A Dance of Flame and Shadow
Chapter One: The Turning of the Tide
He looked entirely unimpressed, but she couldn't say that the expression was anything new. He'd looked some variation of unimpressed or miffed since he appeared. As if she'd been the one to introduce herself to a stranger by kissing him, and then blame it on the stranger.
If he weren't equally as confusing as infuriating, she'd already have sent him through a couple of city blocks.
"Do you usually demand names without expecting to give yours?" He said it as if that were an actual possibility.
Which was...just.
How could there really be two Danzos? Were they related? Did that one actually...have children?
She struggled not to scowl at him. That would let on how confused and suspicious she was, and potentially provoke an attack. If he were the shinobi world's strangest secret operative. "I've never seen you before." She'd said that before, but if he was a shinobi of Konoha, that was pretty important. "That's strange, isn't it, for a fellow shinobi of Konoha?"
He crossed his arms. The movement wasn't quite sudden enough to make her defend herself. She was more than on edge enough to almost make her do it. Which was a little ridiculous if he really was just another Konoha shinobi that she hadn't seen in the Hokage office by pure chance. And had the name of someone who gave Lady Tsunade trouble often enough for her to remember it.
"I can't say that I remember seeing you before now, either." His lips twisted downward in what must have been irritation. "And you're...distinctive."
Now, she wasn't exactly famous. She wasn't Uchiha or Naruto, or anyone else like that. But...she was the Lady Hokage's newest apprentice. That wasn't a secret. And she spent a lot of time around her. Could an active duty shinobi really not know her?
...Well, actually she hadn't introduced herself yet. If she hadn't seen him, maybe he hadn't seen her. He might only have heard her name.
"...I'm Sakura. Sakura Haruno. I'm...the Hokage's apprentice."
He squinted at her. Disapprovingly. "I don't believe that's true."
...What?
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" What was there to doubt? It was true! "Who are you?!"
His disapproval melted back to the irritation of before. "I've told you already, woman. I am Danzo. Danzo Shimura."
That...
That wasn't even-
How could anyone have intel that poor and still make it into Konoha?
Finally, she couldn't really help scowling. "You're a bit young to be him, don't you think? And much too healthy."
He actually fell quiet for a few moments then. Rather than irritated, he simply looked confused. The expression eventually faded away into a stony glare again. "I have no idea who you've confused me with, but I am most assuredly who I say I am. There is no other with my name."
...He was adamant about sticking with his cover, even once it was blown, wasn't he? She gripped a hand into a fist. "Then you won't mind if I escort you to somewhere to confirm your identity."
His hand settled on the kunai at his thigh. "If you are truly also a Konoha shinobi, there is nothing to fear with following you to verify the obvious."
Did he-?
Did he just question her identity again? As if he could just turn things on her and change the situation away from outing him as a fake!
"I am. Come with me." She reached out for his arm and he took a step back, expression turning sharp and dangerous.
"You've yet to share where we're going."
She hadn't decided yet.
"That...that depends! If you can convince me you actually belong here by the time we get there, it'll be better than where you go otherwise."
He gave a soft huff. "And just what authority will you make that decision on? You seem to be under a delusion as to how much you wield."
She...didn't have much authority, actually. She was only barely a chuunin, and 'the apprentice to the current Hokage' didn't actually infer any authority as it wasn't an official rank of Konoha. But, if he were a hostile invader, she had the authority to do whatever she felt necessary to defend the village.
"Until I'm sure you're not an enemy, I have all the authority."
"And why shouldn't I believe you're the enemy?" For all of his annoyance and despite his words, he didn't radiate any violent intent. Which was just...weird. "I've never heard of you despite what you claim to be, nor have I seen you. I find that unlikely."
She planted her hands on her hips, fingers cracking with the effort of not just attacking him now, dragging him to the nearest prison, and asking him questions in the form of interrogation later. The fact that he didn't seem about to attack her, despite her obviously seeing through his poor disguise, was all that held her back. It didn't line up at all.
"You know, you've been questioning my position an awful lot. If you're so sure of yourself, why don't you tell me yours? Go on. Rank and position. If I haven't met you," if somehow she was so absurdly misinformed about the shadowy figure Danzo she'd heard of but not seen that this man only her age was him, "then what are you?"
He straightened a little, chin jutting out in what might have been pride, if it made any sense. "I lead one of the two units directly under the Second Hokage's command."
The...
The what?
"Wh-..." She stared at him in open confusion.
He seemed impatient.
He seemed impatient.
There was no way in all of hell that an impostor could ever fail to do research so completely and wholly that they would confuse Konoha history enough to believe they were under the Second Hokage's reign, and not the Fifth's. The third, perhaps. The fourth, maybe, but the second? He might as well have said the first or seventh!
"S-Second?"
"Yes." He had the audacity to say it so flatly that she was once again tempted to punch him just because he pissed her off, not because he was a potential enemy (with the worst information network in the world). "The Second. I'm sure it's rather easy to confuse him with the first."
She took a step backward. His hand stayed at his leg.
"Who are you?"
His lip curled just enough to qualify as a sneer. "I've gotten tired of repeating myself for your benefit."
For a moment, his grip tightened around the kunai at his thigh.
Given that entirely uncooperative response, she did the only reasonable thing she could, under the outrageous and absurd conditions in saddled upon her. Really, faced with someone insisting the impossible, claiming she was the one insisting the impossible, and being so infuriating and confusing, what else could a rational and sane person like her do?
Nothing.
That's what.
So, obviously, she attacked him.
