AND BACK AGAIN [ NARUTO ]

[ 21 ] different timeline

previously. . .

Kakashi turned to keep walking when Naruto sidled up beside him. The conversation dropped as he willed his thoughts to remain just that--thoughts. But he thought with all his might.

Save them, Naruto.

Save us.

///\

Naruto took a deep breath.

The frustration he'd managed to temporarily banish bubbled back up in his chest. Tsunade had called Team 7 to the Hokage's office for something important, and Naruto didn't have anything to tell her on the development of his investigation.

His suspicions were solid ones, but no way to prove them true surfaced in his mind.

"Come in."

Tsunade-baachan's voice beckoned them in. Naruto pretended not to notice the way Sasuke hadn't spared him a single glance since their spar. It was an awkward tension between the two of them, but probably nothing too noticeable--they were Naruto and Sasuke. A little bit of tension and avoidance for them was nothing new.

Sasuke couldn't have been more obvious, though. He still kept his distance from the entirety of his team, but walked noticeably closer to Sakura as soon as Naruto joined them. Past Naruto even seemed to notice--he tested his theory by nudging in closer to the Uchiha himself. Sasuke didn't move away.

Shizune was beside Tsunade's desk when they entered, a clipboard pressed against her chest. She smiled tiredly at them; she'd been working overtime to treat and revive the victims as well as look into the time travel phenomenon walking amongst them. Tonton lay atop paperwork on the desk, deflated from having to walk on her own for days.

"Shizune's developed a theory," Tsunade said, leaning back in her seat. "A damn good one, too, so you better listen closely."

Naruto was left in the doorway as Team 7 piled in. "You know who's been doing it?" His voice was low, disbelieving. Tsunade-baachan still suspects Kumo. I was supposed to get to the source first.

"Not exactly." Shizune placed the clipboard faceup on the desk for them to see. "I noticed a recurring condition in each of the patients. We've been able to nurse three of them back to stable health. Their chakra reserves were depleted, but not too much that we couldn't help them recover--that's thanks to the quick rescues."

She nodded, pointing to the various reports clipped together. "All three of the victims who are now walking around and being kept in custody only for safety claimed they didn't remember anything. Not even a hazy recollection. Inoichi confirmed this for us the very first day they awoke. There wasn't a sliver of memory from the time they began acting strange and attacked the village."

"We figured," Kakashi said when Shizune paused. "Leaving memory would be a foolish move on our enemy's part."

"Easily traceable," Tsunade agreed. "I brought it up with the Third for his opinion, and he suggested we check the portion of the brain that is susceptible to genjutsu. We were taking any leads we could get--when we followed his instructions, there were very minuscule tendrils of a genjutsu left behind--when I say minuscule, I mean we had Inoichi watching for seven hours straight. But it was there."

Half of Naruto's mind urged, genjutsu. The other echoed with confusion.

I heard it, too. Kurama was curious. Ask her.

"Baachan," Naruto began, running through her words again. "Did you say the Third? As in, Third Hokage?"

Tsunade, only just getting to the climax of their discovery, frowned at being interrupted. "No, I meant the Third Pineapple of the pineapple village. Yes, I meant the Third Hokage! Who else?"