Naruto Uzumaki

Uchiha Izuna's words kept needling Fugaku, who had grown used to throwing his weight around at home over the years. He was starting to feel displeased.

"Izuna, is that how you speak to your father? Have you learned nothing from all those lessons in noble etiquette?" Uchiha Fugaku said coldly.

"Fugaku!" Mikoto Uchiha snapped. Uchiha Fugaku's eyelid twitched, and he reined himself in.

Uchiha Izuna wanted to lose his temper, but when his mother looked at him, he held it back. In the end, he sat down on the floor and said to Sasuke Uchiha, "Sasuke, from now on, no one is allowed to bully you. Not your older brother, and not Father either."

"If anyone dares bully you, tell your second older brother. I'll make them pay!" Uchiha Izuna said, his meaning barely veiled.

On the surface, he was speaking to Sasuke. In reality, he was taking a jab at Uchiha Fugaku. How could Uchiha Fugaku not know it? He felt a little dejected.

He wasn't fit to be a clan head, nor was he fit to be a father. What a failure of a life!

Mikoto Uchiha patted Uchiha Izuna's head. "What are you talking about, Izuna? Who would bully Sasuke? Now eat, be good!" She was at a loss.

Izuna used to be fairly well-behaved and had never had a major clash with Uchiha Fugaku. But after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, his personality had changed dramatically.

Alas, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan was a fine thing, but awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan brought at least some change in personality. Mikoto Uchiha knew that.

So she understood Uchiha Izuna.

Uchiha Izuna deflated and slumped his head. There was nothing he could do. Whenever he was faced with his mother, all his pressure and imposing aura vanished.

His mother had a way of keeping him in check. After all, she had always cared for him. She had never given up on him just because he lacked talent, and had looked after and cherished him day in and day out for ten years.

Just as Uchiha Izuna was feeling down, he felt something brush against his cheek.

He looked over and saw Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke's face was red, and his eyes darted around.

Uchiha Izuna smiled, then pinched his cheek. "Sasuke, what do you want to eat? Your big brother will get it for you. Eat as much as you like. Don't worry about noble etiquette."

Sasuke Uchiha froze, then looked up at Uchiha Izuna with wide eyes. "Big brother, I want Three-Color Dango!"

He pointed to the five skewers of Three-Color Dango on the table, his mouth already watering again.

Uchiha Izuna even heard him swallow with a gulp.

Uchiha Izuna smiled and brought over the Three-Color Dango. Sasuke Uchiha reached out to take it, then instinctively glanced at his father, but Uchiha Izuna pinched his cheek.

"Eat your food. Don't look around." After speaking, Uchiha Izuna picked up a piece of Salmon Sushi with his hand and dipped it in the special sauce before popping it into his mouth.

Cool and refreshing, the tender fish burst with juice in his mouth. So good!

Uchiha Izuna savored the food, and Sasuke Uchiha was influenced by him and started eating heartily too. Seeing this, Mikoto Uchiha's lips curled up.

As a housewife, what she most wanted was for people to enjoy the food she made. In the past, Uchiha Izuna and Sasuke Uchiha had always eaten only until they were half full because of noble etiquette.

She had gotten into no end of arguments with Uchiha Fugaku over it. They were just children. What was wrong with enjoying their food?

But Uchiha Fugaku wouldn't budge in the slightest. "They are the children of me, Uchiha Fugaku, and the clan head's sons!"

"To wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Since they enjoy the privileges of being the clan head's children, they must also accept the restrictions that come with them."

Uchiha Fugaku was stubborn. He wouldn't give an inch on this matter, which infuriated Mikoto Uchiha.

But today, when Mikoto Uchiha watched Uchiha Fugaku, she noticed that he didn't try to stop them. There was even a gentle look in his eyes as he watched Uchiha Izuna and Sasuke Uchiha.

One was his younger son, and the other was now one of the pillars of the Uchiha Clan, with the power and leverage to negotiate. What was there left to restrict?

Uchiha Fugaku knew that every rule in this world was made by those in power, and the rise of those in power was closely tied to the strong.

In this world, power outranked wealth, an army outranked power, and strength outranked an army.

To sum it up, one thing was at the root of this world: strength. Judging by the strength Uchiha Izuna had displayed earlier,

Uchiha Fugaku had to think carefully about what he said, because Uchiha Izuna was powerful. It was as simple as that!

Mikoto Uchiha led Uchiha Fugaku to sit across from Uchiha Izuna and Sasuke Uchiha.

They enjoyed their meal. Sasuke Uchiha ate his fill, then told Uchiha Izuna about what had happened at school.

"You mean you made a friend today? His name is Naruto Uzumaki?" Uchiha Izuna raised an eyebrow, then suddenly realized something.

At the sound of that name, Uchiha Fugaku sighed, and Mikoto Uchiha's body trembled as her eyes reddened.

"How is he doing?" Uchiha Izuna knew Naruto's childhood had been miserable, but he still wanted to hear what things were really like.

"Ah, he said the money he gets each month isn't even enough for food. And the shopkeepers will only sell him expired milk. He once gave me a sip of expired milk to drink."

"That taste..." Sasuke Uchiha made a face. "But I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I swallowed it and said it tasted good."

Uchiha Izuna patted Sasuke Uchiha's head. "Sasuke's learned how to look after people."

Sasuke Uchiha looked up, then smiled.

Mikoto Uchiha turned to Uchiha Izuna. "Izuna, do you have any way to make that child's life a little better?"

Uchiha Izuna shook his head. "The village treats our clan like a band of thieves. If we approach the Jinchuriki, I'm afraid the Third will show up in less than ten minutes and punish us."

Mikoto Uchiha's gaze dimmed. She knew Uchiha Izuna was telling the truth, but she couldn't help feeling sad.

Kushina was her friend. She wanted to look after her old friend's child, too. But why did the village hold such hostility toward the Uchiha Clan?

The Nine-Tails Incident hadn't been their fault. Just because they had the same eyes as that mysterious person, did they deserve to be punished collectively?

Seeing Mikoto Uchiha's disappointment, Uchiha Izuna got up to comfort his mother, then glanced at Uchiha Fugaku, whose eyes were wandering.

He knew Fugaku had once planned to kidnap the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and use the Mangekyō Sharingan to carry out a coup d'état. But through his own ocular ability, he had seen two possible outcomes.

In one, after defeating Konoha, they would be attacked by the other four villages, and both the Uchiha Clan and Konoha would be wiped out.

In the other, things would unfold as they had in the original story: the entire clan would be exterminated, with only his two sons left alive, while most of the village's fighting force survived.