“The situation doesn’t look good,” was the first thing Kakashi said.
Sakura had been summoned to the Hokage’s office along with Ino, with the message that he wanted to talk about Sasuke.
“Not good, Master?” Sakura walked over to his desk.
“Suna’s not the only place Sasuke’s been seen,” Kakashi said. “More than once.”
Sasuke had apparently been in contact with a number of black-market arms dealers and criminal organizations, and in every case he had announced his intention to carry out a terrorist attack on Konoha. When he demanded the help of these various criminals and was refused, he killed them; the same story Gaara had told them.
“Where did you hear this?” Sakura asked.
“Sai. He heard it from an informer.”
“Sai? Why would Sai be talking to an informer?” Ino raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, well, I asked him to look into something for me. This came up when he was reporting on his progress with that.”
“By ‘look into something,’ you don’t happen to mean what you said before about strange things going on in the village? Is Sai investigating that?” Ino shot off.
“Mmm, well, yes,” Kakashi acknowledged with a wry smile.
“Is he alone? You’re not having him do anything dangerous, right?”
“He’s fine. I told him not to push too hard, and Sai knows how to keep his distance when it comes to things like this. He’s not Naruto,” Kakashi said. He perhaps noticed something in Ino’s constant worrying about Sai’s safety, but he said nothing.
“So Sasuke, then,” Sakura began. “If this keeps up, what will happen to him?”
“If this keeps up, well.” Kakashi cleared his throat before continuing. “He’ll be put on the international wanted list, and people from all over the world will be sent after him.”
Sakura took a sharp breath.
“But, well, it wouldn’t come to that in one go or anything. I expect there’d be a meeting of the five Kage first. Sasuke’s a hero, after all; he saved the world with Naruto. No one’s going to put a man like that on the wanted list without some discussion.”
“So then he’ll be okay?” Ino said, brightly. “I mean, right now, the five Kage are friends. They fought in the Great Ninja War together, so they’ll totally know right away that the Sasuke people are seeing is a fake.”
Can we really be so optimistic as that? The unease in Sakura’s heart only grew at Kakashi’s next words.
“Even if the village chief feels that way, there’s bound to be people in the village who don’t. And the chief is in the position of speaking for the people of the village. If a village starts shouting that Sasuke needs to be eliminated, the five Kage aren’t necessarily going to be on the same page. Some villages might even say we should form groups to go after him.”
“That’s…” Ino’s face clouded over.
“If there is a meeting of the five Kage, please take me with you,” Sakura said, forcefully. “Even if it is a mistake, I can’t let Sasuke be designated a wanted criminal.”
“I know. If a meeting is convened, I’ll bring you. Although, well, if I’m going to be honest, the best thing would be if Sasuke were there to proclaim his own innocence. Where is he and what is he doing?” Kakashi grumbled.
“Have we left messages for him at the contact points?” Ino said.
“Of course. Basically saying a fake Sasuke has shown up, and he needs to get in touch with us now. But no reply yet.”
Ino let out a sigh.
“If Sasuke doesn’t show up,” Sakura said, “then the only thing we can do is prove that the Sasuke people are seeing around now is a fake.”
“True. But can you? The chakra Gaara sensed was Sasuke’s. If there’s a meeting of the five Kage, Gaara will be forced to mention that. And when that happens, me telling them we don’t know how that little trick works is not going to be particularly convincing to the other village chiefs.”
Sakura bit her lip. “Then we’ll just have to prove it,” she said, but her voice was not as strong as her words.
✦ ✦ ✦
The situation was shifting in the direction Kido desired.
The fake Sasuke was, just as Kido had instructed, contacting people who were part of the underworld and killing the people he spoke with, after revealing his intent to commit terrorist acts.
The Kazekage had taken measures to keep any word of the terrorists being killed in Sunagakure from leaking out of his village, but people were gossiping about the many other incidents, and the talk was spreading to all the different regions.
People inevitably talked. The rumors would eventually reach the upper echelons of villages across the land, and then they would come together to discuss just what was to be done about Uchiha Sasuke.
They wouldn’t immediately conclude that Sasuke was to be eliminated. Kido knew that too. The village chiefs would never declare someone who had performed such brave deeds in the Great Ninja War a criminal without argument.
But by the time the situation reached that point, the real Uchiha Sasuke should have taken action. The real Sasuke would cut his trip short and return to Konoha for a time.
That was Kido’s aim. He had openly set this fake into motion to create a situation that would force the real Sasuke to show himself. Upon his return to his village, Sasuke would be captured by Kido’s private army, which had been enhanced with the Tailed Beast drug. And once they captured him—
Kido was in a certain place in the village, a safe house. Alone in the office.
A faint smile rose up onto his lips. “Hurry and show yourself, Uchiha Sasuke,” he murmured. “You are worth your weight in gold. Gold…”