Sairai 再来

Chapter 9 - It would've failed no matter what

Third POV

Sasuke ran confused on his way to the Hokage office. He didn't know what made Chise act that way. He never saw her like that, so he knew it must've been serious and not just the usual prank she would make with Naruto. From where he was he could already see the red Hokage tower. He picked up his pace eager to arrive sooner.

Sasuke barged in through the doors with no hesitation. If it weren't for the situation he would've been too shy to even knock politely on the door and would've waited for Itachi or his friends to do that for him.

The Hokage wasn't shocked by the young boy, but he was curious why he was there looking like he ran a marathon.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" the Third asked. Sasuke was surprised that the Hokage knew who he was. He knew he was quite popular in the Village, especially among young girls, but being known by the Hokage was something he would take pride in late. On the other hand, Hiruzen knew almost everything about Chise and Sasuke Uchiha. Itachi and Shisui would always talk about them and he would listen in, but mostly he knew them because of Naruto. The obnoxious blonde would never stop talking about them to Hiruzen, telling him all the details, from how they would eat together after the Academy at Ichiraku Ramen to how Naruto and Chise pranked Sasuke all the time.

"Hogake-sama," the young Uchiha said starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. "Chise sent me here."

"May I ask why?" Hiruzen asked, puffing in his pipe. Sasuke stayed still for a moment thinking his words carefully. He barged in so fast in the Hokage office he didn't even think about what to say.

"She said to ask you to send Anbu at the Uchiha compound and Shisui, and that something really bad would happen," he said looking hopefully at the Hokage. Hiruzen sighed putting his Hokage hat down on the desk.

"Is this another one of your pranks, Sasuke?" the young boy was taken aback by his question, losing the confidence that he had before. 'Was this another prank?' he asked himself. No, it wasn't, he had never seen Chise so serious and agitated before, maybe just once before, the day when she went looking for Shisui the day he jumped in the river.

"No, it's not!" Sasuke said loudly. "She said to do everything in my power to convince you, and that you would know what to do." The young Uchiha said putting his fists on the Hokage's desk and looking at the old man desperate. "Please, believe me."

Hiruzen looked for a while at him in deep thought. He knew there was a coup d'etat, and that all the chances at a peaceful resolve were lost at once with Shisui'e eyes, a problem that he had yet to figure out, since the young jonin didn't say anything about how he lost them. He had his theories about what happened to Shisui's eyes, but he decided to keep them for himself and not dig further.

The Third Hokage landed back in his chair thinking about what Sasuke said. From the looks of it, Sasuke didn't know about the coup d'etat, but did Chise know? What reason would she have for sending the little boy here and not come herself? Maybe she accidentally found out about it, or Shisui tolled her. He also found it strange how the young Uchiha-Hyuga was there the day Shisui lost his eyes. Hiruzen didn't want to pressure her with questions, but it was obvious that she had been in a fight.