"I cannot be caught...Mikobu is dead...no I will not be caught...I killed him...I killed Aserta..."
"Who are you?"
"Your worst nightmare."
"I captured him and held him here...I tortured him...I killed Mikobu...I now own this place, the prisoners..."
"No get away, don't attack him!"
"Mikobu, that will do them no good..."
"He told his servants to run...they weren't even servants...I killed them too...I brainwashed the others that survived...Aserta came home and I killed her..."
"What is your name?"
"Hm...Dathan..."
"My name is Dathan and I will kill you Kakashi, I will kill your friend, I will kill your students and most of all I'll take the girl as my prize."
Dathan walked across the floor, over Kizu's dead body and out the door. He marched outside and observed the forest and turned to the destroyed prison. "Hahaha...if the paranoia doesn't get them, then surely those amazing little features I installed will."
Sakura rubbed her arm as she felt it heal. Naruto had insisted on giving some of the chakra he possesed to Sakura. Kakashi lay asleep at her feet; she watched his chest move up and down and his emotionless face show the despair he suppressed. Kakashi's white hair had grown at least an inch since they were there so when it was sprawled out on the ground it made him look a little angelic.
"Naruto?" Sakura called.
"Yes Sakura?"
"Do you want some help?"
"No Sakura, you stay and rest, I'll find Neji," Naruto responded.
"Um...Naruto?"
"Yes Sakura!"
"There's been something troubling me..."
"Eh?" Naruto looked up at her. "What is it Sakura?"
"Well, when Mikobu took me and abused me..."
"Hm?"
"I saw something."
"Okay, and what did you see?" Naruto asked as he pushed a particularly large boulder out of the way.
"I was going to tell you and Kakashi-sensei about it earlier but stuff happened."
"What did you see Sakura?"
"One day when I was in Mikobu's office I found his diary."
Naruto burst out into laughter. "A diary, a villian has a diary?"
"Well this diary contained some plans. I couldn't quite make out all of the markings, for they were splotched and scribbled, but what I did read was horrifying."
"Tales about his muderous acts?" Naruto brushed his hands together, walked over and sat besides Sakura.
"Even worse. It told how he had killed a certain leader whos name I could not read. Then there were plans about how to take over the Leaf Village."
"I betcha every evil guy has that smae plot in their diary's."
"No Naruto, this is serious. He told how he would murder every child, mother, father and ninja in the process. He told how he would kill Aserta and Kakashi."
"Kakashi?"
"Yes. Evidentally Kakashi's sharingan was very appealing to Mikobu."
"Figures..."
"It even explains your death, Naruto." Sakura's tone became more solemn than ever. "Yes you...how he would extract the nine-tailed fox from your body, cut out your eyes and make you suffer."
"...then why hasn't he killed us yet?"
"Because the rest of us got in his way. Now he's confused and doesn't know what to do, which makes him deadlier than before. Also in the diary it mentioned someone named Dathan."
"Dathan?"
"Mmhm," Sakura nodded.
"That name sounds familiar..." Naruto racked his brain for any memory of Dathan.
"Remember the story Kakashi told us about?" Sakura asked.
"He's told us a lot of stories."
"It was last year when he returned from that one mission...remember? He was practically dead."
"Oh yeah!"
"The man he fought was named Dathan. A week later when he regained consciousness he told me that he had been assigned a mission to take out a rogue ninja capable of taking out a whole army of ninja by himself that was planning to take over the Sand Village. Later that day when Tsunade was talking to Shizune I heard that Dathan had been sighted by a fellow Leaf Ninja who accompanied Kakashi on the mission. Naruto, I think Mikobu is Dathan in disguise."
"But it doesn't make sense!" Naruto clutched his head in confusion.
"Naruto, Kakashi told me that Mikobu, Aserta and him were all friends at one point. Aserta was engaged to Mikobu for ten years! You just don't kill your fiancee after ten years of engagement, you don't just torture your friend!"
"I need to think about this, I'm still confused..." Naruto stood up and walked back to where he was working to find Neji, but before he reached his destination, something caught his eye. "Oh no, Sakura! I found Neji!" Against a pile of rocks Neji was sitting with his eyes wide open. "Sakura!"
"I'm coming!" Sakura sprinted to Naruto's side.
"He's dead isn't he?" Naruto was straight to the point. Sakura walked over to Neji and examined him closely when his head began to move.
Sakura backed away as the head slipped forward and off of the neck and onto the ground. Naruto and Sakura stood there gaping staring at the headless body and the bodiless head. Neji's head rolled and stopped at Naruto's feet with it's eyes desperately calling out for help. Sakura cluched Naruto's arm and dragged him away from the corpse over to where Kakashi was. Both of them acted like they had not seen it, but they knew the truth...
Neji was indeed, dead.
Review please:-)