Crossroads (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Matters of Complexity

It was foolish of me to believe that Father's study held all the confidential documents that came with being a clan head and shinobi of Konoha. In fact, Father's study only held the multitudes of public arrest records and rule violations, as well as domestic disputes; the minor conflicts the Uchiha Police Force interfere with.

Mother taught me how to organize these documents on the large shelves of the wall behind Father's desk as she divulged some of the inner workings that went into leadership. "Both the patriarch and the matriarch of any clan have the duty to support each other to properly satisfy their roles as the clan heads. You may think that the Hokage is the sole person to handle all matters within the village, and that the clan heads mainly deal with their own people separately, but the clans as well as the clan-less civilians are the village itself." Politics had always been a topic much bigger than what I could truly understand, divine interference of my soul notwithstanding, but it was certainly worth knowing when it effected myself so personally. "Power is distributed, and it's no lie that it can be quite unequal and unfair, but distributed nonetheless. It's a cog work machine, some are just larger and some are smaller. The Uchiha clan, being labeled as the most powerful clan within the village, are both a small and large clog. Why do you think that would be, Satsuki?"

I felt it good that I could answer with some confidence, [We have a large influence but we are unable to use it.] Attending the clan meetings allowed me to digest the current status of our clan: Marginalized, segregated, and facing prejudice for actions not of our own. Exactly like the black and white skin war of my old world. Except, our name still left an impact inside and outside the village. The Uchiha name was still revered as a powerful clan; the strongest as mother had stated. The cofounders of Konoha. That influence, however, is stagnant. People whisper our name and we take on classified information, deployed by the highest authority, and yet we make no real decisions outside of the clan.

The Akamichi own a widespread number of restaurants within Konoha and the surrounding township of the Land of Fire. The Yamanaka are the to go botanists, they own a therapeutic ward at the hospital and village clinic, and their clan head is one of the heads of T&I. The Nara clan head is the Jounin commander himself and has a partnership with the Hospital due to the clan's expertise in pharmacology. The Inuzuka are the veterinary experts which even the Daimyo depend upon. The Hyuuga are sought out on almost all subterfuge and tracking missions for their dojutsu, and in a twisted fate, the trusted counterparts to what the Uchiha should have been.

Mother stops short of placing a yellowing book on the top most shelf before looking down at me. "You are right. We have influence, but no way to control how that influence may be used. That is why we are so isolated in the very village we helped create."

There was a rather popular scene I remembered from the later half of the Naruto anime. Sasuke had revived the four dead Hokages and Orochimaru spoke about what exactly it was that marginalized us as a clan. [What do the people think about the police force?] I hesitated through my signing, unsure if Mother would understand my intentions for asking such a question.

She contemplated the inquiry easily enough. "The Uchiha ourselves take great pride maintaining a peaceful village. We end public conflicts between civilians, we take up matters of domestic abuse, illegal trades, and so on. Most importantly, we protect the village from shinobi who may pose a threat to others. After all, it is more often than not that a shinobi turns wayward in the midst of grief and trauma. We have the authority to punish them as we see fit under the rules we enforce, and unfortunately, such authority leads to discontent from the family members and friends of those we arrest. They see us as abusers of power when we don't comply to more lenient punishments." Mother answered. I frowned thoughtfully. People who crack down on crime tend to be disliked, that's what Orochimaru said. Mother sighed as she finished organizing the shelf. "It's also often forgotten that the Uchiha Police Force was established by the Nidaime Hokage, and instead call us arrogant for wanting to control the public."