Other world chimera [Naruto fanfic]

68. Old man gets no rest

Old man Hiruzen was having the worst headache of his life. To think that an entire clan would be killed in his time as Hokage. He understood their actions though he could not in good faith approve of them. In the end, he blamed himself as much as them for the blood that has been spilled. 

The only silver lining to the entire thing is that Sasuke Uchiha survived. Perhaps they could in time revive the clan and make amends. Wishful thinking but that is better than nothing. As of now he knew that other villages had their eyes on Konoha. Two major incidents have taken place and weakened them. 

“Lord-Hokage, great news! There is another survivor!” Suddenly a ninja that worked in the lower offices entered his office shouting. Oh how happy and confused was Hiruzen to hear this. He didn’t expect there to be another survivor. More accurately, there shouldn’t be another one. 

“Who are they!? Where are they!?” Hiruzen couldn’t help but raise his voice. The only reason Sasuke had survived had been due to a deal Itachi had made with the council. Now, this new survivor could be a source of joy or trouble. 

How much did they know? How old were they? Are they loyal to the clan or to Konoha? Those and other questions held great importance and would determine their survival or not. As he continued thinking, a girl entered the room. Around the same age as Sasuke with raven black hair and eyes. Wearing black pajamas with the Uchiha clan symbol on them.

“Lord-Hokage” saying that Nozomi gave Hiruzen a respectful bow. While walking here she had listened to Tomoka’s plan. She needed to act dumb but not so dumb that it would rouse suspicion. 

“Nozomi Uchiha, right? For starters let me say I am glad there is another survivor of this tragedy” The old man’s kind eyes turned sad however, Nozomi wasn’t buying it. She had felt that Tomoka had hidden some info from her. Now she understood what it was. This old man also knew of the massacre and he did nothing.

Nozomi’s anger and indignation boiled deep in her heart. The only thing she wished at the moment was to shred this old man into tiny pieces with her fuuton. However, she had to reign in her temper and act normal. Her life was at stake here and she would not let Tomoka’s effort go to waste. So all she did was nod. 

“May I ask what happened? How did you survive?” There was the important question that might determine her survival or death. She and Tomoka had been brainstorming all types of questions and answers and so she was prepared. 

“I don’t know. I was home preparing to sleep when someone covered my mouth and nose with a wet cloth. It smelled weird and made me feel sleepy all of a sudden. Next thing I knew I was waking up in one of the nearby forests” 

Listening to the girl’s words made Hiruzen feel confused. Someone had kidnapped her on that exact night just to leave her unobserved and unrestrained in a random forest still inside the walls of konoha? That leads to only two possibilities. Either she is lying, or whoever did this knew of the massacre and saved her for unknown reasons. 

“Did you see anything else? Something to clue us in on who this mysterious savior was?” All according to plan, thought Nozomi. She didn’t know how but Tomoka had predicted this question as well. Sometimes Nozomi felt that Tomoka was far too smart for her age.  

“When that person put me to sleep I tried to see their face but all I saw was a featureless porcelain mask” With this she had just blamed a member of root.

This strategy was born from two factors. Tomoka knew full well how secretive the old eye thief is. He wouldn’t under any circumstances let anybody else look into his organization. In this way, Hiruzen's investigation would enter a dead end. On the other hand, Danzo might investigate who the traitor is but with such a simple description finding a non-existent traitor is simply impossible. Not to mention that, if this world is still following cannon then root should be disbanded after yesterday's events but in reality will continue existing under the nose of the third Hokage.   

“I see. Well, I am glad you survived Nozomi and once again, my condolences” With that Nozomi left the Hokage’s office. Meanwhile Hiruzen felt his headache worsening. The girl was hard to read. Throughout the entire thing she had looked at him with dead eyes. At the very least there was no hatred and seeing how young she is the chances that she was just acting are rather low. 

“What a mess, I really need to retire”