Her Face
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: There is a Bachelor Party scene in this chapter. I put warnings up before and afterwards. I don't think anything too outrageous happened, but boys will be boys. If that's not your thing, you can easily skip the scene without it altering the plot.
Chapter 11
The next day, Mikoto smiles as she is surrounded by a large group of Uchiha women. Only moments before, she had made the mistake of leaving her apartment with the beautiful piece of jewelry still on her finger. One of her fellow Uchiha women had noticed it and the rest was history.
"He proposed?! I never would have thought him to be one for a whirlwind romance. You two haven't even been courting a year!" Amaya inquires.
Mikoto smiles and was about to respond to that, but she never got the chance. Amaya's innocent question suddenly triggers a barrage of questions from the other women. Some of their questions were innocent and others made even Mikoto blush.
"Are you pregnant?! Is that why he proposed so quickly?" Tanya inquires.
"Yes, he proposed. No, I'm not pregnant. Honestly, Tanya! I can't believe you would even ask me that. I'm a grown woman. I know how two take the proper precautions!" The dark beauty replies in outrage.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Mikoto knew the moment that the words left her mouth that she had just made a big mistake. She had basically told them that she was Fugaku's lover. The questions were never going to stop now!
"Ah ha! So you admit that there is the possibility that you could have gotten pregnant!" Tanya states.
Mikoto groans. She most certainly did not want to discuss her love life in the middle of the street with her fellow Clanswomen. Really, did they have no sense of decency?
Amaya was one thing. That fifteen year old Chunin was mostly still innocent. Her beautiful brown doe eyes and long midnight black hair came with an angel's face. Mikoto didn't mind her questions. On the other hand, Tanya was a completely different matter.
She was Amaya's older sister. Her curly dark brown hair reached to her shoulders and her onyx eyes were currently sparkling with mischief. Mikoto only had to take one look at her to know the truth. If she couldn't find a way to make a polite exit soon, her love life with Fugaku would be the talk of the Leaf Village by Sundown.
"Ladies, please excuse me. I'm afraid that I need to borrow Mikoto for a moment. The Hokage wishes to speak with her." Daisuke says as he walks over to them.
The women pout, but quickly depart. Mikoto sighs in relief. That had been a close one. Though it was a little embarrassing to be rescued by her own son, considering the direction that the conversation had been going in.
"Are they always like that?" Sasuke whispers as he begins to guide her out of the District.
"Well they love to gossip. Most women do, but this is a special occasion. Fugaku proposed to me." She says happily and with that declaration, Mikoto proceeds to show Daisuke her ring.
"Oh that much I knew. I guess they are just happy for you, but they were getting more than a little annoying." The other Uchiha mutters.
"Wait. How did you know that Fugaku had proposed to me?" Mikoto inquires, feigning surprise.
Of course he knew. This man wasn't her cousin. He was her son from the future. Mikoto wasn't sure how she didn't see it before. Fugaku was right. Daisuke certainly favored her when it came to looks.
"Kenji said that he saw Fugaku go into a jewelry shop. He put two and two together and told me when I went to visit him and Aiya." Daisuke replies.
That made sense. Mikoto didn't think that Daisuke was lying about that part, but now she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. He knew that they were engaged now because they were married in the future.
Now that she knew that Daisuke wasn't really Daisuke, all the pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place. Daisuke looked like her because he was her son. He smirked like Fugaku because he was his son. Daisuke was a ridiculously talented ninja likely because again, he was their child.
"Oh that makes sense. Did Lord Sarutobi say what he wanted?" She asks as they continue walking.
"He didn't want anything. I lied. They were going after you like a dog gnawing at a bone. It was annoying. I figured you'd be glad to get away from them. The only reason that I led you out of the District was so they wouldn't be able to tell that I was lying." Daisuke explains.
He was also clever and apparently, more than willing to engage in a little deception to get his way. That last part did worry her. Then again, Daisuke was a ninja. A ninja had to be familiar with deception. Both by using it and by seeing through it.
"You can be rather sneaky." She muses.
"I guess. Though I think that's a ninja trait in general. We wouldn't be very good at our jobs, if we were all open books." Daisuke says with a shrug.
Daisuke. That likely wasn't his real name. It was quite clever of him to choose a missing Uchiha as his fake name. He was also damn lucky that Daisuke had gone missing in the first place.
Mikoto couldn't help but wonder what he would have done, if that wasn't the case? Would he have come clean? Would he have pretended not to be an Uchiha?
"That's true. Speaking of open books, you and Fugaku seem to be getting along better now." The dark haired beauty observes.
"Yes. I think that working together probably had something to do with that. We're comrades now. That and we had a talk. I think that we understand each other a little better now. I'm happy for the two of you." Daisuke says with a small smile.
It was a small smile, but it was genuine. Mikoto was sure of that much. It was the kind of happiness that one just couldn't fake. That smile made her heart ache.
It must have been difficult for him. Daisuke had to lie to everyone about who he was. He couldn't confide in anyone, except for Fugaku and he had only been able to do that recently.
"Thank you. I hope that you'll be able to attend the wedding." Mikoto says with a smile of her own.
Life could be very strange. Her fully grown son might be able to attend her wedding before he was even born. Actually, strike that. He hadn't even been conceived yet.
That did raise more questions though. Was Daisuke an only child? Did he have any brothers or sisters? Was he the eldest, the youngest, or a middle child? Oh and most importantly, WHEN had he been born?
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Daisuke promises.
Meanwhile Obito sighs. Guy wouldn't stop following him around. He didn't want to deal with him. He knew that Guy hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but he had.
He was proud of his Clan's eyes. They were powerful, but with that power came a price. The price was isolation. Outside of his family, he rarely interacted with many of his peers. The only exceptions were Rin and (unfortunately) Kakashi.
"Hi, Obito!" Shisui says cheerfully as he Flickers into view.
"Shisui, what are you doing here?" Obito asks in confusion.
He knew that the younger Uchiha had recently learned how to use the Body Flicker Technique. The kid seriously had made a habit out of popping up everywhere. Usually he did so at the most inconvenient times to boot!
"Flickered to eat my cookie." He explains with a smile as he begins to do exactly that.
Obito rubs the back of his head sheepishly. He was only seven. The young ninja knew that he wasn't that much older than Shisui, but suddenly three years felt like a lifetime.
He couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for Shisui. Right now, he was completely innocent and naïve. He had no idea how their Clan was viewed by the rest of the village. Things wouldn't stay that way for long though.
"Ah there you are! Look, Obito. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I should have worded that better!" Guy exclaims.
"Guy. It's fine. Really." The young Uchiha assures him.
Honestly, he just wanted to avoid the other kid. Guy was the least of his problems. There were others who would say far worse than that about him and his family, but that didn't meant that he had to voluntarily associate with such people.
"No! It's not fine. It wasn't very youthful! To show you that I mean it, I'll run 100 laps around the village as punishment!" He exclaims.
"Alright. Cool! You go do that!" Obito tells him.
"I will! For the Power of Youth and Forgiveness is amazing!" Guy states and with that, he races off.
Shisui blinks as he continues eating his cookies. That boy was weird. Really, really weird.
"Bushy Brows is weird." The younger Uchiha observes.
"Yes. Yes, he is. Guy's heart is in the right place though. Well at least I think it is. Come on. Let's go home." Obito says with a smile as he extends his hand to Shisui.
"Okay!" Shisui replies cheerful and with that, the two Uchihas quickly head back to the Uchiha District.
Meanwhile back in the present, more and more "visitors" kept arriving. That and they were coming faster and faster. Thankfully, so far it had only been flashes.
That didn't change the fact that Kakashi was at his wit's end. He had no idea how he was going to keep this a secret for much longer. It was a damn good thing that his hair was naturally silver or the stress would have turned his hair gray by now.
"I don't know, Kakashi Sensei. It's getting pretty bad. Some of the civilians are starting to see things too. Sasuke must be doing something. I don't know if it'll end up being a good thing or a bad thing, but he's changing the timelines." Naruto says.
"Kakashi, there's something you should know. I saw another one today." Sakura whispers.
This causes the silver haired man to groan and rub his temples. He knew that it wasn't Sakura's fault. His former student was only trying to brief him, but that was most certainly not what he wanted to hear.
"Who did you see?" He dares himself to ask.
"Your father. It was brief. He was wandering around the streets and seemed to be looking for someone. I think he might have been looking for you." The medic tells him.
"That's impossible. My father died years ago. Well before Sasuke was even born." The Hokage whispers in a stunned voice.
Despite the impossibility of such a claim, it rang true though. The young woman wouldn't lie to him. Kakashi knew that he could trust Sakura. That and Hinata's earlier words rang in his ears. He overshot.
"Hinata wasn't kidding when she said he went too far back. Do you think that it's possible he's trying to save more people? Do you think that the bastard is trying to save your father and my parents?" Naruto inquires.
It didn't seem like a very Sasuke thing to do. He had always been fairly cautious by nature, when it didn't involve his family. On the other hand, his friend had been reckless enough to go back in time. Anything was possible.
"I think that it's very possible. Sasuke has a lot of knowledge that could save many lives, if he so chose to use it for that purpose. It would explain what you saw and what Sakura saw. It would explain why I saw Rin." The CopyCat Ninja observes.
"Yeah. I guess that's true. Hey, wait. Speaking of Hinata, has anyone seen her?" The blonde suddenly asks.
"I think that this situation is getting to her. She requested a few days off duty. Considering everything that is going on, I granted it. She should be at her family's Estate." The Hokage answers him.
Naruto pauses as he considers that. That made sense. Hinata had the right to be spooked. So far she was the only one of them who had actually gotten TOUCHED by a visitor!
At that same time, Hinata sighs as she walks around her family's home. It was a grand estate. There were many places where one could "get lost," if they wanted to and that's exactly what she was aiming for.
"It's really happening." She whispers to herself as she clutched her necklace.
It was beautiful. There was no denying that, but it also gave her some comfort. So far, all of the visitors had been friendly. What worried Hinata most was what would happen when one of them wasn't.
"Sister, you really shouldn't frown in such a fashion. It doesn't suit you. What's wrong?" She hears a velvety voice inquire.
Immediately, Hinata activates her Byakugan. She didn't recognize that voice. Anyone who called her sister, she should recognize. It wasn't uncommon for Hyuga Members to address each other as brother and sister, if they were about the same age. To a certain extent, your parentage didn't matter. (Well other than determining which Branch you were on.)
"Whose there?" The Hyuga woman demands.
That's when she saw a man. A man with crimson red eyes. The Sharingan, but he wasn't Sasuke.
She would have recognized Sasuke instantly. This Uchiha she recognized from the Bingo Book. Itachi. Sasuke's brother.
"I must confess that rather hurts my feelings. One would think that you would recognize your future brother-in-law." He says as he fades out of sight.
Hinata blinks. Future brother-in-law? Itachi only had one brother though. Well unless the timeline had been altered enough to Fugaku and Mikoto had more than two children. Somehow though, she doubted that.
"Oh God." She whispers as she covers her mouth in shock.
The Hyuga Heiress didn't know what she was going to do? Should she tell the others about Itachi? Maybe, she should keep quiet about it. After all, they couldn't really do anything about it.
Biting her lower lip, she mentally slaps herself for being a coward. They were her friends. She could be honest with them. That and it was important that they all stuck together.
"I have to tell them." She says and with that, she races off towards the Hokage's office.
Every change or sighting really should be reported. There was no way of knowing when the timelines were going to collide. Though it now looked like the two timelines were hurtling towards each other at a breakneck pace. For all they knew, it could happen any second and that was unsettling to say the least.
Back in the past, a few hours had passed. Sasuke goes to find Kakashi. Today was the day that Sakumo's fate would have been sealed. He needed to know, if he had saved the man. Had the Hokage kept his word?
He didn't get too far though. He saw that his father was being drug off by several Uchihas, Minato, and much to his relief Sakumo. They all seemed to be in good spirits.
"I really hope that this isn't going, where I think it's going." He whispers to himself as he tries to hide.
It was useless though. Most of them were highly skilled ninjas. Clearly, someone had spotted him. Damn it. This couldn't be happening. Was he really about to be dragged off to his father's Bachelor Party?
"Daisuke! Come join us! It's Fugaku's Bachelor Party!" Minato says good-naturedly.
"Yes, yes! I need a witness to testify for my character. Aiya is likely going to be rather displeased that I'm attending the celebration, but I'll be safe as long as I have someone vouch for my character." Kenji says, positively beaming.
Apparently, yes. Sasuke gulps. This was extremely awkward. It was one thing to see his father and mother courting, but a Bachelor Party? Really? Clearly, someone up there hated him. A lot.
"Well I guess I kinda have to go now. I mean I wouldn't want Aiya to kill you and have your death on my conscience." Daisuke says with a sigh.
"That's true! That's the spirit! Let's go!" Kenji says cheerfully as he drags his future grandson and his son off towards the festivities.
Warning Bachelor Party Scene
About an hour later, Sasuke was about ready to vomit. He had never drank so much sake in all his life. He could tell that most of the other men were also at least moderately intoxicated. Most of them were far worse off than that though.
"I can't believe that they're ninjas." Sasuke scoffs under his breath as he throws back another glass and hopes that another woman didn't try to throw herself at him.
"Believe me, I completely understand the sentiment." Fugaku says with a sigh.
He was the one who was about to be married. Naturally, the dancers had thrown themselves at Fugaku first. Seeing that he was "shy" or "a cold fish," they quickly turned their attentions to Sasuke and Minato.
"No! I really do appreciate it, but I have a girlfriend. A girlfriend who is a powerful ninja!" Minato warns the dancer.
"Why are all the cute ones taken?" The young woman sulks as she saunters off to go find another gentleman to perform for.
"I'm surprised that you came to the party, if you're really that scared of what Kushina might do." Sasuke snorts in amusement.
Minato puts his hands up. Honestly, he was innocent. He really was. He just wanted to be there for his friend's party. That's all.
"Well I couldn't leave Fugaku alone here. These women are sharks." He reasons.
Sasuke mentally rolls his eyes at that defense. It was odd to see the Fourth Hokage at sixteen. It was even stranger to realize that man sitting next to him would one day be his best friend's father. Bizarre.
"I'm certain that Mikoto will appreciate your efforts to protect my virtue." Fugaku states dryly and Sasuke laughs.
"Yep! I'm sure too!" Minato says.
"Well I understand why Fugaku and Minato are behaving themselves, though it surprises me that you are being so shy Daisuke." Sakumo says.
This was about to get even more awkward, Sasuke thinks with a sigh. He was a single young man, who was completely ignoring all the offers of "companionship" he was receiving. Of course, his "friends" were going to ask why.
"They aren't really my type." Sasuke mutters in embarrassment.
He couldn't believe that his Sensei's father wanted to discuss his preferences in women. It was surreal and it was embarrassing. Sasuke could only hope that somehow Sakumo would be distracted by someone else.
"Well what is your type?" Fugaku asks.
After all, Daisuke was his son. He really should know such things about him. He couldn't help but feel more than a little ashamed at how he had treated "the boy." He was a horrible father.
Fugaku didn't know his son's favorite food. He didn't know his birthday. For goodness sakes, the Uchiha Patriarch didn't even know his real name.
"Less pushy." Daisuke says simply as he gets another shot.
"Ah well that does explain a lot. I know that Fugaku is a leg man. Myself, I've always appreciated a beautiful pair of eyes." The ninja says cheerfully.
Fugaku glares daggers at Sakumo. That was no way to speak around his son! He mentally sighs and tries to calm down though. It wasn't like the other ninja knew that.
How could he possibly know that Daisuke was his son? To Sakumo, this was just a guys' night out. Talk like this was perfectly normal on such occasions. Despite that, he glances at Daisuke apologetically. He certainly didn't want his son to think he was some kind of deviant.
"Well I don't think that it will come as any surprise, but I've always liked red heads." Minato smiles.
A few more men decide to get in on the conversation. Some of the comments were relatively innocent, some of them made Sasuke want to blush as red as Hinata. Sheesh!
"Alright! Alright!" He says and mumbles something quietly.
"I'm sorry, I don't think that anyone heard you. What was that, Daisuke?" Kenji inquires pleasantly.
"I said that I'm a breast ninja." He grumbles.
This prompts some good-natured teasing. It seemed like he was far from the only ninja with this preference. That was hardly surprising though. Sasuke was well aware that it was a common "fetish." (If one could even call it that.)
End of Bachelor Party Scene
Mercifully, the rest of the night passes without incident. At some point, the establishment closed and the Uchihas began to make their way back to the District. Sakumo and Minato had departed perhaps an hour beforehand, so it was now purely an Uchiha outing.
"I really am sorry about their behavior." Fugaku says to Sasuke as they continue their trek to their respective apartments.
"It's fine. It was a party. I'd be surprised, if they didn't act that way." He mutters.
"Why don't you come inside? We have not talked much in the way that a father and son should." He asks.
That shocked Sasuke. Fugaku apparently wanted to bond. The younger Uchiha would have thought that he'd be too afraid of altering the timeline to do that.
"Alright." Sasuke says cautiously as they head into Fugaku's apartment.
"It does occur to me that I have not been a very good father to you in this timeline. Some of it wasn't my fault. I didn't know that you were my son, but now I don't have that excuse. I know almost nothing about you. I don't know your real name, your birthday, your favorite color, your favorite food, or really much of anything. Well other than the fact that you are apparently fond of breasts and don't make a fool out of yourself when you drink." Fugaku says.
"I don't think that it's safe to give you my real name or my birthday. As for my favorite color, I'm fond of dark blue and red. Tomatoes are my favorite food." Sasuke offers.
Surely, his favorite color and food wouldn't do any harm. Sasuke couldn't see how that would alter the timeline in any significant way. That and it was something. He did want Fugaku to know that he cared about him. He wasn't isolating himself out of malice.
"Good to know. Well I'm sure you already know my answers those questions." His father says.
Sadly, Sasuke didn't. Oh he knew Fugaku's name and his birthday. He also knew that Fugaku was surprisingly fond of cupcakes, but he didn't know his favorite color. He knew depressingly little about his father as an actual person.
"Yeah. Did you tell her? I know that you proposed to mother, but did you tell her about me?" Sasuke asks.
"I told her. I don't believe that there should be secrets between husbands and wives. I'm sorry, Daisuke." He says.
Damn it. That would make things even more tricky. Mikoto knew, but why hadn't she said anything to him?!
"It's alright. I was hoping that you didn't, but I expected you would. She has as much a right to know as you do. It just makes everything a little more complicated." Sasuke says with a sigh.
"Well then I suppose it's a good thing that your I.Q. Test results classify you as a genius. You should be able to handle complicated." Fugaku says smugly.