Kei had always been observant.
He'd known his sister Emiko liked girls long before she told him. Just like he'd been the one to notice when his father started getting tired far too easily, and that Emiko fell in love with Aiko at first sight.
He'd noticed how much it meant to Emiko the first time his sister's new daughters had called her mom, even if she managed to keep her eyes dry. He'd also noticed when Ayumi, his sister's mother in law, finally began to thaw in regards to her sons.
The look on Naoya's face the first time his mother had offered him tea when he came back from a mission had been priceless. Akio had cried though, which had been an even better reaction. Kei knew better than to tease him when his relationship with his mother was such a sensitive subject, but Akio was one of his best friends. He couldn't help some gentle ribbing about how easily moved he was.
One of Kei's biggest responsibilities as Akanes aide was to keep an eye out on clan sentiment. Often in regards to his sisters and his welcome among the Uchiha, which was a good barometer about how the clan was feeling about Akane and her family, but Akane trusted him enough to to take any observations he brought to her attention seriously.
Kei had been all but kicked out from his first village by rumors about his sister's deviant behavior. He knew how important public sentiment was, how it was the little things that made a difference. It was why he'd made a point to be observant, it was a great survival mechanism.
So it didn't take him long to figure out Izuna Uchiha was in love with Akane.
It was pretty obvious if you knew what to look for-the way he found her unerringly in a crowd, the excuses he made to pick up Akira so he could find some excuse to talk to her. The way he clearly and remorselessly gave up actionable intelligence on his Lineage, even before they'd made an attempt on Akanes life. They may have had Akira as an insider-but Izuna was a shinobi, and as much as Akira loathed having it pointed out to him, their training bore fruit. Kei himself had received training from Akio and even occasionally Naoya-but he wasn't an Uchiha, so he wasn't allowed to join their warrior ranks.
Izuna clearly didn't care about lineage loyalty. He prioritized Akane. He put her needs and desires over everyone except perhaps his older brothers.
But it was mostly the way he looked at her when he thought no one was looking. Like Akane was the sun, and he was starved for warmth.
For the longest time, Kei hadn't known if he should say anything.
Akane was his sister in law, and sort of his boss, but kind as she was Kei had always found her too intimidating to call a friend, and he wasn't sure what the protocol was in informing the future clan matriarch that her fiancé's brother was in love with her.
He didn't think it particularly mattered. Izunas affections were hardly relevant when Akane spent so much of her time out on missions or managing the clan while she was in the compound while Izuna was so often away on missions and spent most of his time with his brothers in clan. He also suspected Izuna respected his older brother too much to make a move on his intended. He never even tried to be alone with Akane, let alone seduce her.
Uncomfortable as the knowledge made him, it wasn't truly relevant.
At least not until Akane called in her family and let them in on the fact that she had no plans to marry Madara Uchiha.
Akane was frank about resenting her position as Madaras fiancé when it had resulted in so many attempts on her life, and said she felt she'd done enough for the clan to earn the right to marry someone she loved.
Kei hadn't really thought about that. He knew part of the reason it had been so easy for him to recognize Izunas affections were the ones he tried so hard to keep to himself. Akio-lovable idiot that he was, would never notice just how much Kei liked Akane-but he suspected Akira had.
Akira was kind about it though, or maybe it was just that Kei had never made fun of him for his feelings for Cho or Akio and Akira was simply returning the courtesy. His feelings were even stupider than Akiras crush on the soon to be married couple though.
He wasn't even a real Uchiha.
He knew he'd never really be in the running for Akanes affections-but he was proud to be one of Akanes attendants, they were few in number-and even less were allowed the privilege outside of her immediate family. Genji was desperately trying to qualify-fighting to make himself useful enough to catch Akanes eye.
After she'd created the artifact in the healing halls-Akane had reached a level of respect in the clan that left her beyond reproach with some Uchiha. Rumors of her being Fire Touched had been making the rounds back when she'd elected herself as the person to look for if you were starving in clan.
Fire Touched was an interesting term among the Uchiha-it was both one of the highest compliments, and simultaneously one of the greatest burdens any Uchiha could be given. Putting Akanes name in the same ranks as the clan innovators and leaders was a sign of the clan's greatest trust, but that was quite the double edged sword.
Kei had overheard much dark muttering when the diplomatic party had come back with Madara's new fiancés corpse and a signed ceasefire agreement. Apparently the Senju had a dead elder on their own hands, and there had been a third party trying to trick them back into active battle, but the fact of the matter was that an Uchiha had died on a diplomatic mission with the Senju and that was enough for a significant amount of Uchiha to want blood in vengeance.
He hadn't really been behind Akanes unilateral decision to hold an open meeting with whoever was interested in the clan about the ceasefire in an open field by the Uchiha shrine. But he had long accepted that just because he didn't like or understand Akanes plans didn't mean that they wouldn't work as she'd intended, so he'd showed up diligently along with everyone else who compromised her inner circle.
The field may have been large-but stuffed full of Uchiha, both civilians and shinobi left the place feeling claustrophobic.
It didn't seem to bother Akane, who perched on the tallest tree in the skyline and gave a brief breakdown on how the ceasefire would ultimately benefit the clan. Akane's track record of clan improvements and field service made her quite a trusted source in the clan and as Akanes summary wound down the largely unhappy crowd had begun to simmer down.
Then Akane seemed to make the decision to kick over a hornets nest, because she smiled and sai, "Ultimately the ceasefire is a good first step on a long journey to peace with the Senju and the end of the war."
There was a half second of incredulous silence before the field exploded with anger.
Akane stood there, unmoved and unbowed by the vitriol the upset Uchiha were sending her way. Kei wasn't the only one fighting not to step in between her and the crowd, but he trusted Akane-more than anyone else in the clan, she knew what she was doing. It was what it meant to be Fire Touched. Akane was more clear on what was best for the clan than the very clan head.
"My only memory of my father is of his funeral pyre," Akane said. Her voice wasn't any louder than it had been when she declared she wanted peace-but the sorrow in it was heavy-raw and aching enough that the volatile crowd began to quiet. "I wasn't even born when my oldest brother died. My mother had eight children-and only four of us remain. There is no Uchiha that has not been touched by grief. No Uchiha that hadn't mourned a mother, father, sister or brother. Cousin, neighbor, or grandparent-and we have all lost dear friends to this war, many of us before our very eyes-eyes that will never let us forget those deaths or their horros. Ever since I opened my eyes in this world as a babe, all I have known is war."
Kei was almost startled when he felt the wetness on his cheeks. But Akane was right-everyone who lived in the clan had been touched by war. Almost half the children Kei had played with when he had first arrived at the compound were dead. They had come very close to losing Akane herself-grief had not been new to him when he arrived among the Uchiha, but his understanding of it had only grown while he tried to make himself at home in the clan.
The shared grief held them in silence, the truth of Akanes words making more than one Uchiha bow their heads as they gave in to the urge to sob silently.
Finally someone in the crowd found their voice, "Th-then how could you even consider forgiving those Senju dogs when we should be exterminating them down to every woman and child!"
The crowd murmured in agreement.
Akane smiled bitterly, "I don't want to forgive the Senju."
Kei knew he wasn't the only one confused-considering how the entire incident had started.
"I don't want to forgive the Senju." Akane repeated, the words heavy with unspoken pain, then she took a deep breath, a determined cast to her face. "But I love my brothers. I love my sister, my nieces, and my mother. I love them much more than I could ever hate any Senju-especially because I've killed plenty of them and it's never brought back anyone I loved-or made the pain of their loss any less."
The crowd made more unhappy sounds, but Akane continued without seeming to notice.
"If the last generation of Uchiha had put down their hatred and made peace with the Senju-I would have had the chance to know my father. I would still have three older brothers and a wonderful older sister. My nieces would still have their mother. All of us would still have everyone we've lost to this war within the last twenty years. But the last generation didn't. We inherited their hatred and their war, their loss and their pain."
Kei wondered what if he'd ever make it to the clan in that magical scenario, but it was a selfish thought. He was pretty sure Akane would rather have her father than him and Emiko as in-laws.
The quiet among the crowd was hostile-but it was still quiet. So while plenty of Uchiha were unhappy with what Akane was saying, they were at least willing to hear her out.
"Even if it was guaranteed we could wipe the Senju out completely tomorrow-what about the Uchiha we would lose in that final battle? Whose children would they be? Whose brother or sisters, friends or cousins? This war has cost us enough. It has claimed its pound of flesh from us, not to mention rivers of blood and tears. I don't want that for my nieces-I don't want it for any children I'll have. I don't want one more Uchiha to lose a loved one to a Senju blade or jutsu. Enough is enough-someone has to make that sacrifice for the future of the Uchiha, and I want us to be where it ends."
"No more war?" Someone said, and they sounded so lost even as hope tinged the words.
"No more war," Akane repeated firmly. "We deserve a future where more Uchiha can grow old together, watching their children and grandchildren make the clan better than they ever dared hope."
"Peace!" Someone shouted, and it was like someone threw a kanton jutsu on a pile of kindling. The arguing started up viciously, those too overcome by hate to even picture the world Akane's words painted, beginning to rebuff everything she'd said. But they found rebuttals amongst their neighbors in the crowd-those who believed in Akanes vision unquestioningly going to bat for the future she wanted.
Kei was sure the biggest hold outs would be lineage shinobi-unlike the rest of the Uchiha who had a more complicated relationship with the most powerful among the clan-Kei came from a civilian seaside town in water country and had never been trusted enough to join the clan in the field, he had no problem hating Lineage shinobi for always being the biggest barrier to any plan Akane wanted carried out.
If there was one good thing that had come from the broken engagement-it was seeing the truth of Akanes words. No one had ever respected her for being engaged to the future clan head in the first place. Akane had earned all of the respect she held by herself over the years. Steadily chipping away at the power structures that she felt were restricting her Clan and making the compound a place her clanmates would not just survive, but thrive in.
If he thought for a second that he could ever prove worthy of her love, Kei would have offered her everything he was. But Kei was a substandard shinobi at best, not even field tested. He wasn't even her best attendant, and he was her unofficial brother in law.
Kei was observant.
He knew she would never see him as anything but family. Emiko's younger brother, her niece's uncle, Akios best friend. One of her faithful attendants. They were all ties to her that meant it would never occur to Akane to see him in a romantic light. But at least he had a place at her side. At least he had the honor to see all the work she put in behind the scenes for her clan.
He got to see so much more of her than the majority of the clan did. Kei knew to treat that like the blessing it was.
Izuna was in love with Akane, and Kei could hardly blame him. All he felt was the sympathy of suffering the same hopeless love. But Akane was Fire Touched, and while she thankfully didn't really seem to notice his feelings-he knew whatever future Akane saw for her clan, whatever goals she chose to work towards, would leave him more in awe and in love than ever.
Considering that Akane had the future of the Uchiha clan on her shoulders, unrequited love didn't seem all that bad.
X
Keis really got that too sensible young orphan vibe-you know? Also we have another victim to Akanes incredible charisma she's happily unaware of lol-it's not easy being hot shit AND pretty.
For those of you looking forward to Tobirama and other Senju POVs they are on my outline-we're actually getting Hashiramas POV before Tobi-mostly because Tobi needs some character development stat-or his POV will just be suspicion and his Uchiha hate boner and he's an interesting character so we deserve more than that from him.
Also next chapter is more zetsu fall out and campaigning for peace! Please let me know what you think! That 'peace good, war bad' speech may have cost me a kidney.