Shiro's Dilemma

Seeing their daughter in front of them oblivious to things that just happened, Shiro and Sumi sighed in relief. They didn't even want to think what would have happened if their daughter was with them when Yami had visited.

"Chino, me and your dad were busy discussing something else. You come in and we will have the food ready in no time." Sumi said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead and neck with the sleeve of her dress.

Shiro also nodded and smiled at his daughter. He went outside and began preparing fire for food. After an hour or so when Shiro was sitting outside near the dying fire, Sumi came out and said "Chino has slept now." She came and sat beside her husband and kept staring at his expression.

"What are you thinking?" she asked to which Shiro said "About what he said. You know that attacking the Uchiha clan is just a justification those elders have given. They will just find someone else or some other reason to go out there and take unnecessary lives."

"I understand what you are saying but we can't trust a complete stranger instead of our own clanmates. And the stranger is none other than an Uchiha." Sumi said in a worried tone. She knew how adamant her husband was to keep the clan from going out and killing others but she was right as well about trusting someone they have grown to hate.

"We have time till tomorrow morning to decide. No matter what happens I don't want you or Chino to be caught up in this." Shiro said in a determined voice and stood up. Sumi understood that he had come to some kind of a decision so she asked "What are you going to do?"

"As long as you and Chino aren't the price, I will do whatever he says." Shiro said to which his wife held his arm and pulled it toward her making him face her.

"What are you saying? We will find some other way to deal with him and the village's problems as well." Sumi said to which he shook his head and said "Do you believe even a word of that Sumi? You felt his power today...even his presence is way more threatening than the clan head. It is something I have never felt before...every instinct of mine was telling me to not provoke him and all this happened only when he walked closer to us. And look at the village, no one knows that there is an outsider here. We don't stand a chance against him Sumi.."

Sumi didn't say anything for a few seconds and kept staring at her husband's eyes. After almost 15 seconds, her gaze softened as she stepped closer to Shiro and hugged him "Is everything going to be alright? I never felt so unsure of myself Shiro."

"Trust me...I won't let anything happen to you or Chino. Let's go and sleep now." Shiro said as he walked inside the house with Sumi.

The next morning they both woke up early and did their usual work. They knew that for some reason Yami wasn't appearing because Chino was still in the house. An hour later, Chino woke up as well. She noticed the change in her parent's behavior but she assumed that it must be due to the volatile situation of the elders.

Even though Chino looked small like a 7-8 year old, she was older than even Sasuke. But due to living a sheltered life, she never thought to doubt her parent's words or feel anything odd.

"Mom, dad I am going for training now." Chino said as she left the house. The couple came to the gate of the veranda to see her off. Due to living in the valley for so many decades, they had established a working civilization. As she disappeared from their sight, Shiro turned sideways to talk to his wife but saw Yami standing beside her.

"When did you come ?" Shiro asked as he looked at Yami. Yami was looking in the direction Chino had gone.

Hearing her husband say something she looked at her and saw that he was looking at him. She was about to ask what he was talking about but then she noticed that he wasn't looking at her but behind her. She turned back and saw Yami standing there. This spooked her and she subconsciously took 2 steps behind.

"Have you both come to a decision?" Yami asked without even glancing at the couple.

Seeing that none of them replied had anything for a few seconds, he looked at them. Shiro gulped down his saliva and said "I will do whatever you say but I have a condition."

Seeing his determined look and tone of speaking made Yami smile a little. Yami felt amused seeing Shiro like this so he said "Alright...what would that be?"

"My wife and kids...they should be safe no matter what." Shiro said.

"One condition guarantees only one life Shiro...so choose your wife or your daughter. Who do you want to be safe?" Yami asked.

"My daughter... of course my Chino...she must remain safe." Shiro said immediately. He looked at his wife who also nodded at this.

"Fine...her safety is my responsibility. The first task you need to do is propose that the entire clan come out of the valley of hell and seek peace with the outside world, especially the Uchiha clan." Yami said.

"But such a proposal will be immediately shot down. Especially by the 1st and 3rd elder. They will not let the others even conduct a vote on this matter. I can push the agenda further but..." Shiro was saying but Yami stopped him and said

"No need to push the agenda if it's shot down." Yami said calmly.

"Then what is the use?" Shiro asked with a confused face. He was expecting the answer from Yami but unexpectedly Sumi was the one who gave the answer "You don't care about the proposal...you just want to know whose against you."

Yami nodded as he looked at her and said "Yes...eradicating your clan doesn't give me any advantage...it would just be a waste of time and energy. In the outside world, allies and enemies change their roles every few years at random...for example, a village that tried to invade us 2-3 years ago is now our most trusted ally. Their old ally is now their worst enemy and so on. It's your clan that is hung up on petty revenge."

Sumi and Shiro felt a little anger in their hearts when Yami called their sense of revenge petty but listening to how he described the relations of the clans and villages of the outside world, it really did seem petty.

"Alright...when do I go ask for the meeting?" Shiro asked to which Yami spread his hands and said "No good time like the present...I'll roam around the valley a little more till you are done. I hope you will remember properly who all opposed you. I will obviously confirm whether your information is correct or not but don't make me get rid of them all." Yami said and body flickered away.

"Sumi I will leave now...I don't want to do the devil's bidding a second more than I need to." Shiro said as he left the house. Sumi knew that the time to decide had passed and since her daughter's safety was guaranteed, she didn't care much about anything.

Shiro walked toward the clan head's house and saw that the 1st and the 3rd elder were already talking with a few other elders outside the clan head's house.

'They must be trying to instigate them into taking their side. I don't know for how long will the clan head and the 2nd elder be able to hold out against them. The other elders are just wallflowers. They get swayed away easily with anything.' Shiro thought.

He greeted a few elders and came in front of the door. One of the 2 guards outside the door asked "Elder Oyashiro, is something the matter?"

"I wanted to talk to the clan head about something. Will he be able to meet?" Shiro asked.

One of the guards signaled him to wait and went inside the house. He came out within 10 seconds and opened his side of the door. This meant that the clan head was ready to meet him. Shiro nodded and went inside. Just as he entered, he saw a big oval table in front of him. It was made of wood and had the ketsuryugan eye carved in it. It had become somewhat of a symbol for the clan now. The eyes that made them look ugly, dangerous, or a monster in front of the others was now proudly kept as their symbol.

"What did you want to talk to me about Oyashiro?" A man in his seventies walked outside the room into the hall where Shiro was. He looked quite old with shoulder-length white hair and a white goatee but his sturdy body was not to be underestimated.

(How will the clan leader react to the proposal? Will he even consider it before consulting the elders about it and what problems will he face? Ans to all your questions are posted in my P@treon)

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