Target
Ch. 6-Fungus among us
A/N: This chapter was cut short due to some problems. But pay attention, important shit is going to happen soon.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo.
xXx-Beta'd by the ever disappearing Jhalamae-xXx
"So who is this?"
The medical examiner slid on her snug blue gloves with a sharp snap. Slipping on her protective goggles over her pink hair and tugging a face shield on, she pulled back the white evidence sheet on the body and critically surveyed the clean hole in the head of the male lying on the cold metal autopsy table. The dark flesh stood out starkly in the harsh bright light of the overhead lamp. The black strands of hair were sprawled around his head, sticky with coagulated blood.
The two women were alone in the large room. The sterile room had long autopsy tables made from shining stainless silver steel. Various pipes ran from the tables and down into the ground. The white tiled floor was in a checkerboard pattern and was peppered with bronze drain grates. The walls were lined with sinks and glass cabinets containing an assortment of chemicals and tools. The sharp reek of formaldehyde and formalin misted the room.
Ino walked up and read off a chart and into a slim gray recorder. "Subject is a healthy male, 185 cm and 63.2 kg. Age is unknown, but I'd say he's around 30. Green eyes, brown hair. Blood type, unavailable. Race is unknown, but his facial structure indicates that he might be of Native American descent. He has a tattoo over his lips and further across his cheeks that look like stitches. Cause of death is obviously a fatal gunshot to abdomen. Name's Kakuzu, no surname, one of the members of a gang that used to be on the news, Akatsuki."
"The murder squad? The one Iruka was after for a while before he met the lawyer?" Sakura asked absentmindedly as she prodded the bodies.
"Yea, he and several others identified the body." Ino pointed behind her towards several other shrouded figures on tables. "We have several more; a few other gunshot victims and one with a slit throat."
"I thought they were gone. They Akatsuki I mean." Sakura examined the man with the throat wound next. Sakura tilted the head by its chin, exposing the wound further in the light. She was impressed by the deep and clean cut. "The sternohyoid muscle has been cut, along with the platysma muscle of the right and left side. Damage to the thyroid cartilage and thyroid membrane. Whoever did him in must have been shorter than him, and behind him."
"Why do you say that?" Ino asked as she set out a new batch of sterile tools on the small cart near the table. The silver glinted and reflected the light from the lamp.
Sakura mimicked the cut with her hand. "The cut goes into an angle as it reaches his spine; it goes down. Someone getting their neck sliced from the front wouldn't have this type of damage. The angle suggests that the killer pulled the blade towards them, going down. So they must have been shorter." She explained. "Was the suspect shorter?"
"Actually, yea, he was." Ino took out several cotton swabs and set them down on a blue sheet. She brought out small plastic cylindrical containers and opened them up, setting them down next to the swabs. "So does that mean he's the culprit?" She lifted a stiff hand and began to swab the fingernails. The blond assumed the blood she found caked in the nails was his own. With each finger, she used a new swab and stowed it away in the containers. She repeated the process with each body. "Rigor mortis hasn't set in yet. No signs of struggle. Looks like none of them put up a fight." Reaching the body of Kakuzu, she paused as she came across a ring. Admiring it in the light, she gently tugged it off the stiff finger and set it off to the side.
"I would assume so, but we're not sure. The other guy they had in custody never said anything so he's free. He's being acquitted later today, actually." Sakura answered. She collected tissue from the wound and began to draw blood. "I'm going to run a toxicology test, just to be safe." She set the samples on a tray and carried it away to another table. There she locked it into a large clear plastic box and set it aside. Retrieving a thick brick like object from a cabinet, she placed it on the side of the body with the head shot. "Help me lift Headshot. I need to place the body block underneath him."
Ino complied. "Headshot?" She grunted in question. They heaved the heavy body up and slid the block in. The chest puffed out, making it easier to cut into.
"It seems inappropriately appropriate." Sakura grinned. It was a habit to give bodies nicknames for identification. It also helped lessen the emotional aspect of working with dead bodies.
"Eh, it's not bad. So are they going to tail him? See if he tries to contact the suspect?" Ino took the fingernail samples and locked them away. She came back with a set of sharp scissors. Immediately, she began to cut away the hideous shirt he man wore, exposing his chest and the bullet wound. The loud snip of the scissors filled the empty room.
"I don't know, I didn't hear anything about that." Sakura took a scalpel and cut a deep "Y" shape on the chest, the two arms extending from the shoulder joints and meeting mid-chest and going down to the pubic area. Small drops of blood leaked out from the cuts. Gently, she pulled back the skin, muscle, and soft tissues using the scalpel, exposing the ribcage and neck muscles. She lifted the flap of skin up and over the man's face and clamped the rest out of the way.
"Hand me the saw. Time to open this bad boy up."
"Alright, here." Ino handed her the bone cutter and stepping out of the way. She strode over to a small machine that was used to determine blood type. Earlier she had inserted several samples of the dead man's blood in order to figure out his type. Picking up the small machine, she frowned. The results were that the samples she had placed in weren't blood. Giving the machine a smack, she sighed and began to repeat the process. "You know, we should ask for newer equipment. We work hard here; we shouldn't be subjected to work with shoddy equipment. I wouldn't mind having that high tech stuff you see on those TV shows." She griped to herself, placing small drops of blood on the spaced on the tray that slid into the machine.
Sakura scoffed. "You knows that's all fiction. It only exists in the military."
Humming to herself, Sakura griped the pruning shears and began to cut along the boundary between the ribs and the costal cartilage connected to the breastbone. After removing all shards of the ribcage, she changed her gloves and brought out more scalpels.
Pausing, Sakura frowned. "Well this is strange." She inspected the open chest closely. Frowning, she put her scalpel down and gently probed the organs. Her green eyes stared in disbelief as she examined.
"What is? What do you see?" Ino left the machine to do its thing and leaned over the body, wanting to see what Sakura was talking about. She cocked her head in confusion. "Good God..."
"What is that?" Ino asked in disgust, looking at the slimy organs in the open chest. All of the exposed tissue was plagued with advanced ecchymosis. The entirety of his thoracic cavity was discolored by strange black markings. "I've never seen anything like that."
Sakura grimaced and pulled away. "Me neither. It has the trademarks of cancer, but just by looking at it, you can tell it's not." She cautiously reached in and touched the hot mass with her gloved finger. It felt hard, but softer than the actual organ. "What in the world is it…?" She whispered, suddenly fearful. "Oh shit, what if it's some new sort of disease? We've been exposed.." She continued, suddenly horrified. Visions of men in yellow hazmat suits bursting through the morgue door with quarantine symbols on their suitcases filled her mind.
Ino drew her out of her thoughts. "Sakura." Ino began, "Did this man have transplants?"
Frowning, the rosette shook her head, still preoccupied with the markings. "I don't know, you're the one with the file. Why?" Reaching in with her scalpel, she prodded the markings, digging the blade in a little. Black liquid oozed out of the cut, mixing in with the blood from the rib removal. Disgusted, Sakura pushed the blade in a little deeper, watching as more of the black substance leaked out. "It looks like coagulated blood, but it's too fluid. Some stage of rot maybe?" She mused aloud.
Ino pointed at a dull red liver still attached to its fellow organs. It too had black markings all over. "This liver looks pretty used, but the man is almost 30. It doesn't match up. I see signs of severe cirrhosis, the[3] type you'd see in a binge drinker around 50 years old."
Sakura berated herself for not noticing earlier. Carefully leaning closer to the open chest, she inspected the other organs. Shocked, she noticed that none of the entrails seemed to match the man's age. In fact, they all appeared to be extremely old.
"Transplant patients wouldn't have this amount of organs…well[4] , transplanted that he has. It's impossible. Besides, organs this old and damaged wouldn't be[5] given to recipients, no matter how much they needed it. "
"He was a member of Akatsuki, so he must have the funds to receive so many operations." Ino shuddered, disgust showing on her face. "They must have done something to get these." She grimaced, remembering the reports on the news about Akatsuki victims being dissected and mutilated like high school biology lab experiments.
The blond leaned away and picked up the gray recorder. Pressing the small record button, she spoke into it shakily. "Subject appears to have some sort of black sores coating his digestive and integumentary system." She clicked it off, nervously rubbing her fingernail on the button. Pressing it back on, she continued. "Subject also has advanced visceral atrophy vastly incongruent to his age."
"Ino, help me get the rest of his clothes off." Sakura asked as she pushed a cart with shiny silver tools away to make room. Grabbing a pair of scissors, she began to snip off the man's shirt while Ino took care of his pants. Each cut revealed stitches widespread cicacitrial mutilation of man's limbs.
"Fuck, what happened to this guy?! What is he? Is he even human?!" Ino cried out, backing away from the body. Around the holes of skin where the stitches were threaded through tightly, the skin appeared pink and raw, as if just healing. In other places, the skin was calloused and covered with old scabs. The sutures along his legs were inflamed, implying infection or freshness, winding around and up his thighs. They were dotted with the same black marks as the organs in his chest. He had the tale tell signs of having undergone serious surgery.
"We're doing a biopsy on the necrotic visceral lesions…..right now." Sakura demanded. Her medical mind warred with her curiosity. Common sense told her to leave immediately and hand it off to her superiors but a disgusted interest kept her going, ignoring the almost palpable fear growing in her stomach. "He must have had some sort of surgery performed on him."
"Surgery? He looks like fucking Frankenstein's monster! Of course he's had surgery!" Ino declared, almost shouting. "We have to call someone!" She backed away, worried now that the man would turn out to be some sort of gene spliced abomination that would try to kill them.
"Who do we call?! Who's jurisdiction does this fall under if not ours?" Sakura snapped. "It's too early to say anything. We just need to keep calm and get the samples; it's not like he's going to walk away." Grabbing the cart she pushed away earlier, she retrieved the scalpel she had been using before. Wiping the sweat from her brow, her green eyes focused on the spotted lungs. Reaching in delicately, she hacked off the left lung and pulled it out. Keeping a tight grip on the coldwet organ, she set it in a stainless steel container. Spinning back around, she froze as her eyes fell on the empty space where the lung used to be. Kakuzu's heart peeked out, almost entirely coated in the strange black discolorations. Thick stitches dissected the organ, weaving in and out of the firm tissue. Several sectioned off areas appeared to be transforming and mutating into something completely different.
"Is he a victim of some twisted experiment? Who could do such a thing? " Sakura murmured anxiously. Feeling scared, forced herself to continue. Sakura reached in with a trembling hand. "We'll have to remove this too." She whispered fearfully. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The sharp blade of the scalpel glinting in the light, she severed the thick connecting blood vessels and arteries to the organ. Instantly, black ooze came spurting out of the opened tubes, leaking onto the other exposed organs. Drops landed on her face guard, running down the plastic. Screaming, Sakura jumped back, knocking over the cart. It fell heavily to the floor with a loud clang and threw its medical paraphernalia everywhere. She yanked off the face guard and threw it away from her, breathing heavily.
Ino silently watched the black substance with a horrified look on her face. As if alive, the black excretions were seemingly absorbed, quickly disappearing into the cadaver. The areas that it touched appeared to throb with life, squelching and morphing before their eyes. As if defying the laws of reality, pink new cells began to appear where the black once was.
"Ino….get the camera. We need to get this on film or no one is going to believe us…." Sakura mumbled numbly, edging away from the body. Her instincts screamed at her to get as far away as possible.
Bursting through the double doors of the autopsy room, Ino ran into the supply room and grabbed a camera and another recorder. Sakura grabbed the phone attached to the wall and jammed in a number. With shaking hands, the blonde tried to turn the camera on, forcing her trembling fingers to work. Almost dropping it, she neared Sakura and paused, not wanting to go back into the room by herself.
"What are you waiting for?" Sakura waved her frantically. "Go, quickly! I'll be right there!"
"I don't want to go back in there by myself! What if he's some sort of zombie and comes back to kill me?" Ino argued, edging away from the door.
"Just go! We need a video!"
Capitulating, Ino nodded dumbly and ran back to the autopsy table and lifted the camera, ready to capture proof. She paused halfway, realizing something.
"I should have knocked on wood. Come on, come on, someone please pick up…." Sakura chanted to herself in the room, feeling cold all of a sudden.
"Sakura!" Hearing Ino scream her name, Sakura raced back the table, dropping the phone on the tiled floor. It clattered and spun on its back, a dial tone ringing out. She barreled past the double doors and into the main autopsy room, kicking something out of the way as she looked for Ino.
"What now!?" She found Ino standing by herself, pointing at an empty table. "Wait, where's the body?!" She cried. "What happened?"
"I don't know! I came back and everything is gone! What do we do!?"
"What do you mean you don't know!? A dead body doesn't just get up and walk away Ino!" Sakura shouted, desperately trying to calm down and think rationally. She looked around the room, backing up towards the door. Clasping her hands together, she brought them to her chest. Any evidence of the body was gone.
xXx
"Wait, slow down." Iruka ordered, lifting a hand. Arching an eyebrow, he stared hard at the pink haired medical examiner. "What happened?"
"W-we had the body, but it wasn't his." She rambled incoherently. "We tried to remove the organs and they moved! They turned new!"
Iruka let out a heavy sigh. They're only link to the Akatsuki and it was gone. He eyed the rosette critically. Sakura was making no sense at all. She was feeding him some unbelievable story. He missed the older medical examiner named Shizune, who decided to spend the rest of her life working with living bodies rather than dead ones and was now happily working in a hospital. At least the older woman kept a clearer head when crazy shit happened. He rubbed his nose scar, grimacing at the reek of decaying flesh wafting around.
There was also the chance that she could be lying. Although it wasn't common, the Akatsuki could have paid her off for silence. Sakura didn't seem the type to take bribes, but looks were deceiving. Money could talk when it was a certain amount.
"Okay, something wasn't his." Iruka repeated, making an effort to understand. "Then what?"
"Ino was going to get the camera, but then the body was gone." Sakura moaned. "It just vanished! It wasn't human, I'm telling you!"
"Sakura, where were you when it disappeared? What were you doing when you realized it was gone?" He inquired, trying to piece together a scenario.
"I was in the other room, about to call some experts in to get help, but then Ino cried out and I ran back, and everything was gone!"
Iruka looked over at the other girl who was being interrogated by another officer. The officer looked up and met Iruka's eyes. The man shrugged and motioned helplessly down at the girl. Iruka turned back to the rosette.
"Okay, just calm down. It's alright, we'll find it." He reassured. "Now, take a deep breath and explain to me, what you mean by 'new'."
Sakura tried calm down. "I-I removed the left lung and put it into a container on the tool cart. I went back to take out the other lung, but I had to stop because of the heart. It was all stitched up like some demented version of a jigsaw puzzle. I cut the main aortic arteries but this black liquid came out. It fell on the other organs and then it sunk into the tissue and it began to change!"
"Stop right there. What do you mean by that?" Iruka pressed on, hoping to extract some viable information from her confusing and crazy ramblings.
"I told you!" Sakura cried out. Iruka took a step back for space. If she went full crazy, he wasn't against using force. "It-it…healed itself. I don't know, rejuvenation, whatever you want to call it. It went from old to new, soaking up the liquid like a fucking sponge! No disease I've ever heard about does that!"
"Okay, I understand." Iruka answered calmly, lifting his hands in a soothing manner. Stepping away, he grabbed the arm of another officer. Speaking quietly, he shook his head. "I'm going to go check out the security tapes." He looked towards the two babbling girls. "Get them out of here. We're obviously not getting anywhere with what they're saying." He sighed again. "Maybe when they calm down will they make any sense."
Watching the two girls get taken away, Iruka drew his attention to the empty autopsy table where the body had been. It was strange. Only the body of Kakuzu was missing. The others were still there. If what they were saying was true, then his body was obviously more valuable than a lowly grunt's was. What were they hiding? What did they two girls actually see? What the hell is going on here? According to what the girls were saying, anything that had even touched the body was gone. All traces of evidence were stolen. He ordered an officer to dust for prints, but he could bet his next paycheck that they wouldn't find anything. They usually never did.
Shoving past the heavy double doors that swished shut behind him, Iruka adjusted his cap and made his way to the door marked "Security Room" down a corridor. Pushing the door open, he found himself in a tidy room filled with small screens and several computers and desks. The morgue usually had a full-time security detail, but none of the men were anywhere to be found.
He sat down in one of the comfortable chairs and began to search through the computer files, using the[6] password he obtained earlier. After a few minutes of searching and digging into folders, he found the camera files. Another few minutes and he was fast-forwarding to the time span given to him. Slowing down the footage, he watched silently as the girls brought the body in and saw the rosette begin to inspect the body. Leaning forward, he watched the body intently, waiting to see what they had described to him.
He jumped in his chair as static roared out and the tape disappeared. "What the hell?" Rewinding it, he got the same results. Just as Sakura was inspecting the neck, the recording stopped. His eyes narrowed. Someone had gone in and physically altered the video. Gritting his teeth, he adjusted his cap. His suspicions about the girls being accomplices to the Akatsuki rose. Either one of them could have just as easily altered the tape, and fabricated some absurd story before reporting to the police.
"It's also possible they could have simply destroyed the body and any evidence to cover up their tracks. It's hard to believe that someone could have orchestrated a robbery that could take place in such a short time, even if it was the Akatsuki." He thought out loud, his eyes falling onto the pink haired girl on the screen. His chocolate eyes narrowed in suspicion. The theft seemed too neat, too perfect.
He turned to the side and spoke into his chest mike. "I need a list of all the people coming in and out of the morgue, starting at a few hours before the incident. Names and time frames."
"10-4 Officer Umino."
xXx
Slipping a hand into his pants as they exited the elevator, Sasuke pulled out his cellphone and slid his thumb across the cool screen. He hummed quietly as a thought came to him. Everything Uzumaki owned was in his apartment. He currently had nothing but the clothes on his back. Frowning, Sasuke came to a stop in front of the lobby doors. He would need new clothes, seeing as his apartment was on lock down and no doubt surrounded by yellow tape and police officers. It would be risky to ask Iruka to pull him some stuff…. Sliding the thin device back into his pocket, Sasuke spun around to face the blond.
"I'll be right back, stay here and don't touch anything."
Naruto watched him go, confused. "Yea, because I have somewhere to go to." He called out sarcastically. Glancing down at the folder, his slid his finger under the front flap, tempted to open it. It was Sasuke's business, but hey, now that they had both signed the contract, Sasuke's business was his…
Sasuke then walked over to the reception desk. Kurenai eyed him curiously, setting down her coffee cup.
"Do you need something Sasuke?"
"Kurenai, could you open up the supply room? I need a few items." He tilted his head in Naruto's direction. "The electronics sector please."
Kurenia nodded and woke her computer up. The screen changed from a picture of the company logo to a picture of her and her husband. "Sure." After typing rapidly for a few moments, she looked up at the raven. "It's open."
"Thanks."
Walking down a hallway adjacent to right of the desk, Sasuke pulled open a door slipped into a dark room marked "Supplies". Flipping the light switch up, he revealed a tidy room with gray file cabinets and several rows of shelves with a myriad of generic office supplies. Stacks of copy paper, Bic pens, and paper clips were neatly lined up on the shelves. Bypassing them, Sasuke strode over to a smaller cabinet tucked away in a corner. Grabbing the top handle, he pulled out the thin piece of metal. It slid out easily, still connected by a metal column attached to the back. Turning it 180 degrees, Sasuke pushed the handle back.
Hearing a succession of soft shink noises, Sasuke turned around to see the shelves with the office supplies gone. In their place stood stainless steel shelves lined with state-of-the-art devices. Browsing quickly, Sasuke retrieved several items. Tucking them away into his pockets, he stepped over to the small cabinet and repeated the process. The floor underneath the shelves slowly sank down, taking the shelves with it. In its stead, the original shelves rose up and out of the ground, replacing them. Sasuke then left the room, making sure to shut the door behind him.
Nodding a goodbye at Kurenai who waved a hand in reply, Sasuke strode over to Naruto who was still standing by the doors.
"Let's go."
xXx
Kiba pushed open the double doors of the station entrance wearily. Yawning and squinting at the bright sunlight, he rubbed his face, feeling stubble of a beard prick his fingers. Groaning, he squeezed his eyes shut and blinked a couple of times. His throat was on fire and his head was killing him. He had been in the police interrogation room for hours.
"Fuck, my head…" He moaned out, cursing how much he and Naruto had drunken. Pulling out his cellphone that the asshole cop had finally given back, he dialed Naruto's number and lifted the phone to his ear. Signaling for a taxi, he scowled as Naruto's voice mail answered.
"Where the fuck are you man! I've been holed up at the police station all day!" The brunette griped aloud, worry seeping into his voice. He continued, lowering his voice as people walked by. "Naruto, man, I don't know what the fuck is going on, and I'm not going to pretend to. Some crazy shit went down and people are dead, but I know that you didn't have anything to do with it. I'm on your side man, and I-I'm freaking out here. The cops think you did it and are dead set on shoving your ass in jail." His grip tightened on the cell phone. "Look, just….just talk to me when you can. Later."
Licking his lips, he ran a hand through his wild hair, wincing as it caught on tangles. "Tsunade is probably pissed as fuck." He whined, knowing the woman would more than happily fire him. "Christ, everything has gone down the shitter." Managing to hail a cab, he got in and gave the driver directions to Naruto's apartment building. He was determined to see what actually had happened.
Watching the city buildings slowly drift by as the taxi driver maneuvered down the roads, Kiba pressed his lips together tightly and sighed heavily. He kept trying to piece everything together, but it wasn't adding up. From what he could discern, a man had posed as a pizza delivery man and was gunned down. The same went for the other guys that had popped up, except for the only one that had his neck sliced open.
Arriving at the apartment complex, Kiba paid the taxi driver and watched him drive off. Yawning again, he entered the building and made his way to Naruto's flat, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Surprisingly, he saw almost no one on his way up. Reaching the floor Naruto's place was on, he looked down, expecting to see the supposed trail of bloody footprints. Of course there's nothing. Why would there be? A cleaning crew must have come in to clean once the police left the crime scene. Coming to a slow stop in front of Naruto's door, Kiba fingered the yellow police tape hanging tattered around the frame and wood of the door.
"Looks like someone tried to force their way in…huh." Thinking nothing of it, the brunette reached up and patted the dusty top of the door jamb, searching for the key Naruto kept in case he lost the one on his key ring. His fingers brushed the small metal item and he plucked up and shoved it into the keyhole, pushing aside the tape. Feeling suddenly unsure, he paused, keeping his hand on the key. "Get it together. What are you, a bitch?" He spoke aloud quietly, trying to work up the nerve. He was worried as to what he would find. Something told him Naruto was involved, even though he refused to believe it. But he couldn't shake his uneasiness.
Shoving his indecision aside, he twisted the key to the side and placed his hand on the door, pushing it open. The green door creaked open and spilled the hallway light in the form of a wedge on the floor. Shocked, he looked down in disgust.
The carpet was saturated with blood, the natural gray color now maroon. Streaks of red led away from the carpet and deeper into the flat. Gagging at the copper reek in the air, Kiba grimaced and stepped into the room, avoiding the ruby stains. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it.
"Holy fuck, they weren't kidding." He said, his tone slightly amazed. "Jesus Christ, this is unreal." He then frowned, noticing something strange. The entire placed was trashed. Having been staring just at the bloodstains, he hadn't realized that Naruto's flat had been ransacked. Tables were knocked over and lay feet from their original positions. Chairs were lying on their sides and broken. The couches were shredded, with cotton and foam everywhere. In the kitchen cupboards were wide open, with all of the contents lying in heaps on the floor. Broken plates, cups and cutlery littered the linoleum floor. Picture frames had been knocked off walls and CDs were strewn around haphazardly, appearing to be makeshift Frisbees.
Alarmed, Kiba ran over to Naruto's bedroom. Inside, the mattress and pillows were in the same state as the couches. Naruto's drawers were lying on the floor with all of his clothes having been ripped out and thrown around. The door to his closet appeared to be hanging on for dear life as it was still attached by one hinge. His movie posters and action figures were knocked carelessly around; a small potted plant had been torn out of its pot and its dirt spilled everywhere.
"Somebody broke in." Kiba mused darkly, surveying the damage. Surely the police knew already. Or it was they who did it. He crouched down and picked up a broken picture frame lying face down by an over turned bedside table. It was of Naruto and Jiraiya, his grandfather. Up righting the table, he stood up and placed the frame back, removing the jagged pieces of glass sticking out.
Reaching into his coat, he brought out his cell phone and dialed Naruto's number. Hearing it ring in response in the other room, he cut the call dejectedly. Sliding it back into his coat, he sighed heavily. Scratching his head, he slowly turned around and left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. He walked over to the door that lead to the hallway, opened it and stepped out. Pausing, he peered back into the room and looked at the messy area. Worry clouded his mind as he tried to piece together what the cops had told him along with what he saw. It was obvious someone broke in and trashed the place while they looked for something. Or maybe it had just been a random act of vandalism. Whatever it was, it left a bad taste in Kiba's mouth.
The brunette shut the door behind him, locked it, and placed the key back where he found it. He made sure to wipe his fingerprints off the small metal piece, mumbling, "I don't need them finding out I was here and arresting me again." Turning his back to the door, he left, slowly walking back to his apartment complex. There was nothing left to do but wait and hope something popped up.
xXx
Back in Sasuke's car, Naruto was surprised when the raven thrust a phone at him. Taking the slim device, Naruto admired the sleek design and impressive style.
"Wait, is this for me? Like I can keep it?" He asked enthusiastically, immediately messing with the apps and discovering how to use it.
"I gave it to you, didn't I?" Sasuke responded dryly. "It's for emergencies only, in the event that we get separated. Don't use it for anything els-are you listening?"
"Yea, yea, I heard you." Naruto replied absentmindedly, distracted by the shiny new toy.
Glancing over at the blond, Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Tch." At least it will keep him quiet for a while. Driving onto the highway that lead away from the city, Sasuke thought back to the file he received earlier. Two hits, both within relative range of each other. One was of a man and the other was of a couple, a man and a woman. The job was originally intended for Temari, who worked a few rooms away from his, but since he now harbored a wanted suspect, it would get them out of the city and let them lay low for a while.
A scowl twisted his lips as he remembered the announcement Iruka received. Somebody stole the body of Kakuzu. The only possible link they had besides Uzumaki and it was gone. His obsidian eyes narrowed angrily. Once again, the Akatsuki managed to stay one step ahead of them. The scowl warped into a cruel smirk. Although they managed to take the body, Kakuzu is still dead, by my hand. Let them know I'm not one to be trifled with. I will get my revenge, and I will kill them all, one by one if that's what it takes. Feeling an ache in his hands, he noticed he had gripped the steering wheel hard enough to bring out his knuckles stark underneath his skin. Loosening his grip, he flexed his fingers powerfully, aching to take action. Beside him, Naruto watched him carefully, still holding the phone in his hands.
Enthralled with the new phone, Naruto soon came out of his distracted state and felt a dark vibe coming from Sasuke. Peeking over at the raven, he was surprised to see the man looking almost feral. Not knowing what triggered it, Naruto kept silent, worried. It was easy to forget that the man was a murderer. The blond did his best not to dwell on that fact, knowing that if he focused only on that aspect of the raven, he would be afraid of him. He'd be damned if he was going to be afraid of his own protector. But it was times like this, when the man who cut Kakuzu's throat and shot the others, and Sasuke merged that his survival instincts reared up and went on high alert. He knew they were the same person, but he was seeing them as different sides of the same coin. He supposed that that's how Sasuke probably viewed himself in some way.
On one hand, he was a hired assassin. On the other, he was an accomplished lawyer. Looking away, Naruto put the phone away, his head shaking slightly. He was probably thinking too deeply. But I do wonder what pissed him off. Thinking back to the rules the raven has issues, Naruto eliminated them. I wasn't doing anything wrong, so I'm pretty sure I didn't break any of his commands, he thought stubbornly. Peering back at the other man, the blond noticed the raven was too preoccupied with his own thoughts, the dark look on his face fading away. Turing to look ahead, azure eyes fell on the file on the dashboard.
Earlier when Sasuke had left to go into a room in the lobby area, he had left the file behind. Naruto's curiosity had gotten the better of him and he looked into what the file held.
The first stack of stapled papers were all about a man he had never seen before. The first couple of pages contained general information about the man and a large sum of money. The rest of the pages detailed intimate information about the man's habits and places of interest. It soon dawned on Naruto that this was a man Sasuke was going to get paid to kill. The photo paper clipped to the front showed a happy man, grinning up at the camera. He looked like a nice man, one who didn't deserve to die. Sickened, he realized that Sasuke must have a file exactly like this one but for him. Closing the folder, he refused to look at the second stack inside, knowing he would feel horrible for the victim. What kind of person just takes another person's life for money? How could another human being do that?
It brought to question what kind of person Sasuke was and what caused him to be who he was. Naruto knew he could never outright ask the man. Either he wouldn't answer or give the blond a cryptic answer. Or he would get mad, a tiny voice in his head called out. He could snap and kill you. Naruto licked his lips nervously, knowing that he was inches away from a human version of a weapon. But I signed the contract; he can't touch me. Repeating that in his head, Naruto felt more and more confident that he would be safe. Unless he decides he doesn't need your money. The voice supplied helpfully, dashing Naruto's confidence. He groaned out in frustration, feeling that his thoughts were just going in circles. "Forced in the company of a killer just to stay alive." He muttered under his breath, wondering if his trip through the fun house mirrors would ever end. .
Hating the silence that permeated the car, Naruto tried to begin a conversation, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.
"Hey Sasuke, where are we going now."
Sasuke pressed his lips together tightly. The blond was ignoring his rules. "Hn."
Naruto tried again. He knew it was probably pointless and would more than likely get the raven annoyed with him, but it was better than sitting in utter silence and awkwardness. In an attempt to get some sort of reaction from the raven, he tried to surprise him. "I read the file." He slyly looked over at the other man.
Sasuke didn't even bat an eyelid. "Then why are you asking stupid questions."
"Why can't you just respond like a normal damn person?" Naruto complained. He was relieved to see that Sasuke no longer had the dangerous vibe around him but irritated the man wouldn't answer him clearly. He was surprised the raven hadn't brought up his ridiculous rules about talking.
"Why can't you just sit in fucking silence?" Sasuke retorted in a bored tone.
"Silence is boring." Naruto shot back.
"Meaningless conversations are boring."
"So what in your book qualifies as a meaningful conversation?" Naruto gloated internally when the raven paused to think.
"Anything that doesn't involve you speaking."
Sighing, Naruto crossed his arms. "You know, you're an asshole. And that doesn't make any sense."
Sasuke shrugged. "I am whatever you say I am. If I weren't, then why would you say I am?"
"What if I said you were a murderer?" Naruto's eyes shot open as he heard the words leave his own mouth. He hadn't meant to say that. Oh fuck, I've done it now…Scared, he stared at the raven, expecting to see some violent reaction.
"That's subjective." Sasuke answered easily. It didn't surprise him that the blond thought of him as a murderer, nor did it bother him. He had long ago let go of the black and white meanings of words. He had already taken out more people than he could remember. A lie he told himself; He always remembered.
"You're either a murderer or not. How is that subjective?" Naruto found himself arguing, pushing past his scared state. The small voice in his head warned him to be careful.
"A man saves another from death by killing he who tried to kill him. To that man, he is a savior. To whom he killed, he is a murderer." Sasuke turned to Naruto, meeting black orbs with azure. "Hence, it is subjective." He turned away..
"And how do you see yourself?" Naruto almost whispered, his voice lowering as he took in what Sasuke said.
"With a mirror." He looked over at the blond and smirked when he saw the exasperated look on the other man's face. He found it amusing to irritate and anger the blond. "To end this meaningless conversation, we're going to a private cabin resort."
"And what will we do there?" Naruto asked for the sake of asking.
"You'll see soon enough. Now shut up, you're forgetting the rules."
xXx
Sasuke drove off the long strip of highway and onto a gravel road that led into a wooded area. Outside, the sky had darkened, creating a deep blue-black canvas of stars and the moon in the sky. Thankfully, the moon was full and provided plenty of light. He drove past the white rusted sign that warned off trespassers and continued deeper into the forest.
The blond was asleep beside him, snoring lightly. Jarred awake by the noise and rocking of a car over gravel, Naruto blinked away his sleepiness to find that Sasuke had pulled into what looked like woods. He was surprised to find Sasuke parking and getting out the car. Looking around, Naruto saw nothing but trees, grass, and more trees.
"Wait, what's going on? I thought you said we were going to a cabin resort." Naruto questioned, shivering as he opened his door. Cool air rushed in, reminding him that winter was coming.
"Get up, we're walking from here." Sasuke grunted, removing something from the trunk. Slamming it shut, he waited for the blond to get out before setting the alarm. Ignoring Uzumaki's attempts at talking, he began to trek into the woods, following a barely discernible trail. A silver suitcase swung in his hand, glinting in the moonlight.
A/N: Any Attack on Titan fans? I just finished watching the first and only season. I love it. Review, ne?
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