Not every ROOT was able to get slotted into Konoha proper, because some just weren't people any more.
Orochimaru kept most of those ones for traveller use, and Kakashi has seen some pop up on the island occasionally, but it's hard to tell which ones are too strange, who would stand out even with time and practice.
One chuunin ROOT had been a tad too conspicuously strong for their assigned position, a bit more than just 'socially unique' that their teammate, a gossipy Yamanaka who had not heard of them previously, had taken his concerns to the Hokage.
"Was it you?" Kakashi asks the kunoichi ROOT who can't seem to make any expression.
"Yes," she reports solemnly.
Since the Sanin were pretty sure that the Yondaime Aburame was aware about the sudden influx of shinobi into their ranks not too long ago, they didn't think it too much of a problem.
However, the Yamanaka had shared his concerns with so many others, including the to-date rather docile jounin commander, who had a history of turning a blind eye on Danzo's frequent additions to the force.
The jounin commander -of rather bland personality but impeccable project management skills- had then investigated by herself before approaching the Hokage. She did it well and thoroughly because now she didn't have Danzo threatening her civilian family, and the Sandaime no longer dismissed her at the first mention of trouble in the ranks.
Admirable, truly, and wow does Kakashi wish this jounin commander didn't retire before Kakashi ranked up in that first go around, but she was not being very helpful to the travellers right now because she started a more or less public investigation.
Orochimaru, due to his history of questionable morals and being the one who was supposed to clean up the mess after Danzo's death, was called into question.
Orochimaru initially assisted the Uchiha police in unearthing the crimes Danzo committed, first starting with stolen doujutsu, then children, then files and ending with such a blatant attempt to undermine the Hokage that even the Sandaime didn't have a retort for that.
However, Orochimaru's involvement meant he had omitted that Danzo didn't actually have a private guard, as the investigators guessed when Sakumo had taken down Danzo, but a private army.
Jiraiya stepped up in defense of Orochimaru, too quickly. He was also put on house arrest, as was Tsunade, who had been instructed to stay away and not implicate herself. Kind of hard not to when everyone knows how close the Sanin are, though.
In times like these it was vital for the travellers to secure their in-village resources, which in this case meant the Sanin. They couldn't lose Konoha, and no one else could take up the position.
Sakumo volunteered himself as the scapegoat, partly because he believed in the grander mission compared to his own comfort, and partly because he wanted to be out there with Kakashi.
Sakumo's list of crimes started with conspiring against Konoha. He was also tried on the evidence of:
Modifying medical information that killed many of the previous council (Tsunade).
Blacking out important intelligence (Jiraiya).
Leading a secret army taken from a convicted Elder (Orochimaru).
Coming back from a mission in the opposite direction that he should have been and thus in the approximate area of the suspicious crater (the Gedo Mazo fight).
Sending coded messages to an unidentified person (Kakashi) outside Konoha.
Shifting around guard schedules (to avoid Hyuuga when he carried Kakashi into Konoha).
"Do you think those will stick or do we also have to plan for trouble with the Sanin?" Kakashi muses.
"Several groups are pushing for the White Fang to be executed," another ROOT shinobi replies respectfully. "They appear to be encouraging this out of anger towards the White Fang himself, and not desire for investigation. It is unlikely that the crimes will then be pinned on the Sanin."
These groups mostly consisted of Danzo supporters who were still pissed off that Sakumo beheaded their leader.
The Uchiha police were also up in arms because while it was a hidden tablet and they hushed up the matter of its destruction, they also realised that Sakumo was most likely involved in the matter as he moved the gate guards around a little before the incident, and again a few days after.
Five days ago, ANBU approached and asked Sakumo to go with them to T&I. Sakumo played along, acted shocked to push the narrative that he was the only one in the higher ranks, and was imprisoned.
Meanwhile the Sanin quickly arranged for several ROOT to escape the village that night with summons sending the message, supposedly triggered by Sakumo's arrest.
Thus the Sanin could move the operatives outside the village to assist more freely with traveller missions, and ensure the 'socially difficult' ones aren't arrested and interrogated.
Because in fact, Sakumo knew very little. He was interested in only what Kakashi was doing and didn't care much for grander schemes or even what was happening with the other travellers. He knows the Sanin, several missing-nin but mainly the big shots from the Bingo Books, and then absolutely everything about Kakashi.
Currently, the Sanin can't move a finger without being shadowed by a team of ANBU each. Sometimes there are ROOT with them, but always in mixed teams and thus unable to pass on messages.
There's enough backup to steamroll Konoha for an extraction mission (they won't fall for a subtle attack twice) but Kakashi is reluctant to harm what he still considers his home village. He might have to just start, and adjust on the fly.
Kakashi deliberates for a moment. "Alright, here is what I need you to do."
Kakashi's platinum blond hair is making its appearance again with the fringe flopped over to cover his Sharingan, close enough to his original colour for later, but not the distinctive silver-grey that screams Hatake at anyone who bothers to just take a glance. Combined with his face he's practically a mini-Sakumo so he also wears a high collar that covers everything up to his nose.
Somehow, Asuma finds him.
"Do I know you?" Kakashi tries.
Asuma scoffs. "My age, ninja, and I haven't seen you anywhere in the Academy? You can't shake me off that easily."
"I'm doing a thing," Kakashi admits.
"Better do it fast, I can hear Gai coming and he wants a rematch with you," Asuma warns.
They both turn to where the faint sound of Youth is carried in with the northern wind.
"I don't understand how he's so good at tracking for only the dumbest of reasons," Asuma grumbles.
Kakashi doesn't know either, but he always thought that Gai had a Kakashi-radar.
"Whatever," Asuna dismisses. "Before he gets here, give me the jutsu you promised."
"You definitely still don't have the control for it," Kakashi points out. "Bu~ut, if you stall Gai for me, I'll drop off another scroll."
Asuma gives him a hug. "If I don't make it, bury my things with me." He pulls away and runs off towards the sound of Gai.
"I'll cherish our friendship," Kakashi deadpans. He then turns around with a cute eye-smile. "Hi."
"Hey," Choza says cautiously, backed up by his other two-thirds.
"I'd love to stay and chat but I'm on a schedule here," Kakashi admits, shuffling sideways.
"Where did they take you from?" Inoichi asks sadly, the emotion only half faked. "Do you remember your family?"
Kakashi thinks about Sakumo. Then he thinks about his summons.
And, for some strange reason, Kakashi thinks about Yobun'na with the wry humour and the wires, Nage who gives him pats on the head and then tries to slit his throat, Orochimaru who doesn't understand what human rights are but still makes sure to check in to see how he's doing with the Sharingan, and Tobirama who's teaching him seals, that Iwa with the dumb puns, a Kumo that always cheats at poker and –
"I have somewhere to be," is all Kakashi says. He turns away.
A trio of ANBU drops down behind Kakashi and the Ino-Shika-Cho tense. Kakashi waves goodbye and the ANBU move off with Kakashi now in the middle.
They take him to T&I, but the nice, customer friendly side of things where the rooms are decorated (blandly) and business-like. At the very least, no one straps him to a chair.
It's a relatively large room with a round table, almost entirely filled by the Yondaime and her advisors, as well as two T&I specialists standing behind and several ANBU tucked away in the corners.
Kakashi taps into the bank of information he's been collecting for a while now, riffles through all the mannerisms and observations he's collected from the children he has encountered. He needs to make this look real.
Kakashi curls his toes under the table 'where no one can see' and 'subtly takes a deep breath' to recenter himself.
They watch him do this and Kakashi slots neatly into their expectations of a genius but still a child, raised by an unknown organisation but cared for rather than conditioned.
The Aburame begins the talk, having to play along despite being very clear on who Kakashi is, and in fact whole-heartedly supporting The Mission. "I am the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha. It's nice to meet you."
"Sure," Kakashi offers up blandly. "I've seen you before. Lots of times."
"What's your name, son?" an advisor asks kindly, the smile on the old man's face looking grandfatherly and warm.
"How about we just get to the point," Kakashi corrects. "You already know what I want. Now let me lay out what you want."
Kakashi starts ticking things off his fingers. "Information on the people who wear blank headbands; what our purpose is, who we are, how powerful we can be when you push us. Probably also an agreement of non-interference which I am able to sign in lieu of 'an adult' but your best bet is to send a contract to the main base and negotiate it out."
Another advisor pushes up her glasses, civilian but remembered in Kakashi's time as winning every argument she stepped into. "To clarify, what your organisation is hoping for here is the release of Sakumo Hatake, along with a negotiation of assistance from Konoha in return for your non-interference."
"Just the first one," Kakashi corrects. "We don't really care about what Konoha does. You have more people, true, but how many can you spare to fight us? How many S-ranks? You have one tailed beast but we have two. You're a large village but we have several islands and hidden bases all over the nation. You have protocols and standard operating procedures but we're adaptable and can move as separate units without reporting back to the hive." Kakashi smiles at the Aburame, head tilted just enough to peek out of the collar and show off his newly missing front tooth.
"Are you threatening us?" a civilian council member inquires solemnly.
"I'm telling you what's going to happen," Kakashi explains. "Me? I'm really very important, and I can guarantee that my clan-" he stutters. "-the rest of my group are going to come and get me. I'm not leaving without the White Fang."
Take the bait. Take the bait.
"It sounds like your clan doesn't care about him," the civilian continues.
Yes!
Kakashi purses his lips. "That's not important."
"Is the White Fang an outsider?" the first advisor asks. "Is he just a point of contact? If you're so important, so central, who is this outsider to you?"
"He is important!" Kakashi exclaims.
"To the organisation, or to you?"
"...to me," he adds reluctantly.
"So it's just personal, eh? You're not really in a position to negotiate for the whole organisation. Did you even get permission to come here?"
Kakashi wants to laugh but instead gets visibly upset because quite frankly this is an important point that no one really seems to acknowledge.
In a village, everyone needs permission from a higher commander no matter where they are in the pecking order. But with the travellers, there's no one who's above the rest, following and leading by turns with the other travellers depending on whose field of expertise the mission falls into. The villages know this - Jiraiya especially passed it on to Konoha, but no one seems to believe it.
"I don't need permission, as there is no leader," Kakashi says. "We are peers and are equally respected."
"But you must be special as a child among all those adults, or do you have friends with you?" the civilian asks leadingly.
"There's none like me," Kakashi states, staying deliberately vague. "That's why I'm important to them. If you release the White Fang into my care then-"
"You're Kakashi, aren't you?" an Uchiha says.
Kakashi pauses. Wow, that took them a while.
"Your father missed you, greatly." The Uchiha purses his lips.
"I think we're getting off topic," Kakashi says quietly.
They think they now have the upper hand, that they can use this information - that if they play nice with Sakumo, they also get Kakashi and thus the travellers. Even if Kakashi just lets something slip, it's still a lot more information than what they have now, and thus worth the release of Sakumo.
The advisors can also tell that the Yondaime is going at this in a particular angle and they're willing to follow her lead - but this certainly isn't what the Aburame would do if she faced off against an actual enemy. Kakashi has backed her into a corner going with an approach like this; she can't do anything to him -even just for show- or she loses the travellers, so the Yondaime has to play along.
Kakashi just needs his dad, and everything else can be decided later.
An advisor sighs. "Kakashi, despite what you think, you were Konoha once. We just want to keep our home safe - our family and friends. Anything you can do to help us would mean the world to us."
Kakashi does not like the way they use his name with such a pitying undertone.
"Write up a contract," Kakashi says dismissively. "I'm going to assume I'll be kept here until it's signed?"
A vast array of looks are shared across the table over Kakashi's head.
The Yondaime speaks up. "That won't be necessary, Kakashi. I know the Hatake value loyalty and family above all else. So do we. A temporary ceasefire will be arranged for you to sign and your father will be released."
The closest advisor leans in and ruffles Kakashi's hair with a smile. "I hope we can be friends, Kakashi."
Kakashi blinks and nods.
Even when he was an actual six year old, he wasn't dumb enough to fall for this.