The SEAL'S Kiss

Celestia193's Author's Note: I'm sure that some of you were hoping for an epic final showdown. And while I think that it's pretty epic, well…it's probably a little different to how you might expect Danzo to go out. Then again, I think it's pretty fitting. So, enjoy! And remember that pissing off a SEAL is bad for your health.

Chapter 20

"Damn it!" How could they have failed again? Danzo quickly changes his clothes and begins putting on his disguise. "Damn Hiashi and those meddling SEALS!" This should have been easy, but instead the elderly congressman was now running for his freedom!

They didn't have any proof. Not yet. "They'll find something though." Hopefully, he had covered his tracks well enough that it would take awhile. Still, he was liquidating his assets in preparation for leaving the country, something that he had to do as quickly as reasonably possible. There was no room for mistakes.

"And my disguise looks suitable enough." He had put on a long silver haired wig and some sunglasses. Underneath the sunglasses were a pair of blue contacts. "This should trick anyone." Besides that he was now wearing a Hawaiian shirt and some blue pants.

In other words, he looked absolutely ridiculous. Which was about as far from a respectable Senator as he could get at the moment. "That should be everything." He stuffs more documents into his suit case. Forged identification, but forged to perfection as he quickly heads to his door.

Shikamaru brings up a map on the large screen, glowing dots pulsing all over it. "Alright, so I categorized it all by color." He yawns loudly, shaking himself back awake. He was running on what felt like his hundredth cup of coffee today, but he finally managed to compile an entire list of buildings, both public and private, associated with Danzo, or owned privately by the wealthy senator. "Red means that there's been no sign of activity there in at least ten years. Orange means that there's been no sign of activity in at least five years. Yellow is two years. And green means that there is utilities wired into the place currently, or there have been in the last two years."

Fugaku frowns at the map, watching as the little rainbow of dots flash from dozens of places all over the country. "That is quite a lot of possibilities." There had to be at least one in almost every state, and most of the green dots were to be found on the east coast.

"Given that he's struck the capitol at least twice, it's probably somewhere fairly close." Madara couldn't imagine organizing those attempts from far away with such a small time gap between them, otherwise. "It's possible it was orchestrated on the other side of the country or on foreign soil, but I doubt it."

"I agree." Shikamaru wasn't the only one looking tired. Shikaku was similarly fatigued by the long hours put into tracking down Danzo. Yet another week had passed, and though they were inching closer to finding him, there had been no sign of him yet. "I think that we should focus our attention on the states immediately surrounding Washington, and to a lesser extent, up and down the east coast."

Well, that's where most of the green dots were, so Fugaku was inclined to agree. After all, if you were housing a small army of assassins, they would need a place to eat and sleep. That required water and electricity. "I doubt that he would situate them within the city, or too closely to us." That would just be foolish, and Danzo would never be able to get away if he was too deep in his enemy's territory.

"He'd still want them within striking range though." Madara frowns. Perhaps, not within the capital, but almost certainly close by.

"Then that would leave Virginia and Maryland as the most likely places." Shikamaru zooms in the map, narrowing the selection area to three states, and only a half-dozen green dots. "Any of those look like they would be what we're looking for?"

That did narrow it down a lot, but not enough. "It could be any of those, but Bethesda would seem like a prime spot." At least that's where Madara would have made his own base, if their roles were reversed.

"Bethesda…?" Shikaku frowns. It was just to the north-west of Washington, but far enough away that it wouldn't be the first place someone would look for assassins. "I'll add that to my calculations for an escape route." After all, if the base of operations was in the east, then there were only so many places that connected to the southern border.

Fugaku sighs, not in relief, but in something…almost like the beginnings of it. It looked like they were slowly inching their way towards finding their target. "I will send agents to each location and ask that the FBI do the same." Perhaps, together, by using a blanket method, they might be able to catch Danzo in a trap. The noose was slowly shrinking.

"That would be best." Madara nods. "Don't worry, Fugaku. We'll get this bastard."

"Yes." Fugaku smirks dryly. "I do look forward to seeing him in orange." It was a rather ghastly color, and he had no idea why Naruto liked it so much, but he had to admit that he was rather eager to see the senator brought down. Especially with the bits and pieces that SHikaku was turning up about the senator's backroom dealings.

Madara laughs at that image. "Well truthfully, the man looks horrible in any color." Orange would look positively awful on him. "Though I quite agree with the sentiment."

Fugaku nods, turning to Shikaku, who stands in front of a monitor on the opposite wall. "You said earlier this morning that you had found evidence, not of attempted assassinations, but of other…questionable activities?" The more that they could nail Danzo with, the better. And with the digital age, paper trails were becoming much harder to destroy, especially if you had technical geniuses working to uncover all of your dirty little secrets.

"The man is too smart to leave much of a paper trail. It'd be almost impossible to confirm any of this without getting them to testify, but the man has his hand in a lot of honeypots so to speak." Shikaku sighs at the thought. "He's almost certainly involved in Pay to Play, gambling, the sale of weapons, drug trade, and...potentially something about an escort service."

That…was enough to put the man away for the rest of his short life. He'd die in prison, even without the assassinations to pin on him. And that nestled a feeling of great satisfaction in Fugaku's gut. "Good work, Shikaku. Do what you can to try and find his escape route. And Shikamaru, pick up where your father left off and try to find more concrete evidence to pin to Danzo." The former senator would rue the day he picked a fight with the Uchiha, and Fugaku would make sure that the man was buried deep in his sins.

"I'll do my best." Shikamaru nods at that, already mulling over potential ways to confirm their suspicions.

"Thank you for your assistance, Agents." Fugaku could feel it, like the solution to all of their current problems was on the horizon. Now, they just had to make the effort to sprint to said horizon to grab it.

Danzo smirks as he finally arrives at the meeting place. He would ensure that no loose ends were left. That mean that those who had failed him would be dead within the hour. "Well it seems that we've been discovered or are about to be discovered. So we are all leaving the country." He sets down a glass of wine for all his subordinates. "A toast to new endeavors."

Though finding the gesture to be odd, one of the few remaining members of ROOT, Dajimu takes his own glass, as his partner Tera does the same. "We are leaving, Sir?"

"Yes, after we've had a drink and I've had time to pass out your new identities." Passports, birth certificates, and the like. Anything they would need to function in society.

Tera nods quietly. After all, any order, or suggestion, given by Danzo was to be followed absolutely. "Of course, Sir." Though it did confuse him that they were leaving so readily when all of Danzo's ambitions lay here. Had the situation truly grown so dangerous?

One by one, the assassins toast the future, and each begins to drink the strong red wine given to them. After all, Danzo was their leader, and what he commanded was their law. So, if he bid them to drink with him, they would drink.

"To the future." He smiles at them. "Fools." Danzo's voice was barely more than a whisper a minute later. "Never drink from a glass you did not pour yourself!" He was an old man. Danzo could never have possibly hoped to kill them all through any other method. Poison. That was how he would tie up these loose ends. (Or perhaps dead ends was more accurate).

It took only a few minutes, as Danzo was handing out the 'new identities', that the first few of the remaining half-dozen assassins began to feel the effects of the poison. Tera. "Ah…Sir?" He hadn' felt like this earlier, and he wasn't prone to sudden bouts of sickness. "I believe…that the wine may have soured." Though such a thing shouldn't have happened, maybe…

Dajimu stares at Tera blankly, not understanding what could be making his partner so ill, until he began to feel his own stomach churning. "The wine…?" Surely their employer wouldn't give them spoiled wine. But he had drunk it too. "Lord Danzo, forgive me, I should have tasted the wine first."

"Oh I don't have to forgive you for spoiled wine, but I won't forgive failure." He smirks as he watches them. "It was poisoned. You're all useless to me and thus, I'm afraid I have to take out the trash."

"L-Lord Danzo?" Tera's eyes widen as his legs slowly begin to go numb and, unable to support him, buckle as he falls to the floor. "W-why?" They hadn't failed yet! They were still alive, they could try again, it wasn't over yet! "P-please…" He could hear his fellows dropping one by one to the floor, proof that every single one of them had been hit. "H-help us…"

"I'll say a prayer for you all." That was the only help that he would offer them at this point.

The assassins all lay on the floor, slowly dying, unable to comprehend why their master had tossed them away like…like they were nothing. Limbs went limp, and breathing became labored. But none of them could even muster the energy, or the anger needed to scream. They were dying slowly, quietly, their bodies being torn apart from within as the lethargy set in.

He shakes his head. "A shame, they all came so highly recommended." Though Danzo didn't have time to dwell on that. He needed to flee the country immediately! With that thought in mind, he races to the door in his new disguise and with his suitcase in hand. It was time to go!

Shisui kneels, touching his fingers to the neck of one of the bodies lying on the floor. No pulse, though the body was still warm. Either they were the best fakers in the world, or they were only recently dead. And he would bet his whole month's salary, no, his whole year's salary on the latter. Someone was cutting their losses, and making sure that there was no one left who could testify against them.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who. "Danzo." Damn it! "He beat us here." Which meant that Shisui's team was at least ten to twenty minutes behind the man. Fortunately, there was only so fast that an old man could move.

We were too late. The snake beat us here and disposed of all the rats. The bodies are still warm, so he shouldn't be too far. ~ Shisui

I see. Have the team scour the area, look for any evidence that you can find. I'll let Shikaku and Shikamaru know that it was Bethesda, and they can track his likely escape route from there. ~ Fugaku

Understood. ~ Shisui

Well, that made everything a whole lot harder. And here, Shisui was hoping that he would be able to arrest the son of a bitch who almost got his cousin killed. "Alright, fan out from here and look for anything that might tell us where the perpetrator went, and whether there is anything that can connect Danzo Shimura to the victims." Because that's what they were. Victims. Even if they were trained to kill people, these were Danzo's victims from start to finish.

"Damn it!" Fugaku really wanted to break something right about now, but doing that in his home office was a very bad idea. They had been so close. They had found Danzo's hideout, his assassins…but the ghosts were all just that, ghosts, and their killer was now on the loose. They were so CLOSE!

"The fact that the bodies were still warm means we're on his trail." Izuna looks at Fugaku comfortingly. "And he won't be able to leave the country easily. We'll find him."

Fugaku shakes his head. "I know. I've set up every roadblock possible, and yet, he continues to slip through my fingers like water." It was frustrating and humiliating, and exceedingly dangerous. "Yes, we're getting closer, but close isn't enough."

Izuna nods in understanding. He could feel, practically taste Fugaku's frustration. "He's on the run now." Because it mirrored his own.

"Yes, and we have to chase him." And Fugaku hated having to chase people. It was a race, and that meant that there was a chance that they could lose. And losing was not an option. He looks to the president, not bothering to hide his frustration. "I'm sorry, Hiashi. I'd hoped that we could have caught the man by now, but…" There was just no helping that he seemed to be one step ahead at every turn.

"Danzo is not an easy man to catch." Hiashi sighs and shakes his head. "No one else but this team could have ever hoped to get this far."

"Perhaps." But that made it no easier a pill to swallow. Fugaku was certain that Danzo planned to disappear completely. At least…for a while. But there was no telling whether or not he would be up to his old tricks again. "Hiashi…you should know that there are additional crimes that we'll be charging Danzo with, in addition to attempted assassination." Assuming, of course, that they could catch him. "It seems that we've had a crime lord sitting in the senate for over a decade."

He frowns at that. On one hand, it should shock him. "I see. Well that's all the more reason to catch him." On the other hand, it almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that Danzo would be involved in such unsavory activities.

Fugaku nods. "We will do our best." That was all that he could promise, because this was one slippery snake. And not a friendly one, like the one that roamed the gardens of the White House. "But with him on the run, returning your family to the White House should be safe." He doubted that an old man could mount an attack on that place alone.

"Yes, that seems like a good idea." He chuckles. "Despite how our children will likely traumatize the staff."

"If the staff haven't been traumatized yet, then Sasuke and Itachi are clearly doing something wrong." It was a silly joke, but one that helped to calm the director's nerves. "We'll likely see a wedding or two within the next three years. Five at the very most." But he honestly thought that even three was pushing it, it would probably take even less time than that, judging by how those four were carrying on.

Hiashi chuckles at that. "Yes, a wedding in the Rose Garden." The public would love that. "And Aoda can be the ring bearer." He guffaws at the thought.

"And Naruto would likely try to claim the position of Best Man, having known Sasuke…well, almost since birth." Which would be rather interesting, seeing off his former lover into marriage. Fugaku was…almost intrigued by the possibility of seeing THAT little spectacle. "I remember the first time that the two of them met. They fell asleep in Naruto's cradle together." And it was so sweet that no one could bear to wake them up. "I certainly hope that the grandchildren are that close."

"Perhaps it would be best not to mention such details to Hinata." Normally, such things would be cute but considering the boy's history with Naruto, well no one liked hearing such things. About their lover's bond with their exes.

"I won't. But you must admit that our wives are quite right on one point." Fugaku smiles slyly. "The grandchildren will be quite adorable. And judging by how noisy the White House seems to be at night, well…I imagine that we'll be seeing quite a few of them."

He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Yes, I'm quite certain they will be." Fugaku's sons were certainly...affectionate.

After playfully teasing the president for awhile longer, Fugaku drives to the guest house. "Damn traffic." Sasuke had to be briefed on this. So naturally, traffic was being well irritating. He must have run at least two red lights. (Which obviously wasn't something that anyone should do and he normally would have given his children quite the tongue lashing for such an action, but this was an emergency).

Mercifully, he manages to make it to the guest house in one peace where he knocks on Sasuke's door. He could only hope that he hadn't come at an awkward moment.

After a few long moments, the door opens, and a pajama-clad Sasuke appears. "Father? What is it?" What was his father doing here at the guest house? They weren't having another meeting, were they?

"The good news is we found a fresh lead." He sighs and shakes his head. "The bad news is that Danzo managed to slip through our fingers and is obviously trying to flee the country."

Sasuke stills like a statue. "…You found his trail?" Then he had to act, fast. "Do we know where he's headed?" If they did, then he could leave now and intercept. There was no motorcycle faster than his Suzuki. And most standard cars would have trouble keeping one in sight at top speed.

"Not yet, but we're in the process of determining that." He pauses and adds. "He killed his employees. They were poisoned we believe." That had to be it. There were no marks on them. "Their bodies were still warm when we found them."

The there was still a trail to follow, good. "When you find out, let me kn-" Sasuke blinks, his eyes falling to his father's pocket. "Your phone is vibrating."

"One second." He picks up his phone and answers it. "Fugaku Uchiha speaking."

"Florida. He's going to take a boat from Tampa to Cancun." Shikaku's voice echoes through the phone, sounding very tired. "We managed to find a dealer in the city that transports merchandise to and from Tampa."

"Excellent!" Fugaku grins in triumph. "How quickly can we get someone to chase him?"

"I'm already contacting local law enforcement in Richmond to set up blockades around the city. By my calculations, he should be there in about an hour if he left Washington within half an hour of the deaths." It had involved quite a lot of math and probability, but it's what he and Shikamaru had come up with as part of the most likely route, considering Danzo's meticulous personality, his age, and his desire to sneak out unnoticed. After all, you could only travel so fast if you weren't trying to draw attention to yourself.

"Wonderful. Keep me posted!" They might have actually got him. "I'll tell the others!" Including of course, Sasuke.

As Shikaku hangs up, Sasuke's eyes widen. "…You found him." It wasn't a question, so much as a statement needing confirmation.

Fugaku nods. "We found him and are in the process of contacting local law enforcement." They could get to him faster.

"Local law enforcement?" Sasuke frowns, confused. "Did he drive right into Baltimore or something?" The homicide cops there could be…a little intense. But still, if he knew where Danzo was going, then he could calculate how long it would take to catch up, how long it would take to overtake him, and how quickly he could set up the ambush. This was going to end tonight.

"Richmond, actually." Fugaku corrects him automatically. He was in work mode. "The local authorities will be more than a match for him."

Sasuke looks at his father incredulously. At least, he hopes he looks incredulous. "He's driving right past us!? What kind of idiot…" He shakes his head. "Nevermind, it's Danzo. Of course he would drive right past us just to spite us."

"I don't think he's thinking logically." Fugaku sighs at that thought because it meant Danzo was even more dangerous than usual. "Which makes him stupid and reckless. Which probably means he's trigger happy."

"Wonderful…" Sasuke could see how that would end. Badly. "Richmond's cops are going to love that…" He yawns slightly, but not really. "Well, at least he won't get away this time." He looks back into his room, where Hinata is still sleeping in his bed. "If he's taken care of, then I'm going back to sleep."

"That's probably for the best. There's no way you could catch up to him at this point anyway." He'd gone too far.

"Yeah, I guess." No, Sasuke knew that if he left in the next ten minutes, and broke a few traffic laws, he could make it. But a few speeding violations were nothing compared to taking Danzo down. "See you in the morning."

He nods approvingly at that. "Good." Fugaku stretches feeling more than a little sleepy himself. He couldn't remember the last time he actually slept. Probably two or three days at this point. "I'll do the same."

"Goodnight." Sasuke shuts his bedroom door, eyes instantly alert, and brain feeling like he'd just had a shot of pure caffeine injected into him. He glances at the bed, where Hinata was still sound asleep, then walks over and kisses her softly enough not to wake her. "I'm sorry." But this was something that he had to do.

Reaching into his closet, Sasuke extracts a special black uniform, one that would conceal him in the darkness. There were no markings on the clothes, not a single one. He would be unidentifiable. And after silently slipping it on, he takes another hidden item from his closet. His Barrett M82 rifle, good for taking out people, or punching holes in engine blocks. It all depended on just what you wanted to use it for.

And his great-uncle was right. Danzo really needed a bullet in the eye. But he'd take whatever angle for a head-shot that he could get.

After silently climbing out his bedroom window and sneaking into the garage, Sasuke pushes his Suzuki down the driveway and down the street a little ways once he's sure that there's no one around to see him. Namely, his father. Or worse, Hinata.

Revving the engine, he pushes the speed limit all the way out of Quantico. Once he's outside the town, he unleashes something of an inner speed demon, his rifle tucked into a case and secured on his back as he races down the highway.

There was very little traffic on the highway this late at night, and Sasuke slowed only when he got close to other vehicles, before speeding up again once out of sight. It wasted more time than he'd like, but it was better than getting stopped for speeding. They could get mad at him for that later. For now, he had a crime lord to kill.

Which is why, after forty minutes of driving almost double the speed limit, Sasuke slows on the outskirts of Richmond, estimating that he had about ten to fifteen minutes to set himself up before Danzo arrived. And, on the off chance that Danzo beat him here, the barricades ahead should slow the vile old man down long enough for Sasuke to get into position.

"Here we go…" Turning, just before the barricades on the main highway, just a couple of miles north of the city, Sasuke takes a side street off to the west, heading for a nearby shopping center. From there, he knew that he would be able to get a good angle on the highway, and he would be within radio range of spying on the police communications.

He'd give himself three minutes to find the right frequency, though it likely wouldn't take that long, and whatever time he had in excess, he would use to listen in as he tried to pinpoint his target through voice recognition. No high tech software needed there, he'd heard Danzo's voice before. And it was a rare day when Sasuke forgot something.

Parking his motorcycle next to the tall building, Sasuke locates a pipe running up the side and tightens the fit of his gloves as he takes hold of it, climbing straight up the wall. He could probably find a fire escape or something, but that would take more time than just climbing up the side.

The case holding his rifle was the first on the flat section of the roof, Sasuke pulling himself up seconds later. He rolls onto his knees, pulling the radio from his pocket as he starts tuning the frequency. Music, late night talk show, more music, something about bears, more music…

"This is Sergeant Yamashiro, are all units in position?" Bingo.

Sasuke puts the radio down, listening in as he unpacks his rifle, preparing and loading it in less than a minute.

"Yes, Sir, we are in position. All units have barricaded the entrances and exits to the city. There are three detectives on their way to Highway 95." Detectives, perfect. They would be able to find out what Sasuke needed to know.

At that same moment, Danzo was pulling up to the barricades. This was going to be annoying. Though he had every confidence, he'd be able to pass them.

Sergeant Aoba Yamashiro waves his hand, motioning for the approaching car to stop. They'd already seen about half a dozen late-night stragglers coming this way before they had time to properly barricade everything, but so far, they'd turned up nothing. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car."

"Of course." He steps out of his car. Resisting would only make him more suspicious. "Is there a problem, officer?" He had purposely changed his voice, just on the off chance the man might have recognized him.

"As long as we don't find anything, not at all." Aoba eyes the old man from head to toe. So far, they'd mostly stopped kid, but there was one very tired mom that had come through this way. So far, no one fit the profile they'd been given. So far, this guy was the closest they'd come. He certainly seemed old enough. "Do you have your identification and proof of insurance?"

He nods and hands him his wallet. "Yes." Everything would be in order. He knew how to obtain forgeries that were so good, he doubted this man could tell the difference. Money talked.

"Very good, Mr…" Aoba frowns. "Senju." …Strange, he didn't look like he was related to that law enforcement legend. Then again, with that Hawaiian shirt…well, Hashirama was known for sporting a few of those. But he'd never heard of Shinji. Well, maybe that wasn't so surprising, it was a big family. "And where are you going so late at night, it's not very safe for you to be out driving when visibility is so low."

"I'm heading for the airport." He grins at his shirt. "To Hawaii. Got a discount on the flight because of the hour." He could pass himself off as a tourist.

"I see." A trip to Hawaii would certainly explain the extremely loud shirt. "Thank you for being cooperative so far, but I will require you to allow two of my officers to search your car."

He nods. "Of course." He had hoped he wouldn't have to deal with such a thing, but Danzo had prepared carefully. He doubted they would find anything incriminating.

Aoba nods his head, signaling for two of the detectives to begin searching the car. The two of them usually worked in homicide and major crimes, so if there was anything to hide in the car, they would be the ones to find it.

While Kotetsu searches the front of the vehicle, Izumo heads to the trunk, opening it once Kotetsu pops the lock. There were several bags, quite a lot for just one person. But they didn't know how long he was supposedly going to be in Hawaii, so the number of bags could be explained away. Still, it was safer to check thoroughly. "Hey Kiba! Bring Akamaru over here!" If anyone could figure out if there was something that wasn't supposed to be there, it was that little sniffer.

"Arf!" The dog's tail wags as he trots over. "Arf!" Happy to be useful as the canine sniffs well everything. There were plenty of smells in the car. Clothes, metal things, more clothes, money. Oooh, money! He barks loudly three times, burying his nose into the pile of bags and suitcases.

Kiba's eyes widen. "Hey! We've got something over here!" He and Izumo start pulling luggage from the trunk, opening the bags one by one, until they come to a large suitcase at the back.

Carefully, they extract the suitcase, and as Akamaru goes nuts over it, Kiba unzips it, whistling at the contents. "We've got money!" And lots of it, several hundred thousand dollars at least!

"...I've been saving for this trip for ages." Danzo gives them a look. "Is it against the law to carry cash now?"

"It is, if it's the proceeds of crime." Aoba's eyes flick over the man once more, and there was one thing that seemed rather off. The man's eyebrows were darker than his hair. "How much are you carrying with you?"

"I assure you that it is not." He shrugs at that question. "Probably around fifty thousand." It was enough to live off of in style for a few months or even a couple years in a poorer country while he got everything situated. And the rest of it…well, that could simply be reinvested.

Trusting his dog more than this guy, Kiba starts pulling out the wads of bills, counting them as quickly as he could. Fifty thousand, his ass! "Izumo, how much have you got over there?" The detective holds up three fingers. Three hundred thousand. And if Kiba had another three and a half… "Boss, we've got thirteen times that much!" And if Akamaru's sniffer was right, there was even more in some of the bags they hadn't opened yet.

Aoba's eyes narrow. "Would you like time to get your story straight, 'Mr. Senju'?"

"Having a lot of money, is hardly a crime." He could still get out of this. They didn't actually have anything illegal on him. Lying about how much money you were carrying wasn't enough to merit jail time, but it was enough to waste his time!

An old man arriving right within the time-frame that Shikamaru had told him, carrying several hundred thousand dollars in cash, and looking to get out of the country? Well, off the mainland, allegedly. Aoba had been an officer for a long time, and he knew when someone was lying to him. This guy hadn't told him a single truth since they pulled him over. And judging by the little strands of black along his hairline…

Reaching up in a flash, Aoba tugs the wig from the old man's head, finding it easy to remove. And underneath…a head of salt and pepper hair. And the officer was pretty sure that if you removed what looked like makeup, compared to the skin along his hairline, they would see the wizened, elderly face of the wanted senator. "Danzo Shimura…you are under arrest for conspiracy, smuggling, the selling of illicit substances, and…many counts of murder."

Fuck! He'd have no choice but to run, now. "Damn it!" So that's exactly what he did.

Two more officers made to chase after him and apprehend him, but only three seconds later, the asphalt was splattered red as the body of the former senator crashed to the ground, mid-flight. A bullet had blasted straight through the side of his head, coming clean out the other side, before punching into the engine block of the car. A perfect bullseye, if you were aiming to kill him, and only him.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" The shot had been perfect, but that didn't mean the officer wanted to take his chances. "I think we've got a sniper on our hands!"

All of the officers took cover, waiting for the next shot. …But none came. There was dead silence as blood pooled on the ground in a single spot. Aoba wasn't sure just what had happened, but from the looks of it, someone either wanted to make sure that Danzo didn't talk, or didn't make it to prison.

Minutes pass, and no more shots are fired. Clearly, someone had shot that with pinpoint accuracy and an anti-material sniper rifle. That meant that even taking cover, they weren't safe. Aoba's first instinct was either domestic terrorist, or military. And he wasn't entirely sure which one was a worse omen.

After an entire twelve minutes, and no sign that another shot was going to be fired, Aoba opens the communications on his radio. "All units, we have sniper fire on Highway 95. Single shot, but all units proceed with caution."

Those twelve minutes might have seemed like an eternity, but their reinforcements arrived in what seemed like no time at all. Everyone was on guard. Worried that another shot (or shots) would be fired. "What the Hell happened here?!" The Chief of Police's eyes warily scan the chaotic scene before him.

Aoba sighs, scratching the back of his head. "Well, we stopped an old man who was trying to get into the city. When a search was conducted of his car, several hundred thousand dollars were found. His story didn't seem to add up. It turns out that it was Danzo Shimura in disguise, trying to get through the city. My men were about to apprehend him, when a single sniper round was fire. And now…" He gestures to the dead body on the ground. "We have a murder instead of an arrest."

"Do we want to chase a sniper?!" He frowns as he looks at Danzo's body. "We'll have to put out a bulletin to warn everyone." His instinct said to just take Danzo's body to the morgue and to be done with it, but he supposed they did have a duty to at least try to apprehend his killer. Though admittedly, he wasn't eager to risk the lives of his people against a sniper for a dead man's sake.

Well…that was a bit of a gray area, at least in Aoba's eyes. "I don't think that chasing the sniper is a good idea. Judging by the shot, as well as the power and ammunition, I'm tempted to say that they have advanced military training."

That's true. "Send out the bulletin to warn everyone." The Chief frowns at the thought. "I don't like it, but pursuing them will likely do more harm than good and this appears to be a very specific assassination." If the sniper had wanted to kill more than just Danzo, he (or she) had had ample opportunity.

Besides, the sniper was likely long gone by now.