Chapter Text
Shisui wakes up on the bank of the Naka river, coughing up water and blood and smoke. He groans as his cheek rubs against the sand. It gets in his mouth and up his nose in a way that has him fruitlessly rubbing at his face with sand covered fingers. He pries his eyes open, wincing as the hot beat of the sun burns his eyes. Refusing to turn away towards the earth, he basks in the way the heat runs down his back. Revels in the feeling of something other than the way his clothes stick to his body; sand between the fabrics chafing his neck, armpits, the backs of his knees; salt water dripping from his curls into his slow-blinking eyes.
He kneels in the sand and closes his eyes. Head tilted to the sky, he breathes in the moment. When he’s ready, he stands, and heads eastward.
Shisui showers, for the third time, and only because the sand is making him itchy in all the worst ways. But the moment he’s dressed, he leaves the Uchiha compound again, hair still dripping from his shower.
He’s done wasting time. If his clan and his comrades can’t help him, he needs to go to the top.
“Shisui,” The Hokage greets warmly. “What can I do for you today?”
The old man puts down his pipe, giving Shisui his full attention. He straightens under the man’s stare, looking straight ahead at the wall behind the man.
“Hokage-sama,” He begins. “I hope you’ll forgive me, but I’m afraid I must be frank with you about my concerns about my clan.”
The Hokage stays silent, giving Shisui the courage to continue.
“I fear that the tensions between my clan and the rest of the village are only going to continue to grow.” He prefaces. “So I would like to ask what your plans are to alleviate said tension,” Under the man’s beady stare, he tacks on, “if I am permitted to know them.” To soften the blow of his insolence.
“Have you spoken to Fugaku about your concerns, Shisui?” The Hokage asked.
“No Hokage-sama, but–”
“–I think you should speak to your clan head about matters concerning your clan, before speaking to me.” He cuts him off. His tone is sharp and reprimanding. It reminds Shisui of who this is. The God of Shinobi.
Shisui looks at the man for the first time, meeting his eyes fiercely. “Respectfully, Hokage-sama, I do not believe a conversation with my uncle would be a very productive one.” He says knowingly.
The Hokage hums, a disgruntled kind of sound. “Very well.” He adds. “I have considered choosing an Uchiha to be the next Hokage, but I’m afraid none of the current candidates have provided the senior counsel with the confidence needed to win their approval.”
Shisui carefully doesn’t react to the news, taking a second to ruminate on the new information. He could guess who in the counsel was dissuading the others on the notion of an Uchiha Hokage.
“May I suggest something, Hokage-sama?” He asks tentatively.
“You may,” He acquiesces.
“You should consider Kakashi Hatake as the next Hokage.” He says boldly. “He’s known as Kakashi of the Sharingan by many in the village, so he’s sort of half Uchiha already.”
The Hokage picks up his pipe and takes a drag. “It isn’t a bad idea.” He admits after exhaling the smoke in his lungs. “I will speak to the senior counsel about it.” He puts his pipe down again. “Thank you for coming to speak with me, Shisui.”
Shisui takes the dismissal for what it is, and makes his way out.
Now he just had to convince Kakashi to become Hokage. He could do that, right?
“No,”
“Just hear me out–”
“–Absolutely not.” Kakashi refuses, arms crossed over his chest in an almost petulant manner.
Shisui’s eye twitches in annoyance. “You are insufferable.” He definitely doesn’t seeth.
“Is that all you wanted?” Kakashi asks flatly, ready to show him out of his apartment.
“Kakashi, would you just please listen to me for one second?” He begs.
The man in question sighs, shoulders dropping as he sits down on the edge of his armchair. When he’s settled, Shisui begins the part that he’d practised on the walk over.
“I know you’re not in the village much,” he prefaces. “But you must’ve noticed the village’s opinions on the Uchiha Clan.”
Kakashi’s frame is lined with tension. “It’s hard to miss.”
Shisui nods in understanding. “We need a way to release the tension,” he picks at his cuticles nervously. “But every attempt the clan has made hasn’t worked.” Biting his lip, he adds for good measure. “The senior counsel wants nothing to do with us.”
“What does this have to do with me?” Kakashi asks, eye narrowing in suspicion.
“We both know the clan doesn’t like you.” Kakashi snorts. “But all the rest of the village sees is the sharingan, and the sharingan makes the Uchiha.”
“So you want me to become Hokage, because I’m a not-Uchiha Uchiha?” Kakashi asks, tilting his head to the side.
Shisui pauses, releasing his lip from between his teeth. “That… about sums it up, yeah.”
“And after I’m Hokage?” Kakashi prompts. “What then?”
Shisui relaxes. The answer to that is simple.
A week later, Shisui is sitting next to Itachi at their weekly meeting with the clan. Fugaku stands at the helm, covering items on the agenda as quickly as he can so that they can discuss the elephant in the room.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that the Hokage has chosen a successor.” He says.
“The man is a thief!” A clan elder calls out, voice full of vitrole.
Like the breaking of a dam, the crowd erupts into a flood of complaints about Kakashi of the Sharingan. Amongst the chaos, Shisui stands and walks silently to the front. His eyes bleed red, letting his Mangekyo spin slowly over the quieting crowd.
“We should welcome Kakashi Hatake to the Clan.” He says boldly. “We should declare him Uchiha, and let it be known that the Hokage is one of ours.”
The Clan is silent now.
“Because the next Hokage, after Kakashi, will be an Uchiha.” He promises.
“Who?” A faceless voice calls from the back. “Who would that man possibly name his successor?”
Shisui’s grin is full of teeth. “Me.”
4 years later
“Hokage-sama,” Shisui greets with a bow.
“You’re late, Shisui.” Kakashi reprimands. The man sits behind the old Hashirama wood desk – made by the First himself. He’s dressed in his Jonin uniform, his Hokage regalia sits forgotten on the back of his chair. Shisui dreads to think where he’d hidden the hat – the first thing to vanish when the man made office.
“Apologies, Hokage-sama.” Shisui says as a formality. “You asked to see me?”
Kakashi holds out three thick folders, which Shisui steps forward to take curiously.
“Happy birthday,” The Hokage says cheerfully. Shisui looks at him in suspicion, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I’m giving you a genin team.” And there it is.
Finally, Shisui looks down at the folders in his hand and flicks open the first page.
“Meet team 7,” Kakashi begins. “Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno.”
Shisui scans the first page, ignoring the picture of his cousin staring back at him. “They’re a little young to be Genin, aren’t they?” Shisui asks as he checks the other two kid’s ages. All nine years old.
Kakashi waves him off. “If I let them stay at the academy any longer, their teachers are going to kill me.” He says it casually, but Shisui knows the threat, especially from someone like Iruka-sensei, was very real when it came to their students.
“When do I meet them?” Shisui asks, closing the final file – the one about the girl.
“Tomorrow.” The man picks up his pen again to resume his work, which Shisui takes as his dismissal. “Oh, and Shisui?” Kakashi calls when the man has his hand on the door. “When they make Chunin,” He juts his pen at Shisui’s folders. “You make Hokage.”
Shisui looks down at the folders and says with a grin, “I better get to work then, huh?”