A/N: Aaaaaand here's Chapter 2!

Chapter 2: Preparations

"Do it." L hissed, as Tsunade resignedly nodded her head.

-*-*-*-*-*-

"Why've all the Chuunins and Jounins been summoned here? It can barely fit all the Chuunins…" Genma grumbled as Shikamaru sighed.

"The Hokage's not speaking," Kakashi said lightly, fingers quietly fidgeting, hidden in his pockets.

"I've heard it's a delegate from another country," Shikamaru inputted casually.

Suddenly the Hokage at the front of the room cleared her throat. "I have personally invited a detective – we must deal with the recent influx of chakra strangulation deaths; and now I'd like to invite Ryuga Hideki to take the opportunity to talk with you all … this includes the Chuunins and Jounins of the other countries, watching via telescreen," she indicated to the water-powered televisions.

The lanky man stood sturdily, determinedly looking at the back of the hall. "My name is Ryuga Takahashi, but I'm more widely known as the private investigator, 'L'."

The audience descended into a flurry of muttering. The L? The one that solved the case in Mizugakure? The one that said he'd never show his face? The all-powerful ninja?!

Light Yagami had heard of this guy in vague snippets of reports given to the Hokage; but the only outward sign of his acknowledgement of his situation was a slight movement of the head. A swish of robes only heard to him acknowledged the presence of Ryuk, the Shinigami, who promptly started relaxing in mid air as he would have on Light's tatami floor.

"Do not say anything." Light calmly said quietly, voice laced with menace. Ryuk shivered.

"I say to the perpetrator of these murders …" It seemed the man steeled himself even further. "You have committed the most abominable act in history."

Light's eyes widened imperceptibly. What…?!

"I vow to catch the one behind it … known now as 'Kira', at any cost"

"You fool." Light hissed imperceptibly. Ryuk looked marginally more interested. "It's all in the notebook. If you don't have the scroll, you can't possibly catch me – I expected the authorities to do something like this …"

Ryuk, if he were human, would have probably raised an eyebrow.

"Kira. I think I have a pretty good idea of what you're trying to do and why you're doing it. But what you're doing is evil!"

Light let out his breath in a slow sigh. Evil? I am justice! I am the God placed to save the weak and create a perfect world! Those who oppose the God are the ones that are evil!

Tsunade nodded towards Light and the other advisors to Shizune – the signal to them, as official archivists, to begin taking notes. But Light took out a different scroll from his flak jacket; Ryuk let out a snort of sleepy surprise.

I brushed past you on my way in. Now I don't need to do the jutsu to get your chakra signature, since I already have traces on myself. Light was first at the ready with a brush well dipped in ink, and started scrawling the name on his scroll. He smirked.

You're just too stupid L. If you were only a little smarter … we could have had some more fun! Light surreptitiously closed the Death Scroll in the cover of his normal scroll, and began taking notes.

As if nothing had happened, the detective continued to speak, charismatically strutting at the front of the room. "Police all over have begun to investigate, and…"

In the crucial pause, Light's teeth gritted, and his eyes took a slightly darker sheen.

Let the world see what happens when you go against Kira!

Ryuga Takahashi's body seized suddenly, eyes widening and almost extending out of their eye sockets. The chakra system whirling around his body had come to a complete standstill – soon enough, the organs sustaining the body sputtered to a stop, and the lifeless detective slammed into the ground amidst the roar of the crowd.

"Oh my god, what the hell's happened?!" a Chuunin shouted in dismay.

"Our only hope, completely extinguished?" a cynical Jounin said. Kakashi stayed resolutely silent to the uproar, and his hopes were confirmed when he sensed a familiar chakra signature.

A young man hidden behind the curtain separated his hands to make two jutsus using one-handed seals on each.

Ninpou: Nikusei Zoufuku!

Ninpou: Nikusei Fukumen!

As the man spoke, his voice was at once amplified and scrambled – and no member of the room could have naturally heard the source of the voice.

"Unbelievable…"

Light almost dropped his scroll in shock as the other occupants of the room looked around blindly.

"I did this on the off-chance that you would kill 'me'… so, you can actually kill people without being nearby."

Light's eyes were widened without restraint, Ryuk's head bobbing disconcertingly beside his, suddenly interested in the situation.

"It's true after all. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. But this was the only way you could have killed them, wasn't it?"

The occupants of the room were gradually warming up to the prospect of L being a lot more powerful than he was taken granted for.

"Listen to me, Kira. The person you killed was actually a prisoner sentenced to be executed at this time today. Not me. He was a criminal imprisoned without any media attention, so of course even you didn't know he existed."

Ryuk noticed that Light's fist was shaking around the brush that he'd used to write the fate of 'Ryuga Takahashi'. "Heh. Well, he got you there." The shaking increased.

"But I, L, am real! … So why don't you try and kill me!" The crowd turned deathly silent as Light's lips started twitching from anxiety.

So…son of a…

"What the hell?"

"Are you asking for it?!"

"What's wrong?" L's voice, although scrambled, sounded sinister and yet mocking at the same time. "Can't do it? Well, it seems that you can't kill me after all..."

Light's clenched fist finally was too much strain for the brush, which snapped in two in the uproar.

"So there are some people you can't kill. Well, thanks for the hint. In exchange, let me tell you something."

Light could practically sense the bastard smirking.

"Hokage-sama did say that this was being broadcast worldwide, but actually … those TVs aren't working. I only showed it to this room. I was thinking of doing it in other countries along with a proper live audience, but now that's unnecessary, since I know you're in this room."

As the onlookers started looking at each other in mild curiosity and disgust, Light finally straightened himself out. "Will the Death Scroll not work if not used with the brush that came with it?"

"Of course it won't."

"Good."

L carried on. "Kira… I am extremely interested in your method of killing. I will figure this out… when I catch you!"

This was the last straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

L…

"Kira…"

"I will hunt you down and destroy you!" The two young men said with vociferous voices, one scrambled, and one internal.

"I am Justice!"

-*-*-*-*-*-

A neatly dressed silver-haired Jounin and a considerably more scraggly black-haired ninja who refused to wear the flak vest walked side by side away from the Daimyo's house.

"I see you're still the idealistic brat that left all those years ago."

"I am a childish person, sempai. I relish the challenge that Kira has brought me."

"Don't go in too deep, Ryuzaki." Kakashi warned. "If this case is too hard to handle, there are always others who can help you."

"Are you referring to those at the House?" he asked nonchalantly. "I don't know them that well, and I am confident that I am much more intelligent than some of the children there could ever be."

"… I see… you became the representative of the House…"

"I am the 12th head of the family. Therefore I am named L. I would appreciate it if you would drop 'Ryuzaki' and call me 'L' instead, for the purpose of the investigation.

"Why would I do that?" Kakashi asked playfully.

"You will be playing a pivotal role in the investigation." Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks.

"How so?" he asked darkly. "I told you before, I will have nothing more to do with your plans."

"It is highly probable that the Hokage will send her best-qualified ninja, including you, to assist me. If you request her to take you off the list, I will order you to come," he said clinically.

Kakashi resolutely walked off. L's thumb found its way to his mouth, and after biting the end decisively, suddenly appeared in front of Kakashi, blocking his way to the Memorial Stone.

"There are others that can more than adequately fill my place. Let me pass," he said.

"Do you really think that I'm so mature that I'll let you go and pay condolences to your long-dead teammates before you accept the position?" Kakashi flinched, and carried out an old ANBU meditation method to dispel anger, just in case.

"I could just not turn up," he inputted.

"You will. Even if you are 3 hours late. I know that you have been relegated to challenging field missions or menial missions helping Genin teams. You want something difficult that is closer to home and pays well."

Kakashi glared at his raccoon-eyed former subordinate before curtly nodding, provoking a wan smile and a short, equally curt respectful bowing of the head.

"The Hokage will be summoning you in person, early in the morning. It'd be best for you to disable the wire traps in your entrance, unless you like Tsunade-hime losing her temper in the small hours."

Kakashi sighed as L disappeared. How long had he known about his penchant for security?

A/N: Again, please review!