Chapter 40

"So how did you find me anyways?" I had my genjutsu clone ask. Meanwhile, I just left my hand over my face where my eye used to be, as if to stop myself from trying to touch it.

Naruto spoke first, "When you didn't show up for class, Iruka-sensei asked me to go to your place and get you. I...uh...went inside but you weren't there. I kinda looked around your apartment and I found a letter in your room. It said something about that Danno..."

Hiashi interrupted to correct Naruto, "Danzo."

"Yeah! Danzo. I showed it to Iruka-sensei and then the Hokage came and asked me where I got it," Naruto finished.

I heard Hinata speak next, "Um, when you didn't show up for our, um, duel, I asked my father if he said anything to you. He told me that you asked about how far underground I could see. So I tried really hard to look for you but instead I found a lot of other people underground. I asked my father about it and..."

"I informed the Hokage," said Hiashi clearly.

Finally, I heard Sarutobi's grizzled voice, "I have to admit, I was surprised to be told that there were dozens of people so far underground beneath Konoha. Upon investigation, it had become clear that Danzo had been operating illegally underneath the village for an indeterminate amount of time." There was more than a hint of bitterness in the old man's voice.

"Pretty much what I expected to happen if I they were going to ever figure it out. Better late than never, I guess."

The Hokage continued, "Haru-kun, you have some wonderful friends. Take care of them." If I didn't know to expect it, I wouldn't have noticed the slight sadness in his words. As I remembered it, two old men were such good friends that Sarutobi would forgive Danzo pretty much anything, hoping that forgiveness would turn Danzo from his dark path. But this had been far too public for that to happen here.

Despite the pain in my chest and face, I turned onto my side and opened my left eye. Even through the blurriness, I could see that I was worrying everyone but I needed to be sure that Sarutobi was the only one who would see the genjutsu I was casting for him. He, alone, would hear that I wanted to talk to him in private soon. When that was over, I again lay on the bed.

"Thanks...for saving me..." I said aloud, dismissing the genjutsu. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the aching in my body.

The Hokage said, "Everybody, let us allow the boy some rest." I heard the shuffling of footsteps and several reluctant goodbyes. Soon, the door closed and all I could hear was the muffled sound of conversation outside. I, too, followed the Hokage's advice and soon fell asleep.

When I woke up, I could feel something sharp against my throat. I opened my eye. In the moonlit hospital room, a dark-haired boy was threatening my life.

"What did you do to the Hokage?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" I said groggily.

"You sent your chakra into the Hokage! What did you do?" he demanded to know.

Before I could answer, I heard the familiar grizzled voice of the man in question order my assailant, "Sasuke, let go of Haru."

"Hokage-sama! What are you doing here?" Sasuke said, dropping his kunai in surprise as the Hokage appeared from the shadows of the room. With a burst of speed, the experienced ninja grabbed the kunai before it clattered on the floor.

"Haru-kun asked me to meet him to talk about something in private. Apparently, I have impeccable timing," Sarutobi said with a lazy chuckle.

I cast a genjutsu on the Hokage to tell him, "Sasuke shouldn't hear what I need to say," but Sasuke grabbed my hospital gown, breaking my concentration partway into the message.

"What are you doing to the Hokage? You're doing something to him!" Sasuke yelled into my face unpleasantly.

I made another genjutsu clone of myself to speak to the both of my visitors. "It's just a genjutsu, Sasuke, so I can tell the Hokage something in private."

"But it's not the same as what you're doing now. It looks completely different," Sasuke said, his worry that I might be attacking the Hokage giving way to curiosity.

"Are you saying you can see my genjutsu, Sasuke?" illusionary me asked.

The Hokage suddenly explained, "Ah, Haru-kun, I suppose you haven't noticed that Sasuke has awakened his Sharingan."

"Oh. No wonder." Through my genjutsu, I asked, "Is Sasuke using the Sharingan right now?"

The Hokage answered, "Indeed. It is the first time in Uchiha history for a newly developed Sharingan to have three tomoe in each eye. I only wish it hadn't required such a great cost."

"That doesn't sound right. Didn't Sasuke get his third tomoe when he fought Naruto?"

My illusion spoke to the two of them, "What I'm about to say to the Hokage is information that must be kept absolutely secret. I know you want revenge for your brother, Sasuke, and I will help you attain it. But right now is not the time."

"I will kill Shimura Danzo without your help." I could barely see Sasuke glaring at me, a sliver of moonlight revealing the anger in his expression. His eyes were dark, however, having escaped any trace of illumination underneath his bangs. "If you don't tell me what you know about him, I'll tell the Hokage what you said to me when you were in detention with Naruto. Then we'll see how well he trusts you."

"Goddamn my ridiculous mouth. What the fuck did I even ever mention the Sharingan to him? I don't even want the goddamn thing. And now I have to find some way to steal Itachi's eyes back from Danzo and Orochimaru. And they aren't even Mangekyo yet." It seemed like an insurmountable task. So I decided to just not worry about it. It wasn't like there was anything I could do at the moment.

"I believe that Danzo intends to find refuge with Orochimaru," my illusion spoke to the two of them.

"Who is Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked.

I ignored him and continued my informal debriefing, "According to my memories, they have a working relationship at this point. He had intended to use me as a peace offering to enter Otogakure, which I think is Orochimaru's personal hidden village, but I was too grievously injured to be moved. Since I'm only useful for my innate store of information, he decided it wasn't worth the effort. As far as I could tell, there was a problem with the sedatives his amateur medic used and he was extremely pressed for time. And if the drugs they gave me had worn off enough, I'd simply attempt to kill Danzo again by flooding his body with natural energy."

Sarutobi looked horrified as I watched him in silence, waiting for my illusion to play out in his mind.

"I don't know why Danzo took my eye other than to replace his stolen Sharingan that he sacrificed for the Izanagi. As far as I know, it wouldn't give him any special abilities like a Sharingan or Byakugan. I just have normal eyes. And I can't think of any reason Danzo would attack Itachi, other to obtain more Sharingan eyes, which he may potentially give to Orochimaru."

"Who is Orochimaru?" Sasuke repeated himself loudly, frustrated at not fully understanding his brother's killer's motive.

"Orochimaru was one of my genin students, when I was a jounin. He was a genius shinobi who became obsessed with researching ninja techniques and...eventually left the village and became a missing nin," Sarutobi said regretfully. "Haru-kun, why didn't you tell me this earlier? Why did you keep it to yourself for so long if you truly know such things? Otogakure is run by Orochimaru? And he's working with Danzo?"

I would have laughed if I wasn't afraid of accidentally hurting myself.

"Do you remember when we first met, Hokage-sama? Do you remember who was in the room with you? And even if you would have believed me, if I told you information unrelated to Danzo, you would have probably discussed it with him anyways. Or he would have used the secret underground organization he was building within the ANBU to find out. And then he would have just kidnapped me sooner.

"And what Yamanaka Inoichi-san saw in my mind is likely only a portion of what I actually know. If my mind were a book, he would have only seen the illustrations and been unable to actually read any of it. The truth is that I understand full well the meaning and circumstances of the visions he saw. The problem is that there are many different versions of Konoha in my memories, all of their timelines diverging from the one that I most vividly remember. They're almost like warnings that the slightest change can have immense consequences. And they warn me that I should never assume that what I remember about this world is true, since in my own memories, I never existed at all.

My illusionary self continued, "If I told you that Madara Uchiha is alive today and plotting to steal all nine tailed beasts in order to ensnare the entire world in an eternal genjutsu, would you believe me?"

"That...that's preposterous. Are you telling me that is the truth?" The Hokage asked hesitantly, as if he didn't want to believe me.

"I have found nothing so far to contradict my memories. Nor have I yet found any proof. So the only thing I can do get stronger. That way, if it does happen, I'll be ready. By the way, do you know of a shinobi called Yakushi Kabuto?" my illusion asked.

"That name is unfamiliar to me," the Hokage answered. That one would be hard to explain so I changed the subject.

"Do you know of Uchiha Obito?"

"I believe he was on the same team as Kakashi Hatake and Nohara Rin. Why do you ask?"

"If my memories are correct, he is working for Madara Uchiha and has assumed his identity. He will take control of a criminal organization called Akatsuki comprised of S-rank nin. And through them, in the future, he will capture jinchuriki and extract the tailed beasts inside them. Madara intends to combined the nine tailed beasts to recreate the Ten-Tails and become its jinchuriki, like the Sage of the Six Paths once was."

"I see. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"Hokage-sama, Danzo is a flawed man. He believed that he had to be cold and emotionless to be a proper shinobi. He believed that he had to do the things that you weren't capable of. And in the name of Konoha, he did terrible things. He would have tried to kill you eventually, mistaking your preference for cooperation and peace to be weakness. And you would forgive him. Again and again, but as far as I know, he would never learn the true meaning of the Will of Fire."

"I know, Haru-kun. I know far better than you could possibly imagine," Sarutobi said sadly. "So, what are we supposed to do about this Akatsuki?"

"I don't know. I just thought we'd beat them up and make them stop," my clone answered with less sheepishness that I would have expressed if I were the one talking.

Sarutobi gave a tired laugh and pulled out his pipe to smoke, obviously not caring about hospital regulations. He asked me, "And why did you tell Sasuke all of this?" The black-haired boy was still standing next to my bed, dumbfounded.

"He wanted to know." I made my illusion shrug for me. "Maybe this is my way of saying sorry for his brother. Maybe I just hoped we'd get along better. But what I'm about to tell you next, Hokage-sama, is for your ears only." Never mind that my genjutsu wasn't sound-based. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but the less people who know this, the better. We'll talk later, okay?"

The Hokage hustled the stunned boy out of my room before he could protest and returned to my bedside. Then I explained to him in a single-target genjutsu exactly why Shisui's dojutsu, the Kotoamatsukami, needed to be an S-class secret. After I showed him the story of the Uchiha Massacre, I spent most of the night describing what I knew about Akatsuki and Orochimaru, as best I could remember off the top of my head. I only hoped that telling the Hokage wasn't a grave mistake in itself. After all, I only had so many body parts left to lose.