After stopping at his place and cleaning up, Sai made his way back to the precinct, grabbing a coffee along the way. Leaving Idate to sit for a few hours wouldn't hurt; it would give him time to think, which bothered Sai very little. The only thing he wished was that he'd had some time to squeeze in a nap, but it would just have to wait. A lack of sleep was almost typical in his line of work; he'd been forced to work under far more strenuous conditions than this. He could handle it.

Entering the observation room, he found Detective Uzumaki waiting; he'd likely been observing for the time being to see what information he could glean from Idate and his lawyer. It probably wasn't much, but if Naruto had managed to observe anything, then it would be helpful.

"Anything of note?" Sai asked, a couple of files in hand.

"Nothing. Just idle chatter between them, but nothing that stands out. They aren't talking about the cases, nothing. They're careful. Too careful." Naruto's expression made it clear he wasn't happy with that.

"Do you think that's Danzo's doing?" After all, it was the job of a defence lawyer to ensure that their clients wouldn't say anything incriminating.

"Normally, yes–but even the way Idate is acting isn't normal. It's difficult to describe in words, but he's calm, he's calculating, he seems to know every step he needs to take. He knows what he should and shouldn't say, and I don't think Danzo's there to ensure that. I think Danzo's just there to be... well, a lawyer. Idate's his son, so I assume that's where he picked it up from, but the more I look at them, the more I feel it's... something else. Something deeper, something that goes beyond even what we're investigating. I don't like it." Whatever it was, Sai could tell that it deeply bothered Naruto. He was an apt individual; Sai had heard rumours about his capability in an interrogation room, even at ROOT. Several other interrogators sang high praises about Detective Uzumaki.

"I will get the information I need from him," Sai said confidently. "Would you like me to include the details of the Akasuna case in my interrogation? I have reason to believe that the Akasuna case, as well as the case that I came here to investigate, are likely related in some manner."

Naruto was quiet for a moment, contemplating before he relented. "Yeah. That's fine. If Detective Uchiha asks you about it, tell him it was my call. I'll take the heat from him." That was good to know; Sai was sure he wouldn't want to face down Detective Uchiha when it came to the case. There had been certain... rumours about him, too, that Sai had heard.

Entering the interrogation room, he sat across from Idate, whose expression remained stoic and unreadable. His dark eyes gave nothing away; Sai could tell that despite his listed age, he seemed older... in the sense that he'd seen–or perhaps done–things in the time he'd been alive.

"So, Idate," Sai began as he opened a file, looking over one of the sheets. "You are listed as Danzo Shimura's son, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct," Idate replied.

"And in what sense are you his son?" Perhaps not the best choice of words, but it was enough to cause Idate to stiffen imperceptibly.

"By adoption. I was found alone in one of the cities and was taken to an orphanage. Danzo adopted me after I had been there for three days." There was no listed record of any birth parents or anything that had been able to identify Idate.

"And you were how old when you were adopted?" Sai's next question was going to lead into the rest of his questioning.

"Ten or eleven, approximately. I don't know my real birthday. We've since treated the day I was adopted as my birthday to maintain its significance." With a hum and a nod, Sai made a few notes on one of the papers he had in the file, contemplating his next choice of words.

"And you remember nothing about your life previously? Not even a shred of memory, a face, anything? Any family?"

"No sir," Idate replied, "I have no recollection of any events prior." That was... odd. Very odd. Sai would have expected that in a child such as that, therapy would have–at the very least–revealed some information about his backstory. Yet, for some reason, there was no record of any therapeutic interventions in an attempt to regain the boy's memory at the time. Nothing was done to try and bring the boy back to anything he might remember.

"What is your association with the club ART*Xplosion?"

"Worked there for a couple of months last year sometime. Bartending. It was the first time I'd ever worked such a job, and I found it wasn't for me, so the position became only temporary." Temporary work as a bartender? That perhaps hadn't sat well with the management, though Akasuna hadn't been part of the management.

"Were you acquainted with Sasori Akasuna while you were there?"

"No, sir. I had no involvement with him. His performances had just begun when I was working there. I may have served him the occasional drink or made small conversation with him, but beyond that, I know little to nothing of him. I primarily associated with Deidara Katsu, who was my boss, and Kakuzu Okane, Deidara's accountant." So Idate had been involved with him on some level, or rather, involved in the club.

"Can you confirm that at some point during your time there as a bartender, you came across one Hidan ??? ?" Now that was new information, information that hadn't even been brought up during the initial investigation.

"Hidan? No, not that I recall."

There it was. Sai produced an old surveillance photo of the two of them, clearly in a conversation of some kind; Idate was behind the bar while Hidan laughed about something. It was clear they knew each other from the way they were conversing. "Perhaps you should explain this to me, then."

Idate picked up the photo, staring at it and narrowing his eyes. "He may have been a customer there at some point, but I dealt with hundreds of customers, and this was almost a year ago now. It's not abnormal to speak to customers or share jokes with them, but I can't always recall specific customers." Idate appeared annoyed by the evidence Sai had presented, the kind of irritation that often came from the knowledge that someone was getting closer and closer to the mark. Much, much closer.

"So the fact that you two are chatting animatedly as if you were old buddies means... nothing?" Sai queried further.

"Yes," Idate replied tartly.

"So you deny, yet don't deny, that you've in the past been involved with serial murderers and victims of violent crimes."

"Don't answer that," Danzo interjected, holding a hand out in front of Idate. "Detective, is this line of questioning going anywhere useful, or are we free to go?"

"It is going somewhere. I have not determined where it will end up," Sai replied simply. "As it is, you are currently a suspect in an ongoing murder investigation, which means that we have the right to hold you for the next forty-eight hours. If we have nothing by Monday, then you will be released without question. Until then, I will determine when and how this interrogation goes and whether charges will or will not be laid." Sai stood from his seat, nodding politely at the two of them before sweeping out of the room.

Well, he'd found... something, although it wasn't quite the information he'd hoped. Idate had been weaving a web of lies, and there were several factors–both in his backstory and his story regarding Akasuna and Hidan–that weren't adding up. He would need to dig a little further into those investigations if he wanted to have enough information to charge Idate with something. Without it, he was not going to be able to keep him, and Sai had a feeling that if that happened, they would lose contact with Idate forever.

Naruto came out of the observation room, shaking his head at Sai. "You did everything you could. Neither of them is going to budge, it seems. I don't even think I'd be able to get them to talk." Sai had a feeling that Naruto was trying to lift his spirits, but he found it unnecessary. He knew he did everything possible and that he would continue to do so regardless of his words.

"I did. I will find what I need, of that I am certain. If not, then I will release him. If there is no evidence, then there is no evidence. It is as simple as that." He focused only on the evidence that was physically in front of him and undeniable; he was not one to look at contextual evidence very often. To him, it was merely conjectured most of the time.

For now, he was headed home to get some rest, as he knew it would be significant. The next step would be to identify the evidence that Ino would have to present him from the other prosecutors, and he would be able to go from there. The next time he questioned Idate, he planned to come armed with a significantly more considerable amount of information. He would break the man. Of that, he was sure.

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Ino woke late into the morning, stretching as she ran a hand through her bangs to straighten them. Last night had been a roller-coaster of a night. They'd gone from having dinner to suddenly being on surveillance for the night. She'd fallen asleep at some point in the car, but it had been an exciting experience. She'd never gone on any surveillance duty, so it felt good to get a taste of that sort of thing for once.

It was something she'd always wanted to do, but being in the position she was as a prosecutor, she wasn't trained for fieldwork. It had made her intensely jealous when Sakura had been certified for it; she'd almost considered taking some of the classes to be able to do the same. If she could help find evidence to bolster her cases, then it might help her conviction rate. Not that she was worried about that, of course. She had a stellar conviction rate—the best in the office, without question.

Checking her phone, she realized she hadn't heard anything from Sakura beyond a short message that they'd arrived at the lake house. That meant one of two things: Sakura was either having a blast, or it had been the worst idea possible. Ino was sure it was the former, and if it turned out to be the latter, Detective Uchiha had better watch out. She'd held her tongue for Sakura's sake so far, but if he so much as screwed up even the tiniest bit and upset her friend, there would be hell to pay.

After a quick shower, the blonde was dressed and on her way to the office, already dialling numbers as she was walking through the building and in the elevator to get in contact with those that she needed. Most of them had small case files they were more than willing to send her, much to her excitement; if it meant she could find something that would help Sai, then she'd undoubtedly feel accomplished.

She couldn't help but think about how he was querying her so much the night before, though. He'd asked her a lot of questions, ones she hadn't expected; the way he'd phrased them, it was like he wasn't asking them to get to know her. No, it felt like perhaps there was something else behind what he was asking. Some ulterior motive that she wasn't sure about.

Well, regardless, she knew how to be careful. Sai couldn't pull the wool over her eyes for very long, no matter how hard he tried.