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Another day...another shift.
For both of them.
As per usual, Sasuke wakes first. Old habits die hard, and he’s been one to rise with the sun for quite some time now. He lets Hinata doze as he dresses, shaking her shoulder before heading from the room to start breakfast. “Hey...you’re gonna sleep the morning away.”
One pearly eye opens to look to him sleepily. “I’ve got plenty of time…”
There’s a hint of a humored scoff before leaving her to handle her morning routine. By now, Sasuke’s well-versed in preparing breakfast on his own...even if he still insists Hinata’s cooking is better than his will ever be. Starting with some rice porridge, he fetches some tsukemono to garnish it, heating a pan to cook some simple fish and a pot to warm some miso.
And, of course, a kettle for tea.
It’s all coming together nicely, the kitchen full to the ceiling with delectable smells, when Hinata shuffles in. Fully dressed and...not quite bright-eyed yet, she begins with a hug to her husband’s back, humming sleepily as he smiles at his work.
“Ohayooo,” she greets before taking the kettle and making their tea.
“And here I thought it was nearly afternoon,” he can’t help but tease, earning a very mature poke of her tongue.
“I was up late working on something…”
“And yet you knew we had a shift at the station today...tsk tsk.”
“Fine...I guess you won’t get to see it, then,” Hinata sniffs, helping to move the dishes to the table.
That...gets him to perk up a bit. “Oh?”
“Mm.” She pointedly ignores his inquiry, sitting and giving a soft clap of her hands. “Itadakimasu.”
Sasuke just snorts, following suit and digging into the meal. Thankfully both are quick, quiet eaters, and Hinata is soon working on packing up their lunches.
“So...what sort of cases are currently on the roster?” she asks, back turned.
“There’s still that murder case open - the one that took place in the north residential district. We might have to call in Kiba and some ninken to try and get a lead there. The string of robberies along the main thoroughfare was just cracked yesterday. We should have enough evidence to get him convicted. Pretty open and shut case, really.”
“Oh, good! I know Ino was worried since her family’s flower shop is on that road,” Hinata muses, putting lids on their bento.
“Yeah, he made off with some good money. We haven’t found the stash yet, but there’s enough evidence otherwise we can get this wrapped up. We’re hoping a small plea deal might get him to just hand it over.”
“That would be nice...I’m sure everyone is eager to at least get some of their money back.”
Finishing up his last few bites, Sasuke brings the plates to the sinks. “I think someone also just started a case last night that looked like it might be pretty serious…”
“Oh…? Regarding what?”
“Cadaver smuggling.”
That gets Hinata to blanch. “W-what?!”
A nod. “Seems someone’s been wriggling their way into the black market. The hospital said they started noticing organs going missing from the morgue about two weeks ago...but last night an entire body was supposedly taken.”
Horror taints his wife’s face. “...oh, that’s awful…!”
“Sakura was all in a rage - our sister-in-law, too.”
“Is there...security camera footage…?”
“Sadly no. There’s some in a hallway adjacent, but none actually in or in front of the morgue itself. No one really thought it necessary, apparently...but I’m sure Tsunade’s going to have that changed first chance she gets.”
“...gods...that’s the worst case you’ve brought up yet…”
“I take it you’d rather not work on it?”
“I...I don’t know. I’m not squeamish about the dead, but…” She glances aside. “...the Hyūga are very particular about our dead, for...o-obvious reasons. I guess it just seems so unnerving to hear someone is taking body parts like that...the dead should be respected, not...not profited from!”
Sasuke can’t help but find himself glad she knows little of what he saw Orochimaru do to the occasional corpse while under the snake sannin’s training…he’s all too aware of what can happen to a body someone might find useful. “Well, hopefully we’ll catch the one responsible soon and put an end to it. Ninken were going to be brought in, but...well, a morgue has a lot of questionable smells. And quite a few medics go in and out every day.”
“...no one saw an entire body being moved…?”
“The assumption is they’ve been using sealing scrolls to move the stolen organs. It wouldn’t be too far a jump to say they did the same with a body. The organs may have just been a test before the bigger object to seal.”
After a pause, Hinata shakes her head. “...I think...m-maybe I will take a pass on that case. It’s just…”
“That’s fine. There will be plenty more where that came from we can get to work on. I’m sure our case file stacks will be a foot high by the time we make it in.”
The pair then finish up pre-work preparations before heading out of the house, leaving the Uchiha compound behind and instead making their way to the police station. And as promised, it’s already busy by the time they arrive. Hyūga bustle about all over the place, talking over cases and speaking to witnesses.
“Ah, Uchiha-san - your brother was in earlier,” one announces upon their arrival.
Sasuke blinks. “...did he say what he wanted?”
“It would seem the ANBU branch is taking over the hospital morgue case. Apparently the body stolen was one bearing a kekkei genkai, and the clan wants the ANBU officers to handle it.”
He mulls that over for a moment. In truth he hardly minds when cases get moved to ANBU - it means one less thing for his already-busy department to handle. And yet...he can’t help some curiosity about the details. “Do we know who the victim was?”
“Yes sir - a small clan of jiton users from another Hi no Kuni village. The body was brought here to be investigated after his mission failed, and the clan is...well, understandably upset at the loss. They believe the death, too, may have been staged in order to get hands on their bloodline.”
So, a user of magnet release...interesting. Not one Sasuke is familiar with. “Well...I can see why they’d prefer ANBU to handle it. Did Itachi had anything else to add?”
“Just a request for a transfer of all the case data, Uchiha-san. I prepared and delivered the files myself.”
“Thank you.’
With that, Hinata and Sasuke cut through to their dual office. As he predicted, sizeable stacks of new files already grace their desks.
“Seems you won’t have to worry over that case either way, now,” Sasuke offers, opening a folder and flickering eyes over the information within.
“Yes...I hope Itachi is able to find the body before it’s t-too late…”
“If I remember right, he has agents that act as buyers in the underground that keep tabs on what goes in and out. Hopefully one of them has a lead. But for now…” He holds up a file. “How about we change the subject for a while?”
“Sure - what is it?”
“Seems we’ve got some vandalism taking place in the eastern district. Someone’s house was painted over with, uh…” A pause, reading the summary again. “...‘crude imagery.”
Hinata blinks...and then snorts. “Well...we can’t have that, now can we?”
“Certainly not.” Maybe not quite as exciting a case as the cadaver, but...every crime needs justice brought to it. And they’ll have plenty more where that came from later.