Paradox

08 - Behind a Crow's Eyes

Today was the day where it was foretold that the village would be attacked by three Uchiha. Crimson eyes focused on the sun that was hidden behind some clothes, and was still etched into the horizon. Sarada took a deep breath, and nodded at her mother launching into the air, grabbing onto a stray pole, and slinging herself up to the top of the rooftop. Her mother followed behind her rather gracefully, her lab coat falling gently behind her. Her mother tucked a strand of stray, ebony hair behind her ear, and kissed the top of her head.

"We'll be okay, Sarada..."

Sarada did not know if she could trust her mother. Things felt wrong. They could feel massive spikes of chakra slowly closing in on the village, and she felt irked by it all. She had never felt this much energy together all at once.

She did not answer her mother, keeping her eyes on the rising sun.

She watched from her peripherals as hundreds of ninja launched themselves onto the rooftops, and heard the ruffling of footsteps from below. The civilians were evacuated yesterday afternoon, Orochimaru allowed them all into his many underground bunkers.

"Make sure we stick together, sweetheart," her mother said quietly, her own eyes focusing on all the shinobi that were gathered around.

Naruto and her young father appeared next. No longer were they in their disguises, instead wearing what Sarada assumed was their usual clothing. A bright orange jumpsuit for Naruto, and a dark blue shirt for her father. Her eyes met his, and he also had his sharingan activated. Unlike hers, his was fully developed, three tomoe in each eye, while she had two in each.

"Hey, guys."

Boruto appeared with his hands on his hips. Her other teammate, Mitsuki, was there also. He was to stay in the village and gather sage chakra to distribute when people ran out of chakra. Numerous snakes were stationed around the village, close to tiny slugs that would act as a healing source.

The group saw both Itachi and Kakashi in the distance, surrounded by shinobi. No one questioned Itachi being there, just happy to have more people on their side. Itachi had a reputation, after all.

Sarada's gaze fell back onto her blond teammate, who now had his byakugan activated(1).

"Alright," she heard her mother say. "I need you all to stick with me. We will try and find an opening, if not, we'll smash through one. We're to avoid Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara as well as we can. Itachi is fairly sure that Sasuke will try to come for us directly..." she paused at this, her pink eyebrows furrowed. "Our mission is to send Naruto and Sasuke back to their timeline, that is our ultimate goal."

Her mother gave a curt nod. This woman was different to the one that raised her.

She was a shinobi.

"Itachi will try and follow us as well as he can, but his focus is on Sasuke or Madara," she shook her head, "So we can't rely fully on him. I trust all of you in your abilities, and I'm sure the Zetsu that they have brought will not be able to be strong enough to keep us back."

Sarada felt a gentle tap on her shoulder from Mitsuki, who gave her a small smile. "I'll try and help you where I can, but I do have to stay in the village..." his eyes flickered onto Boruto, "Keep yourselves safe. I want to continue to be on your team."

As he said that, his body 'poofed' away, showing that he was a clone.

"Zetsu?" Sasuke said, speaking up.

"They're... clones. They're the only beings that seem to want to fight with those guys," Sarada said, adjusting her glasses. Her mother had said that they would be no doubt part of the assault on the village.