Chapter One: The Attack on Ichiraku

The air in Konoha was crisp and cool. Autumn claimed the city, usually washed in shades of green. Inside Ichiraku's was a little stuffy. The various ramen broths made the air in the shop humid. Currently, there was only one customer. She knew toward the end of the day they'd get many more. She didn't really like slow moments like this. She was bored. She wasn't a ninja so her days were rather monotonous. She hadn't even left Konoha. The Harvest Festival had already passed. There were no tournaments to fill her simple days with excitement, betting, and gossip. It made her miss that little blonde bottomless pit. Ayame sighed; it was probably his fault she disliked quiet days. Plus, twenty year old Naruto was certainly not little anymore. There was no longer a need for Naruto to shout, "Believe it," "I'll get stronger," or "Watch me become hokage, Ayame!" He was proving this to everyone. Personally, she wouldn't have minded if Naruto hadn't. He'd always made her days better.

Now that he was much stronger, Ichiraku saw him a lot less. The waitress no longer received daily reports about lessons and missions he either felt were beneath him or really exciting. She missed filling his belly when his heart was heavy. She hadn't known then why Konoha had been so malicious towards him. She wondered if she would've been closed minded too if she'd known the secret. She couldn't imagine hurting him. After her father, Naruto was number one in her heart. She giggled thinking about how oblivious her younger friend was. Sweet Hinata now had fangirls to compete with. She wondered who would claim his heart. When he became hokage, he'd be planted in the village, and she would see him more. He deserved it. She knew one day he'd have a wife and children to love him too. She couldn't wait to feed his boisterous kids. She hoped he had a gaggle. Hopefully it would mend his heart from the times only a handful would.

Teuchi touched his daughter's shoulder with quick affection while he made his way to the register. The customer had finished, gave his mumbled thanks, and went to the register. He gave Teuchi a wide, uncomfortable smile.

Ayame looked from the customer to the pots. The food didn't need her attention, but she didn't want to stare. From his smile she could tell he was a former ROOT agent. Ayame found everything about him creepy. She knew it wasn't his fault, Sai was like this too. However she found Sai's smile to be a quirk, but the customer's made her anxious. 'Relax Ayame, you've served the vessels of the 1-tail, 8-tails, and 9-tails for years. You aren't going to let a smile creep you out!"

Teuchi seemed not to have any qualms. "Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoyed your meal."

"Yes, quite. I also enjoyed watching your lovely daughter as she cooked it," the customer said, seemingly unaware of how creepy that sounded. "I had to walk in." He smiled harder.

Teuchi's smile fell. He wasn't sure how to react. "Yes, she is my pride and joy."

"I can see why. Such beautiful pale skin. Lovely dark eyes." The cooks of Ichiraku's tensed. ROOT or not, this was inappropriate and creepy. "Have they ever turned red?"

"I'm going to ask you to leave." Teuchi said sternly

The customer smiled, but tilted his head. "Your body language has changed. Your posture straightened, the timbre of your voice changed, and your heart rate increased. I think you truly are a civilian. Goodness, I sure hope I'm right, otherwise this will be terribly cruel."

Before Teuchi could even ask, the former ROOT agent flashed behind Ayame and slit her throat. A splash of blood fell into the broth as Ayame's knees weakened and fell to the floor.

Teuchi's small eyes widened. This couldn't be happening. His little girl was on the floor, holding her throat, choking. Blood ran down her lips and she looked at her father in fear. Teuchi prayed this was a genjutsu. He was starting to believe it was. His vision became red. Time seemed to slow down. Unbearably slow, Ayame's hands fell from her throat. Her eyes closed and she became agonizingly still.

The customer smiled at Teuchi. "What a relief. I didn't hurt the poor girl for nothing." With that he flew toward Teuchi. The old cook saw him coming and dodged to get to Ayame. "Amazing, if this is what a civilian can do," The smiling foe sped up and snatched Teuchi's eyes. The cook bellowed before falling close to his daughter. "Perhaps the Sharingan has a gender bias. She had no reaction to dying." Knowing he'd be tailed, the agent disappeared.

Team Ten were training on Inuzuka territory on this deceptively beautiful autumn day. They were building their immunities to toxins while learning to perform in spite of them. Hinata's vision blurred, but she focused on the target, Akamaru's runt, to retrieve and save. The pup had an affinity for climbing trees. Kiba sheepishly admitted he learned this from Tamaki's cats. Hinata loved the little pup and his quirks. Sessions with the puppy were adorable despite being grueling. Afterward, he would run over to her happily licking the sweat off her like a dog, but would scrunch and walk away if Hinata reached to pet him like a cat.

Hinata felt a chill and wondered if it was an effect of the poison. However the Inuzuka pack, Kiba, and Shino stopped as well. Hinata felt a small prick and antibodies rushed into her system. Kiba sniffed and took off toward Ichiraku's, pack in tow. Hinata saw what he smelled an instant later. She wanted her eyes to deceive her. Teuchi's eyes were gouged out.

Team Ten felt sick, a mixture of their training and what they were running towards. Reading quick signals they assigned roles. Hinata made a clone and immediately went to the Ichiraku's to save the father and daughter, if possible. Kiba would follow the assailant with Akamaru, and Shino would track him via his bugs while alerting jonin.

Hinata knew there wasn't much she could do for Teuchi even before arriving. She would do everything she could to try. She'd seen Sakura perform miracles and she hoped she could at least stabilize him until the pink kunoichi could get there. Unfortunately there was nothing to stabilize. His heart had stopped; she couldn't see any electricity flowing through his body. Her clone swallowed a sob and gathered a small charge of electricity in its palm to use like a defibrillator. The blood leaking from his now empty sockets was secondary to Teuchi's still heart and brain. Hinata tried not to think about the sight. As a Hyuuga, this was her biggest fear; this was the ultimate desecration. How could this happen to a civilian? Hinata needed to save him. Teuchi could get a transplant. She would make sure the Hyuugas took him in for his rehabilitation. Hinata didn't realize her internal bargaining was a stage of grief. The beloved cook had passed on.

Perhaps she could've saved him if she'd made more clones. Maybe she could've saved him if Ayame wasn't critically injured, but very much alive. Logically and ethically, she had to focus more on Ayame since the waitress had a higher chance of survival. This was the worst part of being a medical ninja, choosing who lived and who would die.

Ayame's heart rate had significantly slowed down and she wasn't breathing. Her usually rosy lips were slowly turning a pale blue underneath the blood she coughed up. Hinata gave her two rescue breaths while focusing green energy on her neck. Technically, not much time had passed, but she prayed Sakura or Tsunade would show up now. She lost Teuchi. Hinata would be devastated to lose Ayame too.

Ayame and Teuchi were nothing but kind. They were even caring toward Naruto before the hero worship. She loved their ramen. There was a reason she wasn't as slim as other kunoichi. She loved to eat, especially sweets. Following Naruto, she gained a love for ramen. Ichiraku's was a haven for her too. When her father or the elders were cruel, she'd occasionally make her way to the shop. Teuchi would ruffle her hair and let her know she became stronger and more beautiful by the day. That man taught her to make naruto fish cakes, aware of her crush and wanting to cheer her up. Hinata had been jealous of Ayame because Teuchi adored her so much. It was evident to anyone that she was his most precious person. Even through her jealousy, she never disliked Ayame. She would serve Hinata her favorite flavors of ramen and they'd talk about baking and spices. "Please, Ayame" she whispered, then gave her two more rescue breaths. The hand on her throat stayed a healing green.

Hinata could see sundry ninjas run toward them, most breaking off to find the assailant with Kiba. Ayame coughed, filling Hinata with relief. She smiled and let a few tears fall. Ayame groaned and slowly awakened. Hinata looked her in the eyes. "Ayame, can you hear me? Can you speak?" Although Ayame heard Hinata's words, her mind was elsewhere. She remembered everything, Ayame jolted awake; Hinata gasped. Panicked scarlet eyes met pearlescent ones. Hinata took too long to close her eyes and was taken into its genjutsu.

The Hyuuga princess saw everything, felt everything six times before she released Ayame's genjutsu. Hinata trapped the traumatized woman in a genjutsu of her own so she'd sleep. Ayame's genjutsu left Hinata with more questions than before despite repeatedly seeing the attack. A few ANBU arrived and took Teuchi's body. Hinata's clone stopped CPR and disappeared. Her lip quivered for a second before she put on her stoic Hyuuga mask. Her face was stoney despite being covered in Ayame's blood. She handed Ayame to an ANBU agent. They flickered off. Hinata turned to the ANBU agent with a squirrel mask, the only ANBU remaining. "I need to report to the hokage immediately."

Meanwhile…

Naruto was dodging a volley of Temari's wind blades. He wasn't in Suna for official business. He was going through all of the great nations, building relationships, learning culture and customs. Sparring was by far his favorite part of his tour.

"Can't do more than dodge, can you?" Temari taunted.

Naruto smirked, "You're definitely about to eat those words, Rasengan Shuriken!"

His shuriken shredded Temari's blades. She jumped back before the rasengan could hit her. She was one with the wind. The way she dodged was like a dance. She spun and blasted her own wind shuriken his way. Naruto was dodging when the clone he kept in Konoha popped. He froze slightly, enough for Temari's attack to cut through his battle thawb and graze his side. He landed on his feet, but his face was covered with worry.

Temari laughed, "Oh come on, there's no way I hurt you that badly." Temari was going to rib him more until she read his face. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I need to get to Konoha."

Konoha had its first emergency council meeting since the last ninja war. Both hokages, the clan heads, and civilian council were there. This meeting was so confidential, high ranking government officials like Shikamaru weren't allowed in the meeting.

"Please read your dossiers thoroughly before we begin our meeting," Kakashi said with uncharacteristic seriousness.

The council did as told. Although the ninja members hadn't reacted, the civilian branch grew pale and choked on air.

Ken Kobayashi from the civilian counsel spoke first, "I might be asking obvious questions, but how many ROOT agents are still out there? Who do they serve? How did they know Teuchi and Ayame were Uchiha, especially if they themselves didn't?"

Tsume Inuzuka folded her arms; disgust radiated off of her, "You Yamanakas are so cruel digging through her mind after her ordeal. If they'd been active ninja, my pack would've smelled it. Inoichi would have never-"

The head of the Aburame Clan interjected, "I don't believe that is fair. Safety comes first, and we are years too late gathering information."

Tsume growled, but Shikaku Nara spoke. "What a drag. Finding that ninja will be like finding a needle in a haystack. There is no way this agent is still in Konoha and this incident could destroy our shaky alliances."

Hiashi nodded in agreement, "Kumogakure, Kirigakure, Otogakure, these are the likely suspects given our history. It'll be difficult to infiltrate. However the Hyuuga Clan is at your disposal. Controversial as this council may find it, our methods will prevent the Byakugan from falling into enemy hands."

Tsume hated these meetings. Her clan was more straightforward and transparent. There was also no way they would have a seal like the Hyuugas. She only bit her tongue because she'd be cut off again. This meeting was more important than her feelings.

"A-are there are other ninjas posing as civilians?"Ari Chiba of the civilian council asked. She tried to be firm, but she was scared of all these powerful people around her. "We've always operated in good faith but this wouldn't be the first state secret kept from the populous."

Tsunade agreed. "Unfortunately, a lot has been lost thanks to Danzo. Loyal ROOT agents destroyed as much as they could before capture."

The representative from the Shimura clan got rigid. Danzo was his clan's biggest disgrace. He had a feeling his fellow clan members looked at him suspiciously. "Can we question them?"

Tsunade's eyes flashed. "I executed them myself. We extracted as much information as possible with our Intelligence, Analysis, and Torture division. They were like empty shells. What they knew is in the dossier."

"It's just a page!" Ari exclaimed.

"I'm aware."

The youngest member, Konohamaru, representing the Sarutobi Clan interjected. "We have to tell Sasuke and Naruto."

Choza Akimichi rubbed his chin. "We should make sure Naruto is around when we tell Sasuke. We do not know how he'll react. I think he'll be ecstatic to have a relative, but murderous toward whomever ordered the hit."

"This needs to stay a state secret. We'd be risking Ayame's life and inviting others to take a weapon from Konoha." The Shimura stated.

Shikaku spoke again, "I agree, but it may be out of our control. Someone outside of Konoha knows. They may think Ayame is dead since her eyes weren't plucked out. However, they may return just to be thorough. Even though she's awakened the Sharingan she is not a ninja."

"The Hyuuga can keep her safe." Hiashi stated. "Hinata is already aware Ayame has the Sharingan," Hiashi stated coolly. His eyes flashed a smug look when he mentioned his daughter's name. Looking at the dossier, he felt she handled the situation swiftly, logically and efficiently. "We will house her and even train her until the Uchiha returns."

"Then after?" Ken Kobayashi wondered.

The Hyuuga head answered dismissively, "She's the last female Uchiha, Sasuke is the last male. Naturally they will wed and she'll be under his protection."

Konohamaru's eyes widened. "They'll marry? Aren't they cousins?!"

"If they were closely related we would have known about them. Most likely they are distant relatives. Their children have a higher chance of manifesting the sharingan."

Kakashi stopped this conversation, "If that is to happen it'll be their decision. We aren't Orochimaru. Sasuke must be told, the repercussion of keeping him in the dark would be devastating. Unfortunately, Naruto and Itachi's memory is the only reason he protects our village."

Kizashi Haruno spoke, "We need to look and see if there are any Uchiha, Uzumaki, and even Namikaze members. It would be mutually beneficial. We know of one Uzumaki, Karin. There was also Nagato Uzumaki. How many more hidden clan members of Konoha are out there?"

Tsunade took control of the meeting. "We will find out. But remember everything in this meeting is confidential."

Ayame sat up in the hospital bed. Her eyes were bandaged, but there was nothing wrong with them. They suppressed chakra and she didn't know why. There were four ANBU in her room and it was deathly quiet. She didn't feel like crying. The last words she spoke was a desperate request to see her father. Only Sakura had the guts to tell her the tragic news. Her father was gone.

Upon the news Ayame had screamed. It felt like her eyes caught on fire and every nurse, but Sakura passed out. She remembered Sakura's tears as the medic put her in dreamless sleep.

Ayame wished the rest of her sleep was dreamless, but the same nightmare haunted her dreams. She could feel the agony of choking and hearing her father agonizing scream before things went black. Next she saw Hinata's face above her while her clone worked on her eyeless father. She relieved this scene almost a hundred times. She felt hollow and numb. Now she was in the dark. She was alone in the dark.

"Ayame!" Even though Ayame recognized the voice she didn't move. "Take that thing off of her damn it!"

For the first time in her life, she wasn't happy to see Naruto. She didn't want to see his face confirm what she already knew. She wanted to be in the shop, handing him his eighth bowl of ramen while her father laughed at his antics. She knew he wouldn't be smiling. His face was twisted in hurt and pity. She shut her eyes tightly. She didn't want to remember his face like that forever. Naruto sat next to her. "You can open your eyes Ayame-chan. Your sharingan won't hurt me."

"Sharingan?" But she wasn't… It only took a few seconds for everything to make sense. "No, no, no…"

Ayame felt Naruto embrace her tightly. How was this happening? She used to be the one to comfort Naruto. She looked up to Naruto's concerned face. He gave her a sad smile before it crumbled. "Ayame" Naruto kneeled on the ground and bent over in apology. His forehead touched the hospital floor. "Forgive me. I should have been here. I should have kept a clone around to protect Old Man Teuchi. I should have been around."

Ayame shut her eyes. She didn't feel her eyes change, but just in case it did this was a sight she'd rather forget. The last she heard, Naruto was in Suna. Did he return so quickly for her? Why should Naruto apologize? Ichiraku was surrounded by ninja, but her father wasn't saved. Naruto hadn't hurt her. She wasn't mad at him. She could never hate him. His guilt was misplaced.

If Ayame was a stronger woman maybe she could have told him this. Instead she shut her eyes as Naruto apologized.

Next Chapter: After initially ignoring messages from Kakashi, Sasuke returns to Konoha.