Author's Note: Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or world of Naruto they are the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be is for entertainment purposes only.

Day Four: [theme: the law] suspense / the spider and the fly / person of interest / criminal / by the light of the moon / alibi / stiletto / poison / lipstick / "Good evening, officer"

Sakura was exhausted. The step up to her front door felt like a mountain and she didn't even stop to take off her coat. She dropped her gym bag next to the shoe rack and kicked her old sneakers off. She didn't even bother to take note of where they fell, she only barely registered the small noise of her size seven shoes hitting the floor. Shuffling over to her worn out couch, she flopped face first down onto the cushions. She let all of her tensions fade out of her body as she tried to drown into the worn velvet fabric.

After an unsuccessful week at the station, she had gone to the gym today to beat out her frustrations. She was still frustrated but at least now she was as physically exhausted as she was mentally. All of her time this week had been dedicated to hunting down the Stiletto Killer, but she hadn't managed to find a single, tangible clue or lead anywhere. This serial killer had been working his way through the streets of her city for months now and no one had been able to catch him.

Hell, we're not even sure if it's just one person.

The man was a phantom and the only connections and patterns behind the murders came down to the reoccurring stiletto theme. The basic pattern had all of the victims dead from a knife wound, most of which seemed to fit the work of a long thin blade, like a stiletto knife. The other, far more bizarre pattern was the reoccurring appearance of stiletto heels at all of the crime scenes. Originally, the pattern of murder victims who were all wearing stilettos had gone un-noticed. The victims had all been young women and it was such a common fashion choice that the first officers to work the cases hadn't noticed the pattern or thought to connect the cases.

Bu then it got weird.

There was another female murdered, but this woman had been out jogging and was still in her track suit when they found her body. Her sneakers had been taken off, thrown in a nearby ditch, and replaced with a pair of bright red stiletto heels. More victims like her started popping up not long after and the growing list started including men as well. Sometimes the victim's body wasn't always wearing the shoes; it was clear sometimes that the murderer couldn't get them to fit his victims and other times he seemed to be sending a message. There was something very eerie about walking into a crime scene that featured a bloody body next to a pair of carefully displayed and absolutely pristine heels.

Completely pristine. No blood. No DNA. And no fingerprints. Every single time, they've been wiped absolutely clean.

Feeling her frustration coming back, Sakura flipped over onto her back and smacked her hands over her face. She needed to catch this guy, the body count was getting higher and public interest was gaining. His victims had been mostly no name lower class citizens so far which meant that his crimes had been largely over looked by the general public. In a city, with a high crime record like Konohagakure, the upper classes were quick to ignore anything as long as it stayed outside their gated communities.

But that was beginning to change.

There had been a few victims now from the middle class and some bodies had been found near the nicer areas of town. Sakura and her coworkers now found that they ran the risk of unwanted pressure from the city officials (because of course this was an election year) and the chance that a copy-cat might appear.

The last thing they needed was a copy-cat. It would be terrible to think that they had finally caught the guy, only to have another murder victim appear because the perp was still out there. Worse yet, a copycat could distract them all and allow for the original to slip away. They didn't need a ghost like that haunting their streets. Konohagakure had enough demons.

Sakura let out a deep sigh. Rubbing her hand down her face and around her eyes she rolled over to check the time on the clock on the mantel. A glimmer of metal directly below it caught her attention and left her to lock eyes with her one and only person-of-interest.

Uchiha Madara sat below her clock with the most relaxed air and lack of concern that she had ever seen. The highly respected businessman had been investigated once after several of the victims were found to have worked with him before. No evidence had ever been found though and he had an airtight alibi for all of the murders. Yet, here he was. Sitting in her living room, still wearing the same three-piece suit that she had seen him that very morning when she had stopped by his office. She had just wanted to ask a few follow-up questions. He hadn't given her any hints or clues and she had truly thought that he was a dead end this time.

Sakura breathed deeply as she held his gaze, but Madara just kept spinning the small stiletto knife in his right hand.

On the floor, directly under his spinning blade, sat a pair of size seven red stiletto heels.

Author's Note:

Thank you!