-X-
DISCLAIMER
I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ITS CHARACTERS
-X-
Hello again! This is the third chapter of my first fan-fiction: Counting On You! This is a moderately short chapter though but whatever. Anyways, on with the story! Enjoy!
-X-
"It's come to this. We need to interrogate suspects as soon as possible," said Tsunade, eyeing a few nervous looking people in the room. "Room inspections will also be held at noon, any questions?"
Hinata raised a trembling hand. "Ahh, Tsunade-sama? W-will all of us b-be interrogated?"
"Unfortunately, yes. It will be tedious, but nevertheless, this has to be done."
Those present in the room fell silent, as for many people, this was their first serious interrogation.
"I'll give you 5 minutes to go to the bathroom and have a break, until then, meet in the Drawing Room," Tsunade spoke up, grabbing a notebook and a pen from the nearby drawer.
-X-
One by one, the residents of Konoha Manor walked casually into the mansion's Drawing Room. It was a fairly large room, with beautiful lime green floral print wallpaper complimenting elegant Victorian era furniture. Once everyone was there, Tsunade walked up and introduced three new visitors.
"I've brought three residents from the Suna Manor to help interrogate and make sure everything is in order. On the left, we have Gaara, on the right, Kankuro, and in the middle, we have Temari. Gaara, if you'd please."
"Hello. I'm going to lead the interrogations, as Tsunade-sama is also going to be queried. I have the questions memorised in my head so you can't peek and devise answers. We are interrogating one person at a time, so Kankuro and Temari are going to escort you outside into the lobby until it's your turn. Any questions?" No one spoke up.
"Ok, let's start."
-X-
"Who's going first?" Tsunade asked. As predicted, nobody volunteered.
"I suspected this would happen, so I wrote your names down and put them in this hat." She reached down in to the hat and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and frowned. "Me." She groaned and sat down in one of the vintage chairs, while Temari and Kankurou escorted the others out. Gaara and Tsunade were left alone with each other in a very awkward situation. Tsunade shattered the silence, wanting to finish this quickly, her dark brown eyes avoiding contact with Gaara's aquamarine ones.
"Hrmph, lets get going before things become... Even more awkward."
"Very well. First question. Tsunade-sama, where were you at the time of the murder?"
"I was in my room, top floor, west wing, organising paper work when I heard a scream."
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"One, I would never lie to a person of the Suna Manor and two, I would never, ever hurt my student."
"Fair enough. When was the last time you saw Sakura?"
"She told me that she was going to the Library to read and relax. I didn't know that would have been the last time I would have been able to see my student alive..." Tsunade looked at the floor in regret.
"If only I'd known."
Gaara paused to sympathise for the poor woman, when he snapped back to reality and realised he had a job to do.
"Let's move on. Next question, have you had any recent conflicts with Sakura?"
"No, she's always been a loyal and obedient student to me, she'd never anger me."
"Okay, this is the last question, what motives do you think other suspects would have had to kill Sakura?"
"The only thing I can think about is that Ino may have had a secret hatred for Sakura all these years, but I know Ino has a good heart and would never kill her best friend. Put her in life support maybe, but never kill."
"Thank you Tsunade-sama for your information. You may leave."
Tsunade exited the Drawing Room to pull out the next name from the hat.
-X-
Time passed, and soon there was all but one person left. Ino. She sighed and dragged herself over to Gaara and sat on a very comfy chair.
"Ino-chan, you are the last one, correct?"
"Yes." Gaara proceeded to ask Ino the same questions. Once more, just once more, and he was done.
"Ino, where were you at the time of the murder?"
"I was in my room, second floor, west wing, brushing my hair."
"How do I know that you aren't lying?"
Ino looked appalled at hearing that question.
"How do you know I'm not lying?! I'm her best friend, the first person to befriend her mind you, made sure she was happy with her looks and supported her for her whole life! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I WOULD KILL HER?" Gaara looked slightly scared. This girl was almost as scary as Temari, no wonder Shikamaru told him to be careful of her.
"Er... I believe you! I believe you! Please calm down. Ino, I know this is a lot to take in but we need as much information as possible."
"Fine. Next question then."
"When was the last time you saw Sakura?"
"She walked past my room on the way to the library and said hi. That was it. I didn't even get to say goodbye." She was close to tears. "All those times when we were younger, playing in the flower fields, running around making flower crowns- I-I didn't even say goodbye to my best friend. " Ino burst into heavy sobs. Gaara knew that tears would be inevitable in these situations, so he was prepared.
"Ino, why don't you have a rest for a few minutes? We need to keep going so we can finish this, alright?"
Ino nodded and blew her nose with a tissue and rubbed her eyes. "O-Okay, I think I'm good now."
"Good to hear. Have you had any recent conflicts with Sakura?"
"We fought over the hairbrush and who got to use the bathroom first, but that's it. That wasn't much help was it?"
"Well, now we know that you're innocent. Now, this is a very, very important question. What motives do you think other residents might have had to kill Sakura?"
Ino thought for a long moment. She couldn't think of anyone sane who would dare harm Sakura. No one at all.
"No, I can't think of anything."
"Oh well, thank you for cooperating with me, you were a great help!" Gaara smiled. Ino said her goodbyes and left the drawing room, and Gaara released a breath he didn't even know he was holding.
-X-
"The interrogations are over, now it's time for room inspections!" sang Temari enthusiastically. "Gaara, Kankurou and I are going to operate the inspections, while you lead us to your room. Don't worry about showing us around, we won't miss anything!"
"Temari? Our rooms are very, very big. What if you miss a small, but crucial detail?" Kiba asked, not knowing what was in store for him. Temari's enthusiastic demeanour darkened and she gave Kiba a death stare. "I said, we wouldn't miss anything." Kiba started quivering and stepped back mumbling an 'O-okay lady, I believe you'.
"Great! Now that's settled, lets get moving people! Who's going to show me their room first?"
"Don't worry about that Temari, I've still got the names in the hat," said Tsunade, shaking a vintage hat. She stuck her hand in carefully selecting a scrap of paper. "Okay, let's see... Shino! You're going first."
As usual, Shino didn't utter a word, and headed up the stairs towards the east wing leading the three Suna residents.
-X-
"I have to admit, they are pretty good," said Shino quietly, holding up a jar filled with bugs. "They even found my secret stash in one of the floor boards."
Temari started beaming with pride until Kankurou hit her on the head while muttering 'bitch' in a very annoyed tone.
She gave him a scornful look while rubbing her head. He could've sworn he heard her calling him a 'dickbutt'.
"Ok, now lets move on to the next person... Ino!" said Tsunade with a smile. Knowing that she had nothing to hide, Ino lead Gaara and the others up to her bedroom in the west wing.
-X-
Up in Ino's bedroom, Gaara, Kankurou and Temari were searching everywhere for a scrap of evidence. It was very hard as Ino's bedroom was massive. Timber floorboards gave the room a comfortable look while the cream coloured wallpaper made the room seem cosy, despite how big it actually was. Gold embellishments cascaded from the top corners of the room down to the bottom and the elegant furniture made the room look like it was fit for a queen. A luxurious four-poster bed stood at the back of the bedroom while a polished dressing table was covered with nail polish; make up, accessories and hairbrushes. The room had one window, but the view was absolutely spectacular. The patio where Shikamaru dozed off and watched the clouds was in perfect view where hedges that were trimmed with great precision were encircling the main area where beautiful flowers of all kinds hung from arches in wire pots. It was breathtaking.
Temari spotted a loose floorboard under Ino's bed and started to unhinge it and find whatever was hidden in there. "Oh no!" thought Ino. "They're going to find the stash of pictures I have of Shikamaru!" She blushed, as she knew that Temari also had a crush on him.
"What's this?"
Ino cringed. She knew that she had found them. But instead, Temari held up a pair of blue pants with a small tear in the hem.
-X-
END CHAPTER 3
-X-