{Unchained} - SasuSaku Asylum Story

{Clarity's in Death}

Attorney Marcus Mitarashi sat at his corner suite desk, fidgeting with his custom-made pen. He had worked for the Uchihas since his law school days. It was a high risk, high reward job full of adrenaline, constant pushback, ethical gray areas, complex problem-solving, and seemingly impossible assignments. That being said, the pay was ridiculously good.

His long history dealing with the Uchiha contributed a lot to his controlled response to Izuna's phone call.

"Slow down, Izuna. What did you say? Mhm... Mhm... Oh. Boss said that?.... Interesting. How adamant is he? I see. Did you try... I see. So, he wants to ambush this doctor? Slow down, slow down."

Izuna, understandably, sounded freaked out. As the eldest remaining Uchiha, he put a lot of pressure on himself to keep things running smoothly. Therefore, every one of Sasuke's chaotic outbursts fell back on him.

"Listen here, Izuna. It seems like boss has made up his mind. We have to find the path of least resistance. Let me think for a second." Marcus spun around in his chair with his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Okay, so he wants you to check on Dr. Haruno to make sure she's alone? I see. And you're sure the hallway has no guards at 7 pm? Shift change? I see. Here's what you need to do. Make sure he is handcuffed. Listen to me!" Marcus rolled his eyes. Izuna could lose his cool a bit too easily. "If you remove his handcuffs, they'll know a guard was involved. We have to make sure I can introduce reasonable doubt that he simply escaped his cell on his own. We can not blow his cover. Do you follow?"

Marcus started typing the notes from this phone call. He could tell right away that this would turn into a court case.

"Next, and this is important: tell Sasuke to discuss sensitive information at least at some point during his little meeting. Why? Well, I'm assuming there are cameras in common areas. I can not have our team disable the cameras without leaving a trace, so I have to make sure the camera footage is inadmissible in court. If Sasuke discusses sensitive information with his doctor, I can argue that the footage is confidential under the doctor-patient regulations."

The Konoha skyline looked beautiful on this Friday evening, and Marcus had long learned how to enjoy such beauties of life even when under massive stress.

"As for you: when you go in to check if she's alone, don't be a creep about it. Act like you belong. Go in, make yourself tea, or pretend to be on the phone. I don't care, just don't make it obvious that you're up to no good. Even better, maybe get a fellow guard to go with you so you're less suspicious. Remember, there are cameras there. Izuna, are you getting all this?"

This was stressful, but quite intellectually stimulating. It made Marcus feel good about his job. No, he could never be some bitch lawyer at a dull firm. He needed this.

"Finally, um, ask him politely not to kill her. I know, Izuna, I know. Just... Use your best judgement. I'll talk to Shisui about breaking him out soon. I don't know what's going on with him or why this doctor is making him this unstable, but I think getting him out ASAP should be a priority. Okay. Okay. Be in touch."

Being on call all day every day, Marcus never had false hope of enjoying a peaceful weekend. He stretched before pulling up detailed rules and regulations about doctor-patient confidentiality to get a head start on his defense case. It was going to be a long Friday night.

Several hours in, Sakura remembered why she'd been putting off these tasks for weeks. The work was tedious and never-ending. The coffee was doing a lot of heavy lifting in terms of keeping her from passing out on the desk, but at least she had spent the past three hours not thinking about the elephant in the room.