#konohamuses

“Hey... you’re not thinking of leaving on your own again, are you?” On that same path that led from the village--the placid, civilian path fed towards the main road--something like the past crept towards her heart uneasily. It wasn’t that she’d ever think to deny him, but a growing hole in her heart felt like she didn’t know him past the frantic attempts to bring him back before he’d left years ago to seek revenge. He was different now, but still like a lode star forever fixed in her sky she couldn’t quite reach. 

With supplies crammed into a backpack slung from her shoulders, a new arsenal of abilities even Sasuke didn’t know about kept secret from much of the world, the kunoichi trotted with a girlish smile towards the Uchiha cloaked like a raven with his black cape draped gloomily on his shoulders. Though she wouldn’t push, every cell in her body hoped he’d say yes.

❝So you trust me, do you Hiruzen?❞

As Tazz approached the inn while adjusting her backpack, she glanced around for her assigned partner for this mission. She was sent to provide help for another shinobi that had been given the task of locating a band of thieves that were said to have an old Konoha weapon in their possession that needed to be returned.

She was beautiful, that much was undeniable: a vision of Hyuuga pedigree that resulted in the clan’s acclaimed fair visage and dark hair of various tones, hers like ultramarine in the sunlight. Upon being gifted the moonflowers, even he had to admit it was something of a spurious decision, never one to outwardly confront a woman with such flattery so ribaldly. So, when she took kindly to it, he couldn’t help but reveal himself. Standing with enough distance to not make Hinata feel encroached upon, he cut a courtly bow befitting people of their rank. Arms unfolded, even his visage was a vision of gentleness. 

While Konoha may have once been their home, now it is the furthest thing from it. The eyes that greet the Sannin are brimming with disdain, fear and instinctive aversion. As if they are a wolf walking amid sheep, every member of this town knowing better than to trust their wicked smile, seeing only teeth that had once sunk in to the throats of Konoha residents just like them. But they are not here because they want to be, they are here because they have an order, because the subject at hand has roped them in. Their students daughter, their sons best friend. How can the serpent not step forward when no other medic within Konoha’s hospital could come up with an answer for the two kunoichi’s treatments? Their steps are silent, wraithlike as they sweep in ethereal grace through white pristine halls. Only for their golden eyes sharp like a serpents to find their way to a dark and tall figure in the room. They greet Sasuke with no smile, for they know his mood must be grave with his wife and daughter in such critical care. They can not offer him sympathy, it isn’t in them to pity others, even under such dire circumstances. The basic etiquette of not offering some cruel joke the most they can bring to the table. And how it had taken many years to learn to behave better than twisted humor. How their dear friend Tsunade, former dear friend, had never tolerated their poor coping mechanism toward tragedy. Particularly on the eve of her brothers passing.

“You needn’t explain their conditions. I have read the report thoroughly.” While the serpent may not be reliable when it came to appropriate behaviours, they were reliable in their work. Competent, experienced and fully capable of getting any job done as efficiently as possible. A truly ambitious nature. They let that be the first words they speak to him, to remind him he needn’t worry about their presence here, that they were currently as asset, not a threat. “How are you handling it, my dear?” they ask, and even now their voice can not carry true concern, too foreign a concept to them. Their question is of a curious nature, though perhaps it ought to be merit enough that their curiosities had finally ventured to less selfish places, and extended to the emotional states of others. Progress, day by day.

[ classified memos | always accepting ] [ @konohamuses​ ]

❝Indeed,❞ he states blandly, attention largely fixed on the documents he’s working through. Or so it seems. ❝You have reminded me every year since we were boys.❞

So foolish. Do the shadows ever ‘take the day off’? He thinks not. Only the obnoxious sun has a habit of eliminating the space in which they can operate when it’s at its full height. With the barest of sighs through his nose, Danzō casts a stony gaze up at the other.

❝Perhaps I could stretch to a drink.❞