Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
12
Ordinal Data
In ordinal data, there is no absolute zero point. The numbers in ordinal data don't represent units of measurement. But rather a way to classify and rank data. Another way to look at it, the numbers assigned to the collected data follow a natural order. A Likert scale is a type of ordinal data.
"You're years away from being an effective tool". That was the first thing Ibiki said to me once we were seated behind a two-way mirror. On the other side, Shinobu was hard at work; extracting every piece of information that he could from some poor sap who was suspected of a home robbery that turned bloody. Luckily, since the man wasn't a shinobi, Shinobu couldn't use violence. Just intimidation. But with all of that playing out right in front of me, I was finding it difficult to listen to Ibiki. "In most cases, genin train under the genin corps or under a Jonin to refine skills learned at the academy, gain field experience, and develop strengths before specializing when reaching the rank of Chunin". Working with visual aids, otherwise known as crime scene photos, Shinobu broke his target down into tears. Telling; if I had to attach a word to what I was seeing. "That is the path you would have taken if there hadn't been a last-minute change in your graduating class. And you would have been picked up by T&I after you knew more than just the academy standard".
That little tidbit caught my attention. It even managed to pull my eyes away from the sight of Shinobu attempting to comfort a grown man into a confession. I eyed Ibiki; asking for more.
Reading my nonverbal cues, Ibiki didn't disappoint. "You didn't suspect T&I being the best-suited division for your skillset", Ibiki stated. But I nodded; treating it like a question. "Interesting. If you had to choose, which division should have recruited you?" He asked; folding his arms to rest across his chest.
I sighed and paired it with a shrug. Like I would have an opinion about something like that. With the sole goal of providing for Anzu, I had no motivation to wonder about the answer to such a question. But somehow, I knew Ibiki wouldn't accept a half-baked response, so I started thinking. Compared to my peers, the only strengths I had involved collecting data and knowing how to analyze it and apply it. All things that didn't equate to torture and interrogation. At least, not by my definitions. "Research and development", I took a swing; trying to think of which departments could use what I could do. At least, I knew it wasn't the strike force division.
"Maybe", Ibiki allowed with a deep nod of his head. "If your notebook had contained any subjects either than humans".
Snorting, I looked away from the head of T&I. Just in time to see Shinobu hand the suspect a tissue. Looks like even in this world the hard sciences held prejudices for the social sciences. Maybe it wasn't just math that was universal.
"You have been on T&I's radar as a potential recruit since your academy teacher added that notebook to your file". My unamused stare most have shown Ibiki exactly what I thought of that because the corner of his lips started twitching upwards. It sounded like that notebook would be following me around for the rest of my career. Great. If I had known the consequences, I'd never had made that notebook in the first place. Even if that meant I would have died of boredom sitting through all those academy lectures.
"The purpose of the T&I department", Ibiki continued; preventing me from dwelling on the embarrassment I suddenly found myself faced with. "Is to collect information and reveal secrets of the human nature. Recruiting you as a genin means I will be able to train you from the ground up without another jonin's bad habits getting in the way".
"I thought Anko was training me", I interrupted; my attention now fully on Ibiki. There just wasn't anything interesting about watching a defeated man dry his eyes.
"Anko isn't ready for the task of raising genin. Think of her more as a….babysitter". At my incredulous look, Ibiki offered more information. "For all extents and purposes, I'll be filling the role of you jonin instructor".
Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "Should I be calling you Ibiki-Sensei?"
Ibiki's posture was almost as clear as his one-word answer. "No". Hmmm. It felt like a challenge. Not that Ibiki was offering me a challenge; a dare to call him by a title he didn't like. But that's how I'm going to treat it after that babysitter comment. "You'll have to learn a more technical way of doing the same calculations you were doing in that notebook", Ibiki continued. That'll be easy enough. "You'll have to study interview techniques, nonverbal behaviors and cues, anatomy and how it relates to pain", Ibiki continued to list off. I tried not to let my amazement of the lengthening list show on my face as Ibiki kept going. I mean, crap. If yesterday had been the job interview, today must be orientation. "You'll have to learn and memorize the profiles of different sorts of subjects. From smugglers to murderers. From the mentally ill to missing-nin. From victims and witnesses to foreign enemy shinobi. Anyone can have information and any information can be useful".
Ibiki's explanation of what I was facing made sense. But that didn't stop me from frowning at all the work that was going to entail. At least it sounded like mostly bookwork. I liked that better than having to learn new jutsu, go on missions, and get beat to a pulp.
As if reading my mind, Ibiki added, "And don't think that being included in T&I's ranks excludes you from the milestones all genin must achieve". Slumping a bit in my chair, I watched through the mirror as Shinobu got up and left the room; leaving the man to fidget anxiously in his chair. "When you're not working with the department, you'll be pushing in with other teams of genin; learning for their senseis, and completing missions". Ugh. I couldn't prevent the noise of disgust that left my mouth at Ibiki's announcement. Hearing it made Ibiki allow himself to smile. It was a grim sort of smile. The type people got when they were amused by others' trials. "As a member of T&I, you'll spend most of your time in the background. But we are still ninja. In times of war or crisis, we can and will be called upon to serve. To do that and stay alive, you'll need some ability in combat". Unfolding his arms, Ibiki reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a little black book. "Do you know what this is?" Ibiki asked as he held up for me to see.
"It's a bingo book", I answered with a slight incline of my head. Shibi had one for his professional use. I liked to steal it from him and doodle slightly crude accessories on the pictures of the people who were in it after Shibi did something annoying.
Ibiki gave me no indication that I was correct. Lucky for me, I didn't need his feedback. "Today, you can start with inferring what you can about the individuals in this book". Ibiki handed me the bingo book and it felt…. It felt like I was an imposter being given a bingo book of my own when I didn't even have one kill under my belt. "I want at least two detailed character analyses, including how you made those analyses by the end of the day".
"First days are supposed to be easy", I complained as I flicked through the pages of the book. All the pictures looked familiar; informing me that this was the same copy Shibi had.
Before Ibiki could say or do anything, the door opened as Shinobu let himself in. "Ibiki-Taichou, I got what we needed. It's-"
Shinobu cut himself off when Ibiki raised a hand; never going higher than his shoulder and with his palm facing Shinobu. "Rion", Ibiki started once Shinobu was silent. "You watched the majority of Shinobu's interaction with his suspect. What do you think? Is the man guilty?"
I didn't need to ask to know who Ibiki was talking about. Closing the bingo book, I had been entrusted with, I took another look at the poor sap sitting on the other side of the glass. He was still a wiggling sobbing mess; even with Shinobu being out of the room for several minutes. "Yes", I said slowly; feeling bored. "But not of assault. Just the theft and breaking and entering".
"Reason?" Ibiki pressed; his voice giving nothing away. Even Shinobu's posture gave nothing away. Must be a T&I skill.
Shrugging, I offered my answer like I didn't care if I was wrong or not. "I can't see any bruises or cuts on him; assuming the victim would fight back. And the guy's too upset. Crying in front of another man like he was; I can't see a guy like that attacking someone else". Pausing briefly, I let my thoughts catch up before continuing. "He could be faking it. Trying to get people to feel sorry for him and to show remorse, but he's still crying. Even when he's alone. Assuming he isn't aware of the two-way mirror, it doesn't make sense for him to keep up the act without an audience".
Nodding, Ibiki looked towards the other person in the room. "Shinobu?"
A bit tersely, Shinobu reported, "The subject, Fuji Sato, admitted to the accounts of burglary. He had targeted the Endo home after hearing a rumor about their source of income. He was unaware that a member of the Endo family had been in the house at the time of the break-in. Fuji claims the assault was done by his partner, Michi Ito. A career genin currently not in custody".
Oh, look at that. I was right. It was a challenge to keep my face blank as Ibiki stood up. He moved in Shinobu's direction but paused next to my chair. Placing a heavy hand on top of my head, he said, "It's a start, kid". Before continuing his way to Shinobu. "You can use the archives if you get stuck on your assignment", Ibiki added before he walked out of the room with Shinobu.
"Will do, Ibiki-Sensei", I called after him before the door closed behind them; enjoying it a little too much when Ibiki's back visibly stiffened.
The archives Ibiki referred to turned out to be a dimly lit, dusty room with a bunch of tall filing cabinets squeezed together. It looked like a thousand paper cuts just waiting to happen. Which is exactly what did occur when I dug through the overstuffed and poorly organized filing drawers trying to find information that would help me with the busy work Ibiki had thrown into my lap. I mean, two detailed character analyses of missing-nin? First, let's pretend I know what a character analysis entails. Second, how detailed could I get in retrospective and remote assessments about two shinobi who were miles above my pay grade? Whatever Ibiki was hoping for when I turned in these reports, it wasn't a detailed analysis of data about enemy ninja.
Still, as I spent hours sitting on the floor in the archive room; going over every piece of pertinent information I could find on my two selected subjects, I ended up jumping down a bit of a rabbit hole. Why? Because I'm a nerd who couldn't pass the opportunity to study when presented with an avalanche of facts. I wasn't even aware of how much time had passed until Ibiki hunted me down and demanded that I turn in my work. Needless to say, he wasn't thrilled to learn that I hadn't finished even one. But he still allowed me to go home after stomaching a lecture about the importance of following orders and giving me my marching orders for tomorrow.
Walking back to the apartment, my thoughts were swimming around in my head; trying to sort and store all the facts it had consumed. Those archives needed a new organizational system. A way to classify and sort it so there was an easier and faster way to find stuff. I could do it. An idea for a new system had already started forming in my head by the time I had gotten my second papercut. Filing cabinets could be assigned based on the country subjects were from. From there, the dead would be sorted from the living. The civilians from the ninjas. The enemy ninjas sorted from the missing-nin. And subjects could be ranked by their level of threat to the village. Of course, that would mean establishing a criterion for assessing the level of threat. Assuming there isn't one already. But the problem is…. The problem is…. Coming to a stop in front of my apartment building, I ran a hand over my face and stared at the floor I shared with Anzu and Naruto. Did I want to present myself as a neurotic busy body who organized whole archives without being asked? The persona of 'I'm here because I have to be here, not because I want to be here' fitted my motivations better.
Sighing, I continued on my way; dragging my feet up the stairs. I have never been called an overachiever and I definitely didn't want to start now. Using my key, I unlocked the front door. "Hey Anzu", I called into the room as I swung open the door. "I'm back". But on the other side of the door, no one was waiting for me. Having not had the chance to buy any furniture, the apartment looked vacant. Like people hadn't just moved in yesterday. "Anzu?" I called again. Maybe she was just in the bedroom or the bathroom. But I got no response.
Confused with worry starting to grow, I backed out of the apartment. Where would Anzu go? All Anzu's friends were in the red district, but they'd all be busy during this time of day. I had left Anzu some money this morning. Maybe she was out purchasing dinner. It was then I caught sight of the piece of paper taped to the front door. How could I miss it? I asked myself as I studied it. There was no message. No written words. Just a crudely drawn arrow pointed in the direction down the landing. This is what I get for being distracted by filing systems. I berated myself as I turned to look in the direction of the arrow was pointing; closing the door as I did so.
Assuming I knew what the arrow meant, there was only one other unit on this floor. Standing in front of Naruto's apartment, I rapped my knuckles on his door. I was only standing there for a few seconds before Naruto answered. "Hey Naruto", I started before the blond could say anything. "There's an arrow on my door pointing to your door. Is Anzu here?"
Naruto opened his mouth to answer, his blue eyes shining. Before he could, a voice I knew very well called out from inside of his apartment. "Rion! Come inside. I invited Naruto to eat with us". All smiles, Naruto stepped to the side to let me in; revealing Anzu sitting at Naruto's kitchen table with a takeout carton sitting in front of her. "But since we don't have anywhere to sit yet, we're eating at Naruto's place instead", Anzu explained.
I thought about complaining. After my first full day of work (if you could call it that), I really just wanted to eat, take a bath, and go to bed. But looking at Anzu's face only allowed me to do one thing. "Thanks for having us", I said to the blond a bit flatly.
Naruto pointed to a spot at his table where an unopened takeout container sat. "We got you curry", Naruto shared. I guess that's where I'll be sitting for the evening. "Anzu said that's your favorite".
"Yeah, it is", I agreed; noting when Naruto seemed to grow in size at my answer. "Thanks", I said as I moved further into Naruto's apartment and claimed the offered spot at the table. Naruto wasn't far behind; sliding into a chair that rested behind what must have been his meal. I don't think there's a need for me to identify what he is eating.
"Naruto was just telling me about the survival test he took today", Anzu filled me in as I opened the takeout container. The smells of onions, garlic, paprika, and other seasonings filled my nose and I decided that as long as this was in front of me, I'd be able to listen to storytime with Naruto.
And Naruto didn't disappoint. Gesturing wildly with his hands and struggling to remain in his chair, Naruto retold the events up to his jonin sensei being super late to passing the test by breaking the rules as a team. "And Kakashi-Sensei was so cool. 'A ninja must see the underneath'", Naruto quoted; changing his tone in an attempt to mimic the copycat jonin. "I can't wait to start training", Naruto said; wrapping up his story before he shoved a bunch of food into his mouth.
"It does sound like he knows a lot", Anzu commented. Throughout Naruto's story, she had seemed enthralled; asking questions and fishing for further details. "I'm sure he'll take your training very seriously". It was only because there was food in my mouth that I was able to refrain from snorting. "How was your day, Rion?" Anzu asked.
I took my time to chew and swallow. Even though I could feel both Anzu's and Naruto's eyes on me. "It was okay. Lot of paperwork". Anzu frowned at my lack of facts.
"That's it?" Naruto asked. Sounding as disappointed as Anzu looked. "You didn't train or nothing?"
I shrugged and dug deeper into my food. The thing is, I wasn't being quiet just because I wanted to. T&I worked with a bunch of classified information. Information that I had spent the day digging through. Now, it wasn't top secret information. Without even knowing my clearance level, I knew it definitely wasn't high enough to see anything like that. But it was still classified. From watching a suspect give a confession for an open case to be given access to a library of facts, there wasn't much about my day I could share. "I found out I have to train with the other genin teams", I said to offer them something. Naruto perked right up. "Apparently even as a T&I agent, I have to fight and stuff". My sentence sounded glum even to my ears.
"Does that mean you're going to have to train with me and Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked; leaning forward over his food.
"Yeah, probably", I confirmed. Already, I was imagining how painful that was going to be. Waiting for hours for Kakashi to show up. Listening to Sakura flirt with Sasuke. Watching Naruto and Sasuke compete like two dogs competing for dominance. And that's without considering what training with team seven would entail.
"Awesome!" The blond exclaimed. I'm glad one of us was happy about it. "That means we can go on missions together and you'll be able to see how great Kakashi-Sensei is". I doubt Naruto would be singing the man's praises once he realized that Kakashi was always late.
"That does sound nice", Anzu chimed in; smiling at the both of us. "When Rion wasn't assigned to a team, I was worried she'd become out of touch with her friends".
I had never called Naruto a friend. He had never joined Shikamaru, Chouji, and me for lunch. We never associated outside of the academy. And in class, I had frequently messed with Naruto's head just to stave off my own boredom. Despite all that, Naruto latched onto the term 'friend' and ran with it. Like Anzu calling us friends twice was enough to make it true. "Don't worry about that", Naruto assured my sister. "I never forget my friends, believe it!" Ugh… being Naruto's friend sounded like a lot of work. Kill me now.