In the shadows of the colossus trees from which Konohagakure was named, a lone man waited with bated breath. His form was statuesque as the vegetation around him danced with direction from the wind.

Even with the realization that the tension in his muscles was beginning to make his shoulders ache, he found he could not bring himself to relax them.

The young shinobi had just come back from a long and tiresome mission, and it had left a bitter taste in his mouth. He hoped good news was on its way to him even as he felt the familiar chakra signature approaching.

"Ah, Itachi! It's good to finally see you." Shisui greeted as he dropped from the tree tops.

The young heir nodded his agreement.

"So, how did the mission go?" Shisui's question was asked with distraction as he brushed off the bright yellow pollen he noticed on his jonin vest.

His only answer was a disheartened sigh.

"Yikes, that bad huh?" He gave an empathetic look, abandoning the dusting of his vest to better look at his younger cousin.

Itachi looked unequivocally exhausted.

Although his posture gave nothing away, his half lidded eyes spoke of his sleepless nights and lack of rest. His usually flawless porcelain skin was marred with dirt and dried blood- none of which seemed to be his- and his breathing was subtly irregular, suggesting this was the first he had rested.

"You haven't even been home yet?"

Itachi shook his head. "I haven't even given my report to tou-san yet."

Shisui's pitying look morphed into one of hesitance.

"Well, if you were hoping for some good news before having to face your father, I'm afraid I don't have any…"

"It's gotten worse here as well." It was a statement made secure by his cousin's downcast eyes.

The older Uchiha sighed, absent mindedly rubbing the back of his neck in thought.

"Everyone is losing patience. I really don't know how much longer I can stall any action."

"If anyone were to try and make a move against him now, it would be the last thing they ever did." Itachi's voice was somber with warning.

"I know, I know. But you can't underestimate the power of desperation, Itachi. The people of this village are getting restless, and Fugaku isn't relieving any of that with the new mandate."

Brief alarm flitted across onyx eyes.

"What new mandate?"

"He's set a curfew in place. All Konoha citizens are to be in their home every night by 10pm unless given amnesty from the Hokage himself. It's being enforced by the Uchiha police force."

The young heir ran his hand through his disheveled hair with disbelief.

"What is he thinking?"

"He's thinking if he applies more pressure he can stop the glass from leaking. He doesn't realize that it will only cause it to shatter further."

"How can he expect exerting more power and oppression will have any other effect on the people of this village than it did on the Uchiha when it had been the Third at the reigns?"

Shisui raised an eyebrow at the observation. "That's a good point," he supplied. "History does tend to repeat itself. But I suppose those that find themselves with power can often become disillusioned by it."

A soft thud sounded as Itachi leaned against the trunk of the tree, his exhaustion catching up with him as he rested his head in one hand.

His cousin watched him with cautious eyes, aware of the heavy burden that Itachi felt was his alone to bear.

"Kumogakure is getting bolder, testing our defenses and our restraint. I am certain they have sleeper cells within the village as well. If an insurrection were to happen now… the Leaf will surely fall." Itachi's voice was heavy with resignation, as if he could foresee the approaching storm and knew there was nowhere to hide from it.

Shisui wanted desperately to help uplift his mood but found himself at a loss of how to do so. Both men stood together in the shadows of the trees, the rustling of the leaves above the only sound as they each were lost within their own thoughts.

"Do you ever think we made the wrong decision?" The question broke the heavy silence with an even heavier topic.

Shisui knew exactly to what Itachi was referring but stayed silent. He had been asking himself that quite frequently lately as well.

He was still unsure of the answer.

Misinterpreting his cousin's silence, Itachi continued.

"If we had informed the Third of the coup, perhaps he would have been able to negotiate some kind of compromise with the clan… Perhaps everyone could have been happy, in the end."

Shisui could feel the tightening of his chest as he recognized the silent torment on Itachi's face. He was well acquainted with those same demons.

"There's no way to know for sure." He sighed, stepping up to his cousin and placing a reassuring hand on his lithe shoulder. "The third was wise and understanding, but you know the elders were far from that. And Danzo was a man of war and action- compromise was not in his vocabulary. He expected complete submission from his enemies… and that's what the Uchiha would have become to him in the end." He chewed the inside of his cheek in thought for a moment before adding, "I don't believe that man would have shown the Uchiha clan any mercy. With the absence of one of the village's most prestigious clans and the military police force, it would have left Konoha wide open to attack from outside forces."

"Perhaps our clan has never deserved mercy." It was soft, almost carried away by the wind. But Shisui heard him.

"How could you say that?" He said sharply, stepping back and withdrawing his hand. "Sasuke was only six years old at the time- would you have been ok with his blood on Danzo's hands as well?"

"Of course not." Itachi shot back with just as much edge. "I just…" He dipped his head, his dark hair a curtain shielding his expression from his cousin. "I worry about him, Shisui. I see more and more of our father within him as the years pass. I fear he is becoming enveloped with pride and bitterness."

"He's still just a kid." Shisui reassured, ever positive. "And I couldn't imagine what it must be like to grow up around people who hate you only because of your name at an age where you just want acceptance and recognition."

Itachi nodded, intaking this analysis and further expanding upon it within his own mind.

"And how is he faring with his new teammates?"

It had been almost two weeks since his little brother had been placed on a genin team. Itachi had been out of the village for the entirety of this timeframe and in his downtime had often imagined how things could have been developing. His daydreams would always start off positively, but in the end his prognostic mind would supply more realistic- less desirable- outcomes.

"Well…" Shisui stilted.

Itachi looked his cousin dead in the eyes, his expression flat and unamused.

"You really don't have an ounce of good news for me, do you?"

The elder of the two laughed apprehensively. "I honestly think it could have been good news. I don't believe his teammates had made up their minds about him at first. He could have used that to his advantage in a constructive way to develop some rapport, but…"

"But?" Itachi pressed.

"Renjiro says Sasuke is extremely antagonist towards them. He's learned how to push their buttons and he does it often and intentionally."

With a deep exhale, Itachi lifted his dark eyes to the canopy above. Light filtered through where the leaves were the thinnest.

"He's pushing them away before they have a chance to reject him."

Hands on his hips, Shisui nodded thoughtfully. "I think you're right."

"Perhaps it's time I intervened on his behalf- allowed his teammates to see the more human side of him."

A devilish smirk made its way across Shisui's face.

"I'm not sure of what you're thinking, but I can tell I'm going to like it." He paused a beat before adding, "And Sasuke is going to hate it."

Itachi allowed his lips to pull into a crafty smile as well, confirming his statement.

"Be at the house tomorrow evening."

xXx

That Friday Sakura found herself pulling weeds at one of the small farms located on the village outskirts. It was a D rank mission to trump all D ranked missions.

Today was one of the hottest days of the season so far, and the sun beat down mercilessly on the three genin toiling beneath it. The air was hot and sticky- it had heavily rained the day before and some of the moisture seems to have decided to linger into the next day. But if Sakura was hoping they would be blessed with a small reprieve of rainfall to cut the heat, she would have been sorely disappointed.

Not a cloud hung in the deep blue of the sky- she wouldn't even be receiving a few seconds of shade at this rate.

The recent rain had made the soil moist and soft, which alleviated the task of pulling weeds, but also meant she would have to combat the fat juicy worms that were often plucked with them.

The damp soil seeped through her clothing where she kneeled, and the smell of wet dirt and vegetation was almost overpowering.

"This is beneath me." She heard Sasuke mutter from somewhere to her right as he tugged more forcefully at the undesired plantlife than necessary.

"This is beneath ALL of us." Naruto corrected immediately, standing up with a fistful of dandelions. "We're ninja! This work is for servants!"

"Shinobi are servants to our village and country, Naruto." Renjiro's voice was heavy with fatigue as well, clearly just as over this drudgery as the rest of them. Although Sakura was fairly certain that as their jonin sensei, he wasn't actually required to participate in these D rank missions with them- only to oversee- yet he still made sure he was on hands and knees just as much as they were.

She had come to respect that about him. He was a strong believer in 'Lead by Example'.

"Renjiro-sensei, this is insane. This doesn't help us develop as shinobi at all. It's a waste of my time and talent." Their dark haired teammate stood along with Naruto, chucking the handful of weeds he had back at the ground.

Now if only Sasuke would learn how to follow Renjiro-sensei's example. The young girl thought as she dutifully continued her task.

A heavy sigh could be heard from their sensei as he sat with hands on folded knees, clearly trying to determine how best to get through to them.

"The Hokage himself delegated us this mission- if you truly take issue with it, either one of you can take it up with him when we get back."

Sakura doubted Fugaku-sama could be bothered with picking out a D-rank mission for genin- even if it was for his own son's team.

And although her two teammates looked as if they shared her skepticism, they both begrudgingly kneeled back down to continue their menial task.

No one was going to call that bluff.

Well played, Renjiro-sensei.

xXx

The walk back into the village was quiet. All four of Team 7 were tired, filthy and hot. It seemed no one had energy to spare for light conversation.

Not that there typically was much. Naruto could often be counted on to initiate some sort of game or line of questioning to fill the silence. Sakura had noticed that he generally became more antsy if it was silent for too long, as if it made him distinctly uncomfortable. But even he seemed sapped of his usual buoyancy.

As they approached the administrative building, Renjiro gave his team a quick once over.

"Perhaps I'll go ahead and deliver this mission report myself, you three should go home and a take a nice cold shower."

Sakura instantly perked up at the thought, eternally grateful that the mission was officially done and she could keel over as soon as she entered the front door. Renjiro-sensei flash-stepped into the building, but before the three remaining members of Team 7 had a chance to disperse as well, a voice stopped them.

"There you three are."

Sakura turned to see Sasuke's older brother approaching them from the direction where she knew the Uchiha district to be.

He was surely here for Sasuke, but emerald eyes looked around for who else he could have been referring to. A quick sweep over Naruto showed he was just as confused as her.

As far as the young Haruno was aware, she had never actually spoken with Itachi before.

"How was the mission?" The heir asked, stopping to stand beside Sasuke but looking between all three of them.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's dismissive answer.

Feeling fairly confident that he was, in fact, addressing all of them, Sakura decided to give him an actual answer.

"It was… tiring."

A small smile played on the corner of Itachi's lips. "Well, I hope that means you've all worked up an appetite."

Not sure what he meant by that Sakura stayed quiet. She saw Naruto crinkle his nose in confusion from the corner of her eyes. Probably hoping he was about to be treated to some ramen.

Even Sasuke was side eyeing his brother in a suspicious manner.

Giving them a polite smile, Itachi continued. "Naruto. Sakura. We would be honored if you would share our table for dinner tonight."

Wide dark eyes fixed directly on Itachi as Sasuke whipped his body towards him, looking as if he had just been smacked.

"We would?!"

"Yes Sasuke." Itachi fixed his own dark eyes on his younger brother, his face displaying no outward emotion even as his eyes communicated a silent warning.

Sasuke seemed to read the message instantly and broke eye contact to stare at the ground, shoving his hands in his pockets as he did so.

Redirecting his attention to the other members of the squad, Itachi continued, his smile back in place as if it had never left.

"Our mother has been wanting to meet you two for some time now."

Sakura's chest tightened as she scrambled through her brain for a polite excuse to turn down the offer without offending him. She noticed Naruto was just as hesitant.

Picking up on their reluctance, Itachi persisted.

"Our father will not be in attendance tonight- he has important council meetings that run especially long on Fridays."

Despite herself, Sakura did feel reassured by that fact. She didn't think she would even be able to stomach any food in the presence of a man like Fugaku-sama- she was not ashamed to admit he frightened her.

She hadn't any good excuses to offer anyways- her mother was out of the village visiting her sister, as she often did these days, so it wasn't like a hot meal was waiting at home for her. As a matter of fact, Sakura was planning on using her earnings from today's mission to shop for groceries tomorrow, as the cupboards were embarrassingly empty.

"What time?" Naruto asked crudely, just as his stomach rumbled in anticipation. Sakura stifled a giggle, imagining Naruto was probably in much of the same situation as she was food-wise.

To his credit, Itachi didn't seem fazed by the blonde boy's informal acceptance, even allowing himself to emit a lighthearted chuckle.

"Shall we expect you at 6?"

"Yeah sounds good to me!" Naruto agreed.

That gave them both an hour and a half to clean up and get ready- plenty of time, Sakura surmised.

She gave the older Uchiha a polite smile. "Yes, we'll be sure to be there. Thank you for your kind invitation, Uchiha-san."

He gave them both a curt nod of his head, clearly pleased that they had agreed to come.

"Very well, we look forward to your arrival." With that, he turned to leave back the direction he came, Sasuke following sullenly beside him.

When she was positive they were out of ear shot, she turned to Naruto. He gave her the same bewildered expression that she was sure was mirrored on her own face.

"Well that was unexpected." She stated.

"Man, Sasuke's brother is so much cooler than him. Why couldn't we get him on our team?"

"Pfft. Right?" It seemed like only one of the siblings had actually inherited any manners.

Still, Sakura was nervous. She was certain she would have felt anxious in such a situation regardless. But Naruto didn't have any parents to play as hosts and her own mom…

There was no way her mother would ever even consider hosting a dinner for her team.

Her mom had previously been a chuunin who mostly catered to administrative duties before, but had resigned as a shinobi altogether after the Uchiha takeover.

Mebuki had been adamant that Sakura not continue following her career path as a kunoichi as well after the Coup, but when it was clear she could not change her daughter's mind, she seemed to try to take her mind off the reality of it anyway she could.

Often, that meant leaving the village entirely.

But anytime Sakura would even try to talk to her about her day to day activities with her team or her concerns over their cohesion, her mother would have none of it. It had become basically taboo to speak of shinobi life within the Haruno household.

Sakura had felt bitter about this fact for a long time, until she got older and began to recognize her mother's stubbornness for what it was. Ever since the death of her husband and best friend at the hands of the Uchiha, Mebuki had been battling the demons of depression. The feeling of helplessness at their situation and her inability to dissuade her only child from pursuing shinobi life added an anxiety so severe, Sakura had witnessed her mother break down in a panic attack on more than one occasion.

But having dinner with an Uchiha family- much less the Godaime's family, was on a whole other level. She felt an immense pressure to present herself in the best possible light, as if she had to somehow prove she was worthy of being on Sasuke's team.

And it was a relief that her mother was out of town, because she would not want to witness her reaction in learning of her dinner plans for the night.

"I guess I gotta go get ready then. What do you think they'll be making? Gosh I hope it's ramen. Wait do we need to bring anything?"

Her teammate's ranting ensured Sakura that she was not the only one who was nervous.

She let out a small chuckle. "I wouldn't get your hopes up with ramen." She stated matter-of-fact. "And… I don't think we need to bring anything. I'm sure Itachi-san would have mentioned that. But um…" Her verdant eyes looked him up in down with hesitancy. "Maybe… try and wear something a little more formal? After you take a shower, of course."

She couldn't recall ever seeing the whiskered boy wearing anything other than that orange jumpsuit, and internally deflated at the thought that perhaps it was all he owned.

"Gaah… I guess you're right." He rubbed the back of his head with his eyes scrunched shut in thought.

"Do you… do you have something else you can wear?" Wariness tinged her voice as she mentally went through what she remembered to still be hanging in her father's closet, and whether any of it could possibly fit him.

"Oh yeah, don't worry about me! I have just the thing." He assured her with a smile. She answered him with her own.

As the two divided to head to their respectful homes, Sakura acknowledged her abnormal heartrate. Although she was plagued with a certain degree of anxiety, she found that she had to admit she was a bit excited as well.

Getting some insight on his homelife might lead to a better understanding of their standoffish teammate. But if all else failed, it still put him at a disadvantage to be so vulnerable to his teammates, and Sakura would take that small victory over Sasuke any day.

xXx

Sorry to stop it here- I originally wanted to include the dinner in this chapter but I'm also trying my hardest to update weekly, and it took me longer than I anticipated to get up to this point.

BiaAnko- Yeah, I agree, poor guy. But then again, he has a tendency to exacerbate his situation as well. I feel like a lot of what he ends up going through can be considered self-imposed. Sometimes ya gotta just be grateful for what you got, right? Haha.

Bah- You know, when this idea came to me I was surprised to realize I never read any fanfiction about a successful coup either- and I've read a looooot of fanfiction. Heh. But it helps me feel like it's all new territory, and I don't have to worry about accidently encroaching others' ideas. Hopefully I'm just able to do it justice!

Aerith- I'm glad you say that! I know it was a risky move to replace Kakashi as their sensei- even if he'll still be an important character later. But I really didn't see Fugaku allowing someone else to man his son's team.

Orangiethefox- Yeah I'm excited for it to get to that point as well. Haha! But there were important things to develop before I could jump into that. T_T

Thank you so much again to everyone reading, and especially to everyone who left a review! You all are my muses. 3