Keys jingled as they landed on the faux-wood laminate countertop of a dark, empty apartment. Or perhaps not empty (there was one person standing in it) but unoccupied. At the moment, the apartment's tenant- Kagami Asaya- was detained elsewhere in the world. Tsuta had let himself in with his spare had gotten there much later in the evening than expected, but enough sunlight filtered in through the window that he could walk into the studio without turning the lights on.
This was an economy studio on the far side of town. It came with a bathroom; a kitchen with a small refrigerator, three square feet of counter space, a two burner stovetop, a toaster oven, a kettle, and a sink; and an 11' x 11' multipurpose living space. Asaya had furnished the place with a loft bed against the front of the room, two bookshelves on the left wall, a dresser on the right one, and a traditional sitting table in the center of the room. None of the furniture matched.
The table still had miscellaneous papers, magazines, books, pens, and other materials littered across it. All of which had collected a thin film of dust. A photography book of Fire Country Shinto temples lay open in a two page spread of some presumably famous torii gates. A half-written report had been left with an uncapped pen on top, as if Asaya had just gotten up for tea. Speaking of tea, he was happy to see that there weren't any teacups or other dishes left sitting out with spoiled contents. Tsuta shuddered. The fridge probably needed to be burned though.
A yellow light filled the room after Tsuta turned the desk lamp on. Now where did Asaya keep her Bingo book? It was almost surprising she had one since he'd never seen her use it. Considering her job, she wasn't allowed to leave the village except with explicit, special permission and never for combat purposes. A guide to dangerous criminals one might encounter in the wild was therefore entirely irrelevant to her line of work.
One of the bookshelves was filled with knickknacks, organizational boxes, a family of stuffed animals, and various other things besides books. While scanning the shelves, Tsuta's eyes focused on a not unkitcky figurine of a carousel horse. Tsuta's cousin and he had picked it out from an antique shop as a gift for some special occasion. Or something like that- he was too young at the time to remember.
The horse was pristine white with pastel pink, purple, yellow, and blue flowers decorating its mane and tail. Its porcelain legs were bent as if galloping freely without bridle or saddle while a spiraling golden rod affixed the figure to a base.
Tsuta took it off the shelf and turned it over to reveal the figurine was actually a music box. After twisting the metal key, he set it back on the shelf while it played a twenty second loop of some melody they never identified.
Three knocks on the front door were followed by a "Kagami-san? Are you home?"
It must be the landlady. Tsuta scrambled to open the door. "Hello, Ma'am." He bowed politely. "I'm sorry, but Asaya isn't here at the moment. Can I-"
"Then where is she? She up and disappeared weeks ago." The middle-aged woman interrupted him.
"Sorry, she was called away very suddenly on mission. I don't know when she'll be back." Tsuta answered respectfully.
With thin, purced lips and wrinkled eyebrows, she said "Well, her rent is due. If I don't get it I'll have to evict her at the end of the month."
"Um…" Tsuta panicked. "Oh, I'm sure she left a check. That's what I stopped by for, actually. To write- pay her check and stuff."
The landlady raised a scrutinizing brow. It seemed strange that anyone would entrust a 14 year old boy with their rent checks, but generally speaking Asaya was a peculiar tenant. In any case, as long as she got her check, the landlady didn't care.
Under scrutiny, Tsuta said, "I'll be sure to give it to you before I leave. I just have to clean up inside." He could forge her signature well enough; he just hoped that check wouldn't bounce.
Thankfully, she seemed to buy it. "Very well," she said. "Leave the check in the mailbox outside my office on the first floor."
"Yes, Ma'am. I will. Sorry for the inconvenience!" He shouted as she walked away.
But anyway, the book. The actual book shelf was completely stuffed with literature, light novels, texts, manuscripts, and loose papers, forcing Tsuta to scrutinize every item. On the left end of the bottom shelf was a little brown book with no dust jacket or title.
Yes! He shouted inwardly at his success.
Immediately, he flipped through the pages.
Hoshigaki Kisame…one of the 7 swordsmen of the Hidden Mist (whatever that meant)… attempted to overthrow the government… noted to have exceptional strength and stamina… primarily used water techniques… standard bad guy stuff. And he looked like a shark mutant. How cliché.
Uchiha Itachi… Tsuta was thrown off by the young face in the photograph. The boy looked the same age he was. Massacared his entire clan at the age of 13... He could relate to the feeling sometimes, but damn. Fun times. Reading the dates, he realized that the man was actually just two years older than Asaya. A genjutsu user, too. No wonder Asaya was captured. The girl couldn't counter a genjutsu any more than she could lick her own elbows.
Closing the book, he threw it on the table. It helped ease his anxiety, but overall he wasn't any happier. There was still the question of this "Akatsuki" business. He could think of a few reasons a criminal organization would kidnap her: information, blackmail, her very particular set of skills. But which one? He'd have to go snooping around Grandpa's office later.
The window rattled as if shaken by a strong wind. "Meow!"A rather fat black cat pawed at the window.
"There you are!" Tsuta exclaimed while opening the window. The cat had disappeared shortly before Asaya did. He'd assumed the cat finally died.
It brushed itself against his legs with its tail twitching excitedly. "Mow-w!"
"You look like you've been on quite the diet." He reached down to pet the cat's grimy fur. "You better not have fleas…"