SHIMMERING MIST : HATAKE SI (Naruto)

Part 24

Chapter 24

TSUNADE SENJU

Tsunade Senju had never imagined that she would be sitting in the seat of the Hokage. It had never been her dream. It had been Kawaki's and Dan's but never hers. And yet she sat in it, to save the village, to do right by the village for which both Kawaki and Dan and many others like them had sacrificed their lives.

Nearly a year had passed since she had taken this seat, the Third Hokage's retirement had come as a surprise to many. Yet the name Senju still carried a certain influence among the populace, and when the people came to know who was set to become the Fourth Hokage, they were content.

As for the shinobi forces, they knew the whole truth about this whole ordeal. The betrayal of someone like Danzo had shocked many, and though they had kept the details under wraps to protect the morale, the shinobi were at an edge.

Danzo's corruption and rot had run deep. The man had practically established a parallel ANBU force that had been at his beck and call and had numerous bases scattered across the continents. The details about his training methods and experiments had been gruesome and vile.

ROOT had been shut down now, and its members were incorporated into the ANBU squads. The bases had been quickly located and brought under control, and Danzo's followers had been identified and judged accordingly. His people in the orphanages had been captured and processed.

His network was vast, and though Ohashi had given them some basic information, it wasn't nearly enough. No, the person that had provided all that information was someone else. Someone who now sat right in front of her.

"I must say, I still find it rather ironic seeing you sitting in that seat, Princess," came the slithering voice of her most obnoxious teammate. Orochimaru had been in bed with Danzo in a number of his projects. Experiments that had made her skin crawl and a part of her had wanted to gut her teammate.

Yet, he had been quick to offer himself up after Danzo's demise and had been a well of information about the man's operations. He had given the excuse that all he did was under orders of the man, and though she could tell with a single glance that it wasn't true. The fact was that Konoha couldn't afford to lose another S-rank shinobi. The war was at a critical stage, and losing someone like Orochimaru would be a major loss.

"Let's end this tirade right here," she cut in, having neither the patience nor the time to deal with these word games.

"Tell me why you are here, Orochimaru?" she asked, and her teammate smiled cryptically, his golden eyes focused on the Hokage hat lying in front of her.

"Why such hostility, Princess? Even after a whole year, you still have those pesky little ANBU following me around throughout the village," he complained jokingly. And, of course, he knew about the ANBU tailing him. He was Sanin and perhaps the most resourceful of the three. However, that was no excuse for the ANBU, who were going to get a very strict talking to from her after this about their falling standards.

"Haven't I proven myself to you yet?" he said magnanimously, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me what you want, Orochimaru?" she didn't let herself get drawn into his word games. The only hint of frustration she got was a slight narrowing of her eyes. In the end, he sighed, his eyes narrowing as he began.

"It's such a shame that you still don't trust me after everything I have done for you," he said with a shake of his head, pretending to be hurt, despite both of them knowing full well that he was merely pretending.

"Ahhh, though I believe the next piece of information might change that," and she frowned at his words.

"Do you have any more intel about Danzo's operations?" she questioned, quickly and he shook his head.