M/N : From a reader to a fellow reader, heads up. This chapter is a bit confusing. I'm gonna include one of Tria's comment reply at the end to clear things up.

Chapter 23 : Ice cold fire

" Okay, Dad."

It took an effort to not react.

Sakuto was far older than Kakashi. Unlike the cherubic softness of baby fats that Kakashi has yet to shed, Sakuto's face was sharper, shaping up to the angular edge of a young adult rather than a child. His hair, although equally gravity-defying as Kakashi's, was a bit tamer as it dangled just below his shoulder blades, an oddly eerie resemblance to the deceased White Fang.

Sakuto didn't look exactly like Kakashi.

Yet, Minato couldn't ignore that silver hair. He couldn't pretend that he didn't notice the way those slanted narrow eyes crinkled to match Sakuto's emotions. He couldn't notice the boy's high cheekbones and wasn't immediately be reminded of a deceased mentor and a lost dream—

—the lost dream he had, the hopeful wish watching his pup grow to adulthood.

Those were all Hatake's traits.

Minato looked up from his hunch to meet Sakuto's blank mismatched gaze.

Yet the only thing he saw was Kakashi.

It took a real effort to NOT react.

"Ku…Kurama?"

Upon hearing that stuttered hitched gasp, Kurama immediately wished that he had brought Naruto along.

"No…Not Kurama…."

He really wished that he didn't leave Naruto behind in the plane that he shared with the kits. He needed Naruto now. Naruto was better at talking than Kurama ever was.

This wasn't how he expected his meeting with Isobu would end up.

Sure, the Isobu that he knew was a bit emotional as compared to the rest of the bijuu, but it was not to this extreme.

Not to this extreme.

Kurama has expected to be faced with bafflement and aggression when he ascended to this plane. It was expected, considering that two Kyuubi in the same place will make even the most ignorant of human to be suspicious. He has already sensed his counterpart inside Kushina—the other Kyuubi was sealed tight with a seal far more superior than the one that was used to seal him inside his Kushina years ago.

It was odd to sense the presence of his counterpart but unable to pick up the slightest sign of bijuu consciousness from Kushina. The Kyuubi inside Kushina was deadly silent. He wasn't asleep, because Kurama would still be able to communicate with him if it was the case, but there was a strong barrier caging the other Kyuubi. It silenced the other Kyuubi, kept him caged without a means of escape.

The seal was far superior to the one that was once used to seal him.

Even with quick sensing he did as Kushina embraced Kakashi the other day, he could sense the intricacy of the seal on Kushina's abdomen.

It wasn't Mito's seal. At least not solely hers.

Mito was cautious, but never to the point that was borderline paranoid.

From what he picked up from the thrumming seal on Kushina's body, the seal applied to imprison his counterpart was created in a way that even the smallest leak of chakra was nigh impossible.

Kushina was just a literal container, with no chances of taking advantage of her bijuu's chakra.

Kurama needed to have his kit change that. There must be something in the Uzumaki's archives that Kakashi would be able to use to alter Kushina's seal to provide a bit of freedom to the other Kyuubi. There was a nagging feeling of paranoia at the back of his head, urging him to prepare for an unseen threat. The wind was stirring—not in a literal sense, but Kurama has this odd gut feeling that something was moving, and whatever that thing was, it was moving fast.

He rather has this Kushina sorted stuff out with his counterpart and was ready to fight as a Jinchuuriki before whatever this unknown threat started to become actual nuisances.

Not that Kurama wished for anything to happen, but that paranoia still bothered him.

He knew he was missing something—something that will destroy the effort of peace his kits were currently working on—but he didn't know what it was. It was such an intense feeling that something was about to go wrong that Kurama felt agitated if he didn't do anything to prepare for it.

Call him paranoid, but if there was one thing that Kurama learnt in his millenniums of life, it was to never ignore his own gut feeling.

He might be wrong, and things would be perfectly at peace as their plan to shape the future sail smoothly, but Kurama rather not take any chances.

His first step was to gather the bijuu and somehow made them work with their respective jinchuuriki.

Easier said than done.

He has hoped for Isobu to be the easiest, knowing that the Sanbi will remain a gentle soul as the one he remembered no matter how much his mess-up has changed the timeline. On the jinchuuriki side, this Rin would wreak havoc in hell and come back victorious if that was it needed to protect her pack. Those two should be the easiest to persuade to work together.

Should be.

Judging from this unexpected reaction from Isobu, Kurama just knew that his job wouldn't be easy.

Dear Rikudou-Sennin, how he wished he had brought Naruto along.

He wasn't equipped to deal with this kind of reaction.

"No," Isobu murmured, shaking his head woefully. "Not my Kurama."

Kurama frowned, reasonably baffled.

He should've brought his human along with him. Hell, maybe he should bring Sakura along with Naruto too, because at least the two of them would have the emotional requirement to deal with this. Sasuke can stay behind with Kakashi because that annoying brat would be no help what so ever.

"You're not my Kurama."

Kurama resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Correct," he affirmed, cutting straight to the point to evade more of this weirdness. "Long story, so I rather have everyone here while I explain. Can you summon them?"

Isobu paused and stared blankly at Kurama.

Then, glossy sheen of tears clouded the pink of his eyes, the underbite of his mouth trembled like he wanted to cry before he choked a sob and retreated back into his shell, leaving Kurama in utter confusion upon the muffled sobs coming from inside the shell.

Confused and utterly annoyed, Kurama buried his face into his palms and resisted a groan.

He could totally understand Kakashi now.

God damn it.

Konan cherished her friendship with Rin.

Growing up as orphans with only the companion of his two brothers, Konan didn't get a lot of interactions with other girls. Even after Akatsuki grew and started gaining more members, most of the new members that joined them were males.

The only new girl that joined them was Kirie.

Back then, Konan has tried so hard to make friends with the cheerful girl.

But Kirie was a gentle, soft-spoken girl—a direct contrast to Konan's sharp unyielding personality—and finding an equal ground between them was hard to do. The dark-haired girl also openly admitted that Konan's whole presence intimidated her. It was to the point that Kirie was always on edge, seeing Konan as a superior, just because Konan was far more powerful as a shinobi than she was.

Thus, even as the only two girls in the whole organisation, they have a hard time being close friends.

When Kirie died in a battle, Konan's grief was that of losing a subordinate rather than a friend.

Then, Rin came crashing into her life, bringing all sorts of chaos and new experience for the whole team.

It has not even been a month yet since Rin entered her life, yet Konan felt like she has known the younger girl for years. They clicked so easily that their tentative friendship now has started to feel like it has evolved to a bond of comradeship that could rival her own pack bond.

They were close, often backing each other up against the shenanigan of their equally concerning brothers.

Rin was the voice of compassion that helped Konan dealt with Nagato's recent tendency of succumbing to anxiety. Konan was Rin's voice of reason that aided her to deal with Obito's suicidal recklessness.

They were immediate friends. Perfect partners in combat, even when it hasn't even been long since they were introduced to each other. Konan felt like she has known everything about the wonderful human Rin was, yet it was still so fascinating to observe the brown-haired girl being so focused on her tasks.

Rin and Mari were hunched together around the metal table, whispering hushed words that only medics would understand as they poked and prodded the decapitated head on the table. Both of them were in the medic mode now, rapidly spouting out hypothesis and ideas on what this odd creature truly was.

Their lazy morning has ended the moment Kushina and Nagato returned with Setsuna, Mari and this odd decapitated head in tow.

Sakuto's reaction to their arrival was concerning.

The first thing that Konan noticed the moment Sakuto's gaze landed on the decapitated head was recognition, which was then followed with a shift in his whole expression. Sakuto switched from the adorably overwhelmed idiot to a cold experienced soldier in that split second—his whole body tensed up, while his expression contorted to that of a solemn shinobi gearing up for battle.

Konan wasn't the only who noticed Sakuto's concerning reaction.

The rest of them noticed it too, and the figurative warning bells in their head immediately rang at full force.

Whatever the odd creature was, Sakuto knew exactly what it was, what it meant—and it was not good news.

That was the reason they all have ignored Sakuto's slip-up, regardless of how interesting it was to hear their reserved enigma accidentally addressed the Yellow Flash as his 'Dad'.

Konan knew that Minato was shaken, though.

She also had a distinct hunch that Minato was not going to let Sakuto's slip-up slipped away and forgotten.

But there was much more important thing to address, moreover with the news that Konoha's remaining legend was lingering at their borders. Thus, they decided to split up. Yahiko took Obito to Uzushio, getting a headstart for a quick evacuation plan for the civilians should Sakuto's meeting with Izuna ended up in a sour note. Sakuto and Nagato remained with their elders to discuss their next course of action while Rin and Mari have been immediately distracted upon noticing the regenerative properties of the decapitated head.

As for her, Yahiko has made sure that she was nowhere near Obito for the rest of the day—a decision made out of fear of another destructive spar. Thus, she was sent to join Rin and Mari in the lab, while both boys went out to Uzushio to prepare the plans for emergency evacuation. The two medics were far too distracted with pondering on their subject, so much so, that Konan has lost them the moment they started to dabble on the potentials of culturing the cells from the decapitated head to form artificial flesh and limbs for future use.

Konan has decided to back away the moment their conversation started to sound like they were speaking in ancient runes. She wasn't educated enough to understand their line of thoughts.

Thus, she stood not far behind them, learning as she observed the two medics at work. Standing directly across her at the other side of the lab was Setsuna, with his arms crossed over his chest and jaw locked tight as his dark gaze narrowed on the decapitated head.

The man was on edge, like almost every other Konoha natives in this building.

Mikoto and Fugaku were all serious too, shifting their cheerful mood the moment they were told about the most recent threat hanging over their borders. Kushina's smile was strained as the topic was brought up while Minato was so eerily calm and quiet that it has instantly reminded Konan that this man was feared by all five great shinobi nation.

Oddly enough, Rin and Obito didn't display the same kind of tension as they all showed, even when the legendary name of Uchiha Izuna was brought up.

"Do you think Sakuto will take me to the meeting too? Or take Gramps back here?" Rin pondered out loud, snapping her latex gloves off as she observed Mari arranged the petri dishes in the fridge. "I have lots of questions."

Gramps.

While Mikoto, the actual granddaughter of Uchiha Izuna, addressed the man with a deep respectful tone in her voice, both Obito and Rin addressed the legend as if he was any other old man they're familiar with.

Needless to say, the only Uchiha in this lab wasn't okay with that.

"Have some respect, kid," Setsuna snapped. "Don't call him that."

Rin crinkled her nose. "He doesn't seem to mind I call him that the last time we met."

Setsuna growled.

"You will not show that kind of disrespect in his presence, brat," he snarled, projecting that infamous Alpha's dominance. "We don't want to give him any more reasons to be our enemy."

This time, Rin openly rolled her eyes.

"He is not that scary. All of you are overreacting," she muttered, trotting across the room to retrieve a storage scroll. "Gramps is just like a grumpy huge teddy bear actually," Rin added, snorting a quiet laugh as the last word left her lips.

Setsuna looked like he was about to have a heart attack and a seizure both at the same time.

"YOU—"

"Ask Obito," Rin cut him off, dismissive and uncaring. "He can confirm that Gramps is, indeed, a grumpy huge teddy bear."

The corners of Rin's lips quirked in a slight victorious smile when Setsuna immediately recoiled, and that smile only grew wider as he eventually decided to sulk in the corners, arms now crossed over his chest again, jaw locked as if he was swallowing his own arguments.

Satisfied with his silence, Rin hummed happily as she sauntered back to the table.

Then, she stopped.

She halted in her path. The scroll fell from her slackened grip. Rin stood there, motionless, with her glazed eyes staring ahead, devoid of any semblance of focus or emotion. She remained like that, seemingly like her mind has been spirited away from her own body.

It went on for a few seconds before Konan decided that she needed to address the matter before Setsuna plunged into a reckless reaction and probably made the situation worse.

Konan reached out to the younger girl, only to halt upon seeing the little smile on Rin's face.

"It's okay," the jinchuuriki murmured, softly, with her eyes still glazed with that blank stare. "I'm here for you."

Konan frowned in utter confusion.

God. This was just like how Sakuto's dissociative moments were like.

"I'm here for you," Rin said again, firmer this time. "Trust me."

Konan wondered if it was a jinchuuriki thing.

Rin's glazed eyes then fluttered shut, her smile grew softer with fondness and her next words were almost silent yet so overwhelmingly brimming with understanding love;

"Trust me, Isobu."

"Have you no love for us?"

It's a stupid question.

It was a really stupid question—an inane desperate quest of a child—but it was necessary.

A quest to seek validation. To break through that ice-cold shell and sought the answers she has been asking ever since her first memory. The very question she uttered as she toddled after the old man, scrambling on her short legs, trying to keep up even after he left her behind in the dust.

"Have you no love for us?"

It was the very thing she asked upon seeing her peers being spoiled rotten by their grandparents.

Do you not have any love for us, Grandpa?

Stupid question, really.

Mikoto never got her answer.

His silence still hurts, though.

"You know that my presence wouldn't change anything."

Mikoto uttered those words with a voice so calm and smile so incredibly poised, a feat only suitable to her position as the Clan Mother for the Uchiha clan. She didn't show any signs that she was shaken, nor did she display any signs that deep down, the terror has gripped her heart and washed her whole body cold.

She was calm, controlled and poised.

But Fugaku has inched closer, offering his support in silence. His warmth lined up against her trembling form, his soul reached out to embrace hers—an offer of intimate comfort that only exclusive for her—and his hand felt grounding at the small of her back.

Mikoto's smile grew a bit more amused and genuine as Nagato's purple eyes followed Fugaku's subtle movement.

Such a cute one, Kushina's little cousin was.

"But aren't you his granddaughter?" Nagato asked, with a voice so incredibly innocent and hopeful that Mikoto has almost forgotten that this boy is just six years younger than her.

It made something warm grew in her chest, washing the coldness of the dread away as it grew.

How lovely it was, for a child that was bred, born and raised in warring time like Nagato to still maintain that fragment of innocence and child-like hope. It was hard to remember that Nagato was only eighteen years old to her twenty-four. It was hard to think that there was so little in their age differences when his eyes lit up with so much hope despite everything that he has gone through while her eyes, on the other hand, have been weathered down with too many fear.

Fear, because this war didn't seem to want to end. Fear, because she was technically a traitor now. Fear, for Itachi's fate, should she and Fugaku were caught as traitors and her little boy would be growing up surrounded with the scorns from the village.

Fear, because her grandfather has never been able to tolerate traitors.

And she's a traitor now.

But she didn't show that.

Kushina and Minato might never be bothered with the hierarchy of a clan, but they were the only one left from their respective clan. Things were different for Mikoto. The Uchiha was a big clan that has always stressed on the importance of the system, on the importance to understand the chain of respect between all of them, and with two growing young Alphas in this room, Mikoto couldn't afford to show a poor example of a calm and collected elder to them.

As their superior, she was responsible to teach these boys the rule of clan-life, moreover with the fact that neither Nagato or Sakuto has ever been raised in a clan. They might be inferior to her position in term of ranks right now, but sometime in the future, they both were going to stand on top—probably as the heads of their respective clans.

There were duties that they need to learn, especially if one would consider that both of them were the hopes to revive the Uzumaki and the Hatake.

These boys need an elder to guide them, just like how Mikoto has Izuna to teach her everything that she needed to know as the future leader of the clan.

The first thing that her grandfather taught her was to never lose her cool.

She was taught that her destiny was to be the Clan Mother long before she could even manipulate her chakra. She was taught that she will become the backbone for the whole clan. It was her duty to keep the Head upright, to ensure the clan members moved as a unit and to make sure that the nasty little voices of the elders remained in their place within the clan.

It was her duty to maintain peace and balance within the clan, even if that would mean she has to steel herself weeding out the bad apples out.

Her grandfather taught her that.

Mikoto was told that without her, the whole clan will become crippled. If she lost herself, the whole system will collapse.

Keep a calm head on your shoulder.

So Mikoto inhaled deeply, fixing her gaze on Nagato's anxious eyes with unyielding steel nerves that have been forged and reinforced by the fire that was her own grandfather.

The boy was anxious—reasonably, of course—and Mikoto knew that the young Alpha was depending on her calm to keep himself from losing his own cool. Sakuto was calmer than Nagato, but that was probably attributed to the possibility that he knew what exactly Setsuna and Mari have brought back. The casual air among them was gone the moment Mikoto arrived here, and in its place was the air of uncertainty. They all have immediately discarded their duties to crowd around Sakuto, curious as they observed the decapitated head in Sakuto's hands.

As for Mikoto, she was lost in her own memories.

It has been a long time since the last Mikoto saw one of those things.

But she didn't say anything. Even after she was seated here, and that now everyone's attention was on persuading her to placate her grandfather to become their ally...

Mikoto didn't say anything.

Despite the hanging threat over her own head, she didn't say anything.

She remained calm, as she was expected to be.

You're fearless even against the worst of foes.

Mikoto cracked an assuring smile to both of the teenage boys in front of her, fearless despite the idea of having to antagonise her own grandfather.

Oh, she didn't like the thought at all. Her grandfather was the last person she will ever consider antagonising, moreover when she has a big figurative sign hanging on her neck labelling her as a traitor to Konoha.

But she remembered the lessons he had taught her.

Be fearless. Show no fear.

Thus, she fixed her calm gaze on Nagato's anxious purple orbs, before shifting her calm stare to meet Sakuto's confusion-addled gaze. Calm. She's their elder now and it was her duty to remain calm and keep them grounded. Mikoto allowed her eyes fluttered shut—a picture of serenity and poise—as she brought her teacup to her lips, sipping slowly as if they didn't have a literal threat hanging on their borders.

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was stern.

"Do you know why Fugaku is the third Clan Head of the Uchiha in these seventy years since the formation of Konoha?"

Sakuto jerked—just slightly, but Mikoto noticed it—while Nagato blinked almost instantly, now looking more confused than anxious.

Fugaku sighed.

Mikoto quirked a devious smile.

"Our first Clan Head ruled for nine years before he randomly went mad, and later disappeared without a trace," she started, still serenely sipping on her tea. "Our second Clan Head ruled for over five decades, only stepping down six years ago, on the day Fugaku is betrothed to me and was made to take over the responsibilities," she paused and waited, only speaking when the teacup felt colder in her palm. "Why is that, do you think? Fifty-five years is a long time for one person to rule a clan."

Silence.

Then, like an automated reaction, both Nagato and Sakuto redirected their questioning gaze towards Fugaku.

Fugaku winced, took in a sharp inhale and let out a heavy sigh.

"All the candidates before me died," he stated simply then.

There was a hitched breath coming from Sakuto, his mismatched eyes litting up as if he just gained enlightenment.

"The wars," the boy pondered out loud. "Of course."

Mikoto quirked a smile and shook her head.

"It wasn't only the war that killed them. Some of them fell to the temptations of their own heart," she explained, smiling oh so sweetly when the boy's mismatched gaze shifted to meet hers. "My grandfather executed them. The other candidates. His own sons and daughters. Grandsons and granddaughters."

Vibrantly coloured eyes widened as they sought her calm dark gaze.

"Execute them?" Sakuto hissed. "But, they're his own children—"

"Heirs," Mikoto corrected. "We're his heirs. Not his children."

The confusion on both of Sakuto and Nagato's faces was the exact replica of the confusion that was on her face twenty-years ago when her mother told her this.

When she was told to address Izuna as a figure of authority and nothing else, Mikoto was utterly confused.

Naturally, a stubborn child as she was, Mikoto didn't listen to her own mother, much to the man's fearful exasperation.

Her poor mother. She has given that poor man constant heartache and worries for stubbornly going against his advice. At that age, Mikoto didn't fully understand the reason her mother was so scared to antagonise or anger any of the pure Uchiha. She was far too young to understand that despite the genuine love her father showered her mother with, the man was still an outsider.

'War spoils', as some of the elders have whispered. Tajima annexed her maternal ancestor into the clan as their slaves long before Konoha started. A descendant of the warring era's war spoils. That was what her mother was. Mikoto's mother wasn't an Uchiha, despite carrying the crest upon his back.

Only after her birth did the whispers stopped, but the damage has been done and the poor man feared to provoke any of the pure Uchiha, especially with the absence of his Alpha.

Mikoto didn't make it any easier for him.

Out of all of Uchiha Izuna's heirs, Mikoto was the only one who persistently called him with the familiar name of 'Grandpa'.

Mikoto has lost her father to enemies of Konoha. The woman has fallen as a hero, leaving her only daughter to inherit her duties as the next-in-line to the clan's leadership, the Clan Heir from Izuna's bloodline.

Not that it mattered to young Mikoto. She didn't care of her role as the Clan Heir. All that she cared for was her own longing for a paternal presence.

Mikoto wanted a paternal figure in her life.

Not a patriarch. Not a sire.

She wanted a grandfather.

It didn't change anything. If anything, she was quickly labelled as a suicidal rebel by the rest of her kin. Bad blood, they called her, and that implication was blamed directly to her mother's origins.

She almost hated Izuna for it.

But the old man was the only who never treated her mother differently. The treatment Izuna bestowed on them, although cold and uncaring for most of the times, was the exact same with the treatment he gave to people with pure Uchiha blood in their veins.

It was hard for Mikoto hate that man after that. Not when her mother so obviously adored the man.

Mikoto adored Izuna too.

"Uchiha Izuna has never been mated to anyone," Fugaku explained quietly, answering Nagato's unspoken question. "He bedded multiple omegas and betas to bear his heirs, but never claimed anyone."

Thus, it hurts.

To know that her own grandfather has never seen her as anything more than an heir.

It hurts so terribly—to know that her last direct blood-relative wouldn't hesitate to take a blade to her throat should she made one wrong move.

He has done it multiple times before, without an ounce of hesitation.

All of her aunts, uncles and their children—if they didn't fall to the blade of the enemies as heroes of Konoha, they ended up at the blade of their own father, as war criminals and traitors.

Sure, the execution was justified.

War crimes. Horrible things they have done within the chaos of the first two wars, when the bad habit from the Warring Era still strong within their culture. Things like turning their backs on the village. Greed. Rape. Cowardice in the battlefield. Manipulation of helpless civilians. Abuse of the slaves.

They weren't perfect. There always some bad apples amongst the clan. It's human nature, to be tempted by outside forces—power, ego, lust, money and influence—and the law of both the Uchiha and Konoha would rule them out guilty regardless. Her problematic relatives got themselves into troubles, knowing full well that the symbol they wore upon their backs and over their foreheads would sentence them to death should they were ever caught.

It was justified, for these criminals to be sentenced to death.

But it hurts to know that their own patriarch wouldn't hesitate to do the job himself.

Have you no love for us?

She asked that question every time it happened. She always stood there as the crowd dispersed away from the execution ground, a lone small form staring longingly at the looming shadow near the puddle of blood. He wouldn't acknowledge her, his face remained unchanging as he wiped his sword clean, acting as if the blood dripping down his blade was of a stranger's rather than from his own loins.

But shouldn't there suppose to be a bit of grief in him?

Shouldn't there be a hurting heart somewhere beneath that ice-cold persona? The heart of a sire who was first betrayed by his own children, and later has to take on the responsibilities of executing them for their crimes? Every parent loved their children, right? No matter what kind of mistakes the children made, there should be a fragment of love that still remains in the parents, right?

It should be like that.

Have you no love for us, Grandpa?

Mikoto never got her answer.

All she got from him were lessons on how to be a good and calm elder for her future children.

"We're the clan of fire, but remember to never allow the fire of our heart to consume us."

That was one of the lesson that was drilled into her mind.

Sometimes Mikoto wondered if that was the reason Izuna has such a cold heart.

The world has a sick sense of humour.

Oh, how the world enjoyed toying with mortal's life, turning everything upside down in such an unexpected way.

And mortals changed to accommodate its whims.

Such a fascinating creature, a mortal is.

"Ah."

This mortal, particularly.

Once a bitter enemy sworn by blood and pain, but now, a loyal brother sworn to a mission that was not even his to shoulder. Once a violent soul so driven for war—yet now was the one who yearned to end the war that bred him into the world.

"They got Miko involved."

Cue the long-suffering sigh. The displeased scowl deepened, and she wondered if his sensory ability was still as good as how it was during his youth. She did sense the sudden appearance of fiery chakra in the general location of Ame—and judging from that burst of Hiraishin, the girl was brought here from Konoha no doubt. But, one should not compare her abilities to a mere mortal, let alone to compare her to a human that has withered so far down the decades of life.

Yet he was still able to sense his granddaughter's arrival, even from this distance.

Impressive.

How good was his sensory range? She knew that he was powerful once upon a time ago, but it has been decades since his prime. His brother wasn't able to maintain the same ability as he aged—the peace and quiet life as an isolated hermit has dulled his senses considerably.

But then again, Madara was at peace, raising his remaining child in pure secrecy and safety from the warring world.

Izuna wasn't.

Uchiha Izuna was never at peace.

The war never left him.

"And I had high hopes on Fugaku to stop her from being reckless too."

The complaint was followed by a soft groan. It was the first time she has witnessed him showing the genuine human behind all those ices. All those times watching him while she was a free soul wandering into Konoha to keep her human company, and this short year since she was liberated from her captors—the only conclusion that she could draw about him was that of his ice-cold persona.

Cold. Unyielding.

"Seriously, these kids…"

Unforgiving.

"We already have too many traitors in the family."

This time, she did snort a silent laugh upon the irony of that quiet complaint.

"Ironic to hear that coming from you," she purred, teasingly.

Her teasing was returned with another scowl.

"We do not need any more traitors," the retort came in an exasperated huff.

Once an unyielding leader hell-bent on protecting the village, regardless of what it cost him. He has fought, bled, killed and gave up his own heart to the war—for the village his brothers created and shaped.

"Madara and I are enough to fill up the traitor quota of the clan."

Yet now he's a traitor with set goals to deep cleanse Konoha, pulling strings and dirtying his own hands to push the future of the village—his granddaughter included—to turn their backs against the village and his fellow elders.

He sacrificed the village he has been protecting for the past fifty-five years with the hope that it will be reincarnated as a better one.

All those efforts, all the pain and heartache he dismissed—all of it went down the drain for the sake of a better village in the future.

It wasn't easy for a person of his calibre to swallow that massive ego and admitted his own mistakes.

Such fascinating little creatures humanity are.

Matatabi no Neko huffed a quiet laugh.

She wondered if Tobirama's little great-grandson would ever know how he has single-handedly changed the path of the most stubborn and unyielding Uchiha in the world.

One little complaint was all that it took—just a child's inane lament on how weird the clan has been treating him ever since his grandmother passed away—and Izuna changed.

But then again, Tsubame has always been Izuna's favourite, the little defiant fire that child was.

Despite the many omegas and betas he bedded, despite the numbers of children that were produced from all those clan-arranged affairs, it was his niece that Uchiha Izuna devoted his affection to.

Safe behind the protective barriers that hid Madara's little home from the world, Izuna warmed up to little Tsubame.

Matatabi noticed those fond little interactions between the uncle and niece even before she was captured, and it seemed that was the only thing about the Uchiha that hasn't changed in the decades of her imprisonment.

Izuna's fondness to his niece was amusing.

The little girl understood him, when not even Madara—his own brother—could fathom the nature that Izuna has chosen to embrace.

Human's bias at its finest, but it was only natural for Izuna to pay attention to the struggles of Tsubame's grandson than those of his own children and grandchildren. After all, Tsubame understood him, has struggled with similar things as he had, and has raised Obito with that habit of non-judgemental acceptance. It enforced a strange bond between the two, creating a kind of loyalty that Izuna didn't bestow to anyone else. It caused for that branch of affection he has for Tsubame to extend to Obito too, even after Tsubame's passing.

Despite the burden of having to shoulder Hashirama's trust and Tobirama's mission, Izuna was still able to extend a listening ear to the boy, pulling whatever strings he still has to keep Tsubame's grandson away from the arrangements that the clan was trying to push.

Izuna himself knew how that arrangement works, has been subjected to it even when he was the Clan Head, thus Matatabi genuinely adored his dedications to keep Obito away from the exact same situation.

Such dedication, even after the passing of the niece that he loved so dearly.

Fascinating. Humanity is so fascinating and unpredictable.

Matatabi chuckled, deeply amused.

"Aren't you cold?" he snapped in her direction, scowling as if she has deeply displeased him.

Once a cold, heartless man.

"That body is human and young, you know?"

Now, such an overprotective guardian.

She snorted, turning her head towards him, slightly preening at the way her blonde hair bounced to the movement. She missed her flaming blue fur of course, but these silky golden tresses weren't nearly as bad as she expected it would be. Sitting on the cold ground seemed to annoy him even further, thus naturally, she did that very thing.

"Didn't know that you care, Uchiha," she purred, stretching her small body over the cool grass, purposely ignoring the bedroll he has spread for her.

He huffed.

A second later, she flailed as the thick reinforced fabric of Konoha's military-grade coat engulfed her small body whole.

"Go to sleep," came the sharp order afterwards. "That body needs a healthy sleep schedule."

She didn't bother to tease him this time. Instead, she slinked into the warmth of the coat, purring as she did so. He was right after all. This body was young and impossibly human—so fragile and breakable it was unreal.

Not that the death of this body would mean anything to her, considering that the death of this little kitten would mean the freedom that has been taken from her decades ago.

But he loves children.

Once an uncaring beast.

Tobirama loves kids.

Now a loving friend.

So, I'm going to keep your life intact, kitten.

The campfire crackled in front of her, blue, just as her own flame once upon lost freedom ago. It burnt brightly, feeding off the dismembered remains of the White Zetsu that have been foolish enough to cross Izuna's path. Lulled by the alluring flickers of the fire, Matatabi's guard weakened, allowing the little spark of human consciousness she has subdued a year ago to stir within her.

Matatabi instantly hushed the kitten back to sleep.

It was still too dangerous for her young jinchuuriki to face the warring world.

Yugito was far too young right now.

Too young to fight. Too fragile for this war. Too weak to face their current enemies—the will and servants of the Moon Goddess. Too young to be burdened with the power of Matatabi no Neko.

Too innocent to realise the betrayal of her own village.

"Rest, little kitten," she purred to the stirring consciousness inside her.

Once an ignorant superior—a majestic cat demon who cared not of the humans she has to share this world with.

"Lend me your body."

The consciousness protested, albeit too feebly.

"Lend me your body," she hushed the kitten again. "Let me end the fight that we started."

Once an ignorant superior.

"And I shall wake you up once peace embraced us."

Now, a humbled living being.

A/N : If you have gone and read the handbook I created, you will probably know exactly what dynamic Obito's grandmother was (LMAO, she is an Alpha Female). And if you remember the lore of this universe, I have mentioned that they addressed the person who birth them as 'Mother' and the one who sired them as 'Father'.

Obito's grandmother is an alpha married to an omega male that is born from beta parents (hence the reason everyone assumed that Tsubame marries an unknown civilian). She is an alpha, yet we see her being addressed as 'grandmother' instead of 'grandfather'.

That should be enough of a hint to explain the reason Izuna loved her so much. He struggled with similar things, although not about his identity but rather with who he wanted to bed.

*cough*Touka*cough *is*cough * an alpha *cough cough*

Also, before you ask how exactly an omega male can be born from beta parents, go to the handbook, find Chapter 4 and scroll down until you see it under the subtopic Beta Female+Beta Male.

Annnnddd, Mikoto also is a child birthed from Omega Male mother and Alpha Female father. Her father was the first one in the clan who swallowed her ego and asked for the annexed slave family for her mate's hand in marriage. Weirdly enough, Izuna immediately named her as his Clan Heir right after the news of the proposal reached him.

Prior to this union, the annexed family only carry the name Uchiha but does not carry any of the Uchiha blood. Before Madara's rule as Clan Head, this family has a lot of abortions happening for some unknown reason *cough cough*

Let me know if you want me to include the explanation for this kind of politic in the handbook too.

M/N : Here's the author's comment reply that might clear things up about this chapter.

Tria said;

"Oof. Everyone seems to be confused this chapter.

Sorry.

Matatabi was possessing Yugito. Kumo has transferred their bijuu to a new vessel when their old one died and they have been shaping Yugito to be a weapon. Izuna secretly liberated her a year prior to this point in the timeline. Kumo just didn't let the knowledge that they have lost one of their bijuu out to the world because they didn't want other nations to take advantage of that.

Izuna considered himself a 'traitor' because he was acting against Konoha. Liberating Yugito, keeping her hidden and hunting Zetsu were few of the things he did that Konoha didn't know. Apart from that, one of Izuna's actual goals was to trigger a revolution in Konoha. After Obito complained about the treatment of the elders that he received, Izuna had a moment of realisation that he has been enabling whatever remnants of the behaviours from his generation (Warring Era gen) to remain, even as they lived in this new era of peace. He is aware that some of the customs or things that they commonly do prior to Konoha's formation was horrible, and that he couldn't allow it to fester as more and more generations being born. Think of it like the elders have lived most of their lives with weird customs such as child marriage or the concept that slaves are their possession and they can do whatever they wanted to their them, those things were normal. So, when Madara and Hashirama got the chance to get rid of the customs during the formation of Konoha, most of these hard-aged elders did not like the change. They felt like their rights were taken after Madara eliminated the customs, and are downright pissed when Madara freed their slaves and allowed some slave families who have nowhere to go to carry the clan's name as part of the clan despite having no Uchiha blood whatsoever (Mikoto's mother belonged to this freed slave families). That's why I portrayed the elders (be it the Uchiha or Konoha's elders themselves) as the group of people that did questionable stuffs. It is not like they're bad, but they have been raised in different generations entirely, where all of these questionable things were normal. They were good people, but unfortunately were resistant to change and still have the mindset of their dark age. Seventy years aren't enough to be rid of this mindset entirely, although I do intend to portray Minato's generation to be the one who started questioning everything.

That was the reason Izuna embraced the pain of killing his own children too. Matatabi mentioned that Izu gave up his heart for Konoha, and this is the events that she was referring to. His kids are not all bad (some turn out great actually, and he was proud of them even if he didn't show it). However, growing up around the elders (who are still disagreeing that they have to be rid of a lot of their 'normal' customs because of Konoha) and with a busy absent father, some of his kids grew up being influenced with the wrong mindset. Thus, when given opportunities, they decided to 'do the right thing' and went on doing all those 'evil' things under the idea of bringing back the Uchiha to the glorious age that the elders described to them. Izuna felt like he failed them, hence he shouldered the responsibilities of executing them when they were ruled out guilty by the law. He had thought his parenting was solely to blame for how some of his kids turned out, but Obito's complaint brought forth a new perspective he never considered, which is the elders' resistant to change. Ever since that moment, he has been trying to create circumstances that will provoke the younger generations to question all the elders, because he couldn't just fire them from their positions. It wouldn't work if he was alone, hence the things he done to push Mikoto's gen to act. He wanted all the hard-aged elders in Konoha being overthrown by Minato's gen and he has his trust for Mikoto to lead the revolution.

(P/s: Izuna was not the only 'elders' who have this goal)

Mikoto misunderstood her grandpa. It is not that Izuna didn't love his heirs regardless of the circumstance of their birth. It's just he loves them so deeply that it will break him if he didn't steel himself and keep his heart cold."