Uzumaki Namikaze Estate
There is an unusual silence at the Uzumaki Namikaze Estate as the family sits around the table. They are currently sitting around the dining table and patiently waiting for Naruto's return.
Kushina had gone up to Naruto's room earlier to check if the latter had already returned and was taking a rest, but upon opening the door, she found zero silhouette of him.
Kushina returned back to the first floor and waited for Naruto to return and even refused to serve the dinner until her eldest son returned and sat with them.
Naruto usually didn't eat with them, and Kushina's planning to change that from this moment forward, especially because of what she and Minato were planning to tell Naruto after his return.
While they were waiting, an ANBU showed up in the room in a puff of smoke.
"Lord Hokage," the ANBU said in a deep voice clearly belonging to a male person.
"Yes, what is it?" Minato asks but clearly felt that something terrible happened due to the fact that an ANBU had to enter his home.
"There's been a terrible incident. Several dozen or so Uchiha Clan members were found killed, and the one who is believed to be responsible for this incident is Itachi Uchiha."
"What?!" Minato cries out loud in disbelief and unconsciously stands up in his chair.
"Is Mikoto..." Kushina was unable to finish her sentence in fear that her thoughts would come true.
Mikoto and Fugaku, along with their twins, just left the Uzumaki Namikaze Estate a couple of hours ago on their usual visit.
"Lady Mikoto and her family are alive. Fugaku was caught by Lord Fugaku accosting his younger siblings Sasuke and Satsuki. Currently both are at the Leaf Hospital after what Itachi did to the two of them."
"I see," Minato said in a low voice. "Kushina goes to the hospital, which Mikoto is most likely at, while I'm going to the Uchiha Clan Compound."
Kushina and Minato quickly made a move while leaving Menma, Mito, and Yayoi to watch the scene unfold, not knowing what to do.
Minato teleports himself close to the Uchiha Clan and immediately dashes towards the Uchiha Clan Compound, and the moment he enters the compound, more specifically the area where several dozen Uchiha Clan members were killed, his expression turns serious.
Minato immediately found Fugaku, who had been ordering the Uchiha Clan forces to secure the area and establish a perimeter to avoid disturbing the scene.
"Fugaku," Minato said, attracting Fugaku's and some nearby Uchiha's attention.
"Tell me the full details of what happened here," Minato added.
Fugaku nodded and provided the information he had while at the same time suspiciously looking at the corpses of his clansmen, which Minato also had the same look in his eyes for.
How can they not since the eyes of the dead Uchiha Clan members were stolen as if they were just pebbles on the ground that one can take?
This really infuriates Fugaku, and at the same time, he smells some kind of conspiracy about it that clearly targets the Uchiha Clan.
"Thank you for your cooperation. I will inform the ANBU to investigate this incident thoroughly," Minato said.
Minato also smells conspiracy about this incident, especially the fact that the Sharingan are missing, and he has some suspects who might be the ones who manipulate this situation.
Minato just doesn't have any evidence about this, so he can only investigate secretly, hoping that the culprits leave enough traces for them to follow.
Minato is also planning to inform all the ninja in the village about the action that Itachi takes and his plan to place Itachi's name in the bingo book as an S-rank rogue ninja, which everyone agrees with.
After this incident there's no question that Itachi possesses kage-level capabilities, which wasn't really surprising considering the fact that he was a genius.
Meanwhile, Kushina, who just arrived after dashing as fast as she could straight to the hospital, didn't waste a single moment to ask where Mikoto is the moment she entered.
After learning the current location of Mikoto Kushina, she immediately made her way towards her best friend's location, and the moment she got close, she noticed Mikoto outside the room where the latter's twins were staying, and tears were flowing in her eyes.
Kushina immediately dashes towards Mikoto and gives her a warm and tight hug.
"...K-Kushina?!" Mikoto is startled and tries to break free from Kushina's tight hug.
"It's okay," Kushina said in a low voice. "You can use my shoulder and cry as much as you want."
Mikoto tries to reassure Kushina that she was fined but is unable to speak such thoughts as if something is blocking his mouth from opening.
Tears were once again flowing in her eyes, and at the same time, her three tomoe sharingan activated. Mikoto buries her head in Kushina's shoulder, and her entire body trembles.
Little did Mikoto know at this time that her sharingan was slowly transforming into a different pattern.
Even Kushina was oblivious to this fact and just hugged her best friend tighter and reassured her.
Throughout the hallway of the floor they are currently standing on, one could hear Mikoto wail while Kushina remained standing still and supporting her best friend.
Kushina knows that Fugaku is unable to support Mikoto at this moment because he is the head of the Uchiha Clan and has to think about the clan first before himself, especially at this moment in time when he can't even think about the situation of his children.
Especially what Itachi did to his clansmen and his siblings.
Mikoto knows this and wanted to support her husband, who was clearly distraught about the situation, yet she felt the same way as her husband, but unlike Fugaku, who can use the situation of the clan as an excuse to not think about what happened to his children, Mikoto can't.
This is why what Kushina did right now is something that gives Mikoto warmth inside yet at the same time makes her truly sorry for her husband, who had to abandon his feelings for their clan.
Kushina let her best friend express herself until she slowly calmed down. While Kushina is previously planning to fix her relationship with her eldest son, Mikoto's situation is something she can't ignore.
Thankfully for Mikoto, the one who handles the situation of Sasuke and Satsuki is none other than Tsunade, the greatest medical ninja in the world.
With Tsunade's help, she definitely makes sure of the safety of the two children.
Physically Tsunade can help the twins, but mentally that will be a different thing, and it's up to the twins and their loved ones.
The problem that one could see was the fact that at the core of their current problem is Itachi himself.
This really worries Tsunade inwardly since the fact that the twins who openly idolize their elder brother become victims of their elder brother.
What Itachi did really breaks the feelings of anyone close to him, and the ones who felt this more are his parents, who trusted and supported Itachi.
Right now Fugaku and Mikoto also need help to overcome these problems, and their friends are probably the only ones who can help them at this point.
From what Tsunade can see, it seems like Mikoto can rely on Kushina in helping her overcome this tragedy for a brighter tomorrow, but Tsunade also knows the pain Kushina carries right now.
It wasn't a secret for anyone who is close to Kushina and Minato about their accidental neglect of their eldest son due to the prophecy of the Toad Sage.
While Tsunade personally doesn't trust the prophecy that the Toad Sage provides, that doesn't mean she doesn't think it's the right idea to focus on training the three to handle their powers, especially the powers sealed within them.
The problem is the fact that Minato and Kushina focus so much of their attention on the three that they forget their eldest son. One could even see the results of their negligence during the birthday of the quadruplets.
Others can see Menma, Mito, and Yayoi enjoying the party alongside their friends, while Naruto is absent the entire time.
The first one to notice this was Shizune, who at first thought that she didn't just see Naruto in the party thanks to the large amount of people.
But after she notices a few times during the parties, it becomes clear how much negligence Naruto suffers.
It wasn't even a surprise for Tsunade and Shizune to find out the indifference Naruto had with his family; in fact, they felt it was justified in some ways.
But it doesn't mean Tsunade and Shizune wanted something bad to happen to the two since it's clearly a mistake as first-time parents, especially with four kids at once.
But the fact that Kushina and Minato neglect Naruto is something truly terrible in their opinion, especially against Kushina, who should know the fact that the Uzumaki Clan are known for their strong family bond.