13 Chapter 13

Chapter 13

DANZO SHIMURA

Danzo watched as Hiruzen's eyes narrowed, and he knew that he had to be careful. Not for his life. No, he cared little for that but for the village. While many believed Konoha to be built on a foundation of idealism, he was amongst the few who saw that idealism for what it really was.

A façade. A lie.

A curtain to hide the darkness, sacrifice, and bloodshed that had taken to build this village. Hashirama Senju hadn't built the village. He had just envisioned it. No, the village had been built by Lord Tobirama. While the first laughed and drank with foreign emissaries, it had been Lord Tobirama standing in the shadows, constructing laws, negotiating with the clans, establishing the shinobi ranking, and most important of all, culling the clans that could pose a problem.

The Hyuga are too independent, forcing them into a conflict with some Iwa nobility forcing them to seek refuge in his brother's safe heaven. Having Kumo's lightning samurai exiled by their lord, the Hatakes weren't actually ninjas. They had been samurai under the lightning daimyo who had been forced to flee for some reason.

Danzo had never been able to tie it all to his sensei, but he didn't have to. He could read into the flow of things and tell that he had to be very careful with the person sitting before him. The village was at war and needed both him and Hiruzen.

"I mean to say that the kid is young, and the Hatake name has a stigma attached to it. Clans will not want their kids under his tutelage, and giving him civilian fodder would be nothing but hampering him," he explained slowly, and Hiruzen didn't react and simply picked up a folder and passed it to him.

"You may be right, but this would be an opportunity for the village to show that they still have faith in one of their member clans. And I have chosen the team very carefully, and I can assure you the parents will not complain," Hiruzen replied. And the way those eyes were still narrowed at him, he knew that he had to make a move. And so, he glanced at his other two teammates, and Hiruzen's eyes glinted before he leaned back.

"Homura, Koharu leave us," Hiruzen said to the other two and they were smart enough to not say anything and got up and left the office leaving him alone with Hiruzen.

CLACK. CRACK.

Hiruzen'c chakra filled the room, making the table crack. It was suffocating how the chakra spread everywhere, just with the life of a finger. Had it been any other shinobi in here, they would have begun to sweat, would have begun to shiver, yet it mattered little to him. For Hiruzen would never do anything to him, for Hiruzen knew of his importance to the village.

"I think I told you to stay away from the Hatakes Danzo. Yet it seems to me that you refused to listen to me," said Hiruzen as he placed back his teacup. His suffocating presence still encompassed the whole room.

"You and I both know I could never ignore something that could jeopardize this village's safety," he replied, and those words did the trick. Hirzuen's eyes glinted, and his chakra sharpened up. And Danzo felt as if his whole body was at the edge of hundred kunai.

"Explain!" was the order, and so the dance began. The village needed both him and Hiruzen, and it was kind of like a plant. Just like a plant needs its unsightly roots to nurture its beautiful flowers, Konoha needed both him and Hiruzen. And Ohashi Hatake was a threat to that.

"Ohashi Hatake may be compromised," he replied, and the effect of those words was instant as Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"His interactions with Kiri's Lava Mistress raise suspicion. And with the recent major intelligence leak I am investigating him," and he knew Hirzuen was angry. The whole mess at the Southern border had shaken the village. It had been a massacre.

A disaster. And it all would have been worth it, had Namikaze not been there. Hiruzne had been furious about the leak, and Inoichi Yamanaka had been promoted to replace the old Intelligence head. And the man was cleaning up the department well. He had to dispose of a couple of his me just to avoid getting caught.

"Ohashi has been an exemplary shinobi. There is no way he would betray the village," Hiruzen said.

"He is an exemplary shinobi yet his record paints a picture of a man with a foreign entanglement. There isn't anything substantiative yet, but I want to be vigilant. We cannot have a repeat of what happened at the Southern border," Danzo began. Though Hiruzen shook his head.

"His records are impeccable. There is no evidence to believe that he has betrayed the village," Hiruzen denied him.

"They may be, but they also show that he has faced that kunoichi from Kiri over a dozen times on missions and somehow they both manage to come out of it alive. It cannot be a coincidence," Danzo argued.

"Do you understand the implication of the allegations you are making, Danzo? Over something so small," and Danzo leaned back and shrugged.

"I do, but you know Hiruzen that I will always look out for the best interest of the village," he tries to convince Hiruzen to time to rope him up. Yet Hiruzen wasn't convinced.

"This investigation will remain covert, and I want all the details on my desk in an hour. But unless there is substantial, I will choose to trust the shinobi who has served our village valiantly for half his life," Hiruzen concluded standing up and dismissing him.

Danzo nodded. It was a win-win. Now, he would have a bit more time to take care of his Hatake problem.

"And Danzo," called Hirzen just as he was about to walk out.

"If words of this investigation circulate, then that will be the end of you. I am beginning to lose patience with all of your lies, friend."

He nodded and continued to walk out.

"I understand!"

0000

OHASHI HATAKE

"So, you finally completed that move of yours!" Ohashi spoke to Minato as he walked towards the man.

Minato was busy talking with the only other jounin alive, Shino Yuhi. Around them, the platoon had set up tents to provide first aid to all the injured shinobi and to house all the bodies. Bodies were still being found.

"Should you be up? You were pretty beat up," said Minato-san as he sent away the only surviving jounin of the three stationed here.

"Ahh, I am fine. It wasn't any major injury that had messed me up, it was just my chakra being a bit out of control from that mistake I made. If I hadn't messed that up I could have taken the two of them," and Minato-san smiled as he joined me. I was right. Mangetsu was good but he still was far from the monster he would go on to become and I knew most of Mei's tricks.

If I hadn't messed up my coils the way I had, I would have been able to go toe to toe with both of them.

"And thanks for saving me," he said, and the infamous yellow flash waved away my gratitude.

"You are welcome, and I did. So, how was it," said Minato as he stood proudly for his completed technique.

"It was quite good," he replied as Minato led them to his tent. Finally getting the hand signals I had been making him.

We entered his tent, and as soon as the flaps closed, the man's demeanor changed. Gone was the cheery smile, and now stood in front of him a stone-cold killer. The yellow fucking flash.

"So, I believe I have an idea what this is about," he began as he sat down. My smile was gone as well, for as I sat on the bed as the medic treated me all I could think of was that how close I had come to death once more. How close had I been to losing this life?

Though thankfully, the Kiri bastards had been kind enough to give me a clue.

"Indeed. And I believe it is time we talk about that leak," I said emphatically a frown on my face as I sat down opposite to him. Minato-san nodded as well.

"The Kiri-nin were surprised to see you, not me. Their chakra signatures confirmed that for me, and what does that tell us," I began as we played the wordy game of arriving at the same conclusion. Minato-san's eyes lit up, as he leaned back into his seat. His blue orbs focused on me. And then he finally broke the permeating silence.

"Why don't we cut whole this foreplay and say the name of the person we are both thinking of," he said with a smile and Ohashi couldn't help himself and smiled before he finally took the name.

"Danzo. Shimura Danzo, though how do you suspect that I suspected him as well," Ohashi questioned and the man nodded.

"Ohh, I have suspected for quite some time that you were cautious about him. Your career speaks to it, but then one night I sensed someone breaking into the Hospital's record room. I think that it might be one of his men, and so go out and surprise. It isn't," said the man his brow raised at Ohashi.

"It's you. Leaving the record room with a file tucked under your arm," finished the man his eye bearing into him.

And Ohashi was surprised that he hadn't been able to sense the man. His eyes bore into the man as his mind raced before a smile appeared on his face, and he broke out into a small laugh.

"You learned it from Kushina-san," Ohashi told the man and Minato-san nodded with a small smile on his face.

"She did. She has been helping me keep track of the movements of his men. And one night, she noticed your signature in the hospital and told me about it. I had had my suspicions before, but that confirmed it."

Ohashi nodded along, Kushina-san's sensory abilities were legendary in the village. If anyone could pull this off, then it was supposed to be her.

"Then this shortens our talk by a lot. I believe it was him who leaked this info to Kiri," and Minato-san nodded to his statement.

"He may have, but first I must ask you what was on that report," he questioned me, and Ohashi's lips thinned as he remembered the report.

"The report found was inconclusive. According to the postmortem, the med nin concluded that there was evidence that Sauko Hatake may have been murdered," Ohashi told him, and Minato-san's eyes lit up. Ohashi's fists had balled up by then, and he quashed the man's hopes quickly.

"But it doesn't matter. Because the rest of the evidence had been destroyed by the time I returned. Everything was wiped clean. So, we cannot use the report," he told the man. And Minato-san's lips thinned, and he nodded.

"And that is why he wanted to kill you," and Ohashi nodded.

"Yes, I suspect so. I refuse to believe that all this was a coincidence," he argued, and the experienced jounin nodded.

"I know. But we cannot do much without evidence. I will be here for a week before I have to move out for my other assignment; we should share what we know," and Ohashi nodded.

"We should. We definitely should."

0000

TSUNADE SENJU

The infamous sanin waited in her office as she stared at the massive book in front of her. It had been years since she had gathered enough courage to even stare at the book in front of her.

It was a clan's lineage book. A book that was used to keep track of a whole clan. Yet that was useless to her and her clan. It had been for quite some years.

She hadn't had the courage to look into it, but thankfully she hadn't needed to. Her apprentice sat opposite her, her face pale and white as a sheet. Her eyes glinted with rage, though the slight puffiness underneath them told her all she needed to know.

"So, what did you find?" she questioned her apprentice as she hardened her heart for a response.

Shizune nodded and gulped and took a moment before she finally replied.

"Ohashi was right. The demise of the Senju clan wasn't regular," and Tsuande was a flurry of emotions as soon as she heard those words. A part of her had always suspected this yet had lacked the courage to pursue it, for she knew that if she did, then she would have to face things she never wanted to, like the betrayal of her own sensei.

"Can we trace it to the one responsible?" Tsunade questioned Shizune. Her voice was cold and apathetic as she buried all her emotions as deeply as she could. Shizune shook her head.

"I am sorry, Tsunade-sama, but the evidence has been wiped off. If Ohashi hadn't told me where to look, there was little chance that I would have even made the connection," and that brought to her other question. How the hell did a fifteen-year-old jounin figure it all out? Yet that question would come later, for he had given her a name as well.

"And he mentioned him as the one responsible for this." And Shizune nodded.

"He did. He said it was all him. He suspects that he was also the one who kill…," but Sizune couldn't complete her sentence, and Tsunade saw her fists balled up as she finally found the strength to say the words.

"….had Dan-san killed!" and Tsuande was struck dumb by those words.

"I never would have considered it. But then I tried to look at the connection, and the modus operandi was the same. Leaked intel. Bogus missions! Ambushes! It was just like the Kiri case from a week ago. This all cannot be a coincidence."

And Tsuande stilled at those words as Shizune struggled to speak up.

"At this rate, there is a high chance that Ohashi is right. That all this wasn't natural. That he was behind all this," she finished and Tsunade felt her world still as the implication behind those words finally registered. And she felt something inside her snap.

CRACK! CRACK!

Tsuande's chakra roared, cracking the table in front of her. And it took all her control to not just get up and kill the man right then and there. Her blood boiled in rage and indignation yet it was sorrow that filled her heart and she felt her eyes tear up as she remembered all the loved ones she had lost, all the people she had buried.

"I am going to kill him, Shizune. I am going to kill Shimura!"

0000

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