Beauty and the Beast
Chapter 1
Pilot
Fall 2003
"Wow, dollar Lemon Drops, and all of Westchester shows up." I said holding up a wad of cash.
"Yeah, never underestimate the power of cheap booze and a hot, new, Ivy-educated bartender." She sucked up.
"You want me to close for you."
"No!" She chuckled. "Yes! Okay, maybe a little bit."
"Go." I smiled. "All I have waiting for me are LSAT practice tests."
"You're the best! Your fortune, Dolly." I said handing her half of the tips we made.
"Now, I am totally gonna hire you if I ever get arrested." She joked and then added. "Or divorced."
"Mm."
"Bye."
"Bye." I laughed.
After closing the bar I went out to my car but when I tried to turn it on it was dead. I then noticed the open vanity mirror. I sighed and pulled out my phone to call my mom.
"Hello." She answered.
"Hi, Mom." I said sheepishly.
"I'm like AAA but with outerwear.
Would you put that on? It's freezing out." My mom said handing me a jacket.
"I'm so sorry I dragged you all the way out here, but the good news is I made a lot in tips."
"Enough to cover tuition? Eh."
"Books for, like, one class." I chuckled.
"Already a lawyer like Dad." My mom smiled.
"You're just lucky I was on call. He would've killed you."
"That wasn't always come running when I need you." I laughed.
A dark car then pulled into the empty parking lot.
"What are these guys doing? Hey! We're closed! Hello, we're closed! We're good here!" I yelled at them waving them off as they got out of their car.
"Get in my car. Get in my car. Get in my car! Now! Go!" My mom yelled frantically pushing me towards her car.
"Mom!" I yelled as the two men pulled out guns and shot at her.
"Mom!" I screamed as she fell to the ground dead with bullet holes riddling her body. As the men started shooting at me I scrambled to get up and ran for the woods behind me. I could hear their shots whizzing by me. As I looked behind me to see where they were I felt myself trip over a tree root. I fell to the ground and let out a sob as the caught up to me. "Please, please, please please." I begged.
"Please, please." I said gasping and crying as one of the men pointed his gun at my face. I could hardly see through my tears and the darkness of night but I saw something run out growling and snarling. It looked like a man but it wasn't. It tore through the men and blood flew everywhere. The men fell to the ground screaming as they bled out. I could hear sirens wailing in the distance and running footsteps toward us. The beast turned and looked at me. He looked human but I could hear him growling. His eyes weren't human either and he had long claws. I gasped and tried to back up from where I was lying on the ground as it walked towards me. Blood was dripping into my eyes from the gash on my forehead and I could feel myself shaking. The beast growled at me again before taking off into the woods. I started crying when I realized it wasn't going to kill me too.
Sakura's Diary
'Everyone told me it was a wild animal- a coyote, a bear. That this thing I thought I'd seen was just the result of my concussion or post-traumatic stress. You know, the men who'd killed my mother were beasts. I believed them until now.'
Present Day
"Hey, Detective, what you doing?" An officer called to me as I pulled up and got out of my car.
"Just give me five." I said running past him.
"Jiro!" I called out running up to my boyfriend. "Hey um, you know my boss hates his wife, which means he never wants to leave work, which means I don't get to..."
"Which means you didn't get my text." He cut in.
"What?" I asked.
"At first your job was kind of a turn on. Now it's kind of a drag. Like tonight, if I want to smoke pot..."
"Look, you can smoke pot. I don't care." I cut him off.
"Hey! J-babe!"
"J-babe?" I questioned looking at the girl.
" Sorry, Saku. It's just been stressing me out."
"Really? That's what you texted me?" I asked in disbelief.
"We got to bust." He said putting his arm around the girl and walking off.
"You know what, J-babe? This wasn't working for me either. Security! That guy's got pot on him." I said flashing my badge to the security guards.
"Haruno." I said answering my phone which rang as I walked off.
Hotel crime scene
"You should've tased him." Ino said. "You have a blind spot for douches." She sighed. "See, when I date a douche, I know he's a douche, which is why I'm on a man cleanse." Ino said.
"Good, 'cause you can be my date to my dad's engagement party." I said. "Special Crimes." I said showing my badge to the officer before ducking under the crime scene tape. A woman was lying on the ground of the hotel bathroom with her purse laying next to her.
"911 got a call off her cell at 8:32 tonight." Ino said.
I pulled on my latex gloves and bent down to examine the body. "Blunt trauma to the head. No wallet, no ID, no hotel key." I observed.
"Robbery homicide?" Ino questioned from where she was standing above the body.
"And leave behind a Louis Vuitton? You know how much these things cost?" I asked looking up at her.
"No, and not every robber knows their Louis Vuitton." Ino said.
"I knew it was a Louis." The cop said.
"Regardless, it's a pretty public place to rob and kill someone. And this is a five-star hotel." I said.
"Then can we get some five-star service? Maybe take a look at some security footage? Yeah? Oh, great." Ino said in a snarky voice walking off after the officer while I stayed behind to observe the body.
Hotel. Sakura, Ino, Asuma watching security footage.
"An injured woman walks into a hotel, no one even blinks." Asuma said.
"You got to love New York." I replied.
"So where is our bad guy?" Asuma asked me.
"That we don't know, but we did ID the vic off cell records- Masako Webster."
"Hey, boss. Google says she's executive editor at Couture Blue Magazine." Ino said.
"She have a husband? Boyfriend? Lesbian lover?" Asuma asked.
"Yeah, husband- Aoi Webster." I said.
"Big fashion photographer. They're, like, a Page Six power couple." Ino added.
"So, where is Mr. Powerful now?" Asuma asked.
"Haven't been able to track him down. But CSU did lift prints off a button."
"Get me the results." Asuma said.
"Right."
Police Station
"AFIS got a hit, and it's not the husband. Guy's name is Sasuke Uchiha." I said.
"What are his priors?" Ino asked.
"None. Looks like he's military."
"He's dead. Specialist Sasuke Uchiha, MD, New York City. Killed in Afghanistan by enemy fire, 2002. The rest is redacted." Ino said looking at his file.
"So, how do a dead guy's prints end up on a fashion editor's buttons? I would say talk to his family, but look, next of kin, they've all passed, too." I said.
"MD. He was a doctor."
"Here. ER resident, St. Benjamin's.
'99 to 2001." I pointed out.
"Okay. Let's find some colleagues. See if they know something."
Hospital ER
"Dr. Uchiha? 'Course I remember him. Most of these residents come in cocky, thinking they know everything. Uchiha wasn't like that. You know he lost his brothers in the towers?" The nurse asked.
"No, we didn't." Ino said.
"Yeah, he was here that day. Kept waiting for 'em to be brought came to work after that." The nurse said.
"That's why he enlisted." Ino said looking at me.
"So, you haven't seen him since?" I asked.
"For detectives, you two don't know very much."
"No, we know he's supposedly dead." I said.
"Supposedly? There's a plaque in the lobby with his name on it."
"You remember anyone he hung out with, someone he would've reached out to?" I asked before leaving.
"Uchiha wasn't exactly social, but he did have a roommate."
Chemical plant
"Naruto Uzumaki, medical researcher." Ino said reading a file.
"This is where he lives- a chemical plant?" Ino said as we pulled up.
"Researcher- maybe he works from home?" I joked.
"Yeah, or it's a meth lab." Ino said.
"Just my type." I joked.
"Oh, a little Jiro rebound? You can make out in that." Ino said pointing at a crappy car.
"Naruto Uzumaki? NYPD. Mr. Uzumaki, open up." I said rapping on the door.
Naruto opened the door and we could see a football game playing on the big screen tv.
"Naruto Uzumaki? I'm Detective Haruno. This is Detective Yamaka."
"Uh, this isn't about that speeding ticket, is it? 'Cause I'm gonna pay." He said sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"No, we're here to talk to you about a former roommate, Sasuke Uchiha?"
"Sasuke Uchiha? It sucks, you know? What happened. So young." He said turning off the game.
"So, I'm assuming you haven't heard from him recently?" Ino asked.
"Like voices or?" Naruto questioned
"No, like him. His fingerprints just showed up at a crime scene."
"Sounds like you need new fingerprint guys." Naruto said starting to pack his books into his bag.
"Or is there any reason Mr. Uchiha might want people to think he's dead? Maybe he was in trouble?" Ino asked.
"He was in Afghanistan. Of course he was in trouble."
"A woman was murdered in the Stanwyck Hotel last night. Maybe you read about it?" Ino asked.
"Think we could take a look around?" I asked eyeing the staircase leading upstairs that was gated off.
"Uh, listen, I'd love to help you guys, but I gotta take off. Bio-chem class to teach." Naruto said ushering them outside.
"Okay, well, let us know if you think of anything." Ino said handing him a business card.
"Totally."
"Did you clock the stairs?" I asked as we got into the car.
"Yeah, too bad creepy digs aren't grounds for a warrant." Ino said.
"But, you know, maybe if you hook up with him." Ino said slyly. "Or you break your man cleanse." I joked.
"What the hell did you do?" Naruto practically yelled at Sasuke upstairs.
"That was her." Sasuke said handing Naruto a paper.
"Oh, my God." Naruto said running a hand through his hair looking at the paper Sasuke handed him. It was a picture of Sakura after her mom died and she was 'saved by a beast.'
"Do you want a beer?" Sasuke asked pulling open his fridge.
"No, no, I don't want a beer. I want you to tell me what the hell your prints are doing at a crime scene." Naruto said freaking out.
"Look, a woman was in trouble." Sasuke explained sitting down with a beer.
"Trouble? Trouble, trouble how? I mean, did you?"
"No, Dobe, I didn't hurt her."
"Well, congratulations 'cause now we've got her at our door."
"Yeah, well, I didn't know it was going to be her case, did I?"
" Her case. Wh-What Have you been keeping tabs on her? Sasuke, you broke every rule: no interacting with anyone, no entering a building." Naruto said pacing back and forth.
"Yeah, I know what the rules are, okay, I made them. It's been years, all right? It starts to feel like a prison in here."
"What prison has a flat screen and an Xbox? And if it's so hard for you, why'd you stop helping with the antidote?"
"Yeah, because you know what the definition of insanity is, Naruto? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, okay? That's why. All right, this is it, Naruto, this is my life."
"Okay. All I'm saying is, if Sakura Haruno starts asking questions, alerting Muirfield that you're alive we're both dead men, and I don't mean "on a piece of paper" dead. I mean dead like dead dead." Naruto said before leaving for his class.
Station morgue
"Kiba, please tell me that you have something." I said walking in.
"I've got a pair of Louboutins in an evidence bag. What size are you?" He joked looking me over.
"You are so callous." I said.
"Okay, so the head wounds are too superficial to have killed her, but she does have signs of low oxygenation." Kiba said.
"Suffocation, strangulation?" I asked.
"No ligature marks, but she does have some rash."
"Possibly poisoning?" I questioned.
"But here's the weird part. Bruised sternum, cracked ribs. You see that from CPR sometimes." He said pointing at the body.
"So, after the killer left, someone tried to save her? Why wouldn't they have stuck around?" I asked.
"That's your job. Oh, I did find a hair."
"DNA?" I asked.
"Hey, what are you doing tomorrow night? I've got premiere tickets. Free movie, open bar." Kiba asked me with a cheeky grin.
"What, about that flight attendant on layover?" I asked.
"Permanently transferred to Dallas."
"By you or by the airline?"
"Well, it was coming up to three months. I may have pulled some strings." He winked.
"Oh." I said looking at my phone as it beeped. "Our vic's husband surfaced."
"Always the husband. See, this is why I stick to three months." Kiba smirked.
"Yeah, well, in this case, our prime suspect is a dead guy." I said with a sigh.
Station with the victims husband.
"I've never seen him before." He said handing me back the picture.
"And you were at your studio all night?" Ino asked.
" Yes." He answered.
"I'm sorry to have to ask this, Mr. Webster, but anyone who can confirm that?" I asked.
"The security guard. Oh, and, uh, I have the proofs that I was developing." He said getting them out of his bag.
"Were you at a club as well?" Ino asked seeing a stamp on his wrist.
"No. No, I was at a fund-raiser. I dropped in there on my way to the office."
"Did she go with you?"
"No, no, she had to work. She just landed a big promotion. She started out as an intern there." He said.
"Time-stamped from last night." I said showing Ino. "Mr. Webster, that promotion- you think it would have earned her any enemies?" I asked him.
"You'd have to ask her assistant Naoko." He said.
Station with the assistant
"You have a sleeping bag in there?" Ino asked looking at everything she was pulling out of her purse.
"I probably should. It's a 24-7 gig... I mean, it was."
"But, Naoko, was anyone jealous of Masako's promotion or up for that job, too?" I asked.
"Maybe the beauty editor, but, "
"The beauty editor?" Ino asked.
"Chloe London. She thought that she deserved the job, but, I'm sorry, Masako was the fashion editor."
"Saku, DNA just came in. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Kiba asked walking up.
"So who is it- Sasuke Uchiha?" I asked when we got down to the morgue.
"It's corrupted."
"Oh, you're kidding." I sighed running a hand through my hair.
"Thing is, you know how you're always talking about your mum's case? Not always, but"
"Kiba, you're making me nervous." I said trying to grab the file out of his hand.
"No, no. I just wanted to give you a heads up. The mass spectrometer's probably just dirty."
"Cross-species DNA." I said reading the file.
Sakura's office
I was watching the security footage when I noticed Naruto's car at the scene. I wrote down the time stamp and gave it to Ino to check out.
Naruto's house
"Hey." I said answering my phone.
"Hey, nice catch with Naruto's car, except I just woke up three of his students. All confirm he was teaching Molecular Cellular Methods 2 that night." Ino said.
"Yeah, I'm here." I said standing outside the warehouse.
"I don't see you." Ino said looking around the station.
"Creepy warehouse- I was up early, thought I'd check it out." I said heading to the door.
"No, that's what I'm telling you- there's nothing to check out." Ino
said.
"I'll call you later." I said hanging up.
"Hello? NYPD. I've got a warrant. Mr. Uzumaki?" I grabbed my gun as I heard a rustling. "Mr. Uzumaki? Mr.
Uzumaki?" I asked walking up the stairs with my gun drawn. "Mr. Uzumaki? I know you're up here, I can hear you."
"He's teaching class." Sasuke said from where he was hidden by a shelf.
"I need you to step out where I can see you. Sir, I'm not going to ask you again." I said raising my gun.
"Okay." Sasuke said stepping out from behind the shelf.
"You're Sasue Uchiha. You look pretty good for a dead guy."
"I did not kill that woman."
"And I didn't mention a murder, but since you brought it up why were your prints at the Webster crime scene?"
"Look, I was out driving. I saw her collapse. She hit her head, she needed help."
"So you followed her into the hotel?" I asked
"I tried to resuscitate her."
"You gave her CPR. You're a doctor." I said lowering my gun.
"She had been poisoned."
"How would you know that?" I asked while my phone started to buzz.
"Your phone." He said.
I put my gun back in its holster and saw that Kiba was calling me.
"Hey, has tox come back on the Webster case yet?" I answered.
"Our telepathy is working. Positive for lethal doses of nicotine... Saku, I just gave you cause of death." Kiba said after a pause.
"Yeah, that's great. Okay. I got to go."
"I'll see you at the cinema at 9:00, yeah?"
"Yeah, sounds good." I said ending the call.
"How'd you know she was poisoned if you didn't kill her?" I said walking towards him.
"I have a good sense of smell."
"You can smell poison?" I said sarcastically.
"Look, I did not hurt her, okay?"
"But you were a witness. Look, I need your help. There was hair found on the body, matches DNA from an old murder case. That night did you see anything?" I asked him. "Why do you have that? I need to know why you have that." I said in a stressed voice as I saw the newspaper article about me on his table.
"Sakura?" I heard Ino call out from the downstairs.
"No one can know I'm here." Sasuke pleaded.
"Why? Why does everybody need to think you're dead?"
" Please, you know I did not hurt that woman."
"NYPD." I heard Ino call out.
"Please." He begged as he started to back up behind the shelf again.
"We're not done here." I said heading for the stairs.
"NYPD." Ino said walking up the stairs.
"Hey. It's all clear." I said walking down the stairs.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ino asked.
"You were right, there's nothing here. Come on, let's go. Come on."
Ino gave me a weird look but came none the less.
Police Station
"Hi, this is Detective Sakura Haruno, NYPD. I need to speak to Special Agent Hernandez." I paused as they talked. "Transferred when?"
"Asuma's waiting for an update." Ino said walking up.
"Two minutes." I said. "Okay, then who can I speak to about a case he covered nine years ago?" I said into the phone.
Station conference room
"All right, nicotine, when ingested, kills in seconds. Security footage is longer than that, so it must have been absorbed through her skin, in which case it can take two to four hours to work." Ino said.
"So where was she during that period of time?"
"We checked her date book, hard drive- no appointments, she wasn't at work." Ino said.
"Great, great, great, so we are nowhere. I can't wait to tell the DA. How's our dead vet fit in?" Asuma asked.
"Sakura?" Asuma asked. "Dead vet- how's he fit in?"
"He doesn't." I said.
"Well, you were suspicious enough to execute a search." Asuma suggested.
"Dead, not dead- this isn't an identity case. We need to focus on finding the source of the poison. Ashley was a fashion editor. You want to kill her, you probably don't do it with window cleaner." I said.
"Then, what do you do it with?" Asuma asked.
Masako's place of work
"Do you really think Masako was poisoned by something that came from the beauty closet?" London asked.
"Ms. London, we're trying to figure out what happened, and since you're the beauty editor. Does everyone get their samples from the beauty closet?" Ino asked.
"If they're nice to me." She smiled.
"They sign them out?"
"And log it." London added. "Do you have any idea how much these stuff costs?"
"So Masako Webster being promoted over you, doesn't sound too nice." Ino said.
"Okay, we're done here. I don't mean to be rude, I have an editorial meeting that started five minutes ago."
"This is Masako's office." I noticed.
"It's the executive editor's office." She said.
"Oh, so you got that promotion after all." Ino hinted.
"Not the way I wanted it. Look, I may not have loved Masako, but I didn't kill her. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an issue to get out. I trust the two of you can find your own way out?"
"Yeah, we sure can." I said. "It's Masako's stuff. Pregnancy test. There's two missing." I said ruffling through the boxes of her things.
"So Masako was pregnant? Autopsy wouldn't have caught it if it was early enough." Ino said.
"Husband didn't seem like he knew."
"Maybe it wasn't his." Ino suggested.
So maybe she was cheating, husband found out?" My phone rang and I answered it. "Haruno. This is Special Agent McCleary, FBI. You called about a contaminated DNA sample linked to the murder case of Mrs. Haruno?"
"Yeah, I was hoping we could meet up?" I asked.
Subway
"Detective Haruno." A man called me over.
"Agent McCleary. I appreciate you doing this." I said shaking his hand.
"Hope it wasn't too out of your way." He said.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be the reason you were late for your son's birthday."
"Did you bring it with you? he chuckled.
"I did. The analysis looks corrupted, but the numbers are identical."
"Well, we'll take a look." He said holding it up to the light. It was then that I noticed the people strategically posted around the underground station. I reached back for my gun but he had already pulled a knife on me. I ducked as he swept it towards my face and then jumped back as he went for my stomach. I punched him in the face three times and then kicked him in the stomach and he fell back. A man the grabbed me around the neck from behind. I struggled but managed to get his hand from around my neck and twisted it behind his back. I then pushed him into the agent who was coming for me again.
He stabbed the man I pushed on accident. I pulled my gun out but he kicked it away. He tried to stab me with the knife again but I moved back. I kicked him in the stomach and as he bent down I punched him in the head causing blood to splatter across the floor knocking him out.
I then saw the girl with headphones in. I tied to make a run for it but she grabbed me and I hit her in the face causing both of us to go flying backwards and land on our backs. I groaned and crawled for my gun but she got on top of me and started to strangle me. I stood up and backed her into the post causing her to let go off me and fall to the floor. The agent I had knocked out got up and grabbed my gun. The other girl grabbed me and threw me into the train tracks.
I saw Sasuke run by and knock them down before they shot me. I could hear him ripping through them. He then threw their bodies down onto the tracks next to me. He kicked my gun to me but then took off running down the tracks.
I grabbed my gun and ran after him turning on my flashlight. My phone fell onto the tracks but I left it to run after him. When I turned the corner he was gone. "Hey! Hey, I know you're down here! Come out, come out! Hey! Come out here! I know you're here! I know you can see me!" I screamed. The horn of a train then sounded and I panicked when I saw it coming towards me. I tried to run but I wouldn't make it. I felt someone push me up against the wall a the train went past. I looked up and saw Sasuke. He was pressing me against the wall protecting me from the train. My pink hair was whipping around from the speed of the train. I couldn't help but admire him. His black hair that framed his face and stood up in the back to his deep black eyes that. I could feel his muscled torso up against me and I put a hand on his muscled arm. Even the scar across his cheek which I assumed he got in the war. He was beautiful.
"You're him." I said when the train passed.
Upstairs of Naruto's house.
"So, are we gonna talk about it?" I asked him.
"You need to keep this clean and dry." He said after he cleaned and wrapped my wounds.
"Avoidance. One of my favorite techniques."
"How about a drink? Can you drink?" I asked him.
"Not such a good idea." Sasuke said.
"Maybe not for you."
"Look, my roommate is home."
"Hey, I-I-I promise that I will be quiet. It's just three people did just try to kill me, and, uh you killed two of them." I said.
"I think we got beer." He said getting up to get them.
"Great."
"It's just a hobby." He said while I was looking at all the vials and experiments scattered across his table.
"Um, yeah, my mom, she she used to have this stuff lying around, too. She's the one, nine years ago.
So, um, what happened to you? Did someone do this to you?" I asked him.
"I should've asked questions." He sighed and leaned on the table. "But I was too angry... Confused."
"So you enlisted." I said.
"Yeah. Once I got over there, I was tapped. They told me that I had the chance to be part of something great, that I could make a difference. It was called Operation Muirfield. They told us they were vitamins, antibiotics, steroids that would protect us."
"What were they?"
"Like I said, I should've asked questions. All I know is that they changed our DNA. They made us stronger, faster, better. They heightened our reflexes, our senses."
"That's why you could smell the poison."
"Yeah. But something went wrong. Anytime the adrenaline kicked in, we became monsters and they couldn't stop us. We couldn't stop us. So they gave orders to shut it down, to eradicate us all."
"How did you survive?" I asked looking into his eyes.
"Luck." He said with a wry laugh.
"So all of this for an antidote." I said gesturing to his experiments.
"It doesn't work."
"You've just been hiding out here?"
"Yeah. Naruto's the only one I can trust."
"Except you, you go out there and you save people."
"No." He said coldly.
"No you do."
"You saved me, and you tried to save Masako Webster."
"I guess it reminds me of who I used to be."
"A doctor?"
"Human. You should probably leave now." He said standing up.
"Sasuke, that night nine years ago, why were you there?"
"I already told you more than I should. That agent on the platform was from Muirfield, okay? You're on their radar."
"Why? Sasuke, does this have something to do with my mom?"
"I don't know anything about your mom. I'm sorry, okay? But you can not come back here. It is too dangerous for the both of us. No, I just Just go."
"Go." He almost yelled.
Police Station
"There you are. I've been calling and calling you. Were you with Jiro?" Ino asked slyly.
"What?" I said confused.
"That glow."
"What glow?" I asked.
"The sex glow. It's all over your face."
"I don't have a glow. I'm just excited. I found the murder weapon."
"Kiba said he went through everything." Ino said.
"It's what's not here that's important. Look, the sign-out sheet. Masako signed out four products the day before she died. Our guys only found three. Killer probably took the fourth."
"So someone put poison in Ashley's True to Color Blonde?" Ino said looking at the name of the product.
"Hey, Kiba, any way to tell if that nicotine was absorbed through Masako's scalp?"
"I'll check her hair follicles. You do realize that I waited for hours and hours last night? This one stood me up." Kiba said looking
"Oh, my God, the premiere." I gasped.
"Movie was lousy. Good swag bag. Then I got called into here. My guys found these in the power couple's bed."
"Oh. Bedbugs?" I said disgusted.
"That rash I showed you was actually bites. Since these things are little bloodsuckers, they carry the DNA of whoever's been rolling around in those sheets. Your vic wasn't pregnant. It was the hubby that was stepping out."
"Can those mini vampires tell us who with?" I asked Kiba.
"Sorry, ladies, we're not open yet." A woman said as we walked into the building.
"Actually, I'm Detective Haruno, and this is Detective Yamaka." I said showing my badge.
"Aoi's proofs from the night his wife died- that was you. You were having an affair with him." Ino said.
"Aoi told me not to say anything. He said it would just make me look guilty, especially 'cause of the prenup."
"What prenup?" I asked.
"If he cheats, he loses everything. But I didn't kill her, I swear." She said.
Police Station
"It's not just this hostess. We have bedbug DNA from four other women."
"I'm eating here!" Asuma said pointing at his food.
"Aoi Webster had access to the poison, and he had motive- the prenup."
"Except there was no prenup. I just read the forensic accounting report. If he wanted out, all he had to do was file for divorce. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some FBI nonsense to deal with." Asuma said.
"Sir. What's going on?" Ino asked looking at the FBI agents.
"I don't know. Bodies from the subway." He said.
Outside Naruto's house
"Hey." Sasuke said from behind me.
"Oh, my God, you scared me." I said as I spun around to face him.
"You're the one snooping around my place."
"Hey, some military guys just showed up. They took the agents from the platform away."
"You didn't talk to them, did you?" He asked.
"I asked them what they were doing, and I came straight here."
"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have done that."
"I wasn't followed. I needed to warn you."
"Look, you need to leave." He said coldly.
"No. Listen to me. Look, I lost my phone on the platform. What if the Muirfield people have it, and they know about you?"
"This is why you have to stop all contact with me." Sasuke said starting to walk away.
"What about my mom?" I said running after him.
"I know what it's like to lose someone you love, but you need to move on."
"You can't tell me to just move on!"
"Well, so what? You'll solve your mother's murder, exact justice? Trust me, it does not end well." He said with a sneer.
"Well, I'm gonna take my chances."
"You don't get it, do you?!" He whipped around to face me.
"No, I do! You can't tell me everything, and that's fine. I don't need all the answers, but last night- that was the first time since my mom died that I haven't felt crazy."
"You are crazy showing up here alone! I could kill you in less than a second! Now go!" Sasuke roared as he began to change into the beast. "Go!" He roared grabbing a barrel and throwing it across the yard.
Police Station
"Last night, I realized that I was thinking about your wife's case the wrong way. Sometimes things aren't what they seem. You can't tell who the real monsters are." I said to Aoi.
"I didn't kill my wife."
"We just spoke to a woman you're having an affair with, and I have DNA that proves there are at least four others. You made every one of your women fall in love with you and think that the only thing standing in the way of their fairy tale ending was some pretend prenup. Mr. Webster, I don't think you killed your wife.
But you are the reason she's dead." I said as he let out a sob.
"I need a list of names. Everyone you slept with during your marriage. You owe it to Masako."
Masako's work place
"Hey. Are you looking for Chloe? I'm her new assistant."
"Actually, Naoko, uh, we want to talk to , we appreciate how helpful you've been, but you forgot to mention one thing... Aoi."
"Aoi?" She questioned.
"Aoi Webster- you were having an affair with him. The missing pregnancy tests- we assumed they were Masako's, but you used them, didn't you? That's why you had saltines in your purse." Ino said.
"I don't know what you're" She started.
"The sign-out sheet. I'm pretty sure if we showed this to an expert, they'd confirm that this was you signing out Masako's True to Color Blond." I said holding up the sheet in and evidence bag.
"No."
"Chloe ran the closet You wanted us to think it was her so that you could run off into the sunset with Aoi.
But there was no prenup." Ino said.
"That's impossible." She floundered.
"He lied. Just like he lied to all his women, including the one that he was with the night that you killed Masako."
"I'm not even pregnant anymore. I lost it." She said starting to cry.
"You tell us where the bottle is, we'll make sure that the DA knows how remorseful you are." Ino said.
Police Station
"Are we okay? You've been having secret conversations, you executed that search without me, and my brother's investigating the subway case he found this on the platform." Ino said handing me my cell phone. "What were you doing on the F train? All right, just forget it. Just know I'm here, no judgments, you ever want to talk." She said sensing that I wasn't going to tell her.
"Hey, it's Devil and Prada. Nice work." Kiba said walking up.
"Hey, as long as I get to be Devil." Ino said flipping her blond hair over her shoulder and walking off.
"So I'm not letting you celebrate your big case alone at your father's engagement party. What's the dress code?" Kiba said with a smile.
"Kiba, you don't have to do that."
"Oh, come on. Free drinks, and I'm assuming your vapid stepmother insisted on a good caterer." He smirked.
"You're just doing this out of Charity." I said with a frown.
"Yeah, poor little single girl."
"Did Ino tell you about Jiro?"
"No, Asuma did."
"How does Asuma know?" I asked surprised.
"I don't know." Kiba laughed. "But I wouldn't ask him now. He's just found out the department has to shell out for a new spectrometer. Yeah, I took a look over some old cases. Six more samples, all with the same corrupted DNA."
"Really?" I asked surprised.
"Yeah, so I guess we'll see what's what once we get our new spectrometer. Maybe you weren't so crazy after all." He said with a wink.
Naruto's House
"Hi." I said walking up to them seeing they were playing a game of chess. Naruto quickly jumped up and stood in front off Sasuke.
"Hi." Sasuke said looking out from behind Naruto.
"Hi? H-Hi? Did I miss something, or?" Naruto asked confused.
"Naruto, you mind?" He said hinting for Naruto to leave.
"Wow. Just, you look.." Sasuke said looking me over. I was wearing a tight red dress that showed a good amount of cleavage and showed off my long legs. I had curled my hair and put on more make up then normal.
"I have an engagement party." I explained cutting him off.
"Right."
"Look, I know you're gonna try to kick me out. I get it. I-I get what it's like to hide out and push people away 'cause you don't feel deserving. Do you know why I keep asking about my mom? Because I'm the reason that she's dead. If I hadn't left the stupid vanity mirror open But, Sasuke, I just found six cases of you trying to save victims around the city. You're not a monster. I would know. There are a lot of guys out there that are, but You saved my life. Twice." I said before turning around to leave.
"Sakura, wait. You're not the reason your mom's were tracking her. I'm not sure why, but it wasn't your fault." He said.
Sakura's Diary
'Sometimes it feels like everyone's moved on, but they all miss you in their own way. And the arms of the ocean are carrying me Mom, there's not a day that goes by when I don't think about you. The good news is I know now I'm not crazy. I was saved by a beast. He didn't get there in time to save you, but he's still out there. And I have a feeling that now, we're going to have to save each other.'
AN: So this really is not based off of the children's story Beauty and the Beast but on the tv show Beauty and the Beast. Its a modern day love story. Anyways I hoped everyone enjoyed it and please Review? :)
Also I'm hoping to bring Hinata in somehow for Naruto but I haven't figured that out so she won't be in for a couple chapters probably. Same with Kakashi. I was going to have him as Asuma's character but I decided not to because I want him to be friends with Naruto and Sasuke but if hes on the police force he can't be. Anyways I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.
Review :)