Paradise Found

CHAPTER 14

Chapter 14
A/N - A nice looooong chapter for you guys! Hasn't been too heavily edited and I don't have a beta so be prepared for overlooked grammar mistakes. Ripple effect is now in full swing! Some things will stay the same, but a lot is going to change and things won't be revealed right away. If you aren't a fan of big changes to plot, this is probably where you'll want to stop reading.

Thanks for all the love and support, you guys are the best! Warning for semi-graphic violence and tense situations.
.

.

Sarutobi Hiruzen folded his hands together atop his desk.

The message that Kyohei and his team had sent via a messenger hawk was now nothing but ashes in the waste bin. No doubt they would soon arrive, but he feared they might arrive too late.

He took a long drag, the tobacco and smoke from his pipe providing a comfortable and familiar nip at his throat. His exhale was long and tired as he slowly released the smoky air his lungs held.

The Kazekage was dead, no doubt by the plotting of his adversaries. This was of little surprise to him.

He had suspected, and his suspicions were now a reality that he could only continue to watch play out.

His hands were tied, and those who wished to see him deposed had already won the battle by igniting aggressions between the lands of Wind and Fire at a time when their village was teeming with foreign ninja and traitors within the Hokage's own ranks. They were waiting to make their move, and the time would soon come.

The fallout that was likely to result from this was inevitable. The Hokage had ordered his best ANBU squad straight into a trap of his own making, whether conscious of it or not, and it was he who was to blame for the destruction that was soon to take place.

The village would soon be under attack, of that he was certain. It would not be long before the foreign ninja within the village received their orders. It would not be long before their world was once again at war.

Shimura Danzo had betrayed him.

He had done well, he supposed, to have already destroyed as much sensitive information as he could before this all came to pass. Danzo would inherit nothing of much use to him. The most sensitive of documents had been destroyed. This protection would hopefully be useful to some extent.

For as many times as Danzo had chosen to keep Root missions a secret from the Hokage, the Hokage had also done many things without informing Danzo – and all records of such activity had 'mysteriously disappeared' just minutes ago when he realized his time was running short. It was the least he could do, the small rebellion was the only he could afford in the moment.

It was not the first time that Danzo had made an attempt on his life, and he found himself reminiscing again of the day decades past when Root and ANBU had clashed, the day that Inuzuka Kyohei had thrown his body between his Hokage and a well-aimed kunai.

He had forgiven, accepting that Shimura Danzo had only been acting on what the man truly believed to be best for the village. He most likely was this time as well, no matter how misguided that sentiment was. But there would be no forgiveness for him now.

Danzo's plan must have been one that was years in the making, and the more he thought about it the more he realized just how intricate the plan was. But the Hokage still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

It felt cowardly, to do what he was about to attempt, to leave his village in the hands of a man like Shimura and vacate his position in the desperate times that

accompanied war - when his people and loyal forces would need him the most. It could not be helped, however, and he took a calming breath as he reminded himself to once again think about the results he wanted in the long run, and not in the immediate timeframe.