Characters: Hinamori (POV), Hitsugaya
Timeline: 4 months into Hinamori's vice-captaincy
Word Count: ~6700
Tags: Pre-series, Rukongai, Junrinan lore, Shinigami/zanpakutou bond, I will continue to reify condor!Tobiume at every opportunity, Eldercare, For the sake of soul society, Gotei melancholia
Notes: Written for @pinkhairedlily for the 2023 @hitsuhina-week Gift Exchange, combining the prompts “hinamori embracing leadership roles in her division” and “momo character study with a sprinkle of toshiro”! <3 (Though there are probably at least 4 tablespoons of Hitsugaya in this, rather than a spinkle.) I hope you enjoy it!
Summary: Another homecoming. Hinamori recognizes that lieutenancy is more a beginning than an achievement, but some missions make that clearer than others. Tobiume is blooming, Hinamori has work to do in Junrinan, and Hitsugaya has some difficult questions for her.
Hitsugaya is a difficult question.
--
“I miss this,” she says, even though she hadn’t meant to. Then she has to ask, “Do you?”
“I don’t live here anymore, either,” Hitsugaya says.
Hinamori does not know whether that means of course or stop.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Synopsis: But what puzzled Toushiro more (and it was really too early for this), was that he was holding two fishing poles and wearing rubber boots.
“Why are you here?” Toushiro whispered venomously.
“Get ready! We’re going to the living world to fish!” Shinji responded cheekily, thrusting a pole and pair of boots in Toushiro’s unexpecting hands, as if that were answer enough.
“And why are we doing this?” he asked dubiously, inspecting the tools in his hands.
“Because we got to go when the fish are ‘bout to wake up!” Shinji rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re going to bond today! I got a whole list of activities for us to do.”
Toushiro muttered, “Is this your idea of bonding?”
…
Toushiro and Shinji have a day off to bond together (at Momo’s behest).
Word Count: 4290 words
Setting: established relationship, many decades after the last Bleach chapter
Prompt: @hitsuhina-week‘s Hitsuhina 2022 Gift Exchange
Authour’s Note: I’m so sorry that this is late! This is for @pinkhairedlily who requested Toushiro asking Shinji for Momo’s hand in marriage!
I kind of stepped back from the prompt a little bit but I do sincerly hope you enjoy it! I will admit, I am nervous because this is my first time writing Shinji and thinking of him (which is a lot harder than I thought), but it was a fun process.
Also shout out to Fuji Kaze’s Shinunoga E-Wa for being the unexpected mood setter!
—
“Hitsugaya-taicho, I have a favour to ask…” Momo drawled out, as she snuggled into her boyfriend’s side. It was a cold winter night and the two were sitting in bed, reading their respective books. Momo had introduced Toushiro to the concept of reading before bed and he had to admit that he had been enjoying the latest titles she bought for him in the real world. Before they went to sleep, she would eagerly ask him what he thought until he would have to gently remind her to go to sleep if it were too late.
But tonight, it seemed like she had other things on her mind. Ah the captain’s title... Hinamori must really want something.
“What is it?”
“I know there is a captain’s day off at the end of the week…” she said softly as she traced patterns on his collarbone. “I think it’d be nice if you would spend it with Hirako-taicho.”
“No.”
“But Hitsugaya-kun,” Well there goes the title—it was nice while it lasted.
“I already have plans,” he defended, continuing to read his book.
“What plans?”
“To…read,” he said, turning a page for emphasis.
Momo arched her eyebrow. “Rangiku-san told me that you were excited for the day off so you could catch up on archiving old reports…”
“Those are valid plans for a day off.”
The book was gently taken from his hands, and he looked up to see Momo leaning over him as she held his face in her hands. “Toushiro,” she whispered with such intensity that it made his mind stutter, especially as she leant over, her long hair cascading around him like a curtain.
“I know you two have not always seen eye to eye...” He scoffed, but Momo continued undeterred. “However, I think if you spent a little time with each other outside of work, you could get to know each other better.”
She moved closer until Toushiro could see sparks flicker in her brown eyes, and feel warmth shoot down his core.
“You are my most important person and it would mean the world to me if you got along better with my captain.”
Toushiro raised a skeptical eyebrow.
Momo rolled her eyes. “The last one didn’t count.”
He said nothing, but Momo knew he was thinking it deeply over. She kissed his cheek. “Please?”
Toushiro knew that Momo knew exactly what she was doing. But even he had to admit that her words stirred something inside him. Toushiro sighed in defeat.
Momo smiled, knowing she had gotten him to cave in. She dipped down and kissed him deeply, melting into him and making him see warm sparks behind his eyes.
“Most important person, huh?” he breathed when they separated.
She rolled her eyes playfully. “Yes, what of it?”
Momo yelped as Toushiro pulled her waist down, until she was cradled by him in his lap.
He bent down, his eyes deepening to a dark emerald. “You have always been my most important person—even before I knew it.”
Momo blushed, a silly smile on her face as she tucked her face into his neck.
He sighed in faux lament, “But—know that you owe me.”
She smiled with a knowing glint in her eyes, pulling his face down towards hers. “I’m sure I can think of a way to make it up.”
---
Toushiro grumbled as a loud knocking persisted at his door. It was his day off and he had been hoping to sleep in. He glared out his window, where it was still completely pitch black outside—but that did not deter the loud noise.
“What is it?” Toushiro growled as he stumbled out of bed and pulled the door roughly aside.
He had to blink twice to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
The fifth captain, Shinji Hirako, stood in front of him with a maddingly toothy grin. But what puzzled Toushiro more (and it was really too early for this), was that he was holding two fishing poles and wearing rubber boots.
“Why are you here?” Toushiro whispered venomously.
“Get ready! We’re going to the living world to fish!” Shinji responded cheekily, thrusting a pole and pair of boots in Toushiro’s unexpecting hands, as if that were answer enough.
“And why are we doing this?” he asked dubiously, inspecting the tools in his hands.
“Because we got to go when the fish are ‘bout to wake up!” Shinji rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re going to bond today! I got a whole list of activities for us to do.”
Toushiro muttered, “Is this an idea your idea of bonding?”
“This is mandatory for all officers in the Fifth Division. But I’d never wake my darling lieutenant this early—I’d give her another hour at least.”
Toushiro scowled deeply. “Don’t call her darling,” he said darkly—before slamming the door shut.
---
Toushiro had never seen the water so early in the morning. It was twilight, the sky blurring into a gentle blue. There was a sense that the sun was edging onto the horizon, but it still felt far and distant.
After they had stopped for coffee (which the older captain had the decency to pay for since Toushiro was still in a foul mood from being groused so early in the morning without warning), even he had to begrudgingly admit, that it was quite serene.
He did not expect the fifth division captain to have an itinerary for the day. Toushiro’s plans for the day was to just hop over to the Fifth, ask the captain to accompany him for tea (in front of Momo so she could see that yes, he was making an attempt at interaction) and finish that up in an hour and a half max—so he could go and work on archiving old reports the rest of the day.
Because to be frank, Toushiro would have rather spent the day off with Momo. They hadn’t had time alone to go out for a long time and that for him was a much more desirable way to spend his time off.
Instead, he was sitting in a fold out chair, clutching a fishing pole on a wooden dock at five in the morning as Shinji explained the wisdom of fishing.
“The key is to be patient. They’ll come to you but ya got to wait—otherwise you’ll miss your chance,” the blond captain explained as he raised his pole and swung, the line flying through air before making a gentle plop in the water.
Toushiro restrained himself from rolling his eyes but followed similarly.
“When ya reel the rod, keep the line taut. If you do it too quickly, the fish can break away and ya lose the line,” Shinji demonstrated by pulling taut the line of the string. The older captain was lounging in his chair, sleeves rolled up to the elbow and leg crossed over knee, the perfect pose of relaxation.
“If we rush,” Shinji continued, “we get ahead of ourselves—which only hurts in the long run.”
Toushiro found himself drifting back to the war in the sky as he stared at the ripples in the water. It had been years, but time only eased the pain—it did not erase it. Though they were high up in the clouds, fighting an invisible battle, at that moment it was a grounding in reality.
He had been younger, rash and naïve. He thought he could kill Soul Society’s traitorous felon.
He was gravely mistaken.
Toushiro despised Aizen with every aching bone in his body. But he loathed himself more for being goaded into swinging the first blade. Feeling rage boil into him, all he could see was red as he rushed at Aizen first.
“When did you get so wise?” Toushiro asked sarcastically. He pulled at the rod—nothing yet.
Shinji laughed shortly. “Years of exile—gives ya time to think.” He took a sip of coffee. “We tried many things, wore many hats—all to survive. And one of them was fishing.”
Shinji leaned over and stage whispered, “We weren’t exactly earning money in conventional ways,” he tightened the lock of the pole shrugging his shoulders in an exaggerated fashion, “so we learned new skills.”
“Unfortunately, Hiyori can’t sit still for a minute—so she was banned from all fishing trips,” Shinji explained with faux diplomacy.
With his brief interactions with the short woman, Toushiro was not surprised.
And back in the battle, she had paid for her rashness. Though they didn’t know each other, the enemy of an enemy was an ally—and in that moment he could feel blood run cold seeing her severed half fall through the sky. In the end, it was all a cruel reminder and prelude to his own downfall.
Shinji watched the tent captain, whose eyes were distant and out on the horizon. He had a feeling of what was going through the young man’s head. It reminded the older captain of a time, very soon after the first war had finished, that those eyes held a similar pain.
Shinji stifled a yawn as he headed back to the Fifth Division headquarters. It was late into the night and he had just returned from the World of Living. Kyoraku-soutaicho insisted on a channel of constant communication with the Vizards that were still in the living world, so he sent Shinji on diplomatic visits. But the blond captain knew that behind smiles and pleasant reason, it was just to keep aware of possible treachery. Though many of them were working for the Thirteen Division Guards, there was always some underlying suspicion.
Well—it didn’t bother him too much. It was an excuse to go to the Living World during working hours.
He opened the door and immediately wished he had arrived later.
The white-haired captain didn’t notice Shinij. He was standing behind Momo’s desk, who was fast asleep, a brush in her hands and head resting on paperwork. Shinji watched as the young boy placed a blanket over her shoulders, barely touching her, before shifting the candle flame away from her.
The lone light of the room casted dark shadows over Toushiro’s face, obscuring his eyes from Shinji.
He looked up, and at the sight of the Fifth captain his teal eyes went wide, like a deer in headlights.
“Can I help you?” Shinji asked to cut the tension in the room.
And just like the flicker of the shadow, the tenth captain narrowed his eyes, the shock completely gone. “Are you working her late?”
Shinji wanted to roll his eyes but held back, knowing that probably wouldn’t bode well with the other captain. “No. I told her those could be finished tomorrow.”
Toushiro nodded, still holding his glare at Shinji. A moment of silence. “I dropped off the reports for you to sign,” he said shortly, which made Shinji think if it was deliberate the young captain came late, since those weren’t due for a couple days. Toushiro made his way towards the exit, arms tucked into his sleeves, leaving no more room for conversation.
“Aren’t ya going to Matsumoto’s party?” Shinji asked. The tenth division lieutenant had invited people to go out to drink to celebrate the news of Renjii and Rukia’s engagement.
The white-haired boy stopped. “No.” Toushiro looked over his shoulder. “It’d be better if I didn’t go.”
Shinji waited until he left before he made his way over to his vice-captain, gently shaking her awake.
“Hmm, Taicho?” she mumbled, sleep still evident in her voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask ya the same thing,” he responded, pulling the brush out of her hand. “C’mon—let’s take you home.”
Momo made no protest as she stood up, her short hair sticking out in various directions that reminded Shinji of a dry paint brush.
“Someone from tenth division dropped the reports over—you won’t have to go tomorrow morning to pick them up.”
“Oh okay…” Momo looked down, pursing her lips in confusion. “Taicho, did you put this over me?” She asked as she shifted the blanket, looking at it forlornly.
He looked at her, contemplating how much to say. “No, I didn’t.”
“…okay,” she said, sounding more awake but further away than before.
Seeing how her shoulders deflated, he gently led her up out of her seat. “How about we stop by to say hi at Matsumoto’s—and if ya don’t want to stick around, I’ll walk you back,” Shinji remarked as he blew out the candle.
For Shinji, who was returning to an old post after many years, he knew it wasn’t his place to be involved. He was just relearning the ropes with a new lieutenant following behind his back. Besides getting over the urge to resist looking over his shoulder, he and Momo were still learning to be in each other’s presence.
There were bumps in the road, of course. (He still never could forget the dubious look she gave him when he suggested to cut her hair—the first time that she had shown such strong disbelief outside of her usual polite diplomacy.) The beginning was just making sure not to step too far out of line with each other. But the line gradually faded, and they fell into a routine together. Now, he considered himself lucky to have a competent soldier like her working beside him.
A slight tug at the pole broke Shinji from his revere, pulling him forward at the edge of his chair.
“Look, look!”
Toushiro could only watch as Shinji steadily reeled in the line, the fish thrashing about and sending waves through the water. It slipped out of the water just as the sun broke the horizon, the scales of the fish glistening in a yellow glow.
“See—what’d I tell ya?” He grinning holding up the fish before depositing it in his bucket.
Toushiro looked to his own pole and pulled on it, but only string came with the bait missing from the hook.
“Well…we can’t be prodigies at everything,” Shinji said flippantly.
---
Toushiro didn’t know what sort of itinerary the Fifth Captain had for the day. The white-haired man was dragged to random locations around Karakura Town: the barber shop (“this is where I learned to cut hair!” Shinji pointed out while he sat for a quick trim), the hardware store (“Kensei needed a new grate for his BBQ” the blond man defended at Toushiro’s raised eyebrow), a bookstore (Toushiro looked away in embarrassment as Shinji picked up Yadamoru-taicho’s magazine subscription) and the post office (“Need to check my PO box if anything’s come in,” he claimed, peering in the box and pulling out a wad of bills). Shinji seemed to have a secret agenda because he kept on picking things up at small shops along the way. But if Toushiro hadn’t known better—it was as if the man were doing his errands for the day and just having him tag along.
The bell chimed as they entered an unassuming record store. There were rows of wooden boxes, teeming with layers of records. Faded posters were pasted on every inch of the wall to the point that one couldn’t recognize the original wall colour. An old man smiled warmly at them from behind the counter as Shinji greeted him like he were family.
“This is one of the greatest secrets in this town—the man, Jiro-san, knows every single thing about every record in this store,” Shinji said with distinct glee in his voice before starting to peruse the albums. “I try to bring Momo here every other month—to get new music for the office.”
Toushiro felt his interest pique. For the most part, he had remained silent for the day as Hirako had talked enough about random facts and snippets of his human life to fill the gap. Besides offering a few signs of acknowledgment, Toushiro was happy to have Hirako lead the conversation, so he didn’t have to.
But hearing Momo’s name reminded him that this man had a close relationship with her—and it started at the time that his own relationship with her was strained.
He remembered those initial childish feelings of jealousy, seeming to try to find fault in everything of the new captain. From his asymmetrical haircut to his unsettling smile and tongue piercing, Toushiro didn’t understand how such a sleazy looking character could lead a division, let alone bring Momo out from her lowest point. He knew that it wasn’t smooth in the beginning. But Toushiro watched from a distance as Momo seemed to brighten more and more until she was back to her cheerful self—now with the addition of brazenly admonishing her captain. He was in awe of how quickly she became confident but more so, how comfortable she was with this foreign character.
“How often did you come?” Toushiro asked, trying to not to show too much interest.
Shinji continued on as held an album up, inspecting its tracklist. “Well, Momo wasn’t initially a fan of listening to music in the office. But once I got her started on some Ella Fitzgerald, she started to dig it more. Now she sometimes comes on her own to get records. She’ll surprise me with her own choices—I tell ya’ she’s got an ear for talent. I even got her to agree to go to a jazz festival with the rest of us this summer.”
Toushiro had his back turned, looking down at the labels but not quite seeing their names.
“How did you get her to open up?”
Shinji raised an eyebrow, looking behind him to see the white-haired man staring intently at the music. If he hadn’t seen the rigidity of his back, it may have seemed normal.
Shinji sighed.
“I was just there,” he simply said. “I didn’t leave.”
He watched as the younger man tense up further, before briskly putting down the album and walking out of the store. “I’ll be outside,” Shinji heard called out before the ring of the bell chimed in the silence that ensued at the sudden departure.
Shinji wasn’t surprised, and looking back maybe he could have chosen his words better. But he knew this was something long brewing and coming. He pulled out his phone, typing out a quick text message, as he called out to the store owner. “Jiro-san, I’ll be taking these! You keep me informed of any new vinyl shipments when you get some! My daughter will pick them up.”
--
Shinji found him outside, sitting on the bench in the park, with his hands tucked deep into his jacket. The only signs of life were the soft white puffs of air that he breathed out from above his scarf. Shinji walked over, the grocery bags swinging against his knee and it was only when he was in front of the man that Toushiro seemed to come out of a daze. Toushiro wordlessly accepted the coffee Shinji offered before his turquoise eyes brightened in recognition at the packet in the older man’s other hand.
“Those are the ones that Matsumoto likes…”
Shinji sat down and opened the orange packet. “Yeah, these cookies are really addicting. I introduced them to Momo last time we visited the World of the Living and we haven’t stopped eating them. She must’ve given them to Matsumoto.” He gestured the open packet to the young man, who took the cookie quietly.
They drank their coffee in silence. The golden string lights around them began to flicker as the sky turned to dusk, and like clockwork, it lightly began to snow. Families emerged around the winter street food vendors, talking animatedly as young children ran around, leaving prints in the snow build up.
Shinji could tell Toushiro wanted to say something because his eyes would flit over to him and he’d open his mouth before closing it. But Shinji paid no mind and continued to drink his coffee. He was in no rush at all, he was just waiting for what he knew the young man would say.
“I was jealous of you,” Toushiro finally confessed in a low voice, “of how you were able to make her smile again. You picked her up—when I was the one that hurt her the most.”
Shinji knew there was hurt on both sides. It didn’t take a genius to know that while his lieutenant was adjusting to being back to work, there was still something missing. He could see it in her eyes every time she looked outside at the snow. When there were joint meetings, he would catch her looking towards the tenth company, her sad eyes following the young captain around.
“It wasn’t only me,” Shinji replied. “Matsumoto was always there. Kira & Renji too.” He paused and looked at him straight in the eyes. “But she really wasn’t her full self until you two reconciled.”
“Hirako…”
“Forget your self-pity parade—it’ll do ya no good,” Shinji said, not unkindly. “I’ve been there—it damn hurts, I know. But ya hurt the people you care about more with your absence than with your actions.”
Toushiro stared at Shinji as he took a long sip of coffee. “Get up and move on from your past mistakes; that’s what it means to be a man.” He found himself remembering the way he held Hiyori’s body in his hands, feeling like his world was on a precipice. Never had he ever felt in that moment, the strongest desire to reverse everything, to reverse time itself, before they had changed, before he had ruined their lives forever. It was only when she had hit him with his slipper at his bowed head, that he could see the stupidity in his own wallowing—something he had seen in the young captain too.
“But ya have to promise me one thing—you won’t leave her again,” Shinji spoke with such solemnity that Toushiro’s emerald eyes hardened in determination.
“I won’t.”
The blond man shrugged his shoulder. “Then ya don’t need to apologize to me for nothing.”
Toushiro regarded the man for a long time, before nodding in acceptance.
“Thank you Hirako…for everything.” He had said it so quietly that Shinji thought he almost imagined it.
He smiled in smug satisfaction. “I now give you permission to marry my daughter.”
The young captain scowled, his face turning dark like a thunder cloud. “She is not your daughter.”
“Regardless, you still have my permission,” Shinji waved away.
“Hiarko-taicho!”
The two captains turned to see the fifth division lieutenant running towards them through the crowd, her long hair flowing behind her. Shinji held back a smirk as he watched the young captain stare at the girl in her human clothes, a warm red coat on top of a white dress.
“Hitsugaya-taicho…? What are you doing here?” Momo asked, a furrow in her eyebrows as she looked in confusion between her boyfriend and captain. “I thought I was just meeting Hirako-taicho? You sent a text saying to dress up?”
Shinji applauded himself inwardly for the look on the young captain’s face was priceless.
Before he could say anything else, Shinji gently led his vice-captain away. “Momo, you finished all the reports right?”
“Yes, I made sure to do so, but Taicho why did you call me here?” She looked back at the 10th captain, biting her lip in concern. “Is everything alright with Hitsugaya-kun?”
He could feel the smile slide onto his face at the expression of worry on her face. “Nothing wrong at all—just some good man to man bonding.”
Momo raised an eyebrow dubiously at her captain to which he replied. “I played nice—don’t worry.” He ruffled her hair affectionately. “Go spend the rest of the evening with him. I’ll see you in office on Monday.”
She looked up, her brown eyes in question as she smoothed out her hair. “But what about working tomorrow?”
Shinji threw his thumb back and rolled his eyes in faux exasperation. “You’ve worked enough to take some time off. He’ll sulk if I don’t let you off.”
Momo broke out into a huge grin, her brown eyes twinkling like the glowing lights. “Really?” She paused, as if reconsidering. “But what about the other reports?”
“I’ll go and finish them—you’ve worked enough.”
“Thank you Taicho!” Momo beamed which made him ruffle her hair again as she protested. “You’ve picked a good one—he cares for you.” At this, Momo blushed until her face turned as red as her coat. “Thank you Taicho for agreeing to spend time with him,” she said earnestly. “It really means a lot to me.”
He shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “Ya owe me—I get to choose the music for the next two weeks!”
Momo flashed a brilliant smile. “You got a deal!”
Toushiro smiled as his girlfriend rushed back to him with a bounce in her steps. “I just got a text from Matsumoto saying she booked us a place for tonight? Did Hirako have anything to do about it?” He asked as he tightened the scarf around her neck that had come loose in her run.
“Hirako-taicho,” Momo corrected. “But yes, he said I can have the weekend off so we can spend time together in the human world! Isn’t that wonderful?”
Toushiro took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. “Come on—let’s get out of here. There’s a bookstore I want to show you,” he said smiling as her eyes widened in glee, before jumping into a long set of questions on how his day was. And as he answered them, he thought that maybe it wasn’t that bad a day after all.
—
Authour’s Note: So, when I first received the prompt I had to think about it a lot because to be frank, I don’t think Toushiro would ever actually ask Shinji for Momo’s hand in marriage. I think Shinji would just appoint himself to give it hahaha (I also believe that it is referenced that Shinji refers to Momo as his daughter in the novel We do KNOT always love you. I’ll try to find the link soon and update it here)
I’m nervous with this one but I hope people at least enjoyed seeing how the two closest men to Momo see each other (and in a way respect each other) when it comes to her well-being. I definitely enjoyed writing Shinji! It gave me a reason to be antagonistic towards Toushiro in a playful manner but give advice in a straight forward, not unkind way. But I definitely think I still need to practice writing him. I also really enjoyed writing all his errands haha
Sakura wanted her last Christmas Party in high school to be memorable and best, but nothing seems to go her way today. The Christmas cookies she took a week to perfect the recipe got left on the train; it was her pride, her small token of courage the moment she works up the guts to finally confess to the love of her life – well, yes, the love of her up-to-high-school-life, school heartthrob and salutatorian, Uchiha Sasuke.
But she left it, it was gone, and now her courage was too.
She stood in front of Neji, holding out the store-bought cookies she got in a hurry just a kilometer outside their school. He scrunched his nose ever so slightly, but he knew that she caught it, and that she was well too aware that he didn’t appreciate it.
Mustering up a smile, she moved away to the sides, waiting for her turn to be given a gift. If it ends up being Naruto, she’d be lucky enough if he gave her an unopened ramen pack. If not, it might just be the seasoning left.
She was jolted out of her musings when Ino pushed her off the chair. “Go up there forehead! How many times does Sasuke have to call your name for you to go in front?”
Apart from the usual jeering that came with being in Sasuke alone at the front were the apologetic looks. Sasuke, after all, was notorious in giving the cheapest gifts; he was even heartless enough to give a piece of blank paper.
She waited for her eventual humiliation.
A large box and a quip of Merry Christmas.
When it was time to open it, she gasped out loud.
It was a gift set to prepare her for medical school, something that she did not tell anyone. Her wishlist posted in their class bulletin was only a stationery set so it can be easily found and purchased. It was only Ino who she confided her dreams to in the intimate confines of their sleepovers; and it was only during one sleepy afternoon in Biology class that she told their professor in passing that she wanted to go to medical school.
White shoes, stethoscope, cherry blossom head scrub, robe embroidered with her name, a set of ballpoint pens, a box of vitamins, and a pack of premium coffee. He also included a note hidden within the folds of the box – May these help you upstart your dreams. Good luck.
She caught him in the busy hallways at the end of the day, trailing slowly behind Naruto and his usual group of friends. She almost called out to him when she saw the familiar pink box in his hand.
“What are you doing with that?” Her question made him halt.
He heaved a sigh while turning back, instinctively straying his gaze anywhere but on her. “I promise I had a good excuse somewhere.”
“See that vomit-inducing pink plaid ribbon? That’s from leftover fabric scraps of my skirt. That box is mine, but I left it on the train.”
“I was on the train.”
Sakura stared at him dumbstruck. When she failed to continue with a response, Sasuke pinned his gaze on her – the same gaze anyone would duck out of due to sheer intimidation or pure fluster. Sakura was the latter as she felt the early signs of creeping flushness on her skin.
“It had my name so I just got it.”
“Why are you on the train?” She managed to get out. Sasuke never used public transport, he is always chauffeured to school, and more than that, his home is nowhere near the stations.
“I wanted to be the first…” he starts and then looks away, “to greet you Merry Christmas.”
It took minutes of deafening silence and maybe stretches of onlookers too had not Ino and Naruto shooed them away from an albeit awkward public moment in the middle of a busy hallway.
“Well, don’t you have anything to say?”
Sakura gasped, as if she finally remembered how to breathe, too caught up in the realization that she, a clumsy pink-haired nobody with nothing to brag but her grades, was in the center of his line of sight. And what did he exactly mean with the first to greet her a Merry Christmas? Wasn’t that something else?
Nevertheless, the courage she thought she lost came back in a sudden crash, like adrenaline seeping through every vein.
“I like you, Sasuke.”
He smirked, and she steeled herself for the nonchalant rejection. “That took you long enough.”
She couldn’t quite understand yet, but it was her friends’ cheering that led her out of her reverie. It must be a good thing – a Christmas wishlist she didn’t dream of coming true.
i'm late but here's my christmas gift to all my sasusaku moots! happy holidays - hope you enjoy it with your family, partner, furbabies, or alone. remember to take a break too and always be gentle with yourself. 🥰❤
#sasuke's nightly reconnaissance might also be the reason why he knows she became a medic nin haha
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#5
Sarada was helping her father organize his old things and personal mementos when a stack of photos spilled out from the envelope she was carrying. They were visibly worn out and had started to brown, but her parents’ faces were unmistakable.
“You’ve taken these during your travels?” Sarada asked, her eyes getting brighter as she went over each one.
“Hn.” A soft smile appeared on her father’s lips.
She noticed it was mostly pictures of her mama – red-nosed Sakura clad in Sasuke’s poncho during winter, Sakura with a plucked daisy on her ear, Sakura asleep under the cherry blossom, Sakura barefoot on the seashore. The last photo was crumpled as if consistently clutched by devoted hands.
It was Sakura grinning at the camera and Sasuke looking at her with the fondest smile he only reserved for them, his family.
“It was the moment we knew we were having you, Sarada.”
126 notes • Posted 2021-06-26 09:12:07 GMT
#4
Sakura lies beside him with her body turned the other way, a lukewarm response to his coming back. While she's mostly relieved, Sasuke knows there's also a bubbling anger directed at his recklessness.
"Tsuma."
"What do you want me to say? Welcome home?" She snaps. It's cold and daunting and it's not the Sakura he wants.
Silence hangs between them, broken only by an interlude of cicadas.
"When I was a kid, I thought of home as having four corners. That estate is long gone to the ghosts of the past. Now that I've grown, I found it quite abstract. I've learned home isn't stationary. It can move and uproot."
In the shadows, Sasuke picks up her forlorn expression as she turns to face him.
"I'm glad that whenever I go somewhere, I have you to go back to and Sarada as well. You are my home, my resting place. I carry the two of you where my duty leads me, and it makes me feel at peace. So I'd like it if you'd take care of yourselves more."
She lightly punches his stump. "Stupid. Is this your way of escaping my wrath?"
"Maybe." He smiles in the dark, and he feels her warm fingers touch the tips of his lips. This is the Sakura he wants and yearns for.
"You should know, you are our home, Sasuke. So take care of yourself too, all right?"
It's the first time he got a request like that; it's a simple one, but it makes his heart swell.
in honor of boruto episode 219
133 notes • Posted 2021-10-12 11:31:06 GMT
#3
After Sasuke was declared (conditionally) free by the trial council, he expected Sakura to badger him with date requests. In contrary, she gave him radio silence.
When he asked the Rokudaime if Sakura was busy, Kakashi snickered. “Oh how the tables have turned. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
When he asked Naruto, the blonde idiot only laughed in his face. “I can’t help you with that. I also tried asking her out for a date you know.” That earned him a full on death glare with an attempt to have another one on one battle.
But soon he knew what Naruto meant.
She was literally cooped up in the hospital from 8 AM to 3 AM and outside her door was a long line of walk-in patients cum prospective suitors. He assumed his position on the end of the line, and when Shizune finally told them to scamper off, she stared wide-eyed at Sasuke, then smiled. “Hope your legs are still strong to stand for a few more hours.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Sasuke said.
She finally emerged from her office at exactly 2:59 AM. She stopped mid-yawn when she saw him standing across. “Sasuke?”
Ah right. He stood here for more than ten hours and he didn’t come up with a rational excuse. He scratched the back of his neck with his lone hand as he looked away. “I thought you might be hungry.”
“At three in the morning?”
“Well…yeah.”
“Yes, yes I am," she answers in between chuckles. "Ichiraku is open 24/7.”
162 notes • Posted 2021-08-31 13:18:54 GMT
#2
“I didn’t send out a hawk,” Sasuke says in a defeated tone.
“I’m pretty sure they were prepared a month before.” Sakura adjusts the blanket over the sleeping young babe. “We gotta warn them about the noise.”
“Too late for that.”
Shisui and Obito shoots open two large confetti guns while Izumi, Itachi, and Mikoto wait behind them with children trumpets. The rest of clan members are clapping and shouting while holding a banner saying ‘Welcome back from pilgrimage’.
These noises obviously wake up baby Sarada who lets out the strongest piercing wails that would make the last people on the line cover their ears. Sakura takes her from Sasuke and carefully cradles her in her arms.
The immediate members crowd the couple, hoping their presence would console the child, but this only added to Sarada’s cries.
Until she gets hold of a strand of hair behind Mikoto, and falls silent with big doe eyes staring at its owner.
“Oh she likes your hair dear,” Mikoto remarks to Fugaku who just happens to peak behind her.
He slowly breaks into a smile and takes the baby from Sakura’s arms. “Aren’t you a cute little peanut?”
Shisui doesn’t let the opportunity pass and captures the rare sight with a camera. “Yes, I’ll have this duplicated and passed all around.”
“Not old man Fugaku smitten already after one second,” Obito says. “But of course, I’m gonna be her favorite uncle.”
“She might still cry if you carry her,” Izumi jests, much to the former’s dismay.
“Well, would you look at that? Your father’s got a new favorite.” Sakura chuckles at the still-shocked face of her husband.
“Peanut.” The word rolls off Sasuke’s tongue with unfamiliarity but hearing it from his father is another thing; it sounds warm and loving.
Itachi pats his brother on the back and smirks. “That was what he called you when you were a baby too.”
166 notes • Posted 2021-09-30 14:50:44 GMT
#1
Itachi: I heard your teammate was taken in by Tsunade-sama under her wing.
Sasuke: Yeah, Sakura.
Itachi: Tell her I said congrats.
Sasuke: NO.
Itachi: I also resigned from being an anbu.
Sasuke: NOOO.
Itachi: I'll assist the hokage.
Sasuke: NOOOO.
Itachi: I'll assist Tsunade-sama in training her assistant.
Summary: She downs her mimosa in one long drink and snaps her fingers. The television shuts blank, and she sashays her way to a room. It looks just like any other wall partition but it opens to an expansive study. It has a day bed on the side, a long table, and her most comfortable swivel chair. Metallic chairs are folded on the side for her clients.Taking up the rest of the space are shelves filled with her favorite books. In the middle, sandwiched by volumes of Crime and Punishment and Les Miserables are jars of teeth submerged in liquid, white, sparkly, well-maintained. On the other end of the wall is a chest box which also functions like a wide ottoman. Except that it isn’t. It’s a freezer for the meat she has yet to eat.
-xxxxxxx-
March 7, 2021, 12:03 PM
“Open your mouth please.” Her bright emerald irises pop out from her mask as she probes the inside of his mouth. Sasuke feels the metal tool scrape against his tooth on the lower left. His tongue is on the edge of making a clucking sound, but he winces from a sharp pain when she moves his tooth from front to back.
“It’s loose,” she confirms for him. He recognizes notes of jasmine in her proximity. “I can extract it for you now. You’ll just have to spend the rest of the day under pain killers.”
He dropped by her clinic during his lunch break, intending to take up her offer in the off chance that she accepts walk-ins.
Of course, it was situated on the 25th floor of one of Senju’s high rise buildings which houses their offshoot businesses in the medical field; one floor for every niche – a chiropractor on the tenth, a hair transplant on the 17th, herbal practitioners on the 20th.
Of course, the brunette receptionist with a very sharp eyeliner sent him away, and looked at him pointedly with visible annoyance when he brought up that the dentist offered the appointment herself. People often tell him he’s handsome, and he gets to use this pretty privilege during the conduct of cases sometimes. But people here are immune to his so-called stoic charm.
Of course, it’s probably because there are far richer, far more aristocratic clients than him that would have naturally made a beeline towards the beautiful dentist.
He clucks nonetheless, his tongue grazing against the cold metal. “Can you do it under thirty?”
“Rushing for an appointment?” She gets the syringe from her assistant and taps it on her delicate wrist.
“Vying if I could get ten more minutes for an ice cream.” Her hands are light and quick to inject the anesthesia in the surrounding gums. He hears her soft chuckle against her mask.
“Not the first time that someone did that move.” She hands him his cone with one scoop of mint chocolate.
“I’m not a fan of sweets if you should know,” he says. “Is strong arm strength needed for a dentist?” Two big bites from the top.
Sakura blushes with an intensity, he notes, and in contrast her actions – she shies away her gaze from his stare with her fingers devoid of any jewelry. “You’re as direct as everyone in your lot goes, huh?”
“Is the topic too morbid for you, Dr. Haruno?”
“I’m keeping tabs with the news but I forego the specifics.” She fiddles with her two scoops of double dutch in a small cup. “But to answer your question, you only need to have the right leverage, an accurate position, and a good angle to ease out the naughtiest of teeth. However, it’s really an advantage to have great arm strength. It can get tiring after the twelve noon patient.”
Sasuke finishes his ice cream in the next three bites, feeling nothing in his mouth, the anesthesia still kicking, but he can taste the blood mingle with the freshness of mint, a tinge of rust in the sweetness on his tongue. “You’re not as bothersome as everyone in your lot.”
She raises both of her eyebrows, not sure if she understands his underlying implications.
“Dr. Tsunade Senju and Dan Haruno, top billing general surgeons of the medical world.”
Her mouth opens to form a small and soundless oh. “Ah I’m sure you already snuffed most information about me – it goes that way, right? Ah? Not at all? – So the thing is….I’m not their legitimate daughter. I’m adopted.”
He didn’t have to snuff, these are all open information in the playground of the rich. “A stroke of luck to land on a high end and well managed orphanage.” Her immense wealth does not translate to jewelry, face jobs, and fancy lash lifts. On her breast pocket are three pilot coletos, an apple watch on her wrist, mid-budget choice of clothes, and comfortable white Nike sneakers to be later replaced with a good fit of block heels. When summed up, they barely make a dent out of her daily worth. The rest of the money must have been channeled to her clinic’s state of the art facilities.
“You could say that I struck gold with my circumstances since then.” She spoons out a big chunk of her ice cream.
“But not prior.” The sugar brown cone also disappears in his mouth, all the chewing done by only one side.
“Amnesia. I reportedly had a traumatic head injury when they found me.” Her pink locks drift to the side, her head tilted in expectation of his further prodding.
Sasuke twists the line to another direction, and he captures the quick change of her microexpression from subtle guarding to surprise. “Would it be possible to inject one strong dose of anesthesia to the full mouth and extract all teeth?”
“Enough to knock them unconscious,” she confirms.
And kill them without sound, Sasuke surmises. He stands up and taps his wristwatch. “My ten minutes with you is up. I take it my extraction procedure is free?”
“I’m sure you’ll afford the next one.” She continues to fiddle with her cup as she watches him go.
Sasuke halts in his exiting steps and looks back at Sakura like it’s an afterthought. “If you’d like a payment, a dinner wouldn’t be so bad.” He turns on his heels and doesn’t stop, he can hear a faint laughter behind his back.
-x-
March 10, 2021, 7:16 PM
“Did I keep you waiting?” He slides on the seat across her and takes in her body language as well as their milieu.
They agreed to meet at seven sharp but Kakashi had asked for another briefing from him so he was held back. Her soft expression, in all its exuding naivety, gives nothing away. “This place doesn’t have no reservations, Detective.”
“Just Sasuke,” he remarks. He clucks his tongue in appreciation. “A hole in the wall noodle place. You frequent this area?”
“A reminder that you gave me the green light to choose.” She’s dressed today in an olive sweatshirt tucked into a neat pair of trousers and velvet loafers – a right mix of classy and casual. “It’s my assistant’s go-to. He would always bring me the best-selling set after a grueling work day so I asked for an address.”
“Thanks for the consideration, Dr. Haruno,” he says. Their order arrives minutes after, and she flashes an apologetic smile. For ordering beforehand Frankly speaking, he expected her to bring him into a Michelin restaurant – one to boost her reputation and second to blanket her in safety of familiar breeds. Or maybe safety is much better in company of anonymity.
“Just Sakura.”
They finish two plates of dimsum and almost empty out the small bottle of chili oil, garlic, sesame, and soy sauce concoction. Sipping a glass of soy milk after a bounty feast, Sasuke reviews the facts again in his mind.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Sakura asks, finished with her drink.
“Give me a hundred bucks then.”
“How many coffee orders would those be worth?”
Sasuke smirks in spite of himself. He changes topics again, on to the mundane life of a Senju-Haruno heir.
“How is the case progressing by the way?”
He glances up and notes the curiosity and fear in her eyes. “Classified information.”
She leans, plates with crumbles and half-empty glasses in between, and tilts her head, her rose locks spilling from her back. “Will they come for me?”
An alarm ticks off somewhere in his mind. “What makes you think so?” They’ve only had one body so far with no other indication of a succeeding death.
He sees that she bites the inside of her mouth, and she fiddles again with the cutlery in front of her. “Maybe I’m just overthinking.”
About ten minutes later, he ushers her outside the rather dingy restaurant but when no car arrives to escort her back to her place, he encourages her to place an uber. He could ask her to ride with him but the mere implications are layered, and he’s not ready for that quite yet. She gives him a look when he opens the door to her uber, an unspoken question she is yet to articulate. When he gets nothing within seconds, he waves goodbye.
“Give me a text when you’re home,” he says although he shouldn’t have.
“It has been an interesting night,” she replies. “Detective.”
The car finally drives away, and he remains with the remnants of her jasmine scent.
-x-
March 13, 2021, 5:49 PM, The second body
“You are not going to release that profile,” the wife of Haru Kagoshi says. She also stands as the chief overseas director of Haru Light, Inc. “Are you insinuating that my husband fucked a gay man?”
“Fuck is a callous word. Watch your tone,” the CEO of Mingwa Industries warn. “Are you sure you’re on the right track?”
“With all due respect, Captain Yamato is the best we have in the country in the field of criminal profiling. He knows what he’s doing,” Asuma assures everyone.
“And are your detectives doing the proper work? Are you covering all fields?” the Mingwa COO pointedly looks at Sasuke. “Because as far as performance goes, you’re allowing that killer to cripple our economy by snuffing out the next best minds.”
Kakashi’s eyes roll in sync with Sasuke’s at the cripple our economy.
Yamato stands up and offers a cup of coffee at the recently widowed which she explicitly ignores. “We will not be identifying the gender of the killer, but we need to narrow it down to males. Of course, it’s up to the public how they will presume it is connected to the genital mutilation.”
“Fuck you,” the widow says. “You know we can cut off your institutional funding, right?”
Kakashi has started massaging his forehead, a sign that he is nearing his bullshit tolerance level. “Yes you can, but we have an annual appropriation from the government. And cutting off our resources won’t solve this case any faster.”
“-with your due respect,” Asuma adds, hoping to de-escalate the situation.
The grandfather CEO of Mingwa Industries scoffs. “We’ll just have to launch our individual investigation then. In case you might be intentionally sabotaging the progress of this case, isn’t that right, Uchiha Sasuke?”
The disdain in his voice when Uchiha rolls off his tongue is jarring and pointed. Sasuke smirks in defiance, willing to push these elites further to the edge of self-destruction. Years in a gray cubicle and thousands of meters walked in company to a reviewing mind, he found that money could get you somewhere – just not the finish line. “You’d better keep an eye out on me then.”
“What the fuck was that about?” Asuma sneers at the detective department after the white collars scampered off. “They are strong lobbyists backing powerful politicians. We shouldn’t be picking a fight with them.”
“He started it,” Sasuke points to Kakashi who shrugs.
“Anyway, Yamato and I will prepare to announce the profile to the media, just a vague description, and then we’ll work on a composite sketch based on these assumptions,” Kakashi pats Asuma’s shoulders. “Ease up. I’m sure Sasuke and his team are doing their best.”
“I’m not doubting an Uchiha, but I’m doubting the way your petty behaviors get in the process of investigation. Now get out and do your jobs.” The Chief Police retrieves a half-emptied pack of cigarettes and lights up a stick. “This job is giving me cancer.”
11:13 PM
She sips her third glass of mimosa as her eyes drift to the sound of her television. A big banner of breaking news is placed below with the caption authorities release a profile: a serial killer at hand?
She chuckles, almost spilling the cocktail on her fingers. She drifts closer to the screen and her nails stick on the necks of the silver-haired man and the man who she assumes is the criminal profiler.
“Authorities confirm that Armando Mingwa and Haru Kagoshi have been killed by the same person. Renowned profiler Captain Yamato reveals the breakdown of the suspect – male with a minimum height of 5’7, age from late 20s to early 30s, and frequents the high-end districts. When asked if we have a serial killer at large, the chief detective and the profiler neither confirmed nor deny.”
She downs her mimosa in one long drink and snaps her fingers. The television shuts blank, and she sashays her way to a room. It looks just like any other wall partition but it opens to an expansive study. It has a day bed on the side, a long table, and her most comfortable swivel chair. Metallic chairs are folded on the side for her clients.Taking up the rest of the space are shelves filled with her favorite books. In the middle, sandwiched by volumes of Crime and Punsihment and Les Miserables are jars of teeth submerged in liquid, white, sparkly, well-maintained.
On the other end of the wall is a chest box which also functions like a wide ottoman. Except that it isn’t. It’s a freezer for the meat she has yet to eat.
March 24, 2021, 1:10 PM
“So what was the dentist’s alibi?” Neji asks the sullen detective.
“He had a meditation class for each date – January 29 and February 27 – which runs for five hours. They time it with the moon cycles. I also called his teacher – she prefers to be called witch – and confirmed his attendance.” Sasuke clucks his tongue. “However, they are a class of 100. He can easily slip out when everyone else is closing their eyes and saying humbda dumda.”
He glances at the map on the wall, pins already on the dumpsites, and he zeroes in on the address smack in the middle. “And he can dump the body with his nondescript car and go back in again. Did you know he has three cars – a Tesla, Mercedes, and a black pick-up?”
Tenten carries a fresh pot of coffee to the table and stares at their evidence board. “I’m guessing it’s the same truck with the garbage ones – those going through the suburbs?”
Sasuke nods. “He says it’s for farming. He has a land on the rural side of the district.”
Jugo raises a brow. “That ends my snooping in with the golden spoons.”
“Not quite Jugo.” Neji fills himself a cup. “These people socialize in the same circles you know.”
Someone knocks on the open door of the room and raises a box of cake. “Delivery for you, Detective Uchiha.” The staff attempts to enter but Jugo raises a finger to stop her.
“Who’s it from?” Jugo asks. “It might be the killer.”
The staff scratches the back of her head. “I don’t think the killer is a beautiful pink-haired lady with green eyes.”
All heads turn curiously to Sasuke who gets the cake from the staff. “It’s my punishment.”
Tenten’s eyes narrow at the name on the card. Haruno Sakura. “How is it a punishment? She brought you – us – sweets.”
“She knows I hate sweets. Help yourself though.”
“So you’re dating?” Neji says it with disbelief. “How? You’re barely in the office and – oh my god, you’re skipping hours aren’t you!”
Jugo repeats the name over and over. “Fuck. You’re seeing the Haruno Sakura? She’s as recluse as the oddball heirs go, but I’ve only heard good things from her. I heard she’s very skilled with her hands. Experienced it yet, Uchiha?”
Sasuke kicks him in the shin as soon as he’s done talking. “Firsthand. A tooth on the lower left. Now shut up and get back to work.”
-x-
April 12, 2021, 6:17 AM, The third body
The team congregates in the morgue. Another body. Only this time, it was found on a ravine, some parts already devoured by wild animals.
“It’s Fugashi Imamu, current overseas director of Imamu Holdings,” the medical examiner tells them. “Same methods done but there’s more clotting on the crotch area, indicating his genital was mutilated while he was still alive.”
Jugo and Neji both groan inwardly.
“He has an eight-year old.” Tenten crosses her arms in front of her. “A math wizard.”
Sasuke closes his eyes, fending off the initial signs of a migraine. The cases kept piling, and they were nowhere close to a lead. “Can you estimate the date of death?”
“I wouldn’t know just yet with all the rigor mortis and animal attacks. But if we pattern this with the recent killings, and the body was dumped within the last two weeks, the killing must have taken place on the last week of March.”
11:13 AM
March 29, Sasuke thinks about the ME’s latest message. There must be a pattern for the dates of killings. And if there was, they are up against an intelligent killer, a methodical one. He must have a list of targets with a step by step process on how to approach and kill each one. He plans weeks ahead with several contingencies.
“Captain Yamato confirms the ME’s assumption. There really is a pattern,” Tenten tells the team. “Unfortunately, the information already reached the golden spoon team.”
Neji comes in with stacks of folders and notebooks. “Got all his stuff from his secretary. Seems like the bastard slept around or may have been just a bad boss, said she couldn’t be more than happy to live in a world rid of such filthy lolita creep – her words, not mine.”
They go through each page, jotting down relevant information. Sasuke, on the other hand, flips through a small wallet-sized planner. Jotted down on March 26 is veneers with Dr. Akugawa. He seems like the go-to dentist of the big shots. He goes further up the dates and there on March 6 is a name he doesn’t expect. Haruno Sakura.
“It’s true. His daughter had an appointment with me,” Sakura confirms over the phone. “But he also dropped by last year for a tooth extraction dislodged by a punch from his grandfather. Old money can be quite controlling.”
“Ah. Doesn’t he have a family dentist?” He taps his pen on his desk, tens of gears running through his mind.
“Told me his dentist was unavailable for an emergency procedure so he dropped by the one nearest his office.”
Sasuke looks at the time on his watch. “Did you have lunch yet?”
“I have an 11:30. But I can see you in 12.”
He gets there fifteen minutes before, and he flashes his badge to Laura who has grown accustomed to his lunch break visits. Nonetheless, her countenance makes apparent her dislike.
“Your cctv records please,” Sasuke tells her. It isn’t a request, Laura knows, so she leads him to the administrative room on the floor and instructs the staff to show the dates he mentions.
Kiyoko Imamu went there on March 6 with her mother and a helper. They backtrack until they find the date when Fugashi had an appointment. A 30-minute visit and he was quickly out.
“Does Dr. Haruno have other clinics? A private location for a niche clientele?” Sasuke asks.
Laura shakes her head. “Only this one, and she doesn’t accept house calls. She likes to concentrate her work in one place.”
He tells the staff to rewind the records on January 29, February 27, and March 29. Nothing was peculiar about Sakura’s body language, Sasuke notes. He commits all records in his memory and allows himself to be ushered out by Laura. They arrive to Sakura waiting at the receptionist’s desk.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” She asks him with a tilt in her head.
“Just right about now.” He offers an open arm to her which she links with hers. Her face immediately blooms in shades of red.
“We have mussel soup today and grilled mackerel. On the other hand, we also serve bolognese. Or do you have any other location in mind?”
“Your cafeteria’s menu sounds nice.”
They’re interrupted by Sasuke’s phone.
“Where are you?” Kakashi’s voice borders on the edge of frustration.
“Lunch,” Sasuke replies.
“Come back asap. The families had Jugo come in and take Akugawa for questioning.”
Summary: Or maybe it was just the first time she was treated like she had an agency. The gestures for permission, the unspoken questions of consent, the way he wouldn’t touch her first or grab her or mar her skin even when they were having sex. Most men would have their true natures revealed once shown the great pussy. But there he was, always cradling her like she was porcelain china. Not that she minded. It was a breath of fresh air to be held like that, in gentle caresses and soft whispers that beg to betray his true feelings at any given second. It was madness not to be consumed by it, but it was tragedy that she only knew of this reality just now.
-xxxxxxx-
April 20, 2021, 11:16 PM
“Still in questioning for two weeks,” Sasuke grits through his phone. “And they didn’t allow him to post bail?”
“Akugawa’s attorneys tried to appeal this week but it’s a no go. Doesn’t help that he’s brought to a different district so it’s completely out of our jurisdiction,” Neji replies. “Have you heard from Jugo?”
“Just a text message saying they lied to him and told him the directive was from Asuma.” Sasuke lets his fingers run through his hair, too frustrated to think straight this evening. “All they have against Akugawa are purely circumstantial. This is ridiculous.”
“Yeah, but the media ruckus is hungry for the gay serial killer angle. Well, I gotta go Uchiha.”
“Have fun. It’s your wedding anniversary tonight, isn’t it?”
“Shut up. Aren’t you with a woman yourself?” The call ends.
Rid of distractions, he is now at liberty to gaze freely at the rosette reading a book beside him. She gives him a smile and ditches the book to trace lazy circles on his chest. The lunch break meetings have become too short for the both of them thus the need for dinners and coffee. He didn’t plan on making a move, not when there is still an active case, but she’s enthralling in a sense. It’s her presence that pulls him into her orbit – or maybe it’s the pink hair and the emerald eyes that make it difficult to look away.
When he almost hailed her a cab for their fifth dinner, she grabbed his arm and slowly pulled it down to her side, intertwining her fingers with his. It was the first time he held her hand.
With a flushed face under the dim city lights, she asked him, “I would like it if you take me home with you.”
And even after arriving in his flat, he hesitated to kiss her. Only when she brought his fingers to her lips did he move, suddenly gripped with a drive to gently coax her into pleasure. She undressed for him in the dark, already wet and pulsating for his touch, his kisses, and he let the jasmine perfume perforate his senses. He was careful not to leave marks of his trail – after all, it might just be the last as it could be the first – and regrets were felt stronger when there were remainders.
The first time was followed by a second, and she posed a question. “Why are you so gentle with me?”
He looked at her face and tucked a stray strand behind her ear, the color of his dreams. “I’m afraid you’ll break.”
She took his hand and slapped it on her perky breasts. “Try and break me then.”
Where he wavered, she asserted – her nails leaving scratches on his back, bruising his lips, marking his neck, and pulling his hair – but she did it so beautifully that he basked in pain as she yelled his name in ecstatic throes.
He pulls away from reminiscing when the lazy circles start to draw lower. He softly takes her dainty wrist and places an open-mouthed kiss where her pulse is.
“I take it your team is still prohibited from pursuing other leads?” Sakura gasps.
Sasuke shakes his head. “Both chiefs had to save face, particularly when the district attorney got the call first, then the media, and we were the last to know. But it’s more of a pro-forma. My guts don’t tell me they’re still out there.”
“You don’t believe it’s him?”
“He perfectly fits Yamato’s profile. Had several sexual relations with married CEOs, naively accepted promises of secured futures, let down just as quickly as he has been picked up.”
Sakura climbs on top of him and starts to grind on his hardened member. “Too bad. Akugawa is a nice colleague. I was the one who encouraged him to enroll in those meditation classes.”
One arm wraps around her waist to keep her steady while the other tugs away the sheet that comes in between their moist flesh. He brings her breasts closer to his tongue, his words lapping against her skin. “Oh you must be good in yoga too.”
“I’m flexible like that, Detective.” She slips his cock insider her ready core, and the fitting sensation makes the both of them shiver.
“What other things are you good at, Dr, Haruno?”
She locks eyes with him and words are lost as they start to find rhythm in their thrusts.
-xxxxxxx-
April 25, 2021, 6:27 AM
“I take it they’re gonna name you as the director for the overseas expansion.” He asks as soon as they step out of her penthouse.
He didn’t expect to step foot in her domain; he knew it was how the elites operate, but maybe she waited for the sixth date to test him. He couldn’t deny how he was intimidated by her biometrics door, the large cctv panels on her foyer, and her voice-automated house system, but it fascinated him to see the bleak contrast of her plant-filled space against the extravagant automations and sharp marble floor.
“I’m not quite sure.” She angles her eyes on the retina scanner, and the security system beeps to life. The whole floor will be inaccessible even to the administration until she comes home. “Either way, it’s gonna be a success for the Senju-Haruno corporation and its shareholders.”
“Shouldn’t they give you bodyguards then?”
Her fingers ease in into his waiting hand. “I have a detective for a lover. I’ll be fine.”
He leaves soft kisses on her knuckles. “Can’t your lover be worried?”
“I don’t think they’ll come after me. I’m a woman, remember?”
6:41 AM
“Sorry to delay your trip to the office. I’ll just check the ravine again.” They hazard park on the side of the forest. “Stay put. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Sakura nods with a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll stretch my legs out for a bit, but I really wouldn’t want to wander. I don’t know the area quite well.”
He hops off the car, unaware that a nondescript black sedan stopped a few meters away from their spot. Sasuke traverses the wide trunks and mossy forest floor until he finds the exact dumping spot – a clump of thorny bristles and rue hedges. His eyes survey the surroundings and notices a disturbed, rather steep area above the ravine, a tricky slope which cannot be possible for someone like Akugawa. With his built, he would have skidded down when he dumped the body. It had to be someone petite.
Light footfalls behind him. Sasuke glances at the sound, his hand ready to pull out his gun.
“Sorry I followed you. I’m kinda jumpy.” Sakura waves at him from above the slope, her silhouette prominent against the morning backlight.
Then his eyes register another bigger, taller, heavier silhouette behind her.
“Sakura!”
Gunshots miss Sasuke by a breadth, but he doesn’t miss how the hooded figure clamps a hand over Sakura’s mouth and drag her away into the forest. He scrambles up and follows their trail, cursing his ineptness.
His breaths are louder than the wakening birds and traffic on the roadside, and his feet feel more like lead for every tree that leads him deeper into the forest. Then he hears two consecutive shots, and he feels all of his sensory motors go into overload.
Sasuke’s feet direct him to the sound. When the vines give way to a clearing, the first thing he sees is her disheveled rose hair, pulled apart from her high bun, tousled like an unkempt mane on her back.
And a dead man on the forest floor, a gunshot to the head, and another on his side.
She was trembling, eyes wide, clenched teeth, and closed fists. Giving her time to adjust to the events, he goes first to the perpetrator and lowers the hoodie. It’s one of the Mingwa private cronies, probably following him to make sure he isn’t doing independent investigations. But since they touched a Haruno-Senju heir, the corporate publicity will angle this as harassment and attempted assault while the private faction will absolve their hands of any involvement. He calls Kakashi and Asuma for help.
After which, he glances at her, and she finally blinks out of daze. She slumps against him as soon as he’s near, and the reverberations of her body immediately hit him.
“I’m sorry,” he says even though he has a lot of questions.
“He slipped and I went for the gun,” she whispers shakily against his shirt.
Yet he still wonders why there were two shots when one to the head could have sufficed, especially with unfamiliar hands. Or how she’s able to take down a man that size with her dainty wrists.
“I’ll call in sick today. Bring me home?”
He tightens his hug before he lets her go then he realizes he’s not familiar with the terrain.
She tugs on his coat and starts to walk. “If we cut across here, we’ll see the road in five minutes.”
-xxxxxxx-
May 5, 2021, 10:22 AM
“Did Dr. Haruno come back okay?” Kakashi sits down across Sasuke’s desk and fidgets with his unused pens. Even though the investigation was halted, his room remains littered with manila papers, bulletins, and notes on the white board. The necessity to preserve becomes apparent when they receive news of Akugawa posting bail this morning.
Sasuke nods in response. “She still went through with her trip to Belgium last April 28. I don’t know when she’ll be back, but I’m not privy to her internal emotions so it’s not my place to say she’s okay.”
“About time they gave her bodyguards.” The chief detective taps an unlit cigarette stick on his desk. “It’s great seeing you like this.”
“This what?”
“Happy?”
Sasuke clucks his tongue. “It’s not official. She just might be in it for the thrills.”
Kakashi smirks and lights up his stick. “Sex must be great then.”
“Get out, Hatake.”
A rap on the door catches both of their attention. Yamato comes in followed by Asuma, Tenten, Jugo, and Neji.
“There’s a fourth body in the same ravine. Body is now with the ME. Estimated time of death is enough for Akugawa to file for several cases. It’s gonna be a media bloodbath,” Asuma says.
As the lot file out of the office, Kakashi pulls Sasuke to fall behind a bit. “Trust no one, Uchiha.”
11:45 AM
There’s something off-putting about the smell.
This body does not follow the two-week gap; the ME estimated the date of his death on April 27. This slight change in MO presents the possibility of a copycat, but other than that, all injuries are the same – a stab in the carotid, teeth pulled out, arms and feet cut, genital missing – which means another thing, the killer slipped somehow and they’re on a rush. For what, they don’t know.
“Ando Suzuki, CEO of Suzuki Airlines for Japan,” Asuma states his name for confirmation. “Let’s do our usual. It’s time we ramp up our progress, Uchiha.”
Sasuke ignores the pointed insinuation and steps closer to the corpse. It didn’t rain last week despite the forecasts so the state of the body is more or less preserved. He brings his nose closer to the neck, right where the murder tool punctured the artery.
“Sasuke, what are you doing?” Tenten asks. “Forensics have close up shots for that.”
“It’s the smell.”
“Like decomposers and rotting flesh?” Jugo scoffs.
“Is it possible that they might have tried to remove him?” Sasuke asks the ME who quickly goes to him and helps him turn the corpse on its side.
They see fresh scar on the pricked wounds, like someone tried to drag them out of the ravine. As if they knew the position would give them away this time. The smell hits him strongly when the ME returns the corpse to a prone position, and Sasuke almost vomits when he recognizes it.
It can’t be. In controlled breaths, he steps away from the examining table and slumps against the wall. Kakashi notices but pretends not to. It’s Tenten who slithers beside him inconspicuously and taps on his arm. She raises a brow which he responds to with a cluck of his tongue.
“I’ve always wondered,” she starts. “Why can’t it be a woman?”
“If you can recreate a position of a woman stabbing the artery without defense wounds, let me know,” Yamato says with a cold smile. It’s meant to shut Tenten up; he doesn’t like his profiles being challenged. “And the smell you’re talking about Sasuke? It’s jasmine. The area probably has blooms.”
2:30 PM
“Something’s weird with Uchiha,” Neji pulls out his badge, ready to present it to the landfill. They’re revisiting dumping sites again for a second go-through. The killer is starting to leave breadcrumbs all over the place. “Did you see how pale his face went earlier?”
“Jasmine and rotting flesh don’t make good perfume,” Tenten figures. The guard sees their badges and gestures for them to come inside.
There’s a peculiar batch of scavengers in the area, people who aren’t part of junkshops or associations, just individual peddlers. A bald man in his 70s glances their way and starts to move towards their directions with only one foot and crutches for the other.
“Police?” He has a putrid gummy smile. “That lad didn’t come here again.”
Neji tugs Tenten away, but his wife stays rooted to the spot. “A lad?”
The old man opens his palm.
“He just wants money, dear,” Neji grumbles. “Let’s go now and talk to the real rational people.”
Tenten pulls out her wallet and sticks a wad of one dollar bills on the man’s hand. “A lad?” She repeats.
“Thought it was our fellow. We have young ones with us, you know, like your age but definitely shorter in height. He comes in dressed in a black raincoat and plastic boots, dragging bulky garbage bags like they’re not heavy at all.” His smile gets bigger by the count of the bills.
“Did you get a good look at this man?” Tenten asks, still unwilling to let go.
“Tenten,” Neji warns.
“This might be our lead. A concrete lead for once.”
“Wind knocked his garbage of a hood one time. Shiny bald head says hi.”
Neji is at the end of his wits. “Dear, you’re not even sure if he’s talking about our guy.”
Tenten sticks a 10-dollar bill on the old man’s almost torn shirt pocket. He proceeds with a guttural laugh, the phlegm oozing through each gasping breath. “He always dumps those bags on a full moon.”
4:30 PM
Sasuke sneaked in earlier to the administration office just before the receptionist’s desk came into view. With slight intimidation into play, he managed to get duplicate recordings of the cctv of the whole floor.
He taps Kakashi for help and another IT staff.
“Looks normal to me,” the silver-haired man remarks. “Why are you snooping on your girlfriend?”
“All of them were her patients at one point,” Sasuke replies. “And we don’t do labels.”
“But their visits were nowhere near their kill dates.”
“Their visits were logged as emergency procedures because Akugawa or their company doctor wasn’t available. So why?”
Kakashi smirks. “Are you insinuating they were there to get a glimpse of her? The recluse medical corporation heir. Nothings amiss in the recordings, right? No sexual body language?”
Sasuke hopes the same, but the lurch in his guts tells him otherwise. He swallows whatever saliva that hasn’t dried yet in his mouth in anticipation of the inevitable.
“The recordings are fine. She’s always accompanied by her assistant when she has clients,” the IT replies. “It’s the code that bothers me. You see, a malware is playing with it, looping the same frames while continuing the time ticks. Either someone knows their technology or this is a complete human error.”
-xxxxxxx-
May 7, 2021, 12:01 PM
“Oh, it’s you,” Laura says nonchalantly, never glancing up from her keyboard, and click-clacking away even though it’s already lunch break. “She’ll be out in a minute.”
“Do you know how to code?” He doesn’t spare her a glance either, his eyes trained on the door.
“Is this a side job? I can get Shin if you’d like. He fixes the systems here when he has time. He’s a computer geek before he settled for dentistry.” She stops typing and eyes her wristwatch. “She’s here.”
True enough, the door opens just as Laura tells him. She wears her rose hair loose today, falling like waves against her tucked in white long sleeve polo and denim jeans. She spots him after she gives her white coat to her waiting assistant.
Smile, wave, and unhurried walk to reach him. “A lunch break?”
“Wondering if you were still alive after your trip.” The jasmine in the air transports him to two different scenes, his memory being stretched out in two drastic dimensions, one where she’s writhing beneath him and one where he sees the corpse falling on top of him. The scents mix, and he fails to cover up his gag. Both women look at him with brows raised but he waves them off with his handkerchief.
“Days of absence and your heart grows fonder. That saying is true after all.” She places a hand on his cheek and softly taps it. “A sandwich?”
“I’m starving.”
“Two sandwiches then.”
8:19 PM
She invited him for dinner while they were munching on half-dozen random sandwiches from Subway. He didn’t talk about the case nor did he question her radio silence since her Belgium business trip. This was why she genuinely liked Detective Uchiha Sasuke.
Or maybe it was just the first time she was treated like she had an agency. The gestures for permission, the unspoken questions of consent, the way he wouldn’t touch her first or grab her or mar her skin even when they were having sex. Most men would have their true natures revealed once shown the great pussy. But there he was, always cradling her like she was porcelain china. Not that she minded. It was a breath of fresh air to be held like that, in gentle caresses and soft whispers that beg to betray his true feelings at any given second. It was madness not to be consumed by it, but it was tragedy that she only knew of this reality just now.
She knew he had an inkling. She messed up in the forest. If she had the luxury of time, she would have dismembered the man who grabbed her. A stab from a scalpel was a merciful way to go, and that man didn’t deserve it. Filthy hands.
The anger rushes to the surface, and she stabs the roasted meat rather too loudly.
“Is your meat still alive?” He emerges in her dining room and continues to look around. “Your wooden mansion is a far cry from your depersonalized penthouse.”
She laughs as she strains the cooked pasta. “I like having two personalities.” He must have triangulated by now that the location of this mansion is smacked in the center of the dump sites, a safe, close distance to the landfills, the forest, and even the meditation place. He must have seen the black pick-up truck on her garage, the one she uses for farming. She can see all the pieces fitting into a completed puzzle in his head, and she’s sad to let him go.
He opens the wine she placed on the counter, and he fills himself a glass. “You also have a crystal collection like Akugawa.”
“I gave him his first obsidian. Their healing properties are supposedly at maximum during full moon.” She places two plated bolognese pasta on the table and a wide platter of medium rare meat. “Dinner’s ready.”
“This looks good.” His tone is genuinely fascinated. “Didn’t know you could cook. We always dined in or ordered take out.”
“A change of pace, wouldn’t you think?” She also fills herself a glass of wine and watches in amusement as he takes a first bite of the meatballs she especially prepared for him.
“You should tell me where you source your meat. I’ll one up you in our next dinner.”
I’m too sad there won’t be a next one.
10:17 PM
Sakura changes position, and she’s on top of him, gyrating her hips in familiar pleasure. Sasuke wants to take it slow, to re-encounter her folds and curves after several days of not seeing her, despite his senses overriding in danger. He took her an hour ago, on her immaculate grainy wood counter, wine spilling on the sink as he thrusted into her unclothed core. She had gone commando, and this drove him insane. Maybe his lust is taking over him, clouding his judgment, muddling his perfect frame by frame memories, but he has to play this game. It’s only a matter of time.
He feels her insides throb in urgency, and he knows she’s near her orgasm. Her juices leak out, and he bucks against her wetness, releasing his load into her with eyes closed.
He waits for the scalpel to puncture his carotid, but nothing comes. “Sakura.”
She continues riding his limp member and rubbing her clit against his balls. A strategic distraction as they are coming down from a high. He expects her to trace lazy circles on his abdomen, a mannerism he picked up from their nights, but the dainty hands go to his neck instead.
He opens his eyes, and he sees a different Sakura. Her microexpressions are different, her eyes throwing daggers, soft pliant lips in hardened scowl, and hollowed cheeks.
“I don’t know what’s your issue with a scalpel, Sakura.” Her voice is different, the accent changed. “You must have fallen in love with him already. Such a frail human.”
“I wanted to prepare myself before I see him go. That is all.” Her face shifts and the emotions return to the Sakura he knows. He also notes the loosening grip on his neck, unaware that he is holding his breath.
Another shift and it’s back to the other Sakura. “She has such a saccharine charm effective in luring me to do things.” She smiles at him, but it’s not the smile he’s familiar with. “Don’t worry, you’re not gonna die yet.”
She chokes him with surprising strength. He places pressure on her wrists and elbows, but she doesn’t budge. His legs start to thrash out beneath him, and his sight starts to dim.
“Great work as always, sister. We’ve always wanted the truth about Madara, don’t we?”
