The morning sun carried a touch of warmth. The dawn painted the sky a warm orange-red, and the light filtered through the gaps in the leaves, sprinkling onto the street.
Uchiha Mikoto held Sasuke's hand as they walked to the Ninja Academy.
Sasuke was wearing a brand new outfit today, but his small face was visibly unhappy, his mouth in a slight pout.
"Sasuke, cheer up," Mikoto said gently, squeezing her son's little hand. "It's your first day of school, so be a little happier."
"Mmm," Sasuke mumbled in response, kicking at the pebbles on the road with his head down.
After a while, he finally couldn't help but look up, his large eyes filled with grievance and confusion. "Mom, why didn't big brother and Dad come with me?"
Uchiha Mikoto's footsteps paused almost imperceptibly. She looked down at Sasuke's disappointed face and explained softly, "Be good, Sasuke. Your brother and Dad are busy with something important."
"Something important?"
Sasuke's brows furrowed even more, with a child's unique stubbornness. He muttered, "What's more important than taking me to school? Big brother promised me he would..."
Listening to her son's complaints, Mikoto gently ruffled Sasuke's hair, not answering, her eyes hiding a hint of an inexpressible complexity.
Yes, what could be more important than witnessing your child's momentous occasion?
This question also lingered in her heart, like an enduring haze.
Soon, the two arrived in front of a house.
This was Uchiha Yashiro's home.
Mikoto suddenly stopped, crouched down, and smiled at Sasuke. "Sasuke, could you wait for Mom here for a moment? Mom needs to talk to Auntie Ryoko about something, and I'll be right back."
Sasuke obediently nodded and leaned against a tree trunk by the side of the road.
Mikoto walked to the front door of Yashiro's house and gently knocked.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Ryoko, are you home?" Uchiha Mikoto's voice was soft and pleasant.
But inside, there was only silence. There was no response.
A few muffled cries from a baby could be heard, but they quickly subsided.
Given Uchiha Mikoto's personality, she would normally have chosen to leave in this situation.
But for some reason, today she patiently waited outside the door, the morning sun casting a long shadow behind her.
Just as she was hesitating whether to knock again, a faint sound of footsteps finally came from inside, followed by the "click" of the door latch being pulled back.
The door was opened a crack.
Ryoko's face appeared behind the door.
"Mikoto," she said with a smile upon seeing Uchiha Mikoto. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
However, Uchiha Mikoto's gaze went straight past Ryoko, landing on the figure standing in the living room behind her.
It was Uchiha Yashiro.
"Is that Lady Mikoto?"
At this moment, Uchiha Yashiro also walked over, standing behind Ryoko and asking, "Is there something you need?"
Mikoto quickly suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, and a gentle smile reappeared on her face. "It's nothing. I just came to see Ryoko. I was wondering if she wanted to go shopping for groceries with me."
As she spoke, her gaze naturally turned to Ryoko. Ryoko seemed to want to say something, her lips moving slightly.
But just then, "Wah! Wah!"
Loud, hurried cries came from inside again. Ryoko instinctively turned to look toward the bedroom.
"The baby's crying."
In contrast, Uchiha Yashiro's voice remained calm. He raised his hand and patted Ryoko's arm, saying softly, "You go check on the baby first."
Ryoko instantly came to her senses. She glanced at Mikoto in a panic, then worriedly looked back at the house, whispering, "Mikoto, I'm sorry. The baby's not feeling well today..."
Mikoto's gaze quickly swept between Yashiro's calm, emotionless face and Ryoko's slightly panicked expression.
"It's okay. The baby is what's important," she said, slowly shaking her head with a relaxed tone. "Go on. We can go shopping another day."
Without waiting for Yashiro and Ryoko to say anything more, she took a step back and waved her hand. "I'll get going now. I won't bother you."
With that, Mikoto turned without hesitation, her basket in hand, and walked away from Uchiha Yashiro's house, her steps still light.
But the moment she turned around, the gentle smile on her face quickly vanished. She frowned slightly, and a hint of deep suspicion and seriousness flashed in her eyes.
"Mom?" Sasuke saw his mother return and ran up to her.
"Mmm, let's go," Uchiha Mikoto said, taking Sasuke's hand and making her voice sound relaxed. "Let's go to school."
With that, the mother and son continued walking toward the academy.
A gentle smile remained on Mikoto's face as she softly responded to Sasuke's excitement about school.
But the unexplainable feeling of unease in her heart was growing stronger.
Soon, the gates of the Ninja Academy appeared before them. A crowd of parents and children had already gathered, and the atmosphere was lively and full of hope.
Mikoto crouched down, carefully straightening Sasuke's collar. Looking at her son's innocent face, a wave of affection welled up inside her.
"Sasuke," Mikoto's voice was as gentle as ever. "Listen to your teachers at school and get along with your classmates, okay?"
"Mmm! I know!" Sasuke nodded hard.
Mikoto gently patted his shoulder and watched him turn to run toward the school gate, but then she suddenly called out to him.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke stopped and turned his head back in confusion. "Mom?"
Mikoto looked at her son's clear eyes, trying to maintain a calm smile on her face. She instructed, "You don't have to come home too early after school today. You can play with your classmates for a while longer."
Sasuke blinked, a little puzzled. "Why?"
"No reason," Mikoto shook her head. "I just think it's your first day of school, so it's okay to get along with your classmates and come home a little later."
"Oh..." Sasuke nodded, half-understanding, but when he thought about being able to play longer before going home, a happy smile appeared on his face. "Okay, I'm going in now!"
Watching Sasuke run into the school and blend in with the other children, the smile on Mikoto's face slowly faded.
In the evening, at Uchiha Fugaku's residence.
A soft-lit wall lamp in the living room dispelled the darkness.
Uchiha Mikoto was not in the bedroom as usual. She sat alone on the sofa in the living room, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold.
Clink.
A faint sound of a key turning in the lock came from the entrance.
The door opened, and Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi walked in, one after the other.
"Welcome home."
Uchiha Mikoto's voice broke the silence, and Uchiha Itachi's body stiffened slightly.
Mikoto put down her teacup, and a gentle, familiar smile appeared on her face as she stood up to greet them.
Uchiha Fugaku glanced at her, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Why didn't you go pick up Sasuke from school?"
Mikoto shook her head, her smile unwavering. "It's Sasuke's first day of school. I told him to play with his classmates for a while and not come home too early."
As she spoke, she walked forward and naturally took the outer jacket Fugaku was taking off.
"Mmm," Fugaku nodded, his tone flat. "Now that he's in the Ninja Academy, it's time for Sasuke to grow up."
With that, he turned and walked toward his room. Itachi was also about to return to his room.
But just as he brushed past his mother and took a step, "Itachi."
Mikoto's still-gentle voice came from behind him, but it seemed to carry an undeniable force.
Uchiha Itachi's steps froze. He slowly turned to face his mother and asked, "Mother, is there something else?"
Uchiha Mikoto just stood there silently, the moonlight casting a soft shadow on her face.
She looked at her son's eyes, which were similar to her own but always hid too many emotions. The gentle smile on her face gradually faded.
She took two steps forward and stopped in front of Itachi.
"Itachi," Mikoto's voice was very soft. "Can you tell me..."
"What have you and your father been doing all this time?"
Hearing this, Itachi's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively wanted to speak, to brush her off with excuses like missions and training.
"You should know."
Mikoto's voice suddenly rose, immediately interrupting Itachi's words. She stared intently at her son and said in a deep voice, "You and Fugaku can't hide it from me."
"Your father-son relationship was so tense before because of the conflict between the clan and the village, to the point where you were practically strangers. Why have you suddenly become so close?"
"No, it's not just you and Fugaku. It's Shisui, too!"
"The three of you, inseparable, leaving early and coming home late. What exactly are you doing?"
"Or rather..."
Her voice suddenly dropped, and she asked in a tone that was almost an accusation, "What did you and Shisui do to your father?"
These words exploded in Itachi's mind like thunder. The color drained from his face instantly. His heart felt as if it had been tightly gripped by an invisible hand, almost stopping its beat.
Mother knows?
How could she know?
And how much does she know?
A massive wave of panic instantly engulfed Itachi like an icy tide.
He never expected that the disguise he and Shisui had so carefully maintained, and his father's seemingly perfect "normal" behavior, would be discovered by his own mother.
With his mother's gentle and tolerant personality, she must have a solid suspicion, or she would never be this sharp with her questions!
At this thought, cold sweat instantly drenched Itachi's back. His throat felt dry and on fire, and his mind went blank. The excuses he had prepared seemed pale and powerless at this moment.
"Mother..."
He forced himself to look directly into his mother's eyes, using all his strength to maintain a semblance of calm. "It's Father. Father promised me and Shisui he would help us work together to resolve the conflict between the clan and the village."
"The reason we didn't tell you is that this matter needs to be kept a secret. The fewer people who know, the better. It concerns the future of the entire Uchiha clan..."
He tried to use "clan righteousness" and "the need for secrecy" to brush her off, but the panic and pain in the depths of his eyes were impossible to hide.
Mikoto listened to her son's explanation in silence, her eyes fixed on Itachi's face.
The living room fell into a dead silence. The only sounds were the faint hum of the wall lamp and Itachi's heavy, suppressed breathing.
Finally, a voice broke the silence.
"Itachi," a raspy, amused voice of Black Zetsu came from outside the window. "You said, kill everyone who's found to be acting suspiciously, didn't you?"
Uchiha Itachi's head whipped around to the direction the voice came from.
At some point, the figures of "Madara" and "Zetsu" were standing in the darkness.
"Itachi." His mother's words, full of shock and confusion, entered his ears. "Who are they? And what do you mean by 'kill everyone who's found to be acting suspiciously'?"
Itachi remained frozen, his body like a statue.
The moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating his pale face and the bottomless pain and struggle in his eyes.
No, please, don't force me.
It shouldn't be like this. It never should have been like this.
"Itachi."
"Madara's" deep voice rang out. "The Konoha elders have discovered the Uchiha clan's abnormality and organized a group of people who are on their way here. The White Zetsu among them have all been eliminated."
"You should know what this means."
"This is your only chance."
"So, what are you waiting for?"
"Why aren't you acting?!"
"Don't forget, Uchiha Sasuke, your brother, will be back soon!"
"As long as you have the same eyes as Shisui, you can still achieve your righteousness!"
"After so many deaths, are you just going to give up now? What was the point of their deaths then?!"
"Madara's" and Black Zetsu's words were like the whispers of a demon, completely shattering the last shred of hope in Uchiha Itachi's heart.
His body trembled violently, and the three tomoe in his eyes emerged, turning into a bloody red.
But at this moment, neither Tobi, nor Black Zetsu, nor Uchiha Itachi noticed.
Uchiha Fugaku's figure, without receiving any instructions, had walked out of the bedroom.