Her Face
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: I'm not really sure who delivered Mikoto's children. I'm just going with Tsunade because she's already a medic and from the Leaf. That's why I consider her to be a logical choice, but this may or may not be cannon.
Uchiha Siblings: Feel free to weigh in on if you think that Mikoto and Fugaku should have a third child. Majority will rule.
Chapter 17
Sasuke sighs in frustration as he waits for his mother to get ready. She was now five months pregnant and Danzo was still alive. Unfortunately, that man appeared to never be alone. That made assassination difficult.
"We'll get him. I am thinking of enlisting Hiashi's help. His Byakugan might prove useful. It can see through walls and things of that nature." Fugaku reasons.
"Do you think you can trust him to keep that a secret though? The guy warned us so that we would owe him later on, but would he really be willing to risk his Clan's safety for us?" Sasuke whispers.
On the plus side, he and his father had grown closer. While Sasuke had to fight very gently, Fugaku seemed to enjoy their training sessions. Mikoto found this amusing. According to her, women usually bond through shopping and men usually bonded by beating each other up. Sasuke supposed to a certain extent, that was largely accurate.
"His warning may not have sprung forth from purely altruistic reasons, but Hiashi is a smart man. If Danzo is willing to go after our family, there's really nothing stopping him from targeting the Hyugas later on down the line." His father replies.
Sasuke nods. He couldn't really disagree with that. He was surprised that Hiashi saw it that way though. The man had always struck him as rather stern and insular. He cared about his Clan's well-being and that was about it.
In this timeline though, that wasn't necessarily the case. As far as Sasuke could tell, it had apparently been the death of his wife that triggered his coldness. Would she live in this new altered timeline? He didn't know.
"That's true. Why do women take so long to get ready, if it isn't for a mission?" Sasuke asks.
"It's a woman thing. There are just some things about women that we are never going to understand. It's best just accept them. Besides, your mother is five months pregnant. That's probably why she's taking her time." Fugaku reasons.
Sasuke nods in understanding. Speaking of women, he wasn't sure what Emiko died from. He didn't think that it was childbirth, but the Hyuga Matriarch had died when Hinata was fairly young. Sasuke would add her to the list of people to save, if only he knew what she needed saved from.
"That's true." He says as he waits.
Today was a big day. They were going to find out the gender of the baby. If it was a boy, there was a good chance that she was carrying Itachi. That or maybe, that was him developing in her womb. There was also a third possibility. A second brother.
If it wasn't a boy, that meant Mikoto was going to have a daughter in this timeline. Sasuke wasn't sure what he would do, if it was a girl. That would mean that the baby definitely wasn't Itachi or Itachi was now a girl. Both thoughts were a bit unsettling to put it mildly.
"I'm ready!" Mikoto says with a smile as she descends the stairs.
He wouldn't necessarily mind a sister, but he just couldn't picture Itachi as a woman. That and if Mikoto was pregnant with a girl, did that mean he or Itachi wouldn't exist? To say the least, Sasuke's heart was pounding.
The young Uchiha had no idea which way this was going to go. Unfortunately, the ultrasound was only one big piece of the puzzle. He wouldn't know for sure until Mikoto gave birth.
"Wonderful. How are you feeling, My Love?" Fugaku asks as he kisses her cheek.
"Better. The Morning Sickness seems to have passed now." She says as she leans into him for a moment and smiles at Sasuke, before heading out the door.
Fugaku shakes his head in amusement. She might have taken awhile to get ready, but apparently she was now ready to go. He chuckles and gestures for Daisuke to follow them and with that, the Uchihas all head off towards the hospital.
"Good morning, Mikoto. Good morning, Fugaku. Oh and hello, Daisuke." Tsunade greets them.
Tsunade was currently in charge of the medic training program, but she was still very much a practicing medic. The woman was also Mikoto's doctor.
"Hello." Sasuke replies.
He honestly wasn't really sure what Tsunade thought about him. He was the reason why her teammate had been in a coma for a few days. Granted, it wasn't his fault that Orochimaru had attacked him. That might not mean much to her though.
The fact that she had stood up for them in Sarutobi's Office did provide him with some comfort. She might have a fiery temper, but Tsunade wasn't unreasonable. That was why he trusted her with his mother's pregnancy.
"Is there anything that you're concerned about?" Tsunade asks the happy couple.
"No. I think everything is proceeding normally, but it's always good to hear a medic confirm that." Mikoto says with a bright smile.
Despite his anxieties, Sasuke found himself smiling too. His mother clearly was quite happy about her pregnancy. He had heard of rolling with the punches, but Mikoto Uchiha was in a league of her own in that category.
The woman knew that her son from the future was living in the Uchiha District. The Uchiha Matriarch didn't press him for information about the future though. She obviously knew that something bad would happen in the future, but that didn't seem to damper her joy at her pregnancy in the slightest. It was nothing short of amazing, really.
"Of course. Did you two want to know the gender of your baby or wait and be surprised?" Tsunade inquires.
"We've discussed this at length and have decided that we want to know." Fugaku says.
Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how Fugaku could be so calm in this situation. He was fully aware of the potential implications of Mikoto's pregnancy. The man knew that there was a very good chance that "Daisuke's" meddling had drastically altered the timeline.
"Yes, he's right. We want to know." Mikoto agrees.
"Alright. This is going to be rather cold at first." Tsunade warns her.
"Lady Tsunade, I'm a ninja. I think that I can handle some cold gel on my stomach." The raven haired beauty informs her in amusement.
Tsunade shakes her head and smirks. They all said that and they were all wrong. That gel was extremely cold. Well so she was told anyway. Tsunade had never actually been pregnant herself, but the reaction of the expecting mothers was always priceless.
"Very well. Don't say that I didn't warn you though." The busty blonde says as she applies the gel.
Mikoto shrieks and Tsunade laughs. Well she did warn her. She had no idea why women didn't believe her when she told them that the gel was cold.
"What happened to being a ninja who could handle a little cold, My Love?" Fugaku inquires slyly.
Mikoto grumbles and swats at her husband for that remark. Hmpf! That was before she knew that went Tsunade said cold, she meant GLACIAL COLD!
"Fugaku Uchiha, I want you to know that I will punish you later. The more you continue to taunt me, the worse your punishment will be!" The Uchiha Matriarch warns him.
Sasuke blinks as he saw his father gulp. The young ninja wasn't exactly sure what constituted a punishment in his mother's mind, but the threat was apparently a very effective one. He had never seen Fugaku get that nervous before.
"Well let's see what you are having." Tsunade says as she glances at the screen.
Sasuke could see the outline of the baby. He couldn't tell the gender though. The child in question seemed a bit bashful about revealing their gender.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one who held this opinion. Tsunade seemed to be having a hard time making that determination as well. The child was certainly squirming around a lot.
"You have a very active fetus." Tsunade says with a sigh.
"Of course. They're an Uchiha." Mikoto says smugly and Fugaku nods in approval.
"Right. Well let's see here! Ah ha! Finally, it's a boy! Congratulations!" Tsunade says with a smile.
Sasuke sighs in relief. Well at least now he knew that there was a chance he hadn't altered THAT part of the timeline too drastically. The only question that remained was exactly WHO was currently growing inside his mother's womb. Him, Itachi, or someone else?
Meanwhile in the present, Gaara arrives in the Leaf Village. He needed to speak with Naruto and quickly. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew that something significant was happening. He kept having flashes of memories that he knew he had never experienced.
"Hey, Gaara! Man, it's good to see you!" The blonde exclaims as he races over to the red head and embraces his friend.
Gaara returns the hug rather gingerly. He still wasn't used to the concept of voluntarily touching people in a way that wasn't designed to inflict pain. Naruto was Naruto though. He could always make an exception for his first and best friend.
"It's good to see you as well, but I'm afraid this isn't merely a social visit. I think that something is wrong." The Kazekage says.
Naruto blinks. Was it possible that Sasuke's timeline meddling had somehow impacted Gaara? Maybe, the bastard had saved his parents and he didn't get Kurama. Without Kurama, that meant that he couldn't give Gaara what he called The Speech.
No Speech meant that Gaara might still be well crazy and homicidal. That wasn't good. Damn it! He was going to need to come up with another Speech! So not cool!
"Why? What's wrong?" Naruto asks warily, though he suspected he had a pretty good idea what was unsettling his friend so much.
"I think that it would be best, if we discussed this matter in private." The other man replies.
Oh yeah. This definitely wasn't good. Gaara wanted to talk about whatever was bugging him in private. This was most likely Sasuke's fault.
"Alright. Why don't we go to Kakashi's Office? I imagine that he's still dealing with Hiashi. The man hasn't stopped hounding him about his wife. Not that I blame the guy. That has to be pretty traumatic." The blonde says in a rush.
Gaara raises an eyebrow. He was vaguely aware of who Hiashi was. He was the Head of the Hyuga Clan. Why he was arguing with the Hokage about his wife was a mystery though.
"It seems that I am not the only person who has been experiencing unusual occurrences." The red head observes.
"Yeah. You could definitely say that. Come on. Let's go talk to Kakashi." Naruto say with a reassuring smile as he Flickers them to the silver haired ninja's office.
Gaara nods and once they arrive, he blinks at the bizarre sight that greeted them. Hiashi Hyuga was currently yelling at Kakashi. The Hokage was also just allowing it to happen.
"Hey, Kakashi Sensei. It looks like Gaara is getting hit too." The blonde says.
"Now the Kazekage is experiencing the aftershocks of Sasuke's reckless decision?!" Hiashi demands.
Gaara raises an eyebrow. Yes. He was most certainly missing something. He wasn't sure what all this had to do with Sasuke, but he was going to find out.
"Sasuke's reckless decision?" He inquires.
"It seems that Sasuke was able to fully decipher the Uchiha Stone Tablets. One of the things in those tablets was a Time Traveling Jutsu. The only way to use it, is if you have a Rinnegan. There is also a tremendous cost in terms of chakra and blood. Quite honestly, it's a miracle that he didn't die making the attempt." Kakashi explains.
Gaara blinks. The Uchiha had found a way to travel back in time? He had always known that Sasuke was highly intelligent and impulsive, but this was ridiculous.
"The Uchiha went back in time and now everyone has to face whatever changes that his journey has caused?!" The red head demands in outrage.
"Yeah. That about sums it up." Naruto says.
"What is wrong with you people?! How can you be so calm about this?! We have no way of knowing what sorts of changes he is making! We don't even know what he's intentionally doing and what he's unintentionally doing!" The Kazekage shouts in righteous fury.
Hiashi nods. Finally! Someone else understood how absurd this situation was. Their fates were all now in Sasuke's hands and that wasn't a feeling that he liked.
There was a chance that he could get his wife back, but would it really be her? Sasuke was now disturbing the dead. He doubted that the man had done that on purpose though.
Sasuke didn't know his wife or he only knew of her in passing. There was no reason why the last Uchiha would meddle in her destiny to this degree. That meant that somehow she was "back" or at least potentially coming back because of some fluke.
"So you're telling me that Sasuke has gone back in time and can change everything, but all we can do is sit here and wait?!" Gaara demands, once more.
"Unfortunately, that is exactly what I'm telling you." Kakashi says with a sigh.
Gaara is suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread. Sasuke was intelligent, but there was no way that anyone could foresee what the tiniest changes in the timeline could do to the future.
Of course, that was assuming that Sasuke would even care in the first place. That was far from a sure thing. That man wanted his family back. Apparently, he wanted them badly enough to change the course of history itself and everyone else was likely expendable in his view.
"That's most…disturbing." He says with a defeated sigh.
Back in the past, the Uchiha Clan was celebrating. Fugaku and Mikoto were both rather proud to announce that they were expecting a son. (Though Sasuke was sure that they would have been equally as proud to announce that at daughter was on the way as well.)
"Here! Have some of this! It's good stuff!" Kenji says as he offers his grandson some rather expensive wine.
Of course, Kenji didn't know that Daisuke was really Sasuke. He especially didn't know that Sasuke was his grandson from the future. Sasuke planned to keep it that way.
"Oi! Don't give the boy that. That will knock him on his ass!" Aiya scolds her husband.
"Boy? He's a Jonin! The man can have a drink, if wants to!" Kenji protests and Sasuke snorts in amusement.
He wondered if he would ever have what those two had. Would he ever have what his parents had? Sasuke doubted it, but it was nice to indulge in a little fantasy now and then.
"I've been working on my fireballs!" Obito announces proudly.
"That's good." Sasuke says as he nods his head encouragingly.
"Yeah! I'll show you!" The younger Uchiha says proudly as he proceeds to do exactly that.
If things worked out, Sasuke wouldn't need to restore his Clan. They would already be there. Keeping the bloodline going would no longer be his sole responsibility.
For all he knew, Obito might live long enough to have children of his own. That would be nice. The guy had been dealt a bad hand. Well then again, so had most of the Leaf Ninjas when he really thought about it.
"That's much better." Sasuke praises him and he smiles when he sees his father kiss Mikoto's cheek and wrap his arm around her proudly.
Yes. That was much better. The only question on Sasuke's mind was would things stay this way? One wrong move could end in disaster.
"BAD MAN! BAD MAN!" Shisui screams, interrupting the party as he races over and hides behind Sasuke's legs.
That instantly got every Uchiha on high alert. Sasuke's eyes narrow when he sees some shadows flitting off in the opposite direction. Likely Danzo's men.
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" Fugaku roars at the crowd.
Instantly, all the Uchihas settle. They all knew better than to question Fugaku's orders when he was using that tone of voice. To do so, would be the height of stupidity and everyone knew it.
"Tsuki, go after the figures. If we chase after them, they'll try to slip off. They might not notice a cat though." The Uchiha Patriarch says.
"Got it!" The feline states as she swiftly darts off.
"Do you really think that the cat can outrun them?" Kenji inquires and Fugaku nods.
Tsuki might be an evil blackmailer, but she was fast. Very fast. That and cats were naturally more at home in the forest than any human. She had that advantage.
"I believe so. Everyone, go inside. Take the proper precautions to protect your home. Do not go anywhere without another family member by you. If someone was planning on attacking our District, they made a great mistake on this night." He thunders at them.
Everyone quickly heads into their homes. Sasuke goes with Mikoto and Fugaku. No one questioned this. It was obvious that two men could help protect a pregnant woman better than one.
"Who would dare to try to attack us on our lands?" Mikoto asks with a frown as she sits on the couch and her husband sits next to her.
"Danzo. My best guess is Danzo. Not himself of course. He never gets his hands dirty directly, if he can help it. He probably sent some of his minions after us." Sasuke mutters.
It didn't make any sense. Fugaku hadn't been offered a position as Hokage yet. Why would Danzo strike now? It was so early.
One thing was clear though. The scale of the timeline had been moved up. That or Sasuke just hadn't been aware that the elderly ninja had made attempts to attack his family before he was even born. He wasn't sure which was worse.
"That seems a rather reckless move on his part. Sending his men into our lands. Wouldn't it have been better to ambush us individually?" Mikoto reasons.
"He probably figured our guard would be lower at the celebration. The man likely ordered his followers to snatch a child or two. Once he had them, he could easily try to control us." Fugaku mutters in disgust.
Mikoto's eyes narrow in fury. If there was one thing that she would not tolerate, it was someone attacking children. Children from Noble Clans were always at risk for kidnappings. People would try to get a ransom from the Clans, turn them into their loyal soldiers, or steal their bloodline.
Having your child be kidnapped was every parent's worst nightmare, but it was especially horrifying for Clan Parents. She wasn't going to sit back and allow this to happen. They had to do something.
"Those bastards." She hisses under her breath.
"Yes, mother. They are, but you're pregnant. You can't get involved in this fight." Sasuke says.
Mikoto raises an eyebrow. She knew that he was only being logical, but her first instinct was to rebut that. She was pregnant, but Mikoto Uchiha was not crippled.
"I think that I turned Manda into a mighty fine pair of boots while I was pregnant. You really shouldn't underestimate pregnant women, my son." She retorts smugly.
Fugaku chuckles. He smiles and kisses her forehead. That was his Mikoto. His little Hellcat.
"Daisuke is right in this matter. We will handle it. I don't want you to worry about anything. The Uchiha Clan is numerous and we're strong. We're also smarter than Danzo. We'll find a way to manage. Don't worry." He tells her.
Mikoto sighs as she looks up at her husband. She knew that he meant that. Fugaku meant well, but it was still incredibly frustrating. He couldn't possibly expect her to just sit there and hope for the best, could he?
"Yes, My Love." She says as she kisses him.
Like Hell was she just going to sit around and do nothing. Fugaku didn't need to know that though. She didn't want her husband to worry.
She was the Matriarch of the Uchiha Clan. She wasn't just going to stand idly by while Danzo plotted kidnappings or worse. Hell would freeze over before that happened.
"Good. Come. Let's get you to bed. You should be resting. All this stress is not good for you or the baby." He reasons as he helps her up.
"I'll keep watch." Sasuke says and Fugaku nods his head approvingly at that offer.
"Thank you." The elder Uchiha states simply as he leads his wife off.
He felt guilty. Fugaku knew that Mikoto just wanted to help protect their Clan. Unfortunately, he couldn't allow it. He couldn't allow her to put herself in harm's way in her condition.
"You know that I love you and I'm just concerned for our family, right?" He whispers, once they were alone in their room.
"I know. I love you too. Don't worry. I'm fine. The baby is fine." Mikoto whispers as she lays down in the bed and Fugaku lays next to her.
"Good. I don't know what I would do, if something happened to you." He says.
Mikoto smiles. He was a good man, but Fugaku was also a stubborn man. Sometimes he was too stubborn for his own good. That was okay though. He had her to take care of him.
"I feel the same way. Goodnight, My Love." She whispers as she turns out the lights and feigns sleep.