A/N: Hey guys, times are really stressful in the USA right now but hang in there and make sure you're taking time for your mental health! Talk to people you trust and take breaks from social media whenever you feel yourself getting too stressed out, it's important to keep up with current events but it's also important to take care of yourself, so please stay safe!

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"I demand that Danzō Shimura be put on trial for the kidnapping of a clan heir, illegal experimentation, mass child abduction, and the potential brainwashing and unsolicited recruitment of other clan members."

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The meeting room in Konohagakure was only slightly larger than the average living room, complete with forest green walls and olive tiled floors. In the center of the room, a sturdy table stretched from one end to the other, so sturdy, in fact, an enraged Tsunade had once thrown a punch at it and wound up with two broken fingers while the table remained unscathed. Hashirama had always been... passionate, to say the least. He'd always taken things farther than what most would deem sane or necessary, and he would do so with his head tipped back in that loud, uproarious laugh. The table he'd crafted with his Mokuton was a reminder of this, as well as his unwavering dedication to Konoha.

At the memory, Hiruzen sighed. Hashirama would have adored the young Hatake boy, who seemed to possess the same uncanny knack for making the impossible become reality. This did nothing to help with the exhaustion bogging down Hiruzen's mind.

He missed having dinner with Miwako. He missed helping his children train in the early morning light and tucking them into bed after the sun began to set. Why was he craving the old days now of all times? The days where he could place his life in his teammates' hands and know with every fiber of his being that they would guard it with their own.

He used to have a much better grasp on this. Being the Hokage while being a father, a husband, a teacher, and a friend. He used to have the energy to pull this off. The fortitude, the strength. But now...

His wife and children were distant, one of his prized students was a traitor, one of his prized students was broken beyond repair; unable to even stand the sight of blood anymore. His village would soon be at war, and now of all times, of all people, Danzō was on trial for crimes that made his throat slicken with nausea. Everything was falling apart, had been for a while and he didn't know if he could keep holding it together. Maybe that was why?

Well, that, and... the knowledge that he was not Hashirama. Hiruzen couldn't challenge the world with a smile, he could only free fall and hope to god he didn't let everything he loved slip out of his arms before he hit the ground. This trial was a stark reminder of that fact.

He felt like a rope that was being pulled tighter and tighter until the individual threads began to snap. Snap, snap, snap, with every tug—every new betrayal, every added burden—his resolve grew weaker. His strength grew fainter. It was all happening too fast, too close together, tug after tug, and he wasn't sure if he could handle another one. One more tug and he'd be through.

Maybe it was time to pass on the hat. Maybe. But that was a thought for later.

Scrubbing a hand up his weathered face, he glanced at Koharu and Homura, who were sitting on either side of him. Their expressions gave nothing away as they sipped at their tea, but surely they were horrified by these accusations as well.

On the opposite end of the table, Danzō was every bit as unreadable, not moving towards the pot of tea in the center of the table or even glancing at the waiting cup.

Hiruzen wasn't in the mood for tea either, he supposed. His cup was cooling in front of him, untouched as he ground circles into his temples. He just had to get through this trial.

The door opened with a creeeeek Hiruzen refused to have fixed. There was no reason anybody loyal to him would need to sneak through that door, and if someone were to try it, Hiruzen would rather hear them coming. Call it an old shinobi's paranoia.

Sakumo stepped inside the room, dressed in Jounin blues. His hands were buried in his pockets and he had strapped his tantō horizontally along his lower back.

Having expected Sakumo's presence, Hiruzen opened his mouth to greet the Jounin, but before he could get the words out, more people stepped into view. The Uchiha, Hyuga, and Aburame Clan heads were behind Sakumo. And behind them, the rest of the Clan heads were standing at attention.

What in the world? Hiruzen was grateful he hadn't been drinking tea because surely this would have been where he choked on it. The first Hokage killed by tea—that was not how he wanted to be remembered.

Sakumo smiled and the air around him almost seemed to sparkle with an innocence Hiruzen didn't buy for a second. "Are we late?"

The legs of the chair scraped against the floor as Danzō stood up. "This ridiculous accusation is supposed to be dealt with discreetly—"

Before he could finish, Fugaku stepped fully into the room and cut in, "A man on trial has no right to lecture anyone. This matter concerns the security of our Clans as well as our continued trust in this Council or lack thereof. We have every right to be here."

Fugaku may be young but he was no fool. Ordering him to leave in front of the other Clan leaders after such a declaration would be political suicide at best and a cause for mutiny at worst.

Hiruzen forced his muscles to loosen. He could make them leave. He could think of a way.

The Head of the Aburame Clan strode forward to stand beside the young Uchiha. "An Aburame was detained without me being notified," she said, straight to the point. "Why? I would like to find out."

Hiruzen's hopes of resolving this trial with minimal stress caught fire and turned to ash at his feet.

Though Danzō returned to his seat without a word, his disapproval was a tangible thing that filled the room.

The Clan heads took their seats without sparing him a glance. Like they'd been invited to come and Danzō was the one out of line.

Hiruzen sighed.

Fugaku was the only person to remain standing. He set a file in front of Hiruzen before looping around the table and repeating this with everyone minus Danzō.

"Forgive me if I'm being forward, Sandaime-sama, but I went ahead and prepared these files for the trial," Fugaku explained. He cast the table—bare besides the tray of tea—a look. "It seems it's a good thing that I did."

Feeling mildly scolded, Hiruzen flicked the file open. Honestly, this child...

Without taking a seat, Fugaku flipped his own file open. "Now, if you'll turn to page three and lower your eyes to paragraph two."

Hiruzen paused at the first page. The Uchiha Crest had been carefully drawn in the center of it and the words: Accusations Against Danzō Shimura, had been written inside the Crest in large, neat characters. Had the young man included a title page on all of the files? And had he drawn the Uchiha Crest every single time? A glance at Homura's stack answered both questions. Fugaku most certainly had.

Hiruzen could already feel his migraine worsening. Knowing there was no way around this, he flipped to the second page. Which was a table of contents. Hiruzen stared at it. The table of contents listed fifty pages. Fifty.

Why was this happening to him? Why?

Hiruzen took a moment for his mental health. When he felt like he'd dredged up enough resolve to continue, he turned the page. And regretted it. "You interrogated Jiraiya," he said, not asked. The answer was plainly recorded across the page.

The idea of passing on the hat was growing more appealing by the second.

Fugaku turned the politest of frowns towards him. "Yes sir. According to the laws of Konohagakure, all parties involved in an incident are to be—"

"We're well aware of the village laws," Koharu cut in. "Get on with it."

A minuscule twitch of the brow was the only indication Fugaku was irritated by that flippant response. By the time he'd turned to Danzō, it was gone without a trace. "Danzō Shimura, according to Jiraiya-sama you knew the location of the abducted children. Is this correct?"

Danzō didn't react. "It is."

Hiruzen could tell who was privy to this information and who was not, eyes sharpening in interest and people sitting straighter in their seats.

Danzō remained stone-faced. "I know every inch of this village. That does not mean I was aware of Orochimaru-kun's actions."

At this, Fugaku raised a brow. "And yet, if you look at paragraph five, you'll find that Jiraiya-sama claims to have seen you with Orochimaru-sama recently. And if you flip to page seven, paragraph four—"

Hiruzen did so. What he found was a sentence of carefully recorded insults towards Fugaku, his family, and his future children.

"Tsunade-sama said similar."

Hiruzen eyed Fugaku. Similar was a way to put it. Not an accurate way. But. A way.

"Where exactly—?" Koharu began.

Fugaku turned his file around and pointed beside the sentence where Tsunade demanded that he: "Get the heck out of here right now, are you blind!? I'm in the middle of an operation!" After that, there was a throwaway line about Orochimaru probably talking to Danzō whatever just get out now!

Someone let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

Hiruzen could tell this was going to be a long day.

Retirement. There was a thought.

X

x

Obito could tell this was going to be a long day. Legs bumping under the desk, it took everything he had not to walk out of this class that never seemed to end fast enough. He had no idea how the others were sitting so calmly—well, about as calmly as they could, he corrected, watching as Gai shot out of his seat to answer a question.

Obito ignored this with an ease born of familiarity even as his classmates rolled their eyes and muttered unkind things. He had more pressing matters on his mind. After all, as soon as the Academy let out for the day they were going to visit Kakashi and finally get some answers! Well-deserved ones in Obito's opinion! Yesterday, Kakashi had gone missing for hours and when he'd finally turned up, it had been in a hospital.

Not that Obito was worried! Because he totally wasn't! He just, uh, had a right to know. Yeah, that was it.

Frustration crawled down his skin like ants and his fingers curled into fists on his lap. It didn't matter what the grown-ups said, Kakashi was his friend and if something bad was going on he could help! He wanted to help. He'd never abandon any of his friends. Never.

"You're looking awfully serious over there," Asuma muttered, making him startle.

His head snapped to the side so fast, he nearly pulled a muscle.

Chin resting in an open palm, Asuma arched an eyebrow at the display.

Why exactly one of the most popular kids in the village had chosen to sit beside him of all people, Obito couldn't discern, but he really wished he hadn't. Obito was a social pariah, the kind of attention he received from people like Asuma was never positive. Asuma may have helped them find Kakashi but he still wasn't sure if Asuma following them around was some kind of elaborate prank or not.

On the other side of him, Rin leaned over the desk to peer at his face. "Is everything all right, Obito-kun?"

Was she worried? About him? Cheeks growing warm, Obito's gaze dropped to his lap. "I was just thinking about Bakashi!"

A beat of silence passed and Obito didn't dare look up, didn't dare see whatever expression they were wearing.

Then Rin made a contemplative sound and said, "We should buy him a get-well present."

"Huh?"

"It's polite," she explained.

"She has a point," Asuma agreed, tapping his index finger against his chin in thought. "We were in such a rush it didn't cross my mind but we were pretty rude yesterday just barging in like that."

"Uh we were!?" Thoughts of ill-intent and worried best friends fled Obito's mind as he thought about yesterday. Horror replaced frustration in an instant. "We were!"

"We'll have to buy two gifts," Asuma said as if it was a given. "One as a get-well present and another as an apology for yesterday. What type of food does he like?"

"Probably anything that isn't made by that demon dad of his," Obito muttered, to which Rin shot him a look.

Obito wisely shut up.

"I know a place that sells good mochi," Rin said with a smile so bright if anyone else looked over they wouldn't believe for a second that she'd just finished threatening Obito's life.

"All right, mochi then," Asuma said in such a way, it was clear he'd picked up on this and found it hilarious.

Obito shot him a glare. Stupid popular suspicious Asuma.

"You three in the back, stop talking!" Nakamura snapped.

As one, they startled. "Yes sensei!"

X

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"Danzō Shimura, would you care to elaborate on what this supposed meet-up with Orochimaru was about?" Fugaku asked, undeterred by the fact several of the other Clan leaders were sighing and shaking their heads.

"I have no need. As I'm sure the rest of the Council will agree," Danzō said. "Such shaky evidence isn't admissible in any trial, let alone this one."

Danzō wasn't wrong but... "Answer him," Hiruzen ordered.

Danzō's narrowed eyes flicked to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen met his gaze and held it.

Without breaking the staredown, Danzō obeyed. "Orochimaru-kun had questions about an assignment he was recently given. That is all."

Hiruzen detected no deception in those words. Perhaps Danzō truly was innocent? Allowing himself to relax a decibel, he broke the eye-contact and waved for Fugaku to continue.

"I also went ahead and asked Kakashi Hatake some questions—" He was cut off by Sakumo spitting out a mouthful of tea.

As wrapped up in the file as he'd been, Hiruzen hadn't seen him take the empty cup they'd set out for Danzō.

"Wait," Sakumo said, eyes wide as a droplet of tea rolled down his chin. "I've been with you for most of the day! When did you find time to interrogate my son!?"

Fugaku seemed more bothered by the interruption itself than the question. When he spoke, he sounded as if the answer should have been obvious. "Hatake-san, the Konoha Military Police Force believe in most of all, a thorough job perfectly done. To simply stand in the hallway twiddling my thumbs while you chat with Jiraiya-sama was something I could not allow when questioning witnesses was a much more effective use of my time."

Sakumo did not look reassured by this. Nobody did, in fact.

"Right," Sakumo said. "Of course. My mistake."

Fugaku nodded as if to say yes your mistake before returning his attention to the file. "Before I get into that, however, I would like to go over the Interrogation Report. Yamanaka-san, if you will?"

"There's not much," Yamanaka said. "Shortly after being detained, all but one of the supposed insurgents committed suicide by biting through their tongues. As for the remaining one, the Aburame, she revealed a seal to us that keeps her from revealing any information about her actions."

That sounded awfully familiar. "What did this seal look like?"

"It appears to be a mixture of the hexagrams 'kan' as in influence and 'ton' as in concealment and is located on the tongue."

Hiruzen felt something inside him harden at those words.

"We're working out ways to get information around it," Yamanaka was saying but Hiruzen hardly heard him. "Mindwalking, for example, may be possible, though we have to be wary of any other applications of the seal the prisoner cannot warn us of. But with her cooperation, I'm hopeful we can get the information you want by the end of the day."

That meant by the end of the day, they would know about ROOT.

Despite this statement, Danzō didn't seem concerned.

Hiruzen made note of that.

"We've asked a series of questions to vet what was and what wasn't allowed by the seal as per Adzuki-san's suggestion and it seems anything concerning Danzō Shimura and what the shinobi's work entails is off-limits, as well as any information concerning the seal itself."

Hiruzen knew this. He had signed off on the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal after all. If the ROOT agents were to handle the dirtier aspects of the shinobi world, they could not let their actions be known by anyone, least of all their enemies. Their jobs were riskier by nature which meant the chances of them being captured were higher and with the sensitive information they were privy to, it had made sense to take precautions.

Or at least, that was what Danzō's argument for it had been. Had Hiruzen been deceived? Could Danzō be using that seal to keep secrets from him? After all, this ROOT agent—now that he knew they truly were one—had been captured in the lab after personally trying to capture Kakashi. If this wasn't the work of insurgents, how many of Danzō's secrets could these ROOT agents be keeping?

"Very well," Hiruzen murmured, interlacing his fingers in front of his chin. "I expect any new information garnered to be reported to me immediately."

"Of course, Sandaime-sama."

"Fugaku-kun."

Fugaku straightened.
"Carry on."

Though his serious expression didn't change, his eyes brightened at the acknowledgment. With a respectful nod, Fugaku held up his file. "I'll read over the information shared by Kakashi Hatake now."

On that note, the trial began for real.

X

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After agreeing to pool their allowances together and buy one big present as opposed to each of them giving him something small, they wound up visiting a weapon shop in the Uchiha district. Not only could Obito get them a clan discount here—Uncle Tetsuo being one of the few Uchiha to actually include Obito in said clan discounts—but Uchiha weapons were quality.

They weren't the only clan that had private dealings with merchants and other such individuals, but they certainly had the largest amount. This was due to the fact that unlike the other clans, the Uchiha had no problem sharing some of their bounty with the rest of the village. For a price, of course. Which was how they earned enough revenue to make more deals and request better materials, something his friends were clearly enamored by as they wandered through the shop.

Near the store window, Gai was twirling a set of nunchucks overhead with a grin wild enough to have Uncle Tetsuo's eyes snapping between him and the window.

Asuma was yet to make a reappearance from where he'd disappeared into an aisle full of brass knuckles and knives. Rin had parked herself by the senbon for just as long, studying the length and design of each one.

She seemed especially taken with the senbon disguised as ornamental hairpins. He made note of that for when her birthday rolled around.

He should bring her and Gai here more often. If he'd known they'd like it so much, he would have invited them sooner. Maybe Kakashi could come next time too?

"Obito-kun."

At his name being called, Obito returned the kunai he'd been sizing up to the plastic bin with the rest.

Asuma was beckoning him over from the end of the aisle, and with a frown, Obito headed his way.

The others noticed this, and with curious frowns exchanged between them, they followed.

Asuma led them deeper into the shop, bypassing a rack holding different sized swords and turning into an aisle filled with gloves and utility belts. He kept moving until he reached the end where—

"Uh."

Rin's hand rose to her lips. "Oh."

Gai blinked.

Asuma grinned. "Cool right?"

Dangling from a hanger bar and identical to the pair hanging from his neck, a row of goggles stared up at them. The goggles' lens were the only difference, each one tinted a different color.

This wasn't surprising. After all, this was the store Obito had bought his goggles from, along with any replacements he'd needed over the years. No, what surprised him was that his friends (could Asuma be included in that?) had taken an interest in this.

Asuma slid several pairs off the hanger rack so he could get his hands on the goggles with silver-tinted lens. "I was thinking we could get him this one! You know, like his hair."

Obito blinked. "Wha..?"

Why would Asuma wanna do that? Was he trying to make fun of Kakashi!?

Obito's confusion only grew when Rin stepped forward and started shuffling through the goggles as well, pulling out two additional pairs and snagging one from Asuma. "Why don't we all get a pair? Then we'll match!"

Okay, now Obito was really confused.

Gai seemed to share in the sentiment, eyeing the green-tinted goggles she'd handed him as though they were an illusion that would surely fade at any second. When they remained very real and very corporeal, he said, "You want to... match with me, Nohara-san?"

That was a good question. Obito wasted no time nodding his agreement with it because seriously, Rin wanted to match him and Gai? That was crazy! Gai was considered the village freak, and Obito? He was the Uchiha's freak! Being seen with them in public had to be embarrassing enough but now they wanted matching goggles!? If they actually wore those things, every time someone saw them they would know they were associated with him and Gai!

"Uh-huh," Rin said, the same way anyone else would confirm that the sky was indeed still blue. She handed Asuma a pair of red-tinted goggles and kept the purple pair for herself. "And you can call me Rin, we're good enough friends for that now."

Asuma turned the goggles around in his hands, admiring the way the lens reflected the fluorescent light from the ceiling. "Can I call you Rin?"

"Sure."

"But— But you want to match with me?" Obito cut in.

Asuma looked between him and Gai with a puzzled frown. "Yeah, why wouldn't we?"

It was like someone had snatched the words from his throat. Obito didn't know what to say, didn't even know where to begin and oh no, his allergies were acting up! His allergies! Yanking his goggles over his eyes, Obito whirled around so his back was to them.

"If— If you want to that's fine," he said, voice hitching because of his allergies and no other reason!

Gai had no such restraint, burying his face in the crook of his elbow as he openly sobbed. "Rin-san! Obito-kun! Uh." He paused for a second before resuming his cries. "And Octagon-kun!"

Asuma threw his head back and laughed, "Who would even name their child that!?"

With a fond sigh, Rin walked over to Obito and held out her hand. "Why don't we go pay now? We still have to pick up the mochi on the way after all."

With a hiccupy breath, Obito clasped his hand in hers. "Okay."

Asuma was their friend! Genuinely! He was tagging along because he liked them! And Rin— Rin wasn't embarrassed by them! Either of them!

On second thought, Obito wished this day would never end!

X

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Hiruzen just wished this day would end. Half an hour had passed since the trial began but it felt like days. Horrid, drawn-out days that showed no sign of ending anytime soon. He really didn't have the energy for this right now.

"Kakashi-kun claims that for days prior to his abduction, he repeatedly got the feeling he was being watched. This checks out with Jiraiya-sama's claims to have spotted a masked shinobi following Kakashi-kun the day before his abduction. Kakashi-kun also reports to have been alone several times during that day, so why did the masked shinobi wait until after Sakumo-san left the village to strike? There was no guarantee he would be receiving a mission anytime soon, in fact, the opposite is true."

"Fugaku-kun, may I cut in here?" Sakumo, well, cut in.

With a nod, the young Uchiha folded his hands neatly in front of him.

Sakumo turned his attention to the other Clan leaders. Not to Hiruzen.

It's not me he's trying to convince, Hiruzen realized. Had Sakumo already lost that much faith in him? He shot the other occupants of the room a pensive look. Had they?

"Fugaku-kun is correct about that," Sakumo said. "I've spent the past two months on leave with no sign of this changing anytime soon."

Hyuga scoffed, "Where are you going with this exactly? If you're here to complain, that decision was far more than what you deserved! If you had even a shred of honor left in you, you would have committed seppuku to atone for the shame you've brought on our village!"

"I'm not complaining, only stating a fact," Sakumo said with the patience of one accustomed to such barbed remarks. "Besides, I made the call to protect my comrades that day and there's nothing shameful about that."

There was a story behind those words. With the way their relationship was at the moment, Hiruzen doubted he could ask for it.

Hyuga looked ready to argue but Sakumo went on, "These are the facts. I was ordered to remain on leave, and yet, a messenger bird found me outside my home with a scroll that claimed I had been requested for a mission where my expertise was required."

Nobody dared to fill the silence that followed.

Sakumo sighed, breath cutting into the steam wafting from his cup. "That was untrue. After disembarking on this supposed A-rank assignment, I discovered it was a simple escort mission—C-rank at best—and certainly, nothing that required my skill set."

Shikaku Nara, who by all means appeared to have been dozing off until now, made a sympathetic sound. "Sounds like a real drag."

Shikaku was the youngest among them, only sixteen and already leading his clan after the death of his parents last month. Hiruzen hadn't expected him to speak up during this meeting.

"It was," Sakumo agreed. A blink. Then he turned sheepish, "Ah! I mean..."

"Shouldn't that mission have gone through the Hokage first?" Shikaku asked, sparing the man from his own awkwardness. His dark eyes flicked to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen needed a smoke. "While Sakumo-san is under orders not to embark on any missions, he was specifically requested by a client of high standing."

"Sakumo-san's reputation isn't the best right now," Hyuga argued. "Why would any clientele want to request him?"

Despite the insult, Sakumo was calm when he said, "Because Danzō Shimura personally recommended me to them."

At those words, Danzō found himself on the receiving end of a roomful of suspicious stares.

What held the most impact, however, was when Shikaku shifted to sit upright and every ounce of laziness drained from his form. "Is that the truth?"

Kakashi had felt like someone was watching him. Jiraiya had seen someone watching him, someone who matched the description of a ROOT agent. Someone Danzō had privately confirmed was, indeed, a ROOT agent, one he had assigned to protect Kakashi despite Danzō being the reason Kakashi didn't have an ANBU guard to begin with.

Kakashi was abducted without any signs of anyone having fought despite his supposed guard, and mere minutes after Sakumo had been rushed away on a mission he was overqualified for. A mission Danzō had recommended him for. Then he was stolen away to a base Danzō knew the location of by ROOT agents the man claimed were insurgents.

The pieces of this puzzle painted a picture Hiruzen found disturbing. Danzō was ambitious, always had been, but the man loved Konoha. That was why Hiruzen relied on him. Why he trusted him despite their issues.

Had his judgment been wrong? An image of Orochimaru appeared in his mind, and Hiruzen's fingers tightened around the cigar pipe he couldn't recall grabbing. It wouldn't be the first time his judgment had failed him, now would it?

"Is Hatake-san telling the truth?" Shikaku repeated when his question went unanswered.

Danzō moved slowly, raising a hand to his chin as if deep in thought. "It seems the client misunderstood me."

Killing intent shot through the room like lightning on metal, charging the air with static that had the hair on his arms and the back of his neck rising. The killing intent was reigned in as fast as it'd appeared but everyone had felt it. Everyone had witnessed how furious Sakumo truly was despite his calm demeanor. And. Everyone had been reminded of how dangerous he could be.

"So you deny it then?" Sakumo asked, voice worryingly level for a man who had just let slip how badly he wanted to tear Danzō Shimura limb-from-limb.

Even Danzō appeared alarmed, wide eye glued to Sakumo's hands as if he expected the man to start flying through handseals. "I do."

"How on Earth would the client misunderstand that?" Shikaku drawled, tone bored despite the body language that hinted he was anything but. "How would anyone? You had no reason to bring Hatake-san up at all." When Danzō didn't answer, "Yamanaka-san, have you confirmed the identities of the deceased shinobi?"

Yamanaka flipped to a page in his file. "I listed out their names on page ten. They were all children from the Orphanage who were believed to be dead."

Shikaku closed his eyes. "If you'll allow me, Sandaime-sama, I'm about to jump to some conclusions."

Hiruzen wondered about that. It didn't take him long to make up his mind. "Go ahead," he permitted.

"Let's say that there's an organization out there," Shikaku gestured around them. "And let's say they've been taking children right out from under our noses for years now, children nobody would bother looking too hard for. Orphans, outcasts, children from broken homes. It's clear they're not above snatching clan children who fit the bill as well—Kakashi Hatake and the Aburame are clear examples of that."

The insinuation that Kakashi's abduction would have slipped through the cracks wasn't an appreciated one. But. If those children hadn't brought Kakashi's disappearance to their attention... if they hadn't gotten Jiraiya of all people involved... if they hadn't convinced Jiraiya to speak with Hiruzen directly... Well, he doubted they would have been able to find Kakashi at all, let alone as fast as they had.

Jiraiya may have led that retrieval mission but it was those children Kakashi owed his rescue to. If they hadn't kicked up such a fuss over their missing friend, Kakashi's absence undoubtedly would have gone unnoticed until Sakumo returned home hours after the retrieval mission had begun. By then, there was no telling where Kakashi could have been moved to.

Remembering the way those children had burst into his office—his own son one of them—Hiruzen's need for a smoke increased tenfold.

Fugaku frowned. "What would be the motivation behind this organization's actions?"

"To amass a personal army," Shikaku said the same way anyone else would comment on the weather. "Or to experiment on them. It's possible both are true."

Shikaku certainly was jumping to conclusions, but his points were not outlandish and Hiruzen could see how he'd arrived at each one. Nara or not, he hadn't expected to find this level of deduction in someone so young.

Hiruzen turned to Fugaku. "Have someone look into all the disappearances that have occurred within the past five years."

"I already have Sandaime-sama."

Sakumo didn't spit out his tea this time. He did, however, look at Fugaku as if questioning whether the boy was truly human. "You did all that research too? When did you even find the time!?"

Homura opened his mouth, likely to demand they stay on track but Hiruzen raised a hand to stop him. He wanted to know too.

Fugaku sighed as though the question was ridiculous and Sakumo was a simpleton for having to ask. "Was I supposed to simply admire the weather during our walk to each Compound? There are much better uses of my time."

Sakumo whispered something that sounded suspiciously like, "But I didn't even see him take anything out..."

All right. This was mildly concerning. What exactly have they been feeding those Uchiha?

Yamanaka was fighting to smother a grin when he asked, "May I ask what page that information is on?"

"If you'll refer to the table-of-contents, you'll see it plainly stated that this information is located on page eighteen."

"Of course. Pardon me."

Fugaku shot him a look that suggested Yamanaka would never be forgiven for this slight.

Hiruzen finally gave in to the urge to light his cigar pipe. He took a long drag from it, perhaps the longest to date, and only released the nicotine flavored air when his lungs demanded he do so. Ah. Much better. With this, he might actually make it through this trial.

On cue, the doors to the meeting room flung open. Everyone besides Hiruzen shot to their feet, some reaching for weapons, others readying their hands to form seals. Which was probably for the best.

Because standing in the doorway with his foot still raised from kicking the doors in, was none other than Orochimaru. Under one arm he had two ROOT agents piled atop each other and in the other, he was holding Kakashi Hatake by the back of his shirt like a disobedient puppy.

Kakashi Hatake looked sheepish.

At the baffled silence that followed, Orochimaru merely smiled, "If all is well with you sensei, I have some evidence I'd like to present to the trial."

Without another word, he threw the unconscious ROOT agents onto the floor.

A/N: Congratulations Rin, now your friends would DiE FoR YoU

Alsoooooooo sorry this chapter took so long! I really have no excuses this time lmao but I do have a Tumblr where I'll be giving updates on my fics status (like whether I'm close to finishing the new chap n whatnot) and posting scenes that didn't make the cut! That kinda stuff! Links are always buggy on this site so here's the Tumblr UN: detective-bitch98

Anywho, next chapter we're gonna rewind time for Ichigo's POV!