The Night of the Massacre 2

"Brother? Brother, why did Father and Mother... Why? How could this happen? Who did this?" Sasuke asked Itachi. But instead of an answer, a shuriken flew past his shoulder and embedded itself in the wall behind him.

"Brother, why?" Sasuke clutched his wounded shoulder and stared at Itachi in disbelief. "What are you doing, Brother?"

"You foolish little brother." Itachi looked at Sasuke coldly and slowly closed his eyes. Then he suddenly opened them wide. "Mangekyō Sharingan." He cast Tsukuyomi on Chen and Sasuke, showing them the events of the Night of the Massacre.

"Ah~~ Stop, Brother! Don't make me watch..." Sasuke clutched his head and cried out in anguish. "Why? Why did Brother have to..."

After emerging from the Tsukuyomi World, Sasuke collapsed limply onto the floor, his eyes dull and vacant. He questioned Itachi, "Why? Why did Brother have to do this..."

"To test my abilities," Itachi said calmly, without a trace of emotion in his voice.

"To test your abilities? Just for that? Just for that, you killed everyone..."

"This is important!" Itachi said coldly with his eyes closed.

"What? Don't joke around~~" Sasuke clenched his fists and roared as he charged at Itachi. But Itachi struck him in the stomach with one punch, sending him sprawling to the floor again.

Chen simply remained in the same position, holding Mikoto as he silently shed tears. He paid no attention to what was happening around him. He had not said a single word since entering the living room.

"You're lying. This isn't Brother, because..." Sasuke still refused to believe it.

"I have always played the role of the ideal brother you imagined, all to test your abilities. You possessed the potential to become opponents against whom I could test my abilities. That is precisely why I let you live—for my sake. Like me, you are also among those who have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but doing so requires special conditions. You must kill your closest friend, just as I did." Itachi spoke coldly to Sasuke and Chen.

"Really, Brother... Did Brother kill Mr. Shisui?"

"Yes. That is how I obtained this ability." Itachi continued, "Beneath the Seventh Tatami Mat from the right in the Main Hall of Naka Shrine lies the clan's secret meeting place. The true secret of why the Uchiha Clan's ocular techniques originally existed is recorded there. If you awaken your eyes, then including me, there will be four people who possess the Mangekyō Sharingan. That would give me reason to let you live. But right now, you are not even worth killing. You foolish little brothers, if you want to kill me, then hate me. Resent me. Crawl through an ugly life. Keep running and running—just cling to life as long as you can. Then, one day, when you possess abilities equal to mine, come find me!" After finishing, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan against Sasuke and Chen.

The two of them were both caught in Itachi's genjutsu and collapsed unconscious. Just after they passed out, the space beside Itachi twisted, and a person wearing a Swirl Mask and a black cloak appeared.

"Is it taken care of?" the Masked Man asked. Itachi did not answer. He merely looked down at Sasuke and Chen with a complicated expression.

"If so, we should leave." The Masked Man said nothing more. He simply placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder. The space around them twisted into a spiral, slowly shrinking until it vanished completely, as if no one had ever stood there.

The room fell silent at once, as if nothing had happened.

...Scene Break...

"Chen! Chen! Wake up, quickly."

"Mother?"

Chen slowly opened his weary eyes and saw Mikoto smiling at him from not far away.

"Chen, you must take good care of yourself from now on! Mother is leaving." Mikoto smiled at Chen affectionately.

"Leaving? Are you leaving us, Mother? Where are you going?" Chen asked Mikoto anxiously.

"Hehe... Take good care of yourself and Sasuke." Mikoto did not answer Chen. Instead, she smiled and repeated the same words before turning to leave.

"Mother, Mother." Chen chased after Mikoto's retreating figure, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never catch up. He could only watch helplessly as her back grew farther and farther away, until it disappeared completely.

"Mother!" On a hospital bed in Konoha Hospital, Chen suddenly opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. He gasped heavily, cold sweat covering his body. His wide eyes were completely blood-red, with three tomoe evenly distributed around his pupils, and terror filled his gaze.

"Was... was it a dream?" After taking several deep breaths, Chen gradually calmed down. The Sharingan in his eyes deactivated as well, returning them to normal.

Chen climbed out of bed and looked around. He found himself in an unfamiliar room. This is... a hospital? Why am I in a hospital? Chen wondered in confusion.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Chen's head. Scene after scene appeared in his mind: the Clan Compound, corpses, the living room, blood, and... Mikoto lying in a pool of blood.

"Ah~" Chen clutched his head and moaned in agony. "This... this is a dream. It isn't real. It isn't real! Mother! Mother!" Enduring the excruciating pain in his head, Chen struggled to his feet, opened the Hospital Room door, and ran out.

Chen ran down the corridor and encountered Sasuke. At that moment, Sasuke was leaning against the wall, gritting his teeth as he tightly clenched both fists. Chen could vaguely hear two nurses discussing something. But he ignored them and ran straight out of the hospital. He sensed that Sasuke seemed to be following him, and he seemed to hear two nurses shouting that he could not leave, but none of that mattered to Chen. All he wanted now was to leave this place immediately, to leave this hellhole, return to the Uchiha Compound, and go back to the familiar home where he could hear Mikoto smiling warmly and saying, "Chen is back. Dinner will be ready soon!"

However, after Chen exhausted himself running back to the entrance of the Uchiha Compound, the last trace of hope in his heart was torn apart by cruel reality. The Uchiha Compound had already been surrounded by strips of warning tape marked "No Entry." The streets, once fairly bustling, were now desolate and lifeless.

Chen helplessly knelt before the entrance to the Uchiha Compound, both hands gripping the ground tightly. Tears streamed uncontrollably from his tightly closed eyes, trickling down his cheeks and falling onto the earth. His heart felt as if it were being carved apart.

"It hurts so much. Why? Why does my heart hurt this badly? Didn't I know this day would come? Didn't I know this would be the result? Why does it still hurt? I clearly said I wouldn't grow attached to this family. I said I wouldn't go through that kind of pain again. Why does it still hurt so much? Why am I suffering so badly?" Chen raised one hand and covered his chest, murmuring in grief.

Memories of Mikoto surfaced in Chen's mind: her gentle, refined smile, her affectionate gaze, her ever-tender voice asking after his well-being, and the meticulous care she had given him. As every scene emerged in his mind, Chen finally understood that he had only been deceiving himself. He was not as cold and indifferent as he had imagined. He had already grown dependent on Mikoto.

"Ah~~" Chen howled in agony, as if his heart were being torn apart. He was filled with boundless regret and self-loathing. He regretted never having properly chatted with Mikoto, never having let her hug him even once. He hated himself for always treating her coldly, for interrupting her whenever she wanted to have a proper conversation with him. Even though he had treated her that way, she had continued to love and dote on him as before. Yet he had hurt her again and again.

Chen's regret reached its peak. He wished desperately that Mikoto could stand before him so he could kneel like this and say, "I'm sorry, Mother. I'm sorry. I was wrong!" He wanted to apologize to her, tell her he should never have pretended to be cold, and tell her that he loved her.

But there was no chance anymore. It was all too late.

"Ah... Mother, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Forgive me, Mother~~" Chen used all his strength to cry out toward the sky in grief.

At that moment, as if punishing Chen, heavy rain suddenly began to fall from the sky. Chen showed no intention of standing. He simply knelt in the Rainbase, crying out in agony as his tears mingled with the rain and were washed into the ground. In the end, utterly exhausted in body and mind, Chen fainted directly in the rain.

Sasuke, who had followed him, watched Chen confess his remorse in the rain before finally passing out. His heart was filled with grief as well. Although the two of them had never gotten along, they were still brothers born of the same mother. Moreover, only the three of them remained of the Uchiha, and one of those three was someone they had to kill and avenge themselves against no matter what.

Gritting his teeth with both fists clenched, Sasuke's hatred for Itachi reached its absolute peak.

In the end, Sasuke still walked over to Chen, painstakingly hoisted him onto his back, and then gritted his teeth as he trudged step by step back toward the hospital.