Eldritch
First, there were incredulous whispers.
Something had emerged in the farmlands, and no one knew where it materialized from. It overwhelmed the low winter sun. A black mass that hovered ominously, darkening the overly tilled fields and surrounding meadows. Despite the daunting appearance and size, the collective sentiment of the townsfolk wasn't alarm, but curiosity. It was different, so unlike their monotonous routine of farming, reaping, and barely surviving through the winter. Harvest season was long over. Bandits remained uninterested in the meager coffers of destitute growers. Everyone sat in their humble shacks day after day hoping the diligent coaxing of small fires would curb the freeze. There wasn't anything better to do than to be curious and seek it out.
Fools.
Initially those that ventured close were met with a cool, but unsettling, vapor. The seemingly dense fog slipped through tentative fingers and inquisitive grasps like an illusion. It was draining to be around. Breathing became taxing, thoughts became heavier, and living felt… hopeless. Yet people couldn't help but be lured into its presence. It was undeniably inviting. Some swore they heard mummers of longing from lost loved ones. Or enticing promises of riches and prosperity. Or soft reassurances that all pain would end. It was a veil to a romanticized past or a hopeful future. An opportunity to remove oneself from the dreadful present.
It was unmoving. Unresponsive. Dormant. And people were lulled by the false sense of security derived from its inactivity – coaxed closer and closer by the singularity. But one day it awoke, and all those curious fools swiftly disappeared. As did the rest of the outskirt settlements that populated the Land of Silence.
Horrifying rumors spread quicker and further than any fleeing man, woman, or child. Of empty towns, devoid of its population and any hint of life. It steadily passed through, leaving a wake of barren lands sucked clean of its flora and fauna. Not one decaying corpse remained. Not even the remnants of a determined sapling rising from the ash of an unattended fire or writhing maggots on spoiled meat. Not even the echo of distant screams.
There was nothing.
One by one, life was snuffed out, until only Curtain Village was left.
What was this thing?
Why was this happening?
Who caused this?
Desperate questions that remained unanswered. But those that managed to delay their inevitable fate shared alarming observations.
It seemed as if it anticipated. Denoting intelligence.
It sought assimilation. Annihilation.
And it never stopped.
She didn't believe the rumors. Superstitious, uneducated peasants had drummed up the baseless hysteria, after all. It was probably that Uchiha's doing. Ever since he showed up everything had gone to shit. She lived in this damned world for 74 years. Always had a knack for surviving. Always trusted her instincts. It helped her endure squalor, hostile occupation, war, famine, and the general perils of life.
The day that Uchiha showed up she got a nasty feeling. His reputation had far preceded him, from a bloodline that was notoriously cursed. And even worse he was from Konoha. Konoha were demons, imposing their reign of terror under the guise of peace. Their sense of superiority was fueled by power that came at an unspeakable cost – child soldiers, bijuus, the forced acquisition of coveted kekkei genkai, and the genocide of those unwilling to submit or those that potentially rivaled their status. Eager for his departure, she steered clear of confrontation and encouraged him to swiftly pass through.
She should have taken her family and fled.
But she dismissed her instinct due to pride. Why would she let a mere brat shake her to the core? Drive her from all that she knew? Ridiculous. And when the whispers reached her well connected ears, she had dismissed them too. 'The end was coming'? Curtain Village was already hell on earth. What could possibly be a worse fate than this?
It.
It was worse.
She should have trusted her instincts.
It breached the village walls last night in a tsunami of horror. Most of the population was quickly overwhelmed and... gone. The black monolithic plume crawled toward them at a relentless pace. Its' movements were uncanny. Provoking an uncontrollable shudder throughout all as it inevitably drew near, darker than a starless night in the middle of the wilderness. Any semblance of light, and any life, that crossed its' path was immediately smothered and vacuumed into the mass.
When it bisected one of her boys right in front of her, there was no blood or messy spilling of entrails. It was remarkably clean despite being able to see the clear outlines of internal organs, tissue, muscles, spinal cord… On instinct she reached for her boy until a frantic arm pulled her away just as a coiling black thing lunged at her. It was only until her airway was constricted by the blunt force that she realized the blood curling screams were hers.
As the remaining half of her boy was consumed, she could hardly believe it. His existence vanished instantaneously. Almost as if he was sucked into a dimension separate from their own. She was used to blood and gore. The light fading from glassy eyes and stiff bodies going cold. But the abrupt… nothingness was jarring.
There wasn't time to grieve, or even really comprehend, what happened. In a haste to evade, to survive, they ran for their lives desperate to escape. Sprinting through decrepit alleyways and shortcuts through abandoned homes did little to buy time. To their dismay, they quickly noticed it was herding them, encircling the remaining survivors, and guaranteeing their imminent demise. It hunted them deliberately and with certainty.
Piece by piece.
Inch by inch.
She should have trusted her fucking instincts.
"Ma…," a forlorn voice broke her thoughts.
She turned to her last surviving son, noting in their final moments the sheer panic and fear on his face. He had regressed back into the small, malnourished orphan that desperately clung to her leg when they met all those years ago. Even then, a deeply entrenched scar marred his forehead, a souvenir from a failed attempt at euthanasia by unfit parents too impoverished to cope with another mouth to feed. But he was a fighter, with a will to live that burned bright. That was why she couldn't bare shaking him off as he yearned for comfort. For security. For hope. So, they continued to survive together and grew their found family. Fighting every day to simply exist.
And despite the circumstances they were born into, despite all odds, they lived.
But she knew, deep within her bones, that their luck had run out.
Shakily, she took one of his oversized, calloused hands into hers, finding a modicum of humor at how it dwarfed hers. Oh, how much he had grown. Oh, how she wished she could have seen him thrive. Unable to provide any of the reassurances he sought, she looked up into his eyes with resignation.
"I love you, boy," she said plainly.
Breaking out into a watery grin that melted years off his harsh face, "I love ya too, ma."
They didn't flinch when the doors to their flimsy hiding place were smashed through, and black tendrils slithered menacingly toward their direction. Holding each other's gaze, their grips on another tightened. At least they were ending where they started – together.
As they were enveloped in darkness, she wondered what lied beyond death.
Maybe they could find each other in the next life?
Or maybe, there was nothing.
The deafening slam of Naruto's fist against the wall startled the ANBU detail.
"What the FUCK do you mean 'she's dead'?"
After taking a second to recompose themselves, they once again stood firm as anonymous pillars that flanked the Hokage, who sat motionless despite the outburst. Everyone else in the room was also unperturbed, as if they expected this exact reaction. Both operatives had seen and experienced their fair share of shit. They flirted with death more times than they could count and were more than willing to take a kunai to the heart for their leader and Village. Nothing tended to faze or intimidate them anymore. But they couldn't help but admit to themselves that they would rather be anywhere else but here, in this room, with them.
The Godaime's right hand woman for decades and unparalleled poison expert.
Danzo's former go-to enforcer and top Root operative.
The world's most renowned strategist who keeps an Akatsuki member buried alive in his backyard.
The last surviving Sharingan and Rinnegan wielder, and former criminal that once threatened the stability of the shinobi world… at 15.
And the future Hokage, nine-tailed jinchuriki, and savior of the world.
The room was a ticking time bomb of some of the most powerful and influential shinobi on the planet. Prodigious. Lethal. Irate.
Thank Kami the Godaime was absent.
"What the hell are you saying? This is a stupid, shitty joke and you're lying—"
A deafening silence met his tirade.
This conversation was way above their pay grade. And frankly, they were outmatched by essentially every other occupant. It wasn't due to their lack of ability, but rather everyone else were aberrations.
Complete freaks of nature.
"—How did this happen? In a hospital? Why wasn't she saved?!"
Shizune, who stood against a wall, still in scrubs that were a deep burgundy from dried blood, was the first to finally react. Turning her head away in shame, she attempted to blink away tears.
Noticing her distress, Shikamaru attempted to interject, "Naruto—"
"No," the blonde snapped. He wasn't in the mood for platitudes.
Sighing, he attempted to interject once again, "Look—"
"I want fucking answers—"
A cold voice sliced through, "Calm down."
Shizune harshly sucked in air. Sai tilted his head, contemplating on whether to get involved.
Whirling around to the Uchiha, "Don't tell me to 'calm down'! She can't fucking be dead—"
"She's dead. She's gone. Losing your shit isn't going to bring her back."
The ANBU tightened up with nervous anticipation.
"FUCK YOU SASUKE! This is Sakura-chan, how can you just stand there like it's nothing? Like she's nothing?!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes with disapproval. Here they go. This was a familiar dance between the two. At each other's throats when they were overwhelmed with emotion. Both itching for a confrontation that would leave them bloody and battered. Anything to distract themselves from the reality in front of them.
"Don't," glowered Sasuke as he took a forceful step forward.
Undeterred, Naruto mirrored the posturing, "Do you even care, you heartless bastard?! After everything? After she loved—"
"Don't."
Sai wordlessly stepped in between the two with twin tantos at their necks, just as Shikamaru subdued the fuming weapons of mass destruction with his technique.
"Save your lovers quarrel for later," Sai chided.
"Stay out of this, asshole," Naruto hissed, "This is between me and the bastard."
Cocking his head at the blonde, "This involves all of us, Dickless. You're not the only ones that cared about Ugly—"
"Don't call her that—"
"—Not everything revolves around your stupid little homoerotic rivalry—"
"I'll kill you."
Turning to the Uchiha, "Go ahead and violate your probation. Throwing a temper tantrum is what you're good at, war criminal—"
That's when a shadow enveloped Sai's mouth and locked him into place.
"Mendokusai… you three really are the worst," drawled Shikamaru as he strained to keep everyone from acting on their aggression.
Throughout the terse exchange, he noticed that Shizune had slumped down against the wall, utterly exhausted. His eyes then briefly fell to Kakashi, who stared intently at the floor, completely detached to what was unfolding in front of him. Although known to be aloof and cool during immeasurable chaos, something was off. This wasn't aloofness. No, this was something he never observed before in this man. Defeat. Under normal circumstances, he would have been the rational one, settling down his unruly team. Or if Sakura was here, she'd…
Right.
These were extraordinary times.
Grudgingly, he took the lead instead.
Continuing his scolding, "Sai, stop antagonizing them. Sasuke, stop using being a callous asshole as a coping mechanism. And Naruto, you do need to calm down."
Naruto deflated slightly while Sasuke scowled in response. Sai remained immobilized.
"Now, I'm going to release you, so behave. Or you can deal with Tsunade-sama when you inevitably further destroy the hospital."
The ANBU yet again tensed at the mention of the Godaime as she had left a rather strong impression on the force during her tenure. As Shikamaru released his technique, the remaining members of Team 7 all took a step back from each other, though still eyed one another with frustration and anger that masked their collective sorrow.
After a moment, the strategist attempted to steer the conversation, "We're clearly still in the beginnings of an investigation, but what do we know happened, so far?"
There was a moment of silence before Shizune started with the basic facts, "Sakura-chan was watching over Byakuya-kun in the ICU. There was an explosion. It was chaotic and it took a while to find them. We rushed her into the operating theater and I…"
"You did everything in your power to save her," Shikamaru said reassuringly.
Nodding, her voice cracked as she trailed off, "I tried so hard..."
"But she had the seal?" Naruto asked aloud in confusion, "I thought that made it impossible for her to die?"
"Certain conditions must be met. And she completed hours of extremely complex surgery and could have been severely depleted of chakra… she could have—"
A screeching voice from down the hallway cut her off.
"Where is she?! You fucking liars, take me to her now— Forehead?!"
"Yamanaka, get your ass back here!" barked Morino in the distance, "That's an order!"
"Take your order and shove it up your ass!" she screamed over her shoulder, "Where is she?!"
Shikamaru groaned at the arrival of his teammate.
A long, blonde ponytail frantically whipped around the corner. Storming into the room, she skidded to a halt as her face flushed red and chest heaved.
"What the hell is going on?" she demanded.
The ANBU stiffened up once again at the unexpected presence of the Head of the Analysis Team. Both were intimidated by her prowess with extraction – or in blunter terms, hellish mind fucking. It was required for all operatives to undergo 'resistance to interrogation training' and under her tenure the force was experiencing some of its' highest failure rates ever. Dropouts had loudly protested that her methods were unhinged and unrealistic – no one could possibly be tortured like that. She always countered that they were 'a bunch of weak ass bitches.'
And Morino always trusted Ino's assessment.
"Ino, not now."
"Yes, we're doing this now. Everyone is freaking out and crying! Why are they saying Forehead is dead? I don't believe it."
"Believe it," Naruto said humorlessly.
Focusing her wrath on the fellow blonde, "Are you trying to be funny?!"
Sai intercepted his partner in a tight hold as she lunged at his teammate, whispering in her ear, "I'd rather not have to break you out of Blood Prison."
Locking eyes with her lover, she momentarily calmed down before her gaze drifted to the other original members of Team 7, "And where the fuck were all of you when this happened?!"
Sasuke merely sighed.
Bristling again, Naruto snapped right back, "Where the fuck were you?"
Kakashi didn't even seem to notice her.
Sputtering slightly, "I was—"
"It doesn't matter," Shikamaru interrupted, "Everyone was exactly where they needed to be, doing what they needed to do. No one could have predicted this."
Kakashi slightly shifted at the word 'predicted,' the first actual reaction from the man throughout this entire ordeal. But before he could continue that train of thought, Ino made one last plea out of denial, "Tell me it isn't true, Shika."
With as much empathy as he could convey, Shikamaru replied, "It's true."
"Stop lying."
"I'm not lying, Ino… I'm sorry."
"No… no no no…" she wept as the blazing fire within her was extinguished. Crumpling to the ground, Sai hugged her as she crouched down into a ball.
Suddenly, an intimidating presence was felt by all.
Tsunade emerged at the doorway with an annoyed scowl, "What's with all the goddamn racket?! There's enough shit going on without all of you bickering! This is a fucking place of healing!"
The Godaime had arrived.
Taking one quick glance around the room, she barked out, "Shizune, you're needed in OR3. Move it."
Snapping out of her stupor, Shizune quickly stood up and rushed to the door. As she passed her mentor, Tsunade gave her a quick nod and reassuring squeeze to the arm.
There was more work to be done.
She turned her attention back to everyone else, before homing in on Kakashi. A wave of sympathy passed through her as she stared at the resigned man. And then impatience began to bubble. This wasn't the time to start mourning. The brat needed to lead and she sure as shit wasn't going to step in.
"Hokage—"
"Just Kakashi."
Rolling her eyes, she tapped her foot impatiently as she tried again, "Kakashi… what are your orders?"
All eyes turned to the man.
Kakashi opened and closed his palms a few times before slowly raising his head, seemingly emerging from a stupor.
After a minute, a small sigh escaped from him, "Naruto, meet with the clan heads. They'll find your presence reassuring. At the very least you and the Hyuga's will balance out any temporary hysteria."
Naruto nodded as he stood at attention.
"Tsunade-sama, Ino-chan, get the kid awake and talking. We need to know what happened in that room."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Ino croaked out as she aggressively wiped away tears and smudged mascara.
"Frankly," Tsunade replied while gesturing in the direction of Sasuke, "We should bring this brat too, in case genjutsu is involved."
"Do it."
"Kakashi—," started Sasuke.
"Is it more urgent than this?"
The raven-haired man stilled before moving his head in the negative.
"This takes priority. You can brief me in the morning," he said with finality before turning to the last of the group.
"You two," he waved at Sai and Shikamaru, "Lend a hand with the investigation team. Make sure they don't miss anything."
Both men nodded in confirmation.
"Let me know as soon as you have any updates," he commanded before pausing.
He really wasn't cut out for this.
"Dismissed."
They didn't anticipate that the room would be sealed by a four-point barrier, heavily guarded by Morino's most zealous squad who intimidated hospital staff and prioritized 'the mission' above all. Upon entering the isolated room, they also didn't expect a frail boy to be shackled to a hospital bed with the chakra-draining restraints used on convicts in Blood Prison. A clipped conversation between the squad leader and Tsunade resulted in his head smashed into the floor. Unsurprisingly, Morino was abruptly summoned.
Negotiations commenced.
Morino demanded that the barrier and restraints remain due to the potential security risk.
Tsunade's counteroffer was to shove her foot up his ass.
It quickly regressed into a dick swinging contest between hospital and national security protocol, with a pointed reminder that someone was no longer the Hokage and a threat that someone was going to find their entire force not medically cleared for combat. Much to everyone's astonishment, it was Sasuke who entered the fray as the only person who didn't report into either of them… and the only person who didn't give a shit.
After a curt reminder of the current Hokage's orders and that they were both wasting time, a compromise was found. The final agreement was that the restraints stayed, but they were downgraded to those commonly used for psychiatric patients. And Tsunade was to take full responsibility if another incident occurred.
After the delay, Tsunade, Ino, and Sasuke found themselves standing over the unconscious child. Numerous medical machines were hooked into his body, peppering the already limited real estate on his small frame. They deliberately beeped and whined with an unnerving consistency – their noise amplified in the sterile room.
The Godaime hovered a palm over Byakuya's forehead.
"He is fine," she said mostly to herself, "In a purely physical sense at least."
Sasuke and Ino stood patiently in silence.
Tsunade proceeded to gently open each eye, skimming light from a small flashlight at each unresponsive pupil. After finishing her initial assessment, her hand stretched out expectantly at Ino.
"Can you pass me his latest brain scans and EEG results? They're in the chart next to you."
Sasuke focused intently on the child. His Rinnegan suddenly ached.
Rapidly flipping through the documents, amber eyes narrowed, "What the hell?"
"What is it, Tsunade-sama?"
"How long has he been unconscious?"
Opening the patient file, Ino scanned the detailed notes, "Only for a few hours at this point."
"His brainwaves are similar to long-term comatose patients."
"Long-term?"
"As in years, or decades."
"What?"
Pressing onward, "Can you take a peek into his mind?"
Stepping forward, Ino cracked her knuckles, "Yes, of course."
"Need one of us to catch you? It seems unnecessary to have you risk a concussion."
"Oh! No, this is different. I've de-risked most of my techniques anyway."
Framing her fingers into a rectangle, she hovered them over Byakuya's forehead and took a deep breath. A minute passed. And then another… and then another.
Gritting her teeth, "What the hell?" she exclaimed while dropping her hands.
"What is it?" Sasuke finally spoke. Or more like grunted. For some reason he felt uncomfortable.
"I don't know… I've never seen this before. Even with highly trained operatives who are actively trying to keep me out, their minds are always structured. Hallways. Doorways. Or places like a beach or forest. There's always something to grab onto. There's never just… darkness."
"What do you mean?"
"It's like a thick, impenetrable haze. Everything slips through my fingers. I can't get past it. I can't get my bearing. There's nothing for me to latch on to or pry open."
"Do you think it's genjutsu?" Tsunade probed.
"If it is, it's really weird. And it's really fucking with his… aura."
"Aura?"
"I've spent quite some time with Byakuya-kun and have become very familiar with his chakra signature. It has always been a bit melancholy, but still warm and vivid. If I had to assign a color, it's like a pale turquoise."
"And now?"
"It's just endless… black. Dull. Nothing…," Ino trailed off as she stepped back.
Sasuke stiffened.
"Well," Tsunade sighed, "We got one play left before I order a whole new battery of tests. You're up brat."
His feet wouldn't move. Something within him insisted on caution when approaching the unconscious boy.
"Go on, be useful for once. You're the one with the miracle eyes or whatever the fuck," Tsunade goaded at his hesitance.
"Hn."
Sasuke stepped deliberately toward Byakuya. He had yet to turn on his Sharingan. It didn't feel like the right move. His gut told him it would be pointless. Lifting the bangs over his left eye, his Rinnegan methodically roamed up and down the kid.
"Are you just going to stare at him menacingly?" Ino snarked.
He ignored her. The throbbing in his Rinnegan worsened. A tight feeling in the pit of his stomach emerged as he registered what was before him. There were remnants of revoltingly sinister chakra exuding from Byakuya's head and each gate along his chakra pathway.
Fuck.
This didn't seem like genjutsu.
This seemed like possession.
"I see something. I'm going to try to wake him. Be prepared."
Tsunade stood on the opposite side across from him as Ino braced herself at the foot of the bed.
"Tsunade-sama, lift open his right eye for me. And can you brace his head. I'm going to try to break through and I'm not sure how it'll react."
"What do you mean break—"
"What do you mean it—"
Tsunade and Ino asked simultaneously.
"Just do it. Now."
Despite their dirty looks, they both complied.
Dropping his head downward, Sasuke hovered over the sickly pale face of the boy. As his Rinnegan connected with the lifeless grey iris of Byakuya, the air in the room immediately shifted with a huge pulse of chakra.
There was silence, except for the steady beeps and whines of life supporting machines.
No one moved.
Just as they were going to write the attempt off, the heart rate monitor exploded with panicked, accelerated beeps. Byakuya slammed open his eyes as a piercing scream erupted from his mouth, startling all. Violently thrashing, the restraints cut deep into his skin. Chest caving upward, his limbs twisted and contorted as he struggled to break free.
Tsunade quickly scanned his vitals while pinning his arms down, "Shit, his heartrate is through the roof."
He wailed, "Kill me. Please. Please kill me."
"Kid it's okay, you're safe! You're in the hospital—"
The restraints snapped and he began clawing at Tsunade. His pale face anguished and streaming with tears.
"How the hell is this kid so strong?! Ino, get lorazepam."
"No no no, it's coming. It's coming."
"What's coming," Sasuke demanded.
Before Ino could inject the syringe into the IV, he grasped her wrist to stop her.
"Sasuke-kun, we need to sedate him now!"
"Not yet," he snapped before turning back to the frightened child with a much softer look on his face, "What is coming?"
"No no no, I can't," he sobbed.
"It's okay. You can tell us. What's coming?" he insisted.
"Brat, he needs to go under now—"
Harshly gasping for air, "Nothing. Nothing. Nothing is coming."
And then grey eyes rolled to the back of his skull as he passed out. The tension eroding from his face, yet sedation did not grant him peace.
"Goddamnit Ino—"
"His heart rate was over 220, he would have died!"
"You don't understand, he said it was 'Nothing'," Sasuke retorted, "How long is he going to be out now?"
"Four to six hours."
"Fuck," Sasuke muttered before storming out of the room.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Ino yelled after him.
Tsunade sighed.
Fuck her luck.
Village lights sparkled as the dark hues of late evening settled into the skyline. It was cold on the rooftop, with a chill that cut straight to the bone. An even breath materialized in front of him, suggesting an indifference to both the frigid night and the events that just transpired four levels below. Yet as his hand gripped the metal safety railing, knuckles white from the strain, it was clear that he was not indifferent.
Rather, Sasuke burned with overwhelming frustration.
What the hell was going on?
Nothing. The kid said 'Nothing.'
His mind rushed with the potential implications. How eerily connected everything seemed.
And Sakura— fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck.
He slammed his eyes shut, briefly overwhelmed with emotion. Then a faint aroma alerted him to the presence of another.
Not bothering to turn around, he murmured in acknowledgement, "You still smoke?"
The sound of a lighter clicking twice was his answer.
Shikamaru's slouchy silhouette settled next to him, exhaling a thick, white cloud.
"Heard you stormed off before giving Kakashi-sama an update."
Ah, shit. That completely escaped his mind. And he really should talk to Kakashi now, but about what exactly?
"He sent you to find me?"
"Hardly. I'm not sure if he even— he's been a bit—," Shikamaru stumbled through before groaning aloud, "I ran into Ino on my way up. I just needed the break. I'm completely fried from traveling non-stop from Mist and babysitting tonight."
"Hn," Sasuke responded to the dig, though inwardly he couldn't fault his… colleague? They were never really comrades, or friends, though he respected the strategist's rationality and intellect. And despite all his rather notorious and prolific transgressions, Shikamaru never seemed to judge or hold it against him.
"It's nice up here," he shrugged before muttering mostly to himself, "Even with your brooding ass attitude."
The tension in Sasuke's shoulders faintly eased. Snark he could deal with. Snark was comfortable.
A moment passed between them.
Sasuke had slightly mellowed out over the past couple years, however his temper, while not as bombastic as his blonde teammate's, was equally as easily triggered.
Treading lightly, Shikamaru rolled the dice, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss. Sakura was…"
"Annoying."
Choking abruptly, "That's uh—," he coughed loudly a few times before sputtering out, "Not the word that I was going to use—"
"She was annoying," he repeated.
"Oi, isn't it too early to be speaking ill of the dead—"
"Annoying," Sasuke emphasized in a nonnegotiable tone.
Shikamaru raised a brow, encouraging him to clarify. Unless maybe he really was a cold-hearted bastard.
"How often did she hassle you about smoking?"
Responding with a fond smile, "All the fucking time. One time she punched me in my esophagus as I hide a lit cigarette in my mouth. I was smoking in the privacy of my own balcony."
Smirking slightly, "Ah."
"She said I was a public health hazard and a burden to the Konoha healthcare system."
"She was aggressive and stubborn. She hypocritically overextended herself. She cared too much. She was just—"
Right, annoying.
"I get what you mean now."
"For a long time, I didn't like her or believe in her. Then I didn't deserve her. And now…," Sasuke uncharacteristically trailed off.
"You really miss her."
Eyes marginally widened, "Yeah."
"Yeah."
Silence, and understanding, fell between the two.
"Where were you anyway?" Shikamaru started, "You got back considerably faster than we did. I'd always imagine you were stalking the ends of the earth while on assignment."
"I was already on my way back before I was summoned."
Raising a brow, "Isn't it a bit early for you to swing by?"
"I needed to brief Kakashi on something I found. And it requires the Cryptanalysis team."
Shikamaru turned to him with an interested look, "What for?"
"I think something big is coming."
"What is it?"
"I still need to figure that out," he replied before continuing slowly, "And I might need your help."
Startled by the admission, "That bad, huh?"
"Possibly worse."
"How so?"
Pausing, as if hesitant to even admit it aloud, "I think it has something to do with what happened to Sakura."
"Shit, he's going to… I don't even know anymore."
"He already thinks this happened under his watch and is blaming himself. I don't want to overburden him. I want to come to him with at least something figured out first."
Sasuke owed so much to Kakashi.
"I get it," Shikamaru nodded, "I'll help however I can. Just let me know."
"There is something we can do right now."
"Oh?"
"We need to speak with Hidan."
Smashing the ends of his cigarette against the railing, Shikamaru exhaled loudly, "Fuck."
Where was he?
Kakashi had been on autopilot for hours, what felt like days at this point, of briefings and continuous crisis management. Decades of elite training and suppression of emotions enabled him to process the onslaught of unorganized updates and contradictory pieces of information. It felt a bit like his time leading Black Ops. Autopilot meant being singularly focused and clear, processing information and making decisions within split seconds, with zero room for anything else. There wasn't ever room for emotions. A single distracting, fleeting thought could get your whole team killed, meaning mission failed. And the only thing that ever mattered at the time was the successful execution of the mission.
In the past, regressing to this state was seamless. It should have been seamless today. His mission was clear – securing and stabilizing the Village. That was the priority. Everything else was secondary and he had thousands of people under his command to delegate those secondary things to. Yet it was surprisingly difficult to stay focused and… unaffected. Meetings started to blur together. Sometimes he found himself zoning out. This time his autopilot felt more like a sluggish haze. The constant stimulation and sensory overload were now like being underwater, muted yet all consuming. When things finally started to slow down, he had a moment to stop and simply breathe.
Upon turning that autopilot off, he realized he had subconsciously wandered to an office.
What was he doing here?
Standing in front of the innocuous door, his eyes wandered to the mounted name plate.
'Sakura Haruno, Chief of Medicine'
Ah.
This used to be his sanctuary whenever he needed an escape. Her door was always open to him – quite literally, as she had given him her only spare key that he kept religiously in his flak jacket.
He should turn around and leave. There was no possible benefit in entering and drowning himself in memories. It was masochistic. But an inextricable feeling kept him planted. As minutes ticked by and he found himself in the rare state of indecisiveness, he felt a growing weariness from his detail as they stared at him with anticipation. Is this when, and where, he finally lost it?
Making his decision, he slowly dug into his breast pocket and pulled out the key.
"I need a moment," he said softly.
No further explanation was given or needed. It was well understood that he wanted to be alone in there.
The two ANBU closest to him looked briefly hesitant before nodding and flanking each side of the door. The rest of his detail began securing the hallway, as if they hadn't already combed over every inch of the building a hundred times by now. The practice was protocol and put them slightly at ease. Sufficient time had passed without incident where they could now tolerate having a two-inch wooden door between themselves and the Hokage.
Swinging the door open, Kakashi's legs almost buckled. He knew this would be difficult but failed to realize that her scent would have so potently lingered. Peonies and honey. It made sense given she was a worse workaholic than him and essentially lived in this office. But a scent that he, as much as he tried to deny it, found deeply comforting was instead now haunting. This room that once felt like a sanctuary now felt like a mausoleum.
Mustering up courage, he tentatively walked in and gently shut the door behind him. As gut wrenching as it was standing in this space, he couldn't bear let escape what little essence of her that remained. With time, her presence would fully disappear. He wished he could bottle it up and preserve it.
He so desperately wished she was here.
He made his way to her desk, noting the half-drunk, long gone cold cup of coffee that had a light pink impression of her lips. A bright orange toad figurine sat precariously on top of a teetering stack of papers. There were open patient files, haphazardly written research notes and half filled out grant proposals, and an explosion of sticky notes that peppered the surface of the desk and walls.
A corner of a buried photograph slightly stuck out from underneath the chaos, catching his eye.
He didn't want to disturb the desk, to change anything from how she left it, but curiosity got the better of him. As delicately as possible, he shimmied the photo out of the pile of papers and a defeated sigh escaped him as he realized what it was.
It had been unseasonably warm when this picture was taken last year.
A private, candid moment was surprisingly captured.
Amid firework celebrations ushering in the new Lunar New Year, as the entire Village was enthralled by the incredible display of lights and sounds, both Kakashi and Sakura were engrossed in each other. They stood incredibly close due to the crowd – to hear each other through the noise. They were probably talking about something inconsequential.
What struck him were the expressions on their faces.
It seemed intimate.
Inspecting the photograph further, he flipped it to the opposite side. There was an elegant scrawl on the back.
Just the date… and then a small heart.
Dropping the photograph, Kakashi broke inside a little more. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself to breathe as he hurriedly turned away from the desk.
Which was unfortunate.
For if Kakashi had inspected the desk further, he would have noticed an unusual pattern among the sticky notes. A persistent, singular warning that was repeatedly scribbled out time after time again.
'It's coming.'
And just as he opened his eyes, something drew his attention away from the desk. Based on the flaring chakra signatures and elevated voices, there was a commotion outside.
Stepping closer to the exit, he heard muffled, but extremely persistent yells.
"Hokage-sama! I need to speak with him, this is an emergency!"
"I have credentials, damn it! I work here!"
"Hokage-sama, please!"
As he flung the door open, he saw two members of his detail subduing a distressed woman as they inspected her lanyard. He instantly recognized her as the mortician. Under the warmer and brighter light of the hallway, she seemed even paler. Ashen and white.
Waving his hand for his men to stand down, "What's going on?"
Forcefully pulling her elbow from an operative's grip, "Hokage-sama," she started with a breathless tone, "I'm sorry to disturb you but it's… but it's…"
"It's okay, take a moment."
Shaking her head, "I was finishing up for the night— doing a routine check before I locked up and—" she choked up with disbelief.
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to steady the nervous wreck of a woman. A pale, veiny hand tightly grasped his forearm as she stared up at him.
Pupils blown wide with terror, she finally sputtered out, "She's— It's gone…"
Kakashi filled with dread.
"Sakura Haruno's body is gone."
Hi there, apologies for the delay, hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading and leaving your delightful comments!
And to clarify, the character Byakuya is not actually the same character from Bleach, just his name and appearance are heavily taken from the original character given I'm a huge Bleach fan. In Queen of Disaster there's a Kenpachi character that is heavily inspired by Bleach Kenpachi. I just think it's neat and neither are meant to insinuate the stories are Naruto/Bleach crossovers. Though given Bleach is coming back, I may start writing for that fandom too. :)