AN: Updates will be slow, but I won't abandon it. Also the chapters will be longer. This is obviously an AU, using the US judicial system as a base. That being said, for the sake of the story some things might be stretched as to how it would work in the real world. I hope you enjoy and please leave reviews with what you think!
CHAPTER ONE
The sunlight trickled into my office as if some higher power was trying to fry me like a kid pointing a magnify glass at ants. It was the best analogy I could up with as sweat dotted my forehead and made my blouse stick to my arms. Why anyone in their right mind would build an office building with nothing but windows was beyond me. Maybe it was because us ants needed to be reminded of our humble, insignificant places. Or maybe it was because some architect who was more fool than practical thought the design would be sleek and trendy without a thought of the poor slobs who got stuck on the westward facing side. Either way it didn't matter. It was my honor to have the horrible, blindingly hot office that took up a nice portion of the west end of my floor and all of the power that came with it.
Meaning: I was pretty high on the food chain when it came to powerful and important people.
Or at least I would be in a normal functioning society where law and order was respected rather than mafia brutes who liked to get power through drugs, sex, and violence. Instead I was probably ranked up there as people to kill once I proved to be too good at what I was doing. But hey, what's a stimulating legal career as a prosecutor without the added spice of death threats, bribes, and perchance of nervous breakdowns?
At least my job was never dull. It was one of the reasons I left my cushy partnership at a prestigious defense firm to take a job as a civil servant. Rather than getting paid the hugely insane salaries of the private sector, I was paid a measly six-figure sum to send the bad guys to jail for the Konoha County District Attorney's Office as a one of the county prosecutor's underlings. Call it a delusional sense of civic duty, or maybe a valiant hatred of criminals getting away with their crimes, but either way I had a nice little collection of investments of somewhat dirty money from being a bigwig defense attorney and was ready to earn a little more honest greenback. In short, I left luxury for the ideal of justice.
How naïve is that?
Well no matter what it was, the decision left me with the stupidest office in the entire county and a caseload filled with Akatsuki and Sound thugs who did everything from bribery, theft, money laundering, and, of course, murder. And boy did I love nailing their asses to long, parole-less sentences whenever a judge or jury wasn't paid off to look at anything but the black and white facts. It made sitting in my stifling office going over interviews, interrogations, and all the physical evidence less of a hell and more of a euphoric utopia of Justice with a capital J.
A buzzing noise broke through the silence in my little fortress of killer sunlight and legal documents. I couldn't help but sigh at the interruption, but such was life. Hitting my intercom button, I gave a hurried yes before pulling up what had been a severe, sharp, professionally killer bob into a sweaty, messy ponytail of greasy blonde. God I hate the heat.
"Ms. Kita? I have the district attorney for you on line one."
The high-pitched voice belonged to the office's receptionist, Moegi. The wide-eyed and bushy haired girl had started not too long ago and had hopes of going to law school to help clean up the streets of Konoha. Ah, the innocence of youth. If she got even close to living out her dream she would quickly realize that the streets would never been "clean". There was always some dumbass willing to make a quick buck off the misfortunes of others. Hell I use to be one of them. And as such I came into my present job with the thought of just hurting the bastards who ran the game, not taking them down. That was, and always would be, utterly impossible.
Still, who am I to crush a kid's dream? The world would open her eyes to the futility of it sooner rather than later.
"I've got it, Moegi," I answered before picking up the receiver and leaning back for what was sure to be a long conversation.
"Ms. Senju, ma'am," I started, "how can I help you?"
"Where are you on that gang murder case, Shun?" Tsunade's voice rolled without a pause for any of the pleasantries common in the private sector. I personally enjoyed a brief hello, how are you before jumping right into an attempted kidnapping by one of Konoha County's many gangs that turned into the murder of an unsuspecting bystander. But that was just me. Tsunade was more the type to barrel through with whatever task was at hand and let someone else clean up the mess her unique manners seemed to create.
"I went over the charges this afternoon with the county sheriff and the team of detectives that worked the case. I think we have a good chance of getting involuntary manslaughter on all of them, but anything more would be a stretch. That poor fool was just in the cross fire, nothing more."
Tsunade sighed heavily into the phone. "That's all we can get?"
"I can push for more, but I doubt it will stick. You know Orochimaru will have some of his best lawyers defending them. They're his elite four."
"I was hoping we had more on them. It's the first time they've slipped up in years."
I could understand Tsunade's frustration. It's not every day you actually arrest someone near the top of the food chain in one of the county's largest gangs, but with the amount of legal finesse that Orochimaru bought I would never ever be able to get them on anything more than manslaughter charges. The bastards.
"Do what you can. I'm going to see if Kakashi can get me more."
"He might be a good sheriff, but I don't think he's that good."
"Just do your part and I'll see to the rest."
A click marked the end of the conversation. No thank you or goodbye, just a hollow sounding click followed by silence. And who said manners were a thing of the past?
With a sigh I leaned back, letting all the feelings of determination and righteousness mix with the inevitable not guilty verdict that would come if Tsunade pushed for something we didn't have. She was the boss and I would have to do what she wanted in terms of the formal criminal charges we filed, but I definitely didn't agree with her charge-ahead-mindless-of-reality attitude she sometimes had when it came to the Sound gang or the various mafias, like the Akatsuki. Maybe it was because I had worked in that murky area between legal and illegal before joining the county that I saw how futile pushing could sometimes be. That or I was irreversibly cynical, but either way it often meant that I was butting heads with the county prosecutor while my fellow deputy district attorneys, Neji and Shikamaru, seemed to get nothing but praise. I think even the county sheriff, Kakashi, got a bit annoyed with my nay saying ways, but he had no choice but to play nice since I worked a third of the criminal cases.
The buzzing from my intercom came again, making me wonder why no one had built intercoms yet that had a nice dinging tone rather than the sound of an electric shaver being used on cement. "Yes?"
I could tell that my tone had been a bit harsh by the way Moegi hesitated. Oh well, the kid had to grow thicker skin sooner or later if she wanted to last in this whole law and order business. "Ms. Kita? It's six o'clock. You wanted me to remind you that you have a dinner meeting."
Shit, I thought, glancing at my greasy hair, blotchy skin, and bloodshot blue eyes in the reflection of my framed diplomas and licenses. The day had taken its toll on what had been immaculate grooming. My suit was wrinkled, my silk blouse limp and worn, and the little bit of make-up I had put on was smudge off by my hygienically-counterproductive habit of rubbing my forehead and face while reading. Great. I was going to make an awesome impression with the Suna DA tonight.
"Thanks, Moegi," I called, pushing the button to disconnect while grabbing my jacket and purse and making a beeline to the bathroom. There wouldn't be time to look fresh, but at least I could save everyone the trouble of having to smell me after an afternoon broiling in the sun. A splash of water later, I was out the door and heading to the county line to meet the team that Tsunade had just spent a better half of a year wooing into some sort of warm fuzzy feelings. How she managed to break into the good-old-boys-club of Suna was beyond me, but you had to respect a woman who had the cajones to force others to work with her even if they didn't want to. I was a prime example of that.
All hygienic concerns aside, I spent the nearly hour drive preparing myself for what was ahead. I had little information on what exactly Tsunade had discussed with the Suna people or what she expected out of this besides big cases and big convictions. That meant it had to do with either the Sound or Akatsuki. All the other gangs and wannabe mobsters were small fries when compared to the real deal. Besides, there were few organized criminal groups that worked outside of their turf so to speak and crossed county and state lines. But if I had to guess which one we would be discussing tonight I would put my money on the Akatsuki, not because they were a much bigger problem than the Sound, but more because Suna had a very dirty history with violent gang led by Orochimaru that I doubted had completely disappeared over the past five or six years. Maybe it was even longer. Who knows, things sort of start blending together when the same old shit keeps happening over and over again.
Anyways, Suna's previous sheriff had quite the little friendship with the leader of the Sound, Orochimaru. They were buddy-buddy enough that the idiot actually had Suna police officers go out and aid in a Sound raid, which obviously was noticed pretty quickly. Long story short, the media ripped the leadership in Suna apart, the sheriff's mutilated body was found a few days later, and ever since the county has been struggling to eliminate corruption and dirty cops for their ranks. They elected a very young new sheriff, appointed a new, very young DA, and kept a whole slew of people around that had gotten to where they were by nepotism and bribes. So this was the messy little situation I was going to be walking into, hopefully with the company of Neji and Shikamaru. Tsunade never did confirm who else would be there, but I hoped to God that she didn't send me in alone.
I got to the restaurant relatively early, which was a good thing considering it was little more than a non-descript door underneath an unlit sign in a tiny, crumbling brick building. Now I've been to some hole-in-the-wall joints in my time, but this place took the cake. Had I not had GPS I doubt I would have even slowed when I came up to the building, let alone pulled into the tiny, and practically empty, parking lot. There was no sign of either of my colleagues' cars, nor anything I would expect a bigwig from Suna to be driving.
"If you're on time you're late, if you're early you're on time," I muttered to myself before grabbing my things and locking my cheap sedan and heading in. That is one thing I have never really felt the need to spend money on, fancy, flashy cars that just scream rob me! Instead I go for investing in things that can't be stolen, mainly land, and let my city life look plain and boring, although not as plain or boring as the restaurant I was going to be dining at for the evening. It was the epitome of cheesy Italian décor, complete with checkered table clothes and dim can lighting. Well at least Tsunade wouldn't have to worry about any prying eyes and curious ears here since the place was completely empty, which didn't bode well for the quality of the food.
Being waved to any seat I wanted by the bored hostess who barely looked up from her phone, I did what any self-respecting woman would do when alone in a run-down, dingy old restaurant. I took a seat against the wall that commanded a view of the entire room. Was there a strong likelihood that someone unsavory would come in here and see me as a target? Probably not, but when you didn't know the area and you were alone you took precautions anyways.
It was another forty minutes before anyone but the waiter came into the restaurant, leaving me with an empty water glass and feeling a bit annoyed at how late the Suna people were. You would think for a first meeting they would at least be on time, so they only logical explanation had to be that their county ran on a different time zone than Konoha. Otherwise they would have been nothing more than pompous, disrespectful assholes who wasted other people's time like it didn't matter. And I would hate to think poorly of people I never had met and was supposed to be working with by decree of the all mighty and powerful Konoha DA.
No matter what their excuse, I slapped a small smile on my tired face. I recognized the woman, Temari, from a bar association gala a few years earlier. She had only recently gotten her license, but due to the nepotism that seemed entwined in the very infrastructure of Suna County she had already been named county attorney despite her inexperience. I swear to God, life must be rough for people with the right last name and other family connections. I wouldn't know the burden they bear being just a nobody who made a name for herself through blood, sweat, and more blood. But I digress.
I watched them be directed my way by the hostess, noting that Temari looked a good deal older than when I last saw her as well as taking in the two males that came with her. I knew one would be the district attorney, Gaara, and the other probably the county sheriff, Kankuro. At least that's who Tsunade made it sound like I would be meeting. Based on experience, I had my money on the small, lean one with red hair and dark rings under eyes to be the DA while the more solid, grim looking brunette to be the sheriff.
I stood when they got to the table, extending my hand and giving each a firm shake. "Shun Kita, deputy district attorney."
They each returned the shake with firm, confident grips, the smaller of the two introducing himself as the DA while the other, stockier man turned out to be the sheriff. Am I good or what?
Gaara, although unforgivably late, seemed ready to get to business. There was no apology, no polite glad you made it or how are you today to fill the gap from introduction to talking about law and the difficult part of maintaining it. Instead he locked on to me like a predator seeking out prey and dug right in.
"We have come to discuss doing some business with your office," he started, his voice a bland monotone despite the intensity that seemed to hide behind his sleep-deprived eyes. It was no wonder he lacked sleep, he looked barely old enough to even have graduated from law school let alone be appointed the county's defense attorney. It made me wonder just what the state of affairs was over in Suna.
"Alright," I answered, taking my time and gauging the people that joined me. I didn't like that I was alone, although I had figured after about thirty minutes of waiting that Shikamaru and Neji probably weren't coming to this delightful meeting. But even more than that, I didn't like not knowing what to expect. Tsunade had been very vague about this entire gathering, as if she was afraid someone would overhear the details and leak them. Or maybe the details weren't quite legal. Although that wasn't typically the DA's style, it would make sense why she would send me in. I was the only deputy defense attorney with any background in things that existed in that murky grey area of legality.
"You seem hesitant," Gaara stated in his monotone, never once taking his pale green eyes off me.
"I was under the assumption that my entire team minus the district attorney would be here." It was a small half-lie. Sure I had actually assumed that my colleagues would be joining me, but I was well aware that my assumption was false. This was nothing more than a fancy little ploy to get my new friends to talk a little more so I wouldn't be caught off guard when it came time to speaking on behalf of Tsunade and the county.
"Tsunade said she would send us her best. I don't require more than that."
I noted the casual use of first names by the young Suna upstart, making me wonder just how much time our dear ol' DA had spent talking with this kid. Because that is what he was; a kid. I don't care how smart or how gifted you were, in this world you needed experience to really know what's what. Otherwise you would miss the crucial, little things that meant the difference between a bad guy getting his comeuppance or walking away scot-free.
But I was nothing if not professional. You didn't make it working for shady businessmen with even shadier deals if you blurted out your every thought like some liquored up college girl. So instead I went with politely noncommittal. "I suppose the best would depend on what sort of work you're looking for support on. Shikamaru is a better analytic and Neji is superior at detecting and exposing lies."
"I asked for tenacity and grit, though, not analysis or finding deceptions," Gaara answered.
"Then I suppose the only other question is what case you are looking to transfer to our jurisdiction?"
Temari and Kankuro exchanged a glance that spoke louder than words. Maybe they had expected a bit more wining and dining prior to the nitty gritty business, or just that Gaara would be running the show. Well kiddos, I just don't work that way. I hate these stupid dinners were everyone acts like either their best friends or to put on the macho act only to steal your prime cases using the guise of stronger evidence for crimes committed over county lines (also know as getting the glory for nailing the sucker using the work you've already put into the case), or they want to pawn off a dud and let you deal with the stinker of a case with all the death threats and sleepless nights that come with it. Obviously Tsunade was in the mood to pick up the slack of the wonder kids here under the guise of relationship building. There was no way she would even think of letting them touch something of ours with their lack of experience. So that just left talking about what stupid case I was going to be working for the little Suna newbies and how much grunt work and time it was going to take me.
"Every county has been working on taking down the Akatsuki hierarchy," the sheriff answered quietly, his narrow eyes darting from side to side as if he expected someone else to have entered the restaurant and be listening to our conversation. "We have some good leads, but they all point to Konoha to where the crimes will actually occur."
"That sounds more like you need our sheriff," I started when a familiar face meandered up to the hostess. "Ah, and it seems he just arrived."
Kakashi came our way, his prematurely grayish-white hair sticking up in all directions, giving away his workload and stress despite his apathetic expression and bored body posture. I have never met a man that saw as much danger as our county sheriff did and still managed to feel secure enough to walk the speed of a turtle with his hands in his pocket. It was almost as if he was daring some Sound punk to attack him. Of course that would be the last thing the kid probably would ever do, but most of the state's gang members were idiots who thought they were invincible.
"Sorry I'm late," he started, flopping into his seat as carefree as he walked, "a little old lady asked me for directions on my way here."
Ah, good old Kakashi. That man always had an excuse for his habitual inability to read a clock. It was something of a joke within some departments, the employees writing down his halfhearted attempts to apologize for being late. I had to admit there were some pretty outrageous ones that would have made me laugh if they hadn't been used as the reason I had to get a judge to call a recess because my witness hadn't shown up yet. At least for this meeting he was only about an hour and a half late, which is practically on time by his standards.
"So, just to be clear," I started again without waiting for Kakashi to settle in or for our new allies to have time to judge our sheriff, "you have information on some actions that will be happening in our jurisdiction. And you hope to have us make the arrest and then what?"
"From what our agents report we expect at least four of the members of the leadership will be directly involved in Konoha," Kankuro answered. "It's your turf so therefore your arrests, but if you manage to take down all four we want to prosecute two of them for crimes they committed in Suna earlier this year."
"I can't agree to that without knowing what the sort of crimes they committed, what evidence you have, and what they will be doing and the sort of evidence we will have. If our goal is to get guilty verdicts and strict sentences those arrested would have to stand trial for the crimes we have the best cases for. Otherwise we risk them posting bail and leaving the state, if not the country."
"We understand the risks," Temari answered, "but this is a non-negotiable item."
I could see from the set of her jaw and the way her eyes hardened that she was angry. Not the sort of hot, fiery anger that came in the heat of the moment, but the slow burning, residual stuff that simmered beneath the surface long after the wrong occurred. It was that anger that made her take the hard-ass approach with me despite my reputation for making people bend to my will. There was a reason I had a lot of zeros sitting in a bank account from when I worked for the other side. I knew how to use words as weapons, and Temari's very black and white, set in stone statement felt more like an invitation to challenge her versus a permanent roadblock. Besides, I wasn't interested in losing a good case just for some little girl's grudge.
I gave the Suna team a small smile and stood. "I thank you for this evening, but I don't think Konoha is interested in what you're offering."
"What?" Kankuro sputtered, his eyes growing wide.
"This has all the flavoring of a personal vendetta and I'm not interested in being attached to a deal that would see two men not receive the justice they deserve because of it."
"So you would rather they never be caught at all?" Gaara asked. His voice was quiet and calm, acting as a complete contrast to his sheriff's blunt loudness.
"I'm sure we have agents with similar information. I trust in Sheriff Hatake to provide me with the best possible evidence."
Kakashi gave me a hard look, the kind that I had seen him use on criminals during interrogation. It was the sort that could see beyond whatever mask a person was wearing and sense their intentions, including my bluff. Thankfully, he wasn't the type of man to act rashly or against the team he represented. So rather than give away my little game he stood with me and gave a halfhearted goodbye.
The effect was nearly immediate. Temari stared blankly, Kankuro swore under his breath, and Gaara acted like the leader that he apparently was despite his age. Standing, he moved just slightly towards us, giving the signal that Konoha was in control, but not so much that he would completely chase after us. It was fine maneuvering for someone so young, forcing me to view him with a tiny bit of respect.
"I agree that it is more important that these criminals are convicted than achieving a personal sense of justice. Suna is in need of some good and if we can give them two of the men that terrorized our cities I would like to do it. But if you're case is stronger after you apprehend them you can charge them."
I turned and gave the redhead a small smile. "Then we will gladly take your information and give you the men you want if you have a strong case."
Gaara gave a small nod before glancing down at his companions. "We will send an officer over tomorrow with the details."
Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets with a nod and made to leave. I followed suit. "Temari, we'll be in touch."
I followed Konoha's sheriff out, digesting the night's events. It wasn't every day that one of the other big counties made such big deals. Sure there were the one-sided ones, the sort that was taken in some political ploy of the higher ups, but all in all to give up information that could lead to the arrests of four Akatsuki leaders was a generous act. Even with us sending two of them to Suna for prosecuting, getting convictions on two would be a huge feather in the DA's cap not to mention a nice bargaining piece for extra funding in the next fiscal year. And who knows? Maybe we would be prosecuting all four. Glancing over at Kakashi, I could only hope that his boys were up to the task. If they got me just a piece or two of decent evidence we would be sitting pretty.
Taking in a deep breath of the cool night's air, I let myself smile. A chance to get my hands on the Akatsuki? Now this is the sort of case I had been waiting for.