Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. However, the OCs do belong to me.

Chapter 11: Until Dawn

"Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose. At every critical juncture you were given an option; you were given a way out. Yet you picked precisely the roads that led you here. You are at this temple, kneeling before me, only because you wanted to be."

The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang

April 4th, 6:27 PM

Unknown, Land of Fire

"I don't trust the boy."

"He is eager to please and gets the job done," countered Nagato, or rather, his Deva Path hologram. "Not to mention, expendable and is not a wanted man. Better him than Orochimaru, don't you think?"

Konan, for the umpteenth time that day, glanced at the grotesque mask in her hand, noting the sharp teeth and protruding horns.

She inwardly shuddered. Something about the mask simply ticked her the wrong way.

"Remind me again why we didn't simply keep the beast for ourselves? You are well aware of how hard this could backfire."

"We will need the Demonic Statue and the beast sooner or later. The latter should serve as an adequate bait. Even for a tailed beast it possesses massive reserves of powerful chakra, thus the Statue can't devour the beast if it values its life. It craves power, above anything else, in order to make itself whole."

"Thus it would be within its best interest not to get blown into thousands of pieces," Konan muttered.

"Yes. In the worst case scenario we would simply have to deal with another jinchūriki, not a big problem. Our first priority as of now is to locate the Statue and if possible, retrieve it."

Konan utilised her last ditch excuse. "What does Madara say about this, or Mikoto for that matters?"

Now her leader looked visibly amused. "Who do you think suggested the plan in the first place?" His ringed eyes suddenly turned hard. "That aside, we will need to keep a closer eye on them in the future. They are getting more and more unpredictable these days. I'd rather not be blindsided. Stay on your guard, Konan."

Konan inclined her head. "Always, Pein-sama."

"Remember to administer the painkiller five minutes before the ritual. It should last long enough for you to release our target and heal yourself. If anything goes wrong, your apprentice should be able to assist you."

Konan arched her brows. A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips despite her obvious annoyance. "Oh, so he's my apprentice now?"

"He is useful. It'll be a shame to let his potential be wasted by the likes of Orochimaru, who also happens to have the highest flight risk, in your own words."

"Fine... I'll keep an eye on him," Konan said, "for now."

Tendō smiled. "Fair enough. Good luck, my friend."

The kunoichi hadn't even had the time to blink when her partner's hologram blipped out of existence.

"Don't forget to take your supplements," Konan whispered softly to the now-dead communication line.

The violet-haired woman then muttered a quick prayer towards the souls of the departed, asking for both their blessings and forgiveness, before she rose from her lotus position and dusted off dry leaves from her coat.

Konan was double checking the preparation for the summoning ritual when a gray-haired boy, her "apprentice", flickered back into the clearing, holding a small sack of what she assumed to be their target's decomposing flesh and bones.

"Did you encounter any problem, Yakushi-kun?"

The teen smiled, his glasses glinted in the darkening forest. "Not at all, Ma'am. The guards are surprisingly abysmal. It was so lax that I ended up retrieving other samples as well."

Konan was given two scrolls, each one marked with a kanji for 'One' and 'Two', respectively. She resisted the urge to chug them onto the nearest wall. She settled with nodding her assent instead.

"I see that you have prepared the anesthetic as well," the teen observed. "Shall we proceed then, Konan-sama?"

Konan glanced down onto the Shinigami Mask in her hands.

"Yes," she intoned, "Let's."

6:44 PM

Konoha Orphanage

I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, like when you were swimming and you wanted to put your feet down on something solid, but the water turned out to be deeper than you thought and there was nothing there.

Irrational fear and panic started creeping in, making my limbs feel sluggish. It was like black water, as cold as ice, settled in where my blood and marrow used to be, pushing every other feeling out as it filled me from my feet to my scalp with dread.

"Hideyo-chan, would you please quit being an eyesore? I'm trying to read here."

My feet came to a halt, my reddening thumb slid from between my teeth as I tried to regain my bearing.

I looked around and shot the boy with a look of disbelief. "I am literally standing outside of your field of vision, Sasuke, in silence."

Sasuke took his eyes off of a well-worn fire techniques scroll that Mom had promised to teach him over the weekend. He had been obsessively devouring it during the last few days. "If you look around, little brother, you'll see that you're scaring the animals away with your chakra. Calm down before you accidentally set things on fire."

"That's preposterous. I have a much better self control than that, mind you."

"Uh-uh, and I hate tomatoes."

"I hate you."

Sasuke smirked. "Please, you adore me. You picked me over Aniki, you can't take that back," he said smugly, to which I merely rolled my eyes. "You're just grumpy because Mother isn't here to baby you," Sasuke added.

"I don't need babying—"

"I mean, don't you have other things to do, Brother? Open up your presents, play with other kids and water your plant or something. There is absolutely nothing for you to be worried about. Mother is a jōnin and Father is a clan head, they are more than capable of protecting themselves. Besides, clan meetings usually do take hours to finish, your worrying would not make the time go any faster."

I sighed, equally exasperated. "I would if I could, Sasuke. Today is particularly terrible and I'm not sure why. I have a nasty headache, I feel nauseous," I patted my chest, "palpitation, chest pain... Why wouldn't anyone want those?" I asked sarcastically.

Dropping his scroll into his bag, Sasuke leaned down and enveloped me in a warm hug. "Sorry," he muttered.

The boy made a face when I blew my nose against the fabric on his shoulder, casting a wet splotch on the pristine shirt. "Now we're even."

Sasuke pinched my cheeks in exasperation and pushed me towards my birthday presents. The piles had decreased significantly because I had donated toys, story books, art supplies, and other useless knick knacks from my distant relatives to the orphans. I only kept some of the more practical things for myself. All of them were now stored inside a small scroll in my pocket.

I wrestled out of Sasuke's grip and waved at some of the older kids that had appeared by the gate, beckoning them closer.

Sasuke picked a nearby plastic knife and began cutting three slices of cake. "I'm not trying to be mean here, but at this rate there will be no more gifts left for you, Hideyo."

I flashed him a knowing smirk. "It's fine, Sasuke. It's not like I even need most of this stuff, among other things. And those three work part times in the market district. We never knew when we might need some discounts. Quid pro quo, ya know."

Sasuke smiled politely as he gave the teens their cakes. I myself ended up giving each of them a chocolate bar — the expensive ones that were imported from the capital if the wrapping papers were to be trusted.

Sasuke turned to me once they were out of the earshot, an ugly scowl etched on his face. "Let me rephrase that. I don't get why you're being so generous when they treat you with indifference. None of them have asked you to play with them or tried to comfort you when you clearly are in distress. It makes me wonder why you like staying in this place so much, especially since the primary reason our parents send you here is so that you could socialize with kids your age."

I climbed and plopped onto the table. I nudged Shinju away when it tried to snag my ankle from beneath the tablecloth. "Was that what Father and Mother told you?"

Sasuke gave me a look.

"In my defense, you do have a tendency to put your chosen authority figures on a pedestal."

"I don't—" I raised my brow, "alright, I do. But that's exactly why I asked. You're not a sociable child, fine. You cause some troubles here and there, fine too, everyone messes up sometimes. But sending you to an orphanage — only retrieving you in the evening, knowing full well that you will end up sleeping until the very next day, and then sending you away again in the morning? It's just… I don't know. It's almost like you're being thrown away, like you're not part of the family anymore."

Oh, wow.

I grabbed a hold of Sasuke's hands and gave them a firm squeeze, halting further rant.

"That's… that's one radical way to interpret it, Brother."

Sasuke's dark eyes bored into mine. "Tell me that I'm wrong then."

To be honest I had almost forgotten the last time I had a genuine conversation with anyone. I didn't really talk with Mikoto or Fugaku, but they were more or less satisfied that I didn't stir any more troublesome incidents. Itachi treated me like a child — one who was a danger to the society — and always emphasized the need for self control within my every action. Kabuto was more laid back in that regard, preferring to bond over our shared enthusiasm in science whenever we correspond through letters.

Here in the orphanage I could observe how Mother Nonō performed medical techniques and treated injured shinobi for extra money. The matron would treat civilians too, usually those from the lower class for free. She also allowed me to rummage through her books and scrolls once it became apparent that I was actually already literate, no question asked. The absence of ANBU guards was, of course, the cherry on top.

"I… I choose to spend my time here out of my own volition, Brother, where I could have all the privacy and freedom I've always wanted, away from everyone's prying eyes. I am able to learn so many useful tricks here, priceless things that may one day save our lives. And most importantly, I learn control."

I glanced around from the corner of my eyes and lowered my voice, a smug smile tugging the corner of my lips. "You've seen how the kids ignored me, right? Well that's because I put a subtle illusion around myself to make them not notice me, kind of like background noise. Neat trick, huh? And it only requires a small amount of chakra too. I bet you didn't even notice it."

Instead of being impressed, Sasuke gave me the look. "Brother, we've talked about this. Your behavior isn't healthy. I thought you were getting better..."

"I am! Look, I know that I might seem paranoid or irrational or even crazy at times, but I'm just preparing for the worst. I don't want the repeat of what happened during previous incidents. I hate being powerless just like you hate being powerless. It's idiotic to be completely unprepared when I know very well that bad things are going to happen—"

"Kami, this argument again—"

"Because you always refuse to listen!" I screamed.

I jabbed my finger at Sasuke's chest and without command, blades of grass surged and wrapped around the boy's calf, effectively trapping him.

"You are so desperate for an illusion of normalcy that you'd ignore everything in front of you. I know you think me crazy, but you have seen what I'm capable of, all the things that I could create and the stuff of nightmares that follow my every step. I know you're scared but so am I, Sasuke! Why is it I'm the only one who is treated like a freak?!"

Unaffected by my tantrum, Sasuke lifted his hand and gently poked my forehead. "Because unlike you, I don't push my clearly deteriorating body into the brink just so that I could attain more power to defeat some imaginary threats. Unlike you, I don't make my parents and brothers worried sick with whether I would suddenly stop breathing in my sleep. And unlike you, I think about how my actions would be reflected onto my family, how I could deeply hurt them because I don't know when to stop. Are those really too much to ask from you, Hideyo?"

I was not expecting the tide of conversation to turn into this and have my rebuttals and counter arguments blasted from the tip of my tongue. With just a few sentences, Sasuke already made me feel like the world's biggest asshole. That, and the jumble of disappointment, hurt, and confusion that oozed out him through his spiritual energy.

Way to go, Hideyo.

Just keep on ruining your family, why don't you.

Pinned down by my brother's pleading eyes — eyes that I've seen shine with love but also not an inconsequential amount of hurt — I rapidly blinked my gross tears away and released Sasuke with a flick of my hand.

Stupid baby feelings.

"I'm sorry, I… I can't deal with this right now. Sorry."

I stalked towards the forest line, ignoring Sasuke's calls, and spread my senses into the ether, soaking in the suffocating miasma. Just like before, panic and apprehension instantly filled my whole being, so intense that I ended up heaving into the undergrowth. Blood started dripping down my nose, making me feel light headed. Shivers crawled down my spine and my instinct screamed at me to runrunrun—

Another wave of terror hit me like a train, this time making me double down in pain and causing unbidden tears to trickle down my glassy eyes.

My God, ninshū is a bitch.

I collapsed and curled by the bushes. With half a mind I wiped my spit and blood with my sleeve. My sweaty hands tightened my jacket around myself, my slight frame trembling horribly despite the warm weather.

"Shinju…" I rasped. "Shinju what's happening? What is this… this feeling?"

Tree branches slithered up from the undergrowth and curled menacingly around my chest, settling right beneath my jaw, licking my blood clean.

"Death, Master."

I inhaled sharply and whispered, "You will protect me, won't you? You'll never leave me alone to die."

"Only the universe could rip us apart."

I nodded faintly, feeling a surge of primal fear towards my companion but at the same time also terribly humbled. "Good… that's good."

With pained breath and a resolute mind, I issued my next order. "You know what to do then."

Shinju quickly sank and disappeared into the ground, its voice soft with glee. "Until then, Hideyo-sama."

I released a shaky breath.

My skin felt numb and clammy, like I was stuck inside a bubble, a haze. I could faintly feel Sasuke's hands on my face, his childish voice calling my name.

In my mind's eye I could see a swirling mass of energy in the distance, filled with so much malice the likes of which I've never felt before. The chakra quickly grew into ten, hundreds—no, thousands of its original size before condensing into something massive.

Seconds later, unearthly roar laced with an incredibly potent chakra reverberated throughout the wind, cracking the orphanage's windows and stopping everyone cold.

The roar was more than just a sound. It felt terrifying and powerful, overwhelmingly so. More than that, it felt… evil, paralyzingly evil.

Breathlessly, I laughed in terror.

6:55 PM

Nakano Shrine

The entire Uchiha clan was there, deep underground at the secret meeting place beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right. Well, almost anyway, they had left a few to make it look like nothing was amiss. As it was, only those who possessed the sharingan were present. Odd.

Itachi sat near the front, his gut inwardly churning as he stared at his father. Shisui sat a row behind him, his stance uneasy. They had been waiting for the meeting to concur for almost two hours, as those who were invited had to enter the shrine at different times to not raise suspicion.

His mother sat to the side, resolutely ignoring everyone's gaze. They had to ensure that the clan head's family looked unified, but that was all it was — a charade. They hadn't really spoken much this past few months. Itachi was only there because Shisui had cornered him and Shisui was there to make sure that Itachi stayed in the meeting (and spy on the clan, but that's another matter entirely). His mother, on the other hand…

Itachi wasn't really sure anymore. Rumors had circulated about his parents' marriage falling out. Whispers and accusations of affairs followed Mikoto's back. Like a wildfire, they were spurred even further by Fugaku's continued indifference.

At last, his father finally stood at the front of the shrine, not before sparing a final glance at the Clan Elders seat behind him. They were curiously empty, which was unusual considering the urgency of the meeting.

"My family," Fugaku started. "This evening we will discuss many things of great importance."

Fugaku stared at the assembled crowd, his eyes as hard as a stone. "You all remember the night, seven years ago, when the Kyūbi attacked the village, and the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself. I am also sure that you all have heard about the rumors that it was the Uchiha who perpetrated the attack, despite the fact that it was the Third Hokage and his council who ordered the Uchiha to purely protect the citizens and avoid the Nine-Tails."

Murmurs picked up around the room. Itachi had also heard about said rumors, of course. Everyone had. Despite not liking where the speech was going, Itachi couldn't help but admit that his father had a point. Regardless of individual trials and tribulations, members of the Uchiha were commonly regarded as power-hungry and selfish, an ultimate attribution error at its finest.

"The Uchiha are blamed for a crime we did not commit," Fugaku continued. "Each one of you remembers how our clan was relocated to the outskirts of the village, how the power of the Police Force was allocated to the ANBU, how our clansmen are systematically denied promotion outside of the Police Force. We were the founders of this village and one of its pillars, but the village continuously stumped our growth and we are now reduced to glorified nursemaids. To add more salt into our injuries, our houses are shadowed and spied on, as if we are mere cattles, not entitled to our own privacy."

The Uchiha were whispering and muttering amongst themselves, their anger palpable.

"I want to do right by my family," Fugaku said, his voice low and sorrowful, but also full of anger at the same time. "But I have no more options. I have appealed to the Hokage and his council. I have brought this up at meetings with other clan heads. None of these have worked and I have no more ideas on how to help the Uchiha."

Fugaku roamed his eyes over the crowd, lingering for a fraction longer on his wife and eldest son.

"Whispers and calls for revolution have been brewing, whispers that it is time for Senju lapdogs who have ruled Konoha since its inception to be put to rest. But what would happen afterwards, after the blood has been shed and the dust has settled? If we fail, we die. If we succeed, we will be met with resistance. If we leave, they will hunt us down. We are a clan of proud warriors, but a civil war is not something that any of us is keen to leave as the Uchiha's legacy."

When the noise level started increasing, Fugaku held up his hand for silence.

"My friends, I know you are enraged. I assure you, so am I," he said. "I am a man who is out of options, but I will not let myself be desperate. And thus, I must ask of you an enormous, unfair sacrifice. Put your trust in me and help me secure our clan's future. Be patient, and then we will have the chance to prove our innocence. If, and only if, by then Konoha still refuses to give us what's rightfully ours, we will bring them down."

Before anyone could react, a sharp crack rang through the room, followed by a long, thundering growl. Blast of pressure and heat waves rolled off of their skins before quickly dissipating into the air.

A rumbling thunder echoed inside the room not a second later as the old structure above them collapsed. The enforced concrete around them shuddered and the ceiling shook, causing the lone light bulb to explode and dust particles to descend onto the tatami mat beneath their feet.

"The Nine Tails," murmured Naori-san, a retired ninja from the Sannin's generation.

All noises immediately died down and everyone was instantly on their feet, their sharingan spinning.

Itachi gripped his mother's sleeve, his fingers trembled ever so slightly. "Mother, you need to lift the seal. Let me retrieve Sasuke and Hideyo."

Fugaku and Mikoto exchanged a look, their mangekyō glowed eerily in the dark. The matriarch then formed a half ram sign, making security seals engraved along the walls and ceiling visible.

"Structural integrity is at 60%," she informed, her voice tinged with panic. "Naori-obasan, is there another… another bijūdama coming? What about survivors?"

The older woman tilted her head for a second before shaking her head grimly. "Nothing that I could sense, but the beast is definitely advancing. There are some signatures in our compound, if faint, but I could barely feel any lifeform at the blast epicenter."

Shisui smiled wryly, though his composure was betrayed by his rapidly palling skin "See, living in the outskirts is not so bad, after all."

Fugaku raised his brows and Itachi elbowed his cousin's side. Hard.

The older teen grimaced. "Bad timing. Sorry."

Itachi surveyed his eyes over the deadly silent room, noting how everyone was already in their shinobi garbs. "Either way, we couldn't stay down here forever. This might be our only chance to prove that we have nothing to do with any of the Nine-Tails' attacks."

Itachi turned towards the Clan Head. "What's your order, Father?"

Fugaku gave his eldest son an appraising look.

"Shisui-kun, lead those with chūnin rank to aid the evacuation of civilians. Teleport as much as you're able and join the fighting when needed. Izumi-kun, go to our compound and check on the survivors. Take those who are injured to the hospital if we still have one. If not, patch them up and get them to shelters. Those who have medical training please go with Izumi and then join Shisui's team afterwards.

"Naori-san, you are our most proficient sensor. Please be our eyes and coordinate our movements, inform us where we could be of help. Everyone already has their own wireless radio, but I expect you all to adhere to our communication protocol and not overload our voice channel.

"Those above the chūnin rank, coordinate with the Jōnin Commander to defend the village. Mikoto and I will be at the village gate to help the Hokage subdue the beast, hopefully long enough until it could be sealed into a new vessel. Whatever happens tonight, remember that you are an Uchiha warrior. May the uchiwa fan rouse the flame of your will. That is all, dismissed."

Everyone gave their salutes and immediately flickered out not a second after Mikoto unlocked the seal.

Itachi lingered.

"What about Sasuke and Hideyo?"

Mikoto wrapped a reassuring arm around him. "The orphanage is on the other side of the village. They are as safe as they can be."

Itachi pursed his lips.

"Itachi, you are a jōnin now and you already have your order. Learn to set your priorities. We don't have time for this," Fugaky chided.

Mikoto squeezed her son's shoulder. "Honey, I know you are worried, but Sasuke is not actually helpless and Hideyo is… Hideyo is something else entirely. You need to have more faith in your brothers.

Itachi lowered his head in resignation.

"Very well."

Just as he was about to leave, Itachi took one long look at his parents, his mother specifically.

"Did you know that the attack was coming? Was that the reason why you only gathered those with sharingan and left those who opposed you? Even those who possess the sharingan but strongly support the coup, like the Elders and Yashiro-san, are missing. Did you… did you plan this?"

His mother smiled.

"Does it really matter, Itachi-kun? The seed of doubt has been sown. By asking me this, you must have already formulated your own theory, your own judgement. I already am guilty in your mind. Would anything I say change it?"

Itachi felt his face warmed up, knowing that he was behaving no better than the rest of the village.

"I'm sorry, Mother."

Mikoto tied her long hair into a ponytail. In the dark room they looked almost identical.

"Life is full of luck, my son. Some people have luck handed to them, a second chance, a save. But there are those who don't have luck on a silver platter, those who end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, those who don't get saved. You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from. And those people you've mentioned, they are simply… unlucky."

7:07 PM

Nebulous Fucking Nowhere

It took me exactly ten seconds and one slap in the face from my ever-loving twit of a brother to regain my bearing.

It took me an additional three minutes and twenty seconds, a bout of screaming and not an insignificant amount of soothing spiritual energy to mind-fuck the panicking orphans into a more reasonable human being so that the wardens and I could herd them away from the gigantic fox that was hell bent on burning Konoha down before it changed its direction and trampled us to death instead. Luckily there weren't many of us and only a small number of younger children, thus almost everyone could run for their lives.

We were taking a short break in the middle of nowhere, what with my companions being physically exhausted and beyond terrified, when the Nine-Tails suddenly shot a highly condensed chakra ball into the Hokage Mountain.

There was a flash of blinding light in the distance, followed by a sharp boom and echoing roar. The mountain was burning and a pan of the mushroom rose against the darkened sky. The cloud dissipated as the sky lightened, leaving pulverized rock formation and a clear path of destruction in the middle, practically cleaving Konoha into two.

My jaw dropped in muted horror and awe as I slowly processed what I've seen in my mind's eye. All of those chakra signatures… disappearing within seconds.

That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die. Damn'd daemons of despair.

Once again I was reminded of my place in the universe, nothing but an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules that drifted wherever the universe blew me.

Nothing but a lamb to the cosmic slaughter.

The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole day training under the sun. Like numbness, the thought worked on my extremities first and then penetrated into the rest of my body, giving all manner of questions, starting with the silly ones—what do I know about the universe—rising to the major ones—what's my purpose, why do I even exist?

My means of receiving impressions were absurdly few, my notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We humans saw things only as we were constructed to see them and could gain no idea of their absolute nature.

And the Tailed-Beasts… they were… they were something else entirely.

Existing in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing humanity. Forms of which poetry and legend alone had caught a flying memory, and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings of all sorts and kinds.

For all of my resentments towards the inhabitants of this Earth, I would always be thoroughly humbled by the beautiful horror of this universe. Humbled by the vastness of life that gave birth to all kinds of nightmares and calamities since the dawn of time—

"Hideyo, are you— are you seriously fanboying over the Nine-Tails right now?"

I had half a mind to kick Sasuke for oversimplifying my existential crisis. The boy had refused to put me down, no matter how much I wriggled and whined in his arms, rendering my loss of dignity naught.

"I'm doing a…" Another batch of unlucky cannon fodders blipped out of existence, "...scientific observation, if you must know. Damage assessment… and stuff…"

Sasuke, as always, was dubious. "Right..."

"Our family is alive, if you're wondering." And so was Naruto (his blinding chakra was kinda difficult to miss), huddled in one of the shelters among those with dimmer signatures — probably other children or civilians, which made me wonder where the hell this Kurama came from.

Sasuke exhaled against my shoulder, obviously relieved. "Good, that's good—"

"—are you out of your mind?" One of the caretakers, Keiri-san's, shrill voice rang through the dark forest, startling a few birds away.

Few feet away from her arguing friends, Yakushi Nonō sighed.

"For God sake…" I grumbled, "they're at it again?"

Sasuke shrugged, quite at a loss. "It appears so."

"It's a rhetorical question, Sasuke."

Grimacing, the plump woman dragged the third warden, Kenpu-san, deeper into the forest, where they proceeded to continue their argument.

"Sheesh, give me to Mother Nonō. That poor woman."

For once, Sasuke obeyed.

Nonō-san was distributing water and small crackers to the children, all thirty-something of them. Her posture was beyond tense, but she kept her gentle smile, reassuring the children that everything was going to be alright. The older kids helped however they can, distracting their younger siblings with small games and stories.

I held my arms up. "Mama~"

Nonō-san raised her brows. It must've been strange to see me wanting her attention, I was never an affectionate child.

I channeled a projection of calmness into my spiritual energy and enveloped it around Mother Nonō, like a warm blanket. I did the same to the orphans, warping my energy around them like a cocoon, not unlike a genjutsu.

Nonō's eyes widened. "Thank you, Hideyo-chan."

"No biggie. Now let's have a talk with obasan and ojīsan, shall we?"

The matron chuckled and gently swayed me as she walked. "Ah, Mama should've known. I bet if your brother were taller you wouldn't even come to me."

"Nuh-uh, Big Brother hates my," I make a quote sign, "crazy schemes."

"Well… Hide-chan do have a tendency to go overboard sometimes."

"I invent, transform, create, and ruin things for science, Mama. When I don't like something about the world, I change it. But sometimes science is more art than science, and art is never too much."

Nonō gently ruffled my hair. "You're going to do great things, Hideyo. Terrible, yes, but great."

"—the children would be safer inside the orphanage! How long do you think we could survive out here in the forest? Fire Country has some of the most vicious animals roaming the land. We also don't have enough food and water supply. Also, if you haven't noticed, the children are shivering!"

"What choice do we have, Kenpu?! There's a giant monster slaughtering people in that direction. Do you want to die, for the children to die?! We need to keep as much distance from it as—"

Mother Nonō cleared her throat. "Keiri-san, Kenpu-san."

"Ah, Nonō-chan—"

"Mother Superior—"

Their eyes met my gleaming sharingan and became glazed.

"Obasan, Ojīsan, I know that we're in a very scary situation right now, but you need to get your shit together. Get it all together, and put it in a backpack, all of your shit. And if you gotta take it somewhere, take it to the shit store and sell it, or put it in the shit museum. I don't care what you do, you just gotta get it together, for everyone's sake, get it?"

They nodded blankly.

I beamed. "Good."

They blinked.

Keiri glanced at her companion and gave him a sheepish smile. "Ne, Kenpu-san, please forgive me. I was a bit harsh earlier. You said some fair points. Tell you what, I'll go look for some fire woods to make a campfire."

Kenpu held his palms up. "No, no, you were right Keiri-san. We're still in the danger zone. We should probably move further and then set a camp somewhere."

The woman nodded. "Good idea. Actually, there's a farm not too far away from here. They might be willing to shelter us for the night."

"Very well. I shall round up the children then."

"And I shall gather some berries to eat along the road."

"Good thinking, Keiri-san."

"All thanks to your guidance, Kenpu-san."

Then off they went.

Nonō stared curiously at her friends' receding backs. "Well that was… scary, to say the least. What did you say to them again?"

I shrugged. English. "Just random words." When it came to sharingan, it's the intention that mattered. "I sort of willed them to stop fighting, and they did."

Nonō hoisted me higher. "Do you do that often? Using your sharingan, I mean?"

Yes, absolutely. "Ugh, no. It's tiring. I'd rather nap, Mama."

Nonō laughed and deposited me onto Sasuke's lap, who was brooding alone beneath a random tree. "That's relieving to know. Be good now, Hideyo-chan."

I stretched my limbs and rested my head on Sasuke's shoulder. "Hai~ Mama."

Munching on his berries, Sasuke nuzzled my frazzled hair. "Having fun, Baby Brother?"

I took off my glasses and massaged my throbbing forehead. "Having a headache is more like it."

"How so?"

I gazed into the blurry, ominous moon.

"The Nine-Tails' chakra is… really intense. Awfully malevolent. Ahead of us people keep on dying, their chakra signatures disappearing one by one, like broken light bulbs." And Shinju devoured them all, every single drop of blood and their crushed remains. "There's so much distress, desperation, helplessness and… and hatred in the ether. I'm suffocated, Sasuke. I might just meet my creator in your arms like this."

"Please don't say that."

"Why? You hated me, Brother. Despised me enough to dispose of me. If I didn't exist we would never be in this place, having this depressing conversation. You would be having a normal life with normal parents, with no annoying little brother to ruin your days. That kind of feeling doesn't just go away."

"Hide…"

"You know, I never did properly thank you for doing what you did back then. You, a mere child, took a decision that nobody else had the guts to do. Remember how miserable I was? I was in great pain and I had absolutely no will to live. Breathing hurts. Existing hurts. But you gave me mercy. Sure, Mother took that away and I ended up to be an even bigger nuisance. But still, however momentarily, when I was at my worst, you gave me peace, and for that I am grateful, Sasuke."

"Hideyo, let me talk—"

I sagged down in my brother's arms, boneless, and closed my tired eyes. "Thank you for treating me with kindness when no one else would."

Sasuke pressed his fingers into my wrist, searching for a pulse. A finger hovered over my nose, to make sure that I was still breathing. "Hideyo, open your eyes. You're scaring me. This is not the time for one of your awful jokes."

Ignoring the boy, I focused on what my mind's eye showed me instead. Dim chakra—civilians, children—huddled together in shelters. Shisui, a cool ember, moving rapidly between places. Itachi, a steady river, hovering somewhere in the middle. At the front line was the Hokage and something that felt like a monkey, giant balls of chakra—probably the Akimichi, bunch of other signatures that I did not recognize, and Fugaku and Mikoto, surrounded by giant, skeletal-like, chakra formation—oh my, the Susanoo.

By accident, my senses picked up fast movements from three chakra signatures that seemed to be headed towards the orphanage.

What the…

They lingered a bit. Not founding what they wanted, the group quickly moved again, this time heading towards—

My neck snapped forward. "Mama, we have company. ETA in fifty seconds!"

I dragged Sasuke upward and shoved him onto the tree bark. Before the boy could react, I placed my hands on either side of his shoulders and pulled. Under the strain of my chakra, the outer and middle layers of the tree splintered and bent outward, hollowing its trunk just enough for Sasuke to fit in. I then infused my physical energy into its cambium, accelerating its phloem and xylem division and causing new branches to sprout out, which I then used to close the tree opening and obscure Sasuke's chakra signature beneath layers upon layers of natural energy.

"Hideyo, stop it please. You're bleeding!"

Panting from exertion, as was the case whenever I forcefully reversed my chakra polarity and ejected what little physical energy I possessed, I used my sharingan to cast subtle layers of illusions onto the environment to make it look as if nothing was amiss.

"Sasuke." I leaned against the tree bark and breathed heavily through my mouth. "For my peace of mind, please stay put and keep your mouth shut. If you are able, please suppress your chakra. It's like holding your poop in, but with chakra. You just have to hold it and squeeze it into a tiny ball. The illusions should only be able to be dispelled by sharingan users and theoretically should last for a few hours. But I honestly don't freaking know anymore, so fingers crossed, eh?"

Sasuke cried silently, one tomoe was peeking from both of his sharingan. "I will get stronger, Hideyo, I promise. I'll be the big brother that you can depend on and you won't have to protect me anymore, so please..."

I wiped my nose clean and smiled. "I'm sorry, Aniki. Take care."

7:15 PM

Shimura Danzō was a loathsome man.

Physically, he appeared to be an ordinary, frail, old veteran who needed cane assistance to walk. But concealed beneath the bandage over his right eye was a stolen Sharingan. An eye which he would not hesitate to replace once it had exhausted its use, through whatever means necessary.

The dark robe draped over his shoulder might make him look noble and dignified, when in truth it was hiding his bandaged arm that were implanted with ten additional Sharingan, and his shoulder which had the First Hokage's face protruding from it, looking like some sort of demented trophy.

His chakra signature mirrored him as well. Arrogance, greed, and narcissism oozed out of him.

This man possessed a fanatical and arbitrary adherence to the ideals of a shinobi, believing they must sacrifice absolutely everything for the village when he himself hypocritically feared death and hid this fear behind a belief that his survival was necessary for the sake of the shinobi world. The man was also the perpetrator behind the stigmatization of the Uchiha clan to the rest of the village and was the one who secretly leaked out the information that Uzumaki Naruto was the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox because he believed that Konoha was at its strongest when the village had a target to focus its hatred on.

You delusional dipshit.

"It's been a while since the last time I saw you. You look tired, Nonō-kun."

Nonō smiled thinly. "Please skip the pleasantries, Shimura-sama. To what do I owe your visit?"

The old hawk chuckled. "Ha, I like you better when you weren't Uciha Fugaku's whore. Then again, he's very generous with you, doesn't he? You even refurbish the whole building. I never thought you have it in you, my child."

Nonō was completely unfazed. "The esteemed Elder came all the way here during a critical time just to insult me?" No wonder you're not the Hokage. "I'm honored."

Danzō tightened his grip on his cane, his patience quickly waning. "As you've said, we are in a time of crisis. You are well aware what our enemy is and how to handle it. I'm simply giving you a choice. Choose wisely."

"I'm afraid I would have to disappoint you. Every child in our care is a civilian with no remarkable talent to speak of. They can't be the Nine-Tails' jailor."

"It matters not. The only requirement for a child to be its vessel is to have an undeveloped chakra system. Give me your youngest child."

Nonō almost growled. "I will not. Take someone from the hospital instead."

"I would have if it still existed. The beast has annihilated it, along with everyone inside it."

"Use an adult. They would've made a better jinchūriki."

"Stop testing my patience, you insolent girl! This is a direct order from your Hokage. Now hand me the child!"

"I will not!"

Danzō signaled his subordinates. "The child, small, black-haired, the one in the back."

Those ANBU were fast, but Mother was faster. With a flicker, she grabbed me first and I clung to her neck.

In response, Keiri and Kenpu quickly herd the other children together and backed them away from Nonō and Danzō, then stand protectively in front of them.

"I see that you're going to be difficult about this. It's a shame really, you were one of our best, Nonō." Danzō closed his lone eye. "As you wish."

In a speed that contrasted his old age, Danzō swiped out his leg and landed a chakra infused kick onto Nonō's abdomen, sending her—and by extension, me—flying. Mother took most of the brunt, but I could still feel the shockwave rattle my bones.

The former captain of the Medic Corps snatched my body mid-air and secured me into her arms before landing with a body roll. Drops of blood dripped from her chin onto my forehead, slightly obscuring my view. Before Nonō could move, one of the ANBU came with his blade held high, ready to decapitate.

I held my hands up at the last seconds.

"Stop," I shouted. "I will… I will go with you. Let Mama go. Please..."

With Danzō's acquiescence, the other ANBU ripped me away from Nonō and dangled me by my midsection, holding me like a lamb.

The Root leader approached his ex-subordinate hunched form as she scanned her internal organs for damages. It was clear that she had been inactive for way too long.

Danzō knelt before her.

"You have promising potential, my child, but you never really did learn how to lose your emotions. It's a pity, you were one of my favorites."

Dimly, I could register the man pulling a kunai from his pouch, but the hand against my mouth kept me from screaming.

"Alas, we are at the end of the road now. You know the consequence of disobedience."

There was a faint, metallic sound and Nonō grunted a pained noise.

With a blink, wind chakra disappeared from Danzō's blade. Nonō gurgled, blood fountained from her lips. Danzō's diagonal swing had neatly parted Nonō from shoulder to navel.

One of her glowing hands was pressed against her severed carotid artery whilst the other hovered over her cleaved lungs, but the bleeding was way too extensive. Blood spurted from her abdomen and back.

Nonō wheezed.

"Nonō-chan!"

"Mother Superior!"

"Mama!"

Burning tears blurred my eyes even more as I squirmed against the too-tight hold.

I could've used my sharingan and called Shinju, but I had done neither because I did not want my identity nor my power to be discovered. To protect myself, I've killed Mother Nonō and ruined the orphans' lives.

You're a piece of shit, Hideyo. A self-centered, spineless, useless piece of shit.

Danzō lifted the bandage over his stolen sharingan and softly whispered, "Let it go, my child. Let it go."

Nonō fell with a thud.

I retched.

Danzō brushed the dirt from his robe and used his cane to stand. The two ANBU agents immediately joined his sides. I hung limply, catatonic.

"Keiri, Kenpu," Danzō greeted.

The two wardens flinched. Behind them, children were sobbing.

"Take care."

But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.

Thank you for your reading this chapter. Thank you for favoriting and following my story. Your reviews, especially, really make my day.

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