Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Small Beginnings, Larger Ends

Konoha, The Village Hidden in the Leaves, was peacefully calm as the sun shined down on the markets. It was bustling with life on this beautiful day, as many people passed through to buy their goods of choice. One person in particular, had seen something she hadn’t seen in a while or more accurately, someone. Mikoto Uchiha saw her best friend, Kushina Uzumaki, while getting groceries with her two month old son and decided to go talk to her to make up for lost time.

Kushina, was walking with a smile on her face thinking about how beautiful the day had been, when she looked at the woman in front of her. One Biwako Sarutobi, the wife of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was guiding her to the place where she would secretly have her future children. While walking however, Kushina heard a voice that she recognized immediately as she stopped to see her old friend walking up to her with a small bundle in her arms.

“Kushina, it's been a while! How have you been?” Mikoto smiled brightly as Kushina then walked closer.

“I know, and who is this?” Kushina asked inquisitively as she gently reached into the little bundle that Mikoto was carrying, gently rubbing the baby’s forehead. “A girl?” she asked Mikoto.

“A boy.” Mikoto smiled while looking at her son who had woken from his sleep, looking like he hated the affection from his godmother. “His name is Sasuke.”

“You named him after my husband's father?” Biwako asked in surprise from behind Kushina.

“Yes, we want him to become a powerful shinobi one day. And I see you're coming along well. What will yours be?” Mikoto inquired, now noticing Kushina’s quite large baby bump.

“Well actually I’m having twins.” 

Mikoto looked at her friend in shock. “Congratulations!” she said in pure happiness for her friend.

“Thank you, they're going to be a boy and a girl. We decided that the boy would be named Naruto and the girl we decided on Mito.”

“Those are beautiful names.”

“Thank you.” Kushina gave her friend a smile, before then her face became that of worry, as she put a hand to her mouth and whispered to her friend. “S-So does it really hurt as much as they say?”

Mikoto chuckled at hearing her friends worry. “Well well, who would have guessed something could scare you.”

Kushina looked at Mikoto in surprise before she felt a tug to her arm as Biwako started to pull her away while scolding her about keeping the secret about where they were going to have her children as she waved to Mikoto who waved back with a smile.

‘I’m happy for you Kushina.’ Mikoto thought to herself as she and Sasuke left for her home.

Many Days Later in a Secret Location

“AHH! IT HURTS!!” Kushina yelled from the pain of giving birth to her first child.

Minato, the Fourth Hokage and strongest of the village along with being Kushina's husband, was trying his best to not crumble to the ground from holding Kushina's hand. She was gripping on so tightly, that cracking could be heard from it. Biwako was looking at him with a frown on her face from his weakness, thinking about how weak men truly are to women, before she looked down and saw the head of the first of the twins as she spoke up. “I see the head, just push a little more.”

Kushina let out more screams of pain, before crying erupted through the cave, as a blond baby boy with whisker marks was placed in a bundle as then one of the midwives, Taji, grabbed the baby and brought him to his parents.

Minato went to take his son before Biwako yelled at him still in her position to wait for the second baby. “Oh no you don’t!” Minato flinched at her outburst “Mother first, then father!”

Minato’s head hung low and his shoulders slumped, a little disappointed he couldn’t see his son first, as Taji brought the baby to Kushina. She rubbed the whiskers on his cheeks, as tears from the pain mixed with her new tears of joy for seeing one of the two newest loves of her life. Suddenly, she cried out in agony again as her next child seemed ready to come into the world.

Minato ran to his wife as he glanced back at his new son, whom Taji had taken away from the two as a just in case, due to the Nine Tailed Fox that was trying to escape from Kushina as she gave birth. Minato looked at the seal on her belly as it seemed to look like its ink was being washed by an invisible liquid running down the seal.

“Mito please hurry! Kyuubi you stay!” He said before another cry was heard in the cave as Biwako had a new bundle in her arms, bringing the newborn baby girl to Kushina

“Mito.” Kushina said, rubbing her daughter's whisker marks and looking at her red hair that made her cry with joy.

Minato rubbed away the tears in his eyes as he looked at his daughter, before suddenly becoming serious as he slammed his right fist into his open left palm. He then looked down at his tired wife and said softly “Okay, I know you have been through a lot already but we need to repair this seal.” Minato said as he put his hand over his wife's stomach, ready to start as they suddenly both heard screaming. Minato turned around to see both Taji and Biwako on the ground, in a pool of blood, with a masked man holding the two crying infants.

“Fourth Hokage Minato, step away from the Jinchuriki or these two children will die within their first minutes.”

“Whoa now, let’s stay calm-” Minato said before he was cut off.

“I’m perfectly calm.” the masked man said as he threw both children in the air, bringing out two kunai from his sleeves and was prepared to stab the airborne infants.

Kushina cried to her children as she felt a surge of pain from the Kyuubi trying to escape, “Naruto! Mito!”

Minato looked to his wife as the world seemed to go in slow motion, he looked to his children with fatherly concern, before his instincts then took over.

Both children disappeared in a flash, as the masked man stabbed into the now empty air above him, to see Minato land on the ceiling with both bundles in his arms before the man heard a hiss as smoke filled the air. Minato looked to Naruto as he saw his son's blanket smoking, before then seeing a tag on it, as in a flash he disappeared from the cave.

The masked man looked to Kushina who had a look of terror for her husband and children as he walked over to her.

“Well then, now that he’s gone my real plans can finally begin.”

Konoha, 5 minutes later      

Mikoto, and her husband Fugaku, were walking back home after spending the night together as she thought about Kushina and wondered about the children she would be having very soon. Fugaku looked at her with his normal stern look, as he finally decided to see what was on her mind. “Are you alright?”

Mikoto looked to him with a smile that held in her worry. “Yes, just thinking about Kushina and the babies.”

Fugaku gave her one of his rare smirks upon hearing this. “They’ll be fine. And besides, Minato is going to be with her. Aren’t you excited to be in their lives more?”

“Yes it's just that… I'm worried something will happen. What if one of them doesn’t make it? What if the strain is too much for her?”

Fugaku looked at her in confusion upon that last question. “Really? She has more stamina than any of us. How would she be strained? If anything Minato will die from the birth before she will.”

Mikoto looked to her husband in shock. He wasn’t normally known to compliment others, let alone make a joke for emphasis of one. She thought about his words before realizing he was right, and that she shouldn’t worry, which was usually her job in the relationship. She looked to her husband as a smile grew on her face before she spoke to him. “So are you ready to be an uncle to two redheads?”

Fugaku looked at his wife with a look of confusion before he spoke up. “Are you kidding, we both know they're going to be blond. And why would you think that?”

Mikoto’s smile grew even more upon looking at her husband's reaction. “Because I heard you in the bathroom cheering that you could finally be with them and how you couldn’t wait to train them to use fire jutsu.”

Fugaku’s face became a bright red from hearing that his wife heard his cheers of glee at the news of Minato’s children. Throughout the years, both of them had gotten closer to each other thanks to Mikoto and Kushina’s friendship. And while they would both never say it out loud, Minato and Fugaku had become as close as brothers much to their wives chagrin. “I- I was referring to Itachi and Sasuke! Why would you think I even care about Minato’s brats?” he looked away in embarrassment.

Mikoto looked to him with a look of triumph, as she knew she had won due to his outburst. As then, she looked to the street with many going to their homes for the night.

The village seemed to be finally settling down for the night, as many were returning home and many lights started to flicker out. It seemed the day had finally ended. Unfortunately for all, this day was only beginning.

A gigantic puff of smoke could be seen near the village's center, as a roar of power rang out through the night, many people looked and saw a sight that chilled them to their cores. A humongous reddish-orange fox with nine tails, roared to the sky before it began its rampage, destroying anything and everything in its wake. Fugaku and Mikoto looked on in shock and horror to the Kyuubi, as they both realized that the only way it could be here right now, was if it had escaped from Kushina. But how?

Fugaku realized that now wasn’t the time to worry about those kinds of things, as he looked to his still awestruck wife before shaking her out of her trance. “I’m going to help try to stop it! You go to the children!” he yelled to his wife, as she nodded and both left to do their respective duties with them both thinking the same thing. “Minato, Kushina, please be alright.”

A few days later, at Konoha Hospital

Mikoto was holding the hand of her oldest son Itachi, while in her other arm was a sleeping Sasuke. Both were thankfully unharmed during the Kyuubi attack, as she stared through a window looking at the two children she came to see with a single tear running down her face. She looked at the red haired baby girl and the blond baby boy, both with whisker marks on their cheeks and name tags at the edge of their cribs with their names written on them, ‘Naruto Uzumaki, Mito Uzumaki.’ 

Mikoto looked on to her friend’s now orphaned children, as she could only say one word, “Kushina.”

Mikoto felt a hand on her shoulder and saw her husband stand next to her with his other hand on Itachi's shoulder, as Mikoto turned to him and began to cry into his shoulder. He looked to the two babies in the nursery, before feeling a single tear roll down his face, as he comforted his wife in an embrace. As he looked to the children, he noticed that Naruto had began to cry and Mito joined shortly after, before a feeling in him was brought from deep within him, something that he only felt for his family.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Meeting’s for the Future

Village Council Room, 1 hour later

Fugaku sat down at the Uchiha council seat as he looked to see many seats had been left vacant due to the attack, some clans not having anyone who was fit enough to attend. While looking around he was thinking about how many had suffered from the attack as his mind went back to his family, and then to the twins. He thought about the two babies and how they may have lost the most from it as they no longer had a family to go to. He then remembered Mikoto begging him to get the children any way he could as she sobbed. He was even surprised when she said that she didn’t want her babies to have to suffer anymore. 

He thought about that the most, her babies. They weren’t even hers and she has only known them by looking at them through a glass window for the last three days, but she already thought of them as hers. Her babies, her children, her pride and joy. And what surprised him was that he agreed. He had only seen them an hour ago but he cared for them. He wanted them to be safe and secure like his own flesh and blood. He knew that if they didn’t have them then he would at least make sure they would be ok, and what was more, he would make sure those that tried to hurt them would pay. But how was this possible? 

Not even a year ago he would have only done this for his wife and would have treated the children with distance. He wouldn't have hated them or anything but to him his children would be more important. Was it because of his growing love and respect for Minato and Kushina within the last year? Or was it because of Sasuke’s birth, which had broken many of his old habits as he first looked into his second born's eyes when they were first opened.

Fugaku’s thoughts about the twins and their future swiftly died down when the council door opened, revealing an older man in white robes with red flames on them as he walked to the chair in the middle of the desk, much too many’s confusion.

As he sat, Hiruzen was waiting for someone to ask the question that was on many’s minds. Finally a woman spoke up. “Um, Lord Third, where is Lord Fourth?”

 Hiruzen frowned at her question as he hated what he was about to say, though knew it must be said. “Minato and his wife were killed during the Kyuubi attack. As such I will take back the hat until a predecessor can be found. Is that alright with the council?” 

The people within the council all nodded as many started to murmur amongst themselves from hearing this news. They were shocked to hear of their leader's death, Fugaku on the other hand had much sorrow come to him as the news was released to them. While he knew his friend and rival was gone for days now it still hurt to hear it. 

Hiruzen was about to speak before another voice came from the room. “What about their child, wasn’t Kushina pregnant before her death?” Tsume Inuzuka, the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan, spoke up, clearly wanting to know of the fate of her late friend's child.

Hiruzen was surprised at her for knowing this but it wasn’t like it was a secret or anything. Even if it was by the later months it would have been very hard to hide. “Their children are alright and are safely at the hospital being checked over by the staff.” For a moment silence fell over the room as they all let the news sink in, children? 

At this point it was Shikaku Nara that spoke up. “Children, do you mean they had more than one?” 

Hiruzen gave a nod to the question before elaborating. “Kushina had twins, a boy and a girl.” 

The room fell silent again, this time for almost a full minute before a voice erupted through the room shocking many. “The Uchiha Clan will be willing to adopt them and even let them keep their Uzumaki name. My wife is their godmother and would love to bring them into her life.” Fugaku gave this with his usual stone face, but deep inside his heart beat with much anxiety. He was hoping that this would be allowed, to keep the children with them and not have them be separated from his family like their parents had been. 

The room was still in as Hiruzen stayed silent. He knew what he had decided, and now was the time to break the news to the council. “That won't be possible, I'm afraid.” 

Fugaku looked to Hiruzen as he hid the desperation that he knew would betray him. Why was it not possible, by all means his family had the legal right to take the children. His mind raced with ideas, only for one answer to be clear. 

“Both children have become the container for the Kyuubi. That was the sacrifice Minato gave to protect the village, and we should celebrate them as heroes and not as monsters.” Hiruzen looked to the council to see their shocked expressions intensify, and then the anger in many as some started to cry out for blood. “Kill the demon’s before they kill us. Rip them away from all that they could hurt and lock them up. Kill them, they will end what the Kyuubi started.” 

Hiruzen looked to the council as many, mostly the civilian council, were out for blood. As he looked around though he noticed something he never would have expected, Fugaku had his Sharingan out and had a face that said he was willing to kill, but it wasn’t towards the children. It was towards all those that wanted to harm them. Hiruzen looked at this as he hid his shock. Fugaku was usually not one to let his emotions be shown, but this was something else.

Hiruzen was snapped out of his daze as he let out a huge amount of killing intent that made even the shinobi flinch in fear, the only one seemingly unaffected was Fugaku, who had his Sharingan still out and was still looking to those who wanted to harm the children.

It was at this moment that a bandaged man decided to speak his mind. “I shall take the children to train them to protect the village.” Danzo said in his usual monotone voice, but soon all were surprised as Fugaku stood to his feet to now train his eyes on Danzo. “If you so much as touch them the entire Uchiha clan will storm your Root base and take them back. You will not turn them into your mindless killing machines like many of those we have seen from the Anbu branch.”

Hiruzen nodded as he spoke up “I agree with Fugaku, the children will not be trained by you nor will anything happen to the children. They will be placed in the Konoha Orphanage where they will be taken care of until they are made into shinobi. This will be an S-Class secret and so none of the people outside this room are allowed to know of the children's identity for their parentage or of what they contain. Do I make myself clear?”

Everyone agreed as Hiruzen had the council discuss what they would need to do for the village to rebuild. Fugaku on the other hand was still thinking about the children, and more importantly their enemies. He knew he couldn't let them get hurt. No matter what.

Many Hours Later

After the council was finished with their meeting Fugaku went to the Hokage and asked to talk to him privately, which the man obliged.

As they went to his old office, which had returned to him due to Minato’s death, Hiruzen sat in the chair and placed his hands on the desk. Fugaku stood still as they began to talk.

“I understand why you won't let us take the children but I ask that you reconsider. They need someone in their lives that will take care of them and love them and I feel that my wife would be the best for them. And she has the legal right to care for them. You must at least see that.”

Hiruzen looked at Fugaku while in thought. Why did he care about them so much? Why did he seem to want them? Did he have ulterior motives for having them? Hiruzen had noticed that Fugaku didn’t care for many outside of his clan and he was known to have been especially cold to Minato. With the coldness seemingly vanishing abruptly within the past year, soon after Kushina’s pregnancy had become public knowledge. Though he believed that due to Kushina and Mikoto being close friends he may have found out before many others did, and this scared Hiruzen more than anything. 

Did he have plans to use them for this long? To maybe use their Uzumaki blood for something he didn’t have the knowledge of just yet, and when he found out about both of them being Jinchuriki he seemed even more protective over them. Was he thinking of using them as Jinchuriki to make his clan even stronger now and his emotional outburst during the meeting was him trying to keep others away from the children so they wouldn’t ruin his plans? Hiruzen wasn’t liking this one bit and he knew he had to put a stop to it right now.

Fugaku looked at the old man as he seemed to be silently thinking over his advice, before he was shocked to hear the man’s next sentence. “No. You and your wife will not take the children regardless of if you have the legal authority to take them or not. As Hokage I have the final say in these matters and as a result what I say in the end is the law. Regardless of what my predecessor may have wanted, I must do what is right for the village and I say now that this will not be discussed further. No clan will take them and that is final.”

Fugaku’s face was one of pure shock and confusion, before it then became one of anger as he yelled to the old man, wanting him to hear sense. “Do you think I’m going to use those children for some type of plan to make my clan stronger or something! No, I’m not! I want what's best for them and so does my wife! She wants them because she cared for Kushina and wants the best for them and I agree! I would NEVER let anything happen to them and would never want them to suffer! This isn’t about my clan, this is about them and I'm frankly angered by the fact you would assume that I would be anything like Danzo and use them for some ulterior motive!”

Hiruzen looked at the now pissed off man with a look of anger as well. “And why do you think I can believe you on this? Your attitude has been the same as your fathers was until the news of Kushina's pregnancy had come to light. While Minato didn’t mind it, I have. Why would you suddenly switch your attitude on a dime without some reason?”

Fugaku was fuming at this, he didn't trust him because he had started to show he had changed as a person, something both his wife along with Minato and Kushina were delighted to have watched happen right in front of their own eyes. But this old man only saw this as an act, a phase that when he got what he wanted he would go back to his old self and would continue to be the man his father had tried to raise, the man Fugaku hated more than anyone else. The cold, unloving man that only thought of the clan to the point that the village wasn’t even considered important enough to think about. 

The man who had started to break away at the birth of his first born and had continued to be broken down by Mikoto, Minato, and Kushina until he had finally died when the news of his second born was announced to him. And he was now likely never to come back thanks to the twins he had finally met and loved like his own children. And this old man in front of him thought he was still around and was going to use the children for his own.

 While the anger was still there deep down, Fugaku knew he had a point even if he hated it. That man had only recently died and some of his mannerisms Fugaku still possessed during meetings so he could do what was best for his clan and village. But even with that he hated that the man in front of him wouldn’t even try to think that people could change.

Fugaku was about to yell again before Hiruzen put up his hand to silence him. “Our meeting is over and my word still stands. You will not be taking the children and that's final.” 

Fugaku’s anger was intensified by this but he instead bowed to Hiruzen as he left the office, closing the door with as much force as he could. Hiruzen looked at the door for a moment before turning his chair to look outside. Had he really made the right choice? Did Fugaku really change? He didn’t know, and that scared him the most.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Changes

Outside of the Hokage’s Office, 20 minutes later

Fugaku walked with a slow gate. He knew he had failed and had only embarrassed himself with Hiruzen. Why did his emotions have to give out on him like that? He was a shinobi for god's sake. One of the first things he learned as a child was that your emotions were a weakness and yet here he was yelling at the one man who could have helped him in giving them a better life.

His mind suddenly flashed with the yellow hair of an overly kind blond. He stopped in his tracks as a small smile began to form across his face. “Ah, so it was because of you.” He gave a light chuckle. They really did change him in more ways than even he knew.

He turned down an old alleyway as he began his trek home. While the village was still being rebuilt not all of it had been as heavily affected by the rampage of the fox. This alley was one that had been almost completely safe from the devastation despite being so close to the area the fox had first emerged. Some were already calling it a miracle. Others wondered if the divine could have had a part to play. Fugaku wasn’t one of those kinds of people.

While he did find it miraculous that this very alleyway was still as intact as it had been since the first Hokage’s time, he knew that things like this happened in the world. Miracles that defied the understanding of man.

He stopped. Looking around he now had those thoughts begin to enter into his mind. Was it truly possible? Could some divine miracle have actually come to just this alley? How could he truly know? He lived in a world where men could shoot fire from their mouths and contain giant beasts within a woman's stomach. What did he know was even truly possible?

“You're questioning it aren’t you?” 

Fugaku turned to see who had said that. The dark alley held many shadows even in the day, yet at night it was almost impossible to see. His Sharingan activated as the alley began to illuminate. He could see in the dark now and yet shadows still held strong. His hand began to drift towards his kunai pouch as his words began to echo into this enclosed space.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!”

The rhythmic taps of footsteps began to move through the alley. Every step getting closer as Fugaku could feel a bead of sweat roll down his cheek. He had never sensed this man until he had announced his presence. For most ninjas of Fugaku's level that was almost impossible. Only those of truly great talent could even mask their presence for more than a moment before he could have found them, and with the village having just been attacked this was even more unlikely. And yet, this man was hiding from the Sharingan itself. 

The footsteps ceased as Fugaku began to turn. As he did he met a cloaked figure slouching on the wall behind him. ‘He, was behind me?’ He couldn’t believe it. This man had sounded like he was in front of him this whole time, and yet. 

The cloaked figure stayed in that position, likely looking at Fugaku though he could see what his face looked like, which should have been impossible.

“Don’t worry, I don't plan on violence being part of today's agenda so please.” He pointed to Fugaku’s hand, which had a finger through the loop of a kunai. He didn’t move, not with someone as dangerous as this.

“Alright, if you insist. It's understandable given the circumstances you have all just been in.” he stayed still, moving only his hands to show he was unarmed. Each move was clearly deliberate and slow. If he was saying the truth then he was doing a better job then most.

“Now, if you would, I'd like to talk to you. As long as we are civil about this, that is.”

Fugaku didn’t like his tone. “You were the one to sneak up on me. I don’t think you are stupid enough to not know that is a bad idea to do to any shinobi.”

“Of course not. I know how jumpy all of you can be, especially when someone beats you at your own game.”

‘Our own game?’ Fugaku began to become less stiff as he sneaked a kunai into his sleeve before crossing his arms. “What do you want?”

“Good, seems you do understand reason.” They began to stand straight, finally leaving the wall they had been leaning against this entire time. “I know you have felt like this world has forsaken you. After all, you are seen as monsters within this village. Your whole clan is seen as beasts by those above you and below. Many don’t trust you despite showing your loyalty time and time again. Tragic really.”

“What's your point?” he asked, becoming frustrated this man hadn’t gotten to the point.

“So impatient. What I’m trying to say is that this world won't give them to you that easily. Including the old man. I doubt he will let you even get close.” 

Fugaku stepped forward, ready to kill this man. “How do you know about that?” his voice hissed as a Kunai came to the man's throat. He didn’t seem to be bothered.

“I know many things. I know that your wife asked you to get those children so that they wouldn't suffer a life alone, and I know you care for them as well.” Fugaku’s eyes began to morph as he looked into the blackness that covered this fool's face from view. “Then you should also know that you are making a great mistake.”

“Then do it. If you care about them, truly care, you’d do it.” He was goating him, Fugaku knew that.

“Who are you?” This needed to be known.

“Just a man trying to live in this world. Nothing more.”

Fugaku knew this man wasn’t from the Leaf. He was something else. No one would do this, not even an Anbu or Root member. This man was clearly much more dangerous, his eyes told him this beyond any shadow of a doubt.

The blade slid closer to flesh as the man didn’t move, as if he would accept whatever came next. “Last question. What would you do to them?”

They were silent for a few moments as the silence was overwhelming.

“That depends on your next decision.” 

The moment he had finished those words the blade sliced as blood gushed out of the man's neck. The body fell with a heavy thud as Fugaku whipped the blood of his weapon. No need to alarm anyone as he put the knife back to its holster. While he probably should have kept him alive he could sense this man was a great threat, if he had got away then it all would have been over.

He looked down at the body as his Sharingan deactivated. The blood disappeared with the cut as the man's unconscious body stayed in its place. He was happy that his genjutsu was the greatest within the village, possibly even the whole 5 nations. 

He knew they wouldn't wake up until he dispelled it, their brain thinking it was in a dying state while the body continued its normal processes without knowing none the wiser that its commander was freaking out over thinking it was dying. A cruel torture method to use on anyone, but he’d make an exception for this man.

He began to go to remove the cloak, to see who would even try such a threat. He would give this man over to the Hokage afterwards, that way a punishment could be made, but first he needed to know. His hand made contact with the cloak, and then there was nothing there.

“Ah, ah, ah. We can't spoil the surprise just yet.” 

Fugaku spinned around to see the man standing behind him, his heart beginning to race. The man tapped his forehead as he immediately began to grow calm, his memories of the last few minutes beginning to become fuzzy.

“You have done well Fugaku, so I'll leave you with this. I see many things changing due to this action. Many that will be revealed in time. Please keep this attitude for the future and know that enemies will be behind every corner. And know this. I will return, so be ready for that day.”

Fugaku’s eyes grew heavy as he struggled to keep them open. His whole body went numb as he blinked. Suddenly his energy came back to him as he stood straight.

He blinked a few times as he looked to the alleyway. He had just entered through it, so why was he looking back? He was confused. No one was in this alley but him. He sensed nothing either so why was he looking back. Did he hear something? It must have been a cat.

He started to walk to his home, the unfortunate news of tonight was something he knew would devastate Mikoto.

Uchiha compound, 2 hours after the meeting

Mikoto brushed Itachi’s hair as he finally fell asleep. She gave a sigh of relief as she went to the kitchen. She knew he was struggling after the Nine Tails attack. He had to survive with only him and Sasuke throughout much of it, both nearly dying before she had found them. She was so happy when she had found them as they had started to make it to the shelters to escape from the carnage. However it was during this that he had impressed her, saving all three of them from a falling piece of building before even she could react. Truly a prodigy as many had said before.

That same prodigy would then find himself crying when he had found out about Kushina’s death. She was very close with him when she was alive, to the point he called her his Aunt Kushina. He had been begging her over and over if he could go see her during the last few months. Now she regretted she hadn’t. It would have been so easy too, she knew Kushina wouldn’t have minded. Yet with Sasuke being born she never had the time to ask. If only she had.

She put those thoughts away as she went to pack up dinner to be put in the fridge for when Fugaku got home. This was normal on days he had a meeting or his work at the police station was keeping him there for longer hours than he’d like. Some nights he would be so exhausted he could barely move from the counter. She suspected this night to be no different. Her thoughts wandered again as a new much better thought came to mind, the twins. 

She began to hope that when Fugaku came through the door she would hear two crying infants with him. Or at least the sound of news on them being alright. She thought for a few minutes before looking at the clock to see that it was far too late for even a meeting. The longest would usually be past sunset but it was now the middle of the night and he still wasn’t home. What was keeping him for this long?

Her question was answered when the sound of an open and shut door rang throughout the house. She got up and made her way to the front of the house as her smile from thoughts of the twins turned to concern from seeing his face. Fugaku walked in with a look of sadness and anger, his head down as it seemed he couldn’t look her in the eyes. She looked at him as she asked the question he had been dreading to answer since his meeting had ended.

“Did…did he approve?”

Fugakua looked into her eyes with sadness before shaking his head silently, seeing any joy in her own eyes leave in an instant. 

“Wh-what do you mean? Why not? Why wouldn’t he allow it? We have the right to have them so why not?” 

Tears were rolling down her face at the news that they couldn’t have the children. Fugaku realized she needed to know why, more than anyone else. He could be punished with death for this but she needed to know. He explained what happened at the meetings he had and of what the children were having to bear.

Mikoto’s crying intensified as she was moved to the couch where she cried on Fugaku's shoulder. They didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve to be punished for the monsters inside them they didn’t even ask for. Why did they need to suffer?

Fugaku sat with her as he tried his best to counsel her, despite how awful of a job he was doing. He saw his wife in pain and wondered what to do now. What could they do for the children?

Hokage’s office, one week later

Hiruzen was in his office going through the one thing he wished he would never see again, paperwork. As he looked through it however he suddenly heard a knock on his door. He called to let them in as he saw none other than Mikoto Uchiha come in holding a small bundle in her arms. He looked closely to see that it was a sleeping Sasuke. He smiled at her and the baby as he then realized what she was probably here to discuss, his face becoming more stern as he spoke. 

“Mikoto, what may I help you with today?”

Mikoto stared at him for a moment. Seeing his face she realized he probably knew why she was here but knew she needed to ask anyway. 

“I would like to ask if you could reconsider your choice with Kushina’s children.”

Hiruzen’s expression didn’t change as he knew this was probably what she was here for. It was then that he realized that with the baby he wouldn’t dare raise his voice, if there was one thing he would never do it was intentionally scare a child and it was clear she knew that. 

His gaze bore into hers before finally speaking. “I have had this conversation with your husband and I do not plan to repeat myself anymore. No, you cannot have the children nor will any other clan. That is my decision and it will not change.”

Mikoto looked to him as she could feel the sadness and anger building up inside her, but she kept them down knowing they wouldn’t be able to help her now. “Lord Third please, if you could just recon…”

Hiruzen put his hand up to stop her as he looked into her eyes to make sure she knew to listen to what he said next. 

“I understand that you were friends with Kushina, and that you want the children but you will not have them. I will not repeat myself, now leave.” 

Mikoto could feel the tears starting to form as she tried her best to compose herself, deciding on her last option. “May I at least ask for one favor then, please.” 

Hiruzen was curious. What could this be? He waved to her to proceed. 

In that moment she realized this would be her only chance and so she gained all the courage she had within herself before asking for her request. “May I please ask that I can take the children to my home for the weekend. For closure at the very least.” 

Mikoto waited for his answer as she held her breath in anticipation. Hiruzen was shocked to say the least. He was expecting her to beg for them, to ask that he make sure they were safe at the least, but this was somehow something he didn’t expect. He thought over the offer and realized that it wasn’t a horrible idea to allow her to gain a sort of closure for both her friend and the children. Then there came a small voice within his mind. It told him that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe this one thing could do a small amount of good, even if only temporarily.

Mikoto waited for his answer, anxiety filling her as time seemed to get slower with every moment. “Fine, I will allow this for you to gain closure for your friend's death. You can pick them up from the orphanage on Friday. You will keep them at your home until Sunday morning where you will bring them to my office. I will also want you to tell me everything you did with them and I will know if you are lying about anything. Do I make myself clear!” 

Mikoto seemed to finally be able to breathe again as she answered with an elated nod “Yes Lord Third, I promise.” Hiruzen waved his hand to show her off as she left the office before taking a pipe out of his desk and lighting it. What was going to happen now, and was he ready for it?

As the door shut behind her Mikoto couldn’t help but slump to the ground as tears of joy streamed down her face. She had a chance, she could at least finally say goodbye.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Weekend

Friday morning

Mikoto walked to the orphanage, having dropped off Sasuke at a friend's house, Itachi having already gone to the academy. She had a smile on her face that hadn't been seen since before the Kyuubi attack. She was finally going to meet them, truly meet them. Not from behind a glass screen, no, they would truly meet in the flesh. Her godchildren would finally see their godmother at last.

As she arrived at the orphanage she realized how it seemed to have still been under heavy repair thanks to the Kyuubi. One side was heavily damaged with people fixing it with much conviction. Mikoto’s fear was raised as she saw this. This was where they would stay? Even if it was under repair it didn't seem welcoming, or even a place to have children stay at all, let alone newborns. 

She decided to steel her nerves as she entered the building to see a nice looking young woman no older than 20 at a desk, doing some paperwork. She seemed to have not realized there was a guest due to the noise of the men outside working. Mikoto cleared her throat as the woman looked up to see who had entered. She smiled to Mikoto as she welcomed her in. 

“Welcome, how may I help you today?”

Mikoto smiled back as she began to answer the woman's question. “I’m here to pick up Naruto and Mito Uzumaki for the weekend.” 

The woman looked at her for a second, she looked so embarrassed as she recognized who was in front of her. “Ah, Lady Uchiha, you're here. Of course right this way.” She  stood up, red in the face, as she began to lead Mikoto to the room the children were in.

As they walked, Mikoto noticed other children looking at her with surprise and confusion, along with curiosity on where she was going and what she was here to do. Mikoto knew that they just didn’t see many come to the orphanage so strangers were always looked at with wonder whenever they did come. She gave a soft smile to the children, waving to them as they waved back.

The two women stopped at a door that held the names of the twins, much to Mikoto’s surprise. The woman seemed to notice this as she explained why this was. “This was a special order from Lord Third himself. He wanted them to always be together and to always be safe from any dangers. Though I never understood why to this extent.”

Mikoto gave a small smile. “He is probably just worried for them.”

“Maybe. Though to keep them separated from the others I never understood.” The woman looked at a clipboard on the door as she noticed something and seemed to have become even more embarrassed from this information. “Um, I’m sorry to tell you this but it is actually their feeding time. I know you are very busy but would it be alright if you could wait to get them until after they are fed. I want to make sure they are as healthy and ready as possible before they go with you.”

Mikoto gave her another smile at hearing how much she seemed to care for the children as she nodded. “Of course. That's fine with me.” 

The woman smiled to her before an idea came to her mind. “Would you like to feed them?” 

Mikoto was surprised by this before giving another nod as she tried her best to hide her excitement for being able to see them sooner. The woman bowed to the older woman in thanks as she opened the door to let Mikoto in the room, then going to get the children's formula.

Mikoto stepped into the room. In the middle stood a large crib with two small bundles inside it. She could feel tears forming as she looked down at the sleeping infants who seemed at peace for the moment. She watched them as they slept together, their small bodies seeming almost too little for such a large crib. She reached out as she touched little Naruto's whisker marks. He began to squirm a little as she took her hand away, the boy calming down soon after. “I'm sorry. I understand, I won't pick you up yet.” 

Her eyes then drifted to the other infant as she placed a hand on her whisker marks. Unlike her brother, Mito seemed far more calm as Mikoto began to feel the corners of her mouth moving up. She reached down as she decided to pick up the little red head who reminded her of her old friend, sitting in a chair next to the crib so she could still see, and be with them both. 

She rocked the girl in her arms, looking at her sleeping face as an image of her old friend came to her. She held back her tears as she remembered all the times, the good and bad, that she and Kushina once had. Her memories were cut short when she heard a small noise from the baby in her arms. 

Looking down she noticed that Mito was starting to wake up from her sleep as Mikoto rocked her back and forth to comfort her as much as possible. As she looked down at the little bundle in her arms she noticed her violet eyes, the same as Kushina, as they stared into her own, as if wondering who this was that was holding her. Mikoto watched as the little girl started to snuggle into her arms and a small toothless smile came across her face as a small laugh was heard. Mikoto’s eyes watered as she looked down at the baby with a smile that showed pure happiness, she herself not being able to resist one of her own.

The door opened to reveal the woman coming back in with two bottles, as she placed them down at a small table next to Mikoto’s chair before leaving in silence. Mikoto felt Mito begin to squirm and even began to cry, as if she realized her breakfast was here and she wanted it right away. Mikoto's smile didn’t fade as she brought one of the bottles to the baby, watching with great surprise as she started to seemingly inhale her formula, similar to Kushina with her ramen.

Mikoto looked at what was basically her friend's carbon copy as she then looked to Naruto, Minato’s own carbon copy, as he slept soundly and peacefully. She noticed that he was showing signs of beginning to stir from his sleep. 

Just as Naruto began to cry for food, Mito had finished her meal as Mikoto began to burp her. “Just one second, Naruto. I'm almost done with her.” 

After Mito let out a small burp, Mikoto placed her back in the bed where she began to slowly drift off to sleep once more. She quickly picked Naruto into her arms and began to feed him like his sister. As she looked at him she noticed his bright blue eyes stare at her just like his sister, as if he seemed to be thinking about who this woman was who had held his sister and now him. As he finished, and was burped, Mikoto tried to place him in the crib but realized he still had some energy and began to struggle in his bundle before Mikoto brought him close to her to calm him down. 

She noticed that while the twins had the looks of one parent they had the personalities of the one they didn't physically resemble. Mito was calm and collected like her father, while Naruto was energetic like his mother. Mikoto smiled at this as she remembered her friend and her boundless energy she sometimes envied. 

Soon Naruto began to settle as the door opened once more to the woman coming back in with a sash in her arms along with a bag of things for the children including some of their essentials. Mikoto got to her feet as she strapped the infants to the sash to carry them home safely as she grabbed the bag and left for home, this time with an even bigger smile on her face that resembled the ones on Kushina from time to time.

Uchiha Compound

Mikoto finally made it home with her friend who held Sasuke for her. She opened the door for Mikoto before they both took the children into the nursery which now had an extra crib for the twins as they both laid the three infants down before Mikoto thanked her friend. They left soon after as Mikoto went back to the nursery to watch the three for a few minutes, before starting on her chores around the house and starting on lunch for herself. 

After a few more hours she heard the door open, hearing Itachi call into the house to tell her he was home. She gave him a hug before having him start on his homework. “Did you have a good day today?” she asked him as he began on his work. 

“Mhm. Izumi and Hana kept bugging me though.” Mikoto gave a small chuckle as she gave him some apple slices to snack on. “How about you?” he asked.

“I’d say so.” Her smile stayed strong as he looked to her a little confused. “Did something happen today?”

“You could say that.” 

Itachi was still so confused as to his mothers current attitude. She had been like this since she had met with the Hokage and yet he never found out why. At that moment Naruto had started to cry as Itachi heard the sound of a baby he didn’t recognize. He watched as his mother went to the nursery, which intrigued him. 

He left the table and went to the room to see his mother in the rocking chair with a small blond infant that he recognized as Naruto from his visits with his mother at the hospital. Itachi watched from the doorway as she rocked him in her arms, the baby starting to calm down. His mother noticed him at the door and gestured to him to come closer. He did so as he came right up to his mother and the now calmer infant before finally asking why he was here. 

“Mother, why do you have Naruto here? I thought you couldn’t have them.” Mikoto frowned at this knowing her first born was very smart for his age and picked up on things quickly before she gave him a smile as she continued to rock Naruto to sleep. “The Hokage allowed me to keep them for the weekend.” 

She looked to Itachi who seemed to understand as she noticed his eyes on Naruto and wondered something. “Do you want to hold him?” 

Itachi looked at her in surprise before nodding enthusiastically. Mikoto stood up as they both sat on the small couch at the edge of the room, handing Itachi Naruto as she went to grab Mito. Itachi watched Naruto as if waiting for him to do something, giving Mikoto a small laugh as she sat with the sleeping Mito in her arms. Naruto began to squirm for a moment as Itachi kept him close. The infant's eyes opened and looked at Itachi for a moment, curiosity clear as day within the blond baby's blue eyes, before a smile appeared on the baby's face, much to Itachi’s surprise. 

Mikoto looked at this as she smiled at the scene in front of her. “I think he likes you.”

“Me too.” His eyes drifted to the little red head as Naruto began to calm down.

Mikoto watched with an amused look as the boy continued to look at Mito’s sleeping form. “You want to hold her, don’t you?”

Itachi looked a little guilty as he gave a small nod. Mikoto didn’t make a fuss over it as they traded the bundles in their arms. Naruto seemed to grow tired once more in Mikoto’s arms as he fell asleep and Mikoto placed him in his crib before getting Sasuke to hold in her arms.

Mikoto looked to Itachi who was staring at Mito now, who was doing the same thing as her brother and giggled at the young man she was being held by. She even began to bring her hands up to try and grab the boy's face, much to his confusion.

“I think she really likes you.” Her statement was confirmed when she tried to hand Sasuke to him as Mito began to cry when she left Itachi’s arms. He quickly placed her back in his arms as she settled down once more and even began to drift off to sleep. After a few minutes Mikoto gently grabbed Mito from Itachi and gave him Sasuke as she place the infant in the crib with her brother, before waiting a few minutes to grab Sasuke and place him in his crib so that she and Itachi could go back to the kitchen to finish their duties.

“What do you think?” She asked, curious to see his opinion of the twins.

“I like them, but I think Mito really likes me.”

“I noticed.” He gave a small smile at that thought.

A few hours went by before Fugaku entered the home, as tired as ever, as he took off his sandals and went to the kitchen as dinner had just been finished. He noticed the bag from the orphanage as he looked to Mikoto. She noticed his confused look before she nodded to him. She watched him go to the nursery before then following. 

As she entered the room she saw him look down at the two sleeping infants as she noticed his face had a much softer look to it than normal. He picked up Mito and held her in his arms, gentle as to not disturb her, as he looked down at the little red head before a small smile on his face formed. He sat in the rocking chair as he looked to Naruto just like she had earlier today. They both stared at the infants before Sasuke began to cry as Mikoto went and picked him into her arms. “Oh, are you jealous of all the attention they’re getting? It's ok, I'm here now.” Mikoto said as she held her youngest son in her arms. 

Fugaku gave a slight smile before looking to Mito who was now looking at him with the same look she gave the others in the family before giving her now trademark smile. It was too infectious as he couldn't help but smile back as she slowly went back to sleep in his arms. This was his que as Naruto started to cry as Fugaku placed Mito in the crib and gently lifted the blond into his arms. They both looked in shock as he snuggled into his arms and quieted down almost instantly, falling back to sleep immediately in Fugaku’s arms.

“It seems he has a favorite.” He looked to his wife who gave him a wink. His smile began to grow as he held the babe closer to him, not noticing Mikoto put Sasuke back in his crib and go back to the kitchen to eat her food she had left. He stayed with the almost exact copy of Minato as they stayed in the chair, rocking back and forth.

He hadn't noticed how long he stayed in the nursery, that is until Mikoto came back in and tapped him on the shoulder, waking him from his nap as she got Naruto out of his arms to change him, seeing now that she had already done this with the other two. He got up and ate his food which had gotten cold, but he didn’t mind. He finally met the twins and wished with all his heart that they could stay, though he knew they couldn’t.

Fugaku looked to the clock after he was finished only to see that it was passed 10 and decided he had to go to bed so he wouldn’t suffer from being tired as much as he did today. As he went to his and Mikoto’s room he looked into the nursery only to see Mikoto holding Sasuke and Naruto in her arms as he smiled and entered, poking her in the shoulder as she woke up to see him smiling at her. Looking embarrassed she placed the children in their respective cribs before both went to bed, knowing they would need it thanks to now having two extra mouths to feed for the next couple of nights.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: A Choice

Sunday

She felt a small amount of dread creep into her as she woke up. The house was quiet, almost paradoxically so considering how many were currently staying there. She looked to see Fugaku had already left for work. She knew he left early today as otherwise she would have heard the door close by now. 

She got out of bed with a grown as she went to check on the babies. All of them were still asleep. Perhaps that was a good thing, the less noise the better this morning would be. 

She walked to Itachi’s room, knocking on his door softly. “Itachi, are you awake?” She asked while opening his door. The boy sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. “I am now.” He said while giving a light yawn.

She gave him a small smile. “I need you to watch Sasuke for me. Do you think you can do that? Just for a bit.” She knew he could, he'd done it the night of the Nine Tails, but considering that was the case it was better to ask him. 

He gave a nod as he got out of bed. “Yes ma'am.” He stood in front of her in a way that made him look older than he really was. “Thank you.” She kissed him on the forehead as they both went to the nursery.

Mikoto had the twins in their carrying sash as she made her way to the hokage’s office, this time with a look of sadness on her face. She looked to the two sleeping infants, knowing this may be the last time she would see them for a long time. Her sadness began to build as she couldn't keep her eyes off of them. She looked up as she was met with the wooden doors of Hiruzen’s office. She gave a reluctant sigh as she knew what needed to be done.

As she knocked on the door to the office she heard someone walking inside. The footsteps got closer, as her dread from earlier returned. The doors opened, revealing Hiruzen who gave her a warm smile as he saw the twins in Mikoto’s arms, also noticing her look of sadness as well. He ushered her to the room as he showed her a crib next to his desk where she placed them in. As she did so she noticed both of their faces scrunch up as if not wanting to be away from her. A tear ran down her face, she wished to have more time with them. 

Hiruzen noticed the reactions of all three as he motioned Mikoto to sit in the chair in front of his desk before he sat in his own. He began to rock the crib back and forth with his free hand as he noticed the twins seem to calm down to this. 

He looked to Mikoto, wanting to know about the weekend from her words.

“Tell me, how were they with you?”

“They did quite well. We feed them during their scheduled time as per your instructions. Mito ate more than we ever would have guessed but apart from her they both did very well.”

“I'm glad to hear that. Did anything happen that I should know about?”

Naruto did make a mess when I let Itachi try to feed him. Other than that nothing too dramatic happened, other than Itachi needing to change his shirt that is.”

They both had a chuckle at that as gave a quick glance to the infants before returning his attention back to her.

“How was Fugaku with them?”

“What do you mean?” She was a little thrown away by the question.

He gave another glance to the twins. “Did he act strangely around them at all?”

“I wouldn't say he was. He helped me with them whenever possible. Actually, when Naruto was with him we had a hard time separating them. Naruto just wouldn't leave him when given the chance.” She had a small smile as she thought about how the baby felt around her husband. It was as if he was drawn to him, neither of them knew why that could be.

Hiruzen just gave her a look she couldn't read as he gave another glance to them. It felt like he didn't trust her, almost having to check to make sure the twins were still there. Did he really not trust them that much?

“Is there anything else I need to know?” She shook her head as she brought out a folder, it being a list of the entire weekend's events, something he had requested for her to do before she could see them.

He looked at her in silence as she placed the folder down on his desk. He knew everything that had happened that weekend of course, his Anbu were watching them constantly, but it was good to make sure they were being truthful in every way. If even one thing on that folder was different from what she had said or what his Anbuhad told him then they would be punished. He wouldn't be taking any chances. Though with everything he knew there was one thing that still truly confused him.

As Mikoto finished her report Hiruzen looked to her for a moment as he thought about Fugaku’s actions. He still wondered why he would be so kind and loving to the children, wondering if maybe he was telling the truth about caring for them. 

His thoughts were momentarily on hold as he heard a small whimper. He looked to the crib to see Mito beginning to cry as he noticed Mikoto begin to rise, as if on instinct at hearing the baby's cries, before she stopped herself to look at him to see what he would do. Hiruzen looked to her for a moment before nodding, allowing her to pick up the crying girl as she soothed her in her arms. 

Hiruzen looked to her, noticing how calm the baby seemed to be in the woman's arms and how much love she seemed to have for the baby before he noticed a tear roll down her cheek. When she finally put Mito back into bed she rubbed Naruto’s cheek to comfort him as he began to cry as well.

After a moment Mikoto looked to Hiruzen and bowed as she went to the door to leave. Both infants began to cry as she walked away. Hiruzen felt his old heart begin to feel pain as he watched this sight in front of him. He looked to the two infants before remembering who had brought them into this world. 

He thought of his late wife as he heard her voice ring through his mind about wanting the baby’s to be as safe as possible while she and Hiruzen explained to Minato and Kushina on what type of preparations would be needed for their birth. His mind then went to Fugaku, who’s anger he now knew was that of an angry father trying to keep those he cared for from being taken away from him, something he understood as a father himself. 

He remembered what both his Anbu and Mikoto had told him about the twins' time with the Uchiha and his mind went to that of when baby Naruto first met Fugaku and how comfortable he seemed to be with the man he had only just met. Hiruzen looked to the twins who had both continued to cry together, something they hadn’t done while with Mikoto or Fugaku.

He didn't know what to do. Part of him felt like he had made the right decision, but now. Now even he wasn't sure. He watched Mikotos hand reach for the door, tears welling up in sadness as she had to ignore the cries of the ones she now knew for certain she loved as much as her own. He heard his late wife's words echo through his mind, and then Fugaku’s words to him.

‘I would NEVER let anything happen to them and would never want them to suffer!’ He finally understood. He finally made his decision.

As Mikoto had her hand on the doorknob to open it she heard Hiruzen speak up. “Wait.” 

Mikoto turned to look at him as his head was down. He looked down at his desk for a few moments as she was growing more worried as to why he would stop her. After what felt like an eternity he looked up to her, as he said four words that brought her to tears. 

“You can keep them.”

Mikoto collapsed to her knees as she sobbed with joy, Hiruzen coming to comfort her like a grandpa would to his grandchildren, until she got up and ran to the twins, holding them and kissing them as she brought all the love she could muster into them. Hiruzen walked to his seat as he slumped down, watching this expression of love with a smile on his face. 

Even though it couldn’t be seen, two of the Anbu secretly guarding him had a few tears from the sight in front of them.

Mikoto strapped the babies to her once more as Hiruzen began to give her instructions. “I will make this clear. They are not to call you their parents. While I will allow you and Fugaku to be their legal guardians, they are not yours. At that, I will want either you or Fugaku to bring them here at this time every Sunday. I want to know everything that happened during that week.”

Mikoto nodded as she was then allowed to depart, something she did immediately so she could get home as soon as she could.

Later that night

Fugaku entered his home with a look of sadness, knowing he wouldn't see the children for a long time. As he looked into the kitchen he noticed that both Mikoto and Itachi were not in the dining room eating dinner. He grew curious as he looked around the house for them. As he looked around he found himself at the closed door of the nursery, worried to see Mikoto holding Sasuke crying as she had done the night they were first told they couldn’t have the children. 

He stayed at the door for a moment before opening it to see her on the small couch, holding Saskue and Naruto while Itachi was holding Mito. All three infants were sound asleep in their arms, Mikoto having the biggest smile on her face. 

“He said they could stay. Our babies can stay.” She said with tears running down her face. Fugaku was shocked to hear this, he thought they couldn’t stay. Did he change his mind? Why? 

Fugaku walked to her as he hugged his family as tight as he could before taking Naruto into his arms and sitting next to Itachi, who was now in the middle of the two. Naruto snuggled into Fugaku's arms before letting out a small yawn. As the family sat in silence, not knowing what the future held for them, they all thought one thing. 

Tonight was a good night to be together.

The night was beginning to grow cold in the late autumn air. The first snow of the year was falling as he looked down onto the district below. He had no emotion as the white blanket began to cover his cloak. It was clear time was either with or against him, the real question was which.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Beginning of the Day

The Uchiha Compound, early morning

The morning sun lights a large room inside the Uchiha Compound . Mikoto tries to cover her eyes from the sun's rays, trying desperately to gain a little bit more sleep before her day begins. Unfortunately for her it was at that moment that the sound of the bedroom door opening came to her ears . Two small voices could be heard coming up to her bed. Mikoto knew what was about to happen next as she prepared herself for her husband's wake up call.

Fugaku was fast asleep, his dreams as nonsensical as a dream could be . Though something confused him. Two little elves that seemed to be rushing towards him before jumping in the air and body slamming him as the air in his longs left him. He woke up gasping for air and wanting to know what just happened. 

That would be answered in the form of a small blond boy yelling at him to wake up and a small redhead laughing at him while being held by his wife, who was trying her best to compose herself, but was failing miserably as she laughed with the little girl that they both considered a daughter in everything but blood.

Naruto and Mito waited for him to get up, Naruto pouting with his cheeks puffed while Mito sat in Mikoto’s lap, cheeks puffed like her twin. "You promised." Naruto said to him as he rose from bed to look at the blond. 

For a moment Fugaku wasn't sure what he was even talking about . That was until his brain finally started to turn on for the day, or at least until he had his coffee. "Promised wha…Oh right!" Fugaku said before bringing in the blond in a hug as Mikoto did the same for Mito, "Happy Birthday, now can I get some sleep please." He said in as much of a joking manner as his tired self would allow. 

Naruto grew annoyed as he looked to Mikoto, "Aunt Mikoto, tell him to get up, he's so lazy." Mikoto smiled at her third son in every way but blood as she looked at her daughter on her lap who was giggling at her brother. "He needs a little bit more time, you two, let's get everyone else up first." 

The twins didn't seem all that satisfied to hear that, but nodded as they got off the bed and went to the rooms of their adopted siblings. Naruto goes to Sasuke's room and Mito to Itachi's, both being very close to the respective person in the 3 years they have lived with the Uchiha's.

Mikoto looked to Fugaku who was trying to stay as awake as possible, but without his coffee was failing miserably. "I'll deal with them while you get some more rest, you had a long day last night." She said looking at her husband.

"Thank you. Can you make sure I'm up before breakfast then, I don't want to miss today." Fugaku said as he kissed his wife.

"Of course. I'll let Naruto know when to wake you up." Fugaku snorted at this before laying back down as sleep took him once again for at least a little longer. Mikoto smiled at him as she got out of bed and stretched before going to see how the twins were doing on their tasks.

As she looked into Sasuke's room. She saw both him and Naruto rolling on the floor trying to kill each other for the third time this week. A sight she had gotten used to with the boys as they acted this way ever since they could both crawl. Mikoto thought about letting them just get it out of their system until Naruto began to bite and it was at that point that Sauske started to throw punches, something she didn't need to deal with today as the family would have a meeting with Hiruzen later and too much damage to any of the children could lead to a lot of problems for her and Fugaku. 

Hiruzen still seemed to not trust them with the twins to this day , hence why neither of them called them their parents even if they are that at this point. Though Naruto had been starting to hate this naming arrangement and while Mito was more quiet and reserved then her brother she had been showing signs that she disliked this as well. 

Mikoto, noticing the two boys getting more rough than necessary, got to them and pulled them off each other, holding both at arms reach from one another. "OK, enough! Now stop that before you both get to stay in your rooms all day." She said with authority. Naruto and Sasuke both complained but she wasn't going to hear any of it as she told both of them to get ready for their bath. Both boys listened to her as they looked at each other with a look that told the other they weren't done just yet. 

Mikoto let out a sigh as she went to Itachi’s room, seeing Mito talking to Itachi about how excited she was for the day. Itachi , to his credit, acted like he was listening to the entire conversation Mito was having to herself about her party. Mikoto told Mito to get ready for her bath like her brother as she looked to Itachi who seemed grateful to finally get ready for the day without the redhead there to distract him while he did it. 

Even though he seemed cold towards the twins at times he actually thought of them as his own siblings along with Sasuke, wanting to keep them safe at all costs and even having a very close relationship with Mito who would always be near him when he wasn't on a mission. “Thank you.” he said while getting up from bed and rubbing his eyes of their sleepiness. 

“Of course. Now hurry up and get ready before she comes back and makes you. We both know they want you to be awake for the party.” Mikoto said with a smirk as Itachi snorted, remembering last year when he accidentally fell asleep during the twins' last party and both of them woke him up even more brutally then how they had done to Fugaku. “How can I forget what happened last time?” he said while getting his clothes for the day. Mikoto left for the twins' room to get them ready for their bath , her smile not disappearing as he grumbled to himself . 

As she entered the room she saw Mito ready with the clothes she wanted to wear for the day, consisting of a blue dress with navy shorts and black sandals. Naruto on the other hand was still looking for what he wanted to wear as he flung most of his clothes on the ground in a small pile, messing up his side of the room which was only just cleaned yesterday. Mikoto, annoyed with the blond's antics, told Mito to wait for her and Naruto as she then helped Naruto pick out something for him to wear, eventually settling on a white shirt with an orange swirl pattern on the front, black shorts and blue sandals. 

Happy with the clothes she took Naruto to the bathroom as Mito and Sasuke waited for them. She got the three in the bath, though with a little bit of fussing from the blond boy who would always act like the water was melting him alive. Eventually after much water had been splashed onto the floor below the three toddlers were cleaned as Mikoto got them dried off.

After helping them get clothes on and having their teeth brushed she shooed them away as she cleaned the floor, having been soaked by three overactive menaces. By the time Itachi came to get ready himself Mikoto was clearly ready to start pulling her hair out if she had to deal with anything else today.

Being very wise indeed, Itachi gave his mother a wide berth as she left the room. Mikoto would walk to the kitchen where Mito was waiting for her, excited to cook alongside her. 

At seeing her little girl so happy, Mikoto couldn't help but feel better as she grabbed the girl and tickled her belly, Mito giving a little scream of delight as they both laughed for a moment. Mikoto would pull herself together as she became a little more serious, Mito copying her as they both went down to making breakfast.

After half an hour they were done as Mikoto called the others to eat. The three boys would enter soon after as Mikoto looked to Naruto . “Naru, could you get your uncle up for me?” The boy saluted her as he went to wake up the final member of this family.

Naruto entered the bedroom with a mischievous grin as he got a chair from the side of the room and moved it to the bed . Standing on it he readied himself to "wake up" his uncle. As he heard Fugaku snore, he counted down in his head ‘3…2…1!’ "Cannonball!" 

Slamming Fugaku hard enough to go flying into the air and fall on the bed, he bounced a few times and laughed as his uncle woke up and grumbled about getting a new alarm clock so this won't keep happening. Naruto grabbed Fugaku’s hand as he led him to the dining room with the rest of the family , clearly happy with himself . 

"Got him." Naruto said with a look of satisfaction on his face. 

Mikoto just smiled while rolling her eyes as she looked at Fugaku, "Coffee's ready." she said while handing him a cup made the way he likes the most. Fugaku smiled to her as she went to get ready for the day. He sat at the table and read the newspaper for the day, Naruto sitting next to him while he ate his breakfast.

As the family ate, Naruto looked to Fugaku, eyeing his coffee. "Why do you always drink that anyway?" 

He asked as Fugaku looked up from his paper to eye the three year old, "You'll know when you're older." He said with a smirk as Naruto pouted in his chair, Mito and Sauske rolling their eyes at their brother's question while Itachi smirked at the scene. Once Mikoto came back from getting ready Fugaku got up and went to get ready himself.

Soon the children were all fed, much more of a task then one would think thanks to the twins almost bottomless pits of stomachs . Mikoto helped brush Mito's hair to make it look as nice as possible for the day. After she finished she asked Itachi to watch the three children while she went to find where his father was . 

Searching the home she found him in his study , looking like he was contemplating something . Having an idea of what , she came closer to him, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"You ok?" She asked, looking at him. 

"I don't know." He said with an expression that was unreadable. Mikoto looked into his eyes to show he could tell her what was wrong. 

Fugaku looked at her for a moment before speaking, "I think some in the council are trying to take them away." 

Mikoto gasped at this. "What do you mean?" She asked with worry in her voice. 

Fugaku looked at her with a serious expression and a little fear for only her to see.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Meeting 

Konoha’s clan council chamber was a buzz as the leaders of Konoha talked about the village's recovery . Many were happy with the speed the repairs had gone to in bringing the village to a stable state.

 Hiruzen was happy to see that the village was almost as stable as before the attack almost three years ago now. Maybe they can finally go back to normalcy, though the other village's were not helping in that regard. They had sensed weakness since the attack, and though none had attacked he knew they would try something sooner rather than later

"That's very good to hear. I'm glad we have stabilized at such a quickened rate and I hope we can keep up this amount of progress even after we have completed repairs. Now that that's over I would like to see if anyone has anything they would like to discuss about." He looked to the room as hands were raised and some council members talked about their issues and the like . 

Fugaku sat quietly as he listened to the discussions about certain ideas to help the village, such as certain programs that could help to prevent something like the Kyuubi attack from doing as much damage to the village. Some ideas were increased Anbu activity in the weaker and less patrolled parts of the village, or more strict passing requirements for the academy so only the most worthy could become genin. Danzo even introduced the idea that genin teams begin on more complicated ideas sooner such as showing them their elemental affinities instead of that being something chunin learned. 

Hiruzen listened to the ideas, turning down most but thinking that some of them may be good to have to give the village a little more strength, just in case . However, as the discussion went on, one rang out from the crowd, deciding to voice their opinion on the Kyuubi. 

Hiashi Hyuga, the head of the Hyuga clan and rival to Fugaku, decided to bring an idea that had been festering in his mind since the attack as he remembered that day and many of his family dying from the monster. 

"Could I make a suggestion?" He asked in his usual monotone voice. 

Hiruzen nodded for him to proceed. "It's my knowledge that the Kyuubi broke out thanks to Kushina's seal being weakened, thanks to her being pregnant and giving birth , no?” Hiruzen gave a nod to answer. Fugaku began to have a bad feeling about where this conversation was going. 

“ So if that's the case and both of her children have part of the Kyuubi inside of them , and one of those is a girl, why don't we stop the issue from ever taking place again." 

The council fell quiet as they all realized what this meant, Fugaku growing both angry at his rival and scared for Mito. 

"You aren't suggesting what I think you are, are you Hiashi?" Hiruzen asked as he worried about what he wanted to do to Mito. 

"Yes sir I am. I believe we should sterilize the girl as a safety measure for the village, seeing as all other village's do it to their female Jinchuriki." 

Fugaku rose up immediately upon hearing this as he looked at Hiashi with fire in his eyes. "You will not so much as touch her let alone do something like that to her! Even if you tried to, as her legal guardian I would have final say of such a move until she is at an age where she can choose to do so herself , and my decision is that I will not allow this!" He gave Hiashi a small amount of killing intent to emphasize the message further.

One person in the room listening to this realized this may be his chance to take both children away from the Uchiha , and maybe even gain them as his own. 

"You may be their guardian . But village law states that under certain circumstances the council can decide to ignore your authority, even as a clan head, if they deem the situation a danger to the village. And seeing as not doing so to the previous two Jinchuriki of the Nine tails lead to the seal nearly breaking twice and breaking once, leading to the death of almost 3,000 people in all , I can definitely say this is a situation that needs to be discussed by the council." 

Danzo looked at Fugaku , his usual emotionless face giving no implication that he had any ulterior motive, but many knew to the contrary . "Furthermore you are only the children's guardian because the Hokage allowed it , and if necessary he or the council can decide to take them away if either deems you incapable of caring for them . Or in this case, use or treat them in a way that could harm the village."

Hiruzen looked to Danzo with anger as he knew what he was trying to do , and didn't want him to even touch either one of the twins. Before he could say anything , however, another voice rang out through the council. 

"If I may. Wasn’t one of the reasons for the deaths and damages done to the village in part due to the Uchiha being ordered to stay away from the Kyuubi , and as a result not use their genjutsu to calm the beast down." Tsume Inuzuka said as she looked Danzo down like a wolf would a rabbit . 

"And even if the Kyuubi escaped, the Uchiha would be the best option to stop it from rampaging. The thought of doing that to such a young child disturbs me as well, seeing as both children have the best seals to hold a tailed beast and the other village's that have done this have had much weaker seals then ours. And thanks to our knowledge of Taki we know that they have not done such a thing to their Jinchuuriki either, nor plan on doing so." She finished before sitting down and looking to Fugaku , who gave her a nod of thanks.

“Now, now, I think Hiashi brings a good point. How many times have we had to worry about this from happening? And what do we do if it happens again?” Koharu Utatane, one of Hiruzen’s council members, speaks up as Fugaku looks to her in surprise. How could she say that? Was her loyalty to Danzo truly this great?

“I must agree with Tsume for this.” Shikaku Nara spoke up now, his features showing he wasn't a fan of this idea. “Why should we even have this conversation when we can fix the mistakes of the past by doing what we didn’t before. Something like this just seems too extreme.”

“Not extreme when we have already suffered so much. If this happens again then who is to blame when an idea has come that could fix it for good.” Danzo argued.

Fugaku wasn’t going to hear anymore of this. “So you’re saying we should harm a small girl who hasn’t done anything wrong? These two are Jinchuriki’s, they will be suffering enough as is and this won't help with anything. This idea may even bring resentment against all of us. And wasn’t one of her predecessors last wishes to make sure those who must suffer like her to never had to worry about this exact thing from happening to those after her. The same woman who this very girl was named after, or should we just ignore her. Ignore the words of those who made this very village.”

All listened to Fugaku’s speech, some agreed, others did not. It was at this point that the council discussed if they should allow this to happen as many arguments came in as to why or why not do such a thing to the girl. Fugaku grew more scared for his niece as every point was brought up. 

The decision eventually came down to a vote, eventually leading to allowing Mito to keep her ability to have children in the future , but with the decision that if she would she needed to be watched and under constant protection from at least one Uchiha as to make sure there would never be another Kyuubi attack again, and if it did then all future Jinchuriki would be sterilized if no male candidates could be found, making sure one way or another the village would never have to handle that kind of crisis ever again. 

Fugaku gave a sigh as he was glad Mito wouldn't be touched. The meeting went on to new issues but this didn't mean that Hiashi was done with the children just yet. He hated that Fugaku got the children all those years ago and hated the children for what they held. This had gone to the point that he along with many of the Hyuga elders were making plans to take the children away from the family and make sure they would never hurt anyone ever again. 

As some issues were brought up Hiashi waited for the right moment to try to enact his plan, and thankfully due to his previous stunt he found that many wanted the children to be out of the Uchihas protection as well. This came to the forefront as the children were brought up again thanks to Danzo proposing he trained the children but he was shot down by Fugaku and Hiruzen on this once again, but this was all Hiashi needed as the council started to discuss what should happen to the children for training. 

Fugaku shot down all ideas as he wanted them to go to the academy like all other children instead of having them be trained by someone he didn't trust. Hiashi decided this was his moment as he finally spoke up once more. "Fugaku, why would you turn down some of these suggestions? Many of these ideas would help the children in the long-term as well as the village." 

Fugaku looked at his rival as he knew what game he was playing and knew he was trying to get him into a position that would make him seem unfit to take care of the children. "I do not believe they deserve this treatment. They are children, not weapons and so I want them to be treated as such." Fugaku said with as much composure as he could but he had been losing much of it since this meeting had started turning to "what to do with the twins." Hiashi was about to continue further, seeing many of the council had caught on to his idea and wanted to take the twins away from Fugaku, even if it was for their own reasons, but Hiruzen decided to step in.

"I believe this will be the end of discussions for the night . Let us continue at a later time." Many wanted to argue with this but Hiruzen put his foot down and didn't want to hear anything else about the twins so he ended the meeting then and there.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Party Day

As Fugaku told Mikoto of the meeting he could see her anger start to form towards the council and towards wanting to even think of doing such a thing to Mito. She had also come to the conclusion that many in the council wanted to take the children away due to how they acted, and many of their decisions during the meeting pointed to them planning something. She was almost ready to start yelling as Fugaku got ready to try to calm her down, he knew if she started to get worked up she might scare the little ones and they didn't need that right now. 

“We can’t start this right now, let's try to calm down.” 

The look she gave him made even him want to step back. “Calm down. Calm down! How can I do that right now! They want to do that to her and you want me to just calm down! I won't let this happen, I can’t!”

“I know, but if we just get worked up over this right now it won’t help anyone. Let’s just-”

"Aunt Mikoto?" 

Both were startled by the small voice behind them as they froze. They turned slowly to meet Mito standing by the door, noticing the adults not looking happy. Mikoto and Fugaku almost jumped at seeing her at the door, hoping she didn't hear any of their conversation. 

Mikoto, after a moment, realized that Mito seemed to want to talk to her as she gave her a small smile. "What's the matter sweetie?" 

"Naruto and Sasuke are fighting again." Mito said as the sounds of the two boys finally came to the ears of the adults. Mikoto ran out of the room to break up the two, talking under her breath about this getting ridiculous. 

Mito waited at the door, looking at Fugaku. He noticed this as he met her with a confused expression. "What's wrong?" He asked in a much softer tone then with most he talked too, something he only ever did with his own children. 

Mito walked up to him with a scared look on her face. "Why were you and Aunt Mikoto so mad? I heard you talk about me." 

Fugaku’s fears became actualized as he didn't want Mito to know about what happened or know about the meeting in general. He went up to her and kneeled down to be within eye level of her, keeping his voice calm and soothing. "Don't worry, we were just talking about some stuff that we had to do today for you and Naruto. Me and your aunt just got a little side tracked on another issue, but it has nothing to do with you ok. So don't worry." 

He waited a moment for her to nod to him to show she understood before he gave her a hug to comfort her so she wouldn't have to worry. Mito hugged him back as she was happy nothing bad was happening before he picked her up into his arms. "Now let's make sure your brothers don't get into any trouble." Fugaku said as he gave her one of his rare smiles. Mito giggled as she nodded to him as they both left the room.

Once both entered the living room they found Naruto and Sasuke on opposite sides of the room, both looking terrified of something while Mikoto was sitting on the couch reading a book, Itachi standing at the room's entrance looking at the two boys, clearly amused. 

"What happened?" Fugaku asked, looking at the scene in front of him while Mito looked at the boys wondering the same thing. Itachi looked at his father with a slight smirk, "Mother taught them how to behave." 

Fugaku, understanding this, grinned as he looked at both boys. "Ah, I see." 

Mikoto got up from the couch and walked to her husband, a smile visible on her face. Taking Mito from his arms, much to the girl's delight, She adjusted her on her hip before looking at him. 

"Well I think they should be good for the time being. If you two can get everything ready for the party, I'll take these three to the park." She said while looking at the two boys who became excited when they heard the p word. 

Fugaku nodded as he and Itachi went to set up for the party. Mikoto got the three children together as they all left home for the park. 

As they passed through the Uchiha compound many of the other Uchiha waved and greeted the group of four with smiles and congratulations for the twins. While some, like the elders, were less than pleased to have the twins be within the clan, the majority of the clan thought of them as one of their own. 

There was a fear with Mikoto and Fugaku about how the clan would feel with the knowledge of the twins holding the Kyuubi within them however. Many thought it was an Uchiha that had unleashed the beast after the Sharingan was seen within its eyes for a good part of the attack, leaving many distrustful of the clan as a whole. It was thanks to Hiruzen that only a small few even knew about what had happened to the beast, and hopefully it would stay that way.

As the group left the compound however the vibe began to slowly change. Many gave her and the children looks as they passed by. Mikoto knew they did this even if only behind her back, with a distrust for the clan as a whole resulting in the distrust of the children as well. 

As they walked, Mikoto noticed Mito become more uncomfortable as she looked at the people around her. Mikoto knew this would happen as she squeezed Mito's hand to try and give her some comfort. Something Mikoto and Fugaku had learned with Mito was that she could somehow feel others’ emotions though neither ever knew how this was possible. They had their theories but they never could truly figure it out, though they knew she must have had it since she was a baby since they had first noticed it when she first came to be with them.

As they continued to walk Mito grew more uncomfortable, getting closer to Mikoto for comfort. Mikoto eventually picked her up so she would feel safe. Naruto and Sasuke, both ahead of the two, noticed this and stayed close to their sister. Naruto had always been protective of Mito and whenever she felt distressed he would make sure she was ok and safe. Sasuke, despite having his problems with Naruto at times, would always watch his two younger siblings and never let them feel scared or sad while he was around.

Once they entered the park Mikoto let Mito down as the three went to play while she laid out a picnic blanket and watched the three go up to their friends. Naruto and Sasuke going up to two children, one child with pineapple shaped hair laying in the grass and another eating a bag of chips sitting next to the lazy kid. Mito on the other hand went up to a blond girl who was beside a pink haired girl who was building sandcastles. Mikoto watched the three play, happy to see Mito was far more calm. While watching the children she notices someone else come up to her. 

Tsume Inuzuka waved to Mikoto as she walked with her youngest son Kiba. Mikoto waved back as to be polite. While she and Tsume were never close, even when Kushina had been alive, she was on their side when it came to the twins and always seemed to try to help Fugaku when the council tried to do something with them. 

Tsume walked up to Mikoto with a smile as she began to make conversation. "Well hello. How have you been?" Tsume asked. 

Mikoto was surprised by this as Tsume almost never talked to her, more often than not talking to Fugaku if she ever saw them in public. Mikoto's surprise quickly faded as she gave Tsume a small smile. "I've been good. And you?" 

"Better than I deserve. Hey, is it alright if my Kiba here plays with your kids?" She asked, giving Mikoto a look that told her she wanted to talk. 

Mikoto's smile grew as she nodded to Tsume, who pushed Kiba to go play, which he gladly expected. She sat next to Mikoto as they watched the children for a moment, both just staying silent as the wind blew in the mid autumn morning.

"Did Fugaku tell you about what happened during the meeting?" Tsume asked, looking at Mikoto. 

She nodded, not hiding the fear she still felt from earlier that morning. "Yes. I don't like that some are planning to even think of doing that to Mito. Honestly I fear that they may be trying to take them away." 

Tsume took a minute before finally speaking, trying to find the best thing to say. "I know we were never close, but Kushina was someone we both cared about. I wouldn't have let those children get hurt if they weren't adopted by you. Honestly I still hold that as a responsibility, if anything, to honor Kushina." 

She looked at Mikoto who gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you. You've been a very good ally for the past three years. We don't know how to even repay you." 

Tsume just grinned. "Let's start with making them happy. They deserve so much and I don't want them to ever feel like they don't." 

Mikoto nodded as they fell into a silence, watching the children play.

After an hour Mikoto and Tsume got their children along with the other parents, all now heading to their respective compounds to get ready for the party. All clan heads had been invited as was custom when a child of one had a birthday. 

As Mikoto walked home with the now exhausted children she felt as if something was watching her. She didn't make it obvious that she knew, a shinobi, even a retired one, never showed weakness. She did however pick up the pace, wanting to get the three home as soon as possible. 

Once they all had gotten home she sent the three to bed for a nap, happy all had much of their energy drained from the park. She knew all too well that they would all be full of energy once the party actually started but if they were quiet for even a little bit she would be more than satisfied. 

As she went to check on Fugaku and Itachi’s progress on the party she was happy to see they had finished setting up and were now just waiting for it to begin in a few hours. All three went to sit in the family room to relax as much as they could, knowing once the three three year olds woke up they wouldn't have any time to relax until the whole family fell asleep.

2 hours later

Mito was the first to wake up, coming into the family room with a stuffed fox she had gotten for her first birthday and was almost never seen without while in the house. She made her way to Itachi who was reading a novel, one of his favorites, rubbing her eyes of their sleepiness and sitting with him. Both sat silently as they just enjoyed each other's company.

The next to wake was Sasuke, who sat next to Itachi opposite of Mito, all in the room silent as they knew when the sixth member of the family woke up the house wouldn't be quiet again.

Naruto woke with a loud yawn before he cheered out loudly, happy that today was really today and not a dream. His birthday was here and he was now three. Everyone else rolled their eyes at the blonds antics, far too used to it for such a thing to bother them all that much. 

As Naruto entered the family room he noticed that both his siblings had already taken Itachi, so he went to Fugaku and jumped onto his lap. Fugaku had become far too used to this by now as Naruto had always had an attachment to him, always wanting to be with him out of the family the most. Itachi was a close second.

The family got ready for the party, making sure any last minute changes were made before the first of the guests started to appear. 

Their close family came first as many Uchiha entered to greet the birthday boy and girl, giving the twins warm smiles as they brought their presents. 

Next up were the clan heads, Tsume being one of them as she came with both Kiba and her eldest daughter Hana. The only clan head that didn't come was Hiashi, not much of a surprise seeing how at this point he and Fugaku would have killed each other. 

Last of the guests was a very late Kakashi Hatake, the last living student of Minato and a man who had become a sort of older brother figure for the twins. 

The party went well as the twins enjoyed their presents and the cake that came right after. 

Everyone cheered as the twins blew out the candles together, both getting a big slice for each of them. As the twins had their cake Mikoto noticed Naruto seemed to be thinking of something as he ate much slower than he normally did when food was around. 

She looked to Fugaku, who noticed this as well. Both wondered what could have made the hyperactive blond so down, but just as quickly as they noticed this it was gone as Naruto went back to his normal self as he and Mito played with the other children their age.

As the party wound down the guests left, Tsume being the last as she talked to Fugaku and Mikoto about some things the children didn't understand, or care enough to worry about. Once the last of the guests left Mikoto and Fugaku got the children ready for the final part of today, bringing the twins to the Hokage. All the three elder members walked silently while the three children talked about the day and how fun it was.

Once the family entered the tower Hiruzen’s secretary led Fugaku, Mikoto and the twins to his office while Itachi and Sasuke stayed in a waiting room for the other four. 

When they reached Hiruzen’s office doors Fugaku felt a tug on his sleeve as he looked to see Naruto and Mito staring up at him. 

“Can we knock?” Mito asked as Naruto gave a pleading look alongside his sister. Fugaku and Mikoto couldn't hold back their smiles of how  cute they were being. 

“Of course.” Mikoto smiled at them as their faces lit up and turned to knock. After a moment a “come in" was heard and they entered, Naruto and Mito running and tackling the older man who they thought of as a grandpa. 

"Hi old man." Naruto said hugging Hiruzen with a large smile. 

"Hi Jiji." Mito said while giving Hiruzen her trademark smile. 

Hiruzen gave a hardy laugh at the two as he said hello to them both, rubbing their heads much to their dislike. "Well look at who it is, how have you both been? Have Fugaku and Mikoto treated you well?" 

Both children nodded to his question. "We're good old man." 

"Aunt Mikoto and Uncle Fugaku have been treating us great." Both adults smiled at Mito's answer as they sat in two chairs at the other end of Hiruzen’s desk. Hiruzen smiled to the two as he looked to the adults. 

"So how was the party? I'm sorry I couldn't make it." Mikoto spoke up to the old man's question. "It was good, they had lots of fun and seemed to have enjoyed themselves. And that is alright we understand you are very busy, especially today Lord Third." 

Hiruzen nodded to her as he looked down to the twins once more, a smile on his face as he thought of the present he had for them both. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your party, but I hope these will make up for it." He got up, sitting both children on his seat, much to their delight, as he went to a filing cabinet on the far side of the room. 

Opening the bottom drawer he got out two small hats similar to his Hokage hat, along with two robes. One robe looked similar to that of Minato’s old robe with Naruto’s name written in Kanji on the back, the other robe had long sleeves and was waist length with Mito's name written in Kanji on its back. 

"I know you both have said you wanted to become Hokage one day so I thought these could help with that." He handed them their mini Hokage robes, both children having stars in their eyes as they thanked him with another hug before putting on their respective outfits. 

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at the children with awe as they noticed just how similar Naruto was to his father while in that robe. 

Both children looked to their guardians with some of the largest smiles on their faces. "What do you think?" Mito asked, looking at Mikoto. "They look amazing sweetheart. I can already see you both in the chair now." 

Mito beamed to the adults as Naruto gave a smile and looked to Mikoto. "Thank you mommy."

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Birthday Wish

Silence fell across the room as all took in what Naruto had just said. The air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Hiruzen looked at Naruto to make sure he heard him right, his anger being stifled for the moment. 

"Naruto, what did you just call her?" 

His anger was only barely kept down as he looked at the two stunned adults. Naruto suddenly realized what he had said as he went white. All eyes were still on him as they waited for his answer, even Mito couldn't move. 

Hiruzen clearly didn't appreciate the little one's silence as his voice became far more authoritative. 

“Naruto, what did you say.”

"M-Mommy." Naruto's tiny voice was barely over a whisper, yet the silence around him made it sound so loud. The twins watched Hiruzen now stand from his chair, staring at Fugaku and Mikoto with immense rage.

"I told you they weren't allowed to call you that!" Mikoto looked up at him as if she was now a small child and not the grown woman she truly was. "Lord Third we promise we haven't had them call us that, he hasn't even called us that before now." 

Hiruzen’s stare intensified as his anger came out slowly. "And yet he did something I told you both was never allowed to happen!"

“Lord Third please, we're so sorry for this please do-”

“Enough! I will not allow this! I told both of you my terms for them to stay with you and said I would have no expectations. I had been gracious and let some things go but this was something I would never let happen!” 

His voice was as powerful as the lightning that falls to the earth. Both Uchiha were powerless against his anger as he prepared to do what he had promised to do if his rules were broken.

"Why!" All turned to the small voice that had yelled out as Naruto looked at Hiruzen, determination in his  tear filled eyes. 

"Why can't we call them that? That's what they are. You said it's ok that Sasuke and Itachi are our brothers. So why can't we have a mommy and daddy too. That's all I wanted. I wanted to do that all day. During the party, the walk here. So why not!" The tears had started to run down his face as he looked to Fugaku. "I wished you were my mommy and daddy, but you're not. I-I just want..." 

Naruto ran to Fugaku as he jumped onto his lap and buried his face into the crook of his neck. "I want that!" He said crying into the man's arms as Fugaku held him, trying his best to compose himself.

Mikoto looked to Mito who had been very quiet and had been looking to the floor once her brother had started to cry. Her eyes were welling up with tears as she shook in her spot.

"Mito?" She said, looking at the tiny red head. Mito looked to her, tears spilling from her eyes as she too broke out into cries. She ran to Mikoto and jumped into her arms. 

"Mommy!" She sobbed out before both children couldn't do anything more than cry as loudly as possible. Mikoto began to tear up and held her baby close, trying her best to soothe her as she choked through sobs of her own. "It's ok. It's ok. I know, I know." 

Hiruzen looked at this sight in front of him, now seeing his rule may have harmed the children more than he would have liked. He didn't know why this kept happening, and more importantly didn't want the children to continue crying. He looked to Fugaku who didn't try to hide his fear and sadness as he rubbed Naruto’s back, hoping to comfort him as much as he could. 

"Lord Third, please." 

The clan head begged as he looked to his leader. He was throwing away his pride for them, just wanting this to stop.

Hiruzen was stunned into silence from this act. He now understood the damage he had done. He let his fear take hold when it never truly would have made things better. He failed, like he always did.

"Ok."

Mikoto and Fugaku looked in surprise, the twins crying stopped for a moment as they heard the old man speak. The whole family was silent, waiting for what he'd say next.

"I see I've done more harm than good, something I never wanted to do to them. They deserve you as you do them. They are yours. Keep them safe and happy for me." 

It didn't seem real. How could it be? Mikoto had to know, she just had to.

“R-Really.” 

He only gave a nod, but that's all she needed.

Mikoto cried tears of joy as she hugged Mito tightly, Naruto coming into her embrace as she kissed them. They both cried with her as they were just so happy. They finally had a mother, the only thing they truly wanted on this day.

In the shadows two Anbu members realized this all seemed very familiar but let that go as they hugged each other, waterfall tears streaming down their faces. 

Fugaku nodded to Hiruzen as he picked up Naruto from Mikoto's arms. He snuggled into Fugaku's arms with a smile visible on his face. Both children began to drift off to sleep as their parents left the office to get the last two of their now complete family children. Hiruzen let them go as he stayed behind, feeling he would only ruin such a moment.

Itachi rocked a now asleep Sasuke as he waited for his parents to return. The little boy was so tired from the day that when he had to wait for so long he just got onto Itachi's lap and laid his head against his chest. Itachi didn't mind as he just continued to wait patiently. Sasuke shifted for a moment as Itachi looked to see what was wrong. Luckily the boy was still out like a light as he looked back up to see his parents with his other two siblings. 

"What's wrong? You look like you've been crying." Itachi noted, seeing his mother's puffy red eyes. 

"Yes we were, but not out of sadness. Lord Third has allowed us to fully adopt them. They're your siblings, for real now." 

Itachi looked to his mother, a part of him couldn't believe it. He always loved them, ever since his mother had told him his Aunt Kushina was going to have babies, but now. Happiness crawled his heart as he realized the twins were finally, truly, his siblings. Nothing to doubt now.

The family all stayed with one another, happy for what transpired today. They were finally one. They began to walk home as they felt like nothing could ever ruin this moment. 

Unfortunately, away from them in a dark hallway, watching them leave was Danzo. Seething inside, his outside its usual stony face. He hated that the twins were now given to the Uchiha, and as a result couldn't be taken away from the family. He knew their parents wouldn't do anything that would make them seem terrible enough to take away the children. As their guardians he could at least have a way to justify it as them going against the village, but now that they were legally Uchihas they were under the clans full protection along with their allies. 

And what's worse is that they had grown as the Inuzuka seemed to be heading to become closer with the Uchiha. This just couldn't do. He needed to protect the village and couldn't have the Uchiha use the Kyuubi's vessels for themselves. But what could he do now? 

That was when he realized the perfect way to punish the Uchiha for what they've done. If the Uchiha were hated even more than they already were now he could start on a plan to get rid of that horrible clan for good, and giving the village a way to finally vent their frustration on the Kyuubi attack could lead them to be more than ever. 

Danzo retreated into the shadows as he got ready to get his plan into motion. The only thing he needed was something to destabilize the village's government to make his plan even easier to execute, but even he didn't want to do something that could hurt him in the long run. So what to do. 

Maybe the ambassador from Kumo that was supposed to arrive could give him an idea. He could only hope.

He watched as the man entered the compound. They were quiet but he could see they were being sloppy. No wonder this man was doomed to die. 

It took that man minutes to escape, and the child's father would kill him before he even had a chance to run from the compound walls. How pathetic.

He watched but did nothing. He wouldn't change anything yet, that was still to come. He would keep the status quo and let things go as they should, but something did nag at him.

She had noticed him. Only for a moment and she likely didn't even truly know he was there, but she still noticed him.

This was the first time anyone noticed him since that day. What did that mean for him? Did the girl also catch wind of him at some point. No, not likely. She was becoming a greater sensor each day yet at no point did she find him.

So the woman was likely just lucky. Still, he couldn't let a slip up like that happen again. If he was found it would all be for nothing. He would lie low. Until the day was finally here.

Three years. Just three years to wait.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: 3 Years Later

Red. Red was all that could be seen. The sky was the color of blood. The moon had the image of the Sharingan etched into its surface, illuminating the corpses all over the ground.

Their bodies seemed drained of their blood which had been staining the ground. Their cold husks only showed the pain they had gone through in their final moments. 

There was only one lone survivor in this carnage, none other than Itachi. 

Horror all over his face, standing over two of the three people in this world that he cared for the most. His legs couldn't hold his weight as he fell to his knees looking at the face of Sasuke, his features showing pure terror. Turning his gaze to Sasuke's left, the body of Naruto laid in the blood face down. 

Itachi reached for him, arm only an inch from touching him, before he heard a cough as he looked to a building and saw Mito leaning against it blood running from her mouth. Itachi ran to his sister, hoping desperately he wasn't too late. He bent down to her as his eyes noticed a large gash in her torso, from the looks of it a slash from a blade if he wasn't mistaken, but who would have done this.

"I-Itachi," Mito said weakly, blood spewing from her mouth. "w-why?"

Itachi didn't know what she was talking about, what did she mean? What did he do? 

Itachi looked down only to see in his right hand a bloodied tanto, his clothes now that of his Anbu uniform with blood all over his clothes and skin. 

Itachi dropped the weapon as he stood, backing away from Mito who had passed with her eyes still on him. Itachi didn't know what was going on and was panicking. Lifting his hands to his face as he began to cry. His family is gone. His clan is gone. And all of it was his fault. 

Itachi began to scream to the sky, asking the gods what he did to deserve this. His knees gave way as he sobbed on the ground. He smashed his fist into the ground, his screams echoing but with no one to hear them.

The sound of footsteps began to echo through the compound. Itachi's sobs began to quiet down as he looked for the originator. 

They were getting louder with each step. Itachi looked but he couldn't find them. Where were they? They sounded close, almost as if they were right behind him.

A hand rested on his shoulder, the man's tired voice was monotone and almost condescending. As if Itachi was nothing but a child to him.

“You can't bring them back, so why even bother crying? They're gone. This bloodshed is your fault. It's all their fault.”

Itachi looked to the man as he gestured to all the bodies. “None of you could learn from the mistakes of the past, and now…”

He bent down to whisper into Itachi's ear. “Now I have to save it. All because you failed.”

The ground began to crack around them. The man disappeared as he suddenly felt himself begin to fall into a dark void. Everything around him fell in with him. He screamed out in his last moments, but no one heard him.

Itachi awoke from his sleep, the nightmare fading in his mind. 

Taking deep breaths he focused on his surroundings and realized he was sitting on his bed in his room. Listening to the sounds outside his room only to hear the sounds of his mother beginning to wake up his three younger siblings. 

Getting out of his bed, he got into some of his civilian clothes before opening his door, only to see Mito walking past it with a tired look on her face. Itachi froze for a moment as her unblinking eyes still remained fresh in his memory, but Mito noticed him as she ran to her eldest brother with her trademark smile.

"Good morning Itachi! Can you believe it's our first day at the Academy today! I can't wait!"

Itachi looked at her for a moment before giving her a smile of his own, something he rarely did nowadays. "Are you now? Are Sasuke and Naruto up yet?" He asked.

"Uhh, no. Naruto’s still fast asleep and mom just told me to wake Sasuke up for her. I don't even know how they aren't up yet seeing that all three of us have been waiting to go for like, forever."

Itachi chuckled at Mito as he loved it when she got mad, due to her only looking cute instead of threatening. "I'm sure Sasuke will be up. Naruto on the other hand…" All in the family knew that was a far different story.

"You're telling me. I wonder how we're even related sometimes." Mito said with a huff.

Itachi left his room, following her to Sasuke's to see if he was up. Once they came to his door Mito opened it and was about to shout but stopped when she saw Sasuke was about to open it maybe half a second after she did. "Oh good, you're up. Mom said we need to wake up Naruto." Mito said to Sasuke 

Sasuke groaned at hearing this. "Again, why isn't he up by now? I mean the dobe has more energy than the three of us combined. You'd think he'd have been up due to how excited he was last night."

"What are you guys talking about me for?" Everyone jumped at hearing the blond behind them already awake. This was a scare to even Itachi, though he quickly recovered. Mito looked at her twin in surprise before getting her ability to speak back. "Wait, when did you wake up?" She asked.

"A minute ago, why?" Naruto asked as he eyed his siblings who all seemed astounded that such a thing like this was possible.

"B-But you're never up on time. It usually takes all of us to wake you up, and even then we've sometimes needed mom and dad to help. Why are you up now?" Sasuke asked while looking at his younger brother.

"What, I can't be excited too? I've been waiting to go since we were three." Naruto said with a bit of annoyance at seeing his siblings think he couldn't get up if he wanted to. Itachi blinked at his youngest brother before rolling his eyes at the blond with a look of amusement on his face, walking to the kitchen while the other three followed right behind him.

Mikoto looked up from making breakfast to see all four of her children walking into the dining room, Naruto included. 

"Wow, I'm impressed you got him up so early." She said in surprise. 

Naruto looked at his mother with hurt on his face. "Oh come on, you too mom!" Mikoto chuckled to her youngest son's response. "Well sorry but you aren't the most morning loving person of the group." She said to him, Naruto gave a pout before sitting in his seat, the others following suit. 

"So are you all ready for the Academy?" Mikoto asked, trying to change the subject. All three children nodded as smiles came over their faces.

"I'd hope so. That's all they've been wanting to do for the past three and a half years." Itachi said with a smirk at seeing his siblings giving him glares. "Well it's true." 

"I just can't wait to show off my moves. I'm gonna become the best there ever was at the academy." Naruto said with some arrogance in his words. 

"That's if you can even remember half of the things on your homework." Mito said, giving her brother a look while she ate her eggs.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? Just cause I'm not a bookworm like you doesn't mean I can't do good." 

"I'm not a bookworm!" Mito yelled at her brother, both ready to kill each other. Mikoto sighed as she looked at Itachi, who was also sighing at the sight.

"Hey will you two stop fighting, some people are trying to eat." Sasuke said with his usual snark.

"Oh shut up teme!" Naruto yelled to Sasuke from his chair. 

"Yeah teme, shut up." Mito yelled.

"Hey, don't call me that bookworm!" Sasuke yelled as the three began to argue amongst themselves. 

"Well that was longer than usual." Mikoto said to Itachi who nodded. "I wonder when the chains will come out this ti… oh there they are." 

At that moment Mito brought out three golden chains from her back that ensnared the two boys. Mikoto, knowing what was going to happen next, decided to stop this from getting any worse. "OK enough! Mito put those away and let your brothers go now! What did your father tell you about using them?" 

All three kids stiffened as Mito immediately listened to her mother and put away her chains. "I'm sorry mom, I won't do it again I promise. But." Mito looked at the floor while saying this. 

"But why can't I use it in school anyway? I mean I have them so why can't I show them to others. Why do I have to be so secretive with them?" 

Mikoto looked to her daughter, knowing she hated this rule. "Mito we've been over this, they are very dangerous for someone your age to use and someone your age could get seriously hurt if they were hit by it." Mito pouted a little but nodded nonetheless.

"Why are you so mad, you at least have something. My Sharingan hasn't even awakened yet." Sasuke said to his sister with a frown. He had gotten jealous when Mito unlocked her chains. 

"Oh you're fine. At least you know you'll eventually get it, just be patient." Mito said with a bit of sass. A sudden smack from the table got everyone's attention as Naruto’s seat stood up and stormed out of the room. 

All blinked for a moment, just trying to process what had just happened. Mikoto was the first to get out of her stupor as she remembered why he would act that way. Ever since the children were old enough to realize they were adopted both had become sad at knowing they'd never unlock the families Kekkei Genkai, and while neither showed it, Mikoto knew they felt insecure about never unlocking their families trait. 

This feeling only seemed to increase in Naruto as around two years ago Mito unlocked her chains and he found out that he may never be able to unlock this due to it having been a very rare ability in the Uzumaki to the point that even if you had a parent that could use them it could have been that none of their children, or even grandchildren, ever unlocked it. 

Mikoto knew that she could have been wrong about this information as it was given to her by Kushina who wasn't very sure on the details of it either, but this was still the most likely outcome. And unfortunately for Naruto, this outcome wasn't one he wanted to be true.

It took a few minutes before anyone else decided to move, but soon Mito and Sasuke got up after their shock had passed as they went to go find their brother to apologize, all in the family knowing of his feelings on this subject. 

They walked through the house, coming to the one place someone could always seemingly find Naruto, the compound's garden. 

Looking through the large open area they both came to a large sakura tree and found their brother laying on one of its more sizable branches. 

"Naruto, look we're sorry about that. We forgot you don't like that kind of stuff." Mito said with a sorry look on her face. 

"Yeah we didn't mean to make you feel left out." Sasuke chirped in, feeling bad for his brother. 

Naruto just looked at his siblings with an emotionless face before jumping off the branch and landing in the middle of them both. "Let's just get to school." Was all he said before walking back to their home. Mito and Sasuke looked at each other with a hint of worry before following behind him.

Fugaku came into the dining room as he heard a commotion only to see Mikoto and Itachi sitting at the table and the other three gone. 

"Did they do it again?" He asked his wife who nodded. 

"So I'm guessing they started talking about it and Naruto got jealous and ran off." Mikoto nodded to this as he sat in his chair with a sigh. He remembered the day Mito had unlocked her chains and how from that point on Naruto seemed to be much more distant when it came to talking about abilities that came from bloodlines.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Father Daughter Day

A small kick to his side was what woke him up that morning.

He stirred awake, drowsily looking at his clock next to their bed. 5:32, quite late for him actually. Turning his head to see who woke him this morning, he found little Mito on her back, snoozing with Mikoto’s stomach as a makeshift pillow. Though it didn't seem like she minded as her hand was sitting on top of her little head, tangled in the girl's red hair.

He shouldn’t have been all that surprised, Mito always found a way into their bed at night, though they both hoped this habit would end soon. The boys seemed to have gotten to sleeping on their own far quicker than her, even if they would just sleep in the same bed before morning anyway. Mito on the other hand wasn’t as much a fan.

He wouldn't complain about it, a part of him honestly didn’t want the change to come just yet. The kicking on the other hand, that he couldn’t wait to do without.

“Oof” Another kick landed on his side as Mito let out a small yawn. Little eyes squinted open as she rolled on her side, Mikoto’s hand falling limply beside her. Fugaku didn’t believe for a second she was that tired, and the slight smirk proved his point. Mito didn’t notice however as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking straight at him.

She was clearly still half asleep as she made grabby hands to him. “Daddy.”

He sat up and took her, laying her on his chest as Mikoto finally decided to “wake up”.

“Morning.” She said as she stretched. Fugaku wasn’t buying that act for a second.

“You’re not slick.” He whispered as Mito snored in his arms. 

“I’m not the one holding her last time I checked.” She gave him a mischievous smirk as all he could do was roll his eyes in defeat. “Thought so. Are you ready to spend all day with her?”

He gave a nod as he got out of bed with the still sleeping 4 year old. “Are you ready to deal with the boys for the day?” He smirked as her smile faltered for a moment.

“I’ve got one less to deal with for today so the boys will be easy.” My how much she would regret that sentence by the end of the night.

“I want that one.” Mito pointed to the flavor she wanted, the ice cream clerk happily scooping it for her as Fugaku handed him the money. They walked hand in hand as Mito had the melted treat all over her face, but Fugaku didn't mind. This was one of the few times they spent father daughter time together due to his busy schedule, and his responsibilities with the clan and the family as a whole. It was due to this that Mito was making sure they made the most of today. 

Fugaku , for his part, was allowing it without hesitation as he knew how much these times meant to her , and now that she had finally become his true daughter only a year ago it felt even more special to him.

As they walked through the village Fugaku kept Mito close as he didn't want the villagers to even try anything to her. Their hate towards the twins had increased due to their identities as the Jinchuriki for the Nine Tails being revealed only a few months ago during the Hyuga Affair that Kumo had started. The political turmoil of this event seemed to be what someone had been waiting for as now the village seemed to hate the Uchiha even more than before.

Mito and Naruto however seemed none the wiser to what the village was thinking, something Fugaku and Mikoto were very thankful for. 

They both came to a stop near a bench as they sat to eat the last of their treat, Fugaku wiping Mito's face as it had become extremely messy from her ice cream. As he did so he noticed many Hyuga's passing them, giving glares to the two. Mito seemed to start getting uncomfortable as she looked up to her father with a look of distress. 

Deciding it was time to move on, Fugaku took Mito's hand and began to lead her back home. Looking down to her he gave her a comforting smile . Unfortunately this didn't seem to make Mito feel any better as she got closer to him , grabbing onto his leg as he felt her begin to shake . Fugaku frowned a little at that as he looked back to notice that more Hyuga's had appeared.

Fugaku didn't like just how many Hyuga's he had seen going down this street as he finally realized they were entering the half of Konoha that most Hyuga's stayed on due to that half having their compound. This was a similar situation with the Uchiha who had stayed on their side of Konoha after being relocated in the weeks after the Kyuubi attack. 

Fugaku didn't want to have any trouble as they rounded a corner to a road that led back to the Uchiha Compound. Mito for her part stayed close, not liking the feelings she was receiving from those around her. So much anger and fear was overwhelming to her and she didn't like it at all.

As they made it to the road Fugaku suddenly noticed a man and young girl in formal Hyuga robes walking towards them. Both men stopped a few meters apart from one another as Fugaku stared at Hiashi. Hiashi didn't hesitate to show his hatred towards the man as he pushed the young girl behind him, startling and confusing her.

Mito looked to her father as she noticed his anger towards the man in front of them, that man having a similar reaction to seeing her father. But then, she noticed another feeling. Mito looked to see someone behind the man who seemed very scared at seeing this situation. As she looked closer to the person she realized they were a girl her age hiding behind the man but who was also peeking out from behind him to see what would happen.

Fugaku and Hiashi continued their stare down for a few more moments before Fugaku went to pick up Mito as he began to walk home. Hiashi watched Fugaku leave as he ushered his daughter , Hinata , to follow him. Both men locked eyes with one another as they passed as Mito noticed the man's face seemed to change, veins just under his eyes popping out from his skin. Mito looked away in fear as she then noticed her father's eyes had changed to their Sharingan as they left , her fear finally getting the best of her as a few tears fell. To her credit however she didn't make a noise, knowing her father couldn't worry more right now. 

Fugaku walked in silence with Mito for a few minutes , his mind racing with angry thoughts towards Hiashi before he finally noticed his Sharingan were still active . As he deactivated them and looked at Mito who seemed very uncomfortable as he noticed some tears in her eyes . When he finally realized what he had done he began to panic within his mind as he stopped.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Fugaku finally said after a few moments of silence. Mito looked up to her father in surprise before shaking her head. "He was scary." Fugaku internally winced at that . Brushing her hair he brought her into a hug as he began to calm her. He didn't want Mito to know about any of the actions Hiashi had taken to hurt her , and more importantly, he didn't want her to be worried or even scared, especially not on this day . 

Looking down at her, he then noticed something golden on her neck. Curious, he pulled back as he activated his Sharingan to get a better look at this golden string coming out of her neck . What he noticed made his eyes widened in shock. 

The golden string was made of chakra, and more importantly, wasn't a string but a chain. Mito looked at her father confused as he had stopped and was staring at her with his Sharingan activated. Trying to figure out what he was looking at, she noticed something warm on her neck as she reached for it. What she felt was some kind of warm metal on her neck, as she went to take it off her.

A yelp of pain followed this attempt as when she pulled it seemed to be stuck to her skin. Fugaku stopped her from doing anything else as he had her let it go, now watching it retreat into her skin as it disappeared.

Mito was very confused as to what was going on as Fugaku began to go back home , knowing that Mikoto needed to hear about this.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: Day 1 of Many

Fugaku was steered from his thoughts as he heard the door open, seeing his three youngest children coming back inside, noticing that Naruto seemed much less excited than usual. 

Mikoto got up from her seat as she spoke up. "Well I think it's time to get ready then. You three go and get changed for the day." She told the three as they nodded and left for their rooms. 

Itachi got up from his seat as he went to the bathroom to get cleaned up , not wanting to wait his turn . Mikoto looked to Fugaku as Itachi left the room , his expression telling. 

“It was that bad?” 

“He's getting worse every day, Fuga.”

“I know. Maybe I should talk to him?”

She gave a nod to his question. It was clear to them both he needed someone to talk to, and for Naruto that person was Fugaku.

Fugaku nodded as he went to Naruto and Mito's room. With every step even he could feel the tension in the air getting thicker. Naru wasn't having it today, that's for sure.

As he came up to the twins room Mito walked out in her outfit for the day. This one being a red and white shirt with lavender shorts and black sandals, her crimson hair in a ponytail. 

Fugaku looked at her , his face asking the lingering question, Mito frowning and shaking her head. 

"He's that mad huh?" He asked. 

Mito only nodded as she left for the bathroom to wash up. Taking a deep breath, Fugaku opened the door to the room as he saw Naruto sitting on his bed, head resting on his hands. 

Walking up to him he looked down to the boy . He looked like he could explode at any moment, he'd have to be careful with this talk. Naruto looked up to him, giving a slight frown, before looking back out his bedroom window.

"You ok?" Fugaku asked as he looked at his son .

"I'm fine." Was all Naruto gave in response. Fugaku sat next to him as he looked out the window to the village. It was still early, good thing the academy wouldn't be starting for a few more hours. 

"I know you want to have one. I did too when I was your age."

"Yeah , but you at least knew you'd get one , and you got it. But I'm not. You said it yourself, she may be the only one to get it for a while and that was all we had. And Sasuke will get his eyes one day too. Mom, you and Itachi have your eyes already and I won't get anything. I just get to be the disappointment that can't be like any of you." 

Naruto felt a tear go down his face as he said that. Fugaku frowned as he put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. "Who said you were a disappointment? None of us are going to treat you any differently in this house or the compound just because you don't have a power." 

"But others will." Naruto said as he looked to his father, tears rolling down his face. "I'm not an Uchiha and others know that. I'm not like any of you and I can never be like you. How can I make you happy if I can do something like you can? I can't make any fire like Sasuke or Mito so I'm not really a member of the clan . If I can't do that then what am I other than a failure?" 

He was sobbing at this point. And everything he said was true. The Uchiha never truly considered you one of their own unless you could do the Fireball jutsu. In a way he wasn't one of them until that day came, but every time he tried to do it he failed. Never could he make a flame, something the other two could at least attempt.

He was starting to get even worse as that thought came to him. He was a failure, worse than all the ones that came before him in the Uchiha. At least they still had their blood. But he didn't even have that. Just the name, and yet he didn't even get to have that alone, it had to be tacked on at the end instead.

Naruto felt himself be pulled into a hug as Fugaku held him . He cried into his chest , hot wet tears soaking the man's shirt, but he would never mind that. He loved the boy far too much for such a thing to bother him . 

"You're not a failure. If anything that just means you have to try harder , and we are here to help you. And you already made me happy a long time ago , and that will never change." 

Fugaku held his son as he let him cry. A part of him almost felt relieved. The children had started to not want to ask him or Mikoto for help. A side effect of getting older but one they wished would come a bit later then it did. Independence seemed to just grow in Uchihas faster than most, even those who didn't share their blood. 

After a few minutes Naruto pushed away from him as he rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Fugaku got up from the bed as he let Naruto put on his clothes , he'd let him have his privacy now that he seemed to have cooled down.

Fugaku went to the family room as he looked to Mikoto. As he sat beside her he told her about what had happened, stopping when he heard the three children come to the room. 

Looking at the two boys, Fugaku noticed Sasuke wearing a black shirt with navy shorts and sandals, Naruto wearing an orange shirt with blue shorts and black sandals. He also noticed Naruto wearing his green goggles he had gotten for his sixth birthday, something he always seemed to have on him since he got them. 

He shrugged at this as while it was a hideous outfit, in everyone else's opinion, it was Naruto’s style and they all learned to deal with it even if they wished he'd wear something more fit for a ninja. Granted Naruto did bring up a good point one time that if he could hide in such bright colors then he could hide from anyone. A point that he was able to follow to a tee when he had somehow hid from multiple Hyuga's who had been rude to him and Mito by tapping papers that read "kick me" on them. 

It was one of Naruto’s proudest achievements and one that while Fugaku punished he had also secretly praised as he thought pranking a Hyuga in any way was hilarious, seeing as they praised themselves on never being able to be surprised thanks to their eyes. Such snobs like them deserved any humiliation.

Mikoto only sighed at seeing Naruto’s outfit as she got up from her seat and walked to the door with the three. All waved goodbye to Fugaku as they left the house, Fugaku himself leaving shortly after to go to the police station. Itachi, not having work for the day, decided to go see his friend Izumi Uchiha as he left the house.

The three children walked with their mother as they came up to the school. 

Stopping at the entrance Mikoto looked at the three with a small smile on her face. She knew this day would come as it had with Itachi but this time seemed to hurt a little more as she had been with all three for their whole lives and now they were about to start on their futures without her being there with them. She could feel the mist in her eyes but she wouldn't cry, she was far too proud to do such a thing in public.

As she bent down to look at the three she brought them into a hug before telling them to have a good first day. All three children nodded as they said their goodbyes and went into the courtyard. 

Mikoto looked at them for a moment before leaving for home, knowing they would do great.

Watching his mother leave, Naruto waited with his siblings at the entrance to the academy along with several other kids their age. Looking around , he noticed someone in the crowd and decided to get their attention.

"Hey Kiba!"

Said boy in question looked around before locking eyes with the blond and grinned as he made his way to the “ triplets ” as he liked to call them due to them all being the same age and never being seen too far away from one another.

"Hey , you guys made it! Thought you'd chicken out by now!" Kiba said as he grinned at Naruto’s reaction.

"What's that supposed to mean dog breath!" Naruto yelled back.

"I said I thought you chickened out, lemon head!" Kiba shouted back.

"Do you even know what a lemon looks like cause that's not at all what his head resembles." Mito said, looking at Kiba.

"Well it's colored the same as one. Plus I have to have something for him since your tomato." Kiba said as he looked at her.

Mito grew a tick mark at hearing that nickname as her hair started to float in the air into nine large strands. Naruto and Sasuke immediately started to back away at hearing their sisters nickname as they knew calling her that only led to pain afterwards, hence why they called her bookworm as she usually didn't get as violent when she was called that.

Kiba noticed Mito's killing intent being directed towards him as he realized what he had said and immediately began to run, the other kids watching him cry for mercy from a girl as they began to laugh. Naruto and Sasuke watched Kiba get his ass whooped as they waited for school to start , laughing the whole time.

After 15 minutes of waiting the doors finally opened and the children were led to their homerooms. Naruto, Mito , and Sasuke found themselves in a room full of clan heirs and high ranking citizen family children as they took their seats near the back of the class, Sasuke insisting to sit by the window as the other two sat in the two seats beside him . Once they sat down the door to the room opened as a younger man with a large scar over his face came to the front and began to speak.

"Hello, my name is Iruka Umino and I'll be your teacher for the next six years on your journey to become shinobi of the Leaf. Now I'd like to start with introducing ourselves to one another before we begin so we can all become acquainted with each other." Iruka looked to his class as he noticed one person in particular already sleeping. Getting annoyed he threw a piece of chalk at the pineapple haired boy who woke up in a stir as he looked around the room.

"Troublesome." He muttered as Iruka came up to him.

"Well I see we have a volunteer to start. Tell everyone your name please and what you want to become in the future." Iruka said, staring down at the boy.

The boy sighed as he got his head up from his desk and looked to the class. "My name is Shikamaru Nara and I would like to do nothing but watch clouds all day and sleep." Everyone in the room sweat dropped at hearing that as Iruka sighed, knowing how difficult Naras can be and decided to start with the people next to Shikamaru. 

Naruto didn't pay much attention to what the others in his class were saying as he waited for his turn to come. Looking to Mito they both gave a nod as they were ready for when they were called. They had both been practicing this for the last couple of days now and wanted it to be perfect. Finally Iruka looked to the blond haired boy and asked him to go next.

Naruto stood up as he took in a breath before speaking. "Hello I'm Naruto Uzumaki Uchiha!" Mito stood up at hearing her brother's full name. "And I'm Mito Uzumaki Uchiha!" Both kids gave a big smile as they shot out their right hands into the air as they had two fingers up in the peace sign. "AND WE'RE GOING TO BE THE NEXT HOKAGE’S!!" They yelled out with all their might as the whole class looked at them in astonishment. 

Sasuke only rolled his eyes as a small smile came to his face. He had heard them rehearsing for the last three days and knew they would do something like this. The rest of the class just stayed silent until Iruka finally decided to look to the boy next to them and asked for him to go next. 

Sasuke stood up and introduced himself. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I'm going to become the next police chief like my father." 

Sasuke sat back in his chair and looked to his two siblings. "That's all you had to do. Nothing fancy." He smirked as they gave him a glare before Iruka began to talk once more.

"Ok , well now that we have that done I will now tell you how your time here will be spent and what you will be doing while learning with me." All three listened to Iruka's explanation of how their time at the school will go, all three excited for all they will learn.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: Just One Normal Day

Fugaku sat at the desk in his office as he signed paperwork. Looking through the files of each investigation going on at the moment he couldn't help but sigh. Truly today would be like any other. Looking to the picture frames on his desk he smiled. Each one had its own story as he looked at each. 

One was of his whole family, taken only a few months ago now. Each of them in formal wear and posture. He chuckled at that thought. The true story behind that photo was far different from what it may seem. Even to this day he is surprised they could have all looked like that when only a few minutes prior Mito, Sasuke, and Naruto where making the photographer nearly lose their hair.

He blinked as he looked to the other photo, one of him and Mikoto with Kushina and Minato, both women having extended stomachs due to the babies that had yet to be born. This was one of his most prized positions as the years went on due to it not only being the last image of Minato before his death, but also due to it being the first picture of his youngest children, even if they weren't able to be seen. 

Fugaku looked at the photo as he gave a smirk. 'Is this how you felt as Hokage?' He asked himself as he looked at the piles of paperwork he had yet to sign. Sighing again, he got back to his work, until he heard a knock at his office door. Looking up he saw an elder Uchiha, Taiyo Uchiha, enter his office as he looked to Fugaku with a small amount of anger being shown from his usual cold emotionless face.

"How may I help you today Taiyo?" Fugaku asked the older man. 

Taiyo bowed to Fugaku as a sign of respect as he spoke. "I'm sorry to bother you today my boy, but the elder council would like to talk with you about something later tonight if you wouldn't mind. I'm sorry for such a short notice but we have some concerns with the clan I think you should listen to." 

Fugaku didn't say anything as he listened to the elders request. Fugaku knew the elder council wouldn't normally come to him while he was at work, which meant this could be serious. However, Fugaku had also begun to distrust the elders as the years went by due to them being much more radical with many of their beliefs on certain issues and even being a reason the clan as a whole was much farther away from the rest of the village then before. 

Many elders believed that the village didn't matter as much as the clan did. This had led to much tension between the village and the Uchiha, this only being piled on top of the other issues that put more tension on the clan's relationship with the rest of the village. This being something Fugaku was still having to desperately try to fix. 

However, the one elder Fugaku had been able to trust most was Taiyo. He was one of the only elders who agreed with much of what Fugaku believed when it came to how to handle certain problems with the clan, and as a result Fugaku usually listened to the older man when he brought up points that could help the clan.

Fugaku took a moment before finally speaking. "Alright then. I'll be there after work around eight. Thank you for informing me of this." Taiyo smiled at the younger man as he bowed to him and left the office. Fugaku sighed as he knew whatever this meeting was about would probably lead to more trouble for him.

Naruto laid next to the tree in the academy yard as he relaxed during break time. Naruto had always felt calm in nature and had always felt that it was the only thing apart from ramen that could make him actually feel at peace. 

Sighing, he felt Mito shift her head on his stomach as she read a book she had brought from home to read while at lunch, or while on their 30 minute break. As she relaxed herself, she felt Sasuke move a little while her feet were on his stomach, all three making an H shape as they laid together. 

"Do any of you think it's weird you all lay like that?" Said the voice of a blond girl who was coming up to them, a pink haired girl following behind her. 

"No, why?" Mito asked as she looked at her friends, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno.

"Yeah of course you'd be fine with it." Sasuke said as he looked up to see the two girls. 

"Oh shut up." Mito said, lightly kicking Sasuke in the stomach, Sasuke grunting at that. 

"Well it's true." He said as he laid his head back down, grumbling to himself about stupid sisters being annoying.

Ino and Sakura giggled at that as they sat with the three siblings. "He's got a point." Ino said, looking at Mito. 

Mito only shrugged as she continued to read her book. "Hey, not like it's weird to us. We've been doing this since we were in cribs. Mom always put us together cause that was the only way we all slept the whole night. I guess it just stuck." 

Ino rolled her eyes as she looked at Naruto. "Is he asleep?"

"Was." Naruto said as he kept his eyes closed. "Until this one decided to move." He said, pointing at his sister.

"Will you guys be quiet? He's not the only one trying to sleep." Shikamaru said as he looked at the group. 

Ino and Sakura were shocked as they didn't even notice him beside Naruto until he spoke up. "Wait when did you get here?" Sakura asked.

"We've been here." Chōji Akimichi said as he leaned against the tree out of sight of the others while he munched on some chips. 

"Yeah, did you not notice the four of us?" Kiba asked while he sat next to Chōji and another boy in a trench coat named Shino Aburame, now looking at the two girls. Both shook their heads as they looked at him. 

"How did this tree become so crowded?" Ino asked as she looked at the group around said tree. Everyone else shrugged their shoulders as both Naruto and Shikamaru went back to sleep, the rest talking amongst themselves while they waited for class to start up again.

A little further away from the group, a small girl in a coat sat alone while she looked at the group of kids who all seemed to be friends already. She knew this was probably due to the fact that they all knew each other due to their families being closer. All thanks to the clan heads going to other clan heads' children's birthdays. 

This was also true for the Hyuga, but at some point the other clans began to stop coming to her birthdays and this all started to happen after her third birthday as her father had become much more protective over her and didn't allow many to come into the compound. 

Hinata Hyuga sat alone as she wished she could be with the group, knowing if she did become friends with them then her father would get angry as he didn't want her anywhere near the Uchiha children. That along with her confidence issues lead to her just waiting for class to start. 

She didn't go unnoticed however. 

While pretending to sleep, Naruto cracked an eye open and looked at the lone girl next to the school wall. Wondering what she was doing over there all alone he questioned if he should go say hello. 

This thought was put away as he felt Mito get off his stomach as she shaked him, thinking he was still asleep. "Hey its time to go inside." She said. 

Naruto decided to act like he was asleep the whole time since he didn't want to deal with her butting into his own business. Acting groggy, not hard as he had actually been asleep a few minutes ago and he wasn't someone who liked to get up.

While he got up and went with his friends back to class, Naruto would occasionally look at the girl he noticed on break and wondered who she was. Him not remembering her at the park or his birthdays.

Itachi knocked on Izumi's door. Hearing a reply he waited until it opened and Izumi looked back at him. She smiled as she called out into her home.

“Mom, I'm going out with Itachi! I'll be back later!” She didn't need to wait for a response as she placed her sandals on and went with said boy to go hang out. 

Both Uchiha walked silently with one another while they looked at their village and its beauty.

"So the triplets are in school now, huh." Izumi said, looking at Itachi. 

He nodded as he looked to her. "Yes, it's their first day. Naruto had even woken up on his own." 

Izumi looked at him in shock at hearing that. "Your kidding!" 

Itachi only shook his head as a small smile came across his face. "He made me jump when we found out." 

Izumi chuckled at that. "You think it will last?"

"Another week and then he'll go back to his old self." Itachi said with a smirk. 

"I'd give him three days." Itachi turned to the voice who said that only to see his best friend, Shisui Uchiha, walking next to him. Shisui gave Itachi a smirk as he walked with them. 

"What makes you say that?" Itachi asked.

Shisui's smirk grew as he looked at Itachi. "knowing that kid, he'll hate going in no time." The other two Uchiha smirked at that as they walked through town. 

Walking towards the Uchiha District's main entrance, Itachi got a flash of the nightmare from this morning. He couldn't stop himself as he stiffened for just a moment, too quick for most to notice. Unfortunately, despite his attempt to hide it, Shisui noticed. 

Shisui didn't know why Itachi would do that, but after a moment he decided to shrug it off for now. What he didn't know was that away from the three of them, something was brewing. Something they would all come to find out soon enough.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: Night with the Infants 

Crying was heard through the house as a quiet and caring voice came into the large nursery. Switching on the lights Mikoto walked to the large crib in the middle of the room and picked up the crying baby. 

"Shh. It's ok my little Naru, mama's here." Mikoto rubbed the baby boys back as she walked to the rocking chair in the corner of the room, sitting down as she began to feed the infant. 

While yes she wasn't supposed to call the twins hers she didn't really care. Not like they were even old enough to understand what she was saying and to them she was exactly that, their mother. So she'd let herself be called that by them for the time being and deal with the consequences later, as right now she was busy feeding the bottomless pit that was Naruto. 

Once he had finally finished she put a towel on her shoulder and began to burp the blond. She hummed to him as she waited for the sound, very pleased when he finally burped. Mikoto held him in her arms as she rocked in the chair. Slowly the little ball of energy's eyes began to become heavy as he snuggled into her arms and finally fell asleep. 

She sat in the chair for a while as she just stayed with her son in everything but name and let the time go by. After what felt like an hour she laid the baby back in the crib with the other two who were fast asleep. She couldn't help but feel happy looking at the three together. They had already grown so much and yet even now they were nearly inseparable.

Walking to the door Mikoto heard the cry of another one of the babies as she went to see Mito now crying. Picking up the girl Mikoto checked her diaper but found nothing. She knew the girl shouldn't be hungry as she had been fed very recently and was well known for not needing as many feedings as the other two, but in exchange for wanting the most amount of food out of the three babies. 

Mikoto decided to hold the girl and comfort her as best she could, but Mito seemed very anxious for some reason. As Mikoto wondered why this was, she heard a knock at the front door. 

This was curious as not many would be up at this late a night other than a few ninja on village watch and her husband. He had been working later and later lately, to the point that when he got home he would usually be in his study to get the last of his paperwork done. Though ever since his promotion to police chief he had slowly been getting better at the work he had but some nights would be bad for him. 

This was one of those nights.

Mikoto was about to go answer the door as she held Mito in her arms but instead saw Fugaku coming out of his study. Noticing his wife with a crying Mito as he walked up to them. 

"Is she ok?" He asked.

"Yes, just moody. I can get it, you're busy right now."

"No, I got it. Probably someone who wants me anyway." Fugaku stroked Mito's head as the girl opened her eyes and saw his face in the dim light. 

The girl began to reach for him as she whimpered. Fugaku and Mikoto looked to her for a moment before Fugaku picked up the girl gently into his arms and held her firmly but gently. Mito's crying began to fade as she looked to her father and both began to go to the door. 

"I can put her to bed, you get some rest." He said to Mikoto as he left.

Reaching the door Fugaku opened it as he met the eyes of the elder Uchiha, Kurēn Uchiha. The older man gave a smile to his younger clansmen before looking down at the small redhead and giving the baby a seemingly warm smile. 

"Well hello there my boy. Is this a bad time?" He asked as he bowed to Fugaku who returned the kind jester in turn as best he could. 

"No, not at all. Did you need something?" Fugaku asked as he adjusted Mito in his arms. 

Kurēn nodded at the younger Uchiha's question. "Why yes I do if you don't mind. Could I come in?" 

Fugaku nodded as he allowed the older man into the house before closing the door behind him. Fugaku led the elder to a seat in the living room before sitting across from him with Mito still in his arms, beginning to squirm a little. Fugaku brought his hand close to Mito as her tiny hands grasped at his finger and she began to calm down once more. Kurēn watched this with a blank smile on his face as he waited for Fugaku’s attention.

"I see you both have been treating them very well now over these past few months." Kurēn said as he looked at the small girl. 

"Yes we have. They have done quite well and I can say that they have given some needed life to our lives." Fugaku said.

"Hm, I see. Well I do want to talk to you about them. Or more accurately, about their lineage." Kurēn said, eyeing Fugaku.

"What do you mean?" Fugaku asked.

"Well for starters, the council doesn't like the idea of them being in the clan. We have, complaints about harboring Senju allies with us."

Fugaku raised an eyebrow at that. "And what does that have to do with anything? They aren't even 5 months old yet."

"That may be so but they are still a part of that one clan. The ones who were the Senju's most trusted allies. And that is something we don't want to have. They may use them to change our ways. After all, their allies are the ones keeping you from fully adopting them, correct?" 

Fugaku only nodded as he looked to Mito who had started to fall asleep. It was true, they weren't theirs due to Hiruzen making sure he and Mikoto were the twins' guardians instead of adopted parents. "And what is your point?" Fugaku asked.

"My point is that as long as they are not true Uchiha then they may be a problem for us later. I hope that will never happen but if it did I fear the clan would be against them. So I would like to make a proposal."

Fugaku wasn't liking where this was going as he instinctively brought Mito closer to him. "And that would be?"

"The council would like for you to give them up. Otherwise they will be a problem."

Fugaku rose up as he stood over the older man, Sharingan spinning in his eyes. "I would like to ask you to leave please." Fugaku said in a calm but stern voice, one that wasn't looking for anything but for the man to comply. 

Kurēn rose from his seat as he bowed to the younger man before going to the door. Opening it he looked back at Fugaku before leaving the house. Fugaku watched the door for a few moments before looking to Mito who was looking at him. 

"It's ok sweetie. I'm here." Fugaku caressed her cheek as she slowly went back to sleep. Walking to the nursery Fugaku held her close as he looked to the other two in the crib. After a moment he put her to bed before going back to his study, knowing that the night was going to be a long one.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15: Friends

Itachi walked with Shisui and Izumi through the business section of the village, talking to one another about how they've been. 

"Your kidding, Naruto actually did that?" Izumi asked in amazement.

"Yes, he did. Father punished him for it but even now I can tell that Naruto's still proud that he did it." Itachi said as he sighed a little.

"I don't know if I should be proud of the kid or not. I mean he painted half of the Hyuga's compound on his own without anyone even noticing. And he wasn't even in the academy yet." Shisui said in amazement.

Itachi sighed once more at hearing his friend's amazement at his little brother's prank. "Well don't talk about it with him. He'll be on a whole rant about how he's the best and all that."

"Man he's been that bad about it." Izumi chuckled at hearing her friends' annoyance with this subject.

"Yes, he has." Itachi sighed for a final time.

"Well I'm hungry. Hey, what about we eat at Ichiraku Ramen? It's just down the street." Shisui asked as he noticed the road that led to the small ramen shop.

"Oh, I haven't been there in a while. Sounds good to me." Izumi said with a smile. Itachi only nodded as they all went down the road. Once they entered the shop they were greeted by an older man who was busy making some ramen. Once he heard the flaps of the shop open, the old man looked to see who had entered and gave a happy smile to his customers. "Well hello Itachi, it's nice to see you again. Where are the triplets? I thought they would have come too."

"Hello Teuchi, unfortunately they had their first day today so it would have been hard for them to come." Itachi said to the old man as he sat down.

"Was that today? Well if time doesn't fly, huh? It only feels like yesterday when they first came." Teuchi began to reminisce on his time with the kids.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" Itachi said as a small smile came over his face. Remembering the faces of those three toddlers made when they tried a bowl of the man's almost heavenly ramen.

"Well let's stop dwelling in the past for now. What would you all like?" Itachi was snapped out of his daydream as the three began to order their food. 

Once Teuchi had their orders the three talked to one another while they waited for their food. While they talked, Itachi noticed a group of Hyuga glare at them from out of the corner of his eye. Itachi watched the group walk away as they disappeared around a corner.

"You notice them too?" Shisui asked as their food came to them.

"Yeah. Honestly this kind of stuff is more annoying than anything if you ask me." Itachi said as he began to eat his food.

"Agreed." Was all Shisui said before he chowed down on his ramen.

“They seemed quite rude.” The three turned to see a man walk into the ramen shop, Teuchi greeting him as the man sat down.

“Well hello sir! How can I help you today?” Teuchi greeted warmly, as he did with all that entered into his shop. It was a common rule around this place that Teuchi was off limits from being harassed in any way. Otherwise the person would deal with all that he had ever served.

The man gave a warm smile, one Itachi thought was almost hiding something behind it, loss maybe. It didn't last long as the man spoke.

“Shrimp please.” Teuchi accepted graciously and went to work with a smile and a thumbs up. The man gave a small quiet laugh at Teuchi's kindness. “He's quite a happy man isn't he?”

Shisui gave a smirk to the man, always one for conversation. “That's why we keep coming back. Can't find that kind of service anywhere else.”

The man chuckled at that as he went quiet. 

Itachi knew he shouldn't stare, so he didn't. He only looked back at the man once or twice. He had long brown hair, eyes the same color. He looked young, maybe in his early 20’s, but Itachi could see that his posture was what far older men carried with them. Maybe he was older than he looked. It wasn't unheard of. Aunt Kushina had told him that the Uzumaki were well known to look younger than they appeared.

His clothes were nothing special, just a white shirt and black pants, though his shoes were odd. They were covered so the toes didn't show. You usually only saw that in winter shoes, granted Itachi did know that people from other villages had different shoe types than that of Konoha. And it was clear he wasn't from here. Why else would someone comment on Hyuga and Uchiha hating each other, you just didn't question that around here.

The man looked at Itachi, had he noticed him looking his way? He smiled as he gave a small sigh. “So what was that about anyway? That group of people staring at you?”

Shisui took point once again as he looked to the man. “Its something to do with our clans. I'm guessing you're not from around here if you're asking a question like that.”

The man rubbed the back of his head as he gave a small laugh. “That's obvious, huh?”

“That and your shoes.” Izumi added as the man looked at said footwear.

“I thought so. Well you got me. I'm actually from Iron Country. Came here to trade, you see.”

That explains a lot, especially his lighter complexion. 

“Samurai Country?” Izumi asked. 

“That won't be a problem I hope.” The man seemed a little on edge.

“Not at all. Trust us we aren't ones to attack those due to where they lived.” Shisui said, trying to calm the man's fears. Ninja and Samurai were bitter rivals, but a normal civilian was no enemy of theirs, regardless of where he was from.

“Thank goodness.” The man sighed in relief as Teuchi gave him his bowl. One bite later and the man was about to inhale the meal inside.

“HAHA, he's just like Naruto Itachi!” Teuchi mellowed out as all of them laughed with him.

“Who?” The man asked as he looked a little embarrassed now.

“My little brother. He does the same thing when he gets to eat here.”

The man gave a chuckle at that as he managed to put the bowl down, though clearly with much hesitation. “Ah, I see. That's even more embarrassing. It was just too good to put down. Sorry.”

“Ah, don't apologize. It gives me good memories to look back on.” Teuchi waves him off in good humor as he goes back to work. The man gives another one of those smiles, one Itachi cannot tell is hiding behind it, before he finishes his bowl and pays for his meal. Leaving soon after.

“Nice guy.” Shisui remarks.

“Yeah, I'd say so too.” Itachi comments as they go back to their meals.

After an hour the three left the ramen stand as Teuchi wished them a good day. Itachi realized the time and knew he had to pick up the triplets from the academy very soon as he told Shisui and Izumi, both deciding to come with him.

Once they entered the academy grounds they waited for the bell to ring, as soon an army of kids came out and Itachi noticed the signature red that was Mito. Waving to her she saw him and ran to him, jumping into his arms as he gave her a warm hug.

"Itachi!" Mito yelled as she slammed her older brother onto the ground.

"Hey. So I'm guessing you had a good time then." Itachi asked as he tried to get up.

Mito nodded as she got off him. "Yep. It was great. We even got to do that one thing we have been practicing for the last couple of days." 

"Oh, did you now?"  Itachi said with a slight smile.

"What is she talking about?" Izumi asked as she came up to the two.

"Izumi!" Mito jumped into Izumi's arms now as she finally noticed the older girl. "I haven't seen you in like forever!"

"Hey there red. Have you been good?" Izumi asked the young girl.

"Yep." Mito smiled to the older girl as she answered her.

"Oh don't lie to her bookworm." Sasuke said as he walked toward the group.

"Stop calling me that teme!" Mito yelled as she went to her brother. Both children glared at one another for a while until they felt a hand on their shoulders.

"OK you two, I think you should calm down a little." Shisui said as he looked down at them. Mito and Sasuke pouted as they looked away from one another. 

Shisui only laughed at seeing them act this way. "Man you guys are still just too cute sometimes." 

Both kids gave him death glares at that as he tried his best to change the subject. "U-Um, hey, where's Naruto at anyway?"

Mito and Sasuke both looked a little confused as they looked for their brother. 

"Yeah, now that you mention it I haven't seen him yet." Izumi said as she looked for the blond. All five looked around the yard as they tried their best to look for the final Uchiha, but none of them could seem to see where he was. 

Itachi looked to his siblings as he wondered something. "Was he acting strange today at all?"

Mito and Sasuke thought about that for a moment before Mito finally remembered something. "Oh yeah. Now that you mention it he kept looking at this one girl in our class since lunch. Don't know why though cause whenever I tried to ask him he'd just ignore me." 

Itachi raised an eyebrow after hearing that as he wondered why Naruto would act like that. Suddenly he noticed the unmistakable hair of Naruto as he came up to the group.

"Where have you been dobe?" Sasuke asked his brother, noticing where his older brother was looking and finally seeing his younger brother.

"Couldn't find you guys. At least until I heard you both arguing." Naruto said as he pointed at his two siblings. 

Both gave him scowls but he didn't seem to notice as he walked past them. Shisui watched this as he whispered to Itachi. "Hey, is it me or is he different. Last time I saw him he was more hyper and happy." 

Itachi only flinched at that as he looked to his friend. "It happened again and father had a talk with him." 

Shisui winced at hearing that as he looked to Naruto before looking at Itachi once more. "He's still not happy about it huh?" 

Itachi shook his head as he looked to the group. "Ok, well I think we should get home then. Mother's going to want to hear about your day." 

The three nodded as the group of six Uchiha left. Naruto however looked at the Hyuga girl as he left, noticing she was leaving with someone that he knew had to have been from the branch family due to their forehead being covered. 

As he watched her leave he wondered why her parents wouldn't have picked her up, or at least someone close to her.

Chapter Text

Omake 1

Mikoto and Fugaku walked through the village, tired and hungry. And unfortunately, they weren't the only ones.

“Mikooo, ungry.” A two year old Naruto complained as she held him in her arms.

“I know sweetheart, I know.” She tried her best to calm him down. The day was turning to night and both Fugaku and Mikoto had to deal with clan affairs all day, so neither were in any mood to make dinner. So instead they both grabbed the family and now looked for anything to satisfy them all for the evening.

Though they both knew that was never possible, but one could dream right?

Mito was becoming restless in her carrying sash on Mikoto’s back and Sasuke was getting cranky while Fugaku held him. Itachi for his part was holding it together, but even he was clearly starving like the rest of them. It had been a long day for all and they needed something nice.

Naruto was about to start a tantrum as he opened his mouth, Fugaku and Mikoto bracing for the worst, but it never came. Mikoto looked down at the blond as he started sniffing the air. 

“Naruto, what are you doing?” Mikoto was barely keeping herself together at how the boy almost comically started sniffing the air like an Inuzuka hound would when they found something. 

The boy looked back at his guardian as he pointed to a small shop to their left. “Sme goo.” Mikoto and Fugaku looked to what he was pointing at when they both gasped. 

Ichiraku Ramen. It had been years now since they last were there. The last time was with Kushina and Minato if they were correct. So many good memories, and Naruto somehow picked it out with his nose like it was nothing. He's Kushina’s kid alright.

They both looked to one another. Were they ready to go back? It still felt too soon. Unfortunately for them Mito had fully woken up as she protested her wants now.

“Ungry Miko! Ungry!” Sasuke and Naruto joined in the yelling as the two gave one last defeated sigh.

“Alright, Alright.” The whole family entered the small shop as Teuchi greeted them the way he did everyone.

“Welcome, how can I help you…Mikoto, Fugaku!?” The man looked so puzzled yet so happy to see them again, even after so long.

“Hello Teuchi, it's good to see you again.” She was trying her best to sound happy to see him again, but Mikoto was so tired.

“Well look at you two. I haven't seen you both since…that's not important. How have you been! It's been too long.”

“We know, and we are very sorry. We've had a lot going on recently.” Fugaku apologized for the both of them as he helped Mito out of her carrying sash, Mikoto grabbing her as Sasuke went to Itachi and Naruto to himself.

“Now don't you fret over that. It's just good to see you again. And I see you brought everyone along too.” Teuchi forgave them the way he did all as the three elders of the family sat in the stools, three tired and hungry toddlers bouncing on their laps.

“Yes you could say that.” Mikoto gave a light chuckle as Teuchi placed some pre-made rice balls down to settle the three gremlins. 

“Oh you don't need to do that.” Mikoto said as the man gave a smile, seeing the three looking at the treats with very hungry eyes.

“Those are on the house. And don't either of you say otherwise. Now what can I get for you.” He smiled such a happy smile as they both thanked him. 

The triplets began to nibble on their snacks as the remaining three tried to figure out what they wanted. “I think I'll have my usual, if you remember it that is.”

The man smiled to her, his memory still more than clear of her favorite thing to get. “Beef it is. Same with you Fugaku?” He smiled and nodded. “Miso for you then. And what about you, Itachi?” the boy thought for a moment. It had been a long time since he had come here so he didn't have a favorite like his parents yet.

“Umm, chicken please.” He asked in a small voice, but the man didn't seem too bothered as he got right to making their meals, a happy smile the whole time.

The family waited patiently as the little ones finished their rice balls and had calmed down quite a bit. Mito was even clearly tired as her eyes began to grow heavy. She was always like that though. A very sleepy baby as Mikoto would say.

Soon the bowls arrived as suddenly the toddlers were far more awake than ever. The three elders had to keep them from spilling the food as they each tried to feed themselves. Sasuke and Mito were patient as they waited to have a bit of the ramen in front of them. Naruto on the other hand had a different idea.

Just as Fugaku put the noodles up to his mouth he felt a pull as he looked to see Naruto grabbing at them and putting much of the wet slimy noodles into his mouth. His face was so exaggerated as he tried to grab at the bowl, Fugaku only just stopping him from spilling the hot broth onto himself.

“Naruto, careful!” The boy froze at the elder's tone as he looked to him with misty eyes.

“I sowwy.” Fugaku couldn't be that mad at him as he gave an exhausted sigh. 

“It's ok. Just don't grab it.” The blond nodded obediently as he picked some more noodles and fed the boy some more. 

Teuchi smiled to him as he started another batch. “This one's on the house too. As long as you all come by more often.” 

Fugaku gave the man a thankful smile as the blond boy on his lap was now basically stealing his dinner. “We will. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 16: Plans

Fugaku left his office earlier than usual, heading towards the clan compound. He knew that whatever was going on had to be important if the elder council wanted to talk with him, but for some reason he had a bad feeling about this. 

'Why did Taiyo seem so frustrated today? He usually isn't like that.' Fugaku wondered as he finally came to the Uchiha council building, a small traditional hut at the very edge of the Uchiha's compound near the village's outer wall. 

Fugaku took a moment before opening the sliding doors to see the council all already sitting down. Fugaku closed the door as seals flared on it to make sure the conversation wouldn't leave this room. 

Walking to the spot where the clan head sat, he took his seat as he looked to the council. Taiyo was to his right as he sat with the same expression that he had from earlier, seeming to be in deep thought. A few seats away was Kurēn as he looked at him with his usually stony expression. Fugaku only glared at him before deciding to start the meeting.

"So may I ask why this meeting was called?" 

Kurēn began to speak as he made eye contact with Fugaku. "Well, the council has come to a realization."

"And that would be?" Fugaku asked.

"That the village has turned on its own." Kurēn said as the other elders nodded in agreement.

"Why would you say that?" Fugaku asked though deep down he knew the man was right.

"You must not be so blind as to see how we have been treated these past six and a half years. Ever since the Kyuubi attack our clan has been ostracized from this village. Our children are looked down upon, we are seen as freaks to those who are against us, and not to mention that after the attack we were moved to a spot that could help the village keep an eye on us. Even now the village patrols have started to increase on our half of the village while the Hyuga seem to have almost no amount of surveillance at all." Kurēn said as the others seemed to nod in agreement with him.

"I can agree to these observations. But may I ask what are you even trying to say we should do." Taiyo spoke up as he looked to the older man.

"What I'm trying to say is that if this keeps up then we may be in trouble. We all know that many in the council hate us including Danzo, and we all know how the Hokage treated you with the children." 

Kurēn looked to Fugaku as he said the last bit as the younger Uchiha only nodded. "And they only seem to be making it more obvious now. I mean we were a founding clan of this village and yet we have been treated like pariahs. And I fear it will only get worse."

"And what do you propose we do then Kurēn?" Fugaku asked.

"I do not know. But if this keeps up then we may all be in danger. I honestly would like to ask if you could talk to them. Maybe find a compromise or something." Kurēn looked to Fugaku as many more began to look to their clan head. 

Fugaku waited a moment before deciding on his answer. "I will see what I can do. I do understand this concern and I will see how I can proceed from here. Is there anything else that we need to talk about?" The rest of the council shook their heads. 

"Ok then. I will call this meeting for tonight." At that, many of the council left the building as Fugaku saw Taiyo and Kurēn stay seated with a few more sitting down. Fugaku looked to the ones who stayed seated, curious as to what this was about. 

"I see that we have some more business to discuss then?" Fugaku asked.

"Yes we do." Kurēn said as he looked to Fugaku once more. "We realize that we have to do something about this if you cannot stop what is happening during your talk. We believe that if necessary then we should begin plans for a coup d'état." 

Fugaku was shocked to hear this as he stared at the old man. "You're kidding. A coup? That…that's unbelievable. Why would you even think of something like that?"

"Look at what they are doing. Ever since the identities of the Jinchuriki were revealed we have been suffering from it. I mean when was the last time you could take either of them out of the compound without having to fear for their safety."

Fugaku didn't say anything as he looked to the ground.

"Exactly. As long as we have them then the village will always see us as enemies. And if they see us as too much of a threat then they will try to take them away and may even use them against us." Kurēn looked to Fugaku as he waited for the man to say something. 

Fugaku however wasn't able to speak. In a way the man was right, if the village did see the Uchiha as a threat then they would take the children away, but even so he couldn't see a coup of all things being the answer. Fugaku looked to Taiyo but when he did he saw that the older man was seemingly trying to ignore him. 

"Taiyo, you don't agree with them do you?" He asked. 

Taiyo didn't say anything for a moment, his decision heavy on his chest, until he finally looked at Fugaku with a little bit of guilt in his eyes. "I wish I couldn't have my boy. But I do. The village has become very hostile to us and while I hope you can come to an agreement with the council I have my doubts." Fugaku could only stare at the man. 

He was silent for so long. This news, it was so heavy on him. It took him what felt like hours before he could finally speak once more. "And what about the other clans? How will we deal with our own allies in this coup?" 

Kurēn took a moment to answer, something that worried Fugaku more. "Then we see who would be willing to help and those who don't we get rid of like the rest of that council."

Fugaku looked at the man and could only see that if this plan did go off, and that's a big if, then it would lead to many problems that could, at best, send the relations with the Uchiha and the village back decades and he knew that was the best outcome. 

Fugaku couldn't say anything as he sat there. Soon however Kurēn got up as the rest of the council did the same. "We will have you think about it. But just know that it isn't just us who think this. Many in the clan are becoming restless and if something isn't done then it could lead to problems. So I ask that you think about this." And with that the rest of the council left, leaving Fugaku to only think about what had transpired.

Fugaku came into the house later that night with a stony expression, seemingly barely in control of himself. 

“Welcome home!” Mikoto greeted, clearly filled with joy from today's events, but Fugaku didn’t answer. 

“Fuga?” Mikoto tried to get his attention, but he didn't answer, instead going towards the twins room. 

Mikoto was worried now as she followed him. Reaching their door, he opened it as he looked inside. Mito, Naruto and Sasuke were all sleeping together in one bed. It wasn't an abnormal sight though it was becoming more rare as time went on. 

Mito had found her way to laying her head on Sasuke's belly, her new pillow only looking mildly irritated by the act. Naruto had found himself at the foot of the bed, his hand hanging over the side. Even then, Sasuke had somehow maneuvered himself into having his body closest to the door, as if to protect them in case anything were to happen. He would never say it, but the twins were the one thing he would protect no matter what, just like how Itachi was with the three of them.

The sight was almost too much for Fugaku. It was as if he could see them growing from those tiny babies from so long ago into who they were now. He and Mikoto knew that soon Mito would need her own privacy as she got older so it was only a matter of time before things had to be rearranged, but right now, all he could see was those three infants sleeping together peacefully as the night was growing dark. 

Why was all of this so hard? Why couldn't things have been even a little normal? His children deserved that and yet the world just wouldn't allow it even once. His brain just couldn't handle this. Why now?

I will return.

Fugaku started at that. His brain tried to find where that memory was from but he couldn't remember, no matter how hard he tried. A hand rubbed his back as he repressed a jump, Mikoto looking so worried for him. He looked to her, his wife, the mother of his children and godmother to his adopted children, and for one moment, he let her see the fear in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I don't know?" He lied. "But I feel like something is coming. Something we aren't ready for."