FicWad

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also, this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So, if these types of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks.

Eroninja: Little Black Book

Chapter 8: Shining a Light into the Darkness

Timeline:
Events of chapter Happen between Chapter 82 and 83 of Eroninja.
Events unfold after and reference those that happened in Eroninja: Limelight chapter- Fu: Home Is the People You Live For.


Yamame slammed down onto a bare-chested man as she pressed her knees into his shoulders. Although he was handsome enough that in another life, she might consider grabbing him by the hair and pulling his head between her thighs. She instead began raining blows against his face as she did her best to rearrange it. She did all this while under the watchful eyes of her squad’s commander. It was only after it became clear that her opponent wouldn’t be able to escape that the bald monocle wearing man barked, “Alright, that’s enough!”

Yamame instantly stopped and quickly scrambled to her feet where she came to attention. It took her opponent several tries to make it up to his unaided. When he finally did, the Jounin in charge of her squad said, “Not bad, Yamame. Keep that up and they might promote you to Chunin.” He focused on her opponent as he said, “A barely adequate display Natala. You better shape up or else I might use you as material for one of my human puppets.”

“Yes sir!” the blonde-haired youth replied.

The Chunin scowled before saying, “Alright, all of you get out of my sight. But remember to be ready to assemble at the Main Gate this afternoon and in proper uniform.” The squad began to disperse but Natala took a step and stumbled causing the squad leader to order, “Yamame take him to the infirmary to be looked over.”

She considered asking why her, but suspected the answer would be something flippant or derogatory despite his earlier praise so settled for simply nodding. She helped the young man up and then allowed him to rest an arm over her shoulder as she guided him to the village’s infirmary. As they walked Natala said, “Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it,” she replied hoping he took the hint that she didn’t wish to converse.

Luckily for the moment it appeared that he didn’t, although it could have simply also been a result of how after being assigned to Squad Eleven, she had made it clear that she wasn’t looking to make friends. For most of her squad mates her demeanor suited them just fine. But, Natala seemed to be cut of a different cloth as he made a conscious effort to reach out to his teammates. She would say his results were mixed, but a few of the members had opened up to him.

Yamame wasn’t one of them though and rolled her eyes as he said, “You must be pretty driven to get promoted. Everyone notices how if you aren’t sleeping, you’re always training. But you should consider taking it easy. Otherwise, you might burn yourself out.”

“I don’t recall asking you for any advice,” she replied coldly glad the infirmary was within sight.

“I’m sorry,” the blond man said quickly, “I didn’t mean to offend you. But since we’re squad mates don’t you think we should get along.”

Yamame frowned beneath the mask that covered the lower portion of her face. She felt an urge to apologize, but quickly stopped herself from giving in since a part of her was concerned Natala’s kind demeanor was an act. After all, the Village Hidden by Darkness was not a place that encouraged people to make bonds. It didn’t actively discourage it, but with everyone jockeying for recognition it did seem to encourage everyone to take advantage when others stumbled. The other reason was because she felt if she began to form attachments it would make her self-appointed task harder.

Staring at the man out of the corner of her eye she simply replied, “I won’t be around long enough for it to matter one way or another.” He frowned at her, and thankfully decided to remain silent allowing her to focus on more important matters. Namely, trying to figure out what the village was gearing up for. Having been a member of Sound, Yamame knew the Darkness Village was definitely preparing for another major operation. Yet, what that was she had no idea.

In fact, it had taken her nearly the entire month since the jail break just to figure out what country they had been transported to. Needless to say, she had been shocked when she had discovered the Village Hidden in Darkness was located in the Land of Crows. Finding out that Sasuke’s village was in a country that was part of the Three Blade Alliance filled her with concern. Particularly since The Three Blades Alliance were formed of Country’s with powerful Samurai armies. Not the more standard Samurai Forces that most Daimyo kept to maintain peace and order within in their lands.

Yamame wondered if the reason Sasuke would set up his fledgling village in such a place was because it would throw off anyone searching for him. She could imagine that most people searching for the Uchiha’s base of operations would easily overlook such a place when considering that the most likely lands one would consider would be those lacking a shinobi village. Furthermore, add onto that how many Samurai of the Three Blade Alliance disliked Shinobi, she found it easy to believe most would never even The Land of Crows as a potential place for Sasuke to have set up shop.

Recalling the lessens Iruka had given on the Three Blade Alliance. She knew the reason they disliked Shinobi was because they felt the Shinobi had assumed their place in the hierarchy of the world. When the Land of Fire’s Daimyo had announced at the First Elemental Gathering that he had accepted Hashirama Senju’s request to build a shinobi village in his lands, it had caused the other major powers of the time to do likewise. The most successful ones eventually became the Five Major Elemental Countries of the current era.

However, many in the Samurai class did not take kindly to this, especially as they were told to surrender their positions to what amounted to glorified mercenaries. Yamame felt it was most likely because unlike shinobi, all of the Samurai’s social standing was derived from their positions as warriors. As such, although there would still be a day to day need for them to maintain order throughout the lands. Many recognized that since they would be nothing but glorified peacekeepers in countries with Shinobi Villages, their chances for honor and glory were almost nonexistent as shinobi would be handling the major wars that broke out. Because of this, in the early days of the current Shinobi Village System there was nearly a very real war between the Samurai and Shinobi. But, this war was adverted by the Fire Daimyo, who along with the other Daimyo of the time, convinced the Samurai dissatisfied with the current setup to establish themselves in the Lands of Iron, Crow, and Honey.

Yamame imagined the Daimyo of those three lands were all too pleased to accept these Samurai since they had failed to attract enough shinobi to establish villages of their own. But, she imagined that much like the warriors who would relocate to their lands, they did not like the idea of the Shinobi now holding a position of power with them. As a result, the Daimyo and nobles of those lands were truly considered samurai unlike many of the nobles inside countries with Shinobi villages.

Still, despite the bitterness Yamame imagined many of the Samurai might hold towards the Shinobi. For the past hundred years, relations had remained relatively peaceful between the two warrior factions. Outside of the Land of Iron joining the Second Shinobi War alongside Iwa, it could be said that the Samurai had been the more peaceful. Yamame believed the only reason Iron had joined that war was because of Hanzo the Salamander. As despite essentially fighting all the major Shinobi Powers of the time alone, Rain with him in charge had won battle after battle. Because of this, he had nearly made his dream of making Rain a true great nation a reality. Which if successful, would have been the first to have a Shinobi ruler who could have been regarded as an equal of the ruling dynasties. Yet that dream had faded when the Iwa-Iron coalition had timed their assault alongside the Leaf’s. Since much of Rain’s success had rested solely on Hanzo shoulders, his inability to be in two places at once had given his opponents the edge even if they weren’t working together.

That edge had disappeared though once the two forces had recaptured the land Danzou had taken and they began pushing into Rain. Mainly because Hanzo had switched from conquest to defense incorporating guerilla tactics. With no clear idea of where the Salamander was, it had forced both the Leaf and Iwa-Iron forces to move rather cautiously, thus allowing him to essentially run out the clock of the war.

Yamame would admit that she found Iron’s willingness to enter the war rather strange. Particularly since she felt that it was an action that had essentially restored balance to a system that had screwed the samurai over. Especially since Rain’s actions during the Second Shinobi War were one of the few times a country had engaged in warfare where actual conquest had seemed to be the goal. The Shinobi War previous to that, as well as the one that had come after had simply been battles where the Shinobi Villages had agitated each other into open conflict. Land was taken, but only for so long as it allowed for them to assault enemy positions before the Shinobi would press on towards the next battlefield. Furthermore, most of the battles took place within the Lesser Elemental Countries. Naturally, this led most of these Elemental Countries to have rather negative opinions of Shinobi from the major villages. Still, to her, it seemed Iron’s willingness to align with Iwa was due to their wanting to make sure the borders remained as they had been before the War had started.

Granted, this could have simply been an action to help maintain the status quo as three Shinobi Wars that changed effectively nothing showed that at the very least the Shinobi were predictable. However, if a new power emerged that had a Shinobi running things, then the old playbook of how wars were waged in the current era would have changed. Yet, if this was indeed why Iron had acted, it filled Yamame with a great deal of concern. Mainly because it would appear that the Ruler of the Land of Crows was seeking to not only set that change in motion, but was planning to create a new era. Which considering the Emperor of Crows was merely a young child meant the most likely culprit was his Prime Minister.

She believed this because she imagined that even Sasuke would have needed the permission of the government where he had established his village to proceed with his plan against Konoha. Because permission had been given, she knew the Prime Minister probably had no fear of a reprisal from the Leaf even if the location of the Darkness Village was learned. This was mainly due to the distance between the two countries, plus Konoha would have to march around Iwa in most scenarios. Opening it to reprisals from its long-standing enemies before even laying eyes on the Land of Crows. Yet, the fact that such secrecy about its location was still being maintained, told Yamame that Sasuke had an even grander target in mind for the introduction of his village.

Still, although worried about where Sasuke planned to strike next, particularly since she was still at the lowest rung in the village’s forces so would be considered expendable. It was how the Prime Minister planned to use them which worried her most, since she imagined that while the Village Hidden in Darkness would be the spear of his forces. He would use the Samurai to take and hold territory since in the past that had been how they waged wars. This told Yamame that the Prime Minister was preparing for a war of conquest, and since he had no problem riling up Konoha would likely be one waged against Shinobi. However, she wasn’t sure if this was an action that Crow was planning to take on its own, or as a member of the Three Blade Alliance.

*****************************

Yamame put her thoughts on hold as she felt Natala shiver. Looking up, she realized that they had arrived at the infirmary so admitted that she could understand his reaction. Stepping inside, she frowned as the front area was set up with rows of beds making it look like the standard barracks assigned to genin. However, Yamame knew the reason for the simple setup was because the woman in charge of Darkness’s medical program didn’t much care for her patients. Instead, the backrooms where most of the high class medical equipment was stored was set aside for various experiments the woman was performing.

A white Zetsu appeared from the back as it asked, “What is the emergency meatbags?”

“No emergency,” Natala replied standing under his own power. “Our commander requested that I be looked over after training.”

The White Zetsu turned to return to the backroom, but before it could the door opened revealing another Zetsu except this one was purple. The new arrival didn’t hesitate in pushing the White Zetsu out of its way as it stated, “Out of my way Inferior one.”

Yamame frowned as she witnessed several more Purple Zetsu appearing from the back rooms paying no heed to the White one that had been pushed aside. She noticed that each one bore a passing resemblance to the Darkness Village’s founder. Having eavesdropped on some of the lab’s technicians, she had learned that the White Zetsu had been clones that had been created using Senju DNA and a Tree born of it. However, the original tree had been destroyed when Akatsuki’s base had been attacked by an unknown force. As a result, the man who apparently had secretly run Akatsuki and was calling himself Madara Uchiha had aligned himself with Sasuke.

Yamame had her doubts that the masked man was the real Madara Uchiha as she couldn’t understand why he would have aligned himself with the apparently crippled Sasuke. Unless he had been similarly diminished in some fashion. But, she suspected Sasuke saw a use for the man’s Zetsu army which was why he had agreed to their alliance, and why he had eventually tasked Dorothea with not only finding a new means to clone more White Zetsu. But to apparently make improvements using his DNA, which had resulted in the Purple variety. Considering the way that the Purple Zetsu acted towards the White, Yamame could almost believe the hatred the Uchiha had for the Senju was ingrained in their DNA. Truthfully though, considering the Purple Zetsu were physically heartier and acted with more intelligence. Yamame believed it might be a reflection of the Village leader’s personality since he probably wouldn’t have allowed his DNA to be used to produce an inferior version.

The woman that ran the Medical Program appeared at the end of the Purple Zetsu progression and noticing them let out an annoyed sigh. Approaching she said, “I really wished if your commanders were going to insist on using full blows during training that they would at least let you battle to the death.”

She then grabbed a stool and it was almost comical as the woman dressed as a gothic lolita placed it before them. She stood on it to raise up to their height, and then roughly opened Natala’s eye before announcing, “He’s suffering from a mild concussion. Turn him over to the White Zetsu. He’ll be fine after a little rest. Now stop wasting my time.” With that the woman hopped down and quickly disappeared back into the rooms where she performed her experiments.

Yamame allowed the Zetsu to take Natala from her as she quickly made her retreat from the building. The Blond man thanked her as she left, but she paid it no mind since she wasn’t seeking to build any lasting bonds. Confident that all the training was for Sasuke’s next operation, she couldn’t be bothered forming friendships as she was quite certain that as far as the Village Leader was concerned he saw the genin as little more than kunai fodder. That may have been a little harsh since most of the rescued genin revered Sasuke. But, she was rather positive that even if he didn’t see them as fodder, he definitely was the type to throw them to the wolves to see who would be devoured and who would raise up to the challenge.

Ultimately, she figured that was what attracted Dorothea to Sasuke’s ambition since it was an environment that was sure to deliver her many chances for experimentation. Particularly as it was rumored that she harbored a personal animosity towards the Uchiha for his killing of Orochimaru. However, apparently, a fertile playground where she could indulge in whatever twisted experiments that she wanted was enough for her to not so much forgive him, but put such things aside in order to work for him. A win-win for both parties apparently especially as it appeared that her skills were great enough that Sasuke would have let her close to him even when he had been in a weakened state. But, was willing to overlook some of the more disturbing rumors associated with her like her apparently drinking blood. Yamame wasn’t entirely sure if that rumor was actually true, but it did provide her with added incentive never to be sent to the infirmary.

*****************************
Leaving the infirmary behind her, she began heading deeper into the village and passed a place that could be considered the closest thing Yamigakure had to a hotel at present. Especially, as unlike the other buildings, it had a sense of opulence to it, which stood out even more when compared to the relatively boring structures which surrounded it. Yamame felt this was because in time the building would serve as residences for clients while they negotiated contracts with the village. From the expensive materials used in its construction, she suspected the village wouldn’t be accepting very many missions to find missing pets.

However, it was the current guests staying there which provided her more evidence that the village was prepping for a large operation. In her almost daily walk by, she had seen various people entering and leaving the building. She didn’t recognize most of them, but as a Kiri-nin she had no problem recognizing Kisame Hoshigaki or the sword that he wielded. When she did catch sight of him, he was often in the company of a smaller man who was wearing an orange mask which only had a single eye hole. His at times almost clownish behavior made it even harder for Yamame to picture him as Madara Uchiha. Unless, he had lost part of his brain when he apparently lost the eye the mask he wore suggested was missing. Although far rarer, she had also caught sight of a third man with them and who tended to remind her of an all-black version of the Zetsu.

She didn’t believe they were members of the village, as although The Village Hidden in Darkness had attracted some impressive missing-nin. Those missing-nin had their living quarters closer to the palace Sasuke had erected. She supposed that what she thought of as a hotel could simply be the place where the elites of Darkness Village’s fighting force would be staying until such a time that portions of it could be divided between them. However, since she was sure Kisame could wipe the floor with some of the revealed members of the village’s leadership, one of whom already had an impressive residence for himself. She felt it was likely, Kisame might have just returned to his mercenary ways after Akatsuki had been destroyed.

Mercenary was pretty much how she felt most of the hotel’s guests could be described. Especially as another of them appeared from the entrance. The woman had long pink hair which was done up in a ponytail, her left eye had a scar over it, and the sleeve of her right arm was blowing softly in the breeze suggesting that it was missing. The woman’s one-eyed peach gaze locked with hers, and Yamame had the feeling that the woman was deciding if she was a threat or not. It didn’t take her long to decide she wasn’t so she stepped down the stairs and proceeded to what passed as an entertainment district in Yamigakure. Which at present was a simple building where not much more than booze was provided.

****************************

Yamame considered following the woman, but feared that would move her up the mental threat index that the mercenary was apparently keeping. Fairly confident that doing so would likely be fatal, she instead continued in the direction she had been heading. Truthfully, she hadn’t really had a purpose or destination in mind other than to see what new characters she could spot and someday identify. She wasn’t sure to what end she would use the information, but at present she felt it was best to learn what she could about the Village’s Leadership to try and ingratiate herself with one of them. This was because she was quite confident the Village Hidden in Darkness planned to make another move soon, and when it did, she was rather confident that squads such as hers would be the kunai fodder of the operation, and so if she planned to avenge Iruka it would best to have moved up the chain of command before it happened.

Of course, she was also confident that any such decisions on who moved up from those squads was going to be determined by who survived. However, she received a surprise as another of her squad mates a woman named Gin ran up shouting, “Yamame! Hold up!”

The former Kiri-nin turned towards the kunoichi who was dressed in a sleeveless trench coat. Her long silver ponytail trailed in the air behind her as she ran to close the distance between them. Upon reaching her, she caught her breath for a moment before saying, “The leader of the Intelligence Division sent a messenger to the barracks looking for you. He wants you to meet him at their headquarters.”

Yamame considered asking if the messenger had stated what for, but figured with her aggressive attitude even if Gin knew, she wouldn’t tell her. As such, she stated bluntly, “Understood! I’ll head there right now.”

The former Kiri-nin held back a smirk as a look of anger appeared on the silver-haired woman’s face. She also got the sense that the woman hadn’t been informed what the meeting was about either since it looked like Gin wanted to ask her why she had been summoned. Turning away in order to respond to the summons, Yamame marked Gin down as someone to be wary of in the future. Particularly, since the young woman was much like her in wanting to prove herself to advance. With it appearing that she was succeeding in that regard, Yamame suspected that Gin had just painted a target on her back, and planned to plant a kunai in it. Which sadly to say, Yamame suspected would go a long way towards helping the kunoichi in achieving her goal.

Once there was some distance between them, Yamame let some concern appear on her face since the leader of the Intelligence Division was making a name for himself among the new recruits. Particular the kunoichi as he seemed to favor approaching them for sexual favors. She had heard that those who accepted were then discharged from their squads, and invited to live at his compound. At present, though, he hadn’t approached anyone in her squad so Yamame didn’t have much more than rumors to go by. Still, considering that outside of Dorothea and Udon, he was the only other shinobi to have been given a plot of land to call his own, as such she figured Mizuki was rather deeply connected to Yamigakure’s rise.

Her concern calmed some since although she had heard several women had turned him down with no reprisals directed towards them. She did fear doing so could hamper her plans to avenge Iruka’s death. Yet, she knew it wouldn’t do to work herself up before even hearing what she was being summoned for.

Reaching the building the Intelligence Division worked from, and was one of the closest to the base of Sasuke’s Castle, Yamame stepped inside and informed the shinobi at the desk of her identity. Moments later she was standing before Mizuki, who was sitting back in his chair with a pleased expression on his face, but as soon as she stood at attention before his desk he stated, “You’re dismissed.”

Yamame grew confused, but a moment later a woman climbed out from beneath his desk. She wiped at her mouth before sauntering out of the room. Yet, as she passed her, Yamame had the feeling the woman was eyeing her as if judging her to be a rival or not. But a few moments later she was alone with the silver haired man, Yamame wondered if he was going to order her to take over. But, instead he made a big production of tucking himself back into his pants before saying, “So at last I come face to face with Yamame of Squad Eleven.”

“Sir,” she responded quickly, “I apologize for how long it took me to respond to your summons. I was away from my Barracks.”

Taking on a friendly air, he waved her concern off before stating, “Don’t worry about it. As you can see I found a way to fill the time.” He remained jovial as he added, “Now if you would like to take over where she left off, I’m not going to stop you.”

“With respect, I’ll have to refuse,” Yamame said trying to remain deferential, but sound as if she wasn’t completely opposed to the idea.

She held back a frown as Mizuki began chuckling and then followed it up by stating, “Not bad! I’m beginning to see how it was you played that fool Iruka.” Leaning forward in great interest, he said, “Tell me. What face did he make when he realized that you had played him? I imagine it was akin to if you had kicked a puppy.”

Yamame struggled to keep her face from reflecting any of the guilt that she felt. Keeping her voice as calm as possible she said, “It is much as you described. Although, reflecting more his disappointment in person, then outright horror at the act.”

“Yeah,” Mizuki said with a distasteful look appearing, “That sounds like the smug prick. Pull up a chair.”

Yamame grabbed one of the ones sitting against a wall, and did as instructed after centering it before his desk. After studying her for a moment, making her feel as if he was considering extending another offer for her to take care of his sexual needs, he finally said, “You’re quite the ambitious one, aren’t you?”

“Isn’t everyone here,” she replied prompting him to give her an amused smile.

“Perhaps,” he admitted. Pulling a folder from a drawer he plopped it down on his desk. After opening it, he spent a moment to glance over what it contained before saying, “Your squad leader reports that out of all the members of Squad Eleven, you are perhaps one of the strongest. However, he’s noticed that you’ve purposefully kept your distance from the other members. Is there a reason for that?”

Yamame was a little concerned by the line of questioning, so played to it as she asked, “Is he reporting that to be a problem. I was under the impression from Lord Uchiha’s speech that Yamigakure was a place where friends are a liability.”

Chuckling Mizuki said, “I can certainly imagine why you would believe that, and you’re not wrong. Besides which if it was a concern you’d be meeting with Water Boy as he is assuming control of the conventional shinobi forces.”

Yamame filed the information away, including the perceived distaste that it seemed Mizuki harbored towards Suigetsu. She wondered briefly if it was due to a perceived favoritism that Sasuke may have for the Kiri Shinobi, or perhaps just a result of his normal abrasive personality. Planning to explore it further at a future point, she focused on his reasons for summoning her as she said, “If what is written in my file isn’t an issue. Then why have you called for me?”

“Hmm,” Mizuki said giving her a cryptic smile before adding, “Let’s not ruin the surprise just yet. Instead, answer me this. Do you have any idea what country the village resides in?”

Yamame’s heart began to beat harder as a spike of concern shot through her, since while she had tried to be discreet, it appeared some of her inquires had reached his ears. Aware that it was probably one of Mizuki’s duties to root out those who were perceived with the potential to betray the village, she answered, “I can’t be positive as no one has come out and said as much. But, from what details I have picked up. I feel it is likely we are located in the Land of Crows.”

“Impressive,” Mizuki stated sitting back, “Yet, we’ve hidden those facts for a reason. So why pray tell are you digging into it?”

Yamame’s fear began to recede, although she wondered about what would have happened had she lied about her knowledge. Confident, it would probably have led to a bloody end, she decided it best to play towards his belief about her intentions towards Iruka. Giving him a muted smirk, she answered, “Because I am ambitious, and while this village seems to be a place where the ambitious can advance. I’m not so foolish as to not realize that my ambition doesn’t measure up to being a small flicker of light in Lord Uchiha’s eyes. Therefore, I wanted to ascertain whether I have truly achieved freedom, or have simply exchanged one cell for another. One that if I’m correct about this village gearing up for another large scale operation, might see me ending up as nothing more than a corpse on a distant battlefield. I didn’t reject Iruka’s offer of a pardon to be a sacrificed for someone else’s ambition.”

“Why did you reject his offer?” Mizuki asked with interest, “He had to have run it by those in charge first. If you had remained in your cell, you may have regained your freedom without the concerns you face now.”

“Because I’m a fool,” thought of herself with a great sense of disappointment. However, pushing it aside, she used some of what she had learned from her mistakes as she put on an air of confidence, “Fortune favors the bold. Sadly, that is not a saying I could say would be applied to me from my past actions. Sure, if I had meekly remained in my cell, I might have attained my freedom. But, it would have been under conditions set by the Leaf. Who knows what that would have entailed, but I doubt it would let me live as I desired. So, I figured if I’m going to achieve all that I desire, why not risk it?”

Mizuki smirked, but grew somewhat accusatory as he said, “Still, Udon did mention that you didn’t kill any of the Leaf-nin you faced during the escape.”

Responding in part with a slight shrug she stated, “Well, I didn’t necessarily want to burn my bridges. If the escape failed, it would have been useful to have a few guards stating I merely knocked them unconscious.”

Chuckling again Mizuki added, “No doubt claiming the other prisoners forced you to participate.”

“No doubt,” she parroted sounding rather bemused herself.

“Okay,” Mizuki said sounding rather impressed with what he had heard so far, “Let’s move on to a hypothetical question now. Let’s start off by assuming that you are right and we are preparing for a rather large operation to announce our village’s existence with a bang.”

“Which would explain the mercenaries staying in the village,” she stated, pushing for more details on some of the curious individuals she had spotted.

“What makes you believe that?”

“It explains the grueling training pace you’ve established for squads such as mine. Meaning it is likely we need to be prepared by a certain date,” Yamame answered quickly. “However, the only real benefit to the village’s fighting strength you gained from the attack on the prison came from the Root prisoners you liberated. The genin and chunin such as myself really are only good as fodder. If you were looking to hit a prison with more consistently skilled prisoners, you would have been better off hitting Grass’s famous Blood Prison.” Noticing the smile that Mizuki was displaying, she hoped it meant that she was impressing him, and not in essence providing a reason for her execution, but pressing on she stated, “Recruiting missing-nin and bandits, you might have pulled an ace or two loyal to your cause. But, the most bang for your buck is definitely going to come from hiring mercenaries. At least until you’ve had more time to develop what talent you have gathered.”

“A fair assessment, and perhaps there is no point in denying an operation is going to take place,” Mizuki said with a slight nod, “Although, not everyone you’ve probably seen hanging about would be a paid mercenary. Some are providing assistance simply as a means of paying back our target.”

“Which would be?”

“None of your business at the moment,” Mizuki stated with a tone of authority. “Getting back on track, and dropping the pretense the mission would be hypothetical. Let’s assume that the primary purpose for it is to put our village on the map by making a bold statement in a similar manner as our attack on Konoha’s Prison.”

Yamame frowned because she imagined there were only a handful of ways to top such an attack, as it wasn’t everyday someone was foolish enough to attack a major shinobi village in any way. However, more telling was that Mizuki was stating that whatever was in the works would be how the Village Hidden in Darkness would be introducing itself to the world. Which meant that unlike the attack on the prison, they would need to have a legitimate reason to be attacking their target or it could pull the Land of Crows into a war. Which, in theory could pull the entirety of the Three Blade Alliance into conflict with the target depending on how they responded to Yamigakure’s attack. Of course, that could also be the entire reason for the operation. Hoping to narrow it down some, she asked, “Depending on the target, the only way such an operation could commence without expecting an immediate reprisal from them would be to have an official reason for it. That would mean our village needs to be hired by some group with a grievance that we could use as a justification for an assault. Perhaps to restore a royal bloodline to power or something along those lines. If the operation fails though, there would still be a chance the target would retaliate, although they may think twice rather than invoking the wrath of Crow and by extension the Three Blade Alliance.”

“A very astute observation,” Mizuki said pleased. “This leads me into the crux of the problem that we now face. Our client foolishly decided they were tired of waiting for us to prepare and for the date of our attack. Before you ask why, I can’t tell you. But, I will state that some of their concerns about the target becoming stronger the longer we wait are extremely valid. Particularly if we wait until the day of the event that they are holding. Unfortunately, they decided to start a bombing campaign and so went from a group that would have had some sympathies we could have used to justify our attack, to common terrorists.”

“I see, as such we go from heroes bringing down a corrupt regime, to allies of criminals with no more legitimacy then those we tear down.”

“In a manner of speaking, that would be true if Sasuke cared about such things.” Mizuki said rather amused at her misstep in reading the information he was providing. “That story would have been useful for Crow’s diplomats to ward off any official complaints raised by our target should they still be in power afterwards.”

Realizing that while starting a war probably wasn’t the end goal, it appeared Sasuke didn’t care if it resulted in one, she revised her conclusion, “Then the issue is now our target will likely be on guard. And since our attack was timed to some event, then we can expect that they will take even more precautions in regards to security.”

Mizuki nodded before opening another drawer in his desk. Pulling out a manila folder he tossed it to her. Opening it, Yamame looked inside and found several papers, one of which looked like a layout of a village although much of the identifying information was scrubbed from it. When she met his eyes again, he said, “Inside you’ll find details about the target, although I’ve change some of the information to prevent you from learning what it is. The information all scales correctly so the answer you arrive at should be accurate.”

“What would the question I’m to answer be?”

“Based on the information that I’ve already provided, and what you’ve learned from your own observations. How do you expect our target would increase security in light of the bombings and how should we respond to it?”

Yamame frowned at the request, and looked through the information that she had been handed again. Although she knew the numbers had been changed, as she couldn’t imagine a place where they would face almost fifteen S-Class shinobi, unless it was a massive free for all battle. She noticed that she was being provided almost no information on their forces, commenting as much she said, “How can I formulate a proper response without details on our forces?”

“I’m sure you’ll manage, but honestly I’m more interested in how well you read our opponents reaction to the change in atmosphere they face,” Mizuki said with a smirk.

“What is the point of this exercise, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“To see, whether or not you’re worth assigning to a less dangerous position when the time comes,” Mizuki said with an amused smile which grew wider as he added, “Unless you want to finish what my secretary started.”

Yamame stood as she replied, “Perhaps I’ll start by seeing how well I do with this exercise. Something tells me that your secretary has reached the pinnacle of her ambition.”

Mizuki wore an amused smile as he chuckled and responded, “Well, some people just recognize their limits and know how to milk the most out of their situation. I’m interested to see if you’ll reach the lofty goal that you set for yourself, or whether I’ll eventually be breaking in a new secretary. But, don’t count them my secretarial staff out just yet. I’ve made some improvements to those who’ve accepted my more personal requests.”

Yamame bowed respectfully as she stated, “I’ve made a habit of taking the easy path more than once and have ended up in some poor situation as a result. For now, I think I’ll try to expend a little effort before giving up and becoming a kept woman.”

“Suit yourself,” Mizuki said hardly put off by her refusal. Which was easy to understand as he said, “Send her in on your way out.”

Yamane recognizing that she was being dismissed, turned to leave, she but stopped to ask, “Sir, is there a more private place that I could stay to go over this information. Considering the nature of competition within the squads and their knowing I met with you. I’m concerned they may seek to sabotage me.”

Mizuki smirked letting it silently be known his compound would be one such place, but when she didn’t bite he said, “Consider that to also be a part of the exercise. You’re not the only one that I’ve spoken to, so don’t be surprised if more than just your squad considers you to be a rival now.”

Yamame nodded in understanding, and stepped out of the office. But not before waving the woman back inside. The woman appeared almost eager to know she was being summoned again, and as from that fact alone seemed to recognize, Yamame wasn’t a rival, yet. Still, it made the former Kiri-nin curious as to what improvements Mizuki had been referring to. But, with other matters to focus on she decided it could wait until later, so began heading back to her barracks.

*****************************

Upon arriving back at the barracks, she quickly hid the documents that she had been given, which proved rather easy as her entire squad was absent. She wondered why briefly, before recalling that they were meant to assemble at the main gate. Quickly dressing in the official uniform of the Village Hidden in Darkness, she quickly made her way to the main gate where she found all the squads gathered and lining the main road leading to Sasuke’s palace. Finding hers not at the main gate, but about half way in the village, she checked in with the squad leader who assigned her a spot next to him.

Yamame figured that because of her meeting with she could have skipped the gathering, and been excused. But, figuring the event would provide her more information, had decided it was best to attend. Still, standing in the afternoon sun at attention for almost half an hour, she began to wish she had instead buried herself in the exercise Mizuki had given her. Yet, she was glad she hadn’t when she noticed a carriage approaching as it was pulled by several white steeds.

She heard one of her squad mates state, “What the hell? They had us get prettied up and gather for two geezers and some boy.”

Her squad’s leader said, “Be silent fool or I’ll execute you as soon as the carriage passes.”

The rebuke had the desired effect as the offender quickly clammed up. However, Yamame didn’t notice due to her attention being solely affixed on the occupants of the carriage since as a result of assignments Iruka had given her, she had little trouble recognizing the young emperor of Crow, who was being accompanied by his Prime Minister and the Great General of Crow’s Samurai Forces, Budo Adramelech.

The Emperor was a young boy with probably a dozen or so years behind him. He seemed innocent enough as he switched from side to side of his carriage, obviously excited by the prospect of having Shinobi within his lands and likely at his command. Meanwhile, it seemed that his general was of the complete opposite opinion on the matter as he kept his stare decidedly forward as if the gathered shinobi were beneath his notice.

It was for that reason, much of Yamame’s attention resided on Prime Minister Honest. She wondered if that was truly his name, or merely one he had given himself, as it felt a bit to on the nose for a man of his position. Regardless, watching him, she felt it might have been a fitting name since he seemed to be taking great enjoyment from his young leader’s excitement. Yet, she couldn’t help shake the idea that it was an act of some sort as when he directed his gaze to Budo, his smile shifted to grow even larger. It also seemed more natural to her, and so she felt he was far more pleased by the General’s annoyance while playing to his Emperor’s joy.

For this reason, Yamame felt she now had an understanding about who was the driving force behind Sasuke being allowed to establish a village in the Land of Crows. Still, she also believed that was only the tip of the iceberg considering at the time of the village’s founding, Sasuke had still been rather weak physically due to injuries he had sustained. Considering the almost open hatred that appeared to exist between Crow’s General and Prime Minister, she couldn’t see a man like Honest being willing to align with Sasuke and risk Budo’s anger. It made her wonder if there was some third party operating behind the scene which had introduced the Uchiha and Honest. But, more importantly had provided assurances to the Prime Minister that he wouldn’t be extending himself too far in permitting a shinobi village in the traditionally Samurai lands.

Naturally, Yamame considered the fact that she may be falling down a rabbit hole of paranoia, and that instead one day the Emperor had simply declared that he wanted a Shinobi Village. But, she couldn’t shake the feeling that some shadowy hand had manipulated events to bring the principle players behind Yamigakure together. Fortunately, before her mind could travel even further along that train of thought to the point where she would be jumping at shadows, her squad leader shouted once the carriage was out of view, “Alright, you’re dismissed until tomorrow’s training session.”

Yamame noticed some of the other dismissed squads and members of her own began following after the carriage likely expecting to see some festivities at the castle. But, she decided to head to the training grounds in order to clear her head and plan out her next few moves considering what she had learned.

****************************

It was dark when Yamame returned to the barracks assigned to her squad. Having worked up a decent sweat, she headed to the communal shower area that several barracks shared. Stepping inside, she noticed that a majority of the storage bins were empty. She considered it a small favor from the gods, although she had long since stopped caring about showering in public considering her time in Konoha’s Prison. Still, Yamigakure had taken it to an even further extreme as it didn’t provide separate bathing facilities for the sexes. As such, for a time showers for a majority of those taking them had been rather awkward. Yet it didn’t take long before they became rather standard fare as usually by the time the Yami-nin were allowed to bath, their instructors had worn them down to the point where all they wanted to do was clean up and go to bed.

Stepping into the shower, she found it mostly empty except for a man and woman which made her wonder if the reason for the bathing arrangements was because it served as a kind of training exercise to remove embarrassment and other perceived emotional weaknesses that could be exploited. Or, simply because those assigned to the barracks were of the lowest tier in the Yamigakure hierarchy and thus only afford the most basic amenities. She felt the answer was probably a combination of the two, as she for one would kill to once again enjoy a nice private bath.

Especially, as while beginning to lather up her skin with soap she heard the kunoichi let out a soft moan. She nearly jumped out of her skin as it did come as a surprise, but then she let out an annoyed sigh. Still, if the two showering with her and now passionately making out heard her. They paid it little heed as she heard the kissing stop, to be replaced by the man groaning as the kunoichi slurped on his hardened manhood.

Yamame made a conscious effort to avoid looking towards them while she began cleaning herself as quickly as possible. While she found it easy to be annoyed by their behavior. She could also understand it, and had almost grown as accustomed to similar such displays as she had showering with the opposite sex. After all, she imagined that she wasn’t the only one to figure out that most of them were doomed, and would probably die in their first real engagement. Mostly due to the fact that after years of incarceration most of them were well behind where they should be in terms of skill and the far harder to make up, experience, and a few months of training would hardly erase the deficit they would face when compared to all but the greenest of genin.

Still, she figured the reason that there weren’t many if any defections, is most of the former prisoners also recognized that Yamigakure represented their last shot at achieving some sort of greatness. They were after all made up of shinobi and kunoichi whose villages had considered them to be of little value, and had been more than willing to let them languish in prison.

However, the fact that a majority were probably doomed also meant that those who realized it intended to make up for the time they had spent in prison, and also planned to live the next few months, if not well, at least passionately. Another reason, Yamame couldn’t grow too annoyed was because the two were engaged in behavior that almost all of those in her squad were. Still as she heard the kunoichi begin moaning and was soon followed by the rhythmic sounds of flesh slapping flesh, she decided that she was clean enough as she stepped under the spray one last time.

After dressing, she began to head to her squad’s assigned barrack, yet while harboring a fresh sense of annoyance but was directed at herself as upon hearing the woman let out an almost pained moaned, she had looked over at the two. She tried to forget the sight of the woman clinging to the metal trunk raising from the floor which much like the one she had been standing under, had multiple showerheads coming out from the top of it, making it look like a metal palm tree. Standing behind her was the young man plowing away as he enjoyed all the woman had to offer while fondling her hanging breasts. Yamame’s cheeks colored as she quickly looked away, and made her escape, but she didn’t fail to notice that the quick eyeful was enough to make her damp.

Reaching her destination, she sighed as she expected a similar show, and wasn’t disappointed as she made her way to her bed. Walking past Gin’s, she found the kunoichi on her back with someone driving himself deep into her. Yamame wasn’t interested in figuring out who as she knew the next day would be a busy one. Still, a part of her couldn’t help feeling lonely, especially as her womanhood was desiring to have its emptiness filled. However, she pushed such thoughts away since she felt they were a weakness and ones which could lead her into making a mistake in a game where a single one meant death. An outcome that she believed she would earn regardless of if she won or lost, but there were people that needed to proceed her into the afterlife. A line that got one person longer as she added Mizuki to her mental list in order to pay the man back for the insults that he had paid towards Iruka.

Timeline
Events of chapter Happen between Chapter 82 and 83 of Eroninja.
Events unfold after and reference those that happened in Eroninja: Limelight chapter- Fu: Home Is the People You Live For.

Author’s Note: Happy 2017 everyone. In hopes of starting the New Year off on the right foot, I’ve wanted to get this chapter out today. I hope it makes for a nice surprise, considering I just posted one a few days previously. I also wanted to get this chapter out, to shine a spotlight on some of the players who currently call The Village Hidden in Darkness home, not to mention provide some insights into the Land of Crow’s leadership. Considering my writing style, and my desire not to shine too great a light on the villains’ actions prior to their appearing, I didn’t exactly provide much detail on the Hierarchy of things. I still haven’t to any great degree I’m sure, but I’m also sure my readers can infer who is in charge of what within the village.

Honestly, when I had first started writing the chapter, I had planned for Yamame to be able to provide you more details. But, after reaching Mizuki’s scene, it felt like it would be a little hard to believe a low tier character like her would have insights into the likes of Udon or even Sasuke. Still, I’m really glad with how it turned out since it felt natural to me, when considering the village is still in the midst of forming. As such, it makes sense the various heads would be scouting and hoping to expand their ranks.

For those unaware, the characters of the Emperor, Dorothea, Honest, and Budo are from the manga Akame Ga Kill. There were a few other characters referenced from that manga. But, considering the type of village I feel Sasuke would build, it kind of makes sense to me that it would be for a rather corrupt government like the Empire shown in Akame Ga Kill.

Well, with this chapter finished I’ll begin focusing on Eroninja chapter 83 which I hope will bring the close of the Intermission of the Revenge Arc. While I had originally planned to work on Eroninja until the Revenge arc was completed. I do feel rather bad for neglecting both the Pride and the Promise for over a year if I’m not mistaken. So once chapter 83 comes out, I’ll probably post a poll for what people would like me to work on next.

Again, let me thank everyone who takes the time to read and review. Thank you for all your well wishes, and for making 2016 so fantastic for me as a writer. I again hope everyone has a great 2017 and so until next time, Take Care! Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.