The Aftermath
Chapter 4: The Aftermath
The sun had already dipped below the horizon, casting a dim, orange glow across the village of Konoha. Yet, the peacefulness of the night was shattered by the unspoken tension that gripped every corner of the Hidden Leaf. Sarada Uchiha had been taken. No one knew by whom, or why, but the weight of the situation hung over the village like a dark cloud.
Naruto paced back and forth in the Hokage’s office, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His thoughts were a whirlwind of frustration, guilt, and helplessness. How could I let this happen? he thought repeatedly. I promised to protect everyone, and now Sarada… His mind was spiralling, every possible worst-case scenario flooding his thoughts.
"Naruto, we’re doing everything we can," Kakashi’s calm voice interrupted Naruto’s spiralling thoughts. "Don’t lose hope. We’ll find her."
Naruto stopped in his tracks and looked at his old friend, his eyes filled with pain. "I should’ve been there. I should’ve—"
"Naruto, don’t blame yourself," Kakashi said firmly. "This wasn’t your fault. We’ll find her. You have my word."
Shikamaru stood by the door, a furrowed brow making his usual lazy expression seem more serious. "The village is already on high alert. Inuzuka, Hyuuga, and Aburame clans have been mobilized. It’ll take a little to gather all the forces, but we’re on it." He paused, his gaze shifting to Naruto. “What should we do with Sasuke and Sakura? Should we send them a message?”
"We’ll wait until tomorrow morning before contacting Sasuke and Sakura. That’s the best course of action if we don’t want to risk alerting the enemy, especially if they’re keeping her in an isolated place. If the situation gets worse, we’ll send them a message, but let’s just wait a little bit more."
Naruto nodded, but his stomach twisted with the thought of telling Sakura. She had been away on a mission for the past few days, and Sasuke’s whereabouts were always unpredictable. He felt a pang of guilt thinking about the heartbreak they would experience when they learned the truth.
---
As Sarada lay in the steel box, darkness surrounded her like an unyielding wave. The cold metal against her skin was uncomfortable, and the steady rocking motion of the raft made her head throb worse. She clenched her fists, the pain in her right leg screaming with every jolt of the raft. Her vision was blurry, and she could barely breathe without a sharp pain in her side. I need to stay calm. I have to stay awake, she told herself, even as her consciousness flickered in and out.
The only sound was the constant rush of the water beneath her, a relentless reminder that she was being taken somewhere. She couldn’t see anything through the small holes in the box, but she could feel the water's pull growing stronger. Panic began to rise within her, but she forced it down. There was no point in panicking now.
Think, Sarada. Think! She tried to focus, to remember everything her mother had taught her. Survival. Patience. Never giving up. She took a slow, painful breath, trying to ignore the tightness in her chest. Her head spun as she thought of her friends, of her parents. They would come for her, wouldn’t they?
The night passed slowly, the darkness pressing in around her. Every now and then, she could hear the distant sound of water splashing as the raft moved further downstream. At one point, she could feel the temperature drop, the cold seeping into her bones. Her body was growing weaker by the minute, and it felt as though she was losing control of everything. But no matter how exhausted she felt, she couldn’t give in. Not yet. They will find me, she thought, clinging to the only thing she had left: hope.
---
Back in Konoha, the village was in full crisis mode. The gates were locked, the air thick with tension. But despite the flurry of activity, there was an undercurrent of dread that lingered in every conversation. Everyone knew the urgency of the situation, but no one knew where to start.
Kakashi’s ninken, led by Pakkun, had been on the case since sunset. The scent of blood, faint but undeniable, had led them outside of the village. They had tracked the faint trail for two hours, moving quickly through the forest, past the outskirts of the village, but now they were nearing the Naka river.
The ninken stood by the edge of the river, their gaze sweeping the water’s fast-moving surface. They had followed the trail all the way to this point, but now… there was nothing. No trace of Sarada’s scent on the other side of the river. No sign of her blood anywhere along the bank.
“We’ve lost it,” Pakkun said, his ears flattened in frustration. “There’s no scent across the river. Either she drowned or was transported by boat, but we can’t track her anymore.”
Drowned or taken by boat? Both scenarios meant they had lost their only lead. Without a trail, the odds of finding Sarada were looking increasingly grim.
“Bisuke, get word to the Boss,” Pakkun ordered. “We’ll check upstream to see if there’s any sign of where she could have been taken.”
---
Back in Konoha, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Naruto, Temari, Hinata, and Ino had gathered in the Hokage’s office, their faces etched with the same urgency and worry that had consumed the village since Sarada’s disappearance. It was about 23:00, and they were waiting to have some news from Kakashi’s ninken or another track team.
Just then, Bisuke trotted in, his small form making its way directly to Kakashi. The ninken’s eyes met his, and he passed over the grim news.
“Kakashi,” Bisuke said with a deep sigh, “we followed her scent, and it brought us to the Naka river. However, at some point, her scent disappeared. We went to the other side of the river, but we couldn’t find it. We’ve lost it.”
Naruto clenched his fists tightly, a wave of frustration washing over him. “What does that mean? Is she gone?”
Kakashi didn’t flinch, keeping his composure. “It means we’ve run out of immediate leads. If she didn’t drown, she was likely taken by boat. It’s the only plausible explanation, and it’s a dead end for us here.” His gaze met Naruto’s. “We’re going to need more help to figure out where they might’ve taken her.”
Kakashi pulled a map of the Land of Fire so that Bisuke could indicate where they had lost Sarada’s scent, and they could plan the search from that point.
Shikamaru’s sharp mind clicked into overdrive. “If they used a boat, they could’ve gone anywhere. This search just got a lot harder. The river could’ve taken them miles away from here. Whoever did this knew what they were doing.”
Naruto, his arms crossed and his face full of concern, spoke up. “Then we’re dealing with someone who’s been thinking ahead. A river’s not easy to cross, especially if they’re trying to hide their tracks.”
Ino’s mind was working quickly, her eyes focused on the map spread across the desk. “The river will make it harder to track her. It’s not just a matter of crossing it, but also the current. If they did take her this way, we need to think about where they could have gone. What’s on the other side? And how far downstream?”
Temari’s voice was calm, but there was an edge of frustration behind it. “Whoever’s behind this clearly doesn’t want us to find her. We’ve got to be one step ahead. We can’t let them get away with this. We also need to gather more information about the terrain downstream. If this person was planning this, they’d know how to use the river to their advantage.”
Kakashi, his heart pounding in his chest, turned to Ino. “Ino, I need you to send word to all the teams. Let them know that the trail ends at the river. We’ll need to adjust our search tactics immediately.”
Ino nodded, already reaching the teams thanks to the telepathic abilities of the Mind Body Transmission Technique. “Understood, Hokage-sama. I’ll get the message out.”
“We need to act fast,” Hinata added, her voice tight with concern. “We don’t know how much time we have.”
Kakashi’s eyes narrowed as he considered the next move. “We should also contact Gaara. Given the gravity of the situation, Sakura needs to know what’s happening. She deserves to hear the truth before anyone else does.”
Naruto stiffened at the mention of Sakura’s name. The last thing he wanted was to deliver this kind of news to her, especially while she was on a mission far away. But he knew it was the right thing to do. She deserved to know.
“Temari, can you get in touch with Gaara?” Naruto asked, his voice tight. “We need him to send a message to Sakura. She has to hear about Sarada from us, not from someone else.”
Temari hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I’ll contact him immediately. We can’t afford to wait any longer.”
Naruto turned to Kakashi, the weight of the situation heavy in his eyes. “And Kakashi… we should also send a message to Sasuke. In case things get worse, we might need him here. If it comes to that... I don’t want Sakura to be alone in this.”
Kakashi’s gaze softened as he looked at Naruto, understanding the unsaid words. “I’ll do that,” he said quietly, before adding, “But Naruto, we’re not giving up. We’re going to find her.”
Naruto nodded, his resolve hardening. “I don’t care how far we have to go or how long it takes. We’re bringing her back.”
In the silence that followed, everyone knew that the situation had escalated. Every second counted, and with each passing moment, they were running out of options. The air was thick with urgency. The search had reached a critical point and the realization that they might be facing a far more complicated enemy set in. Kakashi’s mind raced through every possibility, but deep down, he knew: they had to find Sarada soon—before whoever had taken her could disappear completely.
---
The night dragged on, the search for Sarada intensifying with every passing minute. But as the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, the team’s fears only deepened. The river was vast, and Sarada was somewhere out there, alone—and the clock was ticking.
And as they moved forward, a new chilling thought echoed in their minds: What if they never find her at all?