22 Moulding Chakra
At dinner, Uchiha Fugaku swallowed the exquisite food and felt that things were finally starting to turn for the better. Now that they have a familial relationship with the ino-shika-cho, the Uchiha police officers instantly noticed the difference in the villagers' attitudes towards them.
It was as if a dark cloud that always stirred up trouble for them had disappeared from the village. Unbeknownst to him, that was exactly the case. Danzo had brought most of the Root with him to deal with the frontline situation as the war was about to break out in earnest.
The food he could recognize was all made of products the Akimichi would exclusively use to make their premium food pills during normal times. The creatures used to make these dishes were meticulously nurtured to bring out the perfect amount of nutrition.
Suddenly, Fugaku saw Malaria being gifted the 'Winged Mechanical Device' by Akimichi Narute. How come that devil was invited to this wedding and received such extravagant gifts, despite what he did to Dobito? Narute should be aware of what disasters that child could unleash during the festivities.
Not good!
Fugaku was suddenly shocked. How come that demon spawn is so close to Akimichi Narute? Wasn't he part of the infamous Root under Shimura Danzo? Or was everything he learned yesterday evening all a lie?
If so, wouldn't this entire wedding be a complete sham? Would the villagers suddenly turn hostile again and start discrediting their Uchiha Police Force once more? Suddenly, he remembered that Namikaze Minato was so strangely understanding regarding Malaria's mischief.
'Gulp, gulp, gulp'
Fugaku took a few swigs from his wine cup, feeling that the entire world was against him. Minato was known to be a man under the Hokage, Malaria was supposedly a man under Danzo. Was everything just a 'test' for the next Hokage- and Darkness of the Shinobi, to try their teamwork!?
As Fugaku was mulling over nonsensical matters, Malaria received the gift and never took notice of the dark clouds swirling over the Uchiha Patriarchs head.
Looking at the squirming Malaria, Fugaku felt that a new age was about to arrive.
--
Soon, after Malaria had eaten his fill, he bid farewell to the happily married Himawari, and the 'living dead' Dobito. Asking Narute for a sealing scroll to carry the Flying Device, he got the thing sealed and put it in his (Dobito's former) ninja pouch.
He had to get back home and start preparing the release of his plan to cover Konoha in a thin layer of mosquitoes. If they started swarming or clumped up too much, Sarutobi Hiruzen would be the first to send a few Anbu after him.
Akimichi Narute didn't ask him to stay for a while longer but encouraged him to come and visit whenever he wanted to. "I'll definitely visit again, Uncle Narute," Malaria replied filled with hypocrisy. He would only come for the incredibly nutritious meals to keep his blood levels sated.
Recalling the picture where Himawari and Dobito were making out, he almost wanted to take his words back. If he had to eat together with those two, and Himawari took action on Dobito – he might just throw everything he consumed back onto the plate.
Malaria felt that he was part of the upper-class in society when he left the hotel with the well wishes of Akimichi Narute. The status of that fat old man wasn't anything to scoff at.
'I hope that Dobito has figured out what's best for him in the future, or I will have to teach him another lesson.' Malaria felt that the odds of Dobito staying faithful are tremendously low, and when that guy gets dragged down, he'll fall in the pit with him.
However, today he had been given a great gift. He couldn't wait to learn how to mould chakra and take a swoop around Konoha spreading out mosquitoes all over the village. Now that he thought about it, wasn't that a perfect solution to his problem?
When Malaria left the hotel, Dobito was still sitting at his table in a daze with his hand outstretched in the handshake that little devil forced upon him. Watching Malaria leave, Fugaku leaned over and whispered a few things to him.
"Dobito, I know that you hate me and the clan at this point, but this is how the world works. Two hands can't beat three fists, and we're outnumbered at every front. If you don't want to be controlled, make yourself strong enough to beat down any opposition."
Some life returned to Dobito's eyes. He had to become stronger to be the master of his fate, not live like some sort of new-age puppet from Konoha. Now that he's thinking about it, isn't the war just about to start? He can rack in tons of merit while staying far away from Himawari.
'But there are some risks… Risk of death? I don't give a damn; I'd rather die than continue living like this!' Dobito thought. As he was hyping himself up and almost returned to life, the proctor announced; "The bride and groom are now leaving to the nuptial chambers!"
Uchiha Dobito shivered like a dying leaf about to fall from his branch, the little vitality in his eyes snuffed out like a candle in the breeze. 'Once I survive this ordeal, Malaria, this world can not accommodate the both of us…!'
What Dobito never got to know was that he's going on Namikaze Minato's team during the war and will have the chance to meet a certain ancestor of his clan during his struggles for merit.
Uchiha Dobito, Akimichi Himawari, and Akimichi Boruto – the team Suzuki Yamaha recommended to Namikaze Minato was about to be formed!
--
As the wedding was rounding up, Namikaze Minato had been sent out on an emergency mission to aid Hatake Sakumo on his return journey. Now that the war was truly revving up, they couldn't lose a top elite Jonin just because of some political infighting.
Minato observed the area around the mission objective calmly. No matter what, Sakumo was already overworked, beyond exhausted and needed to rest up before leading one battlefront as its commander.
As he recalled, this area was supposed to be very prosperous and extremely resourceful. But, due to overexploitation and rough mining techniques, all that was left is a tunnel-covered mountain. Once you enter inside, you'll find plenty of hollow rooms that have become the homes of many missing-nin from all over the world.
The area has almost become a sort of black market-branch, and in preparation for the upcoming hostilities, any unsafe elements in the Land of Fire must be rooted out in advance. That's what Hatake Sakumo's mission is, to kill the missing-nin in charge of this hideout and drive the rest out of the country.
'This place looks like it has been abandoned for years.' Minato thought to himself. Shaking his head, he could only head on inside to look for traces of any visitors. Sakumo should be rounding up around this time and prepare for the return journey.
After exploring one tunnel for a while, Minato came to a large hollowed out area. The place was covered in blood and bodies, most of the dead seemd to have been killed in their sleep. 'It seems Sakumo-senpai used a sleeping poison before rounding them up.' Minato thought.
Walking further inside, Minato could hear the clashing of metals. There was still someone fighting deeper inside the cave system. Rushing forward to see if Sakumo requires any help, he found that he already dealt the final blow to the leader of this establishment.
Hatake Sakumo almost keeled over in exhaustion. Leaning on his ninja sword and greedily heaving in gulps of air, he spotted Minato walking over at a leisurely pace. "Minato, what brings you here?" he asked.
"The war is about to start for real, and Konoha requires a strong and experienced commander on the additional fronts. I'm here to bring you back so that you can get a week or two of rest before sending you to the battlefield." Minato waved a hand in greeting and explained.
'That does not make any sense!' Sakumo thought that he was about to be forced on another mission together with Minato right this instant without any rest. After all, Hokage-sama himself didn't deny that he was being targeted for some political reason.
Looking around at the bloodbath he had caused Sakumo didn't know what to believe anymore. Calming down from the gruelling battle, he thought over what Minato just mentioned. The war is starting and he's to be a frontline commander.
'I see, since I have more use to be squeezed out, I'll get some respite before once more heading out to the battlefield.' Mulling over the matter, he felt that this war might be a good thing. This way, he won't be exhausted to death by easy missions any normal Jonin could do and continue working hard for Konoha.
The naivety of Hatake Sakumo sure is enormous.
--
After feeling upset at the celebratory dinner, Uchiha Fugaku returned to the police station filled with worries. He had observed the entire interaction between Malaria and Akimichi Narute from start to finish. In the end, he concluded that they were a lot closer to each other than he initially thought.
After that little devil finished his meal, Malaria got escorted out by none other than Narute himself. That's just further proof that Malaria has a particularly sophisticated identity. If that devil came to cause him more trouble again, he would certainly die from frustration.
'No, I have to do something to prevent them from using my Uchiha clan like this.' Fugaku looked through all the documents in his office pertaining to Malaria and found a strange rumour that appeared after the mosquito-station incident.
'The former Aburame Malaria, might actually be of Shimura' descent? This must be investigated thoroughly so my clan can have some leverage!' Fugaku figured he had to get something on that brat and his backers just in case another sinister plot was to pop up out of nowhere.
Dobito's lifeless eyes were still haunting him in the back of his mind. It was the first and only time he abandoned one of his clansmen in favour of 'the bigger picture'.
'I suppose this is the feeling a Hokage struggles with on the daily… It's not a particularly good one.' Fugaku thought, before leaving the station and returning home to rest.
—
The next morning, Malaria sat cross-legged on his scrappy bed. His body was trembling as he finally managed to get his first strand of controllable chakra! Before he could leave the wedding the other day, Suzuki Yamaha had given him a scroll and asked him to study it once he got back home.
'Finally, I can kiss my civilian status goodbye! I feel so much stronger than before and even the itchiness under my skin has lowered tremendously.' Feeling giddy, Malaria couldn't help but fist pump into the air.
He just about got enough chakra to be considered the lowest of all genin, and it already relieved a lot of stress from his taut nerves. He knows the plot and goings-on in this terrible dog-eat-dog world, and chakra is a necessity to barely eke out a method of survival.
As he was doing some celebratory high jumps, someone knocked on his door.
Malaria turned slightly dazed. It has never occurred before that somebody knocked on the door and didn't just lockpick their way inside. The only previous visitor that came around was his old man, who simply stripped him and left him to fend for himself. Fugaku didn't count as he was already inside before he even came home.
Malaria opened the door, only to see Uchiha Fugaku standing there with a face looking stoic like iron. Fugaku started with a greeting, "Hello there, Malaria-kun. We've met once more."
Malaria squinted at Fugaku. He was so arrogant like some sort of nobility last time they met at the police station, even chasing him out and told to never show up there again. Why did he look like this right now?
'He must be plotting something!' Malaria thought.
