5.4 miles southeast of Yugakure, 1303Hrs:
"I'm still Yamato"
"Bullshit, Ami saw the real you make off with the man's head" Sasuke said while noticing that this chidori was putting a greater drain on his chakra than the one he used less than 8 hours before.
"I can prove it. You just finished learning that technique, Kakashi-senpai's Chidori, last night. You frequently flirt with Ami although she mostly doesn't realize it. Earlier this week you asked me to teach you how to make a different kind of clone because shadow clones take up too much chakra. We tried earth and water clones but since you don't have an affinity for either element they weren't very good. I suggested smoke clones and.."
"Alright, you have his memories but that doesn't mean your Yamato. If you want me to spare you; you need tell me something I can believe"
"I can't get into specifics. All I can say is that a certain doctor friend of ours with strong roots in the community used his senpai's research to make this possible" 'Yamato' said causing Sasuke's eye to widen.
"He must mean Kichida and Orochimaru but if Root has the ability to steal peoples bodies then why hasn't Danzo used it to escape his cancer?" Sasuke thought as he once again channeled spirit chakra to his new Doujutsu to get a better look at the man in front of him. As the black and purple world came into view Sasuke was able to see the spiritual side of the chakra networks of the Oto-nin and Kiba and Akamaru who were in defensive stances in case a fight broke out. What he saw seemed to confirm the man's story.
There were two different spirit chakras in the man's body. One the same violet color that was in Kiba's body and another that was centered in the bud on his chest. There were murky purple lines or…roots that branched out from the chest bud to all of the body's vital organs but what caught Sasuke's attention was that the healthy violet located in the body's brain seemed to be forcefully pulled from the organ, pumped through the chakra network to the chest bud and converted to the purple spirit chakra and then pumped back to the brain suppressing the violet there that couldn't fight back due to the constant pull. If the unnatural murky purple was Yamato's spiritual energy, his 'soul' then maybe…
"Hinata do you see it?" Sasuke asked.
"Hai, ttthere is ssome kind of parassitte in his body" Hinata said, Byakugan flaring while her body was in a gentle fist stance.
"Yeah but do you see what's going on in his brain?"
"Only ttthat the parassite seems to be pulling small amounts of chakra from it and the rrrest of the body's organs to sustain its self"
"So she can't see exactly what's going on in his head" Sasuke thought to himself while letting his Chidori deactivate and looking to Shino.
"The parasite's spirit chakra is suppressing that of the enemy clone. If the parasite is really Yamato then he could be telling the truth" Sasuke advised.
"If this guy's been like this all along how come nobody's been able to tell until now?" Kiba asked challengingly getting a bark of agreement from Akamaru.
"Fuinjutsu tattoo's, a Mokuton transformation jutsu and a very special Genjutsu. None of which I currently have the chakra to perform" Yamato revealed, glad that they finally believed him.
"You will be secured in ninja wire, your chakra will be monitored by Hinata and you will submit to a Genjutsu placed by Sasuke-san. We will then take you to our Taicho. If you try to slip the wire or escape the Genjutsu you will be killed instantly. When we get to our destination we will refer to you as a captured Oto-nin until we are alone with our Taicho" Shino ordered getting a nod from Yamato.
"Alright look at me. Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique"
After looking at Sasuke's strange new eye Yamato's world seemed to shimmer and change shape. One moment he was in a wooded area with a Chunin and three Genin and the next he was alone in a desert with chains binding him from the waist up. After a few seconds he felt something pulling him forward and started to move in an unknown direction.
Konoha, Southern Gate, 0254Hrs:
As Team 8 plus Sasuke, Kotetsu and Izumo approached the village with the still bound Yamato in tow, the young Uchiha couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on. After he and Team 8 had gotten Kurenai to meet them outside of Yugakure's gate a look of relief flashed over Yamato's face before he told her that he had an 'Omega 3 classified' matter to discuss with her in private. He and the members of Team 8 were then ordered to return to the hospital (despite their strong objections) and not discuss what they'd seen to anyone. A half hour later Kurenai returned by herself, pulled them aside and said that they had four hours to rest before they would be escorting Yamato back to the village and if anyone asked they were leaving to take a Sitrep back to the village.
"Halt, who goes there?" One of the four gate guards asked the standard (if somewhat clichéd) phrase.
"Chunin Izumo Kamizuki, registration number 012049 leading modified team of Kotetsu Hagane, Sasuke Uchiha and Team 8 with a priority Omega 3 classified prisoner" Izumo stated as loud as someone could get without yelling. As soon as he finished speaking there was a short rustle in the wood line on their right before a female, Bat masked Anbu fell to the ground dead and was quickly yanked back out of view. With the groups attention drawn right none even noticed the 4 Anbu that appeared on their left.
"Let them through. We'll take the prisoner. Sparrow, escort Kamizuki's team to the tower, stay with them until their debrief starts" A female, Cat masked Anbu who was flanked by a tall male in a Wolf mask, a stocky male in a Rhino mask and a short female in said Sparrow mask, ordered.
The Anbu then grabbed Yamato and vanished. Turning to Izumo, Sparrow spoke with a very youthful voice. "Let's go"
Hiruzen finished reading through Kurenai and Yamato's Sitreps and let out a sigh. "Things will have to be moved up now" He thought to himself as he lit his pipe and looked at the nervous young ninja in front of him. "It can't be helped"
"Mayfly" Hiruzen called prompting another Anbu to appear in a puff of smoke. "I want you and Sparrow to escort Team 8 to the third shed, two of our gardeners from the Yamanaka should be there waiting for them"
"Gardeners what…"
"Kiba!" Shino said with uncharacteristic force before giving his teammate a stern look over the top of his sunglasses. Whatever the nonverbal message was it had an immediate effect on the young dog user who nodded and calmly followed the Owl masked Anbu out of the room followed by his teammates.
"Izumo, Kotetsu, you two are to leave the village immediately and report back to Kurenai understood?" Hiruzen asked getting two 'Hai, Hokage-sama's' in return.
After they'd left, only the Hokage and a very confused Genin were left in the room. Leaning back in his chair Hiruzen looked at Sasuke for 3 whole minutes (which seemed far longer to the young Uchiha) with a critical eye. When it looked as if Sasuke's patients was up and he was about to ask a question Hiruzen cut him off asking a question of his own.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I…Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked not immediately understanding. Wouldn't anyone in his position want to know was going on?
"As we speak Team 8 are on their way to having the last 24 hours of their memories scanned and…adjusted. Their knowledge of Yamato's condition will be erased altogether. If you say 'no' the same will happen to you and if you say 'yes' I will ask you to undertake a… distasteful long term mission" As he finished speaking Hiruzen saw the slight widening of Sasuke's eyes and the tightening of his jaw and recognized the emotions the young man was trying to hide from him, outrage and disbelief.
"The manipulation of memories is drastic and I assure you it is neither routine or taken lightly however under the circumstances, it is necessary" Hiruzen placated.
"All this cloak and dagger shit plus the Anbu killing one of their own… he must want to keep Root from finding out about Yamato. Makes sense, even I know a body snatching, semi-immortal Danzo would be a bad idea. But I thought Danzo was controlling him. This is either a test or the Hokage was…is just playing the role of brain washed puppet. I want to help keep Danzo away from that jutsu but …"
"Hokage-sama I would like to help but I'm…" Sasuke started to explain before he felt a powerful burning sensation on his tongue that prevented him from finishing his statement. He was surprised when the Hokage smiled, seemingly pleased and reached into his desk pulling out a small ink stamp.
"Sasuke-kun come here" He ordered. Sasuke did as he was told and was handed the stamp. "Press the stamp over the tongue seal" After he finished the Hokage made a few hand seals and the pain immediately abated. "Now finish what you were saying"
"I was going to say that I'm unable to help and then try to tell you I was Root compromised without actually saying it" Sasuke admitted.
"You remind me of him" Hiruzen said his voice a mix of pride and melancholy.
"Sir?"
"The man that you've decided to mold yourself after, the man I would have named Godaime Hokage if not for the mountain of political bullshit that would've sprung up and blocked the appointment. I'm talking about one of the greatest patriots this village has ever produced, Shisui Uchiha"
"I-II…thank you Hokage-sama" Sasuke said reverently. Being compared to a shinobi of Shisui's caliber was the best complement he'd ever received.
"Now this is your last chance. In or out"
"I'm in"
"Good now have a seat, this could take a while" Once Sasuke was seated Hiruzen took a few puffs from his pipe and began his story. "As you know one of the Yondaime's first mandates as Hokage was to disband Root. Danzo told you that order was merely a façade, it wasn't. The Yondaime wanted all Root's assets seized its personnel emotionally…reconditioned and reintroduced into the traditional shinobi pool (not Anbu) and he wanted Danzo himself retired and placed under 24 hour surveillance"
"Unfortunately since the village at that point was in rather dire straits, having only been a few months out of the 3rd Shinobi World War, the Hokage couldn't lead a company of ninja to physically force his order when Danzo disobeyed so he did the next best thing. He found and froze all of Roots monetary resources and created a new, secret branch of the intelligence Division. He called it the Internal Security Service or ISS. The purpose of this agency is to assure domestic security by detecting, investigating and destroying internal treats, subversive organizations such as Root being one of them. He then set his new operatives (whom he referred to as gardeners) to monitoring Root it was this close scrutiny and monetary strain that finally but Root on the ropes. Seeing the effectiveness of the organization the Yondaime started another ISS recruitment drive, hand picking shinobi with potential no matter their rank and prepared for one final push to destroy Root once and for all. Unfortunately it was planned to take place the night after the birth of his son" Hiruzen paused, taking a breath and saw that Sasuke was following him.
"The Kyuubi attack and the Yondaime's death gave Root what it needed to recover" Sasuke inferred.
"Hai, after that night there was a drastic increase in orphans meaning plenty of new recruits for Root. Despite both Jiraiya and I being consultants in the ISS' creation and initial operations the Yondaime set things up so that only he would know the identities of all its operatives. We do know that during the kyuubi attack the ISS lost a 5th of its members many of whom were 'handlers' and our inability to locate all of its operatives led to the ISS coming close to dying while Root regained its strength. After I took over as acting Hokage I was up to my neck in bureaucratic bullshit and was busy fending off black-ops teams from Iwa, Kumo and Kiri that were trying to feel us out. Overwhelmed, I had no choice but to delegate and I handed control of the ISS over to Jiraiya. Unfortunately trying to manage his own extensive external spy network from inside the village while trying to repair and utilize the broken ISS was too much for even Jiraiya to handle so leadership of the organization fell to my daughter Atsuko"
"Atsuko? You mean that Akatsuki kunoichi that killed four of our ninja and tried to kidnap Naruto?" Sasuke asked, dismayed that the powerful missing-nin had held such a sensitive position in the village. The secrets she must know, the contacts that she must still have…no wonder she was able to ambush them on their way back to Konoha.
"My daughter was brought up in a slightly different time than now. 38 years ago it was thought improper for people to have children out of wedlock. Such children were called bastards and Atsuko had it worse than most due to the color of her skin being a dead giveaway of her mother being a foreigner. Kimiko was a Kumo researcher that my teammates and I captured and I managed to 'flip'. I loved her dearly but was forced to hide our relationship due to my status as Hokage. Kimiko died giving birth to Atsuko and although I couldn't adopt her myself due to the scandal it would cause I arranged for my teammate Koharu, whom was married to my cousin Haru and living in the Sarutobi clan compound, to take her in instead. Due to her status as a bastard she wasn't allowed to take a surname and was looked down on by the other clan members.
Despite this she showed an amazing affinity for the shinobi arts especially Genjutsu a field in which Koharu was quiet skilled herself. Upon her promotion to Genin at the age of 7 I told her of our true relation but it wasn't until she was an eleven year old Chunin that she forgave me and we started to develop a true father-daughter relationship. By the time she was 25 she was a highly decorated Jonin, an ex Anbu captain and her Genin team, of whom Kurenai Yuhi was a member, was one of the most promising Konoha possessed. Atsuko had handled her treatment with a determined grace that had won most people over. She was considered a true patriot and so Jiraiya, her former sensei entrusted her with control of the ISS"
"Wait, so if Jiraiya-sama was her sensei then…"
"Hai, she was the Yondaime's former teammate and one of the ISS' founders. Shortly after she was given control of the organization she recruited her other former teammate Hideaki Kichida and assigned him a long term, deep cover mission inside Root. A few years later she also placed one of my young Anbu, Shisui Uchiha inside the organization as well. While Kichida's subtlety has allowed him to avoid suspicion even now, Shisui was young and rash and was eventually caught using his new ability Kotoamatsukami on a senior Root operative while investigating what really happened night of the Kyuubi's attack. The person that caught him was his friend Itachi Uchiha and although Itachi promised not to say anything Shisui knew of his friend's growing lust for power and didn't completely trust him. Shisui reported back to Atsuko and not only told her of what he'd discovered but taught her a method of resisting his ability should something happen to him. A method that Atsuko taught Kichida, Jiraiya and myself" At this point Hiruzen paused and took a deep, slightly nervous breath looking at Sasuke as if he were a bomb that was about to go off.
"Sasuke, you will not like the next part of this story but I cannot, in good conscience allow you to undertake the task I have in mind for you without knowing just how much I've failed you and the Uchiha Clan. Your mission is crucial to keeping the past from repeating its self" Hiruzen paused but continued speaking after a frowning Sasuke nodded.
"Shisui discovered that Root was behind the Kyuubi attack all along and had launched a smear campaign to place the blame on the Uchiha a few of whom, as members of the police force were also former members of the ISS. Because of this the council voted to move the Uchiha to a vacant compound on the edge of the residential district where they could be easily monitored. This gave birth to ill-will amongst the Uchiha and since they'd been locked out of high ranking positions since the Nidaime's time and only had your fathers voice to speak up for them on the council they began to plan to overthrow the village"
At this Sasuke lost control and opened his right eye before both eyes widened in disbelief however he quickly pulled his headband down over his new Doujutsu but didn't immediately pick up his head.
"Sasuke.."
But he wasn't listening, he was too busy processing repressed memories. The secret meetings that he found out about from an older Uchiha kid and was told not to speak of dispite being too young to attend them anyway. The arguments his parents would have where his mother would always question: "What about our friends?" The unease that was in the air weeks before those men came asking Itachi what happened to Shisui…
"Sasuke"
"Please continue Hokage-sama"
"Itachi found out about the coup before Shisui and went to Danzo offering him a deal. Itachi would kill the Uchiha, taking all the blame and becoming a missing-nin. He would also allow Danzo to harvest as many Sharingan eyes as he wanted. In return for this Danzo would give Itachi command of his best Root Anbu squad to aid him in killing his best friend Shisui so that he could gain the Mangekyō Sharingan. He would also have Kichida find a way to implant one of Shisui's eyes without losing either of his own. He last demand was for Danzo to leave you, his little brother alone as Itachi had his own plans for you. Danzo who by this point had heard about Shisui's ability agreed and implanted Shisui's other eye"
"Danzo then ordered Itachi to inform the short council which consisted of: himself, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado and me of the upcoming coup. It was the first I had heard of it and although Danzo pushed for the immediate eradication of the Uchiha I resisted and began peace talks with your father and the other leading clan members. No matter what lines of persuasion I used the Uchiha refused to budge and so, with no other way to avoid a civil war which would have weakened the village and sparked a fourth World War I went with the council's plan and ordered Itachi to eradicate the Uchiha" Hiruzen finished and looked in to Sasuke's furious, glowing red, Sharingan eye.
"What took you so long to find out the truth behind the coup!? What were your ISS operatives doing!?" Sasuke yelled while trying (and mostly failing) to keep his anger in check.
"Atsuko had suffered a mental breakdown due to being raped and impregnated with a 'bastard'. Shisui was killed on his way to inform me of what was going on and Kichida was only able to inform me after the fact as he had his hands full applying Danzo's and Itachi's inhancements while also looking into something else on my behalf. None of the other ISS operatives we had in Root had enough rank at the time to know what was going on" Hiruzen answered while sending a tiny wave of killing intent Sasuke's way in order to remind the young shinobi just who he was dealing with.
"What was he looking into?" Sasuke asked slowly calming down.
"A way to save the man you know as Yamato. 8 years ago, Yamato fell gravely ill, a side effect of pushing his artificial Mokuton abilities and still growing body too far during his four year stint in Anbu. He… he was only 16 years old and had such promise, not to mention that he was our best weapon against the Kyuubi should something go wrong with the Yondaime's seal. I couldn't let him die so when conventional medicine failed I released what little of Orochimaru's research that we'd been able to find to Kichida and commissioned him to find a solution no matter the cost. As you probably know Orochimaru had been doing experiments in an effort to gain immortality. Whether or not he was successful is still unconfirmed but according to Kichida he'd been very close. Using Orchimaru's research as a starting point Kichida was able to devise a way to alter Yamato's DNA so that it would take on the characteristics of the Rafflesia a parasitic plant also known as the corpse flower. After this was done Yamato was able to release spores that enter a potential host's body and morph not only its organs and other tissues but its chakra as well. The process is agonizing and takes a few months but when it's finished the host body is a near duplicate of Yamato's 17 year old form. It even grows and ages in a normal manner"
"The jutsu is continuous and can only be performed by a Mokuton user on living hosts with both earth and water affinities. Until now we thought that it could only be used on humans but according to Kurenai and Yamato's Sitrep's, it was used on some kind of experimental clone created by the leader of Oto's sound five. Kichida found a way to replicate the body but he couldn't save the soul. At least, not until I gave him the part of the Nidaime's Impure World Reincarnation Technique that calls a deceased person's soul back to the world of the living and binds it to a vessel, in this case a mutating host body"
During that time we still had a few Iwa POWs and I ordered Yamato to use one as a host. After I witnessed the transference ritual I realized the full horror of what we'd created and I ordered Yamato to never take another host.
"So why did Yamato go against orders and use the jutsu and why did he tell Kurenai-sensei about it?" Sasuke asked.
"Yamato never planned on using the jutsu. His death apparently triggered an unexpected reflex which activated the jutsu via his Foo Dog Heads which contained some of his cells and a great deal of his chakra. One of the dog head totems swallowed the clone body and forced the spores into it. When the corpse flower grew inside the clone's chest cavity it acted as a beacon for Yamato's soul and as medium for it to enter the new body. When he woke up he was about to allow you to kill him when he noticed that he could still sense his previous body's head which was in the possession of the Oto-nin who killed him. Once one of Orochimaru's underlings discovers that there are Mokuton cells in that head they're going to show it to him and Yamato can take us right to the bastard. He trusted Kurenai with this information due to her being a fellow member of the ISS" Hiruzen explained.
"So with all that weirdness and dealing with everything else you really did have your hands full" Sasuke said realizing that while Danzo and his brother were the main people responsible for the slaughter of his kin, the Uchiha had a hand in their own destruction.
"Now that you know everything I have to ask, what do you think? What do you plan to do?" Hiruzen asked leaning forward and looking into Sasuke's visible eye.
Sasuke took a whole minute before answering. "Honestly I'm disappointed in you, the village and the Uchiha, I think that your weakness and my clan's hate and pride are what made the massacre possible. I think that the new Uchiha that I create must be without those vises or history will just repeat itself. If this war hadn't happened and I never knew how horrible war could be, if we hadn't loss Ino…" Sasuke paused to control his emotions before continuing.
"I wouldn't have been able to understand your position and would probably hate you but I don't. I wish I could say that I don't hate Danzo and Itachi but I'm not that…enlightened. I want them dead in the worst way but I know that I'm not ready. But if the task you want me for has to do with stopping them then I want in" Sasuke sated confidently.
"I'm afraid the task I have for you doesn't involve Danzo or Itachi directly" Seeing Sasuke frowning once again Hiruzen quickly elaborated. "Now that Danzo is more active than he's been in years and even had the audacity to repeatedly try and use Shisui's eye on me as well as successfully using it on other high ranking officials it will only be a matter of time before he gains control of the entire village and finds out about Yamato's immortality jutsu. Jiraiya and I were already working on plans to deal with Danzo once and for all but those plans will have to be moved up considerably. In all likelihood while Jiraiya is dealing with Orochimaru I'll be facing Danzo myself"
"No, the mission I have for you has to do with you preventing the birth of another Danzo. Years ago Danzo and I were friends and rivals much like Naruto and yourself but when Nidaime-sama chose me to be Hokage, a position Danzo wanted, we became estranged and Danzo fell to the darkness in his heart. I'm aware of Danzo's medical condition and Naruto's status as his successor, even now all Root personnel have the order to follow Naruto's commands in the event of Danzo's death plugged into their conditioning. Sasuke, your mission, if you choose to accept it is to monitor Naruto Uzumaki. You will continue to be his friend and will aid him after he takes the reins of Root. If not for this war I'd do away with it completely but that is no longer an option. If you notice that he is starting to become as much of a danger to the village as Danzo then you are hereby ordered to eliminate him" Hiruzen proclaimed, while studying Sasuke carefully.
Sasuke was stunned, this order to spy on and one day maybe kill his best friend was just one revelation to many for one night however Sasuke was in the presence of the Hokage and forced himself to deal, showing anger was one thing but like his mother used to tell him, freaking out should be done in private. "I-I accept the mission Hokage-sama"
"Good, I know what I'm asking you is horrible but history has shown that men such as Danzo cannot be tolerated" Hiruzen started before reaching into his desk and pulling out two scrolls handing the smaller one that was simply marked 'Vest' to Sasuke first.
"Sasuke Uchiha you are hereby promoted to the rank of Chunin…" he then handed over the larger scroll which was unmarked. "You are also hereby inducted into both Anbu and the ISS. Open the scroll on the floor"
Doing as he was told Sasuke noticed that there were four seals on the scroll. The first three were marked 'Eagle' while the last seal was marked 'Kang'.
"Your new codenames. Eagle, is a part of Anbu while Kang, short for Kangaroo is ISS. Your teammates will also be inducted into conventional Anbu and will learn of your Eagle codename however they must never know of that you are Kang as well. All we've discussed here tonight are S-ranked secrets and must not be repeated. You may discuss ISS matters with ISS operatives but that's it. Understood? Good now put on your Kang gear and report to room 12 in the Intel division. There you will be briefed by ISS personnel and will be taught the method of resisting Shisui's eye. Do your best to avoid being seen on the way" Hiruzen finished, relighting his pipe.
After Sasuke finished dressing, dawned his new Kangaroo mask and vanished in a shimmer, Hiruzen slumped in his chair and sighed before turning to his right and seemingly addressing his file cabinet. "So what do you think sweetie?"
The cabinet seemingly started to smoke before turning into a woman with white hair and caramel skin who was wearing an open, tan, standard issue Anbu cloak over a regulation Anbu uniform and had a goat mask clipped to her hip. "I think it's sad so many people bought that I went crazy. I mean I know I'm good actress and all but…"
"What do you think about Sasuke?" Hiruzen interrupted.
"He sounds like he's gonna be okay but he's still an Uchiha and they can be so volatile. Plus he didn't seem to catch on to what you're really setting him up for. Are you sure he's a proper candida…" Atsuko started but was cut off.
"Hai, he's an Uchiha but he's an Uchiha with the Will of Fire in his heart, you know as well as I do what splendid shinobi they can be. As for him not noticing…well he did have a lot of information to process tonight. I'm sure it will dawn on him eventually, now, report"
"Itachi's endeavor to control the minds of the Akatsuki is complete. He currently has Nagato, Konan, a seal master from Ame and an Uzumaki clan survivor he found in a village in Water Country working on an Anti-space-time sealing array to nullify that man's ability. It's only a few months from completion and once it's done he's as good as dead" Atsuko assured.
"And you're sure Itachi didn't see through your False Persona Barrier?" Hiruzen asked worry clearly etched across his face.
"Don't worry; Itachi's method of using Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami in tandem is far superior than Danzo's heavy handed approach but my barriers design was good enough to keep him from getting suspicious. It's a good thing too, I may be better at Genjutsu than Kurenai-chan and my chakra control may be good enough to use Yin Release techniques but still…we're talking about Itachi-freaking-Uchiha. If he'd saw through my false persona, my barrier wouldn't have been strong enough to stand against his Tsukuyomi, his is way stronger than Shisui's was"
"How do I know that you're not actually compromised right now?"
"Come on you know how this works. You can't, I can't but I will tell you this. Whatever mutation that Uchiha kid's Doujutsu has undergone has affected his entire chakra network. With the proper training Yin Release techniques will be a breeze for him hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he surpasses Kurenai in less than six months and me in a couple years. That boy may be the only person in the whole world with the potential to completely fight off Itachi's mind control. You should make sure he's properly trained"
"In an ideal world I'd have you train him. But now that you've killed Konoha shinobi you can never rejoin the leaf. Tell me, were there deaths truly necessary?" Hiruzen asked his voice heavy.
Frowning Atsuko answered him with a slightly hostile tone "I have the lowest body count of any member of Akatsuki and before that day none of my kills of Konoha-nin were confirmed. If I hadn't killed them then Itachi would've undoubtedly been more suspicious and studied my False Persona closer. I did what I had to; if I'm killed or…worse, the Leaf stands to lose far more than three Chunin and a medic"
"Understood. Now, tell me. Have you discovered what Itachi wants? Is it the biju or…"
"That, my dear father is a known unknown, I can only guess he's keeping things close to the chest until 'Madara' is dead. Any chance you can wrap up the war in three months?" Atsuko joked dryly.
"No, Danzo's worked us into a fine mess this time"
"Humph, too bad, now if you'll just give me my update I'll be on my way. I don't want to be gone to long" Atsuko said prompting Hiruzen to reach into his desk and pull out a folder. Opening it up for her he slowly flipped through the pages and started speaking.
"The losses the clan has already suffered as well as a stern talking to from Iruka has given him focus. He's already mastered two of the three Academy Graduation jutsu and is working on the tree walking exercise in his free time. I'm sorry to tell you this but…Konohamaru is a candidate for the advanced Genin program. I can probably push it back another year and then place his team on D-ranks for a few months but… it's very likely that he'll see some action in the tail end of this war. And that's if the war turns for the better" Hiruzen said cautiously.
"Then you better assign the right Jonin-sensei to watch over him. That boy is the only thing keeping me going if he dies I won't be able to…" Atsuko said choking up at the thought of her son passing. "He better not die" She warned as her body started to turn into smoke and dissipate. Just before she was gone she heard a whispered "bye sweetie".
20 miles away in the forest surrounding Konoha a woman in a black cloak with red clouds opened her hazel eyes, a frown spreading across her features.
"Your informant give you bad news senpai?" A similarly dressed kunoichi in a Kiri hunter-nin mask asked carefully. It was rare that her partner was in such a mood.
"Potentially but nothing worth worrying leader-sama over, not yet anyway. Come child, big showdowns comin' and we both have some training to do" And with that the two vanished into the night.
A/n: Sorry about another long time between updates but money problems, girlfriend drama and writers block held me up. I actually wrote a deferent version of this chapter that was 500 words longer but I hated it so I scraped it and basically started over. I'm not totally happy with this one either (I'know it was kind of dry) but a friend told me I was being overly critical and would end up losing readers if I didn't hurry up. I still have some things to set up so the next chapter will also be filler but will have more present day interaction between more characters.
I'd like to thank everyone who followed/fav'd or left reviews. With all the other stuff I was dealing with I needed that motivation. Next update will hopefully be before the end of the month. As always thanks and please review!