V

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Arc V Chapter IV

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As the first rays of sunlight flooded her bedroom, Asami was brutally ripped out of her peaceful slumber. The rays of reality had killed her dreams mercilessly, and Asami despised them for their cruel act of nature. The bright sun smiled upon the girl but Asami didn't accept the sun's hollow offer of peace for the horrible crime the light was doing to her, every day anew. The crime of shattering her joyful illusions There could be no peace between her and the sun, no reconciliation between her and the vast infinite world that was her enemy.

And there was no greater ire at that moment than that of a specific girl deprived of these immeasurable seconds of happiness. Oh, how she hated the shining sun for practically nothing than what the star had already done millions of years before her and will do millions of years after her mortal shell had long since crumbled to dust. For practically nothing but stealing her a few fleeting moments that would have gone by in a blink of an eye. Moments that were practically irrelevant in the face of an uncaring world, but for Asami's heart they were everything, everything she couldn't have and that was fundamentally wrong with the universe.

Why couldn't she simply turn the sun off, turn off like a giant light bulb. Yes, like a light bulb. Nature didn't do her that favour however and therefore such wasn't possible. Furthermore, the window shades were too far away and she was too lazy for standing up and pulling them down.

As a consequence, a yawning and very haptic Asami took her warm bed sheet hostage by wrapping her cashmere protectively around her body and turned away. "Stupid sun", murmured the almost dormant girl. But that wasn't the end of the story.

Following her ancient preposition, Asami couldn't stay still. No, she rolled herself in her fluffy canopy bed instead. She obviously had a fluffy one, because why shouldn't she have one? Good sleep was after all the fundament of every mind at work, in her opinion. Lying soft but not too soft, the girl subconsciously shifted from one side to the other in a never ending repetitive cycle. Not knowing why, her semi-conscious body moved to her left side, then to her right side again, left, right, left, right, left, left, right, right, right, right, and sharp left to avoid falling of the bed. Which had happened more than one time and wasn't exactly a pleasant, albeit reliable, method of waking up in the morning. Her head imitated these motions and followed her body together with her pillow.

And thus Asami enjoyed the rest of her morning time in a state of eternal harmony. Nonetheless, at some point of time inevitable tragedy had to strike and she would be sadly forced to stand up. But this moment was luckily still far far away and not her problem. It was the problem of a future Asami.

The girl shifted satisfied to her right side and ignored a nagging thought she had. Asami had the feeling that she was forgetting something very important, something relevant that was skilfully eluding her sleepy mind. So often, she almost had it within her grasp but then this thought still escaped her.

However, it couldn't be that important, otherwise she wouldn't have forgotten it. Yes, that sounded logical. No, it didn't but a still tired Asami didn't care. "Muaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh", the girl yawned softly and accompanied by her silken pillow she turned left. Yes, in her pillow she trusted.

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There were also normal days in the life of a certain village elder named Shimura Danzo who was occupied with reading a field report he received from a certain Root operative, so nothing out of the ordinary. Interesting, it seemed that Iwa and Kumo were planning to stage a joint exercise right across Konoha's borders, and a major one too. Which shouldn't be much of a concern though as they shouldn't have any knowledge yet about Konoha's future intentions, or Asami's to be exact. It was likelier to be mere coincidence.

A man who barricaded himself as usual in his fortified Root headquarter in the vein hope it could protect him from the public eye, which it surprisingly did. Few knew about the place's mere existence, and even fewer knew what was going on, was talked about, what was decided behind these grey walls. The thick concrete walls had seen much over the years, perhaps too much and that struck fear into the hearts of people that had seen this place from the inside.

They were taciturn testimonies of had happened here hidden deep beneath cold stone seemingly trying to burry you alive. Of people that entered but never left. Of dark cells and iron shackles without use. Of long corridors enlightened by a pale artificial light. Of closed steel doors that didn't let escape the most minuscule human sound and uncooperative to your desperate pleas. They were the witness of his actions, his greatest failures but also his undeniable successes.

Normal days filled by his unfulfilled dream of becoming Hokage instead of Hiruzen and his hated empty idealism. Corrupting thoughts that slowly infested Konoha's shinobi like a cancerous tumour until they couldn't be removed anymore. Entire generations of ninja, of naïve and obedient children that had grown soft under Hiruzen's reign.

A hesitating Hokage never ready, never willing, never determined to do what was necessary. Hiruzen made Konoha weak and one day they would pay the price for his delusions. Therefore, not a single passed he didn't plot the demise of his enemy, which was however easier said than done. So far all of his attempts at conquering the Hokage tower didn't succeed too well. No matter what, everything failed, even his assassination. The old man might not know how lead a village but surely how to stay in power by clinging onto his chair.

Normal days dominated by what he was best at or what he at least thought he best at, acting behind the scenes, pulling the strings from the unseen shadows, playing Konoha's master puppeteer. After all, Danzo didn't earn his title "Darkness of the Shinobi" for nothing. Instead the aged shinobi wore his infamous moniker even with a certain degree of pride. Because title was title and accomplishments were accomplishments, and there was no such thing as bad publicity. Well, there was, but bad publicity was one of Danzo's smaller worries considering that his reputation couldn't be tarnished more.

Moreover, the word darkness caught the essence of his known as well as lesser known operations. Actions thanks to which Konoha made an enemy of more people than the common ignorant villager and Shinobi included could imagine. But that and all the blood stuck to his hands was a price Danzo was willing to pay, no sacrifice was too big for the safety of Konoha.

Fortunately, due to his continuous efforts and Roots diligent modus operandi, the most of these hostilities were short lived, physically not mentally. Unfortunately, and as shocking as it might seem, these who survived tended to be quite persistent in their opposition towards Konoha, for inexplicable reasons. Eventually however, all of Konoha's enemies would fall. It was merely a question of time like everything else in his life. Whether the village's enemies or being Hokage, he had only to be patient and bide his time.

Today wasn't a normal day though. And the rest of the recent week wasn't normal too. While scanning through report, Danzo did neither dream about ousting the incompetent Hiruzen nor worry about the enemies from without. No, his problem was a domestic one. One that got worse the more information he gathered about her.

One that once again confirmed an old personal wisdom of his "the Uchiha might be the biggest assholes in the known universe but always keep in mind that they are absurdly powerful assholes", particularly in Asami's case. Even Danzo wasn't stupid enough to battle the little nutter on a fair and equal battlefield without preparation, which was far too risky in his opinion. One of them wouldn't come out alive. And the chances weren't low that he was said one, provided he played fair like said before, what he clearly didn't do.

Perhaps, this time he bit more than he could chew. While continuing his read Danzo's face slightly distorted at this unacceptable thought. He didn't see the entire clan die only to bested by a single girl.

Konoha's unofficial master of subterfuge and scamming hoped that the ignorant Akatsuki would accept his dishonest offer, a ludicrous amount of 60,000,000 ryo for a simple Genin should be enough to buy their agreement, shouldn't it? Danzo smiled visibly, money he didn't have the intention to ever pay, but that the idiots couldn't know.

Either the dispatched duo would indeed succeed in, unlikely as it was, eliminating her. Or he could use his pawns as expendable cannon fodder to soften up Asami's resistance and then step in to mop up. You see, two birds with one stone, a win-win situation, for him, only for him.

"Danzo-sama", he heard the voice of one of his more trusted underlings.

Danzo turned his head to the kneeling Yamanaka," What is Fu?"

"We have received a response from the Akatsuki, Danzo-sama", the Root shinobi presented a scroll to his master.

Already? The guys are pretty fast, maybe he should hire them more often in the future. After all, he had plenty of work to do. Danzo took the scroll from Fu's hands and opened it.

" Dear Mr. Tashiro,", oh, so his involuntary subcontractor worked, surprisingly," Unfortunately, we, the Akatsui, have to inform you that your mission request has been…"

An annoyed Danzo crumbed the paper and threw it against the nearby wall," rejected."

The village elder was contemplating, he was thinking. This made things complicated, he had to improvise now as long as he didn't suddenly get some S-rank ninja from somewhere else who wanted to play his sacrificial pawn, in his game which was rather unlikely. Hiruzen? Hahahaha, no. Jiraiya maybe? No, the man was an idiot but not that stupid. Kakashi? Forget it.

After running out of viable options, an exteriorly neutral Danzo addressed his waiting subordinate," Send for Torune and "Sai", I have to discuss something important with you three." The three had the privilege to work with her extensively during her ANBU time and their experiences should be helpful therefore. Studying soulless dossiers was one thing, hearing it from the ones who had seen her in action was another.

"Understood, Danzo-sama", Fu disappeared.

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Fumihiko felt the stinging pain of betrayal, the pain of Asami's betrayal. Like a dagger, rammed through his ribs straight into his chest as if she had wanted strike for his heart. Fortunately, it wasn't her sword or it would have been really over for him, a nice tombstone included.

Asami had betrayed, abandoned, sacrificed, call it what you want, him, without the slightest sign of remorse, compassion and pity. Heartless b… Fumihiko scanned the room mentally if said person was anywhere in his vicinity. Even when he was merely thinking it, you could never be sure enough, especially with her. And the moment he didn't spot any of her well-known black trademarks, he continued. …itch.

Yes, the ice princess, a wonder that she had no affinity for ice as her element, had thrown him cruelly under the horse cart, for little personal gains no less. She had left him alone with all the hard work, planning, etc. And the only things the girl had given him were the sweet smile of evil. Her hand waving "bye-bye, darling" while sending him off to the front line. And her very encouraging words "if you have any problems, then keep in mind that I am always with you. Clearly, not physically as we will be a few miles apart but spiritually. So cheer up." The Chunin personally wondered why she didn't throw some kind of confetti into the air to celebrate this joyful event.

Understandably, Fumihiko didn't cheer up at all and blinked instead disbelievingly. The girl could hide herself underneath her umbrella of wordiness as much as she wanted, he knew exactly what Asami meant when used the phrases "outsourcing to third-parties", "redeployment of available manpower" and "organisational restructuring and rationalisation of working processes".

Unfortunately, his knowledge was quite useless and didn't protect him from his inescapable fate. He knew and saw it coming but he couldn't do anything, the tragedy of life. Well, he tried to protest about it which didn't work out too well though. The Kunoichi suppressed his feeble attempt at rebellion with a soft giggle and her reply that this was obviously a non-union job and he was firmly within her iron grip, aka resistance is futile. Fumihiko sighed mentally, and that was the short version of how he had gotten into the current, very uncomfortable situation.

The lonely Chunin stared into the impatient eyes of his counterparts. A man and a woman accompanied by her frightening canine guardian. Two Jonin who were waiting since a while for a specific girl who hadn't arrived yet despite being the very one responsible for calling in this council of war. In conclusion, where the fuck was Asami? Seriously, where was she? Because he needed her here as soon as possible, preferentially now.

"So, does anyone here have any questions regarding our future battle plans?", while unknowingly to everyone Fumihiko was experiencing a mental meltdown, he asked smilingly around. He tried to play for time. What he did successfully so far in the hope that reinforcements would eventually arrive. After all, Asami couldn't have forgotten this completely, could she? She would still arrive, right?

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Located in the HQ and behind the scenes, Root's dismayed leader was bogged down in a rather unproductive and time consuming debate with three Root shinobi who had unfortunately neither a concept of the term unproductive nor time consuming due to their intensive indoctrination. While Danzo had the feeling that they were going around in circles since the beginning, his ever loyal yes-men hadn't lost hope yet.

The old shinobi was tempted to pinch his nose in desperation, but he didn't as that wasn't enough Danzo-like," And what is with poisoning her?" He asked neutrally hoping for a lucky shot. He waited for a reply waited, and waited, and waited.

The three looked each other into their eyes before the taciturn finally Torune took the word," That is unlikely to succeed based on our assessments."

"Assessments?" Danzo demanded confused. Had he already tried to poison her? No, no, he was old, but not that old, he would remember that.

The domestic expert for toxins answered calmly," Acting on your orders to explore possible ways "to make her retire", I put a non-lethal but still considerable dose on a mission into her morning coffee to test her resistance."

"And?"

"The results were mixed. As far as I can say, the poison had no visible effect on her besides a bitter aftertaste and a slight shiver. Therefore, we can safely assume that she possesses like the majority of high ranking shinobi a certain degree of immunity thanks to her high Chakra level, or at least some sort of natural resistance. Furthermore, she said, I quote her," While I might enjoy a bitter flavour of almond in the morning, the next time you try this on me we have a problem, amigos. Understood?" the Aburame stated emotionlessly like you might expect it from an exemplary Root shinobi.

"And a sneak attack?", Danzo clicked his tongue and started his next try.

This time it was Fu's turn," Possible but improbable."

"When activated, the Mangekyo grants her as expected extraordinary reflexes and perception which makes any attempt at sneaking up or ambushing her in general exceedingly difficult. This means we have to strike at an unexpected moment if we want to have any chance of success. However, such moments are rare, except for when she is in combat."

In combat? Wasn't that contradiction? "Continue", Danzo said with new interest and a certain idea forming in his head.

The Yamanaka explained from his kneeling position," From what I have observed during our assignments with her, Asami suffers from an immense superiority complex, regarding herself implicitly superior to the enemy and for that matter everyone else. In 99% of cases she therefore tends to be easily distracted and bored when fighting an in her view "inferior" enemy not worthy her attention. As long as she doesn't consider you a real threat, she will go her version of "easy" on you and start to act playfully in a certain sense. And that is our opportunity. Nevertheless, Asami is still extremely dangerous even in that state. And her very volatile evaluation can quickly change too, from "negligible threat, ignore them" to "it is a good day to die … not for me though"."

This was interesting, truly interesting. The village elder asked for confirmation leaning," So, let us assume we engage her with our full force in the heat of battle when our Uchiha should be occupied with fighting off some foreign invaders. How should we proceed then, in this hypothetical scenario? Sai, what is your opinion?" Danzo looked towards his disciple whose opinion he valued.

But the boy remained silent deliberating his choice of words. While kneeling on the hard floor, he eventually replied," As Fu has demonstrated previously, Asami is an undoubtedly gifted Kunoichi, not to say an incredible difficult enemy. An enemy that is arguably beyond the capabilities of anyone in this room."

"An enemy well versed in Ninjutsu, especially Katon and Raiton, and presumably in Genjutsu. Despite some deficiencies in the technical and aesthetic department, an adequately skilled Kenjutsu and Taijutsu user if necessary."

"A Kunoichi who is according to our experiences in possession of seemingly bottomless Chakra reserves and the necessary staying power to use them to their fullest. Evidently, a practised teleporter and all-seing sensor type. And to make things worse, our target is a Mangekyo wielder with an unknown special ability capable of manifesting her Susanoo."

"In conclusion, Asami is a powerful all-rounder without any glaring weakness. An opponent we can solely defeat with superior firepower or by the means of sheer attrition. Therefore, I assume that any victory over her will be most likely a costly one.", Sai finished his accurate assessment.

Danzo merely nodded accepting each of his words. Words that confirmed what he feared the most, the truth. It wasn't a matter of interpretation or different viewpoints, Asami was definitely one of these invincible juggernauts, or at least on the way of becoming one. Invincible, unless you threw a Hashirma at them or you crushed them by the weight of mass. Neither option was a practicable one.

Danzo had neither one of these God shinobi at his disposal nor the necessary number of bodies under his command, hardly a battalion's worth if he pulled everything together. And the worst, Asami was still at the very beginning of shinobi career and he didn't bet on his new nemesis getting weaker in the years to come. It was now or never, or he would really see the next incarnation of a megalomaniac Madara knocking on his door. And he sincerely hoped this was a day he would never see coming and he wouldn't never allow as long as it was within his capacities.

It seemed he had to take a more active stance in this operation. His hand was slowly wandering towards his disabled arm. How did the old proverb go? It took an Uchiha to beat a Senju, and a Senju to beat an Uchiha. Unfortunately, he was neither a Senju nor an Uchiha. In the end however, these were merely words and nothing else.

He gripped the arm firmly as an itching feeling appeared in his right eye. From time to time, a crippled Danzo indeed regretted having sacrificed, or upgraded like some might say his right arm and his eye.

Contrary to the cheating Uchiha, he like every other normal shinobi wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth, wasn't born into the right family, wasn't born with natural power and unobtainable privileges. No, no, no, he had to pay for what was simply gifted to Asami and her likes by their birth. Oh, how he hated them, these people you could never catch up with no matter how hard you tried.

But such moments of regret were brief and rare, because in the end these small inconveniences were a small price to pay for accessing the power of the Uchiha. Especially, now that the time had come to use Izanagi and Kotoamatsukami for the sake of the village.

Danzo spoke to three finally ending this never ending debate and finally seeing a path where none was before," Fu, Torune, Sai, order all available Root elements to be mobilised and put on standby. Their services will be required during the Chunin exams and I will need every last man." And a few more.

The trio disappeared and left the old man behind with one certainty. The hours to come would be either one of his master pieces or his downfall, hopefully not the latter.

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A good natured Fumihiko continued with his diverting tactics, "Really? No questions? Then, we should continue with the next part of our presentati…"

He was however interrupted by someone. The grey-coated Aburame spoke calmly not allowing his existing anger to shine through," Yes, I have one. Or more precisely, I would have one if our commanding officer was here, Fumihiko."

"Therefore, I ask once again. Where is our illusive Asami? Because we are waiting", the shinobi was drumming his fingers on the desk.

The Chunin smiled confidently, "Don't worry, Shibi, she is already on the way." Hopefully.

"On the way you say?" the woman joined in an annoyed tone, "Do you mean the same "she is on the way?" like the last three times?"

"Yes. Em, no, I mean no" Fumihiko corrected himself and replied defensively," I assure you, Tsume, that she will come, soon."

"Sure sure, I hope so. Because we still have roughly 18 minutes. So, our Asami still has time two after us waiting two hours and she really doesn't have to hurry", the angered Inuzuka looked sceptically on her non-existent wrist watch.

The door was slammed open by a rather forceful visitor while the Chunin how any of the poor hinges had survived this confrontation and why the person in question hadn't simply used a breaching charge instead. Which would have quite frankly achieved the same result.

Surprised by this event, Fumihiko carefully turned his head to spot the noisy intruder. What he saw was Asami, hastily dressed in wrinkled satin, moment was that her pyjama, no unlikely, with unkempt hair and her hands lazily hidden within her way too long black sleeves. And in her mouth was placed an oversize doughnut, likely her improvised breakfast. In conclusion, her whole appearance screamed that she had basically overslept and had gotten out of her bed a few just a few minutes ago.

Her eyes swept across the room until she addressed her startled audience for the first time, "Ininininaamamamnmomonnomomnenmenenenementmtntnt"

"Em, what?" her aide understandably understood nothing like the rest of the room. Even the dog with his eye patch looked to be extremely confused. Which was quite an accomplishment.

Asami took her breakfast out of her mouth and repeated quickly without wasting time," I said in a moment."

Foregoing her usual decorum, she greedily devoured her sweet instead of taking small bites. Without showing the smallest hint of shame, embarrassment or guilt, she ignored the precedent events as if they had never existed to begin with and she walked in front of them with all the dignity she could muster. For Asami the past didn't subsist, only the present, and perhaps some kind of future. The girl clasped her hands together and smiled apologetically," Sorry, it appears that I am quite late today as I have encountered some complications that have effectively prevented my arrival. Anyway, time is of the essence now."

"Fortunately, my trusted subordinate seems to have already begun and done the majority of the hard work, which saves us quite some time", she inspected the map on her back," So, Fumihiko, how much time do I still have left?"

.

.

.

"Emm, 15 minutes", he replied unsurely using his best guesstimation.

However, that didn't bother an energised Asami," Excellent, excellent. 15 minutes are plenty. Entire wars have been lost, fought and won within mere 15 minutes, so why shouldn't they be sufficient for our purposes. So let us start then, where do I begin?"

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