Epilogue: Analysis
Months later, Tenten had still not been told what was going on.
At all.
The official story was that a mix-up led to some skirmishes between clans. Officially, there had been no uprising or civil war. But all those kids ended up disappearing off the map. Lord Danzo also had apparently left the council of elders.
When Tenten eventually arrived at Ino, she found her mopping her own street. Halting, Tenten blinked. "Oh, hey Ino."
"Back off, Tenten, I'm working this side of the street," said Ino, looking in a bad mood.
"Huh, why?" asked Tenten.
"Dad found out I'd been using my allowance to pay you to do the work for me," said Ino in irritation. "Now he wants me to do the same part time job in penance. Then he cut me out of my allowance for a month. And I can't go to the salon or anything!
"How do you do all this so quickly anyway?"
"A lot of practice," said Tenten with a shrug. "Um... sorry if it caused you any trouble."
"I'm blaming Naruto, not you," said Ino.
"Why?" asked Tenten in surprise.
Ino seemed to consider a way she could blame it on Naruto. "Well I...
"Okay, fine, so maybe I have this coming. But it's the principle of the thing! That worthless little... if I ever get my hands on her..."
"Who?" asked Tenten.
Ino sighed. "Sakura, she broke up with me."
Broke up? Tenten hadn't been aware Ino thought of things that way. "Wait, you were dating?"
"No! It's not like that!" said Ino, going scarlet. "She found out I also had a crush on Sasuke, declared us rivals and broke things off with me. Now she won't even speak to me."
"Wait, she didn't know you had a crush on Sasuke?" asked Tenten in deadpan. "It's like, the default setting for every girl in class."
"Nobody ever said Sakura was smart," said Ino.
"Hasn't she been helping you with your homework for years?" said Tenten.
"That's not the point!" said Ino. "I gave her everything. If it wasn't for me, she'd still be getting bullied for her stupid forehead or whatever. She never would have even entered the academy. And now the little traitor is planning to compete against me to get Sasuke."
"You seem a lot more upset over Sakura breaking up with you than the extra competition for Sasuke," said Tenten.
"Oh what do you know?" snapped Ino.
"Nothing, apparently," said Tenten. "So how are you going to buy stuff now?"
"I don't know," said Ino. "I'm still working on that."
"Well, have you considered doing odd jobs in your spare hours?" asked Tenten.
"I can't do that!" said Ino. "I already work at the flowershop, and have to got to the academy. I won't have any free time then."
Tenten shrugged. "Free time is overatted. You're going to have to do this kind of work anyway when you become a ninja, so getting a head start will give you an edge."
"But my reputation would never recover," said Ino.
"Do you really care what other people think of you?" asked Tenten.
"Of course," said Ino. "I'm a member of the Yamanaka Clan, good relations is the whole point."
"Okay, let me rephrase that," said Tenten. "If someone thinks you personally are completely worthless just because you work for a living, do you care what they think?"
"Well, no," said Ino, before looking up to see Sakura walking past her. "It would be like breaking off years of friendship just because you were both after the same guy or something! Right Sakura?!"
Sakura said nothing.
"Don't you ignore me, you ungrateful arrogant little-" Ino shook the broom at her. "Nevermind, she's not worth it."
"You know, I've found that an excellent response to pent up anger is channeling it into something productive," said Tenten. "Hopefully something you can get paid for.
"And it's pretty good training, I got a lot stronger by it." Of course, she nearly got her eyes cut out.
A bit of digging revealed Danzo was, well, a very powerful Shinobi. As far as Tenten could guess, he'd chosen to observe how she fought against Sai. Though why it was he decided to come personally was beyond her. Maybe he'd been taken offguard by... whatever it was that had happened.
"I'll keep it in mind," said Ino. "Anyway, where are you headed?"
Tenten shrugged. "Oh uh... my crew and I sort of have a meeting with the Neji. He asked to talk to us about something and we're supposed to meet up in uh... well actually very soon. Gotta go."
"Oh, bye then," said Ino.
Tenten raced onward. As she did, she heard a scream.
"NARUTO!" shouted Ino.
"Yeah, I think I'm going to make myself scarce," said Tenten.
Getting to the Uchiha district was... kind of unnerving. An entire area the size of a small town was just empty now. No one had even bothered to check the buildings now that the Uchiha were out. It was creepy, to see empty buildings, slowly beginning the first stages of a long rot.
This had once been a home.
Now it was empty. Tenten had heard that Sasuke had been none too happy about the move from Naruto. Apparently he'd been more of a jerk lately. Either way, Tenten walked and eventually came to a forgotten shrine.
There, at the top of it Neji and Lee were waiting.
"You're late," said Neji, who looked to have been meditating.
"Sorry, Neji, I got caught up with Ino," said Tenten. "We're out some business, her Dad is having her clean. Any news?"
"Well, all of the children who had been working for Danzo are now gone," said Neji. "I'm sure of that now. So are a number of citizens who I saw nothing suspicious from. None of my questions have been answered. Hiashi has refused to say anything.
"However, I did some research. It appears Naruto Uzumaki was born on the day of the Nine-tailed Fox's rampage. The same day that the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to defeat the Nine-tailed Fox. Both his parents were listed as killed in action."
"Indeed, we are faced with quite a poser," said Lee. "I have not been told anything despite my best efforts to inquire as to what was going on.
"Have you, Tenten?"
"I haven't really been thinking about it," admitted Tenten, still a bit put out about being menaced by a knife wielding sociopath. "I've got a pretty busy schedule. I just hope we didn't screwup and now owe even more money."
"That is always possible," said Neji.
"So uh, Neji, why'd you decide to meet here in the abandoned Uchiha district?" asked Tenten. "I mean, why not my apartment?"
"I thought the location appropriate for this discussion," said Neji. "And we are less likely to be watched here. I have been scanning the village for locations where meetings can be held in relative secret.
"I am pleased to report that I have found no sign of anyone following us. We seem to have been written up as unwitting pawns."
"Unwitting pawns to what?" asked Lee.
"I was just getting to that," said Neji. "I have been analyzing events and I have come up with a theory as to what transpired if either of you wish to hear it."
"Um, sure, but I don't really see how you could know," said Tenten. "I mean, I've been thinking things through and I've gotten nowhere."
"I await your theory, Neji," said Lee. "You are often the most perceptive among us."
"For some time now, the Uchiha Clan and the Leaf government have been in a state of heavy tension," said Neji. "Likely as a result of the restrictions placed on them in the aftermath of the Nine-tailed Fox's rampage. It appears that these tensions have been growing for quite some time now. However, to admit as much would leave the Leaf appearing weak and so a mask of secrecy has been covering the entire affair.
"To this end, a task force, called the Root Foundation was commissioned by Lord Danzo. Or perhaps it existed beforehand, and simply was expanded. In any case, I believe that this taskforce technically operated outside the bounds of Leaf Village law. However, in practice it was allowed to act within certain boundaries to maintain the Leaf's hold on the Land of Fire. This was necessary because of the weakened state we'd been put in after the death of the Fourth Hokage."
"Okay, um, what are you basing all that off of, Neji?" asked Tenten.
"First, the Uchiha believe themselves to have a claim to the title of Hokage," said Neji. "Sarutobi and Minato's ascension was seen as illegitimate, since without any Senju, the Uchiha arguably have a heritary claim. They have also been limited to living in one district, and are well documented for being mentally unstable.
"While during a time of war, such measures might be understandable, during peace time tensions would grow.
"Second, the increased ANBU and the presence of so many ninja covertly suggest that there was such a tension in place. I do not think the Leaf would have such focused troop movements in a time of peace unless there was some threat. In the absence of any other known threat, I believe we must assume the Uchiha had some relation."
"Well how do you know it wasn't one of the other clans?" asked Tenten. How did Neji figure all this out anyway?
"If it were the Hyuga, I should have known something of it," said Neji. "And Hiashi coordinated with the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi Clans before things escalated. If such a coalition was the source of the unrest, they'd have already won. Given that the Uchiha are the most powerful individual Clan, and have total control of the police force, it seems likely they could work alone.
"More importantly, I believe these tensions have been threatening to boil over for some time. The Uchiha have always been high-handed."
"So what do you think happened?" asked Lee.
"I believe neither side was interested in a war, otherwise a confrontation would have happened far earlier," said Neji. "However, both sides were unwilling to compromise. The Uchiha Clan is deeply unpopular among the other Clans because of their sneering condescension. Their total control of the police force is viewed as an unheard of privilege. At the same time, their absence from the traditional chain of command an outrage. The Uchiha, meanwhile, view these privileges as a means of controlling them. They believe it is their birthright to have one of their own be Hokage.
"They wish to break out of the restrictions placed on them, without ceding any of the privileges those restrictions provide. And they are unwilling to negotiate on them. As such, both sides were in complete stalemate. There were likely cooler heads among them, however, they could not be seen to compromise.
"Fortunately, there are some among the Uchiha who remain loyal. Among those are Mikoto Uchiha, who has been acting as a mole into her husbands operations."
"Wait, why do you believe that?" asked Tenten.
"Because the ninjas we took the place of were member of the Root Foundation," said Neji. "And it is clear the Uchiha had an antagonistic relationship with them, judging from Danzo's ranting.
"My guess, therefore, is that Mikoto was allowing them in as observers."
"So... by going there to clean the streets, we ended up foiling some sort of massive conspiracy?" asked Tenten.
"It would be more accurate that you were used to negotiate an end to hostilities covertly," said Neji.
"I do not understand, Neji. How could we negotiate when we did not even know what was happening," said Lee.
"I'll get to that in a minute," said Neji. "For now, you must keep in mind that Tenten's arrival in the village threw events into chaos.
"Her encounter with the Inuzuka wolves called off a large contingent of ANBU to investigate the possibility of invasion. This loss of manpower required filling, given that the Uchiha might see it as an opportunity to strike. So the Root Foundation was called into the Leaf as extra security. However, I do not think their training was complete.
"No official mention of their presence was made, of course. But their presence would be overlooked. Thus why the guards at the gate were ANBU, rather than ordinary ninja. Their arrival had to be kept off the books.
"However, in such large numbers, Root turned out to be more conspicuous than anticipated. A lone, eccentric ordinary person is a curiousity. Hundreds make a spectacle and so observant citizens who knew nothing of any of this picked up on them.
"I should note, however, that it is also possible that the Root Foundation had always been in Konoha. And it was merely given a more conspicuous assignment to fill in for the manpower after the ANBU were called off.
"Whatever the case, nothing was apparently wrong, and the Clans were in on it, so nothing happened at first.
"Things came to a head, however, when Mikoto was asked to accept a squad of Root as observers. Arrangements were made and a date was set. And one of the members of that squad had a Byakugan.
"Which is when Itachi Uchiha struck."
"Wait Itachi Uchiha, what does he have to do with this?" asked Tenten.
Neji sighed. "Please, Tenten.
"It's so obvious. I won't insult your intelligence by explaining it."
"...I do not think you have the same definition of the word 'obvious' Neji," said Lee after a moment.
"Then I'll explain it," said Neji. "Everything began to spiral out of control, when Itachi Uchiha met you accidentally on purpose at the shooting range.
"Itachi Uchiha placed a genjutsu on you, which subtly convinced her to talk to Lee and myself. From there, she was nudged to seek work at the Uchiha Clan before the Root agents could arrive. Several other instructions were then put in place. As a result, we took their place unwittingly and Tenten made the suggestion regarding lead paint.
"This suggestion was interpreted by Mikoto as an offer from the Hokage. A means by which the Uchiha could escape segregation without officially flaunting the rules. At the same time, the Leaf did not have to officially concede. Instead, the Uchiha simply move out, the inspection crews take their time and. A few years later, everyone simply forgets to mandate a move back.
"Of course, it was actually made by Itachi, but then Fugaku sent the letter. You received the letter, and, seeing an opportunity to avert civil war, took it. The only difference was that you believed it was Fugaku's idea, while he believe it was yours."
"Does this not also mean that Itachi was a mole, having known of events?" asked Lee.
"Now hold on a second, Neji! I did all that on my own!" said Tenten, disliking the idea of being used like that.
"Don't be absurd, Tenten," said Neji. "Which is more likely? That Itachi put you in a subtle jutsu that gave you a subconscious mission?
"Or that you just happened to decide to assemble a team with the only Byakugan wielder in the academy. Then you just happened to decide to go to the Uchiha, instead of any of the closer areas. Following that, you just happened to arrive before a team of undercover Root agents, who just happened to be going to the same place. At the same day. Within a few hours of one another.
"And during all of this, you just happened to make critical suggestions that end a civil war you didn't even know existed.
"The number of coincidences necessary for your theory to work are simply too great. It is far more likely that Itachi implanted commands on you to ensure you acted according to his designs."
"Well why would I even need a team for this?" asked Tenten.
"Because the mission required a Byakugan," said Neji. "We could not have seen through the wall without it. And any team without a Byakugan would have been turned away at the gate."
"Will you stop it!" said Tenten. "Neji, you're making it seem like nothing I did was really the result of my work!"
"Actually, Tenten, if what Neji says is true, you were Itachi's only hope," said Lee.
Tenten looked to him. "What do you mean?"
"If indeed a civil war was brewing, the Uchiha would not have trusted ordinary ninjas," said Lee. "They would have turned them away without a second thought. No civilian would be capable of performing the duties, or have access to a Byakugan.
"That meant the task had to fall to someone from the academy, who was engaged in odd jobs and knew Neji personally. And that someone with a Byakugan had to be willing to assist them. I could not have done it, because I have no history of doing odd jobs. It would have looked suspicious. And Neji would have never considered doing such a demeaning task unless someone pressured him into it.
"They would have been suspicious at once."
"Meaning that if I hadn't been here he couldn't have used this strategy at all," said Tenten. "Great, so the whole thing was on rails."
"Not entirely. Things began to spiral out of control after we ran into the Root Agents under Sai," said Neji. "I noticed that one of them had a Byakugan, and reported it to Hiashi. As soon as Hiashi learned what had happened, he became furious and wrote to all the other clans. This raised concerns that Root might be pouching bloodlines.
"At the same time, Danzo was having his Root agents fan out doing odd jobs. Given their lack of emotional understanding, this may have been out of a desire to familiarize them with ordinary interactions. It would also allow them to observe events more easily. I suspect Danzo had not fully trained them, however. They were forced to deploy before they were ready.
"This prompted our espionage, with Naruto as our weapon. Rgar drew public attention to the Root Agents. It spread rumors of them and undermined people's faith in the Leaf at a critical moment.
"As a result, pressure from the Clans increased and the Uchiha were quick to take advantage.
"I am unsure of the precise negotiations. But I think it is safe to say that Lord Hiashi was unamused by the theft of a Byakugan, and orchestrated a purge."
"Well then why did Danzo come after me?" asked Tenten. "What possible reason could he have to handle this personally? Especially if Hiashi was out for his head?"
"Danzo, I believe, fell victim to his own defenses," said Neji. "By nature, he is cut off from ordinary channels and is unimpeded by them. However, it also meant he was less aware of surface level events.
"All these events took a matter of days.
"It is my assessment that he observed your pouching of his job and took it to be coincidence, just as you did. The second alarmbell would be Naruto sabotaging his agents, apparently unrelated but orchestrated by you. You had a brief meeting with him present, when you interrupted his conversation. Then, that night, the Leaf initiated a purge of his forces without warning.
"All of a sudden, he found himself beset on all sides by hostile Shinobi who he assumed he was on the same side with. At this point, he panicked, and targetted the only common element in the events. Likely he believed you were some form of deep cover agent. He only realized his error when Itachi Uchiha had a sword at his throat."
"It seems that Danzo had even less idea of what was going on than we did," noted Lee.
"You are assuming my assessment is accurate, Lee," said Neji. "I am making a theory with incomplete information. I shall gladly accept any correction, should more information appear."
Lee remained silent for a moment. "...Neji, you've had a pretty good idea of what has been going on around here so far?"
"What of it?" asked Neji.
"It would make sense for Itachi Uchiha to be capable of all this," said Lee. "But if he did do it, it was done by machinations we did not see. Is it not also possible that Hiashi was aware of the operation, and used you to manipulate events?"
"Don't be absurd Lee," scoffed Neji. "Hiashi would never trust me with that kind of operation. And it would require several more degrees of complexity."
"It is still possible," said Lee. "According to your theory, Tenten has been acting according to Itachi's programming. Could not the Hyuga have employed a genjutsu user to enforce the same subconscious commands."
"No, it's Itachi, Lee," said Tenten. "Well, it's Itachi if it was anyone.
"The Hokage mentioned something about this. He said he'd come up with a plan to solve some business issues. That was right before I enrolled in the academy. We know I was near Itachi and I don't think the Hyuuga would have any reason to care about me.
"Also, Itachi coming personally to arrest Danzo makes more sense if you assume he was keeping tabs on us. If Hiashi was using Neji as an agent, he'd probably have some kind of plan for his security."
"You obviously don't know Hiashi," said Neji flatly.
"Why couldn't Itachi be working with the Hyuga as well?" asked Lee. "Perhaps the Hokage spoke with Hiashi and planned all of this."
"...Now that I think of it," said Tenten. "The Hokage probably could have had Itachi get into the Hyuga compound undetected. Especially if Hiashi had some guards look the other way or whatever. All he'd need to do was run into you while you were unconscious."
"That's absurd!" said Neji. "Hiashi would never have the gall to allow... why have I been putting up with this? Why was it that I humiliated myself with all those chores, even when I could have walked at any time? I wasn't any good at and...
"I couldn't walk. I couldn't leave, it never even occured to me to abandon you two!
"I had to obey you, Tenten, because you were the designated team leader. And you were just as enslaved as I was."
"I see. Then it would seem the Hokage was two steps ahead of us all along," said Lee. "Still, it is a small price to pay for peace. We have played a role in averting a civil war."
"Lee are you listening to yourself?" asked Tenten. "If Neji's theory is right, we didn't have free will. We... we became a team because we were destined to by powers we didn't even know existed."
"Does it matter?" asked Lee. "If what do now is not our choice, then we should not worry about what we do because we cannot effect it. But if what we do now is our choice, then we should focus on what we do. Not why we do it.
"Either way, we must move forward into the future. At the very least, we got some excellent practice in."
"...That is an unexpected profound approach, Lee," said Neji. "Let us dismiss the matter as irrelevant until we have more information."
"Still, I feel sorrow at Danzo's dismissal from his position," said Lee. "He seemed like he genuinely believed what he was doing was for the Leaf."
"Okay um, that's nice Lee, but he threatened to cut my eyes out with a knife," said Tenten. "So um... I'm really not feeling the sympathy.
"What now?"
Tenten sighed. "Well, I think there is a lot of potential to make a profit between classes and get some training in. With all the damage from that showdown, I'm sure we can get a lot of work done."
"The practice may be valuable," noted Neji. "And, this job gives an excellent opportunity to observe potential rivals. We will be working near their houses, after all."
"And it will be excellent training!" said Lee. "Indeed, we were destined to-"
"Shut up!" said Neji.
This looked like the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.
Not that Neji would ever admit it.