(Naruto) Cinderella
Title: Cinderella
Author: Agent Kuma-chan (smakn)
Summary: These deaths are no fairytales.
Rating: T
Prompt: July 2nd // Hostage
Warnings: Death, AU universe
Note: This whole set is a big experimental piece-I’ve been reading too much Gotham Central. Having said that, you’d think this series would be better because of that, but it’s not. If I were a better artist, this would be drawn instead. I’ll just have to try and paint with words and hope it comes out right.
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She’s only taken a sip from her mug when he drops the file on her desk. Thin and obviously new, she only has to look at the date scrawled on it to know the case opened a few weeks ago.
“No one else is on it?”
A snort sounds above her, her partner clearly not in the mood for talking now. She takes the bait anyway and looks up at him. “I thought you were still in trouble.”
His right eye’s still bruised from the fight, a dark and angry shade of purple. It’s healing nicely, better than the guy who’s sitting in his cell now, and she has to remind herself there was another way he could have handled it. “We’re short on men and there are too many cases.”
“The eye still hurt?” She flips open the file, skims the small report on a missing teen. Barely sixteen, she disappeared late Friday evening. A candid shot of her and her best friend lies on the top of the file, over the interviews with her parents and friends.
Blonde, blue-eyed, a care-free smile on her lips. Her hand stretches out to almost block the shot, her friend pushing it out of the way just on time. There’s a secret in her eyes and Sakura wonders if that’s why she’s in this folder and not at home.
Sasuke doesn’t answer the question and instead drinks from her cup, ignoring her dark scowl as he gulps half of her coffee. It’s boiling hot and she doesn’t resist the grin at the twist his face makes after.
“Nice. You’d better refill it.” She closes the file. “Is there a new lead?”
There’s something tense in the way he sets down the mug, in the way his jaw clenches. Tense and she knows the answer before he says it. “She was found this morning.”
He looks away, his profile a hard line. Hesitantly, she lifts her hand, almost stretching it to him before setting it down once more.
It’s the murder cases that break him.
-x-
There is nothing impersonal about this death.
Sakura crouches in front of the girl, taking in her carefully positioned body. Lying on the brown dirt, her legs are hidden in the blue ruffles of her dress. Only her feet are visible, one glass slipper dangling off a foot. The other lies in her hand, her painted nails curled around the heel. A crown lies on her head and long white gloves peek out of purse beside her.
It’s a familiar scene, her blonde hair splayed around her as she runs away. Even a small clock is sitting on the floor, stopped forever at midnight.
“She’s Cinderella,” she mutters. The forensics team didn’t see any footprints in the pumpkin patch she was found in, other than the farmer who found her in the morning. Her gloved hand reaches out, inspecting the bare feet and finger nails for any sign of where she died.
“He found her at six.” It seems Sasuke’s interrogation of the farmer was useless. “He left the fields at eight yesterday, so it gives a ten hour window. Less if they waited for the farmer to sleep.”
“She didn’t die here, but I can’t find anything on her.” Sakura sighs, getting up. “He clearly hid his footprints” she points at the smoothly brushed dirt that leads to the edge of the field, “and there’s nothing else on her.”
She looks down the girl, her mouth forever closed. There were no signs of struggle, no marks on her skin to indicate ropes or a bludgeon to the head. It was probably poison that did her in.
“This’ll probably happen again. We’ll have to look at those missing people cases. No one puts this kind of effort into a one-time...”
He nods, even as her voice dies out. She looks down at the girl, at the smile painted on her lips, and wonders how many of those girls are already dead and waiting to be found.