I'll be real here, this is only a fan fiction that I entered in the 2011 Otakuthon (Montreal con) contest and well I won :)! so hope you enjoy, the characters, well I had no information on them at all, so they were invented along the way.

Quebec Anime Committee owns the characters known as Yurika, Yuki, Yatsumi and Yumi.

Ohba & Obata own the death note characters. Props to them!

review?

Death to be put on Hold

A family gathering. What could be harmful about that? If anything, it's for a special occasion, be it good or bad. Some great aunts and uncles get together, children play along, unaware of the real reason for the gathering. It was probably best for the children to be indifferent in this case. If the children knew there was a dead body in the room, they might have a bit of a fright. Mind you, this was the body of the head of the family, an important man indeed, and not some stranger to anyone.

But only a few members of the family and one close friend knew about the situation. Yurika, the eldest daughter of the Okuta clan, her brother Yatsumi, their close cousin Yuki and of course Yumi, were in charge of explaining the situation to everyone. The situation being how the grandfather of the clan died. Yumi had asked if she could help in the funeral arrangements, of course keeping it a secret all the same.

On the cloudy day of the funeral, everyone met up at the Okuta's grand hall. The death of Okuta-sama happened all too fast for most, but some found it came as a relief. The family gathered in for further explanations; the letter only announced the loss of a "great and beloved man" otherwise known as the grandfather of the Okuta clan. The adults casted worried as well as bored looks around the large yet dimly lit room. Children paid no attention to the seriousness of the matter. Yurika, tall and thin with her long blue hair came into the room. Her eyes swept over the guests, recognizing everyone, until they rested on an unfamiliar figure. The man, who looked to be in his twenties wore a simple though large white long-sleeved shirt, over his very thin figure, and washed out jeans. He didn't seem a man of business with his shoulders hunched over, and his spiky black hair looked like a lion's mane from Yurika's view. Had this not been itself a peculiar situation on its own, the girl would have probably been more bothered by the large black circles shadowing his eyes. He seemed to have been in dire need of sugar since the room held no such sweets yet a piece of strawberry cake was placed between his middle finger and thumb. Where had he gotten that? Yurika wondered automatically. She then decided it would be best for her to ask him directly as to the reason he was standing with them all since no one showed signs of knowing this man. As she stood in front of him, her mouth agape, ready to speak, he turned his head slowly towards her in a way that sent chills down the girl's spine. With slight befuddlement, Yurika went ahead and spoke up: "Good afternoon, I don't think we've met, I'm Yurika Okuta". Her voice was sweet but even the man detected a hint of suspicion in it.

"Please, call me Ryuzaki, it's sad we had to meet at a time like this. Okuta-sama was surely known to be a figure well looked upon in this family." Ryuzaki spoke in a monotone manner, almost that of a computer. "Now I hope you don't mind but I must go pay my respects to this man we all admire." With his bare feet marking his exit, Ryuzaki left Yurika standing amid the group of people, with her main question waiting to be answered. How does he know grandfather if I have never heard of him before? Now we wouldn't want to get the wrong idea of this lovely girl; which is that she knew everything about her grandfather. On the contrary, the man lived quite a secretive life outside of this temple. His job was mostly unknown, the family only knew he travelled throughout Japan. After trying to get details of his work out of him for such a long time, the questions ceased and everyone accepted the mystery that was Okuta-sama.

Yurika joined Yatsumi, Yuki and Yumi in front of the chest containing the sacred family scrolls. These were to be opened but not read and sealed again in a different chest for the next generation to continue living in the secrets of the family as they have been for ages. The four of them stood uneasily, peering inside the large wooden chest. Carved dragons, mythical creatures and hundreds of symbols adorned this magnificent box that was given to the family about three hundred years ago by a traveling ninja who saved the life of one of their ancestors.

"Hem hem, everyone, if you will please let us begin the switching of the chests." Yastumi's voice rang through the already silent place. He reached slowly inside the chest and pulled out a scroll. His gaze stayed on the room; an eerie feeling of dead silence could be sensed from miles away. The old and yellowed piece of parchment held hundreds of readable as well as undistinguishable signs defining rules, history, legends and traditions about the once powerful Okuta clan. Now, Yatsumi, the oldest leading male of the clan, prepared to present the new chest that would contain the scrolls until a next generation came to lead. Yatsumi held the scroll inside his right hand; his left placed firmly upon the old chest.

Yurika's eyes travelled along the small crowd that had formed in front of the four of them, with worrying eyes staring in their direction. Suddenly, she stopped at the odd looking man from before. He did not have the same look as everyone else, which was to be expected, but not only that, he was mumbling and seemed to be in deep concentration. The question was: with whom was he conversing? Her suspicions took hold of her; she zoomed gracefully across the room, pushing a few people with her elbows out of her way to reach Ryuzaki. Once she had reached him, her mind did not think of the outcome or the possibilities of who this man might be, but somehow, Yurika felt he was trouble. Her hand closed around his wrist and his head did the same turn as before. Without the chills this time, Yurika dragged him away from the crowd; marching with determination and a stern look plastered on her face. His steps were quick, following her with ease although Ryuzaki seemed confused, he did not ask a single question until they had stopped outside the grand haright outside of the group of people.

"Is this important? I feel that was about to be an emotional scene." Ryuzaki's empty looking eyes stared up at the shocked girl through the dark hairs that concealed his face.

"Who were you talking to in that room? Who are you? And how did you know my grandfather?" All the questions that had lingered in her mind that evening spilled out of her mouth. Yurika needed answers from this mysterious man and there was no better time than now. The rage was building inside her stomach, boiling like a pot of water on the stove.

"I thought we had already introduced ourselves earlier…" Ryuzaki put a thumb to his lips, his eyes narrowed in what seemed to be confusion. "I would have expected the granddaughter of Raidon Okuta to have thought this out as I have already."

"I – I don't know what you mean by that. But it seems you knew my grandfather well…" Yurika's spirits had calmed, her mind went back to her brother Yatsumi and the switching of the scrolls. The computer like voice interrupted her thoughts once more: "If you don't mind stepping a bit to your right so I could see better please."

As soon as her body was facing the front again, Yurika felt a force so strong inside of her; it was telling her to hide the scrolls for a few more years and forget about the chests… and she almost listened to it. She ignored the voice and watched with apprehension as her brother brought the scrolls towards the new chest slowly, giving everyone time to see them clearly. Suddenly, a loud noise like a crash was heard. The entire room fell into a silent panic, their faces stricken with horror at the sights of the west wall demolished. The dust was rising, no one saw them come in so stealth like and deadly.

A group of ninjas jumped from every corner of the building; the crash was only a distraction. People ran in every direction, parents crying out to their children still in the other room, now aware of the danger in the hall.

Yurika had stood frozen in shock; her hand had taken hold of Ryuzaki's arm unknowingly. She felt his thin wrist under her tight grip; his heart beat still calm and stable.

"What's going on Ryuzaki?" Her voice sounded panicked in her mind but came out rather calm.

The young man's expressionless face, slouchy composure and tiresome eyes gave her the impression he knew this was coming. Maybe it was the device he had in his left ear, or even the voice that had told her he was trouble that had given him away; either way, this man had something to do with this.

Now the ninja's had taken hold of Yatsumi and the others that stood around the scrolls, trying to protect them. The people in the room stood still, not wanting to upset the skilled assassins. What do they want? This is a funeral not a public disturbance! Yurika thought all of this as she tried to make out the figures in the black outfits. How convenient it was that at a funeral, it had to be ninjas that showed up to blend right in with the crowd.

"The scrolls, that's what they want." Yurika and Ryuzaki both whispered at the same time. They glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes. Yurika's first thought was that they were now allies, and the two of them had to make sure whatever these ninjas wanted or stole wasn't the sacred scrolls.

"How should we introduce ourselves? You can call us the Black Hawks. No need to panic, we'll take what we need and leave you to mourn over the death of Okuta." The ninja standing at the front of the crowd holding the scrolls in his hands spoke with a clear and strong voice. He was definitely the leader of the group.

Yurika, standing amongst the worried crowd in the grand hall that had by then dispersed from their original pack formation, knew the future of the Okuta clan now rested in the hands of Ryuzaki and the defeat of the Black Hawks.

"Just in time. I was ready for this before I stepped into this building. Try not to worry. Just follow my lead." Ryuzaki whispered in Yurika's ear, once again sending shivers down her spine.

"Ok." This was all she could form as a response, despite her efforts to stay composed.

"You two!" One of the ninja's pointed at Yuki and Yumi, standing huddled together behind Yatsumi. "What do these scrolls contain?" He asked in a serious tone, as if anyone here would know something like that.

"W-we have no clue-"

"Probably nothing important." Yumi cut off Yuki before she said anything damaging; her voice was firmer than Yuki's.

"They don't know anything! Take the scrolls and leave, make sure you don't harm the children, that way they don't have anything on us." The leader called to the others with a mock grin visible through his thin mask, clearly showing his authority.

"You can't!"

"Please, we need those!"

"For the sake of the future generations to come!"

The crowd whined, trying hopelessly to stop them. Words would be nothing to stop these ninjas from leaving with the scrolls. A skilled fighter could have held them back but no one here would stop them from leaving. Little did they know, the only one who could have saved them was lying lifelessly in a coffin in that very room.

Yurika tried hopelessly to think of a solution; she eyed her friend, hoping for an answer to come. When none did, she decided to trust Ryuzaki; he seemed to be an intelligent man.

"Men! We leave!" The head ninja called out. In a flash of black they were gone. All energy was drained from the room, the hall was deadly silent, and eyes peered around for a source of help. Ryuzaki looked untroubled by the series of events that had just occurred. He fiddled with something in his pockets and spoke clearly to everyone in the room: "Please stay where you are, there is nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about? The scrolls are gone!" Screamed a man in the back of the room, apparently worrying about the situation.

"That is not true, how could you be sure those were the real scrolls? The real ones could be in my pockets right now." Retorted the mysterious Ryuzaki.

A loud gasp erupted from the room. Ryuzaki pulled out a large roll of parchment, old and yellowed from time. Once again, dragons, mythical creatures and symbols embellished the sacred scrolls that Ryuzaki held feebly in his hands. Somehow, the energy and power coming from them was enough for them to believe him; these were the true scrolls.

"I believe it is time for you all to know the truth about your beloved grandfather and clan elder, Raidon Okuta." Ryuzaki spoke in a calm and caring voice. "Yurika, Yatsumi and Yuki, please listen carefully, you will have to tell the tale to everyone else soon afterward. Come with me" They left for another room and emerged hours later.

After all the excitement of that day, the family finally found out why Okuta-sama had such a mysterious life. The life of a ninja is not for everyone, but it definitely suited their grandfather well. Ryuzaki explained how the two of them met together while working on an assassin case; Japan's most famous and skilled ninja and the world's top detective tend to make a good team. The last word, or letter if you will, that spoke Okuta-sama was "L". Everyone had thought it was a failure in trying to say a full word, possibly love, but they now know it was to commemorate his closest ally: L, otherwise known as the world's top detective, or to Yurika, he was known as Ryuzaki.