Fugaku sighed as he added Mikoto's name to a list that he dearly wished he hadn't had to compile. The thing was, if he was going to go through with his plan to return to a pre-Founding tradition, he was going to have to go through with it all the way and could not exclude himself from the matter. If he tried to separate Mikoto from her sons however, what was left of him when she was through with him would be able to fit in a matchbox, and nobody would ever be able to find his body.

After the list was compiled, he got up ready to head out and order any Uchiha who looked like they had any free time on their hands to pass the word that there would be a clan meeting that evening and that everyone who wasn't in prison, on patrol, or on a mission would be required to attend. His wife was puttering about in the kitchen as he headed out the door, and he could swear he could hear babyish laughter that wasn't Sasuke's. Very familiar babyish laughter that wasn't Sasuke's.

What would IT be doing in his house though? Mikoto would never bring IT home knowing what people would say if she did so, would she?

Deciding to shelve the problem for later, Fugaku went out, grabbed the first Uchiha he came across, and ordered him to pass on the time for the clan meeting. Then, he went to see the small group of orphans that the clan pretty much forgot about when they weren't underfoot and had decided "not to bother him with, since he already had so much on his plate". Apparently, there'd been more war orphans than relatives willing to claim them. Since he hadn't looked too closely at things, and only really paid attention when he'd heard that so-and-so had adopted their niece/nephew/grandchild/uncle/aunt/younger sibling/cousin or other, he hadn't known.

It would seem that Obito had been tending to the ones who'd been left to their own devices for various reasons until he'd died. Then, Obito's younger uncle Shisui, who'd been something of a late in life surprise for Kagami, had started feeding them after Obito died. Which explained why the kid was as skinny as a rake despite his rather generous food budget. Someone else had also started tending to the orphans, getting them necessities like clothing and bedding and forging the name of a non-existent guardian on Academy intake forms and the like, but nobody had any idea who it was.

Now, he would be taking all twenty-five or thirty of those orphans - some of whom he strongly suspected were friends the children had snuck in without anyone really noticing because the kids looked close enough to Uchiha that nobody questioned them - off of their mystery benefactor's hands. As he should've done a long time ago, if he'd been paying the least bit of attention.

When people inevitably objected to the taking and pooling of their children, he would be pointing out these orphans and other cases as the reason why the clan as a whole couldn't be trusted with the offspring they'd produced. The offspring which were a very very valuable clan resource as well as the Future of the clan. It wasn't like the kiddies wouldn't know who their parents were. The parents were free to visit anytime so long as they didn't take their kids home overnight more than once a month.

And, should the kids be orphaned for one reason or another, the kids wouldn't be overlooked and left alone as was happening now with the children scattered throughout the separated families of the clan and everyone "minding their own business" now that the clan didn't live in each-other's pockets the way they used to prior to the Founding.

Mikoto smiled as she fed the sunny blue-eyed, whisker cheeked blond toddler she'd brought home along with her own son from the Academy that day a bite of onigiri, doing her best to ignore the ANBU and the slightly better hidden Stepford Brat that Danzo'd sent over who were "supervising" the situation. Naruto may have looked very much like his father, but everything about the happy toddler was so utterly Kushina.

She would have to watch that in the future, considering she had no doubt that Naruto would be leading Sasuke into all sorts of mischief the way Kushina had her. The two were obviously going to be the best of friends as Kushina had predicted on the day Naruto was born. The little play fight they'd had which had briefly disrupted her lesson earlier that day had proved it.

Sasuke growled as he watched his mommy feed that strange yellow haired creature that had given him a black eye. He would get his revenge for this. Mommy fed no-one but him. That yellow haired creature wouldn't be taking Mommy away from him. Mommy was his!

Deciding that he would take no more of this since that was HIS Mommy and HIS food, he launched himself at the yellow haired creature and bit him. The yellow haired creature responded to this by grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking, which HURT!

Sasuke screamed as the yellow haired creature held on to his hair and didn't let go. Nothing he did made the yellow haired creature let go, even when he'd hit him. Rather than rescuing him, Mommy had laughed, run off, and came back with the camera thing.

One of these days he was going to get stronger than the yellow haired creature and make it let go!

Fugaku sighed heavily as he entered the classroom. He'd had a rough night last night. The highly contentious clan meeting had lasted until the wee hours of the morning, and he'd been tempted to simply not come in today, but he couldn't be seen missing work TWO days in a row however. It was just not done.

It wasn't like it was the first time he'd pulled a mission after a nasty all-nighter.

As he stood there sipping at the heavily caffeinated tea that he'd snagged on the way to work, the kids started filing in, looking exceedingly relieved when they saw him standing in his customary spot at the front of the room. Eventually, one of his civilian students who was usually amongst the last to arrive turned up. As he was about to turn around and start the day, the kid ran up to him and latched himself onto his leg.

"Please, please, please, please, please don't ever leave us again!" the kid said, squeezing him tight in what Fugaku began to realize was a hug.

His not snatching the kid off of him and flinging him into the far wall was apparently everyone's cue, because the next thing he knew, just about the entire class had piled onto him, begging him never to leave them with his wife again. As he was trying to figure out how to get his students off of him without seriously injuring them, because the Hokage would likely rip him apart after that last misunderstanding, the Academy Head turned up with a gaggle of what looked like civilians in tow.

"There! You see!" the rather annoyed looking Head of the Academy exclaimed. "The kiddies love him. Now, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SCHOOL!"