Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Deceit
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
[Edited 5.17.2009]
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Chapter 5.
Caught?
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Looking around the room from where he was seated, Shino noted, feeling oddly detached, that the place was a little crowded.
He noted that Ino and Hinata were sitting on the floor, leaning against the white wall on the left side of the room. Sakura, whose boyfriend was currently trying to play the part of a sales clerk, was sitting with them.
The blonde was sitting in the middle. She had her right arm comfortingly around the shoulders of her pink-haired friend, who was holding her face in her hands. Despite this, her blue eyes were concentraced on the black-haired woman on her left. She was holding Hinata’s hand in her own and they were gazing into each other’s eyes as if trying to convey something important. Shino noted that the shy girl had seemed to calm down a lot from earlier.
The male robber was sitting in front of the safe, which was in the southeast corner of the room, while the dark pink haired woman was leaning against the wall not far from the white-haired man. The other female robber was standing next to the door.
Kabuto was sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair in front of a wooden table that was placed against the wall on the right side of the room. It seemed to Shino that the doctor was deep in his own thoughts, not caring about what was going on around him.
‘I don’t know why, but I don’t trust him. I just have a nagging feeling that something is off with him and that he is hiding something.’
The old man who had tried to run away earlier was sitting on a brown worn-out couch that was placed against the back wall of the room. The man was staring at his hands which were folded in his lap. He looked like something was troubling him.
Shino noted that his protectee was sitting on the floor, back against the same brown couch the old man was sitting on. The blond sales clerk, Naruto, was sitting next to the Uchiha. The boys were so close to each other that their shoulders were touching.
Shino has been keeping an eye on the Uchiha the whole time they have been in the store. He hasn't – not once, not even when he hasn’t been able to be by the boy’s side – let Sasuke out of his sight. The whole time, Shino has been ready to jump up to defend and protect the raven-haired boy if anything seemed to threaten him.
Shino had been right behind Sasuke, ready to protect him, when the boy had held the blond back. But he had felt that he could go sit next to Kiba because Sasuke had obviously been occupied with Naruto, and he didn’t think that anything would happen to the Uchiha at that moment.
He had felt that Kiba had needed him more than Sasuke.
Shino had – still has – a gun, so he could have protected Sasuke from where he had been sitting next to Kiba anyway. He has been alert to what has been happening around the Uchiha the whole time they have been separated.
Shino hadn’t used his gun to try to stop the robbery from happening because he hadn’t wanted to risk making the situation worse. It would have, no doubt about it, only complicated things.
He looked at the man whose head was resting in his lap.
The brunet was grimacing because of the agonizing pain in his leg, biting his bottom lip to keep from moaning from the pain.
Shino didn’t like it when people got hurt when he was around. He felt that he should have been able to prevent the shooting incident from happening. Being a bodyguard was his job, and it was his duty to protect people, whether the people paid him or not. It was in his blood.
Shino’s thoughts were interrupted suddenly when the room’s only door creaked, starting to open.
-----
When Kimimaro heard the door of the staff room start to open, he was in the middle of trying to open the safe before him.
In a flash, he had his hand on his gun, which was resting on top of the safe. He was ready to point it at the person coming through the door if necessary.
Kimimaro hadn’t been able to hear the conversation taking place outside the room’s door, so he couldn’t be sure who was entering; the man who had had the task of playing the part of a sales clerk or the cops.
To his relief, the door opened to show a man in a green shirt.
He immediately relaxed, letting go of his gun. He gave the man a look that told him to spill.
The man hesitated a bit before speaking. “I saw the police car drive away from the yard.”
Kimimaro nodded. “Did the cops seem suspicious about anything?”
“Only one was in the store, and, no, I don’t think so.”
Kimimaro thought that the cop’s partner must have stayed in the car, 'which is probably a good thing for us; one cop snooping around is already too much, two would have been much worse.’
“You don’t think so? Well, which is it, yes or no?”
“No.” The man’s voice was firmer than before, certain.
“Good. Now, go sit next to your girlfriend.”
Kimimaro watched the man walk to where his girlfriend was. He saw her sigh in obvious relief and then smile when her boyfriend took her into his arms and kissed her reassuringly.
Tearing his eyes away from the couple, he spoke to Anko, who was still standing next to him.
“Go and check if the car's really gone.”
Anko nodded, exiting the room quickly, not running but not walking either.
Kimimaro had to wait only a short moment before she came back. She walked straight to him and spoke.
“He was telling the truth.”
Kimimaro nodded and then turned to face the people in the room. He spoke in a voice that was reassuring and threatening at the same time.
“Everyone, you can relax now. Talk to each other all you want. This won’t take much longer.” A small pause. “That's if everyone behaves.”
When many of the people in the room started to talk to each other Kimimaro motioned for his partners to get closer to him. He needed to tell the women about the change of plan – he hadn’t had the opportunity to tell them earlier. He spoke very quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.
“It would be careless for us to execute the plan now. Two people getting shot accidentally by us would seem too suspicious, so we'll retreat and disappear for a while, until Kabuto contacts us again. Now, we'll take the money from the safe to keep up the appearance of us being merely robbers. Then we'll get out of here.”
Kimimaro gave Anko and Tayuya questioning looks and both women nodded, showing him that they had both heard and understood what he had said.
“Okay. You,” Kimimaro pointed a finger at Tayuya, “go and keep watch at the store’s doors. And you,” he pointed at Anko, “keep an eye on these people.”
After this, Tayuya walked out of the room and Anko went to stand next to the open door, so that she could do what Kimimaro told her to do.
When both women were gone from his side, Kimimaro turned to face the safe and continued to try and open it.
-----
Naruto felt warm. Not just physically warm; there was something else, too.
The raven-haired boy, Sasuke, was sitting next to him. Their shoulders were touching.
Naruto didn’t really know why, but, even in this horrible situation, he felt like smiling. Not grinning like a fool, but really truly smiling. It felt confusing and weird – but not necessarily in a bad way.
Naruto glanced at his side.
Sasuke was looking straight ahead, his eyes unfocused, not really seeing anything.
Naruto glanced away, but quickly found himself looking at the boy again.
This time, though, as if sensing that someone was looking at him, Sasuke turned his head.
Bright blue met obsidian.
They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. It felt like a small eternity to Naruto, but in reality it was only a couple of seconds.
He blinked his eyes and turned his head around, feeling embarrassed.
When, after a while, Naruto glanced at the other boy again, he noticed that he hadn’t been the only one to look away before; Sasuke had also turned his dark eyes away from Naruto.
But now their eyes were locked again, both having turned towards each other at the same time.
Naruto couldn’t help but smile warmly at Sasuke.
Said boy blinked and then, slowly, a small, almost shy looking smile formed on the boy’s lips.
“What are you smiling about, dobe?” Sasuke murmured.
Naruto ignored the insult because Sasuke obviously hadn’t meant it to hurt. Letting out an awkward laugh, he scratched the back of his neck. “Eh? Nothing.”
Sasuke gave the blond a sceptical look. “Nothing?”
Naruto laughed again, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. Averting his eyes, Naruto answered, “Yeah.”
Sasuke’s smirk went unnoticed by the blond.
The boys’ moment was interrupted, however, when someone near them spoke in an agitated voice, “Naruto?”
Naruto turned to look at the man that had called his name.
It was Sarutobi. The old man was looking very tired. It felt wrong to Naruto.
The man spoke in a coarse voice, leaning forward in his seat on the couch.
“I’m so sorry, Naruto. I didn’t mean to get Kiba-kun hurt. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
It took a moment for Naruto to process what Sarutobi had said.
‘He feels like it’s his fault that Kiba got shot?’
It hadn’t even crossed his mind to blame the old man about what had happened. The situation had been so confusing that no one was probably at fault – except, of course, the man who had brought the gun into the store in the first place.
“It’s okay, old man. Kiba's going to be alright, so don’t blame yourself. I’m sure he doesn’t.”
Naruto smiled reassuringly at Sarutobi, who seemed to relax a bit. He still felt guilty, but not as much as before.
The old man leaned back into the couch, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
Naruto let out an inaudible sigh. There was no use in feeling guilty about anything that had happened. They – Naruto, Kiba, Sarutobi, or the customers – haven’t had control over a thing since the robbers came into the store.
‘I hope this is over soon.’
The warm body beside Naruto shifted slightly and he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering to the raven haired boy.
-----
An old man with a head full of long, white hair was sitting behind a wooden desk in a crammed office full of paper, files, and cardboard boxes. The man had his feet propped up on the desk. He was writing something in a sketchbook he had in his lap. The man’s cheeks were dusted with a light pink colour, and from time to time a – manly? – giggle could be heard coming from him.
Suddenly, the door of his office let out a small creaking sound, startling the man and telling him that someone was about to enter.
With a start, he tried to take his feet off the desk in front of him – to look like he was actually working – but, with an undignified squeak and a big splat, he found himself lying on his back on the floor.
‘Ouch.’
A not the least bit surprised voice echoed through the room. “The mayor is here to see you, captain.”
Collecting the pieces of his, once again, shattered self-dignity the man now known as ‘captain’ rose from behind the desk.
He dusted his clothes, making a shooing motion with his right hand. “Alright, send her in.”
“Yes, sir.”
When the young man had closed the door, the white-haired man looked around himself, trying to find the sketchbook that should have been right there in front of him. But, as fate should have it, it was nowhere to be seen.
His eyes widened and he started to search for it frantically.
‘No. No! Where the hell is it?’
He was crouching under his desk when he heard the seemingly calm, but he knew better, voice speak to him.
“Looking for this, are you now?”
The white-haired man rose from under the desk with a sheepish grin on his face.
“No?”
“No?” echoed the seemingly calm voice.
He let out a nervous laugh, noticing that he was also sweating a little.
“That's not mine.”
“Oh, I see.” The blonde woman with a huge bosom took a step towards the cowering man, placing the sketchbook on the desk between them.
The man looked a little sceptical, ‘She believed me?’
Just then a fist connected with his head – and hard, too, might I add.
“I see you're being an irresponsible ass, as always, writing that sorry excuse for a book when you should be working, Jiraiya.”
Said man held his poor, aching head with both hands and whined.
“That was unnecessary violence, Tsunade. And I’ll have you know that all my books are pieces of art.”
Tsunade rolled her eyes, “I should have you fired, Jiraiya.”
Grinning, the man stopped nursing his head. “Nah. You know I’m too tallented to be fired.”
He leered at Tsunade and continued. “Well, what brings the mayor of Konoha here today? Couldn’t stay away from the great Jiraiya, huh?”
She made a show of looking Jiraiya up and down, and then she answered, sarcastic, “Yes, exactly, ‘the great Jiraiya’.”
Jiraiya glared at Tsunade, while she just stood there, smirking at him.
The man made an annoyed sound in his throat, picking up his fallen chair and seating himself at his desk once again.
“Fine. Why are you really here?”
Tsunade sat down on the chair before the man’s desk, speaking with a serious voice, “I’m here to discuss about the --”
Before she could finish the sentence, the police radio on Jiraiya’s desk made a short crackling sound and a man’s voice drifted from it.
“This is car 24-D. There's a possible robbery going on at a gas station near the border of Konoha and Suna. We're requesting for permission to take action inside Suna borders. We're also requesting for backup.”
Jiraiya recognized the lazy voice immediately. He reached for the police radio, taking the rectangular microphone into his hand. He held it to his mouth, pressed an oval-shaped button on its side, and spoke.
“Hey, Nara, this is the captain. How near the border are we talking about? Would it be better, I mean faster and smarter, for us to handle it?”
“Yes, I believe so, sir. Our police station is closer to the gas station than Suna’s closest one. It would definitely take more time for them to get there than us.”
Jiraiya had a feeling he was missing something important.
“Alright. What were you and Umino doing at a gass station in Suna, anyway?”
“We were on a break and decided to go see Naruto at his work.”
“Naruto?”
It was silent for a short moment before everything clicked in Jiraiya’s head. His face went pale. A small gasp informed him that Tsunade had also reached the same conclusion.
Jiraiya and Tsunade have known Naruto for years now and they think the world of him – they probably wouldn’t admit it, though. They both met him at the police station when the boy had been visiting Iruka.
The first time Jiraiya had seen the twelve-year-old Naruto, he had immediately taken a reluctant liking to the loud rascal. Tsunade had met the endearing blond when the boy had just turned fourteen. She had been having a meeting with Jiraiya at his office when Naruto had barged in. The boy had gotten into a shouting match with the white-haired man, and it had been hilarious to see Jiraiya get so very angry all because of a teenage brat.
“Are you telling me the gas station where Naruto works is being robbed, and he's currently there?”
“Unfortunately yes, sir.”
Jiraiya let out a colorful string of curses, while Tsunade looked worried.
It was quiet for a moment again. Shikamaru was waiting for Jiraiya’s orders, while said man was weighing all the possible courses of action they could take.
It didn’t take long for him to come to a decision, seeing as there weren’t many options for him to choose from.
“We'll handle this situation because the gas station is closer to us. It would obviously take Suna more time to get there, and it might already be too late when they finally arrived. I'll inform the Suna officials about the situation right away and I believe they'll agree with this arrangement.”
“Yes, captain.”
“Inform the communication centre of your location and stay put where you are. I mean it, don’t do anything until the reinforcements get there.”
”Yes, captain. Copy that.” The police radio crackled again.
An apprehensive silence filled the stuffy office, until Tsunade let out a deep sigh.
“Oh, brat.”
-----
An exasperated silence stretched in the car.
A woman, who had brown hair that was in two buns on top of her head, was staring expectantly at the young man sitting next to her.
After a minute of total silence, she finally seemed to give up.
“Oh, come on, Neji. Could you be any more unsocial?”
The man who had been addressed, Neji, had long brown hair and light coloured, almost white, eyes. He just gave the chatty woman a blank look.
Just when the woman was about to speak again, a crackle sounded from the police radio in front of the two officers, and a female voice began to speak.
“Car 26-B, there is a robbery going on at a gas station. Two officers are already near the location and they are waiting for backup. Are you free?”
“Yes, we're. Just give us the address and we'll be on our way.”
-----
A crackle sounded through the police car, followed by a female voice.
“Car 23-A, there is a robbery going on at a gas station. Two officers are already near the location and they are waiting for backup. Are you free?”
“Yes, we're free! We're as free as the birds flying in the sky! Ah, the youthful birds, what fine creatures they are!”
The person behind this booming exclamation was currently pumping his fist in the air enthusiastically.
The plump man, who was sitting on the passenger seat, spoke after stuffing a doughnut in his mouth.
“Calm down, Gai.”
It seemed that Gai hadn't heard the other man, because he immediately started the car engine and began to drive. He continued to talk – shout – loudly about youthfulness and how they were going to catch the bad guys.
Chouji interrupted the energetic man, “Gai, you might want to get the address before you drive anywhere.”
-----
Finally, after about half an hour or so, Kimimaro managed to crack the safe.
He took a black fabric sack from the bag he kept his tools in. As quickly as he could, he stuffed everything he took from the safe in it.
When Kimimaro was done, he rose from his seat. He glanced at Anko to convey that they were finally ready to leave.
When the woman nodded and walked out of the door, he turned around to regard the people in the room. At first, when he spoke, his voice was neutral, but towards the end it turned threatening.
“Wait for fifteen minutes until you get out of this room. Don’t try anything stupid.”
Kimimaro stood in his place, regarding the people silently, trying to see if anyone was going to try to stop them from leaving. When he was satisfied with what he saw, he turned around and walked out of the room.
He walked straight up to Anko and Tayuya, who were at the front of the store in front of the doors.
Kimimaro stopped in front of the two women, but there was really nothing to say, so they just headed out of the doors.
Just when they opened the store’s doors and walked outside, they saw three police cars drive into the gass station’s yard.
All three backtracked their steps immediately, walking quickly back into the store, shutting the doors behind them.
“Oh shit.”
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End of chapter 5.
[Edited 5.17.2009]
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Chapter 5.
Caught?
-----
Looking around the room from where he was seated, Shino noted, feeling oddly detached, that the place was a little crowded.
He noted that Ino and Hinata were sitting on the floor, leaning against the white wall on the left side of the room. Sakura, whose boyfriend was currently trying to play the part of a sales clerk, was sitting with them.
The blonde was sitting in the middle. She had her right arm comfortingly around the shoulders of her pink-haired friend, who was holding her face in her hands. Despite this, her blue eyes were concentraced on the black-haired woman on her left. She was holding Hinata’s hand in her own and they were gazing into each other’s eyes as if trying to convey something important. Shino noted that the shy girl had seemed to calm down a lot from earlier.
The male robber was sitting in front of the safe, which was in the southeast corner of the room, while the dark pink haired woman was leaning against the wall not far from the white-haired man. The other female robber was standing next to the door.
Kabuto was sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair in front of a wooden table that was placed against the wall on the right side of the room. It seemed to Shino that the doctor was deep in his own thoughts, not caring about what was going on around him.
‘I don’t know why, but I don’t trust him. I just have a nagging feeling that something is off with him and that he is hiding something.’
The old man who had tried to run away earlier was sitting on a brown worn-out couch that was placed against the back wall of the room. The man was staring at his hands which were folded in his lap. He looked like something was troubling him.
Shino noted that his protectee was sitting on the floor, back against the same brown couch the old man was sitting on. The blond sales clerk, Naruto, was sitting next to the Uchiha. The boys were so close to each other that their shoulders were touching.
Shino has been keeping an eye on the Uchiha the whole time they have been in the store. He hasn't – not once, not even when he hasn’t been able to be by the boy’s side – let Sasuke out of his sight. The whole time, Shino has been ready to jump up to defend and protect the raven-haired boy if anything seemed to threaten him.
Shino had been right behind Sasuke, ready to protect him, when the boy had held the blond back. But he had felt that he could go sit next to Kiba because Sasuke had obviously been occupied with Naruto, and he didn’t think that anything would happen to the Uchiha at that moment.
He had felt that Kiba had needed him more than Sasuke.
Shino had – still has – a gun, so he could have protected Sasuke from where he had been sitting next to Kiba anyway. He has been alert to what has been happening around the Uchiha the whole time they have been separated.
Shino hadn’t used his gun to try to stop the robbery from happening because he hadn’t wanted to risk making the situation worse. It would have, no doubt about it, only complicated things.
He looked at the man whose head was resting in his lap.
The brunet was grimacing because of the agonizing pain in his leg, biting his bottom lip to keep from moaning from the pain.
Shino didn’t like it when people got hurt when he was around. He felt that he should have been able to prevent the shooting incident from happening. Being a bodyguard was his job, and it was his duty to protect people, whether the people paid him or not. It was in his blood.
Shino’s thoughts were interrupted suddenly when the room’s only door creaked, starting to open.
-----
When Kimimaro heard the door of the staff room start to open, he was in the middle of trying to open the safe before him.
In a flash, he had his hand on his gun, which was resting on top of the safe. He was ready to point it at the person coming through the door if necessary.
Kimimaro hadn’t been able to hear the conversation taking place outside the room’s door, so he couldn’t be sure who was entering; the man who had had the task of playing the part of a sales clerk or the cops.
To his relief, the door opened to show a man in a green shirt.
He immediately relaxed, letting go of his gun. He gave the man a look that told him to spill.
The man hesitated a bit before speaking. “I saw the police car drive away from the yard.”
Kimimaro nodded. “Did the cops seem suspicious about anything?”
“Only one was in the store, and, no, I don’t think so.”
Kimimaro thought that the cop’s partner must have stayed in the car, 'which is probably a good thing for us; one cop snooping around is already too much, two would have been much worse.’
“You don’t think so? Well, which is it, yes or no?”
“No.” The man’s voice was firmer than before, certain.
“Good. Now, go sit next to your girlfriend.”
Kimimaro watched the man walk to where his girlfriend was. He saw her sigh in obvious relief and then smile when her boyfriend took her into his arms and kissed her reassuringly.
Tearing his eyes away from the couple, he spoke to Anko, who was still standing next to him.
“Go and check if the car's really gone.”
Anko nodded, exiting the room quickly, not running but not walking either.
Kimimaro had to wait only a short moment before she came back. She walked straight to him and spoke.
“He was telling the truth.”
Kimimaro nodded and then turned to face the people in the room. He spoke in a voice that was reassuring and threatening at the same time.
“Everyone, you can relax now. Talk to each other all you want. This won’t take much longer.” A small pause. “That's if everyone behaves.”
When many of the people in the room started to talk to each other Kimimaro motioned for his partners to get closer to him. He needed to tell the women about the change of plan – he hadn’t had the opportunity to tell them earlier. He spoke very quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.
“It would be careless for us to execute the plan now. Two people getting shot accidentally by us would seem too suspicious, so we'll retreat and disappear for a while, until Kabuto contacts us again. Now, we'll take the money from the safe to keep up the appearance of us being merely robbers. Then we'll get out of here.”
Kimimaro gave Anko and Tayuya questioning looks and both women nodded, showing him that they had both heard and understood what he had said.
“Okay. You,” Kimimaro pointed a finger at Tayuya, “go and keep watch at the store’s doors. And you,” he pointed at Anko, “keep an eye on these people.”
After this, Tayuya walked out of the room and Anko went to stand next to the open door, so that she could do what Kimimaro told her to do.
When both women were gone from his side, Kimimaro turned to face the safe and continued to try and open it.
-----
Naruto felt warm. Not just physically warm; there was something else, too.
The raven-haired boy, Sasuke, was sitting next to him. Their shoulders were touching.
Naruto didn’t really know why, but, even in this horrible situation, he felt like smiling. Not grinning like a fool, but really truly smiling. It felt confusing and weird – but not necessarily in a bad way.
Naruto glanced at his side.
Sasuke was looking straight ahead, his eyes unfocused, not really seeing anything.
Naruto glanced away, but quickly found himself looking at the boy again.
This time, though, as if sensing that someone was looking at him, Sasuke turned his head.
Bright blue met obsidian.
They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. It felt like a small eternity to Naruto, but in reality it was only a couple of seconds.
He blinked his eyes and turned his head around, feeling embarrassed.
When, after a while, Naruto glanced at the other boy again, he noticed that he hadn’t been the only one to look away before; Sasuke had also turned his dark eyes away from Naruto.
But now their eyes were locked again, both having turned towards each other at the same time.
Naruto couldn’t help but smile warmly at Sasuke.
Said boy blinked and then, slowly, a small, almost shy looking smile formed on the boy’s lips.
“What are you smiling about, dobe?” Sasuke murmured.
Naruto ignored the insult because Sasuke obviously hadn’t meant it to hurt. Letting out an awkward laugh, he scratched the back of his neck. “Eh? Nothing.”
Sasuke gave the blond a sceptical look. “Nothing?”
Naruto laughed again, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. Averting his eyes, Naruto answered, “Yeah.”
Sasuke’s smirk went unnoticed by the blond.
The boys’ moment was interrupted, however, when someone near them spoke in an agitated voice, “Naruto?”
Naruto turned to look at the man that had called his name.
It was Sarutobi. The old man was looking very tired. It felt wrong to Naruto.
The man spoke in a coarse voice, leaning forward in his seat on the couch.
“I’m so sorry, Naruto. I didn’t mean to get Kiba-kun hurt. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
It took a moment for Naruto to process what Sarutobi had said.
‘He feels like it’s his fault that Kiba got shot?’
It hadn’t even crossed his mind to blame the old man about what had happened. The situation had been so confusing that no one was probably at fault – except, of course, the man who had brought the gun into the store in the first place.
“It’s okay, old man. Kiba's going to be alright, so don’t blame yourself. I’m sure he doesn’t.”
Naruto smiled reassuringly at Sarutobi, who seemed to relax a bit. He still felt guilty, but not as much as before.
The old man leaned back into the couch, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
Naruto let out an inaudible sigh. There was no use in feeling guilty about anything that had happened. They – Naruto, Kiba, Sarutobi, or the customers – haven’t had control over a thing since the robbers came into the store.
‘I hope this is over soon.’
The warm body beside Naruto shifted slightly and he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering to the raven haired boy.
-----
An old man with a head full of long, white hair was sitting behind a wooden desk in a crammed office full of paper, files, and cardboard boxes. The man had his feet propped up on the desk. He was writing something in a sketchbook he had in his lap. The man’s cheeks were dusted with a light pink colour, and from time to time a – manly? – giggle could be heard coming from him.
Suddenly, the door of his office let out a small creaking sound, startling the man and telling him that someone was about to enter.
With a start, he tried to take his feet off the desk in front of him – to look like he was actually working – but, with an undignified squeak and a big splat, he found himself lying on his back on the floor.
‘Ouch.’
A not the least bit surprised voice echoed through the room. “The mayor is here to see you, captain.”
Collecting the pieces of his, once again, shattered self-dignity the man now known as ‘captain’ rose from behind the desk.
He dusted his clothes, making a shooing motion with his right hand. “Alright, send her in.”
“Yes, sir.”
When the young man had closed the door, the white-haired man looked around himself, trying to find the sketchbook that should have been right there in front of him. But, as fate should have it, it was nowhere to be seen.
His eyes widened and he started to search for it frantically.
‘No. No! Where the hell is it?’
He was crouching under his desk when he heard the seemingly calm, but he knew better, voice speak to him.
“Looking for this, are you now?”
The white-haired man rose from under the desk with a sheepish grin on his face.
“No?”
“No?” echoed the seemingly calm voice.
He let out a nervous laugh, noticing that he was also sweating a little.
“That's not mine.”
“Oh, I see.” The blonde woman with a huge bosom took a step towards the cowering man, placing the sketchbook on the desk between them.
The man looked a little sceptical, ‘She believed me?’
Just then a fist connected with his head – and hard, too, might I add.
“I see you're being an irresponsible ass, as always, writing that sorry excuse for a book when you should be working, Jiraiya.”
Said man held his poor, aching head with both hands and whined.
“That was unnecessary violence, Tsunade. And I’ll have you know that all my books are pieces of art.”
Tsunade rolled her eyes, “I should have you fired, Jiraiya.”
Grinning, the man stopped nursing his head. “Nah. You know I’m too tallented to be fired.”
He leered at Tsunade and continued. “Well, what brings the mayor of Konoha here today? Couldn’t stay away from the great Jiraiya, huh?”
She made a show of looking Jiraiya up and down, and then she answered, sarcastic, “Yes, exactly, ‘the great Jiraiya’.”
Jiraiya glared at Tsunade, while she just stood there, smirking at him.
The man made an annoyed sound in his throat, picking up his fallen chair and seating himself at his desk once again.
“Fine. Why are you really here?”
Tsunade sat down on the chair before the man’s desk, speaking with a serious voice, “I’m here to discuss about the --”
Before she could finish the sentence, the police radio on Jiraiya’s desk made a short crackling sound and a man’s voice drifted from it.
“This is car 24-D. There's a possible robbery going on at a gas station near the border of Konoha and Suna. We're requesting for permission to take action inside Suna borders. We're also requesting for backup.”
Jiraiya recognized the lazy voice immediately. He reached for the police radio, taking the rectangular microphone into his hand. He held it to his mouth, pressed an oval-shaped button on its side, and spoke.
“Hey, Nara, this is the captain. How near the border are we talking about? Would it be better, I mean faster and smarter, for us to handle it?”
“Yes, I believe so, sir. Our police station is closer to the gas station than Suna’s closest one. It would definitely take more time for them to get there than us.”
Jiraiya had a feeling he was missing something important.
“Alright. What were you and Umino doing at a gass station in Suna, anyway?”
“We were on a break and decided to go see Naruto at his work.”
“Naruto?”
It was silent for a short moment before everything clicked in Jiraiya’s head. His face went pale. A small gasp informed him that Tsunade had also reached the same conclusion.
Jiraiya and Tsunade have known Naruto for years now and they think the world of him – they probably wouldn’t admit it, though. They both met him at the police station when the boy had been visiting Iruka.
The first time Jiraiya had seen the twelve-year-old Naruto, he had immediately taken a reluctant liking to the loud rascal. Tsunade had met the endearing blond when the boy had just turned fourteen. She had been having a meeting with Jiraiya at his office when Naruto had barged in. The boy had gotten into a shouting match with the white-haired man, and it had been hilarious to see Jiraiya get so very angry all because of a teenage brat.
“Are you telling me the gas station where Naruto works is being robbed, and he's currently there?”
“Unfortunately yes, sir.”
Jiraiya let out a colorful string of curses, while Tsunade looked worried.
It was quiet for a moment again. Shikamaru was waiting for Jiraiya’s orders, while said man was weighing all the possible courses of action they could take.
It didn’t take long for him to come to a decision, seeing as there weren’t many options for him to choose from.
“We'll handle this situation because the gas station is closer to us. It would obviously take Suna more time to get there, and it might already be too late when they finally arrived. I'll inform the Suna officials about the situation right away and I believe they'll agree with this arrangement.”
“Yes, captain.”
“Inform the communication centre of your location and stay put where you are. I mean it, don’t do anything until the reinforcements get there.”
”Yes, captain. Copy that.” The police radio crackled again.
An apprehensive silence filled the stuffy office, until Tsunade let out a deep sigh.
“Oh, brat.”
-----
An exasperated silence stretched in the car.
A woman, who had brown hair that was in two buns on top of her head, was staring expectantly at the young man sitting next to her.
After a minute of total silence, she finally seemed to give up.
“Oh, come on, Neji. Could you be any more unsocial?”
The man who had been addressed, Neji, had long brown hair and light coloured, almost white, eyes. He just gave the chatty woman a blank look.
Just when the woman was about to speak again, a crackle sounded from the police radio in front of the two officers, and a female voice began to speak.
“Car 26-B, there is a robbery going on at a gas station. Two officers are already near the location and they are waiting for backup. Are you free?”
“Yes, we're. Just give us the address and we'll be on our way.”
-----
A crackle sounded through the police car, followed by a female voice.
“Car 23-A, there is a robbery going on at a gas station. Two officers are already near the location and they are waiting for backup. Are you free?”
“Yes, we're free! We're as free as the birds flying in the sky! Ah, the youthful birds, what fine creatures they are!”
The person behind this booming exclamation was currently pumping his fist in the air enthusiastically.
The plump man, who was sitting on the passenger seat, spoke after stuffing a doughnut in his mouth.
“Calm down, Gai.”
It seemed that Gai hadn't heard the other man, because he immediately started the car engine and began to drive. He continued to talk – shout – loudly about youthfulness and how they were going to catch the bad guys.
Chouji interrupted the energetic man, “Gai, you might want to get the address before you drive anywhere.”
-----
Finally, after about half an hour or so, Kimimaro managed to crack the safe.
He took a black fabric sack from the bag he kept his tools in. As quickly as he could, he stuffed everything he took from the safe in it.
When Kimimaro was done, he rose from his seat. He glanced at Anko to convey that they were finally ready to leave.
When the woman nodded and walked out of the door, he turned around to regard the people in the room. At first, when he spoke, his voice was neutral, but towards the end it turned threatening.
“Wait for fifteen minutes until you get out of this room. Don’t try anything stupid.”
Kimimaro stood in his place, regarding the people silently, trying to see if anyone was going to try to stop them from leaving. When he was satisfied with what he saw, he turned around and walked out of the room.
He walked straight up to Anko and Tayuya, who were at the front of the store in front of the doors.
Kimimaro stopped in front of the two women, but there was really nothing to say, so they just headed out of the doors.
Just when they opened the store’s doors and walked outside, they saw three police cars drive into the gass station’s yard.
All three backtracked their steps immediately, walking quickly back into the store, shutting the doors behind them.
“Oh shit.”
-----
End of chapter 5.
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