A/N: Kagami explains how babies - no - how ghosts are made.
"What? Why?" Sakumo's pale brows draw together in bewilderment.
"The two of you aren't suited for ANBU. The kind of missions we do — watching Kakashi carry them out will affect your impression of him."
"I won't stop loving him," Sakumo protests vehemently. "It's not as if I'm a civilian. I don't have any glamourous illusions about what shinobi do and neither does Rin."
"It's different," Kagami maintains, his dark eyes like bottomless pools. "For the mission objective we would kill downed enemies, we would kill civilians, we would employ torture. A man like you and a med-nin like Rin wouldn't even accept these kinds of missions."
Indignation slips out of Sakumo's grasp before it can even fully form. Kagami is right; Sakumo would not have failed his mission if he had the kind of iron mindset ANBU agents had. "It's not a criticism," the Uchiha assures quietly. "Konoha needs men like you just as much as they need men like me." Surprised and grateful, Sakumo clenched jaw loosens. Kagami smiles faintly, his tousled hair slipping into his eyes.
Still, Sakumo feels that he has to hold his ground. "No matter what Kakashi does, it's to serve the village. I won't ever think badly of him for that."
"Knowing is one thing; watching is another," Kagami argues right back. "There's a reason why ANBU guard their anonymity. Kakashi might want that anonymity too."
The words strike unexpectedly close to home. Sakumo closes his eyes and all he can see is Yoriko huddled at the kotatsu in the middle of the night, her knees hugged to her chest and her blood-splattered mask discarded near the doorway. "Sorry Sakumo..." She must have heard the creak of the steps.
She always apologised and he never knew what to say in the face of her vulnerability. "It's okay," he tried, coming to a stop at the foot of the staircase. At that time, he thought he must have said something right since she turned around to glance at him over her shoulder, a relieved light in her eyes.
Now he realises it's what he didn't ask, what he didn't demand answers for, that made her relieved.
That distance had always hurt him, though.
Still...
"I don't think I can just stand by and let Kakashi get hurt without at least trying to help him." He knows he can help and he has. It's his responsibility as a father and it's the only comfort that has kept Rin and himself going all these years.
Kagami looks sympathetic but in the end it's another refusal. "That's the thing about ANBU. Unlike normal missions, we handle sensitive issues related to village security. Unless it's a mission to Iwagakure or the small nations... we have strict non-interference treaties with the other nations' ghosts." Sakumo boggles at that. "I don't know if you remember this because you were still a kid then, but there was this time when a lot of our top jounin started dropping dead of heart attacks and aneurysms. The hospital staff were cracking their heads over it all and no-one could figure out the cause." A wry smile accompanies what Kagami recounts next. "The afterlife was having a war actually. There was a lot mission sabotaging and assassination attempts on Sandaime-sama."
Struck speechless, Sakumo can only shake his head. He understands how easy it is for a ghost to kill. He can approach a person with them none the wiser, stick his hand through their head or their heart, and use a Raiton. Simple. He has taken advantage of it before on several rare occasions, picking off Kakashi's enemies before they can sneak up on him.
He just didn't think the afterlife capable of being so organised. Apparently, with Kagami running things, it is.
"There's some leeway during wartime and there's not enough manpower to bother with normal missions, but all the villages watch their ANBU missions very closely." There's that apologetic look in his eyes again. "If Kakashi gets injured or captured, you wouldn't be able to help him without inciting war. It would be kinder to yourself to just let him be."
"If anything happens to Kakashi, then I can't stand by all the more!" Sakumo retorts hotly and Kagami's expression hardens.
"I'm always up for discussing things, but you have to understand that these non-interference treaties are important. You can't go off on a frolic of your own. There are protocols and negotiations in place. We can't risk another war again, not when the number of Konohan ghosts are outnumbered by the other nations' due to our rate of mission success."
At Sakumo's mulish silence, Kagami's lips thin into a grim line. "Do you know why the ghosts in ANBU don't like you?" The blunt question opens up a sudden slash of hurt in Sakumo's chest and his throat clenches at Kagami's cold tone. The Uchiha continues, his voice low. "There are two things which make a ghost. Suicide and regret. Most if not all of the ghosts around here killed themselves in order to protect village secrets from falling into enemy hands."
It goes unspoken what Sakumo had done instead. Shame crashes over the silver-haired jounin like a tsunami and his back hits the wall, breath coming out in a ragged exhale.
Oh. Oh of course. All those suicide jutsus standard for the ANBU...
"We still have a duty to the village, no matter how much we wish otherwise. Kakashi is an ANBU agent now. If Kakashi is suffering for the village's sake, don't undo his efforts." Kagami's tone gentles, a misty look of grief coming over him. "I understand how you feel. I was a father too. When Kaikou died so far away from home... the bloody tears I'd shed for him. But that's how things are."
Unable to meet that unyielding gaze, Sakumo averts his eyes. Kagami's hand settles on his shoulder and he barely resists the urge to flinch away. "Even if you were alive, you wouldn't be able to follow him on his missions. From what I've seen, you boy can take care of himself. So spare yourself the pain."
The Uchiha's hand drops away. "Come on Sakumo-kun, don't make that face. It probably won't even come to that, so don't worry. ANBU with less talent than your son come out alive all the time. I'm just telling you this so you understand what's going on." And who's in charge.
"Yes," Sakumo murmurs faintly, pressing the heel of his palm to the headache throbbing behind his eyes. He needs time alone to sort out his thoughts. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
A/N: Kagami is good cop and bad cop all in one and Sakumo's on one huge emotional roller coaster. Kagami is doing it for the good of the village but he's not above a bit of manipulation. This guy is Danzou's friend, remember? ;)