Chapter Seven

"Oh? And what makes you so sure of that?" Obito scoffed crossing his arms as he gave Kakashi a skeptical frown. Although Rin seemed to agree with the Uchiha, she was understandably reluctant to openly contradict her prodigious teammate.

"Think about it." Kakashi urged with a quiet sigh. "It's quite obvious when you actually stop to think about everything that has happened."

"You know…" Obito said pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh. "Just because you're a Chunin doesn't make you smarter or better than us!"

"Actually it does." Kakashi shot back as his frown hardened. "The shinobi rank system exists for a reason." Obito balled his fists with an annoyed hiss as he slowly approached his aloof teammate, dark eyes narrowed into deadly slits. Rin wrapped her hands around his arm, planting her feet as she urged him in the opposite direction.

"A real leader," Tsunade began shifting slightly to face Kakashi. "Never belittles or talks down to his subordinates. A true leader recognizes and accommodates his subordinates' weaknesses; he doesn't mock or demean them for it." Although the Hatake said nothing in response, the aloof sheen in his sharp grey eyes seemed to dim as he slowly lifted his arm away allowing Obito through.

"You seem so sure that he's not an Uzumaki," Rin said meekly as she faced Kakashi. "Why?"

"Because he never introduced himself as one." The silver-haired Chunin replied matter-of-factly. "Sensei took one look at his hair and assumed he was an Uzumaki."

"But he probably doesn't have that name anymore if his mother was an Uzumaki." Rin reasoned.

"I mean my grandmother was an Uzumaki and I've never identified as one." Tsunade offered.

"A shinobi must learn to see through deception." Kakashi quoted with a studious frown.

"Horse Poo!" Obito exclaimed pointing at his teammate accusingly. "You're not sure either! That's why you're being so cryptic."

"I'm not guessing. I know!" Kakashi retorted not bothering to hide to irritation from his voice. "There's a reason I asked you to describe the exact moment you met him, remember Rin?" Rin's eyes widened at his words as she recalled his pointed questioning from before.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked. "I thought you said you found him in a cage in Lady Chiyo's lab."

"We did and there were other red-haired corpses in the adjoining cells." Rin replied somewhat defensively. Kakashi shook his head cutting her off.

"Not that. Before then." He urged. "What happened directly before you and sensei entered the lab?"

"We—I mean sensei…sensei killed the guards." Rin replied. "Do you want me to describe—"

"I imagine it wasn't very quiet was it?" Kakashi deduced. Rin nodded with a perplexed look. "Was it possible for someone to have been watching you from the entrance of the laboratory without you or sensei seeing them?" The brunette was about to shake her head in response before catching herself as she tried desperately to recall the exact appearance of the laboratory's entrance.

"I don't remember, what it looked like." She finally said after some consideration. "So I guess it is possible."

"You think this Daisuke person was a guard who disguised himself as a prisoner when he saw Minato killing his comrades?" Tsunade asked arching an eyebrow incredulously.

"No, not a guard." Kakashi said. "I think this imposter was Lady Chiyo's apprentice."

"Nani?!" Obito exclaimed with a bemused frown.

"No, Kakashi, you're wrong." Rin insisted shaking her head stubbornly. "You weren't there. You didn't see what I and sensei saw! He was trembling in his cage, his body was frail and he was fading fast."

"That's true." Tsunade said as she recalled the needle mark scars littered across Daisuke's arms. "His arms were littered in needle marks scars—some of them clearly from many years ago. And he had been badly poisoned when I reached him."

"Orochimaru-sama." Kakashi said turning to give Tsunade a meaningful look. "He incorporates snakes and venoms into most of his jutsus. I think it's fair to say that over the years he has developed an immense tolerance for poisons and similar toxins."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she was reminded of her team's encounter with Hanzo of the Salamander nearly two decades ago. She remembered how it had taken Hanzo's toxin almost twice as long to affect Orochimaru's body while she and Jiraiya could only watch helplessly. At the time she hadn't thought anything of it since she and Jiraiya were well aware of his affinity for snakes.

"But if he's been ingesting his own poison," Rin said shaking her head slowly. "Why inject himself? Why not just drink or swallow it directly?"

"Poison acts quicker once injected into the bloodstream." Tsunade explained. "If he had been testing his toxins on himself over the years, ingesting them orally would have taken too long to see any visible effects. Naturally, extensive exposure to poisons would have built his resistance to poisons."

"He must have gotten scared and poisoned himself when he saw Minato-sensei entering the lab." Kakashi reasoned. "Any enemy who's ever seen sensei fight would have done the same."

"But sensei, even with his chakra sealed, sensei's sensory abilities were still functional." Rin argued. "He could detect enemies nearby—"

"Poison alters and disrupts a shinobi's chakra signature enough to make it unrecognizable." Tsunade explained. "In extreme cases, it has been known to suppress their chakra entirely and even alter their physiological makeup."

"You said his eyes changed color." Obito said quietly turning towards Rin. Although some doubt still lingered in his dark eyes, he was clearly coming around to his teammate's theory.

"That's right." Tsunade said as she remembered when Minato had caught Daisuke eavesdropping on their conversation in the cave. "You and Shizune were really excited about it. You said it had changed from purple to rusty-brown."

"But I— What about Lady Chiyo? Tsunade-sama you know about her too so she exists."

"That doesn't prove anything." The Sannin sighed. "Besides, he was the one who told us that the lab belonged to her. Any information he divulged to us cannot be trusted."

"Classic misdirection." Kakashi muttered in agreement.

"But you said she was a puppet master who favored poisons on the battle field." The brunette insisted, her brown eyes gleaming defiantly as her shoulders trembled. "And we were pursued by a puppet master throughout our journey."

"Sunagakure is known for pioneering and perfecting the shinobi art of puppetry." Kakashi said dismissively. "He could easily have thrown her name out there knowing that she was one of the few puppet masters outsiders would be familiar with enough to be terrified."

"But why?" Obito asked quietly speaking up yet again. "I don't get it. Why go through all that trouble? What was the point of all that?"

"Let's walk through this." Kakashi said settling down unto a nearby chair with a contemplative frown. "When you were first attacked at the bathhouse what happened?"

"We were entering our room, sensei and Lady Tsunade were talking outside when—"

"Before then," Tsunade said cutting her off as she recalled her conversation with the blue-eyed Jounin by the counter. "He knew. He sensed that we were being followed—we both did. But how could he have summoned them to our location? He was with us the entire time—he never once left either of our sights."

"The puppet master seal." Kakashi deduced straightening up slowly as his eyes widened ever so slightly. "It probably works like sensei's Flying Thunder God seal." When no one seemed to understand what he was getting at, he elaborated. "Sensei marks a target with his seal by touching them allowing him to teleport to them later."

"I get it," Rin said slowly. "So if the puppet master seal works in a similar way Daisuke could have marked anyone he has ever encountered with his seal without them knowing."

"But a jutsu like that has to have a range." Tsunade countered. "And there's no way someone can be capable of keeping track of everyone they've ever marked."

"Not necessarily." Obito replied. "I've seen sensei transport between marks on opposite sides of the continent without breaking a sweat."

"I agree." Kakashi added. "I don't think sensei's seal has a discernible range."

"Sensei told me that he feels a tingle in his fingers whenever someone he's marked is nearby." Rin stated quietly.

"And don't forget sensei has loads of hideouts strategically scattered all over the continent with his kunai for easy access." Kakashi continued. "If he can plan that far ahead it's not inconceivable for a puppet master to do the same with his seal."

"Alright, so he sensed two subjects he had marked previously nearing our location and activated his seals making them follow and attack us." Tsunade said slowly walking through the Hatake's hypothesis. A long pause settled in the room around them as they considered her words for any flaws or weaknesses in the theory.

"But why?" Obito repeated incredulously. "Why activate Lady Tsunade's seal before entering the village? Wouldn't it have been more effective waiting until you had returned to Konoha?"

"Because sensei figured out what he was up to and forced his hand." Kakashi said. "You said that Minato-sensei pulled him aside after the first attack." Although it hadn't been a question, the brunette had nodded in response as her teammate held her gaze. "Sensei probably began to suspect him then—"

"He must have been interrupted before he could get to the bottom of it." Tsunade reasoned with a mirthless chuckle. "Tsume and Lord Fugaku arrived shortly after."

"Something else happened." Kakashi said unconvinced. "Something that forced him into a corner."

"Tsume was going to take Daisuke to rendezvous with Orochimaru and Hizashi."

"They were going to take him away from the village." Kakashi said snapping his fingers. "Further away from his goal. That's when sensei sensed his desperation and figured out his plan."

"That explains what he meant." Rin gasped. "When he apologized to Lord Fugaku for being cryptic." Kakashi and Obito turned to face her with identical confused looks prompting her to elaborate. "I remember Lord Fugaku asking sensei how long he had known about it when Lady Tsunade had attacked us and sensei saying something along the lines of him not realizing the plan soon enough."

"We have to tell the Hokage!" Obito called out hopping on the window sill without hesitation.

"Tell him what?" Kakashi's voice rang out halting the Uchiha in his tracks as he turned to face his teammates. "Chances are he's already figured out as much. Barging into his office to bother him with information he already has won't do you much good."

"And I suppose you're fine with just sitting here and not doing anything to save sensei?" Obito shot back hotly.

"Unless you know exactly where sensei was taken you're only going to waste your time and breath going to the Hokage."

"He's right Obito." Rin said meekly bowing her head as her small fingers tightened around his arm. "Lord Orochimaru's team is made up of excellent trackers. We would only be getting in their—"

"So that's it?" Obito asked his voice low but incredulous. "After everything sensei has been through with us—everything he's done for us we're just going to—"

"It's not that simple." Tsunade scolded stepping between the two glaring boys.

"It is!" The Uchiha insisted his dark eyes wide and furious as he turned to glare at her instead. "When your comrade is in trouble you fly to their aid. Isn't that we shinobi do?"

"Even if we knew exactly where this impostor took sensei, which we do not, if we charge in without any intel or strategy for getting him out we won't be rescuing anyone." Kakashi stated bluntly his sleet grey eyes hard and cold as he crossed his arms. Obito shook his head defiantly.

"Forget that!" He cried out his voice cracking with exasperation. "Between the four of us we can come up with a—"

"Four of us?" Hatake repeated arching a silver eyebrow incredulously. The Uchiha's face fell as he registered the hard look on his teammate's face.

"It's alright." Tsunade said heaving a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes. "I'll go after your sensei."

Rin and Obito's faces lit up at this as they turned towards the Slug Sannin. Tsunade pretended not to notice as she turned to address Kakashi who was leaning against the wall studying her with impassive grey eyes.

"But I'll need your help." She said briefly turning away from the silver-haired prodigy to address each of his teammate in turn. "Rin, I want you to teach me seal you've memorized from your sensei's notebook. Obito, I'll need you to run to the archives department, Setsuko Hyuga—the Director of Record Management— owes me a favor. Tell her I'm calling it in."

"Got it." The Uchiha said turning to sprint off before remembering that he had no idea what records he was supposed to request.

"I need every record we have of every S-Ranked Sunagakure shinobi." She commanded. "Photos, reports, and mission summaries for every S-ranked shinobi under twenty."

Once Obito was sure that she was done, he hopped out of the window, disappearing into the night at a brisk sprint. She turned to Rin prompting the girl to stand at attention, her large brown eyes watching her expectantly.

"I need my notes on the poison's structure and antidote formula." Tsunade informed her. "Check my locker on the second floor. If anyone asks, tell them I sent you." The girl nodded and turned to leave, pausing when she noticed Kakashi digging his hands into his pocket as he pushed off from the wall seemingly preparing to leave.

"Look, kid. I get it." Tsunade said quietly. "He's your sensei so I admire your discipline and devotion."

"But?" Kakashi said turning to face her with an expectant look.

"No 'buts'" She assured him with a small shake of her head. His mask moved briefly as he considered saying something in response before deciding against it and turning away. When he reached the door, he paused long enough to dig out a small scroll from his weapon's pouch which he held up for her to see.

"He's young, but Akino is my best ninken." Kakashi explained as Tsunade studied the summoning scroll blankly before accepting it. Their eyes met and the Senju heiress was taken aback by how much the child reminded her of his late father even with most of his face hidden beneath his mask. Although his disapproval was evident in the crease of his silver eyebrows, he said nothing further on the matter as he jumped through the open window Obito had departed through earlier. A split second before he jumped out, Tsunade felt the words forming in her throat but bit them back forcing her lips shut as she watched him disappear into the night.

Rin returned from her errand, flushed and clearly winded as she paused briefly at the doorway to catch her breath. When Tsunade was sure that the girl wasn't going to collapse, she accepted the notebook she held out for her, flipping it open to study her handwriting with a small frown.

Just as I suspected…Hemlock's the main ingredient. How efficient.

"So Kakashi really refused to help us huh?" Rin muttered quietly interrupting Tsunade's reading. She glanced towards the girl, watching her fiddle with her apron as her small sandals shuffled on the ground below her.

"He doesn't approve." Tsunade stated vaguely as she settled down into an empty chair.

"I know he cares about sensei but I can't understand why he insists on leaving sensei's rescue to Lord Orochimaru." Rin continued.

"Focus Rin." Tsunade scolded startling the girl slightly. "We won't be of any help to your sensei if we stopped to pout every time something didn't go our way."

"Y-yes ma'am!" Rin stuttered nervously with an apologetic bow.

"Before I infiltrate Sunagakure we'll need to have a plan to track down your sensei and rescue him." Tsunade continued as she started pacing back and forth, deep in thought.

"You think he took sensei back to Sunagakure?" Rin wondered with a confused frown. The Senju heiress turned to face her with a questioning look prompting the girl to elaborate. "It's just that, it's been over a week now and…wouldn't Sunagakure be furious by now after learning of sensei's involvement in the lab's destruction?"

"Just because we haven't heard anything from them doesn't mean they aren't aware of Konoha's involvement." Tsunade explained. "Think about it, if they confronted us openly with their accusations we would only just deny it. So it's better for them to keep us guessing about whether or not they know of our involvement and attack once an opening presents itself."

"I see." Rin muttered with a small smile. "I suppose that would make a lot more sense. So how are you going to infiltrate Sunagakure? Are you going to use a disguise?"

"I haven't decided yet." Tsunade admitted. "I wanted to find out as much as I could about our impostor before coming up with a strategy."

"Let's hope Obito returns with some good records." The brunette said with a small sigh as she settled down into an empty chair.

"In the meantime," Tsunade stated with a pointed glance at the young kunoichi. "Let's try to work this out. What can we deduce about the impostor based on what we know so far?"

"He's a brilliant strategist and extremely cunning. He also has to be very patient and flexible—he had to adapt to many setbacks with very little time to prepare." Rin replied after a brief moment of consideration. Tsunade nodded.

"He's also a puppet master," she said holding up a finger for emphasis. "Which immediately tells us that he favors long-range combat, however, it would not surprise me if he is adept at short-range hand-to-hand combat."

"He must also have immense chakra control or a very large reserve." Rin offered. "The puppet mastery jutsus are notoriously chakra-consuming."

"He also has vast medical knowledge at his disposal making him a lethal opponent." Tsunade's lips curled in anticipation at the thought of facing him in a battle of wits. It wasn't often that she encountered another ninja with knowledge in medical ninjutsu that matched her own. While she certainly didn't welcome such challenges, she knew that she was perhaps the only shinobi alive capable of taking this monster down before he perfected his toxin.

If he hasn't already…Tsunade's eyes widened as a harrowing realization suddenly occurred to her. The toxin was complete. It had been for the past five weeks now—if not longer. All this time, they had been worried about protecting Daisuke the impostor from capture to keep Sunagakure from perfecting its lethal weapon. The irony of their very actions resulting in the very consequence they had worked hard to avoid was not lost on her as she recalled one of her grandfather's favorite sayings.

"We often meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it."

"Sorry?" Tsunade jumped slightly at the sound of Obito's voice. She turned to find him and Rin huddled over a map of the Five Great Nations and the surrounding hidden villages. Her gaze flickered to the small stack of scrolls tucked beneath his armpits with an annoyed frown.

"Is that it?" She asked reaching for the scrolls with an impatient huff. He arched his eyebrow clearly taken aback and slightly alarmed by her suddenly foul mood. "This isn't nearly close to what we need." She grumbled as she scanned the first couple of scrolls briefly.

"Sorry it's just that well I thought—it would be best to narrow the list down to ninja with some skill or knowledge of medical ninjutsu." The Uchiha boy explained sheepishly shuffling his feet as he watched her apprehensively. Although she was grateful for his quick thinking, she was far too on edge to express as much. Instead, she stole from the room, head pounding with the beginnings of a massive headache.

Author's Note: Sorry for the gap between chapters. My personal life got crazier than normal and I kept tweaking this chapter over and over again until finally I decided to just upload it and move on to the next chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who has read, liked, commented, or followed this story thus far. You all are amazing and I appreciate the time you've invested in this story-no matter how miniscule. I'll try to get back to uploading a chapter per week so I hope to see you all again next week.