Life is not good.
That's the only thought I have, waking up in the morning and immediately puking into my toilet. Thank god this world still has plumbing, eh?
My head is pounding, I have a stomachache, my hands are shaking and I feel like shit. God, I haven't had a hangover this intense since I went to my school's graduation ceremony.
I also have work at ten that morning, so guess who woke up at nine sharp regretting all her life choices. I'm going to have to use chakra enhancement on my body just for walking to the hospital. Christ, people call me a prodigy and I can't even walk properly for five minutes straight, the bar's getting lower and lower.
At least I can see I'm not the only one suffering. My fellow staff members are also limping their way to the hospital, thank god for small mercies. Seeing other people in pain doesn't necessarily lessen mine, but it does give me some sort of sick satisfaction.
I may be hungover and not in tip-top shape, but that only limits me physically, and not my capacity for evil. For I am a Uchiha.
Must be really out of it. What am I even talking about…
For about the first two hours of my shift I was slower than normal and definitely not as talkative as before. I usually chat with the nurses during my shifts, but I could see that they were also suffering from last night's actions and were in no mood to talk. I even kept making amateur mistakes! Granted, I fixed all of them myself fairly quickly, but having to stop every half an hour to get my headache under control is not fun, let me tell you. I managed to hide it well enough with the obviously hungover hospital staff as a smokescreen. Also managed to flush out about half of the alcohol out of my system during the walk from the Uchiha compound to the hospital, so that definitely helps.
The director still hasn't berated me for drinking the night before, so that's a win in my book. The joys of being a Medic-nin, I tell you. No hangover is too hard to hide if you're skilled at medical jutsus. Those jutsus probably shouldn't be used like that, but I make my own bloody choices, and if I want to use them to make a hangover more bearable, no one can judge me!
If I am a smart and functioning individual, today's the day I decide to stop drinking when there's something to do the next morning. But I never claimed to be intelligent, so this lesson remains unlearned. I'll keep making bad life choices until the end of time, I will.
After having lunch, my hangover finally completely disappears. Comparing today's number of patients with the day before, it is pretty laughable. Since some of the other medical staff still are recovering from their hangovers, me and Sora pick up their slack with some other Medic-nins. It's going to be light work even with just a handful of people if nothing bad happens, so as long as no bad luck strikes we should be fine.
Who knows, if everything goes well maybe this day will be pretty swell after all, and I can just focus on recovering from last night's activities.
That kinda sounds a bit weird, not going to lie.
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"Akari Uchiha, you are under orders from the clan head to go back to the district, please do so immediately." A random Uchiha police force member walks up to me in the middle of a conversation and completely ruins my day. Great, what do they want with me now, eh?
The guy unceremoniously drags to the Uchiha clan compound, with me sulking all the way. "Is there a reason for this?" I ask, trying to gather some information, and everyone just ignores me. So uncivilized! I swear, someone better be dead or something when I arrive to the compound or I'll throw a fucking fit.
And then the universe literally slaps me in the face with my own words, because in the middle of the clan compound, was Uchiha fucking Shisui's dead body, dressed in a set of beautiful red and black clothes, makeup no doubt hiding the bruises all over, in a casket. Out of all the people that had to get killed, it just had to be him, huh?
Even in death, Shisui's body seems to be mocking me, looking all regal, blameless, and oh so innocent. Lying on a state of the fucking art casket surrounded by lovely flowers and crying clansmen. He just had to go ahead and die, leaving me the lone person in this clan knowing that the Uchiha is living on borrowed time.
Shisui acted as a sort of shield between the rest of the village and the Uchiha clan, and now he's gone, just like that. Damn, how am I supposed to resist the schemes and plots with someone like Shisui dead? He's so much more powerful than I am currently, and he died anyways, so what chance do I even have?
Well, I'm not the only one who knows about the massacre. But the only other person who knows is Itachi, and only an idiot would ask his or her would-be killer for help.
Me and Shisui weren't extremely close, but we both respected each other enough to sometimes chat about our worries if, and only if, he bribed me with food. Didn't think I'd be this shook by his death, to be honest. Maybe I cared about him more than I thought?
… Can't be that. Maybe his death kind of forced me to look around and recognize what a shithole I've got myself in. Everything will go downhill because of this, and I'm probably first on the chopping block.
Man, the countdown to that fated day draws near, and I don't think I'm ready to face him yet.
Blood is pounding in my ears, and the sound of my heartbeat becomes unbearable. My vision becomes disfigured. I can't look at his corpse any longer and the urge to get the fuck out of here is stronger than ever. I try out some breathing exercises, attempting to calm down but never seem to take in enough oxygen. The urge to puke comes back full force, with me feeling hot and cold at the same time.
Ah, I'm having a panic attack, about damn time.
I walk out of the clan compound ignoring the words of the people there, and dry-heave into the nearest bush. The concerned voices of people around me ring in my ears, but I honestly can't give a fuck about anyone else present anymore, so I ignore them.
Everything he did for the village, and he still ends up dead. A traitorous voice in my head helpfully tells me that I didn't do much to help him avoid that fate.
I can't help but think that it has a point. I didn't do enough, did I? I survived the academy, I survived my Genin years, I survived the Chunin exams, I even survived ROOT. But in the end, will I survive Itachi?
With Shisui's death, the deadline for the Uchiha massacre looms even closer than ever before, and I probably could have done something to avoid it, but I guess I still am too naive. Can't just punch all your problems away, stupid.
"Miss, are you alright?" A civilian asks me, concern showing on her face. I nod to her, and try to pull myself together. Heading back into the clan compound, looking at the cold, dead body of arguably the strongest Uchiha in recent times before his demise.
Shisui had been the hope of the Uchiha clan in a way Itachi and I never managed to be. Sure, I tried, but out of the two of us, Shisui was infinitely more charismatic, and much more well-spoken, liked even among the Uchiha clan elders. While the best I could do was try to be friendly with the general populace. I did improve the image of the Uchiha by helping out other clans and civilians from time to time, but it's hard to compete with Shisui who had solid ties with every single major and minor clan in Konohagakure, and are even well-known by important clients and the daimyo himself.
I did work hard, though, I did. Still, bearing the Uchiha name is practically carrying a time bomb on one's back, so I suppose I should have seen it coming.
As for Itachi, well, based on the whispers I'm hearing because of my trained ears, I'm pretty sure they suspect him for murdering Shisui, so that should tell you plenty about his not very stellar reputation.
It's funny in a morbid way, really. All the things he sacrificed for the clan, everything he did, and is still doing, and not even a drop of faith is spared for the Uchiha clan heir. They don't even believe the suicide note Shisui left was legit.
And of course, his eyes are gone. Fucking fantastic, this day keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
Ah, whatever. It is what it is. I died back then in that gloomy place, anyways. If I really was interested in staying alive at all costs, I would have probably tried harder. Maybe I just couldn't be bothered.
"Akari Uchiha, Shisui's will has written about returning an item borrowed from you. Is this it?" Fugaku asks, startling me. Jesus, this guy just pops up everywhere. His face is carefully blank while holding out a small bento box.
I hold out my hand and take it without saying a word, my face unreadable. That's the bento box he borrowed from me when he first started cooking. Fugaku probably thinks my silence means a yes and just left me without any fuss.
Man, what do I do with this? I'll just chuck it in a storage seal and think about it later.
Shisui's funeral is attended by nearly every Uchiha in the village at the time with Itachi as the only exception. I don't blame the kid, really. He's pretty much carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders at such a young age. Apparently no one else thinks so, since people are almost completely convinced he didn't attend because of the guilt he has because of him killing his best friend and thinking that his absence pretty much labels him as Shisui's murderer, the fucking idiots. I really don't have the heart to defend him right now, so I guess I'm just going to fuck off.
Just work your sorrows away, Akari. Always worked, and always will work.
Everyone can feel the restlessness and in my case, hopelessness in the air, so everyone steers clear of me. More news came, and the director let me know the curfew that usually only affects civilians, ordering them to return to the Uchiha district before midnight even involves ninjas on active duty this time, even Jounin. Everyone needs to come back to the Uchiha compound before eight at night.
I can't even fault the elders for their decisions this time. It's fucking code red over here, man.
I still ignored it, of course. No one tells me what to do. Akari Uchiha makes her own decisions thank you very much, no matter bad or good ones. Mostly bad.
Strangely enough, when it is time for Uchiha clan members to go back to the district, no one even attempts to drag me back or informs me to return to the compound. Maybe they are busy trying to find whether Shisui's eyes were destroyed or stolen. It's a weak excuse, and I know it. Still, I am too numb from today's events to really play detective. I know something's off, but I don't really know what.
Time flies by, and it's already well after midnight, so I decide to finally head back. The moment I step in the district though, I can feel my spidey senses tingling.
It's all dark in the Uchiha district and there's no sound at all, a bit weird, no? Still, I'm a ninja and therefore completely used to working in the dark, and I've completely memorized the way back home. Plus, it's a full moon tonight, so I can just barely make out the roads in the Uchiha district. I keep on walking, ignoring the feeling of unease in my chest.
Shit, my shoe's wet. My left leg's on a puddle of some kind and the uneasiness in my chest begins to grow.
I activate my sharingan and immediately regret my decision. The puddle's red, leading to a body with a kunai sticking out of its heart. It seems to be a relatively quick and painless death, but how did a Uchiha die in the middle of the clan compound?
I'm too shocked to scream. Looking back at the dead body, I notice that there are, in fact, actually multiple dead bodies there, all with slash marks, their blood pooling together to form the puddle I am currently standing on. Fuck this, fuck me.
Ah, the massacre happens on a full moon, doesn't it? I now know where my sense of unease stems from, shit. Ignorance really is bliss.
Then, pain blossoms from my body. I blink, slower and heavier, the urge to sleep almost overcoming me. There's something heavy attached to my chest, and I reach up to touch it. It's… cold. I try looking at it, but I can't see anything. When did my sharingan deactivate?
I turn on my sharingan once again with great difficulty, and stare at the sword piercing through my heart.