NOVEL NEXT Arc II Chapter 5
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. She 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. Thus, she ended up being bored, extremely bored. The days passed and nothing happened.
And to make matters even worse, she was even running 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. Eventually, she got what she wanted. Or she thought so, at least.
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.
Her eyes scanned the pages, searching for useful information. Her search yielded little information of value. Instead, she stumbled across a ranking of the ‘Sexiest shinobi alive’, an article about a ‘Secret Hyuga love affair’, and a ‘Which Hokage are you?’ quiz.
Asami suddenly stopped flicking through the pages after she discovered an ... interesting article. There was an article 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, and 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. Meanwhile, the competent authorities remain clueless as usual. Once again, Konoha's police failed miserably, allowing enemies to infiltrate our precious village.
Asami giggled, slightly amused. They weren't exactly wrong ... But what surprised her was the awful state of Konoha's media censorship for being a military dictatorship run by ninja. 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. She put her newspaper aside, eyeing the newcomers with suspicion. Who were they? And what were they doing here?
The duo approached her bed. One of them was a silver-haired ANBU. His attire and mask 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 himself.
Asami tried her best to hide her surprise. The Hokage himself paid her a visit, which was quite the honour. What did Hiruzen want from her? Didn't he have anything 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.
Asami cleared her throat, “Rather well considering the circumstances, but to what do I owe the honour of this visit, Hokage-sama?”
Hiruzen maintained his benevolent smile. “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 honeyed words, rolling her eyes. Had the Hokage really nothing better to do than bothering little children?
“Your condolences are appreciated, Hokage-sama, but I fail to understand the purpose of your visit regardless. Tell me, what do you need, and how I may assist you, Hokage-sama.”
Hiruzen laughed, amused. “You are quite a brave girl, Asami. You don't see every day someone having 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, Hokage-sama.”
“And that would be?”
“Not much.”
“Not much ... That means, though, that you know something, correct?” Hiruzen didn't fall for her deflection.
Asami clarified, “I mean what I say. I don't know much aside from the obvious, and the same applies to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't stand here in front of me to interrogate an injured girl. You demand answers, answers that don't exist. You have no idea who the attackers are, and neither do I. They escaped, and their identity remains unknown.”
“...” Hiruzen fell silent, contemplating. “I see ... Now my last question, Kakashi informed me ...”
“Kakashi?” Asami blinked, confused.
Hiruzen's gaze turning to the silver haired ANBU next to him. “Let me introduce you, this is Hatake Kakashi, He is the captain of the ANBU squad that found you unconscious among the ruins.”
The man named Kakashi nodded. “...”
Hiruzen continued, “Anyway, he informed me that they found a sword in your hands and that your chakra reserves were depleted when they stumbled across you ... Asami, why were you holding a sword? And why was your chakra exhausted? You fought them that night, didn't you?”
“... ... ...” Asami merely nodded, giving up her resistance. “... I did ... ... ... There were three men that night. They claimed to be ANBU that were investigating strange occurrences in the vicinity. I didn't trust them ..., but I followed them. The men killed my mother before my very eyes. I don't know why ...”
No words were spoken. Cold silence reigned. A cloud of smoke escaped Hiruzen's lungs. “I see ... Thank you for your time, Asami. You were helpful.”
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“What do you think, Kakashi, is she telling the truth?” Hiruzen walked down the corridors of the hospital on his way back to the Hokage tower. It was unusual, but he directly oversaw the investigations due to the relative prominence of the case. Not only was Asami's family wealthy, but also a mysterious explosion occurred in the middle of Konoha. There were many questions that had to be answered.
Kakashi offered his analysis. “Difficult to say, but I think she is telling the truth. The entire mansion got razed to the ground, and I strongly suspect Asami in part was responsible for it. She was probably also behind the explosion ... What I don't understand is why they were targeting her and her family ... Her family is rich, but otherwise she is just a normal girl ... It makes no sense ... What was their motive?”
Hiruzen stroked his chin. Kakashi was right. “A good question indeed. Unfortunately, we don't know ... Their intentions remain a mystery ... But do you realise the implications of what she told us, Kakashi?”
Kakashi summarised, “That we have an immensely talented kunoichi attending the academy? A girl with plenty of destructive potential and prodigious combat skills. A girl that was able to fend off and survive trained ninja. A girl that was able to deceive the academy staff for years about the true extent of her capabilities.”
Hiruzen agreed, “The fact that the girl has escaped our notice for so long is quite surprising ... So much talent hiding in plain sight, and nobody had the slightest idea.”
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