Chapter 3: Hide And Seek
A/N: Swanfrost: Thank you so much for your critique, it's just the kind of comment I've been hoping for. Literally you've picked up on my biggest weakness. I did notice that there is a lot of redundant contrived dialogue and I apologise for that, but honestly I was so afraid of trimming because I'm balancing a lot of information in two plot themes and I didn't want anything to get lost. From now on though there will be an emphasis on dialogue because the mystery plot is about to unfold and the characters will solve it through discussion. Having said this I have kept your invaluable advice in mind for this one...
5:06 pm
The sun had vanished. The hurricane blizzard boomed and battered the outside hungrily, jealously trying to force itself inside the one lone house.
The Will of Fire began its struggle to remain burning under the tiny flickering flame of the candlelight casting shadows on the corners of the house, working to expose any underlying secrets.
Kariin of the Taka pulled her glasses off, revealing unfocused eyes.
"Sssomebody...in this room is the rogue ninja. I sensed another chakra in this room before it disappeared. The scumbag's blending in among us. Who is it!" she cried huffing and puffing; she backed up slowly, eyes darting all around.
Her knees began to shake violently...Sakura watched unnerved with her pounding overworked heart; how would they prevent a somewhat stranger from slipping into insanity...
"How...how is he doing it..." whispered Shikamaru, shaking his head as he heaved a tired burdened sigh.
The tension was thicker than the snow falling outside; sneaky and suspect eyes darted around the group of ninja with razor sharp instincts, implicitly trying to figure out who would make the first move while aiming to make it look like they weren't.
It began with the slight inhale of breath...the ever so slightly twitch of a finger...the undetectable shifting of narrowed eyes. But little did they all know that the only thing worth fearing was fear itself...
Sasuke's sharingan eyes anticipated the move just before it happened. The sudden twinge of Tenten's hand near her pocket triggered a ripple effect.
Everyone swiftly jerked and drew out their weapons of Kunai, shuriken, executioner's blade, Asuma's chakra blades in Shikamaru's hands, Tenten and her long thin bow staff, Sasuke and his Katana with Neji in his air palm stance. Nobody dared move. The deadly ninja weapons were brandished within an inch of each other's faces...
Sasuke pointed his kunai at Tenten as she'd made the first move-Neji stood at the ready in his air palm stance towards Sasuke-Jugo pointed his fists at both Neji and Naruto-Shikamaru pointed Asuma's chakra blades at Suigetsu holding his executioner's blade near Shikamaru's face-Ino pointed her kunai at Sakura who did the same to Ino-Naruto pointed his shuriken at Kariin, he didn't believe for one minute that she was telling the truth, but his eyes remained firmly fixed on Sasuke...
"Everybody stand back! NOW!" Neji yelled with beads of sweat forming on his temple. The ninja group jumped backwards away from each other except the Taka. Naruto delayed his move as he was still unbelieving about the hidden rogue ninja.
"-Don't tell me that you guys actually believe this girl! -"
"-We don't take orders from the Leaf-" Jugo said crunching his fists.
"-Stay where you are Taka or we're all going to start a war with each other-" came Neji.
"Guys, don't believe her, she's lying! There's no way the rogue could get away with it so perfectly; how would he know our personalities well enough to pretend to be one of us? Huh? She's trying to turn us against each other. Nobody's been acting out of the ordinary." said Naruto.
Silence descended on the group as everyone took a moment to soak in his words, trying to recall any shinobi from memory who had been behaving strangely. Moments later, Neji, Sakura and Ino's stressed eyes met; they'd both just remembered the white forest earlier...
"You're all forgetting something...Kariin only felt the different chakra that vanished exactly before Naruto arrived" said Sasuke indifferently.
Every pair of narrowed eyes flew to the last arrival of the house. Naruto's brilliant blue eyes grew wide at them all-
"-It's him! The fake Naruto. Take him away" pointed Ino backing away from him.
Sakura whipped around to look at Naruto behind her. She saw his wide eyes...
The only dark haired Jonin of the Leaf ninja group ran up to Naruto. Sakura gasped in fright, it all happened too quickly; she tried blocking Neji by standing in front of Naruto but Ino grabbed her arm pulling her away swiftly.
Neji grabbed Naruto while Ino moved Sakura out of the way and slammed him into the wooden wall above the fireplace, pinning him there in the corner.
"Neji what the hell do you think you're doing?" shouted Naruto shocked at the instant and hasty move along with the others who had also just remembered. Naruto had been the last to arrive.
"Tell us one thing that you and only you would know about either yourself or any of us. Now" he barked holding a kunai to Naruto.
"Why are being you so violent Neji? What if he's the real Naruto?" yelled Sakura pulling her arm free of Ino's grip.
"He was gone for three hours Sakura. Naruto was the last one to arrive when this girl felt the new chakra disappear. 'Naruto!' you have twelve seconds or I hurt you" he threatened with a kunai in his hand pointing viciously towards Naruto...
"-You don't scare me. I know that I'm the real Naruto and I don't have to prove it to you! -" spat Naruto narrowing his eyes at him.
"-Eight seconds-
"-You're bluffing-
"Am I?" Neji stabbed Naruto in the stomach with his kunai. He let out a howl of pain as Sakura gasped in shock and screamed with Naruto. His thick orange jacket stained a deep red of his blood seeping out. The situation escalated without a moment to pause...
Sakura couldn't keep up, it happened before it registered in her head. All the Leaf shinobi in the room were left reeling while the Taka waited to find out whether the rogue had been caught. Tenten was frozen on the spot unbelieving. Neji and his unjustified cruelty...
"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed running up to him.
"Jugo, stop her now! Take her away" barked Sasuke pointing to his former team seven teammate.
Jugo ran up to Sakura and locked his forearms over her arms and shoulders, restricting her movements.
"Shikamaru, guys, help me!" she cried to the other Leaf ninja.
Shikamaru, Ino and Tenten's stricken eyes stared at each other then back at Sakura in panic. They were stuck on what to do. Neji's methods certainly were underhanded yet an interrogation was necessary...Tenten looked like she didn't know what to do about Neji.
"Sakura we have to do this! Think about the mission. If this Naruto is the rogue ninja pretending to be Naruto, it means the real Naruto is still out there somewhere." came Ino feeling nauseous by the scene.
Sakura closed her eyes in defeat and shook her head at the ground. The corrosive sting of betrayal by comrades... by friends was intolerable. They all knew attacking comrades was undeniable treachery with no excuses in the ninja rules.
"-Try again." growled Neji. "Seven-"
"-Erm I have the nine tailed fox sealed inside me—
"-Not good enough! Everyone knows that!" roared Neji as he stabbed Naruto in the upper arm. He screamed in pain into the shocked room as blood gushed out his arm.
Kariin looked away pinching her eyes closed.
Sakura lost her breath as panicked engulfed her. She would never think something so baneful and inhumane could be carried out from one proud Leaf shinobi to another.
She struggled and squirmed against the Taka's Jugo to free herself from his clutches as she fell to the floor but he grabbed her feet. She tried kicking him but this time Sasuke himself came to pull her back up and hold her back. Sakura screamed as they harassed her. This Sasuke...he couldn't be the same person who'd saved her from the demon dog earlier...
Tears of guilt stung the eyes of Ino and Tenten who did nothing... Shikamaru remained as he was...collected yet tense from the outside.
"Six! Five! Four-
"During our first battle at our first Chunin exam in the arena you told me that you're father died willingly to protect the interests of the Leaf Village and Hyuuga clan, taking the place of your uncle in death as your uncle was the first born and therefore the leader…" he rushed out, breathing loudly and sweating.
Neji stopped counting and stared at Naruto with a kunai pointed directly at his right eye. Naruto's heart threatened to give way as he clutched his wounds and stared into the eyes of his tormentor. Sakura was trembling and felt sickly as she tried to breathe...Everyone else looked at Neji to see whether Naruto had passed the test or not...
"It's him. The real Naruto" Neji said finally backing off. It was his turn to feel the sting of his personal information exposed for everyone to hear. There was no way that something that personal he told Naruto years ago would be in the possession of a fake. A collective sigh chorused through the house.
Jugo and Sasuke let go of Sakura pushing her to the floor again as she scrambled up and ran to Naruto, pushing Neji, Shikamaru and Ino aside in fury. She could not even glance in their direction or she feared that she might kill them in all her anger.
When she got to Naruto squirming in pain and clutching his stomach to prevent further blood loss, her hand turned a bright blue-green to begin healing him.
Neji walked back to Tenten who was also trembling violently as her face went ash grey watching Neji's actions.
"How could you do that to Naruto? You're completely out of line" hissed Tenten to Neji with her voice threatening to break in anger at Neji as he walked to her.
"Listen to me, listen to me Tenten" he said trying to get closer to her and hold onto her hands but she backed away from him.
"Get away from me!" she snapped trying to push his hands away from her.
Within an instant a smack could be heard punching the air in the room as Neji slapped Tenten across the face.
The room froze. Tenten froze. The world was spinning. The Will of Fire, diminishing...
"Snap out of it!...We are all in a volatile situation and I'm doing what you bleeding hearts are too afraid to do. We're all going to get killed if you don't start acting like shinobi!" he came right up to her face with his daring eyes.
Tenten's tear stained soft brown eyes turned away from his cruelty, she was overcome by numbness as she massaged her bruised heart and he wiped off any emotion from his face.
Sakura, a healed Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino exchanged incredulous glances at each other. Neji would rather cut off his leg than assault his closest teammate, Tenten. It bred suspicion among the Leaf shinobi. Neji Hyuuga. There was something wrong with him...
"C'mon, let's keep it going, who's next? I say we try waterboarding or Chinese water torture. Torture is always an effective way of making people confess" said Suigetsu with a cheeky smile on his face hoping to use his water style ninjutsu...
The room went quiet in fear. The idea of torture was too disturbing but very possible judging by the actions of Neji. Someone had to say something... everyone knew that if they didn't speak out it would lead to quick irrational stunts again.
"Sakura's next" came Neji all of a sudden.
Sakura could feel her body giving up as she wearily pointed her kunai at Neji shakily. He did the same with everyone pointing theirs at Sakura within a blink of an eye.
"What's gotten into you? Do you sadistically enjoy bullying people?" whispered Sakura bitterly. He ignored her.
"Why her?" demanded Shikamaru.
"When I found her in the forest earlier after waking up, she was behaving incredibly strange. Not to mention that she deliberately chose not to tell me that there was a kunai thrown in my head."
Sakura noticed Sasuke and his team flinch closer to her which made her panic. She needed someone to blame and lift the fear off her.
"No. What about Ino! She was acting like a demon herself in the forest" said Sakura pointing. "When I woke up after the blast in the forest, Ino was the first person I found and she attacked me for no reason with a million shuriken."
Shikamaru remembered the kunai that had struck him in the side before he saw the demon dog.
"Stop lying Sakura!" she yelled afraid staring at all the intimidating ninja weapons; the only worse than being accused of being an imposter is not having any evidence to prove that you weren't the imposter.
"I'm not lying, there was blood on your fist that you couldn't explain and the moment I was about to hit you, you were suddenly back to normal. Very convenient" said Sakura.
"And you told me that you'd heard a voice but no one else did. I could be you" said Ino trying to find any piece of evidence to save her skin.
The betrayal was on another level.
"Guys stop it, this isn't helping, and we can't just accuse each other like this. We need an effective way to do this." said Shikamaru firmly; he began to sweat under all the pressure and intensity of the room.
"Now everyone, lower your weapons slowly." he said as he started by lowering Asuma's chakra blades with everyone following suit but never taking their eyes off each other. With one slight hesitation by Sasuke, all weapons were back in the air until they were finally all effectively put away but nobody dropped their guard. Everyone was everyone's enemy until the imposter could be eliminated from the group.
"We should rule torture out of the question. Innocent people are going to get hurt. What we need is an investigation" said Ino.
"That sounds like something the imposter would say trying to keep us from doing certain things and only doing what he wants us to do." said Neji. It's only logical that anyone hiding in a group would try to stop us from carrying out an investigation..."
Sasuke's rolled his red eyes in annoyance and stared up to fixate on the living room ceiling while the back and forthing of the Leaf ninja continued. He stared at the powerful jutsu dangling over their heads at that exact time. One that only his powerful visual jutsu could see. It was perfectly in place. The same as the one in the kitchen...He shook his head and snorted.
Kariin noticed Sasuke still had his sharingan eyes activated and now that a rogue was hiding among them, she felt guarded. She stepped slightly back from him, hoping that he wouldn't notice and take offence at her suspicion.
"Be careful Kariin. Nothing in this house is as it seems. Nothing. This is a highly controlled environment." said Sasuke.
"What do you mean?"
He didn't respond; he was too busy monitoring the genjutsu seal hanging from the roof over their heads. Both seals were hanging in the living room and in the kitchen...
The group of tense ninja moved back and walked away. Neji leaned against the wall alone and away from Tenten who'd removed herself from him; Shikamaru sat back on the couch with Ino sitting next to him, Sakura sat on a stool next to Naruto sitting on the tatami floor and Sasuke sat on the table again with his team right next to him.
"Naruto. Tell us everything you remember. You were gone for three hours. How did you find this place then?" asked Shikamaru.
"I don't know; I woke up on the steps of the patio of this house. Then a gust of wind blew me against the door and I started yelling for you guys to let me in"
Everyone took in his words and what they meant. They all knew that Naruto was nowhere near the house when they came inside.
"That means... someone must've placed you outside when we came in here." said Kariin.
Moment of silence. Shock. Sakura remembered the voice she'd heard whispering to her in the forest. She wondered if someone else could really be hiding in the forest. Or was the Kariin girl a liar like Naruto had declared.
"How is that possible? I thought the rogue ninja was among us pretending. We were all in here when we were waiting for Naruto" said Ino.
"Not all of us…" said Shikamaru looking straight at the blue-black haired ninja.
Everyone turned to look at Sasuke. He'd been the only person absent from the group when Naruto had arrived. His sharingan eyes swooped over them all.
"Well? Whose first to attack me? C'mon, Naruto? Since you've been begging me to fight you forever!" he dared with his sharingan activated. "Didn't think so!" he spat at them smug faced.
Naruto looked down; he knew that nobody was willing to pull the same stunt Neji had done on him to the most powerful shinobi of the entire group. Not even he had enough strength at that time. Sasuke remained the most invulnerable of them all. A trait which flourished suspicion among them.
"I trust Sasuke with my life. I won't turn on him ever." Jugo finally spoke.
"Don't you get it Jugo, you can't trust anyone. What if Sasuke is pretending to be the real Sasuke?" said Suigetsu looking jokingly at Sasuke who ignored him completely. His eyes darted back to the Leaf ninja.
"I would be able to tell if Sasuke was a fake, I know his chakra like the back of my hand." said Kariin
"Of course you do" taunted Suigetsu in a low drawl.
"Shut up Suigetsu!" snapped Kariin blushing and squeezing her fingers on the side of her glasses in embarrassment.
"Actually all of you should shut up. There is no longer any point of doing this. We aren't playing by anyone else's rules but the rogue ninja. He has us firmly under his grasp. Not to mention that all you Leaf ninja are acting like scared children" snapped Sasuke.
At least his word worked in stabilising the situation. Sasuke's power allowed him the privilege of unofficial authority.
5:22 pm
The ten hostile ninja inside the isolated house in the vast forest outside the Grass Village were on edge. For the Leaf ninja it was another long pause of going through the motions of a tedious monotonous mission. Everyone had placed their weapons away but never dropped their guard or at least made sure their weapons were within reach.
Sakura looked down at the floor unable to tell whether she could ever forgive her Leaf ninja allies for what happened to Naruto and herself...
The quiet and mysterious Jugo was staring outside the window as if he was expecting someone of his own. When a thought occurred to him. It was pathetic, watching them all torture each other the way they had. But maybe if they were at least made aware of what they were looking for, it would ease the situation...
"Sasuke, if we Taka need to look out and identify the rogue, don't we also need to know who he is and how he looks like?" said Jugo.
Sasuke looked at Shikamaru and so did the rest of the shinobi. Shikamaru looked burnt out but once again second in command Neji took the initiative.
"Tell them Sakura. They need to know" came Neji. Sakura flipped her middle finger at Neji in annoyance before lifting her head at the rest of them.
She really didn't want to hear his voice. Neji was working incredibly hard to get on her nerves while she was forcing control over her anger. Why was he the most impossible person there?
"Well this is only classified information we're telling outsiders but who cares right?" she said cynically. "This is what we have so far. Two days ago before we left the Leaf Village-"
-Naruto glanced at Sasuke-
-Lady Tsunade told us of a ninja gone rogue living here in Kusagakure, the Grass Village, one of our Allied Nations. Apparently this rogue ninja has been plaguing the village for some time now causing strange unexplained deaths among villagers. Most of them pointed out and said that he'd run into this forest as we got to the village, but wouldn't divulge any more information out of fear of being targeted."
She rummaged through her backpack to pull out a picture given to the Hokage of the Leaf, then watched them all closely hoping to pick up any strange reaction from the hidden rogue.
"This is a picture of the rogue given to us by Lady Fifth. We still don't have a name yet, not that we need it to find out who it is. But as we already know this ninja practically defines obscure." She held up the picture more to the Leaf ninja.
The unsmiling young man who appeared to be in his late twenties had long spikey dark brown hair and scratches around his neck near a bandage wrapping on his upper shoulder. He wore plain brown overalls and was working in a field in the photo. But the one thing that stood out was the look on his face. It was practically oozing embittered hatred. His extremely evil, nasty, grimace and red bloodshot eyes seeping with rage, pierced right out of the photo.
"Crap. That shinobi looks insane. What kind of unexplained deaths were they?" asked Suigetsu taken aback by the biting ferocity in the man's eyes.
She looked at all of them. "That's the scary part. He doesn't lay a hand on you. He makes you commit suicide."
The shocked and appalled expressions on their faces made the hidden ninja even more frightening...The Taka looked at each other. What kind of evil menace were the Leaf Village hunting...
"Nobody is quite sure how he does it, he could be using intimidation, psychological torture or even a jutsu to pressure people into taking their own lives. Literally ordinary people will be okay one minute, then next thing they'll throw themselves in a well or stab themselves. This is why we had to take extra precautionary measures, because we don't really know what we're dealing with" she said looking at the Leaf trying to hide her resentment; they acknowledged that she was talking about the poison syringe.
"The decipher core of the Leaf has identified a pattern though. According to their analysis, all the suicides were either in a body of water so drowning or by stabbing themselves as in disembowelment. Very strange" she said. She couldn't help but look at Neji; the rogue ninja was associated with stabbings...just the way he'd stabbed Naruto.
"What's that in his pocket?" asked Shikamaru, only then noticing something peculiar.
"What do you mean?" said Sakura. Everyone stared at the picture.
"There's something in his pocket that we can't see properly."
Sakura looked closely at the picture. She hadn't noticed it before Shikamaru had said anything. They'd all scanned the picture many times before leaving the Leaf Village and Sakura knew that there hadn't been anything there. It was eerie.
The big side pocket of his overall was bulging with something stuffed inside. A tiny head was sticking out with long blond hair and brown eyes.
"Strange. I never noticed that before...it...it looks like a...Barbie doll or a puppet." she said perplexed as to why such a formidable rogue ninja would pocket a kiddies doll as if it was some kind of prized possession.
It only took Kariin a few seconds for the picture to register in her head.
"Wait a second, Sasuke…" Kariin snatched the picture and straightened her glasses properly and stared intently; her face was unreadable but it made everyone tense up in suspense.
"Do you know something Kariin?" asked Jugo.
She looked at Sasuke trying to ease her shock before painfully forcing a relaxed gaze on her face.
"No. I, never mind it was nothing...I thought I recognised him but I don't, this man works as a gardener in the Grass Village. I can see by the company emblem on the chest." she whispered looking back at the group trying to be convincing. The Leaf ninja looked at each other suspiciously; she hadn't hidden herself effectively, they knew that she knew something but deliberately chose to keep mum about it.
"Then how is it that he is a ninja who became a rogue ninja if he is merely a gardener." asked Shikamaru sceptically.
"How should I know, I'm only telling you what I know, if you don't like it then shut up" she snapped. Sakura could see Kariin's body beginning to tremble slightly again; it inspired the fear in her. It was clear that they were dealing with an unknown scary power right in their midst.
"Guys, you don't think that maybe he's using some kind of voodoo doll type jutsu like a puppetmaster to control people into seppuku, do you?" whispered Tenten wondering how they would fight a power like that.
A thought clicked inside Sakura's head. "Wait, what did you just say?" she breathed.
"I just asked if you think it's possible..."
Sakura had already drifted off as her head slowly turned sideways at the word 'seppuku'. She recalled the wait for Naruto. She recalled the curiosity for reading about female ninja in a book where its contents couldn't be found. Instead there had been a haiku...
She stood up suddenly and beelined for the bookshelf.
"What's wrong Sakura? Where are you going?" asked Naruto.
She didn't respond. She didn't have the time or mind to. Her mind was busy. Her hand floated above the book 'Hide and Seek' once again before slowly touching it. No flash again. She was in the clear. All pairs of eyes focused on her as she opened the book 'Kunoichi on the Battlefield: A History of the Female Ninja' to the only writing in the entire book.
She read the same haiku again that she'd read while they were waiting for Naruto to arrive. It was that word. 'Seppuku'. There had to be a link.
"Betrayer of mine, I will surely bury you, you do seppuku'. That wording 'do' before the word seppuku, it almost comes across as an instruction. As if it's trying to say 'you will do seppuku' after the threat made in the line 'I will surely bury you' and the word 'betrayer' could indicate that it is a matter of revenge." she said in her head.
It didn't go unnoticed to her how quickly and easily she was able to interpret the haiku this time, now that there was some context of interpreting it. But only if there was a link of course...
Sakura bit her lip in anxiety. She had to bury her anger at her Leaf comrades for the sake of the mission...
She really wanted to read it aloud for the Leaf ninja to be aware of the possible link between the haiku and the rogue ninja's method of killing. But since the rogue was actually among them, she couldn't, it might endanger her and everyone else if he found out that she was on to him. But the rogue was only one person, so how would she inform the other's without making the pretender know if she didn't know who it was...
"Ah damn, this is so frustrating, who can I trust? This information could be crucial; I have to tell someone...but who?" she ranted in her head.
She was only then made completely aware that everyone was still staring at her waiting for her revelation. But she couldn't say it aloud... Sakura relaxed her gaze and tried to breathe normally and calmly to display her best poker face.
"Oh sorry it was nothing. False alarm." she said hoping she fooled them. They all looked at her the same way they had looked at Kariin when she'd stated that she didn't know anything about the man in the picture. In other words, nobody believed her. She was now the new Kariin of the situation.
Her eyes shot to Sasuke. The poem sounded like a sworn revenge poem. Sasuke basically ate revenge for breakfast. She wondered whether it could be him somehow...the untouchable Mr perfect.
Naruto hugged his body tightly; a shiver had crept into his jacket from outside.
"It's freezing in here. Can't we start a fire?" he whined.
"There's no firewood in here." said Sakura.
"What about the forest outside?" said Naruto raising an eyebrow and pausing for a second...the corner of his mouth curved upwards ever so slightly while he stared at the rest of the shinobi.
Everyone stopped to stare at him after what he'd said. The dark blizzard saturated forest. Nobody was willing to venture into such an ungodly place. Naruto neutralised his face.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of the storm or the rogue? There is no rogue. Trust me" he said with a hint of dare.
Silence.
Sakura also felt goosebumps forming on her icy skin as the wind found itself through the gaps in the wood and crept into any opening of her clothing it could find. She shivered at the cold.
"I'll go. I can practically tip over a tree with my fist and carry it back in no time." she said in the momentary silence, she'd only realised how much she wanted an escapism and a distraction from the tense environment of the house, if only for a while.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Didn't we just conclude that going into that forest would expose our location? And there could be an opportunity at any moment for an attack-
"Shut up Neji Hyuuga! I don't care what you have to say anymore okay? I've already decided that I'm going." she snapped sourly already getting up.
"But Sakura-"protested Naruto.
"-You can't go by yourself. Someone from our Taka team should also accompany you to balance it out." said Kariin.
"Are you stupid-?" she winced.
Her voice had just been raised up slightly in fear. There was no chance in hell she would go into the forest with people she didn't know with a rogue hiding among them.
"Suigetsu should go since he has Zabuza's blade so he can cut down any tree quickly as well" said Sasuke. Suigetsu grunted at the prospect of going outside.
Sakura jerked her head back in surprise. That's where that blade was from.
"Zabuza's blade. Where did you get that?"
Sasuke looked at his former team mates in the moment. Sakura and Naruto both remembered when they'd still been a team; all three of them and their legendary sensei had been placed on the mission that led them to Zabuza...as a team.
"I'll go too. Sasuke, come with us as well." pleaded Naruto. Sasuke couldn't tell whether Naruto was talking about going outside to collect wood or going back to the Leaf Village as always with him...that annoying chancer Naruto...
"No, you'll just get in the way; you wouldn't be of any use. I'll go but only with Sakura and Suigetsu." said Sasuke. "I can use my fire jutsu as a light source"
The Leaf ninja just looked at each other; the idea of leaving two unknown members of team Taka alone in the forest with Sakura made them uneasy.
Sakura exchanged resentful glances with Neji as Suigetsu and Sasuke come along with her. She felt it in her heart; it had to be him, there was no doubt in her mind. She just needed a way of swaying Sasuke and Suigetsu to think the same way and try to expose him or at least find out who they were suspecting. At least going outside was a way of talking privately...but then again...
Sakura looked at Sasuke; he was way too laid back for being in such a precarious situation, and then the relatively unknown Taka guy Suigetsu with Zabuza's blade, who just didn't seem to be up for anything. She wondered if their unaffected and removed attitudes were something to worry about.
She looked back at Naruto for reassurance who gave an unreadable smile that didn't quite connect to his usually shiny bright eyes at her.
Suigetsu waited for Sasuke to get to the door and exchanged a grin with him.
5:34 pm
Suigetsu opened the door with great effort against the force of the furious storm while Sasuke and Sakura followed behind him. The minute they reach outside they were immediately being blown backwards by the strong winds.
Sasuke clicked his fingers and his palm was lit up by small fire snaking upwards. It had to have some protective covering provided by his fire style jutsu because the strong winds were unable to blow it out.
"Stay behind me." said Sasuke walking forward with the light.
The entire patio area and down the stairs were smothered in darkness. Sakura had been, until then, unaware of how frightened she was, she remembered the unidentified voice that had echoed past her in the forest during the day...then the unnerving picture of the cruel looking rogue ninja burned into her memory floated back into mind as she walked too closely to Sasuke wanting to hold onto this Akatsuki cloak.
Seppuku...suicide...he doesn't lay a hand on you...drownings...stabbings...
Sasuke, holding a flame in his hand with Sakura and Suigetsu behind him, made it to the white forest and stopped at the tree nearest them. Sasuke couldn't see past the two rows of trees in front of them. Sakura hated the forest with every fibre of her being. It was always too quiet...too quiet...
"Wow, can't actually believe that Sasuke was actually a part of your ninja team. Doesn't suit him" said Suigetsu to Sakura.
"Shut up Suigetsu." said both Sakura and Sasuke.
"This should be far enough...Well get going Sakura" said Sasuke impatiently. She glared at him wind whipped before focusing her chakra in her fist and striking the tree which came down with a crashing boom in the quiet forest.
A bark echoed in the distance.
Sakura involuntarily jumped towards Sasuke while Sasuke and Suigetsu's heads shot towards the deeper black forest...
Sakura couldn't tell whether it was a person, or a dog...but remembered the giant black oni dog coming from somewhere in the forest. Shikamaru had said that he'd found it regular sized before it began growing...she took a huge gulp.
Sasuke and Suigetsu waited...five seconds...then relaxed their alertness. Nothing came.
"Now Suigetsu" yelled Sasuke.
Sakura jolted and whipped around at Suigetsu who swung his executioner's blade at her...
An ambush...
It was him...how could she not have seen it coming...
She readied herself to block the blade but it swung past her and sliced through the tree trunk.
Sakura breathed hard...it had been a misunderstanding...she dropped to her knees in torment...
"Wha? You thought I was aiming for you. Ha! Sasuke she thinks it's me! This Leaf ninja girl thinks I'm the rogue. She's clueless." he chuckled.
Sasuke and Suigetsu exchanged amused glances. Sakura wanted to punch the lights out of them both. But it gave her an opportunity to probe their suspicions.
"So then if it's not you then who do you think it is?"
"There's only three possibilities." said Sasuke. She stared up at Sasuke intensely, begging for his predictions.
"Neji. Naruto. Or me..." said Sasuke eyeing Suigetsu. "Those are the only logical options."
Sakura stared at him head aslant with the wild wind blowing her hair all around her face. Naming himself as a suspect...was he being serious...was he hinting...Was it some kind of joke...but what about the whole Naruto bit.
"Neji Hyuuga cleared Naruto from being a suspect-
"-That's only because Neji Hyuuga is a suspect himself..." interrupted Sasuke. Sakura looked at him feeling quite satisfied; it was just what she was aiming to find out. She was not the only one who suspected Neji. But the question was...what were they going to do about it...
"Well I guess judging by your freak out right now it could also be...Suigetsu." he said as Suigetsu bared his shark teeth in mock seriousness.
"Could you guys take this a little more seriously? You're starting to freak me out here" said Sakura although admittedly to herself, their lax attitude was quite infectious.
"There is nothing serious about this situation. Some psychopathic rogue ninja is pretending to be one of us while we're all forced under the same shelter and can't trust each other? It's actually quite funny." smirked Suigetsu.
"Actually this rogue ninja isn't just any motiveless psychopath. Judging by some information I received, he's out for revenge" she said remembering the poem she'd read about seppuku and the keyword 'betrayers' which she kept to herself. "Sounds quite familiar doesn't it? Revenge?"
Suigetsu and Sasuke smiled at each other.
"So you are keeping secrets from us, aren't you?" asked Sasuke piling wood into Suigetsu's hands.
"We're all keeping secrets from each other, and don't act like you didn't know it...Oh yeah by the way Sasuke, please remind me that I owe you an ass kicking later after you stopped me from helping Naruto. I don't allow just anyone to touch me like that." she teased helping him pile wood into his Taka teammate's hands.
She caught a glimpse of his warm onyx eyes as she bent over to retrieve the wood. The freezing temperatures of the snowstorm could not douse the warmth igniting inside her. Sasuke was even more perfect up close. It had been so long...
"I guess it's true what they say about Konohan kunoichi being excessively feisty." She's feisty this one, isn't she?" came Suigetsu.
"How should I know? I'm pretending to be Sasuke of the Taka remember?" he said raising an eyebrow.
Sakura shook her head and smiled slightly; even in the dire forest riddled with malevolence, Sasuke was a charmer even in the worst circumstances...Sasuke with his cute devilish smile and shapely eyes reminding her of her days as a Genin...
The light hearted moment ended. All three ninja realised at the same time that their voices had become louder...
The brutal raging wind and noise of the snowstorm was completely wiped out and replaced by absolute silence surrounding them...
It became too quiet...
Sakura stood up and looked around alarmed at the dark forest with Sasuke and Suigetsu on high alert.
A faint squeaking rusty noise came at them from no particular place.
Squeak...squeak...squeak...
Sasuke grabbed the hilt of his kunai with his free hand while they searched around. Sakura glued herself to the other two ninja.
A strong bright light turned on behind them...
All three ninja stiffened immediately. It wasn't coming from Sasuke's flame...They were supposed to be the only ones in the entire forest...
Seppuku...suicide...he doesn't lay a hand on you...drownings...stabbings...
"Sssassuuke..." Sakura whispered turning around slowly...
Sasuke whipped around along with Suigetsu.
The missing lantern, Sakura noticed...
The silhouette of someone holding the missing lantern was visible, coming from the steps of the patio of the house...
Sakura tried to scream but her voice froze in her throat...
"Quickly, let's move" Sasuke says to the both of them.
"What about the wood?" hissed Suigetsu.
"Abandon it!" said Sakura already running. Suigetsu followed closely behind and they ran as fast as possible to get to the house.
The closer they got to the house, they more the silhouette would disappear until it had completely vanished from sight as they arrived at the door...
6:03pm
Sakura burst inside the door of the house. She pulled out two kunai in both hands and held them up at the rest of the ninja taken by surprise. Her patience had reached boiling point.
"Okay, who was it. Who just left this house right now?" she demanded as Sasuke and Suigetsu arrived behind her.
Tenten looked apprehensively at Neji then back to Sakura not aware of what was going on.
"Well, Neji did but-
Sakura had already gained on him weapons drawn; she should've guessed. As far as she was concerned, Neji was the biggest public enemy. "Where did you just go?"
"I should be asking you the same thing when you left me in the forest saying that you needed to relieve yourself earlier." said Neji.
"I already told you I don't know what you're talking about. Now answer my question" she snarled.
"Why do you have such a problem with me?" he asked head slightly askew.
"How dare you leave this place by yourself especially when three of us were already outside! You know what the situation is!" she yelled angrily at Neji.
"So what, do you want someone to accompany me everywhere I go?" he asked incredulously.
Tenten didn't like the way Sakura pointed her two kunai at him like that. Sakura had fantastic strength in both hands that could damage him.
"What's wrong now?" asked Shikamaru feeling jaded from the couch.
"We just saw someone or something heading into this house from outside, with the missing lantern I saw earlier, when we were returning with the wood. So we had to leave it behind to try and stop the imposter from pulling any stunts." She said her eyes locked on Neji.
"And you think it was me?" asked Neji. Her non response confirmed his question.
"Relax Sakura. There's no proof that it was him just because he was outside alone." came Tenten.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" she roared, spewing all the anger and fear and frustration out of her voice. All she wanted to do was cut him as she glared into his challenging light eyes.
"There was no proof that Naruto was the rogue just because he was alone outside yet Neji insisted that we tear Naruto to pieces!" she yelled. She could feel the hot angry tears forming at the bottom of her eyelid when staring at Neji's smug face.
"I don't have to disclose anything to you. Now lower your weapon." said Neji crossing his arms.
"Why not? If you don't have anything to hide? "I'm so sick of this rouge ninja thing. We should just set up our own tests and interrogate him seeing as he won't tell us where he's been."
"If you really have to know, thought I heard something outside, so I went to investigate. But I don't see any point of telling you seeing that you won't believe me either way. You have some kind of grudge against me." he said blankly.
He was spot on. Sakura didn't believe him for a second. Neji saw it in her face. Tenten stepped in front of him in defensive mode.
"What the hell Tenten, step aside, what if he's the rogue? He's been acting strangely and you know it! The real Neji would never hurt you or Naruto." said Sakura.
"This is different! He's my only teammate here. You also have reserve loyalty to your own team Kakashi teammate" said Tenten.
"Everyone stop it!" said Shikamaru coming between the two groups.
"Can't you see what's going on here? All our paranoia and frustrations have made us turn on each other. There is no team Kakashi, team Guy or team Asuma here. Now everyone lower your weapons! Do it now or I'll have to report treachery on all of your reports of this mission when we get back to the Leaf. Do you understand?"
Neji. Sakura. Tenten. Nobody moved for a while but continued to stare each other down taking in Shikamaru's threats. The seeds of embittered resentment had been sown between the both of them. Neji and Sakura. Dare they think it...enemies for now... It was funny how things could change so quickly.
Finally Sakura shook her head at Neji then threw both her kunai at the wall with great force that it lodged itself into the wooden wall, almost breaking through, and then she lowered her arm.
Tenten was still trying to calm down. She couldn't tolerate anyone disrespecting Neji. But the painful truth of her words burned her inside; Neji was being far more brazen and aggressive than usual, especially when he'd hit her...but her confused mind refused to accept that he might be...him after all...No not until she had solid proof...
Fear and confusion grappled its finger on the trigger, waiting...
Neji slowly lowered his guard. "Really this is hardly professional".
With one swift movement, Sasuke was behind Neji placing his unstoppable katana under his chin. Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino whipped around.
"Just like Jugo said earlier, we don't take orders from Leaf ninja. It's within our own interest to find the rogue ninja and eliminate him" he said backing up while Tenten and the rest of the room watched him unblinking. Neji was highly suspicious.
Neji took a moment to breathe before...All hell broke loose.
Neji spun around, flicking Sasuke's katana away from under his chin and aimed his gentle fist hand at Sasuke. Sasuke blocked his hands with his katana.
Tenten was about to run into the battle to help Neji but Sakura yanked her backwards by her stomach; it was deja vu for her. Tenten yelled out in frustration and pulled out her bow staff and swung it at Sakura behind her, who fell to her knees and ducked as the long thin pole glided past her face and threatened to skewer her. Then Sakura shoved Tenten forward who was about to crash into Neji but he turned around just in time, thanks to his visual byakugan's almost full circle view, and caught her in one hand.
After catching Tenten, the sheer force of his air palm jutsu slammed into Sakura and she flew backwards. Naruto jumped up; he tried so gather up some chakra in his palm but he fell to the floor clutching his head in agony and emitted a scream of terror...Suigetsu and Jugo after being taken aback by Naruto's collapse ran to aid Sasuke fighting Neji but it wasn't necessary.
Even as Neji attacked him again, Sasuke was untouchable...his now activated sharingan anticipating all of Neji's strikes to his body. Neji began rotating rapidly in response to Sasuke's sharingan power. Sakura got up and tripped Neji and he fell forwards with the tip of Sasuke's sword an inch from his face as the room began to blink a bright blue coming from Sasuke's katana.
Sakura was about to get up from the trip but Tenten grabbed her arm pulling her forwards to strike her... but Sakura was ready for it; she balled up her fist and shot straight for Tenten's face...
Until her entire body froze...but it wasn't just her...
Everyone was paralysed.
Sasuke with his chidori almost inching closer to Neji's face and Tenten about to strike Sakura and vice versa...nobody could move at all.
Sakura's eyes peered down at the ground and noticed that their shadows had been completely hijacked.
Shikamaru was standing behind them all with the handsign of the shadow possession jutsu created using the shadows created by the candlelight. He looked livid as he and Ino synced both their shadows to create a wider range and restrain them all.
"Do any of you have any idea what you have done...All of you Leaf ninja have compromised this mission. Sakura, did you even stop to realise that you were actually fighting your comrades and aiding people who are affiliated with the Akatsuki, the very same people who are after Naruto and who killed Asuma sensei. Why do you all insist on making this situation worse than it is?"
Sakura had not even thought about it...she had been blinded by fury at Neji and paranoia of the rogue ninja situation. She had been fighting Leaf shinobi on the side of enemies... She stared into Neji's unapologetic eyes...anger burned her insides...
"Step away from each other as I let go of my shadow possession jutsu. Sakura and Neji, one more move from you two and I'll have no choice now but to report you as instigators of infighting on this mission when we get back to the Leaf Village and I file this mission. Do you really want that? Probation or suspension?" he warned.
Shikamaru and Ino let go of their shadow possession and watched them all like a military sergeant, waiting for anyone to defy him and paralysed on the spot. Ino stared at Shikamaru concerned... Shikamaru was never one to be preachy but he was buckling under pressure; they could not afford any divisions at that time within their Leaf ninja team.
Jugo stood watching silently arms folded. He watched the Taka and Leaf as silently as always. All he had to do was wait. He just needed the right opportunity. He needed to wait…
Sakura growled in anger again as she walked away. Distraction...She needed a distraction before she couldn't resist the temptation of wanting to pound Neji. There had to be a way of exposing him before he hurt one of them...the rogue.
Walking away from the scene, her eyes floated towards the bookshelf at the corner of her eye...that bookshelf... it had to have some kind of significance to the rogue ninja. To her, finding out more about the rogue ninja was the only way to confirm her suspicion of Neji by figuring out any motions, gestures or references he would accidently slip out. Those books had to be clues...Just like the poem about seppuku.
She casually walked over to the bookshelf so she didn't catch the attention of all the high alert ninja in the room. The other book that she'd decided not to read last time was the book entitled 'White Lotus'. She slipped it out of its place on the shelf and flipped to the first page:
Changes in the Wind:
My gentle child
With a gentle soul
Blowing in the gentle breeze
What powers are these
The imitation of bodies
The light in your eyes
I see through your disguise
A fear of the scourge
Hide until its safe to emerge
You are buried deep
For now go to sleep
Sakura squinted her eyes at the first thing she noticed: someone had crossed out a word. 'Imitation'. Why would someone want to do that...perhaps it gave too much away...The imitation of bodies, I see through your disguise...Bingo, she thought.
That had to be written about the rogue ninja, it was practically screaming at her. The Kariin girl on team Taka had told them that the rogue ninja was somehow blending and disguising himself in, pretending to be one of them. She smiled to herself, the clue was vital. It proved that Kariin was not lying. She read the rest of the poem again...
A fear of the scourge, hide until its safe to emerge...Sakura looked away pensively. If the poem was about the rogue ninja, then it meant that the rogue ninja was impersonating someone because he was afraid of something bringing about death and misery in the village which didn't make any sense to her. How could someone with such an atrocious power such as making people kill themselves have anything to fear, he was more of a scourge himself...Also the lines 'you are buried deep, for now go to sleep' appeared to be talking about someone who had died. Not to mention that the rogue ninja was not a 'gentle child'.
She sighed in frustration; it was incredibly confusing. She'd felt so close to finding out something tangible that she could use for exposing him among them. If only she could find out the rogue ninja's name, she would be able to link the possible clues in the books with him...
As per standard procedure for her now, she looked down at the bottom of the poem looking for the author's name but once again just like previous books it didn't have a name.
She flipped the pages and saw none of the other poems and haiku had names. She closed the book and opened the front: Her heart skipped a beat in excitement... finally it had something written on it to reveal where it came from.
This book is the property of Namiko Kamakura for use by Kamakura Funeral Service.
All right's reserved.
Ashikaga House of Publishing
Kamakura Funeral Services.
3221 Chushingura Street
Grass Village: Kusagakure
The first thing that jumped at her was the 'Kamakura Funeral Services'. So the book was used at funerals and the owner Namiko Kamakura was a funeral poet... She somehow found it quite sweet in a creepy and sad sort of way.
Namiko Kamakura...Kamakura. Kamakura. Sakura furrowed her brows trying to think where she had heard that name before. It was at the tip of her tongue but she couldn't put her finger on it...
"Namiko Kamakura, huh?" she said aloud.
"Huh? Did you say something?" asked Naruto coming to stand next to her by the bookshelf. She'd paused for a second remembering what Sasuke had said to her in the forest but...Naruto had passed the test with Neji so he was not a suspect anymore. Neji was now the biggest culprit.
"Yeah, I just said Namiko Kamakura, the owner of this book. The name is written in this book along with a publisher. But I can't exactly remember where I know that name from"
"It's the family name that you saw written on the house remember, before we came inside here" said Naruto.
"Oh yes that's right. So I guess then it means that this person, Namiko Kamakura was or is still living here and wrote at least this book. But this part 'Kamakura Funeral Services.' I think the family that owns this house ran a funeral business. "
"Wow. That's kinda awesome isn't it?"
"Naruto, you're such a knucklehead. As if this forested area isn't creepy enough, now there's a chance that this house is owned by people who deal with the dead. I just wish there was a way of relaying this information to everyone else without telling the imposter somehow"
"Don't tell me that you believe that Taka girl. She's lying"
"No she's not. Not this time. If we dismiss this all as a lie, we could end up going back to the Grass Village or worse yet, to the Leaf Village with a dangerous imposter bent on wreaking havoc on people. By then it would already be too late"
Naruto smiled a bright smile. "Is there a picture of her? Namiko Kamakura?" he asked with his eyes lighting up.
"No. There's nothing else about her"
"So where is she now then?" he asked with his voice going blank.
"It doesn't say..." she shook her head.
"Sakura, Naruto we're calling it a day for now. Let's get some rest while we wait for the storm to ease up. Tomorrow we're going to have no choice but to find out who the rogue is. But our way, of course" came Shikamaru from the couch as Ino, Tenten and Neji prepared their sleeping mats on the tatami floor.
"Who's going to watch over us?" she asked feeling uneasy at the idea of sleeping while a dangerous man hid among them.
"I will. Along with Sasuke who will watch his Taka team" said Shikamaru.
They laid out there sleeping mats on the floor and Shikamaru spread himself on the couch. Staring at the Taka huddled around each other...
6:24pm
Ino slid her tired body into her sleeping bag and looked up at Shikamaru's silhouette watching over them from the couch in the darkness and smiled to herself, then drifted away...
…Ino's eyes rolled to the back of her head; she needed to control herself. Anger was tearing her apart; she was shaking, spitting with outrage. The betrayers had arrived for her again. She wasn't going to stand for it anymore. She looked down and saw her one hand covered in blood. She was still holding onto the kunai knife she'd stuck inside the head of the dark haired ninja with the real pretty dark hair lying unconscious in the snow… This was not her usual form of killing. She was about to stick the knife in further but the pink haired girl began stirring. She wasn't ready for anyone to wake yet... her...
...The house she knew all too well...Ino realised that she'd needed to go wash her hands of the blood so she got up to go to the bathroom tip toeing quietly. After she opened the tap, she washed her hands. To her annoyance she realised that the water wasn't draining but remained in a pool in the basin. The drain was probably blocked but it was too dark and late for her to do anything about it. She closed the tap with an echoing squeak. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror. And saw...
Someone's reflection behind her…
Her heart almost jumped out her body when she saw Sasuke with his red eyes standing behind her in the mirror. She jolted and gasped in fright when she turned to him. He'd been far too quiet for her to detect him.
"Dammit Sasuke don't scare me like that. Ninja and their silence…" she breathed trying to calm down. Only then she'd remembered; he wasn't a Leaf ninja anymore, he was an enemy. After realising with shock she stared at him. But he wasn't moving; he didn't say anything to her or look away. He just stood staring blankly at her. She stared at him creeped out. He mindlessly walked up to her and grabbed her throat. She screamed but nothing came out. He pushed her head backwards by her throat and threw her head in the pool of water in the basin where she'd washed her hands. Before she knew it...he would've drowned her…
Ino jolted up from her sleeping bag and covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. She breathed heavily and was sweating profusely. She looked down at her hands in horror. They were as clean as she remembered. No blood. But the dream...it had been her all along...the thought...she would never hurt another Leaf shinobi...she didn't even remember stabbing him, or having any of the thoughts in the dream... or memory...But it was more than just a dream.
It was true. He really was among them. The bad dream had to have been perpetuated by the rogue ninja, she knew it. But it could only mean one thing
Tapping into her mind to make her see what he wanted...
Genjutsu.
A thought crept into her mind. If the rogue killed people by suicides that included stabbing themselves and...drowning...she had almost been drowned in the dream...none of the Leaf ninja were water type shinobi but she didn't know whether one of the Taka members was a water type shinobi...it had to be a water type shinobi controlling the water...
Unable to sleep, she got up carefully so as to not wake anyone up and tip toed to the kitchen ironically, for a glass of water.
After drinking water and calming down she placed the glass back into the sink. She took one breath before hearing something sliding against wood. Coming from the living room.
She walked out the kitchen and stared frightened at the bathroom door opening by itself on the opposite side of the room. It was completely dark in the bathroom and it could be a trap to lure her, after all she was the one who'd had the dream of the bathroom implanted in her mind. Her anxiety mixed in with shinobi determination unsettled her mind as she didn't know what to do. Waking the others? No she couldn't...everyone was exhausted...
She walked quietly and slowly in the dark and when she reached the sliding panel door, she pulled out a kunai and placed it in her hand…Until someone behind her slapped their hand over her mouth, muzzling her.
Sasuke Uchiha.
Ino's panic stricken mind raced back to the dream she'd just had. Was it possible that it had been real or some sort of premonition...he wanted to kill her? Was Sasuke the rogue ninja? She stood no chance...
She tried screaming and fighting him off by stabbing his hand with her kunai but he turned her around. She noticed that his sharingan was not turned on.
He let go of her mouth and placed his index finger over her lips to indicate that she must be quiet but she wasn't having any of it-she was too freaked out.
"Did you just place a genjutsu on me?" she blurted out wide eyed.
"What? Be quiet. There is someone or something in that bathroom." hissed Sasuke.
"No. I want to know whether you used those crazy eyes of yours to place a genjutsu against me."
"You can see that my sharingan is not activated! besides you have to look into my eyes for it to work. Why are you so bothered anyway?" he whispered loudly.
She shook her head at him, lost for words.
She took a step back...
-Splash-
Ino recognised the sound of water under her feet. She looked down along with Sasuke. There was a pool of water on the floor... it was streaming from the bathroom.
Ino struggled to come to terms with everything. Her mind was spinning.
Had it been a nightmare or reality. Al the elements from her nightmare were present. Sasuke. Water from a blocked pipe in the bathroom.
She backed away slowly from a confused looking Sasuke.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. She stared blankly at him. She just wanted to run away. Her legs carried her away from Sasuke and the bathroom...back to her sleeping mat.
Sakura heard Ino return from the kitchen as she lay down staring at the ceiling trying to understand the events of the day. Their mission to assassinate the rogue ninja of the Grass Village had to be the most trying in every aspect. All their misfortune at not finding the rogue was exacerbated by the snowstorm and being stuck in a house with the Taka and the rogue himself...She wondered how long it would take them to finish the mission while they waited for the outside storm to calm down...
She stared at the silhouettes of the group of ninja in the dark thinking where the Kamakura's could be and whether they would return anytime soon, demanding the freeloaders off their property. She stared at the wall...and realised something occurring in her head when she thought about the family who owned the house... The unexplained was far from over, in fact, it had only just begun...
Her eyes grew wide as she realised.
How had Naruto known that she'd seen the Kamakura surname on the wall outside the house...when he hadn't arrived yet...
A/N: Okay so my sister's BEEN guessing who it is. I thought it was pretty obvious but...