Fugaku entered the Hokage's office with Mikoto at his side. Sasuke dashed past the both of them when he saw Aiko standing beside Itachi.
"Are you okay, Aiko?" He asked, and the little girl nodded.
"Yeah, thanks to Itachi-niichan, Shisui-niichan, and Kakashi-san."
"Do we have any new information?" Fugaku asked of the Hokage as he shut the door. The Third sighed.
"The intelligence division managed to learn that the Shinobi in question were ordered by their superiors to kidnap Aiko, but they were not told who the source of the information about her was. The Tsuchikage denies any knowledge of this matter."
"Of course he does." Fugaku snorted, "But it should be a simple matter for the head of the Yamanaka to find out if he was the one who gave the order."
"Even if he confirmed it, then what?" Aiko asked, her face dead serious, "Konoha can't make demands of Iwagakure without risking war. I won't stand for a war starting over me; not when I was brought home, safe and sound. It's bitter, but the only option is to accept Iwagakure's allowing us to deal with the abductors ourselves as a halfhearted peace offering."
"We do that, and then what, Aiko?" Fugaku asked her, speaking sternly only because he was concerned. "They try this again? Next time, you might not be able to leave something behind."
"Even so, I'm the one they're targeting, so shouldn't I get a say if the outcome could be so widespread?!" She exclaimed.
"Enough." The Hokage said, just loudly enough to break up the argument, "You are both right in your own way. We can't risk war, and we also cannot allow Aiko to be targeted again. That is why I am assigning a member of the ANBU to watch over her." His gaze drifted toward Aiko, "You won't see him, Aiko, but he will always be near you."
"What about the possibility that the leak came from someone in the Shimura Clan?" Kakashi asked with concern, and the Hokage looked at him, knowing what he was getting at without his saying it directly.
"That is why I'm assigning someone who will not be influenced by Danzō."
Kakashi seemed to understand who he meant and nodded.
Abruptly, Aiko hugged Fugaku's legs. "I'm sorry I yelled, Ojisan. I know you're just worried because you care about me, but I care about Konoha."
Fugaku sighed and knelt down, placing his hands on Aiko's shoulders, "I know you do Aiko, and you understand the situation far more deeply than most children your age would. I just wish that this wasn't a situation that you have to consider."
Aiko looked down at the ground, "I wish I was stronger, so that I wouldn't keep putting the people around me in danger..."
Fugaku's eyes widened before his expression softened and he placed a hand on her head, "Don't get impatient, Hoshi. You're still young."
"Hoshi?" Aiko asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"I'll explain later." Fugaku assured her, "For now, let's go home."
兄弟
"Itachi, I know you're training for the third exam right now, but would you mind going hunting for me tomorrow?" Mikoto said at dinner that night, "I'm in the mood to cook some wild game."
"Sure." Itachi said with a nod.
"You go hunting, Itachi-niichan?" Aiko asked.
"From time to time." He answered.
"Wild game tastes better than animals raised on a farm!" Sasuke told her.
"Oh...?" Aiko asked with interest.
"Have you never had wild game before, Aiko?" Fugaku asked.
"Unh-unh." Aiko said with a shake of her head, "Papa worked the night shift at the precinct so that he could be home with me while Mama was at the Hokage's office in the day, so he didn't have time to hunt. He always made dinner just before Mama came home and went to work right after we ate."
"Didn't your mom ever cook?" Sasuke asked.
"Mama couldn't cook." Aiko said with a sweat-drop, "She was more likely to set things on fire, which was weird, since she couldn't use Katon." She didn't notice Sasuke's eyes widening as she continued, "And then it would get worse when she tried to use Suiton to put it out for some reason." Now Itachi and Fugaku were staring at the child with wide eyes too. "Papa eventually banned her from the kitchen." The child concluded, leaving her father and brothers stunned while Mikoto burst out laughing.
"When I was in the Academy, I heard about a younger student who nearly burned down the school during one of the girls' cooking classes." Mikoto explained, "Now I know who it was! That explains the smoke I occasionally saw coming from your house!"
Aiko laughed nervously, "Papa always said that Mama was better concocting strategies than concocting food, whatever concocting means."
Fugaku chuckled nervously, "Well let's just hope you got Nichi's talent for cooking then, since we already know you have Mayumi's brain."
兄弟
After dinner that night was over, Aiko followed Fugaku out of the room. "Ojisan? You said earlier that you would explain to me why you called me Hoshi."
Fugaku looked over his shoulder at the child, then smiled softly and gestured for her to follow him, "Come with me." He led Aiko to another room in the house, where he retrieved a book from a shelf and sat down, looking mildly surprised as Aiko instinctively climbed into his lap to view the book with him, something Sasuke never tried to do. He smiled to himself, thinking how different his cousin's daughter was from his own children and opened the book. "Look at this." He told her as he flipped through the pages before finding the one he wanted.
It was a photo album, and the photo on the page appeared to be of the entire Uchiha Clan gathered around Nichi and Megumi with a newborn baby in Megumi's arms. A banner above the gathering read "Welcome home, Nichi, Megumi, and Aiko-chan."
"Is this from when I was born?" Aiko asked.
"That's right." Fugaku told her, "We knew that Megumi was estranged from her clan, and we wanted her to feel like she belonged in ours, so the entire clan got together to welcome you when your parents brought you home from the hospital." As Aiko gazed at the photo, seeking out the faces and expressions of people she knew, Fugaku continued, "Contrary to the Shimura, everyone in the Uchiha had high hopes for you. We still do. Ever since Megumi announced her pregnancy, we'd all hoped that you would inherit your mother's intelligence and your father's keen eyes and talent, and it seems that you have." Fugaku said. When Aiko's expression seemed a bit troubled by this statement, he added, "But now I've learned that you've inherited something even more important."
At this, Aiko turned and looked up at him with her large black eyes, "What's that?"
"Your father's light and your mother's frankness." Fugaku replied, "To be honest Aiko, until recently, things have been pretty tense within the clan. We were blamed and punished for a tragedy we did not cause and most of the clan was very angry because of that. As my closest relative, your father was my advisor, and he warned me that lashing out in anger would only bring disaster upon the clan. He advised me to reach out to the other clans for help instead of trying to handle things completely on our own. Although I took his feelings into consideration, I dismissed him as my advisor because of my own anger about the problem. Now I realize how wrong I was. In the end, it was your mother who solved the problem by figuring out the true culprit and informing the Hokage in the letter that she entrusted to you. In her final act, she saved the clan. Megumi was, of course, a member of the Uchiha by marriage, but if your father had not been willing to reach beyond clan boundaries to help her during the war, the outcome would've been very different. You have that same warmth as him. You judge others on their actions alone, without concern for anything else. And just like your mother, you openly speak your mind. Like today when you expressed your concerns about confronting Iwa. Some people might think that to be a weakness, but I think it is, perhaps, your greatest strength. By openly voicing your concerns, you have the potential to avert disaster. Those traits are more important than your talent for analysis or your keen observational skills." He placed a hand on her head, "Did you know that the kanji for your father's name also means 'sun'? And the sun is actually a star. That's what you are, Aiko. You are the star that shines brightest among the Uchiha. A star of hope for our future." Aiko's eyes widened, and then her face lit up in delight.
At that moment, Itachi happened to walk into the room and noticed the photo, "Oh! I remember this!" He said as he sat down next to Fugaku, "Sasuke got so jealous when Megumi-basan let me hold Aiko and started throwing a fit."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Niisan?" Sasuke asked, having followed Itachi into the room. He sat at Fugaku's other side and Fugaku turned the page and Itachi pointed to another photo of the same event, but with a ten-month-old Sasuke screaming inside his stroller while reaching desperately for Itachi, who was holding the newborn Aiko in his arms. The five-year-old Itachi was looking rather bewildered by his younger brother's reaction.
"See Sasuke?" The older boy remarked fondly, "You didn't like that I was holding Aiko instead of you, so you started throwing a tantrum. I had no choice but to pass Aiko to Izumi so that I could pick you up." The next photo showed exactly that. Izumi was cuddling the newborn baby, while Itachi was now holding a suddenly content Sasuke with a soft expression of fondness.
"Oh, I remember that." Mikoto said as she entered the room as well and reached over her husband's shoulder and turned the page again. "And then Fugaku tried to hold her because everyone wanted her to be held by the clan head and she started fussing. So Fugaku handed her to me, but it didn't help. She just kept crying until Megumi took her back."
Aiko laughed at this, "How come I was okay with Itachi-niichan and Izumi-neechan, but not the two of you?"
"Who knows?" Mikoto said with a smile, "Babies are peculiar in who they decide they like and dislike. Sometimes that changes as they grow and sometimes it doesn't."
兄弟
The following day, Aiko followed Sasuke and Itachi to the front door when they headed out to go hunting as Megumi had requested. "Can I go with you?" She asked innocently.
"You don't know how to use a bow." Itachi pointed out.
"But I know how to set traps." Aiko replied, but Itachi shook his head.
"That doesn't mean you'll be able to stomach eating something after you've seen it while it's still alive."
"You should just stay here today, Aiko." Sasuke said bluntly, "You're always getting into trouble anyway." When Aiko pouted at this, Sasuke tapped her forehead with his middle and index fingers, "I'll teach you how to use a bow tomorrow. See you later." Aiko looked stunned as Sasuke headed off with Itachi. She had seen Itachi poke Sasuke's forehead in the same manner any number of times, but she had never expected that it would be something that either of them would share with her. She touched her forehead and smiled to herself before heading back inside. Since Sasuke was gone with Itachi, she decided to go ask Fugaku to help her with her shuriken jutsu instead; or maybe play hide-and-seek with her, since Sasuke and Naruto had gotten sick of losing to her and Sakura.
"How can you accept this, Lord Fugaku?!" A man's voice demanded just as she turned the corner. Aiko narrowed her eyes slightly and pressed herself against the wall as she suppressed her chakra to avoid being noticed. "Iwagakure nearly succeeded in kidnapping Aiko, who is already thought to be one of the brightest in the next generation of our clan, and the Hokage isn't doing anything about it! It's an insult to the Uchiha!" The voice continued. Aiko didn't recognize the voice immediately, but she suspected that it was one of three "hot-bloods" within the clan that Nichi had mentioned to her in the past.
"I'm frustrated as well, Yashiro." Fugaku said calmly, "But what are we supposed to do? This kind of thing isn't exclusive to our clan. The Hyuga suffered much more than this when Kumogakure attempted to kidnap their heiress, and you didn't see them kicking up a fuss. Besides, it's not that 'nothing' is being done. Konoha just isn't seeking reparation beyond being allowed to deal with the culprits personally."
"Then what about the matter of the intelligence leak?!" Another voice demanded, "Somebody in Konoha told Iwagakure that Nichi and Megumi had a daughter, and we all know who it probably was!"
"We can't just go pointing fingers without any proof, Inabi." Fugaku stated.
"Why not? He did!" A third voice demanded. "And even though they've stopped keeping us under surveillance, the village still hasn't offered any reparation for all the problems they caused by blaming us for the Kyuubi incident!" That had to be Tekka, the third member of this group. Without warning, Aiko suddenly threw the sliding door open, startling the three men. Even Fugaku was surprised, having not realized that Aiko had been there. She glared at the three men, her Sharingan blazing in anger.
"Stop it!" She yelled angrily, "I'm the one who insisted on not making Iwagakure apologize! My mother wasn't Uchiha by blood, but she still worked very hard to restore peace between our clan and the village, right up until she died! I won't let that peace be destroyed because hot-bloods like you stir up trouble every chance you get! Mama was the one who proved we were innocent! The only thing people like you did is give them more reason to suspect us!" Tears flowed down her cheeks as her breath hitched, "I won't let you undo all of Mama's hard work! I won't..." A wave of dizziness overtook her and Aiko collapsed, but Fugaku saw it coming and caught her in his arms, "Otousan..." She murmured in a daze, "Don't let them fan the flames of hatred... its fire will consume us..."
Fugaku sighed as Aiko lost consciousness entirely and pulled her into his lap. "Tch..." Yashiro muttered, "Nichi sure didn't teach his girl how to respect her elders..." When he heard this, Fugaku's head snapped up, and all three men suddenly shook with fear as they saw that now his Sharingan was being directed at them.
"For your information..." Fugaku began as he shifted Aiko into a better position, "I'm the one who told Aiko that she shouldn't be afraid to speak her mind. She isn't as reserved as Itachi and Sasuke are, and I consider that to be a good thing. This child has more wisdom in her little body than the three of you combined. She may be Megumi and Nichi's daughter, but don't forget that she is my daughter now too."
The three men gulped and made a mental note to never try to argue against four-year-old Uchiha Aiko again, lest they face Wicked Eye Fugaku's wrath.
This chapter includes an important bit about Aiko and Fugaku's relationship. I like to think of Aiko as somehow bringing out the best in Fugaku due to having a completely different personality from the other family members. I mean, yeah, Fugaku was a lousy father, but he did express concern for his children from time-to-time, such as when he said that Itachi should spend time actually playing with somebody his own age instead of constantly training with Shisui, who was several years older than him. He even kicked Itachi out of the house when the village forced him to take a week off and Itachi had spent the first three days entirely with Sasuke, telling him to go hang out with somebody his own age.