IV: The Path Ahead

Itachi sat in one of the hidden back chambers of the Hokage Residence, an interior room with two chairs and a small table, meant for clandestine meetings. He didn't have to be there, as newly instated Clan Head he would have been well within his rights to have a meeting with the Hokage. But Itachi's honed ANBU instincts, natural propensity for secrecy, and the current situation in the Uchiha Clan made him choose to keep the meeting private.

The Third Hokage lit his pipe as he walked into the room. "Now, what do you have for me, Itachi?"

Itachi leaned forward in his seat. "I have a plan to deescalate relations between the Uchiha and the Village."

"Oh," the Hokage said, sounding almost amused as he sat down in the chair across from Itachi, "this should be interesting."

Itachi took a deep breath. "I want to integrate the Clan in with the rest of the village more. Open the military police to non-Uchiha and transfer more of our own to the regular forces."

"Hm," Hiruzen responded," that is an interesting thought." He then glanced over at a nondescript wall, confusing Itachi. "What do you think, old friend?"

"Risky to say the least," the reply could barely be heard from beyond the wall, surprising Itachi.

"Show yourself, Danzo," the Third said, "secrecy has failed you on this occasion."

The elder stepped through the wall, using some kind of secret jutsu to phase through it. Danzo then looked at Itachi, his piercing one-eyed gaze judging him harshly. "I told you that replacing Fugaku as Uchiha Head was foolish. A stopgap measure at best."

"Excuse me?" Itachi asked. He knew Danzo, knew him as a militaristic hardliner and knew his reputation as a world class spymaster. But Itachi had been certain that only the Hokage, Shisui, and himself knew of the plot.

"Don't fret, boy," Danzo said, seemingly sensing Itachi's concern. "It wasn't my spies who told me. Hiruzen asked for my opinion on the matter."

"Regardless," the Hokage interrupted, "explain the intent behind your plan, Itachi."

"Yes," the young Uchiha answered. "I believe part of the Uchiha Clan's attitude stems from their isolation from the rest of the village. It has allowed them to view themselves as superior and to look down on others, because they have no contact with them. Allow integration and they will come to have a more positive view of the village, and the village of them."

"'Them?'" the Hokage questioned, "you say that as if you don't consider yourself a member of your own family."

"That is irrelevant, Hiruzen," Danzo interrupted. "Making this fool plan you've committed us to work is more important."

"Itachi is the pivotal part of this plot," the Third responded. "If he is in question then the entire operation will fall apart."

Danzo grunted in reluctant acknowledgment. "Regardless, I think this unwise. The Lord Second gave them the military police as a sign of good faith. The Uchiha may become even more rebellious if we take that away from them."

The Hokage nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid so. It is a nice idea, but inadvisable in the current political climate. Perhaps it is best we shelve for a more stable time."

"No!" Itachi yelled out. "Not if we let them think that they're still in control."

The Hokage exhaled a cloud of tobacco smoke and set his pipe down. "I'm listening."

"We make it look like a compromise between us," Itachi started. "The police force is required to take on a certain number of non-Uchiha officers, but my father gets to pick them. In return, a small number of Uchiha members are required to serve in the regular forces, hand-picked by me."

Danzo paced back and forth a few times, considering this. "It is possible. A risk, to be sure, but less so than previous. If we let the Uchiha think that they have the upper hand in this arrangement, that might just pacify them enough to keep them from revolting."

"Yes," the Hokage said, "but what of the results, how soon can we expect any?"

"I have no idea," Itachi said fearfully.

"The effects will take a while," Danzo answered. "Possibly months, most likely years. I don't believe we have that much time. This is not the way, but you know what is. Just give me the word, Hiruzen."

"No," the Hokage answered emphatically. "I will not let violence rule this village. Itachi, can you keep your clan under control for that long?"

"Yes," Itachi answered, sounding more confident than he felt.

"Good," the Hokage said as he stood. "Make the arrangements as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," Itachi answered as the Third left the room.


Itachi paced back and forth inside his father's office in the Military Police Headquarters, preparing himself for what was to come. The door opened and Itachi came to a stop, pivoting to face the entrance, looking calm with his hands clasped behind his back.

"I'm afraid there has been a…situation," Fugaku said as he walked in with four other Uchiha.

"What kind of situa…tion," Yashiro said as followed his boss in and saw Itachi standing in the room.

"The village has…approached us with a deal," Itachi said as the others filed in. "We will place five Uchiha in the regular forces. In return, they will give us five shinobi from the regular forces for the police force."

"Are we going to accept this deal? We can't, right?" asked Yakumi, the last to walk into the room.

"We already have," Fugaku answered as he sat at his desk. "You four are to be in the regular forces starting next week. I will pick replacements from a list of available chunin and jonin."

Itachi sat on the corner of his father's desk. "Shisui is already in the regular forces, he'll fill in the fifth slot."

"But," Yashiro began, "controlling the police force is major source of power, are we willing to give that up? The coup could very well hinge on it."

Itachi stood up and got in Yashiro's face, who flinched, remembering the beating he received the previous day. "The Hokage wouldn't have approached us if they didn't already suspect something."

"The…aggressive manner in which some of our number have carried out their duties has likely alerted them that something is amiss," Fugaku added.

Itachi stepped away from Yashiro and took a seat in a chair in the corner of the room. "Besides, we control who transfers. We have the power here and can turn it to our advantage. I picked all of you because of my confidence in your abilities. I believe that we can do more damage to the village with all of you in the regular forces."

Itachi looked at each of the four. Yashiro was going in order to break up the trio of him, Inabi, and Tekka, perhaps the worst agitators for the coup. Inabi was too volatile for this and Tekka's calm persona served to restrain his fellows, especially Inabi. That left Yashiro.

To his right was Akihiko, one of the most respected shinobi in the clan. His rarely spoken opinion carried weight and Itachi hoped that he could make him a voice for peace.

The third was Jun. A relatively new kunoichi, only recently made chunin, she was chosen for her lack of experience, hopefully making her more impressionable, less likely to reject her new comrades. In any case, she had proven herself to be obedient and would likely not cause any trouble.

Last was Yakumi. Honestly he was chosen just to fill out the group.

"You've all got your marching orders," Fugaku said. "Report to the Hokage Monday morning. And keep your eyes open."

All of the new transfers quickly saluted and said "yes,sir," except for Yashiro, looking exasperated as he hesitated for a moment before reluctantly giving a silent nod.

"All right, that will be all for today," Itachi said, drawing the short meeting to a close.

Father and son were left alone as the other shinobi left the room. When the door was closed Fugaku opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out the list of transfer candidates.

"Who're bringing in?" Itachi asked.

Fugaku read through some of the names on the list before responding. "I haven't decided. I'll hold some interviews, try to find some people who are personable and charismatic. Someone the others on the force will take a liking to."

"Good," Itachi replied.

"Interesting plan, son," Fugaku as Itachi was starting to walk out the door. "Just be wary, things might become worse before they get better."

"Yeah," Itachi said as he resumed his path.


Sasuke watched Naruto from the tree tops as he ran to his secret training ground after classes were finished. After speaking with his brother the previous day Sasuke had decided to give talking to Naruto another try. For the moment he was going to observe the blonde more before coming up with a different approach.

They were nearly halfway to Naruto's training ground when Sasuke saw something out of the corner of his eye. Coming to a stop he saw three of their classmates coming through the forest. Sasuke could only guess as to why they were there, but Naruto hadn't detected them.

Sasuke watched as the trio came out of the woods and quickly surrounded Naruto. He could only faintly hear the sound of their talking so Sasuke descended to lower branches to listen in.

"So boys, what do you say we start our little game," the leader of the three said.

"What game are we playing?" Naruto asked excitedly, almost desperate. It was a far cry from the angry and stubborn boy that Sasuke had always seen.

"It's a game we like to call Kick the Fox," the smallest of the boys said.

"What?" Naruto asked, obviously confused, just as Sasuke was.

The answer came in the form of a kick to Naruto's stomach from the largest of the three boys. The orphan doubled over in pain as the bullies continued to pummel him. Very quickly Naruto was on the ground as the other boys continued their sick game, laughing manically.

Sasuke decided that he had seen enough and jumped from his perch, landing softly behind one of the bullies. He kicked low at the boy's standing leg, sweeping his feet out from under him. As he landed on the ground with a hard thud the other boys looked over at the Uchiha in alarm.

"Oh no, it's the Uchiha kid! Run!" one of the them yelled as they took off at a sprint. The one that Sasuke had knocked down scrambled to get to his feet and hurried after his fellows. "Wait for me, guys!"

Naruto pushed himself off the ground and yelled at his fleeing attackers. "Yeah, you better run!"

"Don't push your luck, fox-boy," one of the boys yelled back before they disappeared from view. "Uchiha won't stick around to protect you."

"What does 'fox-boy' even mean?" Naruto yelled out, though no response came.

"You alright?" Sasuke asked as Naruto gingerly pulled himself to his feet.

"I didn't need your help," Naruto responded harshly. "I had that under control."

Sasuke knew that was an outright lie, but he decided not to press the matter.

"Whatever," Naruto said as he started to walk away, "I have the perfect way to get back at them."

Sasuke's curiosity was piqued by that. "What?"

Naruto stopped and looked back at Sasuke, suspicious. "Why?"

Sasuke gave an unsure shrug. "Because I want to know you better."

"What," Naruto asked, "like a friend sort of thing?"

"Yeah," Sasuke guessed.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before a wicked grin appeared across his face. "Tell you what, meet me behind the Academy after class tomorrow and I'll let you in on the biggest prank in the history of the village yet."

"Sure," Sasuke cautiously agreed.

Naruto then left, laughing to himself.


Sasuke arrived at home a little late, but not so much as to raise questions, unlike the day prior. He found his mother in his parent's bedroom reading.

"Mother," Sasuke asked, "is Itachi home?"

Mikoto looked up from her reading material. "Yes, he arrived a little before you did, actually. I believe he's in his room."

"Thanks," Sasuke said before walking to his brother's room.

Peaking inside he saw Itachi looking intently at several papers and notes, not noticing Sasuke looking though the cracked open door.

"Brother?" Sasuke asked tentatively.

"Yes?" Itachi responded, looking up from his work.

Sasuke opened the door all the way and stepped into the room. "What's a fox-boy?"

"A what?" Itachi said, sounding as confused as Naruto and Sasuke had been.

"Some bullies called Naruto that today," Sasuke said.

Itachi's eyes widened in shock and…fear? Anger? Sasuke couldn't tell.

Itachi quickly regained a stoic expression, however. "Sounds like just another cruel nickname, Sasuke. Pay it no mind."

"Ok," Sasuke said, knowing that there was some greater significance behind the term than Itachi was saying.