Chapter 6.5: Fugaku and Mikoto

"Hmm... Hmm..." Mikoto hummed a song, her face serene as she prepared the food.

"Itachi... I was so worried before, but it seems you're finally opening your heart, isn't it?"

Mikoto was a Jonin from the Uchiha clan, her fame and power weren't comparable to Wicked Eyes Fugaku, but her Sharingan and abilities had always put her ahead of most ninjas at the same level. She, however, didn't share the same mindset as her clan's members.

Having been raised by her grandmother, a gentlewoman who used to be the maidservant of Uchiha Madara in her youth, she was taught very early the importance of bonds and friendship.

"Humph, those youngsters can only think of vengeance and always consider themselves victims... Back then, only Madara had gone beyond this weak mindset of our clan, he became friends with a Senju, they both faced the hatred of their clans because of their action, and instead of crying and wincing in the corner, they went ahead, trained till they couldn't stand and took the reigns of their clan.

"I know that he later was deceived by someone who tainted his mind, but Madara showed us the wonders of love, friendship, and camaraderie... for a moment, we the Uchiha took a small glimpse of what we are truly missing to become the noble clan we think we are..." Those words resounded in Mikoto's head as she sighed.

Her eyes became red and she looked over her shoulder. Everything she saw had a heavy shade of red in this state, as she focused, her vision went beyond the walls, showing her son and his friend, both of them were surrounded by some sort of flame, it was chakra. Seeing the two talking and laughing, she smiled. "Thank you, Ryuuji, I think you saved my Itachi from that cursed darkness... Ahh... Fugaku, if only you listened more to my advice..."

Fooosh.

The entrance door was opened, Fugaku stepped inside, behind him were Yashiro, Inabi, and Tekka, all of them were subordinates of Fugaku. Yashiro aside, the others were all members of Konoha's Military Police Force.

Yashiro who was following behind was already shouting even though he was doing it in public.

"There's talk it's all the administration's plan!" Yashiro shouted, and then spat out, "Village officials don't want the Uchiha clan standing on center stage. They said nothing in the village about all the work you did during the Great War, Lord Fugaku. Because of that, it was Minato and the Sannin, and even Hatake Kakashi-who has the Sharingan despite not being a member of the clan-who shone. If the people can make a fuss over Minato and Kakashi, then your name should also-"

"Enough." Fugaku's controlled voice cut Yashiro off. "There are outsiders in my home it seems, we will continue this another time."

"But I just can't accept it. The only name other than Minato put forward for the selection of the Fourth was Lord Orochimaru! Why did not a single person say your name, Lord Fugaku?" the man named Yashiro demanded of the Uchiha clan patriarch.

"I said, enough!" Fugaku turned his head towards Yashiro, the Sharingan shining brightly in his eyes, making Yashiro take a step back and lower his head.

Trying to make the situation less tense, Inabi stepped forward and patted Yashiro's shoulder as he said. "Let's go eat some barbecue to calm our nerves, lord Fugaku deserves some rest after all the trouble we put him through."

Yashiro nodded, and both he and the other two accompanying Fugaku bowed to him before leaving.

Seeing how the two left, he stepped inside and turned towards his wife who pretended to have not listened to their discussion, and hummed a carefree song. "Mikoto... what is the Uzumaki kid doing here?"

"Oh... he is Itachi's friend, he brought him here to eat dinner with us."

Hearing this Fugaku sat down on the matt, his legs covered by the blanket of the Kotatsu. He sighed feeling the hot air from inside of the table, this comfortable feeling seemingly washing away all the stress he gathered today.

Mikoto who had just finished cooking took two cups filled with tea with her and sat down beside her husband.

"It must have been hard on you..."

Fugaku took a sip of the tea and turned to look at his wife. Her beautiful features charming his eyes just like the first time he saw her. Thinking of this he chuckled and the words that left his mouth next were ones that only he and Mikoto would understand. "The princess needs not to worry for this commoner."

Hearing his words, Mikoto smiled and caressed his face as she reached out to him, standing only a few centimeters away from his face.

He could feel her hot breathing, the alluring of her eyes striking deep into his heart, making those shadows that threatened to consume him fully disappear, for hatred was nothing in the face of the love of an Uchiha.

"This princess shall care for whomever she wants to, neither you nor my father can stop me... for all of my feelings are true and I shall remain true to them." With those words her face crossed the last few centimeters, her lips touching his', with both arms wrapped around his neck, spreading the warmth of her heart to every corner of his body.

Fugaku smiled once their lips separated, he wondered what would have been of him if he didn't have her, maybe the darkness of their clan would have consumed them, and he would have waged war against Konohagakure already. It was her love that kept him down to earth, calm and rational despite the cries of hatred of his subordinates and his people.

In the end, he was a Konoha's ninja, deep down, he didn't wish for the legacy of his ancestors who together with the Senju created the first hidden village to disappear, deep down... he yearned for a day the Uchiha would be loved by the village just like he loved his wife and his children, both Itachi and the one that was yet to come... Thinking of this his eyes suddenly shone.

"Mikoto, I have been thinking... Why not... naming our unborn son... Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke? Mikoto found the name familiar, she thought for a moment, and the image of an old man she had seen when she was seven appeared in her mind. "Isn't Sasuke the name of the third's father?"

"Um... it's so that he grows just as strong a shinobi as his namesake... and maybe become the bridge between us and Konoha..."

Mikoto nodded with a grin on her face. "It sure is a good name... Well, I'll call the kids over and bring over the food, just wait a little bit more, honey."

The dinner proceeded calmly, with Fugaku getting shocked again and again due to Itachi's behavior, being his father, he knew how cold Itachi had always been. Even before he brought him to the battlefield, Itachi had never interacted like this with children his age, it was because of this that he decided to prepare Itachi as a shinobi earlier, hoping that perhaps by doing this, he would be able to raise a worthy successor whose power was too great for the village to ignore, he was in part successful, but although he hoped for his son to one day make friends and make bonds with many, he never expected that such thing would happen so soon, even before so he enrolled at the academy...

Suddenly, Fugaku was brought out of his mindscape when he heard something interesting.

"Eh, is that really your dream?" Mikoto asked with wide eyes as she looked at Ryuuji."

"Um!" Ryuuji was eating a Takoyaki ball with a smile on his face while trying to speak at the same time. "If I manage to become the strongest Shinobi in the world, who would dare to hurt my loved ones? Only with this much power, would my aunt Kushina and my friends be safe no matter what happened because everyone would be afraid of my vengeance!"

Itachi followed soon after, not wanting his friend to be the only one to express his desire. He might be cold to a certain extent and very rational, but as a child, he was still a little jealous of the attention his mother was giving to him. "I also want to be the strongest, if I could be just like the God of the Shinobi, I would be able to stop all war from happening in the world, no one would dare to do anything while I was still around."

Fugaku sucked a mouthful of air, so this was the result of his actions? Thinking of his thoughts earlier, he couldn't help but give a self depreciating smile, it was like he was trying to forge a sword of water to deal with fire, only to build one of ice, it was just as effective as the first, but the effect wasn't he was hoping for and brought a whole new set of variables to the table.

In the end, perhaps this was better... at least, Itachi has a good friend, a very talented one who will stand beside him in the future... For a moment during the dinner, Fugaku's left eyes shone with red light, taking the form of three dots followed by three curves spiralling counter-clockwise around the pupil, at that moment, it was like time itself stopped, Mikoto, Itachi, and Ryuuji were frozen, he looked at Ryuuji, the eyes that surpassed the Sharingan started to rotate slowly.

However, after a moment Fugaku gasped, he wanted to reinforce Ryuuji's friendship with Itachi, but once he started to meddle with his mind, he was shocked when he saw how the kid himself considered his son... no, not only his son, even he and his wife, and all of his friends.

Smiling, he couldn't help but curse himself, he was going this far to make sure Itachi would have an ally for life, only to discover that even if Itachi himself wanted to make enemies out of him, the boy, Ryuuji, would still consider him like his family.

He felt slightly ashamed of his actions, but in the end, he was doing it for his family, and he would have done it again if necessary. Since there was nothing for him to actually change in the boy's mind, he deactivated the Mangekyou Sharingan and everything proceeded just like before, as if nothing had happened.