Despite his investigation into Danzo, Shikaku came up with more questions than answers.

He was with Inoichi and Choza, the three of them pouring over reports from the ANBU who had first responded. The written statements from Yugao Uzuki and Satoshi Utatane sat in front of him. Satoshi had been the first medical ninja on scene and had been thorough with his examination until Dr Sanada arrived and took over. Each body meticulously cataloged before Yugao had sealed them. The reports from Dr Sanada were less detailed and now the bodies had been cremated as per the wishes of the Uchiha.

However it was the lack of details that made them so much more interesting to Shikaku. He made a mental note to have Dr Sanada's connection to Danzo investigated.

Shikaku templed his fingers together as he read the next written report from an ANBU agent only known by the codename Tenzo. Apparently Tenzo had worked closely with Itachi until a year ago, when Itachi was promoted to ANBU captain and assigned his own team.

"What do we know of this Tenzo?"

"Not much," Inoichi admitted before rattling off what he knew. "Peculiar fellow, more so than most. He's brought a few to my department for interrogation. Small talk with him is like talking to a doll. All of his records are classified, few outside of the Hokage's Office even have access to them."

That seemed highly suspicious to Shikaku. The Jonin Commander and ANBU Commander were second to only the Hokage himself. While Shikaku couldn't say he had access to everything in ANBU, his clearance was high enough to access most things. He had all the personnel files for the ANBU, needing to periodically assign them regular missions so that they continued to exist on paper and maintained their cover. He needed to be aware of their numbers and skillsets to prepare should Konoha ever go to war or be forced to defend herself. Yet until today he had never even heard of Tenzo. It was as if he didn't exist.

"No family name, no address, no academy records - " Shikaku said. "Suspect, isn't it?"

"Kakashi and the ANBU Commander have both vouched for him," Choza said. "He was returning from a mission with Kakashi at the time. The two of them made for the Uchiha compound when they heard the alarm. Kakashi's report is here."

Shikaku frowned. Either Tenzo was clean, or Kakashi and the ANBU Commander were also compromised. Just how deep did Danzo's influence extend, he wondered.

"I don't think he did it, I'm more interested if he has a link to Danzo," Shikaku admitted. "The more questions I ask, the more non-answers I find."

Choza crossed his arms, his face pinched in a deep frown. "You think Tenzo is one of Danzo's men?"

"I think there's a connection. I've started to notice a pattern with some of the ANBU. As much as we want our forces to be anonymous, the reality is that they exist outside the organization. Kakashi, Yugao, Satoshi - I have their personnel file. You see them around the village. Tenzo and these other agents? Nothing."

"Certainly fits his pattern." Inoichi rubbed a tired hand over his face. "I never told you this but - I ran into a boy about a year ago who looked like one of my clansmen. He went by the name Fu and most of his memories were missing. The few that I could get were distorted. The blood test came back and showed he's related to one of the branch families. Yumeji's sister, Ayumu, went missing some years before as a genin and was presumed dead after her team failed to come back. Now I can't help but wonder, if she's alive and this is her son."

Shikaku felt disturbed by where Inoichi's mind was going. It was too similar to what Orochimaru used to do. Genin teams would go out and never return. Eventually they uncovered their bodies in his laboratory hidden beneath Konoha. The thought that someone had kidnapped a young woman and forced her to carry a child was disgusting.

"And the kid?"

"Yumeji and his wife took him in, thought that being around their two kids would help. He ran away a week later. I personally think he went back to Danzo. After a lifetime of brainwashing - " Inoichi looked distressed at how a member of his clan had suffered.

"He's got an entire organization built from missing and nonexistent persons." Shikaku's mind was reeling now. Did the Hokage know about this? Danzo had built himself a private army, loyal to himself.

"Not just that. He's got people everywhere."

"Sleeper agents?"

"I've uncovered one in my clan so far," Inoichi grimly admitted. "They've been keeping tabs on me. Just be careful you who trust, even among your own."

"Yeah, I think I've got one of my own." It was too much of a coincidence that Kiyoshi had married his sister-in-law and tried to befriend him. He was always around, trying to be buddies. Shikaku did not have time for new friends. He barely had time for the ones he already had. It was only on Yoshino's insistence that Shikaku was friendly towards the man. He could tolerate him in social situations, but did not trust him otherwise. Shikaku hoped for Miyake and her children's sake that Kiyoshi wasn't a traitor.

They could hear a commotion coming from the hallway outside of Inoichi's office.

"This area is restricted, you're not supposed to be - "

"Fuck off and let me through, I already told you this was urgent!"

Shikaku felt a sense of foreboding at Suzaku's voice. He was supposed to be watching over Yoshino and the kids for the afternoon.

"What's going on here?" Shikaku asked, stepping outside into the corridor. He found one of the ANBU guards blocking the path while Suzaku tried to shoulder his way past him.

Suzaku's eyes caught his. "It's Kojika. She's missing."

Fear slammed into his chest with the force of a metric ton dragon, all but knocking the air out of his lungs. There had to be a mistake. He had left three layers of defence between Danzo and his children. There was the regular Nara patrols that oversaw the clan lands. There was Hideki and Suzaku who were stationed on patrol close to Enmei's house as an extra precaution. And then there was Yoshino and his in-laws.

If all else failed, he would not want to be the shinobi who got between Yoshino and their children. Speaking of which...

"What of Yoshino and her father?"

"Enmei's dead. Yoshino went on an errand. When she returned, he had collapsed and Kojika was missing."

Shikaku rushed down the corridor without a backwards glance. That was too many coincidences for his liking. What were the odds that Enmei would suddenly drop dead while Yoshino was out? He made it back to Enmei's house in record time, with Suzaku, Inoichi and Choza hot on his heels.

Miyake greeted them at the door, her own eyes were red-rimmed. "She's this way."

Shikaku pushed passed her, rushing to his wife's side in the living room. Yoshino was inconsolable. Her shoulders shaking as she cried into her hands.

"What happened?" He demanded, trying to keep the harsh edge out of his voice.

Ensui was pacing the length of the floor, visibly agitated. "She just vanished into thin air. There's no tracks, no signs of a struggle. Nothing!"

"S-she's not in this village. I can't sense her anywhere," Yoshino sobbed.

Shikaku shared a side glance with Inoichi. There were more powerful sensors in the village than Yoshino. Although he wouldn't be quick to dismiss her bond with their children either. She could always pinpoint exactly where they were in the village. Like a sixth sense, Yoshino always knew when Shikamaru had gone to the park or the Akimichi's instead of coming home after school.

"We're going to find her," Shikaku vowed, kneeling in front of Yoshino. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and pressed his forehead against hers. "I promise I'm going to bring her home."

He abruptly stood up, already organizing the search parties in his mind. He directed Suzaku to take a group of their clansmen and spread out, searching their clan lands for clues to her disappearance.

"Where the hell is Hideki? I thought he was supposed to be watching them today," Shikaku growled. He glanced from Suzaku to Ensui. He had personally tasked them with protecting his family. The three of them and Enmei were the only ones he shared his concerns about Danzo with within the clan.

"I don't know," Suzaku admitted. "He vanished too. I sent a clone to my sister's and she hasn't seen him all morning."

Either he was with Kojika, or he had been killed and his body hidden. Shikaku didn't want to think of the implications of either. If his old childhood friend had been responsible for this and Shikaku had never noticed, how could he trust any of them? Suzaku and Hideki were his clansmen and childhood friends. He had known them the longest, well before their academy days. Suzaku was his cousin, their fathers were brothers. Hideki was a member of one of the branch Nara families. His father had been killed during the second war so Uncle Byakko had mentored him and taught him the clan techniques alongside Shikaku and Suzaku. Hideki had even married his cousin and Shikaku had agreed to act as witness for fuck's sakes. The thought that Hideki could betray him in this manner…

If he wasn't dead, Shikaku would kill him.

"I can go pick up Shikamaru - " Kiyoshi awkwardly offered. "He should be with his family in a time like this."

Shikaku felt his blood run cold at the thought of this man picking up his son. He didn't even want to deal with Kiyoshi right now.

"No." Ensui crossed his arms, his expression darkening. With his father dead, he no doubt felt the responsibility to look after his sisters and their children. Shikaku knew the same reservations about Kiyoshi had crossed his mind. "I'll get him."

Shikaku handed Kiyoshi a shirt that belonged to Kojika. "Go get Tsume. I want her best trackers on it."

Normally he didn't want the Inuzuka ninken sniffing around their compound and harassing their herd of deer, but he would leave no rock unturned when it came to his daughter's safety. The Inuzuka were loyal and honest folk. Moreover, they could literally sniff out a lie and would know if Kiyoshi was being dishonest with them.

Shikaku, Choza and Inoichi spread out, covering the terrain between Enmei's house and the forest behind it. His father-in-law had lived on the outskirts of the clan, close to the barrier that separated them from the vast wilderness beyond. Inoichi took to the trees above them, using his sensory abilities to scan for Kojika. He could hear Choza to his left, following the riverbank. Shikaku knew she wouldn't have been able to cross on her own. The water was too deep and Kojika didn't know how to swim. He focused on the path ahead of him, desperately hoping she hadn't tried to cross it. Shikaku scanned the ground for any sign that a child had passed through here recently. There were no impressions left on the grass, no broken branches or disturbed bushes.

"Oh fuck!"

Shikaku immediately diverted course, heading towards Choza. The mild-natured man was not prone to profanities - not like Shikaku or Inoichi.

Choza was kneeling next to Kojika's body on the shore. His shoulders hunched and his head bowed. "I'm so sorry."

"No," Shikaku rasped, dropping to his knees next to her. "No, no, no."

He immediately rolled her over so that she was lying on her back. She wasn't breathing and her lips were blue. Rigor mortis had already begun to set in and her limbs were already stiff. She was beyond anything he could do to save her.

Intellectually, he knew that.

However for once in his life, logic escaped him as he desperately tried to get her to just breathe. He used a mild lightning style jutsu to try and restart her heart, desperately trying to get oxygen flowing again by administering the field first aid he had been taught. He recalled some long ago class as he did the chest compressions, wondering if it was too much for a child this size. He cursed himself for never taking the time to learn proper medical ninjutsu and always relying on others. He had the chakra control for it. He had the mind for it. He just never bothered.

"It's too late," Inoichi gently told him, pulling his right arm back and stopping him.

He fought him off, ripping his arm back from Inoichi. His felt the growing lump in his throat and the familiar sting in his eyes. He squeezed them shut, his tears weren't going to do Kojika any good. He needed to think. He needed to come up with a plan. His mind went through every jutsu he knew and still came up blank. What he wouldn't have given to have a jutsu that could resurrect the dead. Such a thing could only come at a great personal cost and Shikaku would gladly pay the price.

"There's - there's got to be something," he desperately choked out.

The reality of the situation came crashing down on him at once. His daughter was dead and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to fix that. He sunk into knees next to her, paralyzed as if by his own jutsu.

"Shikaku - " He could hear the sympathy in Choza's voice. "Why don't we get her somewhere else?"

"I'll carry her," Shikaku said, surprising even himself by the coarseness of his own voice. He picked her up like he had done a thousand times, moving her gently as if she had fallen asleep and he was carrying her to bed. He diverted to the Nara's Medical Research Facility, not wanting Yoshino to see her just yet. Fortunately the facility was empty this time of the day. Everyone had gone home for the evening.

He placed her on the table in one of the examination rooms. Normally this would be done by the hospital staff with the coroner, however under the circumstances, Shikaku didn't trust them. Inoichi had enough experience performing autopsies in his line of work. It would be enough to know the cause of death and get a glimpse of her final moments.

Inoichi cleared his throat. "Shikaku - "

"I'm staying," he stubbornly insisted. He refused to leave Kojika's side.

"I'm going to have to insist you leave. No one should have to witness their daughter's autopsy. That's not something I want you to live with."

Well it was a fine time for Inoichi to turn stubborn, wasn't it? "I already have to live with this."

Choza put a hand on his shoulder and forcefully steered him away. The door slipped shut behind him. The image of his daughter on that table burned into his mind's eye.

It wasn't the only thing that burned. He could feel the burning, stinging of his eyes. The hole that burned uncomfortably in his chest, choking the air out of his lungs. The raging, burning inferno of grief unlike any he had ever felt before. He slid to the floor, his back scrapping against the wall behind him.

Fucking hell. He was in hell. How the fuck could this happen?

He could remember the day he had been informed he had a healthy baby girl. He had been three days away from Konoha when the messenger from his clan had caught up to him. Yoshino had gone into labour earlier than expected. The news had terrified him more than it should. Boys were easy. He knew what to expect. But a daughter?

But then she had been placed in his arms once he arrived home and none of it had mattered. She could grow up to be the world's most troublesome little girl and he didn't care because she was theirs.

He hadn't been home as often as he would have liked. There had been times he was away for weeks or months and would come back to find his kids had grown. He had missed more milestones than he would care to admit. He had been away for Shikamaru's entire first month at school. He had missed Kojika's first steps and first words. He kept promising that he would make more time, but something always needed his attention more. It seemed so useless now. What had been so important all the time?

The thought that she was alone and scared in her final moments broke his heart. He should have been there. He should have prevented this. Was that not his duty as her father?

Inoichi closed the door behind him as he stepped into the hallway, a troubled look on his face. The autopsy was faster than he expected, or perhaps he was sitting there longer than he realized. Shikaku immediately leapt to his feet, furiously wiping the tears away.

"That wasn't Kojika, I found a seal underneath her hairline. Someone faked her death and planted a body where you were likely to find it," Inoichi said with a meaningful look at him. "Sounds like a certain friend of ours."

"I'm going to kill him. I am going to make sure his death is the most miserable, painful experience. That fucking bastard," he seethed.

Shikaku's fist punched clean through the wall, breaking through to the other side of the exam room. Faking his kid's death and dumping an imposter for them to find? That was going too far. Shikaku forced himself to regain control over his temper. From a young age, he had been taught to suppress his emotions, to never let them rule over him. It was emotions that made men weak, that made them lash out and make stupid mistakes. His father might have been a cold, hard bastard but he had been right about some things. Shikaku couldn't afford to lash out in anger; he needed to think rationally about this. It was the only way he was going to bring Kojika back.

Come on Nara, think. He took your kid. What's your move?

This was all a sick scheme to buy his silence over the Uchiha investigation. Kidnapping Kojika, faking her death - it had all been a ruse to rattle him. Danzo had tried to provoke an emotional response to catch him off guard. Well, it had worked. He still felt ripped open, his emotions bleeding raw all over the place. Shikaku was desperate to see his daughter returned safe and sound and he knew Danzo would use it to his advantage.

But Shikaku didn't care. If Danzo wanted his silence, he could have it. He was convinced he could use that to negotiate for Kojika's safe return. Danzo wouldn't risk damaging their working relationship and alienating him from the village. Shikaku was a more powerful ally than enemy after all. This was a power move, nothing more.

He found Danzo in his office, the old councillor going over some reports at his desk.

"Ah, Shikaku, have you finished with the ANBU reports yet?" Danzo asked without looking up. "I was hoping to wrap up my investigation."

"Yes, although something more pressing has come to my attention."

The door clicked shut behind him. The temperature in the room dropped to an icy chill at the two men silently sized each other up behind well-practiced neutral expressions.

"Is there something you wished to discuss?"

Shikaku could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest as he took a moment. He could hear the pounding of blood in his ears. What he wouldn't give to just reach out with his shadow and choke the life out of this man. Instead, he responded in a carefully measured voice. "My daughter went missing today. Someone planted a fake body some kilometres away from her grandfather's house."

"A man of your caliber, I'm sure you've made many enemies over the years. Do you have any idea who might do such a terrible thing?"

"I have an idea." Shikaku didn't bother to keep the anger out of his voice this time. He had no interest in Danzo's word-smithing. "Let's speak plainly. You want a Nara under your control? Done, I'm yours. I won't say a word about what you've done. Just leave my fucking kids out of it."

Everyone had a tell when they were pleased, no matter how much they tried to hide it. Danzo's lips always pulled, as if he had trained himself out of smiling. It was an ugly little uptick at the corner of his lips.

"I am truly sorry about your daughter," Danzo told him. His voice lacked any sincerity and had a hard edge. "Despite what you seem to believe, I had nothing to do with her disappearance. But if I had, do you really think provoking me is in her best interest?"

Shikaku felt a cold chill go down his spine. He could hear the unspoken threat. If he didn't behave, Kojika would suffer.

"Where is she?"

Danzo shrugged. "Oh I imagine she's far from the village by now. I have a contact who says she's with kin. Although should anything happen to myself or this contact, he has orders to kill her. Understood?"

Hideki, that bastard. Shikaku thickly swallowed, nodding to buy himself time.

"Good. You have the full support of the council through this troubling time. I could only imagine the pain from her sudden drowning. It's tragic when they're so young. I'll inform the Hokage of the situation and that you'll be taking a bereavement leave to be with your family."

He was going to destroy everything Danzo held dear. Everything Danzo had built would crumble beneath him before Shikaku finally had him executed as a traitor to Konoha. But first, he needed to make sure Kojika was out of the line of fire. He knew he would have to carefully toe the line while working to bring Danzo down.

Kojika's life depended on it.