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<<<>>>
Shisui stood at his favorite spot - a tall hill overlooking the quiet sprawl of Konoha. His gaze lingered on the slumbering village below, eyes shadowed with a sadness that clung to him like the night air. The moon was unusually large and bright, casting a cold, silvery glow across the landscape. Its light caught on Shisui's face, illuminating the conflict etched into his features.
He tilted his head back, staring up at the sky with a heavy sigh.
'Why does everything have to be so difficult... so painful... when it could be simple and peaceful?'
His thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of movement beside him. Another figure appeared, his jet-black hair turned gray under the moonlight.
"How did it go?" Shisui asked without looking. He already knew who it was.
Itachi's expression mirrored his own. It was also troubled and distant, maybe even more than Shisui's.
"I think it's inevitable," Itachi replied quietly, lowering himself to sit at the cliff's edge, his legs dangling over the void. "The clan doesn't want to be part of Konoha anymore. They say if Takimura could break away, so can we."
He hesitated, then turned his head slightly.
"And you? Have you changed your mind?"
Shisui's gaze stayed on the village lights below, his bitter smile barely visible.
"Konoha is our home, Itachi," he said softly. The words carried more weight than warmth.
His eyes lingered a moment longer on the rooftops and flickering lanterns below before he turned to face his friend. For a brief second, he hesitated. Then his expression hardened with resolve.
"I'm going to use my Mangekyo Sharingan on the clan," he said. "If I can implant a different will… maybe I can stop this before it's too late."
He studied Itachi's face, searching for traces of his true feelings.
But Itachi said nothing, he remained like a cold statue staring at Shisui. And that silence made Shisui's sorrow deepen.
'He's chosen to side with the Uchiha,' Shisui thought, the disappointment sinking in painfully. But even so, the warmth in his gaze didn't fade. His feelings toward Itachi hadn't changed.
"I… won't stop you," Itachi said after a long pause, his voice low, uncertain. He lifted his head, meeting Shisui's eyes. "But at least consider the clan's position. We don't want to hurt Konoha or anyone in it. It's Konoha that's been trying to suppress us. After everything they've done… how can we trust them? All we want is to leave peacefully."
Shisui shook his head.
"We both know Konoha won't just let the Uchiha walk away," he said quietly. "The elders won't allow it. And the clan knows that. Whatever they claim, this decision… it's a declaration of war."
He looked at his friend one last time, his gaze firm with resolve. Then, without another word, he turned to leave.
Above them, the moon shone large and pale, casting its light over the two boys standing at the cliff's edge. Behind them, the village slept in silence, completely unaware of the weight resting on their shoulders.
The fate of Konoha and the Uchiha was no longer in the hands of elders.
It rested in the hearts of two young boys, standing beneath the same moon, walking two different paths.
<<<>>>
Mizuki wandered through the camp, her steps slow and aimless. The air was heavy with tension. Takimura had lost two of its strongest shinobi, and one more was missing.
Aside from Tenma and Meruem, there were no confirmed casualties in the Takimura ranks. No one else had died during the assault on Kumo. But there was no sense of victory, no reason to celebrate. The Terumi clan had lost its leader and an elder. And the Takime clan, whose head had fallen barely a month ago, was now without its new one.
As she walked, Mizuki spotted a shinobi struggling to reach his tent. He was missing a leg, leaning heavily on a makeshift crutch, each step a battle. Without a word, she quickened her pace, slipped beneath his arm, and offered support. The man looked at her, wanting to say words of gratitude, but he said nothing.
Her face was like ice. Cold, devoid of emotions and life. It froze the words on his lips before they could form.
She helped him to his tent in silence, setting him down with care before moving on, still walking, still without direction.
'He can't be dead.' The thought echoed in her mind, again and again. 'He just can't be.'
She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. 'Please, god, don't let him die.' She kept repeating desperately. It was all she could do now.
There was no one to fight, no enemy to unleash her anger on. Both Kumo and Takimura were licking their wounds, planning their next moves. Even Maki, the last pillar holding the allied forces together, looked as if she were about to break.
She had already lost her grandmother.
And now Kaoru was missing.
There was no strength left to fake a smile. No courage to put on a brave face. Even Maki had nothing left to give.
"Mizuki, come."
She heard someone call her name and turned to see Shin sitting on a log near the campfire.
"Can we walk instead? I don't want to stay in one place, sensei," she asked. Without a word, Shin stood up and followed her.
For a while, they walked in silence, leaving the Takimura camp and heading toward Kiri's. The atmosphere there was even heavier. Unlike Takimura, which had lost only two people, Kiri had suffered many more casualties. But worst of all, they had witnessed Maki's strength firsthand. Now, there was no confidence in the Mizukage's victory. Some even believed that Maki held the advantage.
The Kiri nin's feelings intensified when they saw Shin and Mizuki. Both had left deep impressions - Shin, the wielder of the Kiba blades, had demonstrated overwhelming speed and strength, while Mizuki, the only Scorch Release user they had ever seen, terrified them with her signature technique. Shin and Mizuki ignored the glares directed at them as they continued walking.
"How's Lady Maki feeling? Is there any news about Kaoru?" Mizuki asked, a faint hope lingering in her eyes. But as Shin shook his head, that hope slowly faded. 'Of course, I would've heard if there was any news,' she thought bitterly.
"Maki is… grieving. I've never seen her like this," Shin said, then immediately regretted his words, realizing he had to be more mindful of Maki's image. "I'm sure Kaoru will return safe and sound. If anything, the sea couldn't have done anything to him. And if he had truly…" He paused, searching for the right words. "If he had truly been hit by the Eight-Tails' attack, we would've at least found some remnants." Those who had been with Kaoru had survived the attack thanks to him. Kaoru's sphere had weakened the blast enough that their combined water walls could stop it.
"If those guys survived, Kaoru would have, too. And they didn't even have serious injuries - just mild ones," Shin said, trying to reassure Mizuki just as he had tried with Maki. But the result was the same this time - Mizuki's eyes remained dim and unfocused.
"Sensei, has the Six-Tails Jinchuriki returned?" Mizuki asked, hoping to gain at least some information that could ease her mind.
"No, he hasn't," Shin replied. "But he warned us that he'd be sleeping for a long time and would return once he's recovered." Utakata had been badly injured. The main reason Kaoru had managed to stop Killer B's attack was that it had already been weakened by Utakata, who had taken the full brunt of it.
"Thanks to him, the attack that reached Kaoru was much weaker. He must be recovering somewhere…" Shin struggled to find a plausible explanation, but deep in his heart he truly believed that Kaoru was fine.
"Thank you, sensei. I'm feeling better now," Mizuki said with a forced smile. "I'll go train for a while, let off some steam," she added before flickering away, leaving Shin behind.
Shin stared in the direction Mizuki had gone, shaking his head.
'I need to learn how to comfort people,' he thought, feeling disheartened. His efforts to make Maki and Mizuki feel better had failed. His gaze lingered for a moment before he turned and headed toward Ao's camp. He'd rather discuss strategy than be alone, sinking into a sea of despair.
Shin was about to flicker away when he heard a commotion in the Takimura camp. He turned toward the noise and flickered to the source.
"What happened?" he asked a Takime nin, whose face was lit up with such happiness it almost seemed creepy.
"Lord Kaoru… he's alive!" the nin yelled, unable to contain his excitement. "We just got news from Takimura. He contacted them!"
<<<>>>
B stood quietly beside A, whose arm was wrapped tightly in fresh bandages. The injury hadn't come from the fight itself, but from overusing Hell Stab - a brutal technique with a brutal cost. Still, if anyone asked who won that battle, A would simply grumble and look away. He never said it outright, but his silence was answer enough.
"Yo, A, relax, we still in the game,
You didn't lose, bro, just a small fail.
We'll rise again, stronger, it's our time to reign,
Kumo stands tall, no need for the pain!"
B finished the verse, flashing his usual grin, waiting for the gruff, half-annoyed reaction he always got.
But A just shook his head.
No scolding. No smirk. Just silence.
That was worse.
The fact that B felt the need to comfort him sat wrong in A's chest. And what stung even more were the eyes on him. His own shinobi. Their gazes felt different now.
'They don't look at me the same anymore,' A thought bitterly, clenching his remaining fist.
The other arm hung immobile, bound tightly in cloth and chakra-stabilizing wrappings. He hadn't lost it, but it would take time to heal.
'Maybe I'm imagining it… or maybe not. Even the ones I trust most… there's doubt in their eyes.'
And that doubt, real or not, gnawed at his pride more than any wound ever could.
'Next time I face her, I must win and prove I'm stronger,' he thought, resolve igniting in his eyes as he stood up. "Let's go, B. Check on our shinobi and plan our next moves."
They left the tent, only to be greeted by the sight of burnt tents and charred provisions. The ground itself was dark and scorched, courtesy of Takimura and Kiri shinobi. A scanned the area, checking for slackers, but the Kumo nin were working like a well-oiled machine. No one showed signs of laziness or low morale. Despite the defeat, they worked tirelessly, without complaints or doubts about their eventual victory.
'The worst part is we don't have any ships to sail,' A thought, glancing at a fresh container recently transported by Mabui. 'It'll take time, but she'll slowly deliver everything we need. Food won't be a problem, but we can't do anything about the ships. Who knows how long it'll take Dodai to hire that many vessels?'
No matter how hard he tried, there was no easy solution. They were lucky Mabui's unique ability allowed her to transport non-living objects of adequate size to a target location, it was almost like teleportation.
"Lord Raikage, what should we do with the bodies of the two shinobi who stalled us to let Takimura and Kiri retreat?" a nin reported, approaching B and A.
"We should show them the respect they deserve," A answered after a brief pause. "They died like true shinobi, so we'll bury them as such."
The Kumo nin nodded, his expression clearly approving, and left. It wasn't uncommon to simply discard enemy corpses, but in this case, both A and the rest of Kumo were deeply impressed by what Meruem and Tenma had done. They understood that staying behind meant certain death, yet the two had acted without hesitation.
"I was wrong, B," A said, staring into the distance. "When we invaded, I thought Kiri would be the biggest obstacle. But it's not them - Takimura is the real problem." He blinked, shifting his gaze from the horizon to the camp, his eyes flickering over the scorched tents.
"That sacrifice… they didn't even hesitate for a second. That's not something you see every day," A said, his gaze burning with intensity. Despite his warmongering and rough personality, A respected true shinobi. "A village like that won't forget the pain and suffering we've caused them. B, this invasion might have been a mistake." A was beginning to doubt his decision.
'If Iwa, Konoha, or even Suna make a move against us now, we won't be able to return in time,' he thought, realizing he had put Kumo in danger. It was an unforgivable mistake for a Raikage.
B considered A's words and was about to respond when another report came in.
"Iwagakure and Sunagakure are assembling their armies near Konoha's border."
**
A/N -
I decided that the Uchiha situation can't go the same way as it did in canon. There should be a butterfly effect since Takimura not only exists but has also made direct contact with them. I hope you like the changes.
Reminder - Break Tomorrow!
Character Notes:
Shisui - Depressed optimist - "I'll just brainwash everyone for peace. Totally normal, right?"
Shin - Emotionally bankrupt - "Why do people keep crying near me? I'm a sword guy, not a therapist."
B - Human mixtape - "Yo, we got wrecked but still got soul. Next time, bro, we back in control!"
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