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Chapter Text

Inoichi, generally, understands what’s going on in the village. Most of the time , he knows the gossip within his clan and, to a certain extent, the shinobi circles.

Which is why, when word gets around that there’s a rogue Uchiha running around fixing things that no one even knew were broken, he’s genuinely surprised. Not jaw to the floor levels of shock, but it’s still a pretty strange thing to hear.

The Uchiha value family. It’s an integral part of their clan customs and rituals. Inoichi can count the number of Uchiha living outside of the clan’s compound on one hand. He glances at Fugaku, who seems just as surprised as he is. Though, the surprise could be because he hadn’t thought anyone else knew, it’s a bit hard to tell from where Inoichi sits.

“We must bring him into the village. The reports on his strength vary, but it’s undeniable that he could be an asset to Konohagakure.” Danzo, of course, says with such finalty you’d think he was the Hokage.

He isn’t, though, which is why the way he speaks only makes Inoichi want to roll his eyes.

There aren’t very many people Inoichi just doesn’t like, but Danzo is one of them. His superiority complex and the lack of care he displays for the actual citizens in the village bothers him. There’s detached and then there’s the way Danzo speaks.

It’s concerning.

But, enough about Danzo. There’s still the issue of the rogue Uchiha.

Inoichi honestly doesn’t really see it as a problem. The Uchiha is doing better for Konoha’s reputation than even Minato, so he doesn’t get the urgent need to bring him here. There isn’t even any proof that the guy was here in the first place.

“When he comes to the village, he will be looked after by the Uchiha clan.” Fugaku says.

That makes sense. Inoichi would want the same if there was a Yamanaka out there burning down bridges and taking down S-rank missing ninja.

The elders, though, argue against it.

Inoichi frowns and glances at Shikaku and Chouza. They look equally bemused.

Anyone could see that this clearly falls under the Uchiha’s jurisdiction, especially since they also make up the Konoha Police Force and would have to be consulted heavily anyway.

It’s Hiashi who speaks first.

“The Hyuuga will be standing with the Uchiha on the matter of Uchiha Sasuke’s status within the village.”

Shikaku agrees and naturally, Inoichi and Chouza follow.

“The Inuzuka too. If it were one of us, we’d take ‘em in.”

The rest of the clans, predictably, go along with the majority until it’s clear that Uchiha Sasuke will be living with his presumed family. That is, if they can manage to wrangle him back here. Inoichi has his doubts. If he hasn’t come here thus far, that could mean he doesn’t intend to go to Konoha at all . Either that or he isn’t done with whatever it is he’s been doing.

Inoichi watches a smug smile briefly flit across Fugaku’s face at Danzo’s childish anger and frowns slightly.

This shouldn’t have even been an argument.

If this had happened even a year prior, no one would’ve questioned it.

Something is wrong.

Fugaku’s stern face yet worried eyes bely the fact that he, too, is aware that the balance of power is tipping and it isn’t in favour of the clans that make up the village.

Inoichi’s eyes dart across the table, taking in the facial expressions of each clan leader.

Hiashi’s face is grim, as it usually is, but there’s an undercurrent of something else to it too. The Uchiha and the Hyuuga, as the two most prominent clans in the village thanks to their Doujutsu, are also the most at risk to outside attacks. The knowledge that the Village Elders would not truly be on their side in the event that things go awry is unsettling for everyone, them especially.

Tsume looks slightly confused at the turn of events. The fact that the Hokage hadn’t spoken up at all does not bode well for the Inuzuka clan, especially since they are, unfortunately, not the first clan that comes to mind when Konoha is brought up.

And so it goes. The clan heads are concerned but not overly so because so far, it hasn’t directly affected them yet.

Inoichi only wonders when he started to notice the divide in priorities between the clans and the Village Elders.

He’ll talk to Shikaku and Chouza later to decide if they should be preparing to take drastic measures.

He has the feeling that this is only the beginning.

Chapter Text

Shikaku is smart enough to understand that there are things currently going on in the village that are beyond his control. Even in just his clan compound, things happen that he, despite his status, is powerless to stop. He knows that there are people who don’t share this mentality with him and he’ll never be able to understand it. Intellectually, he knows that there will be people with different opinions to him wherever he goes. He can even see where most of them are coming from. But sometimes, he watches his peers willfully ignore the most logical option for the one that’s easier and he wonders why they bothered to become shinobi in the first place.

He gets it, he really does. It’s hard to look at the place you’ve nurtured and built objectively, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s right in front of their eyes and they pretend not to see it.

Case in point: The Uchiha’s unrest.

Everybody, and Shikaku means everyone , in the Clan Council knows that the Uchiha are falling out of favour with both the Hokage and the Village elders.

It wasn’t drastic, not at first. Small things like ignoring Fugaku’s opinions, staging meetings so that Fugaku sits at the very end of the table but never at the opposing head, less missions for Uchiha shinobi resulting in less income for the Uchiha altogether.

Shikaku has seen patrons specifically request an Uchiha shinobi to do a job and whoever was in charge at the time would say, “I’m so sorry, but Uchiha shinobi are in high demand for jobs right now so there aren’t any available to complete your request.” despite there being several who have been forced to look at other job opportunities thanks to lack of missions sent their way.

And this has been building for decades. Since Madara’s defeat at the hands of the Shodai all those years ago and the Nidaime’s subsequent reign and iron fist over clan– more specifically Uchiha– activities.

It only became obvious, though, when Uchiha Sasuke appeared out of nowhere.

Uchiha Sasuke, the mysterious Uchiha that the Hokage’s Council is practically salivating over. Uchiha Sasuke, who has yet to speak a word to Konoha despite having been quite literally everywhere else. All the 5 Hidden Villages have reported sightings of him at least once, people in Nami have said that he’s been returning from Uzushio, and everytime that’s mentioned, the Hokage gets an odd look on his face, something mixed between regret and indignation, as if he’s upset that someone would have the audacity to visit Uzu without clearing it with him first.

Shikaku is easily able to see both sides of the argument. The Council don’t want a rogue Uchiha running around mucking things up for them, which Shikaku can relate to even if he doesn’t agree with The Council on the best of days. The Uchiha want their family member back with them, their family member who is very clearly powerful enough to bring down nukenin from wherever.

Shikaku, obviously, empathizes with the Uchiha more than The Council, which is why he, along with Inoichi and Chouza, are on their way to the Uchiha Compound. They haven’t bothered to hide it because there should be nothing to hide.

“Nara-sama, Yamanaka-sama, Akimichi-sama, please state your intentions.”

And wow, it’s been so long since he’s been here. The walls around the compound seem so much higher than they were even 5 years ago. The security has increased 10 fold. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was entering a separate village, and that thought is concerning.

“We’d like to speak with Uchiha-sama. I apologize for not making an appointment beforehand, but this is quite urgent.” Inoichi explains kindly, but Shikaku has known him long enough to see the discontent in his facial expressions.

“O-of course.” The guard stutters. “Right this way, please.”

The kid nearly stumbles over his own feet in his haste to get them to Fugaku.

Nearly every time Shikaku has entered the Uchiha Compound, he’s always wondered how they manage to do so much to celebrate their cultures without interference from the Hokage’s Council. They have festivals related to their religion every other week and regardless of the Civilian Council’s pushes for more apartment complexes, they’ve stayed authentic to the traditional architecture of their clan.

Now, when he walks through, he wonders why all the clans aren’t able to celebrate themselves like this.

Well, if things go the way he hopes, it won’t be like this for long.

He shares a glance with Inoichi and Chouza, both of which have determination burning behind their eyes.

They approach the main house and the guard runs ahead to knock. Fugaku opens the door almost immediately. 

“Kazuya-kun, don’t you have guard duty now?” Fugaku asks, slight admonishment in his voice.

“Y-yes, Fugaku-sama, but um….” The guard, Kazuya, turns to face Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza.

“I hope we haven’t caught you at a bad time.” Inoichi offers him a small smile.

They’re able to witness a brief moment where Fugaku is shocked into silence, but it’s gone as quickly as it came. 

“Of course not.” He turns to Kazuya and hands him a few Ryō. “Thank you, Kazuya-kun.”

The boy runs off and Fugaku motions for them to follow him into the house.

They swap out their shoes for slippers and walk through a hallway into a meeting room.

As soon as they’re in, Fugaku sets up silencing wards around the room and asks, “What happened?”

That question, more than anything else, makes Shikaku want to grimace. How is it that they’ve become so out of touch that Fugaku thinks the only reason they’d visit is because something has gone horribly wrong?

“It has come to our attention that your clan is being isolated and outcast by the Hokage’s Council and, quite possibly, the Hokage himself.”

Fugaku sighs deeply and sits down. Shikaku follows, as do Inoichi and Chouza.

“So, you’ve noticed?”

“As have the other Clan Heads, I imagine.” Shikaku nods.

Fugaku drags a hand down his face in an uncharacteristic display of exhaustion. “You would be right. My Clan Elders and I have been working towards a solution.”

Shikaku nods, “what do you need?”

“Pardon?”

“The Uchiha clan are half of the foundation upon which this village was built. Your Shinobi, even with there being cutbacks on the number of active Uchiha Shinobi, still do the majority of our A-rank missions and are requested 12.4% of the time from the Fire Country Daimyo. As Jounin of this village and Clan Heads, we cannot allow you to be pushed out. I would add ‘as friends’, but at this point, I don’t feel we’ve earned the title.” Inoichi says somberly.

“We’re all in agreement,” Chouza adds. “Years ago, Uchiha used to frequent my restaurants. I don’t know when I stopped seeing half your Clan daily, but I’d like to rebuild that trust.”

“So,” Shikaku repeats, “what do you need us to do?”

Chapter Text

Chouza, contrary to popular belief, isn’t stupid. He has more than enough intellect to be able to keep up with 2 verified geni, which is something people often seem to forget when they see him taking orders and doling out dishes in his restaurant.

It begins, as most things do, with a noticeable shift in power.

Only, this shift was the gateway to the revelation of many others.

The Clan Council is gradually losing power.

Now, Chouza actually doesn’t have that much of a problem with this. There are a number of powerful, clanless Shinobi who aren’t represented in the Clan Council, so its absolution for something more diverse and representative wouldn’t be a bad thing, in his opinion.

But this? This is absolutely the opposite of that.

The power that the Clan Council held has to go somewhere , and while it would be great if it was put in the hands of actual civvies (not like the Civilian Council claims to be), or regular Shinobi, that isn’t what’s happening. Instead, the power is being subverted back to the people who already have more than enough power.

Chouza can pinpoint the moment he began distrusting the Hokage, and he doesn’t like it.

He’s generally a more laid-back kind of person when it comes to politics. He didn’t know how terrible that stance was, particularly as a Clan Head , until he met with Fugaku and listened while Fugaku detailed the issues the Uchiha Clan had been facing.

Lack of income, a gradual removal of clan land, a push for their Clan secrets to be revealed to the Hokage, fewer and fewer Uchiha genin each year, smear campaigns, the list goes on.

It’s awful to listen to and even worse to realize how that exact thing could happen to any of the other clans with much less difficulty than required for the Uchiha.

The amount of stress Fugaku has been under in recent years… Chouza doesn’t know if he’d be able to do it, especially not with a clan as large as the Uchiha.

But at least now they’re doing something about it.

Inoichi handles sorting through all the documents relating to the Uchiha from the past 10 years and comparing them to Fugaku’s documents, ensuring that the numbers match up and carefully noting any concerning patterns. Steady income decreases, missing persons, falsely ranked missions, that sort of thing.

Shikaku, as Jounin Commander, was further involving himself in the promotion process as well as looking over more old mission reports and the delegation of new missions. His involvement in those things was minimal prior to this, as most of his work ended up being paperwork relating to deciding mission squads, funding (which really wasn’t his job, but understaffing and all that), assigning A to S rank missions, and asking the Hokage to consider upping their defences at their gates during every bi-monthly (as in twice a month) meeting, and being shut down every time.

Chouza can only do so much– he’s not a department head– but his restaurants are renowned across the Elemental Nations, so having Uchiha eat there would do a lot for their reputation, which is important. Thanks to everything that ever goes wrong being blamed on the Uchiha, their public image is exceedingly poor. Chouza knows he can help fix that.

So, he serves more fish dishes because he knows Uchiha don’t tend to eat red meat due to dietary restrictions. He hires Uchiha chefs because there’s no one he needs to go through but himself when it comes to hiring and firing. He welcomes them with open arms and a wide smile on his face, watches as their somewhat stunned faces fade to gratitude once they realize what he’s doing.

And it works.

Even just a month after they began their plan, the clans have been intermingling more than Chouza has seen in a decade. The bar was so low that even the smallest amount of improvement made a huge difference.

Regardless, progress is progress, and nothing is more indicative of that than influencing other people as well.

“Chouza, you, Inoichi, an’ Shikaku are doing a good thing here.” Tsume says while she and a few Inuzuka eat at the main restaurant.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Chouza replies with an easy smile.

“Right. Just let him know that the Inuzuka will have his back, no matter what. I’d do it myself but I’m going on a mission tomorrow at 5.”

Chouza grimaces sympathetically, “sure thing, Tsume.”

He spends the rest of the night preparing food with a lightness in his chest that hasn’t been there for months.

When the restaurant closes, he steps out into the night, the slight chill stinging his cheeks.

Things are changing.

Chapter Text

Tsume meets him on a mission one day.

It’s early, maybe 8am, and she’s been on the road for 3 hours already, having left at 5. She’s a bit tired because she went out for dinner the night before, but the mission technically hasn’t even started yet, so she isn’t too concerned.

The mission itself is relatively easy. Go to a somewhat remote village and guard a Lord on his way to the Daimyo’s palace in the capital.

“30 minutes until we reach our destination.” Dan says.

“Understood.” Ensui replies.

They continue through the trees in relative silence for 10 minutes before Tsume picks up on the scent of a battle. A familiar scent reaches her nose, but she quickly realises that it’s only just familiar. Uchiha, but not one she’s met before. Anxiety curls in her gut and she remembers the whispers of a rogue Uchiha running around.

“Tsume?” Dan wonders. She stopped moving abruptly and they followed.

“Smell of fighting, Uchiha but not one of ours.”

“The one that has The Council up in arms?” Ensui prods hesitantly.

“Could be.” Tsume really isn’t sure, since she’s never met him.

Now, the smells from the other Shinobi are fading, replaced with the overwhelming scent of blood.

“The Uchiha won,” she informs them, she notes that he probably knows where they are and her suspicions are later confirmed by the scent moving closer. “He’s coming this way.”

They ready themselves for a battle, but none of them are truly expecting one.

The Uchiha materializes in front of them, utterly relaxed with no weapons in either hand. “Inuzuka, Nara.” He greets, before narrowing his eyes at Dan, who has none of the obvious features most Clan Shinobi do. He nods his head in acknowledgement and not condescension, which immediately makes Tsume warm up to him just a little bit more.

“Uchiha,” Ensui replies. “You’re the talk of the village.”

“Really?” he drawls in response. “I suppose the Hokage got tired of propaganda campaigns, then?”

Tsume inhales sharply and her two companions momentarily flounder for words. It’s not often you’ll hear someone publicly discrediting a Kage, afterall. Especially not the Hokage. Unless, of course, they’re an enemy.

“We were under the assumption you had no quarrel with Konoha.” Dan says, ignoring the jab altogether.

“Only technically,” Uchiha answers, cryptic in the worst way possible. “I have no problems with the people.”

Tsume, of course, knows that the village isn’t perfect, nowhere is. But she can’t sit idly by while Uchiha speaks so openly about disliking the very foundation the village is made of.

He sighs, “I hadn’t meant to make you so… jumpy. I truly mean no harm to Konoha or her citizens.”

Tsume really hopes he’s being genuine about that, because something about him oozes power. It’s in the things that those playing up their own ability can never copy, the way he hadn’t even blinked at being faced with 3 Jounin, the way they all know he’s just come out of a fight with other Shinobi but doesn’t seem at all tired, the way they’ve gradually been reaching for their weapons but he has yet to move a finger towards his.

A weaker Shinobi might suggest that it’s because he doesn’t seek to quarrel with Konoha, and Tsume is inclined to agree with that assessment, but she knows that’s not all of it. He may not particularly want to fight them, but even a mediocre Shinobi would know that the opposite is almost never true. He should be defensive, at least a bit concerned about the possibility of a fight breaking out. He just isn’t.

He knows he’d win.

Tsume watches as her teammates come to similar conclusions, though she suspects Ensui knew before she was even thinking about it.

Unanimously, their hands stop moving for their weapons.

Uchiha very obviously catalogues their movements and for a moment, Tsume sees a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

“Before I take my leave, I do have a small request. Please let both Shimura Danzo and Uchiha Fugaku know that if I wanted either of their input in my life, I’d have returned before now.” Uchiha says like he isn’t asking Tsume to tell Fugaku to shove his pride.

Despite everything, Tsume finds a chuckle being forced out of her lips before she can do anything to stop it.

Ensui and Dan stare at her incredulously.

“I’ll let them know,” she replies, a grin finding its way across her face.

Uchiha nods his thanks and disappears once again, not even a hand sign to signify a jutsu being used.

Almost immediately, Ensui and Dan turn to her.

“What the hell was that?!” Dan shrieks.

Tsume does nothing but laugh.

Chapter Text

Hiashi Hyuuga knows that his clan, like the Uchiha, are not particularly well regarded by the civilian population of Konoha. Even some of their fellow Shinobi consider them as uncaring and pompous, not worthy of defending the village, that sort of thing. And no, Hiashi isn’t coming up with these terms out of nowhere. He’s heard people say these things about his clan.

But nothing anyone can say about the Hyuuga is worse than the talk about the Uchiha.

Hiashi, for all of his Clan’s deep seated hatred of the Uchiha, actually feels something close to sympathy whenever he has to attend the joint Council meetings and has to watch as the Uchiha are ignored time and time again.

He’d been comfortable sitting back and watching while the other Clans gradually formed tentative alliances with each other and supported the Uchiha in their endeavours. It began with the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi and has extended all the way to the less influential Aburame clan.

He’s reasonably certain that his clan is the only one not to publicly declare their support and he does have a reason for it.

Hiashi is not stupid. He knows that someone (he’s not going to name names but it begins with a “S” and ends in “himura Danzou”) is very against the clans gaining any real say over village affairs. Hiashi thinks it’s probably because he feels slighted that the Shimura clan is much too small and much too weak to get a seat on the Clan Council, but he won’t say anything about it.

Of course, he’s aware that joining the alliance between the clans would benefit him as well. Having people come to your aid when you’re unable to say anything for yourself is good, especially if these people have the power to sway the entirety of Fire Country.

The only reason he hasn’t joined yet is because he wants a confirmation. Something to prove just how far gone the Hokage’s advisor(s) are.

It comes, just as he expected, on a late evening in October, when the Hyuuga on guard duty informs Hiashi that there’s an ANBU operative at the gates. An ANBU operative that he knows was not sent by the Hokage’s orders.

“Hiashi, will you be in for dinner?” Hizashi wonders. 

“I’ve been summoned by ANBU,” Hiashi explains, holding steady eye-contact with his brother.

Hizashi’s lips twitch downward so minutely that if he were not Hiashi’s brother, it would be unnoticeable.

“So late? Surely if Sandaime-sama needed something he’d have mentioned it during the meeting that took place an hour ago?”

“He would,” Hiashi nods.

Understanding gives Hizashi’s face a solemn look.

“Ah. Estimated time of return?” As in, how long should I wait before assuming you’ve been kidnapped?

Hiashi very much hopes that they are not at a point where he needs to be worried about being kidnapped inside his own village. By the Village Elders, no less. He genuinely doesn’t think they’re so far gone. Yet.

It would have to be one of the Village Elders because no one but them or the Hokage has the clearance to command ANBU into Hiashi’s home, and he just saw the Sandaime.

“I shan’t be more than an hour.”

It doesn’t hurt to be cautious, though.

He’s not sure what reasoning whoever is behind the message will be able to come up with, but it’s bound to be treasonous (unlikely), stupid (more likely), or actually urgent (also not very likely).

He goes to the gates and finds ANBU operative Tanuki, which is odd because he could’ve sworn Tanuki was one Genma Shiranui.

Is he being underestimated, did they not expect him to know?

Regardless, he allows “Tanuki” to shunshin the both of them, but only because he does recognize the Chakra signature to be one from Konoha.

He finds himself in a dark office that must be below the village, the walls are polished and a light flickers overhead. The floor is made of dirty linoleum and filing cabinets line the wall.

Hiashi’s suspicions are proved correct when he sees Shimura Danzou standing behind the only desk in the room. He feels a seal activate and tries not to outwardly sigh.

“Elder Shimura,” Hiashi keeps his face neutral but does not bow. He has never and will never bow to a man below him.

“Hyuuga-sama,” the man replies through grit teeth.

“Shall we get right to the point, then?” Hiashi bulldozes over anything Shimura might’ve wanted to say.

He listens as Shimura lists all the apparent “injustices” done to Hiashi’s clan, the terrible way the village treats them and how, with his help, they may become worlds more powerful than even the Uchiha. Hiashi notes the faint genjutsu and wonders if the man is, pardon his language, fucking with him. Perhaps he truly is desperate, seeing all his plans fall apart at the seams.

The political playing field is shifting. Hiashi knows that there’s been talks of peace, true peace, nothing like the lull between wars they have all come to know. He doesn’t know the details, but something happened in each of the 5 nations that essentially ended the 3rd war before it could begin.

Kumo removed their ships from the border that separates the Polar Sea from Iwa’s shores and retreated from Benisu Island, which is just off the coast of the Yu no Kuni. Yu no Kuni shares a border with Hi no Kuni, so they had been preparing for war on that front but it seems like the threat is gone.

He hasn’t heard word from Iwa or Suna’s fronts, but intel says that the random disappearances of Shinobi from both sides has slowed to a stop. There’s even been talk of a peace treaty between the two, which seems impossible but enough people have been spreading the word that the rumour is starting to gain weight.

Kiri had the most startling change. Hiashi isn’t entirely sure what happened there, but a lot of people have been saying a coup d’etat took place and the Kage and Daimyo were both replaced.

All this to say that it’s no wonder Shimura is a bit concerned, since the only change to Konoha has been the Clan Alliance. If Shimura is worried, Hiashi really has to wonder about the ethics behind his “betterment of the village”.

Sure, Shinobi morals are loose but not when it comes to internal affairs. People are held on a pretty tight leash in terms of what’s legal at that level.

He doesn’t realize he’s stopped listening to Shimura entirely until he tunes back in to find Shimura talking about putting more Hyuuga into ANBU.

Hiashi narrows his eyes. He knows that Shimura had control over one section of ANBU and was making changes there, but this much control shouldn’t be something he’s capable of.

“I apologize, Elder Shimura, but it sounds to me as if you’re speaking of treason.” Hiashi says slowly.

“Of course not.” Shimura spits, he then proceeds to speak of treason for 5 minutes before Hiashi holds up a hand to stop him. Shimura has well and truly lost it.

Hiashi vaguely recalls the appeasement tactics taught to Shinobi when they get kidnapped and decides to go from there.

“I will admit, the things you speak of have grated on my nerves as well. It’s good to find an ally but I will be honest when I say I had not seriously considered doing anything about it.” He notes that the tension in Shimura’s body eases as he continues to speak. Odd. “If you would allow me some time to think, I will get back to you with a response.”

“Time is of the essence.” Shimura taps the table and Hiashi feels the seals shift and flicker out.

He immediately Shunshins away from the office, his heart beating in his ears.

What the fuck.

“Brother?”

“He’s lost it, well and truly. I’m not sure if he said a coherent sentence at all during the time I was there.” Hiashi exhales heavily.

That Clan Alliance is looking more appealing by the second.

Danzou collapses into his seat with a sigh. “Despite the recent developments, it appears things are back on track.”

“Is that what it looked like to you?” a figure Danzou is very familiar with by now melds from the shadows.

“You allowed him to get away still carrying memories of this meeting.” Zetsu chides, its voice vibrating through Danzou’s bones.

“Would you have me attack him?” Danzou demands.

“No,” Zetsu pauses, “but you are getting sloppy. Do not let this happen again. I will deal with the… other matters.”