8: The Day Naruto Died (Part 1)

                                    

                                          



(FLASHBACK: PART 1 of 2)
                          
1:19pm
                          
The marketplace was busy as usual when the first incident happened – when the first scream rang through the crowd. The people fled without delay, with children being carried hurriedly to safety. Police forces were at the scene almost immediately.
                          
It did not seem so dangerous at first; the commotion was caused by only one person. He was walking slowly, almost tripping over his own feet, with his mouth hanging open, his head drooping backward, his back crouched, and his arms hanging limply by his side. His steps were small and staggering, carelessly bumping on objects and knocking them over along the way.
                          
They would've mistaken him for a hostile drunk man if it weren't for two things – his eyes appeared to have rolled all the way into his head and blue marks glowed all over his arms and his face. They recognized him as Hakuseki, a regular in the place – a retired ninja, widower, and a father to one member of the regular shinobi force. Apparently, he threw random but fatal physical attacks on the people around him, showing both incredible speed and strength. As shinobi attempted to stop him through the use of ninjutsu, he held only an arm out and appeared to suck out immense amounts of chakra with his hand – an ability never witnessed in the village before.
                          
"Dad! Stop this!" A young man with a Konoha headband tied around his neck yelled from the crowd, running toward the heart of the scene. The older man, Hakuseki, didn't seem to have recognized his voice and tried to tackle an old lady to the ground. The younger man held up his hand, beginning to release chakra to restrain his father.
                          
"Meiji! Do not release chakra!" Another ninja, belonging to the responding police force, called out but it was too late.
                          
Hakuseki, having immediately sensed the release of chakra, quickly turned around and held his arm out. Out from Meiji's hand, Hakuseki pulled a visible rod of chakra.*
                          
"Wood-style release!" 
                          
Between Meiji and Hakuseki, wood sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the older man's arms. The rod of chakra snapped into two and Meiji fell to the ground, panting heavily with his hands clutching his chest.
                          
"Tenzo! Hanabi and First Lady Hinata!" The captain of the responding squad was the first to see the three of them approaching. 
                          
"What is this?" Yamato asked. He was already on his knees, conjuring hand seals, his eyes focused intently on Hakuseki.
                          
"Those glowing marks on his arms and face, I've never seen them before, have you?" Hanabi asked Yamato, her Byakugan already activated. He only shook his head.
                          
"That young man's chakra had been gravely depleted. Someone get him out of there, now!" Hinata gestured to the other ninjas in the area, her Byakugan also already activated. She turned to her sister, "Have you noticed it yet? The older man doesn't have chakra at all. His coils are completely empty."
                          
Hanabi examined Hakuseki from the distance. When she and Hinata noticed the commotion, they were expecting a brawl, just people's anger boiling over personal problems or petty arguments, nothing connected to a foreign mark or a disturbance in chakra. Hanabi took a deep breath; her sister was right. The older man was completely void of chakra.
                          
"Are you able to restrain him long enough to get him transported?" Hinata asks Yamato. "We need to know what is wrong with him."
                          
"Yes, Hinata. I can. His resistance is strong but not powerful enough to break through -- "
                          
"Mama!" Hinata looked up to find Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki landing behind them from the roof. "What is happening here? What's with him?"
                          
"No, don't go near him!" Hinata yelled at Boruto, who already took a few steps with Sarada toward the bound figure. The old man was murmuring incomprehensible words and appeared to struggle tremendously against his restraints.  Sarada suddenly walked ahead of  Boruto, soon kneeling beside Hakuseki.