The Case-Book of Kakashi Hatake

The Hound of the Uchiha {Part 7}

I was preparing to head out onto the moor to meet with Hatake, having spent the morning going over the case in my mind in preparation, when I remembered that Mrs. Berk had invited me to tea.

Hatake would have to wait.

When I arrived, the table in her garden was set with a lovely display of biscuits, sandwiches, and even small pastries. I felt my mouth water at the sight of them.

Mrs. Berk was sitting there waiting for me, a smile on her elderly face, and I waved eagerly. But as I made my way towards the table, I scanned the area, seeing that the two male members of the Berk family were nowhere to be seen.

Noticing my look, she sighed. "It's just me today, I am afraid. Mr. Berk took the cart to get a new variety of tomato plant from the nearest town, and Kunio is off on business."

I smiled politely. "Not a worry, I am sure that we shall have plenty to talk of on our own." She nodded. "But if I may inquire, what is Kunio's trade?"

Mrs. Berk sighed, "I am not entirely sure, to be honest my dear. He does not talk about it much, which I keep telling him is silly. Who does he think we are going to be able to spill company secrets to all the way out here?" She laughed, waving a hand dismissively in front of her face, but I could see that it was a motion intended to deflect pain. Being shut out of such an important part of her son's life was hurting her.

"Well, it must be very important work if he is required to keep such secrecy." I reassured the old woman, even if I did not believe the words myself. "What was his job before that? Perhaps you can puzzle out his current employment somewhat based on it."

Mrs. Berk's posture suddenly became a bit more stiff and uncomfortable as she took a sip of tea. "Kunio had not been working for several years, actually. His right leg was injured while... tending to a piece of machinery, which caused him to take several years to recuperate."

Ah, so he had been a factory worker in Konoha. Injuries were not uncommon in such conditions, and Mrs. Berk's reticence at discussing her son's previous employment was made clear.

This did pose new questions, however, as I had never heard of a man going from a factory grunt laborer to a well-paid business man with no other steps between. Maybe he made influential friends who were able to help him?

Not wanting to appear too prying or make Mrs. Berk come to dislike me, I decided to change the topic to safer waters and immediately brought up Itachi.

She took to the subject with as much enthusiasm as I had expected, and I let her talk uninterrupted for several minutes. Best to give her plenty of time to control the conversation before I started asking questions again; I did not want this to feel an interrogation. 

When she reached a lull, I said, "He really was such an incredible man. I do not know anyone who he could not make friends with. Indeed, Leona Okabe called on me yesterday and we had such a wonderful conversation on the topic." I winced internally at how not subtle that ended up being, but my companion did not seem to notice.

"Why yes, the girl always held him in such high admiration."

I raised an eyebrow slightly suggestively over the rim of my tea cup as I took a sip, but Mrs. Berk shook her head.

"Oh no, not like that. Not that I would blame her, however, as Itachi grew to be such a handsome young man. Any woman could have easily fallen in love with him." She winked at me when she said this, which made me almost spit out my tea. Had my questions and seeming desire to talk about nothing but things related to Itachi given her the wrong idea? I had never even met the men, for heaven's sake!