This one's a bit shorter than my usual, but the next one is going to be LONG. So freakin' long. Now, let's see what Danzo has to say…

Chapter 38: A Conversation

Kaiya eyed the bandaged man and stayed standing near the shelf. Her mind raced to pull every bit of information she had on Shimura Danzo:

Leader of Root - that group was supposedly disbanded, rumored to still be around. Tried to buy me from the orphanage, got Kabuto instead. Not a fan of the Third Hokage. Knows who I am - who my parents were. Safe to assume he knows about Naruto as well. According to Kakashi, dangerous and manipulative.

Kaiya glanced around quickly. The library wasn't very busy, but it was still a public place. There were a handful of patrons - civilians and shinobi alike - scattered throughout the stacks. Somehow, even knowing there were witnesses in the vicinity didn't help Kaiya's nerves.

Danzo did not miss her hesitation. He indicated the seat opposite his with his good hand. "Please, have a seat," he repeated. "I can see why you like this little corner - private, hidden away, perfect for working on personal projects…and for meetings uninterrupted by prying eyes."

At his last phrase, Kaiya's goosebumps seemed to develop goosebumps. Something told her he wasn't just referring to their meeting right here and now. Does he know that Itachi and I used to meet here?

Danzo sighed. "I will ask once more: please, have a seat. I grow weary just watching you. Rest assured, all I wish is to have a conversation, just the two of us."

Keeping her eyes trained on the older man, Kaiya slowly, cautiously pulled the chair out and sat down. She leaned back, crossed her arms, and trained her face into an expression of nonchalance. "What do you want to talk about?" Her internal gratitude that her voice came out steady and calm was immeasurable.

"I understand you have questions," Danzo replied. "About your past - particularly certain events. I'm here to answer those questions."

Kaiya couldn't keep her brows from raising sharply. "You're here to give me answers? Just like that?"

He nodded. "Ask away."

"Why?"

He almost chuckled. "Better to get answers from a reliable source - particularly one who was present for many of the events in question, wouldn't you say?"

"How do I know you're a reliable source?" Kaiya retorted.

Danzo regarded her almost lazily. "You don't," he admitted. "But didn't your sensei teach you to gather intel from as varied a sample as possible, remaining objective, and to only make judgments when you have as many puzzle pieces as possible? I am simply offering to supply more pieces."

Kaiya's eyes widened a fraction. "You knew Yoshida Yuuma?"

"He was in Anbu for many years," Danzo replied. "Under my command." He almost grinned at Kaiya's attempt to hide her surprise. "Why don't you ask me what it is that I do for Konoha?"

Kaiya fought the urge to bite her lip. "All right. What is it you do?"

"I protect this village," Danzo stated simply. "Quite like you."

"Through Root?"

"Root was once my foundation, yes," Danzo replied. "It was intended to protect the village from threats that, for political reasons, could not be dealt with through the usual means. It formed the roots that supported the great tree of the Hidden Leaf Village - hence the name. Unfortunately, there were some that did not appreciate my efforts to promote peace."

"The Third Hokage disbanded it," Kaiya filled in.

"We had some…ideological differences."

"Like what?"

Danzo leaned his head in his hand. "I imagine you see Sarutobi Hiruzen as a hero, a perfect leader. I am sorry to be the one to tell you - he was not." At Kaiya's narrowed eyes, he added, "I have no interest in lying to you, Namikaze-san. On the contrary: I think it's time someone pulled the veil from your eyes and let you see the truth. You are a highly intelligent young woman; I see your father's shrewdness in you. It was Hiruzen who made the decision to keep your identity secret, even from you, even when you became an adult and could have handled the responsibility of knowing where you came from. I do not see the point in keeping anything from you, though - especially since you now know your own heritage."

Kaiya had to admit: The man had a point. The Third Hokage had kept much from her: her true parentage, the knowledge that she had a brother…Kaiya couldn't help wondering what else had been kept from her. Still, she didn't appreciate the way Danzo so casually disregarded the man she'd once seen as a sort of surrogate grandfather.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen died to protect this village," she said in a low voice. "What have you done lately?"

Danzo's visible eye narrowed. The girl's insolence was trying his patience, but he had to stay focused and play nice. "Yes, he did sacrifice his life for this village - like any half-decent kage would. He was well-liked, yes. Got along with many people. But he was naïve. It was because of his insecurity and sentimentality that Orochimaru was able to infiltrate and attack Konoha two and a half years ago. It was his stubborn idealism that blinded him to the growing threat that was the Sand and the Sound."

His voice grew dark and aggressive. "You ask what I have done for this village lately. Until very recently, my hands were tied by Hiruzen himself. When he disbanded Root, he also stripped me of my position in Anbu." Danzo paused, inwardly collecting himself. "Of course, I never stopped doing what I could for this village. I tried to warn him about the instability in Suna - he ignored me, clinging to the belief that the bonds of 'friendship' would trump any economic issues. I warned him, too, that Orochimaru would likely try to return and wreak vengeance on the Leaf. Again, I was ignored!"

Danzo gave the red-haired woman a level look. "Yes, he died to save the village - but if he had heeded my warnings, trusted my intel, and acted early, there might not have been an attack."

Kaiya was at a loss for words. Assuming Danzo was not lying, and he had warned the Third like he said he did…she couldn't deny his logic.

"Why did he disband Root?" she asked. "What happened that made him stop trusting you?"

Danzo was quiet for a moment. "He disagreed with my methods."

"Which are…?"

"Some might call them…underhanded, even dishonorable," Danzo said. "Root undertook the work of Shinobi that is never meant to see the light of day."

Hikaru's voice echoed in her head: "They don't just prepare for possible threats. They act on them, quickly and ruthlessly, it's said in ways the Hokage would never condone. "

"Assassination?" Kaiya pressed. "Espionage? Underground deals? That's stuff Anbu still does. I find it hard to believe the Third would fire you for that."

Danzo's lips quirked in an almost-smile. "You are not wrong. Tell me: What has Hatake Kakashi told you about his time in Anbu?"

Kaiya hesitated. "Anbu missions are top-secret," she said. "All I know is that he was in Anbu."

"I imagine," Danzo mused, "that even if Anbu missions weren't top-secret, Hatake wouldn't tell you anything he did in the organization." Again, his mouth almost turned up. "He wouldn't want to taint your image of him."

Still folded into her arms, Kaiya's hands formed fists. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You want to know what the real work of the Shinobi is?" Danzo asked. "The work that you, in the standard forces, could never understand? Mark my words, Namikaze-san, I meant what I told you: I have no intention of lying to you, or sugar-coating reality. Only ask if you truly wish to know."

Kaiya had to take a deep breath to stop from glaring at the man. 'Curiosity' was not a word she could use to describe what she was feeling; it was more like a deep-rooted, insatiable desire - no, need to be told the truth. "Good. I'm tired of people not being straight with me," she said. "Tell me."

"Very well," Danzo said. "I admire your commitment to truth. Yes, Anbu does still deal in assassination and espionage - though since we are in a time of relative peace, their missions are considerably lighter than they once were. I created Root in a time of war, Namikaze-san. A time when swift action was not only advisable, it was necessary for the Leaf's survival. When the wars ended, it was easy for many people to forget how wars happened in the first place - how fragile their peace truly was.

"But I never forgot. I never took for granted the sacrifices of the men and women who died during those wars. It was my intention to prevent such sacrifices from being necessary again. I had Root continue its work from the shadows - all so that Konoha would have fewer orphaned children, fewer broken adults."

Orphans…"You wanted to protect children?" Kaiya spat. "Funny way of showing it - threatening to defund an entire orphanage just to get one child!"

Danzo was not surprised by her accusation. It seems she's been speaking with Kabuto…"I do not deny it. But consider this, Namikaze-san: for the price of one person's life, one person's sacrifice, you and countless others were able to live in relative safety and comfort. Every single member of my foundation did more in a month to prevent new wars than most appointed officials could accomplish through their entire terms! What is one life against the suffering of thousands? Or would you prefer that you and your other 'little siblings' be subjected to the horrors of war? Would you have preferred to be captured, sold into the underground markets, where your particular chakra and attractiveness would have fetched a high price? Root is the reason those forces - which are even active in times of peace - were kept at bay."

"You tried to buy me," Kaiya growled. "How is that much different?"

"You are missing my point, Namikaze-san," he growled back. He had to take another breath to calm himself. The girl was stubborn. "I was not the only one to notice you back then. Hiruzen kept your identity hidden for your protection, yes - but nothing could hide your chakra. The Uzumaki were known for it, and you had one of the prime markers of an Uzumaki: the red hair. By putting you in that orphanage, he may have hidden the Fourth's daughter, but he put you right in the path of many other predators. Do you even know what your chakra is capable of?"

Kaiya didn't answer. She knew Uzumaki chakra was strong, plentiful, and resilient, and could be manifested physically in the form of chains. Beyond that…

Danzo continued when he saw her staying silent. "Uzumaki chakra has incredible regenerative capabilities," he said, his tone softening to that of a teacher explaining a tricky concept. "And those capabilities can be transferred to others. All a person would have to do is bite you, and suck on your chakra. It comes with a considerable high, as well - from accounts I have heard, the sensation can be quite addictive."

Kaiya paled, her stomach turning at the implication of his words.

"So you see," Danzo continued, "you were not safe at that orphanage. Hiruzen told those wardens nothing about you, nothing that would have made them actually try to protect you. Considering how they allowed you to run back and forth to the medical tents they'd set up, the wardens might as well have painted a price tag on your forehead. It was luck that one of my agents happened to see you so early on. That orphanage was desperate for money, it's why they put their children to work in the tents at all. I do not doubt that had the right offer come along, they would have sold you for the sake of the other children there. So yes, I offered them money - a lot of it. But in my foundation, you would have been protected.

"Granted, I did not want the wardens knowing just how valuable you could be; I had no guarantee that had they understood your potential, one of them wouldn't have auctioned you off. Organizations like that occasionally attract rather corrupt individuals. So when they refused you, I lowered the offer in favor of taking a volunteer, instead."

His tone changed again, becoming almost gentle. "The choice to join Root was made by that child alone, Namikaze-san. No one forced him to do so. But for the price of one life, of one child, the orphanage had enough money to stop putting the other children to work. For that price, you were protected, and that child went on to protect this village from more threats than you could ever imagine."

Kaiya was once again speechless. She didn't like what she was hearing…but Shimura Danzo's words all held sense. A shinobi's life was full of sacrifices. With a pang, she thought of Hikaru's work at the Strategic Defense Division, of the potentialities the group worked to theorize. He'd sacrificed the ability to sleep peacefully in order to protect Konoha from threats that might not even exist. But for the ones that were possible…someone had to deal with those potentialities, to prevent them from becoming reality.

"I see you have a lot to think about," Danzo said quietly, jolting Kaiya out of her thoughts. "I do not apologize for the shock you are experiencing right now. Too many have tried to 'protect' you by lying to you and withholding vital information. Sarutobi Hiruzen, for example. Hatake Kakashi. Even Tsunade-hime. I give you my word, Namikaze Kaiya: I will never hold back from you for the sake of your comfort." He placed a card on top of the book still on the table. "Next time you have questions, I hope you will come to me. This card contains my address. I rarely go out anymore - old injuries make travel difficult."

He stood. Kaiya noticed for the first time that he leaned heavily on a cane to walk. "I look forward to our next conversation, Namikaze-san. I see in you much of your father - intelligence, open-mindedness, fairness. But I also see a clarity of vision that is so often lacking in your generation…so yes, I do look forward to speaking with you again soon."

Shimura Danzo left Kaiya sitting rigidly in her chair. Several minutes after he had gone, Kaiya could still feel every current of air that passed through her lungs, every pulsing beat of her heart in her ribcage. The one thing she could not feel - and wasn't sure she'd every feel again - was certainty.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Kaiya finally stood. Her limbs felt as though she'd been holding a stiff position for hours. She turned to leave, all thoughts of researching Takigakure gone from her mind. She just wanted some tea in the familiar comfort of her own apartment.

Just as she was about to leave the library wing, Kaiya turned around and walked quickly back to the secluded corner. She picked up the card left on top of the book on barriers before making her way home.

...okay then.

Next Time: History! What does Kaiya think of everything Danzo has said? We'll also see what Itachi's errand was, and a deep, LONG look into his and Kaiya's past together...I promise, we ARE getting close to the official start of Shippuden. Probably two more chapters. Stay tuned!