His Gift to Her (Mary Sue Series)

Chapter 34

Lady Tsunade slammed her ceramic teacup onto the desk, effectively breaking it and destroying the papers and documents with spilled tea. "Find her! Search for Kurisani Qui! She cannot fall into the wrong hands!" 

"Hokage-sama--" Shizune began, only to be ignored by the furious lady. 

"How could this happen? We specifically sent her to that training camp so she would be closely guarded by teachers constantly!" 

"A traitor?" Kakashi offered. Lady Tsunade froze, deep in thought. 

"Search those teachers and instructors! I want background checks on them now!" 

While Lady Tsunade threw orders left and right, Danzo mused over the problem, thinking of a way to resolve the problem and give him the upper hand. 

"We should find her ourselves. If I can train her, it would be easy to control the head." 

The two village elders weren't staying passive about the case and discussed the issue between themselves. 

"We've had one of our secret weapons taken right from under our noses!" the village elder Homura Mitokado said, nodding. "I say it's a traitor. There's no way someone from outside could have known Kurisani Qui and taken her so easily." 

"It can't be an ordinary ninja. It has to be someone close and has access to the records," Koharu Utatane, the second village elder added thoughtfully. "However..."

"Even the records are wiped clean. Nothing would turn up about her. To the public eye, Qui is a normal girl among with thousands of children," Homura continued. "Family, perhaps?"

"No," Lady Tsunade declared, marching into the room. "Qui's parents, especially her mother wouldn't say a single word about it." 

"Could it have been a relative? Perhaps from the mother's side--" 

"Impossible, neither family knew," the Hokage interrupted, causing both village elders to glare at her rude behavior. "Noriaki's background is heavily concealed as well. For as far as anyone knows--and should know--Noriaki is an orphan and married into the Kurisani family and created a normal daughter. That's literally everything." 

"Oh? Then who do you think it is?" Koharu sneered. 

"This man." Lady Tsunade tossed down onto the tea table a folder. 

"You need to be taught manners and respect," Koharu muttered but reached over to take a look at the folder. "Kabuto?"

"He is a family friend of the Kurisani's. He has had close contact with her and trained her before the Chunin Exams. He also under Lord Orochimaru." 

"Then he'll have both of them--!" 

Homura furrowed his eyebrows in concern. "This is a delicate matter. We can't afford to lose both now. I suppose we should call Uzamaki back as well and put both under house arrest." 

"No! Naruto is the safest with Jiraiya right now," the Hokage objected. She would never openly admit it, but she trusted her old friend more than anyone else. At least more than some teacher with a good reputation who lost a child.

"And if we lose that child as well? Where would that lead us?!"

A knock interrupted the meeting, and a Jounin stepped in, alerting the Hokage of some news. 

"First, Kurisani-kun is nowhere to be found. All grounds have been checked and the belongings she had packed, as witnessed by her roommate, were with her. However, there are no signs of a struggle and she was within a large number of children who were all constantly rubbing elbows. She was never alone and up until her disappearance, many children claimed they did not see any suspicious people. " 

"So it could have been an instructor who decided to betray the Leaf," Homura suggested. 

"Or it could have been Kabuto who might have won her over. She was close to him," Lady Tsunade pointed out.

"Kurisani-kun is not an ignorant child, she would have reported him! Family friend or not!" Koharu argued. 

"You don't even know the child, what makes you believe she wouldn't side with a family friend, no matter if he's a criminal?" Lady Tsunade pressed. "She thankfully still has her humanity and compassion and curiosity. She also trusts him, why wouldn't she listen to him and follow him, trusting every lie he tells her!?"

Nevertheless, it couldn't hurt to look for her on Lord Orochimaru's grounds. So, in a guise to look for Sasuke, they sent out several teams to look for any signs of Qui. 

A week passed and reports were sent, showing proof of signs of life but no child. 

Two weeks trickled by and the reports gave nothing. 

Three weeks only grated on everyone's nerves, and no hopeful report was given, save for the daily inspection reports of any new findings.

A month skipped so quickly and no results turned up. 

During the search for Qui, Noriaki sent a quick letter to Uncle Igo through the quail jar, saying briefly Qui was gone. In response, Uncle Igo sent a letter that he would look for her as soon as possible. Thus, Noriaki wrote messages and sent maps so Uncle Igo could be on the lookout.

"We must be careful," Lady Tsunade muttered to Shizune. "If we send too many people, our enemies will question why. If we send too little people, Kurisani-kun might be lost forever."