A/n Hey guys back with another chapter. I really hope you guys are enjoying my story and please REVIEW any questions, comments and concerns. Other than that, enjoy and REVIEW!
Chapter 11
Family Feuds Pt. 2
Mikoto stood in disbelief. Fugaku!
Her body reacted before her mind. Acting on instinct she threw her pregnant body between Fugaku and Minato to protect her lover.
"Minato, I don't understand what is going on. Surely there is a mistake, a miss understanding?" She said holding her hands out stretched towards Minato looking as non-threating as possible. She couldn't afford to fight him, one she was pregnant and serious harm could come to her unborn child. Two she has been out of the shinobi world for a few years now and Minato would not be an easy opponent, but she'd do everything in her power to protect Fugaku. Minato eyes were cold as if he was a soulless being lacking any emotion. He didn't even glance her way eyes remaining focused on Fugaku.
"Get out the way Mikoto. This Is between me and Fugaku. I do not want to mistakenly harm you or your child"
Mikoto mind yelled at her to listen to Minato's warning, but her heart could not bring herself to stand by and watch them fight. She turned to her husband Fugaku eyes pleading searching his.
"Fugaku kun please, please tell him he is mistaken. It was an accident why Kushina and you were injured it had nothing to do with what he claims!"
She said eyes beginning to water, her hormones were running wild and the situation was stressing her out making her cry. Fugaku looked at her and she saw a flash of sadness in them before they hardened, and he looked away from her.
"He speaks no lie." Mikoto heart felt as though it shattered her hands covered her mouth eyes widen in shock.
"I-I don't understa-"
"HE DOESN'T DESERVE HER!" Fugaku yelled at her making her flinch and back a step away. "He is a nobody, all his fame is attached to his connection to Kushina. She deserves a real man, from a noble clan, with his own power, and wealth. She is just too blinded by tradition to see."
Mikoto heart was breaking she always known Fugaku had deeper feelings then friendship for Kushina. She never thought he would do such a thing, to try and force himself on to another woman. Was she not enough, has she not been doing and fulfilling his every desire?
"Why?" she asked not being able to look him in the eyes.
"Why what? I just told you why woman. He does not deserve someone as beautiful as Kushina. Now get out of the way before you get hurt. You are carrying my heir so dismiss yourself from this"
Mikoto felt angry. Angry at herself for putting up with Fugaku for so long. Angry at Fugaku for the way he treated her. Angry at Kushina for taking her lovers love and affection. Angry at Minato for trying to kill Fugaku. She let out a piercing loud scream. Fugaku looked at her surprised stepping away covering his ears. Even Minato took his eyes off Fugaku for the first time to look at her surprisingly.
She felt all her pent- up frustration, anger, sadness releasing her body as she screamed her heart out. When she was done she opened her eyes to see the two men staring at her. Looking as though she was an alien. Keeping their distance and watching her timidly.
She walked up to Fugaku who took some steps back away from her, but she closed the distance to quickly, she slapped him hard across the face. Tears brimming her eyes, he looked at her shocked holding his cheek. Then he went to speak but she slapped him hard again across the opposite cheek.
"I can't believe you!" She said slapping him again this time so hard it made her hands hurt.
"I can't believe you would do this to me" she was now crying uncontrollably tears falling like open flood gates. She slapped him hard again "You are a fucking bastard! Kushina is OUR FRIEND" She was so angry she punched him hard as she could in the face his head flew back, and his noise started to bleed. Minato stood watching with mixed feelings. He was shocked to see Mikoto hitting Fugaku like this, everyone knew how much Mikoto adored him. To her he never did anything wrong, so this was an unexpected turn of events. He was also surprised that Fugaku not only stood there and let her hit on him, but he didn't show any signs of aggression towards her. He looked surprised and unsure what to do. Minato continued to watch closely just in-case Fugaku reached his limit on what he'd take and decided to act violently to his fiancé.
"You call yourself a Noble man! What if the other clans find out about what you've done! You will be ruined! The Uchiha reputation RUINED!" She punched him again
"YOU SELFISH PIECE OF SHIT!" she slapped him "AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU! I EVEN FUFILLED YOUR FANTSY OF OTHER WOMEN! I HUMILIATED MYSELF FOR YOU!" She said punching him with a solid left then right which knocked Fugaku onto his back. She immediately jumped on top of him banging her fist on his chest trying her best to cave his chest in.
"I LOVE YOU! YOU FUCKING STUPID" each word followed by a punch "FUCKING. SELFISH. MANIPLITAVE. CHEATING. ASSHOLE. I. . I. . I HATE YOU." She cried uncontrollably feeling exhausted her head falling onto Fugaku's chest. "Why am I not enough for you!" She cried
She looked at Fugaku, he was staring up at her shock evident in his eyes, he looked unsure and sad. His chest was hurting it felt as though all his bones had been crushed by his fiancé onslaught. He knew she chipped a tooth, and his noise was bleeding and one of his eyes were going to be swollen.
He felt ashamed even more than he had earlier. The way Mikoto looked at him made his heart drop. It was as though she was looking at a monster nothing, but anger hurt and disgust in her eyes. All emotions she had never once displayed towards him.
"Mikoto-" He said reaching up to try and touch her
"Don't you fucking touch me! I hope Minato kills you! I hope he tells everyone what you tried to do! You deserve to be ruined you piece of shit!" She hopped off him sending him one last glare before running off inside their home sobbing.
Fugaku just stared after her he saw Minato move out the corner of his eye. But he didn't care he couldn't take his mind off Mikoto. She was the most consistent person in his life. No matter how poorly he treated her, how much he disrespected her, how much he ignored her, or threatened to leave her. She never once yelled at him, tried to leave him, betrayed his trust in anyway. she remained obedient and loyal. He couldn't believe that he had pushed the one person who without question would stand by his side through anything.
So, when Minato Kick impacted his face he felt it. But the pain compared nothing to the emptiness he felt inside. Minato watched Mikoto run away crying obviously hurt and broken. His anger came back. Fugaku managed to hurt not one but two great women. He ran as fast as he could to the Uchiha and kicked him hard in the face sending him flying across the yard.
He teleported to the Uchiha mounting him and sending punch after punch at the Uchiha head. Trying his best to punch his head right of the man's neck. Unlike with Mikoto Fugaku wisely covered his face as best he could but made no move to try to transition to a better fighting position. After a few minutes Minato formed a rasengan in one hand. While reaching down and grabbing Fugaku's collar lifting him up and bending down so they were face to face. Fugaku face was barely recognizable bruises and cuts were scattered across his face. Minato was so angry he prepared to send Fugaku to the after-life but just before his rasengan impacted Fugaku's chest. They made eye contact.
In that moment hesitation hit Minato's heart stopping him from killing the Uchiha. They stared at each other Minato didn't recognize the man he was looking at. He knew Fugaku Uchiha to be strong, intelligent, but most of all proud, never feeling down or sorry for himself he never showed weakness. But looking at him staring into his eyes he saw none of that. Just sadness, confusion and regret, he saw weakness, Fugaku had given up on life.
Minato threw Fugaku back to the ground. Standing above him, Fugaku coughed up blood spitting it out.
"Aren't you going to kill me?" he asked.
"I should" Minato said glaring at him
"Then do it already." Fugaku looked off in the direction Mikoto just disappeared. Minato looked the same way. He saw Mikoto watching from the house tears still cascading down her cheeks she looked as though she was doing everything in her power not to run out of the house. Minato was wondering if she was doing that in order to keep from hurting Fugaku more or trying to stop from throwing herself between the two to protect him again.
"I'm not because of her. And the child she carries. I believe that you've realized something tonight. And living with her from here on out will be punishment enough." Minato said pointing at Mikoto.
"She cares for you Fugaku. Be happy and hope that you have not ruined a relationship with her as well. You will stay away from my wife, as of now you will be placed under a restraining order." Minato paused and Fugaku looked at him with an emotion he didn't recognize.
"I will inform the hokage of what happened here today. But outside of the hokage no one else will know. That you have my word. I do not wish to destroy your reputation." He pauses "But if you come near Kushina again. I will kill you." He looked at Fugaku glaring one last time before teleporting away back to the embassy. Leaving Fugaku beaten and lying in the dirt.
-A small fishing village off the coast of Kirigakure 2 days later-
Kon and his team of ANBU had been laying low since they arrived at the small village. They had managed to gather more intelligence about the rebels and the civil war going on in Kiri. They gathered that the rebellion leaders were speculated to once have been Kirigakure shinobi who did not agree with the treatment of people and clans with bloodlines so, they started a civil war in hopes to save as many people as they could. Kon figured it was a noble enough cause that made the shinobi turn traitor. He couldn't blame them for their choice.
They also learned that most of the members of the rebellion are either people with bloodlimits, or family and friends of people with bloodlimits who don't agree with the elimination and the dehumanization of those who carry bloodlimits. They learned that the rebellion leaders like to meet in this town because it's supposed to be an 'Vein town' which meant that they were in support of the rebels and their movement. If he wanted to help the rebels win Kirigakure he would have to help increase their numbers and the number of 'vein towns'.
It was now close to 4 p.m. They had been waiting since morning at a local bar/restaurant. Seen a multitude of faces but non-struck him as unusual or rebellious. He was beginning to grow restless and was going to mark this down as a mislead. When the door to the restaurant opened and a beautiful slender tall woman stepped inside. She was stunning, having brown hair that was almost as long as her. Her bangs hanged low covering parts of her face and her right eye, the other visible eye shined bright green. He found himself staring and getting lost in the color of green, her eyes looked like beautiful plains. She wore a blue dress that wrapped around her well-endowed breast. His eyes traveled down her body soaking her in she was sexy.
He watched her go to the back of the restaurant and sit at a booth, he wondered if maybe she was waiting on her date. No way a beautiful woman like her is here by herself
He waited 10 minutes and when no one showed up he decided he couldn't wait any longer, so he made his move. Striding over to her he tried to be nonchalant about his movements. He noticed a few girls look at him but the one he wanted didn't even glance his direction. He walked to the bar and took a seat at the bar. Directly in front of her booth. The bar had a mirror which allowed him to see what was going on behind him. He ordered himself a drink and pretended to look at the restaurant menu.
He felt eyes on him and he slyly looked up into the bar mirror hoping it was from the girl behind him. He had to fight back a grin. She was looking at him and staring he was trying his hardest to fight the cocky smirk that was trying to make its way to his lips. When his drink arrived, he thanked the bartender and looked to see what the girl was doing. He felt his heart drop when he noticed that she was no longer behind him in the booth.
Where did she go?
He was keeping track of everyone who entered and left the bar/restaurant from his position. He would have noticed if she left. He looked to his right
Where could she-
His thought was cut off by a tap on his shoulder. He turned and began coughing due to choking on his drink. It was the woman!
Damn how'd she sneak up on me?
"I'm sorry if I startled you are you okay?" She asked him eyes showing she cared if he was okay or not.
"Uh, yeah I'm okay." He said downing the remainder of his drink. Trying to hide his embarrassment from his choking session.
"Could I buy you another drink?"
She asked him and took a seat down next to him at the bar. He looked at her and gave her his most charming smile.
"I'd like that, only if you give me the pleasure of matching your drink with one of my own."
"I'd like that."
She smiled at him, and he felt his heart pound hard in his chest. Was he nervous? He never gets nervous talking to women.
"Uh, so what is your name?" he asked her after they ordered their first round of drinks.
"My name is Mei Terumi, and what is your name?"
"Po, Po Kami" he said hoping that he sounded normal. He felt weak under this women's gaze. He was nervous to speak to her. He wanted to leave a good impression, but he was on a mission and couldn't do anything to jeopardize that.
She looked at him, as if she knew he was lying but didn't say anything. Nodding "Po" she said the name to herself. The way she said it made him which it was his name. The words fell out her mouth smooth and sexy.
"What do you do for a living Po? I have not seen you around here before." She said taking a sip from her drink.
He paused for a second "I am a business consultant I go to clients across the world and help advise them on ways to better their business."
"That sounds quite interesting, lots of traveling, and meeting a lot of different people."
He nodded "And what about you what do you do?"
"I am currently self-employed" she said. He raised and eyebrow curiously.
"Oh, that sounds interesting."
"Yeah it is I like being my own boss."
He hmm'd. He was getting the feeling that she wasn't being totally forthcoming about her job, but he really didn't care where she worked.
"Are you from around here?"
"No, I am from the capital actually, but moved all over Kirigakure, what about you were are you from?" she ask while drinking some more.
"I was born in Uzushiogakure." He said deciding that really wasn't harmful information. She looked at him surprised.
"I thought people from Uzushiogakure were wealthy shouldn't you be the business owner and not the consultant?" She asked him jokingly.
He smiled "What if I told you It is my business to be a business consultant?" Her eyebrows shot up mouth parting slightly he chuckled he could be whatever he wanted to this woman she wouldn't ever learn who he really was.
"I'd say that would make your story more believable." She said giving him a side glance. He was caught off guard a bit.
"Excuse me? Story?"
She laughed at him smirking seductively turning to look at him closely "I don't believe that you are a 'business consultant' if you were you wouldn't be consulting anywhere in this area because all the towns around here are low income. Most business here are family owned and have been around for years. You could use the excuse that you just arrived here but that would mean you came aboard a fishing vessel. If you did that you are either sneaking into Kirigakure, or the cheapest business man ever to buy a ticket on board a fishing vessel to save money on traveling on a freighter."
He smirked she was observant and smart but had no proof so for now it was just a theory. And he was safe "I can't be cheap?" he asked amusingly. She paused as to consider it, thinking.
"It's possible, you are dressed humble enough, and didn't order anything unreasonably expensive to eat or drink. So, I guess I just would find you more interesting as a spy." She said laughing
He mocked hurt "Are you saying you don't find me interesting enough now?"
"Wha- No that's not what I meant." She said stumbling over her words. Now it was his turn to laugh at her.
"I know. "He gave her another one of his charming smiles. They just looked at each other both taking in the looks of the other. She was really a beauty, with her long elegant hair. What he found most attractive was her eyes. He could stare at her all day just as he was now.
"Is there something on my face Po?" She said blushing and looking up frantically into the bar mirror checking her face for any discrepancies.
"Uhh no I was just.." He started how could he explain he was lost in her beauty without sounding to corny or weird.
She looked at him expectantly then understanding passed through her eyes. She smiled to him smirking confidently at him. "Just gazing at a beautiful woman? Never seen a lady as pretty as me?" She laughed hitting him lightly on the arm. "it's okay I forgive you."
He blushed, turning his head away from her chugging the rest of his drink. He noticed a man walk-in to the bar. And his senses immediately started tingling the man was tall with an eye path on his eye. Body structure toned, and he definitely fit the profile of a shinobi.
He watched the man scan the room before his eyes rested on Mei. Mei stood up abruptly after seeing the man enter as well.
"Well it was nice meeting you Po Kami. Sorry but business calls, I hope we see each other again."
Kon smiled standing up he grabbed her hand gently and raised it to his mouth giving her a small kiss on the back of her hand.
"It was a wonderful to meet you. Maybe if you aren't busy later today we can have dinner?"
She looked up smiling at him "Are you asking me on a date?"
"Yes" he smirked.
"I'd like that, we can meet here at 9 o'clock."
"I can't wait." He said and watched her walk away. He was surprised to see her walk up to the man he suspected as a shinobi. They talked for a little and then exited out the restaurant. One of his team members approached him saying "Did you see that man who just walked in, I think he fit the profile of a shinobi. But he left with that woman you were speaking to I could be wrong."
Kon thought about it. Mei was intelligent, had a fit physique and strong chakra signature much stronger than a civilian. "Follow them then report back to base." He said deciding that he'd follow his gut. There was something a little off about the two.
-Konoha training field 12-
Rin was sitting up in a tree watching as her two team mates were training relentlessly. They'd been at it for hours and she was a hard-worker, but she was also normal. So, she needed a break from training unlike her teammates who have been training nonstop it seems ever sensei told them that they'd be entering the Chunin Exams that were 3 months away.
She watched in amazement and admiration at her two teammates who were her age but fighting like they were already Chunin.
Obito did a back flip into the air at the same time signing
Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu
An enormous fire ball went flying towards Kakashi. She saw Kakashi react quickly to the jutsu forming his own hand signs.
Earth Style: Mud Wall
Kakashi just barely made the earth wall in time to block the fireball coming at him. Rin could feel the heat from the flames from her position, so she knew that the amount of chakra used to make that fire ball was incredible.
Kakashi countered Obito by body flickering trying his best to get closer to the Uchiha. Kakashi was stronger physically so his advantage would be in a close-range match they traded blows. Kakashi blocking and parrying Obito's combos perfectly. He countered a kick to his head by kicking the Uchiha feet from underneath him. They continued the intense sparring battle for the next 45 minutes neither yielding to the other both not wanting to lose to each other.
I can't believe they have gotten so strong Rin was amazed.
Obito suddenly felt as though his eyes had been set on fire. The pain brought him to his knees. That halted Kakashi's attack as his face turned from focused aggression to concern.
"Obito are you alright?"
Rin immediately jumped down and ran her way to Obito. "Kakashi what did you do to him!" She yelled in anger. Kakashi flinched at the glare he was getting backing up immediately to allow Rin to look over Obito.
"Obito it's me. What's wrong?" she said placing a comforting hand on his head, Obito was on his knees hands covering his eyes groaning and whimpering in agony.
"My, My eyes are burning."
Rin nodded she began applying some medical ninjutsu to his head focusing her chakra to relieve his pain.
"Obito in order for me to be able to help you more I need to see your eyes."
He nodded slowly removing his hands from his face. He felt the pain was eased enough to allow him to open his eyes. He was scared though when he realized that his vison was so blurry he couldn't recognize Rin who was kneeled right in front of him.
He heard her gasp and his worry increased. "Rin? What is going on?"
"It's your sharingan. it has changed!"
Kakashi came and peaked over her shoulder looking at Obito his eyes widened in surprise.
"We need to take Obito to his clan immediately." He sounded worried.
Rin began to look worried and Obito could sense the uneasiness surrounding him but remained silent.
"What is happening to Obito? Kakashi?"
Kakashi paused thinking. "I think Obito sharingan evolved a three toma sharingan, but that is not why we need to take him home."
"Then why do we?"
"Only one of his eyes has evolved."
Obito gasped. Closing his eyes so they could no longer see them. "You don't have to take me back. I can get there on my own." He said looking off into the distance. Trying his best to see but could only just barely make out things 5 feet away.
Rin glared at him "Don't be silly you are nearly blind, blood is pouring from your eyes. We will take you home!"
"I agree with Rin. Knucklehead I think we should-"
"No!" Obito said yelling at the two "I know what is happening to me I- I just want to be alone."
With that he got up shakily and walked away from the two in the direction of the village. Rin stared at the fleeing Obito with a broken heart. Obito never yelled at her so he must be very upset. She was extremely worried for him.
"Kakashi do you have any idea what is going on?"
Kakashi only reply was a shrug. She was worried and not going to let this go.
"Kakashi come on you are coming with me to the library!"
"What? Why?"
"We are going to figure out what is wrong with Obito!"
"But-"
"Bring your ass!" Kakashi sighed and ran to catch up to his teammate.
-Konoha Hospital-
Tsuande sat at her desk feeling exhausted she needed a break from today. The hospital was having one of its busy days and Tsuande was defiantly feeling the impact from it. She was struggling to remain awake and starting to get more and more aggravated. Luckily her shift was about to end then she could go home and rest and relax.
She heard a knock on the door and sighed frustratedly she had hoped for a longer uninterrupted break but that seemed like it wasn't going to happen,
"coming in" she said trying to keep the aggravation she was feeling out of her voice.
To her surprise it wasn't a nurse who walked in but Tsume Inuzuka. They had not spoken to each other since the girl's night at Kushina's.
"I hope this is a good time if not I could come back later." Tsume said looking around awkwardly.
"No, this is okay I am on my break. What can I help you with?"
"I am here for personal reasons nothing medical."
"Oh? What reason would that be."
Tsume took in a deep breath before speaking "I wanted to apologize for how I acted towards you at Kushina's. I was upset but not at you. Jealous even."
That caught Tsuande off guard "Why were you jealous of me?"
"It's obvious Kon liked you more, and I developed feelings for him, I knew he was sleeping with you. I could smell your scent on him. I just thought that it was not serious. He always told me he was single, and I don't know, I just thought I could take him for myself."
"Well it was true Kon and I were not dating, so technically neither of us were cheated on but he made it seem at time that we were headed for something more serious. You do not owe me an apology though Tsume I never blamed you as much as I did Kon. He knew what he was doing and played us both."
Tsuande sighed. "If were being honest I had suspicions that he was sleeping with someone else but if I ever questioned him he'd get mad and I was scared he wouldn't want anything to do with me, so I left it alone. I don't think he ever wanted to settle down with either of us and we shouldn't let one man ruin the friendship we had." Tsume smiled at that.
"I agree, we shouldn't let him come between us."
Tsuande nodded in agreement standing to go give Tsume a hug. "So, we are friends again?" she asked the Inuzuka
"Yes, we are." Tsume said laughing and returning the hug. The girls parted just as another knock came on the door. This time it was her nurse telling her that her last appointment had just arrived.
"We will talk later" Tsume said waving leaving to let Tsuande return to her work.
"Yes, we will" Tsuande said smiling and returning the wave. She walked out her office and towards her last patient of the day room. She had to do a check up on an Uchiha.
When she entered the room, she saw Fugaku sitting in the corner chair looking beat up and her patient Obito sitting in the bed.
"Hello, Fugaku what happened to your face?" He just huffed ignoring her. She rolled her eyes and spoke to the other Uchiha in the room.
"Hello Obito, how can I help you?"
Obito glanced at Fugaku who spoke without looking at her.
"Obito is dying, he needs meds to help him with the pain."
Tsuande gasp, there wasn't a single deadly sick person in Konoha that she didn't know about so for such a young boy to be sick and her have no knowledge about it was unusual.
"Okay, we need to have him scheduled for a checkup, an ultrasound, MRI, blood work. CT scans –"
Fugaku shouted "None of that is necessary."
Tsuande was startled "what do you mean? I just need to know what is wrong." She looked at the boy who was obviously painfully sad.
"There is nothing you can do that will help the boy. We already know why he is sick. Look at his eyes what do you see"
Tsuande glanced at the boy his sharingan still activated. Which was unusual did he have it activated all the time? Then she noticed it his sharingan was different. One had two toma and the other had three.
"His sharingan is on two different stages? How is that possible?"
Fugaku shrugged, "No one knows the reason why, but it is a rare disease that happens to only Uchiha born with the sharingan. In all cases it has been fatal. The disease seems to make the wielders sharingan evolve rapidly but only in one eye, and always leads to death. We are here to get medicine to help ease his pain."
Tsuande gasped "I have never heard of such disease. Let me run test on him. I'm sure I can-"
"No, the boy's fate is sealed. He just needs medicine to help ease his pain."
Tsuande felt angry, did Fugaku not care to even try to help the boy. "Why are you here?" she asked a little ruder than she had intended.
"I am the boys' medical proxy, he is an orphan and I am his clan head."
Tsuande nodded understanding. "Well I would like to speak to him alone."
Fugaku looked at her then to Obito before huffing and walking out the room. Tsuande sighed and sat down next to Obito. The poor boy looked sad and lost not even paying her any attention.
"Hello Obito, I am Tsuande Senju, how are you doing?" She asked but immediately regretted it. Dumb question to ask a dying person.
Obito laughed coldly "other than the fact I am dying and basically blind I'm doing fine." He replied sarcastically.
Tsuande sighed "What can you tell me about the disease that effects Uchiha sharingan?"
Obito thought for a second before replying "Well its not common. In fact I am the first Uchiha in over 3 decades to have the disease." He chuckled "Just my luck I guess. The disease is supposedly genetic. Everyone who has had it has died and the symptoms are blindness, rapid acceleration of the sharingan, and internal bleeding by the eyes and noise."
Tsuande sat thinking. "I'd like to run test to see if I can help you with this. Would you let me?"
Obito paused thinking for a while. "Yes"
Tsuande smiled and talked with Obito about scheduling his appointments and what to expect from each test. The few hours she spent talking to Obito about his symptoms she developed a liking for the boy. He was so pure hearted and reminded her of Minato the way he idealized the hokage and said almost in every other sentence how his dream was to become a hokage. Walking into her office she decided that she'd do whatever it took to make sure that Obito Uchiha lived a long and happy life.
-Uzushi Embassy-
Kushina sat at her desk filing some paperwork, the day was surprisingly slow. It seems that people had finally adjusted to working at the embassy and now didn't require her help and supervision as often anymore. She was looking over a letter sent from her father. The letter was informing her that her brother was on a S ranked mission in Kirigakure and that the war between Uzushiogakure and Kirigakure was in full effect. She would have to start a school to train some of her nurses and some trainees from Uzushi to become medical ninja. Kushina already knew who she wanted to head the program, maybe she could arrange for Tsuande to guess teach from time to time. She was sure that Aki would enjoy her help.
'Kit' Kushina heard Kurama say to her through their mental connection. It seemed that their chats remained private Minato was not able to hear or intervene with her bond with her tailed beast which she was grateful for because Kurama could be very brash.
'Yes Kurama'
'You haven't been in our mind space in sometime the grass Is getting to high.'
She couldn't help but laugh, when she first found out about her tailed beast when she was younger her father and mother had placed strong seals to limit the interactions between them, but as she got older and trained and built their bond the seals slowly were removed. The mindscape or land within her mind that her tailed beast resides has a direct correlation to the strength of their bond. Kurama use to stay in a sewer like prison cell. But now she has a vast land filled with trees and grass plains no longer cooped up in a cell. She's very particular about how her landscape is set up. And if Kushina adds or removes something she is quick to express her dislike.
Kurama likes the grass exactly 5 feet 4 inches tall. Since she stands about 28 feet the tall grass doesn't affect her, but in order to keep the landscape exactly to Kurama pleasing she has to visit their mindscape and meditate on how she would like the landscape to look. Kurama always uses the time to talk to her directly face to face.
Kushina chuckled she knew that Kurama was missing her company and just wanted her to enter the mind space, so they could talk and be in each other's company face to face.
"Awh Kurama you miss me?"
'What no that is not the case, I the mightiest of bijuu could never miss a lesser lifeform like a human. Especially you of all humans.'
"Yeah, Yeah, whatever you say Kurama"
She closed her eyes focusing on her connection to Kurama and soon felt her as if her body had been lifted when she opened her eyes she was no longer behind her desk but in her land scape with Kurama.
'Oh, Kit what a surprise, now fix my landscape'
Kushina glared at the bijuu "Someone still doesn't have any manners." She sat crisscross in the grass and focused on the environment around her. Adjusting everything from the grass, to the temperature, to the number of trees until everything was perfect to Kurama liking. While she did that they chatted talking and catching up about the events of the past few months. Kurama already knew everything that happened but now they could discuss things face to face.
After about 45 minutes of meditating and conversating with Kurama she told the tailed beast that she had abandoned her work for to long and needed to get back to work.
She opened her eyes, at the same time she heard her door opened and immediately looked up from her desk. No one was bold enough to walk into her office without being invited or an appointment. Minato strolled into her office smiling carrying takeout from Ichraku's. That immediately made her smile and forget about him barging in her office unannounced.
"I thought I'd bring you some lunch." Minato said smiling as he brought the food to her then sat at the corner of her desk facing her. She turned her chair towards him grabbing her food hungerly.
"Thanks baby, that's so sweet of you." She said before diving in her food voraciously. They both ate in comfortable silence. Until Kushina spoke up.
"So, I had a meeting today with the hokage."
Minato didn't flinch or stop eating showing no signs of any emotion.
"He made me sign a restraining order against Fugaku Uchiha. I never placed a restraining order on Fugaku, when I tried to leave he was real adamant about me signing and wouldn't let me leave his office until I did. Do you know anything about this?"
Minato sighed swallowing his food before he spoke. "Yes, I placed the restraining order against Fugaku for you."
Kushina huffed angrily, "I did not ask for that, you didn't mention this to me Minato."
"And I didn't have to tell you. This is my way of protecting you, it is better off this way. Unless you want me to kill him?"
"No, but this is better for who Minato? I didn't want an indefinite restraining order placed on Fugaku! We just needed some space from each other he was just drunk." She said trying to make an excuse
"Why do you say that like you guys are together. 'Need space', You don't need space from him. You need him removed from your life for good he is not healthy for you Kushina and stop making excuses for him."
"But-"
"THERE IS NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT, now I would like to eat with my wife without arguing or talking about the Uchiha okay?"
She stared at Minato, before looking down at her food nodding she sighed now there was no way that her and Fugaku could work on their friendship with Minato so adamant about not letting her see him. Now that the Hokage was aware of the events she was sure that Fugaku reputation was harmed.
They ate in silence for a few minutes Kushina thinking about Fugaku and when an appropriate time it would be to talk to her mate about changing his mind. Another knock came, she looked at her schedule she didn't have any more meetings today, so this was another unexpected visitor.
"Come in" she yelled, both her and Minato looked to see who was coming to speak to her. She saw Tsuande walk into her office escorted by samurai security.
"Lady Uzumaki- Namakaze, Lady Senju has come for Lord Namakaze." The samurai said. Kushina smiled and waved a greeting to her friend.
"Okay thank you"
The samurai bowed before exiting her office. Tsuande walked up to Kushina's food trying to see if she had any left.
"I would ask for some but that is Ichraku's to-go ramen. I already know you will not share your ramen with me" Tsuande said laughing.
"As long as you know! I can't share my ramen ya know!" They both laughed
Minato chuckled at the two. "So, Tsuande why have you come looking for me? I assume that it is pretty important since you went to the trouble of figuring out where I am."
Tsuande stopped laughing getting serious, "Yes, it is important, I have news about one of your team members who came to my hospital today. The news is very serious but I'm not sure if you want me to disclose your team's information in front of Kushina, no offense Kushina."
Kushina shook her head "None taken"
Minato nodded "it is okay anything you say to me, you can tell my wife."
Tsuande nodded "its about Obito Uchiha. He and Fugaku came today. Obito is suffering from a rare disease that only affects wielders of the sharingan. I went through some test and with his condition he only has at most 16 months to live. Speaking of conditions Kushina do you know what happened to Fugaku he looked pretty beat up today?"
Kushina watched Minato stiffen and could feel his heart race and the intense worry and sadness through their bond. She placed a comforting hand on his hoping to settle him a little. As she shook her head "No" to Tsunade's question about Fugaku. She didn't want to tell her about what happened the other day.
"B-but I don't understand he was just perfectly fine this morning for training?" Minato said voice sounding confused and pained.
Tsuande sighed. "I know its hard to hear, but I'm getting all my information from Obito and Fugaku. Apparently, the disease is very rare, and makes the sharingan rapidly evolve only in one eye and at the cost of the wielder's life. Obito sharingan evolved to a three toma and evolved again while we were testing him. He is damn near blind in the evolving eye but that is temporary but completely lost sight in his other eye. We are scheduled to run more test, but I informed you because other than giving him medicine and test. I can't operate or do anything more to help him because of Fugaku. He is one of Obito's medical proxies' due to him being a orphan. But because this is life threating, and he is a shinobi and a member of team 7 you-"
"I also am a medical proxy as his team leader, me and the hokage could over throw any decision made by the family." Minato finished coming to the conclusion Tsuande was getting to. Minato felt his anger grow Fugaku was just going to let the boy die? Without even giving him a fighting chance for life?
Kushina spoke "Fugaku requested that you not operate on Obito Uchiha but why?" Kushina could not believe yet again Fugaku was doing something that seemed so against his nature.
Tsuande sighed "Obito explained that the disease is rare and hereditary, and the Uchiha are proud people. They believe their sharingan is the ultimate dojutsu. Obito explained to me that it is tradition to let those who get the disease die in order to ensure that the gene is not passed down to more Uchiha, they see it as a way of 'eliminating the weak'. It is not just Fugaku who has allowed it but every Uchiha clan head since Madara." Kushina sighed, that made more sense. It wasn't like Fugaku was being uncaring purposely but following tradition.
Minato was still angry balling his fist tightly. "What have you learned about the disease so far?"
Tsuande sighed "Sadly not much I just did basic test with him today and gave him medicine to ease the pain as requested by Fugaku. I can't do more extensive testing until permitted that is why I came to tell you."
Minato nodded "Well let's go speak to the Hokage right now."
Minato turned to Kushina "Sorry to cut lunch short babe" Kushina shook her head standing and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips "It is okay my love, I understand go try to help that young boy."
Minato nodded before they could leave Kushina spoke up she just had an idea. "When the hokage permits you to help the Uchiha, maybe Aki could assist you in finding a way to help Obito. She specializes in diseases. Although she just had her child she may only be a little help" Tsuande smiled nodding.
"Any help would be appreciated." The two left. Kushina got up and decided to head towards Aki's condo to ask her cousin if she'd like to help Tsuande with their situation.
-Uchiha Compound-
Fugaku walked into his home from a meeting at the police station. He noticed something was missing as he stood in the living room of his home. Something was missing, he'd usually come home for lunch and there'd be the smell of cooking food in the air. Today there was no smell, he walked in to the kitchen expecting to see Mikoto pregnant body wobbling around the kitchen fixing his food, but the kitchen was empty he looked at the stove nothing was cooked or cooking.
What the hell?
"Mikoto?" He shouted expecting an immediate response that didn't come. Maybe he didn't say her name loud enough "Mikoto!" he yelled a lot louder. Still silence met his ears. What is she doing? She never missed his lunch. She always managed to just be finishing with his food and have it sitting at his seat nice and hot for lunch.
He walked to the backyard looking to see if maybe she had lost track of time gardening like she sometimes does but did not see her any where in the yard. He was confused, where was she? What did she do when he wasn't around? She'd always told him about her day when they sat and ate dinner, but he never paid much attention, so he had no idea what she usually did at this time other than make his lunch. His stomach growled hungrily at the thought of food.
He walked up the stairs towards their room. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see her sitting in the bed with her lunch reading a book. She looked up from her page glanced at him then went back to reading her book. He stood there staring in shock. Did she not realize it was his lunch time? What was she doing? Did she not hear him call her? TWICE!
"Woman what are-"
"My name is Mikoto Uchiha not woman, you may no longer call me that Fugaku." She said calmly
He shut his mouth
Huh?
He was confused as hell.
"Wo-"He started but stopped at the glare he was receiving from her "Mikoto." He said calmly trying to steady the aggravation he was feeling.
"Did you not hear me calling you?"
"I did" she said not looking at him from her book. He felt himself losing his patience what had gotten into this woman?
"Where is my food?" he said deciding to be direct with her.
She looked up from her book looking at him indifferently "Are you hungry?" she asked him
He nodded his head "Yes, I would like your Soba noodles with the light broth with a side of gyoza. You know that's my favorite."
She looked at him blankly "Go make your food yourself Fugaku. I don't feel like cooking." She said returning to reading her book.
He shook his head appalled did he just hear her correctly?
"Excuse me?"
She looked at him again "I. Am. Not. Making. You. Food." she said slowly as if he were dumb. Then went back to reading her book.
Fugaku just stood there staring at her in disbelief. What in the world is going on?
"Are you just going to stand their staring at me?" She said not even looking up from her page. He huffed frustratedly before walking out of the room. He didn't need her to make him food. She wasn't all that good of a cook anyway. She could improve a little. He was sure he could do better. He checked the time, he normally took an hour lunch, but he decided he'd take a longer one in order to fix his food since his fiancé was broken or something.
Two hours later Fugaku was staring frustratedly at the burning pan, he had finished making his noodles, but he had burned every single one of his gyoza now the whole house smiled like burnt food. He noticed Mikoto had wobbled her way into the kitchen to inspect the smell, and make sure the house wasn't burning down.
He felt frustrated and embarrassed at the small smile and light chuckling she made when she noticed the state his food was in. He was to distracted with putting out the fire to give her a piece of his mind though. She went to the fridge and grabbed some fruit sitting at the kitchen table watching him put out the fire and try to save his food. When he finally put out the fire he prepared his food and sat opposite of Mikoto to eat his food.
He thought he did decent but now was the real test how did it taste? He had never made his own Soba noodles or gyoza and he knew that at least the gyoza would taste burnt. He just hoped that the noodles tasted good, he just put ingredients he thought went into the soup and was praying for the best.
He decided that it couldn't be to bad and took a bite for the gyoza first, immediately regretted it. It was hard and more burnt tasting than he thought! He spit the food out into a napkin which made Mikoto burst out laughing at him.
Great the woman is laughing at me
He tried the soup next hoping he did better with that, he slurped the soup and noodles into his mouth and had to struggle to swallow and keep a calm face. The soup was horrible! Worse than the gyoza, the noodles were under cooked and the broth tasted like hot water it was disgusting. He had to maintain his composure though he didn't want Mikoto to know he had failed completely at making his lunch.
She watched him intensely, he took another bite regretting every moment of it, but made an effort to pretend to like the food. When she looked back to her book he allowed himself to shutter in disgust at the foul taste lingering in his mouth. He was not going to be able to eat the whole bowl. After a few more painful bites he took a break from the disgusting bowl. Breathing through his mouth seemed to help him bare the taste.
Mikoto sighed looking at him with pity. "Do you want me to make you something else to eat Fugaku" he looked at her. She must know that his meal is disgusting by how slowly and how little he's eating.
"Please?" he asked her. He was starving still but this food was too disgusting. Mikoto was actually really a great cook she never burned anything to his knowledge or made a meal he didn't like. He watched as she stood and walked to the fridge pulling out ingredients to prepare his lunch he just stared at her back. He didn't realize how difficult it was to make your own food. He had a greater appreciation for her after attempting to do it on his own today
"T-Thank you." He said sincerely. He saw her freeze not expecting him to show gratitude and he felt some type of way. Was he so ungrateful that a simple thank you surprised her.
"Your welcome Fugaku." He could hear the smile in her voice. He was truly thankful though that she was saving him from eating anymore of the awful bowl. He threw away the remainder of his food and just watched his fiancé move around the kitchen as if she was born there looking completely natural and in her element. Was she always this beautiful?
Mikoto had watched Fugaku struggle to eat the food he had prepared. With one glance she knew that the broth was incorrect and that his noodles were way undercooked. She was still very upset with him and what he did to Kushina. How he had cheated on her. She thought it was funny watching him be disgusted at the food he made.
She worked hard every day to make sure that she filled his every need. Adjusting her schedule to his to make sure his food was always hot and ready when he came home for lunch and dinner. She didn't want him to have to wait to long to eat. She never got as much as a thank you though for all the things she did for him. And he had the nerve to try and cheat on her, to force himself onto another woman?
He would learn how it felt to not have a woman at all take care of him. She continued to watch him suffer over his food.
How long is he going to pretend to like that disgusting meal?
He was so stubborn and strong willed. It was one of the reasons she loved him though he was very determined. She watched for a few more minutes when he stopped pretending to eat. She couldn't bare the thought of him going back to work on an empty stomach even though she was still upset at him. She loved him and didn't want him to starve to death.
"Do you want me to make you something else to eat Fugaku" she asked. She didn't expect him to respond with a "Please". It made her heart flutter, she was even more surprised when he told her "Thank you" when she began fixing his food.
There might be hope for us Fugaku. She thought smiling as she made her love food.
A/n Hey guys this concludes this chapter I hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter is already in the works and you can expect it before this coming Saturday. Again, I hope you liked the chapter please if your reading and following the story be active in the comments I'd love to hear what you think of the story. Comment any questions, comments or concerns. As always REVEIEW