Mission: Recover the Hokage

The trio moved through the Senju Forest's main trail, as Sachiko figured it would be easier to follow a trail that had been more than likely travelled by Satomi's group than just trail blazing through the forest with no real starting point. The difficulty was in determining when or where they deviated from the path.

Sachiko mainly kept her eyes peeled towards the surrounding woodline and sky, looking for predatory birds that would indicate some sort of bodies that had been munched on. Raccoons and other scavengers were important to note as well, and any sick animals needed to be noted as well.

If there were corpses of any decomposition rate, then animals would start to be sick from eating rotting meat, and that was obviously the ideal place to start looking. It only took a few hours before she noticed that there were more and more dead scavengers around.

"Something is poisoning the animals around here." Sachiko noted, a small amount of concern in her voice. Akihiro had pointed out previously that it was likely they had been ambushed and that bodies were a likely find. "Hopefully not Lord Satomi."

Rin has been focused on being the rear guard and paying attention to his surroundings. Although technically Rin is on the lookout for their potential assailant if the person stuck around for so long. It was unlikely in Rin’s personal opinion, but one truly never knows as the possibility is still there however slight it might be. Of course Rin does note some of the things that Sachiko does as he’s naturally curious on how she tracks. Granted he has learned a lot from Masuyo, but Rin is always opened to learning new technique about survival. Seems like Sachiko is paying special attention to the nearby animals, and Rin recalls that scavenger creatures such as raccoons and crows linger around corpses.

Sachiko spoke of the animals being poisoned by something, which can be the result of a decaying corpse and the animals have been feeding on rotting meat. Sometimes, however, when something large starts to decay it can taint the soil with disease and cause the plants to wilt and become potent with illness. Consequently can be the reason behind the poisoned bodies of even herbivores such as deer, but such a change would have to be from something large. Most commonly, or perhaps uncommon in this generation, a battlefield filled with the dead. Still Rin follows behind the other two as he was staying alert with his fingers not far from the hilt of his ebony knife. While the other hand remains close to his hip pouch and karambit so he can always draw them at a moment’s notice.

The trio moved through the forest with special care since they couldn't quite trust the forest. It was a feeling neither Akihiro nor any other Konohagakure ninja was used to. The forest was their friend, it was the main resource of the village and its first line of defense against invading armies. Now the forest was not only hiding the Hokage's body but also the Hokage's murderer. The forest was no longer a safe haven. Perhaps that realization would help village's ninja grow and stop blindly trusting the forest. Regardless, it was a weird feeling.

They kept running and jumping from branch to branch for a few hours before Sachiko finally broke the silence. Akihiro carefully listened to what she had to say and only then started looking for the patterns himself. He would have never noticed but it was true that the animals were behaving strangely in relation to their species' usual patterns. "Alright so if there was a fight it must've happened around here somewhere..." Akihiro looked up at the sky, where a hawk was flying in circles around the area. Activating his sharingan he focused his eyes on the animal, made the bird hand-seal and projected his chakra towards it. It only took a second before the hawk was under the control of a second Akihiro conscience.

With a hawk's eyesight it became much easier to find altercations in the landscape. From high up in the sky Akihiro saw three vultures circling a nearby area of the forest at low altitude, probably looking for food. This could indicate the presence of dead animals in the area. Making a motion with its flying path, Akihiro's second conscience inside the hawk indicated the real Akihiro where they should move towards.

"Let's try to go in that direction. Be on your guard, we're getting close." Akihiro pointed in a specific direction, waiting for Sachiko to take point.

Trained: Kynareth's Gift, custom A-rank

Sachiko did as she was bid, but with a sense of caution about her actions. It didn't take long, Akihiro had been right, and to be frank, when they arrived on scene, Sachiko was a little nauseated, seeing some partially eaten, partially decaying and bloated corpses with clearly identifiable Konoha Flak jackets and uniforms.

"We found them." She said, holding back a gag, as the smell was particularly offensive to her sensitive nose. She rarely ever encountered more than one body of any animal in an area, and so the multiple animals and humans who were dead in the area were a bit overwhelming currently. It wasn't normal that's for sure.

The humans had punctures in them, as if something drilled holes straight into them. There was an area of singed earth cratered into the ground, with perhaps a couple of bodies inside it.

Akihiro was doing something that Rin took notice, but figured it was just Akihiro's way of finding things. Seconds later he informs Sachiko about his findings and suggested the direction. Sachiko went towards that direction with at least Rin following behind as his left hand had already drawn out the ebony knife from his thigh holster. Pretty sure Akihiro follows as well, Rin will bring up the rear as his nose started to pick up the scent of decaying flesh.

When they arrived at the scene it was easy to guess that this was definitely a combat scene. Or what is left of it at any rate. One of the corpses however wore the Konoha flak jacket, but the other seems to be dressed in scorched cloth. Something about this one felt familiar to Rin, but he shrugged it off assuming that it was just his imagination.

”I'm assuming the one with the armor or what's left of it is Lord Satomi. But i don't recognize the other.” Aside from the putrid smell Rin appears to not be bothered. Even though behind the mask is a professional form of sadness that his kin and clan leader was murdered in such a gruesome manner. Either way he slings the large scroll off from its harness and begins to unfold it next to the two decayed corpses. Judging from the state of decay these bodies are in, they had to be out here for at least two months or so. Probably for as long as they've been away to Kumogakure. In any case, Rin placed one hand on Satomi's mutilated body while the other on the scroll. Pumping chakra from both palms Rin creates a pocket dimension big enough for the body to be sealed within the large scroll and still has enough room for a second body. Now that Rin was closer to the other, the sense of familiarity comes back to his attention. What was it that's making this near skeletal corpse strike Rin's mind? Whatever it was Rin repeated the same process and sealed Alkaid's body into the scroll as well. Rin rolled up the scroll and then slipped it back onto its harness against his lower back. Turning his attention towards Akihiro and Sachiko.

”I suggest we hurry back to Konohagakure and get these bodies analyzed for further investigation.

[Used Enclosing Technique to seal Satomi and Alkaid into Rin's Large Scroll]

Akihiro followed close behind Sachiko and found the bodies nearly at the same time as she did. Indeed there was a reason to be nauseated. Even Akihiro, in all his intelligence, had never quite seen a body in this state. It wasn't just decomposition, but the fact there were parts of the bodies which had been bitten off and adding to that there were several bodies of other small animals nearby. It truly was a death fest. "These are Konoha ninja but none of them seems to be the Hokage's corpse." Akihiro would state. Not that he could recognize anyone's face in the state they were in, but the Hokage wore a special kind of armor which certainly would not decompose with time.

Akihiro noticed Sachiko's nauseated expression. It must have been much harder on her, considering her keen sense of smell. Regardless, he couldn't help but say a few words to both her and Rin. "Take in the sight in front of you and do not look away," Akihiro would say. His tone was soft, but at the same time firm. As if the words he spoke were and had always been set in stone, as the truth. "For such is the fate of a shinobi. These men and women are heroes. They died so we could live. They died protecting our village, the legacy of our forefathers and now own our legacy. The death of a ninja is never pretty and yet I assure you, there is no greater way to leave this world. There is no greater cause to give our lives for."

Akihiro would take a few steps towards one of the bodies and kneel down near it. The stench was almost unbearable but he made an effort to keep facing the decomposing flesh. He took a kunai blade from his holster and touched one of the puncture wounds with it. "I'm sorry for this." he muttered, before using the blade to open a deeper gash. It was clear that something had punctured the flesh but the funny thing about the wounds was that there was no pattern of a blade leaving a body. Usually when one is stabbed, it there is an entrance and an exit pattern, from when the blade first enters a body and then from when the attacker pulls it out. But in this case it was different. "Some sort of shard maybe?" Akihiro's curiosity accompanied him even in this morbid situation. He dug deeper until he felt the blade touch something. Then he carved the flesh until with the tip of his kunai he was able to retrieve a small object. Akihiro held it between his thumb and index finger, examining it.

The funny thing about bones, is that they're the last thing to decompose. While the flesh of a body rots away relatively quickly, bones can remain for years. This was true for regular human's bones, but even more so for Kaguya bone. "They seem to have been shot with some sort of bone shard." He couldn't be absolutely sure they had all died the same way until the bodies (or what was left of them) were brought back to the village and more thorough examinations could be made. But there was one clan who specialized in the use of bones. "Kaguya... this could mean the Hidden Mist is behind the attack. Deeply concerning...." many sorts of thoughts occured to him while he examined the bone. But he decided to keep those to himself for now, as this was now a matter to be discussed between him and Masuyo.

Before Rin sealed Satomi in a scroll, however, Akihiro approached him and took a look at his body. It was in a sorry state. The mithril armor had been completely devastated by multiple piercing attacks. "More evidence... only particularly strong materials are able to overcome mithril this easily... more evidence. Shit." Akihiro was particularly unhappy to see the Hokage's eye sockets. It seemed that the enemy had purposely targeted the sacred Uchiha eyeballs. This angered Akihiro. Kneeling down, he picked up a blade from Satomi's body. "It's the White Fang blade, Lord Satomi's signature weapon. There is no doubt." Akihiro put it away inside one of his cloak's interior pockets, this was also to be delivered to Masuyo. The he let Rin seal up the two bodies, taking notice of the one which was so close to Satomi's. Akihiro was certain that a thorough analysis would confirm his suspicions.

"Yes we should go. We also need to send for medical teams to retrieve these men and women's bodies. A Konohagakure ANBU unit's body has many secrets, secrets we'd be wise to protect."

Looking around at the corpses as she was bid, Sachiko felt a deep pang of loss in her stomach. She hadn't really felt that way since she was taken in by Konoha, but forced to leave her pack because of it. Now that Konoha was her new pack, seeing these people lifeless like this, it hurt as if she had lost members of a pack she'd known her entire life. "I know Aki. This was like my exam test. We die so others don't have to. Sacrifice the self for the greater good of the pack. But this.... this wasn't a sacrifice. We lost so much."

She was getting more angry with the fact that the Hokage and his guard were so mercilessly cut down. "When we figure out who is behind it, please let me be on the squad that goes to avenge them. Nobody messes with my pack." She knew she wasn't far off from being a Chuunin, assuming she could win her match with Yui later, or at least do well enough with only Taijutsu.

Akihiro spoke as he examined the scene, much more suited for this sort of thing than she was. He had a greater sense of what happened and was able to piece that stuff together. Sachiko was just a tracker. He mentioned that there seemed to be bone shards shot into some of the bodies. "That Tsubaki girl used her bones as weapons during the Tournament in Kumo." she commented directly after, thinking about the fight between her and the Missing-nin from Kumo. Those people were monsters for sure, twisting and using their bodies in ways that didn't seem natural.

Sachiko nodded when they had collected stuff and suggested to leave. She didn't really like being here any more than she had to. "Anything else before we leave? We got the body, sword, and a suspect."

Akihiro nodded at Sachiko. "To be perfectly honest I'm not sure we'll be avenging him at all. But I'll keep you in mind, rest assured." He would then walk around the field of battle inspecting each and every one ANBU unit's bodies for wounds and other clues. Sachiko made another comment, one which in turn made Akihiro flinch a bit. "So she picked up on the Kaguya bone from Kirigakure no Sato..." Of course she did. She had seen Tsubaki fight and only a particularly stupid person wouldn't immediately associate bone bullets to the Kaguya after seeing one in action. Sachiko may not have been the brightest Konoha ninja, but she was well above that point of stupidity. Akihiro silently cursed...he had hoped to keep this quiet from the village for now. But he was forced to come clean. "Yes... these bone shards are used by the famous Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure no Sato. However, I'd like us to keep quiet about that fact for now. I'll report to Masuyo and then we'll decide on a course of action. We shouldn't openly attack or accuse Kirigakure...as much as it pains me to say this, our alliance is extremely important for the safety of our citizens...more so than the life of a single ninja. Even if he was the Hokage. I'm not saying we won't do anything but...we must consider our next move carefully. And if the village's clans get wind of this, they'll be out for blood which in turn will prevent us from considering our next action properly. "

There was not much more to say or see, except for a small scroll Akihiro found on one of the ANBU's body. Taking a closer look at it, he identified a simple seal almost immediately. It was a storage scroll. What sort of items could be stored? Perhaps weapons, or even cash. Either way unsealing the items there wasn't a good idea so they were left with no choice but to go back to the village and report their findings.

"Alright let's move out. We've been here for too long already and the sooner we report back the sooner the village status can go from lockdown back to normal. Let's go." He would wait for Rin to finish sealing up the two bodies and for the squad to be ready before initiating his walk back.

[EXIT]

Hearing Akihiro’s assessment on his findings, and Sachiko speak of Tsubaki Kaguya was like a cloak of something dark and massive looming over Rin’s shoulders. His mind can’t help but think of Alkaid Kaguya. Given the state of the body’s decay, the fact that Tsubaki was at Kumogakure before they arrived, and Alkaid was not there either. As much as Rin wants to brush it off as mere coincidence he can’t shrug off the ominous shadow either. Akihiro spoke of how these men and women died in battle. For they should honor the dead. To which Rin agreed and comprehends to what Sachiko feels about this whole situation. Still Rin can’t help but feel troubled.

”Of course.” Rin decided to keep it to himself for the time being as he proceeded to seal the bodies. So much weighs on his mind, and fear of the potential truth that will unveil in time. Still Rin follows behind the duo as he tucks the large scroll back into the slot behind his back.

[Exit]

After Akihiro thoroughly searched the remaining corpses, he found some sort of scroll, which might have been pretty important. Still, the Hokage's body had been recovered, and though Sachiko was sad about that, at least they knew that something had happened. For now, the mission was completed, and she had done her job. Maybe with whatever payment she got from this mission, she would be able to afford some more gear for herself, considering she had more or less depleted her savings while in Kumo, and wasn't really good about picking up her paychecks from Konoha yet.

Hopefully there was a nice build up in terms of money, because she had her eyes on some things that might cost her a pretty penny, but would also make her much more effective and feel more at home when it came to fitting in. But for now, it was time to head home, and hopefully get the emergency status lifted. She wondered if there would be a funeral.

-Exit-