"I've got to say Sasuke, this is one of the more gruesome cases we've ever been assigned to"… Muttered Naruto while surveying the evidence, his partner nodded.
"I can't say I disagree with you, Naruto". After scraping away the final remnants of possible evidence into plastic bags, the two ducked beneath the yellow police tape and headed back to their patrol car, on the way they passed Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka crime labs. Sasuke deposited the evidence bag into her open hands and walked on.
"Hey Ino, send your regards to your mother for me, I'll be in later to get my flowers for Hinata this evening"! Naruto called while grinning.
"I will do that, Naruto! I'll tell her to put together something real nice for Hinata"! That was something Sasuke would never understand about his best friend. He always remembered names and faces, and sent his best regards to those around him. Naruto found friendship and loyalty to be fundamentals of life. Sasuke figured it from the man's childhood. While Sasuke had a family, Naruto was born into the world and orphaned days later to do to a murder of his family while infant Naruto slept in his cradle. Sasuke also assumed that solving his parent's murder had driven him into the line of work he was in now.
The two sat across from one another in the break room, Sasuke sipped his coffee of his liquid diet and watched Naruto shovel ramen into his mouth.
"Moron, you eat that garbage like it's going out of style. It's disgusting". Naruto waved his chopsticks at the man, two noodles hung from the corner of his mouth and the soup dripped from his chin.
"Don't talk about ramen that way"! Naruto grinned and slurped his final noodles loudly.
"Enjoy yours and Hinata's anniversary". Sasuke sighed and gathered his coat from the back of his chair.
"Thanks Sasuke, give Sakura my regards for me"! Sasuke gave his best friend a tired smirk and exited the break room.
At six thirty that evening Hinata Hyuga sat seated in a red lounge chair and checked her face in the golden compact she kept in her purse. The face that stared back at her looked uncomfortable in her own skin.
The kindergarten teacher who was loved and adored by all her students had her long black hair woven into a bun with her bangs and a strand of hair on either side of her head to frame her face. She wore a strapless dark blue almost purple dress that fell to her ankles, and on her feet were a pair of simple but elegant black heels. Her face had been done expertly made up by her close friends Sakura and Ino. They claimed to have only 'highlighted' her natural beauty, but she felt as if her face was completely faux in foreign, though the stranger in the mirror was immensely beautiful, Hinata wished she were in her normal clothes and shoes and without makeup. Suddenly a glimmer of yellow against her pale reflection startled her.
"Compared to you, I'm much underdressed". The gruffness of his lack of shaving against Hinata's face made her cheeks warm.
"Hello, Naruto-kun". The young woman sighed dreamily while touching the warmest part of her face, where Naruto's lips had lingered moments before. To her, she was the one who was underdressed. He wore a black suit, and his suit tie was done crookedly, she grinned. It was such a Naruto thing for him to do.
"Wow, Hinata, you look beautiful, I can't stop looking at you"! He stood across from her, ogling her with intense blue eyes. She lowered her own white ones in slight humiliation. It hurt her a bit, to know Naruto would only stare at her like this if she had been tweaked and adjusted to perfection… But Naruto did have a way of saying things that sounded like he meant something entirely different; she hoped this was one of these times.
"Here, I got you these, happy anniversary"! She didn't have to look up from the white table cloth to see that he'd brought her flowers again… It was their seventh year together, and each year he'd gotten her flowers, and always the same arrangement. She pretended to be filled with surprise and excitement at the bouquet before her, six violets, two daffodils, and a single red rose as always. She took the plastic papered arrangement into her arms and smelled them. Her white eyes blurred with tears but she swallowed them.
"Th-Th-They're lovely, Naruto". She stuttered, and her face warmed in embarrassment. She hadn't stuttered since they'd first begin dating in college. Naruto took a seat in front of her, grinning.
"Relax Hinata, there only flowers! Besides, I've got an even better present in store for you". Her eyes widened and a grin broke out as he patted his breast pocket, a single square box was outlined from his silk coat. He was finally going to ask her to marry him, after seven long years as a couple, and twenty five years being friends. After all, the two had met in day care…
Throughout dinner Hinata couldn't wait till he pulled the velvet box from his pocket, and knelt down on one knee. The entire room would silence, subtracting the orchestra in the corner who would play a soft melodic tune, and Naruto would proclaim his undying love to her and she'd shed tears of happiness and agree to spend forever with him and he'd take her in his arms and the restaurant would erupt in applause.
"Hey, Hinata, you've barely touched your dinner… Are you feeling well? Your face is kind of flushed"… She shook her head slightly, still grinning like a fool.
"No, No I'm perfectly fine". She assured while glancing at her plate. She'd been too busy fantasizing that she'd barely ate any of her meal, and the food here was so expensive. Hurriedly she spooned her sashimi into her mouth and swallowed.
"Hinata, you're quite an odd one. But that's a reason I love you. Speaking of which, it's about that time". Hinata's eyes widened as he withdrew the velvet box from his coat pocket and slowly pushed it to the other side of the table, to where Hinata sat. With shaking white hands, she picked it up and slowly opened it. The light glimmered on the precious jewelry inside and she sucked in her breath. Then tears welled into her large white eyes. Inside the box was not a ring, but eight diamonds in the shapes of birds on a silver necklace.
"Pretty huh? I saw it in the jewelry store and instantly thought of you. You know because you and Neji are always talking about birds". Naruto continued to talk, but all Hinata could hear was white noise…
"Excuse me, Naruto-kun… I have to leave"… She stood up in a daze, and wrapped her black shawl around her bare shoulders. She fumbled through her purse, and when her fingertips touched the clear plastic, she snatched up her credit card between her fingertips and dropped it to the table. Without looking back at her boyfriend of seven years, she left her flowers, her credit card, and the bird necklace on the table with her confused boyfriend.
Naruto sat back confused. Why had Hinata run off like that? A red haired waiter walking past clamped his hand on his shoulder.
"You should have popped the question kid".
Hinata set her mobile phone back in her purse and wiped her large white eyes. She had just gotten off the phone with her cousin, and her very best friend Neji. He had agreed to meet her at her home in twenty minutes. It would take that long after all; she did have to walk to the parking garage.
She quickened her pace as she neared the building; the hairs on her neck began to rise. The young woman felt as if she were being followed. She rooted through her small bag for some sort of weapon till she found what she was looking for. She clutched it in her palm tightly, the small bottle of pepper spray, and for good measure removed her cell phone again.
"Neji"? Her voice was very small and afraid.
"Yes, what is it? Are you alright"? He was extremely worried for her. Neji had always mothered his younger cousin and cared for her.
"I think I'm being followed… I'm almost in the parking garage, and I can hear footsteps behind me"…
"Whatever you do, do not get on the elevator. Despite the fact your wearing heels, take the stairs. Do you have the pepper spray I gave you"? He was speaking quickly, nearly too quickly for Hinata to respond.
"Yes, I have it. It's in my hand at the moment. It's a good thing I'm left handed, they'll suspect I'll attack with my right". The young woman entered the parking garage and briskly walked to the stairs. She knew for a fact she was being pursued. The sound of voices and footsteps not her own echoed against the empty walls and corners that the orange lights did not touch were sinister and frightening.
"Stay on the phone Hinata, till I get there. You're parked on the third floor, correct"?
"I am I'm just getting to the second now. These heeled shoes are slowing me down slightly".
"Even when you do get to your car, remain on guard. You don't know how many people are following you. They could have goons surrounding the place".
"You're probably right, Neji"… The young woman stepped off the last stair and reached the third level of the parking garage. She glanced around her and pretended to be chattering to a girlfriend about her fabulous day and her fabulous boyfriend. Her used blue Honda civic sat parked on the farthest edge imaginable.
"Hey little lady, you sure do look might fine this evening". Hinata stopped in her tracks and her blood ran cold.
"Why don't you hang up that cell phone and hang out with us". She resumed walking, and sped up her pace.
"No-No thank you, I have to work tomorrow"! Suddenly a very burly man with a bandana on his forehead with a strange musical like note on it appeared in front of her.
"I said; hang up your God damn cell phone"! He snarled and grabbed her by her slender wrist, he applied pressure to it until Hinata yelped and her cell phone clattered noisily to the floor Neji still on the other line. The man in front of her grinned and dug the heel of his shoe into it, cracking the screen but unaware he did not break the cell phone. Neji was still on the other line and could hear everything happening to his precious cousin. He stomped his foot to the gas pedal, accelerating speed of his black sports car as he hurried to the North side of town.
Hinata raised her left hand and pressed the release button and allowed the pepper spray to be shot into her attacker's eye. He cried out in agony and released her, swearing a mile a minute. His fellow thugs instantly went after Hinata and knocked her to the ground. She yelped once more in pain and the leader wiped his bleary red eyes and glared at her with malice.
"You're going to regret that"! Hinata whimpered slightly, and then there was someone standing in front of her.
"Neji"? Hinata questioned, but she realized she had no idea who this red haired man was. He stood in front of her, as if to protect the young woman who lay without defense on the cement.
"Hey freak, the girls was ours first. Get your own"! The thug leader snarled. Then Hinata watched his eyes widen and a strange hissing noise was made. She felt grains of something, sand possibly being whirled around. But what would sand be doing here?
"Please, spare us"! The thug leader yelled.
"Despite your scum and worthlessness, my mother will appreciate your blood"… And Hinata's eyes rolled into her head and her body slacked with unconsciousness as the men who planned to terrorize her screamed in pure terror.
Gaara raised his dark hood, covering his red hair and green eyes and he disappeared into the shadows at the edge of the building. A black sports car quickly rocketed to the entrance of the garage, but the driver spotted him and turned to his shadowy figure. The driver made eye contact as he passed, and Gaara stared back. He had been seen and for a brief second he feared the driver. But the long haired man shook his head and drove on, into the garage holding the unconscious woman, and the remnants of the bloody massacre… Gaara grinned down at his shaking hands and his smile grew wild.
"We were so close tonight… So very, very close"…