Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 48 The way of the ninja

“Konoha, Iwa, Suna and Kiri… Akatsuki is made up of missing nin from your villages,” the Raikage spoke, “And that’s not all. I know there are those among you, including former Kages, that have used Akatsuki for their own purposes…. I do not trust you. I had no intention of speaking with you. I called you all here to find out where your true loyalties lie.”

“What do you mean ‘use Akatsuki’?” Gaara asked.

Every head in the room turned his way. “You’re the Kazekage,” Raikage said, “how can you not know? Haven’t the elders told you anything?”

“The Great Countries are enjoying a time of relative peace,” Tsuchikage explained, “As tensions ease, the threat of war grows smaller. Military villages are a drain on country’s resources. And  there’s a risk. What if war suddenly breaks out? They can’t rely on young untested ninja in the heat of battle. They’d lose the war.”

“So one way of dealing with that was to use a mercenary force,” Gaara understood, “like Akatsuki?” ‘Taryn,” he thought, ‘Taryn would know.’

Taryn silently moved through the building, carefully making sure she wouldn’t be detected. If Sasuke was already here then Karin would sense her and that ninja from Mist had Byakugan. Besides, chances were big that Madara would be crawling through the building somewhere too.

When she heard footsteps approach, she hurried to hide in the shadows. Concealing her chakra was too risky at this point with all those sensors around.

When the samurai patrol had passed, Taryn stepped onto the hallway again. ‘Now, where is that meeting?’

If it was still being held in the same room as last time then it would be on the top floor. The door would be strictly guarded, but Sasuke would have to get inside too. ‘I can climb the outside wall, but that will put me in plain sight.’

That was still less risky than walking through the door. She sighed and headed for the nearest window.

“It would take time and money for a village to build such a force themselves,” Tsuchikage said, “but Akatsuki were professionals and they could be hired for relatively little. Furthermore they always had good results.”

The Raikage slammed his hands on the table. “I don’t want to hear it!” he shouted, “Suna used Akatsuki to try and destroy Konoha! Both of the former Kazekage and Hokage ended up dead… I can’t help but think that must have been part of someone’s plot.” He glanced at Danzou, but the Hokage pretended not to notice. The Raikage scoffed and turned the other way. “And Kirigakure, you are the most suspicious. You have no diplomatic relations with other countries and there are rumors that Akatsuki was formed there.”

Taryn hid her presence in a corner of the room next to the council room. As long as the meting was still going on, she would not interfere. She could hear the discussion getting quite heated, but she had expected no less. There might be peace between the countries, that didn’t mean the Kages trusted each other. It had always been that way. Even in peace time they rivaled each other. Why would this time be different?

Up till now, Danzou had kept quiet. That was a smart move and one her father had taught her the moment she was old enough to hold a dagger. Let others do the talking, silent observation is the best way to learn about our opponent’s strategy and less risk to give away your own.

In this case, Danzou had a lot to hide.

Taryn focused on the others. The Raikage was short tempered and the Tsuchikage must be at least eighty years old. He was the kind that held on to old-fashioned traditions. His age didn’t mean he should be taken lightly though. He was al legend of his own.