Interlude VII: Kakashi

Getting the majority of Root agents back into the village was exhausting. The shinobi were widespread throughout the shinobi nations, from the average looking farmer to a nin from Iwagakure who, as far as Kakashi could figure out, was stationed there some twenty years ago . The amount of reach and influence that Danzō had held in his grasp was never going to cease to amaze him. It did, however, bring up the question of where all the shinobi had been during the last war. Had they integrated themselves during the tumultuous period? Konoha based agents had a support system simply from the village knowing what was going on; an agent stationed in any of the other villages would have been left floundering. Could the unemotional Root shinobi have formed bonds with their comrades during this time? Had an undercover agent become a loyal shinobi to the village they had once been ordered to infiltrate? It was a question Kakashi wished he could answer, especially as the shinobi started to flood the underground Root base.

The shinobi had been trickling in for the past week, all blank-faced and obedient. Kakashi was sure he had caught sight of several shinobi he was almost positive were Kumogakure hunter nin.

What a time to be suddenly thrust into the position of leading a secret underground militaristic government.

Kakashi shuffled through more of Danzō's files, huffing in agitation as he stacked another file into the pile to his right. Since his decree, he'd been reading as many files as he could, determined to know every resource and shinobi that Danzō had had in his wrinkly grasp. As much as he wanted to focus on the whole 'Sai is an Uchiha' thing, he knew he couldn't . More than just Sai's true parentage was at stake.

Kakashi knew he would have to stand in front of the gathered shinobi soon enough. They would be forever patient, they were taught to be that way, but eventually, even they would start to shift in anxious bewilderment if Kakashi put them off for too long. Danzō had always been too goal-oriented for them to be comfortable sitting around. They had been taught to be dangerous and proactive; Kakashi stagnating for even a second would set off several alarms in people's heads about his true identity.

Kakashi let out a frustrated sigh, stretching in his seat and wincing when his aching back popped loudly. Danzō was so much older than Kakashi had ever been; Kakashi had gone from the aches of a proactive nin in his thirties to those of a retired veteran in his seventies. The aches and creaks in his joints were an unwelcome shock that continued to plague him the longer he sat in one place.

There was a chakra flare outside of his door, a subtle little wave in the air, before a sharp knock rang out. Kakashi straightened up, adopting a severe mask, before giving the visitor permission to enter.

A masked nin entered, immediately dipping down to kneel before Kakashi, the sign of respect almost making Kakashi twitch. The nin was of a slight build, his height set in an ambiguous age. Kakashi stared at him for a moment, taking in his dark hair and ANBU mask.

"Hyō," Kakashi finally settled on, recognizing the distinct pattern on the mask. The nin, a mere boy at this time, was one of the files he had read in the first week he had found himself in the past. One of the many recruits that was a war orphan, Hyō didn't have a family name. As far as Kakashi could understand from his file, he had only ever known Root.

"Danzō-sama," Hyō replied in kind, his voice emotionless. "The last of the available Root members have arrived."

Kakashi felt his heartbeat quicken, the inevitable finally catching up to him. "Tell them I'll be making my announcement in only a few moments."

"Yes, Danzō-sama," Hyō replied, not once looking up from his crouched position.

"Dismissed," Kakashi said after a moment of silence, uneasy at Hyō's complete obedience. The young nin exited the room promptly, closing the door behind him and leaving Kakashi alone once more.

Kakashi reached up, rubbing at his temples as a tension headache slowly started to form. He couldn't express how much he didn't want to do this . Danzō had been a complicated man. Sure, Kakashi might have viewed him as a cold tyrant, but that didn't mean he hadn't had multiple motivations for his actions. Kakashi hated the man for many reasons, so having to pretend to be him, to believe in his ideals, was almost physically painful.

Kakashi didn't want war. Kakashi didn't want chaos. All he's ever wanted was peace. The peace of no longer having to fight.

With a tired huff, Kakashi pulled himself up out of his chair, calmly making his way around Danzō's desk and out of the door. He mentally went over his prepared speech as he made his way down the stairs to the first floor, sedately trudging along until he reached a large painting. Kakashi eyed it warily, fighting down a sneer at the impassive face of the Nidaime Hokage. Senju Tobirama was standing expressionless in the painting, his red eyes unfocused as he stared at nothing. Kakashi would never claim to know the man's intentions, but he highly doubted he would approve of the way Danzō had twisted the village into knots from the shadows.

Kakashi raised his hand and pressed it on the wall to the right of the painting, measuring his chakra carefully until there was a spark of warmth and the painting clicked open, a gaping dark hole meeting his gaze. Kakashi was quick to tighten his chakra down, his quickened heartbeat his only sign of distress. He didn't know if it was inconvenient or not to still have his distinct chakra. Sasuke also had his own chakra signature, but it was different in unique ways. Still undoubtedly Sasuke, but the presence of his Rinnegan and the slightly different pathways of Izumi's body gave it a more distinct feeling than younger Sasu's. Kakashi still mostly felt like himself to chakra sensitives, but because of the way the chakra in Danzō's body flowed, he had a tinge of other as well. Small enough to ignore if he wanted to, but it felt wrong to Kakashi on so many levels.

He took a measured step into the darkness of the corridor and didn't hold back the sneer that formed when the lights turned on as soon as he stepped into it. Triggered by the presence of chakra no doubt. The painting swung closed behind him as Kakashi made his way down the corridor, setting deeper into the ground as he reached the first flight of stairs. The trip took only a few minutes before he was deposited into a large atrium, the room filled with silent Root shinobi. Kakashi didn't doubt that they had been talking before he showed up, but as soon as they had heard him, they abruptly grew passive once more.

A path cleared for him immediately and he made his way towards the raised stage at the front of the room. Hundreds of shinobi gathered on either side of him and just thinking about the work ahead of him made him want to curse. More than half of these shinobi weren't regularly in the village, off spying and infiltrating in the villages and areas Danzō had deemed enemies; which meant they were everywhere and anywhere.

Kakashi raised himself onto the stage, turning to face them with his grave mask firmly stuck in place. This would be delicate work.

"I have called you all here today to inform you of a... change in the way Root will continue forward. I have been given guardianship over the young Uchiha survivors, which means I am going to be watched even closer than I once was. Hiruzen has agreed to my guardianship on one condition: Root must change."

Kakashi watched each shinobi take this in, though most didn't show any outward sign of caring about his announcement. There were a few, however, that carried a curious gleam in their eyes. Those were the shinobi that Kakashi would have to speak with first; they would be the ones to break the emotional conditioning the quickest.

"Each individual will be going through emotional rehabilitation. While a shinobi has no need for emotions, I am willing to concede this point for the advantage of gaining the Uchiha. Every nin under the age of fifteen will be interviewed for their emotional state before being adopted out into shinobi families. Any clan children will be treated and returned to their homes. If, and only if , anyone older wishes to stay in the barracks, they will be granted the courtesy. If no home is procured for you after rehabilitation, a single shinobi will be assigned your case and you are welcome to stay in the barracks as well."

This announcement finally brought a reaction out of the placid shinobi. A whisper of voices rose up from the crowd before all went quiet once more, eyes stuck firmly to Kakashi's figure.

"And finally," he began once more, happy to almost be finished, "I am looking into finding an heir to Root. I am being watched closely and I will need someone to give orders when I am otherwise... indisposed. Once I have made my decision, I will inform you of your new leader. Let's make one thing clear, however: just because you are going somewhere, that does not mean you are no longer Root." Kakashi hated doing this, hiding his distaste by glaring out into the crowd of shinobi. He didn't want to keep Root running, wanted all of these shinobi to get help and then get gone, but both he and Sasuke knew that that wasn't possible. While rehabilitation was the goal, many of these shinobi had been under Danzō's purview since birth . Many wouldn't ever recover or adjust to society's views. Root had to continue forward simply because these men and women would need it to function.

"All of you are to report to Konoha's hospital to schedule evaluations," Kakashi finished with a flourish, eyes hard. "Dismissed."

Most of the shinobi made to follow his orders immediately, heading to one of the multiple exits along the far wall. Others were more delayed with their actions, instead turning to say a word or two to the shinobi beside them. One, however, made a beeline for Kakashi.

"Danzō-sama," the agent greeted, giving a simple bowing of his head in greeting. Tsumiki Kido, a money-hungry asshole, was Root's treasurer. Kakashi knows he had become an ANBU executive by the time the war had started, though he hadn't been given much time to settle into the role.

"Tsumiki," Kakashi greeted in return, though he didn't move a muscle.

"I read over your financial report," Tsumiki stated, a slight level of annoyance reaching his words. "Would medication not be the smarter choice? Therapy ," Tsumiki spat the word, a grimace of disgust finding its way onto his face, "won't bring as much revenue as medicine would."

"My hands are tied, Tsumiki," Kakashi stated firmly, not wanting to have this conversation. The man was worrying about the money of the situation, and not about the health of his fellow shinobi.

"Danzō-sama," Tsumiki tried again, a plea forming on his tongue, "please reconsider—"

"Danzō-sama," a masked kunoichi interrupted, the woman falling to the floor to kneel in greeting. Tsuchinoe's distinct scarred bear mask was a welcome sight, simply for the fact that it gets Kakashi out of having to deal with the money-hungry Tsumiki.

"Report."

"Hebi-san has returned and is requesting an audience."

Kakashi kept his face blank, but he cringed on the inside. Hebi could only mean one person.

"Escort him to my secondary office," Kakashi stated, turning away from both agents and leaving without another word. He didn't want any evidence of meeting Orochimaru in his home office, not when it would probably be regularly searched by ANBU. He felt slightly stupid for already forgetting about the Snake Sannin. Kakashi had been the one to bring him up while they were planning and all of the chaos since returning had successfully made him forget about the man's very existence. He briefly entertained the idea of killing the man as soon as he took a step into the room, but dismissed it. While Kakashi might have stood a small chance at facing off against him, Kakashi as Danzō wouldn't cut it. He didn't know how Danzō's body moved yet, hadn't had the time to even think about training. It was for the best if he simply pretended to hear Orochimaru out before dismissing him.

Kakashi had the time to find the office Danzō had used while down in the base and take a seat to pretend to be filing papers before Tsuchinoe was there with a silent Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru," Kakashi greeted with slight disgust. "What can I do for you?"

Tsuchinoe left and Kakashi looked up from his papers to meet semi-familiar mint green eyes. The pupils were slits, which was slightly disconcerting, but Kakashi knew his students. He knew Sakura's sharp gaze. Before he could get a word out, however, Orochimaru, who he could only assume was Sakura had Kusanagi within her hand as she sprang forward in a snarling attack.

"For Sasuke!"