He really was crazy.
When Iruka reached the Hokage's office, his face still held shock and regret. The Uchiha clan's situation could not have been clearer. Everyone who might have protected Amane and Sasuke was gone.
Under those circumstances, he wanted to graduate early? How was that not a death wish?
Bloodline limits were a dream for ordinary people in the shinobi world, especially Konoha's Sharingan. Uchiha Madara had once stood shoulder to shoulder with the First Hokage. Of course everyone wanted to study those eyes.
The Uchiha had countless enemies. What would become of a six-year-old who graduated now was easy to imagine.
Too bad Iruka's persuasion was useless. Rubbing the bruise beneath his eye, the homeroom teacher felt a stab of sadness. Sometimes being bested by your student was honorable. You just did not want it to happen when the student had barely started school. It only proved the student was a prodigy and he, a mere chunin, felt like a failure.
Yes. To stop Amane's reckless plan, he had sparred with him. The result needed no telling. He lost badly and could only agree to bring the boy's request to the Hokage.
He sighed and knocked on the office door. Every time he came here, a weight pressed on his chest. Truth be told, he did not want to be here.
"Enter."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice sounded from within. Iruka stepped in under that sharp gaze.
"What happened to your eye sockets?"
Hiruzen frowned at the bruises. For the leader of his special-focus class to look like this was hardly proper.
"Beaten by a student," Iruka said with a wry smile, kneeling. "That student wants to apply for early graduation."
Early graduation. In wartime, protocol was loose. But the Third Great Ninja War had been over for years. On the surface the world was at peace. Children were meant to enjoy good schooling and childhood.
Of course, peace only held in daylight. The wars had moved underground, never truly stopping. Now villages competed in who could hunker down and grow steadily.
"Uchiha?" Hiruzen's reaction surprised Iruka. Instead of shock, he named a clan, as if this were the natural next step.
"Yes. Uchiha Amane."
So it was him. Hiruzen's face stayed calm as he drew on his pipe. That boy. Once, Hiruzen had thought he could not see through him. Thinking back, it was almost funny. A child was still a child.
In that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt he understood. During that speech, Uchiha Amane had cornered him. But it had been an immature Uchiha playing at being old and wise, likely a line Fugaku had fed him.
Even a boy that steady would fray after his clan was destroyed. He would become impulsive and foolish. Young. Talented, a bit capable, but lacking patience.
Smoke curled as Hiruzen's small eyes gleamed with supposed insight. He seemed to see through the boy's heart.
Asuma had reported that the boy's taijutsu was impressive. That must be the confidence behind a graduation test request. Graduate quickly, taste the harshness of the shinobi world, grow stronger, then when he had enough power, march up to Uchiha Itachi and seek vengeance for the clan.
Interesting. So this was the end written between Uchiha brothers.
"Return to your duties. I will arrange the graduation exam," Hiruzen said. "But at the earliest, one month. Only after a month will there be further notice."
"I do not want the villagers, still shaken by the Uchiha incident, to hear new rumors about the Uchiha. I also do not want the two matters linked."
He spoke in a single breath, lowered his head, and flipped through dossiers. He considered who to send to test the boy, someone who could force out his cards yet grant him a plausible path to graduate. Truthfully, Hiruzen hoped Amane would pass, but the trial could not be easy, or people would claim it had been fixed.
The executor must be loyal. His gaze settled on a photo. A man whose forehead protector covered his eye drew Hiruzen's interest.
"One month? Thank you."
At Konoha Hospital, Amane exhaled a smoke ring and nodded to Iruka.
"Amane… I really think staying at the Academy is better. The outside world is…" Iruka began.
"I know what you want to say, Iruka-sensei." Amane waved it off. Harsh beyond the village? Sorry. Some things could not be told to Iruka. Still, this teacher's sincere concern warmed him.
He hopped off the bed, hesitated, then flicked Iruka on the forehead.
"My foolish teacher. Whatever comes, you will always be my teacher."
Iruka bared his teeth in pain, eyes rolling. He did not understand what the boy meant at all.
Second brother truly had a unique style. Itachi's way of tapping a forehead did not suit him. This cheeky flick fit Amane's warmth much better.
Sasuke sighed beside them.
"Sasuke. You read the script yesterday," Amane murmured, slipping an arm around his brother's neck. "At the Academy, play the part. You know the beats."
The biggest flaw in the charade was his little brother. If Sasuke did not act as single-minded about revenge as in the original story, people would sense something off.
"Relax, bro. When I saw Father and Mother on the floor that night, even knowing it was fake, I still wanted to rush Itachi and pound him," Sasuke said.
"No. Uchiha Scumtachi."
In that instant, the second pillar had stepped into character.