Shisui's sudden appearance was unnerving. Hanako had followed him silently down the streets, as they made their way to the lake within the Uchiha Compound. Whatever news he had to share, they had to be disconcerting enough to keep him tight-lipped during the entire walk.
At the lake, Hanako walked down the dock and sat down at its far end, staring at the calmness of the water and the small waves the wind produced with its blow. It was a little after 4 a.m. The sun hadn't gone up yet, but the sky was beginning to lighten. In the partial darkness, Shisui's eyes were glowing a deep red, filled with silent melancholy. Her own red eyes were focused on the ripples caused by dew water droplets falling on the lake's surface.
A small yellow flower drew Shisui down to the shoreline. Upon realizing it was a daffodil, his lips curled up into a smile. "Do you remember that day, during the Chunnin Preliminaries, when you ran away from the Arena after Shun's death?" he asked.
Hanako glanced at him. Shun was a Genin from Iwagakure, who had died at her hand during the Chunnin Exams. That day, she had felt like a murderer. She had not intended to kill him, but unconsciously let the kunai pierce his heart and cause a fatal wound.
Shisui was staring at the flower in his hand, carefully roaming his eyes down every petal.
The girl let her eyes wander back to the lake. "You were the one who comforted me that day. Told me that whenever I was feeling troubled, I should smell a flower and let it take my pain away."
"Sometimes, it just doesn't work, right?" His voice faltered as he let himself take a deep breath, inhaling the flower's scent. He closed his eyes, muttering to himself. "If the trouble is too much, it just... doesn't work..." he let the weight of his hand drag his arm down and let go of the flower.
Hanako followed it with her gaze. The daffodil slowly fell from his hand, danced within the blowing wind, and hit the water, blurring her reflection. "Shisui... what's wrong?" she asked slowly. It hurt. It hurt seeing him like this. So broken, so pitiful. Her eyes moved back to him, but Shisui had not moved from his position.
"I'm...sorry..." His voice was barely audible. "I can't let Itachi see me like this... He looks up to me so much. It would feel wrong to break down in front of him."
Hanako's gaze softened.
"I'm sorry you have to see me like this, Hanako. Pathetic, isn't it?"
Hanako stood from the dock and walked over to the shore next to him. She sat down by the lake and let out a long sigh. "Let it all out," she said. "Scream. Shout. Jump into the water. Whatever you want. I'll be here with you the entire time."
Shisui stared at her. His eyes, red and teary, held so much sentiment that Hanako felt her stomach hurt. He then smiled softly and crunched his legs into a sitting position. "Thank you."
She smiled back at him. Shisui had always been a shoulder to lean on, but who was his support? It was moments like these when she remembered that Shisui was as much as troubled as she was, much like every human being was at some point. She then dared to ask, "Is it about tonight's meeting?"
For a moment, he didn't say anything. He had closed his eyes and taken deep breaths. He then took off his forehead protector and held it tightly in his hand. The wind blew, pushing back his dark curls away from his face.
Hanako wouldn't push him to talk, but she had a vague idea what would happen in today's assembly. After all, hours prior, she had witnessed the Senior Officials buying weaponry from Obito. "Shisui... there's something I need to tell you."
This time Shisui lifted his head and looked at her.
Hanako pursed her lips before meeting his eyes. "Earlier today, I saw Inabi and Yashiro buying weapons from a masked man in Akagahara. I think, they will carry on with the coup."
Shisui looked away. With a slight nod, he confirmed, "They will vote on a date today."
She finally understood why Shisui felt so powerless. As much as he and Itachi had wanted to stop the coup, they weren't able to. The officials wouldn't listen to mere kids, not when their pride was on the line. "Is there nothing else we can do?"
For the first time, Shisui became serious. There was a flame behind his pupils. "There is something I can do, but I need your help."
Hanako widened her eyes. My help? Not Itachi's?
"I plan to attack Fugaku before today's meeting."
It dawned on her. He couldn't ask Itachi to attack his own father. There was a lump in her throat. "How will you do that?"
"I need you to make sure he's alone before the meeting," he was looking at her with serious eyes. "Ask to meet him beforehand, talk to him, stall him. In the meantime, I will place him under a genjutsu with my Mangekyou Sharingan." While speaking, the tomoe in his eyes slowly morphed into a four-tipped shuriken, the unique style of his Mangekyou Sharingan.
"But," Hanako looked away, she wouldn't resist the temptation of skimming through his memories when meeting his gaze with her own Sharingan active. "Lord Fugaku also has the Mangekyou Sharingan. He will see through your illusion, and then we'll be branded traitors."
A soft chuckle called her attention. Shisui was staring at the lake. "Not this one. It's my Mangekyou's ability: Kotoamatsukami. An illusion that once you're in it, you're at the mercy of the caster. I can control his senses, thoughts, I can even change his memories. He wouldn't know. The Kotoamatsukami will literally turn him into a human puppet until I release the jutsu. And no one, not even himself, can break him out of it." His voice was dark. "I really wouldn't like to use it against the Clan Leader, but if it has to be done, then it will be done."
Hanako could feel chills running down her spine. She didn't know if it was the cold wind, or Shisui's coldness seeping through his pores. She gulped, forcing the lump down her throat.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Shisui spoke again. "Did you know? One's abilities are deeply related to one's personality. That's specially true when it comes to the Mangekyou Sharingan." He sneaked a side glance at her. "I never told you how I awakened this eyes, did I?"
Slowly, Hanako shook her head. "You refused to share it with me."
"I never told anyone, maybe now is a good time for me to come clean." He smiled sadly. "I was not always the warm-hearted guy you take me for. I also have a dark cold side."
Blindly driven by temptation, Hanako let herself meet his eyes and wander into his memories as he spoke. Her eyes widened as the images flowed in front of her. Tears soaked her cheeks as she roamed Shisui's past, and as soon as he finished his story, everything turned pitch black. Hanako covered her mouth and closed her eyes.
Shisui placed a hand on her shoulder, and leaned to her ear. "Itachi doesn't know about your Mangekyou. Don't tell him."
She froze. Why couldn't Itachi know about it? Did it have something to do with the visions she had about him? About him murdering everyone.
"I'm counting on you."
Shisui was gone before she opened her eyes. She didn't even hear him leave, but was gone as soon as the sun showed in the horizon. Birds announced the daybreak and the wind blew again.
* * *
The nurses were active that morning, tending to patients even before the sunrise. Hikari had been awake since the middle of the night, not being able to explain the tight knot in her stomach. "Nurse," she asked the old lady watering the flowers next to her bed. "What time is it?"
"Almost five." She smiled at her. "You're an early bird today, did you sleep well?"
Hikari frowned slightly. "I have been sleeping too much lately... I think I'm tired of sleeping."
The nurse chuckled. "Of course, but your body needed some rest."
Another nurse entered the room and smiled when she glanced at the Uchiha. "Good grief, you're awake, Hikari-san. Your sister is here to see you."
Hikari's eyes widened when she saw Hanako by the door.
She was looking at her with teary eyes. "Nee-san..."
A smile crawled into Hikari's lips. "Come here." She said, her arms spread open.
Hanako walked into the room and let herself fall into her sister's arms.
"Well then, we'll give you sisters some privacy," one of the nurses announced before they left the room.
Once she heard the door close, Hanako looked at Hikari with serious eyes. "So, what's the deal? What's your illness?"
The older sister hummed and leaned back on the bed. "I only know for sure that I will have to quit being a shinobi."
Hanako's eyes grew wide. "Why?"
"My body has weakened greatly. I can't go on missions anymore." She laughed softly. "But that's okay, I don't mind."
Hanako looked away from her sister. She felt so sad for her, not knowing how she could cheer her up. "What are you planning to do then?"
Hikari shrugged, "There are lots of things I can do," she chuckled. "I can be a teacher, a waitress, I can sell stuff..." her voice died down when she met Hanako's serious eyes. She didn't have to point out Hanako's obvious disdain.
"That's not what you want." Hanako narrowed her eyes. "Take off the mask. You're hurting, right?"
A burning sensation hit the back of Hikari's throat. She tucked her lips and looked towards the window beside her bed. "How many times did you visit?"
"Every day" Hanako lowered her head. "You were always asleep."
"How much did the nurses tell you?"
"Nothing." Hanako pursed her lips. "I'm not even going to lie to you. They told me absolutely nothing, to the point I tried to check your memories several times with my Sharingan, but it didn't work. I guess it doesn't work when people are asleep."
Hikari smiled slightly. "So, you know that I know what's wrong."
"Why are you keeping it from us... from me?" Hanako's voice broke.
Hikari glanced at her sister and her heart clenched at the image before her eyes. Hanako had fallen into her knees and was tightly clenching the bedsheets in her hands while hiding her face in them. "I didn't want to trouble you. There's nothing you can do."
Hanako looked up. "What do you mean?"
Hikari looked away again. "Do you... remember what happened when you went missing?"
A crease formed between Hanako's brows. "No, I just remember we were in the living room fighting over Amane's journal, then I fell down, but everything blurs from there. Next thing I know, I woke up in the living room to you planning on how to shave my eyebrows."
That pulled a smile out of her sister. "Did you have a dream?" Hanako's eyes widened. Hikari turned to her with quirked brows. "Everyone had a strange dream, what was yours?"
The words got stuck in her throat. "I-I did not dream—" Hanako's words got stuck in her mouth upon Hikari's intent stare.
"You're a bad liar," Hikari smiled. "You're so tough when it comes to exposing liars, but are a bad liar yourself."
"You don't get to chastise me!" Hanako huffed. "You just caught me by surprise."
"Then, what was your dream?" Hikari asked again, tilting her head slightly.
Hanako stood and walked to the window. "I don't even know. There was this woman telling me to seal everyone's memories, including mine. And she wanted me to remember that I could never unseal them."
"What memories were you supposed to seal?"
"I have no clue." Hanako stared at her. "I don't remember anything, just that. I guess it worked, because no one remembers anything, you're the only one acting strange." Hanako bit her lip. "Do you, perhaps, know something?"
Hikari nodded. "I remember everything. From the moment you were sucked by the portal, until we returned here." Her eyes met Hanako's surprised ones. "Your ability to seal memories didn't work on me, and I believe that the reason you couldn't see my memories anymore has to do with the fact that your ability doesn't work on me anymore." Hanako blinked. "The night you disappeared, I showed you my Mangekyou Sharingan for the first time. Do you remember that?"
A vague memory sauntered Hanako's mind. Hikari's spiraled Mangekyou design appeared visible in her mind. "I do. You told me your ability was to open portals to other dimensions."
Hikari nodded her head. "I also told you that each eye has a unique ability."
"You said both of your eyes allowed you to open portals and see dimensional borders. Are you saying that wasn't true?"
"That you awaken your Mangekyou doesn't mean you gain instant access to both of your eyes abilities. Sometimes you need certain training in order to learn about them. That was my case."
"So you could only use the abilities of one of your eyes, and you just discovered the other one."
Hikari sighed tiredly. "Yeah, being able to see dimensional borders was not precisely the right way to describe my left eye's ability. Only my right eye can open portals, but my left eye allows me to find dimensions by negating the current reality."
Hanako frowned deeper. "Huh?"
Hikari chuckled. "Look at the window over there." Hanako's gaze wandered to the clear glass, right next to her sister's bed. "What do you see in it?"
"Just a window... you know, a hole in the wall with see-through glass." Hanako turned back to her sister.
"That's kind of what I can see with my left eye," muttered Hikari. "The current reality is like the wall and there's a window in the middle from which I can see other places, other realities."
"So that's what you mean by negating reality..." Hanako huffed. "So, Genjutsu doesn't work on you because you naturally negate what you're seeing. You're basically immune."
Hikari portrayed a small smile. Since Hanako couldn't recall the past events, she had no idea what she had gone through. She didn't know who their aunt Kira was, or what Kira had done to her. She would never know she was the reason Hikari could fully awaken her second Mangekyou ability and free herself from Kira's illusion. That, as well, was the reason her body responded negatively to her doujutsu.
I wish I could do the same for you. I'm sure your body is compatible with your Mangekyou, you won't suffer like me. Push yourself a little more, little sis.
"Yeah... well, that's how it used to work, because I can no longer use my Sharingan at all." Hanako remained silent, prompting her to continue. "If I do, my chakra would drain to zero, and I'd die. Apparently, you need to be compatible with your Mangekyou to use it without major damage, but most of us either lose our eyesight or we die of chakra drainage. My sickness developed due to constant low chakra levels keeping strain in my body. I was forbidden of activating my doujutsu to prevent any further damages."
"Who told you that?"
"Tobirama Senju." Before Hanako could inquire, she explained. "I know it's impossible, since he's the Second Hokage and now dead. At the time he was only a member of the Senju, he saved our lives when we traveled back to the past."
"The past?" Hanako tilted her head. She remembered her bracelet speaking to her and asking for people 100 years older than them. "Did we go around 100 years into the past?"
Hikari nodded. "I believe you had to seal everyone's memories so that you wouldn't meddle with the progression of events."
"But you remember, which means that the space-time will shift." Hanako narrowed.
There was a thick silence between them. "Hanako, when I die, I want you to implant my eyes into yours. I want you to have my abilities."
Hanako could feel her stomach tightening. There were blurry images in her memory of Hikari in bed, and a medic explaining her situation. "It's not over yet, what you always liked to do was research, right?" Hikari eyes shone a little bit. "What you like to do is finding an explanation to everything, can't you look into your case? Find if there's other people in the past who suffered the same way and if it has a cure."
Hikari smiled. "I guess, now, I have something to do when I'm discharged."
Hanako returned her smile. "Motivation helps you heal faster. So, I'm looking forward to seeing you back home soon." She walked towards the door, feeling a heartache.
"Hanako," Hikari called, making the girl stop her motion. "Do you know if Shisui's coming later today? I'd like to tell him as well."
For an unexplainable reason, Hanako felt her chest burn and something irked her gut. "He said he had something to do. I don't think he'll be able to make it today, you should expect him tomorrow instead." She faked a smile for her sister. "Take care."
After closing the door, Hanako gulped and walked out of the hospital as fast as possible.
* * *
For the first time in a week, Hanako returned home. Today was Sunday, which meant a Clan Assembly will take place later that evening.
I plan to attack Fugaku before today's meeting.
Shisui's voice echoed inside her mind. Hanako felt nauseated with every step she took towards her front door.
I need you to make sure he's alone before the meeting.
Hanako slid the door open and took a step inside. "Mom?"
No reply. Hanako couldn't feel a speck of chakra within the house. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall into her knees. The burning in her chest had only become worse the more time passed, the more the meeting approached. With a deep breath, she slowly got up and slid the door closed.
The kitchen was sparkling clean, no dirty plates, no food out; as if not even her mother had been home in both hers and her sister's absence. Hanako thought for a moment in Tanaka's words in Akagahara. He had suggested her to ask Kenzou, her real father, about the possibility of moving into his house. What if he took her mother and the babies with him. That would be a relief; she saw no future for the clan anyway.
An uncontrollable urge to cry invaded her. She sobbed and screamed. Confident she was alone, she let all of her pent-up emotions out. The powerlessness, the loneliness, the sadness, the rage... it was all out.
When I die, I want you to implant my eyes into yours.
"Damn it, Nee-san, I won't let you die. You can't leave me." She clenched her jaw, and threw everything from the kitchen table to the floor. The sound of breaking glass stopped Hanako. On the floor, was a family photo. The glass protecting the picture had scattered all over the ground. When her eyes landed over her father, Yusuke, she cried again.
She fell to the ground, not bothering with the glass hurting her knees, and brought the picture into her arms, hugging it tightly with closed eyes. She wished to turn back time, that nothing had happened.
Her stomach churned again, and when she opened her eyes, she was in her previous position, standing. The family picture was over the table unscathed. Her eyes widened, she felt her chakra pouring into her eyes and her vision had turned red. She pulled out a kunai from her weapon pouch and stared at her reflection. Letting her emotions reign her mind had forced her Mangekyou into activation and caused her to activate a technique she didn't know she possessed.
"Did I just..." her eyes returned to the frame. "Reverse time?" Her mouth dried and she suddenly felt dizzy. "It was a couple of seconds but... I..." Her sight was becoming blurry and dark. "I .... Reversed.... Time...."