Paths of Divergence

Dredge

Chapter 52

-Dredge

     The Hyuga sighs in frustration, "No leads, no nothing."

"I'm really worried about him, why would they send him off alone?" Sakura asks.

"Well not exactly alone... he did have ROOT ninja with him," Nitatchi replies near sarcastically.

     "What a drag," Shikamaru begins, "I wouldn't be surprised if the higher ups are trying to hide something.

     Naruto raises his fist, gritting his teeth, "Then why don't we just barge in and ask Danzo our selves!"

      "We would just get dismissed. Either that or we'd be given some bogus cover up story. Rgh, if only Azumi were here. She'd be able to dig into it better than we could," Nitatchi says.

"Is there no one else in scouting and intelligence we can ask?" Ino asks, with a tilt of her head.

"There probably is but... I don't want to run the risk of our sleuthing being known," Nitatchi says.

      Sakura lowers her head in defeat, "So... we just give up?"

      "We can't!" Naruto yells, "Shizake wouldn't give up if it were one of us!"

      "He's right, you know," Nitatchi begins, smiling at Sakura, "Shizake would tread to the ends of the earth for one of us."

     "What if it's a lot more simple than we're making it?" Shikamaru asks. "You ANBU are sent on all sorts of secret missions... couldn't it just be something like a one man job?"

     Nitatchi scratches his head before shaking it, "Normally I would agree. However Toshika noted that he looked anxious and pale in the face. It just doesn't seem like him."

     The Nara sighs, leaning against a wall, "I said it once and I'll say it again. What a drag," he says.

     "Not helping, Shikamaru!" Ino retorts, "Now. Think hard. Is there anyone else who might know anything?"

"No... but," Nitatchi begins but trails off.

"What is it?" Ino asks, placing a hand atop of his.

"I have an idea. It's... drastic to say the least but it will get us the info we're looking for," he says lowly.

"I can already see where this is going," Shikamaru says, "go ahead, spit it out."

Naruto's face scrunches up in confusion as the gears in his mind try turning. He scratches his head as he ponders but gives up after mere seconds of thinking too hard.

"There's bound to be some sort of paper trail at the very least. It might not state exactly what's going on but maybe something to connect to Shizake's whereabouts," Nitatchi says.

"Right... right! I knew that," Naruto says with a smug smile while nodding his head.

"Oh lord, Naruto," Sakura says while shaking her head, "Anyways you know how dangerous that is. You might be ANBU but something like that could have you stripped of rank entirely especially with Danzo in office."

"She's right, it doesn't seem worth the risk. You could even be jailed!" Ino adds.

     "I don't care... I know that bastard is up to something shady and I'd happily be revoked of my status to find out what's going on," Nitatchi replies.

     "So you want to go snooping huh? That's fine with me but I'd rather be discreet about it. We can help but I don't want to get caught either," Shikamaru says.