Apparently, right away meant something different to the chief than it did to Naruto.
He checked his watch – he'd been waiting in the hallway for the chief for nearly half an hour. Either something unexpected had come up or else this was some sort of power tripping to remind the spiky-blonde male who was in charge.
As if he could forget that.
He owed a lot to Chief Nawaki Jiraiya. After all, the man had made Naruto's transfer to Homicide possible. Jiraiya had also put tremendous trust in him by asking him to look into allegations regarding a fellow officer.
Well, maybe it was trust.
And maybe it was just something as simple as Jiraiya not wanting to make the investigation official unless he knew for certain there were improprieties. Or maybe he thought Naruto would be relentless in getting to the truth.
In doing so, however, Jiraiya had pitted him against not just Shikamaru but to his entire department – including Ino.
Yet, it hadn't kept them apart.
Of course, probably nothing short of critical injury or death could have done that. There were times, like now, when Naruto felt as if he were in the path of a speeding train, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Nothing he wanted to do to stop it.
Talk about confusing. They had a killer to catch, and his every other thought was of the platinum blonde he'd left in the conference room. She deserved better than that and so did the victims.
"Bad morning?" he heard someone ask.
Not the chief.
It was Nara Shikamaru.
He was coming down the hall directly towards Naruto. And he wasn't alone. He had a big white box in one arm and a little blonde girl, who looked to be two or three, squirming on the other.
"I've had easier," Naruto answered. Something told him this one wasn't going to get much better. "Is this your daughter?"
"Yes. My mother came by to drop off something for Ino so she brought her along. Kumiko, this is Sergeant Uzumaki Naruto."
The child shyly smiled at the man in front of her and partly hid under her father's arm. Despite of that, she was obviously interested in the fake police badge she was playing with than meeting the spiky-blonde male.
"I just heard the latest victims pulled through," Shikamaru commented, putting the girl down. Kumiko didn't waste any time exploring the fake moss in an equally fake plant display on the hallway. "Good news, isn't it?"
"Definitely. Maybe we'll be able to get something from them when they're out of recovery." Said Naruto as his gaze followed the young girl.
"Too bad though we haven't been able to locate Karin. She hasn't returned to her apartment or the mental health facility, and that number she gave me was a fake. It's for some shop down on Hanagi lane."
Well, so much for the woman hitting on him. Ino had been wrong about that. Karin had probably been trying to make Sasori jealous. Or else maybe she was suspicious and had just wanted to get Naruto off 'her back.
"We'll keep looking for her," Shikamaru continued. "But if you're still able to meet with Sasori this afternoon, maybe you can talk him into giving you info on where to contact her."
Naruto nodded, not really hopeful about that.
"We're definitely meeting with Sasori. In fact, we'll leave just as soon as I'm done here," said Naruto. Sasori wouldn't give up the information voluntarily, but maybe they could get it some other way. His mind kept going back to Sasori's office, if Sasori and Karin had had an affair, for sure her contact number's probably there, somewhere in his office.
It seemed more than a little awkward standing outside the chief's office and having such a civil conversation with the man he was supposed to be investigating.
Shikamaru had to know why Naruto was waiting to see Jiraiya, but he didn't show it. No dark emotion simmering just below the surface. No pondering look. Just shop talk and an occasional fatherly glance in his daughter's direction.
"How badly was Ino hurt in the shooting?" Shikamaru suddenly asked the platinum blonde male.
Okay, so maybe not totally shop talk.
That question threw Naruto off balance. "Hardly more than a scratch on her arm. She's fine. How'd you know?"
The corner of his mouth lifted. "Lucky guess."
Right. The man had probably never relied on luck or guesses in his entire life.
Shikamaru did a no-no motion with his index finger when his daughter started to remove a flier from the bulletin board. The child promptly obeyed and moved on to a hands-on examination of the carpet.
"If you're waiting for my permission to discipline my friend and subordinate Ino for not following procedure about an injury, then that would be unnecessary. You're in charge with this mission; therefore, you're her boss. " Shikamaru told him.
"Believe me, I haven't forgotten that," Naruto replied.
Well, maybe he had, while they were in that bathroom.
Naruto shook his head. "No disciplinary action will be required. Not unless you want to aim it at me. I didn't report her injury even after she…informed me of it."
"Then you must have believed that it wouldn't have any impact on this assignment."
"She convinced me that it wouldnt," Naruto said rather than lie to the man.
Shikamaru grunted. Not an ordinary grunt. But one to indicate he was deep in thought about something.
"That day in my office, you said something about Ino coloring outside the lines,"
Naruto winced, recalling the words in perfect detail. "Um…I meant – "
"She does. And so does Chouji. It drives me nuts, but I swear they can sort through things that look like a junk pile to me. Like zooming in on Perfect Match after only one shooting. You managed to do that, too, but you used department resources. Ino didn't, because she worked on it while off-duty. Added to that, she was also dealing with the grief from her best friend's murder. Yet, I believe she got to the right place about the same time you did, right?"
"Yeah." Naruto smiled, but he made sure it didn't stay on his face too long. In this case, being proud of her probably wasn't a good thing to display. "Um..Is there advice somewhere in that?"
"There is. If it comes down to a situation where someone negates the rules, trust Ino."
Naruto met him eye-to-eye and nodded. "With my life."
And it wasn't something he had to think about. Nor was it a question.
Shikamaru gave him a pat on the back and turned to leave.
"What – no veiled threats about not hurting her?" Naruto asked, certain that he deserved such threats. Heck, they might even him feel less guilty.
Naruto felt Kumiko tugging on his pant leg, looked down, and the girl flashed a fake badge at him.
"Know what a fisk is?" Kumiko asked him, except instead of frisk, it was 'fisk'.
Naruto winked at the kid, ruffled her hair and assured her that he did.
"That's something Ino taught her," Shikamaru explained, obviously not too pleased about it. He passed the box to Naruto so he could scoop up his daughter in his arms.
"As for you relationship with one of my best friends, Ino can take care of herself. I'm more concerned about you than her."
"Me?"
"Ino feels she has to work twice as hard and twice as long to prove herself. Added to that, she's not just married to the badge, she's in love with it. And she wont give that up for you or any other man."
Not exactly a newsflash. Naruto had known and admired that about her from day one.
"I wouldn't even think of asking her to give it up."
Shikamaru stared at him for a moment, and Naruto felt the man was sizing him up. Probably was.
"It'll be interesting to watch."
"Know what terrogation is?" that from Kumiko, though Naruto understands that she was meaning to ask 'interrogation'.
"I know." Naruto smiled at the young girl, in fact he might be in the middle of one right now. A subtle one, where the lieutenant was getting him to ask the questions and then provide the answers as well.
"What'll be interesting to watch?" Naruto directed at Shikamaru.
"How Ino deals with you."
Naruto got the feeling Shikamarau left off a portion of that observation. The flip side to that coin was how the heck was he going to deal with her.
"Wait," Naruto said when Shikamaru started to walk away. "You forgot your box."
"It's for Ino. Make sure she gets it."
There it was again. That almost smug look that Shikamaru aimed his way. Or maybe it was a look of sympathy, if so, Naruto needed it.
As soon as Shikamaru disappeared, the door to the chief's office swung open. "Come in, Uzumaki."
Definitely not a polite suggestion. Judging from the way the elder man gestured for him to sit down; this wouldn't be a long meeting.
"You're closing in on this sniper case?" Jiraiya asked, which was probably the only semblance of a greeting Naruto would get.
"I hope. Detective Yamanaka and I have been undercover on it all week."
"I heard. I'm not sure why Shikamaru paired you with her for this."
"She was the right person for the assignment," Naruto calmly insisted.
Best to leave out the part of how she'd become the right person. Besides, it no longer mattered. She was the right person, and that had nothing to do with all the sexual stuff going on between them.
The chief put his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers. "So what about these allegations?"
Now this was the part where Naruto wouldn't leave anything out.
"I haven't seen a single incident of favoritism, and I've been in contact with all three of them on this sniper case."
The fingers unsteepled, and the man made a huffing sound.
"Did Yamanaka Ino have anything to do with helping you out with that conclusion?"
Naruto pondered that a moment. Not because he needed time to think about it, but he wanted to put a chokehold on the anger he felt over that question.
"No," he said honestly.
"No," the chief repeated. "You sure you're not thinking below the belt on this, Uzumaki?"
Naruto tightened that chokehold a little more. "If you're questioning my objectivity – "
"I am. And don't look so damn riled about it. It wouldn't be the first time."
"It would be for me." If that didn't thoroughly tick off the chief, the next thing he had to say probably would.
"I'm attracted to Yamanaka Ino, but I wouldn't lie about allegations because my feelings for her. And if you think I'm the kind of man who'd do that, then you need to get someone else to do this investigation."
The chief studied him. And then scowled.
"I don't want anyone else. Besides, you've got a fresh eye since you haven't been here that long. Keep looking. If there's something to find, I want to know about it."
Jiraiya gave him a dismissal wave, which Naruto ignored. He got to his feet, but instead of leaving, he stared at the chief.
"Have there even been any legitimate complaints against Lieutenant Nara?"
"A rumor or two."
"Rumors?" Naruto couldn't help it. He cursed, and he didn't keep it under his breath. "And you're willing to put his career at risk for rumors?"
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure morale stays high."
"Well, that's the wrong way to go about it sir. I'll give you my final report when I'm finished with the sniper case, but there wont be anything in it that I haven't already said to you, right here, right now."
And with that, Naruto walked out, no doubt leaving any chance of his promotion behind the chief's office.