Uchiha Mana

CHAPTER 11

3 years later…

The person who stood before them sent an unnerving feeling in Mana. His smile was fake, his way of speaking was odd, and his whole personality had her on the edge. Her hand rested on Yatagarasu the whole time since the person came to the room. And Sasuke, who too noticed this, too kept his guard on.

“Imouto, there is not need for that.” Sasuke said.

Mana removed her hand on Yatagarasu, but her Sharingan still glared at the man before them.

“My name is Sai, how do you do?” The man – Sai, said. “So, you are Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Mana –”

“Get lost.” Sasuke said.

“It seems I’m the type of person people don’t like one way or another, even if I tried… Naruto-kun also shows his dislike of me. But I get the feeling I’ll be able to get along with you well than with Naruto –”

Sai was thrown off his composure. Mana saw it, how his demeanor changed when Sasuke placed him in a Genjutsu, and had him falling on the ground.

“Sasuke-kun!” Kabuto scolded.

“I’m sweating?” Sai wondered out loud.

I don’t feel anything… I have no emotions. He thought.

“Fear.” Mana spoke. “Even the most trained and emotionless man crumble when they are put before fear…”

“It’s probably not a good idea to joke around Sasuke-kun too much… he’s even moer troublesome than I am, you see.” Said Orochimaru.

“Join me right now, Orochimaru.” Sasuke said.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Naruto, from the both of you.” Sai said.

“Let’s go, Orochimaru.” Sasuke demanded.

“He thinks of you like a real brother… that’s what Sakura-san said.” Sai continued.

“I only have one brother… the man I want to kill.” Sasuke said.

“I will be leaving as well.” Orochimaru said, and left with Sasuke.

But before Sasuke left, he placed an affectionate hand on Mana’s head. The two of them saw each other’s eyes and knew what it meant. Mana nodded, receiving her brother’s message, and Sasuke left, knowing that his sister would be fine on her own. Once Kabuto and Sai have left, Mana followed after them in the shadows, she stopped before they reached a corridor that led straight to Sai’s room. Activating her seal, a centipede crawled up to Mana’s finger, awaiting her command.

“Find them.” Mana said.

She crouched down and placed her hand on the ground. She could feel her centipedes crawling underground, all searching for the people that came with Sai: Naruto and Sakura. It did not take long before she found them.

~*~

Sai was a skilled ANBU who was trained to not feel anything, especially fear, and to always be on his toes even when he was not in a mission. But since the moment he came to Orochimaru’s hideout, he has forgotten those things, especially when he was before the Uchiha siblings.

“I know who you are.”

Sai slightly jumped at the sudden voice. Turning, he saw Uchiha Mana sitting on the bed that was in the room. Her Sharingan glaring at him, he made it a mental note to avoid looking into the Uchiha’s eyes, knowing its power.

I didn’t even hear her enter the room.

He tried to fix his composure and fixed a smile he always practiced.

“I’m quite surprised to find you here, Mana-chan.” Sai said.

Mana said nothing.

“Is there something I could do for you?” Sai asked.

“I know why you’re here.” Mana said. From her pouch, Mana took out a book. The sight of it made Sai’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re an ANBU of Konoha…” she started to flip over the pages. “From what I remember, the ANBU deals with S-Class rouges, I don’t think we’ve even reached that kind of threat.” She stopped at the page where a photo of herself and her brother – both on each page – were placed with their information and showed it to Sai. “And, from the looks of it, this has been here not so recently… tell me, why do you want us dead?”

She’s smart. Sai thought. His eyes were fixed on Mana’s page where her information was. Her ranking and information were incomplete, due to the fact that she left Konoha in the middle of her second year in the Academy, so he didn’t exactly know who she really is, but after seeing her now, he suspected that Danzo have underestimated her.

She’s just a child. I would not worry too much. That was what the man said.

The sound of the door being opened caught Mana and Sai’s attention. Turning, Sai saw it slowly opening.

It’s them. He thought. With Uchiha Mana here, things will be easier with finding Sasuke.

About to reach for his weapon to capture Mana, he soon found the Uchiha girl missing as if she wasn’t there, and his bingo book laying on the bed.

Where did she go?!

“I knew I would find you here.”

~*~

“He’s an ANBU.” Mana said.

“How’d you know?” Sasuke asked, though he knew that Sai was since the man came.

“He’s the same as him back then… but Sai’s different.” Mana said. Just as Sasuke laid down, Mana felt one of her centipedes return and gave its report.

“I have a feeling that his mission isn’t just recent.” Mana muttered.

“And why is that, Imouto?”

The sound of footsteps caught Mana’s attention.

“They’re here.” Mana said.

“It is expected.” Sasuke said.

“What do we do, Onii-san?”

“I won’t let them take you, Mana. I’m not leaving you.” Sasuke said. The sound of the door opening caught Sasuke’s attention. “Don’t move.”

Complying, Mana sat steadily on the bed beside her brother and hid under the shadow. She heard he door open and the sound of something slithering on the ground.

“Who’s there?” Sasuke spoke.

“You found me out, huh?” Sai said. “But I’ve already made the first move.”

“What is it that you want?” Sasuke asked.

“Lord Danzo wants you dead… you and Uchiha Mana.” Sai said.

His hold on Mana’s hand tightened. Unknowing to Sasuke, some of Mana’s centipedes have crawled down towards Sai, and were waiting for her command.

“I’m here to take you back to the Leaf. Although, I came here with the intention of killing you, but when Naruto-kun told me about you… I want to protect that bond he had with you.”

“Bond?” Sasuke spoke. “You interrupted my sleep just for that?”

In the dark, Sai saw the familiar Sharingan he saw earlier, knowing what was to come, me immediately took action and had his snakes wrapped around Sasuke and Mana, squeezing them both, but it did not stop Mana from activating her centipedes.

An explosion occurred, but with her Mangekyou Sharingan, Mana was able to cast her Susanoo ribcage and protected them both. Standing on the top, Mana and Sasuke watched as Sai got up from the ground, and a few moments later, Sakura came out of the tunnel and grabbed Sai by his collar.

“What the hell are you really after?!” Sakura exclaimed. “How many times are you gonna stab us in the back –”

“Sakura.”

The simple call of her name had Sakura drop Sai and turn to them in complete shock.

“Sasuke-kun?”

Not long, Naruto came out of the tunnel as well, running. Upon coming out, his eyes went to where Sakura was staring at, he too froze at the sight.

“Sasuke?”

“Naruto?” Sasuke spoke.

“Mana-chan…” Sakura said in a whisper as her eyes trailed to the young girl that stood beside Sasuke. She was in shock to find the girl. The girl she knew in Konoha has changed, it was evident. Her eyes did not sparkle the way it did before.

“So, you’re here too… let me guess, Kakashi is here as well?” Sasuke said.

“My apologies, but Kakashi-san is not here. I am here in his stead. And the new Team Kakashi is taking you two back to Konoha.” Yamato said. “So, he’s my replacement? Another loser joins the ranks. He said something about protecting the ‘bond’ with Naruto…”

“Sai, wasn’t you mission to –” Sakura began.

“Yes, my secret mission was to assassinate Sasuke-kun and Mana-chan. But I do not care about my orders anymore, I want to act of my own free will.” Sai said. “And I belive that Naruto-kun helps me remember what it was like to feel. I think it was something very important.” He now turned to Sasuke, his ninjatō facing the two Uchihas. “I don’t know much about you two, but there must be a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san came all this way just for you! They’re going all out to keep their bonds with you from being severed! I still don’t understand it now, but Sasuke-kun, Mana-chan, you should!”

In Mana’s mind, all she could remember were her time in Konoha, especially that day when Naruto saved her from a bully who pushed her off the swing. Her grip at her ninjatō loosened at a moment, then but her thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke spoke.

“Oh, I do…” Sasuke said. “That’s why I severed them.”

He remembered being weak before Itachi when his brother stood before the bodies of their parents, and he remembered being forced to watch as Itachi killed their sister in the man’s Tsukuyomi. It was something he hated, and that hate built him.

You’re weak, and you know why? Because you lack hatred.

And he took those words to be strong.

“I only have two bonds, that is to my Imouto…” Sasuke spoke. “And my hatred towards our brother.”

How would you know how I feel? You would never understand because never had parents or siblings! You were alone from the start! What the hell do you know?! It huts because I used to have those bonds! You’ll never know what it feels like to lose that! Naruto remembered Sasuke’s words at their battle at the Valley of the End.

“Then why?” Naruto began “Why didn’t you kill me?! Is this your idea of cutting off bonds, Sasuke?!”

“It’s not that I could cut off my bonds with you… the idea of doing what he said in order to become more powerful made me sick…”

At the side, Mana felt a ton was dropped over her. She turned to her brother, her eyes hurt of his words. In her eyes all she could see was the death of her teacher and friend.

“What are you talking about?” Naruto asked.

“Onii-san –” Mana began.

“I don’t owe you any explanations… that day I let you live on a whim.” It was in a blink of an eye when Sasuke suddenly appeared before Naruto, shocking everyone. “Come to think of it, wasn’t it your dream to become Hokage? You should’ve spent your time training instead of wasting it running around chasing me. And this time, I’m going to kill you on a whim.” Sasuke pulled out his Kusanagi.

Mana was in war in her own mind. She didn’t know what to do. Was it right to stand there and watch as her brother kill them? For years, she followed him everywhere, did what he asked, he was her only family. But now, she didn’t know if this was right or wrong.

“Someone who can’t save even one friend isn’t fit to become Hokage.” Naruto said. “Right, Sasuke?”

Just as Sasuke were to stab Naruto, Sai came and stopped him. Taking the opportunity, Naruto got out of Sasuke’s grasp, only to be a victim of one of his attacks, and to stop Yamato’s attacks.

“CHIDORI NAGASHI!”

The sight of Sakura about to attack her brother caught Mana’s attention, she was about to come to stop her but when Yamato came and was stabbed by Kusanagi, she was once again glued to her place.

What am I doing? What should I do? What should I do?!

“Yamato-taicho!”

There was a sudden pause in the area when Naruto started to change, Mana didn’t know what was happening, but she knew that she had to do something.

“ONII-SAN, STOP!”

Startled by Mana’s voice, Sasuke lost his composure and did not expect Yamato’s attack. A dome was created over Sasuke, trapping him inside.

No, wait, that’s not supposed to happen! Mana thought.

Jumping from where she stood, Mana landed on the dome, her hand o the wood. Inside, her centipedes burst out, creating a hole and Sasuke came out with them. He grabbed Mana by her waist and carried her back to the surface.

“We’ll talk later, Imouto.” Sasuke told Mana just as he placed her down.

“Sasuke… why?” Naruto began. “Why don’t you get it?! Orochimaru’s gonna take over your body!”

“If that’s what happens, then so be it.” Sasuke said. “You still think like a kid, Naruto. My revenge is everything to me. As long as I can exact it, I don’t care what happens to me or anyone else. Here’s the situation. Right now, neither I nor Orochimaru are a match for Itachi…” but in Sasuke’s mind, he had an idea of who and she was standing beside him. “If sacrificing my body to Orochimaru is the only way to kill him, I’d give up my life a million times over.”

Mana turned to her brother, though he stood before her, in her eyes, it wasn’t Sasuke that she was seeing, but rather a vessel who looked like her brother and was on set with his revenge.

I gave you that power to be able to save yourself and your family. Those were Shuuya’s words.

“Mana-chan…” Sakura spoke. “I could see that you’ve been hesitating.”

Mana turned to Sakura, her body slightly trembling due to the fact that she has been in war in her own mind.

“But please, you know what is right and what is wrong! And you know that this is wrong! Do something, stop Sasuke-kun! And come back home!” Sakura yelled.

“Sakura…” Mana whispered.

“Enough!” Sasuke spoke. “She does not need to answer to you…”

“Enough talk.” Yamato spoke. “Naruto, Sakura, I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to use force for this mission… but it’s time I get serious now… he’s the same as Orochimaru, a rogue ninja who deserted the village and can’t be allowed to roam free… we’re taking them back to Konoha.”

“Konoha?” Sasuke said. “I’ve had enough of you!”

Stabbing his Kusanagi on the ground, Sasuke created a dozen hand seals and casted his hand above the sky.

He’s going to use it! Mana thought.

“Matte, Onii-san!”

Mana grasped on Sasuke’s free hand. But it wasn’t her call that stopped him, but rather it was the sudden appearance of Orochimaru, who held his wrist.

“You are not using that technique, Sasuke-kun.” Orochimaru said.

“Beat it.” Sasuke told Orochimaru.

“You’re still using such foul language with Orchimaru-sama?” Kabuto said as he appeared beside Mana.

“I’d see why I should stop now.”

“You know what Akatsuki is up to, don’t you?” Kabuto said. “That’s why we want Konoha to help eliminate them. Even if it’s just one. If the other Akatsuki members interfere, then you’ll have more trouble taking your revenge, right?”

“That’s pathetic.”

“It’s an opportunity to improve your chances, even if by only one-percent.”

When Orochimaru felt Sasuke’s hand finally release itself from using the jutsu, he lets go.

“Let’s go.” Orochimaru said.

Sasuke took his Kusanagi from the ground and returned it into its holder, his eyes never left Naruto. He placed a hand on Mana’s shoulder, causing her to slightly turn to him.

“Ikuzu, Mana.”

Mana nodded, “Hai.”

And right before their eyes, Mana, Sasuke, Kabuto and Orochimaru disappeared in the flames that ate them. Never to be seen.