Naruto: Shadow of a Man
Title: Shadow of a Man
Author: Reyn
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto.
Warnings: Angst, character death, oneshot, based on a true story.
Author’s Note: In my three failed attempts at coming up with a decent entry for skully’s NaruKiba contest, I came to realize that I just…CAN’T write NaruKiba. Luckily, fourth time is (kind of) a charm.
Summary: Kiba had always found the heart wrenching stories the other cops told to be surreal. Until it happened to him.
Shadow of a Man
Kiba had always found the stories some of the other cops told him to be completely surreal. True, they saw just about anything and everything in their line of work, but when the events became personal was when Kiba felt himself distanced from the others. It was like cancer. It happened to everyone else, but not to you.
But it was happening to him.
Kiba knew Naruto. He knew him! They had been friends in high school: copied off each other’s homework, recommended parties to each other, got drunk together, even went to homecoming and prom in the same group. They lost touch during college, and when sharing hilarious stories of his past, Kiba would sometimes wonder what happened to his friend.
Standing here now, with his gun drawn, Kiba sincerely wished he had stopped wondering and was more proactive in trying to find out. Because maybe then, things would be different.
Maybe Naruto never would have reached this point, whatever it was. Maybe he wouldn’t have come here, to this sporting goods store. Maybe there wouldn’t be a customer being rushed to the hospital while the corpse of an employee lay off to the side, unable to be bagged until all this was over.
Kiba’s grip on his gun tightened as he backed up a step. His palms were sweaty and the aisle was a complete disaster. Packaged soccer balls had been scattered and shin guards spilled over the wide path between himself and Naruto. Further back, surrounded tall boxes of collapsible goals lay Akamaru, Kiba’s K-9 companion, unmoving except for the soft whines being emitted that reassured the cop that his beloved pet wasn’t dead.
In the distance there was shouting as the other officers worked to clear the building of any other occupants who may have lingered. Despite the two cops who stood at the opposite end of the row, their own pistols drawn, Kiba had never felt so alone.
“Naruto, listen to me. Just put the hockey stick down and we can talk, yeah?” Kiba’s voice wavered. “Grab a beer, maybe? Raid the gas station like old times while you try to charm the pants off the attendant?”
Tubes of tennis balls exploded as the stick was swung down in a diagonal arc, upsetting the metal shelf from the frame. Kiba’s arm quickly rose to protect his face from the various shrapnel before he brought it back down to his gun, taking several more steps back once he saw Naruto had advanced during his moment of distraction.
The tremor of panic that ran through him caused Kiba’s voice to come out sharper than intended “Put the stick down! I don’t want to hurt you!” He was well aware that the sound of his gun being cocked was a contradictory punctuation to his statement, but his sense of self-preservation was finally starting to kick in.
Naruto laughed. It bordered hysteria, lacking both carefree amusement and sanity. Chills went down Kiba’s spine at the sound and he involuntarily took another half-step back.
The humor vanished as if it were never there in the first place. “As if you would ever be enough to bring me back,” Naruto snarled.
Kicking a soccer ball out of his way, he once again started walking forward, slowly bringing the hockey stick up over his head.
Kiba’s back hit the wall’s shelving unit and he immediately realized his time was up. He looked into Naruto’s eyes and felt his gut sink as he realized that, without a doubt, this psychopath was going to take his head off with his next swing.
Dimly aware of his two back-up officers yelling at Naruto to get back, Kiba felt his hesitation drain away as his finger tightened its grip on the trigger. His eyes were narrowed and remained open as the first shot went off right into the center of Naruto’s chest. He paused, adjusting the gun’s angle only a fraction to the right in case another shot was needed.
The hockey stick fell to the ground with an unnaturally loud clatter and Naruto’s head tilted down to look at his wound. Disbelief was written across his face as his arms lowered and a hand touched the blood that was rapidly soaking though his shirt.
“You…”
Kiba jaw twitched, forcing himself to remain unmoved. “Would you have stopped if I only wounded you?”
A smile started to appear and faded just as quickly.”…No.” Naruto fell to the side, weakly holding onto the shelf before his strength failed and he collapsed completely.
Immediately the other officers rushed forward, radioing those outside about the situation. Kiba, however, leaned against his shelf for support as he dropped his gun and stared down at the man he once called his best friend.
For the first time ever, Kiba found himself wishing he had been a lesser man.
Author: Reyn
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto.
Warnings: Angst, character death, oneshot, based on a true story.
Author’s Note: In my three failed attempts at coming up with a decent entry for skully’s NaruKiba contest, I came to realize that I just…CAN’T write NaruKiba. Luckily, fourth time is (kind of) a charm.
Summary: Kiba had always found the heart wrenching stories the other cops told to be surreal. Until it happened to him.
Shadow of a Man
Kiba had always found the stories some of the other cops told him to be completely surreal. True, they saw just about anything and everything in their line of work, but when the events became personal was when Kiba felt himself distanced from the others. It was like cancer. It happened to everyone else, but not to you.
But it was happening to him.
Kiba knew Naruto. He knew him! They had been friends in high school: copied off each other’s homework, recommended parties to each other, got drunk together, even went to homecoming and prom in the same group. They lost touch during college, and when sharing hilarious stories of his past, Kiba would sometimes wonder what happened to his friend.
Standing here now, with his gun drawn, Kiba sincerely wished he had stopped wondering and was more proactive in trying to find out. Because maybe then, things would be different.
Maybe Naruto never would have reached this point, whatever it was. Maybe he wouldn’t have come here, to this sporting goods store. Maybe there wouldn’t be a customer being rushed to the hospital while the corpse of an employee lay off to the side, unable to be bagged until all this was over.
Kiba’s grip on his gun tightened as he backed up a step. His palms were sweaty and the aisle was a complete disaster. Packaged soccer balls had been scattered and shin guards spilled over the wide path between himself and Naruto. Further back, surrounded tall boxes of collapsible goals lay Akamaru, Kiba’s K-9 companion, unmoving except for the soft whines being emitted that reassured the cop that his beloved pet wasn’t dead.
In the distance there was shouting as the other officers worked to clear the building of any other occupants who may have lingered. Despite the two cops who stood at the opposite end of the row, their own pistols drawn, Kiba had never felt so alone.
“Naruto, listen to me. Just put the hockey stick down and we can talk, yeah?” Kiba’s voice wavered. “Grab a beer, maybe? Raid the gas station like old times while you try to charm the pants off the attendant?”
Tubes of tennis balls exploded as the stick was swung down in a diagonal arc, upsetting the metal shelf from the frame. Kiba’s arm quickly rose to protect his face from the various shrapnel before he brought it back down to his gun, taking several more steps back once he saw Naruto had advanced during his moment of distraction.
The tremor of panic that ran through him caused Kiba’s voice to come out sharper than intended “Put the stick down! I don’t want to hurt you!” He was well aware that the sound of his gun being cocked was a contradictory punctuation to his statement, but his sense of self-preservation was finally starting to kick in.
Naruto laughed. It bordered hysteria, lacking both carefree amusement and sanity. Chills went down Kiba’s spine at the sound and he involuntarily took another half-step back.
The humor vanished as if it were never there in the first place. “As if you would ever be enough to bring me back,” Naruto snarled.
Kicking a soccer ball out of his way, he once again started walking forward, slowly bringing the hockey stick up over his head.
Kiba’s back hit the wall’s shelving unit and he immediately realized his time was up. He looked into Naruto’s eyes and felt his gut sink as he realized that, without a doubt, this psychopath was going to take his head off with his next swing.
Dimly aware of his two back-up officers yelling at Naruto to get back, Kiba felt his hesitation drain away as his finger tightened its grip on the trigger. His eyes were narrowed and remained open as the first shot went off right into the center of Naruto’s chest. He paused, adjusting the gun’s angle only a fraction to the right in case another shot was needed.
The hockey stick fell to the ground with an unnaturally loud clatter and Naruto’s head tilted down to look at his wound. Disbelief was written across his face as his arms lowered and a hand touched the blood that was rapidly soaking though his shirt.
“You…”
Kiba jaw twitched, forcing himself to remain unmoved. “Would you have stopped if I only wounded you?”
A smile started to appear and faded just as quickly.”…No.” Naruto fell to the side, weakly holding onto the shelf before his strength failed and he collapsed completely.
Immediately the other officers rushed forward, radioing those outside about the situation. Kiba, however, leaned against his shelf for support as he dropped his gun and stared down at the man he once called his best friend.
For the first time ever, Kiba found himself wishing he had been a lesser man.