Mending The Past To A Better Future

Chp. 12 The First Fallout {Part-1}

Minato Namikaze dropped in at his youngest students home, and nearly damn well fainted when he saw the bashed in door and the completely terrorized state of her apartment. He was immediatly on alert, and reached out his senses to feel out for any chakra signatures. When he found none, he reversed the seal that was placed at the edge of her doorway and took a cautious step in, kunai already in hand in case he was missing any unseen foe.

Naruto's apartment didn't have much to begin with, but whatever she did have was effectively torn into and disregarded. The cabinets under the kitchen sink had been thoroughly emptied out like whoever had raided her apartment had been expecting her to hide something there - and bowls of instant ramen had been poured out haphazardly onto the wooden floor. Her sleeping bag had been turned inside out and her scrolls had been torn. Moving his gaze further to the kitchen table, the pots of ink that had resided there had been spilt and the dark liquid had run off the table ledge and onto the floor.

The Uchiha shirt that Kakashi had noted still laid there, although it was torn.

Whoever had been there hadn't been trying to hide their presence.

Which begged the question of where the young girl was.

At that, Minato felt his heartbeat speed up erratically. He reached out his chakra sensing for the young girl but didn't find her anywhere within the nearby vicinity. Quickly, he snagged her orange and black jacket off the floor. His next stop had him at Kakashi's house. While he'd normally report his findings to Hokage-sama, he was still unsure of who was after his student. If his suspicions were right - that being that Danzo had personally come to take the wild spirited girl out, then he was hesitant to tell Sarutobi. He was a good Kage, but he allowed his personal relationship with Danzo to blindside him.

Teleporting to the Hatake clan house, he was flying through the window, disregarding any formalities. Kakashi would understand.

His student threw a well aimed kunai in his direction at his sudden intrusion, which Minato flicked away without a second thought. Kakashi stood up straighter at the serious look on Minato's face.

"Sensei?" He asked cautiously.

"Summon your ninken. Naruto is missing."

Kakashi bit down on his thumb and slammed his palm down on his floor, and eight dogs varying in size immediately started sniffing around.

Minato handed the jacket he had picked up from Naruto's house to Kakashi who squatted in front of Pakkun. "Pakkun. This is Naruto's jacket. I need you guys to track her scent." He passed the jacket around until all of the dogs had gotten a good sniff of the girl's smell.

Pakkun didn't respond, only jumping out the window in response with the other seven ninja dogs hot on his heels. They stopped in at Naruto's house first, the horde of ten stumbling their way up her narrow stairs. Minato pushed the door in and Kakashi's eyes widened at the amount of discord in her apartment.

"Someone was here?" He asked Minato.

"I think so, yes," Minato said trying to keep a calm head on. "I don't see why Naruto would tear up all her hard work in those scrolls and her clothes and leave her place in complete disarray."

Shiba nudged his way in and sniffed the air deeply. "Naruto left here of her own free will," His raspy voice said, making both boys take a breath of relief. "But she was in a hurry when she did. The air smells like her sweat, and I can sense the wave of nerves she was letting off before she left."

"It's possible she knew she was being followed," Kakashi said, picking up one of her ripped scrolls.

Minato sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised. Naruto is an extremely skilled sensor and she could probably pinpoint anyone no matter how hard they were trying to hide their trails."