"To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect."

New Assignment; New Face

"Kurosaki! Where are you!?"

The redhead in question poked her head into the hallway, trying to gauge where the shouting was coming from. Two shinobi coworkers giggled and gave her a side glance as they passed her office. "Morino always has it out for you, Kurosaki," one of the girls said as the passed. Nanami sighed, scowling at the back of the girl's heads. Kurosaki Nanami worked in the Konoha Intelligence Division, (as LEAD archivist) and was often sub-contracted to the Torture and Investigation department head, Morino Ibiki. It was no secret that Morino hated non-shinobi personnel. Nanami rolled her eyes as she heard, "Where the hell is that girl?!' and stepped out into the hallway. He always shouted from the common room, and never bothered to actually learn where her office was. With him, as always, was his 'right hand', Mitarashi Anko.

"I'm here, sir." Nanami said coming to stand at Ibiki's back. Ibiki and Anko turned to Nanami when they heard her. Anko offered her a small wave while Ibiki gazed down at her, menacingly. For a couple of moments, they both said nothing and Nanami stood a little straighter, not breaking eye contact. "How can I be of service, Morino?" Nanami asked politely when she noticed everyone in the shared office space went still, taking in the tense situation. For a second, she thought he wouldn't reply and she almost rolled her eyes. Nanami was a very busy person, all the reports that shinobi write have to be categorized and filed in the correct spots. She has to notate them all for any possible insignificant detail, because every minute point can be useful. Which, as a side note, made her job very cool. Nanami was the only non-shinobi that had the clearance to read every single mission log. It was her father's job before her, but she didn't get the job skirting on those coattails. Only after the man in front of her, after Mornio was satisfied that she wouldn't reveal Konoha's secrets under any situation, did he finally agree with the Hokage. That was nine years ago, but Morino still acted like Nanami was a nuisance. Anko, however...

Mitarashi Anko was someone Nanami considered a close friend. They met the day Nanami started her career as an archivist. Anko was there to pick up her pieces after Nanami's first 'interview'. After that, they were almost inseparable. They went to bars, festivals, and shops together. Anko sought her out on many occasions for pleasant conversation, and even brought her back a necklace from Yukikagure for her birthday. Their friendship was easy, their personalities clicked. Anko with Ibiki, however, was slightly different. She kept a polite distance away from the redhead, Though, she insists I'm just imagining it.

"I'm looking for some information," Ibiki finally spoke, glancing around the room. "Is there somewhere private we can talk?" Nanami furrowed a brow before nodding and motioning to the T&I duo to follow. The room almost immediately erupted into whispers, which silenced just as fast when Ibiki through a glare over his shoulder. The trio found themselves in Nanami's office a short walk later, Anko taking a seat in front of Nanami's desk while Ibiki continued to stand. He closed the door as the two women made themselves comfortable. Placing a paper privacy seal on the back of the office door, Ibiki spoke.

"I'm looking for something odd, I admit." Ibiki started tersely. "Something you may have skimmed over." Nanami looked affronted and responded. "No detail to me is excusable. Never in my years of service have I skimmed any report." She hissed, and her anger rose a touch with Ibiki just smirked.

"I apologize," He doesn't mean it. "Let me continue. I conducted an interrogation on a Suna spy a couple of days ago. Do you have that transcription ready?" Nanami whirled around to the wall of shelves behind her. Taking in her organized chaos, her eyes caught sight of the familar work. She pulled it free and handed it over.

"Your stenographer was very thorough." Nanami commented, pointing at the bundle of pages. "That took me an hour longer than usual to convert to spoken word."

"I'm impressed." Ibiki said, giving a side glance to Anko, who merely smiled. "That was a ten-hour investigation. I didn't think you would have this translated in time."

"What can I say?" Nanami said with an eye roll. "I'm an over-achiever. Now," She said sitting back down. "You mentioned you were looking for something specific?"

"Ah, yes." Ibiki said, weighing the interrogation detail in his hands. "I want you to look for the words 'black cliff'. If they were mentioned in any interrogation, any mission log, in the last year, I want those on my desk by next Friday." Ibiki turned and snatched the privacy seal from the door, it fizzled as his chakra was severed from it. "Understood?"

Nanami who was already racking her brain barely managed to respond. "Yes, sir." Off the top if her head, she knew six different reports that mentioned something similar. Ibiki only nodded once, turning to Anko he said, "You are dismissed for the day. I expect to see you Monday in my office, on time, Mitarashi." With nothing else to say, Ibiki was gone. Anko, yet, stayed behind.

"You have balls of steel, Nanami." Anko said as soon as her boss was out of ear shot, "The only person I've seen talk back to Ibiki like that."

"If there is one thing I'm good at in this world, Anko, it's my job." Nanami said, chuckling at Anko's brazen word choice. "Not even Ibiki can argue that." Nanami finished quietly, accentuating Anko's familiar use of Morino's name. If Anko heard her, she made no indication. Nanami turned to the walls of scrolls, her mind still searching her internal information structure. The words, or phrase rather, 'black cliffs' did ring a bell. Nanami instantly recalled four different interrogations and two mission statements off the bat. Her gold eye roved over her cubbyholes of organized scrolls and handwritten binds of parchment. Behind her Anko seemed to be thinking hard about something.

"You know, it's been a while since we've gotten a drink..." Anko started and Nanami instantly recognized the tone. With this new project given to her by Morino herself, Nanami didn't know if this was the best time to get blackout drunk. The interrogation transcripts wont be up here, I'll have to do a deep dive in the manuscript library. The mission logs are, though, Nanami thought, trying to stay on task. She grabbed the sliding ladder and adjusted it so she could reach the middle of the top shelf. May, I think.

"How long has it been since we went to Shushu-ya's together?" Anko asked, leaning over Nanami's desk, mauve eyes taking in the back side of her redheaded best friend. "I'll answer for you, too long!"

Nanami rolled her eyes, scanning for the correct initials- AH HAH! She thought in triumph. When her dad- Mamoru -was the archivist, he had implemented the Identification Tag system, in which, when a shinobi was done penning out their reports, they'd initial the end of the scrolls dowel. It was just another way to narrow down and categorize information more accurately. She pulled a 'S.A.' and a 'O.D.' from the shelf. Both of these, if her memory served her(which it always did), contained a similar phrase about 'meeting at the black cliffs' Two separate missions to Suna. Strange. Nanami hummed to herself. She would go back and check later if there were anymore, now she need to diffuse Anko. Hopping down from the ladder, Nanami pushed in her desk chair and dropped the scrolls in a basket beside her desk. Gold met mauve as their eyes met, and Anko smirked with some underlying secrecy.

"You did just hear Morino give me an assignment, didn't you?" Nanami started strong. "He came personally to tell me, instead of just sending you. Means it's serious." She finished with some air of humor.

"Yeah, but he gave you like eight days to do it." Anko countered.

"Eight days to go through a years worth of objective summaries and interrogation logs!"

"Child's play to you, you savvy virtuoso."

"You normally just call me a nerd," Nanami laughed at Anko's attempt at flattery, "You must really wanna get drunk tonight."

And as if she were saving the words as a final weapon, Anko released them with a primal smirk.

"Wanna make a bet?"

Nanami grinned in return, of course she did! She had a 'Good Luck' Bun today, after all.

xxxXXXXxxxxXXX

"Kanpai!"

The clinking of glasses followed as four of Konoha's elite jonin shared in sake-induced bliss. Kakashi found himself drinking with friends here at Shushu-ya's, seated in a wooden booth in the back. Beside him sat Gai, and across from them sat Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai. The "not-official" couple had come in sometime after Gai had treated Kakashi to dinner, and had insisted they, too, drink to Kakashi's well return. That's as good a reason as any to drink, I suppose, Kakashi thought to himself. He rolled his eyes, and took the next set that Asuma offered him, knocking it back in the blink of an eye. Kakashi was not one to turn down free liquor.

There was amicable chatter about the group about. The couple talked about the day-trip escort mission to a neighboring village they had just returned from and Kakashi gave out the basic details of his month long mission in Suna. The conversation switched to the upcoming chunin exams, then bounced again to a new weapons shop that had opened. Whatever Asuma was saying next was cut off but Kurenai.

"Oh, there's Anko!" She said pointing to the window when the amethyst kunoichi did indeed walk by. "We should invite her to drink too!" The group all looked to the windows as Anko strode backwards into view. She was laughing and pointing at something in front of her. Anko stumbled a bit and came to a stop, hands resting on her knees. She straightened as someone else came to stand in front of her. Kakashi cocked his head, his single eye roaming over the back side of the mystery woman. She had straight, copper colored hair that stopped at her shoulders and she was swathed in a complementing shade of forest green. The woman in question was short, shorter than Anko. Kakashi guessed around 160 centimeters. She was talking animatedly with her hands, Anko smiling at whatever she was saying before nodding.

"Oh," Kurenai said, noticing the ginger-haired stranger. "I wonder who that is?" Asuma scratched his chin before lighting up another cigarette.

"With that blazing head of hair," Asuma started, turning back to the group. "I'd say that's Kurosaki's daughter. He's the only one I knew with that color hair."

"As in Kurosaki Mamoru?" Kurenai questioned, her eyes flitting between Asuma and Anko's companion. "The intelligence chunin? I didn't know he had any children."

"Yeah, I can't recall her name, but I do know after Kurosaki passed, she took up his position." Asuma exhaled, switching to sip at the sake again. "She's been in the archives ever since."

"Kurosaki, Kurosaki," Gai mumbled, eyes turned toward the ceiling. "It's really not familiar. She look about our age, so we should have seen her in the academy."

"She didn't enroll." Asuma said. "She's just a civilian." At that, Kurenai's eyes widened a bit.

"Really? I'm sure Ibiki didn't take her working in 'shinobi affairs' well. I wonder how she survived." She trailed off looking back at the pair. Anko had placed her hands on the redhead shoulders, again nodding enthusiastically.

"Whatever the case, she's been the Information Archivist for almost ten years now." Asuma said, looking to Kakashi now. "Care to weigh in? You're the only one who hasn't said anything." Kakashi rolled his eye and looked to Asuma.

"Nothing to say, really." Kakashi started. "I didn't know Kurosaki Mamoru and, by default, I didn't know his daughter either." he said with a shrug. Asuma nodded in agreement.

"Whatever the case!" Gai reiterated, abruptly standing. "We should invite them to drink with us! To meet a new friend!"

As if Anko had heard him, her eyes turned from the figure before her and peered into the bar's window. Her eyes must have found Gai, because in the next second she had whirled around the other female, and began to push her back the way they came. Anko through a sheepish wave to our table, locking eyes with Kurenai and mouthing 'later'. The smaller girl went without much resistance, but turned to look into the window too. Her auric eyes moved from patron to patron trying to figure out why Anko was leading her away. Kakashi took in as much as her soft features at he could from this distance and instantly something clicked.

Anko had just mentioned this morning finding him a companion. Now, there the kunoichi stood with a new, pleasantly freckled face in tow and seemed slightly embarrassed to enter the bar with her.

Molten gold eyes caught his lone charcoal one. He held up one hand in a small wave, a wave everyone but her missed. She gave him a bashful smile in return.

Then, she was gone.

Authors Note: Here it is! Technically the first chapter of WTDMTN ( :/ ) I hope it is well received! Id like to thank the few that have already followed and Favorited the story, and a huge thanks to Mickori for my first review! In my first A/N, I said I wanted to wrap this up in about 10 chapters, but after getting some more writing done, it's looking closer to 20! I'm going to try to adhere to a every weekend(Sat/Sun/Mon) chapter updates. Since we are on lockdown due to the Coronavirius, it's the least I can do. I also have another FF in the works for any Yu Yu hakusho (Hiei/OC)fans. Sometime next week probably. Anyways! Thanks again! -Grey