Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Ibiki's service to the Oracle, past and present. (One Shot)

Angel of Death

"Ne, Ibiki-kun?"

"Nani?"

"There are times when the Oracle selects a Mouth to speak for them."

"So?"

"A time is coming when I will need a Mouth. When that time comes, will you be my Mouth, Ibiki-kun?"

"I would be honored to serve as the Mouth of the Oracle."

"That's great! So, Arashi's getting married soon. What color do you think will suit me best? Red or blue?"

"Chizuru!"


"He is Arashi's child, the Jinchuuriki…"

"Aa."

"Will you protect him, Ibiki-kun?"

"I will. I will protect Arashi's child until I die if you wish it."

"Then do so, for he will be the one who will determine the fate of the village. However, you must do so without bias, and you must never be seen or known to him."

"I promise I will care for him with all the skill at my disposal."

"I am glad. I am very glad that he will be protected."


"Cloud… We'll be under attack by cloud in a little under a month… Ibiki… Let Hokage-sama know…"

"Aa… I'll be sure to pass the message on."

A faint smile crossed pale lips. "Thank you, Ibiki-kun…"


"Chizuru!"

"It's my time, Ibiki-kun."

"Chizuru! We still need you here!"

"No. The Oracle is no longer needed in Konoha. If the Oracle is indeed needed in the future, then a new Oracle will arise. For now, my duty, to ensure the continued existence of the last Kazama is complete. It is my time."

"He still needs to be protected!"

"Perhaps, but not by my hands or presence. I can do no more."

"Chizuru!"

She leapt off the mountain, and he rushed to the edge, reaching for his longtime friend. His grasping hands missed her outstretched arms by mere inches, and she plummeted away from him, her pale eyes glowing in the pale light of the setting sun, the white robes of the Kazama fluttering around her.

"Sayonara… Ibiki-kun…"

Her gentle voice drifted through the air, and she vanished into the canopy of the forest below.

"CHIZURUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Ibiki watched as the genin sweated under his eyes, and found his eyes drawn toward the Kyuubi vessel, one Uzumaki Naruto. The boy was looking over the paper, studying the questions, and as if feeling Ibiki's gaze on him, looked up. Their eyes locked and Ibiki suddenly found himself drowning in pure blue eyes.

Damn brat caught me in some sort of genjutsu, Ibiki thought lazily. The brat has guts.

"Why, it's me! Orochimaru!"

"You… you succeeded in… Your existence is an abomination!"

Ibiki tore his gaze away from the crystalline blue of the Jinchuuriki at the sound of the Sandaime's voice. His eyes widened in horror.

He was standing on the roof of the Hokage's Balcony at the stadium where the Third Exam would take place. Beside him was the ANBU Commander in his white cloak, two other ANBU dressed in their black cloaks beside him. Before Ibiki was a barrier, inside which four people stood. He recognized them all, for one was the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru, and on either side of him stood the resurrected Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, whose faces were carved onto the mountain that defended Konoha's rear. Facing off against them was the Sandaime, who looked old and frail in his armor, surrounded by the trees grown by the Shodai.

"What is this?!" Ibiki demanded of the ANBU Commander. To his ire, the Commander neither looked at him nor answered him.

"He cannot hear you," a calm voice said from behind him. "We have no substance here."

Ibiki turned and stared at the boy, dressed in white, the seven pronged star rotating slowly as trails of blood ran down whiskered cheeks.

"You are… Oracle…" Ibiki whispered.

The Oracle smiled and said softly, "This is a vision of what will come, an inevitable confrontation in the future. For the duration of the Chunnin Exams, you will be my Mouth. Let the Sandaime know that he must declare a successor. The future of the Hidden Leaf depends on it."

The image wavered and Ibiki blinked. He suddenly found himself back in the exam room, and Uzumaki Naruto was seated in the middle of the room, his face a mask of panic.

What was that? Ibiki wondered.

"For the duration of the Chunnin Exams, you will be my Mouth…"

Ibiki shook his head and checked the time. He raised an eyebrow. It's been thirty minutes since the Exam began? Was I really under the influence of the Oracle for that long?

"The future of the Hidden Leaf depends on it."

Did it? Did the future of their beautiful village truly depend on whether or not the Sandaime designated an Heir?

the boy, dressed in white, the seven pronged star rotating slowly in his eyes as trails of blood ran down whiskered cheeks.

Only the Hokage and his or her heir and the leaders of the ANBU as well as the Elder and Head Council were allowed to know what identified the Oracle. Ibiki had known Kazama Chizuru, the previous Oracle. They had been a part of the same Genin Squad under the tutelage of Uchiha Yashiro, and more than once, her bleeding eyes saved them, though she had flung herself off the mountain when the strain of the Yochigan grew too much for her to bear.

This is a vision of what will come, an inevitable confrontation in the future.

The Oracle never lied, Ibiki knew. "Time's up!" he yelled. He would serve the current Oracle as he had the previous. "Prepare yourselves for the tenth question!"

His eyes locked with Naruto's once more, and he nodded slightly, a near imperceptible motion. The boy's—no—the Oracle's lips twitched, and Ibiki found himself fighting the urge to smile broadly.

"First, we will lay down several more rules!"

He would serve. He would serve the Oracle who had saved the Leaf so often in the past. He would serve and be honored to have been given the chance twice in a lifetime. He would serve.