5 Chapter 5- Serious talk with Itachi

Fugaku Uchiha POV

One Hundred Forty Three.

That's how many Uchiha shinobi died in the 2nd and 3rd shinobi war.

Of those, 13 were Jounin, 68 were Chunin and the rest Genin.

And he knew the name of every single one of them. He knew because he had gone to each one of their houses, to give the families his condolences and provide monetary aid for the families who were unable to sustain themselves.

Despite all this, the Uchiha clan still remained the largest and most powerful clan in Konoha, with 276 shinobi in its ranks. 29 of whom were Jounin, 142 Chunin and 105 Genins.

Uchiha was the probably the only clan in Konoha (maybe even the whole world) which had a higher number of Chunin than Genin. But that had more to do with their Kekkei Genkai than anyone else.

After all, even a one-tomoe Sharingan gives an Uchiha a great deal of advantage over your average Genin. Add to that the other benefits provided by the Sharingan and Uchiha clan's special training methods, anyone in their clan who unlocks his Sharingan would eventually get promoted to a Chunin sooner or later.

There was also the fact that the Uchiha clan worshipped and respected the powerful and looked down on the weak. This meant that if you're a shinobi of Uchiha clan then you either become strong quickly or you found yourself slowing being ostracised by the rest of your Uchiha peers.

It was not something that he was proud of. But he'd long come to accept that even as the head of the clan, there was only so much he could do to influence his clansmen.

The Uchiha clan's reverence for the strong was also the reason why instead of preparing for celebrations now that the 3rd Shinobi war has all but come to an end, the clan was instead holding its yearly Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

To show to themselves and the world that despite all the losses they've suffered, the Uchiha remained strong.

So here he was, standing on the side along with the elders and the rest of the clan members as the young Uchihas came one by one in order to show their Fireball Jutsu.

"Next up is Hiroto Uchiha. 6 years old. Son of Himada Uchiha." The elder with the slip announced as another young boy walked over to the edge of the pier and stared at the large lake ahead of him.

"Start!" The elder said and the boy quickly made his handseals before releasing a Fireball Jutsu.

Or… he tried at least. But instead of a giant ball of fire like everyone was expecting, only a small plume of smoke came out of the boy's mouth before the boy started to cough due to the smoke.

"Fail!" The elder announced mercilessly as the family's medics quickly rushed over to the boy to make sure he hadn't not damaged his lungs from the failed Jutsu.

The rest of the clansmen let out disappointed murmers while he closed his eyes, not surprised by this result at all.

After all, most Uchiha clan members don't learn Fireball Jutsu till the age of 7. And some of them don't do it till they're 9 or even 10.

There are a few who are able to learn the Jutsu at the age of 6 but those are rare.

And those who're able to learn it at age 5 are rarer still. Rare to the point that they're considered once in a millennia genius.

He wondered how the clan would react if they find out that both his ward and his daughter, who're only 4 years old, are able to perform the Jutsu.

A pity that he'll never find out as he hadn't allowed them to participate in this year's Coming-of-age ceremony.

The two of them already received more than enough attention from the clan. Especially Ren whose abilities were so far from the norm that if the extent of his abilities were ever leaked out to the other major villages then they'll stop at nothing to see to his end lest Konoha get another shinobi of the calibre of Hashirama Senju.

Or Madara Uchiha.

"Next up is…"

—————

Itachi Uchiha POV

"You're sulking." She announced as she glanced sideways at her one and only friend.

"No I'm not." Ren said as he sat beside her on the rooftop and glanced up ahead at the 3rd Hokage who was still giving his speech to the entire village.

"Don't deny it." She said "I know you well enough to notice it when you sulk."

"I'm not sulking." Ren said as he crossed his arms and sulked even harder.

She sighed inwardly at the childish behaviour of her mostly mature but sometimes immature friend. "You know that father didn't allow us to join the Coming-of-age Ceremony for our own safety, right."

"Of course I do. I just-"

"Shush, the both of you." Her mother said from behind them. "You shouldn't talk when the Hokage is making an announcement. Especially when it's such an important announcement."

"He made the announcement an hour ago." Ren groused. "Now he's just going on and on and on about the Will of Fire. If I have to listen to him anymore, then my ears will fall off."

"Be more respectful to the Hokage." She chastised Ren and he simply let out a scoff.

"Meh. Being a Hokage is overrated."

"The Hokage is the most important person in the whole village. The one who shoulders the burden of protecting everyone in it." She told him and Ren gave her a dismissive shrug at her words.

"It's still overrated. If the brats in the academy knew just how much paperwork a Hokage has to do then they wouldn't be half as interested in becoming one themselves."

"And how do you know how much paperwork a Hokage has to do?" She asked and then paused. "Plus, those academy students are older than you so you have no right to call them brats."

"They might be older but I'm smarter and stronger than them so I get free pass to call them whatever I want." He replied smugly.

"That's… not how it works."

"It does if I say it does."

"It doesn't-"

"Shush! The both of you." Her mother said from behind them, her voice more stern this time so they shut up immediately.

"Now. I've done my duty and it is time that I put down the hat and pass the torch forward to someone else who may carry the will of fire and take Konoha to ever greater heights." The 3rd Hokage announced, his voice getting louder by the end. "My successor. Your Fourth Hokage. Minato Namikaze!"

Cheers and loud clapping broke out among the villagers as she squinted at the yellow haired man in the distance. "Hey, Ren. Isn't that your teacher's boyfriend."

"Husband now. And yes. Yes he-" "Shush!"

—————

Ren Uchiha POV

The Third Shinobi War has finally ended. Konoha got a new Hokage and now everyone was in a celebratory mood.

So much so that Mikoto allowed him and Itachi to go off on their own in the Konoha market.

…or so he said. The truth might be that he got tired of Mikoto's oversight and ran off with Itachi when mama bear wasn't paying attention.

"Hey Itachi. Want some Dango?"

"We really shouldn't be on our own, Ren."

"Dango~ Dango~"

"I'm serious Ren."

"Dango~~ Dango~~"

"Ren, I'm not… You know what, never mind. Just give me the Dango."

He gave her the Dango.

"Where did you even get the money to buy this?" She asked as she started eating her dango while he ate his own. "I wasn't aware that mother or father gave you any pocket money."

"They didn't~"

Itachi paused. "Ren. Where did you get the money to buy this Dango?"

"It's too late to ask now, Itachi-chan."

"Don't call me that."

"Awww~~ Are you embarrassed Itach-chwaaan."

"…why am I even friends with you."

"Because we live in the same house." He paused. "And because I'm awesome."

"The first part is true. The second debatable."

"Now you're just hurting my feelings."

"Good."

"Argh! My Itachi-chwaan is so cruel."

"I'll kill you." Itachi said calmly.

—————

Ren Uchiha POV

An hour later, they were both laying side by side on top of the Hokage monument and enjoying the silence so far away from the Market.

"Hey Itachi." He said after a long silence.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to be the Hokage?"

She turned her head from her position to look at him. "What brought this on?"

"Just curious."

She thought on his question for a moment before she replied. "I'll do my best to serve my village however I can, in whatever position I can."

He stared at her resolute expression for a moment and then let out a sigh. "Man. You're such a stick in the mud."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "It's called being responsible."

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat."

Her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she sat up. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you want to become the Hokage then?" She asked and something in her voice told him that he should give a serious reply to this answer instead of simply joking around.

So he gave some serious thought to this question.

It's not like he hadn't thought about this before. He knew that he was eventually going to be strong enough that being the Hokage would be easy for him. But at the same time…

"Nah. It's just too much responsibility. Too much work. Too much burden on my shoulders. And too little time to spend with my family and friends or doing things that I like." He said and then sat up to look at her. "Being a Hokage is a life of sacrifice. You have to give it everything you have. Even your family if it's required of you. And I would never do that. In that way, I suppose that even if I become strong enough to qualify for that position, I'll be unsuitable for it."

Itachi stared into his eyes for a long moment before she looked forward at the village spread out in front of them. "You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you."

"I suppose." He said. "I envy you in a way."

"Why is that?"

"Your life is so simple. You already know that you want to dedicate your life to protect this village. That gives you clarity. A purpose. But me? I have no idea what the hell I want out of this life. How can you choose what you want to do, when you can do whatever you want to do in your life?"

Itachi looked contemplative for a moment before she spoke up. "Start simple."

"Hmm?"

"Start simple. Focus on what's ahead of you. For now, focus on being good at Fuinjutsu. When you're at the academy, focus on training. When you're a shinobi, focus on your missions. And then take it from there."

He stared at her for a moment before he chuckled.

"What?" She asked as her nose scrunched up in confusion.

"How are you so little yet so mature?"

"I'm not little. I'm tall for my age."

He snickered. "No you're not."

"I am."

"No you're not."

"I… I'm not falling into this childish bickering with you."

"Suit yourself." He said and then stiffened as he sensed a large chakra signature approaching from behind them.

It wasn't as large as Kushina but it was definitely much larger than Fugaku's. Plus, it had a strange slimy and evil feeling to it.

"Kukukuku. So young but with already such good Chakra Sensing abilities. Truly, you're a credit to your clan, Ren-kun."

He froze and slowly turned to meet the yellow slitted eyes of their resident mad scientist.

Ah… he almost forgot that this guy was still here in Konoha. Maybe, in hindsight, leaving Mikoto's oversight to wander off with Itachi wasn't such a good idea after all.

Before he could think of saying anything, Orochimaru walked over and stood beside them. His form towered over their little bodies as he stared up ahead at the village, a strange expression on his face as he continued. "Are you afraid of me, Ren-kun. Don't worry, I don't bite."

Bruh… that's like, one the main things you're famous for.

"You're Orochimaru-sama. One of the Three Sanins." Itachi asked from the side, a look of awe in her eyes as she stared at one of the strongest shinobi in their village.

Sometimes he forgot that Itachi was sitll only 4-years-old and not nearly as experienced in life as she would be in the future.

"Yes, I suppose that one of my monikers." Orochimaru said with a self depreciating chuckle. And knowing how Orochimaru and his team got that name, he could guess why. "And you must be Itachi-chan. The second genius of the Uchiha clan."

"It's an honour to meet you." Itachi said as she got up and gave a bow to Orochimaru, getting another chuckle from the Snake-sannin.

"Fascinating conversation you two were having. I hope you don't mind that I eavesdropped a bit."

"We don't mind." Itachi said in a polite manner but he quickly added "On one condition."

Orochimaru turned and gave him an amused look. "Oh? And what would this condition be, Ren-kun?"

"You heard what we want to do in our lives. It's only fair to tell us what you want to do in your life, no?"

Orochimaru let out a hum and then chuckled. "Kukuku. I suppose that's fair enough. As for What I what to do in my life. That's rather simple. I want to learn everything."

"Everything?" Itachi asked in confusion.

"Everything." Orachimaru said, as an excited gleam appeared on his eyes. "I want to learn everything there is to learn about Jutsu. About Chakra. I want to learn how shinobi do the things they're able to do. I want to push the boundaries of science and learn all there is to learn about human body and how to change and improve it. As I said, everything."

"That… nice." Itachi said, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Greedy more like." He interjected.

Itachi gave him a sharp look for being rude but Orochimaru merely chuckled. "You're not wrong, Ren-kun. For wanting to learn everything is a bit greedy. And not something that can be achieved in one lifetime, regardless."

'That's why you're chasing after immortality, isn't it. To get several lives worth of time in a single life.' He thought.

"I have another question for you, Orochimaru-san?" He said as he got up and took Itachi's arm.

"And what is that?"

"Let's say, you met god. And god gave you an choice. You could get your wish and learn all there is to learn about Chakra but in exchange, every single person in this world will have to die, leaving you all alone for eternity. Or you can choose to do nothing and let the natural progression of things continue. Which option would you pick?"

Orochimaru tilted his head to think and he took the chance to pull Itachi closer to him and jumped off the Hokage Rock.

Itachi's eyes widened like saucers as she glanced down at the ground fast approaching toward them. But before they could crash on the ground, he threw Itachi upward so that her momentum almost halted completely while he himself crashed into the ground at an even faster pace.

Thud!

-1 HP.

Well… all that Physical Resistance training was good for something.

He chucked to himself as Itachi softly landed on the ground and quickly ran over to check up on him.

Yeah. He was totally going to deserve the scolding Mikoto has prepared for him for running off on his own with her daughter.

—————

Ren Uchiha POV

The Next Day

He tapped on the Fuinjutsu seal at the front gate of Kushina's home and then waited for her to open the gate.

Imagine his surprise when instead of Kushina opening the gate for him, it was a younger Kunoichi. One that he recognised pretty damn well as her death was the main reasons why Obito went dark.

"Oh. You must be Ren-kun. Please come in. Kushina-san is waiting for you." Rin said and then skipped back into the house.

This… was confusing. As he was pretty damn sure that the whole 'Rin's death' already happened.

He then paused as he noticed something that he had missed before.

The right side of her chest seems to be glowing with a bright white chakra to his Sharingan eyes. And now that he was paying closer attention to it, her chakra was also strange. It was tinged with red lines that were constantly being released from her gut but before they could do anything, they got absorbed by the White Chakra around her chest.

He had never seen something like this before in his life.

He suspected that the Red Chakra leaking from her gut must be from the 3 tails. But what the heck was that bright white chakra thing?

Confused but curious, he entered the house and found Kushina sitting on her usual place in the living room. Though this time she was surrounded by hundreds of extremely complex Fuinjutsu scrolls laying haphazardly around her and her disheveled appearance made it seem like she hadn't slept for days.

"Yo Kushina-san. Congratulations on your hubby becoming the 4th Hokage." He said in a chipper tone as he took his place in front of her.

"Thanks, Ren-kun" Kushina replied even as her eyes never left the scroll in front of her. Then she negligently took out two scrolls from behind her and threw them at him. "I won't be able to teach you today so you can practice from those."

"Okay." He said and then paused Rin went to sit beside Kushina, who immediately brought out two Adamentine Sealing chains from her back and wrapped them around Rin's waist.

…if that wasn't a confirmation that Rin still had a Bijuu in her gut then nothing else was.

"Um… Kushina-san. What are you doing and who is she?" He asked.

"I'm researching something Ren. And that's one of my husband's student, Rin. You can call her Rin-senpai."

"Okay. Rin-kohai. Got it." He said cheerfully.

Kushina looked up from her scrolls and gave him a long suffering sigh before she simply shook her head and went back into her scrolls.

And that was his first meeting with his new Kohai, Rin Nohara. Later, he would learn that the white chakra in the right side of her chest was due to Hashirama cells. Which also explained how she survived a chidori to the chest.

Obito must've arrived a bit faster in this timeline and slapped some Hashirama cells before she bled out. And she survived. Because Hashirama cells are bullshit like that.

But that still didn't explain where Obito went afterward.

…Madara probably mind whammied that guy into continuing his work as his pawn.

As for Kakashi. That guy was assigned as Kushina's hidden guard for the rest of her pregnancy.

Though he had a feeling that the only one Kakashi was actually hidden from was Rin as he could clearly sense Kakashi's chakra and he had no doubt that Kushina could do the same.