Chapter 19

"Seems a little dramatic," Sakura muttered under her breath as she followed Sasuke up the internal staircase, ignoring the reproving look he gave her over his shoulder.

They climbed the stairs quickly, continuing in silence down the long hallway that stretched between the internal staircase and their offices. Sakura tensed when she saw her assistant glance up from her desk as they passed, a knowing eyebrow ticked up over keen eyes. At least she hadn't seen Sasuke hand her the coffee, Sakura thought to herself ruefully as she followed Sasuke around the corner and into his office.

She watched from the doorway as Sasuke strolled purposefully to the couch and sat, unbuttoning his suit jacket with one hand as he sunk into the leather. Her eyes lingered on his strong form, questing from the broad expanse of his shoulders down to his long legs, which were currently stretched out in front of him leisurely.

The man was unquestionably delicious, Sakura thought with a defeated sigh as she leaned against the door frame, admiring the view. So. Frustratingly. Delicious.

With concerted effort Sakura forced her eyes away, raking them instead over the sunlit space. It still irked her that Sasuke had an office almost four times larger than her own. The large offices, particularly those with private bathrooms, were highly coveted real estate. If, for example, a partner with a corner office retired, the next highly ranked partner would move into that space, creating another vacant office for the second highest ranked partner to claim. The office shifting continued until the smallest, saddest offices were left vacant, waiting for the next crop of eager new baby associates.

Sakura had been steadily climbing the office ladder for the last few years, moving from a windowless, internal office to a cramped but at least brightly lit space that overlooked the plaza below. But Sasuke hadn't had to climb the ladder at all. He had rolled in and been handed a space normally reserved for partners in their twentieth year of practice. Typical.

"Sakura," Sasuke said in a bored voice, "if you're done gawking, close the door."

Narrowing her eyes—she hadn't been gawking—Sakura stepped fully into the room, pulling the door behind her until it clicked angrily into place.

"Sorry," she said with a thin smile, "just wanted to make sure there was enough room in here for both me and your ego."

"It may be a tight fit, but I think we can make it work," Sasuke said without missing a beat.

"Har. Har." Sakura muttered under her breath as she moved to take the chair across from him.

Sasuke only smirked, and as she stared at the familiar lilt of his mouth, it occurred to her then that the last time she had been alone with Sasuke in an office she had—rather enthusiastically—pressed herself against him. And he, rather unexpectedly, had pressed his searing hot lips to her neck.

She felt warmth creep into her cheeks at the memory, and as if sensing her thoughts, Sasuke seemed to tense, his deep eyes locking with her own. In a flash Sakura darted her eyes to the left, focusing on a pile of case files neatly stacked on the coffee table. We are friendly coworkers, she reminded herself. Friendly, non-inappropriate coworkers.

Donning another thin smile, Sakura looked back.

"You shouldn't have brought me that coffee," she said in a level voice.

Sasuke's brows furrowing in apparent confusion.

"I thought you liked coffee."

"I do. But I hate gossip, and now everyone probably thinks we came to work together."

"We did come to work together," Sasuke deadpanned.

"I know that," Sakura sighed, "but the whole office doesn't need to. They'll think . . . you know," she finished lamely, emphasizing the last word.

"No, I don't know. What will they think?"

"They'll think . . ." Sakura began, her voice dying slightly in her throat.

"What?"

"They'll think we slept together," she mock whispered, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "You, calling to me in the lobby that I forgot my coffee? They probably think you drove me to work this morning because I stayed with you last night. Jesus, what else would they think?"

Sasuke stared at her for a long moment.

"You got all that from a cup of coffee?"

She glared at him.

"You are purposefully missing the point."

Sasuke shrugged.

"It's coffee Sakura. Not a greek tragedy. I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, I doubt the staff cares about your personal life."

"You'd be surprised," Sakura muttered darkly, recalling Shizune's shocked eyes.

Ignoring her comment, Sasuke reached behind him to his desk and pulled down a notepad and pen. He clicked it and turned back to look at her, his face serious.

"If you're done discussing coffee etiquette, shall we discuss the case?"

Sakura crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair, irritated.

"Yes. Care to explain why you pulled us out of there?"

"I have concerns," Sasuke replied coolly, eyes still trained on her.

"When don't you?" Sakura sighed. "What is it this time?"

"Orochimaru. He is well aware we suspect the Gatō Company's involvement in the storeowner's death. Only a few weeks ago he told me to tread lightly so as not to draw attention to our investigation. And yet here he is, recommending we stand up in front of a room of every important person in the city and publicly acknowledge we're working to free Haru. The change in attitude is disquieting. It's also a damn stupid idea."

Sakura frowned.

"Why do you say that? What's the concern with people knowing we took Haru's case? We discussed on day one rousing interest in Haru so someone with information might come forward. Isn't this part of our strategy?"

"That was before I knew who we were dealing with," Sasuke replied. "No one is going to risk the wrath of a criminal organization to help some nameless kid. Besides, once the Gatō Company gets word of our investigation it will eliminate any stray threads."

Sakura grimaced. She had little doubt what he meant by eliminate.

"Right . . . But, I thought the debacle over the Great Bridge practically destroyed the Gatō Company? Maybe it doesn't hold sway anymore?"

"Perhaps," Sasuke responded slowly, "but that vulnerability may also make the Company more dangerous. It barely survived the bridge scandal. It would never recover were it linked to a murder. It won't tolerate further damage to its reputation."

Sakura chewed on her lip, weighing Sasuke's words.

"Are we sure Orochimaru knows the Gatō Company is dangerous? I'm sure if we explained our concerns to him and Tsunade—"

"No," Sasuke interrupted, his voice hard. "Not a word to her about the Gatō Company connection."

"She's a partner on this case," Sakura said forcefully, confused. "I'm not going to keep information from her. She expects updates. Besides, if Orochimaru knows our theory of the case, Tsunade should as well. The only reason I haven't told her yet is because she's been too busy to devote any time to this case."

Sasuke shook his head sharply, his lips pressed into an unyielding line.

"Until we know whether the Gatō Company is behind this we can't involve more people. We don't know who we can trust."

Sakura snorted.

"You think we can trust Orochimaru but not Tsunade? Are you out of your mind?"

"I don't trust Orochimaru."

"Then why did you tell him about the Company?"

"I wish I hadn't," Sasuke responded, "but I was concerned they were a client. I needed to confirm whether our firm had a conflict, and only Orochimaru has access to the restricted client files."

Sakura's mouth almost fell open in disbelief.

"You never told me you thought they might be a client. Were they? And when were you planning to tell me any of this?"

"There was nothing to tell. Uchiha Brothers hasn't done work for the Company in years."

"Huh. And what kind of work was that Sasuke?"

Sasuke's jaw hardened and Sakura ran a pointer finger nervously against her thumbnail. Apparently she was more bothered by Sasuke's lie than she had initially realized.

"Let's return to the relevant point," she said, forcing the conversation on rather than address the elephant in the room. "We can't not rely on the expertise of two experienced partners. This is a murder investigation. It's serious."

"I've run cases before without Orochimaru's supervision Sakura. Does Tsunade not allow you to run yours?"

"Of course she does," Sakura snapped, "but this isn't just any case Sasuke. The life of a kid is literally on the line. You may have a partner's office Sasuke, but you're still an associate. You have to be out of your mind if you think we can handle this without them."

"I have the experience, Sakura. You have a sharp mind and, I've come to learn, invaluable medical knowledge."

"Tsunade isn't just my boss," Sakura began, struggling to ignore his compliment, "she's my mentor. I can't lie to her."

"Then don't lie. Just . . . omit certain details. For now there's no need to update her with anything beyond Shino's report."

"So you don't want to tell her about Itsumi, or the potential the mob is involved?"

"No."

Sakura bit the inside of her lip, considering.

"An omission is just lying quietly," she finally said. "I'm not comfortable with it."

Sasuke tapped his pen against the notepad.

"What if," he began slowly, clearly thinking out loud, "you report to her I have a contact who wants to remain anonymous, which is true, who is keeping their ears open for us. Can we compromise on that? It's not dishonest. There's no harm in it."

No harm my ass, Sakura thought as she considered Tsunade's certain knack for sensing dishonesty.

When she didn't respond, Sasuke shifted impatiently in his chair.

"Sakura, it's important we limit who knows about this. The more people who know the more people who could get hurt."

Sakura looked up at that. That hadn't occurred to her.

"You think if we tell Tsunade she could get hurt?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"Unlikely, but it's a possibility. We don't know what we're unpacking here. I'd prefer you step out of the investigation too, but I doubt there is much I can do to stop your involvement at this point. You seem hell bent on surging ahead."

Sakura closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. The bitter, bitter irony.

"You know what's funny about this? I told Tsunade, begged her really, to give this case to Naruto. But she insisted it needed to be me. She wanted someone she could trust to report to her, and she didn't believe Naruto could be objective when it came to you. And now here we are, plotting together how to keep Tsunade in the dark."

"She wanted you to spy on me?" Sasuke asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Sure did. Someone needed to keep an eye on Orochimaru's golden boy."

"Smart woman," he muttered absently, "though she needn't be concerned."

Sakura opened her eyes and examined him.

"Because you're not his golden boy?"

"No," Sasuke said firmly. "I'm not."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"What have you been telling Orochimaru?"

"Nothing. He doesn't expect updates the way Tsunade apparently does. Though his sudden shift towards public disclosure is concerning."

"Are you going to ask him about it?"

"I might," Sasuke acknowledged, "but he won't tell me the truth if he doesn't want to, so it's often a useless exercise."

"Hm," Sakura acknowledged, mind still processing Sasuke's safety concerns.

"Sasuke, here's the problem with secrets. They always come out eventually. If the Gato Company was involved in Haru's case we'll need to involve Tsunade. We can't get Haru out otherwise."

"I suppose you're right," he said, looking at Sakura carefully. "But, can we agree that until we either confirm that theory or rule it out, we shouldn't alert her to the possibility?"

"I still don't like it, but I won't tell her for now. I can't promise I won't change my mind. That's the best I can do."

After a moment, Sasuke nodded.

"Fair."

"Ok," Sakura said largely to herself. "We're in agreement. So, what's the plan then?"

"We keep our knowledge to ourselves, and we write up the thinnest, most non-helpful narrative to be read at this stupid ball for Haru that we can."

After several attempts, including one where Sakura almost wrestled the pad of paper out of Sasuke's hand when he kept referring to Haru as "incarcerated youth," they finally pulled together a decent script for next week's event. It was littered with warm fuzzies they largely made up about Haru to endear him to the crowd. Heavy on fluff, light on case details.

As Sakura handed the pad to her secretary to type up, she turned over what Sasuke had said once again. Her gut screamed against the deception, but Sasuke was right. It didn't make sense to involve Tsunade unless there was an actual need. The woman wasn't subtle. And when she drank she wasn't particularly discreet. No doubt if Tsunade knew their theory about the Gato Company she would latch on like a pitbull. And it could be all for naught anyway. The murder could be completely unconnected to this dark world Sakura hadn't known existed until last month.

That's right. Be optimistic, Sakura thought as she entered her office and looked over the many emails that had gathered in her inbox. Pretend your life isn't rapidly spinning out of control.

Rather than click open any of the offending messages, Sakura laid her head down on her desk, contemplating her life choices.

After a moment she reached for her phone and clicked open the message app. She typed out a quick question to Naruto, certain she already knew the answer.

"I need gin. Happy hour?"

She put the phone back down and skimmed through her emails, triple checking she would be fine to sneak away later that afternoon. After a few minutes she heard a ping. She glanced back down at her phone, where Naruto's response glowed bright blue.

"Always."

Author Note:

I know, I know. MC, where the hell have you been? And why was that chapter so short and unfulfilling? It's been a crazy summer all. Between work and some big life changes, I haven't had much time to get anything out. But. I'm trying here. And I'll try to get you something again soon. The good news is, we're only one chapter away from the ball.

Thanks to everyone who sent love my way during the break. I read every message and comment, and I appreciated them all. You guys are the best.