Arc IV Chapter 15


    <strong><b>IV</b></strong>


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    <strong><b>━━━━━━┓</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┏━━━━━━</b></strong>


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    <strong><b>Arc IV Chapter </b></strong><strong><b>15</b></strong>


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    <strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>


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    Two chunin stood guard, orrather sat guard, protectingKonoha’s<strong><b></b></strong>precious archives.Sitting behind their heavy desk, the two chunin were upied with a taskof utmost importance, guardingKonoha’s secrets with theirlives.They controlled everyvisitor. They confirmed their identity and purpose before allowing them toenter their little kingdom of paper.Whether you were a humble geninor a mighty jonin, nobody escaped the watchful gazeof these valiant guardians. That was how it was supposed to be, but reality was different.


    <strong><b>Tick.</b></strong> Fumihiko wasconfined to a grey, monotonousshit holewherethe flow of timeslowed because of boredom. As if time itself had already capitted. <strong><b>Tack. </b></strong>


    <strong><b>Tick. </b></strong>Seconds, minutes, hours, days passed before his eyes. Every day, a part of his soul died, devoured by the grey walls.Every day, his sanity diminished.<strong><b>Tack</b></strong>.


    <strong><b></b></strong>


    <strong><b>Tick. </b></strong>His post didn’t strike Fumihiko as prestigious as it was made out to be. Quite the contrary, guarding the archives was a divine punishment, the wrath of the gods for his past sins. <strong><b>Tack.</b></strong>


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    <strong><b>Tick. </b></strong>He already spentsix months in this inescapable prisonand didn''t see any way out.<strong><b>Tack.</b></strong>


    <strong><b></b></strong>


    <strong><b>Tick. </b></strong>Fumihiko cursed his fate. He wasn''t made for a clerk job. He<strong><b></b></strong>was an aplished, hardenedchunin, a few missions away from being promoted to jonin. But now he was trapped in the wheels of bureaucracy.<strong><b>Tack.</b></strong>


    <strong><b></b></strong>


    <strong><b>Tick.</b></strong>Fumihiko despaired.One day he would throw the damned clock out the window. The question was only when? <strong><b>Tack. </b></strong>


    <strong><b>Tick. </b></strong>Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow?Fumihiko wasn''t sure. <strong><b>Tack. </b></strong>


    Fumihiko ignored the stupid clock and continued reading his book. The Icha Icha series was supposedly that bad, apparently. At least, he was told so. After all, he had nothing better to do all day because visitors were rare. And if they got some visitors, they didn’t even have the necessary authority to control them. The majority were jonin, ANBU, officers, or important n figures. They all abused the power and constantly pulled rank on them. Very frustrating. If you tried to check their papers, you earned yourself a furious re. The Hyuga were by far the worst, arrogant douche bags among them. He was told that only the Uchiha were worse, but they were less of a problem these days.


    “...”Fumihiko shivered. He still remembered the ckhaired girl.He doubted his eyesight when he saw her. He thought the girl was a simple genin trying tosneak her into the archives. How wrong hewas wrong. The girl wasn''t a genin. Not only was she not a genin, she was in fact anANBU, even a highranking one.The girl was a genuine ANBU Captain.


    Seriously, what was up with the higherups these days? They were promoting little girls to ANBUCaptains. The girlwastwelveyears at most!Twelve!The world was unfair.Little girls became ANBU while he remainedstuck here.


    “...”A sigh escaped Fumihiko. He would never argue with such a temperamental girlever again. The little princesswas way too dangerous for his liking. His instincts warned him, but he didn''t listen until it was toote.


    She threatened themwith her sweet voice after they stopped her. The next timethey blocked her way, she wouldpersonally ensurethat both of them wouldbe deported to some godforsaken outpost at the northern border.To somecoldhole ofneverending darkness wheretheirmiserable existences would yearn for every single ray of sunlight. A ce of infinite despairwithout hope.


    It was the moment hereconsidered. Perhaps this ce wasn''t that bad, after all.The pay wasgood, theworking environment peaceful, and he had considerablymore free time.


    He and his colleaguedidn''t bother the girl any furtherand let the little devil in ck pass.No need torisk a fight with her.And certainly not becausethe girl might have scared them. She didn''t frightenthem, at all. He wasa grown man. He wasn''t scared by little girls. And he certainly didn’t have any nightmares of her once per week.


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    <strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>


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    Fumihiko read his book. “Shinji, do you think we will ever get out of here?”


    Armed with a pencil and a newspaper,Shinji fought against the daily ninjacrossword.Thetaskrequired all of hisconcentration. “Who knows, maybe one day.Fumihiko, can you help me? I am searching for two words.


    First word, horizontal, eight letters, starts with anA and ends with an I. Clues, criminal underground organisationposed of powerful missing-nin and dawn.


    Second word, vertical, thirteenletters, nickname of an enigmatic S-ss kunoichi. Any ideas, Fumihiko?” Shinji scratchedhis head. He needed help.


    “Give me the newspaper.”Fumihiko closed his book. He scanned the crossword and waited for a sh of inspiration to ur. Inspiration never came.“Difficult. Aka...Aka...Aka...” Hetried his best tocrack thecrossword, but he failed.


    Meanwhile, the door opened, and a visitor entered the archives, a rare sight.


    “...” Fumihiko turned his attention to the neer, a ckhaired girl d in ack kimono. It seemed the girl had a preference for thecolour ck.The girl quickly strolled past them, so he was unable to catch a glimpse of her face. The girlpletelyignored them. She couldn’t do that, could she?


    Fumihiko grew irritated, calling her out, “Hey, where do you think you aregoing, girl?The public library is the other way. Right down the stairs and the corridor left. You can’t miss it.”


    The girl halted, her red lips formed a benevolent smile. “I beg your pardon, but what did you say?I thinkI have misheard.”


    “...” Fumihiko''s blood froze in his veins. This voice ... An ominous feeling gripped his heart. Her stature, her hair, her sense of fashion ...There was no doubt! It was ... It was ... “Oooooooooohhhhh shit, it''s her!” Don’t panic, Fumihiko, don’t panic. Stay calm and focused ...


    “...” Fumihikofinally realised he had slipped up. He said what he thought aloud.Everything waslost!Abandon the sinking ship!Flee fool, run for your life!


    The girl narrowed her eyes. “What did you just say?”


    Fumihiko gesticted with his arms, stuttering,“Ehm, nothing. Nothing. Nothing, at all. Please enter the archives! Don''t mind us! We said nothing!”


    “...” The girl merely stared.


    Fumihikogulped. “...” Please don’t hit me... Please don’t hit me...Please don’t hit me...


    His pleas were heard. The girl ignored hisments. “Whatever, if someone asks if I was here, you saw nobody. Do we understand?”


    “...” Fumihiko noddedvigorously. After all,what should he do? Say no?


    “Excellent.I am d we understand.” The girl disappeared behind a set of heavysteel doors, enteringthe achieves.


    Fumihiko hoped he would meet the little princess never again. How wrong he was.


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    <strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>


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