Hey, I'm back. Again, thank you for the reviews, and everything, and sorry for the delay. School and sports got crazy, then I briefly lost the ability to write, then the new Pokemon game came out, and I chose to play that instead of focusing on prepping for finals.
Anyways, here's another EPIC chapter for you guys, gals, and pals.
Fugaku shuffled through some documents at his desk, only half paying attention to them as his mind was still on the series of events that was this past week.
To Fugaku's knowledge, every Uchiha should have been capable of awakening the Mangekyo, they just needed a strong enough push, and survive long enough to reach that point. Needless to say, he had been surprised that an eleven year old boy was one of the only Uchiha alive to possess the Mangekyo.
He still wasn't happy with Itachi for telling his friend something that should have been hidden from most Uchiha, but given Shisui's potential, he could excuse it. The boy also seemed different from his other clan members, he had the Will of FIre, and appeared to be free of the Curse of Hatred that seemed to affect many of the other clan members.
Basically, Shisui was a golden goose, and Fugaku would be damned if he did not live up to his potential. Itachi was also coming along nicely from what Shisui had told him. He was already skilled enough to make Shadow Clones, when other kids his age couldn't even make a basic clone.
He could even excuse his skipping classes, since he had apparently been training with Shisui instead. Maybe I should recommend him for the graduation test now, he's already more than skilled enough.
Things were looking good for the Uchiha, Fugaku only wished he could say the same for the rest of the village. It seemed to be one thing after another. First, a sentient force of nature shows up and starts tearing the village apart, killing a large portion of their military strength. Then, the third and fourth Hokage were hit with a poison so potent that they had to be put under time stasis, which could only slow down the effects. Fugaku thought the village would catch a break after that one, but the search team wasn't back after a week in the field, and the other most recent Sannin-related occurrence was only adding to the list of strikes against the village.
Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin had deserted the village.
The village was already lacking in the quantity department of manpower, but now its quality was taking a nosedive. Danzo is dead, Hiruzen and Minato are in a coma, Tsunade and Jiraiya are seemingly non-existent these days, and now Orochimaru has left the village.
Granted, Fugaku didn't expect Orochimaru to be part of the village for much longer. The rumors on his behavior were already widespread, and Hiruzen no longer had the authority to curtail any investigations by the Uchiha into Orochimaru's actions. Honestly, if the village wasn't so desperate for manpower right now, Fugaku was certain that Minato would have killed the snake.
But now there was an S-Class shinobi, who enjoyed kidnapping and experimenting on various people, on the loose. The only consolation was that he was officially a missing-nin, meaning that he was no longer Fugaku's responsibility, he was the Anbu's and Minato's, when he woke up.
Fugaku continued rifling through the papers on his desk, making a mental note to check in on the case involving the disappearance of a newly promoted Chunin, Anko Mitarashi. The disappearance of a single Chunin normally wouldn't warrant his attention, but her connection to Orochimaru warranted at least that much.
His office was dyed in a warm orange, from the setting sun, by the time Fugaku was done getting through the entirety of his paperwork. He stood up from his chair, groaning as his back and knees were moved for the first time in hours. Their cracks were deafening.
Ever since Fugaku agreed to Shikaku's request to step up security in the village, the amount of paperwork he had been receiving was slowly increasing. Which made no sense since Fugaku never asked his men to do anything different. So, why did I have to approve the catering budget for next year's Jonin Banquet?
The answer came to Fugaku less than a second later.
That bastard!
Fugaku stormed out of his office, and through the rest of his building with a very real desire to commit arson on a certain deer infested forest. He was only stopped by the appearance of a dog-masked Anbu with silver hair. Fugaku recognized him, even behind the mask.
"The team's back," Kakashi said. Despite the supposedly good news, he sounded despondent.
Fugaku was about to reply, but Kakashi was already bounding across rooftops. He easily caught up, but didn't bother starting a conversation, it was clear that Kakashi wasn't in the mood. If there was anything worth knowing, Fugaku was sure he'd learn it when he got there.
The pair arrived in record time, reaching a nondescript door, with its only unique characteristic being the two Anbu flanking it. Kakashi went forward, and whispered something to the two guards. The pair nodded before taking out two slips of paper, and handing them to Kakashi, who handed one to Fugaku upon rejoining him.
Fugaku briefly inspected the paper, taking note of the seal sequence that he did not have the slightest chance of comprehending. Kakashi went forward, beckoning Fugaku to follow him as one of the Anbu opened the door. Fugaku followed, and upon crossing the doorframe, he felt the all too familiar feeling of space warping around him.
Instead of a hospital room, Fugaku found himself in a dimly lit room that reminded him of the bunkers that were built during the Second Shinobi War. It had no unique features save for the lanterns on the walls, a closed door, and the levitating bodies in the middle of the room. Fugaku activated his Sharingan, and approached the two men, taking note of the cloud of chakra surrounding them. Of course they wouldn't keep the Hokage in the hospital.
"Careful, if you get too close, you might destabilize the seal," a woman's voice warned.
Fugaku immediately backed up, coughing into his fist as he glanced towards the red-headed woman walking through the doorway.
"I knew that seals had a wide range of applications, but I never would have imagined that you could stop time with them," Fugaku commented as he analyzed the tiny inscriptions surrounding the men, from a safe distance.
"Slowing down time, actually. Stopping time for this period of well… time would take an insane amount of chakra." Kushina commented while rolling through hand seals before slapping her hands on the floor. A glowing array of unreadable characters snaked from her hands to the main array surrounding the men, causing it to also briefly glow.
Kushina sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "But it's not like this doesn't take a lot of chakra either."
Thanks to his Sharingan, Fugaku could see how much of Kushina's chakra had just gone into the seal, and it had him sweating. If I was in her position, I would have used up a third of my reserves just from that. How often does she need to do that?
"There's a lounge down the hallway, feel free to relax there. Tsunade won't have the antidote ready for another few hours."
Fugaku hummed in response, but didn't move. "There's something else, isn't there?"
Kushina sighed. "Yeah, Obito got to Tsunade right before the team did. She's obviously okay, but I don't think Obito's going to give up just because she's in the village, so be prepared for a fight."
It was Fugaku's turn to sigh as he felt his body instinctively prepare itself for battle. "I don't know if I can beat him on my own, so you'll be on a timer if he does show up."
"Who said you'll be on your own? I've been wanting to knock some sense into that little shit ever since he was a genin."
"Don't you need to be here to maintain the seal?"
"Well… yeah, but I can do both."
Fugaku wanted to argue, but chose not to, knowing that any argument with THE Kushina Uzumaki would lose before it even starts.
"Alright, I appreciate the help then," Fugaku said as he made his way to the door. "Call me if you need anything."
I actually rewrote this chapter 3 separate times, in one of those iterations, Orochimaru used the-