Mice on Venus

Shisui brushes past the policeman standing guard at the shrine's entrance. Silently, he walks past the altars with their thin streams of incense smoke perfuming the night air, and down the stairs normally hidden by tatami mats in the back of the shrine hut. 

He’s greeted with the sound of a Uchiha clan meeting as he passes the single sigil for silencing painted on the walls. The muttering and uneasy shifting on stone floors has become an increasingly familiar sound since the Uchiha were moved to the outskirts of the village, closer to the shrine that used to be outside Konoha’s borders. 

He meets the eye of another policeman working for his uncle as he enters the room. Shisui used to think that this amount of security for a clan meeting inside their own compound was extra, but now he almost wishes there was more. Especially now, when the majority of the police force show up for every meeting, and the dissident whispers of the more vocal members have grown louder in recent years. 

Pausing to locate Itachi’s head in the small crowded room, he picks his way through to sit by his side. He elbows him as he sits down, returning murmured greetings from other young shinobi close by.  

“How much trouble am I in?” Shisui whispers.

“We haven’t gotten to that yet.” Itachi whispers back, so quietly that Shisui is reading his lips more than hearing him.

One of the younger shinobi he greeted when he entered leans forward to elaborate, “Wahei-sama is all fired up about the mission board again.” Fumi flicks her eyes towards the man in question, who has been speaking since Shisui walked in. Elder Wahei, the great uncle of Fugaku, is too dignified to raise his voice about anything, but the tremble of his fists at his sides showed his barely contained anger.

“It’s pure disrespect! Those missions should have been given to the police, not to a fresh team of genin!” 

“Missions?” Shisui mouths the word to Itachi and Fumi, keeping one eye on the left side of the room where the elders, Fujishige, Wahei, and Naho sit. 

Itachi’s face takes on a grim note as he whispers back. “It happened again, another police investigation was taken to the shinobi mission board. A genin team snatched it up as a B rank. They found the missing person in only a week.” 

Anger simmers under his skin, and fingers curl into fists as his own frustration seeks to bubble over. The first time he’s been free from missions in over a month, and even longer still since he met with Itachi, and Shisui feels like he accomplished nothing. He should have told Fugaku sooner, then at the very least, his family could stop digging themselves a deeper pit. Itachi’s pitch black eyes glint as he catches the tensing of his hands. 

A younger man speaks up somewhere in front of Shisui, “But the missing person’s case was still solved using our input, wasn’t it?” He asks tentatively. The candlelight reflects off the slight silk sheen of the Uchiwa fan embroidered on the shinobi’s rigid back. 

“That is not the point, boy. Konoha’s mission board moved the rank down to a B and closed the entire investigation. One missing found, and the rest left to rot. It was a slight against the Force’s authority in Konoha, and a slight against this clan!” Wahei spits. The force of his words made the loose skin of his face tremble, but still, his voice did not rise. 

Wahei speaks like there was no distinction between the Uchiha and the police.

The room shifted uneasily. Some of the whispers became loud shouts of agreement, and others faded out.

Shisui looked at Fugaku, seated at the front of the room and scowling. He glanced around the room at his clan, and saw a divide. 

On the left were police force, elders, and civilians. On the right, familiar faces from general forces, younger shinobi and majority civilians. The room was noticeably more packed then he remembered, and mostly with active shinobi. It wasn’t a perfect divide, but one that Shisui could see now. Before, Shisui had made a point of not attending these meetings often. In his apathy, he saw the endless grumbling as pointless and just another space for the elders to push at Fugaku’s leadership. He’d kick himself if he could go back before all this mess. Now, he could see that the meetings had taken a turn since he attended regularly.  

Itachi caught Shisui’s eye. 

Shisui cleared his throat loudly, interrupting the current conversation. Several heads turned towards him. He had hoped for a calmer atmosphere to present this information, but the tense energy in the room may work in his favor.

“Fugaku-sama, Wahei-sama is not entirely wrong,” Shisui called out. He inclined his head towards the elder in respect, but he kept his face towards the clan head, commanding all attention in the room. 

Fugaku motioned for him to continue, Shisui and Itachi both moved forward in the room to sit closer to the raised portion where Fugaku sat.

“As majority of those present will know, I joined Anbu ranks. This position has given me insight into the village’s inner workings, and alongside Itachi, our clan has gained further prestige by having two of its Jonin in Anbu.” 

Heads nodded along in agreement, this much was known. 

“As I’m sure most of you will also know, I do not care about prestige,” Shisui continued, “I did not think that joining the secret division would elevate our clan. Recently, I came into contact with an informant working for Councilman Danzo. Through this encounter, I was convinced that Councilman Shimura Danzo is working to undermine the Uchiha’s status inside the village, and joined Anbu to further investigate Councilman Shimura’s actions and the reach of his power.” Shisui held up a hand to stop the questioning, not acknowledging elder Naho’s affronted look. “I will explain this all in the end.”

“There is another division of Anbu called The Foundation. Shimura Danzo created this division during the Second Shinobi war, but it was not disbanded after the fact, though it should have. This division works at a higher level then Anbu, and serves under Shimura Danzo directly. I have been propositioned to join his ranks before, on the condition that I did not inform any of the clan. I, of course, refused.”

The meeting room is quiet now, Shisui and Itachi’s report has the room's attention. Fugaku accepted this all with an increasing wariness and motioned to his son. 

“And you, Itachi?”

“Together, we have been searching for evidence of purposeful intent against the Uchiha Clan. We have yet to find anything concrete enough to present, but we were made aware of an incident that was never made public. We could not find any physical evidence in records. However, I was able to contact Hatake Kakashi-” 

The mutterings that rose up at the mention of friend-killer Kakashi, Sharingan-thief, were smoothly ignored. “I have a written account and have guaranteed his account with my Sharingan. Now we have undeniable evidence that councilman Shimura Danzo made an attempt to assassinate the Sandaime Hokage.” Itachi’s voice grew louder, as to be heard over the rising din. Someone shouted. Fugaku was now leaning forward, his gaze sharper than before.

Itachi bore the weight of his gaze with the grace of an heir. Giving their report at the clan meeting was a calculated move that took away Fugkau’s control over the situation, a move which Itachi and Shisui had debated over. Shisui had wanted to report solely to Fugaku, but Itachi convinced him that the clan could take action quicker if everyone was made aware. Now, Shisui couldn’t deny that it certainly had results.

What this would bode for them all, he didn’t know.

“There’s more,” Shisui interjected. “The informant gave me specific warning, the entire clan is being monitored and watched. Councilman Danzo has a specific goal in mind for the Uchiha Clan.” 

“He aims to replace the Police with his own army!” Naho spouted, her permanently affronted look marred slightly by fear. 

Fugaku retorts quickly, holding up one hand to cut off the elder. “That’s far too dramatic of an assumption Naho-sama.” 

“It may not be.” Itachi said gravely. Shisui elbowed him lightly, Shut up! 

“It’s possible-” Shisui cut in. He spared a glance at Itachi, silently asking ‘What was that?’

“-but we don’t know that for sure. The bigger issue here is this.” Shisui gestures at the room as a whole with one hand, looking around and meeting eyes as he speaks. “We are letting him divide us. Look at us! Bickering over petty bureaucracy and prestige and missing the bigger picture.” He rises to his feet, “This is exactly what Danzo wants to happen, he wants to push us into a corner so that when we inevitably retaliate, we’ll be pushed out of the village for good!” 

“So what would you have us do, just roll over and die?” someone called.

“Continue to put your trust in your heir and me.” He implores, facing Fugaku and the council. “We have evidence of Danzo’s treachery against the Hokage, once we gather more and present it to the Clans as a whole, Konoha won’t be able to ignore the Uchiha’s plight! So, I beg of you, for all our sakes, do not retaliate.” 

Fugaku is stone-faced, but Shisui knows he can chip away at him until he bends. Itachi’s risk in telling the entire clan at once was a gamble, but it was paying off. The room wavers, but Shisui knows he has their attention, and having a good majority of the clan backing him would push Fugaku, and more importantly, the council to move. 

Itachi speaks, honing in on the fears of the police members and old shinobi. “Father, if the police force is the only aspect of the Uchiha the village can see, it will only be that much easier to snatch control away from us once public opinion is completely turned against us. The Uchiha cannot, and will not stay in the shadows forever, doing so would only be giving away what power we still have.” 

Yes! 

Shisui nods with everything Itachi says, and hope rises up in his chest. Shisui has convinced some of the younger crowd, but the elders, who already disapproved of Shisui’s lack of involvement in police and clan politics, would be more likely to listen to the clan heir then Shisui.

“Honored Elders, I beg you to consider our request. If Danzo can be convicted, then he can be removed from the council.”

Shisui sat back down and let Itachi take the lead. Relief settled into his chest, picking at the anger and replacing it with a wary hope at their small victory. His cousin smoothly led the discussion now, debating with shinobi and civilian alike, about how they could put Uchiha clansman in a positive spotlight and listening to his clansmen speak about what they’d already endured. Respectfully tearing into the Elder’s flawed rebuttables with poise, and giving some smaller details of their investigations to appease Fugaku and other senior jonin. 

The gamble paid off. Shisui claps Itachi on the shoulder when a lull in conversation appears, smiling slightly at Itachi’s questioning look. Shisui regrets doubting Itachi now, seeing the fire in his eyes as Itachi smoothly steps into the role of an heir, Shisui can happily say he has pride in his future clan head. Shisui doesn’t miss the pride in Fugaku’s eyes either, along with the worry and determination mirrored in his son's face. 

“They’ve stopped attending the trade guild meetings, but we intercepted a message to the guild leader in the capitol, they’ve made a deal with a large importer. Evidence suggests they will soon leave the guild entirely once they gain further support, but we will ensure this does not happen. Pushback in the other Uchiha trades has been noted, but my team will continue to work on crippling them. Despite this setback, efforts to restrict and choke out the Uchiha’s out-village commerce have been largely successful so far.” The agent sat down once his report was concluded. His low table only had a single scroll on top, which had remained tightly rolled the entire time. His partner was also in seiza by his side and had not added anything to the report. 

Ei wasn’t worried about them so much, mostly because she knew stopping that part of the “Uchiha Plan” was hopeless. That team, which had at least 12 agents, were mostly spies and undercover agents trying to destabilize the Uchiha’s standing outside of the shinobi world. Ei had a very brief stint in the world of trade and commerce while she was using a traveling tea guild as a cover, and still, she thinks she has little hope of understanding that world. 

Ei shifted to look at her own partner, who looked calm as ever. Ei and Toguro are reporting tonight while the other two-man sensor cell took over their duties. She’s more worried about him, and their own report. 

The next task was based in the Hokage tower itself, as paper-nin. They didn’t have masks, because they weren’t shinobi themselves, but infiltrators. Their entire job was to monitor and when necessary- control- the messages and inquests to the hokage tower in the village. One of them had dimmer chakra and wasn’t as good at hiding their muffled nerves in their chakra signature as he spoke. He cleared his throat and nodded to Danzo-sama seated at the raised platform in the back of the room. “Two police members put in a request to speak with Sandaime on Tuesday. The request was destroyed before it reached his desk, however, they’ve continued to submit requests after the fact. They are likely aware that the messages were intercepted.” His brow furrowed as he spoke, and he looked up from the papers in his hand to the taskforce leader. “Should Fugaku submit a request for a meeting about the Police as the Clan Head- we could use that to further tarnish the view of the Uchiha, but if more police members continue to submit requests we would not be able to intercept every message.” 

Danzo took in both reports, expression thoughtful. “They’ve realized they’ve been backed into a corner.” He remarked. 

“It would appear so, Sir.” The man smiled thinly.

To Ei, it seemed like the energy in the room had shifted. The room became focused, and she was reminded of a cat stalking a cricket in the grass. She felt more than she saw, Danzo’s expectant gaze moved to her, and she rose from her seiza to report. 

She wished she had her mask to hide behind, but she had taken off per Danzo-sama’s orders as she had for every meeting so far. Ei settles for brushing her thumb over the slight texture of the report summary in hand to settle herself. 

Ei rattles off the names on the paper, Uchiha Clansmen who are known to have dealings outside the village. Only through force of will did she keep her voice level. “Rumors of an Uchiha clansman in the Mist remain unconfirmed, however, a confirmation was made on the suspected Mangekyo user in the western outskirt village. She has not returned to the Uchiha compound.” 

Ei’s the least favorite part about being a senior sensor in Root, and a good one, was that she could not lie about chakra. Ei wished she could sometimes.

“Despite increasing pressures, the Uchiha living in the western outskirt are not leaving.” Toguro’s resting smile twitched, catching Ei’s eye momentarily. He was nervous about their report, because in his eyes they had failed their task. They were supposed to find and herd all Uchiha back to the compound. 

Ei wasn’t nervous about that, she was angry. Ei had kept it out of her voice so far, but she felt like she was grasping at straws. Tenzo notified her that Shisui had reported to his clan head three days ago, and already she could see the effects of it. 

Ideally, and what they should have done, the Uchiha would have been notified of their slow political death, and they would have gradually reached out to other clans and the daimyo and used the evidence they had to persecute Danzo-sama, leading to the dissolution of the Foundation, and the Jinchurriki- Naruto - her brother- being safe from the grasp of Danzo. 

But that is not what is happening.

They are making waves, and far too quickly. It’s alerted the entire taskforce, and Ei can feel a change in orders approaching like a dark cloud. Shisui is on an Anbu assignment and is far outside her range now, and the knowledge sits in her chest like a stone. It feels like a warning. 

“I apologize for the failure of my team, Danzo-sama.” Ei folds into a bow, and is followed by Toguro, who rises to his feet to bow as well. Her hair falls over her shoulders, and she picks up on the slightest hint of fear from her partner.

She doesn’t blame him, this task would be his first failure. She was punished harshly for her first failure. The atmosphere of the room is tense already, and for sensors like them, doubly so. Agents in the foundation have no emotions, only orders, but each one of them takes pride in their missions because it is the only thing they have. Ei is afraid too, every report has only confirmed that the Uchiha clan know they have Danzo’s attention. Ei is afraid, because Danzo knows that as well. 

Toguro has nothing to fear though, Danzo waves off their apology after a moment, waiting just long enough for them to feel ashamed of themselves. They sit and another two-man cell gives their report. 

Ei gives just enough attention to ensure Toguro is taking notes, and keeps her focus on Danzo.

He isn’t angry, or dissatisfied as far as she can tell, but she almost wished he was angry with her task failure. Angry was easy to read, but it rarely appeared on his face. The only time she ever saw him truly angry, was when he ordered Kinoe- Tenzo- to be sealed. After that incident, Danzo sealed his entire inner circle of agents, and some agents had their seals changed. Fewer agents were selected to be planted into Anbu ranks, and fewer children were made recruits. 

Danzo was frustratingly calm. 

Root and by extension-the Uchiha Taskforce- had succinct and efficient meetings. Only two more reports were left after Ei, and they were over soon. 

“Somehow the Uchiha have become aware of the tightening of their noose.” Danzo drawled. Once again she was under the brunt of his gaze. It simultaneously made her want to stand taller and shrink away. “Why is that, Ikaru?” 

The sound of her seldom-used code-name didn’t rattle her, and neither did the sudden callout. While Ei will never be comfortable with Danzo’s strange teacher-like way of interrogating, she stops being surprised by it. Toguro beside her seemed surprised by the sudden callout, and Ei was once again reminded that this was also his first-ever meeting with their leader.

“Sir. Uchiha Shisui was previously aware of the Foundation and has noticed the recent attention on him once in the Anbu ranks. I believe that he has shared his suspicions with Fugaku.” 

She answered quickly and didn’t try to avoid the question. Her fears were stuffed down, and she made herself blank, just a futureless, nameless, soldier with orders. Whatever Shisui or his cousin had done, Ei would not be uncovered or the reason that her plan fell through. Ei allows herself one longer exhale to steady herself. 

“Have your team continue to work under that assumption,” Danzo said and moved on. His singular gaze leaves her, and the hidden Sharingan under his bandages with it. It is completely hidden, she can’t sense anything indicating an implanted eye there, but just knowing that there is a stolen eye there makes Danzo’s gaze seem all the more burning. 

“Sen,” He called out, “Why are you missing an agent?”

The girl, whose face looked older than it probably was, straightened. “Sir. Wren went missing after pursuing a Sharingan thief in Grass.” 

Danzo grunted, and moved on to another question. Ei sat straight at her low table, waiting for another question to come her way. Toguro seemed uneasy, and Ei had the thought that she could have warned him ahead of time about the nature of Danzo’s meetings. They usually had an unsettlingly classroom-like structure, where Danzo was the only one who really knew everything. Ei slid her gaze over to Toguro, who outwardly looked calm, but the charka in his chest seemed to swirl uneasily. He’d pulled it in too closely, and instead of a subtle dampening effect, his signature became more like a blank in her view. It wouldn’t have been very noticeable to others, but to her it was. 

Ei could help him, she thought. He could miss something in the information if he wasn’t completely focused. She’d risen to the sensor division pretty quickly and only because of Tenzo’s slight mentoring and the more unique aspects of her sensing. Toguro didn’t have that same standing as her and was probably feeling the pressure of being the most underwhelming sensor out of the four sensors in the team. 

Danzo’s voice drew her attention again, and back to something said earlier in this meeting. 

Danzo had called the sensor part of the taskforce - her team. Unsavory memories from an older meeting when Danzo said that she’d be transferred to the shinobi who handled training Root after the Uchiha were dealt with surfaced in her mind. Danzo-sama said she had a talent for teaching.

Toguro was older than her, but he was less experienced and had yet to have any significant effect on the taskforce beyond his basic orders. His attempts to use sealing to aid his tasks hadn’t resulted in big failures or successes. 

He very rarely asked for help, and only once did he ask for advice about sensing. If Ei offered any advice without being asked, he readily applied it to his work. Toguro appreciated Ei’s rare gossip tips and corrections even if he never showed it. Ei could use that to leverage his loyalty to her as the senior member and create somewhat of a bond. 

But, Toguro’sinexperience was more useful to her than Toguro himself was at the moment.

Her plan had gotten out of her control because Shisui told Itachi. She could guarantee that the clan was notified earlier than Shisui wanted to, because of Itachi’s influence. Ei needed freedom to work, not more allies to complicate things. Itachi’s already too far from her reach, and he’s already mucking up his side of things by being too loud. 

Her thoughts are interrupted by Danzo-sama again.

“Ikaru. You were assigned to monitor Uchiha Shisui the longest, if given a choice between the clan and the village, what would he choose?”

It was phrased like a question, but Ei somehow doubted Danzo didn’t already know the answer. He had that effect. Someone shifted in the room, the creak of shifting leather was the loudest thing after Ei’s own heart.

Ei hesitated.

Her mouth was dry, a warning of what could come if she attempted to lie. Danzo would know. 

He always seemed to know.

“...I don’t know.” 

Shisui cares deeply for his clan but has shown little respect towards his clan elders. He has friendly connections with other clan members and makes an effort to reach out to his comrades outside his clan. He doesn’t publicly engage in political debates and tries to keep peace between Konoha and members of his clan. Shisui is willing to lie for what he considers to be a good cause. He is working with Ei to dissolve Root because of its threat to his clan and to his Hokage. He considers Ei to be a friend. 

“Then you need to make certain his motives are clear to you.” Danzo [word for speak]

Ei and Toguro bowed in sync. “Sir.”

“Take, what will you do to cut off the trade?”

“Introduce more committees. Unless they send their own shinobi to protect shipments, we can disrupt any routes taken to the Capital. The Daimyo’s estate still trades silk with them, but their connections can be severed in the same way as the Aburame were.”  

Danzo nods his approval.

“Sir,” The main task force leader, Junta handed a scroll to his partner and inclined his head towards the spy who had just spoken. “I believe my team can start our second phase as well. It should be the push needed to turn civilian opinion against them.” 

Toguro pokes at her chakra, asking for clarification. Ei signals back a negative, she wasn’t informed of a second phase either. 

“I agree, the Uchiha seem to have noticed how close their backs are to the wall,” Danzo said, smugness radiating off his slight smile, “This meeting is over. Continue with your assignments and what you were given today.” 

Ei rushes up the stairs, and Toguro takes steps two at a time to match the speed. They have to get to a designated spot to shunshin away, and between them, only Ei knows the authorization to get there. She’s yet to share this with Toguro and is letting him continue thinking that this is just standard procedure for answering an unplanned summon. 

“This new rumor has had a significant effect, I imagine that this was the second phase they spoke about,” Toguro says once they reach the last step. 

“Possibly.” Ei acknowledges. 

The summons was specifically for her and Toguro, so the meeting room is not the same as last week. It’s located on the upper levels of the Foundation, a smaller room that can only be entered via Shunshin or Earth walking jutsu. Ei doesn’t want to be covered in dirt when she arrives so she chooses the cleaner route to a shuinshin spot. Ei takes a second to reorient herself in the hallway and takes a left, followed closely by her partner. 

“Finch. I’d like to run an idea past you.” 

Ei blinks and turns to face him incredulously. Toguro rarely asked permission to try out another seal, just trusting that his superior would sense his actions and stop him if it was wrong. Why did you wait until now to say this?Is this your idea of trapping me? Are you stupid?

She flicks her hand towards him, acknowledging his request. They have a little spare time before they have to be present in the meeting room to humor him.

“The recent rumor about the failed Uchiha mission, I believe that was the second phase they spoke about in the last meeting. I think that another rumor just like it could work well in our favor. Building off of an older rumor about the Kyuubi having red eyes during the attack, we could briefly capture the Jinchurriki and place the blame on the Uchiha.” 

Ei actually stops in the hall to look at him. Her breath catches, and she wants to press her hands to her temples. Their masks prevent her from seeing each other’s faces, but being both sensors they rely more on each other’s chakra anyway. Toguro looks confident enough, she can’t detect any hint of humor, or even malice. He continues speaking, digging himself a bigger hole.

“You can see the possibilities, yes? We return the Jinchurriki the day he’s captured, but leave him missing just long enough to inspire doubt. Of course, the police would fail to find the container, and Anbu steps in to return the container to the Hokage’s custody. It would permanently ruin their image, and cause enough tensions that the clan could start a coup of their own violation.” He finishes with the slightest flourish in his deadpan voice. Due to the mask’s seals his voice does not echo in the tunnel, but the slight shift of shoes in the dirt does. 

Ei’s red mask meets his cheerful blue sea-lion mask in the silence. 

Toguro had lifted one finger in the air as he spoke, but it lowers back to his side as the silence stretches onward.

Ei takes a deep breath. “That is an extremely foolish idea. Present any ideas you have in the future to me so you don’t embarrass yourself.”

“...of course, Finch.” His meager confidence is withered, but he takes it in stride. No inclination of anger or spite in his chakra, only the slightest disappointment flickers in his otherwise blank chakra.

They continue in silence to the Shunshin location. 

Ei bites down on her cheek, suppressing an urge to scream or laugh at herself.

It’s a very good idea, and with a little tweaking, it could be something that the taskforce would actually consider. The task would obviously not be carried out by them, but Toguro would have credit for the idea and they would likely be involved in some way. 

Naruto. 

Ei knew of course, that Danzo’s plan to obtain more sharingan especially since he lost access to Tenzo’s Jinchurriki controlling Mokuton powers, would eventually make Naruto a target. He’d said something about it himself, something about the Sandaime Hokage not allowing Naruto to be trained by Danzo’s Foundation. She’d known that already, but-

She didn’t think she’d have to protect Naruto from normal Foundation members. Where would Toguro have gotten that idea? Was the taskforce trying to involve her brother? Her sweet, little brother? 

Damage control. 

Ei exhaled deeply, calming herself. 

“Toguro, while your contribution is noted, there are many issues,” Ei took another turn, “Firstly, coming up with ideas is not your assignment. You have your orders, stick to them.” she reprimanded quietly. Her voice is kept cold, to hide the fear that threatens to trickle into her tone. She wanted to be angry, she wanted to tell him that the Jinchurriki was a boy, not a pawn, but she reigned in her words and honed them into something productive. 

The instinctual haze of anger receded and she could see the flaws in Toguro’s idea.

“Secondly, the Jinchuriki is off-limits to the Foundation by orders of the Sandaime Hokage. You would not have known this information, because it is not your right to know it. We are sensors and monitors, not rumor mills, spies, or infiltrators. Your orders are all you know, and all you are, do you understand?”

Toguro nodded. “Thank you, Finch. I will aspire to follow your corrections.” He responds, just as quietly. 

Ei had been lenient in giving Toguro any orders at all, she hated the slimy feeling of command. Every time Toguro completed a task she gave she only felt a dull relief at being obeyed, and the shame of living up to Danzo-sama's expectations. Now she can see that she should have been more commanding, she has to control Toguro. As inexperienced as he is compared to her, he is still handpicked for this task. He is the closest one to her, the one who could expose her for trying to divert the taskforce’s plans, and he doesn’t even know it.

Ei hates him for it. She hates that he would dare bring up the idea of hurting Naruto, some half-baked plan to gain relevance in the ranks and gain Danzo’s notice. She hates that he isn’t offended by the harsh correction, hates that he can’t even comprehend why she would care, why her emotions would bring her to care about a pawn. Toguro has no fault in this horrible place and she hates him for it. 

Her anger turns colder as they step into the doorless room from their summons. She smacks the seal scrawled on the wall with chakra running through her hand. She freezes for a second as the seal identifies her, searching her for some sign of authorization. The entire matrix on the wall glows once, and Ei is freed from the temporary stasis. The both of them move forward into the room that is revealed as an earthen wall sinks into the ground. 

Once inside the tiny room Ei flickers into a Shunshin jutsu, following the thin path of chakra leading her to the designated meeting room. She’s still on time.

Ei removes her mask and clips it to her belt as soon as her foot touches solid ground, smoothly folding herself into a bow. A half second later, Toguro’s presence is beside her. Danzo is absent- but that’s to be expected with a small report meeting like this, but he could walk in later so she chooses to leave her mask off. Plus, her account is more believable when her face is visible.

“Captain.” They salute in sync. The agent assigned with heading the Uchiha Taskforce in Danzo’s absence is Junta, an agent she’s never seen or sensed outside the compound. 

“At ease,” He waves a flippant hand at them in a shoo motion, as if to blow them away with only his hand. His simple mask remains on. Another shinobi is in the back of the room, marking something down. The anomalous nature of her chakra paired with pale eyes identifies her as a Yamanaka woman, who is unadorned except for a ponytail of dull blond hair.

Ei straightens and stops a few steps from the table where Junta indicated, taking in the room without turning or flicking her gaze about. One plain meeting table with neat piles and rows of reports, and a few chairs. It’s just as unremarkable as the rest of the smaller meeting rooms, the only thing worth noting is the lack of lingering ambient chakra or noticeable large seals.

“Your progress on finding motives for your assignments?” 

He is brief, which makes her think that other small teams will be coming in after her to report. Ei launches into her account of the people she was assigned. “Sir. The elder Yoko in Western out-village is confirmed to have a mangekyo in the left eye, the right is blind, as of now she is moving back into the clan compound. High-ranking council-member Tetsuya has not left the compound, unclear status. Retired genjutsu experts- Abe, Naka, and Manabu - have not left the clan compound. Uchiha Itachi is confirmed to have killed the agent who followed him. All this I’ve included in my report here.” Ei pulls a scroll as thin as a reed from her pouch and hands it to the man. 

Ei pokes at Toguro’s senses, and he starts reciting his assignment details. Their two-man cell had the same assignment. His report is much the same. The captain takes Ei and Toguro’s reports without looking at them and passes them to his partner in the back of the room. She flickers out, scrolls in hand, without a word. 

“Your work is noted,” The Captain says shortly, after shuffling through another neat pile to find a slip of paper. “I have a note from the infiltration team to include the West bank, they are staging a failed mission two days from now and will be returning through there. Notify them once the team makes 200 meters from the gatehouse, there should only be two shinobi alive. Do not share this mission outside of your team.” The task doesn’t leave room for failure. He folds the slip of paper in half and holds it in one hand away from the table, the other hand skimming over scrolls to find something else. He finds the desired record and the slip turns to ashes in his fingers in a practiced movement. “The deceased Jin was confirmed by a team before you. Toguro, take over the deceased Jin’s work on the Northern side, see your duties here.” 

Ei nods, dimly acknowledging that at some point she had become the de-facto leader of the four sensor-based shinobi assigned to the task, despite having never seen the second team face-to-face. Toguro takes the thin scroll and tucks it into his pouch. She eyes the paper ashes somewhat with envy, if she had an assignment like the captain, Ei would have much better information to guide Shisui with. If she could speak. 

The captain’s partner returns in a flicker of black cloth and blonde hair. She glances at the both of them, Ei feels like she’s passed some sort of test when the woman speaks aloud. “Received a confirmation on the Sharingan holder in Rain. He’s an old clansman and he’s willing to work with us.”

Alarm courses through Ei, she thought that line of investigation was over, that it was just a rumor. There was an Uchiha Sharingan user willing to work against the clan? 

“Good,” The captain picks up the pace, writing even faster. He points at Ei suddenly with the end of a pen, “If pressure is increased on the heir, would he be more likely to act out?”

“Yes,” Ei and Toguro answer in sync. The cold anger bubbling under her blankness threatens to spill out again when she glimpses at the placid smile on Toguro’s face. The exact thing she didn’t want to happen is happening, Itachi is going to ruin everything-

“Good. The western village is moving according to Danzo’s predictions so move your focus to Uchiha Shisui and Itachi, and get the report on the clan head from Sen.” Captain dismisses them, already folding his hands into an unknown jutsu sequence as he moves away from the table. “Update your team when you leave.”

“Sir.” Just like old times, Ei thinks hysterically. 

Ei is blessedly alone in her room, the other team taking over the brunt of the duties while Ei and Toguro write up reports and rest. She met with one of them last week to confirm a collaboration on a task, they seemed competent enough to take over for her. She can tell Toguro is already resting in his room two floors beneath her.

Ei is not resting.

…at 1732 hours Uchiha Itachi sent a crow summons. It could not be intercepted but the summons did take off in the direction of Uchiha Jonin Shuinshin no Shisui……

Her hand shakes minutely, and she smacks the hand, brush and all, onto the desk away from her report before it can mar her writing. The dull sting from the force of hitting her wrist on the desk fails to chase the tremors away.  

Ei stares unseeing at her unfinished report.

She desperately wants to throw it away, but she has her orders. She can’t lie, can’t loophole her away around the damning evidence. So she dutifully lifts her brush again. 

Itachi is panicking. 

She can see it, the taskforce can see, his clancan see it. He’s making a mess without Shisui here to guide him, being the only one to lead his clan to bring about justice for themselves and balance his new Anbu Captain rank, Itachi has left himself vulnerable. The taskforce saw the opportunity and pounced on it. 

Anbu’s head of Assassination is one of the Foundations and has been keeping him away as per Danzo’s orders. Shisui has been on a mission for two months now. Somewhere far away from the boundaries of her reach.  So of course, the scion of the Uchiha sends out a cry for help to his cousin, not anyone helpful, because Itachi- heir to the Uchiha clan and to a police force bigger than most of the clans in Konoha- would never do anything like that.

No- he couldn’t message the Head Jonin, or the Hokage, or the Daimyo. He can’t send for clan allies because they hardly have any, only the Aburame, and would you look at that- they practically belong to the Shimura clan! No, no, why would he do anything sensible under pressure? Ei wanted to send a message to Shisui too, but she didn’t! Because it’s illogical!

A strangled giggle escapes her, and she slaps a hand over her mouth in horror. The half-sob sound dies and makes her throat itch. Ei has to report the crow summons, just like all the other little slip-ups Itachi makes, and it’ll only dig a deeper hole for herself. Ei finishes the report with a hand over her mouth and dries it with a jutsu. 

Ei looks down at herself and another giggle escapes her. Her chakra doesn’t seem to know what to do either! It’s green- but it’s also blue! Its turning and swirling and its angry, and sad, and confused, and loud, and twirling- twirling-

Ei shuts up as she feels a message come in pulses. Her world goes grey again as she closes her eyes to the chakra in her and listens for a moment, then passes it on. 

That’s right, Ei thinks solemnly. 

I have a Mission.

She folds her legs up in her chair, staring at her desk with wide eyes and keeping her hand over her mouth, the other hand tapping a staccato rhythm on the wood surface.

Clearly, Itachi is the key to convincing his father to go to the Daimyo. There are a few barriers between Fugaku and the Daimyo, namely the council of clan elders, the senior police force members, and the lack of evidence. And because Itachi has no idea what he’s doing, the clan has no idea.

Currently, the clan is on course to die. Shisui will tragically die on a mission, the clan will be enraged, someone will act out, Danzo brings in a second party to kill or otherwise dispose of the majority of the clan and take the Sharingan from them all, and the tragically dead Founding Uchiha Clan won’t be there to challenge Danzo in the political arena anymore, then Danzo will take the Hokage’s seat and Naruto will never be free and Ei will have to live in tunnels for the rest of her life. 

Ei skipped a couple of steps but that’s her current situation. 

The biggest problem is that Ei can’t reach Itachi or Shisui anymore, the increased work load has made it so Ei can’t just slip away to send a message through Tenzo, or meet up with Itachi. 

What would Shisui do here? He would probably make a joke to diffuse any tension, or say something really profound, then do something logical. 

She stops tapping the desk. Ei doesn’t need to think like Shisui, she needs to think like Root. Shisui tried to get outside help from Itachi and that only got him noticed and shipped off for a two month mission. Right now the Foundation’s plan is working the best, and it’s working the best because its hinging almost entirely on stressing out specific people so they make bad decisions, then relying on rumors and botched records to dig a deeper hole for the Uchiha to fall in once they trip. The foundation also has more people to utilize, but Ei doesn’t have access to that resource. 

If Ei could just get evidence of the genaki theft to Itachi, then he would get to Fugaku, then to the courts. Once the information reaches the courts, they kill Danzo per Land of Fire Laws on theft of Clan property, public disapproval would lead the Sandaime to remove the rest of the Hokage’s cabinet from office, and everything else Danzo does will come to light and Ei can leave the Foundation. 

For some reason, the Clan is trying to get Danzo impeached, which wouldn’t fix the small bureaucratic issues they are dealing with right now, or the kidnappings, or the targeting, or the price fixing, or the record burning, or the seals-

Ei starts tapping the desk again, letting the steady rhythm keep her from spiraling.

She doesn’t know what the plan is yet for that mystery Sharingan user. Any part of the plan around him fell into the other team’s missions. So, best to do something before that part of the plan is enacted. 

But what?

Once more, I bring you memes.