The hokage stood by his office window, staring at the setting sun. He stood with one hand behind his back and the other held a pipe in his mouth. His hat lay low on his head; his furrowed brow could not be seen. He took a drag and slowly released it.

Once the sun had completely set and there was no light in his office except that of outside in the hall, did he turn around and sit at his desk. He should be going home but he couldn't find it in himself to leave, not until he decided on what needed to be done.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a man of many feats. He had fought in the First Shinobi War, been selected as the Third Hokage despite his young age at the time, he was the strongest shinobi in his clan, and was hailed as the "God of Shinobi" due to his excessive knowledge of ninjutsu.

Yet, he considered himself a failure. He failed as teacher, a leader, and overall, he failed as ninja of his village. The Uchiha's hatred was growing and so was the likelihood of a civil war breaking out. He didn't want to use Itachi, that would be against everything he stood for. He couldn't use a child that was already dragged into a mess that the elders created, he already did that.

Naruto was finally learning what it was to like to be loved, he knew from the crystal ball. Hiruzen watched as Kakashi showered the child with more affection he never knew the ninja had. It wouldn't last forever though, peace never did.

It was a sad truth. To have a peace, there must be war, and to have war, there must be peace. It was impossible to live in a harmonious world free from heartache and terror, but like the senile old fool he was, Hiruzen chose to fool himself into believing that goodness and prosperity would come out of the state the Village was in now.

The advisors disagreed with him of course, especially Danzo Shimura. The old warhawk was insistent that the key to solving the crisis was getting rid of the Uchiha once and for all. But was it worth it? The Uchiha had a history for sowing hatred among others. Their ability to copy other's ninjutsu, their pride and arrogance, their history with the village, it never sat well with anyone, but to rid an entire clan?

He was fool but he had hope. The angels wold certainly fear to tread the road that he was rushing to pave, but he had no plans of stopping. The Uchiha would regain their status and the Village would prosper, this would be his last act as the Sandaime of Konohagakure.

He took one last drag of his pipe before putting it out completely. It was going to be a long night, he had better put the lights on.


They were finally home and thankfully Naruto had exhausted himself too much to pester Kakashi. Upon arrival, after having shunshined to prevent a fight from breaking out between Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi had put Naruto immediately in bed.

The child had insisted that he was not tired but as soon as his head had hit his pillow, he was out like a light. The elder of the two chuckled to himself and placed a kiss upon Naruto's forehead unconsciously.

He was shocked at first, falling to his knees once he realised what he did but let out a deep sigh instead. I seem to be doing that a lot these days thanks to you, Naruto, he thought to himself as he left the room.

The manor was big enough to maybe fit in a playroom, Kakashi observed as he walked down the hallway from Naruto's room. It was not nearly as big as the main Uchiha residence but it was bigger than most. Apart from his and Naruto's rooms, there was the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, an armoury, the tearoom and of course the room where he had not entered since he was child.

There were a few spare rooms, the manor was most likely designed for a bigger family after all. Then again, perhaps a playroom would be unnecessary since he thinks the entire place is his personal playroom.

Kakashi sensed four familiar chakra signatures in the living room. Well, at least he didn't need to see Tenzou in the morning anymore. He made his way to the room.

"You four be quiet, Naru-chan's asleep."

"Ah Taicho, adapting to motherhood quite well I see," Raidou joked and earned a jab in the stomach from Genma. "Ow!"

"Can you be serious for once!"

"Both of you shut up," Tenzou spoke from behind them.

Tenzou, Hayate, Genma and Raidou were standing just by the living room's entrance. Raidou scowled at Tenzou and walked over to one of the couches in the room.

"Making yourself comfortable after this morning, eh?" Kakashi said and sat on another couch.

"Taicho, you're still angry about that?" Genma asked.

Kakashi waved his. "If I was, you'd have more than just an injured arm, Genma. Might as well make yourself at home, we'll be at it for longer than I'd like."

"I'll make the tea, Taicho," Hayate said before coughing.

"Coffee please, Hayate. And try not to cough in it."

"What the hell happened to you? You sound like shit." Kakashi said noticing the slight wheeze in Tenzou's voice. Hayate made his way to the kitchen as Tenzou and Genma sat down.

"Arigato, Senpai for asking. I've got a flu," Tenzou replied sarcastically.

"Pfft, you've been in a shitty mood the whole damn day, Tenzou."

"I wonder whose fault that is, Genma."

"If anyone, it's gotta be Raidou."

"Oi! Don't go adding me into this!"

"For Kami's sake shut up!" Kakashi reprimanded and gave them all a menacing look. "Naruto's sleeping and if he wakes up, I've got to deal it. Tenzou, you had a shitty day; probably didn't have coffee this morning, Hayate's making it now so keep quiet. Genma, Raidou, you're pissing everyone off if you don't knock it off, Naruto won't be the only one unconscious!"

A chorused "Hai, Taicho." was heard before Hayate came back with tray of tea and coffee. He coughed, careful to move the tray away from his face before setting it down o the table between the couches.

"Did I miss something?"

"Nothing important Hayate. You know about Itachi's situation, I suppose."

"Hai. Genma informed me on the way here, Taicho."

Kakashi cocked a brow and looked at Genma.

He laughed awkwardly, "I may or may not have eavesdropped when you were telling Tenzou about it."

"Better than me having to explain it. Just so you know, Itachi won't be hearing of anything that was discussed tonight."

"Huh? But Taicho-" Genma began but Tenzou interrupted him.

"It would be pointless for us to discuss this here without Itachi in the first place if we were to tell him later. Whatever it is that Taicho planned is better without him knowing. Am I right, Taicho?"

"More or less. I don't have a plan yet. I was going to see you in the morning, but I guess you guys beat me to it. We're bound to come up with something now that we're all here." Kakashi took a cup of tea from the table. "What I'm about to tell you now is something that Itachi confided in me. It breaks our rule on trust, but the rule will mean nothing when one of us is bound to die."

The room stilled. The team looked at their captain, how could he have said that with such a calm voice, one of them was going to die? They knew as the infamous elite Team Rou, they were always on death's doorstep, but the certainty of death was something unfamiliar to them,

"Taicho…" the rest of the words couldn't even be said. Raidou Namiashi for the first time in possibly ever, was unable to even comment.

"And here I thought you would be raving about finally going to die in a way worthy of a Leaf shinobi," Kakashi said. He drank from his tea and then sat it down again.

"That-That's different, Taicho! How… why us?"

"Because Itachi's part of our squad, Raidou."

"Senpai are you saying that Itachi is going to die?" Tenzou asked, all previous anger gone.

"No. Itachi won't die."

"Then who?"

Kakashi shook his head and gestured at the beverages. "It's better if you'll drink something first. I'll tell you about Itachi but you need to clear your head first. When I heard it, I barely stopped myself from attacking the Uchiha clan myself. If we're to save this team, we can't run wild on our emotions. This is an unofficial mission for Team Rou sans Itachi. No emotion-"

"No mission lost," Genma completed the phrase. "We've said that before every mission Taicho, it's practically our motto but this is Itachi."

"Taicho if this is a mission, it doesn't just involve Itachi, does it?" Hayate asked and reached for his own cup. Thank Kami, he decided to make coffee for himself as well.

"How does the involvement of the hokage, the advisors, and the Uchiha sound?"


"Taicho, mayI speak to you?" Itachi asked Kakashi. It was the first day after attempting to teach Naruto basic skills and Itachi stayed over longer than the rest of Team Rou. They were both sitting on the steps outside the residence leading to the garden, Naruto having retreated inside to take a nap.

Kakashi was reading his Icha Icha novel while Itachi was eating dango that Kakashi had given him as a reward for helping with Naruto.

"If you want more dango, feel free to get more from the fridge," he said without looking up from the book.

Itachi stopped eating the dango immediately, earning a side glance from Kakashi.

"Taicho, it's not about that I'm afraid."

"About the Uchiha then, I suppose?"

"Hai."

Kakashi put his book down and ruffled Itachi's hair. He did that a lot recently, since he started taking care of Naruto. Kakashi began to see Itachi as more of a child than an ANBU operative.

"I'm all ears. Don't worry about the rest of Rou hearing about this either."

"Ariagoto, Taicho," Itachi said and finished his dango immediately. With a hard gulp as the last piece went down his throat, he looked at Kakashi with his usual serious look. In that moment, Kakashi couldn't help but think he looked adorable.

Kakashi shook his head, Naruto was corrupting his thoughts. "Well?" he asked.

"Taicho, they're planning on having me promoted to ANBU captain. They want to use me as spy, I mean they already do, but they aren't happy with the reports that I'm giving them. I'm not ready to be a captain, Taicho but Otou-san is using his influence to try and persuade Hokage-sama."

"I've heard that rumour around Headquarters. Danzou seems to be entertaining it as well."

"He approached Shisui already. With Shisui's sharingan, the clan believes that they'll be able to overthrow the village, but Danzo-dono knows about his ability and wants him to use it for the Village."

"Shisui-kun has a mission coming up, I've heard. Danzo's probably behind that."

"It's to the Land of the Waves, it's insignificant according to Shisui but I don't know Taicho."

"Danzo's most likely using it as a distraction to convince him to come over to his side, depending on who accompanies him on the mission. That leaves you alone with no outside influence, well that's what they think anyway."

Itachi looked confusedly at Kakashi.

"Danzo knows that you're a double agent for the village but he doesn't know that both Obito and I are involved as well. We'll spread doubts about your capabilities around Headquarters and the hostels. Hokage-sama has to approve in the end but he won't be able to if half of the force disagrees."

"Taicho…ariagoto."

Kakashi put both hands behind his neck and leaned backwards with his legs stretched out to lay across the wooden floorboard.

"Don't mention it. Now tell me about the coup."

"How do you know about that, Taicho?!"

"I didn't until you just confirmed it. Obito's an Uchiha too, even if your clan disowned him for saving a bastard like me. He knows how you guys work and assumed by how quiet the police have been, that a coup is being staged."

"Obito-san's good at pretending to be an idiot then," Itachi muttered.

"Nah, he's a moron, his head just chooses to function at times."

Itachi sighed. He trusted Kakashi but wanted to wait a little longer before telling him about the coup.

He didn't want to depend on Kakashi for everything, he was ANBU ninja. Obito beat him to it, despite how often they bicker, they were a formidable force together.

"Otou-san doesn't want to go through with it, but the clan elders disagree. If I don't start reporting what they deem as worthy insight, they're going to revolt. Shisui's role is just for reassurance but with Hokage-sama still not meeting with our demands, a coup is definitely going to happen."

"I see. What will you choose then? You're a double agent for the Village and Uchiha, you're going to have to choose one to save. Duty as a village ninja or duty as the clan heir?"

"I don't want to choose either, Taicho. What is the point of life if you are to meet a meaningless end?"

"Itachi, we're ninja, ANBU at that. Our sole purpose is to serve the Village and protect it. Our death is nothing compared to the lives of many. A ninja is a tool and unfortunately, that's how we die. Both can't be saved without the expense of the other."

"Then what would you choose Taicho?"

"I'm a coward, Itachi. If I was in your position, I'd choose the easiest option and fool myself into believing what I did was right all along. That's where we differ, if you choose the wrong, you'll repent whereas I'll just regret."

"Then what do I do, Taicho?"

Kakashi sat up and looked at Itachi straight in the eye. "You'll do nothing. You're ten, Itachi. Your clan may think that you're invincible but you're not. You are a child. Make the same mistakes I did thinking that your rank means anything despite your age, and you'll let everyone down. This is an order from your captain, continue your reports as is. Obito and I will handle rumours, Shisui-kun will be dealt with later."

"Otou-san will know something is wrong if I don't change the way I act," Itachi turned his head away from Kakashi.

"Let him know but don't do anything rash. Wait until after Shisui's mission ends, that's when we'll act. I told you before, on our first mission, that as ANBU we observe from the shadows while the others sit around the fire. You're around the fire now, I'm in the shadows so trust me."

"You wouldn't have done this if Naruto hadn't come into the picture."

Kakashi laughed and Itachi turned to face his captain.

"You're right, I wouldn't if Naruto hadn't been in my life. He's giving me a second chance so I refuse to let any of my nakama down."

"Taicho…"

"Thank me once everything's over. It'll take a while but like hell will Team Rou disband. This coup that's going to happen will not have you or Shisui-kun in the front lines."

Itachi nodded, "Taicho would you mind if I spend time here a little longer. Sasuke will have a fit when I get home but I would like to not be surrounded by anyone from my clan right now."

"Stay as long as you'd like, I'll go get some more dango for you."

Itachi immediately perked up. Kakashi stood up and went inside, frowning while he did so. He managed to sound nonchalant about the whole thing but he was fuming on the inside. He clenched his fist and punched the nearest wall. Hopefully neither Naruto or Itachi heard that.

The Uchiha will prosper, the Village needs them on their side more than anything but Danzo will go down. ROOT will crumble and so will any attempt at a coup.


A/N: So that's it for this chapter. I've been neglecting the reviews but I will reply to them by the next chapter.