The walk home was quiet. But as they reached the front door of their house, Satoshi paused. He took a deep breath, straightened his flak jacket, and adjusted his expression to one of absolute neutrality.
It was the face of a man preparing to walk into a minefield.
"Ren," Satoshi whispered. "Let me do the talking."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "You're the Captain. Obviously."
They slid the door open.
"We're home," Satoshi announced.
Kaori Uchiha appeared from the kitchen. She was a woman of deceptively small stature, with kind eyes and hair tied back in a loose bun. To the outside world, she was a retired Chūnin and a gentle housewife. To Ren and Satoshi, she was the Apex Predator.
"Welcome back," she said, wiping her hands on an apron. "Dinner is ready. How was the meeting?"
They sat down at the low table. Satoshi waited until she had served the rice before dropping the bomb.
"The Clan has been put on standby," Satoshi said, picking up his chopsticks. "We are deploying to the Rain border soon. Ren has been assigned to my squad."
Kaori paused. The air in the room seemed to drop five degrees.
"I see," she said softly. "Ren is going to the front."
"He is in my squad," Satoshi emphasized. "I will watch him."
Kaori set her bowl down. She looked at Satoshi, then at Ren.
"I'm coming out of retirement," she announced.
Ren choked on his rice. "What?"
"I still have my medical license," Kaori continued calmly, pouring herself some tea. "I'll file the paperwork tomorrow. I'll join your squad as the field medic."
"Mom, no!" Ren protested, putting his bowl down. "You've been retired for five years! You can't just jump into a war zone. It's dangerous, and—"
Whack.
Ren didn't even see it coming. One moment he was speaking; the next, his face was intimately acquainted with the tatami floor. A comical bump was already forming on his head.
"Dangerous?" Kaori smiled. It was a terrifying smile. "Ren, dear, who taught you how to throw a shuriken?"
"You did," Ren mumbled into the floor mat.
"And who broke your father's ribs during a 'friendly' spar three years ago?"
Ren looked up at his father for support. "Dad, say something! Tell her she can't come!"
Satoshi slowly raised his tea cup to his lips. He looked at the wall. He looked at the ceiling. He looked anywhere except at his wife or his son.
"The squad... could use a medic," Satoshi muttered into his tea.
Ren stared at his father. The betrayal was absolute. The contempt in Ren's eyes was palpable. You coward. You spineless traitor. You're a Jōnin Captain, fear the enemy, not your wife!
"It's settled then," Kaori beamed, clapping her hands. "The whole family is going to war! It'll be a bonding experience."
She looked down at Ren, her expression turning serious.
"But if we are going, you need to survive. We start training tomorrow at dawn."
Ren rubbed his head, sitting up properly. "Training?"
"We need to see it," Satoshi said, finally putting his cup down. His voice was low. "The Mangekyō. We need to know what it does, and what the drawbacks are, before you use it on the field. If you collapse like you did at dinner, you'll be dead."
Ren nodded. That made sense.
"Also," Ren said, seizing the opportunity. "I have... ideas. Since I have perfect chakra control now, I've been theorizing some new jutsu."
"Theorizing?" Kaori raised an eyebrow.
Ren held out his hand.
"First, for lightning," Ren said. "The standard Lightning Release is too unfocused. I want to concentrate a massive amount of lightning chakra into the palm of my hand. Highly compressed. Like a thrusting spear."
He demonstrated, blue sparks dancing on his palm.
"If I combine that with the kinetic vision of the Sharingan to handle the tunnel vision effect... it would be an assassination strike that cuts through anything."
Satoshi's eyes widened slightly. "Concentrating nature transformation into a single point... The risk of backlash is high. But with your eyes..."
"And the second one," Ren continued, dispelling the sparks. "Shape transformation. Pure chakra. No elemental nature."
He mimed holding a ball.
"Rotating chakra in multiple directions at once. Compressing it into a self-sustaining sphere. If it hits someone, it grinds them away."
Satoshi and Kaori exchanged a look. These weren't just 'ideas.' These were S-Rank concepts.
"You want to invent a thrust of pure lightning and a sphere of grinding chakra," Kaori summarized. "At fifteen."
"I have the control," Ren said confidently. "I just need you two to help me test the output without blowing my arm off."
Satoshi stood up. A rare smirk crossed his face.
"Tomorrow," his father said. "We test the eyes. Then, we see if these theories of yours hold water. But be warned, Ren."
Kaori cracked her knuckles. "If you think the war is hell... wait until you survive my training."
Ren gulped.
Maybe I should have defected to the Hawks, he thought.