And Then?

Uchiha Mikoto was in high spirits as she brought her son home.

But the moment they stepped through the door, mother and son both sensed the oppressive atmosphere inside.

Uchiha Fugaku and the four elders were sitting in the living room. Their faces were as dark as rainclouds, and the exhaustion etched between their brows showed that they had just had a fierce argument.

When they saw Uchiha Mikoto and her son return, the four elders forced polite smiles.

Elder Sifang asked, "Mikoto, you're back. How is Itachi's illness?"

Mikoto bowed gracefully and replied, "Thanks to you, Itachi is completely better."

Uchiha Itachi smiled and bowed in greeting. "Hello, Grandpa Shiho, Grandpa Setsuna, Grandpa Ximi, and Grandpa Yuichiro."

Uchiha Setsuna had a short temper, but he cared most about the clan's interests and its younger generation.

Seeing Uchiha Itachi greet them like a normal child instead of a little adult, no longer cold and aloof as before, made him genuinely happy.

"Haha, he's definitely cured."

"This is how a child should act. The way he was before just seemed fake."

Elder Ximi said, "It wasn't fake. His mind was stretched nearly to breaking, like a samurai's bow pulled taut."

"This is how he should be. You can tell at a glance he's a child with endless potential."

Uchiha Fugaku was happy too, relieved that he'd been able to undo his mistake before it became something he'd regret for the rest of his life.

The good news dispelled some of the gloom in the living room. The five men each breathed a little easier and resumed their discussion.

Uchiha Itachi sat obediently to one side, quietly listening as his father and the elders talked.

It turned out that Fugaku had gone to the Hokage Building that day to discuss taking over the properties and relocating the Uchiha Clan's home.

Instead, he had once again been ganged up on by the Konoha F4.

Shimura Danzō had handled the shameless blustering, using his power to bully others without the slightest regard for reason and denying the evidence Fugaku had brought, right to his face.

While Fugaku was flustered and furious, Mitokado Homura had played the good cop, smoothing things over while further confusing Fugaku and weakening his resolve.

Utatane Koharu had played the straight man, easing the tension at just the right moments to keep Fugaku from losing his temper and flipping the table, which would have sent the whole situation spiraling out of control.

Once the three of them had finished their "tear down the roof" routine, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had stayed silent the whole time, "opened a window" by once again proposing that the Uchiha relocate to their ancestral grounds.

This time, however, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reason wasn't the suspicion the Uchiha couldn't shake after the Night of the Nine-Tails, but rather that relocating would shield them from the storm of public opinion.

He promised with utmost sincerity, "Once public opinion has died down, I'll help the Uchiha."

And then—well, then Uchiha Fugaku somehow agreed and returned home in a daze.

No matter how Uchiha Fugaku recounted Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, the elders were naturally unhappy with the outcome: the Uchiha Clan still had to relocate.

So they hadn't even waited to go to the conference room. They'd started arguing in Fugaku's living room, and had continued until Uchiha Mikoto returned with Uchiha Itachi.

Once things had calmed down, the five men were finally able to discuss matters rationally. They retraced everything that had happened, and at last pieced together the whole process.

To be honest, Uchiha Fugaku was furious, but he could only sigh helplessly. "Either way, I agreed to the Third Hokage's demand in my capacity as Uchiha Clan Head. I can't—I can't go back on my word, can I?"

Uchiha Setsuna slammed his hand on the table. "That's nonsense! You're making the whole clan abandon their homes and livelihoods just to save face. How can you call yourself the Uchiha Clan Head?"

Unfortunately, the other three elders didn't see it that way. They all felt that since the clan head had agreed, the rest of them should accept it too.

Four to one!

The outcome was settled!

Uchiha Setsuna could no longer turn things around. Even with his hair practically standing on end from rage, all he could do was sit back down, breathing hard.

Just then, Uchiha Itachi, who had been quiet until now, asked, "And then?"

Uchiha Fugaku blinked. "And then what?"

Itachi looked at his father with his round, black eyes. "Once our Uchiha Clan relocates, when will Hiruzen Sarutobi fulfill the promise he made to Father?"

Fugaku was silent for a long moment before frowning. "You shouldn't address the Third Hokage by his name."

Uchiha Itachi asked in return, "Why? Is Hiruzen Sarutobi's name something shameful?"

Fugaku was at a loss. "No, it's just impolite and disrespectful..."

Itachi shook his head. "Father, you don't need to worry about little details like how to address him."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi said he'd help the Uchiha once public opinion died down. What exactly counts as public opinion dying down? When no one in Konoha remembers the Uchiha anymore?"

"Is there any deadline for this so-called cooling down? A month? Half a year? A year? Ten years? Or will it never end?"

Before Uchiha Fugaku could answer, Itachi asked another question. "And how exactly will Hiruzen Sarutobi help our Uchiha Clan?"

"Will he help us move back to our homes now? Or will he announce, in his capacity as Hokage, that we're innocent and the suspicion against us has been cleared?"

"Or will he just say he's sorry to you in the Hokage's office?"

"Or maybe... he never planned to do anything at all?"

Uchiha Fugaku stared at him, dumbfounded. He hadn't considered any of these questions and had no idea how to answer them.

But Uchiha Itachi wasn't finished. In an innocent tone, he asked, "Father, I remember that land prices in Konoha have gone up several times over. Our Uchiha Clan's land is right in the center of the village, so the land and houses must be worth a lot, right?"

"If our whole clan moves away, what will happen to our land and houses?"

"Will we rent them out for others to live in, or sell them?"

"Or does the Third Hokage mean for the village to take them for free?"

Smack!

Uchiha Setsuna was so excited that he slapped the tea table to pieces and cried out, "Uchiha Itachi is right!"

"I knew it! Hiruzen Sarutobi is lying to us. None of his promises have any concrete conditions for fulfillment, let alone deadlines. They're all vague and unclear."

"When the time comes, he'll only have to deny it shamelessly, and we'll have no grounds to demand anything!"

Uchiha Fugaku furrowed his brow and said hesitantly, "But this was a promise from the Third Hokage. He shouldn't..."

Uchiha Itachi spoke again. "When the Fourth Hokage was in office, wasn't Hiruzen Sarutobi still in charge of the Anbu?"

This time, Uchiha Shiho shot to his feet—well, sprang up from his chair. "Itachi is right! The Third Hokage could even sideline the Fourth and make Namikaze Minato his puppet. What wouldn't he do?"

"We really couldn't see the forest for the trees. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō tricked us with their little good-cop, bad-cop routine!"

"Thank goodness Itachi can see right through Hiruzen Sarutobi's hypocrisy with those pure eyes of his!"