In the past few weeks Kakashi had learnt when not to poke his partner for more information than she was willing to give. It might have been Pavlovian conditioning, a sharp elbow to the ribs if he asked if she was alright too many times, but it had left an impact. So despite the tense atmosphere in the sedan, Kakashi kept his thoughts and questions to himself. They had just narrowly escaped being blown up after all.
"You sure you're alright driving with that ankle? I can take over."
"I'm fine, it's not so bad, besides it was my turn anyway."
"Sorry about your shirt by the way, and your jacket..."
"Stop apologizing Sakura, it's not like you set that trap. I've got other shirts and another jacket somewhere I'm sure, it's fine."
"You sure about that? I've only ever seen you in that jacket..."
Before he even had time to voice the witty rebuttal he was rudely interrupted by his cell phone mounted to the dash. Gai's name was flashing across it, Sakura beat him to the swipe to answer, putting it on speaker phone.
"Gai, what have you got for me? We're on our way..."
"Are you both alright?! Tsunade has been screaming down the phone for an hour, did the blast get you?"
"We're fine, Gai." Sakura said with a monotone of impatience.
"Well that's something at least, you better get here fast though, the Captain might actually murder someone at this rate-" On cue, Tsunade's reverberating boom could be heard in the background. "I've also finally got a name for that offshore company in Kiri that makes the aquarium cleaner. Someone by the name of Kisame Hoshigaki, there's something vaguely familiar about it but I can't..."
"Wait, the Kisame Hoshigaki? Deputy Mayor of Kirigakure?" Sakura narrowed her eyes towards Kakashi.
"Yeah, the one and the same." Kakashi answered. "Doesn't surprise me in the slightest, he was only acquitted of those organized crime charges on a technicality. Have you told the captain yet, Gai?"
"Uh, no, it's been mayhem here all morning I haven't been able to get a word in."
"Good, leave it with me. I'll meet with Tsunade when I get there, just gotta find a shirt first..."
"A shirt? What the hell happened at that crime scene, Kaka-" click.
This time Kakashi hung up the call before Sakura could beat him to it.
"Kisame Hoshigaki huh, didn't they charge him with ordering the massacre in Kiri?"
"They did, and they rushed it, based the arrest on the testimony of a co-conspirator instead of actually looking for physical evidence. Botched the whole thing completely, so he ended up walking free. And then to make matters worse he amassed a small following in the years he lay low, and then he bought the votes for the election. Yagura is the current Mayor and it appears as it he's just a yes man for Kisame now, must have been a heavy price to buy him..."
"Tsunade is not going to be happy when she hears that, especially on the back of our entire crime scene blowing sky high..."
"We'll work through it when we come to it. I better get dressed properly before we go in though, I don't want to give her any more ammunition to be pissed off with."
The atmosphere in the sedan fell back into awkward silence. If something was bothering Sakura she would tell him when the time was right and no sooner. She would pick a moment when they were both not so busy with work, they had full stomachs and there was no impending doom. Kakashi liked to think he knew her well enough now to gauge this at least. The first stop he would make when they got to the precinct would be the locker room, there was definitely a spare shirt in there, he'd have to go jacket hunting later without Sakura noticing.
Gai was waiting for them at the door to the precinct, Genma was outside as well smoking behind the dumpster.
"It can't be that bad, can it?" Kakashi spat slamming the door to the sedan, he exchanged a look with Sakura.
"It's worse than that Kakashi, we're at new realms of anger."
"Has she started the maniacal laughter phase?"
"Not yet, but maybe you should ask Genma why he's out here..." Gai raised his eyebrows comically and nodded his head toward the other detective. Kakashi and Sakura begrudgingly glanced over to find that Detective Shiranui had in fact been handcuffed to the dumpster. "Tsunade took one look at his desk, told him if he liked trash so much he should-"
"Shut up, Gai! At least I don't have to be in the building with her, this way is far better..."
"Coward." Sakura muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "C'mon let's get moving, we'll be in more shit if she knew we were out here talking."
"You two look like you've been frolicking-"
"Gai, any comment on my appearance will result in bodily harm to your person. And I was a doctor so I know how to make it look like an accident."
"Uhh, roger that, Detective Haruno. Seriously, Kakashi, are you alright? You look like you've been through the wringer."
"Well I did almost get blown up this morning, Gai. What's your excuse?"
He didn't need to glance sideways to know that Sakura would be biting her bottom lip subtly to stop herself from laughing. Though she gave as well as she got in the teasing department she had a lot more tact and patience than he did. Which was probably a good thing. because the looks they were receiving on walking into the building was enough to make him want to call out each of them individually. He hadn't actually seen his reflection since the blast, and he'd been too concerned with Sakura's well being to really scrutinize how she looked, she always seemed put together well enough anyway. Maybe today there was a hair or two out of place but that would be all, and even that look suited her.
The elevator doors opened onto the bullpen, chaos wasn't enough of a descriptor to truly capture what was going on. Before anyone could call them over Kakashi was on the move, taking the old tshirt off while still in the corridor, time was of the essence. The sounds of Sakura trying to whisper an argument with Gai followed him all the way to the locker room. When that door shut behind them he could finally hear what was being said.
"The captain is definitely going to call in the major crimes unit, Haruno, this is too much for the task force, we'll be going across borders with Kiri involved now-"
"No, no way she would do that! She'll make one phone call to the commissioner and we'll have what we need, he's wrapped around her finger, besides she promised us this case, right Kakashi?"
"I don't know if I would count that as a promise, but I do think you're right about the other part. This task force means too much for her just to fob the case over to major crimes, not to mention that bijuu is being distributed in our district, we should be the ones to bring the Akatsuki down. There's a score to settle."
"I hear you both, but you've got to admit, especially after this morning's incident that you're in over your heads! You're trying to take down a notorious serial killer and an entire criminal network!"
While Gai spoke Kakashi continued to comb through his locker to find a suitable replacement for a shirt.
"Gai, if you're not going to back us up on this, I don't want you in that room with the captain."
"Fine, I'll back you up this one time but when it blows up in your face again, pun intended, I won't sit quietly and watch you walk into the fire." Gai held up a finger as it to add exclamation to his point, Kakashi was filled with an overwhelming urge to slap it back in his face but restrained himself and he left.
"What the hell is his problem..." Kakashi murmured buttoning his shirt, Sakura coming to fix his collar.
"I'm his problem, Hatake. He's made it pretty clear that he wants to be your only partner."
"We worked together once five years ago when Obito was on assignment somewhere else and he has literally been dogging me ever since, it's insane."
"Yeah, well we've got bigger problems to tackle right now."
"You're right, Tsunade is not going to be easy to deal with-"
"No, not that problem. I can see your nipples through your shirt."
"My eyes are up here, Haruno. "
"Well, it's just a little distracting, looks like your trying to signal alien life with those things."
"You'd be cold too if you had your clothes ripped off you-"
An ominous throat clearing noise stopped all sentences from forming in Kakashi's mind, he craned his neck to see the terrifying truth. Tsunade standing there with her arms folded. A grimace passed over Sakura's features very quickly before she turned to face her doom.
"If you two are quite finished, debriefing, my office, two minutes."
Kakashi considered it the work of divine intervention alone that allowed him to dress so quickly. Sakura didn't hang around, she followed immediately after the captain and it was just as well. Tsunade didn't need any extra ammunition before he walked into that office. Leaving the locker room Kakashi stole a second to glance at himself in the mirror, there was certainly a dishevelled ashen quality to his appearance that hadn't been there this morning. It would have to stay that way until after meeting the captain. Gai and Sakura were waiting in her office when he entered, as soon as the door closed she began.
"First of all, I want to express how grateful I am that you're both safe, the only reason the crime scene techs weren't caught in that blast was your quick thinking, Hatake."
"Thank you, Captain..."
"Who said I was thanking you for anything, detective? I only expressed my gratitude that you protected another officer and the rest of the staff at the site. Secondly, I want to tell you, how momentously lucky you are not to be dead right now. What the hell were you thinking, trying to defuse that bomb with no information and no equipment? And dragging Sakura into it..."
"That was my fault, Captain. I refused a direct order to vacate the scene."
"You what- I'm not even going to get started on that right now. Both of you, if you ever do something that stupid again you'll face a fate more terrifying than a bomb, and it'll be the other end of my fists. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Kakashi resisted the urge to chance a look at Sakura. He knew she'd have one of two expressions on her face, the one of trained impassiveness, or the pouty look she often wore when she didn't get her way.
"Okay, we don't have a lot of time and we have a few things to cover, so let's get on with it. Was it him, was it Mizuki?"
"Yes, without a doubt."
"And was it the work of the Kyuubi killer?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Kakashi said without any trace of hesitance, he and Tsunade locked eyes in a heavy stare. "I believe it was in retaliation for his speaking to law enforcement about the operations of the Akatsuki."
"Do you really think he would rig one of his crime scenes to blow sky high? It doesn't fit his MO."
"It's uncommon for serial killers to change their MO, this is true, but we're also dealing with a criminal organisation here. If we assume that the killer is working on orders, and the evidence suggests that to be the case, then it's more than probable he set that bomb too. We're closer to finding him now than we ever have been, he's scared, he's trying to cover his tracks better."
"Let's make this his last victim, Hatake. Show this bastard what we're made of. Haruno, use your contacts to get an updated psychological profile of the killer as soon as you can. We need to move on this while it's still hot, excuse the pun. Gai, what did you have that was so important?"
"The name suppression was finally lifted on the owner of the company who makes 'Aquafin'. It's an offshore company in Kiri owned by one Kisame Hoshigaki."
"Son-of-a..."
"Captain, I have a suggestion for how to proceed..." Kakashi interrupted what was surely a volley of continuous swearwords, hoping it was enough to shift her anger for the moment.
"Lay it on me, please. If we're going across border I'm going to need all the goddamn ideas we've got."
"I think we should go directly to the factory now and search them before any information leaks or tip offs, bypass the distributors completely, surprise them while we have the chance-"
"Have you lost your mind Hatake? Or did that bomb knock a few more screws loose?"
"We know the factory is operating within Konoha, it wouldn't be hard to get the search warrant with a name now. I'm telling you, if we go directly to the manufacturer we could catch them in the act of making it-"
"Could? Could catch them? Not. Good. Enough. Not for me and certainly not for a judge to get the warrant, besides the fact that you want to piss off the Mayor of Kiri by arresting his deputy without probable cause..."
"Probable cause? The guy is a gang leader and corrupt as they come, he owns the company that makes the product the drugs have been found it, how is that not probable cause enough for you?"
"Not for me, Hatake, if it were just up to me I would let you go on this little suicide mission. But we've got to think about the big picture here, the precinct, the commissioner, the mayor. There's a way to go about this and barging in guns blazing is not the answer..."
"Captain, if I may... I have a suggestion which might be palatable to the both of you." Sakura spoke with that wavering tone that lead him to believe he would not like whatever she suggested. The way she got her phone out to show Tsunade without even looking at him confirmed the theory. "We've narrowed down ten pet stores within Konoha that stock the product. We've had eyes on all of them but so far have only managed to nab a few low level distributors as you know. We've exercised caution in where and when we've arrested those dealers so we don't tip off the stores that are selling the drug. It would be impossible to search the places without tipping off the others and then they'll go to ground again..."
"Which is the last thing we want, this is the closest anyone has been to the Akatsuki, ever. And we no longer have Mizuki to pump for contacts and information." Tsunade was already agreeing, Kakashi could feel his anger rising.
"Now that we know the company is linked to Kisame Hosigaki we need to be even more cautious, he's a career criminal, organized and unforgiving."
"The longer we wait on this the more likely it is for the Kyuubi killer to strike again." Kakashi interrupted his partner. "Add into the mix that this little stunt with the bomb required some extremely specific information about police procedures, and it was timed within the minute to when we arrived at the scene..."
"I'm not suggesting we wait, Hatake, just listen for once. What we should do is not give them an opportunity to communicate with each other. I'm saying we hit each store at the exact same time in a sting operation-"
"That's going to send alarm bells off to the higher ups after the fact, Haruno, are you serious?"
"I'm not saying we go in as cops, Hatake. I'm saying we hit each store while undercover. Going in asking questions posed as a civilian, see if we can get any more information without hitting the source. You have to admit, Kakashi, if we order warrants for the Aquafin factory and find nothing it's going to cause an incident with the border. That's what the captain is trying to prevent here."
"What is the point if we're also dealing with a mole in the Konoha PD? What if someone is feeding information directly to the Kyuubi killer from this very precinct? We're just going to ignore that fact and involve more officers, increasing the liability of more intell being leaked possibly-"
"Enough!" Tsunade stood as she spoke, the reverberations it sent through the office was enough to silence not only Kakashi, but the entire bullpen on the other side of the walls. "Enough, from the both of you. I will contact Internal Affairs about the possibility of an information leak, meanwhile I want more evidence, more information linking Aquafin to the bijuu and the Akatsuki. I appreciate that time is of the essence, Kakashi, and I know you're trying to keep a killer off the streets, but we still need to follow procedure. The commissioner and chief of detectives already want a status report on the task force and we need more than a few nameless peddlers. We need every shred of information we can get before we try to land Kisame-fucking-Hoshigaki. Understood?"
Kakashi knew the logic, understood the reasoning behind it all, and maybe it was all due to impatience on his part... but he was also anxious to get this guy fast. Bombs were no joke, if there was a target on his back or on the back of his partner, he wanted that snuffed out as soon as possible.
He would not let another tragedy happen on his watch.
"Understood."
"Pardon?"
"Understood, Captain."
"Better. Now, go prep your squads for going undercover, I want detailed reports afterwards. Where are we on that footage?"
"Still combing through it Ma'am, there's a lot of it-"
"I want it all done by first thing tomorrow morning. I don't care if it takes all night. Get moving, you've got some pet stores to check out. Dismissed."
Gai hightailed it out of the room as quickly as his legs would allow, Sakura appeared to be lingering and Kakashi wasn't going to let her fill the captain's head with any more suggestions. At least not without him here to argue about it.
"If I may, Captain-"
"Not now, Sakura."
"Detective Shiranui, Ma'am."
"Ah, yes. Fine, you have my permission to release him on the proviso that he clean his desk. If I find even one spec of dust on it-"
"No Ma'am, I was just going to tell you that it's due to rain in the next hour."
"Oh, okay then, wait until after that."
Tsunade and Sakura both nodded in unison and that was when Kakashi decided to hightail it himself. While he was content in pissing off the captain on most days of the week, pissing off both of them would land him in the hospital, he was sure of it.