Itachi looked back at Sai; he was still passed out from the lack of oxygen. He wasn't quite coming around yet, but Itachi wanted him to be awake for the next step of his plan. The logs had burned nicely into embers and were still just as hot as he needed them to be effective. Itachi wondered if he should try to shake him awake-or maybe smelling salts would be better. He didn't have any on his person-even though it was standard in most first aid kits he had.
"Wow, haven't even gotten to the good part and he's already passed out? What have you been doing?" Itachi froze up when he heard the voice coming from behind him. Kisame smiled, a little too wide to be comfortable. He was mostly cast in shadow, making his dark skin even darker as Kisame walked into the room.
"What are you doing?"
"What?"
"Why are you here?" Itachi said it through grit teeth but Kisame brushed him off.
"Are you getting cold feet with an audience?" Itachi was silent, shaking his head 'no', but he still looked back at Sai hesitantly. "Don't worry, I just needed to see how big he is."
"And you couldn't have called?"
"Some things are better experienced in person."
"Now is not the time to be mucking around."
"Oh? And why's that?" Kisame smiled toothily. "I was the one hired to tear down this building. Everyone involved is on my payroll. Even if there's evidence of anything, no one will say a word." Itachi looked away, turning slightly to stare at Sai's body-which was twitching now, showing he would wake soon. He'd probably heard the noise of them speaking and it started to rouse him. "Besides that, you're gunna kill him. Who cares if he sees my face?"
"Maybe I care."
"Scared he'll find me too handsome to resist and beg me to save him?"
Itachi looked at Kisame, blinking with indifference. "No skin off my nose."
"So cold, as usual." Kisame reached out, pushing a strand of hair away from Itachi's face, brushing it back to cup his cheek. "We've had something special for years, I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Itachi stepped closer, narrowing the gap between them. "Sentimentality doesn't hide your intentions from me." He put an arm around Kisame's neck, "if I do what you want, will you go away?"
Kisame burst with a laugh. "I'll swing by again in a few hours, I know you're on a tight schedule."
Itachi watched Kisame's back recede through the darkness, feeling his gut churn with the disgust of his own actions. He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. Reminding himself, again, that all he was doing, was for Sasuke.
And he wasn't one for leaving things half finished.
-
MISSING: 28 hours
Fugaku's disdain could be felt from outside the room as Itachi sat down in the chair across from him. With a deep breath in, Fugaku leaned forward, his hands flexing as he tightened his woven fingers. His posture communicated his displeasure with the situation, but Itachi just stared, waiting for his father to speak. "When, exactly, were you going to say something about this?"
"When Sasuke reported him missing."
Mulling that over for a moment, Fugaku straightened up his back. "You made him wait 24-hours before reporting him missing, Itachi." He could feel the heat of his father's gaze and he shrugged. "There were suspicious circumstances, Itachi-this could blow right up in our faces."
"I didn't know that until after the calls," Itachi's calm seemed to be causing Fugaku to come undone.
"But you still made him wait," Fugaku countered.
"Naruto, very realistically, could have shown up at any time." Itachi defended, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's not sick-doesn't need a caretaker, or medication for that matter. He's over 18, that classifies him as a legal adult which means he can go 'missing'," Itachi added air quotes for emphasis. "as long as: he's not committed a crime, has a warrant, or a court date. And- he's never been detained under the Mental Health Act as a danger to himself or others." Itachi leaned forward, matching his father's agitated posture, "think about it. Sasuke is family-that's the only reason we've been taking this seriously. Had Naruto and Sasuke been anyone else-we would have told Sasuke to calm down and give it more time before Naruto shows up. There's no way we would have taken this as seriously."
Fugaku shook his head, "He should have called me first. But, of course, you would be the first person he'd call. And you'd come running-that's how you've always been."
"He needed help," Itachi countered. "besides that, with how bad his attitude is, I needed to make sure he got his frustrations out on someone. That way, he wouldn't unleash it on the wrong person and make himself a suspect."
"You don't think…" Fugaku trailed off for a moment.
Itachi raised an eyebrow and scoffed, with obvious disbelief. "Regardless of what people see, people will think Sasuke is the murderer."
"That's pretty bold," Fugaku commented.
"What?"
"To assume Naruto got murdered." His father grabbed the coffee cup next to the framed photo of their family. He took a long sip.
"Was that not what you're implying?"
Brushing off the question, Fugaku continued, "What makes you think that?"
Sitting back in his chair, Itachi shot a short breath from his nose, "Well, if Naruto isn't having an affair and he didn't run away of his own accord, as Sasuke so assures, then that means he was kidnapped." Fugaku nodded, following the logical string of Itachi's words. "And, let's be honest with ourselves, Naruto is rough around the edges: uncooperative, hard-headed. If this was a stalker, they could easily kill Naruto for not living up to the mental narrative they made up. Not to mention, if he becomes a handful by any means, it's easier to just dispose of him-so there's no exposure of identity."
"Shit," Fugaku's face didn't shift from its stoic mask at all, but Itachi could tell from the slight exasperation that his father picked up on the gravity of the situation. "He got any enemies? Or anything we're gunna need to know about? Because between you and I, as soon as this gets processed, we can have nothing to do with this case."
"I know that," Itachi said, pressing his hands together and holding them up to his lips, like he was going to say a prayer. "As far as I know, there's been someone who's been coming into his work for the past few days. And I got some CCTV footage of him from Naruto's work-I'll submit it later and take my lashings for it-but, aside from some bizarre fashion choices, he doesn't seem threatening."
"Was he there the night Naruto went missing?"
Itachi took a breath to settle himself, "no."
Fugaku's jaw slackened, and he ran both hands through his hair, "Itachi!" The sound of his name only made him flinch slightly. "What the fuck were you thinking?"
"How was I supposed to explain to everyone that I used my badge and position to go into a gas station and watch their CCTV circuit without an official investigation going on?"
Fugaku slammed his hand down on his desk. "You're going to get yourself fired at this rate! Just because I'm the Chief, doesn't mean they won't take your damn badge for this. You think you're so slick ever since you became a Sargent over in Homicide-I know you've been showing up hungover, driving squad cars questionably-"
"This isn't some goddamn after school special." Itachi said in a flat voice-his eyes betrayed him, however, smoldering over with the heat of his anger. "We need to do something, fast. If you want, submit the notice he's gone missing." Itachi tried to remain calm but could feel his fingers shake. "After that, there's nothing we can do. I'd be lucky if they even let me in the field to collect evidence on this case." Fugaku's hands flexed, still folding, knowing Itachi was right. "I'll have to investigate on my ow-"
"No."
"No?"
Fugaku raised a quieting hand, "You've already done enough damage on your own. I don't need you to do more: things are bad enough. We have one suspect-who, potentially, doesn't even have weight in this case, and nothing else. And everything you're going to need to make this case successful is in this building. How are you going to track his phone? Huh? Or observe additional footage? Speak with suspects or witnesses?" Itachi rolled his eyes. "Just-go home. I'll handle this for now, and missing persons will take over from here."
Itachi stood up, frowning, but turned to leave the room.
"One more thing," He stopped before passing through the threshold. "Where is Sasuke right now?"
-
MISSING: 38 hours
Sasuke's agitation was palpable in his apartment, but Itachi did his best to ignore it as he shut the door behind him. After sitting in his own apartment for an entire day with no word, Sasuke became restless and as he said, 'needed a change of scenery', so he barged his way into Itachi's own home. And the effects were more than noticeable. Sasuke sat on his knees, raiding Itachi's cabinets and kitchen drawers-and much to Itachi's dismay, saw that Sasuke had taken it upon himself to dump his vodka stash down the drain.
"What are you doing?" Itachi hissed, grabbing for Sasuke's arm and dragging him to his feet. "I let you into my home and this is what I get as thanks?"
"I need you sharp, Itachi." Sasuke retaliated, tossing one of the plastic bottles across the kitchen. "You don't need this shit! What the fuck is going on with you!?"
"Why don't you just mind your own business?" He leaned into Sasuke's face, a hair's width between them. "You're not our mother and I don't appreciate you treating me as a child. I can do whatever I damn well please. Just because you're upset doesn't mean you can start fucking up my apartment."
"Are you so delusional about your addiction that you just think shit like this is normal?"
"I know I'm an alcoholic!" Itachi yelled back in Sasuke's face. "But I still go to work, every day. I'm still alive and I'm managing my own problems, myself."
"This is horrible!" Sasuke screamed, "I can't stand seeing this! Y-you don't even get it! I just lost Naruto and now I'm stuck in your fucking addiction den surrounded by the way you're trying to destroy yourself."
"Then leave."
Sasuke looked taken aback. "Are you kicking me out?"
Putting one hand up, in resignation, his agitation mounting by the second. "No, I'll leave then. I don't need this." Itachi turned on his heel, only to be stopped momentarily by Sasuke grabbing onto his arm.
"Where are you going?" Itachi shook off his brother's hand, grabbing his jacket and heading back towards the door. "Itachi? Itachi, please!"
-
MISSING: 40 hours
If Naruto could say he opened his eyes, he would. But the entire socket and skin surrounding it had massed and burned into a horrific mound of scabs, blood, and flesh. He heard a noise coming from beside him but didn't even bother to move. The weight of the room moved over to his side-he could smell something burning off to the side, but other than some occasional popping, it was dead silent. He felt a straw push up to his lips and greedily, he wrapped them around it, coughing when he sucked in the water too fast.
After another few more sips and more simper silence, Naruto finally spoke. "He'll never forgive you for this."
"No one in their right mind would." A hand creeped over Naruto's cheek, and he could feel the calloused fingers tracing over his lips. "But, when this makes me feel better, I'll be able to forgive myself."
"What did I do to you, to deserve this?" The hand on his face felt too intimate, too comforting. It was still the same hand that had hurt him, the same one that was planning to doing more. Silence filled the space back up as the man next to him made the chair screech across the floor. He could feel warmth nearing him and his instincts to try and fight started to kick in. But, there was no where else to go; he just thrashed against the table.
Fingers dug into his mouth, shoving some metal ring between his lips and teeth to keep his mouth open. He could feel the heat and embers coming towards him, the small flecks burning the skin on his cheeks and arms as they peppered him. He screamed loudly, and immediately after, the ember dropped into his mouth. His tongue swelled with the contact, the heat causing his entire body to clamber uselessly. But the coal slipped back further and clogged up his throat. Not only did Naruto choke, but he could feel his throat closing and constricting around the coal, burning his esophagus.
He felt his stomach lurch, and he vomited, causing the coal to hiss and sizzle from the contact. The metal was removed from his teeth and was replaced by a pair of tongs reached in and ripped the dampened coal from between his lips.
Still choking from the vomit and the pain, Naruto coughed, violently. He seized against the table, his head slamming against the table. But, Naruto didn't stop slamming it, to the point where a bloody residue was starting to build up in his hair and underneath his head.
"Stop that." He felt fingers in his scalp, pulling his head up. Something soft was placed underneath his head-not to make him comfortable, but to insure he couldn't kill himself this way, now. "I can't have you ruining things like this!" The anger in his hissing tone made Naruto flinch away from him. He sobbed weakly-making the pain his mouth and throat worsen, but the feeling of helpless built up more and more-fear sinking in and forcing its way into his psyche.
-
MISSING: 42 HOURS
When Itachi finally got a handle on himself, he grunted, feeling his insides getting pushed into. He blinked, eyes fluttering as he let out a sound of discomfort. His hand landed on a pair of very broad shoulder, the bare skin slick underneath his fingers. He dug his nails in and the hot breath that was hitting his shoulder moved up to his ear. "Sorry, did that hurt?"
He had called Kisame after he left his apartment in a rage. He didn't know how much time passed between then and now. They got drinks, ended up in his car, and of course, it ended like it always did. Angry at this own weakness, Itachi tried his best to remain silent as the man above him pounded away. "If it hurts, just tell me to stop."
"I'm fine."
He could feel Kisame roll his eyes. "You're the one who suggested this."
"I know."
Feeling Kisame shift between his legs, he shuddered against the larger body. "Then you could at least get more into it. You were just so passionate, not even a few minutes ago."
Itachi wanted to remind him he was also so drunk he had blacked out for a few minutes-or longer, he wasn't too sure-but he kept his lips in a thin line as he moved the man's face closer to his own. Kissing him was something Itachi rarely ever did-for a good reason-but now it would be the only way to make Kisame shut up.
Immediately, Kisame's annoyance seemed to fade and he continued. Itachi continued to deepen the kiss, making it feel too grossly intimate for him to really enjoy it. He also hated it when Kisame ran his hands down his sides, touching him way too much. But what he especially hated was feeling those hot, pin-pricks of pleasure when Kisame stopped resting on his laurels and would actually fuck him properly. He moaned, wrapping one of his legs around Kisame's hip-he really shouldn't be encouraging him to do more, but he could still feel the buzz of alcohol and sometimes his own weaknesses were hard to ignore.
Kisame kissed his neck, knowing better than to leave marks, speeding up his pace. It was difficult to do this in Kisame's car, but for some reason Itachi always insisted on it-he didn't want to be trapped in the intimate space of Kisame's place, and he would never let Kisame inside his own apartment; Sasuke or not. So, they always copulated somewhere around the properties Kisame's company were demolishing-among the silence, and the bare bones of buildings.
Both of them stopped when they heard what sounded like a flashlight hitting the window.
"Fuck," Itachi breathed against Kisame's shoulder.
He could feel the larger body on top of his shift, reaching for something. "Put your clothes back on," was the harsh toned words Kisame spoke to him. Itachi reached down and into the space behind the passenger seat. They quietly redressed, Kisame exiting the door first, holding up an arm to block the light, and Itachi got out behind him.
"Is that you, Sargent Uchiha?" Itachi froze on the spot, recognizing the voice of Aboitez, one of the other officers he worked with. "What the fuck? What are you doing out here?"
Still quiet, and slightly horrified at the situation, Itachi just stared at the light being shone in his face. He was wide-eyed and bewildered, trying to open his mouth to say something to defend himself, but nothing but puffs of air escaped his lips.
"What the actual fuck, man? You're supposed to be a Sargent and all you're doing in whoring yourself around out here? Does your father know about this?" He could hear the disapproval and his stomach churned. He reached for this radio.
"Too bad you didn't mind your own business."
"Kisame, wa-" But before anyone could properly react, Kisame shot him, once, with a silence gun. Some of the spray hit Itachi's face and could hear the ringing still. His stomach churned again as the body slumped, to the ground, blackening the earth with blood. "You got his blood on me." Itachi commented.
"I don't really care about that right now," Kisame said, grabbing a phone out of his pocket. "Hey, we got a problem." Itachi had a good idea about who he was talking to and remained silent as he finished the call.
"Asshole," Kisame stepped towards the corpse, kicking it a little. "we're gunna have to bring the body to him."
"We?" Itachi asked, incredulously.
"Yes, 'we'," Kisame rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have shot him if he wasn't a cop-especially a cop who knew you."
"Why were there cops on your property at all?"
Kisame bent down, grabbing Aboitez's shoulders and dragging him towards the trunk. "Guess you'll have to ask Pein yourself."
"Wait," Itachi muttered, "We need to move this car off your property. They'll do a check soon-and when he doesn't answer, they'll GPS his location."
"Good thinking," Kisame started rifling through his pockets, throwing a set of keys at Itachi. "I'll meet you at Pein's place."
Hesitantly, Itachi nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you there."
-
MISSING: 45 hours
"Showing up late?" Pein commented as Itachi closed the large woodened door behind him. Konan was there was well, standing next to her husband. Kisame sat down on the sofa closest to the door-he had cleaned up at some point, no blood to be seen on him.
"I had to move the squad car and do some clean-up."
"At least you had the foresight to do that."
"Why the fuck were there cops on my property, Pein?" Kisame asked, not bothering to hide his disdain. "I thought we had a deal!"
Pein silently stood up, drink in hand. He walked farther into the room, coming eye to eye with Itachi. "You've been slipping up a lot lately, haven't you?" He said it while looking at Itachi, but he also gave a slight side eye to Kisame.
"What did I do?" Kisame whined.
"Same goes for me. I've been doing exactly as you've instructed, Commissioner." Itachi spat, irritated at the accusation.
"Your father slipped me quite a few notices about you, today, Itachi."
Itachi didn't even flinch. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Conducting an investigation on your own terms, using your badge to acquire CCTV footage, and giving misleading information to a concerned citizen."
"That 'concerned citizen' is my brother, my father must have told you that?" Pein's eye widened fractionally, but other than that, he gave no reaction.
"Things have been getting out of control lately on the drug front. There's been big talk from more powerful people about a mole inside our station." Pein replied quickly, changing subjects. "One of the reasons I switched you out of vice was to protect you, just in case, but you've been shirking your duties to me, lately."
"Whose fault's that? It's nearly impossible to alter evidence or lab work when you're out in the field doing a poke search for a dead body. I have more paper work and responsibilities now, because you decided to give me 'promotion'."
"Do not forget, when I met you," Pein's eyes narrowed at Itachi's defensive stance. "you were nothing but a lowly runaway, shit stain who had no meaning, no life. I raised you up, put your back on your feet, gave you a purpose. The least you could do is show me a little gratitude."
"'Gratitude,'" Itachi echoed with a slight laugh in his voice. "You should have let me die in the streets."
"It would have been easier than cleaning up your messes." Pein agreed, "but I'm not going to let you waste your talents." Pein shook his hand, brushing off Itachi's anger. "I've had someone drain all the money out of Aboitez's accounts, back date some tickets for him under a fake name, and such. There was a break in the investigation on who was possibly supplying dealers with information. This should be compelling enough for them to divert their attention to him, so, again, be grateful."
"Thanks," Itachi said with a sarcastic smile.
"Oh, and one more thing, if you're going to insist on this investigation, I'm going to let your indiscretion slide. So, be ready to poke the ground looking for this boy." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed Itachi. "Now, onto you, Kisame-we need to speak about my light accounts." Itachi was already crossing the threshold as Pein started up again.
He waited for at least thirty minutes before Kisame appeared. His nose had been busted open, and blood was still trailing down from his lip. He shook his head when he caught sight of himself in the sidemirror; Itachi reached for some napkins Kisame had in the glove box. He slid into the driver's seat and sighed, "He could've at least called." Taking the napkins from Itachi, he patted the blood away, cleaning up his face a little, but bruises that deep would take a week at least to heal.
"Wouldn't have fit his purposes." Itachi muttered, pushing his hair behind his ears. His stomach ached, and his head pounded-the alcohol had worn off as soon as the shot rang out. He could already feel the lingering horror in his own sobriety sinking into him.
"Your hands are shaking." Kisame commented.
"I just need a drink."
"What investigation were you conducting on your own?" Kisame started the car and drove them down the narrow driveway to the street.
Itachi remained silent for a moment. "My brother's boyfriend is missing."
"Missing? Or missing?"
Itachi closed his eyes settling against the headrest. "It's been almost 48 hours."
"Sure does seem like your brother has bad luck with men."
"Not bad luck," Itachi said opening his eyes fractionally.
"Yeah, yeah." Kisame took his eyes off Itachi's face, focusing on the road. He said, after a few lingering moments of silence: "Nobody's perfect."
-
Sai's head rolled around, falling from one shoulder to the other. He felt a twinge of pain in his neck, knowing there were finger shaped bruises forming a collar. He tried to lift his head up on its own accord, but he was met with a mess of fingers pulling his hair so that his head raised. Itachi's cold, unwavering stare met him-he shuddered, anxious about such a serious look.
"Are we getting to the fun?" Sai wheezed, his smile broke out. Itachi wondered if he thought those fake looks made him seem intimidating. Out of his pocket, Itachi pulled out a metal and leather gag. There were two hooks on either side for keeping the mouth open and Itachi waved it in Sai's face, making his smile widen greatly. "I haven't done any BDSM in a while," Itachi moved closer, "be gentle with me?"
Silently, even through the immediate struggle Sai put up as Itachi attempted to shove the device into his mouth, he managed to get the hooks in place, keeping Sai's mouth open and gapping. "I'm amazed." Itachi commented, "that you haven't begged for your life." Sai's words came out muffled as he tried to force his lips closed, saliva dribbling from the sides of his mouth and wetting his chin. "Naruto's gag was different-we know he had cracked teeth from biting down on something unyielding, but it still needed an opening, so he could swallow…" Itachi trailed off as he headed over to the main event. With tongs, he picked up an ember, still glowing and pulsating with heat. Sai cringed as it was brought over to his face.
He tried to move back, shaking the chair with all his might. Itachi watched, blinking, and unwavering. Sai even attempted to knock the chair over so that it could potentially break, but nothing he did moved it in the way he needed. He shuddered, screaming as loudly as he could, even with the gag. He was choking on the excess saliva he was exuding, his eyes beginning to tear up as Itachi rested the ember right next to his cheek. "Out of respect, I'll give you a moment to speak to your god. But after that, even he won't save you from me."
MISSING: 74 hours
Pein, quite literally, slapped Naruto's missing person's file into Itachi's lap the moment the Uchiha had sat down at his desk.
"You don't seem as hungover as usual," Pein commented, bitingly.
Itachi's eyes narrowed as he brought his cup of coffee to his lips, taking a long drink. "My brother has been staying with me the past couple days and he's a mess. Not exactly the time to be out partying." Pein started to walk away but Itachi turned in his chair, putting out one of his legs. "What the hell is this?" He held the file up in his hand, knowing full well what it was, but he wanted more of an explanation. Considering how events had transpired not even a few days prior, he wanted to confirm this wasn't some kind of trap.
Putting a hand on Itachi's shoulder, Pein leaned in, mouth coming up right next to Itachi's ear. "Given that Aboitez has shamed and thrashed our reputation, I felt that Naruto's case should be put into the most capable hands possible, to bring some hope to our city."
"What do you want in return?"
Pein gave him a cryptic look, something he hadn't seen since the very beginning of his career. "Give them closure, Itachi."
Itachi slapped the file down on his desk. "Have we got a subpoena for his phone yet?"
"Yeah, we're working on it." Itachi opened the file, seeing testimony, screen shots from the camera footage, badly scribbled notes, and some of his own testimony from when he spoke with his father. "We should be getting the call from his provider soon, if not a fax, with his last known location. Got it?"
"Yeah."
MISSING: 78 hours
Itachi sat in a cramped backroom of a Dairy Queen looking at camera footage. The computer chair was hard, and strangely lumpy on the seat. There was a fan sitting next to him, but his face was still flushed from the heat lingering in the back area. He could feel his hair sticking to his face and neck. Periodically, he hit the space bar, took a screenshot, and printed it out. He pushed his glasses off the bridge of his nose, massaging the headache building. Luckily, this was a franchise and not corporate-so there were more cameras, even ones pointing at the street. Paranoia always helped the police more than anyone could have known.
The owner had been called not even five minutes from when they walked in-so everyone in the store was a buzz. Itachi hated when things like this happened, the police tended to operate better when they were discreet, but it was the citizens excitement around a crime that halted their progress. He'd been bothered by the owner at least once every ten minutes since he had sat down.
So, Itachi did what he did best.
Ignored it.
They had found the day in question, and Naruto's unfortunate kidnapping-getting hit by a car like that would have assured no struggle and probably no consciousness. Itachi requested his subordinate retrieve him so coffee after that, so he could pour through the next few hours of footage to see if he could find the car from that night. They'd covered their license plate with tape and completely obscured their identity with baggy clothes and what looked like a ski-mask. All that Itachi could tell was that this was a large man, comparable to someone of Kisame's size, but because of his baggy clothes, he couldn't be sure.
The problem was going to be that this footage was more grainy than a bag of rice-and details were difficult to make out. Itachi actually had to break out his glasses-the ones he only used for driving-just so he could see. Even if he saw a car with the same make and model-twelve, and rising-he may not be able to make out their license plates appropriately.
"Sargent," He set the coffee down next to Itachi and he grunted his acknowledgements. "It's boiling in here."
"You haven't been here the entire time." Itachi sighed, trying to push the damp hairs on his face behind his ears.
"Maybe we should take this back to the station?"
"I was already considering that." Itachi replied. "They don't have anything I can use to zoom or enhance this footage, so I can see it better."
His subordinate leaned over the top of the computer chair, getting far too close for comfort, and stared at the footage, frowning. "How are we supposed to get anything from this?
"I got a make and a model, but that doesn't guarantee that this is the perpetrators' normal car-and if it is, I'm trying to see how many of the same car, their license plates, excetera, pop up. But as you can tell, the license plate is very difficult to discern with how…bad, the footage is." Itachi paused for a moment, leaning back in the chair so his subordinate was pushed out his space. "Let's flash drive it and take it back. As for you, I need you to call any body shops within…twenty-five miles, to see if they've worked on any frontal damage on this kind of car, got it?"
"Yes sir," Itachi plugged his flash drive in, and started the process of downloading the days of footage onto it. He could still feel the lingering presence of the officer behind him, and shot him a brief glance. They had come here in separate cars, so he didn't know why he was still here.
"Problem?"
"I, um, just-"
Itachi turned so he was fully facing the officer. "What?"
"He called you,"
"Indeed, he did."
"Several times,"
"Yes, they already took that information off my phone." Itachi replied plainly. "What's the problem?"
"Why did he call you?"
"I'm much nicer than my father." Itachi said calmly.
"But…"
"Look, I know you're going to say something about my personal involvement in this case and how I should be removed. But this is what the commissioner wants-and we're down a detective as is. My feelings won't be an issue in this case."
"Is that why you didn't answer your phone when he called?" Itachi felt a sinking feeling in his stomach at those words, but on the outside, his eyes just narrowed. "because your feelings aren't an issue?"
"I care that my brother is hurt, I care that Naruto's absence is causing ripples-do not misconstrue that. I know I made a mistake, but like many of you seem to mutter when you're alone around the water cooler, I'm a bit 'selfish and irresponsible'," He put air quotes around it for emphasis which caused the officer's mouth to flap open uselessly. Itachi held up a hand. "This is my cross to bear, and I will do my best to get closure on this case. Understand?"
"Yes, sir…"
"Good, now go away."
Quickly, the officer disappeared from Itachi's sight and the Uchiha sighed. It was gunna be a long investigation.
MISSING: 92 hours
Itachi ran a hand through his hair. His eyes hurt, his head hurt, and his back inconsolable after sitting for nearly eight hours watching footage, typing in license plates, and trying to find everything he could. To be able to stand here, in the field, doing a poke search, felt like liberation. They'd covered such a large area but found nothing so far except the usual: needles, garbage, and random scraps probably from a homeless camp.
One of the officers found what looked like remnants of a phone, but it was impossible to tell if it was Naruto's or had any bearing in the case. It was just close enough to his last reported GPS location to be relevant to the search.
But daylight was dying, now-and it was going to be difficult to continue the search even within thirty minutes.
Itachi spied the sergeant coming to relieve him and sighed with exhaustion. The next couple days were supposed to be his days off, but that never meant they were truly his to enjoy. If anything were to be uncovered, even If it was in the next few hours, he'd be right back at the office.
-
MISSING: 122 Hours
Itachi got the call while he was at home, dozing off on the couch, but the moment he heard his father's confirmation, he was on his feet. It was over, they'd found him-or rather, his body. Fugaku spoke heatedly over the phone with Itachi, the Uchiha pacing the floor of his living room as he listened. He would have to be there first thing in the morning after the autopsy had concluded and as much evidence was pulled. Detectives were at the scene-and the rest was just a waiting game on if they found something they could use.
But the most delicate part came when Sasuke stepped through the threshold of Itachi's home-breaking the news. Fugaku insisted he be there when the time came, but Itachi knew from experience his father would only make matters much worse.
So Itachi got everything ready for his brother's return, waiting with bated breath for him to walk through the door. When Sasuke finally arrived, Itachi met him at the door, taking the back pack from his hands and leading him into the living room. "We need to talk,"
Sasuke froze when he saw a bottle of vodka sitting in the middle of the coffee table. "Is this the kind of talk where we're celebrating?"
"Sit down," Itachi began.
"Itachi?"
"Sasuke, please." He made a motion with his hand and Sasuke's knees got weak-he swayed to the point where his back hit the wall, eyes wide.
"No,"
"We found Naruto's body,"
"No,"
"I'm sorry, we didn't make it in time." The anguish in Sasuke's scream as he fell to his knees caused Itachi's heart to throb. He fell to his knees as well, holding Sasuke in his arms as the younger Uchiha rocked back and forth.
Itachi spent hours comforting Sasuke, and just like he thought, Sasuke turned to the bottle to help drown his sorrows-and Itachi could indulge himself without judgement. The time blurred together through tears and vomit, Itachi's comforting hand holding back Sasuke's hair as he watched him purge. He hoped that with a single flush, it would also take the sadness.
-
Itachi woke up with a bitter taste in his mouth and a persistent quake in his stomach that traveled to his head every time he blinked. He hadn't thrown up last night but his lack of binging the past few days were starting to show their negative effects. But he couldn't stay helplessly in bed like his brother. He had to go and face they day. Sasuke could easily call his work and go on bereavement until Naruto's funeral, but Itachi didn't have that luxury. He needed to check the autopsy and see if the other detectives had found anything.
He got ready for a day, including the worst shower of his life. The heat making his head spin but the cold shocking his muscles so badly he started to gag. Everything was telling him this would not end well for him, but he had to persist. They had already come so far, now was not the time to falter.
When he got to the mortuary, he already had one cup of coffee and two bottles of water, trying to shake the nausea, but all it did was slosh around in his stomach, heavily. It felt like he was being weighed down, and only got worse when he walked inside-his father took one look at him and sighed, rather loudly, at Itachi.
"Couldn't wait 'til tonight?"
"Not the time."
The two of them straightened up when they were led into the room containing all the bodies, a medical examiner waved them in and proceeded to open the little cubby they needed to see the corpse. Itachi's stomach flopped again, feeling the sickness rising-sweat started to gather on his brow even in the refrigerated room. The body, as per usual, was covered in a sheet. The medical examiner paused for a moment before lifting the sheet, looking at the two of them with a somewhat reluctant look. This particular examiner had been working with the department for years, and had obviously seen quite a bit, but in all of Itachi's time with the force, he had never seen her hesitate before.
"Get on with it, Tsunade." Fugaku's unease could be easily read as impatience, which is why Itachi chose not to comment on his father's outburst.
"Just," She held up her hand for a moment. "You're going to want to brace yourselves."
Fugaku and Itachi stared widely when the sheet was removed, revealing Naruto's horribly mangled corpse. His eyes completely burnt from their sockets, and in their place sat a mound of hideous scabbing, his stomach had been split open, or maybe had burst, and was leaking with what looked like crushed up coals and entrails. His mouth was burned around the edges, showing blisters and freshly peeled back skin from their popping. Even though it was faint, Itachi smell the edge of decay-the horrific lingering of sweetness that came with the rotting of meat.
Itachi's stomach lurched, but he did his best to swallow back sickness as Tsunade slapped down an autopsy report.
"Because of the severity of this case, certain things have not been properly cleaned. There is still some evidence that needs to be worked over." She began, looking up at their two disgusted faces. "Some things to note, obviously, is that he was forcibly fed coals-which were still hot, as you may have guessed from the blistering around his mouth. His teeth are also cracked, some of them so badly that they could probably be found in the contents of his stomach…" Tsunade paused, looking down at the mess. "If we can, um, properly process anything from it."
"How long has he been like this?" Fugaku asked, Itachi could see a clear bead of sweat from his forehead.
"His corpse is actually remarkably fresh, as not much carrion birds or bugs had gotten to it, so we can assume it was dumped, at most, twelve hours before it was found. He has bruising and scabbing on the back of his scalp-severe bruising along the abdomen, consistent with him being hit by a car. The stomach area had to be cut open to reveal the coals-this was most likely done so at the scene where we found the body. The cut is not by any means a surgical cut, so it was probably done by someone who had no formal medical training. However, their eye wounds were actually treated and taken care of, to a degree, perhaps to sustain his life for a longer amount of time."
"Th-this isn't consistent with any serial pattern we have, is it?"
"Not that I recall." She said with a shrug. "And even if this is a new killer, we'd have to start waiting for other bodies to start showing up to see any pattern."
"Anything DNA related you could find?" Itachi cut in.
"Unfortunately, there was nothing. The body wasn't exactly clean or anything but there was nothing under the nails, in the anal cavity, or the mouth."
"Great."
Itachi left his father at the mortuary but didn't travel outside the parking lot. He sat in his car, completely still and revisiting the image in his head, the distraught brother he had sitting at home, and the unwavering nausea plaguing his stomach. Every time he breathed, the smell wafted to him. Opening the car door, Itachi leaned out the side and vomited. The heaving of his stomach sending everything up with it until even the yellowed bile sat on the concrete, slowly running towards the closest sewer drain. He sat back in his seat, head pounding worse than before, knowing the investigation was only going to get more complication from here.
This was his cross to bear-and he wasn't going to let it crucify him.
