Good Intentions

[Tsedas]

Faces in the Shadows

They had gathered around the body as the sun was setting, faces blocked by masks of animals and body armor covering them. ANBU examined the scene of the crime, a murder to be exact. The way the person had been killed matched seen others in the past month, the killer was speeding up the time between killings. That was never a good sign. The leader of the group of masked ninjas knelt down and looked over the corpse, it was a young woman who ran a shop nearby and she would have had no chance.

"Chalk up another civilian to this bastards tally. That's eight victims, none of them shinobi. Why?" The Squad leader asked his mask resembling a bear as stood up once more. The Owl wearing ANBU who was jotting down notes about the scene spoke next, having been experienced in the field of information on such things "It makes the killer feel powerful, taking the life of someone who can't really fight back against him only enforces his strength in his mind."

The Kuma ANBU nodded and turned to a frog mask ANBU "How long ago did the body die and was the weapon the same?"

The frog ANBU performed a handseal and knelt beside the body, examining it briefly before looking up the to Kuma "I'd say the body died no more than three to three and a half hours ago. The weapon was the same as the last killing, there are jagged marks around the end of the wound showing the blade is broken."

The Kawazu ANBU reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out a small blade tip holding up the broken end where it was jagged "Same jagged formation as the end of this blade tip that broke off in the last victim."

"What I don't get is why he killed her here. The last couple of victims were found almost by chance, this one was in an area near constant foot traffic. So why here?" They turned to a wolf masked ANBU, one who had obviously joined late in the game but she knew about the rest of the murders. The Fukurou ANBU looked up from his notes as he cleared his throat "He's devolving, becoming disorganized. This is never a good sign."

The Kuma ANBU swore silently to himself as Medical Nins showed up with a scroll, something they could store the body in as a gurney with a covered corpse would draw too much attention. The Medical Nins exchanged information with the Kawazu and Fukurou ANBU briefly before setting to work, the Ookami ANBU approaching the Kuma squad leader "What now? We can't let this guy get away with it again."

"I know, the Kazekage's advisors are pressing us to catch the guy enough already. I think we're going to have to get some help on this one." The Kuma sighed as he crossed his arms.

"Help?"

_______________________________________

Michiru scrambled to keep her food from burning as she practiced cooking and had forgotten to watch it. She shuffled it onto a plate, turning off everything as she tried to avoid setting fire to her apartment. She put the plate on her table as she sat down and sighed "God damn it, can't believe I got so caught up in that damn puppet I forgot to watch dinner."

Michiru took a pair of chopsticks and began eating, her dinner thankfully not being burnt as she ate it. The Eidolon Was in the middle of enjoying her meal when a knock came to the door, sighing Michiru stood up and put her bowl and chopsticks down before walking over. Turning the knob she cracked the door and peeked out, a pair of ANBU standing in front of her door. She noticed the masks as the one in the bear mask spoke "Hanamichi Michiru, we've been given permission to call in a Eidolon for support."

"Support for what?"

The Fukurou ANBU held out a file which Michiru took as she opened the door and stood in the door frame. She examined the contents while standing in the doorway in a button down shirt that teased a glimpse of her hips, her legs bare of any clothing. Looking through the contents she closed the file and looked at the men in masks as they brought their eyes up to meet hers and took them off her body as she spoke "A serial murder?"

"Yes, the culprit is rapidly devolving and could become a major hazard to both the village and those around him." The Fukurou ANBU spoke, Michiru sighing before handing back the file. The ANBU looked to each other before the Kuma turned to face her again "This orde-"

The Kuma stopped mid sentence as Michiru headed back into her apartment and yanked the shirt over her head and tossed it aside. The two ANBU were granted view of deeply tanned bare back and a pair of white panties as she walked into a room in the back. Michiru called out as she walked through the door "I"ll be out in a second!"

Roughly a minute later Michiru returned in a white cloak like those ANBU wears save for the hood that was not present on hers. A mask with drawing resembling lines on a puppets face drawn upon it covered her face a she appeared the two ANBU, the female Eidolon adjusting her supply belt as she grabbed the door knob and closed it behind her "Lets go."

Making their way out of the apartment, the KUma ANBU lead the trio out into the night air as they began their hunt. The prey was a serial murderer, and not just any murderer he was a man that killed eight people in Sunagakure and had yet to be caught. If he was deteriorating into a disorganized killer he would be caught, but how many more bodies would stack up before then?

[Tsedas]

The Shadow blocks out the Sun




Michiru stood with the ANBU squad, the group discussing the case. The Eidolon remained silent as she listened, her own opinions forming slowly as they reviewed the newest victim. It seemed the patrol that Michiru joined last night found another body, this one out in plain sight. The killings were speeding up faster than the group had thought.

"Latest victim was a genin. Age 14, his name was Kusakabe Mimura. He was apparently heading home for the night after studying after hours. His body was in the middle of the street, multiple stab wounds inflicted to the torso and face. Cause of death was from his carotid arteries, causing him to bleed out. His wounds overall would have made him suffer for a relatively short time but the pain would have been excrutiating. This is a big change from his MO in the past two months, he's never let his vicitms suffer long periods to time. Every other victim had their throats throats cut first then the body mutilated." The Kawazu stated as she pointed to several points marked across a human anatomy picture, the red Xs marking where the body had been injured. There was a big line draw across the neck of the anatomy picture showing where the killing blow had landed.

"At this rate I suspect another death in a matter of hours. I've already gotten approval to deploy squads across key areas within the suspects target area." The Fukurou ANBU said, pointing to a large area on a map of Sunagakure. The map had pins in it where the murders had taken placed as well as a highlighted area of where the killings had taken place. The ANBU continued to discuss their findings and the case as Michiru went over to a chair off to the side and sat down, staring blankly into space.

The latest body had been a young genin, she remembered how they acted on a hunch last night when they stumbled across the body. The two ANBU with Michiru setting to work on looking at the crime scene as Michiru was forced to look over the body. Jagged marks at the end of wounds, carotid artery cut, the whole shebang. However there was one major difference, the scene was covered in blood. Sure there was blood as otehr scenes, but the torture inflicted on the boy before his death seemed to amplify the amounts present.

The image of the corpse had been burned into Michiru's mind as she sat there thinking about who the killer could be. She didn't notice the Kuma ANBU talking to her until he tapped his foot against hers and she looked up as his voice reached her ears finally "Did you hear what I said?"

"Sorry, I was thinking and kinda blocked some stuff out. What did you say?" Michiru asked from behind her mask.

"We're deploying four squads within the target area, our ANBU team will split in two instead of staying as a whole. You'll be with me and Ichijouji." the Kuma nin said, motioning toward the Fukurou ANBU "Saki and Chie will be in the other half. This ensures both halves have a Kawazu with them."

"Kawazu.... but she's an Eidolon." Saki, the Ookami ANBU stated while pointing at Michiru's mask.

"I see someone hasn't informed you of who I once was. Former Buntaichou and Kawazu of ANBU, Promoted to Eidolon roughly a year ago." Michiru said as Saki went silent. Michiru took this time to look back to Kanzaki the Kuma ANBU "Do we have anything new about the suspect, I might have missed it when I was thinking."

"Well we know he's male judging from an eye witness statement, his appearance is a bit vague though. Brown hair, well built, obviously a shinobi judging from the shinobi tools he was said to have been wearing. We also have pieces to a psychological profile, but it's still being worked on." Kanzaki said before he went on to update Michiru on other particulars. They finished a short while after the search teams showed up.





Stepping out into the midday sun, the search teams fanned out as Michiru, Kanzaki, and Ichijouji prepared to search for their killer once more. Michiru silently telling herself they'll probably find nothing but a bloodbath if they didn't catch him today.