Her Face
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 7
A few days later, Sasuke wasn't entirely sure to be relieved or disturbed by the fact that his father was currently walking around the District with his mother and his hand was resting on her backside. Part of him was relived because clearly, it was in his best interest to encourage any sexual attraction between the two of them. His inner child was mildly repulsed though. (No one really wanted to think about their parents in such a manner.)
"This is going to take some getting used to." He mutters under his breath.
"Oh I know. Those two have been dancing around each other for years. I can't believe they finally made it official." Kenji observes and Sasuke almost jumps three feet into the air.
His grandfather was one sneaky ninja. Honestly, he had to be an ANBU at some point. There was no other logical explanation. He could move so silently and mask his chakra so well, that you never knew that Kenji Uchiha was there until he spoke.
"You really have to stop sneaking up on people like that." Sasuke grumbles.
"Well where would be the fun in that? It's amusing to watch everyone's reactions. That and this way you won't get lonely. I am very sorry about your parents. Coming home and finding out that they had both been killed on missions while you were away, must be terribly heartbreaking." He whispers as he places his hand on Sasuke's shoulder sympathetically.
Well that was one mystery solved. The raven haired Uchiha had been wondering why his parents had never greeted him upon his return. It had been something of a relief.
Mikoto might not realize that he wasn't Daisuke, but Daisuke's parents probably would. Thankfully, Kenji hadn't mentioned any brothers or sisters. That meant that he didn't have an immediate family to worry about. Good.
"Yes, I'm still trying my best to move on. It's difficult though. I suppose that I shouldn't be too shocked. Being a ninja is a dangerous occupation. Unfortunately, these things happen more often than not." He says with a practiced wistful sigh.
Kenji nods sympathetically and Sasuke mentally breathes a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he had managed to fool his grandfather.
He felt a little guilty about that. Kenji was clearly a nice man, but it had to be done. Sasuke couldn't exactly tell him the truth. Kenji would think he was completely insane.
"So how are things going with you and that Inuzuka girl that you were dancing with the other day?" The elderly Uchiha asks with a mischievous grin.
"They aren't. It was just a dance. She's not really my type. Bit too aggressive for my tastes. She wanted to lead, so I let her." Sasuke says with a shrug.
"Oh well that's a shame. It would have been nice if you had found someone. That and it wouldn't hurt for us to branch out a bit. We could stand to make some alliances with the other Clans." Kenji reasons.
Sasuke blinks. It was already starting. The seeds were there. Kenji wanted them to make alliances with other Clans. Likely because he knew how the rest of the village felt about their family.
At least with the other Bloodline Clans, there was a degree of similarity. They all understood how important it was to protect an bloodline. It was both a blessing and a curse that far too often resulted in your family becoming at least somewhat isolationist.
"Maybe. I really think we should try to reach out to other Leaf Villagers though. It's not healthy to keep to ourselves this much." Sasuke says.
"If you're worried about the bloodline becoming too thin, I can assure you that we always take great pains to make sure that marriages are between those who are distantly related enough that it isn't an issue and occasionally we do take in an outsider." He promises him.
That was good to know. Unfortunately, that was the least of his concerns. He had to figure out a way to keep them all from getting killed. Sadly, that was easier said than done.
He had an idea now. Sasuke was almost positive that preventing Obito from going rogue would save hundreds of lives and prevent a ninja war. He just had to devise a way to do that.
"I'm glad to hear that, but that isn't what I was referring to." Sasuke says as he watches his parents head towards one of the shops in the Uchiha District.
"What where you referring to then?" Kenji asks in confusion.
"Our Clan is too far removed from the rest of the village. That means the other Leaf Villagers don't really know us. People fear what they don't know. Frightened people act very stupidly." Sasuke reasons.
He smiles as he saw his father open the door for Mikoto. It was a sweet gesture. At the least, he knew that Itachi was still going to exist in this timeline. That was a start.
"You have reason to believe that the other villagers are going to attack us?" Kenji demands in outrage.
"Nothing concrete. It's more a bad feeling and logical deduction than anything. I believe that we can prevent such a thing. All we have to do is attempt to reintegrate with the rest of the village. We can still live here, but we need to socialize with those outside our Clan more." He replies.
Kenji raises an eyebrow. Well that certainly explained why Daisuke had chosen to dance with an Inuzuka. It hadn't been because he was attracted to her or a fluke decision, but a strategic one.
He didn't know whether to be proud or disturbed that the teenager was that worried about their Clan's future. Of course, Kenji was an experienced ninja. He was well aware that age truly meant little in the grand scheme of things.
"Perhaps there is some merit to what you say. You should speak with Fugaku about this." Kenji suggests.
"I would, but I don't think that he particularly cares for me." Sasuke says with a sigh.
Really, it was heartbreaking. He finally had a chance to get to know his father and Fugaku was suspicious of him. The man had good reasons to be suspicious of Sasuke, but that didn't change the fact that it was hurtful.
"Fugaku is a good man. It just takes him awhile to open up to people. It's likely nothing that you did and highly doubt that it's personal." The elderly ninja promises him.
"Maybe. Well at least he likes Mikoto." Sasuke says, sighing in relief.
"Oh yes. As I said, the two of them were dancing around each other for years. Personally, I think that it was the age gap that concerned him. He saw combat in the previous war that Mikoto didn't. Saw his best friend killed right next to him on the field. He was never entirely the same after that." His grandfather observes.
Sasuke blinks. No one had ever told him that. Though he really should have guessed it. Fugaku had been of combat age during one of the Great Ninja Wars.
"Well I'm glad that they finally acted on their attraction and that's a shame about his friend. You really think that's why he waited so long? He was worried about his hands being too bloody?" Sasuke asks as he tries to wrap his head around that idea.
"Yes, I believe that's the reason." Kenji confirms.
Meanwhile in the present, Hinata gasps. It had only lasted for a second or two, but for a moment she saw something incredible. The Uchiha District was standing once more.
"Hinata, what's wrong?" Sakura asks anxiously.
It really wasn't like the other girl to react in such a way. Something very strange must be going on. She hadn't seen anything of concern though.
"It flickered. The Uchiha District flickered. One minute it was mostly rubble and the next it was fully constructed. It didn't last though. It's rubble again." Hinata observes in a terrified voice.
Sakura frowns. Normally, she would have accused the Hyuga Heiress of working too hard. Such a fantastic tale, seemed the stuff of at best fantasy and at worst insanity.
Tragically, the pink haired woman knew better. Anything was possible now that Sasuke had traveled back in time. That thought frightened her. It frightened her far more than she ever wanted to admit out loud.
"It's happening. The timeline is already changing. Quick, we need to write down everything we can about our memories of this timeline. I don't know, if we'll remember anything when it resets!" The medic exclaims.
"Good idea. We should probably find Naruto as well!" Hinata agrees as the two of them race off to do exactly that.
It didn't take them long to find their friend. Naruto was Naruto. He was at the Ramen Shop. He really was that predictable.
Hinata still didn't really understand what was so wonderful about ramen. She liked it well enough, but Naruto could probably eat his weight in it. The Hyuga Heiress just couldn't imagine liking any food that much. She had favorite foods of course, but her enjoyment of them pale in comparison to the blonde's love of ramen.
"Hey, guys! What's up?" Naruto asks as he slurps his ramen.
"Naruto, pay for your food. Take it with you, if you have to. We have to go. We need to talk to you in private. It's about the tablets." Sakura whispers to him.
Naruto's eyes widen. He knew what that meant. It was shorthand for the Uchiha Stone Tablets. Which in return was just a roundabout way of talking about Sasuke's time traveling adventure.
"I got it!" The blue eyed ninja says with a nod.
He quickly pays for his food and heads off with his friend. This was bad. He just knew it. The young man had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and he had long ago learned to trust his instincts. (They were usually right.)
"What happened?" Naruto demands, once they were alone and in Sakura's home.
"I saw a flickering. The Uchiha District. One minute it was normal and the next it was fully rebuild. It was gone almost as fast as I noticed it though. I think the timeline is resetting itself." Hinata stammers out.
Naruto gulps. That sounded bad. That sounded really bad actually. The timeline was being altered and they didn't even know how exactly.
"Well that's a good thing, right? If the Uchiha District was rebuilt, that means that the Massacre never happened." Naruto reasons.
"It might mean that it never happened or at least the possibility has decreased. We really don't know." The Hyuga Heiress replies.
Naruto frowns. That much was true. There was no way of telling what was happening back in the past. That was what was so damn frustrating.
"That bastard! None of us can go and help him! We don't have the Rinnegan! So we're stuck here waiting and we can't do anything!" The Leaf Ninja growls.
Sakura sighs. That was accurate. It was also very much like Sasuke. It was as if the last Uchiha was just simply in capable of asking for help.
"That's true, but we have more important things to worry about than grumbling about him! We need to write down our memories. We need to write down as many as we can. We might not remember what happened before the timeline was changed." Sakura warns Naruto.
He blinks. That was a good point. What if they just completely forgot about this timeline?
"Yeah. You're right. Let's get started." Naruto says as he sits down on the couch.
"I'll grab some paper and pens to write with." Sakura says and with that, she darted further into her house.
Hinata watches as their friend swiftly departed to grab what they would need. A growing feeling of unease was settling in the pit of her stomach. They really didn't have any idea what was going to happen.
The not knowing was the worst part. If they knew, they could plan. They didn't though and all they could do was prepare for the inevitable collision of the timelines in the best way they knew how. Recording their memories on paper.
Back in the past, Fugaku smiles as he bought Mikoto some candy. That was probably the stupidest thing he had ever done in his entire existence. She got a lollipop.
Their relationship was entirely too new for such a test of will. Never again! Fugaku Uchiha was never going to get her another!
"You sure that you don't want one?" Mikoto asks innocently.
"I'm sure. I'm sure." He assures her rather quickly.
Mikoto tilts her head to the side. He was acting a bit strangely now. She shakes her head and decides that it was likely just nerves. They had just started courting, after all.
"You don't need to be so nervous. We've known each other for years." She reasons.
"Good point. Yes, exactly." Fugaku Uchiha agrees with his future wife.
Thank goodness that she didn't realize the sheer sensual torture that she was subjecting him to. He was never live it down. He knew that much.
"Well l think that you're right. I should probably try to get to know Daisuke." He says.
"Oh. Alright. Well I'm glad that you've decided to give him a chance. I'll see you tomorrow then?" She asks as she kisses his cheek.
"I look forward to it." Fugaku promised her, before departing.
Mikoto shakes her head. She didn't really understand why he had left so suddenly, but maybe he was just shy. That wasn't an adjective that she would have ever associated with him before, but anything was possible.
Fugaku sighs as he heads off to find Daisuke. Now that he had said that to Mikoto, he was morally obligated to seek the other man out. That and if he didn't, he knew that Mikoto would find out.
"Daisuke, do you have a few minutes?" Fugaku asks.
That's when he notices that Daisuke was speaking with his father. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Now his father was likely going to make a bigger deal out of this than was necessary.
"Yes, of course. Do you mind, Kenji?" Sasuke inquires.
"Oh no. Of course not. Don't worry about it. I'm sure that you two have plenty to talk about and I might browse some of the shops. Maybe, I'll find something nice for Aiya." He says with a grin as he heads off.
"He's quite the character." "Daisuke" observes in amusement.
Fugaku couldn't argue with that. His father was one of a kind. He was quite positive that there would never be another person quite like him and that was probably a good thing.
Kenji Uchiha was a wonderful man. Truly. He was, but Fugaku didn't believe that the world could handle two of him.
"Yes, that much is most certainly true." He concedes in the interests of accuracy.
He had a twin, but Fugaku didn't really count that. There were never two brothers who were more different than each other. They were identical in looks only. It was easy to tell them apart as soon as one of them opened their mouth.
"What did you want to talk about?" Sasuke asks.
Fugaku sighs once more and drags Sasuke back to his apartment. He was certainly not going to have this conversation in public. He wasn't entirely certain what was going to happen, but he knew that he didn't want anyone else to overhear their discussion.
"This is my home. I promised Mikoto that I would speak with you and that's exactly what I'm going to do." He says.
"Well you just spoke to me. So you kept your promise. If you like, I can go now and we can just pretend we had a heart to heart?" Sasuke suggests.
"As tempting as that offer is, I can not accept it. Mikoto would know. Believe me, that woman would know. I think that you know that I have my suspicions about you." He states bluntly.
Sasuke did know that. He just wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this. He had to think of something and quickly.
"Yes, I'm aware that you don't particularly care for me." Sasuke mutters.
His mother had once told him that he was all his father talked about when they were alone. As a child, he had believed that and been happy. Now, he was pretty sure that Mikoto had just made that up to make him feel better.
"It's not about liking or disliking you. It is about the fact that I know that there is more to you than meets the eye. You were barely a Chunin and got assigned some top secret mission that lasted for years. When you came back, you were AT LEAST at Jonin level. Sometimes you stare at our kin as if they were ghosts. I want to know what is really going on." The Uchiha Patriarch continues.
Well Sasuke couldn't deny that Fugaku was likely being honest in his assessment. Brutally honest, really. He certainly didn't like that he had to decieve his father, but it was necessary.
"You don't think that I would have gotten stronger while I was away? That my training wouldn't have improved my skill level?" Sasuke asks.
"Training can help, but most people do not improve to that degree in such a relatively short time period. If you had been gone ten years, I might believe it. You weren't gone nearly long enough. That and the way you look at all of us. I want the truth and I want it now." He states.
Damn it. What was he going to do now? His father wasn't going to stop until he got some sort of answer.
"Fugaku, I'm asking you to just leave it. Have I actually done anything wrong?" He demands.
"Not to my knowledge, but that doesn't mean that you haven't." Fugaku says as he charges at Sasuke and slams him against the wall.
That was it! If he had to play rough to save his Clan, he would. It was a pity really. He had always wanted to really train with his father, beyond the traditional Fireball Jutsu. Unfortunately, this wasn't working out in the way that he had envisioned.
"You sure you want to pick this fight?" Sasuke demands as he activates his Mangekyo Sharingan.
He was grateful when he realized that it was still functional in this era. His Rinnegan was gone, but he could make due with an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
"You have the Mangekyo?" Fugaku asks in a whisper.
The Sharingan was impressive enough. This was even more so. Daisuke wasn't even twenty and he possessed one of the most developed Shairngans in their entire Clan.
"Yes, I do. Now let go of me. You don't want to fight with me. The others will notice, if we clash." Sasuke hisses at him.
"I don't want to fight you, but I will. You're going to tell me the truth." Fugaku says as he activates his own Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Sasuke sighed as he clashed with his father. Soon they were on the floor. The two of them were exchanging kicks, punches, and even biting. They were too furious to even bother with jutsus. It was just a straight out animalistic battle for dominance.
At the end of the day though, Sasuke knew that Fugaku was his father. He couldn't seriously injure him. The other Uchiha didn't have that same handicap. Sasuke held back just a little bit and the Patriarch takes advantage of that fact.
"You're going to tell me now or I'll slit your throat. I'll say you attacked me." Fugaku warns him.
"You won't do it." Sasuke says as he spits out a bit of blood.
His father had a vicious left hook. It was impressive really. He definitely favored Taijutsu.
"Don't think that because you possess Uchiha blood, that I won't do it. I'd do it to protect our Clan as a whole." Fugaku says as he places the kunai against his throat.
"Would you really kill your own son?" Sasuke demands.
"What the Hell are you talking about?! You're 17. I'm 25. You are far too old to be any child of mine!" Fugaku retorts as he holds the kunai against his throat tighter.
It unnerved him, but he felt like he had been kicked in the gut. There was a certain truth to his words, despite how unbelievable they were. How was that even possible? He wouldn't have even been ten when Daisuke was conceived.
"If you want a DNA test, I can prove it. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to alter the timeline in unforeseen ways, but you kept pushing. Mother is right. You're stubborn." Sasuke mutters.
Timeline. If Daisuke really had come back in time, that would explain their ages. How though? How was such a thing possible?!
"How did you do it and why are you here?!" He demands.
"The Uchiha Stone Tablets. They can only be deciphered fully by a Rinnegan. I had one in the future, I don't have it in the past though. It wasn't easy. As for why I'm here, I'm here to make sure that something bad doesn't happen and you're just going to have to trust me." He retorts.
Fugaku didn't like the sound of that. Daisuke was going to alter the timeline. It sounded like he was going to alter it in a significant fashion at that.
"I hope you understand why that answer is unsettling to me." He mutters.
"I understand perfectly, but there's no other way." He says.
"That does explain a great deal though. That's why you have her face. You're our son. You look just like her." He observes as he stares at Daisuke with new eyes.
His contribution was far more subtle than Mikoto's. It was there though. Little things. His ears, the structure of his jaw, and even his build to a degree.
"You were holding back at the exams." He states bluntly.
"Yes, I was. That doesn't matter now. You can't tell anyone. Not even mother." He says.
Fugaku stares at the man who would become his son. In a way, he was relieved. He know knew that he would sire at least one child with Mikoto. A healthy and gifted child at that, even if he was extremely reckless.
"We're dead in the future. Neither of us would have ever allowed you to do such a thing." Fugaku observes with a whisper.
Sasuke winces. He didn't want to tell his father that. He could tell that the other man knew though. His reaction had said it all.
"Yes, but not for awhile. Not ever, if I can fix things." He says.
"You're quite clever to have pulled off this ruse for as long as you did, but you're also reckless. It's a wonder that you ever made it to this age." Fugaku observes with a chuckle.
"There's some truth to that. Itachi always did call me his foolish little brother." Sasuke says with a laugh.
Fugaku blinks. Itachi? Foolish little brother. Make that at least two sons. At least the other was observant enough to realize Sasuke was reckless.
"I shouldn't have said that." Sasuke whispers as he realizes his mistake just a moment too late.