~Bulletproof~ SasuSaku Mafia Story

Chapter 30 ~Mastermind

Tsunade Senju closed the door behind her. The entire police department was gathered in the conference room.

"Thanks everyone for coming to our monthly group meeting." Tsunade sat down in her designated chair. Her heart was heavy.

"I will cut the bullshit. We're all like a family here. Things have not been going great for us. I know it, you all know it, the media knows it, and the public is starting to know it, too. I will try to keep this meeting brief.

As you all have realized, the mob activity in Konoha has increased recently, accelerating from mob-related ambushes to civilian deaths. I am referring to Neji Hyuuga, of course, who still lies dead in our morgue. Several bombings have taken place in the Sand village, Hidden Mist, and even Konoha.

While we were never quite successful at catching these mobsters, we used to at least come close, or find their safehouses nearly in time. Nowadays, their patterns are completely unpredictable.

We have hired several other KIT interns to try to continue the project our own Sakura Haruno started months ago. However, their programs have been very unhelpful in terms of narrowing down future hideouts of the Uchiha.

After consulting with our chief strategists, we came to the unfortunate realization that such patterns on their end are so statistically improbable that we have to address their unusual nature. As of today, we believe their operation locations are not picked randomly, but rather by some other algorithm. That means, from now on, we have to assume that for whatever reason, Sakura Haruno is working with the Uchiha mob."

Tsunade raised her voice to speak over the intense mumbles and chatter that erupted.

"Now, we do not know why she is doing this. Keep in mind that this is Sakura we're talking about here. She could be blackmailed, forced, pressured, or manipulated."

"Oh yeah? Then why is she going clubbing with these men?!" Some random officer shouted from the group.

"Once again, we do not know enough." Tsunade rubbed her temples.

"Bullshit! She is one of them now! They got her." Another voice yelled out.

"Yeah! And where is our main detective during these times?"

"Not another word!" Tsunade snarled. "We are all working hard here! Detective Uzumaki is at home caring for his distraught wife, so show some respect. Now, remember, our priorities are the Hyuuga case, followed by the robbery chains, followed by Sakura's kidnapping. These are our main open cases, so please, remain diligent."

The room fell silent. Tsunade stood up and left the room. Shikamaru followed behind.

"It went... better than it could have, Inspector."

"It's hard to keep their spirits up when we are in a rut. We need Naruto back, and we need him soon." Tsunade unlocked the door to her office. Shikamaru closed it behind them.

"I heard Hinata is doing a bit better, hopefully he'll be on the job next week."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. He had not told anyone about his conversation with Hinata. He did not know how to bring it up without proof, so he kept it to himself. However, she was keeping Naruto at home with her under false preteses, and it was creating issues. He strongly considered talking to Naruto and telling him the truth.

Izuna and Suigetsu sat across from Shisui at the Black Dog. Izuna had to take a break from work to be there, but it was important. Shisui's face showed a lot of fury, and he kept chugging glasses of whatever the waiter brought him.

"What are you looking at, man?" He barked at Suigetsu, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't get all tough on me now, Shisui. I'm merely a local fish boy."