Authors: ChronoAlarm, Chaotic Souls, and Solemn Monkey
Naruto is owned by Kishimoto. Also try to review it, I don't know how I'm doing unless you guys tell me. :P
Chapter 2: Lights and Sounds
"There has been some rumors going around about a gang war that is going to happen on school property later this week and we need info. So as to prevent and arrest those who would take part in this. The school must uphold its reputation," turning around the principal eyed the three of them.
"We need you three to infiltrate some gangs and find out when the war is and which gangs are going to be involved. You three will report your findings every day to each of your respective teachers. Sakura, you report to Kakashi, Naruto to Iruka, and Sasuke to Orochimaru. If you do this for us we'll clean your records. But if you fail or betray my trust we will have you three expelled. Understand?"
"Wait a second...didn't Kyle's note mention something similar to this?' thought Sasuke 'I knew he had relations with a gang, but I wouldn't expect him to go this far. Well I'll find out sooner or later anyways; so I should just do as I'm told for now." Sasuke didn't voice any of his concerns; he didn't want to tell anyone about the note he received from Kyle, at least not yet…
Orochimaru watched Sasuke closely as he thought to himself, "Maybe I should let him in on what's really going on. No, I need to learn more about Sasuke, but I'm impressed with his skills and from what Kyle told me about him."
"Well as much as I despise Naruto I suppose we will have to work as a team on this so called mission". Sasuke said this as Naruto gave Sasuke an 'I'll get you back for that later' look.
All three of them slowly shuffled out of the principal's office as he shooed them out after they agreed to his proposition.
"Sasuke I've heard only positive things about you; and I hope to see this through actions rather than words." Orochimaru spoke this to Sasuke as Naruto and Sakura walked ahead of Sasuke not noticing Orochimaru's strange speech to the young boy.
Sasuke hurried and caught up with Naruto and Sakura.
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Sakura just nodded every now and again through the speech. She was listening, but her mind was somewhere else, and surprisingly...it wasn't Sasuke. As she acknowledged that the speech was over she dropped out of her thoughts and nodded one last time. She left the room with Naruto in tow, but Sasuke was lagging. It didn't seem of much importance so she continued down the hall.
'One more class left in the day, and it's SO BORING!' you could skip...Then go investigate the gang. CHAA! That's a great idea, I'm sure Naruto is gonna skip class like always too! CHAA THIS PLAN IS BRILLIANT! 'One problem with that...I've never skipped before, and I don't know if Sasuke would skip too. And if he doesn't…I would be alone with Naruto.' Sakura shuddered. She would have to think about this. If she did skip it would because she was sick. ((cough cough, totally faking, cough cough)).
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Naruto felt himself following Sasuke and Sakura out of the office and into the hallway but he was still deep in his thoughts, for a change.
Though the principal did not tell the others about Naruto's earlier years Naruto knew that it was his past life that determined that he was to be one of the infiltrators. Until about the age of 12 Naruto was basically raised by the streets, going from one gang and one school to the next. He had lost his parents when he was very young and was raised by his Uncle Jariya whom he now lived with. His uncle's official occupation was that of a writer but he was known as one of the best martial artists in the country.
So when Naruto became old enough Jariya became his master and taught him how to fight which turned out to be more useful than any textbook in Naruto's opinion. Jariya had always told Naruto that his father was the best martial artist in the country probably the world. And that he saw a lot of his father in Naruto. This had always made Naruto proud and grateful and pushed him to become the best fighter in the world too. He was grateful to his uncle for providing him with the means to defend himself and to fight for what he wanted. Unfortunately Uncle Jariya was quite a womanizer and loved to drink; because of this he was away from the house for most of the year. So Naruto learned at an early age how to take care of himself. A lot of the times Jariya would forget to bring home food so Naruto then began turning to the streets to survive.
It was on the streets that he earned his nickname and second persona, the Demon Fox. As much for how brutally he beat people who challenged him as for the birthmarks on his face that resembled those of a fox's whiskers. And no matter how many of them there were or how tall they were or how heavily armed his opponents were none of them seemed capable of taking him down.
His mind was awakened to the present by the bell for the next period. It was history with Iruka, one of the most boring classes. Feeling like he had enough lectures out of Iruka today Naruto decided that he was done with school.
Stopping in his tracks he turned to Sakura and Sasuke, "Well I don't know about you two but I'm ready to blow this dump. Why don't we just skip class and go to the arcade for awhile? We can even begin our investigation and think about which gangs we want to join and all that crap without anyone hearing us. What do you guys say?"
In reality this was just an excuse, they could just as easily discuss this in the next class period since Iruka knew what was going on anyway. What Naruto was really after was a date with Sakura. He had always wanted to ask her out to the arcade on a date but he didn't have a good excuse till now. Unfortunately, Sasuke would have to tag along and Sakura would be glued to him but maybe he could get her away from Sasuke for at least awhile. Then maybe they could start talking. Who knows maybe she would even begin to like him...
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Sakura had already decided she was going to skip, but before she could even open her mouth Naruto babbled on about going to the arcade to 'discuss the plan of action', yea right...
but maybe, if she could get Sasuke to go, it'd be like a date. "I'll go if you go..." she said to no one in particular.
Sasuke replied coolly, "Usually I wouldn't try to get myself in trouble after just getting out of trouble, but in this case I will have to agree with Naruto."
"That is if Sakura will also join us? In fact, I wouldn't go if Sakura doesn't. I will leave it up to her. It will not feel right if all three of us don't work together on this objective."
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Sakura smiled when he said he wouldn't go without her, but it quickly fell away when he mentioned why. 'Stupid Sakura, why would you even think that, if he had said that it would mean he likes you...and you know that he doesn't'
"Yea, I'll go." She said with a sigh. She was somewhat depressed that Sasuke's un-interest with her had risen to the surface and hit her in the face. She stopped and turned. "If we're going to the arcade...we have to go that way." She was still in a 'I'm moping so don't mess with me' mood. She was ready for the arcade, the thought of pounding into something, felt really good right now. A smirk came to her face again and she said. "Well, what are we waiting for...let's go!"
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Naruto led Sasuke and Sakura in tow through the front of the school and out the gate of the courtyard. This really was for the best; if they had stuck around in Iruka's class some bored kid might find their conversation more interesting than the lecture. At the arcade there would be less chance of being overheard with all the noise. Naruto almost laughed at how cloak and dagger he was fast becoming. But he had learned a few tricks during his younger years...
His brutality and effectiveness in the various gang fights had earned him his Demon Fox rep. But one day when he was 13, even he didn't know why, he woke up and found himself hating everything about himself. He just sat in his bed and realized that the Demon Fox persona was no longer a persona, it was his identity, it was him. Every scar on his body every look of hatred and fear and respect directed at him from his classmates and other gang members...it became too much.
He had wondered what this pain he was feeling was, it was loneliness. Somehow through the hatred and fear and pain that had swallowed him into the darkness and turned him into the demon fox the pain of loneliness shot through. He realized, in that instant, that he had no friends that no one cares about him, that he was all alone...
Right then and there Naruto was done, done with it all. He wanted out so he went to his gang leader at the time and told him as much. Naruto even brought his Uncle's glock with him in case the others got the smart/dumb idea that if they shot at him they would stand a better chance than going toe to toe with him. It was just another sign of how bad things had become. When he got out Naruto wanted to go to someplace where no one would know about him and what he did. It was soon after that he met up with Sasuke and Sakura...
The sounds of ringing and various beeps awoke Naruto from memory lane. They were now at the arcade. "Perfect," muttered Naruto as he scanned the crowd for any dangerous or familiar faces. He had seen an old friend who could definitely help them out. All he needed to do was get away for a few seconds which shouldn't be any trouble since Sakura was wrapped up with Sasuke and he didn't care what the hell Naruto did anyways. "Well guys," said Naruto turning to them holding his hand out to the arcade, "let's have at it."
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On the long walk to the arcade Sakura had completely forgotten the anger or even why she had it in the first place. She got wrapped up in other things. She thought about her life. Ever since she was a child, she and Ino had been best friends. For all her life Ino had been there, and yet. Sakura always felt she was in Ino's shadow. Ino was always better: Smarter, Faster, Stronger, Prettier, and Older. Then Sasuke came. Sakura liked him, but then she found out Ino liked him. It was the last straw. She refused to be bested again. So their years of friendship went down the toilet over one boy.
Dragged out of her thoughts Naruto opened the door of the arcade. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness then opened wide at all the flashy games. Before Naruto even turned around to speak to them Sakura was gone. Just before she left the group she muttered something about DDR.
Sakura stepped onto the raised platform with four arrows on it. Someone stepped up next to her and looked her dead in the eye. It was a girl. Sakura gave her the death glare and put in her quarters. She picked the difficulty and then a song. 'Butterfly (upswing mix)' the song came on and arrows flew up the screen. Sakura got straight perfects across the board. The person standing next to her got several greats and a few boo's. Sakura won so she got to stay, she awaited the next challenger.
A challenger didn't show yet so she picked a song, 'Stomp to my beat'. She again got perfects, even though this song was slightly more difficult. After she finished she had worked up quite a crowd. Drops of sweat were beginning to form. "Who's man enough to be next?" She said to the crowd. She was showing off for Sasuke even though she didn't see him in he crowd at the moment. She always did it instinctively whenever she was in the same room. Just in case he should glance over she would be prepared.
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Naruto made his way over to an 'old friend' he had noticed in the crowd. "Hey Shino how's it going?" asked Naruto of his former gang partner.
"Naruto? You know your not suppose to be here." "Hey aren't you glad to see an old friend?" said Naruto smiling as he stepped closer. "Look I just need this one favor from you and I'm gone I swear."
Shaking his head Shino whispered back, "You know the rules Kiba laid out after you left the gang. We would not seek you out and kill you but you had to promise not to set foot on our territory afterwards. And now you're coming here and asking for favors?"
"Hey I know the rules but remember that time at the courtyard when you were jumped by Mizu's gang? I didn't save your butt for the gang I saved it because I chose too. You owe me."
Sighing Shino said, "Alright, but after this we're even understand? Also step back your blocking his way." Shino said this indicating to the cockroach on the floor. Naruto rolled his eyes and stepped back, he never understood why Shino has such an affinity for bugs.
"Ok what do you want to know?" asked Shino. Naruto replied, "There is a war coming up I need to know which gangs are involved, what it is all about, and anything and everything you know about it."
A few minutes later Naruto left Shino, things were about how he expected them to be. The usually dispute between rival gangs over territory but something in Naruto's gut told him that there was something more going on. Shino had the same sentiments when Naruto told him but said that he had no further evidence on the matter and that he could only tell him what he knew now.
"Well," said Naruto fingering a few bills in his pocket, "I guess I have some time to kill before I tell the others. I might as well pick up some tickets while I wait here." Naruto smiled, he had long ago mastered all of the games here. He would have the tickets he needed in only 10 minutes.
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Sasuke looked around the arcade and found a particularly interesting game: House of the Dead. Smiling Sasuke went over to the game and put in a few quarters, the game started up and Sasuke started blasting the zombies that showed up on the screen. After a few minutes a couple of people came up and stared in shock. "Dude how many tries has he had? None!" replied another voice. "How long has been playing? Only a few minutes!" "It's like he sees the attacks before they even happen!" Sasuke smirked as he finished off the boss with minimum damage. Sighing Sasuke lowered the gun and handed it off to one of the stunned on-lookers. Another boring game…it was like he could do these types of games blindfolded.
Sasuke had checked around the arcade and he noticed a crowd forming around one of the dance machines. Sasuke ignored this and kept looking around. There were three guys that started to eye Sasuke but they broke eye contact quickly and spoke it a low tone so Sasuke wouldn't hear them. Sasuke decided to head over to where the crowd was now to see what was going on. He saw Sakura at once and was getting perfect scores. He kept silent though his attention was more focused on the three males in the back of the arcade.
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Sakura continued to dance like a master, hitting almost every single step with a perfect or great. She wished she could face someone with a challenge that would last longer than one turn. Or that someone would try, like Naruto, Sasuke, or (now that school was pretty much through.) Ino. She sighed when another person gave her the glare and stepped up. Another song she picked and another win she had.
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Naruto counted the tickets he had earned checking to make sure that he had enough. Seemingly satisfied he put them back into his pocket and looked around. Spotting Sasuke off in the distance Naruto tried to get his attention. However, it seemed like Sasuke was lost in his own world.
"Typical." muttered Naruto, Sasuke had always been a self-absorbed prick in his book...
Turning away Naruto saw that Sakura had managed to draw a crowd around the DDR machine. "Saw that one coming," remarked Naruto throwing his hands up. She always wanted to be the center of attention, kind of like him really...
"I need to tell those two about the info Shino gave me." thought Naruto to himself. The question was how?
So Naruto found himself pushing to the front of the line for the people who wanted to take down Sakura. When he stepped to the front of the line the guy behind him grabbed his shoulder and remarked, "Hey buddy, get in the back!" Naruto reached up and gripped the guy's hand hard. After the guys knuckles popped he screamed, "Ok, ok, just let go!"
Stepping up next to Sakura Naruto whispered out of the side of his mouth, "After this you need to come with me I found out some information on the war that's going down." Then the music for the start of the song began playing. Naruto had long ago mastered the DDR, probably due to all the times he had played hooky.
The only question in his mind was whether or not he should let Sakura win. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. But then when had that ever stopped him? "Alright Sakura," thought Naruto to himself, "prepared to be whipped."
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Sakura looked over and sighed... 'Wonder what hopeless loser is next...NARUTO!' she sighed and turned. He gave her the look; he wasn't going to just let her win. "This could be fun," muttered Sakura to herself.
Sakura and Naruto where halfway through the song, and it was neck and neck. It was one of the longest songs in the game, done in Heavy Mode. It took lots of endurance for this. Sakura had only recently been able to Ace this song, because it was very hard to not get tired and give up.
The match was still a little over halfway over, and Naruto had a slight lead... 'I'm gonna have to change that.' Sakura stood while they waited in the part in the song with no steps, then as she saw more steps creeping up the screen; she prepared herself... Then she said out loud, "I refuse to lose."
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"I refuse to lose." spoke Sakura.
"That's it Sakura," thought Naruto to himself preparing for the next transition in the music, "keep on going."
Naruto knew that Sakura wasn't really street material, she had a mean streak alright but it didn't make her that tough. She was a straight A student and was always early for class. What did she know about the daily struggle on the street? To know deep in your gut that you might not live to see tomorrow...
The only way she would make it is if, and only if, she pushed herself and to that end Naruto was going to help her anyway possible. And even then it might not be enough.
Naruto had noticed that Sakura was slowing down, sweat was pouring off of her. Well what did she expect? Naruto was like the 8th person to face off with her she should have taken a break. Truth was that even then she couldn't really expect to beat Naruto. He had always had tons of energy he could often outfight and outrun most of the people he had ever met. He had always had such high stamina ever since he was a little kid.
The song was coming to a close. Sakura had managed to get a few points ahead of Naruto while he was deep in thought. The cheering of the crowd around the machine awoke Naruto. Sakura was only a couple of points ahead but she was tiring quickly. Naruto took this to his advantage and put up some major combos. The song finished, Sakura was less than 10 points away from beating him.
Sakura was drained but Naruto didn't even break a sweat. Naruto went over to her and whispered, "We need to head over to Sasuke I found out some major info on the gang war that I need to share with you. Oh by the way, nice job catching up to me near the end I think Sasuke was impressed."
The truth was that Sasuke did see the whole thing but was much more preoccupied with a couple of guys standing around in the back of the arcade. But Naruto thought that Sakura would have felt more complimented if he told her that Sasuke was impressed instead of him, since she always held such a high opinion of Sasuke. Like he needed it!
Those two in the back had caught Naruto's eye earlier but as long as they didn't cause any trouble they and the three of them were safe.
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Sakura was almost through the song, when she felt her knees begging to give way. She was screaming in pain but told herself she had to keep going. She wasn't the kind of girl to give up. She made it to the finish with her legs sending shocks of pain all the way through her body. To tell the truth she was glad to be defeated, now she could get off the damn thing without the crowd being pissed. Naruto whispered something about talk. Sakura was fading in and out; she was going to collapse if she didn't find a chair. She felt the blood leaving her face and felt very sickly. She wobbled over to a chair. Her vision was starting to tunnel all she could notice was that Sasuke and Naruto were near.
She was starting to regain her self control. Color was returning to her face. She thought she would be okay. She was glancing around and saw some shady people. An indiscernible feeling hit her in the stomach. She thought for a second that she had to throw up, but then realized she was fine. "What was that...something bad is gonna happen I know it..." Then her mouth went wide, her eyes sprang open another pang hit her harder.
"Woman's intuition, that's what it is...something is definitely wrong, I've got to get people out, NOW!" A look of panic crossed her features and she frantically searched for Sasuke and Naruto. He's all over me when I don't want him to be, but that damn Naruto can't be here the ONE moment I need him. Sasuke's right, he is SUCH a LOSER! CHAA!
(('great your back, now I KNOW for SURE something bad is gonna happen!'))
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Naruto was watching over Sakura, she seemed to be in worse shape than what he had expected. She was ready to faint and Naruto knew that he had to keep an eye on her. However the guys and the corner were getting too fidgety, as Naruto got a little closer he noticed some bulges in their hooded jackets.
"Guns," muttered Naruto. These punks were probably planning on holding up the arcade. However they seemed to be continuously looking over at Sasuke and Naruto and Sakura. Were they the ones being analyzed here?
Naruto hated to leave Sakura like this but she seemed to be coming too. And if he didn't do something fast they were all in trouble. Naruto waited until a crowd passed between Sasuke and the two in the corner. Rushing forward as fast as he could Naruto grabbed Sasuke and moved him out of the way. By the time the crowd had passed it looked like Naruto and Sasuke had vanished. The two began looking about frantically which meant that Naruto and the others were their real targets.
Turning to Sasuke Naruto signaled to the two in the back. It seemed that Sasuke had come to the same conclusion. "Look, I need to check on Sakura." whispered to Naruto to Sasuke, "that should distract them and put their guard down, meanwhile..." pointing to a line of machines that led behind the two gunmen Naruto whispered, "you take that and take them out."
Then hurrying away Naruto went to Sakura and pretended that he had just gotten lost in the crowd. He knew that he could have just as easily taken out the two guys but they needed to play their roles for now so as to not agitate them. Those two had seen Naruto glued to Sakura and if Sasuke, who was so distant, came to comfort Sakura they would know something was up.
Naruto could see that Sakura was pissed off at him for leaving her to recover on her own but, Naruto would rather be wrong and have Sakura angry at him than if...the image of Sakura being gunned down flashed through his head but Naruto pushed it away.
"Sasuke," muttered Naruto under his breath as he eyed the two in the corner who were now focusing entirely on Naruto and Sakura, "don't you dare let us down."
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Sakura looked frantically around until she found Naruto. 'He looks absolutely CLUELESS!' He seemed to have been lost in the crowd, 'who am I kidding he IS clueless!'
Sakura got seriously mad in a new record, 15 seconds flat. She stood to walk over to Naruto, but her body objected, she again took a seat with a 'wooph' sound. She settled to wait angrily glaring and tapping her foot. Her foot tapping was painful, but she was too angry to stop, her anger was escalating. She really didn't have solid ground to be angry but, it was her time of month. It was almost over, but the emotions still were blurred and anger was easy to reach.
Everything Sakura thought about simply made her angrier. The target of all her anger at the moment... "HEY SAKURA!" A certain obnoxious, loud mouth, knuckle-headed boy walking toward her. To all her body's rejections, she reacted them all and stood, walking toward Naruto picking up speed. Her face red with anger and her features not looking so pretty scrunched up with fury. "NARUTO! HEY GET BACK HERE! NARUTO!" Mysterious guys completely forgotten, she had one thought on her mind, it involved Naruto have a not so friendly talking to her fist, and maybe (it seemed a good idea right now) her foot and his nads!
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Sasuke had managed to maneuver his way over to the guys. They were mumbling to each other and Sasuke managed to hear snatches of their conversation.
"...where's that other one..."
"I don't know...our orders..."
"Damn that girl is loud!"
And sure enough Sasuke heard Sakura screaming at Naruto through the din of the arcade. Sasuke was a little impressed that Naruto had managed to create a very big disturbance. But knowing Naruto it was probably more likely just dumb luck.
"We should try to find that other one." said the one guy to the other and started fingering his weapon, "not yet!" replied the other one.
As the screaming match gained strength Sasuke realized this was his chance.
"Hey loser," said Sasuke as he came around the corner the guy jumped at the call. "Here I am!"
Bringing up his leg Sasuke round housed kicked the guy just as he pulled out the gun, the blow made the guy drop his gun causing it to go off. The kick plowed right into his face, teeth and blood went flying and the guy dropped like a rock.
The second guy cursed as he tried to draw his weapon but Sasuke was already on him. Sasuke smiled and before the other gunman even had the chance to draw his weapon Sasuke knocked the guy to his knees and held the punk's gun to the back of his head.
"Don't move," spoke Sasuke as the screaming continued as those who had heard the gun fled from the arcade. Pretty soon all that were left were Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura plus his hostage and the unconscious body lying on the floor.
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Sakura was too highly pissed to notice the gunshots. She had Naruto in a headlock and was pounding lightly into his head, not enough to cause damage but enough to screw up his hair and give a slight knot on the head.
She soon stopped and let go of Naruto, he fell to the floor. Everyone was gone; Sasuke was standing over the bad guys. She smiled at Sasuke then she lost her smug look as realization hit her like a two by four. She turned slowly. 'I was just a distraction.' Sakura didn't often do this but she was too pissed to not do it. She swore with a small yet harsh word.
"NARUTO, YOU BASTARD! NEVER WILL YOU USE ME AS A DISTRACTION! EVER AGAIN!" She grabbed his ear and lifted him up to standing position. she let go of his ear and looked him dead in the eye. She looked over to Sasuke. "I don't doubt you were in on this too." She said taking three steps back, putting her a few feet away from the both of them. She slowly looked toward the wall in the middle of them and said coolly. "You both have 3 seconds..."
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Naruto stood up laughing and started rubbing the knot on his head. "Dang, Sakura you sure pack a punch!" Looking down Naruto decided to tell the truth.
"We, or I, didn't want to use you for the distraction Sakura it's just that you were not in the best of shape after that dance machine. I'm still surprised you even had the energy to push me around or even to shout like you did."
Turning to her and staring straight into Sakura's eyes Naruto said to her, "If you must know, I was only trying to keep you from getting hurt. If we all attacked them they would have panicked and started firing. We could have been killed...this was the only way."
Staring at his feet Naruto realized that it was still out of line, muttering Naruto said quietly "I'm sorry Sakura, it won't happen again I promise."
But Naruto was distracted when Sasuke started interrogating the guy whose head he had the gun held too.
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Sakura heard Naruto trying to explain. She understood…it had to be done. But she still wasn't happy with it. "I'm sorry Sakura it won't happen again I promise." "It better not..." she cracked her knuckles, "or my punch will only get harder, Naruto." She broke eye contact and began walking a bit closer to Sasuke and the hostage. "So, do we have any idea who this guy is? Or why he was targeting us?"
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Stop, turn, take a look around at all the lights and sounds. Let them bring you in.
Slow burn, let it all fade out, pull the curtain down. I wonder where you've been? –Yellowcard.