Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

GAH! Second time in a row! I swear if my computer loses the work again I'm throwing it in the garbage! I got so frustrated I couldn't even look at this story... :[]

Thanks to Beta: Lynn06

[edited 9:25 pm 9/3/2015]

vvv

It was day four of the trial. By then, everyone was worked up. The lawyers had actually came close to blows an hour ago, resulting in the judge calling a recess while he chewed them out. I could tell that Itachi was irritated by his lawyer's unprofessional attitude and I knew that the attorney would hear about it later.

I wandered around the courthouse's halls with nothing to do. Ryuu had taken Temari home on account of her morning sickness. Itachi and Sasuke were discussing work as usual and I didn't want to be a part of that. I had no one to talk to.

I walked past a private office, but paused when I heard Seimei's voice coming from it. Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, I pressed my ear to the cracked door. When I realized what the conversation was about, I dug out my tape recorder that I used when Itachi was speaking too fast for me to write out, and hit 'record', thanking my lucky stars that it was an empty tape. Finally, something to end this long, drawn out trial!

vvv

The court resumed at three. By then, I was ready. The judge, already tired of this court case, droned, "This court is now in session, day four. Rikishi-san, do you have a witness?" The prosecutor said no and the judge asked Sasuke's attorney if he had any witnesses.

Imada stood, still looking a little confused. I had only enough time to tell him that I wanted to testify before court returned from recess. He glanced back at me to confirm I truly meant it. I gave a small nod.

"I call, once again, Taihen no Ichigo to the stand." Imada stated.

The court shifted. It was rare for someone to be called twice to testified, let alone one who was excused from the witness stand. Itachi glared at his attorney, but before he could protest, I stood and took my place at the witness stand. I gave the oath of truth and sat down, prepared.

Imada smiled at me. "You work for Uchiha Corporation, correct?" I nodded. "Yes sir, I'm Itachi-san's assistant," I stated the obvious.

The attorney nodded, "And how long have you been working there?"

"Seven years come this March. I started working there when I was still in high school." When he asked me if I had worked anywhere previous, I said no; and he asked if I was loyal to the company, I nodded.

The attorney changed the focus of the questions to my sister. After I confirmed that she was indeed my sister, and that she was older by a year and a half, Imada asked, "Can you point out her husband for me?" Now was the time to put the plan into action.

"Seimei isn't married."

Imada frowned, clearly not expecting that "Uso Jiro… Seimei-san's husband?" He faltered, clearly not knowing what to do with the new information just yet.

"She's not married." I repeated. The court shifted and began to murmur.

The judge banged his gavel, snapping, "Order! Order in this court!"

Imada waited until everyone was quiet, "How do you know this?" He asked harshly. I didn't blame him. I had already been excused from testifying and now that I came back with such a shocking statement it looked bad on my part.

But not for long.

I said nothing as I pulled out my tape recorder and gave it to the attorney. He took it, showing it to the judge who gave permission to play it, and plugged it up to a speaker before hitting 'play'.

There was a slight static noise, followed by Itachi talking in the background about some meeting last week. I guess I had accidently pressed the 'record' button without knowing. Then, the conversation that would win Sasuke the case started. Seimei was speaking. "...re you saying, Jiro?"

There was a pause before Jiro spoke up. "I'm just saying... I don't think this is going to work out. It's obvious that that bastard Imada is good. Maybe better than Rikishi-san."

There was a thump that had to be Seimei stomping her foot. "Rikishi-san is the best lawyer I could find. And-"

"Has it occurred to you that Uchiha Corporation is mainly into the law firm? That they might have someone better than Rikishi-san?" Jiro interrupted my sister. He must be a brave man to do that.

"I'm doing this for us! If we win this case, do you realize how much we could squeeze out of those pompous Uchihas?!"

"...Are you sure this isn't just something against Ichigo?"

"Don't tell me you're taking her side!" Seimei shrieked. The court shifted at her shrill voice.

Jiro was quick to reassure her. "No, no. Of course not. I'm just wondering why now... Did she do something?"

It goes into a pretty boring conversation about how I was such a pain to Seimei growing up, but this trial wasn't revenge on me. Seimei was sure that I had no true loyalty to the Uchiha family and their company. That it was only a job and everything. There was a lot of flirting and endearments that made me want to puke. The court began to settle down after a while, realizing that it was going to be a long conversation.

Then the conversation turned back to the trial. Jiro was speaking again. "I'm still not sure if this is such a good idea anymore..."

It took a while for Seimei to respond. "I told you, I'm doing this for us. After a few years, we could-"

Once again, Jiro cut her off, "What? We could what? Get married? If Ichigo found out that this trial was a sham, she would drag us all back to court to clear her precious boss's name!"

I crossed my arms and glared at Jiro for that comment. I didn't care about Sasuke one bit. He could suffer from a bad reputation for all I cared. But I wasn't about to let my job go down the drain for a false trial.

Sasuke twisted around to glare at Seimei, but the tape wasn't done yet. Seimei continued, "Of course not. We could have a private wedding in the next town, forge a date that says we technically got married three years ago, and we'll be set!"

"No. I'm not going to wait a year to get married only because we can't risk getting caught," Jiro snapped. I had to admit, I would probably have liked this guy if he wasn't such a jerk and also in league with Seimei.

My sister's voice grew desperate. "We could get married tonight! Or as soon as court lets out today! All we have to do is go find another court to marry us and make sure the date is different! …Or do you not want to marry me? Is that it?! I know it is! I can see it on your face! You bas-"

There was a slap. I didn't know if it was Jiro slapping Seimei, or the other way around. A minute later, Jiro said, "I do want to marry you. I just don't see how we can now that we're in this mess... We should head back before someone catches us he-" The recording stopped then, and silence descended upon the room.

The prosecutor shot to his feet. "That is false evidence planted by that girl! Imada-san was leading her to that false evidence!"

The court burst out as everyone began shouting. In the chaos, Imada excused me from the witness stand and let me walk back to my seat. By the time I sat down, the judge had the courtroom back under control with the threat of throwing everyone out if they didn't shut up and sit down.

Itachi gave me a proud glance and whispered, "Good job." Simple words that were said every day, but coming from Itachi, 'good job' was the highest praise anyone could ever hope to achieve.

^o^

FINALLY! I was extra careful and saved after every paragraph... I'm NOT kidding. Mwahahahaha! Bet you didn't see that twist!

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