The Darkness Before Dawn

Serial Killer

The map of the city glowed on the computer screen, each flashing yellow dot representing a canister. Umiko was bandaging Kay's wounds and scrapes and lecturing her on not being an idiot. Yukiko was watching the clock tick closer and closer to midnight and Shinju was double checking the arming codes.

Tenno appeared in the room with steaming mugs of coffee and a plate of petit fours to help the women stay awake. "Are you alright?" he asked when he passed by Kay. She said nothing and tiredly grabbed a mug of coffee.

"It's time!" Yukiko said and pressed the command key, changing the yellow dots to green ones. "It's kind of anticlimactic" Shinju said as she watched each dot change colour. "True but it's what you can't see that is the most dangerous" Yukiko said.

An elaborately casted gold lion hung from the ornately carved door. Corinthian columns flaked the door on either side, giving the home a regal feel. Kakuzu's hand reached out and knocked loudly on the door, ignoring the lion door knocker. "Let's make this quick. Widows creep me the fuck out" Hidan muttered.

The door opened and a smartly dressed maid appeared in the doorway. "How may I help you?" she inquired. "We need to talk to your mistress. City PD" Kakuzu said while flashing her his badge. She stepped aside and motioned for the men to enter and closed the door.

"Fucking rich people" Hidan muttered as he looked around at the white marble and gold tones to the place. "Shut up" Kakuzu warned him as they followed the maid into a large room filled with antiques. A smartly dressed woman sat on the sofa with a book in her hands. "Ikumi? Who are these men?" she asked.

Kakuzu and Hidan sat down across from her in matching wing chairs and leaned forward on their knees slightly. "Ma'am I'm Detective Kakuzu of the City Police Department; this is my partner, Hidan. We understand your husband is missing?"

"Yes," the woman said taking up the narrative, "Hoku has been missing for over a week and it's been agony for myself and our family! Please tell me you've found him and he's ok!" She begged, tears forming in her eyes.

Hidan looked at the floor while Kakuzu kept his eyes on the crying woman. "We have but he's dead. And I recommend a closed casket funeral" he said as the woman howled in her agony and heartbreak. She clutched her chest as if her heart was literally breaking and her primal cries became quiet sobs as her maid comforted her. "Do you know of anyone who could have done this?" Kakuzu probed gently. She shook her head no and buried her face into her maid's shoulder.

The men stood up, buttoning their jackets, and Kakuzu laid a business card on the coffee table. "If you think of anything, please call. We're sorry for your loss" he said quietly as he showed himself and Hidan out.

"Did you see the autopsy report?" Sasori asked Kisame. Both men were standing at Kakuzu's desk, waiting for him to come back. "I did. Sick fucks," Kisame replied, "why do you think they mutilated him like that?" "It's not what they took that is important. It's what they left behind" a deep voice said as Itachi walked up to the men.

His long hair was in a loose ponytail and he swept his bangs from his face. A simple black suit with a red pocket square was his left breast pocket, the cut of the suit emphasizing his lean muscle mass. Men and women slowed down to check him out but he seemed oblivious to the looks he was getting. Kisame grinned and embraced Itachi in a crushing hug. "Can you please take your romance elsewhere?" Sasori asked with a deadpan expression. "Nope" the blue man replied with a grin on his face.

Kakuzu entered the station and made his way through the labyrinth of desks, papers and people to reach his own desk. "We're all here? Good. Follow me" he commanded and the group followed him into a conference room. Pein and Hidan were already seated at the long table.

"What do we have?" Pein asked, glaring at the men around him. "Some rich dude got his brains blown out, his blood is fucked up, a penis sewed into his mouth and a wife who knows jack shit" Hidan summed up succinctly.

"If I may," Itachi said before placing his chin on his hands, "the killer shows a frustration at the male gender as evidenced by the sexual mutilation. He tried to disguise this by removing other parts of the body, namely organs and tissues, but the removal is merely a distraction. What bothers me is the lab reports and the lack of forensic evidence.

Genetic and DNA manipulation is not a skill set that a killer normally has. This means that he has some knowledge of science and medicine. The fact that there is little to no evidence shows that this isn't the first time he has killed and he is adept at covering his tracks" he finished.

"How do we catch him?" Pein asked. "We wait. He'll make a mistake eventually. They all do" the Uchiha said confidently. "So we wait for more people to die before we can figure him out?" Sasori asked. "Essentially, yes. I am looking through my old case files to see if there are any unsolved murders in Konoha that match this one. I recommend you do the same and ask other Nations to do so as well. We may be looking at a serial killer."

Pein pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. Just great, he thought. How he was going to keep his wife out of this investigation he didn't know just yet but the public would be panic stricken if they knew a potential serial killer was in their midst.

"Chief! Chief!" A rookie cop yelled as he burst into the room. "What?!" Pein snarled. "Financial sector, West Block, millions gone" he gasped out. "Itachi, go. Kisame, drop off the casings to Deidara and tell him I want it rushed. Hidan and Kakuzu, keep working the assassination. Dismissed"

The colourless, odourless gas seeped out of the canister and made its way down the streets and into homes and businesses through the cracks, doors and windows. It was nighttime so people were in their beds, breathing steadily and deeply as they slept. They inhaled the tiny particles of virus without knowing they did.

The virus floated on the air current as it made its way to the lungs. There it settled and began snatching cells, forcing its DNA into the cell's nucleus, eerily similar to rape. The cell's walls burgeoned and stretched thinner and thinner as the virus' copies fought their way out. Finally the cell burst and millions of virus particles filled the lining of the lungs. Virus particles that didn't latch onto the lungs were expelled with exhales and floated in the air, slightly mutated, as they waited to be inhaled by the next unlucky person.