Chapter 4

"Okay, so you know to meet me here when you get off work right?" Tenten questioned as she looked at her companion worriedly.

Matsuri nodded.

"Good. I'll see you at five then." Matsuri turned to leave when her friend's voice stopped her. "And Matsuri?...Don't worry, they'll call you back soon. I'm sure they just slept in is all." she tried to comfort her.

Matsuri nodded again, and headed down the sidewalk toward her own job at the Diner. Her boss was having a discount on his own experimental coffee today, and amazingly so, people actually wanted to try it. She couldn't understand why, everything he. . .'made' was beyond disgusting.

She was worried for her parents. It was just so... so rare that they not answer their phones. Matsuri had always found it a bit scary that they practically religously answered the phone, and now found it even scarier that they didn't answer today.

Her chest clenched, and she balled her fists at her sides. It would be a wonder if she made it through the day like this, if her boss didn't kick her out first, that is.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Well, what are we going to do, Shikamaru?" Kiba raked a hand through his mess of brown hair, and looked sidways at his boss.

Shikamaru took a step away from the edge of the cliff and looked at the clouds that had turned gray, as if they sensed that something devastating had occured. A sigh escaped his lips as his dark eyes traced shapes into the clouds, hoping that a miracle would happen and that none of this had actually transpired.

Akamaru whined and stood on stiff legs beside his master.

Shikamaru broke from his thoughts and looked back at his co-worker and friend. The massive canine beside him whined again and gazed up at him from warm chocolate dog eyes.

"Better contact the Chief. We need to get the coroner down here before things get," Kiba wrinkled his nose while his eyes reflected pain, "Well, you know . . . messy."

Shikamaru nodded and walked back to his dark blue, unmarked, police car and radioed into HQ. He really didn't want to witness animals pick at the decaying flesh of the people he once knew at the bottom of the slope.

He gathered the small radio in his hand and pressed the button down with his thumb before calling into the mouthpiece.

"Chief? This is Detective Nara and K-9 Unit Inuzuka, we need permission to contact the coroner." Shikamaru's strained voice called into the device resting in his palm.

The young man heard static when he released the button, and then the warm voice of the Chief called back, "Nara? What's going on, you sound off."

Shikamaru sighed and rested his head against the steering wheel of his car. Of course that man would know if something was wrong. He always knew.

The male could almost imagine his Chief standing by the window in his office staring out at the city, cigeratte hanging off his lower lip, while his dark hues flicked over the buildings surrounding the HQ.

A half-hearted smile made its' way on his lips before he replied, "We found an accident site and we need the coroner to come and pick up the bodies. Perferably soon, we are not sure on how long they have been here."

The static greeted him again when he released the button.

"Alright. Hurry up and contact them. Do you know who the bodies are?"

Shikamaru sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day. He gestured to Kiba to call the coroner before he pressed in the button once more.

"Sir, they are Mr. and Mrs. Hitomi Owners of the Hitomi Industries in upper Iwagakure. I'm. . .I'm friends with their daughter, sir."

Shikamaru felt a wave of nasuea and sympathy overcome him, he gripped the steering wheel harder with his left hand. His knuckles turned white.

He heard his Chief sigh. "Alright. Damn, do you think you could call the girl, or would you rather have someone - . . ."

Shikamaru quickly cut him off. "No sir. I'll do it. I have Kiba with me, we'll go inform her when the coroner arrives."

After getting his Chief's approval, Shikamaru slouched into his seat. He didn't really want to tell Matsuri that her parents were dead, but, then again, he didn't want a stranger tellng her either. He groaned and closed his eyes, attempting to block out the day's events.

It didn't work. He was hyper aware of the bodies laying broken at the bottom of the slope. He was aware of the fact that he was going to see a strong woman break down in front of him. And he was aware that he was the one that was going to cause her anguish.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Uh ... I think I'll have the .... no, nevermind, I'll take the - no, that has to much sugar."

She hated this job. Especially when the customers couldn't decide what the hell they wanted to order. Really, was it so hard to just order a pastry and coffee? To make it easier, it was cheap!

Matsuri drummed her fingers on the counter, waiting impatiently for the elderly man before her to order something that would either stunt his growth further, or cause a blood clot in a few more years.

She sighed and brushed a stray brown lock behind her ear before looking at the elder before her. In the most polite voice she could muster with her dwindling patience, she gave her own suggestion.

"Sir, why don't you just get the water and sugar free dango sticks?" She finished with her best 'please the customer' smile.

He eyed her suspicously, probably knowing exactly what she was trying to do. . .which was get rid of him, and then nodded slowly.

A small smile made itself known on her lips as she wrung him up and took the amount of money due. He left the counter with a bitter look on his face, making his way to an empty booth. Her ebony eyes glared after him.

Her body moved to turn away from the counter and head into the kitchen to gather what the man had ordered. Her eyes strayed away as she moved.

However, before she could make it through the kitchen door, she froze and stared.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

He sat in the back of the diner, watching the other people as they went through their routines, with not a care in the world.

His fingers wrapped around his warm cup of lukeworm coffee, and held it for a few seconds, watching it swirl around when he shifted his grip or settle when he sat still.

A distant rumble caught his attention and he shifted his gaze out the window.

The clouds were darker than before. Almost black now, and thunder was lighting it up every now and then. He could hear rain approaching, and the red-head groaned. He hated walking in the rain.

Lazily, his eyes slid back to the front counter. He would have to leave soon so he could attempt to beat the rain home, though he knew it was impossible. The rain was already starting to hit the cars in the parking lot next to him.

He lifted the liquid to his lips as his eyes roamed the front of the diner. He would have grimaced from the stale taste, but he was momentarily distracted.

Immediatly, with a force that shocked him to his core -- though he gave no outward reaction-- his eyes locked onto a pair of coal black orbs.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bright green eyes stared at her over the top of a ceramic coffee cup. She couldn't move, and her eyes widened.

Matsuri didn't even know who this man was, but he gave off such a dangerous air she could feel it from behind the counter. Her hands trembled and her knees shook.

Warning flags went off in her head over and over. 'Get away! Get away!' A voice seemed to scream in her head. But she couldn't. She was practically glued to the floor.

Those eyes. Bright, dangerous, deadly, green eyes. Her heart rate sped up, matching that of a rabbits' staring into the eyes of a famished wolf.

Why did she feel the need to run?

Panic weld up into her stomach, twisting and coiling it. Nausea threatned to make her retch, as droplets of sweat formed on her brow.

He looked like a demon sitting there, his blood colored hair falling over his eyes, darkening them slightly, though not making them less peircing. The black shadows around them made his features feirce, a force to be reckoned with.

She watched as his eyes narrowed slowly at her as he set his cup down.

'BANG!'

A flash of lightning raced across the sky, making the earth itself shake in its' wake.

Matsuri jumped violently and stumbled backwards into the wall. Her eye contact never breaking with the strange man that sat at the back of the diner. To her, he seemed like a warning of death itself.

Childeren, and a few adults, screamed at the sudden change of weather, and scrambled to stand as to make a hasty retreat.

Another 'bang' echoed across the heavens, this time the lights flickered. Rain pounded on the windows, obscuring the sights outside.

Matsuri's heart beat erratically in her chest as her breathing sped up.

The man's narrowed eyes glared lethally at her, and he stood slowly from his seat.

Her eyes widened again as she watched his form stand. The flickering lights made him seem even more intimidating and terrifiying. His movements were careful and measured. Slow. It didn't escape her notice.

As yet another loud crash of thunder rumbled through the heavens, the lights gave a last flicker before shutting off completely.

The brunette's body froze. The screams and yells of the costumers dulled as she watched a silhoutte move in front of the counter. It didn't pause or even make a move to stop, just sauntered past.

A bright flash of lighting lit up the inside of the diner, and Matsuri caught a last glimpse of the terrifying man with red hair.

He was just pushing out of the door when he happened to glance over his shoulders. In the odd light she saw his predatory green eyes gaze at her. A flicker of amusement flashed across them before disappearing... along with himself and the light.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Shikamaru! It's starting to rain!" Kiba's distressed voice rang through the air, breaking the detective from his thoughts.

He turned his head toward his friend, who was holding the collar of his mandatory uniform shirt up, and sighed heavily.

"Alright, go ahead and load up your stuff. I'll see the coroner off." The lazy male gestured at him to hurry it up.

"Shika..." Kiba started, using the nickname they had all used on him in middle school, as jogged over to him. "I could be there, you know, when... well, when you tell her."

As Shikamaru looked at him, he felt the weight on his shoulders become heavier.

It was sad really, how things were turning out. He would have to inform a friend about both her parents death, and, to make it that much worse, he would have to see her break down. Her world was going to fall apart.

Right in front of him.

He shook his head and patted Kiba on the shoulder. "No, I think it would be better if it was just me that told her. I'll meet you at Naruto's later, okay."

"Right." Kiba gave him a sad stare and then turned to call over his shoulder, "Come on, Akamaru!"

Shikamaru watched lazily as his friend pulled away with a backwards wave, which he half-heartedly returned.

It wouldn't be long before he would be heading back to, but for a different reason. He sighed and turned to speak with the coroner, who was now taking off the gloves that she had used to manuever the bodies into the body bags.

The rain pelted his form and pounded around him. Which caused him to raise his voice when he went to speak with her.

"Are you finished here then?" he yelled over the rain.

The petite woman nodded. "Yeah! We'll be heading to the hospital now, then we can perform and autopsy!"

He rocked back on his heels. An autopsy? Why? They had died of natural causes, so they had no need to perform that.

The young detective narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why would you need to do an autopsy? And don't you need the confirmation of a family memeber?"

The coroner nodded again and replied loudly over the rain. "Yes, we do need confirmation. But we know that one of the family members will be visiting the hospital to confirm themselves of the death. When they do, we will get permission." she slammed the back door of her car that held the bodies. "As for the 'why' part, it standard procedure when a person dies like this, running of a cliff I mean. It seems unlikely that this would happen on a clear day."

With that said, and a last smile to the male, she loaded into her car and drove away. Shikamaru stood for a few more seconds in the rain, processing what he had just heard.

A bolt of lightning broke him from his thoughts and he jogged over to his own car to get out of the rain.

As he sat there, dripping water onto his seat, he glanced over at the edge of the slope. It just seemed odd, now that he really thought about it, that two very smart and capable people would swerve off a cliff to their deaths.

Mr. and Mrs. Hitomi had both been very good drivers. Hell, they had given him private lessons when he was fifteen, so he knew what careful drivers they were.

"Eyes on the road, son. Don't want to cause a traffic jam." He could clearly hear Matsuri's father joke to him in the deep, warming tone.

"Now, now darling. You're making him nervous. He just needs to relax is all." Mrs. Hitomi would lovingly chastise her husband as she patted his shoulder in a motherly way.

He shook his head and started his car.

With a final sigh, he pulled away from the shoulder of the road and began to drive his way back to town to pick up Matsuri from work.

Another shock of thunder rumbled over head and he frowned into the rain.

"Please let me be able to handle this." he groaned.


This would have been out sooner, but my computer is screwing up and I couldn't add any chapters which really sucks. But anyway, I don't want to beg for reviews but I do want to know what you guys think of the story, so please? Just one little review??? Please???