Chapter 29: a dark world aches for a splash of the sunNotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Tracking Raijin isn't something Minato really starts doing consciously. He doesn't actively even pay attention to where his brother is or what he might be doing there. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Minato finds himself just reaching for the thin thread of his chakra that spins through the seal at Raijin's nape until it reaches the knot where it is tied to his brother's chakra and he can catch the fleeting essence of Raijin's afternoon-seasalt-storm-starburst like the memory of a childhood dream.
It isn't quite as present as an actual chakra interaction would be, but it brings Minato comfort, nonetheless. Raijin's chakra has always felt like a summer day spent on a beach; something about it is inherently soothing and bright. Minato allows himself the small selfishness of indulging in this connection between them.
So, having tracked the abrupt flare and direction change in Raijin's chakra signature, Minato isn't really surprised by the frantic taps on the window of his study. Still, he pauses and carefully puts his pen down before he eases out from behind his desk to approach the window.
From the other side of the glass, Raijin's eyes glint with a suspiciously watery sheen that has Minato softening before he has even made it close enough to dismantle the traps set by the window. As soon as the window is open enough to allow entrance, Minato finds himself with an armful of little brother, Raijin pressing himself close and clinging like he's afraid Minato will disappear if he doesn't hold on tight enough.
"I'm sorry," Raijin mumbles into Minato's shoulder. He is trembling, the elder of the two realises belatedly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. Please don't be mad. I'm sorry."
Admittedly, Minato had been upset by their earlier…disagreement in the Hokage office. In fact, he had been downright frustrated. It had been Raijin who brought up Orochimaru as a concern in the first place. Minato had been annoyed that his brother had thrown such a fit when Minato had simply acted on those concerns and done so in the most efficient way possible at that.
Having a spat with his younger brother—his proxy on the council—in his office, not even behind the shield of the extensive privacy seals that the Hokage has access to, had not been in Minato's plans. It isn't a good place to be put in; not so soon after his election to the position under so much scrutiny thanks to his age, and not with the eyes and ears that had no doubt been present for an interaction that should have been held behind closed doors.
Minato is self-aware enough to know exactly what his weaknesses are, but that doesn't mean he needs other people to know what his relationship with Raijin looks like. To have their first proper fight end up being a public one had grated on his nerves.
Raijin hyperventilating in his arms is a pretty effective way of getting him to move past all that though.
"It's okay," Minato whispers back, swallowing past the lump in his throat and curling around his little brother. "Don't cry. I'm not mad at you."
"You were," Raijin refutes immediately, wretched certainty in the way he looks up at Minato. He has gotten taller again; they are almost at eye level now, though Minato still has a scant few centimetres on Raijin for now. "You were upset and angry. I could—I know you were. I know I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry I did. I won't do it again, I swear. Please don't hate me." Raijin's face crumples. "Please don't leave me."
It might have hurt less if he had just stuck his kunai in Minato's gut and twisted it.
Raijin's eyes are rimmed red in a telltale sign that he has been crying for a while now. His skin is almost feverish under Minato's hands and every breath he takes sounds wet.
"I'm not leaving you," Minato stresses, bringing his hands up to Raijin's face so he can be sure to look his brother in the eye. He swipes away at the tears gently and repeats, "I'm not leaving you. I would never ever willingly leave you. Why would you even think that?"
Shaking his head, Raijin crowds close to press his face against Minato's shoulder again, fingers twisting into the soft cotton of his worn night shirt. "I shouldn't have yelled at you in your office. I shouldn't have yelled at all. I'm sorry."
Minato hums and rests his head against Raijin's. "Can you tell me why you yelled?"
In his hold, Raijin stiffens ever so slightly. He doesn't lift his head and Minato doesn't stop running careful fingers through his hair. "I…I freaked out. I shouldn't have. I know. Things are—they're different now. Better. I know that. I do." Raijin pauses to swallow harshly. "Just, for a second, I couldn't stop thinking that—"
"That what?" Minato prods, frowning.
"That something would happen to you," Raijin rushes out, voice breaking. "You're all I have left now. I couldn't—I can't take another loss, nii-chan. I can't. And the snake—Orochimaru is strong. He's smart and wily and crazy strong, and I know that you're all those things too, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the things he could do to you. What if something happens to you and I don't see it coming? What if I can't stop it? What if it's my fault? What if—"
"Raijin," Minato interrupts urgently, pulling away so he can look at his brother's face. The fear is so clear in Raijin's wide eyes and the twist of his mouth that it nestles in Minato's heart like a thorn. "We're shinobi. We can never really outrun the risk our profession poses to us. If something does happen to me, that isn't your fault. You'll kill yourself thinking like that."
Raijin is shaking his head before Minato is even done speaking. He's shaking again. "You don't understand," he insists, urgent and miserable.
There is something so horribly alone and afraid about the way he looks right now; lost and young and fragile. Seeing him like this strikes every chord of worry in Minato, pulling all the concern he has dismissed over weeks back to the surface with an intensity that leaves his own heart heavy.
He tightens his grip on Raijin's shoulders. "Then help me understand," he says, and it comes out like a plea, too full of desperation and fear. "Tell me so I can help you, Raijin."
Raijin pulls away from him, backing himself into the wall and all but collapsing against it, his arms wrapping tight around himself as he sinks to the floor. "I can't," he says, eyes squeezing shut, an involuntary sob wracking his entire frame. "I can't. I don't know how."
Minato feels an awful lot like crying himself. He hates feeling this helpless. He hates how Raijin looks and sounds like he's in so much pain and Minato can only reach out to hold him wordlessly. He hates that Raijin is crumbling under some unseen weight that Minato seems to be part of for some reason.
"I'm so scared of fucking up," Raijin whispers, letting Minato press him close to his chest. "I'm so scared of being alone again."
This isn't about Orochimaru; not really. Or maybe it is. Minato's brain feels like it's going in circles, chasing the ghosts of a conclusion that is always just out of reach. He doesn't even understand what exactly it is about Raijin that doesn't make sense to him or why his brother is such an enigma. There are no answers, and Minato isn't even entirely sure of what the questions are anymore.
What he does knows is: "Orochimaru scares you."
Raijin stays quiet, somehow managing to curl into himself even further.
Minato takes a deep, measured breath. "Raijin," he begins quietly, "has Orochimaru ever done something to you? To make you so afraid."
The answer comes as a hesitant, "No. Not to me."
To someone Raijin knew and loved then. Minato exhales slowly. "Will you tell me?"
"I—" Raijin stops, his tentative gaze skittering to and away from Minato's own. "His name was Sasuke. He was…my best friend," he says finally. "Orochimaru put a seal on him. He also killed someone else I cared for and looked up to." Raijin shakes his head. "It doesn't matter now. This was all years ago. I just…don't like him."
"And still you're trying to help him." Minato smiles wryly. "You sure have an odd way of showing your dislike."
Raijin ducks his head, his ears turning pink. "I don't want him to go down that kind of path again."
What a kind brother he has. Minato sighs and presses his cheek to blond hair that is the same as his own. "You can't keep me from all harm, Raijin," he says quietly. "I appreciate how much you care, but I'm not your responsibility. Some things are always going to be out of your control. No one can be everywhere all at once."
"I know," Raijin mumbles, voice small.
"If it makes you feel better, however," Minato continues, "I can assign a few ANBU to keep an eye on Orochimaru for a little bit and make sure he isn't causing any trouble."
Raijin's head snaps up. "Really? You'd do that?" The hope in his voice is such a small, tentative thing, it feels like a physical blow to Minato.
"Yes." He swallows and looks into his brother's wide eyes. "Yes. For you."
Breath shuttering, Raijin presses his shaking hands to his face and nods. "Thank you. Thank you."
There will be damage control to do soon, to smooth things over and prove that the Namikaze are still very much a united front to anyone who thinks they might take advantage of the brief conflict between them. That can all wait until tomorrow though.
For now, he will hold his little brother for as long as it takes for Raijin to stop shaking. He will wipe away the tear tracks and gently lead the way to the empty guest bedroom. He will tuck Raijin into bed and hold his hand until he falls asleep.
For now, Minato will make things okay in the little ways he can.
He can only hope it will be enough.
They send a trio of brats after her within two weeks of her receiving Minato's official request (a politely worder order, really) to return to Konoha.
One of the brats has mokuton.
More than a large part of Tsunade wants to drink herself into acute and instant liver failure to put an end to her misery. She'd be tempted to try it too, but Shizune might actually figure out a way to sustainably revive her out of sheer spite just so she could lecture Tsunade back to death herself.
"I'm not going back," she repeats through gritted teeth, glaring down at the three young faces that stare back at her from opposite the booth they're piled in at the back of some shitty izakaya. "There's nothing left in that village for me."
Kakashi scoffs under his breath and Tsunade considers punting the skinny little rat straight into outer space. Possibly sensing her building homicidal rage, Rin—apparently one of Shizune's old friends from the Academy—firmly plants her bony elbow right into the boy's ribs.
Obito shifts and pouts. "Oh, come on, Tsunade-sama." He leans forwards and clasps his hands together. The little money plant on their table leans towards him, but the boy doesn't seem to notice with how preoccupied he is by giving Tsunade an impressive puppy eye. "Please? Minato-sensei said you're not even going to be added to the active duty roster! It's just for the programme thing."
"Your expertise in shinobi psychology and rehabilitation is pretty much unmatched," Rin chimes in, aiming her own wide eyes at Tsunade. "It's your programme. No one else could run it the way you could."
"You'd return in pretty much an entirely civilian capacity," Kakashi points out, throwing in his own two cents. "I don't see what the big deal is."
Oh, Tsunade is going to smack that little shit's face right off and show him what the big deal is.
Obito rolls his eye to the ceiling and groans. "That's because you don't emote like a normal human being, Bakashi. What would you know?"
Kakashi whips around to level the boy with a dirty glare. "Ex-fucking-cuse me? You wanna try saying that to my face, loser?"
Between them, Rin smiles pleasantly and strikes out with lightning speed, jabbing them both in the necks and leaving them choking. "I'm sorry about them," she says politely, "they're just working through a few things."
"If I have to keep finding doghair in my breakfast, Kakashi, I'm going to lose it," Obito mutters dangerously under his breath, voice hoarse from Rin's attack.
"Then move out of my house," Kakashi returns snidely.
"Our house, you prick. Teach your ninken some manners!"
"They're more well-behaved than you could ever hope to be."
Obito turns to Tsunade with disbelief clear on his young face. "Can you believe this is how he speaks to his husband?"
Tsunade raises a brow. "Aren't you a little too young to be married?"
"Yes," Kakashi answers unhelpfully, without feeling. "Yes, we are."
Obito scoffs but doesn't counter and Rin sighs, leaning back in her seat and glancing skyward as though hoping for some divine intervention.
Tsunade watches them and feels a little like she has stumbled upon some roadside circus. At her side, Shizune is poorly stifling her laughter.
"You're doing a pretty shit job if this you trying to lure me back," she states bluntly.
Kakashi pouts and looks away. Rin looks mildly sheepish, glancing at Shizune who only shrugs at her. Obito frowns.
"I guess I should say goodbye to hoping that you could help me with mokuton," he mumbles.
Tsunade eyes him. "How does an Uchiha end up with mokuton anyways?"
"He's technically a Hatake now," Kakashi corrects mildly.
"It was totally insane," Obito waves his hand. "I got kind of crushed in a cave in and it was pretty touch and go for a hot second there, but then I got rescued, except the rescuer was Uchiha Madara, which is like completely bizarre, but apparently, he never died and was just hanging out in a bunch of caves this whole time while plotting on how to put the entire world to sleep or something. Obviously, the dude was completely insane, but he healed me using the Shodaime's cells—I don't really get how or why that worked, but whatever—and now I have mokuton. I've gotten pretty good with it, but like, I could still use some advice if you have any."
Tsunade is too sober for this. This is all bullshit. Her head fucking hurts.
"How did he even manage to get his hands on my grandfather's cells?" she asks.
Three blank faces stare back at her.
Rin shifts uncomfortably. "I'm, uh, actually not entirely sure about that."
A horrible thought occurs to Tsunade. "Did he…desecrate my grandfather's grave?"
Shizune's chakra fills with an appropriate amount of horror. "He took cells from the Shodaime's corpse?"
Kakashi's eye narrows. "And no one…noticed?"
Hashirama's body was buried on the Senju ancestral grounds, beyond Konoha's walls. Tobirama had personally ensured as much. She knows her great uncle would have made sure an eye was kept on the grave but it's possible that, after his death, someone had…
The thought of it makes her sick. Her fingers curl into a fist and she closes her eyes.
"You mentioned a rehabilitation programme focusing on prosthetics based off of the cellular regeneration procedures performed on Obito," she brings up carefully, feeling her head pulse with every breath.
Rin winces. "That'd be based off of the Shodaime's cells as well."
Tsunade's eyes fly open and narrow in successive heartbeats. She lowers her voice and carefully says, "The village wants to dig up my grandfather's body for this?"
Kakashi eyes her cautiously. "No, apparently, they've had access to a few of his cells for decades now," he explains. "From the Niidaime's time, I believe."
Bitterly, Tsunade wishes she could have as much faith in the village she'd called her own. She wishes she could believe Konoha would respect her grandfather and her family enough not to disturb his eternal rest for their own selfish gains. How much more will they demand of the Senju name? How much more will they take from her when she already has so little to give? Well, it looks like it's time for her to find out one way or the other.
Tsunade sets her jaw and exhales sharply. "Shizune, pack your things. Looks like we're making an overdue visit to Konoha after all."
Rin perks up. "You're coming with us?"
Tsunade levels her with a scowl. "Just to make sure nothing else has been done to my grandfather's dead body while I wasn't paying attention. And if I find out that his rest was disturbed by your precious village…"
The unsaid threat hangs heavy in the air.
The trio exchanges unreadable looks. A silent conversation takes place between them, consisting entirely of minutely furrowing brows, shifting glances and twitches of the mouth.
Tsunade can't fight the bout of nostalgia that suddenly rushes through her at the sight of them. Her own team used to be like that too once—able to say everything with no words needed between them. She wonders if they'd even be able to stand being in the same room as each other these days.
"At least she's coming back," Obito points out in a whisper that is completely pointless since Tsunade is right there.
Rin's mouth slants into a look of consideration. "A win is a win."
Kakashi shrugs. "Mission accomplished, I guess."
Tsunade sighs and raises her hands to order some sake. She's going to need it if she's going to be stuck with four teenagers for the foreseeable future.
"Kushina and I are having a baby," Minato declares without preamble, teleporting into the training field in a flash of yellow.
Raijin startles and misfires his wind blade jutsu. He turns to gape at Minato with wide blue eyes. A tree falls when the stray jutsu hits it. "What did you just say?"
Minato blinks. "Kushina and I are having a baby. She's due in October." His face splits into a grin that hasn't left him for than a few minutes since Kushina told him the news the night before. "You're going to be an uncle!"
"Oh, Sage," Raijin whispers. "Are you hearing this?" he hisses, and Minato tilts his head in confusion because it doesn't sound like Raijin's is talking to him. Raijin shakes his head. "I think I need to sit down."
Watching with some amusement as Raijin does just that, dropping down cross-legged onto the grass, Minato snorts. "You're more freaked out than I was."
"Everyday my life strays further from the realm of reality."
Eyebrows rising, Minato walks closer to peer down at his brother. "What's with the dramatics?"
Raijin rolls his eyes. "You have no sympathy for my woes, nii-chan."
That's because Raijin refuses to shares the woes in question, but that's neither here nor there.
"I'm going to be a dad, Raijin."
Blinking, Raijin is quiet for a moment. "You're going to do a great job," he says. "I know you will."
It's another one of those things said with the strange unshaking sort of certainty. Minato doesn't admit that, for once, it puts him at ease to hear it. When Raijin says he's going to be a good father with that level of conviction, Minato is helpless to do anything but believe him.
"I'm glad," he says.
"Have you thought about baby names?" Raijin brings up. There's a strange note in his voice as he says it, but Minato can't quite figure out why.
"It has only been a day," Minato points out. "We have eight months at least to figure something out."
The grin Raijin flashes him is one that spells nothing but trouble. "I have a few ideas."
Minato rolls his eyes. "I'm not naming my child Gamma-chan."
"How'd you know that's what I was going to say?"
"Raijin!"
"It's a perfectly reasonable name!"
"It's the name of your wallet!"
"Hello, Obito-kun," Raijin greets, blinking in surprise. "Come on in."
"Hey, Raijin-san!" Obito grins, breezing past the man and taking his sandals off at top speed. "Oh, man, you will not believe the week I've had. I'm still trying to process the fact that we got to meet Senju Tsunade herself. I mean, we've met Jiraiya-san obviously but he's kind of a loser to be honest, so it has never really felt like meeting a celebrity. And Orochimaru-san has that vibe, I guess, but mostly he just scares me because I can never tell what he's thinking. What if he's annoyed and randomly decides to eviscerate me on the spot or something, you know? But Tsunade-san is so cool—"
Raijin smiles, eyebrows raised and holds his hand up to silence Obito. "Let's move to the kitchen and you can tell me all about it," he suggests, gently taking the boy by the shoulder and beginning to direct him into the apartment. "Itachi's a light sleeper and he hasn't been sleeping well at all recently. I'd rather not risk waking him up." Sighing, he laments, "I knew I should have checked on my ink stores. Now I'm out and there's not a spare silencing seal in this house."
Obito tries not to tense but it's obvious from Raijin's questioning glance that he has failed. He sighs and hesitantly asks, "Itachi-kun is over?"
The knowing look Raijin shoots him makes him kind of want to melt right through the tiled floor of the kitchen. "He is," Raijin confirms, smoothly pushing Obito into a chair at the dining table. "His mother asked if he could stay the night. I've already been forcing Itachi to take naps during our breaks in the day anyway, so I figured he may as well just get the sleep he needs at night."
"And he can't get that at his place?"
His skeptical tone earns him a silent look of warning, but it's a genuine question, so he shrugs.
Raijin sighs and sets down two glasses of orange juice. "I have a seal on my bed frame that alerts me every time the brain activity of the person sleeping on it indicates distress relating to a nightmare," he explains, taking a seat across from Obito. "It wakes me up whenever I'm starting to have a nightmare, and it lets me know when Itachi needs me there to calm him down."
Couldn't Itachi's parents just do that for him at home?
The question must show on his face because Raijin's face sets itself into a grimace that has Obito cringing even though he didn't say anything this time.
"Itachi…recently got his sharingan," the man says softly. Obito knows this already. According to the granny he still gets his fruits from, the main family had done a whole ceremony at the compound's shrine for the occasion and everything. "I know it is considered an honour for your clan, Obito-kun, but as it is, the sharingan is only triggered when you experience a highly emotional event and then keeps the memory of it forever. Itachi's father—he took Itachi to the capital recently for something and they happened across a squad of Konoha shinobi dealing with a rebel group near the border. Fugaku-san thought it important for his heir to witness such a thing."
Obito pauses. "Oh."
Exhaling harshly, Raijin rubs at his eyes and nods. "I can't say I'm very happy about it," he admits, sounding tired. "Itachi ends up getting more distressed when his father wakes him up from a nightmare because it blurs the line between dream and reality for him. And he has been trying to keep himself awake all night because he doesn't want to disturb his pregnant mother. Either way, he hasn't been resting as a child his age should, so Mikoto-san asked if I could keep him for the night."
Great, now Obito feels like an asshole. He winces and wraps his fingers around his glass. "Will he stay with you for a while?"
Raijin regards him with a look of consideration. "I don't know," he says after a moment. "I've offered. Mikoto-san said she will be staying with her mother for the moment, so maybe she'll collect Itachi tomorrow or the day after."
Mikoto must be seriously pissed with her husband if she isn't even staying at the main family's house. Obito had assumed she'd gone because of a pregnancy thing, but the clan head being in the doghouse might be the true explanation.
Admittedly, Obito had been envious at first. He hadn't received his own sharingan until he was thirteen and Itachi had gotten his own at four. The entire clan is still talking about how it means great things for Itachi and the Uchiha. An exceptional shinobi come to them just in the nick of time. Itachi could be what the Uchiha need to turn their reputation around. The entire village would look upon him as extraordinary and it would reaffirm the standing of his clan as well.
The Uchiha had looked upon Obito like he was a time bomb waiting to blow when he came back from the dead, two tomoe spinning in his one sharingan and mokuton in hand. And Obito had proved their mistrust to be well placed when he up and left them for the Hatake name.
He doesn't really blame himself for that. Perhaps he should and he probably would have a year ago when he'd still been desperate to prove himself to a clan that had never really wanted him. But he and Kakashi have been talking a lot lately and Obito has decided that it isn't wrong for him to leave when they had only ever made him feel unhappy and lesser than them. He's a good shinobi, he knows. He's good at his job, he's a good friend and he's a damn good husband. Obito isn't going to spend his whole life running after people who were never good enough to give him a chance.
Itachi…has always seemed to be the opposite. A genius and beloved for it right from the start. But it has to be a lot of pressure. The kid is only four and hailed within the Uchiha compound like some sort of messiah. Obito has never seen him laugh or mess around like kids his age should be doing.
A sharingan at this age isn't really going to make things better for Itachi, is it?
Obito sighs and closes his eye. "You should get him to start activating the sharingan during the day," he says after a long moment of fragile silence.
Raijin's brows furrow. "What for?"
"It helps." Obito purses his lips, fingertips tapping against the glass in his hands. "Dreams help us process stuff sometimes or something, right? Like, that's why you'll see familiar people and stuff in them. It helps when you have a selection of permanent memories to feature in your dreams that aren't traumatic."
Realisation blooms on Raijin's face. "That's a great idea, Obito-kun!" He grins, reaching over to clumsily pat Obito's head. "I'll get Itachi started on that from tomorrow. Thank you," he adds, smiling fondly.
Flushing, Obito downs the rest of his orange juice. "It's no big deal," he deflects. "One of the jii-chan from the grocers told me that's what he did. Passing on wisdom to the next generation and all that, you know?"
Raijin props his chin up on his palm and smiles indulgently at Obito. "Of course," he plays along. "I'll be sure to let Itachi-kun know he owes you his thanks."
"You really don't have to," Obito assures, shifting uncomfortably.
"Well, I'm not going to take credit for your good ideas," Raijin counters easily. "I, for one, am grateful for you giving me a good starting point for helping Itachi with his sharingan. It's not like I have personal experience to go off of."
Obito pauses at that. "Usually, kids have clan elders and records to fall back on to learn how to operate the sharingan. There's like manuals and stuff kept in the shrine archive that we can ask to see. And, I mean, Itachi's parents both have sharingan too. They'll teach him."
Raijin nods. "I'm sure they will. I just want to make sure I can be of help too if Itachi wants it. He's still working on being open about needing help and he gets intimidated easily. He learns better when he feels relaxed and safe enough in his environment to allow room for mistakes."
So, Itachi is shy about who he feels comfortable enough to admit weakness too. Obito sighs and leans back in his chair. Nice. The Uchiha have given a toddler crippling anxiety.
"Isn't it the parents' whole job to keep their kid happy and healthy?" he asks rhetorically.
Smiling wryly, Raijin shrugs. "Itachi's parents love him," he says slowly, "but his father can be a little hard on him."
The more Obito hears and thinks about it, the more that sounds like an understatement.
"The Uchiha are in a tough spot right now in the village," Raijin states softly, idly tracing the droplets of condensation that slip down his empty glass. "It's easy to get caught up in situations like that. Things end up getting neglected in favour of bigger problems. It's not good, of course, but…it isn't easy either."
Obito exhales slowly. He kind of gets what Raijin is talking about. It's simply the way of the shinobi world. They prioritise strength and neglect softness. That's how survival mode works. Ideally, the ideology wouldn't come at the cost of children but…Obito's starting to realise that they rarely get to exercise that kind of mercy. And it isn't right, but…like Raijin said—it isn't easy. How does anyone start to change the world?
"Maybe Kakashi and I should adopt Itachi or something," he muses aloud, eye narrowing. Raijin snorts loudly. "I mean, he and I have got to be related one way or another. I'm sure an argument can be made. The three of us can figure the sharingan out together. It'll be great!"
Raijin shakes his head but he's laughing so Obito is pretty sure he has said something right. "Never change, Obito-kun."
Obito grins back. Rin will like having a new scheme to work on.
Operation: Steal Itachi For His Own Good and Happiness is officially a work in progress.
Fugaku walks into the Hokage's office with a headache the size of Land of Wind and an ache in his knee that tells him it's going to rain soon. It clicks loudly as he dips into a salute and he winces.
It has been four days and Mikoto is still at his mother-in-law's house. Itachi was temporarily been left in Namikaze Raijin's care but is with Mikoto again now. Fugaku…has taken to sleeping in his office more often than not.
These days, it really is starting to feel like he can do nothing right. He feels constantly on the edge of something, like the slightest thing will pull his hairpin trigger and it will all come crumbling down around him and he doesn't know what to do or—
The Hokage has called him for something important today according to the falcon that had delivered his summon. Fugaku hopes it won't take too long. He skipped dinner last night and he didn't have time for breakfast today; he can feel the toll it's starting to take on him when combined with the poor sleep he has been getting.
"Ah, Fugaku-dono," Minato greets, looking up from the impressively thick looking report on his desk. "Come in. Have a seat. Thank you for coming despite the short notice."
The blond is sporting eye bags and his smile has an edge of exhaustion creeping in at the edges. Fugaku can relate. He drops into the offered chair harder than he means to, but Minato looks sympathetic at least.
"I assumed it must be a matter of urgency for you to summon me without prior notice."
"You assumed correctly," Minato sighs, carefully setting aside the report he'd been occupied with and flaring his chakra in a manner that Fugaku knows to activate the privacy seals in his office. The younger man folds his hands on his desk and fixes Fugaku with a look of seriousness. "I have a matter I'd like the Police Force to investigate with the utmost discretion."
Fugaku straightens, at once snapping to full alertness, headache forgotten. "How can we help you, Hokage-sama?"
Minato reaches for the pile of files on his desk and pulls out a thin folder, sliding it to Fugaku. "The civilian head of finance was looking into the funding of some of the village orphanages recently and she noticed some discrepancies. She conducted a brief inquest into the matter before bringing the issue to me because she believed a formal criminal investigation would be more suited to deal with the problem."
Frowning down at the summary on the first page of the report, Fugaku looks back at a grim-faced Minato with wide eyes. "How many?"
"The current estimate is at least a hundred," Minato admits, passing a hand through his hair. "Of those, less than half have been filed as missing persons reports."
"Do you suspect conspiracy?" Fugaku asks sharply, fingers tense around the spine of the folder.
Minato purses his lips into a thin line. "I am…not hopeful, Fugaku-san," he says softly. His blue eyes are dark, narrowed as though he is in pain. "It could all be coincidence, but—"
"Coincidences so rarely exist in our world," Fugaku finishes bleakly.
"More than a hunred orphans disappearing without a trace over a course of nearly thirty years," Minato intones, solemn. "And that is only what we know before an actual investigation has even taken place. Apparently, the matter was briefly brought up to the Sandaime fourteen years ago."
Fugaku tenses. "And what happened?"
Minato sighs. "The very next day, Kiri blew up Daijin Bridge and took down three of our biggest supply lines with it."
The headache comes back with a vengeance and Fugaku is unable to resist the urge to presses his fingers to his temple. "The matter was set aside and forgotten," he infers. "If this gets out, the people will be up in arms. Several of those orphans are children of martyrs."
"It is the appropriate response," Minato states, tilting his head, eyes dark. "I don't intend to keep it from them either. I believe Konoha has a right to know. The case will be kept under wraps until the investigation is complete so as to not impede it with outside interference or public sentiment, but the findings will be made public thereafter. I will not be the kind of leader who plays with his people's lives from the shadows. That isn't the kind of power I am interested in."
Fugaku stares. "They will demand justice."
"And they will have it," Minato returns unflinchingly. "You will help me ensure that they do."
Of course, he will. Fugaku has always done his duty.
"What if they ask for the Sandaime to face consequences?" he challenges. "A case could be made for negligence."
Minato's eyes narrow ever so slightly as he leans back in his chair. "We'll see when the time comes," he says after a moment. "The matter will likely be taken to court. It is not for you and I to decide who faces which consequences. Our job is to ensure that we find the truth to the best of our ability."
Fugaku dips his head. "Of course, Hokage-sama. I will ensure that the matter is handled with the care and attention it deserves."
"I trust you will," Minato agrees. "I will be assigning you an ANBU liaison so you can request their assistance with the investigation."
Pausing, Fugaku regards the Hokage carefully. "I assure you the Police Force is more than capable of handling this responsibility."
The look Minato fixes him with is severe. His face is unreadable, but he makes Fuagku feel an awful lot like a butterfly pinned down to a board. "This isn't about you or your Police Force, Fugaku-dono."
Minato's voice is soft, but it rings through the room like a clap of thunder. Fugaku flinches before he can stop himself.
"Over a hundred orphans are missing, and this is the village that has failed them," Minato continues. "This is not the time or place to drag your politics into it. You will liaison with the ANBU if you need to because they have more expertise in infiltration and tracking. You will open your Force to other shinobi if I deem their skills more suitable to aid this investigation. You will do your job and you will do it well. Do you understand?"
Swallowing, Fugaku dips his head. "Yes, Hokage-sama. My apologies."
"I'd like a weekly progress report. I'll consult with our accountants and get back to you about the budget and resource allocation for this investigation since I expect it will be a big one," Minato carries on smoothly, dismissing the tension in the air as though he doesn't even register it. "As always, if you think you need more, submit a request and we'll look it over as soon as possible."
Fugaku nods. "Will that be all, Hokage-sama?"
"I believe so." Minato hums, drumming his fingers on his desk lightly. "I am entrusting this to you with the expectation that you will see this matter brought to light, Fugaku-dono. Do not disappoint me."
Fugaku inclines his head in silent acknowledgement. This is an opportunity and a duty. He's good with both those things.
He sweeps out of the Hokage Tower, folder heavy in his hand. It seems like he'll be sleeping in his office again.
Notes:
I think a lot of you expected Minato and Raijin's argument to be a ploy but I was never really going for that. Brothers are gonna do as brothers do and fight sometimes. Raijin is pretty emotionally compromised right now and he's freaking out even more since all of his future knowledge is pretty much obsolete at this point. He doesn't know what's in store any more, and while that's the normal way of being since no one can see the future, it's going to be daunting after being in the know for like a whole year.
It's not that he's particularly out to get Orochimaru. I just think that even after everything, a part of Raijin is always going to see the Snake Sannin as the one who took Sasuke away and killed the Sandaime. Those are more personal grievances. Moreover, Orochimaru is unpredictable, morally compromised and is on nobody's side but his own. I don't think Raijin knows just how to deal with or entirely trust someone like that. It's a complicated situation and he had a complicated reaction to it.
Tsunade is back so Sannin Angst is up ahead. And an investigation into someone snatching kids right off the street. Gee, I wonder who it could be?