Political immunity

The Sand Siblings glanced at each other, and some method of silent communication seemed to pass between the threesome. They looked away, and the two elder siblings looked uncertain. Gaara kept a poker face. Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy were on the opposite side of the group, and the copy-nin decided to speak up and say what was on the mind of all three jonin-sensei.

"Just trust them." Kakashi said flatly, managing to look bored even during interrogation. "It's standard procedure anyway."

Temari nodded and introduced herself first, though giving only the bare minimum Ibiki had asked for. "I'm Temari. Jonin. I was fighting a Reanimation before getting dumped in the past, if Shika's right about the time-travel." Her shadow was white. No lies, half-truths, or blatant omissions of what Ibiki had asked for.

Kankuro went next, and while being just as paranoid as his sister, he was more open as well. "Kankuro, puppet master and jonin of the Sand Village. Something funky went on with Granny Chiyo and the Reanimation Jutsu before the... time-travel... The jutsu just kinda stopped, the zombies turned ghosty, and then they went away." He was much cruder than Temari as well. The shadow beneath his seat was an odd one though. Half-white, half-gray. Nearly everyone else assumed it had some meaning that Inoichi wasn't willing to tell them. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and added it to his analysis of the Yamanaka's jutsu.

Gaara answered after his brother, quieter and more formally than his siblings had. "I am Gaara of the Desert. I used a sand-based technique to seal away the Reanimated Second Mizukage just before I found myself in that classroom." A half-black, half-white shadow beneath his chair.

The Third Hokage sighed and spoke up. "I'd ask about the Reanimation Jutsu, but something tells me that forbidden technique is just the tip of the iceberg. Go on, each of you introduce yourselves."

Ibiki Morino, the head of ANBU's T&I Division, pointed something out about Gaara's response before any of the other drop-ins could continue. "Hold it, Gaara of the Desert." He exaggerated each syllable of the name. "What's your rank?" Though it lasted for only an instant, Ibiki could've sworn he saw the redhead smirk before answering.

"Kazekage." Was the reply.

At that, Ibiki, Sarutobi, and the clan heads were really thrown for a loop. Even the stoic, calm, and collected Hiashi Hyuuga couldn't hide a bug-eyed reaction at the title. Inoichi's jaw dropped knowing that the Suna ninja had told what he believed to be the truth. Either this kid's really the future Kazekage, or he's completely nuts.

The Third Hokage cleared his throat and somewhat nervously said. "Well, it seems you've all told the truth so far, seeing how Inoichi hasn't pointed anyone out. Let's continue."

Ibiki nodded and gestured to the jonin-sensei. "You three next."

Kakashi yawned and coolly replied in much the same manner he'd introduced himself to Team Seven three years ago. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Jonin of the Leaf Village. Before we traveled back in time, I was on a battlefield with Guy and my student Naruto, facing a man who called himself 'Tobi', and a reanimated Madara Uchiha."

At the words 'Madara Uchiha', the interrogators had a relapse of their reactions to Gaara's rank. From Neji's point of view, seeing his Uncle with his mouth wide open and Byakugan eyes bugged out was priceless.

"A-ah." The Third Hokage stuttered out. "We'll have to hear more about that later. Just... continue with the introductions for now."

Kakashi was enjoying the interrogation immensely. They might've been fighting a war just an hour ago, but he could still get some entertainment out of the time-travel business. He accepted the Nara Theory more readily than most of the others, and for some reason the thought that time-travel existed niggled the memory of filing a nearly blank mission report alongside his sensei, and Chouza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame. Ah, well.

Guy, being Guy, shouted out his name immediately. "I am the Great Green Beast of the Leaf... Guy Maito!" He assumed a nice-guy pose with a thumbs up and wide smile. A sunset-over-the-beach genjutsu appeared behind him. "Jonin-level ninja of Konoha! I was fighting the Villainous Duo of Obito and Madara Alongside my Eternal Rival, Kakashi, and his Youthful Student!" His shadow stayed grey throughout is entire exclamatory speech.

Inoichi muttered. "Genjutsu isn't supposed to be possible in here..."

"Uh, yes, thank you, Guy." Ibiki sweat-dropped and tried to move the interrogation along. He was inclined to trust the drop-in group. "Keep going with the intros."

The Wood-Style using ANBU captain went next. "I'm Yamato. Jonin. The last thing I remember before all this is being captured and brought to a cave somewhere." His shadow stayed white-colored while he spoke. Shikamaru paid extra close attention to the captain's shadow throughout his answer.

Ibiki nodded and then gestured to Team Guy, who were next to each other.

Neji was first. "I'm Neji Hyuuga. Jonin. I just escaped a trap jutsu cast by four reanimated Sound ninja." Brief and to the point.

Tenten spoke next. "I'm Tenten, a chunin. I was recovering from using a ninja tool that exhausted me. I think I'm mostly better now." She shrugged.

Lee shouted out his introduction in a way that reflected his sensei's. "I am the Second Great Green Beast of the Leaf... Rock Lee!" A nice-guy pose and sunset-beach genjutsu courtesy of Guy. "Before we landed in the Past, I was Fighting side-by-side against the Enemy with Guy-sensei!"

"Er, tracking team next." Ibiki moved the questioning along.

Hinata somewhat confusedly said. "I'm Hinata Hyuuga. I'm a chunin, and I was helping my cousin, Neji, in a fight against the Zetsu clones. I never noticed any trap jutsu..." Shikamaru and Kakashi's eyes widened at that. They'd both come to the same conclusion, and nodded to each other.

Kiba spoke next. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and unlike a certain idiot, I'm already a chunin." He teased. Naruto's indignant protests were silenced by a blow to his head, courtesy of Sakura. "No idea what Neji was talking about though, last I checked we were still trapped in that dome before we landed here." He was telling the truth.

Shino gave his introduction next. "Shino Aburame. Chunin. My comrades collapsed as a result of the trap jutsu and I used my kikaichu to keep their chakra systems running. The kikaichu-"

"Let's move this along." Ibiki interrupted. "The two from Kakashi's squad next."

While Naruto was rubbing the bump on his head from Sakura's blow, the pink-haired kunoichi answered. "I'm Sakura Haruno, a chunin medic. I... I dealt a blow to an enemy disguised as a childhood friend, just before I appeared in the classroom."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The loudmouthed blond yelled out.

"And still a genin." Kiba added teasingly.

"Shut it." Naruto said before continuing. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

"Ah-hem, continuing. Move it along." Ibiki ordered.

"Oh, right." Naruto replied. "I was with Kakashi-sensei and Bushier-Brows-sensei. We were fighting against Madara and that masked guy with three names."

Though a lot of the statements the interrogators received wasn't very clear, a picture was starting to form from the pieces they'd gotten. The one thing that was frighteningly clear though, was that the drop-in shinobi were in the middle of something big when they got pulled into the past. Their headbands were strange too, most of them didn't have a village symbol at all, instead showing the kanji for 'shinobi'. The clan heads had noticed that a while ago, but as Ibiki and the Hokage were taking charge of the questioning, they didn't bother pointing it out to the two questioners. They probably noticed them too.

"Right." Ibiki scowled. "Moving on. Ino-Shika-Chou."

"Ino Yamanaka. Chunin. I was trying my best to keep Shikamaru and Chouji alive while their minds were stuck in the trap jutsu." A quick and professional statement, and 100% truthful.

"Chouji Akamichi. I'm a chunin too. I was stuck inside the dome-shaped trap jutsu with Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba, but then Shikamaru's plan worked out, Naruto broke the jutsu, and we escaped."

Last but certainly not least was the lazy teenage jonin. "Shikamaru Nara. I'm a chunin. As Chouji said, my plan worked out and we escaped the jutsu. By the way, the flaws of this Lie Detector Jutsu are really kinda obvious."

Inoichi and Ibiki, the infamous T&I partners, stiffened. "Well, you're definitely Shikaku's kid." Inoichi said. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Kankuro." Shikamaru answered calmly. "When he answered, his truth-shadow was half white and half gray. I suspected it then, but as the interrogation went on and the more... enthusiastic... answers didn't set off the detection, I got a confirmation. This jutsu only detects lies in statements. Jokes, sarcasm, questions, exclamations, it doesn't work quite as well on anything else. The fact that this isn't a more widely used jutsu fits right in. It's a jutsu that only understands flat statements, and wouldn't be of any use on someone who already knows how it works. Am I right?"

The head of T&I nodded.

Ino blinked. "You know, I never knew that."

A knocking sound was heard, and a voice came out of nowhere. It was Danzo. "Lord Hokage, I know you are questioning the impostor shinobi in your office. Open the door."

The Third Hokage sighed wearily. Danzo had always been a problem, but how he'd known they were in his office so quickly... That cemented it, there were traitors in the ANBU. Perhaps Ibiki's theory that ROOT hadn't been wiped out had some merit to it after all. He nodded to Inoichi, and the head of the Yamanaka let his hand seal go, releasing the jutsu. They were in the Hokage's office again. Sarutobi discreetly turned off the privacy seal.

"Come in." He said.

The door creaked open and a heavily bandaged man walked in. Several members of the Konoha 11 stiffened, and a few glared at the councilman. Well, looks like Danzo isn't popular in the future... Sarutobi thought.

"The impostors will be imprisoned. That is the ruling of the council, Lord Hokage." Danzo said. Homura and Koharu stood behind him, looking like they weren't completely at ease with the decision.

Ibiki was the one who replied. "New information's come to light, Danzo." He crossed his arms and a stern expression appeared on his face. "It might be hard to believe, but we've verified that these ninja are time-travelers."

"Time-travel. Really." Danzo sneered disbelievingly, but he didn't completely dismiss the notion. "Can they offer any proof?"

"Actually, we can." Shikamaru spoke up. The clan heads looked at him disapprovingly, it really wasn't the time for a kid to add his two cents in. The time-traveling Nara continued. "But we won't. If everything we know gets out, it could mess up the time stream or something like that. Wouldn't want that, would we?"

Danzo flatly responded. "Even if this... time-travel theory is true, you'll still be arrested."

"No we won't." Shikamaru smiled knowingly.

"Really. Why not?" The bandaged man asked.

Shikamaru replied. "Political immunity."


AN: Rio here! Sorry this chapter was so badly written... it came out even worse than the last. I can't seem to fix a dialogue-centric part of the story though. I'm hoping it'll be easier to write after all the explanations are done though - which they should be within a few chapters. Please read and review!