CHAPTER 2

In the middle of the forest, halfway across to Ankairan Village, was Sakura, Kakashi and their little band of investigators sitting around a campfire that was in the middle of a bunch of tents. Sakura was reading the notes given to her by Tsunade, and meanwhile, Kakashi was keeping himself busy by reading his book. The investigators, again, were chit-chatting away about nothing and nonsense, yet again. Kakashi suddenly shut his book, stood up and said to the others, "Let's get going, or we'll never get there before sunset."

"Kakashi-sensei's right, we'll have to leave right now!" Sakura said quickly standing up, and just realizing how late it was. The group all quickly packed up the tents, put out the campfire, and continued onward to Ankairan Village as fast as they could.

As the sun was setting in the horizon, the group finally reached Ankairan and were greeted by the rest of the investigators that were already there. Sakura went off to talk to the head investigators from the Sand and Leaf to confirm the information on the sheet given to her by Tsunade. Kakashi found himself a place to rest and began to read again and the 7 investigators (who wouldn't shut their yaps along the way) started their work.

"Okay...okay...I see..." was what could be heard from Sakura as she talked to the head investigators. A giggle could be heard from Kakashi as he read away, and whispers came from the 7 investigators as they worked. As she finished up with the head investigators, she went to the investigators who went with her and filled them in on everything.

"Guys! Over here!" she called to them and they looked up and came over to her.

"This is what you need to know," she told them seriously, "the name of the victim is Shinoto Akinaba. She's fifteen. The ones who found her after her death were her parents. Luckily, they're still alive because they barged into their daughter's room after they heard her scream. Her body was found on the floor surrounded by blood. The only evidence is a knife that was found stabbed right through her heart. The strange thing is that there's no fingerprint to be found on the knife. I suggest you go take a look at the victim's body and a look at the crime scene." Sakura finished as she looked at the notes again.

"The only thing strange...is that there's no fingerprint on the knife..." Sakura said to herself as Kakashi walked over when he saw that Sakura seemed puzzled. The investigators had then gone back to work.

"What's the matter, Sakura? You seem clueless about something," Kakashi said as he looked over her shoulder to take a look at the notes.

"Ya, Kakashi-sensei there is! The only evidence is a knife, but it's been dusted everywhere and there's no signs of fingerprints," Sakura replied.

"Hmm...That is really strange! It'll just make the investigation harder won't it?" Kakashi asked.

"Hmph! You're right, it will! I don't think we'll EVER find the murderer! This investigation could take forever!" Sakura sighed to herself.

"Oh well, I know you'll find an answer! Just remember to use your head! Good luck!" Kakashi said as he left to go back to reading. Sakura went to pitch up her tent because she knew she would be there for a few days. Kakashi would go back tomorrow to report to Tsunade that the group have made it there.

"Ha! There ya go! All pitched up and ready to go!" Sakura said as she finished pitching up her tent. She went inside her tent to rest for a while before actually beginning work. Once inside, she took out her sleeping bag from her backpack and flopping down on it, took out her diary.

"Dunno why I brought this along...but since I brought it, might as well write my daily entry in it!" Sakura said as she opened to an empty page and then began to fish around in her backpack for a pencil. Once she found one, she set to writing.

Dear Diary,

Sakura here! I'm at the investigation place! It's so dusty! Seriously! Okay, who cares about that...what I'm here to say is that it's so upsetting...Sauske still hasn't come back. I know Naruto tried his best to bring him back...but he didn't. I can't blame him. He said they lost members along the way...!! Sheesh, what IS a girl to do?! Anyways, now Naruto too, has gone off with Jiraya, so I'm all alone! It's not fair! Why me? Why must I be alone?! Now Ino has a lot of more time to irritate me! She is SO annoying! I CANNOT believe I used to be friends with her! Really! My training with Hokage-sama has been going well. I hope to improve though, for becoming a medical ninja won't be easy! I'm still learning how to fight as well, you know, in case I need to protect myself, but do you think I did the right think to try and be a medical ninja instead of a kunoichi? Diary, do you think I would've been better off as a kunoichi? I'm still not sure, but since I'm training as a medical ninja, might as well stick to it! Anyways! Can't rest long! I have a murder case to help solve! I hope to tell you more about it tonight.

Write in you soon!

--SAKURA HARUNO--

As Sakura finished up her entry, she closed her diary and stuffed the book and pencil back into her backpack. She stretched, stood up and left the tent.

"Alright! Time to get some work done!" Sakura said.

It was nearly nightfall as Sakura began work. She studied the notes again at a wooden table that was set up in the middle of the area. She found a chair and set to work. A few seconds after, she got bored and decided to do what she told the 7 investigators to do. She left the notes on the table and left to go take a look at the body. Sakura just noticed then that there were 2 people that were sitting beside and staring at the body that was in a coffin outside the house of the victim. They were both weeping and looking really desperate. Sakura guessed that they were the parents of Shinoto. She decided to ask them some questions.

"Hi, are you the parents of Shinoto Akinaba?" Sakura asked. One of them, a woman looked up, and Sakura notice that her eyes were flooded with tears. The woman wiped them away and replied, "Yes," the woman replied and wept again, "how could this have happened to our one and only daughter?!" the woman cried and began crying again. Opps! Better not ask them, they seem too upset. Sakura said as she walked to the crime scene. There were investigators there taking pictures of the area and some others taking notes. Another person was studying the chalk silhouette that showed where and how the victim lay when she was found.

"Can I look around this area?" Sakura asked one of the investigators. The investigator, a man, looked up and said, "Oh, what? Oh, ya sure, go ahead, look around," Sakura then began too look around and then, with a shock, saw the puddle of dried blood in the middle of the room. That was where most of the investigators were. What IS this?! It's horrible! Sakura thought, totally creeped out. She looked around some more and decided to leave. It's just too horrible to look at!! Sakura thought with a shiver. She decided to call it a day. She went back to the wooden table, picked up her notes and went back to her tent. She stuffed the notes inside her backback and closed up the flaps so no one could see what she was doing and flopped down on her sleeping bag again. Taking out her diary (yet again) she flipped through the pages and discovered that her diary only had a few pages left.

"Oh!! I'd better buy a new one soon," Sakura said as she scribbled down a note in her diary to do so. Then, after flipping through a few pages, she found a clean page, picked up her pencil and began to write.

Dear Diary,

Hello again! I feel bad 'cause I didn't do much. All I did was have a mini conversation with the victim's parents. It ended out HORRIBLY! I feel awfully bad for Shinoto Akinaba. That's the name of the girl that was murdered. Then, right after I talked to Shinoto's parents, I went to the crime scene and I gotta tell ya, I ACTUALLY almost VOMITED in there! It was HORRIBLE! Oh my GOSH I felt sick! A puddle of dried up blood, the way the outline of the body look like, THE BODY! It was obvious that she was scared and was in a struggle 'cause the notes said that her parents told us investigators that the girl SCREAMED for her life!! Isn't that awful?! Also, the only evidence seems to be a knife and guess what?! IT HAS NO FINGERPRINTS!! This case will take absolutely FOREVER to solve!! What the HECK am I supposed to do?! I REALLY cannot stand this! But I don't want to go back either you know. I want to find out who's responsible. Anyways, I'm getting tired. I'll write again tomorrow. Night!

Till next time!

--SAKURA HARUNO--

Early in the morning, Sakura came out of her tent, stretched out her arms and yawned. Sitting at the table reading was Kakashi, reading. He looked up from his reading, saw Sakura and waved to her. She went over to him and sat down in another chair. Kakashi closed his book opened and said to Sakura, "I'll be leaving today,"

"I know," She mumbled and sighed.

"Don't worry, Sakura. You'll be alright. I know you can solve this case. It'll be okay," Kakashi said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. He then picked up and put his book in a pouch in the side of his pants.

"I guess I'll take my leave," Kakashi said to Sakura. Sakura looked up and said; "Okay, I guess I'll see you later!" and he then started walking down the road that they took to get here. Sakura watched him leave and sighed when she couldn't see him anymore. That looking down, she suddenly noticed that she was still wearing her pyjamas and went into her tent to change. Five minutes later, she came out totally changed and ready to do the day's work.

"MUCH better!!" Sakura said to herself with a smile as she looked around. Not a lot of people were up, but Shinoto's parents were up, staring sadly at the body. Sakura was glad that they weren't crying anymore. Sakura then suddenly heard footsteps and looked up. Someone was walking over to her. It was Temari.

"Yo! Sakura, was it? What're you doing here?" Temari asked.

"Hmph! I'm here because I'm supposed to be! I'm helping to investigate! What else would I be doing?" Sakura asked and stared hard at Temari. Temari saw the look and laughed.

"Ha! You're funny! I don't need to know why you're here! Of

Course you're here to investigate! Why else?" Temari said mockingly.

"Oh, so you're just making fun of me?" Sakura asked.

"Naw, of course not! I'm just here to tell you that the girl's death has something to do with a curse or something. It's not an ordinary death, ya know!" Temari warned.

"How'd you know?" Sakura asked, suddenly interested and curious.

"Our new Kazekage, Garra, said so. He knows a lot about this village. He's been here millions of times since it's pretty close to the Sand Village," Temari replied.

"Garra?! Your new Kazekage?! Amazing! and it's only been a year and a half! So, is he here? How much does he know?" Sakura asked.

"Whoa, whoa there! Slow down! One at a time girl! I can't take too much questions in at once!" Temari said, while making an innocent face. Eventually, after asking a bunch of questions, Sakura got more information.

"Thanks, Temari! If anyone asked where I got this info, I'll give you the credit," Sakura said happily.

"No biggie in helping! Whatever, gotta go now! See ya later!" Temari said and left. Sakura looked on as Temari left with a look of confidence on her face.

"CHA! We are so gunna SOLVE this dumb mystery! I just KNOW it!" Sakura said as she pumped her hand into the air.

Author's note:

Hey there! I present to you CHAPTER 2!! I hope you like it 'cause editing it was a total pain in the neck! No really! Anyways, I'm finally gunna add diary entries for Sakura! Or course, in the real anime you don't see anyone writing in diaries but wouldn't you expect Sakura to have one? I would! Anyways, Chapter three coming your way! Geez! I still haven't planned it yet! 3x

See you in Chapter 3!!

--COOKIE-SENPAI--