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Chapter 64 Danzou's Legacy

"This tunnel isn't very well reinforced, un." Deidara grimaced as he brushed dirt out of his long blond hair for fifth time since they had entered the earthen corridor after leaving the main group. Charged with the recovery of Sakura, Sai and Kabuto, he and Suigetsu had had been paired with Haku with orders to descend into the dark tunnels under the trees of Ki village and seek out the dungeons.

Haku shuddered, "Don't remind me. I hate being underground. I think I may be claustrophobic."

That greatly amused Suigetsu and he had to cover his mouth quickly to keep from laughing out loud and giving away their position. Both Deidara and Haku gave him a dirty look, but decided to remain silent. They were on a mission after all, not an afternoon stroll.

Fifteen minutes later they came across one of the gigantic roots holding the huge tree above them in the ground. It was so massive, the trail ended up wrapping around it for about two hundred feet before resuming its course. Smaller roots, probably from plants and smaller (normal-sized) trees began to appear, poking through the roof of the tunnel.

"Don't touch those, un." Deidara whispered as he bent over to keep his top knot from hitting them. While the teen was small for his age, the added inches the traditional hairstyle of the Stone village he continued to wear was now a disadvantage. He crouched on the floor and removed the tie from his hair, then gathered it in a ponytail at the base of his neck, "In Stone we would use a jutsu that would turn roots like these into sensors. Also, don't touch any of the rocks sticking out of the wall and ceiling."

"Glad you came with me. I never would have guessed that. So what kind of jutsu is in the rocks?" Haku muttered appreciatively.

"None. It's just that this tunnel isn't very stable and if you bury me alive I'll come back and haunt you in your next life."

"Ah." Haku stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned, "Good to know that too."

Suigetsu sipped water from his canteen and stared at the roots and rocks. His purple eyes roaming over the uneven floor to the small lights that had been strung on the wall and the discoloration of the soil halfway up the wall. "It's very humid in here. We're near an underground lake. And it hasn't been long since this tunnel was underwater."

"Hasn't been long?" Haku was feeling very much out of his element. He was more used to the open ground of Water country where tunnels were unheard of.

Deidara answered, "As in days. This tunnel was underwater when Sai sent that map to Konoha."

Haku couldn't help it. He started cursing, much to the surprise of his two companions, "We've been lured here. Suigetsu, how far away is that lake?"

The boy closed his eyes and, mindful of Deidara's warning, gingerly touched the wall with his finger. As soon as he made contact his entire arm turned to water. Sending the chakra-imbued liquid into the earth he felt around for any veins of water, little streams flowing through the earth.

Opening his eyes, Suigetsu was surprised at the look of worry that was etched clearly in Deidara's face. He was chewing on his lip and adjusting the scope over his eye, apparently trying to see look closer at the wall.

"Be careful when you deactivate your jutsu, un." Deidara said quietly as he raised his head to look at the top of the wall. Suigetsu's eyes opened wide as he followed the teen's line of sight. There was now an inch wide crack extending from the point where he had placed his finger to the top of the wall.

It was Suigetsu's turn to curse and he held his breath as he very carefully, and with much more control than he had ever used before, or knew he could use, withdrew his jutsu from the wall. Stepping back cautiously he exhaled with uncertainty as he looked up to the two older boys with something akin to panic on his face.

"Scared?" Deidara teased humorlessly.

"You know, I don't get scared fighting people, but this… yeah, you bet I'm scared. You know earth jutsu though, you could get away."

"So could you." Deidara turned serious. "Just dematerialize into water and follow the underground rivers. They eventually lead to a cave or even above ground to a spring. But even so… a cave-in can happen faster than you do a jutsu. Seriously, un, we need to get out of here. Now."

The trio took off at a cautious jog, stepping lightly on the increasingly damp ground as they moved forward. Water began to drip from the ends of the roots hitting them in the face and head as the small puddles soon gave way to larger puddles that spread out in rippled waves as they pushed chakra through their feet so they could run on top of them.

"The lake is just ahead." Suigetsu said quietly. "We can…"

He was interrupted mid-sentence by a low rumble, followed by a small earthquake. A few short seconds later a sound, unlike anything they had ever heard before, engulfed their senses. A cross between a locomotive engine and a thousand water faucets left no doubt in their minds about what was happening.

"The tunnel is collapsing behind us! We need to get to that lake! Run!" Deidara yelled as they were engulfed in dust. He felt someone tug at his shirt and realized that Haku, who had been behind him, had grabbed onto him. A smart move, the teen decided, and reached up grab onto Suigetsu's shirt as well. The three ran swiftly, coughing and choking on the thick air, guided only by Suigetsu's ability to sniff out water.

"It's coming closer!" Haku tried to yell above the roar of the water as small waves started to lap at their ankles.

The tunnel opened up into a large cavern and the three teens, quickly took in their surroundings. With only seconds to spare they had to find a way out. The roof was about forty feet over their head and, surprisingly, made of wood. The cave itself was artificial, and poorly made, as Deidara mentally observed as his eyes took in the deep scratch marks of a badly executed earth jutsu. It was at least five-thousand square feet and the lake actually looked more like a reservoir with large pipes feeding into it from another tunnel opposite the one they had just escaped from.

"There's a ladder over there!" Suigetsu yelled as he took off at a run, reaching it in three seconds flat. Using chakra, he jumped up and grabbed it about a quarter of the way up and started climbing. His companions did the same thing just as a large gush of water emptied through the tunnel into the cave. The roar of the water was overwhelming and the ladder shook and then swayed as the bottom was struck by the tumultuous barrage.

Looking up Deidara saw that the metal ladder was welded to a small opening at the top. It was probably a safe bet that the bottom, which had also been welded, was no longer attached. The ladder swayed precariously as a boulder was slammed into the wall behind it. The wall of the cave nearest the escaping water began to crumble and part of the wooden ceiling became detached and hung precariously towards the ground.

It took only a few seconds to get to the top and Suigetsu pushed the trap door open, jumping up onto the floor. Haku and Deidara followed him, both landing in a crouch, weapons pulled and senses alert. They had no idea where they had ended up; after all, the ladder had not been on the map.

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"He's on the other side of the door." Fugaku's emotionless words cut through Itachi like a knife and he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he mentally prepared himself for the coming battle.

Shisui entered his thoughts, the boy who's eyes Danzou had stolen. At least one of which was now residing within the man's head, gazing out at the world with no awareness of the havoc it would soon be called upon to create. Itachi had been asked to rescue the eyes, to implant them in his own head to counteract the blindness that the Mangekyou Sharingan imposed as payment. Both Shisui's chakra "self" and his parents had requested it, but it would be difficult. The guilt that had been borne the moment he had learned of his friends death had never died and this fight would no doubt continue to fan the fire.

"Itachi?" Fugaku placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "You and I will have to work together on this."

Itachi heard the unspoken question, "Are you well enough to continue?" and nodded his head once in affirmation. His illness had been at the back of his thoughts lately and the only symptom he had suffered was mild asthma. Yet it was still there, and extreme physical exertion would make it worse. Unfortunately, this was not the kind of battle he could hold back on.

Fugaku uncharacteristically wrapped one arm around his son as he looked up at Kisame, Kakashi and Zabuza. They nodded once as well and looked determinately at the door, waiting for it to open and the battle to begin. The three men had been given the task of taking out anyone who tried to interfere with the fight, although at this point it was fairly reasonable to assume there would be no intrusions. Danzou wouldn't have gone to the trouble of setting up this fight, only to have his own people break it up.

Stepping forward, Itachi grasped the door handle and slid it sideways. The plain wooden door held no decoration and made no noise as it opened, but the scene they saw before them was quite unexpected. While they had been aware that the tunnel they had been following was situated at a slight incline, they were surprised to find themselves outside, in the forest near one of the giant trees. Massive boulders were arranged to make a large oval shaped "arena". At least, that's what it looked like. It was an odd place to have such a thing, but perhaps with everyone living in the trees, having it outside was more private.

"No point harming my ninja unnecessarily." Danzou's sharp voice rang out clearly as the elderly ninja shrugged out of his dark colored robe and approached the newcomers with no outward signs of fear or trepidation. He had his arm wrapped tightly against his chest, one eye was wrapped in bandages and he leaned heavily on a cane. There was nothing about this man's appearance that revealed the power that lay within his body.

"I did not come here to hurt them. Only you." Compared to Danzou, Fugaku's voice was more brutal, and held definite undertones of bloodlust.

"You say that, yet I have seen nothing in your past behavior to justify your claim."

"Perhaps not." Fugaku shrugged. He knew he was no angel and having someone throw it in his face was, in his opinion, beyond pointless.

"Is this really him?" Zabuza asked, scowling sourly behind his bandages.

Itachi, who had once been a member of Root and been in contact with the elder frequently, nodded his head, "Definitely. This time… we have him."

"Finally." Kisame slammed his sword down on the ground, "Can't wait to see this."

"Then let's get on with it." Fugaku growled.

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Deidara stood up from his crouch and looked around, trying to get a handle on the situation. "Where are we?"

"You forgot to say 'un'." Suigetsu corrected.

"This isn't the time for jokes, idiot." Deidara glared at his young companion, "We were obviously forced to come here for some reason. But what is this place?"

"There doesn't appear to be any doors or windows." Haku looked around the large room. About the size of a soccer field, the floor was constructed of wooden beam laid end to end and the walls were made of cement blocks. The ceiling also appeared to be concrete.

Suigetsu spoke up, "It looks like a basement. Like we're under a building or something."

"I can break through the concrete with an ice-jutsu." Haku ran one hand over the rough surface, "The ice can expand, making the concrete crack and fall away."

"I would prefer using my art, un." Deidara grinned broadly.

"I want to send a powerful water jutsu through the wall and bust it down that way!" Suigetsu offered.

The three boys glared at each other for a minute before turning their attention back to the wall. The sound of rushing water began to die down as the flood underneath them stabilized. Looking through the trap door Suigetsu jumped back as the ladder, and about three feet of the floor it was attached to broke off and fell into the swirling waters.

"This floor isn't very stable, I think." He looked intently at the two older teens, "Maybe we should think about leaving."

Deidara looked up, "The walls are probably holding back dirt, so our best bet is to go through the ceiling. If I remember the map correctly, we were following that tunnel below us to a warehouse that connected with what looked to be a prison, un. We're probably in the general vicinity of our original target, just a hundred feet above it. And that's assuming we didn't have to do any climbing to get into the prison level."

"So are you saying, that you think that," Haku pointed up, "Is the prison?"

"Not really. Just… we got diverted, but we aren't completely lost yet, un."

"I'll us my ice jutsu and make a ramp. We can use that to get up to the ceiling." Haku focused his chakra and with one hand formed a series of hand signs while holding his other hand out in front of him. Water rushed in from all around and a fairly steep ramp, about two feet wide was quickly constructed.

"A fun game would be to see how far you can go on that ramp without chakra before falling off." Suigetsu grinned broadly at his companions.

"What are you, twelve?" Deidara complained.

"Eleven, actually."

The mad bomber pushed chakra into his feet and began the ascent behind Haku, "Should have left you at home with a babysitter, un."

"I hear something!" Haku had reached the top first and had his ear pressed firmly against the cement ceiling. A jutsu had been used to enhance his hearing and the distinct sounds of a mumbled conversation could be heard. "It's just two people. I can also feel their chakra. There's lots of other chakra sources, but they are very, very weak. Like they're sick or something. Humph. This must be the jail."

Haku formed another jutsu and placed his hands on the ceiling. They glowed bright white in the dimly illuminated room as he forced water into the pores and cracks of the cement. Soon a circular area, large enough for one person to squeeze through was encased in an ice jutsu that would freeze, thaw, then freeze again. The cycle was repeated every second and soon a crack was heard as the hole fell away from the ceiling and crashed to the ground.

"Huh? Are they here already?" A voice with heavy baritone undertones laughed above the trio.

"Sounds like it." Deidara answered as he led the way through the hole and into the prison. The room he landed in turned out to be the bottom floor of a vast prison structure. The terraced facility held at least ten floors above the current one, each with several narrow doors spaced far apart. The prison was poorly lit and the exact number of cells was impossible to determine.

"Hey! Up there!" The man, who it turned out was quite large both in height and girth, looked up as three people were pushed against a railing one level above. "You ready to watch your rescuers die?"

Deidara, Haku and Suigetsu looked up and were surprised to see Kabuto, Sakura and Sai staring back down at them wide-eyed. They were unbound and appeared to be in good health. At least they were standing and seemed to have all their limbs with no visible cuts or contusions.

"They look kind of healthy, Haku." Suigetsu observed.

"At least from here, anyway." The teen turned and faced the two men standing in front of him, "Why did you go to such great pains to lead us here?"

"Lead you here? I think you've got the wrong idea. You are, in fact, the first to survive this facilities basement security system. It has taken out about thirty… uh…"

"Thirty-two." The other man answered, "The last ones were a couple weeks ago. But usually it's used on people trying to break out, not in. So you are 'first' for two reasons."

"Glad to hear it." Deidara brushed his bangs away from his eyescope and looked closely at the surrounding area before fusing a jutsu into his clay and launching a large, pure white owl. Jumping on it he flew up about thirty feet and hovered as he began to drop more explosive clay figurines onto the ground. Smiling, he laughed as the two guards jumped back and forth, trying to miss them. He saw that the three guards watching the prisoners were standing behind their charges, unmoved. However, someone was moving in on them from behind.

Suigetsu took advantage of the barrage to jump up to the next landing. Pulling his sword he ran forward to attack the guards. They turned quickly, pulling out their own swords, but as soon as they tried to connect with the boy their weapons would pass right through him as his body turned to water, then reformed into flesh.

"I can keep this up all day." Suigetsu boasted.

"I doubt that very much!" One of the guards, a woman with bright green hair yelled as she stared at him dubiously. "Your chakra levels are dropping."

"Ah. You're a Hyuuga, I see." Haku had followed his companion and stood nearby. The landing was only about four feet wide and he was concerned about how to fight on such a narrow surface. "I wonder… do your kinsmen know you're here?"

"Of course. The clan lives here now. We support Danzou in all things."

"That's not what I hear in Konoha."

"They were traitors and we killed the main branch when they refused to agree to join with Danzou. The rest will die in time."

"What does that mean?" A sudden, unbidden image of the sweet Hinata lying dead in a pool of blood crossed the teen's mind and he shuddered.

"We're going to kill them. Then we are going to kill the Uchiha. Konoha will be left defenseless and will fall."

Haku laughed and shook his head in disbelief, "You think the power of that village rests with only two clans? I'll admit, I've only lived there a few months, but I have observed enough to realize just how wrong you are. It's pathetic to think you spent your entire life… probably over twenty or twenty-five years in that village and never realized that one simple little fact."

More explosions rocked the facility and a particularly violent one shook the landing they were standing on. Sakura lost her balance, forcing Kabuto to grab her and pull her up against the wall. The girl sank down to the floor and rested her head on her knees. Apparently, the prisoners weren't in very good condition after all, Haku surmised as he watched Sai sway slightly before dropping to the ground as well. Kabuto stood his ground, but his chakra level was so low that it was obvious he would be of no use fighting.

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"I have quite a collection of eyes." Danzou pulled the bandages off his shoulder, revealing his arm. It was encased in a series of heavy bolts that he loosened, one by one, letting them drop heavily to the ground. "I am going to enjoy adding yours to my collection, Itachi, Fugaku, and even Kakashi."

Everyone gasped as the last of the bolts fell off and he began removing the last of the bandages from his arm revealing several embedded Sharingan eyes. They turned in their sockets, looking around as the man held his right arm up for everyone to see.

"You're a monster." Kakashi was the first to speak, no doubt spurned on by the memory of his dearest friend and teammate Obito, whose Sharingan now reside in his own head, given as a gift as the young boy had lain dying.

"That's a matter of opinion." Danzou stated firmly.

"That's a matter of fact." Fugaku growled, "You dare judge others after what you have done?"

"Humph." Danzou pulled a kunai and launched himself at Fugaku, who countered with Susanoo. A chakra mass resembling a massive skeleton that blocked the Root leader and then grabbed him in one giant hand. Lifting him off the ground, the hand squeezed tightly, crushing Danzou instantly.

"Missed me." The old man appeared behind Itachi, who quickly activated his own version of Susanoo and swatted the man away from him. Danzou was tossed through the air, back towards Fugaku who threw an Amaterasu fire at him. His body was engulfed in black flames, however he was able to dowse them quickly with the help of his Sharingan's.

'This isn't going well.' Itachi said to himself. His left eye had begun to drip blood and he was forced to remove his goggles. Placing them in a pocket he rubbed his forehead as the beginnings of what promised to be very bad headache began to surface. 'Father has more endurance than me, but his Mangekyou Sharingan isn't as developed. If he keeps up these attacks he'll be like Sasuke was after fighting Orochimaru. He needs to pace himself better.'

Itachi was forced to jump back again as Danzou sent a powerful burst of wind towards him, almost knocking him off his feet with its force. He jumped up and latched onto the tree, standing sideways with the help of chakra. Forming his own jutsu, the teen pulled water out of the ground and trapped the man in a large bubble. Dropping back down he walked up to the trapped Root leader and watched with incredulity as Danzou smiled grimly for a few seconds before lifting his Sharingan filled arm and breaking the jutsu.

Dropping to the ground, Danzou took several deep breaths, then jumped away as Itachi aimed a kick at his head. Unfortunately, that placed him near Fugaku again, who took full advantage of the situation and re-activated Susanoo. The large skeleton towered over the make-shift arena as it advanced on its victim.

Danzou leapt up into the air, only to find himself at the mercy of Itachi, who had jumped up behind him, wielding a katana. It only took a second for the teen to slice the man through the middle, and cut off his head and arm.

Fugaku watched closely, knowing that Danzou was going to somehow slip out of this attack as well. It was the nature of Izanagi. Each time Danzou came close to dying he would activate the forbidden to turn the attack into a dream and bypass the effects, thus surviving. Each eye was capable of doing the jutsu just once before it close. And as expected, Danzou appeared about a hundred feet away, and three of the eyes on his arm had already closed.

Moving forward, Fugaku's Susanoo placed one hand behind the Root leader and stamped one big foot, sending the man backwards and capturing him easily. However, Danzou used a transportation jutsu to escape the creature's grasp and appear behind the Hokage. Fugaku dispelled his jutsu as he turned to face him.

"Is this all there is?" Fugaku chided, "All you've done is dance back and forth, avoiding us."

"Humph. What do you know about what it takes to be a real ninja? You, who have never had to sacrifice anything?"

"What are you talking about?" That angered Fugaku and he clenched his fists as he stared down the old man, "I have sacrificed both my sons, my wife and soul for the sake of being a ninja! And I won't have you saying otherwise!"

Itachi realized quickly that Danzou had found the chink in Fugaku's armor. "Don't let him goad you!" He yelled to his father.

Fugaku shook his head to clear it, "Humph. I guess there is no point in getting any madder at you than I already am."

"It would have been a pleasure to see your body, lying on the ground dead pierced by your own son's katana. Too bad you stopped him. I was looking forward to that scene. All that hard work to set you and Sarutobi up, all of it was for naught. The village was wracked with civil war…"

"A war you set up to happen! It would never have come to that if you hadn't been playing the Uchiha against the village and vice versa. If anyone should have been wiped off the face of the planet for the sake of peace it should have been you… and it should have happened sixty years ago! The Uchiha incident was just one example. How many others have there been? How many sacrifices have there been so you could live in your own little peaceful world? The entire world suffers, but as long as you remain you don't care."

Danzou yelled back, "I am a true ninja! I will die for the mission, for the peace of the world!"

"If that were true," Itachi interjected, "They you would already be dead. You would have accepted your fate long ago and walked into oblivion like the rest of the ninja. Yet you stole Sharingan eyes and are using a forbidden jutsu to keep yourself from dying. You are the worst kind of Hypocrite. The kind that believes himself to be the one and only exception to the rules of nature and expects everyone to bow down to you in reverence."

"How dare you!" Danzou replied dangerously.

"But there is no helping it." Itachi activated his Susanoo again and this time the giant was much better formed, with a ghostly body covering the massive skeleton. It pulled a sword and lifted the blade high. "We don't have time to wait for you to die for each of those eyes."

Danzou began to unwrap the right eye on his head and Itachi silently observed one obvious fact, 'That has to be Shisui's. I can't let him use it! If he kills it Shisui will be devastated.

Itachi's Susanoo dropped the blade down onto the old man, just as he began shrugging off his shirt, Danzou next revealed his right arm and a face appeared on his shoulder, from which a large tree began to grow. It blocked the blade enough for him to jump away from the giant creature.

"So you also stole the First's DNA." Fugaku observed.

Susanoo lifted the word again just but the jutsu faded as Itachi was dropped to his knees with a coughing fit. Spitting up blood he wiped his eyes, only to find that both of them were bleeding and he could barely see anything. It was all a fuzzy, double image that kept moving. Or perhaps it was himself that was swaying. Taking a deep breath, he stood up again and Susanoo became whole once again.

"You're at your limit, young Itachi. But no worries. I'll put you out of your misery soon enough." He lifted his hands to start the seals for another jutsu just as Fugaku's Susanoo grabbed him again. Only this time he was unable to escape as Itachi's Susanoo ran its blade through the old man's body.

The blade that sealed one's soul in an alternate dimension for all time was impervious to Izanagi and Danzou fell away, broken in half, onto the ground. His lifeless body lay like that for a full minute as everyone held their breath, waiting to see if he was truly dead.

"It looks like you did it, Itachi." Fugaku released his jutsu as he fell forward onto his hand and knees, breathing heavily. His eyes were also bleeding, but unlike Itachi, or even Sasuke, his health didn't seem to suffer, other than just being extremely tired.

Itachi, on the other hand, started coughing again as more blood was expelled from his lungs. Having trouble catching his breath he fumbled in his pocket for his asthma medication, only to have Kakashi pull it out for him.

"Need some help?" The man was grim, and seemed a little out of sorts, but Itachi accepted the offer nonetheless as he popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed.

"Don't harm the head." Itachi heard Fugaku order. He looked up and saw Kisame standing over the corpse with his sword lifted in the air.

"Humph. What about that arm?" The blue man pointed at the Sharingan filled arm.

"Mash it to pulp."

"Gladly." Kisame smiled for the first time since the mission had begun, and Itachi could have sworn that there was something different in it. Of course. It was the teeth. Usually, the fish man bared his teeth when he smiled, as if grimacing. This time he Kept his mouth closed and his eyes half-way closed.

'That's the first real smile I've ever seen you give.' Itachi thought to himself as he watched Kisame begin to shred the corpse with his Samehada.

"Are you well enough to move?" Fugaku asked his son.

"Yes…" Itachi was interrupted by Kakashi.

"No he's not. But I can carry him on my back."

The teen swayed slightly, and put his hand out in front of him to keep from collapsing. "Why aren't you affected?" He asked his father.

"I am." Fugaku admitted, "I need to rest for several hours, perhaps even a day or two. But we need to get out of here and return to the rendezvous point." He wiped the blood away from his eye and yawned broadly before picking up Danzou's head and placing in a jutsu sealed bag.

"That was too easy." Zabuza muttered, but he seemed pleased at the result, nonetheless.

"Don't worry. You'll no doubt get a turn to fight before we're done here." Fugaku reassured him.

"I'm counting on it."

"Well, if everyone is ready, let's get out of here."

They departed quickly and silently, and for the moment, life went on as usual inside of Ki. Missions were planned, children sent to school, houses cleaned, and TV shows watched. Everything was normal and everyone expected it to stay that way. But unbeknownst to them, their leader lay dead just outside the tree and his killers were still around. Life was about to change and very few people were going to let it happen willingly.

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Next week, Deidara, Suigetsu and Haku continue their fight.

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