CSI: Konoha

Pilot

Iruka-sensei rubbed his eyes. It had been a long day. He was grading papers in the Academy late at night. It was already 10:20, and he was only half way through the stack of tests.
Oh well. They can wait until tomorrow. Sleep comes first.
Iruka stood up, gathering his supplies and the last of his strength.
Then he paused. Was it just him, or did he hear something fall down?
He shrugged. Probably was one of the Academy students setting up a prank. Konohamaru, most likely.
Iruka dismissed it, walked out the door, took out his keys, and locked it up for the night.

---

The crime scene looked bad. Nara Shikamaru stood in the room and, slapping on his plastic gloves, took a look around.
Spotting Iruka lying on the floor, he grimaced.
His old teacher lay on the floor. 5 senbon were pierced into his skin. One through each palm, one through each lung, and one through the stomach. Those needles looked like they might've done some serious damage.
As he looked away, he spotted medics coming in with their kits and a stretcher. He asked them if Iruka would be all right. They replied yes, but they still didn't know the extent of the damage.
Then something caught his eye.
His 200 IQ brain registered two things at once.
First off, he spotted a scorch mark on the left arm of Iruka.
Second, dirt on the floor.
Something didn't add up.
And he wanted to make it so that it did.
"Kiba!" he ordered into his phone, "come over here. And bring Akamaru. I need you to do a sweep off the crime scene. Something isn't right here."

Shikamaru sat in a chair in the hospital room of Iruka. His head lay in his hands as he looked up at Haruno Sakura, the ninja who was called to heal and inspect Iruka. She carefully removed the senbon from Iruka's body, then transfered chakra to his body so that he'd stay alive.
"I'm just making him so that he doesn't die on us. No physical evidence will be removed," she reassured Shikamaru.
He thanked her, and exited the room.

---

Back at the lab, Marakuni Rukia was at work. She was working at two computers at once, typing furiously, then suddenly lept up to grab a paper that just printed. She waved them in front of Shikamaru's nose.
"Lab results?" he asked excitedly.
"No," she replied. "Those are still pending. But I thought the way the senbon were pierced into Iruka was a bit suspicious. Am I right?"
Shikamaru thought for a moment, then agreed.
"So I did a cross-search on our database, looking rogue or criminal ninjas that have killed or injured people with a signature. . And then I searched through those results with keywords that related to the pattern we saw with Iruka."
"Well?" impatiently questioned Shikamaru.
She handed him the papers.
"Tayuya Yaro," he read. "Killed 13 citizens and 5 ninja total. All killed with personal signature of one senbon through each palm, one through each lung, and one through the stomach. Given death penalty."
Shikamaru swore under his breath.
"Yeah, I know. A bit of a disappointment," Rukia confessed.
"Either Yaro has risen from the dead, or someone is trying to give us a red herring," concluded Shikamaru.

Shikamaru was tired. It had been a long day.
As he walked home, the wind blowing his ponytail around like a flag.
The case just didn't add up. How could Yaro still be alive? It just wasn't possible.
He placed his key in the lock for his apartment. Pushing it open, he inhaled the smell of burnt pancakes.
Shikamaru smiled. He hung up his coat.
Walking into the kitchen, he spotted Temari, his wife, slaving over a skillet full of pancake batter.
Leaning over, he kissed her on the cheek, then jumped on the couch and turned on the news.
He was ready for a relaxing night.
Breaking story! said the news anchor. A large forest fire breaks out in the Land of Tea. Authorities are still trying to contain the blazes. More on this story later. In other news, Konoha releases its new bingo book of S-Rank criminals...
But Shikamaru wasn't listening.
He sat up and thought about what he had just heard.
A fire.
Hadn't he seen a burn mark on Iruka's arm?
Shikamaru grabbed his coat, apologized to Temari, and rushed out the door.
He remembered that someone somewhere, probably in school, had said that some jutsus leave traces of DNA on what they touch.
Fire-style techniques, most of which came from breathing fire or whatnot, fit into that category.
He was back on track.

"Check the burn!" Shikamaru gasped, out of breath, as he burst through the hospital room doors.
Sakura looked up, confused.
"The burn! On Iruka's arm! I think it's a result of a fire-style technique, like phoenix flower jutsu or something!" he told her.
"And it may have DNA on it!" Sakura concluded excitedly.
She immediately reached into her medical kit, picked out a swab, and ran it over Iruka's wound.
Iruka grimaced, but said nothing.
She took out a bag and placed the swab inside it. Handing it to Shikamaru, she said, "Well, we'll know who burned him soon enough."

---

Shikamaru walked with Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru to a residence on the outskirts of town.
Rukia had traced the DNA to a man named Tsarumi Takasaru.
His house loomed in front of them. It was a small, worn-down place. A cat ran in front of them. Akamaru, as much a dog as ever, lept from Kiba's arms and barked at it.
Shikamaru stepped up to the door and rang the bell. Nobody answered.
He looked inside. The house was deserted.
Then suddenly he spotted a shape running on the side of the house.
And he didn't look like he was taking a leisurely jog through the neighborhood.
"Kiba!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Already on it!" Kiba replied, grabbing a kunai in his hand and sprinting after the man.
Shikamaru followed.
"Arf!" barked Akamaru as he leaped up and bit the escaping suspect on the arm, dragging him to the ground.
"Good boy!" Kiba yelled.
The man scrambled on to his feet, threw Akamaru on to the ground, but stopped in place.
He looked down.
His shadow was being touched by another.
Shikamaru smiled. His Kagemane no Jutsu, Shadow Copy Technique, was a success.
Kiba held up his police badge.
"Mr. Tsarumi, you're under arrest under the charges of breaking and entering, attempted first degree murder, and fleeing the authorities."

Shikamaru stepped into the interrogation room. A guard stepped in behind him, just in case things got messy.
"You know, Mr. Tsurami, running away just made you look even more guilty," said Shikamaru.
Takasaru said nothing.
Impatient, Shikamaru continued. "You do know the charges that are piled up against you? Breaking and entering, attempting first-degree murder, and most recently fleeing the authorities. That's a large load of crap you've gotten yourself into."
"Well, I don't intend to stay in it very long," replied Takasaru with a grin.
"I somewhat doubt tha..." Shikamaru began, but he was interrupted.
The guard had snuck up on him and hit him on the head with the pummel of a kunai.
Shikamaru slumped to the ground, unconcious.
The guard smiled at Takasaru, then courtly opened the door for him.

---

Shikamaru woke up two and a half hours later.
He groaned, realizing where he was.
He was lying in a hospital bed, next to Iruka.
"Hey CSI guy," Iruka said with a grin.
Shikamaru tried to sit up, but the nurse on duty, seeing what he was trying to do, forced him to lie back down.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you," she warned.
Shikamaru groaned again.
How troublesome!
He noticed Sakura trying to sneak into the room quietly.
It didn't work. She tripped over the door stop and fell to the floor noisely.
Shikamaru grinned, then told her, "You know, I'm not asleep anymore. And even if I was, that sure as hell would've woken me up."
Sakura smiled, but then it faded to a frown.
Noticing that, Shikamaru asked, concerned, "What is it? Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Uh... well..." she began.
Shikamaru started to worry.
"The two men who knocked you unconscious, Takasaru and Lyuna Naoru, the guard, have disappeared. We can't find them."
He groaned loudly, partly because he was annoyed the people who tricked him got away, but mostly because his head still hurt.
"And... Temari's vanished. We think they took her hostage."

Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakura were scanning the village, looking for Takasaru and Naoru.
But so far, no dice.
They stopped, panting, at a Ramen shop.
Not to their surprise, they spotted Naruto there.
Kiba sat down at the spot next to him.
"Hey, what's up?"
Naruto just sat there.
Sakura sat down on the other side of Naruto.
And what she saw frightened her.
Naruto was sitting in front of a cold bowl of ramen. He hadn't touched it. Instead he was sipping a cup of sake.
And he was unusually quiet.
Kiba and Sakura exchanged worried glances.
"Naruto, you seem worried. What's wrong?"
He glanced over at them, and a tear fell from his eye.
"It's Hinata... she's... she's..."
Kiba and Sakura finished his sentence.
"Missing!"
He looked up.
"How'd you know?"
"Temari's gone missing also. We believe she's been kidnapped. Whoever took her may have kidnapped Hinata also."
Naruto sniffed, sipped his sake, then looked at Sakura.
"Please, please, make sure that Hinata is safe."
She put her hand on his shoulder, as to say everything was going to be all right.
Then, ordering a bowl of spicy pork ramen to go, they exited the shop.
"Poor Naruto. And poor Shikamaru. They both lost their loved ones. What a blow," Sakura remarked.
"Yes, but shouldn't we be more worried for Temari and Hinata? Wherever they are..." Kiba replied sadly.

"Oh dear," remarked Hokage Tsunade as she listened to the sand Jounin.
"... and we can't find them anywhere," finished the ninja.
She thought for a minute. That's 5 people total missing from two villages.
That's 5 people too many.
"Zaku!" she called.
"Yes Hokage?" Zaku asked, appearing next to her in a poof of smoke.
"Go retrieve Nara Shikamaru from the hospital. I need him now," she ordered.
"But I thought he was injured?" he asked, puzzled.
"No, he's fine. He's just too lazy and depressed to get off his butt."
"Okay!" said Zaku as he vanished in another poof of smoke.

---

Shikamaru was bored.
He lay on his hospital bed with one eye open, reading Advanced Shougi Techniques.
He already knew everything in the book.
His thoughts were instead on Temari and the other missing ninja of Suna and Konoha.
But his thoughts were interrupted by Zaku walking into the door.
"Let's go. Hokage Tsunade requests your presence."
Shikamaru sighed. How troublesome.
"Fine. Just let me get out of this damn hospital gown."

---

Temari wasn't scared. She had a strong mind and an even stronger body.
Even still, the prospect of being kidnapped was slowly getting to her.
She hadn't seen the light of day for who knows how long it's been!
And Hinata was starting to get sick.
She had a fever, and started coughing blood a few hours ago.
Oh Shikamaru, where are you? Temari thought.

Shikamaru paced up and down the Hokage's study.
She frowned and coughed.
He looked up at her, annoyed.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Well... do you have any ideas for what we should do?" she asked him.
"You're the Hokage. I should be asking you," he said.
Tsunade laughed. "You're the one who said that you want to lead the team to find the missing people. Or is it too troublesome?"
He considered this, then shook his head.. "I'm not going to stand by while those creeps do who-knows-what to Temari, Hinata, and the others."
"So what's the plan then?"
"Well, get the ANBU Black ops stationed around the village. Tell them to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity, and make sure they contact us if they see anything."
She nodded. "Got it."
"By the way, do you think it's a coincidence that there were disappearences in Suna also?"
Shikamaru frowned.
"I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in conspiracy."

Temari was worried now.
Hinata was even worse off then before. She was coughing up blood regularly, and her breathing was irregular.
And those Suna ninja didn't look all that great either.
She looked up at the mysterious figures who were keeping them locked up.
They each had a silver mask on, and were currently placing scrolls in different corners of the room.
"What's that for?" she asked, curious.
The smaller guy looked up.
"Moving. We're going away. Wouldn't want those pesky ninja to find us."
The other one suddenly stopped.
"They're getting closer. I sense great amounts of chakra energy."
"Then we better do this quickly, eh?" replied the smaller one.

---

The dirt!
It was so obvious now.
Shikamaru had seen dirt on the ground at the crime scene.
And there was only one place in the near area where that kind of dirt could be found.
The mountain with the Hokage carvings in it.

---

The smaller guy made several hand signs.
He took a scroll out of his pocket, opened it up, cut his hand, and made a mark with the blood.
Pressing it on to the ground, he cried,
"Spirit Transfer! Teleportation jutsu!"

---

By the time Shikamaru and his team of ninja arrived, all traces of the rogue ninjas and their captives had vanished.
Literally, into thin air.

"Dammit!" Shikamaru yelled, as they arrived at the top of the mountain.
No one, nothing, not even a scrap of hair or even a drop of sweat or blood was present.
Temari was once again gone from his sight, from his grasp.
Shikamaru swore again.
Sakura patted him on the back, but he shook off her touch.
He took off, heading for his apartment.

---

Two days had passed, and still nobody had seen or heard anything from or about the missing ninja or their abductors.
Patrols had been set up so that the city was defended in case the rogue ninjas returned for another victim.
The whole city was on a curfew, and there were at least a dozen ninjas situated around the village at one time, for protection.
Kiba was now heading a patrol around the city's surrounding forest, looking for clues that could lead them to Temari, Hinata, and the others.
Akamaru stopped on a branch protruding from a rather large oak tree.
He looked around, sniffed, and barked twice.
Kiba immediately came to a halt, stopping the rest of the patrol.
Akamaru changed his direction to south by south east. Kiba and the rest followed.
Akamaru led them to a very tall and old tree in the middle of a grove of violets.
And pinned to the tree was Natarumi Tala, one of the abducted Suna ninjas.
She was pinned to the tree with one senbon needle through each hand, one through each lung, and one through her stomach.
Just like Iruka.

Tala was breathing, but just barely.
The senbon had been taken out and brought to the crime lab for examination.
She had gone through a lot, and she deserved some rest.
Sakura watched the rise and fall of Tala's chest as she applied ointment to the wounds.
Sleep well, Sakura thought as she turned to walk out the hospital room door.

---

Back at the crime lab, Rukia was scrutinizing the senbon under a microscope.
Shikamaru walked into the room, licking his fingers of orange dust from the Cheeto's he was just eating.
"Hey! Keep your snack dust away from the evidence!" she shouted at him.
He looked up, smiled, pulled out a napkin, and wiped his hands.
Crumpling the napkin into a ball, he shot it at the garbage can, and reached for a pair of plastic gloves.
"So..." he began, serious now, "what's new? Find anything of interest?"
She scowled. "No. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch..."
"I get the point."
"I checked the senbon. Not a single fingerprint. All the blood on it is Tala's. I also scanned her clothes. Nothing there either."
"Hmm..." said Shikamaru. "Well, either our enemy is extremely smart and careful, or they're real neat freaks."

The place at which the captors and captured were currently hiding out in was no better than the last.
At least it's no worse, thought Temari.
Now she was sick with something, perhaps the flu.
Nothing serious, but still bad enough to suck the energy out of her.
And the others... they were all shocked by what Takasaru and Naoru had done to the poor Suna girl.
And one of them could be next...

---

Two days later, still no traces of the missing ninja had been found.
Until now.
Shikamaru couldn't remember what woke him up first, the sirens or the pounding on his door.
"Wha 'tis it?" he asked groggily, opening the door to find Kiba standing there.
"The... the memorial... Hinata... injured... just like the others..." he huffed.
Shikamaru was already out of the door, slipping on his leather jacket.

---

Hinata lay in the ambulance, surrounded by medical ninja and equipment.
She was badly wounded and seriously ill.
Naruto hadn't left her side since they found her, and he was trying to do all he could to help.
Shikamaru touched ground next to Hokage Tsunade.
"What happened here?"
"Two ANBU ninja patrolling the city found her lying on the ground, same wounds as Iruka and the Suna girl."
Shikamaru swore, not attempting to hide his annoyance.
"Whatever these guys, Takasaru and Naoru, are planning to do, they're pissing me off. Real bad."

Hinata would be all right.
The medics would be sure of that.
She was now sleeping in a bed in the hospital, next to the other victim, the Suna girl.
Naruto stayed at her side, day and night.
But luckily, Shikamaru was able to convince him to go out to Ichiraku Ramen with him, Sakura, and Kiba.
"So, what do propose we do?" asked Naruto through a mouthful of noodles.
"Well, we know that they're on the move, but lightening up the load every once in a while," Sakura offered.
"Every two days, to be exact," Kiba chimed in.
"So, we have to be alert and aware. Make sure we have ninjas patrolling around the city, looking for anything suspicious. If and when they strike again, tomorrow most likely the time. Just assume the worst."
And the worst did come.
During the following six days, two more Suna ninja were found in various places around the village, with the same signature senbon wounds as the others.
They were placed in the hospital next to Hinata and Tala.
Yuaka Nao and Buwara Juni were their names.
Tsunade had planned to question them about what had happened to them, but that night all of them flat-lined.
The nurses ran to help them, and succeeded in saving them from dying, but it still put them in a coma.
It had been three days.
And it didn't look like they were coming out any time soon.

It was if she was lost again.
Only now, she was lost in herself.
Naruto stayed by Hinata's bed every day and night, with not a single break now.
Sakura and Kiba had to take turns bringing him food and drink.
And even then, it would take a good amount of persuading to get him to take some of it.
Shikamaru was no better.
It seemed he'd given up all hopes of saving Temari.
He lay on his bench up on top of the ninja school, staring at the clouds like he always used to do.
... always used to do with Temari...
No day passed when he didn't think of her.
And those damn rogues who kidnapped her.
She would be next.
The next victim.
The next in the hospital.
It was all too much for Shikamaru.
He sat up and walked back to his apartment.

Shikamaru slowly walked over to the filing cabinets.
He held a folder named "Case of the Five-Point Abductions".
He reached over to open the filing cabinets marked "Unsolved Cases".
This would be the first case in the cabinet.
As he moved to put away the folder, a tear fell from his eye.
It fell, a glistening pearl of despair, on to a paper hanging out of the folder.
Shikamaru wiped away his tears and took out the paper.
It was a map of Konoha, with markings of where all the recovered ninja had been discovered.
He stopped.
Something seemed unusual about it... but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was.

---

Temari could barely breathe.
With her mouth filled with the gag, she couldn't get oxygen to her brain.
She thought of Shikamaru.
And his baby... that she was going to have...
That was the last thought she had before she slipped into labor...

---

Shikamaru, Kiba, Sakura, and five ANBU Black Op special forces ninja dashed towards downtown Konoha.
It all became too clear.
There were five abductions and assaults, all of who were placed and discovered at five different points around Konoha.
Iruka, Hinata, Tala, Nao, and Juni.
And they were found with five senbon wounds, placed in a circle on their body.
And all the recoveries were in or around Konoha, placed in a circle.
At the center of the senbon was the heart.
And at the center of Konoha was the heart, the Hokage's tower.
Five Hokage had ever lived there.
Five.
The same number as the senbon, the same number as the abductions.
Coincidence?
No, conspiracy.
The ninja ran on, towards the heart of Konoha.

---

Temari was now going into labor.
Her breathes were fast and hard.
The pain was excruciating.
It was like a thousand needles were piercing her skin.
But worse.
She had never felt anything like it.
And she never would again.

---

They found her, in the storage room.
She was lying on the ground, bleeding, and breathing heavily.
And she was in labor.
Shikamaru started panicking, but managed to calm himself down.
"Get me paramedics! Now! She's going into labor, and she's injured and starved! I need medical ninja, an ambulance, and we need to deliver this baby! Get her to the hospital ASAP!"
Nobody dared waste a single moment.

---

Shikamaru sat on a bench in the waiting room for the ER.
He stared down at his feet, his face emotionless.
A door swung open.
He looked up.
"How... Temari... what happened?"
"I'm... so sorry... we lost her..."
Shikamaru had guessed as much.
She had been through so much...
He was proud of her, nevertheless.
And he would make sure that the ninja who did this to her would pay.
With their lives.
But there were other unsolved matters.
"And... and... the baby?"
She smiled.
"Congratulations, it's a girl."
A tear fell from Shikamaru's eye.
As it hit the ground, breaking into a thousand glistening droplets, another person came into the room.
It was Sakura, holding a bundle.
She smiled at him, a tear in her eye as well.
Shikamaru stood up, and walked over to her.
Taking the bundle his arms, he looked down at the face smiling up at him.
She had Temari's eyes.