Sasuke woke the morning after first meeting Indra with a groan. His body still felt like it would fall apart. Thankfully, he wouldn't be going to train with his teammates today. He kind of hated himself for thinking that. He needed to train to get stronger…
But he also needed a day to really think about… well, everything. Not just what Indra had told him – that something else had gone on that night or that Itachi had other motivations – but about what had landed him in the hospital. He hadn't even gotten a good reason as to why someone had dropped a severed arm with active sharingan in it or even how those sharingan had remained active enough without a constant chakra source to keep them so. He hadn't even really come to terms with lesser issues like the fact that Sakura had a drive and a direction to go with medical jutsu (surprisingly insightful of her) or that Naruto had been sabotaged because of something about him he was keeping secret. Something big, apparently. Although what that secret could be Sasuke couldn't even begin to guess at.
Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't be given a lot of time to think things through today as he had more mandatory mind-healing sessions he would have to go to. He groaned, really, really wanting nothing more than to stuff his head back under his pillow and pretend the day hadn't started yet. Instead, he sighed and, with monumental effort, dragged himself up.
He usually took his showers in the evening, but had been too tired the night before. So he headed into the bathroom, mind already focusing on the warm water that might actually help his aching muscles.
xXx
Sasuke frowned at the Shogi board and wondered, for about the twentieth time that day, why he was doing this instead of the 'mind healing' sessions that had been scheduled. Then, for the same amount of times, he reminded himself that as boring and useless as this was, it had to be better than said 'mind healing' sessions.
Shikamaru, his lazy ex-classmate, yawned and leaned his head down on his arms, showing how bored he was with Sasuke as an opponent. The Uchiha grit his teeth and made them move he'd been contemplating for a little while now.
"Your turn," he muttered.
The Nara looked up at the board, blinked, then sighed as he reached over and moved one of his pieces. "I win."
Sasuke had to restrain himself from flipping the table and all of its pieces over.
"This is so useless," he said.
Shikamaru, who had begun to reset the pieces, snorted. "Thought you'd be smarter than that."
"Oh," Sasuke asked in frustration, "what is actually useful about learning to play a stupid game?"
The Nara looked so utterly done and annoyed as he opened his mouth, but then he paused, seemed to think about it and shook his head.
"Too troublesome."
"Shikamaru," the boy's mother said, peeking her head in the door with a bright smile on her face. Even Sasuke could feel the warning it presented. "Why don't you explain it to Sasuke-kun? Would it be more troublesome to do that, or to be in charge of dishes for the next week?"
The younger Nara's shoulders drooped.
"Troublesome woman," he muttered, but then he sighed and rubbed the back of his head before fixing his annoyed gaze on Sasuke.
"Shogi tests your strategy. It's applicable to life in basically three ways: Individual, Small Group and Large Group. It's the most easily applicable to large groups because they tend to be the most limited by the amount of people they have, so they can be easier to predict. Think a contingent of manpower in a war. It is least applicable to small groups, though this depends on the group, the terrain involved and the makeup of said group. But small groups tend to be more versatile and powerful than individuals, but less mobile than a single person and so tend to be the least predictable. Obviously this depends on the individual but…" he paused when he saw Sasuke's slowly dulling expression and sighed again.
"In any case, shogi teaches you to think several steps ahead so you can predict the consequences of your current choices. For instance, if I move my pawn here, it opens up several options," he said as he moved one of his pawns forward one step. "You can also tell by this move that I've started to play a defensive game based on which pawn I'm moving. Moving another piece in another way – like, say, a knight – can be considered more offensive, but also more dangerous. How you respond to my move and how you open your game can tell me a lot about you as an opponent.
"If you move this piece here," he reached over and moved one of Sasuke's pawns, "then I know you're a generally offensive player and I can plan accordingly because of what pieces you can move after that. There are literally thousands (if not more) of ways to play a game, and thinking through every step you can move after this can help you figure the direction of your game.
"You can move any one of your pawns, your knights or your rook, initially. Each one of those moves will close down some moves for yours and other pieces, and open up other options. But going through each next step can help you go through each following move, and each step after that.
"Do you understand?"
For several seconds Sasuke studied the board and the different ways that the pieces could move. He felt like he was right on the cusp of grasping what Shikamaru wanted him to…
And then it clicked.
"It's like sparring," he said.
Shikamaru blinked. "What?"
"When you spar, if you go to kick, there are only so many ways you can move after that, which will affect how you defend and what attacks you can make in three or four moves. That's what you mean by applying it to an individual, right?"
The other boy blinked at Sasuke, then rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Wait, so if I move this here… I can move these in the future and that's why you take so long to move sometimes, you're thinking through all the ways something can play out."
Shikamaru gave him a smug smirk. "So, wanna play for real this time?"
Sasuke shot him a grin back. "Hn."
Only later, after he'd left the Nara residence, did he realize what the boy had said about small groups applied to what Indra had said about three Jounin working together to take down a kage-level opponent.
"Oh," he muttered thoughtfully.
He ruminated on that for several seconds before he shook his head and continued home. He still wasn't convinced that the dead last and the fangirl (former?) would be any actual help as a team but… well… maybe he'd just have to wait and see.
On top of a nearby roof, "Indra" smiled. He wasn't sure what his younger self had had an epiphany about, but after what he'd heard about what the kid had gone through today, he had a couple of guesses. Some of them weren't so great, but most of them would be positive.
They would just have to see tomorrow.
xXx
"So, Kakashi, how are you today?"
The man with the single Sharingan understood why he had no access to sharp weapons at the moment. Because if he had one, he would have buried it in the head of anyone so utterly bright this early in the morning. False or not.
Then again, was it even morning? He didn't have access to the outside either so he couldn't tell.
He'd considered escaping. He likely could as he'd come up with almost a dozen plots at this point. Whether any of them would actually work? That was a question almost worth antagonizing T&I and the Hokage over.
Almost.
No matter what Inoichi said, he was not suicidal right now.
Speaking of, the man in question pulled a chair up to the bed Kakashi had curled up under. He hated that that was how he felt safe right now, but it wasn't exactly unusual for him to sleep on the floor with his ninken either. The tighter space just made him feel more secure.
He knew it wasn't actually safer, but whatever helped him sleep here. Right?
Still, despite his rather nasty mood at being woken up (when was the last time he'd had so much sleep? It was unnatural), he plastered on a bright smile and turned his head up towards Inoichi-san. "Yo." Then he shunshined out and back so he calmly sat on the edge of the bed as if he'd been there the whole time.
Inoichi raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
Good.
"So you asked me for a list of what would need to happen for you to leave here. After speaking at length with the Hokage, we have decided that isn't an unreasonable expectation to have in this situation. Therefore, here are your three conditions:
"One, you need to tell me or someone else here you trust about the Kannabi bridge incident. We need to know how many discrepancies in the records there are, and having a first hand account will help the most."
Kakashi felt his throat tighten. He did not want to talk about it. He really did not want to talk about it… but if it got him out of here…
"Two," Inoichi continued, "we will need an oath to the Hokage himself that you will not go after Shimura Danzo or any of his subordinates, family or acquaintances without express permission directly from the Hokage."
He hated it – he really did – but he'd certainly seen that coming. It still made him want to attack something, even if he didn't show it. No, he made sure to keep a happy smile on his face.
"Three," the interrogation specialist looked hard at Kakashi, "you must come and see me once a week, every week, until I say otherwise."
Yeah. Not happening. Ever. Full stop.
That didn't mean he couldn't say he would. He was known for being late, after all…
Inoichi must have somehow (impossibly) seen that on Kakashi's face because he leaned forward, eyes narrowing slightly.
"If you agree to this and you don't show up to three scheduled meetings, I cannot give you a full bill of health and you will be honorably retired."
Kakashi's eye widened in shock because… what?!
"You can't do that," he said, "I'm an A-rank Jounin! You need me! The village needs me! The Hokage needs me!" He hoped he didn't sound as unhinged as he felt, because he had to convince Inoichi of this, no matter how untrue it was. Because… well, he knew the truth. He knew they didn't really need him. Shinobi came and went all the time. But… the idea of not being a ninja just… didn't compute. He couldn't wrap his head around it. He needed to be able to go on missions and throw himself into work he was good at – like assassinations. He was good at assassinations. Sitting around, unable to do anything for any time longer than a week would drive what little sanity he still had far, far away.
Besides, the idea of not being able to do anything to protect people… no matter how much of a failure he was…
Just no.
"What we need," Inoichi corrected him calmly (much to Kakashi's growing horror because he wasn't convinced…), "are good Shinobi who we can trust to take care of themselves. You are alive by a combination of sheer will, spite and Might Gai, and you know it. How many difficult missions did you purposefully almost not come back from?"
The silver-haired jounin didn't wince through stubbornness alone and mentally congratulated himself for it.
"I would never let my companions die," Kakashi hissed angrily. Funny, he hadn't shown this much emotion in years… not since before Minato-sensei… nope. Cutting that thought off now. He needed to stop right there and continue on his argument. He doubted he could lie convincingly in the state he was (he needed to calm down) so something at least somewhat truthful. "If that means I have to stay alive to help them, then fine! I will!"
Inoichi shook his head. "That's the problem, Kakashi, it's not 'fine'. Your life shouldn't be a side note. You aren't there only to keep other people you deem more important than yourself alive. Do you honestly think your life doesn't matter?"
"We're ninja," he said coldly. "Tools for our village. Nothing more."
The blond shot him an unimpressed look. "That is a basic they teach academy students to help them learn and understand what real life as a shinobi is like. I know you don't actually believe that because you aren't in Root. And yes, I know Danzo approached you. We found his documentation on it."
Just his name brought a cold fury to Kakashi's chest. The memory of him trying to trick Kakashi into killing the Hokage… and how could he have known that wasn't even a scratch on the iceberg Danzo had created.
But Kakashi hated that he missed the mindless days he'd spent in Root as a probationary member, where he didn't have to think or feel… it had been so much easier. He hadn't been there long, but there had been a reason why Danzo had thought he had Kakashi under his thumb. He'd taken to it so easily…
However, his time there and Danzo's plotting against the Third Hokage had taught him how dangerous that path could be. Which meant Inoichi was right, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He still refused to look away from the interrogator – refused to show any shame or weakness.
He also didn't answer.
Finally, Inoichi sighed and put a hand up to rub at his temple. "Look, you want out of here and I want to help. So why don't we at least start on those conditions I brought up earlier.
"We'll go with the easiest first. I need you to promise you won't go after Danzo, his family, any of his subordinates or compatriots. We can do this in front of the Hokage later, but for now, just tell me: Can you do that?"
Kakashi just glared at Inoichi for several seconds because not avenging Obito and Minato-sensei felt wrong.
Then again, this wouldn't be the first time he did something for the village that felt wrong.
"You have my word," he finally forced himself to say calmly. Not even through gritted teeth.
"That…?" Inoichi prodded with a deadpan expression.
"That I will not go after Danzo, his family, his subordinates or his compatriots with any intention to harm or kill them."
The blond's expression didn't change for several seconds, but eventually he sat forward with a shake of his head. "I see the loopholes you're leaving for yourself, Kakashi, but I'm going to trust you with this. We are investigating. We will put Danzo on trial. Everything he did will come to light. Please, trust us like I'm trusting you."
"I'm not a child," Kakashi said suddenly. He wanted to snap it out like a whip, but he kept himself in check. Barely. "Please stop treating me like I am one."
He felt so raw and open; like his mask had been utterly stripped away. And, he supposed, for all intents and purposes, it had. His lazy, lackadaisical attitude was not something he could hide behind right now and so he clung to the cracked facade of his ANBU persona – professional, cold, calculating and emotionless… except it wasn't working. For the first time in over a decade it wasn't working and he didn't know how to deal with that.
Inoichi just snorted softly, but to Kakashi's relief, didn't push it farther.
"How about the next one, then; can you tell me what happened at Kannabi Bridge?"
Kakashi absolutely refused to break down again like he had before, so he kept his emotions in check, slowly regaining his ANBU facade again – through sheer determination, but whatever worked.
"Take your time," Inoichi said. "I can wait as long as you need me to." And he meant it. Kakashi didn't know whether to be grateful or resentful because he did need time, but he still hated showing this weakness. Or, well, talking about it at all.
Eventually, he pushed those thoughts to the side and took a deep breath. And then another. And another. He repeated the motion until he felt calm again and then he opened his eyes and fixed Inoichi with a blank stare.
"My team received the mission to destroy the Kannabi bridge so as to disrupt the supply lines…" he began and then went through the mission with as much detail and as little inflection as he could. It still hurt… a lot. Not as much as he'd feared, but more than he wanted to admit. It was still everything he could do to just continue talking.
Inoichi's first interruption happened before he even got to the bridge, when they came across the Iwa nin scout on the way. Kakashi had explained how he'd rushed in with his team covering him, wanting to put himself out both as bait and as the main heavy hitter. He explained his reasoning as being the bait so that he could pinpoint the location of his enemies when they tried to target him. He didn't elaborate on why he had wanted to be the main heavy hitter. He should have known that Inoichi would want more explanation on that.
"Why did you want your team to cover you while you went out alone? Besides being bait, I mean."
Breathe in… and out.
"Because I was arrogant," he managed to say with a completely straight face. "I thought I could do it on my own. I was reckless and foolish because I wanted to show off my new jutsu. I honestly thought I was so much better than the others on my team… excluding Minato-sensei of course."
More breaths. Just keep breathing, he thought to himself.
"It almost got me killed that day. If Minato-sensei hadn't saved me, I would have died." And maybe they would have gone back to Konoha and would all be alive.
Inoichi paused and frowned at Kakashi, who couldn't help but tense. Had he said something wrong?
"Why do you sound as if you regret that he saved you?"
In his mind, Kakashi swore. Multiple times.
He also didn't answer. Again.
Inoichi's frown deepened, but he didn't push it.
Yet.
"You got wounded, not fatally but significantly?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where?"
Kakashi pointed to his right shoulder. "My teammate healed it as best she could. It wasn't perfect, but it healed enough that we wanted to continue on. We split up the next day, Minato-sensei going to the front lines while Obito, Rin and I went for the bridge, but were ambushed. While one of the ninja attacked us from the front, another sneaked up from behind and… grabbed Rin…" He faded off as something occurred to him.
Oh, he was so stupid. He'd always wondered why that ninja had simply knocked out and captured Rin when he should have killed her. Initially he'd thought it had been because they wanted to know plans and thought they could get information out of her, but she was obviously a chuunin at most, on a three man team of chuunins (because Kakashi had not deserved his Jounin promotion, the following conflicts had made that abundantly clear). She wouldn't have known anything… no. She'd been bait because they were the target. They and Minato-sensei. They'd been treated like a target the entire time, not a random infiltration cell there to do reconnaissance or damage.
"You put in your report that you assumed they wanted information."
Kakashi nodded, swallowing thickly. "It was the best reason I could think of for why they didn't kill her and then go after Obito and I. But… that would have just been a secondary boon had it been true. They were after us from the start. They wanted us to lure Minato-sensei in."
Inoichi sighed and nodded his head. "It's likely that Rin was taken to be used as bait, yes. My guess is that the two Shinobi aimed too high, wanting to take out the Yellow Flash himself. They couldn't have known when you split up, but it's likely they knew exactly who you were."
Kakashi felt his fingers digging into the wood of the bed frame, but didn't care. It hurt less than some of these revelations.
"They thought they could either subdue or kill us if we came after her, but if we hadn't, they would have set up a trap for Minato-sensei with just her."
Again, the blond nodded. "That was the conclusion we came to as well."
"We were blind," the silver-haired shinobi muttered.
"No, we were duped, by someone who was very good at what he did," Inoichi said, his own voice full of anger and bitterness. He looked up at Kakashi pointedly. "I'm not going to say don't feel angry towards Shimura. Actually, quite the opposite. This is his fault – his scheme. Do not blame yourself. Blame him. That is where the fault should lie."
Kakashi took a deep breath and nodded. He could do that. Didn't mean he wasn't to blame for anything that happened at all, but this shed so much new light on the subject. The resulting picture wasn't pretty and while it seemed easier to contemplate in some ways, in other ways it was just so much worse.
"In any case, please continue," Inoichi waved a hand through the air.
The silver-haired man nodded and went on.
It was easier to keep going this time, even knowing what would happen.
"Obito and I argued. He wanted to go after Rin. I wanted to stick to the mission. I… had issues."
"Because of your father?"
Great, another sore spot.
Kakashi took another calming breath. "Yeah."
When Inoichi didn't speak again, though, Kakashi looked up sharply.
"What is it?"
The other jounin seemed to brace himself (not helping Kakashi calm down) and spoke. "We've found evidence that a lot of the ostracizing that drove your father to commit suicide was either orchestrated or outright started by Shimura. The White Fang was a staunch supporter of the Third and he wasn't supposed to survive the mission he'd been sent on. So Danzo did the next best thing and drove him to kill himself by blaming the start of the Third Shinobi War on him."
Silence for several seconds and then the world seemed to fade out around him.
Kakashi didn't remember what happened next. All he could recall later was a red haze enveloping his vision. The next thing he knew, the floor dug painfully into his cheeks and he couldn't move well. It took him a moment to realize he was being pinned down by Inoichi and at least two ANBU. He could sense another three in the general vicinity.
"You back with us?" Inoichi asked. Kakashi tried to take stock of the situation and it took him longer than he'd like for him to really take everything in. He wasn't in his designated room, but the hallways of T&I. How… had he gotten here? A sharp pain in his hand throbbing was likely a clue… he had the memory of using the chidori to punch through the walls… vaguely. They were metal and more resistant to lightning than normal earth, but they were still earth and apparently that resistance could be overpowered. As could the chakra suppressors, apparently (although it left him terribly drained, he wondered how he'd made it this far without using any other jutsu). Nice to know that one of his escape methods was viable.
"Well, it looks like we're going to be getting you a new room," Inoichi said cheerfully. "And, unfortunately, we'll have to keep the chakra suppressing cuffs on you for now." As the blond spoke, he stood and stepped back, allowing the ANBU to drag Kakashi to his feet. Then he must have signaled for them to release their prisoner because they stepped back as well.
The silver-haired jounin turned to face Inoichi and actually winced when he saw the man had a swollen cheek that would likely form into a large bruise if he didn't get it treated. He also had an obvious, very jagged tear in his mussed clothes, likely where Kakashi had somehow torn it. He was glad the man had side-stepped whatever Kakashi had attacked with.
Funny, he'd never blacked out like that before.
"I think we should continue this later," Inoichi said. "You need some time to cool down – and please cool down. Do not let this fester." He took a deep breath and looked Kakashi in the eye. "Do not let him win. Dwelling on what Shimura has done will not help you in the long run. It will only drive your anger and hatred to new levels, and it's already detrimental and unhealthy. He set this up to gain more control – he's tried to control you. If you let him anger you that much, he will have succeeded."
Kakashi just watched the other man for several seconds before he let out the breath he'd been holding and nodded. "I don't need you to tell me that."
The other man just snorted and returned the nod. "Good.
"Now, let's get you to some new rooms."
xXx
Inoichi groaned as he plopped down in the seat across from Shikaku at their usual table in their favorite shinobi bar. Today had been an extremely trying day. To say the least. The very least.
His Nara teammate raised an eyebrow both in question and amusement. Inoichi frowned at him.
"Hatake Kakashi is the most stubborn, self-destructive, hot mess of a shinobi I've ever met." And the man's amusement went up several notches.
"Shut up and get me a drink," the interrogation specialist grumbled. "Where's Chouza?"
"With his wife. Date night."
Right. He must be really out of it to not remember that. And Shikaku's tone did not hide that he'd thought the same thing.
Inoichi groaned and hid his head in his arms. He was so done right now.
"Well, let me cheer you up a bit, then," Shikaku said.
The blond looked up at him over his arms, his own eyebrow raised in question. A glass appeared in front of Inoichi and he sighed gratefully as he went through his typical poison detection before grabbing it and slamming it back.
"Okay, what will cheer me up?"
"You haven't asked about Sasuke-kun."
Inoichi's face fell right back into its scowl. "What makes you think I'd want to talk about the second most messed up ninja in this village – who is, by the way, a genin, twelve years old and has never even been on a mission."
"Well," Shikaku said, "I spoke with my son. According to him, no one has ever explained the benefits of group attacks in a way that Uchiha-kun really understood – or in a way that stuck in any case. But once Shikamaru explained some basic tactics, Sasuke caught on surprisingly quickly. We may have actually gotten through to him."
Inoichi blinked, almost unable to believe it because that had been much faster than he'd anticipated.
"Really?" he finally said as he thought about the implications and potential there. "Then we need to drive the point home. Looks like I'll be commandeering his training tomorrow. Do you know where Kuranai is?"
Shikaku studied his friend for a second before a slow smile spread across his face. He saw exactly what his friend had in mind. Then he nodded over towards the other side of the room where Kuranai and Asuma sat in a corner booth and were making eyes at each other. Too bad Inoichi would have to ruin their date, at least temporarily.
"Be right back," he said, holding up a hand for more drinks and indicating with hand signs which table said order should be delivered to. Then he stood up and made his way over, not even having to force a bright smile onto his face.
"Forgive me for interrupting," he said as he stopped right by the table. The other two looked up at him, Kuranai with curiosity and Asuma with a frown. The ordered drinks appeared on the table with a whoosh as the ninja behind the bar delivered them – par for the course in a shinobi bar. Asuma picked up one of the drinks and sighed, but accepted the peace offering nonetheless. Meanwhile, Inoichi never took his eyes off of the kunoichi at the table. "Kuranai-san, would you mind if I had a word with you?"
Intrigued, she gestured to the seat next to Asuma and went for her own drink. Inoichi's smile widened as he took said seat and began to explain his proposition. By the time he finished, both Asuma and Kuranai looked amused.
"Well, I suppose I'll see you and Sasuke-kun tomorrow morning," Kuranai said with a smile.
"Excellent! I will stop imposing on your time," Inoichi replied and went to stand up. The other two bid him goodnight and he returned to Shikaku's table much happier than he'd been before.
"How is it you always know what to say to cheer me up?" he asked his friend as he retook his previous seat.
Shikaku shrugged and gestured to the drink he'd already ordered for Inoichi. "It's a gift."
Inoichi snorted, finished checking his drink for poison and then lifted it into the air. "To the little successes. I'll take what I can get at the moment."
The other man chuckled as he raised his glass and clinked it against Inoichi's. Then they both downed said drinks.
"So," the Nara head asked, leaning forward, "let me help you work out details for your little plot tomorrow?"
Inoichi grinned. "Why not?"
xXx
AN: Yeah, we're laying a LOT at Danzo's feet here. To be fair, he just started things, and let other people finish them. Many of those other people still have fault here, but I am of the firm opinion that if Danzo had either A. changed or B. been incapacitated/killed during the Second Shinobi War, the entire world would have been much better off.
The point could be argued.
Shout out to Quathis, my co-author. :)
Also, my discord if you're interested: discord. gg/2acAymzqku (no spaces)