A/N: Hi readers! This chapter is one of the first chapters that will be crossing over with my newly released fic, Who Am I?, which is a SaiIno-centric fic set in the same universe! For the most rounded reading experience, it is HIGHLY recommended you keep up with both fics as they will feature different parts of the plot from other characters' perspectives. Events in one fic may affect characters in the other fic, and vice versa.
Once they were back at the office, Sakura quickly got to work on the remains, quietly cataloging and making verbal notes while Sasuke worked out of her office. This was their usual routine; he rarely, if ever, spent time up in his own office when they worked cases, as it made it easier for them to bounce ideas off each other and coordinate when they worked together. Over the last month, it had made them a formidable team together, closing cases with rapidly increasing success.
They were what people liked to call a dream team. The only thing they hadn't made public was their growing relationship. It wasn't wrong for them to date, as they technically worked in different departments, but they also weren't exactly official in any manner, either. Sakura realized it was a strange conundrum; they were both the type that didn't want to put a label on things. Sakura would have liked to know what to label them as herself, but she wouldn't dare push that. This was as new for him as it was for her.
"One of our persons of interest is here for an interviewer, so I'm going to head upstairs. Call me if you need anything," Sasuke said as he peered around the corner, giving her a short wave before jogging up the stairs. They'd managed to keep their office interactions purely professional; Sakura didn't mind in the slightest. The only person that was aware of anything going on between them was Ino, and the blonde would be absolutely sworn to secrecy about it. No way would Ino sell her out, not for a moment. Not unless she had a damned good reason—probably something to do with life or death.
Speaking of the blonde... Sakura could hear those familiar clicking heels coming down the steps, but she could also hear a second set of footsteps coming along with them. Hinata, maybe? No, Hinata would have had much lighter footsteps. These were heavier, likely from a taller male, a gait more like Sasuke's, from what she could tell.
Leaning back to see who it was, Sakura saw Ino was accompanied by a tall, dark-haired male she didn't recognize. His skin was an alabaster white, bangs hanging just over his forehead in a short cut. He was dressed in a more casual outfit than most of the other detectives, and the way he looked around observantly told Sakura he'd never been here before.
"And this is the autopsy area. Hey there, Sakura!" Ino waved energetically, giving her friend a smirk. Oh, Sakura understood now. Ino had managed to catch this tall, dark, and handsome fellow upstairs and gave him the tour. Whenever there was a hot new guy around, Ino was quick to pounce on that.
"Hey, Ino. Who's your friend?" Sakura asked casually, giving them a wave. "Dr. Sakura Haruno, medical examiner. A pleasure to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but I'm a little goopy." She gestured to her gloved hands.
"...Sai Gaka," the male replied curtly. His demeanour was a bit like Sasuke's, but he had a different air about him, almost one of total nonchalance. "I do not believe goopy is a word a doctor would use as an accurate descriptor for your duties. Then again, choosing to be a medical examiner could be the reason for that." His words definitely caught Sakura off-guard, leaving her absolutely stunned. That was... incredibly rude if she was honest.
"Excuse me?" She said sharply as she stepped forward. "I'm a licensed medical pathologist, I'll have you know, and I have a doctorate in forensic anthropology, thank you very much." How uncouth of him to question her capabilities like that; just who was this guy?!
"Oh, Sakura, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that! You'll have to forgive him; he's new to the country. You said you were here about a case. Let's maybe bring you back to the chief; he should be out of his interview for now." She turned Sai around and quickly ushered him back upstairs, mouthing an apology to Sakura before they were gone.
Well... that was a strange interaction. It seemed that Sai was just too blunt for his own good; not the greatest trait around here, probably. Nevertheless, he seemed intelligent and capable, which was good. She could put up with a little bit of attitude if it meant that much. She didn't have to like him to work with him, after all.
"Huh. All right then," Sakura said to herself as she turned back to her work, shrugging and cataloging what she could. Maybe she'd ask Sasuke if he knew anything about the newcomer; he seemed to be well-informed about things going around the office most days. If not him, then Naruto ought to know. Ino would also have some explaining to do, too; the blonde woman was always grilling Sakura for details, so now it was time to turn the tables on her long-time friend.
Snapping off her gloves as she finished taking the last sample, Sakura made her way up to the forensics area, seeing their forensics and ballistics expert - Tenten Mitsashi — hard at work as always. As per usual, she had some crazy music blaring as she worked away, soldering iron in front of her.
"I brought the samples you needed," Sakura called over the music, causing Tenten to snap up and quickly turn it down.
"Sorry, sorry! I forgot you were coming up here with those. Thanks so much! Detective Uchiha was breathing down my neck, asking about whether I could fix the guy's phone or not." Tenten was frantic as usual, taking the samples from Sakura and setting them aside.
"That sounds like him. Did you manage to get anything?" Sakura asked, chuckling softly. Of course, when Tenten mentioned Sasuke breathing down peoples' necks, she was thinking of something very, very different. Not at work, Sakura, the pinkette scolded herself, clearing her throat in an attempt to mask the blush on her face.
"I did, actually! Where is he, by the way? You know what, don't answer that. I don't want him staring me down until I give him the answer he—"
"Staring who down?" came the detective's voice from the doorway, an eyebrow raised at the brunette.
"Nothing! Nobody! Nothing for you to worry about— uh, I managed to get something off the phone!" Sakura held back a laugh. Sasuke had caught her red-handed, and she could see the guilty pleasure in his gaze from doing that.
"Yeah? What did you find?"
"Okay, so I was only able to get it partially, but it looks like he was having a sort of argument with someone over a text message. There was a call to the same number moments later, then that exact number was also the same number tied to the detonator for the bomb. That number called, and..." Tenten then made noises that sounded vaguely like an explosion, even using her hands to animate what she was describing. "Boom goes the marionette. Marionetter? Puppeter?"
"Puppeteer," Sasuke corrected.
"Yeah yeah, that. Anyway, the number was a burner cell, so we're kind of at a dead end there. Whoever it was that was arguing with him was definitely not a happy camper. The most I can make out is that Sasori talked about his TV deal, and the person on the other end said something about it being 'too public' and that it would 'jeopardize everything.' I can't get anything more than that."
"In other words, they were unhappy that Sasori was taking a TV deal for his act," Sasuke said.
"Sounds like it to me," Sakura agreed. "Though I can't help but feel like something was off about it. Jeopardize what, exactly? That sounds like someone who'd commit a crime of passion, not something like this." It was definitely questionable. Very questionable.
"You're right. Nothing seems to be adding up in this case. Everyone I've spoken to so far has an alibi of some kind. There's one last one I'm trying to track down, a man by the name of Idate Uni. He's been off the grid for a long time, and so far, no one's been able to track him down. He's a person of interest in a few assaults and robberies in different cities." Whoever this Idate Uni was, he was going to be a difficult one to track down from the sound of it.
"You think he may be our guy?" Sakura queried.
"His rap sheet fits. He was involved in a few bomb attacks, though no one was killed in those incidents. Just a few old buildings that got blown. We think he might have been testing and refining what he was working on in the warehouses, and perhaps he might have finally perfected it. He was last seen paying cash at the club and was talking to Sasori for quite a while the night of his performance." It was by far their best lead if they could find him.
"This is beginning to sound like a case we'll end up having to back burner for a bit," Sakura griped. "I do not like the sound of that. At least I can clean the remains and store the bones and look back at them whenever I have a moment." Certainly better than keeping a full body in the morgue for an extended period of time. "Have you managed to reach out to any family?"
"Nothing yet. He's got a grandmother in Suna. Her name's Chiyo. She'll be coming down next week." Next week? Sakura thought for a moment, realizing something. It was Thursday already! She and Ino were supposed to be going away for the weekend! She'd completely forgotten that was coming up.
"We'll let you get back to work, Tenten," Sasuke said as he beckoned Sakura out of the room. "Let us know if you find anything else." Sakura, in the meantime, was mildly stressing. She'd forgotten to tell Sasuke about the fact that she was going away for the weekend. She hoped he hadn't had anything planned for them.
"Sakura?" He asked as they made their way back down to her office. "Is everything okay?"
"Huh? Oh—yeah! I just, um, remembered something. Ino and I were planning to go to the lake house this weekend, and I forgot to mention it to you. We'd had the trip planned for a few months now, but with everything going on, I kind of forgot about it," Sakura admitted sheepishly.
"Sounds like fun," he remarked. "Whose lake house?"
"My parents. They're seldom there, so we get to use it as often as we like during the summer. We always try to plan at least one weekend that we can go up there. It's our usual 'girls weekend of the year,' as we call it. We've done it ever since we were in high school. Just the two of us." Sasuke noticed just how animated she was when she talked about it; clearly, it was something she was looking forward to.
"Go ahead and catch up with her about it. I think we're pretty much done for the day. I just need to grab a couple of files from your office if that's okay."
"Yeah! I'll head up there and talk to her, then meet you in the parking lot. Sound good? Oh! If you could grab my jacket and bag while you're down there, that'd be great." Forgetting that they were in the office, Sakura instinctively stretched up, gently pecking him on the cheek. He seemed surprised by the gesture, and Sakura was too once she realized what she'd done.
"Um. I'm just—gonna go, now. Yeah. Gotta... talk to Ino." And with that, she disappeared into the stairwell, leaving a very stunned detective who was very glad that no one else had been witness to what had just happened between them. No way he wanted to try and explain what was going on. Even he didn't know what they were. He just knew they were... something.