Her Face
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: I don't believe that it was ever stated what the name of Sasuke's and Itachi's paternal grandfather was. So I've always just called him Kenji. If anyone knows his real name, please feel free to let me know.
Chapter 5
A few days later and Sasuke felt like a child again. He really wanted his mother. He wanted her a lot right now. He shouldn't have to face this alone. No one should.
"So you're Mikoto's cousin? Well you're pretty handsome. Where have you been all these years?! Oh you're wearing the Military Police Force uniform! Did you join them? Well you must have. Otherwise, it wouldn't make much sense for you to wear it. Do you like being a member of the Police Force? I'm Kushina, by the way. I'm friends with Mikoto." The red head explains all in one breath.
Sasuke blinks. She was worse than Naruto. He didn't think that such a thing was possible, but there was someone who babbled more than Naruto Uzumaki and that someone was his mother.
Sasuke knew that he had done a lot of horrible things in his life, but he didn't think that he deserved his. It was a verbal Lion's Barrage or something. Honestly, didn't the woman ever need to breath? How did she get so many questions out in one breath? It was a bit unnerving, really.
"Yes, I'm Mikoto's cousin and thank you. I've just come back from a long-term mission and joined the Military Police Force. So far, I like it. I'm Daisuke and it's nice to meet you, Kushina." He answers.
He figured that it was best to be thorough. Sasuke was almost certain that Kushina was like Naruto in another key respect. She'd never give up until she got the answers that she wanted.
"Ah welcome back. It's very nice to meet you. You're a lot more talkative than Fugaku!" She says brightly.
"I don't believe in wasting time on unnecessary words." Sasuke hears a familiar voice say.
Alright. He had been hoping that his mother would save him. Sasuke wasn't picky though. If his father could get him away from the chatty red head, he could work with that.
"Pft! You're so mean!" Kushina grumbles.
"Don't mind her, Daisuke. I think that it's a law of nature that red heads are supposed to be hyper." He offers.
"You've clearly never met Gaara then." Sasuke muses and Fugaku tilts his head to the side in confusion.
Damn it. Sasuke regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Of course, his father had never met Gaara. The red head hadn't been born yet.
Gaara was many things, but hyper wasn't one of them. Unfortunately, that didn't really matter at the moment. Sasuke knew that he was going to have to make something up and fast.
"Who is Gaara?" He asks curiously.
"While I was on my mission, I traveled far and wide. I met a lot of people. One of them was a red head named Gaara." The younger Uchiha explains.
"I see. Is this Gaara a friend of yours? Do you think it's likely that he'll be visiting the Leaf soon?" The Head of the Uchiha Clan inquires.
"Well not exactly. He might come to the Leaf, but it wouldn't be for a very long time. He lives far away." The raven haired man answers honestly, but vaguely.
Fugaku nods and Sasuke mentally sighs in relief. Thank goodness. The elder Uchiha was certainly not the type to pry.
"Well if he does come to the Leaf, we'll be sure to greet him properly. I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Kenji has called off today. It seems an old war injury is bothering him. We are short an officer. I'd like you to fill in for him." He states.
Sasuke could scarcely believe his ear. Fugaku wanted him to go on patrol with him? His younger self would have been jumping up and down with giddiness. As an adult, he didn't know what to feel.
He was happy because he'd finally have a chance to get to know his father better. Sasuke was certainly proud that his Clan played such an important role in the Leaf's safety, but he also knew the truth.
"I'd love to. I've never done a shift on the Force before though." Sasuke replies.
The Military Force had played a major role in his Clan's downfall. The raven haired ninja wasn't entirely certain if Tobirama had intended for the Military Police Force to do so or not, but it didn't matter. The Uchihas were policing other ninjas. It was only natural that would breed resentment.
Sasuke decides to speak to the Third about this later. Sarutobi struck him as a good man. He just hadn't acted quickly enough to prevent a tragedy. Sasuke privately vows to himself that this time, things would be different. There would be no Uchiha Massacre in the altered timeline.
"That's alright. The Hokage entrusted you with a long-term mission. I assume that means that you are a competent ninja. You'll likely catch on quickly." Fugaku says as he gestures for Sasuke to follow him.
""Good luck!" Kushina calls out to the departing Uchihas.
"Thank you." Sasuke says with a smile as he darts off after his father.
Fugaku shakes his head in amusement. Kushina was Kushina. Truthfully, he had no idea how Minato kept up with the feisty red head. He certainly didn't have the patience.
"You're welcome, by the way." The elder Uchiha says.
"Wait. Did you just make that up? Aren't we going to do a patrol for the Military Police Force?" The time traveler asks.
Fugaku chuckles. He looked so positively scandalized. Perhaps he was overanalyzing things. It was possible that Daisuke was just a promising, young ninja who had been giving a long term mission. Maybe there was really nothing sinister going on.
His reaction was certainly that of an innocent "child." Well a child by ninja standards. It was as if he couldn't believe that Fugaku had "lied" about police work.
"We aren't going on a patrol together. I'm not that foolish. One must undergo training, before being allowed to go on patrol. We don't let just anyone police the Leaf. Our Clan has a reputation to protect, after all." He explains as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh. Well that makes sense." Sasuke says, suddenly feeling rather silly.
Of course. It was only natural that there would be some kind of training to be an Officer. His Clan would have been foolish not to mandate some sort of training.
The Uchihas were policing other Leaf Ninjas. The other ninjas would never have consented to be policed by amateurs. It was only natural that the Uchihas would come up with some sort of standards to assure their fellow Leaf Villagers that the Uchihas knew what they were doing.
"We are going to take you to begin your training though. So I didn't TECHNICALLY lie to Kushina. You are going to go on patrols and Kenji's war injury is bother him. Eventually, you will fill in for him. I just didn't say when." Fugaku says smugly.
Sasuke couldn't help, but laugh. It was like his father thought that he had gotten away with stealing a cookie from the cookie jar or something. He'd never known Fugaku Uchiha to be this sneaky before.
"True. Alright. Let's go." He says with a smile.
Meanwhile Mikoto shakes her head and rubs Kenji's shoulders. Fugaku's father was far more playful than Fugaku, but he was just as stubborn. Honestly, the man should retire from active duty.
"You should go and see a proper medic. There is only so much that my shoulder rubs can do for you. That and you should ask the Hokage about a reassignment. There is always paperwork that needs doing at the Military Police Force or you could become an Academy Instructor." She suggests.
Kenji shakes his head. No. He wasn't going to become some paper pusher! His shoulder would be fine.
"You severely underestimate the power of your shoulder rubs! That and I'm no paper pusher. I think we both know that." The Uchiha Patriarch replies.
"Perhaps I was wrong about you and paperwork. You would still make a marvelous instructor. The children would benefit enormously from your instruction. That and my shoulder rubs are no substitute for real treatment. Kenji, you should get your shoulders looked at." The dark haired beauty replies in concern.
The elderly Uchiha sighs. He hated to admit it, but Mikoto might have a point. Maybe being an Academy Instructor wouldn't be too bad. He did like children.
"I'll speak with Lord Hokage about the matter. We'll see what he has to say. That and there may be some merit to your suggestion. There are few things in life that can bring one greater joy than children, particularly grandchildren." He says with a cheeky smile.
Mikoto feels her face burn with embarrassment. Damn Kenji Uchiha. The man was unbelievable sometimes and about as subtle as a kunai to the head.
"Good. I'm glad that you're going to speak to Sarutobi about this. Really, this should have been done a long time ago. It's a rare ninja who is still on active duty by age forty. There's no shame in it." She points out.
Kenji chuckles. Mikoto was blushing. It was quite amusing to tease her. He loved his son dearly, but sometimes he just didn't understand Fugaku.
It was obvious that that he had a soft spot for Mikoto. Well perhaps obvious was a bit of a stretch. Most of the Uchiha Clan didn't realize it, but he knew his son.
Kenji was well aware that Fugaku adored the younger Uchiha. What he didn't understand was why his son wasn't acting on his feelings for the female ninja. Oh well. That just meant that it fell to him to play the role of matchmaker. Truthfully, it was something that he enjoyed doing anyway.
"I suppose there's no shame in it. I know that I should be grateful to have made it this far. There are many talented ninjas who never live to see their thirtieth birthday." Kenji says with a sigh.
"That's right." Mikoto says, clearly pleased that he was finally listening to her sensible advice.
"And it would be nice to live long enough to get to know my grandchildren." He continues.
Mikoto shakes her head in amusement. Well Kenji was Kenji. The man could be quite outrageous sometimes!
"Yes, I'm certain that it would. You, my friend, are not very subtle." She grumbles.
"I feel that subtly just wastes time at my age. If it isn't for the sake of a mission, I don't want to throw away what precious time that I have left." The elder Uchiha says with a shrug.
"You're not that old. You're only fifty." Mikoto reminds him.
Kenji chuckles. Well the woman was asking for this one. The dark haired beauty had certainly walked straight into it.
"I'm only fifty, but I'm too old for combat duty. Do you not see how you have just contradicted yourself, my dear?" Kenji asks slyly and Mikoto just rolls her eyes in response.
"You're impossible!" The Uchiha woman snaps at him.
"Yes, I've been told that more than once or twice in my life. Now speaking about those grandchildren, I don't really care what gender they are. Names are very important though." He says.
Mikoto shakes her head. Only Kenji. There were times when she wondered if Fugaku shouldn't ask for a paternity test. If the two men didn't look so much alike, she would never have believed that they were related.
"Yes, names are important. When Fugaku gets married, you should tell his wife that." She says.
"I'm telling her in advance." He says cheekily and Mikoto just rolls her eyes playfully as she heads off.
Back in the present, Naruto groans. Oh Sakura was not going to like this. His other teammate was going to flip.
"Naruto, I want to know. Where is Sasuke?! I know that you know! You have guilty written all over your face! Tell me what is going on!" She demands.
"It's a long story. He'll be back though. I think. Well I hope. It was for a good reason this time!" The blonde stammers.
Sakura blinks. She didn't like the sound of that. The he'll be back thing, implied that Sasuke had left. He had left them AGAIN!
Not again! This couldn't be happening again! Why couldn't Sasuke just stay in the Leaf and be happy?! He kept leaving! Over and over!
"Where did he go and why? Did he say when he'll be back?" She asks.
"Um yeah. That's the long story. We should really go somewhere private, if you wanna talk about this stuff. Maybe my place?" The bubbly blonde suggests.
Sakura sighs. Whatever this was, it had to be bad. If Naruto thought the situation called for subtly, that was not a good sign. That was the opposite of a good sign, really.
"Alright. Let's go to your place." She says as she teleports off with Naruto, away from the hospital.
Naruto had a physical scheduled that day. That's how Sakura had finally cornered him. She was almost positive that her friend had been avoiding her for awhile before that. Now she knew that she wasn't imagining things.
"Here we are. Well you know how Sasuke has the Rinnegan now, right?" He asks cautiously.
"Yes, I'm aware that he has the Rinnegan. What does that have to do with anything though?" Sakura demands.
"Well it let him read the Uchiha Stone Tablets completely. Apparently, he found some interesting stuff there." Her friend continues.
Sakura blinks. She wasn't sure what Naruto meant by interesting, but she doubted it was anything good. This was Sasuke, after all.
"Interesting how?" The medic replies anxiously.
"There was a Time Traveling Jutsu. Sasuke left me a note. I really don't know what's going to happen to him there. It's possible that he might completely reset the future. We can't go after him this time. Neither of us has the Rinnegan or access to someone else, who does." Naruto says mournfully.
This couldn't be happening. Sasuke was going back in time and they couldn't follow him? That meant that they had no idea what was going to happen.
"Did he say WHEN he was going back in time?" She whispers.
"I assume he's going to try to stop the Massacre. There are a billion ways that he could try to do that and without the Massacre, lots of stuff is going to change. I don't know if we'll ever seen him again. I don't know, if he can get back here. I don't know, if we'll remember him." The blue eyed ninja says.
Sakura's eyes widen in horror. Could that really be true? Did Sasuke actually manage to time travel?
"How do we know that he was successful? Nothing is any different than before." She whispers.
"Well I didn't find any body. I think that he managed to go somewhere. I just don't know, if he got to where he wanted to go." The blonde answers.
Elsewhere, Sasuke was back in the Konoha Military Police Force's building. His father was having him tested. Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, chakra control, stamina, and an I.Q. tests were all on the menu.
Sasuke knew that his father was just being smart. Fugaku wanted to know what the latest recruit was capable of. Unfortunately, that meant he had to decide exactly how much to show off.
"The I.Q. Test is pretty self-explanatory." Fugaku says.
"Yeah. Alright. I guess I'll get started on it." Sasuke says with a forced smile.
He hoped that the Uchiha Patriarch didn't realize it was forced though. Sighing, he decides that he could be "honest" at least on the intelligence test. That wouldn't give too much away, would it?
The Uchiha Clan had produced its fair share of prodigies. While most of them couldn't compete with Shikamaru in book knowledge, they were skilled tacticians and gifted academically. He could show off his true intelligence and hopefully, he wouldn't raise Fugaku's suspicions further.
"Good. You have one hour." Fugaku says as he leaves Daisuke alone in the exam room.
He had made sure that Daisuke couldn't get in or out of it for an hour. The same applied to everyone else. He wasn't going to allow anyone to interrupt his test, Daisuke to cheat, or for anyone to help him.
"Fugaku, your father is impossible." He hears someone say from behind him.
He mentally sighs. He would recognize that voice anywhere. It was Mikoto. Honestly, how was he supposed to get any work done when that woman kept sauntering into the station?
It wasn't fair. Fugaku liked to think of himself as someone who wasn't easily distracted, but damn it. That was a nice saunter. He couldn't help but wonder, if Mikoto was aware of that fact.
"What did my father, do this time?" He asks in amusement.
"Oh it's more like what hasn't he done. You know how Kenji Uchiha is." Mikoto observes with a quiet giggle.
Fugaku nods. He loved his father. He really did, but the man could be more than a little outrageous.
"Indeed. Was there something specifically that was vexing you?" The Uchiha Patriarch inquires.
"Oh. I was trying to tell him that he should retire from active combat duty. In particular, I think he would make a fine Academy Instructor. Of course, he's being stubborn. Is someone in the exam room?" Mikoto asks.
"That would be a good position for him. My father does love children and you're right. He is getting a bit old to be an active duty combat ninja. Yes, someone is in the exam room. They'll be out in a little under an hour. It's just an I.Q. Test." Fugaku assures her.
He knew that she didn't entirely agree with their training methods. An I.Q. Test shouldn't upset her too much though. Then again, this was Mikoto. She could be rather overprotective of her Clansmen and Clanswomen at times.
"Who is taking the test?" She asks.
"Daisuke. He's going to be entering the Police Force. I need to know what he's capable of and what he isn't capable of." He says bluntly.
Mikoto bites her lower lip. She knew that in this instance, Fugaku was just being a good Clan Head. He was just doing what he would do to anyone else who wanted to join the Force. It still felt wrong though.
"Fugaku, he's just a boy." She says.
"He's a Chunin. A Chunin who was gone for years on an important assignment. He's not a child, Mikoto." The other Uchiha insists.
"Maybe you're right. I just…don't know. There's something about him that makes me feel very protective of him. More protective than I should. I can't explain it." She whispers.
"Mikoto, you're a kind woman. You have always argued on behalf of children. I suppose that because he's been gone for so long, you still see him as a child. He's not a child though." Fugaku says gently.
She sighs and nods. Fugaku was right. Daisuke was clearly an adult. She wasn't sure why she couldn't think of him that way.
"Maybe, you're right. It has been a long time. The last time I saw him, he was barely more than a Genin. That's probably why I feel this way." She mutters, not sounding entirely convinced.
"Yes, that's probably why. Well was there anything else that you wished to speak about?" he asks.
"I fought dirty, earlier. I shouldn't have used your weakness against you like that." She says as she hands him a bag of something.
Fugaku raises an eyebrow and looks into the bag. Cupcakes. Pink cupcakes. He blinks in surprise.
"Yes, well I should have seen it coming. A ninja must expect the unexpected." He says.
"One of these days, I'm going to get you to relax for more than five minutes. Fugaku, you don't have to take everything so seriously." She tells him.
He sighs and shakes his head. Oh yes, he did. He was the leader of their Clan and the Military Police Force. Relations between the Uchiha Clan and the rest of the village were getting worse with each passing year. He was going to have to do something and soon. He just didn't know what.
"I'll hold you to that. So are you going to stay until we get his results?" He asks.
"I don't see why not. After all, I have to find out a way to help you relax for a few minutes. Your father is much more easy to deal with in that regard. All he needs is a shoulder rub." She says.
"If he wasn't deeply in love with my mother, I would accuse him of being a perverted old man." He mutters.
Mikoto laughs. Oh Kenji was as perverted old man. It was just that his affections were focused solely on his wife, Aiya. The two of them were practically inseparable, even to this day.
"Oh we all know the truth. He is, but only for your mother." She notes in amusement.
"That's very true. We should all be so lucky as to have a marriage like theirs. Though I have to wonder sometimes, how my mother didn't kill him off long before now." He mutters.
The dark haired beauty merely shakes her head in response. It wasn't as if that thought hadn't occurred to her more than once. Hell, it had probably occurred to Aiya.
Despite that though, it had to be true love. That was the only logical explanation for why Kenji Uchiha was still breathing. (Aiya could be quite feisty, when she wanted to be.)
"I can't disagree with that musing." She admits.
A little less than an hour later, Fugaku goes to check on Daisuke. He leets the other man out of the room and begins grading his results. Mikoto shakes her head as she watches Fugaku crane over the results with a frown marring his face.
"You must have done well." She tells him.
"What makes you think that?" Sasuke replies in confusion at his mother's observation.
"He was looking for an excuse not to put you on the Force. A bad result would have been sufficient." Mikoto says.
Sasuke sighs. His father was definitely a suspicious person by nature. What killed him is that Fugaku had every right to be.
"As much as it pains me to say this, the kid is a genius. Well your next assessment will be Taijutsu." Fugaku says with a sigh.
He hoped that the "kid" would perform poorly in at least one area. That would give him an excuse to delay putting him out in the field. He still wasn't sure what to make of Daisuke Uchiha and he didn't want to put an unknown variable on the Police Force. That could prove very dangerous.