Forked Shadows

Chapter 14

Team Eight's evening arrival from their mission outside the village was well-known among the other teams. However, no one was prepared for a Team Eight without their favorite companion Akamaru.

"The mission was a success with one causality."

Lady Tsunade scanned Akamaru's corpse personally, eyeing Kiba concernedly who sat in the corner of the waiting room. Attachments were one of the hardest wounds to heal.

Team Seven and Team Nine were in the village, waiting for good news, but after one look at Hinata's broke face, Shino's...even more, depressing aura, and Kiba and Akamaru nowhere to be seen, they knew something was up.

"It was Akamaru. It's been confirmed he was poisoned with a slow-acting poison. It's extremely advanced and it killed him. Kiba's back at home."

Understandable, since the boy saw his best friend, his partner in crime, his buddy in school, die right in front of his eyes.

"I see," Ino said sagging her shoulders. "I guess we should cancel the party?"

"Yeah. It wouldn't feel right to celebrate when we've lost a companion," Lee said, nodding.

"Mmm." The teams broke up, each heading to their respective places.

Raicho was still at work in the therapy office, when a message from Ino alerted her that the party was canceled, explaining Akamaru's death.

That evening, Kiba stared at the ceiling, already tired from crying. His family had left him alone thankfully, giving him peace to mourn. The funeral was already set.

"You should watch your back, you know. Underestimating the enemy will be your downfall," Tenten said.

Wait a minute...Kiba sat up suddenly. Her words...the peanut butter...her refusal to share....he furrowed his eyebrows. Could Tenten have poisoned Akamaru?

No, no way. Maybe she was having a bad day.

Kiba scrubbed his face in frustration, trying to avoid thinking about Tenten a day ago. But the more he tried to not think, the more he thought about it. And the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to blame her.

"It's gotta be her! She wouldn't share because she knew she would get caught! Instead, she must have switched out the peanut butter jars when I wasn't looking!" Kiba ranted angrily, pacing his bedroom.

"I have to tell someone!"

Kiba ran outside, just as Raicho held up her hand to knock. "Surprise?"

"Oh, hey, Raicho."

"I brought some coffee," she explained, holding up a large pack of coffee powder. "I just finished my daily program." Her eyes softened. "I heard what happened. Hinata and Shino told me Ino who told me."

"Yeah." He blindly accepted the bag from her. "Oh, uh, want to come in? I'll make the coffee."

"Is anyone home?" Raicho asked, peering behind him.

"Nope. Everyone's out."

"Guess I'll keep you company then."

They both headed inside, and Kiba made himself and Raicho a cup of steaming coffee, offering her honey and cream.

"We don't really use sugar as our sweetener," Kiba explained when he handed her the honey jar.

"Oh, alright then. Raicho took the jar suspiciously, frowning at the honey. "I've uh, never used honey before."

"Try it."

"Oh, thank you." Raicho made a show of putting some honey in her cup, stirred it a few times, and forced herself not to wince at the strange taste.

"I'm used to it," Kiba said, taking the honey away from her.

"Yeah, I can see that."

"And I'll never serve salt by accident again." The two chuckled.

"So, do you want to talk...?" Raicho said. "You don't have to if you don't feel that great..."

"Well...actually. I think I know who poisoned Akamaru."

"Who?" Raicho leaned forward, eyes wide.

"Tenten. I think it's her. Before the mission, I saw her carrying a jar of peanut butter. Akamaru wanted some, but she didn't share. I didn't know then, but I think it's because it's poisoned. If she shared it, then we would know she was the killer. But she didn't, so somehow she must have switched my peanut butter out with her poisoned one and when I fed it to Akamaru--I did the dirty work for her!" Kiba raged, slamming his fist on the table.

"Alright, do you have proof that Tenten switched it out, though?" Raicho asked.

"No...maybe she got someone else to do it."

"Why would she do it though?" Raicho frowned. "That doesn't sound like her either."

"It's not me." Both looked up to see Tenten at the window. Kiba leaped up and opened the door, glaring defiantly at her.

"Tenten!" Raicho called, standing up as well.

"I have an alibi," she said coolly.

"Oh yeah? Then prove it!" Kiba snarled.

"Come one. Let's go." The three left Kiba's house, and Tenten headed to the store first. "This is the peanut butter I bought." She showed them the receipt. "Therefore, I can't have tampered with it before I met you. We met two streets away from the store."

"So not sharing your purchase with Kiba and Akamaru because you poisoned it beforehand is false," Raicho said, nodding. "Because peanut butter isn't a liquid but a cream substance, Tenten would need to have time to mix her poison in for a long time before sealing it shut and encountering Kiba and Akamaru all within one hour."

"Exactly. Next, when I got home, I didn't open the peanut butter," Tenten said, leading them to her house. They headed inside and Tenten took out the new jar of peanut butter she had bought. "See? The seal is still on."

"You must have used an almost-empty jar of peanut butter," Kiba accused.

"You're welcome to check out the trash. I bought peanut butter for Ino's baking party, only to find out it was canceled. I shouldn't waste any more peanut butter on a dog anyways." 

"But your threat--"

"I only told you to be careful, didn't I?" Tenten said stoutly, crossing her arms. "So I didn't kill your pathetic dog."

"Tenten!"

"Shut up!" Kiba lunged at her, only to be stopped by Raicho.

"Tenten, please, don't make him angrier than he already is."

"Bye~" she sneered, slamming the door.