If Kakashi wasn't concentrating so hard on making it to the storage facility in one piece he would have turned to interrogate Sakura with every ounce of his detective capabilities and years of experience. It was personal information, it hadn't been pertinent to the case, but he'd never been so close to having an actual suspect for these killings.
There was a persistent feeling that would not leave him, a feeling that he was missing something, it was like having an itch at the base of your spine that you can't satisfy no matter how you scratch it. There was also something telling him that it wasn't fair just to grill Sakura about something this sensitive, so far she had been understanding and helpful after all his failings, it was the least he could do for her.
That didn't mean he wasn't slightly irked by the situation.
"Can you give me an outline of the case? If it's not too..."
"Gladly, I would love your opinion on it to be honest. The parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, were both gunned down in their own home. For all intents and purposes it appeared to be robbery, the house was a mess, the gunner was waiting for them when they got home."
"Waiting for them? How do you know that?"
"Alarm on the house was turned off an hour and a half before the shootings, according to the security company. And this is where I'm bothered, that code was only known to family, even I didn't know it and I dated Sasuke on and off for years. So immediately your two best suspects are Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha."
"And their alibi's?"
"Itachi was a first year resident at Konoha General at the time. Sasuke and I were both still in medical school, we were at dinner with my parents when it happened. But you and I both know that doesn't mean they weren't involved."
"Sounds like you've thought about this a lot."
"Mmm. Not that anyone would listen to me at the time. I was just a med student, and a girl, and the only thing I had to go on was a feeling that I couldn't shake. I know they were behind it. The day after they died the brother's claimed insurance, the house was sold, suddenly Sasuke's grades improved dramatically. He gets the best placements, best apartments... it all just felt wrong."
"So you broke up with him after that?"
Sakura sighed and shifted uncomfortably.
"I wanted to help him at the time, I had my suspicions but I didn't want to be the monster who dumped her boyfriend after his parents deaths. It didn't matter though because that's how it came to pass at any rate. I just couldn't let it go, and something in Sasuke changed, it was like I didn't know him anymore."
"Sakura, are either of these brothers 'hot-shot doctors', would they have been able to help Samantha's mother like Mizuki claims?"
"Honestly, Itachi has a gift, he is an amazing doctor and surgeon. If anyone has a chance of helping her, it's him. Sasuke is.. well, he's a pale imitation with a chip on his shoulder."
Kakashi glanced over to his partner and watched a shadow pass over her face, it was a look he decided he never wanted to be on the receiving end of. All of this was pure conjecture at this point, there was no evidence, not yet anyway. He tried his best not to be so agitated with his partner about keeping that information to herself for so long when she had no real reason to tell him. But the thought festered none-the-less, when his eyes darted to her wrist splint he tried to remember that she was new, she had been hurt because of him too. And she wasn't holding that against him in any way, shape or form.
Obito would have just moved on with the case and been grateful for the lead.
That was what Kakashi thought anyway, Obito wasn't exactly giving him any hints on what he should do.
"So, what do you think Kakashi? Worth looking into?"
Sakura's voice broke through the fugue.
"Maybe, your instincts are reacting for a reason, Haruno. But it'll have to wait until later, we're here."
There was a police cordon around the facility already, the shitty sedan was waved through without an issue, the car was infamous within the force. As was the detective behind the wheel. The crazy one who couldn't solve the case of his partner's murder. How was he to lead a task force when the whispers would follow him?
"Captain said to rendezvous with Ibiki Moreno, he's leading the operation. Sounded almost like Tsunade was going to come with us herself for a moment there."
"That'll be the day." The words slipped out before Kakashi could check them, Sakura watched him with narrowed eyes until the car was parked and he decided to elaborate. "Tsunade hasn't been in the field for a long time. Not since Captain Minato was killed in the line of duty."
She looked pensive but in pain at the same time, maybe it was confusion, but he doubted severely that there was anything that Sakura Haruno didn't understand.
"I remember when that happened, wasn't Tsunade up for the Commissioner's spot at the time?"
"Yeah she would have gotten it too, I think her dreams died with Minato, she withdrew after that and resumed her command of our precinct. Let's get moving, Haruno. If we find any drugs here we're in for a lot of work."
"Still not sure I'll be able to help run a whole task force..."
"I meant paperwork, Sakura, my first warning to you as a detective, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Be grateful it's not drugs... is it really that bad?"
"If you have a kink for being buried under piles of paper and being trapped in a chair for twelve hours straight, then no it's not that bad."
She smiled and they both got out of the car, Kakashi taking a moment to steady himself, just speaking Minato's name aloud was hard on some days. For some reason it flowed naturally with Sakura and hurt just a little less than usual. It probably helped that they were potentially about to make the biggest drug bust in Konoha history.
Ibiki Moreno greeted them beside the facility's main office, a staunch and robust man, Kakashi had unfortunately met the man before. He was a no nonsense type, the kind that would write you up for making a joke or stepping a foot out of line. He'd had a small feud with Obito back in the day, and while Kakashi had never exactly stepped on the man's toes, he seemed to have unintentionally inherited that feud judging by the look on the man's scarred face. He was certainly not happy to see Kakashi.
"Detectives, pleased you could make it."
"Sergeant Moreno, any news?" Sakura couldn't have known Kakashi's thoughts, but she had formed a habit of gliding in and smoothing things over for him this week. He sorely hoped that it continued.
"We've got the place on lock down, no one in or out, swept the smaller upstairs units fairly quickly. Most of them weren't being used. According to the, uh, colorful receptionist, this tracks with her records. She indicated there had been some movement in the larger boat storage units out the back early this morning."
"You think they've cleared out already?" Sakura asked turning to Kakashi.
"Not sure. The issue being with the Akatsuki is that we have basically no information on how they operate, how they make or move the drugs is a mystery. Are the boat units monitored by CCTV?"
Ibiki nodded before answering.
"Tactical team phoned in that the cameras in that part of the facility had been knocked, so there are 3 doors in the blind spot."
"Start with those..." Kakashi was interrupted.
"You telling me how to do my goddamn job now, Hatake? Bit rich coming from a detective who hasn't made a single arrest in a whole year." Ibiki stepped closer to him, chest puffed like the overgrown gorilla that he was. "You've forgotten how to do your own job so you think you can just barge on in here and issue orders, well you've got another thing-"
"Excuse me, Sargeant." Sakura inserted herself between them before Kakashi's mind had even determined the best kind of come back, she placed her unbroken hand flat on Ibiki's chest and pushed him so that he staggered back a few steps. Her tone was no nonsense, an eerie imitation of Captain Tsunade, he couldn't see her face but imagined that she had a scowl to match. "While it's actually none of your business, Detective Hatake arrested a murderer this morning and tracked down leads on the biggest crime family of Konoha and the Kyuubi killer, it's not even 10am, Sergeant. What have you done with your day so far?"
She'd asked it like a genuine question so Ibiki made to respond, Kakashi almost felt sorry for the guy, almost.
"Well-"
"Well, nothing. Just do your job, Sargeant, instead of complaining about it. Or would you like me to call the Captain and ask for her thoughts on the matter?"
The color drained from Ibiki's face and Kakashi may have even winced a little bit. The Sargeant nodded and promptly moved off to direct his subordinates, Sakura turned to face Kakashi, her face was impassive but her lips were just slightly pursed in displeasure.
"You don't need to fight my battles for me, Haruno, I'm perfectly-"
"Says the man who knocked out our suspect for hurting me. Get over yourself Kakashi, we're in this 50/50 and I don't want that asshole throwing a tantrum every time we cross paths, this way he'll think twice next time."
"I'm not sure you want to make enemies with Ibiki Moreno, the man is-"
"I know a tantrum when I see one, he'll eat something and calm down."
"Sakura, just listen to me." It came out with an edge of bitterness he hadn't intended, so much so that he looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one else had heard it. "I deserve it alright, that's just how cops are, he is trying to help me in his own way."
"By calling you out in front of others?"
"Yes, yes that's exactly it." Kakashi paused to collect himself, collect his thoughts before he said something that he would regret. "He's right, I haven't been on my game, I've been stalled for too long. It doesn't matter what kind of detective I used to be, I need to prove myself all over again... I've known for a while but I just didn't have the energy or the will to acknowledge it."
He wasn't sure where these words were coming from, it wasn't exactly the time or place for him to be opening up. But he needed Sakura to understand because her own safety was at stake. She was still naive enough to believe that cops were all on the same side. One day she would need back up, and men like Ibiki Moreno could ignore her call should he choose to do so. Kakashi sincerely hoped that this offer of the truth would not only calm her from acting so brashly, but show her the reality of the world she had entered. He knew her to be fiercely intelligent, and for Kakashi that would be her saving grace. She was a lot smarter than Obito had ever been.
"Got that right." Sakura spoke and Kakashi had a moment of panic that she may have been reading his very thoughts, but then she continued. "You haven't been on your game, but you have while I've been here. And that's all that matters to me."
They locked eyes, Kakashi wasn't sure what was passing between them or why it seemed to flatten the very atmosphere. The sounds of other officers, swat teams, everything else, all seemed to fade. There was a cold creeping up his hands and extremities, a feeling he only vaguely recognized as excitement, something that he hadn't felt in a long while, a feeling that he didn't think he was capable of anymore.
For the first time in a year, Kakashi was not only excited to be doing his job, but he was ready to make a difference.
"Detectives, if you're done talking, you might want to watch the raid on the monitor." Ibiki called from where he stood.
That concentrated stare was broken and they both walked over to the monitors. Ibiki was giving orders through a walkie talkie, Kakashi watching the screen from over his shoulder. There was a raid technique that he vaguely recognized being used, it helped that the screen was split between the cameras on two different officers.
Kakashi's focus was only on that screen and nothing else, wondering what lay in wait for them in those storage containers. As a veteran he knew not to get his hopes up, he knew that Mizuki's information could still be false, could you ever really trust a psychopath? He also knew that this situation could turn sour at the drop of a hat, his hand rested on the holster at his hip.
"On my count..."
The first unit was empty, Kakashi didn't realize that he had been holding his breath until his lungs were suddenly screaming for air. He was only just noticing the adrenaline coursing through his system, but he wouldn't indulge in calming himself until those units were all checked and everyone was safe. There was no way to tell what was on the other side of those doors, there could be ten, fifteen, twenty people in there. Things could turn ugly.
The units themselves were large enough to hold a couple speed boats or cars, dimly lit with one fluorescent light on the ceiling. Kakashi assumed that the layout would be the same for the other two units. Not exactly a warehouse for drug making, if that was indeed what was happening, but he'd seen meth labs in closets before. Drug makers always found a way with space.
The team had been given a master key to the units, but the second one they swarmed was waiting for them unlocked. Tactical only took two minutes to sweep the room and confirm that it was empty of any people, but from what Kakashi could see on the monitor, it wasn't completely empty.
The crackle of the radio confirmed Kakashi's theory.
"Sarg, send the detectives in. Over."
"Everyone telling me how to do my goddamn job, should have gone into private security when I had the chance... Copy that, over." Ibiki turned and nodded to Kakashi before speaking directly. "Well you heard the man, get in there."
The first thing to strike Kakashi was the smell, something like ammonia even before they came upon the opened door to the unit. Geared officers were standing all around, ushering them through quickly without so much as a word to what awaited them within.
Detective Hatake was previously renowned in his field for many reasons, he had achieved a few great deeds as an officer, but it was his penchant for being absolutely thorough that had built his career. Meticulous, cunning and methodical. At the entrance to that storage locker Kakashi somehow managed to slip back into that mindset of the great detective he had once been.
To him time was passing slowly, but in reality it could only have been seconds.
Smell. Ammonia, someone tried to clean up, other pungent chemicals must have been stored or created here for it to linger so heavily in the air.
Sight. One entrance, one exit, three steel benches in the middle of the room. Multiple power extension cables and dual outlets. Suitcases in one corner, opened boxes in another, small white bottles scattered on the floor.
Sound. Crunching underfoot, debris on the floor like plastic wrap, unit far from sound proof. It was hard to imagine a group of people being able to work in this enclosed space without drawing attention to themselves
It was suspicious enough and they had yet to call in the Drug team for testing.
"Should we be wearing masks for this?"
In all the adrenaline and thought processes Kakashi had completely forgotten that Sakura was even with him.
"Probably..." He answered halfheartedly.
"Here." Sakura withdrew a surgical mask from her pocket and held it out to him before fixing one to her own face.
"What kind of weirdo carries two masks around with them?"
"An attractive weirdo." Sakura winked. "Now, what have we got here."
Kakashi knew exactly what they were looking at without even entering the room fully. This had once been a drug lab alright, he'd been in enough to recognize one. When he bent down to examine the opened white bottle at his feet his instincts were confirmed, there was a smaller empty vial inside it.
"Tsunade said the drugs were in liquid form, right?" Kakashi was speaking to himself more than to Sakura who was now on the other side of the unit. "We've got to be looking for someone with a background in chemistry, liquid drugs are almost impossible to keep stable without proper knowledge and equipment. If that is what was being produced here..."
"They would need hospital laboratory grade equipment I imagine, let alone the resources to bottle it..."
"Hospital grade, huh." Kakashi's eyes narrowed and he looked toward Sakura. "I think I would like to have a better look at these Uchiha brothers when we get back."
Sakura didn't reply and for a moment he wasn't sure if she had even heard him. Maybe she had something to hide when it came to Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, all his instincts were screaming that there was something that he was missing, and the biggest question of all was Sakura herself.
When the silence continued it became uncomfortable enough for Kakashi to stand and see what she was doing. Was she purposefully ignoring him?
He didn't expect to find her crawling on her hands and knees and examining the floor.
"I think I've found something..."
It seemed that every time Kakashi turned his back Sakura was finding more leads. Once upon a time his competitive nature would have shuddered at the thought of being outdone by a rookie detective on her fist week, but it only served to make him smile. He was glad that she was on his side.
"What is it?"
"I can feel a draft."
Kakashi wasn't about to get on his hands and knees, and he didn't have to. Following the structure of the roof with his eyes he noticed something that was different from the other storage unit. Unlike the others, the sole fluorescent light wasn't in the exact middle of the ceiling, almost like...
"There's a false wall."
"What?"
"False wall, on that side..." In a few short steps he was there, both palms against the cool metal. "It's being held in place by the vent on the ceiling, look... If I could just…"
Putting his weight into his knee, Kakashi pushed forward to dislodge the sheet of tin that was acting as a fake wall. The scraping noise and bang alerted the other police officers, they all filed in watching as Kakashi smacked himself into the metal. They probably thought he had finally lost what was left of his mind but he just didn't care, he knew that there was something here, and Sakura did too. She stood next to him, using her shoulder on her uninjured side to help push until it finally gave way with a clatter.
Kakashi was busy making sure that the sheet of tin didn't fall on top of his partner or himself, the last thing he wanted was stitches added to Sakura's injury list. By the time he set it down he could see the shock in Sakura's eyes and hear the murmurs of the police officers behind him. By the time he got a good view of the space that had been revealed he was squinting, as if the action could help him make sense of what he was seeing. Sakura was awkwardly trying to put a glove on her uninjured hand.
It was a crawl space no larger than a closet, thin and long, there were boxes stacked on one side. They had a logo on them which appeared to be a fish and something called 'Aquafin', Sakura was already opening one of them, it was filled with the white bottles that were littering the floor. Except these were labelled with the same fish logo that was on the boxes and the lids appeared to be sealed.
"Why would they try to hide aquarium cleaner?" Sakura mumbled while Kakashi retrieved his own gloves from his pockets and put them on.
"I don't think this is aquarium cleaner..." Kakashi picked up one of the bottles and turned it in his hands before opening it. "It's bijuu."
Attached to the lid in his hand was a small vial containing a yellowing liquid.
"Holy shit, Hatake, you actually managed to find some." Ibiki spat from the doorway, Kakashi ignored him.
"How much do you think we've got here, Sakura? Street value is about a hundred dollars a hit, we've got about... 120 bottles a box... how many boxes..."
"Fifty boxes, we've got $600k worth of drugs here."
"I guess that's worth a hundred hours of paperwork. I'll phone this in to forensics, get them to sweep the room and see what they can turn up. We need to get a move on this, talk to Mizuki again. Sergeant Moreno, can you have your guys check the rest of the facility and send the footage to the precinct?"
"Sure thing, Detective."
Kakashi tried to take in every detail of that crawl space, but it wasn't until one of the boxes was shifted that he saw something that sparked any interest. Tucked behind the boxes as if they had been thrown without much care was a pile of green fabric, it poked out from its spot on the floor and caught his eye. Specifically it held his interest because it was the exact same color as the surgical mask on his face.
Patting his pockets suddenly looking for something, Kakashi tentatively leaned toward Sakura and plucked the pen that was attached to her pocket. He moved too fast for her to really catch him at it, she may have made some sound in protest but he was already kneeling down and using the pen to shift the fabric into plain sight.
"Is that-"
"Those are hospital scrubs." Sakura sounded breathless in his ear as she knelt beside him. "Surgical scrubs."
"Detective Haruno, where did you get these masks from?" Kakashi removed the fabric from his face, watching Sakura's eyes widen as she turned to look at him.
"They were left over from when I worked at Konoha General..."