Dignity

As they arrived at the crime scene, Sakura quickly spotted the forensic team surveying the area, nodding at a few of them. They appeared glad to see her; one girl with brown hair tied in buns atop her head was exceptionally cheerful, giving her a friendly wave. Sakura recognized her from Ino—she was Tenten, the ballistics expert, and was standing next to Neji Hyuga, one of the behavioural psychologists assigned to the department. They appeared to be close, judging from the way they would happily chat as they were working.

Sakura quickly got to work examining the body, gloved hand gently lifting parts of the remains to look at them. "Based on the cranial sutures and the maxilla, the subject appears to be female, early twenties. The water appears to have prevented some decomposition along the lower extremities. Still, the state of the upper body suggests that she had risen to the surface at some point, perhaps snagged downstream on some branches or rocks that prevented the current from pulling her," she said idly as she did her examination. It was preliminary, of course; she would be able to determine more once she could do a complete autopsy and anthropological exam.

"Appears to have been shorter; based on the approximate length of the tibia and spine, she was no more than four foot eleven, maybe five feet. I'll be able to tell better when I can lay the bones out. Some bone remodelling of the jaw suggests she broke that as well as her cheekbone at some point—I can see some remodelling here on the clavicle and sternum as well." She glanced up at the detective, who had... an odd expression on his face. Though his face appeared neutral, his eyes looked... sad. Very sad.

"So it's possible she was either in a fight when she was younger, or... signs of abuse?" He asked curiously, taking down notes as he spoke. "What's that, over there?" He asked, pointing to one portion of the skull that appeared damaged.

"There appears to be damage caused by a gunshot wound to the head... a nine millimetre, based on the approximate size. There appears to be some damage to the hand; likely, the victim tried to shield herself from her attacker. There's a third wound through the left patella, suggesting she was shot in the knee, perhaps to stop her before her attacker killed her." It was amazing how much information could be collected through cataloguing and inspecting even the slightest damage to remains.

"Or to make sure she couldn't escape before she was shot," Detective Uchiha muttered, a hint of anger in his voice. Sakura couldn't blame him; anyone cold enough to murder another person was worth hating as far as she was concerned.

"Hmm... there's some scraping along the orbital bone... I'll need to get this back to the lab to confirm, but..." She made a face, and he looked at her curiously.

"But what?" He asked.

"Based on the angle and the lack of tissue... it's entirely possible that her assailant... removed her eyes from their sockets before dumping the body," she said slowly, a sick feeling in her gut. Even he looked almost ill at the thought.

"That's all I can determine for now. Forensics can pack up the body, and I'll examine it back at the lab. You and I can head back for the time being. We can check missing persons for records and see if we can attach an identity to our victim." Standing up, Sakura snapped off her gloves and tossed them in one of the nearby biohazard bags.

"So... that's it?" He asked, almost seeming impatient.

Sakura gave him a flat look. "Unless you have a mobile lab, yes. Are you always this grumpy and impatient?" She asked bluntly, frowning at him. She was over his pushy attitude. "Unless your next step is to apologize for seemingly questioning my two doctorates and Master's degree, I suggest you pipe down."

He grunted in annoyance. "I wasn't. Let's head back."

"Fine." She brusquely walked past him, practically stomping her way to the car while she mentally hurled vulgarities at him. She wasn't going to be cut out for this. Not if he was going to be this much of a problem for her. She would have to set some ground rules if they were going to be working together. One of them would be 'don't rush Sakura in the morning when she's having her morning bagel'!

In her stomping, she was too distracted to notice the uneven ground; one of her feet slipped, causing her to nearly face plant right into a mud puddle. The only thing that stopped her was a firm hand grasping her upper arm, hoisting her a bit so she wouldn't fall right in. Upon glancing back, she saw the detective with that same annoyed look on his face, and he quickly lifted her back up to her feet. He had helped her, sure, but his following words just threw her for a loop.

"Watch where you're going." He was blunt again, like he was scolding a child. Unbelievable! He practically ran hot and cold! One moment he was nice, and the next, he was a jerk. She just wished he'd make up his mind already. Then she wouldn't feel like she had to alter how she interacted every five seconds when he decided to be nice!

Looking down, she realized that tripping meant her tea had... also spilled everywhere. She let out a soft moan of disappointment, expression turning dejected as she made her way back to the car behind the detective. She got in the car and sat down grumpily, the frustration of the morning putting her in a bad mood. And of course, frustration meant if it got any worse, she'd be ready to have an angry cry over it.

They drove in silence, not a single word between them until Sakura realized they were making an early stop. Did she glance up only to see... a coffee shop? Wordlessly the detective got out, glancing at her.

"Wait here." So he—wasn't even going to ask her to come in now?! Oh, she was about ready to lay into him, but not yet. No. She'd wait until his jerk ass got back from being inside, long enough for her to mentally formulate her rant before she'd give him a piece of her mind. If Sakura had one thing, it was a volatile temper, and he'd just managed to evoke it exponentially. She waited and waited until she finally heard the car door open again, drawing in a deep breath and finally speaking.

"Listen here, Detective," she bit out tartly. "I am not—" Sakura's statement got cut short as he quickly shoved something under her nose. A familiar smell. Cinnamon and raisin, to be exact, with the scent of warm butter along with it, and... was that the scent of peppermint tea, too?

"Here." He was holding it aloft to her, like a silent apology; there was a hint of guilt in his expression, though it was clear he wasn't going to say it verbally. Even just offering the silent apology seemed to cause him discomfort. Slowly she took the bagel, her expression softening slowly.

"...Thanks," she said, unwrapping it to take a small bite.

"Yeah," he responded curtly as he shifted the vehicle back into gear. Okay, so... maybe Sakura had misjudged him a little. Okay, a lot. Perhaps he was just socially awkward with new people. So socially awkward that it made him come off as abrasive. That was a possibility. Certainly not out of the ordinary.

Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. It seemed she could at least count on him to look out for her. If they were going to be following leads, she was going to need that.

"So," she began as she nibbled on her bagel. "I heard you used to be in the military." Oh, great subject to start on, Haruno, she internally sassed herself. "Bet that, uh, led to a pretty good skill set for solving crimes, huh?"

"Yeah." Simple answers only, as expected...

"So... what division? Anything special?"

"...sniper." Was his vocabulary stunted or something?

"Oh. So you're a pretty good shot, then."

"Sure." He seemed to smirk a little like it was a stroke to his ego (which it was).

"Marksman first class?" Now she was intrigued. The man appeared to have a bit of an ego, though he didn't seem to flaunt it.

"Yeah. We're here." She hadn't even noticed he'd parked. She followed him out, glad to have finally eaten something. Oh, she certainly wasn't herself when she was hungry. Looking back on it, she'd perhaps been a bit too grumpy toward him, but his attitude hadn't helped, either. Maybe she should apologize for it? That would be best, right?

"Hey," she started, picking up her pace to match his. "I'm sorry if I was cranky and kind of a jerk. It's my first day, and you came in and rushed me before I had a moment to settle in, and I hadn't eaten anything, so I was unfair to you." Hopefully, that was genuine enough.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." He'd pulled out his phone, absently checking it. "They're a few minutes out with the remains. I'm going to follow up on some leads while you handle that. Here." He handed her a business card. "Call me or text me if you find anything useful."

She took the card and pocketed it with a nod. "Sure. I'll see what I can find." With a wave, she bid him farewell, making her way down to the autopsy area and swiping her access card to enter. She had a few minutes to settle, so she made her way to her office, pulling out her phone and keying in the number on his business card. At least the card had his full name—Detective Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke, huh... a fitting name for a guy like him.

What came up on her phone was what shattered the remnants of her dignity. As she keyed in the number, it appeared to be tied to a conversation already.

Oh...

Oh, no.

She checked. Double checked. Triple checked. QUADRUPLE checked. But what stared her in the face couldn't be ignored. So much for her dignity. Her reputation. Her sanity.

His number: 642-555-0187.

The very same number she had accidentally sent a risqué photo to the night before.