The Rooftop
"Should we meet them?"
Kaori's question hung in the air.
Satoshi understood it wasn't really a question. Whatever he answered would become the decision, and Kaori would follow it, unspoken, because some things between them had never needed to be said.
Kaori got up and settled onto his lap. Satoshi hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Did you see any old acquaintances?" she asked.
"Yes. Taro. He served under me in the Police Force."
Kaori shifted, finding a comfortable position, and leaned into him. "I remember Taro. He was a good kid."
"He has a daughter now. Two, maybe three years old." Satoshi's voice softened. "She loves the fruit soda and the potato chips out of our factories. He came out of the compound specifically to buy them for her."
Kaori was quiet for a moment. "We might have had a grandson or a granddaughter of our own by now, if none of this had happened."
Then, more quietly, "Should we bring some of the chips, the soda, whatever new snacks are coming off the line, for Taro's daughter?"
"I don't think she'll be at the meeting itself," Satoshi said. "But we could see her after, if it comes to that. We should bring plenty either way — there will likely be several old acquaintances there with children of their own, and it won't look good if we only brought something for a few of the clan's kids and left the rest with nothing."
Kaori hummed in answer, already drifting, shifting again in his arms in search of a more comfortable spot. By the time Satoshi looked down, she was asleep.
He held her a moment longer, then rose from the roof and vanished, carrying her with him.
The Dining Table — Morning
Ren came down the stairs with a handful of sketches tucked under his arm. He crossed to the table, where Satoshi was already seated waiting for breakfast, and dropped into the chair across from him. He waited, patient for once.
Kaori came in from the kitchen a moment later, food in hand. She set it down, then leaned over Satoshi's shoulder to look at what Ren had brought.
It was footwear — a sneaker, or something close to it. A closed-toe shoe design.
"When you first mentioned this, I thought you were joking," Kaori said. "I'm surprised you were actually serious."
Ren puffed out his chest, visibly pleased with himself.
Satoshi studied the sketch with considerably less enthusiasm. "Is this even comfortable? Would anyone actually buy these?"
"I guarantee they're more comfortable than ninja sandals, Dad." Ren reached for his food. "You're getting the first pair off the line."
Kaori picked the sketch up, set it aside, and took the seat on Satoshi's other side. Her expression shifted, all at once, into something serious.
"We're going to meet some people."
Ren, mouth full, looked up at her.
"Ho er tt peopa," he managed, which was as close as the sentence came to making it out whole.
Kaori understood him anyway. "Our clan."
Before Ren could get another word out, Satoshi picked up the thread. "A month ago, the patrols received a message. It came by cat. It was from the Uchiha." He set his chopsticks down. "I thought it might be Konoha wearing their face, so I spent the last month investigating. I even sent a shadow clone into the village itself. What I found is that the clan is in a dire position — watched around the clock, every person going in or out tracked, several Hyūga keeping their Byakugan on the compound at all times."
"So we decided to meet them," Kaori said. "They want to know what actually happened nine years ago."
Satoshi looked at his son. "What's your opinion?"
Ren looked between them. Both wore the same expression — eager, and not quite able to hide how much they needed his answer to be the right one.
Meeting the clan was harmless enough, Ren thought, as long as Konoha never found out. If they did, it would be the clan who paid for it. But his parents couldn't just walk away from the Uchiha — not after spending most of their lives inside it, raised and shaped by it. He couldn't either, if he was honest. It had become part of who he was. There were too many people in that clan he'd actually cared about. Even the Chidori, back when he'd handed it over freely — it hadn't been pure strategy. Some of it had been real.
"Listen, Ren," Kaori started. "There are people in that clan who took care of your father and me when we had nothing—"
Ren cut her off gently. "Mom. I never said we shouldn't meet them. I want to meet them too." He paused. "But after this — after they know what happened nine years ago — what then?"
Nobody spoke.
Satoshi leaned back until he was staring at the ceiling. Kaori propped her head on one hand, elbow on the table, and said nothing.
It wasn't that they hadn't thought about it. They had. They'd just spent nine years not talking about it. Once the clan knew the truth, they would only have two choices — become Konoha's enemy, or the family's. And if they chose the village, the next time the family saw an old friend, it might be across a battlefield instead of a dinner table.
That was the real reason Satoshi and Kaori had never reached out during Ren's eight-year coma. Not distance. Not fear of being found. This.
Seeing them both go quiet, Ren spoke again. "Let's just meet them first. We can't avoid this forever — it's going to catch up to us eventually, one way or another." He hesitated. "And it might not go the way you think."
At Madara's Hideout
Deep underground, Madara Uchiha sat as he usually did, resting comfortably in his well-cushioned wooden chair. Thick tubes still tethered him to the Gedo Mazo, keeping him alive.
Black Zetsu emerged from the floor in front of him, ready to deliver the latest intelligence.
"Madara-sama," Zetsu rasped. "Obito has successfully located all the remaining Tailed Beasts. We are constantly monitoring their movements. Capturing them will not be difficult for Obito, with one exception—the Nine-Tails."
Zetsu's yellow eyes narrowed in the gloom. "Capturing two perfect Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Tsunade Senju and Minato Namikaze, From Konoha would not be easy. Even for Nagato."
Madara didn't say anything. He tapped his finger against the armrest of his chair. "What else is going on?"
"Madara-sama, as you know, the Alliance has taken control of almost all the smaller buffer nations on the borders between the Great Nations. They completely control the land trade routes. The Land of Fire has been affected the most by this."
Zetsu leaned forward. "At this moment, if a conflict broke out between Ren Uchiha and Konoha, the chaos would make it incredibly easy to isolate and catch at least one of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
Madara refuted the notion instantly, his voice carrying certainty. "Now is not the correct time to collect the Jinchūriki. Furthermore, Konoha will never attack the Alliance."
Zetsu tilted his head. "Even though Konoha is currently at its strongest since its establishment?"
"Precisely because of that," Madara said smoothly. "I am certain that Konoha would be able to eliminate Ren Uchiha if they only fought the Alliance. Konoha is too strong. Even the four Great Nations combined couldn't beat them in the last war, and every Kage knows it."
Madara opened his Sharingan, the crimson light cutting through the dark. "So, if Konoha were foolish enough to attack the Alliance, all four Great Nations would immediately use the opportunity to join the Alliance and strike Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi is not a fool. Konoha would never want to trigger a war where the entire world unites against them."
Zetsu nodded slowly, absorbing the situation.
"And what about the Uchiha clan?" Madara asked. "Have they received any reply from Ren Uchiha?"
"Madara-sama, as you know, we are unable to infiltrate the Land of Rice Fields, nor can we get close to Ren or his parents without risking detection," Zetsu answered. "So we do not know their exact response. But it is absolutely certain that they received the Uchiha's message a month ago."
Madara closed his eyes, settling back into his chair.
"Tell Obito to monitor the Uchiha closely," Madara commanded into the dark. "And inform me the moment there is any new development."