"Walk with me, Itachi,"
His father's stern voice broke Uchiha Itachi out of his reverie as the teen unbuckled his sandals. The young ANBU had just returned from a two-week mission to the Land of Water, where his squad had acted as the final leg in a Konoha operation to smuggle refugees out of the war-torn country, and he was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to eat the hearty meal he could smell his mother preparing and fall into bed. However, the clan head's words had been an order not an invitation, so the pale youth re-buckled his sandals and rose to follow his father from their home, stifling the frustration that their interactions frequently prompted.
The pair walked in silence through the clan compound, nodding in response to the greetings that their fellow Uchiha called out to them. Partway through the compound a friendly shout drew their attention to Uchiha Teyaki, a smiling older man with a kind face and rough, worn hands that spoke of a life well-lived. The old man sat beside his senbei cart, selling sweets to eager passerby. "Fugaku-sama, Itachi-sama," the old man called the father and son over to his stall with a wave. After exchanging bows of greeting, Teyaki's smile disappeared, and he asked his guests softly, "It's been a year today, hasn't it?"
Itachi froze momentarily at the realization that Sasuke and the other children had been missing for a year. The Uchiha heir knew that his year had been challenging, but he couldn't imagine the horrors that Orochimaru had inflicted upon his little brother. After a solemn pause, Fugaku answered in a gruff voice. "Yes, it has, Teyaki-san. We continue to hope for Sasuke's safe return, though it is painful after so long without any news from the Hokage's rescue squad."
The old man's face took on a sorrowful pall. He turned hunched shoulders toward his cart and began to load a small box with the semi-sweet treats. "I know it's not much," Teyaki offered the box to the two. "But please take these. A little something to help make the day more bearable." Itachi accepted the box woodenly after a pointed glance from his father. Of course, Fugaku wouldn't deign to carry the gift when he could have his son do it. Turning to his clan head, Teyaki continued, "Fugaku-sama, if you or Mikoto-sama need anything, please don't hesitate to let Uruchi and I know. The same goes for you Itachi-sama."
"Thank you, Teyaki-san," Fugaku replied with a small bow to the old man. "You are too kind. Now, excuse us. My son and I have much to discuss." Taking their leave from the kindly old man, the pair made their way to the compound's exit. Once outside the walls, Fugaku turned away from the village center and led his son toward the surrounding forest.
After several minutes walking, Itachi stiffened again as he realized that his father was bringing him to the lake where both he and Sasuke had practiced and mastered the clan's Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. The young teen had avoided this site and several others since the kidnapping, knowing the painful ache from his brother's absence would be nearly unbearable when he was surrounded by such strong memories. Fugaku led the way out onto the lone pier that jutted into the water, his stern, square face betraying none of the turmoil that Itachi quietly hoped his father felt in this place. Their home had been too quiet with Sasuke gone, and it would be good to know that his father felt the loss, too.
Regardless of his feelings about their surroundings, the Uchiha clan head had chosen this location for a very specific reason, so Itachi steeled himself and followed his father out onto the small, wooden structure. "You wished to speak with me, Father?" he inquired as he came level with the man.
Fugaku was quiet for a moment, his dark eyes cast aimlessly over the tranquil blue water before he spoke. "I had forgotten how beautiful this place was. Tell me, my son, what do you see here?"
Somewhat taken aback by his father's atypically evasive answer, Itachi turned to follow the older man's unfocused gaze. The mid-morning sun glinted off the lake, and the water rippled lightly in a faint breeze. Beyond the far edge of the lake, Itachi saw the roofs of what he knew were Uchiha homes and administrative buildings for the Military Police Force give way to the rest of the village. Behind the smaller houses and shops, the Hokage Tower rose majestically in front of the tremendous stone monument from which the village's past and present leaders watched solemnly over their home.
"I see my home," Itachi began, unsure exactly what test his father's question carried, though he sensed its presence beyond a shadow of a doubt. "A beautiful village that many have bled and died to protect," he began, eyeing a flag that waved over the village's Memorial Stone in the distance. His gaze traced over the Hokage Tower, the ANBU barracks, and the clan compounds scattered throughout the chaotic spread of houses and shops. "I see the homes of my friends and comrades, loyal shinobi who love this village dearly and have sacrificed to keep it safe." Casting his gaze a bit closer, onyx eyes lingered on their family home, decorated with the bright red and white fans that marked it as the dwelling of the Uchiha clan head. "I see the clan, proud founders of this historic place who have been entrusted with its security." Turning back to his father, the pale boy gestured to the pier below his feet. "I see the sites of strong traditions, where Sasuke and I have mastered our heritage."
Fugaku nodded to indicate that he had heard his son's reply, though his gaze was still distant. He was still for a moment before reaching into his satchel and producing what Itachi recognized as an ANBU mission report scroll. Tossing it to his suddenly tense son, the clan head asked a second question: "And what do you see here?"
Warily, Itachi caught the scroll, noting that the seal that normally incinerated the document when unauthorized individuals tried to open it had been destroyed, leaving a burned spot on the outside that smelled nauseatingly of charred ink. "Why do you have this, Father?" Itachi asked, pale face creased in a small frown as he considered the implications of his father having this document, whatever it was. "You have no reason to possess this report."
"I have every right to know about the status of Hatake-san's search," Fugaku countered, his even tone growing dark at the teen's words. "Or have you forgotten that it is my son he seeks?"
"This is from Hatake-sempai?" Itachi asked surprised. Choosing to delay questioning his father further in favor of news on his brother, the Uchiha heir pulled the scroll open, eager to see what progress his prodigious senior had made in the search for Konoha's missing children. Scanning through the report, Itachi felt a growing dread as he read about Kakashi's raid on one of Orochimaru's facilities and the monsters that the search team had encountered inside. That dread crystalized painfully around the young man's heart as he read Kakashi's report on the creatures' hatred of his Sharingan eye and violent response to the clone transformed to look like the Uchiha clan head. "This is… painful to read, Father," Itachi offered as he finished reading Kakashi's concerns about the lack of conclusive evidence to implicate or indemnify the Uchiha. "It is also, quite obviously, not something that Hokage-sama would have shared with you. How did you come by this report?"
"The Uchiha have many resources at our disposal," the clan head offered dismissively. "Gold and the Sharingan can secure many allegiances. But you have not answered my question. What do you see here, Itachi?"
"I see a tale of treachery," Itachi answered after a moment's consideration, once again suppressing the alarm that his father's comment caused. "Someone raided this facility and removed any evidence that Hatake-sempai might have found to aid his search. Either that someone was trying to frame the Uchiha, or you are more concerned with the prestige of finding Sasuke and his classmates than seeing them safely returned, Father. However, regardless of how little I believe that this was your doing, you also admit to intercepting a report sent from a senior member of the village's ANBU directly to Hokage-sama. How do you intend to conceal that treachery, Uchiha-sama? The scroll will be missed, and this seal cannot be remade."
"Watch your mouth!" Fugaku commanded, his normally even voice growing harsh and angry. "Don't forget who you're talking to, boy. I have a responsibility to protect the clan, as do you. The Hokage has been trying to find incriminating evidence to use against us since before the kidnapping! If this report makes it to Sarutobi, he won't hesitate to declare us guilty of treason. Thus, we must accelerate our plans. Now Itachi, will you do the right thing and support the clan in the change that is to come?"
"Change?" Itachi asked, his quiet tone laced with dry sarcasm. "It is true that I have not attended the meetings Father, but I understand perfectly well that the clan is planning a coup d'etat. You say that you would be accused of treason if this scroll reached Hokage-sama, but you will let it drive you to commit treason before it touches his desk. These actions will see most of the clan executed as traitors, if you fail, or throw the village into worse chaos than exists in Kiri, if you somehow depose the Shinobi no Kami. You should return the scroll to Hokage-sama and offer to help him find whoever has planted this evidence."
"You speak as though the clan's actions are unmerited," Fugaku countered. "Our ancestors founded this village more than half a century ago and have continued to see to its security and prosperity ever since. Despite that sacrifice, we have been despised and slighted for years. The Sandaime denied us the right to reclaim the Sharingan from the thief, Hatake. Then, both he and the Elders relegated us to the remotest corner of the village after the Kyūbi attack. We have been baselessly blamed for Sasuke's kidnapping, even though responsibility for village security lies with the ANBU and the regular defensive forces. Even the civilians have adopted that scorn, spitting on us as we enforce the law of the village. No, my son, we are simply reclaiming what is rightfully ours."
Itachi blinked in disbelief at his father's claims. "Hokage-sama respected Obito-niisan's last wishes in allowing Hatake-sempai to retain the Sharingan. Sempai has brought the clan fame and honor through his use of our dōjutsu, demonstrating the power of the Sharingan, even in a non-Uchiha. The clan has requested our own compound since the village's foundation, so our district was a promise kept instead of a banishment." Itachi's palms moistened as he carefully considered his next points. He was tired from his extended mission, and he would not be simply disagreeing with his father's interpretation of the last complaints. The older man had ignored important details about the aftermath of the kidnapping. "Lastly, the accusations of negligence following the abduction were leveled against many, not just the Uchiha. Beyond that, Hokage-sama has claimed all responsibility for failing to prevent the kidnapping; there is no blame that can be laid at our feet. I hear he even offered to resign if-"
"You still have much to learn, Itachi," Fugaku cut across his son's objection. "Sarutobi-san made that offer knowing there was no way anyone would move to oust him. He has spent years since the Kyūbi attack calling for greater clan involvement in the village's defense, with very little support or success. Anyone who moved to accept his resignation would be shamed for it, despite it being an excellent idea."
"Even if Hokage-sama's offer was as calculated as you imply," Itachi pressed, "it spurred the clans to action instead of blaming each other, didn't it? The focus shifted away from the Uchiha and toward the rescue efforts. It seems to me, Father, that you are determined to make Hokage-sama out to be a villain bent on our destruction when most others would see his efforts to reconcile the Uchiha to the rest of the village."
The Uchiha clan head was silent after his son's declaration, dark eyes roving over Itachi's pale face. "You have already made your decision, haven't you? You have chosen those others, instead of your own family." The stern man's face filled with sadness for a moment before his expression smoothed once again. "I'm sorry, my son. I cannot turn back from this path, even for you. One day you will see that this was for the best."
With those words, Fugaku raced through hand seals, his chakra flaring to life as he breathed out a raging wall of flames that surged toward Itachi. The Uchiha heir summoned his own chakra, black eyes flashing red as his Sharingan activated. In slow motion, he saw the inferno his father had summoned racing toward him, the licks of flame saturated with his father's power. Mentally the young teen reached out to the nearby forest. With a quick pulse of his chakra, Itachi was hidden in the trees, watching as his father's jutsu incinerated the log he had used for his Kawarimi and the box of senbei that he had left behind.
The teen turned to run, intending to flee and warn the Hokage, when a sharp pain in his right hand pulled him up short. Lifting his palm, Itachi discovered that it was covered in an angry, red rash and had begun to twitch uncontrollably. As the prodigious teen summoned his chakra to neutralize whatever foreign substance had been introduced to his system, he felt the normally sedate energy buck and tremble wildly, burning as it coursed uncontrollably through his chakra pathways. The searing pain was enough to knock the boy to the ground, where he writhed against a nearby tree trunk, desperately trying to regain control of himself.
Itachi stilled when a towering figure loomed into his sight. The newcomer was a tall man clad in a dark cloak embroidered with crimson clouds. The stranger's skin was the color of mud, with pale green eyes that glowed hollowly. The rest of his features were hidden behind a black face wrap. The pale teen began to squirm again as dark, leathery strands of sinew extended from the hulking form's black sleeves. "Your ploy with the senbei box worked, Fugaku-san. I expected better from the prodigy of the Uchiha clan."
"Itachi knows that Teyaki-san would not harm him," Fugaku's voice grew in volume as he walked over to the forest. The clan head's face was stern and solemn as he regarded his heir struggle weakly against the threads that had begun to bind him to the tree. "Dousing the senbei boxes with your associate's chakra-activated contact poison and having a family friend act as the unwitting delivery agent was the only way to have a chance to fool my son. Even then, there was a strong likelihood that he would see through the deception, which is why you are here. Mark my words, Kakuzu-san, he will surpass all of us one day."
"I'll look forward to seeing what kind of bounty he ends up accruing then," the huge man's gravelly voice murmured thoughtfully. "Regardless, I expect to be paid for this capture. You hired me to be here to restrain him, and I was here. My partner is already in position to provide the distraction as we kill the Hokage."
"You will be paid, mercenary," Fugaku acknowledged tightly. "Now give me a moment with my son." As the huge form turned away and began to trudge back toward the village, the Uchiha clan head knelt to look in his eldest's eyes. "I'm sorry that it had to be this way, Itachi. Know that everything I do now is for your benefit. When you can move again, you will be heir to all of Konoha."
As his father leapt away, Itachi's mind raced to find a way out of his bindings and prevent the terrible crime his family seemed intent on committing.
"Jiji, where Nii-chan?"
Hiruzen winced at the question, even as he lifted Konohamaru from his daughter's arms. It was painful to hear his grandson sounding so utterly hopeful about seeing Naruto; a bitter reminder of the continued absence of the missing children and the wounds that their abduction had left on the village. "I'm sorry, Konohamaru-chan," the old man replied softly. "Naruto-kun isn't here today."
"No! Want Nii-chan!" Konohamaru cried, vigorously shaking his head and squirming in the old man's arms. "Nii-chan, Nii-chan, Nii-chan!"
The Sandaime shared a sorrowful glance with his daughter as he held onto the writhing toddler. The little boy had been desperately missing Naruto, asking to see his older brother nearly every time he and his grandfather were together. Most days Konohamaru could be distracted with toys or games, but occasionally he descended into a full-blown tantrum, refusing to be comforted and screaming his distress until he wore himself out. Today, apparently, would be an example of the latter case.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Hideko offered as she reclaimed her son and began to pat the hysteric toddler's back and bounce him gently. "He didn't sleep very well last night, so I was worried something like this might happen. I know you were looking forward to some time with him today, but he probably won't calm down for a while yet. Maybe it's best if I just take him home and put him down for a nap. If you could…"
"I'd be glad to." The Professor ran through a quick series of hand signs and focused his chakra so that his grandson's howling was softened to a bearable volume. The Uchigoe no Jutsu had been one of his earlier creations to help manage when a much younger Jiraiya and Tsunade got into shouting matches, and it continued to be useful for managing toddler tantrums and rowdy classrooms, though the fine chakra control required put it beyond the capabilities of most Chūnin classroom instructors. "And I suppose you should take him home, if you think that's best," the Sandaime reluctantly conceded, disappointed to be missing time with his grandson. It had been a scarce blessing over the past year, as the old man strove to support Kakashi's rescue efforts and manage egos within Konoha, on top of his regular duties as the village leader. "I'm clearly not the one he wants to see right now, anyway."
"You know that he loves you," Hideko consoled her father with a gentle kiss on the cheek. "He just misses Naruto-kun." She paused for a moment, reflecting. "We all do." As Konohamaru's muted bawling continued, she looked earnestly at her father. "Have you heard anything from Hatake-san? Surely, he's turned up something by now. His team shows a lot of promise, despite how young they are."
"That they do," Hiruzen acknowledged, allowing a small smile to work its way onto his face as he reflected on Kakashi's selections. "The Will of Fire burns brightly in each of them, though it looks quite different from one to the next. But you know I can't talk about Kakashi's investigation, Monkey."
"I know," Hideko laughed gently, continuing to bounce the now softly hiccuping Konohamaru. "Even though I'm back on active duty, you can't tell me anything without a need-to-know. Doesn't keep me from wanting to know, though." Turning to give her father her full attention, the young mother continued, "Can you promise me that we're going to bring them back? It's exhausting having Konohamaru-chan get upset like this, but I don't want him to forget Naruto-kun either. It's honestly kind of a miracle that he hasn't forgotten already; all the books I've read say that three-year-old memories don't normally last this long. Hatake-san needs to bring the kids home; the sooner the better."
The Hokage regarded his daughter gravely. She knew of the atrocities Orochimaru had committed before the snake was driven from the village. She knew how he treated others, using and abusing them at his convenience, and that youth would not stay the madman's hand. She knew that the odds of Naruto and his classmates being found safe and whole were not good and that her father could make no guarantees, yet still she had made this request of him. Even with full knowledge of how cruel the world could be, she still trusted him to make a miracle happen. "I promise," the Hokage eventually replied, accepting the weight of that trust. "We'll bring them all home."
Hideko's petite face broke into a gentle smile at her father's words. "Thanks Dad." Turning away, she made her way to the door of his office. "I'll bring Konohamaru-chan by later this afternoon when he's calmed down. Don't get too busy, okay?"
"That's something I can't promise," the Sandaime replied with a tired smile as he walked Hideko to the door. "No matter how hard I try, something always seems to come up."
"That's the truth," Hideko laughed softly as she bounced her son. "I can't count the number of times Mom griped about you missing meals because of some new emergency. She always said that if she were Hokage, she would be able to fix everything and still make it home in time for dinner, because women aren't so distractible as men."
"That she did," Hiruzen acknowledged ruefully, feeling a fresh pang in his heart at the mention of his late wife. "She never did appreciate when I offered to let her show me how it should be done. She would just call me a lazy pervert and banish me to sleep in my office, because I 'clearly prefer' spending time here."
"Well, I won't be so cruel," Hideko smiled. "I know that you work very hard, Hokage-sama, and we're glad to have you whenever you're able to come home."
"Thank you, Monkey," the Sandaime accepted the teasing with a small smile as he opened the door. "I'll see what I can do to keep my afternoon open. Are you at home for the rest of the day?"
"Yes," the Hokage's daughter replied as she maneuvered out the door with her son, who had resumed screaming his lungs out, though the Sandaime's jutsu saved the ears of everyone present. "Once I get Konohamaru-chan laid down, I'm going to spend some time strength- and flexibility-training. It took me way too long to get back into shape once my maternity leave ended. I can't afford to slack off again while you have that husband of mine away on a four-month mission to who-knows-where, or my return to the field will be short-lived."
"You're quite sure that being the Hokage's daughter should entitle you to know every little detail of every mission, aren't you?" Hiruzen asked, repeating a long-standing joke. "Away with you, tricky Monkey, before I break down and start telling you things I shouldn't."
With a wistful smile, Hideko made her way down the hallway, cradling the miserable Konohamaru to her chest while he continued to wail his sorrows to the world at an entirely reasonable volume. After his daughter had disappeared down the hallway, Hiruzen closed his office door and settled into his seat to contemplate. He had been careful to avoid giving any indication to Hideko, but the old man was worried about Kakashi and his team.
Four days ago, the Hatake genius had written to report that his squad had located a cliffside base in the Land of Fire's north, which they planned to infiltrate the next day. Since that time, Hiruzen had been eagerly awaiting further communication. At first, he had hoped to hear of a successful scouting mission that had confirmed the location of the children Orochimaru had kidnapped, but at this point, the Hokage just wanted to know that his shinobi were safe. If he didn't hear anything by tomorrow, the Sandaime concluded, he would send Jiraiya to search for signs of the wayward rescuers.
With that decision made, the Professor settled down at his desk to review reports from the academy. It was never too early to begin considering team placements for the graduating classes, and the reports of promising students helped to raise his spirits, though he pointedly avoided looking at anything from the classes in Naruto's year. After several hours spent perusing the reports, the idle office noise that the old man regularly heard outside his door suddenly dwindled to nothing, causing him to stiffen in alarm.
Rising, Sarutobi made his way to the door of his office, intending to see what had silenced the building. He had not made it halfway across the room, however, when the door was pushed open and Uchiha Fugaku led a group of a dozen of his clan's finest combatants into the office. Each of them wore their flak jackets and were bristling with a small arsenal of thrown projectiles. They were followed a moment later by a hulking figure in a black cloak decorated with crimson clouds, who casually threw the still form of one of the Hokage's ANBU protectors against the wall. It took the Professor a moment before he identified Takigakure's traitor, Jiongu no Kakuzu. "Sarutobi-san," Fugaku began, "your time as Hokage is over. We have come to relieve you of your duties."
"Uchiha-dono," the Hokage bowed politely to the police chief, though his mind raced at the assembled force. It seemed that the august clan's rebellion had finally begun, despite his and Itachi's best efforts to prevent it. "Uchiha-san." He nodded to the assembled officers, whose faces hardened in anger at the old ninja's composure. The Sandaime pointedly ignored the mercenary at the back of the group. "I'm afraid that I was not made aware of the required hearing for the daimyo and other village officials to voice their frustrations with my leadership. Therefore, I must ask-"
"Can it, old man!" one of the grunts at the back of the crowd growled. "One way or the other, today's your last day as Hokage. You can give the hat to Fugaku-sama, or we can forcibly vacate the post."
"The village will not simply submit to a coup d'état, and I will not betray my predecessors by surrendering in the face of a rebellion," the Sandaime replied evenly, regarding the group with tired, disappointed eyes. At this point, there was nothing to gain from hiding behind honeyed words and double-speak. "I know that you have felt unappreciated, but this course of action will endear you to no one." The Hokage exchanged a hard stare with the clan head. "Fugaku-dono, I apologize that the results of our discussions were unsatisfactory. Can we not table this rebellion and resume those talks?"
"No," Fugaku responded, folding his arms across his chest. "We won't be satisfied with scraps. You, Sarutobi-san, have held us back for too long. Under your leadership, the Uchiha have been unjustly persecuted so that we are shunned and mocked by the village we serve, regarded as nothing more than over-eager bullies. This fault lays squarely at your feet. You lock us away in a remote corner of the village and pretend that it is a kindness. You offer to remove us from our role as the Military Police Force, placing us under your command and giving our birthright to others. You ask for peace in one breath and plant evidence implicating us of treason with the next. No, today you and your elder council will be purged, and the Uchiha will assume their rightful role as the leaders of the greatest hidden village."
Fugaku's comments about the rest of the elder council worried Sarutobi, but he pushed his concern for his friends' safety from his mind for the moment. The Sandaime would be of no use to anyone if he couldn't resolve the conflict in front of him. "I see the situation quite differently," the old man countered, carefully noting how the Uchiha began to disperse around the room, surrounding him and drawing their throwing weapons as their eyes flashed red. "Your family petitioned the village for decades to grant you space to build a clan compound. That request was granted, and the land and lumber were sold to you at a fraction of their cost. You have felt isolated from and distrusted by the rest of the village. Rotating shinobi through the Police Force would build bonds with the rest of the village forces while expanding the capabilities of your organization. As for your last claim, I have done nothing to fabricate evidence of treason," the old man finished, looking around the room sadly. "You have created that yourselves, despite my best efforts to the contrary."
"Lies!" The normally composed Fugaku's voice rose almost to a shout as he challenged the Sandaime's claim. "You have feared and hated us since the night of the Yondaime's death, which is why you planted the rumor that we were complicit in Orochimaru kidnapping my son and sent your dog, Hatake, to fabricate evidence against us." The clan head withdrew a mission report scroll from his flak vest and tossed it angrily to the Hokage. Scrawled across the outside flap, Sarutobi recognized Kakashi's sloping handwriting and a destroyed seal that should have prevented any but himself from opening the document. "He played the doubtful investigator well, but we both know that reports of Orochimaru's monsters reacting to the Sharingan would be more than enough to condemn us in the village's eyes, even if it is falsehood."
"Do you honestly believe so poorly of me, Fugaku-dono?" Hiruzen asked sadly as he stored the scroll in the pocket of his robe. The old man would need to read Kakashi's report later, but now was assuredly not the time. "I have-"
"Enough," the hulking form of Kakuzu cut across the discussion as he elbowed his way past one of the Uchiha enforcers. "You hired me to kill the Hokage, Uchiha. If you've lost your stomach for doing the deed, shut up and get out of my way." With that, the cloaked mercenary shot forward, an ebony sheen flashing across his fist as he raised it to bludgeon the Sandaime into the ground.
Before the rogue ninja made it halfway across the space, however, the windows leading into the study shattered inward, a hail of shuriken peppering along his path to the Hokage. The cloaked giant stopped his charge and hopped backward before cautiously surveying the figure that had followed the barrage through the window and landed in a defensive position in from of the Sandaime. Teal eyes widened minutely in surprise as Kakuzu identified the newcomer. "Most impressive, boy. Your father was right about your potential, though whatever you did to free yourself may have cut that potential short."
"I will not sit by as my family throws away their honor," Uchiha Itachi curtly informed the mercenary. "If there is even a chance to resolve today's events so that my brother may walk proudly through the village when he returns home, my health is a small price to pay." The boy's form was gaunt and haggard, as though he hadn't eaten in weeks. His clothes hung limply from too thin shoulders, and bony fingers held his short sword tightly. The boy's chakra flickered around him, a bright red that clung tightly to the emaciated frame in the vague shape of a samurai's armor.
Hiruzen recognized the effects of an Akimichi medicine that the clan had developed as a precursor to their colored food pills. It accelerated the body's metabolism to provide a temporary chakra boost, though the benefits were nowhere near as potent as the food pills themselves. Itachi had taken several doses when the Sandaime had allowed Kakashi and the Uchiha heir to outfit themselves from the village's arsenal for their respective missions, nearly a year ago. Itachi had, apparently, had cause to use one or more doses today. "Hokage-sama," the boy addressed his leader without taking blazing crimson eyes from the tense forms of his clansmen. "I apologize for my failure. Had I been more alert and sensed my father's intent before he poisoned me, you could have confronted him with a full protective detail. As it is, your ANBU backup are being detained by a powerful genjutsu around the tower."
"There is nothing to forgive, my boy," the Sandaime replied, his face growing stony. "This failure is mine alone." Turning, Sarutobi addressed the force assembled against him. "Uchiha Fugaku-dono. I will gladly negotiate with you to address your concerns regarding your clan's treatment within the village. I will not betray the trust placed in me by my forebears by surrendering to your threats of violence. Send the mercenary away, and we can discuss how to build a better future for the entire village together. Hopefully no one has been killed yet, and we can still salvage this situation."
Fugaku had frozen at the arrival of his son, but now the stern man turned to the Hokage, his lips quirking upward with the barest hints of amusement. "You posture well, Sarutobi-san, but I see through you. My son is incredible. His ability to overcome a paralytic meant to restrain him for days in less than an hour demonstrates this. However, his hands tremble with exhaustion. Whatever means he used to regain his movement will not allow him to defend you for long." Turning his attention to the group scattered about the room, the police chief commanded, "I will occupy Itachi. The rest of you, see to Sarutobi."
With that directive given, the room sprung into motion. Itachi leapt and clashed blades with his father while the cloaked mercenary once again rushed forward to bludgeon the Hokage with iron fists. Sarutobi sighed deeply as he watched the dozen Uchiha forming hand seals and releasing braces of shuriken and kunai in his direction. With speed that surpassed anyone in the room, the monkey summoner bit his finger and raced through five hand signs before slamming his palm to the ground. As he channeled chakra, the old man allowed a single tear to fall from his eye. It seemed he would not be making it home to see Hideko and Konohamaru this afternoon, after all.