VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm editing this entire fic from start to end and have decided on a few integral changes. You don't have to go back and re-read the entire thing if you don't want to, but some chapters have been heavily edited. I recommend reading those again before you read Sixteen because some characterizations have been changed in small but important ways that will not make sense in this chapter.

If any of you were wondering why it's taken so long, this is why. I apologize for the delay, but I've put a lot of effort in this, and I thought you all deserved my best writing. The good thing to come out of this is that I now have a timeline and notes for the next three fics. I've decided on a five-fic format that spans the entirety of the Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden storylines. There will be a total of three timeskips (as of now and they're short), so I'm not going to be that tedious.

1: If Promises Could Be Kept

2: All An Allusion

3: A Promise Long Forgotten

4: Set In Stone

5: The Promised Land

This fic has one more chapter to go after this.

"When one jumps over the edge, one is bound to land somewhere." —D. H. Lawrence

Sixteen

He let Inochi in reluctantly. He didn't need any more bad news today, and he couldn't think of anything good that could come of this seal except that it would hopefully be over soon.

Sakumo didn't hold out a lot of hope.

Before they got down to business, Sakumo went to get a case of beer. This was going to be a long evening, for sure, and he didn't want to go through the whole thing sober. A nice buzz would take the edge off and hopefully calm him down enough to make some rational decisions.

They needed Jiraiya, though. No reason to repeat anything. So, as he entered his living room where Inochi was sitting on the couch, he summoned Pakkun and sent him off to find Jiraiya. The idiot said he'd be in town until he figured out Kakashi's chakra imbalance unless he had a mission. Pakkun knew to look at the bathhouses first anyway.

Sakumo could feel a headache begin to throb at the base of his skull, but he pushed it out of his mind and popped a beer top before focusing on Inochi. "As long as he doesn't end up worse than he already is," he said, proceeding to take a swig, "then I don't think we have a choice."

Inochi hesitated as he opened his own beer. "That's the problem. Short of removing the seal and crossing our fingers, all we can really do is cover the old seal with a new one."

There was silence for a few tense moments. The only sound was the low thrum of the refrigerator and the scratch-scratch of a tree limb blown against the living room window.

Of course that meant that Jiraiya had to pick this moment to make an entrance. Because what was tact, really?

"What is so important that you had to drag me away right this second?" Jiraiya whined jokingly as he teleported in with a swirl of leaves. "There was this beautiful woman with some of the biggest jugs I have ever—"

He stopped suddenly as he noticed the mood. Sakumo was pretty sure that Jiraiya gave people heart-attacks when he flipped between perverse hyperactivity and bouts of stone-faced seriousness. Even being friends, Sakumo felt like he had whiplash sometimes.

There was a certain kind of pragmatism to Jiraiya that snuck up on you while you weren't looking. It was something Sakumo only noticed because he'd pushed too far before—his deeply buried, far-reaching hate after his sister's death had had to be rectified by someone, and if not one of his oldest friends then who else? Jiraiya was tolerant of quite a lot and had no issues adapting, but freezing ruthlessness for the sheer sake of it had never—and would never—be excused by anything short of orders, and maybe not even then.

Jiraiya took his own beer from the pack and slowly lowered himself into the couch, exhaling as he did so, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Sakumo could relate.

"I figure you have an answer," Jiraiya sighed. He didn't open his eyes. "Hope it's good. Don't think you'll like mine."

Sakumo's jaw clenched, but he didn't comment. One hurdle at a time. He glanced at Inochi, but nothing was apparent on his features.

Inochi huffed a sarcastic parody of a laugh that grated on Sakumo's nerves and, had it been any other situation, would've received a few scathing remarks in return. "We have to reseal it or it'll disintegrate within the month." The shake of his head accompanied a large swig of beer. "Insane within the week. Best case scenario."

No one said anything, but it felt as if the air in the room had gotten heavier, denser. Sakumo gave a valiant attempt at remaining objective—reaching for that cold burn he'd acquired after Kaiya, the one that had nearly consumed him—but it was just out of reach. Distractingly close, almost like a previously discarded kunai during a fight taken to the ground; his fingers just barely skimming it but not able to grasp it.

"...umo. Sakumo."

At his name, he snapped out of his thoughts and refocused on the here. He ground his teeth, managed to say "What will it do to him?" with a level enough voice. The razor edge was professionally ignored by both Inochi and Jiraiya.

"All I can say for sure is that he won't develop idiopathic seizures like other binding victims have when the seal is ripped off. Other than that, it didn't noticeably affect him in the previous timeline, so we'll have to go on that. Unless something else comes up, our main goal is to prevent imminent and utter insanity." Inochi shrugged, but the tightness around his shoulders belied his concerns.

Jiraiya leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "How insane are we talking?" He cracked a strained smile. " 'Cause Orochimaru's nuts half the time and we put up with him."

"Padded room, straight jacket, talking to stains on the wall, arguing with interrogators about the medicinal properties of mayonnaise kind of crazy," Inochi said. He cringed and Sakumo didn't want to know the kind of shit he'd seen from the seal victims still withering away in the T&I basement. "And that's the end result. It takes enough time to get there."

None of them really knew what to say to that. Sakumo hated the whole situation with a simmering sort of anger that he desperately wanted to direct somewhere, but he held himself back, hanging onto the last shreds of his self-control by the skin of his teeth. I'm losing it—I'm losing it and I can feel it and I can't seem to get ahold of myself.

"What about his chakra?" Sakumo muttered half to himself. He hated that the discussion had already circled around to the original issue from a week ago. "If the seal's stuck, his chakra is still screwed to hell."

"That's where I come in." Jiraiya leaned forward to unseal a sheaf of papers bound with a wide variety of security seals. At Inochi's questioning glance, he snorted. "Any Hidden Village would kill for this kind of information. There's a reason Konoha has produced relatively many Seal Masters. Uzu, as an act of goodwill, allowed up-and-coming sealing apprentices to not only train under Uzu shinobi, but to copy some of their research materials for Konoha's Hokage Library.

"Some of the information I've written down is grounds for at least demotion and at most execution if it goes outside village walls. Theory on time and dimensional travel is priceless throughout all of the Elemental Countries."

That seems a bit extreme, Sakumo thought. But I don't really know much about seals, so.

For the first time in their conversation, Jiraiya's eyes lit up as he leafed through his stack of notes and half-drawn spiral matrices. His childish excitement at a challenge to his sealing skills was a breath of fresh air for Sakumo even if it wasn't in the greatest of circumstances. (And if he thought on it for more than a second, seal experimentation on his only son wasn't really something to be excited about.)

"Anyway," Jiraiya declared, waving away the death threat with a casual hand. "Kakashi has way too much Yin chakra, or spiritual energy, and it's fucking with his ability to use any chakra at all unless it's completely unfocused." At this Jiraiya seemed to pause, as if there was more he wanted to say but decided against it. Sakumo figured he'd let it slide for the moment. "Normally, this imbalance would be annoying at most, but the extra Yin chakra would trigger his body's natural Foreign Chakra Response, or FCR.

"His chakra is fighting itself and therefore useless in most capacities." Sakumo watched, slightly amused, as Jiraiya pulled a sheet of paper with a chakra network diagram on it to the top of the pile. It had notes scribbled all over it with important tenketsu points circled or underlined that seemed to indicate blockages. "Eventually his body would adapt because it's not completely foreign, just odd, but because of the memory seal it's pretty unlikely that will happen anytime soon."

Jiraiya reached for a red and blue marker and quickly colored in half the core red and half blue. Sakumo and Inochi leaned forward as he pointed to the tenketsu points closest to the core. "However, Hatakes have super dense White Chakra that partly contributes to their low overall chakra levels. So while I'm going to try and speed up the assimilation and shut down FCR, I can also dilute his Yang chakra to make using his chakra much smoother."

"Okay…" Sakumo trailed off, more than a little uncertain. "Side effects?"

"It's likely that any Yang techniques Kakashi does will take almost double the chakra and Yin-Yang release, which is most common, will need more than usual. His Yin chakra, however, shouldn't be affected. In fact, Yin release jutsus should take less chakra than usual because of the density of it."

Inochi leaned forward and briefly scanned some of the other notes, sliding a sheet on what appeared to be the relationship between chakra density and jutsu potency closer. He mumbled, "But from this it looks like most jutsus need the correct balance of Yin and Yang. If you dilute the Yang, he'll have to draw not only different amounts, as is usual, but amounts that are concentrated differently. Is it even possible to do that separately but simultaneously? What would be the point of diluting it then?"

"His real issue isn't necessarily the energy imbalance—his Foreign Chakra Response is what's causing the problem. If I can get that under control, he can mess around with some chakra control exercises and see if the imbalance is something he can work with," Jiraiya replied.

"Wait," Sakumo interrupted, "so do you think we should dilute his chakra or not?" He really, really hoped not. It would be one less thing to deal with.

Jiraiya hesitated. "I—." He shook his head. "I'd recommend it, but it's ultimately Kakashi's decision."

Sakumo definitely agreed with that and glanced at the seal matrices on the coffee table again. "What would you—"

He was interrupted by a piercing, blood-curdling scream that carried throughout the entire Hatake compound and felt worse than a sword through his chest cavity. All three Jounins were on their feet in an instant brandishing kunai or half-forming a jutsu.

Kakashi.

The scream sounded again, this time louder and sounding like it was shredding vocal cords. It was raw and animal, making even three Second War veterans flinch. A split second later and Sakumo was hurdling over the coffee table and chairs, sprinting through the hallways toward Kakashi's room. As soon as he saw it he threw the door open, ignoring both the groan of the hinges and the new spidering cracks in the doorframe.

Pillows were tossed to the floor, the comforter was half on half off the bed, and Kakashi was tangled up in the sheets. He was thrashing around and drenched in sweat, but he was very obviously unconscious, stuck in the throes of something no one else could comprehend. His face was twisted into a grimace and his jaw was clenched so tightly that Sakumo cringed in sympathy at the deeply ground teeth.

"Kakashi!" he shouted as he rounded the bed. "Kakashi, it's me."

There was no response and the beginnings of panic started to fester in his gut. What was he supposed to do? He'd hadn't seen anything this drastic in a long time. His own breath was coming shallower and faster as he untangled the sheets around Kakashi and sat down on the bed, pulling his son into his lap and wrapping his arms firmly around him. He murmured a lot of nonsense—just empty reassurances, really—but kept a firm grip on Kakashi as he thrashed and fought. Sakumo ignored the knees and elbows and teeth (my God I don't even want to know) and simply kept Kakashi from hurting himself.

"Inochi, what the fuck is going on?" he spat as Kakashi finally began to calm down.

"It's the seal. As it disintegrates, his memories have nothing leashing them, nothing holding them back. And from the degree of trauma a majority of them carry, I'd say that without the seal from the past, he'd have been insane a long time ago," Inochi said.

Kakashi stirred in his lap and bleary eyes met his as his breath caught in his throat. A veritable storm—with flickering shadows that Sakumo couldn't begin to make out and a tornado of pain threatening to uproot from the foundations. Let me help—let me help in any way possible. I'm here. I am. I'm not leaving. Not again.

But words tended to get stuck in his throat at the worst possible moments and he didn't voice this. Didn't know how he'd be received or if he still had that kind of place in Kakashi's life anymore.

And it didn't really matter since a second after Kakashi made eye contact, he smashed an elbow into Sakumo's gut and scrambled off the bed, brandishing two kunai (where the fuck did he get kunai?) with eyes horribly blank. When Kakashi caught sight of Jiraiya he twisted so that both Jounin were in his line of sight, but only gave Inochi an apathetic glance, as if for information rather than intimidation.

Sakumo slid off the bed and made to take a step forward when one kunai embedded itself about four centimeters to the left of his face in the wall behind him. He struggled against his reflexes and instincts (he wouldn't—) and successfully kept himself from reacting other than a slightly deeper breath.

His heart, however, was slamming against his ribs to the point where he felt like Kakashi had to be able to hear it.

"You must be new," Kakashi said. He loosened his muscles as if he were relaxing, but Sakumo knew not to trust it. His son might have been flawless at wiping the emotions off his face, but there was no mistaking the tightly leashed Killing Intent subtly coating the room. It wasn't suffocating or intrusive—Kakashi would know not to provoke an enemy—but it caused the hair on the back of Sakumo's neck to prickle and itched at his reflexes. "Or maybe intelligence simply isn't your expertise. If you want something, I would suggest doing a little cursory research or finding a nice rock to fill the space in your cranial cavity. You might even gain a few IQ points."

"Kakashi, we're not—"

Thunk.

This time, the kunai was a hair's breadth from his face, and Sakumo was barely able to restrain himself from flinching away or retaliating. And from the look on Kakashi's face, it was a good thing too because Sakumo tended to favor his left when dodging and that kunai would probably have ended up through his left eye had he moved an inch. Well shit.

Before Kakashi could do anything else, however, Inochi stepped forward and touched a finger to Kakashi's temple, sending him sprawling. Sakumo winced as his head smacked the floor.

"Well," Jiraiya said with a shaky, half amused smile twitching at his lips. "That was one way of doing it."

Inochi huffed, but it wavered. "Stupid brat forgot I was here."

Sakumo tangled his fingers in his hair and took a moment to pull himself back together. Kakashi had completely forgotten about the last couple weeks and, even when returned to consciousness, hadn't shown any signs of coming back around or snapping out of his haze. They were running out of time fast.

He scooped Kakashi up off the floor and cradled him against his chest. For once, the unnatural furrows that lined Kakashi's face all hours of the day and even in sleep were smooth. Maybe not peaceful, but relieved in a way that Sakumo was beginning to recognize as rare.

Jiraiya turned to face him and said, "How long is this seal going to take? Because the kid doesn't seem far off from frothing at the mouth, if I'm being honest."

...goddamnit Jiraiya.

"I'll need at least a couple of days to put everything together." Inochi turned and headed for the door, but stopped to glance at Kakashi again. Sakumo's arms tightened irrationally around his son, but he wouldn't interrupt. "Bring him by around ten on Sunday. I have the day off and it'll take most of it."

And then there were three.

Neither he nor Jiraiya said a word as they made their way back to the living room with Kakashi still in his arms. He really didn't want to leave Kakashi in his room again even if it was highly unlikely Inochi's jutsu would wear off anytime soon. Hopefully his body would get some restful sleep while the sealing was being prepared because it didn't seem likely that it would be a walk in the park.

As they sat down, Jiraiya said, "So Sora's back."

"She is." Sakumo cocked his head to the side, still mostly focused on Kakashi. He'd have to ask the Hokage if he could be kept off missions until Sunday, just to be sure. It wasn't likely he would get any until his team was at least restored to three members, but he couldn't be gone when Inochi did the sealing and they had to do it as soon as possible. Kakashi didn't have spare time—

"Sakumo look at me," Jiraiya demanded. So he did. "Sora is back."

"And?"

Jiraiya scoffed. "Don't look at me like that. I don't run missions with her, but I've taught her for almost eight years now. I know what she's like."

Leaning his head back onto the sofa, Sakumo stared up at the ceiling and sighed. Yeah, Jiraiya did know what Sora was like. A gambler at heart with a wicked sense of timing, she played to win, and never backed down from a challenge. No matter what.

"Yeah," Sakumo mumbled. "Sora's back."

X.x.X.x.X

He slept fitfully even with Kakashi only in the next room over. His dreams were blurry and chaotic and he couldn't remember a shred of them the next morning, but the unease lingered in the pit of his stomach. That left him peripherally exhausted and ready to lay his head down and just close his eyes. It was made worse by the rude-awakening in the middle of the night informing him of a war council meeting at 08:00.

Sakumo was sipping tea at his kitchen counter when he realized that it was already 6:45 and he didn't want to wait another hour to head for the Hokage Tower. So he checked one last time on Kakashi, who was still out cold and would be for at least another twelve hours, and left the compound for a little fresh air. Jiraiya had taken the guest room the night before and said he'd watch Kakashi for the day just in case anyway.

There was a pleasant breeze weaving through the streets that ruffled Sakumo's clothes and set him smiling. Good weather did tend to lighten the mood and that was more than welcome. The sun was keeping the fall weather from being too cold and the surrounding trees were beginning to change into rusty reds and burnt oranges that fluttered to the street and spoke of the many D-ranks to come. Anyone unfamiliar with Konoha wouldn't know how literal 'Hidden in the Leaves' became in the fall.

(It was a menial task allotted to the Uchiha Police to burn all collected piles of leaves outside the village. The resulting bonfire could be seen across all of Konoha, but the best view was from Hokage-sama's office window.)

With still an hour or so to kill, Sakumo decided to get in a light training session. Tsunade had done an amazing job patching up his back, and he'd been lucky that the Iwa nin's sword missed his spine, but he could feel the lingering tension and kinks that medical jutsu left behind. A good run with his tantō would do him some good.

Usually training grounds had to be reserved, but Training Ground 27 was so out of the way and craggly that no one bothered. Most shinobi didn't want to deal with the pits of mud and razor sharp rock face at the far base of the Hokage Monument. Rain tended to collect along with a fair portion of rotted leaves and miscellaneous garbage.

It was perfect for practicing footing during swordplay. Sakumo grew up with the old style of sword-centric kenjutsu—precision was the ideal and anticipation was the method. When it came to that philosophy, chakra enhancement was only used in very specific muscles and tendons, and it was easy to screw up because of missteps on uneven or soggy ground, so practicing in a shitty environment was the best.

He took a steadying breath and weaved threads of chakra throughout his musculature and skeleton, feeling out his body like he had been taught as a child. (He hadn't gotten around to teaching Kakashi yet, but that was definitely on the list.) It was a technique that'd saved his life dozens of times over and only known to the Hatake and his clan's oddly dense chakra.

His erector spinae were still tense and inflexible, so he hoped he could work those out before he had to report to the council meeting. Those chairs were anything but comfortable, and since it had been called in the middle of the night, Sakumo was pretty sure it'd be a War Council meeting.

Which meant that Danzō was shit out of luck. Nice, that.

A shadow clone popped into existence next to him and he nodded sharply. "Intent to kill," he said, and both Sakumos drew their tantōs simultaneously.

By twenty-five, Sakumo's sword was a part of him. It was precise and deadly, an extension of his arm, an extra beat to his heart that was as much a part of him as his legs or hands or chakra. His tantō had been a simple gift only given to him for a perceived debt, but it became so much more than that.

Probably a good thing that it'd been paid for in blood because the sword hadn't been clean since.

Its name was a secret he would take to his grave. (And did, apparently, in Kakashi's memories.) His mother had always claimed that if the wielder didn't know its name, eventually the blade would shatter.

"Hey, Sakumo-senpai, you got a minute?"

Sakumo glanced up from his spar and wiped sweat off his brow, carefully holding himself back from being terse. "A few. The Hokage needs me at eight."

Minato bobbed a nod and then he seemed to deflate a little. Sakumo was more than certain he knew what Minato wanted, but he wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

"I was… concerned, actually," Minato began. He obviously didn't want Sakumo to perceive him as overstepping, but was unwilling to let the issue go. (If it had anything to do with Kakashi, which was Sakumo's suspicion, then he highly doubted that anyone would just let it go.)

Sakumo gestured to continue and took up another kenjutsu stance. He could listen and warm up his blade at the same time.

"When I heard you were getting back from your mission, I went over to the Compound to wait." Minato gave a sheepish smile and scratched at the back of his neck. "I hadn't seen you or Pakkun in a while, and Jiraiya was in the village, so I figured I'd drop by and say hello. But when I got there I heard screaming, and…"

"And it was Kakashi," Sakumo finished.

Minato grimaced. "I've never seen anything like it." He glanced up as Sakumo channeled his chakra through his tantō, the blade emitting an almost imperceptible buzz and ethereal glow. Neither said anything as he plunged it into a nearby boulder, effectively shattering it and sending shards of rock flying.

The only sound that could be heard afterward was the clank of metal as he put his equipment away and the shrrrk as he sheathed his tantō.

"It's bad, I know," he offered when Minato tilted his head. "Yamanaka-san is a friend of mine and he's helping out." He glanced at the sky, determining it to be 7:45-ish. "But thanks for telling me regardless."

"When I found him, though, he was leaned over the toilet and retching for almost ten minutes before he calmed down. I just…" Minato didn't seem to be able to elaborate further.

Sakumo raised an eyebrow.

Minato fidgeted. "I was worried."

As nice as it was for someone else to be looking out for Kakashi, Sakumo really hoped that Minato would let it go for now. On the other hand, there were only so many Jounin that would be willing to take such a young kid as their apprentice, and it wasn't like Kakashi couldn't do worse. (Not to mention that Minato had featured heavily in the early half of Kakashi's sparse re-telling of the future, and Minato's son in the latter half. Kakashi probably had plans to tell him about the time-travel at some point.)

"Thank you," Sakumo said, turning to face Minato straight-on. Minato instinctually straightened at the attention. "Next week you could stop by the Compound. If you wanted."

The smile Sakumo got in return for that was kind of blinding. "Sure. Thank you, Sakumo-senpai." With a bow and another smile, Minato left.

That only left the War Council meeting. Because he was definitely looking forward to that. But he left for the Hokage Tower having barely gotten in a warm-up and decided that whatever went down he was going to head back home and hope to God that Kakashi was at least somewhat coherent. Sakumo wanted, if at all possible, to let Kakashi in on the plans he'd made.

"Here we go," he mumbled to himself.

"What do you want to do, Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru asked from his stance across Kakashi's desk.

The thin manilla envelope sat in front of him innocently. Nothing but a few extraneous reports that the Mission Desk had written off as irrelevant. Mostly B and C-ranks that were run by low-key Chuunin teams. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that all seven of them failed because of an unknown person that resulted in zero casualties. Not a single injury reported, just a failed mission, including living clients but stolen goods or living shinobi but stolen scrolls. No one saw any of the nin's features even in passing, and only one of the ninja was sensitive enough to have felt even a whisper of chakra.

Which means they had nothing. Until now. Now Kakashi had a team that engaged the mystery ninja. (And lost badly.)

Kakashi felt like laying his head down on the desk and saying fuck it, but he was supposed to be the unfazeable Hokage, so he just flipped open one of the folders again as if he was familiarizing himself with the information. (He already had all of the files memorized.)

The more he thought about it, however, the more it seemed odd that any of the Chuunin would've sensed chakra. They were very obviously dealing with a skilled, upper rank shinobi who had done extensive research. Kakashi glanced up at Shikamaru before signaling his ANBU.

Turtle bowed. "Hokage-sama."

"Retrieve Matari-san. Not hostile, I just need a word," Kakashi said. Turtle was gone a second later.

Shikamaru took a seat. "Was there any record of a trade in the commission reports?" he asked. After a quick check, Kakashi shook his head. All of the missions had been run by the appropriate teams and team members, at least officially.

However.

"Matari-san, nice of you to join us." Kakashi slid the papers in front of a mostly composed Chuunin in a vest that had seen better days. Turtle dissolved back into shadows as the Chuunin who lead this most recent team took a chair, legs scraping against the floor. "How chakra sensitive are you?"

Matari's eyebrows furrowed, but he said "not very" readily enough.

"And your team?"

"Not particularly, sir."

Kakashi figured, but the admission was helpful. Shikamaru leaned forward—catching onto his line of thinking most likely—and asked, "Who was carrying the scroll?"

"My second," Matari replied. His fingers were tapping against his leg now.

Kakashi let the quiet stand for a few moments while he once again scanned the files, which were crisp and freshly printed. All signatures were at the bottom with the overall mission pay and ration slot, along with medical fees incurred. "When did you turn your report in?" he asked and stared at the Chuunin.

Matari seemed to be even more confused because he gave both Kakashi and Shikamaru a long look before replying. "The day after the last of my team was discharged from the hospital. About three days after returning to the village."

The report sitting in front of him was filed at 19:00 according to Mission Assignment, but when Kakashi checked the medical reports that Shizune pulled, the report was filed two days after Matari's second was discharged. A slightly late report wasn't usually anything to bat an eye at, and neither was a ninja not realizing the report was late, but it was really rubbing Kakashi the wrong way. Something here wasn't right, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.

"What provoked the enemy to engage?" Kakashi asked suddenly. He had the official answer, but this was more for comparison. So far Matari was checking out, and Kakashi got the feeling he was about to stumble upon something bigger than a few fucked C-ranks.

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred until Yatsuki set off a trap hidden underneath thick foliage, the report read.

"Nothing out of the ordinary occurred until my second set off a trap hidden underneath thick foliage," Matari said, and Shikamaru immediately sent Kakashi a startled glance.

That was… eerily close to word for word.

Yatsuki's name being left out, especially after the kind of injuries she sustained, was also very weird. Without giving warning, Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan and his breath caught at the complex web of thin chakra threads weaving across Matari's skin. It was a subtle and effective genjutsu technique that Kakashi had only seen once before and only briefly.

"Whiskey-Red-Niner." And then the ANBU were swarming the office. Turtle shoved Matari to the floor and cuffed him with chakra-suppressant seals while Shikamaru prepared a messenger hawk. They were going to need Ino and Ibiki in the T&I basement as soon as possible to figure out what the actual fuck was going on.

As the ANBU shunshined out of his office, Kakashi let out a breath and covered his Sharingan. No matter how many times he used it, Obito's Sharingan somehow sucked an inordinate amount of chakra even if Kakashi was more than familiar with sucking his reserves completely dry. Shikamaru sat back across from his desk and leaned forward.

"How severe is the genjutsu?"

Kakashi bit back a sigh and futilely tried to fight off the oncoming migraine. "It's Madara's."

Shikamaru stiffened but drawled, "Ah, the Niner. I imagine Squirrel and Tiger are taking care of Yatsuki and the other squad members?"

"No, I sent Tiger and Panther. Squirrel has leave, though I'll have to call him back in for this."

The silence was nice since he had a feeling this was only going to get a million times worse before the day was out. If Madara was back, they would have to keep on their toes. No one had seen the decrepit old geezer since the end of the Fourth War, but assuming he was dead would be dangerous and arrogant and lead to a lot of unnecessary casualties.

Shikamaru exhaled slowly, laced his fingers together. "That was a leak."

"A big one," Kakashi agreed. He kept his voice carefully even. The clock on the opposite wall silently ticked away the seconds.

"A two year leak."

"A two year leak," he repeated as he stood. The Hokage robes weren't usually his style, especially when around the elite shinobi that he'd fought with for years, but the power of intimidation wasn't an exaggerated one. Copy-Cat Kakashi, Cold-Blooded Kakashi, Sixth Hokage Kakashi Hatake may not have been the strongest of the Kages, or the strongest Hokage, but he had been disillusioned with life since five years old. A more shrewd man you could not make and a more ruthless Kage you could not find.

There were cockroaches in his house that he needed to exterminate.

The lowest levels of the T&I basement was perfectly dank and musty, characterized by seemingly decrepit stone corridors lined in vines and mold that in reality were etched with custom Uzushio seals at the founding of the village. They were roots that Hashirama connected to different trees throughout the shinobi and civilian sectors, and when activated, the seals would collapse the entire underground structure.

Kakashi asked Naruto to update the security measures, and Kakashi thought of them with a wicked grin. Lighting the collapsed tunnels on fire while simultaneously lighting the village gates aflame. Anti-Kamui seals, a containment and converter matrix that filtered nature chakra to fuel the barrier and keep the wood from charring. A complete lockdown, the highest order of security, with all civilian districts warded to high Heaven.

(He refused to think of the modifications Naruto had drawn up, the ones they could use if Sasuke hadn't thrown everything off a cliff with his sanity. If there was a single decent Uchiha able to wield the Mangekyō.)

His Hokage robes trailed behind him as Turtle re-appeared out of the farthest hallway. He could hear Shikamaru keeping pace behind him.

"Sir," Turtle said. "Yamanaka-san is conducting the interrogation as we speak."

"Anything?"

"Not yet, sir."

Kakashi nodded and stopped a couple cells short of Matari. "Who's working the rest of the team?" He scanned the barred door in front of him and approved of the selective chakra sucking security seals that Naruto etched into the stone. He deactivated them and instead activated the warding, the kind that muffled any and all sound and chakra emanating from the room.

"Morino and Mitarashi."

Kakashi's grin was broken glass. "Let's give Mitarashi a little help, no?"

The door was completely silent as it closed, even when the numerous locks slid into place. As soon as the room was locked down once again, Kakashi unleashed hyper-focused KI that had Turtle taking a step back and even Anko giving him a wide berth.

He kept his voice low and soft, leaning forward to look Yatsuki in the eye and scanning the barely-hidden terror reflected in fever-ridden features. She was shaking and shivering, very obviously about to piss herself.

"Yatsuki-san," he murmured. The condescension was thick syrup, but bitter as black coffee. "I think you know what I want."

She tried in vain to move back, move out of his space, but he held her still with an iron grip.

His eye curved in a mockery of amiability. Yatsuki flinched in his grip as the KI went one notch higher. He could smell her sweat from here—a sharp salt mixed with blood—and flexed his fingers, digging his nails into her shoulder and earned a pained whine. "Where is Madara."

The next chapter is wild, but I hoped you enjoyed this!