Chapter Twenty: The Uchiha Ruling Family
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It was an hour until sunset, and already the light had begun to fade behind the thick forest of Konoha. It had been a hot, humid day and the air with thick with tension. Tempers always ran hot when the summer's heat rose. Itachi had changed into a dark blue summer yukata like his mother preferred them to wear in the house in the evenings a short while ago. He only needed an hour or two and then it would be time for their family to take dinner. He had spent the late afternoon preparing for dinner— washing, chopping, dicing, setting everything up and surprising his mother. He made sure to reign in his enthusiasm, no eight course meals for the evening, but something fairly simple. He planned to put it all together after his guest left and before Mikoto and young Sasuke returned.
"Please Mother, I need you to take Sasuke out of here — for at least an hour, an hour and a half if you can manage. There is someone Father must meet." Itachi never asked for anything. He knew it was out of character, but he could feel his desperation growing in the pit of his stomach. Ninety minutes from now would put Mikoto and Sasuke returning home at dusk.
Mikoto's eyes were wide as she nodded. "Yes, Itachi. And about the other thing— I've been working with Izumi." She began arranging the ingredients, folding the rice inside the seaweed wraps.
"I know, Mother. And thank you. But do not speak to me more about that. I need you to meet someone too, tonight at ten," Itachi explained. "Shinko Inari has a teashop — that's where you will meet."
"Your old Genin teammate?" Mikoto asked.
"Yes." Itachi ran his fingers through his long ponytail. He surveyed the spread in the kitchen — it was enough to feed their family of four, plus older Sasuke and the other two. "Her teashop."
Mikoto reached for him and laid her hand gently across his face, her touch soft and warm. "My boy. I just want you to know — I love you. Do your best, okay?"
Itachi resisted the urge to cup her hand in his. He nodded. Then he stood there while she went to the yard and called for Sasuke to accompany her to the park. His father would be home soon. He had accompanied the trio of subordinates that had confronted Itachi earlier — likely trying to mollify them. Sasuke — from the future — would arrive shortly afterwards.
Shisui's Sharingan magic couldn't convince Fugaku, but perhaps his son — the one he actually loved — could do so. Itachi had no foolish notions that his father loved him. A loving father wouldn't have taken their four year old on a walk to a battle field strewn with the dead and dying. Itachi had always been a tool for Fugaku Uchiha to use in his war against the Village. He suspected his grandfather had treated Fugaku the same way when he was a child. It was a cycle doomed to repeat. And all shinobi were merely expendable tools for the Village.
The front door opened and Itachi stood in the foyer to greet his father.
"Itachi." Fugaku stared at his eldest son in surprise as he slipped out of his work shoes and put on his house slippers. He removed his uniform top and hung it on the hooks in the hall. He slipped on the comfortable black summer yukata that Mikoto had set out shortly before she left a few minutes before. "I am grateful that you apologized to my subordinates earlier. I was able to mollify them for the time being."
"It would never purposely bring shame to you, Father," Itachi stated.
Fugaku's naturally sour expression softened. "I know, Itachi." His dark eyes looked past Itachi. "Where are you mother and brother?"
"They are at the park. I have already prepared dinner. First, I have someone you need to meet," Itachi explained. "Mother and Sasuke will return shortly before dusk."
Realizing they were alone, Fugaku's attitude shifted from neutrally polite to sharp and suspicious. "Where were you last night?" His dark eyes were sharp, the expert detective that made him good at his job flaring up. "And where is Shisui really? Do not deny that you were involved, because we both know better."
"I do not know Shisui's current whereabouts — but the person you will meet has seen him," Itachi explained. "He is of our clan, but not of our village."
Fugaku's eyes narrowed. "Is he the one responsible for the Nine-tails attack?"
His father's logical conclusion pleased Itachi. It was good to be reminded that Fugaku was an intelligent man — stubborn, angry — but intelligent. "No. He is not."
"When will he arrive?" Fugaku asked, his eyes narrowed further to suspicious slits at this point, deepening the worry lines in his face.
The air behind Itachi was unsettled by a vacuum and he could sense the arrival of his brother. "Now." Itachi shifted to the side as Sasuke stepped out of his portal in the middle of the den.
Fugaku's eyes grew impossibly wide and automatically shifted to his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Rinnegan," he whispered, awed and frightened both.
"How much did you tell him?" Sasuke asked, his voice deep, authoritative, and calm. His tone impressed Itachi. Hopefully, one day his own voice would be deep, calm, and intimidating.
"Let us have some tea, discuss things around the table," Itachi suggested. He made to gesture to the sitting area.
"I care not for tea." Sasuke's impatience was palpable.
"Nor I," Fugaku agreed.
Itachi breathed in deeply through his nose to calm his own mounting irritation. Like father, like son, apparently neither Fugaku nor Sasuke appreciated the polite ceremony that could be found conversing difficult subjects around tea. His mother would be very disappointed in both of them.
"Father, this is the future head of our clan. His Sharingan abilities allow him to travel between time and space," Itachi explained. He caught Sasuke's arched brow, but his brother didn't protest.
"You look like Homare," Fugaku wondered. He blinked and his Sharingan powered down into familiar dark brown irises. His ocular power was no match for Sasuke's and he knew it. There was no need to waste chakra on empty threats.
"I will be blunt, Lord Fugaku," Sasuke said in clipped tones. "Your attempted coup is doomed to failure. It will weaken the village and leave your sons orphans. Is your pride worth this loss?"
Fugaku's jaw clenched. "As clan head, I must enact the will of my clan members."
"As I am also the head of this clan — but in the future," Sasuke added. Itachi noticed something white and wiggly in the pocket of Sasuke's inner vest. Was it one of those slugs like Shisui's father had described. How curious. "I disagree. Your job is to lead and guide your clan members away from foolishness."
"You don't understand," Fugaku argued.
Sasuke took a step forward and Fugaku stiffened, but didn't back down. He was wary, but never afraid. Fugaku of the Wicked Eye was no coward.
"It is you who do not understand, Fugaku. You allow the Uchiha clan to fall into ruin. Without the protection of this clan, Konoha falls prey to destructive attacks. Many will die and so many orphans grow up knowing naught but despair. The power vacuum would allow an extinction level threat to come to pass — I'm part of the team that barely manages to save the entire world — against a goddess."
Itachi stared at Sasuke. He'd heard some of this from Sakura, but it felt different coming from his future, battle-worn brother. It felt more visceral coming from the stoic, solemn man, rather than the girl with cotton-candy colored hair— at least prior to her dying it.
"Non-sense," Fugaku whispered.
"It is truth. And I understand you well, Fugaku, because I am your son." Sasuke looked down upon his father. He was taller and broader — the best combination of Uchiha genes as their parents arranged marriage had combined Madara and Izuna's bloodlines.
"Sasuke?" Fugaku whispered, his face full of emotion — the first time Itachi had ever seen such a thing on the notoriously stoic man. "Impossible. My wife has our seven year old son and they are not home right now."
"Ah." Sasuke smiled — it wasn't a pleasant smile. "Not quite seven. As my birthday is a few days away." His smile vanished. "Will you be reasoned with? Will you cease this growing desire for insurrection? Or will you doom your entire clan to perish leaving not just Konoha, but the world in danger?"
"It is out of my hands," Fugaku stated. "Even if I were to voice an objection, there are too many discordant voices to my one."
"So you will do nothing?" Sasuke growled, anger seeping into his tone.
"The Leaf Village has wronged our clan time and time again." Fugaku's eyes darkened in sorrow and grief. "We are pushed to the outskirts, given a position of authority that is easily circumvented by the Hokage's assassins. We bled and we fought for this village the same as any other shinobi and yet we are despised and distrusted!"
"I understand those feelings," Sasuke countered. "It is natural for those that are weak to fear what they do not understand." He stepped in front of their father and laid his hand over the older man's shoulder. "I forgive you, Fugaku. But I have found friends that accept me and do not fear me. I will ensure that others in our clan have the same opportunity. I will be taking those wise enough to not support this coup with me. I will not allow you to destroy this clan for the sake of hurt feelings and injured pride."
"What do you mean?" Fugaku demanded.
Sasuke tightened his hand and then stepped back. "Erase his memory of this encounter, Itachi." His gaze focused on Itachi's left eye where the Tsukiyomi resided. "Show me you understand how to use your ability."
Itachi nodded and using his newly acquired powers, placed his father into the Tsukiyomi. He recreated the events of the evening to be a brief exchange between Fugaku and himself where his father retired to bed complaining of a headache.
Sasuke called forth the arms of his purple Susanoo and picked up their father's unconscious body and dropped him gently onto his bed. "He's a fool," Sasuke murmured, his voice full of sorrow. He brushed their father's hair off his sweaty forehead.
"Our mother is not," Itachi assured him.
"Do you know who Homare is?" Sasuke asked.
"I do not. I assume a ghost from Father's past." Itachi stared down at his father's face. Even in sleep, his deep tear troughs — which Itachi inherited — were prominent in his gaunt face. The stress of his position as clan head was slowly killing him.
"Itachi?" Sasuke waited until Itachi looked up at him. "I want you to know, that I love you. No matter what you have done or will do. I will always love you, brother." He reached across and thumped him on the forehead.
The affectionate brother gesture was uncomfortable. It took a great deal of Itachi's fortitude to resist rubbing the ache on his brow. "Come, I made enough food for you to eat and bring back left overs to your friends."
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Sasuke wasn't much of a tea person, but Itachi assured him that their mother was. After Mikoto and young Sasuke had returned home, Sasuke had slunk back to the forest outside the district. After dinner with his family, Itachi had joined him and they trained with one another a bit more. It had been the best two hours of Sasuke's life.
Time dragged until it was time for his meeting at ten. Mikoto was already waiting when he arrived. The owner closed the tea shop once they were both seated.
Mikoto Uchiha was the epitome of prim and proper, the ideal Matriarch. The moment Sasuke walked inside the tea shop, her onyx irises glittered with shock, excitement, and something he couldn't quite identify — probably it was love. He sat stiffly in the chair across from her, his cloak hiding his impairment.
"My boy," Mikoto whispered, dark eyes brimming with tears. "You look just like my brother."
Sasuke blinked at the comment. "You had a brother? I didn't know." He thought about Fugaku's earlier comment — acting like he'd seen a ghost when he first saw him.
Mikoto cleared her throat. "Yes, Homare was my older brother. He died shortly before I married your father. It was one of the reasons I needed to marry so young." She smiled. "His hair was thick and unruly, spiky all over. Apparently, he was the spitting image of Grandfather Izuna."
"I only recently grown my hair out," Sasuke confessed. "It has helped it lay flat."
"Itachi has explained some of what's happening," Mikoto said, quietly. "His friend Izumi and I have been working to organize a roster for transport — people and provisions."
Sasuke nodded. "I want everything ready in two days. Can you do it?"
"I—yes," Mikoto nodded her head. "Yes, I can. We'll store everything at Taki and Shisui's house. They have a large basement with secret compartments. Your father doesn't know about them. But I do because I used to visit there often when my sister was alive. And the people can be ready by day three or four. I don't know how your father is going to take it. It might make everything escalate quickly."
"Probably," Sasuke agreed. "But I'd rather get it over with."
"You look happy. Are you happy, my son?" Mikoto asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "I have never been happy a day in my life after the loss of my clan. I sometimes wasn't miserable, but never happy."
"There is no love in your life?"
"I wouldn't say that. I love two people — I would do anything for them," Sasuke answered. "That's why I'm here. They feel the same way and one of them had found a way to make this warning possible. I won't have to grow up an orphan."
"Itachi asked me to adopt Naruto Uzumaki," Mikoto said.
"He's one of them," Sasuke admitted. "We're basically brothers." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Turns out we're the reincarnations of the Sage of the Six Paths's sons— the ones that founded the Uchiha and Senju clans. I suspect he'd be a lot less annoying if you were to be a mother to him— teach him manners."
"Wow. Will I remember this?" Mikoto asked. "Or are you going to lock away my memories?"
Sasuke hadn't even considering doing such a thing. His father didn't need to remember, he'd refused to accept any alternative to the mass extermination of their clan. "No. You're the Matriarch of a previously doomed clan. My friends and I are literally changing our reality by coming here. I don't know all the consequences. But, I made mistakes and I want to do better this time."
"Who's the other one you love?" Mikoto asked. "Is it the mysterious medical kunoichi that healed Shisui's father?"
Sasuke nodded. "She can't help herself. If Sakura sees something broken, she has to fix it."
"She tried to fix you?" Mikoto asked quietly.
"She keeps trying," Sasuke admitted, smiling faintly. "I had a crush on her when we were kids, but I was also very annoyed by her."
"As most children are that aren't ready for something romantic like that," Mikoto said. "That's normal."
"I had priorities to become a great warrior and avenge the clan, repair the Uchiha reputation. She was a distraction. But I do love her — in my way." Sasuke took a deep breath and steeled himself for the next part. "She gets pregnant."
"You're a father!" Mikoto's hands flew to her mouth. "I'm a grandmother!"
Sasuke sighed. His mother was rather excitable. "Her mother poisons her and she loses the pregnancy. It breaks her — it's what led her to come back and try to fix things in the past."
"Her mother?" Mikoto's eyes narrowed angrily and he was reminded of Itachi whenever he was engaged in battle.
"Protect her —from her mother, possibly from me. Just — look out for her, promise me," Sasuke pleaded. "She's done so much for me and I need to do this for her. Please."
Mikoto nodded. "I promise, I will protect you and your friends." She began to pour tea into the empty cups on the tray. "Now, tell me everything! I want to know all about your life and your adventures."
"You must also be more open, Mother. I didn't know about your brother. I don't know anything about your life before Father," Sasuke pointed out. He looked out the window at the night sky. "I have until mid-night."
And for the next two hours, Sasuke learned more about his mother than he ever knew in the seven short years they spent with each other. And he told her everything. He'd never been more open with anyone.
Sasuke told her about coming home late after training at the Academy and finding her and his father dead with their killer's katana crimson in their lifeblood and of the difficulties growing up an orphan living alone in the haunted district. How he hadn't had any friends as a child — only girls that crushed on him and boys that were jealous. How the entire village looked at him with either scorn or fear. And how he'd been put on a team that he resented at first, but ended up being his new family. How he'd been so afraid of losing them, that he'd abandoned them first.
How those same friends had trained hard and searched for him and never gave up on him. And how he allowed himself to fall in love a little, but then he his guilt was so great, he ran away — again. And this time, his rejection had been so resolute, that she moved on and once again, he was alone with his guilt.
And while he spoke, his mother's face shown with tears and she moved her chair beside him, arms around his shoulders and hugged him. And he let himself be held and just for a short while, let himself be vulnerable and take comfort in another.
"My dear, Sasuke. I am so sorry I failed you." Mikoto brushed a kiss to the top of his head on her shoulder. "I will not fail you this time, I promise you. I will not fail you or your brother this time."
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As the hours grew closer to mid-night, Sakura and Kakashi cleaned up after their love-making. He had washed her body, like she'd been a goddess to worship, his strong, calloused hands running over every inch of her body. It was easy to forget their time together was stolen using the magic of an alien race. And that the mission to re-write one of Konoha's greatest tragedies was at stake. The wheels were in motion and they were happy to take advantage of the brief reprieve.
Sakura had explored the planes of Kakashi's body under the guise of washing him, her hands weren't soft either — years of performing surgeries had given her more callouses than throwing kunai, but the scalpel was her blade of choice. She'd discovered faint scars scattered across his body. He was only twenty years old, but his life as an elite shinobi marked him.
She brushed her lips across the scar from a blade's laceration that had cut across his left pectoral — a last minute parry on his part had prevented a mortal wound. Once the shower's water ran cold, they'd toweled off and dressed in light-cotton pajamas. Just in the last two days, a warm front had come through, turning the pleasant summer nights into miserable saunas.
Sleep would have been the smart use of time, but both Sakura and Kakashi were too wired. So, they waited for Sasuke to return to the estate. Kakashi had made a light very late dinner and Sakura had started making a medicinal salve for the bisecting scar on his face and for any others he might pick up along the way. She left a sheaf of paper with the ingredients and measurements for the salve if he wanted to make it himself or ask a medical nin to put it together for him in the future.
Vaguely, she realized it was similar to the one he'd used on her team as Genin when they would get injured.
"It's not necessary," Kakashi protested when Sakura placed the jar of salve on the table in front of him.
"Scar tissues burn easier," Sakura explained. "Even though you wear a cloth mask, the sun's UV rays still penetrate. The choice is yours, but it would hurt less in the heat and humidity. Doesn't it itch right now?"
Kakashi slouched back in his chair. "Yeah," he admitted. "It makes me want to claw my face sometimes."
"What's it going to be like tomorrow?" Sakura asked. "When we meet the Hokage again?"
"He's going to officially grant you permission to work with Anbu as a special liaison. I'll take you to get a standard uniform and you'll pick out an animal mask." Kakashi opened the salve and leaned forward to sniff it. His nose crinkled at the bitter smell. "I have no idea exactly what sort of introductory mission he'll try you on. Likely, you'll replace Itachi's position on my team and we'll do some simple one or two day assignment." He dipped his fingers into the salve and traced the goo over the bisecting scar on his face.
"It should also feel cool, a soothing relief," Sakura said, as she bent towards him eagerly. "And once Sai's mice have located our friend's missing eye, I'll retrieve it."
Kakashi snorted. "By yourself? You wouldn't last three minutes. And Sasuke would undoubtedly cause widespread panic. I don't doubt your skills as a warrior, Sakura. But you are pretty shitty when it comes to stealth."
Sakura clenched her jaw. He wasn't wrong. She could mask her chakra, but she wasn't trained for stealth. She was powerful enough to stand on the frontlines and destroy the enemy with a full visual of her skills — with the hope of striking fear in the heart of the enemy and making them lose hope. "My fighting has generally been one-on-one matches against a foe or on the front lines of battle. And Sasuke can freaking teleport — no one would even see us!"
Kakashi sighed. "Maybe. Guy Might is a strong warrior, but he too sucks at stealth like you and I would say your friend Naruto from what I've seen of him. That is the role of certain heroes — a beacon of hope and strength to rally their followers. But, the role of an assassin — for that's what Anbu is more often than not — is to lurk in the shadows, unknown and unseen." He reached across and tugged on a lock of her hair, where it fell loose about her shoulders. "And smelling like orange blossoms, jasmine, gardenia, or lilies is not helping with stealth — though it does help you seduce lonely shinobi."
Sakura reached up and grabbed his hand. "I did not seduce you."
Kakashi threaded his fingers with hers. The salve hid the angry lines of his scar and made his face softer as he smiled at her. "No, you didn't. At least, not intentionally." He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. "Though, your shite sensei should have instilled in you the necessity of using unscented soaps and shampoos when working."
"After a few days sleeping in the forests, under the stars, after sweating in the heat and under training, it really doesn't matter what shampoo or soap you had — you all end up smelling like pine, earth, and salt," Sakura argued.
"Hm. Maybe." Kakashi stood from the table, keeping Sakura's hand in his and led them back to the den to wait for their friend's return. "I keep wondering what it's going to be like once my memories are locked away. Will it be our interactions and your friends? Will I remember anything about these last few weeks?" They settled together on the sofa. "Will your face become a faceless blur? Will I smell gardenia, lilies, jasmines, and orange blossoms and feel my heart race? Will my Ninken ask about you and I'll be left confused? Will I recognize you when our paths cross again in time?"
Sakura hugged Kakashi against her. "I don't have the answers to those questions."
Kakashi didn't relax, but held Sakura with a possessive strength in his arms. As if she'd vanish into thin air if he didn't. "I can feel time running out. And knowing I'm doomed to fourteen years of loneliness isn't helping."
Sakura laid her head against his chest and breathed in the scent of his plain soap. "I'm sorry."
He rested his chin over the top of her head. "It is what it is. Everyone else that I've ever loved has died. Honestly, you're probably safer if I don't remember."
Sakura's soft hands cupped either side of his face. She forced his gaze to meet hers. "I've always been safest with you at my side."
For a moment, when his stormy gray eyes met hers, she could see that he was at peace and content — if even for a short while. "Somehow, I suspect the same is true for me," Kakashi murmured, leaning down and kissing her.
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A/N: I apologize in advance, but the next chapter probably won't be up until after Halloween. I'd like to finish The Eighth Hokage, ch 3 of the Blind Swordsman (both on AO3 only), and Part 2 of Locked Away. And yes, KakaSaku is my favorite Naruto pairing, but I do still love Sasuke and all his complications. For the most part, I dislike the Boruto series — I don't like the aliens or the cyborgs or nerfing the original Team 7 to make these weird, annoying kids seem all powerful. Maybe I'd be more likely to get on board if Sakura actually had some screen time or had a second kid (The silver haired, jade eyes son isn't going to happen in cannon, but boy would I love that! Heck, I'd love another Raven haired, jade-eyed son/daughter. Maybe Jun Esaka will write another light novel and give me that.) Until next time!