daien gaiden

Her emerald eyes. That radiant smile. The essence of her nature, and the warmth of her heart. Uzumaki Hikari - A blinding light that painted the world in all kinds of joyous hues. Just days prior, Daien treated her to a stroll within a meadow of sunflowers as the sun was setting, painting the skies with a gradient of warm colours. The couple sat down, gazing at the horizon as they intertwined their hands.

Seeing her. Feeling her. Everything about Uzumaki Hikari gave Daien the strength to push forward amidst the hardships that he’s faced. Her visage was burned into his mind, but all he had left…

‘No matter what, I'll stick by you.

Even if the Kyuubi attacks again...

Or if the world falls upon us.’

Daien’s throat tightens up as he struggles to swallow the weight of his own words. Promises he failed to uphold. They couldn’t even retrieve her body - What kind of partner was he? What kind of… Shinobi was he? His feet dragged against the tatami mats as the picture frame grew blurry, Hikari’s departure still unbelievable. Fellow Nin and her loved ones began to empty the room as only he remained. Isolated for hours in the dark with but a faint candlelight to illuminate the portrait of his late lover. 

‘I thought you were stronger.’

‘I thought we were stronger…’

‘I never -…’

“Come on, Daien. You’ve been standing there long enough. Let’s head home.”

Kigen returns to the room, placing his hand onto Daien’s shoulder while giving him a firm nudge to snap him out of his daze. The funeral home was closing up for the night so they had to leave. Not like Kigen was holding up too well himself, red marks formed around his eyes from his excessive crying, but he was reliable. That’s what he saw himself as - To be a shoulder to cry on for others, even if that meant suffering for himself. Today? Here and now? Daien needed him, more than anything.

.

.

.

Yet Daien stands firm. Unmoving and expressionless as ever. The silence was loud. Kigen waits for a few seconds before putting his hand back out again, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Daien cut him off. A tear trickled down his cheek before he mumbled out a few words. 

“No matter what.”

“No matter what it fucking takes…”

“I’ll make sure they pay.”

“All of them.”

Daien gnashes his teeth as his fists bruise from aggressive clenching. The loving image of Hikari is painted red with rage as he turns around and storms out of the funeral home, leaving Kigen behind. His resolve was set in stone, and the gears of fate had begun to turn. No matter what it took, he’d avenge her death.

The Uchiha would do anything to ensure the destruction of Kirigakure.

Standing there in silence, Kigen sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose, watching as his comrade bursts through the exit and slams the door behind him. The path of hatred was nigh, but right now wasn’t the time to try and stop him. Once again, Kigen needed to give his friends space. Time to grieve, to recuperate, to plan. 

Oh, what a blunder that turned out to be.

Four days later, the First Great Ninja War had officially begun.

Kirigakure had allegedly slaughtered the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools, the home of the Uzumaki clan.

They had released the Nine Tails by removing the seal on its Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Hikari, and blanket poisoning the lands. Nearly everyone within the village had died.

Kirigakure attempted to pin the blame on Kumogakure, but the evidence was stacked against them. 

As such, Kumogakure and Konohagakure declared war on the Hidden Mist out of retaliation for such a vile act of war. Furthermore, the two former villages were afraid Kirigakure had tamed the Nine Tails and sought to destroy them.

Kirigakure retaliates, using their puppet state, Sunagakure, amongst other smaller villages on the continent and plunges the world into a global conflict.

To many, the beginning of the war was a horrific tragedy. Many Shinobi who had been relishing the peace times were swiftly thrown into the meat grinder. The global economy would collapse, lands would be ravaged and a generation of children would be born into a world of death and despair.

Yet, Daien simply smiled. Declaring war on Kirigakure, he had never felt so… Prideful of Konohagakure. The death of Hikari would not be in vain; Fighting on the battlefield, he’d make sure of it.

UCHIHA MEETING, 2 DAYS AFTER THE WAR BEGINS

"The Uchiha will not be participating in this war.”

“We won’t be sacrificing the lives of our clan members to fight on behalf of a village which doesn’t respect us.”

“I forbid anyone from engaging unless otherwise stated.”

“Do you understand?”

Uchiha Yusuke slams his hand on the table as he overlooks the many members of the Uchiha Clan.  Many of the voices in the crowd were in agreement, the clan having suffered discrimination since the villages’ inception. Despite forming an alliance with the Senju clan to bring about the Hidden Leaf, their contributions were consistently undermined, and their people marginalized. Again and again. At the sight of the Uchiha’s crest, many would scoff - They were seen nothing but war hawks and monsters, despite the fact they were essential for maintaining Konoha’s security. Forty years of peace had yet to dispel the hatred Senju Hoeru so painstakingly attempted to dissolve.

It made sense to everyone else, nor did any of them want to fight. It wasn’t like their home was attacked in the first pla -

“YOU FUCKING COWARDS!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO STAND BY? DO NOTHING?”

“ALL OF YOU.”

The prodigious Uchiha Daien erupts from the crowd as he is quick to point fingers at the Uchiha elders in disgust. What used to be a loyal and collected member of the Uchiha clan had erupted into a rabid dog, eyes bloodshot and throat hoarse. He didn’t care that he was spitting on the ground, nor how hostile he looked or the glaring eyes of the clan superiors - All he could see was crimson. Cowardice. Pathetic and petty, their decision spat on the image of Uzumaki Hikari. 

"Don't any of you see how fucking insane this is?"

"How petty it is?"

"Fuck! It's a war crime -"

"They poisoned her fucking home-”

“She… She died alone!

“Hey, you. Are any of you even listening?”

Daien continues, voice cracking as his own sorrow overtakes him. He preaches to a silent choir, their faces either cold and unmoving or with eyes filled with pity. All of his kin, his family viewed him as the rabid dog he presented himself to be. A longing gaze was shot towards his parents, desperately hoping they would back him up, alas, they simply shook their heads.  Pity was all Daien would receive from the people he sought to protect, yet all he desired was to avenge the one he loved.

“… Then fine. If none of you will - I’ll go ahead and do it myself.”

“Sit here and rot, for all I care. You fucking cowards.”

“I don’t need any of you.”

The teenager turns around and starts to head towards the exit, sprinting towards the door. Though before his hand reaches to the scenery outside, his body freezes up. Paralysed, unable to move, the weight of a thousand shackles bind him. Feet were rooted against the ground as Yusuke descends from his podium.

“Rest, child.”

“For the decision is final.”

“You aren’t going anywhere.”

He tries to scream but nothing comes out. Genjutsu had stripped him of his ability to retaliate, Yusuke’s command was absolute. A dictator enforcing his iron will against all with the mantle of ‘protecting’ the Uchiha from further losses - A thinly veiled excuse to avoid charging into war himself. For someone so powerful, it was pathetic. Disgusting. Utterly maddening.

'No - Don't...'

'Just... Let me go.'

'Let me...'

'Go back...'

'... To her.'

Prodigious talent meets its’ match in the end, in the face of an experienced veteran and the decree of the masses. Daien’s eyes burned with hatred until the very last moment - Fluttering shut, he collapsed in the arms of his father, the melancholic Uchiha elder sighing as he carried his son home.

.

.

.

"I'm falling."

The fourth . . .

         Hate is maddening. Daien's Sharingan burns bright, the tomoe spinning erratically and evolving into a new form. A boost in power granted to only those who have experienced immense loss, a key to vengeance. Daien had walked down the path of hatred and his eyes were a testament to that. The destruction of Kirigakure - The end of the Blood Mist, was what he sought above else. But the Uchiha cowered away. A decision he would continue to despise and spit on until his dying breath.

Daien continued to accept the hate of Konoha whilst brewing hate of his own. The absurd decision his kin made was something he couldn’t stand by but would have to take accountability for. A melding of darkness that would consume him for years to come. Inspiration was derived from his friend, Kigen, to shoulder the blame of the village but mould the clay of his clan into something new. 

Coming to despise the way his clan was governed, and how he himself was treated, Daien approaches Uchiha Yusuke. A challenge like no other.

“I, Uchiha Daien, challenge you to a duel.”

“The terms are simple. I’m here to dethrone you.”

To steer the Uchiha to a path of higher conviction, Daien knew what he must do. To always fight what he believed for, no matter the cost. 

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