-ten days later
Sakura and Hinata are playing Go right now. I am re-reading one of my kinjutsu scrolls while waiting for them to finish so that I can swap with the loser.
Hinata puts a piece down "How are we to defeat Danzo? We decided his arm is the best source for hashirama cells, but we are yet to have a concrete plan on defeating him"
I roll the scroll some more "We need to cut off his arm first. All of those sharingan mean one minute of invincibility from each for him. Afterwards we only need to kill him twice at most. The first time he will sacrifice Shisui's eye and survive, the second time will kill him for good."
Sakura puts a piece down "You do realize that after we attack him we will almost certainly become fugitives right? He may be slimy but he is still a shinobi of Konoha. We should be prepared to get away from Konoha as soon as possible afterwards"
Hinata puts another piece down "Then we must make the attempt when he is inside of ROOT headquarters. Since he has hidden it from the rest of Konoha it is the best place to take him down without any consequences. What worries me more than Izanagi is Shisui's eye. How are we to protect ourselves against a genjutsu such as Kotoamatsukami?"
I finish reading the scroll "We make sure he can never target all three of us with it. Kotoamatsukami is automatically dispelled if you are made aware of being under its influence. So if a single one of us is not under it they can just tell the others they are under it, dispelling it. Another option is to wait for him to use it then immediately attack him right afterwards, that way we won't have to worry about it."
Hinata grabs a piece "We are still not yet strong enough to fight him. Perhaps once we are able to open the third gate we would be, but Danzo is still a formidable shinobi even without the sharingan arm, let alone with it."
Sakura puts a piece down "You can begin the attack by shooting his arm off. Afterwards Sasuke can fight him while you keep pressure on him with the bow. I can take care of his underlings, to make sure none of them interrupt you or try to save him."
Hinata puts her winning piece down "I still believe it would be better for us to wait and become stronger before tackling him."
I swap with Sakura "Then we can just wait until all of us can open the third gate. We have time until Akatsuki begins hunting the jinchuriki in earnest."
While I am grabbing my first piece I receive the memories of the clone I sent to Konoha. Our orders are to send Ruya to Sunagakure. Otherwise the mission remains unchanged, apparently even Hiruzen thought their plan was too stupid, since the mission remains an A-rank. I make a shadow clone and go back to playing Go, it should arrive in Suna in about a day.
-next day
It's when Hinata is helping Sakura with her newest crime against humanity, various tissue transplants, that the memories from the clone arrive. Rasa apparently just instantly turned the offending clan into salsa with gold dust after he confirmed the conspiracy. We are getting paid by him in gold, to be handed over to us in Suna at the end of our mission. A smaller part of it is supposed to go to Konohagakure, the rest of it is ours.
I go back to looking at Sakura's newest experiment. She is trying to force bone marrow transplants between incompatible patients. Supposedly this is in preparation for implanting Hashirama cells. I don't really think Hashi cells work the same as normal cells. When I tell her this she just deadpans at me and goes all "No duh" at me. Rude.
-end of two month period
Sakura hasn't succeeded in the transplants. When we get to Konoha she plans to do some more research on the topic before we go out again. We've packed up and destroyed the outpost, no point in rigging it to blow right now, and are currently travelling towards Tawagata. We want to celebrate finishing this mission with some nice food. Hopefully Tadasuke knows some good restaurants.
-
"I want one of everything" is my succinct order.
"An onion soup and a chicken salad please" is Sakura's order,
"Lentil soup and grilled chicken breast" is Hinata's order.
Having gotten our orders the waitress leaves. While waiting for our food I decide to make some small-talk "Nice weather outside isn't it?"
Sakura gives me a deadpan stare "Sasuke, the sun is so strong you can fry an egg on the pavement. The weather is horrible".
Hinata joins her "Quite"
I snort "Now you're just teaming up on me. Can't a man just make some small talk in a nice restaurant while he is waiting for food?"
Hinata sips her tea "He may not. Idle talk is the sign of an disorganised mind and the vice of an impatient man"
I snort again "You're just quoting Hiashi aren't you?"
Hinata declines to answer. I decide to look around us for a bit before continuing the conversation, can't be too careful. Looking around reveals all is as it should be, there doesn't seem to be anything out of place around us.
I drink some water. "You two are just ganging up on me and teasing me aren't you? Why don't we change the subject?"
Sakura takes a sip of water "Alright then, where did you hide Kakashi's books? Hinata and I both know you didn't just dispose of them like you said you would"
Hinata nods "I find myself intrigued by this subject as well. What happened to those books, Sasuke?"
"First off, Hi-"
Someone taps me on my shoulder "Foolish little brother".
I slowly begin turning and see Itachi standing behind me. It strikes me that he isn't wearing Akatsuki robes. "I hope you have become strong, I do not want to find myself bored by you."