Heart of the Scarecrow

Chapter 1

While the destruction of Konohagakure was almost entire, the cavernous underbelly of Root beneath the village remained mostly intact. The winding tunnels led beneath the mountain, countless secret passageways and exits opened into the lush forests beyond the village walls, and no Root member knew every single one.

Root's primary concern was stabilizing the structure that once held up the village. Although the network of tunnels remained, there was no guarantee that the walls would not collapse once new buildings were constructed above them. Sai's task, therefore, was to assess any damage and determine where any weaknesses might be. Yamato-taichou was expected to join him within the hour to assist with reinforcing any loss of integrity to the tunnels.

Though they had been officially disbanded long ago, Root had been not-so-secretly still performing missions. The loss of Danzo-sama was a critical blow to Root, and their future was on shakier foundation than the village at the moment, but the members held out hope someone would step forward and don the mantle of 'leader'—namely Hatake Kakashi. Being a former ANBU as well as being chosen as Hokage before Tsunade-sama regained consciousness, he was their first choice.

Sai was certain Kakashi-sensei would avoid such a task, but he was reluctant to admit it to the other members for fear of being regarded as someone who spoke badly of a superior. Danzo-sama was a man to be feared and respected, and while the same could be said of Kakashi-sensei, it would be for entirely different reasons. Sai doubted Kakashi-sensei would be willing to lead Root down the same path—or have the members carry out the same manner of missions—that Danzo-sama had.

Root was most likely finished, and Sai was unsure if he cared or not. Being in Root was all he had known for years, so it was familiar to him. Yet, being with Naruto and Sakura, learning from Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-taichou, and having the opportunity to make friends among other ninja his age had all become surprisingly welcome factors in his life. He did not want to resign back to the shadows of Root.

All around him, Sai could hear the squeaks and growls of the various ink animals he had set to task amid the darkened tunnels. Beside him walked three baby elephants carrying lanterns in their trunks to light his way. One of them strayed from the group and began to head down an unfamiliar corridor.

"Did you find something?" Sai followed the black and white beast through a large, crumbling hole into a dusty chamber full of cobwebs and aging shelves that bore the weight of rotted books and tattered scrolls. What was left of the door lay at his feet. The light danced across the spines and rods, and a reflection against copper plating caught his eye. On the fourth shelf up, tucked beneath an unrolled scroll, sat a small wooden chest adorned in intricate designs. Sai's love of art and innate curiosity compelled him to pull it down for inspection.

There was a large eye carved into the front of the box and a locking mechanism unlike anything he'd ever seen. On the curving lid of the chest was the unmistakable symbolism of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, the Sage of the Six Paths. Unable to open it, Sai considered returning it to the shelf and continuing on with his task. He was not there to plunder old storage rooms, after all.

"What have you got there, Sai?"

Slightly startled, Sai blurted, "Yamato-taichou!" as he spun around to face the older man. He glanced down at the chest. "I am unsure. It seems to be a very old box with the Rikudō Sennin's markings on it. I was contemplating whether or not I should return it to the shelf or have it investigated further by someone who can determine whether or not it is of significance."

Yamato-taichou studied the item in Sai's hands. "Well, being that it has been down here all this time, I doubt it's important. It's most likely just an old—"

"Tenzo?" The voice reverberated down the corridor from the shadows beyond the ink, lantern-toting elephants. Kakashi-sensei stepped into the light a few seconds later. "I thought I heard you. Tsunade-sama wanted to know about the stability of the tunnels beneath the base of the mountain. Have you had much luck reinforcing the walls?"

Yamato-taichou sighed and bent his head. "I've told you repeatedly to stop calling me that, Kakashi-senpai. You know I am 'Yamato' now."

Sai had witnessed this exchange between the two men before. He believed Kakashi-sensei was being deliberately forgetful in order to irritate Yamato-taichou, but he could not figure out why. Kakashi-sensei was a patient and understanding man, one whom Sai trusted implicitly, and he often seemed as though he would prefer to avoid conflict rather than fight, though he never backed down when a fight was necessary. Thus, the intentional goading of Yamato-taichou was—to Sai—a conflict in Kakashi-sensei's personality that Sai was yet to fully understand. He only witnessed Kakashi-sensei do this with Yamato-taichou, so either he did not like him or he was teasing as a way to show affection.

As for Yamato-taichou, Sai felt he understood him a little, as well as his desire to be addressed by his new name. Sai was certain the captain had a similar existence to his own. They were both orphans taken in by Root. The captain had been experimented on physically by Orochimaru-sama while Sai had been psychologically conditioned. Both of them had lost their real names long ago. Sai wished to continue to be Sai, and he understood why Yamato-taichou would prefer his new name over his old one. The things Sai did when he used other names were things he was not proud of now. At the time, he had no idea what the sense of pride was, but now he understood what regret was. Sai was sure it was a selfish emotion, but being selfish was also something new for him to understand.

To thwart any further discussion about names that made Yamato-taichou uncomfortable, Sai lifted the box for Kakashi-sensei to view. "I found this old chest in this chamber. We were deciding what to do with it, if anything."

Kakashi-sensei regarded it with the same disinterest he showed most things at first, then flinched and put the palm of his hand against his low-hanging headband that covered his left eye.

"Kakashi-senpai, are you all right?" asked Yamato-taichou.

"Yeah, just some dirt or something…" Kakashi-sensei rubbed at his headband and then lifted it out of the way to attend to his Sharingan eye. When he dropped his hand and opened his eye, Sai could see the black tomoe shifting in the red iris. Kakashi-sensei's gaze was fixed on the box, but he seemed lost in thought.

Sai was about to inquire of his sensei when the lid to the chest popped open. All three men took a step back, though Sai did not let go of the box. They stood speechless at first, but then Kakashi-sensei said, "Sai, close the box," to which Sai complied.

Kakashi-sensei's gaze was concentrated again on the box, and once more it popped open, the complicated locking mechanism components simply parting to reveal the contents inside. Kakashi-sensei stepped forward and reached into the box. His hand immediately snapped back when it struck a barrier that crackled on contact. He frowned at it for a moment, then pulled his headband back down over his left eye and held out his hands to Sai. "Close it again and hand it to me. I'll take it up for the Intelligence Division to look at, if they have a chance. They've got their hands full at the moment, just like everyone else."

Obedient to a fault, Sai again complied without question. When Yamato-taichou suggested they get back to work, Sai followed the older man down the corridor, glancing back at Kakashi-sensei as the other man headed into the darkness. He was running his fingertips along the carved eye on the front of the box, a frown still etched on his profile.

O0O

Two days later, Kakashi stepped into Tsunade-sama's tent/office to see Sai and Hyuga Hinata standing in front of the Hokage's desk. When Tsunade-sama saw Kakashi, she waved him to step closer. He did so after closing the flap of the door.

"Kakashi, I have a new mission for you," she said. "You will lead Hinata and Sai to the outskirts of Amegakure to find out if the materials discovered the other day have any validity." She gestured towards the small wooden chest he had brought the Intelligence Division that now lay at the corner of her desk. It was again closed.

"What were they able to learn?" Kakashi asked. He had tried several times to get past the barrier before submitting it to the Intelligence Division, to no avail. All he got for his troubles were a couple of singed fingertips. He advised them of his efforts when he left it with them.

Tsunade-sama pushed the box towards Kakashi. "Open it."

Kakashi was confused for a mere moment, then pushed his headband up and gazed at the chest with his Sharingan. It popped open. He was not surprised, but he did not understand. He never needed to activate his Sharingan, he used no willpower to do it. The chest seemed to merely react to the presence of his gift from Obito.

"Can you access the contents?" Tsunade-sama asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Kakashi rubbed his thumb against his tender digits that had not yet fully healed. "I'm afraid not. Could the Intelligence Division?"

"Yes. Hinata, remove the top scroll."

Hinata glanced nervously at Tsunade-sama then to Kakashi. "Hai." Her hand slid into the box with no effort, and she extracted the scroll. She placed it atop the desk and took a step back.

With indifference in his voice but curiosity welling up inside, Kakashi said, "It reacts to dojutsu." It wasn't a question. It was an observation of the obvious, at least to him.

"Yes and no," Tsunada-sama replied, unrolling the scroll. "It reacts to the existence of dojutsu users, but they need not use their dojutsu. And it is limited to the dojutsu kekkei genkai users. We've had other kekkei genkai users attempt to open the box, but it doesn't yield."

Kakashi was tempted to offer up that the carving of an eye on the box should have been a big clue in that regard, but he decided to keep that comment to himself. He was more concerned about this mission headed to the birthplace of the man who had so thoroughly destroyed Konohagakure. "So, what are we looking for in Amegakure?"

Tsunade-sama put her glasses on as she began to shuffle through other papers on her desk. Kakashi recognized the behavior well, a habit the Hokage had when she didn't want to admit she didn't know a lot about something. "The text is extremely old and therefore written in a very old dialect. We've had some trouble understanding precisely what you're looking for. But inside is a map, so that should be of use to you. Byakugan users in the Intelligence Division were able to read it, so I assume Hinata can as well. We have only you with the Sharingan, so we weren't able to confirm if you can read the materials. You are welcome to try."

"A map? Well, that's a start, I suppose." He glanced at Hinata and tilted his head towards the chest. When she reached into the box to remove the other scrolls inside, Kakashi reached forward and grabbed the one on the desk. He unfurled it and, after a brief pause, he was able to see shapes and symbols appear, but some were incomplete. He nodded his head and rolled it back up, tucking it into his pocket. He returned his gaze to Tsunade-sama. "If you have no idea what it is, then why are we going after it?"

"It isn't that we have no idea, Kakashi." Tsunade-sama tapped her stack of papers on the desk to straighten them. "It suggests there is a weapon that will end all wars. There are references to the Rikudo Sennin having sealed it away after he defeated the Ten-Tails. We don't know if it's accurate or merely a legend, but with us mobilizing for war with Uchiha Madara, it doesn't seem such a bad idea to at least check it out."

"I see." Kakashi pulled his headband back down. "And does anyone in Amegakure expect us? Naruto had said the woman from the Akatsuki was now our ally. Plus there is the promise to the other nations to not keep any intel from them."

"This may turn out to be nothing," Tsunade-sama replied. "There's no reason to announce to the other Kage that we are chasing legends and old maps. They'd probably laugh at us for following childish fantasies. Especially the Raikage. As for Amegakure being an ally, they are not part of the Shinobi Alliance and therefore we have no agreement with them to be entirely forthcoming. If anything does come of it, we will inform the other Kage immediately."

"Dojutsu users, hm?" Kakashi said to himself. "It seems fortunate that the information was discovered in Konohagakure since we are the village where those users exist for the most part." Never minding other villages that have stolen it over the years, he thought. "The tablets left behind by the Rikudō Sennin were handed down to the Uchiha clan, according to legend. I am surprised that Root had these scrolls and not, say, the Hyuga Clan."

"Perhaps they did at one point," the Hokage pointed out. "There have been Hyuga Clan members in Root over the years."

"And since it takes both Sharingan and Byakugan to retrieve and read the materials, it suggests it was anticipated for there to be a partnership of dojutsu users. I wonder if the Rinnegan alone would have been enough for one person to find this 'weapon' themselves." Kakashi was musing to himself again, thinking aloud as he was wont to do. Tsunade-sama seemed to understand that and did not reply.

"Your mission is to investigate and retrieve the weapon, if possible and if it even exists," the Hokage said. "If it cannot be retrieved, attempts to destroy it should be made in order to keep it out of the hands of the Akatsuki."

"Hai." Kakashi turned and headed out of the room. "Hinata, Sai—let's go."

O0O

Author's note: I haven't written any fanfiction in years, so be gentle. I've just had this story in my head for weeks and needed to write it out. More chapters to come.