I own nothing.
One of my lovely reviewers pointed out some flaws in this chapter with Fugaku's character, and they were spot on. I've decided to change it ever so slightly so it will fit with the rest of the story.
Dawn peeked over the horizon at Konoha. Everyone was positively blubbering with energy, setting up their little shops and street stalls to sell their items. Shop keepers swept their front, and their store fronts were repainted with happier bright colors. This week was not an ordinary week, it was a time for celebration after long dreary days awaiting an attack from another village. But people were more hopeful these days, looking forward to better days to come.
Danzo always loved watching the prosperous village the best in the morning, everyone was exuberant, even more so lately. He enjoyed the village best like this. Brimming with prosperity and power, because after all, he was a man after only the best for his village.
It also reminded him of his goal. One day, he would always think, he would be in charge of all of this.
"So tell me," he said, observing a bantering couple as they set up their fruit shop, the ANBU guard beside him perked up, "What do you think of this alliance."
The man sounded slightly unsure.
"I think," he started slowly, "It's a good thing, Danzo-sama. We've been under bad terms for so long. I think we'll be peaceful."
"Of course," he said, "Sarutobi may think of peace. But I think of benefit. What do you think we can gain from this alliance?"
The guard shifted lightly in thought, "I suppose… better prosperity?"
Danzo nodded approvingly, "Increased prosperity. Yes, we can work with that."
"That was bad positioning, Sasuke."
Sasuke wrinkled his nose in frustration with a glare that oddly reminded Itachi of a yelping puppy.
"I'm trying hard." He fumed, stamping his foot for added effect, "You keep telling me my positioning is bad, my arm angle is bad, everything is bad!"
"Again Sasuke," Itachi sighed, walking up to the board and ripping out the shuriken that was comically peppered everywhere but not the small red circle in the middle, "Your positioning is awful. It's throwing the shuriken off its course. Not to mention, if you don't get this right. You won't be able to nail a moving target."
He held out the blunted shuriken to his brother, who clamped on one of them before trying again. The shuriken ended up hitting the ground, meters away from the target board. Before either brother could respond, a shrill giggle interrupted them. They both turned to look at a girl who beating the ground with laughter.
Itachi frowned slightly, the girl did not look like someone from his family or clan for that matter. He'd never seen her around before. And he hadn't even noticed her come up to them. She looked about Sasuke's age, a petite little thing with awfully shocking pink hair and pretty green eyes. He glanced over to his brother who had turned a bright shade of red.
"You!" Sasuke pointed at the girl angrily, "What are you doing here?"
Itachi concluded silently that she was probably a playmate of his brothers from the park, who had somehow wormed her way past the guards.
"Who woulda thought," the girl continued, wiping mock tears from her eyes, "that you are actually pretty awful at throwing shuriken. I mean even a girl like me could throw better than you." She waggled a thin eyebrow at his brother who looked like he was going to blow steam from the ears.
"Oh yeah? I can't believe that." He huffed again, folding his arms, "What would a girl know about throwing shuriken?"
Itachi looked between the two of them with raised eyebrows, "Sasuke, are you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"She's not my friend," said his brother sending him a glare, "She's just some girl who said s-she-."
"I'm going to be his future wife," the girl interrupted his flustered brother, placing her hands on her hips authoritatively, "I suppose that you are his brother, it's only natural that I get to meet the rest of Sasuke's family. Hello, future brother-in-law."
She held out a hand towards him which he took with raised eyebrows. She was a four year old. A four year old proclaiming marriage to his brother. Good grief, what are they teaching children these days. It brought images of pink-haired babies to mind, shocking pink hair that screamed like Sasuke. He didn't know whether to be amused at his brother's ire or incredulous with the girl's audacity. But then again, he too had his own share of fan-girls back in the academy.
"And you are?" He settled politely, taking her smaller hand and giving it a soft shake, vaguely wondering where the girl's parents were.
"Sa-ku-ra Ha-ru-no," she enunciated, "But unfortunately, Sasuke, I don't like guys who are weaker than me-," Sasuke stiffened and glared at her, "-after all, I can obviously throw shuriken better than you."
Itachi decided on amused, he was definitely amused with this Sakura girl. But he tried not to laugh when his little brother swiped another shuriken from his palm and jabbed it in her direction.
"Prove it," he hissed. Itachi was reminded of a growling puppy.
Sakura calmly took the shuriken from him, and with ease, dropped into a textbook elementary stance for shuriken throwing. And then, before either brother could blink, there was a thunk, and lo and behold, there, starkly in the middle of the large red dot, was the shuriken.
Itachi furrowed his brow thoughtfully. He'd never heard of a prominent Haruno in the village before.
"Impressive," He said softly, "Where did you learn that?"
"I read," She declared, "I like reading about ninjas. And my future goal is to find a strong ninja husband. I heard that the Uchiha clan was the best so obviously Sasuke here was going to be my future husband. However," she shook her head regrettably, "I think I was wrong. Maybe the Naras are better."
Before Itachi could defend the Uchiha name and placate his younger brother's pride, Sasuke himself, grabbed another shuriken from him and aimed, a second later, the shuriken was closer to the red circle.
Itachi raised an eyebrow in surprise. The girl looked at the board with slight approval.
"You are okay," she said nodding her little head, "I will be watching your practice. To see if of course, you are worthy of being my future husband. But I have to go now. My family desires my appearance."
She skipped away, leaving a bemused Itachi and a fuming Sasuke, who decided to stick his tongue in her general direction. Itachi noticed that on his fifth try, his brother was doing much better. Slightly impressed and still amused with his brother's antics, he couldn't help but feel that things were going to be slightly interesting around here.
As the head of the Konoha's Law enforcement and clan head, Fugaku Uchiha was very exhausted. The day had been taxing, he had to increase security around the village on the Hokage's orders for the coming diplomatic visit. After bickering with several people, and then some- he felt like considering an early retirement. Not at least until Itachi turns sixteen, he told himself. He stumbled into his office quarters that evening to finish up more work and then realized with a jolt, he wasn't alone.
He looked over to a figure of a woman, who was leaning against the wall, and watching him. She had her chakra suppressed, and it explained how he could only sense only three chakra signatures in his home. Sasuke's chakra was bouncing in the room next door, followed by Mikoto and Itachi. He felt slightly sick at the thought of his family or his own demise because of his inattentiveness.
Activating his sharingan quickly, he hissed in anger, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" He had his kunai up and drawn in a defensive yet tense posture- ready to attack, ready to defend his home at all costs.
The woman wore a mask over her face and a hood over her head. The rest of her appearance was clad in black, blending in neatly against the shadows of his office. She shifted her weight to the other foot as she pushed herself off the wall.
"Relax," she said, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to talk. Please have a seat Uchiha-san."
And with that, she reached into her pocket and dropped her own kunai and tanto onto his desk. He didn't relent even after her peaceful gesture, narrowing his eyes at her.
"What do you want, kunoichi?"
"Tell me Uchiha-san, how do you feel about the village as it is?" She asked smoothly, as if she just asked him the time of the day or directions to the post-office.
He narrowed his eyes, "Why would this be any of your business?"
"I'm just curious, no? Is there a reason for the Uchiha clan being so withdrawn from the rest of the village? Everyone is so tense around here."
He gripped his kunai. But she merely gestured at her own that was placed lightly on his desk, weighing on the clan documents scattered across the desk.
"Uhuh," she tutted, "I just want to have a talk."
"Who are you, kunoichi? What purpose do you have with the Uchiha?"
She continued shaking her head, "Oh no Uchiha-san. I'm just someone who knows a little too much of everything. And I do know that your clan is upset with the suspicion the village treats them with."
"Are you with the village?" He prodded.
She looked at him directly, "We are both busy people, and you are wasting my time with pointless questions. All you need to know is that I am not with Konoha, at least not directly. I am not a foe. Who I am, is none of your concern- but I can assure you that my interests are in the best of heart."
He didn't say anything, fingering the cool metal of his kunai, contemplating the best way to take her out efficiently. She looked skilled enough to suppress her chakra and fool him, and talk so nonchalantly in his own household, where she could be easily taken out. Or take out his own family, he shivered at the thought.
"I have an alternative for you, for your clan's anger. But you need to understand, the reason for Konoha's anger against your clan for the nine-tails might be misplaced, but nevertheless is rightly directed towards an Uchiha. A supposed Uchiha that you do not know about."
"Kunoichi," he said frowning, his voice dropping cold. "You speak of things that are highly confidential. The information about the nine-tails is not meant to be passed around lightly. Our clan is already blamed enough heavily because of wagging tongues." He thought back to the nurses at the hospital at Kushina's bed. It was bad enough that the council had been passing him snide remarks, but the people around the village were oddly hostile towards his clan. He felt something lurch inside, something cold, something insidious, rise up and wring him. It just wasn't fair.
"Ah," she said lightly, "Yes, but we'll leave that matter for another day, a better day. I'm here to offer you a proposal, a proposal which you will find highly beneficial."
"And this proposal is?" He asked in a clipped tone, "Do not play games with me, Kunoichi."
"Two days from now, the Raikage has sent a diplomat in his place to sign the documents containing the peace treaty between the Konohagakure and the Kumogakure."
Fugaku frowned and nodded. Ah yes, the cause of his migraine lately.
"I have information, very valuable information. Three days from now, there will be an abduction upon the Hyuugas. You will stop this abduction."
She dropped a scroll on his desk. His eyes snapped to it before they rested on her again. There was something off about this woman, and he couldn't place his finger on it. And it wasn't the intel she was giving him.
"Whether you think my information is false or true is none of my concern. A little extra security never hurt anyone."
He frowned again, "And if I don't act?"
"Oh," she said lightly but he heard a hint of a threat in her voice, "I suppose that will be a problem. Think about the secrets of the Byakugan, being in the hands of the Raikage, something that gave him so much trouble during the war. I don't trust that will end up very well for the village. And by extension that includes your clan, you may be strong but you certainly can't win against an enemy with such an advantage."
He nodded his head slowly, he didn't believe in the peace treaty between the two villages, at least not yet. He realized the implications of yet another war between the two villages. The previous decades had been very bloody. Sarutobi was a fool, a fool who believed in peace. He believed in safety, it was different.
But then again, he didn't have anything to lose either. His job included security and her reasons for this supposed abduction, as much as he hated to admit, were sound. The Raikage did have a lot of trouble with the Hyuuga bloodline.
"And this," she continued, "Will tie the tongues of the council who hold your clan in distrust for now and you will have a powerful ally, the Hyuuga clan in your debt. Think carefully about the future of your clan, Uchiha-san."
He looked at her again, this time unsure, "Whose side are you on?"
Why was she dangling this vital information in front of his nose? Why not just tell the Hokage? Was…she expecting him to utilize this information for his clan's purpose?
She acted as if she never heard him, "The information you need is in that scroll, burn it when you are finished, later then, Uchiha-san. I'm running out of time."
"Oh and one more thing," she said softly, "the kidnapper must be secured alive, he will play as your bargaining piece between the two villages. He's surprisingly quite valuable. Do not under any circumstance kill him. And please use this information wisely, Uchiha-san."
And like that, he watched her form dissipate in a flurry of pink petals.
"It was a clone," he said narrowing his eyes, scanning his office for signs of any other chakra. He looked before the scroll she left on his desk, thoughtfully.
A/N: Because I was short sighted, I'm pushing up the Hyuuga incident a year forward (I don't think it affects anything else in the main timeline much anyways). I hope baby Sasucakes and Naruto boo will make up for my lack of ability. The massacre is not completely thwarted as long as Danzo lives, but I intend to continue to play with that plotline. At least that's the plan for now.
Sketchbananafairy: Oh dear I've been having problems with that, I just briefly looked over a picture before deciding. I'll go back and change it!
Alice aquabld: You've actually given me quite a few ideas to play around with, thanks so much! I like the fourth option too. As for reverse-harem, as much as I love it, I can't make any promises. But an Uchiha harem is never out of the way *winky face*.