First Day

Doing her best to forget the embarrassing incident from the day before, Sakura got herself up and ready for work that morning, energetically prepared to tackle the day. She was sure nothing entirely insane was going to happen on the first day; after all, most of it would just be brushing up on policies and procedures and getting herself settled. Sakura made her way to the autopsy area to settle into the mostly empty office, juggling her bag over her shoulder, tea in one hand and a bagel in the other. Setting the drink and food down on the desk, the doctor turned to get herself settled... except someone was standing there.

Tall and handsome would be putting it mildly. The detective stood at least five-foot-ten, perhaps pushing six feet, with dark hair framing his face on either side, tousled in the back and on the top. He wore it a bit long, but the length looked good on him; it gave him a rugged and very masculine look. He was clean-shaven, with eyes dark like shimmering onyx and eyelashes that could make any girl jealous. Though his expression appeared neutral, there was a hint of mystery in his eyes; almost a bit of sadness, if Sakura were to describe it emotionally. Just the faintest air of quiet melancholy surrounding him despite his brusque appearance.

"So you're the new coroner." It wasn't a question but a direct statement; his voice almost gave Sakura chills. Was this the new guy Ino had been talking about? Tall, dark, and handsome... oh, her friend's description hadn't done it justice, if that were the case.

"Ah! Yes, that's me," she said, metaphorically picking her jaw up off the floor. If he'd noticed her staring, he hadn't said anything; something told Sakura that he was probably used to it if he'd looked like that all his life. She reached out a hand to shake, and he hesitantly took it, his larger, leather-clad hand almost engulfing her smaller delicate one. Something told her he wasn't one for physical contact, even hand-shakes.

"Dr. Sakura Haruno," she introduced.

"...Detective Uchiha," he replied with that same hesitation. He wouldn't even give his first name; it seemed like he was inclined to keep things from getting too personal.

"I was told I'd be working with someone in the field as well since I'll be serving as the local pathologist and anthropologist. I also have a degree in criminal psychology--"

"Yeah. Me." He cut her off before even letting her speak. He was... rude if she was honest. That, or he didn't care about her credentials in the slightest. "We'll be working on major crimes. And we have a case already."

"Wait--already?" She asked, looking a bit overwhelmed.

His expression turned flat, almost annoyed. "Yeah." A curt reply was all she got before he seemed to scoff under his breath. "Hn... annoying," he muttered.

Did--he call her... annoying? What a jerk! What a pompous, self-serving, uptight, self-righteous assho--

"Are you coming, or are you going to stand there and look stupid?" He asked, giving her a look... as if he thought she was stupid or something. "Let's. Go."

"Okay, okay, sheesh, I'm coming," she replied, grabbing her jacket as she heard him sweep out of the room, his long coat swaying behind him. He was making his way up the stairs as she scrambled to put on her jacket, running behind him and haphazardly carrying her bag and coffee--and even forgetting her bagel. She followed him up the stairs, scrambling to catch up. He certainly wasn't going to wait for her. Ino had talked about his looks, but clearly, she'd missed the part where he was a total jerk in her 'researching'!

"Will you slow down?!" She demanded, her shorter legs struggling to keep up. "You've got at least a foot of height on me, so my legs are not as long as yours, you know!" He seemed to pause for a minute, glancing at her before adjusting his pace wordlessly, though he looked annoyed at having to do so. Huffing as she shrugged her jacket on, she reached for her car keys before he cleared his throat.

"Don't worry about it. We'll take mine." It seemed to be less of a request and more of a statement, but she wasn't going to complain. While she wouldn't consider herself a bad driver, he was undoubtedly the better one; his police training alone would allow that. Shrugging and moving her keys from her pocket to her bag, she zipped it up and followed, moving to the passenger side while he got in the driver's side.

"So, what do we know so far? They briefed you, but I wasn't briefed at all." Her question was met with silence... until he reached into the back seat, pulling forward a file and handing it to her wordlessly. Gee, talk about a social butterfly, Sakura thought to herself sarcastically, rolling her eyes and opening the file. It wasn't much, but it was a start; the most they knew was that they had a female found in the river, unidentified, and her initial appearance had no matches to any missing persons reports. That was, of course, without the report of a pathologist; once Sakura could determine that information, things would change drastically.

Pretending to read the file, Sakura made small glances at the detective out of the corner of her eye, wondering what else she could pick up. In the smaller space, she could smell whatever cologne he was wearing; it was light but faintly masculine, with hints of... sage and cedarwood, from what she could tell. Wait... no, it wasn't quite cologne; the smell was too light, so it had to be aftershave. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant smell, with an oddly calming effect to it.

"Do you need something?" He asked bluntly, having glanced at her out of the corner of his gaze, clearly noticing her stare. Tearing her gaze away, she returned to the file and faked a confused expression, like she didn't know what he was talking about. She heard the slightest sigh come from him, followed by a quiet, "stop staring," under his breath, and... did he roll his eyes at her, too?

Oh, you can let Ino have this one, Sakura. Good-looking or not, he's a jerk. So far, he'd managed to ruin her morning, force her to skip breakfast, make her look like a fool, and treat her like a lump of stupid. Unbelievable! And this was supposed to be the new guy in the Major Crimes department? This was the guy that she was going to be working with? This jerk was going to be helping her talk to families, solve crimes, and arrest suspects? Unbelievable. The only place she could see his jerk-ass demeanour being helpful was an interrogation room!

Flipping closed the document, she pulled out her phone and fired a text to her best friend, hoping he wouldn't suddenly decide that she was wasting time texting in the vehicle. It wasn't like he was much of a conversationalist, anyway.

SAKURA: You missed something when you did your digging on the new hottie yesterday.

INO: Missed? Oh, tell me, forehead!

SAKURA: Yeah. You missed the fact that he's a total jerk.

INO: Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. What did he say?

SAKURA: He's just... god, I don't even know how to describe it! He's rude, he's cold, he doesn't seem to listen or care what I have to say, all kinds of things!

Well, that felt good to get off her chest. She could see that he was glancing in her direction, and she did her best to mask her expression, keeping it neutral. He seemed to keep glancing in her direction, though she couldn't read the expression on his face on account of staring at her phone.

INO: Maybe he just doesn't trust people. He's a cop after all, and you're a new partner for him. Maybe he just hasn't warmed up to you yet?

SAKURA: I doubt it. He's acting like I'm holding him back or something. Or like me being around annoys him or makes him uncomfortable. He's rude and impatient, too!

INO: Calm down, Sakura. It'll be fine! Give him more than an hour to warm up to you. Cops are hit and miss, you know that.

SAKURA: I know. I'm just angry. He made me forget my bagel.

INO: So what you're saying is that you're angry, because you haven't had breakfast.

SAKURA: Yes, very much so.

Sakura let out a small laugh under her breath, shaking her head as she responded with clear disdain to Ino's message. It was then that the detective finally spoke up.

"Something wrong?" He asked curiously. Not expecting the question, Sakura floundered for a moment before coming up with an answer.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just my, um... Boyfriend. Um. Probably soon to be... Ex-boyfriend. Being, um, his usual self, which is a jerk." Boyfriend, really? That's your excuse, Sakura? Curse her for having to come up with something at the last minute. And talk about diminishing her chances at getting anywhere with the jerk she was now paired with--

"Hn. If he causes you any grief, let me know." Wait, was he... being nice, now? It sounded like he almost cared. That was odd, given he'd been a jerk up until now. Granted as a cop, he probably had respect for women that other men didn't. Such as her... fake ex-boyfriend.

She turned back to her phone, trying to put that thought out of her mind.

INO: Okay. Definite jerk vibes. Don't worry, sweetie. I can always give him a little bit of a hard time when he comes to beg me for a warrant or two.

SAKURA: As long as it doesn't impede investigations... but he probably deserves it.

INO: Oh, sweetie, don't you worry. I'll set that man straight, just for you. And hey, our bet's still on. He's your new partner, so I'm leaving him to you.

SAKURA: Yeah, yeah. I'm not so confident it'll work out anyway if he's like this. Oh-gotta go. Call me tonight?

INO: You bet, sweetie. Go kick ass!

"We're here." His voice pulled her away from the conversation, shoving the phone back into her bag and exiting as he'd finished parking the car. She grabbed the file, closing the door behind her and making sure she had everything.

Well, here went nothing: her first investigation alongside the new detective.