Chapter 36- Discussions
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Uchiha Fugaku had had a migraine for nigh on weeks at this point, starting with the Kyuubi attack, compounding with several other issues. Namely, the Hokage attempting to disembowel himself on his front lawn due to a marital dispute, and also his elder brother's bastard.
That being said, the presence of the young man named Shijin, well now Uchiha Shijin following his adoption a few days ago; his presence wasn't so bad, and it helped even out the presence of Kushina Uzumaki.
Mikoto and Kushina were driving themselves up the wall, and it seemed to him they were even trying to compete over who could mother their and the other's child more. The fact that both women were looking out for both infants though was good. Mikoto seemed a little less frantic this time around than when Itachi was young.
Besides, the Senju would be rolling in their graves if they knew an Uzumaki was wet nurse to a main line Uchiha. Fugaku got a tiny hint of sadistic pleasure from that.
But the downside. Mikoto and Kushina were wholly absorbed into their young babes, but what about him and Itachi?
They needed food, too, and when Fugaku tried to remind Mikoto of that, she damn near ripped his throat out with her teeth.
Luckily, Shijin is around though. The boy was still somewhat standoffish and likely to remain silent, but he was a decent cook, and he started helping around the house without being asked to.
He took a lot of the burden of Mikoto, and Fugaku could see the relief and appreciation in her eyes when she saw that her normal chores were being picked up by someone else.
Fugaku had overheard some of the discussions between Kushina and Mikoto by accident. Mikoto was worried that she wasn't a good mother, and Kushina had to reassure her in spades.
He would try to let Mikoto know that it was okay to not be perfect, but the words always tripped in his mouth and it came out like criticism.
Before this point, he had been mostly silent about it, but he had figured out a different way to show his support.
Though he was raised in a family that was extremely averse to public displays of affection, there was no chance for Mikoto to misinterpret a hug and a kiss.
She was startled the first few times he had shown her his love and appreciation, but she reciprocated, and Fugaku knew she got the message.
It was comforting to know that such an easy way of showing love existed. He had even started being a bit more touchy-feely with Itachi. Lord knows that even genius boys need hugs, maybe even more than usual.
Itachi, normally stone faced and emotionless, or at least a facsimile of it, even smiled a time or two. Fugaku activated his sharingan as soon as he saw it to burn it into his memory.
Who said that the sharingan could only be used for battle?
But back to Shijin, oh the child was a blessing in disguise.
He had started out as a headache, but now the child was the lodestone of the almost dysfunctional main house.
However, Fugaku could not let idle thoughts own his mind for too long.
He turned his attention back to the document in front of him and his migraine tripled.
The throbbing which had only recently subsided came back in full force, and now there was this tightness that threatened to pull his temples together, squishing his forebrain to mush.
As Fugaku sat in his office and reread the document, more and more issues were popping up in his mind.
Why now? How does he let the clan know?
How does he stop the clan from overreacting?
The document detailed the village's plans for the Uchiha moving forward.
How the house arrest would be ending.
How the Military Police of the Nidaime's design would be dissolved.
How the Uchiha were to be reintegrated into the main shinobi forces.
It was too much of an about face, and the tone the village used changed too rapidly.
The village had slowly been persecuting the family over decades, and tightening the noose around their necks.
Some Uchiha had even brought up damn near treasonous ideations at clan meetings.
This drastic change in tone would not go over well. It would feel like Konoha is using them.
To be fair Konoha uses everyone, but this one felt especially bad since the Uchiha would go from hated to normal based on essentially whimsy.
To be locked up like a dangerous dog and only let out in times of War; it was not a good feeling.
And so the migraine increased.
As the spots in his vision danced, earthshatteringly loud knocks whispered out from the door of his office, and it took all he had to eke out a simple command.
"Enter."
Uchiha Shijin, his now eldest son was there with a tray holding a teapot and a cup.
The young man slowly walked over to Fugaku's desk and placed the tray down before pouring a cup of tea and placing it directly into Fugaku's hands.
It wasn't that unusual of a scene. Whenever Fugaku had been working into the late hour of the nights, Shijin had been brewing him some tea and bringing it in.
As Fugaku sipped on the warm elixir, the migraine faded away little by little, and slowly subsided to a dull ache behind eyes that feel swollen.
Shijin was still standing in front of the desk, almost staring at Fugaku.
Fugaku sighed, for he always had to correct the boy into a less formal demeanor.
For gosh sake, the boy was his nephew by blood and son in name, he shouldn't stand there like a servant!
Fugaku gestured to a chair in front of his desk.
"Shijin, please sit, I don't need you to wait on me.
Its beneath your station."
Shijin complied and sat down, but tilted his head a little at the comment.
Fugaku had started to notice a few of the boy's tells, and he definitely picked up on this one, one of the more obvious.
Fugaku had the slightest twitch of a smile at the edge of his lips and asked.
"What are you thinking about?"
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Shijin didn't emote, but he collected his thoughts for a moment or two before speaking.
Fugaku was happy to see it. The boy would always organize his thoughts clearly before speaking, and it made the boy an unusually productive font of wisdom.
"Forgive me Father, but I do not believe my actions are beneath my station.
I am your son, and you are my father. It is right that I help you."
"Maybe so, but there is no need to go about it like you are lesser than me.
You need not wait on me with the bearing of an inferior."
"If the action is the same, does the manner of how it is performed actually matter?"
This is what Fugaku was talking about. Always fresh perspectives from someone so young.
Deep thoughts and hard to answer questions.
Welcome distractions from his work and perfect for calming his racing thoughts.
As Fugaku sipped on his tea and thought about what Shijin had asked him, he actually found a very nice corollary to his current predicament.
"Well Shijin, of course there is a difference.
For example, take a look at this missive from the Hokage's Office."
And Fugaku handed over the document he had just been looking at. The news hadn't yet been spread to the clan, but Shijin was insular to the point that he was the least of Fugaku's worries when it came to information leaks.
Fugaku continued.
"This document should be a blessing on the Uchiha. It does more than we have asked for and campaigned for, and it restores our honor.
It frees us from our house arrest, our tenure as military police, and even reinstitutes us back into the normal shinobi forces.
It is essentially a promise from the Hokage office that our discrimination is over and that he trusts us.
But the timing is horrible.
We are only being trusted due to an existential threat of war beyond any previous threat thanks to our recent incident with the Kyuubi.
Even though the Hokage had done everything we have ever asked of him, he does it for the wrong reasons.
So in this case, how the action is performed does matter."
Shijin finished reading the document and mulled over Fugaku's words.
"If that is the way you wish to think about it, then so it shall be.
I would suspect however, that no timing would ever be perfect.
There is accrued hate due to the treatment of the clan, and no matter how it is ended, those feelings will be released.
Thus I would submit that the issue is not timing or the action itself, but rather your perception of it.
If you wish to be slighted by the timing, then you will be slighted.
If you wish to welcome the event and be happy, then you will be happy.
The situation remains the same, but your attitude towards the issue determines your response.
Thus it is not the manner in which the action is performed, but rather your attitude.
And your attitude is something you have full control over.
Therefore, you are in control of how an action impacts you by changing your perception of it.
If the manner of the action influences your perception of the action, then that only means you cannot control your own state of mind.
So I amend my statement as such.
The manner in which an action is performed only matters to he who does not control his own mind."
Fugaku sat back and really thought about what Shijin was trying to say to him.
Take the time to really digest what the boy was trying to say, even if he was disagreeing with him.
"So are you saying that I do not control my own mind?"
"If the manner in which I have shared my opinion offends you, but not the content of the opinion itself, then you should already know the answer."
Fugaku laughed long and hard at the response.
Shijin had him cornered. Either he agrees with Shijin because he's right or he disagrees because he, himself, is stubborn and defensive.
It was so refreshing to have someone like this around him at times. The boy spoke his mind freely, but it was only worth a damn because he had something important to say.
Were Shijin a normal child, Fugaku would not be so welcoming of his loose tongue.
As Fugaku calmed down, he smiled a tiny fraction and compared Shijin to Itachi.
They were similar, but different.
Itachi was genius. He only needed to see something once, have something explained once, and he would get it perfectly.
Shijin was different. He showed uncharacteristic wisdom, much like Itachi, but it always felt subtly different. It was like he had seen everything a hundred times already.
Itachi had brilliant insights. Shijin had boneweary answers.
While Itachi created and extrapolated, Shijin had been imprinted with the weight of experience.
If Fugaku didn't know better, he would think that Shijin was secretly old.
So Fugaku sat there and sipped at his tea a bit more as his migraine faded into the background a bit more, a simple static in the back of his mind.
He turned his attention back to Shijin.
"So riddle me this.
How do I handle all the Uchiha who cannot control their own minds?
How do I placate them? How do I change their perception?"
Shijin answered with a question.
"Who is the most important person in a movement?"
Fugaku frowned.
"The leader?
I hardly suspect that I can force my viewpoint on our clansmen.
I expect you to have a better idea than that."
"Not the leader, no.
They may have the idea, but they cannot force it on others, like you say.
Therefore, they need followers, people who willingly get behind their cause.
And the most important person is the first follower.
They are the catalyst that starts the momentum of change.
Without them, the idea, the movement, dies with the leader."
Fugaku was intrigued with the new viewpoint. He leaned into the conversation with his hands clasped below his chin.
"Tell me more."
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Shimura Danzo sat in the basement of a bunker far outside Konoha.
The bunker was equidistant from Kusagakure and Amegakure, and so it was the ideal battlefield HQ for any proxy wars between Konoha and Iwa or Kumo.
Ever since wartime preparations had started, Danzo had moved out of Konoha proper in order to manage his combined ANBU and ROOT forces on a more hands on manner.
With the damage of the Kyuubi still affecting the Shinobi forces, Danzo was well aware that any war would have to be fought on a defensive footing for at least a few years.
As such, he had already started making preparations.
Danzo was reading the mission reports as they came in.
Bridge designated AK-124 has been outfitted with demolition charges.
Granary GH-837 has had all provisions moved to Konoha.
Anti-personnel seals randomly placed in Sector NS-391
As the mission reports came in one by one, Danzo updated the large topographical map in front of him.
It was about as accurate of a map as existed in the world, and it was used to organize Konoha forces in the third Shinobi War.
There wasn't even enough time between then and now for dust to accumulate on its several square meter surface.
Still Danzo updated the board with each report and started to buld a mental map of the upcoming war.
He would have to shape it very actvely in order to preserve Konoha's strength.
He was also operating nearly in the dark right now. He had just recently managed to get in contact with a few of his extremely deep cover operatives from ROOT, and it seemed like the ANBU operatives might be a few more weeks out.
The scariest issues was the complete blackout in the Land of Lightning. He was completely blind to anything they were doing, and it was discomforting at least.
Like recognizes like, and Danzo had never liked the Daimyo of Lightning.
As Danzo reflected on the state of the world, his naturally cheerfully optimistic viewpoint of the world shifted towards darker and darker territories.
Conventional Defense may not buy enough time to rebuild Konoha's forces.
He might have to spread his attention.
And the gears started turning in Shimura Danzo's head.
Perhaps a more offensive version of defense.
There sure are a lot of soft targets on the civilian side of things.
It wouldn't even be that hard, would it?
Insect borne plagues? Aburame?
Kurama genjutsu sleeper agents?
No, maybe the Yamanaka could do that?
I think there might be some leftover records from the Era of Warring States.
The Nara could rebuild their poison operations, especially with the information concession recently submitted by Suna?
The flesh eating one certainly held promise, very hard on supply lines to care for crippled, yet still alive shinobi.
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Yama stumbled his way home after receiving his new mission and hitai-ate.
He was confused, lost, bewildered, and scared more than anything else.
War?
Didn't the Third World War just end?
Wasn't there supposed to be peace?
Oh how he wished that he paid more attention to Iruka's history lessons.
Maybe this was normal? It must be right?
But that pit in his stomach just wouldn't disappear.
Foreboding spread over him like a stormy sky blacking out the sun.
Yama shuddered for a quick second, and he would've sworn that the branches of the God Tree inside him shifted in a non-existent breeze.
He made his way to the Hatake compound and immediately went to the courtyard and sat underneath his favortie tree.
He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, but peace could not be found.
His heart was still steady like a metronome, but it seemed to beat just a little bit harder, and the tight feeling in his chest just wouldn't go away.
He found himself consumed by his thoughts more and more as time went on, until he was pulled from his reverie by a small silver fox that had jumped onto his head.
As Yama opened his eyes and saw the small paws hanging over his forehead, and felt the swish of a tail on the back of his neck, he adressed the nine-tailed fox which was hidden in its current form.
"Ginou, what brings you here?"
"Same as always. You aren't controlling the emotions well.
Your state is fluctuating and you're being affected.
Honestly it's getting worse and worse."
"I've got it under control. Don't be so worried."
"Did you not listen to me?
You're losing control, slowly but surely.
How about you give up half of it?
I have many more years of dealing with the negative emotions of Humans than you do.
Just give yourself a break.
I'm sure you understand the consequences if you succumb."
Yama smiled.
"You know I won't do that.
You deserve to be free, and I mean free of everything."
Ginou snarled.
"My father charged me to watch over the humans, not you.
I didn't ask for this, and you're failing."
Yama laughed and grabbed the fox before placing him in his lap.
"And your father asked me to look after you.
We must be at impasse."
The fox curled up peacefully in Yama's lap as the older man brushed through Kurama's fur.
"We must be. Mark my words though.
If you need to share the burden, you must allow me to help.
We bijuu are better equipped than humans to absorb emotion without being tainted."
"I will, I promise.
Besides, I'm just a little confused right now.
I'll be better shortly."
The fox grumbled out a sleepy question.
"Confused about what?"
"It seems like we're getting ready for war again, even though we just got peace."
The fox laughed.
"You humans are always fighting. I'm more surprised by how little fighting you have been doing for the past few decades."
Yama frowned.
"There's been three Great Shinobi Wars though? That can't be all that little?"
The fox laughed even harder.
"Those skirmishes were nothing. You must not remember the Warring States.
Those were wars. They were painful to watch.
Even though Father wanted us to watch over the humans, we could do nothing to stop them from slaughtering each other by the millions."
"Millions, you can't be serious?"
"Oh but I am."
"Why didn't you stop them then?"
Kurama growled.
"How would we have?
Why don't you try to stop the next war?"
"I will."
"I doubt it."
Yama's voice was steel.
"I will stop it, believe it!"
Kurama laughed sardonically.
"Be ready to murder by the thousands.
The only way to stop them is to kill them."
"I'll find another way. I made a promise to end the cycle of hatred."
"I hope you do. Peace bought with death is worth nothing and fades to ash."