It was another one of those days where Sakura could not have predicted what would happen next in any way, shape or form. Here she was standing in the observation room where her day had begun with the questioning of her ex boyfriend, she was filled with shock and nervous energy still.
But this time it had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with the heated moment that had occurred in the alleyway.
It had been for cover and nothing more, and that's what she had to keep telling herself, but she still found herself shocked beyond all reasonable measure... that she had found herself enjoying it in the moment. It had caused too many feelings to arise and more than anything she wanted to lock them away just for a moment so that she could catch her breath. They still had a job to be done here and it wouldn't help to be daydreaming about an encounter with her partner, that had been done for cover and nothing more.
"What did this guy say his name was again?"
Kakashi's voice cut through the fugue she had fallen into.
"He's only given us an alias so far, Deidara. What's our strategy here?"
"I think we should both go in there, find out what he was up to and who he's affiliated with. We also need to do it before Tsunade finds out that we've brought him in... or we'll have bigger problems to deal with."
Sakura cringed visibly as she thought about it. Her aunt was likely going to be as volatile as she could be after learning they had botched the surveillance duty. By the time they'd found someone to cover them, the Aquafin factory was silent as the grave, the relief team were baffled as to why they'd been called in the first place. The details of their tension fraught kiss had been left out of the initial report but there would be many questions later and they both knew it was a matter of time. Though they'd not spoken one word about it. It didn't seem so prudent to do so in front of the suspect on the way to the precinct, and now it just seemed too awkward to bring up. It wasn't the time.
"Have you got the camera we confiscated from him?"
"Yeah, I've got it here, let's check what's on it before we go in there. See if we can find out what this guy was after."
It would have been easier to see the images if they had taken the camera to one of their desks and plugged it into a computer, but time was of the essence. For the first few images on the display, Sakura wondered if they were dealing with some kind of delinquent. Pictures of twisted shapes, metals, dead birds, piles of garbage laid out in peculiar patterns... but these weren't the pictures that shook her to her core. It was a series of pictures, the last ones taken on the card, shadowy images of two figures pressed up against each other in an alleyway. The worst part being a close up of the two and Sakura could see her face had been as pink as her hair.
"Perverted little shit-"
"He might be a pervert, but look, Sakura..." Kakashi zoomed in on a spot on the small screen, shifting the focus beyond the canoodling couple. "That's the guy who was watching us in the alley, we've got a full profile picture of him thanks to this weirdo..."
"Well, that's... something. You know that we can't ever show these photos to Tsunade, right?"
"We can if we crop us out of it. But I'm more worried about Gai or Genma finding them to be honest, wouldn't put it past them to blow them up all over the precinct..."
"You're more scared of that than Tsunade's wrath? The woman who threw a chair out of her office window because it squeaked too much?"
Sakura didn't realize how close her face was to Kakashi's while they both scrutinized the tiny display screen of the camera. Her eyes flicked to his, watching as he appeared to be paused in deep thoughts.
"Unless we have some kind of peace offering, let's just get whatever information this guy has, then we identify this punk in the picture."
"What makes you think this guy has anything to do with it?"
"Which one?"
"Either of them, Kakashi. This miscreant probably has no information that's worth anything, unless it's handing himself in for being a voyeur. The other guy was probably just wondering why two people were going at it in an alleyway, maybe he thought you were mugging me..."
"Don't judge a book by it's cover, Haruno. Something in my gut is telling me that we're onto something, trust me?"
Even if he couldn't say why or what exactly his gut was telling him, Sakura found that she couldn't argue with him when he worded it like that. She did trust him, she trusted him with her life, he'd shielded her from a goddamn bomb not so long ago. Trusting him was the least she could do.
Swallowing any comebacks that had sprung to mind along with some of her pride, Sakura nodded and they both headed into the interrogation room. Deidara sat waiting for them, shackled to the table just as Mizuki had been weeks ago.
"Well, well. If it isn't the love birds, finally managed to pry apart long enough to grace me with your presence..."
"That's Detective's Haruno and Hatake to you. Deidara, was it? Care to give us a last name?" Kakashi dove straight in before he had even sat down.
"It's just Deidara you morons, I'm an artist, there is no last name..."
"So if we type that name into our system of known aliases, we won't come up with anything?"
"You can try, but the only thing you'll get on me is my hoards of adoring fans."
"Alright, wise guy. How about you start by telling us what you were doing in that alleyway and why you ran from police?"
He was young, cocky, he had all the markings of someone who had been on the wrong side of the tracks for the majority of his life. But Sakura was trying not to judge by the cover, as Kakashi had told her, the tattoos on the guy and the smirk on his pretty little face made her fists clench though.
"You fools wouldn't understand anyway, like I said, I'm an artist. I don't have to explain my motivations in pursuing my craft."
"Why don't you try us-" Sakura was preparing herself to pander to him for information when she was interrupted by Kakashi as he made a show of scrolling through Deidara's camera they had confiscated.
"You call this art, huh? Looks an awful lot like trash to me…"
"Like I said, fool, you wouldn't understand, you see trash but it's art. My specialty is taking the ordinary, the mundane, the ugly and turning into something beautiful. That's the only reason I took a photo of your little display of affection in that alleyway. Your superior officers know you were making out on the job, by the way?"
Sakura opened her mouth to send a volley of insults in the blonds direction, but Kakashi raised a hand to caution her and she only quietly fumed instead, he seemed to have a game plan here that she was unaware of.
"That was for cover, not for you to spy on. Does peeping count as art now too, huh?"
"Even Buddha loses his patience when insulted a third time, Detective…"
That was the final straw for Sakura, from both of the men in that room, she'd had enough.
"Alright, that's enough. Answer the damned question, what were you doing in that alley?"
"Hey, I have every right to be in that alleyway, it's adjacent to my gallery. Did you two have permission to be there, making out…" Deidara was silenced by what Sakura considered to be her very best death glare. "Look, my investors have pushed the gallery exhibition forward by a week and I need to find more content by tonight. Beauty is everywhere, so I went looking, that's it. I didn't mean to interrupt your little sesh…"
"You think that's why we brought you in here?" Kakashi scoffed as he spoke, the effect on Deidara was noticeable though, his eyes widened.
"Well, yeah, I wasn't doing anything wrong, you were the ones trespassing on private property…"
"We've already got you on two counts". Sakura decided to take over from here, lest it become a battle of the male egos. "One for resisting arrest and the other for impeding an ongoing investigation, so you better start making a whole lot more sense before I decide to draw this out for as long as possible."
"You wouldn't…"
"Legally I've got 24 hours of your time. I can keep you in here all night, when did you say your gallery opening was…"
She would never forget the look of legitimate fear that crossed his features. For a brief moment she was completely sure that she had him on the ropes, whether or not Kakashi had anticipated and goaded her into intervening was beside the point. If it was all a tactic it had been for nothing.
"Wait." Kakashi interrupted and Sakura momentarily steered her anger towards him. "Did you say, that the alley was adjacent to your gallery?"
But he had a point that she was suddenly also curious about.
"Yeah, I'm going for something beautiful inside of something ugly, those old factories are perfect for…"
"Adjacent to that alley is the Aquafin factory for Konoha distribution..."
"You fools really don't know anything, they moved out weeks ago and I moved in. It's my new fortress of solitude for my art, and I get to display whatever I like, so you can both suck-"
Kakashi's attention was now directed to Sakura.
"They couldn't have moved everything out of that factory without us noticing…"
"Boss said it was time to move out, so out they moved, it happened in a night. The guys still drop round from time to time to check on their investment." Deidara nodded in perhaps the cockiest display Sakura had ever seen.
"I take it that you're the investment?"
"Believe it or not, some people can recognize talent when they meet it in the flesh. Consider yourselves lucky to play a minor role in my inevitable success."
With a cloud of doom they both realized what their minor role would be.
"There is no way in hell you're displaying any of the pictures you took today." Sakura spat the words out with as much venom as she could muster. That look of fear, or madness, crept back onto Deidara's face. "This camera is being submitted in an ongoing investigation, you won't see it again for months…"
"Years even…" Kakashi added for affect, it worked.
"No, no, no. You don't understand. I have to put this opening on tonight! These guys sunk a lot of money into the place and if I've got nothing to show for it then it's the end of me!"
"Serves you right for leaving it all to the last minute though, really…" Sakura couldn't help but dig the knife in just a little further, Deidara responded by banging his restrained fists on the table.
"You have no idea what I've sacrificed, what I've done to get this far. I would have had everything perfectly placed for the opening but those assholes took a revenue hit somewhere and wanted it pushed forward. I only found out about it yesterday. Art takes time, that's what I told them, but they don't care. All they care about is making money from their investment…"
"Who's they?" Kakashi asked quickly, trying to keep the momentum going and Sakura knew it.
"Listen, you let me use those pictures, and I'll answer all of your questions."
Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a look, she hoped it portrayed her thoughts of 'over my dead body', but Kakashi had apparently not picked up on it.
"We'll consider cutting you a deal, but I want you to answer something for us first…"
Sakura was practically screaming in her own mind, what the hell are you doing, Hatake? But everytime she went to open her mouth she seemed to stall in remembering his earlier words, trust me. Surely he didn't want the whole world to see their little over the top display, he was just as desperate as she was to keep that out of the report… wasn't he?
"Fine."
"Regarding one of the photographs you took…" Kakashi turned the camera on and Sakura fought not to roll her eyes at seeing the evidence of the kiss again, it wasn't getting any less embarrassing.
"That one's my favorite, you can really feel the tension, fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of passion…."
"Cutting through the bullshit…" Kakashi mumbled, zooming into that spot which clearly showed the man who had been interested in their surveillance operation and thankfully fooled by the performance. "As we said earlier, we were trying to keep our cover from the ones we were monitoring…"
"Whatever excuse you need to tell yourself, buddy, I know explosions when I see them…"
"Do you know who this man is?" Sakura interrupted. "Is he one of the guys who comes to check in on his investment?"
Deidara rolled his eyes, but looked at the camera and made much less of a fuss than Sasuke had that morning when asked to do the same.
"Yeah, that's my man Sasori. He's one of the guys who got the place ready for me."
And just like that they had a name of someone who might work for the Akatsuki. The first tangible lead to the organization that had infiltrated and darkened the city of Konoha. There was excitement and adrenaline coursing through her whole system but Sakura needed to keep calm, whether they could trust this guy was a whole other matter, they needed to keep level heads about this. Containing any hint of excitement, Sakura decided to strike while the iron was hot.
"Before we cut any kind of deal we need to discuss it with our Captain first, so sit tight."
As she stood she chose to ignore the mumbled ramblings from Deidara, there was a writhing feeling in the pit of her stomach that they would now have to show Tsunade those pictures, but at least they had something to show for it. Kakashi followed her out the door, heading straight for Tsunade's office until Sakura pulled on his arm.
"Wait, don't you think we should come up with a plan before we go in there?"
"Oh, right, I guess. Usually I just opt to cover any of the major damage areas, groin, face, stomach... she can kick higher than you'd expect..."
"No, Kakashi. Not about the bodily harm, about the pictures. Does she have to actually see them?"
He appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, Sakura sometimes suspected that he was actually pretending to be thinking and he was just waiting for comedic timing.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, Haruno, we did what he had to do to keep our cover hidden, I'm sure she'll understand..."
While her partner was being cautiously optimistic, an odd shade on the usual grumpy facade, Sakura had already resigned herself to being made a laughing stock for the whole precinct. It wasn't so much what they had done while undercover, Detectives had pretended to be in heated moments for decades, it wasn't anything new... it was the fact that it had happened twice and no one was saying anything about it. Not Kakashi or herself, they hadn't spoken about it at all, and the evidence was visible on that camera.
They had spent too long in that position, there had been no need to continue the act, but Sakura had found herself unable or unwilling to stop... she couldn she didn't want to.
There were two kinds of silences that struck fear into the heart of Sakura Haruno, the first was the silence before a storm, when all creatures great and small were sheltered and not a soul dared to breathe. The second was what she was currently facing with Kakashi, the silence as Tsunade Senju put on her glasses and regarded the images on the camera screen. Sakura was too scared to swallow in case she attracted the attention of the beast, she didn't want to be the first target and she anxiously awaited for her to strike first.
Kakashi had calmly spoken all the details of the surveillance duty, skipping over any actual description of the kiss which she was thankful for. The fact that he didn't let Tsunade get a word in spoke volumes, he knew that the second she did speak that she would lose all that remained of her temper. Once the whole deal was placed on the table, with all the information currently gathered from Deidara, Kakashi had handed her the camera.
They both waited with bated breath. With her eyes still on the camera she finally spoke but it did nothing to defuse the tension.
"So the factory has already been cleaned out, we'll have to cancel the raid." When she said nothing further Kakashi deemed it safe to respond.
"Yes, Ma'am. It's still worth checking the factory for traces, I'll put a request in for forensics to do a sweep instead..."
"You'll do no such thing." She finally put the camera down on her desk and exhaled, the storm was now here. "Here's the plan, take this..." she gestured with an edge of disgust to the camera, "give it back to this Deidara, tell him he can use the photos..."
"But Ma'am..."
"No buts, Haruno. Just listen." The venom in Tsunade's voice caused Sakura to wince. "Run his name through the system anyway, I want to know where he came from, I want to know what he has for breakfast in the mornings. Then I want you to dress appropriately and attend this gallery opening tonight as the stars of the show. If the Akatsuki really are 'investing' in his work then they will be there, we could even get lucky and this Sasori might be there."
"You want us to go to an art exhibition?" Kakashi spoke and Sakura preemptively winced.
"What I want, is for my two lead detectives to conduct themselves in a professional manner so that it reflects well on my precinct. I want you to gather intel, as much as you can, and don't blow it this time. If my hunch is correct then the Akatsuki are using the selling of art as a front for laundering money. Whether this, Deidara is aware of it or not still remains to be seen. But for now we need him to cooperate and that means letting him believe that we're on his side and he's done nothing wrong. Got it?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good. Now get out of my sight, the both of you, I don't want to see either of you until you're respectable enough to attend the gallery opening."
Sakura purposefully made sure not to even glance in Kakashi's direction throughout the whole exchange, and she wouldn't until they were safely back in the observation room. She let Kakashi give Deidara the good news. She had always been intrigued by these artsy types and she was no stranger to the finer things in life. But she'd never had any aptitude for the creative things, choosing instead to occupy a comfort zone of numbers and memorizing, and that could be beautiful in itself if one knew where to look. For tonight she would have to adopt a whole other personality if she hoped to fit in at all, and the challenge of that was something that excited her.
She refused to give in to the notion that the excitement had anything to do with being Kakashi's partner undercover again. At least if he kissed her this time she would be able to prepare for it better. Can anyone really be prepared for a hurricane? Just because you know it's going to happen doesn't make it any less powerful...
"Okay, we've got two hours before the opening starts, we need to get ready... probably get some food, I'll need to call Pakkun's sitter." Kakashi's voice shattered her thoughts and for once she was grateful for it. "It shouldn't take too long to get ready, we can run a background check on Deidara..."
"Speak for yourself." She quipped while crossing her arms. "You're a man, all you need to do is throw on a jacket and you're ready to go, I've got to find suitable attire, shoes, do something about the hair, makeup will take time too..."
"Okay, first of all, if you think this hair is achieved with no effort then you have been sorely misled. Second of all, I have a hard time believing that Sakura Haruno doesn't have an emergency art exhibition opening outfit ready to go just in case the situation may arise."
"For such a 'hot shot' detetive you really know nothing about women, do you? There is a process to this, and as a woman I've got to put three times the effort into it that you do to get the same result. Men have no idea…"
"Sakura." The way he said her name made her pause mid sentence, the way his lips curled into a small smile had her frozen to the spot. "You don't need any effort, you're exquisite as is."
The silence that followed his startling words had an effect on Sakura. Perhaps it was due to tiredness, or the comedown of adrenaline, or the intense embarrassment at having Tsunade see those photographs. She didn't know how to reply, she didn't even know where to look, her eyes eventually settled on the wry smile of his and she suddenly came to her senses.
"Don't think you can sweet talk me into processing Deidara. It's your turn, remember? I'm going home to get ready... Have fun!"
Before he even had a chance to refuse she was making her way to the bullpen for her purse and keys. Kakashi didn't follow her, so she guessed that she was off the hook for now. There was ample time to get ready, she wouldn't need the whole two hours for it, and there wasn't really a need to have hounded Kakashi about it. But if she was going to be ready for any possibility she wanted to be as prepared as she could be. Ever looming in her mind was the fact that they were up against the Akatsuki, they had their foot in the door, absolute caution was a must.
She arrived at her apartment and immediately threw open her closet. It was just unfortunate that a singular thought was replaying itself louder with each swipe of a coat hanger.
Where are you going to hide your gun in that dress?
The worst part about it, for some unknown reason the question started to morph into Kakashi's bored timbre, which just made her cast aside the hangers with more force than necessary. It caused a domino effect that cascaded some stored shoe boxes to the floor, the contents spilling everywhere. Lady Katsuyu hissed from her spot on the bed.
"It's alright m'lady..." Sakura cooed absent-mindedly, her attention suddenly pulled towards the mess strewn across her bedroom floor. "That'll work..." she mumbled with a half smile, picking up a pair of boots she'd only worn once and deemed too impractical for everyday wear. Like a jigsaw puzzle she was then able to put the rest of the pieces together, maybe it wasn't perfect or something that she would usually wear to a party, but this was business.
The time went by faster than she anticipated, it had taken less time for her to do hair and makeup and more time to fit her standard issue weapon in her right boot. She fitted her badge into the other easily, she hoped the plunging neckline would distract any doormen from frisking her too heavily. Tsunade had always said, when in doubt go for the little black dress. It covered her womanly assets just enough to leave an air of mystery, but was tight enough to guide one's imagination. Shoving her keys into the tiny purse she would be taking, Sakura glanced up to the mirror and froze again.
Put on a jacket, or Kakashi will never let you live this down... The voice of reason sounded like Tsunade but there was another dark and mischievous tone shortly after that. But where's the fun in covering up?
With a smirk Sakura left her apartment sans the jacket and locked the door behind her. She was halfway down to the lobby when she realized that she hadn't fed Lady Katsuyu, but the cat wouldn't starve. She made a mental note here that she had also forgotten to tease Kakashi about the sitter, the whole way to the precinct she brainstormed for the best quip. About the time she settled on, 'Pakkun isn't the one who needs babysitting', her cab had stopped a block away from the precinct.
The boots wouldn't be ideal if she needed to chase any suspects on foot, but it was too late to change her mind about it. Her phone rang from the confines of her purse.
"Detective Haruno speaking."
"Where the hell are you? We've got to leave in five minutes if we want to make it in time and we still need to talk to Tsunade."
"Would you calm down, Hatake. I'm right outside the precinct."
"Where, I can't see you..."
Sakura stopped walking, she was literally within five feet of the double doors, her eyes darted around, she could hear him speak in the receiver but the deep voice was also echoed behind her. Sakura turned to find Kakashi standing beside the shitty sedan and looking almost comically around the parking area. Staring blankly at him for a moment she then sighed deeply.
"How many other people do you know with pink hair?"
She waited until he'd obviously spotted her before rolling her eyes and they both hung up. Kakashi had dressed appropriately, and even though he'd chosen a shirt without a collar, it suited the dress jacket he wore. He looked the part, he'd even made some attempt to wrangle his hair into submission.
"I swear I didn't recognize you..."
"Ha-ha, very funny. Let's just get this over with. Tsunade was a bit too silent about the whole thing earlier, so I'm expecting the worst."
Like most of Sakura's hunches this one proved to be unfortunately correct. The Captain only took one passing glance at the pair of them before she started her lecture, it lasted for two minutes straight with no break for air. The subject being how she expected them to act professionally even while undercover, how much was riding on the case and how hard she would make life for them should they screw this up. Sakura could tell by the redness on Tsunade's face that it was best not to say anything, thankfully Kakashi had also picked up on that detail this time and also kept quiet. The pair remained completely silent until they were dismissed and back in the sedan.
"Well, that could have been worse..." Kakashi mumbled as he started the engine.
"Yeah, let's just not give her any more reason to be pissed off."
Not one person at the precinct had commented on her appearance, and it was just as well, she would have sucker punched any commentators. Word had gotten out that she was the niece of Captain Tsunade Senju a couple weeks earlier, but she liked to think that it was also her no-nonsense reputation that had helped the situation.
"Listen, about... earlier..." Kakashi started to speak and Sakura was instantly filled with a strange kind of anxious energy. They had yet to talk about the kiss, and now it seemed like Kakashi was taking this opportunity.
"No need." She tried to defuse it before it began, not sure if she was equipped enough to be dealing with the whirlwind of emotions just yet, or in such close proximity to Kakashi. "You were just doing what was best for the case and keeping us both safe..."
"Yeah..." Kakashi still seemed to be fidgeting uncomfortably. "Yeah, things don't have to be awkward between us because of it, we're both professionals..."
"Exactly. things like that happen all the time, right?"
"I'm sure it happens, this is a first for me though... that's probably why it felt so weird..."
"It felt weird to you?"
"Well...no, but also yes, it wasn't normal..." Kakashi fidgeted a little more and Sakura found herself enjoying his awkwardness, it was bemusing to see him lose composure. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about it."
Sakura nodded, he didn't respond, she aimed her snide smile to the window. There was never a dull day on this job. She needed to keep her head straight just as she'd done as a surgeon, so she couldn't let this rush of weird emotions get the better of her, she needed to be calm and clear for tonight. That was what Tsunade had been trying to get across to them both, and while it didn't dispel the awkwardness it certainly forced her to focus.
The sedan was parked in the same alleyway they had used earlier, Kakashi busied himself with a recording bug that would go in his pocket, Sakura adjusted the one in her purse. They were both wearing ear pieces by the time they got out of the car, it tucked nicely behind her hair and out of sight.
"You ready?" Kakashi's eyes were on her, his arm held out for her to take before they crossed the street.
"Let's do this."
Sakura wasn't exactly familiar enough with this kind of scene to definitively say whether or not it was a typical art gallery. Deidara had kept his promise to put their names on the guest list, they were ushered in without much fuss, but Sakura still didn't trust him.
The plan was simple, split up and cover more ground, signal the other upon first sight of Sasori or anyone else of interest. So as not to arouse suspicion, the two of them collected a glass of champagne each when it was offered and decided to hold onto each other for a while yet. They wondered the floor and pretended to peruse the collection of oddities on display, while really studying the people in the room. There was only one art piece that really caught their attention enough to make them both stop moving, Sakura raised an eyebrow at the large blown up picture starring herself and Kakashi.
"Well if it isn't the stars of the show..." Deidara appeared next to them. "Admiring my handywork, Detectives?"
"Not so loud Deidara, we're meant to be undercover, remember?" She spat while throwing her best death stare.
"Of course, my mistake. Well, I hope you like the show, lovebirds. Try not to make a scene and upstage me now..." The blond smirked and disappeared to greet others.
"What a piece of work." Sakura muttered under her breath.
"Do you think we'll get a cut of this if it sells?" Kakashi hadn't taken his eyes from the monstrosity in front of them.
"Surely we're going to confiscate it into evidence once all this is over."
"Sakura, he's selling it for 5k. You're telling me you don't want a cut of that?"
"I would rather watch it burn..."
"It wasn't... that bad, was it?"
"The kiss... no, not that. But can you imagine what Gai will do if he sees this, massive... eye sore of a thing?"
She heard Kakashi wince though he didn't give a verbal answer. When he made a show of checking the time piece on his wrist they gave each other subtle nods, it was time to split up and do some recon. Finding Sasori would prove to be difficult, from the picture all they had been able to note was the hair color, a dark red that was poking out from under a baseball cap. He'd worn glasses too and there hadn't been any distinct features of note.
But they had an ace in the hole. Sasori had a tattoo on his chest, it spread just over his sternum and had been partially visible in the picture. It was something they would have to look closely for, but it was better than nothing.
"In position." Kakashi's voice cracked through the receiver. He had stationed himself at the entrance, while Sakura was keeping to the back of the factory floor where the fire exit was.
"Also in position."
It was tedious work but it needed to be done, any one of these people could be directly involved with the Akatsuki. It was certainly a clever way to launder money for the organization.
"Mid life crisis coming your way."
Kakashi's voice almost made her startle, it had been minutes since their last communication and she was slowly being filled with nervous energy to get started and find these bastards. But the humor in his voice, and the approaching mid life crisis in person almost made her laugh out loud.
"Don't be rude, Kakashi."
"It's not rude if it's the truth. And someone needs to tell him the truth about that toupee."
Sakura smiled, pretending to be interested in yet another picture of garbage blown up to intimidating proportions. Her blood pressure and energy settled back to an acceptable level and she once again reminded herself to thank her partner for that. He always seemed to know when she needed the tension to be defused without actually being told.
"Cougar incoming..."
Later on Sakura would admit that they had been anything but professional but in that kind of high pressure situation she'd needed to be grounded. She suspected that it was how Kakashi got through those tougher assignments, a morbid kind of humor to help pass the time and process the pressure. Casually sipping her drink, Sakura had been about to comment that it was a pity for Kakashi that the cougar hadn't been interested in him... when a certain exchange caught her eye.
It could be nothing, or it could be everything.
Deidara was talking to someone in the far corner, it had been a blind spot on her side of the room that she'd missed entirely. And she had only missed it because the gaudy picture of her kissing Kakashi was in front of it. The closer she got the more excited she was. This was a conversation that the artist had not want overheard, it was a conversation that he had hidden from her and Kakashi. Suddenly Deidara was on the move, leaving the person in the corner by themselves, and that was the first time she got a good look at him.
She tried to move closer towards him without being overly suspicious, the last thing she wanted to do was stand out now, but she also couldn't lose him.
This was Sasori, it had to be him.
The signal was two coughs when they caught sight of him or someone suspicious, she'd wanted to be sure before she called Kakashi over. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder, it took all her restraint not to break the arm it was attached to. She turned sporting an expression laced with venom.
"Kakashi, what the fuck are you..."
"Why didn't you give the signal..."
"I was about to when you showed up, why are you abandoning your post?"
"Something is going down, I just saw Kakazu Taki enter, this isn't safe. We need to call for backup."
"Wait, who is Kakazu-"
"Shh. That's him..."
Sakura tried not to look conspicuous, so she made a show of taking a drink and then stepping closer to Kakashi, pretending to get cozy with him. She turned her head and caught sight of Sasori talking with a taller man now in the corner with him. There arms were folded. They looked to be studying every individual in the building as they spoke.
"He's talking to Sasori-"
"Yeah..." Kakashi was playing along with her little gambit, bringing an arm around her waist and pulling her against him. "We need to get closer. Do you have a plan?"
She did, but it wasn't one that she liked. Ditching her glass on a nearby table, Sakura returned both her arms to Kakashi, turning him slightly so that his back was to the wall and they were both side on from their suspects.
"Follow my lead..." She whispered in his ear, pulling him closer to her.
Sakura desperately didn't want to kiss him again while they were undercover, Tsunade would chew her out for a month, but they needed to get to that exit with a good enough excuse to be there. She pretended to be kissing his neck, instead just nuzzling herself against the soft skin there, he smelt pretty damn good and she tried to ignore that fact.
It took everything she had not to giggle at how shaky his hands were to start with. But then it became not so amusing. The way his hands roamed up her sides, into the dips and curves her dress did little to hide, the way his breath tickled that spot just behind her ear. If she wasn't trying to concentrate so hard on the suspects she might have enjoyed herself, the hard feel of his abdomen through the shirt, she didn't even know when her hands had snaked there way through his jacket.
"As fun as this is... Sakura..." she ignored the way he said her name in that deep whisper and the goosebumps it caused, "how is this getting us any closer to the door?"
"Shut up, just follow my lead..."
Putting on what she hoped was a dazed but lustful grin, Sakura pulled back from Kakashi, but held a firm grip to his hands. She even put on a giggle for show as she pulled him towards the corner. Anyone watching would assume they were leaving to be somewhere more private, but that was only part of it. Kakashi's eyes stayed on her and for a blissful moment she thought the cover was safe, that they were a step closer to bringing in someone tied to the Akatsuki. But then Kakashi's eyes danced past her and to the door, they went wide which prompted her to turn.
Deidara was also there, he must have slid between Sasori and Kakazu while she had been feeling up Kakashi. Sasori was already opening the door, and that was when Deidara offered them a wink and a grin that she would never forget before he disappeared with the others out the door.
The lights in the gallery all went off throwing them into pitch blackness but she had a hold of Kakashi and they were barreling in the direction of the door. It couldn't have been ten seconds, but it was enough, they were already in a car and screeching towards the streets of Konoha.
It was an unmarked and unlicensed vehicle. They had known that the Konoha PD would be here. Deidara had been in on it the whole time.
"Fuck." Sakura swore and kicked the dirt of the alleyway with her boot, Kakashi was already on the phone. The back up he'd ordered had arrived too late.
Tsunade was briefed over the phone, and while she wasn't impressed that they had gotten away, they could now tie three names to the Akatsuki... and the company that owned this factory. If it still existed. Sakura protested from the passenger's seat that they couldn't trust a word Deidara had said, Sasori might not even be a real alias.
"Listen." Tsunade spoke no nonsense while still on speaker phone in the sedan. "This was risky to begin with we weren't expecting anything much from it. The Akatsuki are smart. The fact that we've got this close to them has them rattled and now they are cutting ties. I wouldn't be surprised if we found Deidara's body next."
"But Captain..."
"No buts! Go home and get some rest. You've both been working for over 24 hours and I need you rested and thinking clearly for the next part."
"Are we going after Kisame?" Kakashi asked, though it sounded more rhetorical confirmation.
"I think now we have to, yes. APB's have been put out for anyone matching Deidara, Kakazu or Sasori's description. Now go home detectives. Let forensics sweep the factory and I'll have your reports tomorrow."
She was being eerily nice about the whole thing and to Sakura that was another red flag. Even if the captain hadn't expected anything much to come from this operation it was still one of the only solid leads they'd had, and now it felt as if they were left with nothing. Sakura felt herself standing over a pit of despair.
Kakashi dropped her home, she'd expected him to take off once they got to the building, but instead he surprised her. Parking up the sedan and getting out himself. They hadn't spoken a word the whole way over and Sakura wasn't sure if she really wanted to talk about it. She didn't even take the stairs, she glumly put herself in the elevator, perturbed to find Kakashi still following her.
Halfway up he stopped the elevator.
"What are you-"
"Sakura. I can't watch you do this. Don't be me."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't... wallow in it. We've had a little set back, but that's what happens as detectives sometimes, and you... well you're too good to be kept down by one hurdle in the road."
"I've let the whole task force down, Kakashi, if I'd signaled you as soon as I saw Sasori maybe we could have moved on them faster. If I hadn't..."
"If." Kakashi stepped in front of her, a hand to her chin forcing her head up. "I know better than anyone, the what-if's and should-have's will eat your brain. You're too good for that and I won't let it happen to you, got it?" Kakashi had dropped his hand, not keeping the physical contact for long, when she didn't answer straight away he made a grab for her hand. "It's better to say, oops than what if, Sakura. Trust me."
Those two words were apparently all she needed to hear for the despair to dissipate. She did trust him. They had found these leads together and they would find more. At least they had somewhere to look.
"You're right. And I do...trust you."
"Good." He stepped back and hit the button on the elevator again. "You need to get some rest, you've been running on empty, then we'll do what we do best."
"Get into trouble with Tsunade?"
He smiled.
"Yeah, exactly. But also, we're pretty good detectives, so we won't be down for long, Haruno." The doors opened and she stepped out, Kakashi didn't follow her this time, he hit the button for the ground floor but spoke before the doors shut and left her no room for reply. "Just kiss me next time and we might have better luck."
He even had the audacity to wink as the doors closed. Shaking her head to herself, Sakura walked the hall to her apartment, but without the heavy heart she'd had on entering the building. Things were going to be okay, she might have to work a little harder to do it, but she'd never been averse to working hard. She'd done it before she could do it again.
"I'm home..." Sakura mumbled, knowing that Lady Katsuyu would be eagerly awaiting the dinner she'd been made to wait for.
But the cat was nowhere to be seen or heard. Sakura dropped her keys into the bowl and went to the kitchen, going to the cupboard to take out a can of fancy feast, but she looked down to find the bowl was already full.
Dread began a steady climb up her body before she forced herself to move. Crouching she retrieved the gun in her boot, thankfully it was much easier to pull out that it had been to store in there. The lights came on in the living room behind her and she turned, gun trained to the dark figure that was seated on the cat's chair, with Lady Katsuyu in his lap.
"Doctor.. or should I say now, Detective Haruno."
There was no mistaking that chilling voice, devoid of all emotion.
"Itachi Uchiha. What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"
"You can drop your weapon, Detective. I'm not here to hurt you." The cat dropped from his lap and found a less crowded place to sit. "We can have a civilized conversation without the need for firearms, or has your short time as a police officer turned you savage already?"
There was no way that she would drop the weapon. No way in hell.
"I'm not dropping the weapon, Uchiha. There's no way I can trust a word out of your mouth. Now tell me what you're doing here before I arrest you for breaking and entering."
"I'm here for one reason, and one reason only." He stood, Sakura backed up and kept her eyes on him, her grip tight on the pistol. "Stay away from Sasuke."
"You came all the way here, broke into my apartment, to tell me that? I don't want to be anywhere near him and you should know it..."
"Forgive me, was it not you, a biased detective, who identified my brother and had him brought into your sloppy precinct for questioning? Your partner made a nice little show of him, didn't he. I bet your superiors were pleased."
There was silence, Sakura dared not to blink in case he made a move towards her.
"Why do I need to stay away from Sasuke?"
"Not just you. Your partner too, the whole department needs to leave him alone."
"Why, Itachi?!" Her voice broke and the panic set through despite her years of training.
"Because he's not the one you're looking for."
"And how do you know that?" Her blood ran cold at the smirk on his face.
"I know everything. You'll just have to trust me."
"Why should I do that?" She was being loud and emotional and she no longer cared about the consequences or what she looked like. "I know it was you, I know what you and Sasuke did to your parents. I'm not in the habit of trusting murderers!"
"And yet..." he spoke deliberately slow, "you trusted the words of Mizuki Tsubaki, a worthless scrap of a human being, and look where it got you. Leading a task force on your first week in the job."
"Spit it out then!" Her hands were at least more steady than her voice.
"Promise me, first." Itachi sounded threatening even with his dulcet monotone. "Promise me that you and your partner will stay away from Sasuke."
She didn't want to be making promises about her case, especially not to this man, he had used her words against her before and he would do it again. She didn't want to make any decisions without Kakashi. But she needed that information, she needed him out of her apartment and behind bars.
"Fine." She spat. "As long as he keeps his nose clean, I don't want to be anywhere near him anyway."
Itachi smirked again, he seemed magnanimous where he stood, his eyes as dark as the night sky outside.
"Thank you, Detective. And for your promise to keep my little brother out of this and away from your mouldy precinct, I will point you in the right direction as an act of good faith. But nothing more, understood." It was rhetorical but she nodded anyway. "You have my permission to ask one question pertaining to your task force, and you have my word that I will answer honestly."
A thousand questions came to mind all at once, the most pressing being the identity of the Kyuubi Killer, but could she really trust his answer? How would she prove that to a judge and jury... there was no way he would admit to giving her any information even under oath. What she needed was a lead. She needed a lead to find Obito's killer, she needed to do it for Kakashi...
"Do you know who killed Obito Uchiha?"
Itachi's lips moved into some semblance of a smile, though it was not sincere, it was sinister.
"Not particularly. You have a habit it seems at looking to the wrong Uchiha's. But for confirmation of your word, I will give you the right Uchiha to be looking into."
"Fine." She hated herself already for agreeing. "You have my word."
"Shisui. Shisui Uchiha is the one you should be looking at." Itachi started moving, Sakura kept her gun trained to his chest the whole time and it seemed like an eternity before he reached the door. "Have a nice evening, Detective."
The second it was shut she pounced on the locks, keeping one shaky hand on her pistol, but if he got in once he could get in again. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone and dialed the last number on the call list. He must have still been driving because it rang to voicemail.
"Kakashi, we have another problem..."