To Be Lost On The Road To Life

Responsibility

"What!?" The booming voice cut through the usually calm ambience of the room; challenged in volume only by the clatter and subsequent shattering of porcelain.

Minato's eyes widened as Fugaku leapt from his seated position, his teacup nothing more than a few shards on the floor—it had been flung to the side and burst into fragmented shards upon impact with the wall—and the man was seething.

The blonde had never seen the Uchiha clan head so disheveled and emotional.

"... You heard what I said," Minato stated simply, not wanting to add to the man's growing frustration. Over what, he didn't know, not yet. "Why is it so worrisome, though? You hadn't reacted to the situation until I mentioned the black flames." Though stated with calmness and deceiving nonchalance, the blonde struggled to keep his eyes from narrowing as he observed his friend for any hints.

Fugaku eyed the blonde—it was no surprise to Minato that the man had caught his slightly measuring look that followed the statement—and then sighed defeatedly as he sat back down. "Describe his eyes."

Minato blinked. "What?" He had been shocked for a brief moment, not having expected a question(more like a demand) in reply to his mild prodding.

"His eyes," Fugaku ground out. "They weren't the normal tomoe, were they?"

"Ah. No, they weren't." At Fugaku's frustrated growl, Minato knew that his suspicion was correct. There was indeed something else going on, and whatever he had seen was a secret of the clan that no one else knew.

For a few moments, Fugaku seemed to debate whether or not to speak, yell, send the blonde away, or crawl into a hole. Eventually, he lifted his gaze to look at Minato, his eyes cold and hardened. "... What you saw, Minato, is the Mangekyō Sharingan. It is the most advanced stage of the Sharingan, and the black flames that you saw engulf your student—that, is Amaterasu, one of the techniques that accompany the advanced stage. At the moment, there are very few Uchiha that have achieved this stage."

Minato, though surprised at the almost ingenuous trust the clan leader was displaying through the divulgence of the dōjutsu's information, only narrowed his eyes. He could appreciate Fugaku's frankness later, he had come for a reason. "I know that the Sharingan is activated when the user is put under emotional duress. How does one activate the Mangekyō?" He was almost hesitant to hear the answer. If the Sharingan followed the "stress-to-advance" logic, then the possibilities of what it took to activate the most advanced stage... Most Jōnin, and many Chūnin-level Uchiha had three tomoe, or at least two for their Sharingan. With so few for the Mangekyo...

Fugaku seemed to understand Minato's train of thought. "You are a smart man, Minato. You've most likely already realized that, whatever the requirement is to activate the Mangekyō, it is something of great impact." He grimaced faintly. "And you are right."

The blonde's already tense muscles contracted further in effort to remain still, and he felt irritation slowly overtake his worry. He didn't know if Fugaku was prevaricating because he was still undecided about how much he could reveal to an outsider, or because he was trying to spare Minato some stress. Regardless, he needed answers. "Fugaku." His eyes flashed dangerously, and his voice was a low warning. If Fugaku was offended or taken aback by his friend's display, he did not comment on or outwardly show it.

The man simply gave a resigned sigh. "... To activate it, the user has to witness the death of someone important, usually the most important individual in his or her life. It is the only way to activate the Mangekyō."

Minato felt his throat close up as he lost his ability to speak. 'The death of the most important individual...?' His thoughts automatically trailed to Kushina—her bright red hair, which shimmered with life and swayed with her spry but elegant gait. Her eyes which shone with life and fervor... He couldn't imagine watching the life drain from her eyes, her body grow cold and her hair fall still. The very thought of needing to bare witness to something so horrible caused his heart to constrict, and the man struggled to maintain a steady breath.