The Calling

By ShinobiSpirit

It's funny how patterns can be deciphered in the most unbelievable circumstances. Kakashi, kneeling in front of a victim, examined the intricate waves of the torn flesh—it was like an artist had taken his time to make each cut precise, every curve a beautiful arch of crimson delight, using a human body as his canvas—and it disgusted him. Could Sakura be the one?

'That's easy,' he thought smugly as he stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. 'No, this is definitely not her doing.'

Unfortunately, however, there was no way to prove otherwise. No one had been allowed to see Sakura for the past three days. The Hokage remained silent and dormant, saying nothing of the situation and giving Kakashi no clues to his pupil's whereabouts.

"All I can tell you is that she is in the best hands I could manage," the Hokage had said when Kakashi approached him. "But I'm afraid no one is permitted to see her at this time."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Kakashi closed his eye and rolled his shoulders back.

"Kakashi-sama," a subordinate called.

"Mn?"

"I think we found something, sir."

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The sun was setting by the time the Hokage returned to his quarters, exhausted and over-stressed. He had been to more court hearings in the past three days than he had in his entire career as Hokage, and he was downright tired. However, the moment he stepped foot inside the hall leading to his room, a shadowed figure stood at the end, leaning against the wall on his left.

"You look a little worse for weather this evening, old man." The figure said jokingly.

The Hokage grunted and said in a raspy voice, "Akimoto."

"Ah, come now, you know you can just call me Aki, Hokage-sama." He said gingerly, shifting his body from the wall and approaching the shorter man with his hands characteristically folded behind his back. "Plus, I've come to take a huge weight off your nimble shoulders."

"Lucky me," the older man coughed into his hands. He shifted and stepped past Akimoto, heading for a door to his right. "You mind if we discuss this in my office?" He asked sarcastically, already pushing the door open and disappearing inside. Aki followed him in and closed the door behind him, taking up post with his back against the hard wood. When the Hokage was comfortable in his chair behind the large wooden desk, Akimoto cleared his throat and began in a more serious tone.

"I'll be straight with you," he said, eyeing the older man behind a curtain of bangs. "I've come in regards to the events perspiring exactly 79 hours ago."

"I assumed as much." The Hokage said after a puff of his trusty pipe. "But if you're looking for a bounty, the suspect isn't up for g—.."

"Haruno Sakura didn't kill anyone." Akimoto interrupted. "Not that I need to tell you that, but I'd like you to reconsider your method of persuasion. If she stays at that 'camp' for too long it'll cause serious damage to her mental well-being."

Bowing his head, the Hokage's eyes studied the designs carved into the surface of his desk. "She's not conscious yet. By law, a trial cannot be held until she's present and aware of what's being said. There's still time, so why don't you tell me why you're really here, Akimoto."

He blinked at the older man's statement and a smile passed over his lips. "You know as well as I do who the culprit is, as if it wasn't made obvious by my presence alone. Old age often coincides with memory loss, but I didn't think it was possible to forget my backstabbing little brother." Aki said the word 'brother' like a bad taste in his mouth, but continued when the Hokage met his eyes. "Yes, that's right, Obunai isn't dead like we all thought."

"Impossible," the Hokage said in disbelief, his hands pressed flat on his desk. "Obunai's body was found five years ago in the Yakumi River and disposed of. I saw to it myself."

"After everything you've witnessed in regards to Orochimaru, I'm surprised you still use that word." Aki scoffed and tilted his head back to rest on the door. "I can feel his every move even now, but he's mastered the ability to mask his location from me. Let's just say he's more alive than you think, and he has a set purpose in mind that's not far from Orochimaru's own plans." He smirked boyishly and looked at the Hokage out of the corner of his eye. "You have quite a few powerful enemies, Hokage-sama."

"It seems to be becoming a trend." He remarked dryly and rubbed at the base of his temples. "But how does—.."

"Sakura have anything to do with the destruction of Konoha?" Aki finished for him. The smirk dropped from his face as he moved over to stand in front of the window adjacent to the Hokage's desk. "Not much of anything." He said apathetically. "It's more of what's inside that he's interested in using."

The older mans shoulders sagged just a bit. "I was afraid of that." He said openly, bringing his hands together in front of his face. "At first I wasn't entirely positive of why Sakura had been mixed up in Orochimaru's plans during the Gatsua Island incident. Now it's all starting to make sense."

Aki nodded and turned to look at the Hokage with a slightly sympathetic glint in his dark green eyes. "He tampered with the lock and now the cage is beginning to open. It's not completely out of character for him, since Sasuke isn't falling for his seal as he had previously planned, and Naruto obviously won't join his little posse. Sakura, however, is a lot more fragile, emotional, and an easier target. It's no surprise Obunai thought the same." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "The problem is, neither of them took into consideration the consequences of their actions, and now it's a threat to everyone."

"Obunai's plan wasn't to frame Sakura for murder, then." The Hokage said with realization evident in his tired eyes.

With another nod, Aki turned his back to the older man and crossed his arms against his chest. "He used them as bait to provoke the monster still trapped in its cell, like a kid sticking their hand inside a lion's cage. As to whether it worked or not is something we'll have to monitor, but for the time being I'd like to have access to Sakura as soon as possible."

Looking distraught, the older man stood from his chair and held his pipe in the palm of his hand as he spoke. "As much as I would love to know how you came across all of this information, Aki, I'll discard my suspicions for now. Not because of who you are, but because I care about the people of this village—including Sakura—despite what lies beneath the surface, which is why I'm now releasing her into your care."

Aki spun on his heels and bowed gratefully. "Thank y-.."

"Under one condition," the Hokage interrupted.

Emerald met solid blue in a wave of perplexed confusion. With a quick puff of his pipe, the Hokage cleared his throat and said, "She is never to set foot in this village until I am a hundred and ten percent positive she can control every aspect of what has been forced upon her."

Blinking, Aki straightened and sported an inquiring expression. "You mean, you're banning her from Konoha?" After a few seconds passed, his face contorted into a look of disbelief. "Wait a minute, releasing her into my care? What do you mean by that?"

A mischievous smile appeared on the Hokage's intelligent face. "Old age isn't contagious, Aki. Surely you can figure it out."

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"Kakashi-sama," the subordinate said, motioning towards a specific body separated from the others. "Just above his ear, there's a marking we haven't been able to identify." He looked towards his superior thoughtfully. "We were hoping you could make some sense out of it."

With a slight nod, Kakashi kneeled beside the body and lightly brushed away the hair blocking the symbol carved into the skin. The first thing he found odd was how the symbol was just above the first two or three layers of the skin, which concealed it rather well without the drawing of blood. Second was the location of it; most of the time such trademarks are left out in the open in a more distinct way, signifying a man or woman who counts each kill as a trophy they leave behind. Third was the symbol itself. In all his years of traveling he had never seen anything like it before. What could it possibly mean?

"Any ideas, sir?" The younger man questioned after a few minutes.

Kakashi stood and brushed his hands off on his pants. "Get this mess cleaned up and have the bodies sent in for an autopsy."

"But, sir, we were told not to-.."

"There's nothing left to find at the crime scene," Kakashi said bluntly. "The only clues left to find are concealed in these bodies. Now do as I say." He ordered, and the subordinate hurriedly ran off to gather his crew.

Shaking his head, Kakashi fished out his favorite book and flipped open to his spot, one thought lingering in his mind before he completely tuned into the story…

'I never thought I'd see something like this so close to home.'

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