XX: Starting the Healing Process

"You really are amazing, Kakashi," Shisui said, sitting on a chair next to the Copy Ninja's hospital bed. "I was never like some in the clan who thought that you were a thief for having a Sharingan, but the fact that you've acquired the Mangekyo is something else. I'm sure that there would be any number of Uchiha who would be envious of you."

Kakashi kept his left eye, his Sharingan eye, closed as he turned his head to look at Shisui. "Thanks, but I don't think you came here just to congratulate me." He turned his attention to Itachi, who was leaning against the window frame. "I'm sure you two have something more substantive you want to discuss."

"You're not wrong," Itachi commented. "You see, we actually would like to talk about the Mangekyo with you. How many times have you used it?"

"Twice," Kakashi answered. "Once when I discovered that I had the ability, another during the battle with Danzo. I passed out the second time and almost did the first, so I'm guessing that's part of the drawback of the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"It is," Itachi confirmed. "Though I assume that it was more intense for you because you're not a natural born Uchiha. Lady Tsunade theorized that over time you could build up your chakra reserves enough to be able to use it safely, but that would only happen after lots of hard training."

"That's not the least of it," Shisui said. "You two have only recently acquired your new abilities, so I wouldn't expect you to have noticed. But I've had my Mangekyo Sharingan for a few years now, and I can tell you that there's long term consequences to using it as well."

"What consequences?" Kakashi questioned.

"The Mangekyo Sharingan is something of a limited resource," Itachi explained. "Every use damages the eye, leading to deteriorating eyesight and eventual blindness. But Shisui, I had no idea were feeling those effects."

The older Uchiha nodded grimly. "Yeah. It's subtle, but I can feel it whenever I try to look at something on the edge of my sight. Things that used to be clear are now just a little bit blurry. I've made a concerted effort to not use my Mangekyo, but I guess there have been enough times where I've been backed into a corner and been forced to rely on it."

"Is there any kind of cure or treatment?" Kakashi asked.

"There is one," Itachi answered. "The clan's records aren't entirely clear, but Madara Uchiha had a younger brother who had a Mangekyo Sharingan. At some point Madara had his brother's eyes transplanted into himself, causing their Sharingan to somehow combine, returning Madara's sight to normal and preventing any future damage."

Kakashi put a hand over his Sharingan eye. "Well, if push came to shove, I would probably give my eye to one of you two if either of you ever went blind. It's not like this was mine in the first place."

"Please, neither of us would ever want you to make that kind of sacrifice for us," Shisui said.

"Besides," Itachi interjected. "From what I've read, that procedure would only work if the eyes were from someone closely related to the recipient. A sibling or a parent. Neither of us have any close relation to that eye's original owner."

Kakashi removed his hand from his face, though his Sharingan remained close. "I guess that's fair. But still, we shouldn't just sit around and wait to go blind if we can help it."

"You're right," Shisui agreed. "In the past my solution was to just not use it and try to rely on my other abilities. But given the events of the past few weeks, I think its fair to say that our current level of strength is not enough."

"So you want to improve in other areas so that we'll have to rely on our eyes less," Kakashi concluded.

Shisui nodded. "That was my thought process, yes."

"I'll agree with that," Itachi said. "But it is easier said than done. Abilities as powerful as the those of the Mangekyo Sharingan can't be found just anywhere."

"Maybe, but I think there is a gap between our Mangekyo techniques and our other ones, at least for you and me," Shisui commented. "But you, Kakashi, there are not a lot of people who can say that they've invented their own original A-rank jutsu."

"Are you saying that you want to learn my Chidori?" Kakashi asked.

Shisui nodded in response. "If you wouldn't mind. I have some experience in the lightning style, though nothing on the level of the Chidori."

"I'm not against the idea, but," Kakashi began before turning his eye to Itachi. "You must have seen me use the Chidori and the Lightning Blade at least a dozen times wih your Sharingan. Can you do it?"

Itachi shook his head. "I understand the mechanics behind it, but I've never trained in lightning techniques. You two go ahead with it, I'll find something else."

"Then Shisui and I can start tomorrow, after I get released from the hospital," Kakashi said.

"Actually, there is one more thing we want to talk to you about before that," Shisui interjected.

Itachi took a deep breath before he joined in. "You see, Shisui and I are actually on a secret mission with a few other people. One that can reveal some new details about the Fourth Hokage's death."

Kakashi sat silently, staring at Itachi through his one open eye. "What do you mean?" he finally asked.

"We're searching for the secret safe houses he set up outside the village," Shisui explained. "We believe something might have happened at one of them that will shed new light on why he died. And why he sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox in his newborn son."

"So you two know about that then," Kakashi commented. "I'll go with you, just tell me the details after I get out tomorrow."

"Thank you," Itachi said.

"Don't thank me," Kakashi replied. "I'm doing this for me, not for you."

Itachi studied the Copy Ninja, taking note of the look in his eye. It was well hidden, like all of Kakashi's emotions, but Itachi could see the distant pain lingering in the back of his mind. It reminded him of his mother and Jiraiya when they talked about the passing of the Fourth Hokage and his wife. He had never known them himself, but the more he met people that had been in their orbit, the more of a gaping hole he could see, left behind by their tragic deaths.

"Got it," Shisui said, slapping his knees as he got up to his feet. "Come to Lord Hokage's office after you get released tomorrow. We'll be waiting there."

"Sure," Kakashi managed to get out before a loud crash rang through the room, bringing the three elite shinobi to alert.

"What was that?" Itachi asked, checking for anything outside the window.

Shisui walked over to the door, opening it and scanning for anything in the hall. "I think it might have come one of the neighboring rooms."

"Jun," Itachi said as he joined his clansman at the door, stepping out into the hall together with Kakashi following close behind.

The two Uchiha went one door down, opening it to reveal the one legged Chunin sprawled out on the floor.

"Are you OK?!" Shisui asked, rushing over to Jun along with Itachi.

Jun pushed herself up on her hands and looked up at her clansmen. "Oh, um, I'm fine. I was just trying to...go somewhere."

"You need to stay in bed until your prosthetic is ready," Itachi said as he knelt down next to Jun.

"N-no...um," she stuttered out in response.

Before she could continue, Kakashi ghosted in between the two Uchiha men and scooped Jun up in his arms. "Now, where do you need to go?" he asked her.

"Oh, OK," Jun began, but neither Itachi nor Shisui could her whisper her answer to Kakashi.

Carrying the now blushing Jun in his arms, Kakashi walked out into the hall. Itachi and Shisui exchanged glances before moving to follow them. When they caught up they found Kakashi standing outside the door to the women's restroom.

"She needed to get to the toilet and the nurse wasn't answering her calls," Kakashi explained to the pair of Uchiha. "She was embarrassed about not being able to take care of it herself."

"Oh, I see," Itachi responded.

Kakashi leaned back against the wall before continuing. "Listen, Itachi. Physical wounds will naturally heal over time, and people learn to live with scars. But..." he paused for a moment, and Itachi could tell that he wasn't talking about just Jun.

"Emotional wounds, the ones in the mind," Kakashi continued. "Those don't just heal on their own. You need closure, or at least a sense that there's something else out there for you. If you don't have that, then you'll slowly die from the inside."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Itachi asked.

"That woman, she needs more than time," Kakashi explained. "Find something for her to latch on to."

"Well, thank you for that, we'll keep it in mind," Shisui said. "Can we leave Jun in your hands for the time being?"

Kakashi nodded in answer and the two Uchiha bowed to the Copy Ninja in a show of thanks before taking their leave.

"You want to head back to the complex?" Shisui asked Itachi as they walked down the hall.

"Not yet," Itachi answered. "You go ahead, there's a stop I'd like to make first."


Sasuke sat, watching Sai run through an obstacle course. It was one that Sasuke himself had finished only 20 minutes earlier, a part of the regular classwork at the Academy. The young Uchiha had the best time in the class, as everyone had expected, and by a significant margin as well. It looked like that margin was going to shrink, though. At the pace that Sai was moving, he was going to get close. Not so much that Sasuke was worried that his time might be beaten, but close enough that he could see Sai achieving that feat if he was given enough attempts.

That was a microcosm of Sai's first few days at the Academy, really. Despite appearing suddenly out of nowhere, he had slotted himself comfortably into the class. Not socially, he was firmly an outsider with a strange personality, but in terms of coursework he was stellar across the board. In sparring matches he had beaten Kiba in his first bout. On written tests he scored nearly as well as Sakura. In his first ninjutsu lecture he had mastered the required transformation almost as fast as as Sasuke. Whoever he was and wherever he came from, it was obvious that he had received shinobi training, and was damn good at it.

Sasuke was distracted from his new classmate's skills by an old one's muttering. Looking to his right, he saw Naruto tracing lines in the dirt with his finger. The class clown had already taken his turn on the course, completing it with his characteristic clumsiness. At first glance he looked like he was back to old self, but Sasuke could see that he wasn't quite the same. When he screwed up, he was just a bit more hesitant to defend himself from his classmates' ridicule. When he fell, it took a split second longer to pull himself up to his feet. Above all, he seemed absorbed with a scheme he was dreaming up in his head.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked his friend, looking over the blonde boy's shoulder.

"Just my plan to welcome Mr. 'I'm Too Cool For You' to the class," Naruto answered with a grin.

Sasuke studied the lines in the dirt and, despite almost a full minute of trying to decipher any meaning, couldn't figure out what they were supposed to represent. "Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Yeah, I'm sure! Look here," he said, pointing at the image in the dirt. "Ah, never mind."

Sasuke spent another moment fruitlessly trying to understand the schematics Naruto was drawing, but gave up before looking back up at the blonde. "Are you sure you should be trying to prank Sai?" he asked the class clown.

"Hey, you helped me with a prank before," Naruto retorted. "How is this any different?"

"We got in trouble the last time we tried one," Sasuke pointed out. "Don't you think you should just keep your head down, especially after the last few weeks?"

Naruto slamed his hand in the dirt, disturbing the image he had been drawing in it. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked as he got up on his feet. Before Sasuke could think of a response, the blonde started walking away.

"Um, Naruto?" Iruka called out, catching the young student out of the corner of his eye.

"Bathroom," the blonde replied without meeting his teacher's gaze.

"Oh, OK then," Iruka replied as Naruto continued on his way.

Sasuke watched the receding figure of the blonde for a moment before turning his attention back to the image in the dirt, now even less decipherable to him now that Naruto had given up on it. He couldn't help but wonder if he should have done something different.


"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Mikoto Uchiha said, bowing to the village leader. "I will gladly join this mission." It was surreal, bowing to a leader she had once planned on overthrowing, or at least she had been in the same room as people who were planning to overthrow him. But life had changed dramatically for her in the last several weeks.

"Very good," the Hokage replied as the Uchiha matriarch lifted herself back up. "Come to my office tomorrow to meet up with the rest of the team, once you've had a chance to leave someone in charge of the Military Police in your absence. You may leave."

"Understood," Mikoto replied before turning and walking out of the office. She bit down on the tip of her thumb as she walked, still trying to process the information the Hokage had told her. She had already known about Naruto's heritage, but there was so much else that she hadn't even imagined. To think that a person, a shinobi, might have been behind the Nine-Tails attack all those years ago. Even worse, that they might have wielded a Sharingan or even been Madara Uchiha himself. It was a lot for her to take in.

She had a lot of preparations to make, not the least of which was choosing a trusted officer to run the Military Police while she was out of the village. But she was distracted from that, instead looking up at the clock that hung in the lobby of the Hokage Residence and realizing that it was almost time for the Academy to finish for the day. Since she was already out and about, she might as well go pick up Sasuke, and maybe check up on Naruto as well.

Of course, the fact that the Academy was so close made that decision easier as well. The short trek made for perfect timing, as Mikoto arrived to find the students being let out from class. She stepped past the children who were leaving with their parents, the vast majority of them from civilian families, she noticed, and made her way to the lobby of the school.

She entered the building to see Iruka standing sentry, keeping an eye on the students as they finished their classes and left. He turned his attention to the sound of Mikoto opening the front doors and upon recognizing the Uchiha matriarch called out, "hello, ma'am. You here looking for Sasuke?"

"That's right," Mikoto answered, smiling as she addressed the teacher. "Would you happen to know where he ran off to after class ended?"

Iruka put his hand to chin as he pondered the question. "Let's see. Well, if I had to guess, I'd say that went out into the woods behind the Academy with Naruto."

"The woods?" Mikoto asked, confused. "Why would they be back there?"

"There's a small clearing back there that's Naruto's turned into his hidden training area," Iruka explained. "He's been spending most of his afternoons there for, I'd say a couple of years now. I guess Sasuke must have started joining him at some point."

"I see," Mikoto replied. "Thank you," she added as she started walking towards the rear exit of the Academy.

Leaving the school building behind, she started walking through the woods. She wasn't sure where this make shift training ground was precisely, but given the fact that this was the hideaway of a pair of children she was sure that she could find by just walking straight ahead.

Her intuition proved to be correct, as the sounds of a boy's grunting echoed through the trees as the Uchiha matriarch made her way through the woods. Soon she caught sight of them, Naruto throwing shuriken at a target while Sasuke sat a small distance away, watching carefully.

For a brief moment she considered announcing her presence to the pair, but then thought of something better. Her decision to take over the post of Military Police Chief had effectively brought her out of retirement after several years of playing the good housewife. With that and the secret mission waiting in the wings, she needed to start acting and thinking like a ninja again. Sneaking up on pair of Academy students wasn't a significant test, but a small start was a start none the less.

Sneaking around just out of sight, she made her way along the edges of the little training area. Naruto was focused on his training, his attention solely on the makeshift targets that had been set up in the clearing. It was no great feat to escape his senses at this point, not that Mikoto was expecting anything more from an Academy student. She was a little more surprised in her son, however.

Perhaps it was an unfair double standard, considering that he was the same age as Naruto, but Mikoto was halfway surprised that Sasuke had not picked up on her presence. He had already proven himself to be a prodigy in much the same vein as his older brother, but it was clear that something was on the boy's mind, and that something involved Naruto given how Sasuke was watching the blonde.

Sneaking around until she was behind her son, she crept closer until she was practically hovering over him. Barely able to suppress a smile, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "what's on your mind, Sasuke?"

The younger Uchiha brother sat up straight, his eyes going wide with shock. To his credit, however, he did not yelp, scream, or yell in surprise.

"Mother?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Mikoto. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just happened to be passing by the Academy and decided to check up on how you were doing," she answered.

"I see," Sasuke answered, returning his gaze to Naruto, who remained oblivious to Mikoto's arrival.

"Let me ask you again," Mikoto said, putting a gentle hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, um," Sasuke began, trying to find the words. "It's Naruto. Something is up with him."

Mikoto watched the young blonde herself for a moment. Just like her previous encounters with the boy, she could see Kushina in him. The frustration within him, even without seeing his face she could see it in him, just by his movements as he trained. Minato never moved like that, everything came too easily to that prodigy for such a thing to ever make itself known.

"I understand," Mikoto said. "Listen, Sasuke. Naruto has gone through trying times recently, just like us. I'm sure he wants everything to be as it was, just like we wish that your father could be with us again. We can't make anything like that happen, but we can at least show him that not everything has changed."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Hm," Mikoto voiced as she stood up. "How about you watch me?" Turning her eyes to Naruto, she stepped past her son and walked out towards the young Uzamaki.

Her lips curled into a small smile as Mikoto put on her kind mother face, something that she would normally only show to Sasuke and Itachi. "Hi there, Naruto," she said in a soft voice.

"Huh?" the boy let out as he released a shuriken at one of the makeshift targets. "Oh, um, Mrs. Uchiha," he said, turning around to face Mikoto.

"How are you doing, Naruto?" the Uchiha matriarch asked.

"Oh, um, I'm fine," Naruto answered, smiling just little to wide for it to be genuine. "Yeah, I'm great!"

"Well, that's good to hear," Mikoto replied. "Since I'm here, is there anything you'd like to do? Maybe a favorite restaurant or store or anything that you'd like to visit?"

"Well," Naruto began, kicking at the dirt nervously. "There is this ramen place near the Academy that Iruka-sensei sometimes treats me to. It hasn't been open since...everything, but...yeah."

"I see," Mikoto commented. "Well then, how about we go and check to see if they're back in business yet?"

"Wait, really?!" Naruto asked, clearly surprised that an adult other than Iruka was offering this to him. "If they're open again, will you by me some ramen?!"

"Sure thing," Mikoto answered with a smile.

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled, marching off without even thinking of retrieving his training shuriken. "Ichi-ra-ku!" he started chanting, pumping his fists in the air with excitement.

Mikoto giggled at the sight before looking back over at her son. "Come on, Sasuke," she called out to him before going after Naruto.

"Hm?" Sasuke started, having spaced out with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yeah, sure," he answered her before getting up and following in her footsteps.