Kakashi slipped into the Hokage office through the window, only to be stopped short by the sight of more than a dozen Senju Tobirama working on a mountain of paperwork. It took a second for his brain to register that he was looking at shadow clones and then he wondered why the Sandaime didn't use the technique for completing his paperwork.
"Ah, Hound." One of the Niidaime, probably the original, said. "Are you prepared for a mission?."
Kakashi knelt in front of the Niidaime that addressed him. "At your command Hokage-sama."
"At ease. Are you familiar with the organisation called Root?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. I was a member of Root for some time." He admitted.
"That would make things easier for you." The Niidaime said. "I'm disbanding Root right this moment. Your mission is to take as many teams of ANBU as you need, for a raid at the Root headquarters, take every member into custody and escort them to Interrogation.
Kakashi processed that for a minute.
"Not Torture and Interrogation?" He asked finally.
"It was renamed today." The Hokage replied. "The damiyo expressed some reservations with the previous name, when I happened to mention it in passing. Do you have any questions?"
"The Root operatives have a seal on their tongue that prevents them speaking about the organisation. T and I, sorry, Interrogation wouldn't be able to get anything out of them."
"I'm aware of the seal. They have the schematic to remove them." Was the reply. " If there isn't anything else, I'll expect your report in three days."
Kakashi quietly slipped away at the dismissal, his mind already devising a strategy to complete the mission with minimum bloodshed.
At the end, none of his plans were required, as he Root operatives surrendered peacefully to the ANBU, as with Danzo out of the village, the Hokage was their commanding officer. Simply telling them that Hokage-sama had ordered their presence at Interrogation, had them complying.
Three days later, Kakashi was standing in front of the Hokage, delievering his mission report.
"The raid was successful with no casualties. We were able to detain 43 operatives and 20 trainees who are between 5 to 9 years of age. All of them surrendered without any resistance. Two teams of 3 and 4 members each are currently on a mission of unknown whereabouts. I've assigned Owl to search their headquarters for any information on the said missions."
"How did the interrogations go?" The Niidaime asked, appearing unconcerned about the missing operatives.
"The seals on their tongues were easily removed with the help of the schematic you provided. They still refused to answer questions about Root and Danzo. They claim to be loyal to Konoha and to the Hokage, but their loyalty to Danzo supercedes everything."
"I see." The Hokage said, still looking untroubled. "See to their relocations, then. Offer them a place in the archive or the ANBU, depending on their choice. As for the children, if they have any clan or gaurdians, return them to their homes. The rest of them would be made wards of the ANBU."
"The ANBU, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi couldn't help but question. "ANBU are supposed to be completely loyal to the Hokage above all else. They will be compromised the second Danzo returns."
"That wouldn't be an issue." The Hokage waived off his concerns.
"Begging your pardon, Hokage-sama, but I think it would. Danzo might have been your student five decades ago, but he wouldn't have the same loyalties to you now. He even tried to assassinate Sandaime-sama." Kakashi blurted out.
The Niidaime raised an eyebrow at his outburst. "Through you, if I'm informed correctly?"
Kakashi had the decency to blush at that. Though, it hardly mattered because of his two sets of masks.
"I'm aware of the fact that Danzo isn't the same person I knew as my student. I'm not concerned about what would happen when he returns is because of the fact that he is very unlikely to return from the suicide mission I've sent him on." The Hokage continued.
Kakashi stared at the Hokage in shock at that revelation.
"And if he does return?" He managed to counter.
"Then I'll deal with it."
Well, that was that, then. Kakashi nodded and left to start on the troublesome work of relocating the former Root operatives. He had a feeling that most of them would end up in ANBU.
Nara Shikaku was an intelligent man who was rarely taken by surprise, having devised and decided multiple scenarios in his minds and their approximate probability, most of the time he knew what to expect. But he was definitely surprised that morning, to see the Niidaime in the waiting room of his office.
"Hokage-sama. Please come in. I,... You could have summoned me." He stumbled in his words. Another rare occurrence.
"You do have your own work, Nara-san. I merely wanted some answers. It's no trouble for me to walk a few blocks." The Hokage replied.
"Of course. What can I help you with?" Shikaku asked, gesturing the Hokage to take a seat.
"I've been reading some recent reports and have noticed that two out of three jonin are failing their genin teams, particularly ones with non clan genin. I was hoping that you might be able to help me understand the reason for this?" Niidaime-sama asked, his voice conveying the seriousness of the issue.
"It's not prejudice, if that's what you're thinking. The academy standards have declined a lot over the last few years, especially in peace time. The graduation exams comprises of performing three E rank jutsu. The clans are able to compensate the education of their children, but the others graduates, orphans, civilian born children, are not ready for anything beyond D ranks when they graduate, which are basically chores these days." Shikaku replied.
The Niidaime frowned at that. "I see. And why have the academy standards declined so far?"
Shikaku knew that the Niidaime himself was responsible for the establishment of the academy, and he had to tread carefully. "The civilian council has gained quite a bit of sway since the Kyuubi attack. They pushed for lowering graduation requirements since civilian born children found it difficult to clear the exam."
"I would prefer that you'd be frank with me, Nara-san." The Niidaime said, sending him a 'look'. "I would like to hear about your opinion on the academy model."
"Very well, Hokage-sama. I don't think the academy model works. You'd have seen it if you'd remained in power following the years it was established, especially since the civilian population grew." Shikaku began, calmly, taking a breath. "The students which are enrolled in the academy are a diverse group. They all have different upbringing, chakra capacity, blood limit, literacy, intelligence... I don't think lumping them together for a few years teaching them thr basis of shinobi arts and then putting them on a team of three with a jonin, to do missions, is the best way to teach our future shinobi."
Tbe Hokage contemplated that for a second before replying, "Do you have an alternative."
"Dozens. Though the best one would be assigning teams early at the start and assigning them chunnin teachers instead of jonin, and have them perform D ranks as academy students." Shikaku said, assuming his 'thinking pose'. "Promotion to genin should be handed out after survival and combat evaluation."
"That is a good plan." The Hokage agreed. "A bit ambitious, though. I hope it wouldn't disrupt your routine too much to get it in motion before the next academic year." He said, getting up.
Shikaku stared in silence as the Hokage left his office.
"Troublesome." He muttered, finally.
Itachi dodged another strike coming his way, leaping backwards to gain space. He quickly went through the hands signs of the Great Fireball jutsu only for his opponent to dodge, with seemingly no effort. He only just ducked in time to avoid a kick aiming for his head, only to be caught by a jet of water. A kunai appeared at his throne as he tried to regain his bearings.
"Yield?" His opponent questioned.
"I yield." He admitted defeat, for the third time that day.
"You are improving." Tobirama-sensei commented. "The genjutsu affecting balance, that was good work."
"It didn't affect you." Itachi protested, only for his teacher to stare him down.
"I hope you won't be evaluating all your genjutsu based on whether they work on me or not."
"Why not? If they're good, they should work on anyone." He countered.
"I'm immune to genjutsu, Itachi."
"Is that even possible?" Itachi questioned.
"Why don't you tell me? How would it be possible to be immune to genjutsu?" If it was anything Itachi had learnt in the past week, it was that Tobirama-sensei didn't miss a teaching moment, be it life lessons or shinobi arts.
He thought out on the question a bit before attempting an answer, as his teacher waited patiently. "Is it because you can sense the foreign chakra entering your system and dispell it even before it has a chance to affect your senses?"
"That is a good answer." Tobirama-sensei complimented. "It would have been the right one if Izuna had never caught me in a genjutsu that affected my chakra sense."
"A genjutsu to affect chakra sensing? How would that work?" Itachi asked, eager to learn about a genjutsu he had never heard of.
"I wouldn't know. You'd have better luch looking into your clan archives." His teacher admitted. "The answer to my previous question, however, is seals. I invented seals that prevent foreign chakra from entering my system at all. It backfired for a bit when even medical chakra wouldn't work on me when I was severely injured. I had to make a few additions to the seal after that." He suddenly sat up straighter. "And speaking of medics, there is a famous one arriving at the gates of Konoha at this moment."
"Tsunade-sama?" Itachi deduced. It wasn't difficult, Tsunade-sama was the only famous medic he had heard off. Additionally, she was also related to sensei.
"Yes." Sensei confirmed, holding out his hand. "I'll teleport us to the gates. Try to keep your lunch in."
Itachi nodded and braced himself, before giving his hand to sensei. The next moment, he felt being squeezed through a microscopic tube and appeared near the main gates, gasping a bit. Atleast, he didn't throw up like the first time...
"... I don't care. If the Niidaime is really back, get him to the gates. I am not setting a foot inside if this turns out to be some scheme concocted by sensei to get me back here." A blonde women, whom Itachi assumed to be Tsunade, was shouting at the chunnin gaurd on duty, before falling silent as she noticed Tobirama-sensei.
"I'm here, Tsuna. You can stop terrorising the poor chunnin." Sensei said, gently.
"Jii-chan?" Tsunade asked in a small voice, suddenly sounding vulnerable.
"It's me, Tsuna. You can sense that, can't you?"
Tsunade nodded, regaining her stern expression. "How are you back? Was it that jutsu you created?"
"No. I'm afraid it was an accident with a space time seal."
Itachi observed a small smile appearing on Tsunade's face at that answer. "Only you, jii-chan. Does that mean I'm older than you, right now?"
"You sure don't look like it?" Tobirama-sensei answered, probably avoiding a pitfall, before gesturing to Itachi to come forward. "I'd like you to meet my apprentice, Itachi."
Itachi stepped forwards and bowed respectfully, as Tsunade observed him, before introducing her own apprentice, Shizune, who had appeared breathing heavily as they were talking, carrying a small pig.
"Will you be coming inside?" Sensei asked them, as both of them were still noticably standing outside the gates.
"What if we don't?" Tsunade countered.
"Then you don't." Sensei answered. "But then you don't get to come back ever, Tsuna. You don't run from your duties and get to enjoy your rights."
"So, that's it, then? After all I've done for Konoha, you'll just declare me a missing nin?" She asked.
"I won't declare you a missing nin. I'll declare you a shinobi with no association to Konoha and remove you from the citizens register." Was the answer. "You've been drinking and gambling your life away, and that shouldn't reflect on Konoha. You don't have to remain a shinobi if you return, though. You can retire. You can restore the Senju clan compound, something for which I haven't found time for. You can work on implementing that medical program you had proposed for, before leaving. You can heal, instead of keeping your wounds fresh and bleeding."
Itachi saw indecision warring on the slug sannin's face for quite a while. A few times, he feared that she'd just turn away and leave, but after a few minutes a determined look appeared on her face before she held Shizune's hand and resolutely took a step inside Konoha.
