Work Text:
The guard standing in front of the metal gates separating the solitary confinement from the rest of the prison narrowed his eyes and stared Kakashi down suspiciously as the silver-haired man approached him.
Over the course of his career, Kakashi had visited the prison a few times already. He was used to the procedures and had the papers ready. But he’d never scheduled visitation with a prisoner kept in a solitary cell. This time, however, the investigation had led him to a man sentenced for crimes far worse than some petty theft or burglary.
Kakashi showed the guard permission from the Minister of Justice. The man scoffed as his eyes landed on the name written on the document.
“Obito Uchiha… You’re lucky we don’t let him out anywhere without handcuffs,” the guard said as he turned the key in the gate and opened it with a squeak. “The visitation room is to the right. We’ll bring him in after you get in.”
The silver-haired man folded the papers and hid them in the breast pocket of his jacket. He tried not to appear nervous - he’d been dealing with criminals his entire life. But he had never had the opportunity to talk to a serial killer.
Two more guards awaited Kakashi in the designated room. They stood on both sides of the door and regarded the detective with curt nods. The silver-haired man returned the brief greeting and took a seat by the wide table with two chairs on the opposite sides. Kakashi looked at the empty chair across the room and went through the things he wanted to talk about in his head again.
He’d been asked to investigate the disappearance of a girl named Rin Nohara. She hadn’t been seen for five years now and the police could hardly find any leads. The poor girl’s parents had begged Kakashi to look into the case, putting all of their life funds on the line. The detective had accepted the job, however, making no promises of ever finding Rin.
The investigation had eventually led him to the murderer who’d been given a death sentence. Obito Uchiha had murdered eight people before he’d been caught. But no one could disprove the theory that there might’ve been even more victims. The criminal wasn’t too keen on helping the investigation, either, simply toying with the policemen or refusing to answer questions.
The man was led into the interrogation room, just like Kakashi had been assured, with his arms cuffed. Three more guards entered the room, so now six pair of eyes were fixed on the prisoner. Obito didn’t seem to mind, taking the seat and slamming his hands on the table in a nonchalant manner.
“So what do you want from me?” He grinned at the detective. His dark eyes glinted with interest that made Kakashi uneasy. “Are you here for an interview? Or to ask me where the hell I’ve buried the bodies again?”
“We haven’t met yet. My name is Kakashi Hatake, I’m a private investigator.” Kakashi decided to keep up some kind of politeness. Murderer or not, he was a professional and he was going to show everyone the minimum of respect. “I’m here to ask you a couple of questions.”
“Everyone comes here to ask me questions. You aren’t special,” Obito laughed crudely. “But when I ask my own questions, no one answers.”
“I can answer them if that means you’ll answer mine.”
That response seemed to get the prisoner’s attention. He sat up straight and stared Kakashi right in the eyes. He didn’t say anything just yet, waiting for the first question.
“Do you know a girl by the name Rin Nohara?”
“Of course. Rin’s my good friend.” The way Obito said it sounded wrong in the detective’s ears. Someone who had killed in cold blood couldn’t have friends. “How is she? Haven’t heard from her in a long time.”
Kakashi tried to find any kind of a hint on the other’s face that would show he was lying. Obito had been arrested half a year after Rin’s disappearance so he could still be the one responsible for the girl vanishing. Although not a single possession of hers had been found in his house.
“I’m currently looking for her. I thought you’d tell me something I would want to know about her whereabouts.”
“Sorry but I’ve been stuck here for the past four years. I don’t really have a way of kidnapping anyone here.” Obito sighed. “You think it’s me. You all come here and think anyone that goes missing in this damn city is my fault.”
“When was the last time you’ve seen her, then?” Kakashi kept asking his questions. He knew something would eventually make the murderer slip.
“Nearly six years ago, when she brought me a birthday gift. We fell out of touch afterwards.”
“It’s easy to fall out of touch when you murder them,” the detective muttered. Although he didn’t have any solid proof of whether Rin was truly dead, he didn’t trust Obito.
“All those years I’ve been wondering why she hasn’t visited me even once. She was always so kind to me. What a pity she’s missing…”
The longing in his voice didn’t sound truly genuine to Kakashi. Someone like Obito could be hiding much more secrets.
“Did she know you killed people?”
“She just knew that I had a lot of hookups,” Obito snorted with laughter. “People came and went, she didn’t question it.”
A question popped up in Kakashi’s mind. It had nothing to do with his investigation but he couldn’t help himself. Obito Uchiha could finally meet his end any day and the group of people who’d been permitted to interrogate him was scarce. The detective cursed his own curiosity.
“You’ve had sex with all of your victims, right?”
“I thought that was obvious,” Obito rolled his eyes comically. “Is it that fascinating that you all keep asking?”
“Why did you kill them, then? Did you really get sexual pleasure from killing people?”
Kakashi was surprised with his own question. The prisoner gave him a curious look, leaning closer. For a moment, the detective felt glad there was a wall of bulletproof glass between them.
“No,” Obito replied shortly at first. “Not at all.”
“Then what was the reason?”
“I was just looking… For the right one.”
Kakashi took a deep breath. He shouldn’t have expected logical reasoning from someone with blood on his hands and no feeling of remorse. The silver-haired man thought of a way to wrap it up.
“So you’ve never found the right person.”
Obito chuckled, flashing a wide grin. He was staring deep into Kakashi’s eyes.
“Maybe I have.”
The detective felt he needed to leave soon. He swallowed nervously, the uneasiness caused by the criminal’s attention getting to him.
“I think I’ve asked everything I wanted to find out,” he said and promptly got up. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
“That sounds so sweet coming out of you.” Obito kept smiling, kept looking at Kakashi. “I haven’t heard anyone thank me in years. But… I told you I’d answer your questions if you’d answer mine, right? So where are you going?”
Kakashi placed his hands on the tabletop and steeled himself to look into the dark, piercing eyes again.
“Then ask away. What do you want from me?”
“Tell me, Kakashi... “ Obito mused, his fingers caressing the surface of the table, causing the handcuffs to jiggle. “Do you find pain arousing?”
“I-” The detective’s breath got caught in his throat. “Why do you need-”
“Answer, Kakashi,” the prisoner’s voice was commanding for a moment. One of the guards standing behind him tensed up, ready to grab his baton. “Please?”
Kakashi closed his eyes. He had no idea why he’d be sharing such private information with a criminal, especially with the audience of prison guards.
“... Sometimes.”
“Do you dream of someone choking you for pleasure?”
A cold chill ran down Kakashi’s spine and his gaze involuntarily travelled down to Obito’s hands. They looked strong enough, ready to choke someone to death even…
“Haven’t had the opportunity to try that out yet.”
“You do,” Obito chuckled. “Oh, I think I might have found the perfect one after all…”
The detective shook his head and stepped away from the table.
“We’re done here. I’m leaving.”
The guard standing to the right side of the door reached for the handle and opened it. No one said anything as Kakashi stepped through the doorway, save for Obito’s last question.
“Will you come back?”
The detective didn’t answer. He just waited to hear the door close behind him. He slumped against the wall and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.
Kakashi didn’t even notice someone standing beside him. A man who’d exited the room right next to the one he and Obito had talked in. He wasn’t dressed up in the standard uniform, wearing formal attire in a form of a suit.
“You weren’t obliged to amuse him, Detective.”
Kakashi glanced at the man and took a shaky breath to calm down. He felt too hot, especially in the area of his abdomen.
“Is he always this talkative?” He asked, recalling every previous interviewer describing the criminal as a man of a few words.
“Actually, no. I have no idea why he wanted to talk to you. But someone like him taking interest in you…”
“Thank fuck he’s in prison,” Kakashi spat out breathlessly and pushed himself off the wall. “Thank you for everything. I’ll be going now.”
“Good luck with the investigation, Detective.”
The silver-haired man shoved hands into his pockets. He needed to go home. He couldn’t focus like that anymore.