9: Fugaku's plan

Satsuki Uchiha is a cheerful girl with a strong personality, but she has a slight problem: she can't make friends.

It's not that she's bad at socializing; it's just that her circumstances make it difficult for children her age to want to interact with her.

Satsuki is the youngest daughter of the Uchiha clan's patriarch. That alone keeps "normal" kids away from the Uchiha compound. And then there's Itachi, her older brother, who is... let's say, overly protective.

The few children from prominent families within the Uchiha are kept at bay by Itachi, as they usually only see Satsuki as a way to climb the social ladder within the clan.

And finally, the village kids... civilians hate the Uchiha, and the other clans in Konoha avoid them entirely.

Satsuki complained about this to her father, but his response was indifferent.

"It doesn't matter. Either way, your duty is to marry someone chosen by the clan. You should train every now and then, so you don't embarrass your spouse."

For the first time in her life, Satsuki felt the urge to hit her father. Fortunately, she was stopped by Itachi.

Fugaku didn't have a hopeful outlook for Satsuki's future, as far as he was concerned, few kunoichi achieve much in their lives.

Luckily, his words weren't spoken out loud. Otherwise, he would have been beaten by his entire family, including his wife.

This isn't to say that Fugaku doesn't care about his daughter. It's just that his concern took a rather twisted path. Does Fugaku want his daughter's happiness? Yes, but from his perspective, that happiness would come from Satsuki marrying a reliable person, either for their talent or their comfortable financial position.

This way of thinking caused Fugaku a lot of trouble with his daughter. Recently, with Shisui gaining a strong reputation for his talent, the Uchiha elders have been pressuring him to "betroth" Satsuki to Shisui.

"I think it would be a good idea."

When Fugaku proposed the idea to his family, let's just say no one in his family spoke to him for a while.

Satsuki was the angriest about the proposal, as she only saw Shisui as her brother's "friend."

Moreover, even if Satsuki were content with her brother's company, he couldn't be with her all the time.

In her free time, Satsuki had the hobby of walking around the village. During one of her walks, she saw him. An incredibly attractive boy, even more so than her brother.

Satsuki was never like the other girls her age, obsessed with attractive boys. But even she was taken by surprise. The boy seemed a bit older than her, and there was something about him that made it hard to look away.

The boy had a mysterious aura that made you want to keep watching him forever. His black hair accentuated his sharp gaze, giving him a dangerous edge.

When Satsuki snapped out of it, she didn't know how long she had been staring at him. She quickly made a decision: she would try to talk to him... maybe they could be friends...

The conversation was quite short, to say the least.

"Hi... do you want to be my friend?"

"No, thanks."

Satsuki didn't feel disappointment like the other times she was ignored by the villagers. She saw the boy's eyes. There was no hatred, fear, or any other negative emotion in them. He simply had no interest in making friends.

For some reason, that excited Satsuki...

After that encounter, she investigated the boy and found out his name.

Seiji Hoshino, the only member and heir of his clan. Satsuki fantasized about the struggles and hardships the boy must have faced, and she got excited imagining herself by his side, supporting him in his life.

Noticing Satsuki lost in her thoughts quite often, her family didn't take long to investigate the reason.

Mikoto, Satsuki's mother, was the first to find out and got quite excited. Then Itachi, whose face clouded with concern. And finally, Fugaku.

Fugaku, at first, was against it, but he quickly thought it might not be so bad.

Maybe the Uchiha clan didn't have a good relationship with Kasuya, Seiji's father. But the boy was a good option for his daughter. Not only was he the future patriarch of his clan, but he would also inherit his father's techniques, which were quite desirable.

Besides, with Seiji's position, his daughter would have a good life, and maybe his son-in-law could give him some seals for free. Everyone wins.

So he called Shisui and asked him to convince Seiji to accept Satsuki's friendship. Since Shisui also didn't want to marry his friend's younger sister, he gladly agreed.

Fugaku believed Seiji would accept if Shisui asked, as Shisui was quite famous in Konoha.

Fugaku thought he was a good father, helping with his daughter's crush. Besides, the elders wouldn't complain about the betrothal if they could gain access to the Hoshino family's seals.

Now all that was left was for Satsuki to charm the boy. He didn't think it would be hard, as she had inherited his genes, making Satsuki quite attractive, even if he was the one saying it.

"I'm a genius, haha."

Fugaku laughed, anticipating the future.

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