When the Konohan populace was ushered to the assembly area that day, none of the citizens or shinobi had any idea of how the upcoming revelations would shake them to their very cores.

"The Uchiha Massacre was a planned event that I, along with the village elders, are responsible for."

A hush fell over the entire gathering, several thousand men and women standing with their mouths agape. Some cried silently upon realising the horrific catastrophe was organised, negotiated, and designed. Some felt righteous anger bubbling within them and shouted their disdain for their leader. Only a few recognised that this action wouldn't have been taken if they themselves had been more accepting of the Uchiha clan but they were a minority - and not a very vocal one at that.

"I... I can't believe this," Sakura whispered, troubled and shaken up, "What the fuck?"

"I'm not even surprised," Shikamaru commented, something present in his eyes apart from boredom, "My father had many stories to share with me, and even more for my mother. Our village isn't all that virtuous and good and pure as you might think it is."

The pink-haired girl gulped, confusion clearing up to give way to anger, "It's a good thing I never respected the village elders in the first place. But for the Hokage to... guess that's another person to add to my list of people who have disappointed me."

Shikamaru didn't pry about who else was there in that list and continued to listen to Hiruzen Sarutobi's grief and remorse filled speech, him owning up to his mistakes and inaction.

His eyes lingered to his left, where upon an elevated area Naruto stood beside Jiraiya. The blond was talking in hushed tones with his mentor and when he caught Shikamaru's eyes, he gave the Nara a solemn, thin smile. Naruto knew that even if Shikamaru didn't show it, he was affected by this news as much as the rest of Konoha.

Someone in the audience shouted profanities when Hiruzen informed that Itachi Uchiha would be forgiven for his crimes–which weren't even crimes in all actuality and reinstated in the shinobi corps if the Uchiha so wished.

"He's not to be blamed for the mistakes of others," Hiruzen said, so sad and so serious. "He was thirteen, and he was a soldier who did as he was ordered to."

"Fuck off!" The man who owned the dairy two blocks away from the Uchiha compound yelled. "That boy's a psycho! I saw the blood in that place–no sane person can just kill his kin even if he was ordered to!"

Hiruzen raised his hand to stop the ANBU guards moving towards the civilian, "I understand your point of view Hotaru-san but now, please, I request all of you to understand mine. You don't know this boy, don't know his fierce loyalty to our village, don't know the lengths he would go to, to keep you–all of you–safe. You think he slaughtered his clan because he enjoyed that task? Use your heads, I urge. He had to do this gruesome job so someone else wouldn't have to. He did it so civil war wouldn't threaten Konoha's peace. He did it so all of you citizens could sleep at night without the threat of your neighbour lighting your house on fire."

Another round of silence ensued in the central grounds of Konoha. No one dared to speak lest the fragile truce break. Their Kage was all but an old man who'd done terrible mistakes to them now. Not the God of Shinobi they'd revered once.

Displeasure spread amongst the people of Konoha but they understood somehow that this truth wasn't meant to be kept tucked inside some box. It was meant to be unleashed and accepted. No matter the time it would take to heal the cracks in the trust between them and the authorities.

"I, in good conscience, cannot continue to be the Kage of Konoha after all the damage I've caused her people."

Hiruzen's voice was unwavering this time, it didn't hold the fragility of a scandalous confession but the rigidity of a sincere apology.

"So I hereby resign formally–"

Someone let out a whoop of joy.

"-- from my post as the Hokage and," he paused and looked behind himself. Someone stepped onto the tower's roof and Hiruzen turned back towards the people, smiled and continued.

"I pass on the duties and title of the Fifth Hokage to Tsunade Senju, daughter of the Shodai and one of the legendary Sannin."

Now, this was another development most people weren't expecting. Tsunade's return to the village had been quiet and under the wraps and apart from the squads that met her during Itachi and Kisame's arrest, the jounin commander and the Hokage–no one else was aware of her presence.

Nonetheless, most of people were quick to approve of this move. Tsunade had always been vastly trusted by the villagers–as someone who healed and someone whose monstrous strength evoked fear in enemies who heard her name. She was a wise woman too, experienced and of a diplomatic mind.

A few, however, questioned the rationality of this decision. Partly because it was made by the Third, whom they didn't trust anymore and partly because they'd heard tales of Tsunade's descent to alcoholism and gambling. In days to come, these few would sent in petitions and requests to meet with Tsunade, to assess her credibility and worth and would get a couch thrown at them for their troubles.

Luckily, these few would see the furniture-throwing as a testament of Tsunade's reliability and promptly cease their protesting.

The Sannin in question right now, walked up to the rails and accepted the hat with a begrudging resignation. She waved at the assembly without a smile on a face, leaned her hands on the railing, and gave everyone below an intense look.

"I'm here to change Konoha."

For better or for worse?

No one knew but they all agreed that her leadership would be an upgrade as compared to Sarutobi's.

The announcements now made, a band of musicians played a random tune while everyone dispersed. The whispers and rumors and talks of disgust and anger wouldn't stop for weeks to come as each individual pondered over these dark truths of Konoha.

But most would agree that Konoha was set for progress now, this newfound transparency in governance was a definite plus, no matter the circumstances that forced it out.

"It was quite boring," Sakura said when Sasuke asked her how the meet went. The Uchiha had opted out of attending it, and none of his friends had asked why.

Sasuke raised a brow, "So no earth-shattering declarations today?"

Sakura sat on the chair, feet dangling below the table in Sasuke's kitchen.

"Those were there but honestly, the most eventful part of the morning was Tsunade-sama's appointment."

Sakura knew what Sasuke's meeting with the Hokage's had been about. It was easy to connect the dots. But she had no wish to mess with healing wounds and bringing up the topic of Itachi was sure to do just that.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke that brought it up himself.

"I'm going to visit him. He's being kept at the Tower for now."

Sakura didn't let her shock show on her face and nodded her head, "Alright. Are you... are you ready for that though?"

Sasuke sat across from her and closed his eyes,

"No, far from it," he jerked his head a bit, "But I know I'll never be ready for this either. No point stalling, right?"

"Right," Sakura smiled, a wobbly curve and rested her palm on Sasuke's strained fist. "You'll be fine."

Sasuke's eyes opened and he didn't pull away his fist like Sakura had thought he would. His face remained blank but this conversation was enough to prove his inner turmoil still prevailed.

"Could you accompany me?"

Sakura frowned in confusion, "Where to?"

"To see Itachi," Sasuke finally retracted his hand, "Just need to keep my shit together and I don't know... er... you keep me calm and I like your–okay, sorry, uh, I don't know what I'm sayin–"

Sakura's giggle followed by her laughter cut short Sasuke's uncharacteristic ramble.

"Ofcourse," Sakura said, smiling. "I'll come with. But right now, I really gotta go. Promised Hinata that we'd, well, stalk Tsunade-sama together."

Sasuke's pink cheeks were left unacknowledged by both parties involved and he briskly walked Sakura to the door.

"See you later, I guess," Sasuke said in parting.

"Later," Sakura promised.

Shikaku's life had just taken a turn for the worse. Not only was he the senior advisor assigned to the new Hokage, but he also had to manage the duties of the jounin commander and so he was pissed.

"Shut the fuck up," he finally growled, slapping the stack of papers he held onto the desk. He had no idea when he'd acquired this new penchant for dramatics but his subordinates immediately quietened so he wasn't complaining.

"No idle commentary," he warned, giving a stern look to Raidou and Asuma who just nodded with lazy grins on their faces.

"I'm still finalising the plans with Jiraiya-san and Hokage-sama. The infiltrator within Root last sent in updates two days ago and we're waiting for his reply."

He proceeded to sit on the desk, eyeing all these jounin–the elite group of shinobi standing before him with scrutiny.

"This mission will not be easy," his voice carried a severity that didn't go unnoticed by anyone standing in the room, "I'm prepared to face casualties but fatalities? They're quite possible too. Way too possible, infact."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at his leader but continued to read the words of his new Icha Icha book. No one batted an eye at his inappropriate behaviour, they were all aware of each others' quirks and too weary for being judgemental anymore.

"It's not an ambush. We won't have an upper hand. It's a head-on attack, with organized groups targeting different points in Danzo's base. The only advantage we have is the element of surprise which will wear off quickly because Danzo's got seals all over his hideout."

Shikaku sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Ideally, we wouldn't want you all to kill any of the root members. It isn't their fault they were weaponised by that bastard afterall. But subduing them without taking their lives is very difficult and I'm sure you know that. So, after discussing this with Tsunade-sama at length, we've approved of a solution that came to us by luck."

"Hurry up then," Anko rolled her eyes. "Just spit it."

Shikaku refused to spend any more energy at giving an annoyed reaction. He continued,

"Two weeks ago, during the Hokage appointment ceremony, Kisame Hoshigaki went on... let's say, a rampage in his cell. We needed something beyond chakra suppression cuffs to keep him still. The Prison Management Head contacted Jiraiya, as he was the one who'd officially handed the prisoner to them. Jiraiya-san was in company of a chunin when this information was brought to him and said chunin informed Jiraiya-san of a seal he'd been working on. A paralysis seal. Long story short, Jiraiya-san completed the seal, fixed holes and mistakes and the array is being mass-produced right now by our developers as we speak."

"Awesome," Raidou muttered and was promptly hit on his head by Kurenai.

Kakashi chuckled for some reason and only Shikaku understood why.

"So, do I need to spell it all for you or do you all understand what these seals will be used for?"

A collective round of head nods assured the commander that these jounins still had their brains intact.

"Great," he hopped off the desk and picked up the papers again, "Fuck off then. Staring at your dumb faces is boring me."

As the jounin moved outside, they showed none of the apprehension they felt. Taking down Danzo would come at a cost if they weren't careful. But for them, any cost would be worth putting a stop to the despicable man that Danzo had now become.

Naruto and Shikamaru were sparring in the academy grounds after another one of their teaching missions when Inoichi's missive reached them. They were both summoned by the man, who had formally invited them for a meeting to the TI Department that afternoon.

"Don't tell me he wants to question us again about Itachi and Kisame," Naruto muttered, "Because that was very tedious."

Shikamaru sipped some water, his throat dry after the rigorous training.

"Hope not," he replied, "I slept through most of it the first time around."

Naruto shouted a quick goodbye to Konohamaru and his gang, following Shikamaru out the Academy gates.

"You sleep through most of your life, Shika. This is nothing new."

Shikamaru made a show of considering what was said.

"You're right," he agreed, "but that's true only 'cause life itself is goddamn boring."

"Nah," Naruto said with a strange sort of reminiscent grin. "Life's pretty interesting now."

"Now?" Shikamaru queried. "Hadn't been before? Thought you always had this optimistic outlook."

"I did," Naruto shrugged, "and still do. Just sometime along the way... I wasn't so sure. Anyway, enough of this philosophical bullshit for today. What are Ino and Chouji doing these days?"

Shikamaru snorted, "Ino's been dragging Chouji to train every single day. Asuma's so tired of her enthusiasm. She wants to participate in the chunin exams five months hence."

Naruto smiled, "That's honestly good to hear. Hinata's team has also been training but they've been dispatched for two C-ranks after the finals already. They're well on their way to become the best tracking team we've got. Kiba's grumpy though because Akamaru still likes Shino's head scratches better than his."

Shikamaru shook his head in amusement, "Why is everyone from the rookie 9 so stupid?"

Naruto nudged him playfully, "Hey, you realise you're a part of the rookies right?"

Shikamaru didn't take back his words. He shrugged, nonchalant,

"And? Who says I'm not stupid?"

It was a joke and maybe that was what surprised Naruto so much. The Shikamaru he'd known, and come to respect from his time had been so similar to this one but so different too. That Shikamaru had prided his genius, his strategic ability and his undeniable wit.

This Shikamaru was more humbled, more aware of his flaws and maybe that was the moment when Naruto really felt that yes, this person was... simply awesome. Someone Naruto respected, cherished, and valued.

"I like the grey paint," Shikamaru spoke upon reaching the T and I building.

"It's depressing," Naruto said, "but the high ceilings make up for it."

Stepping inside, the two boys found their way to the head's office after asking around a bit. Their missive was clutched in front of them like a pass to show to any suspicious and paranoid shinobi that they were here on official business.

"Welcome," Inoichi gave them a sweet, warm smile when they entered. "Have a seat."

And that's also when both of them knew with certainty that Ino's father was upto to the same level of chaos that Ino often caused.

All their predictions held true when the TI head leaned forward, hands clasped together and asked,

"So boys, how would you like to join Konoha's Torture and Interrogation force?"


Author's Note:

Thanks for reading!