VIII

━━━━━━┓༻❁༺┏━━━━━━

Arc VIII Chapter IX

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

"Ah, it is always a honour to welcome such illustrious guests as you. Especially, in such a modest home as mine." It took some time to finally meet their mysterious employee.

Asami and company had just to pass more gates, doors, rooms than she could count, and not forgetting a significant number of guards and even more guard, which wasn't something extraordinary. As a daimyo, her client was a rich and influential man. And rich and influential men like him were obviously concerned for their personal health and safety.

Especially, in such a dangerous world like this where powerful shinobi were roaming around freely without any sort of proper control. After all, everybody still wanted to live a few peaceful years and the best protection money could afford was only good enough. He certainly many samurai and even a sizeable amount of shinobi.

They were staring, watching Asami and her little group intently with a mixture of distrust and classical iciness when they were walking down the corridor. They followed her movements and Asami could practically feel their prying eyes on her back. Nevertheless, Asami smirked secretly. it was kind of amusing, it really was. Because whether they were of any use against her was another question altogether.

Asami smiled lovely at her latest employee. A good first impression was important. He was a young man, a handsome young man some might even say. His face, his eyes, his smile were charming, seducing, bewitching. His looks were excellent by the majority of beauty standards, but a certain girl didn't trust her new friend even for a mere second. Asami disliked the man the moment she saw him and she could only barely cover her disgust and utter contempt.

His facade couldn't deceive her. His smile lacked any sort of genuine emotions and it was painfully obvious. His smile was perfect, so wholly perfect. It had to be fake. And it was fake. The man was sly, slier than she gave him initially credit for. Perhaps that was the way how he attained his position despite his young age. His age was peculiar ... to say the least.

Asami maintained her smile. "Well, the honour is all mine. After all, someone as humble as me rarely enjoys the privilege to serve a mighty daimyo ..."

"What's your name again? Unfortunately, I tend to easily forget names." Asami tilted her head, innocently as usual.

He was hiding his annoyance well behind the cold shell of his smile, but her little remark visibly stung him. He was arrogant, foolishly arrogant. His pride was hurt and Asami's sadistic streak certainly didn't enjoy what she was doing. Poking people was always so fun, wasn't it?.

"My name? Well, it understandable that someone as busy as you might forget my name." He still smiled. "My name is Mitsuhiko. And you are advised to remember it well."

Was she? Asami furrowed a doubting eyebrow. She wasn't particularly convinced. "Should I? Well, I will try my best to remember the name of my dearest customer. I promise, ...I think it was Mitsuhiko, wasn't it?"

Asami inspected her nails and he ground his teeth to little avail. She didn't exhibit even a modicum of respect. Instead, the girl ignored him completely. She didn't care about his meager existence and she let it him know very clearly. He was nothing.

How could be so much cheekiness trapped in such a frail body? He didn't know the answer, but what he knew at least was that the girl was genuine. She was the one and only Asami. Her pride was legendary by this point and so were her abilities.

Since her great betrayal, since what she had done to Konoha, her name was well-known across the lands. Who wouldn't? This girl with her innocent cheeks razed half of Konoha down to the ground without the slightest sign of hesitation. At the age of thirteen, she had more blood on her hands than other shinobi in their entire life. And the amount of blood was considerable.

The name Asami carried meaning, but most importantly, her name was feared for understandable reasons. Mitsuhiko certainly didn't expect to contract the little princess herself when he contacted Akatsuki. But life wasn't fair and he had now to swallow a bitter pill, a very bitter and dangerous girl was incalculable and he had to tread carefully. Because you never knew what these shinobi were up to.

He smiled. "Yes, it was. And I am glad you remember it. I truly am."

It didn't work and her princess was as grumpy as before. In fact, her mood only soured further.

"My friend, I say it once and for all, I dislike sycophants ... No, I detest them. So, Mitsuhiko, please do me a favour and save your empty flattery for later on. Perhaps, it will be of some use then." Asami snarled.

"I see." Gone was any smile and the man finally showed his true colours. His eyes were cold and his face unmoving like granite. He was an empty shell of a human being that never felt anything. "Your tongue as well as your mind are surprisingly sharp for a girl of your age. Nobody told me about that."

Asami clicked her tongue. "Oh, what a shame, I truly feel sorry for you. Trust me, I do. But don't worry, the dislike is mutual."

"Anyway, I see that you have apparently a lot of guards." Asami scanned her surroundings, forcibly changing the topic. "Do you not trust us, Mitsuhiko? Because I feel kind of threatened by their presence. I hope that you don't plan anything funny."

Asami hit a nerve and he scowled. Threatened? By their presence? Sure. It was him who felt and was threatened, and not her. After all, he didn't share a room with a homicidal maniac girl whose mental stability was questionable at best.

"I can promise you it's nothing of that kind. They are just present for security purposes."

"For security purposes?" Asami was sceptical. What was that supposed to mean?

"Yes. You see, certain nobles and rebellious elements within the population are discontent with my rule and the way things are going since."

Asami didn't know the exact details, but she could fairly well guess what this "discontent" and "rebellious elements" were about. Mitsuhiko was an ambitious man, and ambitious men like him tended to provoke friction as well as opposition. And based on his character and the number of men he had under his command, he didn't plan to settle these disagreements by peaceful alone. Apparently, the rumours were true and these lands were indeed ruled with an iron fist for quite some time.

Therefore, I am a bit concerned about my personal security. Especially, since what happened to my brother ... A tragedy." The faker sighed as though he would really care. He didn't.

Asami raised an eyebrow. "You had a brother?"

He nodded. "An older brother. He died a few years ago shortly after succeeding our deceased father. It was a tragic day. He died together with his wife and his only daughter in a mysterious fire. Half of the castle burned down and he was sadly killed in the flames that night, what an unfortunate turn of events. We never discovered what caused the fire, but certain voices whisper that some disgruntled nobles laid it deliberately." There was it again, his fake smile. He smiled at her. "So I thought better safe than sorry, right?"

"Right." Asami agreed for the time being, albeit she didn't buy his lovely story completely.

More than a few details seemed odd, but that could be also just her rampant paranoia. An older brother who was the original heir died in a mysterious fire only to be succeeded by a more than eager younger brother who now ruled the land with a conspicuous amount of military power. It didn't take much to put two and two together to guess what happened here behind the scenes. But as said, it was just a hunch and nothing more.

Anyway, let's change to a less tragic topic. I see that you brought a girl with you, even though she tries her best to hide from me. May I know who she is? Is she a part of your group?"

Yuki shared her antipathy for Mitsuhiko and it didn't escape her that Yuki avoided him directly. She was hiding in her silhouette. Yuki clutched her hand tightly and Asami reciprocated. Yuki was scared, but she would protect her.

Asami smiled while shoving Yuki protectively further behind her back where she was safe. "Oh, she is my little sister. Yuki-chan is a bit shy around people, but Isn't she adorable?"

Mitsuhiko blinked. The surprise was written all over his face. "Yuki-chan?"

Asami returned her attention to him. "What's the matter, Mitsuhiko? You seem surprised?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." Mitsuhiko quickly regained his composure and relaxed again. "I was just briefly startled by the name. Yuki ... what an interesting coincidence, truly interesting."

Asami narrowed her eyes. "Coincidence? What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "As I said, nothing. But you will see what I meant. Anyway, if you would please follow me. I think we have much to discuss regarding your mission." A door opened and he showed Asami the way. He had prepared a nice room for her and their little briefing. Their mission was a private matter that should be only discussed behind closed doors, literally.

Asami stepped forward, but not without suddenly halting. Tobi was forced to stop and so was Yuki. Both were confused by her inexplicable action.

Tobi tilted his head. "Senpai, is something?"

Asami ignored them and stared at Mitsuhiko, thoughtfully. She was thinking. "Tobi, Yuki, I will go in alone. You won't come with me. I will meet up with you afterwards, after I am finished with this here, understood?"

Tobi nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Are you you sure that is a good idea, senpai?"

"Yes, I am." Asami had no doubts. She leaned down and awarded Yuki as usual with her most lovely smile. "You will go with Tobi and will wait down in the city for my return. I am sure you are hungry and that you could enjoy some warm food, right?" Asami was petting her head gently.

Yuki nodded weakly and listened. She was still scared to a degree that wasn't normal. And it was getting worse and worse since they set a foot into this castle. Something was definitely wrong with this place and she would find out what.

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

They were both sitting and Asami observed her counterpart carefully. She was surrounded by four guards. They were supposedly his most trusted ones while a further contigent. Eventually, Asami broke the uneasy silence. She wanted to know more and perhaps she would even find the answer to a few unsolved questions.

Asami sighed and relaxed slightly. "So, what is our mission then exactly, Mitsuhiko? So far, you weren't particularly forthcoming with the specific details of our mission. As far as I know, we are supposed to search for a certain person, correct?"

He nodded after sipping on his tea. "Yes, correct. Your objective is to track down a certain girl for me and kill her. I want her to be eliminated under all circumstances and no matter the cost. She has to be silenced and I will reward you accordingly."

Asami raised an eyebrow. "I hope so, my services are not cheap. But who is this mysterious girl exactly who has to die? After all, I need her identity otherwise finding her might be quite difficult. I need information, Mitsuhiko, and a trace if possible."

He nodded and ordered one of the guards to step forwards. "Understandable and I expected such. Shunko, hand her the folder."

The man presented her said folder. Asami took it without hesitation while Mitsuhiko continued his explanation. "As you can see, the files contain all the information we have collected about her whereabouts over the last years."

"I see." Asami intended to scan the contents, but she froze immediately the moment she saw the picture and the name of her new target. The picture was already a few years old, but it reminded her of someone she knew. And not in a good way. Even the girl's name was uncomfortably familiar.

Asami stared at the photo and eventually mumbled barely audible," Yuki ..."

Mitsuhiko enjoyed his tea with a cold smile. "Yes, Yuki. Your mission is to find my sadly still alive niece and eliminate her. Unfortunately, she had survived the fire back then because of a certain retainer that was still loyal to my brother. Thanks to him, she is eluding us ever since and we were never able to seize her, which is a problem as you might understand. It would be problematic if some people ever found out that the true heiress was still alive."

Asami understood. She understood very well what was going o here.

Mitsuhiko's grin broadened. "Anyway, I hope you will be more successful than your predecessors. The majority of them had only modest success, even the Konoha Jonin I hired a month ago failed spectacularly.I honestly expected more from them. Especially, after their initial progress. Apparently, they nearly had her, but then their reports suddenly ceased ... Well, it doesn't matter. Do you need anything else?"

Asami giggled. She was smiling. "Yes, I do. I think, Mitsuhiko, we need to have a little conversation about something else." Asami looked up and her eyes were glimmering dangerously in an otherworldly purple.

Her Susanoo struck first and a skeletal arm pinned Mitsuhiko against the nearest wall, nearly strangulating him on the spot. He was suffocating as her grip grew tighter and tighter.

"Mitsuhiko, tell me, more about that night. I want to know more." Her smile was seductively sweet, not to say cute.

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━