It was supposed to have been a normal C-Ranked escort mission. Takahari-sensei had let them finally leave Kumo and take on a mission guarding some merchants on their way to Earth Country after a whole six months of nothing but D-Ranked mission involving the daimyo's wife's missing cat. It was supposed to have a been an easy job. Bandits were at an all time low, peace with Konoha was still holding and Takahari-sensei said the only rogue samurai stupid enough to take on a jounin from Kumo were the ones that were especially easy to kill.
They weren't supposed to encounter much trouble. Maybe a thief here and there or a broken cart wheel. It was supposed to be a safe, easy mission. One moment, Megumi had been arguing with her teammate about the order of the watches they would take for the night. The next, a rusty dagger sprouted from her chest. She touched the handle with a shaky hand, slick with her own blood.
Megumi looked up and met the hungry gaze of a demon, red eye seeping with blood. She didn't even have time to scream before he went for her throat.
Dredging chakra up from hidden reserves, Kakashi twisted his bloody hands into a swift series of seals, converting the vapor in the air into water. Steam rose all around him, hot and swirling in fantastic shapes, before coiling up around the corpses lying on the ground and coalescing into messy puddles of water.
Tenzou looked up from where he was scattering old and rusty senbon on the ground, occasionally tossing a few over his shoulder in the general direction of the bodies. "I haven't seen that one before," he asked, voice intrigued.
Kakashi shrugged. He'd picked it up in a solo mission in Water Country after Team Seven had split, leaving him a waist high stack of S-Ranked missions Tsunade wanted completed and no particular self-preservation instinct. "Have to make it look as real as possible," he said casually. "We are supposed to make it look like a missing-nin from Kiri did this."
"These look familiar," Genma said, rifling through a worn leather pouch, picking out several shuriken and kunai with a keen eye. "Definitely the real thing from Kiri, they even have the canoe stamped onto it and everything. Old, which is even better."
"Yamanaka was very obliging when I went to him for some supplies. We're using Kakeru's weapons." Kakashi rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles, feeling the ache of chakra exhaustion already settle deep into his bones. His body wasn't used to the strain he put on his thirty year old self- his chakra reserves were half the size of the ones he was normally comfortable with.
"Useful," Tenzou commented but the sidelong look he sent Kakashi's way spoke volumes more. Little brat was probably worried he was going to keel over any minute, like he was just some green chuunin who hadn't even broken in his flak vest and bent over from exhaustion on his first B-Rank mission.
"Very," Kakashi agreed and made sure to straighten his back.
"Merchants are all tied up," Raidou said, dropping from a tree branch without a sound. "Genjutsu's got them all addled and I've got them hanging from a twenty footer, they'll have a shock when they wake up."
"I'll take care of them," Kakashi said and ignored the incredulous look Genma shot his way. "Just finish the bodies, we don't want Kumo coming after us along with Iwa."
"Mission's barely even started and you're already half dead on your feet, Captain," Genma said, stooping carefully over one of the Kumo genin, wrapping a thread of wire around her neck and pulling tight. Kakashi looked away, stomach clenching.
"Just finish the job," he said curtly and melted away into the shadows. It was, Kakashi reflected quietly, going to be a very long two months away from his pack.
Even before the name, it was the chakra signature that gave him away. Kushina had the same boundless energy, a beautiful blue flame spiralling throughout her stomach, protecting the village just by existing. A much smaller and excited version of it bobbed its way through her house and Mikoto smiled, glad that some form of her friend still lived on.
"Yes, Naruto-chan?" Mikoto asked and put down her sewing, enjoying the way his chakra spiked in surprise.
"How'd you know it was me? Kakashi-nii-san and Tenzou always know but that's cause they're ninja. Are you a ninja too, Mikoto-san?" Naruto's eyes were all his father's, bright and glowing with curiosity.
"I'm a mother," Mikoto said quietly and reached out, cupping Naruto's face gently. "We always know. Now, what is it? Do you need something from me?"
The little boy's face scrunched up, whiskers crinkling and he idly drew patterns on the floor with a foot. "Erm, well, I- I-erm. IpromisedSakuraIwouldplaywithhertoday," he blurted out in one long breath, face going red.
Raising two boys and watching countless other Uchiha babies gave Mikoto long practice at discerning the language of six year olds. "Sakura?" Mikoto asked. "Is she a friend from the Temple school?"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically and he broke out into a blinding smile. "We practice kunai throwing and stuff and we played with Ryou-chan and she comes over lots but then I promised to play with her today, but now Kakashi-nii isn't here but I still want to play and with Sasuke too."
Mikoto considered Naruto's request gravely. "Do you know where she lives?"
Naruto shook his head, blond hair flying with the motion. "Nuh uh," he said, his smile drooping a little. "Kakashi-nii-san knows and he walks us over to drop her off but I forgot where."
Itachi had been born a wise old man in the body of a baby and had left her side after what seemed like only heartbeat. He was only eleven and already a member of ANBU and a rapidly rising chuunin. Sasuke was already six and soon would be leaving her for the Academy and a world where children were taught how to kill on command. But around Naruto, her children softened and seemed more like their age, laughing and playing, forgetting about the cares of the world, if only for a moment. Mikoto felt a deep shame well up in the bottom of her chest- a good friend she had been, abandoning her friend's child to the streets, conveniently forgetting that the demon brat had the eyes of the Yondaime and the bright life of her best friend. It'd been easier to think of Kushina's baby as lost, killed at the same time as his parents.
Not for the first time, Mikoto quietly blessed Kakashi and the good fortune that brought him and the Uchiha together. "I think I can fix that," Mikoto said finally and stood up, brushing the dust off her knees. "Would you do me a favor and go get ready with Sasuke-chan?"
"We're gonna to go out!" Naruto cheered, bouncing up and down on his feet.
"It's chilly outside, so don't forget your jackets," Mikoto smiled and brushed her hand through Naruto's hair.
Naruto beamed up at her and grabbed at her wrist with his tiny hands, his skin immeasurably warm and soft. "You're the best, Mikoto-san," he said, blue eyes turning into happy slits.
Mikoto's breath caught in her throat and she blinked back hot tears. "Why-" Mikoto paused and swallowed, straining for the Uchiha calm that her Mother had drilled into her since her birth. "Why don't you call me Aunt instead, Naruto-chan?"
"Like-" Naruto looked up at her, still clinging to her arm with those small hands, his eyes looking impossibly big in his face. "Like family?" he asked, his voice a very small whisper.
"You already have a brother," Mikoto said, her voice cracking a little. "And a senpai. I think it's time you had an aunt, don't you?"
"I'd like that," Naruto said in that tiny voice. "Aunt Mikoto."
Mikoto fell to her knees and drew his tiny body close to her chest, her arms circling around his skinny shoulders. A large damp spot grew on the front of her apron but she hardly noticed, pressing a soft kiss on Naruto's crown. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she wept, crying for her dead friends and the boy she'd thought lost, come back to life and safe in her arms.
"Dun' cry, Mikoto-oba," Naruto sniffled, wiping back his own tears and snot with the sleeve of his grubby shirt. "Dun' be sad."
"I'm not sad," Mikoto corrected him gently and wiped Naruto's face with the hem of her clean apron, brushing his hair back from his face. "I'm crying because I'm happy that you're here."
"No one's ever cried for me before," Naruto said and touched Mikoto's wet face with a cautious hand, as if afraid that this were all a dream. "They jus' throw stuff and shout and stuff."
"Not anymore," Mikoto promised fiercely. "Not while I'm around."
When the doorbell rang, Sakura dropped her book and flew out of her room, clattering down the stairs at a speed even Naruto would have been impressed with.
"No running in the house!" Mama shouted but Sakura was already at the door, tugging impatiently at the deadbolt that was just a few inches out of her reach.
"We need to check who's here first," Mama reminded her and she peeked through the tiny seeing-hole in the top of the door, ignoring Sakura's pout.
"Oh- is- is Hatake-san married?" Mama asked as she squinted into the tiny hole, brushing her dark hair back from her face.
"No," Sakura muttered sulkily, kicking at the door with her foot. "Course not, he's Kakashi-nii-san, he's not old old and stuff."
"Strange," Mama muttered but she unlocked the door and when it opened Sakura launched herself face-first, colliding with her best friend in the whole entire world.
"OW!"
Sakura wondered when Naruto had changed his hair color to black and when his eyes had changed and then realized-
"You're not Naruto!" she shouted and then blushed, scrambling off of the not-Naruto she'd knocked onto the ground.
"What are ya, blind?" Naruto laughed, right next to her and Sakura was so tempted to punch him but Mama was standing right next to her and she was probably already mad about her pushing the not-Naruto onto the ground.
"I'm not blind," Sakura said instead and stuck her tongue out and then Mama put her hand on Sakura's shoulder and she didn't sound very happy at all.
"I'm so sorry," Mama said in that grown-up voice and she bowed very deeply. "I thought I had raised my daughter to be better than this, but it seems that I still have much to teach her. You have my sincerest apologies, ma'am."
"Oh, there was no harm done," a pretty lady next to Naruto laughed, covering up her mouth with her hand like Mama always told Sakura to do and she bowed as well. She had the prettiest black hair and the biggest eyes and she looked like one of the beautiful ladies in Mama's magazines who were always making flower vases.
"I'm Sasuke," not-Naruto sniffed, picking himself off the ground and sticking his nose up in the air like Ami whenever she had a new doll and wanted to show it off. "And I bet you can't even see at all if you think I look like him."
"Sasuke!" the pretty lady said in a grown-up voice and then bowed again. "My apologies, Haruno-san, it seems my son has manners to learn as well. Hatake Kakashi asked us to look after Naruto while he was away for a mission and Naruto-chan mentioned that there was a play date arranged beforehand. I hope you don't mind that my son is here as well, Haruno-san."
"Oh no!" Mama hand tightened on her shoulder and she opened the door wider. "Of course not..."
"Uchiha Mikoto," the pretty lady smiled and Sakura's heart thudded in her chest. An Uchiha! They were one of the big super strong ninja clans in the village and they had the best shinobi and lots of them were in the police too! Sakura had seen them around in the market and when Sakura was a baby, her Papa always said that bad girls were taken away by the big scary Uchiha policemen.
"O-oh, Uchiha-san, please come in, oh my goodness," Mama fluttered and she stepped back from the door, dragging Sakura in as she ushered in mean not-Naruto-Sasuke, Naruto and pretty Uchiha-san. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you wait outside and of course, you must stay for tea while the children play in the yard outside."
"It was no trouble," the nice Uchiha lady said and every move she made looked so airy and gentle, like she was one of those angels from the TV dramas Mama watched when Sakura had her snack-time after school. "You have a beautiful home."
Mama went all pink and she bowed again. "Oh, the place is a mess, we've only moved here a few months ago for my husband's job and I still haven't properly unpacked."
Sakura fidgeted impatiently while Uchiha-san and Naruto and not-Naruto-Sasuke put on their house shoes.
"Can we go now?" she whispered tugging on Mama's dress. "Please, Mama, please please please?"
"Not now!" Mama whispered back, looking very fierce and stern. "We have very important guests here."
"I'm sure the children would rather play instead," Uchiha-san said very kindly and Sakura blushed- Mama would be so mad that the lady heard her say rude stuff! "I'm sure they don't want to listen to their mothers drink tea and gossip about the village."
"Oh well, if you think so," Mama said a little uncertainly. "Only in the yard, you mustn't go anywhere else and straight back inside when I call for you."
"Thank you Mama!" Sakura beamed and raced over to Naruto's side, scooping up his ninja sandals with one hand and her playing shoes with the other. "We'll be extra extra good," she promised. "Follow me," she said importantly to Naruto and not-Naruto-Sasuke and made sure to walk to the back of the house extra slowly and carefully so Mama didn't have to yell at her for running in the house.
"You do have a nice house!" Naruto said, looking very impressed at the paintings on the walls that Papa had made and the new squeaky hardwood floors.
"S'not as nice as my house," not-Naruto-Sasuke said in that stupid Ami voice and Sakura wanted to stomp on his foot but she was a little too scared to. Thankfully, she had Naruto, who promptly punched not-Naruto-Sasuke for her.
"Don't be stupid Sasuke," Naruto said, hands on his hips. "Sakura's my friend so stop being mean to her."
"Whatever," not-Naruto said but Sakura couldn't stop smiling as she lead them to the yard door in the back of the house.
"House shoes go here," she pointed at the mat in front of the glass sliding doors. "And we can put on our playing shoes in the yard."
"Alright!" Naruto pumped his fist. "Wait til you see the cool new toy Kakashi-nii-san made, it's the bestest game in the world ever!"
"It's not a toy, it's 'sploding seals," not-Naruto said but even he sounded excited when he pulled on his own ninja sandals.
"Like chakra exploding tags?" Sakura asked, trying to ignore how both Naruto and Sasuke had ninja sandals and how she was the only one who had dumb normal shoes. "I read about them, I thought only ninja could use them?"
"You'll see," Naruto said secretively and pulled open the door.
It was just like tag but better.
It was like tag and shougi and ninjas and pirates all wrapped into one giant ink sploding game and Sakura loved it. She pulled a tag out of her pocket and slammed it down on the ground, smearing the release mark with a finger. An entire cloud of black smoke exploded in front of her and Sakura dove away, enjoying the way Naruto shrieked like a little baby and Sasuke shouted that he was going to hurt her.
Now it was just a waiting game. Sakura sat on the edge of the smoke cloud and listened to the loud voices, tag in hand. Naruto was still coughing and shouting in the middle but it sounded like Sasuke was pushing his way out to the edge. He'd gone all quiet but Sakura could hear coughing sounds coming from her left.
She stood up, pulled out her last tag from her pocket and waited for Sasuke to come out of the cloud of inky smoke. The look on his face when she slapped the tag onto his forehead was something, Sakura decided, she would never ever forget.
"You're pretty ok for a girl," Sasuke said a little grudgingly, munching on a cookie Mama had made for yesterday's snack time.
"She's more than ok!" Naruto said, spraying crumbs everywhere as he spoke. "Sakura-chan knows everything and she's the coolest cause we're friends!"
Sakura nibbled on her cookie and quietly thought that Sasuke was ok too, even if he sounded like Ami sometimes but he was Naruto's friend too. "If we're both Naruto's friends," she said a little tentatively. "Maybe we could be friends too?"
Sasuke looked up from his cookie. "I guess," he said and Sakura beamed at him.
"I have two friends now," Naruto said and he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I've never had so many friends before." His voice was all wobbly and squeaky like he was gonna cry.
Sakura swallowed. "Me neither," she said in a very quiet voice. Before Naruto, no one had liked her very much, calling her stupid names about her forehead and always ripping up her books. Now, she had play dates and at school she got to sit next to a friend and share lunch and talk about how boring class was. Now, she could play cool ninja games and meet new friends, new people.
Sasuke looked away and shoved a cookie in his mouth. "I have my aniki and cousins and stuff," he mumbled.
"That's family. You have a Mama and a Papa and brothers and stuff but that's different," Sakura said instantly. "We're friends."
"Best friends," Naruto said solemnly and stuck his hand out. Sakura put her hand on top of it like in the cartoon she'd seen on TV with the samurai warriors, each of them a different color of the rainbow. After a moment, Sasuke put his hand on top of that and they all grinned at each other.
"We hafta promise to help each other out and stuff because that's what friends do," Naruto said in a serious voice. "Like we're family for each other."
"I promise," Sasuke said and Sakura almost jumped, surprised that he had spoken up first. That meant Sasuke would help her out too and so would Naruto and she would have to do the same. Sakura closed her eyes and remembered how Naruto had punched Ami in the face and helped her up from the ground.
"I promise too," Sakura said firmly. "I'll hurt anyone whoever tries to make fun of you guys," she said, trying to make her voice as fierce and strong as possible.
"It's the promise of a lifetime!" Naruto shouted and dove at the two of them, bulldozing them into the ground with his hug.
"Get off me stupid!" Sasuke shouted but he didn't bother to push Naruto off and Sakura laughed, her chest filling up with so much happiness that she thought she was going to explode like one of the 'sploding seal tags.
"You look...not like you," Tenzou said, tilting his head like a bird.
"I think that's the whole point of going incognito," Kakashi said drily and accepted the towel the younger man handed him, rubbing his dyed hair briskly. He'd substituted his headband (safely sealed away in a containment scroll, along with his uniform and ninjato) with an eyepatch, chakra seal sewed onto the inside to mask the presence of his Sharingan. The borrowed merchant's clothes fit oddly, too short at the leg and too broad at the shoulders but it couldn't be helped for now. He'd have to ask Raidou to do some mending later that night.
Tenzou had combed out his scruffy brown hair, parting it neatly at the side. In a pair of slacks and a loose-fitting Lightning shirt, he looked like any ordinary teenaged boy, following his older brother into the family business.
"Relax your stance," Kakashi said and tossed the towel back at him, streaks of brown liberally streaking it. "You're supposed to be a civilian, not a killer."
Tenzou caught it handily, eyes narrowing a little. "You're one to talk, Captain."
Kakashi shrugged bonelessly and strolled over to the campfire, giving Genma and Raidou approving nods. They were lounging casually on the sleeping bags they'd taken from the merchants, dressed as his cousin and manservant respectively.
"Gruel's almost done, sir," Raidou said, straightening up a little as Kakashi settled on his haunches next to him, warming his cold hands up in front of the fire. "Saved it before the idiot over there overcooked it because he was too busy braiding his hair into a fancy tail."
"Some of us were blessed with good looks," Genma grinned, looking strange without his customary senbon dangling from his lips. "It's only right that I should take the time to make myself look nice for the ladies."
"Travel papers?" Kakashi said, flexing his fingers and running them through warm up exercises. His sealing speed was disgustingly slow compared to where he'd had it beforehand. It took him a good minute to work through the entire sequence and he bit back a scowl. Without a mask to cover his expressions he'd have to be more careful about what he let show on his face. Resisting the urge to pull up his neckline and press his chin into his chest, he repeated the sequences, over and over again.
"All doctored up to match our faces. You're looking at a new man," Raidou said, watching Kakashi's hands with mild interest. "Sato Kenichi at your service, master."
"Watanabe Riku," Genma put in lazily. "Your experienced and much more handsome older cousin, guiding you in the fine Watanabe tradition of selling Lightning Country textiles."
"Watanabe Ryou," Tenzou said quietly, settling himself down next to Genma. "I believe that I'm to be your younger brother, Captain."
"Which leaves me Watanabe Ichirou," Kakashi concluded, hands automatically working through the seals for Chidori. He stopped mid-sequence and forced himself to switch to a different jutsu. Chidori left a distinctive mark- it was associated with Konoha's ANBU and would just be another clue that would implicate the village. Earth justus would be safer.
"The merchants have been taken care of," Tenzou said, face shadowed.
"Good," Kakashi breathed out, long and slow. "We'll have a good week of travel ahead of us before we hit one of the border posts and ask them for entrance into Iwa. It should give us more than enough time to adjust to our cover and gather intel on the mark. Jutsu use is forbidden from here on out until we hit the village unless it's an emergency."
Tenzou opened his mouth but Kakashi shook his head. "Especially you. Mokuton's a dead giveaway for Konoha. Besides, it's been high time that you learned how to act like a civilian."
"I know the basics," Tenzou said stiffly and Raidou barked out a rough laugh.
"Kid," Raidou wheezed, "that shit they teach in the Academy is worth next to nothing. Masking your chakra's fine and easy enough, but you've gotta work on your stance, your reflexes. Gotta walk the walk, talk the talk and pray that some ninja doesn't figure out that you're actually more than what you seem."
"It doesn't matter if you're more powerful or if you can beat him in a fight." Genma's mouth twitched, like he was chewing on an invisible senbon. "Your life isn't at stake here- the integrity of the mission is. One person knows and the entire treaty between Iwa and Konoha goes up in flames."
"I can do this," Tenzou said stubbornly.
"Of course we can," Genma grinned. "Who the hell do you think we are?"
"Only the best squad in the entire Corps," Raidou chimed in, right on cue. "Delta Squad, captained by the finest operative to ever serve the village."
"Me," Kakashi said, deadpan.
There was a very long silence as all three of his subordinates stared at Kakashi, identical looks of terror on their faces.
"What?" he asked, fighting the urge to cover his face with his hands. He could smell their fear and- apprehension?
"You- you just made a joke, sir," Genma said feebly, the only one brave or stupid enough to speak up.
"You never make jokes," Raidou said faintly. "You tell us to stop joking, sir."
Kakashi tucked his chin into his chest. It was amazing what a difference ten years would make. He'd forgotten how much he'd changed after leaving the Corps, leaving behind the bone-white armor and mask and taking up the traditional flak vest and erotic literature. Twenty year old Kakashi knew nothing but the mission and long hours at the Memorial, bowed down by the weight of old ghosts and a crushing guilt. He'd kept his teammates at a careful distance, his heart too tattered and his mind too afraid to handle another Obito or Rin. It was only when he'd left that Kakashi had gotten to know all three of his former teammates better.
"I guess you just haven't been listening hard enough," Kakashi said and resolved to be a better Captain, this time around.
"Another one," Raidou said and what little color was in his cheeks instantly disappeared.
"You don't look surprised," Genma said shrewdly, looking pointedly at Tenzou, who looked a little alarmed at the sudden attention.
"Er," Tenzou said and gave Kakashi a quick and panicky look. Kakashi happily ignored it and threw his precious little kouhai to the sharks.
"Captain's had a peaceful retirement?" Tenzou said quickly, sounding more like he was asking Genma than answering him. "Maybe he's taken up telling jokes as a hobby."
"I thought I'd try new things in my old age," Kakashi threw in and Tenzou looked at him gratefully.
"Speaking of new things and retirement," Genma said eagerly. "Rumor is you've gotten domestic, Captain."
Kakashi bit back a groan. He should have known the ANBU rumor mill would have had a field day with his decision to take on Naruto as his ward.
"New things, new hobbies," he muttered vaguely. "He's a good boy."
"Never thought of you as a parental figure," Raidou said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He's that boy, isn't he?"
"So what if he is?" Tenzou said a little vehemently and Kakashi looked at the younger boy, eye widening a little. It seemed Naruto, even at the tender age of six, had managed to work his friendship magic over Tenzou as well. "He's a good kid and he doesn't deserve what the villagers are saying about him. The Yondaime chose him to save the village."
"Yeah, by holding a demonic force in his stomach that killed hundreds of shinobi," Genma muttered. "Look, I know it's not the kid's fault but-" He shrugged. "Still makes me uncomfortable as hell to think about."
"Naruto isn't the kyuubi," Tenzou said firmly and Kakashi couldn't help the smile that spread across his face the pride that welled up in his chest. He had a good pack.
"Why'd you leave him anyway?" Raidou asked, eyes keen. "I mean, you did adopt him, right? And you're technically off ANBU active duty rosters."
Kakashi considered Raidou's question for a long moment, staring at the flickering embers of the campfire. Why had he come? There was the possibility that the team would succeed without him, however slim. True enough, Danzou had done this to remove ANBU of his influence, no doubt scared by Kakashi's sudden entrance into the Council and his alliance with the Uchiha. But he could have started again, even without Delta Squad. There was still the Commander and Uzuki's squad and a couple other that he could trust. It would have been hard and no doubt ROOT would grow to fill Delta's absence, but it was still possible to fight Danzou. By leaving the village, he'd taken himself out of the Council, had left Naruto at the mercy of a man who was busy planning a coup against the Hokage and sent himself to Iwa on a potentially lethal mission all on a gamble that the completed mission would mean leverage over a power-crazed Councilman. If it worked (of which there was a very tiny chance, but still larger than if his team had gone without him), it would mean that he had concrete evidence to present to the Council and the Hokage against Danzou. If it didn't, Konoha would be at war and Danzou would gain more power.
"Because you're my team," Kakashi said. "And Danzou's not going to send you on a suicidal mission without me to save your collective asses."
Kakashi looked at the three hardened faces before him and accepted that they'd been pack from the very beginning- not Obito, not Rin, not sensei, but still pack. He'd have to trust that Team 7 would be alright without him and concentrate on the people in front of him.
"You know," Raidou said, his voice a little rough. "I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
"Wow, you've lead a pretty pathetic life, Raidou," Genma said, punching his teammate's shoulder but even he looked a little sentimental.
"I'd have to agree," Tenzou said, his voice soft but when he looked up at Kakashi, his dark eyes were proud.
Kakashi looked away, his chest tightening. He'd bring them all back alive, no matter what. He'd promised himself that he would.
"Read me that list over again and slowly," Sarutobi said slowly, his tone brooking no dissent. "The active duty roster, subsection C."
"Yes, sir," the chuunin said -his name was Ren, Saurtobi believed, doing his time in the administrative bureau while his ribs healed from the last B-Ranked mission he took outside the country. A good boy, his parents ran a wonderful ramen shop on Main Street.
"Yamamoto Hanako, Jin, Uzuki Yuugao, Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidou, Suzuki Saburou, Sato Kaede, Hatake Kakashi-"
"You may stop." Sarutobi threaded his fingers together and frowned. "Why is Hatake Kakashi on the active duty roster?"
Ren adjusted his spectacles and squinted at the scroll he held up into the light. "I believe it says here-" The chuunin frowned. "The notation has him on a classified mission, sir. Should I pull up his file for you, Hokage-sama?"
"Please," Sarutobi said and watched the chuunin bustle out of his office, scroll tucked into the crook of his elbow. What, exactly, was Hatake Kakashi doing outside of the country on a classified mission when he was supposed to be looking after Uzumaki Naruto? Sarutobi considered his options. On a classified mission outside the country- the mission would certainly come straight from his desk and he didn't recall debriefing Kakashi-kun for one. And any request for extra personnel would have to be approved him personally as well.
Which meant-
Sarutobi pulled out his pipe and lit it with a snap of his fingers, breathing in deeply, smoke filling up his chest. Danzou was meddling again. From the sound of it, Delta Squad was deployed for service out of the country, no doubt on an assassination mission. If Kakashi had followed his team and left the country, defying direct orders from the Hokage...
Ren returned with a slim file in hand, looking slightly pained as a cloud of smoke floated towards him. "I've brought the most recent one, Hokage-sama. It seemed prudent considering his files take up an entire cabinet."
"Very prudent," Sarutobi agreed and accepted the file. "You may leave now, Ren-san. We shall finish the roster arrangements later."
A quick bow and murmured thanks later, Sarutobi was left alone with his thoughts, young Kakashi's file and his pipe. Flipping it open with wrinkled hands, he considered the innocent looking paper on top; it was a copy of a processed request of form 36B-AZ, requesting Kakashi for a classified mission, with nearly everything but Kakashi's name and the date blocked out by the censors. There was a brief notation requisitioning four vials of vaccine for the Shinzi pox, common in Stone Country.
It was dated three days ago.
The only time form 36B-AZ was ever used was in conjunction with ANBU. Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and gripped the stem of his pipe with his teeth, blowing out a stream of smoke from his nose.
Hatake Kakashi was out of the country on a classified mission. He was requested as a special non-ANBU associate. He was most likely travelling with Delta Squad. He had left Naruto in the village. Delta Squad was out of the country on a mission he had no knowledge, which meant that the Commander or Danzou had authorized it, but Arakaki always made sure to update him on any missions his Corps was sent out on. Which, logically, left Danzou.
Sarutobi didn't very much like the way the pieces were falling together. He rubbed his temples with weary hands and silently cursed Minato for being a foolhardy self-sacrificing heroic Hokage. Some days, it helped with the headaches. Today, it seemed, even cursing his dead successor's name would be no help.
Orochimaru. Danzou. Naruto.
Some days, it seemed like his mistakes were all he could ever think about. He thought he was teaching a prodigy, his successor, his son. Instead, it turned out he was teaching his prize student how to be a mass murderer and a traitor. He'd let ROOT grow wild during the Third Shinobi War, too busy trying to win a war; when it'd ended he thought he'd stamped it out but Danzou was too clever, moving his operatives deeper into the shadows. And now Kakashi was caught in that tangled mess, sent out on a mysterious mission with his team, far outside of the safety of the village.
Away from Naruto.
He should have known that Danzou would have been upset with Kakashi's introduction into the Council. Sarutobi opened his eyes and flared his chakra. Within moments a guard materialized in front of him, kneeling in a formal salute.
"Find out where Uzumaki Naruto is staying in the village. Observe but do not intrude unless he is in danger. Report back to me as soon as possible."
The guard nodded deeply and disappeared into the shadows.
Sarutobi put his pipe down on his desk and sighed. He was getting too damned old for this.
At the knock on the door, the entire room started, Sharingan flashing in a few faces. Aya was bristling with kunai while Shisui was already forming seals to cloak the entire room in a heavy genjutsu. Itachi raised a hand and cocked his head, checking the presence hovering right outside the room.
"Hold," he said calmly. He stood up from the table and made his way over to the door, the tomoe of his Sharingan swirling lazily. He opened the door and bowed deeply, ponytail swinging with the motion.
"Hello, Mother," Itachi said.
Uchiha Mikoto smiled. "I'm sorry for scaring you," she said gently. "But I didn't want to give away my presence."
"It was well thought of you," Itachi returned and stood aside to let his mother into the cramped room, letting everyone see his deactivated eyes.
"Mikoto-oba-san," Shisui said, standing up cautiously. Itachi noted that he had released his prepared genjutsu, chakra flowing normally. "I didn't realize- that-" Shisui stopped and swallowed.
"I am a little old," his Mother agreed and she made her way into a corner of the room, settling down next to Aya gracefully. "I'm sorry dear, but there's hardly enough room to breathe in here."
"P-please, Mikoto-sama," Aya stammered and gave up her cushion for older lady, kunai long forgotten.
The average age of the shinobi in this room was, Itachi admitted, very young, with Itachi himself at the youngest and Kaede the oldest at the age of twenty-three.
"I don't mean to be rude, Mikoto-sama, but-" Kenji swallowed, looking nervous. He was a civilian and had less training to hide his emotions. "Do- do they know?"
"Oh no," Mother said serenely. "You've been very careful, keeping quiet and changing meeting times and places like this. It took me awhile to see to follow Itachi-kun, what with all the false trails and doubling back he did."
"How did you know?" Itachi asked, sitting back down at his place again.
"You're my son," Mother said and reached out to pat Itachi's hand. "How could I not know that you're working on a seditious plan to go against the elders and your father? I just thought it was time that I joined you. Not all of us old people like the plan, you know."
"But the Clan Head's word is law," Shisui said quietly. "We could rightly be tried and executed under clan law or stripped of our name and heritage."
"I know," Mother said quietly. "But I can no longer watch and see this continue. It will ruin the Uchiha and it will ruin the village. I will not have Sasuke grow up in a world where the Uchiha have ruined the village." Or not grow up at all, executed by the Council for associating with a treasonous clan. "We've been entrusted with the care of Uzumaki Naruto," Mother continued and there were gasps all around the room.
"But- but he's-" Aya breathed in sharply.
"The container for the kyuubi," Itachi said calmly. "A six year old boy chosen by the Yondaime Hokage who has a demon sealed inside of him to protect the village."
"It is an honor to care for him," Mother said firmly. "Without him, the village would be but ash in the wind and we dishonor the Yondaime's sacrifice to think otherwise. And he's also a very sweet boy."
"And the Hokage trusts us, the Uchiha, with him?" Shisui asked, raising an eyebrow. "As I recall, many blamed us for the attack, accusing us of controlling the fox into attacking Konoha."
"Hatake Kakashi does," Kaede put in and the room instantly quieted. "I was standing guard on the day they came for dinner with Fugaku-sama."
"So the rumors are true," Kenji said, brow furrowed. "Hatake-san has taken custody of the boy and reclaimed his seat on the Council."
"It does mean that the Clan will be under greater scrutiny than before," Itachi realized, the gears in his mind whirring. Kakashi-senpai was very clever. "It's a test."
"If we can use this time to show the Council and the Hokage what the village means to the Uchiha," Mother said quietly, "perhaps the elders and my husband will also realize what the Uchiha means to the village. Already Hatake has moved to show that it stands with the Uchiha against Danzou."
"We don't have much time," Shisui said grimly, hands clenched into tight fists. "The elders are growing restless and angry."
"Then we'll just have to work harder," Aya put in, her voice determined. "We have to save the clan."
"Amaterasu bless us and give us strength," Mother prayed, hands clasped together in her lap. Itachi silently made his own prayers to the goddess: Amaterasu, this lowly one begs this of you—keep my brother safe.