LOSS [ sarada uchiha ]

04

TW: angst, blood/gore, and violence

AN: hi friends! i apologize for taking so long to update. i just got back to my college town and started working last week so things have been pretty hectic! additionally, i've had to do some stuff for nursing school and i'm about done with everything so i should have more time to write! this chapter will have lots of angst, so have some tissues with you! i hope you all enjoy <3

     Yokota Ryo flattened several forensic documents across the expanse of Nanadaime's desk. The majority of them contained information that Sarada had trouble comprehending—such as the process of extracting the pulp DNA from the shinobi's molars and cross tracing them to collect the identity. Ryo also had many copies of the rogue's finger prints to confirm that the data was valuable.

     When Ryo unearthed the picture of the shinobi that first attacked Sarada, she was able to confirm that it was him who nearly killed her within the vicinity of her apartment. The darkness of the night as well as her lack of glasses during the encounter made it difficult to visualize the assailant, but the shape of his hands, the bridge of his nose, and the outline of his jaw was in equivalence to what Sarada had gathered with her sharingan.

The photo depicted a man donning a menacing smirk, with jade irises narrowed into nefarious slits. His dark—slightly grey—hair was pulled back in a half-up half-down style, which accentuated the widow's peak sprouting from the top of his head. The shinobi appeared to be close to Papa's age, or slightly older, for he had wrinkles surrounding the corners of his eyes, laugh lines, as well as the expanse of his forehead. Ryo later confirmed that the assailant, identified as Fujihara Isao, was forty-three years old and declared as a rogue shinobi eight years ago after deserting his home village—Takigakure—and is known for his proficiency in assassination. The document indicates that he has murdered highly protected and corrupt politicians as well as shinobi from various villages. He was wanted internationally.

"Is there any information regarding who he's been working with?" Sasuke then implored.

     "I'm afraid not," Ryo replied, eyebrows knitting together as his lips curved into a disappointed frown. "All we managed to find was documentation of his past criminal activity and place of birth."

     "Fuck," Sasuke huffed out in vexation. These people murdered his wife and have been terrorizing his daughter, and the fact that they are now two steps back was immensely frustrating. Running his fingers through his dark strands of hair in a distressed manner, Sasuke uttered out once more: "do you have anything that could be useful in finding out who the hell these people are?"

"Let's take a look," Ryo answered, as he sifted through the variety of documents pervading the wooden surface. Ryo eventually snagged a singular sheet hidden beneath the stacks of paperwork, settling it on top of the others. This page had a photo of the shinobi that killed Sakura, and nearly Sarada, along with his name, origin and date of birth, past crimes committed, rank, and even his chakra nature—earth. "Asato Shiro. Date of birth reads November 9th, 1987. Origin of home is Iwakagure—which explains his chakra nature being earth..."

Sarada reflects on the Doton that Shiro had utilized weeks ago, and how such a simple jutsu was enough to knock her to the pavement.

"...declared as a rogue shinobi four years ago after engaging in gang activity, as well as bounty hunting, and theft—"

"Bounty hunting?" Naruto then intervened, the term completely snagging his attention. "Someone put a bounty on Sarada?"