"Did something happen to you?"
The moment Kakashi mentioned needing the Yata Mirror to etch an "I will always remain myself" imprint into his mind, Hikari's instincts flared. Something was wrong.
For the past three years, the Five Elements Seal had choked off her chakra, but it had never dulled her perception.
In her eyes, the strongest man in the entire Hidden Leaf was still the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
There was also the current Uchiha clan head—rumored to have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The only reason someone would need the Yata Mirror to protect their sense of self was if the enemy wielded a genjutsu of comparable power.
And the man suspected of possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan fit that description perfectly.
"Is it that Uchiha Fugaku?"
"You stay here. I'll go kill him right now."
Hikari's brows sharpened into blades. Killing intent rolled off her like a storm tide as she rose without a second thought.
"Wait. It's not him."
Kakashi caught her wrist before she could vanish through the door.
"He's one of the Council elders I just appointed. Now isn't the time."
Hikari froze, staring at him in disbelief.
Not the clan head?
Then who?
"It's Uchiha Shisui. The kid who showed up here three years ago."
Kakashi gave a tired, almost resigned shrug.
"That kid?"
"I'll kill him and the clan head both."
She started forward again, murder in her eyes.
But Kakashi didn't let go of her hand.
"Not yet. I still need to solidify my position as Hokage."
"Just three years."
"Three years from now, the chance will come."
Besides—he had no intention of letting her do it.
This was his fight. The day he had pulled her, half-dead and broken, from Jiraiya's grasp, Kakashi had decided he would never let her shoulder burdens like this again.
"I can handle it. All I need from you is the Yata Mirror."
Hikari studied the man in front of her for a long, quiet moment. At last she sighed, soft and helpless.
"…Fine. We'll do it your way."
She had never changed the way she saw herself.
A treasured weapon.
And a weapon does not disobey its master.
Still—
She stole a glance at him, cheeks warming as the memory of moments ago flashed through her mind. Almost without thinking, the words slipped out.
"Then come here."
Kakashi didn't question it. He stepped closer, trusting.
Hikari's hands found his shoulders. In one smooth motion she pushed him down onto the couch. Before he could react, she tugged his collar aside and sank her teeth into the nape of his neck.
…Wait, are you secretly Orochimaru's disciple or something?
The soft heat of her lips made Kakashi's arm move on instinct, sliding around the waist of this ancient Uchiha matriarch. Hikari melted against him without resistance.
Invisible Yin Release chakra flowed from her mouth into his pathways.
Three twisted black tomoe bloomed beneath her bite like ink in water.
I will always remain myself.
She could have done more. In that instant, if she had poured her full will into him, this entire village would have belonged to her.
But she didn't.
Because she had always seen herself as nothing more than a weapon.
And Kakashi was the only master she had ever acknowledged.
As the Yata Mirror: Tsukuyomi took root, Kakashi felt a cool, immense power flood his body—Hikari's power, her Yin Release, her chakra.
"Done."
She released the bite, lifted her head, and met his gaze.
The scarlet eyes staring back at him were warped into a cruel, three-tomoe Mangekyō—eyes that carried centuries of pain.
For the first time, she let him see them.
"…Aren't they ugly?"
She turned her face away, unwilling to look at him.
Sinful eyes.
Power she despised.
Her father had died because others coveted these eyes. Her mother had followed.
If this cursed power could protect Kakashi, she would give it all—every last drop—without hesitation.
That was why she had been ready to slaughter Shisui and Fugaku herself.
"No," Kakashi said gently. "They're beautiful."
"This is the power Hikari inherited from the people she loved."
"You should treasure the will that runs in your blood."
Hikari hesitated, then slowly turned back to him.
She knew the story of his left eye.
It had once belonged to a teammate—a girl who had adored him.
A girl named Rin, with a gentle name and an even gentler heart.
A girl who had died by his own hand because of the war.
Kakashi had told her everything.
Don't worry, Rin.
I'll take good care of him for you.
The Uchiha woman from five hundred years ago leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Kakashi's left eyelid, sealing that silent promise.
The next morning, when the Acting Hokage's new decree went up on the village bulletin board, it caused a brief uproar—quickly followed by shrugs.
Ah, just another decision from the higher-ups.
Nothing to do with us little people.
Life went on.
But for the Uchiha clan, it was a very different story.
The clan head had been promoted to the Council of Elders.
A position that could directly influence the Hokage himself.
Did this mean their clan head might one day sit in the hat?
After so many years of waiting, their time had finally come.
Most of the clan celebrated wildly.
Only a few remained indifferent.
If the clan head becomes Hokage someday, good for him. It's not like it's me.
Better to make a bit more money and buy fish for the kids.
In the Hokage's office, Kakashi listened to the latest ANBU report on the Uchiha while idly flipping through the files. His expression never changed.
Elevating Fugaku had been a calculated move.
It bought him eyes inside the clan—and time to watch how things unfolded.
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
The hawks inside the Uchiha were already growing restless.
If Fugaku could seize this chance, expand his influence, and rein in the radicals, Kakashi was willing to wait another two years.
But from the current reports, Fugaku's judgment—and his grip on the clan—was proving disappointingly weak.
The stronger an Uchiha became, the more extreme their heart tended to grow.
Yet Kakashi still couldn't understand one thing.
How had a man as chronically indecisive as Fugaku ever awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in the first place?
Extreme indecisiveness?
Really?
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