Golden Crown of Sorrow, Bloody Sword to Swing

Chapter Five

A/N: Graphic depictions of violence in this chapter

The Council, and Danzo in particular, had disrespected Mikoto countless times over the years. Not only had they questioned her skill as a shinobi, but Danzo himself accused her of controlling the Kyuubi during Kushina's labor–had accused her of being responsible for her own best friend's death. She had taken all the disrespect in stride, even moving on from her seething hate and lust for vengeance, but this was just insulting. Sending a single shinobi, regardless of their rank, to assassinate her? Danzo might as well have spit at her feet. And Mikoto had no doubt that the shinobi had been sent by Danzo and not any other council member, not when Itachi had just left to find Shisui who had alerted him that something had happened in his meeting with Danzo.

The shinobi, face hidden behind a sparrow mask, appeared in Mikoto's bedroom long after midnight, a kunai hurtling straight for her throat. Her sharingan blazing into action, she caught the blade between two fingers and hurled it back, immediately reaching for her katana which rested atop her dresser. The shinobi hadn't even bothered to make sure she was unarmed. The carelessness was almost enough for Mikoto to suspect some kind of trap, but she knew that in the eyes of most shinobi, she was nothing but a retired-shinobi-turned-housewife and though that usually annoyed her beyond words, she could not help but be thankful for a little underestimation every now and then.

The shinobi feigned to the left to dodge the kunai leveled at his head. Crouching in a corner to avoid any more flung projectiles, he ran through the hand signs for a genjutsu. Mikoto barked out a laugh. How foolish could this sad excuse for an ANBU operative be? The genjutsu glided off of Mikoto's psyche like water off a smooth surface, failing to even manage the slightest hold on her.

"Who do you think I am?" she sneered, lunging forward with her katana.

The shinobi, to his credit, did not respond or make eye-contact and instead rolled out of the way, flinging several senbon at Mikoto's abdomen from point blank range. They were almost certainly poisoned, but Mikoto was known for her agility if nothing else; in one graceful motion, she gripped the desk behind her and vaulted herself into the air, her feet sticking to the ceiling with a thin layer of chakra. Her chest ached for her to use a katon and incinerate the idiotic shinobi crouching on her floor, but she could not risk alerting Fugaku who was working in his study in the opposite side of the house and burning down their bedroom would certainly suggest to him that something was wrong. So instead, she flung her own poisoned senbon, aimed perfectly for the shinobi's major arteries. The shinobi threw himself to the right, his back slamming against the wall as he managed to avoid the deadly projectiles.

Seconds after the shinobi hit the wall, Mikoto heard movement on the other side of the house. Fugaku heard the commotion. Gritting her teeth, Mikoto realized that she was backed into the corner. Years away from active duty had dulled her skills in silent assassination. If Fugaku caught an ANBU operative attempting to murder his wife, he would be able to fan the flames of the coup into an even greater blaze, turning even those currently opposed to the plan to his side. If the shinobi managed even one word of Mikoto's betrayal to Fugaku, on the other hand, she would be executed. She could see no escape. Even the Kotoamatsukami would be useless if Fugaku told the entire clan about the Council attempting to assassinate Mikoto. One solution lingered in the back of her mind–one that she could only turn to as an absolute last ditch effort–yet one that was quickly becoming the only option.

Desperate to end the fight as soon as possible, Mikoto lunged at the shinobi again. All she needed was a second of contact and her genjutsu would take hold. The shinobi twisted out of the way, flipping backwards on his hands, but as his legs swung over his head, the tip of Mikoto's finger glanced against his ankle. Mikoto's genjutsu took a moment to fully overcome the shinobi's mind as layers of illusion manifested. Before she could fully consume his mind in the hellscape of her own creation, Fugaku slammed the sliding door of the bedroom open, eyes wild with panic, his tanto hanging precariously from his belt.