Shikamaru was the one sent to the Capital, to try and unravel whatever secret there was behind an economical empire that was born far too fast and that was far too diverse to be able to survive without someone guiding it.
...
At the same time, Kakashi was there to spy on Shikamaru, as if he was a piece that could be used to unravel the mystery that was Daiki the Nuke-nin.
It was as if everyone saw the world through the same pair of glasses: glasses that defined the shinobi system as necessary, frames that directed everybody to pursue individualism in the interest of the city they were born in. There were once two brothers. A shiver ran down Shikamaru's spine without him being able to control him.
What are you worth?
What is your worldview worth?
Why must we abstain from breaking the wheel?
"We shouldn't interfere." Shikamaru decided, "They're too organized, if there is a group here, it's more than likely that there are others all across the city. Milling these ones would make them martyrs."
It is curious. The Nara thought, That even years apart, I keep following Daiki-sensei's trail.
He was feeling as if, for the first time, he could actually see the world around him, the politics and power-plays, the necessity of war and the steps taken to ensure the less body count possible... like every puzzle to ever fall in the Nara's hands, it was solved.
And with it, Shikamaru found himself at the end of a process that began years before.
The world was the same, but the brightest student of Daiki knew, in his bones and in his heart, that everything had just changed, and that there was no going back.
...
( Daiki POV )
I turned into a sideways alley walking as fast as I could without breaking the cover of my skinwalking technique, aware that misuse of chakra would bring the Guardians on me faster than I could say Hiraishin, and I stopped, seeing the signs of a quick clean up.
Tracks on the ground spoke of a hectic and violent clash. One versus... many. My experience wasn't great enough for me to dissect the meaning between each upturned grain of sand a là Aragorn, but it was enough for me to get an idea about what had just happened: "Fucking hell, Itachi, we were gone less than three hours, how the fuck did Karin manage to get herself kidnapped?"
A blonde man with a slender physique joined me in the alley with a slow sigh: "You are the one that wanted to test her." he reminded me with a drawl that Itachi wouldn't be caught dead doing with his actual face.
"Yeah, but I guessed that she would be holed up somewhere safe, not that she would attack her tail, who the fuck attacks an unknown in hostile territory? That's just..."
"Have you bothered teaching her tactics of any kind?" Itachi's voice interrupted my ranting, making me grimace.
"I wanted her to be capable of kicking ass in an emergency before telling her how to avoid emergencies." It was telling that Itachi's silence was loud enough to sound almost like a snort. Fucking Uchiha and their fucking non-verbal communication shit. In hindsight, dropping Karin on her own had been a mistake.
"Well, it's Root, so what are the odds that she's been dragged to Konoha, and what are the odds that she's been tossed all the way to Danzo's location so that he can see on his own if his mind-wiping program can work?"
I asked Itachi as he was the expert in Root and ANBU-related bullshit. I don't think he would be using Kotoamatsukami on a random Uzumaki, so we should be safe from that point of view. Maybe they've taken some of her blood, but I don't think they're going to rape her until they've safely placed her back into Konoha, where she can be bred.
"Your induction in Akatsuki is imminent, she can wait a day, and then you'll be able to pull on the considerable resources of the organization to track her, even if I suggest making her disappear quietly." Itachi's calm voice managed to keep me focused even as my soul howled for me to break everything in my immediate surroundings.
"I was thinking of dropping her with our not-so-dead-duo." I admitted with a nod. Hashirama was likely to have some idea about how to make Karin unlock her bullshit chains, and Tobirama knew enough fuinjutsu to fill a couple of libraries.
"Please don't call them that."
"Chummy-corpses?" I tried, receiving a flat gaze that managed to make me stop being annoying for the sake of it, "Okay, don't get your panties in a twist. Where are we going to meet the fuckers? Not Ame, I hope, that place is a fucking death trap."
"Someone will meet us east of the capital." Itachi replied: "The vetting process is quite bland, you'll then receive a mission in which I'll act as a supervisor, once that is done, you're in and besides the occasional order, you'll be free to do your own thing as long as it doesn't interrupt someone else's job."
"We'd better fucking move then." I replied as I walked briskly across the city, knowing that running on the roofs would only make the Guardians and all the other ninja converge on my position, and I really didn't need that right now.
After a few minutes during which we navigated the city, my eyes fell once more on the Uhciha at my side: he was under a seamless henge that made him look like a blonde man roughly 1,75 meters tall, with some stubble and brown eyes.
All considered, he had managed to capture the combination of features that resulted in someone perfectly average. Not too bland, because that would have attracted the attention of any watchful shinobi, and not too striking, for obvious reasons.
I myself was wearing the same appearance I had when I entered the Capital, my wobbling legs far too weak for me to be a pretender, and my sight not good enough to spot the very subtle random chek from the passing ninja that constantly kept their guard up in the city.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that interrogation with the Rotting-Riots." I quietly spoke to him after a while.
It was necessary, I knew that much, and Itachi knew as well, having Hashirama and Tobirama willingly following our lead was a not indifferent boon that we would be hard-pressed to find in any other way.
It was telling that Itachi decided to only nod instead of tearing me to shreds with his sharp tongue. He was witty enough to make me feel an hypocrite if he chose to. That the Kinslayer remained quiet, thusly following my lead in this world-wide revolution I was planning. And I was grateful to him for it, even if no such words would ever leave my lips.
"Your disguise is unlikely to allow us to leave the city unmolested if you truly entered with an Uzumaki in tow."
"Itachi, I never meant to leave the city quietly." I laughed softly as we kept moving towards the Eastern gate.
"It's starting?" he asked, proving himself once again lightning fast on the uptake.
"It should." I shrugged, "There is only so much control I can push into something like this, it's not like commanding shinobi, it's more like herding the tide by placing boulders on the way."
Soon enough, as we moved we started spotting more and more often people with red strips of cloth hanging from their belts, braided in their hairs, held in clutched fists that trembled with rage and fear. Like a red tide, these people, from elder to young, from whore to young merchant, moved in a single direction, and Itachi and I were swept up in the crowd.
The main building of the 'House of the Rising Sun' was placed just next to the Eastern Gate, and in front of it, people were trying to push their way across a thin line of regular soldiers in the service of the Capital, who, while more than capable of killing their fellow countrymen, were not particularly eager to start cutting down civilians that were simply asking for a fucking publishing house to be reopened.
A kunoichi appeared on the top of a nearby archway, so that everybody was able to see her: mesh shirt under a white kimono, whe sported the Sash of the Fire Guardians with pride, and her voice was as cold as a blade when she spoke to the crowd: "Disperse."
Killing intent flashed outside of her, intimidating everyone, regular guards included, and for an instant, the commotion lost some wind. I quietly let my chakra seep outside of me, spreading it like a cloak over the people nearest to me even as Itachi and I kept moving towards the eastern gate.
"No!" one man stepped upon the shoulders of someone else, a red flag clutched furiously in his hands, "You take our food for your troops, you force people into working your roads, WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!"
The people immediately started to add their voices to the furious cry of the man, and as some mindless herd, their fight or flight state, subtly influenced by my chakra, made them opt for the first option: so they pushed forward, and the first regular guard fell under the weight of the bodies that were outright running towards the deadly kunoichi.
When the first kunai embedded itself in the temple of the flag-waving man, the crowd started hurling stones, increasing the tempo of their screams, howling in a desperate outrage that couldn't be held back. As I saw them charge, I turned my back on what I had helped unleash and dragged Itachi with me outside of the city.
...
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