Our consciousness returned to our bodies in the office. Inoichi actually had to sit down for a little while, and I couldn't blame him. Tonight had been a series of bizarre events, one after another.
It was likely Itachi's 'mission' that affected him the most. Once again, I couldn't fault him.
If I didn't have a feeling that something similar was likely to happen again, I would have needed to sit down too.
"I believe that concludes my mission, Hokage-sama," Itachi said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion, sounding almost like one of Danzo's men.
This night would undoubtedly haunt him until his dying day. I hoped that day was far off, arriving only when he was old and wrinkled, not when he was young and terminally ill.
The immediate crisis had been averted, but what now? I was already aware that more trouble was on the horizon, especially given how Itachi was looking. That self-sacrificial bastard had a plan, and I was sure I wouldn't like it.
"Permission to commence part two?" Itachi asked, his tone still inflectionless. Here it was: another mission he hadn't told me about.
I could take a good guess at what it involved, but that didn't mean I would be on board with it. On the contrary, I was certain I would hate whatever 'part two' entailed.
"Part two? What's this about?" I questioned Itachi, ready to drag him back home to the village if necessary.
"The public will need an enemy, someone to blame for tonight," he said, resigned to his fate, though there was still a hint of resolve in his voice.
He had probably volunteered for this, which didn't make it any less stupid.
"And Danzo doesn't exist? Let him face the consequences if he survives," I retorted, my irritation evident in my voice.
It would have been the best choice; if he was dead, then problem solved, and if alive, he could be made an example of. It was a perfect plan, but Hiruzen and Itachi didn't see it that way.
The next sentence only confirmed my theory.
"He did not survive; he died on the way to the hospital. Moreover, that would put the leadership into question. Danzo was one of the highest-ranking individuals in the village. Inner conflict is the last thing we need right now." Hiruzen explained. In my opinion, that was a load of shit.
"This entire way of thinking almost led us into a civil war. Maybe it's time to stop thinking like a ninja and start thinking like a human," I said. This situation was getting ridiculous.
What kind of mental gymnastics were they performing to reach this conclusion? But then again, this place was a dictatorship, and in such regimes, it's always the people who pay the price for any fuckup.
I could tell that Itachi's heart wasn't truly in it for the village, though.
I sighed. "It's not like I can do anything to stop this, but mark my words: this is exactly why, one day, the villages will fail." It wasn't a threat; it was a warning that Hiruzen should heed before it was too late.
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of even more 'traitorous' thoughts.
"You're throwing away your best Hokage candidate to appease people who shouldn't be in power in the first place, Hokage-sama." I simply stated my honest opinion.
"And one day, when all of this comes to light, the backlash will be even worse." I finished before walking out. I couldn't participate in this any longer. I would not pretend my best friend was a heartless monster.
No matter what people said, Itachi saved the village tonight, and as a reward, he was abandoned by the very village he served, thrown under the bus by the people he saved and made to be hated by those he loved.
"The more things I try to change, the more they stay the same," I mused as I left the Hokage building. I needed to get out of that office before I said something too treasonous. That would have been quite unpleasant to deal with.
Thankfully, Hiruzen was still too dazed from the events of the night to contest my claims, but I would surely hear from him soon.
By now, the rain had finally subsided, and the clouds were beginning to disperse, allowing the morning sun to pierce the darkness more and more.
I headed to one of the more secluded training grounds. I was tired, yes, but I was more angry than fatigued, and right now, I just needed to punch something.
The training ground resembled a war zone in no time. The stumps fashioned into training dummies were completely obliterated, and the ground was littered with craters of varying sizes.
After just a few minutes of letting out some steam, I had completely demolished the entire training area.
I stood in the middle of the ruined forest clearing, breathing heavily. I knew I would have to go home soon and probably sleep until midnight.
"I thought we agreed not to destroy training grounds anymore," Itachi's voice pierced the silence. There was a hint of humor in his statement, but given the situation, it fell flat.
"I thought you'd be dodging the Anbu hunters already," I shot back, still angry about the scapegoat situation.
"Look... I can't tell you what to do, but this has to be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard. You have a place to go; Sasuke and Izumi are still here-" I began, but Itachi cut me off.
"And I failed already. I promised to keep the clan safe, but the first thing I did was leave you to defend them... I did the exact opposite of what I promised my father." He said this with a somber look on his face.
At least I now understood the real reason behind his decision to leave.
"I wouldn't be able to look them in the face and know what I've done instead of helping them. I jumped at the first chance I got for revenge instead of doing the right thing," he finished, revealing even more of his thoughts.
I could understand him, but playing the villain because of one mistake still felt like going too far.
"How's your vision? Have you figured out how to fix it?" I asked. This was my last chance to get plausible deniability regarding knowledge of the Eternal Light.
Itachi sighed and started the explanation I was waiting for.
"My father told me about it. Apparently, I will need another pair of Mangekyo Sharingan and implant them into my eyes." It was a very surface-level explanation, but at least it was something.
"Are there any other requirements? Who else besides you and Shisui even had those eyes?" I probed further, trying to gather information to save his sight.
He shrugged.
"The stone tablet said there needs to be a close connection between the two who fuse their eyes. My father believes it means a close family member, but I'm not too sure," he said, appearing deep in thought.
"I believe it requires a deep spiritual connection. Family, close friend, lover... I believe any of those options should work," he concluded, leaving me without a concrete answer.
In the original timeline, it was always the brothers' eyes that were used, but those brothers also shared a strong spiritual connection, either through love or a desire for revenge.
This could go both ways, and I truly didn't know what to do.
"Can't two people with Mangekyō just swap eyes? It would remove the only weakness those eyes seem to have, especially if the two people are closely related," I asked, voicing a question that had always troubled me and remained unanswered in the original timeline.
"No, unfortunately, that wouldn't work. One set of eyes must be sacrificed; they have to be infused into another pair to achieve the Eternal Light," he said somberly.
At least I had an answer and another reason to get Fugaku's eyes to him. If not for him, then for Sasuke when he awakens his own eyes.
I nodded, a plan already forming in my mind. But it was time to say farewell.
"At least write from time to time. You have summons that are perfect for such tasks," I said, giving up on trying to change his mind. It wasn't like I could alter their plans anyway.
"Actually, leave a crow with me. I'll send you something later today." A plan was forming in my head. Itachi would absolutely need something to help him stay undetected, and I happened to have a scroll containing a water jutsu that might be useful.
I may not be able to use 'Dustless Bewildering Cover' yet, but Itachi should be able to learn it, even if my scroll was guesswork in many places.
"Sure thing. And please, keep an eye on Izumi and Sasuke for me." His request wasn't a surprise, and I couldn't deny him this, even if I had no interest in meeting Sasuke just yet.
"I'll do my best to keep them safe," I replied. Checking on them from time to time was no problem; I could just send a clone to do it if needed.
Itachi nodded and summoned a crow, which was promptly sent to my home.
"Guess this is goodbye, at least for a while… Good luck out there." I raised my arm and offered him a fist bump.
"Thanks, I'll probably need it." He bumped my fist, our chakra and spirit connecting. In that instant, I knew that he was still the same Itachi I had befriended two years ago.
He simply smiled and disappeared in a poof of smoke, revealing himself as a Shadow Clone.
"The real one must already be out of the village…" I mumbled to myself. It was time to fix the training ground, or at least the craters, and then go to sleep.
On second thought, I should probably pick up the cats from Uncle Inoichi's house before falling asleep.
It was still early in the morning, around seven o'clock, when I came home, dead tired and still soaked in blood and mud.
I entered the living room to find my family eating breakfast. I didn't expect them to be up yet, and I was too tired to sense them.
I quickly pointed to the cats, signaling them to run to my room; I really didn't want to explain the two superpowered kittens right now.
Shortly after the kittens disappeared, my family turned to me as I approached, looking me over before exploding with questions.
"Where were you? Are you okay? What happened?" they asked simultaneously. There were more rapid-fire questions, but these were the only ones I caught at first.
"I'm fine; it's not my blood. I was called for an emergency mission in the middle of the night. There will probably be an announcement from the Hokage-sama later; it should explain everything," I replied, hoping to ease their worries.
"The only thing I can tell you is that it has to do with the Uchiha clan," I said with finality. They looked at me knowingly; they probably had an idea of what happened, at least my parents did.
Sakura was still wide-eyed and startled; she probably didn't expect ninja work to be so dirty.
"Care to join us? You should eat something before you go to sleep..." They didn't have to ask twice; good food is a universal cure for everything.
After discarding my bloody poncho and chunin vest, I joined them for breakfast, enjoying the peace before the previous night's chaos would be shared with the public, modified for the 'good of the village,' of course.
I finished my meal and headed for the bathroom to wash off the blood and dirt still stubbornly clinging to me. After all of this, I could finally rest.
In my room, I found the cats already hogging my bed, while my clone, who had been waiting in the shadows, found this very funny for some reason, personally, I found it cute.
I sighed and dispelled the clone, receiving a rush of memories along with a headache.
"At least the clone got what I sent it for; thank the Sage," I thought as I glanced towards the window, eyeing the crow Itachi had sent.
I quickly sealed the jutsu scroll and another scroll into something small enough for the crow to carry. I also attached a note to the scroll that my clone had brought me.
"I believe your father would want you to have this. Don't ask me how I got it." Those were the words I hastily scribbled on a piece of paper before handing everything to the little messenger.
After that, I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
I woke up later in what I assumed was the afternoon, as I could see the sun hovering over the Hokage monument from the window. I tried to get up properly, but my legs were currently occupied: the cats I still needed to name had made them their pillows.
I extended my senses; the village was buzzing with activity, even more than usual. Either the announcement had just happened or it was about to take place shortly.
I sighed, as I really didn't want to hear whatever lies Hiruzen and the elders had concocted. Hopefully, I would just get the abridged version from my family.
"Alright, you two, it's time to wake up," I said, shaking the cats awake. They protested with incredulous-sounding meows, but it came off more cute than menacing. "C'mon, guys-" I was interrupted by a sharp meow from one of them, as if I had annoyed the kitty.
"A guy and a girl... we really need to get up. I feel like that this shitshow isn't over yet," I said. There was still the official announcement that I had to hear, if only to know the 'official' story.
At least the much-needed sleep had given me a good idea for naming these two little troublemakers.
"Alright... first things first. You," I pointed to the cat that had been quiet this whole time. It was time to borrow from a work of fiction again.
"Little man, you will be Zangetsu, the cat with the power to outgrow heavens." I had decided to go with a sword theme, and it felt like the right name for a cat that grows in power and size. I looked at the little cat lady.
"And you will be Yoru, the world's deadliest cat," I declared.
I may not have been proud of myself, but honestly, I found the names fitting.
"Two pitch-black cats named after two powerful black swords. I think my naming sense could be worse..." I thought as I finally got the two of them off my legs.
"Let's hear the bullshit, shall we?" I asked my two newly named companions before opening the window.
It turns out I was lucky enough to miss the official announcement, but from what I later heard from my parents and Uncle Inoichi that evening, Itachi was blamed for killing Danzo, taking over Root, and attacking the Uchiha clan before being stopped by an 'unnamed Anbu operative.'
The public ate it all up, almost everyone who was not Uchiha did. They all knew better but chose not to protest. It appeared they had struck some kind of deal with Hiruzen.
At the very least, they were considerate enough not to directly drag me into this mess.
Uncle Inoichi looked like he had aged at least two decades in a single day. He, too, was aware of the truth and found it incredibly unfair, but like me, he felt powerless beyond informing Choza and Shikaku.
I didn't know if anything came of that, but it was clear that Hiruzen had lost a significant amount of respect from some of his greatest supporters.
As I had said in the office, it would all come crashing down one day, and I wouldn't even have to lift a finger for it to happen.
The following weeks were a blur. There was a massive influx of missions undertaken by the Uchiha clan, as they were finally able to take on work outside the village.
The entire police force was being reorganized after suffering heavy losses. Surprisingly, a retired ninja from multiple clans led the new police force, and many civilian-born ninja from reserves joined as well.
Overall, this seemed like a substantial upgrade for the police force, something that, in my opinion, should have happened long ago.
In my free time, I made an effort to find Izumi; she at least deserved to know the truth, for both her sake and Itachi's.
To say she was furious would be an understatement. She already knew the official story was a load of shit, but to have it completely flipped on its head made her completely lose it.
Her chakra flared wildly, cracking the wooden floor of her living room, and her eyes transformed to resemble a three-petaled flower, much like Itachi's had before.
The betrayal of her boyfriend by the village triggered her Mangekyo Sharingan to awaken. I could only hope her vision would remain intact in the future, as far as I knew, there was no one who could provide her with eternal light.
At the very least, I could warn her not to overuse it and direct her to a stone tablet Itachi had mentioned.
I needed to team up with her and Hana again to keep an eye on her. Itachi would never forgive me if she went blind on my watch.