Discoveries

Ichiru held Akane's hand tightly as they wound their way through the streets of Konoha. The air was now full of the smell of incense as what seemed like hundreds of families mourned the dead. Akane felt the sorrow weigh down on her, like a thick course blanket, suffocating her, blocking out any light. There were cries from open doorways as families keened and wailed. Ichiru pulled Akane a little tighter to him, feeling her tremble next to him. They ducked down a side street so as to take a shortcut, the alleyway slowly narrowing until it reached the outer wall of the village. It then became little more than a crack between buildings and the wall, but Akane knew it well. She led Ichiru through, never once releasing his hand from hers. She could see the end of this dark tunnel getting closer, and felt herself able to breath again. Just where that rectangle of light was, stood the Hyuuga compound. A very convenient shortcut it had always been, for her and many generations of Hyuugas too. Just as they reached the constricted opening, her foot collided with something soft and dense on the floor. She looked down, her eyes swimming a little in the darkness, trying to seek what it was she had stepped on. A wave of nausea gripped her, as she smelt it. Blood -most definitely. That strong metallic odour, the type that clung to your clothes, that didn't leave your senses without a fight. Ichiru gasped behind her, having taken out a torch from his bag. He retched, throwing up in the dark and dingy alleyway. Akane looked down, unable to remove her gaze.
She looked almost peaceful, if it weren't for the horrific wounds covering her body. It looked as if she'd been sliced open a hundred times over. But the worst thing was looking closer, and realising that her closed eyelids covered nothing but hollows in her once beautiful face.
Akane screamed.

*

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, and Kakashi sat opposite the Hyuuga and Inuzuka families. Neji sat in his chair, pale and trembling, his cousin crouched by him with his hand held in hers. Kiba sat between his son and daughter, Akane's eyes staring blankly ahead, Haru looking pointedly at the floor. In the background, Ichiru lurked, hovering in the doorway. It was a family matter, but having been there when they'd discovered…her…he'd been asked to come along.
The Hokage cleared his throat.
"I'd like it, Akane-chan, if you could start from the beginning."
Akane nodded, getting to her feet numbly. She recalled the moments leading up to the gruesome discovery, her voice faltering when she came to describing finding the body itself. A hand on her shoulder told her that Ichiru was beside her, and she closed her eyes, breathing deeply.
"Sh-she was lying there, j-just lying there. A-and she was c-c-covered in wounds. Horrible w-wounds."
Ichiru's grip on her shoulder tightened for a second, before he released her altogether.
"It's okay. You're doing great." He whispered encouragingly.
Akane nodded, glancing back at her father and brother, who both appeared as if they wanted to rip the Uchiha apart.
Naruto coughed again.
"And, um…she was…mutilated?"
Neji let out a strangled cry, half sobbing. Hinata stood up beside the broken man.
"Naruto, is this really necessary? Neji-niisan is distraught as it is. Please, can we not leave this until tomorrow at least?"
Tsunade cut across the Hokage, causing him to pout like a child.
"We need to get the facts straight. The sooner the better. And Neji-san was the one who insisted he be here." She said.
Neji stood up at this moment, his legs shaky.
"Please excuse me." He said, swiftly leaving the room.
Hinata dithered a while, and then went after her cousin, shooting Kiba a meaningful glance as she left. Her husband nodded to her, and stood up.
"My daughter has been through a very traumatic experience. Please, leave our family to mourn. And I really hope you're not thinking of telling Tenten-san yet. Not in the state she's in. It really wouldn't be fair. Hinata and I shall go to see her tomorrow and break the news." Kiba stroked Akane's long hair lovingly; "I need to look after my daughter now. So, if you'll excuse us all, the maid will show you out."
With this, Haru put a protective arm around his younger sister's shoulders, leading her from the room. Kiba bowed to the Hokage and his advisors, and then followed his children with Ichiru.

"That didn't go to well. It's best not to upset one of the most powerful households in Konoha." Jiraiya said.
His wife nodded, "Whoever knew that a union between the houses of Hyuuga and Inuzuka would be possible, let alone effective and formidable!"
Naruto sighed.
"I don't understand how this could have happened. I feel as if I have failed the village. And now we have a missing Uchiha on our hands too." He said, rubbing his eyes roughly, "This latest news has confirmed the suspicions I had as soon as the girl's body was found. I think I know why we were attacked. And I may even know where Kabuto is hiding."

*

Akane sat on her bed, staring watery-eyed down at a photo album. The beaming faces of herself, Haru, Aiko and Hoshi looked up at her from the pictures, from the ages of 0 upwards. The first photo was of Haru, not even a year old yet, sitting on the sofa with his baby twin sisters propped up on cushions either side of him. The next was a scarily young looking Kiba holding Akane, sitting next to Hinata looking just as youthful, holding a bawling Aiko. Haru sat on Akamaru's back at Kiba's feet.
The next photo was the one that made her eyes water even more: the first day at the academy.
Haru lurked in the background of the picture, already in his second year there, and looking rather moody. In front of him stood 3 girls of around 7 years old, all wearing flowers in their hair. Aiko stood obviously looking at whoever was taking the photo and reaching out a chubby hand to them. On the opposite side to her stood Akane, smiling wistfully at something to the left of her. In the middle stood Hoshi, their cousin, grinning straight into the camera lens, her eyes glowing with excitement.
Akane flipped the page over to see another photo that made her well up again. Hoshi's 9th birthday party. Aiko had received her nin-dog Honou only a week before the party, and Akane remembered it well. The poor little puppy wasn't fully trained yet, and in the photo, had jumped in the birthday cake. Hoshi, ever the polite young lady, carried on smiling as the camera flashed, and afterwards even helped bathe the dog and clean up. She had icing all over her dress in the photo, and flecks of it in her hair, as the dog plunged her paws into the chocolate cake right next to her.
Akane put the book down quickly, wiping away the tears.
Hoshi was gone. Dead. Murdered.
Akane balled her hand up into a tight fist.

*

"Uchiha-san, do you know why you're here?"
The voice startled the boy, and he sprang from the hard floor he had been sleeping on. A dark figure sat in the shadows a little way away from him, and it was they who had spoken.
"Uchiha-san, do you know why you're here?" They repeated, edging out of the light.
It was a girl, no more than 16. She had shockingly white hair, which hung loose about her shoulders and wide, reddish-brown eyes that gazed at him. She edged a little closer to him, and he backed away. How had she gotten into this cell?
"Oh, how rude of me! My name is Kobayashi Izanami, but you can call me Iza-chan!"
The girl extended a slender, pale hand towards him, her thin, rose-coloured lips forming a smile. She shuffled across the floor towards him, getting still closer until he was backed against the wall and unable to move at all. Her large eyes were level with Kin's as she stared curiously at him.
"You've been crying, Uchiha-san. Do you mind if I call you Kin-chan? Seeing as we're going to be friends from now on?" she giggled childishly as she said this.
Kin scrambled to his feet, not knowing what to say to this strange creature.
A shout from outside the cell made him shrink back down to the floor, his heart beating out of his chest. It was Kabuto, the man who had taken him from the forest and bought him back to this dank, dark and horrible place for god knows what reason.
"Izanami!" The voice called, teasingly.
The girl giggled again, ducking down to hide behind the stone slab of a bed in the cell. She held her finger to her lips, smiling at Kin. He shivered as he heard the man grow closer to the cell.
"Izanami-chan? You're not hiding from Kabuto-niisan, are you?" The sing-song voice came again.
"Come, come, Kin-chan! Come and hide with Iza-chan! Come and hide with your new friend." The girl whispered, giggling.
Kin pressed his whole body into the wall behind him, shaking his head wildly.
"You're not my friend!" he cried out, not able to stop himself.
A change came over the girl as sudden as a lightning bolt. She stood, her eyes blazing, energy seeming to crackle around her. Kin watched in horror as her hair slowly changed to bright red and she advanced towards him. When she spoke, even her voice no longer sounded as eerily cute as it had done.
"I though niisan had bought me a playmate! Obviously he just bought me dinner!" she cried, moving suddenly towards him, reaching out with a hand that seemed to have developed claws.
Kin clenched his eyes shut, bracing himself for contact. It never came. He opened one eye carefully, not daring to look in case it might provoke her to finish what she'd begun. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Kabuto himself standing next to Izanami, who was now back to her original state. She peeped out from behind Kabuto like a child playing peek-a-boo. Kin gulped, horrified by her sudden mood swing.
"Oh, Uchiha. You shouldn't have upset poor Izanami-chan. She only wanted to play." Kabuto said, smiling sickeningly down at the boy. "But at least now she won't be upset when she hears what I have planned for you."
Kin was about to cry out, when he felt the sharp pain on his forehead, and everything went blissfully black.