Chapter 7
"What is this floor?" One of the ninja, a man named Genga, asked quietly.
Fugaku performed a series of hand signs and opened the door, "It's his private apartment." They entered a beautifully paneled foyer with a polished marble floor and were instantly on alert.
The entryway was in complete disarray. The floor was littered with glass and ceramic shards from a broken display case, an overturned shoe rack had spilled its contents and there were deep gouges in the floor and walls.
"I'm sensing a single, faint chakra source inside the apartment." Genga whispered.
Fugaku looked at him, "You and Uchito go check it out. It's not Sarutobi, that's for sure. With any luck it's Konohamaru and he's unharmed. Though, considering how the foyer looks that may be unlikely. The rest of you, come upstairs with me."
As the two men entered the apartment Fugaku and the other five continued up the stairs. The last flight was now dark, even though the lights had been on a few minutes earlier before they entered the apartment.
When they reached the top of the stairs they looked around and saw that the hallway was also blacked out.
Because it curved around the circular building the shadows cast from the very few exterior windows were short and ominous.
As they entered an interior hallway the Uchihas had to use their Sharingans to see in the dark.
The double-doors of the Hokage's office came into view, complete with four dead bodies. They were stretched out against the wall, as if they had been moved to clear the walkway.
"How considerate of them." Toshiro said dryly.
"Someone is in here." Fugaku scowled, "Its Danzo."
Toshiro growled under his breath. "So he got here first. How did he know to come at this time?"
Fugaku clenched his teeth and fists in anger. Obviously this meant Danzo knew Itachi was in custody.
The ANBU commander had entered the isolation cells once, years ago, and probably entered them again last night while Itachi was unconscious from the tranquilizer.
Seeing that the teenager had failed his mission, he probably moved forward with his own plans to stop the coup.
However, what did that have to do with the disarray they had seen downstairs?
"You stay out here. I'm going to speak with him alone." Fugaku opened the doors and walked in, shutting them securely before he faced the elderly man standing in front of the Hokage's desk.
The room was unmolested and lit with a table lamp set on the edge of the desk. The sky was beginning to brighten as the sun rose behind the storm clouds.
In the distance smoke could be seen billowing up from over a dozen different areas of the village.
"You finally showed up. A little late in the game, but here nevertheless." Danzo smirked.
His deeply lined face and forehead were wrapped in white bandages, leaving only the right side uncovered.
He was leaning forward slightly, his right hand rested on his cane, while his left arm was wrapped across his torso.
"What are you up to?" Fugaku advanced on the elder, stopping four feet in front of him.
"Why, the same thing you are, of course. Amusing how you never figured it out. Even young Itachi, the 'once-in-a-generation' genius never guessed what my true intent was. I must say, you went to great lengths to restrain the poor child. You should have just killed him." Danzo gave a short laugh. "He was such a good little pawn though."
Fugaku sneered, "You really think it's that easy? I can never forgive you for standing between me and my son. Your death will be long and painful, Danzo. Now where is Sarutobi?"
"Humph. You'll never find him."
"Then where are you? I know that what stands before me is a shadow clone." Fugaku glanced out the window again and watched as the building across the street went up in flames.
"You'll never find me either. But when the village finishes exterminating the Uchiha clan, I will be sure to present myself to your corpse." Danzo laughed again and spoke as his clone disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.
"A few hundred Uchihas up against six thousand ninjas; sounds like a massacre to me. I will then take my rightful place as Hokage. The villagers will be more than happy to back me after all the havoc you will be causing."
Fugaku cursed loudly then retreated back to the door. Violently pulling it open, the door banged against the wall with a loud 'crack' before the safety catch on the hinge caught it, holding it open.
He glared at his kinsmen, as a blind rage filled his thoughts, "Danzo has somehow managed to kidnap the Hokage."
"So now what?" Toshiro asked angrily.
"We carry on with securing the village." Fugaku stamped out of the office and into the hallway. "Meguru, Wakaki, secure the building. Grab Genga and Uchito and have them help you."
"Yes Captain!" The two men replied and took off down the hallway back to the apartment.
"You two," Fugaku pointed at Jinya and Chion, "Go to the front gate. Reinforcements will be arriving tomorrow and we need to keep the area secured so they can enter. Toshiro, follow me."
The two men exited the building and immediately walked into a confrontation. Fifteen Jōnin were standing outside the barrier that was being maintained by several Uchiha men and women.
They were keeping up a one-sided argument, trying to get them to drop their guard and let them into the building. There were seven bodies on the ground nearby and the building across from the tower was still burning.
The Jōnin noticed Fugaku and diverted their attention to the clan chief. "Where is the Hokage? What have you done with him?" A man in his late thirties that Fugaku recognized as Ayuta one of Sarutobi's most trusted ninjas demanded.
"Good question. Perhaps if we can find Danzo we'll find Sarutobi." Fugaku stared at the man, "As for the position of Hokage, that is now my concern."
"What the hell? Are you saying Danzo…" A different Jōnin spoke.
"Danzo kidnapped the Hokage, sometime last night." Fugaku frowned. "Now, choose a side, mine or Danzo's."
Ayuta responded angrily, "Don't mess with us! We take orders from Sarutobi! Or if he is absent, the council."
"Wrong answer." Toshiro smirked. "Time for some fun?" He turned around and looked at Fugaku, who smiled back at him.
"Sure, why not?" Fugaku smirked as he launched himself at Ayuta.
Ayuta dodged the attack and swung around with a kunai only to find Fugaku was not there. He quickly jumped away from the area only to find himself knocked to the ground with a kunai in his shoulder. Ayuta jumped up and looked around. "Where did he go?"
"I don't know." One of the other Jōnin answered.
"Arghhh!" A man standing behind Ayuta fell to the ground, his throat cut open. He grabbed at his neck for a few seconds before loosing consciousness.
"Where are you? Show yourself!" Ayuta yelled as he grasped his wounded shoulder and grimaced in pain.
Seven more Jōnin dropped down onto the ground dead, but this time there appeared to be no injuries.
The remaining Jōnin looked around the area, but Fugaku was not visible and Toshiro was using Taijutsu on his opponent.
"What is going on?" Someone asked.
"It's probably a Genjutsu." Ayuta decided. He put his hands up to form a hand sign and yelled, "Kai!" Nothing changed.
Four more Jōnin fell dead and Ayuta knelt down next to one and looked closely at the body. There was a tiny pinprick in the woman's neck. "Poison! We have snipers!" He looked up at the surrounding buildings but he couldn't sense anyone.
Of course, they would be hiding their chakra. The man Toshiro was fighting dropped to the ground with a broken neck.
"Good-bye." Fugaku suddenly appeared behind Ayuta and pushed his kunai into the man's heart, then pulled it out and quickly swiped it across the last Jōnin's throat.
"Ha! Well that was fun. Nice to see Kisa hasn't lost her touch." Toshiro laughed.
His wife had trained several Uchihas, mostly women in their thirties to fifties who were healthy but not fit enough for battle, in the art of poisons and they were now stationed throughout Konoha acting as snipers.
"What the hell is going on out there?" Hiashi, chief of the Hyuuga clan stood up from the table where he had been sharing breakfast with his wife and two daughters. His long, straight black hair was pulled back with a tie. Dressed casually, he wore a floor length plain brown kimono with a white belt.
"It sounded like an explosion." Yuka gazed at her husband for a minute before she joined him at the window.
She wore a black kimono with a black obi wrapped around the middle, as was traditionally appropriate for a married woman.
Her long hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head with several hair sticks poking out. Her white eyes looked over the horizon, "There's smoke coming from the building by the Hokage's tower!"
"I'm going to go see what's…" Hiashi was interrupted by an angry voice calling out to him from the foyer.