𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

78

"[Name]? What's with the delay? Why aren't you getting ready?"

Following the wrap up meeting with the Senju and their allies, Madara had headed straight home to tidy up before the newly combined village could enjoy one last celebration before the Uzumaki made their way home. However, upon returning to their living quarters, Madara instead walked into Sayuri's room to see Yui lying incapacitated on an extra futon next to Sayuri's, who lay wide awake and swathed in her bright red attire as her mother tended to the sleeping midwife.

"I'm sorry," apologised the Kouhage sheepishly, knelt beside Yui. "I was just about to get ready."

"What happened?"

"Yui-baa was fetching water for Sayuri's bath, but then fell and hit her head on the stairs on her way back," said [Name] remorsefully, looking down at the midwife guiltily. "She woke up briefly not too long ago, and I'm sure she's fine, but she's gone back to sleep again. I should've gone and gotten the water myself. I'm sorry."

"It can't be helped. Old age does that. We'll leave Yui to rest here for the night, and I will bring one of the younger midwives to fill her position for now. She can look after both Yui and Sayuri. But for now, let's go. What kimono did you want to wear tonight? You have that lovely red tomesode that hasn't been worn before, why don't you wear that? And I can wear my red haori to match. Won't that look nice? And we'll be matching with Sayuri too!"

"That sounds like a plan."

"Brilliant! Do you want me to help you dress?"

"Please just watch over Sayuri for me. I can dress myself."

***

"How did it go?"

Amongst the chatter and raucous laughter coming from every corner of the room, Sasuke and Naruto found themselves sitting together with Shisui once more. This time, however, Itachi had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the trio by choosing to sit with Izumi and their son on the opposite end of the room, who were in turn joined by Sakura and Sarada.

"She's in," said Naruto, nodding at the raven as he waited for an update on how the situation with [Name] had gone. "And I have a plan, but I need to speak to Karin tonight to make sure that she and Honoka are on track."

"Shisui, don't just sit there sipping on your tea and pretending you aren't listening," scowled Sasuke as he glowered at his relative, earning a raised eyebrow from the unruly haired Uchiha. "Why don't you go join Itachi? Why are you still here?"

"To make sure whatever the two of you are doing doesn't look suspicious," responded Shisui sweetly, smiling at Sasuke and raising his cup. "Do continue plotting, my dear Sasuke. I'm dying to know what will become of this grand plan."

"If we need your help, would you?" cut in Naruto, looking imploringly at Shisui.

"It depends. What exactly are you two planning?"

"The escape of a woman whom we both love very much. Now, anyways, Sasuke. Here's the plan. If Karin and Honoka successfully manage to pull off their sickness, at the very most I'm hoping our departure is delayed by a couple of days. Tonight, I'm going to send a letter to my brother Menma, and he's going to come up to Konoha once we've left. Then-"

"Woah, hold on. So you're just going to leave?"

"For the sake of not making it look too suspicious. That's the part I'm leaving in your hands."

"... go on."

"To cover our tracks, and to make it look like Karin and Honoka's sudden sickness isn't linked to [Name]'s escape, she's going to have to leave after I've left," implored Naruto, glancing between Sasuke and Shisui as they all subconsciously huddled around their table. "Sasuke, this is where you come in. Assuming that our departure will be delayed for the next two days, I'm going to write to Menma to leave home at the same time, because it'll take him a good two days to make the journey up here. Once he's here, I'll tell him to meet you and [Name] at a certain spot, so you can hand her over and he can escort her back to our father's family."

"And how do you propose we get [Name] out?"

"The only way we can make it look like she left of her own will is for her to walk out on her own," said Naruto with a frown, still skeptical about getting [Name] to do it on her own. "If anyone else is caught trying to help her leave, I can't be certain they won't be in harm's way."

Shisui clicked his fingers and looked at the scheming pair, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"I've got an idea that will work perfectly for [Name]-chan," he said with a wink. "Leave it to me, boys. Just fill me in on all the other details, and I'll tell her what to do."

"What exactly are you planning on making her do...?"

"Ah, Sasuke, are you really that daft?" snorted Shisui, crossing his arms and turning his nose up in the air. "It's so easy! He's not expecting [Name]-chan to leave, right? That means his guard will be down. And he won't be suspicious about anything happening."

"Your point being...?"

"It's easy. We'll get [Name]-chan to pre-pack a small bag and hide it somewhere Madara won't find it, preferably far away from their room, and on the night she's to meet... Menma? We'll get her to leave the bedroom in the middle of the night under the guise of going to the bathroom. She goes to get the bag, she creates a shadow clone, sends that shadow clone back to Madara, and then walks out. [Name]-chan's chakra is strong, so at the very least, her clone will be able to last the night. By the time Madara has woken up, [Name]-chan and Menma will already have had a good head start, and he won't know where she's gone, or where to even begin looking for her. Thoughts?"

Naruto and Sasuke's faces broke into looks of exasperation at Shisui's simple plan.

"That sounds too easy..." murmured Naruto, wondering if a shadow clone was really all they needed to get [Name] out.

"Trust me. Madara-sama won't be able to tell the difference, just as long as someone walks back into the room and snuggles up with him. Where is [Name]-chan going again? Who is your father's family?"

"I'd rather not say, but it's a place she has no connections to," elaborated Naruto, still wanting to keep a majority of the plan in secrecy. "No one would ever think of her going to this place. She really has no reason to."

"Hm... if you say so."

"That's it? She just... walks out?" spluttered Sasuke, unable to believe what idea Shisui was presenting to them. It seemed so radical, because it was so simple. Madara was the most powerful and skilled shinobi in the clan- surely he wouldn't be fooled by such a measly tactic?

"Basically. You know, from what I know, it's never been difficult for [Name] to leave; she's just never wanted to until now," said Shisui, catching both Naruto and Sasuke by surprise.

"How do you know that? Madara has guards patrolling their home twenty four hours a day."

"They only patrol the outer perimeter of the estate wall, and even then, there's only, like, four of them. It's not hard to find a gap between them and find your way over. The last time I checked, they aren't exactly our clan's finest shinobi, either. [Name] far exceeds them in terms of skill and ability."

"This better work, Shisui," said Sasuke through gritted teeth, earning a laugh from his confident relative.

"It will, my dearest princess. I'll inform [Name]-chan of the plan when the opportunity arises- we have two days, you say?"

"Do not call me princess!"

"You sort that out, and I'll sort out my plan with Menma," added Naruto, tapping his cheek absentmindedly. "Yes. It'll all work out. We'll get [Name] out of there."

"We have to."