Always And Forever (Kakashi Hatake Love Story)

Part 23

"You remember your clan?" the Hokage asked.

Asami remained silent for a moment. "How'd I remember when I don't even know about it?" She furrowed her brows.

"Of course." The Hokage sighed, then turned to the others present in the room. "Iruka, Gai and Anko. You three are dismissed."

The said three jounins bowed respectfully and left. The Hokage shifted his attention back to Asami and leaned back on his chair.

"I guess, this is the time I tell you a little truth about your clan," he said, taking Asami by surprise.

Asami was never clearly explained about her clan nor her family. No matter how much or how many times she asked, the Hokage always kept avoiding this topic. And now he himself was bringing this up. Why? She couldn't comprehend.

From her facial expressions, the Hokage could tell what she was thinking.

"A small clan joined the Leaf village few years after it was created," the old man started explaining. "The members of this clan were shinobis that played important role in protecting the village from shadows. They used to keep their clan name undercover. Only the previous two Hokages, me, and the other village elders knew about it. No one else even knew that such clan really ever existed. The clan was Kyokkō clan. Its members were mostly sent as spies due to their excellent intel collecting abilities. Their these abilities caught Danzo's attention after he created the foundation. He manipulated them to join the foundation and started sending them to infiltrate different nations and gather intel. After obtaining intel, he'd annihilate them despite my strict warnings. The number of Kyokkō clan members decreased so drastically that it was on the verge of extinction. At the last only three people were left. That included a new born girl, her mother and her father. The girl's parents knew that Danzo will soon kill them too. They were worried about their daughter, so they came to me and asked me to take her in my custody, save from Danzo. I promised to do so. To Danzo, it was made appear that a dead child was born. After that day the girl's parents were never seen again. Her clan identity was kept secret. She grew up in my custody, graduated from academy, trained under a jounin and after that she became an anbu that are in my direct control. As you can already tell, the girl was you, Asami."

Asami stared at the Hokage with wide eyes. The only thing she had ever known about her parents, that they died on a mission, was a lie too? They were killed by Danzo?

"You knew about my clan. You knew everything all along then why? .. Why kept me in dark?" she asked, pain evident in her voice.

"That was to protect you, Asami," he replied. "If Danzo had found out about your identity, you would've ended up like the rest of your clan."

"Then why now? when I have left this topic far behind," Asami demanded.

The Hokage remained silent in response. He stood up from his seat and walked over to the door.

"Follow me, both of you," he said and walked out of the office.

Asami clenched her fists. Years ago, she had excluded this topic from her life, as she had people around her she could call family and friends. She had stopped paying attention to her past or what clan she belonged or what happened to her family and had moved on. The topic she had buried long ago was being dug up. She was getting frustrated.

"Relax. Everything will be okay," Kakashi said, as he grabbed her hand and pecked on her forehead, reminding her that he was there for her. Asami nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Let's go," she said, and they both exited the office.

**

Hokage was leading the way while Asami and Kakashi were following him. After good ten minutes of walking they arrived at a building. Asami and Kakashi knew about this place as former anbus. It was the place where Konoha's secrets were kept safe in several barriers and extremely high security. It was quite large building but isolated from the main parts of the village. Two anbus at the entrance greeted the Hokage, as they went inside. There were several other anbus and jounins performing their duties, one of which accompanied them and led them to the basement. After passing through several hallways, they reached their destination. They stopped in front of a vault with a massive wheel lock and several sealing tags.