"All I was doing was keeping an eye on the jinchūriki… never thought I'd walk into something like this. That kid… if I'm remembering right, she was the poor Sarutobi girl from last night, wasn't she?"
Kakashi stood quietly in the shadows outside the Ninja Academy, his lone eye fixed on the lifeless body growing colder by the minute.
"…If only she'd been in Naruto's class."
He didn't know why he felt this knot in his chest. Maybe it was guilt—because deep down, he knew if he'd seen her try to end her life, he absolutely could have saved her.
He was Anbu. Elite. Saving a kid from suicide should've been easy.
But he hadn't seen it. And now it was too late.
A shadow fell across his eye.
"Did something from her past resurface and break her? And why… why here, of all places?"
He didn't have answers. And with orders to observe Naruto in secret, he couldn't step in, even now.
All he could do was quietly monitor the academy grounds, watch the teachers scramble in panic…
…And watch Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha standing near the body.
"She slit her throat with a kunai…" Sasuke stared at the blood-soaked weapon still clenched in Sakurako's hand. "How much pain do you have to be in to do that to yourself? She must've been completely broken. There're still fresh tear streaks on her face."
"Tch… Too bad the teachers won't let us get closer."
Sasuke scowled. He might not be in the Police Force, but he was the clan head's son. He knew enough about investigative procedures to tell when something felt off.
If he could just get a closer look…
Maybe he'd find something.
"What do you think, Dobe?" he asked Naruto.
"Don't call me that," Naruto muttered, annoyed. He turned his eyes to the side, narrowing them. "I dunno. Might be my gut talking, but I get a bad vibe from those guys over there."
"Which guys?" Sasuke followed his gaze.
Across the yard stood a few older students, maybe two or three years above them, sneaking glances in their direction. The moment they noticed Naruto and Sasuke watching, they quickly looked away and pretended nothing was happening.
Even Sasuke's alarm bells were ringing.
"Naruto! Sasuke!"
Suddenly, both boys felt someone grab the backs of their collars and yank them clean off the ground like sacks of rice.
"What did I tell you two? Stay back!" barked Iruka. "Let the teachers handle it. Get your butts back to class and study!"
Sasuke twisted in his grip, gritting his teeth. "We believe in Absolute Justice. We have a duty to investigate!"
Still dangling, Naruto echoed, "Yeah! Iruka-sensei, let us go already!"
"No way."
Iruka's expression was stone-cold. "I don't care what creed you live by. In this school, I make the rules. This isn't a game. You don't get to treat a death like it's some kind of mystery novel. Show some damn respect."
And with that, he started dragging them back inside, pausing to look toward a female teacher.
"Kaeya-sensei, she was in your class, right? Did she say or do anything unusual this morning?"
Kaeya looked devastated. "Not much. She seemed… off. I just assumed something had happened at home."
"I see…" Iruka nodded. "I might be new here, but let me say this—every student is our responsibility."
"When the Uchiha Police get here, I hope you'll tell them everything. That's the only way the truth gets out—and maybe she can finally rest in peace."
Kaeya frowned. "Iruka-sensei, are you suggesting it wasn't suicide?"
"I never said that."
And he walked off, two squirming boys still dangling in his grip.
…
"Found him!"
Elsewhere, the Anbu sent by Hiruzen finally located Uchiha Chizumi after almost ten minutes of searching.
He appeared in front of him with a flash and blurted, "Uchiha Chizumi—Hokage-sama has assigned you to a special case!"
Jujirō, the orange ninja cat, squinted. "The Third is asking Chizumi-sama to handle a case? Now that's a first."
"What kind of case did the old man dump on this kid?" a woman's voice cut in.
A hand landed on the Anbu's shoulder. He froze.
How had someone snuck up behind him?
He turned—and came face-to-face with Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin. Shizune stood at her side.
"Tsunade-sama?" the Anbu stammered, stunned. But he quickly snapped back to attention.
"It's about a child named Sarutobi Sakurako. Not long after the Hokage placed her in the academy… she slit her throat with a kunai."
Tsunade: "!!"
Shizune: "!!"
Chizumi's expression didn't even flicker, but Tsunade immediately grabbed the Anbu by the collar and hoisted him into the air with terrifying ease.
"What the hell happened?" she growled. "There's no way that girl wanted to die!"
The Anbu broke into a cold sweat. She wasn't just angry—she was ready to kill.
"I don't know—and neither does the Hokage! He was furious too! That's why he sent me—to get Chizumi to investigate!"
"Tsunade-sama, please…" Shizune pulled on her sleeve.
Tsunade took a deep breath and let go.
The Anbu hit the ground.
She turned to speak to Chizumi—but he and his ninja cat had already vanished.
"Shizune! Follow him!"
"On it!"
…
By the time Chizumi arrived at the Ninja Academy, three Uchiha Police Force officers were already on scene.
This wasn't something anyone could hide—not when a ten-year-old was found dead on campus, and especially not with that many witnesses. The faculty had informed both the Sarutobi clan and the Uchiha Police.
One officer crouched beside the body, his voice low and professional.
"Victim: Sarutobi Sakurako. Ten years old. Female. Fourth-year student. Cause of death is a deep laceration to the throat—likely self-inflicted. She bled out and suffocated."
He picked up the kunai from her hand.
"This looks like the weapon—standard-issue academy training gear. No other fingerprints. And based on the angle of the wound, there's a high chance she did it herself."
"Which would rule out murder," another officer said, "But…"
The man examining the body paused. His tone shifted.
"There's residual Mangekyō chakra. Sharingan genjutsu was used on her within the last 24 hours."
The other officers stiffened.
"You sure?"
"I triple-checked. No mistake."
A third officer folded his arms. "So someone from our clan used genjutsu on her? But why target a Sarutobi kid?"
"Who in the clan would even—?"
A voice cut through the conversation like a blade.
"That Mangekyō chakra? It's mine."
All three officers snapped their heads around.
Uchiha Chizumi had arrived.
He walked toward them calmly.
"I used a genjutsu on her," he said plainly. "Not to manipulate her. Just to erase some trauma she wasn't ready to face. I didn't force her to take her life."
He looked them straight in the eyes.
"I have no proof. So if you want to suspect me, go ahead."
"Suspect you?" one of them exhaled. "Not in this lifetime. You live by Absolute Justice. You don't lie."
The others nodded. "If the chakra's yours, the pieces fit."
The last officer lowered his arms and looked at Chizumi seriously. "Didn't expect our first meeting to be like this. That night when Setsuna tried to hijack the clan council, we were the first to walk out."
"We even talked with Uchiha Izumi about wanting to meet you someday. Just didn't expect it to be at a scene like this."
Chizumi didn't respond.
He simply stepped past them and stood silently over Sakurako's body.
She looked so small. Pale. Two dried tears etched across her cheeks like scars.
For a long moment, he didn't move.
But the air around him began to change.
All three officers felt it.
They were veteran Uchiha. Elite. Hardened.
But still—each of them felt a chill crawl down their spines. Their bodies instinctively tensed. Their palms dampened with sweat.
This wasn't fear.
This was their nervous systems reacting to something predatory.
Something lethal.
Two figures landed behind them with a gust of wind.
Tsunade. And Shizune, right behind her.
Tsunade's eyes fell on the pool of blood—and she froze.
Her entire body went rigid. Her breath hitched. Her pupils trembled.
Normally, she would've looked away. Avoided the blood. Fought the urge to faint.
But this time… she made herself stare at the corpse.
"Hah… Hah…"
She was hyperventilating. Sweat soaked the back of her shirt. Shizune, gasping from the sprint, looked deeply worried.
"Kid…" Tsunade muttered, teeth clenched, voice tight with anguish. "She really… took her own life?"
Chizumi nodded slightly. "She ended it cleanly. No hesitation."
Tsunade turned to look at him.
"Do you feel nothing?"
"I do," Chizumi answered, expression flat as ever. "But Absolute Justice doesn't show personal emotions. That's weakness."
Tsunade blinked, stunned.
Chizumi continued, even colder now:
"Her death wasn't senseless. It had a cause. It was a response to something—
—to evil."
Shizune stepped forward hesitantly. "You mean… someone drove her to it?"
Chizumi didn't answer.
He just turned his gaze—straight toward the group of academy teachers.
One woman, in particular, kept her head down. She hadn't looked their way once.
[Izumishima Kaeya — After learning of Sakurako's tragic past, deliberately taunted her with it, brought up her mother's infidelity and infanticide, mocked her family, and planted the seed of suicide in her heart.]
[Sin Level: RED]
The blood-red words appeared clearly in Chizumi's vision.
Tsunade saw the shift in his expression and realized what he was seeing.
"Chizumi… You saw her sins, didn't you?"
Her voice wasn't loud—but it carried.
Several teachers stiffened.
And they noticed—Chizumi was staring right at them.
Their gazes started scanning the group.
And then they all turned to look at Kaeya.
Her face was tight. Her lips trembling. Her eyes twitching.
"Kaeya-sensei…" one of them whispered. "Did you…?"
Kaeya clutched her Konoha headband like a lifeline.
She opened her mouth, trying to form words—but the moment she accidentally met Chizumi's eyes, her body locked up.
Every rumor she'd ever heard about him—every whisper of what he'd done—rushed into her head all at once.
Her wall shattered.
"I…"
She trembled, hand still half-covering her face.
"I didn't think she was that fragile… I just… I hated her mom. That baby she drowned—that was supposed to be my brother's kid. His only bloodline left after he died… and she…"
"I only found out today. Three Sarutobi kids were gossiping about it, right there in the open. I got mad. I repeated it all to Sakurako."
"I just… I didn't mean for her to actually… I…"
"Just repeated it?"
Chizumi was suddenly right in front of her. Cold Sharingan eyes boring into her skull.
Kaeya looked up, frozen.
"I…" Her eyes welled up, tears pouring out. "I said awful things… I told her—'With parents like that, you might as well die'—I didn't mean it. I swear I didn't. I'm sorry…"
Chizumi cut her off.
Voice colder than frost.
"You're not sorry for what you did. You're sorry it blew up in your face. Stop putting on a show. It's disgusting."
He'd never once believed a single tear shed by a monster.
Never once trusted their "regret."
Because they never regret their sins.
They only regret getting caught.
"Hey!"
Tsunade stormed up, eyes stormy. "You said three Sarutobi students were involved. Where are they?"
"...Tsunade-sama…" Shizune swallowed hard.
She could already tell—her teacher was on the verge of snapping.
"Damn it! Iruka-sensei's watching us like a hawk—we can't even move!"
Naruto groaned from his seat, eyes locked on the window. The second he so much as twitched, Iruka's sharp glare nailed him in place.
"Aaaaaaargh!"
He clutched his head and whined.
"Who would've guessed that the biggest obstacle to justice… would be Iruka-sensei?!"
Sasuke, arms crossed, face resting on his fists, muttered without emotion, "We'll have to wait until class ends."
Then his eyes narrowed.
He nudged Naruto's elbow.
"Dobe. Look. Isn't that the same three punks we saw earlier?"
"Huh? Where?"
Naruto looked out the window, ignoring Iruka's now visibly twitching temple.
"That's them!" he hissed. "It's class time—why aren't they in their room? They've been sneaking around since the start!"
Sasuke's tone suddenly sharpened.
"They're heading toward the main gate!"
"…Wait, you're right!"
Naruto jumped up, wide-eyed.
"They're trying to run! That means—they really are involved!"
Sasuke stood too. "We have to stop them."
"NARUTO!! SASUKE!!"
Iruka's forehead veins popped.
"That's it! You two—stand in the back! You're not leaving this classroom! I told you—this kind of incident is way out of your league. The Uchiha Police will take care of it!"
Naruto: "…"
Sasuke: "…"
Silence fell across the room as every student turned to look.
Sakura stared at the pair, lips pursed.
When did Sasuke-kun get so close to that idiot Naruto?
"They've been glued together all week," she whispered bitterly. "I haven't had a single chance to talk to Sasuke-kun. I can't even sit next to him anymore. And I haven't gotten to whisper to him once this entire week!"
She turned to Ino.
"Ino-pig, do you know what's going on between those two?"
"…Ino-pig?!"
Ino, who'd been off in her own little world, blinked, stunned.
"Ugh! Forehead Girl! I don't play those dumb 'childhood crush' games anymore!"
"I don't know why they're so close, okay?!"
"Sakura! Ino!"
Iruka's voice cracked like a whip. "You two—join them! Back of the room! And stop calling each other names!"
The girls reluctantly obeyed.
Sakura stole a glance at Ino, frowning.
Something's been off about her lately… She used to be all over Sasuke, but now? She barely even reacts.
Was she… over him?
That couldn't be right.
Still, Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that everyone around her was changing—and she was the only one left behind.
Sasuke, meanwhile, ignored both girls.
He leaned toward Naruto again, just about to whisper—
Then froze.
Eyes locked on a figure outside the window.
His whole face lit up.
"Dobe! It's Chizumi-sensei!"
Naruto perked up. "It is him!"
Chizumi… sensei?
Sakura frowned.
She glanced toward Ino—who suddenly shuddered.
Wait… Ino knows him too? Who the hell is this "Chizumi-sensei"…?
She followed their line of sight.
And instantly went pale.
CRACK—!
A silver ninja blade slammed through a boy's hand and drove it into the ground like a nail.
The scream that was about to burst out was instantly choked off—by Chizumi's boot slamming down on his skull.
The boy's cheek scraped brutally against the dirt, leaving deep, bloody gashes.
Chizumi slowly pulled his blade free, but his foot stayed planted on the boy's head.
Cold, emotionless, he asked:
"You were fast a second ago. Why'd you stop running?"
Not far away, Tsunade walked up—one hand gripping a Sarutobi student by the collar in each fist.
She flung them both like trash.
The two tumbled across the ground, landing hard at Chizumi's feet.
One of them had skin scraped raw from the fall; the other clutched a broken arm, crying out in pain.
"Chizumi… these the three?" Tsunade asked, not even looking at the bleeding hand in front of her.
"Yeah."
Chizumi stared down at the three academy students.
[Sarutobi Zōnosuke — Publicly mocked Sakurako's dead parents, dredged up buried trauma, bullied her into despair.]
[Sin Level: RED]
[Sarutobi Keishi — In front of multiple students, pulled down Sakurako's pants and exposed her still-healing wounds.]
[Sin Level: RED]
[Sarutobi Shōji — Held Sakurako's arms down during the incident, preventing her from resisting.]
[Sin Level: RED]
Tsunade took a breath. Her voice was tight.
"What did they do?"
She hated herself for snapping at them—but she couldn't hold back the rage building inside her.
She'd thought she could save that girl.
She'd treated Sakurako's wounds the night before—pushing through her own hemophobia just to help. She even used medical ninjutsu she hadn't touched in years.
But her corpse lying cold on the floor said it loud and clear—
She was too late.
"Don't hold back on my account," Tsunade said through her teeth. "Whatever they did, just say it. I'll keep myself together."
Chizumi didn't even acknowledge her.
He stood silently, eyes reading each line of blood-red sin as if carved in stone.
Then he recited them out loud.
One by one.
And every word was like a dagger in Tsunade's heart.
She'd been through war. Fought countless battles. Seen more death than most could imagine.
She thought nothing could shake her anymore.
But this?
This was worse than anything she saw in the battlefield.
Her eyes, for once, didn't flinch from the sight of the bloodied hand at her feet.
Even her long-standing fear of blood couldn't suppress the sheer rage boiling in her veins.
"You three…"
Her voice cracked.
"…are monsters."
A few teachers who'd rushed to the scene heard every word.
And they stood there—stunned.
Unable to believe what they were hearing.
These were kids. Kids who were barely a year or two from graduation.
How had they turned into this?
How had no one stopped them?
Some teachers started wondering if they'd failed—not just as educators, but as adults.
But the worst of it wasn't the boys.
It was Kaeya.
She wasn't just a bystander.
She hadn't just failed to intervene.
She'd participated.
"…Sigh."
One teacher looked at the boy crying with a punctured hand, his face smeared with dirt and blood, silently begging for help.
The teacher closed his eyes.
And shook his head.
Hidden in the trees, Kakashi watched it all in silence.
"All three of them are Sarutobi…"
There wasn't a shred of sympathy in his heart.
But he was still Anbu.
And this was about the Third Hokage's own clan.
He had to report it.
He bit his thumb, summoned a ninja hound, and gave it the summary.
"Go," he said. "Tell the Hokage."
The dog jumped down and sprinted toward the tower.
Back in the classroom, Sakura stood frozen.
She'd just watched Uchiha Chizumi stab a boy through the hand—and then grind his face into the dirt like garbage.
"I… Iruka-sensei!"
She finally found her voice.
"Someone's hurting students outside! Shouldn't we go out there?! Help them?!"
Iruka's mouth twitched.
"No," he said stiffly. "Stay put. Don't look. I've told you—this is none of your business."
Naruto and Sasuke causing disruptions was one thing.
But this?
Sakura was practically asking him to throw himself into a blender.
He didn't need to guess who was out there. That was Uchiha Chizumi. The same guy who'd been rumored to dish out his own brutal justice. Probably already doing it in broad daylight.
Trying to stop him?
That wasn't being heroic.
That was suicide.
Iruka still had a long life ahead of him.
He had no intention of dying today.
Sakura, confused and scared, just stared at him.
She couldn't understand why her teacher… didn't want to save someone in danger.
…
"Chizumi, these three…" Tsunade, a little calmer, faltered. If they were ninja, she'd break every bone in their bodies, but they were academy students—children younger than her brother Nawaki had been.
Chizumi looked her dead in the eyes.
"A life for a life."
"Blood must be paid with blood."
"If we start making exceptions—start letting people off because of their age or family—then what we're practicing isn't Absolute Justice. It's compromise."
~~~
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