The pain came first. It throbbed at the back of his skull, which felt itchy and tight with dried blood. Kakashi felt no chakra signatures around him, and so he dared to open his one eye. The room was empty, save for the cot Kakashi was lying on and a few other unused beds. It resembled the ANBU dormitories, where agents sometimes slept after missions if they were too physically exhausted or too mentally unstable to return home. Kakashi, however, knew he was not with the ANBU.
This was ROOT. He was sure of it.
He sat up, swinging his tiny legs off the bed. Not for the first time, he cursed this little body. What he wouldn't give for his grown capabilities! It would help him little now, in a compound filled with ROOT agents, but it could have saved his hide earlier.
Gingerly, Kakashi touched the back of his head and winced. It was sore and tender, and he could feel small clumps of dried blood.
He definitely needed to stop pushing his luck, but he had to get out of here somehow. He doubted that Danzo was very pleased with this sudden turn of events, especially considering how suddenly it all happened. There had been no one following him until today. Had the incident at the Forest of Death caught Danzo's attention? That was the only notable incident that Kakashi could think of.
A chakra signature approached, and Kakashi tensed, eyeing the door to the room. The signature paused in front of it before opening. The woman wore an ANBU mask.
"Hatake Kakashi. Follow me."
Kakashi knew that he was at a disadvantage and thus didn't try to fight. He hopped off his cot and trudged after the agent. She led him down a sterile, empty hall before stopping at another door. If she had been dumb enough to leave her back turned to him, he would have snapped her neck, but it seemed she wasn't an idiot after all.
"Go."
She pushed him into the room, which looked like an examination room at the hospital, only it lacked the decor.
Kakashi stopped a couple feet into the room, turning to face the ROOT operative. "If you think I'm going to sit here and be some lab rat⎼"
She promptly shut the door.
Kakashi began looking for a weapon.
He hadn't had many weapons on him to begin with, but every shinobi secretly carries some small arsenal in case of emergency. That, however, disappeared while he was unconscious. So he searched the cabinets for the small medical tools typically kept there, but he was out of luck, naturally. More likely than not, this was a room to examine mentally unstable agents and anything deadly wouldn't be kept here.
Great. He was in the nuts ward.
The door, too, was a no-go. With enough time and energy, Kakashi knew he could chidori through it, but he had no way of knowing if there were traps or seals waiting for him on the other side.
That meant his only option was waiting for whoever was going to walk through that door next. And, Kami forbid, if some lunatic doctor came in trying to stick him, he would unleash hell.
He fucking hated hospitals.
Resigned to his fate, for now, Kakashi leaned against the side walls, arms crossed, head tilted down towards his feet. He used the quiet to meditate and focus, as well as do a bodily check-up.
Besides the back of his head, physically he was fine. His chakra system still felt shot and rancid, like it had been since he opened his left eye at the Forest of Death. Although he didn't show it, he was fatigued. The feeling was eerily familiar to chakra exhaustion, and he felt like he was dying from Pein's attacks all over again, and yet he wasn't bedridden and he certainly wasn't kicking the bucket. Not to mention, his left eye was incredibly sore and sensitive. When he'd opened it at the Forest of Death yesterday, agony like lightning shot through every nerve in his skull. Thankfully, that blazing inferno died down to a slightly more bearable burning.
Kakashi could sleep for a week, but he didn't, because it would just make his teammates worry.
He scoffed. Getting kidnapped by ROOT was certainly making them worry more than if he just slept a lot more. That he could try to pass off as growth spurts, even if he wasn't growing. This? He would be lucky to get out of this alive, especially because he had absolutely no interest with working with Danzo.
Two chakra signatures approached – one Kakashi recognized as the woman from earlier and another that was new. The door opened, and the ANBU entered first, followed by a doctor.
The ANBU closed the door and stood in front of it. Kakashi eyed her and the doctor warily. The man was also wearing an ANBU mask, but everything about him made it obvious that he was no ANBU agent. Perhaps if Kakashi had not once been an agent of the organization himself, he would not have been able to distinguish a true ANBU from a fake.
"Sit down, please," the doctor asked. Kakashi didn't move. "Please," he repeated, "sit."
"What's your intention here?" Kakashi asked warily. The ANBU scoffed.
"That's none of your business. Do as you're told, brat, or else–"
The doctor waved the ANBU off. "Oh, no need for that. I'm not here to hurt you. I just need to do an examination."
"An examination?" Kakashi repeated. "Of what?"
"Your physical body, your chakra systems, your–"
The ANBU cut off the doctor. "He doesn't need to know all of that."
Damn, was she going to be such a nuisance this whole time? If he had to be here, he was going to wring it worth his time. No way would he let Danzo get all his information and leave Kakashi of all people in the dark. "I'll comply willingly if you share your results with me," the boy offered. "Otherwise you're going to need at least four more ANBU operatives to keep me down."
His bluff was considered by doctor and agent, the latter of whom resigned reluctantly. She probably knew just as well four was an exaggeration, but it would be a pain anyway, and anything more difficult than necessary was preferred to remain out in the field and not at home. So Kakashi got on the table, and the exam began.
The doctor began by checking over his body as is and found nothing wrong other than the injury on the back of his head. Next came the most interesting part: the chakra examination. A warm green glow filled the bleak room, and Kakashi was slapped in the face with the realization of how not Sakura that it was. He hadn't realized he'd become so accustomed to her soothing energy. Whereas hers felt like gently flowing water, filling and closing his wounds, the doctor's – like most ANBU medics' – felt like sandpaper, gripping the edges of his injuries and yanking them closed quickly and efficiently.
Nonetheless, Kakashi didn't complain, and his injury was sealed up before anything else. The doctor's chakra began to feel far more invasive, then, sinking deep into his chakra pathways and flowing like acid through them.
"This is… strange," the doctor mumbled. "I've never seen anything like this."
Kakashi and the ANBU waited expectantly for an elaboration, but the man gave none. The chakra moved through Kakashi's limbs and chest before reaching up towards his eye. Instinctively, he tensed, waiting for pain – and Kami did it come.
If the doctor's chakra felt like sandpaper before, it felt like a hot iron now. Pain exploded behind his eye, scraping and boiling and burning. Kakashi, however, did not cry out. He was trained better than that. But his whole body tensed, and he could not help his instinctual chakra flair in response. The doctor startled; the ANBU tensed. Immediately, the probing chakra vanished and the doctor glanced nervously between Kakashi and the ANBU.
The pain very, very slowly began to ebb away, but there was a stranger tingling within him. It was much quieter than the pain, but it was something new, and Kakashi latched onto it.
"Are you⎼" The doctor started. Kakashi cut him off.
"Do that again," the Hatake demanded.
"Again?" The man echoed. "But⎼"
"Do it again."
Perhaps the commanding ANBU leader and veteran Jonin in his voice came out, because even the ANBU seemed surprised and the doctor didn't question him. Reluctantly, the doctor lifted his hands to Kakashi's left eye, and the green glow filled the room once more.
The pain, which had barely faded, came back at full force. However, with the pain returned that odd sensation. It felt deeper than his nerves, as if in his chakra system, but it didn't feel as hollow as his system had been feeling as of late. Kakashi pushed through the pain, forcing himself to focus on that strange sensation. He latched onto it, as if he were gripping onto it, clutching it, pulling it to him. Faintly, he heard the doctor gasp, but he was too focused. The pain seemed to be giving away, like he was chipping away at a dam. What that dam contained, he didn't know, but instinct told him it needed to be removed.
Suddenly the doctor's chakra vanished. Kakashi jerked out of his trance with a soft gasp. His single eye zoned in immediately on the doctor, who looked out of breath.
"Open your left eye for me, please," the doctor requested.
Although Kakashi was still fighting insurmountable pain, he listened, cracking open his eye.
The ANBU inched closer, standing a couple feet from the doctor, both of whom looked at him with wide, stunned eyes. After a moment, the doctor reached into his pocket, fumbling until he pulled out a hand-sized mirror. Kakashi took it in both his hands, angling it towards his left eye.
Three tomoe spun lazily back at him, in a pale sea of red.
The Sharingan was very faint, oddly enough. His regular eye was still visible underneath it, like a strange shadow of Obito's Sharingan was placed over it.
"The fuck?" Kakashi whispered, gently touching the bone beneath his eye. He had known he experienced something like Obito's Sharingan in the Forest of Death yesterday, but he never actually had seen his eye like this before. By the time he had gotten to a mirror yesterday, his eye was too painful to open, let alone inspect.
He handed the mirror back to the doctor and waited expectantly. The ANBU was also waited, just as curious. Meanwhile, his left eye closed instinctively. His hands itched to pull his headband down over it, but that, too, was missing when he awoke.
"Well, I'll write up a more thorough report," the doctor started, "but you were absorbing my chakra quite… ferociously. It seems that your brain thinks you have a Sharingan ⎼ or, should have one, I suppose. It's funneling all available chakra to that eye, which explains why the rest of you is so depleted. Someone at your age, though, and not a Uchiha no less… you simply don't have the reserves for it."
He didn't have the reserves for a Sharingan when he was a fully-fledged Jonin with a Sharingan. Really, he could have told the doctor that he didn't have enough chakra to sustain this. Instead of dwelling, though, he shifted focus."What can I do?" Kakashi asked.
The doctor hummed, moving his weight to another leg. "I'm not sure what will happen if you build up the chakra that is needed. If this continues for too long, you'll suffer irreparable damage to both of your eyes, and I know you've already been showing signs of it, judging by your latest medical report."
Kakashi didn't answer that one. He was quite good at keeping secrets, and he didn't like that medic-nin could figure out what his Sensei could not.
"Theoretically, if you manage to build your reserves and satisfy your brain's unusual activity, there's the chance that your eye could either return to normal, or… you may possibly have a fully functioning Sharingan. A psuedo-Sharingan, if you will." The doctor rubbed at his chin. "Why your mind is doing this, though, is another question completely. As of right now, I have no means of answering it. No one may ever. That also includes how this eye might function while on enough chakra⎼"
Kakashi very well knew the reason his mind believed he had a Sharingan, but merely he shrugged in reply. "If I don't lose my eyesight, I'll be satisfied." He looked at the ANBU. "Will you take me to Danzo yet?"
The ANBU squinted at him through the eyes of the painted mask. "Punk," she grumbled, but there was less venom to it than he was expecting. "Yes, we're going to Lord Danzo. He wanted to see you straight away after your exam."
As the Hatake slid off the medical chair, the woman addressed the doctor. "Write up that report quickly. Lord Danzo will want to know the extent of Hatake's condition." Then, she turned to him. "Don't try anything," she warned, and Kakashi gave her a warm smile.
"Me? Try something?"
The ANBU growled, opening the door. She led a willing Kakashi down more hallways, and the grim underground cement soon gave way to something more hospitable: wooden floors, painted halls. It almost looked human, which was impressive for ANBU, let alone ROOT.
Soon they arrived at two large sliding doors. Two ROOT agents were stationed in front of them. "Fox," one greeted. "You've brought Hatake."
"I have," she replied. "Is Lord Danzo ready for us?"
"He's been waiting." The second ANBU rapped on the door in quick succession. Silence answered, and the two pulled open the doors just enough for them to enter. Kakashi followed behind Fox into a room that looked quite plain but felt grandeur.
Danzo sat in a plush chair in the center of the room, already with that fake smile on his face. Kami, did it take all the training and restraint in the world not to lunge at the man immediately. Everything Danzo has done ⎼ or, Kakashi supposed, will do ⎼ made him one of the vilest men he ever had the displeasure of knowing. Although Danzo was not solely responsible for the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, Kakashi would never forgive him for it, nor for working with Orochimaru and experimenting on children. The only good thing to come of the man was Tenzo, and Kakashi was not even sure where Tenzo ⎼ Kinoe, currently ⎼ was. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to distract himself with his tremendous worry for his dear friend. Not right now, at least.
"Lord Danzo." Fox knelt, bowing her head. Kakashi did the same.
"Thank you, Fox," Danzo rasped. His voice sounded like grating smoke. "You are dismissed."
She seemed to want to protest but thought better of it. Silently, she vanished elsewhere, and it was just Kakashi and the shadow of the Hokage in the room.
"Stand."
Kakashi stood. His one eye locked with one of Danzo's. He knew a Sharingan lay hidden beneath the eyepatch, and although it was old and stolen, it made Danzo even more of a threat. He had to be very cautious, especially with the plan that he had begun to formulate after the medical exam.
Danzo shifted his wooden cane to between his legs. Both hands rested on the staff, one over the other. "You're a very interesting one, Hatake Kakashi. I would like to know how you became wise to me. Someone of your calibur shouldn't have sensed my agent, let alone be able to track them, and yet you did anyway. On top of that, you asked for me specifically. You know of the underground ANBU ⎼ my ROOT agents."
There was no point in lying. "I do."
"Then tell me." Danzo stood. His presence was powerful. His glare alone seemed as if trying to beat submission into the Chunin before him. "How does a Chunin such as yourself learn of my operations? Your very sensei, who is in line to be the Yondaime, is unaware."
"Forgive me, Lord Danzo, but my secrets stay with me," Kakashi replied. He added, "I have no interest in meeting death today." Or, rather, reuniting with death. He knew all too well that Danzo would be more than willing to dispose of any threat, and Kakashi had a bullseye painted on him since he arrived in this time.
Carefully concealed anger flashed through the man's dead eye. "You're too important to kill, unfortunately."
"I'm also valuable enough to not meet with a misfortunate accident," he baited.
At this, Danzo raised an eyebrow. "You're only valuable if you manage to develop a Sharingan."
"I believe I can prove you otherwise, sir."
It seemed that the Shimura had his interest piqued. Danzo sat once more, looking pleasantly interested. "What, exactly, are you proposing, Hatake Kakashi?"
Kakashi prayed this worked. "I suggest we work together. I need to develop my skills quicker and better than I can do on my own or with my team, if I'm going to keep my eyesight and this pseudo-Sharingan. I would like to come here to train with your agents until my skill is suitable. In return, your secrets will follow me to the grave ⎼ and, should my development please you, I might join your ranks. I only ask that I continue my training and missions with Team Minato as normal, as not to arouse suspicions."
Silence reigned in the room. Kakashi forced his body not to show any signs of tension or anxiety under Danzo's scrutinous stare. Instead, he remained calm and exuded a quiet confidence. There should be no reason for Danzo to reject his offer. In his own time, Danzo had become interested in Kakashi's darkness, and, even if his body and his time were different, he carried that with him wherever he went. Rin, Obito, and Minato's deaths would cling to him until he died, truly, and found peace ⎼ unless he managed to save them in this time.
"There is a darkness within you," Danzo hummed. It was almost predictable, what he was going to say next. "I agree to your deal, Hatake. You may come here whenever the sun is set. I don't want to see your face when the day is upon us."
Kakashi was sure, though, that Danzo would hear plenty of him during the day. To think that he wouldn't have ROOT tailing him for the next two months would be ludicrous.
He dipped his head respectfully. "Thank you, sir. May I be excused? My team will be worried if I'm late to training."
Danzo waved a hand dismissively. "Go. You're dismissed."
Then, Kakashi vanished from the hidden grounds. The sun was already up, and he needed to hurry if he was planning to make it on time. He sped through the Hidden Leaf, his newfound alliance ⎼ and Kannabi Bridge ⎼ weighing heavily on his mind.