I.
Word soon got to Shuryou that his best player had been taken out. He was unable to contain the fury contorting his face even as he strangled the innocent messenger.
"Who? Who dared to kill him?" he hissed through his teeth but the questioned man couldn't answer. He was too busy choking in Shuryou's grasp.
Realizing it, Shuryou threw the man down on the floor and breathed in deeply. "Who killed him?" he repeated in a more collected voice.
The strangled man gasped for air. "It was Hatake Kakashi…who delivered the fatal blow... but it was Miyamoto Tegami's jutsu…that knocked him down."
Shuryou slid his eyes open, revealing a pair of bloodshot orbs. "That…that bitch? Argh!" he roared, punching the wall behind him.
Tsunade watched him curiously. Although her arm had become sore, she still refrained herself from making a move. She had correctly guessed that Shuryou's surprise attack had been carefully staged to ambush the village at a time when a lot of outstanding ninja were away.
And if he was aware of that particular detail, it meant that there had been a mole, a spy that had infiltrated the higher levels of Konoha's Jonin, maybe even the ANBU task force.
"I told him…I told him to finish her off right there. But, no…he had to go off and do stupid things by himself. Let's go." Shuryou signaled to his men to take Tsunade and follow him.
She didn't protest and let herself be led through the hallways she knew so well, up to the roof. The sun had just risen, giving a peculiar glow to the monument above her.
"What is this guy doing here?" Shuryou asked, spotting the dead man that had served as Tegami's shield. The boss went to him and pulled his head up by his hair to check his face. There wasn't much left to see, though. Shuryou stood up, cringing.
"I think he was one of the guys who got Hisashi out of prison," the man holding Tsunade said.
"I would think so too…," his boss replied, "but why did he end up dead here?" He kicked the corpse, demonstrating his utter annoyance. He then walked to the edge of the roof and observed with sick pleasure the crowd from below.
"Hello, dear Konoha citizens!" he greeted with enthusiasm. "Today…is a big day."
He made a sign to his man to bring Tsunade forward. The shocked cries of the onlookers were like music to his ears.
"Yes, your beloved Hokage! The lovely Lady Tsunade!"
The few fake shinobi that were still alive climbed on the rooftop of the HokageMansion. The Jonin were looking helpless at their Hokage held hostage.
"How could something like this happen?" Kurenai muttered.
"I'm sure we'll find a way out of it," Asuma replied calmly.
Tsunade looked down with a frown. Glancing at Shuryou, she saw that he was too preoccupied with basking in his glory and she nodded slightly. None of her guards could notice her gesture but her signal was well received.
All the shinobi around Tsunade collapsed all of a sudden. The Hokage smirked at the sight of the poisoned senbon embedded in their backs.
"What in the world—" Shuryou stared astonished at his dead henchmen.
"This game is over, Shuryou, or whatever your name is," Tsunade victoriously stated.
"What is the meaning of this?! How!" He stumbled back, his eyes so wide that they almost popped out of their sockets.
"That's not how you carry out an assassination plot. You really thought that you could kill me in the middle of my village?!" the Hokage thundered, relieving her anger.
She stomped towards him and punched him straight in the face. He fell down, holding on to his broken nose, but managed to dodge Tsunade's second blow. He evaded her fist at the last moment, jumping up and disappearing.
He reappeared right behind her, out of the blue, wrapping his forearm around her neck. The kunai in his hand came dangerously close to Tsunade's throat but she twisted his wrist and threw him over her head. She immobilized him completely by twisting his whole arm, earning a loud, pained shriek from the mighty boss.
"Well. That was quick." Straightening up, Tsunade put her hands on her hips as she looked down on her opponent, smirking.
II.
Kakashi was waiting on the bench outside the operation room. He'd had his own wounds patched up but he was more concerned for Tegami. He was thinking that she must have felt the same when her sensei had jumped to her rescue and died in the process.
Clenching his entwined fingers, he told to himself that she wasn't going to die. She couldn't die because of something like that. Not when the medics were able to attend to her right away.
Tegami…don't die. Please, don't die.
Kakashi sat back against the wall, blankly staring at the ceiling. He was wondering about Hisashi and his final words. Kakashi also couldn't understand why that man would throw himself at the kunai. What had been his relation to Tegami? Considering that he had killed her sensei, his actions had been mysterious to say the least.
Sighing, Kakashi lowered his head and focused on the double doors of the operation room. Just at that moment, Sakura came out, taking off her surgical mask. Kakashi stood up, anxious to hear the news.
"The surgery was a success. We have managed to stop the bleeding, now it's all up to Tegami-san to recover."
Kakashi looked away, stifling a sigh of relief. "Will she be all right?" he asked, confident that he had managed to conceal his joy.
Sakura smiled, "She will. The sword pierced her liver but we fortunately got to operate in time. Other than exsanguination, there's no real danger coming from a liver injury because the liver is able to regenerate itself really quickly. Like a lizard's tail."
"I see. Then I guess I shouldn't go out of my way to let Kitte know about this," Kakashi said in response.
Sakura nodded, "It wouldn't be recommendable, if he's away on a mission. Tegami-san will be fine soon so there's no point in making him worry about it. Instead, you should go rest, Kakashi-sensei." The girl smiled. "You don't have to worry about it, either. We'll take good care of Tegami-san so you'd better go sleep."
"Thank you for your advice," he replied but he didn't look like he was going to listen to it.
III.
A bird soaring the sky obstructed the sun for a little while. The peregrine falcon landed on Kitte's forearm, bringing brief reports from the other teams.
"The Southern team didn't find anything, either," Kitte announced his teammates after he sent the peregrine off, with information regarding their progress.
"It's like he completely vanished," a female voice spoke. "We would have found him even if he'd hidden underground but there's really no sight of him."
"The Western team found an empty hideout, as well as the South-Eastern," Kitte continued, "we have yet to reach our destination but I doubt we'll discover anything. I really have a bad feeling about this," he added, sighing.
"It's strange," a tiger masked ANBU commented. "Almost as if…" He locked gazes with his captain.
"You thought about it too?" Everyone tensed. "We haven't received any news from Konoha, though," Kitte said in an attempt to ease the mood. "They would have informed us if anything were to happen. We have a mission to accomplish in the meantime. Let's go."
But just as they were about to set off, another big bird came to land on Kitte's forearm. "Speaking of the devil…," the woman from before commented.
Kitte read the message that had come from the village. It informed them of Shuryou's surprise attack, Hisashi and Tegami's breaking out of prison as well as of the former's death and the latter's injury. It concluded with an order to keep investigating and searching for clues.
Kitte snorted, "No wonder no one could find him. That bastard wasn't even there in the first place."
"What are we to do now?" another man asked.
Kitte added a brief report about the progress of their mission before letting the eagle fly back home. "We'll continue with our task. It appears that the village is a mess right now but the best thing we can do is following the orders that were given to us. So let's go."
As the captain of his team, he was the one who took the first step but he was actually the most affected by the situation. He wanted very badly to just leave everyone behind and rush back to Konoha, to check on his sister. The only thing that kept him at bay was remembering his father's words.
Kitte thus focused on his duty because he had faith that Tegami would be cared for well.
IV.
Shuryou came to on his way to the interrogation chamber. He was dragged along the dark corridor by two shinobi, with Ibiki leading the way. They stopped upon realizing that their prisoner had awoken.
"You've finally regained your senses?" Ibiki turned around, grinning.
Shuryou struggled to stand properly, pulled up by the shinobi who were holding him. "Hn…to be taken to Konoha's top interrogator…I'm honored," he muttered, attempting a defiant smirk but failing miserably. "However…I won't let you have me!"
"Hold him!" Ibiki yelled but Shuryou bit off his tongue before any of his guards could do anything to stop him.
"Damn. Take him to the hospital, fast!" Ibiki then ordered.
The shinobi ran off with him but Shuryou soon dropped dead. He'd concealed a small poison-filled pill in the tip of his tongue. Smiling with melancholy, his last words were 'I'm sorry', as he realized that he had failed to keep the promise he had made to himself, that he had failed to accomplish his long-sought goal. For a second, he remembered…
V.
At the time of the Third Hokage's death, the whole village was mourning. But among all the sad people, there was an unusually happy one.
"Danzo-sama, you'll finally become the Hokage! Aren't you happy about that?"
"Don't be foolish, Hiraku," Danzo replied to his underling Root member, "besides, it's already been decided…Jiraiya has gone looking for the First's granddaughter."
"Senju Hashirama-sama's…The Slug Princess, Tsunade? But, Danzo-sama—"
"Enough! Mind your own business, Hiraku," Danzo replied and walked off.
But Hiraku couldn't mind his own business. His savior's, Danzo's business were also his own. Danzo had to become Hokage. Some way or another, he would see to it.
That night, Hiraku left the village. He went looking for Tsunade himself but he was too late. Jiraiya and his disciple, that Kyuubi kid, had found her first and brought her to Konoha.
That's when it finally began. Shuryou had existed for a long time before that, plotting against the Third, but the time had come at last to bring the plan to fruition.
Together with a criminal organization that he had once been ordered to wipe out but chose not to, former Root Hiraku decided to fulfill his master's wish, no matter what. At the same time, he knew that he'd also get rid of many criminals if he used them as fighting tools against Konoha's shinobi.
However, not everything went according to the plan. He soon became obsessed, losing sight of his well-meaning purpose and focusing instead on the malice building up within him. He had just one goal: assassinating the Slug Princess Tsunade. Although he denied having a personal reason for it, it was actually very personal.
He despised the woman who had taken his master's dream away. He loathed her and strongly believed that she didn't deserve to live. Not matter what, no matter how, he'd have to make sure she died. And after that, he would let himself be caught by the Root's members, thus proving how great of a man Danzo actually was.
Only if that had gone as smoothly as he had been imagining it…
VI.
Lurking in the darkness as he always was, Danzo waited patiently for his subordinate to show up.
"It was confirmed," a voice was heard first before a masked figure emerged from the shadows. "The man who planned the assassination plot, the so-called 'Shuryou'…It was Hiraku."
"I see." Danzo glanced maliciously at the Root member. "I was hoping he was long dead. But I believe you have failed your mission."
His reply was met with silence. "He has been lying low for the past year. According to our investigation, he has been acting as the leader of the criminal organization he was ordered to exterminate five years ago."
"So he didn't accomplish his mission? I'm surprised he managed to hide it from me."
The masked man continued, "He instructed the criminals carefully. He was planning to assassinate the Third Hokage but he died before he had a chance. That's when he defected. He switched his focus to the Fifth."
Danzo frowned. "Did you make a report?"
The Root member nodded, "Here it is. I have made sure it has no connection to you or Root."
"Good." Danzo checked the file that was given to him and headed for the meeting between the Hokage and the Council.
When he arrived right outside Tsunade's office, he happened to overhear their heated conversation.
"So you say you couldn't get anything out of him?" Koharu asked.
"No, nothing at all. He killed himself before he could be interrogated," Tsunade promptly replied.
"That's very bad. You say you don't have any idea who he was? Maybe you should hand Miyamoto Tegami over to—"
"Tegami has nothing to do with this," Tsunade cut the elder lady off, "I heard from Shizune that she risked her life helping Kakashi and I heard Shuryou myself that he had ordered Hisashi to kill Tegami."
"Why would she say all those things, then?" Koharu retorted. "Why would she lie?"
"I don't know anything about that, yet. She had to undergo immediate surgery and she's still unconscious. I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"I don't think you should postpone it for so long. You should go ask her about it today, as soon as she wakes up," the old lady insisted.
An angry Tsunade slammed her fist on her desk. "Tegami is a patient right now. A precious Konoha shinobi who risked her life for the sake of her comrade. She deserves to at least have some rest after having her liver operated on."
To avoid further conflict, Danzo finally knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Tsunade yelled.
Danzo opened the door slowly and stepped in. "I'm sorry to interrupt but there's something you might be interested in."
Tsunade frowned while the two councilors watched him curiously. "What is it, Danzo?" Koharu was the first to ask.
Danzo handed the file to her. Koharu skimmed it quickly then passed it to Tsunade. "Here. He was more useful than you managed to with the criminal in your hands."
Tsunade snatched the file, annoyed. She read it carefully, astonished by how detailed the information inside it was. She stared in awe at Danzo. "Where…where did you get this?"
"My men came across him while they were secretly investigating an assassination plot against the Third Hokage. That's all the data they managed to gather. We lost track of him at some point, after Hiruzen's death, but I didn't think he'd resurface."
Tsunade was biting her lip, focused on the document. "That's enough. You can all leave. We'll have another meeting after I talk things out with Tegami."
She went behind her desk and sat down, switching to biting her thumb. The three elders quietly withdrew, leaving the Hokage alone with her suspicions. "Damn you, Danzo," she mumbled, "I didn't think you'd go this far…"
Kakashi showed up a while later. He had his arm bandaged but no other grave injuries besides that.
"Check this out," Tsunade told him, throwing the file on her desk.
Kakashi picked it up. "Hiraku…a missing nin presumed dead. Since when?"
Tsunade snorted, "I was wondering the same thing."
"Who do you have this from?"
"Shimura Danzo," she answered while looking out the window.
"That Danzo?" Silence. "Are you having doubts about the veracity of this report?"
"Isn't it obvious? It's too fishy. Why bring this out at such a time? He could have let us know about this earlier." Sighing, she continued, "How's Tegami?"
Kakashi looked up startled. "She's fine. Sakura said the surgery was a success."
"I received word from Kitte," Tsunade blankly said, "after I told them to keep investigating. He said they didn't find anything of interest but that they'll keep looking. I could have called them home but now I'm glad I didn't."
Kakashi put the file down. "I agree. Shuryou's death and Danzo's report won't magically solve this mystery. We were attacked by some of our own and Hisashi was let out of prison by his infiltrated accomplices."
"I'm hoping Tegami will be able to tell us more…Neji did see Shuryou kissing her…but he never heard what they were talking about."
Kakashi frowned. He had wondered about that before but once Tegami had confessed, all his doubts had disappeared. However, now after he found out that Hisashi had attempted to kill her and after he saw her jump in front of the blade that was pointed at him, Kakashi began to have suspicions again.
What had Tegami actually done? What did she know? Did her cryptic line about how everything happened for a reason have anything to do with the conversation she had had with Shuryou?
There was just one way to find out but he, and everyone else for that matter, would have to wait until Tegami recovered her health completely and could speak out about everything.
Kakashi was somehow unexpectedly happy about it. He never liked her involvement with Shuryou in the first place and was almost thrilled to have her innocence confirmed, although he wished it had happened under different circumstances.
"You should go rest, Kakashi," Tsunade advised him. "Tegami will be safe at the hospital so there's nothing to worry about."
Kakashi almost smiled, remembering that Sakura had told him something similar. "I understand," he responded with reluctance. "I'll see you tomorrow." He bowed and left Tsunade's office.
He went home, just because he had nowhere else to go, and eventually fell asleep against his wishes.
