Naruto follows Inoichi through Konoha's crowded streets, full of people eager to get to work or catch breakfast. The company of the jounin spares Naruto the worst of glares, but he still feels pairs of eyes glaring daggers between his shoulder blades.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asks to distract himself from everyone's glares.

"One of the ANBU interrogation rooms. I need to ask you some questions."

"What? Why? I didn't do anything!"

"I never said you did," Inoichi replies, pulling open the door to the nondescript office building that is ANBU headquarters.

"After you," he says, indicating for Naruto to go first. The blonde genin steps through the doorway and slightly off to the side, watching as the receptionist scribbles away. Inoichi moves past him a second later, hauling open a trap door in the middle of the floor. The two ninja descend the staircase and quickly traverse the hallway, which opens up into a large room. Branching off the room are several more hallways, none of them marked.

Naruto raises an eyebrow and Inoichi answers his obvious question. "They're not marked so that enemy ninja have no clue which way they're going, should they manage to infiltrate headquarters."

"Oh," the boy says as Inoichi leads him down the middle hallway, which is lined with doors on either side.

Inoichi ushers him into the last room on the left. Inside the room is a small square table made entirely of metal. A stool occupies the space to the right, while a high-backed leather chair occupies the table's left side. Almost immediately, Inoichi takes the chair, leaving Naruto to take the stool.

He glances around the room, studying it. The walls are also metal, the smooth silver color disrupted by what seem to be splotches of red paint. Before he can speculate further, however, the noise of fingers snapping brings his gaze back around to Inoichi.

"Pay attention," the interrogation specialist says, frowning. "It'll save your life one day, especially if you learn to notice the minor details. Now then, do you know what psychology is?"

"Eh…" Naruto grins sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Not…really."

"Don't they teach you kids anything these days?" The sigh that follows is exasperated.

"Yeah, they do. We just haven't hit the books, much."

Inoichi grins wolfishly. "We'll have to change that, then."

Naruto gulps.

Inoichi smirks evilly before rising from his chair and leaving the room. The door clicks shut behind him, leaving Naruto alone with nothing but a chair and stained walls for company. He stares at each stain, turning them over in his head and wondering how they got their individual shapes. Since there's no clock in the room, he has no idea how long it's been since he started staring at the stains. He has no idea how many minutes have elapsed since Inoichi walked out the door, the only thing heralding his exit being the click of the door lock as it slammed shut. Indeed, he is so wrapped up in his reverie that he doesn't even acknowledge Inoichi's re-entrance into the room. The thing that that does shake him, though, is the loud thud of a book on the metal table.

"Wha? Huh? Where did you come from?" Naruto's voice is shaky as he points an accusing finger at Inoichi, who simply lifts an eyebrow in response.

"The same door you used, about five seconds ago. I left to go get this." He holds up the book, flipping it so that Naruto can see the cover.

"What is it?"

"A book."

"Well, duh," Naruto snarks, sticking his tongue out as he does so. Inoichi rolls his eyes. It seems, for all that Anko, Ibiki, and the rest have trained him, they still haven't managed to completely rein in that streak of childish impulsiveness.

"What's it for?"

The jounin smirks. "Reading."

The genin opens his mouth, about to retort, then closes it as the fact that Inoichi's answer is correct dawns on him.

"Okay…" Naruto pauses, turning over the conversation and Inoichi's answers in his head. "Why did you give it to me, and what am I going to do with it?"

"Ah," Inoichi snaps his fingers in front of his face, "now you're asking the right questions. As to their answers, well, I gave it to you so you could learn, and the only way you can learn is by reading."

Naruto facepalms.

Without another word, Inoichi opens the book to the cover page and slides it over to the blond genin, his finger tapping the title. "Read."

"Psychology For Dummies: A Beginner's Guide," Naruto says, his eyes cutting across to Inoichi when he finishes.

"Keep going," the jounin encourages. Naruto flips to the first page and starts reading. Then the next, and so it goes. Every so often Inoichi will stop him at some point or another to explain some diagram or concept that eludes him and then tell him to go back to his reading. By the time Inoichi stops him some interminable time after he'd entered the room, Naruto's eyes ache.

He stands slowly, making sure his body doesn't topple over from sitting so long. When he tries to take a step, however, his legs refuse to move. The feel of one foot in front of the other is replaced by a thousand needles up the sides of his ankles. Flustered, he collapses back into the chair and starts methodically massaging his knees, working to drive away the pinpricks of pain. Once he's sure he can walk again, Naruto shoves himself to his feet and follows Inoichi out of the cell and back into the ANBU headquarters proper, then up into the building that serves as its front. Against the bare bulb in the cell, the large strip lights of the office are blinding. So too is the sun when he stumbles out into the street. Inoichi, now more than used to the changes in light, sighs and hauls the boy over his shoulder before going to meet with his team.