A/N Okay this is an old story so the first part of the story is 'eh' at best. Later chapters are better I PROMISE! Also, if you read any of my other stories that I haven't updated in months there will be updates! Enjoy ^^
Sakura Haruno has been brutally murdered and the only witness is her younger sister. The only problem; the traumatized girl refuses to speak about it.
"Shikamaru! Where's the girl?" Tsunade barked, taking long strides down the corridor of the Hokage's Mansion. Her mansion. Shikamaru stepped quickly to keep up with the female Hokage.
"She's under the watch of the ANBU in the room next to your office." Shikamaru panted. Tsunade nodded and stopped running, quickly flashing herself to the afore mentioned place.
Shikamaru stumbled to a stop and looked around wildly.
"Ugh, how troublesome!" he cried throwing his head back in exasperation. (A/N LOL please just imagine this!)
Tsunade banged angrily on the door.
"Open up this instant! Hokage's orders!" she shouted. An ANBU member swiftly pulled the door open and she was ushered inside before the door was bolted shut. Tsunade's glare softened when she caught sight of the little girl huddled in the corner of the room hugging her knees to her chest. Tsunade approached the girl with the pale orange hair slowly. She waved off the ANBU members and they bowed before disappearing.
"What's your name sweetheart." Tsunade asked the girl softly. She looked up and her bangs fell off her face revealing big jade orbs. Tsunade's breath caught in her throat as she saw her former apprentice in this young child's eyes.
"Che." (Pronounced Shay) the girl whispered. Tsunade nodded.
"How old are you sweetheart?"
"Tw-twelve." Tsunade saddened. Sakura was only 2 years older than this girl when she died.
"And Che sweetheart, do you know who killed your sister?" Tsunade asked, hiding the urgency in her voice.
Che looked up slowly with a blank expression. Tsunade thought she had zoned out for a moment there until the girl nodded hesitantly.
"I… I recognized them." She said indirectly answering the question. Tsunade rubbed her temples.
"And do you know this person by name?" Tsunade continued to question.
Che looked toward the door as if expecting the person to burst through at any moment. Again, she hesitantly nodded her head.
"Are you going to tell us who did it?" Tsunade said finally.
Che's eyes briefly filled with fear and she shook her head furiously. Tsunade sighed heavily.
"Then I'm afraid that until you do, you won't be leaving this room." She said quietly before flashing out of the room leaving Che sobbing on the floor.
Shikamaru sighed heavily upon receiving the information from Tsunade. The girl definitely knew and she was being defiant. That made his job much more difficult.
"Are we sure that the girl herself didn't do it?" he asked tiredly. Tsunade nodded her head, equally as tired out.
"We already checked her out. Che doesn't posses enough chakra to kill Sakura, even if she had wanted to." She informed him. Shikamaru sighed heavily before leaning back on two legs of his chair with his feet on the table.
"Then I suppose I'll be conducting an investigation?" He drawled. Tsunade raised and eyebrow and nodded her head.
"I think Che's being threatened by whoever Sakura's killer is. Whenever she's asked to reveal their identity she becomes frightened. But she obviously knows the person by name and face. It's definitely peculiar." Tsunade said, biting the pad of her thumb anxiously.
Shikamaru sighed, tipping his chair back to its upright position and standing.
"Then I'll be getting started now if you don't mind." He said. Tsunade waved him off, lost in her own thoughts on how she would get information out of a traumatized girl without totally shattering her.
And she had a few friends of Sakura in mind that could emotionally relate to the child…