NARUTO SI: A Burdened Soul (Elder Brother to Itachi SI)

Chapter 30c

MIKOTO UCHIHA

A month had passed since the tragic death of Hatake Kakashi, and now the entire war was officially over as a succinct truce with Kiri was reached as well, and now the village prepared itself for a great transition as the Third Hokage announced his intend to retire.

And so, the village streets were filled with gossip about those contending for the job. Many names were thrown out, though of them only three were actual contenders.

And one of them was her own husband, the leader of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha, and the whole clan was rather excited about the news, for this would mark the first time a Uchiha clan member would wear the hat, even though her own husband seemed rather skeptical of the idea.

Another name was of Lord Orochimaru, a great Sanin with much experience, but his reputation for cruelty and an acute disregard for rules put him at a disadvantage, along with the rumors about his general lack of interest in the position.

The last nominee and the current forerunner for the position was a complete surprise for everyone else, though not for those who knew of him already.

Minato Namikaze, the famous Yellow Flash, was the current forerunner for the title of the Hokage, and his ascension would be a great step for the village, given that he would be the youngest to take the hat while rising to the prestigious position from being a no-name Orphan.

With the war over and the streets filled with life once more, each bar, eatery, and hotel was now filled with discussions regarding the replacement for the Lord Third. As much as the people around them thought of pitting each of these three men against one another, no such rivalry existed in reality.

"The announcement will be made any day now," Kushina told her as she came to visit her after a rather long time, and she nodded.

"Fugaku has told me the same thing," she said as she sipped her own tea. Looking down at her swollen belly, she wondered if the announcement would come before the child in her belly or after.

"Is Namikaze hopeful that he would be chosen?" she asked, and the redhead smiled.

"Of course he is, but he is not that desperate. After all, he is quite young," Kushina added, and that was true. Even if Namikaze failed to secure the title this time, it was quite likely that he could inherit it in the future.

"Indeed," and that was true.

"It would have been much better if Obito and Kakashi-kun were here as well," Kushina suddenly spoke up with a sad tone, as Mikoto's lips thinned.

And it was a tragedy that the young blonde jounin had lost two of his students within the span of ten days, and given how much he cared for them, she knew that the loss must have hit them all hard.

By now, the entire village knew of the details of the mission that had led to Kakashi Hatake's death. The information had spread all over, and the people had chosen to focus on a singular point.

That it had been the attack of her son that had killed the masked boy.

And once more, the gossip and murmurs had turned against her son, who found his reputation destroyed as they called him comrade killer, jealous genius, and so forth.

"How is Rin doing?" she asked about the last remaining teammate of the two boys who had died, and Kushina sighed at her question.

"Not very well," Kushina answered, and she had expected that.

"Being a jinchuriki is not easy at any age, but it becomes even more difficult once you are an adult and your chakra coils have matured. The Sanbi inside her is weaker than the bijuu that is trapped inside me, but it is a bijuu nonetheless," and she knew what that entailed.

It was a reason so many jinchurikis' died. It was because not every shinobi was capable of carrying this burden, and even then, to carry a power like a bijuu inside oneself was a burden both physically and psychologically.

"The damned beast has been rampaging continuously since the day we reapplied the seal," Kushina added, and she could see her frustration.

"She has not been able to sleep for weeks," and that seemed rather troubling.

"Can't you help her?" she asked, and the redhead shook her head.

"I have tried as much as I can. But there is a reason why a bijuu is often sealed inside a person when they are young, and even then, oftentimes, seals are modified over the years to help the body adapt and assimilate to the massive chakra of the tailed beast. We cannot do that here," and Mikoto did not know the intricacies of this burden and could only sympathise.

"Then she will be driven mad by sleep deprivation?" she asked in a concerned tone, and the Uzumaki kunoichi sighed.

"I fear the same, though Minato did have an idea," she mentioned much to Mikoto's relief.

"What?" she asked.

"He did not say for some reason," and that was surprising, but he did want to meet with Izuna-kun today.

And Mikoto frowned at that, trying to connect the dots.

"Izuna, what would he want from him?" and Kushina shrugged.

"I do not know yet, though how is he? I haven't seen him ever since he left the hospital?" and now it had been many weeks since then.

Not that Mikoto was any different.

"Well, he is fine, though there is a bit of a standoff between him and the elders," she sighed as she answered the question.

"Why?" she asked.

"They have not taken kindly to his intentions of becoming the Head of the Medical Corps," and Kushina scoffed.

"Have they lost their mind? Do they not see how big of a promotion it is?" Kushina asked, and Mikoto smiled.

She, herself was rather relieved by the offer as well, for it would mean that her son would be away from danger.

However, the elders were not happy. They believed it to be cowardice and once more blamed him of cowardice, and called him a disgrace to the clan.

Fugaku had intervened until now, but even he was running out of options and she feared that soon enough, there could be a direct confrontation between Izuna and the elders, and she did not want that.

Her son had enough troubles.

"They wish to see him join the Police Force, and Izuna-kun has defied that order," and she sighed, a bit tired of all these troubles.

"And then there are the other rumors about him. Rumors from that mission," she added, as her own fists balled up, as did Kushina's.

"Yeah, I have heard them as well," and who had not?

"The Police Force is not happy about it, and neither is the rest of the clan, and it is causing much strife between the clan and the populace. Fugaku has kept a lid on it for the time being, but it is not looking good," and the unrest was palpable as the police force tried to curb those rumors about the Uchiha clan heir.

"They are rubbish. All of them. Those spreading them have not faced even the slightest of troubles themselves and think they can judge Izuna-kun," Kushina scoffed, and it eased her mind to hear that.

For a part of her had feared how Kushina felt about them, given that it was indeed Izuna's jutsu that had killed Kakashi Hatake, and now the village blamed him for it.

Calling him a comrade killer or the jealous genius who had killed Kakashi out of jealousy.

"Izuna has ignored them, but still, they are beginning to affect the entire clan now," she lamented, and even yesterday, a brawl had broken out, and Fugaku was forced to intervene to settle the matter.

"Has it really gotten so bad?" Kushina questioned, and Mikoto nodded.

"It has," and Kushina shook his head.

"Are they all idiots? Are they blind to the details of that damned mission? It is a miracle that Izuna-kun managed to save Rin-chan at all, and though Kakashi-kun's death was a tragedy, it was more because of the failure of the intelligence division rather than Izuna-kun," and that was true.

But the villagers and the common fold did not understand that.

"I will see if there is anything Minato can do about it," Kushina said, and she nodded.

"Now, speaking of that, I had a bit of a favor to ask of you, Mikoto," Kushina suddenly added as she rubbed her head, and Mikot smiled.

"Of course, what is it?" she asked, and the red-haired kunoichi hesitated as she slowly began.

"You see...." and she seemed to hesitate quite a bit.

"You see, since you are kind of my only close friend, and I had no one to go to," Mikoto frowned, trying to guess what it was about.

"What happened Kushina?" she asked, getting serious.

"You see....."

"...I am pregnant...."

And for a second Mikoto could not believe her ears, before she finally realised the truth and her eyes widened.

"WHAT!"

0000

IZUNA UCHIHA

Much had changed in the village since the death of Hatake Kakashi, whose death in a way has redeemed the legacy of his own father, and the villagers were beginning to realise how wrongly they had treated the legend.

Not that it mattered much, except letting him see more of the strings that controlled the village's propaganda machine, which had made him into its target. And now, with the details of the Kiri mission being leaked to the public, Izuna found himself under quite a bit of heat, as his name and reputation were once more dragged through the mud.

Not that it mattered to him, though.

A week ago, he was offered the position of acting commander of the Fifth Corps, which was the Medical Division. This position is still ceremonially held by Tsunade Senju, yet her continued absence from the village means that someone else has to take her place.

And the opposition and the attacks he had faced after the offer had more or less solidified his determination of taking the offer, after all, few truly understood the implications and access of this position.

The Medical Corps saw little combat, but it was quite deeply integrated in civilian aspects, logistics, and other population statistics, and as the head of this division, he would have access to a lot of information.

Information that someone would much prefer to be kept away from his prying eyes.

Izuna had not officially accepted the offer yet, given that he was still on leave because of his injuries, though he intended to do so soon enough. And even now, he spent most of his time at the hospital working as an Iryo-nin, to keep himself busy.

Despite the end of the war, the hospitals were still large at work given that the mass casualties, emergencies, and triage from the times of war may have ended, but the war had left many ninjas severely injured and affected—people who would now need extensive reconstructions, rehabilitation, psychological care and so forth to help them integrate back into the society.

There was much work to be done, given that the Medical Cor had been lagging behind for years ever since the death of its former head Kato Dan, whose death had not only robbed the division of his vision, but also taken from them their greatest asset in the form of Tsunade Senju.

He now sat in her office, for despite not having yet accepted the offer, the people working in the hospital already knew of his intentions to do so and were rather accepting of it, given that despite his age, he was the most skilled iryo amongst them.

"What brings you here, Namikaze-san? " He had been working rather diligently when he was visited by a rather troubled Namikaze Minato, who gave him a stiff smile.

Izuna had not met the man since the funeral, though this was more coincidental rather than deliberate. Given that he had been deployed, Izuna found himself stuck in the hospital for his recovery.

He had no idea how the man felt about the loss of Kakashi, for Izuna knew that Minato cared for his students quite a lot, and to lose two of them in quick succession as he had, with the third becoming an accidental jinchuriki would not have been easy for him at all.

"I would like to say that I came to visit you and congratulate you on the promotion," he began softly. Though Izuna would not like to admit it, he was quite relieved by the man's lack of aggression.

Despite the circumstances, it was true that it had been his jutsu that had killed Kakashi Hatake, and while he could really not be blamed given the circumstances of the mission, the death of Hatake did weigh heavily on his mind for many reasons.

"But, I am here because I am in need of your services," the blonde man finished, as Izuna frowned.

"You need me," Izuna asked, and the man nodded.

"Yes, or more specifically, Rin does," the man added as Izuna's lips thinned.

He had not met the brown-haired girl since that day. He was not allowed to, given that she was kept under strict confinement. Despite the new seal, she was still a new jinchuriki, a recent and accidental one. So, despite the presence of Kushina-san and Minato-san, there was still a small chance that the tailed beast sealed inside her could break free from its shackles if stimulated.

"How is she?" he asked as Minato-san's lips thinned.

"Not well. Not well at all," he said and Izuna had expected that, for all her skill and prowess, Nohara Rin lacked the heart of a shinobi.

That much was evident from their last mission, and though skill and jutsus could be learned, the attitude and heart of a shinobi was something one had to be born with.

Despite what it may seem, Minato Namikaze had that heart. For one does not slay a thousand men in a single day, unless you have the cruel heart of a killer. And as Izuna grew, he found himself surprised as he realised that he had it as well.

The heart of a killer.

"What is wrong?" Izuna questioned as Minato-san sighed.

"The bijuu inside her is relentless, it has sensed her pain and suffering and is constantly trying to drive her mad through its antics," and that was not a surprise to him.

The Sanbi was a rather rebellious beast, though one could say the same for all the bijuu.

"It has become so bad that she is unable to sleep because of it, and it is beginning to take a toll on her," and Izuna did not know what it meant or felt like to be a jinchuriki, though from what little he had read and experienced, it was a great burden.

There were many intricacies, types of seals, affinity matching, and so forth involved in the entire process, and even then, there was a reason half the jinchuriki in the world were either half-mad killers because having a constant voice in your head did not do well for a person at all.

"That is troubling indeed," and it was. But the question was why had the man come here.

"Though I wonder how I could be of any help?" he asked, and those blue eyes narrowed at him as Izuna saw the blonde hesitate before he finally opened his mouth.

"You are the only person in the village who can help her, given that you lost your entire team and yet held strong despite it all," he added, and that was not an easy thing.

But he could understand the blonde man's point.

"She thinks of you as a peer and friend, I was hoping that you would come and talk to her, and help her get through these troubling times," and Izuna nodded.

"Of course, I wanted to do so, but I was not allowed to do so," he added and the man nodded.

"I have taken care of that," and with that the man put forward a scroll.

"This is the permission from the Hokage-sama himself. You are free to visit her now," and Izuna nodded as he pocketed the scroll.

"I will be there," and the man nodded.

"Though there is one more thing," he added and Izuna rasied a brow.

"I want you to use your powers to ease the Sanbi inside her so that she can rest...." and Izuna had feared as much, when the blonde had spoken of the beast's rampage.

The power of the Sharingan to control a bijuu was a well-guarded secret within the Uchiha, for good reason. After all, not all Uchiha could do so, for only those with the Mangekyo Sharingan could control a bijuu—as he had during the mission.

He had been desperate then, and had no other choice, and had skirted around the issue in his report as well. Though, he was not the only report that would be made for the mission, as Rin-san would write her own report.

One that would obviously pass by the eyes of the man sitting infront of him.

"And what makes you think I can do that?" Izuna asked as Namikaze Minato remained quiet before he finally opened his mouth and answered.

"Because I know that Madara Uchiha could do so, and I believe you possess the same eyes as him..."

0000

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PS: I saw some people believing Danzo helped Kiri in the Rin mission, and that is not true. That was entirely Madara and Kiri's doing. Just wanted to clarify it.

(Ramadan Mubarak!)