Two days passed since I had woken up in the hospital after senshi, kaen, and i went after saskue. The three of us sat in the hokage's office before tsunades desk, around us was another desk on each of our sides. Sitting at which were the village elders, the room was filled with tension and silence until eventually tsunade broke the silence. "Thank you all for coming today, we are all gathered here to address the actions of the three shinobi before us, senshi, kaen, and katate. All three are on trial today for going against standard shinobi protocol, rather than informing anyone sasuke attempting to abandon the village. They decided to act entirely on their own to retrieve sasuke, while this ended in success many similar situations in the past have caused great problems for the leaf, that is why these protocols exist. The more serious matter involves senshi and katate specifically, after going against orders katate pursued orochimaru and in doing so lost an arm. He was barred from being a shinobi after and yet despite these orders, senshi took it upon himself to train katate and send him out on unofficial missions. Both of these are not only in direct violation of hokage orders but the law of the leaf as well, senshi, how do you plead?" After announcing the charges tsunade was quick to turn her attention to senshi first. "As far as going against protocol to retrieve sasuke, i plead guilty. I know Sasuke better than anyone in this village, that goes for his capabilities as well. Had we followed proper protocol then there is no doubt in my mind sasuke would be lost to the leaf village, there is no more proof needed of this then the fact that had katate not stayed behind to hold off the shinobi. Kaen and myself would not have caught up to sasuke before he made it to the border. As far as the accusations of training katate and sending him out on unauthorized missions, I plead not guilty. After katate lost his arm and was banned from being a shinobi, smithing was his sole source of income, having trouble selling in the leaf he was forced to take contracts in the surrounding villages. Bandits and rough shinobi are not uncommon, so I did nothing but ensure that my friend would be able to defend himself should he be set upon on the road. These unauthorized missions you speak of are nothing more than business transactions, of which katate has receipts. With my connections outside the leaf all i did was try and help my friends business, there is nothing illegal about these actions." Senshi stood up and spoke in a cold and serious tone, it had been very clear since the start of the trial that he was extremely upset about being here. "What about your nephew sasuke, he attempted to abandon the leaf in favor of orochimaru. Regardless if he was brought back or not this classifies him as a rough shinobi, standard protocol is to eliminate him. You claim that your actions were just and done out of care for your friends. But what say you about sasuke, his actions show that he not only holds no love for the leaf, but has no problem putting it in a position of danger for his own self interest." One of the elders to the right of us spoke, and his words struck a nerve with senshi, as they also sent a wave of hushed whispers among the other advisers and elders. It was clear to both kaen and myself that senshi was becoming extremely agitated, his gaze glancing between the advisors and elders, as well as tsunade herself. Senshi's glare carries an intense and almost threatening feeling. One that everyone it fell upon could feel, it was in this moment when kaen stood up placing his hands on senshis shoulders. "Sit down and calm down, I got this." Kaen said this to senshi as he pushed his uchiha friend back down onto the cushion senshi was sitting on a few moments ago. "Hokage and esteemed council members, we can not ignore nor can we condone the actions of sasuke uchiha. If successful his actions would have caused great unrest and caused who knows how many troublesome complications for the leaf. However we also can not ignore the circumstances that lead Sasuke to his decision, Sasukes life has been one of pain and turmoil. At a young age he bore witness to the slaughter of his entire clan, at the hands of none other than his own brother. The feelings of loss and pain the boy must have experienced must have been indescribable, even to his own uncle. Since that tragic day sasuke has only ever desired to take revenge on his elder brother. However at every turn he is curved by his very own village. Sasuke is a prodigious talent, yet his skills are often ignored or shunned, out of fear of the past. Instead of attempting to console the boy the village all but turned away from him, believing sasuke would one day grow out of his desire for revenge. However all this has done is fuel the depths of sasuke's hatred, leading him to seek out and pursue more extreme methods of growth. This inevitably led sasuke to orochimaru who took an interest in the boy. Praying upon the anger and pain that swelled within sasuke, orochimaru was easily able to sway sasuke with the promise of power and revenge. The very things denied to him by his own village, I do not stand here in defense of sasuke's actions. As I have previously stated, had sasuke been successful, who knows what problems he may have caused for the leaf, however the boy is not the villain of this story. That role belongs to orochimaru, for praying on the pain and fear of a young boy lost in a sea of confusion and confliction for his own self indulgence. Yet the snake is not the sole villain, a secondary role was played by the leaf village itself. For had it not been for our distrust of the uchiha and fear of sasuke, keeping us from properly attending to the boy is his most desperate hour." Kaens words rippled through the hokage's office like a whirlwind, his words and his calm yet serious tone leaving everyone speechless. He had so brazenly applied blame to the village in much the same manner as he had orochimaru, this sent a wave of hushed whispers to cut through the silence Kaen had left in the wake of his words. Tsunade herself did not take part in these whispers, instead she glanced at her advisors and the council gathered around in the room. "Council men and women please, we are in the middle of a trial, if you have anything to say then say it loud enough to be heard. I won't tolerate whispers in my presence." Tsunade's voice tore through the whispering chatter like a sheet of paper being torn in half, her tone stern and serious, carrying much more weight then that of kaen's. "Forgive me lady hokage, we just couldn't help but consider something. Senshi uchiha was absent for both the nine tails attack as well as the uchiha massacre itself. However both times he returned to the aftermath a mear day if not less afterwards." One of the council members spoke in a steady yet at the same time nervous tone as the intense gaze of both senshi and tsunade fell upon him, boring into the man like drills. "What are you implying councilmen?" Tsunade asked, raising her brow as she kept her intense gaze on senshi. "Well it's just a little too coincidental, combined with the conspiracy that the uchiha before the massacre were plotting against the village. It brings into question senshi himself, with his visual prowess senshi could have easily been the one to control the nine tails, more so his relationship with itachi was well known as they were quite close. It would not be to far fetched to come to the conclusion that senshi orchestrated the uchiha massacre when his brother the clan head did not agree with senshi, instructing itachi to spare sasuke possibly in hope of swaying the boy to his side." As the councilmen spoke, his words lacking in confidence, senshi started the man down with a glare that threatened to rip the man's soul from his body. Both kaen and myself could feel the sheer anger and rage emanating from senshi as the man spoke such heinous accusations against senshi, to the point where our friend's rage almost became a visible arua around senshi. "Those are quite the accusation councilmen." Tsunade said this in a cold tone as she analyzed the man's body language before his gaze shifted to senshi, holding the same glare she had given to the council member. "Senshi, how do you respond to these initial accusations?" With that question asked by tsunade, senshi slowly rose to his feet, the arua of pure anger generating from him, leaving both kaen and myself wondering what his next move would be. Watching senchi reach into his cloak, kaen and I feared the worst as we tried to grab senshi, only for his movements to be too fast. With a flick of his wrist it had been done just as mine and kaens hands touched senshis shoulder. This action caused a wave of shock and confusion to wash over the room and everyone in it, as a bandana floated down onto the desk before the council member who had accused him. This bandana was white and meant to wrap around senshis waist, in the center was the design of a black circle with a red symbol. There was no mistaking it, this was the symbol of the twelve guardian shinobi who protected the land of fire's feudal lord. "I plead not guilty lady hokage, on the grounds of at the time of both these events. I was doing my sworn duty as one of the guardian twelve, protecting and serving the land of fire's feudal lord. Such a position is beyond even the approval of the hokage and is not something that is revealed to the public. I returned to the leaf after both the nine tails attack and the massacre, not because I orchestrated them, but out of concern for my family and my village. Had i been present for either of these unfortunate events, I would have done my utmost to prevent both catastrophes. After the slaughter of my clan I was released from my position by the feudal lord, being allowed to return home to tend to my morning nephew. Hardly even a year iv been back, barley an inch more of time had passed since the event itself. How could anyone expect a child to move past such trauma so quickly. I take full responsibility for sasuke and his actions, more so i take it upon myself to oversee his redemption and reformation back into a proper leaf shinobi." Just like kaens words before, what senshi had to say cut through the room like a hot knife through butter, however unlike kaen and tsunade senshi spoke with an intense and aggressive tone. One that carried the threat, no. The promise of violence should anyone continue to try and slander his name or that of his clan. "Senshi." Tsunade spoke, drawing senshi's attention back towards her. "You have my personal apologies for the unjust accusations that have been cast upon you this day, we had no idea your absence carried such weight, as such i can only imagine how you personally must feel. I grant you permission to oversee sasuke's rehabilitation, however he is still a risk. Thus he must be confined to the uchiha compound which will be monitored twenty four seven by onbu agents, im placing my faith in you as his uncle however if sasuke acts out in such a manner again, we will be forced to take action following proper protocol." Tsunades words quelled the tension in the room, ever so slightly calming senshi as he nodded sitting back down. "Now then it's time we return to our initial discussion. Karate, regardless of what these business transactions were you still violated my direct orders by chasing after sasuke with senshi and kaen. You were stripped of your position as a shinobi and thus interfering in shinobi affairs is a much more significant crime. What do you say in your own defense?" Tsunades words sent a wave of concerned chills down my spine, taking a breath to steady and calm myself. I thought about my next words carefully, as if they may have been my last. "I have nothing to say in my own defense, you are correct lady hokage. By going with senshi and kaen i not only broke the law but disregarded your direct orders. As you say these two combined are significant crimes, thus I throw myself completely at your mercy." Despite my concerns I spoke in a calm and respectful manner, lowering myself to the floor. I placed my head against the wooden planks as a sign of respect and submission. "The only thing i can say is that i cared too much, despite our ups and downs both kaen and senshi have been my two closest friends. As such I see myself as close to sasuke as i do senshi, thus i couldn't allow them to go after sasuke alone. I am loyal to my friends and the village, possibly to a fault. I allowed the death of Sarutobi, the man I saw as my adopted father. To drive me to an idiotic decision, my only goal was to become a proud shinobi like those around me." As I spoke these words I kept my head pressed to the floor, awaiting my punishment in silence, more than likely I would be imprisoned. "Raise your head katate." Tsunade spoke in her calm and steady tone, expecting the worst. I lifted my head to look at her. "While your actions have been extremely reckless, they were done out of desire to serve the village. It has become unquestionable that you are loyal to the village, and that you will go to great lengths to serve it. I do believe you have been punished enough, your restrictions have been removed and you are free to return to being a shinobi, that is, as a genie if you agree." My calm look faded into one of confusion and disbelief as tsunade spoke about my reinstatement, however whether or not it was actually a punishment was unclear. An eternal genie, that certainly wasn't going to help my reputation.