𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗮

ⅩⅢ

DAMP FIREWOOD HAS
THE MOST SMOKE

TATARA IS NOT FOUR ANYMORE ━━ she realizes this the night before she decides that Uchiha Mikoto is the only one who can help her, and also probably the day when Fugaku confronted her and told her that she is a shinobi and that she has to act like it, not like some brat that she supposedly was. Or maybe when she gutted that rabbit when she was four years old and looked at her grandfather with expectant eyes, or maybe that time when she gutted a person, or gutted that pregnant woman that have her the Sharingan in exchange for the infant she took. Tatara is not sure. She seldomly is now, after her ... 'miscommunication 'with her grandfather. She just knows that Yuemi–san who lives in the house right beside hers gossiped in the district about their fight.

By the looks that Fugaku had sent her when she arrived late for training, Yuemi–san's gossip about the golden child of Uchiha Takobu and the favored little girl of the Elders raising her voice and disobeying orders most likely reached his ears. Tatara is kind of relieved Fugaku is who he is; silent, watchful, the type to see if you can survive hell and back before deciding to tend to the burns you have from crawling through it with your knees digging in the surface of coals and magma. Perhaps not exactly that but Tatara is glad Fugaku is Fugaku. Her four–year–old self would have hissed otherwise and thrown a tantrum (not exactly a tantrum but as far as an Uchiha can tantrum) once she got home, complaining about her beloved Cousin Mikado's place being taken by some Uchiha whose only trait that separates him from rest is his skill in, well, everything.

Tatara still does not know why Mikoto did not become the Clan Head in place of Mikado though. The Clan had female Heads before and it was no different from having male Heads though it is an unspoken commentary that the Elders prefer a male but that really is not the point. The point is that the Elders thought of Mikoto as insufficient and so, Mikoto sought help from Fugaku who has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Mikoto is strong though. Maybe not as strong to be known in all Bingo Books but strong enough for Kumo to flag her with heavy caution, strong enough for her to reach the Jounin Rank before she stops being a teenager. She is a Mistress of Genjutsu, an illusionist of the highest degree, even better than members of the Kurama Clan and Yūhi Shinkū ━━ Fugaku is known as the 'Wicked Eye Fugaku' and while Mikoto does not have a name as flashy as his, The Clan still submit to the words of this woman and by extension, Tatara's grandfather and herself.