Chapter Text
夜
"Okaa-san! Look!" The little Uchiha boy named Hakuno pointed at the Hokage tower. His mother tilted her head up and activated her Sharingan eyes, looking over the compound walls. The Hokage Monument looked proudly over their homes, and the Tower was large to her eyes. They've always been ostracized and isolated, and now the clan is trusted at the heart of the village. It was a nice change, almost unbelievable even.
The walls initially marked by Hyuuga emblems, now had Uchiha ones. Half the clan had already moved in.
Mikoto had moved in, too. She was preparing the home before Fugaku relocated. Fugaku remained in the Uchiha compound at the outskirts because he still had politics to deal with, and Sasuke remained with his father because Itachi was still hospitalized, and he didn't trust the Hyuuga with his second son, nor Mikoto's combat abilities in case a Hyuuga went wild.
Even though Fugaku and Hiashi acted like the best of friends and visited each other's house every other night.
It was necessary to maintain clan relations, and it was a quandary to unite two former rivals of power.
This, however, would spur Danzo against one or the other, because with the alliance of two of Konoha's most powerful clans, the leadership could easily be overthrown, if the Hyuuga decided to assist the Uchiha's coup.
Danzo paced around. The Uchihas' anger seemed to have quelled, but he knew it to be temporary. Either one of them had to be wiped out of the picture before a double-coup occurred, and the obvious choice was the Uchiha.
He scurried off to meet with the Hyuuga elders.
夜
Uchiha Somoroki sat in his office, organizing Military Police files. From behind him, out of thin air, a black-gloved hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Before he could release a yelp that would release a fire jutsu at the trespasser, he was sucked away into another dimension.
夜
Hakuno and his mom returned home to see the office in a scattered mess.
Okaa-san pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "Honestly, he was just looking for an excuse to get out of paperwork. Probably charged after someone to arrest the second he got a call."
Hakuno, realizing it wasn't the first time, dismissed his out-of-place tension and laughed, "Dad really loves chasing criminals!"
His mom smiled. "Grow up to be like him, alright dear?"
"Okay!"
夜
Black…
Head hurts…
Why does my head hurt…
Drugs…genjutsu…
Did I finally lose to some criminal?
Hah…
It's a fitting end for me…
Expected of a police officer…
Dying with honor…
I hope my son grows up to be just like me…
Not that I'll ever get to see it…
Drip.
WAIT.
I wasn't chasing some criminal.
NO.
THIS ISN'T A f*ckING HONORABLE WAY TO DIE,
YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME A CHANCE TO FIGHT BACK.
I'LL GET REVENGE.
EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO.
YOU'LL REGRET TURNING AGAINST ANUCHIHA!
Uchiha Somoroki's still body started struggling, rapid eye movement increasing tenfold with his sharingan activating without opening his lids, and the bindings against his body started tearing a fractional millimeter every now and then.
"Nope," Tobi said, and slapped a stasis seal over the man's forehead.
The struggling stopped, and Tobi visibly relaxed.
Rolling his shoulders, Tobi smirked. "Time to go outside again!"
Adjusting his orange mask to look presentable, not that it'd be presented to anyone who will live,oh wait, but there's someone I will present it to, Tobi swirled out of existence again.
夜
"Precisely. The Branch house has been enslaved to the Main House long enough, but longer it shall continue, because it is our destiny. However, do you really expect me to tolerate us being slaves to the Uchiha's whims? Such an atrocity would be admitting we are not worthy of service to the Main House, but the secondhand towels of the Uchiha. That…will notbe our destiny. Not mine, and not Hanabi-imouto's."
夜
"The Uchiha should be branched, lest they control the Main House and havoc is wrecked."
Danzo smiled, his eyes closing into n's, one of them at least. Nudging the conversation towards the direction he intended without saying a single word of contribution or even approval in regards to such an extreme statement was his specialty.
夜
Uchiha Kazuki was on his way to meet with the Hyuuga Council. Glancing about, and confirming that no one was around in the streets, he allowed his stoic façade to unmask. Smiling, he started humming his theme song.
Out of nowhere, a chakra flared, and he abruptly stopped and spun around, to be met with an enlarging hand grabbing his face, and his head pulling the rest of his body forward.
He felt his entire body convulse and distort, and it was so painful and weird and abnormal like outer space, so he screamed but no sound came out, then his voice returned and he crashed into the stone cold floor in the darkness of an alter dimension.
He whirled his head up and shouted, "Somoroki!" at the sight of, well, a bondaged Somoroki.
"Well now, I expected you to pass out from the dimension switch, like that guy over there, but you're pretty strong." A weird man in a weird mask flailed. "Or, you just saw it coming and prepared yourself." The weird man placed his hand under his chin in a thinking pose, pacing around.
Now's my chance!
Kazuki charged, his body flicker could rival Shisui's on any good day, his kunai lashed out with fire-nature enhancement, only to phrase through the masked man.
He almost stumbled in surprise, knowing itshouldhave hit,almost, but he didn't, rotating expertly to assault his enemy again, and not even Fugaku-sama could have dodged that second move with the speed and lack of wasted movement he maneuvered at, but he phrased through the phantom again and felt something chop at the back of his head with no regard for his life.
He was knocked out.
夜
"Hmmm…." The childish squeak of Tobi mused. "I'm collecting too many Uchihas…Maybe just one more for the day…."
夜
A third Uchiha fell into a black hole.
夜
"Okay, just one more then no more!"
夜
A fourth Uchiha in a black hole fell, wherever he went we'll never meet again.
夜
"AAAH I STOLE TOO MANY!" For the first time, Tobi regretted his actions. "In such a short period of time too. This means I have to wait a little longer."
Tobi crossed his arms and glared at the four Uchiha chained in stumps and drugged with genjutsu. "Look how far the clan has fallen. Back then, you'd have put up more of a fight."
夜
Hinata snapped her eyes open, unable to ignore the chill buzzing up her spine.
"MEOW!" Koneko slapped Hinata with a special paw. "Focus! You're drawing in too much natural energy and too quickly! Balance!"
Hinata gasped as the natural energy was sucked out of her body. She evened her breathing and sat still, taking a break from drawing in senjutsu chakra.
Koneko tilted its head. "And you were doing so well too…Your meditation techniques are the best I've ever seen. I don't think even an earthquake would have disrupted it. What could it be that makes you look so scared?"
She turned to the cat. "I look s-scared?" She bit her lip. She hadn't stuttered like this without reason for a long time. There was always a reason.
Before, it had been too much pressure on her to keep up a clan heiress façade, so she always showed her weak side when she was alone. But even that was becoming less and less frequent, perhaps because she had been growing stronger.
To suddenly feel this way again…Hinata didn't like it.
"Sorry, I just …something's wrong." She closed her eyes. "It must be because I'm missing my family. My sister…I…Back when everything wasn't about war and manipulation and power…I miss my old life." Hinata told her cat.
That must be it, she tried to convince herself.
But I don't even know how I really feel anymore.
Hinata sighed forlornly, wishing she was likeNarutoduring times like this.
When she returned home to the mess of dark politics, she would instantly change her mind. Someone like Naruto wouldn't survive in this world.
夜
