Kirigakure.
Shisui Uchiha leaned against the rock wall at the passage's exit. The sea breeze tousled his hair, and his clothes slapped against the rock again and again.
He had been standing there for a long time.
He had stood there ever since learning that Obito Uchiha had sold information about him.
His back rested against the cold rock, with seawater washing up around his feet at high tide.
His mind was a mess.
For months, he had thought about the same thing over and over.
What would things be like now if I hadn't used Kotoamatsukami that night?
Every time he thought it through, he reached the same answer.
If Shisui Uchiha had a chance to do it over, he would still do the same thing.
He couldn't...
He couldn't stand by and watch Jin cut ties with him.
Uchiha Jin was Shisui Uchiha's only friend in the clan.
They had met at the Ninja Academy as children. Those had been the happiest years of his life.
The luckiest thing that had ever happened to Shisui Uchiha was meeting Jin in the Uchiha Clan.
Before their conflicting ideals led them to cut ties, Shisui Uchiha had always been happy.
After awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan through grief, he had used Kotoamatsukami on Uchiha Jin without hesitation.
Looking back now, he had actually been saving himself.
He had feared loneliness, feared that after losing Jin, he truly would have no one left to talk to in the Uchiha Clan.
And so, out of selfishness, he had used Kotoamatsukami on Jin twice in succession.
Shisui Uchiha opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
The sea air filled his lungs, cold and salty.
He wasn't going to run away anymore.
Whether Jin wanted to beat him or kill him, he wouldn't fight