A/N: Hey guys! I'm starting another internship next Monday for three weeks, so I won't be able to update from next week onwards :( Anyway it won't be long! And we still have this week ;)

Warnings: creepy fuinjutsu.

By the time Sakumo arrives at the Hokage's office, only Hiruzen is there, his gaze distant as he looks out of the window at the sky above. His pipe dangles from his mouth, forgotten and long gone cold. Seated on the window sill beside the Hokage, with one arm resting against a bent knee, Kagami nods politely at the Hatake ghost.

"Your boy just left."

Sakumo leans against the side of the Hokage's desk and exhales heavily through his nose, feeling a phantom ache in his bones. "I know." They had spoken last week after the inter-village meetings and decided to let this mess progress as it will. Yet, one question still lingers in Sakumo's mind like a mismatched puzzle piece, neither belonging here nor there.

The night presses shadows all around them and Kagami stares into it, towards the direction Sakumo had come from. Beneath the sweep of his lowered lashes, his eyes are dark and unreadable.

"I don't understand," Sakumo murmurs, phrasing it carefully as a shortcoming of his own because he still respects the man before him. Kagami shifts, his back tensing, but he doesn't turn around. "You must have known of ROOT for a long time."

"Why didn't you do anything?" goes unspoken.

The Uchiha doesn't speak. Doesn't deny anything. Sakumo waits him out, knowing that the conflict in those legendary eyes is not easy to untangle and expose.

"It is for the same reason that Saru doesn't do anything."

There's a hollowness like disappointment growing in him but it's not an unfamiliar feeling by now. Sakumo thinks he might be becoming a cynic. "Because you believe the village needs men like him? And methods like his?" His tone is getting sharper with every word but Kagami refuses to look at him still. "Because of your friendship?"

A breath shudders out of Kagami. "If it were Kakashi, would you kill him?"

Hot anger washes over Sakumo (how dare he compare Kakashi to...!) before it's gone, a chill settling into his lungs instead. "Kakashi would never."

Kagami turns then, his eyes narrowing just slightly. "If you say so." Hopping off the window sill, Kagami brushes past Sakumo heads for the door. But his armour seems to grow heavy on his shoulders and his footsteps slow to a stop. "Sorry," he apologises quietly as he glances over his shoulder. The hard look that he had worn earlier has disappeared. "I shouldn't have said that. Thinking about Danzou makes me cranky." The attempt at levity falls flat and he lifts his shoulders in a listless shrug. "Take this as you will, Sakumo. I've already tried to kill him once. He knows I'm angry with him."

Baffled at how Kagami can be so sure of Danzou's thoughts, Sakumo stares at Kagami's retreating back until he disappears out of the Hokage's office. "If that man really knows of your anger," he muses with a clenched jaw, doubt still simmering in him, "then he must not care enough to change his ways."

The long-haired boy by Danzou's side looks up at Kakashi unblinkingly with large, almond-shaped eyes. He's just a little child, at least several years younger than Kakashi, with skinny limbs and an unremarkable face.

"My Mokuton-user," Danzou introduces with a pleased expression. "Kinoe."

The boy bows, not saying anything.

Kakashi holds out his hand, eye curving into a smiling arch. "I'm Kakashi." Kinoe stares blankly before tentatively accepting the handshake.

"H-hello." He lets go quickly, hand clenching nervously by his side even though his expression doesn't show it.

Sighing, Danzou pats Kinoe on the shoulder, once. "Kinoe will show you around. If you have any questions, he will be able to answer them."

The young boy straightens at that, his gaze livening a little. "I can."

"I'd like to see your Mokuton," Kakashi suggests. Sakumo can't help but smile at the way Kinoe nods with all seriousness, deliberate and solemn.

"We can have a spar."

"He's so cute!" Rin coos, stars in her eyes. She and Hyaku joined Sakumo soon after his talk with Kagami. He told them what happened on the mission only very briefly, but their concerns about Kakashi's mental state were quickly assuaged today. There was determination in Kakashi's sure footsteps as he approached the Shimura estate for tonight's meeting. He's not broken yet.

"Wood-boy is just a little dead though," Hyaku observes with a hum, and the fact that Mokuton can only come from Orochimaru's experiments hits Rin hard.

"Oh poor dear," she murmurs. "Kakashi will take care of you."

Seeing that they are getting along well, Danzou waves for them to follow him through one of the doors adjoining his office. "Come. I've set up what we need for the seal."

"I was hoping we wouldn't need to go through that," Kakashi says, his smile dropping off his face immediately when the smell of blood and ink hits him.

"It's just an assurance, Kakashi," Danzou replies offhandedly as he switches on the lights. The windowless room is empty except for a large circle of esoteric symbols already marked onto the floor, and the textbooks, brushes and ink pots relegated to the far corners. "I need to know where information collected by ROOT goes. It's not because I don't trust you, Kakashi. If that was the case, I would have never revealed ROOT to you in the first place. The truth is that we can't afford any mistakes. If an enemy-nin gets hold of you..."

"Then I won't make any mistakes, Danzou-sama," the young Hatake declares, lifting his eyes from the array on the ground to regard the elder with confidence.

Danzou doesn't say anything, doesn't raise an eyebrow or make any kind of gesture, but Kakashi flushes and falters under the weight of his pointed silence. Still, he grits his teeth and holds his ground.

"Please forgive my impudence. To my knowledge, Orochimaru-san does not have the seal. When you spoke of me joining ROOT, I had hoped to work with you, and not just become your subordinate."

Kakashi is asking a lot. Too much, if the way Kinoe has gone very still and half-faded into the background is any indication.

But Danzou smiles indulgently, brushing past Kakashi's words as if they were a bit of a joke. "Orochimaru came up with this seal together with me. It'd be a little pointless to put it on him, wouldn't it? You're not just my subordinate, Kakashi. Tell me, what are you hoping to achieve in ROOT?"

Thrown by the sudden change in topic, Kakashi purses his lips in thought. "I want to make sure that Konoha is protected. I want to find whoever killed Minato-sensei and Kushina-san and make sure they'll never hurt Naruto." Kinoe is watching very intently as Kakashi sets his shoulders, and Danzou is listening closely too. "And... I want to revive the Hatake name."

Sakumo startles, taken aback by the earnestness in Kakashi's words.

"I would have thought that you'd want to be Hokage, after your sensei."

Kakashi shifts, his brows drawing together. "No-one will accept me as I am now. Perhaps I will be Rokudaime after you, Danzou-sama." He gives the elder a little smirk and a bark of laughter escapes the older man. It's not a real laugh, but it is one that is very much surprised and just a little pleased.

"Interesting. But I do stand by my requirement regarding the seal. Every ROOT shinobi has it. Unless you are planning to spout your mouth off about ROOT, you won't even realise it is there. I do not see how it could be an inconvenience... though I'm willing to see what I can do to help you with your clan in return." Danzou's tone brooks no further negotiation. "If you talk to my shinobi, you'd know that I don't usually spend time mentoring anyone. You will already be quite the exception, Kakashi."

It won't do to push any harder. Anything more will only fracture the tenuous relationship they have, so Kakashi acquiescences. "Thank you for your generosity. I don't mean to make trouble..."

Danzou takes Kakashi by the shoulder and steers him into the circle. "No harm done. Kinoe, get the ink and brushes."

"Yes sir." The boy scurries towards the corner where the supplies are.

Knowing that the seal goes on the tongue, Kakashi's hand hovers over his mask. Sakumo has, of course, seen Kakashi without his mask and so has Rin, as Team Minato's med-nin. But it was always, always because Kakashi trusted them first. As for Hyaku... she is here only because they need her to analyse the seals.

"Your whole shirt actually, Kakashi," Danzou prompts, busy checking over the seals on the ground one last time. Hyaku is doing the same, humming as her sharp eyes flick from one symbol to another.

Swallowing heavily, Kakashi obeys and takes off his ANBU flak jacket and sleeveless shirt, laying them off to the side of the room. He steps back into the circle, shivering.

Sakumo scowls at the elder when he comes up behind the young ANBU. "Hold still..." Danzou warns before running the brush along the back of Kakashi's neck and down the ridges of his spine, symbols forming with each sure stroke. When he's done with that portion, he turns Kakashi around and tilts his chin up before continuing. More symbols are painted around Kakashi's neck and down his throat, until black ink pools in the hollow between his collarbones.

The rapid tick of Kakashi's pulse is visible under his jaw and goosebumps prickle his skin as the ink dries in cool air. No shinobi likes having their throat bared— the steadiness of Kakashi's breathing belies the tenseness of his stance. The touch of the brush is quick and unfamiliar, and Danzou's firm hand prevents Kakashi from looking down, but Sakumo prays that Kakashi's genius brain will enable him to memorise at least some portions of the array.

"Okay, I think I've got this," Hyaku pipes up saying as she points at the seal on the ground. The other two ghosts nod with eagerness and dread both. "This here is the main bulk of the jutsu. It defines what constitutes "prohibited speech" and what the "consequences" are. Even so, not everything is written here. The real "dictionary" that goes into detail about what "prohibited speech" means is somewhere else, such as a scroll, that is linked to this sealing array. The scroll is like a huge footnote to a mission report that you can't manage to fit in one page." She holds up a finger, her eyes flashing green. "If you can find that scroll, then you can change what is prohibited and what is not, or destroy the prohibition completely."

Rin stifles a groan and Sakumo pinches the bridge of his nose. "He'll have hidden it away for sure."

"Of course. It is like how you hide away your Summoning Contracts because that's the important stuff, not the hand signs for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu." She smiles. "But, that's just one part of the seal. The "enforcer" is what the old guy has just finished putting around Kakashi's neck. This is the mechanism causes paralysis, which is why it goes over the spine."

"The paralysis, is it reversible?" Sakumo asks hastily.

"Yes, well. It is up to Danzou how long it lasts, but the seal only blocks the nervous impulses. It doesn't sever the nerves themselves."

It's not very reassuring but Sakumo takes what comfort he can.

"This is the last part," Danzou says, forming a series of hand seals before dipping two of his fingers in the ink pot. Sakumo notes with surprise that the elder can move his bandaged right hand with much agility. "The seal goes on the tongue so open your mouth."

Kakashi awkwardly does so and the elder presses his ink-stained fingers against Kakashi's tongue.

"That's the anchor," Hyaku murmurs lowly as the symbols on the ground and on Kakashi's skin begin to writhe to life. Kakashi's eye grows wide as the black symbols crawl rapidly along his body. From feet up, they wrap themselves around his arms and legs like vines before joining the ink on his neck and spine. Skittering like an endless trail of insects, they climb into his mouth and disappear, leaving a heavy copper stench in the air.

The disturbing sight makes Sakumo stomach turn and Rin has both hands pressed tightly over her own mouth, gagging in sympathy. Even Kinoe looks a little pale, probably having remembered his own sealing.

Danzou removes his fingers once the last of the black ink disappears. "There you go. Done." He quickly catches Kakashi by the shoulders when the teen stumbles. Kakashi's gags turn into a hacking fit of coughing, and he claps his hand over his mouth as he doubles over. "Just breathe, slowly—"

The anxiety building up in Sakumo bursts out in a shout when Kakashi suddenly slumps into a dead faint, his feet slipping out underneath him and sending him crashing into Danzou. "Kakashi?!"

Hyaku's hands are already brushing carefully along - through - the young Hatake's jaw, feeling how the new seal's chakra fluctuates. Her lips press into an unhappy slash as she meets Sakumo's and Rin's horrified stares. "Don't worry. Danzou is just testing the seal."

Indeed, as Danzou heaves Kakashi out of the circle and props him up against the wall, the elder looks almost smug. Sakumo growls as he crouches down beside Kakashi, his heart still drumming a frantic rhythm against his ribs.

"He's waking up," Rin whispers, watching Kakashi closely as he stirs, her hand placed over his.

"I blacked out," Kakashi mumbles when his eye cracks open once more. He looks up at Danzou with something akin to confusion. "What happened?"

"It's normal," Danzou reassures, still wearing that pleased smile as he wipes his hand on a handkerchief. "Your body is just getting used to the seal."

"...I see." Kakashi moves his tongue in his mouth, grimacing. He wobbles to his feet and Sakumo sighs, relief flooding him. Rin is already sending flying kicks through Danzou's face while Hyaku stands by and shakes her head. "I need to rinse my mouth," grumbles Kakashi.

"Kinoe, show Kakashi the washroom," the elder instructs, sneezing as Rin sends another punch through his nose. "Excuse me."

"Yes sir."

Shutting himself in the small toilet down the hallway, Kakashi cups a handful of water and spits it out grey with ink. The black that had been painted on his neck has disappeared, leaving only three solid black lines and two broken lines on his tongue.

He runs his teeth against it but it doesn't come off.

Sighing, Kakashi rinses his mouth again and splashes his face with water.

"Do you think cutting it out will do anything?" Sakumo asks Hyaku queasily, watching Kakashi stick out his tongue at the mirror.

The Uzumaki kunoichi looks contemplative. "Perhaps, since it's the anchor. But perhaps not. Is that his plan?"

Sakumo shakes his head. "They considered it. But either way, Kakashi will have to find some other way of communicating."

"You need someone who can grow replacement tongues. It's not impossible," Rin says as she joins them again, though she looks a little sick at the thought. "Orochimaru can probably do it." They all fall silent, torn between disgust and intrigue.

"Kinoe," Kakashi calls as he wipes his face.

"Yes?" The boy opens the door and pokes his head around the doorframe. He has Kakashi's clothes in his arms and the older boy accepts them gratefully. "Thank you." Kakashi quickly pulls his shirt on and settles his mask over his face. "Did that happen to you too?"

The small ROOT agent nods, his gaze filled with understanding, if not sympathy. "I'll catch you if you faint again, Kakashi-san."

The unexpectedly kind offer makes Kakashi glance at Kinoe in surprise and all the ghosts beam proudly at the boy. "Thanks."

A/N: Kinoe is so precious. Sakumo doesn't notice it because he's too busy growling at Danzou, but when Kakashi unmasks, Kinoe is standing at the side frozen in shock because wow, that face!

In the manga (Ch481), Tobirama calls Hiruzen "Saru" which is really cute :3 All the others either call him Sarutobi or Hiruzen, but because Kagami seems like the type to be all for cute nicknames, he calls him Saru.