Chapter Six: Best Interest
"This is preposterous!"
"That clan dares insult us? The Uchihas?"
"How dare she!"
"This is a direct threat to our very clan!"
"Has she forgotten who we are?! What we are capable of?!"
Mikoto's eyes snapped open, her Sharigan spinning in warning as the Elders continued to throw insults and threats around the room. Beside her, Fugaku sat silent and still. This was not his meeting, this was hers. On her other side, sat Itachi, who looked perfectly calm, but she could see in his eyes that he was nervous, that he was unsure. But he kept quiet, trusting in his mother and her decision.
"No one goes against us!"
Mikoto had had enough with these old fools and their misogny. She snapped her fingers, bring the attention back to her and effectively silencing the room.
"Have you all forgotten what happened the last time the Uchihas went against the Dragon Empress?" Mikoto asked rhetorically. She didn't want an answer, she wanted silence and obedience. Her husband may be the clan head, but she was still powerful in her own right. And she was going to remind these men just who she was.
"Fugaku-"
"You will speak to me, not him. Or you will leave." She kept her voice calm, unwavering. Her tone brought ice to their spines. Fugaku tried to sit even straighter; his wife's silver tongue could cut deeper than any kunai, and her words could burn you worse than a fireball. He was not being submissive, no, he was being smart.
"How dare you-" The Elder stopped speaking and quickly everyone knew why. Mikoto was a reknowned Genjutsu Mistress, feared even amongst her own clan. She could never rival the Harunos, but she could hold her own fairly well. The Elder let out a terrified scream and started to claw at his arms and face, screaming intermittently. He tried to scoot as far back as he could from her, still clawing at himself. Mikoto's lips twitched in satisfaction; it had been far too long since she had brought fear to someone. Itachi looked at his mother, like he was truly seeing her for the first time. And he was scared, scared that his kind and loving mother could so easily switch into a cold, cruel, killer. He wanted to stop her, to make her go back to normal, but then a thought struck him. She used to be a Jounin before she had him, before she was married and forced to retire and bend to the will of the clan. He stayed his hand, and let her continue. He was not the only one who had been forced to bend and break, it seemed.
When Mikoto had had enough, she allowed the poor man to be released. He fell to the floor, shaing and twitching. He was silent, as were the others.
"Now, does anyone else wish to be disrespectful? No? Excellent." Mikoto sighed, closing her eyes and allowing her doujutsu to shut off. When she opened them again, there was a hardness to them that made everyone straighten. "There will be no debate on this matter, nor will any of you try to show resistance. Sasuke has been marked by the Dragon heir, and there is nothing we, or the Hokage, can do about it. He will be allowed to move into their home, and take their surname, if he so wishes. And I will not persuade him to not to, as this clan has done nothing but treat my dear boy as a replacement to Itachi, my son and current heir. He has made it very clear to Haji-san that he wishes to stay and learn there, rather than be here.
"There is no doubt in my mind, that if any of you try to raise a war against the Dragon Empress, we will be wiped out and erased from the very existence of time for our slight. And while I do not care for any of you, I will not allow us to nearly follow in our ancestor's footsteps." Mikoto spoke of the time when the Uchihas still fought the Senju, she spoke of the Warring Clans Era.
She also spoke of the first Dragon Empress, the first woman to have the Gods bend their knees to.
"Madara-sama was a fool when he tried to force a marriage between Kana-dono and himself. He thought he could control her, and thought that he could control her dragons as well." Mikoto knew Itachi had never heard this, as it was the shame of the Uchiha clan. They had thought themselves indestructible, and for their arrogance, they nearly perished. "When Kana-dono refused, Madara-sama should have bowed in submission to her, like the Senju had. They had always been smarter than us, knowing when to submit to someone stronger." She let out a soft chuckle; no one dared to correct her. "But no, he was outraged, enraged, and rejected by the most powerful woman in history. He declared war against her, claimed that he would have her as his wife, or as his slave. He claimed he would have her dragons chained up and locked away, until he felt like releasing them on his enemies.
"His insolence to the Gods brought about our near extinction. Kana-dono called forth Senso, the God of War, and set him upon Madara and our clan. Senso knew no limit, knew no mercy. He destroyed our lands, razed them to ashes, and killed half of our clan. It was only when a child, a child for Gods sake, begged Senso to spare our clan and let us live. Kana-dono made Senso yield his onslaught, and stayed her anger. She bid us to leave, and to never disturb her clan again, or she would show them no mercy."
Itachi stared at his hands in fear. They had nearly been wiped out because his ancestor, Madara, thought he could control Kana-dono? Did his clan have no shame for their arrogance?! And to think, they had all forgotten! He clenched his hands even tighter, his nails biting into his skin. Gods, he was scared of such an opponent.
"To this day, we owe our lives to the Haruno clan. I will not have that mercy thrown back in their faces because you fools feel slighted over the marking of Sasuke. You should take that as a blessing! Finally, one of our own has been chosen! We will finally be forgiven by the Gods for our misdeeds!" Mikoto shouted at them, her passion and anger spilling over. "I will not let any of you take that from us, from me, from my very own son." Itachi reached out and grabbed his mother's hand, a small sliver of him hoping that his mother would make them forget about their coup. That he wouldn't have to cntinue spying on his own family for the sake and safety of the village.
He was not let down.
"I think it would be in the best interest of this clan, if we were to throw away any and all plans to overthrow the village. We were granted a second mercy, and will not let this one be wasted."
AN: Okay, so I'm starting to see a pattern here. Usually when I update one chapter, I have enough fuel in the tank for a second. But don't get your hopes up, this may or may not last. Just remember, okay?
So, I know a lot of stories like to have it where Mikoto is the somewhat submissive, doting wife to the clan head, but I had an idea. What if she was more terrifying than Fugaku, but the clan is full of sexists bastards and tried to make her bend to their will? And she finally snapped? Because she was tired of how everyone didn't see Sasuke as Sasuke, but as a second Itachi, should the first perish on an unfortunate mission?
And once that idea was in my head, it stuck. So, I made her cruel, cold, calculating. I made her a threat. I made her terrifying, while still being a (increasingly less) proud member of her clan, and a protective and loving mother to her children. Because after all, no one person wears one mask. We wear multiple, it just depends on what happens around us.
Anyways, please review and let me know what you think!
