Day 1 Part 2: SUSPECT-The Evidence Never Lies

"The best thing you can do for all of them is to find the culprit."

Tsunade's words echoed in Kakashi's mind as he waited for the computer to scan the prints. The machine made a slight buzzing sound as it went through God knows how many prints. The detective rubbed his hands through his hair, listening to the noise and just thinking to himself. He still hadn't told Sasuke the news and he would have to do it soon…or gossip would. The sound of footsteps approaching interrupted his train of thought. Kakashi looked up to see Yamato, the occasional substitute captain for Squad 7, peering down at him.

"How's Sai?" Yamato asked. "I was able to get all the pictures that he took developed but his notes and everything else is…well there's no saving them now."

Kakashi had expected that. PH technology, such as Sai's expensive camera, was nothing to underestimate but paper was. The paper had caught fire along with pretty much all the other evidence at the Uchiha estate. It burnt as smoothly as the tip of a match.

"Fortunately, last I checked anyway, Sai's alive but he's still in ER with Sakura," Kakashi said gloomily. "I already informed Sakura about this case seeing as how she'll be the one to conduct the autopsy." Sakura in the know left only half of Squad 7 ignorant now: the rival Uzumaki and Uchiha.

"Autopsy?" Yamato asked slightly confused. "I thought the explosion…"

"Destroyed all the bodies? They did. Save for one," replied Kakashi. "Sasuke's mother: Mikoto Uchiha. If she had not been outside the gates…"

Yamato nodded his head understandingly. They then waited in the thick silence, nothing else needed to be said. The events of the night followed by its unfortunate morning had put a dark cloud over PH and under it no one felt very talkative. A quiet beep from the computer broke the silence, signaling that the scanning was complete. Thankful, Kakashi looked closely at the monitor.

"That's strange…" he murmured. "The symbol on here…it's the PH crest."

The Purge crest, the symbol of a fiery phoenix guarding the 'P' from behind, caught his attention more quickly than name that would forever change the Purge. It belonged to a Purger? The particular crest design on the screen signified that the person was no doubt one of the PH's own employees. There were slight variances of the PH crests depending on the Purger's forte and this one was proudly adorned with four stars-they were an S-Rank officer.

"They're a Purger?" Yamato asked. "Who in the blazes…"

Kakashi didn't respond but instead stared in disbelief at the screen as he finally zeroed in on the name that contained not one, but two surnames. His eyes were wide and he quickly began tapping on the computer's touch screen. "Impossible," he muttered. He zoomed in on the two prints to inspect them more closely but it only revealed how absolutely perfect the match was. It can't be…Yamato, wondering who in the world it was, read the name out loud confirming to Kakashi that he wasn't seeing things.

"It has to be wrong," he said fidgeting with the computer.

Yamato averted his eyes from the morbid screen. "The evidence doesn't lie…"

The match belonged to…

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Being so close to Adrix members made Kakashi downright uneasy. Adrix Purgers tended to be too rough and mysterious-no one knew much about them except that they worked in the lower parts of the massive PH building and they watched over the Black Wing. The only time they really surfaced above was when they were being used for special circumstances and this was as special a circumstance as it got. The last time a Purger was linked to a crime was when Orochimaru went rogue. The presence of the Adrix now so quickly could only mean that the Alpha was not going to take another chance again-even against Kakashi's protest. Rogue Purgers are just too annoying dealing with once they fall off the grid.

Kakashi came to a halt when he reached the door to the break room. He turned to the two Adrix members behind him-two men he had never even seen before. "I will talk to them first. Wait out here," he commanded.

"Yes, Hatake," the taller and older of the two said. Kakashi took a breath and opened the door to the break room. Just as Tsunade had informed him, Naruto, recently checked in, was already taking his lunch and Sasuke was with him. The blonde seemed to be chatting away happily, unaware of his captain's presence. Sasuke noticed though but only gave a quick glance before switching his attention back to the blabbering cop who was going on about something...

"Man, you should have seen how much blood there was! After I slashed though one, their intestines started spilling out and I was like 'gross!' Then the other I slit the throat and the blood just gushed out all over the place! After taking the third one out like twenty more popped up around me. The knife I was using was too short and-"

Sasuke interrupted and asked him, "Why didn't you just use your gun? When there are a lot of them it's best to start with a long range weapon."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Naruto whined slapping his forehead.

"Cause you're an idiot," Sasuke said flatly with a hint of a smile.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Kakashi exclaimed so suddenly it caused Naruto to jump. "I never thought the day would come when I'd say this but…please tell me you're talking about a video game!"

Naruto beamed, "Yup! Yesterday I got my preorder of the Super X edition of Make-Out Zombies! Gotta love MoZ!"

Kakashi wanted to laugh out loud as such a strong feeling of relief swept through him. Naruto had seriously just unnerved him. Of all the things to be talking about at such a time…

"X edition?" he asked trying to make his voice casual and behave as he would any other day. He was an adamant fan of late Jiraiya's series that, in its popularity, had spawned a movie, games, and just about everything else under the sun of merchandise. And people continued to just eat it up; Jiraiya was a genius who certainly struck a goldmine when he had decided to throw zombie-slaying action in his already popular romance series. Unfortunately, Kakashi never did have time to follow the games as younger squad mates did….

"X for extra err…female zombies," Naruto chuckled. "You can blame the Perv for getting me attached to the stupid game-I don't like reading but I sure as heck love playing a good game. It's a good way to blow off steam."

"More like ditch work," Sasuke retorted, still sore from having to do all the paper work the previous night. Thanks to it, he had just about woken up then chanced upon bumping into Naruto right after. It was noon so they had went ahead and took their lunch…

"They ain't my thing anyways…I'm more of an action guy."

"Of course you are."

"Do I detect an insult in that?"

Kakashi sighed. It was best to break their conversation up now before things got really going. "Hey Sasuke there's something I need to speak with you about."

Sasuke set his lunch down turning his full attention to the Squad 7 captain. "Hn?"

"Yeah, Kakashi, what is it?" Naruto asked. He noisily slurped at his instant ramen. Did that boy ever eat anything else? It was beyond Kakashi how he managed to stay so fit when his entire food-pyramid seemed to be dictated by only a single dish: ramen. No vegetables or fruit…just noodles 24/7. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was always so energetic…all those damn carbs that he somehow worked off so perfectly. Kakashi was almost jealous of the unbound youth. Well-till this day anyways, he thought to himself as he got his brain back on track.

"Naruto, I'm sorry but I need to speak with Sasuke in private…"

[DELETED IN 2017 TO PREVENT SPOILERS FOR COMPLETE REMASTER, SEVEN DEVILS]

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[DELETED IN 2017 TO PREVENT SPOILERS FOR COMPLETE REMASTER, SEVEN DEVILS]

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"What did you bring me here for, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked as he sat at the smooth grey table tapping his fingers against its surface impatiently. The long room, that Kakashi had taken him to, was often used for meetings but other then that it was mostly empty save for the table. The table must have held at least twenty chairs. Kakashi sat in one across from Sasuke.

"Give me your gun."

"Why?"

"Just give it here, please."

Sasuke removed the Susanoo from his holster and slid the black gun across the table to Kakashi who carefully grabbed it. "Last night…" Kakashi started but stopped which annoyed Sasuke.

"Give me your blade, too."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes as he removed and slid it, too, across the table. "Happy now? Care to explain already?"

Kakashi nodded staring down at the silver blade which, of course, was thoroughly well care for as one would expect from Sasuke. Kakashi, satisfied these dangerous tools were on his side of the table rather then the other, finally began his explanations once again.

"I'm afraid I have terrible news. Last night, while you were at PH…the…something happened…."

"Stop stepping on eggshells and spit it out already." Sasuke's voice hinted at both boredom and anger.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Last night, while you were here at PH, someone went through the Uchiha estate murdering seemingly everyone within its walls. I don't know the exact extent or if anyone survived but…upon investigation this morning a bomb was set off destroying most of the evidence."

Sasuke's face was blank, the news not yet registering.

"Your…mother was one of the victims. She was also the only body recovered from the scene. I'm so sorry. I can only hope she'll lead us to the bastard who did this so they can be brought to justice…."

Sasuke trusted Kakashi enough to know he would never lie about something like this. His face finally showed signs of shock then after a minute or two reflected sadness. He looked down shaking his head. His eyes darkened intensively. "Where's Naruto?"

This was really the path Kakashi had wanted to avoid…

"I don't see what he has to do with this," Kakashi waved dismissively.

Sasuke stood up suddenly, knocking his chair down. It clattered back as Sasuke slammed his fist against the table.

"JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!" Sasuke yelled. "Did you really think my eyes missed the Adrix members in the hallway!? Do you think I'm that stupid!?"

This was bad. Very bad. He needed to get Sasuke to calm down. "So what there are Adrix members roaming about?"

Sasuke laughed bitterly. "On what charges are they arresting him, I wonder? How is he connected to this? Tell me, Kakashi!"

There was no avoiding it, if not through Kakashi he'd find out elsewhere and Kakashi wouldn't be there for damage control if elsewhere. It was best to get this all out now. When one finds out such tragic news they typically tend to react by either mourning or lusting for revenge and PH did not need the latter as Sasuke was already beginning to show signs of.

"His prints were on the murder weapon."

Sasuke lunged for his gun but Kakashi slapped his hand against the Uchiha's arm-holding it in an iron grip. "You know damn well," he hissed, "Naruto was framed. You will not take your anger or sadness out on him and you will not lay a singer finger on him. Not one."

"Tch." Sasuke tried pulling his shaking arm free but Kakashi refused to let go just yet. The Uchiha's eyes were still burning with instance hatred.

"Your family is dead. We will find who did it and justice will be carried out properly. Do you hear me, Sasuke? Don't you dare isolate yourself in this! You're not the only one whose had family taken away! This bastard will be caught and Squad 7 will do it together!"

Sasuke's head dropped, his bangs covered his expression making him unreadable. The only sign he was reacting was the fact his arm had stopped shaking.

"Do you understand!? They're dead!"

Small drops of water fell on the table. Kakashi seeing them fall steadily, released the Uchiha's arm and left. No more needed to be said as the boy crumbled. Time would inevitably heal a broken man but never a dead one.

Outside the room he walked past Sakura who stood against the wall, her own eyes were overflowing with tears.

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[DELETED IN 2017 TO PREVENT SPOILERS FOR COMPLETE REMASTER, SEVEN DEVILS]

DAY 1 OVER.

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_-TBC-_

Next time in Day 2 Yamato is the one to handle interrogation which just might mean an open window…

And Sasuke is gone.

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IMPORTANT TERMS

Adrix: Special Purge Unit that deals with special cases. Not much is known about them other then the fact they work directly under Alpha's orders and their own rules. Often handles the Black Wing. (Bonus Trivia: I came up with the name "Adrix". It's an anagram of a Latin word. Ha, kinda like my user name…almost. (Shaxra = Sarah with "x".))

Alpha : Head of the Purge Headquarters. Only top members report into him, everyone else reports into the second in charge, Tsunade.

Amaterastu: Special bullets that emit fire. Made especially for Sasuke's gun.

The Black Wing: where criminals are detained. This jail resides within Purge Headquarters.

Kyuubi: Naruto's silver gun, he named it 'Kyuubi' after the mischievous nine-tailed fox from myth. It has a fox etched into its slide.

MoZ: Make-out Zombies! Do I need say more? XD Oh Pervy Sage you beast. What monstrosity have you released upon the world? XD Sadly the Perv died soon after conjuring up the idea for zombies but he is still cherished dearly by fans. I'm sure Nagato now has a copy and plays it in secrete, pretending the zombies are the demons of his past.

PH Crest : Crest that Purgers wear, where exactly they choose to place their badges depends on their fancy. (Appropriate of course XD) The appearance of their crest depends on their exact job. Some have stars for example. Alpha has a dragon instead of a phoenix. Oh and why a phoenix? What better creature then a bird of fire (my play on the Will of Fire) who is reborn from its ashes? (ok I have an obsession with them as I do Griffins. Ever seen the first Chronicles of Narnia movie? (Disney version though I don't mind the old one-the witch really puts life in her role and if you watch it you'll see what I mean XD) Oh I love seeing that griffin fly! XD)

Purgers : A mix of police and crime scene investigators. A Purge squad is comprised of an officer, ident, and a detective as a captain. They are assigned to a case and are responsible for carrying out justice. Purgers are bound by the unwritten law of never showing favoritism among criminals though they are allowed to treat higher up (better behaved) crims to partial liberty. Purgers have the power to release Purged criminals on good behavior if the Alpha agrees.

Rasengan: Spiraling bullets especially made for Naruto's Kyuubi. They are more powerful than normal bullets and are impossible to dodge.

Susanoo: Sasuke's gun... Naruto named it XD

[DELETED IN 2017 TO PREVENT SPOILERS FOR COMPLETE REMASTER, SEVEN DEVILS]

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