Waking up with an email from Ino, Sai was quickly up from his nap in the small meeting room he'd been given temporarily and in her office, a coffee in each hand. If she was going to be helping him, then he might as well be polite. Setting it down on her desk with a small thanks from the blonde, he took a sip of his own before taking a seat in one of the chairs.
"What were you able to find on the members I listed?" Sai asked.
"Not much, but I have a few things. First, we have Zetsu. He was arrested a few times for running a grow-op at his workplace–he's a certified botanist–and charged multiple times. He seemed to be able to get off each time thanks to his defence lawyer, though. It seems like that defence lawyer was none other than–"
"Danzo Shimura," Sai finished for her.
"Yeah. The guy's a snake. I can't stand him. He's the worst to have to deal with. I've only dealt with him on a couple of cases, thankfully smaller ones, but he was always the worst to deal with. At least other defence lawyers I can respect as people–they're lawyers, they have a job to do, after all–but not him. He's like a bug I want to crush under my boot." The vitriol in her tone was permeable in the room; even Sai could feel the hatred practically radiating off her.
"What about the others?" He'd given a few other names.
"Okay, so this one is interesting. Orochimaru was a lawyer for a few of them, and he's another lawyer we deal with a lot at this office. It seems like he dealt with a few of Zetsu's cases, but they weren't going well until Danzo took over. It was like Orochimaru just quit in the middle of the case, fired his client, and moved on. I can't see any reason that they would. A few of the other names you gave me all came up clean. We have Yahiko Yamakichi, who's been MIA for years–no one has been able to find him, but there's never been a missing person report filed for him. Hagi Yamakichi, Koton Yamakichi, and Hana Yamakichi also went missing around twenty-five years ago or so. That's his younger sister, father, and his mother. They were never found, and again–no missing person reports were ever filed. It's like they just completely disappeared off the grid. But that's not all," Ino continued as she dug through a few more files, pulling out a couple of other things.
"I dug up another file that if you so much as breathe the fact that I looked into it, I will kill you. There was a supposed sighting of Koton in a small neighbourhood right here in Konoha. I looked into the dates, and there was one case that popped up around that date that had me wondering." She pulled out a newspaper clipping. The headline read TWO DEAD IN HOUSE FIRE–YOUNG BOY SURVIVES. Reading through the rest of the article, there were no names–stated to be left out to protect the identity of the young survivor–but Ino knew enough to know about the incident. Anyone in the precinct knew who that young boy was because most of it lined up perfectly.
"This is the fire that killed Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. Their son who survived was Sasuke Uchiha–yes, the same Detective Uchiha was assigned to the Akasuna case. And on top of that, their missing son, Itachi Uchiha–it's essentially the same story as the rest of them. They disappeared without a trace, never to be found again. No records, nothing. The difference with him was that the officers filed a missing person report, but otherwise, no family ever filed one since there were no living relatives to even search for him. Well, no living relatives that could, anyway. There are a few follow-up articles, but... If this case is related, I think you might want to talk to him directly. That, or I can try to talk to Sakura; she might be able to get more out of him than you will. He's... not the most friendly to strangers." And that was putting it mildly.
Sai was intrigued by the depth of information that she'd managed to provide. All of this, all in half a day? He had more to work with than was expected. The only problem was that none of it could seem to be linked to Idate Shimura. None whatsoever. All of it was conjecture related to other portions of the case that he was still working on exploring. He chewed his lip, staring at the files.
"This helps, but not in the case of Idate Shimura. Were you able to find anything that links him to any of these cases?" Sai asked hopefully.
Ino shook her head. "Nothing concrete. It's all just circumstantial evidence, but nothing that we can directly tie to him. The Uchiha fire, that's definitely unrelated. Authorities and witnesses reported no other sightings of the Yamakichi family that would be related to him. We don't have anything concrete. I mean, if you can work with this and get some kind of a confession, or other information, testimonial evidence, great. But I'll be honest, the evidence we have isn't enough to hold Idate. We've got..." Ino lifted her wrist to check her watch. "Thirty-six hours before we have to release him. If we don't find anything in that time, he walks."
"And if he walks, we aren't likely to see him again for a very long time," Sai mused. "It's beginning to appear to me that the Akasuna case that Detective Uchiha is investigating is somehow related to what I am looking into. Could you look deeper into some of the other suspects? Deidara Katsu and his accountant, Kakuzu, are the two that I want to look into most. I would also like to get more information on Hidan if that would be possible. If you have a record of any interrogation or testimonial with Dr. Haruno, that would also be good. If not, I will have to speak to her directly to get her testimonial in regards to that, as she is his only surviving victim."
"Whoa, slow down there, Sai," Ino warned. "You don't want to talk to Sakura about that. Trust me. I don't mean that in the sense of she'll rip your head off or anything like that, but..." Ino chewed her lip, contemplating. "Firstly, since that incident, Detective Uchiha is overprotective as hell of her. He was the one that found her, and it was a fight to try and drag the guy away from her when she was in the hospital. And second, Sakura is... ah, how do I put this." Ino hated to out her best friend like this, but it was for both her good and Sai's own good.
"Sakura is sort of... fragile, emotionally. I mean, she's tough in some ways, but in this instance, she's not so tough. She's a little touchy when it comes to it, and on some levels, it still scares her. If you want to talk to her, you need to be really careful, and if I'm honest, you should get either Detective Uzumaki or Detective Uchiha to be there with her. Preferably the latter, because she's calmer around him, but Uzumaki'll be able to keep her calm, I think. She doesn't know you well, and you didn't exactly make the best first impression when you met her, either. That may make things a bit more difficult for you." The last thing Ino wanted was for Sai to attempt a line of questioning that would set the poor girl off. She was starting to heal from what she'd been through emotionally, and if Sai were to upset it, there would likely be hell to pay.
"I... do not understand your reluctance. She is not a suspect in any of these cases, so I do not see why any line of questioning would be problematic." Sai was frowning at the blonde; he truly didn't understand why Ino was reluctant to have Sakura questioned. Was there something she was trying to hide about the incident, perhaps? Something that they didn't want to talk about?
"Because she's scared, and having that brought back up may just upset her. She's trying to forget and move on. She went through a lot, Sai. She stared death in the face twice, and that's not something the average person just snaps back from. She's fragile. You may do more damage to her psychologically by asking those sorts of questions if you don't approach it carefully, and so far, you don't seem to be very tactful when it comes to these kinds of situations. No offence," she added, raising her hands defensively. "And the last thing you want is one, Detective Uchiha breathing down your neck, and two, me wanting to kick your ass for making my best friend cry royally." She'd be obligated to do it, too, without question. Ino was fierce when it came to Sakura. She'd raise hell for her best friend if asked.
"I will do my best to approach the situation... delicately, as you say." Sai was beginning to understand the limitations he had been saddled with. "Is there anything else you can think of that we may be able to utilize?"
Ino thought about what other possibilities there were. She went through the list of names, thinking, trying to put herself in the shoes of a detective, to use their perspective to find new information. Names, dates, they all swirled around in her mind... until one small thing finally clicked.
"Yeah, I do have one idea. Come on. We need to go visit Tenten in forensics." Ino quickly picked up the files she'd been reading and swept her way out of the office, reaching the elevator with Sai in tow as she considered the possibility of her idea. Tenten should be able to do what they needed; she was a technical expert. Computers, data analysis, forensic analysis, and most especially ballistics was her area of expertise.
"Tenten, hey, you got a moment?" Ino asked as they strode into the brunette's lab.
"I can spare a few. What do you need?" Tenten sauntered up as Ino handed over a file.
"That software you told me about, the one they've started to use in cold case files for missing children? I need you to run an old photo through for me in that file." It was a long shot, but it might work. Turning to Sai, she explained her idea. "I thought about how a person might hide their appearance, and I realized something. Koton and Hana may have changed their appearances through means like plastic surgery or the like, but Hagi would have been too young for that sort of thing. The software uses AI and algorithms to age up the person in the photo based on genetic markers and facial recognition from both parents. If we can age up the photo of Hagi from the file, then we may be able to find out what she'd look like now, track her down, and maybe find her parents. We do that, and we might have a lead."
Sai remained silent as Ino explained. It was an idea worth a shot if only to confirm the suspicions he had. And suspicions was putting it mildly; nevertheless, he was intrigued by this particular software. He watched as Tenten entered the parameters in the computer, generating the data that showed a more high-res model of what Hagi would have looked like as a child.
"Okay, here we go," the brunette announced as the algorithm ran on the computer. Ino watched the face slowly change; the girl looked very familiar. As the face changed and changed, her hair growing longer, her features more angled and strong... her eyes even appeared bluer and more intelligent the older the algorithm changed her.
She knew that face. She knew it because it was a face she saw every single day, without fail. But... how? How could it be?
"Tenten..? Are... are you sure this algorithm works?" Ino asked, feeling her blood run cold in her veins. Tenten appeared shocked as well, scrambling to check and double-check the math on the algorithms.
"No, I... everything is right, but..." Even Tenten couldn't believe it.
Sai knew. The aged version of Hagi was no mistake. Though the hairstyle differed slightly, no one could mistake the likeness. He watched Ino's reaction, seeing the colour drain from her face, seeing the true shock in her eyes. That confirmed it; she'd known absolutely nothing. It meant their possible lead was likely a dead-end unless she could come up with something.
Ino couldn't believe what she was looking at. There was no way. She stated, feeling like she was looking in a mirror.
She wasn't staring at Hagi Yamakichi.
She was staring at her own face.
Ino herself was the missing Hagi Yamakichi.