Empire Fall

Chapter Eight

UNEDITED

(Guys, please excuse me if the fight scenes are shabby. I am not very good at those.)

A month. That was how long it had been since his exile began. As his eyes grazed the horizon with gentle blinks, he allowed his proud shoulders to relax a little. He wondered if his message ever reached them, since they did not have a home anymore. The realization that he had no home to return to any longer was a startling pressure on his heart.

With Itachi's brains, they must be well hidden and still within range to uncover their enemy's weaknesses and support. They would going to take down Danzo and their traitor cousin limb by limb and then he would wring Shimura's life out with his own hands.

Two weeks and he was to move again. An ally would assist him there. From there, they could begin their plan.

Father, he thought. I will bring you justice.

Then he shut his eyes and silently asked forgiveness for everything up till then, their arguments and his failures, knowing full well that if Father was alive, he'd readily offer it to him. Yet, he couldn't find it in his heart to forgive himself. Not until Father's throne is restored to his heir, he told himself.

*

"Will you tell me what you are thinking?"

Izumi blinked. "Hm? I just.." She shook her head. "How are you?"

"I am not sure."

She frowned and fully turned to face him, ignoring the incomplete moon lying in the starry sky.  "Are you in pain?" she asked, searching his face with a critical eye.

"My Father is dead, my younger brother is in voluntary exile and my Mother is in grief. You tell me," he replied with a heavy sigh, leaning with his back against the wall.

Her eyes lowered. "I am sorry. It was a most insensitive question."

A silent blanket fell over them and she fidgeted with her fingers when he did not say anything for the longest time.

"Do you regret this marriage, Izumi?" he suddenly asked.

"I have never regretted it," she plainly responded, eyes holding his for several heartbeats. Surprisingly, he was the first to look away. "I chose well." She felt a warmth in her cheeks she hadn't experienced since their marriage, caught up as she was in caring for him.

They were hiding out in the basement of a shrine far from the palace, outside the Fire kingdom. The Queen Mother was in a separate chamber just beside theirs. Sir Kakashi was taken captive after the King's death, being his adviser. Naruto, a friend of Lord Brother, brought them news, healers and food - all they needed. Their loyal soldiers were captured and some killed. Those who denied the new king's commands were also executed.

The peace that was once Fire country was destroyed within a matter of weeks. No news the blonde man from the Uzumaki clan brought was good. After their successful venture to free the Queen and Lord Sasuke, the remaining people were kept under close watch and the search for them was still going on. To prove the travelling younger prince dead was a harder task than they had made him believe. Danzo was a smart and dangerous opponent. He would not believe such a lie as easily.

As for their allies and friends, the last news Naruto brought was that Danzo was going to undertake a siege or an assassination if they did not agree to his demands. He had heard the princess of Hyuugas was demanded to be wed to one of their cousins in return for curbing the war he threatened upon them.

Everything that Father built was crumbling to dust. Their absence was being questioned by their people and some believed Itachi and Sasuke to be dead already. How to tell them that they came in with an army of their own at night, resorting to tricks and treachery by first poisoning their most powerful pillar that was Itachi and then cutting down their army and King. It was weighing on his conscious heavily. They could not take too long.