You know the saying 'see your life flashing before your eyes'?
I'm calling bullshit.
When you getting stabbed in the chest, the only thing you can think of is 'fuck'. Or maybe that's just me?
The second and third thoughts are 'ow' and 'fucking hell that fucking hurts what the fuck'.
Of course, that all happens in a moment. Less than a split second.
I stared at the blade in disbelief and panic before my mind went blank, and survival instincts kicked in.
From years of abuse in ROOT, I have trained myself to compartmentalise pain and fear, and my mind quickly whirled through my options.
Unfortunately, this wound wasn't a broken bone or a superficial laceration. I knew it had hit something vital - and that something vital was my heart. Yes, I was trained in basic healing, but here was no way I had the knowledge for this. This wound was fatal if I didn't see an advanced healer...and that was if I didn't bleed out first.
Also, who the fuck was this? How did they get into Shikaku's house without notice? And who the hell was he calling stupid bitch? I have never been called stupid in my life (except by Shisui, but he doesn't count). Even if he wasn't trying to kill me, I'd get him for that alone.
He was going to pay.
So priorities:
Live long enough to not bleed out
Vengeance on this mother fucker
My options were slim. But unknown to this asshole, i'm an overachiever...who also happens to have medical stasis seals on her bedside table within reach. I had everything from mobile bubbles for transportation, to small sized bubbles for field work prior to stabilisation.
Less than a second after he impaled me, i gasped in shock before flinging my arm over to my table, a small amount of chakra focused to my fingers and hoping to touch a seal...any seal.
I must have hit one of the small bubbles, as I felt the cool chakra flow over me, and my attacker stilled - his positioning looked like he was in process of removing the sword, but it was kept in place. For a moment I was confused as to why I wasn't frozen too, until I realised I had the frigging Time Lord seal...So I brought my arm to the blade and scratched the seal down the centre.
A moment later, there was a flurry of movement. The figure above me was torn away, katana and all, and I could hear sounds of fighting. I turned to look but cool hands cupped my face and kept it centred.
"Look to me, Erena, that's it," I looked up to see a stressed Yumis face hovering above, I tried to open my mouth in greeting but a sudden flash of pain flashed through me from my chest and a strange groan tore through my throat. My breaths became short gasps and I started to feel cold and wet. There was a strange tingling feeling growing from the centre of my chest. I started to have trouble breathing and my concentration was waning.
"No, no, Erena. Eyes on me. Keep your eyes on me!"
I blinked in reply, but then I felt a liquid bubbling from my throat as I gasped.
"We've got to move her, now!"
There was a warm feeling at the side of my head, and then I knew no more.
I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while. I wasn't full aware of anything, and what I did recognise, I couldn't respond to. The first sensation I had was pain, but that soon fizzled out and I was left feeling floaty. Every so often the same throbbing sensation would come back, but it was usually short lived.
A long time after that I started to hear voices. I could never pick up what they were, but most sounded soothing and familiar. Even though I wasn't able to make out what they were saying, they made me feel at home. They were home.
I was still feeling foggy, but slowly started to wake up. My body felt heavy.
"Erena, can you hear me?"
"Mmmm," I hummed. I still wanted to sleep, why was someone trying to wake me up?
"Erena, can you squeeze my hand?"
I felt something tickle the palm of my left hand. Instead of squeezing, I tried to flick it away. Stop bothering me.
"No, I said squeeze it."
'Oh, for goodness sake. Okay, if it'll get you to shut up.' I squeezed lightly then moved my hand away and tried to close it over so they couldn't annoy me again. I heard a chuckle.
"Stubborn. Come on. I think you have slept enough. Can you open your eyes?"
I just wanted to yell at them to fuck off, but there didn't seem to be a connection between my brain and my mouth. I started to lift my eyelids, but the light burned them before I was even halfway. I groaned and squeezed them shut again.
"Okay, that was my fault. I'll close the blinds and dim the light and then we'll try again...okay, come on Erena..."
I opened my eyes again, wearily. It was still light, but not blinding. Yumi stood at my side and smiled at me.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, you little drama queen."
I tried to reply 'fuck off', but all that came out was a croak and coughing.
"I'm absolutely sure that you were about to say 'Thank you.'...so you're welcome!"
I frowned at him in reply. He goddamn knew that wasn't it. I only managed to stay awake for a few more minutes before I fell back asleep.
It took me a while before I could stay awake for a considerable amount of time as I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. The next time I was awake, it took me several minutes to start making understandable sounds, and a few days to talk normally. As I was still slightly doped in painkillers, they set about reducing them before they filled me in on the details.
They were clearly keeping things from me, but at the time I didn't care...I'd find out later, classified or not. The going story was that a missing nin somehow broke in, and attacked me in the dead of night. I activated a Time Bubble on the bedside table, and Shikaku felt the chakra surge. He entered the room as I damaged my Time Lord seal and I was caught in the frozen pocket too. The Time Bubble lasted long enough for Shikaku to get a half dozen shinobi, including an on duty ANBU Kakashi and Itachi, and a handful of medics to deal with me...Apparently, the damage was so severe my heart stopped twice, needed several surgeries to repair my heart and lungs, and they had to induce a medical coma to allow my heart to heal. I had been unconscious for three weeks before they could start to cut down on the sedative.
I was assured my attacker was in custody (and I'd hope so after Kakashi and Itachi were involved), and the investigation was pending. They tried to warn me that I was not to interfere...'tried' being the word...like that was going to happen.
For now, I was to remain in hospital and keep away from any and all stress. My heart was still damaged, and anything could set off another cardiac arrest. I was banned from asking about the incident until I was dismissed from hospital, at the very least.
I was going to find this difficult, with me being naturally curious and all, but Yumi used his puppy eyes on me when he requested, so for once in my life I wasn't going to be difficult about this.
But once I was discharged? Hell hath no fury like a stabbed Erena.
From then, I was only allowed two visitors a day, and only one at a time. It was a testament to how fragile I was that normal visitation rules didn't apply.
Shikaku and Yoshino were my first visitors, then Shisui and Itachi, and it continued to alternate unless the others were on mission. Itachi, in particular, was far more subdued than I expected, but as he was involved in the incident, I could understand why. The first time he visited me, he looked on the verge of tears and found it difficult to talk. I shuffled over to make room for him on my bed, and he lay beside me, one arm over my shoulder and hugged me tightly for the whole visit, not saying anything. It was only near the end of the visit when he whispered "I thought you were dead," that it really sunk in how much it affected him.
On one visit, Shisui was telling me about his latest mission to Snow, where he went a bit overkill on a fire jutsu and ended up melting the snow he was standing on, resulting in sinking into a Shisui-made deep puddle, getting soaked in freezing weather. Not only did he embarrass himself in front of the client, but he ended up running around with wet feet for days. I started laughing at his absurdity, when I started to feel a thump in my chest, my head felt foggy and the heart monitor started going haywire...medics rushed in and I was lain down before they started shouting medical terms at each other and injecting me with various things until the heart monitor calmed down.
After that, even Shisui's visits became boring and he steered away from anything fun, in case it set my heart off again.
I was so ready to leave the hospital.
Eventually, I was allowed to go - but given medications to regulate my heart and given strict instructions not to participate in any training what so ever...I was one hundred percent on top of this instruction and was completely on board with it for as long as they wanted.
Once again, I was on house arrest unless supervised...only this time both Shisui and Itachi freaked out if I walked for any more than five minutes. I ended up shouting at them to stop being ridiculous - I was allowed to walk but not train, so unless they saw me practicing any katas and sparring, they could pipe down.
Also, being free allowed me to do a little digging. Yumi, being the busybody he was, had thought ahead and told people not to give me any information until he discharged me - out of concern for my wellbeing, the Infiltration Corps complied. However, that didn't mean they weren't collecting information to give me when I was ready. They were angry with the fact someone had dared to attack me within my own village, and wanted to get back at them - perhaps even more than I did. And this included Yumi.
They managed to confirm that my assailant was being held at a high security ANBU detention centre. The location was meant to be undisclosed, but, you know, we were spies. We disclose the undisclosed.
Apparently it was Itachi that eventually restrained him, using his sharingan to render him unconscious. They also reported Itachi bleeding from his eyes at the end of the altercation - if he hurt Itachi, I was going to make him pay.
He was being kept in chakra suppressant restraints, including ones on his eyes, and Fugaku had been called in several times, as well as Yamanaka Inoichi.
Not only that, but they, along with Hatake Kakashi (or ANBU Dog), were the only ones to have regular contact with him.
This told me many things. 1. It was an Uchiha, and 2. Hatake likely had a personal involvement.
"I need a report on every Uchiha Hatake has ever had contact with - alive, Missing in Action, and Killed in Action...and get me a copy of his personnel report - as unredacted as you can manage but I'll take what I'm given."
I got the information the next day, and I didn't even make it past the first page of his file to make the connection (but I checked everything just to make sure).
Not long after my discharge, I was to sit down with the Hokage, Fugaku (acting as police chief, apparently) and Shikaku to give my formal statement of the incident - Shikaku informed me they were under strict instruction not to question me until the Healers gave me the all clear, and he made sure the instructions were adhered to.
When they asked me if I recognised my attacker, or had any previous dealing with him, I simply replied. "Nope, I've never met Uchiha Obito before."
The place went so silent you could have heard a pin drop.
I scoffed. "What? Like it was hard to figure out who it was? All it took was a list of visitors and hey presto, Killed in Action Uchiha identity uncovered...I'll guessing he's also responsible for other issues which I may or may not be allowed to talk about?"
I was mainly inferring to Yagura, but I also had an inkling that he was involved with Danzo, and perhaps the Uchiha Coup in some way...I had no proof or anyway to connect the dots yet, but all the events seemed too coincidental for my liking.
No one said anything.
"I'm still not sure why this surprises any of you." I shrugged. "I guess since none of you have any questions for me, I'll just get out of here, yea?" I went to stand up.
"Sit down," the Hokage demanded.
I huffed. "Of course, Hokage, sir lord god...whatever you command." I did a sarcastic bow with a flourish, before sitting down, with folded arms.
"You make it very difficult to trust you, Nakahara," he said, toneless.
"Hey, now don't start that! I'm plenty trustworthy. When have I ever lied to you? Or betrayed you? I'm just really good at what I do, and no one ever gives me credit...someone just waltzed into my room, called me stupid and tried to kill me, and you think I'm not going to look into that? Of course I am! Do you know how many people have called me stupid? None! I take great offence at that! I'm going to show him just how unstupid I am...wait, is unstupid even a word? Oh that was really stupid, just forget about that, okay?"
Shikaku facepalmed, and Fugaku raised an eyebrow.
"Do you mean to tell us you are more concerned about the fact your attacker thinks you are unintelligent than the fact he wants you dead?" Fugaku asked.
I shrugged. "It's not like other people haven't tried to attack and kill me in the past? It's just a thing that happens, you know?"
The Hokage sighed. "Tell us what you know...or think you know. And don't leave anything out."
"Ummm...are you sure?" I gave the Hokage a pointed look, but tried to slide it over to Fugaku as subtly as I could.
"They are briefed on the events of Mist that Itachi and Shisui are part of," the Hokage confirmed, but making sure I knew not to disclose everything.
"And the Hokage has been made aware," Fugaku said, in regards to the Coup. Shikaku clearly hadn't been, as he looked a little surprised and confused.
And so I explained my suspicions about Obito's involvement in Yagura's genjutsu and the Uchiha Coup...I suspected another party was also involved, and could not determined overall goals for his actions - other than to cause instability throughout the Nations. It was likely he was involved in other events - both within Konoha and in other Nations, but it would require more research and information on his abilities. With the level of discord he had already managed, and gone undetected, his skillset was clearly more extensive than his previous file eluded to.
"There has been a teacher of some kind...those skills don't just appear overnight and without direction. Someone older, likely with experience of the sharingan - either with it or having extensive experience fighting against. I wouldn't be surprised if there was grooming or brainwashing - based on his self sacrifice for his teammates, to go against Konoha in such a profound way now would have taken a lot of manipulation."
The floor went quiet again.
"What now?" I said annoyed. I was getting concerned I was going to end up in a cell again. One trip to T & I was enough for a lifetime and I had no inclination to repeat the experience.
"You have deduced more in a few days than we have in over a month of questioning," Fugaku stated.
I blinked. "Does that mean I'm in?"
Of course I was 'in'.
I could practically see Fugaku salivating (practically, because, let's face it, the man would never - he was far too classy for that kind of behaviour. I doubt he even dribbled as a baby. I bet he was born with perfect manners and a stick up his ass).
The next day, I was escorted to the ANBU Detention centre...they tried to blindfold me, but when I told them exactly where we were going, the ANBU lowered the cloth sack down with clear disappointment.
When I entered the building, we were ambushed by Kakashi as ANBU Dog.
"What is she doing here?" He barked out. (barked, get it?)
"Nakahara is now an active member of this investigation," Fugaku replied. He sounded bored and like he gave zero shits.
"Unacceptable."
"Oh, quiet down, Kakashi. I promise I'll leave your boyfriend in one piece."
He stilled. "She knows his identity?"
"Oh, I know I lot more than that, sweetheart." I grinned at him and cocked my head. I really really missed this game. Why did I ever get out of it?
He must have been staring at me behind his mask. "She is emotionally compromised. I would like to state my disapproval of this path."
"She is here under the direction of the Hokage. You will stand down, Dog. That is an order."
Kakashi tensed before storming off.
"Who wants to take bets that the next ambush comes from Weasel or Karasu?" I chirped.
"That is a fools wager," Fugaku agree'd.
"I missed this, Fugaku. You're fun when there's a little bit of conspiracy going on!"
He turned to glance at me as we walked down the corridor. "Hn," he replied. He missed me, too!
He directed me to a room with files and transcripts from the previous interviews. It took me less than an hour to read everything there. I whistled.
"Wow, you guys really did come up with jack shit, didn't you?"
"We were unsuccessful in our investigation thus far, yes."
"Cool. More for me, then. When - "
BANG.
"Oh, both of them? Hatake works fast. Hello, boys!" I waved at Shisui and Itachi, in ANBU gear, at the door.
"What do you think you are doing! You were just released from hospital!" Shisui shouted. The fact he was willing to raise his voice around Fugaku showed how angry he was.
"It's okay, Yumi said I was allowed," I smiled at them, in an attempt to placate.
"What the hell does that mean? Don't you know how much danger you're in just being here?!"
"Calm down. The risk assessment has been completed and submitted, as per company regulations." In other words: I know and I'm cool with it.
"Father, please. She should not be here," Itachi pleaded.
"She is invaluable to the ongoing success of this investigation. This cannot be changed."
I heard Itachi let out a deep breath and look to the ground. Shisui was not as accepting, "Bullshit!"
I was not taking part in this argument. Shisui was as stubborn as a goat, and would not see reason when he thought he was in the right.
"It's funny how you think you have a say in this, Shisui," I said, coldly. "Believe it or not, I know more about this than either of you could dream to. I will do my job, and you will be quiet. You can either be a part of it, or you can be escorted out. The decision is yours." It felt like I was channeling Hibari again.
"I'm not going anywhere," he hissed through gritted teeth.
"Excellent!" I grinned and clapped. "Shall we get this show on the road? I'd like to get this case wrapped up by dinner...Shisui's buying, after he see's what an ass he's being." I heard a sarcastic snort.
We went to an interrogation room, I entered while the others went to the observation room. The set up wasn't dissimilar to the interrogation room I had experienced, except this one had guards on the inside of the room, and the outside. Uchiha Obito was chained to the desk, and a blindfold placed over his eyes.
"Oh, this is cozy," I commented as I sat down on the interrogators chair opposite him. "They really need to hire an interior designer, though. All these rooms are so 'samey'...where's the individual touches?"
I saw him tense and straighten. I leaned over and pulled the blindfold from his head.
"Oh, hi there honey. Surprised to see me?" I smiled at him sweetly.
Whoever this man was, he was not the Uchiha Obito that had left Konoha on a mission to the Kanabi Bridge all those years ago. Half of this body was mottled grey - it was the same tissue and texture that Danzo had on his Sharingan arm. If there was any clear connection between the two, this was it. The expression on his face was one of seething hatred...now, I had not been formally introduced to him by Minato, but I do remember a joyful looking boy. This was not him.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Meh. Didn't take...same goes for you, I take it?"
"You know nothing."
"Oh, I know plenty...where shall I start?" I tilted my head at him. He scowled and took on a defensive posture. "Oh, no, it's okay...I don't expect you to talk - I just expect you to listen." I paused for dramatic effect.
"So, Once Upon a Time a little Chuunin known as Uchiha Obito goes on a shit show of a mission. Ends up crushed by a rock, gives his bestie his eye and welcomes death in the knowledge that he has protected his loved ones." I peeked for a reaction. His scowl deepened, excellent. "Then a creepy older dude just so happens to find him, and saves him from certain death - using this creepy grey flesh."
I gestured to his right side. I was totally pulling the information out of my ass, but his reaction was telling me good things. I'd pretty much hit the nail on the head, but I was lacking a few fine details...I could live with that for now.
"Obito grew to trust him - after all, if a creepy old dude saves your life he's gotta be, good, right? But you see, the dude had another agenda, and he needed a minion. And something happened that shook Obito to the core. It destroyed everything he thought he knew. And he realised the older dude was right. So he learned and planned and let his hatred fuel him. He turned his back on everything he once loved. He went around doing dastardly deeds throughout the land. Killing and sabotaging and enslaving...until one day, a little girl became too much of a nuisance. His irritation go the better of him and he let his guard down...or maybe the 'stupid bitch' was actually a very clever bitch? Who knows? Either way, Obito found himself captured and in a jail cell. The end."
I leaned back and looked at him. "So how does it feel to be someone's pawn in a war that is not your own?"
"You know nothing," he repeated, this time with more emotion than he meant to let out.
"Oh really? I know a lot. One thing I don't get is what happened to make you lose faith in Konoha? What happened that makes you hate it so much? I know brain washing, believe me...first they gain your trust, and then they make sure they are the only thing you can rely on...so what happened? What made you break?"
"You think Konoha is perfect? Just wait until it betrays you too. One day you'll lose everything, too, and then you'll see."
I blinked. "Sooo...you were betrayed by Konoha and lost everything? Hmmm..." I tapped my chin, thinking over all the files. "You were an orphan, and practically ignored by your clan...so it wasn't that. Team Minato was pretty much it for you...What could it be...Oh!" Lightbulb! "Oh, you poor poor stupid bastard." I chuckled. "Really?" I rolled my eyes.
He looked enraged. "You know nothing!"
"I clearly know more than you, right now!" I giggled. "You mean you never realised that it was an obvious set up?" He frowned.
"Let me guess...your best friend killed your other best friend, and you just happened to be there at the exact time and in the exact place to see the whole thing? And that doesn't seem weird to you? You poor gullible stupid bastard..." I cackled.
I didn't actually find the whole thing funny at all, but mind games were needed. He's already fallen for someone else's mind games, so there was no reason he wouldn't fall for mine.
His face done something funny and his eye dart back and forth. He was thinking about what I said and trying to find some flaw in it. I saw a flash of devastation...
"There's something else, isn't there? Something really, really bad..."
His eye widened. I stared at him.
I was making him uncomfortable, but I was also inducing fear. I had already destroyed his perception of the world - for the second time in his life - but he was afraid that I would find something out.
"So, something I know about? And one of the only things you feel guilt for..." My eyes snapped to his and I narrowed my eyes at him. "It was you."
He swallowed. "I-"
"Don't you fucking dare. Do you even know what you started? Of course you fucking do. So one girl died...did you know it was effectively suicide? To protect the village? Your evil fucking mentor set the whole thing up and you fell for it hook, line and sinker. Brainwashing happens, but it doesn't turn you into a murderous tyrant unless you let it...and what did you do?"
"You released the Kyuubi. Killed your sensei. Caused the death of his wife. Destroyed half the village. Because of you and your complete fucking inability to open your eyes, I lost my whole family...my fucking life."
"You know what? I almost felt sorry for you. You were a fool, but most people are. I didn't even care that you tried to kill me. But then you went and fucked it. I have no sympathy for imbeciles that completely lose their humanity in their journey for misplaced vengeance."
"I'm done with you. I don't even care if you rot here. I'm so past hatred, I'm onto apathy. I could have helped you set things right - but that's on you now, if you even care. Fuck you, and your fucking tiny dick."
I got out of the chair and stormed out of the room. I caught a flash of a crumpling expression on his face as the door closed. My work here was done - T & I could take over.
I walked into the observation room. Everyone - from Fugaku to Kakashi to some T&I henchman to the boys and the Hokage - looked stunned.
"And that, ladles and jellyfish, is how to break a man in thirty minutes and under. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a cupboard to scream into."
Interlude
Fugaku was looking at Erena as she closed the door, then looked back to Obito. The man looked like he was in a trance, his face slack but with clear anguish on it.
"That was unexpected," the Hokage said.
Fugaku snorted. "Only people who haven't played shogi against her would think that."
"What do you mean?"
"There are only two words for her gameplay: intuitive and savage. She likes to play with her food before she eats it."
"That girl needs to join T&I," Morino commented.
Fugaku snorted again. "Get in line."
Fugaku looked around to the remaining silent members of the room. They had all removed their masks, and wore different expressions on their faces. Hatake shared a similar look of misery on his face to Obito - he would likely take a while to get over this, and would obsess about his retuned friend. The Hokage needed to be careful... Itachi and Shisui looked dumbfounded...he guessed it wasn't because of the revelations about Obito, but more like seeing their friend in a new light.
Since Erena's full return, the three had become firm friends again. He was accepting, as he was indebted to her, but he knew there was certain aspects of her character that Itachi had not been witness to before now. While he knew Itachi was mature enough to handle it, he was concerned that Nakahara was not - she kept a part of herself hidden for a reason, and did not accept the darker sides of her personality.
For as good as Nakahara was an actress, she was not as emotionally stable as she appeared. He had seen enough cracks to know she was a few knocks from falling down. She needed to be in control, and right now that was slipping...and he worried what would happen when she finally did.
"Itachi," he said. "I think it's time you leave, we have things to discuss."
His son blinked and nodded. He grasped Shisui by the arm and lead him to the door. He knew they would go after their friend as soon as they left the room and got out of their stupor.
"What is going to happen to him?" Hatake whispered.
"That depends on him," the Hokage said. "There are still a lot of things unanswered, perhaps we should start there?"