Smoke and Mirrors
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Chapter 1: Insult to injury
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Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose as she sifted through the piles of paperwork she asked to be pulled related to Juubi. She had an idea of the group from a case she was part of two years ago. The task force knew that with a group as large as Juubi, internal uprisings and civil wars were not uncommon. There was always a struggle for power or a skirmish to break free churning from within—and it was exactly the circumstance when they swooped in with a raid.
Reading through the case files, some yellowed and moth-eaten as a testament to how long-standing the ring is, Sakura let out a fraught sigh. Juubi was more than meets the eye, far more complex and convoluted than what most people knew. Each tail sub-group operated autonomously but ultimately contributed to the power and dominance of the faction. Money. Force. Fear. It was their lifeblood, clear as day. And while the documents spanning decades painted a thorough architecture of the group, understanding the workings of each tail was another story.
"Goddamnit." Sakura hissed, pressing her fingers to her temple. How could she ever make sense of how Juubi works when all she had was a bunch of documents and a vague statement from one of the apprehended members from the extortion tail?
"There's a war brewing inside." said the felon before biting into the cyanide pill tucked into a false tooth. It was all it took for Ibiki to come flying down to their precinct. But as if the gods were having a kick out of the quiet panic infesting the Konoha police force, the rest of the rounded-up felons proved to be low-raking members. "Fodder", as Ibiki called it.
Thus, they are back to square one.
With the gravity of the case alone, Kakashi decided that it was to take top priority. The first and most important thing they needed to do was to find out as much information as they can.
Right on cue, a message popped at Sakura's laptop screen with a bleep. It was from Kakashi.
"Need you in my office now. Got some info on Juubi."
In a matter of seconds, Sakura was there. With a soft click as she closed the door, she looked at her boss pointedly. This better be good.
"I was looking through files that may be related to Juubi, specifically the case from two years ago," he began.
"The police force tail." Sakura nodded in understanding. It was probably one of the biggest blows the syndicate took since its inception. This particular tail was embedded in Konoha's police force. Unlike the other sub-groups, they mainly functioned the damper for all the illegal dealings of the ring. It was actually very smart. What better position to keep their activities under the radar but from the police force itself? But like all schemes, it had a flaw. The amassed amount of information the sub-group had on Juubi afforded them a position that allowed them to blackmail the rest. Their ambition was to usurp their leader and take over.
"Correct."
"What about it?"
"Remember how we were able to stage that raid with the help of the tip we got from inside? I was thinking if there is something like that we can do now."
Sakura crossed her arms and leaned against the bookshelf. Whatever Kakashi was planning, she wasn't following. As far as she knew, the closest they can get to getting information from inside was now a dead body in the morgue of the medical examiner's office.
"I revisited the case and found this," Kakashi pushed a folder towards her direction. She picked it up and scanned the paper. "It's a plea bargain."
"I thought they all died," she replied, leafing through the document.
"He died in the raid," Kakashi replied, motioning to the file Sakura had in her hands. "But the bargain wasn't for him. He petitioned clemency for someone else in exchange for the intel."
"We can get more information then." Sakura perked.
"Correct."
"But wouldn't the trail be cold now? It's been two years. A lot has happened since then."
A grin formed from behind Kakashi's mask. "That is where you come in."
Her lips mirrored her boss's grin. So this was what he meant. "Alright. I understand now." Sakura straightened her stance, now determined more than ever. "Let's pay them a visit."
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The very next day, Sakura found herself pacing along the entryway of the Konoha penitentiary flanked on either side by the imposing figure of Ibiki and her boss' weary posture. They were ushered into the observation hall adjacent to an interrogation room. Sakura shivered, not sure if it was from the manufactured chill from the airconditioning or the metallic scent lingering in the air. She took a step towards the one-way observation mirror when she was motioned to, steeling herself at the impending reveal of what could possibly their lead to taking down Juubi. She looked down at her shoes, breathing evenly to calm her nerves.
A slight scuffle and jangling of metal were heard from the other side of the room. Then silence. It was broken when Ibiki cleared his throat, as he took a step towards the microphone. "We're going to ask you a few questions and we expect you to cooperate by answering them truthfully."
A scoff from the other room echoed through the speaker, tone devoid of fear and remorse but laced with aversion and disdain. At this, Sakura lifted her gaze from her shoe to the man on the other side of the glass.
Seated on the other side of the glass was a man of porcelain skin, black hair, and even darker eyes. His broad shoulders, evident despite the loose prison clothing, showed no slump despite his predicament as a convict. Her jade eyes moved to study the man's face, impossibly beautiful and even harder to believe that it belonged to a felon. He looked straight at them as if the one-way mirror was not there, and Sakura concluded that this man is a very angry man.
"I'm going begin." said Ibiki. "Name."
"Uchiha Sasuke."
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TBC
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Notes: Hacking will take place in later chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this, as I suck at writing longer chapters.