Chapter Text
The Hyuga and Uchiha have always had their differences. Two of the most prominent and powerful clans in the village regularly butted heads over land and political power, but the tides had shifted when the Uchiha, gearing up for a fight to grab more power, had faced extinction at the hands of the village and their one of their own, only to be saved by their rivals from a full massacre of the whole clan.
The power struggle had been tipped heavily in the Hyuga’s favor for almost fifteen years now. The Uchiha had made atonements for plans, and were being crushed now under the Hyuga’s insistence on their owed respect for being their saviors.
The tension was growing, and it was putting worries in Mikoto’s heart.
Being the wife of a clan head was difficult. She had an expectation of poise and power in her own right, but she had little actual influence on what the Uchiha did, so really her job was just to stand tall beside her husband and make sure that her boys were ready to take the same level of scrutiny.
That was hard when her husband came home day after day, recently, looking more and more haggard as he continued to tell her vaguely that they were still having intense talks with the Hyuga, trying to resolve the latest of their problems.
What problems? She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t supposed to know. Her husband pressed a kiss to her worried cheek and passed her by to have a cup of tea in his office, which she hoped didn’t come with a shot of alcohol that he kept in the back of the cabinet.
“Mom?” Itachi wondered as he took off his shoes.
Mikoto stepped forward and took the bag that was in his hands. “I’m here, dear.” She told him, reaching out for his arm. “Are they still giving your father trouble with the new build?”
“That was the start of the issue.” Itachi agreed as he followed her down the hall, trailing his hand on the wall despite her hold on him. “But it’s kicked up a lot of old issues.” He sighed. “They are seriously considering a marriage contract again.”
Mikoto blinked at him. Really? She hadn’t heard about that in the last five years, she thought they had tossed it out when the Hyuga discovered that Itachi was losing his eyesight. “What have they decided?” She pushed for information as he sat him down in the kitchen so she could set him up with a cup of tea.
“Nothing yet.” Itachi slid down into a chair. “Dad doesn’t like the idea, but the council is pushing for him to take it if it ends in an agreement that pulls the thumb that Hyuga has been holding onto them since the … incident.”
Mikoto let her lips press into a thin line as she fluttered around the kitchen. She didn’t like that her children were offered as pawns in this, but she knew that was the risk that she took marrying Fugaku. This was their duty as heads of the clan to sacrifice for it. She just felt like Itachi had done so much of that already. Forcing her eldest to marry when he had already saved their lives felt like too much.
“So your father just hasn’t made a decision yet?” Mikoto brought a cup and set it down in front of him with a click so he could hear to know it was in front of him.
Itachi’s hand slid up to it and over the handle to grasp. “No, the problem is on their side.” He explained.
Mikoto’s hands twisted together as she watched Itachi bring the cup of tea up to his lips and sip, his eyes stared forward, looking in her direction but not seeing her, staring as if he was looking past her.
Her heart twisted. This was why the Hyuga didn’t want to marry one of their heirs to him. They knew that he had lost his eyesight from the intense overuse of his blood limit, but they claimed that it could be a congenital condition that they didn’t want passed into their bloodline.
He was still heir to the family and would take his father’s place when he stepped down, but she feared that they would look down on him, with their pride of their eyes.
“Mom, I can feel you worrying,” Itachi commented, setting his cup down and reaching out for her hand. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”
Mikoto collected it in her own and squeezed it tightly, holding it up to bring it to her lips to kiss it. “I do worry.”
“It will be okay,” Itachi told her. “I understand that the terms of the marriage are not favorable.”
“Do you think that a marriage contract like this would help anything?” She was always skeptical of that. The two clans had always been tied together in some way. It seemed unreasonable that a simple marriage would solve all of their problems.
“It would certainly help. If the clans had more crossover and a couple at the center to be mediators, I feel that we would no longer continue getting to the point that we have every few months for the last two years, getting closer and closer to just stopping negotiations.” Itachi sighed.
Mikoto squeezed his hand tighter. Stopping negotiations sounded like war. She couldn’t bear another war, not within the village, not with her babies.
“And I am sure Hinata’s not a fan of all this.” Itachi closed his eyes as he took another sip. “I know that this stands in the way of love for her, and she’s always been a romantic.”
Mikoto’s heart sank. She hadn’t even thought of the poor girl. Maybe that was a failing on her own part.
But… was that the problem? Was Hinata refusing? Was it because Itachi was blind? Did she think that he couldn’t love her? Did she not understand what could happen if she didn’t agree?
Itachi’s eyebrows came together, and he set the cup down. “I’m going to go lie down. I’m starting to get a migraine.” He commented before He slid himself out of his chair and excused himself at the table, dragging his hand along as he went back to the hall.
“I’ll bring you your medication,” Mikoto called softly after him.
She picked up his half-drunk cup and took it to the sink, placing it inside.
She turned to get Itachi’s medication from the cabinet and set it down to get a glass and a tray.
Her heart was full of anxiety.
With just a peek inside what was happening in the council, she realized how bad things had gotten. If they were looking a marriage contracts again.
It was something that Hyuga and Uchiha had brought up on and off again for years since their birth in the village. It was historically passed off as something that they should never do because mixing the two bloodlines limits the possibility of making a whole new strain that neither clan would have full ownership over.
Neither wanted to give up that level of power, so every time it was considered, it was concerning, and if Itachi was claiming that it was being brought up again. Maybe she had every reason to be concerned.
She collected the tray and took it down the hall to be in Itachi’s bedroom, bringing it to his bedside table as he had already lain down. He sat and opened his hand. She placed the medication inside it and guided him to the glass.
“What do you think will happen if the marriage contract doesn’t happen?” She prodded.
Itachi made a face. “I’m not sure.” He took his pill and slipped into his water before he slipped back down into his covers. “The Hyuga have been aggressive recently. I am worried that their next tactic is going to be wanting more of a say in changes to the police force, and I know our council would rather fight them than ever let them have a hand in it.”
Mikoto could agree with that. She patted her hand down on the blanket before she collected the tray and brought it back to the kitchen.
What would the Hyuga do then?
Would they try a more hostile takeover? They had always threatened that the Uchiha couldn’t be trusted anymore because of their long-since-abandoned plans.
Was it possible that all of this could be smoothed over with a marriage? Would their children be able to bring the two clans together? If Hinata agreed to it, as the heir to her own clan, would she be able to put a stop to the aggressive push of near servitude that Hyuga has been campaigning for over the years?
Mikoto worried that one day they would seriously bring up sealing the Uchiha children.
She had always thought that Hinata was a reasonable girl, a Hyuga heir and Hiashi’s daughter, but she had more of the softness and grace that her mother had, rather than sharing any notable traits with her father. She had always thought better of her, but... it would break her heart to know that she might reject a reasonable link of goodwill between the two families.
She hated to think that it was because of Itachi’s blindness, but she couldn’t know for sure.
She looked at the dishes in the sink with a heavy heart.
It felt like they were putting so much weight on their kids, but one day they would hold their parents’ positions. Maybe it would be better if they did that hand in hand rather than on either side of a table.
… Maybe she should talk to Hinata.