“Ah. Hm. …Alright.” The word unfortunate crosses his mind, but never makes it past his lips. It would simply put pressure on him, and if Minato really remembers nothing, it’s best to not burden him with unknown expectations.
He could tell him his name, probably. No…
“I’m this village’s leader. Who you’ll ask for if you need anything. Let’s simply work on getting you healed up. Then, if you’d like, we can work on accommodations.” Perhaps it was best to just let him live as a civilian.
It did mean quite a bit of work to protect his true identity, though. Almost anyone in the street would recognize him as Minato.
A complete and total memory wipe was not something any of them had expected. Despite the situation, the expression on Itachi’s face is that of mild surprise, brows raised high, blinks sharp.
The medic a few feet behind him furiously scribbles onto a notebook nestled into her other arm, and two more heads cautiously peek into the room.
“I’m…Itachi Uchiha.” Name first, title and other things like that last.
“You truly remember nothing?” This was not going to go well.
“Good.” He trusted Itachi to do what he needed. “Your father will be there.” And here he gazed at the boy, staring right into those eyes. “That won’t be a problem for you, will it?” Minato knew it wouldn’t, knew that, yet still – it didn’t stop the concern he had for Itachi.
“Not at all, sir.”
In fact, his Father might be elated. One, to be included in something as important as a council meeting, and secondly, to know his son was being groomed to be the Future Hokage.
They might not see anything negative from his Father for a long time, provided the current council didn’t do their best to piss him off.
“The subject will originally be over the general affairs of the Academy.” However, he would prepare Itachi more.
“Not every meeting will go as planned. It’s not uncommon for the meeting to be.. derailed onto another topic of interest.”
“Yes sir. I understand.” He’d listen intently– he’d always absorbed information quickly. This is the kid that read through all the ANBU operations books in a single night.
“You don’t have to bow to me, Itachi.” Although it was good that the other knew how to properly behave. It would come in handy when Itachi took the reigns of this village.
“You will observe the meeting, and I want you to listen to everything. Any questions you have will be withheld until after we are alone again. This council, one day, will possibly be your own council. I want you to form your own opinions on what happens with these meetings. If possible, I want you to attend as often as possible.”
He pauses, realizes it’s likely a lot to take in so soon.
“Do you have any questions? I’ll prepare you as best as I can.”
He will bow, because this is his Lord Hokage, and he shouldn’t take advantage of being so close to him. Minato deserves the respect his position demands.
Itachi only has one question, really.
“What is the subject of this meeting.” So he isn’t going in completely blind.
“I want you to be present in a meeting with me for once. You’re going to be the next Hokage. It’s only right that you see what responsibilities you will have.”
What would’ve been his short moment of awe and panic is quickly overshadowed by a sense of duty, bowing his head deeply, arms at his side.
“Impressive analysis. Bigger village such as Sunagakure or Iwagakure wouldn’t do such a thing – unless say, the hostage is of a high political influence. Smaller villages where, as you pointed out, have a distinct lack of resources? Some people have no such qualms.” Itachi’s analysis of the situation was very good, especially since Minato hadn’t named any specific villages in the scenario. It could have been taken in different directions.
“Now the next scenario. You’re the new Hokage. Your council seems to have more influence than you had anticipated. How do you go about fixing the village from the inside? You don’t know whom of your council you can trust, and whom to turn to.” A scenario Minato was currently facing but well. He wanted to see how Itachi handled this too. Not that Minato wasn’t working on the problem on his own.
More power than they’d anticipated? Well, that sentence was telling on its own. There’d be absolutely no reason to fret over the political power they held as opposed to the Hokage position unless it was already a problem. An opponent.
His brows furrow. Better to speak, than to think.
“Admitting they hold more power than envisioned means that power has already become an obstacle to overcome. Already I cannot trust my council. It will be easier to turn to people I already trust and have a rapport with, who show initiative and the desire to get involved. Perhaps I might have to replace my council, if they are not in the interest of the villagers.”
That sounded…ridiculous, really. Why were these people here if they weren’t interested in keeping the village maintained and its people happy? Or did they favor their position, the safety it provided, and their pay more?
“As it is my duty to protect the villagers, I would let them know the Council does not have that on their agenda.” Even to some extent, the position of Hokage was chosen by popular vote. The council members should be the same. Why should the populace allow them to remain there if they were not interested in the safety of its population?
“One of your ANBU was captured during a mission and the village holding them captive demands respirations for his return, lest a civil war is broken out over this incident. What do you do? Your ANBU is potentially compromised. A possible threat, and the demands may be too high to meet. Negotiating has a very slim chance. Consider all factors here; how important is the life of one ANBU to the village?”
Itachi remembers an almost similar question being directed at him by Danzo, when he was seven years of age.
If you were on a boat, and one of your crew members got sick with a contagious disease, which course of action would you take?
The base concept is the same. Sacrifice one for the greater good.
But Minato’s specific setup was more intricate than presented.
When he starts, its fast– the speed at which his brain is working at the situation.
“I’d consider and investigate what could possibly lead the summation of a village populace to make demands for the return of a single shinobi. How important is this ANBU, or is he simply the first they managed to incapacitate and capture? Factors such as lack of supplies or making a point to get attention could lead to such an overzealous request.
Smaller villages may act out in anger due to lack of amenities, their forces usually small. ANBU are trained and prepared to lay their lives on the line for their home village at any time, but in this situation I feel their sacrifice is unnecessary.
Making a demand too high to meet for the cost of one human life may mean the individuals involve only claim to be speaking for the whole of the populace, and are seeking to take advantage of what they consider weak, that is, the value of human life. In a case such as this, for someone only seeking to hurt instead of an underlying problem, keeping them distracted with negotations while a rescue squad was sent in would be the solution.
I simply cannot see a larger village keeping a hold of a single shinobi, one unit of an entire workforce, and making demands that might put the sum of my village at risk.”
“I’d be honored.” Please. Though, it’s a little difficult to take training from someone who admitted to hate the position, but he’ll take what he can get. He’s had this dream since he was four years old, nothing’s going to stop him now.
This is difficult. Itachi has a bad history of being honest with his views and being shut down. If it’s not his clan, yelling at him during their meetings, then it’s how his Father doesn’t stand up for him, and even the incident with his students ridiculed him tied into it, even if Itachi had convinced himself they just didn’t get it, they weren’t on his level of understanding.
He sits, and it is stiffly, trying to get the words to come out.
“A hokage has the power to forge political connections a regular shinobi does not. I would be able to attend meetings not only with other Kage, but the Daimyo of each country. It is better to stem off any fighting with discussion before it begins.” Before another war got a chance to brew.
UchihaSavior 