Chapter Twenty Two

Charges

The Otogakure PD were civil, if not exactly welcoming. Orochimaru had been a thorn Oto's side ever since he moved his base of operations to the city and it grated on the local officers that Konoha were going to be the ones to finally pin him with an actual crime.

"They're a friendly bunch." Naruto grumbled, jerking a thumb over his shoulder as he exited the Oto police headquarters. He moved to join Sasuke who was leaning against the car they'd driven up from Konoha.

"We're taking the biggest arrest of the year right from under their noses. I can see why they're pissed."

"Wow Sasuke, if you like the Oto force that much then maybe you should just transfer over here?"

"Real mature, Dobe." Sasuke sighed, pulling out his phone to check the time. "Where is Kakashi?"

"Inside with Genma. They're just briefing the escort."

Sasuke slouched back against the car, glaring at the building behind Naruto. "I wouldn't be surprised if Orochimaru has eyes and ears in the department. He'll know we're coming."

"We haven't told Oto about the evidence we found though. Orochimaru doesn't know that we've got him on enough charges to send him away for good. Not even his fancy lawyers will be able to get him off this time."

"Don't underestimate people like Orochimaru, Naruto." Kakashi strolled out of the precinct with Genma in tow. "He's a slippery one."

Naruto waved the man's words away. "Yeah yeah. Are we ready to go?"

"Yes. We'll head up to Orochimaru's office directly while the Oto PD box up evidence from the other floors."

Sasuke spotted the groups of uniformed officers exiting the building, heading for their squad cars. "Let's go."

The lift doors opened on to the thirtieth floor and the sleek, modern sitting room that took up the majority of the space.

The red-haired receptionist behind the desk stood when she saw the four men, a stiffly polite smile affixed to her lips.

"Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment?"

Kakashi flipped open his badge and showed the woman the shield and inscription within. "This should suffice?"

The woman bowed slightly although Sasuke noticed how her eyes narrowed. "Let me just check if Orochimaru-sama is free." She reached for the phone on her desk but Kakashi stopped her with a firm shake of his head.

"No need." He potted the nameplate on the desk "Thank you, Karin. Allow us."

Kakashi led the way to the double doors at the far end of the room. He gave them a hard shove and they swung open to reveal Orochimaru's private office. The large windows on the back wall offered an impressive view of downtown Oto and silhouetted the figure sat at the wide ebony desk at the centre of the room.

"Hatake-san. Now this is an unexpected visit." Orochimaru's voice was soft, pleasant almost. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Orochimaru-san, we are here to arrest you."

"Oh? How odd." The man stood from his chair and rounded the desk towards the police officers. "I can't think of any reason why you would think that was an appropriate measure."

"Let's start with the murder charges shall we? We'll get to the rest as we go along."

Orochimaru chuckled, the sound completely at odds with the tense atmosphere of the room. "Murder? How ludicrous."

"I think we had best discuss this at the station." Kakashi looked over his shoulder at his companions. "Would you mind, Sasuke?"

Appreciating that Kakashi was giving up the satisfaction of slapping the handcuffs on Orochimaru himself, Sasuke nodded, moving to stand behind the eerily calm man. There was no resistance from the business mogul as Sasuke manoeuvred his arms behind his back and clicked the metal cuffs in to place. Sasuke finished reciting Orochimaru's rights and then stepped back, nodding to Kakashi.

"Shall we, Orochimaru-san?"

The shackled man remained where he stood and sighed, as though this was all merely a small annoyance in his day. "My legal team will of course want to join us for this chat."

"I understand, Orochimaru-san. As is your right." Kakashi held a hand out towards the office door. "Now would you prefer to walk out of here of your own volition or be dragged out?"

Orochimaru's face was unreadable as he finally took a step forwards. Kakashi led the way back through the building, with Naruto and Sasuke either side of Orochimaru. Genma brought up the rear. When they reached the ground floor and stepped out of the lift, the busy atrium fell deathly silent. Sasuke would not deny that he felt no small amount of satisfaction watching Orochimaru walk through the gawking crowd in handcuffs. As they passed through the room whispers followed them, with people already pulling out their phones to snap photos or call and spread the news.

The street outside was a little less crowded but they still drew the attention of those passing by. Sasuke knew that the news of Orochimaru's arrest would be common knowledge within the hour.

Kakashi opened the back door of the car and stood aside. "Mind your head." He said conversationally as Orochimaru stepped forward. He glanced at the two younger men and jerked his head towards the car. "You two can ride in the back with our guest."

Naruto pulled a face at the order. "We should have brought two cars."

"C'mon." Sasuke sighed, heading around to the far side of the car. "At least it's not far."

"What charges are you filing against my client exactly?" Orochimaru's attorney sported a no nonsense haircut that screamed of time spend in the armed forces, and an even more severe expression.

"Murder, fraud, perverting the course of justice. Oh, and terrorism charges too of course."

"And you have evidence of these things?"

Kakashi nodded, expression verging on disinterested. "Yes. We wouldn't have wasted our time arresting him otherwise."

"You're definitely wasting all our time, Hatake-san." Orochimaru drawled ignoring as his attorney shushed him. "I have not committed any crimes."

Kakashi shuffled through the paperwork in front of him, drawing out two photographs and turning them so they faced Orochimaru.

"Rin Rikei and Saburou Shin. Two people that had no idea that the other existed but were murdered the same night, and for the same reason."

Sasuke observed the table from his spot near the door. Orochimaru's face was inscrutable, the only movement being his eyes flicking back and forth between the photos.

"As grim as these photographs are, I'm afraid that I have no clue why you are showing them to me."

"Because, Orochimaru-san." Kakshi leaned forward on the table, encroaching the suspect's personal space. "They were both killed on your orders, were they not?"

"No comment." The lawyer barked. "Are you just here to show these gruesome pictures to us? If so then I must insist you let my client return home. How pointless-"

Kakashi held a hand up, cutting off the man's blathering. "Don't worry, there is plenty of evidence to link your client to the crimes. I suppose most damning of all are the large payments in your accounts that indicate you were selling Rin Rikei's failed formula as a biological weapon. That comes under terrorism in the law books, as I'm sure you know."

Orochimaru steepled his fingers under his chin and regarded the detective. "You have no proof that that is where any of that money came from." Beside him, Orochimaru's attorney covered his face with his hands, mumbling a low 'no comment'.

"Well I have to admit," Kakashi tapped his pile of papers on the desk to neaten them as he stood. "We couldn't see the providence of the payments just by looking at your bank statements. We were able to trace the transactions as passing through an offshore account in Kagegakure before you moved anything in to your regular accounts. Wise of you to have set everything up through Kagegakure, even all your company dealings. Completely out of our jurisdiction."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed at Kakashi's conversational tone. "Many businesses choose to register in Kage. They offer discretion above all else."

"I understand. I'm just going to get a coffee, I'll be back in ten." Kakashi headed towards the door, slowing as he drew level with Sasuke. He winked at the younger man before turning back. "Although while I think about it, there is one little snag. You may not be aware, or more likely someone in your company didn't think it important to mention, but Kagegakure did apply to join the Allied Defense Forces Association last year. Their addition to the group was ratified last month and so any crimes that fall within the definition terrorism can be investigated by the jurisdiction where the crime took place."

Sasuke enjoyed watching Orochimaru's hands tighten on the edge of the table. He fought to keep his face neutral as Kakashi continued.

"And like we've already discussed, we strongly believe that your activities fall under that umbrella. So while we do have to present the bank you are using in Kagegakure with a warrant and allow them reasonable time to provide the requested information, Konoha PD do have the ability to freeze access to any and all accounts that you hold in Kagegakure, and indeed any of the other ADFA member jurisdictions."

He glanced down at his watched and his eye crinkled up in to a polite smile. "In fact, as of fifteen minutes ago that should have been done. I wonder how long your businesses will function without any cash flow?"

Orochimaru shook his head, his low laugh now unpleasant and forced. "You will find nothing to hold me on."

"We already have." Sasuke spoke for the first time. "You've screwed up this time Orochimaru. Murder is one thing, but terrorism is a hard thing to come back from."

"I spoke to Kabuto, you know." The handcuffed man said suddenly, tone swinging back to practised politeness. "Interesting how you managed to get that recording at the gala, and that were so sure you had his voice on that phone call. Someone very special must have picked up on that."

Orochimaru's lawyer shushed him then, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed, unbidden. The words were not a subtle threat.

Kaksashi cleared his throat lowly, wordlessly telling Sasuke to hold it together. "Your assistant should really be worrying about his impending trial rather than calling you."

"It seems that you don't know everything Hatake-san." Orochimaru smiled. "Kabuto was able to post bail late this morning. In fact it was just before you invited yourself in to my office so perhaps the message hasn't reached you yet?"

Sasuke and Kakashi's phones vibrated on their belts at the same time and without even reading the message, they knew it would be Naruto confirming Orochimaru's words from the the observation room next door.

Kakashi sighed lightly. "I'm not surprised that you managed to bail him. There must be many sympathetic judges in your phone book. Whether he, and you for that matter, sit in jail or sit in a mansion to await trial, it makes little difference." He glanced at the stony-faced lawyer next to Orochimaru. "I just hope your attorneys don't need payment upfront."

With that he turned and opened the door to the interrogation room, Sasuke following after him. Naruto and Genma exited the room next door, both with grim sets to their mouths.

"Kabuto has been bailed. He's on his way back to Oto as we speak."

"Find out what judge signed off on that." Kakashi shook his head, looking at Genma. "And we need to speak to Oto PD about surveillance detail on Orochimaru."

"You don't think we can charge him?"

"Oh we definitely can." Kakashi shrugged. "But his lawyers will try everything to get him on house arrest pending trial. We'll hold him as long as we can and charge him at the last possible moment. That will keep him in here for a few days at least." Naruto shook his head in disgust. "At least we kicked him where it hurt and cut his purse strings. That makes things harder for him."

"Hopefully. In the meantime, you and Sasuke go down and pick up the boxes of evidence we gathered from Orochimaru's office." Kakashi looked back at his watch. "If you leave now you should be able to make it back to Konoha before midnight. Get everything in to lockup before you go home. We'll need everyone looking at it first thing."

Naruto and Sasuke glowered at the older man who just smiled back.

"You drive first." Naruto muttered to Sasuke as they turned and headed for evidence locker. "I need a nap."

"Make sure you take the computers too." Kakashi called, chuckling when Naruto flipped him off with two fingers behind his head. He enjoyed having subordinates sometimes.

Sakura moved around Sasuke's kitchen, pulling out two bowls from one of the cupboards. The timer on the oven beeped and reached forward to carefully turn the gas hob off. Lifting the heavy saucepan in one hand, and the colander in the other, she turned to the sink and drained the pasta water, the steam billowing up to warm her face.

"Do you think Sasuke minds me hanging around here so much, even when he's working?" She asked as she dumped the now-cooked pasta in to the pan of garlic and olive oil next to her, giving everything a few good shakes.

"My brother does not shy away from telling people how he really feels." Itachi joined Sakura in the small kitchen, gently taking the pan from her hands and beginning to dish up the meal. "I can say with confidence that he enjoys having you here." Sakura blushed lightly and smiled. "I keep saying I need to spend more time at my own apartment, but I always find myself back here."

Itachi huffed out a small laugh, grating some parmesan over the bowls of pasta. "Well I think you have me to blame for some of that. You have been a great help in getting me settled in the new house."

"Distracting your friends so you can get things done you mean." Sakura grinned, carrying the cutlery over to the table, leaving the bowls for Itachi.

"That too." The man agreed. "I'm just glad they all gave up and left for the night."

The pair ate in companionable silence for a while, enjoying the simple yet tasty fare.

"Thank you for keeping me company." Sakura said eventually.

"No thanks needed." Itachi assured her. "Your presence is most welcome, Sakura. I'm glad that I can be friends with someone so important to my brother."

"Oh don't." Sakura chided, feeling her eyes threaten to burn. "If you say nice things like that then I'll cry."

Itachi laughed at that. "I see. Then shall I spout insults at you instead?"

"How about you just eat your dinner?" Sakura stuck her tongue out and heard the smile in the man's voice as he voiced his assent.

The buzz of her phone on the wooden tabletop caught their attention and Sakura reached for it as Itachi spied the name on the screen.

"It's Sasuke."

Nodding, she brought the phone up to her ear. "Hi Sasuke."

"Hey."

"You on your way back?"

"Yeah." He blew out a heavy sigh. "Naruto and I left Oto about a half an hour ago. We need to drop some things off at HQ so I'll be late getting back. Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah." Sakura smiled. "I'm just having a romantic dinner with your brother."

"Ha ha." Sasuke deadpanned. "What about his loser friends?"

"Not here, and I promise your house is in one piece."

"Well can't ask for more than that." There was a pause before he continued, his voice a little lower and Sakura imagine that he was trying to stop Naruto from eavesdropping. "Will you be there when I get back?"

Sakura bit her lip, the heat coming back to her face. "Do you want me to be?"

"Of course. You know you're always welcome there."

"Hmm." Sakura pretended to mull it over. "In that case I'll stick around. I should still have time to finish my date with Itachi first though."

"Stop, my sides are splitting." Sasuke drawled and Sakura couldn't suppress her giggle.

"Drive safe. Say hello to Naruto for me?"

The couple finished their goodbyes and Sakura placed her phone back on the table.

"Sorry about that." She said to Itachi, turning her attention back to her dinner.

"You know," Itachi mused. "I've never seen anyone tease Sasuke and get away with it like you do."

"Lucky me." Sakura grinned, twirling the pasta strands around her fork.

"Somehow, I think you make your own luck, Sakura." Itachi smiled.

... anyone out there?

So almost 11 years to the day I have returned!

I have no excuse other than life got busy and I found less and less time to write anything.

Recently I got the writing bug again and started posting on AO3. Through some stroke of luck I managed to get access to this account again (I thought I'd lost the email and password forever) and I wanted to come back and finish this story off.

Thank you so much for everyone who has continued to read, review and message me about this story. I hadn't seen any of it as I thought this account was gone for good, but it was nice to see it all when I logged back in.

The next update won't take 11 years... promise!