Summary: Sergeant Haruno Sakura was passionate about her work in the Major Crimes division and strangely well-acquainted with nearly everyone in Chief Uchiha Itachi's immediate family. Except for him. The more he learns about her, the more interested he becomes, but as Sakura's new case takes a turn for the worst, she realizes she's hit rock bottom and it may take a supportive hand from Itachi to help her back on her feet again.

A/N: So this was originally supposed to be a rewite of Within the Messages, but it turned into its own story and so here we are! I'm really excited to be giving you guys a new story, so I hope you all enjoy it!

So I know this story says it is Rated M for it is for graphic descriptions for the time being. There may be sexual content later, but as of right now there is none, but I hope that will not deter anyone from reading.

This was pretty much the product of me watching far too much of The Closer (which is a great show! You should all watch it!) so I disclaim anything that sounds similar to the show. Also, I would like everyone to note that since the conclusion of Naruto I have come to view Itachi as being a quiet person rather than being closed off and cold. He just doesn't express himself as much as others and so even though he doesn't show his emotions as much, he still has them and just expresses them in less noticeable ways.

But enough explaining, more reading!

Update: This story went through some massive reediting since it was first posted. Chapter one has been completely rewritten and is nowhere similar to the original one posted so please reread this story from the beginning. Thank you!

- - - Chapter One - - -

Headlights flashed into existence in the oncoming lane as Haruno Sakura drove towards her apartment complex. It was late and there were hardly any other drivers so the sudden light momentarily blinded her as she moved unhurriedly through the downtown Los Angeles streets. She slowed to a halt as she reached a stop sign and cleared the intersection before continuing on her way, a quiet yawn escaping her.

She had worked late again. She knew she shouldn't have stayed at the LAPD so late into the night, but she had just returned to work from her weekend and the emails had quickly piled up. After completing her normal, daily paperwork in the Major Crimes division, she had turned her attention to her inbox. Looking back now, she should have known she would never have gotten through all of the unread mail in one sitting, but she had been determined to try, which is how she found herself headed home with the digital clock on her dashboard reading just after two in the morning.

Another yawn escaped her and she ran a hand through her long, pale pink hair as she slowly rolled to a stop at a red light. She sat patiently watching the streetlight but her attention turned when the LED screen of her cell phone lit up the dark interior of her car. Curiously Sakura picked it up but her interest quickly faded as she recognized the unsaved number. It was dispatch.

"Sergeant Haruno Sakura," she answered lightly.

"Good morning, Sergeant," a female voice replied. "Patrol received a report of shots fired at the 800 block of Apple Ave. There's a body. The Shift Commander would like Major Crimes to come out and take a look at the case."

Sakura forced herself not to sigh through the phone. She knew exactly who the Shift Commander was tonight and she would be very unhappy with him if this case didn't fall under Major Crime's jurisdiction. She knew she was on call for the week, but it didn't mean that she liked getting dragged out of bed - or on her way home for this instance. If this case didn't end up being taken over by her team, she was going to strangle the Commander, no matter how much authority he held over her.

"Thank you. I will head over there now," Sakura said before hanging up.

She waited until the light turned green to pull a u-turn before making her way back towards the heart of the city and over to the east side to the address dispatch had given her. With the lack of traffic, she made easy time and it wasn't long before she found herself on site; the flashing police lights and officers present ensured that she was in the right location.

Easily Sakura pulled up to the curb and grabbed a pair of gloves and her camera from her duty bag in the backseat before she exited her car. She lifted her suit jacket off her badge for the officer manning the perimeter before he allowed her to duck under the tape ad gain access to the crime scene. Even in the low-lighting of the night, she could tell she was in a lower-class neighborhood and she took a moment to look around and take in her surroundings before a voice called out to her.

"Well hello there, Sergeant."

A smile was already upon her face as she turned towards the voice. "Kakashi," she greeted her old field training officer as he approached her. "Or should I call you Commander now?"

She hadn't seen him since he received his promotion a few months ago, but she could tell the only thing that had changed about him in the previous months was the rank on his uniform. His silver hair still stood up at an impossible angle and though it was dark, she knew there was still a scar over his left eye where he had told her years ago that he had been attacked by an gang member with a knife during his early days as an officer. Amazingly even though he had lost the cornea of his eye to the attack, he had been donated an eye from a car accident victim and gone through a successful transplant, allowing him to regain full vision.

Even through the darkness and his high-collared undershirt, she saw him smile at the title and his mismatched eyes crinkled in genuine pleasure. "I suppose for you it'll always be Kakashi, but don't go making a big show. Wouldn't want the other officers to know you're a favorite."

Sakura arched her brow at him. "I'm your favorite, am I?"

"I said a favorite," he winked at her. She watched his gaze travel to another pretty officer nearby as she bend down to set a marker near some bullet casings, his gaze obviously appreciating the view. "I can't ignore that there are plenty of attractive officers on the street."

"Kakashi!" She hit him hard in the arm, making him flinch and rub the sore spot as he turned his attention back to her. She frowned at him disapprovingly, which he returned with a sheepish grin. Rather than call him out, she merely rolled her eyes and shook her head before she turned towards the house swarming with officers. "So, what do we have?"

Their teasing mood fell immediately as Kakashi walked a step ahead of her as they headed further down the sidewalk towards the house. "At 0100 hours we received a call of shots fired from this neighborhood. We didn't find any bodies but there were shell casings found on the sidewalk across the street." Sakura followed his gesture to see another investigator was taking pictures of the evidence next to a green car. The same officer Kakashi had been eyeing was still marking spent casings on the ground next to the vehicle. "We did a search of the area and found nothing until we reached the backyard of this house."

Silently Sakura took in her old teacher's information as she scanned the area, looking for any clues at all. Nothing looked too terribly out of the ordinary, but she just continued to follow Kakashi as he led her around the back of the house. Two officers were standing watch next to a partially broken window. "We found a window smashed in and blood around the remaining glass. It looked as if someone was-."

"Someone climbed into the window and cut themselves while getting in," Sakura finished.

Kakashi nodded. For a moment, Sakura took in the evidence before she turned on her camera and began taking pictures. She took a few of the window from different angles and some of the shattered glass on the ground before she turned back to the Commander. "I'm assuming that naturally you guys went into the house afterwards?"

The older male nodded before he turned and gestured for her to follow. He led her back around the front and nodded at the officer guarding the door. She followed after him and tried her best not to scrunch up her nose at the slight smell of death in the air. "We found a female body in the upstairs bedroom. She looks as if she's only been dead a little while. Probably only an hour or two before the call came in."

A frown settled upon Sakura's face as she followed Kakashi up the stairs, her heels silenced by the carpet. "We're in East L.A., Kakashi. This sounds like a gang-related incident. Why didn't you call the Gang Unit?"

He just cast a glance back at her as he reached a door at the top of the stairs and gestured for her to enter first. "Because she wasn't shot."

With a look of confusion, Sakura entered the room and stopped a few paces in. There was an officer standing next to the door inside the room, but she didn't pay any attention to him as she took in the sight before her. On a king sized bed in the middle of the room a young woman in her mid-twenties was tied up, gagged, and most definitely dead. She was mostly naked with only a pair of shorts and a black bra to keep her decent. And she was covered in blood.

Even from this distance, Sakura could tell that her throat had been gouged open. Not just slit; but mostly torn out almost like an animal would to kill its prey. There was blood everywhere: on the bed, over her chest, splattered up the side of her face and even on her wrists and ankles. Although as Sakura slowly approached the bed, she recognized that the injuries to her limps were caused by the victim rubbing her skin raw by straining against the ropes holding her captive to the bed. Her hair was a brilliant red color that looked like flames around her pale face and as Sakura stopped next to her, she could tell that when she had been alive she had most likely had the most brilliant hazel eyes. Even in death, she was pretty. What a sad way to die and less than a week before Christmas even.

For a long moment, Sakura watched her lifeless face and she frowned slightly as recognition briefly flooded her. She couldn't place her face, but Sakura was fairly certain she had seen this woman before and she chewed her lower lips as she allowed herself a moment to filter through her memories in an attempt to name her.

"I.D.?" Sakura asked without turning her gaze from the deceased woman.

"We didn't find any," Kakashi replied. "But we didn't look too hard either. Once we knew we had a murder, we tried to touch as little as possible until you could get here."

Frowning Sakura finally turned from the woman. "I don't understand," she said, facing him again. "There are murders all the time in Los Angeles. Why didn't you call Homicide? How is this a major crime?"

Kakashi seemed unaffected by her questioning. "Her bag," he answered simply.

Sakura cocked a brow at him. "Her bag?"

He nodded towards the dresser against the wall across from the bed and she followed his gaze to find a nice looking purse among the other miscellaneous objects. Confused she just shook her head, causing Kakashi crossed his arms. "That is a three thousand dollar purse. Do you really believe she lives here?"

Sakura had no idea how he knew the market price of her bag, but she took his word on it. It didn't look cheap. And that made her have to agree with him. If that purse really did cost that much than it was likely that she didn't live in a house that was a part of a lower-class neighborhood.

"Alright," she finally said. "I'll call the Deputy Chief and have him come down here."

Kakashi nodded once before she followed him out of the room and into the hallway. She pulled the glove off her dominant hand before she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her superior's number, having called him enough times in the past to have memorized it. As the phone rang on the other end, she supported her phone between her ear and shoulder as she pulled her work jacket off before rolling up her sleeves. She already knew it was going to be a long night if her boss agreed with her that it fell under their division's jurisdiction.

After the fourth ring, someone on the other end picked up. "Deputy Chief Shiranui Genma."

Sakura cringed slightly at his voice. He sounded as if she had just woken him from the grave. "Deputy Chief, we have a case."

"Haruno?" was his tired reply. He paused for a moment and she guessed he was trying to wake himself up. "What is it?"

"Patrol found a body at the 800 block of Maple," she relayed easily.

"They believe murder?" he asked through a yawn.

Sakura took her phone back in her hand as she rested her suit jacket across her elbow. "I'm here at the scene now. It looks like ours."

A long sigh met her words, but then Genma cleared his throat and returned to sounding like his normal confident, cocky self that she was accustom to. "Alright, you call Nara and Hyuuga. I'll let Anko know what's going on."

Sakura acknowledged his order and immediately dialed Nara Shikamaru's number as she turned to leave the house to return to her car. When the other end went to voice mail she hung up and dialed again, knowing he usually didn't answer on the first call. Or second. And sometimes the third. But eventually she got through to him and began explaining their case as she tossed her jacket into her trunk and pulled her duty bag out of her backseat.

Once she was sure her coworker was getting ready and not going back to bed she hung up and called the next person on her list: Hyuuga Neji. Unlike Shikamaru he answered on the second ring and sounded as if he hadn't yet gone to bed. Their conversation was much shorter and she hung up fairly quickly with him before she returned to the house to begin combing it for evidence and to also get out of the winter night air.

For a while, Sakura worked by herself, taking photos of the downstairs before she slowly made her way up the stairwell, searching the walls for any signs of a scuffle. There were a couple of dents in the wall where the paint had been chipped away by impact but there were no fibers or evidence in the holes and the paint chip was nowhere to be found. She suspected that either the killer vacuumed or the marks had been made before tonight.

Afterwards she made her way back into the room. The officer standing guard merely nodded at her and she smiled back before she turned to taking photos of the body. She made sure to document the marks on her wrists and ankles as well as the remarkable gash to her throat, but Sakura felt her gaze keep returning to the young woman's face. She was certain she had seen her somewhere.

Before Sakura could determine the woman's identity, voices from outside the room drew her attention and she looked towards the doorway just as Neji and Genma entered. She greeted Hyuuga with a nod, his pale eyes bright and his dark hair smoothed back perfectly, looking as if he wasn't even the least bit tired.

Her superior on the other hand had shadows under his brown eyes and she could tell he was trying to stifle a yawn. His short brown hair was a bit messy from sleep still and though he was wearing a suit, he had forgone his jacket and his button-up shirt had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, similarly to how she was currently dressed. From his lack of teasing and borderline harassing jokes, she could tell he really wanted nothing more than to return to bed but his face betrayed none of this. He glanced at her momentarily before he pulled on a pair of gloves and moved towards the body. "What do we have, Haruno?"

Immediately she began to fill both men in on the details Kakashi had given her as well as what she had observed so far. When Genma asked her the same question on why they had been called out, she pointed out the bag and sighed in relief when he agreed with Kakashi and that it was a Major Crimes case. She would have died in embarrassment if she had called her entire team out there only for it to fall under the jurisdiction of another unit.

"Alright, Hyuuga, go talk to the officers on scene and ask someone how long until Shizune gets here," Genma instructed. "I want to get a better look at the body as soon as possible. Haruno, keep taking pictures. Make sure you get plenty of the purse before Nara gets here and starts to go through it."

She nodded in response to his orders and made her way over to the bag. But before she could take more than three photos, she heard that familiar yawn followed by some grumbling as Shikamaru walked into the room. His expression looked tired and a bit bored as he took in the scene before him. Genma immediately noticed his presence and pointed to her. "Nara, help Haruno go through that bag. See if we can find some I.D. of our dead girl."

With a mostly silent sigh, Shikamaru joined her and she smiled a greeting at him, which he unsurprisingly didn't return, before they began going through the bag, making sure to take plenty of pictures. Inside they found some makeup, a few tampons, a spare pair of underwear, a RedBox movie, a receipt from small grocery store and a few other miscellaneous items, but no wallet or any other form of identification.

As they worked, Anko finally arrived, the older woman looking a little rugged in the lateness of the hour, as well as the medical examiner, Shizune. They listened as the dark-haired doctor described her condition and approximate time of death, and Sakura found that she had to give Kakashi credit for he had been fairly close. She had most likely been killed only an hour or two before the call of the shooting had come out.

"Does she have any birth marks or anything?" Shikamaru asked after they finished going through the contents of her purse.

The pretty woman looked up briefly and shook her head. "None that I can see. If you need an I.D. I can collect her fingerprints and run them back at the morgue."

"Yes, please," Genma consented.

Shizune smiled at him before she redirected her attention to the body to continue her preliminary report. "Her C.O.D. is most likely asphyxiation."

Genma moved closer to take a look and frowned. "Not exsanguination?" he asked.

The medical examiner shook her head. "It's possible, but because her lips are slightly tinted blue, my guess is she drowned in her own blood." Sakura frowned at the disturbing news, but continued to listen as Shizune spoke: "From the looks of the markings on her wrists and ankles, she was most likely tied up here today, perhaps an hour or so before her death. The wounds are still fairly fresh. Since she still has her pants on I doubt she was sexually assaulted, but I'll check when I get her back to the morgue," she reported easily.

Her eyes were focused on the dead girl, but as Sakura turned to her superior, she saw his eyes were glued to Shizune's face. From her first day of working with him, Sakura had learned of his crush on the pretty doctor and even though the man didn't even try to hide his attraction, it was ironically funny how Shizune was still oblivious to it.

Sakura honestly tried to hide it, but when Genma glanced at her, she couldn't help but smile a little smartly at him. He showed no outward reaction to her before he focused on Anko. "See if you can figure out who this house belongs to. I'm going to want to speak to them in the morning if possible."

She nodded but the trio turned as Neji reentered. Genma glanced at him, but his gaze returned to Shizune as she stood up straight again and began filling out some paperwork. "I spoke with the officers," Neji began, drawing Genma's gaze again slowly. "They didn't have any other information than what Haruno had already relayed."

Genma nodded. "So we have a rich Jane Doe tied to a bed with her throat ripped out like an animal attacked her," he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Maybe it is her house," Anko said as she brushed her dark, plumb-colored hair out of her face before crossing her arms. "Maybe she has a sugar daddy who bought her a nice purse to apologize for hooking up with the girl next door."

"Unlikely," Shikamaru said from across the room. Everyone turned to look at him. "She doesn't have a wedding ring or a tan line from one," he continued. "Also, there's no pictures of her here." He paused. "Actually there's no pictures at all. Women usually keep at least one picture of their man around." He glanced at Anko lazily. "Even of their sugar daddies."

"He's got a point," Neji agreed. "Besides, most women with sugar daddies are willing to get naked for the man giving them their goods."

"You think this was a sex crime?" Anko retorted.

Neji shook his head but Sakura turned her attention away from the three to stare at the body. The mention of a sex crime suddenly brought a memory forward and she chewed her lip as she thought. She had seen this woman before, dressed very similarly and on the cover of a recent magazine. And it suddenly clicked into place. "Her name is Karin."

The room fell silent as her entire team turned to look at her curiously. Genma was the first to speak. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded. "She's a pornstar."

This time, the silence in the room settled on her heavily as the implications of what she had just revealed made their gazes feel like physical weights. Anko was trying very poorly not to laugh. "How do you even know that?" she asked as Shikamaru pulled out his phone out of his pocket.

Embarrassment swept through her and she felt her face heat up at everyone's intense stares. There was a reason she knew who this woman was, but it most definitely wasn't the reason they believed. She had an inkling of who had taken the photo for the cover of the magazine she had recently been on, but Sakura wasn't entirely sure so she kept that fair amount of information to herself. Instead she waved her hand in the air dismissively. "She's famous around Hollywood. She's like the top pornstar in the sex industry," she said as casually as she could.

The amused smirk on Anko's face widened. "Again, how do you know this?"

Sakura glared at the older woman. She knew exactly what she was implying. "Don't you read magazines?" she asked casually. "She's on the cover of every famous tabloid right now since she just became the highest paid pornstar ever."

"Really?" Genma asked, his eyes wider with the information. "Could be our motive. Could also be why her wallet is missing."

"It's her," Shikamaru suddenly said, holding out his phone. Their gazes passed to him as he handed his phone to Shizune who verified her identification.

She wrote a note on her report before she left the room and Sakura didn't miss the way Genma's eyes trailed her. As soon as she disappeared around the corner, he refocused and turned to the team. "Alright, let's collect up all the necessary evidence. Shikamaru, I want you to look up all known information on Karin and contact her manager or agent or whatever the hell pornstars have and see what they knew about her last whereabouts. Haruno, finish with your photos and give them to Neji so he can start uploading them back at the department. Anko, I want you to see who owns this house and bring them in for questioning if possible. Let's see who wanted this woman dead for Christmas and why."

After leaving the crime scene that morning, Genma had allowed Sakura to go home and rest for a few hours, but it only felt like a couple of minutes before her alarm had gone off and she had been forced to get out of bed and return to the department. It was still incredibly early. So early in fact that day shift hadn't yet started and when she reached the department lobby, it was empty and silent, making it easy for her to get past the turnstile to the elevators that would take her to her division's workspace.

When she reached her floor, she stepped out and followed the wide hallway to the right until it opened up into a large room where her teammates normally worked. Currently Genma and Shikamaru were the only ones present and they both appeared to be swamped with all the evidence they had collected. They were working so diligently that at first they didn't notice her presence until she had fully entered the room and was about to sit at the open desk next to Shikamaru.

"Haruno," Genma called from another desk nearby. She looked up and made her way over towards him immediately. For a moment, she stood silently in front of his makeshift desk as he searched through some evidence envelopes until he found what he was looking for. He pulled open the plastic bag and handed her an receipt. "This is from Karin's purse. I want you to go to the store and see if you can get any video from the manager. It's an older store so I doubt they'll have electronic copies so expect to get some VHS tapes."

Sakura raised a brow at him. If their cameras were that old it would be unlikely that they would get a clear image. If their victim had been kidnapped in the morning at the store, there was no way they would be able to get an enhancement of a license plate or a clear image of her attacker. Her trip to the store sounded like wasted time to her.

Genma seemed to read her thoughts for he frowned. "I know, I know. It's probably going to be shitty quality, but we don't have much to go on right now. Anko and Neji are out at Karin's house in Long Beach but they said it doesn't look like there was a struggle so they doubt she was taken there."

The information made her frown inwardly and she nodded. "Alright. I'll see if I can find anything."

Genma nodded gratefully before returning his attention back to the rest of the evidence as Sakura turned and made her way back out of the building and down to the parking garage. Easily she found the government issued car assigned to her division and punched in the store's address into the provided GPS before she started the vehicle and exited the department's covered garage.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Sakura found herself outside of her destination. There were only a handful of cars in the lot with the early hour of the morning so the police car parked in front immediately caught her attention. It was parked in a stall rather than on the front curb, leading her to believe that the officers weren't there on a call so she turned her attention to noting the different cameras positioned around the outside of the building.

She counted five before she finally made her way into the store and in search of the manager on the clock. When she didn't spot anyone, she made her way over to the register where a single cashier was standing. "Hi, my name is Sergeant Haruno Sakura with the Los Angeles Police Department. I was wondering if there was someone I could talk to?"

The young woman looked over her credentials with wide eyes, obviously wondering why the police would be coming in, but she didn't voice her curiosity. Instead she nodded. "Yeah, let me call my supervisor down from the office."

Sakura smiled in thanks and waited patiently. The worker told her he was on his way and sure enough, after a few minutes a middle aged male approached her. "Hello, is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes actually," she said politely. "A young woman came in here yesterday morning and I was wondering if your video cameras happened to catch her entering or exiting the store."

The man pursed his lips. "I can check the cameras for you, but they are fairly old. I know the owners were planning on replacing them some time soon, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Come with me," he gestured.

Immediately Sakura followed him into a back room. It was obviously a combined office space and break room by the vending machines and long table with metal chairs, but there was an old computer in the corner with - sure enough - a VHS machine next to it. She trailed after the male and stopped next to him as he lowered himself into the chair in front of it before he began searching through some tapes.

"You said yesterday morning?" he asked.

Sakura nodded and pulled out the receipt. "Yes at 6:17."

She watched as the male rewound the video until the time read 6:17am. Unsurprisingly the video was gritty and pixelated, making it nearly impossible for Sakura to make out the faces of anyone. It also didn't help that it was all in black and white, but eventually a figure with Karin's hairstyle and glasses walked out. She watched as she climbed into what Sakura believed was a small, white car and sat in the driver's seat as she appeared to send a text message before she started the vehicle and drove off.

Just to be sure, Sakura asked the man to replay the video once more before she decided that this evidence proved Karin had been kidnapped some time after her trip to the store. She asked if he could make her a copy and waited patiently until he was able to provide a VHS tape before she thanked him for his time and exited the office.

With a quiet sigh, Sakura pulled out her phone and began to dial Genma's number when a very loud and another very sarcastic set of voices reached her ears. "Move it, dobe. We don't have all morning."

"Shove it, teme," came the smart reply.

Immediately a smile came to Sakura's face and she stopped as she waited until two very familiar officers rounded the corner. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were one of the best teams on the Los Angeles police force. Their arrest rate of violent offenders was through the roof and they had one of the highest numbers of completed case reports. It seemed strange that they would work so well together considering most of their time together was spent insulting and attempting to get a rise out of the other. Their personalities were polar opposites, creating most of their ridiculous arguments.

Naruto was blunt and straight-forward, never one to beat around the bush. If he felt something was being done that was unjust, he would be the first one to voice his opinion and attempt to fix the situation himself. He was a loud-mouth, but he was kind and a social butterfly, making him well-liked around the department. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his friends or even a stranger. He was almost too giving to a fault, something Sasuke would never fail to point out.

His partner, on the other hand, was more subtle and quiet. Sasuke was incredibly good at manipulating situations to his benefit, which in the field had helped the pair out multiple times. Sakura was fairly certain he had learned it from his older brother who was also an incredibly respected officer of the law. But unlike Naruto, Sasuke was soft-spoken, if not a bit sarcastic. He was an amazing shot, the best in their graduating class with Sakura herself right below him and he had been asked to apply for the sniper position on the SWAT team. However everyone knew Sasuke would never leave Naruto for another partner or unit.

The pair were her best friends. It had been hard for Sakura to be partnered up with another officer after her rookie year and had been a bit jealous when Naruto and Sasuke had been placed together, but their separation had given her the chance to climb up the chain and move laterally to the Major Crimes division. It was an incredibly hard position to receive, but a glowing recommendation from Kakashi had given her the chance to get her foot in the door and she had shined. Her boys had been a bit put off that she had been promoted before them, but they had been happy for her nonetheless and their competitive streak to beat the other to a promotion had made their performance on the street draw eyes from even the higher ranking officers.

Ironically, their appearances were just as opposite as their personalities. Naruto was blond and blue-eyed with a radiant smile. His skin tanned easily in the southern California sun and he was obviously muscular, even beneath his vest and police uniform. Sasuke had dark hair and black eyes instead. It was a trait passed down to all members of the Uchiha family. Even his brother and cousin, both former patrol officers, were lithe in their forms, had pale skin that even seemed untouched by the always persistent sun and had aristocratic features that made female heads turn everywhere they went. Even Sakura, who had long since learned that appearances weren't everything, had taken a second look the first time she had met Sasuke on their first day at the academy.

Sakura had befriended Naruto immediately, and after the blond told Sasuke were he could shove his 'I'm-too-cool-for-you' personality after an intense training on the mat, they had become instant friends. That had been over five years ago and they were still her best friends; so close that she even referred to them as her family.

"Shouldn't you two be on your way to the department to get off?" Sakura asked as they rounded the corner.

Immediately their arguing fell forgotten as they spotted her. A bright grin stretched across Naruto's face and he threw an arm over her shoulder, his duty-belt knocking into her sidearm and hip. She half-returned his hug, more conscious of the fact that they were all on duty so these type of displays were frowned upon by the department in public. Sasuke just raised a brow, his eyes falling to her hands curiously. He was never the affectionate type.

"We were on our way, but we got stuck on a call," Naruto answered.

"And dobe, here, said he was starving and couldn't wait until we got home to eat," Sasuke added.

The blond crossed his arms and gave his partner a look. "If you hadn't taken so damn long to book that guy into jail, I could have waited."

Sasuke just waved him off before he continued further into the store. "Don't blame me for your monster appetite."

Naruto quickly hurried after him, leaving Sakura to follow the pair. She needed to get the video back to Genma, but a couple of minutes to get herself an energy drink to wake herself up wouldn't harm anything. Easily she walked with them as they moved down the aisles. Unsurprisingly Sasuke picked up a few pieces of fruit while Naruto grabbed a box of ramen and some granola bars for the road. The blond had a strange obsession with ramen that Sasuke had been trying to break for years.

Ever since they graduated from the academy, the males had chosen to live in an apartment together and at least twice a month, Sakura had to hear Sasuke complain that they didn't have any space in their pantry because Naruto had stocked it full of his favorite food. She was somewhat suspicious that Sasuke sometimes donated the boxes to the homeless shelter just to make some room for his food, but she never got involved in their arguments. She just enjoyed the show.

As they reached the soda aisle, Sakura sorted through the various brands of energy drinks, looking for her favorite. It was harder to find since it was specifically a zero-calorie, no sugar, peach flavor energy drink and she usually settled with another type, but an unconscious smile crossed her face when she found it on a high shelf.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Naruto suddenly asked.

Sasuke lightly shoved the blond as he walked past him to help her pull her favorite drink off the shelf. She was always a little on the shorter side, even with her heels on. "Obviously she's working, dobe," Sasuke said, gesturing to the video in her hand as he handed her two cans.

"I meant specifically, teme," Naruto retorted instantly as they made their way towards the register.

Sakura just brushed past the pair, attempting to ruffle Sasuke's hair on her way, but he dodged out of her reach. "Just a new case from last night," she answered lightly. "Girl found murdered. Same as every case."

She set her two drinks down on the conveyor belt before Naruto and Sasuke did the same. She smiled at the same woman that had been behind the register when she had first walked in as she dug out her wallet out of her slacks, but Sasuke beat her to it and he swiped his card before she had the chance. Knowing he never took no for an answer, she smiled her thanks and turned to both of them. "What about you? Uneventful night."

Naruto let out a subtle yawn as he waited for Sasuke to finish paying for their minimal groceries before he nodded. "Yeah. Just mostly dealt with domestic violence calls. 'Well he said, well she said, well he did this first' bullshit."

Sakura took her drinks when Sasuke finished and smiled as she walked with the pair outside. The sun was already above the horizon, but there was a chill in the air and unconsciously she pulled her light winter jacket further around herself.

"I talked to my mom," Sasuke said as they reached the pair's patrol car. Naruto walked around to the driver's side as Sasuke opened the passenger door and he set his snack in the cup holder between the seat before straightening once more. "She wants to know if you're coming for Christmas dinner."

Sakura frowned slightly. "I don't know. Do we have to talk about this now?"

Sasuke cocked a brow at her as Naruto started the squad car. "No, but I need to give her an answer soon."

"Fine, I'll let you know later what I decide," she said.

Naruto leaned over the center console to look at her. "Just deal with the fact that you have to go, Sakura," he said. "If I have to go, you can bet your ass, you have to too."

Sakura gave him a look before she glanced at Sasuke. "I don't know. A dinner at the Uchiha household can go either way."

Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned back against the back door of their patrol car. "Don't over exaggerate," he retorted with a roll of his eyes. "My mom loves you. Hell, my mom even loves this asshole." He gestured to Naruto who stuck his tongue out and Sasuke smirked lightly before he turned his attention back to her.

"It's not your mom," Sakura explained like it was obvious. "Your brother is quiet and your dad is…intimidating, to put it nicely. Shisui was the easiest person to talk to out of your family, but he got shipped off to the war," she said, referring to his older cousin. It was the same cousin who had been a Field Training Officer with the department before his deployment. He had taught her a lot while she had been attending the academy even if he hadn't been a teacher there. When he had left, she had missed him more than she thought she would.

"Just do what I do and ignore my dad," Sasuke said. "And I doubt Itachi will even be there. He's been under a lot of stress lately and he'll probably work through the holiday like he always does."

Sakura frowned, not entirely trusting Sasuke's answer. He sounded like he was more of guessing, but she supposed that's what happened when his brother was Chief of the entire Los Angeles Police Department. The man was impressive, if not a little intimidating. She knew he was highly intelligent and well-spoken, even if she had only interacted with him a few times over the years she had known Sasuke. Still, she wasn't convinced at going.

"We'll talk later, yeah?" she asked.

With a sigh, Sasuke nodded. "Yes. But we will talk. Don't think you're getting out of this."

Sakura smirked at him before she waved to Naruto and headed towards her government-issued car. She watched the pair drive off before she secured the video evidence on the floor on the passenger side and started her own vehicle. Even with the quickly growing morning traffic, she easily navigated through streets as she wondered if going to Sasuke's for Christmas really was a good idea.

His mom, Mikoto, was a wonderful woman who obviously cared about the well-being of her family, and her and Naruto. She was genuinely a caring person - and she could cook better than anyone Sakura had ever met before - but her husband and Sasuke's father, Fugaku, was an entirely different story. The man was fierce and proud, and wanted his children to be the best they could be. When Itachi had been appointed chief the year before, he had been bursting with pride, but she knew it had made Sasuke feel small in return, even if he didn't showed it.

Sasuke never spoke of his childhood and what it was like growing up with his father, but Sakura got the impression that he always paled in comparison to Itachi, even if his older brother didn't intentionally mean to outshine him. If she had to guess, she would say that in their father's eyes, Sasuke was always a step behind his brother, which should not have been a big deal. Itachi was after all five years older than Sasuke.

Sakura was fairly certain that Sasuke's father would have a heart attack if he was ever to learn the full depth of Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. They were partners on the street and they were roommates, but they were also lovers, a fact only Sakura knew and a secret she had been keeping ever since they had graduated from the academy. They hid it so well she probably wouldn't have known they were together at all if it hadn't been for the fact that she had walked in on them in a very compromising position. After a very, very long night of talking they told her that they had been friends in the academy, but it had grown to actual feelings after starting their rookie year. Apparently Naruto had always been bi, but it wasn't until Sasuke had met Naruto that he realized why women never did it for him.

They had kept their relationship a secret in fear of the unknown of how Sasuke's father would take the news that one of his sons was gay. Sakura was fairly certain that Mikoto would be shocked at learning the full extent of their relationship, but Sasuke was her son and she would undoubtedly love him all the same. However even Sakura was uncertain about how Fugaku would react and so they had kept silent.

It was easier for Naruto. His parents had died when he was young and he had been in and out of more foster homes than he could keep track of. It had mostly come down to him keeping his mouth shut around their coworkers, knowing that any word of their relationship could reach Itachi's ears and in turn be spread to his family. Sasuke had told them that Itachi would never tell his parents, even if he found out, but Naruto had been adamant about keeping it from him. Even after all these years, Naruto was still nervous in his presence.

Which is why Sakura didn't know if she wanted to go to Christmas dinner. Mikoto's presence would be welcome, but she would have to deal with Fugaku's intense stares, Itachi's intimidating presence, and Naruto and Sasuke doing their best to play friends all the while they threw insults back and forth like foreplay. It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

Sighing softly, Sakura pulled her car back into its assigned spot before she shut off the engine. She collected the evidence and grabbed her energy drinks from the cup holder before she closed and locked up the car. As she made her way towards the parking garage elevator that would take her up to the department lobby, she settled the VHS tape under her arm before she maneuvered her energy drinks between her fingers so she could hold both in one hand and she cracked one open. A sound of bliss sounded in her throat as she drank the much needed caffeine and she stepped into the elevator without pause.

Only once the can was mostly empty did Sakura lowered it. She moved the VHS tape back into her hand as she waited for the doors to open again, but a vibration from her phone had her readjusting again so she could pull out her phone. When she unlocked the screen, she saw a message from Shikamaru and her brow rose curiously when she saw he was asking where she was. He hardly ever texted her and never asked her where she was when he did.

Immediately she replied that she was almost back at the office and why. As soon as the message was sent, the elevator doors opened once more and she stepped through them as she made her way past the desk officers to reach the second set of elevators that would give her access to the rest of the building. She bumped her hip where her employee badge was stored to the badge reader on the turnstile to give herself access before she continued to the elevators.

The halls were still empty with the morning hour and it didn't take long for an elevator to open for her. She stepped inside and pressed the floor for her division with her knuckle as her phone vibrated again. Immediately she unlocked her phone once more, expecting Shikamaru's text. Her brow rose in amusement when she read the message: Bring me coffee.

Sakura was about to type a smart reply when she stepped out of the elevator and suddenly came in contact with something very hard. Immediately her eyes flew up as her attention was redirected away from her phone and her heart jumped into her throat when she found she had run into the hard chest of Sasuke's brother or better known Chief of Police Uchiha Itachi.

A hot blush fell across her face in embarrassment and she quickly met his gaze to see he was watching her with a raised brow. With their close proximity, she found herself craning her neck sharply to peer up at him and she suddenly realized how tall he was in comparison to her. Quickly Sakura took a flash step back, her eyes still wide as she quickly looked him over to ensure she hadn't just split any of her energy drink on him. His dark grey suit was flawless and the white button-up shirt underneath looked untouched. Finding he appeared unmarred by their physical encounter, she relaxed in relief. But only very slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke," she said. Immediately she froze realizing her mistake and flushed again. "I mean Itachi. Chief! Sir…" she finished lamely. His brow arched gracefully as he watched her and she hid her dumb mouth behind the can of her energy drink, her eyes wide.

A moment of silence fell over them as Itachi watched her. His onyx eyes were dark but calm and though his expression was relaxed, it was otherwise unreadable. He had a file in his hand that was marked with his index finger and she wondered if he had been in the middle of reading a document when she had so obliviously walked straight into him.

Eventually she forced herself to take a breath. "I am so sorry. I was just talking to your brother."

Understanding crossed his face but the change in his expression was brief before he nodded. "How is Sasuke?" he asked.

His voice was smooth and polite, and automatically Sakura felt herself relaxing. He didn't seem upset with her at all for being less than attentive of her surroundings as she walked blindly down the hall. "Good," she answered as she lowered her energy drink from her face. "He and Naruto just got off. Their both headed back home now."

"That is good to hear," he replied.

Sakura watched the way his mouth moved as he talked and found herself breaking out into goosebumps by his smooth tenor. His handsome features were hard to ignore even if she had spoken with him a handful of times in the past and it didn't help that his suit was well-fitted and wrapped around his lithe, but strong form flawlessly. It hadn't been surprising that she had called him by his younger brother's name given how much they looked alike with their high cheekbones, straight nose and perfectly shaped eyes and lips. They both had beautiful, silk hair, but while Sasuke wore his short with it not even reaching the back of his neck, Itachi's was far longer, tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck to keep the collarbone-length strands from becoming an irritant.

Sakura watched the way his bangs moved at he turned his gaze to a clock on the wall nearby before turning back to her. "You will have to excuse me. There is a meeting I must get to."

Sakura mentally chastised herself for even noticing the way his hair perfectly framed his face and brought attention to his intelligent eyes. She was not normally like this and she blamed her lack of attention span and inability to talk normally without becoming an embarrassed mess on her very little sleep. Stepping out of his way, she forced herself to pull herself together and smile politely at him. "Of course, sir. Sorry for interrupting."

He nodded at her in farewell and stepped past her, allowing Sakura to continue on her way as well. However she only made it a few steps before she heard Itachi address her again: "Sergeant, I suggest you drink your other energy drink as well. Perhaps it will help your focus."

Sakura turned back to him immediately to see he was holding the elevator door open as he spoke to her. There appeared to be an amused look on his face, but when she blinked it was gone. "I'll be sure I do that," she replied lightly, still attempting to determine if she had imagined his brief expression or not.

But then Itachi turned away as he entered the elevator before the doors closed, completely blocking him from view. After a moment, Sakura glanced down at the drinks in her hand. She quickly finished the first can and threw it away before she cracked open her remaining one as she finally turned and made her way into her division's workspace. She was really going to need an energy boost to get through the rest of the day unscathed. Or at least no more scathed than she already was.

A/N: So yes, I killed Karin mwahahah! I should feel bad but I don't because I never cared for her too terribly much in the manga/anime...meh.

Anyways, I will start posting a new chapter every week, hopefully. Forgive me for any spelling errors. This wasn't written on a program that had spell check. But I did read it through three times so I hope that there were very few if any! And for anyone taking the time to read the author's notes I'll give you hint and suggest you look up the Ten Codes. They are different by location though. Cough cough. Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you all come back next Saturday (11/14)!