A young blond strolled through the sprawling streets of Konohagakure no Sato; the rush hour was at its peak, so no one paid him much mind as he passed, though a few choice glances were thrown his way, they ranged from disgruntlement to disgust.
The blond had long gotten used to the glances, so it was no bother to him, an individuals' opinion was his choice, even if it was ignorant or misguided.
He eventually moved away from the hustle and bustle of mid-day Konoha and arrived at his destination, the Red light district, which was adequately empty – or dead while the sun still shone in the sky. It's bright glare accented how dilapidated and slummy the whole area looked; paint was peeling off of towering buildings while the paths and roads between the various structures were uneven and broken with lack of maintenance, shop fronts and 'organizations' dotted every corner, giving the old district a bit of colour, as if a faded world were splotched with the lazy flick of a rainbow coloured paintbrush.
That was the only real purpose of this publically ignored zone, its diverse choice of shops, a treasure beyond gold and silver. Though most were closed at the moment, the blond navigated to one not too far from the district's entrance; it displayed a bright glowing sign reading, "taboo tattoo," it was one of the few to be seemingly open at this early hour.
The blond always found the name silly, but, it wasn't the worst he'd seen up to this point, the deeper you went into the district, the weirder it got, that was the nature of this place.
He quickly stepped into the shop, listening to the small bell ring at the entrance, he moved towards the backroom. The bored young woman sitting at the counter raised her head momentarily to look at the child before going back to her own business, the blond was a regular in the shop, she didn't like it much, but what choice did she have? The demon brat had connections with owner, and many of parlour's patrons.
Ignoring the excessively pierced and tattooed woman sitting at the counter, the Blond bypassed the cracked wooden door behind the graphically coloured counter, and then navigated through a few short hallways until he reached another doorway, this one leading into an office, where after knocking and being allowed entry, he sat in front of a grizzled, pot bellied man of around the age of 60.
The man, currently smoking, blew out a stream of smoke before addressing the blond sitting in the surprisingly lavish seat in front of his desk, "You're late, I began to worry you wouldn't make it, Naruto."
The now identified Naruto blankly stared at the man, "You? Worry about me? That's new, but I guess I can understand, no one wants to lose an essential asset do they? Actually forget that, I can count a few people; it's quite ironic that you're one of them."
"Hehehe, you're still bitter about that whole selling you off to the gang business? It was our best option, and you dispatched them splendidly." The man intoned with a lazy grin, one that caused Naruto to frown slightly and comment, "Torture, interrogation and acting the victim wasn't part of the deal, you led me to believe it was a quick hack and slash job, not an infiltration."
"And yet you managed, without me even having to brief you on the exact details, you being in the dark simply made things more believable."
"To hell with that, you're lucky I remembered you were monitoring them and their benefactor, else they would've been dead the moment they touched me."
"Just let it go, everything worked out, let the distant past stay in the distant past."
"It happened yesterday."
"Just like I said, distant past, now, ready for your next job?" The man remarked with his thick mischievous tone.
"You still have more? You're driving me like a slave, but fine, whatever, I need the cash anyway, and it's better than sitting in that damn academy." The Blond grumbled.
"You shouldn't miss out on too much, else you'll be left behind as your peers advance, and that wouldn't do well for your career, now would it?"
"Enough chit-chat about me, I have other requests to pick up, you're not the only one hiring you know."
"Ah yes, indeed, well, I can't except you to be completely loyal to only me, now can I?" The blond let his frown drop into something reminiscent of a smirk as the man continued, "No matter, it's a simple one this time, no tricks, some of my girls have been giving me complaints about a rowdy client, Isako Morimaru, I've given him a few warnings, but I can't seem to get the message across, I've already lost two girls because of him, make him disappear."
"That's quite a job," Naruto sighed, "So you want a full clear?"
"Yes, that would be preferable, though if things don't work out, cut off the loose ends, just don't implicate yourself, or me for that matter."
"Sure, consider it done." Grunted Naruto as he stood up and stretched his tense limbs casually, "I'll expect the payment to arrive by tomorrow," with the man's nod, Naruto left the office, and the tattoo parlour; he had other requests to pick up before nightfall.
The man stumbled back home, his key jiggling through the locked door, forcing it to swing open with a final thrust and turn. He wasn't as drunk or happy as he should have been, he had a rough day, and his usual vices brought no pleasure. It was like any other night; he went to the bar, got shitfaced, then found himself a cute little thing and indulged in some 'fun'.
Today was... different, the booze was sour, dry even, the company shallow and dull, and the women either far too puffed up and artificial, or just plain ugly, it was like the universe conspired against him.
Maybe he was simply bored? It wasn't the most invigorating of lifestyles, he mused as he shakily strolled through the dark apartment, careful to avoid any of the haphazardly placed obstacles of his messy rooms, pity he never noticed the shine in the darkness.
It was a quick affair, the thin wire stretched at the entrance of the man's bedroom caused him to have a sudden meeting with the dumbbell placed suspiciously near the doorway, the impact was not fatal but a lazy trickle of blood covered the dark iron as the man released an unconscious groan.
The shadow only had a few moments before Isako awoke from the shock of the fall.
With surprising strength, the proportionally smaller shadow dragged the man towards the open balcony and pivoted him off the rail.
The fall from the 6th floor headfirst into hard earth ended with a crack, thump and splatter of blood, Isako's death was swift, efficient and best of all, easily explainable.
It was a suicide.
Bottles were scattered all around the room, some empty, others on the cusp of it, the place had a putrid smell to it, easily attributed to the dirty laundry piled on the coach and the mountain of dishes filling the sink, the small office found to the left of the bedroom was filled with paperwork, complaints, taxes, bills, the amount was staggering.
Even more, there was no evidence of struggle, although an unusual crack was to be noticed at the entrance of the bedroom, it was promptly disregarded as unrelated. Attempts were made to find eyewitnesses, but no one saw the actual fall, as it happened around 2AM, a time when the streets were sparsely populated and most were asleep. Those who saw the man that day noted his bad mood and aggravation, from there an easy conclusion was made, the evidence painted a clear image.
How convenient.
The next morning, as a ten year old blond walked the slowly filling streets of Konoha, he had to make a small detour, a segment of the path leading to the academy was blocked off, it was a merely a side street so no major traffic had formed, but the apparent blockage had created quite a crowd.
Naruto never liked crowds, so he avoided the gawkers and simply took the longer route, he might be a few minutes late, but what could he do, a citizens death was being investigated, and that took priority over convenience.
A small smile displaced his frown, as he mused in a mock tone internally.
'Should have broken his neck at the foot of the stairs.'