"Do not believe a word from that man's mouth!"

It took Itachi everything to hold back his instinct to break Shisui's arm as the latter pulled him in a Body Flicker without warning. He set Shisui's words aside for a moment to see where Shisui had transported them and found that they were in the woods near the Uchiha Compound. Despite knowing Shisui's skill with the Body Flicker Jutsu, Itachi couldn't help but be amazed every time at just how good he was at the jutsu; speed, distance, control— Shisui outclassed everyone else Itachi had seen use the jutsu. He wondered how much time he would need to hone the jutsu to be able to match Shisui.

Ages, he assumed— there were people seemingly tailor-made for particular jutsu.

"Are you listening to me, Itachi!"

Itachi replied, "I am." He turned to face Shisui. "I'm well aware of Shimura Danzo's reputation. I know better than to let my guard down around him."

"That is not enough," Shisui sounded as serious as he had ever been. "That man is dangerous. It doesn't matter if you're prepared for him, give him a sliver of an opening, or enough time to make a scratch, he will somehow get what he wants. People called Orochimaru the Snake; they don't know that something more dangerous crawls in the roots of this village."

Itachi furrowed his brows, wondering what had made Shisui react so strongly from simply hearing a man's name.

"Is it about ROOT?" he asked.

Shisui nodded and was about to speak when his eyes narrowed as he looked at Itachi.

"This isn't about some petty departmental rivalry, Itachi," Shisui's voice turned grave. "Danzo's ROOT is something that shouldn't exist. The worst part is that they operate with complete autonomy. Do you know what response we get every time we ask them specifics about a mission of theirs? They give nothing as they refuse to share any details. And because of "Elder Danzo," we can't force them to turn things over— WE! ANBU can't get access! I don't know why Lord Hokage allows ROOT to exist, but it does, and every day they exist, they operate under the name of the Hidden Leaf, doing who knows what for the supposed good of the village, with zero operational oversight."

Itachi had only been in the ANBU for a year and didn't know about ROOT because of all the secrecy and fog surrounding them.

"Why does he want to meet you?" Shisui asked, half to Itachi and half to himself.

Itachi shrugged. He got no additional information except an invitation from a ROOT operative and the way to contact them when Itachi was free to meet.

"Do you think Lord Hokage shared our information with him?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, he has assured me that he has kept the risky truth to himself." The Hokage had initiated talks with the Uchiha Clan and thus had to work with his office as people needed to know to start the diplomatic process. But the Hokage had kept the fact that the Uchiha Clan was planning a Coup D'état against the village a secret. The Hokage was still the only outsider aware of that hazardous information.

But Itachi could tell that every failed conversation with the Uchiha Clan thinned his patience and willingness to work using 'non-aggressive' means. Sarutobi Hiruzen had been cooperative, but the man had been through three Shinobi World Wars— once the "Kind Professor" stepped back, the "God of Shinobi" was bound to step out, and that man wouldn't have any kindness if the village were threatened.

Shisui clicked his tongue. "Then the clan might have been too aggressive with their moves recently. Danzo might've gotten a whiff of something suspicious."

Itachi glanced at Shisui, wondering where he put Danzo on the scale of an omniscient devil to a highly trained bloodhound.

"… Do you know that we were once able to steal some of their mission details from ROOT?" said Shisui. "The information we got was that ROOT assassinated a series of influential figures in the Daimyo's court. The ROOT treated them as threats because they spoke against the Hidden Leaf in the high political circles; those people hadn't actually done anything to harm the village, just showed their detestation for the village's policy. Danzo had them assassinated over the course of two years, making every death an accident or a scheme from the victim's potential enemy. We weren't able to prove anything… not a single death was ever connected to ROOT… or the village.

ROOT has poisoned an entire inn just to take out one man, they killed an entire caravan and staged it to look like a bandit robbery just for another person, and so much more…"

The expression on Shisui's face was a mix of pure anger and disdain. Itachi had known Shisui since before he could remember, and his current expression was rare enough for him to count on one hand.

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"I won't meet him, don't worry," said Itachi. He didn't want to freak Shisui out after the last time.

"Tell me if he tries to pull something," Shisui's eyes glowed until four-side pinwheels rotated in red, "and I might pay him a visit…"

Itachi didn't know why, but he felt a weight settle in his chest. He immediately changed the subject.

"How is your father doing?"

With a blink, Shisui's eyes returned to normal. "Better than usual… well, as better as he can be. He recognized me for the entire last week." A peaceful smile surfaced on his face.

"That's good. I haven't met him in a while. I should visit," said Itachi. Shisui's father had severe health complications from his injuries from the Third Shinobi World War— he had even lost a leg. Due to that, Shisui had been pushed into the role of sole breadwinner for his family of three from a very young age. There was nothing Shisui cared about more than his parents. There was probably no one with better medical treatment in the Hidden Leaf than Shisui's father. Whatever an Uchiha with three-tomoe Sharingan, who was a jonin, and was currently serving as an ANBU, could procure, Shisui had gotten more.

"He'll be happy to see you. Bring Sasuke along if you want," Shisui smiled. "How about you? What's happening in your life?"

"Things… have been a bit rough with father; these days, all we do is get into arguments every time we talk." Itachi didn't want to discuss his relationship with his father, so he moved on. "Sasuke's doing well in the academy; he has been pestering me to show him how to use shurikenjutsu," a soft smile bloomed on his face. "And well, I believe mother has been having the most interesting time of us all. She has taken a student."

Shisui looked visibly surprised. Uchiha Mikoto was a jonin who had been out of shinobi duty since Itachi's birth, which was more than a decade ago. The only time she had done anything remotely shinobi-like was participating in the emergency during the Nine-Tail invasion. For her to take on a student wasn't only a big deal in the Uchiha Clan but also village-wide. Every year, the village had to move jonin around for academy graduates. At least half of them didn't want anything to do with green genin and had to be convinced to train the next generation of Hidden Leaf shinobi. For a jonin like Mikoto to take on a student meant there was potential for her to take more in the future. Every single jonin mattered.

"Who is it?" asked Shisui.

"A genin named Takuma, no last name," Itachi replied.

Shisui furrowed his brows. "Why do I feel like I have heard that name?"

"You have met him. Junior Officer Takuma of the Department of Organized Crime. You questioned him on how the new recruits were being treated in the Police Force."

"Ah, I remember now. He was a pleasant fellow, if a little shy. I remember his answers being intelligent."

"I don't know any details, but he's apparently doing quite well for himself in the Police Force. And mother says she likes him, so she's probably going to continue teaching him." Itachi had to explain to Shisui the special circumstances of his mother and her new student and how it wasn't a true jonin-genin mentorship but simply daily genjutsu lessons.

"Well, he must've done something right to get himself lessons from Lady Mikoto." Shisui hummed for a moment before continuing, "If they're willing to prop up an outsider like this so early, then the clan really might be able to attract more talented people and phase themselves out." One of the Uchiha Clan's goals was to reduce their concentration in the Police Force and spread them around more important positions in the village. They didn't need that many Uchiha to retain control of the Police Force, but they did need people elsewhere for growth.

"I just hope he doesn't crumble," Shisui finished.

"What do you mean?"

"The entire clan is in an aggressive mode right now. If our friend Takuma continues to perform well, they might try to push him as the poster boy. He'll see more opportunities, which is good for him. But there's a fear that he might be overwhelmed to the point he might break… There are many cases of shinobi being too lost in their work until they become too far gone and aren't able to claw their way back out. Then comes opium, heroin, cocaine, painkillers— anything to keep them working. It's a bad cycle…."

Itachi asked, "You knew anyone like that?"

"Not anyone close, but there are some right now in ANBU who're ruining their health and personal life just to be able to work and not fall behind."

Itachi thought about if his clan could ruin a man, and they were very much capable of doing it. What was a single man against an entire clan? But then he recalled a conversation he had with Izumi— Takuma's academy batchmate— and how she had told him about her observation of Takuma since their academy days and how much he had changed. A potential conclusion they had reached was that Takuma was always pretending to be less competent than he was, so he could use it later to have a jump in ability when he desired and exude a highly positive impression on others. He knew close to nothing about Takuma; they lived in very separate worlds. But from what little he had heard from others, it seemed Takuma had continued to climb up, grabbing opportunities on the way.

"I don't think he will break," said Itachi.

"Oh? What makes you think he won't?"

"Let's just say that Genin Takuma is capable of a lot more than he shows."

Looking at everything, it was clear that his clan was laying the groundwork to potentially use Takuma as a poster boy. Yes, it would benefit Takuma but also bring him harm. It wasn't just the things that Shisui talked about— those were speculations based on very limited knowledge, unlikely to come true. But Itachi did know one thing solidly based on reality: the Uchiha Clan weren't the only one running the Police Force. Ally clans had a significant stake in the Police Force.

And it was ugly human nature to feel jealousy and envy because of other people's success— especially those they thought didn't deserve it.

Itachi liked to think that Takuma was using his clan just as much as they were using him; someone smart in his position would definitely do so— and his impression of Takuma was of someone who understood a lot but spoke less. And he didn't mind it. What relationship didn't have aspects of selfish motivations— some had them more than others. If Takuma was able to get what he wanted while the Uchiha benefited as well— who was he to ruin good things for a single genin?

"I look forward to hearing about him the next time he comes up; I wonder how far he would've climbed," said Itachi— until then, the man named Takuma would return to the dark recesses of his mind, forgotten until brought up.

The two Uchiha eventually left for their homes.

They, however, didn't notice a figure observing them from the shadows

— a figure wearing an orange mask.