Chapter Text
Itachi realizes a moment too late what Shisui intends and lunges.
He’s not able to stop him from going off the cliff, but. He doesn’t think it through, just goes after him anyways, determined to stop him. It’s not until he almost has his arms around the idiot that he realizes that he’s just jumped off a really damned tall cliff and flails a little, hitting Shisui under the chin hard before getting ahold of himself and grabbing him properly so he can turn his attention to getting the both of them down alive and in one piece.
Fuck dying gloriously to change a bunch of prideful assholes minds! Shisui and his naivety. Suicide restores one’s honor, but it’s also a statement of being too weak to be worthy of respect. It’s what one did when driven into a corner with no way out, it’s dignity, but it’s also scorn. Suicide of one barely respected to begin with? It will only confirm the elders’ opinions that they are right.
More to the point, Danzo has proven himself just as bad as the worst of the Uchiha. And… Fuck it. He’ll think about that later. Right now he has to get them close enough to the rocky wall of the sheer canyon to use chakra to slow them down so they don’t end up a messy splatter in the raging water and tumble of rocks below.
It’s not until he’s standing on the rough water below and shivering and panting from near-death terror and exertion that he understands why Shisui didn’t fight him despite telling him not to stop him. Apparently he accidentally knocked him out cold when he spazzed out about finding himself (them) diving off a massive cliff. Well, at least this way they’re both alive. Itachi can’t do this without his best friend. He refuses.
Blowing out a weary breath, he trudges over to a flat spit of rock along the canyon wall before his chakra runs out and they both drown ignominiously. He lays Shisui down with less care than he probably should, but he’s tired, and flops to sit beside him. If he can’t do this without Shisui (he can’t), and Shisui can’t do this anymore (suicide? really?), then they obviously need to think this through and make better plans.
Maybe, he thinks despairingly, they should just grab Sasuke (the only innocent in this mess that he knows will come unquestioningly with them), graffiti the Hokage’s tower with Danzo’s crimes, and run for it. Being a missing nin can’t be that bad, can it? If they send clones to be seen on the way to Suna, and henge themselves, they should be able to make it to the coast and then disappear into Shikkotsu Forest, right? They can leave all the bitter, greedy fools to fight it out on their own. For a touted ‘village of peace’, Konoha sure falls short of the ideal. How is this peace?
Shisui stirs beside him, and Itachi scrubs at his dripping eyes irritably, then stills, feeling sick as he stares at the blood on his hands. No, no, no, he will not do what he knows, knows, Danzo will want him to do. He left Shisui alive, not from mercy, but because he thinks he can force Itachi to obey him despite his theft. Either with Shisui’s Mangekyo (how would that be even possible?) or by threatening something Itachi cannot afford to lose (Sasuke).
Itachi hates killing. He won’t, won’t, won’t do whatever atrocity Danzo will demand. And he can’t, can’t, can’t lose Shisui or Sasuke. Just can’t.
“What’s wrong, Itachi?” Shisui asks, surprising him with concern instead of raging at him for keeping him alive.
“I…I activated my Mangekyo.” He manages, because he knows Shisui will comprehend the subtext like only an Uchiha could. That’s the only reason there’d be blood under his eyes, because nothing hit his face on the way down.
Shisui goes still beside him for a long moment, then says in a tone as if the air has been punched out of him, “Oh.”
They are silent for several minutes. “You want your eye back now?”
“What good is a one-eyed man?” Shisui snorts.
“Better than a blind man. I can’t take care of Sasuke on my own, you know.”
“What?”
And okay, he knows the idea is insane and he feels a little unhinged right now, but it’s better than Shisui lapsing back into pointless moping, right? So he tells him. Their dilemma has reached the point of no return, but at least he can make Shisui laugh and rag on him for a few moments before they have to get serious again.
Except…Shisui doesn’t laugh. Instead, he looks thoughtful and gets all quiet for several minutes. His expression indicates that he’s thinking of something he wouldn’t normally, but Itachi can’t tell what exactly is going through the idiot’s brain.
“Oh, give me back my eye.” He finally huffs and sits up awkwardly. “I think it’s doable, and I don’t see any other options if you’re right. Shikkotsu’s a good destination. We can stay there for long enough for the search to die down and then find a less dangerous place. It’s not the Forest of Damp Bones for no reason. I don’t think we can survive there long-term. Particularly if we have to use the Mangekyo much.”
“Wha-? You think it will work?”
“Well…, we probably should come up with something more condemning than ‘Danzo is a betraying eyeswipe’, but yes.” He pauses pensively. “We can frame him for my murder and then anyone looking for you and Sasuke wouldn’t think to look for a group of three and wouldn’t know you have back up. Murder is always…useful in motivating conflict. Since we can’t stop it, we may as well use it to hide our tracks.”
And Itachi…boggles at this. Sure, it was his idea, but… No, no, no, he will not lose Sasuke, and Shisui is the only one who cares about peace besides Itachi. Danzo obviously doesn’t. Doesn’t want it. No wonder his father and the elders have been unable to make peace with the Hokage with Danzo in the way. “Hn.”
It takes both of them to get Shisui’s eye back in place and working right, and involves some inordinate clumsiness and periodic swearing. Then they rest and hash out the plan in more detail.
~
The next morning, Konoha wakes to find chakra-protected graffiti all over town, proclaiming:
Danzo Shimura is a traitor. Danzo Shimura is guilty of kekkai genkai theft.
Public opinion is important, after all.
~
Sandaime Hokage finds morning greets him with a hard to miss message emblazoned on his office tower:
Konoha has betrayed the agreement of the founding clans. The Uchiha clan is thus free of any obligation to stay or cooperate. Danzo Shimura is responsible for the death of Shisui Uchiha, who only wished for peace between the Uchiha clan and Konoha, and stole his eye for his own use. Counselor Danzo Shimura has plotted the isolation and murder of the Uchiha clan.
–Itachi Uchiha, Anbu Captain.
P.S. I resign.
He finds himself…well, impressed at how much was fit into the message while keeping it large enough for anyone to read easily from a distance. Impressed at the absolute political havoc it will trigger. Impressed at the sheer gall of it. And, reluctantly, impressed at the claim itself.
He knows better than anyone how much Shisui and Itachi long for and work for peace. And sadly, his old friend is in a place that could make him responsible for such problems. Even if the accusations are a lie, they will have to be publically investigated. And that’s far from the worst of it. Either way, he’s about to have a whole clan of furious and possibly homicidal Uchihas on his hands, and if he’s lucky they’ll just insist he destroy Danzo before they pick up and leave. Worst case is that they simply declare open warfare on Konoha. And if the accusations are true… He shudders to think of the damage Danzo could do with the Uchiha kekkai genkai if he masters it and uses it against Konoha. There’s a reason Danzo is his councilor. He’s smart, and he’s cold enough to make Hiruzen look past his tender heart to see the negative outcome of various ‘merciful’ actions. If Danzo really is a traitor, this will be a nightmare. And if not? He’ll probably be forced to sacrifice him anyways.
So yes, he is impressed at the sheer amount damage this accusation (these accusations; he did see the lesser ones plastered around town on his way here) has made to public opinion, politics, and the fragile peace. He’s impressed with the sheer amount of hassle about to land on his shoulders.
All because one pacifist has snapped and said, ‘Enough’.
If Hiruzen is any judge, the boy is far, far away from here by now.
~
Fugaku is drinking his morning tea, wondering idly where his sons are, when Mikoto’s scream brings him to his feet. He finds her in Sasuke’s room, holding a crumpled paper in her shaking hands.
Father, Mother,
I will not stand for my other brother to die as well. Danzo stole Shisui’s eye, and it is probable that he can use the Mangekyo for his own ends. The body was thrown into the Naka River gorge. Kill him. Run. I care not. Do as you like. Beware Root.
-Itachi
Two hours later, Fugaku has shown the letter to the elders, whose expressions are as grim as he feels. If fearless, peace-loving Itachi thinks his best option is to abscond with Sasuke and advise the clan to ‘Run’, then Danzo needs to die. Repeatedly, in pieces, if necessary. The Uchihas do not run from anything. At least not until they win and can retreat in a stately manner.
~
By nightfall, Hiruzen is so tired he wishes someone would just cut his head off so he can rest in peace. His ears are ringing from all the enraged people he’s faced today, his brain hurts from dealing with so many issues, and he had underestimated the problems one painted message could evoke.
He hadn’t even considered the impact Itachi resigning with that accusation would have on ANBU and the regular jounins. Itachi wasn’t very…well, likeable, really, but he was highly respected. For him to publically announce his secret rank and retire with that accusation meant that his own ninja including most of ANBU were ready to rebel if he didn’t investigate the matter now.
There’d been no lack of volunteers for the mission to arrest Danzo. And between the Uchihas and ANBUs and regular jounin crowding into his office, he really didn’t have the option of not making it into a mission.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that Itachi was mistaken or lying, because Danzo resisted arrest by way of using the stolen kekkai genkai to hypnotize two of the jounin into attacking their companions, convinced that Danzo is innocent and worthy of worship. At which point, men under Danzo had joined in the fight, too, as he then went on to attack others in person with amazing proficiency given his ‘obvious disabilities’.
People have died. Some of them among his very best.
Including Danzo as well. The Uchihas who had shadowed the mission had jumped in when things went to shit, further making it go to shit, but likely salvaging the mission and saving a few lives, so he can’t be too angry. But Danzo is dead. Very, very dead. The Uchihas had insisted on ‘killing’ him four separate times as far as he can gather from the reports he’s received so far, and the body is…well, in pieces. Medical is still getting back to him on what exactly Danzo had done to himself besides stealing Shisui’s eye, which the clan retrieved somehow before killing Danzo the first time.
At this point, making Itachi a ‘missing nin’ isn’t really a valid option unless he wants to earn the eternal enmity of his clan. Hiruzen is still not certain if the Uchiha will consent to stay or not.
It could be worse.
At least they hadn’t gone directly for bloody revolt. But he has no idea what their terms will be if they choose to stay. Or leave. Or…
Hiruzen bites back a whimper and lays his head on the desk. He doesn’t know whether to hate Itachi or thank him. But he can’t really blame him. Not when his friend was murdered and he feared for his little brother’s life.
He’d always thought he was upholding Tobirama’s command to take care of the village, but now he can’t avoid the fact that he has and all his advisors have allowed Tobirama’s own prejudices against the Uchiha to carry over from the past instead of following his actual words of advice. He has failed. Once again. This time it’s somehow worse than letting Minato and Kushina die in the Kyuubi attack. Hiruzen is too old for this. All he wants is his bed and retirement. Preferably in that order. Maybe he’ll get lucky and not wake to chakra infused propaganda graffiti, not wake to a killer headache, and wake to the Uchihas peacefully cooperating with the village with Minato still alive and in office. Too bad he’s never had that kind of luck. He’s going to be doing paperwork and damage control forever, no matter what the Uchihas decide. Kami take it!
~
Itachi and Shisui reach the coast in record time, henged as an unremarkable blondish couple in their twenties with a two year old daughter, blonde and feverish. No one remarks on them taking passage to Kawagoe. And from there to Kagero. No one pays attention as they travel north on foot to where Neck’s road swings out along the coast.
They disappear there. But no one at all notices a boy and a teen, both with eyes that turn red, as they water walk across the channel to Shikkotsu Forest in the middle of the night, one of them with an unconscious younger boy slung over his shoulder.
~
Fugaku rubs his temples and sighs. The elders have been debating to stay or go for hours, and the real question is where would they even go if they left? Half the clan ninjas have kill orders on them from various countries. “Well, if all else fails, I suppose the Land of Eddies is unoccupied.”
Silence falls abruptly, and he looks up to find everyone staring at him.
He blinks.
“We’re taking Kushina’s son with us.” Mikoto says abruptly from behind him, a tray of tea in her hands. “It’s his birthright, after all.”
And that’s… true.
But he’s also the jinchuuriki and Konoha… Konoha doesn’t have the ability to dictate to them any longer, now does it?
“That monster?” one of the elders, Karuki, protests with distaste.
Mikoto calmly dumps the tea tray over his head, smiling sweetly while he screams and curses, jerking away. “You know very well that Minato was a genius with seals and he would never endanger his son’s life with one that could allow him to be overtaken by the Kyuubi. It does not befit the Uchiha elders to act like ignorant civilians.”
Elder Raiku intervenes before a full-fledged fight can erupt between the two. “More to the point, do we wish to leave the jinchuuriki in Konoha’s hands?”
There is a dead silence at that is broken only by mumbled curses and hisses of pain from Karuki, who nonetheless looks horrified at the notion.
“Mikoto has a point as well. The child is mistreated by the civilians, much as we are treated with suspicion and growing hatred for no reason other than baseless fear. He seems like a rather sensitive child when he’s not playing loud pranks. And while his pranks anger many, they do not seem to be mean-spirited in any way.” Raiku continues. “And the boy is the last known Uzumaki, which gives us a legitimate claim on the island if we take him in and treat him well.”
There is another silence as everyone absorbs this.
“Let me put it this way.” Mikoto finally breaks the silence with an even sweeter smile. “I have lost both my sons to Danzo and Konoha. Kushina was a friend. I will not see my friend’s son lost to this place as well. Fugaku and I will adopt him and raise him to be the Uzukage so the Uchiha clan will have a place it is valued. And if you ever treat my new son as a monster, I will END you.”
She tosses a look at Fugaku, who knows when agreement is imperative to survival. His wife is not taking the disappearance of both her boys well. “So, we are all agreed, then. We shall inform Hiruzen that the Uchiha clan chooses to leave. The boy will come with us and Mikoto and I will raise him. And if Konoha figures out where he is, well, they can hardly demand that the Uzukage come to live as a common ninja, unwanted as they have made him, despite who his parents were.”
“We are not- grrrck!” Karuki’s protest cuts off abruptly as Mikoto kicks him where it hurts. Hard.
The other elders wince and several cover themselves reflexively, and there are hasty nods. There is a hurried babble of, “Yes, yes, agreed!”
“An excellent solution.” Raiku praises, sounding very amused.
~
Snatching the boy goes smoothly.
Except for the part where the kid’s academy teacher notices and attacks them in an effort to protect the six year old. And isn’t that shocking? They’d thought everyone except the Hokage barely tolerated the kid.
Naka and Tekka trade glances as the young teacher slumps bonelessly to the ground. The kid is starting to look less frozen in shock and more upset.
Tekka nods. “Bring him too. He seems to care for the kid. He’s just a clanless chunin, so not many will raise a fuss, and Mikoto-sama will be happy to have more teachers around.”
The kid swivels his head to stare up at him, and fortunately doesn’t fight as they bring him and his teacher to where the Uchiha clan is waiting, ready to leave now that they’ve packed and cut ties with Konoha.
Mikoto-sama only raises a brow, briefly, at the unexpected addition. “Iruka sensei? A good choice. He actually enjoys teaching children, from what I’ve seen.”
“Are we going on a school trip?” the boy pipes up from Tekka’s arms, looking surprisingly eager.
Mikoto-sama smiles at him. “No, Naruto. We’re moving to the place your mother came from. And since your mother was a friend of mine, we’re bringing us with us. Would you like me to tell you stories about her?”
“Believe it!” the kid cheers, almost popping Tekka in the nose with an overenthusiastic fist pump. He winces, having the creeping feeling that he should probably make himself scarce if he doesn’t want to end up on child-minding duty for the next ten years.
~
Hiruzen seethes.
Not only has he been forced to dismiss his other councilors for complicity and poor judgement due to the polite insistence of the Uchiha, who have not stayed, and have made it clear that they not only have a place to go outside of Fire Country that is none of his business, but they will refuse to have any thought of making nice with Konoha if either Koharu or Homura are allowed anywhere near Konoha’s decision making process in the future. An insistence backed up by quite a number of angry jounin, Anbu, and civilians. Because they still haven’t figured out how to overcome the chakra protection on the graffiti all over town, including his tower. But this…
Sandaime Hokage,
A couple of ninjas without clans have chosen to come with us and will now be considered as our own. We trust you can fix the paperwork.
-Fugaku Uchiha, Uchiha Clan Head
Naruto Uzumaki and one of the more promising Academy teachers have disappeared with them.
He’s not a fool. He has no way to retrieve Naruto without accusing the clan and in all probability setting off the very war they’ve all narrowly avoided. And maybe…maybe Naruto will be happier with them. Without Koharu and Danzo and Homura to answer to, there’s not many who will even notice the kid’s disappearance as a negative thing. But he can do something about Iruka Umino.
And then, he’ll have to do something about finding new, trustworthy councilors. Easier said than done. The three of them have been in office almost half a century. None had put forth successors prior to this mess. So now he needs to find three people not tangled up in clan politics, with superior political acumen, and not an existing group with their own agendas. Kami preserve him.
He doesn’t even have time or energy to touch the Itachi mess, and with the Uchiha leaving, he doesn’t have to. Though he has received word that the boy and his little brother were seen a couple times on the way to Suna. Which is entirely logical, and he really hopes he doesn’t have to face the Sharingan in the future in Suna’s hands, because that is a terrifying thought. Fortunately, they currently have a treaty with Suna, and Itachi dislikes violence enough that he’ll want to do nothing to change that.
He looks up to find Kakashi perched on the windowsill. “You do realize we have doors for a reason, Kakashi?”
“Maa, but opening them is such a hassle, Hokage-sama.”
Hiruzen snorts. “I have a mission for you. According to the Uchiha,” he taps the note on his desk, “Some ninjas have chosen to go with them, who might otherwise not be considered among their ranks. Now, I’m sure you understand why I can’t do anything about that legally. However, Iruka Umino, one of our Academy teachers is one of them. Which is believable, other than the fact that none of his belongings have been packed and taken. And he didn’t file anything to notify either the school or the paperwork desk that he was planning to leave.”
Kakashi tilts his head consideringly. “He’s the loud one always yelling about improperly done paperwork?”
“You know him? Good. I want you to find him and see if he’s with them willingly or not. If not, retrieve him. Quietly. Again, I’m sure you understand why.” He certainly hopes so, at least, because with Minato dead, Orochimaru cast out for inhumane experiments, and the Senju princess having sworn to never come back, he really doesn’t have a lot in the way of potential candidates to train up to take over for him.
“Maa, I’m sure it will be fine, Hokage-sama.” Kakashi says with an eye-smile that says he’s amused by the whole thing. Then he’s gone in a swirl of leaves.
Hiruzen chuckles. The boy is happier since his forced retirement from ANBU recently.
~
He finds Iruka Umino ensconced in an Uchiha wagon, wrists bound to his elbows in a manner that appears to have taken his comfort into account to an extraordinary degree, the look on his face absolutely fuming.
“Maa, sensei. You look a little tied up there.”
The teacher jolts, eyes widening as he takes in who has found him. “Kakashi Hatake?”
It’s not really a question. “Want some help with that?”
Iruku glowers, then surprisingly turns his head away. “No.”
“Hokage-sama is worried that you’re here against your will.”
There is a short (but surprisingly long coming from the hot-tempered young man) silence, before he sighs. “I am, but. They took Naruto. And he’s happy here. I’ve never seen him this happy outside of eating ramen or pulling pranks. I can’t- I can’t take that away from him.”
His uncovered eye widens.
Naruto? Surely there can’t be two sets of parents with such horrible naming sense? “Sensei Minato’s son?”
Iruka turns his head again to look at him, this time with curiosity. “Oh, that’s right. He was your jounin sensei, wasn’t he? Yes, Naruto Uzumaki.”
Something barrels into his back, knocking him sprawling flat on his face, which is humiliating for a jounin of his skill, even in a camp full of Uchihas. Except there’s little arms around his chest and someone is squealing excitedly, “Yashiro-san, Yashiro-san!”
Yashiro as in Yashiro Uchiha who is half again his age? Kakashi pities the man a bit if this is a common greeting for him.
“Naruto, that isn’t Yashiro-san.” Iruka says in a patient tone.
This is Naruto? Kakashi doesn’t resist as small hands attempt to roll him over, and blue, blue eyes stare down at him in fascination, and then small hands push up his hitai-ate.
“You’re an Uchiha too! I haven’t seen you before. Were you out on a mission? Was it a cool mission? Are you only half Uchiha? Is that why your eyes are like that? They’re so cool! Are you going to stay now that you’re back? You are going to stay, right? Right? Mikoto kaa-san says we’re taking all the good ones with us, so that means you’re awesome, right? Can you teach me a really cool jutsu? Pleeeease?”
Mikoto kaa-san? As in the Clan Leader’s wife?
He has been taken down by a six year old. A six year old who apparently wouldn’t know stealth if it bit him and has Minato-sensei’s puppy eyes half-down already. Which is patently unfair. Kushina would be laughing herself silly. With a sigh, he bites his thumb and puts his hand on the kid’s forehead, and summons Pakkun.
The brat goes down with a squawk, flailing as he falls backwards from the sudden weight of Pakkun on his face.
Pakkun disentangles himself and gives Kakashi a dirty look. “What do you need, boss? Do you need to rub my paw? Looks like you’re having a bad day.”
“Maa, it’s just that the Yellow Flash’s son is faster than I expected. Pakkun, I need you to run a message to the old man. And one to Shiranui, too.”
“The guy with the senbon fetish? Sure thing, boss.”
“I’ll go get paper from Mikoto kaa-san!” Naruto yells and dives out of the wagon, shouting for Mikoto.
Kakashi grimaces and sits up, pulling writing supplies out of his kit. It’s probably best to be doing something distinctly unthreatening when the Uchihas show up en masse.