BANG.

The shot echoed throughout the empty warehouse as the sound of the pouring rain pattering on the roof slowly began to retake its place. The lone copper bullet casing ejected from the gun clattered loudly against the floor until silently rolling into a steadily growing pool of blood. The blood slowly leaked out the head of a man whose name was of no real importance. Hell, actually, to tell you the truth, Sasuke couldn't even remember the man's name. What he did remember though, was the fact that the man had crossed the Uchihas and that he had tried to escape from the punishment that had awaited him. Ultimately, that was all that mattered.

It was a bad habit of his.

Although he knew he probably should've looked at the reasons as to why he was killing his targets, he didn't because frankly, he just didn't care.

He just followed the usual protocol which included only two simple steps. Kill the mark and call the cleaners. It didn't get any easier than that.

As Sasuke stood alone above the man decked out in an all-black suit he slowly dug his hand into his pocket until he found what he was looking for. His phone. After a few quick clicks the words 'message sent' flashed upon his screen and he slipped the phone back into the pocket of his freshly pressed pants.

And now came everyone's favorite show!

'The Waiting Game'!

Starring everyone's favorite blacked haired Uchiha!

!Sasuke!

'Ugh…' He groaned mentally to himself as he glanced down at his handiwork for a few moments before turning away and looking around his rather mundane environment. He hated waiting. Waiting made him think. He never really liked to think about things. He preferred to simply cruise while on auto-pilot. Yet given his present situation, keeping himself distracted was impossible. Bored with scanning his environment, Sasuke looked back down at his dead mark as he found he couldn't help but thinking that it was surprising.

With all the people he's killed, he honestly would've thought that people would've learned by now what the consequences messing with the Uchiha's would result in yet, like clockwork, week after week jobs like this would come in and, like usual, he would always make sure 'certain' people like this guy never lived to see another day. Sometimes nights would be easy like this one where he needed nothing more than a single bullet but more often than not they weren't. Not that he was complaining though! Without people like his dead buddy over here, he'd be out of a job and he couldn't have that could he?

Nah.

He couldn't.

He liked both his life and his lifestyle and he had no intentions of changing it anytime soon. Not for this guy. Not for some girl. And especially not some-CLINK.

Reflexively, Sasuke immediately paused in his train of thought as his eyes instantly honed in on where his ears told him to turn. His body instinctively brought the gun he had held loosely in his hand automatically towards the general direction of the sudden sound and all it'd take for him to effectively 'end' whatever stood behind him was but the simple squeeze of its trigger. His eyes had long adjusted to the dirty light of the warehouse but when they had focused on his target, he had trouble actually believing what he was seeing.

"Daddy…?" A small voice asked timidly as Sasuke's eyes slowly turned to look down at the man he'd just killed before looking up back towards the small girl that stood before him.

"Why are you sleeping daddy?" Asked the small girl again in the same meek voice as she began to step away from the boxes she'd appeared next of and slowly started approaching the unmoving body of her father. The girl looked to be no older than seven but seemed to have some idea about the concept of death. Her eyes were huge and in full of disbelief as she reached the corpse of her dad. Sasuke had kept his gun trained on the girl as she neared and eventually passed him but did nothing else other than that.

"Wake up daddy…" The girl voiced worriedly once more as she dropped to her knees beside the man and began to shake him. "Daddy, wake up."

"Didn't you say you say you we we're finally gonna see mommy? Didn't you say that daddy! Why won't you wake up!" The girl's tears finally began to fall as she screamed out the last question and wailed on top of the dead man's chest. Sasuke watched the scene silently for a second before cocking the hammer and aiming at the back of the girl's head. The girl, who had ignored his presence since she'd appeared, heard the click from the gun and turned to look at Sasuke who merely stared back at her unsympathetically.

Hadn't he said it before?

He liked his life and he wasn't about to give it up.

He stared into the little girl's crying eyes as the pistol in his hand remained unwavering. He slowly began to squeeze the trigger of his gun for a second before suddenly stopping and lowering the gun with a sigh. He hated when things got difficult like this. Logically giving the girl a bullet to the brain was his only option. She'd seen his face and, assuming she had a brain, she'd grow up knowing that he was the man who'd killed her father. It wouldn't have mattered if he'd spared her life or let her go. That wouldn't change how she'd label him. Nope. Not one bit.

And so like he'd said before; the choice was obvious.

Yet, even so, he couldn't kill her even if he knew what the consequences of such a decision would be.

Instead, if that's what they were to be, so be it. He'd just deal with it when the time came.

Reaching that conclusion, Sasuke sighed as he walked up to the kneeling the girl before crouching beside her. "Hey…I don't think your dad's gonna be waking up..."

"But…but why not?" Asked the girl quietly as her sniffles echoed against the crate-filled warehouse.

Sasuke remained silent for a moment as he contemplated how he should answer her. A part of him wanted to tell her it straight. That her dad wasn't going to wake up because he had killed him. He wanted to tell her that he did it because it was his job. Yet simply admitting to a small child that you killed their parent while justifying it with a 'Your dad did what he had to do and I was just doing what I had to do' statement wasn't really the best of answers. And so Sasuke did what most adults of his age did when faced with a difficult question posed by a child. He lied.

"I don't know why." Responded Sasuke emotionlessly as he watched the young girl's reaction.

The girl's tears seemed to pour endlessly yet the girl seemed to bite back the urge to continue wailing. Personally, Sasuke was thankful for this and didn't know whether the girl was forcing herself to be strong or if her throat was too raw to continue. He was pretty sure it was because of the latter but it mattered little at the end of the day. So long as she shut up.

"I wanna see my mommy..."

"..."

"Hey..." Sasuke began somewhat softly before pausing for a second and continuing. "Would you like it if I took you to see your mommy?"

The girl's eyes widened for a moment as she turned to look at the black haired Uchiha who crouched next to her. She gazed searchingly at Sasuke for a minute with hopeful eyes before softly shaking her head at him. Smiling softly, a rarity for him, Sasuke slowly stood up and glanced at his watch. What he'd just propositioned was a task far easier said than done. Regardless how much of a soft spot he had for the kid the Cleaners ran a far more brutal and efficient outfit than he. They seemingly had no conscience and often did whatever it took erasing any evidence that could somehow be linked to the family. And so, that meant that if he wanted to get her out of here, he needed to do it fast and do it now.

Unfortunately though, the moment Sasuke decided to leave, several cars could be heard pulling up outside.

"Shit…" Sasuke mumbled under his breath as his mind quickly ran through his options. "It's just like them to decide to show the fuck up now."

He spent a few seconds thinking things over but didn't bother thinking to hard or looking for another way out. He already knew that there was only one way out which ultimately meant, whether he liked it or not, they'd have to leave through the front door. Hiding was already out of the question. The Cleaners were terribly thorough in what they did. They left no rock unturned and went out of their way to do their job. It probably explained their 100% reliability rating and although Sasuke personally disliked their methods, he definitely had to respect their results. Yet results or not, he wasn't about to let them have their way if he could help it.

Which was why when half a dozen men, all identically dressed as Sasuke was, entered the warehouse, Sasuke stood firm in front of them with the little girl standing timidly behind his right leg. With his handgun resting firmly in his right hand, he gazed determinedly at the man leading the pack who calmly assessed the situation by first glancing at the dead body, then the girl, and then lastly at Sasuke. "Alright alright...what exactly are you trying to pull here Sasuke?"

The young Uchiha stared formally at the group as he sized them before giving the crew a small chuckle and a little smirk. "Since when the hell did you gain the right to question to me?"

"The moment you tried to pull some shit like this." The man replied directly as his hand slowly began to move towards his gun.

"Tell me though, what exactly am I trying to pull?" Sasuke replied innocently as he feigned ignorance. "Just do your job like always and we won't have any problems."

The man's cool demeanor began to fade as he began to realize that talking would be useless. He eyed Sasuke, and then the girl, as though wagering if he could kill the girl before the young Uchiha could have a chance to respond, but Sasuke noticing this, quickly snapped the gun that hung in his hand up towards the man's forehead. "Don't you even think about it."

The man noticing Sasuke's rapid movement reciprocated by quickly pulling his gun out and aiming it right towards Sasuke's heart. Whatever had remained of the man's previous cordial demeanor instantly vanished. Right now it was clear he was pissed but Sasuke guessed he was probably even more agitated by the fact Sasuke was abusing his position. It wasn't because Sasuke was a Hitman that the man couldn't pull the trigger. It was because he was the brother of Itachi. The Cleaner knew this and Sasuke knew he did. Hell, had it been anyone else, this would've ended a long time ago. But it wasn't anyone else. It was the little brother of Itachi Uchiha and since it was, harming him ensured a fate worse than death. It was a known fact. Hurt him and by the time Itachi was done with you, he would have had you wishing for death.

If there were any thoughts going through the man's mind right now Sasuke would've bet tonight's payout on those. As he watched a small bead of sweat slowly form and begin rolling down the man's brow he gave the man a slight knowing smile. 'Check and mate buddy. You might be able to act like a tough guy but your body already knows what's up.' The moment the man began to sweat, it was over. He wasn't going to do anything and he knew it. Hell, his buddies didn't even bother trying to back him up. Whether it was because they were smart or scared didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that the man was alone in and actions and if it came down if word got out that he was threatening Itachi's little brother, well that could land him in hot water alone.

"So tell me little man. What's it gonna be?" Sasuke asked semi-tauntingly at the man.

At this, the man held his gun up for a few more seconds before scoffing to himself and slowly lowering his weapon. He glared angrily at Sasuke and continued to do so even after the black haired Uchiha led the girl past the group both hand in hand. As they neared the exit, a gunshot suddenly rang out through the warehouse as Sasuke felt all the strength in the little girl's hand fade. Time seemed to slow down as Sasuke's eyes turned to look at the girl's crumpling body. Blood particles could be seen flying from the small hole the little girl now had in her forehead. That's not what was burned into his memory however. It was the expression on her face. The shock from the suddenness of the attack. Wide eyed with the faintest of streams running down her soft little cheeks. It was possibly one of the worst things he'd ever seen.

Or so he probably would've thought had his body not instantly spun around with his gun lining up an automatic headshot. The gun in his hand shook for the first time during the night as he struggled to keep his anger under control. Instead of one gun pointed at him this time however, every chamber in the house was pointed in his general direction. With the girl dead, he lost any and all reasons he had to fight with them. If he started trouble now, they'd just say they were doing their jobs in their defense. He would be in the wrong and them in the right. Well that was assuming they all lived.

"Man, why are you guys always so goddamn sentimental." Complained the Cleaner who'd initially had stood up against Sasuke. "I'm just doing my job. Besides, it's not like anyone's going to miss her."

Sasuke remained silent as he continued to glare towards the man but he couldn't help the curiosity the man's statement had invoked. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean?" Replied the man nonchalantly as he gave Sasuke a questioning look before sighing and shaking his head softly.

"What I mean is what I mean. You orphaned the kid once you took out her old man over there. Girl didn't have a relative alive. Not one. Not any. So in actuality," Paused the Cleaner for a second as a small smile began to form on his face, "I did the poor thing a favor and put her out of her misery."

"And so now, only one question remains Sasuke." The man said tauntingly as his smile grew ever larger. "What's it gonna be?"

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Even with six guns all simultaneously aimed at him, Sasuke seriously would've liked nothing better to splatter the man's brains against the floor he stood on. His finger twitched against the trigger of his gun before he suddenly chucked his gun harmlessly into the darkness of the warehouse away from the men. As much as he wanted to completely murder this man, it wasn't worth it. At least not right now.

"Just tell me one thing." Sasuke said to the man as he struggled to bite back the rage in his voice. "What's your name?"

"Naruto."

"Alright then, I'll make sure to remember that while I'm put holes through your head Naruto." Once the words were out of his mouth Sasuke didn't bother waiting for a response or lingering in the warehouse any further. He knew himself to be bad with names but this wasn't about to be one he was going to forget any time soon. After all, how could he ever forget the name of the first man he was going to kill for personal reasons?