Contrary to popular belief, the Konohagakure Torture and Interrogation facilities were not dark, damp or overall a very horrible place.
The building itself was disguised as a sushi restaurant. Well, disguise wasn't quite right. Ninjas were justifiably paranoid, so the latest renovation of the T&I headquarters did in fact sell sushi. If one were to enter the restaurant they would see a taste-fully designed room with several tables and chairs for customers to sit, middle-rate paintings of the sea on the pale blue walls, and a grill with a proud chef in the centre. Oblivious, customers would come and go to the slightly above average sushi restaurant, never knowing of the activities that took place under their feet.
Masao entered the restaurant under henge of a nondescript young man with brown hair and blue eyes. It would be rather suspicious if ninjas kept appearing despite never ordering anything, and as the restaurant was favoured by the civilian population – it was built in the civilian sector of the village in that intention – it was very unlikely anyone would catch onto that fact.
He meandered over to the back room – marked EMPLOYEES ONLY -, his skills allowing him to blend into the background despite the impatience tugging at him to hurry. An application of chakra to a specific point on the door that changed every other day (and twice a day on the third week of the month, and three times on a Monday, Thursday and Saturday on the second week, and-) allowed him to enter.
If he tried to break his way through or applied chakra to the wrong place, the entire base would be alerted and he'd be converged on in seconds, locked in a genjutsu before he could move to defend himself, and only released once a Yamanaka had thoroughly investigated his mind. So, on that day like every other day, he was very careful not to get it wrong.
A semi-permanent genjutsu which was updated every three days subtly urged anyone watching that nothing was happening, just a random worker, look away. It would only really work on civilians and genin, but if a higher calibre ninja noticed him, well, that was what the other security measures were for.
Once the door closed behind him Masao let the henge drop. He walked down a set of spiralling stairs, allowing himself to jog now that he was away from prying eyes. Oh, he knew about the multitude of hidden cameras watching his every move, but no one would blame him for his haste. It wasn't every day that you got to watch Yamanaka Inoichi interrogate a prisoner.
Through another door that required the chuunin watching the monitors to let him in, he entered what was referred to as the reception. It had an absurdly friendly atmosphere; cream walls with paintings of Konoha, a few flourishing plants, a couple of coffee tables with a multitude of magazines and newspapers placed on them, and comfy green chairs set along the walls. Against the far wall was a long white desk where a chuunin (who was actually a jounin, but Masao didn't know that) sat behind his computer, tapping at the keyboard with a flat expression. Computers weren't very common as far as Masao knew; the only one he'd seen was this one, one the hospital and another at the Administrative offices where the Hokage's office and the mission assignment desk was located.
The chuunin glanced up when Masao walked up to the desk and held out a piece of paper for him to fill in. It simply detailed his name, rank, occupation and reason for visitation. Masao was a chuunin who had only just recently joined T&I, so it was required for him to do this even if his superior had ordered him to come.
(The form was little more than a formality since the chuunin at the desk was familiar with every face allowed inside the facility, but it saved him from filling out the paperwork.)
Soon he was heading down a brightly lit corridor – no placed for enemy ninjas to hide in the shadows that way – towards the interrogation rooms. The deeper he went the higher the security; more cameras (hidden and in plain view), more chuunin (and jounin) lingering in the corridors, and a door that required a chakra-specific application (in other words, if his chakra wasn't registered as familiar to the seal, then he would be immediately paralysed and set upon by Konoha ninja) of his chakra.
The room he was told to go to was in the mid-low range in terms of prisoner security, generally meant for spies of little importance, low-value political opponents with some ninja training, and prisoners who were to be indoctrinated.
There was a one-way glass window peering into the small room where the prisoner was bound to a chair, head lolled to the side and eyes shut. On Masao's side there were already a few chuunin and jounin, all practically salivating at the chance to see the most infamous interrogator in action. Inoichi had started to work only part-time for T&I a decade or so ago, an exception made for him as the previous head of the division and his long service, so Masao had only heard legends of him. It was a well-known horror story amongst chuunin that if they showed any signs of being traitors to Konoha "you'll get a visit from a Yamanaka" and no one would hear from you again.
Masao shrugged into a space beside his friend Takashi – who shot him a grin before shuffling aside to make room for him – and listened with rapt attention as an older jounin with a scar running through his lip began to speak.
"All right, you lot, settle down," he said with a scowl, crossing his arms. "I don't know what idiot decided to tell you all to come here, but I figure we might as well turn this into a lesson for all you newbies," he cut a glare at a brunette boy who smiled widely back at him, "and some of our so-called experienced ninja. Unfortunately, Inoichi-san won't be interrogating the prisoner himself," various protests rose from the crowd, but a growl from the scarred jounin shut them up.
"However, you will get to see him conducting a lesson himself. That's good enough for you brats. If not, feel free to leave." No one moved, and the jounin gave a grim smirk. "Well then, watch and learn."
As if on an unspoken cue, the door leading into the interrogation room opened and a tall blond man stepped through. Masao hadn't ever seen Inoichi Yamanaka before, but he recognised him from the high ponytail of long hair – a vanity few ninja had the skill to stay alive with – and the sharp teal eyes his clan were well-known for. What he hadn't expected was the warm smile on his rugged features, and he gaped in shock at the young girl with was directed at.
She couldn't be older than six or seven, dressed in civilian clothing that was torn around the edges and her brown hair in a tangle. Tear marks stained her pale face and her eyes were red around the edges. All the signs would have pointed to a miserable child if it weren't for the disconcertingly blank look on her face.
"Prisoner is Hanabusa Shinji of Kumogakure, tasked in gathering information on the unidentified Kyuubi jinchuuriki suspected of being held by Konoha," Inoichi intoned as he looked at the one-way mirror, unable to see those on the other side but knowing they were there all the same. Hanabusa didn't react in any way to his words, so Masao guessed that a seal closing off his senses had been placed on the brunet.
Inoichi looked down at the small girl beside him and said in that same flat tone, "Your mission is to extract information on his source and whether there are any other Kumo spies in Konoha."
The girl nodded solemnly. "Hai, tou-san."
'Tou-san'? Masao mouthed, blinking in surprise. Then he concentrated on the girl and realised that she was under henge. So that must mean Inoichi was training…his own daughter?
"Time is sixteen forty-seven, date July sixth 58 AKF (After Konoha Founding). You may begin." The blond pressed his fingers to a seal drawn on the prisoner's shoulder and released a short burst of chakra.
Hanabusa barely had time to regain his senses before a sobbing girl pounced on him with a cry of "Tou-san!"
He shook his head and bent his neck awkwardly to look at her as she clutched his shirt with chubby hands. His blood-shot eyes widened rapidly with fear. "Ami-chan?! W-what are you doing here- no," he growled, glaring at Inoichi with fierce hatred. "You bastards! Just because you couldn't break me, you-you fucking brought her into this! She's innocent!"
A smug smirk crept onto Inoichi's lips and he said, "No one's innocent." He reached out and grabbed the girl's arm roughly, yanking her off Hanabusa and sending her tumbling to the ground. She cried out pitifully.
"Leave her alone!" Hanabusa snarled, thrashing ineffectually against his bonds. Masao could see how thin his arms were, but his muscles hadn't deteriorated due to the chakra still circulating in his system. "I won't forgive you!"
"Tou-san, just tell them what he wants, please!" the girl begged, peering up at the prisoner with tearful eyes. Masao found himself pitying her before he remembered that she was just acting.
The prisoner stared back at her as he visibly struggled with himself, a tormented look passing over his features. "I-I can't. If I do- the Raikage placed his faith in me; I can't betray him, I just can't," he begged her to understand, voice cracking.
Inoichi dragged her up by her long brown hair and held a kunai to her throat. "Are you sure about that? You're not a very good father, are you? More loyal to your village than your own daughter."
Hanabusa couldn't take his eyes off of the girl's pained face as she strained weakly against the hold. One eye peaked open, and terrified grey orbs stared into the prisoner's own. "T-tou-san…help me…"
"Ami-chan…" Hanabusa whispered, and Masao could almost see the crack appear in Hanabusa's shield, already weakened by torture and isolation.
The girl must've seen it too, because she pounced on it immediately. She darted forwards and pressed her hand against the prisoner's forehead before he even had a chance to react, delving into his mind as only a Yamanaka could.
The henge fell away as the two remained frozen. Brown bled away to long blond hair a shade lighter than Inoichi's, but the resemblance was echoed strongly in the hardened green eyes staring into Hanabusa's. She was older than her henge by only a few year; she must be an academy student at most, no hitai-ate present on her form despite the obviously ninja-styled clothing. Unlike most of the genin and academy females she wore black trousers tucked into white bindings around her lower calves, and her dark green shirt was devoid of any clan symbols. Masao thought she was quite pretty despite her stoic look.
A minute later her hand dropped away from the prisoner's head, sweat congealing on her forehead as she breathed deeply. Hanabusa stared ahead vacantly, his facial muscles drooping oddly. It made Masao feel faintly nauseous
"What did you find?" Inoichi asked the small blonde, returning to his flat tone.
The girl straightened and looked up at him determinedly. "There are three other Kumo spies that he knows the aliases of; Kuroki Noriko who recently started working at the Konoha Hospital, Miyami Shinya who has taken a job at Konoha Orphanage, Yahagi Hirono who is a bodyguard to an influential businessman named Noda Kazushi, and a long-term spy named Sakagami Shogo who is under the guise of a civilian carpenter whose location is unknown. Their source was a civilian trader named Kise Yoshio who regularly feeds civilian-known information to Kumogakure."
Inoichi turned to the one-way window, and the scarred jounin apparently took this as his cue. He opened up the file he'd had with him since Masao first noticed him, glancing down for a few moments before speaking through the intercom that linked the two rooms. "Two confirmed Kumo-nin are currently imprisoned in low-level cells, under the names Kuroki Noriko and Yahagi Hirono. A team will be sent out to find and detain the others." Masao though he was speaking to Inoichi before he added with a grin, "Good job, Ino-chan."
The girl directed a small smile towards the window, somehow managing to set her gaze in the direction of the jounin. Maybe she was a sensor type? "Thank you, Seiji-san."
Inoichi broke out into a beaming smile, his pride near tangible as ruffled the young girl's long hair. "Of course she did a good job – she's my daughter, after all." The girl scowled up at him, but it was obvious that she enjoyed the attention.
The sight of the girl acting so, well, normal after casually destroying a man's mind was utterly terrifying.
So this occurred to me when I thought about just how terrifying the Yamanaka clan could be in a darker, grittier Narutoverse. It's not going to be a happy story, but it won't be angst either. More along the line of horror if I can manage it.
The reason Hanabusa didn't suspect the henge was because he'd been tortured, sleep-deprived and isolated for weeks. If T&I really wanted the information he had they could get it out of him easily, but Inoichi wanted to let Ino practise. The information itself wasn't very important anyway – spies are a dime a dozen and thanks to the civilian population being in the know it isn't unexpected that people will find out that Naruto is the jinchuuriki.
I don't particularly like or dislike Ino, largely because I haven't found a single Ino-centric fic that isn't focussed on romance. Ino will be very OOC. In this chapter she's about ten years old, and is a prodigy, especially in Yamanaka techniques. I think this could be somewhat probable – according to the data book she ranked higher than Sasuke in the genin exam. I tend to ignore this in my head-canon since her character is annoyingly weak in part one – she can't beat Sakura in taijutsu, despite being a clan kid and it being pre-time skip Sakura.
But here she is significantly stronger, and her personality has changed a lot, largely due to the fact that since a young age she was trained to tear apart the minds of other people. So, no fangirling, or pointless Sakura-rivalry, or impractical clothing, and a bunch of other changes e.g. Ino is put on team seven. This will likely venture into more major AU at some point.
Masao is a fourteen-year-old chuunin and likely won't show up again. Seiji might.
Don't know when I'll update, but please leave a review and let me know what you think. Pairing ideas are always welcome, as well as any suggestions or critique.
Oh, and I don't own Naruto. Obviously.