Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Huh…not a very good start back into the shinobi world, now is it?
Eighteen Years Prior
Konoha was desperate. The Third Shinobi World War was tipping in Iwa and Kumo's favor. It was true they both hated each other, but their common enemy, Konoha, was slowly weakening. Iwa and Kumo's advances in the war were taking a huge toll on Konoha; Konoha was sure to lose.
Hiruzen and Danzo agreed, for once, that Konoha could not afford to lose. They were an important Hidden Village after all. If they lost, the world would be thrown into even more chaos than it was in already. Iwa and Kumo would probably either take advantage of the plethora of valuable clans or kill them all.
Konoha was at the edge of annihilation and as a result, they had to play their best cards and pray to Kami that they'd be able to come out alive. These best cards, among others, included Namikaze Minato.
Hiruzen knew that despite Minato's excellent track record, he was one person, and he couldn't man all the fronts at once. Hiruzen had to make a horrible decision: deploy children, not even Genin children, but children who'd just learned how to read and write. Children who barely knew how to hold a kunai right or even channel chakra properly to avoid blowing themselves up.
Hiruzen summoned two of the best young prodigies in the village to his office later that day, along with Minato and Fugaku. Hiruzen was surprised that he'd even considered summoning the children's parents, but even in his old age he supposed that considerations of kindness were in order considering the age of the children. On another even more off to the side note, he wondered why he hadn't summoned the mothers. He shivered, remembering who they were. Those two women were two of the scariest women Konoha had to offer: Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto.
He took another long drag from his pipe and blew out a perfect ring as the four appeared in his office just as dawn was breaking.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama," Minato said. Fugaku gave a similar greeting.
"We don't have much time, if you haven't noticed from your recent deployments. Konoha is steadily losing ground. I need as many hands as I can get in the field as soon as I can, so I'm sorry if I come off as a bit blunt. I need to deploy Uchiha Itachi and Namikaze Sayuri and you two as well. Unfortunately, you two are going to be separated from your children so Konoha has a few hands everywhere. Minato, you're going to be near Kusa and Fugaku you're going to be near Taki. Sayuri, Itachi, you two are going to be near Suna. That is all. Do your best," Hiruzen said, his mouth bitter from having to send such kind looking children.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," the four bowed, the children a bit deeper than their fathers as they replied.
Their footsteps tapped softly on the floor and slowly grew softer, making it seem to Hiruzen as if the children's fates were being sealed. And that wasn't far from the truth either.
The moment the door closed, leaving Hiruzen in the office alone, Minato bent down to look at the two children. His kind blue eyes and smile made contact with Sayuri's grey ones and Itachi's black ones.
"We're going to be together for a day or so until we have to split up. Sayuri, you have to protect Itachi with your life. If you don't, the Uchiha clan, and even Konoha are at stake. I won't tolerate failure if Itachi is dead and you're alive. Fugaku and I—"
"That's Fugaku-san if you're going to overlook the more tolerable Uchiha-san, Namikaze-san," Fugaku corrected, irritated. The fact he had to wake up early just to receive news he had to send his prodigy son out to the front lines didn't help either.
"Fugaku and I are going to try to prepare you, but know that if anything goes wrong, Itachi has my special kunai," Minato patted Itachi's head.
"Thank you, Minato-san," Itachi said. He noticed Sayuri didn't say anything; she'd only nodded.
"Let's go, Tou-sama," Sayuri said, her face carefully devoid of emotion.
Minato nodded and was at the gates with the two children with Fugaku who was asking the two four-year-olds if they had everything. Just as they turned to leave, two women came running towards them.
"Sayuri!"
"Itachi!"
The two women handed the two children bento and an assortment of non-perishables. Mikoto and Kushina grinned at each other, glad they managed to catch their children right before they left. They hugged their children and gave a peck on the cheek to their husbands. Promptly after that, they gave their husbands a stern (well, murderous) look to promise to not let their children die or else. Minato didn't know what Kushina meant by 'or else' and he never wanted to find out. Fugaku sweatdropped a little as Mikoto stared him down.
"Kushina, Sayuri doesn't need all that food, she's getting pudgy from all your food; Itachi looks a little thin and pale, don't you think?" Minato took the food from Sayuri and was about to hand it to Itachi.
"Minato, please give the food back to Sayuri. Do you want her to starve?" Kushina leaned into his ear so no one else heard the next part. "I know you favor Itachi but if Sayuri dies of starvation because of you, how is she going to protect your precious Uchiha?"
Minato gave her a glare before nodding and handing the food back to Sayuri. Sayuri took it back and quickly put it into her bag for safekeeping.
"Sayuri, I love you no matter what. Even if you get scared, remember you've got your mother to come back to," Kushina knelt down and whispered, "Hurry, before your father sees; this is a fuuinjutsu scroll. It'll let out lightning to shock your enemies if you apply chakra," Kushina hurriedly handed Sayuri a scroll, which the girl took with surprising speed and dexterity.
"Well, stay safe and warm, you two," the two women turned back to their pleasant and cheery selves as they waved their children off.
As the four traveled through the Land of Fire away from Konoha, Minato and Fugaku smaller scale to formulate an exercise for their children.
Sure, Sayuri and Itachi had training from both Minato and Fugaku in the shinobi arts and were at nearly the same level of skill with each other, but they hadn't seen war yet. War wasn't the kind of thing that could be prepared for in every sense just as one can't predict every outcome when rolling dice, but just the general outline of it and what is most likely to happen can be shown.
For Sayuri and Itachi, it was a three-day journey. For Minato, it was a four-day journey. For Fugaku, it was five days. So the two men had two days to prepare their children; they left the last day for them to refresh their chakra reserves.
At noon, the four stopped to take a break. Itachi and Sayuri went off to refill their canteens at a nearby stream.
"Are you okay?" Itachi asked. He'd known Sayuri for all his life considering their mothers were best friends, and he always pictured her with a smile. There was something strange about her and her father. This troubled him and made him want to know what was going on and maybe, if he could fix it.
"Yeah," Sayuri said softly. "Look, the stream is just over there," Sayuri suddenly broke into a smile and frolicked over to the water and cupped her hands. She took a grateful gulp and let out a content sigh. She pulled out her canteen and filled it with water as Itachi followed suit.
Once their canteens were full, they headed back to Minato and Fugaku. Itachi saw their father's bags and his pace quickened. As he was about to take another step, Sayuri grabbed the back of his collar and thrust him back and pushed him to the ground as an explosion rang in their ears.
Itachi pulled Sayuri up and they pulled out a kunai. Itachi tried to sense their father's chakra, but couldn't find any trace of their chakra.
The whistling of kunai pierced the air and Itachi brought his kunai up and began to parry off all the incoming kunai. He glanced at Sayuri out of the corner of his eye and saw she was fighting off some enemy. Itachi finished blocking and tried to run to Sayuri's aid after seeing the enemy nick her face, but he was kicked harshly in the stomach and flew into a tree. He let out a fire style jutsu and saw, thankfully, that Sayuri had defeated her enemy. They lay in a pool of blood and even though her face was deathly pale, she was searching the enemy for valuable items. Sayuri turned and saw Itachi was fighting a more skilled enemy than she had and ran over. The enemy saw her and nearly tripped her small frame.
Itachi glared and before the enemy had his attention back to him, Itachi sunk his kunai into soft flesh.
The surroundings suddenly shifted and they saw their fathers leaning against tree trunks sipping their water as if nothing had happened.
"Took you two a while. Shouldn't the explosion have given it away?" Minato asked.
"Genjutsu," Itachi said.
"Right," Minato chirped. "Sayuri, you were slow. Itachi could've been killed and then what would you have done?"
Sayuri saw this as a rhetorical question and decided not to answer. However, Minato was truly asking her the question and his face darkened, as Sayuri didn't respond. Minato took a few large steps over to her and lifted her up by her collar. Itachi saw fear flash in her eyes as Minato glared harshly.
Slap.
Minato let her drop onto the ground as she held her face with a hand and a wince.
"Please forgive me, Tou-sama," Sayuri suddenly knelt with both hands on the ground. Itachi's eyes widened as he saw that it hadn't been an ordinary slap, it had been a chakra-enhanced one that Itachi suspected would give a burn once it stopped bleeding. Her blood dripped down her cheek onto the dirt and Itachi saw how she was holding in tears and whimpers behind her calm face.
"Answer my question," Minato ordered.
"Namikaze-san, that's enough," Fugaku stepped in.
"You have no right to step in between my daughter and me," Minato said smoothly.
"I would've committed suicide because my purpose in this world is to protect the Uchiha clan heir," Sayuri said. Itachi flinched. What was she saying? What is she talking about?!
"Good answer," Minato said and left the two alone. Sayuri turned and ran to the stream, her face contorting into a pained one. She didn't let her tears fall; the salt in them would cause stinging. Sayuri knelt and splashed water on the wound, causing more pain. She stopped and clenched her fists to try to deal with the pain.
Itachi knelt by her side and tried to get a good look at her wound.
"Sayuri, let me help," Itachi took her hand in his, not caring about the blood that stained it.
Itachi pulled out a cloth from his backpack and wet it with some solution and dabbed it on her face. She shut her eyes in pain and Itachi clutched her hand as if to allow her to squeeze his hand for comfort from the pain.
When the solution made contact with the wound, the wound sizzled a little. Itachi knew it was disinfecting it but also knew it caused quite a bit of pain. Once it was sufficiently cleaned, Itachi pulled out a bandage and applied it. Sayuri sighed and cupped her hands to take another drink of water.
"What was that about?" Itachi asked, staring into her grey eyes.
"It's nothing. Tou-sama is just funny sometimes," Sayuri waved it off.
"Sayuri, you're important to me. Are you sure you're alright? I don't mean the slap, I mean overall," Itachi said.
"Uchiha-san, I'm fine, really. Thanks for worrying for me, though," Sayuri gave a lighthearted smile and stood. She gestured for Itachi to follow to get back to camp.
This kind of training continued through the day and for Sayuri and Minato, through the night. Once they'd reached the separation point where Suna was, they stopped and gave their goodbyes.
"Stay safe," Fugaku grunted out. Minato gave a smile and handed Itachi his kunai. Itachi nodded and the two children set off to Suna to aid their fellow Konoha shinobi. The two fathers watched as their children walked off, their hearts tight with pain and worry. Fugaku was mildly angry that Minato didn't express practically any concern for his daughter, who they two had agreed to sign an arranged marriage contract once they got back to Konoha. Fugaku was worrying for both children while Minato worried for Itachi.
Sayuri and Itachi concealed their chakra as they went towards a bridge, approximately 5 miles from their starting point. They were able to travel through the sparse brush that skirted the sandy desert for a time until they were forced out in the open with the hot sun beating down on their backs. Sweat dripped down their faces and by noon, they felt like their insides were cooked.
Itachi dropped to his knees and desperately drank the last of his canteen's water. Fear spread through him as he realized he didn't have any water left. He hadn't even reached the battle yet and he'd run out of perhaps the most important provision when in a desert. Sayuri handed him her canteen and miraculously pulled out a second canteen for herself from her bag. Itachi had wondered why she'd brought a rather heavy looking bag. He supposed she had more water.
A few hours later, they arrived at the Nagaoka Bridge. They saw many Suna nin lying dead on the ground and a few Konoha nin as well. They were grabbed back behind a large boulder.
"Hey, long time no see, Sayuri-chan," Obito grinned and hugged the girl. "What happened to your face? Itachi, what did you do?" Obito turned to the Uchiha boy.
"I did nothing, Obito-san," Itachi stated. "What can we do to help?"
"Sayuri-chan, what happened? You can tell me anything," Obito grinned.
"Sayuri-chan?" Rin ducked over as another explosion rang out. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Please, what can we do to help?" Sayuri asked.
"You can distract the enemy with something flashy while the Obito and I go and take down the bridge," Kakashi said, suddenly appearing. "Do you have something flashy?"
"Yes, I have a lightning scroll. At what signal do I activate it?" Sayuri asked Kakashi.
"You'll know when you see it," Kakashi said as he dragged Obito and Rin to the bridge. Sayuri watched as they dashed forward, easily downing Suna nin as if they were an unstoppable team. Kakashi jumped into the air and let kunai rain down as Obito and Rin attacked some other Suna nin. Kakashi glanced at Sayuri and the girl dashed out into the battle, ducking under people and confusing them. This confusion allowed the Suna shinobi's attention to be diverted because Sayuri was so young. In this instant, the Konoha shinobi struck and defeated their enemies. Sayuri crouched next to Kakashi and slammed the scroll down and applied a generous amount of chakra. Lightning raced out as Sayuri threw the scroll away from her and into the heart of a large group of Suna nin. Cries echoed out and Kakashi kicked away an enemy about to get Sayuri.
Itachi began to fight as well, jumping in as close as he could get to Sayuri. However, he was surrounded by five Suna shinobi. Itachi parried most of their attacks and used a few fire style jutsu until he began to tire. His mind was withstanding the pressure, but his body was still young and unable to keep up the way his mind wanted to. As an exploding kunai was coming, he jumped back only to knock into another Suna shinobi.
Sayuri managed to slip between people's legs and hop over on their heads to Itachi's place. She gripped a kunai in her hand and weaved signs for a mild genjutsu. She grabbed Itachi and threw him as hard as she could towards Kakashi. He glared at Sayuri for making him look up during an intense fight, but caught the Uchiha nonetheless.
Sayuri weaved more signs for a water style jutsu and the ground became slick enough for the Suna shinobi to slip and fall. As Sayuri slit a few of their throats, she froze as her hands shook and was about to be slammed on the ground headfirst before Obito snatched her away. What have I done?!
He placed her behind a boulder and let out a huge fireball.
Three hours later, Konoha was victorious at the Nagaoka Bridge. Blood covered everything, the ground, the dead bodies, Sayuri, and Itachi. Sayuri's eyes dulled with the sight of so much blood and cries of pain and anguish and revenge. Explosions' blasts still rang in her ears and she wished she could just get away and forget everything. Once it was over, Sayuri was about to fall asleep from chakra exhaustion when Minato arrived, shocking her nerves and pushing sleep far, far away.
"I see Itachi is alright," Minato noted as Itachi stood by Sayuri, whose red hair was caked with dirt and mud and was singed.
"Minato-sensei, I beat all these guys! Kakashi was there too but I was amazing!" Obito grinned. Kakashi whacked him on the head and glared.
"What're you talking about, idiot? I did everything," Kakashi corrected.
"Come along, we're going back to Konoha," Minato said as his team and the two children made a circle and disappeared in a flash.
Sayuri wished she could make the terrible things she saw today, and the things she'd see over the next year, disappear as quickly as her father's Hiraishin.
The images of war had taken their toll on Sayuri and Itachi. As Itachi and Sayuri walked through the village to try to distract themselves from the wave of pain, they held hands as a way of comfort.
They found the dango shop and took a seat and ordered two plates of dango and tea. Silence filled the space between them until the dango came and the two chewed slowly, their eyes darting from customer to customer.
"Itachi," Sayuri said suddenly as she put down her unfinished skewer. Itachi turned his head to look at her, surprised she'd used his first name and even more so without any suffixes.
"Yeah?" Itachi asked, giving his full attention.
"The war…it ended today but we're never going to forget it. Konoha almost lost and we can't let that happen. We have to protect Konoha with everything we have no matter what. Also, what we saw…we can't let Konoha turn into that. Promise me you'll stay by my side and protect Konoha?" Sayuri asked. Itachi swore he saw her face turn a light shade of pink, but he pinned it up to the blood that marred her face.
Itachi smiled. "Yeah. I promise."
Sayuri thanked him and finished the last piece of dango and put enough money to pay for both hers and Itachi's meal on the table and left. The two walked through the streets of Konoha with no endpoint in mind. They eventually ended up at the Uchiha District.
"Well, good night, Uchiha-san," Sayuri said as she bowed lightly.
The girl walked home slowly, not wanting to go home. She knew it was selfish to let her mother be alone with her father, but she couldn't help herself. Unconsciously, a hand touched her face and she bit her lip. I hope Kaa-san is alright.
Sayuri opened the door and braced herself for the reprimands she'd get from Minato the moment she was spotted.
"Where have you been?" Minato asked. "Actually, no, I don't want to know."
Sayuri picked at her rice until Minato told her to go to bed. Sayuri nodded and walked away, holding her arms tight. Kushina looked at her daughter with guilt as she turned and began to clean up dinner. Minato took another seat on the couch and began to read the newspaper and some mission reports Hiruzen wanted his careful eye to look over.
Sayuri wasn't able to sleep for long. Her dreams were filled with brutal and bloody deaths. Sometimes, she'd see Itachi or Obito cursing her for not protecting them. Then, another dream consisted of seeing Minato being overly kind to her and praising her and teaching her new jutsu and letting her eat and rest as much as she wanted.
As Rin tried to kill her for letting Kakashi and Obito die, Sayuri woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. Her eyes darted around and it took a few moments before she could realize it was simply a dream. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cried silent tears into her blankets.
Sayuri hopped off her bed and went to the small balcony she had where she cared for a tiny lily plant. The lily had a nice white color that seemed to glow in the moonlight. The cool night air blew through her red hair and she ran her fingers through it lazily.