An Inch of Gold

16

"You think it's the next progression? Or you know?"

"I would say the probability is high. In the clan legends, it is called Ōmiyanome. It gifts its wielder with the ability to slip through the cracks in time. By minutes or hours, if enough chakra is expended. It differs from Izanagi in that instead of simply creating a powerful illusion, a person might punch a hole through time itself."

"Which is dangerous," Sarada concludes. "And that's why no one in the clan could know about it?"

"Exactly. If such an ability were common knowledge, certain members of the clan would have gone to great lengths to ensure everyone could use that ability. More than that, outsiders might attempt to capitalize on it," he says. "To ensure that didn't happen, the secret was guarded. Should someone from the clan awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and inherit the ability to shape time, they were dealt with swiftly and quietly."

"You mean..."

"Execution," Itachi confirms neutrally. "If they were so unfortunate as to have children as well, they too were eradicated."

"That's horrible!" Sarada gasps at his clinical attitude toward the whole subject.

She has always known that as a member of a prestigious clan, there are certain traditions and practices from the past which are now considered inhumane. She's seen if with the Hyūga, where some of the older generation still possess brands upon their foreheads from the time when they were practically enslaved by the main family.

She just never considered what her own family's brutal history might entail.

"It was horrible," Itachi agrees softly, "but necessary. Human beings are too controlled by their emotions, and would no doubt be tempted to change reality to suit their own purposes. The Uchiha were particularly prone to favouring emotion over pragmatism. When one incident nearly resulted in the entire clan being destroyed, the council deemed these executions necessary. And they were meticulously enforced."

Sarada swallows her next remark—that the Uchiha council's ruling would ultimately be useless thanks to the man in front of her—and forces herself to keep her mind on the mission.

"So if you can't use Ōmiyanome, and neither can my father, and all the other Uchiha who could use it are dead..." she muses, trailing off. Following her own logic, a horrible thought occurs from her. "Hold on—could it be me?" She doesn't give him a chance to respond before rambling on. "Maybe in the future, I unlock the Mangekyō, and it's me that gets the ability. And then I change something in time, and it causes this whole mess, and I'm so busy trying to fix it that—"

Itachi's headshake is as effective in stopping her progressively agitated tone as if he had verbally cut her off.

"There is a less than one percent chance of you acquiring a recessive gene like that," he assures her. "And even if you did, the chances of you ever developing the Mangekyō Sharingan to begin with are slim."

"I don't follow..."

"I know my brother. And from what I have seen of your mother, both outside of this genjutsu and through you, I imagine you parents will move heaven and earth to spare you the opportunity."

"But it's still not impossible."

"Even if you had it, you don't strike me as the type of person that would selfishly put the entire world at risk just to go back and change your personal circumstances."

Sarada isn't so sure about that. There are quite a few aspects of her life that she would change if she could. Quite a few realities she wouldn't mind altering, not just for her own sake but for that of the people she loves.