Bab 54: Interlude: Shocks
"Sensei?" Hisako asked as Kakashi closed the door to Daisuke's room. The genin was sound asleep, thankfully.
"Yes, Hisako-chan?" Kakashi asked with an eye-smile.
"I wasn't sure if I should've mentioned it earlier but…we met this strange shinobi out in the sands," Hisako began. "He was disguised as a suna nin and he summoned a giant snake."
"Summoned a giant snake," Kakashi repeated, feeling his breath leave him as slowly as the implication started to dawn on him.
"Yeah and…he was almost part snake, the way his neck stretched out," Hisako said, tilting her head and pointing to her neck. "He tried to bite Daisuke-kun specifically and Daisuke…well, blew his neck out all over the sand. It was just a substitute, though."
Kakashi hummed. "Alright. Why do you say he was disguised as a Suna Nin?"
"Because he was wearing fake skin." Hisako shrugged and looked off to the side. "But here's the weird part. It was almost like he and Daisuke…knew each other. Sort of. The ninja tried talking to him, said they didn't have to fight. But Daisuke said they did."
"Anything beyond the obvious as to why?" Kakashi asked with a sigh.
"He said it was because he didn't like him," Hisako shrugged. "So…I don't know. Also, Daisuke has a summoning contract. It's with these weird…black and white bird things."
So that's what that was, Kakashi thought, going over the report of the giant, waddling beaked thing that had been sighted eating the giant worm before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"So yeah," Hisako said, scratching the back of her neck. "It's just been a weird day all around. I needed to talk to someone about it…do you know who ambushed us? With the giant snake?"
"I'll talk with the Hokage about it," Kakashi patted her shoulder with an eye-smile. "Now the only thing I want you to worry about for the next few days is resting and relaxing. Think you can do that?"
"Yeah, sure," Hisako sighed. "See you later, Sensei."
"See you later, Hisako-chan."
She walked off and Kakashi sighed heavily. Because of all the things he didn't want to hear, the fact that Orochimaru of the Sannin was somewhere in Suna. Daisuke, who may or may not have known he was going to be here or at the very least, recognized him, didn't tell them. Whether it was because of negligence, a gross underestimation of Orochimaru's power or perhaps a desire to have the Sannin all to himself, Daisuke hadn't mentioned it.
And that was going to put Daisuke's promotion in serious danger and…Kakashi honestly didn't want to be in the middle of that.
"What is this?" The Raikage was a big man. A very, very big man that was staring down at a report he had received with a glare that could make a Bijuu second guess its choices in life. His blond eyebrows were furrowed together in thought.
"That-"
"What is this?"
"That's not the first time you asked, Raikage-sama," Darui, as opposed to his Kage's well-groomed mullet, had a mess of hair that seemed to grow out of his scalp like a miniature forest. "We need more time to investigate Konoha's…super-ringer."
"I know that!" The Raikage, A, barked in response. "But this. This is new. And it doesn't make any sense."
"That seems to be a theme here, Raikage-sama," Darui replied with a sigh.
"It saved Team 9," A replied without even so much as a glance.
Darui nearly jumped. "Are you serious?"
A leaned forward, on hand on his knee, the other pointing at his face. "Do I look like I'm joking, Darui?"
Darui frowned. "No, Raikage-sama. No, you do not."
"Good, because I'm not," He leaned back and folded his arms. "For whatever reason, Sarutobi's super-ringer went out of his way to save the lives of one of our Genin teams, and I don't like it."
"I…yes, that makes sense," Darui replied, running his fingers through his hair. "They've been examined for seal-work or tampering?"
"The moment they told Tsukehara-san what happened, they were pulled aside," A responded, steepeling his fingers once again to stare at the report. "No one found anything. By any right, Team 9 was worm food until it pulled them off. I don't understand why it would do that."
"Did he poison them?" Darui asked, leaning forward.
"No. The stimulant he gave them, according to reports, was just that – a stimulant," A said with a sigh. "This is Konoha. They have plenty of reason to hate us. For one of their Shinobi to just decide to help them instead of killing them when they saw they were one of ours…something stinks. I don't like it."
"Raikage-sama," Darui began. "Forgive me for asking, but what are the odds he just helped them not knowing the bad blood our villages have?"
A hummed before shaking his head. "None. We teach our Genin about the atrocities of Konoha against our village and they teach their Genin of our triumphs over them. It'd be foolish that, apparently, the most brilliant Genin to come out of Konoha in almost a decade to not know of our past wars."
"It was a thought," Darui shrugged.
A picked up the report and read over it for the fifth time, then the medical statements that had been attached to the report. Just what are you up too, Sarutobi?
"Yeah, I figured it was Orochimaru," Daisuke answered and shrugged.
"And you didn't say anything?" Anko barely avoided shouting. Barely. Her skin had gotten pale and she had broken out into a cold sweat.
"What about it? You guys already knew about it, right?" Daisuke asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?" The Hokage asked with a puff of smoke.
Daisuke blinked and cupped his chin. "I don't know, I just sort of assumed you'd know if an S-class missing nin was to show up here in Suna. Must be with how we're Ninja and intelligence gathering is our job. And the Hokage is here…you know, I thought it was reasonable you guys would know."
The Hokage sighed. "Daisuke, it's remarkably hard for us to know anything if our contacts don't tell us anything. A network of spies is a Ninja's primary method of information gathering. You know this, they covered it in the academy."
"Were you just assuming we mystically find things out like you do?" Anko hissed, clenching and unclenching her fists.
"That's enough, Mitarashi," The Hokage reprimanded coolly.
"I was sort of assuming so, yeah," Daisuke nodded. "I mean, the Hokage's got that crystal ball in his study-"
Daisuke jumped in his boots and frowned. "The point is that everyone here has methods of finding things out without, you know, people."
How did he know-? The Hokage slightly shook his head. The idea that Daisuke came up with his own surveillance jutsu to see what other people were doing per his tactics training easily explained how he knew. It was extremely unnerving that he didn't feel himself being spied upon, but this was Daisuke. "The point is, Daisuke, is that without our people doing their best to help the village succeed…the village will crumble. That means telling people when an S-class missing-nin is in the vicinity and is likely after you."
"He's more like an A-class," Daisuke replied out the side of his mouth.
"He's an S-class threat," The Hokage corrected sharply. "He is most certainly an S-class threat. Whatever he did, he did not show even close to the extent of his abilities and if he had, you would be dead."
Daisuke did not say anything, but his fingers twitched. Then his eyes got just a little bit wider for half of a second before he fell into a glare.
"What is it, Shimoda?" The Hokage asked with a frown.
"Nothing," He replied, as stone faced as ever.
"Listen, we just want to make sure everyone is safe and sound," The Hokage said, taking a puff of his pipe. "But we can't do that unless we know of threats when they come around. Do you understand? We just want to make sure you and your teammates are safe."
"Yes, I understand, Hokage-sama," Daisuke replied. "Is there anything else?"
"No," Hiruzen shook his head. "Dismissed."
Shimoda disappeared straight away.
"Hokage-sama," Anko started. "I'm sorry for speaking out of turn like that, but if he's going to treat an S-class threat that casually…I hate to say it but…I don't believe he can be promoted. Not without being a danger to himself and the people he works with."
"I agree," The Hokage replied. "I had hoped he was beyond his casual disregard for danger, but that is apparently not the case. But we can't tell him that. Not yet. Not until we get back to the village and we can make sure he doesn't do anything reckless where it could start a war."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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Leylin_Farlier The Previous was a Fanbased Work of Fiction, written by Fulcon. Naruto is owned by Shueisha, Viz Entertainment and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the Official Release.
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