Aah…
"It feels so good. I haven't had such a pleasant sleep in the past two years."
Izuna lazily stretches out his hands and yawns. Before he could open his eyes properly, he is bear-hugged by somebody.
"My Izuna, you are alright. Thank god, nothing happened to you."
"I am alright, mom. I was just exhausted from the fight. Nothing happened to me." Izuna hugs his mother.
"Ok! Ok!... Mother was worried about you." Aiko leaves Izuna from her embrace.
She picks up an apple from the nearby basket and peels it for him.
"Izuna Nii-san… Izuna nii-san… IZUNA NII-san… Captain…
Shisui, Itachi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi barge inside the room. He slowly sits up and greets everyone.
"Yo!.. you all seem quite energetic as usual."
Naruto jumps on Izuna and hugs him. Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke walk near him.
"Thank God, Nii-san! You are fine. We were worried about you."
"Your Nii-san won't go down this easily. It will take more than that to take me down." Izuna flashes a smile to them.
"I will become a strong Ninja-like you, Izuna Nii-san. Dattebyo!" Naruto raises his fist.
"Yes, of course. Our Naruto will become the strongest Hokage right." Izuna cheers Naruto.
"Yes, Dattebyo!"
Izuna notices the gloomy expression of Sasuke and Itachi.
"What's the matter, Sasuke? Why are you so upset?"
Sasuke hugs Izuna and tears up.
"Nii-san… I was sleeping with Mother. Then… then…
Sasuke continues to sob. Izuna pats his head to calm him down.
… I heard a large explosion. The explosion woke me up. Mother tried to make me fall asleep, but I pretended to fall asleep. Later I saw Uncle Yagami carrying father on his shoulders to our house through the window. Sob… sob…
Father's entire body was purple. I think he was poisoned, I read the symptoms of poison in a book. Mother left me to tend to father…."
Sasuke pulls Izuna's sleeves.
"Father will be alright, Nii-san!... He will, right?�� Sasuke questions Izuna with teary eyes.
"Yes, yes… he will be alright. Tsunade-san is the best doctor in our village. She will nurse Uncle Fugaku to full health. Everything will be alright."
Sasuke continues...
"Then.. then I saw a man wearing a cloak with a red cloud pattern enter inside Grandma Furi's house. I heard Grandma Furi's scream and… and… I saw the cloaked man… stabbing a kunai in Grandma Furi's neck. Waah…"
Sasuke starts to wail.
Izuna pats Sasuke's head while consoling him,
"Everything will be alright, Sasuke. We will find the culprit and will make him pay for his crimes."
Sasuke cries for a while. Tears flow from Sasuke's eyes as he hugs Izuna and passes out.
Izuna senses a small flux of chakra in Sasuke's body directed towards his eyes.
'Looks like Sasuke awakened his Sharingan. It must have put a burden on Sasuke's body since Sasuke is such an emotional kid.'
Izuna closes his eyes and gathers some Nature energy. He directs the Nature energy in Sasuke's body and rejuvenates his body.
Sasuke soundly sleeps in his arms. Izuna picks him and lays him on the bed beside him. Aiko walks towards Sasuke and caresses him.
"Poor kid!... He suffered such trauma at such an age." Aiko continues to caress Sasuke. She turns towards Kakashi.
"How are you doing, Kakashi-kun?" Aiko asks Kakashi.
"I am doing fine, Aiko-san. Father is also fine, he is mostly busy with the elder council and stuff." Kakashi takes an apple from Aiko.
"So, what are you doing here, Naruto? Shouldn't you be at home?" Izuna question Naruto.
"Nii-san… Tsunade Baa-san and Shizune Nee-san are busy in the hospital. There are lots of sick people today for some reason. So, Tsunade Baa-san brought me to the hospital. I saw Shisui nii-san and others. So, I followed them."
Izuna pats Naruto's head.
"Ok! Naruto, I have to talk some serious matter with Itachi and Shisui. You should go and play over there."
"Ok! Nii-san." Naruto dashes away.
Izuna looks towards Itachi for a while. Shisui walks up to him and mutters something in his ear. Izuna nods and addresses Itachi.
"Itachi, you are strong. Both in mind and body. Don't allow this incident to break your strong will and resolve. It is fine to feel hatred. Channel that hatred towards your enemies and burn them with it…
Itachi clenches his fist and closes his eyes as the memory of that incident appears in his mind. The sense of helplessness and despair tries to overwhelm him.
"… don't get consumed by your hatred. Hatred is born in order to protect the love. You have a family behind you. All of us worry and care for you. Channel that love and make it your strength.
I am sure you will be able to overcome this incident and will be able to lead the Uchiha clan in the future. You will be the future leader of the Uchiha clan."
Itachi opens his eyes to reveal Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Yes, Izuna nii-san. I will try my best." Itachi nods his head with firm resolve.
"Yes, I believe in you."
Izuna nods his head.
Knock… knock…
A medical-nin knocks on the door.
"Come in, please."
The medical-nin enters the room and informs them.
"Fugaku Uchiha has gained consciousness. I am sure all of you are eager to meet him."
Itachi quickly dashes out of the room. Shisui and Aiko follow him.
The Medical-nin nods to Izuna.
"It has been a while, Izuna-kun."
"Yes, it has been a while, Sayori-san. I am fine. Please look after other people."
Sayori walks out of the room. Only Kakashi and Izuna remain in the room.
Kakashi walks near Izuna and speaks,
"How are you doing, Captain?...
"Kakashi, I am not your Captain anymore. Just call me Izuna like you did before." Izuna interrupts Kakashi.
Kakashi ignores Izuna's remark and continues.
...this incident... I never expected Danzo was involved in this matter. He tried to win me over multiple times in his Root... but I refused him every time.
I never expected him to possess such sinister means." Kakashi takes support against the wall while eating the apple.
Izuna silently stares outside of the window while pondering on something.
'Should I reveal the identity of the masked man to Kakashi?'
Izuna ponders for a while before shaking his head.
'Kakashi is not ready yet. He may have overcome the grief... but deep down I can still feel a guilty conscience from him. If I reveal Obito's identity to him, then I am sure just like canon Naruto... Kakashi will chase after Obito.
Things are different for Obito. He is being manipulated by Zetsu, but Sasuke was different. I think it is not viable to reveal the truth yet.'
Sigh…
Izuna sighs and looks towards Kakashi.
"Kakashi!... Danzo hired Akatsuki for the job. Akatsuki is full of S-rank criminals and above.
In the future, we will have to face them again. I want you to grow stronger. So, if you meet them in the future, you will be able to fight evenly against them."
"This… Captain… are Akatsuki members really so strong? The village doesn't have much intel on their members." Kakashi asks him.
"Yes, they are very strong. You can not fight them alone." Izuna throws a scroll towards Kakashi.
Kakashi catches the scroll and reads it. His expression turns ugly as he reads the scroll. Kakashi returns the scroll to Izuna.
Sigh…
"All of them are monsters. The Akatsuki members are powerful. I never expected this. They have a god, zombie, and undead on their side. What a drag!"
Kakashi sighs and finishes the apple.
"…"
Izuna speechlessly looks at Kakashi.
'Looks like he has picked my habit of using words from my former world. But what's with this Nara clan's verbal tic.'
"Kakashi! You lazy bum. You should train, otherwise I will inform Uncle Sakumo about your new hobby."
Izuna pulls out a book from Kakashi's rear pocket.
"Icha Icha Paradise! Quite a weird hobby you have picked Kakashi."
Kakashi immediately snatches the book and caress it.
"I am a man of culture, and this book is the holy grail for every man of culture. It is such a great book by the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya…"
"..."
"… it is a complex book involving the adventures of a brave hero. How the hero falls in love with his heroine? How both of them confess their first love to each other and how their adventures entail with many ups and down?" Kakashi explains the plot of the book as he has a perverted expression on his face.
"Really…"
Izuna remarks with disinterest and disapproval.
"That pervert Jiraiya has come up this. Should I inform Tsunade about it?"
"No… don't do it or I will expose your dark secrets to the entire village." Kakashi immediately shouts at Izuna.
"My dark secrets! What dark secrets?"
Kakashi reaches near Izuna's ear and mutters something. Izuna's expression turn ugly.
"No! you don't Kakashi. Don't you dare reveal it to anybody?"
Izuna screams in fluster.
"Ok! Ok! I won't. This is a promise between man. You won't do anything to my holy grail, I won't reveal your secrets." Kakashi smirks.
"You got me, Kakashi Hatake. Fine, it's a deal, but keep your end of the promise. Also, let's meet up in Training ground 7 for more training at a later date."
Whistle… whistle…
Kakashi walks out of the room while whistling.
'Damn! How did this jerk found about that?'
Izuna chomps down an entire apple to release some of his frustration.