The lone sound that reached my ears was that of my frenzied feet smacking against the pavement. It ended tonight; it had to. After three grueling months we finally had a suspect and I wasn't going to let him get away. Not this time; not on my watch! There were too many lives at stake, innocent lives that this man deemed necessary to ruin. But he was gaining ground faster than I could make it up. Damn it! How long had I been in pursuit of him? Too long; the sun was no longer visible and made seeing the streets and the suspect near impossible. It was too dark. Something wasn't right here, but that would have to wait for later. I didn't have time for such trivial things.

The suspect rounded the corner half of a block ahead of my current location. If I lost sight of him now… No! That wasn't an option. There was too much at stake for that to happen. I sped forward with speed I wasn't entirely sure I had anymore and rounded the corner as well; stopping dead and aiming my gun on reflex alone at the sight before me.

"Stop!" I shouted. It was completely unnecessary as the suspect had stopped and was facing me. I registered that he was unarmed before the criminal let out a soft chuckle that sent chills up my spine.

"Clearly I have."

"You're under arrest for murder."

"Really? I must disagree with you, Sasuke."

"Oh and why is that?" I asked indulgently. Clearly the deck was stacked in my favor, but I just couldn't shake the feeling I was missing something vital.

"I'm not done yet, there's still one left." I narrowed my eyes, focusing sharply on my target in the dim lighting. That wasn't right; there were still three not one. "Confused? Well don't dwell on it, you won't have the time." He chuckled again. I cocked my gun ready to shoot and justice be damned, but at that moment a loud boom echoed from above, effectively drawing my attention away from the suspect and upwards. Just enough time to register what the sound was before I felt a searing pain in my shoulder and abdomen. My eyes widened in disbelief as I sank towards the asphalt. Where had the gun come from? He was unarmed, I was positive!

He slowly walked towards my kneeling form and bent down. "It appears two down, one to go. I'll make sure he knows and feels your loss before I kill him. And as for the others; they were never important, just a means to pass the time until I got to my true targets." He chuckled softly. I tried to scramble after him, but only earned a kick to my side for the effort, landing me face first in to the pavement and unable to give chase. When I was able to look up he was gone. He'd left me there to die alone.

As time slowly passed I felt my breathing become restricted; my time was running out fast. I tried to pull in a breath, but my lungs refused to expand completely. I gasped as I struggled for oxygen. How could I have been so foolish? I was dying and I couldn't stop him. Now he was going after the blonde and I couldn't help him. I couldn't protect him after all.