Empty Eyes: The Sequel

Chapter 14

"Before we begin, please keep in mind that exercising caution is of utmost importance. The wrong decision can and will start a war." Fugaku addressed those of us in his office with a firm look of warning.

Morning has come and now it's time to start making a plan of rescue for Obito.

This is my first time stepping foot into Konoha's king's personal office. It's almost exactly what I imagined, if I'm being honest. A massive desk carved of blackwood is the centerpiece of the room and an elegant bench sits before it for when guests are present. The office is almost completely vacant of wall decorations and the desk itself is as organized as can be.

Present for this important meeting are the king himself, Sasuke, Sai, and me. If Madara was here, he'd undoubtedly be included, too. Sai, Mikoto, and Fugaku all three forbid Ino from getting involved because of her status as a new mother. Inojin is officially in line as an heir to Konoha's throne and his upbringing is being taken seriously. So, the queen and my sister are to focus on my nephew until he comes of age.

Ino's not happy about being excluded, especially since she was imprisoned in Sonokuni, just like me, and the act that Amegakure is at least pretending to be angered by happened in the tiny village. I tried to talk her down from a red-faced rant this morning after breakfast, but it was Sai who ultimately had to bring her to reason.

The conversations they had right after our rescue must've been heart-wrenching. Hell, even Sasuke and I sat down and talked, which is very rare since he's so reserved and we aren't the ones who suddenly have an unexpected child.

"To start, I need to know exactly how you supposedly killed their advisor and why."

Sasuke and I glanced at one another, but I responded, "He was about to kill me and Sasuke tore his heart out. We both saw him die right away."

Fugaku addressed his other son, "Sai, can you confirm this?"

The more expressive twin shook his head, "I was focused on my wife so I didn't see it happen, but I did see his corpse before we left."

The king's frown tugged somehow lower, "Very well. At this point, it's just word against word. We need to either find proof of their advisor's crimes or approach this from an entirely different angle." His dark eyes flitted over to me, "Is there anything you can think of from your time as a captive that may help?"

My brow furrowed as I searched my memory for something, anything, that I may have forgotten to mention since my return and shook my head, "I can tell you everything he did in detail, but there's no way to prove I'm speaking the truth. All of my injuries have healed."

The room became silent for a few long moments before the king spoke again, sounding a bit less confident in the success of this meeting, "Write a detailed report of every encounter you and this advisor had while in Sonokuni while the memories are still fresh."

The word "memories" suddenly brought to mind the day Kaguya pressed her forehead to mine and my mouth opened slightly in surprise before I snapped out of it and refocused my eyes on the king's, "I just remembered something Kaguya did that might help us, but I don't know if I can do it."

"What is it?"

"She, um, she was able to go through my memories and then show another person what she'd seen."

Sasuke and Sai both gave me varying looks of surprise, the latter speaking, "Why haven't you or Ino mentioned this before?"

I frowned and shook my head, "I don't know. I guess I kind of forgot about it with everything else that happened. Ino was under Kaguya's control at the time so I don't know if she was able to comprehend what was happening."