Gai was on a mission when the defection happened. It was a simple B-rank, just guarding a minor lord's entourage for a few days. He wasn't out of the village for two weeks, but it was enough time for the defectors to be long gone.

Guy may have been odd, but he was still a shinobi, so he didn't miss the fact that there was an extra chunin on gate duty. He didn't miss the fact that the number of Anbu patrolling the village had increased substantially in his absence, or that there was a cloying sense of unease pervading the village. After handing in his mission scroll to the tense chunin at the mission desk, his battle instincts, he felt the familiar heat in his blood that usually came before a fight, and he fought the urge to look over his shoulder.

"Asuma!" he boomed, spotting his fellow Jonin a ways down the street. "My most excellent companion, what is the cause of this unfaithful feeling in the village?"

The man in question flinched minutely. "Gai," he greeted. "How was your mission?"

"Most wonderful," Gai answered. "But I notice a change in the village since I have left."

Asuma lit a cigarette, using the moment to think about how to inform the Green Beast that his rival had turned traitor. "An Anbu squad has defected from the village," he settled on.

"A whole squad? How unlikely! But still, it seems that the Village is too tense for a few missing-nin."

"...We believe they took the Jinchuriki with them," Asuma said after a moment. "Anbu is going crazy trying to get them all back."

Gai looked gobsmacked, and damn if it wasn't odd for Asuma to think that it was easier to tell Gai that the Kyuubi was missing then that Kakashi was gone.

Gai recomposed himself after a moment, giving his signature nice-guy pose. "This is no cause for worry! I am sure that with my Eternal Rival in pursuit, the traitors will be caught in no time!"

"Don't count on it," a voice snorted. Asuma turned to see Anko walking towards them. "It was your boyfriend's team that went turncoat."

For the second time in as many minutes, Gai's jaw nearly hit the ground. "K- Kakashi left the village?" For once, Gai's volume could almost be called a whisper. That is to say, it was normal speaking volume.

Asuma felt bad for the man, but Anko just snarled. "Without a word. Never would have pegged the guy for a traitor, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. He always was a bastard."

Gai looked grim. "I am sure my Rival would not want to hurt us. If he left, he must have a good reason!"

Anko snorted again. "Sure. Tell me when you find it."

Yugao was at one of the Anbu training grounds, taking her frustration out on a row of innocent trees. She felt conflicted. On the one hand, she felt bitter disappointment. She had been just a few weeks out from getting a chance to join her dream team when they defected. She hadn't officially been slated for reassignment, of course, but it had been an open secret that Kakashi Hatake had been looking around for an additional member for his team, and he had invited her to spar with the team- which everyone in Anbu knew was an unofficial team tryout.

Officially, Team Ro wasn't special in Anbu. They were only one team of many, and their members and captain held no authority above any other Anbu or captain. Their members were nothing special, assigned by the Anbu commander just like any other team.

Unofficially, however, Team Ro was legendary. Ever since the copy-nin had been given a team of his own, Ro's success rate skyrocketed. The previously average team crawled its way to the peak of Anbu performance charts as the last Hatake whipped his team into top shape. The man also held enough to sway to approach the Anbu commander and ask for almost any team assignment and it would be granted. If Hatake wanted someone on his team, he would get them on his team. And it had almost been her!

With a growl she launched a jet of water powerful enough to nearly uproot the innocent tree she had aimed for. A newer Anbu recruit that had just entered the room sweatdropped behind his mask, and slowly backed out the door.

Being part of Team Ro had been her dream ever since she had joined Anbu. Besides their legendary status, Kakashi was her personal idol. He was the perfect soldier: powerful, intelligent, disciplined, (hot,) and unshakably loyal to Konoha. Or at least, it was thought. The thing was, however, even after seeing him defect, she couldn't bring herself to lower her opinion of him, and if she was honest, she might respect him a bit more.

The thing was, she had seen why he had defected.

Shisui walked quietly through the unfamiliar hallways of a fringe Anbu base. He had felt as though he was in a daze for the past few days, ever since the news of Itachi's defection and Sasuke's presumptive kidnapping circulated throughout the village. One day had seemed to melt into the next as he tried to wrap his head around the idea Itachi was gone.

His best friend, the boy who he'd stood by as long as he could remember. His comrade, with whom he'd sworn before the Hokage to prevent their clan's rebellion. Itachi, the child whom he'd been like a brother to.

Gone.

Shisui's thoughts ran in confused circles, starting and ending with why. Why did Itachi leave, was Shisui not good enough, did Itachi give up on their clan, why did Itachi's team leave, why. These thoughts had run through Shisui's head for days, and he still was at a loss.

It was another devastating blow to the clan's precarious standing in the village. He had heard new rumours just this morning of Fugaku having supposedly ordered his son to defect, as though the man wasn't falling apart with the loss of both of his sons.

Shisui's reverie was momentarily broken when he realized that he had almost walked into the pale boy standing in front of his destination

"Name and reason for presence?" the boy asked in a drone-like matter.

"Uh, Shisui. Uchiha Shisui. I received a summons from Lord Danzo with this location," Shisui answered, still a little out of it.

The guard stepped aside without a word, and Shisui opened the door behind him to a spartan office. Like the rest of Anbu facilities, the area was brightly lit to prevent possible intruders from hiding. Two more Anbu stood at the sides of a desk in the center of the room, the only piece of furniture in the space. Danzo looked up from a scroll he had been reading and gave what Shisui assumed was supposed to be a warm smile. It looked to the Uchiha as though the elder was in pain.

"Shisui," Danzo started. "We need to talk about your clan."

I kind of really hate how clunky this chapter feels but if I start worrying about this stuff too much then it leads to depression and abandoned stories. I might rewrite some of the earlier chapters anyway so we'll see.