Death

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It would be weird if you thought I did, considering this is the fanfic section.. Anyway, I only own Aoi and any other people I dream up.

"Madam?"

A young lady in her early twenties looked up at the question from her assistant.

"Are… Are you okay?"

The young madien's eyes flashed with the barest hints of melancholy before being smothered into indifference.

"Why wouldn't I be, Yumi?" chided the lady gently. Her assistant knew better than to intrude upon her alone time. She had little enough of it as it was.

"I'm s-sorry, Amaya-san. I forgot myself."

The young lady didn't bother to respond knowing that her assistant will get the hint and shut up. Between the big screen, the paparazzi, and other… unlikeable human beings her patience was stretched thin. Alongside the fact that her father recently passed away, talking to her was just waiting for a bomb to go off.

Her name was Aoi (Not Amaya, not anymore) and she was an aspiring actress that had recently gained some fame as the female lead of a box office hit. She was also the only daughter of the Amaya group although she'd recently been disowned. She had an annoying sometimes dependable younger brother, a mother who wouldn't put up with any nonsense directed towards herself or her children, and a dead father. In both senses of the word. He was a traditional man that had never cracked a smile in his life.

'Or in the afterlife' she recounted grimly

Oh, and how could she forget her dearest uncle. The bastard who murdered her father. And of course, it was all a fucking trap set up by the asshole to disown her from the family, and at the same time prevent her from seeking justice. He had control over most of the police force in the area, and without her identity as the ojousama of the Amaya Group there's no way in hell that they would even listen to her without throwing her out on her butt. Trust me, she already tried that.

'Calm down, Aoi, calm down. That.. That thing will manipulate your emotions into another trap.'

"Amaya-san, it's time to go to the autograph event." Yumi hesitantly inched next to her to tell her about the autograph event, clearly somewhat traumatized.

"Ah, thank you for telling me, Yumi."

"O-of course!"

Aoi practically spun out of her chair, and walked out towards the door of dressing room. After taking a few turns she finally reached the door that lead outside of the confusing maze like building. With the clunk of her heels on the cold unforgiving metal of the steps that led to the ground she reached the outside world. An outside world with screaming and shouting fans...

"Aoi-sama!!! I love you!!"

"AOI-SAMA!!!!"

"Please marry me!!"

"Please make a line everyone. I'm afraid that I only have two hands to sign things with." Aoi's soft tone of voice was transmitted with an underbelly of steel making everyone in the crowd unconsciously make an orderly line.

"Aoi-sama please sign these!"

Aoi spent 2-3 minutes talking to each of her fans while she was signing the autographs. Fans didn't show up just to get an autograph, they also wanted to talk and meet with the person. If she played this right her popularity shouldn't take too much of a hit after it had been two to three months since the film was released. Preoccupied in her schemes, she didn't notice a shiny metallic blade until it was too late.

"Hahahaha, aren't you supposed to be a black belt, ojousama? Maybe your father bought it like everything else!" spoke a familiar voice in common criminal attire; ski mask, dark clothing, and the telltale bulge of a gun. Aoi cursed herself for being so careless. Why didn't she notice him? God, she knew that her uncle would clean up his mess permanently when he realized she was a witness to his crime! Cooling her mind, Aoi decided that she would worry later about the knife in her stomach and get out of here as soon as possible while the stabber was still monologuing like a second-rate villain. But, it was too late..

"Sorries, ojousama! Looks like my hand slipped a little. But, did you really think I would let you go? Oh, you really did~! This is absolutely hilarious!"

Aoi could only glare with her body losing blood fast. By this time, all of the fans were running away screaming in panic, her assistant was nowhere to be found, and no one even thought to call the police. It looked like she was screwed. Well, it just looked like it because she was totally gonna take this bastard out with her. Making up her mind, she lunged making a stance that wouldn't aggravate the knife wounds. She forgot one thing though in her adrenaline induced craze. He had a gun.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh this is simply… simply… disappointing ojousama. Did your father truly buy your black belt? Well, I suppose martial arts never stood a chance against modern weaponry in the first place."

'This bastard!!!!'

Aoi had been enraptured in martial arts since the tender age of three ever since her father showed her a karate move. She'd studied and had a good degree of mastery in a variety of styles including karate, taekwondo, judo, and kickboxing. However she was best in Jeet Kune Do techniques. The only style in martial arts without any fixed form of movement, one that also encouraged it's users to attack areas that were a big no no in other martial art styles. Yeah, his prized jewel was so gonna get popped. And well, it did..

"AAAAAAaajfjaargh!! Y-youuu bitchhhhh! H-how dareee you!!!!!!"

But, it left her lying on the ground with several bullet holes in her stomach for the criminal's indiscriminate fire.

"Ahhghhhhdffhh!!! W-why does.. it hurt.. so much...." Aoi lay groaning on the floor, no longer being able to take the pain without making a sound. A crismon slew of blood slowly stained the ground with its ruby hue. Marking the place for eternity as the place where Amanya Aoi died. Well, not yet anyway for as there was still one actor who had yet to take her place on the stage.

"AOIIIII!!!" Yumi screamed and lifted up the pistol hidden in the building for self-defense. With a bang, the bullet swam through the air at high speeds that would make a professional swimmer proud; locking onto the pedestal also known as the forehead. The bullet did not disappoint it's coach, directly opening up a hole through the pedestal. However, the coach was not paying very much attention to the bullet, directly fleeing to the place where an injured swimmer was in the audience.

"Aoi!! Aoi!!! You've got to talk to me! The ambulance is almost here! Y-you can't close your eyes!!"

'So.. This is how I die? Being shot in the stomach six times, and stabbed two times? Meh, it's better than dying from old age and not even knowing who you are... I guess.'

'But that's the thing... I don't want to die! Iwanttolive!! I want to experience life, I want to fall in love, I.. want to have someone who means the world to me... I want to get better at martial arts. I want to.. I want to.....'

This is how Amanya Aoi died at the early age of 22. However, no one could have guessed that death was just the beginning.

Words Total: 1,228