Ibiki measured the breaths of his traveling companion, a newly appointed special chuunin named Nobu. It was easy to predict speech patterns once you knew how a person controlled their diaphragm and breath. From the way Nobu was breathing, Ibiki knew it was time for a periodic, "why are we here?" speech.
"I'm just saying, this is just a little backwater village. There's been no activity from the old Sound Country for years. They didn't need to send the two of us on this mission." Nobu's complaining made for a bad traveling partner. In the back of his mind Ibiki made a note to come up with a lesson that would teach the youth to be silent while traveling.
"What are the two most important function of the Intelligence Division?" Ibiki stopped on a tree branch behind Nobu. Not wanting to hear the boy stammer through an answer, he continued himself. "Interrogation and investigation. And investigation is by far the easier and more widely used method. You should never commit yourself to any action without thorough research. And it is the fact that we have not done any scouting in this area for years that makes this an important mission."
Nobu quieted once again and they continued on to the village. Ibiki ran though a list of contact names in the small hamlet. Seven years ago the town was practically deserted after beasts from the forest forced the closing of the lumber mill. Five years later an ambitious group reopened the mill and has reported no problems.
Ibiki dusted off his shoes and made sure his head wrappings were secure before walking into the office of their contact. Ryoga was a silk distributor, not the finest quality silk but his small industry kept the town alive during the inactivity at the mill. At the height of the tensions with Orochimaru's Sound Village he had been a vital contact in these parts. Stepping out from his cubicle Ryoga was all smiles when he greeted them. He was a thin man who was proud of his moustache and fond of his wife. The only things he had to hide were gifts for her that he would place around the house or at places she would go on her daily errands.
"My friend, my friend. It is good that you have come." Ryoga said as he dry washed his hands. It was his habit, but for reason of clearing off any stray silk strands.
"It had been some time. Two years?" Ibiki remembered, but the question would stimulate the man's memory and make further questions easier.
"Yes, about that long." Ryoga paused and led them to a small visiting room he kept for business meetings.
"What is the trouble Ryoga?"
Settling into informant mode, Ryoga's tone of voice changed from friendly to serious very quickly. "No trouble, and that's what worries me. The eastern forest used to be home to dire bears. They were the reason the mill closed down all those years ago. And from what I gather they've all gone."
"Anyone scouted the forest?"
"Nothing more than a few hundred meters out from the edge of their logging. But they stick more to the northern hills and mountains. It's the lack of activity from the eastern forest that has the old timers worried."
Ibiki nodded his head to Nobu and made a handsign indicating east. The younger man would begin a simple scouting mission and report back in an hour. Ibiki excused himself and used that hour to ask more questions around the town. Sifting through conflicting reports and empty boasting, Ibiki got the general impression that most villagers thought the forest to be haunted.
Nobu was found outside of town an hour later looking a bit shaken up. A small cup of sake quieted his nerves. The lad was not physically injured, but he was somewhat scared. Placing his hands on Nobu's temples, Ibiki did a light scan of his short-term memory.
Grim faces that appear and disappear, tree limbs reaching out and grabbing him, a soft melody playing, a flash of red cloth in the low light of the trees.
Dropping Nobu off at Ryoga's, Ibiki went out into the forest. All the signs pointed to an auditory genjutsu. The trick that Nobu was too young to know was that most auditory genjutsu are designed around disrupting balance in the target. They don't work against those who are deaf in one ear. The sequence of hand seals were fairly simple, but it was not a technique anyone ever used. Within moments, Ibiki checked and found that his left ear had gone completely deaf. Reversing the technique was easy enough, but he would have an ear ache for a day afterward.
Following Nobu's trail was simple as most freshly raised chuunin still had no concept of staying invisible while moving. It did not take long for Ibiki to find what used to be a dire bear den, long deserted. By the look of it the den had been smashed open by some great weapon, larger than any human could wield.
"There is something strange about this forest." Moving further on Ibiki finally heard a light melody on the wind. Deciding to not immediately follow it, Ibiki circled around to another angle and approached from that direction. After a few minutes of sneaking from tree to tree Ibiki found a glen by a stream where the trees thinned. Hidden in the middle of this cedar forest was a grove of Sakura. And finally he saw her.
Sitting in the tree branches was a young woman, newly come into her adulthood. A very fine red silk kimono wrapped around her, her shoulders were exposed but she was not indecent. Tossing back her long red hair she played sequences of notes on her long silver flute, as though trying to decide which song to play.
Something about her face finally jogged Ibiki's memory, and he felt a light shudder from an unexpected wind chill.
"You've made it this far, come on out from behind those trees Konoha." Her voice was firm, expecting obedience. "If you're here about your friend, don't worry. He'll have bad nightmares tonight but won't remember them by morning."
Emerging from behind the tree, Ibiki kept his hands in his coat pockets. Speaking as he walked to the base of the tree, "At least now I know why villagers think this forest haunted. Perhaps it is. Everyone thought you killed years ago, Tayuya of the hidden sound."
Jumping down from the branches shook the tree and caused several blossoms to fall as well. She took a seat on a small pile of stones by the stream and looked as though she were sitting on a throne. Raising her flute to her mouth she blew a single note before lowering it again. "That was a lifetime ago." The sadness to her eyes revealed a sincerity that could not be faked.
As she played her song Ibiki leaned against the Sakura tree and listened. Overhead the clouds parted and bathed the grove in a warm light. "Why are you scaring others away?" He asked as she ended her song.
Holding the flute in her lap, she looked off in no specific direction, lost in her memories. "There are times I find it hard to believe I'm still alive. Times I feel like the ghost the town thinks I am." From the angle he was at, Ibiki saw the edge of scars that were unsuccessfully hidden by her clothes. Those scars match the description of the attack that was reported to have finished her. "Are you here to capture me? If you are I'd prefer that you get it over with."
Anger flashed across her eyes followed quickly by pain. Reaching up she grabbed at the back of her neck and gasped. Dropping her flute she pulled back her hair and scratched at the scarred skin where the curse seal had once sat in her flesh. The moment passed and she sat back tired from the experience.
Walking towards her, Ibiki picked her flute from off the ground and sat next to her. Taking off his forehead protector and headscarf he handed her the instrument he said, "Would you play another song for me?"
There was a curiosity in her eyes, a reaction to the unexpected. Placing the flute in her lap, she reached a hand out to touch his head. With a gentle hand she touched the scars, softly fingering the holes that had been drilled into the skull. With a sense of excitement she moved her other hand to touch the scars. Finally sitting back she pulled a scroll and pen from a hidden pocket. As she began scribbling notes, Ibiki recognized them to be musical notes.
As she finished, she raised the flute to her lips and began playing. The melody began sounding as though it had been a different song that had been torn apart. It was complex, but as it evolved the themes that were played apart at the start began to come together. The dissonance at the beginning was forgotten in the harmony at the end. The music had no name, but her emotions spoke as she played. Pain, loneliness, healing, forgiveness, and hope.
"I'm not the person I once was." She spoke with regret.
"You composed that song from the holes in my head?"
"What can I say? You have great scars."
"I won't report you."
"Thank you."
"I have two questions. First, what happened to the dire bears?"
"Oh those things?" She giggled, and covered her mouth. "I think my music scared them all away."
"Just your music?"
"Well I know a lot of songs." This time her smile had a dangerous twist to it. "And your second question…"
"May I come and listen to you play again?"
Lying back on the rocks she ran her fingers though the water of the stream. As she sat back up she flicked her wet fingers at his face. Laughing with a tease in her voice, "You know where to find me."
Taking off his glove, Ibiki ran his hand along his scarred scalp. It had not taken him long to see that his deformity would be an excellent object lesson, but in all the years since he had been given the wounds did he think anything beautiful would come of it. But sitting in a sakura grove, listening to music played by an old enemy; he finally realized that the key to understanding life was not found through analysis, but by living.
"I'm sorry about your friend again." She apologized. "I was acting on instinct. It's what's kept me alive."
"No apologies needed."
"As far as you coming back… this is not a word I've spoken for many years; but I hope you do."
They finally parted ways, and Ibiki felt as though those few short hours had been an entire lifetime. Turning back he saw that she was staring at him from the distance, before seeming to disappear into the sakura.