Summary: Uchiha Itachi was a detective without a partner. No one expects big things to happen in a small village, but Itachi may find more than he was investigating in this one.

World Status: AU

Pairings: Itachi x Naruto

Warnings: mention of character death (by murder).

Distrait.

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(divided or withdrawn in attention, especially because of anxiety)

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05-02-10

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No one thought it would happen in their sleepy village. No one ever does, it was something far too big and city-like for it to really have happened. But it had.

"Female in her early twenties. Three knife wounds, all in vital areas." The forensic team snapped their gloves on, slipping under the police tape and combing the area for clues.

"Last person to see her alive was given a decent motive, but also has a solid alibi. Works in the local shop, CCTV monitored until the news broke." The woman talking turned to Itachi and licked her lips. "He's gone home now, had to when the police talked to him."

Itachi hummed, tucking his small notebook back into his pocket. "I have the address," he said quietly, turning away from the scene and making his way past old houses. "I'll go alone," he added once he realised the woman was prepared to follow him. She faltered, but eventually turned, no doubt already having been warned that infamous detective Uchiha Itachi preferred to work alone.

The house was a modern-styled, boxy sort. Not the kind of house Itachi would have expected for his non-suspect to live in, considering he worked in a local shop, but it didn't give anything away about the kind of person inside. Itachi had only seen brief print outs from CCTV footage – grainy and hard to see – but there had been no defining features, nothing that made this man extraordinary.

Still, Itachi usually reserved such observations until he met people in the flesh. He couldn't rightfully judge a person until he met them, something he'd learnt about the hard way. Though it was odd for a simple shop-worker to be living in a proper house – perhaps he came from old money?

There was no nameplate by the letter box and Itachi pressed the bell. An old, tinny sound rang through the house before he lifted his finger, taking a step back to survey the door with interest.

The door opened and Itachi dropped the slight smile he'd adopted, hands clenching as the owner of the house came into view.

"I didn't expect it to be high-profiled enough that it would warrant you on the case," came a casual remark, though Itachi knew there was nothing casual underneath the surface.

"You wouldn't know much about my cases anymore," Itachi said simply, shaking his head. "I should have asked for a name."

The man, a very familiar man, smiled bitterly.

"You're slacking," he said softly, stepping aside and inviting Itachi in.

The house, though he'd never been in it before, was familiar. Itachi stood with his coat and shoes on, eyes half-closed as he took in the atmosphere, soaking in it until he head a soft sigh.

"It was not my decision to leave Konoha," he said bluntly and slipped his shoes and coat off. "You were the one who requested the transfer Naruto, I don't see any reason you should be upset with me."

Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, walking away from Itachi, who followed in curiosity. He should put the case first, treat Naruto as nothing but a witness of the victim's last hours, but there was far too much history here. Even though Naruto had a solid alibi anyway, Itachi could now root out all possibility that he was the killer. He knew Naruto too well to know he could murder.

"It was too much," Naruto said as he sat down on one of the sofas. "I asked the Sandaime," Itachi bowed his head in respect for the late Chief of Police, "for a transfer out and he offered me a hefty redundancy."

"You must have been persuasive," was all Itachi said in reply. Naruto had been committed to his cause once and had been willing to partner and challenge Itachi when no one else had. The Sandaime had said on more than one occasion that he'd rather die than let Naruto slip through his fingers and yet… he'd let him.

"Manipulative might be a better word," Naruto said with a grin and Itachi could see his old friend back, just for a moment. "In answer to your questions though, Hinata came to tell me that she loved me. It was… out of the blue and she seemed distressed."

Naruto frowned and closed his eyes, regret etched between his eyebrows.

"I should have done something. I could have, once. I knew she wasn't herself, I should have-"

"Naruto," Itachi said, catching Naruto's hands in his own and forcing him to look him in the eye. "That was years ago. You're out of practice, shaken up by her confession and rushed to go to work. Could you have stopped the murder?"

Naruto looked away and Itachi had his answer.

"You would have been killed too, most likely." Blunt – just like all the obvious answers had been between them.

"I don't suppose you'd leave? Now that you have the answer to why she came here?" Naruto was still staring at him, though he made no move to usher Itachi to the door.

"No," Itachi confirmed, though they could just as easily do this in silence. "And I don't suppose you'd offer tea?"

The reaction Itachi received was not the one he'd expected and he waited in silence as Naruto moved to the kitchen, returning with a cup of green tea and a wary smile.

"It is good to see you again, you know," he said softly and Itachi looked at him sharply, unsure what game they had entered.

"Look at you," Naruto said, amazement in his eyes. "Do you ever stop? Stop thinking, stop assuming everyone has second guessed intentions?"

Itachi sipped at his tea and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure the exact moment he'd seated himself, but Naruto had always had a strange way of disarming him.

"Give me a reason why I should accept you at face value anymore?" Itachi hadn't been this angry in years. The last time was finding the sheet of paper on his desk, a cold, callous goodbye that had been typed and printed by the Sandaime. "You couldn't even say goodbye on paper."

Naruto looked away, biting his lip.

"I didn't want," he began, shaking his head a moment later and sitting down, next to Itachi at the table rather than opposite. It rubbed Itachi wrong, but he refused to move, unwilling to back down against an old friend.

"I didn't want to leave you," Naruto said, emphasising the last word. "I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't see those people and think 'hey they once had a family' and wonder-"

"So you work at a corner shop instead?" Itachi cut in, opening his eye and shooting Naruto a look. "Seems a bit of an extraordinary leap, if you ask me."

Naruto looked down at his hands with a soft sigh. He was much older than Itachi remembered – obviously, but not in a simple aged sense. He didn't know this Naruto, this creature that had slipped from his life without a backwards glance, who had manipulated a stern police chief to let him go and come to live in a distant village, praying he'd never see Itachi again.

Why?

The question was out before Itachi could contain it and Naruto looked at him with wide eyes, shocked that Itachi could be so direct about his feelings. Itachi had never wanted to discuss feelings with anyone, Naruto knew that better than most as they had been friends, partners, a team.

"Let me say my piece and then you can talk," Naruto said softly and Itachi narrowed his eyes. He didn't disagree though and Naruto continued. "I was compromised as an officer and could no longer take it."

Itachi almost went to speak, to tell Naruto what a heap of shit he'd just spouted out, but recalled his silent promise not to interrupt. He gritted his jaw and looked at Naruto instead.

"Rule number one – don't get too attached to your partner, wasn't that what we were told first thing?" Naruto gave a shaky laugh, running a hand through his hair. "Partners change, they said, partners die, they said, people move on…"

Never once did Itachi break his gaze, though he pushed his cup of tea away gently, hand clenching tightly.

"I fell for you. I mean half of the office had, but I was the one with you, the one who should take care of your back and the one who wasn't allowed to love you." Naruto swallowed thickly. "I know you're wondering why I didn't just man up and get another partner, but I couldn't. It was only ever you, Itachi, no one else could ever – can ever – compare."

Itachi knew Naruto. He knew everything about him, having known him for years before they entered police training. He knew his favourite food, colour, childhood toy and thousands of other snippets of information. He knew Naruto preferred to sleep sprawled out on his back when he was alone, but if someone was sharing the bed then he'd curl up with them, no matter the person. Itachi knew Naruto more than he knew anyone else and it should scare him, did a little, deep down, but it was more than that.

He'd always loved Naruto. Being his partner was as close as Itachi had ever been allowed to get and he'd relished in it, never once daring to hope that there could ever be more.

The letter he'd received naming his new partner had been a stab in the heart and he'd refused, leaving the precinct to become a freelance detective, hoping that one day he'd bump into Naruto, find him and tell him everything he'd always wanted to say.

"I love you," was all Itachi said, clipped and almost cold, but he knew his uncertainty showed in his eyes. Itachi knew all about Naruto, that much was true, but Naruto also knew all about Itachi. He could see behind the blunt statement and to the man who was saying the words, the man who had missed him for years, clung to a foolish hope that they'd see each other again, if only to say a proper farewell.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked in reply, voice light and breathless. The one question alone told Itachi everything he needed to know and he smiled, ducking his head as he reached for Naruto's hand.

It was enough for now, they both knew, and they had time at their feet to say the rest that needed to be said.

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Notes:

Thought process: Sherlock – Death Note – This. Just in case you wondered!

Yes I'm back on this. Tentatively. It will be finished eventually and I will be following words from 2010 – thank you to everyone who is still reading this!

On a side note, please take a look at the ItaNaru fanwork swap I'm currently running. While sign ups have passed, pinch hitter and beta sign ups are open. Pinch hitters will be treated as normal sign ups too so please come join us!