Who Am I?

Chapter 4: Surveillance

Sai did not like the fact that he'd been forced to bring the woman along on his surveillance. He'd agreed to go on the dinner date for very different reasons than what she likely surmised. She was essential to his case; the more he spoke to her, the more he was confident she wouldn't serve as much of a lead for what he was investigating.

What she knew about Akatsuki was what he'd expected to hear from her: that they were a gang and nothing more. The information regarding Hidan was a pleasant surprise; it had been information that he hadn't been made privy to. Either she was a stellar actress, or she was genuinely unaware of the ties that she held.

The more he spent time with her, the more he was sure it was the latter.

What he knew was that Akatsuki was a much bigger organization than just a small gang. They masqueraded as such, but in his investigation, he'd found that their ties were much more widespread than anticipated. It was a top-secret mission that he'd been working on for months now, gathering what information he could. He'd determined that each of its members came from various cities and were often picked for a specific skill set they each had. They had money coming from somewhere he hadn't been able to trace, and they were planning on making more significant moves in the future.

What she'd mentioned about Hidan had caught his interest. Once they'd parked the car out front of a house where their target had stopped, he opened a small laptop and logged into the systems at the precinct, bringing up the case that Ino had mentioned. It was a lot of information to peruse through; it seemed that Dr. Haruno had managed to link Hidan to several crimes, all of which had the same M.O. Hidan was by far the sickest individual he'd run into that was part of the group. Still, based on what was in the file, he appeared to be acting alone and not as part of Akatsuki in a handful of the murders. He made a mental list of each of the victims' names for later, intending to do some further investigation into the cases. He might have to talk to Dr. Haruno about what she'd found; her notes were wonderfully detailed, but he found it was better to go to the source at times.

Not to mention, she was his only surviving victim. There might be things she could remember that she might not even know she was aware of.

"Earth to Sai," came the blonde's voice from the passenger seat. He snapped out of his reading and turned to her, wondering what it was she wanted now.

"Yes?" He hoped she wasn't expecting him to provide any sort of entertainment. That was not his duty at the moment.

"I asked if there were any other cases or names you needed to investigate that might have gone through the court system. If I'm going to be here, I might as well help you do a little research. I'm the one who prosecutes the high-profile cases in the city, so if there were something big, I'd be able to find it. If nothing else, I can reach out to some of the other DAs in other cities and see what they can get for me." He was a bit suspicious at how genuine she was being; it wasn't her fault. He pondered for a bit, considering. She was sincere in her offer to help; he could tell by her body language that she was eager to assist in any way she possibly could.

"Sure. Let me find a few names." He dug through the files and pulled out a notepad, scribbling a few names down that he knew from other cities. If she could get in touch with other DAs and get him information, it would be better; she likely had a better rapport with them than he would as a foreign operative. "See if you can find anything on these names." That ought to keep her busy for a while. Maybe then he would be able to focus on watching for any suspicious activity.

Hours passed as the two of them worked in silence. Ino had found what she could and made notes to call other offices tomorrow, eventually reclining the passenger seat and making a small bed for herself. She was sound asleep in the seat, her sweater folded into a small pillow with her jacket over her like a blanket. Sai couldn't help but watch; sleeping like that, she appeared so innocent like that. He reached over and tugged the jacket so that it covered her arms better, tucking it gently around her. Seeing her tonight and like this, he couldn't believe her to be a threat at all.