Update 2/2
Chapter 40 - Pathos? Logos? Ethos?
Kakashi didn't quite know the exact selection criteria for those assigned to in-village patrols but never before had he ever wished that they were all blind, deaf, and inept at sensing any chakra.
He could sense that earlier spike of chakra signal which had now dimmed like a consistent candle flame. But that was the problem: he had sensed it, not seen, or smelt, but sensed. He wasn't a sensor, so if he could sense that signature, it meant that Maiko was releasing chakra like crazy and the fact that no matter how inept the village patrol could potentially be, they could sense the abnormal output of chakra as well.
Just for accuracy's sake, Kakashi opened his Sharingan and immediately, a cloud of chakra dominated his vision, along with a bunch of messy spots that were too overwhelmed by the main one to figure out.
Thankfully, the speed of that giant cloud wasn't slowing down yet. It was following the village border meticulously, not showing any sign of wishing to step out or step closer to the centre. It wasn't hard to guess that her final destination was either the Anbu headquarters in the mountain or the Hokage Tower in front of the mountain - both completely achievable while travelling in the forest.
It seems that she isn't completely enraged like the Hokage and Commander Nara had predicted. But it wasn't enough to keep everything a secret. He could already see the first team of village patrol heading straight for that part of the forest.
The Anbu team that Bear was leading should be approaching this particular situation of unknown details from the outside of the village border if they had gotten the message. The Hokage had explicitly stated that no publicity was allowed and that the presence of Anbu implicitly stated troubles which invited gossip. Therefore, Kakashi, who was not in his Anbu uniform, would need to deal with the patrol team.
After some thinking, he decided to make a shadow clone. One of him went off to meet the patrol team while the other took a side turn and headed off towards the forest.
Hayate, the leader of this particular patrol squad stared at Kakashi with his passionless eyes, and he could just feel the younger man's silent judgement at his determined stance to block their paths.
"Hatake-senpai, would you please let us pass?" Hayate asked, "We are just going to check the unusual presence of chakra like our job states."
"No." Kakashi smiled. "As for the unusual presence of chakra, that can be explained by a very common reason. The Uchiha girl is training, just trying out a special jutsu."
"Training?" Hayate's tone was very doubtful.
"Training," Kakashi confirmed, determined to sell that lame excuse that the Hokage had came up with.
"And the nature of this jutsu?" Hayate raised an eyebrow.
"Still in the experimental stage but as you can feel from the chakra presence, it's very powerful, hence why you shouldn't go near there."
"Why is her chakra signature moving?"
"Tell me, have you ever been in a battle where you get to stand still?" Kakashi kept up with his lines of bullshit. "Mobility and speed is a large part of the usefulness of a jutsu."
"Does Hokage-sama know of this, um, training that could potentially disturb the village?"
"Absolutely yes." And if he didn't before, he most definitely does now because he came up with this excuse, Kakashi added in his head.
"But no prior warning was given to the patrol about the potential disturbance?"
"None of us expected that the release of this chakra would be attracting this much attention. It's a new jutsu, Hayate, she's having problems controlling it which is why she chose an isolated area with no population. And I'm here to keep an eye out for her unless of course, one of you have more experience with the Uchiha Sharingan." Kakashi was feeling a bit impatient as he could feel the chakra signature dimming little by little, and it wasn't just because of the fact that Maiko was speeding away from him. It would be quite problematic if another patrol had arrived before he could deal with them.
Hayate looked like he was in a great conflict with himself. Kakashi knew that he was a good person, and he genuinely felt kind of sorry for him by making his job harder. But sorry, Maiko's matters took precedence in terms of importance.
Before Kakashi would speak up again, a hawk arrived just in time. The bird flapped its wings before it finally landed on Hayate's arm, who wasted no time in retrieving the letter attached to the hawk's leg.
"Alright, the Hokage confirmed your claim. To be honest, I really don't want to deal with this. You two must have lots of trust for each other," Hayate commented, still using that dispassionate tone, and all Kakashi could do was smile along awkwardly.
"If I see any other patrols, I'll tell them to continue on their course and stay out of this area." Hayate nodded at him and he returned the courtesy. Kakashi waited, remaining as relaxed as he could until the patrol team was some distance away. Then the clone flickered away, running along the inner edge of the forest to intercept the arrival of any curious onlookers.
Meanwhile, the real Kakashi arrived at the foot of the mountain monument. He stared at some place far ahead in the forest. By now, she would have been forced to leave the ravine and move into the forest if she had wished to continue along the village border.
I have a few minutes, tops, before she arrives. Perhaps Kakashi had more time because her speed was slowing down for quite a few times and the dimming of her chakra signature was definitely not just a part of his imagination. He could still see it with the Sharingan but as someone who was not a sensor, he could barely sense her presence despite the fact that she should be getting closer.
Kakashi didn't know how his clone was doing, therefore he debated between going directly to her and doing what he was doing now. But if she was using what he thought she was using, then him arriving might cause her more inconvenience than help.
So instead, Kakashi started pulling out all the wires, projectile weapons, explosive tags, oh, and smoke bombs he had swiped on his way out and started to lay the traps in a line.
He saw Maiko, or should he say, a silver rib cage just as he had finished his traps.
The silver chakra was wavering weakly, which suggested that the girl was running out of chakra to maintain the monstrosity. She looked like she was carrying something but the opaque shield around her was obstructing Kakashi's vision. Before he could get a better look, the silvery colour of her shield had become more concrete to fend off the fiery projectiles coming from behind.
Kakashi wanted to come out of his hiding place and help but he pushed back that desire and waited patiently. The waiting was almost unbearable as Maiko inched closer to his ambush. At the same time, the distance between her and her group of pursuers also shortened by the second.
As soon as she had crossed the line, Kakashi cut the wire. Then he regretted it almost immediately for setting off the trap too soon. The web of wires went up immediately, setting up a barricade that would cut anyone who ran into it into pieces. A rain of shuriken and kunai soon followed - some with explosive tags tied to them, some with smoke bombs attached.
The traps did spring up at right before the Root could cross that point, but some of the shockwaves of the explosion also hit Maiko and almost immediately, her last defence of the silver rib cage disintegrated.
Kakashi was about to catch her before she stumbled, that was until he saw exactly what it was in her arms.
So many thoughts ran through Kakashi's mind. What the hell? How the hell? Why is Naruto here? What? How? Why? Oh, Gods, how the hell did he get caught up in this, why isn't he moving, what is that red coloured substance? Gods help him, he was freaking out beyond belief.
Kakashi had been suppressing the urge to see this, this precious being. Naruto is better without him because shit happens around him, be it fate's decree or just angry shinobi whose friends he or his sensei had killed, he kept on telling himself. Too many memories or just too much responsibility, Kakashi had a thousand lame excuses on staying out of his life and nothing to prepare him for dealing with him personally.
When the smoke started to fill the area, Maiko was still running like nothing could break her out of her concentration. Kakashi rushed to that bright shade of orange as if it were the only thing he could see. Nothing else mattered.
He grabbed onto her arm, hard, and halted her mid track. She struggled at first, but she stopped immediately, perhaps because she had identified him. His hand was still gripping hard, digging into the thin layer of the sleeve. Funny, it was like he was doing something he would regret later big time but he couldn't control himself.
"Give him to me." Kakashi hissed as he practically robbed Naruto from Maiko's cradle, much harsher and threatening than he would have wanted. He placed his fingers on Naruto's neck, still breathing. The red substance was definitely blood, but not his. Then whose?
The isolated bubble burst and he looked up. The girl had a hand up, covering her eyes, but it didn't stop the blood from dripping down her cheeks. He could just see her choking down an 'I can explain everything' when she wiped away the blood on her face and shook it off of her hand.
She took a glance at the protruding tip of the Hokage Tower above all the smoke and dust, which reminded him that they still had a number of fake Anbu on the tail. Oh no, bad idea, that path is way too direct and open, Kakashi noted as soon as he saw the girl heading off to the tower.
"This way." He pulled her along in the smoke towards an underground entrance to the Anbu Headquarter he had located earlier. Quickly, he pulled open the cover and tried to lead Maiko down, but she pushed his hand off violently and jumped down on her own.
Okay, he deserved that.
Perhaps the Anbu tunnel wasn't much safer considering that the agency was contaminated, but he could pull an alarm every five steps and the whole headquarter would be alerted. He was betting that the spies that got into Anbu wanted to stay undercover for a bit longer, but seeing what happened out there, he was starting to think that he valued Root way too much for their policy of secrecy.
The plan was to use the Anbu headquarters as a transfer station for the path that led to the Hokage's office. Kakashi locked the entrance and grabbed a cloak hanging on the wall and covered Naruto up nicely and neatly. It was going to look weird, but lots of weird things happen on Anbu missions.
Maiko stared at the wall for a moment and proceeded to grab a blank training mask off the hanger. Seeing the white training mask on her face was just so bizarre, considering her current position in Anbu, but Kakashi supposed that it was a better alternative than a blood stained face.
Every time an Anbu passed by Kakashi in the corridor, he felt his muscles tensing up. Everyone felt like a traitor that was going to slash a kunai at his head and it was making his nerves go haywire. Unconsciously, he started to move faster. He needed to get Naruto out of here, to somewhere safe that wasn't swarmed with potential unauthorised killers - assuming he could find one.
No, he had to find one. Konoha was supposed to be that place, but Danzō and Root were making that impossible.
"What the―why the hell is Naruto with you?" The Hokage exclaimed as soon as he saw the child under the cloak. Kakashi felt for the man, really. There were very few things that could make people like them turn off their rational circuit, and it looked like they all had their turns today.
"He kind of walked in on Root's Uchiha extermination mission," Maiko summarised impassively. It made him wonder if she was trying to be sarcastic in hiding her pent up anger. But nevertheless, a very succinct summary.
"What made him unconscious?" The Hokage asked. His eyes flashed dangerously for a second before he was sure that the steady breathing showed no signs of damaged health.
"Not me, if that's what you're wondering." There was something dangerously brave about the way Maiko responded to that. But clearly, the Hokage had more practice in the art of patience - or he was just feeling extra forgiving because of the guilt today - because the biggest reaction he gave was rolling his eyes.
However, Maiko was glaring at Kakashi when she finished the sentence, and that sent a shiver down his spine. Suddenly, something hit him: Maiko didn't know his close connection to Naruto. Her understanding stayed at the point where Naruto was just a weapon of mass destruction for the village that may or may not be controlled by the Sharingan. Therefore, it was more than likely that Maiko would take his harsh reaction as doubt and blame.
The Nara darted his gaze between the Hokage, Maiko, and Kakashi and decided that the drama was enough. "So, it was Root then, I take it?"
"They sprayed the sleeping drug over the area when they realised that Naruto was there. Standard Anbu issued, used for civilians, probably the newest type, so he should be waking up in twenty minutes or so." Just as Maiko was explaining, the boy on the couch stirred. "Nevermind, damn, he has a fast metabolism."
"How many Root members were there?" Commander Nara asked again, and this time, it was for both of them.
"I saw somewhere between twenty and thirty," Kakashi answered.
"There were at least fifty back at the ravine, but I punched some off the cliff or into the rocks," Maiko responded next. "So if you send people along the northeastern border, you might find some bodies along the way, that is, if you're quicker than the Root's clean up team. I heard they are quite efficient."
"I will start on that. Hokage-sama?" The Hokage gave the man a slight nod, but his attention was fixed on Naruto.
When the Jōnin Commander left the room, he said something to Maiko along the lines of "you might want to lay off some of that taunting" to which Maiko responded with a "working on it".
"I am going to deal with this first." The Hokage pointed at Naruto, who looked like he could be waking up any second and they did not have an adequate explanation for him. "We'll talk more when I get back, so please, I'm begging you, don't leave this room."
The Hokage stared at the girl until she finally nodded semi-sincerely, then he let out a breath and turned his attention to Kakashi. "Fill her in on the side-effects of assassinating a Konoha councilman in the village and the problems of Root. Just keep her occupied."
The office was soon cleared of anyone over thirty and under twelve. Maiko stared at the door for a while after it had been shut tight. Kakashi couldn't see her face, but he could see how she tightened her fists, released them, and tightened them again. Eventually, she turned around and all trace of emotion was gone from her face.
"So, what did you do to be downgraded to the babysitter job?" Okay, maybe not all traces emotions disappeared. But hey, who was Kakashi to judge on her anger management strategy, being bitchy was a better alternative to being murderous at this point.
(づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
It was a simple conversation.
He talked, I listened. Sometimes he wondered if I was still listening, so I nodded to show that indeed I was. This was like an intervention where even though I was sure that they all had a good reason, but there was something innate that made me want to reject whatever was being shoved into my brain.
"Anything you want to ask?" That was the polite way of asking 'are you still listening?' and a forceful way of making me engaging in the conversation.
"You are basically saying that I can't do anything about Danzō because I'm an Uchiha?" I asked, it wasn't that hard to pick out one depressing piece of news from a bunch.
"Not when he has your clan's rebellion over your head and you have nothing," he answered. It turned out that the reality was much worse once the situation was focused upon. It was true that I didn't know about this before. I didn't major in politics, therefore these things didn't come like common sense for me. That, and the fact that I probably didn't think there was anything wrong with the Uchiha's actions.
"But you're so sure that you can get rid of Root," I said lightly. The clock had just turned past eight, I supposed that I wouldn't be able to show up for that appointment at the Intelligence Division.
"Root technically does not exist, so as long as Anbu keeps it in the dark, no one will bat an eye."
Couldn't I kill him because he ran an illegal organisation? I wanted to ask even if I had known the answer. It was kind of futile to equate Danzō with Root, controversial to my previous beliefs.
"I know what you are thinking, but no. The formation of Root was to do jobs that even Anbu couldn't do and in essence, what they do protects Konoha, according to Danzō and the rest of the council. 'Enough for a charge of insubordination, but not treason', that's what they'll say at the trial, be it his or yours. Besides, anyone involved in Konoha's government will want to silence you first before they let the news of Root get public, and that includes people running the fire country which is our prime source of income―wait, didn't I tell you this three times already?"
I shifted my glance from the ticking clock to the person beside me. "Well, try again, I think I need a bit more convincing."
"Don't get angry, I'm just the messenger," he defended immediately.
I stared into his eye, not sure of what to feel. My right arm still stung - not overwhelmingly painfully, but a constant, recurring sting that just wouldn't dull down. When he clawed Naruto out of my arms, for that one second, I just suddenly lost the motivation to even explain myself as if it wouldn't even matter.
I very rarely win a staring contest with Kakashi unless he thought surrendering was a less troublesome option. But this time, he avoided my gaze like the plague.
"We need to talk …" The door swung open at that exact moment and cut off Kakashi mid-sentence.
"You need more lessons in politics. How's the crash course going?" The Jōnin Commander continued without waiting for an answer. "Check the ravine, there was definitely blood but no bodies. As for the silver lining? There were no witnesses either."
I gave him a look that said 'you call that the silver lining?' but after some thinking, I supposed he was right.
"Just for the sake of a debrief, let me put it in a simpler way for your assassin mindset to understand. The only ways you are going to get what you want are secretly or legally, and this applies to anyone who wants to give it a shot, but this is especially important for you." He waved his finger between Kakashi and me, and eventually, it stopped pointing straight at me. "Now, if you're doing this secretly, Root is making that quite hard for you, so it'll be in your best interest to deal with Root first; if you are doing this legally, shutting down Root is beneficial to you as well. Root is Danzō's arms and legs, his army, witness, and information network; his secret missions work because he has Root and Root also holds first-hand information on all of his illegal activities. Once we have Root under our control, we will have the chance to isolate Danzō and have plenty of time to remove the seal and get the information to remove him from power for good."
He had a point, I had to admit. Out of all of us in this room, he was probably the only one not affected by the surge of subjective emotions towards this topic.
"Just out of curiosity, how's that identification seal coming alone because until that happens, you won't have a trustworthy army," I inquired, now knowing that this problem that I had wasn't just as simple as killing one person. Danzō and Root, they were the same, but they could be just as different. I didn't have the time or stamina to shave down Root one by one but the Hokage was supposed to have an army, so why not?
"The original seal is a piece of work, but it's tied to a less complicated invisibility seal. By reverse engineering a seal to undo the invisibility seal, the cursed seal will be activated forcibly. Nonetheless, it's only been a few hours, give it some time. I'm confident in Jiraiya's sealing ability, but let's be realistic." I frowned slightly at the Hokage's explanation. If my understanding was correct, then that meant the Hokage was planning to make the identification seal a binding seal as well. For any Root members that infiltrated Anbu, they would no doubt be sent into instant paralysis the moment they were discovered. Clever, I agreed, but that spoke a lot of uncertainty for Ryuu's fate.
"Questions? Concerns? Proposals?" The crisp words from Commander Nara pulled me out of my trance. It took me a while to realise that the questions were posed towards me.
"First of all, love the honesty running around here. Second, I'm guessing you're keeping this operation a secret until Anbu is clear, so you need a front for Danzō to focus his attention onto."
"You are pretty good at foiling his plans and keeping him running in circles." The Nara didn't deny my accusation, so I just shook my head lightly but didn't argue any further. Danzō was already coming after me like a shadow, causing a bit more trouble for him wouldn't add much to it.
"What are you going to do with Shisui's eye? I heard that the Sharingan is no longer in the Kekkei Genkai protection program." Oh, I could just hear the acid tone that was oozing out of my voice. If there was something that I could never get over, it was the fact that he took Shisui's eye, right here, in this village. I swear that even if I were to die, I would come back as a ghost somehow and take that eye back.
"You want it back, I assume?" Commander Nara asked as if he didn't hear my questionable tone.
"You finally believe me that Danzō snatched my cousin's eye?" I shot back instead of answering his question.
"Looking at everything, the probability is high," he replied before asking again, "The question is, what do you plan to do with it?"
"I want to destroy it, burn it, send it away with fire like I did with all the bodies of my clan members," I answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then, I paused for a second before speaking up again. "Were you thinking of something different, all for Konoha's benefit?"
I wondered about that, I truly did. When I first heard the truth, my trust towards everything was undoubtedly at its lowest. It wouldn't be the first time that a shinobi village tried to utilise a power they couldn't control. Perhaps, a part of Danzō even thought that he was safekeeping that power for the sake of Konoha. I wouldn't know, but whatever excuse keeps him asleep at night, not sure how that excuse would hold up against death.
Upon hearing my suggestive tone, the Hokage laughed bitterly and shook his head. "My girl, for future reference, there are many things that don't have to be said out loud. The government behind a shinobi village is never going to be pretty, but it's a common rule that we don't talk about it with contempt." He raised his eyes to look at me as he continued as if trying to show me all the sincerity he had. "But no, after seeing what Danzō could have possibly done with that power, this power can tear Konoha apart from the inside if people ever got word of it."
"Either way, I want to help with the destruction of Root, and I also want Shisui's eye back. I think that's the least of what you can do considering the service Itachi has done for you and how we just agreed that these two things will benefit Konoha." I said all that without batting an eyelash. Some might consider it to be immoral to use my brother to guilt trip the Hokage into giving the Uchiha what they wanted, and frankly, if I made it too obvious or too unreasonable, it wouldn't work anyways. But nevertheless, Itachi started this whole charade with the intention of keeping Sasuke safe, and I would be damned if I didn't use his foundation to contribute to the goal.
"You want in on all the information about Root, which is reasonable, but how do I know you are not going to try to assassinate him on your own? You are a ticking time bomb as well, Maiko." The Jōnin Commander reminded kindly. I looked at him for a second, trying to decipher what he really thought of me. But from his calm and emotionless face, I couldn't find a thing, so I brought my attention back to the Hokage.
"Itachi and Shisui tried to forge a peace over the rift between the Uchihas and Konoha, and I'm trying, really trying to keep it up for them. But Danzō is smashing it apart and you know it, Hokage-sama." Pleading. Pleading should work, at least for someone who felt the guilt and loved peace. To a large degree, I meant what I said, if not completely. After all, we have at least two people in this room who could probably pick apart an Oscar level performance if they really wanted to. No point trying to conceal my emotions, in fact, if it was done well, it would work to my advantage.
I paused for a second to observe the Hokage's face go from a blank slate to a state of deep concentration before continuing my impromptu speech.
"So I returned to you, Hokage-sama, hoping that you would trust me over the common assumptions about the image of my clan. This is not about the Uchiha massacre, I can … understand that they were punished because of their treason. So yes, my clan is responsible for their suicidal decision, and I … don't blame the village. But in terms of security concerns and treason, you know it better than I do that Danzō's action is out of line. He thinks it's okay to drug a boy simply because he stood in the way of his sacred purge." I said the words choppily, trying to get past that barrier of anger and unfairness I had felt and would probably still feel for a long, long time.
"It sounds like to me that those words are very forced, and it doesn't sound like you mean it." Commander Nara narrowed his eyes on me, picking up quickly on my pauses and hesitations, and he wasn't wrong. He was a voice of reason, I supposed. His motivation seemed to be much more simple - no nostalgia or revenge of the old times, just a will to protect the village.
"That's because they are painful to say! It doesn't matter if my clan committed treason, they are still my clan; they are my family. My father and my mother, they repented before death because they didn't have a choice!" And now, I was definitely yelling. Sometimes, blood remained thicker than water. In this case, I was willing to let the water wash away the bloody carcases, but it didn't mean that the smell was any less pungent.
But my clan members were gone, dead; dust to dust, ashes to ashes. But the living? The living still had a chance. "Please, I'm doing this for my brothers because they still have a chance to live with the people they love."
I took their silence as a reluctant agreement.
"Now, if Danzō really has Kotoamatsukami, then we have a problem." You think? I thought as Commander Nara moved onto the next topic as easily as checking off a list. "Based on the limited information that Shisui told us, it doesn't have the usual characteristics of a genjutsu. Just attempting to identify the jutsu will be a problem, let alone breaking out of its effect."
For a second, I genuinely thought that the quiet air meant that everyone was thinking hard on a solution, that was until all the stares were making me feel uncomfortable. I realised that they were looking at me, someone who claimed to have survived the technique, for advice.
"What, I fought it off with utter disgust," I said immediately and it earned me a whole lot of sighs.
"You were just lucky that your emotions happened to be the opposite of what was suggested. Imagine if he 'suggested' that you should go kill him for revenge when you ran out earlier, would you have been able to fight it off then?" Despite the fact that the Jōnin Commander sounded a lot like a teacher reprimanding a student, what he said made the cells in my body freeze. From the beginning, the Root leader had set up an elaborate trap for me so that without expending anything, I would walk onto a path of self-destruction. Now that I was forced to think about it, it was like I had taken a drunken stroll by the line of no return.
I shook my head slowly - a sign of recognition for my carelessness and my rashness - as the Jōnin Commander finished his advice: "Think about that the next time your IQ drops to zero."
But he didn't use Kotoamatsukami on me, even though that would have guaranteed the success of his plan. Which means that there's some other restricting factor in play, distance, cool down time … As Shisui's friend, I agreed that he was smart to hide the nature and weaknesses of his Mangekyou technique. But now that someone else was wrecking havoc using his signature skill, I sort of wished that he left a bit more than the advice of "think really, really, I mean, really carefully before you act".
"Still, we need a way to confirm the existence of Sharingan while not alerting him." I heard the Hokage mutter in the background. When no one said anything for the next little while, I raised my hand.
"The eye was transplanted, just like Kakashi's eye. That means, he can't deactivate it, and it will continue to use a large chunk of his chakra. It will look like a chakra lighthouse for someone who can see it, or specifically, a Byakugan user." I couldn't tell if the Hokage thought the idea was dumb, or that me trying to drag yet another person into this was dumb, or something else was dumb because all he did was scrunch his brows until they were close enough to be seen as a unibrow.
Just then, Commander Nara leant over and whispered in the Hokage's ear. "It could work … we need a definitive proof … semi-valid reason … in case she attacks him … hates bloodline thievery … care less about the Uchiha Rebellion … raid … more sensors …" I could tell bits and pieces from reading his lips, which made me wonder what the point of whispering was anyways. I couldn't get everything, but I could pick out a good number of the important points.
The Uchiha and the Hyūga were rivals since the beginning of our bloodlines because we couldn't stop comparing which dōjutsu was better. But we also had a lot in common and one of the most basic rules of our survival that no amount of bribery and threats could bury was that our eyes should stay in our respective sockets.
You know I can read your lips, right? I wanted to suggest, but Kakashi (I almost forgot that he was here) tapped my arm gently and shook his head, telling me not to interrupt.
"I can summon Danzō to discuss the recent events, but he will know what the hell is up if he sees a Byakugan user. In addition, the privacy seal in the office prevents the Byakugan's vision." The Hokage responded back to his commander and that was when I raised my hand again.
"I might have a jutsu that can stop the target's perception of time and everything that happens in that time, which might solve your current issue," I suggested in a light voice. It wasn't hard to tell that the Hokage was still trying to make up his mind and I was willing to do a lot of things to provide that push.
"He will see your Mangekyou, Kannon Bosatsu requires the target to be in sight." Suddenly, Kakashi interjected from the side. A valid point he brought up, but not enough to stop me.
"Yeah, well, he already knows I'm emotionally unstable so seeing a flash of Mangekyou in a moment of rage shouldn't really surprise him. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's counting on it," I argued, but I knew this wasn't what the Hokage and the Jōnin Commander were worried about.
It was the fact that I had asked indirectly to be in the room while the private meeting with Danzō was happening that really concerned them. But really, trust goes both ways and it wasn't like they had a better choice.
"You're lucky, the Hyūga Clan Head is dropping off some clan documents today, which is due by the end of the month for all clans." Commander Nara really emphasised the due date for me and I mocked silently in my heart, let's see if the Uchiha Clan still exists by the end of June.
He then warned: "It's your chance, so however you want to take it, think carefully." Knowing that pretending I didn't understand him wouldn't fool anyone, I nodded. Next, I turned my attention towards the Hokage.
"If Danzō does indeed have my cousin's Sharingan, what exactly are you planning to do with him, Hokage-sama?" I asked.
"I will make sure that he won't ever hold power again in this village. I promise that he won't have the ability to stir up trouble, ever again." His answer confused me greatly because it sounded like he was deliberately avoiding the inevitable. Perhaps a life in prison with all his chakra sealed was enough for my older brother in his goal of protecting us from harm, but I'd like to make sure that my enemy was dead.
Death had a certain tone of finality. In a sense, it trapped those it caught in a barrier that rendered their desire to interact with the living useless, for better or for worse.
"Even in light of all these? Even though he used Naruto like a tool and disregarded his safety?" Yet you still don't have the heart to kill him? I pushed on.
"It's exactly because of all these reasons that I'm doing this." There was a certain taste of pain that shouldn't have leaked out as the Hokage said those words, but it did, and it also brought the man who was supposed to be revered as a legend down to the ground. Not a god, not a sinner, just a human.
Eventually, he said to me, "Keep trying, you've come a long way in persuading me to go this far. Keep trying, and you may just fully convince me."
(づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
The dark irises stared back at me, the redness flashing weakly for a second before it died down mockingly.
I punched the rim of the sink in frustration and the mirror shook dangerously. My Sharingan wasn't turning on properly, again. Except for this time, I knew exactly why: I was on the brink of chakra exhaustion.
A strand of hair fell messily in front of one eye, making the crimson tinge that covered the ends fully visible. Immediately, I turned on the tap and dabbed some water to wash away the remaining spots of blood.
My limbs felt like jello - weak, unreliable, and ready to collapse any moment - but I supposed that was what happened when you tried to use Susanoo for ten minutes straight. If it weren't for the steroid equivalent of chakra I somehow got into my system earlier, I seriously doubted that I could have even lasted that long. Of course, on the positive side, I learned how to use the giant in more detail than I ever had the chance to for the past three years.
How to use the giant's strength to provide acceleration, how to switch between partial expansion to full or vice versa for various purposes, and how to preserve chakra by only maintaining the basic defences. Oh, it turned out the basic version of Susanoo doesn't cover the bottom - hence all the annoying earth releases and water releases.
Things that I wanted to know before but never had the chance to know due to health concerns, things I wished I had known before I started on a run where all I could do was hold my defence for the majority of my journey …
It is interesting that to advance a jutsu, people have to learn from the experience. But in our case, the more experience we have, the closer we are to living a life of blindness, I thought with a bitter taste. What a conflicting existence we, the Uchiha, lived.
I took a deep breath and mentally reminded myself that I would not be fainting in the bathroom. Carefully, I combed all the stray strands back with my fingers and pulled all the hair into a ponytail before finally leaving the bathroom.
I went into the storage room next door, closed the door, and slipped between the shelves of packaged clothes, weapons, and supplies. The Hokage gave me his permission to raid the storage room, since he kind of just forbade me to leave the tower. Of course, I also didn't plan to leave this protection haven until at least enough of my chakra has regenerated.
I was in the middle of pulling out a jacket from the compacted shelf when I stopped my movements. A few seconds later, I stepped out of the cover. The door that I had just closed a minute ago but probably forgot to lock was suddenly left ajar.
"Already?" I asked the man leaning by the door who looked like he was having an inner turmoil about whether or not he could step in.
"No, Danzō is currently unreachable, God knows where he is or what he's doing." It took a while for Kakashi to get what exactly that was being asked, but the answer was what I had expected.
If Shimura Danzō had decided to stroll in now to respond to the Hokage's summon, then we'd have a problem. However, it looked like he understood the dire situation he was going to have to face after that little stunt he pulled with Naruto, therefore, he was taking his time to prepare himself.
I hummed in agreement and didn't think any more of it. I wasn't until I had already retreated between the shelves that I remembered, the door was still not closed.
"You can either come in or get out, but either way, please close the door," I called out to him with a sigh. Right now, the least I had was spare energy to waste, both emotionally and physically. I knew very well that a good atmosphere was crucial for the success of what we were trying to do here, or the Jōnin Commander wouldn't be trying so hard to be the calming voice of reason.
Kakashi thought about it and eventually, he stepped in and closed the door.
I watched him lock the door and fiddle around the doorframe until the privacy seal was suddenly layered over the room. Useful, expensive, overkill, these words popped out of my brain as I continued my task of pulling out that jacket without disturbing the rest of the pile.
"So, about Naruto …" Kakashi started the conversation awkwardly and the volume went to mute after the first three words. I raised an eyebrow at him, not sure if he could see it with all the shelves.
"Yeah, how's he doing now?" To help him get this over with, I picked up the conversation. I had never seen him have any trouble finding what to say before. Picking up conversations, redirecting topics, brushing over facts, those were the things that he was supposed to be good at.
"He woke up already, the Hokage told him that he fell asleep in the forest and you had to leave after dropping him off. He believed it very easily." Upon hearing that, I smiled a bit. A ten-year-old child having to wake up before the sun was up and then having to run around the village, I wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep even without the interference of the drugs.
"And? Please tell me that you didn't come here to tell me that nothing is happening." I prompted again, already feeling my nerves getting the better of me. God knows how much effort I have already put in just for the sake of staying awake, and hearing that somebody else got to sleep doesn't help. Talking with an indecisive Kakashi was taking up more brain cells than usual, and right now, all of my brain cells were occupied on something else.
"It's not what you think, my reaction earlier in the woods. Naruto is important to me and not the kind of 'important' in terms of being the Nine-tail Jinchūriki for the village." Oh, now I remember what he's here for. That little scene had been slowly slipping away from my mind, right up until he mentioned it.
"How do I put this, he is precious to me, just like Sasuke is to you. It's that important, and that's why I was not prepared at all to meet him in the woods."
My first thought was, what, come again?
My second thought, Oh.
"And you are worried that I might misunderstand." I finally caught on just as the jacket slipped out of the pile completely.
He nodded while letting out a small breath of relief as if he was worried I wouldn't catch on (I don't blame him, my IQ wasn't exactly in top shape today). "It doesn't excuse anything and you have every right to be angry, but if there's anything that we can learn from today is that misunderstandings kill."
"Yes, but more importantly, so does prejudice, discrimination, rumours, and slanders." I couldn't help but add to correct him. The Uchiha Massacre had been the result of so many things, misunderstandings definitely did not cover all of them.
"Those too, and right now, we can't afford any miscommunication or distrust among ourselves."
That's true, I thought, so I hummed in agreement as I walked out from behind the shelves. I supposed that my answer was too crisp that it almost made him frown. "I've done my fair share of yelling before thinking today, so I don't get to judge others for being impulsive."
It wasn't so much as anger, but more of a helplessness I had felt when he demanded Naruto back then. It reminded me of the possible reactions I would get if I had so much as decided to step out of the forest for an easier route. But now that I knew the reason - a much more acceptable reason - behind his panic, I couldn't even find a point to pick at, let alone still have the energy to be mad.
None of us were saints, we make mistakes. Knowing him, he would never make the same mistakes again.
But still, some things didn't quite add up. "You don't sound like you're lying - but who am I to assume that - so that begs the question of why I haven't seen you around Naruto, at all."
It was then that I saw a very familiar scene, much like when the Hokage was trying so hard to pull back a leaked secret, but because I had pushed past the duct tape, the secret exploded.
Hang on, if what he said was true, then Naruto might be a relative, or maybe a relative of someone he was close to. If genetic works the way I think it works, then the second option is more likely. If we take into consideration the difference in age and the fact that Naruto is officially being recorded as an orphan, then that person who connects them all is most likely the boy's siblings, parents … I shut the door to discovery right there and then. It wasn't my secret to discover, and I was never given an invitation in the first place to do so.
"Why do I have a feeling that what you just told me is something that shouldn't have been told?" I questioned weakly, suddenly having the urge to bash my head against the metal shelf.
"Well, I might have just given you a hint for an SS-rank secret, hence the privacy seal." The more nonchalant his tone was, the more uneasy I felt.
The thing about secrets? One wrong word is as good as the whole story when given to the right or the wrong person. Silently, we made an agreement. I was not going to journey to find the truth like I did with the Uchiha Massacre because everything I did could result in a potential leak. Instead, this exchange would forever remain and rot here. I wasn't worried that the truth would get lost. It was clear that at least one person could keep the record; it was simply not ready to be told yet.
By whose standards? Only the party that was involved in the making of the secret and knows the truth, so what about those affected by it but don't get the say, a small part of me contemplated. But you are not part of any party of the sort, Naruto is, a bigger part of me stopped the discussion immediately. Whatever deep, internal discussion about the ethics of keeping secrets would have to wait until my current problem is resolved.
And the next step is … food.
I think I saw the boxes of biscuits somewhere on the third shelf, or was it the second? In the corner of my eyes, I could see that my visitor still hadn't left yet. I looked up for a moment as if asking what else did he need.
"Is it really okay to burn everything you have?" He asked vaguely.
Depends on what exactly you mean by that, I wanted to respond but instead, I replied, "My chakra is returning steadily, it will reach an adequate amount in a few hours." If not, there's a box of soldier pills on the last shelf.
"You know that's not what I meant. I hope you have more reason to return than the fact that you don't know where to find Elder Shimura." Geez, wasn't that the question everyone was wondering today.
I didn't answer him right away, instead, I fixed my gaze on exactly where his Sharingan was supposed to be. How painful was it when Shisui had his eye stolen? Must have been very painful, more painful than I could ever imagine. It was only after a while that I realised my gaze was making him feel uncomfortable.
"Relax, I don't go around and take other people's eyes. That's someone else's specialty." I shifted my eyes away and walked in between the second and third shelf.
"I'm a very greedy person, to be honest. There is so much that I don't want to lose - things that I want to hold on to no matter what, and I still can't see the line that needs to be crossed for me to let it all go. My home, my younger brother, my older brother, their happiness, my happiness … I once tried to rank them to see what I could let go of first. But then, I realised that they are all interconnected like a web, ripping one out would be like ripping everything into pieces and then trying to salvage what's left."
"My brother paid three hundred sixteen, no, three hundred seventeen lives so that he could salvage a home for us. If I just carelessly toss it away─if I lose it when he returns, that would be … I can't even find the word for it." My voice echoed through the shelves and around the room until it was uncertain who it was that the words were trying to convince.
"Yes, I do have a reason to return other than the fact that I still need his whereabouts as part of the preparation for an assassination, or anything for that matter. I'm going to try everything to keep the picture whole before anything else, so going Kamikaze-style is not high on my to-do list." There was a thin line between being patient and being cowardly; there was also a dangerous zone between being courageous and simply being uncaringly crazy. How to suppress one's flames while still be able to explode when needed was something I supposed I had to learn on the way while dealing with the problem at hand.
"Kami … Kamikaze?" Oh right, that term became popular during World War II, my bad.
"Suicide bombers." I quickly explained and Kakashi let out an 'Ah' in understanding.
Suddenly, I remembered something that had been bugging me for quite some time, so I turned to Kakashi and asked, "Do me a favour, you know the location of the Naka Shrine, right?" He nodded. "There's a shelf down in the basement with a pile of scrolls, can you bring me all of them as well as the scroll in my apartment?"
If Danzō had a Sharingan, then all of the unexplainable shit that had happened would make sense. But it also meant that he had access to the basement of Naka Shrine and scrolls left by my ancestor for three years.
The fact that I had allowed Danzō to be more familiar with my clan's secrets than I was showed just how negligent I was with my job. But it wasn't too late, I still had the chance to become familiar with every piece of knowledge that Danzō had stolen along with the Sharingan.
"Sure. The scroll in your apartment is locked in Intelligence Division for evidence, but I'll bring them all as soon as possible." He was very quick to agree and I muttered a word of thanks.
"Be careful," I said as I waved him out.
"You too." He turned off the privacy seal, went out and shut the door.
I ran over to the door and fumbled near the door frame until I could feel the seal design under my finger that was still radiating the leftover chakra. Immediately, I placed the privacy seal back on as I locked the door tight.
Taking off the soaked shoes and socks I had on, I stepped onto the wooden floor with bare feet. The floor was cold, bordering on icy, so I laid the jacket I had taken out earlier on the ground and sat down, keeping my feet off the iciness.
For some reason, the phrase 'Problems that can be solved with murders are not problems!' had been resonating in my head for some time now. It was an old phrase that was very popular amongst the mercenary killers, some even used it as their business logo. Killers for hire prayed for this phrase to be true, after all, what would be the point of our existence if it wasn't?
Perhaps it was this mindset that had carried over which influenced my choices in this life, but so far, I had been living the illusion that killing people doesn't have consequences. As 'Artemis', I had the protection of being nonexistent; as 'Rabbit', I had the protection from authority.
But now, I had neither. My name no longer belonged just to me. My responsibility no longer applied to just me alone. I represented my clan and my clan represented me. I represented my brother and the clan also represented him. Ties don't cut that easily, past influences don't disappear that quickly. And so far, I had not done enough for the Uchiha to be stripped of its old opinions and be renewed. Just by realising that, I couldn't help but tap my head as if trying to knock some sense into my skull.
"Wake up, you're not a gun that shoots at wherever the person next to you tells you to aim, not anymore," I muttered to myself, hoping to sear this into my mind. "Grow a damn brain, otherwise you won't even know how the hell you died, let alone how you got used."
A/N: so there was that, and this was how I felt when writing these two chapters: (╯°Д°)╯︵ ┻━┻. Anyway, I guess my point is that no one is perfect, everyone is subjected to the sway of emotions. But I supposed that one happy thing is that people are trying to find the best solution for the problem at hand, even Danzo, but their perception of how to solve thing can be very very different. I honestly think that the Hokage is not dumb, but the first time I saw the Manga, I was having a hard time understanding why he let so many things go, it was like he was blind to what's going on around him. However, while I was having a writer's block on this, I thought, perhaps that's just one of his personal qualities - forgiveness. It wasn't a bad thing, heroes do this all the time, it just shows that his sense of optimism hasn't been dwindled down to nothing yet. On the other hand, Danzo can be said to be the foil of the Hokage, to some extent. Honestly, I think he would be fine (AKA thriving with all the power) if it were any other age in history where things are much more vicious than the current situation in Konoha, it gives me a feeling that he's born in the wrong era whenever I wasn't too pissed with him. Anyway, that's the result of my character analysis essays.