Things We Do For Love

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

A/N: here's a reason why it took me such a long time to update the story. I re-read the entire first book of the series and collected vital information and corrected grammatical errors. It took a lot of time and well.... The fact that you guys are reading these stories despite it being long... Thank you 🦋

Y/N's P.O.V

"Hey Asuma" I waved at him on a sunny morning. The man with cigarette glued to his mouth looked at me wearily, there were sweats rolling down his temple and he was repetitively bobbing his leg up and down.

"Eh...hi"

"What's wrong?" I began asking as he shifted in his feet, body slightly slouched forward and exhaustion marred all over his face. It was not typical to find this Jonin wandering without his team on his tail or Kurenai next to him, which was why I was stunned finding him rambling to himself on a bench.

"Nothing, it's just a case that I've been working on"

"What case?" I sat next to him, eagerly awaiting for an explanation. The man's dark circles proved how hard he had been working the past few days and he meekly rubbed the palm of his hands against his face, sighing heavily.

"We were sent to the outskirts of Land of Fire, to check on residing villages but when we reached our destination... there...there wasn't anything left"

"What do you mean nothing was left?"

"Horrible sight. The village was attacked within a night and their population annihilated"

"How do you know that this happened within a night?"

"No one called for Konoha's shinobi for help and the way everything laid about as debris, bones and blood... the entire village was destroyed. We checked the places and found out the residues to be the result of the same attack. The evidences my team collected, it is clear indication of Amegakure being involved in this"

"Why would an ally attack us? As far as I have heard, they are in our good graces"

"Recently, we are suspecting of something heinous going on behind the scenes. We are in rocky terms with Amegakure. To have villages near our borders attacked, this means only one thing..."

"What?"

"Warning"

"You really think a small village like that will dare threaten Konoha? Apart from Kumogakure, there aren't any nations who can rival our military. Touchan has taught me the basics and I just don't think they would try to stir something, especially when Naruto is back. Everyone fears the Kyubi"

"Numbers don't really mean anything in our world; it's the fight that one can exert. Sure Konohagakure and Kumogakure have colossal military power but ours is also the nations with the most unrest. We are more vulnerable because anyone within our borders can turn out to be a spy. Having massive amount of shinobis also mean there are more chances of shinobis going rogue. The mission that Naruto and his team were sent to is closely related to me as well. This is why, I am anxious"

"Related to you? Where you a spy?" Asuma was eliciting my curiosity to rise. I wasn't the only stranger amongst them but they, too, were unfamiliar people to me. Just like Kakashi, I was sure every one of the shinobis that I had met so far had a story of their own.

"I used to be a member of the Guardian Twelve Shinobi who protected the Feudal Lords and even retaliated to end the system of small nations with Hokage as the ruling leader. Abolishing the practice of two kings and unite everyone under one judicial law, under the ruling of one king. Things happened and I realized whom we should be protecting so... I am here again. It wasn't an easy transition but I made it and my loyalty now resides with Konoha, will so until the day I die"