VII

━━━━━━┓༻❁༺┏━━━━━━

Arc VII Chapter 11

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

“Are you sure we got the right person, Sasori?” Deidara remained doubtful.

Sasori grumbled, “I think we can trust Kakuzu in this matter. His tracking skills are excellent. He is Akatsuki's loyal bloodhound.”

...

...

...

“Fair enough.” Deidara shrugged his shoulders and knocked on the door. They found her inn and asked the innkeeper for her room. The owner reluctantly assisted. The fear in his eyes was visible.

Deidara knocked. No reaction.

He knocked a second time. No reaction.

He knocked once more ...

“I hear you, you fucking dimwitted cretins!!! Stop disturbing my peace.” Asami barked. The girl sounded pissed off.

The door opened and a girl in a fluffy satin pyjama greeted them. Her long unkempt hair touched the floor.

The girl yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Her eyes felt tired, and her hungry stomach roared, demanding a breakfast.

Asami glared at her guests, narrowing her eyes.“Who are you to disturb my precious sleep? Why do you wake me up at such an uncivilised hour?” Her illustrious guests were once again from Akatsuki. They probably didn't learn their lesson last time.

Deidara blinked. Kakuzu informed them their target was a girl, ... but not about her actual age. The girl was bloody young. Petite and innocent, a fragile porcelain doll. This girl was supposed to be Black Princess, Konoha's fearsome kunoichi.

Deidara remained cautious. “Pardon our intrusion, but we arrived to discuss matters of great importance with you.”

Asami tilted her head. “To discuss what? What do you want?”

Deidara cleared his throat. “We are searching for a certain girl.”

Asami feigned ignorance while her reached for her trusted sword. They wanted trouble. They would get trouble. “Good for you, but what does the girl have to do with me?”

Deidara smiled. “You might know her. Her name is Asami. Her hair is black and she loves kimonos.”

“Asami ... Asami ... Asami ...”

“Her name sounds familiar.” Asami tilted her head. “Why are you searching for her?”

“We are interested in her joining our organisation. Her abilities and capabilites would prove useful.” Deidara smiled. Negotiations proceeded smoothly.

Asami studied her new friends. Her distrust didn't diminish, but they seemed reliable. Her door opened, and they were permitted to enter her private kingdom. “You may enter.”

Deidara nodded and invaded her room together with master Sasori. Empty bottles littered and the sweet fruity smell of wine permeated the air.

Asami tiptoed across her minefield without tripping and snatched the nearest chair and bottle. The girl filled her glass and crossed her legs. “Might I offer you a glass? Not poisoned. Promise.”

Deidara responded with a smile. “We must sadly decline.”

“Such a shame.” Their rejection hurt Asami. “The wine. An excellent year.” Her lips tasted the ruby liquor, a heavy red wine.

“Tell me more about your little organisation? What do I gain from joining your side?” Asami leaned back in her chair and swirled her glass. Melodrama never hurt. “What can the famed Akatsuki offer me? I heard rumours. I heard that you strike fear into the hearts of your enemies.”

...

...

...

Deidara contemplated. “Protection. We can offer you protection.”

Asami raised her eyebrow. His response amused her. “Protection ... Uninteresting. Do I look as if I need protection? The entire world hunts me, but I am still alive. I neither require, nor desire your paltry protection. I want more. So, try again, what do I gain from joining?”

“Money, I guess.”

Asami dismissed him. “Money doesn't interest me. I have my ways to get everything I desire without a single coin.”

“...” Deidara fell silent, and Asami frowned. Akatsuki bored her. They offered her nothing of interest.

Asami sighed in disappointment. “I think we should end this fruitless discussion, but for the sake of curiosity, what is Akatsuki's goal?”

Deidara hesitated. “Pain never specified, but his goal is to change the world.”

Assami halted her glass. Her guests elicited her undivided attention. “To change ... the world ... This Pain is certainly an ambitious man. Please tell me more about him.”

...

...

...

Asami admired her bewitching figure in the mirror. Her new coat fit her. The red clouds accentuated her eyes.

Her sleeves were loose as they didn't have her size. Her figure was too short, but Akatsuki had a decent sense of fashion at least.

When arriving at Amegakure, she would arrange for a proper kimono version to be tailored.

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

“Come on, Ero Sennin!” Naruto complained. “Let's get started with the training. I can't wait to get stronger!”

Jiraiya sighed, shaking his head. “Calm down, Naruto. Don't get fired up. Duty come first. We need to gather information about Tsunade and her location first. Finding her must be our foremost priority. There is no point in starting your training before we do so.”

“Hmm ...” Naruto crossed his arms, clearly dissatisfied with the arrangement, but he relented, albeit only grudgingly. Ero Sennin was right, duty came first.

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

Salutations, fellow readers and authors!

As you probably know, each chapter you read takes a lot of time and effort to produce.

So make a small contribution and support my efforts on Patreon! Any donation would be appreciated!

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/assurbanipalii