The Hokage's Killing Intent permeated his office, a promise of violence with no target. It hadn't stopped since Itachi had delivered his terrible news. Behind his desk stood Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzo. With the village in a silent lockdown, it was necessary for the council to be present, in order to have the information to soothe and coordinate the merchant clans, foreign dignitaries, and shinobi clans respectively.
Itachi knelt before them all, masked as Crow. The rest of his team was arrayed behind him—Frog in his customary place at the rear, with Turtle to his right and Hawk to his left. Team Wo and Team Na had already been dispatched to reinforce the village border, while Team Su was tasked with guarding Naruto at the compound. The only other team in the room was Crow's old one. Tiger knelt at Hound's right, guarding his flank, while Horse kept the rear. Crow's replacement, Fox, took his old spot on the left of their formation.
"Team Ro. Team Chi." The Hokage's anger rolled over them all. No one flinched, unmoving in the face of an apex predator. "You are in charge of pursuing Uzumaki Minako and her captors. Ensure one of them remains alive." His voice was the creak of ancient trees, the wind heralding a typhoon. "Kill the rest."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Team Ro will take the lead, with Team Chi as assistance and backup." That dark, wizened gaze, with a rage honed by decades of war, settled on the silver head to Crow's right. "Inu. You know what to do."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
At a passing glance, anyone would think Hound was as unfeeling as the words he just uttered. He acted the role of the perfect ANBU—still as stone, with a deadened voice untouched by any emotion. But anyone who had been in Team Ro could read past the mask. The last time Hound's lightning chakra had been this condensed, he had run for two days straight from the border of Earth to Konoha, a distance that should have taken three. Two days, in a mad dash to save the poisoned Tiger on his back. Horse had to carry Crow halfway through, when his shorter stamina failed to keep up.
It soothed the flutter in Crow's ribs, changing it to something cold and calm. He and Hound had never been particularly close, if only because of the strained relationship between the man and his clan. But Crow respected him, and more importantly, trusted him.
This was the chakra of a man who would not rest until his comrades were safe and sound. He will bring Minako home or die trying.
"Do not overlook the inside of the village," Shimura said suddenly, speaking for the first time since the Council was summoned. "The culprit may be in hiding, waiting out the initial response."
The air around Hound shifted from impatient to distinctly scornful. Tiger's chakra jumped in the silent equivalent of a cringe.
Crow had heard senior captains complain about Shimura Danzo before. Not satisfied with governing ROOT, the shadow of Konoha's shadow forces, the man had been making increasing attempts to meddle in ANBU missions in the past few years. Crow never expected to witness it happen in front of the strongest shinobi in the village, with a fury that weighed a thousand suns.
"Rest assured, Danzo," the Hokage said, that ever-present Killing Intent strengthening with every word, "that my shinobi know how to do their job."
The lines on Shimura's face deepened. But he said nothing more.
"Dismissed!" the Hokage snapped.
As one, Team Ro and Team Chi shunshined out of the room.
The streets around the twins' apartment were deceptively empty. Crow counted two Uchiha MPs through the windows, while murmuring further inside hinted at a third, talking to the apartment manager. As far as he could tell, those were the only people his father sent to investigate. He approved. Even if the lockdown confined the civilians to their homes, it didn't mean there were no prying eyes eager to figure out what the fuss was all about. The MPs' discretion meant that any gossip would stay contained for a few more days, at least.
Hound motioned for him to take point. Crow glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. So he wanted him to take care of the officers while Team Ro went straight to investigating, then?
Understood, Crow signed. Honestly, he couldn't even begrudge the man his impatience. It hummed in his veins as well, tempered only by the steady patience of a smith controlling forge fire.
Frog dropped down at their team's prearranged signal, grabbing the attention of the two MPs inside the apartment. Fox's curiosity shivered in Crow's senses. He ignored it, sending Hawk and Turtle to search the perimeter. Hound signaled his team to follow after Frog.
Because of Crow's shorter stature, most of those he met while masked were put off by his height first, and its implications second. He was content to let the older Frog be the face of their team, while he gathered his own information and made decisions from the shadows.
From Hound's lack of reaction, he understood. Maybe even approved.
Below him, cousin Sho gestured towards the corner where the building kept its trash. Crow landed, just in time to hear him say, "—haven't touched the body."
Crow's head snapped towards the trash pile.
Splayed on top like a broken, discarded ragdoll was the corpse of an ANBU agent. Dried blood stained his slit throat, spilling over his Rat mask.
The message could not have been any clearer.
Hound's subsonic growl vibrated in Crow's bones. He reined his own anger—and Sharingan—in, pushing back the vivid memory of Rat's larynx peeking out of his skin.
"Based on the blood left behind, Nezumi-san was thrown or moved from the tree." Sho gestured towards the lone tree on the other side of the tiny yard. A tick jumped in his jaw, his own anger buried deep.
"How many people covered this area?" Hound said.
"Just me." Sho was Uchiha through and through. But Crow doubted that Hound needed an expression to understand the silent I'm not stupid hidden in those two words. Investigators knew better than to muddy the scents in a crime scene by letting half a dozen people tramp through it.
Hound turned on his heel, motioning to the rest of his team. "Good," Frog translated. "We'll take over from here." His posture gave nothing away. Let Sho think Hound's impatience was normal ANBU brusqueness.
Out of his cousin's sight, Crow twisted his index and middle finger together and flicked them twice.
"If you have any other information…" Frog tilted his head. Sho nodded, getting the hint.
"This way. My team will have more to report inside." He led the man into the building, leaving the back door propped open in their wake.
Tiger was already at the tree, ostensibly examining the blood staining the trunk. He pressed his hand against the bark. A flicker of Crow's Sharingan revealed his chakra sinking into the tree's roots, searching for loose earth and other signs of tunneling jutsu.
Hound crouched over the body, his gloved hand moving refuse out of the way with care. Fox and Horse darted towards the roof, getting a bird's eye view of the area.
Crow approached the twins' apartment, scanning the two windows facing the yard. The one looking into the kitchen was closed. Dishes from last night were still on the drying rack, while the pot sat upside down by the sink. Naruto's gigantic stuffed frog slumped in its seat at the dining table, waiting for the twins to come back home.
The bedroom window was open, just as Naruto had said. Evidence of the boy's panic littered the scene. The cabinet to the left had been thrown open, clothes yanked to the side. One of the pillows had slid off the bed, with the blanket on the complete opposite side of the narrow room.
Crow activated his Sharingan, examining the wall and ground below the window. No tracks were left in the mud. The windowsill showed no scuff marks, not a single sign of forced entry.
Polite footsteps approached him from behind. "Nothing's amiss inside the apartment," Shisui said. "We've checked."
His hands hung at his sides, visibly empty. He had found the time to change his shirt, while a weak genjutsu hid the scorch marks on his flak jacket. His presence alone eased some of the tightness in Crow's chest.
"The only fingerprints on their bedroom window are the twins'," he continued, coming to a stop beside him. "And Naruto-kun said there was nothing else out of place when he woke up. It's as if she left of her own free will."
Hound stiffened.
"Uzumaki Naruto reported his sister's nyctophobia," Crow said, for Hound's sake. "He claims he would not have left without someone to accompany her."
Shisui crossed his arms. "So she must have seen something that made her open the window."
Hound stalked over, interrupting them. They stepped aside, letting him examine the area. He sniffed once, twice, then shook his head. He slashed his hand across the air, the only sign of his frustration. Target not found. No hostiles.
Crow frowned. The trash would have muddled any incriminating scents on the body, but the window itself should have held more than that. To seal their own scent was to be expected, but even Minako's?
A subtle pulse of chakra drew their attention to Tiger, who also signed, No hostiles found.
Which meant whoever had taken Minako hadn't passed through the ground in their escape.
"Were there any traces of chakra found in the area?" Crow asked. Shisui's eyes narrowed.
"Not that I know of," he said. "But I can ask Sho."
Crow tipped his head in a silent request. With a nod, Shisui disappeared.
Not all Sharingan were created equal, just as not all Uchiha excelled in the same thing. There were those who could track the movement of a kikaichu from ten feet away. Others could see chakra flow in detail, fit to rival their Hyuuga cousins. The reason Uchiha Sho rose so rapidly up the ranks of the Military Police was his sensitivity to chakra. He could see chakra left behind by jutsu use, an invaluable trait in crime scenes where the possible culprit had been trained to leave no evidence behind.
Fox reappeared, dropping to one knee. "Taicho," she called. "We found another body."
Hound whirled to face her. As one, Team Ro disappeared. Crow resisted the urge to follow, merely noting the direction they had gone as he waited for Sho.
His cousin came out soon enough, Sharingan already red and spinning. Sho looked over the window, frowned, then leaned closer. Shisui stayed by the door, hip against the frame. Frog came to a stop in front of Crow. With the hand resting on his belt, he shared the important details of Sho's report.
No evidence found. No witnesses. Priority: classified information.
Understood, Crow tapped against his tanto's sheath. He shoved down his building frustration. Outside of the usual crime scene investigation, the Military' Police's standard procedures wouldn't work here. Interviewing the neighbors could only get so far when you didn't want to spark gossip about the local jinchuriki.
Which was why ANBU had been called in.
"Tch." Sho rose from his crouch, scowling. "There's traces of chakra here," he gestured at a space four inches below the windowsill, "but it's very faint. Nothing more than what someone would use to tree walk, and nothing we can use to track them."
"But can that prove there was someone there?" Shisui asked.
In this, at least, Sho's nod was decisive. "Assuming they were crouching to look into the window, we're looking at someone at around average Konoha adult height."
Which meant absolutely nothing, other than someone or something trained in chakra had prompted the open window. Crow nodded.
"Thank you, Uchiha-san," Frog said. Sho waved it off.
"Go get the bastards," he said, tone fierce. Frog's chakra fluttered, mirth and agreement in one.
Shisui's gaze met Crow's across the yard. For a split second, Crow became Itachi, peering out of a mask that hid even his eyes from the outside world.
And still, Shisui seemed to know exactly where he was looking.
Shisui dipped his head. Crow returned the gesture, a reiteration of this morning.
As one, he and Frog shunshined towards the roof. Team Ro had situated themselves in a loose circle, with Horse and Fox murmuring to Tiger, while Hound crouched over the body.
Snake had died quietly, perforated under his chin and into the brain. The culprit had left his corpse in the shadow of the locked door to the stairs, allowing an excuse to why the MPs hadn't noticed it.
The sight made Crow frown. No ANBU agent would be killed so easily, or so cleanly. Their killer would have had to get very close without alerting him first.
Hound rose to his feet in one, fluid motion. He circled the roof, sniffing. A low growl of satisfaction left his lips.
As one, the ANBU on the roof snapped to attention.
"You have a scent?" Crow asked. Hound's sign of affirmation was almost careless. It didn't take much imagination to see his mask baring sharp teeth.
"We're going ahead," he snarled. "Catch up." In a blink, Team Ro was gone, tracking the scent over the rooftops.
Thinking fast, Crow flared his chakra. Immediately, the rest of Team Chi returned, kneeling on the concrete.
"Nothing out of place within 20 meters, taicho." Hawk reported. Turtle nodded his agreement.
"Noted." Crow pointed at the corpse by the stairs and the one out of sight. "Frog, Turtle, take the bodies to T&I for further analysis, then report our findings to the Hokage. Hawk, with me."
"Hai!"
Last year, Frog might have balked at his command, or Hawk would have said something disparaging. Not anymore. Any doubt about Crow's capabilities as a captain was gone. They darted off, a well-oiled machine built from blood, duty, and months of putting each others' lives in their hands.
The culprit's trail led to a cave off the far bank of the Naka river. The distant waterfall pounded in Crow's ears, an ominous drumbeat. Not even a mile away was his and Shisui's usual meeting place, and he cursed the fact, even if he wouldn't have had any idea to search here without Hound's lead.
Their group fanned out. Horse and Hawk disappeared into the twilight, off to secure the perimeter. Fox perched on a small stone shelf above the entrance. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, ready to cut someone down at a moment's notice. Heading inside, Hound took point, with Crow and Tiger taking up the rear.
Dark red spilled across the shadows of the cavern, a macabre juxtaposition against blue kitty pajamas. Black ink crawled over thin arms and a round cheek, blending into the markings on her eyelids like a sickening blindfold.
Minako lay still. Too still for someone asleep.
A pillar of wood cracked across Itachi's path, stopping him and Hound in their tracks. Tiger, his chakra jumping in agitation, shook his curled index and middle finger in their direction.
TRAP.
Crow—Crow—shook his head, shoving the lump in his throat down, down, where it couldn't impede the mission. He focused his spinning Sharingan on the ground, Hound's growl reverberating around the cave.
The seal drew a half-finished circle around Minako's splayed body. Straight lines crawled down her arms and legs, connecting to the base design. He caught the symbols for "control" and "release," but couldn't decipher anything else.
Reluctantly, he stepped back. This was Hound's purview, not his. Fuinjutsu was a complicated art that not everyone had the creativity for. Without a Seal Master to teach them the intricacies, most shinobi resigned themselves to learning patterns and familiar designs. The seal didn't glow in his sight like an active seal would, and looked unfinished to his untrained eye. But for all he knew, there was a trigger to activate the seal, somewhere within the inky parody of a broken plate.
Hound circled the seal, his anger filling the air with static. Trusting him with it, Crow turned his attention to Minako. Now that he was in control of his own impatience, he could see the faint rise and fall of her chest, with the Sharingan's aid. Too slow, too shallow—but there.
He breathed out.
The state of her chakra was more concerning. It flowed along her system in gentle waves, instead of the torrent of energy he was used to feeling from her. The waves fluctuated in a way that clearly marked a strong genjutsu, but the pattern…
Crow's eyes narrowed. Foreboding crept up his spine.
The pattern was familiar. Too familiar.
Abruptly, Hound stopped. "The seal is worthless," he snapped. Pressing his hand against Minako's shoulder, he held the other to his chest and said, "Kai!"
Crow caught the stutter in her chakra, as Hound's stabbed through the pattern the genjutsu had forced it into.
Minako flinched. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Naru… to?"
Hound slid his hands underneath her, lifting her into a more upright position. She struggled, too weak to do more than flail in his grip. Hound caught her hand before she could hurt herself on his armor. Her heart rate spiked, a hummingbird's flutter in Crow's ears.
"No… no… Naruto… Where is… I need… Naruto…!"
"Uzumaki Naruto is safe." Hound's words fell on deaf ears. Her gaze flickered around the cave, panicked and unseeing.
"Naruto!" The cry wasn't even loud enough to echo. "Naruto!" Her next spasm almost sent her falling out of Hound's arms, the man too afraid of hurting her to tighten his hold.
Instinct and a half-baked suspicion made Crow step to the side, into the breeze entering the cave.
Hound twitched, but Minako—Minako's head snapped towards him, the rest of her freezing in place. Her panting slowed, until she shook with little, hitched gasps.
Crow stepped closer, keeping his movements steady and predictable. Her eyes never left him, the blue all but disappearing under her dilated pupils.
She raised a trembling hand. He held out his. The moment her fingers brushed the skin of his palm, she hiccuped, and twisted out of Hound's slack grip.
For the second time that day, Crow was pinned down by an armful of Uzumaki. It was like embracing a block of ice. Goosebumps rose on his skin as she buried her face in his collar, her breaths puffing against his neck. Quickly, he made the sign for katon jutsu against her back, where Hound could see.
"Naruto?" she whispered.
"Safe," he replied.
With a sigh, she went limp.
Hound hadn't moved. His bone-white mask stared him down, the sealed eye holes hiding whatever thoughts whirled in his mind.
"She's too cold," Crow snapped.
That broke through Hound's daze. He glanced up at Tiger, who dashed out the cave without another word.
Crow wished, not for the first time, that Tiger's kekkai genkai wasn't as resistant to fire as it was. It would have been helpful in their missions to the north. It would be priceless here. He did his best to cover Minako with his arms, but there was little he could do with his armor in the way.
Then there was a puff of smoke, and Crow was surrounded by several wriggling bodies of various weight and sizes. Wet noses nudged him this way and that, snuffling in worry. He had to sit down, or be bowled over.
A tongue brushed over his hand. He stared at the greyhound. Uhei returned his gaze, lips drawn in an unrepentant a doggy smile.
It was working, at least. The ninken's heat was almost sweltering in the damp cave. Minako began to shiver as warmth returned to her limbs. Crow wondered at the odd sight they made—an ANBU agent and eight dogs, crowded around a single, unconscious child.
Hound stuck his head outside the cave and began snapping orders at Fox. Tiger returned, carrying a standard ANBU cloak. He had to help Crow wrap it around Minako, when the dogs refused to give an inch.
Soon enough, they managed to come to an arrangement. Crow had Minako bundled against his front, shielding her from the wind. Any of the bigger shinobi would have been a better choice, but when they tried to transfer her to Hawk, she tensed. Still operating on Crow's suspicions, they had decided to keep her with the most familiar scent and left Crow to it.
Hawk and Tiger would take point and rear respectively, while Uhei and Bisuke stayed hidden, guarding their flanks. As soon as their group deposited Minako in the hospital, Crow would send Turtle and Frog to backup Hound, Horse, and Fox, who were to continue investigating the cave.
Pakkun settled on the cave floor. The rest of the dogs unsummoned themselves, too disciplined to protest. Uhei wagged his tail goodbye before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
A hand on his shoulder stopped Crow at the entrance of the cave. He looked up at Hound, expecting a last-minute order. Instead, Hound gently tugged the cloak further over Minako's head, tucking her loose hair out of sight.
Crow's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. The out-of-character action only served to further the suspicions he had buried about the Uzumaki twins. After all, he knew who Hound was. He knew who had taught him.
And in the distant past, he still had a memory of deep red hair and an unbridled laugh.
With a nod, Crow and his team leapt into the trees.
All in all, the mission had taken less than twenty-four hours. If it weren't for the culprits still at large, it would have been an indisputable success. Minako was safe and sound.
And yet, the ANBU team were still restless. Tiger glanced back over his shoulder, to where they'd left the rest of Team Ro, while Hawk kept scanning their surroundings.
Questions rattled around Crow's skull. Where were Minako's kidnappers? Why did they just leave her? The half-finished seal implied that something had drawn them away, as if the ANBU had arrived while they were gone.
Crow didn't believe they were so lucky. And there was that pattern to Minako's chakra…
Perhaps he was mistaken. If Crow had truly recognized the pattern, so would Hound. It was one they were both intimately familiar with. He'll confirm with him later, when they regroup. Just to be sure.
Shaking his head, Crow put on speed, trying to outrun the foreboding creeping up his spine.
A/N: I had a terrible week, so y'all are getting an update early coz we deserve it. Btw, for those who haven't noticed, I put up a quick drabble series of an RWTBD AU where I explore what would have happened if Kushina lived to take care of the twins. It's super indulgent, don't take it seriously. Read it if you want some comfort feels :)
Can you tell why I took so long to write these chapters in a batch? It's a mystery story! I needed to make sure all the little pieces are in place, and not so stupid obvious it would give my whole game away, up to and including plans for Shippuden. Teehee.
See you all in two weeks!
