Hello and thank you for reading. The events in this story take place one year after the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi War, so everything before that point is considered canon here. However, some characters' abilities and powers have been slightly nerfed (mainly Naruto and Sasuke) so that they don't just steamroll all their enemies. Other than that, most things will remain the same. Once again, thanks for reading.
"Alright everyone, try to settle down," Shikamaru said as he surveyed the large room packed with villagers.
Unfortunately for him, the villagers ignored his command and continued on chattering among themselves, causing Shikamaru to sigh in resignation.
Team 10 had been sent to a small hamlet near the border of the Land of Iron called Forge Village in order to gather information on a high-profile kidnapping case. On a hill above Forge Village stood a castle called the Forge Keep, and within it the lord who ruled over the village and its surrounding areas.
Apparently the lord's daughter had been taken, so the Hokage sent Team 10 to Forge Village in order to gather any intelligence they could about the crime. Forge Village was an important source of steel and iron ore for the Hidden Leaf, as well as a helpful military asset in times of war. The Forge Keep had three hundred soldiers under its command, and though these soldiers were not ninjas, they were clad in steel armor and could still be useful if a conflict were to arise.
Team 10 had went to the keep itself first in order to talk to the lord, but the man was so overwhelmed with grief that he was unable to provide them with any useful information. The servants and guards of the castle didn't seem to know much either, so Team 10 was forced to talk to the villagers. Shikamaru had gathered all the commoners in the main meeting hall of Forge Village, but they seemed unable to quiet down long enough for Shikamaru to actually begin his questioning.
Shikamaru sighed again and shoved his hands into his pockets. This is so troublesome.
Choji had apparently seen enough and stopped shoveling potato chips into his mouth in order to yell, "SHUT UP!"
After that, the villagers fell quiet and turned to face the three Leaf shinobi standing at the front of the room.
"Thank you, Choji," Shikamaru said somewhat sarcastically as he tried to ignore the ringing in his ears.
He then addressed the villagers. "Now, as you all know, the Forge Lord's daughter was recently abducted from her castle. Our purpose here is to gather all the information we can about the kidnapping, so we were wondering if any of you noticed anything strange on the days preceding the crime."
The villagers turned to one another and began muttering, but one man stood up from his seat. He was an old man with a long, white beard and equally white hair, and he wore brown robes and a pair of worn-out sandals. He carried a cane with him, and he leaned on it heavily as he stood. Shikamaru recognized him as the village elder who met Team 10 at the gate when they first arrived at Forge Village.
Shikamaru nodded to him. "Go ahead, Elder Kosuke."
The village elder cleared his throat before speaking. "I don't know whether this would be helpful, but… I had a dream, or at least I believe it was a dream, the night before the kidnapping. I dreamt of a man, a man with red eyes… I don't remember much of the rest of the dream, but I know that I have never dreamt of that man before, and I haven't had the same dream ever since."
The old man looked around awkwardly before slowly sitting back down.
"Thank you, Elder Kosuke. That was very helpful. Anyone else have anything they want to share?"
Shikamaru waited for a few seconds but was only met with silence.
"Alright, then we're done here. Ino, Choji, let's go. Thank you for you time, everyone."
Shikamaru walked out of the wooden building and started to make his way out of the village, the wheels in his mind already turning.
Ino caught up to him and grabbed his arm. "Shikamaru, what are you doing? We barely got any information from them!"
"Yeah, that old guy just told us about some weird dream he had," Choji said between mouthfuls as he also stepped in beside Shikamaru.
"That 'weird dream' was actually pretty helpful," Shikamaru replied. "And that 'old guy' was the village elder, and he's respected by everyone, including the lord. Get it now?"
"... Just explain it to us," Ino said, frustration evident in her tone.
Shikamaru sighed. "Fine. Why would the elder bother sharing a dream he had if he didn't think it was important? And notice how he said he 'thought' it was a dream, meaning he wasn't actually sure. Now, what do red eyes and a dream-like state have in common?"
Ino's blue eyes brightened with realization. "Sharingan genjutsu."
"Exactly. And why would someone use genjutsu on the village elder, of all people?"
"Because they wanted an easy way into the castle," Choji finished.
Shikamaru nodded. "See, I knew you two weren't completely stupid."
"That doesn't answer everything, though," Ino said. "Why would Sasuke want to kidnap the Forge Lord's daughter?"
Shikamaru shrugged. "I was wondering about that too. The best that I could come up with is that it's another one of his and Naruto's deranged plans that they forgot to share with the Hokage."
"What kind of plan involves kidnapping a lord's daughter? And couldn't Sasuke have just asked her nicely to come with him?" Choji wondered.
"When does Sasuke ever ask for anything nicely?" Ino pointed out.
"Even so, something is definitely wrong here," Shikamaru interjected. "We need to confront Sasuke directly about this if we want any concrete answers."
Team 10 then made the two-and-a-half day journey back to the Hidden Leaf, and when they arrived at the village gates, the sun had set and the sky was alight with the twinkling of stars.
As the three Leaf ninja slowed their pace to a walk and the gates opened for them, Choji's stomach began to grumble.
"Man, I'm famished. What do you say to some barbeque, guys?"
"We're not done our mission yet," Shikamaru reminded him. "We still have to talk to Sasuke."
"You guys looking for Sasuke?" Kotetsu, one of the guards on gate duty, asked. "You just missed him. I think he said he was heading to the hospital."
"The hospital?" Shikamaru wondered out loud.
"Yeah," Kotetsu replied. "He looked pretty beat-up when he got here."
That's strange, Shikamaru thought. None of the guards at Forge Keep said they saw anybody, so it couldn't have been them who attacked Sasuke.
Team 10 then headed to the hospital and found Sasuke's room fairly quickly, mostly thanks to Ino, who was a former employee. When they arrived at the Uchiha's room, they found Sakura inside with him.
Sasuke was sitting on the bed shirtless, the stump where his left arm used to be in full view. What Shikamaru also noticed was a long red line going down from Sasuke's right shoulder to his abdomen, indicating a freshly-healed wound.
Sakura was busy wrapping bandages around Sasuke's wrist, but she looked up when Team 10 entered.
"Oh, hey guys," she greeted.
Shikamaru nodded to her and then gestured to Sasuke. "What happened to him?"
"He says he was attacked by Rock ninja," Sakura offered.
Sasuke only grunted in agreement.
"Uh-huh, likely story," Choji said, not bothering to hide his suspicion.
Sasuke glared at him. "What are you three even doing here?"
"We heard about your visit to Forge Village, so don't bother to try and hide it," Ino told him.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you talking about?"
Shikamaru then relayed all the events of their mission to Sasuke and Sakura.
Sakura shook her head after hearing it. "There's no way Sasuke did that. He went to the Hidden Grass for a diplomatic mission, so he couldn't have been at Forge Keep."
"Maybe he's lying," Choji pointed out.
"What did you just say?" Sasuke asked, his tone dripping with venom.
"Look, based on the evidence, you're the prime suspect," Shikamaru cut in. "Choji's right. You could be lying for all we know."
"I'm not fucking lying," Sasuke growled. "Ask Kakashi. He'll tell you the truth."
Shikamaru nodded. "Fine, we'll speak to the Hokage. But we'll be back."
Team 10 then left a furious Sasuke and a confused Sakura and headed towards the Hokage Tower to report on their findings. They entered the Hokage's office to find the room deserted save for Kakashi himself.
Kakashi wore the Hokage's cloak over his standard jonin vest, and the signature red Hokage hat rested on his desk. The silver-haired ninja was busy filling out some paperwork with his head resting in his hand, clearly bored out of his mind. He looked up when the three members of Team 10 entered.
"Ah, you're back," he said as he eagerly put his pen down and brushed his paperwork aside. "Did you discover anything?"
"Well… We have a few suspects in mind. By the way, did you happen to send Sasuke on a diplomatic mission to the Hidden Grass?" Shikamaru asked.
"Huh? Sasuke?... No, I don't believe so."
Shikamaru's eyes widened. So he was lying! "Then that means that Sasuke -"
"Oh, wait, I remember now. I did send him to the Hidden Grass," Kakashi interrupted sheepishly.
Shikamaru sighed. "Then I guess Sasuke isn't the one who kidnapped the Forge Lord's daughter."
Kakashi looked confused. "You suspected Sasuke? He was in the Hidden Grass, so there's no way he could have done it."
Shikamaru relayed all the information he learned from the village elder to Kakashi, but the Hokage only shook his head.
"I still don't think it was Sasuke," Kakashi said. "Like I told you before, I sent him to the Hidden Grass, and I don't see why Sasuke would want to kidnap a lord's daughter."
"There's still the possibility that Sasuke could have lied to you about going to the Hidden Grass. He did go by himself after all, so there's no one to confirm his story," Ino pointed out.
"And the evidence suggests the Sharingan was the culprit," Shikamaru added. "Sasuke is the last living Uchiha."
Kakashi leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. "Maybe so, but that still doesn't explain why Sasuke would deliberately attack one of the Land of Fire's most important lords."
"We'd like to question him about that," Shikamaru said.
Kakashi shrugged. "If you want to."
"I do." Based on the evidence, Shikamaru didn't see how the culprit could have been anyone else but Sasuke, and it was rare that Shikamaru's hypotheses were proven incorrect.
Kakashi went back to his paperwork. "Fine. Report back with your findings. Dismissed."
Team 10 walked out of the Hokage's office and into the carpeted hallway of the top floor of the tower. Shikamaru sighed.
"This whole thing is turning out to be a lot more troublesome than I expected," he complained.
"Yeah," Ino agreed. "But maybe Kakashi-sensei is right. Why would Sasuke do such a thing?"
Shikamaru looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I can't seem to figure it out. That's what's been bothering me."
"The only thing that's been bothering me is my empty stomach," Choji said. "I say we put this mission on hold and get some dinner."
"Choji!" Ino yelled as she smacked him. "Will you stop thinking about food for once!"
Just then, a man dressed in the gray uniform of the Torture and Interrogation Corps rounded the corner and waved at Team 10.
"Ino! I thought I heard your voice," the man said. "It's a good thing you're back. Ibiki said he wants you over there immediately."
Ino groaned. "Sorry guys. Let me know how the mission goes."
"Alright. Have fun," Shikamaru said as he lazily waved goodbye.
"We're missing a team member now, so we should put the mission on hold and get something to eat," Choji decided.
Shikamaru ignored him and continued out of the tower and towards the hospital. Choji sighed sadly and followed him.
When the two finally got back to the hospital, they made it just in time to intercept Sasuke as he left the building. The Uchiha had on his dark blue cloak which hid his missing arm, but the bulge of his signature sword was still visible through the fabric.
"Not satisfied yet?" Sasuke asked as Shikamaru and Choji walked up to him, his tone antagonistic.
"So it turns out that Kakashi-sensei did send you to the Hidden Grass, but what's to say that you didn't lie to him? For all we know, you could have gone to Forge Keep and just said you completed the mission you were assigned," Shikamaru told him.
"So now you're saying I lied to the Hokage? This is absurd, and I don't have to waste my time with this." Sasuke shoved past the two and continued walking away from the hospital grounds.
Shikamaru almost grabbed Sasuke's arm to stop him from walking away, but then thought better of it. He rather liked his hand, and wouldn't want to have it detached from his body.
"Look, we're not accusing you of anything," the future Nara clan head opted to say instead. "We just want to get all the facts straight."
Sasuke turned and glared. "Here's a fact for you: keep following me and I'll kill you both."
Choji gulped, but Shikamaru was unfazed. "You not helping us with our investigation only stacks the evidence against you."
"I don't know what else I can do to help you. You're obviously on the wrong track, but the 'Genius of the Leaf' doesn't want to admit it," Sasuke said in a mocking tone.
Shikamaru ignored the insult. "Well, you can start by telling us why those Rock ninja attacked you. We're supposed to be allies with the Hidden Rock."
"I don't know why they attacked me, but I'm about to find out. I wasn't dumb enough to kill them, so I captured them alive and handed them over to the Torture and Interrogation Corps. I'm heading over there right now. You two can come along, I suppose."
Shikamaru stared at him incredulously. "And you couldn't have told us this earlier?"
Sasuke just grunted in response and then began walking in the direction of the Hokage Tower. Shikamaru sighed and followed him.
Once inside the tower, they headed up a series of stairs before arriving at the floor which belonged to the Torture and Interrogation Corps. Sasuke led them through the hallway before stopping at one of the doors. He knocked, and the door opened.
Inside the room was a group of ninja from the Torture and Interrogation Corps. They wore their signature gray uniforms, and the leader of the division, Ibiki Moreno, nodded when he saw Sasuke enter.
"We're working on getting the information out of them right now," Ibiki said as he jerked his head towards the center of the room.
In the middle of the room and tied down to a circle of chairs were four bloodied Rock ninja. They wore the standard brown vest and red cloth of the Hidden Rock, and they all appeared to be unconscious.
Ino stood over one of the Rock ninja, her hand on the top of the man's head and her eyes shut in concentration. After a few seconds, she removed her hand and opened her eyes. She blinked in surprise at seeing Shikamaru and Choji, but nevertheless turned to Ibiki and made her report.
"The attack on Sasuke was a direct order from the Tsuchikage. According to the information I've gathered, they wanted Sasuke because he kidnapped their feudal lord's son," she said.
"What!" Sasuke blurted out.
Ibiki stroked his chin in thought. "Hm… That certainly is strange. Sasuke, care to explain this to us?"
Sasuke glanced around the room, clearly uncomfortable. "It's a lie."
"At least this means he was telling the truth about the Forge Lord, right Shikamaru?" Ino said.
Shikamaru nodded. "It's ridiculous to think that Sasuke had the time and resources to commit both crimes in such a short period without being noticed by us. I believe that Sasuke went to complete his mission in the Hidden Grass, and that he was not the perpetrator in either of these crimes."
Sasuke nodded in agreement. "And ever since I've been back in the Leaf, I've been under constant surveillance. Though I was sent to the Hidden Grass alone, I doubt Kakashi would have missed it had I went all the way to Forge Village and then went deep enough into the Land of Rocks to kidnap the feudal lord's son.
"Wait… What's this about Forge Village?" Ibiki asked.
Shikamaru was too busy thinking to answer. But if Sasuke wasn't the criminal, who was? The Hidden Rock's kidnapper must have also had the Sharingan, as that would be the only surefire way of marking Sasuke as the main suspect… But this means that both kidnappings were perpetrated by the same, unknown Uchiha. Who the hell could it be?
Choji echoed Shikamaru's thoughts. "Well… If Sasuke didn't do it, then who did?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He turned to Shikamaru. "There's someone else with the Sharingan out there, isn't there?
"There would have to be, but that would also be impossible. You're the last Sharingan user alive," Shikamaru said.
"If Sasuke's the last one alive… What if it's someone who isn't alive?" Ino asked.
"Wait, what the hell is going on here?" Ibiki demanded.
Sasuke ignored him. "You mean like an Edo Tensei-type revival? There's no way. Orochimaru and Kabuto are the only ones who can use it, and they're also being watched constantly."
"Even so, Edo Tensei is the most likely option," Shikamaru said. "So we should start there. Choji, report back to the Hokage. Ino, Sasuke, come with me. We're going to see Orochimaru."
The trio then left the Hokage Tower and headed towards the subterranean safehouse where Orochimaru and Kabuto were being held. As the group approached the safehouse, they saw Yamato standing guard at the entrance. Though only the wood-style user was visible, Shikamaru knew that the area was guarded by a whole group of ANBU who preferred to remain hidden.
Yamato was leaning against a wall, his eyelids drooping as he struggled to stay awake. Unfortunately for him, his rest was interrupted when Sasuke strode up to him.
"Have you noticed anything strange with Orochimaru or Kabuto lately?" Sasuke demanded.
Yamato grunted sleepily. "Good evening to you too, Sasuke." He then noticed Shikamaru and Ino. "Oh, you guys are here too?"
Shikamaru explained the situation to Yamato.
"... There's no way Orochimaru or Kabuto brought anyone back to life without us noticing," Yamato said as he shook his head. "Plus, whoever he revived would have had to make it out of the compound, and in that case he definitely would have been detected."
"We would like to speak with Orochimaru ourselves," Sasuke asked, though it sounded more like an order.
Yamato shrugged. "Go ahead. I doubt you'll learn anything. Try not to get killed."
The trio entered into the the Snake Sannin's dank lair. The air smelled of rot and strange chemicals, and an odd odor that Shikamaru couldn't place pervaded the base. The corridors were narrow and dark, and the three ninja followed one until it led to a large, open circular area.
Inside of this courtyard-like space was a cluster of desks, each one littered with various papers and books. The light from the moon filtered into the area from above, bringing some natural lighting to the otherwise dark area.
A candle was lit at one of the desks, and a man in a hood Shikamaru assumed to be Kabuto was currently seated at the desk. Orochimaru stood over Kabuto, deeply interested in whatever the former medic was busy with. However, once he heard footsteps, the Sannin turned around and regarded the three ninja with a slimy smile.
"Ah, Sasuke, good of you to drop by," Orochimaru said even as his eyes were fixated on Shikamaru and Ino. "And who are you two?"
"I am Shika -"
"Don't worry about who they are," Sasuke interrupted. The last Uchiha strode up to Orochimaru. "I think you know why we're here."
Orochimaru's reptilian eyes narrowed, but his disturbing smile remained in place. "I'm afraid I don't. Care to enlighten me, dear Sasuke?"
"Listen up, you slimy fuck," Sasuke said with venom lacing his tone. "If I find out that you brought back Itachi or any other one of my relatives against their will with your twisted jutsu, I will put you in such pain that you won't be able to think straight for the rest of your pathetic excuse for a life."
Orochimaru's grin widened. "My, my, Sasuke. What's all this about?"
Sasuke's Sharingan sprung into action, his three tomoes spinning rapidly within the red eye. "Don't play games with me, Orochimaru. This is your final warning."
Shikamaru decided it was best that he stepped in before things got violent. He walked up next to Sasuke and reluctantly turned his gaze towards Orochimaru.
"We're here on official business. Apparently there have been a string of high-profile kidnappings recently, and the culprit is noted to be a Sharingan wielder. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Orochimaru regarded Shikamaru with cold, calculating eyes, and the future Nara clan head suppressed the urge to flinch under the Sannin's stare.
"... No, I wouldn't," Orochimaru finally replied. "Sounds like you should be questioning Sasuke here, not me."
"Don't change the subject," Sasuke growled. "Everyone knows I had nothing to do with this."
"Really? You're the only Sharingan user I know of, Sasuke," Orochimaru said with a smile, clearly trying to anger the young Uchiha.
"It's not like he's going to tell us if he was behind this," Ino pointed out, though Shikamaru noticed that she remained far away from Orochimaru.
"Then we'll make him," Sasuke said, his eyes still gleaming red with the Sharingan.
Shikamaru sighed. "She's right, Sasuke. We don't have any proof, and we certainly aren't going to get anything out of Orochimaru. If none of the ANBU saw anything suspicious, maybe we should take their word for it."
Sasuke turned on him. "And then what? We just leave it at that and let my name be slandered by my accusers?"
Before Shikamaru could think of a reply, rapid footsteps approached from behind. Everyone in the plaza turned to watch Yamato run out from one of the corridors, his chest heaving with exertion.
Yamato took a second to recompose himself before he spoke. "Sorry to interrupt, but you all will want to hear this. Hinata - she's gone."
"What do you mean 'she's gone'?" Ino demanded.
"Someone took her," Yamato replied. "Naruto was with her, but the enemy took them by surprise. He said…"
"He said what?" Shikamaru prodded, though he already knew where this was going.
"The kidnapper… He had the Sharingan."