Arc VII Chapter 9_Si Vis Pacem -‖- Para Bellum [Naruto FanFic]

Arc VII Chapter 9

 VII

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 Arc VII Chapter 9

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 ARoot ANBU knelt and reported.“Danzo-sama,the ANBUfailed. We must assume that the target escaped.”

 Danzo nced up from his desk and listened. His fight with Asami weakened him. He required time to recuperate. His chakra was low, and his handscked strength. The state of his right arm was beyond deplorable. The Hashirama cells ran amok and worsened his condition. Controlling them grew increasingly difficult.“So that means thatthe girlis still alive?”

 The Root ANBU confirmed his fears. “We suspect so, Danzo-sama. The girl eluded capture and escaped. The girl seemingly vanished. A few patrols went missingst night. They never returned. We found their corpses this morning. They were ughtered down to thest man. The patrols were hunted down systematically. The ANBU toon that was stationed at the mansion met a simr fate. We believe that she was behind it.”

 Danzo contemtedhis options. He had underestimated Asami. He had severely underestimated her. The case Asami representeda massive threat to his political survival. The truth could not be allowed to be ever discovered. “How much doesthe vige council know?”

 The ANBU paused. “Thecouncilwasinformed this morning. A squad of chunin investigated the mansionand stumbled across their mutted corpses.It was a gruesome sight.”

 “What did they report?”

 The Root ANBU hesitated. “The captain reported that he hadn''t seen such a scene of carnage even during the darkest days of the war. This wasn''t a fight. This was massacre. The ANBU were ughtered.”

 “I see.” Danzo grinnedwith a sense of satisfaction. This was the perfect pretext. He had enough evidence nowto convince the vige council to dereAsami a traitor, an enemy of Konoha.

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 In a secret hideout in a far, far, far awaynd,Kakuzu performed his usual work, sorting the iingAkatsuki mail.Only alonedeskmp kept himpany.

 Despite his age, Kakuzu hadn’t turned to dust yet. He enjoyed the benefitsof hislongevity, leaningover a pile of mail.Pain hadtasked him with organising theiriingcorrespondenceand missions,turnedhiminto their de facto a secretary. Hedidn''tin, however,and did his work. Duty was duty.

 Kakuzuopenedthemail, letter afterletter.“No. No.Never... In a few years maybe...No. No. No...Certainly not. We aren’tthat cheap... No. No. No...”

 The majority of themwere immediately discarded, wanderingdirectlyinto the rubbish. Promising letters, meanwhile,were set aside.Furthermore, today was his favourite day. It was the start of the month, which meant that the new bounties wereing in. The viges had updated their bingo books.

 “Iwagakure? The senile Tsuchikage should better pay his debts before recruiting usagain.The arsehole still owes us.No. No.No... Are they kidding? Weare not a charity.No. No. Maybe... No. No. No... Arequest from Takigakure?” Kakuzu studied the letter.“I guess they can go fuck themselves.No. No.No... No. No. No...” Kakuzuchallengedthepaper flood alonewithouthelpwhatsoever.

 Deidara wouldn''t be of any help due to his explosive temperament. His solution would be to blow everything up. Nor would be Zetsu. The guy was a fucking nt,pletely useless for manual tasks. No idea why he was even part of Akatsuki. Nor Hidan. His partner in crime might be immortal, but his jelly brain certainly wasn''t. Nor Konan. Her organisational skills werecking, despite paper supposedly being her element. Unfortunately, he was the only one in the entire organisation with a basic grasp of ounting. Without him managing the finances, Akatsuki would have long since gone broke.

 Kakuzu continued his monotone work, him against the paper tsunami. “No. No. No... No. No. No... No. No. Interesting... No. No. No...”

 “...” His eyesblinked. Apparently, Kiri demanded a full refund? Cheeky bastards. Didn''t they know thatAkatsuki hada firm no refund policy?

 “No. No. No ... Another paper delivery for our little angel.” No idea what she needs so much paper for. Certainly not for her Origami.

 “No. No. No.Maybe. No. No.” This was all mail for today. Now to his favourite part, the bounties. There were a lot this month, which made him happy. Already the first one elicited his attention. It was one from Konoha. Weren''t they goodies?

 Kakuzu studied the bounty and the attached picture. The target was a girl. The girl was young. ck hair, ck eyes, a ck kimono that could easily bankrupt men of lesser birth. The girl radiated an aura of nobility. Was the daughter of a Daimyo, or what? Apparently not. Apparently, the girl was a kunoichi turned traitor. A missing nin. Her death was desired, and Akatsuki was of course happy to oblige.

 S-rank. Konoha-nin. Kunoichi. Name, Minami Asami. Nickname, the ck Princess of Konoha. Rank, jonin. ANBU. Traitor. Elimination on sight, rmended.

 So this girl was the ominous ck Princess of Konoha. Interesting ...

 And the bounty was ...

 “...” Kakuzublinked in disbelief, unable to believehis eyes. His eyes didn''t deceive him. Thebountyremained the same.120 000000 ryo.

 120 000000 ryofor a single girl...That was insane. Hewould sell his grandmother, his mother and his future children for this amount of money, but where was the catch? If helearned one thingover the years, then that customers rarelyoverpaid out of generosity. There was always a catch.Judging by her bounty, the girl must be dangerous. The question was only how dangerous.

 Kakuzu contemted. Should he decline,or ept? Decline,or ept? Greed, ormon sense?120 000000 ryo,or nothing?A difficult choice.

 It was adilemma, and as usual, he came to rely on his only friend in this miserable world, money. Money had never abandoned him.Hedecided to flip a coin. Head for killing her.Tails for killing her. His coin had the choice.

 He tossed the coininto the air, theoue certain.Heerred, the oue was anything but sure.The coin fell and got stuckbetween two ancient floorboards. An unexpectedresult.

 Kakuzu chuckled before pickingup the coin. Fate wanted her to live ... Not that he cared. He had different ns for the girl. “Hidan! Get your arsereadyimmediately! We have got a job to do.”

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 Desperation, apathy, depressionhit Asami. Hunger and fatigue eroded her spirit. Weeks had passed since leaving Konoha and Asamicrossed rivers, forests, mountains,nds without purpose, without goals, without destination.

 Her stomachgrumbled. Her feet hurt. Dust and filth dirtied her precious attire. Insects bothered her.The nights were coldand the wind icy.

 Asami missed her fluffy bed, her pyjama, her warm bath, her home, her regr breakfasts. Her heart cravedher oldfortable life, Her current lifestyle didn''t befit her standing.She was a princess,thest true Uchiha. Divine blood coursed through her veins. She deserved better.

 Ninja, ANBU, mercenaries, bounty hunters, they all wanted to have her head.Their futile attempts entertained her, but they were persistent like flies. Her admirers only dwindled after she naileda few of them to the nearest tree.

 Asami fell, copsing. Her exhausted body hit the soft grass below. The fluffy green invited her like a huge lovely pillow and Asami epted the invitation. Her body was tired. The world weighed on her shoulders.

 Dark clouds covered the sky. Rain loomed. She deserved some rest, and she relished every second in these dark times, minutes of solitude, peace and silence.

 Asami persisted. She survived thenightOkaa-san died.She survived Itachi. She survived Konoha''s betrayal.Her heart bled, but nobody cared. Her heart cried, but nobody cared.Asamiwasalone.

 The sky roared, and a thunder announced the rain. Droplets tickled her skin and their numbers grew.

 Her world wasn''t a sunny ce. Her past, her present were filled with misery and sorrow. Her future uncertain. Fate was indeed a cruel mistress. She had lost everything. She paid a heavy price, reaping nothing but disappointment and betrayal. Nothing but resentment and hatred. One day, she would repay Konoha''s kindness, but for now Konoha was a relic of the past, a testament to wasted time and effort.

 The rain poureddown. Myriads of droplets descended and soakedher hair, her kimono, but the rain didn''t bother her. Asami enjoying the refreshing rain, the watertrickling from her skin.

 Asami reached for the sky amid theendless stream of tears, asmile adorning her lips. Heaven shared her pain, her suffering, her bitterness, but this wasn''t the end. She would rise again and im what was rightfully hers, her birthright.Nobody would deny her the greatness she was destined to.

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 “Kakuzu.”

 “Kakuzu.”

 “Kakuzu!!!”

 “Hidan, stop pestering me. You annoy me.” Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. The immortal bastard was lucky he couldn''t just kill him.

 Hidan ignored his warning, barking,“Kakuzu, why are we doing this? We have beensearching an entire month for this fucking bitchwithout asingle fucking clue!!!Thisis an utterwaste of time!”

 Kakuzu dismissed him. “I doubt so. The bitch is wortha fortune. The girl is worth her weight in gold, so shut the fuck up, Hidan. Lessining. More working.”

 Hidan clicked his tongue.“The money doesn''t matterif we can''t find her, Kakuzu!! Don''t you get it ...Hey, are you even listening?!”

 Kakuzu assured his partner. “I havemwork.I have my connections. The little princess can''t be far.She must be somewhere in the area ording to my sources.”

 “tsk, I remember how well that workedst week, and the week before ...” Hidan grew silent. They reached a crossroad and made an unexpected find, corpses.

 ...

 ...

 ...

 “I told you that we are on the right track.She must be near.” Kakuzu studied their mutted corpses. They weren''t the only oneshunting her.They foughther, andit didn''t endwell. Their masksand attiresbetrayed their affiliation. They guys were Kiri-ANBU, supplemented bymercenariesto bolster their forces.

 “...” Kakuzu furrowed hereyebrow. The girl had numerous enemies. Kiri, Iwa, Suna, Kumo, Konoha, they allwanted her dead, but the princess didn''t care.They all tried, and they all failed.The girl didn''t hide, didn''t run, didn''t bother to cover her tracks. The girl left atrail of bloodin her wake.

 Kakuzu inspected the dead. Stab wounds through their chests. Her sword burned through their torso. The fragrance of burnt human flesh still lingered. The dead carried her signature. The blood was still fresh.This degree of precision.This efficiency. This brutality.This was her.

 “...” His attentionturned attention to the nearest settlements.It was asmall town located down the valley. A peaceful ce.

 Kakuzu grinned. “Told you so, Hidan.We found her... Hidan?”

 “...” Hidan stared at theblood stained tree. His hands trembled, and he clenched his fists in rage. His temper exploded. “This fucking bitch! Who does this slut think she is?!I am the servant of Jashin here! Not she! Massacring people is my job, god dammit!”

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17kNovel

Arc VII Chapter 9