Kakashi didn't think there was a better feeling in the world. Triumph. Beautiful thing. The four of them were sitting in Naruto's backyard. Sakura was laying in the grass, feeling the soft green substance under her fingers. Naruto sat watching the birds in the trees. Sasuke stared blankly at Kakashi, and Kakashi looked at all three of them.

"Is it done?" Sasuke asked quietly when he saw Kakashi sigh. It was the unspoken question all three of the kids had in their mind.

Itachi had come home late last night, and so had Naruto's father. Sakura had been at a sleepover at Ino's house, when Inoichi was suddenly called away on an urgent meeting with the Hokage. In the middle of the night. All three knew something was going on, and had been talking about it (telepathically, of course) late into the night. They had deduced this had something to do with Danzo because of the fact that both Itachi and Kakashi were gone, and they had just discovered Sai and Shin today. They had to be talking about them. Talking about them leads to Danzo.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke, finally. Naruto's eyes left the birds and turned to the other two. Sakura didn't sit up, but started paying more attention.

"No. He isn't dead."

An outraged cry came from Naruto, and Sasuke looked at Kakashi with an absolutely confused look. Sakura sat up in that moment, looking like she was about to kill something. All things considered, Sasuke was the one handling things the best.

"How did he not get the death sentence?" Naruto asked, snarling. "He's certainly done enough to get killed three times over! I'm having a conversation with my dad when I get home."

"Naruto, stop, there has to be a reasonable explanation." Sasuke said, placing a hand in the air in front of his friend to calm him down. Kakashi nodded at Sasuke, appreciating his patience. Sakura lay back down in the grass, preparing to hear the lecture.

"There is." Kakashi said, pointing at the three of them individually. He got that patient look in his eyes like he did when he went full surrogate Dad mode. He did that often, actually. Sakura and Naruto laughed about it, even though it did feel nice to have him. Sasuke got a large amount of comfort from it, for some odd reason. "Patience, guys. Sasuke is right. Danzo is locked up tight, I made sure of it. There have been insane security updates, and I've fixed multiple flaws in the system since going back into the ANBU. He isn't getting out of that prison cell, and when he does, it will be in a body bag. My design is flawless."

Sakura sat up for good, finally, looking at Kakashi. "Could someone, hypothetically, break into or out of this prison you speak of?"

Kakashi's eyes moved to hers, and he stood up. His three students sat below him, all three watching him, waiting for an answer. "No." Kakashi said, turning around to leave. "I should go, I'm a part of the team that's going to bring Sai and Shin home." He started to walk away, then stopped for a second. He squared his shoulders. "You three get some sleep. Real sleep."

"Yes sir." Naruto, who didn't have as many problems sleeping as Sakura and Sasuke did, (the Kyubi was exceptionally good at shutting his mind down long enough for him to get good rest) gave their former jonin sensei a thumbs up. Sakura nodded, and Sasuke just sighed. Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, shunshinning out of there to get ready.

This is going to be a long night.

<>

Kushina couldn't wait. She had been practically bouncing off the walls the minute Minato told her about what she was going to do. She hadn't had a real, dangerous mission in a long time. Now she was getting one. She left Naruto to sleep over at Mikoto's house, and went to the Hokage tower, dressing in black ninja pants, a flowy black sweatshirt type thing, and she wrapped her hair up in a ponytail.

She hadn't been on a mission in so long... she loved taking care of her son, and she loved being a housewife, but it was boring as hell. She couldn't wait till Naruto was old enough to take care of himself for a little while, so she could be reinstated as a full fledged ninja. Then, maybe she'd get to do missions with Naruto. Kushina couldn't help but grin at the thought.

"Kushina-sama!" A young man greeted, opening the door for her. Kushina nodded at him, giving the brown haired teenager a smile. She recognized him as one of Kakashi's friends, Tenzo. He was nice. Kushina liked him.

"Hello, Tenzo-san. Will you be joining us?" Kushina asked, tilting her head at him in interest. The two of them stopped in the doorway.

"Yes! I'm just leaving to go get a few people, Lord Hokage's orders." He said, gesturing towards the door.

Kushina nodded, her mouth forming an 'oh'. "I see, I'll let you get to it, then! See you later, Tenzo-san!"

"Goodbye, Lady Kushina." He said, waving as he walked out the door.

Kushina walked further in, and noticed her husband at his desk talking with Kakashi and another ANBU member. This one looked to be a swordsman, judging by the two heavy tachi he was carrying on his back. Kushina announced herself by knocking on the door frame next to her, and stepped in when Minato nodded at her.

Kushina dropped her hand in Kakashi's hair, ruffling it. She was one of those people that was completely willing to embarrass someone in public, much to Naruto's chagrin. (Naruto wouldn't tell her how much he actually liked the attention he got from her). "Kakashi-chan, Minato! Lovely day, isn't it?" She asked playfully. (Kakashi smiled under the mask, seeing her always made him smile. She was a ball of sunshine, truly exactly like her son) She extended her hand to the other ANBU, giving him a smile. "Hello, I'm Kushina. Nice to meet you!"

The ANBU chuckled at her friendliness under the mask, and shook her hand firmly. He marveled at how strong Kushina was. "Good afternoon, my lady."

"Kushina, this is Hayate Gekko, my most skilled swordsman. He will be accompanying you, Kakashi, Tenzo, and Hizashi Hyuga to find and save the boys." Minato said, looking between Hayate and Kushina. Kushina nodded, another smile on her face. She got along well with the younger Hyuga twin. She and his wife were good friends. "Nice to see you back, by the way," Minato inserted, smiling at her in that charmingly playful way he does sometimes.

Kushina laughed, nodding her head. "I'm so excited!" She said, wringing her hands. "It's been so long."

"I hear you're legendary," Hayate said, Kakashi looked at him and chuckled quietly.

Kushina turned her head to look at him, a smile playing on her lips. "Ooh, I'm going to like you. I'm going to make you my new best friend." Minato threw his head back and laughed, imagining Mikoto's face when she found out she got replaced. There would be hell to pay.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Kushina's excitement grew. Hizashi walked in with Tenzo, and Kushina smiled and waved at him.

This is going to be fun.

<>

It was fun, just as she expected. The adrenaline she got from being on a mission always got her fired up about everything. She did pay attention to where she was going, though, because she had never been in those woods before. Getting lost wouldn't be fun.

Hizashi and herself were both brought in because they were sealing experts. Well, Kushina was, and Hizashi has a seal similar to the one the boys had. Gekko, Tenzo, and Kakashi were their backup, just in case some more of Danzo's ANBU showed up to defend them. Based on Kakashi's slaughter the other day, there wouldn't be too many left in Konoha. Perhaps the ones that were on missions outside of the village would return to find their leader arrested and their team destroyed.

Kushina ducked so she wouldn't get hit in the head by a branch. Concussions wouldn't be fun either. None of the ninja that were coming were medical ninja, so that was unwise, but Kakashi had basic medical knowledge that he learned from both Rin, and from hanging around medics in his freetime. (Lies, he learned it from Sakura. Why would he tell them that, though?)

"You're so excited, Kushina," Hizashi said, picking up on her nervous energy.

Kushina leaned over to lightly punch his shoulder. "Don't joke with me, Hizashi, you have no idea what being a mother is like. I need an escape every once and a while."

"And a dangerous adventure is perfectly relaxing." Hizashi said sarcastically, a small smile on his face.

"Of course!" Kushina guffawed. "This isn't what you'd do on a vacation?"

"Not usually, no." Hizashi laughed, throwing a leaf at her. Kushina laughed too, then focused on not falling.

After a couple of minutes of traveling in silence, she remembered what she had been going to ask Hizashi. "You know how to undo your clan's seal?" She asked curiously. She had figured it out after a few days of studying the seal, figuring out what all it entailed, but she didn't know Hiashi would allow his brother access. Hiashi was a bit like Fugaku- someone had shoved a massive stick up his ass, in Kushina's opinion, of course.

"To some extent. I know how to do it, but I do not possess the chakra pattern to unlock it. My brother taught me when we were younger. He is the only one that can undo it." Hizashi said, seemingly reminiscent. "We both used to despise the seal."

Kushina wished she was close enough to pat Hizashi's shoulder. "If you know how to do it, why not ask Hiashi to get Neji out of getting marked?" She asked, knowing Hizashi dreaded the day his son would carry the curse of the Hyuga clan.

"There is a certain... honor, in dying for one's friends and family." Hizashi said. Kushina blinked away tears of pity for her friend, saying nothing more.

They finally made it to the cottage in the woods, and moved in. Hayate, Tenzo, and Kakashi hastily removed traps using Hizashi's Byakugan. They knocked on the door, and used the code word that Itachi had given them. They then said their names, as Kakashi and Tenzo were instructed.

The door opened, and two frightened boys were suddenly looking them in the face. Kushina looked at then with a big smile on her face. They both looked a little more comfortable after Kushina started talking. "You remember Naruto? The little blonde boy? He's my son! Yeah!"

Kushina started talking to them, and eventually got them invited inside. They shut the door tightly, and chatted for a while, then things got more serious.

"Alright, kiddies, you have a seal on you that prevents you from talking, right?" Kushina asked. The two boys nodded, and each opened up their mouths, sticking their tongues out. Sure enough, there it was. Kushina's eyes widened. "Zekka Konzetsu no In!" She exclaimed, bringing her hands up to her mouth. "You poor babies," she said, her motherly instincts showing. She wrapped the two boys in her arms and squeezed.

Kakashi watched in amusement. There really wasn't anyone who could do this job better than Kushina. Well done, Minato-sensei.

"Kushina-sama, is there anything we can do about the seal?" Tenzo asked. He had gotten his own removed from Kushina as well. She was now renowned as the great Seal Master of Konoha. She had earned this reputation by studying the journals and seals of her predecessor, Uzumaki Mito.

She'd met and became close friends with Uzumaki Mito before her death, and Lady Mito had left a blood bind seal on her books so only people of Mito's choice could access them. Kushina became her pupil of sorts before her death. Even after the woman died, Kushina, heartbroken, decided to continue Lady Mito's studies, and surpassed her over the years.

Which was cool, because even among the Uzumaki clan, Mito was hailed as a prodigy. One of the best.

Kushina laughed, waving a hand at Tenzo. "I'll have it off them in no time. I do need you guys to secure the perimeter, make sure no one can get in or out. This takes a long time, as you can probably remember, Tenzo." She said.

"How long do you need?" Hizashi asked, looking at the boys, then out the window in worry. They were on enemy ground with two children. He frowned.

"An amateur seal artist would need at least two days." Kushina said, picking up Sai's hand, and doing the same with Shin. "Well, an amateur wouldn't be able to complete this jutsu in the first place. A fairly decent seal artist would need at least two days." She amended.

"How long do you need?" Hizashi asked again, knowing better than to let it off. The question needed more context.

"Two, three hours tops." Kushina said, squeezing the boys hands.

"Don't worry, boys, you're in good hands." Kakashi hummed from his spot in the back of the room. He hadn't said anything, just admired the idea of Sai, a member of Team 7, alive again. "Kushina-sama is the best known seals master."

The ninja set up outside, and Kushina took out her ink and quill. She did things old fashioned, just the way Mito-sama taught her. Sai watched her in awe, as she drew the most complicated looking seals he'd ever seen on the floor, with the two boys standing in the middle.

"Sugoi!" Sai said, and Kushina looked up at him, eyes sparkling.

"You think so?" She asked.

He nodded. "Un! I like drawing too, I'm not as good as you are."

Kushina's eyebrows raised, and she paused in her work for a second. "My drawings have a special kind of power."

"So do mine!" Sai said happily. Kushina's eyebrows raised further. "I want to learn about your kind too!"

Kushina laughed. "We'll see about that when we get you out of here, okay? I can help you then. Are you two ready?" She asked, finishing up. The boys nodded. "Alright then, let's get started."

<>

"Danzo Shimura, we call you to the stand." Danzo obeyed Minato's commanding voice.

It had taken two hours, late into the night, when Kushina finished the seal and removed it from the boys. The boys were exhausted, and were immediately brought over to Minato and Kushina's house to stay the night. Naruto was practically bouncing off the walls, wanting to play with his new friends, but it was WAY past his bedtime.

In the morning, they all got ready, and half the village met in the Council House Auditorium, where Minato acted as the metaphorical judge, and a few other people (civilians included) were chosen to represent the people. Each person got a specific section of people, and each person got a vote. The representatives would tally up the votes in their section, and all the representatives would average the votes between yes and no. This way they could judge Danzo fairly and according to the wishes of the people. Which was exactly the way Minato worked. Everything was left to the village.

The person elected to prosecute Danzo was a Nara named Shārokku. So far, five people had been called to the stand. The first was Tenzo, he explained how ROOT worked, and went in depth about what the system had done to himself and to others in the group. He explained he was lucky to have gotten out early. The next witnesses were Sai and Shin. They told the assembled people about their lives growing up isolated and training to be heartless killing machines.

The fourth and fifth called to the stand were Kakashi and Itachi, they went up together because their stories were connected. Itachi told the court about his encounters with Danzo, and Kakashi provided the evidence to prove this statement. No one, not even Fugaku had known about this, and no one looked more upset about it than the Uchiha clan. If it was decided that Danzo would get the death sentence for his atrocious crimes, the Uchiha could back it 100%.

The defense on Danzo's side argued that Danzo had served the village for an extremely long time, and deserved more trust and respect. Their arguments were weak.

"Danzo Shimura, the people have come to a decision regarding your fate." Minato said. He looked at the paper in his hands. "For your crimes, we've decided that you'll be sentenced to life in a maximum security prison."

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto looked at each other from beside their respective parents, (Naruto by his mother).

This is bullshit.

Yeah.

I'm sorry, Sasuke, we know how much this meant to you.

Kakashi finally joined this conversation.

His diplomatic immunity is keeping him from getting the execution card, (he was a student of the Second and a friend of the Third, after all) but I'm sure we can arrange for an accident to happen in one of the cells.

No need for that, Kakashi, I'll make it happen.

The rest of Team 7 looked at each other warily.

If you go on a killing spree, at least clean up your own mess this time. I'm not your mother, I won't be picking up after you forever.

Sasuke won't do shit.

Bet.

That's a bet you'll lose, Naruto.

I killed Danzo once, and I'm ready and willing to do it again. Damn bastard.

Language, boys.

Yeah, language.

Oh, shut up. Sasuke, I think you should answer your dad, he's talking to you.

Shut up.

The four of them went to their respective houses, and Naruto gave Sasuke a mental scolding. Sasuke beat Naruto's argument down with that same hopeless statement he made while they were walking home from Kumo.

Sure enough, two weeks after the trial, Danzo ended up dying in his prison cell of a mysterious illness that caused internal bleeding. No one knows what happened to him. Not even Team 7. Was it Kakashi, or was it Sasuke? No one would ever say, and neither of them were going to open their mouths. This would soon become a lasting mystery, with Sakura and Naruto going back and forth in guesses. The only two people who know are Kakashi and Sasuke, and something tells Naruto and Sakura it would remain that way until they died.

But since Danzo was dead, they could move on to more pressing issues.

Much, much more pressing issues.