Hazuki Uchiha was many things. A failed wife, a black sheep of the clan whose relationships were only starting to repair, a run-of-the-mill Tokubetsu-Jonin with subpar reserves who specialized in taijutsu... but a fool, she was not.
She'd seen the far too mature, and frankly jaded way that Tomo interacted with the world- the way she interacted with little Izumi as an older sister indulging a younger sibling, despite the fact that she was the younger one. The way she interacted with adults as though they were her equal, though acknowledging her lack of physical strength and knowledge. The fact that she trained with specific goals in mind, neither slacking off nor overworking herself in search of faster growth, instead patiently putting a healthy amount of work each day, chakra incident notwithstanding. The way she spoke to hurtthe man who'd left her behind with a startling amount of vitriol, and the despair in her eyes.
And when, in their last conversation, what Hazuki meant as a reprimand with no further intention turned Tomo's gaze first into that same despairing appearance she'd taken at being betrayed by her uncle, before turning more calculative.
So when little Izumi came home worried sick about the fact that her sister (Kami bless her little heart, she had taken to the new addition to their family like a fish did to water) had been given a sealed scroll by an ANBU soldier regarding her sister's whereabouts to deliver to Hazuki herself, she was left with a sense of dread pooling in her gut.
She knew what little Tomo was capable of, after that conversation with her uncle and Inabi, and the fact that whoever that ANBU worked for wanted to talk with Tomo herself, bypassing her authority as her guardian spoke volumes as to what the question might be.
When she spoke of the same thing to Fugaku, she did so without mentioning the revival part. Besides the fact that it was likely a S-Rank secret, little Tomo did not deserve to fall out of the Hokage's hands only to be exploited by the Uchiha instead. Apparently, though, the Hokage's grip was a bit tighter than it initially appeared.
Hazuki knew better than to believe there were good people in the world.
So when Fugaku's response to her alarm was passive dismissiveness, she was not surprised. He had already displayed a surprising amount of passiveness when the outraged Uchiha were forced to move to the outskirts of the village. If that wouldn't move him, then nothing would.
The message she'd received contained clear instructions; it amounted to basically forgetting and subsequently denying little Tomo-chan's existence for Tomo's own sake. And despite the fact that she'd been raising the child for little more than a third of a year, it stung. When she lost her husband and her little one had obtained the Sharingan due to watching her father die, she felt like an absolute failure of a mother.
Now, failing to protect the child that had trusted her with her secret?
It brought up dark, dark memories that should have been left in the past.
Furthermore, little Izumi became more and more distraught as the days turned to weeks and they themselves turned to months. Though Hazuki herself made an effort to be more with her daughter and treat her and just try to get her to feel better, it was as though a void was left in the house. The reality of the ninja world that she'd been trying to shield her daughters, both the natural and the adoptive one had barged into the house with all the violence of a hurricane- all the violence with which the Kyubi had torn Tomo's former house to shreds had now taken her away from them.
Even Itachi and Shisui, who typically kept to themselves, occasionally spied in on the house, in the former's case, or asked around, for the latter, but… well, ANBU were secretive for a reason.
Izumi's birthday came and went, and Hazuki began to grow more and more concerned as she began falling into the same pitfall that Hazuki herself fell into at a young age- overtraining. And sadly, just as she had done with Tomo, Hazuki could only provide the best instruction she could. Only, Izumi didn't know when to stop, in some sort of misguided thought that if she trained enough she could be reunited with the other child.
Winter became Spring. They rebuilt the academy. The children that were already going resumed their lessons, but it was collectively decided that those that had yet to join would wait until the time to join the academy had once again come, rather than join immediately, in order to allow the first year students to complete their year.
Spring turned to Summer. Konoha quietly worked to get itself back on its feet, and the Uchiha clan grew more and more distant from the rest of the village- "lucky bastards" who had managed to get away from the Kyubi. Hazuki wanted to crack her knuckles into the skull of the bastard who said that particular line and ask if her daughter had been lucky to lose her father at the age of five years old.
And finally, Summer turned to Fall once again. And as the gloom as the anniversary of the death of their Hokage, together with so many others with him approached, Hazuki was awoken by a shrill scream, quickly followed by groaning.
Jumping immediately into action and rushing to the source of the scream with a kunai in hand, Hazuki found herself staring at a pile on the floor made of her two daughters- both of them. As emotions began trying to overtake one another in her mind and she tried to just comprehend what was going on, her mind automatically snapped into analytical mode as her Sharingan activated.
Staring at Tomo, she looked… fine. More than fine, actually- not a single scar or imperfection framed her body. Not the calluses she had accumulated over the course of training, not the scars that she knew were there, and not the ones that she should have gained over the course of the 10 month period where she had been gone.
As her brain took all of that information in, she paused far longer to just savor the scene. Her two daughters. Fine. The smaller one confused and the older one in tears, but they were alright. They were in reach, where she could grab them and protect them and run away if need be.
...of course, moments like this weren't meant to last. As she scanned Tomo for imperfections, she found something peculiar- her body had all but effectively returned to the state it was when she had been dropped on their doorstep, minus the burns that had littered her body. She had lost muscle tone, which was… maybe normal, one could suppose.
Less normal was the fact that she had lost chakra, her reserves having dropped to the ones of a civilian child.
And as the child looked around in abject confusion at the scene unfolding around her, a series of heavy knocks on the door of their home startled them. In her focus, she had all but abandoned her sensing.
As such, as she went to answer the door, she left a babbling Izumi- Tomo had yet to speak a single word, electing only to stare around herself with wide eyes. "Be good for a moment and stay here, girls. I'm going to see who is it at the door, and then we'll be able to talk properly about what happened."
Tomo nodded, and Hazuki noted with her Sharingan active that there was a brief, tiny, miniscule spark of blue at the center of Tomo's eyes, and where one would normally take what she did with her hands as a simple wave looked just the slightest bit as though Tomo was pawing at the air- and then it was gone and everything was normal again.
As Hazuki went to take the door, she warred with the emotions inside of her. On the one hand, she was happy at being given another chance. But on the other…
Opening her door saw an ANBU soldier with a white mask not particularly reminiscent of any animal. With nary a word, she was tossed a sealing scroll, with a strict and emotionless female voice telling her "no mention comes of what has transpired". And after a moment, the ANBU shunshined away, leaving no trace of their existance save for the scroll.
A scroll with a black band wrapped around it. A body scroll. Who-
Oh. Closing her eyes, she felt relief and shame in equal measure- relief because it wasn't someone else that she knew, and shame because… Hazuki was no fool. After the conversation she'd had with Tomo all but confirming it, she knew that this could only mean that her kekkei genkai had activated once more. Tomo had died.
And she had come back.
As Hazuki steeled herself and returned to the room where she'd left the two girls, she found Izumi frustratedly huffing. "Tomo, stop lying! Why won't you tell me what happened?!"
"Listen, Izumi- up until five minutes ago I couldn't even tell you that my name was Tomo, much less that I was "somewhere", where I was, or-"
"Then why did you call me by my name, earlier?"
"Because I just know it, damn it!"
"What is her name, then?!" Izumi pointed at her as she entered the room. Blinking, she turned to stare at Tomo.
"Hazuki Uchiha."
"See?! You remember!"
"I don't know anything else, just the name!"
"Children." Hazuki called firmly, prompting Izumi to turn towards her. After a moment of bemusement, Tomo also did. "Izumi-chan, would you mind leaving the two of us alone for a moment? Tomo-chan has been through a lot recently. It only makes sense that she's a little confused."
If the way Izumi's mutinous glare was levelled at her was any indication, this was not the end of this conversation. Why was raising children so difficult? Still, she picked herself off the floor, took one last glance at Tomo as though the girl would disappear if she didn't look at her, and finally, she left the room. Hazuki wasted no time in activating the privacy seals. There were times where encouraging children to be active and eavesdrop was fine, healthy even if they were pursuing a career as a shinobi. This was not one of those moments.
As she sat down facing Tomo, she sighed. "You have questions, I believe."
Tomo tilted her head. "A few."
"I'll try to satisfy your curiosity, then."
"Well, first of all… what's that glowing scroll? It's kind of distracting..."
Hazuki blinked. Of all questions, this was not one she expected. Turning the scroll over in her hands, she saw no glow. Could it…?
"Tomo-chan, when you say glowing, what do you mean?"
"It's got a golden glowing thing. And I… kind of want it…" she trailed off, eyes transfixed on the scroll.
...how bizzarre. As she sat the scroll down in front of the child, she saw Tomo abruptly stand up and rush towards it. As she picked up the scroll, she just stared at it- and again, Hazuki could see the reflection in Tomo's eyes of a golden glow, almost imperceptible, but there, of something that only she could see.
As Tomo stared at the scroll, the glow in her eyes began gradually subsiding. And as it did, Tomo's face began gradually screwing itself up with emotion- until, abruptly, it landed on a completely blank expression- despite Tomo's whole body being wracked by shivers and her hands fidgeting open and closed, her face had settled on a purely blank state. And as that blank expression turned to regard her once more, the only thing to come out of her mouth was a quaint little "Oh."
And Hazuki knew, in that moment, that she'd failed both of her daughters once again.
And the immediate non-cliffhanger cliffhanger. I wonder what Tomo has been up to, these past eight months. Am I evil, perhaps?
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Drink water, stay awesome. Nick of Name, out.