9 Chapter 9- Anything for my loyal minion

Zetsu POV

"You lost." He told the boy who just woke up from a month long coma.

The boy ignored him in favour of staring into the distance, a haunted look on his face.

"Are you going to say something or will continue to pretend that you can't hear me?"

"I can hear you just fine." Obito replied in a listless manner before he tried to get up from the bed but failed.

"What happened? How did you fail?"

Obito turned and glared at him this time. "The info you gave was wrong! Kushina was never there in the first place."

His eyes narrowed at that. "What do you mean?"

"The Konoha shinobi knew that I would be there. They had a trap waiting for me."

"What kind of trap can hold you?" He asked and Obito shuddered visibly and went silent.

"…well?" He asked after a long silence and Obito gained a frustrated look on his face.

"They knew about my power. About Kamui."

His frown deepened at that. "That's impossible."

"No. Minato-Sensei knew about my power. He knew that I would become tangible once again when attacking someone and choose right that moment to attack me."

"It could be a coincidence." He offered, skeptical about the entire thing. It was more likely that Obito was merely fabricating a lie to make up for his own incompetence.

"There are no coincidences when it comes to Minato-Sensei." Obito snarled before falling back into silence.

Finally, he spoke up once again. "We continue with the mission."

Obito sighed. "My left arm..."

"We'll get you a new one. Just like we did with your right arm. Or is your will so weak that you'll give up just like that?"

Obito remained silent and for a moment, he assumed that the boy's spirit had been broken from this defeat. But in the end, the boy got up from the bed, his legs still wobbly before he turned to look at him. "Go and prepare a left arm for me."

He nodded and melded back into the ground before using the Mayfly Technique to travel through the ground.

And as he did so, he thought on Obito's words and wondered if they had any truth to them.

And if Minato knew about Obito's power, then how did know?

And more importantly, if he could learn about Obito, somehow, then what else can he learn about?

—————

Minato Namikaze POV

He finished the last stack of paper and slumped down on his desk in relief.

Finally… finally he managed to defeat his enemy.

But right at that moment, as if to make a mockery of all his efforts, his secretary arrived and slammed another large stack of paper in front of him.

His enemy… it was back, stronger than ever.

"Hokage-sama. Please stop dawdling and continue with your work." His secretary sternly reminded him and he almost cried right then and there.

This was a hopeless battle and he was finally starting to understand why Hiruzen-sama was so quick to step down from his position.

…if only he'd known just how much work a Hokage have to do.

"Also, the boy named Ren is here to meet you once again. He said that it's important."

"Send him here right now." He ordered in his Hokage's voice as his salvation finally appeared in front of him.

The secretary gave him an unimpressed look, as if she could see right through him and his attempt at procrastination. As if she would deny his order and force him to continue his work regardless.

But finally she gave a polite nod and left the room, making him sigh in relief.

…he swore that he could hear his anbu guards snickering at his plight. Those bastards.

A few second later, Ren entered the room and he replaced his hopeless look with the face of the stoic Hokage.

"Yo, Hokage-sama. That stack of paper seems pretty large." Ren said and his calm facade shattered right then and there.

He cried inwardly as he replied. "It's manageable."

"I'm sure it is." Ren said, amusement dancing in his eyes. "After all, there is no enemy that our great Hokage cannot defeat."

…this little bastard knew. Did he see him struggling with paperwork in a dream or something?

And those anbu. They were definitely snickering at him.

He would going to double their training once he escapes from the *ahem* once he could complete the paperwork and finish his day at the office.

"Of course." He said, trying to keep his voice calm even as he cried inside. "How can I help you, Ren?"

"Well…" Ren paused and looked around the room, right in those exact places where his anbu were hidden. "You can get us some privacy. I have something important to report."

Another dream then. Let's hope that this one isn't as dire as the last one he saw.

"Very well." He said and gave a hand signal to his anbu who quickly evacuated the room. Then he tapped a seal under the Hokage's desk and the privacy seals around his office activated at once. "So… did you have another dream, Ren-kun."

"Kinda. It's complicated."

"Complicated? How?" He asked, a slight concern on his face.

Ren, due to his ability to dream of the future, was one of the most valuable assets that Konoha had. If something went wrong with that ability, then that'll be a huge setback for their village.

"Do you remember my last dream, in which both you and Kushina-Sensei died?"

"How could I ever forget?"

"Well… my dreams continued from there. In my dreams, I don't exist. So any changes I make in this world aren't made in the dream world."

His eyes frowned at that as he leaned forward. "So you're saying…"

"Yes. You and Kushina remain dead in that world. And my next dream is a continuation of that."

"Oh…" He said as he took a moment to absorb the boy's words. Then he asked. "What was your dream about, Ren-kun?"

"My next dream is about one the Sannin, Orochimaru." Ren said and then proceeded to tell him a tale about the world where he and his wife died, and his child was turned into the next Jinchuriki of the village. A world where Hiruzen-sama had to retake the position of the Hokage in order to stabilise the situation in the village.

Only, Orochimaru saw the weakness in the village, in his own Sensei, and used this for his own gains. He used the village's people and orphans for his twisted experiments until he's found, at which point he proceeded to escape and become one of Konoha's most dangerous missing-nin.

"That is… quite a troublesome dream." He said, a deep frown on his face.

He was already aware of Orochimaru-san's disappointment at not being chosen for the position of the 4th Hokage. But to think that the disappointment would cause such a rift between him and the village.

"I need to think on this Ren-kun. Is there anything about the dream that stuck out to you?"

"Well… Hiruzen-sama could've killed Orochimaru if he had tried. But he didn't, which led to Orochimaru escaping easily. So I wouldn't send him after his own student if you ever want to apprehend the snake sannin."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said. "As for the compensation. You'll get the payment for a high S-class mission. Is that acceptable to you, Ren-kun."

"Yeah. That's good enough." Ren said as he proceeded to turn around to leave but then paused. "Oh, there's one more thing."

"Oh. Something else about your dream?" He asked.

"No. This is more about a Jutsu I created." Ren said. "Say, do you pay people in merits and Ryo when they manage to create a new S-class Jutsu or recreate one from other villages?"

"We do. Once at the start and then depending on how many other shinobi want to learn that Jutsu. Why? Have you found out how to use the Lightning Cloak of the 3rd and 4th Raikage?" He asked with slight teasing as he sipped from his cup of tea.

After all, making or even copying an S-class Ninjutsu is extremely hard. So hard in fact, that his highest achievement to this very day was learning an S-class Jutsu created by the 2nd Hokage and creating Rasengan, an A-class Jutsu.

So to expect a kid to create or recreate an S-class Jutsu was preposterous. Even if the kid was Ren Uchiha.

"No. I haven't delved into Lightning Release just yet." Ren said. "But I'm close to replicating the 3rd Tsuchikage's ability fly."

With those words, Ren begin to float above the surface of his office floor board.

And he proceeded to almost choke on his tea.

—————

Itachi Uchiha POV

"So that's where you sold all those things." Her mother commented thoughtfully as Ren proceeded to sell his sculptures to the shopkeeper.

At three times the amount that he sold them at just a few months ago.

"Some here, some there." Ren said with a shrug as he pocketed enough money from the transaction to pay for a high A-class mission.

…she still hadn't figured out if Shinobi were just poor or Ren was just that good at making sculptures.

And she didn't ask Ren because she already knew what his answer would be. 'That's because I'm awesome.'

"And you'll give away half of that to the orphanages?" Her mother asked even as Satsuki started to squirm in her arms.

"Not this time. This time I'll donate to the war veteran fund." Ren said. "Those old fogies should rest a bit more before they croak."

"You shouldn't be so rude to the elders, Ren." She said and just like usual, Ren scoffed at her words.

"You're only saying that because you haven't met those old bastards yourself. Trust me when I say that they will probably outlive most of the students in our class."

She gave him a skeptical look but before she could say anything else, her mother spoke up.

"And where do all these sculptures go? I don't think I've seen any of your work being displayed here in Konoha."

"Konoha is made up of shinobi who live on the edge of life and death. Even the richest clans are not so loose with their money that they will buy art worth tens if not hundreds of thousands of Ryo." Ren explained. "Most of my sculptures are sold to the Nobles of the Land of Fire. Mostly in the capital but also in some other large cities."

"So why not just send your sculptures directly to the Capital?" Her mother asked. "Wouldn't it be more profitable to sell directly to the customer instead of doing it through a middle man."

"I would but I don't have connections like that just yet." Ren said and her mother clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"Oh Ren. So smart in some matters but so foolish in others."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked her mother.

"You do have such connections. After all, aren't you a part of the largest and most powerful clan in Konoha."

Ren paused at that before he closed his eyes and groaned. "Of course! Why am I so blind?"

"You aren't. You just aren't of the age where the adults will discuss such things with you. If you could've attended the monthly Clan meeting at the Naka Shrine, then you would've known. The Clan's various investments, properties and businesses are one of the more important topics that we discuss there."

"Now I hate Fugaku-san even more for stopping me from taking part in the Coming-of-Age Ceremony." Ren groaned.

Understandable, as anyone who completes that ceremony is allowed to take part in it. Though only Jounins and retired elders are allowed to speak in the meeting. Chunins, Genins and academy students can only sit on the side and listen. Still…

"That was for our own protection." She reminded him and he sighed.

"Yeah I do understand that but-" Ren paused and squinted at something in the distance. "Hey, is that Tsunade-san."

She looked into the distance and found that it was indeed none other than Tsunade of the Sannin. A woman who was the role model of all young Kunoichi these days.

"Let's go and meet her." Ren said and before she could stop him, he was already sauntering up in Lady Tsuanade's direction.

Her 'Ren's-going-to-do-something-stupid' senses started tingling as he reached closer to the slug-sannin.

"Mother, we should stop Ren."

Her mother, who had been taking care of a fussy Satsuki-chan paused and glanced down at her in confusion. "Huh… why?"

But before she could say anything, Ren reached Lady Tsunade.

"Yo Granny. What's up?"

"Brat! Who are you calling a granny?"

"You, of course. Do you see any other granny around?"

Lady Tsunade's eyebrow twitched.

*Boink!!!*

"Ow."

She sighed and facepalmed.

Two minutes later.

"I'm so sorry about my ward, Tsunade-sama." Her mother apologised and forced Ren to bow to the Slug Sannin. "Apologise to her, Ren."

"Hey! Why do I have to apologise when she's the one who beat me up!" Ren protested.

"That's because you were rude to her first." Her mother told her and Ren gave an aggrieved look to the Slug Sannin who was now looking down at him with an amused look.

"Very well. I'll apologise." Ren said and her senses starting tingling once again.

"Ren-" She started to speak but Ren spoke over her.

"I'm sorry… that being reminded of your age bothers you so much!"

Lady Tsunade's eyebrow twitched.

*Boink!*

"Ow."

She sighed and facepalmed.

Ten minutes later.

They were now sitting on a fancy restaurant with Tsunade's little apprentice, Shizune, sitting on the other side with an awkward look on her face as she held her pet pig.

"I'm sorry about Lady Tsunade. She can be… a bit violent at times." Shizune said.

"There's nothing to worry about." Her mother said as she rocked little Satsuki in her arms. "Ren is far sturdier than you think. Those punches of Lady Tsunade probably didn't even hurt him."

Shizune gave them a skeptical look but didn't contradict her mother and they fell into an awkward silence once again.

She took this chance to look at the table were Lady Tsuande and Ren were having a rather intense conversation via genjutsu.

For some reason, Lady Tsuande was looking over at their table from time to time.

More specifically, Lady Tsunade was looking over at her.

She wondered what that was about.

Ten minutes later.

"I still don't see the point in this." She said as she was put over the operating table by Lady Tsunade.

"This is just a small test to see if there are any hidden problems in your body." Lady Tsunade told her before she put a glowing white palm over her forehead and everything went dark.

—————

By the time she woke up, the sun was a distant red over the horizon.

"How are you feeling, kid?" Lady Tsunade asked her and she noticed that she was now laying over a hospital bed.

"I… feel fine." She said, feeling confused about the entire thing She glanced sideways at her mother who looked pale for some reason and then at Ren who was carrying Satsuki with a somber look on his face. "What happened?" She asked.

"We found that you have SCS." Ren replied.

"What's SCS?" She asked

"Short Chibi Syndrome. It's a disease that only falls upon overly serious children. Having this disease means that you'll always remain chibi sized and won't ever grow up."

"Stop talking nonsense brat." Lady Tsunade said before she boinked Ren on the head once again.

"Ow."

Then Lady Tsunade glanced down at her and her face softened. "Don't worry kid. I found some problems in your chest but it was nothing serious. You can go home now, though you'll have to come here every week for the next month for regular check ups."

"I see." She said, still feeling a bit out of sorts with the whole thing. "Can I go home now?"

"Yeah, you can." Lady Tsunade said before she took her notepad and left the room.

Then there were only her, Ren and her mother in the room. Oh, and little Satsuki, who was now sleeping peacefully in Ren's arms.

'I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous.'

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" Ren asked with a wary look on his face as he slowly backed away from her.

"So… what was this all about?" She asked as she tore her eyes away from that scene and looked at her mother.

Her mother opened her mouth to speak but Ren cut her off before she could say anything.

"It was nothing important. Just a minor problem in your chest, as Granny Tsunade said. Nothing to worry about."

She narrowed her eyes and gave a suspicious look to Ren who returned her look with an innocent one of his own.

…she was pretty damn sure that he was lying. But if it was something very important then she was sure that her mother would tell her.

"Very well then. Let's go home."

—————

Fugaku Uchiha POV

"It seems like I owe you another one, Ren. If you hadn't caught that disease at such an early stage, then Itachi wouldn't have lived till adulthood."

His wife nodded from the side. She had been the one who had to talk with Lady Tsunade and learn about how bad the situation would've been if the disease had gone unnoticed for a few more years.

She was obviously quite shaken by the incident. And he reminded himself to do something nice for her later to take her mind off this entire situation.

"Meh. Itachi is my loyal minion so it's only fair that I help her."

His eyes twitched.

—————

AN: Man, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as well.

So, Obito lost his left arm to Minato and had been in a coma for the past month.

Minato is fighting a daily life-and-death battle with paperwork.

And Ren used Observe to find that Itachi has a disease then got Tsunade's help to remove that disease at its early stage.