Disclaimer: The characters are Masashi Kishimoto's property, I own the OCs.
Warning: The chapter is quite long!
Characters age:
Akane: 13 (46)
Itachi: 12 (29)
Shisui: 16
Naruto / Sasuke: 7
Kakashi: 21
"You know, you make kidnapping you very easy," Kou commented as we had Yasuo outside the Compound. He was wearing the Police Forces uniform now.
"What am I supposed to do when I have Akane's seal on me?" he retorted with a deadpan.
"Oh, right." I removed it and he stretched out. "We're dead to you now then?"
"That's not…" Kou was in his face, his Byakugan on.
"We know everything," he whispered to him in a cold voice. Yasuo frowned and became defensive.
"About what?"
"Your clan, their issues, their pl…" Yasuo had his hand on his mouth and was looking around furiously.
"There's no one around," I told him. He released Kou after a few seconds.
"So, what, you want a medal? Arrest me? It won't change a thing, they're too stubborn to…"
"You're against it then," I interrupted him, tilting my head a little.
"Of course, I am, it's dumb!" he retorted, his arms wide open to enhance his protest. "It won't make anything better for us, or the village and the only thing we'll get is 'well, they're definitely Madara's clan'!"
"Why were you okay with leaving the team then?" He glanced at Kou.
"I wasn't, but I was protecting you." Kou raised a brow. "Well, Fugaku-taicho did it to appease some of the clan's anger, but he had information that there was a mole in our team." I frowned. "I don't know more but…apparently someone was leaking information about the Uchihas to the village." I frowned.
"Huh…Akane? A little help here?" I was discovered. No one but Itachi or Shisui would tell Fugaku-sensei this, so one of them had to know about me.
"That's bad." I went to them and cupped Yasuo's face in my hands. "Look, it's me, I'm the mole." He blinked in confusion. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my anbu mask from a scroll to put it on my face. "Here, see?" I put it away and almost sighed at the pieces clicking together in his mind.
"You bet if sensei knew about a Root member, he'd break the team apart and retreat," Kou commented in a serious voice.
"How long!?"
"Almost a year," I replied without thinking. "Look, we're trying to find a peaceful solution to all of this, but it won't happen if your clan act on your anger. We need to know if you can and want to help us or not." He was torn.
Of course he'd be, but I didn't have time for that.
"Yasuo! You don't have time to hesitate! What do you want!?"
"Peace, I want everyone to be at peace with each other."
"Good, then help us."
"To do what?"
"Tell good old sensei he's being a pus…" Kou put his hand on my mouth.
"Convince him he needs to fight back." Okay, it was more diplomatic that way. Yasuo was still torn about it, but he nodded.
We ran to the Police Forces HQ. The tension was palpable in the air. The sun was slowly going down. It was the evening already. During the day, I had gone through my emergency scroll one last time. For a few days, I had been ready to leave like a thief in the night if I needed to, so I was ready.
"Where do you think you're going brat?" an officer asked, grabbing Kou roughly by the shoulder.
"We need a word with Fugaku-sensei, let me go!" The officer sneered.
"The Captain doesn't teach any Hyuuga brat!" Dude, it was getting messy in just a few seconds.
"I can throw a tantrum," I whispered to Yasuo. "I totally could and act like the spoiled princess they think I am."
"Huh…yeah, go ahead." I took a deep breath and stomped to the officer.
"Hey, cut the crap!" I yelled at him. His glare went from Kou to me.
"You li…"
"We need to have a word with Fugaku-sensei, that you want it or not!"
"As if I cared! He doesn't have the time for…"
"HE'LL MAKE FUCKING TIME, YOU HEAR ME!?" He let go of Kou and other officers started to gather around us. I was glaring daggers at him, not bothering hiding the fact the temperature was getting lower by the second.
"If you dare attack us here you brat, you will face the repercussions!"
"THEN LET ME TALK TO YOUR CAPTAIN OR THE HOKAGE WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!" It did feel good to scream at them, I couldn't deny it. I didn't waver at the sight of the Sharingan in the officer's eyes.
"It will not be necessary." We all looked toward Fugaku-sensei. He glanced at Kou, Yasuo and I and knew we wouldn't leave. "You three, with me and stop making a scene, it is embarrassing. You know better."
"Capt…" He raised a hand to stop his officer to continue.
"You do not know my schedule Obai, don't make decisions for me."
I didn't waste time to put seals around the place to avoid being listened to. Fugaku-sensei raised a brow at this.
"What is the meaning of this commotion?"
"Your bullshit leadership," I replied without thinking. He frowned deeply at me. "No, screw that, I'm not sorry." He immediately glanced at Yasuo.
"They already knew everything!"
"Look, Minato has a plan. It could work but it won't if you become violent." He sighed deeply and crossed his arms.
"And what do you know exactly?"
"Hizashi-sama and Hiashi-sama are involved," Kou informed him. He immediately looked at the Hyuuga. "They thought, well Akane suggested and the Hokage thought it was worth a shot, that the Byakugan could help." Fugaku-sensei glanced at me.
"Come on, there's no way you think violence against civilians is the solution. What are you planning, turn Konoha into another Kiri?" He knew I was serious. "Spoiler alert: you don't have a good reputation if you're from there, no matter where you go."
It was silent for a few seconds, and he sighed. He rummaged through a drawer of his desk, and he handed it to the boys.
"Those are the last plans we have. Go give them to the Hokage." I was confused. They were as well. "Hide it in your clothes and go." They did and I was left with him.
He looked at me harshly.
"Have you told Sasuke any of this?" I frowned.
"Sasuke? No, why would I?" He sighed deeply.
"I can't believe Itachi would tell his brother this…" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"I haven't talked to him in weeks, so I have no idea what you're talking about."
"This morning, Sasuke told me that if we were keeping this plan, we would be no better than Madara and proving everyone right." He wasn't wrong. "He also said that he couldn't understand how I wanted him and any child in Konoha to live through a civil war."
"Screw being a shinobi, he can be a politician maybe?" He didn't like the joke. "And it made you reconsider?"
"I do not want useless bloodshed, but what choice do I have exactly? They're just…so full of anger and hate now."
"Make a third choice then, but you have already done so." I cracked my shoulders. "We can kill two birds with one stone if we play our cards right Fugaku-sensei."
"Hn."
"However, it's mean to think I'd involve Sasuke. I know Itachi or Shisui told you I was a mole but…" He frowned.
"I beg your pardon?" I blinked.
"Well, you broke the team because there was a mole spying on you, didn't you?"
"Yes, but your name was not the one Itachi told me." I blinked. "Sayuri was spying on us for Shimura Danzou." I pointed at myself.
"I was spying on you for him," I corrected him. He straightened up immediately, now tense.
"Since when are you an anbu?"
"Almost a year!" I was lost. "Wait, if you didn't know I was parts of Root…did you tell the guys?"
"No, they don't know." Be it on his face, or mine, you could see the 'oh shit' in our gazes.
"They don't know Sayuri was a spy, if she intercepts them…"
"Let's go," he said firmly, and I nodded. An officer called for Fugaku-sensei, who told him there was an emergency.
Once outside, I tried to sense them. There was not much but only a faint trace of Yasuo's chakra. I took the lead, and we left the Uchiha Compound and then headed to the woods near it. When we found them, Kou was falling on the ground, bleeding from his stomach. Sayuri had a bloodied scalpel in her hand, nothing on her face and Yasuo had his hands on his eyes.
It was a shame, Sayuri didn't seem like a bad girl. With her long blond hair, almond-shaped hazelnut eyes and the fact she was a medic, she completely blended in.
"Hyouton: Blizzard Breath!" I spat a powerful blizzard at her. She barely had the time to grab her tanto to protect herself, red flames dancing on the blade. When my jutsu stopped, she twirled her tanto in her hand. "Bitch."
"I return the compliment to you." She kicked Kou in his wound and sent him to Yasuo. "I won't kill these two today, I'm not looking to get the Hyuuga clan's attention."
"Oh yeah? Then what are you looking for?" She showed us the scroll.
Before we could move, well me because Fugaku was not moving, we were trapped in a circle of fire. Sayuri left and I gritted my teeth, already done with my hand seals.
"Suiton: Wild Water Wave Technique." I didn't make it too pressurized, and it came out as a fountain almost. I spun around, extinguishing the flames. I was about to run after her when Fugaku-sensei told me not to. "Why can't I follow her? You haven't done much you know!"
"For a reason." I blinked at him. He was kneeling next to the boys. "Use healing seals on the boys Akane." I did. Yasuo's eyes were fine quickly, but Kou was more complicated and needed the hospital.
"I can't do more, he needs a hospital."
"We're taking him then," Fugaku-sensei stated, taking him in his arms.
We were silent in the hospital waiting room until I decided to stand up and went in front of the Uchiha leader. Yasuo was off to have his eyes checked by a specialist.
"The…"
"She had the wrong scroll." I blinked at him. "It was minimal, but she was under a genjutsu so subtle she probably didn't realize it was there. I saw it with the Sharingan when I looked in her eyes."
"…what the fuck? Who di…Yasuo?" He nodded.
"It is a genjutsu I invented and taught him only recently. He must have had his doubts about Sayuri when they met her and did it."
"What did it do?"
"It changes one's perception of small things, but ultimately it sends them on the wrong path. Her scroll was red."
"And?" He sighed.
"The one I gave them was black." Oh right. "I don't know with what scroll he traded it with, but she didn't leave with the right one." Danzou was not one to forgive failure.
"She'll come back." He nodded. "And my cover is blown." A few Hyuugas appeared at the end of the hallway, Hizashi-san among them. Fugaku stood up.
"I will take care of the scroll and the Hokage with Hizashi." I pursed my lips. "Things are handled here. Now, something tells me you know more than most of us so if you know what to do next, I advise you to do so." I nodded.
"On it."
Where would Shisui be?
"I'm hom…" Itachi had been on a long mission. He was tired, it was nighttime. Yet, he found his mother and Kushina in the living-room, obviously worried sick. "What's going on?"
"Naruto and Sasuke didn't come home." He frowned at both women. "They were training like they do after school but after a while I got worried, so I went to look for them and I found this." He took the paper Kushina handed him. On it was written that Sasuke and Naruto had been taken but that Sasuke was not the primary target and would be collateral damage.
His blood started to boil in his veins.
"I'm going to get Kakashi-san, he can find them."
"I'm going to get him, he won't say 'no'," Kushina told him firmly. "Let's meet outside the Compound." His mother nodded and the Uzumaki was off.
"Have you seen your father?" his mother asked him, frustrated.
"I have just gotten home, so no. Why?" She sighed deeply.
"I can't find him. He left the office around six and hasn't been seen since." That was odd.
His mother changed her clothes before leaving and they met up with the Uzumaki and Kakashi. Pakkun was already there, sniffing something that belonged to Naruto. They started running to the woods on the outskirts of the village. They stopped after an hour, hiding in the trees.
"The trail goes in there. Do you have something from the other kid?" Itachi handed one of his brother's kunai. The pug sniffed it. "Yep, in there as well, but they seem to be split. You could ask all these threatening-looking shinobi guarding the place." It was crowded.
"They probably split them up because Naruto has half the Kyuubi and is the actual target," Kakashi said. "We have three Sharingan users, we can split up in two groups and interrogate them with no issue." Itachi glanced at his mother. He wasn't surprised Kushina would go with them from the threatening grin on her face and the anger in her eyes, but his mother?
"You're not keeping me from getting your brother Itachi." He pursed his lips.
"But are you sure? You haven't been a kunoichi in more than thirteen yea…" he trailed off, his mother's motherly and warm gaze turning murderous by the second.
"We'll talk about this later, when your brother and Naruto are safe and sound."
"Pakkun, you can go." The pug disappeared in a puff of smoke. "I will be with Uchiha-san, Itachi you're with Kushina-san."
"It is for the best I think," his mother agreed when he opened his mouth. Itachi caught Kushina's gaze, who shook her head silently, telling him to drop it.
Getting inside was not very complicated. They had not noticed any of them coming and Itachi was no longer holding back on his genjutsu. It was not the Mangekyou, but it was better than it was the first time he was thirteen, a lot better.
"Naruto is in a special cell deep in the building, two levels down. Sasuke is on this floor because he could be useful quickly," Itachi stated, the Root member dropping on the floor, unconscious. "And they're following Shimura Danzou's orders."
"This guy again," Kushina muttered angrily.
"Kakashi-kun, we stay on this floor. Itachi and Kushina will go get Naruto."
"Seems like a good plan to me." Kushina grabbed his shoulder. "Let's go dattebane."
He tried to tell her to be stealthy, to which she responded that Danzou had kidnapped the Hokage's son and that his men would 'pay for him as long as she didn't have him in front of him'. His job was to get her back as she would knock people out with her Adamantine Chains, leaving trap seals where her chains would go.
Wherever they were going, they were leaving traps behind them, and he was making sure no one would wake up anytime soon with his eyes.
"Your mother will be fine Itachi-kun, she was a terrifying jounin before you came along." He sighed a little.
"So I have heard. She has never showed me or Sasuke anything though."
"I'm not sure Fugaku would let her train you both, and I don't think it would even be his choice." He raised a brow at her, and she ruffled her hair. "Never mind, I shouldn't be telling you that."
"Telling me what?"
"Well, there are…things that happened before your birth that made me not like your father very much like you must have gathered." Yeah, he had noticed. He had many bets going on with Akane about the reason why. "Let's say I think Miko-chan could have done much better."
"He is still my father," he reminded her flatly. She sighed.
"Yeah." She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "But you are your mother's son, both you and Sasuke, there is no doubt about it. Sometimes I even wonder if you didn't feel like your birth would impact her career and decided to be a prodigy just to make it up to her." She sighed. "She had a bright future ahead back then." She realized what she had said and looked ashamed as he deadpanned at her. "Not that she doesn't have a good life, she's a stay-at-home mom and there's no harder job than to raise decent people!"
"Sure." She clearly was embarrassed by what she had implied. Not that he was mad, he couldn't feel bad for his birth. He was not the one responsible for it after all. "Maybe we should focus on finding Naruto."
"Yes, yes you're right." When they reached the right floor, they started to hear a voice screaming at the top of his lungs. Kushina started running and Itachi almost rolled his eyes when he followed her. She was being more violent than before.
They reached a small office with a dozen shinobi in it. Before they could do anything, Kushina had her hands on the floor, a fierce look in her eyes.
"The Adamantine Sea Jutsu!" The floor was covered in Adamantine Chains that wrapped themselves around the shinobi before they could do anything about it. One tried to use a fire jutsu but Kushina used her chains to shield them.
Itachi went to the door quietly.
"Naruto, can you hear me?"
"Nii-chan?" the kid's voice said through the door.
"Get away from the door." He used a Fire jutsu to melt the lock. Once this was done, he opened it and Naruto launched himself at him, hugging him around the waist.
"Wow it was so scary!" He patted the kid on the head.
"I can imagine." Naruto looked up when there was a moan of pain.
"Mom?" Kushina grinned at her son.
"Hi honey, stay with Itachi for now." Naruto glanced at the moaning shinobi on the floor and gulped.
"I don't feel bad, is it wrong?" he asked Itachi in a whisper.
"No, it's normal."
"Sasuke was…"
"My mother and Kakashi-san are looking for him."
"Oh, Kakashi-nii is super strong!"
"Kushina-san, let's go." She pouted briefly, tightening her chains for a second before letting go. Like before, Itachi used genjutsu on all of them.
Kushina hugged her son tightly once they were outside. Naruto broke down in tears in his mother's arms, Itachi walking away a little to give them some privacy.
A dozen of minutes later, Kakashi and his mother came out of the building, Sasuke on his Kakashi's back. Itachi frowned immediately when he saw Sasuke's eyes closed, a frown on his face.
"He is fine," his mother told him, keeping him from moving with her hand on his chest. "He broke his leg because of the Sharingan."
"What?" She nodded reluctantly.
"Being kidnapped by people of your own village would do the trick."
"Itachi, take him." Kakashi gave him Sasuke. "Go to the hospital and stay there, I need to report this to Minato-sama immediately."
"Kakashi, this is not the only thing happening, is it?" Kushina asked him. Kakashi had a conflicted look in his eyes before he put his headband back on his sharingan.
"Please do as I say for now and stay there." He watched him leave, worry and fear slowly gaining him. It was dark now; time had flown by quickly. It had to be close to midnight now.
When they reached the hospital, Itachi asked for Shinko in particular, who was surprised at seeing them. She took both kids with her. He waited with his mother until his old teammate came back to tell them they were both fine and that Sasuke had exhausted himself. Then she asked him to have a word.
"What's going on?" He frowned. "I mean, earlier your father and Akane-chan came in a hurry because Yasuo had had something in his eyes and Kou was stabbed." Itachi narrowed his eyes a little.
"Kou was stabbed?" She nodded.
"And it was not pretty. He's fine now, and his parents were told. I can't discuss it with you, medical secrecy and all of that but it was life-threatening with internal bleeding. Once I told the Hyuuga he was fine, he left with your father."
"A Hyuuga?" She nodded.
"Several came, but I think it was Hia…no, Hizashi-san? The one with a forehead protector all the time." Hizashi then.
"You said Akane was there?"
"Yes, I saw her briefly and your father and her talked to each other, it looked very…hush-hush." It was not a phrasing he ever thought he'd hear about Akane and his father. "She left way before them, Kou was still in surgery."
"Did you talk to her or something?" She shook her head.
"No, she ran past me, but I don't think she even saw me. Her face…she looked worried and panicked. Honestly, I'd say she looked better facing the Raikage back then." Damn, could it be Shisui? It was supposed to be in two days, but who knew about now? And if Akane left in a hurry…
His dad though? And Hyuuga Hizashi, so Hiashi as well? Kakashi seemed to know something too, and the Root members they had faced were good, but young, not experienced. Danzou had not deemed it necessary to put more surveillance on Sasuke and Naruto.
It was a back-up plan. Sasuke was not the target, that much was obvious, but Naruto. Taking Naruto hostage was a back-up plan to have leverage against the Hokage. So, Minato had to have something planned. This something had the Hyuugas involved.
From the look of it, Akane was neck-deep in it as well and he had not seen anything. Whatever it was, his father had to know as well now and Kou had been a casualty, so maybe even him knew something.
He went to Naruto's room, interrupting him and Kushina.
"Naruto, I need to know a few things," he told the kid, hoping the fact the pieces of the puzzle would click in his mind at once.
"What?"
"The men who took you, what did they look like?"
"They looked like Dad's anbu but they were not." Kushina raised a brow at her son, who crossed his arms smugly, nodding. "Yup, Nee-chan told me once that Dad's men wouldn't be hostile with me so when they showed up, I knew they were the other anbus she told me about!"
"What? What else did Akane tell you?" Kushina asked him, now concerned.
"She told me to try to act cool and dumb, not do anything stupid and look for her because they're her friends." Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. "I couldn't do it though because Sasuke freaked out and told me to run."
"Well, I doubt he got the memo," Itachi said bitterly.
Of course, Akane would get herself in Root under Danzou's command, of course she would and not tell him a word about it. Damn it, was she the one to tell Minato to put him in Anbu so he wouldn't notice she was as well? He knew she could be sly and even deceitful at times, but this much…
He had the information Sayuri was a mole for Danzou, but nothing on Akane?
He felt betrayed. He truly felt betrayed. Had she decided to try and help his clan in his back because he wouldn't tell her anything? Because he was trying to shield her from it?
"Kushina-san, I am sorry, but I am afraid I cannot obey Kakashi-san's order," he told the Uzumaki.
"Because you are obeying mine," she replied firmly, looking at him. "Go Itachi and find out what's happening. I'll tell your mother." He nodded at her in thanks and left in a hurry.
He remembered where Shisui's attack happened the first time. He went there. It was dark, but the light of the moon was enough for him to see where he was going.
He found the bodies of two Root members. He touched their skins. Cold. It was too cold to be natural, so it was Akane's Hyouton.
Itachi ran to the cliff overlooking the Naka River. There was no one. It was just him and the wind. He walked closer to the edge of the cliff and knelt there. He touched the ground. It was wet and cold; it was as if ice had melted there.
Akane had been there. She had fought members of Root, killed them and turned herself into a traitor by doing so, then came here and…jumped? His instinct was telling him Shisui was with her.
He had to find them.
I stopped. Sayuri was in front of me, pissed.
"Get out of my way brat," I snarled at her.
"I am twenty I'll have you know!" And yet showing a lot of emotions for a Root member. I didn't have time for this. Plus, she had stabbed Kou and I had no idea how he was.
"Hiding in the Mist Technique." I was past using hand seals for this.
Root had been beneficial. I progressed quicker under pressure and harsh conditions. I could make Explosive Seals and Immobility Seals out of my hands and could form seals out of me feet. Not proper ones, but they would blow up because they were messed up, so it was good.
I had forgotten that, by trying to reach my initial Fuinjutsu skills, I would grow into my prime as a kunoichi. Before, my skills went from as sharp as a knife as a Mist kunoichi because of the conditions to a kunoichi retired for thirty years when I went back to Konoha. Motherhood had dulled my senses a little and then I trained to be a Seal Master, not a kunoichi.
All of this to say, I could very well get stronger than before. I was aware I had potential, but I never wanted to use it. Here however, I had people poking at it all the time.
I went into Silent Killing, knowing where she was in my mist. She was not moving but her chakra was active. Slowly but surely, I used the mist around us to slow her down and trap her in ice.
She cut through the mist with this weird fire blade of hers. She killed my water clone, who blew up because my clone had trapped herself. Sayuri dodged and I appeared in front of her. She tried to move but couldn't. She looked down and saw the ice growing on her.
"Are you a spy from the Mist?" she asked me in disgust. "This technique, you hid yourself with the Silent Killing Technique, didn't you? Did…" I put my hand on her mouth, sealing it in ice. Her body was frozen up to her torso. I went through some hand seals.
"Hyouton: Ice Spikes." From the ice around her, I made ice spikes that killed her. She screamed, but it was muffled by the ice on her mouth. I took her blade and cut her head off, blood splashing the ice around her body and the ice I made to protect myself from it.
I melted the ice and the body fell to the ground, spilling blood in the wet grass. I dissipated the mist around us, melted all the ice I had made and stared at the body in disgust.
Heh.
It looked like the Frozen Shinigami was back in the game.
I reached the Uchiha Compound quickly and went to Shisui's house. His father had passed away not so long ago, and his mother seemed to be out. I slipped in his room and stole a pencil from his desk. I left swiftly and went to the woods around the Uchiha Compound. I put a Chakra Concealing Seal on me and cut my thumb open a little.
"Summoning Jutsu!" A light grey wolf appeared. He was still a cub but was already blind and had his eyes closed. I scratched him between the ears a little. "Hey Seihitsu." He licked my hand. "I'm sorry but I am in a hurry, I need you to find someone for me." I made him smell Shisui's pencil and he turned to the east.
I was glad I had signed my summoning contract with wolves for my thirteenth birthday. Mom had done it at the same age.
I followed Seihitsu for a while, the night falling. I wish I had mastered the Hiraishin, but I had not. I showed my sketches to Minato, who told me if I were to try it right now, I'd hurt myself. What a shame.
"Hiding in the Mist Technique," I said once more, mist filling the clearing.
"They're hostile, two men, strong chakra."
"Yeah, I know them." I glanced at Seihitsu. "The target?"
"Up ahead, behind them." I nodded.
"Alright, thank you. Go home, it's going to become dangerous." He did. "Terai-san, Mizunoto-san, I'd like you to let me through."
"How long have you been a spy Uzumaki?" Terai asked. He was close to being twenty. Mizunoto was around twenty, I think.
"From the beginning. That cursed seal was not that complicated to break through."
"Danzou-sama was right to double-cross you."
"Oh, you mean Sayuri? I'm afraid her head fell off because of the cold."
"…you killed one of us?"
"And eye for an eye," I replied slyly, disappearing in the mist.
I made several water clones. Mizunoto was a sensor, and he would feel anything telling him my position: heat, scent, he'd just feel them.
He was onto me quickly. I blocked his tanto with my katana and my clones started to blow up against Terai. I was too busy with Mizunoto that Terai had the time to absorb the moisture of my mist to use a technique.
"Suiton: Water Bullet Technique." I glanced at the high-speed, pressurized water coming my way. I made an Immobility Seal on Mizunoto's arm and jumped away. The water followed me. I had barely started inserting my chakra in it to freeze it, and ultimately it would be my way in to freeze Terai from the inside, that he stopped the jutsu.
Mood killer.
They were both on each side of me out of sudden. I tapped my foot on the ground and made an ice layer on it. I slid away, Mizunoto slipping a little and waved at them sarcastically before going to the woods. I left a clone there and started to leave seals around. Once I had the area I wanted, I stopped sliding on the ice I was making and stopped Terai. He was still physically stronger than me, so my katana was slowly going down.
It didn't keep me from raising my left foot a little. I made some ice beneath it, then a seal that blew up. It wasn't enough to hurt me, but it was enough to get a lot of strength to kick Mizunoto, who was about to sneak up on me from behind. He was kicked in the stomach, and I covered the tip of my foot in sharp ice to the kick Terai. He dodged but he had had a cut on his arm. Without waiting, I propelled myself in the air as my clone was done.
"Adamantine Barrier," I said with the tiger seal. Blue chakra surrounded us. I didn't give them a second to breathe that I was at my next jutsu. "Hyouton: Blizzard Breath." I spat a powerful blizzard that covered the whole inside of the barrier in snow.
Mizunoto tried to use a fire jutsu at me. I pulled a scroll from my pouch, and it was sealed. I landed without an issue, the temperature dropping quickly around us.
"You…your file didn't say…" Mizunoto stuttered, shivering because of the cold.
"I said I was a spy, why would I display all my skills?" I retorted coldly. "You've clearly never faced a Seal Master before, or a Hyouton user." And I had decades of experience on them. "Anyway, I have stuff to do." They were using their chakra to keep their core warm; it didn't shield them from the ice growing on them. I walked to Mizunoto and put my hand on his shoulder and made his temperature dropped. He fell dead on the ground because of hypothermia.
I looked at Terai who managed to free himself.
"You can try to flee, but hypothermia will get to you nonetheless." I threw a few kunai at him, which he deflected. I ran at him and attempted to blow a limb up, but he saw me coming, slipped on the snow on purpose to doge and grabbed a kunai on the ground.
He stabbed the palm of my hand. I gritted my teeth at the pain and kicked him in the head. He rolled away and a few seconds went by before he tried to get up, but to no avail. I put my hand on his head and pressed it hard against the ground.
"Danzou-sama…will…win…"
"Danzou fears what he doesn't control, and fear leads to destruction. Rotten root equals fallen tree." I didn't need to do much for him to die of hypothermia.
Once I was sure they were both dead, I gradually stopped my hold on the temperature. Then, my clone disappeared, like the barrier and the snow melted. I leaned my valid hand on my knee, panting a little.
I had won, I was relatively not hurt but it was still exhausting to do this much. I looked at the kunai in my hand and removed it, putting it back in its holder. I used a Healing Seal and went back after Shisui.
I sped up when I sensed his chakra. It was not smooth and peaceful, so something was happening. As I could only hear myself gasping, trees changing quickly as I was running through them, I stopped at the edge of a clearing. Shisui was there, hostile, in front of Danzou. I blinked when a Aburame kid I had seen in Root HQ was behind him.
Shit, Sugaru's poison was…
The thing was, with the Aburame clan, their insects, to a sensor, were an extension of their chakra. I could feel it in more than one place.
I took a deep breath, the air coming out of my mouth condensed with small ice particles in it and I hit the ground with my foot, making ice spikes between Danzou and Shisui. I used the Body-Flicker Technique to reach the Uchiha and turned toward Sugaru, using the Blizzard Breath Technique on him. His bugs were not quick enough to dodge, and it froze them to death once I had a hold on them.
Shisui grabbed me once this was over and left in a Body-Flicker, throwing me on his shoulder like a potato sack. When he stopped, we were at the cliff. This damn cliff. He put me down and turned toward me, eyes wide open in shock. He started to raise his arms but gave up because he didn't know what to say.
"I have nothing," he finally said. His eyes were intact.
"A 'thank you' would do the trick," I replied with a deadpan.
"What are you…how did you…" I pointed my thumb at the woods.
"I left three corpses in there already; I'm too far gone because of you fucking Uchihas already." He pursed his lips. "We can't talk here when I can sense them following." I grabbed him roughly by his sleeve and went to the edge of the cliff.
It was high. Sasuke had showed me his brother's memories of that cursed night and it felt high, but it was even higher in real life. There was a river down there though.
"Hey Shisui, have you ever been on an ice slide?" He blinked. Without further ado, I pushed him from the cliff.
He didn't fall but ended up sliding down the ice I was making as he was going. I went after him, melting the ice once I had been on it. Shisui was smart enough to not say anything to let me focus. Making ice in the air was not easy so close to summer in Konoha, even with a river down there.
"Keep running, my ice leaves a trail on the water," I told him. We jumped on the shore maybe a hundred meters later and my ice kept going for a few more. Once melted, Shisui gestured me to follow him.
"I'm going to make a wild guess and say you're not entirely alone and we have help coming?"
"Hopefully, my godfather. Given he comes on time." He glanced at me above his shoulder.
"You have a lot to explain to me."
"You and Itachi are idiots; it sums up our situation." I glared at him. "I live under the Hokage's roof, dummy." I showed myself with my hand. "You can't do a more inside job with him than me." To his credit, he did look ashamed.
Well, I was hurt about being kept in the dark and it was finally coming out. Itachi denying there was anything had been getting on my nerves more and more and I was doing my best not to lash out at him. Yeah, I know, I was a hypocrite because I had lied and hidden things to him too but…well, we all were hypocrites on some degree.
I put a Chakra Concealing Seal on Shisui and left shadow clones around, who would sense the area. After a while, the rocky surroundings of the ravine turned to green trees. It was very dark because of the thick foliage, and slightly scary.
"In my defense, I didn't really want to involve you, but I told Itachi he should tell you things were tense, and he couldn't really spare time for your relationship at the moment." I looked up at him.
"It's a lot better than whatever happened," I stated flatly.
"So, I heard." He wanted to continue but didn't. It was not the time to discuss this anyway.
We found shelter in a cave.
"Okay, basically I have been in Root for almost a year and a few months after I joined, Danzou asked me to spy on you all."
"I see. So, we were all spying on each other then. What great friends we are to each other." He sighed deeply and put his hand on his eye. "He wants my eyes."
"No shit."
"You're being bitchy."
"A lot has happened okay, Kou's in the hospital because he was stabbed, and I still don't know how he is…" He glanced at me in shock. "Sayuri. She's one of the dead ones."
"You know…you're kind of scary Akane." I grinned maniacally. "Alright, stop. This is a serious situation, it's not the time to joke around."
"Sure." I cleared my throat. "We need to get rid of Sugaru first, his bugs are too dangerous."
"So, it means one of us has to keep Danzou occupied." I nodded. "Great, I've always had 'beat an Elder' on my to-do list."
"Burning bugs should be better than freezing them."
"Akane, Danzou is not just anyone." I shrugged. "Akane!"
"Shisui!" I retorted in the same tone. I ran a hand in my hair. "I know, I was under his command, remember?" I stood up. "And we need to go."
"Akane." I looked at him as we exited the cave. "My sharingans cannot fall in Danzou's hands, so if you see you need to seal some stuff in me to keep him from getting them, do it." I nodded.
"Don't kill anyone." He pursed his lips. "If you do, you'll be considered a traitor. I'm doomed already, but you're not."
"I'm not a fan of this phrasing."
"You have a better one?" He sighed.
"No."
We reached the regular training grounds on the outskirts of the village when I felt Danzou and Sugaru coming. More importantly, there were weapons coming our way.
Shisui and I split up to dodge the wind-infused kunai and Danzou was in front of me. He grabbed me by the neck before I could react and lifted me off the ground.
"When did you break your cursed seal?"
"…Months ago…" I managed to croak out. He narrowed his eye at me.
"And I guess Terai, Mizunoto and Sayuri are all dead by your hand." I grinned and he tightened his hand on my neck, slowly choking me. "I was right to have Sayuri spying on them as well." Asshole.
He let go of me when he realized I had put an Explosive Seal on his arm. I couldn't activate it that he had destroyed it. I was coughing instead, on all four.
"It will be bad for the Hokage when I will present him the corpse of his traitor of a ward." I spat on the ground and wiped my mouth. He had done some damage because my spit was a little bit pinkish, indicating there were some broken blood vessels in my throat.
Danzou was strong. My wind techniques were nothing next to his, he knew not to let me get too close, he was well-versed in Fuinjutsu and despite my age, he was still older than me.
Well, there went nothing. I made a step forward, pretending I was going to run and body-flickered. He didn't let this phase him and intercepted my leg. I made ice beneath my foot and blew it up with a messed-up seal. It blew up in his face. The smoke was barely gone, blood at the corner of his mouth that I was done with my seals.
"Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" It came out of the river on my left. Before he could do anything, I made one more seal. "Hyouton: Freezing Technique!" The ice dragon rushed at Danzou, who kept dodging. When he was close to Shisui and Sugaru, I turned it into ice needles. Sadly, it didn't do much.
Danzou suddenly punched me hard in the stomach, but with the arm he had bandaged. I spat some blood. I had to have some broken ribs now. He grabbed me by my shirt, slammed me in the ground and put a cursed seal on me.
"You're not the only one who can use seals with your bare hand."
I couldn't move and watched him go to Shisui, now two against one. I gritted my teeth and made the tiger seal. Every seal was broken the same way: overpowering. I just had to…
The cursed seal was broken in less than thirty seconds. I slammed my hand on the ground and froze it until Sugaru's feet, who slipped, did the split and fell. Shisui put him in a genjutsu in a second and, as Danzou was in the middle of his own move, Shisui took his tanto and stabbed him. He fell, limp.
Huh?
That was not…
Oh shit!
"Shisui!" I yelled. Danzou reappeared in front of Shisui, who didn't see coming.
I body flickered to him as quickly as possible. I was behind him as Danzou had his fingers close to his eye. I put my hand on Shisui back, a Chakra Suppressing Seal on it and activated it.
I could only grab Shisui and moved away as Danzou removed the bandage around his eye. The Sharingan turned white. Shisui was panting against me, his hand on his bloody and empty eye-socket.
"Izanagi? The Sharingan?" I removed my seal and used a Healing one on him. "What the…" Danzou put Shisui's eye in his socket.
"I see." He glanced at me.
The eye was black, the red of the Sharingan nowhere to be seen.
"You forced the deactivation of the Sharingan."
"Wanna switch?" Shisui asked me.
"You're missing an eye."
"Yeah, but he used it on…"
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." He was back at us.
However, he didn't touch Shisui. He didn't touch me. In a yellow flash, Minato-san was there and took us both away. Suddenly, we were both with him, Hizashi-san and Fugaku-sensei.
"What took you so long?" He sighed.
"There had to have some discussions and then Kakashi came to report a few things." Huh? Kakashi? "We're here now."
"But he's missing an eye," Fugaku-sensei pointed out, on one knee in front of Shisui.
"It's alright, Akane forced the Sharingan to deactivate, he doesn't have it," Shisui assured him. I opened my mouth, ready to say something, but his clan leader beat me to it.
"So? You're still missing an eye." Shisui pursed his lips. I nodded behind the clan leader. However, he turned to me quickly. "And you, you're bleeding."
"Huh…I may have broken ribs as well." He sighed and forced me to sit next to Shisui, like two grounded kids.
"Kakashi, stay with them." Kakashi appeared out of nowhere. The three adults left to go to Danzou. Kakashi punched me on the head, a scowl on his face.
"Idiot."
"Chill."
"You killed three anbu!"
"Yeah, I don't care to be honest." He glared and I scowled back at him. "It was planned for me to leave Konoha anyway." It got me Shisui's attention as well. "Kiri contacted Minato, not officially, and gave him until July to send me back there or they'd open hostilities."
"Just for you?" Shisui inquired, doubtful.
"He must really be interested in me I guess."
"Does Itachi know?" I shook my head.
"We were not really seeing each other anymore and then not at all, it would have been awkward to…"
"So, you're telling me you guys have had a falling out and you were planning on just leaving!?" He really was making me sound selfish.
But I knew I was.
"Yeah well, Kiri's my birth village, not Konoha, and I'm sick of people telling me this all the time." I took a deep breath. "You will all be fine."
A few minutes went by until they came back.
"What about…"
"The Third and his anbu are with him." Minato-san knelt in front of me and put his hand on my head. He had a conflicted look in his eyes. "Danzou is removed from his position and is permanently confined to his residence." I blinked.
"Why don't you kill him?" He sighed. "Come on!"
"I can't execute a man without judgement, so it won't happen now. However, even with Hizashi-san seeing…his arm, the Third said the Council would not kill him."
"You're the Hokage!" I yelled, jumping to my feet.
"I know." He looked conflicted.
"He's doing it to protect you," Hizashi-san intervened. I blinked. "Danzou has men everywhere who could say a lot of things. What happened tonight can be stifled a little, but his influence remains."
"I'm already a traitor to Konoha laws, make me the big bad villain, I don't care but don't let him…" Fugaku-sensei slapped me behind the head.
"The arm, the Sharingan, the sabotage and his business with Orochimaru send him in confinement. However, attacking him like this and killing three anbus make you an enemy of the village and I can't do anything about it." I knew that.
"He still tried to attack Shisui!"
"Shisui who was planning on mass manipulation," the Hokage countered. He gazed at the silent Uchiha next to me. "And I can't do anything about it. The Uchihas are member of the village, so turning against them makes you an enemy as well, intercepted by an Elder."
"He stole his…"
"His eye, the weapon for his goal. To the Council, they'll use that as a way to say Danzou tried to defend Konoha by getting him out of the picture." My shoulders dropped in horror.
I knew the power the Council of Elders had, I knew the Hokage was not alone in making decision, especially when it came to executing an important figure like Danzou but…But he was the Hokage!
"It's not just Akane who has to leave, it's me as well," Shisui stated flatly.
"And you agree!?" I asked Fugaku. "You think it will be enough!?"
"To calm them down. With Danzou out of the picture, our original plans should be able to happen," he replied in a stern, but also slightly defeated tone. "Shisui turning on us will make a lot of people reconsider, especially as it is the village who kept him from doing so."
"He put his eye in his eye socket! Aren't you guys super protective of the Sharingan!?"
"You'd be surprised how quickly they'd change opinions once they know I tried to manipulate them," Shisui commented. "Everything you're telling us is what is going to be made public, isn't it?"
"To the involved parties, yes," Minato-san confirmed. I didn't know what do.
In a moment of hope, I turned to Kakashi. He just shook his head sadly.
"As the Hokage, I have to send shinobi after you once you have left the village ground," Minato-san continued. I could only stare at Shisui, my eyes tearing up. He smiled softly at me.
"I knew what the risks were if I were to fail Akane."
"If there is anything you want to bring with you, then go pack." Shisui left with Fugaku-sensei. Hizashi-san nodded at me and left as well, leaving me with Kakashi and Minato.
"How…I am going to tarnish your reputation, right?"
"Don't worry about this." I still looked down. In a flash, we were home.
I grabbed my bag and hugged Kakashi in the living-room. He hugged me back almost instantly.
"Be careful out there," he whispered to me in a hoarse voice. I nodded against his chest.
"We'll see each other again, try not to kill me if there's no need to." He chuckled briefly, but it was a dry chuckle.
"You do the same then." He let go of me when Minato-san put his hand on his shoulder.
Without a word, I hugged the Hokage too. He was taken back. I had not hugged him since I was a little kid after all.
"Thank you, for taking care of me, and accepting, and loving me even when I was being difficult." He hugged me back tightly but did not say a word. I looked up to see him wipe a tear away. "You're a crybaby."
"Shush." I gestured him to get down to my level. Then, I put my hands on each side of his ear, my mouth in front of it.
"I don't think I ever was loyal to Konoha. However, I am loyal to people in it, including you. I'll do my job there as well."
"I know you will." He gave me a piece of paper. "Here, go there first." I nodded.
I left with Shisui, who had a poor white bandage over his eye. His forehead protector was nowhere to be seen. It was not the plan though. I was supposed to leave on my own and go to Kiri. Now Shisui was there, alive but a missing-nin and missing an eye again. I couldn't possibly take him with me, I doubted he'd want to come anyway, but there was no way I'd leave him either. I had a debt to pay to him and I couldn't only pay back half of it.
At a crossroad, I stopped in front of a tree.
"Akane?"
"I'm sending an official message," I replied, using a kunai to hook my forehead protector to the tree. The metal shone faintly under the moonlight.
With another kunai, I crossed the Konoha symbol in it. I looked at it for a few seconds and licked my dry lips.
This…time, of my life, was officially over. It was time to really get to work and attack the plat de resistance.
"What is on the paper?" Shisui asked me when I pulled it out of my pocket. I raised a brow at it.
"It just says to go home." I thought about it for a few seconds and opened my mouth in a 'o' shape. "We need to go to the Land of Hot Water." I stopped, a foot in the air. "That is if you're coming with m…"
"Do you really think I'm going to leave you on your own after all of this?" I smiled faintly. "We go there, see what's expecting us and then we'll see." I nodded.
"Sounds like a plan." He nodded too.
"However, we need to get going because we're not going to have just anyone after us. We need to cross the border."
It was not the plan. As we left the Land of Fire in the late hours of the night, the sun starting to peak in the horizon, I could only hope it would be okay.
The end of this horrendous night also marked a new and foreign beginning.
Thanks for reading. I hope you have liked it, please do let me know in reviews! Thanks to Amaterasu53 and the Guest(s) for the reviews! I feel bad for Itachi's reputation right now, but hopefuly he will redeem himself later on!
On another note, if you have not seen it already, The Shinigami Side Effect is officially over after 178 chapters! If you have not read the last chapters, go ahead and enjoy!
Bye!