𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐑𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

Headquarters

"We don't want them to know that we have you two on our side. Thus, the masks."

I glanced at Itachi through the eyeholes of my kabuki mask, thankful that it at least masked my expression of pure disdain. Surely our father wouldn't have dared admit to anyone that Itachi had abandoned the clan to align himself with the Senju, so seeing the two of us was the last thing anyone in our family would've been expecting, masks or not.

"Plus, it adds a bit of mystery to our identities, don't you think?" joked Itachi, earning an eyeroll from my part.

"You two know the ins and outs of the compound far more than any of us, probably even Naruto, so it's up to you to locate your family and finish them off."

I nodded as Tsunade gave us their final instructions, having finally relented to my protests about assigning Itachi our parents' assassinations, and allowed me to accompany Itachi in completing the final task.

"Sasuke, all you're there for is to give Itachi back up. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Shall we go, then?"

***

"As much as I understand why you fought so hard to partner up with me, Sasuke, I should also feel offended that you doubt me."

I rolled my eyes at Itachi as we pressed on towards the compound, the path becoming more familiar as we continued walking. No doubt they had been alerted of our approach, and had set up their defences accordingly. Once headquarters had gotten wind that we had been recapturing hideouts on our way to the compound, they immediately evacuated the hideouts we had yet to reach. Upon reaching the last few hideouts on our list, we found that they had all been emptied and destroyed, masking whatever project had been going on within its walls.

"You don't have a murderous bone in your body," I leered, spitting at the thought of Itachi trying to kill our parents. "You couldn't lay a finger on mother or Izumi even if you wanted to."

"Actually, I beg to differ. They are no longer my priorities; what I want is to make sure that Yuta can have a normal childhood, without all this fighting and war. If I have to sacrifice them for it, then so be it. Besides, they're far too deep in father's clutches to rescue. They're adults who can function on their own and make their own decisions. And sadly, they've chosen to remain with him."

"Hn."

As we walked, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. 

The compound slowly came into view, and not a single sound could be heard. It was quiet.

Far too quiet.

"ARGH!"

Instinctively, I whipped out a kunai and narrowly managed to deflect the weapon that had been flung towards me, leaping into position as we were ambushed by a squad of enemy shinobi. Slowly but steadily, they began to appear out of thin air in their multitudes, signalling that we would be fighting a majority our battle out here unless we managed to push them back.

"You two- finish your job!"

Tsunade yelled at Itachi and I as she stood back to back with Kakashi, with our forces rallying themselves to prepare for the upcoming onslaught of Uchiha shinobi.

As Itachi and I began to cut our way through the shinobi who prevented us from moving forward, I recognised every face.

Shun. Yuriko. Masahiro.

As I withdrew my katana to fend off everyone who tried to get in our way, a heavy weight at the back of my mind began to make its appearance.

I squashed any doubts immediately.

"Let's go!"

Once Itachi had managed to clear an opening for us through the line of shinobi who tried to prevent us from moving forward, I wasted no time in following him and sprinting towards the compound, where its walls were inundated by shinobi guarding it from the invaders.

Looking over my shoulder, I could see a few of our allies rushing towards Itachi and I to provide backup.

"Look, we need to find mother first!" exclaimed Itachi as he found himself embroiled with a shinobi I hadn't seen before. "There's no way we'll find her out here!"

"Don't worry," I called out, finding myself apprehended by a distant cousin. "We've got all day!"

I ignored every single face as I put an end to their lives, cutting myself off as much as I could.

Or at least, I tried to.

Hey, Sasuke! Morning!

Hey, Sasuke. I brought those reports you wanted. How's Yuta?

I heard your girlfriend is pregnant. Congratulations.

With every relative I faced off with, I remembered snippets of different conversations I'd had with them. Of course, since I was completely masked none of them seemed to be feeling any bit of sentimentality, but it was something I hadn't been counting on facing when I dealt with them.

"And where do you think you're going?"

I hissed under my breath as I deflected a string of kunai aimed at me, looking up to see none other than Naori leaping down on me from a nearby tree.

Slowly, Itachi and I were engulfed in battles of our own, and it was almost impossible for us to make our way any closer to the compound.

"You're not going anywhere!" spat the purple haired female, violently withdrawing another kunai and running up towards me. "Come on, let's go!"

I sighed internally as I easily parried her kunai with my katana, unable to ignore the little bit of regret in my stomach. Sure, on a general level, I didn't care much for my family. But the closer we got to the compound, the more I realised that those I worked closely with were situated here, meaning that I had a stronger connection with them than the first batch of shinobi we had come face to face with.

I saw Itachi squaring off with Naka, and wasn't surprised. He and Naori were often close to each other during times of battle, and it appeared that today was no exception. 

Naori was a good woman. Truly, she was. She had been one of the few relatives who hadn't been annoying or irritating, and she was a superb kunoichi in her own right.

However, I had a job to do.