The Dango Gesture...

Chapter 14: The Other Side

This place, it was too quiet. It was muggy too, it was messing with her hair, but that really was the least of her concerns. Her hair needed to be cut again, and she feared that if she cut it here she'd end up looking like Naruto.

This was one of the hardest countries to get into, and she knew that she had wasted a lot of time in getting here, and Kimimaro and Jugo were putting up with her and what she needed to do, but this had to be done.

Slipping in and out of the shadows she kept her chakra to a non-existent, her breathing was shallow and her heart was steady. She gave it a thought and came up with the answer, that it would take a hell of a lot to get her heart beating fast again.

Her heart would beat fast if she worked hard, if she exhausted herself, if she brought this world to the brink of extinction, then her heart would beat happily. Kiri was the last place she thought that it would start, but here she was, and she could not turn back now.

She thought back on all the research she'd done this past week, scrolls overflowing her lap as she read secrets that didn't belong to her. She couldn't help but thank the Snake man more for his help, perhaps it was foolish, but teaming up with Orochimaru for this particular escapade would surely pay off. He got what he wanted, an she got what she wanted.

The man had seen nothing but benefits for himself in this deal, and that was her intention. She knew that taking down Konoha alone was a deathtrap, and she had heard the many stories of how Konoha was almost destroyed years ago by the very same man. Killing the Third Hokage in the process. While it was a loss, she knew that with his help, she could pull this plan off.

He had been very generous to her, and with that, she had been very generous to him. She knew what he wanted, he wanted the Sharingan, and with her help, she would get him a pair.

Or two or three...

She knew what Danzo had as well, no one would intentionally keep their body bandaged if there was nothing wrong with it. She had sensed what was under those bandages that day, but she had told no one. She would always remember what a chakra spike felt like, and she always felt the same thing from Itachi, and Sasuke at one point.

He had Sharingan's under those bandages, and she knew exactly where he got them. He had taken a tragedy and used it to his advantage, while Itachi had been suffering that day, he had been stealing eyes from that of the Uchiha, shaming them further than what they had already had.

It only made her angrier and made the blood-lust she had for that man grow stronger. He would be dead, and she could not wait to have his blood on her hands.

Whether it be metaphorically or literally she couldn't care less.

She had it in her sights.

The Kiba.

She found the name quite ironic regarding her old acquaintance but didn't question further.

One of the Legendary Seven Swords of the Mist.

"You will find it in the third to last vault on the bottom floor. Security will be tight, so I'd be careful if I were you, little girl..."

She had despised the nickname but heeded his directions, he knew what he was talking about, and she knew that. It still didn't stop the distrusting chill that went down her spine at his words.

The hallway was long and narrow, clearly, it was not meant for a large group of tourists to walk down.

She felt her hands shaking slightly, and shivered. The excitement of the entire situation was just so exhilarating. For the past two weeks, she had been mourning and traveling. This was definitely a step up from that.