The Light That Seeps Through the Trees

Chapter 40: Targets

"I figured it out." Shikamaru informed the Hokage.

"What did you find?"

Sasuke, Konohamaru, Kenzo, Itachi, and Kakashi focused on Shikamaru and what he had discovered.

"Each file seem to be identical but upon further inspection you find that the symbols on the border change. Since there is so many symbols it appears to just be as decoration but when you play close attention to the symbols you see that the order changes. I divided the files into the patters they followed and based on the children on the files I drew upon a conclusion."

"What conclusion did you make?" Kakashi asked.

Shikamaru leaned against the wall, "I'm getting there. I ended up with five piles. The first pile is of young children, some still babies and others toddlers, those I believe are children they have yet to capture since Lord Eighth son is on the list. The other group of files I believe are of children already captured. I drew the conclusion based on how a children from the Akimichi clan is in that pile. That child had gone missing since three years ago. The third pile is composed of people that are no longer children. For that one I'm not sure if they have been captured or not. The fourth pile, is composed of the same. I believe one of them is of the captured and non captured ones but I'm not sure which one is which since I know none of the people on those files. Finally the last stack, is of people that are no longer children but that they have a low chance of capturing due to them being very advanced in their training. In that list are Boruto, Himawari, Kenzo, Kato, Sarada, Inojin, Shikadai and Tami. I believe they still have them as an option but are looking for easier targets with similar abilities."

"This is a lot, we will need to set up better protection around Konoha."

"There is something else I found." Shikamaru waited for the attention to be back on him before continuing, "these are just files from that base. On the files I also found one pattern that repeated through out all of them. It appears to be the code for the base. It seems that they have other bases."

"Which means they have more files." Kakashi stated.

Kenzo took his ninjato out looking at it as he spoke, "it also means they have other targets besides the ones on our hands. Based on what Shikamaru just said I believe every base focuses on the files given."

Shikamaru nodded agreeing, "I will continue to look over the files to see if I find anything else but I doubt there is anything else."

"What do you plan on doing?" Sasuke asked Konohamaru.

Konohamaru leaned forward placing his elbows on the desk, "I think the time has come for us to prepare. I want all the shinobi and kunochi gathered in 20 minutes."

Konohamaru stood in his Hokage outfit in front of all the ninjas. He explained the situation briefly not going into to many details. "Every children in the village shall receive training. I will create a list giving each ninja a group of children's they must train with a minimum of three times a week. This training will follow a similiar protocol as the academy but will be subjected to more basic concepts. The children will not be forced to follow the shinobi way but it will be more of a defense class. The village will also be under lockdown. The only ones allowed to leave will have had to receive permission from myself or my advisors. Every clan leader will have to take attendance every night and report to the ninja assigned to them. I am aware that I am asking a lot of you but this is all for the safety of the children of the village."

The ninjas nodded agreeing with the Hokage. They knew it would take a toll on them but it was worth it if with this they managed to protect their children.