Treasured Oak

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The thunder roared in the distance as flashes of light danced upon the land, those milliseconds of white light felt like a picture with flash was taken as it made the world stop for just a small moment. Heavy and fast drops of rain drenched everyone and everything relentlessly.

Even with all the noise mother nature brought upon Treasured Oak, nothing could suffocate his thoughts.

As the Sheriff, Kakashi was trusted to protect the town from outsiders and delegate between his own towns people to keep some sort of peace.

However, he could not find a way to wrap his brain around this... unusual sight.

The blue and red lights of his car flickered from one colour to the other, a signal for any passer-by. His truck was covering the scene like a protective wall as the rain washed away anything and everything a forensic unit could've taken.

- "They are not going to like this one Sheriff". – His partner for the day Genma, voiced his concern as he took pictures of the scene for evidence.

The red car almost masked the red liquid sliding down due to the rain from the top in small rivers over the windshield.

Small dents on the car's top and hood worried him to no avail. Something either fell on the car or was thrown at it with enough force to dent it and scratch the paint.

A lonely and pale severed arm rested on the top of the windshield at the brink of sliding down along with the blood.

It smelled fresh.

The dirt and blood had been cleaned by the rain and the officers could clearly see the marks on the hand and the ragged edges of the crude cut of the bicep and bone sticking out.

Their job was simple, bag it up and take the car and arm to the office. File the report and wait for forensics.

There was just one thing missing.

Someone of the name Sakura Haruno.

The newest member of this secluded community of townspeople was now missing and the arm on the hood was clearly from a man. At least the fingers where not of a 5-foot 2 inches woman who would keep her hands and nails in better conditions to perform medical care.

The hand seemed to be of a man who worked with his hands, the callous hands of a skilled worker or even an experienced hiker. That made more sense.

But alas, the investigation was going to be a hard to keep away from the public and avoid any panic. A potential killer on the loose was hot gossip for the radio station and newsletters.

Gossip was big in Treasured Oak.

Anko would have a field trip on her radio station once she finds out and Kakashi was not willing to answer all those annoying calls and harassment for questions he can't answer.

One thing this lone wolf would take pride in, even on a rainy day, was his immaculate sense. With one good sniff of his surrounding, he could see her. Though, not as clear as other days.

The blue figure of her car drove up towards them, parked and her figure of distress was evident. The scent of sorrow, pain and fear covered her nature. The silhouettes danced for his eyes.

Even though the rain washed most trace from the smaller object that suddenly dropped on her car causing her fear to rise and body to jump.

The stench of a fresh kill was evident.

The darker blue object covered in blood was not seen by the woman until she exited her vehicle with shaky legs and wide eyes. Her nervous mannerisms gave away every emotion going through her body.

Once she finally spotted the object on her car, Kakashi saw something strange.

Even with the darkness surrounding them, those light blue traces that formed her figure seemed to tremble, not because she was shaking. They trembled because of something else, something he could not explain. Those previous colours that washed over those blue traces showing her emotions suddenly stopped.

The sheriff almost felt like the rain froze in place, he was completely taken by the scene as a rotting stench that almost caused him to gag entered the scene.

That almost black figure was thin, long limbs with a curved back that showed every single bone of its back as it stayed on all fours on top of the car, sniffing the severed arm.

It licked the arm.

Though, it stopped once something alerted the creature, a noise caused one of its arms to cover where his ears would be.

Even in the darkness and few artificial lightings, the silver-haired man could make out the morbid creature.

As he turned his attention back to the pinket, he noticed she was still not moving. She was watching the like a deer waiting for a sign to run without being noticed.

"Smart girl" he thought.

Once the creature turned and started to scratch the surface of the car. She bolted.

Sakura bolted to the woods.

The creature jumped on the hood and continued to try and scratch the car until it jumped off and took the opposite direction. Uphill.

The small pinket ran downhill.

Kakashi could feel his shoulders relax finally and he covered his mouth and nose with his light brown sheriff bandana. He no longer wanted to smell the horrific stench of death.

-"So, she ran to the woods?" – Genma asked as he noticed his college would not stop staring at the direction of the woods, downhill from the road.

The officer had opened the unlocked car and shut the cars panic alarm off, took a look inside and found the belongings of the young doctor. They had her name, old city address, driver's license and even keys.

The woman must have taken only her phone and maybe some long forgotten mint candy in her pockets.

-"She ran towards the Uchiha property lines." – the sheriff concluded.

-"Shit man, that is not going to go well..." –

The sheriff pulled his phone out. – "Hey, it's me. I need your help." – after a few seconds on the phone, the silver-haired man sighed in defeat and squared his shoulders to prepare for the next hours or even days of searching for the small woman on the run.

- "Man, I hope she is still alive." – the sharp look from the sheriff did not shut down Genma's thoughts and comments of what they could find in the woods. - "She could be injured... dead... we might not find her in days..." –

- "Just shut up and drive." – the sheriff got on his truck and drove off with the severed arm in the back. Genma was stuck driving the little red car to the station before they arranged the search.

It had been a few hours since the woman took off to the woods, even with experienced men and knowing the land like the palm of his hands, Kakashi knew he would need help and also...

That thing was still out there.

His men are strong, capable and experienced. But this thing had claimed one victim already and was most likely hunting the doctor even through the rain. Her scent would be washed off and the rain would distract it.

Also... what if there was more than one?

Too many problems and not enough time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------