Bits and Pieces: Naruto

Title: Jingle Jingle

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Naruto, Iruka

Urban Legend: Car Keys

Word count: 708

AN: So many things to do, so little time. I'm mean to Iruka this time.

*~*~*~*

It was wet and cold, the road beyond the windshield bare of anyone but he and his guardian. “Iruka, are you sure we should be driving so late? We could have crashed at a hotel with Itachi,” he hummed, Iruka shaking his head with a smile.

“No, we’ll be fine and tomorrow we’ll go see Sasuke again before he’s released from the hospital,” he promised, getting a sweet smile from his young charge.

“Fine,” Naruto huffed, shifting so that he could rest better in his seat, head coming to rest against the window as he yawned. He started to doze as the rain continued to fall around them, the windshield wipers creating a soothing rhythm. He was jerked out of his sleep by a loud bang and the swaying of the car as Iruka fought to keep the car from skidding off of the wet road before it slammed one corner of the fender into a stone wall.

“Damn it all,” Iruka cursed before turning off the car and sliding out to inspect the damage, using the cars umbrella to keep himself dry enough. Sighing, he found the two front tires were done for with large punctures in it and the fender where it had smashed against the wall was crumpled. Luckily the rest of the car had survived. “It looks like we drove over something sharp on the road,” he said, sliding back in the car and pulling his keys out.

“Can you fix it?” Naruto asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to the back where he knew a tire was.

“Not really. I only have one tire and both front tires are gone,” Iruka sighed, sliding out of the car once more, leaning down to look at his charge from his door. “Look, I’m going to head back to that gas station that we passed to see if we can’t get some help. Just sit back and relax while I’m gone,” he said, Naruto nodding.

“Fine, but don’t take too long,” Naruto replied, removing his seat belt and pushing his seat back so he could sit comfortably.

“I won’t,” Iruka promised, closing the door and heading down the road, using the umbrella to keep the rain off of him once more. Naruto watched as he disappeared into the night before sighing and pulling out a small battery powered lantern and a book to read for the time being. After changing the batteries out once in the lantern and reading the book a third of the way through, Naruto started to worry about where his guardian was. He should have been back by then. Turning the light down, he looked at the rearview window, squinting at a shape in it.

At first he thought it was just Iruka, having lost his umbrella, but as the person came closer, he could see it wasn’t, but instead it was a large male with a sharp toothed grin that made him shiver in worry. He had something in his hand that he swung back and forth as he walked.

Swallowing as the man came closer, Naruto continued to squint at the man, one hand reaching out and patting around before finding the lock and pushing it down. As he came closer, Naruto gasped, spotting a large knife clenched in the man’s hand, sending him scrambling for the locks. Making sure the front door locks were engaged, he scrambled into the back, ignoring the lantern, and locked those doors to.

When he looked at the man once more, he swallowed heavily as the man smirked smugly and held up something that made a scream bubble up from his throat. Carried in his left hand, held by the very well known ponytail, was Iruka’s head, mouth wide open and blood dripping from where the wound was.

Scrambling back into the front seat, trying to get away, Naruto yelped when the man came running up to the car door, his face coming close to the window as he leered once more. For a few minutes, he just stood there, grinning before he dropped Iruka’s head and reached into his pocket. Pulling something out, Naruto screamed again.

Dangling from blood soaked fingers was Iruka’s car keys.