The talk
Perhaps it was her victory over her supposed kidnappers which had led for her to have a false confidence of her non-existent abilities.
She looked at the old, yet still so very strong, man sitting before her. He paid her no mind as though she was not even worth a glance from him. He quietly shuffled through papers and asked her to sit down. She shifted her blank gaze to the ANBU member by her side, and focused back on the chakra of the Hokage suffocating her.
She was forcing herself to breathe in the dense air and the silence which was only filled by her own breaths was much more suffocating then she would have liked it to be. It was almost comical how her confidence had come down to a zero after only stepping in front of the big players of the game they were playing. She wondered if she should learn some more tricks from Hana, and perhaps even Shisui, later. It would certainly be of help.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Her eyes turned calculating as the man finally graced her with a look and she felt the presence of the ANBU behind her vanish. It was almost relieving to have it disappear. She knew that the ANBU was still there, but at the very least she could neither sense nor see him so she could focus more on the 'conversation' with the Hokage.
"I suppose congratulations are in order. For the success of your business and the village's bonds becoming more stronger with this step."
His smile was the same she had seen on him when he had come to visit the academy when she was still a child. She wondered how long he had practiced it, for it to be so perfectly convincing. His chakra was slowly pulled back and only a faint amount remained which had an odd warmth to it which had her unwillingly be made at ease. She knew exactly what he was trying to do yet still her traitorous body and mind could not co-operate.
She knew that this was how those children had followed him willingly to war now.
And as though a burst of thunder echoed within her, she was reminded of how deadly he was once again. The relaxed sensation which was slowly spreading in her body was instantly replaced with a caution that she only had with Shisui's father.
A part of her wished that she had simply accepted her death, or perhaps just made an escape route for her to avoid her death.
"It is my pleasure that someone as great as you is the one acknowledging my work."
The smile that spread across her face was the same one she used with Emiko. Only this time, her eyes did not smile. She wanted to show him her tiredness and her confidence. She hoped that he would know, that she was the one doing his job of keeping the village united. Another small part of her whispered that it would have been better if she were to be born at an earlier time in this world. She could have, at the very least, lived out her life fully and not worry about the future generation of the Uchiha clan.
The Hokage's smile remained the same.
"I heard that you had been supporting the removal of the new policies."
"It is only a natural response to free oneself from the shackles placed upon them unjustly."
Her answer was instantaneous as though it was prepared. He supposed in a way it might have been. For the woman before him was someone of a higher intelligence than most others he had seen. Although, he supposed that she did not have quite a lot of experience to be pulling the Uchiha clan in the way it was currently moving. His hands steadily took his pipe closer to his mouth as he thought of the answer. His first guess was that she was cooperating with Uchiha Fugaku before shutting the idea down. He knew of how the man was too busy leading the police, he would have gotten reports of the police disregarding their duties if that was so.
He released the smoky breath and remembered the Uchiha matriarch. She had been staying silent for quite a while, no doubt busy curbing the Uchiha elders and taking care of the clan's grounds, so it was easy to forget her existence.
He was reminded of her ferocious nature when he remembered her exploits in battle and in supporting Minato and his wife for a moment before painfully shoving the memories back down in his mind. He was the Hokage. He could not be seen losing his focus, especially in front of outsiders. [He could not bear the thought of that traumatizing night where he lost everything.]
He smiled and continued to question the woman before him. He wished that Kakashi would grow up soon and release him from the shackles he was trapped in.