Sitting in the back of a police cruiser on the way to the precinct, Sakura felt every bit as giddy and churlish as a high schooler who had just been caught making out with a college freshman in the parking lot. Not that she had any experience when it came to that particular scenario, she had always been the girl on the tattling-to-authority end, back in the day. Being on the other side of it as an adult she could finally see the appeal in the rush of endorphins that accompanied it.
Izumo and Kotetsu had arrived shortly after Sakura had realized that her own cell phone was fully functional. They had both been so caught up in the veritable powder keg of emotions that neither of them had thought logically. The cell service was shit and they'd still had to wait an hour to be found in the dark side roads of the Konoha outskirts.
If the two constables had noticed anything different about the detectives they had said nothing. They might have managed one or two well timed quips at Kakashi's expense about getting lost in the middle of nowhere, he only needed to remind them once that it had been Sakura's bright idea to take the shortcut, the two were silenced. It was reassuring to know that the terrifying reputation she had been trying to cultivate remained unchanged with her peers. In all honesty everything else felt different to her and she'd worried that they would be able to see it written across her face.
Her body felt foreign and unrecognizable, her feelings, the way she perceived the world and its colors. She had been so drawn in to that moment of passion that when she had come out of it the whole world had changed.
This had happened before. She was no stranger to the chemicals and hormones that took over before sense and responsibility could kick in. But usually the targets of her desire in those alcohol induced endeavors were nothing more than strangers. Not her partner and certainly not someone she would then be forced to work closely with for the foreseeable future. After Sasuke she'd made a rule to never date a colleague, it had been too messy, and while she could claim that it had only been messy because Sasuke had direct involvement in the murders of his parents, it had still been an effective rule to abide by until now.
Were they even dating though? The perimeters weren't exactly defined at the moment. They'd only kissed twice, and one of those kisses had been under duress, there had been no feeling behind it...
There you go again, denial, Haruno.
That voice of reason was clearly Tsunade and her brutally honest tone when telling Sakura what she needed to hear rather than what she wanted to hear. She glanced over to Kakashi, he was comfortably leaning on the door and watching as the scenery went by. She couldn't see his working eye so it was harder to gauge exactly what he was thinking. There was no way she was willing to hurt him again in any way, shape or form. He had been right, that kiss had changed something between them, and they needed to help each other to find out exactly what it was. After all, it could still be simple hormones, a byproduct of working so closely together for so long and in high pressure situations...
You worked as a surgeon for years and managed to control your urges to pin down and dry hump a coworker...
Tsunade had never been one to beat around the bush. She was right. The only conclusion Sakura could draw from this whole thing for now was that whatever was transpiring between her and Kakashi, it meant something more to the both of them, and maybe more than they were willing to confront just now. It would be best to tread lightly.
With a sigh, Sakura watched the mass of buildings of Konoha's city centre come into view. If Izumo and Kotetsu had been talking during the drive she hadn't heard a word of it. It appeared as if Kakashi's ability to tune everybody out was catching. But it was time to come back to reality. It was time to face the music and get back to work... even if she was itching to reach out and touch the man beside her. Sakura's gaze invariably drifted to Kakashi again, lingering over the exposed skin of his neck and down his arms, the way his fingers splayed onto the seat in a way that caused her pulse to race more than it probably should. Tentatively she extended her own to brush against the side of his fingers. They were sitting far enough not to arouse suspicion from the officers in front and weren't directly holding hands as it were... but the temptation was too much to resist. The way he imperceptibly reacted to her touch was enough to satisfy for the moment.
Get back to work, Haruno.
With her aunt's voice echoed through her mind, Sakura finally broke the bubble of silence that had befallen the back seat.
"The Captain won't be impressed with us I imagine. How badly should we guard our loins ya think?" She directed the question to Kakashi but loud enough for the other two to hear.
"In my experience, it's best to go full body armor in these situations, Haruno, not just the loins. How bad is the damage, fellas?"
Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged a glance, it was only for a fraction of a second, but they both caught it. As a detective there is a certain feeling one gets when information is being withheld by a suspect or witness, Sakura had experienced it a few times over the last month, the sense was growing in strength with every day on the job. Right now it was ominous and tense, confirmed when Kotetsu turned his head to face her.
"Suppose you haven't heard..." His tone did nothing to quell the apprehensive feeling in the car.
"Heard what?" The question shot out of her mouth like a bullet and she waited for the impact spatter.
"Well, when your call came through, we assumed it had gone to Tsunade first before we were dispatched..."
"You better start making sense real fast before I have you both written up for failing to follow orders..." Kakashi was leaning forward now and his hand was no longer close to hers, despite the unsettling gurgle of her stomach she tried to keep her cool and help Kakashi maintain his. She put a hand to his shoulder, it stopped his words and when his face turned towards hers there was a panic in his eye that she recognized from the time he'd shielded her from that explosion.
"Calm down, Jackass..." The last word was mumbled but not enough to be incoherent. "Genma had to put the order through, that was all, no one can get through to Tsunade's line and her door is locked. She's just busy with something, alright?"
"Yeah, paranoid much?" Izumo pitched in from the driver's seat and Sakura rolled her eyes, they had forgotten who they were dealing with, but would be reminded soon enough.
"Watch your tone when you're speaking to a superior officer. Need I remind you of the fact we are taking on a serial killer and a criminal organization, my partner has been kidnapped and we were almost blown to pieces last week, haven't we earned the right to be a little paranoid? You two will be lucky if I don't make a formal complaint to Tsunade myself..."
"Sakura." Kakashi's firm hand appeared on her forearm. "It's alright, I'm a paranoid jackass, you know this. Tsunade only locks her door when she has important meetings like the Commissioner or Mayor, who is she talking to?"
"No one knows." Kotetsu turned his head back to the road as he spoke. "Whatever it is has to be important because she's been holed up in there for hours."
"Kakashi, I don't like this."
"Something isn't sitting right for sure, just keep calm, Sakura. We don't have all the information yet and there's no use worrying about something before we have all the facts. There will be plenty of time for that later."
"Funny, Tsunade said the same thing to me when you went missing, and if I'd listened to her you would still be chained to that pipe." She hadn't meant it to sound so bitter, but fear has a way of leaching out and lashing out onto those closest, whether its intended or could apologize later, for now he was right, they needed more information and it was all she could do. "What's happening with the surveillance detail on Itachi Uchiha? Have they reported back yet?"
This time the look exchanged between Izumo and Kotetsu was not something so minor as to deign a figment of the imagination.
"Well, there's the rub."
Kakashi seemed to lose his remaining patience at the same time as Sakura.
"Stop fucking around, what's going on?"
"We were ordered not to tell you, Detective Hatake."
"By who?"
"Detective Gai. He said that he wanted you to have a clear head when you got to the precinct, and ordered us not to tell you that the surveillance detail was unable to locate Itachi Uchiha."
"They lost… one of our lead suspects… our main link to the Akatsuki and the Kyuubi killer… son of a fucking-"
"I can neither confirm or deny, sir. I was just stating my orders as requested."
Sakura had heard rumors about the inefficiency of Izumo and Kotetsu, how much they lacked in intelligence when it came to standard procedure. But after hearing that statement she had a new found respect for them. They knew how to dance around the rules and when so that they could have the information they desired. It didn't soften the blow of it, but it definitely was something she took note of, for the moment there were bigger problems at hand.
Chief of which was the way Kakashi clenched his fists so hard they began to shake on the seat beside her. If they had been alone, she might have gently placed a hand on top of his just to ease the anger, if it had been any other situation or case she might have paused for thought to ease his mind. But right now the anger from Kakashi was seeping onto her, the fear, the memory of the Uchiha in her apartment… But it wasn't her safety that she was concerned for at the moment.
"We need to get to Tsunade, fast."
Sakura was certain she wouldn't have been able to sit still if she tried, so she switched from nervously scrolling through messages on her phone to obsessively checking her weapon. There was no inclination as to what they were walking into but she would be prepared for the worst case scenario. Tsunade was the next victim on the list, they were certain of it, and she wasn't picking up the phone. On top of that one of their main suspects was unaccounted for. It all added up to one big pond of anxiety. When the precinct came into sight she'd opened the door before the car had stopped moving completely, Kakashi right at her side. Unwilling to wait for the elevator, the pair of them took the stairs, leaving officers Izumo and Kotetsu in the dust.
Now you know it's serious, Hatake is taking the stairs...
"Shut up..."
"Pardon?"
Sakura hadn't realized that the thought had escaped her lips.
"Oh, nothing, sorry. Just talking to myself..."
She didn't pause to gauge his express reaction, there was no time to indulge in that right now, especially considering she could hear the din of the bullpen from the stairwell. It almost made her miss the usual Tsunade boom that kept everything running in perfect order.
"Tsunade can't be anywhere on this floor with that noise, she'd have put a stop to that immediately." Kakashi wasn't out of breath despite the three flights of stairs they had just climbed, he seemed to be just as ready for action as she was, the way he stood with more energy than she'd seen in him since the kidnapping.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"One time when Genma's headphones were too loud, she came out of her office, ripped them off his head and crushed them with her bare hands."
"I can believe it..."
Kakashi was trying to ease the atmosphere with humor but it wasn't what Sakura needed right now. All she wanted was information about her aunt's safety. The noise of the bullpen didn't damper even when she slammed the door opening from the stairwell landing. Officers, uniformed and plain clothes, detectives and every other rank were running amok. Phones were ringing and unattended to, perps were handcuffed to desks instead of waiting in the hold, the shouting...
Something came over Sakura in that instant, perhaps it had to do with a lifetime of Tsunade's influence, perhaps it was simply the crushing pressure of the situation at hand. An entire medical career being told to keep quiet, ignored or made fun of for what she believed. She snapped spectacularly.
The harsh whistle was something she would never be able to replicate with the same ear splitting penetration. It had the desired effect, the entire floor hushed into silence and turned towards her.
"Listen up, and listen good because I will not be repeating myself." She spoke as she walked into the center of the bullpen, Genma opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. "If I hear one word out of your mouth Shiranui, remember I know how to make it hurt and look like an accident. Just because Tsunade isn't here doesn't give anyone licence to slack off. Get back to work and fast, because when she comes back and sees this mess I doubt she'll be as forgiving as I am." There was no chatter but the sound of quiet shuffling as people went about their business. Sakura took the opportunity to make her first rounds. "Gai, what the fuck were you thinking with that order?"
"I was trying to stop you from reacting exactly the way you're reacting right now! We need level heads, we have no information to go on, there's no reason to be..."
"Wipe your mouth, you're dribbling shit, Detective. How about you cut the crap and get these perps into holding before I lock you in there myself. Genma, bring up Tsunade's calendar, I want to know who she last spoke to and when. Hatake, can you..."
"On it."
The lack of hesitancy made her blink a few times in bewilderment, he hadn't even needed her to finish the sentence, he stepped quickly towards the closed door of the Captain's office. The blinds were down, the door was locked, they had absolutely no vantage point. But that was about to change.
"You do realize if she's in there, Hatake, you're signing your own death warrant?" Detective Ebisu shouted from his corner of the room, Sakura shot him a death glare and he was silenced.
"If she were in there you'd have already been castrated for not doing your goddamn job, pervert. Now get back to it."
Sakura and Kakashi exchanged a look and a nod. In a swift kick action, Hatake had successfully dislodged the lock of the door and it swung open with some force. It was a first for Sakura, she wanted to be wrong so desperately, there was still a slim hope that Tsunade had simply drunken herself into a stupor at her desk and taken a nap. But she could tell from the look on Kakashi's face before she even saw inside the office that it wasn't to be.
The chairs were empty, the lights were on, the window shut. There was no Tsunade in this office. It had been locked from the inside but the usual inhabitant was missing. Sakura felt the same panic rise within her that had been present the day that Kakashi had been taken.
Except today there was one key difference, and he was right beside her.
The bullpen descended into quiet chaos, maybe it was just hushed to Sakura's ears because of the panic setting within herself and the blood pumping in her ears. But there was a deep timbre that calmed the rising fear and simultaneously lit a fire within her.
"Alright, squad. We now have confirmation that Tsunade is missing from her post. Contact was lost approximately three hours ago. Genma, what was her last appointment?"
"She was supposed to have a phone conference with the former Chief of Detectives, Hiruzen Sarutobi..."
"Code silver. Protocol says we send out an APB, we have a missing captain who was the potential next target for the Akatsuki, I want details of everyone she came into contact with this morning. I want to know who had access to her, I want to know what she had for breakfast, you got that?"
"On it." Gai and Genma spoke in unison, other uniformed officers were already on their radios to the other precincts to let them know the situation.
Sakura had an inexplicable sinking feeling that Kakashi was going to leave her out of the action for a fleeting second, but she was forced to meet his eye with two strong hands on her shoulders.
"Sakura, you and I are going to go through the security feed for the bullpen, find out when that door was locked. But I need you to breathe, can you do that for me?"
"Oh, I'm going to do more than just breathe, Hatake. I'm going to catch this bastard and nail him to the wall. Let's go." People seemed to clear the way for them as they marched towards the corridor that lead to the service room for the floor. Each level had one, the departments on each floor were so big it was necessary security. Sakura just hoped this lab tech would be able to get what they needed and quickly, it was usually a hit or a miss when it came to actual knowledge of the systems. Her mind was racing and her thoughts began to tumble from her mouth. "Her last scheduled meeting was a call with Hiruzen Sarutobi, you think he has something to do with this?"
"I've told you before that there are no coincidences in a murder investigation. In any case we need to get in touch with the man himself. I've got questions that need answering."
"What is it?"
"Pardon?"
"You've got that look on your face like you're in pain, but you've taken your medication so I can only assume it's because you're onto something. What is it?"
There wasn't the luxury of time for Kakashi to lazily come to a conclusion like he usually did. They were almost at the service room and it was obvious as the scar on his face that something was bothering him. His whole demeanor had changed, the look in his eye, the deliberate choice of words.
"This whole thing just... it doesn't sit right. A precinct captain taken from her locked office in the middle of the day, the place literally swarming with officers and surveillance equipment."
"You're thinking it's an inside job."
"Possibly. You'll be the first to know once I work it out, unless you beat me to it."
Sakura prided herself on being polite and courteous in most situations, but this was an emergency and all concept of manners went out the window. Without any knocks or announcement she slammed that door open loud enough to make the clerk jump up from his chair. The room had no windows, only a cluttered mass of screens and a dim bulb swaying from the ceiling, it was nothing more than a glorified cupboard in Sakura's eyes.
"Detectives, is it customary to barge in on the service department or do you just not know how to knock respectively?"
She would need to play nice now if they were going to get the information they came for.
"Apologies... Sai..." Sakura squinted her eyes in the light to read the lanyard identification. "This is an emergency, my name is..."
"Oh, there's no need. I know exactly who the both of you are, and I already know what you're here for." The way Sai spoke reminded Sakura of Mizuki just a fraction, as if he were putting on a show for their benefit. "I'm a few steps ahead of you in fact, the paperwork is waiting for you to sign before I can allow you access to the computers software. This may be an emergency but there's still protocol, not that either of you respect that from what I've seen..."
"Listen here, chump..." Sakura rounded on Sai's cold and simpering face but paused when she saw the reaction from Kakashi. He wasn't one to sit idly by and be talked down to by anyone less than his commanding officer. The way his eye bulged, his whole body paused as if he'd stopped breathing altogether. Her suspicions were confirmed when Kakashi turned to face her.
"Steps ahead..." he murmured while searching Sakura's face for recognition, as if she was able to read his very mind.
"Kakashi, come back to me, what is it..."
She watched as he shook his head as if to jolt himself conscious.
"There's something I need to check out."
"What have I told you about rushing into things and thinking later? We need to stick together right now, we've got a code silver emergency here and need to follow procedure..."
"Sakura." Kakashi gripped her shoulders, the firm way he spoke her name with the action gave her a tidbit of safety amongst the chaos. "Do you trust me?"
For the first time since he'd been injured, Sakura sincerely wished she could see both of his eyes in this instance. It felt as if she were only seeing half the picture that he was trying to paint for her. While she was probably better at reading Kakashi Hatake than most people it was still harder than she cared to admit. He had to know what her answer would be after everything they had been through together. Was he looking for something else? Did this mean more to him than before because of that kiss? Without knowing exactly what he wanted from her, Sakura decided to answer in the only way she knew how, honestly.
"With my life."
"Good."
It appeared to be the right answer. Kakashi nodded and was out the door as quickly as they'd barged in. Sakura barely had time to blink before Sai was tapping away at the computer and coughing loudly to get her attention.
"Might I suggest next time, Detective, that you state code silver the moment you enter the room."
"Excuse me?"
"Apologies, was I speaking too fast for you to comprehend? Would you like me to slow it down like your partner did?"
"Just, shut up and bring up the footage of Tsunade's office from today before I pummel you into next week."
"While you were exchanging glances with your friend, I managed to bring up the day's feed on screen two, that's the monitor with the number two written across the top..."
"I can read y'know, Jesus Christ, no wonder they keep you in this little hole. Tsunade was scheduled to have a phone conference a few hours ago, but no one has seen her since this morning. Are you able to..."
"It's not so much a question of my ability, Detective, but your inability to keep up. If you look at the screen I will play Tsunade's day from her arrival at 8am through to now. And before you go complaining, I will speed it up so you can go running off after your partner."
"We only have one camera aimed at her door?"
"Yes, with all the sensitive information that passes the Captain's desk there is no camera on the inside. "
Sakura watched the image on the screen with the time of day stamped in the corner. Her eyes narrowed as soon as the blonde head of Tsunade appeared in the frame. It was hard to rapidly scan everything she was doing when so many people kept coming in and out of her office. Genma, Gai, Ebisu even Shizune made a visit. While she was wondering just how the Captain was able to get anything done with so many interruptions a blur and shadow on the screen made her freeze.
"Pause! Pause it!"
Sai complied instantly and even refrained from taking another dig at her for the moment.
"What is it?"
"This shot has the window sill in frame, if you look through Tsunade's office window, the one facing the bullpen and not through the open door... Can you..." Sai zoomed in the shot before she even asked the question and she almost forgave his earlier impropriety.
"What is that?"
Sakura felt her heart skip a beat.
"It's a barrel of a gun." There was no doubt about it, that fragment of silver frightened Sakura more than any horror film, more than any crime scene. "Slow it down now, that's it..."
"Is that a foot?"
"Coming in the window, yes." The barrel was pointed at Tsunade, Sakura didn't need eyes inside the office to know that was the case. It was hard to see any close detail, only a small portion of the window sill was visible, and the office walls obscured the rest. With a sickening dread she watched helplessly as Tsunade noticed the intruder and reached for her own gun. But then she froze. "Why isn't she doing anything..."
What happened next was a matter of seconds according to the time stamp. First Tsunade is rising from her desk with her arms up in surrender and then a shadow darts across the screen, closing the blinds to the window and blocking Sakura's last view of her aunt before shutting the door and covering that small window too.
"Who is that?"
"How do I fucking know?" Sakura bit back with the rising panic. "You want a medal for asking the obvious questions now. Go back on the tape, get the clearest image of his face that we can get."
"He's wearing a hooded cloak, it's not like..."
"Go. Back. Now. Bring it up on screen or so help me..."
That's my girl.
The sound of Tsunade's voice in her mind was jarring and almost caused her to shed an involuntary tear. What good was it to make her aunt proud if she was already dead? There wasn't time to be sentimental, there wasn't time to give in to the emotions... there was too much at stake.
"This is the best I can offer you, Detective."
Sai had a grainy and blown up image of the moment the hooded person had closed the blinds to the window that faced out into the bullpen from Tsunade's office. It was almost nothing to go on, only part of a face was even visible underneath the fabric, but there were a few things that Sakura spotted in an instant. She grabbed for the radio at her hip.
"Code silver, confirmed. We are looking for a male suspect, armed with a revolver, approximately 175-177cm's in height with light grey hair and round framed glasses. Suspect may still be in the vicinity, set up a grid search of the surrounding buildings. Sai, get this image printed stat, I want it on every desk in this precinct within the next minute. Kakashi-"
Sakura turned to speak to her partner as though he were there. She had forgotten briefly that he was no longer at her side. The panic and elation mixed together that there was a lead suddenly evaporated into pure unadulterated fear. Where was he? Where had that man taken Tsunade? There was only one way out of that room with the front door locked, and that was the fire escape that they had entered through.
They could be anywhere. Why hadn't she just asked Kakashi where he was going?
Because you trust him.
Contrary to popular opinion within the precinct, Tsunade's most terrifying timbre was not the one that boomed across the bullpen and down the elevator to the first floor. But the quiet one, the one she reserved for the important things, the one she used before all the shit hit the fan. It had been that tone she'd used the night Sakura had pounded on her front door and begged for help to gain entrance to the academy. And it was that tone now that the Tsunade in her mind spoke to her. This paired with the absence of her partner pushed Sakura to new and disturbing levels of fear.
"Where has that man gone..." She spat bitterly, more to herself than to Sai who was typing maniacally without looking away from the screen, but he answered anyway.
"If you wait a moment, Detective Haruno, I can bring up Hatake's last movements on screen..."
"You've got more important things to be doing right now. I can find him myself."
Sakura stormed out of that closet with the same gusto and purpose that she'd entered with. Eyes peeled as she strode to the bullpen for that mop of silver hair. He wasn't at his desk when it came into view through the bedlam. Tsunade's office was being cordoned off by Genma, everyone else seemed to be huddled around the site in fear. But there was no Kakashi. Not in the kitchen or break room. She'd even pushed into the men's bathroom and scanned the stalls.
She closed her eyes as if to summon some unknown power within herself to find him. But it was all for nought. She couldn't think with all these voices around her, all these questions shouting in her mind, all the chaos that had crashed around her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout and beg for Kakashi to come back and support her just like he always did. But even the voice of conscience was silent in all the din.
There is a point where fear is so crippling that it paralyzes a person, it grips them like a vice and forces them to watch the madness unfold around them, helpless. Sakura was no stranger to this fear. The night she had walked into that house, so unassuming, to find the bodies of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. The first time a patient died on her table. That fear, back then, had been suffocating and she hadn't been equipped to push it aside.
But today was different.
She had also felt that fear when a bomb had been discovered at their crime scene, and what had she done then? She had defied orders to stay at her partner's side. Sakura had pushed that fear aside when Itachi Uchiha had broken into her apartment. She'd felt it again when Kakashi had gone missing, and again she had overcome, she had pulled him from that pipe beaten and bleeding and gotten him to safety.
But you always needed help.
The voice of doubt took the form of the bored tone of Sasuke, and she wasn't surprised. But it backfired. Instead of causing her to freeze and give in to the doubt and fear like those around her, it ignited rage. She wasn't going to become Captain if she just stood there panicking. She wasn't going to let Sasuke have the last word again.
"Gai!" She shouted at a decibel louder than Tsunade had ever managed to reach, even after that time Kakashi set fire to the break room. The whole floor silenced and Gai's head appeared above the masses.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Where. Is. Hatake?" Each word was punctuated loud enough to keep the rest of the room quiet.
"He said something about going downstairs..."
"Where downstairs? Make it quick, Gai, or you'll be sorry you ever switched precincts..."
"I don't know, I swear! He said something about going to the basement..."
Sakura froze, Genma took the opportunity to speak without retribution.
"Don't be an idiot, Gai. There is no basement. It was sealed off and paved over ten years ago after that explosion. There's just storage rooms and garages for the squad cars down there..."
"I'm telling you, he said basement! I looked at him weird but he was jamming that elevator button so hard, he wasn't exactly paying me any attention..."
"Shut up!" Sakura barely recognized the voice as her own. "Just shut up..." She needed the quiet, she needed to desperately catch up to Kakashi but he was... "Steps ahead... Fuck..."
Without another word she barreled off towards the stairs, not even bothering to wait for the elevator, it took too long. But maybe that was a good thing, maybe Kakashi had to wait, maybe she wouldn't be so far behind him, maybe there was still time.
That fool.
He'd tried to get a step ahead of the Akatsuki, he'd gone straight in without even asking for back up. If he wasn't dead already she was going to kill him. Throwing people to the side of the staircase, Sakura was already drawing her weapon by the time she got to the first floor. There was still one more staircase to go, one more corridor, and then god knows where they would be.
Think, think, use those instincts you were born with...
Captain Tobirama had been killed after he was injured in diffusing a bomb in what used to be the basement of the 7th precinct. Was that why Tsunade hadn't made a move in her office? Did this psycho have explosives? But that would mean they were a day ahead of schedule... The next murder wasn't due for another day... There was still time.
Unless...
The killer knew. The pattern had already been interrupted when she'd saved Kakashi, which meant one thing. The Kyuubi Killer now knew that the Detectives hunting them had information about the original killings, and he was upping his game, he was getting ahead of them. He was changing his MO and becoming more dangerous than ever.
If she wasn't in such a hurry to find her partner, Sakura might have paused to catch her breath, the realization had her almost winded. But there was no time now. Gun raised she went from pillar to pillar in the parking lot, taking cover, examining her surroundings. Did she have time to call for backup or would it give away her position? Was she even in the right place? The lighting here was typically shit, every shadow the fluorescent bulbs cast had her jumping out of her skin. It was what she'd trained for in the academy, it shouldn't be so terrifying, but there were loved ones on the line and that made it all exceptionally frightening.
When she was convinced that she'd covered all the hiding spots within the garage she moved towards the small corridor that held the smaller storage rooms. With each empty doorway she trained with her pistol she felt crushing disappointment.
Not here. Not here.
There were another five doors to cover when something caught her eye. Lying discarded on the ground was a scrap of white, on closer inspection she determined it was a bandage, and not just any bandage. One that she had dressed Kakashi's wound with recently, she could smell the special tea tree salve that lingered on it as she crouched down.
Close.
It was like having the answer on the tip of her tongue, like having the last piece of the puzzle hidden by an asshole relative or sibling, a present under the Christmas tree that you couldn't quite work out the contents of. Sakura hated surprises, she hated not knowing, almost as much as Kakashi did. Why would he have run off down here without her, why would he...
The answer was revealed to her when she turned the final corner and was confronted with a sight that only nightmares could rival.
"Sakura, get the hell out..." Kakashi growled from where he stood without even looking at her, his gun out and aimed towards a hooded man in the corner of the room.
Her eyes drifted down to the only other familiar sight in the room, the head of blonde hair, though it was now stained with blood. Tsunade lay on the ground unmoving, the pooling crimson around her body giving no false clues as to the damage that had been caused already. Sakura ignored the rising bile in her throat.
"Ah, finally she's here, now we can start the show." The hooded man dropped the cloth, his hair was white, his glasses were too large for his face. When he pushed them up with a hand Sakura saw what it was attached to. "Oh, this shiny bauble catch your eye? Yes, your Captain here had the same reaction when she saw it. It's certainly finer craftsmanship than one of Deidara's monstrosities. Would you like to hold it, Detective? Shall I just toss it to you and see what happens?"
"Don't!" Kakashi was loud, firm, if he was rattled it wasn't showing. Or at least Sakura didn't have the time to gauge it. "Sakura, run, get out of here!"
"Uh, uh. Not so fast." The man in the glasses held up a gun, pointed it directly at Sakura's chest. "Make one move, either of you, and you'll taste lead. Or I'll blow this whole precinct into the sky, I haven't quite decided which route is more efficient just yet." He rested one foot on Tsunade's head as he spoke. "Now, where were we, Detective Hatake. Ah yes, I was just telling you about how my plan was all going to come together. How your little partner here wouldn't leave it alone and follow after you, just like I had planned. That she would be in such a hurry she wouldn't think to bring back up. And now I have the two of you here, right where I want you, kill three birds with one stone as it were."
When he shook the device in his hand, it was hard for Sakura not to jump. It appeared to be some kind of pipe bomb, but there were tubes and chemicals attached, she had no idea what would set it off. In any case she was preoccupied with getting this psycho away from her aunt, away from her partner. She wished more than anything that Kakashi would meet her eye and then she would know what to do, but right now she was scared to move even just her eyes.
Think, use those instincts...
They were Kakashi's words, but in Tsunade's voice, and she knew what to do.
"Why... why are you doing this? Why are you killing good people?" Her voice was foreign, it wavered with adrenaline and fear, it sounded as if she would cry at any moment now.
But it was all an act. Keep him talking, look for an opening, it's what Kakashi would tell her to do.
"I have my own reasons for following in the steps of the great Orochimaru, none of which you'll live long enough to know about, Detective. Or should I say, Doctor?" The melodical chuckle that followed would forever echo in Sakura's nightmares. "People just keep dying around the both of you, don't they? You really make the perfect couple, Deidara's pictures captured that much at least..."
"People keep dying because you're killing them, psycho..."
"Hush, hush. Watch those words now, Hatake. I kill who I'm told to kill. I'm a dealer who stacks the cards so that luck is discarded and the player decides whether to win or lose..."
"I saw, I saw what you did to Obito, what choice did he have?" Kakashi's voice cracked infinitesimally. "What decision did he make to be tied, dissected and bleed to death..."
"You think I would botch a job that badly?" The laugh that followed was cold and mirthless, it dripped with the echoes of leaky pipes and blood. "Please, it wasn't even finished properly."
"So there's more than one of you?" Kakashi sounded calmer now and it seemed to anger their assailant.
"Perhaps I'm just one dealer of many in a grand casino."
While this exchange had been taking place, Sakura had been thinking, plotting. And all at once the final puzzle piece slotted itself in perfectly.
"That voice..." Sakura didn't drop her weapon, didn't move, her eyes stuck on this vile piece of filth standing in front of her. "I know that voice. He's dispatch, Kakashi, he's the mole..."
"And that, is quite enough out of you." His words were punctuated with the cocking of the pistol in his hand. "You've both heard enough, seen enough, it's time for the final hand..."
The moment couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, in the time it took for the hooded man to drop the hand that was holding the bomb, Sakura finally caught Kakashi's eye. One second was all it took and she knew what to do. Later on she would remember it as time standing still while everything else came together. All she had to do now was act.
The shot echoed so loudly the whole precinct should have been able to hear it, at least that was how it felt to Sakura as time passed by in slow motion. It was the first time she had shot a living, breathing person, and her aim was spot on. They needed this guy alive. They needed to know what he knew. So the first shot she fired was into the arm holding the bomb, which he instantly dropped. She had aimed for the joint so it would be impossible for him to grip anything through the pain.
Kakashi was already moving toward the falling device.
The next part happened too fast for Sakura to catch properly, she lamented that the slow motion could have continued for just a moment longer. The device didn't immediately explode in Kakashi's hands, he curled into a shield around it, to protect them should it decide to go off. By the time the perp was able to think clearly after being shot, Sakura was on him, punching him square in the nose with more force than a freight train.
A noise behind her on the ground dragged her attention from the fight. It started as a splutter and a sigh before it turned into a strangled cry of pain.
"Tsunade!"
Sakura was torn it two, she needed to catch this guy, but she had taken an oath to do no harm. To heal. Her own aunt would bleed to death on the cold ground if she didn't do something about it right now.
In her moment's pause, the psycho had regained his purpose, his gun held high with his other hand and aimed at Sakura's head. And then there was another ring of a shot in her ears, one that startled Sakura so badly she had to check her own body to see if it had pierced through her somewhere. But it hadn't. It had come from the floor. She watched as the man in glasses dropped to the ground in a sickening thud before she turned to find Kakashi shaking, his gun still aimed true at the heart of the man who might have been the Kyuubi Killer. .