***
I must get my soul back from you; I am killing my flesh without it.
Sylvia Plath
***
Kakashi is the Jounin Commander of Konohagakure. In the overall leadership scheme of the village, he's second only to the Hokage herself.
He'd made Jounin at six, ANBU at twelve (only Itachi had joined younger than him), and ANBU lieutenant at fifteen.
He'd left at twenty-three, Hiruzen swooping in to protect him just as Kakashi was sinking to his darkest point.
Hiruzen had pulled him from Danzo's grasp, and Kakashi had always assumed it had been out of love. Out of some deep-seated guilt over what had happened to Minato-sensei.
Why had he saved Kakashi and left Naruto on the street?
Kakashi knew the answer. The balance of power. He thought he understood it but he was questioning that now. And he was questioning why it had never occurred to him to question it before.
Kakashi was, quite possibly, the most experienced shinobi in Konohagakure.
Barring Tsunade and Jiraiya.
…and Itachi.
….and Minato-sensei.
….and the resurrected Uchiha.
And quite possibly Tsume, but he wasn't sure she couldn't because she wasn't…
That was something to unpack at a later date.
Okay, so he wasn't the most experienced shinobi in the village.
He was the dead-
Nope.
Fast-
Not with Shisui of the Body Flicker alive again.
Well, he had the coolest technique in the Chidori, at least.
…not counting what Sasuke had been able to do with it.
Fucking Uchiha.
They were giving him a headache, and they hadn't even been back that long.
Granted, they were also loud as fuck.
Especially now that they'd realized Iruka was missing and Obito had decided to help by yelling across the village, "Oi Ma! Root kidnapped Iruka!"
The explosion of chakra from the Uchiha Compound had set off the village wards.
It had taken Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gai, and a handful of others to calm her down and they'd nearly lost control of the situation again when Naruto and his lot had burst in, demanding to know what was being done to find Iruka.
Since they only had four hours to Tsunade's meeting and there was no way to push it off without causing an even bigger issue, Tsunade had ordered Kakashi and Jiraiya to lead the search while she and Minato handled the meeting.
Naruto, Sasuke, and the other rookies had demanded to help with the search, but Itachi had, to everyone's surprise, announced he, and they would stay with Tsunade and Minato.
So now Kakashi was stuck with a bunch of worried Uchiha, two angry assistants to the Hokage, every shinobi that wasn't going to be security for the village or the meeting, and an insane Obito.
And somehow, he was the one getting off easy because Tsunade had all the clan leaders and their senior members.
And Naruto and his lot, who could somehow cause more trouble than the entire village combined.
"I win because I have to deal with the Senior Council and the Ethics branch." Tsunade declared when Kakashi tried to argue.
He hadn't appreciated the level of smugness she'd displayed, especially since she'd been avoiding the Uchiha herself since they returned.
Thankfully, Fugaku had taken some of them to attend the meeting, leaving Kakashi with just half.
That half just happened to include his ex-teammate and his ex-idol (because there'd definitely been a period there where he'd been impressed (crushing on, in Minato's words) by Shishui.
Thankfully, it had been short-lived. (Granted, that was just because he'd found out Shishui was Itachi's best friend, and Itachi had proceeded to break all his records in less than a month, but still… short-lived. Barely counts.)
A small moment of insanity in his completely normal life.
***
"A spiral search pattern is the quickest way to find a missing person."
"In an open field maybe. This is a city. We should use a grid search."
"Look, kid, I've been doing this a while."
"Old man, I was literally born a hundred years before you were."
"And you spent most of that in a coffin!"
"Can we get back to the search now?"
"MY DEAREST FRIENDS, NOW IS THE TIME TO SET ASIDE OUR DIFFERENCES!"
"Shove it up your ass, Hyuga!"
"Blow it out your-"
"ENOUGH!" Kakashi hadn't yelled outside of a battle in years.
YEARS.
But after twenty minutes with a bunch of Uchiha and he was ready to set aside all oaths to Konoha and hide in a cave for the rest of his sorry life.
"Fucking hell. We need to find Iruka. Stop acting like children and start acting like the shinobi you are." His chakra was rolling off him in waves.
"Kakashi is right." Uchiha Mai spoke up, casting a quelling look at her fellow Uchiha. A busty, boisterous kunoichi who wore her long hair in pigtails and had been Raido's beloved Jounin sensei before her death in the Uchiha Massacre.
Radio had barely left her side since her return, much to Genma's annoyance. Their relationship had always seemed so steady. They'd gotten together with minimal drama years ago when they were both still in ANBU with Kakashi and had been one of the steadiest relationships Kakashi had ever seen between two shinobi. Raido's glee at having his sensei back had been the first major challenge they seemed to face as a couple and Genma had been grumpy and only getting grumpier.
Kakashi wasn't even sure Raido's feelings for his sensei were romantic. It looked more like an insane case of hero worship, but either way, it was taking up enough of Raido's time that Genma was horribly jealous.
"The meeting starts in an hour." Izumo put in. "They won't be able to drag it out forever."
***
Kakashi was never letting anyone else pick teams again.
Uchiha Yoruichi and Uchiha Kisuke were the youngest Uchiha to come out of the wall and were apparently, even more insane than the rest of them.
They, along with a giant white wolf who introduced herself as Hoshi, had volunteered themselves as Kakashi's team and the rest of the Uchiha had scattered immediately.
Raido had looked like he wanted to say something, but his sensei had grabbed him and Genma and dragged them off to search a different area.
With Asuma and Kurenai at the Clan Meeting, Gai was the only other senior Jounin Kakashi truly trusted. Gai had taken Yamaki, Tsunade's two assistants, and his own two students with him to search the other side of the Forest of Death. While Shisui had taken his own team with a few clansmen and Inuzuka.
Yamato and Sai had stayed, but they were standing as far from the two Uchiha and the wolf as he could while still being close enough to help search. Yamato had been quiet since he got out of the hospital and Kakashi knew he hadn't done a single mission since.
There'd been so much happening that Kakashi hadn't had a chance to really sit down with him and talk about what happened, but Sai had been keeping an eye on his teacher.
Kakashi hadn't seen him with Naruto or the others recently, which was concerning but understandable. Sasuke didn't like his replacement on Team 7 and the feeling was mutual. Since Naruto and Sakura had been so vocal in their support of their first teammate, Kakashi wondered if Sai even felt comfortable approaching them now. The newspapers were still running sensationalist articles every day about the truth of what happened to the Uchiha and during the Fourth World War and no one was escaping unscathed.
Sasuke's crimes had been printed in black and white for everyone to see, but so had Orochimaru's, Danzo's, the Senior Council's, the Sandaime's, and a lot of secrets the clans of Konohagakure hadn't ever wanted to come out.
Kakashi's own father had been on the front page the day before, with a lurid accounting of his suicide. Kakashi had burned the paper rather than read it.
Konohagakure didn't have many secrets left at this point and Kakashi still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
Obito bounded over and slung an arm over Kakashi's shoulders.
And then there was this guy.
Sakumo and Minato had been keeping a respectful distance, making it clear they didn't want to pressure Kakashi, but this fucker had practically glued himself to Kakashi's side every chance he got.
Somehow, despite his constant reminiscing at the Memorial Stone, he'd forgotten how much Obito could talk.
"This our team Bakashi?"
Kakashi took a deep breath and then slammed his elbow into Obito's stomach.
He smiled as the Uchiha doubled over with a yelp. "My team."
Obito scowled. "We're a team."
"We were a team."
Obito gasped, clutching his chest. "How can you say that? We're Team Seven. The OG!"
"Pretty sure there was a Team Seven before us."
"I came back to be with you!"
This fucker, Kakashi gaped. Yamato and Sai looked wide-eyed and a little red in the face. They didn't know Obito well enough to know the fucker was just trying to cause trouble.
"The fuck you did," Kakashi hissed. There was no one besides Obito that made him behave like a damn child. "You came back because of Kaguya. And your brothers."
"One of which you happen to be banging. My baby brother, Kakashi. How could you?" The tears were ruined by his laughter.
And then both were ruined when Yoruichi got an arm around his neck and dragged him away.
Kakashi gave her a grateful nod, but then she ruined it by saying, "Come on, we need to find Iruka so his boyfriend can relax."
She and Kisuke cackled as they headed into the trees, dragging Obito along with them.
Yamato and Sai inched closer to Kakashi and Sai whispered. "I didn't know you were dating Umino, Kakashi-sensei?"
Yamato's blank expression didn't give away much, but Kakashi could feel the curiosity in his chakra and groaned. "Fucking Uchiha."
***
There was a brief moment where Tsunade had high hopes for this meeting. A chance to cut off some of the compounding issues at the stem.
And then she ended up arriving first for her own meeting. Her eye started twitching as she took in the empty meeting room and she could feel Jiraiya's outrage bubbling through his chakra.
"Should have seen this coming," Minato muttered.
Itachi merely hummed. "They are simply exercising what little control they have over the situation. Better not to react."
The middle child of Fugaku still acted like the oldest, far less emotional than his brothers and almost boring in comparison to his boisterous clan members. Ever since he'd returned, he'd been nothing but calm and composed and terrifying still. At first, she'd thought he carried himself like he was always in battle, but then she'd never seen his guard rise or fall and thought the opposite.
Tsunade found it impossible to predict his movements at any given time, but the lack of physical strain or exhaustion, aside from the permeable emotional exhaustion he seemed to display when dealing with people, spoke to a strength Tsunade couldn't sense or see.
Minato carried himself the same way. Seemingly relaxed on the outside but looking at him was like looking into the void.
It was a stark reminder of how outclassed she was by both, which hurt her pride at the same time as it swelled at the knowledge that they had both, for better or worse, been a product of the village her grandfather had built.
Not for the first time, she wondered what her grandfather would have thought of the village now.
Was it a success?
Was Tsunade?
What had her granduncle really thought of the Uchiha?
Had he foreseen the way things would go?
Taka appeared. "They've arrived."
Tsunade signed and headed to her seat. "At least they didn't make me wait." Itachi and Minato took seats on either side of her and Jiraiya didn't give any sign that he had an issue sitting behind the three of them. All four of them represented significant power and influence, but there was an emotional element to Tsunade, who was the First's granddaughter, Minato, who was a former Hokage, and Itachi, the noble, long-suffering son turned savior.
The PR campaign Naruto and his friends were waging had probably made Itachi the most popular figure in the village at the moment.
The arrival of the clans started out simple.
The Akimichi, who were too respectful to be late usually, in their orange and red robes. Choza was one of the most experienced, longest-serving clan leaders in the village and normally Tsunade loved working with him, but she had no idea where he was going to land on today's subject.
Karui and Choji were with him, along with a select handful of Elders and senior shinobi.
The Nara arrived immediately after, with a black-robed Shikamaru looking distinctly uncomfortable and taking the seat of the clan leader. The Yamanaka didn't even wait until all the Nara were seated before entering and Ino, in flowing pink robes covered in flowers, took the clan leader's seat for her clan.
Choza nodded respectfully to them both. They were lucky to be born into clans with such a close alliance, as Choza was unlikely to try and take advantage of them despite their inexperience.
"They made it official then?" Jiraiya muttered. Tsunade too, was surprised.
Santa and her mother took their seats on either side of Ino, and Shikamaru was likewise flanked by his mother and a senior member of the clan, but it was significant that Ino and Shikamaru had taken official leadership in their clans today of all days. Santa, Tsunade knew, had just been waiting for Ino to be ready but she hadn't thought it would happen so soon.
Especially with the return of Naruto and Sasuke.
The Shimura arrived in their pale grey robes next, and it was odd to see them arrive separately from the Sarutobi, who made a point of waiting almost a full five minutes after they were seated before walking in.
The Izuno, Kurama, Hoki, and Onikuma arrived in short order. Smaller clans with less influence and fewer numbers, but they still carried voting rights and were likely under the thumb of the Senior Council.
With Asuma, Kurenai, and Beniko taking the leadership seats and a few younger shinobi back in the positions of elders, Asuma may have been talked out of annihilating his clan, but things were far from settled. He'd stripped all the elders but Beniko of their positions and not named any replacements. Tsume had taken great pleasure in telling Tsunade that several of them had tried threatening to leave the village and only backed down when Asuma told them he'd prefer that. Now they were refusing to leave because they knew that was what he wanted. Konohamaru sat with the shinobi in the back and was opening glaring at the Shimura.
The Senior Council arrived then, taking their seats at the opposite end of the meeting hall from Tsunade and forcing everyone who came in after them to move around them.
"So petty," Minato muttered. His anger was easier to see these days. Maybe it always had been, and he'd just hidden it better before, but he wasn't bothering now.
The Hyuga swept in next and for many, it was their first time seeing Hinata presented as the new clan leader. Naruto's delicate peer looked ethereal in her family's pale blue and white robes and kept her head high as she swept in. She was flanked by a female Elder Tsunade vaguely recognized and, to the surprise of everyone, her father Hiashi. He was still supposed to be recovering in the hospital as far as Tsunade knew, since she'd had to repair his spleen and a large part of his intestine. He showed no sign of that now, deftly following Hinata's lead and taking the position of a senior elder on her left, while the Elder filled the spot traditionally reserved for the spouse. Both Neji and Hanabi were among the small group of Hyuga shinobi that took their places behind their leadership.
The Aburame arrived quietly, Shiba at the head in robes of pale purple. Shino and one of the clan's most experienced kunoichi flanked him.
There was a brief scuffle outside, but the sound of laughter stopped Tsunade from intervening and a moment later the Uchiha and Fuma entered together.
With Uchiha Mikoto in the lead in resplendent robes of blood red and midnight blue. Fugaku was dressed in the simple robes of a clan member on her right and Uchiha Shisui in dark blue on her left. Sasuke was with his parents, Naruto at his side, though Naruto was wearing the blue and gold of the Namikaze Clan.
The Fuma clan leader was in the storm grey his clan favored, while his wife was draped in blood red.
Given that the clans were closely related, it wasn't surprising that they arrived together.
It was a little surprising how bold they were being in their show of support.
And that the Uchiha were being so outright defiant as to have Naruto and Sasuke sitting just behind Mikoto. Tsunade may have reluctantly pardoned Sasuke, but Naruto was a large part of the Senior Council's justification for their actions and a great amount of the fear that had allowed them to go unchecked for so long.
It wasn't the boy's fault, but his presence wasn't necessarily good for his side of things.
Especially when Tsume kicked the door in and Tsunade remembered again, why she hated her.
The Inuzuka Clan Leader was dropped in blood-red robes, the likes of which Tsunade hadn't seen since she was a child, and she HAD THE GODDAMN FOX SLUNG OVER HER SHOULDERS LIKE A SCARF.
Hana and Kiba flanked her, matching their mother in red, but while they immediately took their seats Tsume detoured to the Uchiha to greet Mikoto.
"Greetings Clan Leader Uchiha."
"Greetings Clan Leader Inuzuka. Kurama." Mikoto bowed deeply and looked just as enthusiastic and amused as Tsume by their little display.
To be fair, Naruto and Sasuke both looked surprised at the sight of Kurama. No one in the room had missed the sudden silence at the sight of the fox and while they all knew about what had happened after the demon attack, the demon fox hadn't exactly been parading up and down the streets.
"Clan Leader?" Choza managed to pry his eyes away from Kurama and glanced at Fugaku. "I was under the impression that Fugaku was clan leader?"
"I was voted in last night, Clan Leader Akimichi." Mikoto beamed. Which was slightly terrifying.
Kurama hopped off Tsume's shoulder and trotted over to curl up in Naruto's lap.
"The Uchiha voted to change clan leaders?" The sitting Clan Leader of the Shimura sputtered. "Last night?"
"The Uchiha have always believed that you need the right leader for the right situation and my husband has long wished to rest. It is a heavy mantle, being the leader of a clan such as ours. I am looking forward to bearing it with honor." She smiled with her teeth as Tsume took her own seat, sprawling out like she didn't have a care in the world.
Kurama started cleaning one of his paws.
Most of the other clans looked surprised, thrown off, but before anyone else could speak Sakumo entered, and the room fell silent.
"Apologies for my tardiness, Lord Hokage."
Tsunade waved off the apology, already thoroughly done with the dramatics, and Sakumo took an empty seat in the space between the Inuzuka and Aburame.
Koharu cleared her throat. "While it is good to see you here, Sakumo. I must admit, it is a surprise."
"Oh?" Sakumo offered her a pleasant smile. "How so? The Hatake are a Clan of Konohagakure."
"Barely." Homura hissed.
"But a clan, nonetheless. We are on the register. My son still serves with distinction."
The rest of the clans arrived in short order. All of them were minor clans compared to those already present, and they were quickly followed by the significant leadership outside the clans. The heads of Intelligence and Medical. The Headmaster of the Academy, who looked far too old to still be dealing with this. The Head of Legal was present, and though he didn't get to vote, he held significant power in his ability to declare the vote illegal if he suspected anything.
The ANBU Commander and the Jounin Commander were the only ones missing because both were searching for Iruka.
Shizune darted outside and then came back in and closed the doors behind her.
A silence settled over the room. Significant glances flew back and forth between different groups.
Tsunade caught Tsume winking at her and managed to resist the urge to snarl back. "Thank you for coming. This is only the second Council of Clans in the history of Konohagakure and I'm sorry it has become necessary. It is my failure as Hokage for allowing it to come to this point, but I assure you, I will be fixing it and this is the first step."
Tsunade paused, took a moment to look around the room at the assembled clans and leadership of the village.
The first village of shinobi. The first unification of the clans. The first of a lot of things and somehow, they were still nothing more than a bunch of squabbling children, unable to share the toy that was power.
"I am calling for a vote for the removal of the Senior Council."
The immediate response of whispers and discontent rippled across the room. Even those she knew would be for it, the Uchiha, were whispering among themselves.
Sasuke wasn't even trying to hide how pleased he looked.
Koharu and Homura were spitting mad, though their guards were oddly still. More Root agents with the seal on their tongue most likely.
None of the clans or other leaders had brought guards, but she already knew exactly what argument they would make. They were older and every member of the clans present was an active shinobi. The Council had made enemies doing their jobs and were owed protection for their service.
She'd heard it enough to have it memorized.
It wasn't an argument worth having at this point. Tsunade doubted that eight Root agents were enough to take everyone in this room.
"The Senior Council exists to protect and advise the shinobi of this village. Personal unwillingness to listen to us does not justify removing a staple of this village's government." Koharu stated, hands clasped in her lap.
"The original purpose of the Senior Council was solely to advise the Hokage. You have stepped far beyond your purpose, under both your current and past leadership." The Fuma Clan Leader remarked.
"Your personal dislike for our members does not mean we have been failing in our duty." Koharu bit back.
"The only reason the Senior Council was even created in the first place was because Danzo was upset, he lost the position of Hokage to Hiruzen and Hiruzen was too soft to tell him to suck it up."
Homura's face turned purple with rage. "We were chosen due to our experience and expertise."
"And yet all of you are from the same genin team? The same sensei. Childhood friends of the Hokage that installed you?" Ino snorted. "You do have years of experience, I'll grant you that, but don't try to claim that's the sole reason you got those positions. Or that you've held them for so long."
"We have served this village loyally every day of our lives. We have been here since its founding since long before you were even born, Clan Leader Yamanaka."
Ino admired her nails. It was a move Tsunade had read about in Jiraiya's books, had even used herself, feigning disinterest to send someone into a rage. Ino seemed to have mastered it because Koharu's knuckles went white in her lap.
"It's terribly insulting to have a child barely aware of their own responsibility telling me I have failed in mine." Koharu snarled.
"Then you should probably do better." Ino drawled, which was a completely unprofessional response in this situation but made more than a few people laugh in surprise.
"Can we focus on the issue at hand?" Shikamaru cut in. He made a good show of looking annoyed, but Tsunade knew him well enough to know he had some sort of plan.
"We know the original purpose of the Senior Council," Choji glanced at his father for permission to continue, and Choza nodded, looking as curious as the rest of them. "Perhaps we should hear the charges against them?"
"There are no charges against us, boy." Homura snapped.
"Watch your tone," Choza warned, expression dark.
"Remind your son of this village's hierarchy then." Homura seethed. Of all three of them, he was the most sensitive to disrespect. So often forgotten behind the greatness of his teammates.
"I'm aware of the hierarchy," Choji answered. "I follow the example of my elders."
Tsunade hadn't been aware that the boy had that kind of bite. Even Choza looked surprised at the remark. "The charges against Senior Council members Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu are illegal applications of funds, use of undue influence, unethical behaviors towards Konohagakure shinobi, terrorism at home and abroad, multiple counts of unlawful imprisonment, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, murder, and treason." There were actually a lot more, an extensive list put together by Shizune and the Head of Legal, but Tsunade didn't want to spend the entire day reading the list, so she stuck to the biggest ones.
Koharu and Homura's faces had both slackened as she'd recited the charges, with many of the shinobi in the room unable to hide their surprise at both the amount and the severity.
"This is ridiculous." Koharu sputtered. She hadn't expected such an extensive list. None of the Root agents in the Tower had reported anything that suggested the kind of investigation needed to bring charges like that, and there was no way Tsunade had managed to keep that a secret. But she also hadn't thought Tsunade would be so foolish as to bring charges in public that she couldn't back up.
If she set Koharu and Homura up like that, it was pretty much guaranteed they'd destroy her in the courts, and then all that public opinion that the Jinchuriki and his friends were stirring up would be enough to keep her in power.
Tsunade was emotional and at times impulsive, but Koharu had never considered her stupid.
More importantly, Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Fugaku were none of those things when it came to making decisions and now, they were both back in play.
Had Tsunade found something that could back all those charges? Had the two of them hidden something away before they'd died that Danzo hadn't found?
That should have been impossible. Danzo had known them so well and had left such detailed notes on them that Koharu and Homura had been able to continue his work, and now that he was back, he'd picked up right where he left off.
"Your actions have severely damaged this village and proved to be extremely detrimental to its inhabitants." Tsunade had a speech worked out in her head. Jiraiya even gave her some notes last night, but as she says it out loud, it sounds far more dramatic than she generally tries to be.
"You make it sound like we've been waging a war." Koharu snarled.
"You have been," Itachi responded, voice gentle.
"How dare you." Homura seethed. "You shouldn't even be allowed to speak at this meeting."
Mikoto scoffed. "My son can't speak at this meeting? Is that a joke? He is the only reason this village has survived the last decade. Without him, you would be nothing but ash-covered corpses."
Koharu snorted. "You're being unnecessarily dramatic, Lady Uchiha."
"Uchiha Itachi's service to this village is without question." Choza intervened and while Koharu didn't look pleased, she didn't dare argue.
The Three Clans were still held in high regard and tended to lack any of the drama and grey areas that came with clans like the Sarutobi, Senju, and Uchiha. Choza was the most senior and experienced clan leader among the three and a significant figure in the village. Too significant and too uncontrollable for Root to move against in public.
Danzo had never managed to find or manipulate anything that he could use to control the Akimichi, Nara, or Yamanaka Clan leaders and while he had managed to kidnap several of their clan members into Root, they'd all required the seal because he'd never managed to talk them around.
That determination was credited almost completely to Choza, Shikaku, and Inoichi and their long tenures as leaders in the village.
Tsunade hadn't realized how powerful a loss Shikaku and Inoichi had truly been until this moment. Since the end of the war, Choza had been standing alone as a pillar of stability among the clan leaders of the village.
He's one of the few with the skill and power to survive this mess.
"Konohagakure rests on the edge of a knife," Itachi says, voice steady and bland. He may as well be reciting a grocery list. "And there is another edge waiting after his one is resolved."
"Another war." Shibi's voice was filled with disappointment.
"It is an unfortunate part of human nature that there were will always be another conflict." Itachi offered a small smile. "They cannot be avoided, but they can be ended as quickly as possible, and it is time to end the war to control Konohagakure."
"It is not a war." Koharu snapped.
"It is." Itachi corrected gently. "And you have already lost. All you do now is delay the inevitable in a slowly bleeding."
Koharu gathered herself. It was what she'd always been best at. Resilience. "The end is not here yet. We still have a chance to save this village. There is one-"
"To crush it you mean." Minato interrupted. "Under the weight of your rules and prejudice and fear. What way forward do you see that ends in your favor? You are old now; you'll be dead of natural causes soon enough and the tricks you used to bring back the dead won't work twice. What way do you see to win before that happens? Because once you are dead no one will champion your cause."
"There are others that share our opinions. You have always been rather short-sighted in that way. There is no road but yours." Koharu and Minato had had the same argument countless times during his short service as Hokage.
"Road's split, Lady Koharu. They fade from disuse, they change direction, they branch off. I don't think there are any that share your opinion that are powerful enough to maintain that road you've made. You have been whittled away into nothing, a mere shadow of the terrorist organization you were before."
"How dare you-"
"If you were anything else, you would not have to operate solely in the shadows. You would be able to admit out loud who you are and what you believe without fear. Yet you conceal your motives and alliances and symbols on pain of death. You force servitude on those too weak to fight and use jutsu to take away free will and that is how you gather followers, but even then, your numbers are minimal. You have threatened and tread upon so many in the village that you cannot be assured of the complete support of a single clan without blackmail and hostages. You made an enemy of the village's chosen hero and abandoned an entire generation of orphans who are now moving into leadership positions. Do you imagine they will support you? Or do you think the memories of begging for scraps under the justification of the balance of power have faded? Childhood trauma rarely disappears with time. The clan most integrated with the civilians of the village was the Uchiha, through the Military Police that protected them from the Shinobi when necessary and maintained the law and order they see as a requirement for safety. You were the reason for their destruction. The four greatest advantages against Kaguya are all Uchiha. They are the only chance we have to destroy the God Tree, and yet, because of you, Obito, Iruka, and Sasuke hate this village. And Itachi was banished for over a decade. Fugaku sacrificed his clan for this village once and the village failed to keep its end of the bargain. Do you think he'll be so quick to do so again? You left my son to starve on the streets because of something a bunch of dead people forced him to become and now you require him to survive. But Naruto will not accept a village that does not accept Sasuke and Iruka. So, there is no guarantee he'll defend the village if you win and you can be absolutely sure he won't defend it from them." Minato leaned back in his seat, an image of the king he would have been in another life. "And who would you mobilize against him? Those few that remain from Obito and Kakashi's generation will follow Kakashi before they'll follow you. Iruka's generation are the orphans you treated so well. Itachi's now know that their own village executed their comrades and neighbors based on a lie. And Naruto and Sasuke's will follow those two to the edge of the Earth before they even glance at you. Most of the genin that made Chuunin in the last four years represent the first generations from Iruka's time at the Academy. How strong do you estimate his influence over them is? Their first teacher. The first person outside their families to show them love and concern and the first one to put a weapon in their hand and tell them what they are fighting for. That leaves you with what? Everyone older than Kakashi? Except you don't have me and I've been very clear to everyone that follows me that I don't agree with you. Tsunade and Jiraiya may have remained somewhat neutral, but you know if push comes to shove, they won't side with you. At best, they'll leave the village again and you'll lose any chance of controlling or monitoring them. But it's more likely they side with their students, Naruto and Sakura. I left my son to Fugaku and Mikoto and the woman I currently walk alongside is the First Uchiha. The only one who knows for sure what happened during that tumultuous break between brothers that we still reach back to as a way to explain the happenings we don't understand. Arguably, you might have been able to use Hirzuen's descendants, since neither of you produced any of your own that were notable. But Asuma considers Iruka a bother and was already a victim of the break between Hiruzen and the Uchiha. His nephew calls Naruto "big brother." Nearly an entire generation of clan leaders are Naruto's peers, and they consider Naruto the best of them. Even the civilians. Do you know who is the current elected head of the Service Workers Union? The family that owns Ichiraku. Who fed Iruka and Naruto when they were parasites in this village. Can you imagine what would happen to this village if the civilian unions got involved and decided to strike?" He laughed. "There is one shinobi in this village for every thirty civilians. What happens the day those civilians start to fear us?" Clearly, the Senior Council weren't the only ones who'd failed to consider that possibility, judging from the steadily paling faces around the room. Tsunade's own heart had started to race. "Where exactly, do you imagine you still have a handhold in this village?"
For once, Koharu and Homura were silent.
Minato's words had achieved his purpose with vicious accuracy and most of the room now looked terrified. Tsunade could admit her own weakness in this; it had been a fact that exist among the many about this situation but was not one that she'd devoted any true time to considering.
In hindsight, she felt like a fool, because as Minato laid it out, she could see the startling accuracy of his predictions. A civilian population that didn't trust its soldiers was the first step to complete destruction and all the village's best chances, all its heroes, were children barely on the cusp of adulthood.
As much as their unpredictability was a boon against their enemies, it made them just as dangerous at home. Anyone looking to hold onto their power and influence who would be at the minimum wary, at the worst completely hostile, and most likely unreliable in their support.
It would be a civil war of untold levels of destruction.
It might even surpass the level of change Hashirama and Madara had brought to the world when they'd come together and remade it.
That was barely a hundred years ago now, she realized. A terrible sadness overcame her.
The first shinobi village hadn't even made it a hundred years before it faced complete destruction at its own hands and the others would follow Konohagakure as they always had.
Maybe Hashirama and Madara's grand experiment had always been meant to fail.
Were Kaguya's machinations were just that good?
Or human nature just that dark?
Her grandfather and Madara had fought so hard, bled so much, to think that they'd always been doomed to fail was perhaps the sadness thing she'd ever experienced.
"To disband the Senior Council goes against the very founding principles of this village." The Shimura clan leader frowned.
"Our children still go to war, the clans still fight one another, and we have been fighting enemies outside our borders every day this village has existed. What principles do you think have succeeded?"
"Those are the responsibility of the Hokage, not the Senior Council."
"The Senior Council is supposed to advise the Hokage on those exact principles. Are you really saying that in the seventy-odd years you've stood beside Hiruzen he never once took your advice?" Tsunade wasn't so uncouth as to call them outright liars, but every shinobi in the village knew the influence the Senior Council held over Hiruzen.
"Perhaps the Yondaime would consider returning?" The Izuno clan leader had been Minato's peer, though she now had decades on him, and had been one of his most ardent followers.
Minato had considered her a friend once. "You left my son to starve on the street. I will never be your Hokage again."
Her face fell, along with others.
Naruto, silent next to Sasuke, flinched. He'd never stopped to think about how his father would feel if he found out about how Naruto had been treated. A small, terrified part of him had always worried that his father would have agreed with it. It was nice, nicer than he'd expected, to realize he didn't. Somehow it made his lauded father more real. Something even his physical presence these last few weeks couldn't do.
His arrogance helped too.
Of all the things the stories said about his father, they'd neglected to mention his pride in himself. Naruto had always been afraid to feel that kind of pride in himself, worried it would rub people the wrong way. The way his very existence did. Had always been jealous that Sasuke had displayed his own so fearlessly. Until he'd realized that for Sasuke it was survival, the only way he could face the next day after the loss of his family.
Then he'd felt horribly guilty, and it had all become a messy tangle of emotions he wasn't old enough to deal with or mature enough to recognize.
Lots and lots of work to do once they saved the village and defeated Kaguya.
When Naruto could lock Sasuke in a room until he finally cried and they could work everything out for good.
Sasuke glanced at him, and he didn't need to hear the words to know what he was saying. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Dobe."
***
"It's here," Hoshi growled. Her Sharingan was spinning as she led them to a seemingly normal pair of trees that had started to grow together.
Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Obito, Yoruichi, and Kisuke leapt down from the trees to join her.
"This is pretty close to the village." Sai noticed.
"I don't remember this place, sempai," Yamato murmured. His memory was full of holes now that the seal had been removed and he'd been working with the Yamanaka's most senior specialists trying to recover some of them, but they hadn't had much luck yet.
Kakashi didn't remember it either. Obito threw an arm over his shoulder, his Sharingan spinning lazily. "Not a very good hiding place." He poked Kakashi's cheek with a fingertip until the other man sighed and lifted his hiate.
Kakashi's Obito's Sharingan started to spin and peeled away the layers of jutsu hiding the door carved into the conjoined trunks.
"A childish attempt," Hoshi growled. Her head came up to Kakashi's shoulders and when she twisted to look back at him, he had to force himself not to flinch. "Break it open."
"On it!" Yoruichi pounced before Kakashi or anyone else could stop her.
Her chakra gathered in her fist, turned gold, and she hit the door with more force than Kakashi had realized she was capable of. She didn't have a Seal of a Hundred anywhere that he'd seen, but her punch shattered the chakra stitched together to hide the door, the metal door itself, and splintered the wood in the trunks of the trees for several feet.
"That seemed…unnecessary," Sai remarked, bland as always as the door fell apart and revealed the tunnel.
Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "They already know we're coming."
"When surprise is no longer useful, a facsimile can be achieved through shock and awe for a short period." Kisuke intoned. "One of the principles of Shunko."
Sai turned to Kakashi. "Shunko?"
"The Uchiha taijutsu."
"Enough," Hoshi growled. "I smell blood."
All six shinobi immediately sniffed the air, as if their noses were anywhere near as sensitive as hers.
They shouldn't have been able to smell anything, but they did.
"That's a lot of blood," Obito murmured and then launched himself into the tunnel without warning.
Kakashi cursed and followed him in, felt the others following behind. It seemed a lifetime and a full-scale war wasn't enough to break Obito of his reckless habits.
Root must have been busy because the guards were far fewer in number than they should have been and the hideout was small to begin with. Yamato's Wood Release ripped apart the main rooms as Kakashi, Yoruichi, and Kisuke cut through the Root soldiers.
They found Iruka in the backroom, the walls lined with silencing seals and barriers, a bloody blindfold over his eyes. He was slumped over in a chair, his bindings the only thing holding him upright. The blood they'd smelled was clearly his and Hoshi made a dash for him only to leap back when Danzo stepped out of the shadow.
Terror shot through Yamato and Sai's chakra and something darker and more dangerous through the three Uchiha with them.
Kakashi's own heart skipped a beat, before pounding away at a tempo he hadn't felt since he was young and in his first years as a soldier.
Danzo looked better than he had in the days before his death. Gone were the bandages that had hidden his stolen dojutsu. He looked, Kakashi realized with something that might actually be panic, like he had when he'd first recruited an angry, mourning teenager into Root.
The anger came fast and hot, turned to fury laced with terror at the sight of the only man who'd ever taken Kakashi's own autonomy from him.
In the old man's eyes, two Sharingan spun slowly. "You're too late, Hatake."
***
If you ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I would be your slave.
Emily Brontë
***