Impossible to Foretell

Chapter 16: An Unexpected Correspondence

There was a knock at the door, and Kakashi stood up from the edge of the bed, slipping on his flak jacket while walking out of the room to the source of the knocking. As he walked out of the room, I looked over at the clock and saw that it was about six in the morning. At least this was better than the eight o'clock day that was yesterday.

Kakashi came back into the room a couple of seconds later, holding a scroll in one hand.

"Special delivery?" I asked quietly,

Kakashi nodded as he sat back down on the edge of the bed, "The ANBU just brought it by. Release." He opened the seal and read over it's contents quickly before handing it to me. "I'm not really sure what to think to about this message."

"Um, okay." I propped myself up on the headboard for a better angle and then read it as well.

Sixth Hokage,

It has come to my attention that you are investigating the recent disappearances in the Land of Fire. I believe that the culprit may be a previous associate of mine named Kanaye Shourai. I would like to request a meeting with you at my orphanage to discuss any information that I may have. Meeting at the Leaf Village would be more convenient; however, I refuse to leave the orphanage without my protection at this time. Please send back your reply with the summon that delivered this scroll.

Kabuto Yakushi

"Kabuto Yakushi, wasn't he on the side of the Akatsuki and Madara during the war?" I looked over at Kakashi in utter confusion.

"Yes, he was. However, he's had a bit of a... change of heart. Recently he has taken over the old orphanage that raised him as a young child."

I rolled the message back up and handed it over to Kakashi, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I think that I'm going to go and visit Kabuto at the orphanage to find out his intel."

"You're not going to send someone?"

He shook his head, "It's not very far from the village. The whole trip should take no more than a couple of hours."

I started to get out of bed, "I'm coming too. When are you going to send back your reply? And what's this 'summon' that he mentioned?"

"I'm going to write a reply immediately, and the 'summon' was a large snake that brought the scroll to the front gates this morning. Nearly scared the guards to death." He sighed as he stood up. Being the Hokage didn't stop him from being incurably lazy. "And what did you mean that you're coming too?"

"If this is about Kanaye then I want to be there to hear about it myself."

He nodded, "I'll come and get you when it's time to leave."