her mind went back to the anbu operative she had just critically injured and she grimaced. She knew there was a possibility he would be found before he died, she had specifically targeted his abdomen because she knew there was a higher chance of survival if he received medical attention. She had felt the chakra of the other two anbu members coming back from whatever they were doing off on their own so she was pretty sure he'd be fine.
Still, raising arms against her former comrades left a bad taste in her mouth. She had apologized for her actions but she was pretty sure she hadn't heard him if the unfocused look in his eyes was any indication.
She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts and turning back forward to focus on her tree hopping. She was already a traitor to her village, now she had to focus on not getting caught by the hunter nin that would inevitably be sent after her.
Her current plan was to head to the Land of Waterfalls and venture as deep into the country as possible to lose her pursuers before looping back around into the Land of Iron where she could find Ginjiro Sasaki as her father had suggested.
What she would do after that well, she'd figure it out when she to it.
For now, she focused on leaping from one tree to the next on the slow journey that would take her from the country she once called home.
[A/N] That's a wrap folks!
Next update will probably be for 'Smoke and Fire' as I've mostly been switching between the two.
I've got an outline for how I want this story to go but we'll see if the story wants to be written that way. I've already had to change some things lol. It's so hard to find a good map of the Elemental nations for some reason.
See you next time!