"I didn't do it!"

"Evidence suggests otherwise."

"I didn't." Sakura gripped her hands on the cold table. "I didn't kill Itachi."

The interrogator raised an eyebrow. "Well in that case…"

"You have the wrong person. I had nothing to do with it," Sakura insisted.

"You seemed very involved for someone who had 'nothing to do with it'," they replied.

"I investigated, I tried to find out the truth. Which is more than I can say about anyone else in this bloody city," Sakura said, balling her hands into fists. "Yeah I got involved, I got close, probably too close, to the situation. But I had to go that far to get answers."

"Did you find it?"

"Find what?"

"The truth?" They leaned closer towards her. "Since you looked so hard for it."

Sakura met their eyes. "Yes. I did."

"Let's hear it then."

Sakura chewed her gums as she contemplated where to start. The beginning was as good a place as any.

"Two years ago I moved back to Konoha..."

Sakura stared at the university. Konoha U was a place made to be put on the cover of magazines and top ten 'most beautiful campuses' lists. A stark contrast to the University of Suna, which was built for practicality. The buildings were colourful; there were more flower beds than there were sidewalks, and there wasn't a speck of garbage in sight. Designing this place must have been some architect's dream.

"I don't care about what it looked like, on with the action."

"Okay, fine."

Getting into her room at the residence was rather painless, aside from a half hour lineup to get her key. After that she went into her dorm room with her two suitcases in hand. A surprise waited for her inside. "Ino!"

The blonde turned to look at her and smiled. "Hi, Sakura."

Sakura dropped her suitcases and ran to the girl. Holy crap, this was awesome. Ino was her best friend back when Sakura lived in Konoha. Unfortunately the two had lost contact after Sakura had moved to Suna. Was this really happening? The pair quickly embraced. "It's been years."

"Yeah, it's been way too long," Ino agreed as they separated. "We have so much to catch up on, forehead!"

"Mhmm," Sakura said, noting how her old insult turned nickname was apparently still going to be a thing. It was something she'd hoped wouldn't last, but the way Ino said it was kind of endearing. So she allowed it, for now anyways. "Like all of high school, and middle school...and some of elementary."

"Fortunately we have a whole year together, loads of time to catch up. So you can tell me all about Suna," Ino said.

"And you about Konoha," Sakura said before looking around the room. It looked like what you'd expect out of a dorm. A moderately sized room with two beds, closets, dressers, desks, and a small ensuite bathroom. Not as nice as she was expecting based on how the rest of campus looked, but it could still be a lot worse. She had heard horror stories of dorms from other friends, full of bug infestations and mould. This was leagues away from that. "Not bad." She turned her gaze back to Ino. "I can't believe that out of everyone here you're my roommate. I mean, what are the odds?"

"Oh, that wasn't random," Ino said with a wave of her hand.

"What?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"I know one of the residence staff. I didn't want to end up with some random roommate, so I got them to show me a list of people. When I saw your name on it, I pulled a few strings to get us together," Ino explained.

"Oh, wow," Sakura said, feeling a little uneasy about the breach of privacy. Ino made it sound like it was so easy. Like it was some sort of normal occurance for staff to give out personal information. But it didn't seem morally right to Sakura. If it was that simple for Ino to do, how many others here could access private information like that? However, she didn't feel like now was a great time to bring that up. "Thanks."

"No problem," Ino said. "It's a good thing to remember in this town. Coincidences don't exist."

"...Not a bad thing to keep in mind," Sakura replied, not sure what to think of that.

"That's what I'm here for," Ino said with a grin. "Fashion tips and advice."

"Advice," Sakura teased. "Or gossip?"

Ino's grin spread. "Aren't they the same thing?"

The two unpacked their belongings while comparing their majors. Sakura was in pre-med while Ino was taking criminology. In Sakura's opinion, it was something Ino was doing out of obligation rather than interest. Detective work ran in Ino's family, and she was upholding the tradition. But Ino's true passion was in the arts. When Sakura told Ino that, the blonde just said that that's what hobbies were for.

After they decorated and Ino decided that both her and Sakura's side were up to her own high standards, they contemplated how to spend the remainder of the evening. Sakura wanted to spend the night in the dorm, to allow herself to adjust to her new life. Ino had none of that, and declared that the two would be going to a party. And what Ino wanted, Ino got.

So at 10pm, instead of going to bed like Sakura had wanted, they were knocking on someone's door. Sakura could hear the music and noise from out here, it was a miracle none of the neighbours had called the cops. That was something she didn't understand about parties. Why get all your friends together when you weren't going to hear them anyway? After Ino's rather loud knock, the door opened to reveal yet another person from Sakura's past.

Naruto, in all his blond-haired, blue-eyed glory, was standing at the door. The years had definitely treated him well. He had filled out since their playground days, though his hair still seemed to keep the same shaggy style. He had a grin as he opened the door. Then when he saw who it was he paused, taking a moment to register it. The next thing Sakura knew she was engulfed in his arms. "Sakura!" he exclaimed.

"It's good to see you too," she said with a laugh as she returned the gesture, though not with the same amount of force.

"Naruto, don't strangle her when she's only been here for a few hours," Ino admonished.

He quickly released after that, though his enthusiasm didn't waver. "I heard you were coming. I knew you'd come back!"

He knew?

"Uh, that's awesome, Naruto," she replied. Did Ino tell him? "It's good to be back."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but Ino cut him off. "You going to let us in or what?" Ino asked in a teasing tone.

"What? Oh, right," Naruto gave a sheepish grin and shifted to the side to allow them through.

Ino immediately took Sakura's arm to lead her into further into the house. "Come on, forehead, I'll help reintegrate you with the people around here."

Sakura hesitated, but Naruto said, "It's fine, we'll talk later." So Sakura gave Naruto an apologetic smile before allowing Ino to take her.

"So there are some things you need to know about Konoha if you want to survive here," Ino said as they entered the living room.

As soon as they came into it they were surrounded by dancing bodies and plenty of alcohol. The music was even louder here, not that anyone seemed to mind. Sakura tried to resist the urge to fold her arms over her chest. Parties weren't exactly her forte. Ino, on the other hand, seemed to fit right in. Without even checking who they were from, she grabbed two bottles from a nearby table. She handed one to Sakura, then unscrewed the cap off hers and took a swig. Sakura just held hers by her side, hoping that its actual owner wouldn't notice.

"So Sakura," Ino began, speaking in a louder voice due to the noise. "Listen up, this is important."

"If it's important, why couldn't you say it back at the dorm?" Sakura pointed out, "It's a lot quieter, and more appropriate, nee?"

"Oh hush, this won't take long," Ino said. "Rule one, be careful about what you say to people. Rule two, be wary of what others say to you. It's all about what people don't say."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Has it always been like this?"

Ino shrugged. "As far as I know. Next rule." She gestured to the drink in Sakura's hand. "Try to fit in. As opposed to every teen pop song ever, you don't want to stand out."

"What happens if you do?" Sakura asked, leaving the bottle unopened in her hand. This place was getting stranger and stranger. Why exactly did she want to move back here again?

"Let's just say sticking out like a sore thumb becomes the least of your worries," said Ino, "Rule four -"

"How many rules are there?" Sakura asked.

"Rule four," Ino continued as if Sakura hadn't spoken up, "Also known as the last and most important rule. Information is power. Try to know as much as you can about those around you, but know that info doesn't come cheap, and always be wary about its truth."

"...Good to know," Sakura said. What did she get herself into? She hated when people lied and only gave half truths. One of the main reasons she had left Suna was to get away from that, and now it seemed like she was walking into a cesspool of deceptions. She leaned back against a nearby wall. "Oh man, what a place I've returned to."

"Hey," Ino said sympathetically, "It's not so bad. Life here just takes a little getting used to. And it's way more exciting than Suna."

"I guess," Sakura said, still not convinced that her decision to return was a good one.

Ino put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "It will be fine. You've got me to guide you through everything."

Sakura offered a half smile. "I guess that's better than nothing."

"That's righ - Hey!" Ino stated. "Uncalled for, forehead."

She giggled, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

"Hey! Those are my drinks," a girl with red hair strode to them.

Sakura immediately lifted her hand to offer it back, but Ino immediately protested, "What's on the table is a free for all."

The other girl narrowed her eyes. "I just put it down for two seconds."

Ino shook her head. "Too bad. Besides, how do we know it's yours? Is your name on it?"

The girl looked like she was about to retort, but decided that it wasn't worth the effort. So she muttered something that sounded like 'witch' and walked off.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked, surprised at her friend's sudden hostility.

"That," Ino said before taking a big swig of her drink, "Was Karin, one of Sasuke Uchiha's friends."

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah," the blond said before taking another sip. However, it must have been empty as Ino frowned at it before motioning to Sakura's. "You gonna drink that?" Sakura shook her head and gave it to Ino. "Thanks. Remember Sasuke? Dark hair, rich family, one of those 'hot moody longer' types."

"He rings a bell," Sakura said, trying to recall her past. "He's friends with Naruto, right?"

"Was," Ino corrected.

"What?" Sakura asked. "Weren't they like joined together at the hip?"

"Yeah they were. But that changed a year ago," Ino explained.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, unsure of anything that could separate the pair. Especially with Naruto's never give up attitude.

"Sasuke's brother, Itachi, died," Ino said.

"What?" Sakura said, standing up away from the wall.

"Yeah, he was murdered. Really shitty situation," Ino said, "After that, Sasuke became more distant, which I didn't know was even possible. Shut out Naruto and a lot of other people."

"And he's chosen such lovely company since," Sakura mumbled. "But wow, that's such a huge loss."

She hadn't remembered too much about Sasuke, but she knew that he had adored his older brother. Of course with him being a Uchiha, he was much too prideful to admit it. But she remembered how much he looked forward to walking home with his older brother from school everyday. Even when Naruto would try to convince him to play after the bell rang, he always turned it down to have those few minutes alone with his sibling. And now he was gone. It was hard to even imagine how much that must have, and still would, hurt.

"Yeah, it really shook the town up. Especially since it was a murder and all," Ino replied.

"I can't imagine how the Uchihas feel. To have someone precious taken away, and to know it's because someone else killed him," Sakura said. "Did they catch who did it?"

Ino shrugged, "Someone went to jail for it."

"... And that's not the same thing?" Sakura asked.

"Let's just say more than one person questions his guilt," Ino replied before taking a drink.

On that optimistic note, Ino's lessons ended.

"Thank goodness, this was getting annoying."

"Well, after she mentioned the budding rivalry between the Uchihas and the Hyugas. But I guess you're not interested in hearing about that."

"Unless it reveals some shocking revelation about this case, no."

"Right then."

"Did anything else happen that night?"

"I was getting to that."

Sakura spent the remainder of the night on the couch while Ino danced. She spent some time soaking in what Ino had told her about Konoha, and sincerely hoped that her friend was exaggerating. She didn't want to spend her time at university, the supposed best time of her life, walking on eggshells. The main reason she had left Suna was to try and go somewhere better, without politicking and collusion. But, based on Ino's warnings, she may have went from bad to worse.

Fortunately she met a couple of other childhood friends, Kiba and Shino. Catching up with them helped take her mind off her anxiety. They confirmed a lot of what Ino had said, although Kiba put it a little less eloquently. ("This town is kinda screwed up.") But it helped feeling like she had friends here; allies to help her figure things out and help her along the way. She was starting to feel a little more confident about her time here than before. Perhaps she could get out of this unscathed after all. Besides, she told herself, she wasn't important enough to get involved in anything that would ruffle feathers anyways.

As the night drew to a close Sakura began looking around the home. She wanted to catch up with Naruto a little before she left. Or at least apologise about how their reunion went. She knew if he was anything like he was all those years ago, he wouldn't hold it against her. But it would ease her own conscious so she moved around the space, trying to track him down. For someone who was normally hard to ignore, he was a little hard to find. Maybe he had snuck off with some girl, she bemused to herself. With how he currently looked, it definitely wasn't inconceivable - as long as his personality had toned down from his younger years.

Her search was interrupted when a girl with purple hair and a long nose came up to her. "Sakura Haruno?"

"Yes, that's me," Sakura replied.

"Could I talk to you?" the person asked, "In private."

Looking back, Sakura's life would have been a lot easier if she had just turned the girl down right then and there. Just said that she was busy, or had some sort of emergency, or even just risked seeming rude and just said 'no' without a reason. But hindsight is 20/20, and Sakura, being the polite girl she was, didn't hesitate to say, "Sure."

The girl led her to a bedroom and shut the door behind them. The girl clenched and released her hands and took a small breath before beginning.

"I want to hire you to find out who really murdered Itachi Uchiha."

Hi everyone! So I've been watching Riverdale (yes I'm a grown ass woman watching Riverdale), and it inspired me to want to write a mystery story. I'm still looking for a Beta, so if anyone would like to me with this one just let me know! Also, the pairings in this story are not decided upon yet.

Let me know what you think!

Legend:

"Bold writing" =Sakura's interrogator

"Italics writing" = Sakura in the present, talking to her interrogator