The Show Had Only Just Begun

Fugaku's pupils contracted. His body went rigid as though struck by Lightning Strike.

"Sasuke?!"

Mikoto saw him too. She screamed and rushed forward.

"Sasuke!!!"

She threw herself in front of Itachi and reached for Sasuke, but her hands froze the moment they touched him. That little body was no longer breathing.

"No... no..."

The words squeezed out of Mikoto's throat. Tears poured down her face.

"How could this happen...? Sasuke... Wasn't Sasuke at school?! How could he be here?!!!"

She jerked her head up and looked at Itachi, her voice piercing.

"Itachi! Tell me! How did he get here!!!"

Uchiha Itachi did not answer.

He only clutched Sasuke's body, trembling from head to toe. His lips quivered, but he could not get a word out.

Fugaku stood rooted to the spot, staring at the scene before him.

His sons.

His eldest son had slaughtered most of their clan.

His youngest son lay dead in his eldest son's arms.

And as clan head, as their father, he could do nothing.

His hands shook.

But he did not rush forward like Mikoto. He simply stood there, using every ounce of strength he had to keep from collapsing.

"Uchiha Itachi!!!"

An enraged voice shattered the silence.

A middle-aged Uchiha man burst from the crowd, pointed at Itachi, and cursed him.

"You monster!!!"

"You killed so many people! You didn't even spare your own brother!!!"

"You're a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan!!!"

"May you die a horrible death!!!"

Every curse cut into Itachi's heart like a knife, but he did not react. He just held Sasuke as though he were the last precious thing left in the world.

"You devil!!"

"We must have been blind to let someone like you do whatever you wanted!!"

Several other survivors joined in, their voices thick with anger and hatred.

"Why did you kill your own clan?!"

"Who told you to do this??!"

"You even killed your brother! Are you human?!"

Itachi kept his head down and said nothing.

Bloody tears still ran down his face.

Fugaku walked slowly forward and stopped before Itachi.

He looked down at his eldest son: the gifted boy who had once made him proud, the son he had believed could lead the Uchiha into a new era.

"Itachi."

Fugaku's voice was calm. Frighteningly calm.

"Tell me who did this."

Itachi went rigid.

Slowly, he raised his head and looked at his father.

There was no anger in Fugaku's eyes. Only a grief so deep it defied words.

"Who... put Sasuke here?"

Itachi's voice was so hoarse it was barely audible.

Fugaku fell silent.

Beside them, Mikoto sobbed until she was on the verge of fainting.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived first with the Anbu. They rushed into the Ruins and stopped short at the sight before them.

The Third Hokage's gaze swept over the devastation, then the furious Uchiha Survivors, before settling on Itachi and Sasuke in his arms.

"Sasuke..." The Third Hokage's voice trembled. "This..."

He could not finish.

He had already seen the truth.

Sasuke was dead.

Sasuke Uchiha, the person Uchiha Itachi cared about most, was dead.

The Third Hokage's expression turned grim.

Before he could speak, another set of footsteps approached.

Shimura Danzō arrived with Root.

Danzō entered the Ruins and immediately saw Itachi kneeling with Sasuke in his arms. He frowned slightly, then quickly regained his composure.

"Uchiha Itachi," Danzō said coldly, "what happened here?"

Itachi did not answer.

He did not even look up at Danzō.

Danzō's face darkened.

"I asked you a question."

"Danzō!"

The Third Hokage cut in, anger held tight in his voice.

"This is not the time for questions!"

Danzō looked at the Third Hokage. Their gazes clashed, sparks all but flying between them.

A tense silence settled over the area.

The Anbu and Root ninja stood behind their respective leaders, hands on their weapons as they watched one another warily.

The Uchiha Survivors watched them with a mix of anger, grief, and scorn.

Ninja from Konoha's major clans began arriving as well.

They stood at the perimeter, taking in the devastation in the Ruins with sharp intakes of breath.

The Uchiha Clan Compound had become a graveyard.

Bodies lay everywhere.

And at the center of the Ruins, the boy once hailed as Konoha's greatest genius held his brother's corpse. Bloody tears covered his face, and he looked like a walking dead man.

The sight silenced everyone.

Shikaku Nara stood among the crowd, taking it all in with a deep frown.

"This... is going to be a disaster."

He murmured the words under his breath.

A scout from the Hyuga Clan stood on a distant rooftop, observing everything in the Ruins with his Byakugan before sending word back to the Hyuga compound.

Ninja from the Yamanaka Clan recorded the scene in their own way.

Everyone knew it.

From tonight on, Konoha would never be the same.

In the Ruins, Uchiha Itachi still held Sasuke, motionless.

His bloody tears had dried, leaving two dark red tracks down his face.

His gaze was empty, as though his soul had gone with Sasuke.

Fugaku stood before his eldest son and watched him in silence for a long time.

Then he spoke, his voice hoarse.

"Itachi, give Sasuke to me."

Itachi jolted.

He looked up at his father.

Fugaku's eyes were full of exhaustion and grief, but not anger.

"You've held him long enough," Fugaku said. "That's enough."

Itachi opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came.

He looked down at Sasuke in his arms, then carefully passed the little body to his father.

Fugaku took Sasuke gently, as though accepting a piece of porcelain that might shatter at any moment.

Mikoto rushed over, wrapped her arms around Sasuke's cold body, and wept aloud.

Fugaku closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

Then he opened them, turned, and faced the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō.

"Lord Hokage," Fugaku said with frightening calm, "Elder Danzō. I believe you owe me an explanation."

The entire scene fell silent.

Every eye turned to Fugaku.

The Uchiha Clan Head. Uchiha Fugaku.

After his clan had been slaughtered in its own compound, he stood before his two sons. One was dead; the other had lost his mind.

He was demanding an explanation from Konoha's leaders.

The Third Hokage opened his mouth, only to find he had no words.

Danzō remained silent, his expression dark.

No one could answer him.

The night wind swept through the Ruins, stirring the lingering ash.

At the edge of the Uchiha Clan Compound, inside an old house.

Uchiha En sat in the darkness, watching the heart of the compound through a gap in the window.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

"The show... has only just begun."

He spoke softly.