Uzumaki ~ Detective Chronicles
Chapter Four: Case One - The Innocent Killer
Main Street, Evening
"Hinata-chan, c-could we slow down? Just a bit?" Once again, Naruto found himself strapped into the silver death trap that was Hyuga Hinata's car. This time, his hands desperately clung to the soft fabric of the seat, fingers clawing deeply into the spongy material as he hoped against hope that he would get out of the thing alive.
Hinata didn't respond. She was 'in the zone' and if anything, her foot pressed the accelerator further into the floor, sending the car rocketing forwards at breakneck pace. As they weaved through the evening traffic, Naruto found he could not shut his eyes, barely able to hold back a gasp as they came within inches of a taxi holding a frightened woman and her driver, the lady's face a mask of terror very similar to Naruto's own.
Naruto sighed with relief as he spotted the familiar blue sign above the entrance to the courtyard of the precinct proudly displaying the Konoha Police logo and the name of the precinct. Underneath the '7th Precinct' was the motto 'To Protect the Knights and the King.' The motto was a shogi reference, and every Police Academy student had to answer the question: 'Who are the Knights and who is the King?' twice; before joining the Academy and after their graduation to see if their answer had changed over their three to four years in the Academy. (Obviously all students got the question wrong on their first day).
Those who got the question wrong after graduation were sent back for another year at the Academy. 'If you don't know who you're protecting, you have no right to wear the uniform and badge' was the police forces' reasoning behind the question. Due to Naruto dropping out of the Academy during his final year, he was never formally asked the question. However, during his training trip with Jiraiya, he eventually figured it out, making his perverted old sensei proud by unraveling it by himself.
A loud squeal filled the air as Hinata hit the brakes a good ten meters from the front door of the 7th Precinct. The tires locked, sending the acrid fumes of burned rubber into the night, the smoke turning red for a few brief moments as it passed by the glowing taillights. The small hatchback skidded to a halt directly in front of the revolving door, where Sakura was waiting patiently, magazine in one hand and a takeaway tray with two Styrofoam cups in the other.
Naruto slowly unhooked his fingers from the seat, wincing as his joints opened painfully from death gripping the grey material for a straight fifteen minutes. He leaned back in his seat delicately, taking a few deep, calming breaths before looking over at Hinata. She still had that manic grin on her face that made him both proud and fearful at the same time as she slipped the key out of the ignition and turned towards him, eyes shining. "Um, sorry Naruto," she said as she took in his ghostly pale appearance, her exuberance fading quickly.
He gave a weak grin as he fumbled around for the lock on the door. "It's okay, Hinata-chan as long as you're enjoying yourself!" His fingers found the small nub and he quickly pulled it up, a small clunk indicating that freedom and safety was just a few seconds away.
Sakura watched as the pair exited the vehicle. She frowned as Naruto seemed to wobble about for a few moments before steadying himself, making his way up the small flight of stairs that led to the main door with Hinata in tow as she pressed the button on her keys that locked and alarmed her vehicle. Behind them, an elaborate fountain, donated by the council, made quiet splashing noises that echoed around the empty courtyard, the gentle sound a soothing addition to the noises of the night.
She smiled at the detective and his assistant before handing the magazine to Naruto along with an espresso for the blonde and a cup of green tea for his partner. The crime solving duo accepted their drinks gratefully, then Naruto looked Sakura in the eye as he gestured with the magazine. "Well? Did it happen?" Hinata looked on in confusion, wondering what they were talking about and why the two had slowly drifted away from her.
Sakura smirked with self-satisfaction. "Take a look and see, but you'll be paying up soon enough." As Naruto was one handed, she helped flip through the pages until they reached the center of the magazine. She pointed to the pages with triumph. "It continues over the next four pages too." Naruto's eyes widened and he grinned.
"Well well, guess I lose. Or did I?" he grinned a cheeky grin as he handed his coffee cup to Sakura and, reaching into his back pocket, pulled out a very fat Gama-chan (his little green toad shaped purse). He dipped his hand in and pulled out a wad of notes and coins. "You win Sakura-chan, here's the 10,000 ryo."
He placed the money in her outstretched hand and closed up Gama-chan giving him a sympathetic pat and placing him back in his pocket. Poor Gama-chan was looking a lot slimmer now. He took his espresso back from the pinkette, smiling as he watched her do a little victory dance on the spot.
Hinata was bewildered. "Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, what's going on? What are you two up to?"
Sakura addressed her as she placed the spoils of her victory in her own bright pink, dotted with green hearts purse. "Well, Naruto and I had a little bet." Naruto held up the magazine so she could see the front cover, which read 'Police Precinct Weekly'.
"Have you ever read this magazine Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto. As she shook her head, he continued. "Well, Police Precinct Weekly is, well, a weekly publication (obviously) that goes around the various precincts (again, obviously). When I was visiting Sakura-chan at the 7th Precinct, I found one of these on her desk and began to read. They're full of interesting articles, news, reviews, jokes and puzzles along with that weeks 'Model Officer'. It's basically an interview and a photo spread of... I'll let you see for yourself. Come over here and have a look!"
Hinata made her way over to Naruto, very curious about the magazine and more importantly it's 'Model Officer' section. As she reached Naruto's side, he began to flip through the magazine until he reached the middle page. When Hinata saw the pages, her eyes widened and she blushed furiously.
Right there, for all the members of the police force to see, was none other than Yamanaka Ino in various bikinis posing against various backdrops. The last picture was the biggest shock, as Hinata found herself looking at Sakura's best female friend dressed in a sexy maid costume, posing in a vaguely provocative manner in the hallway of a very fancy looking mansion.
"N-Naruto-kun! What is this? I-I don't understand, w-why is she..." her spluttering rendered her incoherent, and Naruto stepped in before she had another fainting spell.
"Relax Hinata-chan! Let me finish explaining and maybe you'll get it. The bet was that Sakura had to try and convince both Ino and the editor of Police Precinct Weekly to firstly agree to do the shoot and then to actually get the editors to agree to allow a civilian to grace the 'Model Officer' pages and quite obviously, she won! So now I'm out 10,000 ryo and poor Gama-chan looks horribly thin. Though I must say, the way the pictures turned out, it's not a complete loss!"
"S-So...So this magazine prints these... Revealing... Pictures of their officers? Why?"
"Just for a bit of fun. Besides, there have been males," Hinata's fading blush returned full force. "And sometimes they interview and photograph officers who've actually done something important, like saving a number of people from a bank robber, or apprehending a kidnapper, things like that. You know, actual 'Model Officers'. Replied Sakura, who then turned to Naruto, replacing her smile with a serious demeanor. "Anyway, Naruto, Hinata, we should probably head inside, Shikamaru must be wondering why we're taking so long."
"S-Sure," said Hinata, relieved that they were off the rather uncomfortable topic. Still she was worried about Naruto's reaction to the pictures. In her eyes, he seemed a little too excited at the idea of Ino modeling swimsuits. 'What would he say,' she thought as they started to walk towards the front door, 'If I was in the magazine? She shook her head rapidly, desperate to remove such embarrassing and strange thoughts from her mind. Pictures of herself in bikinis in the hands of every police officer in the city? She'd die of shame, if her clan didn't kill her first.
"If I know Shikamaru, I don't think he's thinking of us at all right now." Naruto said as he started to read the first of the articles in the magazine entitled 'For Every Criminal, There's a Officer Waiting to Bust Them'.
7th Precinct Headquarters, Evening
'The clouds look so nice today,' thought Shikamaru as he watched the fluffy white clouds roll by overhead. He was at peace, but he knew deep inside that it wouldn't last. There was always something that would interrupt him, always something...
"Hey Shikamaru!" ...And there it was. Yamanaka Ino's voice was loud, very loud. Shikamaru closed his eyes wearily. 'And to think that things were so peaceful' thought Shikamaru. Was it karma? What had he done to not deserve an hour or two of cloud gazing and naps?
"Come on Shika, I hav-" the sudden silence forced Shikamaru to crack open an eye, to search for his childhood friend. His father, her father and Choji's father had been an unstoppable team of police officers back in their day, so when their children were born, they were put together from day one, in the hopes of creating the next generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio. What he saw caused him to open both eyes wide in shock.
'Am I dreaming?' It seemed the karma was in his favor today. Ino had been restrained by a tree, it's wooden tendrils binding her arms and legs to the trunk of the tree. As he watched, a gag made of leaves descended on a vine and was tied in place by two more roots, effectively stopping and silencing the blonde haired girl.
'This is almost too good to be true, if only...' As the sounds of footsteps approached, and greetings from his other friends surrounded him, Shikamaru watched with interest as they were snared in the same manner. As one, the trees rotated, turning the pleading looks of his friends away from him, allowing him some true peace in the middle of a ring of short trees. They fenced off the surrounding field, leaving him with an uninterrupted view of the sky.
Pure bliss.
Suddenly, one of the trees disintegrated into sawdust, tearing his eyes away from the beautiful white clouds in the sapphire sky. An angry pinkette had freed herself from her binds, dragging behind her a terrified Naruto and Hinata, the former of which was discretely motioning with his hands, telling Shikamaru to run if he wished to live.
Shikamaru turned his gaze back to the sky. "All good things must come to an-Ouch!" The lazy officer felt a painful punch land on the top of his head and found himself falling through the grassy field, as the cloudy sky started to fade. He landed hard on the thin carpeted floor of the 7th Precinct as his chair rotated idly above him, next to which was a fuming Sakura, a wide eyed Naruto and a horrified Hinata, who was gazing at him with concern with her hands over her mouth.
Shikamaru focused once again on his pink haired partner. "Shikamaru, what have I told you about sleeping on the job?" said Sakura, deceptively calm as a vein pulsed on her forehead.
The young man on the floor rolled on to his back and sighed. "Women, so very, very troublesome."
"What was that?"
7th Precinct Headquarters, Night
The team of crime stoppers were sitting on the circular couch in the officers' break room, sipping their coffees while Shikamaru grumbled and nursed the two large painful bumps on his head. The place was small but comfortable and warmly lit. "Alright let's begin with a summary of the evidence," said Sakura. "Since we have evidence from the first five murders and because you only know about the last two, we'll start."
As Naruto and Hinata nodded their agreement, Sakura began. "The first of the murders began a month ago with the murder of Chizou Furaku, one of Takami Sayu's lieutenants during what we believed to be a business deal gone wrong. The man was killed by three senbon, one to the wrist and one each to the heart and neck. About five days later the second victim appeared and the next three after that in no recognizable pattern."
Shikamaru, after taking a sip of coffee, picked up the narrative. "The sixth victim, Hideto Ryuuji, is where you guys were called in. This man was killed in the same manner as the others, yet as was with the previous three or so victims, the man was not found near or inside an establishment that the were in charge of. The killer had gotten smarter, and lured her victims to unrelated locations to either throw us off or trick the victim for some reason. The last victim was Nakajima Yumi. We know her to be the person in charge of Takami Sayu's 'red light zone' businesses due to several raids in the past. She was found outside one of the places where she had an office. As with the previous six victims, she too had an envelope on her person that was empty, which we know contained cash, as residual inks the forensic team found on the inside of the envelopes confirmed. After this, we are at a loss."
"How about you Naruto? What did you find out?" the pinkette questioned as she sipped her vanilla latte and glanced over to the detective team seated on the opposite side of the circular couch.
Naruto placed his finished espresso cup next to his copy of Police Precinct Weekly on the small coffee table in the center of the circular couch. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on top of his legs and resting his chin in both palms. "Hinata-chan and I returned to the office after you gave us copies of the evidence from the murder of Hideto Ryuuji. After careful analysis, we discovered the senbon were made of uncooked ramen noodles infused with chakra for extra penetrative power."
Hinata looked ready to say something before she closed her mouth and allowed Naruto to continue. He was the one who made the discovery and yet he was sharing the credit. 'I didn't even do much on this case.' she thought sadly. Naruto looked at her curiously before continuing.
"A little while after, I went to have a chat with Takami Sayu."
"What! Naruto, are you that stupid? You can't trust a word that comes out of that vile snakes' mouth!" yelled Sakura. The temperature of the room seemed to drop a few degrees.
All was silent, and Hinata, Sakura and Shikamaru gazed at the eerily still blonde, who's eyes were hidden by the shadows cast by the strands of yellow hair that fell across his brow. They jumped when he spoke.
"Don't call her that." he said quietly, a menacing undertone accompanying his words.
"S-Sorry," said Sakura, uncharacteristically nervous. 'Why is he so defensive of Takami Sayu? Did she get to him? Convince him that she was innocent through some sob story?'
Sakura glanced at Hinata while the blonde tiredly rubbed a hand over his face. Those white eyes seemed to say "I'll tell you later."
She nodded in response and turned her attention back to Naruto, who had composed himself. Shikamaru looked at him curiously as he grinned weakly. "Uh, shall we keep going?"
As the others nodded, he continued. "I went to have a chat with Takami Sayu, and she told me all about the various murders and how they occurred. Apparently, a person had been calling the heads of her various businesses asking for a loan to restart their failing restaurant. They agreed to push Takami's 'products' through if they brought the money with them when they met. However as Takami started to wise up to this tactic, the killer began to change her story, so that Takami couldn't refuse a meeting with a client in case they were honestly meeting with that specific head of business to discuss terms. She would start to lose money if she started rejecting every proposal, and so she was up against a wall."
"I see. So, how do you she wasn't lying? What if she was the one killing her own for some unknown purpose?" asked Shikamaru.
"Well, what would she gain by doing that? She seemed genuinely upset-" he was interrupted by a derisive snort from Sakura. "Okay, she seemed very irritated by the fact that someone was killing her best men and women. Also, the killer claimed the bounty on the victims heads a few hours after each murder. Even criminals have an honor code of sorts and those in the same organization would not collect the bounty on a fellow members head unless they had been killed for betrayal. Takami was furious that someone was collecting the bounty."
"I suppose that make sense," muttered Shikamaru, deep in thought. "But why do you trust her so implicitly?"
Naruto waved his hands in front of himself rapidly. "Oh no, no, I don't trust her that much. But, she seemed sincere and well, she gave me this." his hand reached up to minutely readjust his dark green goggles.
Sakura squinted at his forehead and her eyebrows raised in surprise. "How did I miss that? I haven't seen those goggles in years. What was she doing with them?"
"Uh... She had them all this time... It happened during our days at the orphanage..."
'The orphanage? Is that really why he defended her earlier? Because he knew her in the past?' Sakura's growing suspicion skyrocketed with this little clue. 'I better keep an eye on his involvement with Takami in the future. Naruto is naive enough to believe that the bonds between friends last forever, and Takami is sure to exploit that.'
"Alright, continue Naruto," said Sakura, shelving the issue for the moment. "We need to finish this meeting soon, I've got an early start tomorrow."
"Right. During my chat with Say- Takami, Hinata-chan here found out something of interest." he motioned to the dark haired girl next to him, prompting her to speak. "Tell them what happened."
Hinata blushed as all eyes turned on her. She wasn't used to be the center of attention, and when she was, she felt very uncomfortable. She looked to Naruto and he gave her a grin, an encouraging grin that said he had faith in her. She felt confidence rising in her chest, an alien feeling as she began.
"W-Well I was waiting for Naruto-kun to get back when I noticed a group of civilians walking down the street towards our Agency. My Byakugan was active and I noticed that the group had rather well developed chakra networks for civilians. And then at the front of the group, I noticed someone who was carrying a pair of senbon infused with chakra that were very similar to the senbon used in the murders. The amount used and the chakra signature itself was a roughly ninety five percent match."
Naruto, who was satisfied that Hinata was fine without him, picked up his cup and made his way over to the coffee machine in the corner. As he made his second cup of espresso, Hinata continued after a brief pause as Naruto looked over and nodded in reassurance.
"...The civilians were part of a self-defense class that developed basic chakra control and taught them to use light weaponry like senbon and kunai. I then asked them to present their weapons for inspection and during the hubbub, the person with the murderers senbon escaped down an alley. All I can tell you is that it was a young woman, in her twenties, wearing a white shirt and a white bandanna and she had brown hair. I didn't see her face."
She once again looked at Naruto, who was struggling with the machine, trying to figure out how it worked. He glanced up and gave her a big thumbs up before his face twisted into a comical look of frustration as he succeeded in filling his cup to the brim with sugar.
Hinata giggled behind her hand, prompting Sakura to turn around. She slapped her forehead and raised her eyes to the heavens, a grin of exasperation on her lips. She got up to help him, and Hinata slowly sat down, disappointed. She had wanted to help Naruto-kun and had even started to get up...
Sakura made her way over to Naruto, gently pushing his hand away from the cup and emptying it into the bin. She then began to instruct him on the proper way to use the coffee machine, and he grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and nodding as he watched and learned.
Shikamaru turned back to face Hinata, snapping her out of her disappointed daze with a few quiet words. "You haven't told him yet, have you?"
"Huh? I-I... H-How...?"
"I know. It's obvious from the way you interact with him, and I think he knows it too, subconsciously at the most. Have you noticed how he doesn't chase Sakura around as much as he used to? But he needs to be told directly, he is a male and a rather dense one at that."
Hinata smiled. "I hope your right Shikamaru-san. But I'm not sure if I can..."
"When you're ready, you will. Even though your chances look pretty good, if he isn't on the same page as you are yet, at least you can rest easy, knowing that he knows, that you summoned up the courage to tell him and you won't spend your life thinking 'If only...'"
"Thank you." The pair shared a smile and glanced back at the detective and the officer. They were smiling and Naruto was holding a steaming cup of espresso. Sakura gave him an affectionate bop on the head before leading the way back to the couch.
'I hope that day comes soon.'
Ichiraku Ramen, Night
It was late and Ayame was exhausted. After seeing off her best customers, she had waited one hour past closing time for any late night commuters after a nice hot meal, but to no avail.
She sighed wistfully. 'Business is slow tonight, just like last night and the night before.' She placed the last of the cooking pots inside the dishwasher and pressed the start button. She then proceeded to wipe down the counter, humming a nameless tune as she worked. Within moments, the small ramen stand was spotless, the various work surfaces gleaming like the day they had been installed. She grinned a small satisfied grin. Father would be pleased with how she'd been looking after the stand in his absence. He was returning from his chefs' conference in the next town in a little while, and she wanted everything to be perfect for when he got back.
She stretched and yawned widely, rolling her shoulders and appreciating Naruto's talent for massaging even more. Her shoulders no longer felt tight and her spine was relaxed, no longer tight and uncomfortable as it had been for the past few days.
Ayame reached out to the wooden folding doors to lock up for the night when she felt a sharp stab of pain at the base of her neck. She quickly clutched at the spot, wincing as the pain intensified. It felt like a dozen burning needles were being shoved into her neck.
As quickly as it started, the pain stopped. She gingerly probed the area, wary of setting off another wave of pain. She recalled Naruto saying there was a tattoo there, but she didn't remember getting one, though for some reason, she was convinced she had gotten a tattoo. She even knew in her mind what it looked like, though she was sure she'd never seen that design in a mirror. It was very confusing.
Her musings were interrupted by a strange voice. A strange voice that came out of nowhere and yet was talking to her. "Ayame... Do you remember what it felt like to kill? To kill another human being?"
Her eyes widened and she looked around for the source of the creepy voice. She could hear it in her mind, but it wasn't possible to hear voices in her head out of the blue like this right?
"W-Who are you? Where are you?"
"I am with you, yet not by your side. I am in your mind, yet I am elsewhere at the same time. My name is not important. What is important is that you remember what you have done."
"Remember wha-" she clutched her head as a multitude of images filled her mind. As if watching some sick first person horror film, she watched as seven men and women were murdered, by her hand.
"What is this? I don't understand, why are you showing me this?"
"These are the people you murdered. You killed them for money, using a simple extortion scheme I planted in your mind. Later, you collected the bounty money on their heads, all just to stop your restaurant from going bankrupt."
"But this restaurant isn't going bankrupt! What are you-" she yelped in pain, her hand clamped around the burning brand the tattoo had become. The disembodied voice spoke again.
"Everything I say is true Ayame. I held back the memories to keep suspicion off you, but that detective seems to have figured it out."
'Detective?' "Are you talking about Naruto?"
"Yes. My informant at the precinct has reported that Detective Uzumaki is on the verge of a breakthrough. He was in his 'pensive' mood."
"So what do I do?"
"Listen very closely..."
7th Precinct Headquarters, Night
Naruto gaze was fixed on the still black surface of his espresso, but those who were present knew he was far away, hidden inside the complex mire that was his mind. Sakura whispered to Hinata and Shikamaru, careful to not disturb the detective. Too much noise, and all those ideas and thoughts flew away like leaves in the wind.
"So, who do we have on our suspect list?" Shikamaru pulled out a sheet of paper from the case file.
"As it stands right now, we suspect nearly everyone who is involved with noodles or ramen. This ranges from the ramen chefs to the noodle factory employees. We-"
"I've solved it, dattebayo." The trio around the couch instantly went silent at those words. While usually said with a bit more exuberance, that phrase meant that he was absolutely sure he had definitely cracked the case. And he was always right, no matter how far fetched his explanation may be.
"Go on, Naruto." said Sakura, leaning forward with anticipation. After a month on the case, she was looking forward to closing it.
"The person who killed the seven lieutenants of Takami Sayu is Ayame, the waitress at Ichiraku Ramen."
"What?" Hinata, Sakura and Shikamaru exclaimed simultaneously.
"It was Ayame-chan. She is the killer."
Outside the break room, carefully concealing her chakra signature for the entire duration of the meeting stood a short, blonde haired woman. She pushed up her glasses and closed her eyes, channeling chakra into the base of her neck, where a small tattoo was nestled inconspicuously. The black ink glowed a faint yellow before she felt the mental connection with her master.
"Master, he has identified the killer."
"Is that so? Thank you. You have performed well tonight. I will suppress your memories for now, until I need you again."
"Until next time master." she whispered. She quickly made her way to the back door and let herself out, counting down from thirty as she walked. She unlocked her car and slid into the front seat.
'3, 2, 1...' her eyes went blank and she slumped at the wheel. As if waking from a dream, she blearily opened her eyes and glanced around.
"Huh? What am I doing here? I must have dozed off! Thank goodness I wasn't driving when it happened. I need stop working so late, it's messing with my internal clock." she turned the key in the ignition, placed her foot on the accelerator, and drove off into the night.
Back inside the break room, Naruto was explaining his reasoning. "Ayame-chan works in a ramen bar. That means she'd have knowledge on how to make fresh noodles, as they sometimes do for special dishes. Furthermore, Hinata-chan saw a girl carrying the exact type of senbon we were after, who was wearing a white shirt and a white bandana - Ayame-chan's waitress uniform. Ayame-chan had been returning from a self defense class, which explains her skills with senbon as Sae- as I saw when I went to Ichiraku's for lunch. She managed to pin a flying washcloth down with two senbon faster than I could see."
"I suppose that's reasonable but this is circumstantial at best Naruto." Detective Uzumaki held a finger to Sakura's lips and continued.
"I'm not finished. When I borrowed a scroll on molding chakra into weapons, I happened to see the list of previous borrowers at the end of the scroll. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but Ayames' name was on that list, a couple names above mine. And while this next bit truly is circumstantial, Ayame-chan looked really tired during my visit, like she hadn't been sleeping well. Considering that the murders took place in the early hours of the morning, I think that at least warrants suspicion."
"I-I think he's right. All of the facts seem to fit the evidence." murmured Hinata.
"I'm not entirely convinced, but given Naruto's track record, I think we should take a look."
Sakura nodded to the lazy officer. "Yeah, let's go check it out."
Naruto glanced up at the faces of his friends, a sad expression on his own. "We'll start at Ichiraku's but I really hope I'm wrong."
Main Street, Night
Sakura was driving at top speed, her blaring siren parting the sea of cars on the large road. She pressed the accelerator further into the carpet, the sleek police cruiser sliding through the gaps in the traffic at top speed. Naruto and Hinata were in the back while Shikamaru was riding shotgun.
Sakura addressed Naruto. "Are you sure you want to be here? I know she's you friend and all so this might be hard on you."
Naruto sighed wistfully, resting his head against the cool glass of the tinted window. "Sakura, I have seen and experienced things far worse than this. All I want is to know is why. If I don't find out the reason why she did all this, I won't be able to sleep soundly for a very long time."
Sakura nodded imperceptibly, her pink locks barely moving from the gentle action. She knew that feeling all too well and was determined to save Naruto from it. Putting on a burst of speed, she finally spotted Ichiraku Ramen, illuminated in a pool of amber light from a overhead street lamp. The time had come. The truth would be revealed.
Ichiraku Ramen, Midnight
"...When I leave your mind, all evidence of my presence will be erased. Unfortunately, you were only a tool with which to complete my objectives. You have my thanks though for services rendered. Rest assured that you did a great job, if not perfect. There were still a few more of Takami's people I needed to 'convince' you to kill. Oh well..."
A laugh echoed through the brunettes' mind, and her panicked, terrified look took on an indignant edge. "That's not helping me! I'm better off telling Naruto everything! He'll believe me, he'll find out who you are!"
The sound of a police siren broke through the silence of the night, growing closer with each passing moment. "As I said before, as far as you know, I never existed. All you shall be left with are some false memories that say you murdered those all those people of you own accord."
"But how-"
"Goodbye Ayame, it was a pleasure doing business with you." Suddenly, the brand on the back of her neck began to burn, and she clutched at her neck in agony, tears flowing down her face as she screamed out for help.
Outside the cruiser slid to a halt, skidding across the tarmac for a good five meters before stopping in front of the restaurant in a perfect parallel park. Naruto was the first one to exit the vehicle. "Sakura, can you give me a few minutes with her? I need to know why she did it. Besides, she'll talk to me, she trusts me. She knows I'm a friend."
"Fine, do your thing, just yell when you're finished or if she makes a break for it." replied the irate pinkette. Detective Uzumaki nodded, motioning for Hinata to wait as he slammed the door shut. She slumped disappointedly in her seat, although she understood it was for the best. In times of stress, first time killers responded better to people they knew, and having more than one person against them in the room could cause them to lash out in fear and panic. She watched as Naruto ducked under the curtains, praying he would be alright.
As he entered, the screaming that his keen ears had picked up from inside the police car grew louder. He recognized the voice and cautiously traced it back behind the counter. There he was met by the sight of Ayame curled up on the floor in a fetal position, holding her neck as her screams of pain slowly quieted down to pitiful moans.
His eyes widening, he appeared at the side of his precious person instantaneously, gently maneuvering her head onto his lap. He rolled Ayame onto her back, making sure her head was elevated off the ground and on his leg. He stroked her dark brown hair as she squinted through the pain coursing from her mark. "W-Who's there?"
"It's me, Naruto."
"Naruto-kun?" her eyes widened and she clutched desperately to the front of his jacket. "Naruto-kun, there's something I have to tell you, before he makes me forget!"
'Who's 'he'?' thought Naruto."What is it?"
"I didn't- ugh!" Ayame stiffened and her eyes went blank. All traces of emotion fell from her features, the panic and anxiety from a few moments ago cast away like water off a ducks' back.
"Ayame-chan!" the brunette slowly sat up, blinking as she started to re-orientate herself. As she sat up, Naruto found himself staring at the weird tattoo, which was glowing a faint yellow and quickly fading, erasing itself from her skin.
"Naruto-kun, what am I doing on the floor?" she asked in a monotone. She glanced back at him with a confused expression on her face. Naruto replied with a shocked look of his own.
"Don't you remember? A moment ago I found you in pain on the ground, holding your neck and screaming! And then you tried to tell me something and you went all stiff and expressionless..." Ayame shook her head.
"I-I don't remember. But I do have something to tell you Naruto-kun," she stood up slowly and gazed down at him. "I killed those people. I killed the people who worked for Takami Sayu."
Naruto sighed and hoisted himself back onto his feet. He didn't understand what was going on, but he was getting what he came for. "But why?" he asked.
"Money," she replied simply. "Ichiraku's isn't doing so well these days and we... I thought this was the only way."
"We? Is old man Teuchi in on this as well?"
"No! I meant me! He doesn't know, and when he asked once or twice where the extra money was coming from, I told him it was from part time jobs like cleaning and babysitting."
Naruto rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "So you admit to it huh? I guess I was right, no matter how badly I wished I was wrong." he ducked under the curtains and motioned to Sakura, who quickly exited her vehicle followed by Hinata. Shikamaru opted to remain in the car, not wanting to involve himself in messy emotional matters such as this. As Naruto turned back to Ayame, he was surprised to find her standing directly in front of him, tears coursing down her cheeks.
She held out her arms and he embraced her. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." she whispered in his ear. Naruto did not respond with words, instead holding her tighter as her tears began to soak his jacket.
"I'll take it from here Naruto." Naruto stepped aside, releasing Ayame as Sakura handcuffed the brunette and led her back to the squad car. A quick trial and a long sentence in jail were all she could look forward to. After seating Ayame in the back seat of the car, Sakura nodded to Naruto and Hinata, who was standing next to the blonde and holding his hand as the squad car began to pull away. Ayame gazed back at the pair through the back window and smiled sadly. Naruto returned the smile, watching as the vehicle slowly disappeared into the night.
He jumped when a taxi pulled up to the curb and Ayame's father stepped out of the front passenger seat. Collecting his bags from the trunk, he noticed Naruto and Hinata and gave the two a bright smile.
"Ah, a welcoming committee! Good to see you Naruto, Hinata-san! Is Ayame-chan around?"
"I have something to tell you Teuchi. Do you .?docid=27328961ind walking with me?" As the two stepped around the corner, Hinata sighed. Poor Naruto had lost another of his precious people, and she knew how much Ayame meant to him. After all, she was the one who introduced an eight year old Naruto to ramen when she found him wandering the streets, starving and scared soon after he got his own apartment.
Around the side of the restaurant, Naruto had finished his tale, and was anxiously awaiting Teuchi's response. "I understand if you're angry, or if you hate me and you have every right to do so."
Teuchi glanced at him, shocked that he had said such a thing. "Naruto, there's nothing you could say that would make me hate you, unless you told me my ramen was terrible."
Failing to lift the downcast expression of the young man in front of him, Teuchi sighed and continued. "You were just doing your job, and what she was doing had to be stopped. I'm sad that things turned out like this, but I'm glad that you were the one to stop her, and not one of those shoot first, ask questions later type police officers."
"Thank you Teuchi," he bowed to the older man. "How will you cope without Ayame-chan? She told me you were struggling to keep the restaurant open. Is there anything I can do?"
"Just stop by like you usually do and keep me company eh? I'll get lonely working in the kitchen all by myself."
"I promise." replied Naruto. With that, he waved goodbye and returned to Hinata. Teuchi watched him go, his forced smile slipping from his face.
'Naruto, if I allowed you to help, you wouldn't like what you'd have to do, but I know that you'd do it. A selfless boy like yourself, who only thinks of others would stop coming by my restaurant if I asked you to, not that I would of course. So to spare your feelings, I'm afraid you can't help me. The next few years are going to be very difficult.' shaking his head, Teuchi entered his ramen stand from the back entrance, preparing to go home for the night and visit his daughter in jail first thing in the morning.
Uzumaki ~ Detective Chronicles: Case One - The Innocent Killer