6 Chapter 5: In the Sandstorm (Part 1)

Even though I had reached work earlier than usual, the work of a Shinobi Village doesn't ever rest. Just as how the desert's scorching sun doesn't take a break from painting the dunes gold, the Department of Counterintelligence and Bounties also worked non-stop to ensure the safety of the Village and Country.

Many of my colleagues and subordinates had reached there long before me and were hard at work. Sensing that it was a busy day, I realised why I had 15 tasks to complete as well.

"Did something happen in the night?" I asked my secretary, a slender kunoichi with olive skin and bright amber eyes. She was recently reassigned to this place, so I hadn't had the chance to fully familiarise with her.

She caught on to what I was asking and shuffled through a few documents on her hand before she pulled out a note.

"Yes, taichou. Chiyo-sama has gone missing from the Village last night, and this note, from Security Line 11B was the last place she was spotted in," She replied. "The Joint-Council will convene first thing in the morning, which I have scheduled for you. As one of the Deputy-Chiefs, you are expected to be present." She finished in a single breath.

I gaped like a fool, standing there with my mouth open. Damn that old hag, she simply had to take it in her own hands instead of doing as I told her. Crazy old woman couldn't stay put until I had set all the pieces into place!

This was bad. Really bad. The last known person in contact with her was me, not that anyone would figure that out, but it was the principle! If someone found the note, or that such a communication occurred, I would be implicated in whatever bullshit she had thrown herself into.

I stammered for a second before rushing into my office, my secretary in tow. Hurriedly, I sat down and unlocked the seals that protected all sensitive material in my office to be accessed.

"I need two squads to be assigned to a Recon mission in the Leaf Village, keep it under wraps. It's highly sensitive. Once I send the trigger, I want them to be ready to neutralise a very important target. Make sure at least two experienced Jonin are requisitioned for this task." I instructed tersely, receiving a nod in return as she rushed to comply.

Stupid Chiyo and her stupid hate-boner for that bastard Hatake!

[TASSEL v1.0.0]

[Task 1/15]

With that task seemingly completed, I mused for a moment about how lucky Suna was, in a way, for it had the best Intelligence Department and it would only go up from here, given that I was, in part, helping it.

Just then, my secretary, bedraggled from having to send a very confidential missive to specific cells within the Village to coordinate a mission that was not approved by the Kage or the Council, entered my room, awaiting further orders.

One of the perks of being so high up in the chain and working for this specific department was the freedom it gave me. Were I a normal Shinobi, any mission I'd take would have to come from the Daimyo, to the Village and then authorised by the Kazekage before it was put up on the board.

This arrangement was beneficial to both the Departments and the Kazekage. It gave the Departments could be semi-autonomous in their operations and reduce paperwork, since the organisational structure was decentralised. But it gave the Kazekage and the Council a lot of deniability. While it may come back to bite them in the ass if they were derpived of vital information at the wrong moment, that was also very unlikely, because the whole point of having a Kage was to make the strongest shinobi of the Village represent the Village on the international forum.

In a sense, the Kazekage was the Face of Suna.

The fact that it wasn't just a coincidence that Kages wrre always swamped with work but actually a matter of policy, so as to give them a layer of protection when something does go wrong, at which point the liability would belong to the one who caused the mistake, was very ahead of its time, for a place like this.

Seeing that my secretary was still waiting for me to say something, I obliged her.

"Why wasn't I notified immediately?" I asked, frustrated that I wasn't made privy to such important information. "I-I don't know, taichou. The only reason we are upto our ears in work today is to ensure that this information doesn't leak." She informed me.

"Well, that's a hot load of shit, isn't it? There's no way that some stupid spy from another Village knows this," I slammed my table. "When even I didn't know until I clocked in to work! And where in hell is the D.O. when you need him? Prepare a few notes for me, please. I'll defer the dressing down for another time." I sighed and pulled my vest over myself, affixing my badge of office, a simple iron eye, onto the lapel, and wearing my headband.

"I'll get right onto that, taichou." She said, before scuttling away.

Poor kid, she clearly needed a break.

Just a few moments later, the Detail Officer knocked on the door and entered. "Ryuichi-san, everything is ready. We can leave at your say so."

That was good. I appreciated that kind of punctuality and discipline. But at the moment, I was fuming. It was ridiculous how a situation could blow up so badly without anyone knowing it.

For the umpteenth time in those ten minutes, I cursed Chiyo for being an idiotic old lady. While she wasn't as old as she was in the Anime, she was still retired from service. Her grandson was already becoming famous as a Chunin at eight years old. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the Third War started, a few months out from here, when he would get his infamous moniker of 'Akasuna no Sasori.'

That would be another pain to deal with.

I put those thoughts out of my mind and focussed on getting ready to join the Council to discuss this incident. If someone like Chiyo was on the loose, even at her advanced age, she would be nearly impossible to handle. Not to mention how important she was to the village.

I said a prayer to the Sage and looked through all the papers that were handed to me about the details of the sudden happenings, which were sparse and unreliable.

I foresaw an headache coming my way in the near future and resigned myself to a day of pain.

'Fuck you, Chiyo.' I cursed.