Blessings of the Twisting Eye

Chapter 7

I'm alive, and Itachi lies groaning beside me, bloodied but still alive. He pushes himself to his knees, sways, and catches my gaze. One of his eyes is turning milky white, just like Aunt Aiko's had, the first time he'd slaughtered the clan. Had he done something to save me? It didn't matter. I had hesitated before, I had let Shisui do my duty, and I knew what I had to do. I threw a spray of kunai his way, one clanging against another to confuse their path, and for once, as Itachi deflected them, I could see his movements. For him to be slow enough to fight, he had to be badly injured. For once, I had a chance!

I circle him, stab out with another kunai towards his left side, which seems to be favoring. He moves slowly, but at the last moment, his hand deflects it and I stab his left shoulder instead. He tries to pull his head up to meet my gaze—genjutsu, a part of me yells—and I push him down. He grasps my hand, and I sense a cold rush, like someone pouring water over me, but to no visible effect. Had he failed at a genjutsu? Or something else? No matter. I break his grip, and push him fully to the ground and he falls boneless to the ground, head down, and I pull another kunai out. I have to do this, no matter what he says or what I feel. My hand stills, steadies, and I take a breath. Quickly, I stab his back, aiming for the heart. The kunai slides easily till it reaches bone, and I throw my weight on it to push it through, ignoring his muted screams, but to no avail. My hands are not steady enough to land a killing blow. More. I can't let him live. I grab another two kunai and pin his hands. I wipe my face, and I notice tears. No! I can't cry when I'm killing a murderer, I should be happy!

My brother lies broken beneath me, still breathing, but bleeding heavily. I can't end it like this, he has to know why. I keep a kunai in hand just in case, and whisper in his ear, "I knew what you were planning." My voice breaks for a moment before I can continue, "I've seen the clan dead a dozen times in my dreams, all of them, mother and father, dead by your hand." At this he tries to stir again, somehow willing his head to turn to me. No. I can't let him stop me. I close my eyes to prevent any illusions, reach out with a hand to cover his eyes. "You've killed Shisui. You've killed mother, father, Izumi, Aiko. But not anymore." He's trying to say something but I've done my duty. The rage steadies my hand, and I drive my kunai through his neck, then again, till the grass around me is soggy with his blood and my tears. My eyes are burning.

They find me sobbing by Itachi. I hear the sudden breaths, the muttered curses, and the police approach. I wonder what they see. Do they see me avenging them, one death for hundreds? Or do they see a brother soaked in his brother's blood? There's no difference…

I feel hands close on my own, thick rope and metal binding me, and muttered whispers of "genjutsu" and "ANBU". Without me noticing we've arrived at the station and as the officer in front of me questions me for the 10th time, I realize where I am.

"What do you remember before killing Itachi?" Should I lie? Should I pretend that I've been forced into doing this, absolve myself of my brother guilt. I can see a way out: pretend that someone has controlled my actions, forced me to slaughter my own brother. Better to be silent. I'll wait until father is here and I can tell him of the times I've lived through many times and Itachi's coming betrayal. Then I'll take whatever punishment is due. A kinslayer deserves no less.

I simply close my eyes and sit, thinking of Itachi and the murder, of the good times and the bad. Unbidden, early memories bubble up: Itachi picking me up after my first day at the academy, the lazy days spent watching him train, sitting upon his shoulders as we wander through the city picking treats on New Years. He always had a quiet smile with me, even if I was bothering him. My eyes are burning and I know I'm crying but my hands are tied so I just sit.

More memories. Izumi and Itachi playing a quiet game of shogi while I cheer him on from the sideline, both tolerating me with amusement. The soft smile he wore when he would tuck me in while mother and father were away, or the poke on the forehead he'd give me to cheer me up. What monster could kill such a brother? The burning in my eyes intensifies, grows deeper as I realize the enormity of my deed. Itachi is dead. Itachi is dead because I killed—no, murdered him. The irony of it all only makes the pain worse. The only reason I'd managed to kill him was because he'd trusted his little brother so very much, had done something (eyes turning milky white, red eyes spinning slower and slower…) to save me as I hugged him with a shirt filled with explosive tags, and not even tried to fight back as I killed him. What had he thought in those final moments?

Gradually I drift off, my crying slackens, and I lean back in my chair as the exhaustion of the last few weeks catches up.

I wake with a start. There's screaming, muffled, but audible. I strain against the bindings but I can't move much. My room is empty, and I sit helplessly in the dark as the horror I had tried to prevent happens. Has Itachi survived? No, I'd made sure to kill him. I'd cut his throat, stabbed his back, had watched his breath stop and felt his body grow cold.

The door of my cell opens, and a white masked ninja enters. From his posture it seems like he's as surprised to see a child bound as I am. His sword is dripping blood, his leg too, and with mounting horror I glimpse the fallen corpse of an Uchiha police officer behind him. No, impossible. Something inside me is breaking. This can't be. I killed Itachi to stop this. That can't have been pointless. He moves jerkily to me, breathing labored, and I scramble back as much as I can with my hands tied. No use. My red eyes catch his hand signs and with a slurp, my feet are sunk into the stone floor, my arms are pulled back further by stone hands, and the intruder approaches. My desperate struggles can barely budge the stone and I can only watch as he reaches into his cloak and pulls out a jar filled with green liquid, setting it carefully by his feet. What? He digs through his pouch and pulls out a medical scalpel, moving slowly and still silently towards me. I put the facts together. The eyes floating in the jar, they're Sharingan, and if he's bound me like this…the very thought makes me tremble and strain against the bonds.

All of his motions unhurried, he puts his hands together for another sign, and the stone tightens so much I can just barely breathe. With no free hands, I can't even try a jutsu to get out, and only the strongest can cast a genjutsu with nothing but a glance. But I have to try. I think of everything I know of genjutsu, the theory, the easy ones mother and father had taught me to break, and channel my chakra to my eyes, the only part of me that can save me. Nothing. Even as my breathing gets faster he's reaching for my eyes with a metal clamp. My eyes start to burn burn burn and as the pain reaches a fever pitch I let out a scream, and black fire rushes forward to the man. He's covered in an instant, too close and shocked to dodge, and he rolls around, desperately trying to put the flames out. Within seconds the man is burnt to black bones and ashes, and his sword clatters to the floor next to me.

What? This must be the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan. The eyes that awaken after "what's most dear is cost"—the eyes that Itachi paid for, that were born from his death. My left eye feels like it's been stabbed and my mouth tastes fresh blood but the feeling of justice, of righteous punishment, overrides it. If the clan's been killed again, I have to know why, I have to see for myself. I swallow my fear down and push myself free of the stone, already softening as the ninja dies.

I scoop up the sword with my now free hands and rush out of the cell. The police headquarters are strewn with empty-eyed Uchiha bodies and the corpses of the mysterious ninja with the white masks, and I find no living clan members as I make my way through the station. From the sound of it there's still fighting outside—I hear screams and shouts. Its chaos—a dozen white masked ninja facing off against five Uchiha, and the Uchiha look like they're losing. Maybe I can help. I know I'm not strong or fast enough to do much, but with these eyes…

I open my left eye, breathe in deeply and stare at the enemy ninja. A burst of black flame spews hungrily from my eye, far faster than I can dream of attacking, and the pain drives me to my knees once again, the world blurring around me. When I can stand again, I see four Uchiha approaching me warily. One of them, I realize with a start, is Izumi.

"Sasuke? What? Why were you in the station? And how did you use that technique?" she says, approaching me with red eyes. I wonder if they know I've killed Itachi—shouldn't they realize I have the MS now?

"I…" I start, "I woke up in the station and there were ninja killing Uchiha." I'll pretend like I'm clueless for now, I need to gather information it starts all over again. "Why are they attacking us? Who are they?" She glances at the others, looks back at me, pity written all over her face.

"They're ANBU, sent by the village. They attacked us within the hour." She says, but the pieces don't fit. Who are they? I've never seen those ninja before, and I've seen the massacre three times. What did Itachi's death have to do with this? She studies my face, sees the evident puzzlement.

"It doesn't matter, Sasuke. I don't know where Itachi is, but if we can find him and your father, they can lead the counterattack." She must have gone mad. Itachi helping the clan? "We have to go. I'll carry you." She scoops me up and we move out, heading towards my home. I'm too weak from the last attack to protest and can only wipe the blood from eyes as she runs. The road are torn from battle, spattered with blood, but there aren't just Uchiha bodies lying on the ground, which gives me a strange thrill of pride. If we bleed, our enemy, whoever they are, will bleed too.

The pain in my eyes is a steady throbbing pulse but I open my eyes to take in the compound as we run. I blink away the blood but a little blurriness—the price the tablet talked about—remains. No matter. I choke back the scream and activate my Sharingan once more and the world sharpens to an acceptable level. This massacre makes no sense. Itachi is dead by my hands, but a mysterious group has attacked the Uchiha in his place. Before I wake up again I need to know more. I tap Izumi on the back, and she lets me down, clearly tired herself. I keep up as best I can through the short run to my house, thinking furiously. Is Itachi only another group's agent? Is there some other organization that wants us all dead?

"Sasuke! You're all right!" and my mom is clutching me to her chest, father standing warily beside us. We're home. Relief floods me, but I suppress it. I need to act fast, I don't have much time before I'm flung back in time once again.

"Father, who were those ninja attacking us? "

"ANBU. Probably Danzo's men. " he says, and his hands are clenched tight. The Uchiha gathered stare at father. He breathes out slowly, as if preparing himself. "At this point the best we can hope for is fleeing. Maybe Kumo, if they'll take us." The others don't contradict him. "With both Itachi and Shisui dead, and a quarter of the police force slaughtered, we haven't got a chance at a clean coup." Izumi gasps beside me, just learning of his death.

"But how?" she says, voice cracking, "he was so strong."

"They used Sasuke, probably a genjutsu of some kind," he says, and now his voice gets rougher, angrier. The Uchiha shift around us, whispering of the black fire I'd used. "They used a brother to kill another." Izumi stares at me with wide eyes, and even as my self-loathing reaches a fever pitch, I'm trying to think through it. Whatever is going on is a surprise to everyone, yes, but from the way father is talking, the clan had been planning something.

"That's…monstrous," Izumi whispers and I can't bear the pity in her eyes. They're all staring at me as if I'm a victim, as if I hadn't planned Itachi's death for days and kept hold of myself to not tip him off. An older Uchiha, far older than my dad, grabs his shoulder and speaks. His eyes are milky white.

"Fugaku, there will be time later for grief. If we can release and control the nine-tails, we may be able to force a victory. Your eyes will be crucial."

Fugaku considers this for brief moments.

"If we can control the nine-tails, we could win, yes, but I'm not confident we can, and, " Fugaku pauses for a second, and while his voice doesn't waver I can still see the strain, "with Itachi dead and Shisui still out of the village, there's no way we could hold off forces long enough to extract it from Naruto. " My head is spinning. Naruto? What does he have to do with anything? Hadn't the Fourth Hokage killed the nine-tailed fox for good? "If the Hokage and Kakashi attack, we can't hold them off. We'd be cut down before we could complete the extraction. We don't have the strength. That plan died with my son and with Shisui's absence."

Fugaku pauses again, gathering his breath as the clan whispers around him.

"Most of Root is dead, so we have a little time before Konoha as a whole realizes what has happened. It will take the Hokage at least a half hour to gather Jounin and ANBU to send after us, and we are strong enough to fight off any group that doesn't include Kakashi, the Hokage, or Might Gai. If they're cautious, they'll send at least two of the 3, because they know we have at least one member with a Mangekyo Sharingan, and with today's events, possibly more. If we can get as close to Kumogakure as we can, and defect before we're captured, Konoha will be forced to retreat before attacking. They won't dare attack if we can join forces with another village."

All around me, Uchiha nod, standing straighter, ready to take orders. My heart swells. We're strong. We will make it through this.