Save us...
What was that? Was she going crazy? Had the darkness lifted, just a tad? She thought, if she strained her eyes-
Who killed us? Find them...
-She could almost see something. A creaking sound, faint. She turned around, looking behind her. The creaking noise was all around her, and it was-
Please, keep them safe. nothing can hurt us anymore...
-Getting louder. Light was slowly filtering into the cave, for she knew, somehow it was a cave. It was becoming lighter and lighter, and she became more and more terrified-
What happened to us?
Something was swinging from the ceiling... Four bodies, swinging from the ceiling, surrounding her-
Avenge us, please...
The light was almost blinding, and the voices had grown from whispers to faint yells. She couldn't close her eyes-
A carving into stone-
SAVE US
-
Fade to Black
Chapter Four: Ukiko Clan
Alden-san
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc. All of the characters not belonging to Masashi Kishimoto etc., likely belong to me.
-----------------
She woke, breathing hard, in her dark room. This mission was really affecting her nerves. That dream had seemed so real. She pushed off the covers, and stood, shakily. She walked to the kitchen, and pulled open the fridge to get some milk.
"Sakura-chan?" Her mother called from the hall. "Are you okay, baby?"
"I'm fine, mum!" She called back. "Just a nightmare!"
"Okay, dear... Are you sure you're okay?" Her voice was twinged with concern, as well as the expected sleepiness. She was barely awake.
"I'm fine, mum! Go back to sleep!"
"Okay, honey!"
Sakura sighed, closing her eyes for a second to calm herself down. The nightmare had terrified her... Though it was nothing she hadn't seen just days ago. She needed to calm herself down.
Looking out the window at the darkness, she readied herself some breakfast. In a few short hours, the race to find the murderer, who might not have finished killing, would begin again.
-----
Later that afternoon, Sakura was still shaking from her nightly encounter. Kakashi had talked to her the instant he saw yhe, and she insisted she could handle it. He'd backed down - he trusted her. Now, he was handing out assignments for today.
"Nobody's gone to see two of the victim's families - Uta and Ukiko. Sasuke, you should see the Uta family, seeing as you already checked out their other lead. You're in charge of that strand. Naruto, you'll go with him-"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined. "I don't wanna go with him! What about Sakura-chan!"
Sakura sighed, looking around the room. Why couldn't he just accept a job as it was?
"Sakura will come with me, Naruto, to see Ukiko Aoi. We'll split up, alright? Then, we can go see Suiren-san in the evening. Aoi and Keru need to know about what happened to their children yesterday morning. We sent them a small note with a messenger that we'd come and explain more today. Now, Naruto, Sasuke..." Kakashi made a shoo-ing gesture with his hand. The two left out the back, and he turned back to Sakura. "Now, Sakura..."
"Mhm, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"You have the Ukiko files, right?"
"Mhm. Kakashi-sensei, tell me about the Bloodline of the Ukiko Clan... What is it? Why would anyone wipe it out? I mean, other than just to get rid of the danger of it... And how did such a powerful clan get so wounded in one attack?" Sakura said, rummaging through the files. Kakashi slid out one from the pile, opening it.
"It was a very well planned attack. A group of Mist-nins snuck in at night, somehow - Some say it was a mist-nin with a travel visa who opened the gate - and let them in. They proceeded to the Ukiko Clan Village and snuck through, murdering whole families silently while they slept."
"That's horrible!" Sakura said, looking up at him.
"It was. I was about eight at that time, so I learned most about it when I was older. Researching the old battles for advanced ninja classes. The Ukiko slaughter is a staple study, because it's obvious that the Mist employed ytheir assasins to kill their opponent, but they flat-out refused. Even when presented with the evidence, they refused to admit to it, even if it wasn't penalised during times of war to invade a village to murder sleeping ninja at that time. There were a good number of mist bloodline evidence, too..."
"Why the Ukiko Clan, though, Kakashi-sensei? Was it that important, as to risk that many people, to kill the Ukiko?"
"You see Sakura, only about 30 or less of history's bloodlines are originals. The rest evolved from another similar to it. Pretty much all bloodlines of tofday are traced back to their roots, fifteen bloodlines from three centuries ago. Five were lost without evolving into something new. Two more were lost, along with all of their variations. Two only have few surviving members living. Six families remain pure - The Hyuuga of the Leaf is only one. There were two more recent losses - The Kaguya, maybe two years ago, and the Fuyu of the Mist, I think were lost 17 years ago... Haku, from when we fought at Mist Country, was probably from the last of the Fuyu, actually. Not to mention Clan Wars during the wars. The Ukiko themslves had a brutal fight with the Fubuki clan of the Mist, and almost wiped the whole clan out, almost fourty years ago... Decades before I was born, way back during the wars..." At Sakura's nod, he continued.
"Anyway, the Tamashigan is another genetic mutant from the Byakugan. It was caused when Uchiha Nyoubou married a nameless man, homeless and living on the streets. He picked the name Ukiko, because it sounded nice... Maybe his genes had some latent anamoly, but something mutated the Sharingan. Their child had golden eyes, and his glares were an anomaly. They were, at the time, rumoured to steal the souls of whoever he turned it against..." Kakashi waited as Sakura gasped.
"Y-you mean..." Her eyes were wide, and she swallowed. "You mean their son could.."
"No... The victims were blank-eyed, barely alive zombies, but they woke only hours later, deeply affected by some sort of trauma, a hallucination... At it's most developed, the Tamashigan, as it was named, has killed. Of course, this takes an enormous amount of chakra, and the use of it's abilities eventually wear away the sanity of the user until they are mere shells, to the danger of themselves and everyone around them. Besides, it's a rare prodigy that can use this ability. Maybe not even physically possible for most Tameshigan users."
"That... that's terrifying, Kakashi-sensei. I can see why they would have enemies, I mean..." Sakura stumbled on her words. Kakashi ruffled her hair.
"In the century the Tameshigan has been around, only two have mastered that skill. Ukiko Kinzoku and Ukiko Yagi, two of the most famous ninja in history. This skill also shows itself in the young, peraps around fourteen or fifteen, so we'd know, probably. So don't worry, Sakura, there aren't any nowadays. If there are, it will have to be a latent ability in a younger ninja, or someone would know, right? Anyways, we won't have to worry much about it here. Aoi, the mother, married into the family. From what I hear, she's a crone. Not literally, too young, but definately in spirit. Her son, Ikari's older brother Kurai, is a seventeen-year-old writer who split his familial ties long ago and hates being stuck looking after his mother, now that Ikari is gone," Kakashi explained, pulling his Jounin jacket from the wall.
"Hm..." Sakura packed away the files. "Do you think either of them could have killed Mitsuko-san? I mean... He was a a Jounin, wasn't he?"
Kakashi nodded. "I doubt the old woman or the son could have managed to kill three second-year genin, then wipe out a Jounin. Of course, for all we know, there could have been multiple killers... But neither of these two have any reason to be involved. There was a fair bit of money left in place for Ikari by his father, but he adored his mother and bought her anything she wanted, if he could afford it. He was fond of his brother, too. Ikari was apparently a great kid, the opposite to his rather troubled teammate Urake..."
They were in the street now, speaking in rushed whispers as they made their way down to the Ukiko's little house.
"What was wrong with Urake?" Sakura asked.
"He was a punk. He'd beat up his classmates, even his teacher. Up until he graduated. Then he started to change. People said it was the affect of having to be with the same three people all the time. Anyways, now Aoi and her son live together in Aoi's house. She told him that if he didn't move in with her, she'd leave everything to the Lonely Fox and that would be that."
"Kakashi-sensei? How do you know all these things? I mean, you haven't intervieweed these people yet, and you already know the state of all their affairs..." Sakura asked, looking up at her sensei's masked face.
"I hear a lot of things through imformants around the city..."
"Informants... Kakashi, you mean there are spies who report to you?" Sakura was taken aback. This was something new. She'd known that the Hokage and the people working for him probably had spies in place, to make sure nothing happened to the people. But her own sensei, commanding spies?
"These informants are only here for this job," Kakashi said, and stopped. He turned, and kneeled down to look at Sakura in the eye. "You do know how dangerous a case like this is, don't you, Sakura?"
"There's no way a case about a dead Jounin is a Level C," Sakura answered flatly. "This is, at the very least, a B level... And with those kids dead, I think this is either very high B, or even a low A. Kakashi-sensei... Are genin even supposed to be on such a vital case?"
"Sakura.. I have faith in you three. I wouldn't take a case I thought you couldn't do."
'Thank you, Kakashi-sensei,' she thought as they walked up the steps to the Ukiko house. As Kakashi reached for the bell, the door opened.
"Took you long enough."
A woman was standing there, glaring angrily at them. She was slightly shorter than Kakashi, with faded black hair done up in a bun. She was wearing a simple dress, a floral design - A style for someone much younger than Ukiko Aoi. "Get the hell in here and tell me what happened to my son."
The two followed the woman's brisk pace to the back of the house, and gestured to some faded lawn chairs. She sat down herself.
"Kurai! Get your ass down these steps! Those ninja are here about Ikari!" She yelled up. Somebody slid through the wind, landing on his feet. His knees were bent slightly to minimize impact, so he straightened up when he saw Kakashi.
Sakura scanned him. Long silver hair, a white t-shirt that reached to halfway to his knees, and jeans. Informal wear. Sunglasses. What really intrigued her, though, were the scars across his arm, spaced from under his sleeve to the wrist. He apparently wasn't a ninja, and those were too perfectly spaced to be accidents...
"Sir?" He nodded respectfully to Kakashi, and to Sakura. "Ummm... well... What happened to Ikari? Did... did it happen... Was he in pain when he died? I mean..." He looked at the ground. "How did he die?"
"Your brother... He died quickly. I'm sorry for your loss, both of you," Kakashi lowered his head, and Sakura followed suit. Aoi gave a bitter, humourless chuckle.
"Yeah, sure, Jounin. Just find the bastard who did this, and I don't care if you pissed on my boy's cold, dead body. He's in a better place now, you know," She said, crossing the room and shuffling through the drawer, finally pulling out a lighter and cigarette. Lighting it, she smiled at Sakura's look of shock and raised it to her lips.
"Now, I know you fancy-pancy 'investigators' gotta ask me what I ate for breakfast on my ninth birthday, so let's get this over with. Ta- Kurai, sit down. Now, what do you kids need to know?" Aoi pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at Kakashi peevishly. Her son and guests took seat around the table.
"Where were you, Aoi-san, between 1am and 5am, night before last?" Kakashi asked, bluntly.
She grinned. "This is ridiculous. Anyways, I was asleep. My sleeping pills knock me out all night. Can't account for Tak- Kurai, here, though. For all I would be able to tell, he could have murdered my neighbour, brought his wife here, raped her in front of me, strangled her and burned down the house, and I'd keep on sleepin'. Now, Takeshi, don't you start tut-tuttin' me, there's no point in sugar-coating life."
"Takeshi?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.
The woman smiled. "Takeshi's the name I gave him, but that louse of a father called him Kurai. Damn unsuitable name for a child, but I guess he lived up to it. Such a grouchy boy all the time. Then, 'Ikari' of all things... My husband wasn't the happiest man in the world, you know. What happened to him? Got his throat slit and his wallet stolen in some back alley 'cause he was lazy, didn't take the right streets."
"And you, Kurai... Where were you?" Kakashi asked.
"I was with my girlfriend, Ikuko. Yamaguchi Yukiko. I slept at her place. We were asleep by 2 and woke up at 9. Then, I came home and got to work, alright?" Kurai shrugged, leaning back on his chair.
"What do you do for a living, Kurai?"
"I'm a writer, working on a masterpiece. Gonna blow this whole town outta the water, revalutionize the way of modern thinking. Did you know that the Sandaime Raikage's assasins murdered a man for his invention, to keep it away from the rest of the world? Things like that get out, you know. A little research here and there and you get everything you need," Kurai stood up and walked to the fridge. "Anyone for drinks?"
"No thanks, we're fine. Aoi-san, do you know of any reason someone would want to kill your son, or any of his teammates?" Kakashi looked at Aoi intently. She stared back.
"My late husband's family weren't the most well-liked by a lot of people - incidentally, a lot of people who could kill them. It's lucky you can't harvest a dead Ukiko's eyes, or even living, or else there'd have been a few... donations around," She smiled poisonously, her eyes flickering to Kakashi's hidden one, then to her son. "Takeshi-kun, could you get me some tea? My indigestion..."
"Of course... mother," he said, getting out a mug from a cupboard.
"Now, Jounin, I'm not going to splice words. That teacher, it was his fault, fooling around with his little whore, should've known he was playing with a bit more than fire. I checked into him, heavily, when I knew he was teaching my precious little son," Aoi grinned maliciously. "The pathetic little singer girl? She got honours in every ninja class, a prodigy of her damn age group. Graduated two years before schedule... A year before your 'esteemed' Jounin friend, and she a year younger than he was! I bet he dumped her, and the little slut got him back good. Or his dancer ex-wife, that Kimikaru girl... Didn't know about her, did you? A little marriage a few years back, then it ended ugly when she and his best friend got... intimate. He dumped her hard, annulled it completely without her permission... And I'm betting she weren't too happy about that, were she? Oh yeah, that was a happy little story. I know the dirt on anyone, Jounin, the stuff you can't find anywhere else."
Kakashi looked at the woman, sincerely surprised. this was a side of Nori that he hadn't seen... and of Suiren. Was it, could it be true? These were things that he couldn't find normally, not knowing to look for them. Now he'd be able to check it out.
"It that so?" he asked, in a mildly interested tone.
"Mhm. It really hurts that my kid's related to hers, too. Her kid is the son of my late... husband's nephew, Mitsuyoshi. That kids was a star, shame he got mowed down. But that's how you ninja are, right? Good at dying, mhm..." she stood. "I believe I have an appointment with my late husband's family..."
He stood. "Thank you, Aoi-san, and Kurai, for letting us take up so much of your time. I may need to speak to you again at a later date, but otherwise, I guess this is goodbye. Sakura..."
Sakura stood, grabbing her jacket. She bowed, and thanked her hostess and her son. Kurai touched his sunglasses in salute. "I'll be seeing you, kid."
----
The four had gone to Kakashi's house, the most comfortable for all of them. It was an interesting place, not strange, but interesting. They could have had fun wandering around, if not for why they'd went there in the first place: To discuss their mission.
"So... suspects for Nori are his annulled ex-wife, who I found out is named Kimikaru Harume, and Kumono Suiren. Both have opportunity, but only Harume has foreseeable motive and only Suiren, maybe, with the skill to maneuvre such a murder... Suspects for Sakujna, bare. Father and maid have no alibi, but the maid's completely useless in the fight and the neither has a reason. Ikari, no real leads - Brother's alibi needs to be checked, but he has no motive, probably not the skill to carry it off and a smooth alibi. Urake, gambling man is still a suspect, but not a very strong one. His thugs could have completed the deed, but I think it would have been made obvious to Keru who the focus was. So..." Kakashi hung his head. "We're missing something, I know it. I still believe that Nori was the focus, the crime was so... so personal..."
"Mhm, Kakashi-sensei, that's completely right. Sasuke-kun, what do you think?" Sakura asked Sasuke, smiling at him. He sighed.
"The wounds on Mitsuko obviously point to him, but I'm having trouble accepting that at face value. I know there aree still things missing..." Sasuke pondered, closing his eyes. "Hey, Naruto! What do you think?"
"Huh, what? Sasuke, you're asking me?" Naruto was taken aback, looking at Sasuke with an eyebrow raised.
"Just answer the question, dobe."
"Heyyyyy!" Naruto whined, then stopped. "I think... I think it was the gambling man. Iwaruko..."
"Iwamoto..." Sakura groaned, hitting Naruto lightly over the head. "Why, Naruto?"
"Instinct..."
"Knew it," Sakura rolled her eyes.Then she stood, looking at Kakashi to ask, "Popcorn? Fat-free, or light or something?"
"Upper-right corner cupboard, Sakura... Now..." Kakashi shifted through the files. "Is anyone going to check out Yamanaka Keitarou's family? There's a lead we forgot to check earlier..." Kakashi said.
"Kakashi-sensei, tell me more about the Ukiko Clan! Maybe I'll understand that horrible woman a bit more!" Sakura yelled from the kitchen. After a few beeps from the microwave, she made her way into the kitchen.
"Okay, Sakura! The Ukiko Clan- Hmmm?" Kakashi looked over his shoulder.
Someone was pounding on the door.
"Wait a second for that answer, Sakura..."
Kakashi stood, and walked over towards it. It was rather late... Who could it be? He opened the door, and his eyes widened. Kameno Riku was standing there, tears running down her face, with a teenage girl. The girl was about Kakashi's height, with long black hair and a familiar face. She spoke, looking into Kakashi's visible eye.
"Are you the Jounin involved with my sister's death?"
Kakashi nodded.
"I know the guy who killed her. It was my cheating bastard of a father... and it's all my fault..."
--- End Chapter Four ---