October passed uneventfully. November came, and then December. One morning, she woke up with a big smile, realizing she had finally filled the seal on her forehead. She looked at herself in the mirror, staring at the small lavender diamond, proof that she had finally caught up to her master like no one else ever had. Not even Shizune. The others congratulated her on reaching her goal, but that was it.
They had been cut off from the world in Uzushiogakure, not stepping foot in the Land of Fire for weeks. Not that she was desperate to go back, with all the training and the rebuilding left to do in the capital of the Land of Whirlpools, but it was interesting to look back and think about those nearly ten months of life where Jiraiya had them going up and down the country. Honestly, she didn't know if she preferred what they had now or what they had back then.
Kisame continued to train her at full intensity, using the toughest exercises he knew. Jiraiya, on the other hand, kept working with her on fuinjutsu and taught her some ninjutsu that not even Kakashi had copied with his sharingan. Meanwhile, Itachi bombarded her with questions when Sasuke used the genjutsu she had created months ago, realizing the theoretical basis was different from what he knew and used.
She spent hours explaining everything she had studied about the human brain, its areas, and her theory that genjutsu was actually a form of mental manipulation. Itachi, silent, listened attentively and even read the copies she made of her notes. Every afternoon, Itachi sought her out to talk about genjutsu and brain physiology, among many other related topics that intrigued him. Considering she was a medic and he was a genjutsu expert, the conversations were always fascinating.
"Do you think genjutsu could change a person's brain physiology after its use?" he asked.
"Change physiology? Like altering someone's personality?" she clarified. Itachi nodded. "I don't see why not. After all, it's still a form of mental manipulation, and who we are is tied to our brain."
They talked about these philosophical and interesting topics for weeks. Itachi, though still an emotional iceberg, was undeniably a genius. When he first joined them, he was distant. He didn't even train with his own brother, even though Sasuke would've benefited from that. Now, he trained with him and had taught him many techniques of the eternal mangekyo sharingan they both possessed. Sasuke was learning those techniques slowly since they required a lot of chakra and control, but it was obvious he'd master them within a few months.
Itachi also didn't interact much with Naruto, maybe because he'd had the least contact with him through letters, or perhaps because he didn't know what to say. Either way, he was polite but didn't seek out conversation or friendship. Still, Naruto didn't mind much, knowing what Itachi was like. Seina, on the other hand, was starting to see Itachi as a best friend—maybe even like a brother—though she still hadn't told him the truth about her past. She trusted him, but she wasn't stupid.
One day in January, Itachi approached her with a training request. Seina, stunned, looked at him in surprise for a few seconds before saying yes. She wasn't going to turn down a ninja prodigy willing to train with her. They trained intensely for what felt like hours. He never deactivated his mangekyo sharingan during the fight, even though he couldn't use genjutsu against her due to her mental barriers. Still, Itachi was incredibly powerful even without genjutsu. He knew all kinds of ninjutsu, was a taijutsu expert, and mastered kenjutsu and shurikenjutsu. Honestly, he was a beast, but his biggest weakness was his stamina.
Seina tried using genjutsu on Itachi only once before realizing it was impossible to trap him with illusions—sharingan or not. He was too much of a genjutsu expert not to notice immediately what she was doing. Before she could even finish casting an illusion, he had already dispelled it. It was the first time that had ever happened to her, and it was the dose of humility she needed. No matter how creative she was with genjutsu, there were people who would never fall for her tricks. It was good to know. The sharingan was simply on another level when it came to genjutsu, especially in the hands of a genius like Itachi.
Her only chance of beating Itachi was to prolong the fight until he tired out. Itachi's only chance of beating her was to outsmart her and catch her off guard. They both knew it. They stared at each other, falling on opposite sides of the clearing to take a break. She saw the sweat glistening on Itachi's forehead with a bit of satisfaction. They stared for a few seconds. She didn't need to read his mind to know what he was thinking because she was thinking the same thing. Should they keep fighting seriously and increase the intensity of their attacks? Or call it a technical draw?
For the sake of both of them, and everyone else, she decided to let it go. But first, she wanted to play a small prank. Seina cast a colour-change spell at Itachi. It was invisible and undetectable, so he didn't notice when his hair turned from black to the bright neon-orange that Naruto liked so much. Kisame and her brothers, seeing it from the tree branches where they were watching the sparring match, burst out laughing.
Itachi got distracted for just a second, glancing at them, and she took the opportunity to use hiraishin on Itachi's black hoodie, which she had marked earlier, appearing behind him. Even so, Itachi managed to repel her with a kunai. Seina teleported away to avoid being stabbed.
"What the-?" said Itachi, catching a glimpse of his hair with a sharp turn of his head. "...Seina."
Seeing the indignation on his usually stoic face, she couldn't help but laugh. His sharingan even seemed less intimidating or maybe it was the tick in his brow and the mildly horrified expression. It was the first time she'd seen Itachi so uncomposed, and honestly, she loved it. She couldn't believe he had actually asked for an explanation instead of just staring blankly and muttering "Hn." She had struck a nerve in Itachi Uchiha without even realizing it.
"Take it off."
"What's the magic word?"
Itachi's red eyes gleamed with malice, reverting to their evolved form again, but Seina wasn't scared. For starters, she knew he wouldn't hurt her, and secondly, she was immune to genjutsu. Itachi, seeing her reaction, shrank slightly, clearly holding back a sigh. Had he already forgotten their draw from a few minutes ago?
"Seina," he repeated, almost pleading.
"Okay, okay!"
"Ugh. You can't even handle a single joke," Naruto commented from beside Kisame.
"It's the Uchiha ego."
Naruto and Kisame jumped down from the tree, narrowly dodging the medium-sized fireball Itachi launched at them in retaliation.
"Hold still, will you?" she said, rolling her eyes. She used her magic to deactivate the spell.
Then, something unexpected happened. His orange hair faded, revealing his usual jet-black colour. What was strange was how Itachi stood still, like a statue, more tense than a board. His sharingan disappeared, revealing a pair of wide, black eyes that blinked slowly once. Seina and the others watched him with concern, noting his… strange behaviour.
Suddenly, Itachi's eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed to the ground like dead weight, beginning to convulse. Horrified, she rushed to his side in a millisecond, pulling him away from the rocks on the ground.
"What's happening to him?!" asked Sasuke as he held his head to prevent it from hitting the floor.
The others gently grabbed his limbs before she scolded them and told them to let go of his arms and legs. While she rapidly read the diagnostic spell she had cast, she found nothing.
"Nothing's wrong with him!"
"What do you mean 'nothing's wrong'?! He's convulsing!"
"What was that jutsu you cast on him?" Kisame asked with a severe look, becoming the voice of reason.
"It was just a spell to undo my other spell—the one that changed his hair colour."
"Was it only meant to reverse that specific spell?"
"No…" she said. "That spell undoes everything someone is 'wearing,' so to speak."
They exchanged glances, realizing that maybe her spell had undone something more than just the hair colour enchantment. Together, they took Itachi to the infirmary in the shop, avoiding further magic just in case. When they laid him down on one of the infirmary beds, Itachi was still convulsing, though more slowly. She cast another diagnostic spell, but his condition didn't change. Physically, he was fine.
"And?" someone asked.
"Nothing. He's physically fine," she repeated aloud, "but I don't know what's wrong. Until he wakes up, we won't know what happened."
"And mentally?" asked Naruto. Everyone turned to look at him. "Seina said 'physically,' but what if this is something mental?"
Just then, Itachi stopped convulsing but remained unconscious. She didn't dare wake him with magic for fear of what might happen. It was clear her spell had undone something in Itachi. What exactly? She had no idea. Judging by the violent reaction, it must've been something that had been active for months, maybe even years. Naruto might not be wrong in thinking it was mental. If that were the case, only two things came to mind: fuinjutsu or genjutsu.
Her diagnostic spell, being a magical one, didn't detect ninja illusions, only physical or magical conditions. It was designed that way. Wizards didn't have genjutsu, so why would they create a diagnostic spell for something that didn't exist in their world? It was a glaring weakness she'd have to address by altering her magic's intent. No wonder she thought nothing was wrong. Physically, he was fine, just as her magic told her.
"I'm going to try something," she said finally, after thinking it through.
She would do exactly what she had done to help Kakashi against Itachi's Tsukuyomi. She would use her magic to disintegrate any foreign chakra in his central nervous system that wasn't his own. That should help Itachi wake up and repair his mind from any intrusion.
Sasuke and Naruto, linked to her, knew what she intended to do. They stepped back while she placed her hands on his head, under everyone's watchful gaze. It didn't take long before she encountered an unknown chakra. It was similar to Itachi's, but not his.
"Do you recognize it?" she asked mentally to her brothers, and Kurama.
"No."
"It's similar to the chakra of the other emo Uchihas," Kurama replied. "I sensed a few Uchihas during the attack on Konoha, but I don't recognize this one."
Seina, her mind racing, realized Kurama might be right. Uchihas were almost all genjutsu experts, and Itachi had lived for thirteen years in the Uchiha compound. Everyone there had access to him when he was more relaxed and confident on clan grounds. That one of them had attacked him wasn't entirely far-fetched.
It took a while to eliminate the foreign chakra, watching as Itachi's own chakra instinctively fought to reclaim its place and rid itself of the… possession? She wasn't exactly sure what had been done to him, but it was without a doubt the most invasive and undetectable genjutsu she had ever seen. Even she, who could detect all kinds of genjutsu and was immune to them, had failed to notice that Itachi might be under the influence of an illusion.
"It's done."
"It's done? When will he wake up?" Sasuke asked with some impatience.
"His mind needs rest, but soon. Maybe a few hours."
"What happened?" asked Kisame, who hadn't been following what had just been discovered.
"Itachi was under a very powerful genjutsu."
"Itachi? Under a genjutsu?" he repeated, quite surprised. "Impossible."
"I think it was someone from the Uchiha clan. Kurama says the chakra we found is similar to theirs," she answered, glancing sideways at Sasuke.
Sasuke, for his part, was staring at the white wall without blinking, to Naruto's concern. Seina honestly didn't know what to say to him. The entire situation had taken an unexpected turn that left her in shock—just because she used finite incantatem on Itachi to undo a joke spell. She couldn't believe it.
They stayed by his side for a long while. They even left to eat, leaving a clone behind, and then returned. When he woke up, it was already nightfall.
"Itachi?!" Sasuke called suddenly, having been keeping watch over his brother. "Are you okay?"
Seina and the others leaned in closer. The moment she saw him, she knew something had changed. He was lying still, staring at the ceiling with wide black eyes, unblinking. He looked like he was in shock.
"Itachi?" she asked softly, gesturing for the others to give him space.
But he didn't speak. Kisame and Naruto went to sleep, and Sasuke and she took turns staying in the infirmary so Itachi wouldn't be alone. From what she saw and what Sasuke told her, Itachi had only slept a couple of hours all night. When she woke at dawn without Sasuke touching her shoulder, she saw the other Uchiha with his eyes closed but he was awake.
"Brother?" Sasuke asked, almost afraid of the answer. "What happened?"
"For nine years, I've been under Shisui's genjutsu," he replied in a low voice. "I didn't even realize it."
"Shisui? Our cousin Shisui?" Sasuke asked, stunned. "How is that possible? Why?"
"Shisui had a mangekyō sharingan more powerful than mine. The last time I saw him alive, he gave me one of his eyes and told me to protect the village," he said quietly. "I thought it was just a request. I never imagined… that he would use his mangekyō sharingan to command me."
Seina was stunned. Shisui Uchiha, apparently Itachi and Sasuke's cousin, had placed Itachi Uchiha under a genjutsu. A genjutsu so powerful that he hadn't even realized it in nine years. Her surprise was nothing compared to Sasuke's, who couldn't believe it.
Doing some mental math, she realized that during the Uchiha clan massacre, Itachi must've already been under Shisui's genjutsu. With a mixture of horror and disbelief, she wondered what role that genjutsu played in Itachi's actions. "Protect the village" was a very vague order. Could it be that, if Itachi had been forced to obey the genjutsu unknowingly… the massacre of his rebellious clan had been the result of Shisui's ambiguous command? She didn't understand anything anymore.
Sasuke, seemingly following the same line of thought, couldn't help but ask his brother.
"Do you think Shisui's genjutsu had anything to do with… the massacre?"
"I don't know," Itachi replied blankly. "Now it's hard to separate what I did of my own will from what I did under the influence of the genjutsu. I need to think… alone."
Sasuke and she exchanged worried looks but left him alone when he stood up and walked slowly to his room. Once they were alone in the hallway, Sasuke turned to her with almost pleading eyes.
"What do you think about all of this?"
"I think that, no matter how it happened, we can't change the past… but imagine what Itachi must be thinking right now."
"Let me see it," Sasuke asked, referring to their link.
She knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to enter her mind to understand what she was thinking without her having to explain it. That was the fastest and most reliable way to share thoughts. So, seeing that Sasuke needed it, clearly in a state of shock, she opened the link fully. Naruto, who had been quiet in his room to give them privacy, and Sasuke merged with her.
She thought about Itachi. About how he must feel after realizing his cousin and best friend had manipulated and betrayed him by using his dōjutsu against him. She thought about how Shisui had taken himself out of the picture, leaving twelve years old Itachi in charge of a rebellious clan whose days were numbered if they continued on the path toward a coup. She thought about how Itachi must feel displaced, a stranger in his own body, wondering if every decision he had made since that fateful day was truly his own or just the result of Shisui's vague orders. Was Itachi really himself while under genjutsu, or had he been a puppet of flesh controlled by his dead cousin? What had become of his will, of his identity, during those nine years when he hadn't even known it wasn't really him in control? At least not entirely.
Would he have killed his clan if he had been free from influence? Would he have found another way to fix things? Would the pressure and stress have driven him to suicide? Would anything have changed if Shisui hadn't killed himself and had helped him steer the clan back on course? Was it his fault his parents were dead, or was he innocent? Had Shisui been foolish enough to give Itachi such a generic order without considering the consequences? Or worse... had Shisui known exactly what he was doing and used Itachi anyway?
There were no answers, because Shisui was dead. Dead by his own hand. He would never be able to answer Itachi's questions, never bring him peace. Itachi would spend the rest of his life wondering what was real and what wasn't. And the most devastating thing of all was that, no matter what, he couldn't change the fact that his family was dead. He would always question whether, had he not been under the genjutsu, his parents might still be alive.
Sasuke emerged from her mind, overwhelmed with emotional pain. The shock gave way to sadness, grief, and rage. Seina embraced him as his eyes filled with tears and his breath became shaky. The moment he was in her arms, holding each other tightly, Sasuke began to sob into her neck. Seina knew the wound from the massacre would never truly heal. A part of Sasuke resented Itachi even after forgiving him because he believed there had to have been another way besides killing the clan. Now, realizing Itachi might not have even been responsible, but rather Shisui... It forced him to rethink the entire tragedy of his family's slaughter. Simply because, to Shisui, "protecting the village" had been more important than anything else.
She felt Naruto's deep sorrow as he processed the situation and heard Sasuke cry. She gave him a mental nudge. Seina carried Sasuke to his room a few meters away. Once she laid him down, still in her arms, Naruto entered. It was the first time either of them had tried to comfort Sasuke physically. Strangely, Sasuke didn't push him away when he felt Naruto wrap his arms around both of them from behind.
They stayed like that for a while. Sasuke didn't seem to want to lift his face from her neck, though he was no longer sobbing. Still, she felt the tears running down her skin until he slowly drifted off to sleep. She kept running her fingers through his hair like he was a little child, feeling intensely protective of him. Naruto, eyes closed and face sombre, comforted them with his silent presence.
"What are we going to do?" she asked the air quietly. "This is beyond us."
"The only thing we can do is be there for them. I don't know exactly what would've happened if he hadn't been under the genjutsu, but I do know this: Itachi was a victim of Shisui. He has been this entire time."
Seina realized he was right. Her biological brother's mature words resonated deeply. It didn't matter what Itachi had done. He was the victim of mental manipulation. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder how everything had gone so wrong so suddenly. One moment they were training like usual, and the next, Itachi was collapsed in the infirmary after convulsing on the ground. Whoever said reality was stranger than fiction had clearly been right.
They resumed training more calmly once they saw Itachi seemed to want to stick to his routine to avoid facing his problems. When Jiraiya arrived, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving the tent, letting the others go ahead until only the two of them remained.
"What's happened in the past few days?"
"Itachi was under a genjutsu cast by Shisui. For nine years," she emphasized. "Apparently, the command was for him to do what was best for the village."
"...Shit," Jiraiya muttered, running a hand through his hair as he immediately understood the implications of that—what it meant or could mean. "I'll talk to him privately."
"Don't upset him anymore. He's been wandering around like a ghost for days."
"I'm not surprised. Don't worry. I'll tread carefully."
She didn't know what Jiraiya and Itachi talked about, but it seemed to help. At least a little. He wasn't the same as before, obviously, but he seemed much less depressed and less suicidal than in the previous days. Sasuke and she both breathed easier. It was clear Sasuke had been deeply worried about his brother's mental and emotional health, so much so that he hadn't been sleeping well. As soon as Itachi, after talking to Jiraiya, seemed more open to talking again, Sasuke took him to his room.
"I showed him the portrait of mom," Sasuke confessed. "I hadn't shown it to him until now because I didn't know if I should keep it a secret because of your powers or how he'd take it, considering... considering he killed her. But now I think Itachi needs to talk to her even more than I do."
"That's a great idea, Sasuke."
She had completely forgotten. Sasuke had come up with a brilliant idea. Who better to comfort Itachi than his own mother? Even if it was only a portrait, Itachi was smart and would benefit from having her presence, even if it was an incomplete copy of their mother. Sasuke gave the portrait to Itachi so he could talk to her whenever he needed to during this difficult time. Itachi, on the other hand, seemed to improve a bit more. She might have been fooled into thinking he had returned to normal, given how he was acting but Seina knew better. Sasuke knew better. They all knew better.
Itachi was still not okay.