AN: Inspired by CSI. Set in the modern world.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or Naruto
I hope you enjoy!
"Is this her?"
Yamanaka Ino swivels around, her blonde hair neatly tied back in a high ponytail. She is wearing her customary KNPD uniform and her nails are painted purple - a colour she only uses in the midst of a big case. She's standing in her customary 'interrogation pose' while she drums her fingers lightly against her clipboard.
"Sasuke," she addresses him, "You're early."
He nods, and gestures to the pink-haired lady on the other side of the glass. "Haruno Sakura I presume?"
Ino gives a sharp nod. "Kiba and his team tracked her down last night – she was with Orochimaru, at one of his suspected trading points. We managed to secure her, but the bastard escaped."
He turns back to the window, appraising her before raising an eyebrow. "Drug smuggling? She doesn't seem like the type."
And she doesn't. Her eyes are doe-like and viridian, and most of all they lack the hard-earned look of those in the trade. She's dressed cleanly and sharply as well - very rare for smugglers - but you never know. She's slightly bloody, no doubt from the confrontation with Kiba's team, but overall she looks clean-shaven and alert.
She blows against a strand of pink hair that has fallen over her eyes, leaning against her palm as her eyes wander aimlessly across her holding cell. She looks strangely bored considering that she's under arrest.
"And that," Ino says, "Is why you are here, Detective Uchiha."
She hands him the clipboard, the pages filled with her distinct looping handwriting. "She claims that she's innocent, and her alibi for Kabuto's murder all checks out." Her eyes flutter to the girl, a small frown adorned on her face. "But she is very enthusiastic about his death."
He scans the notes and deduces nothing of relative importance. She seems a regular case of a few bad decisions made along the path of life. The Konoha Police Department was formidable in its own right, and usually handled all of these cases without needing to call in the Konoha Military Police Force. After all, the Uchiha usually answered to the Governor and the Governor alone.
"So why did you bring me in here?"
Ino smirks, and he begins to feel suspicion, and a slight flutter of nervous anticipation - Tsunade doesn't hand over cases to the KMPF very often. Ino reaches into her pocket and pulls out a laminated picture. She unrolls it, and carefully places it in front of him.
"I believe that the Konoha Police Department aren't very suited to this type of thing," she says, a mischievous light in her eyes as she takes in his stunned expression. "After all, when matters of Akatsuki are concerned, the Konoha Military Police Force are always so eager to take up the case."
The picture looks plain by itself, and most people would not recognise the significance of the object photographed. But Sasuke knows it well - very well. It is a ring - a pale white ring with the unmistakable kanji 'sky'.
Ino is silent, letting him take it in.
"This was Orochimaru's, when he was still in Akatsuki," he finally says. "Where'd you find it?"
Ino smiles before cocking her head to the girl.
"It's hers – she's Akatsuki."
"What've you got?"
Naruto sighs as he hands his boss the results. "I got Ino-Shika-Cho to run all the results at the lab. It's a match – the ring's authentic and it's hers dattebayo."
Sasuke frowns, eyeing the report. The offending ring is now sitting across from him on the lab bench, and he glares at it. Akatsuki has always been a symbol of violence and evil, and it is strange to throw a bubblegum-pink girl into its midst. And Haruno Sakura wasn't like any of the other known members - she lacked the notoriety and fame that all Akatsuki members possessed. They were all famous for something or the other before Akatsuki recruited them in. "Any previous offenses?"
Naruto shakes his head. "Nope. I checked our databases, even ran her through facial recognition - she's clean as can be."
Sasuke turns his gaze back to the ring, turning the report over in his hands. What did she do to catch Akatsuki's attention?Akatsuki was known to recruit criminals - terrorists, bombers, but not just-out-of-school hometown girls. He frowns harder, his eyebrows knitting.
"So Sasuke," Naruto begins, slowly inching away in caution. Sasuke groans because Naruto has that famous mischievous glint in his eyes and he knows already that he isn't going to like this question.
"Akatsuki is the gang that your, um, psychotic brother ran off to after he killed Shisui… right?" He trails off, and his hand is now on the doorknob, ready for a quick escape. Naruto is slightly reassured that since they are in a science lab, Sasuke won't do any thing too drastic in fear of harming the evidence. However, his fear is not unfounded, as it is common knowledge at KNPD headquarters that any mentioning of Uchiha Itachi is absolute taboo in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke however, is surprisingly calm, apart from the furious twitching in his jaw, and his eyes are slanted towards the ring - the thing that is no doubt stopping his temper. Sasuke simply jerks his head into a stiff nod instead, making sure to glare daggers at the blonde. Naruto nevertheless, comforted by the fact that Sasuke won't lash out continues on.
"And that's why you pulled the Ino-Shika-Cho into this right? Because they were your old team, and they've had experience with Akatsuki."
Sasuke begins to radiate a very black aura and Naruto begins to realise that this conversation may not have been the best idea.
"That may have been one reason," his boss finally says carefully, "But I need your mind on the case, not on my personal life."
Naruto nods fervently, much relieved that he has avoided certain death. "Anything come up?"
Sasuke digs into his pocket before handing the folded paper to Naruto. "I have a warrant and I need someone to run over to her apartment. If you see Kiba, Hinata or Shino, tell them to take someone from the lab and see if they find anything interesting."
"Great," Naruto says, eyes lighting up at the mention of Hinata. "Should I get Sai as well? We may need extra reinforcement."
Sai is their resident guard, an ex-marine specially assigned to his squad. He went through SEAL training, and had spent a few years undercover at Orochimaru's. He got the job done, though Sasuke couldn't say he liked the emotionless soldier.
"Tell them to search every nick and cranny," says Sasuke as he turns back to gaze at the ring once more. "I want every detail."
"Detective Uchiha!"
Sasuke scowls. He has been in this line, waiting for his daily dose of coffee, for the past ten minutes, but the person three ways in front of him seems to enjoy taking a very long time to get his coffee. He was tempted at times to just order one of his team to get him one, but even he was not that cruel. But this meant however, that Uchiha Sasuke is not in a good mood.
Turning around, he comes face face to face with the head of KNPD. He immediately drops the scowl.
"Tsunade-sama," he says as respectfully as he can. Because even if his father is the head of the Konoha Military Police Force, Tsunade still ranks higher than all of them combined and has the power to pull him off the case – the case that may lead him to Itachi.
Tsunade is standing in front of him, in all her head of department glory, high heels hitting the floors in little tappity-tap taps. She looks sober - a rarity when concerning Tsunade - and her assistant Shizune is behind her, that horrid pig in her arms as she jots something down on the iPad.
"I've heard some gossip," Tsunade begins. "Your brother may be indirectly linked to this case."
Sasuke knows that she is watching him, but he cannot help but stiffen. Tsunade narrows her eyes, and Shizune stops typing.
"So Sasuke," Tsunade says, a menacing lilt to her voice, "Do I need to pull you off this case?"
"No!" Sasuke says a bit too quickly, eyes widening before he realises his mistake. Tsunade's eyes are now openly narrowed, and even Tonton - the pig - is silent. He takes a deep breath and repeats much more calmly, "No."
The three stand, each holding their ground before Tsunade finally relents, pursing her lips as her eyes scan the young man before her.
"Very well then."
And just like that, she turns on her heel and stalks off, Shizune hurrying after her as Tonton oinks. As she disappears around the corner, Sasuke releases a breath he did not know he had been holding. He looks around him before carefully adjusting the tie of his KMPF uniform and takes a few breaths to calm himself. Turning back to the coffee line, he is pleased to note that now there is only one person between him and the coffee machine.
"Hey! Sasuke! Guess what I found!"
He sighs. Guess he'll never get his coffee. He turns around to face Tenten, the head of the Intelligence department. It had actually surprised everyone in the office when she was appointed head - many were confident it would be Hyuuga Neji, if not Rock Lee. Afterwards, many rookies complained it was Tsunade being a feminist. No doubt, none of these rookies passed the test. However, Sasuke was happy. Tenten was capable and intelligent, and didn't clash with him like Neji did.
She skids to a halt in front of him, smiling in accomplishment. "You won't believe what I found!"
He raises an eyebrow, but his stomach begins to get that signature excited feeling - he is steps and steps closer to Itachi.
"I chased down Sakura's old records, and turns out that she's only been living in her apartment for a few months tops."
Sasuke cocks an eyebrow, finally deciding to ditch the coffee line.
"Where did she live before?" Sasuke asks as he follows Tenten down the hallway to her office.
"Right ahead of you boss," she says grinning. "I got Neji and Lee to chase down her old landlord, and guess what we got?"
She holds up a tape, and Sasuke nearly smiles.
"Surveillance."
"Yep!" She says excitedly. "I pulled it from the hallway outside her apartment, but there was a lot to get through - she'd been living there since she was twelve, all the way up to when she was seventeen."
Sasuke deflates inwardly. That would take ages to run through - perhaps too long.
"But I got an idea - from this month's issue of Kunoichi Krime," Tenten says as she pops it into the computer. "I isolated the door to her apartment and ran it all through facial recognition. I got three results, but I've had time to watch two."
Sasuke nods, impressed, and turns his attention to the monitor. The screen flashes, and the results pan out.
"Her landlord," Tenten says pointing to the first clip, "A classmate," she says pointing to the second, "And an..." she squints at the third clip, and clicks on it, "Unidentified male."
Sasuke narrows his eyes as the clip loads, taking in the date. "This would have happened a week before she moved out."
Tenten nods and enlarges the monitor. And so, the video begins playing.
…
A boy is standing in front of her door, hands stuffed in pockets. He is wearing a dark blue hoody and black tracksuit pants, completely obscuring all of his features. He seems tall - five foot ten? Eleven? Slowly, he reaches out, and puts his hand on her doorknob.
"Are you trying to get into my apartment?"
His hand withdraws and he turns around to face the pink-haired girl. Sakura looks like she has just returned from school - uniform adorned, bag slung over her shoulder.
"You don't seem very surprised," he says calmly.
"I've come to expect the unexpected," she answers with ease. "You were suspicious from the first moment you arrived."
There is silence for a second.
"Oh?" He finally says, leaning against her door, "How so?"
Sakura scoffs. "A transfer student in the middle of the year – Akishi Tomo. Nobody knew who you were, or where you came from. Your grades were average at best." She crosses her arms, staring at him accusingly. "So how did you get into such a prestigious school if you probably couldn't even pass the entrance examinations?"
He remains apathetic, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. "The entrance examinations were simple. I passed with full marks. Or perhaps you already knew that?"
She bristles and he pushes off from her door, taking a step towards her. "I understand that you don't like me. But perhaps we have more in common than you think? I've noticed some things about you while I was here. You are studious, smart, and you possess a certain genius that little have. You're smart - have been smart - and you possess an uncanny ability."
"Go away," Sakura snaps. "Get out of here."
"But why not come clean about your genius?" He continues, "Perhaps it is because you are doing something in your spare time – something that you know your professors won't approve of."
Sakura's eyes widen, and she realises now that this is not a game. "You know nothing. Get out. Get out or I'll scream."
"How about you here me out," he says instead. "You've been volunteering at the local hospital - common knowledge. But what isn't common knowledge is that you've been secretly training yourself as a medic. How old were you when you started? Thirteen? Fourteen? Do people know you've been masquerading as a doctor, with your blonde wig and high heels? Do they know you've been treating patients with your own, devised remedies?"
Sakura is trembling. "They've all lived, all recovered. The doctors even said it was a miracle!"
"But yet if they knew, you'd lose everything. You'd lose your credibility, your respect. People will hate you and doubt you and look down on you. Your teachers would be disappointed. And I think you know that too."
"Who are you," she asks, awe and fright in her voice.
"June 18th, two years ago. Someone caught you snooping around the confidential records. You would have been busted," he says, "so you injected them with a little memory draught you invented yourself. Voila – crisis averted."
There is silence.
"What do you want," she says finally.
He chuckles lightly. She is trembling, her long pink locks fluttering as she glares at him, teeth clenched. Her hands are curled into fists and her eyes are sharp, ready to strike.
"I want to offer you something," he says calmly. "An offer like no other."
"You," she whispers furiously before her eyes dawn with understanding. "Your name's not Akishi Tomo."
A corner of his lips tilts up. "Good observation."
He reaches for his necklace that has been safely tucked into his shirt the whole conversation. Slowly, he pulls out a white ring, one that is blood red in the centre.
He slowly slips it onto his right ring finger as his eyes lock with hers. She shivers as his lips curl into a grin.
She notices that in the dark, the little flecks of red in his eyes become much more prominent and she can't stop the slight shiver that runs up her spine. Slowly, her gaze falls to his hand as his fingers curl into a fist. Still smiling, he holds the ring up, clearly displaying its symbol.
Her breath catches – a single kanji is carved in the middle – 'scarlet', or 'vermillion'.
"It's not possible," she whispers quietly, her heart pounding quicker and quicker, "It's dead – it's supposed to be dead."
"But it's not," he says, before his hand unfurls to reveal another ring – exactly the same in design but adorned with a slate blue centre.
"Sky," she whispers unconsciously, translating the kanji.
"This is your chance to be great," he says, offering her the ring.
"Come and join Akatsuki."
"Tenten!"
Neji is running towards her, hands gripping an envelope tightly. "Have you seen Uchiha?"
Tenten pauses in her typing, pushing her chair away from the computer. "Now might now be a good time to see him," she says, wincing at the memory, "He's really grumpy – we've just uncovered a link between the girl and Itachi."
Neji shudders at the thought – Sasuke and Itachi combined is never a good thing. "I thought Tsunade would pull him off the case, or at least put Naruto up as head."
It was true. Naruto was more than capable as a leader, and the whole team respected him like they respected Sasuke. However, with a case involving Uchiha Itachi Sasuke was a flight risk and Tsunade knew that. He once ran off to Orochimaru to try and secure information about his brother, an act which had him suspended from the Force indefinitely until Uchiha Fugaku pulled some strings and got his son off with minimal jail time and community service.
"I think she's testing him," Tenten says shrugging, "After all, he did have brief contact with Orochimaru. Why're you looking for him?"
Neji smirks, and opens the envelope, pulling out a few old newspaper articles. "Got some records that might be interesting."
Tenten eyes the bold captions on the newsletters - 'Equipment Stolen from Stanfield!' 'Bomber on the loose!'
"He's with Naruto," Tenten says, jerking her thumb to the right, "He's keeping him from harassing the prisoner."
"Hyuuga," Sasuke intones. He is a bit disgruntled, as he's just managed to get Naruto away from him (two months of free ramen) so he can go question the prisoner - and get some coffee - but now Neji's here, and the Hyuuga is an equally, if not more, infuriating presence. Nevertheless, he knows he's treading on thin ice in Tsunade's opinion, and any little blow out could result in being pulled out so he takes a deep breath and calms himself.
"What do you have?"
Neji smirks. "I chased down some of the other suspected members of Akatsuki. Turns out, these dates are only a few weeks before Itachi visited Sakura. Tenten's checking Itachi's alias – Akishi Tomo – right now."
Sasuke nods before taking the newspaper records Neji has pulled.
"The one I'm most confident about is Deidara. He used to be from the Iwagakure Explosion Corps, and I had a look at Akatsuki's known activities - they had an explosions expert. I'll bet five to one that it was Deidara - Akatsuki only want the best."
Sasuke takes the newspaper from him, arching an eyebrow. "The best?"
Neji nods, jerking his head towards the paper. "After all, only Akatsuki could escape from the world's deadliest prison."
Frowning, Sasuke scans the paper briefly before placing it on his desk, turning to the next set of papers. "And this? The theft?"
"I did some digging on that," Neji says.
Precious technology has been stolen from Stanfield - the world's leading robot engineering centre. Police are currently looking for the thief, who may be looking to sell the items on the black market. So far, no suspects have been identified. The technology is very high-risk, but authorities have assured the public that it poses no real threat unless the pieces are assembled, which is a very complex process, one only known by a few key individuals.
"Apparently, though this has never been confirmed, Jiraiya, the detective working on Akatsuki before you, suspected that Akatsuki had a sort of puppet master in their ranks. Except he didn't control puppets, he controlled robots."
"That's impossible," Sasuke says logically. "Our technology isn't that advanced."
"That's what you may think," Neji says, before pulling out another report. "Suna's Puppet Brigade," he presents, "One of the most advanced robot technology research centres in the world. A kid under the name of Takeshi Mono was the brightest student there. Professors said that they believed he could one day even master his own robot army. However, he disappeared after three years, and when police investigated, 'Takeshi Mono' died when he was seven. This was an imposter."
Neji hands him a photo – it's a class picture, full of thirty students.
"That's him," Neji says, pointing towards a petite boy in the corner, who looks no older than eighteen - a great contrast to the much older students around him. He has red hair and dark eyes, and a strangely apathetic look on his face.
Sasuke scowls – he reminds him of Itachi.
"And I bumped into Hinata-sama on my way here," Neji says as Sasuke scans the new information. "They're back from her apartment. Apparently, they got something good."
"Great," Sasuke says, nodding once at the Hyuuga as he snaps his folder shut, enclosing the files. Neji nods back, turning around and making his way back to his office. Sasuke contemplates getting his coffee over to the left, but veers right instead, making his way to the experienced trackers.
So far, the case has been going relatively smoothly, and now they have enough reason to contain the girl longer than planned with the new info on the hospital. If he played his cards right, he might get both Akatsuki and Orochimaru into cells by the end of the investigation.
He was feeling pretty confident so far. He had Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji at the lab, Hinata, Kiba and Shino from the tracking team at KNPD, and Neji, Tenten and Lee on Intelligence. Naruto was a good, albeit annoying deputy, and Sai was strong in his own right. However, though his whole team was well trained in physical combat, he had no allusions that they would beat even one Akatsuki easily.
In fact, it was even a surprise they caught the girl at all. She was smart, he'd give her that, and was even surprisingly strong. According to office gossip, during her capture she had shattered the brick wall behind Kiba with one, well-placed punch. She was also obviously a skilled doctor, if the video was to be believed, and was most likely to be the Akatsuki medic.
The official report had stated that she had already been injured when they found her, and from this Shikamaru had deduced two possible scenarios from the evidence collected at the scene – either she was injured fighting Orochimaru, or she was injured and went to Orochimaru for help. Blood spatter indicated some dragging along the floor, which was consistent with her leg injury. The substance she had been carrying was identified as poison. It was either a gang attack – Akatsuki versus Sound – or the two were cooperating, sharing information.
He makes a sharp swerve, and knocks briefly on Team 8's door.
"Uchiha," Kiba acknowledges as he opens the door.
"Kiba," he replies monotomously, "Did you get anything?"
The tracker team is on the computers. Hinata is chewing on a granola bar while Shino has his trademark hoody drawn back.
"It all looked normal at first," Hinata says as she swivels around on her chair to face him, "But then Akamaru sniffed out a hidden room behind her closet. It's a lab, and we found traces of cocaine. Shikamaru came with us, and he's analysing the traces we picked up right now."
"Orochimaru," Sasuke growls. "Did you get anything else?"
Shino finally turns to face him. "A code," he says calmly, lifting up a piece of paper.
He scans the numbers and letters. "Try anything – anagrams, coordinates, addresses-"
"Already on it," says Shino.
Sasuke nods.
"I think it's time for me to ask Haruno-san some questions." And to get some coffee.
He sits down opposite her, coffee mug in front of him, as Sai closes the door on them.
The first thing she says is "You look like Itachi."
He stiffens at the name and the almost endearing way she says it, but then he remembers he's here for an interrogation and his face hardens.
"What were you doing with Orochimaru?"
"The same thing you people are trying to do," she says calmly, in the same tone as in the tape all those years ago. "Stop him."
He raises an eyebrow and stares at her untrustingly. "Stop him," he repeats unbelievingly. "Then how do you explain the traces of drugs we found at your apartment? Orochimaru's drugs."
She doesn't seem affected, apart from the slight narrowing of her eyes. She has been here all morning and all afternoon, but she still looks as bored as she was when she came in. She twirls a strand of pink hair as she eyes his coffee.
"He doesn't know I'm part of Akatsuki," she finally answers. "I was posing as a buyer, to see how he worked."
Sasuke leans back, raising an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
She smiles sweetly, the antithesis of what an Akatsuki should be. "Akatsuki suspects Orochimaru supplies most of the dealers. If we can stop him, the whole smuggling world will be in chaos – a perfect opportunity for the police to come in and clean up the mess."
Sasuke scoffs. "And I should trust you because?"
Her smile never wavers. "You'll just have to I suppose."
They sit there, both eyeing each other, neither backing down, before he finally snorts.
"You make yourself sound like the police," he says, contempt barely hidden, "like all you criminals want is peace."
She looks at him wide-eyed, blinking rapidly before she smiles. He doesn't like it - it is an all-knowing, condescending smile. "Maybe that is what we want. We are better people than you think."
He stares at her incredulously before pushing his coffee mug away, disgusted. "Well you should've joined the police," he says, beginning to stand.
Suddenly, she laughs and it scares him into sitting back down again. "The police are corrupt. Ask Danzou. All you do is protect your own hides. You may not believe me, but Akatsuki is doing more to keep this world in order than you will ever do."
That is the last straw. Infuriated, he stands, leaving the pink-haired girl with the wistful smile behind.
"Ano… Sasuke?"
Sasuke finds that Hinata is one of the few people he cannot be mean to, the first being his mother. She is as sweet and as innocent as you can get, and frankly he is not sure how she is related to devil spawn Neji.
"Yes?"
"Have you ever considered," she says quietly, "that what Sakura-san is saying could be true?"
He eyes her, before turning away, laughing humourlessly. "Itachi would never help anyone."
He cannot see her, but he can feel her frown and disapproval. "But you never know," she points out. "There has been a drop in crime rates since a few years ago, which was when Sakura was inducted into Akatsuki, and many large crime bosses have just disappeared off the radar. Perhaps we should be helping them, not arresting them."
He runs a hand through his hair, wishing he had not left his coffee cup in the interrogation room. "You presume too much," he says, and is prevented from saying more as Kiba bounds towards them, trusty police canine Akamaru at his side.
"We cracked the code boss!" Kiba says eagerly.
"It's an address to an abandoned warehouse," Shino supplies helpfully. "We were going to head there now. Hinata?"
She nods, standing up in one fluid motion, grabbing her coat and putting her gun neatly into the holster.
"Wait," Sasuke says immediately, and the team stare to look at him. "I-I'm coming as well. It may be an Akatsuki hideout,"-with Itachi-"Hinata, can you get Sai?"
She nods and takes off, leaving him with the remaining two members of the tracker team.
"I thought Akatsuki was dead," Kiba finally says, Akamaru barking in agreement.
Shino sighs. "It's because there's been a change in leadership baka - remember Madara's murder? Perhaps the new leader is keen on keeping things low-key."
Kiba nods. "Pity we didn't get any information out of him. It could've really helped us."
"Hn," is all Sasuke says.
"You smell that?" Kiba says as everyone places their guns back into their holster. The warehouse is empty, though it reeks - a sign that someone was here not too long ago.
"Cocaine," Sai says blandly.
"Yeah, and blood." Hinata leans down, inspecting a few blood drops on the floor.
They are at the warehouse specified by the code. Even though it is empty, it looks like it has been used recently, and frequently. The walls and floor are rundown, but the place looks like it's been wiped down to get rid of evidence.
"Was Orochimaru injured when you saw him?" Sasuke asks Kiba. He was first on the scene, and he and Akamaru had gotten into a brief scuffle with Sakura, which had given the Orochimaru a chance to escape. However, once Hinata, Shino and Sai had arrived they had managed to secure the 'pink-haired hellion' in Kiba's words.
He shrugs. "He escaped too quickly for me to get a good look, but I think he was. Didn't Chouji find blood that wasn't Sakura's at the scene?"
"Orochimaru's," Shino confirms. "Could be that the address wasn't Akatsuki's but Orochimaru's."
"Could be," Hinata says. "If what Sakura was saying was true, then she could have come here to sabotage the dealership. I have tread marks here – indicates something was here not long ago. Maybe Orochimaru found out Akatsuki was on to him and fought back."
Shino nods. "And he's famous for that sword he carries around – Kusanagi. Akatsuki wouldn't send one member by herself to someone like Orochimaru's lair. Someone was probably with her. It could be that whoever was with her got stabbed, and she chose to flee and heal him rather than take on Orochimaru. That would give Orochimaru plenty of opportunity to wheel out all his cocaine and machines and clear the warehouse."
"And then, he tracked down Sakura, the two fought, Sakura got injured, and we just happened to stumble on them both," Hinata finishes.
The rest of the group stare at them dumbfounded before Kiba gives a low whistle. "You two are on a roll today."
Sasuke glares at all three. "None of that is proven yet remember," Sasuke reminds, a bit disorientated as Sakura's story may actually prove true. "Take up some of the blood and we can send it to the lab."
"Roger that!" They answer.
"Ino! Did you get the samples Hinata sent you?"
Ino nods. "I'm scanning them right now," she says, gesturing towards the computer. Sasuke fixes his eyes on the monitor, where the little green bar is inching a bit too slow for his tastes. The screen is flashing, searching through all their databases, and he nearly sweats in anticipation. They've just spent quite a bit of money on this new system, and he'll be damned if it doesn't work.
"We got a hit," Sasuke says, relief barely concealed as the computer screen flashes with a green 'Match Found'.
Ino takes one look at the screen and grins. "Won't you look at that," she says smugly. "Neji was right – Deidara is Akatsuki."
And the moment she says that, all the lights suddenly go out, and there is a great whirling sound as all the machines shut down.
There is silence before everyone begins to bustle around the lab. "Blackout?" Ino asks, orientating herself on the table. "The whole system's shut down."
And then, there is a distinct click on the doors.
"Shit," Sasuke growls. "We're locked in - what happened?"
And even though no one knows, he suspects it's Akatsuki.
"Long time no see," Kisame says, jumping down from the vent above her.
Sakura lifts her head from her arms and grins. "Took you long enough. How's Deidara holding up?"
"Good," Kisame says. "Konan says he's healing well. Hold on, let me get us some light." He flips on a torch and the area illuminates.
"Did you get Sasori to do this?" She asks, gesturing to the power failure.
Kisame nods enthusiastically. "He's the tech expert. Anyway, we didn't come here to bust you out – we need you in here. Zetsu's found out that Orochimaru has connections in the police – or one connection to be exact, and Leader wants you to check it out." He grins apologetically as he ruffles her hair. "Sorry princess - you have to stay with the cops a little longer."
Sakura pouts but nods. "Who is it?"
Kisame flips up a picture.
"Danzou."
As soon as the power returns, Sasuke is sprinting towards the cell where Sakura is held, ignoring the shouts and falls that follow him. He finally reaches her holding cell and skids to a halt. He tugs the blinds up and lets out a huge breath of relief when he finds that she is still there.
She turns around and sees him, and madly waves at him. "Hey you!" she shouts from inside, "I need to talk to you!"
He is affronted and immediately suspicious, but his curiosity triumphs and he steps in. It is only then that he notices the vent in the ceiling - one that looks like it has been tampered with. He refrains from taking a seat, and crosses his arms in suspicion.
"Yes?" He asks cautiously.
"Danzou," she states, straight to the point, "Where is he?"
It is only then that he remembers her previous words – 'the police are corrupt. Ask Danzou.'
He frowns. Danzou is one of the main council members at KNPD as well as the leader of a rather powerful section of the police department, ANBU Root, where Sai works. He has always avoided him, as he has always avoided things to do with his brother, and his brother killed the one man he trusted – Uchiha Shisui – right hand man of Danzou.
"Why do you ask?" He opts to say.
She smiles. "I have just received very trustworthy information that he is up to something with Orochimaru."
The vent, he thinks, Akatsuki snuck in through the vent. Bastards.
Nevertheless, he cannot stop the little voice in his head that is saying 'what if she's right about Akatsuki? What if they're helping us?'
"In fact," she continues, "I believe that Officer Tenten informed me that I was entitled to three hours out of this cell to visit any family and friends or consult a lawyer. I'm exercising that now."
And he grits his teeth because she is entitled to that right and there's nothing he can do about it, so he motions to the security guard outside the door who clips on the customary recording device onto her shirt and accompanies her out.
"UCHIHA SASUKE!"
He winces at Ino's wail. She is running towards him, her blonde hair frazzled and her hands waving about crazily. She nearly crashes into him but her face never loses her excitement.
"I've been bloody trying to find you for the last ten minutes! I've found it Sasuke, I've hit the jackpot!"
His heart begins beating in excitement, though he swallows hard and rubs her back, calming her down. "Breathe Ino," he says, "What have you found?"
Ino grins as she looks up at him, eyes lighting up. "Akatsuki's hideout. Sasuke, I've found it!"
And he actually smiles.
"Konoha Military Police Force! Open up!" Kiba shouts as he pounds on the door. There is no answer. With a shared look, Kiba and Sai pound down the door together. The team quickly advances through the house, guns poised, before everyone gives the all clear.
It looks like quite the normal suburban house. There isn't anything that indicates anything gang-related. The house used to belong to Kakuzu, a confirmed Akatsuki member rumoured dead two years ago. From what they had gleamed from Madara before his death, Kakuzu was Akatsuki's treasurer. He disappeared after a mass shooting two years ago, no body was found and nobody ever saw him again.
Hinata immediately goes to the old brass desk to the side, sifting through the drawers while Sai heads to the bedroom and begins overturning the bed.
"Food in the fridge, TV still plugged in," Kiba says as he goes through the house, "Someone's been living here. Kakuzu perhaps?"
Sasuke nods. "Check the answering machine," he says as he heads towards Shino in the living room.
You have 3 unread messages.
Beep.
Kakuzu? If you're home ring me back. We're finalising the attack on Orochimaru. And don't forget to destroy the records after you're done – don't want the police to think you're a softie eh?
Beep.
Kakuzu you bitch! Kisame said he saw you at a bar with some women on your lap. Don't forget about the fucking attack dude – it's tonight!
Beep.
You know what? Don't bother coming home. Just go straight to the attack or we won't have enough time. We need the whole group here – Orochimaru's got a lot of lackeys! I've sent this message to your phone as well. Do you ever pick up?!
Beep.
You have 0 unread messages.
Sasuke stares at the machine for a second, at loss as to what to do before quickly shaking himself from the stupor. He turns to Shino. "When was the last message sent?"
Shino checks the phone quickly. "An hour ago tops. I guess the 'dead' Kakuzu isn't so dead."
Sasuke shares a panicked look with Shino. "That means there's going to be an attack tonight. I'm going to look for these 'records'. Call the rest of the team and tell them to start looking for Orochimaru, Akatsuki, anything they can get their hands on."
Shino nods and pulls out his phone.
"Hey! Uchiha! You might want to have a look at these."
He turns over to where Kiba is flipping through files left scattered across the coffee table. A lighter is sitting beside them – perhaps Kakuzu was going to burn the documents when he got back from the attack.
Hinata is staring intently at the records. "I knew it," she says smiling, "I was right."
And as he in turn looked at the documents, his heart just shatters a tiny bit as he realises that yes, she was right, and yes, Sakura was telling the truth, and yes, Akatsuki is nice, in a twisted sort of way.
"Hinata, take the documents," he says, almost on autopilot, "Everyone else, we need to find where the attack is going to be. If Sakura's telling the truth, then we need to find out where this attack is-"
And he freezes, because he realises that Sakura has been out on her three-hour walk and is due back now, and she could have done anything from planting a bomb at the station to escaping.
"I need to go back to the lab," he says quickly, and takes off.
"Sasuke!"
His ears are subjected to Ino's screams for the second time this day.
"Aren't you supposed to be looking for Orochimaru?" He says as he continues stalking towards Sakura's room.
"Shika and Chouji are on that," Ino says dismissively, heels clattering as she struggles to keep up with his pace, "But guess what we did find. During the blackout, Sai was reporting to Danzou, and instead of taking his mission report with him, he coincidentally grabbed some of Danzou's papers as well."
She holds up the file. The writing is long and miniscule but he manages to get the gist.
"How much?" He asks through clenched teeth.
"18 million," Ino answers. "He's stealing from the department."
Sasuke groans and feels older than he has in years.
"And there's more. I think you should see this."
She hands him a folder. It's from many years back, before Tsunade was appointed head. It's a statement – Itachi's statement.
And that is when he finds out how corrupt the department truly is.
"Wait, wait, wait," he says, "Back up. This can't be true."
Ino just smiles sadly. "It's true - Itachi found out about Danzou. And because of that Danzou tried to kill him. He fired a shot in self-defense, but it hit Shisui instead of Danzou. He presented his case to the department, but you know Danzou's influence - he was labelled corrupt and a madman. Only the old Sarutobi believed him, but that wasn't enough. He was going to be given the needle."
Sasuke knows the rest of the story - Itachi left and joined Akatsuki - the criminal gang with morals.
He barely has time to process this before he is interrupted once more.
"Hello Sasuke-kun."
It's Sakura, and he groans, because too much is going on and he does not have the time to deal with her now.
"I just thought you might want to know that Danzou's just stolen all nineteen kilograms of cocaine that you collected for evidence after the drug bust. I hope you catch him."
And then she walks away just like that and he growls, and Ino's dumbfounded and he's running to the evidence locker.
Ino did not graduate top of her class for nothing.
"Shimura Danzou, you are officially under arrest for violation of your duties as a police officer, theft of evidence and a long list of other crimes. Please put your hands in the air."
Sasuke left this to her, and she knows how important it is to him. She'll be damned if she doesn't do it right. Ino will do anything for her friends, and so she is happy that for the first time, Sasuke has closure and Danzou is caught.
He drops the bags with the cocaine and reluctantly puts his hands in the air as Sai takes an unusual pleasure in handcuffing his boss.
Chaos is the first thing Sasuke notices. Akatsuki members are engaged in battle everywhere. They seem to be outnumbered by Orochimaru's troops ten to one, but are holding their own.
He sees the red-haired boy from Suna, and his army of robots, and he sees the blue man with the sword. He sees the silver haired man with the scythe and his partner Kakuzu. He sees the explosions expert Deidara with a bandaged midriff, covered by a tall red-haired man and a dark-haired woman. He sees a masked man and a man in black, white and green. He even sees the pink-haired girl - though he has no idea how she got there so fast - healing the injured. He sees everyone but he does not see his brother or Orochimaru.
And so, as police forces jump in to separate the fight, he leaves his team to go and find his brother.
And eventually, he does. Uchiha Itachi is with Orochimaru.
"You will not harm Sasuke," he says.
Orochimaru simply smiles.
Sasuke thinks he's died a little inside.
Then the two engage in battle and shots are fired and he doesn't know what the hell is going on, doesn't know what the hell he should do and just stands there frozen and watching and damn conflicted.
And then the police barge past him to secure the two criminals and his body finally seems to wake up.
But when he moves Itachi locks eyes with him. And then, Itachi nods.
He nods back and then his brother disappears.
He stiffens frozen once more, before his mind turns to overdrive and he's running, running, running for his brother, running for Akatsuki, running for Sakura, running for his life.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto runs to him and places a strong hand on his partner's shoulder.
"We've got Orochimaru and his lackeys but Akatsuki's got away. Police have secured the area though, so they have to be around here somewhere."
He nods slowly and then the two run together, Naruto to apprehend the criminals, and Sasuke to find answers. They run from the battle sight, they run from their team, and they run from the police.
"There," Sasuke breathes.
Akatsuki has congregated behind a stack of trees, its members supporting wounds that Sakura is currently attending to. The group seem to sense them unanimously and turn towards the duo. Naruto grunts and instinctively pulls out his gun.
However Sakura smiles at them, and Naruto's grip falters. But amidst all this, Sasuke's eyes are locked on Itachi's.
"Stay strong, foolish little brother," Itachi says.
And Sasuke knows that he can walk up right now and catch them, but strangely he doesn't. And as Naruto reaches to pull the trigger, he lowers the blonde's arm. Naruto looks at him, and the two share a moment of understanding before Naruto puts his gun back into the holster.
He wants to believe that they'll be caught anyway, like any other criminal would by the police securing the area, but this is Akatsuki, he knows that they will get away.
Sasuke nods at his brother, who in turn, slowly nods back, and he nods at the strange pink-haired girl, who gives him another smile full of strange emotions. And then, he turns around and begins to walk back.
When he looks back two minutes later, they are gone.
.
.
.
"We never ended up finding them eh?" Kiba says wistfully.
"Perhaps," Hinata says, "Perhaps it's better that way."
And Sasuke smiles because he completely agrees.
.
.
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AN: Feedback will be very much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed.