"Hai, mother! I'm coming!" A young boy yelled, bouncing down the steps and ran into the kitchen. Stuffing the lunch into his small bag and reaching up to kiss his mother on the cheek. Then, he ran towards the door.
"Did you remember your kunai?"
"Hai, mother!"
"And your shuriken? And those scrolls I bought you? And your housekey?"
"Hai, mother!" Then she heard the door close, and she sighed, a tear growing in her eyes. Her boy was growing up! He was gonna be a ninja, and life would be different for the both of them. They'd both be happy, and free...
She swung her hips around, her hands in her hair, as her body moved to the music. She mouthed the lyrics as she moved into their small living room, picking the magazines off the floor and setting them on the table, then flicking on the light. She leaned over, and pulled a notepad from a drawer.
Sitting on the couch, she swung her head slightly to the beat as she wrote quickly, her hand moving around, humming slightly. A form was starting to appear, a man with long hair, and a jounin vest...
RING! RING!
"Damn, work time... I really have to get Umino to lower my hours..." She swore, shoving the book into a drawer. Then, she turned the music off, got her jacket and purse, and walked to the door. She eyed the clock as she opened it. Wait... It wasn't time for work...
"Kumono-san?" A man, a jounin, was standing on her doorstep. The girl behind him gasped. Suiren almost gasped too.
The girl was a little replica of herself.
-
Fade to Black
Chapter One: Suiren's Sorrow
Alden-san
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc. All of the characters not belonging ot Masashi Kishimoto etc., likely belong to me.
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Sakura was shocked, as she peeked from behind Kakashi-sensei's shoulder. The woman that they had to interview... She looked just like her! Long pink hair, mischevious green eyes, and an annoyed smile.
"Well, well... I don't recieve many visitors. Come in, make yourselves at home... Did Nori send you? He's such a great guy, but he said he'd get some money for Yoshi-chan's equipment, and, well... Come on, come on..." The woman ushered them into a rather small living room. The couches looked faily uncomfortable, thewre was a stack of magazines haphazardly stacked on a table, about to fall over, and the carpet was covered in dirt and a few crumbs.
"I'm sorry, but my vacuum broke down last week, and I don't get paid until Friday, so... I have afew hours before I'm needed at the club, so.. What do you two need? Anything I can do to help?" She leaned forwardss, looking eager to help.
"Kumono-san... Mitsuki Nori was murdered this morning, and we need to ask you a few questions..." Kakashi winced as he paused, waiting for a reaction.
"This is some kind of sick joke, Jounin. You can try to take my house, try to take my child, but I won't have you coming in here spouting lies. Out."
"But, Kumono-san, it's the truth!" Sakura blurted out, then rushed to cover her mouth. She could have, instead of helping, just made it worse.
"No, it isn't! Nobody would kill Nori! He wasn't murdered! I refuse to believe it!" She yelled, standing up.
"Kumono-san, I know that you and Nori may have had some agreement-"
"Agreement my ass! We... We're going to get married! We're going to get married, and Yoshi-chan will have a father, and we'll escape this hellhole! He's not dead! No! No!" She yelled, tears springing to her eyes, her hand swinging out to knock a lamp from the table. It fell to the ground, the glass top shattering. "I refuse to believe that something like this..."
She seemed to have trouble breathing. "Not... to us... again... Not after Mitsu, no... No..." Her pleas lost their edge, becoming more like sobs than yells, as she slid to her knees and put her head in her hands.
Kakashi moved towards her. "Kumono-san-"
"Suiren," She muttered quickly.
"Suiren-san... We can help you and your child with financial difficulties..." He said, looking at her and kneeling. "You'll be fine..."
"No, no, no..." Kakashi lifted her face to look up at his.
'Tell me it isn't true!' Her eyes pleaded, welling up with tears.
"We can move you to a secure environment... if you feel... unsafe..." He said, looing away. Sakura watched on, amazed. How would she handle it, if Sasuke-kun died? Would she react like Kumono-san was?
"Jounin-san..."
"Hatake Kakashi."
"Hatake-san... You don't know what we've had to live through! When Mitsuyoshi-kun died, our life fell apart. I was a teenager with nowhere to go... I could never return to my parents. I managed to get a job at the club, singing you know, and that got us through the first three years. Then... then I met Nori, and he was so... kind, and generous... He helped pay for this house, and for a lot of our things. On my salary, it was a struggle to live to the next day, but now we live an almost-normal lifestyle, because of him. He even wanted to help us have a bigger, better apartment upscale from here, but I told him it's be too much, you know? And, if he's dead, we have to go back to that, I mean..."
"Don't worry, you'll be able to secure enough money to get yourself through the next week, at least, right? And from there..." Kakashi was desperately trying to save the situation.
The woman was silent for a second. "Okay... I'm okay, now...I mean, I'm still sad, who wouldn't be? I can't believe it... But, I think... I think I can handle a few questions... If you can help find his killer with them..."
Both returned to their seats, both trying to smile. Sakura felt the awkwrdness, and she opened her mouth to ask the first question, but Kakashi held up a hand.
"Suiren-san, this is just procedure, but... Where were you, between the hours of 1 o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock?"
"Oh... this morning? Well, Ikuko-san wanted me to stay a bit late, because there were a few late-night-morning customers, so I rattled off Boa's 'Every Heart'. I got out of the club about 1:30, and headed home. I headed home, and went to bed as soon as I got home. I woke up at 6, about an hour ago, to get Yoshi-chan ready for school. Thus... here we are now."
"Ahh, I see. And... your employer would vouch for your being there?"
Suiren nodded. "Both of them. Okira Itachi and Umino Reiko. As well as... I think Sarutobi Asuma-san and Kimino Sanomaru-san were around about then, too. A few other random customers saw me leave... And I've got my work slip right here..." She dug through her purse, and offered it to Kakashi. "Plus the fact that I'd be certafiably insane if I was involved in something like this, I mean... Nori was going to save us. I would never hurt him. I love him, or at least... at least as much I can after Mitsu-kun..."
Kakashi nodded, looking over the slip. "This looks like an unbreakable alibi. I think that you're innocent, at least. Now, let's work on getting the real killer straight, ne?"
She nodded, and he continued.
"Did... Did Nori have any enemies? Anyone who disliked him?" Kakashi asked. "Oh, and I might need this slip for evidence. Is that alright?"
"Hai. And no, Nori wasn't anyone's enemy... Well, except..."
"Yes?" Kakashi looked up at the woman. Sakura watched on, curious to see how this turned out. If they could find out who'd done it...
"Well, the family of his former teammate, who swore that it was Nori's fault he died, but that's nonsense, of course. Nori was a great guy, he wouldn't..."
"No, no... So, this family?"
"The Yamanaka Clan. His teammate was Yamanaka Keitarou."
And Sakura dropped her pencil, looking at the woman in surprise.
'Ino's family?'
---
"Mhm, okay... So, you'll be here in five minutes? Okay, thanks, Naruto. Is Sasuke-kun with you? No? Okay... He didn't pick up when I called him, so... Mhm, okay. You still have the address? Please say you didn't lose it again- Oh, okay. I'll see you in five, then, Naruto..." Sakura hung up the phone and sighed, moving across the room to the couch.
Today was too much. First those... bodies, then the shock of seeing Suiren-san, and then finding out they'd have to investigate Ino's family as possible suspects. She just hoped they could supply an alibi as easily as Suiren could...
Ding! Ding! Sakura swung around, heading towards the kitchen and turning off the stove. Pulling a bowl from a cupboard, she filled it with soup from the warm pot. Then she settled down at her kitchen table. Her parents had gone out to see one of their friends so Sakura could 'have her friends over'. Her parents didn't know she was working on a murder case, and she wasn't going to be he one to tell them. At least, not anytime soon.
'They don't realise I'm basically an adult now, that I can make my own choices...' Sakura thought, annoyed, as she looked through Nori's information. A man with a few friends, he seemed so... regular. Sakura knew there was more to it. Why set up such an elaborate scene for the jounin sensei, then kill him, if you're not after him, just aiming for one of the students?
She shifted through to his 'Possible Connections'.
" 'When he was thirteen, his sensei, Kiyama Kurama, and his teammate, Yamanaka Keitarou, died at the hands of some missing-nin', " She read out, loud from the sheet. " 'Their sensei hadn't anticipated the strong ninja on such a simple, 'C' class mission, but the missing-nins killed the Konoha ninja out of fear that they'd report their location. Nori and his teammate somehow killed one of the missing-nin and incapacitated the other, making their escape. Some of the Yamanaka, namely Keitarou's sister Kouya and brother Koimaru, stated their suspicions one or both of the surviving teammates held back from saving their sensei, and/or their other teammate. Of course, after an investigation had pointed otherwise, they were extremely sorry, and thanked them especially, for attempting to save their brother...'
"Hmm... Could these two have tried to avenge their brother's death? It would have really helped if they'd added the other teammate. Maybe he... Actually, it would be a girl, because Keitarou was a guy... Anyways, she could have told us more about Nori than Suiren-san could, knowing him better when he was younger..." Her head turned as someone knocked on her door. "Oh, that must be Naruto..."
Sakura got up and headed to the door, opening it. She sighed, and smiled, looking int her teammate's face. "Hey, Naruto. Is Sasuke-kun with you?"
"Why would I bring Sasuke with me, Sakura-chan? I thought..." Naruto pouted.
"No, I told you! We were going to talk about the mission!" She almost yelled, through gritted teeth. "Did you bring your results of your interview, at least?"
At that, Naruto brightened up a little. "Yeah, Sakura-chan! That girl... her parents were really nice. They were... They said it was ridiculous how everyone acted to me, and that they hoped they could help us find their daughter's killer... Sakura-chan, it was really... sweet... Are all parents like that, Sakura-chan?"
Naruto didn't have any parents... Sakura remembered instantly. She nodded slightly. "Mhm, parents are like that. They... really worry about their kids..."
"I see..." Naruto smiled suddenly. "Let's get to work, Sakura-chan!" Naruto raced in past Sakura, then looked around. "Anou... where do we go?"
"Naruto! You don't just run into someone's house before they let you in! And the living room... is through the door at the end of the hall... Just go, Naruto, there's some soup on the stove if you missed dinner..."
"Thank you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto headed off, humming, 'I'm in Sakura-chan's house, I'm in Sakura-chan's house...'
Sakura smiled, closed and locked the door, and headed down the hall. 'Now, to see what Naruto found out, asking Kameno-san's family...' she thought, hoping Naruto had thought of important, relevant questions to the case... and whether he could tell if they were lying or not...
"Wow, Sakura-chan! My soup never turned out this great! Your microwave must be really good!" Naruto called from the kitchen. Sakura just sighed, shook her head, smiled and closed the door.
--- End Chapter One ---