Chapter 6: Visiting a friend's house

"Tsk! How could it be! Even though I went to such extents to destroy the Uzumaki, you still managed to hinder my plans..."

Inside a cave, a man with yellow eyes and a pitch-black body whose skin was so dark that no light was reflected from him, watched with a frown on his face the old man with wrinkled skin and waist-length white spiked hair that slept on a throne.

His fists clenched as he thought of how to progress with his plans, before he could finish though, the old man slowly opened his eyes, eyes as red as blood, with three magatamas patterns on them.

The man opened his mouth, his voice hoarse, but strong, carrying a chilly cold feeling to it, with an aura of death that could freeze even the toughest Shinobi in the current day and era.

"Where is the boy?"

Hearing his words, Zetsu merged with the ground before appearing in front of the man. "Madara... Uchiha Obito left, the seal you created beforehand was broken by one of the remnants from the Uzumaki clan, a girl with a special chakra capable of suppressing even the Tailed Beasts chakra, Uzumaki Kushina."

Madara went silent as he heard those words, rage welled up in his mouth but he never expressed it, neither in his words or expression, but this development worried him because that meant the possible mentor to take Nagato towards the path he wanted wouldn't exist.

As if knowing his thoughts, Zetsu smiled internally and said. "There's a way to achieve this."

Madara's eyes slowly focused on him as he waited for Zetsu's answer. "The agent to act on your behalf does not necessarily need to be that boy, through fuinjutsu, you can make a particularly talented Shinobi an instrument of your will..."

"Humph! The Forbidden Individual Curse Tag failed once, how do you expect it to work again? If my plans are to succeed, this girl you called Kushina must first be killed."

Zetsu shook his head. "That's not what I meant, there's a technique called Memory Erasing Seal, if you combine your powerful suggestive genjutsu with it, you can force someone to obey you out of their own volition, so long as genjutsu isn't their specialty."

Hearing his own words, Zetsu smiled at the thought, he had never considered that boy before because he was already too tainted by Konoha's brainwashing, but he was also someone that carried darkness in his heart. Unlike Obito, they wouldn't have to kill anyone to assist him in awakening the Mangekyou, a single push was all it would take, and by using the memory-erasing seal together with Madara's suggestive genjutsu, it would be extremely easy to put him on their side, for his hate towards the Uchiha clan and the ways of Shinobi world was even better than that of Obito.

"Who are you referring to?"

"Uchiha Shisui."

Madara nodded hearing this name, the reason he knew of his identity, was due to some of Shimura Danzo's plottings against the boy he deemed a useful asset in order to bring him to the Root.

"Did Danzo begun his plan to kill the boy's best friend?"

"Um... they should have left Konoha a week ago, if everything is right, they should be approaching the trap Danzo set for them in the outer regions of Kirigakure."

Hearing this Madara let a small smile escape his lips. "You know what to do, just like the boy Obito, make sure this accident has upped a notch and bring him here."

With a smile on his face, Zetsu nodded. "Don't worry, it's my pleasure to 'help' members of the Uchiha clan, hehehe!"

His laugh echoing on the walls of the cave as his body slowly merged with the ground.

***

The end of the great war that swallowed up ninjas from every land came several weeks later after the day Uchiha Obito returned to the village. It should have been a time of celebration for those that survived, but the atmosphere was dense and dark clouds seemed to hang above Konoha.

"Hiruzen! What's the meaning of this! Why aren't you holding Iwa's responsible for the war? We won, we have to demand compensation for the damage they caused!" Shimura Danzo's words resonated with the thoughts of the rest of Konoha's council.

"I won't go back in my words, Danzo. If the village is so dissatisfied with my decision of seeking peace instead of another reason for a grudge, then, we should start the selection for my successor."

"What!? Hiruzen you-"

"Here and now I announce my support for Namikaze Minato, the hero of the war."

"WHAT!? HIRUZEN! HOW COULD YOU TURN YOUR BACK TO OROCHIMARU!"

Sometime later after those discussions resounded inside the Hokage's office, within a beautiful house decorated in a traditional style, Uchiha Fugaku, frowned as he heard the words coming from the mouths of his trusted aides.

"Fugaku! The persecution is getting even worse! You alone managed to push away the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and forced the Mizukage to cowardly retreat! And yet all the village talks about is how that Minato fought against a thousand average Shinobi! Not only that, but even the Hyugas received recognition for their work while we get none despite leading one of the battlefields!"

"Yashiro, calm down..."

"How could I calm down when the people of the village are scoffing at our clan despite our sacrifices! The old man Chiasa even lost most of his leg in the battle as well as his son Shisui! How could they treat us like that!" Yashiro was clenching his fist as he lowered his head in rage and shame, shame from the way the village treated them.

Before Fugaku could answer though, his wife, Uchiha Mikoto called him from behind the sliding doors, her figure which revealed a large womb carrying life inside could be seen through the spotless paper of the door due to the light projecting her shadow on it.

"What is it?" Fugaku asked calmly as he stepped outside.

"Honey, the Anbu came by, the left this notice for you to attend the Hogake candidates' recommendation in Konoha's Clan Meeting Room at the Academy. Each clan head is allowed to bring someone with them it seems."

Fugaku nodded and turned his head back to the Meeting Room where he usually talked about important matters with people like Yashiro.

The two men inside, Yashiro and Inabi both looked at him, they were respectively his right and left hand inside the Uchiha clan.

After a moment, Yashiro sighed and Inabi was the one to speak.

"I'll go with you, Yashiro isn't in condition to do so right now."

Fugaku nodded and said. "Let's go."

Unaware of the events that were transpiring in the shadows, on the furthest training ground from Konoha's main area, Training grounds 43, which greatly resembled the appearance of the Forest of Death, better known as 'Training grounds 44.' Two kids were panting heavily.

"Haaa... Haaa..." Ryuuji panted as he sat down on the floor.

Itachi who sat down beside him was also panting but didn't let it show with words, he made sure to keep quiet as in a way to show strength. Unlike Ryuuji who took more direct and crude approaches in battle, he always took into consideration the psychological side of his enemies, if he managed to train himself in a way that he would never show weakness in face of an enemy, the chances of them making mistakes such as trying to conserve their energies would be higher and end up benefiting him.

Ryuuji and Itachi have been training together ever since they met, even though they never talked that much, they end up developing their bond by simply trading some punches.

"Itachi... You are too fast, I can barely follow your movements..."

Itachi shook his head hearing Ryuuji's words, even though he was faster, he couldn't keep up with Ryuuji's timely reactions and powerful body. Lowering his head, he couldn't help but gulp seeing the slightly red bruises in his arm from each punch he took head-on while trying to defend himself.

"Speed doesn't mean anything if you can react to every movement."

"Hahaha..." Ryuuji laughed slightly as his chest puffed up each time he breathed. "Still, I don't think I'll be able to keep this advantage for long, my aunt told me that the Uchiha have something called Sharingan, that it makes them much stronger than most people, when you get yours, I'll probably lose every sparring session..."

"I don't know about that, we will have to wait until that time comes." The corner of Itachi's lips slightly raised at the comment of his friend, he was also looking forward to the day his Sharingan appeared, so that he could finally break this curse of 50% win rate against Ryuuji.

Thinking about this, Itachi suddenly realized that despite considering him his friend, he never did things that friends usually did with him, feeling that it was his fault, he suddenly became a little bit depressed, after thinking for a moment, he turned to Ryuuji and said.

"Ryuuji, do you want to come to my house? My mother is going to cook Takoyaki today..." Seeing the weird look Ryuuji was giving him, he gulped and quickly said. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, I was just-"

"Hahaha! Of course, I want! Although I don't know what Takoyaki is it sounds very good!"

Before the startled Itachi, Ryuuji's drooling mouth was somehow predicting the delicious taste of the food he would discover today.

"Wait... you never ate Takoyaki?" It took a moment but Itachi suddenly grasped towards one of the things Ryuuji suddenly said.

"Yup, because I don't have a father and mother, I usually eat the same things, it was only recently that I discovered what is Sushi, Ramen, and Barbecue, thanks to grandpa Jiraiya and aunt Kushina."

Ryuuji's words struck Itachi deep in his heart, it was the first time he was hearing from Ryuuji that he was an orphan, this also made him realize how little he knew of his friend, and how little he had told about himself.

"Sorry... I didn't know." Itachi had a guilty face as he lowered his head, if he knew of Ryuuji's parent's situation, he wouldn't have mentioned them.

"Don't sweat it, I was a baby when they died anyway, I don't even know how they looked like." Ryuuji smiled as he tried to stop Itachi from feeling guilty.

Unfortunately, his words struck even harder when he said that he didn't even know how they looked like. Itachi couldn't help but imagine how lonely it was for Ryuuji, all those feelings of guilty welled up in his heart and made him apologize again and again.

It took a long time for Ryuuji to calm him down, and it was only then that they went to Itachi's house.

As soon as they went inside his home, Itachi shouted to announce his presence. "Mom! I'm home, I brought my friend..." as he said those words, Itachi suddenly felt that they were embarrassing and his face flushed red.

Ryuuji wasn't better than him in this regard, Itachi was the first friend his age he had ever made, and this was also the first time he visited the home of a friend. He shyly took out his open-toed sandals and put them on the corner behind that of Itachi.

The two boys looked at each other, without knowing what to do in that situation. Ryuuji was scratching the back of his neck a little embarrassed when a beautiful woman approached the both of them.

She wore a kitchen apron and had long smooth black hair. "Ara ara! Itachi, you never told me you had such a cute friend! Come in you two, you don't have to be embarrassed." Mikoto gave the kids a bright smile and watched with interest the red-haired kid that followed closely her son.

Ryuuji who didn't know how to behave in this situation, stuttered as the words came out of his mouth. "Nice to- no wait, I mean... My name is Uzumaki Ryuuji! It's your pleasure to meet me!"

Hearing his words, Itachi's mouth opened wide as he tried to decipher what he had just said, his mother however was quicker and giggled. "Ara, how do you know it's a pleasure to meet you? Pfft..."

"Eh!?" Ryuuji tried to remember what he had just said and paled when he realized his mistake. Bowing repeatedly, he said. "I'm sorry! What I meant is that it is a pleasure to meet you!"

Mikoto laughed and brushed away the tears that formed in her eyes from laughing too much. "Don't worry, I'm sorry for teasing you as well, but you don't have to be so formal, just make yourself at home. Since I'm cooking dinner you may also stay to eat here with us, I'm sure you'll like my cooking skills."

Ryuuji nodded but suddenly froze as he noticed the large bulge on Itachi's mother belly. Not noticing his gaze, she left right towards the kitchen, while Itachi simply tried to recover his mental faculties after what he had just witnessed.

"Ryuuji, let's wait in my room, we can talk there while my mother finishes making dinner..."

Itachi was already moving but halted his movements, his eyes opened wide once he heard the words Ryuuji whispered... "Itachi... is your mother sick? What happened to her belly?"