Still sitting on the ground, Kakashi's eye darted from the creature in the toddler's hands over to his own shoulder. His breath hitched. Right there, sitting comfortably on his flak jacket, was a second, identical little slug but it was decorated with a necklace consisting of pearls, sea shells and stars.
He looked back at the one Shinna was holding, then back to his shoulder.
'Wait... there are two of them?' Kakashi thought, his silver eyebrows knitting together in deep, profound confusion. A sudden wave of understanding washed over him, and he let out a long, exhausted sigh.
'Ah... I get it now. The kid must want to make a complete collection. It's one of those popular toy sets where you have to buy multiple packs to get the whole matching pair.'
He looked closer at the slug Shinna was holding, noticing the tiny, ridiculous little accessories that had been placed on it. Kakashi looked up at the sky, letting out another deep, heavy sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.
'Good grief... kids these days. They are completely obsessed with the concept of summoning, to the point where they make total fun of legendary creatures by dressing them up like cheap dolls. Back in my day, a summoning contract was a sacred bond... now it's just a fashion statement for toddlers.'
In the meantime, Shinna was completely ignoring Kakashi's mid-life crisis. He brought the little slug right up to his face, his big eyes shimmering with genuine, tearful worry. In Shinna's eyes, this wasn't just a summon or a toy—she was a real friend who had just taken a terrible fall.
"Are you okay?" Shinna asked, his voice cracking slightly with pure emotion as he gently blew some remaining dust off her head.
"Are you hurt anywhere?! Don't worry, I've got you now..."
Fugaku's grip on Kawaki's collar tightened so hard the fabric let out a loud rip, but Kawaki didn't even flinch. Instead of throwing a punch, the two of them just locked eyes and began a furious, incredibly petty shouting match right there in the open street.
"You disrespectful brat!" Fugaku roared, his face turning an uncharacteristic shade of bright red.
"Do you have any idea who I am?! You walk into our village, claim my wife, and insult her right to my face! You have absolutely zero manners!"
"Oh, shut up, you loud old man!" Kawaki barked right back, leaning forward until their foreheads were practically touching. He was shouting at the top of his lungs, completely matching Fugaku's furious volume.
"How many times do I have to tell you?! I don't care who you are, and I don't care who she is! You're just a stubborn old fossil blocking the middle of the road! Let go of my cloak before I make you!"
"Fossil?! I am the Head of the Uchiha Clan!" Fugaku yelled, his voice cracking slightly from the sheer absurdity of arguing with a total stranger.
"You are coming with me to the interrogation squad right now! You will answer for trying to steal my family!"
"Steal your family?! Are you completely blind?!" Kawaki screamed back, gesturing wildly with his free hand toward the crying Tenten.
"Look at this useless kid! Why would I ever want to steal a brat that does nothing but scream and throw tantrums?! I'm trying to do a job here, you absolute maniac!"
"A job?!" Fugaku shrieked, completely losing his mind. "So kidnapping my wife is a job to you?!"
"She's not even—ugh, you are impossible!" Kawaki groaned, his face twisting in pure, aggressive irritation as he yelled directly into Fugaku's face.
"Just go home and argue with your actual wife instead of barking at me! You're ruining my entire day!"
A few feet away, Minato covered his face with both hands, his shoulders shaking as a massive, dark aura of utter exhaustion surrounded him.
Shikaku just stared blankly, completely giving up on trying to find any strategic logic in this disaster. The two most serious, intimidating men on the battlefield were currently standing in the dirt, screaming at each other like two angry neighbors over a broken fence.
Behind the stone wall, the sheer, agonizing embarrassment of the shouting match was completely breaking Orochimaru's sanity.
Listening to Kawaki scream 'old fossil' at the fearsome leader of the Uchiha clan was a level of tactical disaster the Sannin had never experienced in his entire long life.
His golden, snake-like eyes squeezed shut in absolute despair. Feeling a massive wave of second-hand embarrassment wash over him, Orochimaru raised his pale, long-fingered hand with dramatic force, intending to facepalm his own forehead so hard it would block out the sound of Kawaki's voice.
But right at that exact split second, the future Minato—who was standing right beside him—anxiously leaned forward to get a better look at the street.
SMACK!!!
Instead of hitting his own forehead, Orochimaru's palm flew directly sideways, connecting with a loud, ringing slap right against the side of future Minato's face.
The impact was so perfectly timed that Minato's head snapped to the side, his bright blond hair flying wildly as a bright red handprint instantly formed on his cheek.
The poor Yondaime Hokage stumbled half a step back, completely dazed, holding his smarting cheek with wide, blinking eyes.
Orochimaru froze, his hand still suspended in mid-air. He slowly turned his head, staring at the struck Hokage with a rare look of utter, blank shock.
"Ah..." Orochimaru muttered, his smooth, creepy voice cracking just a tiny bit as he cleared his throat. "My apologies, Yondaime-sama. My hand... appears to have slipped due to the sheer magnitude of the stupidity out there."
Minato just stood there against the wall, his hand tightly clutching his stinging cheek. A heavy, dark shadow completely covered the top half of his face, and a massive, dangerous vein was violently throbbing right on his temple.
He looked completely done with the future group, the past timeline, and Orochimaru's giant hands.
Kakashi sat on the cold dirt, his breathing still slightly shallow as his brilliant mind immediately began to do what it did best—analyze.
His single visible eye darted across the crowded street, scanning every face, trying to piece together the absolute chaos that had broken out while he was unconscious.
His first instinct was to look for his teammates. He searched the perimeter for Asuma and Kurenai, but his eyes found nothing. They weren't anywhere on the street.
A flicker of fear hit him, but it was instantly wiped away when his gaze landed on the familiar, reassuring figure of the village leader.
The presence of the Yondaime Hokage made everything clear. Seeing the Yondaime Hokage standing there, maintaining order, allowed Kakashi to let out a quiet breath he didn't realize he was holding.
'Minato-sensei...' he thought, a wave of relief washing over him. 'Thank goodness you are here.'
Then, his eye shifted, and his muscles instantly tensed. His gaze landed directly on Sasuke.
This was the exact same man who had ruthlessly stabbed Asuma right in front of him. Yet, as Kakashi's memory flickered back to those final moments before he blacked out, he remembered this very same man unexpectedly healing Asuma's wounds and carrying him[1] safely out of the Dango shop.
The contradiction made Kakashi's head spin. Who side was this guy actually on?
Before he could dwell on it, his attention was pulled to the loud commotion nearby. Fugaku was still screaming at the top of his lungs, completely losing his mind. Kakashi narrowed his eye, trying his absolute best to look past the Uchiha clan head to see what was causing the uproar.
That's when he spotted her—Tenten, the kid from Tetsu no Kuni. And holding her hand tightly was the slender woman— Mikoto who had nearly killed him in the shop. Kakashi's entire mood instantly turned dead serious. His gaze hardened into a cold, sharp stare.
As soon as he braced his palms against the ground, preparing to force his beaten body to stand up and fight, a small, highly offended voice right next to him made him stop dead in his tracks.
"I saved you—" Shinna said, crossing his small arms and looking down at Kakashi with a deeply disappointed, tragic expression. "But it looks like humanity simply does not exist in this world..."
Kakashi blinked, completely caught off guard by the toddler's dramatic words. "Huh? What are you even saying, kid?" he muttered, his voice flat and exhausted.
"Look, I am really not in the mood to play games right now."
Shinna's face twisted into a deeply insulted pout. "How rude! Usually, I am very interested in playing games, but definitely not right now! And you... you just carelessly threw the only person who actually healed you!"
Kakashi stared blankly at the boy, a massive sweatdrop forming behind his head. "Healed me? Who... you?" He almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity.
"Of course me!" Shinna declared proudly, puffing out his small chest as he held up the slimy slug. "Me and my Suyu-chans! We are the ones who healed you! Or else Miko—"
Shinna froze, the words dying in his throat. A sharp memory suddenly flashed through his mind—the memory of Sasuke grabbing him earlier and strictly warning him, 'Stop it—' preventing him from blurting out Minato's name in front of the past timeline and he did not wanted to do the same mistake in front of Kakashi with Mikoto's name.
Quickly catching himself, Shinna cleared his throat and clumsily redirected his sentence.
"I mean... or else that woman who threw you would have finished you off!"
The mention of the woman instantly triggered a massive flood of memories in Kakashi's brain. The entire brutal sequence of the fight outside the Dango shop came rushing back to him in vivid detail—the speed, the impact, the cold realization of death.
With a grim expression, Kakashi slowly pushed himself up from the dirt, standing tall despite his aching muscles. He looked down at the kid and the little dressed-up slug on his shoulder and one slightly dirty one in his hands.
"I don't know how much part of you and that toy healing me is actually true..." Kakashi said coldly, his voice dripping with serious ninja tone as he locked his eye onto the fake Mikoto across the street.
"But I just know that that woman getting me killed is absolutely true."
Back in the middle of the street, Fugaku and Kawaki were still completely locked in their furious shouting match. Their faces were practically red from yelling, their lungs working overtime, and neither one of them was showing any signs of backing down.
But right in the middle of the heated, petty argument, Kawaki's temper completely got the better of him, and his tongue slipped.
"I don't give a damn about your village rules, old man!" Kawaki roared, leaning right into the older man's face. "I'm just here to do my job and take Mikoto back where she—"
Kawaki froze mid-sentence. The name echoed in the tense air.
Fugaku's grip on his collar went entirely rigid. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as his voice dropped into a terrifying, deadly whisper.
"What did you just call her...?"
'Shoot...' Kawaki thought, his stomach dropping as he realized he had just blurted out the real name of Fugaku's wife instead of the fake name he was supposed to use. He was completely stuck.
His eyes instinctively darted past Fugaku's rigid shoulder to find Sasuke. Sure enough, Sasuke was standing a few feet away, wide-eyed with sheer terror.
He was desperately waving both of his hands in a frantic 'NO' gesture, his fingers furiously mimicking the motion of zipping his lips shut , silently screaming at Kawaki to shut his mouth before he ruined the entire timeline.
Looking at Sasuke's panicked face, Kawaki just let out a quiet scoff and muttered under his breath, "Bastard...."
Fugaku's eyebrows snapped together, his Sharingan spinning with murderous intent. "Huh? What did you just say?!"
At that exact moment, Kawaki realized his own hands were still gripping Fugaku's shoulders tightly from their scuffle. Fugaku wasn't even looking at Kawaki's face anymore; instead, he was glaring down at Kawaki's hands with absolute, unfiltered rage.
Realizing he needed to save himself fast, Kawaki slowly removed his heavy palms from the older man's shoulders. Trying to look completely innocent, he used his fingers to gently and awkwardly brush some invisible dust off Fugaku's jonin vest
"See, what I mean is..." Kawaki started, his voice suddenly shifting as he gave an awkward pat to Fugaku's sleeve. "Listen, bro..."
Fugaku's face twisted in pure, unadulterated shock. The raw anger displaying on his face doubled. Calling the legendary, traditional Uchiha Clan Head 'bro' was an absolute insult to his dignity.
"I mean—!" Kawaki quickly corrected himself, his classic blunt energy completely crumbling into an incredibly fake, silly grin.
"I mean, Uchiha-sama! My bad! What I really meant to say is... my own wife actually looks exactly the same as your wife! I mean... they could seriously be identical twins! Haha... twins!"
Behind the stone wall, the corner where the future team was hiding had become its own small zone of absolute panic.
Orochimaru's golden eyes were twitching violently as he listened to Kawaki's ridiculous 'identical twins' excuse echoing from the street. The embarrassment was too much to bear. Feeling his sanity slipping, Orochimaru slowly raised his pale hand again, intending to finally facepalm his own forehead to block out the stupidity.
Seeing that large, pale hand rise up in the air once more, the future Minato instantly flinched. He quickly leaned his head back, defensively raising both of his hands in front of his face.
"Woah, woah!" Minato whispered in a panicked rush, his shoulders tense.
"Orochimaru-sama, please! Don't hit me this time also! My cheek is still stinging!"
Orochimaru slowly lowered his hand, turning his head to glare at the Yondaime Hokage with an expression of pure, unamused exhaustion.
"Minato-kun..." Orochimaru muttered, his smooth voice dripping with heavy judgment.
"It was your decision to send Kawaki-kun out there, right? You could have easily sent me to handle this situation. Anyone would have been better than that complete idiot."
Minato let out an anxious sigh. Wanting to check if Fugaku had actually pulled out a weapon yet, he carefully leaned his upper body forward again, peeking past the edge of the stone wall to get another quick glimpse of the chaotic street.
"And what would be the use to send a snake?" Minato mumbled absently under his breath, his eyes fixed on the crowd.
The words came out a little too clearly.
Orochimaru froze. He instantly got offended, his pale face turning remarkably rigid. A cold, dangerous presence flickered around him for a split second, but instead of snapping, he let out a low, raspy chuckle that rattled deep inside his throat.
It was a dark, menacing sound, full of dangerous amusement, as he crossed his arms and slithered half a step closer to the Hokage.
"A snake, Minato-kun?" Orochimaru purred, his long tongue briefly flicking over his lower lip as he defended his pride.
"You underestimate the elegance of my summons. A snake moves silently, blends flawlessly into the shadows, and strikes without leaving a single trace. If I had gone out there, the girl would already be secured, and the Uchiha clan head wouldn't be questioning his marriage. I certainly wouldn't be standing in the dirt calling people 'bro'. "
Hearing the icy tone, Minato suddenly realized exactly what he had just said. His heart skipped a beat, and his eyes snapped wide open in panic. He had just casually insulted one of the legendary Sannin right to his face while they were trapped on a secret mission.
He was stuck too!
Trying desperately to cover up his massive slip-up, Minato gave a very forced, nervous laugh, his hands waving frantically in the air as he tried to cover up for what he said.
"I—I mean! You will chuckle only, right?!" Minato squeaked out, a massive sweatdrop rolling down his neck as he tried to pretend it was all a joke.
"Because, you know... snakes don't have limbs to brush dust off shoulders! Ha ha... right? That's... that's all I meant!"
Back on the chaotic street, Kawaki decided he had completely run out of patience for Fugaku's questioning. Turning his back on the furious Uchiha leader, he marched aggressively over to where Tenten was standing and reached out to grab her small arm.
"Come on, Sara Miya,... Kawaki grunted, his voice dripping with blunt irritation. "We're leaving."
Standing just a few feet away, Shikaku Nara practically held his eyes in physical pain, pinching the bridge of his nose as a massive sigh escaped his lips. 'There he goes again...' Shikaku thought, his brilliant mind completely spinning at the sheer stupidity of the traveler.
'He literally just screamed 'Saya Miya' two seconds ago, and now he is right back to calling her by the first name. Does this guy have short-term memory loss?!'
Before Kawaki could even touch the little girl, Shikaku stepped forward, blocking his path with a sharp, lazy glare.
"Oi..." Shikaku said, his voice dropping into a firm, unyielding tone. "You are not taking her anywhere."
Kawaki's eyes narrowed as he snapped back, "But that's my—"
"Daughter, right?" Shikaku interrupted smoothly, crossing his arms. "But she just explicitly said to everyone on this street that she doesn't know you."
Kawaki let out a heavy, aggressive huff, trying his absolute best to play the role of an exhausted, misunderstood parent.
"Listen, old man... You know how children are. When they lose their minds and throw a tantrum, they talk like this. Try to understand, she is just incredibly angry with me right now and even ran away from home. Kids lie when they're mad."
Shikaku stared at him blankly for a moment, totally unfooled but playing along to see where this disaster would lead.
"Okay. Everything has a time and a proper way to be done. But the first thing is... shouldn't you get permission from the Yondaime-sama before you take a child out of this district?"
The moment the words left Shikaku's mouth, a vein violently popped on Kawaki's temple. A deeply furious, resentful thought echoed in his mind.
'Fuck...! What the hell is this?! It seriously looks like I am a total slave to that blond bastard... Minato, I swear, I am going to deal with you properly when this mission is over!'
Grinding his teeth in absolute silence, Kawaki had no choice but to keep up the act. In a grumpy mood he turned around and stepped closer to the Yondaime Hokage, completely unaware that the Minato if his time was currently sweating buckets behind a stone wall.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the distraction, Fugaku grabbed Mikoto's wrist. With a deeply serious expression, he pulled her a little away from the crowd, guiding her to a quieter, more private corner of the street where the others couldn't easily overhear them.
Fugaku locked his sharp eyes onto her face, searching her expression. "Did you know that man?" he asked bluntly.
Mikoto didn't even hesitate, her face completely neutral. "No. Why would I?"
Fugaku let out a quiet breath, nodding slowly. "Okay, let that be. Just tell me... who asked you to come outside in the first place? And why were you holding that girl? Do you know her?"
Mikoto remained silent, not knowing how to explain the time-travel mess without ruining everything.
Fugaku paused. He looked down, his eyes scanning her body once again from head to toe, noticing how different she seemed compared to when he saw her this morning.
His expression softened significantly, replacing the harsh clan leader authority with the deep, genuine anxiety of a protective husband.
"Where is Itachi...?" Fugaku asked, his voice cracking with a sudden, tense pause as he looked at her midsection. "And... why do you look so slim?"
Mikoto's heart skipped a beat, but before she could say a word, Fugaku stepped even closer. With immense gentleness and a look of pure, reassuring devotion in his eyes, he placed his large, warm hand directly over her stomach, his mind instantly worrying about the unborn child in her womb.
"Is our child okay?" Fugaku asked softly, his voice full of protective assurance as he gently pressed his palm against her belly.
The lingering traces of humor instantly died from the street, replaced by a suffocating, icy dread.
Hearing Fugaku's question, Mikoto didn't flinch. Instead, a dark, chilling smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. She looked down at his warm hand resting on her stomach, her eyes reflecting the fury of the person who was controlling her.
"Good that you reminded..." she said, her voice dropping into a dangerously quiet, venomous purr.
A few yards away, Sasuke's eyes snapped toward his mother. Every muscle in his body went completely rigid as a cold sweat broke out across his neck. His Sharingan flickered beneath his hair.
He knew his mother's psychological state was fracturing under the pressure of being controlled by Hikaru—and he knew exactly what terrifying lie was about to slip past her lips to throw the past into absolute chaos.
Absolutely what Hikaru will think of to defeat him[2].
Needing to control the conversation before the entire Uchiha clan went to war, Sasuke abruptly turned his back on Kawaki and stepped directly into the space between the past Minato and Shikaku.
"Listen, Yondaime—" Sasuke cut in, his voice sharp, cutting through the heavy air like a kunai. "The thing is... I wanted to tell you that information now."
The past Minato shifted his sharp, analytical attention away from the glaring Kawaki, his blue eyes locking onto Sasuke with a guarded, disciplined intensity.
"But your demands are not complete yet—" Minato countered calmly, his hand resting within reach of his marked kunai. "We haven't negotiated the custody of those children."
"I know you are an honest leader, Hokage..." Sasuke said, his voice entirely steady, using the excuse of the village's safety to force Minato's hand.
"And I know you will give me those kids in exchange for what I am about to tell you. Earlier, in these very same streets, there was a man..."
Sasuke paused, his breath hitching for a fraction of a second as he prepared to speak the name. At the exact same moment, a few feet away, Mikoto turned her head toward Fugaku, her eyes wide and flashing with a terrifying, simulated madness.
"THAT MAN IS!" Sasuke continued loudly.
"THIS MAN IS!" Mikoto screamed at the exact same time.
Their voices overlapped perfectly, echoing off the stone walls of the village as they both spat out the exact same legendary, forbidden name.
"HIKARU!"
"HIKARU!"
Fugaku's entire body went completely stiff, his hand freezing against her stomach as his heart stopped. His Sharingan spun violently in his eyes, his face draining all color.
"What...?" he whispered, his voice trembling with a mix of confusion and immediate, primal terror.
"You heard me right!" Mikoto screamed directly into his face, her voice cracking with a raw, agonizing emotion that shook the entire street.
She grabbed Fugaku by the front of his vest, pulling him down to her level. "THIS MAN IS HIKARU!... UCHIHA HIKARU! HE ENTERED OUR COMPOUND, FUGAKU! HE BYPASSED THE BARRIERS AND HE KILLED THE CHILD!"
Tears of absolute fury and grief came the corners of her eyes as she drove the blade deeper into her husband's mind, pointing a trembling finger down at her own flat stomach.
"HE KILLED OUR CHILD, FUGAKU...!" she shrieked, the lie tearing through the past timeline like a localized cataclysm.
"WHILE YOUR DUMB SON ITACHI WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE, COMPLETELY USELESS, WATCHING HIS UNBORN SIBLING DIE!"
---
⚡NEXT CHAPTER⚡
The truth begins to tear the illusion apart.
As Kakashi risks everything to defend the mysterious traveler, the impossible name 'Hikaru' shakes Konoha to its core. But while words clash, another battle is already
unfolding in silence.
A mother's tears... A father's shattered heart... A child's desperate cry... And a secret that refuses to stay buried.
Just when everyone believes they are one step closer to the truth, the line between reality and illusion completely collapses.
Who is the real Mikoto...?
And when Fugaku is forced to choose between his own eyes... and the words of a stranger, what will he believe?
👉Chapter 48: The Illusion Of A Mother
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU SAY THAT HE IS NOT HIKARU?!"
"....These two are quite similar, but Hikaru ran away—he was the one who tried to kill me back at the shop. And... he has something to do with Fugaku-sama's wife..."
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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[1] Note: 'Him' refers to Hatake Kakashi over here.
[2] Note: 'Him' refers to Uchiha Sasuke over here.