Don't Stare at the Sun or You'll Go Blind

Chapter 18

"You need to come back to the district. Fugaku-sama is in the hospital."

Shisui hadn't offered much of an explanation, nor had he expanded on his worrying news before he popped out of existence. Sasuke surmised that it had everything to do with Naruko's presence. If Sasuke had to guess, the tension amongst his clan must have reached its peak. Whatever it was that upset his father a few days ago must have come to a head. Had his cousins attacked and hurt his father? Why? Did it have to do with the village?

"What are we waiting for? Let's go, 'ttebayo!" Naruko exclaimed with urgency in her voice.

There would be no point to arguing with Naruko. While he did trust her to be able to defend herself, he knew that he should avoid involving Naruko in his clan's business. Sasuke eyed Naruko for a few seconds before quickly activating his Sharingan and casting a genjutsu as quickly as he could. He stood back to watch Naruko's bright gaze dim just before she leapt away in the opposite direction of the Uchiha district. Reassured that she would be out of harm's way for now, Sasuke hurried back to his home. (He told himself that he'd deal with her anger later.)

Sasuke wasn't sure what he expected to see when he got back to the compound. His father was in the hospital, but what about his mother? Was Itachi already there? Was the Hokage? Sasuke knew that the Yondaime had been very indulgent with his clan in the past, but he also knew that the Hokage had already made it clear that he wouldn't tolerate traitors to the village. With narrowed focus, Sasuke picked up the pace.

As he ran, Sasuke'd run through several different possibilities for what he would see when he got home, but he hadn't expected to come upon an all-out battle in the streets. From where he stood atop the wall surrounding the district, Sasuke tried to pinpoint who was fighting whom. Unfortunately, there were no green flak jackets or even any ANBU uniforms mixed in among the bodies. As far as he could tell, everybody had an Uchiha clan crest emblazoned on their backs. There were young, old, men, women, skilled fighters, and civilians. His clan was tearing itself apart.

Sasuke had long thought about what he would do if he ever had to choose between the clan and the village, but he hadn't expected to choose between separate halves within the clan. He couldn't readily identify who was fighting for what cause. None of the faces he spotted popped out as any of the particularly vocal clan members.

Maybe he hadn't been paying enough attention? Had he been ignoring the tension amongst his clan? The anger, hatred, and frustration that he was now seeing on his family's faces looked far too intense for what he expected. Had he been too focused on Naruko and the threat of the Akatsuki? (Or had Orochimaru pulled away too much of his interest?)

His Sharingan allowed him to see the kunai coming towards him long before it had even left his aunt's hand. She was just a civilian in the clan, one of his clan's best seamstresses, but her aim was better than a civilian's should be. Had she been training for this fight? She lacked any sort of power or speed behind her throw, so it was easy for him to snatch the oncoming projectile out of mid-air before zeroing in his gaze on her.

He could see the exact moment she realized her blunder. She'd been so kind to him the last time his mother had brought him and Itachi into her shop to get a new kimono. But now, she was staring at him with fear in her dark eyes. Did she expect him to try to kill her now? He didn't get a chance to try to alleviate her fears before she took off running, shoving others out of her way as she ran, and causing some to stop and look around at what could have terrified her.

The looks he got from other clan members ranged from (maybe?) relief to disgust and hatred. What did they expect him to do? Try as he might, he couldn't see the separation between his family members. He couldn't tell who was on the right versus the wrong side. (Was there a right and wrong? They were all family.)