Year 14 of Konoha, winter. The Toyotomi Clan compound, Meeting Hall.
The fire crackled, but it could not suppress the heat and flying spittle that filled the room.
Sitting, standing, or squatting on the threshold, most were men of the Toyotomi House, with a few fiery women among them. There were not so many rules here. Tea bowls clacked against table edges, and each voice rang louder than the last.
"Pah! Just mentioning those Uchihas pisses me off!" A burly man with a scarred face and half an ear missing thumped his tea bowl onto the table, splashing water everywhere. "Normally, they've got their eyes on top of their heads, looking at us like dog shit on the roadside! But when it comes down to business? Huh? All they fucking know is infighting! That pretty boy Kagami Uchiha spends all day running to the Hokage building. He might as well change his surname to Senju! His older cousin Yu Uchiha hides in their compound playing with his moldy old clan rules. Not a damn bit of use! Just watches their promising brats run off! Useless! A whole nest of useless bastards!"
"Exactly! How many years has our Toyotomi House even been established? Look at us! Food and drink, missions to take, monthly pay, medicine when we're hurt, compensation for our families when we die! Rules are rules, but ours protect our own! Now look at the Uchiha! Hmph!" A wiry man chimed in, his tone dripping with contempt. "Their promising youngsters are almost all poached away, and they're still putting on that stinking 'bloodline glory' act! Serves them right, if you ask me!"
"Have you heard? The clan head gave an order a few days ago!" A well-informed young man squeezed to the front, lowering his voice without managing to