Chapter Text
Part 1
The Uchiha symbol is perfectly painted across a sign that stretches over an entryway on the streets of Konoha. A lone man in white steps through.
Inside of the compound, a young Naruto and Sasuke, about seven years old, throw a ball back and forth. Sasuke chucks it as hard as he can. The ball hits Naruto right in the stomach, knocking him back onto his butt.
"Agh! C-caught it!" He stutters. He slowly pulls himself back up off of the ground.
Sasuke hears footsteps. He turns to see who it is. He freezes up, face turning pale.
The ball flies over and hits Sasuke directly in the head, bouncing off.
Naruto starts laughing hysterically, "Ha ha ha! Direct hit!"
His laughter cuts off when he sees the man that has already shocked Sasuke. Naruto's jaw drops.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, walks over and picks up the ball before tossing it lightly to Sasuke. "Hey boys. You keep playing out here for awhile, I need to talk with your dad." He walks past them. Mikoto Uchiha greets him at the door and brings him inside.
Sasuke and Naruto run over to each other, excited and freaking out.
Naruto yells, "That was the Hokage!"
"What the heck is he doing at our house?!" Sasuke questions.
The boys give each other a serious look and nod their heads simultaneously before running into the house.
They tip-toe down the hallway and approach a door. Sasuke lifts his finger to his mouth and gives Naruto a "Shhhh." He then cracks open the door enough to peak inside.
On one side of the room, Hiruzen is taking a seat. Across from him, Fugaku and Itachi are already seated. Fugaku has nasty scars across his face where his eyes used to be.
Naruto whispers, "Big brother is in there too."
Hiruzen speaks, "Let me make this clear, this conflict has to come to an end. I'm here to make a proposal to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."
Fugaku doesn't move a muscle, maintaining his stern look.
Hiruzen, with a very serious tone, continues, "I will name Itachi Uchiha as my successor. I will take him under my personal tutelage to prepare him as the next leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. When he turns eighteen years of age, I will step down and name him Hokage!"
After a long pause, Fugaku finally answers, "You want to string us along for five more years?"
Hiruzen bellows, "Hokage is a heavy burden! You remember Lord Fourth as well as anyone. We don't want to put that weight on Itachi until he is ready. A five year plan under my wing, with all of the Uchiha and all of the Leaf behind him - We will make sure he is ready to carry that weight first."
Fugaku keeps silent.
"Please, let this mend the crack between the Uchiha clan and the rest of Konoha once and for all." Hiruzen pleads. "Before something terrible happens."
Itachi puts his hand on his father's shoulder. Fugaku tilts his head down.
"These terms are acceptable." Fugaku mutters.
Back in the hallway, Mikoto sees her youngest boys eavesdropping. She closes the crack in the door and grabs both of them by their ears. "You two are in so much trouble!" She yells as she drags them down the hall.
When she finally lets go, Naruto's face lights up with joy. He says under his breath with a sense of wonder and amazement, "Itachi is going to be Hokage."
Part 2
Itachi, now about 17 years old, sits at a desk writing on a scroll. He puts his pen down, gets up from his desk, and walks across the room. He hands the scroll to Hiruzen who is sitting at his own desk in the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen takes the scroll and looks over it, muttering to himself as he reads. "Ah, very good. Very good, Itachi. You truly are wise beyond your years."
"Thank you, Lord Third." Itachi bows.
Danzo enters the room.
Hiruzen continues his praise, "I'm very proud of the progress you've made." He smiles. "You can head on home early today. Spend some time with your family."
Itachi bows one more time and heads out.
"I'm here because some of the Uchiha insurgents have been buzzing about this afternoon." Danzo states calmly. He walks farther into the room and sits on the edge of the Hokage's desk.
"I don't understand it..." Hiruzen lets out his frustration. "Most of them have settled down since Itachi was named my successor. Why do these few still persist with this conflict?"
"That's exactly why I told you not to give in to them." Danzo lectures, "Appeasing never works. They just ask for more and more. It was bad enough when you allowed them control over the jinchuriki. Every time you cave, they only get more brash."
Hiruzen defends himself, "Now, now. Naruto isn't just a jinchuriki. He is the son of the Fourth Hokage. He is also a member of this village, all of whom I consider my family. No one else would have taken care of him the way that Mikoto and Fugaku have. And on top of that, he is safest near Sharingan wielders whom stand the best chance of stopping the Nine-Tails if anything were to go wrong! I whole heartedly stand by that decision."
"Well, agree to disagree." Danzo scoffs.
A woman carrying a tray with tea walks in. She places it down on the Hokage's desk and pours two cups. She leaves the cups, picks up the tray with the teapot and begins to walk out.
Danzo squints his eyes at her as she walks past. He turns and slaps the tea from Hiruzen's hands just before he takes a sip. The tea turns to acid and burns through the desk.
The woman tries to run. Danzo throws a kunai, hitting her directly in the back of her neck. She goes limp immediately, dropping to the floor.
"What the hell was that!" Hiruzen yells.
Danzo, in a monotone voice, says, "It seems after all of your efforts, all you could do is delay the coup."
Upset and shaken, Hiruzen vents, "They'd try to assassinate me? For what? To bring in Itachi's reign one measly year sooner?!"
Danzo speculates, "Maybe they worry you are brainwashing him against the Uchiha."
"That is ludicrous!" Hiruzen is getting more and more heated.
"Well, he did give us a list of names of his own clansmen he believes to be apart of the insurgence..." Danzo points out.
Just then, two Leaf shinobi run in, "Is everything okay?"
"It's handled." Danzo calmly states.
The two men look down at the desk, now split in two from the acid. They then look at the woman forming a puddle of blood around her neck.
"I need to take a walk." Hiruzen storms out of the room.
Danzo commands the two shinobi, "Trail him. Keep your distance but stay at the ready." They both run after him.
Now alone in the room, Danzo flips the woman over. He rips out her eyes slowly and carefully.
Later that night, Danzo walks into the cemetery.
Hiruzen is standing at the graves of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
Hiruzen senses Danzo walk up behind him. "I have so many regrets." He puts his hand on Minato's name carved in the stone. "I don't even know what is fair to blame myself for anymore and what was unavoidable."
"You're a good man, Hiruzen. You just don't have the stomach for what is necessary sometimes." Danzo scolds. "Always with the half-measures..."
A tear runs down Hiruzen's cheek.
Danzo continues, "You can no longer allow an Uchiha to lead Konoha. Not after that."
"Itachi did nothing wrong!" Hiruzen yells back.
"It doesn't work like that. You know it doesn't. A show of strength is required after disrespect like that. Or they won't stop until they've destroyed everything you love." Danzo continues to spin his web. "An example needs to be made."
More tears fall from Hiruzen's face.
Danzo puts his hand on his shoulder, "Appoint me Hokage and I will do what you don't have the strength to do. I'll do what needs to be done."
There is a long pause of silent crying.
"Just... Schedule an announcement from the Hokage first thing in the morning. I want the whole village gathered at the front steps of the Hokage's Mansion." He says sadly.
Danzo smirks the most menacing smirk. "Consider it done."
Part 3
"Wake up!" Itachi's voice yells, "Wake up, Naruto!"
Naruto opens his eyes and sits up in his bed. "Huh? What's going on?"
Itachi answers, "The Hokage has called an emergency meeting this morning. Get dressed."
Sasuke comes running in yelling, "Itachi! Mom said you were gonna hang out with Shisui after the meeting. You gotta let me come with you guys, please!"
Itachi pokes him in the forehead and smiles. He walks out of the room without saying another word.
Sasuke follows after him, "Come on!"
Outside, the morning sun rises in Konoha.
Mikoto, Itachi, Sasuke, and Naruto all make their way together through the crowd that is forming at the bottom of the steps outside of the Hokage's Mansion. They get towards the front, where they find Shisui. Itachi and Shisui perform their secret handshake.
Naruto pulls on Mikoto's sleeve, "Hey, where's dad, anyway?"
Mikoto responds, "He was already gone when I woke up. I assume he's with the police prepping security for this."
The crowd is fully formed. Hiruzen appears at the top of the stairs. The village goes silent to listen to him speak.
Hiruzen's voice booms loudly for all to hear, "Hello, Konoha. I have asked you all to come here this morning..." He chokes up a little. "The first order of business is that I have retired."
The crowd gasps.
Hiruzen continues, "Fear not, my replacement has a Will of Fire that may even burn brighter than my own."
Danzo steps to the front of the crowd with a big smile on his face.
"I hereby appoint you, Itachi Uchiha, the Fifth Hokage!" He announces.
"What!?" Danzo screams furiously.
Itachi looks confused. "This isn't supposed to happen until next year. What's going on?" He says out loud.
"Now I am no longer speaking to you as your Hokage. I am speaking to you as Hiruzen Sarutobi. I hope you all will still listen." He pauses and looks out at the crowd.
Everyone looks pretty confused, but stays quiet. They want to know more.
Hiruzen keeps speaking, "I have always considered every single one of you as a member of my family. Some of you are wondering where some of your family members have gone to when waking up this morning..." His voice gets shaky. "I am so sorry."
Some crowd members visibly panic, including Mikoto.
"Is that blood on him?!" Someone shouts out.
Many just now notice that he has been holding a sheathed sword, and his hands do, in fact, appear to have blood on them. A few other people scream. The crowd is becoming restless.
"I take full responsibility for what I've done. It was me alone. You see, there was an attempted coup. A small fractured group within the Leaf had to be removed so that the rest of you could finally move forward... Konoha, please realize that you are all stronger united!"
Itachi's eyes are focused on the sword. "Is that my father's blade?!" He yells.
Hiruzen locks eyes with Itachi. Memories of what happened last night flash through his mind.
There are multiple dead bodies lined up neatly in the moonlight. Many of them have an Uchiha symbol on their clothing. Hiruzen stands over them. The blind Fugaku approaches, his sword at his hip.
Hiruzen yells to him, "You don't have to be apart of this. Think of your sons."
"I cannot stand by and do nothing. I cannot allow this." Fugaku explains.
The tension builds in the air. Fugaku reaches for his sword. Hiruzen's monkey staff extends, stuffing his draw, the blade staying in the scabbard.
"You'll have to kill me." Fugaku says calmly.
"I will do what I must." Hiruzen begrudgingly responds. He holds his staff in place blocking Fugaku's sword from being drawn while running towards him, the monkey staff reducing it's length in the process. Hiruzen draws a kunai with his other hand and pierces Fugaku's heart.
Back in the crowd, Itachi watches a tear fall from Hiruzen's eye.
"Please let the infighting stop here." Hiruzen cries. He drops to his knees and drops the sword in front of him.
Itachi notices him subtly performing hand signs.
"I beg you all, let THIS be the end of all of this foolishness!" Hiruzen pleas one last time.
"That's fire style." Itachi states, still staring at Hiruzen's hands.
Hiruzen picks up Fugaku's sword and draws it. The blade ignites in a burst of yellow flames. Hiruzen turns the blade toward himself, thrusting into his own stomach. He struggles to drag the blade through his intestines as his body catches fire. Hiruzen screams as he pushes through, completing the full 'Z' shape cut of a harakiri.
Most of the crowd turns away. The head of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi, is standing next to his twin brother. He does not cover Hinata's eyes, but she turns her own head. Neji tries to watch, but his father, Hizashi, forces Neji to turn his head. Hana Inuzuka steps in front of her little brother, Kiba, and hugs him, blocking his view. Mikoto is desperately covering Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes.
Itachi can't look away. Hiruzen immolates in the reflection of Itachi's eye, burning to a crisp. His Sharingan transforms into Mangekyo Sharingan.