Standard Disclaimer

Warning: Suggested themes such as drugs, rape, violence. I am being blunt sry.

Slight Minato/Mikoto, Mikoto/Fugaku and Mikoto/OC(Zakuro).

Ch.5 The Code

Ring ring! Kushina and Naruto were enjoying a quiet dinner when the phone rang. "I think it's your father..." Kushina trailed off, running to the phone. 'Naruto is always quiet when Minato misses dinner.' thought Kushina sadly. She picked up the call. "Hello, Namikaze residence. Who is this?"

"Kushina-san." it was Jiraiya. "Bring Naruto with you and come to the hospital." Kushina's voice hitched in her chest, and she lost balance momentarily. "What happened?" she demanded. "Just come, trust me dear." Kushina looked at Naruto, who took the time off of him to sneak some ice cream into his plate. 'How would little Naru-chan react?' she thought frantically. Realizing that she was being awfully silence, she quickly concentrated on the conversation at hand.

"All I can say is that Minato's in critical condition."

"All right, Jiraiya-san." she hung up the phone, her eyes burning holes in the wall in front of her.

Naruto was on to her in an instant. Maybe she wasn't a good actress or she couldn't hide her face properly, because he knew something was wrong. "Are you okay, kaa-chan?"

"We have to go to the hospital, Naru-chan." she said gently, as Naruto had a shocked look on his face. "Is... otou-san okay kaa-chan?"

"Well," she said, grabbing two coats on a hook and handing one to him, "we better go check then!"

Mikoto looked around at her new surroundings. They were dark and dismal, and gave off an aura of despair. She tried to get up, but quickly learned that she was chained to the wall. "Kaa-san!"

She looked for the person who said it, and soon enough, saw Sasuke chained to the opposite wall. "Oh, Sasu-kun! We'll get out of this, baby, I promise." Sasuke was crying his out. "Kaa-san, these thingies on my arms are too heavy." he demonstrated for her, trying to move his arms. She was tearing up inside.

"Sasuke! Try and grab my hand!" she cried, moving away from the wall as far as the chain would allow. Sasuke knew this was important, so he imitated his mother. "Kaa-san, you're so far away!" he said, tears falling freely on his chubby face. Their fingertips almost touched, and Mikoto was relieved.

The door to the cell banged open as soon as their hands touched. She yelped, as Zakuro came in the room. "Aw, how touching! I never knew you for the domestic type, Miko-chan!" he said, acting much like a child. He turned around and grinned foolishly at Sasuke, who retreated to the corner of the room.

"Don't you dare touch him!" she growled, making a swipe at him. "You seem to forget, Miko-chan!" he said gleefully, slowly approaching her. "I'm the one in control. Don't you remember?" he said, grinning like a cheshire-cat. He squatted in front of her, and snapped his fingers. The chains shrank closer to the wall, until Mikoto was just hanging on the wall, like in a torture chamber. But instead of torturing her, he did something equally terrifying.

"Don't you remember, Miko-chan..." he murmured in her ear, "that night in December?"

"Hey Mikoto-chan, play with me!" Mikoto looked around. Boys were flocking to her, blocking her line of vision. As she struggled to get out of the slowly growing crowd, she got knocked about, and fell to the ground.

"No, me!"

"Aw, come on!

"No! I'll win her heart, just you see!" She looked around and saw a blonde-haired boy grinning down at her. 'He's... magic.' she thought. "You look troubled, Miko-chan! Here, let me help you up." He smiled that sheepish smile of his, nearly stopping her heart. "Thank-you, Minato-kun." she blushed, and grabbed his strong hands. Behind her, Uchiha Fugaku was snorting, oblivious to the whole scene. Unfortunately for him, Minato saw his indifferent face and took it the wrong way.

"BAKA! She's your betrothed, Fugaku-teme!" he snarled. Mikoto tried to calm him down. "It's okay, Minato-kun. He's just like that." she smiled bravely at Fugaku, who greeted her with a "Hn".

Minato snapped. "If I were you, I'd keep someone like Mikoto-chan close to me, instead of letting her get trampled on by others, TEME."

"I wouldn't help a weakling, dobe. See?... she's weak." his eyes pored into the back of Mikoto's skull. Yet she stood there, defiant.

"I'm not weak, Fugaku."

"Oh yeah? Remember that time when I had to save you from your own fireball jutsu?!?" She hung her head in shame. Minato however, refused to back down. "You know what, Fugaku-teme? I've learned from experience that the Uchihas use the fireball technique as a rite of passage in order to be recognized as part of the clan. I'm pretty sure that's all Mikoto wanted to be, part of your stupid clan!" Minato and Fugaku both stared at each other, and the killer intent bouncing off of them was almost tangible. Soon a chorus of "Fight, Fight,..." started and finally Mikoto couldn't stand it anymore. She turned to leave, but someone was in her way.

"What's going on?" Everyone looked and saw Hyuuga Zakuro entering the fray. He quickly pulled Minato and Fugaku away from each other. "You," he said, addressing Minato. "Why would you engage in such un-ninja behavior? You're a Namikaze." he spat out the word. He turned away from the blond kid before he could explain, and talked to Fugaku. The pair disappeared out of the grounds. Finally, Zakuro saw Mikoto, clutching at her sleeve. He whispered in her ear, "Don't forget about me, darling." Fugaku just stood there, noticing yet playing no part.

He caressed her cheek, and Mikoto stifled a gasp. 'He wouldn't dare do it, Sasuke is here!' But Mikoto knew the truth. Zakuro wouldn't care anymore. She shrieked, as she felt fingers slinking up her thigh under her skirt. Rough lips forced her to keep quiet, and invaded her mouth, feeling every part of it. As she started pulling away, Zakuro smacked her cheek harshly with his palm, and she gasped, feeling the numbness spread.

Taking full advantage of the situation, he grabbed a kunai from his pouch, and brought it to her neck. "You... wouldn't..." she stammered, as he pressed the hilt harder against her pale skin. "I would... but it would be a waste, my dear," he whispered huskily, "...just do what I want, and no one gets hurt." He snapped his fingers twice, and she fell to the ground. "Fine," she muttered, "You win, Zakuro. Do whatever you want."

Zakuro smiled, knowing that he left Mikoto with no choice. 'Too bad her damn child's here... oh well. He could be of some use in the future.' he thought, as he positioned himself.

What Sasuke wanted didn't seem to matter in this situation.

"How long has he been like this." asked Kushina, eyes taking in the form of her husband. From a distance, it looked like he was just sleeping. But if you looked at the sides of his head, near his eyes, there was red marks, just like the Byakugan, only blood red.

Kaya looked at her, then back at her son. 'They're taking the news insanely well,' she thought. 'If I didn't know any better, i'd say they have complete trust in the medical system. I think Kushina knows something.' She gave a glance at the stats near the bed. "We hope he'll be waking up soon. But we cannot say for sure if he'll be blind or not."

Kushina blinked. Of all the things she had been prepared to hear, nothing compared to this. Naruto stared at his mother. "Kaa-san, what's blind?"

"It means otou-san might never see again." she explained. "Oh." Naruto replied, being more mature than she ever saw him before. He didn't once pull off a trantrum during the visit.

"But otou-san will be alive, won't he?" Naruto said, hope shining in his eyes. Kaya smiled. "Yes he will, my Naru-chan. Come here." Kushina tightly embraced her only child. 'You better wake up, Minato.'

All of a sudden the stats on Minato's bed started whirring wildly, and Kaya yelled, "Kushina-san, get Naruto out of here!" Kushina obliged, but then everything stopped. She turned around, Naruto anxiously holding onto her leg. Minato opened his eyes.

"How do you feel, Hokage-san?" asked Kaya, her professional side kicking in-gear. The Yondaime rubbed his eyes wearily. "I'm fine, thank you, Kaya. My eyes hurt, though." He looked at the now-blurry images of Kushina and Naruto.

"I had the strangest dream." he said to himself.

Haruno Sakura sat impatiently on top of the breakfast table, holding the phone like a lifeline. It was her six birthday, and Naruto, as usual, forgot to tell his parents that there was a birthday party at her place. Now here she was, phoning him in the hopes of chastising him for his forgetfulness.

But he wasn't picking up. "Kaa-san, how come the Namikaze's aren't picking up their phone?" she whined, picking at a random spot on her chin. A lady with the same pink locks as her poked her head out of the diningroom. "Sakura honey, they won't pick up any sooner if you keep phoning them." she said, full of motherly wisdom. Sakura sighed, and put down the phone. She followed her mother into the diningroom. "Now Sakura honey," she said, as Sakura got into a chair, "What do you think about becoming a ninja?"

But before she could answer, someone opened the front door. "Otou-san?!?" screamed Sakura and her mother together, and both ran, knocking down furniture and armchairs in order to hug the man in the doorway. "Whoa." he laughed, and he ruffled Sakura's hair fondly. "I was only gone for two weeks on a mission, no need to worry. Yuri-chan, anything happen during my absence?"

"Only us missing you, Takuto." replied Yuri, crossing her arms. Takuto laughed warmly, and the two parents started kissing passionately. Sakura made loud belching noises and ran to her room, shrieking with laughter.

Itachi looked at the slaughtering that was happening outside, wincing in his head when a particular gruesome bodypart slammed themselves on the window. He quickly shut the blinds, so that Hinata would not be able to see. Thankfully, she was busy inspecting her father's desk, curiosity getting the better of her at her age. Itachi smiled, but quickly frowned when Fugaku started trying to escape. "Otou-san," he grunted menacingly, "I still have some questions for you."

"What's more to tell? The elders are behind this. They purposely put a throng of people here in the Uchiha and Hyuuga compound, to make it look like we slaughtered them." he smiled bitterly, and stared hard at his eldest son. "Didn't they give you a mission like this?" Itachi shook his head, knowing full well he'd decline as soon as Kakashi-sempai ever told him to do something like that.

"MINATO!" Jiraiya burst through the hospital doors, almost crushing the poor Hokage, if not for Tsunade's quick timing. She was tugging on the long bushy hair Jiraiya vowed never to cut, causing him unendurable pain. "It's good to know you're going to be okay." she smiled at Minato, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Thanks, Tsunade-baa chan." Tsunade twitched. "What did you call me, punk?" Jiraiya laughed a few octaves higher, and dragged Tsunade by the arms out of the room, grinning like an idiot at Minato.

"Honestly, what does Jiraiya-sensei see in her??" he thought. Jiraiya entered into his room again. "What do you want now, ero-sensei?" Minato said in exasperation. Jiraiya ignored him and crossed the hospital room and wrote a few words on a paper. "Jiraiya-san? ero-Jiraiya? Hello?" Minato was now waving his hands in front of his sensei's face, but to no avail. It looked as if his sensei was possessed. 'But, that's only in civilian movies, isn't it?' he thought tiredly. Jiraiya didn't answer, and exited the room, slamming the door behind him. Minato, despite the doctor's orders for complete bedrest, made a kage bunshin in order to grab the paper that Jiraiya wrote.

Three born from the shadows of a tree,

One aide to help them on their quest,

Two traitors that they will meet,

One missing-nin responsable for this mess,

One power to aid their cause,

One power their leader inherits,

One power to destroy the world,

But in their hands, they'll heal it.

"Wow, this sounds like something from a fantasy book." thought Minato, and he pocketed the note, just in case it would help Konoha.

He sighed. Even though he was only twenty-six, he felt exactly like the third hokage: Tired and Distraught.

'What's going on with the world?' he thought.

(1) Betrothed = Engaged to be married

A/N.: I know that there isn't much Itachi interaction, but please bear with me! READ AND REVIEW YOU DORKS! lol jk ima dork too ya know!

AND I'M PRETTY SURE I KNOW THAT THE LAST PART DOESN'T RHYME, BUT THEN AGAIN, I'M TOO LAZY! I'M SHIKAMARU'S REAL-LIFE COUSIN GET OVER IT! lol sry now I'm sounding like Sakura in her PMS mode. I need a life, I'll go buy one at Wal-Mart.... (scurries off to Wal-Mart) You can buy them half-price now!