EPISODE TWO: SMOKE
I crawled off of her, slowly, and looked around the room in horror. "What have I done?". I mumbled.
I sat back, stunned, almost like I was outside of myself, looking at this situation. I wiped the blood and snot from my face with my sleeve and tried to calm down.Cautiously, I approached the window and looked out. Doesnt look like anyone heard it.. The streets are clear. I turned back around and face the body.
"What do I do?" As I stare at the mangled corpse a million thoughs bombard my mind, then one resonates
She's gone, and they'll kill me if anyone see this
I took the body out to the forest. All night, I dug a hole and placed her inside. Then returned home to clean and rest. But no matter how hard I tried I couldnt sleep. My wife, the love of my life, was gone. All day I cried and obsessed over her. Smelling her clothes. I could even still hear her voice at times. I would try to carry conversations with her until reality snatched me back into darkness again.
But my fall into depression was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Mizuri, are you there?" A man's voice asked from the other side of the door.
Oh shit. Are they here to arrest me? Maybe somebody did see me. What do I do? The knock continued and my heart began to beat twice as fast. I grabbed a kunai then headed to the door. I wiped my face and took a few deep breaths, trying to regain composure.
"Coming, who is it?" I spat the words out nervously, peeking through a crack in the door.
"It's Iruka, I didnt see Mina at the Academy today. Is everything alright? It's not like her to miss work, so we were a little worried."
Fuck... I cracked the door just enough to fit my head out. Wiping my face again to be sure I didnt look bothered. "Oh, ha, yes.. she's not feeling well. Just a rough cold. She's been in bed all day."
Iruka looked me over. "Thats a shame. Next week is the faculty party. We would have loved to see you two there." He paused. "Do you think she'll be okay by then, or no?"
"I'm sure she will be" I flashed him a reassuring grin.
"Okay great. Well tell her I stopped by and to get well soon. You should get some rest too. Looks like youre not doing so great yourself." He chuckles.
"Will do. Take care." I close the door behind me and drop the kunai, place my back against the door and slide down to the floor in a sigh of relief.
An agonizing week had passed and it was the day of the party. I got someone else to attend the party as my wife. Just as beautiful as always.. I even dolled her up with make up and high heels. Perfect to the very last detail. I know her better than anyone else.
As the night went on, I fell back into a sense of happiness. My wife was with me. Things were normal again. We laughed and played a few games with the other staff. No one suspected anything. We stood in a huddle with a couple other staff members, exchanging jokes.
"Watch out!" shouted a voice. But before we could even react, a baseball pierced Mina's back then continued right through her. She looked at me and then my shadow clone wife went up in a cloud of smoke, my arm left hugging thin air. My heart fell into my shoes as the air cleared. When the atmosphere finally settled, all eyes were on me. Damn... now what.
EPISODE THREE: STEP ONE
I paused for a brief moment, then covered my face. You’ve got to be kidding me... did that really just happen? I slid my hand down my face and burst into a fit of laughter. Everyone watched me, looking extremely puzzled. I shook my head and then shrugged. "I guess I’m busted" I smiled.
"Mina was all better, but yesterday morning she started to feel bad again. She really did not want to disappoint you all. So she made me promise not to tell. We came up with this idea so you guy's wouldn’t miss us, but, " I chuckled. "You caught us."
Hopefully they buy that crap.
"Wow this is embarrassing." I say as I wipe sweat from my forehead.
One of the instructors sways over and clings to my arm. She smiled from ear to ear, clearly drunk. "Aww, that’s terrible, but that was kinda cool. I really hope *hiccup* she's o...kay though" She says. Then another co-worker chimes in, "Yeah, we miss her around here. Maybe we should visit her just to let her know she's on our mind."
Fuck… No no no no
"Yeah!” I blurted. “That’d be awesome I know she'd love that. But she was asleep before I left. If she’s not better within the next few days I’m going to take her to the hospital. That way everyone can visit”
Most people there, honestly too inebriated to care, returned to the party. The atmosphere was beginning to shift back into a festive mood. And since I mentioned the hospital, the others slowly followed suit. I knew better than to invite them over. There’s no one there but me, and I doubt they would fall for the shadow clone thing twice. I couldn’t say no either because it would make me look suspicious. This is really getting out of control… But I think I have an idea. I said my goodbyes and exited the party shortly after, telling everyone I was returning to make sure Mina was okay at home.
I doubt everyone bought my story, but what reason would they have to suspect something? Everyone in Konoha has known Mina and I to be in love for eons. They would never think I hurt her. But no time to think about that; I’ve got to solve this before they catch on.
I headed to my office at the Research Lab instead. I knew of a Project that had been going on for the last few years, and from what I knew, it sounded like it could solve my problem. Project 2X496: After the death of Nagato, we studied how he was able to inject the chakra of one person into the sacrificed body of another. We pretty much figured it out, but because it requires killing someone else, we never used it, and it was labeled “Forbidden”.
I don’t have time to go over the morality of it though, these people are going to be looking for Mina in the next couple days.
But who could I sacrifice?
I paced back in forth in my office, pointlessly shuffling through papers and files while trying to order my thoughts. Maybe a hospital? They’re close to dying anyway, who would miss them? But how would I get them out of there… The hospital’s security has been extra tight ever since that White Zetsu thing. I continued pacing, then grabbed a cup and pulled a bottle of sake from my desk. Whenever I had stressful days at work I would take a quick swig to calm me down. I poured my cup and then it hit me.
“That’s it! A brothel” I yelled.
I caught myself shortly after, realizing how loud I was. Not to mention the only reason I got this revelation was from drinking. And to top it off, I’m married. Why would I even be at a brothel? But it doesn’t matter, that’s perfect. Most of the girls there don’t have family or people that would ask too many questions if they disappeared. I’d be off the hook. I would really have my wife back.
I downed my cup of sake, wiped my chin and headed to the closest brothel, Yukaku. As I walked in you could barely see anything. The building was narrow, dimly lit, and it led to a set of stairs at the very back. All you could see were the silhouettes of beautiful women swaying back and forth, and groups of patrons drinking and bartering with them to take their services to the rooms upstairs. I saw a few people I was shocked to know would be there and it reminded me to cover my face. So I pulled on my hood.
I walked a little further in and I felt a light push on my back.
“Hey there” An anonymous voice seductively said. “Why don’t we go upstairs so I can help you… relax”
Her hands slid around to my chest and slowly began to bee-line south. Before she got any further than my navel I wrapped my hand around hers then turned around to face her. “How much” I asked, knowing it didn’t matter. I tuned her out as she responded, plotting our escape route. No windows.. I have to get her outside.
“That ok?” she asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to do it here. Too many people know me. I will pay you double if you meet me out back”. I said, then left. Shortly after she came out and greeted me with a kiss. As she got undressed, I walked behind her and quickly threw together a few hand seals.
“Ninja Art: Crimson Leaf Dream”
Before she screamed I forced my chakra into her, and she was lost in my genjutsu. I caught her body just before it collapsed and began to walk her back to my house. Step 1 completed. Hopefully the rest goes this smooth.