'Come in, ' Hiruzen sighed after a polite knock was made on his office door. He could tell by chakra alone, that behind the door was his former student. Part of him dreaded considering what request did Orochimaru have this time. His ideas most of the time were '

questionale

.

'Sensei, ' the tall pale jonin greeted, not taking the usual seat. So maybe it would be a short conversation?

'Orochimaru, ' he nodded with a puff from his pipe. 'What brings you here so early? '

'I took on a student. That 'ssssss it. Okay, bye, ' the sannin was about to leave when Hiruzen finally mustered a response.

'A student? As in a person to teach? ' he asked skeptically. For years he tried to push a genin team on him, but after the incident with Nawaki, Orochimaru would not even consider his proposals.

'Yes. A genin, ' Orochimaru shrugged nonchalantly and again turned to leave.

'Wait, ' Hokage exhaled with mild frustration. Something was telling him that this is going to be a headache. 'Who? If it is a genin, I have to take them off the list for team assignment. '

'Uchiha. Ryoko Uchiha, ' Orochimaru 's expression was unreadable, but the name itself spoke louder than words. Hiruzen took a couple of calming breaths before speaking.

'Orochimaru, please tell me I misheard you. Because I could swear that you said the name of Ryoko Uchiha. Daughter of Fugaku Uchiha. The clan head of Uchiha. An

eight-year-old

girl that was just released from the academy after early graduation. '

'You heard me right, ' the sannin deadpanned with his arms crossed elegantly over his chest. He obviously was not seeing the political nightmare of this idea. Hiruzen inhaled once more from his pipe.

'Don 't get me wrong, Orochimaru. I am glad you are taking another thought about being a sensei ' I was actually about to suggest this other girl that just graduated Anko Mitarashi. I think she would be more suited ' '

'There issss no need, ' Orochimaru only waved his hand dismissively. The boy always had an attitude, but that might be only caused by their affiliation as sensei and student. At least Hiruzen hoped that it was the case. To think that the sannin would act this way with other Hokage, was not something he wanted to think about.

'Why did you pick her? ' instead Hiruzen tried to piece the puzzle behind this mysterious development.

'I didn 't. Sssshe came to me, ' even Orochimaru couldn 't hide the smugness in his voice.

'I see. Well, I wish you luck. She 's a bright kid. '

'Mhm, I am awarrrre, ' Orochimaru nodded and then finally left. It 's not like Hiruzen could stop his student when he set his mind on something. Or someone. Now, the hard part would be to discuss this with Fugaku.

Hiruzen exhaled, rubbing his temples. Maybe he could just ignore it? What 's the worst that could happen?

Right.

A furious Uchiha, head of police, having a tantrum. That did not sound appealing. Weighing the two possibilities, Hiruzen finally decided to fall on his sword. Might as well get it over with. He called for an ANBU agent to summon the Uchiha clan head into his office.

??????????

Ryoko stopped by the hospital, to heal her minor injuries before going home. She would not have her father the satisfaction of seeing her beat up. As she waited in the hallway for a nurse, the girl looked around with a frown and arms crossed over her chest. The trademark Madara stance.

The hospital was buzzing. Civilians and shinobi came in and out with various degrees of urgency. She couldn 't understand why there were no Uchiha among medics. Their sharingan would be priceless in such a place.

As that thought circled her mind, a dark head of hair turned from a corner. Their eyes met, both widening from the realization.

'Brother? ' she raised an eyebrow. He didn 't look injured. No, he actually looked like he was walking with a purpose. And a clipboard. And a badge around his neck.

'Koko! What are you doing here? Are you hurt? ' he quickly approached scanning her disheveled appearance.

'Just a spar, ' Ryoko brushed it off. 'What are

you

doing here? '

The tiniest of blushes spread across his cheeks. Itachi was always adorable, even more so now, while caught doing something he probably wasn't supposed to.

'...internship ' ' he mumbled a response.

'Good, heal me then! ' Ryoko smiled brightly extending her injured hand. There was hesitation, but eventually, Itachi took her into one of the rooms. Another medic joined them, for supervision, she guessed.

'You never get this injured, ' Itachi remarked quietly, while his hands started to glow green.

'Found a good opponent. '

'Hn. '

'Sooo, does father know? '

'No. '

'Hn. '

The room fell into a comfortable silence. She guessed that much already. Otherwise, Itachi probably would have talked about his internship at home. But he didn 't.

'I got a sensei. Father doesn 't know that either, ' she casually dropped the little news.

'Hn. Aren 't you gonna ask why I joined a medical internship? '

'Nop. You are smart, so it was a matter of time before you realized the obscene benefit of knowing medical ninjutsu. '

'Hn. '

'Hmmm, you 're good at it too, ' Ryoko smiled again looking at her once again intact skin without any bruises or scratches left on it.

'It was you. You were surprised I didn 't know any medical jutsu back then ' '

'Ah, right, ' she vaguely recalled her own ramblings from the night in the forest.

'I was planning on telling you, but ' '

'But, you are an heir and father would not approve without some arm twisting, ' she finished for him. Itachi graced her with a small smile. Clan politics were something both of them were painfully familiar with.

'Hn. '

'Soooo, we can tell father together about our ' decisions. I bet he will be more upset with me than you, ' Ryoko smiled mischievously.

'What did you do? '

'Oh, let 's not spoil the surprise, ' Ryoko giggled, hopping off the bed where she was seated for the healing session. 'See you back home, brother, ' a tight hug and she was gone.

Maybe she should tell mother first, so everyone would be prepared for Fugaku 's meltdown?

??????????

'Ah, Fugaku-san, good that you could stop by so promptly, ' Hiruzen exhaled with a small smile as the clan head entered the office. Fugaku had a strong gut feeling that this meeting was urgent, that is why he came by as quickly as he could.

If the Hokage called for him with an

ANBU

agent, this had to be serious. Either concerning the war or ' his children.

'Hokage-sama, ' the man gave a polite nod stopping in front of the wide oak desk.

'Sooo, ' Hiruzen inhaled smoke and continued, 'First, I would like to congratulate you. Again. Ryoko-chan much like Itachi-kun shows great potential. '

He cursed in his mind. Of course, it had to be his children. Fugaku could swear that one of these days, it will be the death of him. Not an enemy shinobi, but his own children.

'Yes, Hokage-sama. I am blessed, ' he answered with just the slightest strain in his voice.

'My student, Orochimaru, will be taking Ryoko-chan as a student. It is a great honor to be taught by one of the three legendary sannin. '

Fugaku could feel the blood drain from his body. When he first heard of Ryoko 's request, he didn 't believe she could actually do it ' But he was naive in thinking that anything could stop his little girl. He should know better by now '

'I see, ' Fugaku whispered, carefully suppressing any emotion and even chakra that tried to stir in his belly. 'I will make sure to thank Minato-san, for helping out in arranging this. '

'Minato? ' Hiruzen looked surprised.

'Oh yes. Namikaze so graciously offered to arrange a meeting for Ryoko with Orochimaru-san. '

'I see. '

The silence was tense as both men thought of ways to

talk

with Minato about his acts of kindness in the future. Hiruzen probably thought that his next words would help to lighten the mood ' oh, how wrong he was.

'While we 're at it, Fugaku-san, it is very great that you allowed Itachi-kun to take an internship at the hospital. Tsunade has pestered me for years, that we should have more active shinobi who know medical ninjutsu. From what I hear, he has great talent. I am sure his skills of healing will aid him in a battle and his comrades. '

That 's it. It was a genjutsu, Fugaku thought but suppressed the urge to try and dispel it. Obviously, with his sharingan no one could place a genjutsu on him this ' realistic.

'Right, ' that was all that Fugaku mustered to reply.

'Also, if I might suggest, if more of your clansmen take this opportunity to learn to heal, we could fund research to look into the solution for sharingan's effect on the wielder's eyes. '

'I ' will raise this question with our council, ' Fugaku said feeling like the world really was going into a haze. He couldn 't recall the end of the meeting. The next moment he blinked, the man was already standing in front of the Uchiha compound gates.

He tried to dispel a genjutsu only once before entering. Obviously, nothing happened. The man inhaled deeply and went inside.

??????????

The dinner at Uchiha clan head house was eerily quiet. Itachi shared conspiratory glances with Ryoko. It was about time. They decided to break the news before dessert.

'Father, I have joined the medical internship at Konoha 's hospital, ' Itachi announced, ripping a bandage off. Fugaku didn 't even blink to both of his children's surprise.

'Oh, and Orochimaru-sama agreed to be my sensei, ' Ryoko said, far more cheerful, making Mikoto and Itachi stare at her with wide eyes. Yes, she eventually decided against warning her mother about everything.

Fugaku exhaled as he reached for his teacup. Stern eyes looked from Itachi to Ryoko.

'Itachi, Ryoko, do you understand how your actions could reflect on the clan? ' while her brother bowed his head slightly, Ryoko was not intimidated by the veiled threat.

'Yes, father! Itachi will prove to everyone that Uchiha can do anything and everything better than Senju. Hashirama-sama was a healer too. And one of the sannin, Senju, is also a healer. I bet Itachi will be a legend just like them. '

Now

that

left everyone speechless. Itachi hesitantly raised his eyes to stare at her with what seemed to be gratitude and warmth in his gaze. Mikoto kept silent absorbing information, while Fugaku 's expression scrunched. He was looking for a fault in her reasoning.

'So why don 't you join medics too, Ryoko? ' Fugaku snapped, making her pout.

'I wish ' Sensei said that my chakra is too ' flamboyant for the delicate work healing requires, ' yes, she was still bitter about it. Orochimaru refused to teach her healing after their spar. Actually, his words were more like 'don 't get hit the next time '. Semantics.

'Yes, father, great chakra control is needed for medical ninjutsu, ' Itachi offered gently.

'Talking about your

sensei

, Ryoko. Why, would you pick him? And I know that it is not about intelligence alone. Otherwise, you would have asked for a Nara, ' Fugaku 's full attention was on her. Ryoko carefully placed her chopsticks down and straightened up.

'Father, I was thinking about what I want to do as a shinobi, ' she started keeping intense eye contact. 'Itachi will take over the clan eventually and I will always support him, ' she smiled at her brother for a second, then her eyes returned to Fugaku. 'Yet it left me thinking, what I will become. '

'And? ' her father asked impatiently.

'Father, I will become the next Hokage. The first of Uchiha. It is our rightful place as one of the founder clans. It is long overdue. '

There was silence. It looked like Fugaku 's anger melted, but she could not decipher what he was thinking from the blank face he made.

'And ' what does it have to do with Orochimaru of all people? ' he finally asked.

'Everything. Second Hokage was First's brother. Third Hokage was Second's student. The next will probably be Minato-san as he is the student of Third's student. So the one after Minato will have to be another student connected to former Hokage. Or ' would you prefer me to learn under Jiraiya the Toad sannin? ' she curved her eyebrow with a cheeky smile. Everyone, even her, knew what a pervert that one was.

'Hn, ' that is when Ryoko knew that her father conceded. As she predicted, Itachi 's news was overlooked. That was inevitable when a sannin is mentioned in a conversation.

'I will support you in your goal, ' Itachi smiled at her. There was never even a tinge of rivalry between them. Maybe it was Ryoko 's 'easy-going nature ' or maybe it was her wisdom to think better than rival her brother over such a thing as a position of a clan head.

No, she wanted to rule everyone. She wanted to be the first female Hokage. She wanted to be the first Uchiha Hokage. People will bow to her one day, she was sure of it. That 's what Madara would have done in her position, Ryoko was sure of it.

From all the books she read, there was nothing more important than a sibling bond between the Uchiha. Madara would never cross his brother if the roles were reversed. And honestly, she wouldn 't want to cause trouble for Itachi. He could be the political one, while she would be his right hand and the one to do what has to be done. Even if that meant taking over as the Hokage to support him.

Fugaku dismissed them shortly after. There was no yelling or smashing of plates. She was pleasantly surprised by the level of control her dear father had over his emotions. At the end of the day, he was a smart and reasonable man. He could not deny her reasoning. The council of the clan might comment something, but they were nothing but old sacks of meat nearing their expiration date. They would not stop her.

??????????

As predicted, the clan council had a word or two to say about the young genius Uchiha and their choices. Fugaku took all the comments in silence. He didn 't argue or agree either. He was actually still recovering from his little girl's declaration.

On one hand, it warmed his heart. She was an embodiment of a strong and prideful Uchiha. She was wise beyond her age. But she was also his

little girl

. The thought of her sensei being the infamous snake sannin was concerning.

'Mikoto, let 's not have any more children, ' he said to his wife one evening after finishing sake in his cup. 'I don 't think I could handle another one ' '

Mikoto snickered, cuddling to his side.

'It 's your own fault, Fugaku, for being so irresistible. '

He groaned but did not correct her. Often than not, it was he who could not resist

her

. Devilish woman. And their children were surely her spawns.

'Fu-ga-ku. Itachi and Ryoko are out on missions, ' she whispered to his ear.

'Devil, woman, you are the devil, ' he inhaled deeply her ravishing scent.

??????????