Fugaku's Visit

"So, Menma, how exactly did you find us?" Sakura asked curiously.

At Sakura's question, everyone turned to look at Menma, clearly eager to hear his answer.

"Well..." Menma smiled, looking mysterious. "I'm not telling you," he added.

"What a troublesome guy!" Shikamaru said, looking away with a disgruntled expression.

"All right, it's getting late. We should all head home!" Menma suddenly said. He'd nearly blurted out the rest, but remembered Naruto was there and stopped himself in time.

The others were clearly reluctant, and one by one they let out disappointed sighs.

"Aw, even though I really don't want to, I'll tell you tomorrow," Menma said, pretending to be reluctant.

Then he headed home without another word. "Hey, Menma, wait for me!" Naruto hurried after him. The others couldn't make out what they were saying, so they had no choice but to go home.

As soon as the two reached their front gate, they saw Fugaku's family sitting outside their house. Menma jumped in alarm, thinking they'd come to demand an explanation.

He immediately hid behind Naruto and pushed him forward.

"Hey, hey, hey! Menma, what are you doing?" Naruto was baffled by Menma's inexplicable behavior. Then he looked ahead and saw people sitting outside their house.

Fugaku and the others heard the commotion and turned toward Naruto and Menma.

Menma felt as if a lion had fixed its eyes on him, and he couldn't help shivering.

They stood up and came to the gate.

"Um, sir, ma'am, who are you? Did you need something?" Naruto spoke first. Usually, Menma handled this sort of thing, unless he didn't know the people.

"You must be Naruto. I'm a good friend of your mother's!" Mikoto said first.

"A good friend of our mother's?" Naruto looked at them in confusion.

"We didn't know you were Kushina's children before. Once we found out, we decided to come visit you," Mikoto explained.

"Is that right?" Naruto glanced at Menma, uncertain. Menma didn't know what to say, so he decided to keep quiet. The less he said, the less likely he was to say the wrong thing.

"That's right. This is our first time visiting you." With that, Mikoto walked right up and scooped them both into her arms.

"Your mother was still pregnant with you when I felt you kicking! Ahahaha..." Mikoto laughed.

Naruto didn't know how to react, while Menma was speechless. No wonder Mikoto and Kushina had become such close friends. Their personalities were rather alike.

"Mom!" Sasuke shouted, sounding jealous.

"Oh, right. Let me introduce you. This is Uchiha Sasuke, my younger son. He's a few months older than you, so you should call him big brother. And this is my eldest son, Uchiha Itachi." Mikoto set the boys down and introduced them.

Itachi was initially surprised by the scene. He hadn't expected Mikoto to act like that.

"Um, are we going to stay out here? Let's go inside," Menma said. They'd have to face this sooner or later.

Menma went to the door, took out his key, and unlocked it. The others followed him inside.

Menma ushered them into the living room and had them sit down, then asked Naruto to make tea. Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai Yuhi visited often, so they always kept tea on hand.

"So you didn't just come by for a visit, did you? The Uchiha Clan leader getting close to a Jinchuriki—aren't you worried something might happen?" Menma asked bluntly.

"What a little grown-up," Mikoto said with a quiet laugh.

Fugaku, who had been silent until then, finally spoke. "This morning, you and..."

"That's right. I was out playing with my big brother all morning," Menma interrupted, then glanced at Naruto.

Fugaku immediately understood what Menma meant and said nothing more.

"Uncle, come with me. There's something I want to show you. Itachi, you should come too." With that, Menma headed upstairs.

Fugaku stood and followed Menma to the second floor. Itachi got up and followed them as well.

"Big brother, stay downstairs and keep Auntie and Sasuke company. We might be a while." Menma stopped by the railing to tell him, then led the other two into his room.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm the big brother, but Menma's always ordering me around like he's the grown-up." Naruto glared upstairs, puffing out his cheeks in frustration.

Mikoto covered her mouth and giggled, then started chatting with Naruto.

Once they were in the room, Menma drew the curtains before turning on the light.

As soon as it came on, Fugaku and Itachi saw Minato's Hokage cloak.

"Make yourselves comfortable." Menma ushered them in, then lay down on the bed and dispelled his Shadow Clone.

The instant it disappeared, Menma felt deeply exhausted. Phew... I managed okay today. He thought to himself.

Menma closed his eyes and absorbed the results of his training that day. Then he sat up and said to Fugaku, "Uncle, you mainly came to see me today, didn't you?"

Fugaku nodded, then asked, "Menma, what did you mean by what you said to Itachi and the others this morning?" He sat in a chair and looked at Menma.

"Uncle, let me ask you something first. Which matters more, your clan or the village?" Menma asked.

Fugaku froze and stared at Menma in surprise. This was something he'd struggled with for a long time. The conflict between the clan and the village had grown increasingly intense, and the radicals even wanted to stage a coup, targeting Konoha's High Command.

Fugaku couldn't answer. He was still trying to work out what he should say.

Itachi was just as surprised, staring at Menma.

"Uncle, Itachi, why don't you think about this? If the Uchiha Clan really staged a coup, how would it end for you?" Menma asked.

The two were stunned, staring at Menma in disbelief. Only a handful of Uchiha knew about the plan. They wondered how Menma had found out and even began to suspect that Konoha's High Command already knew.

"How did you find out?" Fugaku finally began to panic.

"So you admit it, then. Let me tell you this, Uncle: the Nine-Tails can sense the malice of others, read their state of mind, and peer into their hearts. Do you believe me?" The highest level of lying was to mix truth with falsehood. Besides, no one could tell whether this was true or not.

Fugaku fell silent. He suddenly realized he might have walked right into Menma's trap.

"Itachi, if you really love Sasuke, then please hide your strength. Your reputation is already impressive, but you still need to keep your abilities hidden until that man dies."

"That man? Which man?" Itachi asked curiously.

"Shimura Danzō," Menma said slowly.

Fugaku was startled. He stared at Menma in disbelief.

"I don't need to tell you much about Danzō. He's behind a lot of things you'd never expect, and he really wants to wipe out the Uchiha Clan." Menma suddenly sat up and looked at Fugaku, exhaustion plain on his face.

"How could that be? Even so..." Fugaku started to object, but Menma cut him off before he could finish.

"If Itachi keeps going the way he is now, he'll probably join the Anbu. Given his personality, he might become a spy—a double agent. I think you can guess why, Uncle. If one day a rebellion by the Uchiha becomes unavoidable, Itachi will be torn between both sides. Then Danzō will tell him to slaughter his own clan and allow him to spare Sasuke. As the clan leader and his father, what would you do?" Menma waited for Fugaku's answer without saying another word.

"I might... not fight back, because I wouldn't want father and son to turn against each other." Fugaku thought for a long time before answering.

"Then there's the problem. That would be the best outcome, according to my guess. The worst outcome is that none of you survive. There are Root members watching my house, and if Danzō loses patience, he might make his move early," Menma said.

The two fell silent. Then Fugaku suddenly realized something. "Itachi hasn't joined the Anbu yet, so that plan won't be made. If that's the case, I'll definitely fight back, and Konoha's High Command will suffer heavy losses too." Fugaku spoke as if he'd found a flaw in Menma's argument.

"That's true. But what if several of Konoha's other clans joined forces to crush the Uchiha under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion? What would you do then? Konoha would be weakened, and other villages could take the opportunity to attack..." Menma trailed off, looking at the two of them.

They fell silent, mulling over what Menma had said.

"Then what should we do? Are we just supposed to let the clan be wiped out?" Fugaku said dejectedly. He had no idea what to do.

"It's simple. Kill Danzō, have one of the Sannin, Tsunade or Jiraiya, succeed the Fifth Hokage, and vigorously train a new generation of Uchiha, finding a way to make them students of the Sannin. Give up all authority over the Konoha Military Police Force. And most important of all, the radicals have to die!" Menma spoke without any expression. None of this sounded like something a child not yet four years old could say.

The two fell silent again, unsure what to say.

"Let me tell you one more secret. Apart from Kakashi-sensei and the Hokage, no one else knows about it. But I can only tell you after you've given me your answer." Menma gave them a mysterious look.

The two stared blankly at Menma. For some reason, he seemed impossible to read.

"Sacrifice a few people to save the majority, then work your way into the inner circle of the High Command. What do you think? Isn't that a good plan?" Menma watched them, waiting for their answer.