Chapter 12: The Storm

It was almost surreal, chasing after Danzō.

If someone were to have told me that I would be hunting down a hand-bound and chakra-sealed Danzō, I would have laughed in their face. Yet here I was, chasing after a surprisingly still nimble elderly man deep into the forest surrounding Konoha. Even with my advantage of taking to the treetops to catch up to Danzō, it took me longer for him to reach my line of sight than I would have liked. I was careful to conceal my chakra presence, but even then Danzō was on high alert. His back was ramrod straight and he was weaving in a zig-zag motion on the ground floor, something most likely out of instinct in case a thrown shuriken should fly towards him. It was a smart move, but overall futile because the attack I was about to send him was one I didn't intend to miss.

"Yin?" I called out to my mental companion.

"I'm ready." Yin replied, voice set with determination, "Do it."

That was the only confirmation I needed before I awakened my mind's eye. The world shifted to where I was seeing my surroundings in two different frames. In one frame, it was as the world should have been: bright and full of color. The second frame was grayscale in comparison, with the only source of color being a soft shade of purple exuding from the mind of Danzō and a couple animals that were nearby. My mind's eye began vibrating in the center of my forehead as my chakra pushed outwards. It took the form of Yin's clawed hands, stretching outwards in two appendages with each swirling in shades of purple and black. They zoomed towards Danzō's head and I watched in grim satisfaction as they clawed their way into his psyche, anchoring my chakra into him.

I wish I could have said this gave me an easy victory, but that would have been wishful thinking.

Physically, there was no reaction. Danzō continued running and I continued to chase after him, almost on autopilot. Mentally, it was an entirely different matter. Generally, there was no way to protect oneself against a genjutsu. It could be cast and once it took effect, it was up to the victim of the genjutsu to either throw it off or get caught up in it. The mind itself, however, could be defended. Through seals there could be mental obstacles to make mindwalking more tedious and that is exactly how Danzō acted to protect himself.

Yin and I were in Danzō's head, but we weren't just yet in his mind. The pair of us floated in a sea of darkness with the only source of light beneath our feet. We stood above a large glass dome with Danzō's mindscape contained within, something that took on the form of Konoha. The buildings and architectural layout was all the same, but it lacked the presence of all the villagers. I wasn't too entirely surprised that Danzō's mind took after the village he was so obsessive over, because it only made sense. The glass wall was incredibly thick, something that a simple hit with a kunai wouldn't even damage. It would take considerable power to get through it and even then, there was little guarantee that we could get into his mind before Danzō was able to reach whatever destination that announced his safety. That was why Danzō kept running. He knew that his mental failsafe was active and he was confident his attacker would not be able to breach his subconscious mind in time. Either that or he was also hoping to get out of range of the attack.

"You think we can take it?" I questioned, knocking my knuckles against the glass to test its strength.

"Give me a moment." Yin crouched down, his chakra oozing into the ground, "I want to try something out."

I watched as the glass pulsed when Yin's chakra made contact. Yin continued to pour his chakra out and soon the dome around Yin's feet was bubbling, almost boiling as if the mental dome beneath us was now made of liquid. I didn't recognize the technique, but the message was clear: we weren't going to let this stop us.

Forcing your way into someone's mind was a tactic that Inoichi had taught me and Ino, but only in theory. There was never someone to truly practice on since the effects of breaking into someone's psyche varied. Best case scenario, it resulted in a major headache, but the worst case could result in a coma or an individual being reduced to a human vegetable unable to talk or move again. There were a lot of methods that I had been taught but as long as one had the power and imagination to execute it, then there really was no standard method.

The boiling liquid was dissolving the dome, but it was a slow-moving process. The fact alone didn't bother me, because Yin hadn't intended that one move to ensure access to Danzō's mind immediately - no, it was a move in order to weaken the mind's defenses. Yin's black chakra receded and neon green glow began pooling in the center of his left hand. The glow gathered itself into a handle with a head growing on top of it that took on the shape of a mallet. The face of the mallet morphed into a very sharp point.

Yin was going to utilize his astral energy to break the dome.

Now astral energy was a little foreign to me even though I've become accustomed to its presence in my own meditation practices and when exercising my mind's third eye. Astral energy was something ever present when dealing with the mind, but I had little practice in actually utilizing it. It felt similar to chakra, but there was also a near intangible quality to it that made it much more difficult to grasp. It required a lot of mental energy and focus, so for Yin to just suddenly use it was a little awe-inspiring.

"You've been practicing." I stated, looking at Yin with astonishment and pride.

"You didn't think that you were the only one prepping for the future right?" Yin raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching upwards into a smirk, "I've got to be strong in my own right too."

Then Yin's body began to ripple, shifting into a different form. His white hair elongated and took to the air around him as if floating in an invisible wind. His body mass and height increased dramatically until he was towering over me. His fangs and nails honed themselves into very fine points and his body was once again surrounded by a dark fog that covered his pelvic area. The slight difference in his midnight black skin was the little lines of purple and green that seemed to glow periodically on his skin.

"Go back to your body." Yin instructed, holding the sharpened mallet with a feral grin, "I'll shatter this dome and then you can strike."

With a nod, I retreated into my mind and easily resumed consciously running across the treetops. I increased my pace, exerting a minor burst of chakra into the soles of my feet to spur me on faster, and soon was running a couple paces behind and above Danzō. I could vaguely feel the motions of Yin as he acted to pound away at the glass dome. The first hit caused Danzō to stumble for a fraction of a second before he continued onward.

"Let's see if I can make him fall with this." Yin commented in a way that I could tell that he was eagerly smiling.

Then Yin's hitting pace escalated into a rate that was far too inhuman to have been possible anywhere besides the realm of one's mind. It wasn't long before the glass dome shattered, caving in and crashing down onto the Konoha mindscape but dissipating before it could reach the ground. The obliteration of the dome caused Danzō to stumble down onto his knees, a startled gasp leaving his lips. This was my cue and I wasted no time in diving from the treetops and launching my foot towards Danzō's neck, using chakra to wind my leg back before letting it slam into his flesh.

A gurgled noise spluttered out of him before he went crashing into a tree to the left of him.

I was on top of him before he could recover, coating my fingers in a modified version of chakra scalpels. With his hands still bound, I made quick work of the bandages covering his right eye and shoved my fingers into the eye socket, extracting the eye within. I kneed him in the stomach, digging my knee in as it made contact before flipping him over to do the same with the bandages on his right arm. There were multiple empty sockets in place, but there were only two that were filled with the sharingan. I tore them out and proceeded to tear through the sockets with the chakra scalpels, ensuring the allotted spaces would never be able to be utilized again.

Not that Danzō would even live to get the chance, but the sentiment was still the same.

Danzō groaned in pain, but made no effort to stand up because Yin was making sure that he couldn't. I got sent fleeting images of Yin wreaking havoc to the mindscape of Danzō's consciousness. Yin's form had somehow enlarged further and he was destroying the various buildings with reckless abandon. In both hands he wielded glowing green weapons of an axe and sword. Everywhere around him was rubble and broken concrete.

It was for the best, because the conscious mind was filled with surface-level thoughts or other superficial information like that. The core of a person lies within their subconscious mind, where one's deeply guarded secrets are hidden. It would be a waste to not try and sift through Danzō's secrets, because I had no doubt that he had information that I would find useful.

"Tear through it all." I mentally voiced, tone slightly gleeful.

"Ask and you shall receive." Yin replied.

Yin sent me another mental image of what he was currently doing. His astral weapons were put away and he was using his clawed hands to claw at the ground before him. He was literally tearing a path through Danzō's mind. I eyed Danzō's form before me, watching his lips tighten into a single line and the various twitches his body gave.

Was it wrong that his pain brought me such satisfaction?

I looked down at my bloody hands, analyzing the sharingan in them. Of the three that I held, two were unrecognizable. They were most likely taken from individuals I had never met and I wasn't above thinking that Danzō had done some form of grave robbery to obtain them. However, it was the third one that made me pause. It was like a breath of fresh air as much as it was like a punch in the gut. Shisui's chakra signature was muted, like a dimming light, but it was still there. Danzō's own chakra was wrapped around the eye, tainting it with its presence, but it couldn't quite cover Shisui's original one.

Now I knew that the sharingan was what Danzō was after and that he had specifically used Shisui's eye in the canon storyline as well, but to actually see it was another matter entirely. It was Shisui's eye that I was holding in my hands. The very eyes that had looked at me as he praised me during our genjutsu practice sessions. The same eyes that shined with merriment as he made jokes with Itachi about Sasuke and Naruto. It was Shisui and no matter how desperately I wanted to see him again, this was never how I wanted it to happen.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt and began tearing a section of it off. The material was soft and easy to rip, something that I was thankful for. I gingerly tucked in the two unfamiliar sharingan into the cloth and placed it into the pocket of my pants. Shisui's eye remained in the palm of my hand, staring up at me.

I had always had the will to kill Danzō, but now I felt ready to make him suffer.

I roughly handled Danzō's body to where he lay on his back with his legs outstretched. Despite the mental anguish and torment he was currently undergoing, he made a feeble attempt to break from my hold. Unbothered, I grabbed hold of his legs by the ankles and held them there. I searched with my free hand to pat around Danzō's waist until I found a kunai pouch. Pulling two out of the bag, I twirled one in my hand before slamming it through Danzō's left ankle. The puncture was so deep that the tip of the kunai was embedded into the ground underneath Danzō's legs.

A deep guttural scream escaped Danzō's lips, a sound that was music to my ears.

I grabbed the other kunai and did the same to Danzō's right ankle. The action didn't result in as loud a scream as the first one, but it still pulled a pained yelp from him. Nope, that wouldn't do at all. I didn't want anything to filter out this moment for me, not even by Danzō himself. I grabbed hold of the two kunai sticking out of him and twisted them by the handle. Danzō's closed lips could do nothing to hold back the cries that escaped him then.

Now he was ready.

"Tell me Danzō." I spoke aloud, standing up to where I could look at his face properly, "Do you recognize me?"

My voice rang throughout the silence of the forest. Not even the wild animals dared to enter the near vicinity of where we stood. Danzō, who's single eye was closed in response to the immense agony he was feeling, opened to squint up at me.

"You are…" Danzō's voice could only be described as a wheeze and his eye widened when he saw me, "...you are Hoshito Yamanaka."

"Correct!" I gave him a mock smile, allowing it to linger on my face for a moment before letting it fall away in order to stare at him coldly, "Are you surprised?"

Danzō remained quiet, something that I took in with amusement.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment."

I was in Danzō's mind so I could feel everything he was feeling. Underneath the pain and unsurprising anger, there was a flame of fear. It was almost enough to make me grin, but I wouldn't allow myself to do that until I was sure that Danzō was lost in terror.

"I would like to say my hatred for your existence started when you took Fū from me." I started off conversationally, eyes never straying from his wrinkled face, "You forcing my cousin to join Root was despicable, but it did push me to become stronger. You feel your mind being torn apart as I speak, yes? You only have yourself to thank for that. After all, you were the one to motivate me to do all this."

I gestured with one hand around me, indicating the situation.

"To impair me? Make me lose my mind?" Danzō accused, attempting to soothe his expression into a passive one yet failing miserably, "You'll never get away with this. Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Please, I know exactly who you are." I chided him, before holding up Shisui's sharingan to stare down at him, "A murderer. A waste of space. Whatever you call it, I do see it fitting that Shisui gets to see me kill the one who killed him."

The feel of Shisui's chakra, albeit the small amount that I held, was enough to give me the illusion that Shisui was actually present. It was soothing and I couldn't help but feel gratified by what I was doing.

This was retribution.

Danzō went still at my action. It was like the elderly man had forgotten that I had extracted the eyes on his body, which he may very well have. He must have been too distracted with Yin destroying his mind to have paid attention to much else. Was the destruction of his mind affecting his capacity to act rationally or intellectually? His memories? Hm, it was possible. Actually, his ability to even speak right now was a little surprising, but it wouldn't be something he could do for long.

Hell, Danzō breathing would be a miracle when I was through with him.

I gently put Shisui's eye in the cloth wrapping along with the two other sharingan. I didn't want to chance dropping it by mistake in my haste to take out my anger on Danzō.

"Who do you think tipped off Fugaku-san to chase after you?" I tilted my head curiously, a little amazed at how idiotic he was acting, "You were going to face justice either way. Think of it as me serving Konoha for the greater good."

I cherished the expression on his face. It seemed that of everything I had said, me throwing his catchphrase back in his face was something he easily recognized. He looked at me with a look filled with such offense and disbelief that I couldn't help but snicker at it.

"Your fate was decided as soon as I was put on this world." I continued on, savoring every moment, "Don't take it personally, but really, you never stood a chance."

I felt Danzō go through a torrent of emotions, but most notably his fear was steadily creeping up as the most prominent emotion he was feeling.

"I'm ready to deliver the final blow." Yin updated me, sounding very pleased.

I was sent another image of the status of Danzō's mind. There was the thinnest layer of flesh acting as a boundary for the subconscious mind. It was interesting to see that the mindscape gave way to the actual interior of the brain when broken enough, but I could see through it enough to get a glimpse of what lay beyond. I could see the hokage building standing tall, which of course Danzō would deem as his place of secrets.

"Sweet!" I sent a wave of appreciation towards him, "Let's get rid of him once and for all."

Yin's answer was to send me a rush of energy, signaling that he was more than ready.

Danzō was gasping for air, taking slow and deep breaths in an attempt to gather himself. There were lines of spit leaking from his mouth and his single eye was profusely leaking with tears. It was rather admirable that he was holding on at all. Having his conscious mind completely shredded, hands bound behind his back, and legs pinned to the ground by kunai. Yes, he was like a cockroach that simply wouldn't quit clinging to life.

"I have someone I'd like you to meet." I said, smiling in an innocent way.

Danzō looked up at me wearily, his apprehension almost palpable. Casting the genjutsu on him was like slipping on an oversized jacket, too easy. There was no chakra to weave, since I was already firmly implemented inside his mind. It was just a simple matter of willing him to view what I wanted him to see.

A low chuckle filled the air, something deep and dark. I felt Yin creep up behind me, peeking out to where one eye and a half of a way too sharp grin could be seen. Danzō's breathing hitched as he took in the sight of Yin.

"Do you see him?" I inquired, a serene smile on my face, "He's been waiting for this moment for as long as I have."

Yin's form began to grow again. His appearance was similar to the battle-ready form he took on earlier, except this time he continued to increase in size. He grew taller, extending far past the tree tops and blocking the sky that could be seen from the part in the forest we were in. Due to his height, Yin couldn't stand fully without his face disappearing into the clouds. So he crouched down, claws digging into the earth beside Danzō's stiffened body. Yin's grin was impossibly wide, one that stretched all the way to his ears with his knife-like teeth on full display. His dual-colored eyes were literally glowing, casting rays of yellow and purple onto the ground below.

Danzō's breathing was beginning to quicken and his single eye was wide open in horror.

"Prepare yourself, Danzō." I called out, but Danzō refused to look away from Yin, "Prepare to meet your end."

Then Yin lunged forward, teeth wide open as he bit down onto Danzō's face. At the same moment in reality, Yin tore through the final piece of Danzō's conscious mind. Danzō's torso leapt upwards from the ground, visibly reacting to the destruction that Yin committed, before falling backwards in a slump. His body was breathing, and his eye was rolled backwards to where only the white of it could be seen. There was the occasional twitch, but other than that he didn't react.

"A little anticlimactic, right Yin?" I commented, kicking Danzō in the stomach but getting no reaction to the impact on his stomach.

"Well, he literally has half of his mind right now so you can't expect too much." Yin reminded, "Now get in here so we can get started. I'm eager to see what kind of juicy secrets he has stored here."

I conceded and shifted to view the world through my mind's eye fully. Returning inside Danzō's head, I found myself standing in front of the Hokage building. Yin was standing with the door to the building open, a wide smile on his face.

"And into the treasure trove we go." Yin commented, nodding his head slightly to indicate for me to go in first.

Walking into the building, it led into a single hallway. It was lit with torches alongside the walls while the ground and ceiling were made from earth and rock, respectively. There were two doorways near the end, one on the left and the other on the right.

Yin and I made our way over to the doorways, before looking at one another. Yin had chosen the left doorway while I opted for the right one.

"Meet back in the middle when we're done?" I asked him.

There was no real telling what could be behind the doors. Sure, I knew that it would lead to lots of information and maybe even memory highlights that made Danzō who he was. But I've never ventured so deeply into someone else's mind before and no matter what I could predict, this was still completely uncharted territory.

"Of course." Yin answered, raising a hand to squeeze my shoulder in parting, "I'll see you then."

Yin smiled softly at me before opening his door and walking through. I got a glimpse of something made of liquid and dark purple, but Yin closed the door behind him before I could properly make it out.

I turned to my own doorway, and with no other option, I opened the door.

Inside there was no room. I meant this in the sense that there were no walls, floor, or ceiling. The room was submerged in a lilac fog, but this wasn't what interested me. What held my attention was the thousands of threads interconnected throughout the room. The various lines were held taut and were all held together by a floating white translucent body. It was featureless and the lines could be seen weaving throughout the avatar, almost like veins. The lines were neon white and were pulsing softly except for some areas. On both ankles, right eye, and right arm there were lines that took on a pink shade.

I floated towards them, adjusting to the mental space easily. I curiously plucked one of the threads on the body's arm which sent a vibratory ripple through the entire line both above and below the body before me. The line turned red and remained that way. I plucked it again and watched as it returned back into its original white color. With my fingers, I ran my fingers through the threads on the torso, creating a red glow so intense that it turned the lilac fog around me into a similar shade.

The room began shaking, so much so, that it startled me momentarily out of Danzō's mind. I took in my surroundings, noting the still environment and ruled out the scenario of an impromptu earthquake. However, the reason for the shaking made itself shown in Danzō's body. He was thrashing, twisting his body in the little range he could and letting out silent cries of pain. His eye was blown wide open, looking dull but vivid with agony.

Could it be that the threads were actually his nerves?

I reached out to Danzō's mind and found myself back in the threaded avatar room. I ran my fingers through his torso and turned the threads back into their original state, before exiting his mind once again. Danzō was no longer thrashing, but still seemed to be feeling the ghost pain of what he felt earlier, if the slight shudders were anything to go by.

Going back into his mind, I pondered on this new development. If this was supposed to represent his nerves then I had direct control over how much pain he received. A Yin-like grin came onto my face, teeth and all, as I thought about testing out each thread. However, I didn't understand why I was no longer able to feel his emotions? Within his mind, my sensing abilities greatly increased and now it was like there was nothing. Although there was no conscious mind left of him, I didn't think it would be enough to negate his ability to feel anything. Well, not anything because he could still feel pain. What if Danzō was reduced to his more primal and mundane characteristics? What if he could only feel torment and hunger?

Oh well, all of this could be thought about at a later time. I had a man to torture and I was really curious to what happened if all of these threads turned red.

I carelessly ran my hands on all of the threads, not caring if some vibrated in a more violent manner than others and slipped out of his mind to observe the results. I was not disappointed at all. Danzō's body was arched off of the ground, stiff with pain that was literally setting every nerve of his on fire. He was foaming at the mouth, spit and dribble coming out, and he was grinding his teeth together. It was this cycle of him slamming his jaw shut that caused him to accidentally bite down on his tongue. I watched in awed horror as he chewed through his own tongue, blood mixing in with the spit around his mouth. His torn appendage fell to the ground beside him, looking very much like someone had taken a chunk out of it.

"Absolutely disgusting." I commented, looking at the scene with derision.

It was like my comment had spurred the man on in a contest of sorts. The sound of liquid hitting the ground combined with a horrible scent filled the air. I looked down towards Danzō's lower body and yes, that was urine spreading on his pants. His stiffened back allowed me to crouch down to confirm that he had also defecated himself.

I wrinkled my nose and wafted my hand in front of my nose, "Congratulations on proving my point even further."

I delved back inside his mind and hovered my hand over the threads to stop the man from making a further mess, before I stopped myself. Why should I care if he made a mess? Besides, hadn't I wanted to see the result of the threads being red? Why not take this further and see how long the pain will last while still feeling fresh? Would his nerves become fried, used to the pain they were experiencing or would the direct manipulation of nerves guarantee a level of pain that was everlasting in its intensity?

One thing that did bother me was his inability to scream, that would be the cherry on top. I needed it to complete this moment. I strayed closer to the translucent avatar and tapped the side of the neck with two fingers.

"Scream." I ordered the avatar, watching as a thin line of green astral energy shot out of my fingertips and into the neck.

I watched as a mouth appeared on the avatar, a black hole extended outwards as wide as it could. No noise came out, but that didn't mean it hadn't worked. A quick mental withdrawal to the real world granted me the gift of hearing Danzō scream. It was a hoarse sound, one that anyone could hear and immediately know that someone was suffering something horrible. I winced slightly, because it oscillated between deep and high tones. I guess I should appreciate the fact that his vocal chords weren't escaping my torment either.

Seeing Danzō like this, I suddenly remembered something. I reached into my pocket and grabbed the cloth bundle. I extracted Shisui's eye and held it above Danzō's figure, making sure to move it around and show my handiwork.

"I did it, Shisui." I whispered, feeling very much like I was speaking to him.

My views on the afterlife were skewed with my situation of being reincarnated into an anime world. I don't know if I was particularly religious in my past life, but I took comfort in the thought of there being something in store after one passed away. I hoped that Shisui was at peace and if he did have a next life, that it would be a happier one. A life where he could live without the threat of danger from manipulative old men and one without any wars. Maybe he would be reincarnated into a world like that.

I reached into the cloth bundle and gathered the two remaining sharingan to show them the scene too, "It's a lovely sight, isn't it?"

I looked at the sharingan eyes in my hands with emotions of bittersweetness. I was glad that these individuals could observe this moment, but saddened that it had to come to this. Not the situation regarding Danzō, no he deserved this. I was regretful that these people had to lose their lives to Danzō before I intervened. Danzō had only ever been a bane to everyone's existence. He was like a mosquito, serving no real purpose to the general welfare of the ecosystem. The only arguable benefit was that the mosquito was prey to predators.

And I just so happened to be the predator that Danzō fell victim to.

I stayed like that for a while, letting the sharingan gaze down at Danzō while he continued to scream. His screams were becoming more quiet, not because he was slowly quieting down, but rather his voice was going out. His skin was reddening, particularly around his neck and face, and the veins were very prominent. His single eye was bloodshot and his body hadn't relaxed once during this whole ordeal.

The pain seemed to have never dwindled once, so I was glad to have seen this through.

I gently returned the sharingan into the cloth bundle before going back inside his mind. The avatar before me had turned into a darker shade of red with the threads releasing a black smoke. I debated on whether or not to touch them again, before eventually settling on leaving it alone.

I left the room and went into the adjacent one. I opened the door and paused, taking in my new surroundings. It was very different from the room I had been in. The only similarity was the free floating space that lacked walls, ground, and ceiling. There was no lilac fog, but more of an empty black space. Floating around in the room were dark purple bubbles, but they weren't made out of regular liquid. It seemed more like oil with how heavy and thick it looked. Something that outnumbered the bubbles was the floating purple shards that littered the air space.

Huh, I wonder what those shards were from?

In the middle of the room was Yin, who's pitch black skin seemed to somehow stand out even in the darkness of Danzō's headspace. He was floating, sitting cross legged, with multiple tendrils of black and purple chakra spilling from his mind's eye. The tendrils reminded me of a snake that had just eaten due to the various sized lumps moving into Yin's head. The tendrils were connected to the bubbles and I watched as one of the bubbles shook before fracturing and falling apart. The pieces continued to float around while the tendril receded back into Yin's forehead.

Well, that explains the shards.

"I'm almost done sifting through Danzō's mind." Yin called out, eyes still closed, "You wouldn't believe how much information the old coot had stuck in his head."

"Anything valuable?" I probed, floating to where I was hovering behind him.

Yin held up his index finger, "Hold on, just one left."

I watched as the last bubble gave a violent tremble and then shattered. The dark expanse around us slowly started to lighten into a white background and that was when Yin turned to me. He stood up, dual-colored eyes alight with triumph.

"We have everything we need." Yin gushed, grinning all too happily, "Well, not really everything, but it's enough to go by to get where we need to go."

I couldn't help but match his energy, smiling happily, "You mean you found him?"

"Danzō was paranoid, so he did his best to keep tabs on everyone, but he wasn't able to get any new information on where Orochimaru was at." Yin stated, rolling his eyes, but the smile remained on his face, "However, he did have intel on Kabuto. We know where he's headed to next and when he's going to leave."

My eyes widened, because the timeline couldn't have been more perfect. Now that I've essentially taken Danzō out of the equation, I was able to set my sights outside of Konoha and focus on bigger problems such as Orochimaru. It was just a guess that Danzō would have something about the legendary sannin and we were proven correct. Kabuto was Orochimaru's honorary first henchman and wherever he was, he was sure to lead us straight to where Orochimaru currently was.

I didn't view Kabuto as much of a threat, because I had a special plan involved to deal with him. The guy was mentally unstable, ironic for someone who pretended to have everything together. A man who could go undercover as anyone, but reveal his identity crisis and you get a wild unknown variable. I didn't need something like that in a world where I was trying to save people. He could ruin everything, so taking him out was my next move. My plans regarding the snake sannin weren't as lethal, though. Despite his multiple attempts to take down Konoha and his kidnapping of Sasuke, he did turn out somewhat good in the end. Well, I suppose a war against someone who threatened to enslave everyone in the world was a good motivation to do so, but it still applied here. Plus, I didn't feel like I was on a high enough power level to take him down.

No, my plans for Orochimaru would be very different.

I would take on the path that the canon storyline Sasuke had. This would be in an effort to try and distract Orochimaru from the sharingan as well as become stronger. Orochimaru would be able to do that. He could train me in ways and refine the skills I had into an unparalleled level. I was eager to see what he could teach me and what he could help me develop. Maybe even a new original jutsu? Orochimaru was a man whose ambitions resided with learning every jutsu, so it wasn't too far-fetched that he would be up for developing one that no one else knew. Of course, this all depended on the decision that Orochimaru would even take me as a student. And even then, I hoped he wouldn't stick me with that horrendous seal of his either.

You know what, Orochimaru was sounding more and more like an unknown variable too.

Ah well, hopefully by the time I get to him I would have garnered enough interest that he would have no choice but to take me under his wing.

"He leaves in two weeks' time for Ishigakure, the Hidden Rock Village." Yin informed, looking very smug, "That leaves us plenty of time to make our little detour before heading to intercept Kabuto."

Right, the detour would be something we needed to do before we ventured on towards our path to Orochimaru.

"Good job on finding so much." I praised him, grasping his face so I could observe his third eye, "You didn't strain yourself, right? No headaches or any mental overload?"

I couldn't help but look over my mental companion in worry. Going through one's entire mind, both destroying it and removing information, was taxing. His third eye glowed black, looking as normal as ever which brought me relief. If one strained it too much, then the eye could become swollen and irritated. It would block one's mental vision and force the user to rest before using it again. The side effects could involve migraines, but Inoichi had warned of cases where an individual who processed too much of another's mind was overwhelmed. They lost sense of who they were, mentally warring against the person whose mind they tried to take from.

Yin smiled, one that was fond, "You're worrying."

"You know as well as I do about the dangers of processing so much information at once." I huffed out, pinching his cheek once I made sure that he was indeed alright.

Yin ruffled my hair, scattering the strands of my hair all over my face, "I'm okay."

It was the admission of this that truly made me relax. In this world, Yin was the only person who knew me entirely, reincarnated and all. I was so lucky to have him help me go through everything and if something happened to him, I would never be able to forgive myself. Although the chances of him physically getting hurt were very slim, he wasn't invulnerable. Mental attacks would be sufficient enough to hurt him and anything that impacted my well-being could hurt him by extension. Like say if I was gravely wounded and didn't make it, then I couldn't see Yin making it either. Though the thought of Yin not existing terrified me more than the possibilities of what could happen to me.

"You're having those idiotic thoughts again." Yin pointed out, fixing my hair into a more presentable state, "What am I ever going to do with you?"

Before I could say anything, Yin pulled me in close to kiss my forehead and I found myself back in the physical world.

Danzō's body was still in the same stiff position, but he was no longer screaming. In fact, he didn't look too capable of anything but staring.

"It's time." Yin announced, prompting me into action, "There are some astral signatures racing towards us, but they don't seem to be hostile."

I crouched down and obtained another kunai from Danzō's pouch. I could feel the signatures he was talking about, not too far away from where we were. They would reach us in about a couple of minutes, but the distance was enough for me to identify them. They were people that I've never met personally but knew of them fairly well. Their astral forms came to me in the form of two mental images: one was a moving forest while the other was a zooming ball of electricity. It was fleeting, but enough for me to know that Yamato and Kakashi were on their way.

Astral and chakra signatures differed slightly, but both were good identifiers of telling who a person was. When one took care to hide their chakra from discovery, they usually didn't do the same for their mind.

"They'll be just in time for the show." I commented, tracking their movements mentally.

Yin laughed, the noise echoing inside my head, filling me with warmth, "Have I ever mentioned how much I like the way you think?"

They arrived silently and took up positions in a tree across from where I stood, taking in the situation. Not wanting them to have the opportunity to stop me, I took the kunai and plunged it into Danzō's heart, twisting it deep into his body. I pushed until the hilt was barely seen from the front of his chest, while the kunai's tip shown out through his back. There wasn't as much blood as I had thought there would be, curiously enough. There was some, but most of it had gotten onto Danzō's chest. Other than the few splatters on my hands and wrists, I was unmarked.

I took a couple steps away from Danzō, to take in the entire scene.

This was my first kill. I had expected to feel maybe a twinge of remorse or regret, even if it was Danzō, but there was nothing. The only thing that I was feeling was satisfaction. Hm, no that wasn't the right word I was looking for. A more accurate term would be that I was feeling relieved. I had come to do what I set out to do and now Danzō was just a name that I could cross off my list. Was it just me or was the world a little brighter now that the smear that Danzō's existence was had been erased?

I turned towards the two figures in the tree, tilting my head to give them a close-eyed smile, "Hello, Anbu-san."

There was silence for a second, before the pair appeared on the ground. They were wearing similar uniforms of black and grey, but differed slightly. Kakashi, someone easily distinguishable with his grey gravity-defying hair, wore a sleeveless shirt that proudly displayed his anbu tattoo on his upper arm near his shoulder. Yamato wore a t-shirt, his brown hair spilling over the animal mask he had on.

Both were standing with tense shoulders.

It was a compliment that they were taking me seriously.

"Please go get the hokage and the clan leaders of the Uchiha and Nara clan." I requested, clasping my hands behind my back to look as innocuous as possible, "There is much that we need to discuss. Oh and Itachi too, please."

The anbu pair shared a look with one another, having a silent conversation, before turning to look at me. They remained unmoving.

"Oh don't worry about him, he's harmless now." I gestured to Danzō with a flick of my wrist, "If it makes you feel any better, one of you can stay with me to make sure I don't run? Or you can do a shadow clone jutsu?"

My words had no effect, something that almost made me sigh.

"Or how about this?" I offered, looking at the pair through my lashes, "You can send your ninken out."

Kakashi tensed further, his back now ramrod straight. Yamato looked just as tense and his fingers kept fidgeting, like he wanted to do something to defend himself.

"What was his name again? Pakkun, was it?" I inquired with another tilt of my head, "You would know better than I, right Kakashi-san? Yamato-san?"

My admission of knowing their names was enough to spring them into action. Kakashi bit his finger and slammed his hands into the ground, causing a cloud of smoke to erupt. The smoke was quick to dissipate and when it cleared, Pakkun stood there along with Bull and Shiba. Kakashi bent down to whisper to them while Yamato ran through a series of hand signs. When he was finished, wood began to emerge from both sides of him. The wood maneuvered itself into a humanoid shape and soon I was staring at three Yamato's. Yamato began whispering into their ears, giving his own orders to his wooden clones.

After their whispering session was finished, the cloned Yamato's and Pakkun dashed away into the trees.

That left me with the original Yamato and Kakashi to deal with. I watched curiously as Bull and Shiba approached me, sniffing the air intensely. I slowly sat down, so I didn't startle them into attacking me. I knew that ninken were intelligent, but I wasn't going to be dumb enough to do something they might think was a surprise attack. Sitting on the ground seemed like an invitation for the ninken to come closer. They weren't snarling so that was a good sign, but their eyes were unreadable. Even their chakra couldn't tell me of their emotions, but then again, I wasn't really able to do so for animals anyways. Maybe it was different towards animals that could actually talk, like Pakkun could? He left too early for me to tell.

A wet nose prodded my bare arm, before I felt furious breaths on my hands as Bull began sniffing my hands. Shiba came around towards my back and began sniffing my hair, his wet nose tickling my neck. I couldn't help the giggle that came from my lips, momentarily startling the ninken around me. They recomposed themselves after a second and sat down, Bull in front and Shiba behind me. Their eyes never strayed from me and since I couldn't feel any hostility from them, I decided to do what anyone would have in my situation.

I pet them.

Bull let me pat him immediately, breathing with his tongue out. His fur was short yet felt sleek and smooth. Shiba sniffed my hands once again, before he allowed me to pet him. Unlike Bull, Shiba's fur was a little longer, but it didn't take away from its soft quality.

I heard a sigh and looked up to see that Kakashi had moved much closer to me. While distracted from his ninken, a very efficient tactic I had to admit, he had taken advantage of the moment to approach me. He was squatting in front of me and staring. His dark eye was the only visible one from his mask, covering his sharingan even with it on. His eye flickered with an emotion I couldn't recognize before he shook his head. Whether it was in confusion, irritation, or wonder - I had no clue.

"Hm…" a deep voice said from my side.

I looked over and saw Yamato examining Danzō's body. He was looking over the torn sockets on his arms and right half of his face.

In an instant the area was flooded with chakra. It was staggering to take in so much chakra all at once, but after I got through the initial shock, I was greeted with the sight of the people I had requested.

Fugaku Uchiha was looking at the scene with eyebrows raised incredibly high, the most shocked expression that I had ever seen on the usually stoic man. Itachi was barely any better, mouth dropped open into an o-shape. Then there was the hokage himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who looked equal parts in shock and in grief. The only person who hid his surprise rather well was Shikaku Nara. His eyes were wide, before they glanced at me, and his expression smoothened into a normal one. It was like any astoundment of the moment was explained by my presence, which okay seeing as Shikaku knew so much about me, that would have been a very acceptable explanation for him.

"Hoshito Yamanaka." Shikaku stated, looking at me with a very knowing expression, "Why am I not surprised?"

His statement was enough to call the attention of everyone onto me. Under everyone's stares I stood taller, but didn't move my gaze from the Nara patriarch.

"I did say everything would be alright, did I not?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You were the one to kill Shimura?" a gravelly and deep voice inquired.

I turned to face Sarutobi, my smile falling from my face as I did, "I am."

Nobody reacted, but I could feel the air shift. I couldn't tell if this was a good thing or bad thing, but everyone was looking at me in a new light.

Sarutobi's face remained impassive, having regained control over his facial features, "I see."

His chakra was telling me too much and nothing all at once. There were glimpses of insight into how he was feeling: shock, fury, sorrow, affection, etc. There were just too many and none of it made sense, really. However, his statement didn't sit well with me.

"Oh, you see, do you?" I tilted my head, making my voice seem airy and light, "I'm sure you can clearly see the eye sockets on his right arm where he housed multiple sharingan."

As if in tandem with my words, Yamato lifted Danzō's body to give an unobstructed view of said arm.

Silence followed, before it was broken by Sarutobi, "And where are the sharingan he supposedly stole?"

In answer, I got up from the floor and made my way to Fugaku. I brought out the cloth bundle from my pocket and reached into it to grab hold of Shisui's eye. I opened the cloth in my free hand and held it out to Fugaku, in open view for everyone to see.

"He stole them and replaced the real ones with fakes." Yin informed me, telling me the information he found earlier, "They once belonged to Kenzo and Yasu Uchiha. He'll know who they are."

"Fugaku-san, I found these sharingan on the arm of Danzō." I raised my hand higher to make it easier for him to take them, "I believe he may have taken them while they were being examined for decomposition. They once belonged to Kenzo-san and Yasu-san Uchiha."

Fugaku inhaled sharply, before taking them into his hands. His eyes blazed red with his own sharingan, too angry and saddened that such an event had occurred. I didn't flinch at the sight of them, but rather stood quietly. He observed each one, inspecting them carefully before he returned them into their cloth covering. He closed his eyes, taking a moment to calm himself down, and when he reopened them his eyes were back to normal.

"I hope they can find peace now that their eyes have been found." I bowed to him, before making my way to Itachi.

Fugaku didn't say a word, but his eyes remained on me as I left.

Itachi nodded when I came up to him, "You've grown stronger."

Looking at Itachi, I couldn't help but feel tears come to my eyes. Here we were, meeting up after I had taken Danzō's sorry excuse for a life and this was when Itachi chose to praise me? I knew that Itachi had known of my loathing of Danzō and seeing him stare at me now, unfalteringly in a way only Itachi could achieve, was almost too much. By the sparkles in his eyes and slight upwards tilt of his lips, he was proud. His reaction was one that made the familiar feeling of guilt creep up on me. Even though I had killed Danzō and avenged Shisui, nothing I could do would ever bring him back.

"Itachi." I sniffled, raising my closed fist up to him with the palm facing upwards, "I'm sorry I couldn't have done anything sooner. Please forgive me."

"Ito?" Itachi looked at me with concerned eyes.

I opened my palm to show the last remaining sharingan.

"Shi-Shisui deserved so much better, 'Tachi." I hiccupped, words barely audible due to my voice becoming too thick with emotion, "I'm so sorry."

It was all I could say because I couldn't say anything else. I mean what did one say when they returned the eye of a deceased person to their cousin? I furiously rubbed my eyes with my free hand, but the tears were fat and swift. My hand was still raised with Shisui's sharingan staring up at Itachi. Through my blurry vision and continuous wipes, I was able to see Itachi looking down with sharingan-lit eyes. The Mangekyou sharingan was in full effect as he stared down at what was left of his former best friend.

Wordlessly, Itachi took the sharingan in my hands with shaking fingers. They clasped around the eye and Itachi held it close, holding his hand near his chest - his heart. He took several deep breaths before he opened them. His eyes were still red, conveying the potency of emotions that he was feeling.

Itachi cupped my face with one hand, nearly covering the entire left side of my face. With his thumb, he wiped away my tears and continued to do so until I calmed down.

"There's nothing to forgive." Itachi whispered, looking into my eyes unblinkingly. "Thank you for bringing him back to me."

Then Itachi flicked my nose.

It was his way of telling me that everything was alright and it was nearly enough to send me into tears again, but I refrained from doing so. I nodded in a small manner, still within his hold, and tried to recollect myself.

"Although I am saddened by an old friend's passing, I have been informed of Shimura's situation from Fugaku a couple minutes prior to this meeting." Sarutobi declared, interrupting the moment between Itachi and I, "You have done Konoha a great service by uncovering his treasonous acts. To forcefully take a dōjutsu from one's own village is truly unforgivable."

A spike of irritation surged within me, because the 'great service' line was far too similar to Danzō's 'greater good' philosophy.

Maybe killing Danzō had affected me? It put me on the edge of my seat, in an emotional sense, but not in a way that I cared. I was also at the point of not wanting to hide myself so much anymore.

"Hokage-sama, I'd like to discuss a couple things with you." I called out, not leaving any room for objection.

Sarutobi looked cautious, like he had just suffered through a few days without rest, but he still managed to give me some semblance of a smile, "Oh?"

Shikaku stepped back to stand near the Uchiha men, content to observe.

"Killing Danzō wasn't the only thing I did." I began, gaining more confidence with each word, "I looked through his mind as well - went through the entire thing and left nothing uncovered."

Sarutobi looked shocked, but not taken aback. Right, Sarutobi knew my past too. This fact gave me more of a push to act without any filters.

"I know of your toxic relationship with the man and exactly how he viewed you." I continued on, jamming a thumb back at Danzō's corpse, "He thought of you as an undeserving man who usurped him from his rightful place as hokage. He desired to have your role and did many things to undermine you. His Root organization serves him first and listens to you second. Yet, you already knew that didn't you? Letting Danzō have free reign because you believed the load of crap he spouted about there being light and dark. You were the trunk that showed off the leaves blossoming in light and he was the roots that grew in darkness. There were so many vile things that he has done and you turned a blind eye to it all."

Sarutobi looked like he was going to speak, but I powered through, determined to make myself heard in entirety.

"He coerced my cousin Fū to join him, did you know that?" I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest, "It was either Fū join or I take his place. You never once checked in on how Danzō obtained his recruits, did you? No, you let Danzō have an unchecked power within his own little Root realm. You allowed Danzō to get so comfortable in his position of power that he acquired the audacity to steal the sharingan. The power had gotten to his head, and he became greedy for more."

Sarutobi remained silent, looking at me with firm eyes.

I brushed a strand of hair that had fallen away from my face angrily, "You took his statement of servicing Konoha for the greater good as it was for face-value. As hokage, you have a duty to the people of your village to look out for them and you failed! Miserably. The light and dark coexisting is a fact in the sense that there will always be good and evil, however it doesn't mean you remain complacent or ignorant to something right under your nose. Danzō was your right hand man! You cannot possibly expect me to believe you didn't suspect anything from a man that coveted your title so obsessively."

In my peripheral vision I saw Fugaku step forward but was stopped by Shikaku who simply shook his head. Fugaku stepped back and the three of them continued to watch.

"And speaking of failing your job as hokage, you seem to fail as someone who is trustworthy as well." I pointed a finger at Sarutobi with a force like flicking a bug away from me, "Danzō was there that night the Nine-Tailed Beast attacked."

An unnatural stillness fell onto the section of the forest around us as my words reached their ears. Okay, so I was making this part up, but there were many things I needed to get off my chest and making a dead man my scapegoat was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"I watched through his memories as you promised a dying Minato-san and Kushina-san that you would care for Naruto." my voice came out in a near growl and my hands were vibrating with how much indignant anger I felt, "How dare you! How dare you disregard their final wishes and leave Naruto to grow up alone in an apartment near the Red-Light district of Konoha! He never got to grow up knowing what it was like to have a family because you were too inadequate to give him that. And you have the nerve to have him refer to you as ojii-chan when you have done nothing to deserve such a title."

This time Sarutobi reacted. His chakra unveiled itself in all its glory. It was wild yet tamed, like meeting a wild animal while out in the forest. It was dangerous and brought about scenarios of being rendered useless against the face of such an opponent. If I had to equate his chakra size to anything, it was like standing at the foot of the Hokage Monument and looking up.

That's how intense it was.

His face contorted in displeasure and his voice was thunderous, "I am the hokage of this village! You will speak to me with respect. I have done everything for Naruto and-"

In response to him letting his chakra out, Yin reacted to do the same. It was eerily similar to when I did the genjutsu for Danzō. It was like Yin was out in the physical world again, his form once again taking the gigantic one as before. He stood with his arms on the ground beside me in a protective hold as he screamed against Sarutobi's chakra-encased form. The action was enough to startle Sarutobi into retreating his chakra back into his body.

"You have done nothing!" I shouted with so much ferocity I could feel my throat vibrate, "Where the fuck were you when Naruto was getting beat up by the shitty civilians you so desire to protect?! Or when he was starving because everyone in the village banned him from eating their food products?! Naruto would get belittled and demonized all because of the Nine-Tailed Beast he has within him. He would get bruises and cursed at all because he has something in him that is no fault of his own. Arguably the worst part is that you have never even told Naruto of Kurama's existence! How many times has he gone to see you or come to smile at you with that bright smile of his and you have the fucking courage to act like everything in his life is okay?! What kind of weak and pathetic excuse of a human being are you to be hokage if you can't protect the one you let refer to you as family?!"

I was breathing heavily by the end, tears of frustration glittering in my eyes, "Do you even know how much Naruto loves you? How much he loves this fucking village? Even after all the hell he's been through, he wants to become hokage just like you and prove everyone in the village wrong about him. He's the kind of lovable idiot who believes in the good in everyone, but not me. I see the villagers for the pieces of shit they really are and I see you hokage-sama."

I spit out the honorific with as much venom as I could, relishing in the fact that Sarutobi's eye twitched at my words.

"I see you for the hypocritical man you are." I glared coldly at him, "How can you be regarded as the strongest shinobi that Konoha has to offer yet fail when it matters most. Imagine if you stepped in to intervene Danzō sooner; think of the lives you could have saved and the sharingan safe from his clutches. Shisui would be with us to this day! Think of Naruto, who's childhood you could have made the late Minato-san and Kushina-san to have cried happily over. But no, you see I had to clean up after your mistakes. I was the one who showed Naruto what it meant to have people who actually cared about his well-being, to be clothed and fed properly, to be treated like a real fucking human being. I was the one to murder Danzō and make sure he wasn't able to ruin any lives ever again. I was able to do what you were far too weak to ever even think of doing."

I was finished, heaving slightly, but standing tall before him.

"I have never claimed to be a man without faults." Sarutobi voiced, looking deflated yet somehow also booking stern too. "Yet to have them thrown in such a way into my face makes it so that even an old man like me can see his own wrongdoings. You have thought about this a long time, haven't you Hoshito-kun?"

Is my entire second life long enough for you, Sarutobi?

"You should resign as Hokage, your prime is far behind you. You lost it when you placed Naruto in that apartment to grow up in after promising his parents you would look after him." I declared, tilting my chin up, daring him to deny me of my request, "I will leave the village to go look for the new replacement. Tsunade-sama shouldn't be too hard to convince."

Shikaku actually coughed at my statement. A quick glance in his direction revealed both Fugaku and Itachi looking at me in a very startled way.

"You want Tsunade to replace me as hokage?" Sarutobi slowly began, raising an eyebrow, "You would have an easier time asking any of my other students instead."

Ah, the perfect window.

"Looking in Danzō's mind, there were some findings that alarmed me." I revealed, putting my hands into my pockets, "Things are in motion and although nothing is set in stone just yet, there are talks of another war."

Sarutobi straightened up, expression completely serious. For a second, I thought that he was playing me. That he deliberately let me spat out my anger to indulge me in my emotions. This Sarutobi that I saw, at the threat of war, was someone I could see being chosen as hokage.

"A war?" Sarutobi's eyes hardened at the mere mention of such a subject.

"We will need Tsunade-sama's legendary healing skills just in case." I went on, hoping to come off unperturbed in his sudden change in demeanor, "If things come to pass, then it will be like a war this world has never seen before."

Shikaku walked closer, "You cannot give us anything else to go off of?"

"I have given you plenty by advising Tsunade-sama to take over." I replied, meeting his gaze steadily, "I'm afraid if I reveal too much, anything that looks like Konoha is preparing for war will tip off the other villages into assuming something else."

It was a neutral excuse, but something reasonable enough to stop any prodding - I hoped.

Shikaku scratched the hair on his chin, looking very thoughtful, "Tsunade-san taking over would cause enough waves in the shift in power, but it wouldn't be analyzed too thoroughly."

Wait, was Shikaku actually agreeing with my plans? It was subtle, but he was pushing the conversation for others to envision my plan coming to pass.

"Tsunade-san returning would also mean there would be a rise in those joining the ranks of medic nin." Fugaku offered, musing aloud, "The chance to learn from a legendary sannin would be an offer most would try to take on."

Fugaku too? I stared at the two dark-haired men back-and-forth, trying to see where the sudden move to back me up was decided between the pair.

"Come to my office tomorrow morning." Sarutobi offered, looking calm, "We will be able to discuss your plans regarding Tsunade at greater lengths."

Okay now I was really confused, because what was with this underwhelming reaction? It was like I hadn't even yelled at Sarutobi at all? I'm not sure if I wanted him to yell back or showcase his chakra again, but it would be much better than this air of normality. I just killed his old friend and called him out on a lot of bullshit. Why wasn't he reacting?

"That's it?" I questioned, a bit incredulously.

That couldn't be it.

"Were you expecting me to fight a child?" Sarutobi deadpanned, looking serious even as his eyes gleamed with a hint of mirth.

Now I didn't view Sarutobi in the best light, but even I could admit that Sarutobi wasn't the kind of person to physically abuse children by kicking their ass - no, being neglectful was more his niche.

I pursed my lips, "No, I guess not."

"We will talk more tomorrow and you will have my full attention then." Sarutobi promised, nodding his head once, "For now, the clans and I have to discuss how to handle Danzō's actions and the future of Root."

I frowned in confusion, "The clans?"

Like they were waiting for that moment, the forest surged with chakra. The influx of chakra from the shadow flicker technique was almost as disorienting as the last time. I turned towards where they had appeared and took in the crowd before me. Hiashi Hyuuga stood in the middle, taking on the scene with byakugan activated eyes to examine Danzō's corpse. Maybe he was ensuring that the man was indeed dead? Tsume Inuzuka had both hands on her hips, nostrils flared as she inhaled scents I could only imagine. Her ninken, Kuromaru, was huge and on all fours was a little taller than Tsume's naval level. His eye patch did nothing to hinder the expression on his face and he was staring right at me, nose twitching as he glanced at my hands and face. Was he smelling the blood on them? I brought my hands behind my back, just in case, but the action only served for Bull and Shiba to bark in tandem. Pakkun took that moment to pop his head up from behind Kuromaru's to look at me as well.

It was almost like Bull and Shiba had said something?

Shibi Aburame was wearing a long coat with a high collar, one so high that the bridge of his nose could barely be seen. His sunglasses blocked his eyes from view, but the way his eyebrows were held together, it was clear to see that he was scrutinizing the scene before him. Chōza Akimichi stood with his arms crossed and it was the most pressing that I had ever seen him look. The usual easy-going man was now anything but.

Then there was Inoichi.

I watched as his eyes took in Danzō's form, lingering over the kunai embedded into the body and then with a blink his eyes darted towards me. His attention was enough to cause me to straighten, unconsciously bringing my hands back to my sides. It was a bad move because as soon as Inoichi saw the blood on my hands, he acted. He was in front of me in a second, kneeling down to my height. His chakra was filling the air around me, ready to lash out on anyone who dared to come closer. The expression on his face was panicked but it was covered up by a rage so fierce I was afraid to even breathe wrong and chance setting him off.

"Hoshito." Inoichi's voice was low, and his hands came up to rest on my shoulders, grip solid.

Could I go back to the moment where Sarutobi was yelling at me and showing off his chakra? Yeah, that moment was way less scary compared to the angry father that I was dealing with right now.

"Tou-chan?" I whispered, mentally cringing at the way my voice came out so small.

Inoichi's darkened green eyes lightened by a fraction and he began lightly running his fingers over my hands and arms, as if searching for something, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Oh, he was looking for wounds. He must have thought the blood was my own. He didn't react in anger towards me, but rather anger for me. Even with me being at the scene of a crime with a dead body, Inoichi's first instinct was to make sure that I was alright. Despite all of the implications with the blood on my hands, Inoichi had thought I had somehow been injured.

I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.

Inoichi nodded, taking my answer for what it was, but continued with his visual examination of me. He turned me around, prodding my back lightly, before he turned me again. Inoichi's hands returned to my shoulders and he brought me close. His forehead came to rest on my own and his chakra changed with the motion. It simmered down to a more familiar, all-encompassing one. His eyes were light as they stared into my own.

"I see what you mean, Shikaku." Sarutobi muttered, voice filling the silent forest, "You were right once again."

I pulled away from Inoichi to gaze at the two. Sarutobi looked pensive while Shikaku looked a little smug. Inoichi didn't pay them any attention, choosing to take the moment to fix my ponytail. I wasn't sure if my hair really needed any fixing, but if it helped Inoichi to calm down more, then I wasn't going to stop him.

"Would someone mind telling us why an old man is dead and why the brat has blood on him?" Tsume ordered, looking around for anyone to answer her.

Inoichi was doing a braid in my hair now, gently combing my hair into place.

"It's a little obvious isn't it?" Shibi concluded, with an index finger raised, "Hoshito-kun was the one to kill Danzō-san. He's the only one here with blood on his hands, so it's the only plausible reason."

Everyone turned to me just as Inoichi was finishing up my braid.

"Forgive me, but I'm having a little trouble believing a pup could do something like that." Pakkun chimed in, but he wasn't looking doubtful.

In fact, he looked a little devious, like he was about to deliver a punchline to a joke.

"We were witnesses to the act." Kakashi spoke in a way that made me think he was doing his infamous eye-crinkle smile, "He plunged the kunai right into Danzō-san's heart and turned to greet us right after."

More staring followed, but Inoichi never left from behind me nor did he take his hands off of my shoulders.

"Our chakra was fully cloaked by the way." Yamato pointed out.

"Looks like we will have to give a briefing on Ito before we can tell them about Danzō-san." Shikaku sighed.

Um, I was right here?

"Itachi, why don't you escort Hoshito-kun home?" Sarutobi suggested, realizing the same fact that I did, "I'm sure he could use some rest after such an exhaustive day."

Well, I guess that was one solution.

Inoichi came around to face me and kneeled down once again, "I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

"Alright, tou-chan."

Inoichi kissed the top of my head, before leaving to go stand next to Chōza.

Itachi came up to me and offered me his hand, "We can take the scenic route back home."

I took his hand and together we walked through the forest. I took in my surroundings and concluded that we must be near the edge of Konoha's borders, because I had never been to this part before. Itachi took to rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb, occasionally turning to look at me but didn't say a word.

I was the first to break the silence.

"Did you know?" I asked, before rephrasing my question, "Did you think I was capable of killing him?"

Itachi turned to me, his tear troughs on his face standing out a bit more vividly due to the shadows of the trees, "I knew that the rage you held for the man was great. Anyone with that much emotion is capable of many things."

So, yes then. It made me feel a little pleased that I was able to meet some of Itachi's expectations - macabre as they may be.

"You're reacting very well, considering this is your first kill." Itachi noted, looking thoughtful.

Okay, yes that was true. I wasn't sure if this would set a precedent for my life? I was fairly certain I didn't like the action of killing just for the sake of it. I like to think my situation with Danzō was something necessary and inevitable. If I didn't come along to do it now, then he would have eventually met his fate later.

I shrugged, "I don't look at Danzō's life as one with any real value to it. He was just a bug that needed to be squashed."

Itachi didn't even blink at my answer, "So your anger is gone then?"

I pondered over his question, reflecting within and trying to gauge how I felt. Thinking about Danzō brought about feelings of loathing and annoyance, but knowing what I had done to him did a lot to appease these emotions. All I had to do was replay the memory of him being tortured and it was like sunshine and rainbows for me. He ended up facing the consequences of his actions and overall I could confidently say that I was okay. I didn't regret my actions and still felt very relieved that he was dealt with. But when I really thought about it, I still felt incredibly infuriated. It was more directed at myself though and it was all connected to Shisui. Sure, I had recovered his eye and now that I had properly avenged him, I still was left with my grief. Getting over a death didn't just happen in a short period of time. Grief was something that people never really got over - they just learned to live with it. Maybe this was just something I would have to live with, regretting that I didn't do anything sooner to prevent Shisui from losing his life.

But it was different now, because of what happened. Itachi had said there was nothing to forgive and I know it wasn't Shisui telling me that, but it was a pretty close second? The pair had been each other's closest friends and wouldn't Itachi know how he would have reacted?

"Itachi, did you mean what you said earlier?" I prompted, needing an answer before answering his earlier question, "About Shisui?"

"I did." Itachi squeezed my hand in a comforting manner, "Whatever regrets you may have had about Shisui's passing, just know he's resting easy now. Which means you should live your life freely, no more regrets. Shisui wouldn't want you to live like that and neither do I."

I took a deep breath, feeling something settle deep within me. It wasn't an instant fix, but his words gave me the strength to believe that everything would be alright. And you know what? Now that Danzō is gone, things really will be.

A small smile came onto my face, "Thank you, Itachi."

"It's no problem at all, Ito."

The snap of a branch caused Itachi to pull me behind him, eyes raking over the trees surrounding us. Was someone here? I looked up but couldn't see who it was, because they had hidden themselves. Why wasn't I sensing anything?

"Yin, can you get a read on them?" I mentally questioned, straining my own senses to pick up anything out of the ordinary.

"There must be a block or something." Yin stated, in a chagrined way, "I can't even get a mental signal or anything."

Okay, that was worrisome. I hadn't encountered anyone before that could hide their mental and chakra signature from Yin and I before. What kind of technique was this and were we really in danger? I looked up at Itachi, who's eyes glowed red before they turned back to normal. His defensive stance relaxed and he shook his head with a ghost of a smile.

So maybe this wasn't a foe, then?

"I see you're a little confused as to why you aren't able to sense me." a voice called out from the trees, "I tweaked this seal meant to hide chakra to also protect astral energy from being detected too. A bit ingenious, but I had to make sure you weren't chasing after me during random times. It would have been so much harder for both of us if you somehow managed to corner me. I wouldn't have been able to leave you a second time."

This voice was...but no, how could it be? Danzō was dead, but I didn't think...it was too soon, right? My heart was racing and I was frantically looking around every tree to get a glimpse of the owner of the voice. The acoustics in the forest were too good and made it seem like the voice was coming from everywhere all at once.

"You've grown so much since the last time I saw you and way stronger too." the voice softened into something like affection, "I should have believed you back then. It was wrong of me to indulge you like that in our last moments, but you proved me wrong."

Tears came to my eyes as I whipped my head back and forth, searchingly. This was real...this was really…

A rustling noise of leaves came from behind me and I turned around so fast that my neck cracked with the action. I inhaled sharply, clutching the fabric of my pants in a dumbfounded way. Standing before me was someone I could hardly believe was there. He had grown a lot, matured too. He was taller and had a much more muscular build than from when I last saw him. His hairstyle was still the same, with his auburn hair pulled into a ponytail and strands left out to frame his face. His ochre-colored eyes shined with as much love as they had ever held and there was a square piece of paper in the center of his forehead, over his mind's eye. On the paper was a seal and as if feeling my gaze on it, he peeled it off.

The effect was instantaneous. His chakra came to me and the mental image of it was enough for the tears to start spilling over. The tree had changed too. Its bark was now entirely made of metal and had grown in size. The trunk was incredibly thick and long and the roots were nearly as big as a house as they rolled outwards from the tree around me. The leaves were still blue, but there was the addition of flowers that could be seen, purple and green in color.

"You really did save me, Ito-kun." Fū smiled at me, opening his arms up in a familiar gesture, "I can finally come home."

I was running as soon as he finished his sentence. I tackled him, flinging my arms and legs around him to hug him with my entire body. The force of my tackle did nothing to sway him from balance and he returned my hug just as enthusiastically.

A sob escaped my lips, because it had been far too long since I had felt the comfort of Fū's hold.

His chakra was everywhere, mixing with my senses in a hug of their own. One of his arms held me tightly around the torso while his free hand traced the back of my head and followed the braid down. He was gently rocking us and I could do nothing but cry and curl my fingers around the fabric of his shirt.

"You're back." my voice cracked as I spoke through my sobs, "You're really back."

"I'm here." Fū reassured, hugging me impossibly tighter.

Reuniting with Fū was a moment I had been waiting for ever since he was forced to leave. To have him here with me again...I would fight and kill a hundred Danzō's if it meant that Fū would never have to forcefully leave me again. I dug my head into the crook of his neck, satisfied to just lay there for the rest of the day.

"I've missed you so much." I cried out, feeling so incredibly happy to be with him again, "So terribly much, Fū."

"And I, you." Fū spoke tenderly, voice wavering slightly.

We remained in that embrace for a long while, but I made no effort to let go. My younger self justified it as making up for the lost hugs that I had missed out on and my present self declared that as a pretty solid argument. I wasn't letting go anytime soon and I think Fū realized that, because he repositioned himself more comfortably. His hand running down my back moved to hold my bottom and under my legs and he began moving.

"Itachi-kun, it's good to speak to you without any prying ears." Fū greeted the male Uchiha, their hands making a noise as they clasped hands, "Thank you for watching over my cousins for me."

Prying ears? Wait a minute, they were able to speak to each other?

"Fū-kun." Itachi greeted back in kind, "Yes, I have to agree that Root missions weren't a good environment to talk but looking after them was no trouble. I was happy to do it for you, my friend."

Oh, right Root. Well, hopefully it would be disbanded or at least under better management.

"Why don't we catch up in a more appropriate setting?" Fū offered, "Would you like to stay for dinner at the Yamanaka household?"

At his words, I clutched onto Fū tighter. He was really coming home, and I couldn't stop myself from grinning.

"I'll escort you there, but I'll have to decline your offer to allow you the privacy of reuniting with your family." Itachi said politely, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice too, "We will have plenty of time to catch up at another time."

"Thank you." Fū bowed his head, "We'll invite the others too. I haven't gotten the chance to properly speak with Hana-chan and Kō-kun in so long."

The conversation continued on, with the pair talking about their mutual friends as we made our way to the Yamanaka compound. I didn't say anything since I was too enthralled from hearing Fū talk. It was a very soothing sound, one that made me feel safe - a sound that I hadn't heard in what felt like decades. It was almost too soothing. I felt my eyelids becoming heavy and okay, now I was really tired. Who knew that murdering could be so draining? The slight shifting motion of him walking while carrying me was almost hypnotic as it lured me into sleep.

I closed my eyes with a smile on my face.

I had saved Fū.

A/N: And that's a wrap! Well, for Danzō at least lol. This was really thrilling to write and having it fit my vision for what I intended it to be, was tedious to match but I do hope this chapter ended up being okay. I know I say this a lot, but I really hope I'm articulating the story well. You guys have supported me and this fic for so long and I just want to deliver the best in return.

There's one chapter left in the Konoha arc and the next arc is one I like to refer to as the Orochimaru one.

Please keep an eye out for the next update!

An enticing bowl of ramen with narutomaki and a boiled egg for your thoughts?