29 Chapter 29: The Morning After

"Atsuki… What happened to you?" Shin asked with a tremble in his voice. Atsuki however remained silent for a while before he took off his mask and chuckled, "Heh, I told them… no matter what sort of disguise I take, you'll be able to recognise me." Atsuki threw away his mask and turned to pat the giant tree beside him, "You remember this right?" he turned to Shin, "We would train here day and night, every single day. Didn't matter if it rained or snowed, we'd drag each other out of the bed and come here to train."

"I remember…" Shin acknowledged. Atsuki smiled at him. "And every day after the training, you would go back home and I would go back to the orphanage… I hated that place… everyone pitied me and the other orphans… we were nothing more than a charity case to them! After throwing some money at us, they turned a blind eye to whatever happened to us! They didn't care, all they needed was a way to make them feel generous!" His face twisted in disgust as he spoke before suddenly shifting to a smile, "But Ryouka…but Mom wasn't like that… no. She cared for us! She cared for me! She didn't pity us or think of us as a charity case no… She actually cared for us, like a mother would. Do you know what the happiest day in my life was, Shin?" he asked, not even long enough to hear an answer before continuing, "It was the day I became a genin! It was the day when that Hokage sent people to take me away and Mom stopped them… I had never, not once since my parents died… had anyone fight for me like that… Then she took me in and I once again got a family and it was the happiest time of my life."

Shin listened in silence while Atsuki spoke, he didn't know what to say, he didn't know if there was anything he could say.

"Mom was the best thing that ever happened to me… she was kind and she was gentle and she was so forgiving… forgiving enough to forgive that demon that killed her husband and the blasted Uchiha that brought that demon to the village!" "Atsuki-" Shin tried to speak but was interrupted, "She forgave them and what happened!? She GOT KILLED FOR IT!" he yelled, startling Shin. "Killed? Atsuki, what are you talking about!?" Atsuki gave a sarcastic laugh and replied, "Oh yah… you know how she died? She died due to chakra poisoning! She got poisoned by thAT DEMON FOX!"

Shin became confused, he had been there when Ryouka had died but there was no sign of Chakra poisoning, "Atsuki hold on! She was-" Once again he was interrupted by a delirious Atsuki, " AND YOU!" he pointed at Shin, "You were the best medical ninja in the whole village! YOu could have healed her! But you were too busy flierTING WITH THE UCHIHA BITCH TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN MOTHER!"

Atsuki yelled at Shin who looked on in silence, he couldn't refute Atsuki's words because he himself had said the same to himself many times, 'What if I had gone with her to the hospital?' 'What if I had treated her myself?' 'What if I had taken care of her more instead of being a ninja?' These thoughts had plagued Shin for months and now hearing it from Atsuki, Shin had no reply.

Atsuki panted, drawing in deep breaths until he returned to some semblance of calm, "You took away the person I had loved the most… you… are not worthy to call her 'Mom'" Shin bit his lip, trying to put away the resurfacing thoughts that had plagued him for months. Shin finally gathered the courage and spoke in a small voice, "Atsuki… I'm sorry. You're right, I should have taken care of Mom before anything… but-" "Doesn't matter." Atsuki waved him off, "None of it matters any more… not after tonight."

Shin looked at the boy and asked with apprehension, "What do you mean?" Atsuki gave Shin a smirk and replied with glee, "After today, the biggest threat to the village would be gone!" Shin froze as he realized the weight of Atsuki's words, "What do you mean? Atsuki!? What do you mean!?" Shin yelled at him. Instead of replying, Atsuki simply continued to laugh.

Shin turned around to leave but before he could jump away, he had to side step as a kunai passed him, he turned to look at Atsuki who was holding on to shurikens in one hand and a Kunai in another. "I can't let you leave Shin. I'll stop you even if I have to kill you!" Atsuki spoke with a dangerous look.

Shin looked at him and asked in a pleading tone, "Why are you doing this Atsuki? This is a mistake!" Atsuki simply shook his head and replied in a calm tone, "No, letting the Uchiha live was a mistake, letting the 3rd Hokage continue to tolerate this threat was a mistake, no… this… this is us correcting that mistake!" Shin shook his head, "Danzo has brainwashed you! He doesn't care about the village or what harm will come to it because of his actions! There is still time! We can stop this! Please Atsuki! Let me help you!"

Atsuki shook his head, "I don't need any help. Danzo sama will help this village become strong just like he made me strong! I don't need your help anymore Shin! I've grown far stronger than you think!" Atsuki paused for a moment before he spoke again, "You are the only family I have left Shin, I'd hate to kill again tonight."

"Again? Atsuki, What Did you do?" Shin asked with morbid apprehension. Atsuki slowly took the sword from his back as he spoke, "She thought she could delay the inevitable, that she could challenge Danzo sama! It was a pity, but it was her own fault for defending the Uchiha and trying to kill the only man that can protect this village."

Shin saw the sword and instantly a purple haired woman flashed in his mind. Shin's face lowered as his breath halted for a second and a voice ringing in his ears.

[Notice:

Diagnosis complete: The target's neural pathways have been irreparably altered.]

'Any chance of recovery?'

[Yes. But it would require Level 5 and/or the ability to completely rewrite the target's brain.

The earliest possible solution requires constant treatment from powerful genjutsu like from the special ability of a Mangekyo Sharingan.]

Shin hadn't been listening to Atsuki for no reason, he had Assal run a detailed diagnostic scan on Atsuki and had been biding his time, waiting for it's completion.

"I'm sorry Atsuki… I don't know when I'll be able to fix you… But it'll take years before I'm able to. And I cannot let you serve someone like Danzo as his pet…"

Atsuki smirked as he held up his former teacher's sword, "Hooo. Are you gonna kill me? Danzo sama was right, wasn't he… You've been put under a genjutsu by that Uchiha bitch! It's ok… you can just go ahead and join Mom!" Atsuki sprang forwards and chopped down at Shin who moved backwards and threw shurikens at him. Atsuki deflected them before charging at Shin once more, trying to hack at him.

Shin used his kunai to parry the attacks while trying to gain some distance but Atsuki was very familiar with Shin's fighting style and used a constant barrage of attacks to avoid giving Shin room to maneuver. Shin was being backed up to the tree line surrounding the clearing and that would limit his movements so he sent a few tagged kunais towards Atsuki who deflected them away. This gave Shin just enough time to jump into the trees as he started to weave hand signs.

Shin berthed in as his chest expanded, 'Great Breakthrough!' Shin was just about to release the jutsu when he heard lightning strike the tree he was standing on shattered. Shin jumped up and released the jutsu, sending a great hurricane towards Atsuki who had already raised an earth wall to defend.

The wind ripped apart the trees and broke away the earth wall but Atsuki had already escaped. Shin looked around, his eyes wandering over the ground when his instincts screamed at him and he jumped away from the tree he was on, dodging a kunai from the Atsuki emerging from the tree. "Heheh, Those instincts are something else. Guess all that training for surprise attacks wasn't wasted huh, Shin."

Shin landed back in the clearing but he still felt something wrong. *Thurk* Shin jumped as a sword appeared from the ground and cut his leg. Shin jumped back till he was several meters away before observing his injury, "The wound is not deep but it would be a hassle to move.'

Astuki appeared from the ground as Shin remarked, "Shadow clone?" Atsuki grinned as he replied, "You can't win against me Shin. Danzo sama knew that you would eventually become a threat to the village, that's why he made me the ultimate counter to you! I know all your fighting styles and I know how to counter them! We made them together, remember? Right HERE!" Both Atsuki's jumped at Shin before he could completely heal his leg.

Shin dodged a kunai by back stepping before jumping away to avoid a lightning clad sword smashing the ground before him. Shin took shurikens from his pouch and sent them towards the sword wielding Atsuki before weaving his hand, 'Shuriken clone technique!' The flying shurikens multiplied as Atsuki deflected them while the clone smacked his hands on the ground and multiple walls of earth rose around shin, trying to entrap him completely.

Shin flickered away before he could be trapped but found a lightning clad sword bearing down at him. Shin dodged at the nick of time but the lightning still tore through his clothes and sent him flying into the forest. Atsuki followed up and slashed down at Shin who could barely roll away before flickering into the forest.

"You can run, but you can't hide~" Atsuki's voice rang in his ears as Shin ran as fast as he could before stopping and resting on a tree. Shin quickly used medical ninjutsu to heal his injuries but he knew he only had a brief moment before Atsuki caught up to him. Shin took out some bandages from his storage and started to bind himself, 'I underestimated him. Whatever Danzo did to him, he is as strong as me. I've never had to fight him seriously before and he can also predict my every move… I'll have to come up with something he won't expect.'

While Shin was deliberating about how to fight his friend, Atsuki's distant voice fell into his ears, "This reminds me of the old times! What do you say we play Ninja one last time eh Shin?" Shin summoned a shadow clone and went into hiding to observe.

The Shadow clone drew his tagged Kunais and sent them towards Atsuki who immediately smiled, "Found you!" *BOOOM!* the explosion cleared everything in a 10 meter radius but before Shin could react, Atsuki emerged from the tree next to him and slashed at him. Shin was able to bearly dodge with minimum damage but Atsuki kept up his relentless pursuit.

Shin Jumped back and spewed a huge ball of fire at Atsuki who jumped back to dodge. Just as Atsuki thought he was safe from it, he saw dozens of shurikens flying through the fireball and deflected them but a few still grazed him as the fire died out. Shin took out his tagged kunais and started to throw them Atsuki you dodged and deflected them away from him but suddenly turned around to see numerous balls of fire hurtling towards him as he jumped from tree to tree, trying to dodge the unrelenting fireballs that chased towards him.

*Boom!*

A tagged kunai close to him exploded as the shockwave made him imbalanced and he was hit by a fireball in the back and a shuriken hidden within the fireball embedded itself into Atsuki's back.

Atsuki fell to the ground, his back sizzling from the heat of the fire as he straightened up, Shin appeared in front of him and his shadow clone appeared behind Atsuki. Seeing this Atsuki chuckled, "heheh, Didn't think not only would you fraternize with the traitorous Uchiha but also learn their jutsus!"

Shin looked at his friend and dismissed his clone, "You're right… Killing you with an Uchiha clan jutsu would be disrespectful… how about one of Fujio sensei's?" Shin spoke as he summoned and drew his Chokuto. Atsuki raised the sword he held and grinned, "You think you can beat me in kenjutsu? I was trained by Danzo sama himself!" he yelled and sprang forth, lightning appearing on the sword.

Shin took a relaxed stance as he channeled lightning chakra into the sword. The swords clashed as sparks fell to the ground and the clash of ringing metal echoed through the forest. Fujio's sword was heavier and more durable, allowing for a more weighted strikes but Shin's was lighter, allowing him use the lightning enhanced chakra sword to strike numerous times in a single second, every strike of the sword was akin to a lightning strike and unlike Atsuki who didn't know how to properly handle the increase in speed and damage and was just swinging it around like he would a normal sword, Shin had trained in Lightning Style Kenjutsu everyday since Fuijio sensei taught him and had mastered it.

The swords clashed as Atsuki brought down a slash that Shin dodged before slashing at Atsuki horizontally. Atsuki backstepped but his eyes instantly went wide as lightning shot out from Shin's sword and priced right through Atsuki. This was the difference between using lightning style chakra and having it. Since Shin was using his own chakra, he could manipulate it to a greater extent.

Atsuki dropped the sword as lightning continued to wreck his innards and scorch marks spread over his body from the point of impact. Atsuki dropped down to the ground, his heart had already exploded and his lungs and nerves system was damaged beyond repair. Shin dropped down and closed Atsuki's eyes, wiping away the blood that had come out from his orifices due to suddenly being evaporated by the heat.

Shin's heart bled along with his friend's but he didn't have the time for mourning, he looked up and saw a red moon in the sky. He got up and started running towards the Uchiha compound but as he drew closer, he found Root members along the perimeter. Shin didn't have the time, nor the patience to deal with them so before they could react, Shin drew his Chokuto and started to strike them down.

The Root member's were no ordinary ninja's however, they were all at least Chunin level. Unfortunately for them however, Shin was not in the mood for games. Shin simply used lightning style kenjutsu and massive amounts of explosive tags to carve a bloody path towards the Uchiha compound. He hadn't wished to use such tactics against Atsuki because he had wanted to give him a good death but for the other root members, Shin didn't care if there wasn't even a corpse left to bury after he was finished.

Since he had just come out of one death battle and immediately entered another, his senses were heightened and his omnidirectional attack left few survivors, all of them experienced Jonins. "Where did this guy come from? 23, what do we do now?"

"Retreat, the whole village will be here soon. Gather the dead, no one can know that we were here."

"What about that guy?"

"Leave him, we can't take him down quick enough."

The remaining root members left in a hurry and Shin started to make his way towards the Uchiha compound. Shin was running through the trees that surrounded the district.when he saw a shadow.

[Name Itachi Uchiha

Level 90(+50)

Age: 13

Title: Jonin of Konoha]

Shin immediately stopped and changed directions, heading straight towards Itachi. When Shin chased Itachi, Itachi quickly came to a stop, allowling Shinto catch up. "Itachi! Listen to me, Danzo- !" Shin barely had time to speak before Itachi Turned back, his eyes shifting into three spiraling curves as he spoke in a chilling tone, "You shouldn't have come here Shin."

[Warning: Powerful external mental influence detected.

Creating mental backup.]

Shin had yet to register what was happening before he found Itachi In front of him. Shin looked down and saw a sword stabbing his chest. Itachi put his hand on Shin's chest and yanked out the sword and Shin stumbled to the ground, his wide eyes screaming of betrayal and resignation as he heard Itachi's words, "I'm sorry it had to happen this way, Shin."

Shin's vision went black as he saw Itachi's figure disappear.

.........…

A red sun rose on the village of Konoha, the people got up with smiles on their faces and plans for the day ahead but as soon as they stepped out from their houses, everyone could feel a chill in the air as a shiver traveled up their spines. Mothers for some reason stopped the children from going out to play with friends, fathers decided to close shops early and stay with their families, the schools were all canceled and the vibrant streets of Konoha became deserted.

Shadows could be seen jumping from roof to roof in blurs of speed, their silent footsteps the only sounds in this once rowdy village.

Inside a white painted building, a place of healing and a place of death, a young boy occupied one of the rooms. He was the only occupant but the frequent visitors made it seem less empty; doctors, nurses, janitors, shopkeepers, patients. In just one day, this room had been visited by dozens of individuals, the mixed scent of numerous flowers wafted from the room and had spread down the entire hallway.

Among these visitors was an old man who seemed to be older than his age and had more wrinkles on his face than any other man his age. He looked at the boy before with great sadness and let out a sigh before turning to a white coat doctor next to him, "How is he?" The doctor fixed his glasses before speaking, "Physically, he is in peak health. He had already healed his injuries when they found him but… His mental state is questionable. I believe he had fallen into this deep sleep to counter the effects of the trauma."

The old man nodded, "Let me know when he wakes up." he sighed once more before leaving the room, 'Danzo you fool, you've just cost us some of our most brilliant shinobi. I no longer have a choice in the matter, it's time to put an end to the foundation.'

The day passed by and yet the village still seemed to be gripped by an indescribable sense of unease as a new sun rose over the silent village. All the ninja's were being posted on duties, even some reserve and retired shinobi had been called on with Anbu and hunter ninjas being dispatched to track down Itachi.

In all this commotion, a young boy had disappeared from his hospital bed.

Shin walked the deserted streets of Konoha, walking down the familiar yet distant paths until he came to a familiar street that had always been filled with the sweet scent of freshly baked bread from Grandpa Pan's bakery and the mouthwatering aroma of just made rice cakes from Aunt Amai's shop, the laughter of the neighbors children and the hushed gossips of the housewives.

Yet at this moment, this street had none of that, one might think that this was not the same street Shin had been living in for the last 11 years. There was no laughter and no sweet smell to greet him as he came up the door to his house and entered it. Again what greeted him was silence.

A pair of dead eyes looked around the house, searching every shadow and nook for a trace of what he remembered to be home but all he found was emptiness.

[Notice: Scene reconstruction complete. Would you like to view it?]

Shin's eyes fell onto the virtual screen in front of him, after a few moments he simply thought 'yes' and the world around him faded.

He was back in the forest, the shadows of the trees lay still under the light of the moon and he saw Shin being stabbed by Itachi. Itachi put his hand on his chest and yanked out his sword as Shin fell down. Itachi spoke in a heartless tone, ""I'm sorry it had to happen this way, Shin." as Shin's eyes closed, the world became dark yet the silhouettes of everything around him became brighter.

"That was the heart of you Itachi, I thought he was your friend." a figure entered his senses, it was vague and difficult to recognise, it looked like two different colors had been joined together, but Shin had some idea of who it was. "He was a nuisance. I'll meet you outside." With that, Itachi disappeared and the other person along with him.

Shin looked around, wondering why this reconstruction was still going on before he suddenly saw the laying Shin snap open his eyes and the world regained color. His eyes had become a copy of Itachi's as he put his hand into his chest wound and brought out a rolled up piece of paper. 'That looks like sealing paper, how did that get there?' Shin's curiosity was satisfied by Assal, [Itachi put it inside the wound while pulling out his sword.]

Shin watched his injured self as he put the paper inside his put and went through a few hand signs and the paper dissolved, turning into a tattoo on the inside of his cheek. Shin then continued to use medical ninjutsu to heal his wound before passing out again and the world faded once more to return him to his house.

Shin went to a mirror and saw there was indeed a small black mark inside his cheek. He had recognised the hand seals he had used so he easily unsealed it, spitting out a white sealing paper. Shin studied the paper for a bit before unsealing it and in a puff of smoke, two items came into existence. One was a cylinder with a sealing paper wrapped around and the other was a scroll.

Shin opened the scroll and realized that it contained the entire Uchiha jutsu catalog. At the side of the scroll a few words had been written, "Take care of Sasuke." Shin gripped the scroll so tight that his hands went white, "so selfish… you bastard!" Shin cursed.

Shin put down the scroll and picked up the cylinder, he recognised the seals around it so he carefully took them apart, inside was a paper note with a single line and a tube with liquid and a pair of eyeballs. Shin was startled when he saw it and picked up the note to read what was written, only to stop completely; not only his hands, but his breath, his mind and even his thoughts had stopped completely.

On the note was a single line;

"Now you can become a red panda too, we'll match!"

Just as a single straw can break a back, a single crack can break a wall... a single sentence can break a man. Shin's mask of calm cracked, the creaks spreading like branches of a tree until it all came shattering down.

The house that was once filled with laughter and joy now housed the stifling cries of sorrow and tears. The hopes and dreams that had once bloomed in this house now lay littered like shattered glass, piercing at every step, a painful reminder of what once was and what never will again be.

The shockwave of the tragic tale that had begun 6 years ago had finally shaken the foundations of this house, bringing with it nothing but ruin. This house had finally fallen, for now, this once once vibrant home, had become nought but a silent tomb.