Hi guys I am so sorry its been a while. Between school and well, small writers block, I honestly had nothing to put down, not to mention Hurricane Sandy, and ehhh, everything has just been crazy. Well here you go! Vampire of Konoha Chapter 4! Don't want to keep you waiting any longer now.
Kneeling down at the river, Sasuke splashed water onto his face. The action was repeated and whatever water had been left on his hand was put onto the back of his neck where he rubbed just slightly before standing again. Placing the communicator back around his neck, Sasuke pressed the button.
"I'm back. Find anything?" Sasuke spoke. It was day six of their search and while many people would've just given up by now, they refused to do so. Sakura wouldn't have given up on them. She never had. She never would. She always stood by them whether it be in battle or against the entire village who, though they kept it to themselves, hated Sasuke and Naruto. To them Sasuke was just a no good traitor they were sure was going to betray them again, and Naruto was just a demon who had destroyed the village once and would do so again.
'Eh…I got nothing.' Naruto said sighing.
To Sakura…they were something though. They weren't just these troublesome terrorist, ready to kill for no reason. They were people and had done things for a certain reason. Some of these things were bad. Sure. But they had a common reason.
To protect Sakura whether she knew it or not.
"I think I have something. Come here and meet me." Kakashi said and instantly let out a large wave of chakra for the boys to follow. When they got to him they were met with a sight that brought slight hope and fear to their hearts. The earthly ground, was disrupted, and destroyed. Almost like an earthquake had hit.
But unlike an earthquake, where Kakashi stood, there was a center. The center was the starting point. Behind him a gigantic beast looking monster, with an Akatsuki cloak wrapped around its neck, seemingly dead. The thing looked like It was decomposing already.
"Do you think it was her?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke and Naruto jumped down to his side. Naruto began to laugh.
"Are you kidding? It has to be! If it's not her, then what else could've caused this? The only people with this kind of strength are Tsunade and Sakura-Chan herself!" Naruto said punching his fist into the air. Kakashi nodded his only visible eye wrinkling slightly to show he was smiling.
"I think your right Naruto. Let's mark this spot." The sensei spoke his voice full of actual hope. While the boys ran off to find a way to mark it, he stood there, staring at the center, where her fist would've been. Silence surrounded him and he closed his eyes. He saw her. Smiling at him when she had parted the earth in front of him for the first time looking for him.
"Found you." She giggled. He chuckled lightly and opened his eyes only to find her not there like he was expecting. His eyes grew saddened and he looked down.
"It hurts…doesn't it?" He heard from behind. Kakashi turned to see Sasuke who stared back at his teacher. He said nothing but is visible eye told everything. The pain and the torture. It was all there. Not knowing where she was, and how she was, it was the worst feeling he had ever felt. It was killing him.
"To think you're going to see her and then to remember she's gone…it destroys you inside." Sasuke whispered almost as if reading his teacher perfectly. His voice became slightly angry and his eyes determined. His hands clenched into fist, making his palms bleed. Naruto sat in the tree looking down at the center.
There was a silence. A deafening silence, where the only sound was the wind.
A slow tear fell down Naruto's face.
"Well I'm going to find her. And the only thing that's gonna stop me is if I die!" Naruto growled. Sasuke then made hand signs and from his mouth came fire at the fallen large monster. It looked like something crossed between a man, and a dragon.
"Is that our mark?" Sasuke nodded to Kakashi's question.
"We figured it would be better. It's huge and if anything, we'll scratch some bark off a few trees as we go to mark a trail." Sasuke said confidently. Kakashi nodded.
"What I want to know is what the hell that thing is. It's ugly. Well uglier now that Sasuke burned it." Naruto chuckled.
"I'm gonna go and do a little extra searching." Naruto said grinning and running off. Sasuke smiled and touched the center point. This spot marked their hope. A hope that she was still alive. Still breathing. It brought slight tears to his onyx orbs that he wouldn't let anyone see.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me? Sasuke? Kakashi?" The voice of a female came on. Naruto however had answered.
"Hey Hinata. Everything okay? We told Tsunade not to send anyone else for the search." Naruto said, his voice filled with concern but utterly annoyed. The boys wanted to be the ones to find Sakura themselves and Tsunade had said she respected that decision. They weren't going to wait, and they didn't want help. They didn't want the bad news to be delivered to them, even if that meant they had to find it themselves.
"I know. But Tsunade-sama really needs you to put the search on hold for a day or two." Sasuke's eyes grew angry and he slammed his fist against a tree.
"Are you kidding me? We've just got our first lead! We can't leave! I don't give a shit what Tsunade says, I am looking for her and nothing can stop me!" Sasuke yelled, seething in something close to hatred.
"Now hang on Sasuke. Maybe we should go check it out. You know Tsunade wants to find Sakura as much as we do, but this might need our attention." Kakashi spoke softly. Sasuke glared and grabbed his teacher's collar and slamming him against another tree.
"She could be close! And because of this we can miss her!" Sasuke growled.
"And how do we know what Tsunade is calling us for is not important to our search?"
"Sasuke-Teme chill out."
Sasuke scoffed letting go of his teacher and walking, pacing back and forward. It was starting again.
"Sasuke, it could be important. Keep your mind focused and balanced. Just like we practiced." Kakashi tried to calm him. Sasuke's sharigan activated. He turned to Kakashi and in his eyes was the look of murder.
"My mind is focused. And it's focused on finding Sakura! It's a six hour travel to Konoha from here, how do we know she's not six hours away? Hell, how do we know she is not six hours from death right now?" Sasuke yelled throwing his hands in the way of Konoha and away from it. His curse mark reaching across from his neck.
"Sasuke…" Hinata was trying herself.
"Teme, listen to Kakashi-sensei. He might be right. Maybe this will help us find Sakura-Chan."
Sasuke gripped his head listening to Kakashi, Hinata, and Naruto's voices all start overlapping as they tried to calm him and convince him to go back to Konoha. The anger and rage brew into a larger amount, consuming him.
And soon, he snapped.
"Shut! Up!" Sasuke yelled out and purple chakra spewed from him. Orange flames ran all over his arm and his face, and burned into his skin to become black. He grabbed Kakashi by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Kakashi struggled with the iron looking down at Sasuke choking. But at the moment the man didn't seem to care. His red eyes were stoic with hatred, and his hand squeezed tighter around his teacher's neck.
"You don't care about her. You never did!" Sasuke growled.
"You don't care about her the same way I do." He growled between his teeth, and caused Kakashi to begin to choke.
"Sasuke…stop it." He managed to choke out, but it was barely enough to stop the raged Uchiha. Sasuke smirked and chuckled, only lifting Kakashi as high as he could.
"You'll pay." Sasuke growled, his voice turning demonic.
"Sasuke-kun…!" The voice was behind him, and Kakashi's eyes widened. Sasuke turned only slightly to look. And he saw her. He threw Kakashi away and turned fully to face her. Green eyes stared back at him with worry, and tears were filled in them. She looked scared; scared of him, but determined to stop him; just like she always did when his curse mark went on the fritz.
"Sakura…," He whispered. He lifted his hand to caress her face, walking towards her as the black flames glowed into fire once more and retreated. After feeling the soft skin of her face and lips, he dropped to his knees breathing hard and unstably but hugging her waist and laying his head at her thighs. She lifted his head to look at her before kneeling down to him.
"Sakura…," He cried quietly and let tears escape as he pulled her into a tight embrace, smelling her pink hair, holding her as tightly as he could.
"I know. I know." She whispered and caressed his hair as she made his head lean on her chest.
"I missed you so much…please don't go. Ever again. Don't go. Don't go." He whispered holding her even tighter. She caressed his hair one last time to place her hand on a pressure point on his neck.
"I know." She whispered back, and pressed hard against his pressure point, making him knock out instantly. She lied him down, and stared at him for a moment before looking back at Kakashi. Kakashi's eye saddened, already knowing.
Sakura then changed into Naruto, who disappeared meaning it was a clone. Naruto jumped down from a tree with tears spilling out his eyes.
It wasn't fair. Why did she have to be gone? Couldn't it have been someone else? Someone who wouldn't even matter? As messed up as it sounded, the team seven boys had wished it. But now, the person they loved the most was missing, and they had no idea where she was…
Naruto scoffed, and lifted Sasuke onto his back. Waiting for Kakashi to recollect himself. Kakashi looked down sighing gently.
"That clone…it was an exact replica of her Naruto. I almost thought she really was there." Kakashi said quietly as they ran through the trees. A silence filled between them and Naruto kept his eyes ahead.
"That's what happens when you love someone Kakashi-sensei. Their image never leaves you." Naruto whispered. Kakashi nodded and chuckled lightly. He did too, love Sakura. She was the daughter he never had. The young vibrant little girl he watched grow from young child to beautiful adult. He would've done anything to protect her. And he failed.
"I know." Kakashi only said and watched as Naruto ran ahead. He lagged behind as he scratched off bark from trees that led to the battle ground. And Kakashi felt it.
A small splash hit his face. A tear.
Kakashi closed his eye. He could see, it was true. Sakura was the one thing that kept this team together. It had already been a week or so of her absence and it felt like forever. And already, they were becoming distant from each other. Sasuke wasn't able to control his anger anymore. Naruto was growing colder and colder by the second. And Kakashi…Kakashi was losing the only family he had had for a long time.
He only hoped that what Tsunade called them for would truly help.
Hinata met them up at the gates. Her pale eyes filled with worry as she looked at Naruto's face. He seemed emotionless, and sad, maybe angry. She looked down and pushed a piece of her navy blue hair behind her ear. She had heard some of the commotion since Naruto and Kakashi kept their communicators on, and tried to help slightly, but it obviously wasn't enough. Sasuke was still unconscious on his back, and Kakashi remained lagging behind.
They were falling apart and she could see it.
Naruto landed down next to her facing the inside of the village.
"Naruto-kun…are you okay?" She asked turning to him. His eyes remained on the floor.
"What did Tsunade want us to check out?" He went straight to the point. It almost took Hinata aback when he didn't say Tsunade's beloved suffix of "baa-chan". He always did, ever since they had first met. Even when she wasn't around and they were merely talking about her, he threw in the suffix as second nature. But he didn't. It scared her.
"Follow me." She said and began to walk through the village. Along the way Sasuke stirred and he growled.
"We're in Konoha aren't we…," He said to Naruto lowly. Naruto remained silent for a moment sighing.
"Yeah…as much as I didn't want to." Sasuke's chakra grew larger in anger, but he seemed to calmed down a bit.
"Did Kakashi at least mark a trail where our first lead is?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded, and Sasuke's chakra lowered. Hinata watched the interaction wearily. Even Sasuke seemed different thanks to Sakura's absence. He was angry, maybe even more emotionless that usual. Kakashi was more rigid than his usual aloof stature.
"I can walk Naruto." Sasuke growled and Naruto dropped his hands. Sasuke glared landing and walked ahead, pushing Naruto with his shoulder slightly. Naruto's eyes narrowed, and his eyes became fierce. Hinata almost ran away from Naruto just because of the look in his eyes. Hinata looked down. When she heard Sakura was missing, she immediately opted to help search for her best friend. If anyone knew her as well as Team Seven it was her along with Ino, but the three ultimately declined.
"N-Naruto-kun, you shouldn't be so tense…" She started cautiously and slowly. Naruto looked over to her with question eyes.
"I'm…sure S-Sakura-Chan can take care of h-herself." She said. Naruto looked away.
"Until I know she's alive and out of harms way, then I'll calm down. Until then Hinata…," He stopped and looked at her seriously. Hinata stopped to face him.
"Shut up. Don't give false hopes to any of us or yourself. For all we know, she's lying dead on the floor as we speak." Naruto scoffed and continued walking, leaving Hinata there wide eyed. Tears filled to the brim of her pale lavender orbs and she remained there, in pain and shock. A single tear fell down her face, and she slowly turned to continue walking. Kakashi ended up catching up to her and they walked in silence.
"Hinata…you mustn't listen to him. The words that come out of Naruto's mouth right now are not exactly him okay? So don't you cry…," He comforted lightly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She only looked at him, revealing even more tears, and pain filled eyes.
"We are all in rough shape right now, but I promise…things will return to normal, and the man you've fallen in love with will come through again." He said quietly. Hinata slowly wiped her tears and nodded. However she remained there as Kakashi's eyes filled with question. Sakura hadn't cried much. Sure when Sasuke was gone for the first few months there was the occasional tears here and there. But even so, Sakura was mainly strong, and didn't cry for any minor reason.
This girl Hinata however, was crying over simple words. Though Sakura would be hurt with a word here or there, she didn't cry about it.
"Hinata…" He started but couldn't find the words to comfort her. She shook her head and sniffed.
"It's okay…I'll just be going now…," She whispered and ran off. Kakashi shook her head. Hinata's demeanor was being rocked with Sakura's absence as well. Over the years, she taught her how to be confident…and now the Hyuuga was just back to the shy girl she was years ago.
With Sakura's absence, the very foundations of Konoha just might crumble.
Tsunade stared at the three in front of her. The men seemed different from their one week absence. Colder maybe? Hardened?
"What'd you call us back for?" Naruto growled. Tsunade looked down and brought out a manila folder, handing it to Naruto. Sasuke walked next to him along with Kakashi and looked in the folder. In it was a picture of a deceased man's face; his eyes rolled back and mouth open made the boys shiver in disgust. The photo was obviously on the crime scene which was in the alleyway. Next, another picture of the man's neck, in it, two large holes they weren't sure what to make of. The last picture was the man's full body.
A dismembered corpse. An arm, as the photo revealed laid a few feet away, and his leg bent a way it wasn't suppose to. His jaw showed obvious breakage, even without an x-ray, as it was limp to one side. His abdomen; torn open, displaying the poor man's guts.
"What the hell is this…?" Sasuke whispered looking at Tsunade. Tsunade shook her head and looked up to him.
"No clue. He was discovered today, before dawn. A ninja was on his way home during patrol, and took a shortcut through the alleyway. The rest is history." She informed them. Kakashi nodded and sighed turning away.
"God…that is disgusting."
"How does it relate to Sakura-Chan?" Naruto place the folder down waiting for the right answer. Tsunade sat back fully in her chair and place her hands on the table.
"While it may not seem like it now…I believe that there is a chance of Sakura's disappearance connecting to this. I want you to investigate this fully. This man's wife saw the whole thing, however she has not been questioned due to sensitive reasons." Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he cross his arms over his chest.
"And why would this attack be connected to Sakura? We found an area six hours from here. Sakura was definitely there. The ground looked recent." Sasuke shared the information they found. Tsunade's heart dropped and her eyes had fallen.
"Not too long ago…,"
Naruto's heart fell, and his eyes blurred with tears. The battle ground they found…
"A beast, made by Akatsuki, was getting ready to attack Konoha…,"
Their little bit of hope.
"I met it halfway before the thing got here…,"
Their piece of Sakura.
"I punched into the ground, to daze it and made that quake." The entire room went silent.
Their hope was nothing but a fluke. A misunderstanding. A false promise. She looked down, seeing Kakashi's face first. He head was looking down and he leaned against one of the windows quiet. She looked at Naruto next. The poor man was already sobbing and crying against the wall opposite from Kakashi. The last face she looked at was Sasuke's. He stared at her, and when their eyes met, she was sure of what she saw.
A broken heart.
"I'm so sorry boys." She whispered. She missed Sakura just as much as they did. She kept expecting to see her student every day, coming in for her training.
"Where…is this lady…?" Naruto whispered wiping away his tears. Tsunade sighed and stood.
"865 Katana Avenue." She gave them the address.
"I need you boys to wear suits rather than your ninja uniform." Kakashi raised his head to this.
"Why?" Tsunade turned. Her hazel eyes looked down to the Konoha streets, and off in the distance, another large building which had been reopened.
"I have reopened the Uchiha Police Department." She started. Sasuke stared at her and glared slightly. He wanted nothing to do with that place. To him, while he hated what the Konoha elders did to his brother, his father was also at fault. He still didn't understand why his father was planning on doing what he was going to do. It was disgusting.
All in all though, he wanted nothing to do with the old Uchiha Legacy, and wanted to create his own.
Tsunade turned to meet eyes with Sasuke again.
"I wanted to burn that place to the ground." Sasuke growled. The words that came from his lips didn't shock the Hokage. She nodded.
"I know Sasuke. More or less however, I will not have you claim it as yours if you don't want it. You may come to me at anytime and I will rename it the Uchiha Police Department. However, I have renamed it currently to the Konoha Village Police Department so that all may join. Ninjas have already signed up for jobs there, but, the investigation unit still needs to be filled." Tsunade ended. Naruto looked at her.
"So…" He trailed.
"You are all Investigators of the Konoha Village Police Department from here on. I will have you resume your search, once you speak with the victim's wife. Maybe what she says might benefit your current mission." Tsunade said smiling at Naruto's determined face.
"Now, go get some suits. You are dismissed." She nodded them to the door, and they all walked out. Tsunade looked back towards the streets, only for her eyes to trail back onto the roof of the building across. There stood a hooded woman, grinning, her cape flowing to the side with the wind. Tsunade didn't take her eyes of the figure.
"Shizune!" Tsunade yelled in which the black haired petite woman came in and stopped. The hooded woman brought out a hand of blood and waved her index finger with an even wider grin.
"Who's that?" Shizune whispered and Tsunade shook her head.
"I don't know. But whoever and whatever it is…we have to get rid of it." Tsunade whispered, her hazel eyes continuing to glare back at the thing. Tsunade opened the large window and hopped across to meet the hooded woman face to face. After a moment of silence, Tsunade spoke.
"Who are you?" The hooded woman shook her head and chuckled.
"I think the question you're truly meaning to ask is 'what are you?'" She spoke and disappeared, leaving nothing but a log. The Hokage's eyes darkened and she crossed her arms, going back inside her office.
"Shizune, do you have the description?" Tsunade asked walking through the Hokage halls with Shizune following.
"Yes Tsunade-sama." She said carrying little TonTon and her dark eyes twinkled with seriousness. The Hokage walked upstairs stopping at the roof door.
"Get ANBU on the case. Search everywhere for her. Bring me the village gate guards, and anyone who has had the even slightest chance this woman!" Tsunade said slamming the rooftop door open and looking out over the entire village.
"Is that all Tsunade-sama?"
"I need you to also fetch someone for me." She said glaring at the rooftops and streets. The children ran about, the working people walked, the few shinobi ninjas walked around, keeping an eye on things while mingling with the others.
"Him?" Shizune asked.
Tsunade only nodded.
"I hate suits." Sasuke groaned looking at himself in the mirror. His consisted of a normal black blazer, with a dark blue shirt and black tie. Kakashi walked out wearing his own suit of black and gray, still wearing his mask. He pushed his hands into his pockets.
"Naruto are you done yet?" Kakashi called out.
The three were in the home of the Uchiha, each of them getting ready to meet with the wife of their deceased victim. The three heard Naruto sigh and walk down the stairs to where his teammates were, and fiddled with his tie.
"I hate suits more." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's claim, watching as the blond fussed with his tie. Sasuke rolled his eyes again.
"Can't you put on a tie right?" Sasuke scoffed. A sad look came into Naruto's eyes, and he turned away to look at a mirror to better help himself. There was a deafening silence in the room before Naruto decided to speak again.
"S-Sakura-Chan use to do it for me…," He whispered still fumbling with the fabric on his neck. His mind traveled.
'Naruto…it's easy look!' Sakura said cheerfully and tiredly at the same time. She walked up to him smiling warmly while he tapped his foot impatiently, but gave a sheepish grin to her. She was adorned in a red elegant dress, that split at her right leg, her feet wearing black heels. She grabbed his tie, undoing a knot Naruto had done. She took a the small end holding it, and held up the thicker end.
"The rabbit hops over the log…," She started, and wrapped the thicker one over the thinner end. Naruto paid close attention, not to her tying the tie, but to her words. The story was obviously going to be a good one. It had a rabbit in it. He grinned excitedly.
"The rabbit crawls under the log…," She chuckled at his face, and wrapped the thicker end underneath.
"The rabbit runs around the log, one more time—because the rabbit is trying to outsmart the fox…," She said animatedly while wrapping the thick end around the thin end once more but stopping beneath.
"The rabbit dives into his rabbit hole!" She said, lifting the thick end of the tie, and pulling it gently through, to be on top of the smaller end. She then tightened a little more to go against his neck comfortably, and they were on their way to a secret mission.
Naruto shook his head.
"The rabbit crawls hops over the log, the rabbit crawls under the log, the rabbit runs around the log, one more time—because the rabbit is trying to outsmart the fox, the rabbit dives into his rabbit hole." He recited softly, and did his neck tie perfectly. Sasuke shook his head and looked away.
"Let's go."
With that the team traveled to 865 Katana Avenue, and Kakashi knocked on the door of a white house, nice, and small. Most likely cozy enough for two people, and should have belonged to people with no enemies whatsoever. That's just what it was. The house next door. That's it. The house wasn't much to think of rather than small and possibly warm.
A woman came out slowly her grey eyes filled with tears and fear. She began to looked at Kakashi and the other two boys wearily.
"Are you the late Mrs. Kowagatte?" Kakashi asked. The woman nodded shakily.
"I...I am...,"
"We are with the Konoha Village Police Department, more specifically the Investigation Unit. We only wish to come inside and ask you a few questions based on your husbands passing." Kakashi sincerely said. Mrs. Kowagatte looked down and brewed more tears in her orbs before nodding and opening the door fully.
"Come in."
The three members of Team Seven looked at each other and walked inside, Mrs. Kowagatte closing the door behind them.
