What's up chat it's HIKAKU POSTING TIME!!! I have a lot of thoughts ab him, including basically my own take on The Uchiha Head Timeline(tm) which I come here today to share. I've had these notes for a while now but hesitated to post them bc they involve some spoilers for a fic of mine— but I've decided I no longer really care, so I'm posting them !!
So. Picture Konoha with me; some time in Kakashi's youth.
And despite having gone completely blind, Hikaku remains the Uchiha clan head even after all these years. He's much beloved and respected among his clan, and is the only Konoha founder left living to this day.
Having no children of his own, Hikaki picked up Fugaku as his ward to raise into being the next Uchiha clan head when the boy was about 8.
Part of his deal with the young boy was that he would eventually marry Mikoto, Izuna's bastard granddaughter and last remaining member of the Uchiha main house. A move that was pure sentiment on Hikaku's part, wanting to see Izuna's blood back in it's seat as clan head, but unable to choose Mikoto as his successor due to politics— with most Uchiha elders considering that specific bloodline to be "cursed" after Madara's betrayal.
But even while he can't get Mikoto, if Hikaku can just get her children— Izuna's great grandchildren —to eventually be clan head, he can be happy.
Fugaku and Mikoto have a bit of an antagonistic relationship with eachother— neither particularly want to get married, but their respect for Hikaku, who had a hand in bringing both of them up individually, as well as their love of their clan, binds them to it. They'll figure it out in time, and eventually settle into a happy marriage— even if neither is especially in love with eachother, they do eventually become very close friends and are undeniably a good match for eachother as people alone.
Hikaku is incredibly well respected in the village, and it's only due to his presence that Danzo hasn't been able to push for the policies he'd later help enforce on the Uchiha— though whether it is out of fear or plain respect is unknown.
A month after Fugaku becomes the new clan head at only 20, he marries the 19 year old Mikoto. The very next day, Hikaku passes peacefully in his sleep. It was almost as if he had only been waiting to see the future of his clan secured before he allowed himself to pass.
Hikaku's death marked Danzo growing bolder, and would later be considered by many Uchiha as a turning point in their history. While Fugaku has their support, many still whisper that if only Hikaku had still been around, many of the current tragedies could have been avoided.
Thinking about specific timeline stuff, tho take the ages w a grain of salt tbh:
Hikaku became clan head at 32 years old, (Madara having been in his late 20's/early 30's for his betrayal)
Hikaku lived to be ~78 years old, an incredibly impressive number for any shinobi. Also meaning he was Uchiha head for around 46 years, making him the longest lasting head the clan has ever known, as well as arguably the most accomplished, in terms of the clan gaining peace and flourishing. He went down in the clans books as highly respected, accomplished, and well loved. Especially coming off of the tail end of Madara's... everything.
Hikaku earned the clans respect as Madara lost it. He was Madara's acting second after Izuna died, and as Madara distanced himself more and more from the clan, Hikaku naturally began to take over more duties— working himself to the bone to handle the many duties Madara began to neglect.
It was a tricky situation, as Hikaku was very loyal to Madara and considered him a close friend and his true clan head. But as the village grew larger and Madara more distant, more and more people began to whisper about how Hikaku was the one acting like a clan head, and how Madara wasn't fit for it anymore.
Hikaku did his best to silence this talk, but unable to get Madara back to attending all of his duties, let alone get him back into the clans favor, Hikaku really didn't have many options on how to stop the whispers. Which is how things eventually snowballed into him being first unofficial acting clan head, and then eventually after Madara's defection, official clan head
