The ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool just look kinda sad in the daylight. Last time he was here, Iruka remembers, it was night and the ruined village was bathed in darkness that made it seem erie.
"It's been a long time since I was here, eh," comments Pantsu, looking around at the ruins of his old Village. "Funny, I remember it being a lot noisier, eh."
"That's because people used to live here before they were all slaughtered in a single night," says Arashi. "And I am here to find out what happened that night. Alright everyone, stay close to me and look for clues as to what happened." Arashi strides off into the ruins and starts examining a random pile of rubble.
Iruka turns to his team. "Alright team," he says. "Keep a sharp eye out for enemy shinobi and bandits. Naruto, take Sparky and look over there. Shisui, over there, Neji, over there. I'll be over there."
"What about us, eh?" asks Pantsu.
"You and Burifu can do whatever you want," says Iruka. "Just don't set off any of the traps. That goes for all of you: watch out for the seal traps. Dismissed."
"Yes captain!" the team dispearses to search for clues.
Iruka heads over to the ruins of his old home. The corpses of those who died nearby when the Village fell are still scattered amongst the rubble, along with new corpses belonging to people who died in the ruins. Iruka examines the newer corpses and discovers that most of them died from the same, or similar, types of poison. Iruka takes a leaf out of his adoptive father's book and, taking out a pad of paper and a pen, starts recording his observations.
C. 1: died of inhaled poison.
C. 2: died of poisoned stab wound.
C. 3: died of poison taken in through a tiny cut.
C. 4: has multiple poisoned wounds, and inhaled poison. Difficult to tell which killed him.
All causes of death for most recent corpses follow one of the above patterns. Hard to tell with older corpses if they died of poison.
"Hey, guys!" yells Naruto, from the ruin he is examining with Sparky. "Come and see what I found, 'tebbayo!"
Iruka and the others head over to Naruto, who is excitedly looking at a battered book. When Iruka arrives, Naruto flips the book around, revealing old photographs of a chubby red haired girl.
"Who is that?" asks Neji, when he is close enough to see the pictures.
"It's little Kushina, eh," says Pantsu. "She was a chubby little hellion, eh."
"Yeah," Naruto nods enthusiastically. "It's my Mum! I'm going to add this to my collection of Relics and stuff, 'tebayo."
"Where did you put that collection once it got too big for your old pranking kit box?" asks Iruka, curious to know what happened to Naruto's collection.
Naruto scratches the back of his head and goes a bit pink with embarrassment. "It's in the back of my wardrobe," he says. "I'll show you when we get back to the Leaf, 'tebayo."
"Ya look a lot like ya ma, eh," says Pantsu, peering at the pictures of Kushina as a toddler.
Naruto blushes. "My Mum was really pretty, 'tebayo."
Shisui peers over Iruka's shoulder at Iruka's notes. "Poison huh," he says. "I bet they were all killed by the same person. After all, I found a half-crushed puppet with an unmistakable marking on it."
"What mark?" asks Neji.
"The mark of Sasori of the Red Sand," says Shisui. "The puppet was half buried beneath the rubble I was searching. Judging by the amount of debris and mature plants around it, that puppet has been there since the Whirlpool was destroyed."
"Show me," says Arashi sternly. "And see if any of you can find more puppets around the ruins."
The group heads over to the half-crushed puppet Shisui found. Shisui crouches down beside the puppet, which he freed from the debris, and points to a small pouch of purple liquid. The pouch is tucked into the puppet's half-crushed chest, attached to a tube that leads up to the puppet's mouth. The puppet's mouth is made for spraying gas, but has an old seal over it, holding it closed.
"I know this puppet," says Iruka, remembering in a flash the last time he saw that puppet.
Iruka's father holds him tight as they run through the Village. Iruka's mother runs on ahead, screaming at the people they pass to run. Hundred of terrifying, flying shinobi darken the sky, and a purple gas spreads through the buildings, pouring from the mouths of their attackers. Shinobi from many different villages attack the people trying to flee, and one leaps at Iruka and his father, cutting Iruka's face.
Iruka's father slaps the enemy in the face, using a seal that shuts the attacker's mouth tightly. Iruka's mother kicks the enemy into a nearby building, causing the building to collapse on the attacker.
They run on, urging others to run from the attack, to run from the deadly gas spreading ever closer. They come across Princess Okami, crying over her dead mother and father as another enemy, this one wearing a Cloud headband and masked by the poor lighting. He swings a sword at Okami, but Iruka's father kicks him to one side, grabs Okami by the hand and pulls her along with them. Iruka's mother fights the enemies they meet as they run with Okami, who is crying, but now the Queen.
A building nearby explodes. Iruka begins to feel sick. The four of them reach the edge of the village. The gas is everywhere, even on the mountainside. Iruka's mother pushes them downhill, into the forest. They tumble away from the chaos. Okami stops her decent and gets up to run back to the village screaming bloody murder. Iruka's parents try to stop her, but they both collapse from the poison they inhaled. Iruka blacks out from the poison in the cut on his face.
When he wakes up, he is looking into the eyes of Tsunade Senju. His face is bandaged over his nose. "Oh good," Tsunade says. "The little one is alright. It's alright," she says to Iruka. "Your mummy and daddy are just over there, see?"
Iruka's Dad opens his eyes and looks around. "Where's Okami?" he asks. "Where is the Queen?"
"I'm sorry," says Tsunade, shaking her head sadly. "We only found the three of you. We did not find any other survivors."
"Survivors…?" whispers Iruka's father, an expression of horror on his face. "Then the entire village was destroyed?"
"Yes," confirms Tsunade. "We have a team ready to go in once the gas dissipates, but I'm afraid that may take a while. We have no one with us that could safely blow it away with ninjutsu, and we have no protective clothing. If there are still people alive in there, they won't be by the time we get in."
"So that's how you got your awesome scar," says Naruto, slamming his fist into his palm. Sparky ruffles his feathers in annoyance at the noise.
"So that's why no one could figure out what Hidden Village was behind the attack," says Arashi, taking pictures of their finding with one hand and scribbling down Iruka's flashback with the other. "It was the work of Hidden Sand puppet masters who dressed their puppets as shinobi from different villages. But How many puppet masters and how much poison does it take to destroy a village?"
"At a guess, I'd say it takes a lot of poison, eh," says Pantsu, puffing thoughtfully at his pipe.
"But how many puppet masters?" wonders Arashi.
"One!" says Burifu cheerfully. "That one!" She points in the one direction none of the group is looking.
They all turn to see a strange, hunched-over puppet man shuffling towards them through the ruins.
"Sasori of the Red Sand!" says Iruka, remembering their last encounter.
"Well, well, well," says Sasori. "If it isn't the last known Umino. I remember you from the last time you were here."
Remembering their last encounter, Iruka says, "I did not get to see your full power that time because I was...busy." Iruka goes a little pink, remembering what he was busy doing. Damn, sempai was hot.
"Wait!" says Naruto, frowning. "Is this one of the guys you met when you came here for the Sacred Scroll in the Temple of Joe, 'tebbayo?"
"Yes, he is," confirms Iruka.
"I'll tell you what else he is," says Arashi, a thunderously angry expression on his face. "He is single handedly responsible for the destruction of the Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides!"
"Yes," admits Sasori. A metal tail with an arrow-head shaped end snakes around his body, poised and ready for attack. "I am responsible, and now that you know the truth, all of you must die too." A scroll rolls out from underneath Sasori's cloak and opens. There is a puff as the storage seal on the scroll activates. A hundred puppets rises into the air above Sasori, darkening the sky. "And now I will use the same technique I used to destroy this nation to destroy you pesky Whirlpool survivors. Secret Red Technique: Dance of One Hundred Puppets!"