---
The Uchiha compound was silent.
Where once laughter of children, clang of training weapons, and clan meetings filled the air—now only the caw of crows remained. The streets were empty, houses abandoned, blood long scrubbed but not forgotten. The massacre had left a scar deeper than steel could cut.
Konoha mourned, but it also feared.
---
The Hokage's Burden
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat surrounded by papers, his pipe untouched. Counselors bickered around him.
"We must control the narrative. The villagers must know this was an act of betrayal by Itachi, not a failure of leadership."
"Danzo warned you of this!" another snapped. "Had we acted sooner—"
"Enough." Hiruzen's voice cut the room like a blade. His eyes were tired but sharp. "The Uchiha are gone. Only Sasuke remains. Our duty now is to protect the boy, not to fight over the ashes."
At the mention of Sasuke, Danzo's single visible eye narrowed. He said nothing, but his silence spoke volumes.
---
ROOT in the Shadows
That night, whispers filled the air. ROOT operatives scoured the Uchiha compound, masks gleaming under moonlight. They collected remnants—scroll fragments, weapons, blood samples. Danzo himself stood at the heart of the ruins, cane tapping against the broken stone.
"He left too much behind," Danzo murmured to his men. "Eyes. Techniques. Wealth. The Hokage is hiding something—or someone is quicker than us."
A masked ROOT agent kneeled. "We found evidence of missing scrolls, Lord Danzo. But no sign of looters. Whoever took them knew the seals, and moved without trace."
Danzo's lips curled in a thin, cold smile. "Then we have an enemy in the shadows. Find them. Watch. Wait. The dead may speak, if we are patient."
He suspected the masked man who helped Itachi in the massacre but couldn't do anything against him
---
Sasuke's Silent Rage
Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha sat alone in his room. His eyes were swollen from sleepless nights, his fists raw from training. Every breath was fire. Every thought returned to the same image—Itachi's cold stare, the Mangekyō swirling as his parents died again and again.
"I'll kill you, Itachi," he whispered into the dark. "No matter what it takes."
But outside his window, an ANBU guard shifted, watching silently. The boy was Konoha's last Uchiha, and whether he knew it or not, a pawn on the board of the village's power struggle.
---
Kirito's Perfect Mask
Through all of this, Kirito moved unnoticed.
He filed into the mission desk daily, taking D-ranks, painting fences, walking dogs, pulling weeds. He smiled politely at the mission clerks, bowed to his seniors, and lived like the quiet, hardworking genin no one remembered after they left the room.
But at night, while the village seethed with rumors and suspicion, Kirito disappeared into the Forest of Death, where his clones worked tirelessly in the lab.
From afar, he watched Danzo's movements, noted the change in ANBU patrols, and studied the tension between the Hokage and the council. He kept a careful eye on Sasuke, never interfering, but always watching.
The boy raged openly. Kirito planned silently.
In the storm of mourning and suspicion, no one noticed the orphan who had slipped into invisibility.
And that invisibility was his sharpest weapon.
---