Chapter Thirty-eight
In an isolated dislocated cave somewhere in the mainland of the Elemental Nations, the Akatsuki are gathering. The members there in person were Deidara, Sasori, Pain using Yahiko's body, and Zetsu, while Itachi, Kisame, Kukazu, Hidan, Konan, and Tobi were there in chakra holograms.
"Alright Boss, what's the big news this time?" Deidara asked impatiently. He had always hated these meetings, they just took time away from his art. But he knew he couldn't refuse the boss, however much he wished to see the man explode someday.
"Please tell me someone's found the jinchuuriki. I'm itching for one." Sasori added. Ever since he joined he wanted to test his skill against a jinchuuriki but the problem was the jinchuuriki were nowhere to be found. He was especially eager to battle one, put his special weapon to use, but fate had yet to give him the opportunity.
"Actually, it wasn't me who called for this." Pain answered, then pointed towards the man in the spiral mask beside Deidara. "It was Tobi."
"We're here because the dumbass called us?" Hidan asked. "He's not even a fucking full member! He's a-"
"I have good news for us. I know how to bring the jinchuuriki to us." Tobi cut in.
"Why the fuck should we believe you?" Hidan asked skeptically. If the kages of their former villages didn't know where their jinchuuriki are how could a nonmember of their organization know?
"I share his concerns." Sasori commented, nodding.
"Perhaps you'll believe my client." Tobi said, then removed his ring. While the Akatsuki were not looking, he switched outfits and made himself look like Namikaze again and put the ring back on. But as far as the criminal organization was concerned, Tobi had just given his ring to another man.
"Hello gentlemen, and I use the term very loosely." Namikaze greeted, enjoying the shock at their faces. "I wish to hire you all."
"Yeah right. What kind of stupid joke is this?" Deidara mouthed off. As a former inhabitant of Iwa it should be no surprise he could recognize this man on sight.
"Oh this is no joke. You see, I hear you all are hunting the jinchuuriki yet cannot find them. I myself want to see all the jinchuuriki and their demon abominations gone too. I can bring them to you, if you can eliminate them all and some more."
"So you've been hiding them all this time." Kukazu accused.
Namikaze shook his head. "Oh no, not at all. But I know who does have them. Are any of you familiar with the Uzumaki?"
Some of the members sent each other glances wondering why that clan. Itachi slowly looked at Namikaze and narrowed his eyes on him.
"They're a dead clan, one that used to be affiliated with Konoha." Deidara answered. "Iwa and several others had to band together to take them down, and from what I heard, Konoha turned it's back on them. With their eyes shut and their fingers in their ears no less. As far as I know no one knows why Konoha did that, but it sure was a dick move on your part."
"The Uzumaki deserved it, but unfortunately some of their numbers have survived." Namikaze responded, forcing himself to remain civil for now. "They have taken all remaining jinchuuriki and have already destroyed my village but not my army. They now know where I am, and they will any minute now bring their army to my land and try to wipe what's left of Konoha out once and for all. Bringing all jinchuuriki with them in the process."
Everyone glanced at each other, sseeing where this is going.
"Yeah right, a likely story." Kukazu said skeptically. "I can believe your reputation is exaggerated Yellow Flash, but if you're so weak you need us to save your ass then you deserve to die."
Namikaze glared but bit his tongue to avoid verbally ripping the former Taki nin a new one or two. "And just how many leads to the jinchuuriki other than the one I just gave you do you have?"
Everyone remained silent.
"Ha, he's got you by the balls now Stitchy!" Hidan remarked mirthfully. Almost right away Kukazu began attacking his immortal partner, though the others could only see the holograms do it.
"While your offer is enticing Namikaze Minato, I see a problem with it." Itachi started, allowing himself to take a step forward. "A good number of your own ninja will want me dead, including but not limited to my little brother. A temporary alliance of convenience will not abate that. If anything, I see this to be nothing more than a trap for us."
"Don't you mean just you instead of us?" Kisame replied. Considering what happened the last time his partner came across his brother and mother, he knew Itachi had reason to be callous. Even though Kisame himself though the others were more at risk than they were. His mother lost an arm after all.
"No I mean us. Think about it, if Konoha's remaining forces are willing to attack just one member of the Akatsuki then what's to stop them from attacking two or three or all of us? Especially if they were to wait for after a war when we're all exhausted subduing the jinchuuriki and extracting the bijuu? Just because I am the obvious first target does not me I am the only target."
"Gotta admit the big clan killer does have a point." Deidara agreed.
"I too see the undeniable logic he has." Konan stated, then turned to Pain. "While we do wish to acquire the bijuu, we only have the means to contain them one at a time. And even that cannot be done in quick succession. Capturing them all at once does us no good, they will break free before we can contain them all. At best, we would succeed in acquiring two, more likely just one."
Namikaze frowned, not liking the way this was going. He was hoping to turn the tables around for himself. "I can assure you that my ninja will not trouble you."
"No you can't. You can't assure us of that. We're wanted ninja with hefty bounties on our heads, and you yourself confessed to betraying the Uzumaki when they were your allies. We'd be idiots to simply take your word for it when you promise help. You could betray us just like you did with the Uzumaki clan." Sasori countered.
"And even if you could assure us, the issue with the bijuu themselves is too much to overlook." Pain added. "While I agree this is the best lead we've had in years, Konan is right, we can only contain one jinchuuriki at a time, and we have no reason to believe you can keep them imprisoned until all bijuu are taken for us. If anything we stand to gain the most if we wait for them to finish you off and then jump in when they're the tired ones."
Now Namikaze was getting pissed and struggling not to show it, though he was shaking a bit. If only Itachi had kept his damn mouth shut, then he was sure the Akatsuki would be willing to work with him. But now they had a reasonable reason to refuse and he couldn't think of a way to get them to ignore that. He needed them to get the jinchuuriki and this was his best chance to get that done without implicating himself in the process.
"So why don't you give Tobi back his ring and go home already?" Deidara waved him off dismissively.
"How about I kill him?" Namikaze couldn't help but bitterly quip. It was of course an empty threat, but they didn't need to know that.
"Go ahead, none of us will miss the useless idiot." Sasori answered. "I'll enjoy the peace and quiet."
"Agreed. I don't know why we put up with that clown in the first place." Kukazu added. "Why did you recruit him in the first place Pain?"
Pain shook his head. "It wasn't me. I thought it was Orochimaru."
"No I'm sure Tobi came here after Snake skin left." Deidara protested, remembering him and Orochimaru teaming up a few times. Shaking his head he looked to his current partner. "Didn't you recruit him Sasori?"
Not wanting to hear more and risk saying something he shouldn't, Namikaze removed the ring and his hologram disappeared. He took advantage of the privacy to fume and scream and hit a few things.
"Dammit! Why is everything working against me?! Why?! Why aren't people just doing what I want?! Why can't I just win this war and get it over with already?! It's like everyone's trying to stop me from achieving my destiny! When will these idiots realize that when I get what I want everyone will be happier that way?!"
He paused to punch a tree, chakra being the one thing that prevented his bones from snapping.
"Fine." He declared while breathing angrily. "If Akatsuki won't submit, then their usefulness is over. I'll capture the jinchuuriki on my own, and when the Akatsuki come for them, I'll just kill them ahead of schedule. Sasuke will finally get what he's been bitching about."
"How are you Hanabi?"
In Kuramamaru and Hinata's house in Shobikou, the youngest daughter of Hiashi was currently sitting by a window simply staring outside it. But since it was night and she did not have her byakugan active, it was pretty obvious that she wasn't trying to look at anything. Her hand was gingerly touching her bandaged arm. The healers were able to treat the petrification, claiming it had only been surface damage and they had to extract the hardened material, but she'd need more treatment for her skin to grow back.
She looked to the approacher, surprised that it wasn't her sister but rather the boy she lived with. The same boy who changed Hinata but also who changed everything in Konoha simply by running away. "Does it matter?"
Kuramamaru came beside her but kept a comforting space between them. "Why wouldn't it?"
The simple question was one Hanabi could not answer. Rather she closed her eyes and shed a tear. "Everything I've ever hoped for, everything I've spent my whole life preparing for, is now gone. What do I have left to live for?"
"Find some other way to put all those skills of yours to use. And don't be afraid to learn new ones for new goals."
Hanabi scoffed and looked away. "Easy for you to say. Your original purpose was to be used and discarded. Of course you're happy that goal is over with now. My goals were..." She paused, wishing to be less insulting.
"Did you think that was my goal?" Kuramamaru jumped in. "My goal was to become hokage and get the love and respect I never got to have in Konoha. I never once considered that someone else would go out of their way to stop me from doing that, or that someone would intentionally trick me into thinking it was possible while planning to kill me before I ever had a chance. So don't tell me that I don't know a thing or two about having a dream be crushed."
Hanabi sighed and slowly nodded. "Alright, so you do. No disrespect, but how does that help me? What do you expect me to do? Just pick a new goal and go from there? Dreams aren't things for sale on a shelf, you can't just pick a new one just because the one you wanted is sold out."
"If you're looking for someone to just tell you what to do with your life now, then sorry to disappoint but that's not going to happen. And that's a good thing. We're in this war because we're standing up to a man who thinks he has every right to tell other people what to do with their lives. Hinata-chan is giving you a chance to have a life of your own, don't waste that."
"But why is she doing this?" She asked, looking at the whiskered redhead. "She doesn't love me and I can't blame her for that. After with everything I did, everything I tried to do to her, why give me a chance to change? It would have been easier if she had just killed me in the first place."
Hanabi leaned forward until her forehead rested against the glass. "Part of me wishes she did. Do you know what that feels like?"
"Actually, yes, I do. I only exist because Namikaze raped my mother. Several times I've wondered why she didn't try getting rid of me when she had the chance too."
Needless to say this actually surprised Hanabi. "So what made you stop wondering?"
Kuramamaru shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't really remember anymore. I think I just got tired of questioning her choice and simply accepted that she loved me even if she had every reason not to. She gave me a chance to have a life when everyone else just wanted me to have a role, and acting like she shouldn't have done that just made me sound ungrateful. Hinata-chan gave you a chance to escape the role the Hyuuga assigned to you Hanabi, don't be ungrateful about it."
The young girl took a pause before responding. "There's a difference. Hinata doesn't love me."
Kuramamaru put his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe not now, but that doesn't mean she can't later, if you let her. Maybe down the road things will be different."
Hanabi shed another tear. "Why would she want to? Think about it, Father may have been heartless, but he was right about one thing. I was as terrible person as he was. I honestly believed everything he ever said about the Hyuuga and I never once believed him to be cruel or unjust. Not until I was the victim. It took me becoming the victim to see who he really was."
"You're not the only one here who had to learn things the hard way Hanabi. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji all were tempted to stay with Konoha because it was easier than rebelling. Shizune and Anko were both listening to bad people and accepting what they said as the truth without thinking about it. None of them changed their minds overnight, and several of them had to be victims too for them to even start rethinking what they thought was the truth. So don't beat yourself up for being deceived."
"But why make the effort to help me?" She asked finally. "You're not helping everyone, you're not offering everyone the chance to change, so why would Hinata go out of her way to give me a chance? More than once in fact? Why? What does she want from me?"
"To live obviously. To have a life that's not defined by the Hyuuga. The Hyuuga clan does not care about you Hanabi, no more than it cared about Hinata-chan or Neji. The difference is you didn't know that, and all this was done to get you to see that. What you do from there is for you to decide, just like Neji. And if you must know why Hinata-chan only did this for you and Neji, well who else in your clan did she know?"
Hanabi thought it over, and now it started to make sense. Hinata originally had no real life within the clan, no one to interact with. Hanabi might have been a stranger to her sister, but she was at least a familiarstranger. The rest of the clan were complete strangers, a faceless mass that still could scowl at her. What reason did Hinata have to save any of them from destruction?
"The only reason she had to save me... the only thing Neji and I have in common that can't be said for the rest of the clan... is that Hinata knew me to some degree." She said out loud, but mostly to herself as realization started to sink in and piece itself together. "Hinata is still going to try and kill the clan at some point, she has no reason to spare anyone. Not even me. She has no reason to spare me, but... what if she couldn't help it? What if in the heat of battle, when it's her versus me, she still hesitates to finish the job? Like when the last Uchiha was spared by his murderous brother?"
Hanabi slumped down at this. "She did all this, for me and Neji, so that when it came time to kill the clan, that kind of thing wouldn't happen. She wants to kill off all the Hyuuga, without any fear that she might not be able to finish the job. Taking me and Neji away from the Hyuuga gives her exactly that, but she can still have someone here kill me if I try and stop her."
"Your sister is not a monster Hanabi." Kuramamaru cut in. "She is not looking for an excuse to kill you. If she wanted that, you'd already be dead. We're in a war and yes, some Hyuuga are going to die. Some may live, but Hinata-chan will not let them keep living the way they were before this war started. If the Hyuuga want to continue, they will have to change some things. And maybe you're just the one to make those changes."
Hanabi looked surprised, and a little hopeful but scared as well. "Really? But... what if they won't listen to me after all this? I mean with everything that Father said and did it won't be easy. People won't accept that kind of change so easily."
"Then maybe the Hyuuga will just have to start over from scratch, just like the Uzumaki are."
For the first week after the murders, Namikaze had his ninja on high alert. There was a curfew at night, one he imposed even on the civilians of Wave, much to their protest, but the Uzumaki did not return. Naturally that did not calm the Yondaime, rather it only made him believe they had done something he simply had not discovered yet. He did a full headcount of his ninja and found no one missing or dead, yet. This only led him to conclude it had been a civilian killed instead.
After all, why would the Uzumaki kill multiple people in separate situations to just stop now? No these people must have known or done something to warrant these deaths.
Despite no results so far, Namikaze wasn't going to let that slow him down. He now made it mandatory for his ninja to train eight to ten hours a day, with their day or night jobs having to work around it and be treated like a second priority. Everyone had to do border patrol in shifts, and with Kakashi dead Namikaze himself focused on Sasuke's training. However, there was strangely one exception in all of this.
Haruno Sakura.
"Minato-kun, I want you to finish this sentence for me in the most sensible manner possible. 'I will make every ninja I can get my hands on work themselves to the bone except for Haruno Sakura because...'?" Mikoto asked, having confronted Namikaze during one of the times he took a break from training Sasuke. At the moment Guy was working on him, helping him get his speed up since the young Uchiha still wasn't as fast as he would have liked.
Namikaze took a drink of water and exhaled a bit. "If she's trying to get pregnant do you really want her to get too stressed out or sent into battle?"
"Don't give me that Minato-kun. There's a woman in the Aburame clan that's halfway through her pregnancy and another in the Inuzuka who only gave birth three months ago, and you're still making them participate in your 'The Uzumaki are coming' drills. No there's more here and I want to know."
"We're at war, we can't afford maternity leave for anyone who couldn't bother to keep themselves on birth control." Namikaze simply replied.
"So then why does Sakura get it before she's even confirmed as pregnant? And when you and I both encouraged her to keep away from birth control?"
"Because she's the best mother for our grandchild." Namikaze reminded her, starting to sound like he wanted this conversation to end. He doesn't need a fight nor Mikoto angry or stirring the pot.
Mikoto however was not interested in dropping the matter just like that. "And that justifies her sitting on her ass while everyone else puts their blood and sweat into finishing the war that you started? Her genes are apparently so valuable that she deserves to be handled as if she'll break like glass?"
"Would you rather she die before a grandchild gets to be born?"
"Well what about Sasuke? Our son? The one you've been actually encouraging to take part in all this danger you're keeping Sakura out of? How can we have a grandchild if he dies? Sakura can be replaced easily, Sasuke can not."
Namikaze shook his head. "Sakura cannot be replaced either. Any other girl would be like settling for the silver medal, and I'm not settling in my goals. I refuse to settle for the silver. Hell, the gold is still not enough, I'm aiming for the platinum. So Sakura stays out of this until she has the kid and Sasuke focuses on doing his job and knocking her up. End of debate. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."
The blonde man walked away, leaving Mikoto to silently fume.
'I just don't get him. Why prioritize Sakura's safety more than Sasuke's safety? I mean, I get that Sasuke is stronger and can better defend himself than Sakura could in a crisis, but Sasuke is his son. He should be the bigger priority. What exactly is it that makes Sakura so valuable to him?'
Wanting answers, Mikoto went for a walk, quickly finding Sakura tending to her simple job at the town library. "Hey Sakura, can I borrow you for a moment?"
"Sure Mikoto-sensei. What for?"
"Let's go get you a check-up, just to make sure you're healthy and all."
Elsewhere in Wave, a lone cloaked figure was closing in on the town.
'Now is my chance to see if all my efforts have been worth it, or not.' Itachi thought stoically.
After he succeeded in joining up with Akatsuki, Itachi had been spying on the group on behalf of Jiraiya. It was, unknown to him, a meaningless role since Namikaze was already in the group, but Jiraiya saw an advantage to having two sources within the group. 'Tobi' had to be seen as nonthreatening so the group would not fear him or pay specific attention to what he was doing, while Itachi on the other hand was imposing and someone they took seriously from the start. So if Akatsuki ever got the idea to do something Namikaze didn't want, Itachi was more likely to hear about it than Tobi was, and through him Jiraiya would learn and thus inform Namikaze.
When Jiraiya died, Itachi was unsure what to do but kept his position. When the Sandaime was replaced by the Yondaime, he hesitated to confront the blonde man and inform him of the situation, in case Namikaze had no interest in listening. Then Konoha got invaded and became unreachable, and so Itachi continued to procrastinate, serving the Akatsuki because he simply had nothing else to do. That and it ensured Sasuke would not come for him recklessly.
Then Namikaze came to him when he tried and failed to 'hire' the Akatsuki for his war. But the situation didn't end there. Pain and the rest of the group had been rather uncomfortable, for no one in the group could remember exactly who had recruited Tobi and when, and the masked member had been rather dodgy as of late, especially when the subject was brought up. It also concerned them as to how Namikaze was able to get in touch with him and knew he was affiliated with the group in the first place, and why Tobi allowed him to speak to them all.
It just raised too many questions, but what was clear was that Tobi was hiding something. So far the popular theory was that he was collaborating with Namikaze in a scheme to lure Akatsuki to Wave in order to try and kill off either part or all of the group.
To find out, Itachi volunteered to find out anything he could. Pain agreed because Itachi presumably would know the best way to hurt Namikaze if the Yondaime if things turned ugly. Itachi however requested Kisame remain behind, in order to keep this as stealthy as possible and keep him in reserve in case they did have to fight Konoha at some point. Pain was hesitant, but agreed.
A crow came to the renegade Uchiha and communicated to him in a way only he understood. "Ninja are running border patrol." He repeated in a whisper. "If they fear the bijuu are coming it only makes sense. The Yondaime must have extra protections in place as well. But the fact that he remains here is odd. Why does he not flee and avoid the fight? It's as if he wants the bijuu to come here and fight his army, even with the Akatsuki not involved."
He put his hand on his chin. "Hmm... if he is still willing to face down multiple jinchuuriki without the assistance of the Akatsuki, then he does not truly see them as a threat. Rather, he was likely trying to spare his forces, make us do his work for him. But what makes him so certain he can win such a battle? What secret does he possess?"
He commanded the crow to resume monitoring Namikaze and the bird went away. Itachi himself backed away, trying to keep away from the border patrols.
"I'm really beginning to hate having ninja in our town."
"You said it."
In one of the taverns a dozen civilians were gathered, having some drinks and an early dinner. The ninja were not the only ones who were suffering under Namikaze's increased standards. No civilian could go outside or do their job without a ninja watching them suspiciously, be it for a moment or an hour. No one was allowed to leave, and Namikaze demanded that all shinobi needs were seen to first, such as food water and materials. Any civilian who tried to see to their needs first was declared a criminal and treated as such, and with Namikaze essentially the highest authority around no civilian could stand up to him.
"It's like we just traded Gato for someone taller." Tazuna complained, a sake bottle in one hand and his head in the other.
"Only Gato was easier to get rid of." Giichi, a carpenter who used to work for Tazuna, added. "How was he eliminated anyway? Didn't you say the ninja you hired for bodyguards never actually did anything?"
Tazuna nodded. "Yeah, makes sense given how one of them is Namikaze-san's spoiled brat. Heh, makes you wonder if Namikaze-san himself got rid of Gato just so he could take his place."
"Why complain? No one here is crazy enough to get rid of the man." Another patron in the tavern remarked to the two.
A laugh from a booth drew their attention, to someone in a brown cloak. "Oh yes there is." The figure claimed, reaching up and removing the hood to reveal Kushina.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the civilians asked, since Kushina was unknown to them all.
"Just someone who wants that blonde bastard knocked on his ass, and crazy enough to do the knocking." She declared with a smile, standing up. "You can call me Kushina."
Giichi frowned and stood up too. "You're either one of those ninja who's making things worse for us, or you're one of those enemies that he's trying to keep out and why he's all but kicked us out of our own homes."
Seeing the logic in his words, the other civilians gained unfriendly expressions and moved to surround Kushina, who simply smiled as if this was amusing.
"Oh I'm the latter, but I think I made it clear what my goal is here. So isn't it in your best interest to let me get rid of the man who's making things worse for you? I mean he's the real problem." She asked, looking at her fingernails as she spoke.
Again, the civilians could see the logic, but they were not subdued.
"Then why are you here instead of attacking him?" Tazuna demanded. "Are you all talk? Or are you going to use us like him?"
"Oh the process is already in work. Namikaze is not going to go down easy, and I intend to hit him with everything. But before I do, I wanted to see something. I wanted to see how he was affecting all of you." Kushina answered, taking a sip from the cup in her hand.
"Why?" Tazuna asked.
"This is your home, and Namikaze has taken it away from you. I know the pain of losing your home to a foreign invader, of being seen like you're just taking up space. And like you, I tried to adapt, tried to take the bad with the good, but when it seems like there's no more good and too much bad, it's time to do something about it. So my question to all of you is... is it time?"
The civilians looked among themselves, as if trying to decipher what she was saying.
"Are you suggesting we fight ninja?" Giichi asked.
"No, I'm going to offer you all two choices. My allies can provide you and your families with a perfect escape from this town, where you will be out of the upcoming battle zone and then brought back after Namikaze's forces are destroyed. Or you can remain here and help provide a distraction so that my allies can better hurt Namikaze's forces."
"We'd be killed if we tried that!" Giichi objected.
"You'd take that same risk if you remain here and hide in your homes." Kushina replied. "The question remains are you willing to fight to keep your home before Namikaze destroys it?"
Everyone shared glances. Seeing where the redhead woman is coming from, some people nod agreeing with her. Others instead shook their heads not liking where things are going.
"But why should we trust you to protect us? Whether we stay or escape?" Tazuna asked.
"Do you trust Namikaze and his ninja to protect you when a fight comes here?" Kushina asked back.
The civilians said nothing. Already feeling the backlash of these Konoha shinobi but also Namikaze as well. They heard the legend of the Yondaime and seeing how the legend fell very short.
"So in short, worse case scenario we'd be no worse off than we already are." Tazuna summarized.
"Exactly. Now, I'll send some allies to your homes later tonight. Tell all your friends, tell no shinobi, be there with no shinobi, and those who want to escape will be taken somewhere safe. Those that wish to remain, my hopes are with you, and I can only ask that you at least give my army better odds. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."
She put the hood back up and walked out the door, leaving the civilians to wonder what they were going to do.
Namikaze came home as the sun was setting with Sasuke beside him, and they saw Mikoto and Sakura sitting at a table waiting for them. The two women looked horrified and somewhat repulsed.
"Minato-kun, you have some explaining to do." Mikoto started.
"What now?" He asked, annoyed.
"I brought Sakura to the clinic for a check-up. And to hear from a medic why exactly her genes are so compatible with Sasuke's. You keep saying they just are, but you're not a medic so I thought you just didn't know how better to explain."
Namikaze sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And?"
"Wait, what is this?" Sasuke asked, unaware.
"Long story short son, Sakura is your perfect genetic mate. Her DNA is the best to give you the strongest children you can have."
"Is that what you were told Minato-kun? Because the medic told me differently." Mikoto countered. "I even had them compare Sakura's DNA with Sasuke's just to see why you said that. Imagine my surprise when the medic said that Sasuke and Sakura... share paternal DNA."
Sasuke looked to his mother with wide eyes while Sakura looked like she wanted to vomit. "What?!" Sasuke cried out.
"According to the tests, Sakura is Minato-kun's daughter. Your half-sister." Mikoto clarified, giving him a glance before looking back to the blonde man who just looked bored by this conversation. "You knew didn't you? You've known this whole time. Why on earth are you trying to get Sasuke to have children with his own sister?"
"I told you Mikoto, her genes are the best for this."
"They have the same genes!"
"Exactly! That's what makes them so perfect!" Namikaze proclaimed. "The genes won't be corrputed nor diminished. It's perfect."
"It's freaking inbreeding!" Mikoto shouted. "Why do you think clans always check their families trees before they arrange marriages? To avoid exactly this situation."
"My bloodline must be kept as pure as possible!" Namikaze declared. "If Sasuke had children with someone not of Namikaze blood, it would have diluted my bloodline! I will not allow that! Sasuke and Sakura will have a child, then I can give Tsume the kid she wants and then our grandchild will have their perfect genetic match! The bloodline will stay pure for generations this way!"
Mikoto could actually taste bile with that. "You can't be serious!"
"I am the chosen one of the gods! I am the one destined to remake and lead this world! I am the perfect human being, the most important human being since the Sage of Six Paths! I am more important than the Sage of Six Paths! Do you think I will allow my bloodline, my legacy, to be diluted with gutter blood until it eventually fades away?! Fuck no! Just as the daimyos and Hyuuga and Uchiha have done in the past, I will preserve my bloodline by making sure it breeds only with the best!"
Mikoto now could only look at the man with disgusted horror. This man, the one she had spent years with, plotting with, had a child with, defied her husband with, truly believed that forcing his children and grandchildren to inbreed would only improve his legacy? She was so overwhelmed with multiple emotions that she couldn't begin to know how to react.
Sakura on the other hand kept her mouth over her hand and looked down at her stomach, wondering if anything was actually in her womb. If not, she was lucky, but she would still have to live with the fact that she had slept with her half-brother. She wanted to deny it, say this was some kind of sick joke, but she had seen the charts. Plus Namikaze had never been the joking type before.
"How can I be your daughter?" She managed to squeak out. "My father was Haruno Kizashi."
"No, I'm your father. Kizashi was Mebuki's husband. She was as much a fangirl of mine as Tsume and Mikoto-chan were, just not as good a ninja. When Mikoto-chan wanted to have a kid with me, I got the idea to have one with another woman so someday they'd get together too. Tsume was pregnant with her son at the time so Mebuki lucked out. And when you were born I applied a permanent hair change seal to your scalp to make it look like you were Kizashi's kid. Count yourself lucky Sakura, if Kiba didn't exist you wouldn't either."
"Lucky?!" Sakura repeated, aghast and springing to her feet. "You think I should feel lucky?! You only had me so you could use me for something sick and gross! Dear Kami-sama I feel like Naruto now!" With that said a light bulb went off in her head. "Oh dear Kami-sama, this means Naruto is my brother too! No wonder he said he wasn't interested in me anymore! He must have found out all this years ago!"
"There's no way that idiot knows." Namikaze defamed.
Sakura ignored him, taking a step back shaking a bit. "That idiot had to have known. Now him leaving Konoha makes sense. He somehow found out about you, about how we're all related and what you were planning for him and us. He kept his mouth shut and escaped before you could do anything to him."
"Oh who the hell cares? This means you get everything Sakura." Namikaze told her. "You get a guaranteed good life with everything you could ever want once the world is mine. Isn't having Sasuke's child worth it? Hell, wasn't that part of everything you wanted too?"
That part brought back a memory that Sakura had always scoffed at. Kushina's so-called curse. 'Everything I wanted... I don't believe it. It really is a curse. Naruto truly knew, and he decided the best revenge aginst me was letting this happen.'
Sasuke all this time was just as shocked and disturbed, but like his mother he had no idea how to react. "Sakura, did you honestly not know this?" He asked. "None of this? You didn't know about us being related to each other or Naruto?"
"Do you think I would have wanted you to knock me up if I thought you were my brother?" She asked in return.
"Kids, I understand this is a shock, but it's done and it's not going to change. So learn to like it." Namikaze commanded.
"A shock?!" Mikoto repeated. "A shock?! No Minato-kun, finding out Kushina is alive was a shock! This... this is fucking disgusting and unholy! There's a reason no one does this anymore!"
"I am the god of this world! I get to decide what is holy and unholy!"
"Oh for Kami-sama's sake Minato-kun you are not a literal god! Stop talking about yourself as if you are!"
Namikaze looked like he wanted to slug her in the face. "Maybe it's not literal yet, but in due time it will be."
Mikoto did not know what to say right way. "Minato-kun, please don't prove the Uzumaki right about you. Explain what exactly you mean without sounding insane, because what I'm hearing is you saying you honestly believe you can become a literal god."
"That's because I can, and I intend to." He replied firmly.
Mikoto, Sakura, and even Sasuke all looked at him like they had never seen him before.
"There is a power hidden, the power of a god. Or rather, goddess. Her name was Kaguya, and all chakra came from her. She tried to take control over the world but she got sealed in the moon for it. Right there in the moon all her magnificent power is just waiting to be taken and used. Uchiha Madara tried to get it, but he failed. That damn Hashirama took the bijuu from him, ensuring he could never create the juubi and become strong enough to break Kaguya's seal. But Madara's informants brought me in and agreed to work for me since the prophecy says I am the one to replace Kaguya as the savior of the world. I will succeed where Kaguya and Madara failed. With the power of Konoha I will conquer the world, and with the power of the bijuu I will acquire the power of Kaguya and ensure my rule over it will be everlasting."
Mikoto felt her legs go weak, and she collapsed to her knees, releasing a few tears after she did. "That's... that's what all this has been about? Minato-kun, all our years together, all the plotting and waiting, all of it... this is what it's been done for? So you could chase some fairy tale?"
"It's not a fairy tale. Where do you think chakra comes from? Where the bijuu comes from? What, prophecy makes sense to you but a goddess being the source of chakra is hard to swallow?"
"The whole reason I followed you, left Fugaku and even faked my death all these years, was because you said that you needed to eliminate the other villages in order to protect Konoha's future! That it was inevitable that someday all the other villages would band together and destroy us like they did Uzushio! And that the only solution was a preemptive strike, and we would need the bijuu to do that!"
"All that is still true! Then when it's all over, I'll take Kaguya's power and make sure there are no problems to come afterwards!"
"What problems? You said all the enemies will be gone by then! Who could possibly be so much of a threat that you need to become a god in order to beat them?" Sakura jumped in.
Namikaze frowned. "No one is that big a threat to me!"
"Then why do you need to become a god?" Sasuke added, having moved to beside his mother as she spoke. "If you truly believe you can't fail, if you truly believe that no one can stop you, then why do you need this power? Are you saying none of those claims will be true until then? Are you saying you can still lose this war before that point?"
"Hell no! I will win no matter what!" Namikaze proclaimed.
"Then why go after this god power in the first place if it's completely unnecessary?" Mikoto asked firmly.
"Because if I don't someone else will! Don't you get it?! The prophecy doesn't say anything about who will get that power! Potentially anyone could once all the bijuu are collected, so if I don't do it when I have the chance, I'm basically giving that chance to someone else who can and will use that power to get rid of me and take my place! I will not allow that! I will not allow someone to steal my victory!"
"That only makes sense if someone else knows about the goddess in the moon, and I've never heard about this until just now!" Mikoto pointed out.
"The Uzumaki have." Namikaze clarified.
Mikoto facepalmed. "Why, why, why, does it always come back to the Uzumaki with you? Are you that damn afraid of them?"
"I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE UZUMAKI!"
"If you think you have to become a god to truly defeat them once and for all, then yes, you are." Sasuke stated.
"You're afraid of Naruto. You're afraid he'll surpass you." Sakura added.
Namikaze grit his teeth and lashed out, in a fast dash using all his ninja skills to knock all three down and apply seals to them. All three spasmed on the floor, aching from uncomfortable painful landings and found themselves unable to move.
"You all will pay for this." He warned ruefully. "There will be no room for you in my new world. You'll only live long enough to make sure my heir will be born."
He then grabbed all three and did a reverse-summoning to Myoboku, seeing what little of the toads remained and were trying to rebuild. He dumped Mikoto, Sasuke, and Sakura on the ground and called multiple toads to him.
"Put them somewhere and make sure they cannot escape. No one is to let them free, or else I'll finish what the foxes started."
While he was gone, a crow that had been outside the house flew away.