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For once, Kakashi returned to the village only half chakra-depleted. Bad intel had worked in his favor for once and he ended up finding his target two days earlier than projected and already half-beaten up. An internal coup in the band of missing-nin, probably fighting over who got to be in charge. Kakashi figured he had about 30 minutes before word of his return got back to Danzo and he’d send his Root Anbu to track him down and drag him to the Hokage office. Whereupon arrival Danzo would accept his report with a disappointed look in his eye before telling him to go home and rest. He would be expected to return 8 hours later, where the fifth Hokage would send him out on another s-class mission, hoping this one finally killed him. Silencing any information Kakashi could share forever.
It had gone that way for the past few months, ever since the Third Hokage had been attacked and Danzo was made the Fifth Hokage. Kakashi didn’t really know what to do about it. He had always thought he’d die for his village, but something about falling when Danzo was the one calling the shots stung. Tenzo had already disappeared like they planned, but some part of Kakashi couldn’t let himself go down that road. There was at least one thing that he had to stay for. His final responsibility.
It was about dinner time when Kakashi returned and so he knew just where his target would be. Traveling by rooftop, he crouched on top of a general store that had a good view of the ramen shop across the street. Through the noren, he could see Naruto seated at the counter, talking to Teuchi. Two Anbu guards were stationed outside. Kakashi was surprised they were visible. The last time he checked on Naruto they were still keeping to the shadows. He watched as a young chunin with a ponytail and a scar across his nose walked towards the ramen stand, slowing at the sight of ANBU. When the guards turned their heads to track his approach, he seemed to wither and decided to walk away. Since the shop was empty of everyone but Naruto and the owner, Kakashi guessed that this had happened more than once. If Naruto was bothered by his guards, he didn’t show it. Of course, it had been a while so maybe he had time to get used to them.
Danzo was closing in on Naruto. Kakashi imagined that the boy would have a whole platoon on his tail before long. It was a miracle that Naruto was still allowed to walk around the village, but Kakashi assumed that Danzo had an ulterior motive for that as well. Part of Kakashi wanted to grab Naruto and run. Kakashi wasn’t fourteen anymore. He and Tenzo had a good chance of keeping his sensei’s son safe. But Naruto was a jinchuriki and Danzo would never stop looking for him. And if other villages heard about it, they would want to try to capture him too. They would always be running. And what if they were caught? Tenzo and Kakashi would be killed for sure, and Naruto would be right back in the village. But this time Danzo wouldn’t stop at ANBU guards. At best he’d lock Naruto up somewhere dark and lonely. At worst he’d kill him and put the Kyuubi in a host he could better control.
While Naruto finished his meal, Kakashi took a moment to look around the village to see what else had changed while he’d been out on back to back missions.
From his spot on the roof, he could see the construction site for the new courthouse right next to the Hokage tower. Shops were also closing up and customers were hurrying to make last minute purchases before curfew. Martial law hadn’t really gone away then, Kakashi figured. Since a small fraction of the Uchiha had attacked the Sandaime and put him in a coma, someone had plastered posters around town. Posters about how to recognize an Uchiha and who to report suspicious Uchiha behavior to, all tacked up over the posters offering a reward for the capture of Sasuke Uchiha’s murderer. Almost as if no one cared anymore. It was unsettling. Almost a year later and no one had been arrested. Kakashi had not helped out on the case since the Uchiha attack, when the new Fifth Hokage Danzo threw him back into ANBU and began running him into the ground.
Sooner than he expected, Kakashi felt an ANBU appear behind him. Danzo must really want to see how badly he was injured. He was going to be so disappointed.
Kakashi had to pause as another ANBU joined the first. Danzo had never sent more than one to just summon him. Two more masks appeared on the roof of the Ramen shop. Reaching out, two more were to his right, and another two to his left. And Naruto’s original guards had subtly changed their posture, unnoticeable to civilians but any ninja could see the threat. Two squads. All of them ready to fight and surrounding Kakashi.
Rising from his crouch, Kakashi turned to face the ANBU behind him. Posture loose, Kakashi was ready to fight back, and the ANBU knew it. Danzo must have gotten sick of waiting for Kakashi to die on his own. But Kakashi wasn’t about to just sit back and let them kill him. Not after everything he’d given to the village. He also wasn’t going to let Obito’s eye fall into Danzo’s hands. His hand reached down, hovering over his kunai holster.
“Kakashi Hatake,” one of the ANBU spoke, voice lacking any distinctive qualities, “by order of the fifth Hokage, Danzo Shimura, you are under arrest for the murder of Sasuke Uchiha.”
Kakashi was an expert at hiding his expression. That was not at all what he was expecting, but it was a good way for Danzo to kill two birds with one stone. If Kakashi was arrested, he was sure that he’d be found guilty and sentenced to death. And Danzo wouldn’t have to pretend to care about catching the real killer for the dead Uchiha boy.
It looked like his decision was made for him. Quickly he whipped out a kunai and fell into a defensive stance, he was just about to tell the ANBU what he thought of them when one of the pair to the right of him threw out a kunai, directly across the street. The kunai landed just about the noren to the Ramen shop, sinking into the wood. He heard the sound as each ANBU drew their kunai and shuriken. The threat was clear. Kakashi had been too slow to block the first one. Even though he could see where the weapons were pointing, he wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to block them all. And if by some miracle he did, he would then have to make it across the street and stop four other ANBU from attacking an untrained boy. Kakashi couldn’t risk it. Naruto was too important.
Kakashi stepped out of his defensive stance, hands raised in the air as he dropped the kunai. Before he could even hear the sound of the metal falling to the roof, ANBU had grabbed him and forced his hands behind his back.
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Kakashi had spent his fair share of time in T&I on both sides of the table. However, this was the first time that he truly felt like he was in trouble. He wasn’t sure how long he had been cuffed to the table. Long enough for his wrists to start to chafe. His mask had been taken when they searched him for weapons and the Sharingan felt strange and dead with the seal they had placed over it. The room was cold in a way that had to be intentional, as they had stripped him of everything but his sleeveless undershirt and his boxer briefs. No doubt another ploy to make him feel vulnerable.
With each minute that crept by, Kakashi felt his chances dwindling. People just didn’t escape from T&I, and even if he managed it, he was sure that Naruto would have been hidden away by now. He tried to think of what options he had but came up empty. He had nothing Danzo couldn’t just take. Except for Tenzo’s location, but Kakashi would rather die than give that up.
Finally, the door opened, and Danzo entered. Behind him, he could see ANBU standing guard on the door, but none followed the Hokage into the room.
Danzo walked in like he had all the time in the world and all the confidence of a man with all the answers. He settled into the chair across from Kakashi like it was a stuffed throne, rather than a metal folding chair. For a moment, the two men just stared at each other. Kakashi wasn’t going to give Danzo the pleasure of speaking first and showing his frustration.
“I supposed you know why you are here,” Danzo finally spoke. Kakashi took it as a small win.
“I don’t.” Kakashi answered. Both he and Danzo knew that unofficially, Danzo needed him out of the way. However, officially he was here for something else, and even though Kakashi knew he would be found guilty, he refused to play into Danzo’s manipulations.
“Acting on a tip, ANBU searched the Hatake clan grounds where they discovered the murder weapon used on Sasuke Uchiha. Testing showed that his blood was on the blade and your fingerprints were on the handle.” Danzo said all this with the conviction of a man who would make anything true just by speaking it aloud.
Danzo was waiting for Kakashi to say something, but not only did Kakashi not know what to say, he really didn’t want to say anything at all. He just wanted Danzo to get his gloating out of the way and leave. Then Kakashi could go back to trying to plan.
Another few moments passed with neither man speaking. Danzo gave Kakashi a smug look before finally continuing, “We will hold a trial. You will be found guilty. And you will be executed. And if you try to do anything at all to stop that from happening, I’ll throw the Kyuubi brat in a cell next to you. Then after you are dead I’ll rip the Kyuubi from him and put it in someone more deserving.”
That stopped Kakashi. Suddenly it didn’t matter if Danzo ‘won’ the conversation or not. Naruto was in danger. “What’s to stop you from doing that anyway?”
“I have my reasons,” Danzo offered, a glint in his eye recognizing that he had Kakashi right where he wanted him, “I could also be persuaded to let the brat keep living a somewhat normal life, with guards of course. He would still need to attend the academy to be any use though. What happens to him after that would depend on him. I need my weapons sharp and so far, the boy has proven rather dull.”
Kakashi felt his head fall, defeated. If he fought back in any way, Naruto would suffer and die. If he played along, best case, Naruto would become a weapon for Danzo. If Kakashi wanted to say something, he doubted he could. His jaw felt locked in frustration and there was a lump in his throat. He hadn’t felt this helpless in a long time.
Danzo smiled triumphantly, and Kakashi so badly wanted to rip his hands from the cuffs and strangle the live out of the man. He did no such thing, just watched as Danzo rose gracefully from his chair and strode out the door.
Kakashi was left with only the familiar feeling of failure.