Day 7
It was a busy thursday morning for Fugaku, but then again every day was like rush hour for the detective
Most cases were just petty crime like a pack of cigarettes stolen from a shop or teenagers breakin curfue and staying out past 10pm, but still, work was work.
It was a bit past 9am when his assistant knocked on his office door
"Not now, Sara, im busy."
"Uh, sir, there's someone here who wants to see you."
He raised his eyes from the documents he was holding and looked at his assitant, the worried look on her face made him frown
Before he could say anything his door was fully swung open and 2 men stepped in
His assitant quickly apologised and left the office, closing the door behind her
"What is the meaning of this, Jenkins." He frowned at the man as he put his documents down
The other detective took his time before answering, as he looked around the office like he owned it
"Im working right now, so if you wouldn't mind." He stood up motioning to the door
"So am i Fugaku.. I have a case." He spoke in the same unninterested voice,still not looking at the other man
It irritated Fugku how always relaxed and unbothered he looked, yet he was one of the best, they were on different jurisdictions, so the other had no business being here
"Well, then congradulations, so why don't you go and get back to work."
"I am working."
He finally took his gaze off of the cupboard and looked at Fugaku, his eyes serious. Fugaku could've sworn it was the first time he saw him like that. It was almost menacing
"So tell me, Fugaku," He sat down at the armchair that was in front of his desk, while his assistant still stood there patiently "Where is your son?"
Fugaku looked at the man and slowly sat down realising that he wasn't going to leave
"At school."
Jenkins chuckled
"That's not what we were told. See, apparently Your boy hasn't been to school for a week now."
Fugaku stared at him in silence, proccessing the information
"He should be at school."
"He should." The other nodded "Do you not know where your son is?" He looked at Fugaku with challanging eyes
"Well-"
"The school administration tried to contact you multiple times. They were unsuccessful. 7 consecutive unexcused absences.. and the police had to get involved. So, tell me Fugaku, where is your son?"
"Maybe he got sick."
"Maybe? When was the last time you saw your son?"
When a couple seconds of silence went by as Fugaku tried to remember Jenkins opened his mouth to say something but this time it was Fugaku who cut him off
"Im sure this is some missunderstanding. Some sort of error.. Let me call him."
When Jenkins didn't say anything Fugaku took out his phone and found Ssukes number
It didn't even ring 2 times when Fugaku was immedietly sent to voicemail.
The man tried it a few more times and the result was the same
Jenkins was starting to look more and more annoyed by every passing second
"I could- We could go to my house and check on him."
The frowning expression on the other detectives face changed to a more pleased one
"Good idea."
_____________
Naruto sighed and looked in front of him, trying to ignore the two girls that were walking beside them
"Why are you guys even going with us?" He asked, frowining as he looked at his friends
Kiba seemed to completely not care about their existance as he played some game on his phone
"We want to check up on Sasuke."
Naruto groaned and looked back ahead of them the teacher had once again asked him to check on Sasuke and he finally decided to go over to his house, somehow the two girls over heard that and decided to tag along
"You sure you wanna do that?" Naruto murmured to Shikamaru when he took out a cigarette
"You won't rat me out right?"
"Only if you give me one."
Shikamaru groaned at Sakuras responce but handed her one too
Most of the walk was spent in silence as Naruto didn't really feel comfortable talking to his friends with the girls right next to them while they really seemed not to mind as they chatted about something Naruto wasn't paying attention to
"Oh Shit cops!" Naruto whisper yelled to Shikamaru who almost chocked when he inhaled. He cursed silently and quickly threw out what was left of the cigarette, Sakura followed his lead
They all looked up, slowing down their pace, a police car stood in front of the Uchiha house they all shared worried looks and quickly made their way closer to the scene
Naruto and the girls were the quickest to get there while Shikamaru made sure to stay more at the back of the group. They stayed a good distance away, but were close enough to hear what was happening in the front yard
Two men excited the house, Naruto recognised one as Sasuke's father
"Well," The other spoke after taking a drag from his cigarette "The room looks like no one has lived there for at least a few days"
another man who just came out of the house started writing it down in a small notebook
"most essentials such as phone, wallet, backpack, some clothes are gone.. Remind me, when was the last time you saw him?" He turned to Fugaku, a teasing tone in his voice"Classic case of run away.."
He muttered while looking around
run away?.. Naruto could barely believe what he was hearing
Is this some kind of joke
Just as he was finishing up his cigarette the other mans eyes landed on the group of teens and a grin plastered his face as he took a couple steps towards them
"Hey there" He said, smiling "Are you guys from around here?"
"Uh.. yeah." Naruto said after a moment of hesitance
"Detective Jenkins." He gave them his hand to shake
"Do you happen to know the boy who lives here?" He motioned to the house behind him. The other man came up behind him, still writing something in the notebook
"Yeah, he's our classmate"
"Can i ask you some questions?"
"Uhh.." Naruto looked back at his friends who looked as tense as he was "Sure."
"Wonderful. When was the last time you saw him?"
"Like a week ago"
"A few days ago" A few answers came
"So which is it? A week, a few days? How many days? Let's be specific."
"We last saw him last tuesday." Sakura said and the detective waited a moment as everyone agreed with her
"Uhuh.." He said as the other man wrote something down again "Where was it? School?"
The girls nodded while Naruto said
"We walked home together."
"Do you often walk home together?"
"We weren't really together - together, more like we were walking and he was walking behind us." Kiba stated "And no.. that was the first time we went home at the same time"
"How so?"
"After school Sasuke always goes to the school library, where i volunteer." Ino answered
"What's up with all these questions. Whats going on." Shikamaru spoke up after not saying anything for the entire time
"We have reason to believe your friend ran away, so this can turn from a tardy student case to missing kid, we're just confirming a few things right now." He answered quickly as if annoyed by the questions
"Now, where were we, So you don't go home together regulary, last tuesday was the first time?"
"Yes that's what he said." Shikamaru growled out
"Ok, just making sure.. and when you went home, you also saw him go home too?"
Naruto took a second, proccessing what the man just said
"Uhh, yeah. He ran past us home."
"So did he walk behind you or did he run past you?" The detective rose an eyebrow
"Both. He was behind us then passed us." Shikamaru said trough clenched teeth
Damn he looks real unhappy talking with this guy
"Uhuh.. and what would you call your relationship with him"
"Hes our classmate."
"Do you talk to him often? Would you say that he seemed off the last time you saw him?"
"He acted like he usually does and no.. He usually keeps to himself at school and doesn't talk to anybody."
"Did he ever mention to you that he wasn't feeling safe at home? Or that he wanted to leave? What about if he were to leave anywhere, where would he go?
"I just said that he doesn't talk to anyone at school."
"It was all pretty sudden, he was acting like he always does one day and then just disappears the other."
"Uhuh.. and is there anything you would like to tell me?"
A few moments went by in silence as the teenagers looked at eachother, the detective was about to say something when suddenly Shikamaru spoke up
"He did mention something about beatings and food deprivation."
The detectived eyes widened just a bit and a satisfiet glint shown in them
"But you should ask our teacher about it."
"Of course. If you need anything or remember anything else feel free to contact me."
He motioned to the man behind him and he gave them all the detectives business card
"Thank you for your time."
He murmered, with a grin on his face, as he looked back at Sasukes frowning father