Daylight streamed through the open window, followed by early morning groans and a tired yawn. A hand lifted to brush the blond hair off his weary face. Slowly, the morning continued. Blue eyes stared forward as the toothbrush moved in a monotonous rhythm. Downstairs, a girl walked into the house. Greeting his mother with courtesy as she does every morning. Her pink hair standing out against her green eyes. She sat at the same chair she did every morning. A wooden stool in front of the island placed in the middle of the kitchen. Her hand lazily picked up a cherry and began slowly eating it. The pit was placed in the trash the same moment when the boy emerged from the stairs. A warm familiar smile creeped onto his face and he sat next to the pink-haired girl. He quickly ate his breakfast of eggs and toast before bounding out the door with the girl. School awaited with open doors and a loud bell. Everything went as usual … except for one thing.
"Hey Naruto, do you know where Sasuke is?" The girl looked at Naruto with curious eyes. "He wasn't in math or homeroom."
"How am I supposed to know , Sakura? It's not like I stalk him." Naruto leaned back in his chair, his lunch spread out in front of him. "Besides, he's been missing from school before. He's a big boy. He can take of himself." Naruto's voice was filled with nothing but mockery.
"Well fine … you didn't have to make it so rude sounding" Sakura replied with a pout on her lips. She took another silent bite of her salad and continued to talk to the rest of their friends, still asking if anyone had seen Sasuke.
The school day ended still with no sign of the blunette. Naruto returned home walking casually with his backpack strapped over one shoulder. He entered the house while kicking his shoes off and casting his backpack onto the nearby couch. His immediate and routine process now was to open his laptop and procrastinate the night away. Which was exactly what he did. His computer turned on to show that he had a message from Sakura. Yawning a bit, he opened the email and read lazily through it.
"Naruto. I don't know if Sasuke's okay. He wasn't at his house when I went to check. His mom didn't know where he went either. Should we go look for him? I hope he's okay. He doesn't usually disappear like this. Even when he does skip school."
Naruto typed a quick reply, something including how he thought that Sasuke just needed some time alone. This was, until he saw that another message just came. Instinctively, Naruto moved to open it, only to find that it was completely blank. Its subject was nothing but: "Look Harder" Naruto was a little confused but tried to read it anyways. He looked at the message as hard as he could, but he was never very good at solving problems. Instead, he stood up sighing in frustration. Just then, his eyes darted to the screen that now showed some words. When he sat back down, he realized that the screen got darker when he was standing. Tilting the screen backwards, he read out the message.
"Hey Naruto. I'm assuming you know who this is. If not … who's the only person that would send you an email besides the school or Sakura. Anyways, you're probably wondering where I've disappeared to. You're also probably thinking that I'm just trying to get space. But you're wrong. By the time you get this, I'll be dead. I've left this murder in your hands Naruto. Why can't i just tell you who killed me? Easy. How am I supposed to know when I haven't seen them. A man is coming so I have to leave now. Good luck Naruto. I'll leave clues along the way for you, but these men can't figure them out so i hope you do before they get the chance. Good bye.
Remember, our lives are like words on a page, easily destroyed. Met with death, but we'll make it
Sasuke. "
Naurto spent the next few minutes pondering what he was supposed to do. He sighed, feeling some frustration seep in. Sasuke, dead. It just didn't seem like a possibility in Naruto's mind. But he assumed that Sasuke would go through this much trouble just to mess with him. Sasuke's last sentence bothered him. What in the word did he mean by that? It's not like we're walking books. Naruto decided that this was something better suited for Sakura. A brighter, more clever version of Naruto who's brain spoke before impulse. He opened a chat in which he told Sakura to come over to his house. It was something urgent. She replied with a confused "ok" before departing her house.
Sakura followed her orders and came to his house immediately, only to be shown something that she did not want to see. Her eyes read over the text several times before it finally sunk in. "SASUKE? Dead? You have got to be kidding me." Naruto gave a half hearted shrug before pointing the the last sentence.
"Look, I don't know what this means. But he said he'll leave clues. So I'm assuming this is one of them" Sakura gave him a look of disbelief before smacking him upside the head.
"Of course it is. And it's so obvious. Do you not remember reading The Book Thief last year?" She said, looking incredulously at Naruto. He in turn, blinked a few times, trying to remember something that happened so long ago. He shook his head after looking stupidly at Sakura. "Look, the story is told from the point of view of Death. Liesel, the main character, comes in contact with Death three times." Suddenly, Naruto's memory seemed to snap into place. He stood up and he shouted.
"Wait. I know where the next clue is!" Naruto's face beamed of triumph, but Sakura raised an eyes brow at him and said, "We both do."