AN: Chapter title: Daimyo Days Part 3.
"This is bullshit." Ko was stating the obvious.
"I know."
"They were clearly behind the attack." Kurenai was stating the obvious.
"I know."
"We're risking the Daimyo's safety." Muta was stating the obvious.
"I. Know."
"Both of them are Missing-nin." Hana was stating the obvious.
"I know."
Asuma Sarutobi had been dealing with this for the past three days. The Daimyo Escort Squad had successfully repelled the sudden attack by the Pranja Group but they had been "helped".
Two mercenaries had "luckily" arrived before a suicide bomber could claim the Daimyo's life. Such an attack had left the attacker's body unable to be examined, a body that had charged through the swords of a dozen samurai, the Uzumaki's clones, and a Hyuga without showing the slightest hint of slowing down. Without ever acknowledging he had been attacked.
It had been suspicious. Audacious even. But the Daimyo hadn't questioned it.
The Daimyo had thanked the mercenaries for their "help".
He had even insisted that they join the Hidden Leaf Shinobi as part of his guard. To the protest of both Asuma and the captain of his guard. And his retinue of advisors.
'This is why I try not to be named squad leader.' The Sarutobi did his best to not let his frustration at the repeated arguments show. His squad echoed the sentiment of the samurai, of the Daimyo's attendants, of everyone in the caravan. By this point, he had heard every variation of 'This is a terrible idea'. From the crass to the elegant, from the short to the long.
But the Daimyo had the final say. He wanted the mercenaries with them. So they would remain.
'Just another headache.' The Jonin wished he had lit up a cigarette before heading to meet the squad.
"We're all in disagreement but we're Shinobi. We accomplish our mission first and foremost. Like it or not, we don't get a say in the Daimyo's decision making. Our job is to keep him alive until he reaches the capitol." He eyed the Shinobi with him. "Complain on your own time but, when you're around the Daimyo or his guards, we keep it professional. The plan stays the same."
He earned six sets of nods. Kakashi may had been silent but he shared the opinion of the others.
"Alright. Back to what you were doing then." Asuma dismissed the squad. Kurenai gave him a look that promised they would talk once he was off his guard shift. He agreed with a nod before he headed back into the heart of the Daimyo's camp. In light of the new "additions", he and Hana had shuffled the guard shifts into a random order. It had been designed to keep both of the mercenaries from getting comfortable, from finding a pattern when it came to the Hidden Leaf Shinobi.
And then the Daimyo had requested Sasuke for the past three days so the two had to shuffle their plan around again. As it stood, he was now partnered with the Uchiha while Hana partnered with Kakashi.
He had only stepped away to speak with the rest of the squad as things had finally calmed down enough to manage it.
His Shadow Clone was still in the tree he had left it in, dispelled once he walked back into sight. The memories hit him but there was nothing unusual.
The two mercenaries were posted outside the Daimyo's tent but the Uchiha was likely to be inside. This late, the Daimyo would've normally retired for the evening, wouldn't be out of his tent until his servants finished preparing his dinner and perhaps not even then after the attack. With how unusual this mission had become, even the Daimyo had begun to break from his 'schedule'. Their pace had increased.
'We're lucky the Daimyo seems to like spending time with him. But what could he spend all day talking about?'
"The kid's with the Daimyo." The man in the mask spoke up as Asuma stopped next to the tent entrance. "Worried about him being around strangers?"
"Yeah." Asuma didn't like the two mercenaries, liked them even less than the others. 'So this is the Akatsuki?' One of the attached ANBU Black Ops units had contacted him after the attack, reported on their allegiance to the infamous mercenary group. The same group that Itachi Uchiha had joined. 'Just these two are going to be a difficult enough problem and there's more of them?'
He didn't know everything about the mercenary group, just the basics:
A mercenary group composed of S-Rank Shinobi. Their numbers tended to fluctuate but seemed to remain below a dozen. And their membership was infamous.
Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the rogue members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Deidara of the Hidden Stone, a mad bomber who had been given a personal 'Kill on sight' order by the Tsuchikage.
Itachi Uchiha. The madman who killed his entire clan save one.
Hidan from the Land of Hot Water. Another mad killer with a 'Kill on sight' order issued by his own village.
'But nothing on these two?' At best, the ANBU attachment had identified them as Shinobi coming from outside any of the major five Hidden Villages. That left a multitude of minor Hidden Villages to go through, something that would take time even with Naruto's clones lending a hand. It seemed they were just as suspicious of the two mercenaries, were working through volume after volume of old Bingo Books on their own time. 'I don't recognize either of their Ninjutsu either.'
One of them, the woman, made use of paper and what he would guess was a specialized Transformation Technique. It was a versatile ability coming from the paper's ability to fold and join together into different tools from shuriken to living origami. She had used a dozen or so paper cranes to entertain the Daimyo only yesterday.
The other, the man, seemed to make use of dark threads, maybe had custom prosthetics judging by how both his arms had detached and returned using those same threads. Beyond that, he hadn't made use of any other Ninjutsu.
"I still need to speak with the boy." The woman's voice dragged Asuma from his thoughts.
"And I told you it's not happening." The bearded Jonin met her amber eyes. The woman didn't seem to emote much, her expression not shifting from it's blank state even once in the past few days. But there was a spark of irritation now. At being denied. To Asuma, and the rest of the squad, the woman had an unhealthy interest in the Uchiha.
This wasn't the first time she had asked to be alone with him and it wasn't the first time Asuma had immediately denied it.
The Chunin in question stepped out of the tent at that moment, his eye twitching after spending the past hour or so with the Daimyo. His Sharingan passed over all three Shinobi outside the tent, a glimpse past them showing him the multitude of samurai that patrolled the camp in addition to the clones. The Uchiha joined him on what was quickly becoming the Hidden Leaf side of the tent entrance.
Asuma was almost thankful for the silence between the four of them.
If the entire shift went like this, it would almost be perfect.
"You and I should speak tonight. Alone."
'Fuck.' Asuma lit up a cigarette.
"What could we possibly have to talk about?" He wished the Chunin just rejected it all outright but he didn't. He sounded interested. Or he was trying to make small talk. Either one, now wasn't the time.
'This just has to be my life right now, doesn't it?' The Jonin breathed out the smoke, closed his eyes as he inhaled. 'I can't even ignore it. Even if I don't like him, the kid is part of my squad.'
So he had to deal with the female mercenary's interest in the youngest member of the squad.
'She's not going to stop asking him. So she's going to be a problem.' Asuma could draw a line at what was appropriate and what was inappropriate and that woman had crossed that line.
Such as now.
Whatever professional truce existed while the Daimyo was present was gone now, the woman far too close to the Uchiha. He seemed set to ignore her as she approached, seemed willing to take his response as enough acceptance.
"That's enough." Asuma intervened when she stepped far too close. He didn't try to hide the scowl on his face when she didn't stop. "Back off."
"He's a Shinobi. He can make his own choices on who he spends the night with."
Even her partner seemed surprised at her audacity, seemed to raise a dark eyebrow behind his mask.
"Bold." He earned a glance from his partner's amber eyes before they settled once more on the Uchiha. No. They roamed over the Uchiha.
It was enough for him to bite down on his cigarette.
'What else should I expect from a criminal?' Before he could consider anything else, he was in her way.
"I said that's enough." Her eyes finally peeled off of the Uchiha, her apathetic stare settling on the Jonin in front of her. "Let's try and keep things civil. You stay on your side. We'll stay on ours. And they'll be no problems between you two and my squad. Got it?"
The woman said nothing, already seemed bored of meeting the eye of the Jonin.
"He can say no by himself."
"He shouldn't have to when you're over twice his age."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Neither of the two arguing Shinobi noticed when the masked Shinobi grew annoyed at their endless back and forth.
"Hey kid." Green eyes met red and black. He gave a pointed nod to the two older Shinobi. "Step in here. I'm not dealing with this all night."
With a nod, the Chunin agreed. "…I don't see any reason to go with you anywhere tonight. We're both on guard duty." His Sharingan turned to the Jonin. "We should patrol the grounds."
"Gladly." Asuma sent the Uchiha off first, offered one final glare to the woman before he followed after her.
The masked Shinobi waited until he was sure the two were gone before he spoke next.
"Are you doing this on purpose?"
"Doing what?"
"Never mind."
AN: 3/4 for this update.