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Arc V Chapter 6

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Danzo's trusted walking cane hit the floor. His cane accompanied the frail old man for a long time, but certainly not innocent old man.

Danzo had served Konoha for his entire life. He gave everything to support the village from the shadows. His actions only served to protect Konoha.

Danzo left the red Hokage tower on his way home. The sun set and day turned night. The council meeting today lasted longer than expected. It sealed his decision.

Both, the Hokage and the council, were blind. They didn't recognise the danger.

ursed Uchiha blood flowed through her veins. Her heritage didn’t lie, Asami was just like the rest of her damned brood. Selfish, ambitious, dangerous, insane. A true Uchiha. Her ancestor would be proud of her.

Asami escaped the clan massacre and eluded everyone. Her existence remained shrouded in secrecy all these years and now she was in possession of the Sharingan and their inhuman powers.

Danzo gritted his teeth, blinded by rampant paranoia and convinced of the rightfulness of his actions.

He would rather die than seeing an Uchiha rise under his watch.

The second Hokage was right, every last Uchiha posed a threat to the village. Their entire clan couldn't be trusted. As long as their cursed blood still walked the earth, Konoha wasn’t safe from their tyranny.

He had to act, and he had to act now. Asami had to die no matter the cost.

But how? Killing the little demon was easier said than done. He didn’t intend to be blown to smithereens. Danzo knew Asami. He knew her capabilities.

Asami suffered neither from Shisui’s nor from Itachi’s naivety, which allowed him to manipulate them.

Her only weakness was her pride, her arrogance. Asami was sure of herself, too sure.

Danzo navigated through Konoha's dark streets. He stared at the sky, but the stars remained silent. They didn't deem him worthy of an answer and thus Danzo resumed his walk.

Eliminating her promised to be a difficult. He had to get crafty this time, like back then with Akatsuki …

Danzo grinned. His steps suddenly felt lighter than before. He got an idea.

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In a secret hideout in a far, far, far away land plagued by poor infrastructure as the local Daimyo had little interest in spending money to improve the land, Kakuzu performed his work and sorted Akatsuki's mail. Only a lonely desk lamp kept him company.

Despite his old age, Kakuzu hadn’t turned to dust yet. He enjoyed the benefits of his longevity.

Kakuzu leaned over a pile of letters. Their glorious leader tasked him with organising their incoming correspondence and missions.

Pain turned him into a secretary, but Kakuzu didn't complain and did his work. Duty was duty.

Kakuzu opened the letters and fought against the seemingly endless paper jungle. Letter after letter, paragraph after paragraph, he advanced. The majority of letters were immediately discarded and wandered directly into the wastepaper basket, while promising letters were set aside.

“No. No. Never.“

“In a few years maybe.“

“No. No. No.“

“Certainly not. We aren’t that cheap.“

“No. No. No.“

“Iwagakure? The senile Tsuchikage should better pay his debts before recruiting us again. The asshole still owes us.“

“No. No. No.“

“Are they kidding? We are not a charity.“

“No. No. Maybe.“

“No. No. No“

“A request from Takigakure?“ Kakuzu studied the letter. “I guess they can go fuck themselves.“

“No. No. No.“

“Searching for a missing child? We are no detectives, my friend.“

“No. No. No.” Kakuzu challenged the paper flood alone as Pain-sama sent him no help whatsoever.

He didn’t send him Deidara due to his explosive temperament. His solution would be to blow everything up.

He didn't send him Zetsu. The guy was a fucking plant, completely useless for manual tasks. No idea why he was even part of Akatsuki.

He didn't send him Hidan. His partner might be immortal, but his jelly brain certainly wasn't.

He didn't send him Konan, his blue-haired girlfriend. Paper was supposed to be her element.

Unfortunately, he was the only one in the entire organisation with a basic grasp of accounting. Without him managing their finances, Akatsuki would have gone broke long ago.

Kakuzu continued his monotone work, him against the paper tsunami. “No. No. no.“

“No. No. No.“

“No. No. Interesting.“

“No. No. No ...“

Kakuzu blinked. Kiri demanded a full refund? Cheeky bastards. Didn't they know that Akatsuki has a firm no refund policy?

“No. No. No.“

“Another paper delivery for our little angel. No idea what she needs so much paper for. I doubt it's for her Origami.“

“No. No. No.“

“Maybe. No. No ...”

A letter ... From Konoha ... Kakuzu furrowed his eyebrow. He couldn’t remember the last time they received a mission request from Konoha. Weren't they goodies?

The sender was a certain Tashiro Katsumoto. The name didn't ring any bells. Probably a fake name.

Kakuzu opened the envelope and found an attached picture. A girl. Black hair, black eyes, a black kimono that could easily bankrupt men of lesser birth. The girl radiated an aura of nobility.

Did they have to kidnap the daughter of a Daimyo?

They didn't. Their client requested a simple assassination instead and Akatsuki was of course happy to oblige. The letter mentioned her name, Minami Asami. Her rank, a kunoichi, a genin. And her bounty …

Kakuzu blinked and rubbed his eyes, but nothing changed. His eyes didn't deceive him. The bounty remained the same.

His instincts warned Kakuzu. Something was fishy here, very fishy. The bounty and the target didn’t match. He had never seen such a sum offered for a simple kunoichi.

Kakuzu shook his head in disbelieve. 60,000,000.00 ryo for a mere girl. That was insane. He would sell his grandmother, his mother and his future children for this amount of money, which made him suspicious.

Kakuzu learned a few things over the years, that customers rarely overpaid out of generosity, and there was always a catch.

So what was the catch this time? Hard to say.

Kakuzu contemplated. Should he decline, or accept? Decline, or accept? Greed, or common sense?60,000,000.00 or nothing? A difficult choice.

Kakuzu faced a dilemma, and he trusted in his only friend in this miserable world, money. Money had never abandoned him.

Kakuzu decided to flip a coin. Head for killing her. Tails for killing her. His coin had the choice.

He tossed the coin into the air, the outcome seemingly sure. Kakuzu erred, the outcome was anything but sure.

The coin fell and got stuck between two ancient floorboards. An unexpected result.

Kakuzu chuckled and picked up the coin. “Lucky girl, you live another day.”

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