Naruto's eyebrow twitched. It's been several hours since he met the older ghost in the library...and he was still following him.
He didn't know what to think of the ghost. Although there was something this feeling deep within his stomach that threatened to come out.
Oh...that's what it felt like to be annoyed.
He shivered. Apparently He didn't know how to keep his distance so he was constantly cold.
The man in question had long spiky whitish hair pulled in a ponytail cascading down his back. His eyes a deep dark grey having a sort of oval shape. When he would have an idea those same grey eyes would shine just a little brighter, almost like twinkling. He had some wrinkles around his eyes, making Naruto think he smiles a lot.
He wore a standard Jounin uniform with some flecks of blood on and near his neck. Overall everything about him looked average. He just looked like a typical Jounin of the village.
He didn't seem like the angry and foul ghosts around the village, but that didn't mean anything. A lot of people came across as kind and casual then stab you in the back.
When in the library, the man seemed almost...bored. Naruto knew what that was like as when he usually began to feel bored he would prank others or try to annoy them. Naruto then and there decided this guy wasn't as scary as he thought. So Naruto helped turn the pages as requested. After that he was free to go and will probably never see him again.
For a while nothing on the earlier pages seemed to interest the older man. A lot of the stories were simple one was about how the Inuzuka clan rescued dogs from the pounds or wild and we're providing homes. There was also a small article about the Hokage and a secret draw in his office that nobody is able to find, rumored to have hidden treasure. Naruto thought that was ridiculous and laughed.
It wasn't until page 8 that Hatake-san perked up and leaned forward in interest. He looked at the page and read the title. Murder or accident? A man's body was found outside the Hokage tower-.
Why was Hatake interested in that? He was already dead, why did he want to read about other deceased people?
He decided to read the article.
At 5:30 a.m. an employee of the Hokage Tower coming in from the west was on their way to work when they noticed a man sitting in an awkward position on a bench in front of the building. Going to check if the man was okay saw blood and immediately called the authorities.
The man; now identified as Yamamoto Shun, (refer the photo above) was found with a severe wound on his stomach and received a blow to the head. No eye witnesses saw the man arrive at the tower. The authorities speculate the man was murder based off the autopsy report.
Yamamoto left behind a widowed wife and daughter-
Funeral services will be on -
The article ended there.
It was not a long story, but Natuto did find it strange. The building always had someone in and outside of it, as he would know. The likelihood that the body wasn't found before 5:30 is odd. Something else was strange about it too, but he couldn't put his finger on it. So, he didn't think too hard on it, not like it was his business anyway. He wouldn't get anything out of it for meddling. But...Hatake-san seemed invested in it.
The man had his eyes narrowed and was hunched over the table concentrating deeply. Instead of wondering why the article was important, Naruto was just thinking if the ghost could feel back pain.
Probably not.
He figures the Uchiha Police Force will figure it out pretty quick. They were fast and efficient in what they did. Even he has been caught by them a few times when he pulled his pranks. The chief now knows him by name personally. He hasn't done anything in a while to warrant being taken in, so he wonders how the old geezer is doing.
Maybe he should say hello.
Right now though after being in the library for the past hour he wants some fresh air. His eyes also needed a break or he feels like they will fall out. He looked beside him to see Hatake-san still looking at the paper.
Naruto pushed his chair back and got up stretching his limbs. Sakumo's eyes moved towards him and he stood up erect as well.
"Were you done with the paper?"
He wanted to clean up the table and leave. Maybe he would go train a little.
"Yes, I am finished."
"Thank you for doing that for me." He smiled at him kindly.
Naruto, not used to compliments, rubbed the back of his head bashfully.
"Eh-no problem old man, if that's all I'm gonna head out."
He didn't receive a reply but assumed that was a goodbye from the man, so he put the books back on the return cart and left the building.
A few minutes he feels a sudden bout of cold. He shivers and begins to frown.
Another minute goes by and the cold doesn't dissipate. He clenched his hands and his eye twitched. Suddenly an idea pops into his head and Naruto books it.
In passing he saw several villagers (and ghosts) give him strange looks as he ran past them weaving through the large crowds and trying to give the white hair man the slip. He came to a halt near a back alley.
He didn't feel cold nor did he see the ghost around him so he counted his victory. With a grin he continued on his way. Even though it was hot outside he wanted to train a little since the final exams of the year were coming up this week so, with those intentions he made his way to a training field.
He checked to see if the area was empty. There was a single lingering spirit in the nearby trees staring out into the forest area. He made a point to not interact with the ghost, it didn't look friendly. He thought he was far enough away to avoid disturbing the spirit.
Naruto started on some light stretches to begin for the afternoon. A few minutes passed in this fashion until he began to practice his kata's.
Kick...punch...step….repeat.
The sun was high up in the sky and Naruto during his Kata's noticed a few birds passing overhead. He heard the usual sounds of the outdoors that he found relaxing. This field was pleasant in that there was a decent source of water a dozen feet or so. The memorial stone was also not far from his location.
He has been to pay respect to the fallen heroes in the past. The Old man Hokage once brought him here after he said something disrespectful about some shinobi. He never said anything bad about any ever again.
Sometimes he liked to think his parents were on the stone. Died as heroes like the Hokage told him.
He did find an Uzumaki Kushina listed and wondered if they were related. He thought about asking the Hokage, but refrained. He didn't want to be lied to again.
Settling into his next set of Katas he started to breathe heavily. That's when he heard it.
Grunting.
There was a sound of groans and grunting coming his way. Starting quiet at first but gradually getting louder.
Naruto froze in his movements.
He thought he was far enough away from the ghost, he didn't even look in that general direction to gain it's attention. The cold feeling that came with being around a ghost came over him.
He closed his eyes and slowly walked towards the other end of the training field.
The cold never dissipated.
He heard his name being called, and in surprise he stumbled on his feet and turned around. Not only was the forest ghost nearby (aimlessly walking around to not be a problem.) but so was the Hakate ghost..
Great.
He's back.
He breathed in deeply, relieved it wasn't the other one.
Earlier he hoped he had ditched him but somehow he found him. He mentally sighed, what did he want now? He didn't think he had anything else to offer the ghost, but he guessed wrong.
His eye twitched again. The jerk looked amused at his tripping. He wished he could psychically touch him so he could smack him around. Although he probably wouldn't be able to do much at his age and height.
He glared at the ghost with what he thought came across as scary, but in reality he looked like a dirty, ragged drowned kitten. The white hair man just laughed, bringing his hand in front of his mouth trying to hide the fact.
He turned away pink coloring his cheeks.
He was glad nobody else was around to see him glare into an empty space. They would think he was crazy.
"Why are you following me?" He was still glaring at him. He must have purposely tried to scare him, the jerk.
He looked him straight in the eye. "I would like your assistance on something."
Again?
He didn't want to.
"I believe we may be able to benefit from each other Uzumaki-kun."
Benefit? He was 7 for kami's sake, what could he gain from him? He asked as much. Might as well get this over with.
"You see, I was a Jounin before I...died." he stopped for a second then continued.
"As a Jounin you meet people, do jobs...follow the rules... and you learn to look underneath the underneath."
Naruto wrinkled his brows at that and was a little confused at where this was going.
"Because of my training and being able to look underneath, I see that something is wrong with the village. I feel that it has to do with that murder in the newspaper we read earlier."
While he was talking, Naruto had his glass raised both his eyebrows in disbelief.
"Okay?"
Sakumo sighed. "What I'm getting at is I can't interact with other living people. You on the other hand are able to see and talk to both dead and alive for some reason. I am unable to protect the village or my son I left behind. I don't want to remain here living the rest of these prolonged days in regret."
His grey eyes took in his face. "Will you help me protect everyone?"
Naruto's mouth dropped and openly gaped. That is a lot to ask for. He would love to protect the village too, as his goal is to become Hokage. He didn't know about his son, but whatever. Doubt crawled into mind. What could he truly do? He's a academy student with minimal training and too young to do anything. Also not to mention that most people tend to Ignore or ridicule him.
What was this guy expecting?
"I don't know, it sounds really dangerous." He'll be blunt about it.
"It will be, I won't lie to you. This is important though and you wouldn't be alone."
He thought it over in his head. This could be a chance to become a hero he always wanted to be. Maybe the Hokage will be so impressed he'll hand over the hat right away.
First he wanted something in return.
"I'll agree on one condition." His face turned sly. Out of the corner of his eye the forest ghost walked through a tree grunting loudly.
"You help me train and study for school. I have an exam this week and the academy is on its last week before break and then we start back up in September."
Sakumo turned thoughtful but nodded and held out his hand.
"You have a deal."
He flinched when he grabbed the spot his hand would be. Darn it, he would have to get used to being cold.
.../.../.../.../.../.../.../
Naruto ended up staying at the field for another hour finishing his exercises. They grey haired ghost even gave him some good advice on his Kata's. Afterwards Naruto and his new companion left. Naruto liked to think he was smart, but he thinks that the whole solving murders thing is going to go wrong. Why did he have to be the one to see ghosts?
He sighed. No use whining about it, nobody listens anyway.
Naruto glanced beside him on his right. He supposes he should be calling him Sakumo-sensei now. Thinking about it, maybe he was too hasty in agreeing to help. He didn't know who this guy really is.
He seemed intelligent though, being able to look underneath the underneath. Or so he says.
Naruto didn't know where they would start on this little mystery. They couldn't go and question the authorities (UPF) and they didn't know the names of the family or the employee that found the body.
They could go to the funeral, but that would be in bad taste. He thought that would be wrong to do, even in the name of justice.
So they were stuck basically, unless Sakumo-Sensei picked up an idea.
It's not like they could talk to the dea-
Oh...he was an idiot. He mentally slapped his head. How he forgot that when he was walking next to a ghost.
They had the answers right here in Konoha. The man that was supposedly murder was somewhere in the village. This might be easier than they thought. He smiled to himself. The Yamamoto guy should be able to provide the answer to who killed him. Right?
Sakumo noticed his smile and raised his eyebrows.
"What?"
He didn't answer him as they were now out in the open with many people milling about. Naruto ducked into a nearby alleyway and Sakumo followed.
"I suggest we search for Yamamoto-san first before we do anything." If they were going to do this they better do it now. Monday was just around the corner and that meant going back to the academy to study and do the final exam.
Sakumo nodded. "I was going to suggest the same. We can probably find him since we saw his picture in the paper."
He agreed. "Do we want to split up?"
"Yes, we can cover more ground that way, I'll take the northern direction if you want to go south."
Naruto thought that would be good. The guy was freezing to be around. "Yeah, okay."
"Where should we meet back up and what time?"
He thought they could probably meet at the same training grounds before the sun completely sinks.
They came to an agreement and departed.
.../.../.../.../.../.../
Where was this guy? Seriously, It's been a few hours since he started his ghost hunting. Yet nothing! He doesn't fully know how the dead work and operate, but he thought with being a week dead that he would be wandering about somewhere.
Did he ever manifest as a ghost, or did he disappear like Saori and Kagome?
Both would mean that Sakumo and him have hit their first dead end. It's been a couple hours and the sun has already begun to set in the sky casting a pink and orange glow to the village.
He was too scared to try to ask the ghosts for help. When he did get close to any they were the more hateful ones that tended to stare and yell at him as he walked by. They kept spouting nonsense about him being a murderer. He sighed. It was time to meet back up with the old ghost like they agreed to.
He hoped Sakumo had better luck than he did and found the other spirit.
He didn't.
Naruto hung his head and hunched forward.
In the field they sat down in front of each other.
"I didn't find Yamamoto-san, I fear he may have passed on." A strange look came over his face when he said that, but he smoothed out his look and continued.
"I did find out a few things though, but I would like to hear how you did first."
Naruto shook his head gently.
"I didn't have any luck either. He was disappointed that he didn't find Yamamoto. He didn't like feeling like a failure or that he didn't do enough.
Sakumo gave him a soft smile almost as if he knew what was on his mind. "That's okay. This is a lot that I am asking of you, but believe it or not I do need you Naruto-kun." "You are the line between the living and the dead. I don't know why, but I believe it's fate that drove you and me to meet."
Naruto gaped at him. He supposed he was the only known person that could be a waypoint between the two "worlds". To believe in fate though was a little ridiculous to him though. He mentally grimaces at the thought.
What really astounded him was the fact that he was needed. There was a warm feeling in his chest bursting to come out.
"Okay, what else did you find out?"
"Do you still have the paper from the library?"
Naruto pulled it from his pocket. The paper has seen better days. It was crumpled and torn on some spots from being inside his pants.
"The article mentioned a family. A widow and young daughter."
Naruto remembered that information.
He continued. "I was going to find out where they live and see if we can go see them. There is also a possibility that Yamamoto-san spirit made his way to his home."
He could see the logic in that, but there was a problem.
"Um...I'm 7.
Sakumo's eyes lit up in understanding.
"Well I suppose that means I'll have to start training you then."
Naruto perked up. He wondered what he would teach him. He was a Jounin so that had to mean something, right?
"Have you been introduced to the Henge yet?"
In the academy they have been told the brief overview of the three main Ninjutsu, but will not start to learn them until next year. For now they are only discussing the benefits of the jutsu's and the hand signs which in his opinion is boring.
He replied. "I know what it is, but have not been taught it yet.
"While I search for an address you will be training in the Henge for the next few days. I hope you are a fast learner Naruto." He smiled at him.
This time though it wasn't a good feeling when he looked at him smiling. All he felt doom.
.../.../.../.../.../
Four days later and Naruto realized something about his new Sensei; the man is a slave driver. He was harsher in practice and study than any of his other academy teachers. Although if anything he would probably be the most ready by the time the exam rolled around.
His self-deemed Sensei had him go to the library on his own and study for several hours about the chakra exercises and the uses and benefits of chakra. Which okay, he can put in some reading so as to comprehend the jutsu better.
Then had him do physical exercises 3 hours a day and they were the most labor intensive exercises possible. By the time he was 10 seconds into the training he was exhausted.
Afterwards he would have to go and practice hand signs for 30 minutes or until he seemed worthy of finally molding his chakra like how it said in the books.
It was four long days, but he did it.
He was able to perform a henge, maybe not as perfectly as others, but it will do for their purposes.
It seems while he was training, Sakumo was busy too. In the last four days he snooped around and found the address of the widow and daughter.
He found it by hanging around the morgue and funeral home. So now with a direction in mind they can finally try to get some answers.
.../.../.../.../.../.../
An hour later after discussing what questions they should ask they were standing in front of the Yamamoto household. Sakumo to his right and Naruto, now temporarily called Ankoshi Yuugen is using a henge to look like an average 20 some year old man. He now had dark rich brown hair and slanted black eyes, he was wearing average brown pants and a light colored shirt. Typical clothes you would see on a civilian.
He thought he looked a little too average, but couldn't do much more detail. He'll have to work on his henge some more.
Naruto glazed at the house. The door looked like it was freshly painted with modest flowers in the small humble yard. It seemed they were recently potted and watered. Overall it looked friendly. Hopefully everything would go well and they could see Yamamoto Shun.
Sakumo put his hand through his shoulder to get his attention. He shivered.
"Yeah, yeah I'm going to knock."
He lifted his hand and knocked three times in rhythm.
Naruto listened for any movement inside. He doubted they would be out anywhere, considering the murderer could be interested in hurting the rest of the Yamamoto family.
He finally heard some muffled footsteps that came closer to the door. The door was opened by a small child who he assumed was the daughter. She looked up at him in suspicion with her eyebrows arched downwards and her lips set in a frown.
"Who are you?" Her voice was high pitched and curious.
This was it, no turning back now. "My name is Ankoshi Yuugen, is your mother home?"
She was about to answer when the voice of her mom came from another room.
"Tsuna, I told you not to answer the door." She sounded frustrated and nervous.
The daughter now known as Tsuna looked down at her feet a little bashfully.
"Sorry."
Her mother sighed and came fully to the door after telling her daughter to go to her room. She was a beautiful woman with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Smooth unblemished and tan skin greeted them. She didn't smile at him, but she gazed and narrowed her eyes like her daughter in suspicion.
"I am not interested in any interview for your paper, please leave me and my daughter alone." She was glaring now at him. He noticed she shuffled her feet into a odd stance.
Okay.
Lucky for her, he wasn't working for the paper. Just partnering with the ghost next to him.
"Naruto, tell her we were assigned to her husband murder case." Sakumo interjected.
"My name is Ankoshi Yuugen, I am working on your late husband's case, may I come in so we may talk?"
He hoped he sounded mature and adult like.
She still looked angry and suspicious, but nodded her head and backed up to let him in.
"Go to the room on the right and I'll right there. I'll get us some refreshments."
Tsuna followed her mother into the kitchen on the opposite side of the home to where the kitchen was. When he watched their retreating backs he noticed the mother had an almost unnoticeable limp.
He went to the room and instantly felt colder than before.
His eyes instantly darted to the corner of the room where a worn and cared for piano rested. Standing next to the instrument looking out a window was a woman.
when they came in she turned to face them. She was an old woman with pale skin and stark white hair that hung loosely on her shoulders. Her eyes that were once a brilliant vibrant green were now glassy. Her wrinkled face was sunken in making her look ill and worn. A frown was permanent on her face.
Naruto instantly felt unnerved by her. She clearly knows that Naruto can see her and Sakumo is standing beside him staring between her and him. He was worried she was one of the angry ghosts that he had come in contact with before.
Or worse like the one in his apartment.
Sakumo first spoke.
"I'm Sakumo and this is Naruto, we're here to help in figuring out the murder of Yamamoto Shun."
At the name her face that was already set in a frown sank further making her wrinkles more pronounced.
"Are you related to the family?" Sakumo was tense like he was after asking his question. He must in his own way feel the negativity emanating from her.
Naruto started shaking a little from fear. It's been almost 2 weeks now since he started seeing ghosts, but he still knew nothing about them. Saori and being with Sakumo taught him a few things, but nothing really. He didn't know what this old lady would or could do.
He needed to do more research or experimenting.
She opened her mouth. Her voice was deep and mature, yet he heard the clear anger in it.
"Regrettably, yes."
She came from the window and sat down on a nearby chair.
"You want to solve the murder of my son?" She spit out the word in distaste. "Don't waste your time on that nonsense, he deserved what was coming to him."
She started muttering hateful things about the man and cursing his name.
Naruto was shocked. What a horrible thing to say, and about her own son at that. What has he done to deserve it? In the back of his mind he thought maybe she was the one that deserved death.
He shook his head at that.
Sakumo briefly looked back at him and back to her.
"Did his spirit ever come back here to this house?"
She looked at Sakumo in distaste.
"No, I have been fortunate to not have to share living space with him since then."
Naruto braved his question. "What did your son do, why do you hate him?" He wanted to know why she hated her child. He thought parents were supposed to always love their children.
He thought about the name on the memorial stone. Uzumaki Kushina.
If possible she looked even angrier than before.
"My son is a no good, idiotic, lying, bumbling fool." She spit out the words. "He was always talking about his big latest novice invention, saying how it was the one that would change everything. Knowing my son they ultimately always fail." she looked away from them briefly with a angry shaky voice. "He always fails
Naruto and Sakumo looked at each other.
"He fails to understand the importance of full responsibility for anything. He inherited this house and money from his father upon his passing away and he squandered it all for this failure of a project and for his drunken habits." She muttered some more words they were unable to hear, although he probably didn't want to hear it.
"He used up the money, Rika was angry, so he was going to take the deed and sell this house, he put it in his work bag." She shook with fury, her eyes glazed over dimmed. She screamed loudly and wailed holding her hands on her head. Her body was twitching madly and she darted to the window they originally saw her at.
Naruto and Sakumo jumped in surprised and backed away from her immediately. The room filled quickly of a cold and dark presence. Naruto was shaking himself in badly in badly suppressed far. While she continued screaming and twitching, Sakumo was in front of him shielding him from her view. He was a little shocked by that and grateful as well.
It seemed the protection was unneeded as a few seconds later she seemed to come back to her senses. The tense dark feeling in the room disapated. She blinked her eyes slowly and turned looked at them.
She muttered some words, Naruto only caught a few in between; "Sell...house...liar...useless...my home." It seemed they weren't going to get anymore information from her and they watched warily as she drifted off into a different room of the house,
He could tell Sakumo was unnerved. He had his hands clenched and his kind looking face was set into a deep scowl.
By this time the widowed wife came into the room looking at Naruto strangely. (He was shaking and staring where the ghost was previously at with lingering fear.)
"Is everything alright?" She asked him slowly.
Naruto waved her off saying he was fine (he was not) and sat down in another chair in the room. Naruto put his focus into the woman in front of him.
While he still was filled with fear, he also felt a little awkward. Oddly enough this was the first living person in almost 2 weeks that he is having a real conversation with. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing yet.
He offered him tea, which he gratefully took. "I never introduced myself. My name Rika and the young girl you saw earlier is my 5 year old daughter Tsuna. What did you say your name was?" she questioned him.
"Na-." He almost screwed up and said his name. "I'm...Ankoshi Yuugen, I am assigned to your husband's case."
She was watching him closely. "I thought the Uchiha police force were the only ones working on it."
He swallowed heavily. He was screwed just like he thought he would be. Sakumo who was watching him nodded to him to continue.
"Yes, but I work independently on cases that interest me."
He was proud of his answer and smiled inwardly.
I was interested in your husband's st-." He was interrupted.
She was glaring at him again, shaking a little from what, he didn't know. "You know you can cut the bull, I know you're in a henge. I can feel your chakra circulating strongly."
She continued while he inwardly panicked. "I highly doubt you will give me your real name so answer me this; What do you really want?" "Are you really a writer for the paper, a gossip, bored?
Crap.
His previous confidence quickly evaporated.
He sighed, he was told before that he was a terrible liar and besides he couldn't think of any excuses.
Before he could answer she asked him another question.
"Are you involved with his death?" She was shaking again but with what he now recognized as fear. She was afraid of him. He now noticed that her hand was consistently under her thigh touching what looked like a small piece of metal.
This wasn't good at all. He needed to do something fast.
Sakumo was now by his side looking at him worriedly. "Naruto, why don't you-." He didn't let him finish his sentence.
"No, Yamamoto-san. I cannot tell you who I am, but I promise you I am not involved in the death of your husband." He hoped he sounded sincere.
Nothing about her body language changed. Sakumo looked like he was going to try to continue whatever he was going to say before.
Naruto pushed on. "I just want to help and learn the truth."
She shifted a little. "Why?"
He sighed and could feel both occupants of the rooms eyes on him. "I love Konoha and everyone in it." Which was true even if they didn't care for him. "I want to protect everyone and that means starting here." "I want to find out why this happened and stop it from happening again." He tried conveying what Sakumo told him a few days ago when he asked for his help. Thankfully it seemed to have helped cause he loosened up slightly as the brief glint of metal disapeared.
"Alright." while she looked like she didn't fully trust his she looked ready to answer some questions. He mentally cheered inside.
"What do you want to know?" she asked.
The next 15 minutes were simple questions about where he worked, what he did, and if he was a sociable person, etc.. Sakumo and Naruto now knew the man used to work for a new up and up coming science based company called Reiki. He was an inventor and was hard working, staying late and getting ahead. Just getting those few answers they both felt like they were getting somewhere.
Although Naruto was curious about something she said earlier.
"How did you know I was in a henge?"
She looked at him after drinking some of her tea.
"I, at one point used to be a registered ninja." She sounded nostalgic. "I was a sensor, that's why I noticed your chakra right away."
He should have guessed some previous training. Sakumo beside him nodded thoughtfully. "Why did you stop being a ninja?"
She took to swirling her tea around and sighed softly. She decided to share.
"I got injured during the last war." She slightly put out her leg.
He thought he noticed her slight limp earlier.
"I was pretty young at the time, but was one of the most promising genins that graduated and sent into war." She looked slightly upset.
"I wanted to go back into the fight after I healed, but I was told my leg would never heal properly." She clenched her hand around her cup. "My ninja career was over and I still feel I was unable to fully serve my village."
"I was useless." She muttered the last part.
Naruto didn't fully understand, but looking at Sakumo it seemed he did. He probably knew people that experienced the same thing or maybe it happened to him. Naruto suddenly wanted to know more about his ghostly partner and teacher.
It seemed Rika wasn't finished yet.
"I actually met Shun not to long after that." She bitterly smiled at them.
"I was 18 when we met at the hospital actually, he had sprained his wrist and I was getting a check up on my leg." She sounded wistful and smiled gently.
"He found me and asked me out after his appointment and of course I said yes."
She began to frown and look at him directly.
"Shun was a very kind person, so I don't believe he had any real enemies. He wasn't a ninja and was nice to everyone he met." She looked down. "Now he's dead and me and Tsuna are left with no answers."
He believed her. He wanted to know something though.
"Did Yamamoto-san act... weirdly lately?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Yes." He perked up and listened carefully.
"For the past week he was coming home later than usual. He says he was staying late at work and finishing up things, but I didn't believe him." Rika frowned further. "He seemed nervous and stressed lately, sometimes when we were outside he would constantly look over his shoulder." "Whenever I tried to talk to him about it he would get angry and yell at me."
"Even out daughter Tsuna felt the shift in her father."
Rika's eyes started to mist over slightly and she quickly rubbed her eyes. Naruto felt uncomfortable watching and turned his head away for privacy. She sniffed and coughed into her hand.
"I wish I knew why this all happened, so I sincerely hope you find out what happened to him." I know the authorities are working on it, but I feel they don't fully care."
She looked at him and grabbed his hand. Her hand was warm.
"Ankoshi-san, even if you do not find the truth, I want to thank you for trying."
That seemed to be the end of the conversation.
Naruto nodded to Rika and stood up. Rika followed.
"Um...If we...I mean I need more information may I come back?"
Rika readily agreed, shook his hand, and guided him to the front door. Behind her now, stood the old granny with her scowl on her face and mumbling incoherently. It was time to leave.
Sakumo and Naruto left the Yamamoto household behind.
.../.../.../.../.../.../
Naruto and Sakumo stood again in the empty training field from earlier and were sitting across from one another. The forest ghost he saw before nowhere to be seen. He slumped forward in exhaustion. Holding the henge was difficult. There were times that he thought it would break, but luckily did not.
"So he was acting strangely?" Sakumo muttered to himself.
"Yeah, that's what she said anyway."
Sakumo sat up straight and looked at him.
"That's good to know. It could mean a few things for us." He put up one finger. "A possibility is that he is being blackmailed." a second finger went up. "It could also be that he made enemies with the wrong people." a final finger went up. "Or he is being stalked for an unknown reason, of course there could always be another reason, but this is what first comes to mind."
Naruto was impressed by him Being able to come up with theories like that, he was glad he was with him. Could Naruto dare think of the man as a….friend?
Maybe.
"What was up with the mean old ghost.?" She really had unnerved him with her hateful words and looks. The negativity she radiated was horrible.
Sakumo grimaced at the question
"I am not one hundred percent sure, but It wasn't anything good. The good thing though is that she wasn't completely useless."
He agreed with him. He was still left feeling unnerved and also disappointed that they didn't get more information from her, although like Sakumo said; she wasn't completely useless.
They did figure out through her that he was in the middle of inventing something and spent all his inherence money on it. Obviously he was unable to complete his project. They also now knew that he had inherited the house from his father and was planning on selling the house or doing something with it. He had like the ghost said, had put the deed into his work bag. Where that bag was they didn't know.
It left more questions than answers; answers that would be left for another day.
Hopefully they could help Rika and Tsuna feel at peace in the end and figure out this increasingly difficult mystery.
Naruto decided to ask the next important question.
"What's next?"
Sakumo smiled at him and they began to plan.