Summary: Danzo should have never crossed her path. Now he was facing Repercussions for it.
A/N(Timeline): Set between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Before the second Chunin exams.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just the idea.
Repercussions
Danzo Shimura should have never crossed her path, at all.
Now he was facing repercussions for it, and it was all because he couldn't mind his own god damned business.
It all started a week ago, when Tsunade was in her office working on the seemingly endless paperwork. There was a knock on the door and then it swung open without her permission. Shizune walked in, with another stack of papers and dumped them all on the Hokage's desk. Tsunade groaned.
"Are you trying to kill me with paperwork, Shizune?" She glared at her apprentice turned assistance, who merely shrugged, used to be on the receiving end of that look.
"You won't be overloaded if you don't procrastinate in the first place, Lady Hokage" She then smiled a sweet smile "Plus, these are really important mission reports that you need to check and then we have to pass-on report of that to the feudal lord of land of fire." She reminded making Tsunade groan out loud and slum in her chair.
It's not even been a whole year since she took over the Hokage office and ever since the first day she is swamped with paperwork, paperwork and only paperwork. And she was tired of it all!
Okay, so that wasn't all she had been doing. The initial few months had been a bit more exciting because of a certain knucklehead unpredictable ninja; who for god-knows-what reason calls her granny; was present in the village, there was never a dull moment with him around. But since he left the village to undergo special training with her once-teammate Jiraiya, things have turned monotonous.
The only fun she gets now is if Team Gai is to be sent on missions, the youthful teacher-student duo always provides her entertainment. Or when she assigns Team Asuma a peculiarly troublesome assignment, and since a certain lazy shinobi have been captaining them for a while now – his reactions during the debriefing are generally so priceless, she even bets what his reaction would be and wins them easily. Then there are those small get togethers she arranges with the ladies, Kurenai is generally the one to host them – but those are also few and far in between.
And now she also has a young kunoichi as her apprentice, who is showing more and more promise as they advance with their training. So, her time off is limited, to put it simply.
That is one of the major reasons why she was surprised when a cat masked Anbu materialised in her office out of nowhere, when she had not called.
"What is it cat?" She asked, instantly straightening up. Such occasions only spelt trouble all over them. Was it some infiltration? Did Akatsuki made their move already? Won't be a surprise, Uchiha Itachi and Kisame had already tried once, they may have again. Are they causing trouble in the village, to civilians? All thoughts rushed through her mind in mere seconds as the Anbu bowed and offered his greetings.
"Lady Hokage, I've got some information for you" He said and then forwarded her a scroll, she raised an eyebrow and took the scroll to read it. As she glanced through the contents, her eyes grew wider and wider. She looked at the Anbu with fire in her eyes
"Who had asked to look into this?" She asked, not angry at the initiative but the information she just received.
"It was Kakashi sir who had asked to keep an eye, though he did not exactly tell to go in deep – one thing led to another and I stumbled across this. Since he is out on mission, I thought to let you know about it" The cat Anbu replied.
"Very well. Keep low for a while, we don't want them tracking you for this. Dismissed." The Anbu disappeared the next second.
Tsunade got up from her chair, her eyes once again scanning the contents of the scroll and gritted her teeth. She turned around to face the village, thinking her next course of action.
"Shizune!" She called her assistance "Get me Nara" she ordered
"Which one?" Shizune asked, not wanting to call the wrong Nara – again.
"Whichever you first get the hold off. This is utmost important." Tsunade barked out, not in mood to waste any more time. Many possibilities already running through her mind.
"Yes ma'am." Shizune hurried out of the office to locate the father-son duo and call whoever was available.
Thirty minutes late, there was a knock on Tsunade's door.
"Come in" She said, hands folded and chin resting upon then, she was deep in thoughts. The door opened and a slouched boy entered, he yawned as he stepped in and looked not at all interested to be there.
"Took you long enough" Tsunade sighed, she will have to do with the younger Nara for this one it seems.
"Well, considering I came from a very troublesome assignment just this morning and got only like 3 hours of sleep; I did say I've made it quite quickly" He stuffed his hands in his pockets, making Tsunade want to pull out her hairs – how much unmotivated can a shinobi be?
"And considering the situation, I had no other option. It just happens you are present in village and not your dad." She explained
"What a pain" He muttered
"I've got a very important mission for you. But keep this in mind – the secrecy of this one is utmost important; one wrong word out – it may cause chaos in the whole village"
"So, this mission is in village only?"
"Yes" She then pushed the scroll towards him, he took it and read its content while Tsunade continued "Seems Kakashi had caught wind of something and called a silent snooping around. The results are those"
"That Kakashi sensei, his intuitions are always spot-on. This could really put the whole village in frenzy."
"I want you to find a way to stop this. Gather a team of those only who you can trust. Be careful though, no one should know what you are looking into. Use all resources you want, but this is to be stopped at all cost."
"This is sure to turn into a very troublesome mission, but consider it done"
"I'm to be updated at every step of it. And no going off on your own – neither you nor your teammates" Tsunade reminded at which he rolled his eyes, she always reminds him of his first failed mission.
"Yeah yeah"
And he left the Hokage's office, pocketing the scroll; already thinking about ways to get things straight.
"Lady Tsunade, are you sure it's okay to leave it to him?" Shizune asked. "I mean, he doesn't seem too enthusiastic about it -"
"Shizune" Tsunade stopped her "This isn't the first time you've seen him receive a mission. By now you should know that guy is something else."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade, just the village is at stake this time, so -"
"Don't worry about it. He is going to regret even thinking of this when I'm the Hokage." Tsunade smiled "Shikamaru will make sure of it."
He looked at the gathered genin's in the BBQ restaurant. He was told to gather the Shinobi he trusted, not the high skilled ones, so they should do just fine. They might not be high-skilled, but they were skilled enough for this mission. As the last one had entered, he told the owner lady to close the door – he had already booked the whole place. What some might call unnecessary and over-the-top action, the reason for it was simple in his mind – a group of 10 ninja's gathering in a village without any mission was unheard of, so a nice group lunch was the best way to hide in plain sight. Plus, this is least Lady Hokage could cover for all the trouble she puts him through.
He stood up and cleared his throat calling everyone's attention. The light chatter instantly stopped and they all looked at him, some had already figured out this was more than just a lunch.
"I hope you have not mentioned it to anyone as I told you earlier; this is an unofficial mission, but it just might fit somewhere between A to S rank one." He swept over them once. Nine shinobi in total, excluding him. The whole of Konoha eleven were present, except Naruto. "I'll explain the details over the lunch"
As if on cue, the lady brought their regular order and the and they began their lunch.
"So, what is this all about" Neji asked.
"Seriously! What is it that made you spend so much?" Kiba asked, helping himself to some meat
"Yeah, I mean booking a whole restaurant, didn't you go a bit overboard here?" Sakura asked
"It's a drag, but we had to be as much inconspicuous as possible" He replied "And as far why we have gathered, I told you we have a mission." He continued eating while everyone looked at him expectedly, waiting for him to continue.
"Get on with it already Shikamaru! What do we have to do? We will complete it within minutes with our power of youth" Lee exclaimed, making Tenten roll her eyes.
"Everyone, pay attention, I'm going to explain this only once." The atmosphere suddenly turned ten times more serious. Even Chouji stopped scuffing down his meals to pay attention, one thing clear in his mind – when Shikamaru asks to pay attention, it much more serious that what seems
"We all know Naruto is out training with Legendary Sannin Lord Jiraiya, he was targeted by an Organization of Rouge Ninjas – Akatsuki. So, now his training is specifically to make him stronger to defend himself and also to keep them away from him. While that is being handled, and we all are trying our best to defend our village while he is away; there has arose a situation where we need to take action and stop it." He looked at each and everyone. "So, here's the deal. We all know that there are two operatives of Anbu Black Ops in our village – one that is directly under Hokage and other work from shadows called Root."
"I have not directly come in contact with any of those; but I've heard of them. Because, I have a sort of brother who has some connection to them" Shino told the others
"They are very skilled and they don't mix-up with civilians, most don't know about them. I'm not going to go in details of how they function, that's not our problem; our problem is the one who handles them."
"Who handles them?" Ino asked.
"Danzo Shimura" Shikamaru answered "Kakashi Sensei had a hunch something was off and he called a secret investigation on that matter – the Anbu who found about this is laying low for now."
"And what is this that is so wrong?" Tenten asked raising an eyebrow.
"Things are heating up outside, and so to protect the village; he has made plans to seal the village borders, restricting the interclan interaction and imposing code red on village. He suspects that there is someone from this village who is aiding the Akatsuki. He also is going to bring Naruto back and keep him containment for as long as needed. And so, he wants to eliminate the cause and connection both."
The seriousness of the situation loomed over everyone. This could cause so much chaos and fear amongst the citizens.
"But why Naruto?" Hinata asked, not understanding the reason why Naruto was the one to keep in containment.
"Growing up, why was Naruto shunned by everyone?" Shikamaru asked, answering her question without stating the words.
"So, what do we do? Shouldn't the lady Hokage do something about it?" Kiba asked
"This is the best she could do; her hands are tied by the autonomy given to Danzo by the Third." He explained.
"So, she can't meddle with his way of protecting the village?" Chouji asked
"No"
"How are we going on about it? Because this isn't actually a crime" Neji reminded
"I know and so all we can do is stop from this plan to fall into action. First, we have to look deeper into this matter, who is involved and till what extent is the plan ready. And then we have to gauge the estimated time when he is going to incorporate it. And expose him."
And so, for the rest of the lunch they devised a plan to infiltrate the Root HQ.
Later the next night, a group of four – including Neji, Hinata, Kiba and Shino; positioned themselves at the four ends of the Root HQ; while Shikamaru was stationed a few blocks away in a scheduled place. They all had wireless radio devices to communicate amongst themselves.
"You are up, Neji and team" Shikamaru said receiving a positive response.
"Lady Hinata, please keep a look on all the chakra signatures entering or leaving the base and also around us. Kiba, pick up any scents you can and try to figure out the best way with least people on the way. Shino, get your bugs to go as inside as possible, that combined with my Byakugan we will map the inside and locate the best path to infiltrate; also check where Danzo's office is" Neji instructed and activated his Byakugan.
For next thirty minutes, they kept assessing the Root grounds. Neji's Byakugan mapping the routs to go in and out of the base and searching for the heart of the HQ. Shino's parasitic insects were the farthest to enter the base; locating the rooms, laboratories, living quarters and the head office. Kiba and Akamaru were able to count the number of Anbu to enter or leave from each entrance, picking up the faintest scent; while Hinata made sure they were free of any danger, all the while keeping a count on number of operatives present in the base. A sudden moment caused her to freeze.
"Shino! Two figures approaching your spot from north north-east." She informed in a rush "And brother Neji -"
"Yeah, I know. It seems they are onto us" Neji said "Everyone Scatter!" He ordered and at once all of them left their post and scattered in four different directions. Kiba and Hinata were not being followed, but Shino and Neji were. They couldn't use their signature moves, it would have been a dead giveaway which clan they actually belonged and that would have further caused more trouble. So, their only option was to out-run them; which wasn't an easy task considering the Root Anbu were specialised in pursuit and tracking.
Neji fled to the market place, a crowded area which would make tracking his chakra signature difficult to detect. And Shino took to the mountains, the terrain giving him an advantage as he knew them like the back of his hand after all the training he had done. It took him a while, but he was successful in losing the Anbu.
Another Fifty minutes later they all gathered in the Hokage tower, one by one entering after different time-intervals. Shizune was there to receive them all, directing them to the lone room at the end of hallway on the same floor as Hokage's office. The Fifth was already waiting for them, true to her words – she wanted all the small-big details of this mission.
Shino was the last to enter as he had ventured the farthest away trying to lose his pursuers.
"So, what's the outcome" Tsunade asked the scouting squad.
Shikamaru pulled-up a white board from behind the desk and handed the charge to Neji; Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata and Shino took his side. All others surrounding them.
"We were to scout the Root HQ and find the best possible path for the infiltration squad to get in." He roughly drew a layout of the outside HQ on the board. "Kiba" He handed the marker to him, asking to further explain.
"We were to check the entrances, with Akamaru and my sharp noses we successfully detected how many of the operatives enter and leave from which gate" He put five blocks on the layout marking the entrances "It looks like there are only four entrances from outside, but there was a lingering scent just between entrance 3 and 4, which is a secret get away." He circled the said entrance and marked it number 5 "The other four are something most of the Anbu use. All are equally used, No specific people allocated, the scents are mixed. But -" he looked at all and then emphasized on the fifth gate "This one is special – there were very few scents that were lingering there, supposedly not regularly used. But along with human scents, we were able to detect animal scents – more specifically messenger eagle scents." He explained
"So, that means there is secret messenger eagle being used to communicate. This contact must be with someone the Village won't be too keen on having ties with. Otherwise, there is no reason for keeping this a secret." Shikamaru was thinking, all sorts of individuals that anyone from village should not be in contact with.
"That's right. Because, that entrance is not in the layout present with us." Tsunade said, Shizune forwarded the HQ layout she had dug up from the Third's document rack. "Next" Tsunade compared the two layouts and asked them to continue.
"Lady Hinata" Neji motioned her to continue.
"Yes" She took the marker from Kiba and marked the general areas she had detected the chakra signatures "There were 19 operatives throughout the base, but my guess is some of them were out on mission so we might not have an actual count. Most seem to be lingering in the Living quarters at the base floor, but there were a few – around 3 of them on underground floor. The top floors seemed vacant. Also, there were eight Anbu stationed outside the HQ as guards, completely hiding and supressing their chakra – if not for my Byakugan, it would have been difficult to find them out."
"Why would the top floors be vacant? Isn't the main office there?" Sakura asked confused, pointing at the map on Tsunade's lap for the supposed head office.
"That's the thing" Neji said as he took the marker from Hinata and drew the lines that indicated the best path to be taken. But what surprised the most was that his path led to the underground facility rather than the upper floor towards the supposed office. "I was a bit put off at first when I couldn't detect any chakra signatures on the top floor – this office was completely bare, which could also have meant that no one was there at that moment; but then I found the presence of strong chakra in this underground room and looked more into it." He motioned his marker to the two rooms as he explained them, the tip of his marker resting on the underground room "Here I found Danzo and around were many questionable stuff – like some experiments"
"Indeed." Shino said as he overtook the explanation "The Root seem to have something much more serious going on than what it seems. Because, my insects found there were research laboratories in the base floor and only a few having access to that part. There is tight security around those levels, requiring password to enter. There is no other way in."
"Considering all this, infiltrating the HQ is seemingly impossible" Neji added
"But you figured out a way in, didn't you?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow. There was no way Neji would come back without finding a solution.
"That I did" he smirked.
It took them two days to lay out the infiltration plan. It was time consuming, but if implemented correctly and at the right time with everyone playing their role perfectly – the plan was deemed to be successful.
They first located the Anbu that came out of the HQ who also had access to the underground floor; apart from Danzo there were only four who had access to that floor – all skilled Ninjas, so locating one of them seemed almost impossible. But Shino and Neji, stationed on the outskirts of the base for more than 20 hours were finally able to pinpoint an Anbu who had clearance and Shino's parasitic insect took refuge on the Anbu. They would keep following the Anbu till the time would come for him to return to the main office, giving away the password.
Earlier that day Tsunade asked for council meet regarding a very important matter, the alliance with other villages and asked the council members who else could have a better insight; their answer was of course the Root Leader – Danzo. So, The next step included Sakura to visit Danzo and deliver him the message about the meeting with Hokage and the council.
It was unusual for Tsunade to seek advice from the village elders and even more suspicious for her to agree having Danzo involved and therefore she chose a topic that would need their interference as she was unaware of most alliances Leaf had. The only strong ally that she could count on at that time was Sand, and that too because the tragedy both the Villages faced with a common nemesis – Orochimaru.
At the gate of Root HQ, Sakura was not permitted to enter right away; the guard Anbu stating that 'Lady Hokage could have sent one of the routine Anbu as no one else was allowed to enter, Ninjas or not'. To which Sakura had patiently explained that she was the only available person at Hokage's aid, all other Anbu were off on missions. Which was completely true. Shizune had made sure of it. She even refused to hand over the message scroll to anyone but Danzo. Reluctantly Anbu agreed, as everyone knew that she was Lady Hokage's new apprentice; but not without confirming with Danzo himself. Danzo met her at the base floor, took the scroll, read it once and turned to leave; not even uttering a single word.
Meanwhile, Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru kept tab on who entered and left through the fifth gate and how frequently. Sniffed out any traps or Chakra sensor. They found that it indeed detected Chakra of all the incoming and outgoing Anbu, the frequency of them was low. The loophole though was that, the system could be shut down from inside.
Now they had to wait and grab their chance.
The meeting was held two days later, for which another set of plans was already in motion.
Shino was surveying their marked Anbu as he returned back to the village form a mission, the pale skinned Anbu sensed something was off but didn't dwell upon it much and chalked it off as unnecessary feeling. When he was a bit away from the HQ gate, ready to lurk in through the fifth gate, a sudden sensation ran through him and things went blank; his body though did not crumble to the ground.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu, successful"
Ino smirked and put on a blank face behind the mask as she approached the fifth gate. Retina scan was done and Chakra signature was check, after which the gate opened and she was able to enter without any problem. She reported to Danzo with the scroll already present with the Anbu, Danzo was pleased when he read through the report.
An hour later, Danzo left for his meeting with Hokage; leaving Mind transferred Ino as in-charge of the base. She was about to venture out, to take their plan forward when someone called her
"Rat" The voice said, Ino turned around to find an orange haired Anbu make his way towards her. "Who exactly are you?" He asked
"What is with that question?" Ino answered, not knowing whether her answering tone was right or not, she regrated not accompanying Shino to get look into this Anbu's personality
"Answer my question. What is your identity?" He asked
"I am Rat as you called me earlier" She said the first thing that came to her mind
"Very well" The orange hair Anbu nodded "I felt an uncertain vibe coming from you, like someone else was present in your place. Don't mind it" He added
"Plausible" Ino nodded, trying to keep the conversation short and escape. If she wastes any more time, their whole plan will spiral down. So, she turns around and makes her way towards what's supposed to be living quarters according the map she memorised.
As if on cue, there was commotion from the second gate. The orange haired Anbu quicky rushing to the entrance.
Seizing the opportunity, Ino did a 180 degree turn and made her way to the fifth gate she came in from more than an hour ago. She fiddled with the controls by the door and found a switch; quickly turning it off. Shikamaru and Tenten flew in from the nearby trees that they were occupying, dressed in Anbu attire covering their faces with masks.
They had set 5 seconds to infiltrate at max. Shikamaru knew the Root was a very secretive organization and that they would have all sorts of defence mechanism set right on spot. So, he guessed they would also consider the fact that the scanners could be turned off from inside and if a situation arises where they would encounter a mole in their ranks, traps like this would sniff them out easily. It was a simple technique, turn off the scanners and detectors and if they are not turned back in predefined few seconds of time, the alarm would go off notifying every one of the infiltrations. And since they did not know the exact duration for the mechanism to kick start the alarm after turning off the switch, they assumed the least amount of time – 5 seconds.
But Shikamaru and Tenten were skilled ninjas, thus it took them only 2 seconds to enter and activate the whole system in next 2 seconds.
Outside, a human boulder hit the grounds not too far from the second gate of Root HQ followed by a green beast wildly swinging arms and legs. The two were followed by Hinata looking disturbed and trying her best to break the two apart but nothing worked. The duelling duo kept going, destroying everything that came in their way. Lee went as far as opening the sixth inner gate, View Gate as he charged at Chouji who used Expansion Jutsu. With the two power-house colliding, the Root Anbu had no other option but to step in and stop the duo. It took them a lot more time than originally expected; but at last, they were successful in separating the two.
Hinata profoundly apologized the two Anbu who had actually stepped in, while others watched from around them. She hastily explained they were training when an offhand comment was passed and then things went down the hill from there on, the two had caused a significant amount of damage to the surrounding area and somehow ended up causing them trouble. She noticed one Anbu leave the branch to validate her statement and return in few minutes or so. Once he gave a subtle nod to the one, she was talking to, they were allowed to leave.
15 minutes, they were able to stall for 15 minutes. Hopefully the other had managed their task in that amount of time.
It took the infiltration team 3 minutes to reach the underground base, where Ino entered the code Shino had managed to obtain from his task. As soon as the door beeped open, the three entered the small hallway. There were five rooms, two on each side and one at the end of hallway. Nodding to each other, they all took different rooms and started to gather as much intel as they could.
Shikamaru went straight to the main office where Danzo was supposed to be working. The office looked normal but was heavily guarded with every drawer of every cabinet secured with a lock. The key was nowhere to be found. So, he did the next best thing he could; he squirmed through the documents that were present on the desk. Nothing important was found. He sighed, he hated restoring to such tricks but it seemed he had no other option. He carefully looked around to see if he could find any other thing, but he was running low on time. And thus, he picked the lock; something he learned from Asuma – he never questioned his mentor where he learned it from, that was none of his concern. He opened the most convenient drawer one would use to keep highly classified documents, the lowermost drawer. And he did find tons of things. He was sure not even the Root members were aware of half of these things.
What Tenten found seemed to be archive of some sorts. There were many files and folders lined one after another on numerous racks. As she briefly glanced through them, she quickly realised they were Forbidden Jutsu's of the clans from all five nations. That wasn't suspicious to her at all, one needed to know what's the worst thing the enemy could throw at them. She was about to dismiss it and close the file she was currently holding when she glanced at the second page and froze. Hurriedly, she took another file only to find it repeating the same as the previous one. She then proceeded to check the farthest row, having folders different from the previous rack, as she collected more evidence, she found a sense of dread wash over her.
Ino had entered a Lab, only because it needed retina scan and she was the only one who could enter amongst the three with the Anbu body. The first thing she came across after entering the lab was a series of decaying organs that were neatly stored in liquids in a jar around the shelf. The base of the jar contained their name, nationality and kekkei genkai. She quickly turned her attention away from them, she might be starting to train to be a Medic Ninja but she was still not used to blood and bare organs and all. She made her way through a few files sprawled across the counter and then checked surrounding. Seven minutes later she exited the lap barely able to hold the nauseating feeling that had started to come over her.
Things were running very smoothly for them, Tenten and Shikamaru had joined Ino in the narrow hallway not long after she had come out. She had almost forgot to take evidence to prove her point, but somehow, she managed. But not all the things go as planned.
They were about to turn and sneak out the way they came in, but were frozen in their tracks
"I knew something was up the second I saw you" The voice called. The three turned and saw another Anbu by their escape route. Ino mentally cursed for not being able to fend off the Anbu from before more efficiently.
The wheels in Shikamaru's head started to turn and automatically started to decide with escape strategy would be best fitted. According to their calculation there were supposed to be 19 Anbu operatives in Root; one of which is under their control – thus 18 remaining. There were only three of them, the odds were against them, if they tried to make their way out with force; they would be outnumbered easily. He did not want to cause any casualties, not on their side or the Anbu – they were all comrades in a way. So, the best way out of here was diversion and a decoy.
He nodded to both Tenten and Ino, flashing them three fingers who were quick to understand and ready to apply their backup plan. Of course, they had a backup plan, Shikamaru would never go into any mission without analysing all contingent situations. He had promised he would get it right.
After the cue, Tenten took out her scrolls and with a loud poof summoned a heavy metal chain mace. She swung it towards the ceiling and then created a blast with the paper bombs that covered the surface. As a result, there was a massive hole in the ceiling. Such big explosion of course caught attention of other. Ino, Shikamaru and Tenten quickly jumped out of the hole; Tenten rushing towards another farthest wall to repeat the same. Ino tossed her the evidence bag she had collected from the lab earlier and then released her Mind Transfer Jutsu, the Anbu from before collapsing on the ground, having no idea what was exactly going on. Root Anbu who had rushed in after the blast found him lying on the ground and ceased him there itself, two of them following the path Tenten took – only they set of one of her traps she had put together; and they were drowned into sluggish fluid unable escape.
Shikamaru though went the other way from the two, the newly arrived Anbu on his trail. He evaded their jutsu and rushed to the top floors, he had attention of most of them. Three had went after the other two and he was being followed by another five. He took any turn he could think of and entered one of the hallways with lots of door. He opened one of the doors, checked for its safety and a window; when he was sure it was safe and had a window, he entered and closed the door behind him. He then used his shadow possession, slipped his shadow out of the door and latched the door as it was before he entered. He waited another ten minutes in the dark room, listening the chaos in the hallway and outside die out. He then climbed out of the window and made his way into the woods.
He made his way to the tower, their rendezvous point and met with Ino and Tenten at the top of the Hokage tower. Shizune was waiting for them, as soon as all three of them gathered she went to get Tsunade.
One by one everyone else started to join the three atop the tower, all looking in anticipation when the Hokage made her presence.
"There was a distress message Danzo received not 10 minutes ago." She started as she looked at the three "So I assume the mission went well?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage" Shikamaru nodded and removed his mask, Tenten and Ino following.
"Alright! We will have him exposed now. I have managed to hold him back for some time." Saying so, Tsunade made her way to where the council members were present. "Keep your identities hidden" She ordered. Shikamaru, Ino and Tenten following through that.
The rest had followed Shizune, who had made arrangements for them to be able to hear in without the Elders or Danzo finding out they were involved.
When Tsunade entered with the three Anbu following her, the elders were confused while Danzo had already made connection.
"What kind of behaviour is this, Princess Tsunade" He asked in the most detached tone, yet his voice contained a kind of authority that demanded to be acknowledged.
"We have some revelations just a few moments ago and I would like for all of you to know about them." She said, a small smirk making its way on her lips. She motioned for the group to start with their report.
"Our mission was to make sure there is no harm done to the Hidden Leaf form inside the borders. After we received an intel on some suspicious activities undergoing to the north of the village, we had to step in and have a look ourselves" Shikamaru briefly explained. The two elders looked at one another, still not catching where this was going and why was this suddenly brought up in middle of their meeting about their alliance. But Danzo knew what they were talking about, the only thing he did not know was how deep were they able to dig.
"I found a few documents with rare kekkei genkai users and the forbidden jutsu of clans. It stated that the users of the said jutsu or type were eliminated as missions by Root. Their family secrets were then stored." Tenten started. She produced a few documents that she had found in the archive "The reports stated their deaths were seemingly normal but real reasons were successfully hidden. Most of these were freshly passed out Academy Students having inherited the rare kekkei genkai or Jutsu." She then produced another file "This one states the methods those kekkei genkai could be implanted into someone born without them. Experiments conducted for the same; all were unsuccessful, resulting in documented 206 deaths."
"Why would Root do such a thing, Lord Danzo" Tsunade asked, her voice cold as ice and eyes glaring daggers at the man in front of her.
"You should not interfere into matters that you have no connection to, Princess Tsunade" Danzo said
"He is right" Koharu spoke, Tsunade's intentions clear as day to her now.
"Sometimes harsh measures had to be taken when maintaining the peace within the village, Danzo has been doing the same for years now" Homura added, seeing nothing wrong with what Danzo had been up to.
"Mm… Right" Tsunade rolled her eyes at the three, she will get her point across. "Next" She now fixed all three of them with a hard glare
"I was able to have a look into one of the labs" Ino said and then presented the two containers on the table beside the folders Tenten had presented.
"Where did you get that from!" Danzo lost his cool for a second when he saw an eyeball container placed in front of him. That lab was only accessible to him and two other men of his that he very well trusted, it was impossible to get into that.
"Sharingan! How did you get your hands on it?" Tsunade was also shocked to see the eye. The Uchiha massacre was a sore spot for all of Hidden Leaf. To lose an entire clan with only one survivor was a tragedy no one could forget in their lifetime. As she read the markings on the second container, her anger shot out. Her fist collided with the table rattling all the objects. "Why do you have my grandfather's cells!" She growled at him.
Tsunade was a Medical Ninja, she knew the importance of her precedes cells and the power they hold. She also knew her former teammate had somehow acquired a part of those cells and had been experimenting on them; but then he was caught and he went rouge soon after and those experiments stopped. So, now she was not just going to sit and let them be experimented on again!
"It is for better evolution of out further generations; they could help in improving the quality of shinobi Leaf will have in future." Danzo answered, completely ignoring the inquiry about the Uchiha doujutsu.
"Princess Tsunade, what is the meaning of all this? What are you trying to prove?" Homura asked.
"A routine surveillance" Tsunade gritted her teeth, wanting to so badly pounce on the stoic looking man in front of her.
"There was no routine to this, do not start something without consulting the -" Koharu started to say but Tsunade cut her off
"Don't even play that card on me! I am the Hokage now, I will decide how to run the village and council." She glared the elder "Next!" She exclaimed, wanting to get done with this now, she had a few ideas already running through her mind.
"I was able to enter the main office but most of the drawers were locked" Shikamaru started. He noticed the ever-slight change on Danzo's face that looked like a smug look. "But I was able to get past them easily" The smug look flattered as soon as it came; that made Shikamaru smirk.
"There were many documents present, a few very shocking" He forwarded a stamped scroll "This is release approval of an S rank criminal from Hozuki Castle. Root have approved his release without any solid reason as to why"
"Why is Leaf Anbu aiding some criminal to be excused?" Tsunade asked Danzo who again gave the same answer
"I am not bound to answer you, Princess Tsunade" He said
Mentally rolling his eyes, Shikamaru put forth another letter "This is a letter from some unknown source apologizing for not successfully carrying out the thirds assassination."
"Sarutobi Sensei's assassination!" Tsunade exclaimed, her anger growing by every passing second.
"Yes, Lady Hokage." Shikamaru continued as he piled the stack of growing documents with yet another letter. "This one has address of Hidden Sound, that was never delivered. It's dated a few days before our Chunin exams" Shikamaru knew that meant Root was in contact with Orochimaru before he attacked, but he chose not to right out state it. "And this one lady Hokage -" He placed the last two papers he was holding "This contains the plan to declare Code Red, detain all civilians and seal the village borders. These also contain an elaborate mention of overthrow of power to seize the opportunity to obtain ultimate law and order – whatever that meant." Again, Shikamaru knew the implications, they were planning to overtake the Hokage's seat and implement their plans because there's no way Lady Tsunade would ever agree to something like this; but he did not put it in exact words instead recited as it was stated.
There was also a mention of how they would seal Naruto away in a no-contact place; but he chose not to point that out. Naruto had fox-spirit inside him that tried to destroy their village around 14 years ago, mentioning that would make Danzo's intentions reasonable. But he won't stand Naruto being treated like that again, even if he had to omit a few details.
"It is what is best for the village." Danzo started "As mentioned earlier, I have been maintaining the peace in village from shadows. For that, sometimes harsh measures have to be taken. All I ever want is the safety of the Village and I have done everything to attain it, some of them are not so good deeds; but it kept the village safe so far" He stood up, seemingly done with the whole discussion. He would have to overlook all of their security measured carefully and increase their guard, too much information was leaked – though he was glad there was still a considerable amount that was still not out.
"I would appreciate if you would stop poking your nose in my business, Princess Tsunade" He turned around and said "Hiruzen gave me complete authority over the Root. This does not concern you; any further meddling will be considered as an act of treason and be liable to punishment." He stated
"Wait" Tsunade said. She was done with this bullshit. "I respect Sarutobi Sensei and he had faith in you and that is the only reason I am not taking any sever actions against you. The whole trying to protect the village from shadows is good and all; but you have done enough of your share." She spoke
"Princess Tsunade, you cannot take any arbitrary decisions -" Koharu started but was again cut off by Tsunade
"Shut up" She glared at the elder for a few seconds and turned her attention back Danzo
"I have reviewed the report of Root surveillance and it has come to my notice that there were many illegal and unethical tasks that had been undertaken by the Root. Hidden Leaf does not support such act and so, I – the Fifth Hokage, hereby announce Danzo Shimura to be relieved of his duty as Root Head and be put under House-arrest until further notice. The Root would be disintegrated till further notice. And since the elder council members Koharu and Homura were aware of the activities taking place in Root and still did not do anything about it – consider this a warning; next time there won't be any advisors to form a council."
"Princess Tsunade, you have no right to -" Danzo started, trying to gain a semblance of control of the spiralling down situation, but Tsunade was in no mood to listen. She held up her hand to stop him.
"This are the Hokage's orders; trying to defy them would be considered as an act of treason and be liable to punishment." She said, using his words from a few minutes ago. Danzo face turned grave and he glared at the Hokage with one eye; but she did not back down, it was never in her nature to put up with bullshit or tolerate any nonsense. He had it coming for some time now.
"Dismissed." She announced and then stormed out of the Council Hall to her office. The three masked Anbu following right behind her. Both elders soon followed, sighing.
Danzo knew he should have never crossed her path, at all. She was always hot tempered and had time and again shown she belongs to Senju clan.
Now he was facing repercussions for it. He lost the only opportunity to seize the Hokage seat and he also lost his hold on the Anbu Root Division. And it was all because he couldn't mind his own god damned business and tried to take control from her. But the situation was ideal and he had everything covered, the only mistake he made was not considering the possibility of someone infiltrating the Root base. It had happened once; Hatake had managed to expose the wood-style user; but he had since then made sure the base was impermissible. Seems Tsunade had found someone shrewd in her ranks.
He began to formulate another plan of how he could get back his position; after all someone had to do the dirty work for the sake of the village. He will accept his defeat this once, but next time he would succeed.
Unknown to him, there were ten teens who were celebrating their accomplished mission. The same teen who would protect the village and its future in the coming future, without restoring to the darker means.
A/N: Danzo was shown in house arrest during the second chunin exam arc, so I created a small backstory for it. After than he somehow managed to get his position back, thus him being in charge of Root again at the start of Shippuden.
Fin!
