Chapter 6: Crimson Rocks
11:30am

With one of their own now taken out of the game, the shinobi resume their tasks with much more focus on finishing their tasks as efficiently as possible, while trying to be perceptive of any sus behavior from the others.

Hinata & Temari

Both females wound up working together at the local playground. Utilizing her Giant Folding Fan to gently send waves of wind at the children to help push them on their swings and merry-go-rounds. Hinata, meanwhile, stood watch to ensure that no child was causing any trouble.

She could see 'everything' around them.

Gaara and Naruto

Both male ninjas were working together at the local grocery store in town. Naruto used his Shadow Clone Jutsu to multiply himself as he swept the isle floors, while Gaara helped bag groceries for the costumers up front at the check-out counter.

Naruto and Choji

Not too long after Naruto had finished sweeping, he stepped out behind the grocery store to take out the garbage. Just he tossed the bag into the dumpster, Choji confronts him from behind and pats him on the shoulder, which made Naruto jump.

"Whah! Who are y- oh, it's you, Choji, Naruto responds, spinning around to his fellow shinobi standing before him with an oddly jovial expression.

"Hey Naruto, just wanted to stop by and let you know that you're doing a great job," Choji says to him with a wink, before turning to leave the area.

Naruto stood there dumbfounded by the random act of kindness shown to him, especially after how antagonistic Choji has been to them all lately.

Weird…

Rock Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru

These three shinobi were tasked to man the front desk at the local Infirmary. For some strange reason, Akamaru was put in charge of signing-in new patients, while Rock Lee and Kiba manned the telephones and communication with the nurses and doctors around the reception area.

Who delegates these tasks, anyways?

Neji

Neji was solo, painting over graffiti at a mural near the outskirts of town. He was supposed to have a paint bucket full of white paint, but was given red instead. Shrugging at the mix-up, Neji proceeds to paint the wall red anyways.

Shikamaru

After burning through three of ten pages worth of tasks, Shikamaru decides it was time for another break. He heads over to the Infirmary to see who was manning the front desk during this rotation.

No sooner had he stepped into the lobby, he witnessed everyone within the building all shrieking and gasping in panic and concern, as someone was lying on the ground unconscious.

After pushing through the crowd to see who it was, Shikamaru raised his eyes in surprise.

The victim this time was Rock Lee, covered in a red liquid substance.

DOWNED BODY REPORTED

Raising the alarm that Rock Lee was the next victim taken out by an unnamed assailant, the other shinobi halt their tasks and immediately convene at the meeting spot once again to dish out the accusations and defense of their actions.

"Okay, first off, I'm the one who reported Rock Lee being the latest victim to the Imposter. Secondly, I accuse Kiba and Akamaru for being the ones responsible for this heinous act," Shikamaru began, pointing at the master and dog duo.

"N-now hold on a second! I know this all looks very sus on our part, but you have to believe us when we say that we weren't the ones who whacked Rock Lee," Kiba pleads to the group.

"Bark!" Akamaru added following Kiba's opening statement.

"I find that incredibly hard to believe, given that A: you two were working presumably next to one another up to the scene of the crime, and B: you didn't even report the incident for whatever how long Rock Lee was out for, all within an actually crowded Infirmary," Shikamaru presses.

"Damn, that's a pretty tough situation to get out of," Choji comments while wiping his hands with a rag.

"Kiba, you and Akamaru are being charged with being an Imposter. Is there anything you could possibly say to aid in your defense? Otherwise, we all will be led to believe that you two are responsible for this attack," Neji asks.

"Well, there was one strange thing to note about the whole incident," Kiba began. "Rock Lee's body was covered in some red-colored liquid."

"Red…colored liquid?" Temari says, then turning her attention over to Shikamaru. "You didn't mention that rather glaring detail, Shikamaru. Why is that?" she questions.

"Oh, I guess he was covered in some red-colored stuff. Could have been some substance from within the Infirmary the Imposter used while attacking Rock Lee, who knows," Shikamaru responds with a shrug. "That's a frivolous detail in the grand-scheme of things in my opinion."

"I disagree," Neji responds. "That's a vital piece of evidence that should be factored in to this interrogation. "Whomever attacked Rock Lee was in contact with some sort of liquid substance. What was everyone's tasks at this hour?"

"Hinata and I were at the playground the whole time," Temari responds.

"T-that is correct, I didn't wander off anywhere this time around," Hinata quickly adds.

"No need to repeat myself, you all know where Akamaru and I were the whole time," Kiba adds, a bit miffed that they're the biggest suspect so far.

"I was bagging groceries down at the market, while Naruto was sweeping floors using his Shadow Clone Jutsu," Gaara responds.

"Yeah, what Gaara said, I ain't done nothing!" Naruto adds while crossing his arms.

That's when Hinata noticed something odd about Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, what's that on your shoulder?" Hinata points out.

"Huh?" Naruto responds, looking over at his shoulder, only to notice something slathered all over him. "What the…what is this…red stuff?!" Naruto questions himself, before his eyes fly open at the realization of what was going on. "Oh…crap…" he muttered in a low voice.

"Naruto, why is there a red substance on your shoulder?" Neji questions.

"What the hell?! Where the heck did this come from?!" Naruto proclaims in panic.

"Hey Gaara, didn't you say Naruto was using Shadow Clone Jutsu while doing his tasks?" Temari asks.

"That is correct. Now that I think about it, Naruto, if not one of his clones, did leave the store to take out the trash during our shift. Whether he came right back or not is something I can't confirm, but he did indeed leave the store for a period of time," Gaara recalls.

"AHA! Then that makes Naruto the culprit in this latest take-down!" Choji says while pointing an accusing finger at him.

"That's a load of bull! In fact, Choji showed up out of nowhere to pat my on my shoulders wishing me a job well done for some odd and creepy reason!" Naruto fires back. "What was that all about, huh?!"

"Wait, so Choji was the one who tried to set-up Naruto-kun?" Hinata asks. "What was Choji doing all this time?"

"I can partially answer that. He was inside the groceries store shopping for snacks," Gaara continues. "I can vouch for him for that brief period, as I was the one who bagged his groceries."

"And guess what? Akamaru and I didn't see either Choji nor Naruto stop by the Infirmary at all either, so we're innocent!" Kiba adds.

Choji gives a wink over to Naruto, who responds with a lifted eyebrow in response.

Apparently Choji had an alibi…damn.

"That just leaves two variables in this situation: the whereabouts of Shikamaru and Neji. Well, boys?" Temari asks them both.

"I was painting a mural near the outskirts of town," Neji responds.

"What was the color of the paint?" Shikamaru asks.

"…Red," Neji responds after a brief pause.

"Bingo, he's the real culprit then!" Choji butts in.

"Wrong!" Kiba responds. "Neji was nowhere near the Infirmary either."

"How would you know, you were running around the place with Rock Lee doing tasks to even notice if he came by or not," Shikamaru counters.

"…How would you even know that, Shikamaru? Didn't you just say you were the one who reported the body of Rock Lee? Surely someone had to have seen you there if you claim you knew Kiba and Rock Lee's activities," Naruto says out of suspicion.

Temari steps in and slams her Giant Folding Fan onto the ground to get everyone to quiet down.

"Okay, look, its obvious there's a lot of, and pardon the pun, 'red herrings' among us, and it's really difficult to pin down a credible Imposter in all of this. I say we just all move on and just be more careful about who we encounter throughout the day," Temari suggests to everyone.

Everyone looked at one another before hesitantly agreeing to the truce in ejecting an Imposter candidate.

All they could do was just continue their tasks…for now.

No One Was Ejected From The Village.

It seems everyone is at an impasse on who to accuse this round. Leave a review of your thoughts and stay tuned for the next chapter! Don't forget to fave and follow!