If you were to ask Fugaku his opinion on Hatake Kakashi it was that he was disrespectful, then Fugaku would politely decline any further comment and excuse himself from conversation. He never said anything more than that and for good reason.
Kakashi was loyal, and watching him fighting the Hyuuga forced Fugaku realized that loyalty was to a fault. He was of Konoha, an orphan tied completely to the institution yet still bore a legacy of a reputable clan and of a disreputable father. He'd proven himself, was the sole surviving legacy of Minato before Naruto had been born and espoused the exact right amount care for his friends that it never conflicted with the sacrificial way he treated his own life to serve his village. He was a perfect Konoha shinobi, had character and personality enough to make him interesting and was just rebellious enough for people to think maybe it wasn't so bad; maybe you really could disobey the village if Kakashi of the sharingan could be late to meetings with the hokage and get away with it, maybe there really was peace and freedom enough if there was room for that sort of disrespect.
It was funny how Kakashi had a golden reputation maintained next to a reputation of lateness and impudence, and how no one ever reflected on that. He was allowed that impudence because everyone knew where his loyalties lie and knew he would never disobey the village where it counted. He got his rebellions out in small matters and preached friends above the mission yet somehow, always, was trusted. No one ever wondered why.
Because he was likable. That was why. That was it.
Fugaku wasn't likable. He was stern and taciturn and couldn't care about jokes or frivolities even while he knew those things were objectively important to the mission of 'humanizing' himself. He was a killjoy. A bastard. While he could enjoy being teased (usually by his wife) he struggled to tease in turn. He was…intense, and for his people they liked him like that, trusted the stern figure as the point of leadership. Even though Fugaku knew there were those among his clan with more colourful personalities there was an overarching culture of reserved dispositions, of saving your true self for those closest to you and treating strangers with distant respect. Fugaku sharing in that personality as an Uchiha was met with nothing but approval by his clan, but the same could not be said for his village.
Kakashi was likable to this village, and that alone granted him privilege in the same way it barred his own clan from opportunities. Likability instead of objective judgment. An understanding that wider Konoha saw the Uchiha as different, but Kakashi as one of their own.
Normally Fugaku wouldn't resent someone just because they were likable, but it was completely different when that individual wore their dojutsu in his skull like it was just one more concealed weapon, like it wasn't a point of meaning that had helped define his people, their culture, and their persecution at the hands of those who feared and coveted their power. As if that sharingan was his. As if it didn't fill Fugaku with a nervous sickness as he considered what it meant. As if his clan hadn't called for his blood at such a disrespectful display.
Fugaku had been the one to calm them, had been the one to say no one would retaliate when it was so clear they wanted to. Kakashi hadn't known what he'd done back then, was only a child, but in all the years since he'd grown he damn well should have learned. He'd appropriated a significant biological manifestation for their clan and didn't seem to mind in the slightest, didn't seem to feel awkward or contrite around them even when he became a proper man. It wasn't just a damn eye, it was something that belonged to the Uchiha and was not something Uchiha Obito should have ever given to an outsider, dying wish be damned. The sharingan meant more than just a power for any one individual. It was their legacy, their biological heritage that people hated them over, and for Kakashi to wear it like it was in any way not a gross violation made Fugaku's stomach clench. He wasn't Uchiha. The sharingan didn't belong to him. He didn't respect it.
Kakashi of the sharingan eye. He'd even appropriated their reputation.
So no, Fugaku didn't have a charitable opinion on Hatake Kakashi. He thought he had remarkable privilege and prestige, but never reflected on it due to how insular and self-absorbed he was. He'd long since undone his father's bad reputation, was in the good graces of the hokage, and was the student of the fourth. He was strong and petty and concerned purely with doing his duty, no more and no less. He was quirky and likable and had stolen something from the Uchiha that was near sacred and didn't seem to care, and people were on his side because the Uchiha were prideful and Kakashi in the wrong place at the right time. Of course that was the story. Of course.
But despite his dislike there was one quality Fugaku could admire for what it was: Hatake Kakashi loved his friends.
"RIVAL!"
While Kakashi had been calm as he engaged the Hyuuga forces with Shisui that calmness was unsettled at the arrival of Maito Gai, appearing not with a dramatic, heroic pose but with restrained devastation. He threw himself in front of Kakashi the second he saw him but was non-threatening, his muscles loose.
"Enough," he asked, and even Fugaku cringed at his voice, at how the usually boisterous and loud Green Beast solemnly demanded a cease-fire. "Enough."
While Kakashi had been a shinobi of many years seeing Gai -such a constant in their village- begging made Kakashi balk, made him stop and stare and try to parse the meaning as fast as his mind could work, and Fugaku knew it would be enough.
Shisui was the real problem.
"Kakashi!" he hissed, his battle having stopped as well, the Hyuuga even so taken aback by Gai's defeated demeanor that they'd temporarily retreated. It gave them room to breathe, to talk, but Fugaku didn't even know what to say.
He'd raced here, him and every other jounin they'd managed to pull to their side. Kazue had been right that revealing the potential massacre had done its job to support their victimization, but what had probably actually moved their hearts was Mikoto. She'd been a wreck ever since they found out just a few hours ago. Not the kind of 'wreck' people were used to but Fugaku knew her, and seeing her all-but collapse as she explained what she found had granted them more humanity and consideration in the last few hours than Fugaku could ever remember feeling. He could attribute it to many things (and no doubt Kazue could enlighten him if he missed a factor) but it ended with him here, staring down his traitorous clan as Shisui fought the Hyuuga, with everyone watching Fugaku with a mixture of tension and pity. While he hated the pity, knew it was the uncomfortable outcome of sharing their truths, it meant that every person on the field was now against Shisui. Every jounin who'd been guarding their kids, every leader who'd come running at the sound of a fight, every bystander who wanted to see how the drama would unfold - on Fugaku's side.
And against Shisui.
He might be Shisui no shushin, but there was no genius in the world strong enough to fight off a united Konoha. Shisui might hate Fugaku or he might simply just think he'd been doing the right thing betraying his clan, but even Shisui would have to reconsider his position with people such as the Aburame clan head at Fugaku's shoulder.
"You're under arrest," he declared, and paused as he considered how maybe his role hadn't really changed so much going from 'chief' to 'hokage.'
Shisui pursed his lips, unnerved. "Under whose authority?"
"Mine."
Kakashi had been leaning into Gai while Fugaku confronted Shisui, listening at the sparse and emotional explanation of what his friend had uncovered of their previous regime, but while it seemed Kakashi was slowly coming to terms with the information he suddenly narrowed his eyes pointedly.
"There is no precedent that the Uchiha should take control just because the previous hokage was…abiding those actions towards kids," Kakashi argued, and regretfully stepped away from Gai to back up Shisui. "I see no reason why a man such as Uchiha Fugaku would be put in charge in this scenario."
Fugaku frowned. While he may…dislike Kakashi he didn't see why Kakashi would feel similarly towards Fugaku. He'd been the one to put to rest any calls to remove Obito's sharingan. There was no reason for Kakashi to look at him with such open suspicion.
Gai stepped back up to Kakashi, grabbed his bicep and pierced him with his eyes. "There's…more."
Fugaku sighed. "Maito Gai, please completely debrief Kakashi of the events of the last few days. He's not the one under arrest for conspiracy to commit mass murder."
"You're one to talk," Shisui accused, looking around. "Have you calculated the casualties yet? Or is that low-priority?"
Despite the words the tone wasn't mean- just idle, Shisui's eyes flicking around the crowd looking for escape. Both of them could sense that there was an unnatural quiet in Itachi's direction yet his presence still remained.
"If you want answers then surrender," Fugaku said calmly. "We'll tell you everything and demand the same of you. Then we can work out all the…consequences."
Shisui huffed a laugh, but when he looked back at Kakashi his friend was significantly less angry, sort of slouched over in defeat as he was briefed by Gai.
"Give up, Shisui-kun."
Fugaku grimaced as his wife appeared, looking just as haggard and upset as when he left her. Shisui recoiled as he took her in, eyes blinking at her shinobi-garb and weathered look. This was the pitiful image that had helped sway village leaders to their side and he could see the effect it was having on Shisui.
Fugaku cleared his throat, hating that he had to do this but needing to. "Did you get Itachi?"
Itachi. His son his firstborn his clan their traitor-
"Yes," Mikoto said simply, like the words were a brutal duty. "Itachi has been taken to the hokage tower by Shikaku and a team of Nara." She paused, and turned deadened eyes to Shisui. "It was the only humane choice, as Itachi is considered too dangerous for anything less."
Shisui flinched, and Fugaku saw in that flinch the realization that Mikoto blamed him. She looked at him with pure disappointment, something so scathing and betrayed the condescension she now felt as she looked at Shisui; the judgment of someone looking down on someone else who'd made a foolish mistake that could have cost them their lives.
"Are you going to abandon Itachi?" Fugaku asked, as if he didn't already know the answer, as if Shisui really would.
Shisui curled his lip. He said nothing.
Fugaku sighed. "Take him in."
***
Itachi was completely frozen in front of the main desk when Fugaku finally brought Shisui to the hokage tower, a black line of shadow connecting him to one of the Nara lined up along the wall. The procession they'd brought from the Hyuuga grounds did much the same (though Mikoto had decided to stay behind to calm a hysterical Sasuke, something Fugaku was carefully not thinking about), but there was one among the crowd of guards and clan leaders who stood out. He didn't speak when Fugaku entered, didn't call attention to himself, but he was noticeable enough on his own the way he cradled a scroll in his arms, his face blank yet still had the remnants of tears. He was shaking just a bit. A Nara.
When it was clear the boy wasn't going to speak Fugaku looked to Shikaku pointedly.
"…Ahem, Jirou-san," Shikaku said, clearing his throat. "I don't believe you were assigned..?"
"Oh," Jirou said, straightening to attention. "No no, I wasn't…"
"Okay," Shikaku allowed, and eyed the scroll Jirou was treating with such care, "and that is..?"
Jirou looked down, his Nara mind struggling to work until he realized what he was being asked. He clutched the scroll tighter.
"I-it's Asuka," he explained, and turned the scroll so they could see it was one meant for bodies. "I-I…the Uchiha are all being protected inside the Hyuuga estate. They wouldn't let me in."
"Ah."
It was amazing how they could have two potential mass-murdering traitors in the room yet still people shuffled uncomfortably, moved by the fresh grief on the face of one so young. There were always consequences to violence no matter how righteous the cause that prompted it, and Nara Jirou was holding one such consequence in his hand.
"You," Fugaku barked, pointing at one of the few Uchiha guards assigned to shadow him, "go take Nara Jirou to the Hyuuga estate and help him find Asuka's aunt."
The Uchiha straightened, and soon the near-delirious with grief Nara was being gently coaxed out of the room with a strong hand on his arm. The room exhaled.
Only to tense again when Itachi was finally released.
He was still bound, technically. Still had the police-standard cuffs that disrupted chakra and kept him from activating his dojutsu, same as Shisui, yet everyone knew that didn't mean much. His son had a reputation, one ironic considering how it was almost quintessentially Uchiha. He was stoic, emotionally distant, and ruthless. At such a young age he had distinguished himself without grandstanding or drawing attention to himself. He was unnerving, was considered to hold himself above others and didn't make friends- Uchiha pride keeping him separate from all except another Uchiha. He was an elite ninja who could destroy armies and if you were smart you kept a wide berth.
Fugaku knew better.
This was his son who'd brutally corrected Fugaku when he'd forgotten Sasuke's entrance ceremony into the academy, who'd met Fugaku's orders with a calm reassertion that he wouldn't be doing any important mission when Sasuke needed him. This was his son who'd been going almost insane with worry recently, who'd been desperately trying to understand why his brother was acting so different, how he could have gotten his sharingan, who could have hurt him. While he could be vindictive it wasn't, truly, in his nature to be. This was the son whose dream was to end all wars, the son who'd cried at the remnants of a battlefield and who'd then pushed himself through the academy as far and fast as he could because he wanted to help, wanted to make a difference. This was the son who'd worried him when he didn't have any friends. This was the son he didn't know as well as his other son, whose mind seemed so far away from him, but who he wanted to know. This was his son.
And his son was soft.
It was a conviction he maintained when Itachi blanketed the room with a careful lack of intent, his face blanking into nothing, not even respect for authority (which was telling in and of itself). Shisui was more emotional at his side but Shisui was still a shinobi, was still controlling himself even though he stole glances at Itachi, concerned more for his friend's emotional state than his own fate. It was nice to see because at the moment Shisui was probably the only person on his son's side, and despite how Fugaku's own feelings were something he refused to acknowledge he knew that - at the moment - Shisui was his son's only ally in the world. Despite everything it was a comfort. He didn't want Itachi to be alone.
"As I'm sure you two have figured out," Fugaku began, his voice cutting right to the point, "we've found evidence of collusion between you and the previous, now illegitimate, regime towards undermining the Uchiha clan insomuch that mass murder was the leading solution towards dealing with our coup."
"Which is ridiculous."
Fugaku paused. Itachi's voice was bland yet carried that note of judgment. This was going to be difficult.
"Do you deny collusion?"
The evidence was incredibly concrete - times matching up with official logs from the sandaime - but maybe…
"No," Itachi allowed, uncaring that he'd just broken Fugaku's tentative hope, "but to find evidence at all is ridiculous. Danzo isn't that sloppy, which means he wanted you to find it."
The Nara along the wall started whispering, and though their input would be insightful Itachi's was more pressing.
"Why do you think he would do that?"
Itachi pursed his lips. "Probably to keep us in an adversarial role to you. He might think we would turn traitor again if we were…convinced towards the legitimacy of an Uchiha coup after the successful operation, which neither of us considered a viable possibility."
"Itachi," Shisui warned, unnerved at how loquacious he was being.
"That," Itachi continued, "or he wanted to offer us up a distraction to make his escape, which I have no doubt he managed to do."
Fugaku stiffened.
It was true. While Fugaku had been playing politics trying to rally some peace so they could sort the facts out his forces hadn't been resting. While some had been needed to project strength so sandaime loyalists wouldn't launch a counter-coup, others had been focused solely on finding where in the damn hell Danzo had gone. They hadn't found him, but had found a number of collapsed tunnels leading out in all directions and telling them nothing of which one he'd used. They were going to try hashing out a deal with the Inuzuka to try to get some of their elite trackers on the job but now they were stuck dealing with Itachi and Shisui. Worse, was that even though they'd uncovered all the children being groomed for ROOT they hadn't found a single active ROOT operative. Basically Danzo had escaped with a small army of elite shinobi and they could do nothing about it while the politics were so sticky and Fugaku's own son was suspected of treason. It wasn't… an ideal situation.
I was wrong. Being hokage is significantly worse than being police chief.
Itachi eyed him dully, like he knew what Fugaku was thinking.
"So you're not going to defend yourselves from the allegations," Fugaku concluded, disappointed. "Not even the charge of planning mass murder?"
"That was never going to happen," Shisui cut in, and Fugaku gratefully turned his attention to him, struggling to know how to approach his son like this. "That massacre was never going to take place. We were working to undermine the idea. We would never have gone through with it."
He looked to Itachi for support. Itachi didn't look back.
"…and how were you working to undermine this potential massacre?" Fugaku questioned, pretending that he wasn't relieved at the news. "Do you have any proof?"
"We were…well…" Shisui huffed, cringing. "You know my mangekyou has a special ability, right?"
Fugaku blinked. "Yes, the kotoamatsukami," he said, watching Shisui flinch that he'd so boldly named his technique in front of this crowd. "It's an incredibly powerful genjutsu that can only be used once every ten years and permanently alters a person's mind without breaking their personality. I don't believe you've ever used it since it's not very effective in battle."
Despite himself Fugaku could feel his growing interest. Such a technique used on Danzo could have very well spared their clan from the obscene plans they'd recently uncovered, and if this story was true it could be an excellent defense for his son and his friend. Maybe there was a way out of this for Itachi after all.
"Right," Shisui coughed, his face darkening. "Well, we were planning on using that technique to stop the coup, thus stopping the need for the massacre altogether. We…well I was considering using it on the leader of the Uchiha clan to persuade him that the coup was a bad idea."
Shisui didn't look him in the eye. Itachi did.
Fugaku didn't react.
Mutterings broke out again from their spectators, louder this time. Fugaku didn't try to calm them, didn't try to recapture the room and focus on the task at hand. He could only stare at Itachi, at the unrepentant stillness his son watched him with. It wasn't all-the-way resentment, but there was still some there. There was understanding there too, like Itachi knew the idea that had just been aired would be considered a violation to Fugaku, would make him feel… and yet despite that Itachi believed the benefits outweighed the cost. There was almost pity there, and while Fugaku struggled under the weight of pity from his new allies getting it from his son felt a thousand times worse. He'd rather be resented.
"Can I fucking kill them now?"
Kazue's voice came from the far end of the room, but she was pushing herself through the crowd to get to their two accused. She sneered as she got into view, eyeing the two with such open hatred Fugaku found himself tensing despite himself, the instinct to protect his own rearing even though he knew that rage on Kazue's face was, incredibly, on his behalf.
"No," Fugaku said simply, didn't trust himself to say more.
"You heard what this fucker said, right?" she scoffed, almost shaking in her rage. "He would have used a permanent technique to alter your very mind to suit his political agenda."
"Is peace a political agenda?" Shisui immediately defended, his own ire rising. "This wasn't a selfish choice-"
He couldn't finish that thought, Kazue hand slapped down over his cheek so hard he fell to the floor.
"Kazue!" Fugaku yelled. "You are not apart of this-"
"Yes," Kazue snapped, ignoring him. "Yes, peace is a political agenda when war is so clearly the moral choice. You think it's an act of peace to let this village terrorize your clan without reprisals? You think it is an act of peace to so violate a man's mind you permanently alter his soul?"
"It's more moral than mass murder!" Shisui spat, getting to his knees. "Which I'll remind you was the only other choice!"
"No it wasn't, you fucking child," Kazue seethed, her hatred overtaking her. "At any point you could have gone back to your clan with your traitorous tail between your legs and told them what was going on. As soon as the idea of genocide was brought up that was exactly what you should have done, but instead you concocted a plot to overrule someone's very autonomy and treat a person as your little fucking puppet because you were too cowardly to face the truth."
"And what is that, Hyuuga-san?" Itachi asked mildly, bringing attention to himself while Shisui got to his feet.
Kazue scoffed. "The truth that Konoha is fucking shit."
"That's not a truth," Itachi immediately argued, his voice still calm, "that's a judgment, a belief. Belief is subjective and can never be truth, and my beliefs starkly differ from yours."
Kazue rolled her eyes. "And those beliefs are..?"
"That Konoha is worth it."
It was said so simply, almost spurning his earlier words, his beliefs said like a statement of fact. It was doing something to the room, was moving people inadvertently to see such a conviction declared with someone's whole heart. Even though they'd just usurped the previous hokage almost everyone in this room still believed in Konoha, Fugaku included. They still loved their village, and their hearts still went out to one who did as well. Itachi was unapologetically asserting a belief most people could empathize with and it was filling them up a bit. It was always a more pleasant feeling to believe in something than to doubt, and seeing such open belief was like a call to a wilted flower, all those whose belief in Konoha had been shaken the last few days turning to Itachi like they were finally seeing sunlight.
"So you would have slaughtered children then?" Kazue asked, startling the room. "You would have gone to a little Uchiha baby and cut open its belly in order to protect Konoha? Because if that's what this village is worth," she laughed, "then I'm good with letting it die."
Coolness drenched the room, undoing the passions stirred by Itachi's declarations. While they all might cling to ideals inevitably shinobi were pragmatists, and the reality was that they had found evidence of a potential clan culling and evidence of Itachi abiding such a thing.
For the good of Konoha.
"I already told you we never would have!" Shisui argued, pulling at his restraints.
"I wasn't asking you," Kazue rebuked, and turned to Itachi.
"Itachi wouldn't have either," Shisui scoffed, and once again looked to his friend for support, and once again found none.
Shisui blinked, uncomprehending.
"You would have killed me?" Fugaku asked, addressing the truth that was unsaid. He wondered why he'd prefer to die at his son's hand than be manipulated. "Would you have killed you brother?"
The effect was immediate, the mild-mannered front disappearing in a blink. Itachi snarled, his intent falling on the room like a hammer and Fugaku saw some of the lower-level chunin faint dead away.
"Of course not!" Itachi snarled, his whole body moving with his conviction. "I would have done whatever it took to save Sasuke from this!"
Fugaku couldn't help but sigh a relieved breath. A lot had been challenged about what he thought he knew of his son but he refused to consider Itachi had lost this part of himself too.
"So if the choice came down to kill the clan to protect your brother you would have done it?" Kazue asked, unimpressed. "What if the choice was to kill the whole village? Would you do 'anything to protect Sasuke' then?"
Itachi sneered.
"Is this what you were talking about, Fugaku?" Kazue laughed, looking Itachi up and down. "Is this the love of the Uchiha that would burn the world?" She shook her head. "What a shallow love."
Itachi's shoulders went back. "Excuse me?"
"To protect your brother's life you would simply have to- oh, just take everything that gives his life meaning and all the people he loves. Definitely the actions of someone who values Sasuke's life and not the insane logic of a madman." She paused. "Mad-boy? An idiot, at least."
"And you think death would be preferable?"
"Yup." Kazue mockingly clapped. "Aw, seems like you can learn."
"Itachi," Shisui finally said, his voice wreaked, his eyes wide. "You wouldn't have…you're not making any sense. We agreed-"
"I would do anything to protect Sasuke," Itachi said simply, but couldn't look Shisui in the eyes. "Anything."
"An admission of guilt if I ever heard one," Kazue declared, and turned back to Fugaku. "Can I kill him now?"
Fugaku pursed his lips.
The room waited, but the energy was different than before. Kazue was right in that people were satisfied with this confrontation, that this was enough confirmation on the part of the accused. They now knew their motivations, what had driven them to collude on such a heinous plan. Shisui had been pretending, had had his own plan to undermine both parties and Itachi would have gone along with that plan. Itachi would have also gone along with the village's plan to slaughter the Uchiha if it meant protecting his brother. Their explanations do not undermine their treachery though it might soften their punishment, but only Fugaku could say. This was his first unilateral act as hokage, and he wondered if he should be grateful that it was dealing with two Uchiha traitors, that even if he weren't hokage they would have fallen under his authority to punish anyways. No one could contest whatever fate he chose for them, as he was both hokage and Uchiha clan head. What he decided would be what would happen, their fates sealed when he chose to speak.
Fugaku didn't speak.
Instead he watched as the playful meanness faded from Kazue's eyes, gradually melting into soft disbelief the longer the silence went on. It was amazing how well she'd gotten to know him in the last few weeks, so much so that just licking his lips was enough of a tell for her.
"Are you fucking serious?" she snapped, getting in his face. "After all they've done? All they'd planned to do? You're going to let them live?"
He met her eyes and waited. He couldn't back down in front of this crowd, not even to his ally, and she knew it.
She pulled away.
"I see," she sneered, and turned her back on Fugaku to storm out. "So this is the love that would burn the world."
She slammed the door on her way out. Fugaku exhaled.
"Both of you will be stripped of your rank and discharged," Fugaku declared, sitting down at his desk to shuffle papers. "You will both have your chakra sealed and will be put under probation where you will have permanent escorts every waking minute. You will not be allowed to see each other and collude, you will not be allowed sharp tools that could be used as weapons, you will not be allowed to leave your homes until you've proven yourself trustworthy. You will both be sequestered under house arrest in new apartments I provide for you. Any visitors will need permission from me before they see you, and visits will be recorded. Food and other essentials will be delivered periodically." He paused, took a breath, and steepled his hands on his desk to eye his traitorous clan with a severity such a punishment deserved. "Neither of you will ever be considered ninja again. You will never serve this village again. Eventually, in time, you might seek civilian employment but that is incredibly far off. Your careers are over, all previous accomplishments disgraced. That is my ruling."
"Fugaku- er, hokage-sama," Shikaku cut in awkwardly, his voice carrying. "They are both exceptional shinobi. Couldn't we at least-"
"Exceptional shinobi with a penchant for treason?" Fugaku asked dully. "No. They are useless to me." He paused and looked back at them. "They are useless to this village."
Shisui's eyes were wide but facing the floor, like he couldn't process all the different ways this meeting had gone. Itachi wasn't reacting, didn't seem to care. It was an act.
An act broken when Itachi saw who it was who would be sealing their chakra.
It made sense. He was their most trustworthy fuuinjutsu expert and had already proven his competence, yet Uzumaki Ashino couldn't help the shiver that overtook him when he was led into the hokage tower and saw who he was asked to seal, just like Itachi couldn't help his near-insane snarl.
"You."
It was like the sound was pulled from the deepest pit of Itachi's loathing, rumbling out of him with far too much timber for his age. Itachi glared like he meant it, glared like Kazue had glared at him, yet some part of him seemed to gleam. They'd laid bare all of Itachi's faults yet here was his vindication, something he'd gotten right, and he roared with it.
"I knew it," he spat when Ashino neared.
He didn't say anything more, didn't need to when it was clear his glare alone was making Ashino shake, made him swallow and look around for help. Itachi couldn't move again - the Nara restraining him at the appearance of such open disdain - but apparently neither could Ashino. The terror was too great.
(Shisui was looking at Itachi like he didn't know him. Fugaku knew the feeling well.)