Chapter 13
DANZO SHIMURA
"I never expected you to fail me, Shimura," and the agitation and frustration of the Hyuga elder were obvious in his tone, as the old man came to visit on him in his home.
Danzo had half a mind to refuse him, but in the end, he was amongst the few people in the village who saw the world as he did. So, in the end, he welcomed him to his home and served him with tea.
Those pale eyes bore into him, and Danzo, for one, knew better than most the secret.
"I failed because I was misguided about the urgency of the matter. The boy was a bigger menace than you made me believe," and the fault lay in him, for he had underestimated the boy.
"So, you blame me for this?" the old Hyuga shinobi raged as Danzo looked him in the eye without backing down.
"If the problem was so pertinent, you should have handled it when he was in your care. Now, he is surrounded by Hiruzen's pets, and that makes moving against him far more complicated than usual," and then there was his own skill. The boy had risen through the ranks of the ANBU, soaking in all he could from his seniors.
Even Danzo had been surprised by his meteoric rise through the ranks and had looked into the matter. The findings had been rather interesting.
"Sometimes I do not understand what goes on in Hiruzen's mind," and Danzo's eyes narrowed as the Hyuga elder aired out his frustrations.
"Has he gone blind to the implications of the boy's success. Is he ready to rip apart the traditions and the values that have held together this village for so long?" and the boy's rise could indeed set a bad precedent for the village, for it could embolden other shinobi from the clans to leave their clans.
"That fool!"
"That is quite enough!" Danzo warned as his chakra roared forth, as the Hittori's Hyuga's eyes widened, for Hiruzen may be a fool, but he was still the Kage.
"Be mindful of your words, elder Hittori," he warned, as those eyes narrowed at his warning.
"Age may have softened Hiruzen's heart, but he is still the Hokage, and one does not simply call the Hokage a fool." For today, he spoke like this of Hiruzen; tomorrow, he would do the same for him.
He could understand his frustrations, but the retired Hyuga clan head seemed to be under a misconception.
"And the truth is, while the other clans are indeed apprehensive about the boy's situation. They do not quite share your predicament," and it was their predicament, for no other clan discriminated against its own members as the Hyuga did, dividing them into Main and Branch line and then treating the Branch line as lesser human beings.
This was why the other clans had not raised much alarm over the boy's defection, and why Hiruzen was able to intervene and offer the boy the lifeline of ANBU as he had.
"Our predicament," he questioned ruefully, and Danzo shrugged.
"Indeed, for no other clan fears defections as much as you, for none have the same traditions as you," and the man was quick to lash out.
"The traditions are a necessity!" he barked out, and perhaps they were.
"I am afraid the other clan heads and Hiruzen do not see things your way," and the man had quite a nerve to come here and humiliate him, and this was why he needed to be given a reminder that he only sat here, for he had no allies beyond himself.
"I, on the other hand, am indifferent to the matters of your clan," and the only ally he could seek for this favor, and the old man was astute enough to recognise his warning as his lips thinned.
"Are you trying to blackmail me?" and Danzo shook his head.
"I am simply reminding you of your position, Elder Hittori," and comrades they may have been in the past, but the old man in front of him was no friend of his, and he seemed to be under the misconception that he could command him.
"It is you who requires my aid. Not the other way around," Danzo put down the empty cup, as he turned towards the window and saw the half moon shining down at them, as the old Hyuga elder's frustrations grew.
"And you would have been well rewarded for your aid," he retorted, and indeed, having the Byakugan at his beck and call would be a great boon.
"Yet you and your men failed," and that was a stretch as the bald man put down his own cup and continued.
"Already, Hiashi has been chipping away at my support for months, and if that girl of his becomes a chunin in six months, then with her vote, he would be able to wrestle away the control of the clan from me," and that was his dilemma.
"So, tell me, Danzo," he began sharply.
"Will you help me or not?" Danzo turned towards the old man once again and thought about his options.
If Hiashi's daughter became a chunin in half a year, she would be officially anointed as the clan's heiress. Hence, giving her two votes, shifting the balance of power within the clan in his favor.
He had no grudge with the aged shinobi, but he also lacked a working relationship with him, and if his plan for the chunin exam came to fruition, then he would need to have allies amongst the clans to aid him in his tenure as Hokage.
Allies who saw the world with the same gaze as he did.
"Hiruzen has decided to put the boy under the care of his own son, Asuma, along with Shikaku and Inoichi's children," and that came as a surprise to the older Hyuga, whose lips thinned for this meant one thing and one thing only.
"That puts the boy out of our reach," for though he may not show it, Hiruzen cared much for his son.
"Then what is your suggestion?" he asked, and Danzo shrugged.
"Hinata Hyuga..."
0000
SHIKAMARU NARA
Itachi Uchiha.
The name was a taboo within the village for some reason, for the mere mention of that name came with memories of a tragedy that had brought Konoha to its knees.
He was a shinobi unlike any other. His talents were so great that he was compared to the likes of the Yondaime Hokage. Even as a child, whispers about his prowess had reached his ears, but then tragedy had struck.
The promise turned into a lament, as the young Uchiha prodigy turned rogue and killed his entire clan. Shikamaru had been young then, but even he had felt the tension and the despair that had hung in the air after the Uchiha massacre and had watched with his own eyes the sleepless and perilous nights it had caused in his own home.
The Uchiha clan. One of the founding clans. Dead to a man, except for one singular child in one single night.
It was a tragedy unlike any other.
To this day, many have wondered about the motivations and the reasons behind his actions. Shikamaru himself felt that there was more to it than the village let on, for no matter how talented a shinobi he may be, it was nearly impossible for one man to slaughter an entire clan like that.
Yet despite his contemplations, he had the mind not to bring it up with anyone else, for much like his clan, Shikamaru had little interest in causing a ruckus and was happy to live a life of leisure.
And that had been the trajectory of his life. He had joined the academy, passed his tests and exams, and made friends with Ino and Choji. And after graduation, much like their parents, they would be made into a team, and so he would live out his life as his father had.
But the plot had changed, and now, as he stood in front of their jounin sensei, the team around him was not exactly as he had imagined it to be. Ino sat beside him, irate and angry at not being paired up with her wonderful Sasuke-kun, but the boy beside her was not Choji as he had hoped.
It was a break from tradition, but one with good reason behind it if his father's words were any true.
"My name is Asuma Sarutobi," and that was a familiar name which explained his resemblance to the Sandaime-sama, and if the twitch in Ino's eyes was anything to go by, she had picked up on his heritage as well.
"And I am your jounin sensei," he announced with a smile, as he bit down on the cigarette in his mouth. He wore a usual jounin uniform and had a small beard, but his most unusual feature was the small slash around his belt, with the kanji of 'fire' embroidered on it.
Many would simply wave it off as style, perhaps, but Shikamaru knew that it was anything but. That belt showed his heritage and his rank as a member of the twelve guardian shinobi, a select group of highly skilled shinobi tasked with protecting the daimyo.
"Now why don't the three of you tell me a bit about yourself," he asked sweetly as they sat on the rooftop of the Academy, as he asked them for an introduction.
"Why don't we begin with you?" and sadly enough, he turned to him first, as Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the clouds, and tried to think of ways that he might be able to avoid all this trouble.
But in the end, he saw no way out and sighed as he gave a reluctant answer.
"Well, I am Shikamaru Nara," and that seemed enough, and the man clearly expected more, as Ino screamed into his ear.
"You have to tell him something more than your name, Shikamaru," and he scrunched his eyes at her wail, and she was clearly in a very bad mood, and so as not to irritate her any further, he continued.
"And I like cloud gazing," and she shook her head at his antics, but that seemed to be enough for their sensei, who turned towards Ino.
"What about you?" the jounin asked.
"My name is Ino Yamanaka, and I am the heiress of the Yamanka clan. And my dream for the future is to defeat that big-headed Sakura," and the two of them had once been friends from what he could remember, but had now become bitter enemies, all because of a boy.
"Interesting," the jounin whispered as he turned towards the last and newest face of their team, and Shikamaru did not miss how his face shifted as he turned towards the pale-eyed boy.
"And what about you?"
He wore a black sleeveless jacket with a white shirt underneath it, along with simply black trousers. It was similar to the standard jounin uniform, and the most distinguishing feature was the sword strapped to his back.
"My name is Hikari Hizashi," and he is Shikamaru's biggest headache.
"I like to play around with chakra as a habit, and one day I am going to become the Hokage," and those words stilled the air and caught them all by surprise.
"Hokage?" Even their sensei seemed surprised by his words, though Shikamaru was intrigued by an entirely different thing.
"Yes," the boy answered with a smile, but the boy had not called it a dream or a goal.
No, he had spoken with conviction as if he was telling them of the future, and if his father's words about the boy were true, he had the talent to do just that for Shikaku Nara had compared his pale-eyed teammate to the likes of Itachi Uchiha.
He had asked for the boy to be paired with him so that Shikamaru could keep an eye on him and look for any unusual behavior, so that they could avoid another tragedy like the Uchiha massacre, for though he had called himself Hikari Hizashi, he was born with an entirely different name.
"Well, to do that, you three will first have to become genin first," and Shikamaru frowned at that as Ino asked angrily.
"What do you mean, we passed the exam. We are genin now," and the man shook his head.
"No. Not yet. You still have one final exam before I take you on as my genin students," and that was a ploy, obviously.
"What exam?" she asked.
"Well, for that you will have to meet me at training ground nine tomorrow at eight hundred," and with that the man gave them a wave before suddenly his eyes narrowed as he but down on his cigarette and spoke sharply.
"Prepare well..."
POOOF!
And then he was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving the three of them all alone on the rooftop. The air was silent until Ino turned towards the pale-eyed boy.
"Who are you?" she asked angrily, and the boy frowned.
"What do you mean?" he asked with a simple frown.
"I mean, who are you, and why are you on this team? You were not one of our classmates, yet somehow you have taken Choji's place on our team," and she was clearly angry on behalf of Choji.
"Well, I graduated a year ago, but I couldn't join a team because of a health condition. The Hokage-sama was generous and let me recover, and now I am a part of your team," and that was obviously a lie.
"Really?" and Ino was not one to fall for such simple lies. After all, she was the daughter of the Head of the Intelligence Division.
"Regardless, I don't like you, and I don't accept you as a member of this team!" she announced, and Shikamaru sighed and realised the trouble he was in.
"You are a stranger who has simply taken Choji's place, and I refuse to accept it!" and with that, she turned around and walked.
"Let's go, Shikamaru," and he was in a fix, for if he followed after her, it would be rude to their new teammate, but if he didn't, he would have to hear her complain continuously.
Yet much to his surprise, he saw the pale-eyed boy look into his eyes as he gave him a subtle nod, asking him to follow after Ino as Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, for he seemed somewhat familiar with their personalities and circumstances.
Still, he was happy to take the way out and gave him a small nod in return.
"Shikamaru!" she asked again, and he could not wait any longer as he got on his feet and walked after her.
"I am going to complain to father and make him change the team..."
0000
As always, you can read ahead and support me on Patre 0n. Your support and patronage are what make all this possible. So, drop a sub if you can. It would help me out quite a bit.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a fantastic day!