Kakashi's Probe

Yuhi Kurenai got dressed and sat up in bed. Her limbs were still a little weak, and she struggled to support herself with both hands.

Seeing how difficult it had been for Kurenai to get dressed, her body was clearly still weak.

He took a stamina-restoring Military Ration Pill from the drawer.

"Here. I had these Military Ration Pills specially made by the Nara Clan. Have one to help you get your strength back."

Kurenai took it from him and examined it. It was smooth and perfectly formed, with plump grains. She put it in her mouth and chewed.

"These Military Ration Pills taste pretty good. Much better than ordinary ones."

After saying that, she left through the window.

Senya followed her out and watched her retreating figure. Her lower body was still trembling faintly, and she walked a little strangely.

"We'd better take it slow. Some things are still too difficult for Kurenai, especially since Taijutsu has always been her weak point..."

He looked up at the full moon, bright and clear, and couldn't help reflecting that these peaceful days wouldn't last much longer.

Just then, in the direction Kurenai had gone, Senya sensed a chakra signature approaching at high speed.

Was Kurenai coming back? No, she couldn't move that fast right now. Who was coming to see him so late at night?

Soon, a white-haired figure appeared before him.

"Uchiha Senya, I'm sorry to visit so late at night."

Looking at the white-haired man in an Anbu uniform and a mask, Senya knew who he was.

"What does the famed Anbu 'Copy Ninja,' Kakashi Hatake, want with me so late at night? Don't tell me the Third gave you another mission to keep an eye on the Uchiha Vice Clan Head?"

Kakashi took off his mask and shook his head.

"Lord Third didn't give me any such mission. This is just my own decision. It has nothing to do with Lord Hokage."

Kakashi's answer piqued Senya's interest.

"Then what do you want with me?"

"Half a month ago, when Itachi and I were on a mission together, he asked me about my Sharingan."

"I told him this eye carries my best friend's will, and I intend to carry on for Obito."

Senya thought back to the original story. Had this happened? Maybe it had, somewhere in the flashbacks. He couldn't remember clearly. Who would bother watching the later flashbacks in Naruto that closely?

"So what do you want to ask me?"

Senya watched Kakashi, thinking that he had probably already pieced together some important clues. He needed to find a way to bring Kakashi over to his side. Otherwise...

"As Itachi's Anbu Captain, I know a few things about him. For example, what happened to Shisui recently."

"Shisui was always Itachi's closest friend. Given Shisui's suicide and the questions Itachi asked me, I suspect his eye is now in Itachi's hands."

"If that's true, then Shisui's death couldn't have been a simple suicide. Tell me who attacked him. If there's a traitor in the village who would turn on a fellow shinobi, that's something Anbu can't allow!"

Senya studied Kakashi. He hadn't expected him to figure out so much. Perhaps it would be best to play along. If Kakashi learned the truth, he might be easier to win over.

"Are you sure you can handle the cruelty of the truth?"

Senya posed the question to Kakashi gravely.

Kakashi nodded. He wanted to know the truth. Ever since Obito and Rin had died one after the other before his eyes, he had never stopped blaming himself for failing to protect his teammates. Itachi was now a member of his team, and he couldn't let history repeat itself. He didn't want to see Itachi trapped in the same despair he had once lived through, consumed by guilt.

That was what Kakashi thought. What he didn't realize was that, the moment he prepared to hear the answer, he was already being drawn into a massive whirlpool—one that reached back to the darkness of his childhood.

"On the night of the Uchiha clan gathering, Danzo took Shisui's Sharingan. To keep him from taking the other eye as well, Shisui entrusted it to Itachi. That's the truth!"

Kakashi stood frozen, staring at Senya with wide eyes, stunned by the revelation.

Danzo? The Hokage Advisor? The head of Root? He had attacked Shisui?

His mind couldn't process it. If this got out, it would throw Konoha into turmoil. Did Lord Third know? It was probably another case of Danzo acting behind Lord Hokage's back.

Kakashi couldn't help recalling what had happened with the Wood Style shinobi "Kinoe." Danzo had brainwashed him, made him forget Kakashi, and then ordered him to kill Kakashi and take his Sharingan.

Kakashi clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

He couldn't believe Danzo had become so obsessed with the Sharingan. He had thought Danzo would abandon the idea after what happened to him, but instead, he had gone even further and targeted Shisui Uchiha directly, stealing his Sharingan!

Then Senya revealed something else.

"I don't know if you know why the 'White Fang of the Leaf'—your father, Hatake Sakumo—died."

!!!

Kakashi's mind was struck by lightning and went blank.

His father's death? Hadn't his father taken his own life? Was there another reason he had died?

Senya's words stopped Kakashi cold. His thoughts froze, leaving only the words "the cause of Hatake Sakumo's death" echoing in his mind.

A memory surfaced: the day he came home and found his father kneeling on the floor, a short blade in his hand. His abdomen had already been cut open, and the blood had drained away. His father's blood covered the floor.

No matter how much Kakashi called out, he could no longer wake his father...

Young Kakashi had looked at his father's lifeless body and fainted.

He remembered how gentle and caring his father had been. After his father's death, Kakashi had hated him for leaving him alone in such a cruel world.

He had gradually sealed off his heart, too, and, like the other villagers, regarded his once-beloved father as a "disgrace" among shinobi. He had held to a single belief: a shinobi who couldn't complete a mission was trash!

Then, during the Third Shinobi World War, Obito's words had shaken him awake: "A shinobi who abandons a mission is trash, but someone who abandons their comrades is worse than trash!"

After Obito and Rin died one after the other, Kakashi had been devastated and numb every day. He couldn't close his Sharingan, and he couldn't wash away the blood...

Tears slipped from Kakashi's right eye, ran down his cheek, and dampened his mask.

"Uchiha Senya, tell me the truth. Who was it? Who killed my father? My father wasn't trash! So why did his comrades betray him when he chose to protect them and abandon the mission?"

Kakashi roared the words, releasing his grief and the hatred he could no longer hide.

Even Kakashi himself hadn't noticed that the Sharingan hidden beneath his forehead protector had changed into a shape he'd never seen before. The Three-Tomoe had vanished, replaced by the pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan...