Chapter 187 - 185: "Do I Look Happy To You?"

"Tsk. If you hadn't delayed us, we'd already be back in the village." Fugaku's tone could have curdled milk. "Such a simple mission, truly."

Nawaki, still basking in the glow of a job well done, didn't even flinch at first.

But he eventually surfaced from a pleasant daydream involving his bed, a pillow, and absolutely no Fugaku. "What do you mean? If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have even found that conspiracy. You should be thanking me."

"Hmph." Fugaku snorted. "Who cares about some civilian village's conspiracy? We should have left the moment the mission was over. Instead of playing the hero."

Nawaki didn't point out that investigating the conspiracy had been Fugaku's idea in the first place.

A smirk spread across Nawaki's face. "Let me guess. Someone's anxious to see his sister?" He clasped his hands over his heart in mock sympathy. "Poor Azula-nee. Having to deal with such a clingy little brother every single day."

"At least my sister doesn't only acknowledge my existence when I have pocket money."

Nawaki's smirk froze. That one had landed.

By the time they reached the village gate, the bickering had tipped into something closer to genuine irritation. The guard took one look at their faces and decided that checking papers was not in his job description tonight.

'What's wrong with those two young masters?' the guard wondered, watching them stalk past. 'Giving off killing intent over a mission report. Sigh. It's great to be young.'

He pointedly did not ask for their paperwork.

The Uchiha compound lay in one direction, the Senju compound in the other. By the time they reached the fork in the road, the fight had drained out of them like it always did.

"See you tomorrow." Nawaki was already walking, already thinking about his bed. He didn't wait for a response, nor did he need one.

Fugaku didn't answer, but as he walked his own path, a small smile crossed his face. It said everything he'd never say out loud.

The village was too quiet tonight. Nawaki couldn't say why. Normally speaking, the streets were the same, the lanterns were the same. But something just felt not right. He shrugged it off, too tired to figure it out.

Then he spotted a familiar figure ahead, and his face split into a grin. He ran.

"Uncle Shirota! Big brother Shikoku!" Nawaki waved as he jogged over, all exhaustion forgotten. He always had energy for familiar faces.

Shirota was still processing everything he'd seen at the council meeting. When he turned and saw Nawaki bounding toward him, his step faltered for just a moment. Then the smile clicked into place. "Nawaki? What are you doing out at this hour?"

Nawaki caught the flicker of something odd in Shirota's expression. Then it was gone, and Nawaki decided it was probably just the late hour. Adults were weird at night.

"Just got back from a really long mission." Nawaki was beaming. "I bet Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza have been missing their big brother, huh?"

Shirota and Shikoku exchanged a glance. The kind of glance that said, 'this child has no idea what happened tonight, and we are not going to be the ones to tell him.'

"Yeah," Shirota said carefully. "Shikaku's mentioned you a few times."

Shikaku's exact words, Shikoku recalled, were "Nawaki's gone? Finally, some peace and quiet." He decided not to share this with Nawaki.

"That's great!" Nawaki's grin widened. "If we don't get another mission, I'll go see him tomorrow first thing."

"The Nara gates are always open to you," Shirota said. 'And if you happen to disrupt my son's nap,' he added silently, 'that's just a bonus.'

Nawaki didn't keep them long. They were heading home, so was he.

The Senju compound was dark and still, same as the rest of the village. But the house had a single lamp burning in the main room, spilling gold onto the dark path.

'Strange. Grandma should be asleep by now, I didn't even tell her I was coming back.'

He stepped inside. Tsunade was there, sitting beside Mito. His face split into a grin. "BIG SISTER!"

A slipper hit him square in the forehead before he could get another word out.

"Why are you shouting? It's the middle of the night." Tsunade's voice was sharp, but her eyes stayed on Mito. Her grandmother's vitality was truly worrying.

Tears welled up in Nawaki's eyes, mostly genuine, mostly. "Why are you always so violent toward me?"

"Do you have something to say?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Her hand was already reaching for the other slipper.

Nawaki's survival instincts kicked in. He shook his head so fast his hair blurred. "No, nothing. I just missed you."

Azula observed the exchange with the serene expression of someone watching a nature documentary. "As Hokage, head of the Police Force, and founder of the Konoha Justice system, I feel obligated to note that what you're doing qualifies as domestic violence. The sentencing guidelines are quite severe."

"Tsunade, Azula." Mito shook her head, but there was a tired smile underneath. "He just got back. Have a little pity on the boy."

Nawaki looked at his grandmother. She seemed older than he remembered, but when she smiled at him, she still shone brighter than anything else in the room. 'Only Grandma understands me and only Grandma loves me.'

He settled onto the tatami. Azula and Tsunade usually slept at the Hokage mansion, work kept them there, but tonight they were here. He noticed, but he didn't ask.

"So." Mito blinked, as if surfacing from a thought she'd been having privately. "Where were we?"

"You mentioned a visit from the Uzumaki." Azula's voice was even. Her eyes, though, stayed on Mito a moment longer than necessary.

Nawaki's ears twitched: Uzumaki. A flash of a red-haired girl and flying fists crossed his memory. He rubbed his jaw on reflex.

"Ah, yes." Mito's eyes flicked to Nawaki, and something like amusement crossed her face. "Young Kushina will be among them. And Asuka."

"It's not an official visit. It's just..." Mito didn't finish. Tsunade's eyes flickered, while Azula's expression didn't change, her hand resting on the table went still.

Mito had known her time was short. They knew it too. Whatever could make the Uzumaki come was probably her sending word home. The Uzumaki were coming to say goodbye to the strongest of their bloodline.

Tsunade glanced at Azula. 'Are you okay with this?' Azula nodded. 'I'll handle it.'

"We'll see them tomorrow."

•••

•••

One hour after Nawaki walked through the village gates, and one hour after Hisashi was thrown into a cell, the former Hyūga patriarch received his first visitor.

"You ended up here." Hiroshi stood outside the bars, arms crossed, looking down at his old rival. "Should I pretend I'm surprised?"

Hisashi raised his head. Without his chakra, even that small movement felt heavy. "What? Are you here to mock me?"

Hiroshi didn't answer. He lowered himself to the ground, settling opposite Hisashi with nothing but the bars between them.

"Not really." His voice was dry. "Though I thought I'd visit. Not happy to see an old friend?"

"Why should I be happy?" Hisashi gestured at the walls. "I'm in a cramped cell. Do I look happy to you?"

Hiroshi sighed.

"When you first started down this path, I wanted to stop you, whatever it took. Even if it meant beating some sense into you." He shook his head. "Then you went public, visited the other clan heads. I knew you were making a mistake, but I couldn't convince you to see it."

"I also didn't have the power to get past your guards to beat some sense into you."

Hisashi remembered that Hiroshi had fought him at every turn. And this time, his old friend had been right.

"Tell me." Hisashi's voice was quieter. "Where did I go wrong?"

"From the very beginning." Hiroshi was without pity. "You stood in front of Hashirama and Madara, weaker than both of them, yet you never bowed your head. Do you know why?"

"Because you didn't scheme." Hiroshi's voice was steady. "You were direct, faced them head-on, and your only thought was to hold your ground and protect the clan's honor."

He paused. "Even if it cost you your life. You didn't hesitate."

"But now?" Hiroshi spread his hands. "You schemed, grasped for power, clung to your life like a miser clutching coins."

He shook his head. "How could you win against a girl at the height of her strength? You were fighting yourself as much as her."

Hisashi realized something. A knot he'd been carrying for years, maybe decades, loosened all at once, though he hadn't even known it was there.

A wry smile crossed Hisashi's face.

"I suppose," he said, "I've been indulging myself a little for the past decade."

Then he smiled, his face holding no regret, only a quiet relief that comes when you finally understand that the cage you've been living in was one you built yourself.

Silence settled between them. They didn't need words, because they'd spent decades fighting, arguing, standing on opposite sides of every council chamber. Now they just looked at each other, and the looking was enough.

"Fine," Hisashi sighed and rose to his feet. He turned toward the darkness at the back of his cell. "Take care of Hisoto and my grandsons. Hiashi and Hizashi, they should grow up in the peace their grandfather fought for. This world was made for them, not for us."

He walked deeper into the cell, past the edge of the lantern light. Hiroshi couldn't see his face anymore. Perhaps that was the point.

Hiroshi stood, his smile calm, unbothered. "Don't worry. You know me. If I don't join you old fools soon, I'll make sure no one else makes the same mistake."

He paused. "Whatever it costs me."

"You've still got the old Hisashi in you." Hiroshi laughed, a warm, rough sound, but Hisashi didn't answer.

A few minutes after Hiroshi's footsteps faded, Hisashi reached into his robes. The ANBU had taken his hitai-ate, his seals, his pride, but they hadn't bothered with the kunai. Perhaps they'd known what he'd use it for.

He cut his palm. The blood welled up, dark and slow, and he used his finger to write on the stone floor, each character taking shape in red.

"I was wrong. The old ways are dead. Let the new era begin without me."

"These eyes saw the rise of villages. These eyes saw the fall of legends. Let them close now, before they see the Hyūga brought low by my own hand. I go to join the ancestors. May they judge me less harshly than history will."

"— Hisashi"

(END OF THE CHAPTER)

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