Chapter Text
She was missing. He had searched the entire clan area but still couldn't find her. Their mother had taken Sasuke while he rushed off to find her. The air was thick, laced with fear and dread and dead. He didn’t know what the beast was, he had only seen it for a brief moment before it had been moved by the shinobi, but he knew it was the cause of all the panic. Shiori said she was going to train, but the Uchiha training grounds were empty. He was starting to panic. Sasuke was with his mother, she was a jonin, someone who could look after herself.
If she was going to train, she must have been near the other training grounds. He would look there first. He ran as fast as his legs could, if only he had joined the academy already, he would’ve been trained, and he could have found her more easily. He had to train more. To protect them. Even in the dark, he could see the silhouettes of the trees surrounding the training grounds. He was only a street away now. He didn’t dare think of any worst-case scenarios or possibilities. He turned the corner at full sprint and ran into a wall.
He crashed to the ground and heard another person fall as well. “Itachi?! What’s going on? Where’s Mom and Sasuke?” she was practically shouting as she looked at him, her eyes looked hollow and useless. Her speech was filled with anxiety and terror.
“We have to go. Mom has Sasuke. They're going to the bunkers.” He grabbed her hand and ran off. He didn’t have time to make sure she was okay; she would have to be assessed when they were safe. Shiori looked relieved to have Itachi with her. She knew she could always rely on him. Being the oldest of the three siblings, she knew Itachi felt responsible for them, even though he was only a few minutes older than her. They were due to start in the academy together soon, and even without ninja training, he was ahead of her. Their father called him a genius. And even though he never used the word, failure was all that his eyes said when he didn’t trust himself to use words.
They ran and ran, the fighting getting further and further away. They ran past broken homes, dead bodies blending into the debris like statues. The sky was usually filled with stars, but tonight all that could be seen when they looked up was the infinite blackness that surrounded them. “We’re close,” Itachi said. The police force bearing the insignia of their clan was visible nearby, ushering civilians to safety. “Itachi, Shiori?!” They heard their mother calling out to them, relief and shock evident on her features. She came rushing towards them, Sasuke still clutched closely to her chest, sleeping, unaware of the terror going on around him.
“Mom, what’s going on? Where did that beast come from? Is Dad, okay?” Shiori Asked. “He’s fine, dear. We don’t know what’s going on right now, we just have to make sure you three are safe, okay?” Mikoto replied. She led them on towards the bunkers, her expression not betraying any of her internal distress. Her mind was distracted, filled with questions and uncertainty. She knew it was the nine-tails that was causing all of this, but she was concerned as to how it got out in the first place. Mikoto was one of the few people aware of Kushina’s unique role in the village. But something like this should have been impossible. Minato was always nearby, and the seal was constructed by the Uzumaki themselves. It shouldn't be possible.
Lost in her thoughts, Mikoto missed the attack being launched by the Kyubi towards the Hokage monument. A huge ball of chakra appeared from nowhere, gaining mass and density at an alarming rate. It got bigger and bigger, aiming straight for the fourth Hokage standing atop his monument. The attack destroyed everything it went past, blowing apart buildings. A part of debris came hurtling towards them. Mikoto noticed too late. It was going to crush them. She let herself get emotional and lost her focus on her goal, her children. Just as she was about to try and save Sasuke, Itachi appeared directly in front of the debris, crushing it to pieces in a single blow. Mikoto looked on, shellshocked. He barely looked fazed. She simply turned around, grabbed his sister by the hand, and came over to her. Unable to say anything, they safely made it to the bunker.
They weren’t sure how long they were stuck inside. What was a handful of hours felt like weeks. Uncertainty, panic, anxiety, and worry ate away at everyone trapped inside. Shiori sat there, vibrating, unstable, scared. The bunker was dark, save for the few stray lightbulbs that dotted the roof and illuminated the room.
Itachi sat beside his twin the entire time. She was nervous, not sitting still the entire time, while he was the image of demur and collected. He looked as though everything that had happened was a dream or fantasy, like it wasn’t real and didn’t matter. Mikoto knew, as mothers can, that he wasn’t as calm as his visage portrayed, but the strength it took to push it down, not react to it, was incredible. All Itachi could see were the dead bodies he ran past. In his mind, however, they were not strangers, they bore the features of his siblings, of Shiori. They sat hand in hand, not uttering a word, as Mikoto tended to Sasuke.
A few hours later, they were told it was safe to leave. The Kyubi was gone. Relief washed across the room, a moment of reprieve from the events of the night. The guards said something else that couldn’t be heard over the excitement of the villagers.
“The fourth Hokage is dead,” Itachi repeated what the guard had said, the only one to have heard it. His mother looked down in astonishment, not believing, not wanting to believe, what she heard.
“The fourth Hokage is dead,” She parroted. On October 10th, Konoha lost their Hokage, their village was devastated, and a girl was born with red hair, whiskers, and to a family she would never meet.