AN: If you're reading my first Boruto fic, Reanimation, you'd know that this chapter was one of the flashbacks involving Kawaki. Yes, I am posting this as a separate story because I figured I wanted to continue this plot/timeline separately or independently. I hope that makes sense.
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1:19pm
The marketplace was busy as usual when the first incident happened – when the first scream rang through the crowd. The people fled without delay, with children being carried hurriedly to safety. Police forces were at the scene almost immediately.
It did not seem so dangerous at first; the commotion was caused by only one person. He was walking slowly, almost tripping over his own feet, with his mouth hanging open, his head drooping backward, his back crouched, and his arms hanging limply by his side. His steps were small and staggering, carelessly bumping on objects and knocking them over along the way.
They would've mistaken him for a hostile drunk man if it weren't for two things – his eyes appeared to have rolled all the way into his head and blue marks glowed all over his arms and his face. They recognized him as Hakuseki, a regular in the place – a retired ninja, widower, and a father to one member of the regular shinobi force. Apparently, he threw random but fatal physical attacks on the people around him, showing both incredible speed and strength. As shinobi attempted to stop him through the use of ninjutsu, he held only an arm out and appeared to suck out immense amounts of chakra with his hand – an ability never witnessed in the village before.
"Dad! Stop this!" A young man with a Konoha headband tied around his neck yelled from the crowd, running toward the heart of the scene. The older man, Hakuseki, didn't seem to have recognized his voice and tried to tackle an old lady to the ground. The younger man held up his hand, beginning to release chakra to restrain his father.
"Meiji! Do not release chakra!" Another ninja, belonging to the responding police force, called out but it was too late.
Hakuseki, having immediately sensed the release of chakra, quickly turned around and held his arm out. Out from Meiji's hand, Hakuseki pulled a visible rod of chakra.*
"Wood-style release!"
Between Meiji and Hakuseki, wood sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the older man's arms. The rod of chakra snapped into two and Meiji fell to the ground, panting heavily with his hands clutching his chest.
"Tenzo! Hanabi and First Lady Hinata!" The captain of the responding squad was the first to see the three of them approaching.
"What is this?" Yamato asked. He was already on his knees, conjuring hand seals, his eyes focused intently on Hakuseki.
"Those glowing marks on his arms and face, I've never seen them before, have you?" Hanabi asked Yamato, her Byakugan already activated. He only shook his head.
"That young man's chakra had been gravely depleted. Someone get him out of there, now!" Hinata gestured to the other ninjas in the area, her Byakugan also already activated. She turned to her sister, "Have you noticed it yet? The older man doesn't have chakra at all. His coils are completely empty."
Hanabi examined Hakuseki from the distance. When she and Hinata noticed the commotion, they were expecting a brawl, just people's anger boiling over personal problems or petty arguments, nothing connected to a foreign mark or a disturbance in chakra. Hanabi took a deep breath; her sister was right. The older man was completely void of chakra.
"Are you able to restrain him long enough to get him transported?" Hinata asks Yamato. "We need to know what is wrong with him."
"Yes, Hinata. I can. His resistance is strong but not powerful enough to break through - "
"Mama!" Hinata looked up to find Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki landing behind them from the roof. "What is happening here? What's with him?"
"No, don't go near him!" Hinata yelled at Boruto, who already took a few steps with Sarada toward the bound figure. The old man was murmuring incomprehensible words and appeared to struggle tremendously against his restraints. Sarada suddenly walked ahead of Boruto, soon kneeling beside Hakuseki.
"Hakuseki. Around sixty-three years old. Retired ninja. No criminal history or prior record of any act of violence. Uchiha Sarada and Uzumaki Boruto, please step back. We need to take over," the captain of the police force proceeded toward Bolt and Sarada, gesturing for them to leave.
"Wait, those marks he has," Mitsuki sneaked behind him and tapped the captain on the shoulder. "You've never seen them, have you?"
"Mind if I look?" Ignoring the captain's commands and the police force's presence entirely, Sarada placed her hands on Hakuseki's face and looked at his eyes, her jaw dropping at what she saw. Boruto grabbed her by the wrist but she didn't let go. "Sharingan."
Sarada leveled her eyes with his and kept this eye contact for a while, hoping to see something. She was tempted to break the contact when at first nothing seemed to happen. It didn't take long, however, for Yamato to notice that Hakuseki's resistance began to falter. Soon after, his limbs became limp and he closed his eyes.
"Sarada! What did you do?" Bolt asked his teammate, who didn't seem to have realized what just happened.
Sarada jumped back, hastily releasing the old man's head and suddenly deactivating her sharingan in surprise. "What? No! I didn't do anything! What happened to him? Did I do something to harm him?" She felt herself sweating and her hands were suddenly cold and clammy. She stared at the seemingly unconscious figure in front of them.
Yamato, Hinata, and Hanabi approached them, and the First Lady placed a hand on Sarada's shoulder. "No, his heart is still beating and he's still breathing. I can see it. But he still doesn't have any chakra in his system. There was no change in that at all."
"Also, before they took his son away to the hospital, I didn't see any gain in the younger man's chakra. Or maybe he just doesn't recover as quickly as most of us do. I can't be sure. The amount of chakra loss was quite distressing, however." Hanabi stated.
"What did I do, though? Did I do anything to him without knowing it?" Sarada felt a knot in her stomach, sure that she did something to knock the man unconscious.
"Nothing we can pinpoint, really, except..." Mitsuki inspected the man closer, lifting his chin to expose the marks on his face and neck "... the marks stopped glowing the moment you stared at him with your sharingan."
"I thought so too. And he stopped resisting altogether," Yamato sighed. He tried to smile at Sarada just to assure the young woman that she hadn't done anything harmful. "And then he fell unconscious. But we wouldn't really know anything until we get him properly examined. I believe none of us has seen this before - "
"And we take over from here, then. Thank you for all for your help. Especially you, First Lady Hinata," the captain bowed before Hinata, and then to all of them again as the rest of the police force and newly arrived medical team approached the scene. "We will prepare a full incident and medical report and hand it over to the Hokage as soon as we can. An emergency investigation team will also be dispatched immediately," he explained before turning his back. Hinata only nodded in response, hoping the case will be cleared as soon as she'd hoped.
Boruto and his teammates watched as Hakuseki is carried on a stretcher, his body still wrapped in Yamato's jutsu. Soon, the squad disappeared through the crowd as they headed their way to the Konoha hospital. Boruto and his team were certainly just left to wonder what the hell just happened.
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Hokage tower
2:32pm
"So there is absolutely no record of that mark anywhere?" The Seventh Hokage rested his chin on his hands as his elbows rested on the table, his eyes focused on the report laid open on the table.
"Absolutely nothing, Naruto. We're getting photos of it sent to the other villages, hoping they have any information on it, which is more likely than it being completely new or alien to everyone. It's only a matter of time before we figure out where it is from," Shikamaru said casually with his hands inside his pockets, as he stared down through one of the glass windows behind Naruto.
"But it emerged out of someone from our own village, someone who hasn't gone beyond the gates for years, Shikamaru. At least that's what his son tells us," Naruto spun his chair so that he also faced the glass windows behind his desk.
"I was thinking an outsider could have inflicted it on him," Shimakaru pointed out, to which Naruto just nodded.
"And we only have one case, so far?" Naruto asked, but before Shikamaru could answer, someone else entered the Hokage's office.
"Three now." Naruto and Shikamaru didn't even have to look at the unexpected guest to know who he was.
"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Naruto turned to face his friend, surprised at the sudden visit. Just a few days ago, Sasuke informed Naruto that he and Boruto would be making short trips outside the village as part of his training, and that Naruto should expect to see less of them for the next few weeks.
"To deliver the news, of course. Any reason I shouldn't be here?" Sasuke asked, although he wasn't really demanding a response. He swiftly removed his coat from which he took out two folders, which he handed to Naruto. He placed his coat over his shoulder. "Two new incidents – a retired female shinobi and a new male recruit to the medical force. Two completely separate events, happening only a few minutes apart. Both were determined completely void of chakra at the time of capture; identical case to the first one. No casualties but several others injured."
"Any updates on the first case – Hakuseki and his son, Meiji?" Naruto asked.
"I was going to relay it to you in a bit. Can I ask for a little more patience here, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke smirked at the designation, to which Naruto just scowled. "Hakuseki – no chakra, miraculously alive but very weak. There's absolutely no memory of the incident. Meiji – chakra loss seems almost permanent, he would be incapacitated for the rest of his life, unfortunately. But look at the brighter side of it, had he lost a little bit more, he would've died."
"I didn't know you were a messenger now, Sasuke, and a brilliant and trustworthy-looking one, to be honest," Naruto sniggered.
"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke spat firmly, but with a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"That isn't the only reason you're here Sasuke. What is it?"
"Hn. That's correct. No investigation team or whatsoever is coming to report to you. I'm the only one," Sasuke said as he laid a few more folders on top of Naruto's desk.
"You requested to take over the investigation?" Naruto asked.
"No, not entirely. I just volunteered to assist them and then I requested to carry the message by myself, on my own. We can't let the information be handled by a lot of people, especially when we have no lead. One case was already concerning. Two or three? That's alarming. Those three incidents have left no less than ten shinobi possibly incapacitated for the rest of their lives."
"I'm going to hold an emergency debriefing, just in case new incidents emerge. But mind you, considering the only techniques that have worked so far – we have very little effective manpower," Shikamaru exclaimed, as he headed his way toward the door. He had barely exited the room when someone else entered hurriedly.
"Hokage-sama," a man in a green vest walked straight to Naruto's desk, the lower half of his face covered with his collar, and his eyes shrouded with a dark pair of sunglasses.
"Shino! What brought you here?" Naruto stood up, surprised at the urgency his comrade's body language displayed.
"Two new incidents, both at the academy – one male ANBU guard and a female instructor. Respondents were quick and they have been contained. But consider this – I took the opportunity to familiarize my insects with the scent and unique energy emitted by the marks on their body. My insects have been acting restless ever since, even after the marks on the subjects were neutralized," Shino explained everything without pausing to take a breath. Naruto knew that whatever Shino had observed on his insects, he'd found it very upsetting.
"We were just getting the hint that more cases would most likely emerge now, and here it is," Naruto shook his head, rubbing his hands together before taking the folder comprising of the academy's incident report from Shino.
"I will take the lead in organizing the forces. You might as well give the ANBU a heads up now, Naruto, and if they're willing, they can join us at the gates. Do what you have to, Naruto and Sasuke," Shikamaru said, his expression seemingly disturbed by the news brought by his friend.
"Have Sai, Ino, and Chouji with you. As soon as they can take over for you, come back to us.," Naruto told Shikamaru, knowing he still really needed the help and wit of his right-hand man.
"Sure. See you soon, three of you," Shikamaru nodded at Naruto, Sasuke, and Shino, before making his way out of the room. As soon as the door had closed, Naruto turned to Shino.
"Shino, would you care to assist the investigation team? They would really benefit from your help."
"I am more than willing, Hokage-sama."
"Drop that, Shino. I told you just call me by name."
"Heh, is that a command? Because if not, considering everything you've done, I can't just drop the title," Shino stated, his voice sounding unbelievably playful and teasing.
"Shino has a point, Lord Seventh," Sasuke quickly added, to which he and Shino quietly chuckled to themselves.
"Shut it, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, trying not to laugh as well. It was unbelievable, how these two managed to tease him at a time like this. Naruto couldn't help but be amused at how often Sasuke seemed to do it these days. His once stoic friend seemed too entertained doing it every now and then.
Shino gave them a quick salute before silently heading off, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone inside the Hokage's office. Naruto slumped back to his chair and Sasuke proceeded to sit on another at the front of Naruto's desk. They appeared to deliberate deeply about the circumstances, before Naruto broke the silence.
"New cases, nothing seemingly stronger or more threatening than the first one. It's not aiming to kill, it's aiming to increase in number," Naruto recalled, his arms resting at the back of his head, his eyes focused on the ceiling.
"Yes. Whether it's in the number of those inflicted with the foreign mark or it's in the number of able shinobi left permanently incapacitated after – I think it could be the latter, Naruto. The marks completely disappeared after they'd been neutralized. The victims are left just completely weak and harmless."
"These people were just pawns, then," Naruto straightened on his chair and rested his hands on the table as he leaned forward. "If someone is behind this, what is the intention? And why - the sharingan? Could it be that they're after you, Sasuke?" Naruto looked at his friend.
"I've thought of that, but I don't think so. Call me arrogant but if they were after me I was thinking they'd take a more direct and aggressive stance. My own daughter can undo the mark without breaking a sweat, Naruto. If there was anything, I think they don't mind making it look like they're aiming at me when they're clearly not."
"Hmm, that does make sense. All these weirdness in one afternoon is making my head ache! How is Sarada though? You don't have to stay here while she's out there. I can head down the field and help them investigate - "
"No. Sarada is fine. I already checked on her on my way here. She will be okay, she's done it well."
"Nothing less than you'd expect from an Uchiha then," Naruto grinned, observing Sasuke at the corner of his eyes.
"And Boruto is with her, so she'll be fine," Sasuke smiled back. Naruto knew Sasuke saw great potential in his kid. Naruto saw it too, but he felt like Sasuke had really committed himself to guiding Boruto and Naruto wanted to know why. He could only guess, however.
"Whatever their intentions are right now, that isn't the priority, I guess. We need to find out who and where they are, and how to deal with them really soon, before this gets out of hand," Naruto said, before standing up to reach for the files and stack them over each other.
"Becoming the Hokage really made you a quicker thinker, didn't it?" Sasuke eyed Naruto.
"I've always been quick, Sasuke. Maybe you would've noticed that before if you weren't so busy insulting me back then," Naruto teased.
"Maybe. Stop smiling like an idiot then," Sasuke shook his head.
"Eh, you're quick with compliments now too, aren't you?"
"Psh. Just don't let it get it to your head, Naruto." Sasuke stood up from his seat, pulling his coat from his shoulder, and proceeded to wear it.
Deep into Naruto's subconscious, the nine-tailed beast had been listening, also disturbed by the situation outside. Despite being contained inside Naruto's body, he was capable of sensing extensively, especially chakra disturbances.
"Kit,"
"Kurama? What is it? Do you have anything?" Naruto quickly entered his own subconscious to meet with his sidekick.
"Hm, not much. But there is something… It's small, barely noticeable at first but it's there. A unique ball of energy – unstable chakra," Kurama paused, he appeared to deliberate over what to say next. "It is not very threatening but it is restless and constantly moving. It's almost next to nothing, which is why neither you nor Sasuke has sensed it yet. Your sensory nin haven't said anything either, have they?"
"No. But we need to locate whatever it is, Kurama. It could be the first lead to all this non-sense. Should I use senjutsu now?"
"No, not yet Naruto. You would not be able to sense it yet anyway. Leave it to me. I can't be sure if this has anything to do with the cases being reported to you, but I would be moving out to the field to find it out personally if I were you."
"Naruto, what is it?" Sasuke asked, noticing the sudden concern dawning on his friend's expression.
"Kurama just talked to me. He can sense something we can't – at least something we can't sense yet. He said it's almost negligible but somehow concerning," Naruto answered, his eyes blankly staring at the door.
"Hn. Well that's how the incidents first started, didn't it? From something barely dangerous, now growing into something a bit alarming."
"Hmm, yes. Well if that's the case then, Sasuke, we need to act now."
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4:47pm
Seventeen new cases scattered across the village. Seventeen, so far, and counting. The organized team of responding shinobi had been acting quite efficiently – keeping the injuries down to minimal and so far succeeding in limiting the number of casualties to zero. They tried using other techniques to contain and neutralize the attacks – nothing. Only Tenzo's and the Uchiha's kekke genkai's had worked. Although clones were proving to be very useful, the sudden growth in the number of incidents would soon prove to be overwhelming.
An hour ago, the Hokage's right hand man just raised the alarm level to critical.
Yamato kept himself upright against the exhaustion weighing him down. He was no longer in his prime but he had managed to contain every attack longer than he'd expected. No one would ever understand how exhausting the wood-release jutsu was and he almost dreaded using it every time. Right now, however, he had no choice but to keep these thoughts at bay. He held the seventeenth victim against the wall long enough for Sarada to neutralize the mark on his body.
As the young Uchiha waited for the victim's resistance to wane, she felt herself slip. Too tired. She felt the body in front of her relax as her eyes trailed along the marks on his body. The glow was beginning to fade. Done. She stepped back, hoping to find herself somewhere to seat or lean against, but she'd barely managed a few steps when both her vision and her legs simultaneously gave up.
"Sarada!" Boruto was by her side just in time to catch her before she fell. "Hey, Sarada, what's wrong?" He took off her glasses and moved her hair away from her face.
"Too tired," she answered, almost too softly for Boruto to hear her.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry we couldn't really help you. I'll bring you to the hospital so you can get some rest, is that alright?" Bolt untied Sarada's headband and placed it inside his pocket.
"No, no. Not at the hospital. Doesn't have to be there. Just somewhere to rest… a bit."
"No, Sarada. Bolt is right. It's just ordinary chakra exhaustion but the hospital is the safest place right now. And your mom will be there, too. You'll be fine, okay?" Hanabi knelt beside them, bringing an open canteen near Sarada's lips from which she struggled to drink from. "Bolt, take her there fast. Mitsuki, go with them. Tenzo, you should rest too."
"But if another instance like this occurs again, how are you going to handle it?" Yamato asked Hanabi.
"I… don't know. Evacuate the area, I guess. But while there hasn't been anything, don't worry about it yet. Go to rest, even for a bit. We'll inform the Hokage and Sasuke about this as soon as we can."
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4:52 PM
It had been half an hour ago when Naruto and Sasuke decided to split ways with the sensory nin they'd asked to assist them earlier. A large area would be covered that way – that was how they reasoned it out. However, they both knew it was only partly true. Only Kurama could sense it and it had been faltering so that locating it was next to impossible for the group of sensory ninjas. They also both feared it was only a distraction, to which Kurama protested. After careful deliberation, Naruto and Sasuke decided to go by the nine-tails' decision to track it down.
They intended the sensory nin to go back to the heart of the village, just in case the threat decided to remain looming over Konoha, while Naruto and Sasuke attempt to lure it out, so far to no avail. An Anbu arrived before them – his message was clearly intended for Sasuke.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Hokage-sama. Word from Hanabi… " An Anbu arrived before them – his message was clearly intended for Sasuke. "Your daughter is in the hospital right now."
"What? Why? What happened?" Naruto was the first to react.
"Just chakra exhaustion. Uchiha Sakura said your daughter will be okay and that she only needs to nap. They're together right now," the Anbu answered Naruto's question, although he was still addressing Sasuke.
"You go check on her, Sasuke. I'll proceed with the search," Naruto said, placing his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"They said she's fine?" Sasuke asked the Anbu, ignoring what Naruto had just said.
"Sasuke, you should go," Naruto repeated. He was once again ignored.
"Yes, they said Sarada will be fine and that you wouldn't have to check on her," the Anbu looked at Naruto who just scowled at the statement. "They just want you to find the source of this as soon as you can because the only people who can deal with this right now, besides the two of you, are both down and weak. Tenzo has already been asked to leave and take a rest too. The only option we would have right now if new cases emerge is to evacuate."
"I see – "
"No, Sasuke. You still have to go see them. Your daughter has done so much already - "
"And that much would mean nothing if we don't find the source of this soon and the situation keeps growing," Sasuke snapped.
"I know that," Naruto sighed. "I didn't say we would abandon this search, Sasuke. I will proceed and do the best I can. Go check on all of them, provide the necessary assistance especially if the sharingan is needed, and then join me again when you're done." Naruto held Sasuke by the arm and talked calmly, feeling the tension building up on Sasuke right now.
"You're not about to do anything stupid, are you, Naruto?" Sasuke took a deep breath and looked Naruto in the eye.
"No," Naruto shook his head. "I don't even have any lead right now for goodness' sake Sasuke."
"Except we do suspect that they might be luring me out, maybe in the hopes that we don't face them together."
"You are joining me as soon as you're done. I'll send word for you as soon as I find something." Naruto exhaled heavily before smiling at Sasuke. "I am not going to do anything stupid, Sasuke, I promise. If I do, I'd gladly hand my Hokage title over to you."
"Hn. You wish I'd accept." Sasuke shrugged. He took one last look at Naruto before turning his back to follow the Anbu. "I'm only agreeing to leave because I trust you so much right now, dead-last. Keep your word this time like you always do."
Naruto only smiled.
AN: If you've read the Reanimation flashbacks, please no spoilers in the reviews, alright? Also... I might just change the plot of this one to give the story a different turn. I'm not sure yet.
Con & crit are welcome! Reviews and any form of feedback very well-appreciated. つづく