DollFace

Chapter Føur

Blindfolded

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Kakashi stood in the Hokage's office along with  Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi. The three people stood in a pregnant pause, waiting for their leader to speak.

Tsunade lightly tapped her pen, successfully gaining the three men's attention.

"We have a serious issue as of now. There is a killer on the loose." Her voice was cool, calm and held professionalism. It beckoned their respect to her authority.

"Bodies have been piling up over the past few months and we still don't have any leads."

All eyes turned to Shikaku. He glanced warily at them.
"Apparently the victims, had no close relationship to each other. Neither share a specific connection to a particular person. Either they're trying to get someone's attention or they're mentally derranged."

A shiver ran down Inoichi's spine. He cared so much about his family. The thought of losing them was unbearable. But he managed to keep his composure.

Kakashi thought the same too. If a person was killing for no exact reason, Naruto or Sasuke may be in danger. Hell even Sakura, because she had ties to them.

The thought of a madman running around, aimlessly killing innocent lives terrified them. But managed to make them more determined than before.

Inoichi shakily cleared his throat. Coughing, signalling their attention. "All victims were civilian with little to no shinobi background. They're obviously not doing this randomly, they know who to hit. They know the difference, this is going according to a plan."

Shikaku narrowed his eyes. What plan? Do we have an intruder amongst us?

"No," Kakashi spoke for the first time, his tone holding an unusual edge. "I don't believe there is an intruder, they're looking for something."

Shikaku tilted his head in the copycat's direction, "How do you know for sure?" His eyes lazily scanning the others present in the room. Kakashi's expression drew blank. He shrugged his shoulders; dipping his head, porn no longer within his grasp.

"Just a hunch."

"We may not find him now, but when we do...." He trailed off.

"Good then." Tsunade breathed out.

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"Aren't you gonna train?"

"Why should I?"

Ino stood in Training ground seven with Sakura, who was sitting in the shade of a tree, reading a book.

"To get stronger of course! How else are you supposed to fight with your teammates?!"

Sakura snapped her book shut.
"I don't need-"

"Yes you have to! Naruto and Sasuke-kun are doing their best! You're gonna just get in the way."

She frowned, of course Ino would say something like that. But she was right. Faking a smile, she stood up to meet Ino's eyes.

"Let's train!" She spoke with vigor. A little too much...

Ino hesitantly nodded.

○●○●

Shikamaru observed the two girls from the safety of a tree. Particularly focusing on the Cherry Blossom.

He didn't know why, but the smile always came back to haunt him. There was something about it, sweet yet menacing.

He never understood it.

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Sakura ran home caked in sweat and dirt. She was sad and angry at the same time. She missed her boys and she lost to Ino.

She gently turned the knob the sneak in, only to come face to face with her mother.

Her eyes were darkened and her dirty blonde hair was tangled. All in all she looked haunted.

"Sakura." She spoke. There was this hoarseness to her voice.

"Mother."

"Come inside." Mebuki turned away and walked down the halls. Sakura followed suit. Her mom wasn't watching. She quickly made one shadow clone to distract her, knowing that her mother had some shinobi training, she was capable of sensing chakra.

Masking her chakra, she begun to wait for her mother to return, creating a clone and letting it walk towards the counter to grab a butcher knife; hiding it behind her back. Mebuki came waltzing in soon after.

"Sakura de-" she didn't have time to react.

The butcher knife was stabbed in her lower back. Mebuki dropped the spoon. She stood frozen in shock. Crimson decorated the floor and the green dress she wore. Guttering, choking, she fell to the ground.Her lungs were desperately clawing for breath, as she coughed out blood.

Poof!

The clone disappeared and the real Sakura emerged from the shadows. Before her mother could cry out, she was stabbed in the throat with a kunai.  A sweetly menacing smile etched on the petite girl's face as her eyes held pure madness.

Mebuki laid there on the ground. She had a few seconds left to live.
She painfully turned to face her daughter, eyes widening in a mortified expression as she watched Sakura ran out of the house, screaming help with a fake frown and tears.

"S....Sa...ku..ra"

Black dots clouded her eyes; her vision became hazy and she looked to the ceiling; by the time help arrived, she was already dead.

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"I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every moment of it."
-Karma Akabane

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To be continued~