Naruto: Uchiha’s Blood Curse

Mahito leaned against the sturdy trunk of a large tree in the forest surrounding Konoha, her breathing was ragged and her face was slightly flushed.

'I should've been resting. My body is in a bad condition.'

Her body was soaked in cold sweat and she felt pretty heavy to move. Thankfully, the cool air of the night helped to regulate her temperature. 

She glanced down at the Akatsuki cloak bundled in her hands before stuffing it inside the trunk and covering it with leaves and dirt. 

'No one can know,' she muttered internally then headed toward the village.

Konoha was quiet now, people were resting and trying to recover after the chaos of the Nine-Tails attack. Only the occasional shinobi patrolled the streets, making it easy for Mahito to sneak back into the hospital.

However, she didn't go back to her room but went to the rooftop. 

The rooftop provided her a moment of silence, there was no one looking for her. 

She let out a soft sigh and pulled her knees to her chest while sitting down. Mahito felt that she could finally get a moment for herself, but that was broken in no time. 

"Mahito."

Glancing behind her, Mahito forced herself to not audibly sigh. Instead, she turned her head and looked at the Fourth Hokage standing a few feet away from her. 

"Hokage-sama," she greeted, her voice steady.

Minato approached her slowly, his blue eyes warm but tinged with fatigue. He sat beside her while looking at the moon as he softly chided her. 

"Why am I not 'uncle'? And you shouldn't leave your room, your condition doesn't seem to be so good."

Mahito looked at him then shrugged. 

"Hokage-sama is Hokage-sama, and I'm sure you aren't here to talk with me as a family member. Then, how can I call you informally?"

"I came to thank you," Minato answered sincerely. "If it weren't for you and your brother, Kushina might not have survived, and Naruto… my son might never have made it out alive as well."

Mahito shook her head and laid on her back against the rooftop floor.

"I didn't do it for you. Kushina is my Auntie. That's all there is to it."

Minato smiled faintly at her. "YouUchiha find it very hard to accept a simple thankyou? Either way, you helped greatly. For that, I'm grateful."

There was a moment of silence before his voice sounded again, but this time, it was more serious. 

"But I need to ask you something."

Mahito didn't respond, but her slight shift in posture told him she was listening.

"Why did you use your Sharingan on the ANBU watching over you?"

'Oh, so he does know what I did already.'

Mahito's lips curled into a faint, bitter smile. "Because I needed to leave. And they wouldn't have let me. They were going to shove their noses in my business, and this wasn't acceptable."

"Leave for what?"

Hearing Minato's soft question, the young Uchiha turned her gaze toward the distant Hokage Monument. "Do you really want to know? Or are you just trying to figure out how to control me by pretending to not know?"

Minato frowned. "Mahito, that's not fair—"

"Fair?" She cut him off with a cold laugh, her eyes meeting his. For a moment, her golden irises shifted to crimson, her Sharingan flickering faintly with her emotions. "Let's talk about what's not fair. Konoha's peace is built on blood and lies. The Root ANBU's secrets are buried deeper than any grave. And our clan is almost going to be thrown under the storm because of it all!"

Mahito stood up and approached Minato, poking on his chest with every word. 

"You're a smart man, Hokage-sama. You are strong, you are freaking capable. You know exactly what I mean."

Minato's face darkened slightly. 

"What are you trying to say, Mahito?"

"I'm saying," Mahito took a deep breath to calm herself, but her words remained sharp, "that I know what you saw. The Sharingan of the man who attacked us. And yet, you didn't announce it. You didn't tell the village."

She grabbed the Hokage's cloak. 

"Why would you do that? Because you know you can't stop Danzo and his damned Root ANBUs from causing chaos with that information. They will frame my clan and the village will sacrifice us all!"

Minato sighed deeply, he didn't expect this little girl to know too much. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her resolutely.

"You're not wrong. But trust me, Mahito, we'll find a way to bring the true peace back to Konoha. It'll take some time to solve all the conflicts, but it's not impossible."

Mahito scoffed at him and replied without moving an inch. "Trust you? Trust Konoha?" She shook her head, her tone filled with disdain. "I don't trust any of you. I don't even trust my clansmen, I trust no one. That's why I started my training before anyone else could start, that's why I went to any dangerous place to get experience."

She then shrugged Minato's hands off her shoulder before turning her back to him. 

"Do you really not understand? I only trust myself and I want to protect my clan and Konoha as I wish."

Minato stood still before speaking with difficulty, "You're still a child, Mahito. You don't have the experience to make such bold claims. You don't understand the weight of your words and your actions."

"Maybe not. Maybe yes. But you won't be the one to judge it."

Without waiting for his response, Mahito leapt from the rooftop, vanishing into the shadows below.

Minato remained where he was, his gaze lingering on the spot where the young Uchiha was a moment ago. However, he sighed and decided to let it go. 

He couldn't show hostility towards the tense Uchiha clan, a civil war may break out if he made any wrong moves. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"Mahito? Why are you here? You're supposed to be at the hospital."

She didn't answer immediately, instead walking over and wrapping her arms around him tightly.

Itachi froze, completely taken aback by his sister sudden affection. At the same time, he didn't dare to hug her back because he was worried her injuries weren't completely healed. 

"What's going on? Are you okay?" he could only ask tentatively. 

Mahito rested her chin on his shoulder. "Promise me something, Itachi."

He blinked, "What?"

"Promise me you'll trust me unconditionally. No matter what I do, no matter how crazy or bad my actions look, trust me."

"I promise, I'll trust you." Without any hesitation, Itachi promised her. 

Mahito smiled brightly, "good!"

Then, Itachi felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck before his vision turned completely black. Mahito picked him up and left the house without making any more noises.