Deep within the forest and perched on the tallest of trees were six ninjas, separated into two groups, they made themselves comfortable on sturdy branches. They ate in silence, no one dared talk about the ominous feeling that lingered in the air. Team Rou's bellies growled, the rations they brought were meagre ; the journey they took was proving to be much more difficult than originally anticipated.

Days passed and they were still no closer to their goal than when they started. Today marked the third of their retrieval mission, it also marked their deadline. The sun seemed to be mocking them as the heat burned through the dark clothes they wore despite the leaves of the tree providing shade.

One member in particular sat dangerously close to the edge. He leaned forward, his small body swinging back and forth as his hands clutched tightly at his pants. There was a tap on his shoulder.

"Do it. I dare you."

Itachi looked up at his captain. "We were supposed to be back today."

"I know."

"Jumping won't kill me."

"I know."

"Is that all you're going to say to me?"

Kakashi took off his mask. "Of course not," he paused and looked back at Hayate who simply nodded. Hayate swiftly made his way to the tree's trunk and jumped joining the rest of their team.

"You're upset. You're angry at me, angry at the team and angry at yourself because it's been three days and we still haven't found your father or his squad. Not to mention that we're being followed."

Itachi deliberated for a moment, then with a sigh he said, "I'm not angry at you or Rou, Taicho. I'm angry at the fact that I'm so helpless that you had to plan behind my back to stop my family from revolting and I can't even save my own father."

"You're not helpless, Ita-chan. You just can't shoulder everything anymore. I betrayed you by telling Rou you're a spy and I'm responsible for us not completing the mission by today. So please for the love of Konoha stop staring at the ground like it's your best friend and take your anger out on me. Jumping won't kill you but it sure as hell will kill me."

Itachi took off his mask and yet again Kakashi found himself looking at something he wish he never got the honour to. Itachi was crying.

"Then tell me Taicho. Tell me why you went behind my back and plotted against something that has nothing to do with you!" Itachi shouted.

Kakashi was shocked to see his face red and tear stricken. Hesitantly he grabbed Itachi and held his small frame against his chest. He had only done it with Naruto and both times were a failure. Itachi didn't seem to mind though and clutched onto his Kakashi's jacket like it was his lifeline. Tears ran down his cheeks but the boy refused to make a sound.

A glare was sent as a warning to their teammates who looked at them with interest. Immediately, they turned their heads away. If looks could kill they would have been six feet under.

"Let it out, Ita-chan. Cry all you want we've got the time," Kakashi whispered. He was getting better at this, comforting another person in a way that didn't involve threats or bodily harm. His hand seemed to be moving on its own, rubbing Itachi's back until the shaking stopped and became whimpers.

"No, we don't Taicho. We don't have time. Our mission's behind and we're being tailed and-"

"And you need to calm down. ROOT's behind us and since they haven't engaged yet, I think it's safe to assume we have can finish our lunch in peace." Kakashi lifted Itachi up and wiped his tears off with his sleeve. "We'll save your father and his team; you have my word. For the meantime, I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Itachi nodded but pouted slightly. His red cheeks were no longer a result of his sadness but rather something more pathetic and childish…embarrassment.

He turned his head away making sure that neither Kakashi nor anyone else could see him. "Yeah, uh, you do that."

Kakashi coughed. No, he couldn't laugh, the situation was far too serious to acknowledge his junior's cuteness. "Where'd you want to me start?"

"The beginning."


Night before guard duty at the Hyuuga Estate

"There's no way this is gonna work," Raidou grumbled and plopped himself back on the floor. He took the cup in his hand, tossing it up and catching it again.

"Not with that attitude it won't." Raidou made to throw it at Genma but lowered his arm when he caught Tenzou glaring at him.

"If you don't like the idea then why don't you suggest one yourself?" Tenzou seethed at him but yawned in the process.

His fever had gone down slightly but annoyed mood and fatigue remained, how could it not have when the idiots he called friends refused to take anything seriously even though they were all pumped up when their meeting started. One was already passed out from drinking too much.

Three hours had passed since Kakashi's stunning revelation, yet they still achieved nothing. The ninja himself seemed unconcerned about the entire situation, despite having the most to lose, and chose to pluck at his bandages while sitting in his armchair. Hayate handed the dressings to him after his skirmish with Tenzou ended with him being slightly injured.

"Senpai are you not going to say anything?"

"At this point Tenzou, I honestly don't care anymore. This freaking disease can just end me already."

The cup ended hitting Kakashi square in the face and the pen that Genma was writing with barely missed his eye.

"It was a joke."

"And it wasn't funny. You should be taking this seriously Taicho, we haven't made any progress at all and weren't you the one that insisted we do this anyway?" Kakashi knew Genma was right, the crumpled-up papers scattered all over the show was evident of that.

"I know, I know. This is just taking way longer than I expected. What have we got so far- apart from kidnapping Itachi or negotiating with the Uchiha? They're not supposed to know we know, you know." Kakashi laughed at his joke but only received blank stares. He huffed, well it wasn't his fault they didn't appreciate his artistic humour.

Tenzou cursed under his breath. "Senpai," he said after composing himself, "Do you really believe there's a way to save the Uchiha and the Village's prosperity? Neither would agree to anything unless they get what they want. With Danzo's hatred for them, there's no way they would get their status back."

"AHA!" Hayate shouted surprising everyone.

All eyes turned to him. He was draped across the couch behind Genma and Hayate with his torso hanging over its top. His legs were in a frog-like position on the soft cushion. Ever so slowly, he lifted his head up, eyes clouded and cheeks tinged pink. Hayate giggled as he fell and nearly toppled over the side of the couch.

"Hayate I swear to God if you start singing again-" Kakashi started his glare burning holes into Hayate but he ignored him, either out of defiance or his drunken state. It was difficult to tell at that point.

"Nooo, you liisten here Tai-cho," Hayate slurred and manged to sit up straight. He used his finger to emphasize his words as he spoke.

"What if we…what if we kill Danzo? Thiiink about iit, Danzo dies then boom! No more mizery-able old man to deal with. And-and we can tell Faguku and Hokage…Hokage-sama to make up then boom! No war. Hehe and Tai-cho you can get the Nara's to whisp you up a cure then boom! No die," he giggled once more before passing out face first on the floor right next to Genma.

The room was silent.

Genma poked Hayate's cheek. He's still alive so there's that, and at least he didn't attempt to the Ballad of Kunoichi Risa-san, he thought and shuddered at the memory of Hayate's singing voice. He made Naruto's whines seem angelic.

"He's not wrong, you know. Killing Danzo's probably the best idea," Raidou said after a while.

Tenzou whacked him over the head. "Because committing treason is such a good idea."

"Hey, I never said it was a good one! But we could probably take him out if we tried, we are the best ANBU squad after all."

Before Tenzou could hit him again, Kakashi stood up and stretched his limbs. He walked over to Hayate and laid him properly on the couch. Acknowledging his teammates stares, he shrugged.

"He's already going to wake up with a hangover leaving him to get back pain is just cruel. Besides, he does have a valid point."

"Please tell me you're not actually considering murder, Senpai."

"Please tell me you are." Raidou ducked to avoid the hand coming towards him.

"Unfortunately, I'm not my little kouhais. What we're going to do is take out ROOT, and by effect, Danzo. We'll only kill him if he provokes us," Kakashi added as an afterthought.

"First, don't call us that and second, how are we, a squad of six-now five- supposed to take out an entire organization that shouldn't even exist in the first place?" Genma asked.

Kakashi gave them his trademark eye smile and somehow the air became cooler.

"I think you better write this down," Raidou told Genma.

"No need for you to tell me that."

Their captain marched up and down the living room, his hand stroking his chin as he did so. After a while, he stopped in the middle of the large space, behind the coffee table and in front of the armchair, and put his hands back in his pockets, slouching his shoulders.

"If there's anyone that's hates the Uchiha more than life itself, it's Danzo. He's the common factor here. Take ROOT out of the equation and he's left defenseless, meaning one hurdle to for us to avoid. And here's how we're going to do it. Questions after I'm done?"

"Hai!" came the reply.

"One: monitor Itachi and Shisui. They're at the centre of this mess and Danzo is keen on getting them on his side, so to prevent that we're going to keep tabs on the both of them. Itachi is our responsibility, Shisui will be Obito's. They can't be left alone without us knowing where they are.

"Two: infiltration. We can't get close to ROOT but Shisui can. He recently went on a mission with them and if Obito's information's correct then we don't have to try. Danzo wants him so we'll hand him over, except Shisui won't know he'll be used as a spy, he'll just repeat whatever happens to Obito.

"Three: council meeting. If we can win over the council regarding Naruto's adoption, it'll put the Uchiha and Danzo in a vulnerable position. Naruto's friends with Sasuke so even if Fugaku resents that I'm the one with full custody, he'll play nice with us. Naru-chan being friends with the little prince gives us an advantage cause they'll think they have access to the Kyuubi's container to monitor him. Danzo on the other hand…he'll just be pissed.

"Four: action. This could happen at anytime. Danzo's on my case. Worst case scenario he'll find out about my disease and send a squad to take me out. Probably won't just kill me, he'll make it as painful as possible. To prevent that, we'll lure them in. As soon as a mission comes up, he'll be watching, and we'll be ready.

"Five: confrontation. We'll confront the old war hawk once we figure out his plan, Hokage-sama will have to intervene. Once he's out of the way, the Uchiha will be easier to deal with, meaning Hokage-sama will be able to negotiate with them without a third party trying to screw everything up." Kakashi finish with a giant gulp and collapsed back onto his armchair.

He stuck his hand up, just give me a second, was his message.

"Okay shoot."

The three members of Team Rou all raised their hands. They learnt the hard way what happens if they all spoke at the same time of their captain's head.

After a brief team during their early days as ANBU members. Needless to say, no one except Kakashi and Itachi went home uninjured that day (Itachi watched on the side-lines since he was everything but impolite, Mikoto raised a well-mannered child, thank you very much) and a new rule was made: any questions after the captain speaks will only be answered if hands are raised. The order of questioning will go in accordance to joining Team Rou, that is oldest members to newest. If the rule is not followed, then all members involved will be liable to the worst punish. Punishment being however the captain sees fit. That was one thing they all wanted to avoid.

Tenzou spoke up first, "Senpai, your plan mentions nothing about your deteriorating health and considering your concern for Naruto, Itachi and Shisui, is it really okay to use them as pawns?"

"It's necessary and they won't be in any danger, I'll make sure of it. If we're going to win, we'll have to use any means possible. My health takes a backseat right now, it's more mental than physical anyway."

"The more often you use the sharingan, the worse it gets. What makes you so sure Naruto's adoption will affect Danzo anyway? I get the Uchiha part, though." Genma didn't look up as he spoke, he was fervently writing down the plan, making notes as he went along.

"Danzo'll probably want to use Naruto as a weapon, he'll be shaken up by me of all people having legal guardianship over him so his attention will probably be on that for a while. Giving us time to figure out what he's planning."

Genma nodded and a murmur of appreciation was heard from the three ninjas.

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes; Raidou was frantically waving his arm around. He didn't bother to say anything, Raidou would open his mouth when he wanted to.

"Why's Danzo hate you again? I honestly can't remember. Also, how'd you manage to think all of that up now when we could've finished everything hours ago?"

Genma stopped writing. Admittedly, he didn't know himself why Danzo hated Kakashi that much, he just accepted the fact. Most people found his captain to be intolerable anyway. Tenzou's tensing up didn't go unnoticed either. Even Hayate began to stir.

"Uhh, it's okay if you don't answer that first part Taicho."

"No, I should've told you guys from the beginning." He glanced at Tenzou who nodded. Turning his head away, Kakashi said quietly, "I used to be part of ROOT. That's where I met Tenzou and Team Rou was formed. Long story short, after Sen- after Youndaime-sama's death, Danzo convinced me to join the Foundation and I left ANBU. It didn't last long; I betrayed him and now he sees me as a threat. There's other stuff too but I'd rather not get into that right now."

Silence shrouded the room once more. Kakashi didn't have to turn around to see the look on their faces, he subconsciously tugged at his mask.

Raidou cleared his throat, "Right-to. I think I speak for all of us so uhm… You being part of ROOT doesn't bother us, I mean you're Kakashi Hatake. Most of us hated you growing up but we're family now, so it doesn't matter. You're a great leader, not so much at other stuff but, er, yeah. Danzo can kiss my ass if he thinks otherwise."

Trust Raidou to say something like that. Thankfully, no one could see Kakashi smiling

He scoffed, "You're insane if you think I care about what any of you think. Now c'mon let's get this done and call it a night."

"Hai Taicho!"

Their motivation didn't last long though, Hayate accidentally kicked Genma which set off a chain reaction. Genma's arm knocked the ink jar over spilling all over the coffee table, he hastily tried to use his sleeve to wipe up the mess but elbowed Raidou in the process. The scarred ninja cursed and punched Tenzou in the jaw, thinking it was him that assaulted him. tenzou called Raidou an idiot shouting about he he was too stupid to notice that he clearly wasn't the one who did. He then proceeded to launch at him, thus a four-person fight began.

Somehow, Kakashi got thrown in the face with the paper scattered around but he managed to restrain his anger... Until Hayate started to sing and Naruto woke up from the racket. No one slept until the early hours of the morning once Kakashi joined in.


"We ended up only finalising everything in the morning. But yeah, that's the entire story. Still unsure how you ended up with the papers anyway. Actually, Genma didn't you notice it going missing?"

"Oi, Taicho don't go blaming me! I was asleep and thought you took it!" He shouted from the other branch.

Ignoring Genma, Itachi leaned towards Kakashi and poked him in the eye. The elder of the two flinched while the younger sneered.

"That's for doing this behind my back. You've been watching Shisui and I the whole time and been planning on using us… But as questionable as it was, I understand. Though that doesn't mean I'll forgive you."

"I am sorry, really. You weren't supposed to find out like this or at all to be honest."

Itachi hummed as he turned attention to the others. "You guys all suck."

"It was Taicho's idea. Don't blame us, Ita-"

"Ahem," Tenzou interrupted Raidou. "In case you've all forgotten, we're on a mission for Kami's sake! You two-" he emphasised by pointing, "-keep on using real names! I swear I'm the only one who ever pays attention to the rules. This is how we'll get caught."

"Actually Deer, I think we'll get caught cause of all your shouting," Hayate said.

That earned a snort from Itachi. He was still angry at them, but Kami did he love his teammates. They always turned the most sombre moods into livelier ones.

"You're one to talk. Should I remind you of how your and Frog's covers were blown a few days ago?"

"Okay there was no need for that, Tenzou!"

"For the last time, it's Deer!"

Kakashi threw a shuriken at Tenzou, the weapon barely missing his head. "One more word outta ya and the only thing following us will be your ghost."

Tenzou cowered. "Ha-hai."

Beside him, Raidou frowned beneath his mask. Something was wrong. "Do you guys feel that?"

Genma answered, "Feel what Frog? I don't feel anything…oh fuck me sideways. Taicho what do we do?"

Kakashi was already standing with his ceramic mask plastered neatly on his face and stuffing whatever was left of his rations in the backpack they brought along. He realised it immediately after Raidou mentioned it. For a captain, he needed a slap in the face, actually make that a kick.

"Ita-Weasel put on your mask. Everyone be on guard, Tenzou how many of them again?"

"Six, shit! How did none of us notice?"

"So much for being prepared, mates. They're ROOT, Tenz. Even if we don't belong to the same faction, we still have the same training. For the most part in any case." Genma was adjusting the katana on his back, his hands were shaking. The possibility of a fight had his blood boiling.

Took them long enough, he thought. Team Rou noticed they were being followed an hour into their mission. Weighing the odds of both ROOT and the unidentified enemy attacking, Kakashi decided against acting out. It would spare their energy, he reasoned.

However, two days had past and still no battle. It was like they were being taunted. Roundabout ways were taken to avoid them discovering their mission. Finding Fugaku's team was priority, but frustrating as well. Nothing was achieved, no men found, and no men beaten.

"They're nearby. It's faint but I can sense it," Itachi said.

"Alright, let's take it as a warning then. We split into teams of two, different directions each. Send the signal when you're done," Kakashi said and bounced onto the balls of his feet.

"Tenzou, you're with me. The rest of you, find out as much as you can before the kill, nothing too brutal. You ready?"

"As ready as ever Senpai."

Fingers lifted high above his head were pointing to the right. We're this close to crushing you. The captain brought his hand down in a quick motion and the team set off.

To the west, Kakashi and Tenzou, to the east, Hayate and Raidou and to the north, Genma and Itachi. Shortly afterwards and unaware that they've been caught in a trap set by the Copy Ninja himself, the Foundation members followed.

They were Dragon, Tanuki and Bear.


A/N: I have no excuse other than I was too lazy, demotivated and trying to finish the rest of the story before uploading this chapter. Also I apologise for the bad quality of writing you just read.

If you guys are wondering why there is suddenly less chapters, well that's because I merged the smaller ones together. There isn't that big a difference since I haven't deleted anything, but 4 chapters were changed into 2 so the set-up is different.

I'm still not done finalising the rest of the fic so this will be the last chapter until I completely finish Altered Reality up to the time skip (yes, there will be a time skip). What you can look forward to is my upcoming threeshot, My Escape.

It's a Naruto fanfic centred around the question: what if Naruto had a more realistic, less shounen mc reaction, to certain events in his life i.e Sasuke leaving, Jiraiya's death, the war, etc? Details to follow later, but it follows the classic amnesia trope with my own little twist of course. The writing is way better and it is being beta'd.

Reviews Appreciation:

Kittyhell- I'm glad you liked the chapter! For me, it's important that every side character has a purpose and their own perspective on what's going on around them. Team Rou are my babies and I love them to bits, I really wished Masashi Kimimoto could've given us more insight to other characters or explore the world of Naruto more...unfortunately, we were gifted with Boruto and honestly, I was better off without it. Team Rou being there for each other is just me fangirling on all my boys that never got enough love (cough Genma cough). The Uchiha arc being resolved without bloodshed? Nah, I'll be straight and say someone is not going to live through it.

PinkiePieParty1222894: Happy you're enjoying it and FYI I love your username

Axccel: Actually, I don't think so. Obito, like Kakashi in the anime, cares about his friends, but he's not going to change everything about himself just because of that feeling. Had Naruto been in actual danger, he would NEVER purposefully be late. Obito is the type to act like an idiot but is hiding his true self, so him being late is just another part of his persona.

Axccel: Well Naruto's the cutest wrecking ball and Kakashi is the best scalpel (I have no clue what your review meant lol )

starfiction123: And I most definitely will, though in later chapters because things are about to go down.

TigrezzTail: The issue with Genma's papers going missing isn't the worst thing that could've happened to Team Rou, though Kakashi is definitely annoyed by it. What I will say, if it's not obvious enough and just to clarify, they won't make it back to Konoha on time but they will however, make a dramatic entrance.

Lightningscar: Thanks for pointing the mistakes out, I corrected them as soon as I read your review ;) I totally get why you shipped NaruSaku because some people really are fanatics (I'm one too tbh) and trolling them makes things so much more fun. There's a lot I have to say about Sakura as a character but I won't address it here because I'm going to rant and who wants that lmao. I do plan on introducing the Rookie Nine at some point (after the time skip) but right now, it's only going to be Sasuke and Hinata, maybe Neji. Writing children is just so difficult. Also, same, I love chibi Sasuke. I may hate Shippuuden Sasuke with a passion but his baby counterpart is just too adorable.

Please read, review, favourite and follow. This fic will not be abandoned anytime soon no matter how hard I cringe at my writing so if you're worried about that, don't be.

Until next time, ja!

P.S - The next chapter might come out as soon as I'm done writing My Escape