A/N: Yet another meeting with our lovable Danzo. Enjoy!
It was later in the afternoon when Spider-Man swung by the scene of the crime. The police tape was still there and several officers were still present. His eyes scanned the crowd and he frowned. No sign of Izumi.
"Excuse me!" he called, catching a couple of men's attention. "I'm looking for a certain officer, can you help?"
"Holy shit, it's Spidey," one of them said in surprise. "My daughters are big fans, can I get a picture?"
"Only if you help me first," the teenager replied in slight irritation.
"Who are you looking for?" The second asked, pocketing the notepad he'd been writing on.
"Izumi Uchiha." Spidey folded his arms, eyes shifting between the two of them. "She's been missing for more than twelve hours now Her, er, charge is worried about her."
"Oh, Uchiha?" The first scratched the back of his neck, puzzled. "I dunno, man. We called her down here last night and I think she was with us? Right?"
"Yeah, I saw her rushing in with the others." The second confirmed, narrowing his eyes in thought. "When we secured the perimeter, she came out with them, but I don't remember what happened to her after that."
Spidey nodded, gritting his teeth in frustration. Dammit. "I see. Well, thanks for pointing me in the right direction."
"Can we get a picture real quick?" The first cop pleaded, pulling out his cell phone. "My daughters would freak if they knew I met you on the job. Remember Maria? She's the one whose cat you saved that one time?"
He wracked his brain for a girl named Maria. He'd saved a lot of cats in the months he'd been Spider-Man. "I... believe so."
Now that he kinda looked at the cop, he found him familiar. He was one of Izumi's coworkers, so perhaps he'd met the man at a function before? Anything was possible.
Shrugging ambivalently, he leaned in close to the officer and raised his hand in a peace sign as he took the picture. Once the man was satisfied with it, he nodded and flashed the boy a big grin. "Thanks. You're a real hero, kid."
"It's in the job, sir." Spidey saluted him and jumped onto the wall. Ignoring their shocked expressions, he bid them goodbye and crawled up until he was on the roof.
Sighing deeply, he looked up at the sky for a few moments. "She went in, she came out, but... she disappeared..."
He had a bad feeling about this.
Next, he stopped off at the police station. He was well aware of Danzo's dislike for the vigilante hero, but perhaps he'd be more apt to listen to someone he figured was in their twenties rather than a teenager.
As soon as he walked into the lobby, the receptionist gaped at him.
"Holy cow, if it ain't Spidey!" He greeted with a grin. "It's not every day an actual hero walks into the station. What can I do for ya?"
"I need to speak to Chief Shimura," he replied, "it's urgent."
Slowly, the smile drained from the receptionist's face. "Oh... I dunno if I can get you in. He's busy at the moment, and I don't figure he's in the mood to receive uninvited guests."
Spidey sighed quietly, fortifying his stance. "Not even if it concerns the safety of one of his officers?"
"Mm, it depends on which one." The man replied, eyes glancing back at the computer as he began typing something. "Which one was it, again?"
"Izumi Uchiha."
The man's fingers froze in place, and he turned wide eyes onto him. "Uchiha?"
"Yes, her," the boy agreed with a frustrated look. What was up with everyone reacting in shock to her name today? Was she that bad of an officer?
"No, focus," he thought to himself, staring into the bewildered receptionist's face. "Izumi puts her whole heart into this job every day. There's no way people would hate her... right?"
Hesitantly, the young brunette man shook his head. "I... I don't know if I can...-"
Suddenly, the intercom on his desk crackled to life. "Morita, send him in."
"Sir?" Morita squeaked into the microphone, his blue eyes widening in surprise.
"Send the Spider in," Danzo's gruff voice repeated. "He and I need to have a little chat."
Shivering, Morita nodded and answered, "R- right away, sir!" and quickly typed something in. After a few clicks of the mouse and some more typing, he grabbed a printed paper pass from the printer and thrust it into Spidey's hands. "Well, you know where his office is. Uh- good luck, Spider-Man."
Crinkling his brow in confusion, Spidey nodded to the man and walked past his desk and through a door on the left side of the wall. He'd memorized the route the last time he'd been here, in case he ever needed to go back to that man. Luckily it was helping him now. Still, a seed of doubt implanted itself into his heart. What did Danzo want with him? How did he even know he was speaking with the receptionist?
For a moment, his stride faltered, and he blanched beneath the mask. "Is... is Danzo the one operating the security cameras...?"
Trying his best to shake off the unease that came with that sudden thought, he continued through the corridors, walking up the same flight of stairs to the second floor. The two men guarding the door to the chief's room glanced at each other warily before stepping away so that he could open the door.
Spidey took a deep breath to calm his nerves before slowly opening the door. All at once the cool air in the room hit him, and he shivered for a moment. Why did Danzo keep the room so cold?
"Ah yes, come in, vigilante." Danzo spoke up, squinty eyes watching him as he walked in. "Please take a seat. I know you're a busy man, so I'll try not to keep you." His voice took on an almost sarcastic tone and it made Spidey's blood simmer.
Slowly, the teenager sat down, folding his hands in his lap. His eyes were straight ahead, looking past Danzo's shoulder to avoid making direct eye-contact. He felt that if he did, the man's squinty eyes would paralyze him in his spot. He'd seen full-on politicians freeze up when they locked eyes with this man. No thanks.
"Now, I understand you have some concerns about an employee of mine?" He asked, slowly folding his hands and resting his chin on them.
"Yes," Spidey replied curtly. "The Uchiha boy told me. He sounded upset enough that I felt like I needed to take matters into my own hands."
Danzo's lips pressed into a line. "The Uchiha boy."
Raising an eyebrow, Spidey elaborated, "Yes... I'm not going to refuse help to citizens who ask."
The man let out a deep sigh, staring the masked boy right in the eye. "As much as I'm sure we appreciate your, ah, help," he rose his eyebrows at that, "I can assure you that my officers have it under control. Any extracurricular activities that Izumi Uchiha gets up to outside of work is none of my concern."
Spidey opened his mouth to rebut, but Danzo quickly cut him off, "Make no mistake, without her contribution to the force we probably wouldn't have deescalated the robbery last night as quickly as we did. But it's not my job to monitor the whereabouts of all of my men and women once their shift is over."
The boy clenched his eyes shut for a moment, took a quiet breath, and reopened them to stare defiantly at the wrinkled man. "With all due respect, Chief Shimura, it's my responsibility to keep the citizens of this city safe at all costs. I can't do my job if you can't cooperate with me to find one of your officers. All I have to go on are limited clues. If you can't set aside your own feelings to help me-"
He trailed off when Danzo abruptly unclasped his hands and stood from his desk. The man towered over him at his full height of 1.7 meters (or just under 5'6").
"Heed my words, vigilante," his voice was eerily calm for the killing intent that radiated off of him. "You have no gain by threatening me or my force. Might I remind you that I hold the power to hunt you down if you prove to be a risk to the security of this city?"
"You say that it's your responsibility, your job to protect this city," he continued, folding his arms across his chest. "You're a young man, practically a fresh-faced college graduate. This is not your job. Chances are, you already have a job," he paused to glower at the masked boy, "or perhaps you still live with your parents at home, living off of them while they pay your bills and make you food and what have you. But this?" He gestured with a wave of his hand at his office space. "This is my job. Protecting the people and making sure that suspicious men like you don't disrupt the natural order of things around here. I don't need to mention that technically, vigilante justice in this city is still toeing the line of illegal. Should you make even one slip-up, well..." he chuckled, leaning in with a malicious smirk. "... let's say it won't end well for you."
It was hard to keep his lips clamped together, but he managed to reign in enough of his anger to send him a scathing glare instead, clenching his fists in his lap.
"Am I clear?" The man sat back down in his cushy office chair, giving him an expectant look. "Dare to threaten me or my police force again, and I may just have to enact a little 'vigilante' justice on you myself."
The nerve.
"... Yes, sir." The words were toneless and flat.
The elder fixed a pleasant, or what should have been pleasant, expression on his aged face. "Excellent. Now, if we're both in agreement, I have work that needs tending to. I simply don't have much more time to spend going in circles with you."
Spidey shook his head. He didn't think he could muster any more words without wanting to strangle the man.
"Good." Danzo pressed the intercom button and spoke into it, "Watanabe, please escort my guest out of my office."
"I can go myself," Spidey spat, standing up so quickly that his chair screeched on the tile. "I don't need your bodyguards to do that for me."
Danzo paused. "Never mind, back to your post," he said, then let go of the button and leered at him. "Well, off you go. Don't let me keep you."
Spidey paused. He glanced towards the only window in the room, a small one with the blinds drawn. He considered opening the window and jumping out, but with Danzo staring at him so intently with a look that just screamed don't even think about it, he felt the confidence sapped from him and he opened the door and left.
Sasuke punched the wall of the building with all of his strength, not caring that it was concrete. Pain shot up his knuckles on impact, and the wall cracked under his power. He pulled his hand away and examined the damage. Thankfully, his knuckles were only bleeding, but the wall had a noticeable dent and cracks spider-webbed away from it for a good foot or so.
He kissed his teeth, growling as he stormed off to his apartment building. Even half an hour later, after changing out of the costume and going for a walk to clear his head, he was still so pissed off! He pulled out his phone and went to his text messages. Still nothing. He switched to the phone app. Still nothing, except for the voicemail he'd already listened to about twenty times and counting already.
He stormed up the stairs to the second floor and went right for his apartment. He unlocked the door and stepped inside the hallway. It was still quiet and gloomy as he walked through. He hadn't bothered opening any of the curtains before he'd left for school this morning, so everything was covered in a layer of darkness. Everything felt a little smaller now.
He swallowed hard to try and get his emotions under control. "Izumi...?"
He waited for ten seconds. No response.
"Izumi?" He called again, louder this time. He walked past the living room and towards her bedroom.
He hesitated. He hadn't gone into her bedroom since Itachi had passed. It was a silent admission to her that his grief kept him from seeing what once was his brother's bedroom.
"... Can I really do this?" He thought, desperately sending a glance down the hallway to the kitchen. "Am I strong enough yet?"
He hesitated, reaching for the knob. When his hand came into contact with the cool metal, his entire body flinched. Something was telling him not to go in, that he couldn't handle it even now. He grit his teeth and kept his grip for a good few seconds before letting go, backing away from the door.
A frustrated sob escaped his throat and he went past her door to his own. He flung it open, uncaring of the mess for once and flopping down onto his bed, burying his face into his pillow.
This entire day had been complete shit. His mind was racing so quickly he was getting a headache, and it was only about six PM.
"Is this just a stupid nightmare? Can I wake up now?" He thought irritably, glaring into the soft pillow. "I want Izumi back... this apartment is too lonely by myself."
His eyes slowly closed, and a single tear escaped his eye, wetting the fabric. "I wish you were here, big brother..."
A/N: Oho, the angst isn't over yet!
Please tell me what you thought! See you later.