"So how was the Capital?" Konohamaru asked his former student.
"Loud, busy, with arcades on every street." Boruto replied through is chewing of the ramen.
"In other words, your kind of place." Konohamru smirked.
Boruto merely ignored him. Though it was true. For all the modernizing the village had gone through over the years. It was still small compared to the Capital.
Boruto jumped to leave after finishing his third bowl of the noodles. "Thanks for the ramen Sensei!"
Konohamaru watched his student jump away for his next mission, but began to feel sad when he realized the hefty bill he'd have to pay for the boy's ramen.
"You're late Boruto!" Sarada scolded.
"I'm not late. You're just early." He said back to the red-clad kunoichi. He turned to Mitsuki who was wearing his typical smile. It wasn't overdone nor condescending, simply a smile. "What do you think Mitsuki?"
"I think it's nice to be going to the place where Lord Seventh first met Lady Fifth." It was a response completely as strange as a dog falling the sky for Boruto and Sarada who made no attempt to hide the awkwardness it created. For Mitsuki he had merely answered his friend's question.
"Tanzaku Town." Sarada said fixing her glasses. "Any gambler's or gamer's paradise."
Boruto wanted to jump out his sandals when his Father said their next mission would be in Tanzaku Town. But then his Father explained what the mission was about and all his excitement turned to stoic attention.
"So let's go over the mission one last time." Boruto said to his teammates.
"We are to investigate a recent string of murders and if possible apprehend the killer." Mitsuki said.
Sarada opened her mouth to speak next. "10 people have been confirmed dead. Another 20 missing. This a B-rank mission but this has the potential to turn into an A or S-rank in a snap."
Boruto smirked. "Good. Now let's move out and no goofing off."
"Aren't you talking to yourself?" Sarada slyly asked as they walked away from the Village's main gate.
"I never goof off!" Boruto hastily shouted back, not doing a good job of hiding how flustered he was.
"Says the guy who showed up late for the mission he's supposed to lead."
"I got sidetracked."
"Now you're starting to sound like Grandpa Kakashi."
Mitsuki followed silently as his two friends bickered as they like when they were academy students. All the while, the son of Orochimaru smiled.
Konohamru sat in the Hokage's office staring wide-eyed at the comically high stacks of paperwork Udon and Moegi had just plopped on his desk. "You have got to be kidding me." Konohamru complained.
Moegi put her hand on her hips. "Well you're the one who volunteered to fill in for the Seventh while he and Shikamaru are the summit."
"That's right." The bespectacled Udon added. "And with Sasuke in the Sand Village directly investigating the murder site, you're the only fit for the job."
"Uughh." Konohamaru groaned.
"Good luck Mr. Hokage." Moegi teased as she and Udon left the office.
"Hokage." Konohamru scoffed. "How the hell does Naruto put up with this shit?"
Looking at the stacks of paperwork towering over him, he narrowed his eyes, cracked his knuckles and prepared to tackle his most formidable opponents yet.
Konohamaru's hand had begun to cramp from almost 10 minutes of signing away at countless pieces of paper, and he'd only gotten through half of one stack. "Okay." He pulled another form from the pile.
This one was long distance report from Shikadai's squad who'd gone to the grass village regarding bandits stealing sacred scrolls. "'No new developments.'" He quoted off the bottom of the page. In Shikadai's head he was likely thinking "what a drag." He grabbed the next one. "Possibilities on Katasuke's whereabouts." He read off the page. It was an ANBU report. Katasuke went rogue about two years after he was discharged from the Scientific Ninja Tools Division. "Well, it's not like Naruto didn't give you second a chance you weasel."
Indeed Naruto had been asking on Katasuke's progress in the ordinary ranks as well as his morale. It didn't turn up anything promising.
He read the page for the locations and stopped about two-thirds of the way down. "Tanzaku Town." He read off the page. "That's where Boruto's team had been sent."
The air of Tanzaku was rank with scents of sweets, spices, and sours. There was gambling parlour on just about every corner and an arcade on every street.
Boruto wanted to go to each one but held himself back. This was the second mission he was leading and he had no intention of it ending the way his last one did.
"Just one room for the three of you?" The middle-aged lady front desk manager seemed agitated.
"That's right, ma'am." Boruto replied with the utmost politeness.
She let out a sigh and hand Boruto the key to the room. No, she practically threw it at him. He normally would have pushed the matter further but he knew this wasn't what he was here for. He led his teammates away from the lobby.
Their room was more or less quaint. Nothing too fancy. Three futons set out for them to sleep on, a mini-fridge at the end of the room.
"What do you suppose was up with that lady?" Sarada asked.
"It doesn't matter." Boruto threw off his bag. "Let's unpack then hit the streets."
The three had decided to split up. Boruto and Sarada each went to check with families of the deceased while Mitsuki had decided to get further information from the crime scenes.
The first one was in a secluded, grimy alley with food wrappers, turned over trash cans, and other forms of litter as its decoration. The white marking for the murders was in well in the middle of it. According the police report the cause of murder was a stabbing, and the victim a small-time drug dealer. IT had occurred at about 11:30pm two weeks ago. As far as Mitsuki was concerned that wasn't out the ordinary.
The next one was under a large tree in a park. This victim was a low-level weapons dealer. Sold second-hand kunai, shuriken, and other relics of war. The cause of death here had been bludgeoning occurring at 2:00am two days after the first one. Mitsuki founded the markings for his body in a great opening under the large oak tree. Once again, this wasn't out the ordinary for Mitsuki. He didn't find it odd for death to be an occupational hazard for criminals.
The other crime scenes yielded similar results. The murders occurred late into the night in secluded areas with all of the victims being involved in less than admirable activities at some point in their lives. What piqued Mitsuki's interest is that as his investigation progressed the cause of murders began to get more and strange. There cases of the victims being burned alive, to being drowned. The only problem was that there was no evidence of any physical weapon being used for those murders.
The three regrouped back at the inn. Each and discussed their findings.
Boruto began. "As far as the families were concerned, they were either sad or glad to learn that a member their family had been murdered.
"And apparently as far as anyone was concerned there was no warning or sign that they were being targeted." Sarada chimed.
Mitsuki closed his eyes to concentrate while Boruto and Sarada leaned forward to hear their friend's response.
Mitsuki ran everything through his mind from the cause of murder to the time and place. In a flash it all fit into placing Mitsuki's mind. He smiled at his teammates. "We are dealing with a ninjutsu user?"
"Huh?" Boruto and Sarada said simultaneous both wearing an incredulous look on their face.
"How do you figure?" Boruto asked.
"My investigations of the crime scenes told me that the murders were committed by one person. While the cause of the elemental murders lacked any sort of weapon being used."
"That does make sense." Sarada put her hand under chin. "But isn't it jumping the gun a bit to say that ninjutsu was used?"
"Normally yes." Mitsuki replied. "But just look at how the woman at the front desk acted towards us. She seemed at least agitated by the fact that we are ninjas."
Boruto and Sarada sat back as it all made sense.
"Then that means that lady knows something about this." Boruto said.
Mitsuki nodded.
"Let's go have a chat with her." Boruto led his teammates down the surprisingly quiet and empty hallways and down into the similarly abandoned-looking lobby. There was single lamp on giving the room a twilit hue, and there was no one manning the front desk. Walking up to the desk the three saw that the door the "employees only" room hanging open. It was practically inviting them to go into it. There might as well have been a valet standing there to show them in.
"It's a trap you know." Mitsuki's voice startled him.
"Yeah, I know that. I wasn't chosen to lead this mission for no reason you know."
"Yeah." Sarada chimed in. "It's because his Dad is trying to get him caught up to the rest of us." Sarada giggled. She didn't realize what such a comment meant to Boruto. Or perhaps she did, but didn't think about it.
"This has nothing to do with my Dad!" Boruto hissed. "Now let's go."
Sarada immediately felt guilty about what she said but followed her leader and decided that she would apologize later.
As expected, the room was sprayed with blood, and the front desk manager was laid out on the concrete floor like she'd been run through a food processor. Mitsuki looked around the room, at the various office supplies and shelves. Everything was surprisingly in place. A ninja, but a vicious ninja. It took both skill and malice to pull off a feat such as this. Something he learned from his own parent, the immortal Orochimaru.
Sarada had activated her sharingan searching for any signs of life in the victim. Her eyes narrowed when she found nothing. This was like a horror fil. People dropping dead around them in the most gruesome manner for no apparent reason, and the killer anywhere but in a place easy to find.
On the air however she could see something almost liquid-like. Her mouth opened slightly. It was clearly blue and it was hung all around the rooms like garlands.
"You can feel it can't you?" Boruto asked.
Sarada nodded. Mitsuki nodded too.
"There's chakra still on the air." Boruto stood up.
"Chakra always leaves traces." Mitsuki began. "But for it to be left here in huge quantities is unheard of. Other than the tailed beasts of course."
"Sarada." Boruto turned to his raven-haired friend. "Can you see where the chakra leads?"
"Oh yeah. Practically leading us right to our killer."
"This situation has 'trap' written all over it." Mitsuki stated.
"Optimism Mitsuki." Boruto sighed at this pale-skinned friend. He just wished he wasn't so right.
Naruto sat down at the large round table and placed his Hokage hat down while Shikamaru stood behind him. The rest of the Kage did the same. Naruto looked around the room taking note of everyone's rather stiff postures. There was an anxiety on the air. Kankuro was a friend to all the Kage. This was personal, one way or another, to all.
Even Mifune, the elderly General of the Land of Iron, wore a sterner-than-usual expression.
"We shall begin the Fie Kage Summit!" Mifune announced to the Kage. He held out his hand towards Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, and Kankuro's younger brother. Behind him stood the siblings' former teacher, Baki. An old, yet hardy and vastly dependable warrior and comrade.
"As you know my brother, Kankuro, my advisor and officer of the Shinobi Union was murdered." There was a lack emotion in the Kazekage's voice. Though Naruto knew his friend well enough that he was hiding a deep and wild rage. "We know nothing of the murder other than it was committed in a single blow." Gaara turned to Naruto. "The Seventh Hokage graciously sent Sasuke Uchiha to investigate with his ocular prowess." He turned back to Kage and Mifune. "I ask for support of the rest of the Shinobi Union in bring our friend's killer to justice." Gaara voice was solid and clear. Not a hint of the sadness his heart was burning with tainted his speech.
The rest of Kage and Mifune excitedly voiced their support as expected. They were practically bouncing in their seats ready to trample something down. Though the request was more a formality than anything else. Kankuro's death meant that this was already an international matter.
"Lord Kazekage." Mifune began. "I believe I speak for us all when I say that Kankuro was dear friend to us all and we will bring this killer down."
As expected this had turned into a manhunt. Naruto however was aware of glaring problem. "We can't begin our investigation without some leads." Naruto said.
"Indeed." Chojuro, the Sixth Mizukage sighed. "Until we receive Sasuke's report we won't be able to actively start finding him."
"Nonetheless we should lay out the duties of each of the villages of who will contribute what in this hunt." Darui, the Fifth Raikage. "For starters each village should submit a list of their rogue ninja."
Everyone in the room was incredibly vocal about how they would go about this. Part of Naruto felt like he was back in the 4th Great Ninja War. Everyone was cooperating to face their common enemy. It made Naruto feel alive again, though his heart sank at the fact that it took the death of a friend to accomplish it.
All the discussion was interrupted by a single powerful voice. "Sorry to interrupt."
The voice was unrecognizable and the Kage and Mifune turned to see the owner of said voice was unrecognizable as well. The door was open behind him. The door that was reinforced with countless barrier ninjutsu. The man hims4ll was tall, and decked out in a great black coat and his long red hair was tied back save for a few unruly lock of it that did a poor job of concealing the burn scars on his face.
"Who the hell are you?" Kurotsuchi, the Fourth Tsuchikage demanded as she stood from her seat along with everyone else.
"I'm the one you're looking for." The man replied in an almost nonchalant manner.
The Kage and Mifune's jaws dropped before their teeth ground against each other in anger.
The red-haired man opened his mouth to speak once again. "Sorry about the Samurai guards downstairs General." He turned to Mifune. "Though in my defence, they attacked first."
Mifune's hand went his katana. He was more than ready to cut this man down. As were the rest. Gaara's sand was already hovering over him like a thundercloud ready to strike.
"Give us one reason why we shouldn't kill you." The Tsuchikage snarled at him.
"Well maybe the fact that this isn't the real me and merely a shadow clone?" The red-haired man replied, the condescension drenched his tone.
"Why did you kill my brother?" The Kazekage's tone was now ringing with the anger he was previously holding in out of courtesy.
"Well, he was leading a team that were sending support goods to an outpost town that sent raiders and attacked a caravan that nursed me back to health when I fell ill." He said. "So I destroyed the town and your brother in retaliation and took the goods he was delivering back to the caravan."
"That's it?" the Kazekage growled.
The man smirked. "I didn't come here to try and justify myself. I know you all make the rules here and change them whenever you feel like it." The man maintained his condescending tone.
For a moment the room felt silent, everyone digesting this man's words. It was so simple. His explanation for why he did what he did. And he had to know he could not justify what he had done, so why come here?
Naruto took a breath. "Who are you?"
"I believe the Tsuchikage already asked that question."
"Your name."
"Kaname. Kaname Uzumaki."
Naruto's eyes widened as he and the rest of the leader in the room processed that revelation.
"Uzu-maki?" Naruto stammered.
"Yes. Just like you Hokage." Kaname said. "My mother was survivor of the tragedy that befell the Uzumaki Clan many years ago. Just like yours."
"How do you know about my mother?" Naruto growled.
"I did my research." Kaname replied.
"What do you want?" The Raikage questioned. Though it was more of a command.
"To inform you that these good times of yours are numbered." Kaname took a pause. "19 years ago, the ninja world united and defeated the Akatsuki. 4 years ago, the Seventh Hokage and his son defeated the last Otsutsuki." Kaname eyed all the Kage and Mifune. And truthfully no one could help but shudder at his gaze. "However with peace the views of the people have shifted. Before ninja were awed for their power and bravery, now they are feared and resented for keeping that power for themselves."
"What are you talking about?" The Raikage growled.
"I believe an era is about to end and I'd like to speed up the process."
"And you're telling us this because…" The Mizukage questioned.
"I want you to let it end." Kaname held up his hands. "You see change is gravity. You can resist, and even try to control it but you can't defy it forever. One day you will weaken and be pulled back down to Earth. One way or another."
Around the room fists tightened, eyes narrowed, and Gaara's sand was shifting all the more violently above his head.
Kaname sighed as he took in the silent answer from his audience. "I didn't think so. Well whether or not you want to keep your power is irrelevant, so I suggest you get comfortable in your high thrones before you're blown off them." With that Kaname's clone went up in a puff a smoke leaving the room in a rather violent silence.
He's just one man. Naruto thought. But he couldn't help but feel that this Kaname Uzumaki wasn't to be trifled with. Naruto turned to everyone else. "We all know what to do. Get ready for war." Naruto put on his Hokage hat, his heart more than ready for this Kaname Uzumaki.