Chapter 406: Thoughtful
Uchiha Yuu.
She had once placed "Shisui's dying wish" and "the village's stability" above everything else. For this, she could personally push her entire clan into the abyss, even treating her parents' lives as expendable bargaining chips.
Only Satsuki was the exception.
That little sister who she'd held since infancy, who would run over excitedly when she came home—she'd placed Satsuki's importance before "the village."
Even though that protection had long since twisted into a pathological desire for control, even though she'd arbitrarily decided the path Satsuki should walk, the pain she should endure, the person she should become...
She'd never thought to harm Satsuki.
But "never thought to" and "never caused" were two different things.
Now, the only person she wanted to protect had used the coldest eyes, the most resolute words, to personally sever the last thread of connection between them.
A complete break.
A thorough, no-room-left break.
That Satsuki who used to follow behind her softly calling "sister" now gazed at her with Mangekyo Sharingan eyes containing only hatred.
Even their mother's pleas and tears just now had only bought her a thread of survival. She couldn't let Satsuki be trapped in the nightmare of "kinslaying."
Her heart felt as if an invisible blade was repeatedly piercing through it. That pain was like cold tide water flooding through her limbs.
She wanted to curl up, let death take all this away—if even the meaning of living had been completely denied by the person she treasured most, what was left worth continuing in this broken life?
But just as she was about to be swallowed by that darkness, a warm hand, having recovered some consciousness, gently grasped her wrist.
It was Shisui.
Uchiha Yuu slowly lowered her head, empty eye sockets turning toward where Satsuki's voice came from.
She couldn't see anything, yet could sense that undisguised hatred. Tears seeped from beneath her tightly closed eyelids—faint, mixed with blood-colored red.
She stiffly, extremely slowly... toward Satsuki's direction, nodded her head.
She accepted that she could never return to being "sister," accepted that the rest of her life would be lived in her little sister's hatred, accepted that bond she'd personally severed that could never be reconnected.
---
"Sorry, back then... I took these things."
In the private chamber, Naruto gently pushed a specially made storage container toward Fugaku. Inside the container, a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan gleaming with subtle luster floated quietly in nutrient solution, the pupil patterns like frozen vortexes.
"But I hope you can understand... now that Satsuki has awakened her Mangekyo, she needs these to—"
"Enough, no need to apologize." Fugaku interrupted him. "When you took them back then... I already couldn't use them anymore."
He raised his eyes, gaze complex as he looked at Menma. "Moreover, you saved mine and Mikoto's lives. Please... transplant them to Satsuki."
Fugaku looked somewhat weary overall. The boulder pressing on his heart for ten years had finally fallen—he knew what had become of the matters he'd worried about most these ten years, knew Itachi's situation, knew Itachi's inner heart, and knew why Satsuki hated to that degree.
But his two daughters had completely turned against each other, unable to meet for the rest of their lives—as a father, his heart was heavy, carrying lingering dull pain.
"Itachi she..."
He opened his mouth, but ultimately shook his head.
"Forget it... let it be like this. This is good for her, for Satsuki... Just don't let her die... that's enough."
"Yes." Naruto answered in a low voice. No excessive explanation, yet enough to let Fugaku hear the weight of that promise.
Fugaku was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking again. "Your identity... I won't mention it to anyone."
His gaze swept over the fox mask on Menma's face.
"But thinking carefully... it's truly frightening."
He pulled at the corner of his mouth, though it didn't look like a smile. "So this is why Ember attacked Konoha back then but didn't kill a single person... Thank you."
Naruto was slightly stunned. "...Hm?"
He didn't understand why Fugaku suddenly thanked him.
"If it weren't for you... everything would have proceeded according to Danzo's calculations—the entire Uchiha clan would have walked toward extinction."
"Including me, including Mikoto. Without you... I wouldn't have had the chance to watch Satsuki grow up."
He reached out his hand, heavily patting Menma's shoulder.
"From now on... I'm entrusting Satsuki to you."
"I will." Naruto answered without hesitation.
Fugaku nodded, but noticed Naruto hadn't taken back those Mangekyo Sharingan, instead quietly pushing them back before him.
"...You should take these eyes back. Actually... Satsuki already has eyes that can be transplanted."
"Already has them?" Fugaku's brow furrowed. "How is that possible? The transplant conditions require both parties to be blood relatives—"
His voice cut off abruptly. A possibility suddenly crashed into his mind.
His complexion changed dramatically, his voice carrying a trace of disbelieving tremor. "...It can't be."
That night, the person most hurt in her heart... besides Satsuki, there was one other person. Mikoto.
"Yes." Menma confirmed in a low voice.
"Aunt Mikoto—no, my mother-in-law... awakened her Mangekyo Sharingan at that time."
Fugaku's breathing stopped in that instant.
Because of... Itachi?
Because her own biological child had aimed killing intent at her—that soul-tearing grief ultimately transformed into these blood-stained eyes?
Fugaku's hand silently clenched, knuckles turning white from the force. He thought of how Mikoto had insisted on staying to talk with Itachi in the plaza just now—she'd just protected Yuu from Satsuki's killing intent. She still couldn't let go of that daughter who'd once tried to kill her.
She wanted to ask how she'd been these years.
She wanted to touch those eyes that could no longer see.
Even after being hurt like that, her maternal love hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"...This matter," Fugaku's voice was so heavy it was hoarse, "don't tell Mikoto."
"Don't worry." Naruto nodded lightly. "I understand everything."
Fugaku was silent for a long time before slowly reaching out to pull the storage container back into his embrace.
Those Mangekyo Sharingan belonging to him rippled slightly in the nutrient solution, reflecting his currently heavy expression. He ultimately said nothing more, only nodding deeply toward Menma.
---
Everything was over.
The bloody truth of the Uchiha clan had finally been completely laid bare before Satsuki. No concealment, naked, reeking of blood—the past.
But over didn't mean peaceful.
When the two returned home, night had deepened until even the insect chirping had ceased. The entryway light flickered on and off, reflecting two silent shadows.
Naruto stood by the door, fingers curling then releasing. He didn't know if he could still be like before—naturally lean into Satsuki's embrace, feel the warmth of her arms coming around, hear her cherishing voice.
He didn't know if he still had that right.
Satsuki had her back to him, standing in the living room center. She lowered her head slightly, black hair falling to hide half her profile. But Naruto could still see her reddened eye corners and the barely perceptible, suppressed slight trembling of her shoulders.
She was still crying. Even without sound, even though she desperately held it in—those thoroughly red eyes couldn't lie.
Naruto's heart ached with sourness. He gathered courage, wanting to say something. Just then, Satsuki suddenly turned around.
She raised her hand, forcefully rubbing her eyes. Then her gaze looked straight at him. Naruto instinctively avoided her line of sight.
He lowered his head, Adam's apple rolling several times, still unable to speak. He was afraid that once he opened his mouth, he'd hear the trembling in his own voice. He was afraid of seeing hatred in her eyes—even just a trace.
"Naruto... you..."
Satsuki's voice sounded, very soft, still carrying a nasal tone. Naruto suddenly raised his eyes, as if making some kind of resolution. He stepped forward, voice low and urgent.
"I'm prepared... please, I'll do anything... as long as you can forgive me..."
He spoke incoherently. "I'll explain everything... I'll make amends... I'll... I'll spend my whole life..."
"Forgive...?" Satsuki gently repeated the word, as if she didn't understand.
Naruto froze in place, heart nearly stopping.
Then he heard her say in a low voice.
"Why... should I forgive?"
Naruto's breathing caught, fingertips ice cold.
But the next second—Satsuki's eyes, still glistening with moisture and slightly red, looked straight into his.
"Naruto, you... aren't you also a victim?"
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