In the same boat
It had been an unnatural hot summer from the beginning. Since months, the sun was glowing down over the fire country and only disappeared by nightbreak. It was not out of the ordinary that summers in the land of fire were hot, but this year it was even for the land of fire a bit extreme. They were just on the way for four hours and the search group needed already two breaks for drinking. Although the thight tree crowns spent shadow, the air was too dry, so that a lot of plants were already withered. The kids took great advantage of the coolness the night proved when they made their escape.
It vexed Fugaku to admit, that they wouldn´t be able to pass through the forest in the same tempo the kids managed it. The heat was an too big obstacle. Although they had a trace were Sasuke and the other both actual were, it was a fact that the distance was quite big and if the three would continue to travel in the meantime, the gap would only become bigger.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, when they stopped for the second break. His uniform did little to make him feel comfortable by this weather but this wasn´t a hindrance to stop him. The main reason for the second break was that the Inuzuka´s dog needed urgently water. Fugaku himself swallowed a whole water bottle down his throat and he waited impatiently that they would continue their way.
The third interruption happened soon. This time the dog was leading them into two different directions and it wasn´t forseeable which were the right path. The Hokage sent each Shisui and the Inuzuka Anbu in one of the directions, only to check it out, while Fugaku and he would wait for them here. Like the rest, Minato was dressed in Konoha´s military uniform. But Fugaku was well aware that someone needed to guard their Hokage. The village leader wasn´t supposed to simple leave Konoha, neither was Fugaku, but regarding the current circumstances it was probably the best solution. Nevertheless, the Uchiha leader wouldn´t let any harm come to the village leader.
"This is taking longer than expected. I wasn´t expecting that they were already this far away from the village..." Minato said, when Shisui and the other male were vanished. He sat down on the ground and Fugaku did the same.
"As it looks now, they must have traveled the whole night without interruption. I asume that one of the scents is only perceptible, because their passed through here."
The blonde man nodded in agreement. "At least we still have track of them. It will be more trouble than expected but we should be able to get them. At least, as long they don´t pass over the country border..."
"The borderline is too far away." He looked at the Hokage with a hint of disbelieve. "Besides I´m sure they are smart enough not to leave the land of fire."
Because, if the children would be enter another country without a entry permit, other shinobi villages could arrest them and if it would known that Sasuke is from the Uchiha clan and Naruto the vessel of the nine tails fox, things could become pretty dangerous. But if he was honest, Fugaku didn´t know anymore how far his son was ready to go.
"Honestly, I´m not so sure about that..." Minato said. "I really don´t know if they can even estimate the danger of what they´re doing... I know Naruto is a handfull but that he would do something like that... I can´t believe it."
"Neither do I." Fugaku said thoughtfully. "I don´t know what to do with Sasuke... He has changed so much."
"I would be glad if I could say the same about Naruto. If he would´ve matured just a bit..." He heard the frustration out of the blonde´s voice. "But he is still the same hothead he always had been. He can´t think before he act... I´m sorry for the situation. No matter what Kakashi or my wife think... I´m still convinced that Naruto is responsible for this and he dragged Sasuke and Sakura along with him..."
Fugaku said nothing for a moment. He recognized that Minato was equally frustrated with the entire situation and like him, the other male was unable to understand his son´s reason for doing this. But whenever he tried to think about why all of this happened, his latest confrontation with Sasuke came into his mind and he became even more confused.
"I had an argument with Sasuke yesterday. He misunderstood why I was sending him away for some time and he didn´t let me explain my reasons for doing so..." He eventually said. "He yelled at me that he hates me and some other things, before he ran away..."
"Naruto tells me regulary that he hates me." The other male said thougtful. "Ever since I became Hokage and after he gratuated from the academy it only became worse. I think it´s only an act of rebellion. Naruto was always a brat whenever things didn´t went his way."
"Sasuke had always been an very obedient child. Even after his mother died, he always did what he was told and didn´t caused trouble... That´s why I fail to understand the changes in his behaviour. I don´t understand why he didn´t talked to me if he has any problems. I know he had always been closer to his mother but after her death... I thought my sons would come to me if something bothers them..."
The other male looked at him with understanding. "You shouldn´t feel guilty Fugaku-sama. Naruto is always going to his mother when he has problems too. I wouldn´t know how to deal with him without my wife... I think many things would be unsaid between us then. Even more as they already are."
It was comfortable to talk with the Hokage. After all they were in the same boat right now. It was obvious how much difficulties the blonde had to understand his own son. Fugaku could sympathize with him. The difference was just that Minato had his wife for support and it reminded him painfully that everything would probably be different if Mikoto could be here. She would´ve known what to do, to help him to see what the real problem is and let Sasuke see that he was just always wanting the best for him.
But if he was honest, and Fugaku really was a man who wasn´t lying to himself, he had to admit that even know he couldn´t see the real problem. Did Sasuke really meant every word he yelled at him yesterday? Or was his son just thinking he was treating him unfair?
He had always cared for his children, sure maybe he had neglected Sasuke too much but the boy never caused trouble before, so why was he acting out all of the sudden? A part of him was convinced that he had been too lenient with his son. If he would have disciplined Sasuke properly after the first misdemeanor, than things wouldn´t have escalated this much. But there was another part, which let him blame himself for not seeing earlier that his child wasn´t happy at all.
The Hokage interrupted his thoughts when he spoke again. "The main concern is to find them yet, but I´ve realized that they won´t return with us back willingly. It will come to another conflict with Naruto and I. This gives me a headache."
"I understand." He nodded. "I´m not sure what to do with Sasuke either... How am I supposed to react to this? It´s an crime what he is doing now. Something like that can´t be unpunished. On the other hand I´m afraid that disciplining him will just increase the rift between us. But trying to talk to him isn´t working either. It seems he don´t understand me and I can´t understand him too."
"As a father I´m as clueless as you are. But as their Hokage I can´t let them off without consequences. This stunt is really too much, but I´ve to think about that once we return home. It´s just important to get them back as soon as possible."
Of course Fugaku agreed, but his worries stayed nevertheless. He felt, maybe for the first time in his life, completely helpless. On the one hand he wanted to teach Sasuke a lesson he would never forget, for doing something this foolish and worrying him so much. On the other hand, he could not longer deny that all of this was mainly his fault. His son ran away because of the desicion he made. The fact that Sasuke thought, he wanted to get rid of him pained the clan head. His children were the most precious thing in the world. Unfortunately, Sasuke was thinking the complete opposite. And no matter how angry he felt, could he really deny running away from home was maybe just a desperate cry for help?
"I should stop fooling myself..." He said in a low voice. "I´ve never known what is going on with Sasuke. We never connected with eachother, not even after his mother died..."
"Fugaku-sama..."
"The truth is... If I would´ve just tried harder to be there for him, if I would´ve paid more attention for his needs, than maybe all of this could´ve avoided."
Minato Namikaze´s expression darkened and he looked down at his hands, which were placed in his lap. "Same goes for me. I´ve maybe underrated Naruto´s bonds with his teammates or perhaps he just thought I´m not taking him serious at all."
"I understand. One of the things Sasuke accused me yesterday, were my allegedly favoritism of his brother. Obviously, Sasuke thinks I care and love Itachi more than him. Maybe I realize just now, that I was too reticent with praise for him. Until lately, Sasuke always made me proud. He was top of the class in the academy, diligent and determined. But I thought that too much praise would stop him from being hard-working and let him become arrogant. I know Sasuke has the tendency for it... I just wanted to motivate him."
The Hokage nodded. "If I´m honest, I´ve always envied you a bit for having also two such talented and obdedient sons. I´ve always wished Naruto could be a bit more like them. That´s why I placed him with Sasuke in a team, because I thought it would help him to become a bit more like him... The truth is... I haven´t accepted the way my son is and I wanted to change him... Kushina told me many times that I pay too much attention towards his faults as to his strengthen."
A bitter laugh escaped Fugaku´s mouth. "I just took it for natural that my sons be the way they are. Itachi always did what I wanted, now matter which age he was and I expect the same thing from Sasuke, not thinking that he is complete other person... I just wanted him to take his brother as a rolemodel, mostly because Itachi never had caused trouble. And maybe Sasuke is even right. I did prefer Itachi over him, because of his role as my heir and his talent. I´ve ignored Sasuke when he was younger and left him in his mother´s care, I´ve never bothered to bond with him... Am I suffering the consequences of my own actions yet?"
"Naruto too, is closer with his mother. It´s ironic, but I think without Kushina, I would´ve lost my son long ago..."
"Maybe I´ve lost Sasuke yet... Even if we catch them, will I be able to reconcile with him? Make him understand that I´m just wanting the best for him... I don´t even know what to do with him. How to react to all of this... I´m his father, I should know what to do. But things became only worse, not matter what I tried. He even hid his injury from me, not matter how much damage this could´ve caused to him... His mother is the parent he needs, I couldn´t replace her in three years and that is a fact. Maybe I just haven´t realized that he never got over her death. I didn´t comfort him, instead I forced him to move forward..."
"Wanting him to move forward, isn´t something bad." The Hokage said. "You just wanted your children to be fine again. This isn´t something you should blame yourself for."
"In my clan, the roles of a mother and father are clearly seperated." He said after a moment of hesitation. "A father is not supposed to play the best-friend role. A father should motivate and prepare his children for this world... He is supposed to lead them on the right path... it´s a mother´s job to spoil them and praise them..."
Fugaku wasn´t sure whether he wanted to convince himself with his own words. But it was true, wasn´t it? So had his own father raised him and he did it with Itachi and he turned out fine. So why were things going with Sasuke so different. Was is really only because of Mikoto´s death? Had Sasuke needed his mother´s love probably more as Fugaku´s guidance?
"I see." The village leader interrupted his thoughts once again. "When Naruto was little, I was always around him. I even changed his diapers back then." The blonde smiled sadly, before he continued. "He was a father child when little, always clinging by my side. Kushina and I never had the the classic role allocation, we shared the work at home. Until I became Hokage... I had so little time for my family that Kushina overtook all the work at home, including Naruto´s upbringing. There wasn´t much time for him left. This formed a rift in our relationship and he became closer to his mother. Sometimes... I wonder if it was worth it... Of course, becoming Hokage was my dream, but I realize how little I actually know about my own son..."
He listened carefully to the blonde´s words. It let him realize once again, that at all, their current situations weren´t much different right now. Maybe this was the reason, why both men were so open with eachother now. It was the first time, since Mikoto´s death, that Fugaku had spoken to someone this openly. Listening to the Hokage´s words let him see, that his realationship towards his sons was still more complicated. Fugaku did not owned memories like that about Itachi´s and Sasuke´s early childhood.
When Itachi was born, Fugaku had been away from home, fighting in the third shinobi war. The war ended when his son had been almost four years old. The child was so traumatized, that he wasn´t able to be a carefree little boy. Soon Sasuke were born and this helped Itachi to overcome his trauma. Shortly after that, he had began to train Itachi for years. He hadn´t paid much attention towards Baby Sasuke, and surely not bothered to change his diapers or rock him to sleep. This was a mother´s job anyway. And while Sasuke grew up, he was too busy with his role as the clan head and police chief and Itachi´s training as to pay much attention towards his younger child. Although very loved by him from the beginning, he had to admit that Sasuke had always been Mikoto´s boy.
"Being the Hokage is an important position. You did very much for our village, for us Uchiha too. Establish the villages safety, is somthing you´re doing for you son too." Like Fugaku worked all those years so hard, only to guarantee a stable future for his own children.
"You´re right. I want to thank you for your words of encouragement."
It was just when he wanted to reply something that finally Shisui and his Anbu colleague returned. The Uchiha head stood up at once and so did the Hokage.
"We´ve their track for sure yet." Shisui said immediately. "The one way was a dead end and they took the other route for sure."
"It´s actually quite interesting." The Inuzuka Anbu added. "There is a town some kilometres away. I´m convinced they rested there. If we´re lucky we´ll even find them there."
"This are good news." The Hokage said. "How long will it take us to arrive there?"
"From our current position , not more than two hours." The Anbu answered.
"Of course, by now they could be on their way again, but at least we´re coming near." Shisui said optimistically.
"Let´s not was any more time." Fugaku stated firmly and with that they went on their way. He was still not sure what to do with Sasuke but he should probabaly figure this out later. The main concern was, to find them and get them back home.
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Big Thanks to Pixie07, HadesHera, libretamagica, Bemap139, The3vilFighter, snow-kim, fugitivus, tutul and fanofthisfiction for all your great reviews :D It´s such an huge support for me;)To snow-kim, I hope I just could answer all your questions.
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