"Have you considered how this might affect the Clan?" Fugaku asks, once he's got Katsuki alone in his office. His face is as imposing and severe as ever, but it has no effect on Katsuki and never has. He's long been aware who really holds the power in this family.

"Of course I have." Katsuki never did anything by halves. He was aiming for the position of Clan Head, so there was no way he was going to do anything that would jeopardize his chances or that would negatively affect his clan.

"And what did you conclude?"

It's now or never. The prospect of giving a Deku-like speech almost gives him hives, but someone's got to do it. And Katsuki has a lot of such speeches under his belt anyway, from back when he started that crusade against schools allowing Quirk discrimination. The aim was to stop the kind of bullying that turned Deku into such a fucking martyr and that allowed Katsuki to go unchecked for years before they churned out more kids like them.

This is similar, except the discrimination is against his family, and he won't fucking stand for it. So he shoves his distaste to the back of his mind and opens his mouth.

"We've been going at things with subtlety and consideration for our image, and it hasn't worked. We've had a smear on our reputation since Madara, and we haven't changed our way of doing things since he was around either. I say we do what we want and screw everyone else. We prove our loyalty by doing and being obvious about it.

"No more double meanings and Uchiha speak. Tell our non-Uchiha comrades we love them and trust them with our lives. Show the village we're just normal people by shopping and dining out at non-Uchiha markets and restaurants. Let retired and non-shinobi Uchiha work and set up their shops outside the compound. Open the Military Police to non-Uchiha.

"Let them know we intend to protect all of Konoha, and not just our own necks. Because right now, they don't believe it. And yeah, us giving our lives for the village again and again should make that clear, but it's not.

"When no one understands our unspoken feelings or actions, when it gets to the point that the whole village believes they're not there at all, it's time to step out of our shells and shove it in their damn faces until it finally gets through their hard ass skulls."

Mask as inscrutable as ever, Fugaku takes that in and merely says, "Hmm. And what does that have to do with Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Tch." He was hoping he'd diverted attention away from that. He hadn't exactly intended to be so…public about his rivalry with Whiskers. He'd just found a suitable rival (a kid like Deku who he could do right by now, as he should have back then), and while meandering through Konoha, he'd stumbled upon the very kid who he had been pondering how to approach. The scene of an adult yelling so harshly at a child had riled him up like nothing else, and he'd spent a scant few seconds considering repercussions before he had shouted loud enough for all to hear.

But he still stands by it and what he'd used to justify it.

So he looks straight at his father and bluntly states, "People hate and fear him, just like they do us. Not like one more outcast is gonna make a damn difference."

"…Very well. If this is the course of action you wish to take, then I won't stop you. But Katsuki. If your association with Uzumaki does bring harm to the Clan, you alone will bear the consequences."

"If it's my fault things somehow get worse, then I'll even give up on being Hokage."

For a bare instant, Fugaku allows a small smile to slip through his poker face. "I'll hold you to that. You may go."

Katsuki bows stiffly, rebellious nature warring with the show of respect, and then stomps out of the room.

Fugaku snorts. "You can come out now."

Shisui and Itachi appear before him, kneeling, but the picture of obedience is ruined by their incongruent expressions. Shisui has tears running down his face, while Itachi looks as shamelessly proud of Katsuki as always.

Fugaku gives into the urge to slap a hand over his face. "What is it?"

Shisui sniffles loudly. "I'm just. So proud. He acts like a little hellion most of the time, but he's been thinking about the clan this whole time." He sniffles again. "It's just so inspiring!" He pulls out a tissue and blows into it obscenely noisily.

"Katsuki continues to prove why he's the best choice for leading the clan out of its current darkness, Father," Itachi speaks up when it becomes clear Shisui has said his piece. He looks so happy.

Before Katsuki was born, or even just a few years ago, had he ever smiled so genuinely, especially at Fugaku? Had he seemed so vibrant and alive?

Fugaku had prepared him as well as he could for life as a shinobi, for his role as Clan Head, continued to push him when his limits seemed never-ending, and further still. There was no place for softness or gentleness in the shinobi world, nor the world of politics, and he had truly believed he was doing right by his son. That the Clan Elders had finally not fought him on something and were actually pleased about Itachi's prodigiousness was a boon, a relief that he hadn't questioned.

But had he been too distant? Too much the Clan Head, the superior officer, and never room for Fugaku, the father.