• Dark Dawn •

Ep 43 - Cruelty

(Arc 7 - Infiltration - pt 4)
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Sakura

Sakura lowered the medical scroll as she heard the report one of the other shinobi had referred to her.

"Wait, whose corpse are we supposed to perform an autopsy on??"

"The Village Elder, Danzo, died earlier today in the northern part of the surrounding forest." The shinobi reports. "The team that had felt the disturbance and discovered his corpse had noticed signs of an obvious struggle in the area and traces of unusual chakra from the jutsu. The report states the team was unable to properly assess the nature of a specific type of jutsu used and the Hokage-sama asked me to call for you to discuss this manner in greater detail. She is awaiting you in the hospital morgue."

Sakura nodded vaguely and the shinobi silently slinked away as Sakura quickly prepared to head out. Her movements were mechanical as her mind wandered.

A village elder assassinated so close to home would definitely pack a hefty punch to the morale of the ninja in the village (not that the people were really fond of the elder, given his less than stellar reputation). But this was a serious concern of the state of the village's security and their inability to even detect the hostile entity just outside the town.

-

Sakura landed in front of the Konoha Hospital and rushed in, weaving her way through the halls and stopping in front of the room where she could feel the agitated chakra of her sensei. Slowly, she opened the door and walked in.

Tsunade and Shizune, along with Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, the two village elders, standing in tense silence, seemingly just out of a heated discussion.

Sakura closed the door and hesitantly, she spoke up, "Tsunade-sama, you called for me?"

Tsunade sighed and with a hand, beckoned the girl forward. "Yeah, I did. It's because I think you might be needed here. Plus, you're my student so you were going to find out about this sooner or later anyway." She placed her hand on the metal table in the center of the room, leaning on it with another long exhale.

Sakura furrowed her brows seeing this. How long has it been since the news reached Tsunade? Had she even given herself a moment of rest?

Koharu then stepped up, seemingly intent on finishing their earlier conversation. "Princess Tsunade, even though you are the Hokage now, we are still the village's elders and have more experience running a village than you do!"

"Of course, I know that!" Tsunade snapped back. "But I still don't think it's a good idea to dismiss Elder Danzo's death as a mere accident!"

Fuming, Homura also stepped forward, "The people of the village and our shinobi could become discouraged and on edge with this murder!" he nearly shouts. "It would hinder our operations henceforth!"

Tsunade ran a hand through her bangs, frustrated. "This just doesn't sit right with me! I think that at the very least, the shinobi should be told about this. Keeping them in the dark will serve no one! Also, what if one of them happens to run into the culprit? How would they know who they run into is who we're looking for?"

"We can't let other villages find out about this! We must be discreet or else other nations will take advantage of our supposed weakness and attack!" Homura hissed back.

This was way beyond what she was comfortable with.

The silence rang when the three stopped shouting, and deep breaths could be heard in the room.

"Uhm-" Sakura murmured.

"Alright, fine! Have it your way." Tsunade let out. "Don't come crying to me if anything goes wrong."