Hi guys!

Firstly I would like to apologize but my 'real' life got more and more hectic in the last few months and I seriously had no time to write. On another note I have now something of an unofficial Beta in Black Sparrow who is kind enough to correct all the mistakes that I make – Drum roll please!
I will try to update once or twice a week to make the whole thing more consistent because I'm not sure if I can continue the pace I set during December and January - it was EXHAUSTING! So that's from me, I hope you continue to read my story and have fun with it!

Reviews 1,012 - Views 342,690 - C2s 44 - Favs 944 - Alerts 984 … wow o_0

Chapter 53

Beta'd by Black Sparrow

Team Nine Interlude

Shikamaru was in hell!

No really, he was in HELL!

He desperately gasped for air before he mentally screamed at his body to move once more. He couldn't remember a time be it in the Academy or during his time on team Asuma that he had ever put so much effort in a training session before…actually he was sure, he had NEVER trained like this before. Behind him he could hear Ino's panicked screech while somewhere to his left Chouji whimpered pityingly. His team was so outclassed, it wasn't even funny.

Out of the corner of his eye Shikamaru noticed the whiskered knucklehead that had caught up to him. He nearly stopped moving when he heard the mischievous snicker escaping the sweating blonde that shared his misery; how the hell did Naruto still have the strength to laugh? His fellow Genin was wearing twice as many weights as he did and after some trouble at the beginning he was able to keep up with him. Shikamaru really had no idea how Naruto did it, his normally so logical mind was coming up with the craziest scenarios, all revolving around dogs strangely enough...

A snapping sound and a dark growl ripped the Nara heir out of his thoughts, the demon in canine form that had been chasing them had come painfully close and only through sheer will power the Nara heir increased his tempo once more. The only thing that went through his head after that was what the hell his team had done to anger their team leader so much to deserve this kind of punishment?

DAMN YOU ASUMA-SENSEI!

Hokage tower

Kakashi felt pretty smug when he strolled through the entrance hallway of the Hokage tower; morning training had been very entertaining today. It was a damn shame that he had been called to a meeting, seeing Asuma's brats struggling with his training methods while his own Genin were marginally better off had been surprisingly satisfying. Though apparently he wasn't the only one who thought it was entertaining, he had seen the smug little smirks and grins his brats had shot each other, they were slowly developing the right attitude as far Kakashi was concerned. Inwardly he sighed happily; sometimes there was nothing better than to bond over the misery of others.

Little did he know that his good mood would be gone within minutes after entering the Hokage office. While walking by the Hokage's secretary he subtly tested the air for familiar scents, throughout the years this had become a habit that had often prepared him for the mood of a mission long before the Hokage gave any orders. Of course this wasn't one hundred percent accurate but the fresher the scent the more it clued him in what he could expect inside the Hokage's office. This time Kakashi picked up Inoichi's scent as the most recent but underlining to it were Anko's and another half a dozen familiar scents who must have entered and left the office in the last hour or so. So this call had probably something to do with Danzo and Root. Sighing inwardly the silver haired Jounin prepared himself for a depressing debriefing.

Kakashi slipped into the round room quietly when he received the chakra acknowledgement of his Hokage. Inoichi was in the middle of a report so the silver haired Jounin settled somewhat in the back and listened to the intelligence expert giving his opinion to the level of fallout the Hokage could expect should the news of Danzo's betrayal reach Konoha's ninja corps. The estimate was most upsetting and Kakashi could only pity the aged shinobi in front of them, God of Shinobi he may be but the Hatake head really didn't envy Sarutobi Hiruzen for his job, he REALLY didn't.

"Thank you, Inoichi-san," said man acknowledged before he sighed and then beckoned Kakashi closer.

"Anko alerted me to an even bigger problem. She found traces of Orochimaru's handiwork all over the intelligence files. The worst case scenario at the moment is that Danzo worked close enough with Orochimaru that he now has detailed intelligence about the ninja corps and how it has changed in the last decade. Furthermore there is a possibility that Orochimaru is aware about the truth of the Uchiha Massacre."

Kakashi's grim face turned into a mask of confusion while Inoichi only nodded in frustrated understanding.

"Kakashi what I am now going to tell you is an S-class secret…" the Hokage said tiredly before he launched into an explanation about the Uchiha massacre and Danzo's involvement.

The Hatake clan head stood numbly in front of the Hokage desk while his brain tried to keep up with what he was just hearing. He felt eerily similar to the time nearly five years ago when the news about the Uchiha massacre spread like a bushfire throughout the ninja corps.

'Itachi…' was his only thought, 'oh god Itachi what did they do to you?'

Uchiha Itachi and he weren't the closest because of the grudge the Uchiha clan had held against him but he had run more than one mission with the young prodigy, first as his temporary captain and then later as co-captain. He had emphasized a lot with the young genius and had tried to slip in some advice from one emotionally suppressed genius to another whenever he could. And to his eternal shame he had fiercely hated Itachi for a long time after said massacre. He had been reeling from the betrayal and the hurt that Obito's clan had been as good as completely wiped out within one night. That's why Kakashi had led more than one of the missions to locate and destroy the elder of the Uchiha brothers. To now find out that the whole thing had been orchestrated by Danzo and that Itachi had sacrificed everything for Konoha was…Kakashi felt sick, he felt…he violently suppressed the feeling, NOT in front of the Hokage.

Using every trick about compartmentalizing he had learned in his ninja career Kakashi violently returned to the presence to listen grimly while Sandaime-sama elaborated a bit more on the topic. This whole cluster fuck was getting worse and worse the more they found out. So while a part of his mind tried to cope with this renewed betrayal another part already tried to discover why their Hokage was telling him that, he could understand Inoichi but why him too?

It took a moment before it clicked.

"Is there a possibility that Orochimaru will be using this knowledge against us sometime soon?" Kakashi asked with some trepidation, he had a bad, bad feeling.

Sandaime closed his eyes before saying, "Well…we have no concrete proof…but Anko thinks that if Orochimaru is aware of it he is going to use the Uchiha massacre to get hold of Sasuke-kun. Kakashi, do you think it's possible that this could work?"

Said silver haired Jounin closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, great, of course the megalomaniac member of the Sannin was going after one of his students.

There was no reason to delude himself. "It could work," he finally sighed.

The Hokage just nodded before he continued, "Anko thinks Sasuke-kun should hear this from us before it could be used against him."

"I have to agree with Anko…yes Sasuke will probably lose most of his trust and respect for Konoha and people in general but in the end it will be better for us if he hears this from us. I hate to say this, even more so as his sensei but at the moment Sasuke isn't mentally strong enough to withstand such a manipulation especially from someone like Orochimaru, he doesn't have enough anchors in Konoha…yes Sasuke gets along with Sakura and Naruto just fine but it isn't cemented enough yet…with the right incentive he would most likely defect."

"Right incentive?" the Hokage asked while Inoichi just nodded along Kakashi's statement, this was his conclusion too.

"Revenge for his family… revenge against Konoha," Kakashi reluctantly said.

The Sarutobi clan head slowly nodded before sighing and saying, "Very well, then Sasuke-kun will have to be informed. Inoichi, Kakashi I want you two to discuss how to break it to him and when."

"We will have to do this in stages, we also should set up Danzo as the focal point for Sasuke's anger, he is dead already and it will also give Sasuke's fury another target then Konoha as a whole," the mind reader offered quickly.

"Agreed. Sasuke won't take this well no matter how we break it to him but giving him a direction will hopefully prevent any thoughts of a defection, additionally we should probably warn him against Orochimaru…just to be on the safe side," the Hatake concurred.

He was glad that he would have some help from the T&I expert, Kakashi himself wasn't bad at deciphering someone's motives but he wasn't skillful enough in manipulating like Inoichi was and he really didn't want to leave Sasuke's mental health and loyalty to chance.

Both younger clan heads looked at each other and Inoichi was just about to offer his home to discuss things further when Kakashi turned once more and said to the Hokage, "I would also like to include Shiori at least partly in this."

"Why that?" the Hokage asked unwillingly, he really didn't think that a civilian would be able to help; she would probably make the situation even worse.

"As Inoichi said we will have to tell Sasuke about the Sharingan arm in the beginning so that we can set up Danzo as the scapegoat. Shiori saw the whole fight between us and Danzo…furthermore Sasuke knows and likes her, she has a calming effect on him."

Inoichi looked slightly confused between Kakashi and the Sandaime but didn't voice his confusion; they would inform him if the Hokage deemed it necessary.

"You have introduced your team to her?!"

"Yes, they now spend most of their time at our place."

Inoichi violently suppressed a visual reaction, 'our place'? Was Kakashi saying…could it be that he was in a steady relationship? When the hell did THAT happen? And why didn't he know about this, or better why did Romanaki not know about this? His wife's gossip network wasn't without a reason the best in Konoha! Though on the other hand Kakashi WAS an ANBU, hhm…in any case he would have to wait and see how this new variable would fit into the overall picture, this could become interesting.

"Kakashi, she is a civilian."

Now that tidbit was VERY interesting, Hatake Kakashi with a civilian?

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, a civilian is probably exactly what we need. With Shiori in the room the probability of Sasuke losing control over his anger would be reduced drastically, he is too proud to frighten her with an outburst."

The Sandaime still wasn't completely convinced and so he turned into the direction of hi intelligence specialist, "Inoichi what do you think, is that idea viable."

"It depends on the woman in question Hokage-sama, but Kakashi is probably the one person who knows both Sasuke-kun and this Shiori-san well enough to be able to give an opinion."

"I could introduce you Inoichi-san," Kakashi then nonchalantly offered after a moment of uncertainty.

Yes, while this would mean another person would be aware of his family it would not only give him an opportunity to include Shiori more in the well being of his team but also give her a certain amount of protection from the Yamanaka clan head. Inoichi was an honorable man and from what he had heard through the grapevine he loved his family fiercely, he wouldn't just stand by should something happen. Also, hadn't he already played with the thought of introducing Shiori to more elite ninja around the village? Well no matter what, the meeting would happen now, after all Kakashi KNEW the T&I expert wouldn't be able to resist that kind of bait, for that he was too curious.

Still somewhat uncertain about the situation but aware that the Yamanaka clan head was probably the right man to deal with this the Hokage gave nod before dismissing the two.

On the way outside Inoichi and Kakashi agreed to meet up the next day around lunch at the Yamanaka shop to discuss how they would break the news to Sasuke and for Inoichi to meet Shiori.

XXXXXXXX

After covertly checking up on his and Asuma's students on their string of D-rank missions Kakashi returned in a somber mood to his home. It wasn't even lunch yet and both Hinako and Shiori were out of the house. His students, this time only his team, wouldn't arrive for another three hours and Genma was sleeping again, which was all kinds of worrying.

Mentally drained Kakashi broke out the hard liquor from Lightning Country, he normally wasn't very partial to alcohol but right in that moment he needed something to numb his senses somewhat. Tiredly the silver haired Jounin stretched out on the couch while he contemplated what he had been told an hour ago… and here he had thought he was already so disillusioned that nothing could really surprise him anymore, with a mirthless smile he downed the cup in his hand.

Well he had been wrong.