Chapter Five: Life as Root Operative (3)

Note: This chapter is shorter than the others ones, because I wasn't sure how to separate the scenes. But I hope you like it!

I hope you guys had a good New Year! I'll be posting two chapters this time! But this is only because I'll be taking a bit of a break from writing - sorry, sort of buried under preparation for finals, reports, and presentations I have to do... :(

Please give me some reviews! The more reviews or follows I get, the more likely I will try to get back to writing earlier XP!.

Warnings: AU. Slight OOC.

"Operative Yuurei, reporting back, Danzo-sama." Haruto spoke, as he kneeled on the floor.

"I see." Danzo replied, looking up from a stack of papers on his desk. "Your opinion on Uchiha Itachi's skill?"

"Uchiha Itachi's prowess in the ninja arts is definitely remarkable. He's at least on par or even better than an average Root operative. But what makes Uchiha Itachi stand out from the rest is his overwhelming intellect, and ability to formulate plans and make decisions in a mere matter of seconds." Haruto sighed inwardly, as usual, Danzo's obsession with the Uchiha was still going strong and it didn't seem to be lessening any time soon.

Danzo smiled faintly. "Nothing strange at all; that's what happens when you graduate the academy in a single year." A genius seen only once in a generation; it was a pity that Uchiha Itachi was born into the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha was a cursed clan, with a cursed power; they would one day ultimately bring disaster to Konoha.

Haruto remained silent from his position on the floor, unsure of what to say. Danzo had been extremely interested in Uchiha Itachi, ever since his graduation from the academy, and it had only increased as the months went on. But Haruto knew that nothing good came out of Danzo being interested in someone. If this went on, sooner or later, Uchiha Itachi would be the one to pay the price, and he would be destroyed or totally changed into a new person, because of Danzo.

Haruto's body tensed up at what Danzo asked next.

"His loyalty?"

Haruto hesitated briefly, his mind frantically trying to think of something suitable to say, that would not increase Danzo's interest in Itachi. "From just observing a training exercise, I cannot yet say anything about Uchiha Itachi's loyalty."

"You don't have enough information to make a conclusion."

"Hai, Danzo-sama." Haruto lowered his head in acknowledgment. "I apologize for my failure."

Danzo tapped his finger on his cane as he looked at Operative Yuurei. Yuurei was undoubtedly an indispensable member of his Root ANBU division. Although being only five years old, Operative Yuurei was already Root's top assassin, and Danzo was almost confident that Yuurei would make a good right-hand man, and could help him lead Root. But there was one thing that was stopping Danzo from fully trusting this operative – his bond with the Uchiha. Danzo had recently noticed that ever since Yuurei became a full-fledged Root operative, no Uchiha had been inducted into Root, and neither did any Uchihas become Root trainees either. It could simply be a coincidence or it could be the work of Yuurei, so Danzo needed to verify just how loyal Operative Yuurei was to him and Root.

"Operative Yuurei," Danzo said, with a small smirk on his lips. "Due to your excellent performance in the past year, I have decided to assign you on a solo mission."

"It is an honour, Danzo-sama." Zero bowed his head in deference.

"As I said, it is a solo mission of indefinite length. Your mission is to gather intelligence on the potential political threats – the Uchiha clan and their heir, Uchiha Itachi. You may already be aware, but recently, the relation between the village and the Uchiha has been quite strained. I have even been told that there are signs of the Uchiha acting suspicious, lately. Therefore it is necessary for every single detail to be reported directly back to me. For the duration of this mission, you will not receive any other assignments unless there is an emergency."

A cold chill spread all across Haruto's body, disbelief and fear causing his breath to hitch slightly. This was a test. Danzo was testing him, to see where his loyalties actually were. Haruto quickly forced himself to regain composure and once again, bowed his head. "I understand, Danzo-sama. I will not fail you."

Haruto knew that Danzo was testing him; he must have been too obvious when it came to protecting the Uchiha and Danzo was suspicious, that's why he assigned him to be the one to spy on the Uchiha. Without a doubt, Danzo must have had the Uchiha kept under surveillance since the Kyuubi Attack, and he would immediately know if Haruto misreported something. Haruto had to complete the mission successfully, in order to make Danzo fully trust him, it was necessary. But wouldn't doing so, go against his promise to Toshio? He was supposed to protect the Uchiha, but Danzo would definitely use the information he gained about the Uchiha clan to execute the many plans he must have.

"Your dismissed, Operative Yuurei."

"Hai, Danzo-sama."

XXXXXX

"Operative Hiou, successfully completed mission 561-B, Danzo-sama."

"The target?"

"Eliminated. I made sure to leave traces of raiton chakra being used around the area so Kumogakure will fall under suspicion."

"Good, dismissed, Operative Hiou."

Danzo smirked in the darkness; it was all going according to his plans. Hiruzen was a naïve fool as usual. Not only did Kinoe let himself be so easily influenced by Kakashi, he went against his orders and betrayed Root. There was no way Danzo would leave someone like that alive for long.

Operative Hiou gave a bow in acknowledgement, before exiting the room. As he walked his way back to his barrack, a flicker of chakra to his right caught his attention.

"Shunsuke." Kaito greeted him.

"Kaito," Shunsuke gave a nod in greeting, before he resumed walking with Kaito falling into steps alongside him.

He opened the door to his room and entered, lying his body down across the bed. "So, did you need something from me, Kaito?"

"I heard he's dead – Kinoe." Kaito commented, from where he sat, leaning against the wall.

"Oh? The information spread quite quickly."

"Of course it would. It's Kinoe, more than half of Root wanted him dead." Kaito shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "There's no way Kinoe's death could be kept quiet."

"Hmmm." Shunsuke gave a hum in agreement.

"Haruto, are you going to tell him about Kinoe?"

Shunsuke sighed and sat up on his bed, to look at Kaito. "Probably not, I think." Seeing Kaito's questioning eyes, he elaborated. "If I told Haruto, he would probably cry or feel guilty about it. I don't want that to happen."

"Yeah, that idiot would probably do so." Kaito snorted in amusement. "I still don't get how that idiot could survive so long in Root with such a bleeding heart."

Shunsuke chuckled wryly, "well, it's what makes Haruto special, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah." Kaito ruffled his hair and looked away. "I guess that's true."

Shunsuke looked down on his hands, contemplatively. Root, huh. Now would be the best time to bring up the subject. Shunsuke turned, and gazed seriously into Kaito's eyes. "Kaito, I want to bring Root to light. Will you help me?"

Kaito shot up from his slouched position in shock. "W-wait, you mean you want to –"

The sound of the door opening stopped Kaito from continuing, and both of them turned to look at who had entered.

"Shunsuke, Kaito." Haruto greeted from the doorway, before he stepped in and closed the door. "It's been quite a while."

"Haruto, I'm glad you are doing well." Shunsuke replied from where he sat on the bed.

"Yo, Haruto." Kaito raised a hand in greeting.

Shunsuke and Kaito stared in surprise, as they watched Haruto just nod and then walk to a place near the wall and sat down, without saying anything. The two exchanged questioning glances, before Shunsuke spoke up.

"Haruto, are you okay? Is there something wrong?"

Haruto hugged his knees to his chest and answered with a wavering voice, "I-my next mission, I am to spy on the Uchiha."

Kaito sighed inwardly as he looked up at the ceiling. So Danzo's finally making his move, huh? Well, it's not really unexpected considering his contradictory obsession with the Uchiha; Danzo dislikes the Uchiha, yet he wants and desires the power of the Uchiha – the Sharingan. His eyes moved over to scan Haruto and he sighed inwardly once again, cursing Toshio in his mind. Just what was Toshio thinking when he asked Haruto to protect the Uchiha before he died!? It's obvious that that's near impossible with Danzo in the picture. In the end, what Toshio was doing was just making Haruto suffer.

"Haruto, it's clear that Danzo is testing you. You should just report to Danzo whatever you see about the Uchiha." Shunsuke finally said. "You are aware of how antagonistic the Uchiha have been viewing the village recently, right? Then the information you obtain will be useful to the village in order to lower down the hostilities between the village and the Uchiha."

"T-that's…" Haruto looked up in surprise. "You're right. I, I'm also supposed to protect Konoha. I can't hesitate each time an Uchiha is involved, just because of my promise to Toshio." He smiled gratefully at Shunsuke, "arigatou, Shunsuke."

"But," Kaito spoke up. "If you have to choose between the village or the Uchiha clan, which will you choose, Haruto?"

"Eh?" Haruto turned to stare at Kaito in astonishment, before lowering his eyes. "The village or the Uchiha, I…" Haruto clenched his fists in fear, what happens if one day, he has to make that choice? He didn't think he could…he promised Toshio to protect the Uchiha, but he, himself, also swore to protect Konoha.

"Well, well. You don't have to answer that now, Haruto." Shunsuke said, trying his best to reassure Haruto. "Just keep what Kaito said in mind, okay Haruto?" Receiving a nod from Haruto, Shunsuke continued. "Anyway, there's something I want to tell you two."

Kaito and Haruto both looked at Shunsuke, one with slight recognition and the other with confusion.

"I've decided. I want to bring Root to light." Shunsuke said. "I'm sick of it. I joined Root in order to protect Shikamaru from Danzo and to help protect Konoha, but instead, here I am, killing and spying on my fellow comrades from Konoha. Danzo has long crossed the line; his actions in the name of protecting Konoha have long crossed the line. If Danzo isn't stopped and this continues, Konoha will one day be dragged into a war or fallen into ruin because of him."

Shunsuke paused slightly and looked seriously at Haruto and Kaito. "Will you two help me?"

"I'll help you, Shunsuke." Kaito answered swiftly, resolve clear in his eyes. "This mess all happened because of the Sandaime, and no matter how much I want to deny it, the Sandaime is still my father. That's why, as his son, and as a Sarutobi, I have a responsibility and duty to clean up what my father has done." Kaito had to do it, he had to do what his father couldn't do, and stop Danzo before he destroyed even more lives of the people living in Konoha. "But how will we bring Root to light? The Sandaime will definitely not help us."

"We won't go to the Sandaime." Shunsuke replied. "We will go to the clan heads; if the clan heads team up together and approach the Hokage about Root, the Sandaime won't be able to deny or say anything."

"That's true," Kaito nodded in agreement. "Together, the clans have more power over the Hokage."

"Haruto, how about you, will you help us?" Shunsuke asked, hoping that Haruto would also agree. In order for Root to be brought to light, his help was definitely needed. Only Haruto, who was the highest ranking operative of Root, would be able to find all the evidence they needed to incriminate and prove Danzo guilty. Without Haruto, they would never be able to come out of the shadows and into the light.

"I'm not very fond of going behind the Hokage's back, but I'll help you." Haruto decided. "I, I swore to protect Konoha. Not to mention, both of you are my best friends, so I want to help you."

"Thanks, Haruto." Shunsuke smiled and shared a look of achievement with Kaito. "Before we can bring up Root to the clan heads, we need evidence. This is where you come in, Haruto. With your position in Root, you should be able to find evidence of what Danzo has done so far."

"I'll do it. I'll pass on all the evidence I can gather about Danzo and Root to you or Kaito, whenever I can." Haruto nodded his head seriously, determination clear in his eyes.

For the sake of Konoha, the three of them thought.

How do you guys think?