A/N: I want to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as AnisoulJ93 for reviewing the first chapter.

Twenty three years later

Narumi knew better than anyone, except for maybe Watari, just how obsess L was with sweets. She had known the moment the boy came in the orphanage with a lollypop in his mouth as he gazed at her fellow orphans and her with such blank eyes, which seemed to only brightened when he caught sight of her eating chocolate. She had known from the moment she saw the boy reaching for the candy in his tray of food in the morning, never taking the eggs their caretakers worked so hard to prepare. It only became more obvious when he refused to eat the cottage pie the caretakers prepared for them.

So it really didn't surprise her when L looked at her with irritation when she brought him some steak to eat instead of his usual sweets. It also didn't surprise her how her friend told her if she wanted to continue helping him then she should bring his sweets while he read through the newest case Watari had sent to him. No one could blame her for trying to make the older boy eat healthy.

It really wouldn't surprise her if it turned out L was diabetic one day. No matter how many times he told her it was fine to eat it, Narumi knew too much sugar wasn't good for him. Did he care about her opinion? No, the bastard didn't give a damn about his health. It seemed to her like the boy liked to make her whole life hard.

Shaking her head, Narumi opened L's door and slipped into the dark room, where her friend was no doubt pondering over whether or not to take the case Watari suggested for him to take. Putting the plate of cake on the table, Narum flipped open the switch and watched in amusement as the older boy twisted his head around to look at her.

"So are you going to take the case or not?" Narumi asked, leaning against her foot as L grabbed the plate of chocolate cake.

He nodded. "It's interesting."

"What's it about?"

"Why don't you take a look of it," L suggested as he munched on the cake. Narumi raised her eyebrows before taking a seat on the ground with the computer right in front of her, displaying the documents Watari had sent him. No, not all of it were documents Narumi thought, noticing some of it was newspaper articles while others were reports given by the prison itself.

Tilting her head, Narumi started to read through the various articles and documents, which described the deaths of more then hundred criminals who all died from a series of heart attacks in the past five days. These were criminals who were all well-known to the world while there were criminals who were under suspicion of the crimes they committed.

"Well-known criminals are dying from heart attacks but that's obvious," Narumi finally said, pushing herself up from the ground. "From the looks of the reports, I would say someone is murdering them since no way all the well-known criminals are dying from heart attacks with only hours and days between them."

"I came to the same conclusion," L agreed after swallowing another bit of chocolate cake. "Anything else you picked up?"

"Besides the fact they always died mere hours between them and they're being killed? Nothing," Narumi admitted, grabbing a nearby chair as L went back to sitting in front of the computer. "I can't guess how he's killing them or how he's doing it without getting a full report...was the killer with them before they died?"

"No," L replied, placing his thumb on his lips. "Which makes it the more interesting part of this case, I'm presuming the killer doesn't need to be anywhere near them for them to die. Some of them did die in a high-security prison after all."

"You said presumption, how are you going to confirm it?"

"That's where I'll need you to do me a favour," L said in a tone that Narumi knew all too well as the tone that told her he would irritate her until she said yes. Releasing a deep breath, the blonde raised her eyebrows at him. "I need you to go to prison and talk to Lind Tailor into appearing on T.V."

"You want to kill the man!"

Tilting his head, L raised his eyebrow at her. "He's going to die anyways, would you rather he die from hanging or from having a heart attack?"

"It's unethical!" she snapped. "It doesn't matter if he's going to die or not, we shouldn't be using him like a guinea pig."

"He's the only criminal we have that hasn't been announced to the news espeically since Interpol had decided to take my advice and capture him in secret without declaring to the world they captured him," Narumi curled her lips at these words. "If I want my theory to be confirmed then this has to be done Narumi."

"Is there no other way?"

"Unless you want more criminals to die before they have a chance to tell their side of the story then no," Narumi grimaced at his response before reluctantly nodding her head. He nodded his head in satisfaction. "Narumi, you've to go to him and try to convince him to become bait."

"And if he says no?"

"He won't say no," L told her, barely looking at her as he read through the files before handing her an envelope. "I'm confident Lind Tailor will say yes especially after you give him this."

With that look in his eyes, Narumi knew there was no way she could convince him to try to find another way for him to confirm the theory. Why her? Why did she decide to help L? The bastard didn't even try to take the ethical route. Then again, this guy would have a choice on how he was going to die, which was better than some of these criminals.

"I hope you know what you're doing L," Narumi said, grabbing the envelope from the boy's slender fingers. "Because if this fails, I'm going to find a way to hide all the sweets from you."

"You always say that but you never do it," he pointed out, gazing at the screen.

"You never know, one of these days I might actually do it," Narumi said dryly, stuffing the envelope into her pockets. L didn't say anything instead waving her off as he gazed at the computer screen that still displayed all the files given to him.

This case, she decided as she walked out the doors, was going to be the most problematic one out of all the ones L had ever done.

Lind L. Tailor was the perfect decoy for L, Narumi concluded as she gazed at the prisoner's file the guards had given her before they started to lead her through the dark, wet corridors that would lead her to the man, who could potentially die from the actions of her friends. A well-known drug dealer in the underworld, known for his cruelty but most of all for his many persona. Each persona required for him to act like a different person, which was perfect for L's situation.

Nodding her head, Narumi ignored the whistles from the criminals while the prison guards yelled at them to be quiet, giving her looks of apologies as they did it.

It did not really matter to her what the prisoners do to her.

"This is Lind Tailor's prison cell," The guard informed her when they reached the last prison cell in the corridor. He glanced at the cell and then to her before saying, "Are you sure you don't want us to be with you when you talk to him? He may be in handcuffs but he still has the potential of hurting you."

"He could try," Narumi answered, giving him a smile. "But I'm a lot stronger then I look but thank you for warning me. Now can you please open the cell for me?"

Shaking his head, the guard slipped his key against the keylock and pushed the doors opened, revealing a sullen, dark-haired male with pale skin huddled on the bed. It had barely been two days since his captured and the man already looked like he had been here for years but then again, prison did that to people. Prison did make people age older then they should.

"If you're here to give me my last meal for my last day in this world, please give me a turkey sandwitch...it would be better then the bullshit food you have been serving me," Lind said, moving into a cross-legged position.

He blinked his eyes when he saw her, which made Narumi curled her lips into a small sad smile but her smile faded as she saw shadows flickered behind him, leaning closer to him as if they just wanted to grab him. She forgot she wasn't seeing an innocent man wrongly imprisoned, forgot that it was in prison where she could see the shadows but it had been over two years since she came this closer to a killer.

Lind flickered his eyes at the guard standing behind the cell then to her face before slumping his shoulders, a sign which told her more then anything the man knew she wasn't here for a social visit or for the business he wanted. If Narumi had bothered to finish university, she probably would have been a lawyer and she could potentially have the man's sentence lessened but sadly she didn't finish university.

"Mr. Tailor, I'm sure you want to know why I'm here."

"It would be too much to think you're here to tell me you could get the court to stop me from dying," Lind said with a humor in his voice but Narumi knew from the many criminals she talked to that the look in his eyes was one of lifelessness, the look of a man who had given up on life.

"No, I'm not here to tell you I could stop their sentence," the man slumped his shoulders at her words, "however I'm offering you a chance to decide on how you wish to die."

"This is a first, I thought the court has decided I would die from hanging."

She sighed. "That could still happen if you wish or you could help L."

"And how will helping L allow me to decide on how I wish to die? I don't know if you notice sweetheart but I doubt the courts would let the detective help him, besides I don't out my fellow criminals."

"Who said anything about giving us information on your comrades?" Narumi asked him, earning a raised eyebrow from the criminal. "It would be a matter of time before they're found besides, L isn't interested in them. No, he needs someone to stand in for him… a decoy as you wish."

"Why would he need a decoy?"

"Because the idiot is going to do something that could potentially get him killed," Narumi said, closing her eyes as she remembered the files Watari had sent L. He raised his eyebrows. "You've been captured a few days ago weren't you? Before you were captured, did you catch on with the news."

"It's kind of hard to watch the news when you're in the run," the criminal pointed out to her, crossing his legs as he gazed at her. "But the guards gave me the newspaper this morning."

"Then it's safe to say you know about the criminal's death."

"The heart attacks? Every criminal in this prison heard about it and people in the streets talk about it so I don't even need to have a newspaper to know about it," Lind said dryly, flickering his eyes to the cell across them. "Why? Are you telling me I'm next?"

"You could be next if you want," Narumi answered,fingering the envelope in her pocket.

"What?"

"L has come to the conclusion has been killing these criminals; people call this killer Kira," Narumi said, watching the man carefully for his reaction. The man blinked his eyes at her words. "Too many criminals are dying from heart attacks, which can't be a coincidence. L has a theory on how the killer works, don't ask me what it is because the bastard didn't tell me, but for him to determine how this killer does it...well he needs someone to die."

"L isn't much better than Kira," Lind pointed out.

Narumi curled her lips. "I know but at least he wants to get your permission and he's giving you a choice on how to die. He probably wouldn't have asked you if the evidence provided by the police and even your manner of actions hadn't outed you."

"I'm still going to die either way."

"Yes but if you choose to do this, there is a potential for you to live longer," Narumi said as the criminal gazed at her with blank eyes. "I don't know what he's planning but I know it'll push the scheduled hour of your death back."

"So either I'm killed by another serial killer or I'm hanged?" Lind said, curling his lips. "Why does he want me? Why not someone else? Why not make me do it?"

"Because you should have a choice on how you want to die, either way you're going to die but I think we can agree it would be nicer for you to have a choice. Also I know from the files given to me, you're an excellent actor which means you're just perfect for the job needed," Narumi answered seriously, pulling out an envelope from her pockets. "If what I say isn't enough for you to be convinced then this letter from L might explain everything to you."

Lind gazed at the envelope and then to her before shakily grabbing the envelope from her hands, tearing it as if it had all the answers he wanted. It probably did if she knew L as well as she thought she did. The man always did plan two steps ahead.

After reading the letter from L, the man gazed at her with thoughtful but blank eyes. "I've one question, do you believe Kira is god? Some people in the news article complained he's god but L and you don't think like that or why else would the two of you do this?"

"I can't speak for L since he doesn't believe in god but I personally don't believe this is the work of god," Narumi answered seriously. "You and everyone else in this prison are still human, yes you have done terrible crimes but it doesn't always warrent death. Some of those criminals who died, didn't deserve death. Some of those criminals were having their stories checked because things didn't add up but it was all for nothing since someone decided to play god."

Tailor stared up at the ceiling. "It takes a couple of minutes to die from hanging, do you know that? But that only works if the necks breaks or not...if it doesn't well, I'll die from suffocation. Kira would kill me by heart attack right? How long would that take?"

"From what I read, it would be quicker then most heart attacks."

The criminal nodded. "And what if I think Kira is a great man that shouldn't be stopped?"

"I'll say you're insane," Narumi admitted, earning a laugh from the criminal. "But either way, this is your choice. You could die by hanging where the last memories would be of this prision cell or you could be a decoy, where there's a chance for you to see the sky."

"They probably won't let me see the sky."

"No, I think they wouldn't let you."

"But could you let me see my daughter before I die?" Narumi blinked her eyes before flickering her eyes to a shadow, noticing how that particular shadow stilled at his words. Interesting but Narumi couldn't check the story of the man, not when he was about to die. "I was a rotten father to her and a terrible person in general but I want them to see I have learnt my lesson...I want to tell her not to follow my path."

"I'll see if L will let you...but are you going to do it?"

"Yes."

Guess L was right, Lind agreed to his plans especially after he read the letter given to him.

"So did he agree?" L asked as soon as Narumi stepped into his room with a steaming cup of instant ramen in her hands.

"Yes but he asked to see his daughter before he dies," she informed him, sitting in the bed as the pale-skinned man sat on the chair with his back hunched. He gazed at her with raised eyebrows, no doubt asking her why she would agree to let the male to meet his children. Narumi crossed her arms and glared at the male, who sighed and nodded his head.

"Anything new since I met Mr. Tailor?" Narumi asked, changing the topic.

L nodded his head and pointed to the newsarticle in front of him. "Read this article and tell me what you think?"

Putting the ramen down on the table side, Narumi grabbed the laptop from her friend's arm and read the detailed article of the Japanese shooter called Kurou Otoharada, who died of a heart attack when he tried to take over a daycare center. She bit her lips when she noticed the date of death, his time of death but most of all how the man hadn't been a well-known killer, not fitting the pattern in the reports L had been given.

"You think Kira killed him," Narumi said, gazing at the older boy. "But why him? I mean the others were well-known criminals and I'll admit this man was disgusting but...it doesn't fit the pattern he created."

"This was his first kill," L informed her as she handed him his laptop. "This man was only known to the Japanese Police, when his time of death was reported...it was reported live in the Kanto region of Japan."

"You think the killer is in Japan."

"I'll know for certain in two days," L answered, stacking the marshmallows into a column. "And if it turns out to be in Japan like I think it is, I'll be heading to Japan with Watari."

"I'm going with you if that happens," Narumi said, her blue eyes fixed on his dark eyes as she took a bite of ramen. "If he's killing people, y'know better then anyone how useful I'm when it comes to these cases."

L looked at the ramen cup in her hand then to her, giving her a strange look before reluctantly nodding his head at her. She grinned, revealing her pearly white teeth to the older male, who just shook his head at her before looking back at the computer at hand, where he was no doubt talking to Watari about the arrangements or probably asking the old man to convince her not to go because he didn't want to deal with her anger.

"Hey L..."

"Yes?"

"If you die in this case, I'm going to find a way to bring you back alive and kill you again for letting yourself get killed."

"Oh? You know it's impossible."

"I can make the impossible happen," she declared hotly but her eyes softened when she saw the hint of smile on his face. "This case isn't normal...it just gives me a bad feeling."

He looked carefully at her, gazing at her loose blond-hair and then to her bright blue eyes, before leaning forward and picked up the orange-frosted cupcake from the pile she made for him. He handed it to her, earning a smile from the blonde, getting his silent message.

As long as he would try, it would be enough.

Narumi frowned as she walked through a sewer that seemed to be never-ending, looking as if she could never ever reach the end of the sewer. How the hell did she get here? The last thing she remembered was lying on her bed, thinking about the case and the many ways it could go wrong. There was no explanation on how she could go from lying on bed to going to some sewer, which seemed to smell like someone was burning, which made even less sense since there was water here.

God, where was L when she needed him?

She stopped walking when she caught sight of the huge prison bars. Her whole heart stopped beating at the sight of a familiar nine-tailed fox. What the hell was going on here? Why the hell was there a fox here? And how the hell was it so big? No, a better question was why the hell there was a fox here? Was this a dream? Yes, it had to be a dream because people would have notice a giant-ass fox in the sewers, especially with one that was had as many tails as the one in front of her. Also, why was it in a cage? This was animal cruelity right there. Yet, there was something about the fox which just made her quiver in fear, which was saying something since she dealt with murderers all the time.

"So after twenty-three years, my jailor finally decided to grace me with her presence," the fox grumbled, staring down at her with such hateful eyes. She blinked her eyes again and again as she tried to make sense on what was happening to her. First off, she woke up to find herself in a dirty sewer and followed a burning scent, which wasn't a smart idea Narumi would admit, only to find a fox with nine-tails caged in the sewer. Not only that, the fox just spoke to her. Now, she was no animal expert but the last time she checked foxes didn't speak Japanese. They also weren't as big as this fox or have a human upper body.

What the hell happened?

"What do you mean jailor? I may work with L but I haven't actually worked inside a prison before, which means I can't be your jailor...and I think would remember if I imprison a giant ass fox in the sewers," Narumi cried out. "Wait a second, why am I answering you? I need to find a way back to the house...god I don't want him to call me and tell me he needs sweet because he ate all the sweets I prepared in just one day."

"You truly are your mother's daughter even though you look like your father," The fox commented, looking at her as if she was an idiot. "Brat, we're in your mind and I'm the great Kyuubi."

Narumi stilled at his words. "You knew my mom? How the hell did you know her? Tell me, what is she like? You mention my father. What was he like? Watari couldn't tell me anything about them since he never knew them. Also, really Kyuubi? Tell me what's your real name! My name is Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze but people usually call me Narumi since that's my alias in Wammy."

"Of course I knew your mother brat, she was my previous jailor before you took over the role," The Kyuubi snarled, glaring at her as if it was her fault he was imprisoned. Not that it was her fault since she couldn't possibly stopped her mother from becoming his jailor. "And no, I won't tell you about your mother or father. You think just because I'm imprisoned in you that I'll follow your orders? I'm not a being that you can order around. I'm stronger then you. Stronger then any being in the world. I'm so powerful that I could destroy whole villages and cities with just a swipe of my tail. As for my name, well I won't you brat! You haven't earned the right!"

"If you're so powerful then why the hell are you stuck in my mind, oh great Kyuubi?"

"Your father is the reason why I'm in your mind, he sealed me with the help of your mother!" The Kyuubi roared, glaring at her. Narumi blinked her eyes at this piece of information. Her father? Her father was able to put a powerful being inside of her but how...how was that possible? There wasn't a technique in the world, which could allow him to put a fox inside of her body.

What the hell was happening here?

"What do you mean seal? It shouldn't be possible to put a fox into my mind...it's sounds more like magic then science!"

"Science? Brat, there is nothing scientific about you or me especially with the price your mother paid for her to send you here," Narumi froze at his words. "Didn't you find it odd how the old man found a newborn baby in the autumn day with a headband that had your name? Or how no matter how hard you and that boy of yours tried to find your parents' history, you two couldn't find it!"

"How the hell do you know so much about me? How did you know I've tried finding out my parents' past."

The fox snorted. "I've been a part of your life from the moment you were born. I know everything about you like how you used to be jealous the old man never considered you to be a successor for L. I know how much L irritated you but how much you care for the man even facing the boy who used to stalk you so you could protect him."

Narumi gulped at his words and the fox continued. "You complained about making your friend sweets and his bad habits but a part of you like it, a part of you think it is even cute. I know you love the boy, love the boy to the point it might drive you crazy if he dies. In fact, there was a day where you nearly went crazy. You were so close to tapping into my powers, so close to killing the man who threatened what was yours. If it weren't for him, you would have become a murderer at the rip age of sixteen. Till this day, you have no idea on how to repay him because in your eyes, following him isn't enough...no you need to make sure he lives. You'll do anything for the boy to live but it isn't because of dedication or because of friendship or even repayment...no you'll do anything because you love him..."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Narumi snarled. "He's my friend, wouldn't you do the same? He's my best friend! It's only natural I would do anything for my friend. I love him like a friend, who the hell would like a bastard who doesn't listen to them? A bastard who doesn't give a damn about people's feelings."

"No matter what you say, you still love the boy!"

"Shut the hell up you damn fox!" Narumi yelled, blinking her eyes when she realized she was in her room in L's house.

It was just a dream, she reminded herself as she slunk under the bedsheets. She closed her eyes and for a brief moment, Narumi swore she saw a blond-haired man and red-haired woman staring at her with sadness and regret but when she opened her eyes, they weren't there.

It was just her imagination.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think.