Warnings: extensive headcanons about Ame history and politics :P
Kakashi and Snake work diligently under the head housekeeper, Tamiko, a stern woman with an abhorrence for any speech above a soft murmur and an even greater detestation for idle talk. It complicates information gathering efforts but when Tamiko is away on whatever errands of her own, their fellow servants are all the more unguarded in their gossip. Even the higher ranked servants - those who serve Hanzou and his household directly - cannot resist the temptation of the occasional tittle-tattle.
Snake and Kakashi quickly befriend the maids as they scrub pots, peel sweet potatoes, wash clothes and complete all the various household labours. Cleaning duty lets them surreptitiously investigate the compound and every now and then, the retired shinobi of a groundskeeper recruits Kakashi to haul about bags of plant matter and food scraps for compost. As time slips by, measured best by the barrel of rice beside the kitchen sink that is refilled every week, the compound becomes as familiar to the ghosts as the ANBU headquarters back home.
It is almost as if Kakashi had returned to his genin days, slogging through the requisite number of D-ranks, though he isn't allowed to roll his eyes as he had then. No, Kazuo is... obedient and eager to please, keenly aware of the unexpected windfall that had granted him warm clothes on his back and three full, if plain, meals a day. After all, none of them had passed the test — it is only by their masters' kindness and generosity that they have been accepted.
Yet, belied by the seemingly peaceful monotony of life within the compound walls, a storm is brewing.
The skin at the nape of Sakumo's neck often prickles with distinct feeling of eyes on his back. Yahiko, Rin and Hyaku all report the same suspicions that they are being watched, but even after weeks bleed into months, they don't manage to glimpse anything more than a sleeve disappearing through a wall, or the flick of long indigo hair slipping round a corner. Despite being a ghost himself, Sakumo feels haunted. If not for the lack of malicious intent, they would have hunted down their observers once and for all. As it is, they make sure to assign at least one ghost each to Kakashi and Snake at all hours.
But what sends cold pooling in Sakumo's stomach are the machinations amongst the living. Danzou's ROOT has an astounding influence within Hanzou's forces, a fact that the undercover ANBU have relayed back to Konoha and the Akatsuki at the first opportunity. In his usual absence, the elder is represented by a fox-masked shinobi called Otsu, a shrewd black-eyed man of few words. Sakumo is frankly disturbed. It's one thing to hear rumours and another entirely to witness Danzou's ROOT operating in broad daylight, complete with an outpost amongst Ame shinobi.
However, for every iota of regard that Hanzou has for ROOT, his wife Murakami detests them the same. Whenever the dark-blue haired woman comes within five feet of Otsu, Sakumo can almost feel their mutual animosity spark like lightning crackling in the air. With her delicate features, lovely kimonos and soft civilian hands, one might be forgiven for assuming that her words have no heft in a world ruled by force, but the truth is far from simple.
She is no ordinary woman. While Hanzou and his compatriots wage battle and ensure Ame's military strength resounds throughout the Nations, she works tirelessly to ensure a steady flow of income into Ame and consequently, Hanzou's shinobi forces. If there's one thing Ame has been blessed with, it's the purity of their iron ores. With more mines and factories employing civilians and putting their knowledge of metallurgy to good use, Ame has become well-known for the quality of their weapons. Extensive merchant networks with Kusa and Ishi have also been carefully nurtured. Food and other supplies that Ame's waterlogged land cannot produce must be imported and much is secretly stockpiled in preparation even rainier days. Should Hanzou's shinobi once more become unable to accept missions due to the eruption of civil war, they can still survive for months afterwards.
Every shinobi knows that during a war, supply lines are a critical determinant of success. Having been cornered into the mountains, the Akatsuki have been handicapped in this respect, something which Yahiko sulks about often. In contrast, Murakami's control over civilian industry keeps Hanzou's rule stable and provides them all a measure of comfort.
It is not only her unexpected position of influence that makes her a threat to Danzou's schemes but moreso her dogged efforts to remind Hanzou of why his followers remain loyal to him. Not because of his strength but what his strength can do: change this war-torn, backwards country. She and the son she bore him, they are the ones holding Hanzou back from complete corruption by a mere spider's thread. It can only be the worst of Murakami's nightmares that a militarist like Danzou would continue to break down what remains of Hanzou's ideals.
From the brief biography he once read in the Bingo Books, Sakumo knows that Hanzou had not started out as a dictator despite the fact that he now rules Ame with an iron-fist. He had not come about his power and widespread support by cruelty but rather by military genius and charisma. This is the man who had spared the Sannin after all, though that act was just as much a calculated political move as a result of mercy. If even three of the strongest shinobi of Konoha lost so utterly to a shinobi of Ame, surely the other Nations would think twice before daring to take advantage of Ame again. And indeed his tactic worked — the Third Shinobi World War was fought in neighbouring Kusa instead.
The hand he extended to his fellow Ame-nin drew them like moths to a light — the only light that shone in the darkness that their barren land was steeped in. He welcomed anyone who would join him; his fervour for his country convinced even the most stubborn of his dissenters.
Hanzou has long since changed. With internal discord decaying even the strongest of foundations and the legendary Rinnegan chipping inexorably its walls... all about Hanzou, his strongholds are slowly crumbling.
*乙 (otsu) according to google translate.
Fun trivia
Tenzou's ROOT name is "Kinoe", written as 甲. There's this other ROOT guy called "Hinoe" which is 丙.
In Chinese, 甲乙丙丁... is a not-so-common equivalent of 1, 2, 3, 4... It's more complicated than that and I don't completely understand it myself, but yeah. It probably has the same meaning in Japanese? So Tenzou's ROOT name is something like "number one". How cute is that? Danzou loves him so very much.