Kakashi Did It

"So that's why you two fought."

"Yeah."

"You just wanted to see how strong you were?"

"Yeah."

"You idiots!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's roar rang through the Hokage Building late that night.

Kazan felt his eardrums vibrate and hurriedly covered his ears.

"Didn't your teachers tell you not to fight in the village, let alone use destructive ninjutsu inside it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been working late every day.

Reports kept arriving from the border. Sunagakure was in trouble: its Kazekage had not been seen for some time and was believed missing, perhaps even dead. The Sand Shinobi were acting like madmen.

The unexplained disappearance of a village leader was no small matter.

Tensions ran high along the borders of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. War could break out at any moment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been busy dealing with the conflicts that kept erupting at the border.

By the time he got home each night, his wife and children were already asleep.

And now this.

These two brats had fought in the street tonight just to find out whose fists were harder.

"I didn't use ninjutsu. Kakashi did it." Kazan rubbed his ears.

No ninjutsu...

"Even without ninjutsu, that move of yours did far more damage than Kakashi's."

He called it Undersea Drop, didn't he?

Hiruzen Sarutobi had to admit the boy had surprised him.

It was the kind of surprise that left him both impressed and alarmed.

That Taijutsu move, Undersea Drop, had probably reached the destructive power of A-rank Ninjutsu.

"It wasn't a technique. I just picked Kakashi up and threw him down." Kazan was still making excuses.

Then again, Garp's Taijutsu largely came down to overwhelming force.

His ultimate move, Infinite Fist Bone, was simply one full-power punch after another without pause.

Beside him, Kakashi's face had long since darkened.

Kazan's shameless words made him want another fight.

All he had wanted was to go home. He had been beaten up, and now Kazan was blaming him for it?

The nerve!

"And you, Kakashi! Why did you go along with Kazan's nonsense?"

"Lord Hokage, I clearly refused. He wouldn't leave me alone."

"That's a lie. If you refused, why didn't you just stand there and let me hit you? Why fight back?"

Why fight back?

Kakashi's head buzzed. What kind of ridiculous logic was that?

Was I supposed to take a beating without fighting back?

"Enough. Both of you brats are going to repair the street you damaged. Finish before dawn so the villagers aren't inconvenienced!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi kicked the two of them out of his office.

As for punishment, how was he supposed to punish two children for fighting?

Making them repair the street would do.

"Give Kakashi to Root, Hiruzen."

The two had barely left when Danzo stepped out of the shadows.

Like a fixture of the place, he always appeared at times like this.

He had come after hearing that Kakashi, Konoha's genius, had been beaten up.

But what he had seen for himself had left him deeply disappointed.

Knowing only Taijutsu was not the problem. The other boy was reckless and shifted blame whenever he caused trouble. His temperament was a poor fit for Root, and he might only create more problems.

Kakashi, on the other hand, would fit perfectly.

The darkness in his heart made him a natural match for Root.

"Was getting Sakumo killed not enough? Do you want to ruin his son too, Danzo?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his pipe between his teeth and glanced back over his shoulder.

"Don't think I don't know you spread those rumors about Sakumo!"

White Fang's death had been a tremendous loss for Konoha.

He had been a top-tier fighter on par with the Sannin, yet gossip had driven him to his death.

"I didn't kill him. Everything I said was true. He abandoned an important mission and caused the village enormous losses."

Danzo's voice was calm, without a trace of regret.

"A ninja should put the mission above all else, not let unnecessary feelings interfere. In the end, he died because he was too weak."

"Enough, Danzo. I'm tired of your twisted reasoning. I won't give you Sakumo's son."

"Fine. But you will give me these people. Root needs more personnel, and the Shinobi World is growing unstable."

Danzo seemed prepared for the refusal. He immediately produced another list.

It named many ninja from Shinobi Clans aligned with the Hokage. Most came from branch families, but all were exceptionally talented.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitate, Shimura Danzō said coldly, "You keep saying I killed White Fang, but you're the one who's actually Hokage."

White Fang had died under a torrent of public condemnation.

Root wielded considerable power, and the ninja force under Danzo's command rivaled Konoha's elite ANBU.

But the man with the most power had always been the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

So rather than say White Fang had died because of the villagers' words, it would be more accurate to say he had died in an internal power struggle.

One man had seized on his injury to magnify the consequences of the failed mission. The other had stood by and watched.

"That was an accident!" Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a cloud of smoke.

It was true. He had never wanted White Fang dead. Konoha needed fighters like him.

But in his mind, White Fang should have been a blade, a blade and nothing more. The one to succeed him as Hokage ought to have been his own student, Orochimaru.

A civilian prodigy with no ties to any Shinobi Clan!

He had allowed the rumors to spread only to curb White Fang's reputation and support in Konoha a little.

That way, Orochimaru would naturally become Konoha's next Hokage.

But White Fang had taken his own life at home. Hiruzen had not expected that.

"You can have these people, but you must find out what happened to the Third Kazekage."

"I will."

Danzo took back the list and disappeared into the darkness.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was alone in the office.

Don't blame me, White Fang!

I simply have more faith in Orochimaru!

White Fang and Orochimaru were equally outstanding. As two of Konoha's strongest fighters, either had the ability to serve as Hokage.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had watched Orochimaru grow up. He had seen him rise from a student to one of the Sannin, famed throughout the Shinobi World.

He trusted Orochimaru more than White Fang.

Then,

he used the Telescope Technique to spy on Kazan and Kakashi.

Kazan was often looked down on at school because he did not practice ninjutsu. He was an oddity. But he had caught Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention long ago.

Not every child could make the Forest of Death his hunting ground.

And tonight, Kazan had exceeded even Hiruzen's expectations.

He had defeated Kakashi, the genius of his generation, though Kakashi had underestimated him, lost his head to anger, and let his guard down.

But Kazan's fists, comparable to the Senju Clan's Cherry Blossom Impact, and the Taijutsu moves he had created himself were proof of just how gifted he was.