Her Face

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I'm really happy to see this story getting more attention than I thought it would because I know it's a pairing that doesn't get much screen time in the show or in stories. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Notation: I had one reviewer tell me that Shisui would be about four during this time period. So I'm just going to assume that's accurate.

Chapter 10

A few weeks later and Sasuke was speaking with the Third Hokage. He certainly wasn't Danzo level of evil, but the grandfatherly image was at least partially a front. A front that he wasn't going to fall for.

Oh Sasuke was sure that Sarutobi would have preferred to be the doting grandfather and kind elder that he portrayed himself to be. Unfortunately, that wasn't the whole story. There was another side to his personality. The manipulative one.

"And you can't tell me why? You can't tell me why you don't want Sakumo to go on this mission?" The elderly ninja inquires, once more.

"No. I'm afraid that I can't. You know the reason why. I don't want to risk altering the timeline." Sasuke insists.

He knew that it had to be hard on the Third. The man knew so little of what was really going on. It was better that way though. Sarutobi was clever enough to interfere with Sasuke's plans and that was just something that he couldn't allow to happen. Too many lives were at stake.

"Daisuke, you are asking me to place a great deal of trust in you. This isn't just a celebration like the last time. You are now interfering with what missions I assign." The Hokage states.

Sasuke frowns. He knew that he was certainly stepping on Sarutobi's toes. It was only natural that a Kage wouldn't like someone telling them what to do. They were used to being in charge. This couldn't be easy for him.

"I know that. I appreciate the celebration, but trust me. This is for the best. Please, do not assign this mission to Sakumo." The Uchiha pleads with him.

Sarutobi sighs. Once again, Daisuke was asking him to do something without explaining why. He didn't particularly care that he was constantly being left in the dark. The Hokage was certain Daisuke had his reasons, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach.

"I don't like this. This is the last favor that I am going to great you without more of an explanation. I understand that you can't tell me everything, but I would like too know some things. Surely, you can understand why. I have an entire village to think about." The Third Hokage informs him.

"Yes, I completely understand why." Sasuke replies as he ponders Sarutobi's words.

Was this the last favor that he would need? He didn't know. Sasuke didn't think that there was anyone else who needed to be saved, but there likely was. More and more people just kept popping up.

He had gone back in time with the intention of saving his family. Somehow that had morphed into saving Kushina and Minato as well. Not only that, but he was also going to try save Sakumo. There was likely someone else that he was forgetting, but he couldn't for the life of him think who.

"Then you agree to my terms?" Sarutobi asks.

Sasuke frowns. He certainly didn't like it, but he didn't really have any other choice. He NEEDED Sarutobi to be on his side. The man was Hokage and knew his secret. Making an enemy out of him would be an unwise move to put it lightly.

"I agree to your terms." Sasuke says as he shakes the other man's hand.

"Good. Well then, I suppose that we have an understanding. I shall assign someone else to this mission. Is there anything else that you need?" He inquires.

"Not at the moment. I'll let you know, if that changes though." The raven haired Uchiha says.

Sarutobi nods approvingly and with that, Sasuke leaves his office. He sighs in relief. Well at least Kakashi's father wouldn't die. It felt good to know that he had saved at least one life on this mission. Now he had to figure out a way to save his Clan and Naruto's parents. Oh and Rin.

"Please be sure to do so." The Hokage calls out as Sasuke leaves.

Meanwhile Fugaku smiles as he enjoys his picnic with Mikoto in one of their fields. The Uchiha Clan may have been mostly a Clan of ninjas, but they also had some farmers. Mostly those farmers were composed of retired ninjas, but active ninjas did occasionally chip in.

They were currently in a strawberry field. The berries were in full bloom and it was a beautiful day. He had never thought himself very good at romance, but he figured that it was as good a setting as any.

"It's beautiful here, especially when the strawberries are in full bloom." Mikoto observes as she sits next to her lover and cuddles into him.

Fugaku Uchiha was a proud man. Mikoto knew that. She understood that. That was why she knew that he would never allow anyone else to know that he enjoyed cuddling as much as she did. That and the cupcakes.

As far as she could tell, those were really his only little quirks that couldn't be considered strictly masculine. Though honestly, the dark haired beauty didn't understand why men pretended they didn't like cuddling. Most of them were lying to preserve their masculine pride. (Well at least that's what she thought.)

"Yes, it is. Not nearly as beautiful as you are, but it's still quite lovely." Fugaku agrees.

"Mmm you can be quite sweet, when you want to be." Mikoto tells him with a slight blush as she kisses his cheek.

It had taken years, but she had finally done it. Mikoto Uchiha had finally gotten him to notice her. She wasn't entirely certain why it had taken so long, but she was happy that she was finally successful in her self-appointed mission.

"I suppose that's true. Though let's keep that a secret. Just between the two of us. No one else needs to know." The other Uchiha says with a sly smile.

"Mhm. My lips are sealed with your lips." Mikoto tells him and with that, she proceeds to kiss him in a far less chaste manner.

Fugaku smiles and returns the kiss. He was trying to propose to her, but Mikoto could be so damn distracting. Oh well. A few minutes of stolen kisses couldn't hurt. He doubted that was going to alter the timeline too much.

He smirks when he pulls her fully into his lap and cups her backside. Yes, she could be very distracting. Extremely so really. That was one of the reasons why he had chosen such a large field that was on the outskirts of the District. It was highly unlikely that anyone was going to stumble upon them here.

"Good. I'm glad. May that always be the case." He whispers, after breaking the kiss.

Fugaku smiles as he caresses her cheek. Mikoto kisses the palm of his hand and he knew that he had made the right decision. Even without Daisuke's arrival, he would have known that she was the one for him.

"Mmm I hope so." She says with a smile.

"I wanted to talk to you about that actually." Fugaku says as he reaches into his kunai pouch.

"Talk to me about what?" Mikoto replies in confusion, not at all sure where he was going with this

Fugaku smiles as he pulls out a small black velvet box. He could see that Mikoto was eyeing it as curious as her beloved ninja cat. Her eyes were always so expressive. It was amazing, really.

"That always being the case. I know that we haven't been courting very long, but we have known each other for years and though it's been a relatively brief courtship, I know what I want. I want to be with you as man and wife." He states simply and with that, he opens the box.

Inside was a beautiful ring. It had a large heart-shaped ruby. Framing each side of it was a large diamond and the rest of the front half of the silver band was covered with smaller diamonds. The back was stainless silver.

"Fugaku, it's beautiful!" Mikoto cries out in shock as she covers her mouth in surprise.

"Is that a yes?" He asks smugly, rather pleased that she liked the ring.

"Yes, it's a yes!" She says as she embraces him tightly, knocking him over.

Fugaku could only smile in response. He couldn't complain about the view. Sadly, he knew that this was only the first part of the proposal. There really shouldn't be any secrets between a man and his wife, especially not their when it concerned their children.

Elsewhere Kenji smiles as he watches his wife bake some cookies. The woman certainly could cook. Not only was she a beautiful and powerful ninja, she was second to none when it came to baking. The only person who came close was Mikoto.

"I see that smile, Kenji Uchiha." Aiya states as she checks on the cookies.

"Is a man not allowed to smile, simply because he is enjoying the glorious view of his wife preparing culinary delights?" He inquires slyly.

"Mmm a man is certainly allowed to smile whenever he likes. I just hope that he isn't foolish enough to believe that he is going to sneak one of these cookies before dinner." She tells him with no small amount of mirth.

Kenji smiles and places his hand over his heart as if he was mortally wounded. His wife could be quite feisty. That was just one of the many reasons why he loved her.

"You wound me, My Love. I would never do such a thing." He informs her.

"Of course." Aiya says skeptically as she sees Daisuke enter the kitten.

"Exactly. Daisuke, would you kindly vouch for my character? My wife is beseeching my good name. She seems to believe that I would sink to the level of stealing a cookie from the kitchen before dinner." The elder Uchiha says with mock somberness.

Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. This type of behavior was rather typical for his future grandfather. Sadly, his memories of his grandparents had sparse before coming back to the past. Though Kenji and Aiya were unwittingly more than willing to make up for lost time, it seemed.

"Kenji would never do such a thing. I'm appalled that you would accuse him of trying to sneak a single cookie from the kitchen early. We both know that he wouldn't settle for anything less than half a dozen." Sasuke says smugly.

"See? That's a smart boy right there!" Kenji says smugly and Aiya just laughs.

Well she was laughing until a young boy darts inside the kitchen. He quickly snatches a cookie and flickers off. Sasuke blinks at the strange scene.

"What the Hell was that?" The young Uchiha inquires.

"Oh that was Shisui being sneaky. He's only four, but somehow he's figured out how to use the Body Flicker Technique. He's become quite good at it and uses it to get into all kinds of mischief. I don't have the heart to yell at him. I mean it is a rather useful technique. It's a good thing that he's getting so much practice in." Aiya reasons.

Sasuke blinks. Shisui? Shisui was the name of Itachi's best friend. He had been known as Shisui of the Body Flicker. Damn. He had always heard that the man was a prodigy, but he hadn't realized that he had apparently started being so at such a young age.

"Yes, that's true. It's a very useful technique." Sasuke agrees and Aiya nods in approval.

"Speaking of useful techniques, I imagine that we'll be adding a daughter to our family soon." Kenji tells Aiya.

Aiya raises an eyebrow. Her husband must be out of his mind. She was well beyond her childbearing years. That didn't even make any sense. They would be adding a daughter to their family? What did that even mean?

"I think that I may have smacked you around a few too many times during training. I am most decidedly not pregnant." She retorts.

"Oh I didn't mean that. I meant that Fugaku is going to propose to Mikoto." He says with a smile, positively beaming at the news.

The female ninja blinks. Whatever she had been expecting her husband to say, that certainly wasn't it. Then again, this was Kenji Uchiha. Impossible things came out of that man's mouth nearly every single day, almost without fail.

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke dares himself to ask.

If so, that was a very good sign. It was a signal that Itachi's conception was likely right on schedule. That meant that his own conception was probably on schedule. Still he had to be sure.

"Oh I saw him out in the village today. He was visiting the jewelry shop." Kenji says with a wink.

"That's wonderful news! Oh I've always wanted to have a son and a daughter. Unfortunately, back then things were too dangerous. I couldn't risk being pregnant for a second time during those times of conflict. I can't wait to officially welcome her into our more immediate family." Aiya says with a smile.

At this reaction, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how Aiya would react if she knew the truth. What would she say or do, if she knew that he was her grandson? Honestly, he wished that he could tell his grandparents the truth. He really did, but the raven haired ninja knew that he couldn't.

"Yes, it was a shame. Oh well. Fugaku seems to enjoy being an only child anyway." Kenji observes with a smile of his own.

On the other side of the Leaf Village, several young children were currently at the ice cream stand. They had all used their allowances or mission money to buy some ice cream. Naturally, the conversation drifted towards Daisuke.

"He really taught you all how to use a Fire Jutsu?" Kurenai asks, sounding impressed as she licked her strawberry ice cream cone.

"Yeah!" Obito exclaims excitedly as Rin and Kakashi nod in confirmation.

"That sounds very youthful! Do you think the Hokage will make an exception for him?" Guy asks cheerfully.

Kakashi frowns as he considers it. Well Daisuke was young to be a Sensei, but clearly he was good at it and they were a little short on instructors at the moment. Maybe Lord Sarutobi would make an exception?

"I'm not really sure. He's an Uchiha so that doesn't exactly work in his favor." The silver haired boy observes with a sigh.

"I don't really get why that should make a difference." Asuma says with a frown.

Rin shakes her head sadly. She knew that it shouldn't matter, but the Uchihas were highly isolated. She used to think that was entirely by choice, but then she met Obito.

He was anything but secretive or shy. That still confused her to this day. Was the rest of his family like him or was Obito just a bit of a black sheep in that Clan?

"They keep to themselves. I'm not sure that many would trust him with their kids." The brunette admits.

"That's not very youthful! Though I have to admit, their eyes kinda creep me out." Guy mumbles.

There were a few nods of agreement. Kurenai and Obito both flinch. Obito was because he was an Uchiha and Kurenai because her eyes vaguely resembled the Sharingan in color.

"Oh come on! You guys know that's not what I meant!" Guy protests.

"I think I'm gonna head back." Obito says as he pays for his ice cream and heads off.

"Obito! Wait! Don't go!" Rin says and he shoots her a forced grin.

"It's okay. I have to do my chores anyway. If I don't, my parents are going to freak out again. You know what nags they can be." Obito says as he flits off.

Guy sighs. He hadn't meant to hurt the other boy's feelings. Suddenly, he gulps when he sees that several of his friends were glaring at him.

"I told him that I didn't mean it that way. I'll go talk to him though. I'll let him know that I didn't mean it. His eyes aren't freaky." He says with a sigh.

"That's better!" Rin scolds him and Kakashi just chuckles.

Rin was a very sweet girl. Well she was a very sweet girl most of the time. That was until you got on her bad side. Then she became very scary. That and everyone knew the fastest way to get on her bad side was by making one of her friends sad. Kakashi was suddenly really grateful not to be Guy.

Back in the Uchiha District, Fugaku sighs. He really didn't know how Mikoto was going to take this bit of news. Still he didn't want to start of their marriage with a giant secret keeping them apart.

"Fugaku, what's wrong?" Mikoto asks, once she noticed a sudden shift in his mood.

"It's not that something is wrong exactly, but it is complicated. I want us to always be honest with each other. There should be no secrets between a man and his wife." He begins cautiously.

"I agree, but you're starting to scare me. What's causing you to worry so?" The Uchiha woman demands as she bites her lower lip nervously.

She had rarely seen him actually worried. Fugaku Uchiha was a man who didn't relax easily, but very few things truly made him anxious. If something was bothering him, it had to be something serious.

"It's about Daisuke." Fugaku continues.

Mikoto raises an eyebrow. What did Daisuke have to do with their engagement? Surely, he wasn't going to accuse her of having feelings for the younger man. Not after he just proposed to her!

"Yes, what about him? I thought that the two of you were getting along better now." The dark beauty replies warily.

"Well to begin with, it's highly unlikely that his real name is Daisuke. Oh he's an Uchiha. There's no denying that, but he isn't Daisuke Uchiha." Her lover says.

The young woman stares at Fugaku as if he had grown another head. How could he be so romantic one minute and then so confusing the next? What on Earth had gotten into him?

"That's a rather serious charge to make! You're accusing him of impersonating another Clan Member!" The Genjutsu Specialist says.

"I know it's a serious charge, but I can prove it. If necessary, I can arrange for a paternity test to be done." The Uchiha Patriarch assures her.

"If you don't believe that he's my cousin, who do you think Daisuke really is?" Mikoto dares herself to ask.

Fugaku pauses. This was the moment of truth. He knew after this point, there was no going back.

There was a very good chance that she would think he was insane. That or that he was playing sort of cruel joke on her. Neither of those options boded very well for their engagement. He could only hope that somehow, he'd be able to convince her of the truth.

"I don't know his birth name, but I know who his parents are. Well I suppose that I should say that I know who his parents are going to be." Fugaku states.

"You know who his parents are going to be? Fugaku, that doesn't make any sense. Is this some kind of sick joke?" The Jonin growls at him.

"It's not a joke. I assure you that I am not nearly that creative. Daisuke traveled from the future back to our time." He explains.

Mikoto blinks. She had been so happy when he proposed, but now the young woman was rather worried for his mental health. Perhaps she should get him to the hospital. It wouldn't really be fair to expect him to marry her, when he wasn't in control of his mind at the moment.

"Fugaku, maybe we should get you some help. I know that you have been through a lot, especially during the last war. It's not uncommon for ninjas who have suffered blows to the head to have hallucinations." She assures him.

"I'm not hallucinating! Daisuke is our son! Well he's going to be our son! I know that it sounds crazy, but I wanted to be honest with you. The last thing that I want is for our marriage to start off on a foundation of anything, but honesty!" He snaps at her.

The Uchiha woman could only gape at Fugaku. He sounded so sincere, but his words were those of a madman. Daisuke couldn't possibly be their son. He was seventeen and she was 20. Fugaku was only 25. They weren't nearly old enough to have a child of Daisuke's age. The math just didn't add up.

"You believe that Daisuke is our son from the future?" Mikoto asks incredulously.

"I don't believe it. I know it. Mikoto look at that boy. He looks identical to you. You can't tell me that you haven't noticed the physical similarities." Fugaku insists.

Mikoto bites her lower lip. It sounded so incredible. On the other hand, her lover had never lied to her before. That and why would he make something like this up? What was there to gain?

"He does look like me and I feel oddly protective of him." She confesses.

"Exactly. You know that I'm telling you the truth. Mikoto, I love you. You know that. I wouldn't have proposed to you, if I didn't. I would never lie to you. Not about something like this." The Uchiha Patriarch assures her.

"I think that I believe you, but what are we going to do about it?" She whispers.

Fugaku frowns as he takes her hand in his. He sighs and holds it in a gesture of reassurance. Sadly, the Uchiha man didn't think that he had a good answer to his future wife's question.

"I don't know." He whispers.

Meanwhile back in the present, Kakashi frowns. It was getting harder and harder to come up with suitable excuses. More and more people were seeing things that they shouldn't or worse, people.

Thus far, he had been able to prevent a widespread panic from forming. The visuals or whatever one wanted to call them, generally didn't last for long. They disappeared just as quickly as they came. So it was a relatively easy matter to convince people that they were imagining things.

"I wish that we could be persuaded that easily, but we know the truth." Kakashi says to Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata.

The three of them nodded. Though it didn't escape the silver haired Hokage's notice that Hinata's hand was constantly dipping below her Jonin Vest. She was checking to ensure that her necklace was there.

"Hinata, I don't think that it's going to disappear now. If it's stayed this long, that it's fairly safe to say that it's not going to shimmer off with the other visitors." The Hokage informs her.

Hinata feels her face burn bright red in embarrassment. Kakashi had caught her playing with her necklace. Worse than that though, he knew at least partially why she was doing so.

"Well you can't really blame her. It's pretty rare for someone to go back in time and even rarer for someone from the past or future to give you a gift." Naruto reasons.

"Hinata, did the person who gave you that say anything to you at all?" Sakura asks.

"I don't think so. They just placed it on me and kissed my cheek. It was definitely a man though. He was taller than me." She offers.

"That's not really saying much. Most men are taller than you, Hinata." Naruto observes.

SMACK! Sakura couldn't help it anymore. She had been on edge every since finding out that Sasuke had foolish gone back in time. That lame joke had been the last straw.

"Owe! What was that for?!" Naruto demands.

"You aren't helping! Focus! Unless the Nine Tails knows a way for us to follow him back into the past, we need to focus on how to keep this a secret from everyone else." She hisses at him.

"Alright! Alright! I got it. Believe it! We'll figure something out. We always do." Naruto assures her with a sunny smile.

Sakura sighs and nods. She really wanted to believe that. Every other time that they had gotten into trouble, somehow Naruto had managed to save the day. There was a chance that he could do it again.

She just couldn't see how though. Naruto couldn't travel back in time. He had no way of knowing what Sasuke was up to in the past. All they could do is brace for impact. Sooner or later, the timelines were going to collide and that thought terrified her.