Boruto: Sacrifices

Chapter 12 - Pursuing Silence

There was silence for a long moment.

"The sound?" then came a voice, low, emotionless... unknown to most.

Naruto didn't even realize all the eyes in the room turning towards Orochimaru, his mind fixated on one word. "The woman...?"

"She didn't actively take part in attacking the child, but... She did something much worse." The young Yamanaka paused for a moment, gulped, and continued. "You asked why you couldn't hear the child. She was the reason."

The tension in the room was so dense that it was almost tangible. "Explain." the hokage said simply, his voice suddenly dry.

"Yoshida Suzume, from the Sound's Yoshida clan... A clan who is known by a dangerous kekkei genkai. They form strong sound barriers, and in extreme cases, they can even silence the voice of their opponent."

"You mean...?" Konohamaru was easily putting together the pieces, and his eyes widened slightly.

"Exactly. She trapped Mitsuki in a sound barrier. Coupled with Takeru's genjutsu, which was the reason the fire and explosion stayed hidden... even with how close and loud they were, we couldn't hear him fighting for his life."

The silence was only interrupted by low murmurs - the news was indeed shocking and cruel. Naruto was lost in thought...

He was sure there was no woman when they got there, he had personally made sure there were no other rogue ninjas, and then there was Konohamaru... But Ryu stood in front of him, telling him that there was a woman who was responsible for them not reaching Mitsuki in time...

"Shikamaru." he said in a clear voice, cutting into the mumblings.

His advisor was right beside him in a second. "I'm listening."

"Contact the Land of Rice and arrange three tracker teams to immediately head out to the Sound. We should apprehend that woman at any cost."

"Of course."

Hearing the Hokage's words, half a dozen of the ninja's in the room got to their feet.

"Lord seventh..." Kakashi started, using his formal title. "As one of the best tracking ninjas, I would like a leading role in this mission."

Kiba had also got up. "Me and my dogs have caught their scents before. I would like to be one of the team leaders as well."

Naruto wasn't really surprised when he saw Konohamaru on his feet, too.

"Excuse me lord seventh," the young jounin said, a hardened determination in his eyes. "This is a personal matter for me. I ask your leave to go, too."

Shikamaru took a half step forward, but catching Naruto's eyes, he didn't open his mouth to voice his thoughts.

"Lord Seventh..." That was Ryu. "I can sense that woman's chakra and I've seen her face. If you give permission, I would like to join the trackers, too."

The Hokage thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Sai and Ibiki could continue the interrogations, and catching this woman was important.

The groups were formed relatively quickly, everyone in there wanted to get this done as soon as possible. Shikamaru approached Naruto.

"We got this under control. Go get some rest..."

The blond laughed, although it lacked humor. "As if I will be able to rest..." Naruto sighed, but not just out of exhaustion... he gave his advisor a side-long glance. "There is something I should tell you."

"What is it?" Shikamaru was almost hesitant to ask.

"Shikadai... he was in the hospital too, during and after the surgery."