"…and that just about covers everything," Shikaku concluded, stumbling as the ground shook for the third consecutive time. While the Land of Fire was known for its seismic activity, these earthquakes were rather strange. "Thank you for coming. Updates will be coming shortly—"
A loud bang shook the newly painted Hokage Residence, but unlike the previous tremors, this one's origin was far more localised. Moments later, the door to the conference room slammed open as Sakura stormed into the room.
"Shikaku!" Sakura shouted.
Shikaku's first thought was that Sakura had woken up in the middle of her surgery and uncovered his double dealings, and his face went as white as a sheet. He forced himself to bite down hard on the inside of his cheek to bring some of the colour back into his face, then assumed a neutral expression like the consummate professional he was. No matter what, he had to find out how much she knew. Acting guilty if she hadn't realised what he'd done to her would only make her suspicious.
"Yes, Milady?" said Shikaku.
Sakura frowned, noticing that several of the clan elders had lowered their gazes when she had entered the room, instead of standing up to greet her. Some of them seemed awfully shifty, but she didn't have time to deal with traitors now.
"There he is," Sakura spat, spotting Mitokado Homura at the back of the room, with one leg through the window as the elderly man attempted to wriggle through the opening. "Running away, are we?" she growled. "To your little boyfriend, perhaps? Danzō. I know he's in Konoha. Talk. Where is he?"
She'd allowed Danzō to roam freely so far because he was a rather slippery fellow, but no matter what, she couldn't let Madara capture him because if he did, the Ten-Tails would be resurrected. If Madara succeeded in becoming its Jinchūriki, he would become infinitely stronger than he already was, and judging by how effortlessly he had kicked her big butt the last time they'd fought... she would be in for a bad time.
"Ahaha, me? Running away? Perish the thought, I would never dream of such a thing," said Homura, laughing weakly. "No, I was just, er… stretching my calves on the windowsill— isometric exercise, care to join me?"
"Yeah, right," Sakura snorted. "And while you're at it, care to share where the Third Hokage's gone? I can't sense him anywhere."
Shikaku coughed into his fist.
"If it's the, ah, Third Hokage you want, Milady, I know where to find him," Shikaku said. "He took the secret passage beneath Hokage Rock to Root HQ's back entrance."
That would explain why Sakura's Sage senses had failed to detect Danzō within the village's limits; a sensing barrier covered the village's underground. So, Root HQ was still operational, Sakura thought to herself. When Danzō had his base self-destruct, not all of it must have caved in... like a lizard discarding its tail to escape a larger predator, the self-destruction must have been a bluff, sacrificing a small part of the hideout to conceal the fact that the rest had survived...
"Ah, it's not what you think, Lady Sixth," Shikaku said nervously. "The Lord Third took a handful of ANBU Black Ops with him to apprehend Lord— I mean, Danzō."
In order to keep Sakura from killing his bestie, was the part that went unsaid.
"Because I told him that Danzō had reached out to me!" Homura interjected. "I'm the one who warned Hiruzen about Danzō's return, you know I'm on your side, Milady!"
Sakura looked at Homura in disgust. She still hadn't made up her mind about Shikaku, but Mitokado Homura was a spineless, honourless worm who would betray anyone and say anything if he thought it would save his own skin.
"What about Naruto and Sasuke?" Sakura asked, closing her eyes briefly before turning to Shikaku. "I can sense them travelling alongside Captain Yamato towards the north... you're sending them to fight the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki?"
Shikaku nodded eagerly.
"That's right, Milady," he said obsequiously. "Very insightful, their powers are indeed perfectly suited to suppressing Tailed Beast users."
"Recall them immediately," Sakura said sharply.
A look of shock appeared on Shikaku's face. He had just praised Sakura for her grasp on combined tactics, and now she was retracting his order? Why!?
"What are you still doing here?" Sakura barked. "Stop staring at me like an idiot, and get to it!"
As strong as she had become, Sakura still couldn't guarantee that she could defeat Madara, even if they had the same powers. She hadn't used them even once yet, having only just obtained them. To win, she would need Naruto and Sasuke, and maybe also Killer B... especially if Obito and Kisame showed up to help.
…
Following Shikaku's directions, Sakura and the Hokage Guard Platoon speedily navigated the emergency shelters buried beneath Hokage Rock and entered the secret tunnel that led to Root HQ's secret base, but when they finally reached their destination, they were met with a grisly sight...
"We're too late…" said Shiranui Genma.
As an aside, Genma's hair was all frizzled; apparently, Kakashi-sensei had been forced to electrocute him to get through to her before Orochimaru took over her body. Of course, Kakashi had been a mite too late, but it had all turned out for the best in the end, thankfully.
Though Sakura wasn't quite sure what had happened in her inner world at that time, she supposed Inner Sakura must have pounded the living daylights out of the old snake and forced his soul out of her body… leaving his extra mass in her chest.
"Lord Third!" Tatami Iwashi exclaimed.
Surrounded by the corpses of ANBU personnel in various states of dismemberment, the Third Hokage sat hunched over on the bridge ahead, his back resting against the guardrail. He was breathing heavily, pouring buckets of sweat as patches of purple skin crept steadily up his neck... he'd been gravely wounded, badly poisoned, and left for dead.
"Lord Third, what happened to you?" Sakura asked, drawing her sword with a flick of her wrist. "Did Danzō do this to you!?"
"Sakura…kun?" Hiruzen croaked. "If you would kindly… entertain… this old man's… last request… let me touch…"
Sakura remembered that Danzō had a subordinate who used miniature venomous bugs. Their victims' skin would turn purple when infected, but thankfully, Sakura could easily deal with toxins.
"Manyū-style Kenjutsu: Breast Purification!"
The Third Hokage's breathing eased as the poison left his body on the edge of Sakura's blade. Flicking the toxins from her sword and sheathing it back inside the sealing formula on her wrist, she repeated her question.
"Madara and Obito… were just here," he gasped and wheezed. "You just missed them… they took Danzō away. I tried my best… but I couldn't stop them."
Sakura wasn't sure if she was lucky or unlucky that she had missed them. By arriving too late, she might have narrowly avoided death... or she might have just signed the entire world's death warrant.
"Er, Lady Sixth?" Raidō called, peering over the bridge's railing into the dark chasm below. "You might want to have a look at this..."