Stolen Time

celestia193'sAuthor's Note: Are you ready for this? Are you sure?

Chapter 12

Itachi had been waiting an eternity for Shisui and his brother's team to return. He knew they would be coming through this entrance sooner or later. He almost felt like he was acting as a guard during wartime and in a way, Itachi supposed that wasn't far from the truth. Shisui was visiting a former warzone and one would have to be a complete simpleton to believe he was going to come back unscathed. The emotional scars of seeing his former home leveled, the home he fought so hard to protect, were going to slash into him with all the mercy of a whip drenched in salt.

By the time the doors finally opened, revealing the team...it was all Itachi could do not to wince. The expression on Shisui's face instantaneously brands itself into Itachi's psyche. That was the look of someone who had died a thousand deaths, but had been resurrected one thousand and one times.

"Shisui, I'm so sorry." The impulse to hug him was powerful. Itachi was about to do precisely that when something catches him. More specifically, someone. "Sasuke? Let go of me." Shisui looked...resolute, but not on the verge of lashing out violently. What was wrong with his brother?

Sasuke shakes his head as Shisui strides soundlessly past in his dark blues clothes and flexible black body armor. He's accompanied to the elevator to the upper floors only by Kakashi as the rest of the team comes to a stop in the hall. "Not now, Itachi." Sasuke knew how Itachi felt right now. He'd endured the terrible silence the whole way back from Inari and hated every minute of it. Which was something, because Sasuke generally preferred the quiet. "He's barely keeping it together, and he still needs to give his report."

Itachi jerks back. Those words coming from Sasuke felt like a solid brick being hurled straight at his chest. Right into his heart. He wasn't speaking to his foolish little brother in the moment. No, he was speaking to a soldier. One who recognized the signs of an impending disaster all too well. Somehow, Itachi summons the will to force a smile. Showing his unease would only make things worse for Shisui. He needed to maintain his composure and offer whatever sliver of comfort he could. "Very well then. Tell him he knows where to find me when he's done...if he wants to talk afterwards."

"He knows." Sasuke had known that Itachi would say something like that, that he would want to comfort Shisui after the fact. Shisui had given him a small nod of acknowledgment when he'd proposed that Itachi would want to see him. Otherwise… "Itachi…he didn't say a single word the whole way back from Inari. Right now, he's going to make his report, because that's the first thing he needs to do. When he's with you…he doesn't have to keep it together. You…make him weak." Actually, no, that wasn't quite right. "You give him the freedom to be weak in front of you. To not have to hide himself, to not have to pretend that everything is fine when he's broken inside. So when he comes to you, it means that he wants to feel safe enough to show that weakness."

"I know. I'll leave you to your duties." It was kind of Sasuke to offer reassurance in his own way, but that did little to quell the guilt that was poisoning his veins. He was the one who asked Shisui to tell Minato everything. That's what had sparked the request to see Inari. "I'll see you later." Intentional or not, he had reopened wounds that had barely begun to heal and now, all he could do was wait. Wait for that damn report to be over. He doesn't bother to wait for a reply before leaving. He'd wait for Shisui where the other man would know where to find him. His sanctuary. His room.

The elevator beeps when it reaches the office at the very top of the headquarters. Out of it steps a lone soldier, the door closing behind him. With dark determination in his gaze, he raises a hand and knocks on the office door.

"Come in. The door is open." Minato's voice pierces through the air. Taking a glance at the clock, the blond didn't have to wonder who was visiting him. Based on his estimates, Taka had likely arrived back and Shisui would be reporting soon.

It wasn't something he was looking forward to. Witnessing the fallout from Shisui's excursion to Inari wouldn't be pleasant. Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil. The only condition Shisui had given and those files were too important to deny a request especially one so within the other man's right to ask. It was also inevitable. Sooner or later, Shisui would have seen the remains of Inari. Perhaps it was better they had ripped that bandaid off relatively early.

Shisui enters the office, his features schooled to be completely blank. He'd reactivated the implant with the emotional buffer solely for this purpose. He would give his report and he wouldn't break and give up halfway.

He approaches Minato's desk and kneels before it. "Captain Shisui Uchiha, reporting in." He said the words out of habit, but they were no less true now than they were then.

"You don't have to kneel, but please make your report Captain Uchiha." He wanted to offer the other man more time to compose himself. It was the humane thing to do, but Minato knew that look all too well. Shisui was going to give his report now. The entire room could collapse around them and he'd likely still do it because he was a man on a mission.

Shisui rises to his feet and retreats from the desk, then raises his arm to place his hand on one of the projection screens connected to the computer interface in the middle of the room. "Within the files that you haven't been able to access, there are abstract designs, schematics, and software programs for all of the performance enhancing implants that our engineering division were working on." He fills the screen with a million and one files, then picks out the nine folders that were locked together right from the very beginning of their conception.

"The Bijuu Project, conceived to create the most efficient and lethal soldiers alive. The projects were still experimental, but I served as one of the guinea pigs for these implants, including a series promoting complex cellular regeneration to increase survival rate of agents on dangerous assignments. Many of the experiments were considered unethical, but every participant on the list was there voluntarily. The data should be of interest to your engineers." He inputs a series of complex codes and the files unlock, spilling the blueprints for creating perfect supersoldiers across the screens spread out along the walls of the room.

"It's easy to see why such extreme measures would prove tempting in a time of war. Still, it's a relief to know participation was voluntary." The alternative was enough to make even Minato sick to his stomach. "You are correct, though. It will be of great interest to our engineers. I'm presuming there is more?"

Shisui nods. His fingers reach for three more folders and he lays them open, this time filling the screens with faces, each stamped with one of three insignias. "This is a roster of all of the high-ranking officers who served in the main forces under General Senju, under General Uchiha, and who served in General Uchiha's secret Black Ops division." His own face is included among the other Black Ops agents on the roster. "The roster details every major operation and project each officer was involved in, save for the confidential ones carried out by the Black Ops."

He pulls another file onto the screens and unlocks it. "The smaller attached file is where the encrypted files of the Black Ops are found. They include mission details on who was assigned to each mission, what was found, and what casualties were incurred or caused. It also includes a Black Ops casualty roster." Shisui had seen a lot of death in his time during the Black Ops, and he'd seen many an agent disappear on a mission and never return. After all, they were never supposed to leave a body to recover. "I believe that you might find it useful to compare the results of some of the missions to what you've found in your own investigations. I imagine that it will fill in a lot of blind spots and blank spaces."

Minato blinks as he examines what Shisui was laying out before him. "I never expected this level of detail. The tactical advantage of this can't be overstated." Their own history was so sparse and many gaps were being filled before his very own eyes at incredible rates. "I see you were rather...influential."

"…Yes." Shisui had headed a division of the Black Ops personally. He'd overseen missions that were of the most critical and most secret importance. "Most of the other locked files are projects undertaken by the medical and engineering divisions, and I had no part in their experiments and procedures." There was just one problem left to face as he uses his uncle's master override codes to unlock the files one by one. "I've heard that there's a file called…Project Nightingale."

"Understood. I do appreciate your cooperation." He frowns, interlocking his fingers together. This matter needed to be approach delicately, but swiftly. Perhaps the direct tactic would work best after all? "What can you tell me about Project Nightingale?"

"…Nothing." Shisui turns, a hint of confusion breaking the blank mask on his face. "Until I was told about it by Itachi, I had no idea it existed. I don't know what it contains or what sorts of security measures might be on it. So far, security on all of the files has been overridden by the master codes I possess. I haven't touched that file before, but from what I gathered, it's proven the trickiest to open, right?"

"Indeed. It is the trickiest and therefore we can only assume it is the most important." He hadn't expected that. Shisui didn't even know?

Shisui shifts slightly as he watches the blond man's brow furrow. "You thought that I knew and was deliberately keeping it secret."

"I assumed you were doing so for understandable reasons, yes." The expression on Minato's face softens further. "I can only imagine what it must be like for you in your position. Were our roles reversed, I would be cautious as well."

"Yes, but…" Shisui glances back at the screens and finds the folder stamped with a very familiar crest in the center of the Black Ops swirling red insignia. "…I'll admit now that I don't know all of the secrets that my uncle kept. I knew more than…I think anyone other than General Senju. But Uncle Madara was a very careful and secretive man. Everything he did, he did to protect the home he loved and the people who depended on him for safety. This file, though…" This was the contradiction that Shisui hadn't ever seen coming. "I don't know what's in it, and I've only ever heard Nightingale used in reference to one asset."

"He was a wise man. Considering the conflict of his day, loose lips could have devastating consequences." He pauses hearing the hesitation in Shisui's voice. This needed to be handled with great care. "And what asset was he referring to?"

"Every Black Ops agent was referred to by a codename, an animal that he felt they embodied. Snake, Hawk, Dragon, Wolf, Sparrow…" The list would go on and on. Shisui knew them all. "Every one of us, when masked, would use that name instead of any personal marks of identification. Nightingale was the name he chose for me when I joined the Black Ops."

"I see. That does explain a great deal." So, that was why Shisui's body had been preserved. He was the keystone of whatever Project Nightingale was. "I'm certain together we will get to the bottom of the matter."

"Yes, Sir." Shisui raises his hand to the logo and immediately, a light shines from the screen and right into his left eye, scanning his iris. Then, a virtual scan pad appears and he presses his hand to it, allowing it to scan his palm and fingerprints. A user interface pops up, demanding a password.

First, Shisui tries his uncles overriding passcode. But when it fails and the screen flashes red, he frowns. There should be nothing that the master code couldn't get him access to. But…net, he tries entering his own personal passcode. To his moderate surprise, the screen turns green.

A soft female voice addresses him. "Who seeks access to Project Nightingale?"

"Naori?" Shisui blinks bemusedly.

"User invalid. Please try again."

Shisui's brow furrows and he clears his throat. "Captain Shisui Uchiha. Agent Nightingale."

The woman's voice warms slightly. "Voice recognition accepted, please proceed to step five."

Minato stares. Madara had certainly gone the extra mile when it came to security. "Excellent work. What does step five entail, though?"

"I don't know." This was more security on one file than Shisui had ever seen before. What secrets had his uncle had that he was so desperate to hide?

Instead of the female voice, this time, he's greeted by a familiar, deep, rich voice that he knew almost as well as his own. "The lark is there to greet the dawn. The sparrow to meet the sun. But when does my nightingale sing?"

That one question nearly breaks Shisui's heart all over again. He feels the implant controlling his emotions begin to flicker. "Uncle…"

"When does my nightingale sing?"

Shisui's face grows pale, but he clenches a fist and takes a deep breath. "When darkness falls and shadows rise, our work begins. The nightingale sings of death and secrets in the night. And I am your singing nightingale."

The logo flashes brightly and expels a torrent of files and information. One screens on either side of Shisui, his face and those of his three teammates appear, complete with physical and psychological profiles, mission logs, and three death certificates.

Minato could only stare in awe. The level of detail and personal information was simply stunning and more than a little frightening. He'd heard the stories of course, but apparently the man surpassed even the myth around his life. "Well, I see your uncle was a man who preferred a personal touch."

Shisui remains silent, his eyes taking in everything that his uncle had included in the file. It was…unlike anything he ever could have imagined. Every single one of his missions, right down to the minutes recorded by the interface in his helmet. Countless hours of audio and video footage, hundreds of written reports, statistics and probability on the outcomes of his missions, as well as his mission success rate. Ninety-eight percent. His entire career with the Black Ops was in there.

But the moment he reaches for the screen to touch it, the screen warps and a video file appears. It sets itself to play all by itself.

And on the screen, a man with stern features and a lion's mane of wild dark hair sits in a high-backed chair behind a desk, looking all the world like the esteemed general he was. "If you've gotten this far into our most confidential files, then I will assume that you've found my pride and joy and the most talented of my agents, my nephew Shisui. If not, then I commend your skills at breaking into files that you have no business seeing. The self-destruct is now active and will destroy this installation in thirty seconds unless you prove that you've accessed these files with my nephew's consent."

"Agent Uchiha...do you know how to prove it?" Minato's heart skips several beats at the knowledge. Self-destruct. They were going to blow up if they didn't meet whatever standard for consent Madara had set up.

A vein twitches in Shisui's temple and he brings up an interface desperately, already typing in as many codes as he can think of as a timer appears and starts ticking down. Thirty. Twenty-five. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten… "Fucking hell, Uncle Madara! What kind of stupid trap is this!?"

The timer freezes at eight seconds.

"Apparently, swearing was the proof of consent?" Minato lets out a nervous chuckle of relief. That could have ended horrifically.

The Madara on the video leans back in his chair and chuckles sadistically. "It seems that you've stopped the self-destruct. Well done, Shisui. I keep telling you to control that temper of yours, but you really never change. You're still that little boy I took home with me when Kagami regrettably passed away."

Shisui's lips twitch, unimpressed with his uncle's tricks. "Uncle Madara always did like his traps and tricks and mind-fucks." It was an Uchiha family trait.

"With all due respect Captain Uchiha, your uncle was crazy and quite possibly a sadist." Minato groans as he tries to will his heart to stop beating so frantically.

"And with all the love I have for him, I agree." Shisui could tell stories for days about all of the sadistic tricks that his uncle had played on him as he was training Shisui in his youth. "You should have seen the mental gauntlet he put me through when I joined the Black Ops…"

On the screen, Madara taps his fingers together as if thinking. "…Captain Uchiha…Nightingale…Shisui. I don't know when you will see this message, or if you will at all. I don't know if you'll remember the day that we put you into stasis. But I do." He sighs and the stress lines in his skin become a little more visible. Around his mouth and eyes. "Its been six years now since we put you to sleep. The engineers assure me that they'll keep your pod safe and up to date. I'm diverting a considerable amount of the Black Ops resources into this project because I believe that if I don't keep you safe, we really will lose everything."

"It seems they were resources well spent." Minato watches the entire scene unfold in disbelief. He doubted that even Madara had foreseen how long Shisui would end up in that pod. These were the actions of a desperate man in even more frantic times.

Shisui watches the screen in a daze, mesmerized by the sight of his uncle.

"Shisui…" Madara laces his fingers together and closes his eyes. "I don't know if you'll remember this. The engineers told me that often, what someone is told right before being put into stasis isn't retained in the short term memory. So, for you, and for the pleasure of whoever has deemed it necessary to look into these files, I will explain. I will explain Project Nightingale, our time capsule project where we have placed every iota of data that we have, from the daily lives of our citizens right to the most secret assignments of our Black Ops, into a willing host. A host that we then put to sleep, with the intention of waking our time capsule when we had finally achieved peace. A time capsule into which we have been and will continue to place weekly updates with all new information we gather ad infinitum…until the day comes when you finally wake, Shisui. Because I fear that Inari will be the target of disaster, and there might be nothing we can do to stop it."

Minato grimaces. Madara's fears had turned out to be well-placed. They had tried their hardest, but nothing had been able to stop the tide of history. "I am so sorry, Shisui."

"I'm sorry, Shisui." Madara's words echo the sentiment as the image on the screen changes slightly. The sky behind Madara is ashy gray and streaked with reddish black fumes. The general himself looks far more worn, and his once black hair is now mostly silver. His face shows the signs of long years of sadness. "I had hoped that we would have you awake before the end of my lifetime. But if you are seeing this, then it means that I am dead, and that you are in a future I know nothing about. "It has been over fifty years since we put you to sleep. I have retired from my position, but still remain on to consult the new generations. I also remain in charge of Project Nightingale and will keep charge of the project until the last of my days."

"Uncle…" Shisui's eyes widen and his hands shake, so he clenches them to still them.

The old general sighs softly and brushes silvery locks from his face. "Every week, I make a trip down to the laboratory to visit you. You look just the same as the day we put you to sleep. I think I've done more reading aloud in the last ten years than I have in all of the rest of my life. Sometimes I wonder what sort of world you'll wake to. I hope…with all of my heart that you will wake to a peaceful one. You were so young, filled with so much potential…and you never deserved the life that was forced on you."

"I watched you change from a boy into a man, and then into a soldier. And I find myself wishing I'd put you to sleep sooner." Madara's face twists with regret. "You were nothing less than my son, and I asked you to do terrible, impossible things for the sake of our people. And for that…I am sorry. I am sorry…and I hope that when you wake, it is to a peaceful world. And if it's not, I hope that you can make it so. Because we have put all of our hopes in you. Make the future better than the past. And Shisui…be happy. I want you to find something to live for. I don't want you to waste you life away. The past is done and there is nothing that you can do for us but carry our legacy forward. Make yours a world and a life worth living for, and that will be enough." After a moment of silence, the video file beeps and the recording comes to an end.

And Shisui sinks to the floor, lost and alone.