I do not own Naruto. I do, however, own Chiyuki, any original characters, and this story's plot.
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(This takes place sometime between chapters 25 and 26 of BH101.)
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like the dawn
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Uchiha Mikoto is a mother, a wife, a clan matriarch, and a Konoha kunoichi - in that order.
She was born and raised in the village, and has been taught to love it as much as the ninja next door. She has also, however, been born in a clan that is notorious all across the nations, and not necessarily in a good way. The Uchiha are symbols of deadly grace, of stoic, beautiful faces, and red, red eyes that hide their burning love.
"Mikoto," her grandmother would always tell her, gently but firmly in the way only Uchiha women know how to, "we, Uchiha, are creatures of love. Never forget that."
The Uchiha hide their burning red love behind a dark, thick curtain of stoicness, and she has been privy to that fact ever since she was a young girl. It's hard not to notice when everyone around you acts the same way for years on end.
Every Uchiha has someone they love as much as life itself. Someone who holds their hearts in the palm of their hands, someone who has the power to give them the world, and just as easily burn it down. Someone who breathes life into them, who makes the flowers hidden in the corners of their hearts bloom, who fuels the furnace in their red, burning heart.
For Fugaku, it's Mikoto.
For Mikoto, it's Itachi.
"Some may love too much, and when they lose that love, they may become dark, twisted." Her grandmother would then look around furtively, voice lowering to a barely audible whisper. "It's what happened to Uchiha Madara. It's what happened to your grandfather, and your uncle. It's not a rare thing."
For Uchiha Madara, it had been Uchiha Izuna.
For Mikoto's grandfather, it had been his sister.
For Mikoto's uncle, it had been his son.
"How do you stop it, grandmother?" Mikoto's young self had asked, big eyes full of careful curiosity.
"The secret to it, my dear, is that you must love yourself as much as you love them. If you love them more than you do yourself, you will not be able to handle losing them." Her grandmother tells her then, a twinkle in her dark eyes, a wisdom that spoke of years, but also pain and anguish. Something that spoke of a hard learned lesson.
For Mikoto's grandmother, it had been her husband.
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When she meets Sarutobi Chiyuki for the first time, something in Mikoto's gut tells her they'll be seeing that child very often.
The little girl is extremely polite and respectful of clan dynamics, and although the Uchiha matriarch is appreciative of that, the girl is almost too polite. Something wiggles its way into Mikoto's brain and stays there, watchful, wondering.
The Sandaime's daughter stays for hours inside Fugaku's office, and when she leaves, she gives the black haired woman a hesitant, small smile. Almost like a tentative 'see you later'.
(The first outsider to ever enter the Uchiha compound in years.)
Fugaku does not go to bed that night. He stays holed up in his office, and when he finally does leave, nearly 24 hours later, there's a slightly crazed look in his dark eyes. He says he's going to be out for a while, and Mikoto lets him be.
She could corner him and he would end up telling her, because he always does, but something in her wants to see how far this will go. Her husband's gaze has never been so alive, a light shining in his eyes that she hasn't seen for the longest time, and it all started after Chiyuki talked to him.
Mikoto is endlessly curious, but just as patient.
A couple of weeks later, Fugaku calls her to his study and activates the sound-proofing seal. Wearing his most serious expression, her husband tells her everything - children being kidnapped, conspiracy theories, thoughts that border on blatant betrayal of their village, and the work of a young girl. How she had reached out to Nara Shikaku first, and how they both had had the guts to actually test him. Him! Uchiha Fugaku!
The Uchiha patriarch has never felt more alive, more free than in this moment, and Mikoto falls a little bit more in love with him. Although stern, Fugaku is a good man, she has never doubted that - but in that unhinged, slightly crazed moment of clarity, the Uchiha matriarch feels it was more than worth it to wait and watch things unfold.
She watches as the fire in his eyes light up once again, the furnace in his heart roaring high and loud for all to see and hear, how he carries himself that little bit taller. She watches - quiet, wondering, marveling - as it affects her family, the way they see themselves, and how they behave inside the village.
The next time Mikoto sees the blonde genin, she makes sure to invite the little girl to stay for dinner. She cooks up a feast and keeps the conversation going, mindful of the child's overly polite demeanor, and something settles in her mind.
Sarutobi Chiyuki had shown the Uchiha that the fight is far from over, and that they don't have to hide inside the village they helped build. She had seen and understood that they are extremely loyal and trustworthy, had reached out first because she believed them. Perhaps the girl sees their burning red love and doesn't quite understand it, but that's alright.
She'll come to, in time.
Mikoto's love for her son burns bright and scorching in her heart, but Chiyuki has managed to settle in a place all of her own. The Sarutobi Princess has re-ignited the flame in Fugaku's heart, has given hope to the Uchiha clan, and has made a promise to turn Konoha into a great place to live, even if she has to burn it to the ground first.
She has brought the much needed sunlight to their clan, and that, in the Uchiha matriarch's mind, is more than enough to earn her loyalty and protection.
Uchiha Mikoto's love burns a deep, burgundy red. It's that love that cooks for her husband and her son everyday, that speaks in clan meetings, that goes on missions-
-that lays cutting, hurtful words on a Legendary Sannin. Things she knows are a low blow, things he'll remember for the rest of his life, things that rub salt on his deepest, most hurtful wounds.
Things that might've given him more than enough reason to turn against their clan, but Mikoto knows he would dare not - for the village's future Hokage supports the Uchiha, and the Uchiha support the village's future Hokage.
If given the chance, she would do it all over again.
(The sun has finally dawned on the Uchiha again, and she will not let anyone conceal it.)
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Are there elements of That Evening Sun in here? Yes. Do I care? No.
(The Uchiha have always deserved better.)