HEADS UP: mentions of blood and death, as well as mild descriptions of crime scenes
just close your eyes / you'll be alright / come morning light, you and i'll be safe and sound
- safe and sound, taylor swift ft. the civil wars (from the hunger games ost)
when they arrive at the location, there is an ominous feeling right away. he may be new at this, but sasuke knows that this case will be different from any other cases they've handled before.
after turning off the car engine, the woman beside him speaks. "keep your eyes peeled," she says. "we don't want to miss anything. with the information we have so far, this might be even more complicated than we think it is."
detective sakura haruno has been with the konoha department of investigation for 2 years now and she is the current top agent of the homicide branch. with her background in forensic science and her medical expertise, she is the youngest member of the police force at only 27 years old.
sasuke can't help but feel a little inferior, to be honest, which is rare given his pride as an uchiha. his whole family comes from a long history of law enforcement people— from his great grandfather to his granduncle, down to his aunt, and cousins, and to his own father and brother. they are known as great detectives that don't need any guidance from a petite pink-haired woman like sakura haruno. besides, they're the same age.
but here he is, nodding like a good puppy because he knows that she knows what she's doing. if this woman can get some good words out of fugaku uchiha, konoha's former chief of police for 25 years; and itachi uchiha, the genius detective of konoha, then she is extremely good.
they get off the car and proceed to the forest where the crime scene is. there are a lot of police tapes around; officers walking back and forth to take pictures and get all the evidence they can find. when they reach the barrier, a local police officer comes and stops them.
"you can't go in there," the man sternly says. "they say only the lead detective can inspect it, and they're from the kdi." sasuke immediately feels his annoyance spiking up but sakura puts a hand on his arm. he looks at her and she looks calm and collected like she always is.
she takes out her badge and looks at the man dead in the eye, "i'm the lead detective from kdi."
if you take a look at her, she looks harmless— 5'4", lithe figure, bottle-green eyes that you only see in movies. sasuke isn't blind. he knows that sakura is a beautiful woman, but you won't expect her to be so intimidating that even a police officer who is a head taller than her can look so small. he's pretty sure the poor man feels that way, too.
"o-oh," the man stutters. "sorry, ma'am. i didn't know they would bring you…"
sakura just smiles up at him and sasuke swears the officer forms a blush on his cheeks, "no harm done."
see, this is where it gets interesting for sasuke. it's been six months of being under her wing now and she still is a mystery to him. she can be so hard with the way she handles criminals when she interviews them and be so caring with how she speaks to the victims' families. she's ruthless in combat, may it be with guns or her bare little hands but she's also so gentle when she patches you up after sparring.
after working alone in the drugs department for years, he is somehow a newbie when it comes to the homicide division. that's why when he comes back to konoha after being overseas in oto for a long time, he's immediately partnered up with the best that konoha can offer.
as they pass through the barrier, sasuke asks sakura. "doesn't it bother you?"
her eyes are wide and looking around already as she answers him, "what is?"
"that people don't seem to recognize you even after being a great detective for so long?"
she chuckles lowly, "i don't do this for recognition, detective. all i want is to bring justice to the people involved, and that's good enough for me."
now this— he can't believe. there is no such person this pure, this selfless in this endless pursuit of justice. in this field, sasuke knows how brutal and how dirty it could be. it's one of the things that keep him up at night, knowing that the system you believed in ever since you were a child is the same system that fucks up the helpless.
it's the same system that he wants to change.
the sinister feeling comes back, this time it's tenfold, and sasuke sees sakura turning on her flashlight. the moonlight is bright but within the tall trees surrounding the forest, it's hard to see everything.
a tall masked man approaches them. he's removing his gloves as he walks towards them and gives them a lazy salute. his action may seem nonchalant but his voice is grave when he speaks out.
"you won't like this, sakura-chan."
sakura inclines her head to look behind the gray-haired man, "what is it, kakashi-sensei?"
"ah," kakashi scratches the back of his head. "i told you not to call me that anymore, it makes me feel old."
"you are old. and you will always be my first teacher, so suck it."
sasuke hears kakashi giggling under his ever-present mask but he can feel the tension in their usual banter. he's aware that kakashi is 10 years their senior and one of the top detectives in the department. he's the one that taught sakura how to fight in close range, as well as her impeccable knife skills.
the mood becomes somber again when sakura softly asks, "what do we have?"
kakashi looks down, "female victim, mid-40's, bruises on her neck, wrists, and ankles. we think she was tied up prior."
a cold dread comes to sasuke. it's their first case where the victim isn't a young woman or a random male body. within half a year, sasuke and sakura only handled 3 cases so far— two of them being a case of kidnapping a baby and an ex-girlfriend for revenge, and the other one is a missing person case.
they walk slowly towards the crime scene and when they get there, sasuke isn't prepared for what the sight would be.
the woman is lying down, her face planted in the soil as if her head was buried to it. her hands are splayed out wide, as well as her legs. you can see all the cuts on her limbs and even without a medical background, there are a lot of broken bones on her. the stench of blood hits his nose and he almost gags, his guts turning upside down.
but what really feels like a punch to the teeth is the woman's hair— her long black hair.
suddenly he is transported to the time where he found the body of his mother in their backyard, bloodied and broken, and how it was the time he told himself that he will seek justice for her.
sasuke unconsciously moves a step back and sakura looks back at him and immediately sees his pale face. she turns her gaze to the body then back at him, and without a word walks up to sasuke and guides him away.
"i'll be quick," she whispers. "wait for me in the car."
her words register but it all seems muffled to sasuke. he looks at her, confused, and opens his mouth to argue. "i'm fine, i ju-"
"let me handle this," she says, looking at him directly. sakura can speak even without uttering a word and sasuke feels so heavy. "i need your clear mind later, sasuke-kun. go."
it's the first time that she called him by his given name. it sounds nice, sasuke thinks.
he nods meekly before turning back to where they came from. without a backward glance, sasuke can feel the warm gaze of sakura haruno on his back.
oddly enough, there is comfort in those eyes of hers, and sasuke walks away a little lighter.
sasuke can't seem to remember how but they're finally back at the station. they enter their shared office and sasuke immediately sits down on his desk. he stretches his arm down the table and leans his head down as if hiding it from view.
he feels ashamed. this isn't their first time going to a crime scene and work on some brutal case, but it's the first time he also felt like running away. if his father hears of this, he will never hear the end of it.
around him, sasuke can hear sakura moving around— turning on the lamp on her desk across from him, shuffling of papers and folders, her heels echoing on the floor. there is no sense of rush and everything seems calm but his heart still remains bothered whenever he thinks about the sight earlier that reminded him of his mother's death.
"i'll get you some tea," sakura's voice comes somewhere beside him. there's a slight touch on his shoulder and he can smell a faint jasmine scent in the air. "i'll be back."
just before she can walk away, he speaks up.
"did you know about my family history?"
the sound of her shoes stops and he knows she's listening. he continues, "i'm thinking you do. you're a detective, after all. the best one here."
she slowly moves again and this time, there is a faint scrape of a chair on the floor. sasuke feels a warm presence beside him and he knows she's sitting near him.
"i do, but only because itachi-san mentioned it to me before."
sasuke is genuinely surprised. out of the three men in their family, itachi may be the most reserved; probably more than their father. to get itachi uchiha talking about his tragic family nightmare is a big deal.
with his head still on his arms, he twists it so he can look at her concerned face. "are you dating my brother?"
it's sakura's turn to look surprised. her green eyes are wide, "n-no. why would you think that?"
"he never speaks of this to just about anyone," his gaze is intense on hers but sakura never strays her eyes from him. he feels exposed all of a sudden.
"we worked for quite a while together so it's no brainer we would form some sort of closeness, i think…" she answers casually. "he knows some pretty personal stuff about me, too."
something inside him stirs and it's not entirely pleasant. he's glad that his brother is opening up two decades after that happened, but he's not sure whether it sits well with him that it's with her.
"does the case reminds you of what happened to your mother?"
her question shakes him again and sasuke can only continue to look into her empathizing eyes. even after all these years, the image is still burned into his soul that he's sure he will never forget. he doesn't want to forget at all.
it doesn't make it any easier though.
"yeah," he admits. "sorry, i wasn't able to help tonight."
she shakes her head no and gives him a kind smile, "i understand. no need to worry."
he closes his eyes and buries his face again so he won't see the pity reflected in hers, "i don't know if i'll ever be alright about it."
this is the most vulnerable he's ever been to anyone for a long time. he remembers crying on his father's lap that night and within his brother's arms when they buried mikoto, and that's it. he buried his feelings deep within and tried to live his life the way his mother would've wanted for him— chasing his dream, living his life, and fighting for what he believes in.
maybe it's the shock of seeing tonight's victim but he is right here, in this quiet office surrounded by gruesome pictures, and he's wide open for sakura to dissect.
he expected strings of questions after questions, or maybe even an apology because what do we do except say sorry to people who lost their loved ones? but he didn't expect this—
a soft touch in his hair, sifting through his locks, and his eyes fly open in surprise.
"you'll be alright, sasuke-kun."
just simple words with their simple meanings, and yet it meant everything to sasuke. his heart starts to beat faster and his body goes rigid.
being perceptive as she is, sakura starts to remove her hands but sasuke beats her to it. still leaning his head down, he reaches up and grabs her hand to put it back in place on his head. he squeezes a bit, a little desperate for connection even just for tonight, and asks her.
"five minutes," he whispers, secretly glad that his face is hidden in his arms because his cheeks feel warm. "just for five minutes…"
sakura doesn't answer but sasuke feels her hand flexing underneath his, a silent confirmation of yes. after a few beats, she continues sliding her fingers through his hair and he slowly exhales a breath of relief. his heart continues to beat louder, but he feels serene and safe and sound.
so this is what it feels like. i almost forgot.
come morning light, the rays from the blinds hit his face, slowly coaxing him into wakefulness. his neck hurts and his arms feel numb since he fell asleep on the table, but everything fades when he finally opens his eyes and finally sees her.
sakura haruno also fell asleep beside him, with her arms crossed and her full cheeks squished on them. her eyelids flutter as if she's dreaming and he can't keep his eyes away. she looks so young and so bright that he can't help but lean down again on his arm to continue gazing at her face. she scrunches her nose and cutely rubs it with her fingers, and sasuke feels a tug inside his heart at the sight.
he vividly remembers her words and her touch last night, and how it calmed the storms brewing inside him. there's a soft look in his eyes as he stares at her sleeping face and it grows softer as she finally regains consciousness.
sasuke watches as she slowly opens her eyes and her glittering emeralds greet him good morning. she looks at him directly before her gaze also holds that soft look, and sasuke's heart skips several beats.
"good morning, detective uchiha."
there's a small grin on her face and she looks so pretty in the morning light that sasuke indulges in a brief pleasure of seeing her in her natural state.
"call me by my name," he says. "i think we've been partners long enough for you to call me that."
there's a spark in her eyes that fills him with adrenaline and she answers back, "you better call me by my name as well then. it's only fair."
sasuke turns his head so he can fully face her while they're still leaning on the table. he offers a tiny smirk.
"morning, sakura…"
a pretty blush forms on her face and there's only so much he can do not to grab her by the nape and pull her in close. she hides half of her face on her arm and smiles against her skin, before turning her green green green eyes on him.
"morning, sasuke-kun…"
and she is right— he will be alright.
a/n: i've been watching true crime documentaries these past few weeks. might as well use it for prompts lmao