He dreamt a familiar dream.

Rain fell from the sky in thick, impenetrable sheets. His mask had been soaked and stuck to his face. He could barely breathe through the fabric. Metal shrieked as swords were drawn from their sheathes. An arm reached out to touch his shoulder. He turned to see Rin, rainwater and tears pouring down her face. She'd never looked more beautiful.

"Kakashi, please..."

His eyes burst open, burning from the sweat flowing from his forehead. All of his bedsheets were drenched as well as his boxers. His right hand was twitching, and he grabbed it to make it stop. He took in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. He repeated the exercise a few more times before his heartbeat softened and his hand was still.

Kakashi showered, inhaling the steam to calm his mind. Images of Rin flashed in his head when he closed his eyes to wash his face. Perfect, photographic memory was a blessing and curse of possessing the Sharingan. While it helped him easily memorize and copy jutsu as well as decipher codes by remembering past patterns, he was also often haunted by images from everything the eye had seen. Some things that he saw, he knew weren't his memories, but Obito's.

He returned to his room and dressed. He didn't have time to dwell on his failures. He had a stop to make.

Despite the cold, Kakashi eschewed wearing a cloak or hood. The bite of the chill helped to keep him more alert and awake as he walked through the streets and climbed the familiar path to the fifth floor of an apartment building that sat beneath the gaze of the previous Hokage. He walked up to a door with the number 544 and knocked rhythmically.

There was a brief pause before the door slowly opened and a pair of light brown peered at him. A young woman looked him up and down before she spoke.

"It's a bit early in the day for you to be paying me a visit, Kakashi," she said, her tone a sultry tease. "You didn't even ask for an invitation."

"I'm sorry, Anko. It's a bit urgent."

Anko Mitarashi opened the door more and Kakashi could feel the heat and smell the incense. "Come on then." He followed her inside her apartment, finally seeing her full figure. She wore a loose and short kimono that exposed her thigh and her cleavage was deep as well. Smirking when she caught his gaze, she sauntered over to him and put a hand on his chest and her lips to his ears. "You seem tense and you're so cold," she said. "I can run a bath for you and see if I can massage that stress out of you."

Kakashi grew stiff in his pants, flashbacks of their previous encounters playing back in his mind. He cursed and reveled in the Sharingan's photographic memory then. But, he took her hand and gently removed it from his chest. "I'd love that," he said. "But maybe next time. What I came here for isn't exactly going to set the mood."

He saw the wave of disappointment on Anko's face and part of him urged him to renege and accept her offer, but he fought against it. The violet-haired woman sighed softly and sauntered over to her couch. She sat down and crossed her legs, flashing him. "What's on your mind?" she asked.

You now. "I need you to promise me that what I tell you doesn't leave this room."

"Kakashi," Anko said, frowning almost playfully. "You know me better than that."

"You're right." He walked over to her and sat down on the couch. Sighing, he said, "I've been assigned on multiple missions to track down the remnants of Root. On my last mission, I retrieved a scroll that was written by...your former sensei."

The frown became far less playful. "I see why you said it wouldn't set the mood. Why'd you come here to talk to me about that?"

"Because," Kakashi said. "The report was...troubling and I want to ask him some questions."

"Then go ask him," Anko said. "I don't know what that has to do with me."

"You were his favored pupil. Aside from Lord Third, no one in the village knows him better than you do. I just wanted some insight into his mind so that I can get the information I need as quickly as possible."

"Insight into his mind?" Anko repeated. "He's a sociopathic and sadistic narcissist with a God complex. There's not much more you need to know or that I can tell you but that."

"Does he have any sore areas? Anything that I could pinpoint to get him to talk?"

"You want to manipulate him?" Anko almost laughed. "Kakashi, I know you're smarter than that. There's nothing you could say or do that would make him say or do anything he didn't already want to." She sighed. "Look, you're better off just not talking to him."

"I don't have that option, Anko," Kakashi replied. He moved her chin back towards him and stared deeply into her eyes. "The lives of everyone in Konoha are at risk. Please, give me something."

She blinked and her gaze softened. She sighed again and shook her head. "He dreamed of being named Hokage and using that access to power and knowledge to further his own ambitions. You could try to appease his ego or attack it. Either way, that'll probably be your best bet." Kakashi nodded and smiled at Anko behind his mask. Her frown became playful again and her cheeks were red.

"Thank you," he said.

"Whatever," she replied. "The next time you come over here, I'm taking that mask." Kakashi raised an eyebrow and Anko gave him a naughty smile. "Don't worry." She slid a hand between her thighs. "I'll make sure I cover your face."

The chill in the air hit harder when he left her. Mentally, he checked off a box. There was one thing left for him to do and that was to figure out where Orochimaru was being held. The night that Danzo had been killed, the Uchiha had gathered the Sannin and interrogated him. Where this had occurred was top-secret and while it was relatively common knowledge among Konoha's shinobi that Orochimaru hadn't been killed, no one knew where he was being held. A normal prison wouldn't be sufficient to hold him. There had to be somewhere special that he was put in. Kakashi had to find the records kept of the interrogation and there was only one place that would be.

His feet took him to the administrative building and carried him up the floors. Each level grew progressively more empty, which made Kakashi's infiltration much easier. When he reached the top floor where the Hokage's office was located, he stalked down the hallway, listening for anything that sounded like voices. The archive and records room was on the opposite side from the Hokage's office but further down. When he heard nothing but silence, he gently tested the doorknob to the room and found it was locked. Kakashi whipped a thin metal rod from a pouch on his waist and picked the lock in one move. When he heard a click, he let a sigh of relief.

He entered the archive room in silence, easing the door to a quiet close. When he turned, Kakashi was almost overwhelmed. There were near endless rows of unmarked metal cabinets with some columns stacking to the ceiling. Frowning, the ANBU captain slowly moved around the room, looking for any sort of label or indicator but there was nothing. It wasn't like Lord Fugaku to be disorganized. Where would the records be and how would he be able to find them if he looked for them?

Then, it clicked.

Kakashi raised his headband and a world of colors was revealed to him. The colors of chakra. Each section of the cabinets had been assembled by hue and he could see the wispy flow of energy as clearly as he could see his hand in front of him. It only made sense that the Uchiha would hide the village's secrets in a way that only they could see. Or the Hyūga if they ever came here. He knew though that it wasn't enough to be able to see the distinction between cabinets. He now had to figure out which one contained information on Orochimaru's location and if he could even access it. It was almost a certainty that the cabinets were locked. Years of working in espionage had prepared him for that though. All he needed was a thin piece of metal.

But which one is it? The plethora of swirling colors was distinguishable by hue but his Sharingan could also see distinctive sparks in them too. He thought that maybe they were organized by subject but in order to test that hypothesis, he'd have to actually get into a cabinet and check its contents.

Or did he?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar shade of chakra and moved toward the cabinet where it flowed from. It took him a few moments before he remembered where he'd seen it but the realization made him let out a soft breath. The chakra radiating from the corner cabinet was the same color as the chakra used in the scroll. The same one that spoke of Kushina and the seal. If his theory about who wrote it was true, that could only mean…

Kakashi retrieved the thin metal rod and quietly picked the lock to the cabinet. He heard a click and gently pulled the drawer open. Folders flopped around and Kakashi caught a glimpse of one that was labeled "evidence". He chose that one out of curiosity and took a look inside, flipping the pages open.

There were pictures of children in test tubes, floating in some kind of fluid. A few of them were infants with massive tumors and deformities. One child had what looked to be a tree branch protruding from their skull. Kakashi closed it and shook his head. What had Orochimaru and Danzo been up to? It was a question that he'd have to save for another time. He continued flipping through the files, looking for anything that may have indicated what may have happened during the interrogation or what the sentencing had been. He knew that wherever they'd put the Sannin, it wasn't the ordinary prison. It had to be something different where they could contain and punish him.

A new color caught his eye and Kakashi paused to look at it. It was more chakra ink, not the same sample taken from Orochimaru. Just like the scroll he'd retrieved, the information inside was only partially readable with his Sharingan but what he did see was enough of a clue.

Death by starvation. Kigashi. Under.

An underground...prison? He'd never heard of a Kigashi Prison before. But, he knew from past experience that prisoners of war were often sent to camps where they were forced to do manual labor without food until they either starved to death or harassed the guards enough to be killed on the spot. Lord Hiruzen had formally ended that practice when he became Hokage but Danzo continued it beneath his nose. Had Lord Fourth repurposed one of those private prisons into his own personal torture chamber?

At least it's reserved for Orochimaru, Kakashi mused darkly. If there was anyone that deserved the treatment, it was him. After he flipped through the pages to make sure he hadn't missed anything, he closed the file, put it back in place, and locked the drawer. He had what he needed. He knew how to approach Orochimaru and now, he had an idea of where to locate him. Kakashi headed to the door, slipped out of the archive room, and turned to find the nearest exit out of the administrative building.

He locked eyes with Itachi Uchiha.

The boy seemed to be walking past but Kakashi had opened the door just when he was about to pass by. He cursed his timing. It was a rare instance where he was too early instead of late.

Itachi's eyes looked through him and Kakashi felt himself growing nervous. The Uchiha's face, however, didn't change when he finally spoke.

"Go back inside."

Kakashi didn't see any other options. He didn't want to fight. Especially not here. Especially not him. He opened the archive room and stepped inside. Itachi followed him and closed the door softly. He turned to look at Kakashi. His gaze was steady and unblinking.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.

"You could say that."

"But not all of it," Itachi said. "Orochimaru's whereabouts were specifically kept hidden to avoid any information leaking to his possible contacts outside of the village."

Kakashi tried not to react. "Orochimaru? Why do you think I'd be looking into him?"

"Because," Itachi said. "My father told me that you found one of his reports during a mission. And that you asked him if he could decipher more with his Sharingan. You want to question the man himself about the contents of the report so you came here."

Kakashi cursed inwardly then narrowed his eyes. "Did he also assign you to watch me?"

"Yes," Itachi answered.

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

"So, what happens now?" Kakashi asked. "Are you going to report back to him and have me imprisoned?"

"I could," Itachi said. "Or, I could tell you where exactly Orochimaru is and how many shinobi are assigned to guard him. Whichever is your preference."

Kakashi couldn't help but blink in surprise. "W-why would you...?"

"Help you?" Itachi's eyes swept over him. "Because you and I seek the same thing. Peace, whether it be for the world or your mind. Orochimaru is a danger to everyone in Konoha so long as he lives."

"Then why keep him alive?" Kakashi asked. "Why not assassinate him the night that Danzo was killed?"

Itachi was quiet for a few moments then closed his eyes. "Because a deal was made. In exchange for his endorsement to the daimyo, Lord Third pleaded that Orochimaru be spared. My father reluctantly agreed."

"And put him inside of one of Danzo's old torture chambers instead." Kakashi saw the wisdom and sacrifice in the decision. Wise, because despite how vile a person he was, Orochimaru was one of the Legendary Sannin, a prestigious moniker and title recognized worldwide. His genius was the pride of Hi no Kuni and to execute him would be a massive blow to Konoha's reputation, especially in the eyes of the daimyo. The country's leader was more attached to Orochimaru's prolific public image than he was to any crimes the man had committed. And, it was a sacrifice because, with the efficiency that Lord Fugaku showed in eliminating any and all who were connected to Danzo and his Root branch of the ANBU, Kakashi knew that Orochimaru would have been next. But, without the Third's endorsement, there was no way that the Uchiha would have broken the seal and gotten one of their own installed as the Hokage.

Kakashi wondered what other concessions he had made in order to secure the votes from the jonin...

"It's an underground bunker beneath the old headquarters of the Military Police. The theory is that Danzo intended to keep us restricted to that area once Lord Third retired as Hokage. Orochimaru is under guard by select, elite members of the police force," Itachi continued.

"So, it won't be a cakewalk getting in there to speak to him," Kakashi said. The Military Police was almost entirely run by the Uchiha and as he'd just found out from Lord Fourth, many of them wanted him dead for even possessing a Sharingan. Fighting them would be an extremely difficult task and attempting to find a secret way in would be even harder than that.

"It may be easier than you think," Itachi said. He handed Kakashi a tightly bound scroll. The Hokage's seal was a red spot of fire on the parchment. Tilting his head to the side, the Uchiha then asked, "How good is your transformation jutsu, Captain Kakashi?"

Hopefully good enough. Kakashi walked up to the old police headquarters assuming the identity of Itachi Uchiha. He'd made sure to copy every detail of the boy's appearance, from the way his hair fell to the tear-troughs beneath his eyes. The only thing that he didn't know that he could copy was the boy's manner of speaking and thinking. Maybe, Kakashi hoped, he could act just mysterious and ambiguous enough to play the role. Much of Itachi's mystique lay in just how much he distanced himself from others. It was something that Kakashi could relate to.

After Obito and Rin, the only people he'd consistently been around were Minato, Kushina, Naruto, and Anko on occasion. He didn't remember the last time he'd hung around his peers. Asuma, Kurenai, Gai...they were near-distant memories now. As he walked up to the door, part of Kakashi wished that he had even told the members of his new team about his endeavors just so that he'd have support.

But, there were some things that were done better alone.

"Itachi?" a voice called out as Kakashi entered the police headquarters. A tall man with long black hair and fierce eyes walked over to him, looking him up and down. "What are you doing here?" Kakashi revealed the scroll that Itachi had given him and prayed that whatever was inside was believable enough to help him. He retained the stoic face of the Uchiha while the officer read the piece of paper and then looked back at him. "Lord Fugaku is giving you access to the prisoner?" He narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"He wanted me to question him regarding information he may have given to our enemies," Kakashi replied, mimicking Itachi's cadence and vocal tone.

"But why you?" the officer asked.

"Ask him yourself," Kakashi replied.

The Uchiha's brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth to say something.

"Inabi, just let the boy through," someone else said. It was an older man with spiky grey hair and eyes squinted to a close. "Somebody needs to go down there and get Yamashi anyway."

Yamashi? Kakashi thought. He'd never heard of him before. The officer named Inabi scowled but rolled the scroll back up and handed it to Kakashi.

"Don't take too long," he growled.

"So long as he tells me what I need to know, I won't," Kakashi replied. He could tell from the look in the man's eyes that he held some strong animosity towards Itachi for whatever reason. He shifted his thoughts away from that and focused on the task at hand. Getting in had been easy because of Itachi but that was only the first step. Kakashi hoped that he could get Orochimaru to reveal something that could help him.

He realized as the elevator doors closed and the metal contraption descended how foolish he sounded.

Darkness surrounded him as he went further down, with very brief flashes of light falling over him. It was a noisy metal box and Kakashi tried to maintain his composure. He was ready to trade the appearance of Itachi for his own. He just needed to get whoever this Yamashi was out of the way so that his cover wasn't blown. The descent slowed steadily to a crawl before it finally stopped.

Let's go.

The elevator doors creaked and hissed open as Kakashi walked out into the dimly lit corridor, the only source of light being the barely blinking bulbs on the wall. They flickered on and off interchangeably with every odd flash leading down a path through the metal and earth maze. He followed them into the winding tunnels, keeping track of and predicting when the next bulb would flicker with the Sharingan. The rank scent of mildew passed through the fabric of Kakashi's mask, and he could see mold stretching from the corners of the walls. His footsteps echoed in the hallway along with the sound of a single water drop splattering against the ground.

He paused.

There was another pair of footsteps approaching him and a man wearing a Konoha Military Police uniform appeared from the shadows. He wore glasses and had black hair with a few sprinkles of grey.

"Yamashi?" The man stopped to look at him but said nothing. Kakashi continued as Itachi. "Inabi wants you back upstairs."

Yamashi nodded and kept walking past in silence. Kakashi felt a sense of unease as the man passed him and chanced a glance behind him as the Uchiha entered the elevator and the doors closed. He couldn't pinpoint what exactly felt off, but it was a hard feeling to shake as he ventured deeper into Kigashi Prison.

A loud hum echoed off of the walls. Kakashi felt at ease enough to release the transformation jutsu and revert back to his normal appearance. His heart thumped against his rib cage as he grew closer to the origin of the hum. When he reached the end of the long hallway, he stopped to take a ragged, shallow breath.

Orochimaru hung in his cell, strapped to four metal siphons that slowly stripped him of his chakra. Long unkempt black hair covered most of his gaunt and pale face. But not his eyes when he looked up. Kakashi steeled himself against the golden-amber glow of the Sannin's gaze as he approached his cell. The ANBU Captain took in a deep breath and stopped a few feet away.

"Kakashi." Orochimaru's raspy voice slithered into the silver-haired shinobi's ears. Kakashi didn't let himself get flustered. Instead, he walked to the trigger on the wall and pulled it down. The metal siphon's loud whir quieted to a low hum. He heard the Sannin breathe a sigh of relief. "Ah, how gracious of you."

"It won't do me any good if you're in too much pain to talk," Kakashi replied. He stayed close to the switch in case the older man got any ideas about trying to escape. While he was confident that the restraints put in place could hold Orochimaru, he wasn't sure that he could hold his own against him in a fight. Even weakened after years of having his chakra absorbed and resupplied in incremental amounts to keep him alive, the Sannin was a Kage-level opponent. Kakashi hadn't faced anyone nearly as strong as him before. I just can't show any fear...

"And what have you come to talk with me about?" the man asked.

"Your former sponsor," Kakashi answered.

Orochimaru gave a dry laugh. "Why? Did the old man send you? Or is the great Lord Fugaku having trouble uprooting the weeds?"

Kakashi pushed the trigger up, turning on the siphons. The metal hum turned into a rumble as the Sannin's chakra was sucked out of his body. He convulsed and grit his teeth. Kakashi could see him resisting the urge to scream out in pain, but the Sharingan predicted the moment that he would. Three. Two. One. He pulled the latch back down and the machine grew near-silent again. Orochimaru looked up at him, staring deeply into his eyes. It was a challenge but Kakashi wouldn't be baited.

"All I want from you are answers to my questions. The harder you make it for me, the harder I make this for you." He furrowed his brow and met the snake-like stare. "Are we clear?"

The Sannin chuckled then coughed. "Very well."

Good. "When Danzo was alive, you two worked closely together. I know that you provided information on some of what you were involved with in order to spare your own life. But, you didn't tell the brass everything."

"Is that a question?"

"What didn't you tell them?"

"You'll have to be more specific," Orochimaru said, smirking.

"The jutsu used to seal the Kyūbi. You figured out the details and wrote a report about it." Kakashi allowed a moment to pass, searching for any shifts in the Sannin's expression but there was nothing. "How did you acquire information about that technique?"

There was a brief moment of silence then Orochimaru said, "I did some research. The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style is a jutsu that the Uzumaki clan shared with the Senju when those bloodlines merged. It's simply history."

It's more than that and you know it. "Did you share that information with Danzo?"

"I had no reason to, and he wasn't interested in the fox spirit," Orochimaru said.

"Just you."

The Sannin's face twisted in a smile. "No. Not just me."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Did you or Danzo have contact with another village?" Minato-sensei had told him the story about how he and Kushina had started their relationship when he'd rescued her from Kumo shinobi. And it wouldn't be the last time that they would try to kidnap a Konoha kunoichi.

"Danzo did," Orochimaru said, casually.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Kumogakure?"

"I already told Fugaku this," the Sannin said with a disinterested tone. "Danzo orchestrated the kidnapping of the Hyūga girl in order to make the old man look weak and senile."

"I know that," Kakashi replied curtly. "I'm talking about the report you wrote about the jutsu used to seal the Kyūbi. Were you or Danzo attempting to share that information with another village?"

Orochimaru's gaze was steady and searching. The soft hum of the metal siphons was the only sound that passed between them until the pale-skinned man opened his mouth. "You already know the answer to that so why pretend that you're ignorant? It doesn't suit you, Kakashi."

"No more than the title of Hokage would have suited you," the silver-haired shinobi retorted.

This made Orochimaru scoff. "Don't pretend that you find life beneath the watchful eyes of your Uchiha overlord any more fulfilling. How much did you have to do to even get in here? Do you think that they don't know?"

Kakashi felt his scowl deepen. "It's worth the risk." Stay calm. He could feel his blood getting hot.

"No matter what I tell you," Orochimaru said. "You're not strong enough to protect Kushina Uzumaki from me. Or from anyone else that may want what's inside of her."

Kakashi's hand went immediately to the siphon's controls, and he switched it on to the highest setting he could. Orochimaru's scream was primal. The sound filled Kakashi's ears, and he savored every second. The Sannin shook violently and the restraints holding him rattled. Blood was welling up from his mouth. He was dying. Quickly.

Stop, Kakashi...

He sharply exhaled and lowered the absorption rate back down to a pacifying level. The machine's hum was a whisper. Blood pooled at Orochimaru's feet and painted his tattered grey gown a sickly crimson. His breaths were labored but he was strong enough to lift his head and stare at Kakashi.

Then, he cackled.

All the ANBU captain could do was watch and listen to him until he finished, grinning through blood-covered teeth. "I will let you in on a few secrets, Kakashi Hatake. There is no one in this village powerful enough to stop what's coming. I will not die in this cell and when I am finally freed from this prison, I am going to take my time surgically picking you apart so that there's nothing left to bury next to the teammates you've killed. You have always failed to protect those you care about and this will be no different."

"I could just kill you now and deal with the consequences," Kakashi replied coldly. He imagined being arrested and imprisoned himself. Or killed. "How does that sound to you?"

"It sounds like you've spent too much time around your ninken, barking when there's a muzzle on you. You can't do anything to me. You can't even act on the information I've given you because I know you're not supposed to be here, boy."

Kakashi was frozen in place. Orochimaru was right. What could he do? Confirm to the Hokage that he'd used a perjured letter in order to talk to a criminal held in a top-secret prison that he shouldn't have even known existed? Or that he continued to press and issue that he had been all but been ordered to abandon? Anko had been right. Everything Orochimaru had said, no matter how useful a warning it'd be to the Hokage, had been nothing he hadn't wanted to say. And now, Kakashi was burdened with the knowledge that something was coming to threaten Konoha and free this monster.

You're the rat now, he thought bitterly. Stuck in a trap with no way of escaping except chewing off your own leg. Or letting the snake swallow you whole.

It was as if Orochimaru could sense his realization because he laughed. Kakashi could hear his laughter even when he reset the chakra absorption back to its normal rate. He could hear it echoing off the walls as he headed back towards the elevator and began his ascent. He was also sure that he'd hear it when he finally made it back home, defeated.

What can I do? He thought. What can I do?