"Itachi-sama and Shisui-san have just publicly declared Uzumaki Naruto is under their protection," is not an announcement he'd expected he'd ever have to hear or deal with personally, but Fugaku has gotten rather used to receiving shocking news of late. It's not even the most shocking, either.

No, the time his eldest kneeled before him and respectfully but firmly renounced his position as heir holds that dubious honor.

He dismisses the sweating chunin - who breathes a sigh of relief as he goes back to his patrol - and starts on damage control.

"Chihiro! Itsuji!" he calls out, and two of his Military Police appear behind him, kneeling and awaiting orders. He turns around, notices the tell-tale signs that they'd been snacking on the job again, and then promptly decides to ignore it for now. "Chihiro. Inform our esteemed Elders that there will be a meeting tonight regarding this matter and that I won't be discussing anything until then." He doesn't specify what the matter is. They're shinobi; they're gossipy by nature, so there's little chance she wasn't eavesdropping.

"Yes, Fugaku-sama." She disappears within a whirl of leaves.

Fugaku addresses Itsuji. "Explain the circumstances to Mikoto and tell her to meet me at once."

At the mention of his wife, Itsuji's curious expression becomes tinged with fear. Fugaku carefully conceals his amusement. Mikoto may be retired and considered a kitten without claws by the foolish, but her clansmen know better than anyone that she has never lost her edge.

Itsuji accepts the impromptu mission and exits without fanfare.

Fugaku had planned on spending a rare break eating lunch at home with his wife, but this is far more pressing. He strides back into his office, slides the door closed, and only then does he allow himself to cradle his face in his hands.

He loves his children. This is undebatable. Simple fact. He has loved them from the very first moment he laid eyes on them. He loves them fiercely and passionately as only a parent can, loves them so deeply and viscerally that it scares him - as only an Uchiha parent can.

So even when duty dictated otherwise, when his Elders protested, when common sense demanded he not go through with it, he argued and threatened and cajoled until Katsuki was officially recognized as his heir and Itachi, Katsuki's personal bodyguard and adviser.

He did this not because he saw untapped potential in Katsuki (he'd thought him too young and brash), not because he thought Itachi inferior to the position (he'd been the perfect replacement), nor because his youngest declared he would earn it (impossible, he'd thought) but because Itachi made the argument for it and refused to back down until he won.

He said that Katsuki would be the driving force for change in both the Clan and the village. That Katsuki would grow up to unite them both with his unique ability to draw others in and inspire them. That Katsuki had the makings of a great leader, like that of Yondaime or even Shodaime, even if one needed to take a closer look to see it.

Look underneath the underneath. It's a shinobi saying, a guideline that cuts right to the core of what a shinobi is. Fugaku had forgotten - or perhaps he'd simply grown used to knowing and had not thought to put into practice an old shinobi bylaw on his own clansmen, his own children.

He looked at Katsuki then, at the boy who practicing throwing shuriken out in the grass, really looked, and he saw a glimpse of what Itachi must have seen, the after image of a man: tall, broad shouldered, still slouched but somehow unbending, a pillar to look up to, strong enough to support an entire village on his back without breaking. Then he blinked, and the image was gone, but the impression remained.

Fugaku had stood with his sons back then, even when it had nearly started a war within the Clan, because he had looked at them and seen a brighter future. He's fully prepared to stand with them now, so long as this is just another step down the road, another plan in place to ensure the Uchiha flourish.

Fugaku alerts his secretary to his sudden changed plans and heads off to find his wayward sons and give them a chance to convince him once more.