Sakura watched as Tsunade paced her office floor for the upteenth time, for a fleeting second she wondered if the carpet would wear through. There was so much to process, so much to inform her about, and Sakura had spoken thoroughly to be sure she hadn't missed a single detail.
The captain knew the status of the case in its entirety, right down to the observations that lay in the small notebook that was bagged and on her desk. Kakashi sitting on the small sofa in the corner giving the book a cold stare that completely morphed the look of his face. Sakura didn't recognize this glare, this energy seeping from her partner. She'd almost had to drag him into Tsunade's office to begin with, his eyes had clouded over in what she thought was anger, his fists clenched, silent. He remained in this state for the ten minutes that she had spoken to Tsunade and briefed her on the situation.
Now the captain herself had been overcome by what Sakura recognized as rage. It was how she had always been, and Kakashi was evidently the same, anything that was remotely incomprehensible caused them actual physical pain. She guessed it was the detectives prerogative to be angered by a puzzle that had yet to be solved.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tsunade finally spoke.
"God damn it... This is above my pay grade." The first part was mumbled before she rounded on Kakashi. "There's one thing I need to know Kakashi and I need to hear it from you now before we take one more step into this investigation." Tsunade placed both her palms flat on her desk, bracing herself first. "Do you think this is the guy?"
Something unspoken passed between Detective Hatake and the Captain, an acknowledgement of a dark and sinister aspect that was best left unsaid. Kakashi cleared his throat before speaking, but even then it wasn't any kind of normal tone, it was a gruff and short answer.
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean not exactly?"
"I mean, that I don't think he's the guy, I don't think he's smart enough full stop."
"Then what do you make of this?" Tsunade waved the small notebook in the air, Kakashi sat up and stretched over to take it from her but he said nothing.
Sakura decided to step in.
"Obviously Mizuki has some kind of involvement with Obito, and it's more than likely that he murdered Samantha Winters, we just have to agree on a strategy to get an explanation from him..."
"Yes, that goes without saying Haruno, but my chief concern here is that one of my best detectives may be unable to handle that feat. Kakashi, can you handle this without flying off the handle?" Tsunade's eyes never left him as she spoke, but he didn't appear to be inclined to answer just yet. "In an entire year you've not once had a lead with this kind of substance, but while we may be one step closer to the truth of what happened to Obito, we also need to acknowledge... that he may have been keeping secrets from us as well."
Sakura wasn't so sure now on if she should respond at all, while it was directed at Kakashi and she felt an odd insurgence of a need to protect him suddenly, she did not know Obito. There was no way for her to form any kind of answer that would help her partner or appease the Captain though she wanted to desperately. She had to settle for watching Kakashi shift slightly under the weight of their combined gaze.
"You think I don't know that? Because I do, he was far from perfect, and if he were keeping anything from me it would be for my own protection, I know it." He took a deep shuddering breath. "But there's only one way to know for sure, and that's by questioning Mizuki. I don't think he knows anything, but I think... I think he may have seen something."
"You think he may have seen the Kyuubi killer?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. It's evident from this that he was following Samantha, and that she crossed paths with Obito more than once. I'm positive that it was Samantha who knew something, and that she may have been one of Obito's CI's..."
"Criminal informant, huh. But she's not recorded in the system..."
"Since when did Obito do any of his own paperwork, Captain?"
"That is unfortunately true, but I still need to know, can you handle this?"
Each word of the question was punctuated for emphasis, and she could see the resolve set on Kakashi's features before he answered.
"I'll have to, there's no other way. Sakura, I'm going to need your help... and one other thing."
"Of course." She spoke without hesitation.
"I need you to trust me."
Both Kakashi and Tsunade were watching her now and it was oddly unsettling, it caused her to pause in thought for a moment. She trusted Kakashi as her partner and he knew this, they had spoken about it before he had shown her into his apartment. But in this instance it felt like a heavier request, that she needed to trust not only Kakashi as a person, but also his ability as a detective. She remembered all the things Tsunade had said about Kakashi, his intelligence, his dedication, and it was all she needed to know to form a response.
"Of course."
Kakashi stood up with a nod, his expression still trained into impassiveness.
"I'll put pressure on the lab to get forensic analysis fast tracked, once you're done with Mizuki file a warrant for his apartment."
"Yes, Captain." They spoke at the same time but didn't exchange glances.
"Good, now hurry up and question that dirt bag before his lawyer gets here. Dismissed."
Sakura turned and headed out the door first, Kakashi following behind, before it was shut he called back to Tsunade.
"Actually, Captain, a dirt bag is a very useful part of a vacuum cleaner..."
"So help me, Hatake, I will throw this stapler at your head and hit the mark this time..."
The door clicked shut before she was able to get fully heated on the topic. Sakura would have rolled her eyes at his comment, but honestly, she was glad that he was at least back to some modicum of normalcy. Irritating Tsunade seemed to be one of his favorite pastimes, to say the least.
"Okay." Sakura cracked her knuckles. "Mizuki hasn't been processed yet, while you were powdering your nose the officers on duty said they would wait for our word to go ahead with it. Y'know, in case the guy was innocent and there was a good explanation for the bag of knives and attempted arson… I'll process him with the fingerprint kit while we question him, take DNA as well, save some time… we need to tie him to those knives first and foremost, right?"
She turned to look at Kakashi, not expecting to meet his eyes and unusually soft expression.
"Good plan, Sakura. I wonder if you were this efficient as a doctor…"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing really, I just think our precinct lucked out and that Konoha General must be suffering in your absence."
Sakura stopped walking and had to blink a couple of times in disbelief before her brain started working again. He was… complimenting her? It was one of those jellyfish comments, it stung a little on the outset but he had meant something nice by it… he was trying at least. Sakura smiled just a fraction.
"Thanks… I think…"
"I'll show you where the kits are and how to check them out of the locker. We can go over our strategy for dealing with Mizuki."
"Well we have the advantage, we caught him red handed trying to destroy suspicious property." Sakura omitted that she felt like she would have an advantage during this questioning. Not only had she memorized the academy training on it, she also had a minor in psychology as a secret weapon. "We could apply the classic Reid technique, but I'm guessing Mizuki isn't going to give anything away, body language or otherwise."
"You're right, we do have the advantage, but not exactly in the way that you suggest. We have leverage in the knowledge, not only that Samantha was pregnant, but that Mizuki's own mother was the one who ratted him out and gave us the intel on the storage locker to begin with. I'm willing to bet that he is desperate to know how we found him so quickly."
"According to Hana he's one step ahead of us, you don't think he's already worked out that it was his own mom who phoned in?"
"I don't think he's as smart as she would have us believe, manipulative yes, but that doesn't mean that he has any shred of intelligence. The two aren't mutually exclusive. I think from what I've seen in those notebooks, from what we know from our brief encounter with him, Mizuki likes to be in control... "
"And when he loses that control..."
"My guess is that's what Samantha Winters found out, the hard way."
There was a time where Sakura wouldn't have cared to ponder on what would cause a person to become so dangerously irate that they killed the person they were meant to love. Not just killed, cut into pieces, stripped of every part that made her human. As a doctor her job had been to assess the ill and fix it with surgery, she'd never been subjected to something so... well, subjective. It was a grey area, and it was as terrifying as it was fascinating.
Samantha deserved justice for what had happened to her, and her mother deserved answers and something to help her forge a path back to peace of mind. But as Kakashi hit the button on the elevator Sakura's thoughts inevitably drifted back to the high stakes that this case held for her partner and his own peace. To be able to put his friend to rest and take a dangerous killer off the streets. Long ago this kind of pressure would have been the catalyst to a panic attack, but today Sakura simply breathed it in, used it to fuel her.
She was not going to leave that interrogation without something to show for it, there was too much on the line.
Mizuki was sitting at the table when they entered, a look of passive nonchalance on his face, as if they had just happened to run into him at the grocery store. Sakura deposited the heavy DNA and fingerprint collection kit on the table with a thump, Mizuki didn't startle or even blink, much to Sakura's displeasure. Kakashi sat himself opposite, taking the note pad from his pocket first. Sakura began opening the case.
"Mizuki Tsubaki, we have a few questions for you that we would appreciate-"
"I'm not answering anything without a lawyer, I'm not stupid."
"Of course not, you aren't dumb enough to give us a DNA sample either I bet." Kakashi made a show of closing the notebook with a sigh. "We still have to process you though, standard procedure, just going to take your fingerprints and statement."
"That's fine, as long as this pretty little pink thing is the one doing it, I'll consent."
Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"Thanks. The sooner we get you processed the sooner we can all get out of here, right Sakura?"
She nodded in reply.
"For the record you guys have nothing, just jumping at me on what is technically my property..."
"That storage facility isn't your property..."
"I rent the unit, so it's mine, and all the stuff that's inside it. You got no right taking any of it. Now undo these cuffs."
Bingo, he's just admitted to the unit being his, which is something they already knew but now it was on record from his own mouth. As well as whatever terrifying things lay within the unit itself. Sakura complied with Mizuki's request with a nod of confirmation from Kakashi, he had been shackled to the table, she needed them off to get the prints anyway. Kakashi continued with the interview undeterred and unwavering, professional, not giving anything away. It was the first time that Sakura really noted that she had never seen him in this concentrated capacity, she had never really seen what Kakashi was capable of as a detective. It was all the legendary tales that she had heard during her training that came to mind, and suddenly she was in awe.
"You're correct, we don't have any right to whatever is in that locker. But we are allowed to collect the trash, and the bag that you threw away as well."
She suppressed a smirk at Kakashi's words. As she began to set up the fingerprint kit she couldn't help but wonder why this process hadn't been made digital like the other precincts she had toured. It was one of the things she would change as Captain...
"I can throw out whatever I want, and I'm not saying anything about it either."
"Would you be willing to tell us why you were going to burn the place to the ground."
"Look, I told you, I'm not an idiot. I know what I'm doing and I'm not saying anything without a lawyer, so save your breath old man."
Sakura expected the quip to be met with sarcasm, disdain or immediate mockery, instead she watched the corners of Kakashi's mouth turn into the slightest of smirks. He was keeping his cool so well, there was too much on the line for him to fly off the handle.
Once the form had been signed and written, Sakura began to ink Mizuki's fingertips first.
"You know what you're doing alright..." Kakashi leaned forward. "And so do we."
"You don't know shit, you're just following a trail of breadcrumbs and got lucky. That's all this is, luck. You're nothing detective."
The conversation was so fraught with tension that it made her ears ring, but to anyone watching through the observation window it wouldn't appear that way. Mizuki looked so cool, so collected, and while Kakashi leaned on the table he too appeared relaxed and in his element.
"You're right again, Mizuki, what can I say, it has been a lot of luck." He nodded imperceptibly to Sakura and she reciprocated, it was time. "It was lucky that you botched the job removing the teeth on Samantha's skull and left one behind-"
"You've got no proof that it was me-"
"It was luck that those boys fished it out before DNA could be washed away, and it was luck that Samantha's mother came into the precinct so quickly for us to match it to her-"
"It's just your word that it's her. I want to see this DNA proof or whatever so I can give it to my lawyer-"
"It was pure luck that Detective Haruno here found your own mother's phone number on Samantha's records and gave her a call." Bingo. Mizuki was stunned into silence for the first time since they had sat down with him. Kakashi waited for him to respond all the same.
"You've got no right to talk to my mom-"
"So what? You said it yourself, Mizuki, it was luck and nothing more. Luck that she happened to tell us about the baby that was on the way. I wonder if you knew about it-"
"Of course I knew about it, dumbass, it was mine."
"Was yours, yes. But you threw it all away didn't you. And we just got lucky with the trash."
Something had switched in Mizuki and Sakura could see it before she felt it, the hand that she was trying to take a palm print from began to shake just slightly before going still. And then she watched as his fingers curled into a steady fist.
"I'm not admitting to anything, Dumb-ass. So why don't you just shut up so we can all get out of here? That's what you wanted, right? Get back to your rest home before the news is on, Grandpa..."
"Yes, well, it was certainly lucky that your mother told us about that storage locker before you were able to burn any evidence away." Kakashi continued in a quiet yet malevolent tone, "You know she said you were smart, but we never expected to get so... lucky, turning up and finding you tossing out the murder weapon just like you tossed Samantha's skull into that river. I think the only dumb-ass here, is you Mizuki, and I'll prove it."
Those were the last words Sakura remembered before Mizuki snapped. One second the men had been calmly exchanging heated words, and in the next second the palm that she had been collecting evidence from snaked around her wrist.
It was quick, too quick for even her reflexes, her brow furrowed in confusion but before her mouth opened the crushing and fearsome grip of the man took affect. As if in slow motion Kakashi's eyes drifted down to the table before back to Mizuki, and then he was out of his chair. Sakura kept her eyes on the magnanimous asshole that was currently bruising her skin with searing pain, and the disgusting smile that played upon his face, his eyes dark and unrecognizable.
Before Kakashi had even gotten halfway around the table Mizuki had slammed Sakura's hand against the panel with a harsh crack that made her world spin violently in pain, bile immediately rising to her throat at the sickening feeling of being unable to move her wrist.
The last thing she remembered seeing with her own eyes was Kakashi forcefully pressing Mizuki into the wall and slapping cuffs back on him. The last thing she heard was Kakashi's voice calmly speaking to Mizuki despite what had just happened.
"I'm going to have to do a lot of paperwork about this next bit."
There was another whacking sound of flesh against flesh and a sick thump as Mizuki fell to the floor like a bag of potatoes. Blearily Sakura cracked an eye to see Kakashi standing over her, his bloodied knuckles checking her mangled wrist.
And then it all faded into inky blackness.
What happened next for Sakura was a blur of bright lights and a familiar scent of ammonia. It felt like she had fallen into a familiar daydream somewhere in that zone between asleep and awake, but it was all she could do not to focus on the pain when it reared its ugly head. She decided that she must have passed out from the pain or shock of it all, compounded tiredness an added factor.
In true Sakura fashion it wasn't uncertainty for her safety that finally brought her back to earth, it wasn't fear, or even pain. It was anger, pure unadulterated rage that she hadn't been quick enough to get a shot at the bastard herself. Unknowingly her hand tried to form a fist and this time the pain that accompanied the action caused her to sit bolt upright and wake up fully.
What greeted her was a sterile room, a bed with a curtain around it, and Kakashi who must have been dozing on the chair in the corner. When she moved he shook his head almost comically and was straight at her side.
"You're awake, how are you feeling?"
"Sore as fuck. Where-"
"Oh, sorry I should have started with that, we're at the Accident and Emergency centre down the street from the precinct. I assumed that you would rather stay away from Konoha General…"
"You assumed right, that's actually… really thoughtful of you."
"I am capable of it from time to time. Is there anyone you want me to contact? Family? Boyfriend?" His eyebrow raised.
"No, on all counts. I'm as single as they come."
At another time the small talk would be enough to sustain and distract her from the paint, for the moment though it only settled to poke a sharp stick at the bear of anger within her. She needed details.
"Have they said what kind of break it is?"
"Uh, not exactly, some kind of fracture but we're waiting on the doctor-"
"Greenstick or stress fracture? You know what, just hand me the chart will ya?"
"Oh, right…"
Kakashi stood and fumbled around until he found the plastic board with the medical sheets clipped to it. Not wanting to make the same mistake again and move her injured hand, Sakura made a point to keep it as still as possible while she handled the clipboard.
"Well it won't need surgery in any case and that's a bonus…"
"Does that mean it will heal faster?"
"Not necessarily, but it means I won't have to be operated on in Konoha General by those bastards I used to work with, and that is definitely a good thing."
Kakashi made a kind of forced sounding noise in amusement before he pulled a chair over to the side of her bed and sat in it with a sigh.
"Sakura, just let me say this, I'm so sorry. If I'd known, in any way, that you were in physical danger I'd have never goaded Mizuki like that…"
"Kakashi, stop. Stop now, don't beat yourself up about it. You did a good thing, you got under his skin, and now at least if we don't get him for Sam's murder we'll get him on assaulting a police officer."
"Oh, he's got to be guilty that son of a- anyway. But you have a point there, maybe I shouldn't have-"
"Punched his lights out? Oh, you definitely should have, what did his face look like when it happened? I want all the details."
Kakashi smiled.
"Well, I don't think he'll be calling me Grandpa again any time soon, with him being the one needing false teeth and all…"
"Nice." Sakura smiled, the pain beginning to ebb just a fraction. "I just wish I'd gotten a shot in."
"You'll have your chance soon enough, I'll make sure of it." Kakashi softened. "I mean it, I really am sorry Sakura. I should have taken better measures to protect you."
"Hey, it happens. You're not going to always be able to protect me, especially from crazy people we're questioning, you had no way of knowing he would try to hurt me. It's fine. Let's just get out of here and get him locked up. What time is it?"
Kakashi retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket.
"Little after midnight. We can legally hold Mizuki for longer now that he's assaulted a police officer. Tsunade is furious, I've never seen her like this before. She filed the warrant for his apartment herself, it's already been signed by the judge, we should be able to sweep it in the morning."
"Wait, she can't be furious with you, it wasn't your fault. I'll talk to her…"
"Oh, no, I'm not in the firing line this time, surprisingly enough. Mizuki is though. I've phoned in a favor to get security on him just in case the Captain goes in and breaks him into pieces herself."
"That bad, huh?"
"I've been working under her for ten years and I've never seen her so… volatile. I mean she's protective of her detectives, she slapped the prostitute we arrested last year for breaking Genma's nose while he was undercover… but this is next level. And you've only been here for a week."
"What are you saying?"
"It's just very strange, and interesting, I wonder why she would go so far for a rookie. A talented rookie, but still…"
"Well, I think you're just experiencing the paranoia that often comes with old age. We can organize someone for you to talk to if you like-"
The back and forth between them started again, a volley of thinly veiled insults, except this time it ended differently. Sakura would later attribute it to the pain from the fracture to her wrist, that it had addled her mind, but eventually they both sat there unable to breathe from laughter. She couldn't say exactly when the tittering giggles had begun, somewhere between her explaining where he could purchase a hearing aid and his accusing her of being an alien spy with pink hair sent from an anime bent on destroying his career.
In between insults a nurse had been in to administer pain relief and prep Sakura's wrist for a splint. The hours passed slowly while they spoke, at one point she had tried to make Kakashi go home and get some rest, but he was adamant on not leaving her alone. It was the partner's rule and that was the end of that. Eventually the conversation drifted back to the case and all that they had learned, with no windows in the room it was impossible really to keep track of the time, neither of them were looking at their phones.
Not until Kakashi's phone began to vibrate on the table. The word 'Captain' lighting up for all to see.
"Hatake." He answered with no emotion, likely preparing himself for the storm of anger that was Tsunade Senju. "Yeah, we're still here and waiting on the splint, why?"
Sakura strained her ears but she could only hear mumbling from the Captain, the fact that she wasn't shouting down the phone meant that her mood must have improved some.
"All of it was positive for human blood, Jesus. Is it a match to-"
More mumbling.
"Yes, Ma'am. We'll be there as soon as possible."
Kakashi looked at his phone for a few seconds with that pained expression again, that one which meant there was a puzzle that needed to be solved. He stood up quickly.
"Where are you going? Is the blood Sam's?"
"The DNA isn't finished yet, and I'm going to find the doctor, we need to get out of here, food and dressed fast. Then back to the precinct by 9am."
"We've got all night, what's the rush?"
"Well, for starters, we've got… two hours." He said double checking the screen on his phone which flashed 7am for her to see. "Second we need to get to Mizuki fast, he wants to talk to us, said he's got information in return for a deal."
"Information…"
"Yeah. I'm not sure if I trust it off the bat, it's not anything to do with the Kyuubi Killer or Obito. Have you ever heard of a gang called the Akatsuki?"