Disclaimer:Hi! This is Scholar of Time and I own -!
shuriken fly across room, leaving an outline of Scholar of Time on the wall behind him
- absolutely nothing! Me, own something? No WAY! voice breaks
"Westen-sempai….somehow I expected to see you again."
There were few things in life that surprised Madeline Westen on a continual basis – every once in a while, something might crop up that was out of the ordinary but after an initial shock she usually reverted back to her aloof, sarcastic nature. As she considered that, Madeline mentally tallied up those items: the incompetency of the Shinobi Council (not that she'd ever say that), the seeming determination of every kage to die in an all-out battle against a so-called 'invincible foe', and one Morino Ibiki. Madeline had met Ibiki a long time ago, when he was still a genin so new that his headband was still cold on his forehead. 'I was pursuing some missing-nin or another, not that it mattered', she thought,' Ibiki might admit that everyone breaks, but he sure as hell can keep his cards close to his vest. I could tell that right off.' Madeline had sponsored Ibiki in the Torture & Interrogation department once he became a jounin; his previous experience with being tortured and retaining control of the situation had counted in his favor, but in the end it was her first experience with him that gave her the confidence to speak on his behalf.
~Flashback~
'This sucks! How is painting a fence going to improve my ninja skill? This is a training field, I should be training!" quietly grumbled the young Morino, "D-ranks are a waste of time, especially this one! Teamwork's supposed to be the whole point in Konoha, but we're out here painting warnings on training field fences so far apart you'd think the other end was in Kaze no Kuni!"
The Forest of Death stretched outwards in every direction on the opposite side of the fence, with the forests adjoining it appearing almost as small bushes in comparison to the depth and darkness of the deadly woods. Continuing his grumbling, the frustrated genin remained unaware of the war of stealth & attrition taking place above his head in the trees.
'Just two more branches, idiot-san, and I've got you,' thought the infamous trap-maker & interrogator Madeline Westen. Her focus remained completely on the faster of the two missing-nin, each of whom was attempting to take S-ranked scrolls from the ANBU department to their masters in Iwa. Even as she barreled after them, her footfalls were completely obscured by the ambient noise of the forest, and the battle in which she was engaged remained completely silent. No jutsu were used by the missing-nin, save that which would remain on the lowest detectable level of chakra consumption. Likewise, Madeline reserved her strength – ninja may use jutsu often, but she was more than well-equipped in the traditional fashion of ninja-to-ninja combat requiring absolute concentration and usage of delicate skill. Her own reason for keeping the battle quiet was the potential for scandal; the ANBU would not appreciate their weaknesses being pointed out in such a blatant manner. Should the infiltrators be captured, their identities and how they managed ingress into one of the most secure facilities in Konoha would inevitably leak out. Their method would be neutralized, but such data would allow for the estimation of what and where the 'blindspots' of the ANBU security were. That could not be allowed.
The genin below was unaware of any of these machinations or concerns, still coming to grips with the dull side of the shinobi life in the modern age. He was close to fulfilling his mission in any case, as there were only two more posts to cover with chakra-reflective paint and one more warning flag to tie to the fence-wire. As he reached into the bucket he had been given for carrying the flags, an unexpected guest decided to 'drop in'. The sudden crash of the flaming tree branch, complete with flash-fried missing-nin still attached, brought Ibiki to a simple conclusion – there was an active mission going on, and he should run for the nearest jounin in order to render safe the area. As Ibiki stood staring at the fight above him, he fully realized that that was what he should do but between the dead-nin that had just destroyed his fence and his bucket – Missing-nin Prick! – and the 'dogfight' above his head his curiosity had stopped him in place better than any paralyzing jutsu. Just as he began to recover his senses, both living shinobi vanished from his sight. 'Now where did they go?,' he wondered.
'Not that I really want to know, ' he clarified mentally, realizing that their return could easily mean his death. Unluckily, his first question was given more concern by the universe than his later addition to it. The last – now late – missing-nin suddenly appeared before him…staked to a kawarimi log in mid-jutsu.
Ibiki began to run, but was stopped by the leaf-symbol on the hitai-ate of both the victims and the perpetrator who had appeared next to the latest corpse. Shifting his bodyweight to a more stable stance, he cried out to the jounin.
"Oi, Crazy-sama! Who the hell are you lady? Why the hell are all of you wearing leaf-nin forehead protectors, and why did you kill them? You'd better tell me now, or face the consequences!"
Madeline, who was simultaneously impressed with the boy's calm at an extremely unexpected situation and furious at his disobedience to protocol, merely cocked a rakish eye at him. With her hands on his throat and wrapping his arm around his back respectively a second later, she replied to his questions.
"First off, I'm nobody you need to know about. Secondly, traitors and infiltrators won't be tolerated in Konoha. Thirdly….you know and I know that you should have gotten a Jounin – even if I probably would have cut you into nigiri sushi as soon as you turned your back. That one, I want an answer to…"
At first, Ibiki could only think of how fast she had been, and a few milliseconds later on how he would explain his actions to what must be a high-ranking shinobi.
Ibiki's stuttering attempts at speech eventually cleared, and his answer was; "If I ran, you might have gotten away – but by challenging you when I knew you'd be able to kill me I was able to make some noise that might give you away, as well as plant an exploding tag on you."
Westen's shock at this answer was nothing compared to finding out that the child-like genin had placed an exploding tag inside each of his fists, which were currently facing her.
"….Kid, when you grow up…I think you'll be a fine ninja…just don't end up in my department!" she spoke as she, with reluctant respect, handed him her identification papers and authorizations for the kill/capture mission, all details naturally absent.
"What department is that?", Ibiki asked curiously as he quickly scanned the document and faced her with an odd combination of an awed expression and a deadly glare.
"Torture and Interrogation – so you'd better understand that when I say this mission and those two corpses stay off the books on Hokage's orders, I mean to fulfill my duty first and clean up corpses later," Madeline whispered through creepily-smiling teeth.
Ibiki, much to her surprise, responded only with a simple "Hai!" – and then began burning the corpses.
~ Flashback ends ~
"The years have been kind to you, Westen-sempai! Had I known you were in such fine condition, I would have had you reinstated…or at the very least, asked you for dinner, " Ibiki stated with a grin.
"Cut the crap, gaki," Madeline declared, "I'm the one who taught you how to put people off-guard with that whole 'creepy-sweetness' routine – don't make me use that face I showed young 'Yamato' how to do…."
As Ibiki shuddered, well-aware of how well that glare worked with her combination of rounded and angular features, he reflected that perhaps he should get to the point, and quickly at that.
"Very well. Getting to the heart of the matter, I suppose I should ask you how you uncovered ANBU involvement in this operation and who your sources are, but given that your record is virtually beyond reproach and …the limited level of interrogation that I'm allowed in combination with the orders the Godaime has put into place regarding your temporary re-instatement…I don't believe that will be of any use. What I am determined to find out, is why outside interference in an ANBU operation has been undertaken by your son."
The slight tightening of the eyes that might have been expected of a normal shinobi, expressing their tension over potential danger to their family was completely absent in Madeline's face; but Ibiki understood fully how much tension he was putting on her through the dilation of her pupils alone.
Madeline took a deep breath, and let it out – an obvious ploy at conversational psychological warfare which Ibiki let wash over him as he sought the truth of the micro-expressions and slight body language 'tells' that she still retained.
"My son, Michael…he's not a shinobi, and he doesn't know anything about our world – I kept him in the dark, and you'd better not say I'm not good enough to do that! I sacrificed what meant the most to me in order to complete my mission, and I was stuck where I couldn't do any political damage for my troubles. Fine! But I am and always have been loyal to Konoha! Michael got involved due to his investigation into his own affairs as a spy for the US government – don't even give me that look! He doesn't know, he's not looking into us, and I didn't tell him! He and his friends are attempting to find ''Mr. Satou" as part of their investigation into a worldwide war-mongering scheme. I asked for help because I don't want my son hurt….he and Nate are all I've got left…don't ask me to sacrifice them too…"
'A nice performance,' Ibiki contemplated, 'though a little weepy at the end…she seems loyal still, and the background I've compiled seems to match – I'd have a Yamanaka look at her, but I wouldn't trust anyone but Inoichi with Westen-sempai. Hmph…looks like my old sempai is telling the truth for the most part, though I did like that implicit acceptance of their deaths if 'Konoha' wished it…a throw-away lie like that is very bad form, though – I'll have to make sure to rub her nose in it later!'
"ANBU!"
Madeline tensed as the ANBU prepared themselves.
"Dismissed!"
Relief flooded into her veins, making the last few hours of adrenaline-suppressed weariness come crashing down on her body – but she'd be damned if she was anything less than graceful in front of Morino. The ANBU left the room through the doorway, oddly enough – very unlike their typical cocky behavior, though discipline around Morino was always a must which might explain that.
Ibiki looked at her with a considering glare, and said," Maddie-chan….let's talk."
A bit longer chapter than usual...I'm getting better at this, I think! Another review, which is nice - seems like more people are actually reading this thing and not just skipping on to it accidentally. Ja abayo!
