A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
Read and enjoy!
oOo
Chapter IV
He had never given it a serious thought before, not until Naruto brought it up that he had began poring it over for the past few hours.
A son with pink hair.
An image of a young boy with pink hair attending the Ninja Academy; an adolescent Uchiha is doing his first B or C-rank mission and a full grown shinobi with cherry-colored hair using his Sharingan.
No matter where he looked at it, the image does not sit well with him. It looked awkward.
Effeminate.
Yet, he could not blame Sakura because she was born with those physical characteristics already. If the first born would be a girl then pink hair would not matter but having a son is a different topic.
There are three possibilities. It could be black, pink or maroon hair. He would accept the maroon but definitely not pink especially if it's a male. Naruto's parents have different hair colors too but he had inherited his father's blond hair and blue eyes and according to him, his mother had red hair and the only thing he got from her was the shape of her eyes and face.
However, if worst comes to worst, he would just have to accept the fact that he would have a son with pink hair. No matter what the hair color is, the child is still an Uchiha. He would just teach the child how to dye his hair on a regular basis and when he gets old enough to do some ninjutsu, a permanent transformation technique.
Granted that his parents would still be alive today, he wondered what they would say if an Uchiha male would be born with a pastel, cherry blossom-colored hair.
If the Uchiha massacre had not happened, he would probably end up marrying one of their relatives. It had been an old tradition for Uchiha members to marry fellow relative Uchihas in order to maintain the purity of the bloodline and the strength of the Sharingan. There were cases where some Uchiha members have wedded outsiders and were still accepted; but most of them, especially the elders, preferred someone within the clan.
Itachi had already been arranged to marry an Uchiha cousin when he was just twelve years old. It was too early considering that most of the Uchiha males and females were being set up upon reaching eighteen. Being the eldest son of the Uchiha Fugaku and considered as the heir to the Uchiha clan leadership, Itachi was paired with the daughter of the deputy commander of the Konoha Police Military Force which was mostly dominated by the Uchiha clan.
Unfortunately, Itachi killed the girl too during the night of the Uchiha massacre.
"Hey, Teme!" Naruto whispered loudly.
Sasuke turned to him, carefully hiding their selves behind dense foliage of trees and masking their chakras. "What?"
Naruto grinned at him. "You were dozing off into space."
"My eyes have been opened for the past few hours. Maybe you are the one dozing off into space," countered Sasuke quietly.
"No, I mean," Naruto paused and thought for a while. "You are staring off into space and you look like your head is in the clouds."
"Baka." Perched on top of the tree, Sasuke scanned the mansion one hundred meters away from them, taking note of its structure.
"Yeah, right," snorted Naruto. He had known the Uchiha for so long that it did not surprise him that Sasuke would deny what he had observed. Sasuke always thinks that he is not capable of doing stupid things. Trust the Uchiha to think himself as Mr. Perfect Guy in every sense.
Hiding behind dense foliage of trees, Sasuke scanned the area one hundred meters away from them.
"Get ready," he instructed, speaking through the short-ranged radio hanging on his neck.
"Can't wait to get started," chirped Naruto excitedly.
"Ready," Sai's voice came over.
"Start the countdown," ordered Sasuke.
"Three," started Sai.
"Two," chirped Naruto thrilled.
"One," finished Sasuke.
Concealed on different corners surrounding the suspect's mansion, the three of them leapt away from the trees they are hiding and sprinted towards the high walls enclosing the mansion. They moved within the darkness of the night, the thick night fog concealing their forms and the rustling of the leaves muffling the sound of their sandals as they sped through. With their chakras effectively masked, each one of them easily slipped far behind the unaware guards and leapt into the wall. Each of them landed quietly on separate corners and began moving towards the mansion, keeping their eyes opened and their movements swift and silent to prevent any unwanted attention especially from the ninja guards.
Naruto took the back door which opened to the kitchen, Sai used the underground gutter and Sasuke entered through the window on the second floor.
Activating his Sharingan against the total darkness, Sasuke ran stealthily along the narrow hallway, his footsteps barely making a sound as he practically glided along the carpeted floor. He paused now and then, checking for nearby ninjas roaming around. Then he turned around in a corner and flattened himself against the wall, waiting patiently for his target to come around.
In a few minutes, the target arrived.
In one swift move, Sasuke tackled the shinobi and hit him on the cervical area, causing the man to lose his consciousness. Next, he focused chakra within his fingertips and stabbed it against the shinobi's vital chakra points, successfully rendering the target unable to mold chakra if ever he regains his consciousness within the next twenty four hours. He turned the man's face down on the floor, rummaged through his pockets and found no identification card. Then, he tied the man's arms against his back and when he was about to shove a mouthpiece to his throat, he caught a silver chain and pulled it.
A silver, necklace tag with the man's name carved on it. Sasuke immediately placed it on his neck.
Placing the man's limp body upon his shoulder, Sasuke walked straight and veered on his left and opened the first door.
Sai's blueprint of the building was very accurate that he did not have any difficulty finding the room. This morning, Sai had sent five small, ink rats to the mansion and after two hours, the ink rats returned and dissolved to the blank scroll. Gradually, a detailed structure of the mansion appeared.
He found himself inside a small, empty room with a single, unoccupied futon lying on the floor. He looked around, found a cabinet and placed the unconscious man inside and locked it. Afterwards, he performed a series of hand seals and instantly, he had changed his appearance.
Sasuke was now the exact replica of the shinobi he had just locked inside the cabinet from the clothes down to the physical appearance. His hair was now shoulder-length, shaggy brown and dark, grey eyes.
Before leaving the room, he hesitated if he should just kill the guy to prevent any complications that might compromise their mission. However, it was unnecessary and he still needs the man to gain some information.
"Phase one complete," said Sasuke quietly through the two-way radio.
"Phase one complete," said Sai.
"Phase one," Naruto's voice came over. "Complete."
Sasuke slid the door closed and left the room. He did not run but walked briskly towards the hallway and found two shinobi's pacing on opposite sides.
"Is that you, Teme?" Naruto whispered.
"Any problems?" Sasuke asked taking note of Sai and Naruto's appearance. Naruto had a dark blue, spiky hair and black eyes with a silver earring on his left ear and a stud on the nose.
"None," said Sai who was now taking the disguise of tall, dark-skinned muscular man with black hair and eyes. "The Swordsman's room is directly adjacent to the suspect."
"I see," muttered Sasuke. The target had hired a Mist Swordsman to protect himself. It is possible that they are anticipating an attack from Konoha-nins.
"Hey, Teme!" Naruto called him excitedly.
Sasuke ignored him first. "We have to get as close to them as possible."
Sai looked at Naruto and Sasuke but seeing as Sasuke was not paying attention to Naruto and seemed focused on their plan, he just listened. "Since all of us will be situated here at the second floor, it means that we are the third frontliners."
Sasuke nodded. The Mist-nins that have been hired are located strategically around the mansion. The first one were patrolling outside the walls and entrances, the second ones inside the walls and outside the mansion, the third ones are inside the mansion and if they guessed correctly, the Mist Swordsman is the last one and the most skilled of them all.
"Hey, Teme!"
"We are going to observe their daily activities for at least two days," began Sasuke when Naruto called him again.
"Sasuke!" Naruto whispered quite loud already.
Deciding that he cannot keep feigning ignorance anymore, Sasuke turned to Naruto and he knew that with the foolish grin on the blonde's face, whatever Naruto was going to say is useless. "What?"
Naruto grinned proudly. "Look at my disguise. Isn't it cool? I look like a rockstar! I'm more good-looking than you now."
Sai's smile widened. "You have piercings."
"Yeah," grinned Naruto and turned to Sasuke to fish for compliment. "What d'you think?"
Forcing himself to remain calm, Sasuke looked at him with a deadpan face. "Is that all you've got to say?"
"Er, yeah," grinned Naruto wider.
"You interrupted me just to say those?" Sasuke asked in a quiet, sarcastic voice. "You know that we're in the middle of discussing our plan for the mission, don't you?"
Naruto caught the sarcasm in his tone. "Chill, Sasuke. You're taking things too damn seriously!"
'We are in the middle of our mission and we are with dealing with criminal and dangerous Mist-nins," started Sasuke. "I am the leader on this mission and you will listen and cooperate, is that clear?"
"Fine," countered Naruto. "You wait till I'm the leader on our next mission."
"Good."
Naruto decided to listen to Sasuke's brief of their mission plan while thinking if the latter had ever cracked a joke on his whole life. Maybe he does not even know the meaning of humour. He wondered if he might try pulling a prank on him on April Fool's but immediately decided against it.
Who knows, he might even mistake a simple prank for a death threat.
oOo
"Here it is, pretty lady." The vendor handed Sakura three large bouquets of white chrysanthemums.
"Arigatou," smiled Sakura as she balanced the three bunches of flowers on her arms. She bowed politely at the old man and bid him goodbye.
Humming a soft tune she had watched on a TV commercial, Sakura walked with a bounce on her steps basking in early morning breeze. She had just finished her research work experimentation yesterday and she just needed to do the paper works part. She had finished earlier than the expected time span; therefore, she would have more time to do other things.
The steel arch of Konoha's cemetery loomed far away from her, a sense of foreboding and nervousness coursing through her. She was greeted by a majestic statue of the first Hokage and on its feet, a tall, rectangular epitaph was written with a solemn quotation about life and death. On both sides, rows and columns of tombstones were arranged, everything well-maintained. There were little villages of graves separated from the rest where it houses the deceased members of different prominent clans of Konoha. Among them were the Hyuugas, Naras, Akamchis and Aburames. But the conspicuous ones were the Shinju and Uchiha clans. They have the biggest mausoleums situated at the end of the cemetery probably as sign of respect to the foundations of Konoha.
The Uchiha mausoleum made of pure white marble with the Uchiha symbol displayed on its entrance. Sakura entered and saw the pictures of various Uchiha members organized down from its predecessor, Uchiha Madara to the present where the last picture was of Uchiha Itachi. She could just imagine the number of pictures added after the Uchiha massacre.
She lighted a few sticks of incense candles and uttered a silent prayer for them. Then, she entered the door on the side of the mausoleum which leads to the back garden where the graves of all Uchihas were situated. She easily found the names she was looking for.
Kneeling before the three adjacent graves, she placed the bouquet of flowers on each one and greeted them. "Good morning, Fugaku-san, Mikota-san and Itachi-san."
She turned first to Sasuke's parents and bowed respectfully. "Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san, I'm here to tell you that Sasuke and I are expecting a child. We do not know yet if it's going to be boy or girl but I hope that you'll be happy." Afterwards, she pause thinking of her next words. "I know that Sasuke just asked me for marriage because he wanted to revive the Uchiha clan but I do really love him that's why I agreed. As his wife, I wanted to share his pain and everything he had suffered but there's still an invisible wall between us that he keeps putting through. But I promise you-" She stopped and looked at the graves straight and sincerely said.
"I will always stand by him no matter what."
Next, she turned to Uchiha Itachi's grave, the man whom Sasuke had looked up to, loathed and respected. The man who had sacrificed his parents and clan for the greater sake of people and his life for his little brother he had wanted to protect. "Itachi-san."
"All I ask of you is to guide Sasuke that he may not go back to the path he had walked upon," said Sakura meaningfully before standing up to leave. "Please be his eyes."
oOo
It was already their second day of spying and so far, they have gotten some snippets of conversation that indicated that their suspect is involved in various illegal activities in and out of the country which have contributed a lot to his wealth and at the same time, have amassed him a number of enemies, which included Konoha. However, they still have not enough information that he was responsible for the murder and frustrated assassination of their clients. If ever he resisted or used any means to escape, they would have to be revert to their alternative plan.
"Anyone up for a spar?" A tall, lean man carrying a long sword on his shoulder asked the stationed guards on the mansion's grounds.
Akiro Kurosuki, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist.
None of them replied to him and evaded his eyes.
"Cowards," the man spat at them, clearly disgusted. From his position at the balcony, he turned to the shinobi guards behind him which included Naruto, Sai and Sasuke. "How about anyone of you?"
Again, none of the guards responded.
If their observation is correct, all of the Mist shinobi guards were afraid of the Mist Swordsman. Yesterday, he challenged one of the shinobi guards to a simple fight but what they have been expecting as training turned out to be a real fight with the poor shinobi guard being killed at the end of the Mist Swordsman "practice session." It was no wonder that none of the shinobi guards wanted to accept his challenge.
"He was killing them as if they're nothing but practice mannequins," said Naruto through gritted teeth.
"They have a different kind of training," muttered Sai whose memories of childhood training under Danzou flashed before him.
"Calm down," whispered Sasuke. In order for a Ninja Academy student to graduate and become a Genin in the Hidden Mist Village, he or she had to fight, with one of the same friends they trained with, to the death. Like Zabuza, the Mist Swordsman wields twin swords that can be used to channel lightning release techniques. They can conduct lightning itself as well. The twin swords was said to be buried deep down in the bottom of the river in the Land of the Rivers after the former owner, Raiga Kurosuki killed himself. Perhaps, this Akiro Kurosuki was a family member. According to Suigetsu, swords of the Seven Swordsmen were passed down from generation to generation
"Hey, you!" The Swordsman pointed at the guard with dark, blue hair with piercings.
Naruto.
The three Konoha-nins silently sent each other looks of alarm. It's not as if they are afraid of the Mist Swordsman but they still have not enough information and if Naruto would fight the Mist Swordsman seriously, he would definitely blow up their cover.
"Come with me outside. I want someone to train with," said the Swordsman.
"Isn't yesterday enough for you, Akira?" Their suspect came out of the room. "I hired them to protect me not for you to kill. I didn't waste my money on them just for you to practice upon."
Mao Hashizume.
A tall, balding man in his late forties who seemed fond of displaying his gold jewelries frowned on the Mist Swordsman obviously regretting that he hired his service.
"You don't need them," said Akiro with an air of confidence. "I can handle those Konoha-nins single-handedly."
"Really?" thought Sasuke with an inward smirk. "So they were expecting Konoha-nins?"
Considering their Anbu status, this mission was considered as just A-rank enough for a team of jounins to handle but since the family of their client had paid a substantially large amount to capture or kill their target in the shortest span of time, the Godaime had chosen them. Actually, either of them could handle the Mist Swordsman and the rest of the Mist-nins with relative ease but they have to follow the mission that the Hokage have given to them.
"You!" The Mist Swordsman pointed to the Mist-nin with dark blue hair and piercings. "Outside. Now."
He had chosen Naruto.
"This is going to be exciting," thought Sasuke. The Mist Swordsman does not know who he was challenging to a fight now.
"Don't use your signature jutsus for awhile. Take it easy," whispered Sasuke as Naruto passed him.
"Alright," agreed Naruto. "Make it fast, okay? I can't wait to pounce his face into bits."
Sasuke and Sai, who were standing apart nodded at him and Naruto proceeded outside.
Mao was now flanked by the rest of the Mist guards including them, watching outside as Akiro and Naruto faced one another. They don't have any reaction perhaps already anticipating the outcome of the event like what happened the other day where the Mist Swordsman challenged another Mist-nin for simple spar training and ended up killing the shinobi guard.
"Let's see how long you are going to last out," sneered the Mist Swordsman to Naruto.
Naruto did not reply but just smirked at him.
"I'll wiping that smirk off your face," said Akiro and he lunged at Naruto. In a blur, he was behind Naruto and he swung both twin swords at both sides of his neck.
Naruto leapt away easily and aimed a kick at him but which Akiro immediately blocked by crossing his arms against it. Yet, Naruto's kick was strong enough to push him backwards and he jumped a distance from fake Mist-nin.
Next, he threw his sword in a fast, spinning position targeting Naruto and he followed. Like a shuriken thrown, the sword spun towards Naruto following a semi-circle path cutting through the branches of trees it passed through.
Naruto evaded the sword but he felt the hem of his shirt got sliced as the spinning sword nearly reached him; the speed of which it was spinning had increased the range of its damage.
"Got you!" The spinning sword was merely a decoy. Akiro charged and sliced him, a deep gash of wound slashed across Naruto's upper trunk.
POOF!
A small amount of white cloud issued as Naruto disappeared followed by a piece of log.
In a flash, Naruto appeared behind Akiro and kicked him straight across the face, sending the Mist Swordsman to the wall, creating spider-like cracks spreading from the point of impact.
Akiro stood up and glared at Naruto. "Enough for the warm-up."
"Think you're already good with that lousy kick?" Akiro sneered sarcastically to which Naruto only replied with a simple smirk.
"Ah, Akiro is pissed off," said Mao stroking his chin in a thoughtful look.
True enough, the guards started to get more interested and moved forward to watch as the Mist Swordsman and their fellow "fake" Mist-nin engaged in taijutsu. They were obviously surprised that the Mist Swordsman was somehow physically hurt.
"Obono Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Two clones of the Mist Swordsman appeared and simultaneously attacked Naruto while the real Akiro disappeared amidst the mist.
Running around, Naruto fired two shurikens to the two clones which instantly extinguished into a fine mist and scanned his eyes around the area waiting for the real Akiro to show at any moment.
Activating his Sharingan, Sasuke easily spotted the real Akiro who was now fast approaching Naruto from behind. The Mist Swordsman had used the natural mist surrounding the area together with his Mist clones to launch a surprise attack.
Naruto blocked the twin swords using his kunais although he was at the disadvantage because the twin swords were longer and bigger compared to his kunais. Compensating for this, he drew up his chakra and extended it against his two kunais, making it sharper and longer. The sound of blades banging into each other could be heard but cannot be seen because of the mist and the relative speed of the two shinobis.
All of a sudden, four copies of the Naruto's Mist-nin appeared then disappeared. The clones launch upwards and begin to somersault towards Akiro; they began spinning down on him and slammed their heels unto his shoulder and head.
Akiro managed to counter attack by swinging his twin swords above him creating a strong whirlwind added with the sharpness of his two blades.
All the Mist-nins were now watching fascinated, the security dropping a bit.
Sasuke caught Sai's eyes on him and he nodded.
It is the perfect time.
Slowly, they disappeared from their place with none of the Kirigakure-nins noticing them and in a swift move, Sasuke was behind Mao, jabbed him sharp against the nape and shoved a mouthpiece to his large mouth filled with gold teeth. Hashizume fell limply to his side, his unconscious body being dragged by Sasuke and Sai.
"You know what to do," said Sasuke leaving Mao to Sai inside the former's office.
Upon closing the door, Sasuke performed a series of hand seals and he transformed.
Into a tall, balding man.
He took Mao's seat, the bodyguards unaware that their client had already been captured and replaced by him.
Akiro and Naruto have now taken their spar one step higher, not Naruto but Akiro only. The Mist Swordsman was now using ninjutsus, something which he did not use on the other day's sparring session.
Akiro drew up his twin swords and gathered chakra around it, creating a ball of electricity and launch it against Naruto. Next, he performed another jutsu.
"Suirou no Jutsu!"
Even though Naruto had managed to avoid the electricity, the blast of water engulfed him, trapping him inside a sphere. Akiro maintained his proximity against the globe of water, watching as the person inside it grasped for air. Next, Akiro drew his two swords together and something like a spark emanated from its hilt towards its tip. Then, he slammed his two swords against the ground, several thunderbolts of white-blue electricity approaching the water prison in an unbelievable speed.
"Interrogation completed." A voice issued from the two-way radio hanging inside his clothes buzzed. "Evidencefound."
"Good," whispered Sasuke. "Take him out in a hidden location. Contact Shizune."
He watched the Mist-nins in front of him, wondering if he should kill them but after a short thought, he changed his mind. It is unnecessary. Naruto would soon finish the fight against the Mist Swordsman; they would just have to wait for him in their arranged meeting place.
Akiro guffawed, his sharp teeth beaming, as the thunderbolts permeated the sphere of water, sending high voltages of electricity coursing through his enemy. "That's what you deserve, asshole."
The Mist-nin inside the orb of water jerked horribly from the waves of electricity coursing through his body and then in a few minutes, the body went stopped jerking and went limp.
The vital organs must have been burnt already, Akiro smirked at his victory. "Dead meat."
However, his smirk was vanished as the water prison ball he had just created burst and the Mist-nin whom he thought had already died stood in front of him, wet but unscathed.
"What the-?" Akiro gasped, wondering how a Mist-nin lower than him could escape such attack easily. Suddenly, suspicious thoughts rammed his brain and his eyes widened. "Who the hell are you?"
A puff of white smoke swallowed up the Mist-nin and as soon as it dissipated, a tall, blond man with a painted animal mask appeared before him.
Instantly, Akiro changed into a defensive stance and unleashed his twin swords. He gritted his teeth in anger. "So you've been spying on us all along, Konoha-nin, I presume?"
The other Mist-nins surrounding the area changed now. They were no longer watching the fight; they had formed a circle around the two, preparing to attack the enemy.
"Leave him to me!" Akiro shouted angrily at them.
Watching a tree a few miles away from the mansion, Sasuke watched as Akiro and Naruto fought, wondering how long it would last. He just hoped that Naruto would finish the fight as soon as possible. The Mist Swordsman is pretty skilled as he can manipulate his two swords effectively in his taijutsu and ninjutsu combinations, new techniques combining his twin swords and the elements of water and electricity he had never seen before.
As expected from one of the famous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
oOo
"Three Konoha Anbus for a mission?" Mei Terumi's sweet but sarcastic voice floated throughout the room, her eyes scanning the three Anbu behind Shizune.
"It is upon the request of our client," replied Shizune.
The fifth Mizukage studied the scroll sent by the Hokage, her dark blue-coated lips pouting every now and then. "Hashizume had been donating a considerable amount of money to the government in the recent years, never had any idea that it comes from various illegal sources."
She signed the scroll and wrote something to it. "Rest assured, Tsunade that appropriate measures will be taken and fees will be transferred as soon as we get hold of his account."
"Arigatou, Mizukage." Shizune took the scroll and shook hands with her.
Mei nodded and she looked at the Konoha Anbu near the corner and smiled sweetly. "Long time no see, Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke's eyes widened as the Mizukage looked directly at him, thankful that his Anbu mask hid his expression. He remained immobile and did not reply to her greeting.
"I think you're mistaken, Mizukage," said Shizune immediately. Konoha Anbu's identities were not supposed to be revealed.
Mei waved off her hand at her and walked towards the Anbu she's eyeing a while ago. "You can't deny it. Ao had sensed you and he can't be mistaken, right Ao?"
She turned to the man standing right beside her desk and raised her brows.
"Yes, it is him."
A middle aged man with a patch over his right eye and talismans on both ears, Ao sports a dark blue hair similar to the deceased Akatsuki member and former Mist Swordsman Hoshigake Kisame and wears a striped shirt and pants with seemingly the same pattern, with a green robe over them.
"Ao had sensed the Uchiha's chakra signature when you were approaching a while ago," said Mei who was now in front of Sasuke. "You've grown taller and more muscular since the last time I've seen you at the Five Kage Summit, I bet you're still as handsome as ever. Too bad you won't remove that mask."
"Whoa! The Mizukage is flirting with Sasuke!" Naruto thought in amazement and envy. Sasuke had always been popular with girls because of his good looks and cool demeanor. When they were still genins, all the female population of the same age were fighting over him like he was piece of meat. When he got back to Konoha, the attention he got still remained the same albeit it lowered a little because of his status as an international criminal. Yet, over the years it increased again and it only stopped a little when news had spread that he had already married their friend, former teammate and the Godaime's apprentice, Haruno Sakura. Nevertheless, it never occurred to him even in his wildest dreams that even women twice their age would get attracted to him.
Naruto appraised the Mizukage from head to toe from behind the holes in his mask and the first thing that he noticed that like Tsunade, the Mizukage had … well, rich breasts that she seemed to be proud of. Although she seemed a bit younger than Tsunade, Mei Terumi is a slender, attractive woman in her thirties. She has ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark-blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her chest, just below her chin. Her eyes are light green.
She dresses in a long-sleeved dark-blue dress that falls just below the knees. It seems to be closed at the front with a zip and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her upper arms and the underside of her breasts, her deep cleavage showing.
Suddenly, an image of Tsunade flirting with him came to mind.
Naruto choked back the nauseous thought and shivered.
Mei poked a playful finger at the Sasuke's white chest plate but which the latter brushed away angrily. Right away, the Mizukage's two bodyguards were right beside her weapons raised at Sasuke. At the same time, Naruto and Sai came to Sasuke's defense.
Shizune got alarmed and immediately said, "Mizukage, we are leaving."
Mei ignored Shizune and turned to her two bodyguards, Chojuro and Ao. "I'm alright. Back away."
She smiled at Sasuke now but it was no longer the sweet, flirtatious smile she had been giving him a while ago, it looked dangerous. She inched herself closer, her breast almost pressing against the white metal chest plate of Sasuke's Anbu uniform. "Still arrogant as ever, Uchiha. You were at my mercy back then if not for the arrival of your Akatsuki plant friend, Zetsu."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her and in a move that surprised all of them, he removed his Anbu mask, his face impassive as he looked at the Mizukage coldly.
Mei smiled seductively as she gazed at the Uchiha's handsome face whom she thinks had never change.
Without making a move, Sasuke said in a cold, low voice enough for her to hear, "Move away from me, old hag."
The moment Sasuke finished his sentence, the smile from the Mizukage disappeared replaced by a grim, thin mouth. "How dare you, Uchiha!"
Her hand came flying across his face but Sasuke caught her wrist and jerked her away.
Two large swords nearly struck him but he managed to evade it and leapt in the opposite corner of the office and drew his kunais. The other bodyguard of the Mizukage whom he remembered was named as Chojuro, who wields a dual-handled sword called the Hiramekarei, that is linked together at the handles by a chain. When his team had attacked the Five Kage Summit, he was the one who released a hammer-shaped chakra from the sword and broke through his Susanoo's strong defense. The fact that he was chosen to escort the Mizukage and is recognized of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist is evidence that his he is quite powerful in spite of his meek demeanor.
"Oi!" Naruto cried out and leapt forward and met Ao's defense.
Naruto and Sai prepared to attack but Shizune held her arm on them and spoke hard. "Mizukage, we are leaving."
The cold office seemed to warm up as the tension between two parties increases. Each was preparing to attack.
Still fuming with the insult hurtled at her by the Uchiha, Mei looked at them, her light green eyes full of hatred at Sasuke. She spoke in a hard voice, "Chojuro, Ao, stop."
"But Mizukage!" Chojuro protested, his eyes mixed with anger and concern.
"I said stop," Mei said in a voice full of authority.
Chojuro and Ao stopped and backed away, flanking her sides protectively.
Shizune took the opportunity, opened the door and left the Mizukage's office followed by the three Konoha Anbus, one of which had put his Anbu mask back to his face.
The office was quiet as the three were still rooted on their spots, neither willing to speak or initiate a move.
"Mizukage," said Chojuro tentatively.
"Leave the room," said Mei quietly to Ao and Chojuro, pointing to the door. "I'm going to rest."
"But,"
Ao looked at him and jerked his thumb at the door and they left the room. Still, they just remained outside the Mizukage's door.
"Damn Uchihas," said Ao. "They're all arrogant, powerful bastards. First, it was Madara who controlled our Fourth Mizukage then it was now that Uchiha Sasuke who disrespects our Fifth Mizukage. All Uchihas should die."
"Yes, they should," said Chojuro silently, clenching his Hiramekarei tightly.
oOo
A/N: I'm a big fan of SasuSaku pairing that's why I'm really trying to come up with a good storyline/plot with other characters involved.
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