Chapter One: A Spanner in the Works

Fugaku Uchiha had a plan.

It was one that had long been in the making in case the worst should happen. The beginnings of it had been made when Minato was chosen as Hokage. Now it was in its final stages. Very soon it would begin, and the Uchiha would gain power over the village. Just as they had always deserved.

After all, Madara Uchiha had been the co-founder. Yet there had never been an Uchiha Hokage. Instead, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been given the position after Tobirama. He had in turn passed the torch to Minato and not Fugaku. And even when Minato was killed, the elders chose to bring back Sarutobi. The Village would rather be ruled by a senile fool than promote a ninja from the Uchiha.

Now there was only one choice.

A bloodless, perfectly executed coup.

"We need to abandon the coup," said Itachi Uchiha flatly.

Fugaku blinked as he looked at his son, kneeling before him. For a moment he halted, what had happened to prompt this? Itachi never made a pronouncement without a reason. "What do you mean?"

"What I said," said Itachi. "Our plan needs to be abandoned."

Was this a stand of principle? There had been suspicion that Itachi was more loyal to the Leaf than the Uchiha. But Fugaku had never believed it. The boy had become obsessed with the Will of Fire, in order to cope with the horrors of war.

Perhaps it was. "Itachi, you aren't seriously declaring loyalty to the Leaf over your own family, are you?"

"No," said Itachi. "However, your plan will never work. Ever."

Well, that was more... practical objection. "What are you talking about?"

"First of all, seizing Hiruzen and putting him under genjutsu," said Itachi. "You do realize that Hiruzen is the Hokage, comparable in power in his prime to Hashirama. Even if we could get him alone, he likely has countermeasures against such an occurrence.

"Seizing him quickly would be nigh impossible, let alone deceiving his senses. And the force necessary to overcome him would attract attention. Once a full-blown battle took place, it would be the Uchiha against everyone else. The very event we would be trying to avoid."

"It would still be possible, if we move swiftly. With proper execution we can-" began Fugaku.

"Be immediately found out by the Hyuga," finished Itachi.

"What?" said Fugaku.

"The Hyuga have the ability to detect the effects of the Sharingan on people," said Itachi. "As such, it would only take one meeting with a suspicious Hiashi, and our deception would be uncovered. Unless you want to massacre the entire Hyuga Clan first?"

"Of course not," said Fugaku, who privately doubted he was capable of such a thing. The Uchiha were powerful, but the Hyuga far more numerous. And they were a force to be reckoned with. "However, I had planned a political marriage to bind our clans together. The deception would only have to hold until that could be arranged.

"Hiashi's daughter, Hinata, is of similar age to Sasuke. If they were to be betrothed-"

"Are you willing to let one of the Uchiha be branded with the Caged Bird Seal?" asked Itachi flatly.

"No, of course not," said Fugaku.

"Do you think Hiashi would accept the Byakugan going to a member of the Uchiha Clan without a Caged Bird Seal?" asked Itachi.

Fugaku thought about what he knew about Hiashi. Then he thought about what he knew of the Hyuga in general. "No, probably not."

"Then this plan of yours is highly unlikely to succeed," said Itachi. "And even if it does, the Hyuga will be tenuous allies at best. The Yamanaka may easily discover our deception, and when they do, we will lose all credibility.

"In the ensuing chaos the other great nations will swoop in.

"And they will probably want to kill us all. Removing the Sharingan from play would make them far more powerful. It would also give them the chance to elevate a lesser clan to the position of Hokage, weakening the Leaf. Do you believe that you can suppress all the clans in the Leaf Village and fight the other great nations?"

Nothing Itachi was saying was untrue. The Uchiha were envied by many jealous clans. Many hunted Uchiha for their eyes. "And what other option is there! The Uchiha are persecuted! Distrusted!"

"We are one of the most powerful clans in the world," said Itachi. "And have sole control over the police force."

"Which has ruined our reputation!" said Fugaku. "The ordinary citizens fear us because we are the ones who arrest them when they stray. We are regarded as attach dogs. It was a ploy to ensure we'd be distrusted by the populace!

"And ever since the Nine-tails attack we have been feared all the more. No one extends us even the smallest amount of trust."

"No one trusts anyone in the Leaf," said Itachi flatly. "They only pretend to trust one another. The Hyuga Clan brands kill switched onto their own family."

"I will not hear of this, Itachi," said Fugaku. "We are too far along to stop now. You must fulfill your duty as a son and a member of the Uchiha."

"I also have a duty to the Leaf," said Itachi. "Fortunately, Shisui and I have come up with an alternative plan which should fix this problem. It will, in one move, force the Leaf to give us we have been denied, restore peace and also not break any laws."

Fugaku stared at him. This was far too good to be true. "Such a plan cannot exist."

"And if you don't use my plan, I'll destroy the Uchiha Clan and kill everyone here," said Itachi.

Fugaku went very, very still. He became aware that he was an incredibly skilled Shinobi, a victory of many campaigns. He'd battled all kinds of enemies and had achieved the very zenith of Uchiha power. And none of it would be even slightly useful if his son decided to kill him here and now.

He thought about the Uchiha, all the Uchiha and he realized Itachi could kill them.

Itachi would have the element of surprise. Knowing him, he'd probably already figured out where all the major threats would be. He could go from room to room, killing silently and by the time anyone knew what was going on...

You'd only have noncombatants.

But was Itachi capable of that kind of action?

Yes.

Of course he was.

Itachi had been raised on war. Fugaku had been proud when he'd graduated before anyone else and killed so many enemies. He was a master at nearly everything he set his hand to and pursued his duty without hesitation or doubt.

"Except Sasuke.

"Him I'll manipulate into spending the rest of his life seeking revenge as his reasons for living. All as part of an elaborate plan to get him to find friends. Or something along those lines."

Fugaku suddenly wondered if Itachi had grown into a man. Or a monster. And then Fugaku realized he hadn't been able to tell the difference.

"...Itachi, are you serious?" asked Fugaku.

"Quite," said Itachi. "I am a loyal and selfless servant of the Leaf. I am willing to make any sacrifice for the Leaf. In this case, you."

"...You'd be willing to murder your entire family simply to support men like Danzo?" asked Fugaku.

"Of course. Though I would be very sad," said Itachi. "So, would you like to hear my plan? Or shall bring peace to the Leaf Village?"

Fugaku laughed nervously. "...You know what, you talked me into it son."

Izumi was worried about her boyfriend, Itachi.

With all the plans for the coup, she knew he'd be under a lot of stress. Itachi had a tendency to take a lot on his shoulders. Worse still, people were only too willing to put a lot on his shoulders.

Still, she had her own paperwork to sort through.

Shisui moved in, looking in a foul mood as he sorted through papers. He slapped them down. "Can you believe this, Izumi?"

"What happened?" asked Izumi.

"We just got word from Fugaku," said Shisui. "The operation is scrapped."

"We're replanning?" asked Izumi.

"No, we're aborting," said Shisui with a frustrated smile. "End of the line."

"What?!" said Izumi, seeing endless hours of looking over street corners going to waste. "We just spent the last six months putting together the ideal way to take control and now we're just giving up?

"Did the Leaf give in?"

"No," said Shisui. "No word from the Leaf at all."

"So we're just giving in?" asked Izunami.

"From the looks of it, yes," said Shisui.

Izumi looked over endless amounts of paperwork she'd had to do on top of normal work. She felt herself die just a little inside as he did. "...What do we do now?"

"Well, there's this new five-star restaurant that opened up near here," said Shisui. "Want to check it out later with Itachi?"

"Yeah, sure, the coup was probably never going to work anyway-" began Izumi.

And then Fugaku entered.

Every single person in the entire police academy looked up to him as he walked forward. His expression was grave and a fist was clenched. "As some of you are no doubt aware, the Leaf has not been giving our clan the respect due to us.

"Itachi has suggested to me a means by which we may make our displeasure known without breaking any laws.

"Everyone out of the police station. We're going on strike."

Well, this was new.