Ruminant

xv

15.

As Shikaku made his way to the Hokage building, he was preoccupied with thoughts regarding the current state of the war. About how it would be wise to make use of the advantage Konoha got from the Kannabi Bridge mission.

That particular assignment wasn't met without casualties but it did the trick. The tide was currently in Konoha's favor, but it would take a lot of careful planning to end the fighting once and for all.

Not that it lightened his workload since there was Hatake's Sharingan and the Uchihas whining to think off, the amount of shinobi in his clan to be deployed, the breach in the village's defenses the other day which rendered casualties of its own before they were handled by several chuunin and-

His train of thought suddenly came into a halt when he noted the proud form of the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, uncharacteristically - as much as an Uchiha could anyway - dragging his feet to the door of the Hokage building.

What was he doing there?

Shikaku frowned. As far as he knew the man was supposed to be bogged down by concerns regarding the gaps in the village's defense in response to the incident the other day. After all, it was one of the duties of the Military Police Force, the organization Fugaku as the Uchiha clan head, handled. Not to mention there's the surprising influx of complaints and whining from troublesome high-ranking civilians Shikaku heard about to think of.

What was this about?

Shikaku's frown deepened when, after reaching his office, he could see Fugaku standing in front of it. Although the fellow clan head's face was set on its usual forbidding manner, he was familiar with the man to sense that he was uncomfortable for some reason. Fugaku was just a little too stiff, a little too twitchy than normal. It was enough to pique Shikaku's curiosity.

Deciding to greet the man for courtesy's sake, Shikaku hastened his pace and purposely made his steps heavy.

"Fugaku-san. Fancy seeing you here," Shikaku commented casually. "Another mission from the Hokage?"

"Shikaku-san," Fugaku nodded and began in a no-nonsense tone. "I want to talk to you."

"Oh," he replied blandly, "What is it about?"

The Uchiha clan head grimaced before continuing hesitantly. "It's about Nara Shikari."

-----

Uchiha Fugaku didn't want to do this.

Fugaku was a busy man. He had many things that needed his attention for Kami's sake, but, unfortunately, he was stuck to speaking with the Nara clan head due to some stuck-up civilian kicking up a fuss. The civilian was apparently connected to the Daimyo for some reason or the other and well, the man wanted to imprison the people responsible for the injuries he got.

Even if said people responsible for his injuries were kids. Not even ones from the academy. Nope. Toddlers. Two of them, in fact, with one being his son, Itachi, and the other being Shikaku's daughter, Nara Shikari.

Seriously.

Fugaku was taken aback at first too and if numerous witnesses didn't swear up and down that what they were saying was true, he would have chalked it down as drunken hallucinations. Or a conspiracy of some sort. It was true though, no matter how utterly ridiculous it sounded when put into words.

Until now, he still couldn't quite believe it.

Since Fugaku couldn't afford to offend the highest ruling body of the Land of Fire especially with the current war to think of or imprison three-year-olds for something so trivial, he needed to reach a compromise. Fast.

"Can you please repeat that again?" Shikaku smiled, deceptively calm. "Did I hear that right? Did you just say that my daughter was single-handedly the reason for all the ruckus with the civilians lately? And offended the Daimyo's favored second-removed cousin? My daughter, who mind you, was only three-years-old."

Fugaku nodded, oddly sympathizing with the man. "She recruited the help of Itachi too." He frowned. "I just found out earlier and ah. I couldn't get a hold of them now to get their side of the story."

Shikaku groaned. "Troublesome. Please tell me your kidding."

Fugaku shook his head.

"Yoshino didn't say anything about this," Shikaku muttered. The normally laid-back man looked like he would tear off his hair if he had any left. "Why didn't I know anything about this? Yoshino said she just had a playdate. I knew I should have checked first when there were no casualties." Casualties? That sounded foreboding. Fugaku wondered if the girl was really three years old. Or a Nara. "That troublesome girl." The Nara clan head sighed in exasperation. "I apologize on her behalf, Fugaku-san. I-"

Fugaku coughed awkwardly. "That wouldn't be necessary, Shikaku-san. Without your girl's antics, I discovered that Itachi would have been kidnapped during the breach the other day. Mikoto and I were quite grateful for the intervention." That was an understatement. His wife was practically set on betrothing the two just for that alone. "I just wish for your help regarding the issue. The civilian was insistent in punishing the two and well."

Shikaku nodded. "I'll do all I can to help."

A loud alarm specifically used for announcing a breach of defense suddenly blared, calling for all available jounin to aid. Fugaku tensed and ran along with Shikaku outside.

Catching up to one of his men, Fugaku asked sharply. "What's the situation?"

"Kiri-nin broke into the village and kidnapped a chuunin. Jounin Hatake managed to send a shadow clone as a warning - something about a faulty seal and tailed beast nearing the village."

Shit.