Fourth meeting, part three

They friendship oft has made my heart to ache: do me my enemy for friendship's sake. ~William Blake

Sasuke forced his heavy eye lids open. His head felt fuzzy and started to throb as he tried to assemble the jumble of memories he remembered. His abdomen had pinprick pains and it felt like he had the stomach flu. He tried to move his fingers to scratch an itch at his ear, but his hand wouldn't move. It felt extremely uncomfortable to him, but he had to bear with it.

He recognized the room he was in. It was a special jail cell, isolated from all the other prisoners in Konoha's detention center. He was lying on a stone cot in the center of the room. He turned his head since it was the only thing that seemed to be able to move and explored the place with his sharp eyes.

The cell was lit up by two oil candles on the other side of thick two inch iron bars. The only entrance and exit were the iron bars sealed behind a large iron vault. He couldn't get out and no one can come in. The cell was amazingly sanitary for a prison cell. There wasn't even the smallest peep hole for cockroaches or rats to crawl in and out from.

Just then the large door of the vault creaked opened noisily. Two guards and a man dressed in a long white garb appeared. The man in the white coat stepped forward; the thick iron bars that stood between them blocked his face.

"I'll speak with him alone," he said to the guards quietly. Sasuke recognized the voice. He would never forget that voice.

"But, Hokage-sama," one of the guards said, "he's dangerous."

"Don't belittle me," he said calmly, maturely. "I am the Hokage after all."

"Yes sir," the guards said at the same time. They bowed at the same time and closed the door with a loud bang as if it were all rehearsed.

The Hokage took two more steps until he was just a few inches away from the iron bars.

"It's been a long time," he whispered quietly, as if there was someone listening in on their conversation. "Sasuke."

"Yeah, it has been," Sasuke replied. "Naruto."

"I heard some appalling news yesterday," he said with the same tone.

"Don't use such formal speech," Sasuke complained. "It isn't like you."

Naruto didn't say anything. He was glad to see his best friend whom he saw as a brother after all this time. But he was the Hokage. His best friend was a criminal, it was the hard truth. He had to put on a detached façade. He turned his face away to hide the sadness on his face.

His heart was aching and he couldn't show it.

Sasuke watched his face. Naruto was never good at hiding his expressions. He was the open minded type that always believes the first thing he hears. He had always been an open book to read. If he was angry, he was angry. If he was happy, he was happy and a bright smile would appear on his face.

Sasuke smiled a little. Ever since he started living with Mayuri and Yukimura he wasn't afraid to show his friends his smile, although he can't say he has met many of his friends in the past ten to fifteen years. The idiotic Naruto is the first.

"So Hokage, eh?" Sasuke muttered, turning his face toward the ceiling.

Naruto jerked his head up at Sasuke. Was he complimenting him? Naruto thought, and what a strange subject to bring up. When he was promoted to Hokage, there were many people that never thought he'd make it as Hokage. There some that had always knew he'd be Hokage one day. One of them was his mentor, Hatake Kakashi. But he'd never thought that Sasuke would congratulate him.

"Yeah," was all that he could come up with.

"You've accomplished your dream. How's that going for you?" Sasuke questioned just to get a conversation going.

"Busy. There's almost no time to do anything else but work," Naruto admitted. The road to becoming the Hokage wasn't easy neither was the life of it. How did Gaara, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, ever manage being the Kazekage at the age of fifteen?

Sasuke chuckled quietly. Of course, he thought, what did you think it would be like, idiot? Then there was an awkward silence again.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Sasuke asked. He remembered that he was in a jail cell, not at a tea party with his friend. Where was Yuki? What was Mayuri doing? Worrying no less, he thought.

"Two days," Naruto answered. "That boy of yours is quite impressive. Who would have though he would chill your body to stop the poison from advancing? If he didn't, Sakura would have been too late in getting to you."

Sasuke remained silent. So that was what happened. Yuki had saved him from oblivion. But at the same time, he has made himself known to have been an acquaintance with Sasuke.

"Who poisoned you?" Naruto asked. With the poison extracted from Sasuke's system, Sakura was working making an antidote.

"The man was from the Nichi clan," Sasuke answered obediently. "He said it was a special poison of his clan."

"How did he fight?" Naruto continued to interrogate. "We lack information of the Nichi clan."

Sasuke answered his question without putting much thought into it. "He coated his sword with the poison and throws it like a boomerang. The end hilt is tied with a ribbon that's used to maneuver the sword in air."

"I see," Naruto muttered with his work face. Information on other clans and countries was the key to staying alive in battle. If you don't know the fighting style of your opponent then you are at a disadvantage.

Another discomforting silence…

"That boy," Naruto said awkwardly. It felt strange to ask whether or not Yuki was Sasuke's son. The two of them did look extremely alike and Yuki was very protective of Sasuke when they arrived at Konoha.

"Is not my son," Sasuke finished for him. This misunderstanding is getting old, he thought. But there was no use denying that Yuki had nothing to do with him anymore now that even Naruto knew. And it was about time that Yukimura took up his title as the heir to the Uchiha clan. "He's my nephew."

"Then his mother is," Naruto started.

"My sister-in-law," Sasuke concluded. "They are my brother's family."

"Uchiha Itachi's?" Naruto muttered unconsciously, another surprise for him.

"Yeah, hard to believe, right?" Sasuke said matter-of-factly. "I have been with them since Yuki was five."

Naruto didn't know what to say. There was no use in trying to hide Yuki from his heritage now that people had known. The only way to resolve this to announce it to the public, there was an Uchiha heir. But will the people accept? After all the Uchiha family was annihilated and the only two survivors betrayed Konoha not once but twice.

"I'll see what I can do," Naruto said. He desperately wanted to help this family. He's seen Yuki only once and was sure he's heard his name a couple of times before. There was no malice in that boy's eyes. "For you and for them."

"Just help them," Sasuke said. "They are the innocent ones."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, dreading what Sasuke would say next.

"Don't try to kid with me, Naruto," Sasuke said with hard resolve. "I've always been smarter than you. I am a captured S-ranked criminal. The only thing waiting for me is a death sentence. I'm sure the elders and advisors have already debated over this."

Naruto stayed silent. Of course. He can't outsmart Sasuke on this matter.

"I'm ready to accept the punishment." Sasuke closed his eyes. "I owe it Konoha. But the rest of the Uchiha family does not. Perhaps Konoha will forgive the Uchiha clan a little more if I died. Yuki and Mayuri would have an easier life." Sasuke opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of Naruto. "I beg you, Naruto. Let Yuki become the leader of the New Uchiha."

Naruto listened to Sasuke's plea. It was probably the first time ever in Sasuke's life that he has begged someone to do something for him. This was probably Sasuke's most pathetic state. He was immobile, trapped under the antidote of the poison with his death creeping slowly towards him and yet he was begging for the life of two other people.

"I understand," Naruto said and turned around. "I'll speak with Shirakawa and her son."

"Thank you," Sasuke said. He needed to sleep more, until the antidote kills off all the poison. His eye lids felt heavy and slowly closed as Naruto commanded the guards to open the vault door. It opened noisily and closed noisily as Sasuke fell back asleep.

"Call on the boy's mother. I wish to speak with her," the Hokage said to the guards as he walked down the dark hall slowly.

"Yes sir," one of them said and hurried before them.

Naruto got to his office quickly after he left the prison. He needed to collect his thoughts before he met with Shirakawa Mayuri. Unfortunately for him, Mayuri arrived at his office five minutes after he got there. It was the first time he's laid eyes on Shirakawa Mayuri.

She was wearing a gigantic purple susohiki with marvelously stitched kumon patterns of lavender clouds with sky blue doves soaring along with the cloud patterns. Her hair was professionally done up in a perfect bun with hair ornaments made with black gold embedded with rubies and sapphires.

From afar, with a kimono that cut her in perfect proportions and her gigantic hairdo, Shirakawa looked like a very tall woman. But as she nervously walked up to Naruto's desk, he guessed she was barely up to five feet. Perhaps four foot ten. She was so tiny. Her face was small and her shoulders were slim. The only features that were huge were her large lilac colored moonstone eyes and her physically small hands that seemed large enough to hold the whole world at that moment.

She took a professional sweeping bow and the ornaments in her hair dangled from the black gold headband. "Please excuse me for appearing like this. I was still a work," she said formally as she could.

"No. No. It's my fault for neglecting to inform you about anything and then calling you here so suddenly," Naruto said awkwardly.

"That's fine. If waiting patiently is what a mother can do in such a situation then that's what I will do," she said patiently and tried to be as calm as she could.

Naruto couldn't help but lower his head in response. He felt ashamed and awkward all over. The image he had conjured up of Itachi's wife was a tall woman with biceps and an overwhelming aura around her, most definitely not someone like Mayuri, small and fragile, like a doll. "Um, this is a little awkward to say," he said, his eyes wandering around the room just so that he won't stare at her to make it even awkward.

"It's alright, Hokage-sama," she said almost in a whisper. "You know about Sasuke-san don't you?"

Naruto's eyes darted over at Mayuri as wide as a full moon. She was facing the ground and he couldn't make out her expressions, but she sounded so sad.

Mayuri could feel Naruto staring at her and she quickly rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "I always knew this would happen one day. It's impossible to keep a secret forever. Where is Yuki?"

"Oh," Naruto stuttered. His mind was a mess and empty at the same time. "Your son?" he stammered. "He's in a secure isolated place," he said trying to make the situation sound better than it actually is.

Yuki was locked somewhere in the mountain where the faces of the Hokage were carved. The news about his assumed heritages made its way to the ears of the Elders quickly. Naruto had already met with them once and debated that he would at least be interrogated before they decide to throw him in prison.

"Right now he's being detained until further notice," Naruto continued. He turned around to face the giant window in his office. He found a random spot of interest and just stared at it, distracting himself. "But we need to confirm something immediately." He turned back around with his work face on. "Is your son indeed the heir to the Uchiha clan?"

"Except for Sasuke-san, Yuki is the only person with Uchiha blood running through his veins." Mayuri's pretty face grew sullen. Her usual glow disappeared. "I suppose that would make him the heir. But I'm afraid of what others would say. Yuki may be considered a ninja genius, but he's sensitive. I don't wish for him to be harmed by the harsh words the clan may bring him."

Naruto looked at Mayuri's small collapsing figure. What kind of fate will this family have? The boy, only fifteen years old, must endure the burdens his father and uncle endured. It must have been a family legacy.

He walked close to Mayuri. She was even smaller up close. Her slight shoulders drooped and her hair shimmered dully. She has already had her everything taken away from her once, will she lose everything again? Naruto pitied and sympathized.

"I will try to do everything I can for your son," Naruto said without much confidence. Mayuri raised her small head of gold. Her amethyst crystal eyes shone with hope and dejection. "But he still must assume the Uchiha clan," Naruto finished. "Perhaps this was his father's legacy to revive the once powerful clan under Konoha."

"Did you know Itachi?" Mayuri asked quietly. The sound of his name still made her heart skip a beat. It had been a very long time since she had heard his name. She smiled as if she had no more worries in the world.

"I only knew him as an enemy," Naruto confessed. "The only times that I've seen him face-to-face were only in combat. So I can't say I know him personally. But seeing how his son was brought up I can't help but doubt the way that I thought about him and to think that we had all perceived him the wrong way."

Mayuri smiled. "Humans are not like the paintings we see drawn on paper. We all have many sides and our own personalities. He was just the same as everyone else; he had a heart and breathed air."

"The way you talk about him makes me more curious about whom he was exactly," Naruto admitted. He turned around after the mood seemed to lighten up a bit. No doubt she was still in love with Itachi. But he wanted to move from the subject about her late husband.

He remembered the time when Sakura came up to him when they were still kids and claimed she was over Sasuke. She had such a pained face on just thinking about someone she liked and losing that person. How would Mayuri feel if she had to remember her dead husband?

"I've spoken with Sasuke," he told her. "I'll be responsible for what happens to your son. I'll take him as my student. And I'll help him make New Uchiha, that's what I promised Sasuke. He asked me with hopes of reviving Uchiha, it is his wish, and I believe, also his brother's. I need one thing to assure your well being in Konoha though."

"If it's anything that I can give," Mayuri said.

"I don't know if this is so, but Sasuke believes that Itachi left you with secrets about the Akatsuki, other countries, and secrets about Uchiha Madara whom we are not sure whether is dead or alive. If there's anything he left with you information like that, I need it to bargain with the elders for your safety."

"I will give them to you as soon as this is over," Mayuri agreed with a faint whisper.