Fugaku respects Itachi's decision to side with Konoha, but he's not going to stand aside as his clan is killed. He fights but lets Itachi go in the end because he still loves the boy and always will no matter what.

The same cannot be said for the mysterious man helping his son, and Fugaku takes great pleasure in dealing blow after blow because he is the clan head and he has a duty to his family - more than that, it's a relief to finally let lose everything he has.

It's a difficult battle but Fugaku has been raised from very young to be better than everyone else and his training regime shows it. Most of all, his clan is behind him, a good two dozen wrathful men and women who need to see the intruder ripped apart.

The ground shakes and the shockwaves smash through houses. Fugaku roars with the fire as his eyes bleed a vivid red.

The intruder escapes, but not without heavy injuries.

Unfortunately, it's still too little too late, and he and Sasuke are the last. Beautiful and fierce Mikoto was taken from him as she protected Fugaku's back like she swore to do ever since that first mission together. She had always been the strongest between the two of them.

He spends the first few days curled protectively around his youngest son, coaxing him through the trauma, making sure he controls the hatred instead of letting it burn through him. Sasuke recovers quickly and throws himself into training when he isn't obsessively checking on his father. They spend the nights with Sasuke's fingers tight around Fugaku's wrist to check the pulse.

It's too quiet in the large Uchiha compound. Fugaku remembers every single person in his family; by name, by features, by personality, but he wishes he didn't. Every loss is a heavy stone in his gut, but it's the children taken from him that hurt the most, because they couldn't even defend themselves. They shouldn't have had to. He was supposed to protect them.

The Hokage visits Fugaku and expresses his genuine condolences for the heavy losses, then turns around mid-sentence to insinuate that perhaps Fugaku should retire early to watch over his remaining son. The Hokage tries to say; please stay back, I'll handle this. Don't make it any worse, you have Sasuke to care for.

Fugaku trusts the Hokage, and he loves Konoha, but it's too late, it's gone too far. He's still cleaning the blood from the compound's walls – still finding parts of his clan scattered across the ground.

People don't just embrace poison.

Fugaku politely thanks the old man for the advice before gently making reference to how Orochimaru hasn't been heard from in a while, is he still causing trouble or has the Hokage finally managed the situation like he said he would all those years ago?

Nothing more is said.

The council strikes next, proclaiming that a clan of two is not a clan and the next day all of Fugaku's political power suddenly means nothing. He nods his head regally and leaves the meeting room only to send out several scrolls not an hour later, negotiating or outright breaking enough private trade agreements that Konoha is cut off at the knees.

Fugaku can take a hit, he knows how to roll with the punches and reply with kunai. He's perfectly willing to wait out the initial tug of war that always follows on the heels of a power vacuum.

He needs to act docile until he fades into the background, because when he does attack he wants to be ignored and end up on the moral high ground while the rest scramble in the mud trying to drag each other down. It's dangerous to dive into something head first when Fugaku is alone and his son isn't old enough to protect himself.

It's when Danzo dares to corner Sasuke at the Academy -on the anniversary of the massacre- that Fugaku finally gives up on playing anything close to tame.

The trap was already set for the clan to overthrow Konoha, so all Fugaku does is let it snap shut around his prey. The Uchiha uproots those who planned against him, pulling the skeletons out of their closets one by one, spreading the ashes over the village and watching the outrage flare to life from the civilian sheep who blindly follow the trail of bread crumbs but never see the hand that drops them.

The audacious fucks are called out, publicly denounced, executed, and Fugaku watches with fire in his eyes as his strings constrict around their necks.

Some try to fight, to flee, to turn around and accuse him. It makes him laugh. Fugaku is not at fault here, he is simply paying them back what is due.

It's an eye for an eye after all.

And he is going to make the whole fucking world blind.

.

A/N: If this was a humour fic:

1. The parts in between the story are pretty much just Sasuke breaking into places to check on his dad. He gets into ANBU and the Hokage's room even with the seals up, and at one point hunts him down outside the village when Fugaku is negotiating the trade agreements.

2. Sasuke tries making food for his dad as well, but he's like eight years old so it's a bowl with several cut tomatoes inside, sprinkled with uncooked rice. Him cleaning the house is even worse.

3. Sasuke sees Kakashi's sharingan via a Gai-challenge and drags the jonin back to his house because "Look, dad! Another one survived!"

4. Kakashi becomes an honorary Uchiha because Sasuke needs a babysitter.

5. Sasuke decides that he needs to restore his clan, but Fugaku hasn't had The Talk with him yet so little Sasuke just kidnaps people and proclaims them his siblings. (The most notable being Naruto, Hinata, Shino, and Ibiki.)