13 Bad Feeling (2/2)
The recent case, maybe?
”So…” I smiled as I cleared away my thoughts, letting my hidden kunai's fall from my sleeves before flicking them towards the said crow. But before the wired kunai's pass through him, he had already poofed away.
Onomatopoeia at its finest—POOF.
”Not a chance.” The crow's voice echoed throughout the Training Ground 13.
I narrowed my eyes, sharpening my senses, trying to find wherever tree the bird perched onto. 'This is gonna be a bit tough…' I thought, suddenly feeling a quick chill at my back, like someone was watching me aside from Karasu-nii, making me look wherever.
'Why do I feel like something's definitely gonna wrong?'
__________
Kakashi appeared right outside the Konaha Military Police Force, Investigatory Building, outside where all of the clan heads were meeting to discuss about current matters. The Hokage seemed to be in there as well.
The reason where he would suddenly disappear out of sight is because of his part in the investigation project for the White Mask Case. It seemed as though when they targeted his beloved nephew, he became prepared to take the case. Though it took them a bit of time to dig in deeper, a crucial clue now appeared to give them the shed of light they needed to finish investigating.
Pushing the door in a lazy manner, he was greeted by sharp gazes—courtesy from the serious clan heads. He simply bobbed his head to greet them and went to take the empty space beside the Hokage, who gave him a questioning look. He returned an apologetic eye-smile towards him.
Someone coughed.
”… Like I said, for Kakashi to hear—since he's VERY early,” Fugaku of the Uchiha's said sternly, ”a mask was found near the burnt area. The blank mask that we knew from earlier cases seemed to be connected with this one.” he showed a picture of an engraved mask.
”Music notes have been engraved on them, though we still do not know if it has any meaning. A team's working to decipher whether the emblazoned marks have meaning or not—but since no one's expert in the music area, it's going to take a bit of time.” Inoichi stepped up, flipping through his clipboard.
”Although the perpetrator only attacked the main families' children, or the children of the ones close to the main branch, using mind-controlled members of our clans before, the cases from before are sure to connect with this one. Klavier-san did belong to 'that' clan.” The Uchiha's clan head folded his arms, ”These information still haven't reached the public's ears since panic may rise, but rumours may spread quick.”
Kakashi observed the meeting room as it fell into silence. Hiashi of the Hyūga's observed along with him.
”Does Klavier-san have any living relatives?” The Akimichi clan head asked, tilting his head to the side.
”Unfortunately,” Shikaku took a step front, ”there's no known living Rukas clan members. Those musicians had been annihilated by their own kin—a war between themselves. Only Klavier-san and his son, Xavier, managed to transfer to Konoha in time to save their dying selves.”
Simultaneously, the people inside the room moved their gaze to the Hokage.
”Yes, I had indeed taken them in years ago.” The Hokage heaved a sigh, answering their obvious question, ”The only people who knew of this before was Danzo and Shikaku-kun—for Klavier and his son's protection and anonymity.”
Fugaku refrained his mouth from hanging to stop his outburst. Instead, he calmly placed his hand over his face and sighed, ”A pretty crucial part of the investigation has been revealed. Thank you.” The Hokage only gave him a wry smile.
The Hyūga coughed, ”And the son? I assume that he'd already passed away judging by the way you told us that this old man is—was—the only known living Rukas in the Land of Fire.”
”His son was considered dead,” The Hokage narrowed his eyes, emphasising the past tense he used, ”but since we've dabbled on this area, I have a faint feeling that he's connected to all of these heinous acts. The only clan I know that can tackle onto the mind control area, aside from the Yamanaka's, are definitely the Rukas's. The music that the mind controlled victims described before falling into their, well, mind controlled state is also an obvious clue since the said clan adores music.”
Kakashi shared the same look as the Hokage under his mask. Gazing at the picture of the emblazoned white mask, he made sure to memorise all of the symbols seeing that he might actually have the gut feeling that someone he knows can crack this case—the topic is music, after all.
His nephew has definitely taken an interest in that area. Who would've thought that his nephew can play an instrument? That child, for all he knows, haven't escaped from his gaze so, how on earth did he manage to sneak the time to practice? He definitely need to ask that soon.
Actually, can Kakashi memorise the marks? There are over seventy music notes on there. He might just actually ask for a written copy directly from someone from them. He doesn't really have a photographic memory like some people thought—he just have a good memory, nothing more, nothing less.
”Anyways,” Fugaku sighed, ”we also found this from the deceased's pocket,” he raised a plastic bag containing something nearly burnt, ”a pendant of some sort. It acts a bit like a storage scroll, only which it needs specific chakra to work. Seeing that we have an idea of who can open it—common sense, people, we won't be opening this unless until we capture Klavier-san's son.”
”So, our first priority for now is,” The Nara head spoke up, ”keep this away from the public as much as we can since, whew, rumours fly fast these days, and, of course, catch Rukas Klavier's son, Rukas Xavier.” He then cleared his throat, slipping a glance at the only Hatake inside the room.
”I'll be dispatching groups, preferably from the ANBU network since they fit the job perfectly, to stop rumours from spreading, scout for more, what we've assumed, mind control victims, and gather as much information as we can. Jounin groups will be needed as well for obvious reasons.
Consulting people with interest in the music area will definitely be on the priority list too so, if anyone of you have, or know people who have knowledge on that space will definitely be welcome to take a written copy of the code—just ask from the people leading the Cipher Unit, whom Inoichi will be informing.” With the Nara's stern words, the Yamanaka nodded and quickly informed the people from the said unit using his clan's ability.
'That was convenient.' Kakashi thought, making sure to remember to stop by to the Cipher Unit to get a copy.
Honestly, the meeting was definitely boring for Kakashi. He only ever listened to interesting things, and is so close to getting a certain orange book from his pouch to ease definite boredom. The only thing keeping him sane at the moment was the mind-set to get a copy of the code for his nephew.
Several agonising hours later, the meeting finally ended, ending Kakashi's boredom. He actually ran out, almost forgetting about the thing he kept reminding himself about. Stepping into the Cipher Unit Building, he was greeted with welcoming stares coming from people behind glasses. He asked for a copy and one of the Cipher agents smiled at him.
”Oh? You have an idea how to crack this definition of a migraine?” The agent asked in a sarcastic demeanour while handing him a piece of paper, trying to lighten up the anbu in front of him.
Kakashi whistled, smiling behind his mask. Somehow, one can actually ”see” him smiling—his vibe literally gave it off. ”I know someone who might be able to help. He might surprise me again on this one—he's full of surprises, really.” Kakashi told the agent truthfully, his tone full of pride for his beloved nephew.
It might not look like it, but Kakashi is the type of person who'd put his beloveds' safety first before him—after learning his lesson. After all, in the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, which is very true, but those who abandon their friends, and families, are worse than scum.
After a brief goodbye, he stepped out of the building, a breeze snatching away the paper from his hands. He swiftly ran after it and caught it, getting a small paper cut as a result. He narrowed his eyes, a bad feeling washing over him. 'Why did I…' he was snapped out as a sudden wave of chakra signal burst near Training Ground #13—where he left Orion and Karasu.
He recognise the repetitive chakra signal bursts being three long bursts between two three short ones (…---…). ”Fuck.” He could only curse as he recognised the distress signal, running through a quick seal then quickly appearing in the near radius of the distress call.
An unmasked, almost unrecognisable Karasu lied down, blood scattered around him with the source being a hole plunged onto his right chest. He was alive, barely. If it weren't for the crow mask next to him, Kakashi would've not recognised him.
After seeing his subordinate, the only thing inside his mind right now is the safety of his nephew.
Kakashi whipped his head to his right after hearing a whimper coming from a meter away. The sight of Orion in the hands of a bloodied-white-masked man definitely made his blood boil.
With his kunai in hand, he slammed his hand onto the neck of his subordinate and nephew's attacker, pushing the said man through several trees before stopping hard on a boulder.
”Get the fuck away from Orion.”