Hello again :) I know you must be thinking, "Oh wow, it's a miracle! She's updating!" and to be honest, I'm surprised as well o-o...

I've finally gotten around to re-editing this chapter :) I can easily say I'll try not to change this one too much (it's probably my favorite one I've written) but I'll be changing things that I consider 'errors' or things that I feel no longer fit with my desired plot. After this, I hope to tackle my most hated chapter (chapter 3) which has been a thorn in my side since I've written it :(

Also, I want to thank you all for the various reviews I've gotten on this story so far. I can't even begin to say how happy they make me :) Though I feel the need to point out to some people who have been criticising the previous chapters that they should have read my author's note stating that I'd be re-writing the chapters they were criticising (after all I wrote those quite a long time ago and my writing style has grown alot of the past years).

Oh well, no harm no fowl :) and just so people know, I'm not looking for grammatical perfection in my stories, but I am trying my best to make my stories well-written and interesting with as few errors as possible. So please bear with my and try not to criticize too much (though I don't mind some criticism).

Anyway, I won't waste anymore of your time...Please enjoy the chapter! :)


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot

Warnings: Blood, gore, and violence in later chapters.

Couples: Main: SasuSaku, Side: NaruHina ,NejiTen, ShikaIno, KakaRin (Others? )

"Talking"

Normal

Flashback

"Thoughts"


Music listened to/ that helped inspire this chapter


1: Looming Moon by Secret & Whisper

2: Remedy by Under The Flood

3: Collapsing by Demon Hunter


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Chapter 1: Looming Moon

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Don't turn away looming moon.......

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A dark, ominous figure loomed above the glistening city of Konoha, presence unknown to those in the city below...

The figure crouched in position atop one of the roof's many stone gargoyles. His gloved hand resting on the cold stone of the gargoyle's head as his eyes focused on his target.

A middle-aged man, judging from his appearance. Dark brown eyes, tanned skin, and a thinning, grey scalp. Overall a normal business man that could easily be overlooked by any average civilian...

A breathless sigh floated through the cold, night air, bringing with it a white, wispy cloud.

The city lights danced upon the figure's bone white mask as he stood from his crouched position, his long black cloak fluttering with the chilling evening breeze. He easily balanced atop the gargoyle's stone head as he carefully pulled a small, silver lighter from his pocket. Never once wavering as the chilled, evening breeze swept over him.

Tired eyes shifted towards the dark horizon, fingers idly toying with the small lighter. God only knew why he possessed it...he didn't smoke.

Snow slowly began it's descent from the darkened skies above, bringing with it a feeling of peace...

The figure jumped slightly at the soft beeping of his watch, before silently putting away his lighter.

He glanced down from his perch atop the gargoyle's deformed head, eyes glittering with unnerving anticipation...

...and then he jumped.

He practically flew through the air towards the city below. Faster... and faster...and faster.

Halfway down the side of the building he front-flipped with undeniable grace, his trench coat hiding him from sight. Within seconds, the coat vanished in a swirl of midnight, black feathers as the sleek form of a raven burst forth into the night sky.

Only a single black feather remained as a reminder of his presence this night...

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"It's time to go to work......"

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You'll have your revenge very soon.......

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'HE GOT AWAY'?!?!?!" A booming, obnoxious, voice shrieked from within the police station of downtown Konoha.

An unusual man with shaggy silver hair, an eye patch, and a slim black mask over the lower half of his face, sighed as he watched his loud acquaintance pace furiously around his office.

"I meant exactly what I said, Naruto......." he intoned, boredly.

SLAM

Tanned hands slammed down on the older officer's desk with enough force to dent the wood. Ignoring the elder officer's mumble of 'That'll be coming out of your pay check', the boy continued his raving.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO DANG CALM ABOUT THIS?!?!?!" he shouted into the elder's face, his fingernails chipping the, already damaged, wood in his frustration.

The older officer sighed.

"Well getting worked up about it certainly won't solve anything..." he stated blandly as he opened his infamous orange book to a random page. Most likely to distract himself from the younger officer's loud ranting.

Normally under-ranked officers would be punished for yelling at their superiors. It was disrespectful, and blatantly rude, but Kakashi understood the boy.

Naruto was very sensitive to matters of the law. His father had been a man of the law and was renowned as a hero by the force. Therefore, Naruto had alot of pressure on him to become as successful as his father had once been...however, that wasn't his only reason to be so frustrated.

Naruto. Absolutely. HATED. Injustice.

So it was understandable why a crime of this magnitude angered the boy so much...

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Though, Kakashi still couldn't help wishing for the boy's tantrum to be less disruptive...

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"Well LAZING around, doing NOTHING, won't solve anything EITHER!!!!" The loud blond bellowed, his nostrils flaring angrily.

Kakashi glanced up at Naruto. "Who said we were 'Doing nothing'..." he intoned blandly.

"Well it's pretty obvious you're doing NOTHING Kakashi-sensei!!!" Naruto growled. "After all the guy's still on the loose! You shoulda caught the freak by now! I mean......he.....he killed someone Kakashi!" he shouted in his superior's face, before turning away gruffly. "and if that's not enough he stole 8 million from the same bank the guy he MURDERED worked at!" he barked. "To top it off, he did it all on the SAME freakin' night!!!"

Despite the boy's raving, Kakashi continued to look calmly at the fuming officer before him.

"I believe I'm well aware of that, Naruto...now will you kindly quit flapping your lips for a moment so I can explain?..." the elder officer smiled eerily beneath his mask, causing the younger officer to cringe. He'd seen that smile before and it never meant anything good.

"Yes, sir..." Naruto grumbled irritably, before grudgingly taking a seat infront of Kakashi's desk. "Well I'm listening!" he snapped.

"Patience, patience......" Kakashi chided lightly as he took out a thin, black folder from his desk.

"Alright, this contains all the information we have of this...criminal" Kakashi informed, a serious tone edging it's way into his voice. Naruto eagerly leaned over the desk to view the mysterious file.


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Don't turn away from what you love....

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Kakashi flipped open the file to reveal a newspaper clipping, a blurry photograph, and a small plastic bag which appeared to contain a piece of darkly colored...metal.

"This is...it?" Naruto murmured as he glanced over the small amount of items on the desk, he had expected far more than this...

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "This is the reason we can't catch him...he leaves hardly any evidence behind and when he does it's just small things... like this." he muttered, holding out the plastic bag with the dark 'metal' inside.

"We researched that piece...and identified it as a raven's talon." Kakashi explained. "The other officers wouldn't take it as evidence, but I kept it...I really feel it's involved with this case, somehow."

"Where did you find it at the scene?..." Naruto questioned, puzzled as to why a raven's talon, of all things, would be inside the building at all.

"That's just it...I found it pierced clean through the glass of the window he supposedly used to enter the building..." Kakashi replied as he set the bag back inside the sleeve of the folder.

"Now do you see why we can't catch the guy?..." Kakashi said as he set the file at the end of his desk neatly, opposed to the rest of the files on his cluttered desk.

Naruto remained silent as he stared at his feet, deep in thought.

The room grew deathly silent. A pin could have dropped on the concrete floor and could easily have been heard...

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Unfortunately, for Kakashi, it wouldn't last...

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"STILL, how're we supposed to GET more evidence if we don't keep investigating!?" Naruto exclaimed loudly, destroying Kakashi's much needed silence once more. Kakashi sighed.

"The research department is understaffed...and the investigation teams are all working on other cases.....even if we DID try to find more evidence, we have no team..." he explained patiently.

"I could do it!!!" Naruto exclaimed, his cerulean eyes sparkling with determination. "I have the expertise AND I hardly have anything to do lately anyway, with all the other officers getting all the more dangerous jobs, I wouldn't even need a team!!!" he babbled out excitedly. "Besides it's not like anyone else will do anything anytime soon!!!"

Kakashi sighed. The kid actually had a point, for once...

"Alright alright...just calm down, I'll put you on the case...but under NO circumstances are you to EVER engage the criminal throughout this case, understood?" Kakashi commanded seriously.

Naruto saluted, his trademark grin spreading across his face. "You have my word, Kakashi-sensei!!!"

Then the silence returned...

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"Naruto?..."

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"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?!"

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"Get out of my office"

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Soon you'll be finding it's much too tough...

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TBC...

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Yes! I finished it :) I hope it turned out ok...I'll get to work on the next re-write soon!

Please review!!!

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L8ter.....

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