Who's the KILLER?
IV
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
By:
Late-Sleeper
Beta-reader:
Pay Backs a Bitch
Chapter 3: Hidden in Clues
Naruto and the gang prepared the
room they’re going to occupy. Lee’s team scattered
themselves in the four corners of the room. Sasuke sat on a large sofa,
opposite the bed and attentively watched the window for any telltale sign of
the killer while Neji positioned himself near Lee who was clutching the front
of his pants in concentration. Shino went to sit near the bed Shikamaru’s team
was occupying.
Naruto whose mind was working
non-stop couldn’t help but sigh every now and then as he recall the horrifying
event that took place moments ago. He still couldn’t
believe that Kiba and Chouji are dead. This was all surreal.
He hoped that when he woke up
tomorrow, everything would go back to being normal. This was just a nightmare.
His mind was just playing with him.
A hand jolted him from his
trance. He glanced at his side and saw Shikamaru smiling apologetically at him.
“Sorry to scare you.” Naruto shook his head and smiles at him. “No, I’m a bit jumpy
ever since this whole incident started.”
“Shika…” Naruto turned his whole
body to face the pineapple head genius. “It’s not your fault. We all thought
Chouji was safe. Heck even I thought it was a prank or some sort.” A smile
crossed Shikamaru’s face. “Yeah, thanks. Still, this is all hard for me to
accept. Two of our friends are dead and we didn’t do anything.” Naruto feeling
the same, pat Shikamaru’s hand. “Don’t worry; we’ll avenge their
deaths…somehow.”
“Hey Naruto…”
“What?”
“Do you believe what Sai said?”
Naruto rose a bit to hover over
Shikamaru. He frowned at the sighing genius on his side. “No.
“We could be called friends but
we’re not all tight like you think we are, Naruto. For
example, Sasuke and you. The Uchiha does think of you as his friend but
I don’t think he really feel the same way towards the others.” Naruto frown
deepened but didn’t argue since he knew that what
Shika was saying were true. “We all just fall into place like a puzzle but were
not really sure what the other is really feeling. Gaara too.
I don’t know what the guy is thinking but I do know he
thinks of you as his friend, maybe Lee too. Although I don’t think he cares
much about Sai,
Shino, or Chouji except that they’re part of the group.” Naruto gave a small
smile as he remembers Shikamaru telling a story about Gaara who did not even
remembered his friend’s names when Temari asked him who was with drinking when
they were still in high school. Gaara at that time just said nonchalantly that
he was with a gay guy wearing midrib, a bug boy and a
fat guy. The three were furious at the red head for two days until they have
realized that Gaara was just being Gaara.
Damn! He still calls him by the
last name even though he is the closest to the young politician.
in his I-don’t-give-a-fuck-attitude. Although it still puzzles me why did he
ever go to politics?”
“Yeah.
much, Naruto. That’s your biggest flaw. People
change.” The blond pouted but didn’t say a thing. He
still would not accuse anyone of his friends. He won’t!
He trusted them with his life.
“We must catch this killer no
matter what. That’s the only way we could prove our innocence.” Shikamaru watched
as Naruto’s face lit up in determination. Give it to Naruto to be optimistic
when all are loss in the darkness. “Then how do you suppose to do that?”
”Well. Anou…AH! You’re the detective here Shika!”
Naruto jabbed Shikamaru with a finger on his side, which made the genius cringe
a bit by the quick sharp pain. “Che!
“Huh?”
“Remember the written messages?”
“Don’t remind me.” Naruto cringed
a bit as he envisioned the vague message written in blood on the bathroom wall
“There’s something very intriguing with those…the killer is warning or even
threatening us with something.”
“What?”
“The first one was:
until the game is over. The second is clear. That whoever the killer is,
he’s going to keep on killing until we catch him or until he kills us all.”
Naruto scooted closer to
Shikamaru and grabs on to his hand. He felt terror engulfing his whole body as
he felt a pair of eyes watching him intently. “But I can’t get what he meant
‘don’t touch what’s mine’. Did Chouji take something the killer owns?”
Naruto frown. He knew Chouji
only if he knew it’s his friend’s food.
His friend’s
food. Friends…
Then again killing because of
food is absurd. Killing your friend is even weirder.
Damn! Now he is thinking that one
of them really did kill their friends.
“The killing is the same method.
Slash with a sharp thing; probably a knife. Therefore, it’s
probably the same person. Then there are those weird lacerations…the killer
almost tore out the skin. He’s mad at them for something.”
Naruto became contemplative for
a minute and tried hard to come up with the connection between the two people.
Chouji only fault is gluttony while Kiba is…
Maybe the dog-breath pissed off
someone, and that someone wants to take revenge on him.
Then again, why did it have to
involve Chouji too?
What did the two have in common?
Naruto shook his head to clear
his mind a bit. Kiba was the mood shifter of the group same as him.
While Chouji
is the silent spectator, the pacifist of the group.
Fuck now that he think about it,
they’re almost total opposite of each other.
this clue have to do to make the killer stop?
He glanced
back at Shikamaru and realizes that the lazy bastard was already sleeping.
“Night Shika!”
Chouji is gluttony…
Kiba is pride…
The seven
deadly sins…
the killer and save the rest.