Queen of Air and Darkness

VI. Sixth Interlude

As Sasuke slipped through Konoha's defenses, he marveled at his enemy's foolishness. They truly believed that they could keep him out, keep him from his home and his birthright. It had occurred to no one that for every secret hiding place, there was a web of gossip and youthful misdeeds passing down such information from squire to page in an unending chain of mischief.

They had truly forgotten that he had once been one of them and knew their secrets as well as he knew his own past.

Mischief indeed, Sasuke thought as he slipped between one such crack on the southern wall. It required jumping across a river and swimming beneath a broken grate, which was likely why none in the guard had thought to board it up. But it was a time-honored competition between pages to see who could slip beneath it the fastest. Naruto and Sasuke had been no different, folding it into the layers of intricate ritual that made up their youthful competitions.

Now he used that same entrance to re-eneter the city. It was easy to disguise himself, with a heavy coat and hat. The streets were empty, emptier than they had ever been in the height of summer before food had gotten expensive and anyone in the city even imagined tragedy waiting on the horizon. Anyone who looked out their windows would see Sasuke Uchiha, but they would not recognize him. They thought of him as the wolf at their gates, the cold winter chill, the nightmare, and the bite of their hunger.

They did not think of him as one of them. If they looked out their window they would see just another boy in a ragged coat, scarf wrapped around his head against the cold. A forsaken son of Konoha, as touched by tragedy as any one of them.

But it was too late for such sentiments.

For Sasuke knew of their plans. Konoha would launch its final attack at dawn.

He did not have spies in the city, but he had Shikamaru, who had done his own math and his own predictions. It was why he had joined Sasuke's side so easily. He knew as well as any in the castle that their supplies would not last much longer. And no commander wanted to lead his men into battle when they had been living on rations—no, they would strike sooner, while they could still remember the feel of a full stomach and a warm fire.

Hours of debate and calculations placed their best estimate at an attack tomorrow. Now that Sasuke had slipped behind the walls, he could see they were right.

Everywhere he looked, he saw signs of forces mustered. Stocks of weapons lined against the walls. Light radiated from the windows of blacksmith's, as the clanging of their hammers echoed through empty streets. Sasuke wove through alleys, dodging the uniformed members of the guard. It had only been a meager few days since word had spread of Kakashi Hatake's return to Konoha, but in that time the guard had increased in number and the members of Danzo's private army had faded into obscurity. Tonight they seemed to be hyper-alert, scanning the horizon at every corner. It took more effort than usual to dodge their gaze.

They could try to muster a fighting force, but it would be futile. His army had circled the city, and in mere days Madara would reach his full strength. They did not have the fighters—the others had been cut off and Sasuke had been certain to train the Zetsus to stop any of Konoha's messages from coming through. There would be nothing to stop him from walking through the city gates its savior and its future. Sasuke reached the base of the castle, marveling at the lack of security. Konoha had not fortified its stronghold in the slightest. As if, in their arrogance, they could not imagine anyone breaking through their stone walls.

Sasuke stopped at the base of the castle and looked up; waiting for his signal.

The south-facing window at the top of the nearest guard tower flickered once, twice, thrice, as someone put their hand over a candle, dimming and brightening the orange glow.