Meanwhile…
"Lord Second, are you certain this is wise?"
"It is imperative. The information she gave us is our only way of figuring out how to leave this illusion."
"I understand the importance of this endeavour. But even with our combined skills-"
"We shall prevail, Fourth. Besides, we both know this office like the back of our hands."
"And so do its guards."
Minato and Tobirama had planned a secret rendezvous whilst their clones accompanied the rest to the Uchiha compound. Tenten's information had caused them to be quite curious about Menma but for slightly differing reasons. Whatever those reasons may be, their goal remained the same.
"To think that I would return to the room I had made my seals to protect as a thief… The irony is not lost to me." Said Tobirama as he started conjuring up the seals to bypass the office's seals.
"It's fortunate that we've taken advantage of the party going on. The Anbu had left but a skeleton force to patrol the entire building. With how large this place is, they'll rarely come around this room." Minato said as he unravelled the seals he had made on the more secure cabinets in the office.
"And even if they came here. They wouldn't be suspicious of their own kind being here." Tobirama added as he looked down on the Anbu gear he and Minato had commandeered from one of the lockers in the Anbu HQ.
The two of them then let the silence take over as they meticulously opened each and every nook and cranny that they knew had sensitive information inside them. All of the information they didn't think to find was laid bare before them as they read and read and read. Information about the Senju clan dismantling, the Hyuuga clan coup attempt that cost the life of Hiashi and Hizashi - Hinata's father and uncle, heck, even Jiraiya's love letter to Tsunade was here! Why on earth is such a thing-
"Lord Second. I think I found it." Minato said as he opened an obscure cabinet drawer at the far right of the room. It was an envelope with a complex sealing tag that was unique from the others on top of it. Minato noticed that some of the seal patterns resembled the work of Jiraiya. It looks to him that even his sensei was a sealmaster in this dimension.
"Bring it here." Minato heard from behind the Hokage table. He quickly walked to where Tobirama was and saw that the Senju was resealing everything they had opened to how it was beforehand.
"How do you know it's the one?" Tobirama asked without looking at Minato. He was busy resealing the drawers of Tsunade's desk.
"It's made by my sensei, Jiraiya. None of the ones I found were like this." Minato replied. He then started to work on the other drawers they had opened but was stopped by Tobirama's raised hand.
"Wait. Not that. I found something too." Tobirama said as he finished the last stroke to the seal he was recreating. He then moved to Minato's side and opened the drawer himself. It was a book that wasn't sealed like the rest of them. Wait, he's seen this book before, thought Minato.
"The profile book?" Minato asked aloud. He's seen that book when Hiruzen was teaching him the ins and outs of being Hokage. It contained the generalised information of each and every important shinobi in the village. From high position holders like the Konoha council to even the lowliest chunin rank who's shown promise in the Hokage's eyes, all are listed and constantly updated in the profile book.
"Yes. Now we must create a seal to duplicate this book before anyone sees us." Tobirama said as he unlatched a scroll from his pouch.
"It would take minutes to conjure it up." Minato said as he helped out in the process. They moved in tandem with one another. Each stroke of a brush precisely and perfectly arranged in the parchment laid before them. They were calm outside, but inside the two of them were sweating bullets. If one of them gets this wrong, they'll have to redo a section of the seal which will make this longer than it has to. Ergo, the higher the chances of them getting caught.
"Lord Second, one more section." Minato said. They had been at it for a while now and the fact that they were about to finish was getting on his nerves. Anything less than 100% precision would ruin this entire thing for them.
"Then we must-!" the Senju's senses triggered suddenly. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before sharpening into razor blades as he glared at the door. He heard Minato speak beside him. He knows as well.
"Someone's coming." Minato said as he swiftly took the duplication scroll with him. He didn't need to look at Tobirama as he and the Senju raced for the two corners at the Hokage's office. The same ones the Anbu use to shadow their Hokage. They left none to chance. Every single thing that they had moved or touched was restored to their original places before the two of them came here. No one will know they are there.
*click*
"I'm sorry you had to be late for Asuma-sensei's return party, Ino."
"N-no! Please don't apologise, Menma. It's alright for me to help you out."
The two hidden Hokage's perked up when the alternate version of Naruto and Inoichi's daughter came around holding a box of what seems to be more paperwork. Interesting thing to note, they thought. More things to search into. Once Menma placed the box in his hands onto the table, he turned around to take Ino's box from her.
"Thank you." Ino said in gratitude. She was about to walk out of the room when she noticed Menma searching through his pockets for something.
"Something wrong, Menma?" Ino asked concernedly.
"I meant to leave a letter for Lady Tsunade concerning… well…" Ino simply nodded in understanding before the blonde elaborated on what he meant.
"I see. Is it lost?" Ino asked as she stepped towards Menma.
"No. It's here in my pouch. What I'm missing is a pen. I need to add some things that might be important." Menma answered. Having given up his search, he swiped a pen from the table and began unfolding the letter from his pouch.
"What's it about?" Ino wondered as she stood beside Menma who was writing on his letter.
"Tenten. She's been acting… strange. I can't tell what. Ever since she suddenly became excellent with her weapons. Something about her has been bugging me to no end." Menma explained calmly. Unknowing towards the alarm bells he wrung in the heads of the other occupants of the room.
"I think that she's different now because she's become more confident lately." Ino meekly offered. "I could tell that she's more motivated and purposeful because she's finally mastered her skills. It's amazing to watch her fight. You should've seen her with Neji and Lee the other day."
"It's not that it's wrong of her to be suddenly great at something." Menma said as he put down the pen and paper to face Ino. "It's just… there's a feeling in my gut that something's not right."
"Maybe you should talk to Lady Tsunade about it personally." Ino suggested as she placed a hand on Menma's shoulder. "If it's that worrisome, you better let her know."
Menma softly smiled at the gesture. But he had already made his mind up. He will definitely not tell Lady Tsunade nor anyone about this. Especially when he's already on to Tenten. But little to his knowledge, he had already been found out by the Second and the Fourth Hokage. His body language wasn't exactly that discreet in their eyes, after all.
"Lord Second…" Minato whispered to the Silver headed Senju. Minato then showed Tobirama the duplicated profile book. Their mission here was complete. Now comes the part of returning the original book. All they need to do is to wait for the pair below to get out of here.
"What are you two doing here this late in the evening?" Came from a third voice below. All of them perked up at the sound. They didn't expect to hear from him now, though.
"L-lord Danzo! We're so sorry to be here this late. We were just-" Ino exclaimed panickedly as she was bowing in respects to the head of T and I. Even Menma gave reverence to the man, albeit in a more diminished way compared to Ino. But their fear turned into confusion as the old man Chuckled at the sight. Chuckled.
"Hahahaha… I'm just messing with you. I heard from the Anbu that you're just here to bring some things. Now, get out of here you little rascal!" Danzo said with enthusiasm as he pointed to the door. "You're missing the party at the Uchiha compound right now."
"Oh, um… thank you for your understanding, then." Ino said as she and Menma hurried along the door. Both said their goodbyes and slowly closed the door behind them. Leaving Danzo alone in the room… with the hidden Hokages above.
"Sigh… to be young again… I wonder what Minato and Inoichi would think if they found out the truth about those two." Danzo muttered aloud as he walked towards one of the drawers with a bunch of old framed photos. One of them caught his eye: it was the team photo of Hiruzen and the Sannin. They were all so young back then.
"You've done well for yourself, old friend." Danzo said fondly as he grabbed the photo off the drawer. "A sage, a great teacher, and a Hokage… you've taught them everything they needed."
He then frowned as a flood of memories came through his mind. He placed the photo back on to the drawer before walking towards the Hokage photos on the wall. His idol, his mentor, his friend, and then his disciple. All on that wall except for him. But he is not envious of what he saw.
He was saddened instead.
"To think that I'd live to see all you four have built become flourishing and thriving. You should've seen it for yourself, Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sensei. Your Will of Fire still lives on thanks to your teachings. Kizashi himself showed that kind of Fire in himself too… I raised him too well, I suppose. To rush into battle without a care for his own life…" Danzo then looked at Hiruzen's photo with disdain. Both Hokages that were still in the vents felt his chakra boil in anger inside him. Something must have happened between the two of them for Danzo to act this way.
"I know you are there." Danzo muttered sharply. Both Hokages froze. There was no way they would've been caught. Their signatures were perfectly masked! Unless…
"Stop mocking me!" Danzo yelled at the empty Hokage's seat. He threw a kunai at the damn thing for good measure. Minato had his eyes open wide at the action while Tobirama gritted his teeth in dismay. He's seen this before…
"I should've died that day! You didn't need to push me out of the way. And now I'm here and you're dead!" Danzo yelled at the chair. His voice rugged and exhausted but he was nowhere near done. "You're people needed you while I was disposable. You knew that you had no match for him alone. And so I ask, old friend: why did you have to die?"
Both Hokages watched in pity as Danzo grieved for his friend. No tears left the man's eyes but his chakra signature sang a song of sorrow. It seems that there was something more to the story. But they debated with themselves whether or not this is valuable for their pursuits of returning to their own world. As much as they sympathise with the man, Danzo's probably not going to help them in their mission. Rather, he's more likely to imprison them all for T and I.
As Danzo took the kunai off the seat, he then left the room without any suspicion that he was being watched this whole time. Ten seconds after the footsteps of Danzo were no longer heard, Tobirama quickly went down to the office, placed the Profile Book where it belongs, and triple checked everything so that they all were in the same place as before. Then, he left with Minato. Everything they needed to know was now in their hands, all they needed to do is to return it to the others.
Speaking of, what are they doing right now?
