II

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Arc II Chapter 5

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The days went by and Asami recuperated. Being shackled to a hospital bed wasn't a pleasant experience.

Asami felt alone. Aside from the doctors and nurses visiting her, nobody took notice of her existence.

She missed okaa-san. She really missed her. But okaa-san would never return and the hole in her heart grew.

Every second here felt like a waste of time. She had better things to do than spending her time in a bed. Asami ended up being bored, extremely bored. The days passed and nothing happened.

She even ran dangerously low on reading material despite her repeated threats to ignite the children's books they brought her. They insulted her sense of literacy.

No picture books, no little princess stories, no stupid novels about gutsy shinobi. She wanted something proper to read. And she got what she wanted.

Asami held a newspaper in her hands, the Daily Konoha. The journalistic style reminded her of a tabloid and the quality of the paper was doubtful at best, but she wasn't choosy. She took what she got.

Asami scanned the pages, searching for useful information. Her search yielded little information of value. Instead, she stumbled across a “Sexiest shinobi alive“ ranking, a “Secret Hyuga love affair“ article, and a "Which Hokage are you?" quiz.

Asami stopped flicking through the pages, furrowing her eyebrow. She discovered an ... interesting article. The article was about her.

"Mysterious murder case

Current investigations regarding the brutal slaughter of the rich Minami family last week haven't brought forward any new information. No official statement was made yet. The Hokage and his administration remain silent about this utter failure of internal security.

Can we, the normal people, still feel safe in Konohagakure? Doubtful.

The Minami family was massacred, their mansion burned down to the ground.

Only a little girl survived the massacre, Minami Asami, now the last surviving member of her family. Exhausted and blood-soaked, she was immediately transferred to the nearest hospital.

No culprits were found so far while competent authorities remain clueless as usual. Once again, Konoha's police failed miserably, allowing enemies to infiltrate our precious village. "

Asami giggled, slightly amused, slightly surprised.

Konoha had an awful media censorship for being a military dictatorship run by shinobi. Newspapers were allowed to openly criticise Konoha's glorious leadership. She didn't expect that.

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Asami continued studying her newspaper in peace when two men entered her room.

Asami put her newspaper aside, eyeing the newcomers with suspicion. Who were they? And what were they doing here?

The duo approached her bed. Of them was a silver-haired ANBU. His attire betrayed him. The other person was an old man. He wore wide red robes and a red hat every child across recognised. It was the Hokage.

Asami hid her surprise. The Hokage himself paid her a visit. How unexpected.

What did Hiruzen want from her? Did he have nothing better to do? She was just a little hospitalised girl.

Hiruzen spoke in a gentle tone," How are you, Asami? Do they treat you well? How is the food?“

“I still remember, back during the war the food was atrocious, nearly inedible. I thought they were trying to poison me in secret"

Hiruzen laughed, but Asami didn't bat en eye. She didn't laugh.

He knew her name. Not a good sign. He knew about her and he wanted something from her. How troublesome.

"Rather well considering the circumstances. But to what do I owe the honour of this visit, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen maintained his benevolent smile. The girl was well guarded for such a young age. Her expression, her body language betrayed nothing.

Hiruzen oversaw the investigations due to the relative prominence of the case. Not only was her family exceptionally wealthy, but also a large area in the middle of Konoha got devastated in a single night. There were many questions that had to be answered.

"Can an old man like me not look after the younger generations? Aren't we all part of Konoha's big family?" Asami remained unimpressed by Hiruzen's words.

Asami rolled her eyes. Had the Hokage really nothing better to do than bothering little children?

"Your condolences are appreciated, Hokage-sama, but I don't understand why you feel the need to beat around the bush. State what you desire."

"Tell me what do you want, and how I may assist you, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen reacted perplexed. you didn't see every day someone with the courage to talk back to the Hokage in such a frivolous manner.

Hiruzen took a puff on his wooden pipe. He expelled the smoke from his lungs. A nebulous cloud filled the air, drifting away through the opened windows.

"This accelerates the entire procedure quite a bit. So let's get straight to the point.“

“Do you know what happened that night, Asami?"

Asami smiled at his seemingly innocent question. "I know as much as you do, Hokaga-sama."

"And that would be?"

"Nothing relevant."

"Nothing relevant? That means you know something, correct?“ Hiruzen didn't fall for her deflection.

Asami narrowed her eyes. "I mean what I say. I know nothing relevant aside from the obvious, and the same applies to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't interrogate an injured girl who has lost her entire family."

"You stand in front of me, and demand answers, answers that don't exist. You have no idea who the attackers were, and I have no idea who the attackers were."

Hiruzen fell silent, contemplating. She didn't lie.

“And why did wield a sword? We found you with a sword in your arms. Why was your chakra exhausted? You were involved in the fighting, weren't you?" Kakashi interrupted.

Asami exchanged cold stares with the silver haired shinobi, clearly annoyed. He blew her cover. "I assume he is the one who has found me, isn't he?"

Hiruzen nodded. "He is. Let me introduce you Hatake Kakashi, captain of the ANBU squad that found you.“

“But he has a point, did you fight against them that night, or not?" Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. He demanded an explanation.

Asami sighed, giving up her resistance. "Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a princess that met three men one night.“

“The men claimed to be ANBU investigating strange occurrences in the vicinity. The ignorant princess believed them. She faithfully followed the three men, but the trio betrayed her.“

“The three men killed her mother before her very eyes. In her rage, the little princess killed them. No matter the cost, no matter the price, she was prepared to pay the price. They fought.“

“In the end, the trio wasn't anymore, vanquished by her purple lightning of divine judgment."

No words were spoken. Cold silence reigned.

"How do you like my little story, Hokage-sama, Kakashi? Do you have anything else to ask? Because I would like to rest now."

Hiruzen offered a sympathetic smile. "I think that should suffice. We have already used up enough of your time, Asami. We will take our leave then."

Asami nodded. They left.

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"What do you think, Kakashi, is she telling the truth?" Hiruzen walked down a corridor.

Kakashi offered his analysis. "Difficult to say, but the probability is high that parts of her version are true. The question is only which.“

“An entire mansion got razed to the ground last night, and I strongly suspect Asami was responsible for it. She was behind the purple lightning.“

“What I don't understand is why she was even targeted, to begin with.“ Kakashi wondered.

“Aside from money, Asami doesn't possess anything valuable. So why did they attack her? What was their motive?"

Hiuzen stroked his chin. Kakashi was right. "A good question indeed. Unfortunately, we don't have an answer. We can only rely on her version of the events, assuming she told us the truth. But do you realise the implications of this case?"

Kakashi summarised, "That we have a jonin-level kunoichi attending the academy?

“A girl with plenty of destructive potential and prodigious combat skills. A girl with absolute no hesitation in eliminating her opponents by every mean necessary. A girl that deceived the academy staff for years about the true extent of her capabilities."

Hiruzen agreed, “The fact that Asami escaped our notice for so long is quite concerning. So much talent hiding in plain sight, and nobody had the slightest idea."

Kakashi nodded. " True."

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