[Hokage's Office]
Danzo stood before the desk his rival used to inhabit for most of his day. It was empty, as if all the life and fun was drained from the wooden top. Then again, perhaps it was. It was always a somber air when a Kage departed and no one sat before you. A wisp of tobacco smoke trailed spiritually throughout the room as Danzo stepped forward and saw a single paper glistening in the moonlight. He could feel some sort of pull from the paperwork, like Hiruzen was telling him to read it. He could hear the whispers in his ear, the small arguments between the two of them. It felt like all was right in the world, yet an empty feeling kept nagging his heart. Never had he felt so alone. He still remembered watching his old team fall in combat. From watching Torifu take on a young third Raikage, to Kagami sacrificing himself to save Danzo from three released tailed beasts, and Tobirama-sensei making Hiruzen the next Hokage as he raced off to stall the Gold and Silver brothers and their band of S-rank nin.
Danzo lifted his arm as he felt something hot sting in his left eye. It turned out to be a few tears misting his vision, and he also felt the bandages around Kagami's eye beginning to moisten. Like Kakashi, Danzo had been gifted Kagami's eye by the Uchiha himself. He had been there for his friend in his last moments. It's why Danzo took in Kakashi when the man lost his sensei. He could see some of himself in the mourning boy. It seemed Kagami was also mourning the loss of Hiruzen. He slowly swiped away the errant tears and walked closer to the desk. The paper had his name etched on the top, clearly in his friend's handwriting if the chicken scratch was any indication. As he began reaching for the paper, he found himself ensnared in an illusion.
The world around him shifted to greyscale, and he almost scoffed. Leave it to Hiruzen to make a moment as sappy as he could. It still didn't stop the smile from gracing his mouth. The smell of tobacco lingered in the air, and as he stepped back to get a good look of his surroundings, he found himself at the mercy of a man writing at the desk, humming a rather offbeat tune. He felt a shiver encompass his body as he remembered a few years ago. A day he accepted his friend's invitation to the kyubi's defeat festival. A band was playing. Their song was catchy, and he found himself tapping along to it as Hiruzen began humming. It was one moment they hadn't shared together for years where they both felt like kids again. It was nice for what it was, a small peace offering between the two.
He then heard some writing directly in front of himself and he snapped back to attention. A transparent specter of his friend was writing while also speaking, so Danzo focused and began to listen to the ramblings.
"I'm sorry, Danzo, for the rift separating the two of us. It's been a hard few years of losing people around me and sending my own shinobi to missions where their chances of survival, let alone success, were slim to none. The weakness caused me to forget you as I started to fall apart. And because of me, the village also began to suffer. Just look at the Hyuga and what happened to Hizashi. It was my weakness that led to the man being used as a sacrificial peace offering.
I want you to do what I couldn't, Danzo, and save this village from the machinations of old men like us. No one deserves to suffer anymore. Young Naruto shouldn't be chased around and hated, let alone be left to his own devices as a lonely five-year-old. The Hyuga branch house shouldn't be branded like cattle. The Uchiha shouldn't be ostracized from a home they named. Kakashi shouldn't be drowning in guilt and taking suicide missions regardless of his current successes. And young Itachi. He shouldn't be forced to carry the world on his shoulders. We shouldn't use the boy to take down his own clan because we started the hatred against them by sending them away. We pushed them away and then had the audacity to get mad when they became angry and hostile. This village was built on the strength and peace of the Senju and the fortitude and honor of the Uchiha, yet we're the ones who are stamping on their voices.
Where did our Will of Fire go, Danzo? Controlled burnings have always existed, but it was always about getting rid of the old trees so the new ones could flourish. In the end, Danzo, we are the old trees. I don't know what lies beyond this road, but I do know one thing. The village will prosper if we listen to the upcoming rather than make the decisions ourselves without their input. So do me another favor, Danzo. Save the village from the darkness we created. Perhaps I have no right to demand this of you. It was me who discarded our friendship because our ideas on how to run the village differed in extremes, but I can't sit back and let myself destroy the innocence here by faking a peace that never existed.
You know, I can hear Biwako nagging me every day and night. She's constantly berating me for all my wrongdoings, yet I can feel the love in her invisible eyes. It hurts, though. It hurts to be without her in my old age. My son, Asuma, doesn't consider me as father material, and I can't blame him. I've done nothing but deride his actions. But he's strong. He's stronger than he gives himself credit for, and he knows better than I do what it takes to guide a younger generation. I will always love him, but it's time for me to go. So, take these parting words to heart, Danzo. Don't make the same mistakes I did.
Danzo watched on as the spectral form of his friend stood up and walked over to him. He stopped adjacent to him and laid his right hand on his right shoulder. The next few words changed the view Danzo had of the world around himself.
"I believe in you, Old Friend."
Danzo watched as the illusion shattered and he was standing inside another one. Rain was pelting his younger body as he stood before the coffins of Torifu and Kagami. He could feel Kagami's eye inside his eye socket giving off an unfamiliar heat. It was like a grasp of comfort enveloped his body, yet he was focused on something else. The ghosts, the memories, of his two deceased friends were standing on either side of him, giving off a feeling of warmth even as the cold air bit into his skin. They were both radiating comfort to the other people in attendance, doing their best to console family and friends alike. It was something Danzo never considered as something shinobi should do. They were warriors from the start. Taught to kill at a young age and never cry in the face of loss and defeat, but Kagami and Torifu had changed him. They both had a power Danzo never had, and he felt jealous by the strength they held even in the face of death. An unbending will to fight on. Yet they both always stood by Danzo's side, and he couldn't be happier to have them. It was here Danzo heard those same words from his friends.
"No matter what, Danzo," Torifu started.
"We believe in you." Kagami finished.
The world around Danzo changed back to the empty space of the Hokage's office. Again, he felt alone, but his heart had a lively thump ringing in his ears. He felt like a different man. He felt like a kid whose parents had congratulated him for doing something well enough for praise. He felt loved, an emotion he thought he'd lost in the last few decades. It was now, as Danzo walked around the desk and sat on the welcoming chair, his ideals did a quick one-eighty. He finally saw what the future could hold if he did what Torifu, Kagami, and Hiruzen trusted him to. He slowly opened a draw to his left, beckoned by a warm hand guiding his own. He saw an old bottle of unopened sake. It was a celebration bottle, but this night didn't feel anything like the sort. It didn't stop his body from moving on its own as he grabbed the porcelain cups next to the glass bottle and lined up four of them, then uncorked the bottle and poured out four small cups worth. He watched on in awe as the shades of his friends appeared before himself and raised their cups up and toward Danzo. The man slowly grabbed his own and raised it, tapping it against the four before bringing it to his mouth. Before he could, he heard a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.
"To celebrate Danzo's rise to Hokage!"
He nearly dropped the cup when he saw Tobirama Senju, his teacher, standing behind the three other men with a small smile gracing his lips. His red eyes seemed to be praising Danzo the same way his pose did.
"Yeah," Danzo muttered.
He slowly brought the cup to his mouth and downed the liquor, noting the light burn and emptiness in the room. He lowered his arm and rested both of his hands on the oak top, noting the joined fibers and taking in the age. He'd always dreamt of being the next Hokage and leading the village with an iron heart, but his views were changed by the trust and faith shoved into his body by the words of his dead comrades. There was only so much you could change before you started tearing down bridges instead of building new ones. There was only so much water you could drink before you started to drown. While he was chasing the ghosts left by his teacher, everyone else was painting their names into history and making the Leaf a better, more hospitable place. In his absence, in his anger at being discarded, he had started to burn the newly planted seeds. He relished the pain he brought, but it never filled the empty cup in his mind. Pessimism had taken its toll and he wallowed in self-pity, but it had all changed. He felt, for the first time in decades, alive again. Like the weight of his past transgressions was lifted from his shoulders and eased from his mind. He felt the callouses on his hands, from signing people into slavery and death, begin to heal over with new objectives in mind.
In his infinite naivety, he had condemned clans to death because he thought they weakened over time, but only he did. He thought the Uchiha deserved what became of them, but it was his own folly in following his teacher's methods that brought the clan to the limelight with open hostility. The shinobi under his and Hiruzen's command began to harbor ill-will toward the Uchiha because of the kyubi's attack. Danzo knew they had members who could stop the rampaging beast, but he forced them to help the civilians instead of protecting their fellow shinobi. He was the cause of their pain and suffering, and now he had a chance to command their deaths with more power. Yet it didn't feel like the answer anymore. Even thinking about taking them down to one member felt like a betrayal to Kagami, let alone the others. Perhaps Hiruzen was right. Perhaps a change needed to be created.
His inner musings were cut short when he heard the door to the office open as three people entered. Each one was covered in blood, and Danzo considered them all. He knew the group started with six, so seeing only three and feeling the depressive mood, he knew he wasn't going to like the words they were about to say. However, he had to address the elephant in the room. He watched as Kinoe shifted to the front and narrowed his brown eyes down on his own charcoal. It was unsettling to be on the receiving end of one of Orochimaru's experiments.
"Before you speak," Danzo began, "Hiruzen did die at my hands."
He saw as Itachi's and Kakashi's eyes flash to their sharingan, and he noted the change in Itachi's and the power behind Kakashi's. Even with one eye, it felt like Kakashi had the edge over Itachi. It was terrifying to think how strong Kakashi would become with Obito's other eye, but Danzo had a plan for that. He just needed to halt them long enough to not be killed instantly by either of them. And as the two started to converge on him, he raised his hands in a placating manner and continued.
"Hiruzen is gone, and in his arrival to see his family and friends, he left the seat to me."
He could see his words weren't having the effect he wanted them to, but he had an objective to complete, and he wasn't going to let them stop it.
"Before I tell you his parting words, I notice you're missing three members. Tell me what happened in the forest."
He could feel the room tense as the three people weighed his words, but Danzo was still a council member, and he wasn't a push over. No matter what, his presence demanded respect wherever he went. As a survivor and leader through the second and third shinobi wars, people all over knew his name. So even as an interim Hokage, all three knew to follow if their last Hokage told them to. The two strongest turned to Kinoe as the man stared Danzo down, then sighed as the power and will built up in him vanished in acceptance. As his shoulders slouched, Itachi and Kakashi stood down, too, and turned back to face Danzo.
"Shisui, Fuu, and Torune are dead. I also stumbled across the bodies of Raido, Iwashi, and Genma. It seems the three of them, plus Torune and Shisui, were killed fighting against Orochimaru. There was also an unknown entity who called himself Aoto Otsutsuki. The unknown entity killed Fuu, then we fought him and killed him," Kakashi explained.
Danzo juggled the information in his head for a few seconds before asking, "Anyone have anything to add?"
Itachi seemed to stare down at him for a couple of seconds, then started to talk.
"I saw Torune get killed by Orochimaru. The sennin seemed to have been fighting against Shisui for a few minutes before my arrival. Shisui was tiring out and the sennin had the upper hand, but Torune intercepted the last attack to try and hold him down long enough for Shisui to escape. His stall tactic didn't even phase the man as he ripped Torune in twine."
Itachi paused, a shudder rippling under his skin as he recalled the bloody battle and his friend's death, but he pushed on. Like Shisui told him, it wouldn't do to be buried under the past.
"Orochimaru broke through Shisui's guard and tore through his neck, nearly killing Shisui instantly. I pushed Orochimaru away and attempted to take Shisui away, but he stopped me. He… he forced me to look into his eyes as he cast Kotoamatsukami and forced me to activate my awakened mangekyo ability, Tsukuyomi. He tricked my eyes into evolving again, but he also told me to push on and not to let the past drag me down. Not to let his death break my resolve."
Kakashi and Kinoe placed their hands on Itachi's shoulder as the man paused in his speech and shuddered, tears pooling in his eyes and creating rivers down his cheeks. Danzo saw it then, too, how Itachi looked like a young version of himself when he lost Kagami and Torifu.
"Itachi," he voiced. "I know it's hard, and I know you remember what I used to say. But remember, you are still a child. You don't have to hold it in anymore. Hiruzen, and my deceased teammates, told me as much recently. Let it out, kid. You may be a shinobi, but it's alright to cry."
Kakashi and Kinoe looked at him in shock, but they were both distracted by the sound of Itachi's cries echoing in the room. It seemed, through even his own clan's teachings, that he never had the chance to open up. It was like a dam had burst open, but Kakashi didn't dare interrupt. He had his own share of pain as he still tried washing off Rin's blood on his hands every night. He was still haunted by it. He just squeezed Itachi's shoulder harder as Kinoe looked lost on the side, but he was still there. Even if he never had a childhood of his own, he still knew what pain was. Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but Danzo shushed him.
"Let him let it out, Kakashi. He needs to."
"Why? What happened to you, Danzo-sama?" Kakashi asked.
His voice let out an air of disbelief and curiosity. It was like Danzo had become the third Hokage. Perhaps Danzo was even trying to manipulate them.
"Things change, Kakashi."
"They don't change that fast! What happened between you and Hokage-sama?"
Danzo just rolled the sake cup around on the desk, then poured another shot of sake before downing it.
"I suppose, Kakashi, that it would seem fast to you. To me, it was an eternity as I watched my friend resign to his own death. As he left the world to me, I saw it then. The trust and faith he had in me to carry on his legacy."
"That doesn't explain anything, Danzo-sama. Why are you here when Hokage-sama isn't?"
Danzo contemplated how to respond, but he chose a different method.
"Hiruzen left a gift for you for when he believed you would be strong enough to accept it, Kakashi."
The late teenager looked on as Danzo summoned a scroll from a seal on his hand, then unfurled it. His curiosity became alarm when the seal released and an eye was shown on the paper. As Danzo rotated the eye, a cold chill ran down Kakashi's spine as the pattern matched his own. He felt his legs begin to buckle as Danzo spoke up.
"Hiruzen had his ANBU go to the location where Obito Uchiha fell in battle. He found his body and recovered it, then took the eye after talking to the elders of the Uchiha clan. They agreed to let you have it, but only if you could handle the power of having both. That's why, Kakashi, Hiruzen let you join the black ops. He knew you would suffer, but he also knew you would grow strong enough to take this."
Kakashi felt his world start to spin as he collapsed to his knees.
"Kabuto," Danzo called.
Another teen entered the room and walked toward Danzo, then kneeled on the floor and looked up at the man who trained him.
"Yes, Danzo-sama?"
"Take this eye and replace Kakashi's lone one with this one. It's his now."
Kabuto looked at the eye in Danzo's hand and slowly grabbed it lightly. It felt odd in his fingers, and he knew his other teacher would love to keep it, but the boy had a new allegiance. Danzo had proven to him that he was the better man to stick with, so he did his new duty and turned toward Kakashi. The other grey-haired teen looked on as he felt Kabuto pull his left eye out of its socket, but he felt no pain. Leave it to Danzo to have an accomplished medic at his side. He then felt the new appendage attach itself to the nerves in his head and watched the world shift around in his new vision.
He saw himself floating in a rainbow landscape, but his attention shifted to the child standing before him. The figure had spiky black hair and was wearing orange goggles. He was also wearing a dark blue, almost green jumpsuit with an orange trim. Kakashi couldn't stop the tears that began leaking from his eyes as he gazed at his long dead friend.
"It's been a while, Kakashi," Obito announced. "You look great!"
"O… Obito?" Kakashi stuttered out. "How are you…?"
"I don't have much time here, Kakashi. I just want to say, Happy Birthday! I'm sure you've forgotten it, but I didn't. It's a sign of pain for you, but you'll pull through. I believe in you!"
Kakashi's eyes widened at the words of his friend, but before he could reach out, he found himself standing back in the Hokage office, staring at Danzo in shock.
"Ah," Danzo said. "I see you had the same moment I did."
Kakashi let the words flow in his mind as he replied, "Obito… he said he believes in me."
Danzo nodded.
"Friends. They have a way of making you believe in yourself again."
Kakashi nodded dumbly, taking in the moment for his own peace of mind. He then heard more than saw as Itachi stood ip straight, confidence redefining his prior slouching figure.
"Thank you, Danzo-sama."
"Think nothing of it, Itachi. We both had some things to learn, it seems. Can you continue?"
The other boy let out a slow exhale, then pushed on.
"After Shisui died in my arms, I killed Orochimaru."
Kinoe and Kakashi looked alarmed, but after their last fight against the unknown assailant, they knew how strong Itachi had become.
"Truly?" Danzo asked. When he saw Itachi nod lightly, he carried on. "This new information will make my coming actions even more powerful in the coming changes. Carry on, Itachi."
"After Orochimaru died, Kinoe, Fuu, and Kakashi arrived. Kineo quickly sped off to retrieve two chakra signatures he felt. One Kuro Aburame and one Setsuna Uchiha. They both had extreme chakra exhaustion, so we dropped them off at the hospital."
"What caused them the drain on their reserves?"
"It seems, before Shisui arrived, the two of them fought against Orochimaru. We could feel the biju chakra in Kuro's bugs spread throughout the area, and we saw some black fire lingering."
"I see," Danzo muttered. "What would you rate them as, Itachi?"
The boy paused for a second, wondering why he was asked the question.
"They could be mid Jonin, Danzo-sama. The leftover chakra in the area was incredibly potent from either of them."
Danzo hummed in response, then gestured for Itachi to keep going.
"Fuu then landed by us as Kinoe arrived with the missing children. He looked panicked and he told us that he saw a strange man walking through the village. He said the man had white horns protruding from his forehead."
Danzo narrowed his eyes at the description. He remembered from his time as Tobirama's student as the man talked about a legendary being known as the Sage of Six Paths. A man with white horns.
"The man appeared behind Fuu and killed him immediately. He had an odd vacuum power that tore apart Fuu's body and sucked it into a black void. We then engaged after I stopped the attack from hitting the rest of us. Kakashi took the man's arm off with a recently awakened mangekyo ability, then I placed him under a genjutsu to see who the man was."
Itachi paused as he thought about how to continue.
"Danzo-sama. This man didn't come from this planet, let alone our galaxy."
Danzo's body tensed as a shudder of surprise rolled down his form. He didn't interrupt, though.
"The man came from a clan called the Otsutsuki. He came to take our host, Uzumaki Naruto. Apparently… apparently the yondaime Hokage is the son of one of their members, and Uzumaki is the individual's grandson. Danzo-sama, the man in question, the yondaime's father… he's strong enough to lay waste to planets with ease."
A startled fear tore through the room at the revelation. All occupants couldn't believe what they'd heard, but from who said it, they couldn't refute the claim. It was an agonizing silence that permeated the very air they were breathing.
"Itachi. I want you to think about this, then answer. Can we train Uzumaki Naruto to take this man on? Can we train others to take this man on?"
A pregnant silence enveloped all five men for ten minutes as Itachi stood in contemplation.
"The man we killed; his name is Aoto. He was shocked by our strength and questioned if we were Gods ourselves. It may seem arrogant to think, Danzo-sama, but I believe we can win. We would likely lose a lot of people in the process, but I believe we can win."
Danzo released a solemn breath. Some of his newest fears seemed to be mitigated.
"Kinoe then felt Hokage-sama's life disappear. We hurried the kids off to the hospital and now we're here, Danzo-sama. What becomes of the plan now?"
Danzo knew he was talking about the clan eradications Hiruzen had planned. He knew Itachi didn't want to do it, let alone Kinoe or Kakashi. He also knew he didn't have the people to make it a successful course of action anymore. He just sighed, then began his newest plans.
"No clans will be killed tonight."
His words left comforting hands of letters on each man in the room. It was like their deceased family members were hugging them all as they all relaxed, but Itachi spoke up again.
"Then what will become of the Uchiha? It's no secret they aren't happy, and we both know they plan on going through with their coup. What can we do, Danzo-sama? I don't want to have to kill my family. I don't want to kill my father, my mother, or my brother! What do I do?!"
Itachi's voice and desperation had picked up by then as he finished by yelling his question. Danzo just sat through it all, already prepared to answer.
"The Uchiha will be moved where their new compound will surround the Hokage tower as the Hokage's new guards."
Itachi's eyes dilated and his active sharignan flicked off in shock. The words kept ringing through his head as he tried to make heads or tails of them. He couldn't believe them. He knew Danzo's plan was to have him kill his own clan, but now it had changed. It was like the man was trying to save the Uchiha and he had no idea why. He himself knew the Uchiha felt like they were at fault for how much damage the kyubi caused, and he knew the Uchiha police force was taking a lot of flak for their inaction.
"You're… you're not going to kill them? You're not going to kill us?"
Danzo sighed.
"That was the plan before Hiruzen showed me a different path. None of us would be here, Itachi, if Madara didn't name us. The Senju were the roots that built the village, but the Uchiha are the leaves that named and protected us."
Kakashi's breath hitched as he seemed to come across a sudden realization, but a look from Danzo stalled his tongue.
"I am also going to be moving the Nara to the edge of the village. They manage the woodland and having them near the center of the village has done us no favors. I'm also going to explore some new seals to try and seal their shadow techniques into the roots of the trees in our forests. If we can ensnare anyone as soon as they enter the village without permission from our outposts, we'll be snuffing invasions out long before they can begin. Plus, it'll allow the Nara more peace and tranquility. We all know they find the bustling villagers 'troublesome'."
He let out a calming laugh, startling the shinobi around himself.
"We'll be mixing the Yamanaka in with the Uchiha. Having people with mind abilities working alongside the sharingan will be a huge boon, so they'll have a new compound next to the Uchiha's. It'll be a split. Half of the Hokage tower will be Uchiha, and the other half will be Yamanaka. A Yin and Yang symbol, if you will. I feel this'll be best for our protection. The sharingan can detect the actions of people, and the mind techniques can see if someone has any negative plans. The unity will benefit both clans greatly.
The Akimichi will stay where they are now. They are best in the market district, but they will have more power over the importing and exporting of consumable goods. They will have two stalls at each gate of the village, allowing better inspection of coming and going products. They will be more than happy. The Inuzuka will be mixed with the Nara on the outskirts, but on the opposite end. They will manage not just dogs now, but all the wildlife outside our walls. Their noses will also be a big boon in the forests. They will form tag teams with the Nara to get the drop on enemy ninja illegally crossing. And in our forests, we will have them study better guerrilla tactics. We will decimate any opposing forces that try to have a go at us.
And finally, the Hyuga will both be on and below us. The main branch will be below us. We'll be building tunnels underneath with access to all main and side roads. They'll also spread through the underneath of the forest. This is so the Hyuga will be able to spot any hidden shinobi without themselves being detected. The side branch will be on the ground, without the caged bird seal. We will no longer allow slavery within the walls of our village. And yes, the main branch will also have houses above ground. They'll just be scouting from below us."
The four shinobi before him quickly listened as he spoke, gathering all the data and bouncing it with their own ideas. Then Danzo finished it off with a bombshell.
"The person who will be announcing these changes… will be our next Hokage, you, Itachi Uchiha."
The thirteen-year old's eyes once again dilated. The shock of the announcement settled in his bones as he stood like a statue. The plan still had its holes before he was put in the spotlight.
"I know it's a lot to take in, Itachi, but you are the best candidate for the seat. You have a maturity beyond your years, and you take into consideration all avenues of attack. You are the perfect fit. Your two advisors will be Kinoe and Kabuto, and Kakashi will be your shadow. I will create a new spy network."
"Wait," Kakashi piped up. "Why do we need a new one? Don't we have Jiraiya's?"
Danzo's eyes narrowed into slits as he responded, his tone of anger.
"Jiraiya defected to Amegakure. He is no longer a Leaf shinobi."
Kakashi was floored by the revelation, but Danzo waved it off.
"You four, go get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow, your world changes as you know it. And Itachi, congratulations on your new promotion. I can't wait to see how far you take the village."