Hey guys! Thank you so much for bearing with me during my undeclared hiatus for finals. Now that I am no longer cramming to make sure I have everything ready for my plethora of tests, I can update more consistently. I plan on implementing a system where I updated Broken Mirrors and To Pass or Fail one week and Broken Mirrors and Death and Reunion on other weeks, effectively alternating the three pieces in a timely manner.

While I'm not entirely sure when I will get this implemented, it will be soon. That being said, I hope all of you enjoy the twist-ridden plots I have devised for all of you.

-Wolfe

Pieces in the Dark

The forest was calm and in the cool breeze of the night only the slight rustle of trees could be heard in the deafening silence. Hanging like an ornament among the stars, the moon illuminated the surrounding area in a thick silver pool, blinding every shadow into submission. Itachi had never felt more at peace, and with a faint smile he reached out to slide his fingers over the bark of the nearest tree. In the distance something disturbed a flock of crows, sending the birds into the air, their large, dark swath cutting out a good portion of the low hanging moon.

Curious, Itachi pulled away his hand before taking a few steps towards the disturbance. The ground disappeared under him and suddenly as if he had traveled the entire distance, the Uchiha found himself in bird filled clearing. On every branch a black crow stared down upon him, their obsidian eyes full of cold detachment, watching, watching. The hair on Itachi's neck prickled as he felt another, human presence in the circle of trees. Without looking he called out, knowing who was behind him.

"Sasuke!" The older Uchiha spun around to see the receding back of his younger brother, red and white Uchiha symbol floating into the darkness of the trees. "Come back brother!" Itachi called hoarsely, "I-I need you."

He fell on his knees, reaching out towards the disappearing symbol. When his hand met with nothing, Itachi looked towards the ground, his tears rolling off in unchecked rivulets falling from his eyes onto . . . feet? Startled, the Uchiha looked up into a pair of emerald green eyes staring derisively down upon him. Blinking away the tears, Itachi scrambled to his feet, suddenly finding himself eye to eye with a shapely rosette. The young woman rolled her eyes before stepping back across the clearing.

"You Uchiha are all alike you know?" Her melodic voice wafted across the clearing, stirring something deep in the pit of his stomach. "You see a damsel in distress and can't help but put her back together. Just so you can be the one to crack her porcelain exterior." Sakura wrinkled her nose in apparent disgust before continuing. "I know what you want, but before you can find him, you must find me."

"I know you . . ." Itachi began, "I-"

"You know me?" She scoffed. "What you know is a drop in the ocean." The rosette reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe. "Tell all the truth but tell it slant —success in circuit lies too bright for our infirm delight, the Truth's superb surprise. As lightning to the children eased with explanation kind, the Truth must dazzle gradually, or every man be blind"

Without another word, the woman plunged the needle into his arm, pouring the thick, milky white liquid into his veins.

Itachi woke with a start, his foot glancing off the sofa as he spasmed into consciousness. With a groan he rolled over, his head throbbing painfully between his eyes and his stomach threatening to revolt. After a couple moments of effort he levered himself into a sitting position, attempting to piece together his predicament. To his left he saw a stream of clothing leading from the door and to his right he saw his hastily discarded shoes. Sudden realization dawned on him as he finally noticed his starkly nude form and the sticky remnants of the night before.

A quick glance around told him his partner had already left before he woke up. With a heavy sigh, the Uchiha pulled himself off the floor and proceeded to gather his discarded clothing before throwing them in the bathroom hamper. Taking one look at his disheveled form the bathroom mirror, Itachi quickly decided to shower and remove the congealed semen and vaginal fluid from his body. The Uchiha was no stranger to one night stands, actually preferring them over long term relationships. The chance encounter last night had mostly been spurred by the alcohol, the Uchiha shook his head in disgust, the blonde was most definitely not his type.

With his showering done, Itachi toweled down his hair and then wrapped the material around his waist. His head was still spinning and his stomach growled with dubious intentions. A couple steps later, the raven -haired man found himself in the kitchen, pulling last nights toast from the toaster onto a plate. A quick glance at the clock told him it was just before noon, roughly five hours later than he normally got up. He shook his head and growled at himself, he hated being so irresponsible. Frustrated, he tore into the toast ravenously, sending crumbs all over his plate. As he chewed, Itachi's mind began to wander to the dream that had awoken him.

'Kinda strange really' He thought to himself. 'I saw that girl for maybe an hour total, but she's haunting my dreams now.' A pang found its way into his chest as he recalled the encounter with Sasuke. 'That woman knows more than she's telling me, I just don't know how to get her to talk.'

Lost in his thoughts, Itachi barely had time to register the fact his phone was going off. The shrill beeping of the device was grating on his head, and the Uchiha winced painfully as he pulled it out of his jacket pocket. Turning it over in his hands, he was surprised to see it was the office number.

"Hello, this is Itachi."

/Hey Itachi, it's Kabuto. I know this is your day off, but we have a case for you. We feel it is related to the open one regarding Ms. Haruno./

Itachi closed his eyes and took a deep breath before rummaging in his pockets to find his notebook. "Okay, tell me what's happening."

/We found the body of a young man in his twenties early this morning just outside of a club in the Oak Plaza district./

The Uchiha's heart sank. 'No. No no no no! Not Sasuke. No. Please anyone but Sasuke.'

/The Coroners officer later identified it as Suigetzu Hozuki. The cause of death was determined to be Blunt Force Trauma to the head. The murder weapon, a fallen board from the club, was found on scene./

Itachi's heart had yet to calm it's beating as he silently gulped in air and responded. "Okay. I'll be on scene in just a bit."

/Okay. The address is 3890 Oak Ridge. You'll find forensics is already there./

Just as Itachi was about to hang up he heard the annoying voice of Tobi in the background.

/Ohhh! There's a dead body! I wanna see it. Kabuto! Lemme go!/ There was a loud thump followed by Tobi yelling something about workplace assault.

Itachi heard an exasperated sigh on the other end. /One last thing Itachi. Tsunade is there and she is not in a happy mood./

The phone clicked leaving Itachi with a dead line. As far as he was concerned, the death of Hozuki was just another step closer to Sasuke. Putting his phone down, the Uchiha grabbed his toast and finished it on the way to his room to get dressed.

Hozuki's body had already been removed, his former position chalked out in thick white lines upon the grimy asphalt behind The Clockwork Palace, a seedy strip-club if Itachi had ever seen one. The alley had been taped off with bright yellow tape reading Caution: Do Not Cross, swaying in the gentle breeze that had somehow managed to stir behind the dilapidated buildings. As the Uchiha rounded the corner he took quick note of the personnel on scene; Tsunade Senju, the greatest forensics specialist in the world, was already collecting blood samples from the spatters on the wall; Officers Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino from squad six were questioning club workers and possible witnesses; Tobi sat hovering on the edge of action, his mangled face twisting into a smile as he surveyed the surrounding carnage.

Itachi walked cautiously towards Kiba, making sure not to smear any blood or tip the evidence markers. The suspect Kiba had been questioning nodded and walked away just as the Uchiha stepped close. With a shake of his head, Kiba pulled open his notebook before summarizing all of his collected information.

"Detective Uchiha, I have interviewed everyone who worked here last night and early this morning, but none of them remember seeing Mr. Hozuki. Shino just went in to scan the video, but we're pretty sure it's just an accident that the body ended up outside of this alley."

Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Itachi thought silently for a second before sighing deeply. "From what I noticed at Haruno's home, he may not have been here for the club. Thinking back,there was a lot of drugs littered throughout the residence. I may be on the wrong track, but I believe there might have been a drug dealer involved in this."

Kiba's eyes widened as understanding flowed in. "You mean the possible perp was a drug dealer?" He bit his lip and looked around before leaning closer. "The last time our perp was a drug dealer a lot of our paperwork went missing." Rubbing the back of his neck he continued, "I feel like we should keep this quiet if we want to find the killer."

Grimacing, Itachi nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. Same thing happened with Sasuke's case. We connected the dots to a pimp who also seemed to be a drug dealer, but days later the paper work disappeared. I d-"

"You two!"

An angry female voice called across the alley causing the two men to jump before looking around for the source. A quick glance confirmed the angry woman was indeed Tsunade, and her wrath was pointed at them.

"Stop loitering around and get your asses to work. We only have a limited amount of time before we have to reopen the alley." Her hands were planted squarely on her hips and her slightly narrowed eyes dared them to talk back.

"Yes Ma'am." Itachi was the first to respond before whispering a parting comment to his companion, "Tell your partner and no one else." As he walked away, he noticed an almost imperceptible nod before Kiba turned and made his way towards the angry blonde woman.

With some of his suspicions confirmed, the Uchiha decided what he needed was not in the taped off area. Grabbing a roll of unused tape, he set off down the alley towards a darker corner he noticed on the way in and taped it off. The stench of garbage was revolting and Itachi suppressed the urge to gag at the offending stench that only seemed to grow as he crept deeper into the dead end alley. At the very end, where a fence prevented the Uchiha from moving any further, he reached behind him and pulled out his flashlight, a necessary move for even in the light of midday, the enormous buildings around him blotted out the sun, forcing the alley into a gray twilight.

The light illuminated the backway with its bright beam ending in a large circle wherever it contacted solid surfaces. A small stream of unidentifiable liquid ran out from under a dumpster, spreading into a toxic delta as it flowed into a place where a huge chunk of the asphalt had been ripped out of the ground. In the newly lit ally, Itachi noticed signs of common passage despite its out of the way nature. In places mirroring the first hole, now filled with water, the Uchiha noticed muddy footprints hardened into the ground and cigarette butts littering the area. On closer inspection, the cigarette butts weren't always for tobacco, many of them reeking of stale marijuana and other materials Itachi had no name for.

After thirty minutes of studying every inch and corner of the alley, Itachi was about to conclude failure in his search. With a heavy sigh, he shined the light around, this time focusing on the piles of garbage littering the backstreet. On bag in particular seemed to have been ripped open so he stooped over the tattered remains and squinted at the interior before pulling out a pair of gloves and donning them. With one hand holding the light and the other rummaging, Itachi squatted, making sure his knees didn't touch anything, and proceeded to mentally sort the items.

'Meh, thats just more paper and hand towels. This must have been a bathroom trash of some sort. This is a lipstick case and an old condom wrapped up in this paper. Kinda gross, but not anything out of the ordinary. I really hope there is some payoff for do-"

Itachi's hand lighted on something decidedly different than the paper hand towels he had been sifting through. The ziplock bag was covered in splatters of water and wads of paper towel stuck to the droplets creating a horrible paper mache. Hesitantly, he opened the bag and found a large manilla folder stuffed with papers clipped in a suspiciously familiar manner. Incensed, he furiously ripped the folder out of the trash and began flipping through the documents inside. The police documents inside.

Without a moment to spare he ripped off his gloves and reached for his walkie-talkie. "Disbatch, this is Uchiha Itachi, I am requesting the presence of Uchiha Shisui at once. Over."

/Copy that, this is Dispatch. Uchiha Shisui is currently out of the office. Over./

"Copy that. This is important. I need him here NOW! Over."

/Copy that. We'll see what we can do. Out./

The raven haired man grit his teeth, tempted to throw his walkie at the nearest wall. He hated the radio formalities they were forced into and couldn't stand the dunces in dispatch. Thinking back to the matter at hand, anger welled inside of the Uchiha. He knew beyond a doubt someone in the department was stealing information and leaking it to a crime lord. The question remained: Who?

Growling, Itachi pulled the trash bag closer and dumped its contents on the ground, not caring about the mess he made. Two more bags like the one he found fell out, each containing police folders, and not all of them were from his district. One of the files was marked Suna and contained files stamped 'Classified' the other contained files marked 'Misc' and had a dossier of police officers investigating the case. Next to each of the names were illegible markings, probably an encryption of some sort.

Stacking the folders into a neat pile, the Uchiha debated whether or not tearing into the other bags would be useful but decided against it, only the one bag had been disturbed. Something in the back of his mind nagged that the find had been too easy, but he waved it off thinking it merely the after effect of alcohol and sleep deprivation. The sounds of everyone else and their investigation prompted Itachi to slide the folders back into their sleeves and behind him; he really didn't want the whole force knowing about the missing files.

"DETECTIVE!" Tobi's head popped around the corner, his scarred face looking even more eerie in the alley's twilight. "Did you find something? Can I help! Please, please, please!" His irritating voice slapped Itachi in the face over and over, each high pitched syllable driving into his brain like an icepick.

"Shut UP!" Itachi roared. "If you want to help go keep an eye out for Shisui!" The Uchiha heaved a huge sigh before closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Tobi on the other hand sobered immediately in his characteristic manner and stopped hopping in place. "Yes Detective. I'll see that Shisui find you promptly." With that the young man strode bake around the corner, making none of the sound he had made moments before.

Itachi looked at the ground and shook his head. The folders were placed just behind him preventing the unwanted eyes of anyone who would happen across his work. Knowing appearances meant everything, the raven-haired man turned back to the bags and began halfheartedly rummaging through another sack, this one filled with all manner of unsavory, rancid food. After a small eternity, footsteps alerted him to the presence of someone else turning into the backstreet.

"Tobi said you'd be around this corner." Shisui stepped lightly around the flowing trash, neatly missing the pothole filled with pseudo-sewage. "Seriously though, what was so important that you had to yell at Dispatch and pull me from the other side of Konoha?" The older Uchiha squatted next to him and cocked his head quizzically, his dark eyes staring deeply into Itachi's.

Wordlessly, the detective reached behind him, pulling the mache covered bags into the light and dropping them in front of Shisui. The latter looked at the bags with a raised eyebrow before gingerly picking the top off the stack and opening it with a swift movement. As he pulled the folder out and began reading through its contents, his eyes grew wider and wider, his countenance hardening.

"You found these in a trashbag?!' Shisui whispered incredulously. "Some of these files look like CIA level stuff."

"I know." Itachi rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at Shisui. "We can only keep this so quiet. But-" He trailed off knowing his next statement might not set well. "I feel maybe we should- you know- keep our own records of these."

Shisui looked at him weirdly, like the younger Uchiha had grown another head. "That is Illegal Itachi. Fucking ILLEGAL." He shook his head and made to grab the stack of folders but Itachi grabbed his wrist quickly.

"We have no idea how far this goes up. Honestly, we need to have some sort of proof on hand what is going on, in case these magically disappear again." The deadly drop in his voice told Shisui the man was not joking as he continued. "Something is happening under our noses in the department and this is the only proof we have of it. All of these documents contain information on the same guy, some crime lord who apparently has enough sway to make documents disappear not only in Konoha, but classified documents from Suna. This man is powerful and is working internationally. Tell me it's not in our interest to make sure these documents don't disappear again." He looked down and patted his pockets. "Shit, I think I left my phone in the car."

The older Uchiha looked conflicted for a second, but the reasoning behind Itachi's out of character request convinced him. "Here, use my phone and take a picture of all the pages. It shouldn't take to long. I'll send them in an email later."

"No. Come over to my house and we'll take care of it manually. I don't want a copy of this floating around in cyberspace."

Nodding in agreement, Shisui handed his phone to Itachi and stood up to grab his own gloves. After a moment of fumbling, he pulled the out and slid them over his hands and bent down to root through a bag. "Do you think there could be anymore in the bags out here?"

Itachi shook his head. "This bag over here" He pointed to the ripped container, " was the only one that seemed to have been messed with."

Silence fell over the two men, broken only by the rustling of paper and the faint click of Shisui's phone as picture after picture was taken. In total there were about sixty or so pages Itachi photographed. After the last pages was copied and placed back into its folder, Itachi replaced them in their bags and sealed them. Glancing at the clock on his cousin's phone, Itachi stood up quickly and passed the device back.

"If we want to talk to Orochimaru before he leaves, we should head into the office." The younger Uchiha slid his gloves off and balled them inside out. Looking over at his cousin, he noticed Shisui doing the same thing. "Let's drop our gloves in the bio-bin and head out."

Shisui nodded in agreement.

The office was mostly quiet as Itachi walked in. Most of the officers were trapped in the changing room, half attempting to leave and half trying to get on the clock. Ignoring the general chaos, Itachi strode into the main room and towards the closed office door marking Orochimaru's domain. Shisui needed to return to his case across town so he had left the task of informing Orochimaru to his cousin. A present indeed.

Itachi hovered hesitantly outside of the room, his gut instinct telling him to leave and never come back. Fighting the urge to just leave, he raised his hand and rapped three times on the hard wooden door, his knocks echoing ominously in the empty room. After a few minutes of nothing, he raised his hand to knock again. The door opened under his hand.

"Come in Detective. What brings you in so late" Kabuto's sultry voice wafted across the room, causing the Uchiha to mentally shudder.

Brushing the shiver off, Itachi mustered a believable smile "I have some important information for the Chief of Police." Looking into Kabuto's quizzing eyes he quickly added "Regarding the Hozuki murder."

"Ah. I'll inform him right away." Kabuto gestured for Itachi to take a seat and disappeared into the far room.

Unlike the last time the Uchiha had visited, Orochimaru wasted no time strolling into the room and sitting in his chair majestically. He motioned for Kabuto and whispered something in his ear before shooing him out of the room and looking serenely into Itachi's eyes. An awkward moment passed before he licked his bottom lip sensuously and inhaled deeply, tilting his head forward in just the slightest manner.

"So, I hear you have information for my eyes only." His soft voice enveloped Itachi, caressing him in the same manner an uncle might do his innocent nephew. "What is it." He purred the last sentence, the faintest tinge of malice ghosting into the mix, conveying his slight irritation.

Slightly unnerved by the snake-lovers sinister charms, Itachi cleared his throat. "I found these on scene." He reached into his bag and pulled the three plastic wrapped folders out and dropped them on the desk. "A quick look into the document determined they match the documents that have gone missing and also-" Itachi pulled the bottom one to the top and pushed it towards Orochimaru. "This folder is marked as classified information from Suna."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and pulled the three folders towards him, ripping the bags open and scanning the information in the files. After a few moments of thick silence he gently dropped the folders down before looking into Itachi's dark eyes. "Who else knows about this?"

Something in Itachi told him not to mention Shisui, and internally he conflicted with himself wondering if he should mention his cousin.

"WHO KNOWS!" Orochimaru roared across the table, slamming his hands down on the polished surface, his face contorted in rage.

Jumping at the sudden outburst Itachi replied. "Just me sir."

Leaning back, the Chief's calm demeanor returned as if nothing had transpired. "Good. I feel it is in our best interest to keep this under wraps." He paused for a moment as he thought silently, "I'll see to it these find their way back into their proper files and this" He tapped the Suna file "finds its way to the right authorities."

Itachi nodded once, inwardly glad that the mans former rage had quelled as fast as it rose. As he made to stand, Orochimaru coughed quietly, regaining his lost attention."

"I trust you are still mulling over our discussion the other day?" The question sounded more like a threat than a query. The yellow-eyed man slid his tongue over his bottom lip before continuing. "No need to answer, from your face I'm sure you're taking it into serious consideration." He leaned back and stared at the Uchiha down his nose. "I won't pressure you." The unspoken yet lingered in the air like a poisonous fog.

The Uchiha looked down, his eyes landing on the self-ingesting snake adorning the carpet. Pursing his lips, he looked up into the slitted eyes of Orochimaru and inwardly sighed. "I understand this is a time sensitive issue. I will sort the matter out quickly."

Something slithered across Orochimaru's eyes to quickly for Itachi to read. "I see." The Chief pushed back in his chair and stood up. "We'll discuss this in more detail at a later date. Please, see yourself out." He turned around and retreated into the dark recesses of the office.

Heaving a sigh, Itachi turned and opened the door into the chaotic office. Shift change has apparently already happened, the office was filled with only slightly familiar faces, the night shift. Not everyone had a desk, but with few exceptions most desks were shared by one day and one night officer. The two detectives, Itachi and Jiraya warranted their own desks because of their sheer caseload; Shisui also maintained a single desk due to his role in coordinating large scale investigations. Other officers here and there had a desk to themselves, but with the continually growing force those days were numbered.

No one in the office spared him a glance as he briskly crossed the room and out the double glass doors on the end. A migraine had started creeping between the Uchiha's brows, causing him to grimace in pain. The closest source of alleviation either lay in the crowded office room or in the cabinet at home. Warring internally for a second he decided the silent drive in misery was better then the quick, loud route to his desk. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his jacket up against the cold and stepped into the darkness of the night.

He had parked further down the street than usual due to the large number of squad cars lining the front for squad change. The night was only slightly chilly, so Itachi didn't mind the short jaunt to his vehicle, silently thanking the stars that the street wasn't busy. As he neared his car, the Uchiha suddenly felt his pocket vibrating. Surprised, he slid his hand into his pocket and took hold of his phone, inwardly glad he had remembered to retrieve it from his vehicle earlier.

The screen lit the dim street as the phone continued to alert him. Looking at the caller ID, the Uchiha expected to see Work, or possibly Shisui, but to his extreme surprise it read:

Unknown Caller: Konohagakure.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and all of the wonderful plot that's starting to bloom. As I mentioned above, I should be posting more often so keep your eyes out.

Please review and subscribe!

-Wolfe