Before heading to the Hokage Tower to deliver my report, I decided to head to the Chunin Corps office first so that I could freshen up a bit and look presentable for the Hokage. The Chunin Corps office was mainly an administration office that administered the Chunin Corps affairs, and it was a common gathering place for Chunin before they went off to get their missions assignments, or to hand in mission reports.

It seemed that I was the only one there, aside from the administrators, as it was rather late in the day, so I was alone when I slipped into the showers.

Slipping out of my clothes, I turned on the water in the stall and then adjusted it for temperature. Once the temperature was just right I stepped into the stall.

As the soothing warm water washed over me, I found myself dwelling on the first time I had ever visited the Chunin Corps Office:

"Congratulations," Fujima-sensei said as the four of us stood in front of the Hokage Tower. "You've all be promoted!"

He then handed us the green flak jackets that he had been holding. "You've earned it."

"Right on!" Enji said cheerfully as he put his on.

"Thank you, Sensei," Shizumi said quietly as she put hers on.

I just nodded as I put mine on.

"I would have preferred that you take the Chunin Exams," Fujima rubbed the back of his head. "But I guess in this time of war I'll have to take what I can get."

I grimaced, as the grueling evaluation seemed like it was worse than the Chunin Exams had been in the original show. It had mainly consisted of us going through an obstacle course, then having to duel actual chunin so they could evaluate our skills, then undergoing an endurance test, which I was pretty sure was actually hazing rather than a proper test, as it consisted of of us sitting in a freezer while doing our best to keep an oil fire going.

Following that we had to sit in front of a chunin committee as they cross examined every mission we'd ever been on, and every decision we've ever made, which took over six hours.

Thankfully it had been worth it in the end, but still.

"Well, now that you're all Chunin, how about I give you a tour of the Chunin Corps Office?" Fujima asked.

Enji, Shizumi and I looked at each other.

"Sure," I said eventually.

Visiting the Chunin Corps Office was seen as a rite of passage for fresh Chunin, as Genin had to make due with the Academy facilities.

With that, Fujima lead us to what appeared to be an annex of the Hokage Tower complex, which looked much like the Academy annex.

Unlike the Academy annex, this building had green tiles on it's roof instead of Red.

Without another word, Fujima lead us through the green doors and pass the entrance room, eventually leading us to a large room full of cubicles.

"This is where you'll be writing your mission reports," Fujima said after we stepped into the room. "As Chunin you'll now be responsible for writing your own mission reports, instead of just leaving it to me."

"Eh, Sensei, why didn't we have to write mission reports as genin?" Enji asked curiously.

"As your jonin instructor while you were genin, that responsibility largely fell to me," Fujima replied. "Genin are still considered to be students, and as most genin are either young children or teenagers, they usually aren't considered responsible enough to write mission reports."

I nodded. That made sense.

"I'll show you how to write a mission report later," Fujima continued. "In the meantime, there's more to see. Come on."

With that, he lead us to another room, this time a lounge.

"This is where you'll meet and socialize with other Chunin," Fujima said after we'd stepped into the room. "Usually you'll find Chunin here willing to take missions with you; just make sure you negotiate their share of the mission pay before setting out on the mission."

"Wait, does this mean our team is breaking up?" I asked with confusion.

"Not at all," Fujima shook his head. "We'll still be doing missions together as a team, but now that you are chunin, you can be expected to perform high level missions without me, if I'm not available."

I nodded. "That makes sense."

"Yeah, we're in the Big Leagues now!" Enji cheered. "We'll be doing S rank missions before you know it!"

"S rank missions are usually reserved for jonin," I pointed out.

Enji rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. Stop killing the mood, gloomy."

I shrugged and sighed.

"You may be 'in the big leagues' now, but be warned, doing A ranks with just the three of you wouldn't be wise," Fujima pointed out. "It'd be best to find other Chunin to back you up on such missions, if you can."

"Don't worry, Sensei," I replied. "You know I'm all about doing the prudent thing."

"The boring thing you mean," Enji groaned.

"I prefer to think of it as the 'staying alive' thing," I shot back.

Enji shot Fujima an expression that meant 'See what I have to deal with?'

"I have to agree with Kazuto, here," Shizumi cut in. "I'd much rather stay alive than live the life of excitement that you seem to crave, Enji."

"Oh, Kami, it's spreading," Enji groaned.

I rolled my eyes at Enji's antics, before turning to Fujima. "Is there anything else to see here?"

"Well, there's the showers and the locker room," Fujima replied thoughtfully. "But it's not much to look at."

"Why would they have showers and locker rooms here?" Enji asked curiously. "Isn't that stuff you do at home?"

"It's a privilege for the Chunin and Jonin," Fujima replied. "It give the ninja a place to freshen up without having to run all the way home. You'd have to rent the lockers, though. There aren't enough of them."

"I guess I could understand that," I replied. "The Uchiha Compound is way out near the edge of the village, it'd take me like 20 minutes to run all the way there and all the way back."

"That's only cause you're slow," Enji teased. "I bet you I could get there and back faster."

"You're on," I nodded, and with that, the two of us raced out of the build towards the Uchiha compound…

I turned off the water and grabbed a dry towel from the towel shelves, before drying off and tossing the towel in the used towel bin, before making my way towards the locker rooms, where I had rented a locker to keep a fresh set of clothes and tools in.

It had been a while since I had visited the locker in question, but I had payed for four years rent when I first got it, so I was certain it still had my stuff in it.

When I got to the locker, I pushed some chakra into the lock and the locker opened. It was then that I spotted something I didn't expect: a scroll on top of my folded up clothes.

There was only one person who could have put it there: Enji, as he was the only person that could spoof my chakra signature.

Hesitantly, I picked up the scroll and unspooled it to read:

Hey Kazuto, it's been a while.

I'm just leaving this scroll here, just in case.

I just want to let you know that Danzo-sama didn't take me as his apprentice. I did as you suggested and pestered him for a while, but he said that I 'don't have the right temperament for it' whatever the hell that means.

After a few months of pestering him, I realized that he just wasn't interested in taking an apprentice at all, it wasn't just me. I have to say, it kind of sucked. But I got over it.

Anyway, I've decided that I have a new goal: to become Hokage! That way I can make changes in this village, like forcing Danzo to take a proper apprentice for once, or making sure we have enough ninja to do A ranks, since-

Well, anyway, I remembered what you said, about making connections, so I decided to join the Intelligence Department. I wanted to team up with you, but they told me that you were in Kumo, and Utatane-sama wanted me to go to Iwa instead, so that's where I'm heading.

I figure, with connections on the Council, it'll be easier for me to become Hokage, so that's why I joined up.

It sucks that we can't be on the same team together, but maybe we can in the future.

Anyway, I've got to go, smell ya later you gloomy bastard,

Enji

I read the scroll six times, memorizing it without the Sharingan, then I burned it. I pushed the roiling emotions that threatened to spill out down, deep in my subconscious. I would deal with them later, for right now I had a meeting to get to with the Hokage.

As for why I burned it, physical reminders of the people one has lost were like black holes of emotional grief and depression. The only way one could get over it was by removing the reminders, as far as I understood. That's why people with dead family members tend to move out of houses they had shared with those dead family members.

Anyway, I dusted off the ashes of the scroll and got dressed, putting my dirty clothes in the locker to retrieve later.

Next I walked up to the office, picked out a cubicle, and sat down to write down the mission report. I was careful to leave out details that were intended for the Intelligence Department and not the general missions office.

With the mission report done, it was time to face the Hokage.

With that, I headed towards the Hokage's Office.

It was when I was walking down the hall that lead to the Hokage's Office that I encountered Danzo, walking in the other direction with two of his root anbu fallowing in his wake.

The moment I spotted him, I instinctively layered a physical illusion over face, before turning on my sharingan.

It would be so easy to kill him, right then and there. I could move fast enough to kill him before his guards could react, jam a single kunai right into his heart…

But no, it'd be too public. I'd have to fend off the two guards, then figure out how to explain myself in a way that didn't end up with me in T&I.

Besides, I wouldn't be satisfied with just 'killing' Danzo. No, I wanted to ruin him, to destroy him, and at the end of it all, have him beg for death at my feet. It was the least he deserved for attempting to destroy me, and causing so many casualties in the attempt.

Of course, I had no evidence that he was the behind it, but it made no sense for it to be anyone else, it had to be him.

My decision made, I deactivated my Sharingan and allowed the physical illusion to dissipate.

I walked by Danzo without saying a word to him.

But it seemed that he wanted to talk to me, so as I passed him, he called out. "Kazuto Uchiha?"

I turned around and regarded him critically. "Yes, Shimura-san?"

Danzo frowned slightly. "I heard of what happened to Enji. I would like to take this chance to assure you that the Shimura Clan grieves for his loss, for he was a much beloved member of the clan."

"Enji wouldn't have been in that situation if you had simply taken him on as your apprentice," I replied sharply.

"I'm afraid he didn't have the right temperament for Root," Danzo replied shortly. "He lacked the necessary qualities we look for in all Root recruits."

"I see," I rolled my eyes. "You know, for someone who professes to have the best interests of the village at heart, you don't seem all that invested in it's future."

Danzo frowned. "Of course I'm invested in the village's future! What a thing to say!"

"Oh?" I held up my hands. "Then what would happen to Root if something were to happen to you?"

Danzo stared at me incredulously. "Is that a threat?"

I sighed with annoyance. "Not at all, it's a hypothetical. What if, say, you got a serious illness and couldn't lead root anymore. What happens to root then?"

Danzo frowned. "That's unlikely to happen, we have the best medical care here in the world-"

"So not only are you not invested in the village's future, you're delusional to boot," I sighed.

"Lies and slander," Danzo bit back sharply. "Besides, what have you done to assure the village's future, hmm?"

"Well, recently I avoided being captured by Iwa," I pointed out. "They wanted to capture me to extract all of my knowledge of escape techniques, but they failed-"

"You over-inflate your value to the village-"

"Danzo! Kazuto! That's enough!" a voice barked from behind us.

I turned around to see the Hokage, who was standing just outside of his office.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama," I said immediately. "I forgot my place."

I always adopted a respectful tone with the Hokage. After all, he was basically a dictator who wielded the most constitutional authority in the village. He could have me thrown in T&I at a whim if he wanted to.

The Hokage frowned at me, before turning to Danzo. "Danzo, I thought I told you to stay away from Kazuto-san."

Really? That was news to me. Perhaps the Hokage had figured out that Danzo was the one behind the leaks?

"Yes, forgive me, Hiruzen, I was just passing Kazuto here in the halls," Danzo nodded, before turning around and walking off.

The Hokage gave a weary sigh, before waving me into his office.

"I see you encountered Danzo on your way in," the Hokage sighed after we sat down.

I simply nodded, before handing over the mission report I had written up earlier. "My mission report."

"Hmm," the Hokage nodded, unrolling it and reading it, before setting it aside. "I understand you were the one to discover the body of your… dead teammate. Have you arranged to speak with a therapist about it?"

"Not yet," I replied. "I only just got back last night. I haven't had time to schedule a visit."

"Hmm… I'd suggest scheduling one as soon as possible," the Hokage nodded. "Now, as for the mission: considering the fact that the mission failed, you normally wouldn't receive pay. However, given the fact that you along with Minato's team managed to retrieve all of the relevant intel in the bunker, as well as deal with all of the enemy ninja, I've decided that we'll consider this mission a partial success, and considering the extreme circumstances you had to deal with, the mission's rank is to be upgraded from Rank A to Rank S, which means increased pay.

"This, along with all of the bounties that you've brought in, means that the total amount of Ryo to be distributed as mission pay is 230,000,000."

I blinked. That was a lot, but not as much as you'd expect, as compared to the American Dollar, the Ryo was much lower in value.

"I see," I replied. "Has Namikaze-sama indicated how he would like the mission pay to be distributed?"

"Minato-san has decided that since you're the one who was largely responsible for dealing with the enemy ninja, that means that you're the one who should be in charge of mission pay distribution," the Hokage replied.

"Very well," I nodded. "I'll take 40%, and the rest can be split equally between the remainder. Is that fair?"

"More than fair, since you're the one responsible for the bounties," the Hokage nodded, before picking up a calculator on his desk. "That means your pay comes out to 92,000,000 ryo, with the rest of the team each getting 27,600,000 ryo. Since this mission was assigned by the village instead of by a client, the usual mission fees are waived. We'll deposit the funds directly into your account as usual, expect to see it in the next few business days."

I nodded. "Is there anything else we need to cover?"

"There is two more things," the Hokage replied. "I would like to take this time to advise you to avoid Danzo. As you may have guessed, I've realized that he may be the one responsible for your mission's… unfortunate mishaps, but I've already given him a stern reprimand, and I plan to garnish Root's funds for the foreseeable future."

My face turned to stone, and I avoided looking the Hokage in the eyes. "Do you plan to investigate him?"

The silence lingered in the Hokage's office for a long moment, and when it got too uncomfortable, I sighed and said: "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. Am I dismissed?"

"There is one last thing," the Hokage shook his head. "You've just endured a tremendous ordeal. As of now I've instructed the missions office not to give you any missions for the next three weeks. Use the time wisely."

"Very well," I nodded. "Am I dismissed?"

"Yes, you may go," the Hokage nodded.

I stood up and walked off out the office.

It was dusk, and next I had to report to the intelligence office and hand in my official intelligence report, as well as speak to Koharu Utatane.

The Intelligence Department Office was part of the same complex of buildings that surrounded the Hokage Tower, so it didn't take long for me to get there.

Once I was there I stepped into one of the department's black rooms and began writing my Intelligence report. The Black Rooms were rooms with special seals that prevented anyone from seeing into them from the outside, even if they were using Ninjutsu, and the scrolls inside were inscribed with a special seal designed so that once they were used, they could only be opened by people with a special key. It was by this means that Konoha had largely prevented major intelligence leaks for the past two decades.

Once I had finished writing my report, I rolled it up and sealed it, then putting my draft papers into the shredder, where they would be burned later.

That done, I made my way up to Koharu Utatane's Office, and stepped in to find Tsuga Dori already there. Apparently she had been waiting for me along with Utatane.

"Hello, Tsuga," I said with a soft voice, before speaking to Utatane in a more formal voice. "Utatane-sama."

"Kazuto, I was wondering if you'd show up," Tsuga replied with a smile. "I didn't know you were going to waste half the day moping about."

I rolled my eyes. "Who can blame me? That mission sucked."

"If you two are quite finished sniping at each other," Utatane intervened like she had done many times before, looking at me. "Kazuto, I assume you've written up your intelligence report?"

"Yes, Utatane-sama," I replied, handing it to her.

She got out her key and unlocked the scroll, reading it quickly, then sealing it back up and handing it to Tsuga. "Dori-san, take this down to the archives. I wish to speak to Uchiha-san alone."

"Yes, Utatane-sama," Tsuga nodded, taking the scroll and leaving.

"So, Uchiha-san, you suspect that someone responsible for mission assignments is responsible for the leak," Utatane said the moment the door had closed. "Do you suspect me?"

I shook my head. "No, you don't strike me as someone who would arrange this whole mess just to get rid of me. I suspect that if you didn't trust me, you'd just have me dismissed from the Intelligence Department."

"Then who do you suspect?" Utatane carried on.

"Danzo," I replied simply.

"On what grounds?"

"I admit that I have no evidence to support my suspicions," I replied carefully. "All I have is the knowledge that Danzo had the resources and the motivation to set up the operation."

Utatane gave me an assessing stare. "I won't ask how you came across this information about Danzo, since you've always seem to know things you shouldn't."

She then gave a sigh. "Still, the idea that one of our own would invest such time and effort to eliminate a loyal Konoha Shinobi is disturbing to me. Danzo has always been outspoken against granting the Uchiha any kind of power or privilege beyond what they already have, but this is the first time that he may have gone out of his way to eliminate one."

"So you believe me?" I asked carefully.

"It doesn't matter whether I believe you or not," Utatane shook her head. "The Hokage has already indicated his unwillingness to fully prosecute the matter, so there is little to be done about it."

"But why?" I asked with frustration. "I understand that they're old friends, but surely this is beyond the pale-"

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple," Utatane replied sharply. "As you know, in this time of war the village relies on the Fire Lord to fund missions that don't have paying clients. Every major department is a beneficiary of this funding, including Root.

"Because of this, the Fire Lord has a vested interest in making sure that the funding goes to responsible, reputable individuals, but because he doesn't individually know every ninja in Konoha, he relies on the Hokage's recommendations to fill these vital positions, which means that the Hokage stakes his personal reputation on each person that he recommends.

"If it was revealed that one of those department heads had invested the Fire Lord's funds into killing another loyal Konoha shinobi, the Hokage's reputation would be completely ruined, and the Fire Lord would be well within his rights to demand the Hokage's resignation."

"So it's all about protecting the Hokage's reputation?" I asked carefully. "That's why he won't investigate Danzo?"

"Correct," Utatane nodded. "Of course, he may decide to have Danzo dismissed later, but that's a different thing."

"Then why doesn't he do that now?" I asked with frustration. "Why let Danzo keep his position? Surely he's not that important…"

"Unfortunately the Hokage still needs Danzo," Utatane shook her head. "Unless Danzo does something especially ruinous, he's unlikely to be dismissed anytime soon."

I looked down. So it seemed that if anyone was going to take care of Danzo, it had to be me.

"Is that all, Utatane-sama?" I asked quietly.

"Unfortunately, there is two more things we need to discuss," Utatane replied. "First, I feel that you should be made aware that the Uchiha Clan is using your name to… demand concessions from the village."

"WHAT!?" I nearly yelled with shock and anger.

"So you weren't aware of it?" Utatane asked with surprise.

"No! This is the first time I'm hearing of it!" I replied with a shocked tone. "And I definitely didn't give them permission to use my name like that…"

"I thought you hadn't," Utatane nodded. "But it's good to get confirmation. What do you intend to do about it?"

"What concessions have they been demanding?" I asked curiously.

"Well, for one they have demanded the right to punish the law breakers they capture instead of giving them to the village to deal with," Utatane replied. "For two, they've demanded a spot on the village council."

"I see," I grounded out. "Well, I'll be speaking Fugaku on that tomorrow. You can tell the Hokage not to worry about granting those concessions. What was the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

"It's unfortunately related to the first," Utatane sighed. "I'm sorry, Kazuto, but I'm afraid that I have to dismiss you from the Intelligence Department."

"Why…" I nearly growled out.

"With the level that your fame has grown to, it'll be much more difficult for you to maintain a low profile," Utatane explained. "I was willing to overlook it, but with Iwa's recent attempt to capture you, I've been made aware of just how much your fame has grown. It's unfortunate: sharing your escape techniques with the village has saved many lives, but it basically means that you can no longer live your life in the shadows."

"So I'll be returning to the General Shinobi Forces then?" I clarified.

Utatane nodded.

I frowned in thought: I didn't like the idea of leaving the Intelligence Department. After all, I had joined to escape being pressured into the Konoha Police Corps. But maybe this was a blessing in disguise. If I wasn't attached to the Intelligence Department, that would mean that I was free to deal with Danzo, however long that took.

That, along with the fact that Danzo wouldn't be able to pressure me to join the Police Corps due to being closely watched by the Hokage, meant that I would be able to enjoy my freedom as a member of the general forces, instead of having to find another department to join.

"Very well, I'll go without protest, on one condition," I replied eventually. "I would like for you to push for my promotion to Jonin. After everything I've done for the department, I deserve that much."

"I'll do that gladly," Utatane nodded sternly. "Thank you for not making too much of a fuss."

I stood up and stretched. "Well, it's been a long day, and I need to get home. May I go?"

Utatane nodded, and with that, I left.

O\/O

Review replies:

Guest: i like this so much and i wonder who onoki will offer to marry? and i like that ur uchia has a dark side to him

Reply: Marriage is not on the table. I'm not sure how you got that impression

Patjeeson: The story is interesting,loved the medias Res and the flashbacks that in the end give us already a rough characterization of the MC. From what I understand of this cliffhanger it means : The MC is used as a bargaining tool or his techniques. Could it be a setting for him to go rogue ? I don't know but I will wait your next update

Reply: I have no plans for the main character to go rogue, sorry.

HH007: Looks promising. But the MC has been switching between 'sama' and 'san' in addressing Minato. Please proofread for typos.Also hope you improve combat description, and have the MC be proactive in dealing with the plot since SI is an uchiha.

Reply: I did some work on the previous chapters and have updated them. Yes, the MC will be dealing with the plot.

Blackbird0: Great start! I love how it dives straight into the action. Looking forward to more!

Reply: thanks, I alway love to hear how people think of it.

SadReview: You need to throw your text into Google docs or something, because some words get messed up with missing letters or are straight out written wrong. Another point is the summary, this thing doesn't read or smell like an SI, nor is the knowledge of being reincarnated applied on the inside council member thingy that hates uchihas... If that dude ain't from our world than he is no SI, which makes him just a simple OC reincarnated from God knows where. Story is alright but draggy especially chapter 3 and 4 .Stuff like blabla the wall is thick and shiny instead of describing hand to hand combat you tell us more filler stuff which drags the whole point into question how's that guy an SI

Reply: I did some work on the previous chapters. I use libre office writer. No I'm not good at describing combat. I don't think it's nessicary to describe combat beat by beat, a general overview is good enough for me. I"m not a martial artist.

Nirmtheworm14: I don't think I've ever seen a protagonist start off their isekai as an S Rank lol. I've seen omnipotent beings, civilian fodder, clan kids, doctors & scientists, but this is a first for me. Glad to see he has a balanced powerset, this is shaping up to be a great story.

Reply: Thanks.