Disclaimer: Naruto is made by a man with a K in his name
Pairing: Absolutely none, because I (still) can't write romance
Updating schedule: I'll update shit whenever I feel like it. Not abandoned or completed until I said so
Summary: Gin, a body snatcher living in the body of 'Naruto Uzumaki', escaped Konoha in his 1000th loop after faking his death. How does he, who did differently this round, deal with the world when everyone is coming for his head and treating him as a dangerous criminal? How will Konoha react when they find out their lovable blond is very much alive?
Other: Rated T for language; beware of OOC; this is a rewrite of the original Arc 1, several characters are renamed because I was trying to entertain myself while writing this; MC's ability to take anything (bloodline, memories, etc) was removed, not because it was too overpowered (like he already isn't), but because I keep forgetting that it exists; update will be inconsistent, number of words per chapter will also be inconsistent
- a loon's garden -
Flesh and Roses: 1
"Come on, Seizon," A brunette boy made his way through the forest, moving the branches out of his sight, "it's just a stupid rumor, do you actually believe that ghost story that scares children?" He mocked.
"B-But, Hiryo…" Another boy stuttered nervously, looking around the trees around them with wariness.
"What?" Hiryo asked, before tilting his head and putting on a meaningful grin. He made his way towards his cowardly friend, nudging the boy with this elbow, and whispered, "Don't you want to impress your beautiful and perfect 'Wana-chan'?"
The two boys turned their heads and glanced at the listless girl behind them.
"Hurry up and show me this 'interesting new animal' you guys talked about!" She rushed them by yelling, "The sun is already down, if we don't go back, my kaa-san is going to rip me a new one!"
Hiryo wore a deadpan look on his face as he muttered, "I can't believe you like this tigress."
A blush found its way onto Seizon's face.
"What?" Hiryo grinned, "You scared to confess? Scaredy cat."
"Hah?" The girl raised one eyebrow as she walked closer, "Confess about what?"
Hiryo found his face getting hotter. "I- I uh-" he stuttered. But his stuttering suddenly froze as his tanned face somehow became paler and paler.
"'Uh' what?" Wana asked impatiently.
His hand trembled as he found his finger pointed at what seemed to be behind the two children.
The two children turned their heads, before blood drains from their faces.
Seizon found himself running for his life as the screams and cries of his friends echoed behind him.
"If all we had were roses, would the thorns then be beautiful?"
- Kamand Kojouri
"Welcome, ninja-sama, to our Heiwa Village." An elderly man said with a face like dried-up orange peels.
Kakashi Hatake shifted his lone eye away from his orange book and glanced around the lively street filled with various stalls. Faces filled nothing but with laughter and happiness. 'Heiwa Village', 'peace village'. He had to confess that the old man, Riku Higa, the mayor of the village, gave it a fitting name.
A small village that isn't even on the map of the Land of Fire, comprises no shinobis, but has people with the strength of elite Genins, prospered with food and money, with no bandits invading- the village was too peaceful, so peaceful that it's suspicious.
A village comprising no shinobis could stand so peacefully? Even Kumo and Kiri, the Hidden Shinobi Villages, didn't have peaceful times in the past years. Konoha was still relatively safe even after losing their jinchuriki, but none of the other Hidden Villages knew about the Kyuubi in the first place –except for Suna–.
He hoped that he was mistaken and that there was nothing wrong with this village. It was just a simple C-rank mission to find the missing children, in fact, the mission was paid as B-rank due to the mayor afraid of Konoha ignoring this mission. It was a simple mission that was easy enough for two Jonins, a 'Chunin', and a Tokubetsu Jonin. In fact, he took the mission for the sake of practicing teamwork.
"We're extremely grateful that you accepted such a dangerous mission for our measly village." The old man, Riku Shicho, gave a crinkled smile that gave the feeling of a gentle neighborhood grandpa.
Thanks to being a ninja, Kakashi heard the quiet tongue click from a certain raven. He shifted his gaze and noticed a sneer before the raven mouthed silently, "Disgusting bootlicker."
Right on queue, the pinkette on his right let out a sigh.
The entire team 7 stood in silence. Kakashi nearly facepalmed himself. Ever since the loud and childish blonde went missing, the team was completely lost on how to introduce themselves.
Kakashi closed his previous orange book and let out a business smile- as if his mask wasn't there. "Nice to meet you, Shicho-san. I am Kakashi Hatake, a Jonin from Konohagakure." He then gestured to the annoyed raven who was grimacing on his left, "This is Sasuke Uchiha, also a Jonin." He then pointed to the pinkette who let out a weak smile and a wave, "This is Sakura Haruno, a Tokubetsu Jonin who specializes in Medical Ninjutsu, and behind me is Sai, a 'Chunin'."
The paled teen revealed a smile to the old man in reassurance, and probably only the members of the current Team 7 knew Sai was making another fake smile.
Riku Shicho nodded in satisfaction.
"We're so fortunate that ninja-samas came on time." Old man Riku continues to hold onto the same smile while led "As mentioned in our request, a few days ago, two children went missing after wandering into the forest. Unfortunately, even after sending a search party, we still didn't find those children." Riku sighed sadly.
Kakashi nodded in understanding.
The two children, both 11 years old, are a boy named Hiryo Shisha and a girl named Wana Itai. Both of their parents reported that the kids never came back home. Shicho didn't mention any additional information, which confuses him. He was about to inquire for more information when the raven spoke first.
"We're just looking for a bunch of brats, right?"
"Sasuke!" The pinkette shouted in disbelief, no longer using 'kun' behind his name ever since the blond disappeared from their team.
Sasuke let out a snort, before heading straight towards the direction where the children were last seen, the entrance to a nearby forest. Sakura grumbled and stomped her foot, before starting to chase after the raven. Sai, whom Sakura always called a 'creepy bastard', kept a friendly business-like smile to Kakashi, "I'll check on Emo and Ugly." and walked behind the two teens.
Kakashi smiles apologetically to Riku. Even if the old man couldn't see ⅔ of his face, it's the thought that counts.
Sakura kicked around the dirt as they walked back to the same village they had come to a few hours ago. Of course, there's nothing in the stupid forest, but Sasuke, that broody, heartless, and selfish idiot had to rush everything like it was nobody's business but his.
On one hand, she's grateful that Sasuke is now talking like a normal person. On the other hand, she sometimes begs for a filter on Sasuke's mouth so he won't upset the client. Kami, how she misses the younger him who did nothing but glare at every animated object and 'hn' once every five minutes.
Of course, the moment they arrive back at the entrance of the village, Kakashi, that lazy excuse of a sensei, ditched them after telling them to gather more information about the missing children, and then had the audacity to tell them it's for 'teamwork'.
For the sake of finishing this mission and not having Kakashi push them to work on another handful of D-ranks, she tried to gather her team together.
Keyword, 'tried'.
Sasuke was immediately out of her sight after the Shunshin-addicted Hatake vanished with a swirl of leaves. Sai was no longer to be seen either.
She gritted her teeth as she stumbled in the direction of the Shiha house.
After she knocked on the door, she was completely stupefied when she saw the person who opened the door, it was a man who carried the scent of death. He glanced at her up and down with heavy eyebags, before landing his hollow eyes on the forehead protector on the top of her head.
If it was another client, maybe normal, or more sane, would ask why her forehead protector goes on her head like a headband instead of around her forehead, then she has to explain with extreme patience that her forehead is too big and stupid Ino-pig was right.
Instead, this man just sighed and invited her in.
"Come in, kunoichi-san." The man mumbled quietly and tiredly, "Please keep quiet," He warned, "my wife… is a bit muddled right now."
Sakura nodded in confusion. Of course, any parents would be upset if their child went missing, and they would beg and pray for their child's safety. However, the man wasn't acting hysterical, on his knees, or crying, he was just silently walking towards the kitchen with depressed air, as if he accepted that his son was gone forever.
"I… apologize." The man spoke slowly as he put a cup of warm tea in front of her, "We are currently out of coffee."
"No, it's alright." Sakura smiled. She bet her smile was very strained, unfortunately, she doesn't have a mirror right now to check.
"Nage, who are you talking to?" A gentle feminine voice echoed from the deeper part of the house. A woman walked into the room with a pleasant smile. "Ah!" She covered her mouth in shock, "An honorable kunoichi!" Sakura winced at the word 'honorable', kunoichis were often labeled as 'whores', 'sluts', and 'killers', but never 'honorable' by civilians.
"How can our humble home provide for you?" The woman smiled brightly as if today had the most wonderful weather and nothing but good luck had rained on this family.
Sakura was completely bewildered by the woman's reaction and the way she spoke. The woman didn't seem like she lost her son or was grieving at all. In fact, she seems almost, happy, at their son being gone.
Feeling the repulsiveness in her stomach, she glanced at the man who seemed like he hadn't slept in years.
The man sighed. A large hand slapped the top of his head, before slowly dragging down his face and pitched at the bridge of his nose.
"Haha. Why don't you…" The man hesitated for a second, glanced around, and finally continued, "-check on Hiryo for a minute, this kunoichi and I will speak for a moment-"
"Of course!" The woman called Haha looked almost delighted at the mention of their son, "Kunoichi-san!" The woman grabbed her by the arm and Sakura had to use chakra to prevent her from instinctively jumping away from the woman. "Why don't I show you how smart our Hiryo is!"
Sakura didn't have a chance to refuse when the woman continued to talk and dragged her towards a closed door. She didn't know if she should push this woman away. She knew something was very wrong with this family. Are they trying to hurt her? Is this a kidnapping? What if she couldn't meet her team tomorrow like Naruto did-
The door was abruptly opened. On the bed, a bandaged large puppet lay there. With its boyish clothes, loosely wrapped bandages around the wood, and drawn-on smiley face with colorful markers almost seemed like silly childish doodles.
"Hiryo, come and greet this kunoichi who's visiting our home!" The woman called the puppet and then turned to her. "I know our son is a little naughty at times, but he's a smart boy and good at heart!"
Sakura glanced between the puppet who was obviously not the 11-year-old missing boy, and a mother who completely went mad.
Sasuke scoffed at this seemingly foolish village, filled with nothing but ignorant people. 'Heiwa' village, 'peace' village, what a joke. Death is probably looming around the corner, readying itself to take hundreds of lives.
Just like Itachi did.
He shook his head. No matter how much he wants Itachi dead, he needs to finish this mission first… so he can finally find that stupid idiot and prove that Konoha wasn't a child who was easily fooled.
Those old morons sitting in the council think that using his useless teammate who only knew how to shed tears and bemoan about the dobe's nonexistent death will work on him?
Of course, it didn't work! The only reason he left Orochimaru and came back to Konoha is so he can prove Konoha wrong, that he didn't need them to kill Itachi!
No matter how many times the 'remaining' (he again, scoffed at the idea) of the Team 7 told him that Naruto was dead, he wouldn't believe it. There's no way the stupid dobe was dead. The idiot who never gave up on becoming the Hokage wouldn't kick the bucket so easily.
The moment he proves that the dobe is alive, he's leaving and killing Itachi, and no one can stop him.
"Nai!" A woman screams, "Please! Stop!"
Sasuke abruptly raised his head, before flashing Shunshin towards the scream.
He landed on the roof, staring down at the scene near the center of the town.
A burly man, who looked like he hadn't shaved his beard in days, was welding a kitchen knife and glaring at a boy. A woman who's completely in a breakdown stands before the man.
"Please! Stop Nai!" The woman screamed and wailed, "Don't hurt Seizon! He's our Wana's friend!"
The burly man pushed the woman to the side before running towards the panicked and crying boy.
Sasuke quickly appeared between the man and the boy before grabbing the man in the wrist, pushing the man's down with his other hand, face first into concrete, and twisting the man's wrist and knocking the knife out of the man's hand.
"You!" The man roared and wiggled under his grasp, "Give me back my daughter!"
He was completely confused until he saw the eyes of the boy, who was nearly injured.
Normal people, like most civilians and Genins, wouldn't understand. Doesn't matter if Chunins or other Jonins do, because Sasuke understands it, because he had the same look before.
These eyes were filled with nothing but survivor's guilt.
While the other villagers are tying the burly man up, Sasuke learns that the man named Nai is the missing girl's, Wana's, father, and the crying woman who tried to stop Nai from attacking recklessly was the girl's mother, Naku.
Sasuke watched from the side as many people tried to offer their emotional support for the crying woman, but there was no use.
A man pushed his way through and shouted something about 'I brought Haruto-sensei', the crowd made way for the man. Some had an expression of admiration, some had a look of relief, and some just smiled and waved.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at the 'Haruto-sensei'. With such a reputation amongst the villagers, Sasuke would suspect the man to be similar to him. Someone with strength, a strong background, and a looker. However, everything about the man looked average.
He didn't have strength, in fact, his figure looked weaker than average civilians, and not a single ounce of muscle was visible. He didn't have a strong background like a noble, the family name 'Tsucho' didn't click, and he wasn't even remotely rich. Also, he looked completely average. Brown spiky hair that was tied into a messy low ponytail, an insignificant face with boring round glasses, and a normal green sweater under the white long lab coat, but something about him intuitively made Sasuke dislike him.
Was it the shut eyes (was it completely closed, or was the eyesight of this man so bad that he had to narrow his eyes behind the big round glasses?) that somehow reminded him of Kabuto? Definitely the eyes and the glasses, that sneaky and shrewd man who always found a way to get underneath his skin.
The doctor bandaged the burly man's wounds, which were a few scrapes against the ground, then talked to the man, giving some comfort and encouragement, and then made the man wail like a child.
The howl was so sudden that Sasuke looked around just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Everyone had an expression of relief, even a few had a look of 'aw, that's nice' when they saw something adorable.
Then Sasuke Uchiha declares that everyone in or near the Land of Fire is completely insane. He should've stayed back at the Land of Sound and away from these crazy people.
"Shinobi-sans, right?" A cheerful and over-friendly voice seemed to snap Sasuke out of his thoughts, he stared at the man warily, and then his expression turned to a look of disbelief as the man called Haruto grabbed his hand and shook it affectionately.
The man finally stopped and then introduced himself, "I am Haruto Tsucho." The man said as he adjusted his glasses due to an earlier crude handshake, "I welcome you to our Heiwa Village." Sasuke almost let out a snort, but he didn't dare, due to his vigilance against the man, but he felt increasingly irritated as he continued to hang around the man.
However, he will never confess to anyone, even when he's on his dying breath, that he nearly jumped when he heard another voice that appeared behind him.
"Nice to meet you," That creepy and suspicious Sai, who claims to be an ordinary Chunin and somehow came out of everywhere and nowhere, greeted the man with a friendly smile- "Dickless."
The man called Haruto suddenly froze. Sasuke narrowed his eyes on the man's reaction. "Excuse me?" The doctor asked. No matter how much he is disturbed by this somehow suspicious doctor, Sasuke also questions if his ears heard correctly.
"Dickless." Blunt as always, Sai continued, "You're constantly avoiding people, no?"
In response, the man called Haruto just let out a hearty laugh. He was absolutely disgusted with how similarly innocent and bright the smile was to his loud teammate.
Was this an emotion of some sort? No matter what, Sai was completely intrigued by a man called 'Haruto Tsucho', who he decided to call 'Dickless'.
Outwardly, Dickless was completely ordinary other than a few positive reputations as a doctor and psychiatrist… but, this was his current target.
Appearing out of nowhere, Dickless was found in the middle of the woods when one of the Root scouts was searching for the tracks of Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru, who betrayed Roots. People always appeared in the woods, either normal wanderers, civilians, bandits, ninjas. When discovered, Dickless didn't seem to have a chakra signature, in fact, the man seems to be just… not there.
With Dickless's ability to change the amount of chakra on him at will, coupled with high scientific knowledge, Danzo-sama specifically ordered to see if this man could be recruited as another Orochimaru or treated as a possible threat in the future, and this wasn't the first time that Root tried to reach out to him. It has been listed that Dickless somehow avoided the majority of the Root entirely and the other times, escaped completely unscratched.
However, it wasn't the Root's report that intrigued him, but his kindness and willingness to help others… and Dickless's reaction to his given nickname. Didn't most people like Emo and Ugly get angry? In fact, Sai mentioned 'worse than scum' once due to Hatake's motto, maybe 'looking irritated' weren't the right words, and the man was nearly leaking killing intentions.
When Emo left to check on a boy (did that kid hold any significance?), Sai inquired about the man's action.
"Why did I help him?" Sai nodded. "Well, although Itai-san looks like a bit scary, he isn't a bad man." Dickless explained with a smile, "Yes, he was reckless due to a moment of impulsiveness, but in the end, he is just another concerned parent who desires the safety of their child."
Sai wonders how the enthusiastic man will continue this conversation, questioning his parents, asking about the desire to protect the weak, or-
"Do you have a dream, Sai-san?" Dickless asked.
Sai blinked. The man called Haruto obviously doesn't follow the usual patterns of adults talking to someone younger.
Are dreams anything significant? Instead of answering, he decided to ask if Dickless had any.
With a smile on his face, Dickless answered, "A peaceful ending?" It came out more as a question. Dickless is a confusing man, after all-
"…just wanted to live to the age of 18…" If Sai wasn't a ninja, he wouldn't have heard the nearly inaudible mutter.
Then the seemingly ordinary man took out a silver coin from the doctor's coat before tossing it in the air and catching it in one smooth motion.
Dickless picked up the coin. Standing in front of the doctor, Sai has no idea what the coin faced up looked like, with only the number '999' facing him.
Which coin from which nation had the number '999'?
Dickless pocketed the coin away and stared straight at him with deep blue eyes, he stiffened. The gaze… was similar to when Danzo-sama found a valuable recruit.
"Well, Sai-san. It seems like my schedule is currently full, and I have to prepare the materials and tools for my next patient." The blue eyes narrowed, Dickless-, no, Haruto gave a fox-like smile, "Please tell Shimaru-san to stop poking into my business, otherwise I will be thoroughly disappointed if that man ruins my fun."
Sai was about to take out his tanto. It seems like this man decided to be an enemy instead of an ally. Contradictory to what Sai expected, the man did not start a fight.
Instead, the man bowed, before cheerfully waving after closing his eyes, "I hope you have a good time in Heiwa Village. Don't get lost! I wouldn't want you to get hurt!" the man called 'Haruto Tsucho' immediately disappeared into the crowd.
Sasuke followed and watched the boy who hung his head down. No, he's absolutely not stalking. That Hatake is an excuse for a ninja, there's no way he's stalking someone like his fangirls back in his academy days. He's… gathering information- yes, information, information about this mission so he could leave this stupid village.
He continued to follow until the boy mindlessly bumped into someone. He frowned when a certain blond appeared in his head.
"Hey! Watch where you're going-" The woman who was bumped into shouted, before pausing and analyzing the figure of the young boy.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't p-pay attention-" the boy stuttered in a panic, "I-"
The woman shifted her expression from annoyance to being absolutely delighted, "Isn't this Seizon-chan!" The woman cooed as the boy flinched at the reaction, "You haven't been visiting Hiryo recently! Aren't you going to come to our home and go to the playground for another play date?"
The boy seemed to be even more nervous and on the verge of crying.
"Haha-san!" The familiar solid pink entered Sasuke's sight and made him scowl. Of course, it's one of his annoying fangirls. Now they're just missing a single loudmouth and everyone's together.
"Please go back, Nageku-san is worried about you getting hurt!" Sakura grabbed the woman by the arm and tried to drag her back without using too much force.
"Nonsense," The woman called 'Haha' waved her hand like shooing something away, "the village is completely safe. We have many reliable people, no normal bandits or wild animals can endanger us! Even if we get injured, we have Haruto-sensei!"
Sasuke clicked his tongue at the name. 'Haruto-sensei this', 'Haruto-sensei that'. This man wasn't a powerful ninja or had any special bloodline, what makes this man so special to get this treatment? And why did everyone in Konoha treat Naruto like the plague when he's just a normal civilian orphan?
Sakura looked increasingly troubled, in fact, Sasuke noticed that Sakura seemed to be troubled a lot ever since he returned to the village. Why is she troubled? Shouldn't he be the one who's irritated with Konoha's stupid joke?
"Haha-san, I don't think-"
Before Sakura could finish the sentence, Sasuke heard the boy repeatedly mutter, "I'm sorry-" The boy cried, "I'm really sorry- I didn't mean to run away-" tears and snobs came out of his nose and eyes, just like the stupid dobe, who always ran away every D-rank mission. "I'm sorry-"
"What do you mean, Seizon-chan?" The woman tried to help the boy calm down, "Is something wrong? Are you hurt?"
"I'm sorry for letting Wana and Hiryo die-" The woman looked dazed, "I'm sorry! Haruto-sensei is wrong!"
The boy wailed louder.
Sakura was perplexed. This boy knew the two missing kids? What did he mean by letting the two children die? Weren't they just missing? And who's this 'Haruto-sensei' they mentioned?
"What do you mean 'Haruto-sensei is wrong'?" A dark-haired teen frowned and interrogated the boy.
"Sasuke-" Sakura bit down the '-kun' and swallowed it back. It was her stupid obsession with the boy that sent her other teammate to his deathbed. As much as she wants Sasuke back on their team, but she also wants Naruto to stay.
The boy cried muffled words.
"Haha!" Sakura turned to the worried man who ran towards them.
"Ah, Nageku, what does Seizon mean that he left Wana and Hiryo die?" The man seemed to freeze at the question, "Isn't Hiryo playing in his bedroom? Is this a new version of hide and seek the children are playing?" Haha inquired.
Instead of answering, Nageku grabbed Haha by the shoulders, before bowing, "Thank you, kunoichi-san, Haha and I will be leaving now." Gritted his teeth and glared at the boy before leaving.
The boy flinched and immediately stopped wailing, and cried silently with fear in his eyes, with occasional hiccups.
After the couple left, Sasuke, being the dispassionate bastard he is, decided to continue to interrogate a crying child, "What did this 'Haruto' say?"
"It- It wasn't my fault!" The boy blurted, "H-Hiryo decided to play dare in the woods after the sun went down even though the adults told us about the monster in the woods!"
"The monster?" Sakura studied the boy's trembling figure.
"I-I didn't mean to run! I'm sorry! Haruto-sensei is wrong, there's nothing right about being a coward!" The boy once again descended into a sobbing mess, "I'm sorry for being alive! I'm sorry for being a coward! That ghost, that monster, ate them! It ate them! It ate all of them!"
Before she could react, a hand grabbed the boy by the collar, "You're right, you should be sorry for being a coward!"
"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted in disbelief. What in the world had gotten into the Uchiha?
"Instead of avoiding and running away, why don't you face the so-called 'teme' head-on, instead of being a coward!"
Sakura nearly cried.
Kakashi asked many passerbyers and read through the village's account book and documents, even dead people's birth certificates, and discovered some weird activities and rumors about this village.
For once, the village was too happy and careless about the number of people who continued to go missing for the past three years. The numbers varied from one or two people going missing in a year to three people getting lost in the woods every two months. The people who usually went missing often ranged from alcoholics and prostitutes to drug addicts and criminals with mild offenses. The people who went missing were all adults, but this time it was two innocent children who went missing, and judging from the time before the kids went missing, the last time anyone disappeared was two months ago.
Because the people who often went missing didn't have many relations, many of the villagers just left the village, but personal valuables and money were often found in the missing people's homes.
Since it was two young children with loving families that went missing this time, people just assumed the kids had gotten lost in the woods, kidnapped by bandits, or some wild animal that found them, so they called Konoha for help this time.
The other thing that was strange was the rumor and ghost story that appeared when the first two people went missing: a rumor that a female ghost sat in the forest and lured lost and unclean souls to feast on them. It was a ghost story often told by adults to prevent children from misbehaving.
"So," Kakashi started, his nose deep into his orange book, "did you guys find anything interesting?"
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura grumbled his name, "you didn't slack off to read that porn, making us do all the work, right?"
Kakashi placed one hand over his chest and gave the pinkette a pained look, "Oh Sakura, how could you accuse your sensei like that? You wounded me."
Sakura just gave him a deadpan.
He gave an eye smile.
Sakura looks annoyed.
"I was about to mention something interesting," Surprisingly, it was Sai who started talking, "but then Ugly decided to be unladylike first."
Sai ignored Sakura's groan, "There's a suspicious man that went with the name, 'Haruto Tsucho'," The two other teenagers immediately straightened, Sasuke had a scowl on his face. "He apparently noticed me before I revealed myself."
Kakashi watched the raven frown in confusion.
"After bandaging the injuries that were caused by Emo, the man, 'Haruto Tsucho', who's the village's doctor and psychiatrist, greeted 'Emo' with 'shinobi-sans' instead of just one 'shinobi'. It seems like Emo's skill to detect a ninja was worse than a civilian doctor." Sai looked amused at Sasuke's enraged state. "And he was very popular with the citizens, everyone seems to know him."
Kakashi rubbed his chin. Haruto Tsucho, this name appeared more than a few times under the missing people's health report, specifically the mental health report, but since the man is a famous psychiatrist, it made sense… except for the fact that people mysteriously disappeared.
"Well," Sakura went next, "I went to check on Hiryo Shiha's family and um…" The pinkette seemed to be troubled. Kakashi inwardly nodded in understanding, trying to get information from parents who wished the safety and well-being of their child is indeed very difficult, especially when they're unreasonable civilians that doesn't understand that they can't help without information-
"Nageku-san, Hiryo's father, seems to determine that Hiryo is dead, and is reluctant to share anything. Haha-san, Hiryo's mother, seems to believe that the large hand-made puppet is their son." Sakura bit the bottom of her lips, "They aren't exactly… mentally sound to get information from."
"How stupid." Kakashi heard Sasuke muttered, and he decided not to mention to the raven about Sasuke's undying determination to prove Konoha was just making a hoax.
"Also," Sakura continued. Kakashi ignored the sad glance the pinkette made when she looked at the raven. "Sasuke found a kid called 'Seizon' who was there when the two other kids went missing."
Kakashi shifted his gaze away from his book. "Explain."
"The kid said something about a 'ghost' eating them."
Kakashi felt his silver eyebrows shoot up.
"Ugh!" Sakura groaned for the nth time, to be fair, she had plenty of reasons, one being hanging around an unpassionate broody avenger and a mannerless blunt robot, and the other being- "Why do we have to go back to this stupid forest!?" She yelled while holding a flashlight, pointing at the dark, creepy, and foggy forest.
"Stop complaining." Ah yes, she should've been like Sasuke, glaring at every animated object.
"Ugly needs to be more patient." Sai offered. Can she stab this one instead?
"Sakura," she turned to stare at her sensei, "don't kill your teammate. You can keep your thoughts about killing your teammates later." It seems like she had been leaking killing intentions, at least there's one sensitive adult here-
"Also, these trees can't start conversations themselves!" Kakashi-sensei offered cheerfully, she clenched her fist. "They're too stumped!"
Does she want to skin her sensei alive? Yes, but she tries very hard not to.
"Don't worry about that teme, Sakura-chan! You're awesome the way you are!" She loosened her fist, a melancholy smile found its way on her face. At least there was someone who was always on her side.
A rustle snapped her out of her trance and out of Kakashi-sensei's teasing demeanor. The four of them spread out and hid themselves amongst trees and bushes, covered by the darkness of the night and the shadows of the leaves.
A burly man came into their sight, the man seemed mournful and distressed, like he lost something. He turned his head around, occasionally would holler out, "Wana! It's tou-chan!", and then would cry, "Please answer!"
After staying in this area for a few minutes, the man left and headed deeper into the forest.
"That was?" Sakura asked after the four of them gathered up again.
"Nai Itai. Wana Itai's, the missing girl's, father." Kakashi-sensei answered.
"Didn't Emo stop him from killing the boy who cried out about a monster?" Sai asked.
Sakura had never seen Kakashi-sensei snap his head that fast, she wondered if his neck was broken. "Why haven't I heard about this?"
Sasuke looked away, and glared in the direction where the man ran, "Just like Sakura found with the Shihas, Nai Itai wasn't mentally sound either." Sasuke then seemed reluctant for a moment, "And then that guy, Haruto Tsucho, spoke to him. Since he was a psychiatrist, I thought it would be fine."
Sakura watched her sensei make the slowest facepalm ever, before groaning and giving an order, "We're following him."
Sakura saw Sasuke frown and Sai let out a creepy smile, she just nodded. They don't want an innocent civilian to get hurt.
"This is the first time that people have gone missing," Kakashi-sensei explained as they followed the path of the distressed Nai Itai, "Most people that went missing were adults with few to no family and friend relations."
"Why didn't anyone report this? Or ask Konoha to send people to investigate?" Sakura asked.
"Because they were addicts, prostitutes, and criminals, who civilians label as the scums of society." Kakashi-sensei looks serious, and Sakura doesn't like it when her sensei looks serious instead of being laid back. "I read the hospital's health reports, they've all been checked by one person, the psychiatrist, Haruto Tsucho."
Seeing Sasuke scowling is not a big deal, it's a daily occurrence, but for the first time, Sakura saw that Sai, who always had a creepy smile on his face, stopped smiling.
Sakura had never met this 'Haruto', but she had only heard good things about this doctor from Haha-san. Isn't Haruto Tsucho a reliable psychiatrist? Of course, people will come to this man for help! So why is her team so wary of this man?
"W-Wana?" Sakura picked up the burly man's voice, she saw her team nod as the four of them headed towards the voice.
After jumping across the branches of a few trees, Sakura took in a deep cold breath at the scene in the middle of the forest before her.
Under the strand of moonlight, a large figure could be seen crouching down on a dried black puddle, the man held something that seemed to be a stick with a bracelet with purple beads- No, not a stick, it was an arm with bruises and hints of being torn off. The air was filled with rotten stench of flesh, flies buzzed and maggots wiggled onto the man's hand.
Sakura looked around, there were blunt injuries on the trees, signs of being stabbed by numerous barbs, and more dried black puddle- no, dried blood everywhere, and children's hurried footsteps. If the recent weather had rained, many of these marks wouldn't even be here, but what wild animal could've caused these marks? Could it be bandits with barbed weapons? But what kind of bandit would leave a trail of dried blood into the deeper part of the forest?
"Itai-san," Sakura saw her sensei trying to talk to the man, "please, for your safety, you have to-"
The jittery and miserable man wailed as he dropped the remains of an arm and grabbed her sensei by the wrist, "M-My daughter!" The man gasped, "Have you seen her? She must be alive!"
Sakura frowned. A normal adult man would bleed to death with this amount of dried blood left around the scene. "I don't think-"
"No! No! No!" Sakura jumped when the man yelled, "She has to be alive, I have to find her! She must be waiting for me!"
Before the man could run and follow a trail of dried blood, Sakura witnessed her sensei take out a kunai she nearly gasped. Luckily, Kakashi-sensei only knocked the man in the back of his neck with the end of the hilt.
The figure of the burly man suddenly fell like a ragdoll.
"Sai, take him back to the village, and check on the man called 'Haruto', see if this man is behind people's disappearance." Kakashi-sensei looked straight at the deeper part of the forest that was led by a blood trail. "We're going to see where this trail leads."
Kakashi didn't know what he expected. A smuggler? A kidnapper? Maybe even a slave trader?
No, no matter what he thought, he wouldn't expect another Orochimaru running wild, and so close to Konoha for Kami's sake.
At first, they just followed the blood trail, but it ended in the middle of their journey. They still didn't stop due to the fact they had another trail to follow, footsteps hidden under fallen leaves, long scratches on the barks of the trees, and even a long smooth trail on the dirt that reminded him of snakes.
No matter how much this snake-like trail reminded him of Orochimaru, there's no way that the rouge snake sennin would be here, right?
Of course, the trail led them to a conveniently placed cave that led them to a conveniently placed room filled with science accessories and surgical equipment, and most definitely, there were shelves filled with jars of organs, some seemed to be perfectly healthy, some had unhealthy organs stitched together, a few had some vines and a rose blooming. The worst part, the white lab room didn't even remotely smell like snakes or Orochimaru, instead, it reeked of roses, and a strange smell that reminded him of Konoha's autumn fallen leaves.
In the corner of his eye, Sakura shivered at the sight of numerous human organs and Sasuke grimaced, probably reminding the raven of the sennin.
Kakashi glanced at stacks and piles of documents on the tables and within drawers. It seemed like the smell of leaves was strongest here. He stared. The documents had pictures, numbers, and half of the documents had the word 'rose', 'tongue', 'big bamboo tree', 'chakra', the name of the Shodaime Hokage, 'Hashirama', and mentions of 'Rikudo Sennin', but mostly were filled with unknown squiggly scribbles.
Was this kind of secret code? Kakashi definitely hasn't seen this one before. What is this code for? Reports for a secret organization or nation? Spy letters? Or is it some important information that could flip the world upside down? And why is the Shodaime Hokage's name in there… and why are there the crest of the Uzumaki clan everywhere?
"Sensei." Kakashi gave an eye smile as he slowly put the documents away in a scroll.
"Yes, Sakura?"
"Is that… a woman?" Kakashi's sight followed Sakura's finger to a TV monitor in the corner of the room.
The screen broadcasted a slim figure with long white hair in a fetal position, body covered in rags, locked in a white room, and surrounded by nothing but thick vines and large roses… Well, her body would be in a fetal position if not for the entire half of her body covered in rose petals and vines.
Organs with roses, science, and medical equipment, and documents similar to lab reports. This woman was probably the result of a human experiment.
"Yes, Sakura." Kakashi then heard himself mumbling, "At least, I hope they still are."
Sakura stared at the arms of the woman, there were signs of stitches and tiny, thin lines, created by a scalpel. The antecubital was stabbed multiple times by a needle, bruised and swollen.
The woman was so pale and skinny, Sakura wonders that if the malnourished woman was ever fed by the monster who kept her here. What kind of human being would do such a thing?
Sakura spoke to her, tapped her on the arm, and even tried to move her arms around, but the woman didn't react, and continued to sit in the fetal position like a statue.
Can this woman even hear? How could she make her patients feel safe without even talking to them? The medical-nin side of her became increasingly agitated as she scanned the anatomy of the woman with medical ninjutsu.
Similar to many of the organs displayed on the shelves with nutriment fluids, the organs inside of her body seem to have grown strange vines and roses too.
When Sakura gently lifted up the woman's head, she nearly shrieked. The woman had pale and smooth skin, a small nose, and a small mouth. Other than her face being on the skinny side and her skin being a bit pale, she was a perfect beauty… except for the fact that she was missing an entire tongue, and her eyes were replaced with creepy red roses.
She shuddered, and her hand knocked a square piece of paper from the woman's chest. The piece of paper with strange squads and triangles fluttered down on the ground. A feeling of hers told her that she shouldn't whisper or make a single noise, so she gestured to her sensei and Sasuke to keep quiet.
That feeling of hers turned out to be correct when the originally closed door opened with a click.
The rose vines, from large to small, that were once inanimate plant life, started to wiggle and slither their way toward the figure near the door. Sakura almost let out a yelp when she saw brown human husks under the vines. One of them seemed to be a boy no older than 13, the boy stared at her with soulless brown eyes, with his right eye socket completely hollow, with a single rosebud inside. Another dried corpse seemed to be a young girl of the same age, she was missing both of her eyes and an arm, and a beautiful rose was blooming out of her jaw.
Sakura quickly shifted her gaze at the intruder, near the only door of this white room.
Brown messy hair tied into a ponytail, a doctor's coat, and round, thick glasses. This was the 'Haruto-sensei' that Haha-san kept mentioning about. Unlike the kind and reliable doctor Haha-san portrayed, this man was smiling with maniacal glee, staring at her with deep blue eyes like she was the perfect prey.
With a grin of a fox, "Well hello, kunoichi-san, shinobi-sans." The vines suddenly stopped, and they soon hurried back, wrapped around the woman like a protective barrier. The woman trembled behind the roses, as if she was a rabbit hiding from a dangerous predator.
"It seems like you found Bara-chan!" The man said cheerfully like a child.
Sakura found her sensei taking out a kunai and her teammate scowling and glaring at the man.
But the man paid no mind to the heavy amount of killing intention in the air, and continued to gesture at the scared woman like she was a piece of artwork, "Isn't she beautiful?"
Sai is heading back towards the team that he was supposed to supervise, Team 7, who's in the forest.
He finally delivered an unconscious man like a package. There was a lot of yelling, apologies, and a wailing weak flower vase sobbing on the floor. Maybe Ugly isn't so bad, at least she can beat someone to death before she starts to cry.
However, on his way, he found a young boy nervously walking around the forest. The boy jumped when he landed in front of them.
"D-Don't stop me!" the boy yelled, "I-I'm going to save Wana and Hiryo!"
Sai remembered, that this kid, Seizon, was the one who witnessed his friend killed and ran away with a tail between his legs.
Sai told the Coward that he couldn't do anything, and would die, and the kid flinched at the nickname. Maybe Haruto will be the only one who's genuinely happy with his nickname-giving, at least, that's what the man seemed like, before smiling like a fox, saying that he wouldn't join Root.
After a moment of silence, Coward seemed to be determined as ever, "What if I'm weak and couldn't do anything? If I could do something to save my friends, even if it's giving them a second of time to break free from that monster, then risking my life is worth it!"
Sai was about to tell Coward that his friends probably did, but Coward mentioned something, or someone, that he had almost forgotten.
"Also, Haruto-sensei mentioned that he will also help me!"
Sai asked Coward about Dickless-... he meant the man's, 'Haruto Tsucho's', location.
"Where's Haruto-sensei?" Coward pondered, "He headed to the forest about an hour ago."
Sai nodded, then told Coward to go home, which Coward was reluctant to do, so he grabbed Coward and delivered him to his parents, and then got yelled at. Then Coward's mother noticed him, laughed nervously, and closed the door on him before saying goodbye.
Sai then pondered about his earlier thought, about how Ugly isn't so bad, at least Ugly will grudgingly give him a goodbye, no matter how unladylike she was.
It was obvious where the Hatake, Ugly, and Emo were going, dried blood descending to a strange snake-like trail. Could this be where the traitor, Orochimaru, was?
Sai thinks that he might need to hurry. Maybe Emo got kidnapped again, Ugly is crying again, and Hatake is finally on his dying breath, but what he found was a tattered Team 7 (that was expected) in a lab room; Ugly was breathing heavily while leaning against a scratched white wall, Emo was glaring with Danzo-sama's deepest desires, the Sharingan, and Hatake was trying to apprehend… a white-haired woman who had roses for eyes.
In the middle of the chaos, a seemingly ordinary young man made that fox smile, even the round, thick glasses couldn't even hide the deep blue of those eyes.
The man, Haruto Tsucho, asked with a slight head tilt, "Sai-san. Didn't I tell you not to ruin my fun?"
Sai decided that he was no longer intrigued by the man.
Kakashi wonders when the mission started to go wrong. Was it when the man called 'Haruto' came in, the moment they entered this lab, or was the whole mission a trap since the beginning?
"Katon: Great Fireball!" He watched his student send a massive fireball towards the brunet man, who swiftly dodges with a simple side step, instead hitting one of the giant rose vines.
Sai, who doesn't seem to be very happy either, at least, the pale teen wasn't smiling, tries to slash the man with a tanto. In response, the man kept hanging on to that fox-like smug and blocked the tanto with a single senbon, then slashed Sai with a scalpel with his other hand, which the teen barely dodge, leaving an injury on the pale teen's face.
Sasuke, who practiced kenjutsu over the years, tried to cut the man with a sword. The man, Haruto, then disappeared before his eyes and reappeared behind Sasuke before giving a kick, sending his student crashing right into a wall. Was that a smokeless Shunshin? How was it so fast?
Kakashi continued to watch the fight as he and Sakura tried to occupy the wailing and trembling woman who was currently acting more like an animal instead of a human being.
"Is that all that the Uchiha genius could do?" The man honestly sounded disappointed.
Kakashi witnessed Sasuke gritted his teeth, "You-!" Then the vines immediately reacted and sprung their way toward the raven, who cut down the vines before activating the Sharingan.
"Ah yes, the famed Sharingan, pity it's not as good as the other pair."
Sasuke grumbled, "What other pair?"
"Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi Uchiha, no?" The man kept the same grin and tilted his head slightly, "Aren't you brother with the Kin Killer? The one who was betrayed by the village of Konoha?"
Kakashi was startled. Coupled with man's inhuman strength, speed, and completely invisible chakra signature, where did his knowledge of the Uchiha Massacre come from? Is there a spy in Konoha? How much did this man know?
"Oh, you. I've nearly forgotten about you," The man blocked another attack from Sai, smiling and analyzing the pale teen up and down, "A failed product, a replacement, right? How's your brother?"
Sai was visibly frowning, but Kakashi had other thoughts. He knew Sai was from Root, but he knew nothing else of the boy. How did this Haruto know things that even an ex-ANBU captain didn't know?
The man disappeared again. Kakashi starting to wonder if this was a bloodline of some sort, and not smokeless sealless Shunshin, one Shisui Uchiha was enough for the world, thank you very much.
Realizing that his team didn't have the upper hand in the battle, Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, trying to trap the man in a genjutsu.
"That's right." The man smiled in glee in his direction, Kakashi stiffened at how blue the eyes were, and how he had only seen them on two blonds. Actually, he didn't even think Minato-sensei's eyes were that blue.
"You," The man pointed at him, "Friend-killer Kakashi," Kakashi froze again. The man then mumbled, "I guess… like teacher, like student."
With a Chidori in hand, Kakashi watched Sasuke yell with complete rage as the raven slammed the Chidori where the man used to stand, leaving a giant crater.
"How unfortunate," The man continued to mock, "It seems like the future of the Uchiha clan is bleak."
Instead of staying on a different battlefield, it seems like the man was… getting closer and closer?
The brunet dodged another Chidori, and disappeared again.
Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw the figure reappear right next to his student, but instead of landing a deadly blow, the man whispered something into the raven's ears.
Then the man avoided the next Chidori behind a certain white figure.
The brunet flashed a winning smile with crimson blood splattered over his face.
"Bara-chan, what a good girl you are." The man cooed, "Aren't you glad you're finally resting?"
The man laughed wildly as Kakashi witnessed tree roots wrapped around the man's body before descending to the ground.
"Damn it!" He heard his student curse as he watched Sasuke pulling out an arm out of the lifeless woman's chest.
"I told you, that man is evil!" Kakashi lets out an exaggerated sigh as he watches his student, Sakura, make a fool out of herself.
"There's no way Haruto-sensei did that!" A man yelled.
"Ignore her, she's just an attention-seeking whore." A woman stated.
"Ugh! All of you are idiots!"
"Um, shinobi-san." Kakashi smiled nervously when the mayor, Riku Shicho decided to talk to him. Is he going to kick them out?
Instead of… well, kicking them out, the mayor, Riku Shicho, just decided to lower his head and bow. "I deeply apologize for my village's foolish action."
Many villages gasped.
"Riku-san!"
"Riku-san, what are you doing?"
"Don't apologize to those liars! They're the ones who defamed Haruto-sensei!"
"No, no." Riku no longer held a grandfather-like smile like the first time he greeted them. The mayor, Riku Shicho, looked more like the Sandaime in his late years, a tired old man who shouldered everything. "I've known about Haruto Tsucho's actions, but I had made no move against that man."
Kakashi stared at the old man in disbelief.
As if Riku understood his confusion, the old man continued. "Yes, we could afford ninjas, and yes, I value the safety of Heiwa's villagers, but that man had his eyes everywhere. He knew everything, he even knew that I knew he was the cause that people are missing. Any movement against him will ruin my family. My- my son, Kieta, is already gone in that man's hands when I tried to call for help from Konoha the first time, I couldn't risk my daughter-in-law or my grandson." Riku bowed again, "It was my selfishness that made the rest of the village blind."
It was a lovely and flawless moment, but Kakashi was flabbergasted when the old man Riku suddenly grabbed him by the hands, "Please, shinobi-san, remove that villain!" Riku hissed with venom, "No one in this village deserved to die. Whether they're criminals, prostitutes, or fathers who were blinded by fear and rage. Please kill Haruto Tsucho!"
A/N: I got bored using the name generator, so I used Google translator
OC's names:
Hiryo: fertilizer [the missing boy]
Shiha: deceased
Nageku: grieve [the missing boy's father]
Haha: mother [the missing boy's mother]
Wana: trap; snare [the missing girl]
Itai: corpse; remain
Naku: weep [the missing girl's mother]
Nai: missing [the missing girl's father]
Seizon Sha (seizon-sha): survivor [the surviving child]
Shicho: mayor [the mayor, Riku]
Kieta: gone [Riku's dead son]
Tsucho: alias [the doctor, Haruto]
In Haruto's lab report/documents:
rose: Bara
tongue: Zetsu
big bamboo tree: Ōtsutsuki