POV: Koi
The forest was a blur of shadows and moonlight as my mother ran, her breaths short and uneven. Her arms trembled with every step, her grip on me weakening. I could feel the sticky warmth of her blood soaking through her cloak and onto mine. I wanted to scream. I wanted to beg her to stop and rest. But I couldn't. I just clutched her tightly, the pain in my heart bigger than anything I'd ever known.
Behind us, I could hear them — four of them. The last of the masked men. Their footsteps weren't rushed. They weren't chasing anymore. They were following. Hunting. They knew we were tired. That she was dying.
Suddenly, she stopped.
Her knees buckled slightly, but she caught herself. She didn't turn around right away. She just stood there, swaying in place, blood dripping from the kunai and shuriken embedded in her back. Her breaths came out ragged and shallow. I looked up from her arms and saw her face.
She was crying.
Not sobbing. Not wailing. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the blood from her eyes. Her Sharingan was spinning faster than I had ever seen — three tomoe each, blazing with fury and pain.
"M-Mom…?" I whispered, voice broken. She gently set me down behind her, one hand brushing the side of my face like she was memorizing it.
"Stay here, Koi," she said, her voice barely holding together. "Don't move. No matter what."
I nodded slowly, too scared to speak. My knees shook as I crouched behind her, staring up at her fragile, blood-soaked frame as the masked men emerged from the shadows, weapons drawn. They didn't rush her.
They hesitated.
"Look at her eyes…" one of them muttered.
"That's— That's not normal Sharingan. That chakra…"
"She's not going to last much longer—"
But they stopped talking.
Because my mom's chakra exploded.
It was violent, loud, and alive. I could feel it in my chest, like a second heartbeat. The air got heavier, and the ground beneath us cracked. Her chakra burned red — not just glowing, but pulsing like a flame given form. It surged up and around us, taking shape.
A figure began to form around her — around us.
A giant.
It was made entirely of red chakra, towering into the trees. Only the upper half formed — a massive upper body, with muscular arms and a burning skeletal face that radiated heat and fury. In its right hand, it held a sword nearly as large as our house. The blade crackled with power. Its left arm wrapped protectively around us, shielding me in its clawed hand.
The masked men froze.
"Th-That's—!"
"No way—!"
"Susanoo!"
They backed away, fear finally sinking into their bones. But it was too late. My mom's chakra surged again, and the giant's eyes flared with light. It raised its massive blade and swung.
The air itself split. Trees vanished. The ground cracked and erupted.
And the men were gone.
Not just dead. Erased.
The world was quiet for a moment. Just the sound of the wind and the distant crackle of fading chakra. The Susanoo shimmered… then shattered into a thousand flickers of red light. My mother fell forward, hitting the ground hard.
"Mom!" I screamed, crawling to her.
I reached her side and turned her over. Her eyes were still spinning… but barely. The tears, the blood, the wounds — all of it painted her face in red. Her hand found mine, weak and trembling.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered, voice cracking. "I wanted more time with you…"
"No," I whispered, grabbing her hand tightly. "You're okay. You'll be okay, right?!"
She smiled — that same gentle smile she gave me every night before bed. "Koi… you're strong. Like your father… and maybe… stronger than me."
I couldn't stop the tears. I didn't want to.
"Don't leave me…"
Her lips moved again. "I love you—"
Shink.
A blade burst through her back.
Her eyes widened, then dimmed.
"NO!" I screamed, grabbing her shoulders as blood poured out. "NO NO NO—!"
I looked up.
A man stood over her, big and wide like a wall, electricity crackling around him like a storm. His face was hidden by a hood, but I could see his grin. Twisted and cruel.
"Well, damn," he chuckled. "Guess I showed up just in time, huh? That woman almost wiped out the whole team." He looked at me, eyes glowing with bloodlust. "So you're the brat they wanted."
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I just stared at him, soaked in my mother's blood, shaking.
He knelt down, grabbed my arm, and yanked me to his chest. I didn't resist.
Not because I didn't want to.
But because something inside me had broken.
He slung me over his back like a bag of supplies, laughing to himself as he walked off into the forest. I didn't look back.
But I saw it in my mind.
My dad, still on his knees in the clearing, sword wounds through his body, unmoving under the moonlight.
My mom, lying in her own blood, her final smile still on her face.
The wind howled through the trees as the man carrying me disappeared into the woods.
The moon shone bright above them both — two fallen warriors of the Uchiha.
And in the silence of the forest, I blinked — and the world changed.
My reflection shimmered in the blade at the man's hip. In my eyes… red.
Two tomoe. In each one.
Spinning.
Awakened by pain.
Born in blood.
I would never forget this night.
Ever.