Tsunade's eye twitched as she stared at the two former-root ninja before her. Sai was a familiar face, but the older man wasn't someone she knew. He was, however, considered to be the highest ranking among the root shinobi's organization that remained—and that had passed the cursory loyalty check done by Inoichi and his clansmen. The name he'd taken, Yuki, was seemingly chosen for his bright white hair and eyes.
The status of most root shinobi was being dealt with on an individual basis. Some, like Sai and Yuki, were considered fit for duty. Others would need to go through intensive deprogramming to even potentially be allowed to serve in the ranks again.
Sai glanced at Yuki before turning back to the Hokage and nodding. "Most root ninja were taken from orphanages across Hi no Kuni. Among the younger generations there are also some from other countries."
"Any that we may need to repatriate?" It was days like these Tsunade hated letting that brat drag her back to Konoha. Danzo had left a huge mess for her to clean up, on top of the already huge mess left behind by Pein.
"Unlikely." Yuki stated softly, tone devoid of emotion. "It is possible . . . but Danzo-sa . . . Danzo focused on those that no one would come looking for." Orphans. "There are some amongst the youngest . . . the 'nursery' that will need special care. Danzo was not one to waste power."
Tsunade's eye twitched again and she clasped her hands tightly together. "No, he wasn't. I take it there are children with bloodlines, possibly unstable ones?"
Yuki nodded and held out a rather thick folder. "This is a list of those among them that are believed to be affected. Some of the records were damaged when seals failed upon Danzo's death. We are still piecing together the affected data."
The Hokage nodded and flipped open the folder. There was a long list of numbers with descriptions, ages, and suspected bloodline affiliation in most cases. The sheer number of children from several months to six years of age was mind boggling. The academy would see a major boost of incoming ninja of even most of these children's psyches were salvageable.
She dropped the folder onto the desk and rubbed at her temples. There was that headache she'd been feeling coming on. "How many are children above the age of six are there . . . and how many would be considered 'common' shinobi?"
"There are forty-six still in training from ages six to twelve. Twelve of those have or may develop bloodline abilities. There are another twenty three children without suspected bloodline heritage in the nursery."
"How many total, do you believe, are Uchiha?"
Yuki glanced at Sai. Even with their lack of knowledge when it came to emotions, both could clearly feel the dark waves rolling off their Hokage.
"Thirty four and four more currently being carried by surrogates."
"Was it common practice for root shinobi to be well versed in harvesting semen?"
Sai shifted and smiled slightly. "Only from male targets with bloodlines Danzo thought would be of some use."
"We were usually asked to capture females alive. Upon return Danzo would decide whether she was suitable to carry children or a specialized medic would be needed."
Her eyes dropped back down to the paper as she eyed the non-Uchiha bloodlines listed. There were even one or two she suspected might be other Konoha bloodlines. In the end this was going to be even more of a political mess than Madara's stupid war was turning out to be.
"First things first." She turned narrowed brown eyes onto the two in front of her. "Get the kids some damn names. No more numbers. I'll be assigning some . . ."
As she detailed a basic plan for providing true child care—and some semblance of a true childhood—for the children, for a moment she felt like laughing inside.
Madara and Sasuke weren't the only Uchiha left . . . granted none of the children would be in anyway shape or form to fight a war for years (if ever) . . . but she couldn't help but think that Danzo might have actually done them some sort of favor. Apparently something good came from the desecration of the dead Uchiha's bodies. Even if he'd done it for all the wrong reasons.
Tsunade couldn't help but imagine for an instant the look on Madara's face if he ever found out.
The root ninja froze in confusion as their Hokage burst out laughing and didn't stop for several minutes.
Fin.
Yah, not my best characterization . . . but a friend was discussing how if her hubby ever died and they didn't have kids yet she'd try to get semen frozen (it's possible for three days) and this came out. I mean, really, Danzo stole eyes from the Uchiha, but didn't make plans to have little baby Uchiha running around to train up as his own?
This is a one shot . . . thanks for reading! I'll post something for my ID probably tomorrow if I get around to it.