Kaidi gulped, shifting uncomfortably in her slippery yellow dress. In one hand, she clutched a small vile filled with Sasuke's blood.

The trio was positioned a few blocks away from the police building, crouched on a rooftop. Sasuke and Kei had accompanied her to the police department, and were now waiting for Orochimaru to make his appearance. It was early morning, around 6:00.

Kaidi had been sitting on her heels for the past hour. So far, there had been no sign of the pasty faced man. "Are you sure about this?" She hissed to her companions. "My feet are completely numb!"

"So are mine, but you don't see me complaining!" Kei answered cheekily. Kaidi grabbed his hair and pulled hard, causing the boy to shriek in a rather girly way.

"Be quiet!" She whispered harshly.

"But you're the one who pulled my hair," Kei whimpered, clutching his head. "You're so mean, Kaidi. I take back what I said about you being cute!"

Kaidi ignored him, turning back to the police building. "Seriously Sasuke, if this guy doesn't show up soon, I'm bailing out. I'm freezing in this dress. You guys are lucky, getting to wear long sleeves."

"He'll be here," Sasuke answered, his eyes still zeroed in on their target. "Be patient."

Kaidi sighed and changed positions, stretching her legs out in front of her. Sasuke seemed extremely serious, more focused than she'd seen him in days. It almost scared her a little. His devotion could turn into recklessness, which could result in one of them being killed.

Suddenly, Kei perked up. "There he is! I see 'im!"

Kaidi whipped her head around, following Kei's line of vision. Sure enough, the snake-like man was walking casually into the department, a cup of coffee in one hand.

"Now's your moment, Kaidi," Sasuke breathed. "Get in there."

Kaidi nodded, and slid off the roof, clutching the glass vial to her chest. She landed stealthily on her feet, glancing around quickly to make sure she hadn't been seen. She walked briskly towards the police building, stopping a few houses down.

Kaidi took a deep breath, preparing herself. Then she took action. Putting on an air of urgency, she rushed through the glass doors, entering the main lobby. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" She cried, putting a hand to her heart.

Everyone in the main lobby turned to stare at her. A blond haired boy in a uniform caught her eye. "Can I help you, miss?"

Kaidi tried to hide her annoyance. She needed Orochimaru, not this blond brat! The snake man was still in the lobby, but he didn't seem very interested in her dilemma.

There was nothing Kaidi could do but continue as planned. "I-I've been attacked! Robbed! I managed to get away after injuring my attacker, but he's still on the loose!"

"Calm yourself, ma'am!" The blond haired kid admonished her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Come with me upstairs."

Kaidi shook her head desperately. "No, you need to hear about this now! The one who attacked me was that wanted fugitive, Uchiha something!"

That got Orochimaru's attention. He immediately looked in her direction and headed her way. Kaidi hid her triumphant grin.

The pale-faced man appeared by her side, extending his hand. "Perhaps you should come with me, ma'am. I am detective Orochimaru, and the Uchiha is my target. Any information you have on him would be useful."

"A-ah, okay," Kaidi replied, relieved. But the blond kid frowned disapprovingly. "Hold on, Orochimaru. I've got every right to hear what she has to say as you do."

Orochimaru glared. "I am your superior officer, Uzumaki, in case you've forgotten. Leave the young lady and the Uchiha to me." Placing his hand on her shoulder, he led Kaidi upstairs, away from the scowling blond.

Orochimaru turned to her as they walked quickly to one of the rooms. "May I ask what it is you're holding?"

Kaidi glanced down at the vial in her hands. "Oh yes! This is some of his blood."

The latter's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "His blood? How on earth did you manage to obtain that?" They had reached the room, and both sat down on two chairs opposite to each other.

"I slashed him with a knife, sir!" She told him unwaveringly. "I always keep one on me, since the part of town I live in is rather close to the Underground entrance. There are often thugs that wander around the area."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "From what I've seen, the Uchiha is extremely talented. I find it hard to believe that you managed to land a blow to him."

"R-really?" Kaidi squeaked, her throat a bit dry. This was harder than she'd expected. As obsessed as Orochimaru was with Sasuke, he was still an expert detective. "Well, sir, when he came after me, he seemed very desperate, I'm not quite sure why. H-he seemed to be in pain, clutching his eyes for the most part."

Orochimaru's yellow eyes lit up at that. "He was? Go on, excuse me for interrupting."

Kaidi let out an inaudible sigh of relief. That piece of information had seemed to do the trick. "I'm also stronger than I look, sir! It was difficult, but when I cut him, he ran away with his partner, a brown haired kid. He still got my wallet though." She hung her head, feigning dejection.

Orochimaru's eyes were alight. "May I?" He extended his hand towards the vial.

"Of course!" Kaidi exclaimed, immediately handing it over. "I made sure to collect some of his blood after I found out what a dangerous criminal he is! I wanted to give the police as much evidence as possible!"

"Ah," Orochimaru nodded. "But you also tampered with the crime scene. It's preferred that it be left untouched to provide the best evidence for the police as possible."

But Kaidi could see the greed in his eyes as he cradled the vial of blood. She didn't need to read his thoughts to know that he was itching to get back to his lab and conduct a study.

"Of course, sir, I'll keep that in mind!" Kaidi said sweetly. "Anything else?"

"Yes, there are some questions regarding what happened," Orochimaru said hurriedly. She could see he was eager to get it over with. Well, all the better for her, Kei, and Sasuke. The sooner the questioning was finished, the sooner they could discover what he was hiding.

As Kaidi thought, Orochimaru sped through the questioning, doing a much sloppier and less proficient job than she knew he should. As soon as he finished, he was practically pushing her out the door. "Thank you very much for your time ma'am, I'll let you know if we can get your wallet back. You're free to go. And one more thing, keep all of this information confidential. No one needs to know about the blood sample, alright?"

Kaidi nodded, and walked as quickly as she could back towards the exit, doing a victory dance inside. Her mission had gone off without a hitch! It had almost been too easy!

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Kaidi's blood turned to ice as she reached for the door handle in the lobby. Slowly, she turned around, coming face to face with the blond policeman from before. This time, he was accompanied by a pink haired companion who scrutinized her with removed interest.

"Can I help you?" She asked, fighting to keep her voice natural.

But the blond kid just scowled, his eyebrows bunched up in the center. Kaidi shifted, a trickle of sweat running down her back.

Finally, he spoke. "He didn't bother you too much, did he?"

It took Kaidi a moment to realize who he was referring to. "Ah! You mean Orochimaru-sama? No, not at all! I mean, he was perfectly amicable!" She laughed weakly, relieved that she hadn't been caught.

"Good," the blond murmured. "He has a tendency to be a bit overbearing and pushy."

"No, not at all!" Kaidi chirped. "Well, I have to be on my way now! Thank you for everything!" She hurriedly pushed the door open and walked out, exhaling deeply.

Meanwhile, Sakura stared at the retreating woman's back. "Did she seem a bit...off to you, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "She did, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. She was probably nervous after talking to Orochimaru. He has a way of making people feel guilty, even if they've done nothing. That's why I'd hoped to talk to her myself."

Sakura looked thoughtful. "Yes, that's probably it. But if she ever comes back in, I want to interrogate her further."

***********************************

"Good job," Sasuke nodded approvingly when Kaidi met them back on the rooftop. "You got him, then?"

Kaidi grinned. "I nearly had a heart attack at one point, but yeah. He seemed to buy my story pretty easily. Of course, there were those two police at the very end that made me real nervous. One was a blond, and the other one was some weird shade of pink. It was like they were staring through me."

"Naruto and Sakura," Sasuke muttered. "Best to keep your distance from those two. They've got a real deep grudge against me."

Kaidi shrugged. "Whatever you say, boss."

"Hey guys, there he goes!" Kei said excitedly, pointing. The pair turned to stare at the police building.

Orochimaru was slipping surreptitiously out the doors, pocketing something small on the way. He glanced around, then briskly began walking away.

"I'll bet you he's got that vile!" Kaidi smirked. "Let's go follow him."

With Sasuke leading the way, they slowly leapt from rooftop to rooftop, trailing at least a block behind the pale man. It was close to 7:00 at this point, and a few people were already out and about. The three made it a point to stick to the shadows and run when they were sure the coast was clear.

Orochimaru constantly glanced around as he made his way through the streets. He obviously didn't want to be followed.

They finally reached a remote building that was tucked between crumbling abandoned structures. It was rather unassuming, plain and brown with cracked brick and heavy metal doors.

A perfect place for a hideout.

Sasuke, Kei, and Kaidi watched as Orochimaru carefully unlocked the padlock on the doors and pushed them open. He looked around one final time before quietly shutting them behind him. A second later, the lock clicked back into place.

"Come on," Sasuke whispered, leaping to the ground. Kei and Kaidi followed, and the three of them crept towards the building. Sasuke peered in through one of the dirty windows.

Orochimaru was gone. They all crowded against the window, squinting through the dust, but no one caught a glimpse of him.

"How'd he just disappear?" Kei whined. "We were right behind him!"

"There must be some sort of passageway in there," Sasuke decided. "Let's go back for now. We know where his hideout is. All we need to do is wait for the moment he leaves."

"Ok," Kaidi agreed. "We should get that opportunity pretty soon. He's got work in the police department, so he can't disappear for hours on end without anyone noticing. When he's at work, we'll be here."

Sasuke nodded, his face grim. He would enjoy his revenge.

I think the end of this story will be coming soon! It's going to take an unexpected turn, hehe;)