"Stay behind me. Keep your kunai at the ready," Kakashi murmured to Sakura, his eyes not wavering from the shadowed figures standing in front of the campfire. She nodded, not speaking as they approached cautiously. When they were about twenty feet away, he called out in a loud voice to the intruder, "Identify yourself!"
"Sakura knows who I am," came the response from Aburame Shino's even-keeled voice, his demeanor entirely too calm for someone who was being stalked by the infamous Copy Ninja.
Kakashi was on him too quickly for either of the two younger nin to perceive his movements; in a flash, Shino was pinned to the ground beside the fire, his sleeve dangerously close to the flames as the seasoned shinobi held a kunai firmly to his neck. Shino didn't flinch, his expression obscured by both his solid black sunglasses as well as the tall collar of his coat.
"Tell me what you were doing out here," Kakashi growled at the younger man, who just lay there without speaking for several drawn out moments before his voice finally spoke out.
"I would think you overheard, as you were only twenty feet away," Shino's voice was cool. Sakura swallowed hard, her body frozen in place as Kakashi drew blood on the younger nin; just a ghost of a scratch, but enough to let Shino know he meant business. His voice still smooth, the quiet man continued, "I was meeting with Shimura Danzo."
Sakura watched as the name made Kakashi's entire body tensed up, his bicep flinching as he withdrew the kunai enough for Shino to breathe. She had no idea who Danzo was, or why the mysterious man seemed to put Kakashi so on edge. As her eyes glanced over the bandages that still wrapped his neck, she wondered briefly if it had something to do with either the records that had been stolen or the explosions. Kakashi's low voice pulled her out of her thoughts and back into the present.
"And what do you know about him?"
His eyes were narrowed and Sakura frowned, realizing he hadn't covered the Sharingan yet. Knowing that it was draining his chakra, she reached up to touch his shoulder gingerly, her fingers grazing over the red swirl tattoo. His hand reached up to cover her fingers without taking his gaze away from Shino, who arched his eyebrow at the brief interaction. As though he'd read her mind, Kakashi reached up and tugged the hitae-ate down, pulling his discarded mask back up as well and Sakura wondered when she'd gotten so used to seeing him without it that she hadn't even noticed it wasn't covering the lower half of his face.
"Just that he has history with my clan," Shino answered after a moment, his face back to neutral as Kakashi finally backed off enough for him to move to his feet and away from the fire that had been licking at him.
"That's not all," Kakashi glared hard at him. "He asked you to join his organization."
"This wasn't his first time doing so," Shino spoke simply, brushing the grass off of himself before he glanced back up at Kakashi. "I'm assuming you heard me ask when the next meeting was?"
Kakashi didn't need to answer and Shino sighed. Sakura was already gathering up the spilled contents of the bag when the silver-haired man turned to face her, his grey eye full of regret. She gave him a knowing smile, not wanting him to see the disappointment she unfairly felt. It wasn't Kakashi's fault that this had happened. He was her lover, but his duty came first always and she knew that. Before anything, he was a loyal Leaf shinobi and would put the well-being of the village he'd sworn on his life to protect first - just as she would.
"We need to go. Now," was all Kakashi said as he grabbed the bag from Sakura; a small token of his apology that their romantic night had been so abruptly ended. As they began walking, she became aware that they were following a different path than the one he'd brought her on earlier. This path, while still overgrown and winding, was much more direct and led them to the main road much more quickly. Within fifteen minutes, they were passing over the boundary of Konoha and approaching the gatehouse.
Izumo and Kotetsu were no longer on duty; replaced by a pair of Chūnin shinobi that she didn't recognize. Kakashi spoke in quiet tones with the taller of the two, pointing at the log book and then nodding over at Shino. The guard frowned, reading the list of names on the page before glancing over at his comrade and handing him the book. Without saying anything else, the guard ushered them off and away.
Kakashi led the way to the Hokage's tower quickly and as they approached the tall, circular building, Sakura glanced up and noticed that the window to Tsunade's office was already lit up, the bright light spilling out and illuminating the tiles of the roof. As they approached the entrance, Kakashi stopped for a brief moment and spoke with the ANBU agent that was standing there. They both looked at Shino for a moment before the group of three were allowed in and began making their ascent.
The door to Tsunade's office was already open when they reached her floor and Sakura stopped momentarily when she heard the woman yelling already. The guard who'd been at the gatehouse scurried out of the room, imaginary tail tucked between his legs as he skirted them and headed downstairs.
The three made their way into Tsunade's office; first Kakashi, with Shino right behind him. Sakura followed behind, moving to stand behind the silver-haired man as she scanned the room. Genma was standing in the corner of the office, Shizune next to his side with a frown on her face. The Hokage stood in front of her desk; clothes dissheveled and blonde hair mussed. Sakura wondered when she saw the flushed look on Tsunade's face what she'd been doing when the gate guard showed up, but it was a fleeting thought as the woman glared daggers at Shino.
"Explain yourself, Aburame," she hissed, her fingers clenched into fists at her sides. Kakashi, sensing Sakura, he reached behind him and brushed his fingers discreetly over her wrist before letting his arm fall back to his side.
Shino didn't speak and the pink-haired woman watched as Tsunade's hazel eyes flashed red before her hand flew against one of the piles of paper sitting on her desktop, sending it flying through the air. In an instant, the Hokage's hand was twisted in her peer's coat.
"Let me be absolutely clear," Tsunade's voice was dangerously low as she kept her eyes focused on Shino. She watched as his fingers twitched slightly, the action a betrayal of his signature icy exterior. He was rattled, she realized as the lady Hokage reached around to grab the log book the guard had given to her. Tsunade held it up in Shino's face as she continued, "You were not authorized to leave the Village. Do you realize the implications of that?"
Sakura's face paled as she recalled Jiraiya's words to her and Naruto shortly before they'd departed for their mission to the Land of Rice Fields the month before. They'd been hellbent on retrieving Sasuke, no matter the cost - and it would have been high, the Sannin had warned them. They would have been declared missing-nin; considered traitors and they'd have at the very least been imprisoned.
Tsunade continued before Shino could speak, explaining it for him with cold words. "I could have you arrested indefinitely...or worse," she pondered the more severe option. "So you better have a damn good reason for going outside the village, and you better tell me now!"
Shino flinched, and finally spoke. "I was under the impression that you were aware of my excursion, reassured by Shimura Danzo," he answered her. Despite his nervous fingers, his voice was as stoic and even as it always was.
The look on Tsunade's face was incredulous, and Sakura watched as she shoved another pile of paperwork off the desk. A terrified high-pitched squeal sounded as four little hooves carried Tsunade's ninja pig Tonton out from under the desk and over to Shizune, who scooped him up into her arms.
"What did you just say?" Tsunade's voice boomed, her robes flying around her as she spun around on her foot to turn and face him. Shino subconsciously took a step back, putting some distance between them before Kakashi spoke next.
"He's invited Shino to join Root."
The Hokage's head jerked sharply to face the silver-haired man before she yelled for Shizune, who was in front of her before Tsunade could finish her name. Tsunade lowered her voice just enough so that she wasn't screaming in her assistant's face as she asked, "Has Tenzo been released from the hospital?"
"No, Lady Tsunade," Shizune replied, her lips turned into a frown. The Hokage cursed, turning to look out the window for a brief moment before she turned back to the young woman, speaking again.
"Is he at least in stable condition? Awake?"
"Yes," Shizune answered quickly, glancing over at Genma, who nodded and quietly left the room. Tsunade exhaled loudly before she moved behind her desk and opened one of the drawers, shuffling around the disorganized mess for a few minutes before she yanked a file out. After carding through its contents for a few minutes, she pulled a piece of paper loose and began reading it quickly, glancing up at Shino a few times. After several long, tense moments she threw the file onto her desk and then crossed the short expanse of space that separated the two of them.
"Tell me everything from the beginning."
Shino didn't hesitate this time, having had enough of a taste of the Hokage's temper as he began, "After I won my match in the preliminary round of the Chūnin Exams, my cousins Torune and Yoji took me out to..." he paused, as though he were looking for the right word before he continued, "...celebrate. They mentioned that their boss was in attendance and impressed with my success."
Tsunade's hands clenched tighter at the thought of any Leaf shinobi calling anyone but her their boss, but took a deep breath and through clenched teeth said, "Go on."
"After the attack during the last round, Yoji sought me out again and told me that his boss was requesting a meeting with me. I turned him down, but he persisted."
"And you agreed to meet him," Tsunade finished for him. Shino nodded.
"Yes, after three months of being asked," he told her before speaking again, his voice tense now as he glanced at Sakura before he added a little sharply, "He asked if I was tired of being overlooked. That's when I agreed to the meeting."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed and Kakashi opened his mouth to speak before her voice rang out first, "So you feel overlooked, do you? Well," she gave him a cold smirk. "Congratulations, Aburame Shino. As of this moment, you are hereby promoted to Chūnin."
"Lady Hokage, I-" Kakashi started, stopping himself as she glared at him.
The door opened as the blonde woman said to Shino, "I'm going to have you take care of a little bug problem for me, Shino," she glanced up as Tenzo and Genma walked into the office, the door closing behind them as she continued, "What did Danzo tell you of the organization you're about to join?"
"Not much," Shino shrugged. "I don't even know their name; just that they're a high level dark ops group of some sort."
"Their name is Root," Tenzo spoke, his voice sounding weary to Sakura. She turned her head to take in the man's form, gasping when she saw what appeared to be hundreds of insect bites on his exposed shoulders. He was pale, with dark circles under his eyes to rival her own. He was using one crutch to walk, his left leg stiffly bandaged. His crutch clicked one, two, three times on the bamboo floor as he moved to stand next to the Hokage, his eyes meeting Shino's as he added in a serious tone, "You have no idea what you've signed up for."
"Tell him," Tsunade spoke firmly.
Tenzo did as his Hokage asked, his voice dark as he spoke. "The first thing Danzo will do is placing a curse seal on your tongue. All Root operatives have it. With the seal, you won't be able to speak about Danzo or the organization."
Shino didn't speak as the information sunk in, a small frown tugging at his mouth. Tenzo continued, "He will pit you against Torune and Yoji in particular as part of your training. In fact, I nearly guarantee he will make you fight one of them to the death."
This pulled emotion from Shino, who clenched his hands at his side, his words laced with anger as he spoke directly to Tsunade, "A little bug problem?"
The Hokage's eyes flashed red as she gripped the collar of his coat. "Do not take that tone with me, Aburame. Consider this a gift. You will do what Danzo requires of you to join Root. You will accept the curse seal. And if need be; yes, Shino. You will put down one of your cousins to convince Danzo that you are completely loyal."
"To what end?" Shino dared ask. "If I can't speak about what I see or do, I can't spy for you. I'm not under-"
"You'll have this inside of you," Tenzo answered the young man, holding up one of his Transmission Wood seeds. "You will swallow this now. It is a wood clone transformed into this seed, which will act as a sort of listening and tracking device."
Shino's eyebrow shot up, but Tenzo did not take his hand back until the man had grabbed the seed and swallowed it. Sakura heard Kakashi sigh softly, the shake of his head imperceptible to anyone else in the room. She could tell he wasn't happy about this.
"Now what?" Shino's voice was even again. Tsunade turned to face him, her face as serious as Sakura had ever seen it before.
"Now we wait until that meeting. When is it?"
"Two nights from now," Shino answered her.
The Hokage nodded, glancing at Kakashi before she spoke again. "After the meeting, you will report straight here. We'll go from there. Everyone but Kakashi, get out of my office."
Sakura glanced up at the silver-haired nin, who reached for her hand again as he murmured, "Wait for me downstairs."
She could feel Tsunade's eyes watching her as she made her way to the door, pulling it closed behind herself. Her mind was reeling with questions and worries and with every footfall on the stone stairs, her anxiety spiked higher. She still had no idea how any of what she knew was connected but there was one thing that had become glaringly obvious.
Kakashi was right in the middle of it; and for some reason, her mind was screaming at her that he was in danger; that she was in danger in ways that neither of them had ever faced.