Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and am not obtaining any profit from this work.

An Anime Fan In Konoha

The Fifth Hokage looked up from her paperwork at the head of torture and interrogation, nodding towards Morino Ibiki.

"Everything here seems in order. Good Work. Now about that other project-"

"We think we might have gone a bit too far with that one, Hokage-sama. I will take full responsibility."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

"I thought that you were being particularly careful, Ibiki. You know how rare it is to catch an infiltrator from Earth Country after all."

The special jonin looked slightly uncomfortable, but quickly replied.

"We are actually not sure that the infiltrator is from Earth Country anymore, Hokage-sama. He may be from a different continent or even merely deluded. The linguistic difficulties suggest the former, but the latter is also a possibility from some of his statements."

The Hokage's lips set in a firm line, and her eyes narrowed further, indicating these results did not please her in the least.

"Ibiki, you do recall that the man we are discussing knew a number of highly classified secrets, don't you? His knowledge of the Akatsuki, Konoha ninja and a number of highly classified missions borders on the impossible, and is almost all correct. We are not dealing with a madman here, or some confused foreigner. These sort of secrets could only be obtained by the kind of intelligence network which could bring this village to its knees. Either that or his espionage abilities are high enough that he can regularly eavesdrop on this office, Council meetings and ANBU sessions."

"It is not the second, Hokage-sama. We have tested thoroughly, but the man is not in the sort of physical condition expected of an academy student, let alone an elite ninja, and he has virtually no chakra."

The Hokage tapped her fingers idly against her desk, brows knitted as she thought.

"So then there must be some sort of network and at least a few traitors in high places. Hmmm… Maybe Danzo…"

"So, what sort of condition is he in, then? What exactly are you taking responsibility for?"

Once more, the usually stoic jonin successfully fought the urge to fidget.

"We overestimated his pain tolerance slightly. The final results have not come in yet, but he appears to be catatonic after Anko used an A-rank interrogation technique in an attempt to get him to make some sense. I doubt that we will be extracting any information from him in the foreseeable future."

Tsunade sighed softly. This mistake would make her job considerably harder. What little the man had offered so far, first something about 'human rights,' and then something about a 'lawyer,' whatever those might be, was fairly useless in ferreting out what must be either a massive conspiracy or network of infiltrators. He had later, under interrogation, started talking about ninja, Konoha, Naruto of all people, and something called 'animey' (not enemy, as she had originally assumed). He'd been turned over from the medical ninja to Ibiki when it became clear that he knew far too much about Konoha's ninja and started talking about what she had assumed was the Earth Country. Unfortunately, he was apparently unable to stand up to sufficient interrogation to change his tune, so now the man was useless and she was left with no information. Oh well. Hopefully, he would wake up some day, so they could resume the questioning, but, for the moment, she had a job to do.

Adding this matter on top of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki would not be fun, but she did not see much choice. She could scarce afford interference by the Hidden Rock or anyone else who might be spying on Konoha at this time. Even though she had little to work with, hopefully her ANBU could dredge something up from the information Ibiki's team had gathered.

She nodded seriously to Morino Ibiki after a few moments thought.

"Fine. As everything else seems in order, I will refrain from any punishment this time, but do not let this happen again. Understood?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama. I will also inform you of any positive changes in the man's condition if they occur."

"Good," Tsunade replied seriously. "Dismissed."

The special jonin bowed respectfully, and then retreated out the door.

"Shizune. Who's my next appointment?"

Expecting the question, the Hokage's assistant had the Hokage's schedule out already. Thus, she replied promptly.

"Hatake-san should have been here ten minutes ago, Tsunade-sama."

"Him? Great. Then I probably still have time to pop out for some sake."

Standing up and stretching her arms, Tsunade began making her way towards the door when she was halted by a hand on her shoulder.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune replied to her teacher in a deceptively polite tone.

Tsunade turned her head back and looked to where her elder apprentice was pointing. There was a large stack of paperwork on her desk. Wait, no. Actually, upon a second glance, she noticed that there were two such stacks, a slightly smaller stack hidden behind the first two, and at least six quite sizeable stacks on the floor in front of her desk.

"I believe Tsunade-sama," Shizune continued, as if lecturing a misbehaving child, "that there might be a slightly better use of your time between now and Hatake-san's arrival, such as catching up on the Treaty with the Hidden Grass you have been putting off for the past two weeks."