Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
Storm - 6
After Mikoto pried the worst of it from him, she'd given Itachi a look of relief, of all things. Had she really been so worried?
"I think, you need to reassure her that you will support her," his mother said after a long moment of thought. "I can guess that the poor girl has had a difficult life, in that clan. Though ours is not much different in many ways." Itachi nodded, Mikoto looked at him, indecision in her eyes. "After all," she said delicately, "just like the Uchiha, the Hyuuga was nearly destroyed by a coup."
Itachi looked at her sharply.
"Not exactly common knowledge, even for handsome young geniuses like you," Mikoto said with a slight smirk. Itachi repressed the urge to roll his eyes, but patiently waited for her to explain. "The Hyuuga wanted it kept secret that Branch almost overthrew the Main Family forty years ago, so the Hokage had all the ANBU records classified only for his and Hyuuga eyes. But the Uchiha Police is not under ninja jurisdiction, and your grandfather kept careful notes on the whole matter." A quick mental calculation revealed that the current Hyuuga head would have been no more than ten-years-old.
"Why hasn't this matter been...utilized?" Itachi would have heard of such a dirt and the Uchiha council would surely want the leverage over the Hyuuga. He wondered if this had any relation to the Uchiha plans for rebellion as well.
"Unless pushed, it wasn't my father's secret to tell - it's the Hyuuga's. Just like how Danzo's orders are yours."
Itachi frowned. She couldn't possibly be implying...but before Itachi could question his mother further, Fugaku strode into the living room.
His father gestured for him to follow. Itachi obeyed, trailing after him. When he glanced back at Mikoto for some sort of clue, she only winked at him.
"I had a rather...interesting meeting with Hiashi," his father said when they gathered in his office. Itachi remained impassive, though he braced himself to the possibility that the Hyuuga head would require recompense. "He outright asked what the Uchiha knew about the Hyuuga rebellion - your mother has briefed you on the matter?."
"Yes, Father." Itachi felt trapped by the dual effort of his parents.
"Good, and of all things, Hiashi has offered to reveal what reconnaissance the Hyuuga has on the Uchiha. Wants to clear the air between the clans…" The Uchiha clan head shook his head in consternation. "That man has changed since Hinata's kidnapping, not that I blame him, but he is nothing like when we worked together in ANBU," he muttered.
Itachi knew the stories, though he tended to take the anecdotes supporting the existence of "a stick the size of his ego up that white-eyed bastard's ass" with a grain of salt. His parents were funny when intoxicated, and endless wells of interesting bits of information on their contemporaries.
Of course, they never remembered it and vehemently denied everything next morning. But they were ninja to end, after all, as no one ever mentioned anything about the Hyuuga secrets until now.
"Father, what is your concern?"
A long sigh. "Itachi, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that you will become clan head within the next few years."
"Yes, Father."
"And the council has already begun to grumble about future heirs."
"Yes...Father…"
"It would be good practice if you take point in these negotiations."
"Father." This time, Itachi couldn't quite keep from gritting his teeth. The smirk pulled at Fugaku's mouth was eerily like Sasuke's whenever his foolish little brother supported one of Naruto's ridiculous pranks. "You don't mean…"
"Yes Itachi, you have a meeting with Hiashi tomorrow morning at 9am. I believe his daughter Hinata has been kindly volunteered as the scribe for the meeting."
AN: Obviously, some other things went down in that meeting with Hiashi and Fugaku. Which most likely included Mikoto as well. By 'most likely' I mean 'she was most likely the mastermind'.