Mikoto cradled Sasuke and Yuzuki close as she stood amidst the rubble
The acrid scent of smoke and blood clung to the air, mixing with the distant cries of the wounded and the crackling of still-smoldering fires
The once-proud village of Konoha lay in ruin-rooftops caved in, homes reduced to little more than shattered wood and stone, streets littered with debris and ash
And yet, her children remained blissfully unaware, their tiny bodies curled against her warmth, their soft breaths the only thing grounding her in this moment of devastation
Her grip on them tightened as she heard footsteps approaching
She turned to see her husband, his face carefully neutral, but Mikoto knew him well enough to see past the mask
There was tension in his shoulders, a deep crease between his brows-a rare sign of grief
"Fugaku..."
Her voice was steady, but a quiet tremor ran beneath it
His gaze swept over the battlefield, pausing where the fires still raged in the distance-where the Fourth Hokage had made his last stand
"Minato is dead"
He said, his voice quieter than she had ever heard it
Mikoto inhaled sharply, her eyes lowering
She had feared as much, but hearing it aloud made it real
"And Kushina?"
Fugaku hesitated
That was answer enough
Mikoto clenched her jaw, willing herself not to falter
The weight of loss settled over her shoulders, but she could not break, not now
Instead, she pulled her children closer, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of Sasuke's head before glancing down at Yuzuki, who had stirred slightly
"The Uchiha aided in the evacuation"
Fugaku continued, his voice laced with something dark-resentment, frustration
"We helped fight back the Kyubi
And yet..."
His hands curled into fists at his sides
"The only thing they will remember is the Sharingan in the Kyubi's eyes"
Mikoto exhaled slowly, the meaning behind his words settling heavily between them
"Then it's already begun"
Fugaku remained silent, but the unspoken words hung in the air between them
The village's fear would turn to suspicion, and suspicion would turn to blame
No matter how much the Uchiha had given, it would never be enough
The village would turn against them
And there was nothing they could do to stop it
-=-
Yuzuki, nestled against her mother's warmth, barely paid attention to the quiet conversation between her parents
The words drifted past her, unimportant
Instead, her eyes had settled on a different sight
The air was thick with the lingering scent of ash and blood, the ruins of the village stretching endlessly before her
Buildings lay in smoldering heaps, skeletal remains of homes and shops reduced to rubble
The cries of the wounded and grieving wove through the destruction, blending with the distant shouts of shinobi working to restore order
Yet, amidst all of this, a small group of figures stood apart from the chaos
At their center was an old man
Hiruzen Sarutobi
His robes were torn, his face lined with exhaustion, yet he carried himself with the same unwavering authority as before
In his arms, cradled carefully against his chest, was a baby
Yuzuki's eyes narrowed
Even without the Sharingan, she could feel it, that presence
The same one she had sensed before, the one that had resonated with her own chakra on that day
'So that's her...'
She didn't know why she kept staring
It was just another child, another orphan of this night
And yet, as Hiruzen turned and walked away, carrying the newborn into the unknown, Yuzuki couldn't help but wonder
How many times had she been the cause of a scene like this?
She had left cities in ruin before
Had torn through nations, reducing them to nothing but stories for those who remained
How many children had she left behind? How many had watched as their worlds burned because of her?
She didn't regret it
But for the first time, she thought about it
The scent of burning wood dragged her attention back to the present
The village was still in shambles, shinobi rushing back and forth, civilians sifting through what remained of their homes
Some gathered the wounded, others worked tirelessly to put out the lingering fires
Yuzuki scoffed
'At least they're doing the bare minimum'
But then she noticed something
High above the destruction, perched atop the shattered visage of the Hokage Monument, a separate group of shinobi had gathered
Not to help the wounded
Not to clear the rubble of homes destroyed
No, they were repairing the stone face of Hashirama Senju
Yuzuki's expression darkened
'You've got to be kidding me'
Indra, who had been watching alongside her, followed her gaze before letting out a low breath
{They seem to believe symbols are worth more than reality}
Yuzuki scoffed again
'No kidding'
Down below, a mother wept over the body of her child
A man desperately called out names, searching the rubble for loved ones who would never answer
And yet, high above them, a dead man's legacy was being restored before anything else
Her fingers curled into tiny fists
She had always hated hypocrisy
And from what she was seeing now-this world was built on it
-=-
The Uchiha compound was unusually quiet
The usual hum of life, children playing, conversations between neighbors, was gone
What remained was an unspoken tension, a weight pressing down on every corner of the district
Inside the main hall, the Uchiha Clan had gathered
The air was thick with frustration and suspicion, and the flickering lanterns did little to ease the shadows stretching across the walls
Fugaku Uchiha sat at the head of the room, his posture rigid, his expression unreadable
But beneath the surface, he felt it, a quiet, creeping powerlessness
He was the clan head, the leader of the Uchiha, and yet... he could not control the way the village would look at them after tonight
"The Sharingan was in the Kyubi's eyes"
That one fact had ignited a storm
"It cannot be a coincidence!"
One elder slammed his fist onto the wooden table, his voice sharp with barely restrained fury
"Who among us would dare to betray the clan?"
A younger shinobi scoffed
"You're assuming it's one of us
But what if it was stolen? How many outsiders have sought to take our power for themselves?"
"Stolen? You fool! Who outside our clan could possibly wield it well enough to control a tailed beast?"
The argument flared, voices overlapping, anger spilling into every word
Accusations
Defenses
Theories that ranged from the rational to the absurd
Itachi Uchiha sat near the back, silent, his sharp young eyes absorbing every word
For the first time, he was seeing it, the fear inside his own people
"We have no proof it was one of us"
Another elder stated, his voice calmer but no less wary
"Yet the village will not care for proof
They will remember only what they saw"
A heavy silence fell over the room
They all knew it
It didn't matter if they were innocent
The village already had its suspicions
Fugaku exhaled slowly before speaking
"Then we prove it wasn't us"
Murmurs rippled through the clan, but Fugaku raised a hand for silence
"I propose we allow the Yamanaka Clan to read our minds"
The reaction was immediate
A cold, stunned silence
Then-
"Absolutely NOT!"
The elder who had slammed the table before stood again, his outrage palpable
"You expect us to allow outsiders into our minds? To violate our thoughts?"
Murmurs of agreement spread quickly
"This is an insult!"
"We should not need to prove our innocence to anyone!"
"Do you not trust your own people, Fugaku?"
Fugaku's fingers curled slightly, but his expression did not change
"I trust my clan"
His voice remained steady
"But I do not trust the village to give us the benefit of the doubt"
The protests quieted, if only slightly
"Minato Namikaze is dead
Sarutobi has taken power once more"
Fugaku continued, his sharp gaze sweeping across the room
"We stand at a crossroads
If we allow fear to fester, if we give the village any reason to believe we are against them, we will find ourselves isolated before we even realize it"
Silence
And then, the elder from before scoffed
"They already want to isolate us"
His tone was low, but pointed
"We are not their equals
We are their weapons, and they will cast us aside the moment we cease to be useful
Do you truly believe bending to their whims will change that?"
A few younger shinobi exchanged uneasy glances
Fugaku's jaw tightened, but he did not refute the words
Because he knew there was truth in them
He wasn't proposing this because he thought the village would forgive them
He was proposing this because he wanted to buy them time
He exhaled quietly before speaking again
"We will not decide tonight"
His voice was firm, final
"But make no mistake, the moment the village turns its back on us completely, we will have already lost"
The elders did not look satisfied
Neither did many of the younger Uchiha
But no one spoke against him further
The meeting adjourned, the clan dispersing into the night, but Fugaku remained seated
For the first time, he wondered if there was any path forward where the Uchiha were not doomed to fall
Itachi, lingering near the exit, glanced back at his father before stepping into the shadows
He had much to think about
-=At The Same Time=-
The air in the Hokage's office was thick with tension
The scent of smoke and blood still lingered from the battle, but there was no time to grieve
Not when the village's future now stood on a razor's edge
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, his expression grim
Before him stood Danzo Shimura, his long time friend and greatest political rival
The two elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, stood to the side, their aged faces lined with exhaustion
It was Koharu who broke the silence first
"We need to discuss the Uchiha"
Danzo folded his hands behind his back
"Indeed
The Kyubi's eyes bore the Sharingan
That is an undeniable fact"
Hiruzen inhaled through his pipe, exhaling a slow stream of smoke
"Then you believe they were responsible?"
Danzo's one visible eye narrowed
"I believe nothing yet
I only deal in facts"
He began listing them off, his tone measured and analytical
"The Kyubi appeared within the village walls, far too precise to be natural
It was controlled, wielded as a weapon
The Uchiha are the only known wielders of the Sharingan, and they were conveniently absent from the battlefield until the last moment"
Koharu crossed her arms
"Then we cannot ignore the possibility that one of them was involved"
Danzo inclined his head
"Perhaps
But consider the counterpoints"
The room stilled
Danzo continued
"Fugaku Uchiha himself led efforts to protect the village
The Uchiha clan fought alongside our shinobi, not against them
If this was an Uchiha plot, then it was a poor one, what would they gain from summoning the Kyubi only to defend against it?"
Homura frowned
"Unless this was the act of a rogue shinobi"
Danzo nodded
"That is a more reasonable assumption
If any Uchiha had the ability to control the Kyubi, it would be him"
Hiruzen exhaled sharply
"Fugaku..."
"The Wicked Eye"
Danzo murmured
"If anyone could have done it, it would be the head of the Uchiha Clan himself"
Silence stretched between them
Danzo took a step forward
"The simplest way to clear their name is to allow the Yamanaka Clan to investigate their minds
It would confirm or deny their innocence immediately"
Hiruzen's expression darkened
"You would have me treat them like criminals without proof?"
"This is proof"
Koharu snapped
"The Sharingan-"
"The appearance of the Sharingan"
Hiruzen corrected sharply
"And what if we are wrong? If we accuse the Uchiha falsely, we risk driving them into a corner they cannot escape from"
Danzo tilted his head
"And if we ignore it, we risk allowing a traitor to roam freely within our walls"
Hiruzen's fingers tightened around his pipe
Danzo pressed on
"This is the same mistake you made with Orochimaru
You refused to act without absolute certainty, and in doing so, you let him slip through your fingers
Will you do the same here?"
Hiruzen closed his eyes for a long moment
Then, he sighed
"No
I will not order an investigation"
Danzo's expression didn't change
Homura frowned
"Hiruzen-"
"The Uchiha already feel isolated
If we treat them as enemies, we will create the very division we fear"
Hiruzen said firmly
Danzo was silent for a moment
Then he shook his head
"You care too much for titles"
Hiruzen met his gaze
"And you care too little"
The tension crackled between them like a live wire
Finally, Danzo stepped back
"Then do as you will"
He turned toward the door but paused before leaving
"But mark my words, Saru
You are making a mistake"
With that, he was gone, leaving only the heavy silence of an unresolved debate behind him
-=-
The village still smoldered
Even as the fires faded, the scars of the Kyubi's rampage remained, charred buildings, crumbled streets, and a lingering scent of ash in the air
But while the devastation was plain to see, the battle for Konoha's future had already shifted into the shadows
The ANBU moved like wraiths through the broken streets, their masked figures slipping between the ruins, ensuring that order did not collapse alongside the buildings
Patrols doubled
Relief efforts were coordinated with precision
The civilians, shaken and grieving, needed to see their protectors standing tall
The illusion of stability had to remain unbroken
But beneath the surface, a different kind of order was being enforced
Deep in the alleyways, where the light of the moon barely reached, another force worked tirelessly
ROOT
They did not wear masks of beasts, nor did they seek to comfort the people
Their duty was not to soothe, only to ensure that the village's enemies, both external and internal, remained powerless
A lone civilian trembled beneath the grip of a faceless figure
His breathing was ragged, his mind sluggish, his memories unraveling like fragile silk under careful, practiced hands
"You saw nothing"
The words were whispered, laced with chakra, sinking into the man's consciousness like poison
"I... saw nothing"
His eyes glazed over
The tension in his body faded
A moment later, he was released, left to wander aimlessly back into the ruins of his home
Elsewhere, another operative moved in silence, slipping into a house where a wounded shinobi lay, bandaged but conscious
The man had spoken too much, whispered to the wrong ears about the impossible sight he had seen, the Sharingan reflected in the Kyubi's furious gaze
ROOT could not allow such knowledge to spread
The candle flickered
The room fell silent
By the time the morning came, no one would remember his name
The shadows thickened, swallowing the last remnants of the night
The ANBU worked to protect the village's present
ROOT worked to ensure its future, no matter the cost
And somewhere in the darkness, Danzo Shimura watched
-=Chapter End=-
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