Konohagakure no Sato
Year 68
Later that Day
Totsu POV:
"Why do you keep abusing your body so, Totsu-kun?" Aizu Yamanaka asked, concern furrowing her brows as she used her green-hued iryō chakra to mend the fractures on my ulna. Most children who visited her had minor bruises and scratches,I'd wager, but my injuries tended to be more severe.
I opened an eye to look at her unblemished face, my own visage still locked in a feign expression of excruciation.
Her long blonde locks of flowing hair passed by her face untied, and cherry red lips pursed in admirable focus, or at least what passed for it— you could never tell with shinobi. Her eyes were green…the clear type, and her beauty was fair.
She felt like what Ino would become, albeit with a bit less curves and a kinder personality.
'There might be some relation here.'
Aizu never truly spoke with force or command, but the sooth that was eerily familiar to what I imagined my mother had sounded like before addiction took her tender.
I didn't let melancholy take me, shutting down my sight and emotions as I made to answer.
"Training," I breathed as the ache began to vanish somewhat with the repetitive care, "I misjudged my strength and suffered for it."
A lie, of course. I needed to build density within my muscles and bones so I subjected myself to strenuous training and injuries… It wasn't an optimistic thing to do, and quite honestly I had been getting less and less results as of late. But I had yet to find a non-fatal or quick alternative.
The woes of being a first generation ninja in a world filled with monsters.
Her gaze burned into my unseeing skull, doubtful.
"That's the same thing you say every time, Totsu-kun, honestly I'm starting to wonder if it's even true at all." Aizu huffed.
For a shinobi, this woman had a rather generic line of thought. Still, I wasn't comfortable, not completely…Aizu was a Yamanaka, a clan known for their mind techniques and an uncanny understanding of psychology.
It was their clan that was in charge of psychiatric evaluations and counselling when nightmares became a frequent in the minds of Konoha shinobi.
But less known was their empathetic capabilities, however insignificant.
"I'm not being bullied if that's what you're asking, Yamanaka-san." I dismissed quite casually, neither hastily or hesitantly. And even if I had been bullied, there was nothing the woman could do about it…
Aizu levelled a look at me, her fading green meeting my common brown… I tilted my head in confusion until she turned away with a sigh.
"You are such a hard child, Totsu-kun." The iryō-nin said, dismissing her Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm) and wrapping a bandage on my arm, "you shouldn't strain it for the next two days."
I nodded at her advice and made to leave…
Aizu Yamanaka had become my personal healer, taking on the role after I developed a habit of visiting her every week due to my frequent injuries… The hospital was most often than not packed, and unless you were an essential or important— I felt under the latter part— you'd most likely be given only the barest of care and be left to recover on your lonesome.
I didn't want to gain a bad reputation, so I opted to frequent Aizu, if not for her haste service then for how she left me feeling nostalgic…and hopeful for the future.
Aizu was a lone iryō-nin, as a clan member, she had petitioned to open her own private business where she handled patients who had ryo to spare. It was a similar position Hana would take if my memory served true, though with her clan's K-9 attachment, she would focus on dogs and pets.
Though I wondered how viable that future was with the hotheaded variant in the 3rd grade.
My head shook in remembrance. Time was a moulder of personality, I shouldn't think that Hana would not see change in the future…
"Excuse me," I said as I slipped out the entrance, mindful of the significant number of shinobi (men) with injuries ranging from cuts, to bruises or itchy throat— any excuse to come be tended to by Aizu after a profitable day, I was sure most of the injuries here had been self-inflicted.
But I was understanding thus I didn't begrudge… Aizu Yamanaka was what you'd call wifey material, encompassing each aspect of femininity without excessiveness.
Glancing to the side, I noticed Santa-san sitting patiently, waiting for the iryō-nin to finish her work. His stern expression seemed to soften as he spotted me, and he waved with a slight smile— a rare sight indeed, but love had that effect on a person. I returned the wave with no level of unkindness.
'Aizu must be more vocal about me than I'd thought.'
I like Santa-san, if not for his personality then his name…it was rather strange in this singular world.
It wasn't an everyday occurrence to witness the formation of a stronger bond in its infancy, much less one through clan members considering how many of their mergers were arranged.
I shrugged, maybe love was a simpler feeling to develop among empaths.
Before long, I found myself on the bustling road, surrounded by a variety of traffic. It was only an hour before sunset, and the streets were filled with the hurried movement of civilians rushing home after work or hurrying to prepare supper.
The atmosphere was lively…in a fashion.
And if one squinted enough, it would almost look normal. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a ryo note.
'Should I buy something and use the saved time to spend in studying more Fūinjutsu? Or opt to make my own meal instead?' I thought with indecisiveness.
I had come a long way in mastering the sealing arts, but I had yet to create my own signature Juin or Fūin to protect my work from tampering. Lately, I had realized that aside from the original creator, very few people and methods could completely remove or alter a signature seal.
The most famous way of removing a seal was through the Sword of Totsuka, which Itachi had wielded in the series after incorporating the original treasure with his Susanoo, along with the Yata Mirror. I had reason to believe that these two legendary treasures were housed within the Uchiha vault, their origin possibly stemming from the Sage of Six Paths himself.
This was the only way to explain the inexplicable capabilities of these two remarkable items.
The least known way of removing seals was through the Rinnegan, with its frightening ability to convert jutsu into chakra and absorb it. Nagato, despite possessing the Rinnegan for the longest time, hadn't been able to use this ability to its utmost proficiency. On the other hand, Madara, as the original awakener of the Rinnegan, demonstrated a high level of skill in wielding this power.
However, both methods were exceptionally rare and not widely understood or accessible thus I shouldn't inject excessive caution in their tamper.
As I walked, I came by a familiar chakra signature walking along with perhaps the second largest reserves I had sensed since the Sandaime.
'Now this is unexpected.'
Who knew Konoha had this many Kage level shinobi lounging about.
———————
Fugaku POV:
Fugaku felt rather drained from recent revelations…
Who would have thought a slight cough would turn into something this severe.
His hand wrapped tightly around the package of medicine he had been given, but he did keep mind to not damage the items within, and a tight leash on his chakra to not spook the civilians and shinobi who were just going about their normal lives.
Many of them didn't recognise him and Itachi, and those who did kept mind to keep their misgivings to themselves.
He looked towards the setting sun and took in its radiant splendour as his emotions lost their strain…
Today…today he wasn't in a mood to play docile. He felt that fate held a grudge against him and his clan. First it was Madara's betrayal and the clan's subsequent loss of faith in the eyes of the village, their noble clan reduced to a bunch of would-be traitors. Then it was the Kyūbi's release at one of the clansman's hands— though the mystery behind that event was still unsolved, and the hypothesises he held he wasn't willing to share with anyone outside the clan elders.
And now it was Itachi being diagnosed with an incurable disease.
Was their clan truly cursed?
His eyes turned to his son who walked besides him with a maturity that belied his age. Fugaku had thought about informing the boy, but he felt that would be unwise. He had already taken much of his heir's innocence and childhood, he would not rob him of his future as well.
Besides, the doctor had said that the disease didn't spell doom, especially with maintained medicinal intakes.
He and Mikoto could maintain the dosages until they were comfortable with telling Itachi.
'I will need to have Sasuke checked up as well just to ensure he doesn't have any latent illnesses in his system as well,' he decided, hopefully his wife wouldn't choose to maintain ignorance about the future of their second son after he'd broken the news to her about Itachi's disease.
He knew how emotional and stubborn she could be.
And although he had been informed that this disease wasn't genetic, the Uchiha head felt the need to indulge his paranoia a bit more.
Fugaku sighed, closing his eyes to alleviate the throbbing ache that had taken his left eye.
Of course, to ensure the secrecy of this information— especially to stop it from reaching the hands of the Sandaime and his despicable cohorts, he had use Kunitsukami to eliminate the information from the doctor's mind.
He was rather pleased by the fact that despite his long absence from activating his Mangekyou Sharingan, its abilities were still as simple to use as they had always been.
Along their return, they passed by a boy with mannerisms far too adult for his age. He seemed to know Itachi as per his familiarity with his greeting— perhaps a former classmate— Fugaku would have to ask about him someday in the future.
It was rather eerie how many of the youth were forced to grow due to the Kyūbi attack.
They eventually reached the Uchiha district uninterrupted, far away from the rest of the village…such was the distrust for their clan.
The Uchiha head let loose a tired sigh, he really didn't care for this divide…as he both loved his village and clan. He loathed to see the two at odds with each other.
"I will be heading off to the training field, tou-san."
He nodded in acquiescence, "Hn!"
Itachi branched away from him, off to train with Shisui who had become rather impressive with the Shunshin. So good in fact, he sometimes reminded Fugaku of Minato, though the blond man had far too much natural speed.
"Fugaku-sama."
The two gate guards bowed their heads to him as he passed, sharingan active to prevent chances of deceit.
He gave a nod of acknowledgment, bolstering loyalty. Given how many times the elders have fought against his decisions…he couldn't rely on the clansmen's passive loyalty alone to sate discontent.
He flicked through hand seals and felt his chakra stretch towards his home before blurring motion took him.
Since Mikoto and Sasuke were out to the marketplace, he could use this opportunity to run over how he would deliver the news to her without inviting too much suspicion to the situation, considering how perceptive Itachi was.
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