Chapter 21: The Uchiha Clan

Jitsuko steadily made her way to the Hokage's office that following morning to confer with Minato about potential plans for the Uchiha Clan since the unexpected Cloud mission prevented her from meeting with him a second time. She also noted to ask Minato why he chose her for that mission despite the terrible elemental matchup – he must have had something in mind, Jitsuko hoped. It was painful to imagine that Minato would assign her a dangerous mission with malicious intent.

No way. Not him.

She also wanted to inquire about the shinobi who delivered the message to her that day. It felt suspicious that a member of the prestigious Uchiha Clan would be tasked with something as basic as messenger duty.

Come to think of it, the village has always used birds as messengers, not people.

He had also informed Jitsuko that Obito's team was to be present on the mission to the Land of Lightning, which stopped her from questioning that man's authority in favor of catching up to her best friend instead. She wondered only afterwards, why that man even bothered telling her that Obito was going – it now felt as though he were trying to coerce Jitsuko into going, which wouldn't have been necessary if it was a true order from Minato.

I need to inform Minato about this right away!

During her walk, Jitsuko became aware of Obito's scent, how it shrouded her in a thick coat and clung stubbornly to her skin from nestling close to him last night. If an expert sensory type ninja passed her by, they could effortlessly detect substantial traces of Obito's chakra along her body, especially around Jitsuko's face. She blushed, hoping that Minato won't notice the distinct, masculine smell and chakra signature of an Uchiha as it shamelessly mounted and conquered her features.

As Jitsuko bested through the busy crowd, her hand shielded the sore injury on her chest in case a distracted villager stumbled into her hard enough to open the wound. Obito would have accompanied her to make sure she made it to the office safely, but she had kept him up most of the night. Jitsuko felt terrible for being the source of his lack of sleep, so she opted to let him sleep in and make the trip herself. She couldn't wait any longer to see Minato anyway.

A moment later, a villager did bump into her, and she caught sight of the Uchiha crest on their clothing just before they pushed Jitsuko seemingly by accident. The bump was unexpectedly forceful, however; it caught her off guard and she stumbled into a nearby alleyway. Rough hands grasped Jitsuko before she could steady herself and instantly met with threatening, dark, red eyes as they made invasive contact with hers.

The… Sharingan?

The surroundings around those vicious eyes suddenly began to sway and blend and Jitsuko's body soon fell deep into paralysis.

Genjutsu…? No… Oh no…! R-relea…se… h-help…

She kept her consciousness as the mysterious figure followed Jitsuko through the cloud of civilians surrounding them. To her horror, Jitsuko found that she had no control over her actions as she blankly stared ahead, her legs unwillingly continued to walk forward to wherever her kidnapper pleased. She tried so hard to cry for help, only to find that she was unable to lift even her tongue.

This… is a mind control ability of the Sharingan… but that means…

Jitsuko watched her feet lead them to the Uchiha shrine, the one she recognized that held the same meetings she inquired about with Obito only a few hours before. The figure bound Jitsuko's wrists and tossed her against the hard wall, immediately snapping her out of the genjutsu from the harsh stinging in her back from the impact. She let out a labored gasp, taking control of her breathing again while glancing up at the man with a pleading look on Jitsuko's face.

"Now don't give me that look. You'll be the source of my loss of sleep tonight if you keep that up." He says neutrally, his piercing red eyes are the only things she could make out from the shadows.

Wait… I know that voice…!

"You… you're that guy…"

Red eyes continued to stare her down in the darkness.

"The Uchiha… who told me about the mission to the Land of Lightning!"

Jitsuko watched the pair of eyes squint before he stepped closer to her, the flames on the wall finally illuminating his features – dark, wavy, shoulder length hair, woeful black eyes with stress lines to compliment them - it truly was the Uchiha who relayed the Hokage's orders to her that day.

"I'll offer pity and grant you the liberty to know that my name is Kusuo Uchiha. I'm inclined to assume that you are wondering why you've been brought here."

Jitsuko stayed silent for a moment, her eyes narrowed fiercely in belligerent opposition for the Uchiha standing over her. She had a decent guess to why: he somehow got wind of her extraordinary knowledge on the Uchiha clan, including the plans for a coup d'état.

"I'd rather know how you found out about me." Jitsuko stated simply, and surprisingly the Uchiha understood immediately.

"A virtue that is bestowed on any good shinobi is their excellent sleuthing skills. If they want intel, they should be able to acquire it."

"When did you –"

"Your initial 'talk' with the Fourth Hokage. We know about everything you told him."

We…?

"Your chat with your Uchiha boy has been recorded as well. Is that how you managed to acquire the secrets of our clan? Who would have guessed that the weakling of the clan would turn out to be a rat? We'll need to terminate him for his insubordination."

Jitsuko's eyebrows instantly creased with hostility. "He has nothing to do with this! I won't let you lay a single finger on him, understand?!" She was too furious to be surprised by her uncharacteristic demeanor, but she had gone through too much to fail Obito now.

The Uchiha was unamused by the threat. Instead, he remained silent, distracted by the tenuous residue of Uchiha chakra discharging off Jitsuko's body. The aspect of Obito being so close to someone outside of the clan sickened Kusuo. "Disgusting," he mumbled under his breath at the brazen display that suggested potential mixing and tarnishing of the Uchiha bloodline. The village permitting the Uchiha to marry into and out of differing clans and bearing 'impure' young was a disgrace, Kusuo thought. His extremist and dogmatic views only amplified his resolve to proceed with his plans and halt Jitsuko's meddling at all costs.

"Don't you comprehend the situation you yourself are in? I hope you've figured out by now that you aren't getting out of this like you did in the Land of Lightning."

Wait, what?

"How did you know that I… almost didn't make it…?"

"Because, you ignorant girl, Iwas the one who assembled the plan to get you killed in that mission!"

"Wh-what…?"

"I was in control of the Hidden Cloud shinobi who commenced the first strike at the standoff border. I manipulated him with a genjutsu to see an enemy who wasn't truly there. The attack aimed directly at you, but you unexpectedly repositioned elsewhere and lived, despite my careful planning. If you are still too dense to understand, I fabricated the message from the Hokage instructing you to aid them."

Jitsuko's eyes widened with pure shock. She opened her mouth to speak, but absolutely no words passed through her lips. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This seemingly helpful man passed along a message to Jitsuko from the Fourth Hokage that turned out to be fake so he could lure her away from the village and inconspicuously carry out her death. Thus, she would no longer be a threat to the Uchiha uprising.

"My only regret is that I wasn't able to stop you before your first meeting with the Hokage. Now the entire Uchiha clan is in imminent danger because of you!"

"Because of me? Do yourealize what you did? The Cloud Village hates us now! Do you know how many shinobi needlessly diedon that mission because of what you did?! I was the one trying to stop the clan's fighting! Minato needed to know so he can sort things out with –"

"Enough!"

"Did you not think through the implications of spilling ancient Uchiha secrets to the village's commander?! With the clan's secrets revealed, now the village will harbor greater disdain for our clan! They will carry out orders for the immediate eradication of the Uchiha! This clan will go extinct because of what you did!"

The sharp gasp Jitsuko took awakened the stinging twinge in her chest; she was unable to comprehend the meaning behind Kusuo's assertions.

No. The Uchiha were already in danger… that's why Minato summoned me that day. I thought that he already figured it out!

Wait…

He told me he's had suspicions that something was going on, that's it. I was the one who told him everything about the Uchiha's plans. If the village elders find out about this… they will slaughter the clan!

"You see?! I have to kill you so you don't cause any more damage than you already have! It's likely too late for us, anyway. We are planning an ambush on the village far ahead of what was originally planned, before they can to us, in order to protect our clan."

No. It can't be true. It was me who put the clan and village at risk? Who put Obito at risk? Should I really have told Minato? He wouldn't let the massacre happen… right? I need to ask him…! I need to get out of here…!

Kusuo watched Jitsuko's facial expressions that clearly indicated a desperate desire for any escape. "As I said, I can't allow you to leave. Not after what you did." Kusuo stated and he began to walk toward Jitsuko, her heartrate accelerating as he inched closer to her.

The room around Jitsuko appeared to slow down as Kusuo waltzed nearer, grabbing hold of the katana he had sheathed at his side. His steps seemed to grow slower, even the flames illuminating the room appeared to be crackling at a painfully sluggish pace. Soon, the pressure in Jitsuko's chest and mind proved to be too much to handle.

"NO!" She closed her eyes and shrieked, allowing her body's fight response to take over and she whirled around and sent a darting kick into his gut, sending Kusuo flying to the opposite wall, knocking down one of the mounted torches, which landed on his cloak before setting it ablaze. Despite the surprise and alarm, Kusuo succeeded in removing the material before he angrily chucked it toward Jitsuko. He watched with intrigue as the smoldering robe created excess amounts of smoke that quickly began to fill the small and enclosed space around them.

"You know what? This method is cleaner. All that is required of me is that I turn a blind eye." Kusuo announced calmly before leaving the chamber and barricading the exit, the smoke continuing to engulf the tight space surrounding her.

Breaths passed through Jitsuko agonizingly quickly before she realized that she had begun to hyperventilate from the dire situation. She managed to scramble to her feet and try to put out the flames, but Jitsuko's frantic kicking only made them stronger. Next, she opted to charge for the door, ignoring the smothering sting of the smoke clouding her vision. All the chakra in Jitsuko's body collected into her good shoulder and she charged the door only to bounce back violently, sending a harrowing pain through her arm and chest. Jitsuko swore at herself for focusing so much on support and neglecting her physical training since she couldn't even bust a simple door down.

"No." Jitsuko pounded at the door with her shoulder again.

"No!" She slammed into it again.

"No. No. No. No! No! NO!" Hammering against the door repeatedly proved ineffective and Jitsuko finally gave in and slouched against its frame, the arm leaning against it became tender and raw; a hot liquid spread across her chest from her wound ripping open due to the excessive use of force.

Jitsuko couldn't even cry at this point; the intense dryness in the smoggy air made it impossible to form tears. Soon she let her body drop to the floor as Jitsuko laid on one side and held onto her legs. Her nose pressed against the floor as she puffed desperately to inhale any remnants of clean air that remained below the pervading smolder. There was nothing more she could do.

Suddenly, she heard commotion just outside the door. Jitsuko's eyes snapped open only to immediately shut when a searing cloud of smoke invaded her vision. Not long after, panicked thrashing from the opposite side of the door met her ears but her mind refused to register it. All she could focus on was her instincts screaming that she was going to die. The striking stopped for a moment before the door smashed apart with such force that bits of wood violently rocketed into the opposite wall. A shadowy form was over Jitsuko's in an instant and she turned onto her back to catch a glimpse of her savior. Obito crouched over her, the goggles over his eyes allowed him to inspect her frantically through the suffocating smoke. He stared down at her with such concern until a figure with glowing red eyes emerged behind him, causing a gargled screech to leave Jitsuko's throat in a desperate attempt at a warning. Obito turned around in time to watch Kusuo lower his blade down onto him in what felt like slow motion and he swiftly pulled a kunai out and placed it over his head to defend himself, only for Kusuo's katana to meet with a larger, unusual looking kunai instead. In less than a flash, Minato stood over the both of them as he deflected the attack with one hand while simultaneously charging a powerful blue aura with the other. Before Kusuo could even blink, the mighty Rasengan made full contact with his gut and it violently launched him into the opposite wall near the regal temple entrance. Not even the Sharingan is able to react to Minato's lightning-fast movements. Kusuo's back peeled off the ornamental panel and collapsed to his hands and knees right as two figures instantly appeared on either side of him, each snatching one of his arms to prevent escape.

"Kusuo." Minato announced, unsentimentally riddled his tone; his tall figure stood over Kusuo as he slouched against the two smaller shinobi restraining him. "I intentionally avoided any vital spots so you can be brought in for interrogation. Shisui, Itachi, escort Kusuo to his holding chamber, and I will join him shortly," Minato concluded with a particular gentleness in his voice as he turned his head in the direction of Obito, who was firmly slapping Jitsuko's back to purge the smoke in her lungs.

Before they left, Kusuo peered up at the two Uchiha retraining him with pure contempt overtaking his features. "You two dare choose to side with the village over your own clan?! You are Uchiha! This is treason! Your father will be furious when he learns about your betrayal, Itachi-!" At that, Itachi's young face scrunched up in displeasure before they vanished as quickly as they appeared, taking Kusuo with them.

The sudden intake of clean air burned Jitsuko's impossibly dry lungs; the hoarse coughs that explosively exited her body tortured her throat and chest and her weary eyes fixated on the dark flooring until a pair of feet obscured Jitsuko's view of the ornate wooden design in front of her. Glancing up revealed the Fourth Hokage, his face furrowed with liability and concern as he quietly peered down at her. His weight rested on one knee when he kneeled in front of Jitsuko, one hand settling on her shoulder to offer as solace.

Obito's words laced with venom as he used his sleeve like a rag to clean the dusty ash from her skin with his thumb, "Tell me what he did to you, Jitsuko. He won't ever touch you again; I'll make sure of that!"

"Let her breathe, Obito." Minato finally spoke. "Inhaling that amount of smoke can be lethal, but you escaped just in time." Minato cracked a small reassuring smile that disappeared almost immediately after witnessing a dark red liquid expand across Jitsuko's chest from reopening her wound.

"Obito, carry Jitsuko. We're heading to the hospital."

"You're coming with us, Minato-sensei?"

Minato nodded. "I'd like to have a discussion with you before I leave, Jitsuko."

The familiar surroundings of the hospital room filled Jitsuko with dread knowing that she'd have to stay here longer than what was originally intended. Obito refused to leave her side; there was a clear outline around his eyes from where his goggles shielded them from the smoke while the rest of his face layered in soot. He only left reluctantly when Minato ordered him to wash his face, giving the two of them ample time to speak in private.

"M-Minato-sensei," her voice was strained and hoarse, "I hope what I told you didn't cause too much trouble. I think I really messed up. Kusuo told me that the Uchiha will all die because of what I told you. I didn't mean to… I don't want them to –"

"It's good that you told me about their plans when you did, Jitsuko. Informing me early on about the Uchiha's growing hatred for the village allows some time for resolution before everything boils over. You did the right thing," Minato broke eye contact with her to think over his next words carefully.

"Still," he began with a sympathetic gleam in his strikingly blue eyes. "I should never have placed so much responsibility on you by requesting sensitive intel without any prior screening of our surroundings. It was wrong of me to ask for such confidential information that would compromise your wellbeing when Kusuo had discreetly breached the office's security."

"Jitsuko. As your Hokage, I apologize for my blatant disregard for your safety - and as your friend, I am deeply sorry for putting your life at risk," Minato announced softly, catching her off guard with a sincere bow.

Seeing the Hokage himself asking her for forgiveness filled Jitsuko with a strange content, and she happily accepted his apology.

"But Minato-sensei, Kusuo told me that the Uchiha clan is planning a counterattack on the village soon. What are we going to do?"

"That won't happen, Jitsuko. I won't allow it."

"Are you going to stop it by… approving a massacre on the clan…?" She was terrified of his potential response.

Minato's stern look told her the answer. "Under absolutely no circumstances will I authorize a betrayal on our comrades. I've been formulating plans to resolve the tension among the clan that I've wanted to discuss with you, however, you didn't return to my office that following day."

That's right!

"Minato-sensei! I need to tell you that Kusuo was the one who manipulated the Hidden Cloud shinobi to attack us! He also sent me a fake message posing as you, ordering me to tag along on the mission that day so I wouldn't see you. It was all because of him!"

Minato's eyes widened for a moment before they relaxed, compassion overtaking his features.

"Shinobi of The Hidden Cloud specialize in Lightning Style, I would never have authorized you to confront an enemy with such a significant disadvantage on your part."

I knew it. I knew Minato-sensei would never have bad intentions!

"Do you think we can work things out with the Hidden Cloud now?"

"It's certainly a possibility, if we can persuade Kusuo to admit his involvement. But for now, my priority is with the Uchiha clan –"

Two shadows then emerged into the room in a swift blur, startling Jitsuko into alertness, until she recognized the two small figures.

Itachi and Shisui!

The two Uchiha kneeled in front of Jitsuko and the Hokage as the puff of smoke dissipated, both their heads solemnly bowed to them. "Please. Forgive our clan for the disturbance they caused to our village, and to you," Shisui's young voice pleaded. "We can assure you, not all Uchiha believe in what Kusuo does. We want to take full responsibility for what he has done, and please listen to our request: Itachi and I want to make amends among the village and the clan, but we need your help, Lord Hokage."

Jitsuko stared at them with awe. Itachi couldn't have been older than 10 years old and Shisui looked about 13, yet they already have so much weight on their shoulders, even after her vast impact on this world.

"Thank you for your involvement in seizing Kusuo, Itachi. Shisui. From the information I've gathered, there seems to be a flagrant misunderstanding between the Uchiha clan and the village. I will conduct a formal assembly with Fugaku - the leader of the Uchiha, and resolve this tension immediately." Minato announced as he stood over the Uchiha boys.

Immense relief washed over Jitsuko at the news.

"Until then," Minato started in a friendlier tone as he turned to her. "Make sure you get some rest, Jitsuko, and stay rested," he winked before the three of them disappeared in a flash.

A comfortable silence finally resonated within Jitsuko for the first time in what felt like forever. So much has happened within the last 24 hours – she needed some time alone to let it all soak in, she thought. That is until the door swung back open and her best friend charged inside, seemingly out of breath.

"H-hey! Where's Minato-sensei?"

"Oh you know… the Hokage life's a busy one."

You have no idea just how busy, Obito, but you'll find out one day.

"By the way, what took you so long? There's no way it took that long just to wash your face."

Obito's face lit up in surprise, the lollipop he had in his mouth almost lodging in his throat. "Oh, well, I had a ton of dirt on my face you see, more than I was expecting," Obito insisted as he eagerly took a seat next to her.

Jitsuko stared at Obito, not believing him for a second.

"Also I… got this for you," he added quietly, meekly handing her an identical lollipop that happened to be strawberry - her favorite flavor.

"You got these from helping out that old lady next door, didn't you?" She casually remarked and peeled off its wrapping similar to how she was peeling away Obito's composure.

"She was the one who asked for my help, okay! I wasn't just going to leave her there and crush her dreams!"

Jitsuko laughed as hard as she could without disturbing her wound while Obito's defenses lowered and he nervously returned her smile, his hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck over her reaction.

"There's… one more thing I wanted to give you," he noted in a rather serious tone that caught Jitsuko's attention, and he discarded the small sugar stick from his mouth. "Could you close your eyes, just for a second…?"

She played along and did as he asked. There was an awkward pause where nothing happened, as if he were reluctant and reconsidering his request, until Jitsuko finally heard a quick shift arise from his direction. She then perceived a gentle pressure of warm skin against her forehead, shocking Jitsuko into fluttering her eyes open to see Obito's chest while he leaned forward to kiss her forehead with such tenderness that it sent a warm blooming feeling throughout Jitsuko's body.

Obito held himself there for a while before retreating into his seat; his slightly upturned eyebrows, doting smile and bright pink flush on his cheeks clearly indicated the extent of his fondness for her. When Jitsuko looked closely into his eyes, she spotted signs of relief within them.

"I'm glad I caught you in time back there. You really need to stop scaring me like that," Obito mentioned while Jitsuko discreetly wiped the moist remnants of his kiss off her forehead. "I should start keeping tabs on you since you insist on always getting into trouble."

She laughed at Obito's playful comment, but inside it made Jitsuko finally grasp that she will always be a target for enemy ninja due to her 'gift' of extraordinary insider knowledge of people and villages. That's a serious setback for possessing so much valuable intel, she realized.

"What'd that guy want with you, anyway? And tell me the truth," he concluded with a particular weight to his tone, signifying that she should take him seriously.

"Basically, that Kusuo guy… wanted to use the clan to… take out the rest of the village. That's why I needed to talk to you last night. It's shinobi like him who give Uchiha a bad name with other villagers. He saw me as a threat for… what I knew about the clan."

It took a moment for Obito to comprehend Kusuo's shameful misuse of his own clan, and the unthinkable notion of someone trying to dispose of Jitsuko as if she were crippling evidence. Perhaps he shouldn't have told her what he knew last night if it meant putting her in danger, but Jitsuko's charming eyes and caring soul made it absurdly difficult for him to keep things from her. Jitsuko watched the anger begin to boil up inside Obito over Kusuo's attempt to take that beauty away from him - she had to think of something to get his mind off it.

"Hey, how'd you know where to find me? Kusuo had me hidden away in that temple, there's no way you could've just stumbled in."

"Uh, well, why couldn't I? It's a temple for Uchiha, I could've had business there for all you know!"

Jitsuko chuckled at Obito's weak defense, but she decided to let it go; she was sure he had his reasons for showing up when he did.

Obito wouldn't tell her, but he'd been keeping a close eye on Jitsuko for a while now. He had developed impressive capabilities as a sensory type ninja, and his new Sharingan abilities strengthened his chakra detection skills. He used this power to be acutely aware of Jitsuko's location at most times, just in case she was ever in any danger. He had awoken with a jolt to the sense that she was deep inside the Uchiha temple, which is odd enough, but her consistent and normally stable chakra levels had disrupted to a staggering degree. Realizing this, Obito dashed to her location as fast as he could. It wasn't until he was in the hospital room with her did he sense that Jitsuko's body was plastered with copious amounts of his own chakra as it absorbed into her skin, prompting the Uchiha's cheeks to bloom in a shade of pink over pondering how so much had managed to latch onto her.

"I'm surprised that you managed to bring Minato-sensei to the temple, though. He's super busy all the time, how'd you convince him to go with you?"

"I… didn't go see him."

"Wait, seriously? Then how did he…?"

"I couldn't tell ya… we just got lucky there," Obito remarked while his hand subconsciously rubbed a spot on his back – where unbeknownst to him, the Fourth Hokage's teleportation seal lied permanently in his skin, hidden away within the confines of his clothing.

Two masculine hands met in a cordial embrace as Minato and Fugaku Uchiha exchanged confident looks of mutual agreement after discussing affairs involving the tension between the Leaf and Uchiha Clan. Meetings among the Uchiha regarding their disdain for the village will no longer occur. With the aid of Jitsuko Mawatari and Minato Namikaze, peace between the two once powerful allies restored to its full strength. Kusuo Uchiha and his following of clan extremists have forcibly disbanded and will answer for their crimes of conspiracy against the village. Upon returning to his desk, Minato's personal assistant handed him several documents finalizing the negotiation process.

"So I take it that the arrangement went well, Lord Hokage?"

Minato nodded firmly. "Kusuo initially refused to admit his involvement with the planned massacre of the village, and with the standoff with the Hidden Cloud Village, but our interrogation specialist debunked those claims in an instant. Kusuo's memory can't lie. After discussing his intentions with the leader of the Uchiha, Fugaku agreed that such actions are inexcusable. This hatred among the Uchiha will finally come to an end."

Minato stated to his assistant calmly while he signed the necessary papers before packing up for the night to spend time with Kushina and his young son, Naruto.

"But Lord Hokage, we've been trying to track down Kusuo for so long, how did you finally seize him?"

"I've been keeping a close watch on a particular Uchiha, a former student of mine. I was forced to mark him with an irreversible teleportation seal in order to save his life during an advanced mission, one he wasn't ready for. I took note when he stepped foot into the Uchiha temple, something he hadn't done in years – immediately I sensed that something was wrong and gathered two other trustworthy Uchiha to assist me. The efforts of those four shinobi were just as important as my role in capturing Kusuo."

Minato removed his Hokage cloak before finally stepping out of his office, his body halting midway through the doorframe.

"That's why I'm convinced that this village is in good hands with the next generation. When my position as Hokage is passed down, I'm confident that our younger shinobi will loyally carry on this village's legacy," Minato declared, his mind centered on Obito and his dream to become the next Hokage.

"They will ensure continuous peace within the village."

"Perhaps this is the generation to achieve peace with other nations as well, Lord Hokage."

Minato smirked, "Now there's a thought."