Chapter 223: The Spy

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 223: The Spy

A young-looking woman was walking at a rushed pace while nervously glancing behind her.

'How could Lord Jiraiya detect the device?' she wondered.

She had been assured that this new model was undetectable. It had taken her months to land a position closer to the Hokage's office than the one she initially had when she began working in the building, and now her cover was probably blown since she had fled the Hokage building in such a manner.

'They will find the device and know it was me…' She knew this.

But this information was too important. She only regretted not being able to hear the end of their conversation.

The moment she left the building and noticed that no one was following her, she felt a bit of relief but still did not slow her pace.

The receiver from the listening device was still in her purse, as well as a notebook where she had written down the conversation between the Hokage and the other Sannin.

If she were caught with this… she would be thrown in a cell and never see the light of day again.

Her quick steps took her back to the village center in just a few minutes. From there, she navigated through a maze of narrow alleys and ended up in front of an inconspicuous house with a wooden door.

She knocked on the door in a very specific way, and this one opened slowly.

A person wearing a grey uniform and an animal mask stood on the other side.

At first glance, one might mistake this person for an ANBU agent, but this was a different branch...a much more secretive one that not even the Hokage knew it still existed… ROOT.

"The shipment is too heavy," she simply said and was allowed inside. This was the code for "Extremely important message." She will now be taken directly to Lord Danzo, as he was the only one authorized to receive such information.

She saw another masked person inside. This one signaled for her to follow him… and she did.

The masked agent moved aside a bookcase, revealing a secret entrance.

"Come on, don't delay," he told her.

She tried her best to keep up with him through the narrow tunnel that led underground.

This was one of the five secret entrances to the ROOT Headquarters. All of them were well-hidden and well-guarded. But she was a low-level agent and only knew the location of one entrance.

Watching the back of the ROOT member walking in front of her filled her with envy. All masked members were incredibly strong and had at least achieved the rank of Chunin before becoming agents. Some of them had even grown up inside the facilities and trained since childhood.

She was only a Genin… Her back had been injured during an early mission, and she had to give up her career as a ninja after the medics claimed there was nothing they could do. She would never be given the chance to climb up the ranks.

The girl knew that her best chance for recovery was to meet Lady Tsunade. She was the only one who could heal her, but their new Hokage was always busy, and even after getting a job inside the Hokage building as a secretary, she never had the chance to speak with her properly.

She was ready to give up her dream of being a ninja again and live the rest of her life as a civilian… until she met Elder Danzo. He had approached her a few months after she landed a job at the Hokage building as a secretary. He knew of her health issues and, unlike others… he was willing to help her.

Danzo needed loyal individuals close to the Hokage who would feed him information about anything happening there. Even things that seemed unimportant, like what brand of coffee the Hokage's assistant liked the most.

Lord Danzo had proposed to her that he knew of a method that could heal her back. And it would be given to her if she accumulated enough merits to deserve it.

'With the valuable information that I found out today… I'm sure…' Today, she had been truly fortunate.

As a low-rank member, she was rarely put in charge of listening to the Hokage's office directly.

No one had expected that anything important would happen this morning, as there was no meeting scheduled for today.

Lord Jiraiya's return had been completely unexpected for everyone. But thanks to that, she had gotten her hands on some incredibly delicate information.

The talks about an incoming war were easy to understand. She got a bit lost when they began speaking of the Two Tails and something about Naruto Uzumaki's ability to absorb chakra.

But she made sure to write down every word as they said it, so it didn't matter if she understood what it was all about.

Her knowledge about the Bijuu and Jinchuuriki was very superficial, but it was enough to understand how important those things were to all ninja villages.

She was sure that Lord Danzo would be very happy with this information she was bringing, and would certainly reward her.

The tunnel she had been traveling through opened up into a massive underground chamber, and she stopped for a moment to admire it.

"Whoa…" This was her first visit to the headquarters. One day, when she was a proper agent, she would receive her training here.

"Oi… don't stop here," the masked man warned her. "Don't want to make Lord Danzo wait."

This was enough to get her to move immediately. The last thing she wanted was to disappoint her boss.

She continued to look around as they walked but didn't stop again.

Other masked agents could be seen around the headquarters. Everyone appeared to be busy with something.

From the large chamber, they went into a series of corridors. They all looked the same, and none of the rooms she came across had any names on them.

If she were left alone here, she would become completely lost immediately. But perhaps that was the objective of this maze-like layout… to trap any intruders inside.

Eventually, they passed through another large chamber, albeit smaller than the previous one, and at the other end of this chamber were several identical doors.

The agent stopped in front of one and waited.

She looked around. Unlike the other chamber, there was no one inside this one… she found that odd.

"Enter," the agent said as he opened the door.

She walked inside and quickly realized that this was a bedroom. A small and simple one, but definitely a bedroom.

Her eyes moved to the potential owner. A young man with black hair was lying on the bed. His body was completely covered in bandages, except for his face.

The young man glanced at her but said nothing.

Sitting on a chair right next to the bed was an older man she immediately recognized.

"Lord Danzo!" She bowed to him.

"Mmm… ah…" He appeared to need a moment to recognize her. "You have something for me?"

"Y-Yes!" She felt very nervous. She hadn't talked to the Elder in person since her recruitment. She always delivered her intel to other agents.

She took out her notebook and handed it over to Lord Danzo, who picked it up and began reading its contents.

At first, she didn't see much change in his expression as he read, as if he were a bit bored.

'Did he already know all of this?' She was starting to get concerned that she hadn't brought him anything useful.

But then his expression changed completely.

"What…" Danzo muttered. "This can't be… an ability like that exists?!"

He snapped the notebook shut and turned his sharp eyes to her. "The device… do you have it?" he demanded.

"Y-yes!" She hurried to take out the listening device and handed it to him.

"Did anyone detect your presence or the listening device?" he asked.

She knew there was no point in lying since the conversation was cut short at the end because she had to flee. "Lord Jiraiya made a comment about hearing some mechanical device… I didn't want to take any risks, so…" She wondered if she had messed up too badly by missing part of the conversation.

"I understand," Danzo told her. "You did the right thing." He stood up from his chair and walked closer to her.

She grew more nervous now. The masked agent was behind her, blocking the door, and now the imposing figure of Lord Danzo was standing in front of her. "Lord Danzo?..."

"Did anyone else hear this conversation?"

"N-no… Lord Danzo."

"And you didn't speak of it with anyone? Not even another agent?"

"No! I mean, I thought this was too important and had to be reported directly to Lord Danzo… Did I do something wrong?"

Danzo smiled at her. "No, you did nothing wrong. This information is indeed very important."

She felt a wave of relief wash over her. 'I'm going to be rewarded then! He will heal my back, and I can finally become a ninja once more.'

As she was thinking this, she felt the hand of Lord Danzo on her shoulder.

She lifted her eyes to look at him, but he was staring at the masked agent behind her.

He made a subtle gesture with his eyes that she barely spotted, and then… the agent behind her moved at lightning speed and grasped her head.

"W-what i-"

She did not have time to understand the situation before her neck was snapped by the masked man behind her…

As her lifeless body collapsed on the ground, Danzo gave her one last look. "I'm sorry, but you found something too important. Can't take any risks here…"

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