A/N: Whoo! Back with another chapter, after two weeks! I'm quite proud of myself for updating so soon (in my timeline, it's equivalent to a second). I'm seriously going to be updating this fic regularly. Maybe not every two weeks, but I'm going for once a month. I've got too many ideas floating around that need to be released, and I want Hana/Ibiki to happen already! BAH! It's going to take time to develop them, but that's part of the fun.

Also, it's not relevant to this chapter, but it was something I thought I'd mention...I'm purposely keeping the backstory of Hana's father, Kouro, vague, although I think you roughly get an idea of what happened to him. It'll be explained more thoroughly later. Also, Tsume is Inuzuka Clan Head in this fic, because she is such a badass.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


Hana was up earlier than usual with one of her associates to count the animal hospital's inventory before opening hours, to ensure they had enough supplies for the next month. The hospital had been getting a good amount of business as of late, so they would probably have to order more supplies than usual. Though they primarily worked with ninken, they sometimes got other animals of varying species, regardless if they had jutsu abilities or not. Just this month alone she dealt with the hawks from the Surudoime Clan, and the tanuki of the Tasou Clan, both not usual visitors so she was lucky to have had the needed supplies (and knowledge) on hand. Her reputation as a veterinarian was growing, and although that prospect excited her, it also meant she had more responsibility on her shoulders. Hana wished to become even more skilled as a veterinarian, so she was always reading about new techniques to increase her abilities working with different species of animals. Books were exhilarating to her; it was like she could never get enough of learning, as much as Kiba teased her on how much of a book nerd she was (she wore the term proudly).

One day, she wanted to travel to other countries to put these techniques into practice, and study new forms of medical ninjutsu. She'd had the fortunate opportunity back when she was in school to study abroad for a few months in the Land of Wind, specifically Sunagakure, where she had learned much more about different techniques that the Suna-nin used with their animals (like giant lizards), and hoped one day she could return. Right now, however, working at the Inuzuka veterinary hospital worked for her just fine until she could save up enough money for such a venture.

Tsume had left on a mission while Hana and Kiba had been gone, so she still hadn't seen her mother since a week ago. She was supposed to return in the next couple of days, and Hana was sure Tsume would be ready to ask her everything about the mission.

She thought back on everything that had happened. What a crazy event that had all been. She must've gone through every emotion in the book, and all of it instigated by Ibiki. Though they were able to part on more civil terms, she was still not able to reconcile her impression of him with what he did for a living. He was a nuisance, but didn't seem to be cruel or unfeeling. Although he did seem to have some dark streak in him, if it hadn't been such a well-known fact that he was the captain of the Torture and Interrogation Squad, the feared Kuroi Kabe, she wouldn't have guessed it. There was certainly more to him than she expected. She'd nearly exposed her whole life to him, and told him things she'd never talked to anyone about before, and he had quite impressively not revealed a single thing about himself. She was an open book. He remained largely a mystery.

She had to admit though, as far as the actual mission went, that it had been refreshing to stretch her muscles, feel the thrill and excitement of a pursuit, and venture outside of Konoha not knowing what to expect. She absolutely loved her work at the veterinary hospital and the canine shelter, but there was nothing like going on a mission as a shinobi. It was adventure. She'd be happy consistently having both worlds in her life.

"Inuzuka-san," said a gentle but firm voice that cut into Hana's rambling thoughts. Her associate, Ikimono Naomi, was a kind and hard-working Chuunin junior veterinary medic-nin, who was mostly quiet and demure though she did have her moments of biting honesty. Everyone she employed at her veterinary hospital loved and cared for animals as much as Hana did, so she knew she had a good team in her hands.

"Sorry," Hana replied sheepishly, writing down the number of syringes that Naomi had painstakingly counted. "Just getting lost in my thoughts."

"It's understandable," she said, yawning from weariness. "It is quite early for such tedious work, it's easy to day-dream."

"You got that right," Hana chuckled. "I hate doing this shit too. I'll pay attention from now on, the sooner we get this done, the better." Hana caught herself. "Oh, and sorry again, I know you dislike when people curse."

She smiled shyly. "It's all right. I've gotten used to it."

They were there for another hour before finishing the monotonous task. When Hana had compiled the list of supplies—ranging from medications and medical provisions to paper towels and dog treats—she left Naomi to open the animal hospital on her own so she could go out and buy everything they needed.

She'd been shopping all morning, her Haimaru tasked with carrying the bags full of supplies she had collected already. She arrived at the outdoor food market, where they had the largest variety of all things food-related. This is where she always got her stock of edible rations for not only the dogs and other creatures, but the humans too, when they got hungry. She was in the middle of choosing some perfect looking squash, when she suddenly caught sight of the hottest guy she'd seen in awhile. He seemed to be shopping for vegetables too, as he scanned the selection directly across from her. He had black, slightly unruly hair that fell over his green eyes teasingly, and a perfect, strong jawline. He was Chuunin-ranked also, as she could tell by the vest he was wearing. She froze for a moment, just to enjoy the view.

He seemed to sense somebody was staring because he looked up in her direction. Her first reaction was to avert her gaze, and then thinking better of it, she looked back at him and flashed him a little smile. That's right, Hana, work it, she encouraged herself.

They exchanged flirtatious smiles for a bit before he walked over to her, taking it all as an invitation. "Hey, I'm Shun," he introduced himself.

"I'm Hana."

He shook her hand. "That's a pretty name, Hana. Your mom name you that because you're beautiful like a flower?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and continued smiling instead. She'd heard that predictable line plenty of times before, but she'd let it slide. The way he said it had been cute, with that dimpled smile of his.

"Actually, she named me after a nose," she chuckled. "We're a ninken Clan, you see." She indicated at the Haimaru Brothers behind her.

"Ahh, got it," he grinned. "Those are your dogs? They look pretty awesome."

"Thanks."

They flirted a little more and Hana started toying with the idea that maybe she should just ask the man out. She didn't usually pick up guys at the market, or ask out someone she just met, but he seemed nice enough, and he was just so damn good-looking. If she didn't do it now, some other woman would. And he appeared to show interest in her, so it was worth a shot. He did mention it was his day off...

"Hey, would you like to get some dinner with me tonight?" she asked. "Maybe we can get to know each other better?"

He seemed slightly surprised she just asked him out, but looked pleased anyhow. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to."


That night Hana got ready, sifting through her closet for an outfit. Didn't she have anything good to wear? Something nice but not too safe, sexy but not too showy. Something that looked like there was thought behind it but not trying too hard. She ruffled through her clothes, tossing aside the ones that didn't pass the test. No, no, no. No. Maybe. She held up a sleeveless purple dress, with a bateau neckline that covered her cleavage but cut off short to show a generous view of her legs. Yes. This one would work. Once she was ready she made her way over to where they would meet.

The date had started off well enough, with Shun complimenting Hana on her outfit, saying he thought she looked pretty. She returned the favor and said he looked handsome, which he did, with his hair falling over his eyes like that and perfect smile. Now, they sat a table at a mid-level sit-down restaurant, which was nice without being too fancy. There hadn't been too much conversation yet between the two, and Hana had no idea where to start. She wasn't a shy person, but she just couldn't think of something to talk about. She could just start talking and see just what would pop out of her mouth, but that was always dangerous when it came to first impressions. As Hana scanned the menu, she chose a meal that sounded appealing to her. She figured she could talk about food, as dry a topic as it was.

"I think I want to get the shabu shabu and a side of fried sweet potato."

"No you don't."

Hana stared at him. "Yes, I'm pretty sure I do," she replied, unsure of the meaning by his comment.

He laughed it off, as if she were joking. "No, trust me. I've been here before. You have to get the curry rice," he pushed. "It's delicious."

She didn't doubt the dish was probably delicious, but she had just stated what she did want, so what was the deal with the pressure to get something else? It was oddly controlling. One thing was to suggest a dish, another was to pressure someone to have it. She was feeling the urge to start an argument, but she bit her tongue in restraint. They'd just started the date, after all. She'd just order what she wanted when the waitress came around, although it certainly was a strike against him.

The waitress returned for their orders and Shun ordered his curry rice, and Hana her own order. She added sake to it, however.

"You didn't want to get the curry rice?" he asked when the waitress left.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh ok, your loss."

She shrugged. There was an awkward silence for awhile. The waitress returned with the warm sake and Hana poured it into the little ceramic glass. How long had it been now since they got here? Twenty minutes? The itch to leave was already getting stronger. She drank her shot of sake.

"So Hana, tell me something about yourself," he said, watching her down the glass of clear liquid. "What do you do besides being a kunoichi?"

"Well, I work as the lead veterinary medic-nin in the animal hospital over at the Inuzuka compound," she replied. "We also have a canine shelter there that my brother and members of the Clan help run."

He nodded. "That's really impressive."

"Thank you," she replied sincerely.

"I'm on guard duty throughout the city, though I'm working to become one of the Hokage's bodyguards once I hit Jounin."

Hana raised her eyebrows. "That's impressive too."

"I know."

Hana resisted the urge to laugh at his response. He didn't sound too humble.

"So what does a veterinary medic-nin do exactly? Do you know how to work with humans at all?"

"Well, to become a medic-nin in the first place you need to learn the basics for working with humans," she replied. "So yes, I know a bit, but I specialize in working with ninken, and have been extending my knowledge past canines and into working with other animal-nin."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it. It's great working with animals, they're so fascinating," she said. "Of course, there's the less glamorous side of it all, but it all pays off in the end. Like cleaning up poop, cleaning their fur after they roll in said poop, pumping out their stomachs if they eat something toxic, all that good stuff. Or having them vomit all over you, like what happened to me yesterday. Smelled like rotten eggs and beef."

"Ew."

"I mean, I showered afterwards," she laughed self-consciously when he didn't seem amused. "It only happens sometimes, anyways…"

She was definitely sharing too much. Maybe girls didn't usually talk about vomit while eating dinner. Certainly not on the first date. He was being way too sensitive, but damn it, didn't she have a word filter?

"Well, I can appreciate you helping out animals," he said at last. He poked around at his food, seemingly finding it unappealing.

"Glad you can appreciate it, I guess."

"It's just funny. Basically you just deal with dogs all day, clean up their poop, and then they barf all over you," he said dismissively. "I'd never be able to deal with those conditions. Don't you get bored? Or sick of the smell?"

"Um, no, not at all," she replied defensively. "That's not all I do, and I never get bored. Yeah, the gross mishaps happen, but you're dealing with living creatures, it comes with the territory. There's nothing more fulfilling than working with animals and helping to save their lives."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," he laughed, picking up on her tone. "I'm not saying it like your job's not important or something."

They sat again in yet another silence as he went back to eating his food, and she kept staring angrily at him. Hana felt like punching him. He had no idea what it took to run a veterinary hospital. Things weren't looking too hopeful if this was how he was going to act. They didn't seem to be clicking at all as far as interests and personality went, either. She wanted to leave already, but there was a nagging feeling inside her that urged her to try again, even though she had the feeling this wasn't going to work out. She didn't want to add another unsuccessful date under her belt just yet, especially when he had seemed to be such a promising prospect. This was his last shot. If he couldn't redeem himself, she was out.

"So, what about you?" she asked. "It's your turn to tell me about yourself."

He seemed to perk up at the question. It was like he'd been waiting for this moment to happen, and Hana wondered if she'd regret asking him. "Well, right now I'm Chuunin-ranked, working on the Konohagakure Guard, like I said before. Working towards Jounin, where I'll be one of the Hokage's bodyguards, and then I'll get to ANBU." Hana doubted his skill level could reach being a Hokage's bodyguard or in ANBU, but he sure sounded like it was a done deal already. Did he even realize the amount of training and sacrifice it took to reach that rank? "I've been told I just have natural talent in chakra control, and my taijutsu abilities are already like a Jounin's. Have you heard of kinniku? It's this ancient art of taijutsu that I've been getting into. Most people don't even know about it, but I've already mastered it up to Zen level. That's the ranking system within it, you see…"

He continued talking about himself some more, about what he does for training, and so on. Just on and on. She had heard of the supposed "ancient art" of kinniku, and anyone who truly trained seriously knew it was a scam. It was becoming clear to Hana he was a self-absorbed dunce, who wasn't happy unless he got to talk about himself. She started focusing on his mouth as he droned on, and how strange mouths looked when they just moved like that, nonstop. Like two little worms, curved over and moving up and down. Body parts were strange, when you really thought about it. It was much more interesting than listening to how smart he was back as a Genin for figuring out some riddle faster than his teammates. She wondered what she found so physically attractive about him before.

The waitress came back to hand them their checks, and Hana almost hugged her.

"I just wanted to say, you have the most beautiful smile," Shun said to the girl, as he took his check.

"Really?" she giggled shyly, clearly succumbing to the man's looks and charm. That fake dimpled grin. "Thank you." She suddenly stopped smiling when she looked back at Hana, probably feeling a bit of shame for accepting flirtations from a guy in front of his date. Not that Hana cared at this point. She raised the glass containing the last of her sake to her lips and finished it off.

"I'm pretty popular with the ladies," he boasted, grinning as he turned back to her. "I guess you couldn't resist, either, when you asked me out."

Hana groaned, slamming the glass back down. Enough was enough. "Ugh, yeah. This date is definitely over. Don't contact me ever." She left money to pay her bill and walked out.


"How was your date?" asked Kiba, seeing Hana trudge in.

She shot him a look that gave him an indication of how the date went even before she spoke. "It sucked," Hana replied. "We just didn't hit it off at all. It was a bunch of awkward silences until he started talking about himself endlessly for the rest of the date. Only the sake got me through it. He looked good, but that's all he's got going for him."

"Hey, you never know unless you try."

"Dating sucks. I hate it."

"Not like I have much better luck, you know," said Kiba. "At least you're not a guy and socially expected to be the one doing all the asking out and getting rejected."

"Hey I did ask him out," Hana retorted. "But you're right. I guess if you had boobs it might improve your chances of getting a 'yes.'"

"That must be what I'm missing."

Hana laughed as she busied herself with grabbing a drink from the fridge.

"So what happened?" Kiba asked, turning around to her direction. "Why did it suck so bad?"

"You want to hear all the gory details?" She handed him a beer. "Come on, join me," she said, as he took her offer. "I still want to have fun tonight."


She was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol that she had drunk throughout the night when she neared the end of her recount of the doomed date. "By the end he was flirting with the waitress!" she exclaimed as if she were a great distance away, though Kiba wasn't more than five feet from her. She always got loud when she drank. "I mean, really! At least wait until I fucking leave. He probably left with her afterwards."

"What an ass," Kiba replied, woozily. Akamaru growled in agreement. "Sounds like a real loser."

"Oh, I know," Hana said vehemently. "After tonight, there will be no mention of his loser butt. This is the last time I base my impression based on looks alone." She pet Yami's head, who had ventured into the room with the other Haimaru Brothers after hearing the racket of her and Kiba's conversation, wanting to be around their human.

Sure, she wasn't going to talk about Shun after this, but that didn't mean she wasn't feeling disappointed that yet again, a date hadn't gone well. Again, someone didn't find Hana a possible partner, and she didn't find her date worthy either. She just wanted someone she could have a good conversation with. Why was he so damn hard to find? Kiba seemed to notice her melancholy mood, as his next comment was a lot gentler.

"Hana, don't worry about it. You're smart, funny, accomplished…I mean, you run that hospital day in and day out. I've seen how insane it gets there, but you handle it all," Kiba mused. He usually wasn't this saccharine to his sister but he figured the time called for it, especially with how her confidence must have not been so high right about now. "You're a bit annoying sometimes, I gotta be honest, but some guy out there will be able to appreciate it all, someday. Just give it time."

He looked up from his drink to find his slightly drunk sister with the goofiest smile on her face.

"Aww!" she crooned, loud as ever. She looked scary.

"No!" he squeaked, fidgeting around when he realized what was about to happen. He always felt like a little kid around her. "Get away!"

It was a futile attempt to escape her strong grasp, as his coordination was slightly off from the alcohol. Akamaru was jumping around, barking and growling in over excitement at the commotion, wanting to join in on the fun.

Hana planted a big kiss on Kiba's cheek, smushing the poor teenager's face in a very painful squeeze.

"My baby brooother!" she sang, holding his head in a headlock. "So sweet to his nee-chaaan!"

"Getoffame," was his muffled response.

"You're the best brother, you know that?" She did a final head ruffle before releasing him.

"I know, I'm awesome," he snapped, rubbing his red cheeks to relieve the pain. He was clearly annoyed. "Fuckin' damn it, Hana. You know I hate that!"

"I know," she smirked evilly.

"It still hurts!"

"Geez, stop whining."


The next day, Hana was busy preparing dinner, as was the tradition when her mother was out on a mission. Her mother was supposed to return any moment now, and Hana wanted to make sure a meal was ready for the certain-to-be-ravenous matriarch. She wasn't a spectacular cook, but of the things she knew how to put together, she did it pretty well. Kiba was worse, as much as she tried to involve him in the cooking now that he wasn't a little boy anymore. It wasn't as if he wouldn't be able to do it, he just didn't have the patience to wait for everything to finish cooking, and would end up getting distracted doing something else to help pass the time. This led to many a mishap—charring the food until it was black, actually having the meal catch on fire, etc.—so no one asked him to make dinner anymore. Hana made sure he washed every last dish afterwards though, just to make it clear he wasn't going to have it easy, and that cooking and cleaning were mens' duties too. He was good at many other things, however, and worked diligently in his training, showing he had discipline at least in that, so Hana didn't worry too much. Right now he was outside doing drills in a workout routine he'd made himself, and making sure Akamaru and the Haimaru got their exercise for the day.

A few minutes later she heard the front door open and close, which signaled her mother had finally returned. Hana heard the sniffing before she saw the elder woman and her loyal ninken, Kuromaru, round the corner into the kitchen.

"Look at that, it's like my daughter can read my mind!" Tsume called out to Kuromaru, so Hana could hear. "Wasn't I just saying I could use some beef stew right about now?"

"Mmmm," Kuromaru replied. "You sure did, Senpai. A perfect way to return from a mission, if I do say so myself."

Hana laughed as she greeted the two. "I presume I timed dinner perfectly also? I'll go call Kiba and the hounds."

After everyone had finished eating the home-cooked meal, a tired Kiba declared he was going to wash up and head to bed early, and Akamaru followed suit. Kuromaru chose to rest by the fireplace in the living room, in his favorite spot. Her Haimaru Brothers lied down around the kitchen, calmly resting and enjoying the moment of calmness. That left Tsume and Hana at the table, and it was clear Tsume was itching to know more about how the Ibiki-Kiba-Hana team mission went.

"He's infuriating!" Hana blurted out when Tsume asked her about her impression of working with Morino Ibiki. "And extremely paranoid, and possibly insane. Though yes, he is competent as a captain, and does know what he's doing. I didn't expect that he'd make so many jokes though. As long as it's at your expense, he seems to be quite the unwanted comedian."

Tsume cackled. "Yep, sure sounds like him!"

"But we got through it, and in the end the mission was a success. We got our guy."

"See? That's great! I had my doubts, but seems Morino was on to something there," Tsume replied. "He isn't so bad, right? He'll give you some trouble, sometimes make you want to pull your hair out, but all in all he's ok." She muttered the next sentence. "So long as you don't find yourself in one of his cells." Then Tsume laughed, slapping her daughter on her back proudly. "I knew you could handle the crazy, though."

"Just barely. You know he did this weird thing where he just stared at me really hard and started rambling about what mental and personality issues I had. Called it a 'character dissection.'"

Tsume groaned, looking sympathetic. "He did that to me too, back in the day. Didn't talk to him for a month, I was so pissed. What kind of term is that, character dissection? He thinks he's bein' so smart."

"I was pissed," Hana agreed. "This was the first night of the mission too."

"Oi, just what'd he say to you, anyway? He can dish it to me, but no one messes with MY daughter."

Hana suddenly felt shy. "Oh you know, just stuff. It doesn't matter anymore, he apologized," she rushed out sheepishly, waving her hand in the air dismissively. She hoped Tsume wouldn't push the subject further. Even if Hana hadn't agreed with everything in Ibiki's assessment, there were shades of truth in it and she didn't want to start talking about it with her mother. And to be honest, Hana felt slightly worried about just what the Inuzuka Clan Head might do to Morino. When Tsume issued a threat, the woman followed through.

"Bastard! He didn't apologize to me back then!" Tsume exclaimed, banging her fist on the table. "Now I'm really mad, he's gonna hear it from me later. Oh, next time I see him…"

Hana sighed in relief as Tsume seemed to concentrate on muttering obscenities at an absent Ibiki rather than continuing to question her. She smiled at the image of her mother, getting riled up more and more on the subject, now bringing up past annoyances between her and Interrogation captain. She was sure she heard "gift basket" and "ungrateful" somewhere in there. It gave Hana a rush of endearment for her mother, and reminded her of something she'd been wanting to say to her since having that talk with Ibiki, but hadn't been able to until now with Tsume having been gone on a mission.

"Hey, Mom?"

Tsume stopped her cursing rant and looked with interest at Hana, who had just stood up to head back to finish some work before bed.

"I love you." Hana leaned down and hugged Tsume, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"What's up with you?" her mother questioned dubiously, but her expression exposed how she'd been touched by the gesture. Tsume had never been one for showing much physical affection, though Hana knew she secretly appreciated it nonetheless.

"Just thank you for everything you've done, for being my mom," Hana replied. "I don't think I say that enough, so I'm saying it now."

"Did you catch of whiff of the laughing gas again?" Tsume joked in return. "Go back to work, silly."

But Hana could notice the pleased smile on her mother's face before she left the room.


Ibiki sat in the waiting room before the Hokage's office. Being in his high position he usually was given priority in meeting with the Hokage over others scheduled in the day, lest they out-ranked him, but it still required some delay due to the great demand for the Godaime's time.

He was running through his head what he should say this time to convince Tsunade to allow him to at last form the special operations team he'd wanted for so long. Should he compliment her on her radiant look this morning, or these comfortable new chairs in her waiting room? No, she'd see right through that. This visit was already different than the previous ones had been, he might not even need to use the superfluous antics. He had seen her immediately after the completion of the previous mission, to inform her they had succeeded in apprehending their objective, Onbin Kairai. She had been pleased at the success, but still unsure as to whether this meant anything substantial. Now, he had hard evidence to support himself. He felt both victorious at his vindication, and distressed at the implications of what this finding meant.

In his questioning of Onbin, he had encountered an unnerving development, something very serious that could no longer be ignored. Surely when Tsunade heard this she would allow him to move forward with the investigation, especially considering the success his mission with Hana and Kiba had been. Considering he actually had obtained vital information from the capture of Onbin, it led credence to his ability to seek out real threats that others overlooked. Hopefully Tsunade would recognize this. She'd have to be an idiot to disregard him this time, and Tsunade was no idiot.

It was then that he was called in by Shizune, as the Hokage was ready to see him.

"Well good morning, Morino. What's your request this time?"

"Good morning, Hokage," he greeted, before launching into the rest of his spiel. "I've come to report to you the latest development in my investigation of Onbin Kairai."

"You've uncovered some information?"

"Oh yes, I've uncovered a lot," he said. "It's more about what I haven't uncovered. What I'm not able to uncover."

"I'm not following."

"Somehow, when I was probing Onbin's mind, there was one facet I could not touch. It was as if some sort of barrier was placed on that area specifically so I could not access it." Ibiki recalled the pain and confusion he felt whenever he tried to break the barrier, as if it had a genjutsu designed to disallow him the concentration he needed to control his chakra enough to complete his technique. It wasn't as if the barrier itself was that sophisticated, so he didn't think the entire secret of his ninjutsu was compromised. He'd be able to break through it eventually. What concerned him more was what it meant to have a non-ninja possess such a barrier in his mind, which was impossible unless another ninja had been involved. Someone was testing this new jutsu out, with Onbin as his guinea pig, possibly to use it for larger, more foreboding purposes.

He looked at her gravely. "This can only mean one thing: Someone with access to at least some parts of how my jutsu works has been able to cultivate a genjutsu to counteract my technique, and placed it within a civilian. Access to that information can only come from one place, here in Konohagakure. From these headquarters."

She stared at him over her folded hands, unable to hide her shock. "Hmm, yes, this is very serious…" She seemed deep in thought, her brow furrowed in concern.

"I request permission to move further in investigating this matter."

"Permission granted. What do you need?"

"I'll need the services of Yamanaka Inoichi, to see if this barrier affects his jutsu as well, or if it is specific to mine."

"Not a problem. I'll summon him this afternoon."

Ibiki thought he'd try his luck. "And I request to have the ability to assemble a special operations team to assist this investigation, should I need it. In light of the success of Onbin Kairai's capture and the subsequent information gained from it, I also request use of this team for further investigation into other areas of interest I've uncovered in my interrogations."

She stayed quiet for a while after he finished speaking, before finally sighing. "Considering the gravity of the situation, I'll grant you the team. I know you've been itching for that for a while, and now it seems more appropriate than ever. I'm wary about the information you've uncovered, so we have to monitor this closely to make sure it's not a more dangerous situation that requires a more advanced team, however.

"Once you have assembled your team, you will report their names to me. As for mission rank, B-rank and lower only. Absolutely no mission, under no circumstances, can be done without discussing it with me first. You must have my approval. NO EXCEPTIONS!" She suddenly barked the last part.

The twinge of excitement and anticipation was brewing inside of him at the Hokage's acquiescence. She didn't sound completely enthusiastic about the plan, but considering her prior hesitance he was going to take what he could get. For months he'd been working to win her over, to no avail. She was a tough one to crack. Finally, finally, he could get at least somewhere with all the findings he'd uncovered over the years, especially this newest development.

"I know you, Morino, how you like to bend the rules," she warned sternly. "So I'm making sure it's crystal clear that I am not playing around."

Damn, Tsunade sure was digging into him today. But he was much too pleased about the outcome of their meeting to feel defensive about it. "Understood."

"It better be. You're dismissed."


Hana heard the front door of the front office of the hospital open and close. She didn't immediately look up, as she was in the middle of writing her latest report on an injured horse recently admitted, but instinctively greeted the customer. Usually visitors would show up either for services from the hospital, like when Hatake Kakashi brought in his ninken for checkups (to which she'd have to endure either loud protests and howls from Akino and the others when she had to give them shots or flirtations from Pakkun about if she was impressed by his pink paws, and if she'd ever encountered such perfection in other dogs), or to visit the dog shelter to find a new companion to adopt. Kiba was in charge of the shelter, where they rehabilitated rescued, injured or neglected dogs. If he was off on a mission, other members of the Inuzuka clan helped out. She finished writing and looked up, surprised to find the visitor was Yamanaka Ino.

"Ino?" she said in surprise. She had never spoken much to Ino in the past, only occasionally through running into her at the flower shop or around town and in Kiba's circle of friends. Hana had also encountered her when she went to the Medic Academy to renew her veterinary license, when Ino was undergoing training to become a medic-nin. She remembered congratulating Ino in her desire to learn medical ninjutsu. She wondered what the blonde was up to now, it had been quite a while since that time. Hana had always gotten along with her, but they were only acquaintances at most. Last time she saw her, she didn't own a pet, but perhaps that changed and she required Hana's services.

"Hey, Hana!" Ino greeted, flashing a smile. "How are you doing?"

Hana smiled back, though she was still a bit confused about the purpose of Ino's visit. "I'm doing well, thanks. How are you doing?"

Ino sighed dramatically. "Oh you know, living life day by day."

"Are you here to see Kiba?" Hana implored. "I think he may be in the back if he didn't sneak off somewhere to shirk his duties."

"Yeah, that would be what he'd do, right? Must be why he and Shikamaru get along so well," Ino rolled her eyes. Hana smiled at the mention of Ino's old teammate. Sometimes she'd interact with the Naras when she needed certain medications, but not often since they primarily made medicines for humans. "I'll talk to him later. I'm actually here to see you."

Well that caught Hana's attention. "Really? What for?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I've been having some issues in my life," she began, pausing before adding in a whisper, "In the 'love department.'"

"Ok…what's up?"

"I need advice on how to get a man's attention!" she said. "Every time I like a guy, he doesn't like me back. It's horrible!" Her face had a look of distress for a moment, and then suddenly brightened. "And then I thought, 'How many women do I know that are just a little bit older and really cool, and an expert in attracting men, and could give me some tips? I know! It has to be Kiba's sister, Inuzuka Hana!'"

Hana laughed loudly at that. Was Ino being serious? It was sweet but…a little out of the blue, and the compliments were being slathered on pretty heavily. "I'd like to help, but I'm afraid you came to the wrong place, Ino. Although thank you for calling me 'cool.'"

"What do you mean, the wrong place?"

"I mean, I'm definitely not an expert with attracting men," Hana sighed. "Just had a horrible date, in fact. So life goes. The best piece of advice I can give you is to not make your goal merely 'attracting a man.' Do that and you'll always be changing who you are to please others. Make your goal 'staying true to yourself' and you'll attract the man that values who you are and is most compatible."

She honestly didn't know if that would work either, but that's the philosophy she was sticking to, so might as well share it. It did sound good. It hadn't worked so far but maybe she had to stick to it longer until she did find that compatible man—at least she hoped.

"Wow, that's great advice," Ino praised. "I knew I was right in coming to you."

There was a loll in the conversation, and although Hana had answered Ino's question, it didn't seem like the girl was intending to leave soon.

"I heard you just successfully completed a mission with Morino Ibiki," she declared, playing with the flowers in the vase on the counter. "Ooh, orchids. Nice choice."

She was starting to get the feeling Ino was getting closer to her main objective, as Hana had felt a doubt that the gorgeous Yamanaka Ino needed advice on how to attract a man's attention.

"Yes, I did," Hana replied carefully, but trying to keep the pleasant tone of a small-talk conversation. "Where did you happen to hear that?"

"Oh, word out on the street," she said simply. "What did you think of it?"

"What, the mission?" Hana was suspicious, but she figured she'd keep answering the questions to see where this was going. Ino didn't seem too concerned about her queries coming off as shady. "It was…interesting. Though I could do without Morino's mind games, I did enjoy being back on a mission. It's not often I get to do that."

"That's great!" Ino seemed overjoyed at her response. Almost too overjoyed. There was obviously something Ino wasn't telling her, and Hana figured this would be a good time to end the blonde's visit. She really did still have a lot of work to complete before day's end, anyway.

"So I guess overall, I enjoyed it," Hana said, with the urgency of ending a conversation. "I don't expect it to happen again for a long time though. It was nice chatting with you, Ino, but I really should be getting back to wor—"

"But you have to admit you were intrigued by it, right?" Ino pushed, hastily interrupting the elder girl. "Makes you a bit curious as to how things will turn out with Onbin? Itching to get back into combat?"

Hana raised an eyebrow. How did Ino know about Onbin? "What do you want, Ino?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"Word out on the street told you the mission's objective was Onbin Kairai, too?"

Hana began walking away. "Ok ok!" Ino protested at Hana's motion, realizing her deep mistake. "Ibiki sent me here. I'm under his apprenticeship to master interrogation and gathering intelligence. Keeping up with the Yamanaka tradition," she finished proudly as she winked. Her tone for the next statement however was a bit more sarcastic. "On my way to getting promoted to Tokujou, if I can please his Highness."

There it was, the confession of why Ino was really here. So Ibiki was behind it, after all. That sneak. When she told him not to come to her office, she didn't mean to send his underlings instead.

"And just why would Ibiki send you here?"

Ino smirked. "It's actually quite exciting. It's been an idea he's wanted to implement for a while," she began. "To form a special operations team."

"A special operations team? For what?"

"For various things," Ino replied vaguely. "I can't tell you specifics since you haven't agreed to anything, but there are a lot of findings he's uncovered during his interrogations. This team's purpose would be to track down and capture various people of serious interest, or to figure out unsolved crimes. He was quite impressed with you on your last mission. The man's slightly off his rocker, but he does have a good judge of character, which is why he wants you to join his team. You should take it as a compliment."

There was a sound of a door opening and someone walking into the room. "Hana, do you know where—?" The question Kiba had been asking faltered as he caught sight of their visitor.

"Oh!" Ino feigned surprise as she turned around. "Hi, Kiba." She leaned back against the counter, strategically positioned so her breasts were up front and center. Hana rolled her eyes as she could practically see her brother drooling over the bombshell kunoichi. The girl sure knew how to use her assets. Like that, it would be a cinch for Ino to convince Kiba to do anything.

Hana could sense the shift in Kiba's demeanor. He ran his hand through his hair, obviously trying to look cool and aloof. "Hey, Ino. What brings you around here?"

"Just having a chat with your sister," she replied, sounding as innocent as ever. She turned around then to Hana and quickly whispered, "Think about it!" before turning back to Kiba.

"You want to go for some lunch, Kiba? I've got something to ask you…"

Kiba looked positively elated as he instantly agreed, walking out with the pretty girl as she giggled over something he said.

Oh no, Hana thought, realizing Ibiki must be extending an offer to her brother as well. Well, with Ino doing the talking, he's certainly got Kiba.


As suspected, Kiba did agree to Ibiki's offer, as long as it didn't interfere with his own missions. This left Hana as the lone focus, and Ino seemed intent on getting Hana's assent as well.

And boy, was Ino intent.

"I brought you some cookies!" Ino asked on her second visit, offering Hana a bag of cookies tied up with pretty bow. She grinned. "Have you made your decision yet?"

"Yes, and my decision is 'no.'"

"Ok, well, let's not rush into anything binding," Ino replied, waving her hands in the air as she ignored Hana's response. "I'm going to leave these cookies with you, and you can just sleep on it and tell me what you think once you've mulled it over some more."

Ino kept to her word, increasing her visits from once a day to multiple times a day. Every time Hana heard that little bell ring on the front door ring, she dreaded the overly chipper "Hellooo!" or "Hana!" call. Ino would even wait until Hana finished with her patient—hours later—to ask the same question of whether she made her decision yet. It was clear nothing but an answer of "Yes" would be acceptable. Even Kiba got involved.

"Why don't you want to join Ibiki's special ops team?" he asked her one day, as she was in her office. "Sounds like an awesome deal, if you ask me."

"Because I don't care for it," Hana replied, though even she knew it was a lie. She really didn't have that good of a reason to not want to do it, other than not wanting Ibiki to get his way so easily. It sounded petty, because it was. She was also highly perturbed at his tactics to recruit her. "I have a lot of work here already I need to do, so I don't have time to spare for a team."

"You're so stubborn."

"And you're so easily influenced," she retorted. "Oh, Ino, yes I'll go to lunch with you." She finished with a dramatic motion as if she were grabbing her heart.

He blushed. "I would've joined anyway, without her," he muttered, his eye twitching in annoyance. But after that didn't continue pushing the subject and left her alone.


It had been another week and Hana marched her way through the town to the Konoha Interrogation and Torture Department. Ino had made her visit again today, and it was at this point that Hana decided she'd had enough. Ibiki was damn persistent. She knew what he was doing, and he wouldn't accept her answer of "no" unless she came in person and told it to him herself. She had never been inside the building, and had only seen the tall, gray, ominous structure's exterior when she had passed by it on her way to the main square of Konoha, and when they had brought Onbin Kairai as its next prisoner. The brown stone wall that lined the perimeter of the building read "Konoha Intelligence Division" at the entrance, and though the sign itself was unembellished and nothing special, its simplicity and plainness actually made it look even more off-putting.

She walked into the premises and glanced around. There seemed to be two sides to the building; one was labelled "Intelligence Division" and the other "Interrogation and Torture Division." She approached to the receptionists' desk in the direction of the latter sign, where two Chuunin shinobi, one female and one male, sat, seemingly quite bored and emotionless by the lack of excitement of the slow day. The male had been standing and leaning lazily against the wall, arms crossed. He looked maybe just a bit older than Kiba, with a tall and thin frame, strong jawline, pale skin, and straight, dark brown hair that he slicked back in a low ponytail that reached past his shoulders. His mouth was in a constant scowl, which made him look unattractive despite his otherwise attractive features. The female was sitting at the desk, resting her head in her hand, and looked about the same age the boy. She was pretty, with brown skin and big, dark eyes that matched her short chin-length black hair parted down the middle, except for a single streak of red dyed on the right side of her head. She seemed to have a much better temperament than her partner. Hana had no idea just what was supposed to be done in the Torture and Interrogation Division when prisoners weren't being "interrogated and tortured," but it didn't seem like these two were in any haste to get any work done. They seemed to be in mid-conversation until they were interrupted by a fiery woman with a disgruntled look on her face and a tone to match.

"I need to see Morino Ibiki."

The boy replied rudely, an eyebrow raised. "And who are you?"

"Inuzuka Hana, daughter of Clan Head Inuzuka Tsume, and Konoha's renowned Medic-nin veterinarian. Who are you?"

He glared at her, and that's when the girl decided to speak.

"If you don't have an appointment, he's unfortunately very pressed with a deadline for important business and is quite sorry to not meet with you," she said, a bit more polite but still artificial. It sounded like a rehearsed expression she said to multiple people each day ad nauseum. And hell if Ibiki would ever be sorry about such a thing.

"Oh I have an appointment, all right," she retorted. "It's called retribution for interrupting my work. I'm not leaving until I meet him, so either you call him, or I'll just walk up there myself. I'll bang on every one of these doors if I have to."

The girl and boy exchanged hesitant looks and the girl shrugged. Nobody ever seemed this eager about meeting with Morino, much less a young, attractive woman who seemed relatively familiar with the ANBU captain. The boy still looked sour but the girl seemed intrigued. She clicked on a certain button on the intercom and dialed a number.

"Pardon me, Morino-san," she began formally when a deep voice, with a hint of grouchiness, answered on the speaker. "You have a visitor." She glanced at Hana. "An Inuzuka Hana."

She could practically taste the smugness in Ibiki's voice as the news sunk in. "Well, well. Send her right in, Mikazuki-san."


Hana barged into Morino Ibiki's office without knocking and found the man sitting calmly at his desk, busying himself with some paperwork or other. He seemed unfazed by the theatrics.

"Stop sending Ino to do your dirty work."

"I knew Ino would get you to come in," he smirked. "And good morning to you too."

"Yes, she did," Hana replied. "But only so I could tell you my answer is 'No, I won't join your team,' and to stop harassing me at work. She won't leave me alone! And I know it's because you're behind it all."

"That's probably because I told her it was possible I wouldn't promote her if she didn't succeed in making you come in." He scratched his chin, unaffected. "I didn't mean it, but sometimes you need to scare people a bit to get the results you want. Eh, she'll get over it."

That explained why Ino had been so relentless. The man had scared the girl half to death with the threat of not getting promoted.

"Well you've scared her enough. Her interruptions have started to affect my productivity at work."

"That certainly wasn't my intent," he appealed, though Hana had the feeling he was just working his shamanism that smoothly molded others to his side. "I understand you have a lot of work to do, and respect that. I recall a certain someone telling me not to visit, and I was inclined to believe you meant it. I knew there was no other way to get you to have a serious discussion about my offer unless it was done by someone else." He looked at her straight on. "I want you on my team, Hana. I need top-notch trackers that I can trust, and I feel those characteristics lie within the Inuzukas."

"Oh…well…thank you," she sputtered out, not having an immediate response to that. Ibiki was good. Hana honestly had been flattered by the praise, though she wasn't going to admit it, and was starting to worry that Ibiki was succeeding in winning her over. She tried to regain herself by changing the subject. "By the way, you're 'quite sorry' not to meet with people? What kind of bullshit is that?"

"I thought that was a nice touch, myself. It's cut down a lot on pesky visitors. Mikazuki-san and Ensho-san are quite good at what they do, one of their tasks being making me as unavailable as possible. I've gone days not having to talk to anybody."

"I'm sure it's effective."

"Not on you, though, it looks like."

She wasn't in the mood for his jocularity. "I'm busy with work," Hana continued. "How would we find time to do these missions anyway? Am I supposed to be at your beck and call whenever you want me to be?"

"You are a kunoichi first and foremost, are you not? You have your duties to your clan and to your work, but when it comes to missions you make time for your duties as a shinobi. It's the same concept. As for time, it's not going to be a frequent occurrence, think eh…once a month, maybe less. Twice a month at most if the missions are short enough."

"What about you? Aren't you always occupied with business? All the threats in world you need to pursue with a vengeance?"

"All the threats in the world is precisely why I'm doing this," he swiftly replied. "My captives aren't going anywhere—they'll be sitting right where I left them once I come back. I assure you, Hana, that I will not require your commitment unless it's for worthwhile reasons. It's not so much as my personal team as it is a team to complete important missions that fall through the gaps of red tape. We won't nearly be able to crack the surface of them, but at least it's a start."

"And what about Tsunade? Would she ever agree to let you do this?"

He looked self-congratulatory. "She already approved it." He rested his head onto his folded hands. "Every mission I propose must go through her first. So truly, you aren't doing this for me, but are being called by the Hokage herself. What else you got?"

Her mouth dropped, dumbfounded. Tsunade actually agreed to make this team a real thing? She could hardly believe it. She felt a mixture of disgruntlement for knowing her fight was coming to an end (Ibiki steadily knocking down every possible barrier she could think of) and excitement for what it meant to be a part of a combat team again. She had to admit the idea of it was enticing. Maybe she just didn't want to see the satisfaction on Ibiki's face, but she wasn't going down without a fight.

She leaned over his desk, her hands planted apart firmly on its surface as she confronted him head-on—a feral wolf not backing down from the battle with the bloodthirsty bear. "And what makes you think you can get me to agree to it?"

"Because," he said, leaning in to meet her challenge, eyes to eyes. "I know you want to."

She swallowed. She hadn't been expecting him to lean in closer like that. Damn him. She could see every detail in his face, all his imperfections, his scars, pores, beard stubble. He hadn't shaved that morning, and it showed, though he didn't seem to have the capability of growing a fuller beard than the sparse coating of hair that lined his chin. He had a light sheen of sweat on his face, caused by the humidity in the stuffy office, and all those layers of clothing he insisted on wearing. How the hell did he put up with such uncomfortable conditions? There were slight wrinkles around his eyes and mouth that had begun to form on his face even at his thirty-two years of age, probably from all the stress he'd endured every day and all that frowning he did. He wasn't a handsome man, though his countenance was interesting, in a morbid curiosity kind of way. His face itself was a story.

She wondered how many people had been this close to his face before, and what their intentions had been for being that close. Maybe it had been a lover, poised to make her first move in an amorous encounter. What kind of woman had it been to break through the cynical shell of the man and reach his heart? Was that even possible, or had Ibiki once been a more tender person, years ago? Perhaps it had been an enemy, thirsting for revenge. Who had carved those scars on his face, teeming with such hate to cut them so deep and protracted, drawn-out like a macabre painting as a constant reminder of the torture? A permanent branding.

Hana knew her mind was wandering. She was losing conviction. How long had they been here, staring at each other like two beasts defending their territories? The silence was stifling. She had exhausted all her futile rebuttals, and the bear had won…this time. She just had to remove herself from the situation as quickly as possible before he noticed how flustered she was getting from the closeness.

"You're insufferable."

"Welcome to Team Ibiki, Inuzuka Hana."


A/N: And so it begins...;). What's making Hana so flustered, hm? What kind of hijinks will this crazy author put her through? It's so fun writing the banter between Hana and Ibiki. Also, I tried to make Hana's date awkward and uncomfortable enough, so I hope it turned out ok. Please review! I appreciate any and all feedback, it lets me know what you are thinking. What's good, what's bad, what needs improvement, what you'd like to happen, what stuff was effective, what wasn't..should I keep listing things uncontrollably? I think I'll spare you. Anyhow, see you all next chapter!