TH: Thanks for the reviews, as usual.

Going Sideways

Chapter Fourteen

Theme: Free

"I would appreciate it," Minato drawled a little wryly, "if you didn't damage her, Kurabi-san. Since waking up after the sealing event, she has had plenty of opportunities to harm me, as well as many other important persons who have entered this office. And obviously hasn't acted upon those chances."

"That may be true, but it may also be a ruse," said Beardy—Kurabi-san. "It's a common tactic to lull one's target into a false sense of security."

"Yes," Minato allowed. "That's what I'd like you to check on. Make sure she is telling the truth when she says she won't bring harm to Konoha or its people."

"Just a standard questioning?" inquired Juyin. Minato nodded.

That might have reassured Sakura, had she known what a 'standard questioning' entailed. Still, she wanted to prove herself, and so when Kurabi, Juyin, and Ibiki stepped toward her, she held still.

"Do you understand me?" asked Kurabi. Though the Hokage had informed them that she did understand human speech, the question had a scripted sound to it. This was the start of the interrogation.

Sakura nodded firmly.

"Good," Kurabi said. He turned to Juyin. "Do it."

Juyin formed some handseals, and Sakura felt a cloak of chakra settle over her. She blinked, and the Hokage's office vanished, replaced with an all-white environment that didn't even seem to have a defined up-and-down orientation.

"Speak," commanded Juyin. Sakura startled.
"What, me?" she asked automatically, and was surprised when it was words that came out instead of barks and yips. She lifted her hands and found that they were hands, human ones, not paws. For one brief, wild moment, she thought that the jutsu had turned her back into a human, but logic reinstated itself and reminded her that that was impossible. She wondered instead if they were in her mindscape, where her concept of self would manifest her consciousness in human form.

"I heard you. Good, that means that this jutsu will work on you even as you are," he said. "This is what is called a Truth Chamber Jutsu. It is hooked to you, mind and body. Within its construct, you can hear my questions, and, since its realm of existence transcends the mere physical world, you can answer in human words. I would advise you to be entirely truthful in your answers; the Chamber judges your honesty using cues from your thoughts and physical reactions. If it finds that you are lying, there will be consequences."

Looking around the empty brightness of the jutsu, Sakura gulped. Even more ominous than utter darkness, the unrelieved whiteness made her feel as if she were under a dissecting scope. Vulnerable, under observation…

"Do you understand?" Juyin asked. Sakura nodded. There was a moment of silence, and then he demanded: "Speak!"

"Sorry!" squeaked Sakura. He must not be able to see her, only hear her. "Sorry! Yes, I understand!"

"Very well." He sounded grumpy. Sakura wondered if he was really angry at her, or if it was a strategy. She knew some basics of interrogation. One of the techniques was to act upset and angry at the target. It could make them feel more inclined to cooperate with you, your grumpiness setting off a psychological response in them to make them want to disarm your anger.

:Stop analyzing his methods and just answer his questions!: she scolded herself.

"We will begin now," warned Juyin's stern voice.

"Yes," Sakura replied nervously.

"You gave your name as simply 'Sakura.' True?"

"True."

"Is this your real name?"

"…Yes."

"Where do you come from, Sakura?"

"I… I was born in Konoha," Sakura responded hesitantly. There was a pause, presumably as Juyin considered her answer and the jutsu's reaction to it. It was the truth, though, and the Chamber reflected that.

"Are you a ninja?" Juyin asked at length.

"I was trained as a medic-nin, and have also studied Fuuinjutsu."

"Under what Village were you trained?"

Ut oh. She couldn't say Konoha, because there were no records of her existing here. But she also couldn't say anywhere else, because that would only cause her more problems. There was only one thing to do.

"I… I would rather not say," she whispered, hoping the answer wouldn't earn her a swift death. Or, really, any sort of death whatsoever.

"You refuse to say?" Juyin said forbiddingly. Sakura swallowed convulsively.

"I-I-I…" she stammered. "I really can't say…"

"I see." There was a pause, and Sakura thought that maybe he was consulting with the others in the office as to where to go from there. Press the question, or move on?

"We will come back to that particular question," Juyin promised (or threatened) after a moment. "But for now, we will move on. Did you alter the seal array that Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure, was intending to use to seal away the Kyuubi no Youko?"

Sakura licked her lips. "I did."

There was a longer pause this time, then: "Why?"

Sakura blinked. That sounded more like a question Minato would ask. Maybe he was passing questions through Juyin? "Well, I… I saw that the seal he was going to use would have killed him… and I could see how he could write it so that it didn't… So I rewrote it for him."

"Where did you learn Fuuinjutsu?"

And there was a Jiraiya question. They were definitely adding in questions of their own, through Juyin. Sakura carefully crafted her answer. "I studied seals made by the Legendary Sannin, as well as those made by Konoha's Yellow Flash."

No lies, there, but a very careful misdirection. It was entirely acceptable that she would have had the opportunity to look at seals either made personally by them or simply designed by them and executed by others—once a technique was used, it became common knowledge within ninja information networks, unless it had been used under completely secure conditions. But the Sannin, and Minato, had been to war, and had gone on countless missions besides. It was inevitable that their Fuuinjutsu techniques had been observed, recorded, and passed on.

Sakura didn't have to elaborate that she had studied those seals in scrolls and books in Konoha's own library. She just gave them the bare bones of truth and let them assume as they wished.

"Very well." Juyin said. "Are you an enemy of Konoha or its interests?"

"No! I'm not an enemy!" The answer burst from Sakura, her pride pricked even though she'd anticipated the question.

"Do you freely and truthfully aver and affirm that you, Sakura, hold no hostility toward the Hidden Village of Konoha, or its peoples?"

"I do." She spoke the words instantly, and meant them wholly. But immediately after, a thought occurred to her: What if Orochimaru was still in the Village? Or Mizuki, the Academy-teacher-turned-nukenin? Did they count? She hastened to add: "I will not harm a loyal citizen or ninja of Konoha."

There was a longer pause after this, and Sakura fidgeted a little, hoping her wording hadn't sent up red flags. But, at length, Juyin said: "Very well. We are finished here."

And Sakura blinked, and was back in her four-footed, red-furred form, sitting on the Hokage's desk.