Arc IV Chapter 8
<strong><b>IV</b></strong>
<hr>
<strong><b>━━━━━━┓</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┏━━━━━━</b></strong>
<hr>
<strong><b>Arc IV Chapter </b></strong><strong><b>8</b></strong>
<hr>
<strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>
<hr>
Armed with aproud smile of victory,Asami strolled towardsher audience. ShekilledOrochimaru, which was nota small featof arms.Apuse.Apuse. She deserved some recognition, didn''t she?
Asami approached Kakashi. Hisbored,nk lookand his mask made himdifficultto read, Hewasalways ahard nut to crack.Kakashi maintained his guard. He remained suspicious of her.
A staring contestbetween themmenced, she against him. Who first blinked lost. Neither of them gave in.Neither he,nor shebackeddown. Theawkward silence continued. Meanwhile,Sasuke gradually regainedhis consciousness. A stubborn boy, wasn''t he?
Asami cleared her throat, “Ahem, I think that some introductions are in order. Itisa pleasure tomeet you again after all these years,Kakashi,albeit under differentcircumstances.” They were both ninja of Konoha.No needto treat each other likeenemies.
Kakashi''s expression softened. A calm nod was his response. “I remember you, Asami. In fact, I remember you well.I have heard a lot about you. Some of myold ANBU friends told meabout you, a certain ck hairedgirl with a little princessplex. They call you the ck Princess of Konoha. I suspected that it was you. As it turns out,I was right.Now I see that the rumours are true, you have grown quite strong since thest time we met,although you seem to have retained your destructive tendencies.” He ncedat the number ofdestroyed pirs.
Asami took hispliment with humour.Of course, Kakashi knew her identiy. It was only natural. He was a former legendary ANBU Captain with plenty of contacts. No need to be surprised. “You hurt me, Kakashi, I am not that destructive.My methods merelytend to be overly effective.”
Kakashiignored hement. “Overly effective ... That is a curious point of view. Anyway, what you are doing here?What is an ANBU doing at the chunin exams?” He wanted an exnation.
Asami tilted her head, smirking. “Well, you know best how things work in our line of business. Let''s say, I stumbled across a suspicious looking person sneaking around the tower. I decided to follow him and investigate the person in question further. A good kunoichi wouldn''t allow him to roam around without supervision.”
“...” Kakashilookedneither pleased, nor displeased. “I see ...”
“Anyway,I think that some thanks are in order, Kakashi. After all, I just saved your arse.” Asami grinned with a sense of superiority.
Kakashidisagreed,“Tsk, sure ... He would have leftif you hadn''t interfered. It was you whodecided to pick a fightwith him.You are the troublemaker here.”
Asami rolled her eyes. “How ungrateful ... So, you are telling me, Kakashi, that weshould have allowed Orochimaru, atraitor and anarch enemy of Konoha,to escape? Truly anexcellent idea, Kakashi.I think I did us all a service by dispatching him. Especially,”
“...”Kakashiremained reserved. “What are you trying to imply?”
Asami clicked her tongue. “Please, Kakashi, do not deny the obvious. Do you think me blind? I saw you. I saw the naked fear in your eyesthe moment you faced Orochimaru. You were scared, Kakashi, weren''t you?”
“...”Kakashichose silence, his mood impossible to read.
“Not that it matters now that he is dead. I seeded where you failed. Orochimaru is now a figure of the past.” Asami approached his corpse, snapping her fingers. Her beautiful fire, her brilliant purple mes, devoured Orochimaru''s lifeless corpse. He was not needed any more. Her fire expanded, nourished by her chakra. The very air burned in an inferno of zing heat. “Still, I must congratte you, Kakashi. You have probably already heard it, haven''t you?”
“...”Kakashinarrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Oh, so you don''t know ... How curious ... I guess, you should consider what I am about to tell you a small favour of mine, Kakashi.” Asami giggled. “It is the Hokage who carries Konoha''sWill of Fire, but even the brightestme is destined to dim. The years pass, and age strikes. Hiruzen is old. His health ... is declining. His constitution is not the best anymore.Thedayising that someone else has to bear his burden.From what I have heard among the ANBU, this is why he intendsto relinquish his power and designate another sessor after the chunin exams.”
“...”Kakashilistened.
“As you might know, the next Hokage is traditionally chosen from among the vige''s strongest, most talented, and most experienced ninja. Tsunade is a candidate, yet she is unfortunately currently unavable. Jiraiya is another possible choice, but considering his dubious reputation, his chances are minimal. The elders wouldn''t support him. Especially, Lord Danzo. Danzo, however, is also out of the question, for obvious reasons. Hecks popr support. Ther n heads would oppose his designation. That means that there only remains onest candidate, onest ninja, a ninja renowned across thends for his skill and experience, a ninja hailed as the seconding of the White Fang ... It is you, Kakashi. I strongly suspect that he will designate you. Not that he has much of a choice. So, congrattions ...”
“...”Asami stopped, her fist clenched, her eyes focused on Orochimaru''s supposed corpse. It was a corpse that wasn''t. “It seems that oursnake has afew tricks up his sleeve. How troublesome ...” Orochimaru''shollowcarcass crumbledto ash. Thesnake had shedhis skin.Hehad escaped.
<hr>
<strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>
<hr>
Salutations, fellow readers and authors!
As you probably know, each chapter you read takes a lot of time and effort to produce.
So make a small contribution and support my efforts on Patreon! Any donation would be appreciated!
<strong>Patreon: </strong>