Chapter Fourteen: An Awkward Visit

The new Uchiha district had been constructed rather quickly.

It was actually much grander than the old one, with taller walls and much more space. Many Uchiha still lived outside it, Tenten knew. So it was technically not as large, but without as many people packed in.

The outfit she'd picked was a red dress she'd managed to get for reasons. One that was durable and would last. Tenten had no intention of chasing trends. Neji wore a formal outfit that was actually black and had supplied Lee with one.

Itachi wore his usual outfit.

Together they moved forward and were met at the gate by Lord Fugaku, who smiled. He clapped Itachi on the back as he did so. "Itachi, here you are.

"I read the reports on your achievements in the field. That's my boy." He looked over the team quickly, his gaze dwelling a moment on Tenten, then on. "I take it these are your team, then?"

"Yes," said Itachi. "They haven't been fully trained yet, but they've achieved a great deal in a short time. I believe that I will be able to make them as strong as me in time."

"That's ambitious of you," said Fugaku with a rueful smile. "Don't you think you're setting your sights a little high?"

"On the contrary," said Itachi, shaking his head. "I am who I am because of your enlightened methods of training. Properly motivated and directed, virtually anyone can achieve the feats I have. They will merely need proper strategy and sufficient training.

"I'm planning to get serious with it soon enough."

Fugaku looked a little disturbed. Tenten looked to Lee, then Neji, wondering what 'getting serious' meant. "I see.

"I'm told you three all visited us earlier. Neji Hyuga, I know. That makes you Rock Lee, and you Tenten."

"It's very nice to meet you formally, Fugaku Uchiha," said Neji, bowing. They'd all agreed he'd speak for them, having the best rank and all.

"Well then, follow me," said Fugaku.

Fugaku led them into a large room where eat of them sat down inside in his direction. A number of snacks were available, and Tenten felt very nervous about taking any of them.

"Well, why don't you make yourselves comfortable," said Fugaku. "Itachi, if you'll excuse me, I've a few meetings to get to."

And Fugaku left them.

The four of them remained where they were for a moment somewhat awkwardly. The sense of familiarity and homecoming Tenten had felt before was coming back to her. She wasn't sure she liked it.

An awkward silence ensued, and Tenten reached forward to take a cracker and cheese. She ate it, and the sound was deafening. Itachi did not seem at home here at all.

"Itachi, it's been a while, hasn't it?" said a voice.

They all looked up to see an Uchiha leaning against the wall. He was clad in white garb, and his hair was short. There was a friendly smile on his face. Itachi's expression lightened. "Oh, Shisui. You're back from the Mist Village."

"Well, meeting with Yagura wasn't exactly fun. So I hurried back double time," said Shinsui with a laugh, moving forward. He sat down and took a cracker. Rock Lee and Neji took one shortly thereafter.

"Are things so bad there?" asked Tenten. She'd read a lot of horrible things about the place and worse rumors.

"Probably worse," said Shisui. "Yagura's got this bright smile and the guts to never give up. Unfortunately, he's also really, really, evil. To be honest, I don't think his regime is going to last.

"His chief lieutenant, Zabuza, attempted a coup recently. Then he fled the village with his followers. Not only that, but Zabuza is pretty popular. A lot of people wish he'd succeeded."

"Wasn't he the guy who massacred his entire graduating class for fun?" asked Tenten, who read up on these things.

"That ought to tell you how low of a bar for leadership Yagura is setting," said Shisui.

"Why would anybody tolerate someone like that as leader?" asked Rock Lee.

"Yagura's a Kage level ninja and a Jinchuuriki," said Shisui, leading back and flipping a kunai into the air. "And he's also incredibly paranoid and willing to do just about anything to keep power." He caught the kunai between his fingers as it fell. "Before I arrived, he'd had fifteen of his officers purged because he thought one of them might be a traitor."

"That can't be good for his military might," said Neji.

"Yagura doesn't care about his village," said Shisui. "He wants to stay in power.

"It doesn't matter to him if the Mist Village spirals into oblivion so long as he's the one who runs it. That's why he's keeping such good relations with the other villages. He figures they'll keep him intact.

"Zabuza didn't try to murder Yagura because he had a problem with genocide. The two of them were equally axe crazy. He tried to murder Yagura because Yagura is sloppy and inefficient.

"He delegates all of his responsibilities to people who owe their position wholly to him. People were picked because they could never attain the rank he was giving them in a meritocracy. Huge sums for public services are embezzled while people freeze to death for lack of heat. Yagura never does paperwork. He sleeps through meetings, and there are even that he considers Orochimaru a friend."

"Why?" asked Tenten. The leader of the Sound Village had a lot of bleak rumors about him too.

"Orochimaru once assisted him against an enemy for wholly pragmatic reasons," said Yagura. "Then left before he could become a threat. Maybe Yagura thinks of him as a kindred spirit. He certainly doesn't care about his own people.

"Not once did I see him express concern for his village or anyone in it. Well, there was one noodle stand he turned into a franchise because he ate there when he was a kid. But other than that, nada.

"The worst part was that he received me in conditions of absolute luxury. I was forced to eat five-course meals while there were orphans scavenging for food in the trash. I saw them pour the leftover delicacies into the river before the eyes of people in the middle of a famine."

"Why would we ever support someone like that!" said Rock Lee. "Why would anybody?!"

"For the sake of peace," said Itachi, somewhat sourly.

"Peace?" asked Neji.

"Yagura has not attempted to invade any of us. Most of his missions are dedicated to destroying his own village," said Itachi. "How could one ask for a better enemy?"

"Itachi is right," said Shisui. "If we go in there kunai flashing, we'll probably overthrow Yagura in an afternoon. Then we'd have to inherit the mess of fixing the region, and that could take decades. We'd face a guerilla war and end up having our forces dwindled in the chaos.

"Meanwhile, all the other nations would take the opportunity to push on our borders.

"On the other hand, if we just do nothing, we get a secure border and can worry about other threats. We've got nothing to gain and everything to lose by ousting him, which is probably what he is counting in."

"But how could someone like that ever stay in power?" asked Neji.

"He isn't going to," said Shisui. "Being a Kage and a Jinchuuriki will only last him so long. With Kisame and Zabuza having fled the coup, his rule will collapse. I estimate that within three years, Yagura will be out of power. Either the Mist Village will kill him, or he will destroy the Mist Village beyond recovery.

"I don't envy you the job of sorting it out, Itachi."

What did that mean?

"Why don't we discuss something more pleasant, Shisui," said Itachi.

Shisui leaned forward and sighed. "Fine.

"Are these your friends? Sorry about the uh... genjutsu thing we put you through."

"Which one?" asked Tenten, who had been under many genjutsu.

"You know, the whole sweeping things up," said Shisui.

"Oh that, uh, no problem," said Tenten. She had some reservations but no sense in bringing them up here.

"I'll level with you; when the Old Man put the plan together, nobody was in favor of it," said Shisui. "But we had a ticking clock to a civil war. You had the bad luck to be in the right place at the right time."

"I would not call it bad luck," said Rock Lee. "We did get Itachi-sensei as a teacher."

"Yeah, he's not uh... mentally torturing you or anything?" asked Shisui.

"Only through genjutsu," said Neji.

"That's not a good answer," said Shisui, looking to Itachi. "Itachi, are you sure about this training regime?"

"I think my results speak for themselves," said Itachi.

"Well, they usually do," said Shisui before looking to where the door was sliding open. "Oh, hey, Sasuke."

Sasuke Uchiha entered the room looking sullen; he saw Itachi then Shisui and sighed. "Shisui, what do you want?"

"Oh come on, what'd I do?" asked Shisui.

"Nothing," said Sasuke. "I've got to go train."

"Sasuke, we have guests who were once your schoolmates," said Itachi. "Perhaps you should-"

"I don't see how what I'm doing is any of their business," said Sasuke, and he walked out.

"So... things are no better on that front then?" asked Shisui.

"No, they are not," said Itachi.

"Why did Sasuke become such a jerk anyway?" asked Tenten in surprise. "I mean, he wasn't anything like that when I went to school with him."

"It's... complicated," said Shisui. "For years, my brother was chasing Father's favor. He was also seeking my attention. I always told him, 'sorry Sasuke, next time,' but there never was a next time. As for Father..." Shisui trailed off.

"Yes?" asked Itachi.

"He stopped seeking Father's approval," said Shisui after a moment.

"That's an understatement," said Itachi.

At that moment, Mikoto came through the door wearing an apron. Tenten had that same sense of deep admiration for her. One which wasn't really justified by anything she'd said or done. "Dinner is ready." Then she saw them. "Oh, Tenten, Neji, Lee, it's been a very long time, hasn't it? You've moved up in the world."

"Well, we've done our best," said Tenten. Why was she speaking for them? Wasn't this Neji's job.

Either way, Mikoto seemed to end the conversation there as she looked around. Apparently, she was feeling as awkward as receiving them. "Well, everyone is here, good. Shisui... have you seen Sasuke?"

"He went out training," said Shisui. "Probably with Yashiro again."

"Again?" asked Mikoto. "Very well, could you go get him?"

"Mother, perhaps I should-" began Itachi.

"Please don't Itachi; he won't listen to you," said Mikoto.

Itachi faltered and sighed. "As you wish."

Mikoto then turned to them and led them into a large dining hall with a long table. Fugaku was already there, reading over a number of charts. He quickly put them away and moved back out another door as they were seated. Mikoto moved before them. "So, we meet again. Please sit down. I think you'll enjoy this meal, it has a number of foreign recipes. We don't usually get such varied guests."

"...The new Uchiha district is very nice," said Neji, seemingly looking for something to say.

"Yes, I know," said Mikoto. "It's not as isolated from the village as it was before, and it has a very nice view. Of course, some of us miss the old place now and then."

And they waited, there being a somewhat awkward silence as they did. Tenten had the feeling that they were not particularly welcome. Or rather, not particularly welcome as guests. Mikoto kept looking to Itachi, then at them, often Tenten, like they were books out of place.

Oh, that was it.

Itachi had deliberately put them in this position to make his Father uncomfortable. Fugaku had been treating him like a valuable asset he couldn't afford to lose. So now Itachi was manipulating that mindset to force him into having friends over. Was this some sort of teenage rebellion?

How old was Itachi-sensei anyway?

"I'm here," said Sasuke, coming back and looking even more sullen. Shisui gave an apologetic look as they were seated.

"Now then," said Fugaku, coming back. "I apologize for my earlier absence. I've been wading through a mess of obscure legal texts. A somewhat complex transaction initiated by my Father has been taking up a lot of time."

They sat down, and a meal was served.

It was good, very good and Tenten greatly enjoyed it. It had spices in it that you'd never find anywhere else. Tenten, however, felt like she was on display. And Sasuke kept all but glaring at them, and his glare made her feel like she should be doing better. Better at what? She had no idea.

"You three have already been of great help to us as things stand," said Fugaku. "Though, you may not be aware how."

"Do you refer to the conflict between the Uchiha and certain elements of the Leaf government?" asked Neji quickly.

Fugaku looked impressed, and Shisui whistled. "You know of it?"

"We managed to figure out a few general elements," said Neji. "Though we lack confirmation on what was happening."

"Then I suppose we all know more than we thought," laughed Fugaku.

That cut the tension a bit.

"I don't," said Sasuke.

Silence and all of sudden, Sasuke was the guy who didn't know anything. His expression was resentful. "Oh yes.

"Sasuke, this may be a somewhat complicated subject. Do you remember when we had to move out of the Uchiha district?"

"Because of lead paint," said Sasuke.

"Yes, well, it was a bit more complicated than that," said Mikoto.

"Perhaps I should begin at the beginning," said Fugaku. "You see, the... incident a few years ago did not begin recently. In a way, it was an extension of a much earlier feud. One that predates the Leaf Village."

"That is over fifty years," noted Rock Lee.

"Yes," said Fugaku. "You see, the founders of the Leaf were Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. Of course, there were many other notable clans, but those are the two most remembered. The Senju and the Uchiha, however, had a longstanding enmity.

"And one of the Senju, Tobirama, would not let it go.

"Tobirama was Hashirama's brother and handled many of the day-to-day affairs of the village. Some viewed him as Hokage in all but name. And it was he who held the title afterward."

"He viewed us as a disaster waiting to happen," explained Shisui. "Tobirama pushed for security measures and constant paranoid vigilance on the Uchiha. And worse still, Sarutobi and his advisors were all trained by him. So the Third Hokage, in times of constant war, governed much how Tobirama might have."

"It's not his fault; he's just ruling as he was trained," said Fugaku. "Tobirama was paranoid and instilled the same policies onto all who worked him.

"And over the course of many wars and conflicts, the Uchiha became scrutinized.

"Itachi could tell you something of it. He is a student of history."

All eyes turned to Itachi, even that of Sasuke. "It happened something like this.

"Our clan is naturally powerful and naturally unstable. An individual Uchiha would go berserk because of trauma and cause problems. This would spark off rumors of a coup. The Leaf does not believe these rumors but sets up a watch just in case. When the rumors settle down, the watch stays where it is.

"Then the next time there was an incident, stricter methods are taken. And after a few decades of this, the Uchiha become very hemmed in."

"There is also the matter of the police force," said Mikoto.

"Isn't total control of the police force a huge source of power, though?" asked Tenten, not understanding this.

"Yes," said Fugaku. "When the village was first founded, it was a great honor. In those days, enemy attacks and infiltration could come at any time. There were still occasional blood feuds between clans within the Leaf.

"As things stabilized, however, it became a chain.

"You see, the other clans saw complete control of the police force as a massive advantage. And they insisted the Uchiha be limited to that force. Meaning our only means of seeing combat was by being in the ANBU black ops.

"This was all well and good under Hashirama. And Tobirama kept a few Uchiha in his ANBU largely so he could pretend he had lots of Uchiha friends. However, Sarutobi considered us a political enemy. The Uchiha opposed his election, and only his stunning victories kept him in power.

"As a result, as the Uchiha in the ANBU black ops died or retired, they were simply... not replaced. Sarutobi filled his ANBU with ordinary ninja who he viewed as believing in the Will of Fire."

"So why did we tolerate this?" asked Sasuke, sounding vehement for the first time. He looked less sullen and angrier.

"Well, by that point, violence was no longer an option," said Fugaku. "The majority of Uchiha had not been involved in the largescale wars that our forefathers had. We had avoided many casualties because of our position in the police force. But it was at the cost of practical experience. And it also drew envious eyes from people who had lost friends.

"Moreover, nobody likes the police except in a crisis. And crises were hard to come by."

"The end result of all of this was that the Uchiha lost a great deal of political power," said Mikoto. We also lost military power. And for our sacrifices, we had made ourselves outcasts in our own village.

"Tobirama's trap, the thing Madara warned us of, had been sprung.

"Which leads us to the Nine-tailed Fox's attack. When it attacked the village, the Uchiha Clan was tasked with protecting civilians. We did not lose anyone in the creature's rampage, and that was noticed. Our political enemies jumped at the opportunity. They spread rumors about Uchiha controlling tailed beasts.

"They were absurd, of course.

"The only example I know of was Madara, and for all, we know he might have forged an alliance with the creature. The Nine-tails had attacked cities before. Certainly, I've never seen or read reliable records of any such ability.

"Unfortunately, the people of the village had lost their home. No one was thinking, and rumors were flying everywhere. Thus why the Uchiha district was designed to be observed and contained."

"I liked the old Uchiha district," said Sasuke hotly.

What was he, three? Did he think this edgelord facade made him look like a badass? How childish could you get? Although Tenten knew she shouldn't be thinking this way about an Uchiha.

Why?

"You didn't mind the district because you never lived outside it," said Fugaku. "Many of us had spent our entire lives living among the village. Now all of a sudden, we were forced to dwell in one place while easily observed.

"As a result, things began to get bad.

"Many of our clans were ready to begin open revolt, and I was having a difficult time stopping them. They wanted to be released from the district, have an Uchiha named Hokage, and various other demands. Most of them were perfectly reasonable, though there were a few hotheads.

"Unfortunately, the Leaf was in a position where Sarutobi could not yield ground. The more extreme elements of the Leaf would not allow him to do so.

"Fortunately, Itachi was able to devise a strategy to fix the problem."

Tenten began to realize that they were being treated as spectators at best. Far from guests. Lee certainly had not spoken openly. Sasuke to them like they were servants. And the process of explaining things to Sasuke had left them very forgotten.

"Why lead paint?" asked Sasuke.

"It was a legitimate health concern," said Fugaku. "One that the Hokage could justifiably authorize the Uchiha finding other accommodations. And once our clan had already spread out across the village, we simply... never fixed the problem."

"Now, why don't we eat?" asked Mikoto. "The food is getting cold."

The resulting dinner was very, very awkward to say the least.

Tenten was going to be glad to be out of here. Did Neji have to act this way every day in the Hyuga house? Lee seemed to be bursting, but Neji was very calm. Calmer than Tenten.

And here they were being treated like out-of-place servants. Shisui at least gave them an apologetic look. Itachi, however, seemed wholly focused on Sasuke. Several attempts were made to reach out, and Sasuke brushed them all off.

What a worthless brat.

More and more, Tenten had the feeling there was a conversation going on around them. It might concern them, but apparently, no one saw fit to bring it up.

And then Tenten came up with a plan to fix both problems. It would take a bit of work, but her legend would only be beginning if she could pull this off.