"Hokage-sama."
The midday sun poured through the tall windows of the Hokage Tower as Kakashi settled into the chair that still felt too large for him. He had barely picked up the morning reports when the door slid open with urgency. Yūgao Uzuki stepped inside, her ANBU mask tucked under one arm, her face tight with concern as she clutched a sealed scroll.
Kakashi said nothing, merely tilted his head in invitation. She crossed the room in three quick strides and placed the document in his waiting hand.
One glance was enough.
His visible eye narrowed.
The ANBU's jurisdiction had quietly begun to fracture. With the newly formed Council of Elders pulling agents in every direction, gaps had appeared in the village security—gaps Danzo Shimura had wasted no time exploiting. Without so much as a courtesy notice to the Acting Hokage, Root had moved in and claimed those empty territories as its own.
The proof was right here in black and white: a single elimination mission in the northwest of the Land of Fire—three rogue ninja carrying a small fortune and a rare petrification jutsu—had somehow been accepted by both ANBU and Root simultaneously.
Under normal circumstances, that might have been an embarrassing overlap. Ninja from the same village could still cooperate, finish the job, and sort out the paperwork later.
But Root didn't cooperate.
Root answered only to Danzo.
The ANBU team had offered to combine forces. Root refused. The targets escaped with the money, the petrification scroll, and their lives. Then the two Konoha factions turned on each other. Several ninja—on both sides—were now in the hospital.
Kakashi set the report down with deliberate calm, fingers laced over his stomach.
"When did this happen?"
"Last night, Hokage-sama," Yūgao answered at once. "The report only just reached us."
"I see. You're dismissed."
She bowed and vanished as silently as she'd arrived.
Alone again, Kakashi flipped to the final page of the dossier. Three grainy photographs stared back at him.
The leader: Ooiwa, a missing-nin from Iwagakure, user of a secret petrification technique.
A woman skilled in genjutsu.
A man who relied on pure taijutsu.
Small-time crooks with an oversized bounty on their heads.
Kakashi almost smiled. He'd seen that old movie—the one from the original theatrical run, the moon-island adventure. These three were background fodder at best. Sakura, fresh into her apprenticeship under Tsunade, could probably have knocked out the genjutsu user before breakfast.
And yet these three nobodies had just sparked the first open clash between ANBU and Root.
Danzo's greed was showing.
Kakashi had planned to endure the old warhawk's maneuvering for the full three years of his "interim" reign, but this—this was a deliberate slap across the bow.
He spun the Hokage's seal idly between his fingers, silver glinting in the sunlight.
Time to remind the elder who actually sat in this chair.
"Tell Elder Danzo I'd like to see him," he said to the empty room.
A faint cough answered from the shadows. "R "Y-yes, Hokage-sama."
Hayate's silhouette flickered and was gone.
Kakashi didn't wait long.
The door opened without a knock. Danzo Shimura strode in as though the office still belonged to Hiruzen Sarutobi, cane tapping sharply against the wooden floor.
He'd been waiting for the summons. Of course he had.
"Kakashi," Danzo greeted, voice smooth as oil.
Kakashi's single eye curved, cold and unamused. "That's 'Hokage-sama' while I'm wearing the hat."
Danzo's lips twitched—the barest hint of a smile. "Of course. My apologies… Hokage-sama."
He bowed, low and theatrical, the picture of deference.
Kakashi didn't bother with pleasantries. He tapped the open mission report. "Care to explain why your people decided to pick a fight with mine?"
Danzo stepped forward, feigning surprise as he scanned the page. Outrage followed a heartbeat later, perfectly performed. "Those fools! Not only did they botch the mission, they raised blades against fellow Konoha shinobi? Unforgivable."
Kakashi watched the act with detached amusement. "The handover of ANBU authority never included abandoning the territories we already held. Keep your dogs on a shorter leash, Elder."
Danzo inclined his head, solemn. "They have indeed forgotten their place. I will personally cover all medical expenses for the injured ANBU, as well as their lost wages during recovery."
A pause, testing.
Kakashi gave the smallest nod. "Acceptable."
Danzo pressed the advantage immediately. "However… the ANBU is desperately understaffed. The areas under your protection have grown too vast for the current roster. Something must be done."
Kakashi leaned back, voice lazy. "And how do you propose we fix that, Elder Danzo?"
The old man allowed himself a thin smile. "Root has always existed to cultivate talent for the ANBU. In this time of need, it is only natural that we step in to fill those gaps—for the good of the village, of course."
He even added a delicate cough, as if embarrassed by his own generosity.
Kakashi's inner sneer could have frozen the windowpanes.
"Five hundred million ryō," he said pleasantly. "Transferred from Root's operating budget to the ANBU's. Today."
Danzo's eye twitched. The entire annual budget for Root hovered just above one and a half billion. Kakashi had just demanded a third of it in a single bite.
But the old man recovered quickly. "Agreed," he bit out.
Kakashi flicked the dossier across the desk so the three rogue-nin portraits faced Danzo. "They're yours now. I'll take half of whatever bounty you manage to collect."
Three hundred million, at minimum, according to intel. Danzo had started this little war for that exact payday.
The elder's fingers tightened around his cane, but his voice stayed level. "As you command, Hokage-sama."
He bowed again—lower this time—and turned to leave.
Kakashi watched the door close, then let out a slow breath.
Round one went to the guy in the hat.
For now.
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