Chapter 34
IZUNA UCHIHA
Izuna's little gamble had not worked. He had hoped that Orochimaru's endorsement would have been enough to push his father's name ahead of Minato-san, for while he did trust Minato-kun, he also knew that the man was more cynical and practical than people realised.
While he knew that the man would not protect Danzo Shimura if he brought forward proof of his erroneous behavior, he also knew that he would hesitate to move against the man if he felt his existence was a net positive for the village.
Still, the man had yet to take charge, and as soon as he did, Izuna planned to inform the man of Shimura Danzo's treason. But until then, he planned to make that man's life as difficult as possible, which was a lot easier now that he was the official Head of the Leaf's Medical Corps.
But the man had struck back as well. And now, apart from the tag of cowardice, many within the clan were very angry with him over his decision to take over the Medical Corps.
The reason. Because it had somehow come out that the only reason Fugaku Uchiha had not been made the Hokage was because of his decision to Head the Fifth Division, and so according to many in the clan, it was his decision that had cost his father the chance of becoming the first Uchiha Hokage.
Add to that his general disregard for the rules and the elders, his reputation in the clan was rather bad, and so the old coots had turned their eyes on Itachi, and they salivated as they saw his talent and were hell-bent on trying to get him to graduate early as he and his mother opposed the decision and tried to protect his younger brother.
But with her due date near, Mikoto Uchiha had been admitted to the hospital, and those elders had struck as they saw the opportunity, summoning Itachi as they tried to flex their so-called power.
Those bastards!
And as Izuna walked toward the Elder's gathering, a few chunin came in his way, trying to threaten him as they activated their Sharingan.
"You cannot go inside...." but before he could finish his words, their bodies stilled as Izuna's own Sharingan spun in his eyes as he simply walked past the two chunin, heading to the main hall.
"You really should train harder," he whispered as the two chunin fell to their knees, as he cast a rather strong and elaborate genjutsu on them and walked straight through the corridor as he reached the main Hall.
THWACK!
"You will not shame the clan as your bro..." and the words of the elders were cut short as Izuna flung open the door and walked in with no care, as the three elders all looked at him with wide eyes.
"What is the meaning of this!" the one sitting in the center, Gin Uchiha, thundered as Izuna walked upto Itachi, who sat infront of them a bit timidly.
"This meeting is over!" Izuna thundered as the elder ground his teeth.
"Who gave you permission to come here? How dare you disrespect us like thi..."
"I don't need your permission to come and see my brother, who, quite coincidentally, is needed by our mother... " He turned towards Itachi and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Go to the hospital, I will handle this," he said and as Itachi made to open his mouth, Izuna's eyes narrowed.
"Go!" he said a bit forcefully, and Itachi nodded as he stood up as the elders seethed in rage,
"How dare you! Do you have any idea who we are!" thundered the leader of this useless pile of flesh as Izuna stood tall and raised a brow.
"You are old relics of a bygone era," and Izuna's words made their blood boil as suddenly he found himself under the focus of three pairs of Sharingan before the elders all unleashed their chakra, trying to intimidate him.
"You dare disrespect us boy! You whose cowardice and selfishness ate away at his own father!" Gin Uchiha insulted him, and he saw him smirk as the man continued.
"Look at you! Stilled by our mere presence, and you call us relics! You are a disgrace to this clan and its history, and we will not let you corrupt your brother with your useless ideas," at the mention of Itachi, Izuna's fists balled up as the man continued.
"Itachi will graduate early and will live up to his true potential rather than wasting his time like you. That boy shall make a fine heir, one worthy of the name Uchiha...." and Izuna looked the man in the eye.
"You will stay away from my brother..." and the words came out like a chill as he pushed out his own chakra, and the month of regular training with Minato-san while controlling and contorting a bijuu' chakra had allowed him to improve quite a bit as suddenly the pressure in the room reversed, and the wood of the platform at which the elders sat began to crack.
"...Or I will show you just how much of a coward I am!" and as his chakra thrummed in the air.
"You dare threaten us!" and one of them was quick to anger as he opened his mouth.
"Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" and in the blink of an eye, a giant ball of flames was rushing towards him as Izuna stood there lazily, as it passed over him, enveloping his body as the elder smirked.
BOOM!
"Look at yourself," Gin Uchiha taunted as he saw the ninjutsu envelop his form.
"You talk so big, yet you cannot even protect yourself against a simple ninjutsu..." but suddenly, another voice cut through the air, as the firestorm was disrupted by a storm of wind.
"ENOUGH!"
SWOOSH!
The winds moved to swallow the flames. Fugaku Uchiha appeared in the room, standing in front of the platform, and Elder Gin smirked.
"You are too late, we have already disciplined the misc..."
"I was not speaking to you, elder Gin!" the three old coots only realized their precarious situation as all three of them saw the tantos held at their necks as three Izuna Uchiha stood behind them, ready to end their lives with one small swing.
"Wha..."
"How...."
They gasped, though their words died in their mouths as Izuna pulled the blades closer to their necks.
His real form held the blade at the neck of Elder Gin, the leader of this party, and so he leaned forward and whispered as the old bald man ground his teeth.
"As I said, relics..." and his father cut in once more.
"I said this is enough, Izuna!" his voice thundered across the room as Izuna looked up at him and pocketed the tantos.
"As you say," and with that, he began to walk forward as the three old men seethed behind him.
"This! Is this how a clan heir should behave!" elder Gin thundered at his father, who raised a brow.
"I thought that the esteemed elders were against Izuna being the clan heir," and Izuna silently smirked as he leaned against the wall by the side.
"Yes, but he..."
"I thought I was clear that Itachi is not going to graduate early," his father cut in as the three elders spluttered.
"And I do not appreciate having my youngest son summoned like this while his mother is in the hospital," his father thundered at the three elders who realsied their mistake.
"We just want the best for the clan. Izuna here should not inheir the cla..."
"I think you forget that I am still alive," his father cut in.
"And until I am, the matter of heirship is not as pertinent as you make it out to be," and then he turned towards him.
"Izuna apologizes to the elders," and he looked his father in the eye before he faced the three elders.
"I apologize for nearly killing you. I hope that such a thing will not happen in the future," and the three spluttered at his words as he gave a small bow even as Fugaku Uchiha's disapproval was evident from his eyes.
"Go to the Shrine. I will meet you there," Izuna nodded and walked out of the wooden Hall. He heard shouting and screaming behind him, and as he stepped out of the building, he found Itachi standing there, looking a bit worried.
"Are you going to be in trouble, brother?" he asked as Izuna smirked.
"I told you, didn't I? I will handle it. You go to Mother and do not mention this to her, alright?" he asked, and Itachi nodded.
"But where are you going?" he asked.
"I am going to the shrine to say a prayer..."
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FUGAKU UCHIHA
A rift between Izuna and the elders had long existed, ever since his first mission failed. Over the years, that rift only expanded as misunderstandings compounded and the elders' expectations and aspirations remained unmet.
Fugaku found himself at the center of this rift, being the clan head and the father of Izuna Uchiha.
He was proud of his son, of all that he had achieved. And while many in the clan ate into the propaganda of him being a coward, they were all truly blind to his talent and prowess. He was one of the youngest Tokubetsu jounins in the village, and Fugaku could confidently say that his son could match a full-fledged jounin blow for blow, and the only reason he had not gotten promoted to the rank was because of his age.
His desire to work in the hospital did surprise him a bit, but Izuna had always been strange with his aspirations. While it did break with the clan's traditions, he saw how his son excelled at Iryo-ninjutsu, and unlike the elders, he was not blind to the skill and importance of the technique.
The clan was simply too frustrated by the nomination of Minato, and were simply taking it all out on his son, who had always been rather headstrong, caring little for traditions, and rituals as he carved out his own way in life.
So, he had tried to keep them away from one another, hoping that time would heal this rift. For he saw Izuna as an asset and strength rather than the embarrassment and disgrace, the elders feared him to be.
However, it seemed as if his efforts had failed him once more as Izuna and the elders clashed, and he wondered what the ramifications of it will be?
He had done all he could to pacify the Elders, but wrong and old as they were, the three men still wielded quite a bit of influence in the clan and would try to retaliate against Izuna for his actions. This was something he would have to deal with in the future, but for now, he entered the Naka Shrine to do his part as the father.
And yet, as he stepped into the shrine, he found it empty, and for all his insolence and rage, Izuna was a dutiful son, and so for a second, he was surprised by his absence until a realization dawned on him.
Then, he felt his fears come true as he saw the seventh tile on the far-right side titled slightly, and he closed his eyes as the implications dawned on him.
He had feared as much for years and yet had chosen not to confront Izuna for one reason or the other, and yet he had always feared for the implications of that damned first mission of his. A mission where he had lost his best friend and team.
A mission from which he had returned alive and yet had no chance of doing so if not for a miracle—and there was but one miracle that the Uchiha possessed.
As Fugaku walked through that cave to reach that stone tablet placed at the center of the cave, he saw him standing there looking at it intensely, with eyes that went beyond the level of a simple three tomoe Sharingan.
He glanced at him, and Fugaku was surprised that he was showing them to him so easily until he realized that somehow Izuna knew that he had them as well.
He always had been quite resourceful when it came to knowing things.
"So, you have them as well," Fugaku whispered as his eldest nodded.
"I got them after my first mission," Izuna confirmed his suspicion, as Fugaku nodded.
"I always feared as much but had hoped that you had been spared," but his prayers had gone unanswered as Izuna shrugged.
"Do you know what they are?" he asked, and his son nodded.
"I do. I know all there is to know about them," and he was a bit surprised, but still, it was not for him to ask how.
"You kept them hidden from us for years, and yet you are revealing them to me now, why?" he asked, a bit taken aback by the suddenness of his surprise.
"Because now the Third Hokage knows, and so does his successor, Minato-san," the Third was privy to the information because of his friendship with Kagami Uchiha and his status as a Kage, but he was surprised about Minato.
"How does Namikaze know about this?" he questioned, knowing that Izuna would not have shared this with the man.
"He guessed it after reading the Kiri mission report and confronted me about my ability to control and soothe the bijuu. He mentioned it to the Third Hokage, who had him remove that part from the file, but the man confronted me about it, and I told him the gist of it," and he should have expected nothing less from the man known as the yellow Flash. He truly was quite formidable.
"Is that why you have been frequenting the Uzumaki tower regularly?" the boy had been spending his nights away from home, so Fugaku had him follow and found himself surprised by his destination.
"Yes, I am helping Rin Nohara acclimate herself to the bijuu chakra," and that answered many questions.
"It is a good thing that you kept this to yourself," Fugaku praised him, for there was a reason that the Mangekyo was kept a secret from most of the clan.
"But I still wonder why you antagonize the clan and the elders like this?" he asked as his son clicked his tongue.
"Because I find them abhorring and disloyal. They are useless relics who have no loyalty to the clan or its members," and Fugaku did not react to the heinous accusation.
"And are you loyal to the clan?" he asked as his son looked him in the eye.
"I am," he answered.
"And the day I got these eyes, I promised myself that I would protect my own, that I would avenge all those who plot against me and my family, lest they be insiders or outsiders," and Fugaku sighed, for he had feared as much.
The attack on Izuna's team had never truly sat well with him, and he often wondered how and why Kumo had been able to target a specific genin team so accurately. He had tried to look into the matter but had found no irregularity.
But it seemed to him that his son had his own suspicions, suspicions that implicated people from within the clan and the village.
And it all began to make sense. His behavior, his distancing from the clan and its structure was Izuna's attempt to shield them all from the implications of his actions.
He was trying to protect the clan.
Fugaku felt his back straighten with pride, both as the clan leader and as a father, as he looked at his son with a much softer gaze.
"You can always rely on me. You do know that, right?" he offered as Izuna nodded, the Sharingan vanishing from his eyes as he looked into his eyes.
"I know, but this is my revenge, and I will not let it be bogged down by clan politics and traditions. The outsiders I can handle on my own, but the traitors within the clan, those I leave onto you," and Fuagku nodded.
"I will have guards placed around the Elders' Cottage. I think they will appreciate the added protection, given your display today," and his son smirked.
"I would have ended their lives if only you had not intervened," his son added as he began to walk towards the exit.
"But they are yours to handle now. Keep everyone else safe," he spoke softly as he walked past him, and Fugaku knew what he meant by that.
Izuna had always cared deeply for Mikoto and Itachi, doting on his mother and brother, and Fugaku would not let him down.
"I can take care of myself, but if those old coots dare come after Itachi, it will end badly for everyone," and Fugaku nodded.
"I will handle it," and his son moved past him, but Fugaku realized that he was no longer a child he had to protect. He had become a man. An ally. A friend.
"I am proud of you, Izuna..." he whispered as his son's feet halted.
"I always was. I always will be, no matter what anyone else says," he continued, and then the steps continued, leaving behind but a whisper.
"I know...."
.
.
.
And so, a day later, all three elders in the Uchiha clan would find themselves saddled with a full-time guard at the command of the Clan Head, Fugaku Uchiha.
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