AN: Just wanted to answer some questions here. First off, yes, Susumu is an OC, although he is based off of what we've seen of the bitchy-elders in the series. Crow is also an OC (his name is based off of Raven from Suiko V; you'll understand if you've played it). The Mitarashi boy wasn't a plant, just a clumsy little kid, although he did indirectly lead to Iruka's capture because Iruka put on his mask and went out in public to help him out.
Also, I might be planning to kill a character. Don don dooooon!
And a question for DCourtes- What do the extra S's in LMASSO stand for? I've never been too good at the computer acronyms before, and this one has been confusing the hell out of me for a while now.
Thank you all for reviewing! Your positive encouragement and hilarious comments make me honored to write for you all.
Prankster
Chapter 7: Trial
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Glaring light filled the tiny underground room. The ANBU guards forced Iruka down onto a hard ladder-back chair and handcuffed his hands behind him. 'Ah, interrogation. Fun.' Iruka thought.
Iruka's vision was blurred by the blinding light shining in his eyes, so he couldn't tell who the darkened silhouette standing in front of him was until it spoke.
"Have you been passing information to Sound?" The shape asked with the gruff, intimidating manner he recognized as Ibiki.
"No. Of course not." Iruka replied. Honestly, how had Ibiki become Director of Interrogation with tactics like that? Weren't there supposed to be a few mind-games before questioning directly?
The bright lights were switched off and Iruka's bound hands were released. He rubbed his sore wrists.
"Wait, that's it? You dragged me out of my bed for one lousy question?" Iruka asked, legendary temper beginning to flare.
"From the way I heard it, we dragged you out of Kakashi's bed for one lousy question." Ibiki clipped. "I can't release you yet, but I'm finished questioning you. Nobody really believes the accusations."
"What accusations? Who's accusing me?" As a teacher, Iruka always liked to answer his students' questions; ANBU and the interrogation unit obviously did not share his consideration.
"That's confidential for now, Iruka-sensei." Ibiki told him. "You'll have to stay here for now. Your guards will get you anything you need." The special jounin left the tiny interrogation cell. Iruka looked his ANBU guard over once and decided escape wasn't an option. The masked shinobi was covered with lithe muscles and was armed to the teeth.
"If I'm going to be staying here, I'd at least like a better chair. This one belongs in one of you guy's torture chambers, not in the questioning room." Iruka told the ANBU in his best 'haughty-teacher' voice. He prided himself on sounding a lot calmer than he felt. If nobody believed he was a spy or whatever it was he was being accused of, then why was he being kept here? What the hell was going on?
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When the Hokage arrived at his cell almost a full hour later, she found Iruka seated in a padded swivel chair, sipping on a cup of hot tea and nibbling on an egg-roll. The sensei figured that if muscle-ANBU over there was going to keep him captive, Iruka was obligated to make his life as miserable as possible. In addition to the furniture and light refreshments, Iruka had sent his guard out on three separate trips, for pillows, blankets, and a hard-to-find special edition issue of Konoha Weekly.
"I was going to tell you not to worry, Iruka-kun, but you seem to be holding your own against ANBU quite well. Have you ever considered applying for jounin rank?" Tsunade asked, helping herself to some tea.
"What is going on, Tsunade-sama? No one will tell me why I'm here." Iruka told her. He offered her an egg-roll which she declined. He heard the guard come back in and slide the magazine under the door.
"Hey, ANBU! How about some sake in here!" He shouted. Iruka listened to the string of muffled curses that followed his demand and smirked with satisfaction. Tsunade's eyes gleamed at the mention of sake.
"Here's the situation. Remember the complaints about the Prankster before?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes. I took care of that, though. And what does any of that have to do with Sound?"
"I'm getting to that. One of the Elders demanded before that you be put on trial, but I was able to deny him because he had no evidence of lawbreaking. He's managed to dredge up evidence now that links you with a crime, and I can't get out on a loop-hole this time."
You're Hokage. You could pardon me and this elder wouldn't be able to stop you." Iruka pointed out. He wanted this to be over with so he could go back to Kakashi.
"Technically I have the power to do that, but in order to get anything done in the village, I need the support of the elders. If the others see me refusing the requests of one elder, they might fear losing their own power and side with him." Tsunade explained, frowning at the thought of how politics screwed things up so badly.
"So what are you planning on doing, then, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked, not liking where this conversation was heading.
"We'll hold the trial, Iruka-kun. We all know you're one of the most loyal ninja in the village. Once the elders see that the elder accusing you is in the wrong and that we have the public on our side, I'll be able to speak out against him without losing the support of the others. Does that make sense?"
"That's not the whole story, though. You're not telling me something." Iruka prompted.
"That's true. There has to be a reason this man would go so far as to manufacture false evidence against you, Iruka. I'm hoping that if we can lure him out into the open and convince him that he's winning, we'll be able to find out what he's trying to do."
"You want me to be the bait?" Iruka dead-panned. He hoped ANBU hurried up with that sake. He could use a drink right about now.
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If Hatake Kakashi's hair hadn't started off silver, he was sure he would have gone grey with all the stress he's felt in the last hour. When Iruka had been taken away, he'd scoured the village looking for him. He'd found nothing. Next, he'd summoned up every ninja dog he'd ever trained, to no avail. ANBU was too good to leave a scent trail, especially when they knew Kakashi would be trying to follow them. He'd then stormed into the Hokage's office to demand Iruka's immediate release, only to discover the legendary kunoichi had already left.
'Iruka would leave a very strongly-worded note for Tsunade if he found out she was abandoning her post.' He thought at first. That only made him thing of the danger Iruka was in now, though, and had almost led to a panic attack.
Desperate, he'd gone to the only allies he had- the FOP. Iruka had told him that the Rookie Nine and Team Gai were his co-conspirators. Kakashi found himself at the Hyuuga Mansion before he consciously decided to go there.
"Good evening, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata greeted him. She looked at him with her blank eyes and frowned slightly. "What's the matter? You look upset."
"They've taken Iruka. I have to find him." Kakashi told her, not caring that his panic and desperation showed clearly in his voice.
"Who's taken Iruka-sensei?" Hanabi asked from the hallway. "Whoever it is, if they lay one finger on them, I'll kick their ass!" She shouted, pumping her fists in the air like Sakura used to when she was angered.
"Hanabi!" Hinata gasped. "You shouldn't use that sort of language!" She told her younger sister.
Kakashi ignored the family argument. "Your eyes, can you use them to find Iruka? The sharingan can't penetrate walls, but the Byakugan can."
"We can try." Hinata nodded.
"Hell yeah!" Hanabi yelled, ignoring the scandalized glare her older sister gave her.
"That won't be necessary." Neji said, walking into the room. "I know where Iruka is. You aren't going to like it."
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Susumu's plan was playing out perfectly. The Prankster had been caught after showing his face in public to help some little snot-nosed brat, and the gambling-bitch couldn't risk losing the support of the counsel of Elders, so she'd have to try the Prankster. The rumors had been spread, and already mothers were giving disapproving looks at their children for wearing FOP buttons. Crow had produced enough evidence to get the Prankster arrested, and the Sound letter planted in the man's apartment would be the polishing stone. With that, he'd be exiled at the least, executed at the most.
He gave the orders for the trial arrangements to be made at once. It would go much smoother if he acted quickly and didn't give people enough time to realize what was going on. The law required that the trial be a public one, but if he executed it before anyone found out about it, he wouldn't have to worry about a troublesome audience rooting for that damned miscreant.
The Prankster would go on trial in half an hour. Whether he ended up dead or exiled, the Prankster would be out of Susumu's life forever in less than a day, and there was nothing even the Hokage could do about it.
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"A trial!" Kakashi shouted. "For what? Iruka hasn't done anything wrong!"
"The Elder Susumu is accusing him of treason, espionage, and a few other charges, and there is word that he has physical evidence to back his claims. The trial is going to take place in half an hour."
"Half an hour? That's not enough time to get everything ready and let people know about it." Hinata pointed out.
"That's probably his plan." Kakashi said. "Susumu has tried to make trouble for Iruka before. He's probably hoping to put us at a disadvantage by not giving us enough time to prepare our counter-argument and gather support. I'll bet he's had his side ready for this for weeks."
"What can we do? We have to help Iruka-sensei!" Hanabi cried.
"We'll do exactly what that Susumu-bastard is trying to avoid; we'll make sure every person in Konoha is at that trial!" Kakashi shouted. "Hurry up now. I need you to get everyone you know and tell them. Have them go tell everyone they know. We don't have much time left!"
Kakashi didn't wait for their affirmation. He sprang out of the room and ran to the bar he knew his jounin friends would be hanging out at. If you wanted something known all over the village, you told either Anko or Genma. He planned on telling them and all of their friends; the story would be all over the village in a matter of minutes.
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Iruka sat in the defendant's chair that had been set up in the village square, feeling more than a little disoriented. He'd prepared himself some for the trial, but neither he nor the Hokage had expected it to be so soon. When Tsunade had found out preparations were all ready being made before she even left Iruka's cell, she'd broken down three walls with one amazing, anger-filled punch.
The square was completely empty except for himself and his ANBU guards; Tsunade had disappeared to make arrangements as judge, the jury was waiting to be escorted in, and the mystery elder that was accusing him hadn't showed up yet. He sat once again on an uncomfortable chair, this time with his Prankster mask on his face, as if that were proof that he was really the Prankster.
With no villagers there to support him and no time for Tsunade to rally together the other elders, Iruka wasn't confident that he'd be declared innocent. He hadn't even had time to get himself a lawyer. Being the bait sucked!
Slowly, though, civilians and ninja alike began to trickle into the square. Some waved at him, some flashed their FOP pins, and some just stared as if they didn't know what to think of him.
The empty space filled quickly. His entire student body, past and present, seemed to be here. Jounin, Chuunin, Genin, student, even the Ramen-shop civilians crowded in. Lee flashed him a 'nice-guy' pose when he arrived with his team. Hanabi winked at him. Somehow, they must have found out about the trial and brought everyone here. He gave his co-conspirators a grateful smile.
The only ninja that Iruka knew that he couldn't spot here was the one he longed to see the most- Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin was nowhere to be found, a fact which greatly disheartened Iruka.
Five minutes before the trial began, the prosecutors arrived. Iruka watched them enter, but there were only two lawyers, no elder with them. The bastard that accused him didn't even have the guts to do it publicly!
The jury walked in two minutes before the trial and sat down in their seats. Iruka recognized a few of the ninja there, so he supposed they weren't all plants from the mystery-elder.
As the Hokage, dressed in formal black robes, made her way to the front of the outdoor courtroom, Iruka caught a glimpse of silver in the corner of his eye. He turned to find Kakashi slipping into the crowd. The jounin waved and winked at him. Iruka should have known he'd be late; if the chuunin had been close enough to hear, Kakashi probably would have been offering him a lame excuse for his tardiness.
"Order! Order!" Tsunade thundered. The crowds went silent.
"We will now begin."
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Susumu watched from his seat with the Counsel of Elders as the trial began. He was pissed off that so many people had come to watch, but Crow had provided more than enough evidence to override what the people thought.
The elder wished he could be up on the floor with the prosecution, but he couldn't risk the Prankster recognizing him. He needed to keep a low profile, so he left the job to a couple of lawyers. 'They'd better not much this up.' Susumu thought. The two were younger than he would've liked, not experienced enough, and they weren't his people. For some reason, the more well-known lawyers refused to take the case.
"The man known as the Prankster stands accused of disrupting the education of the village children and corrupting them-" the first lawyer began. The School Board of Directors stood up and interrupted him.
"We withdraw our complaint. The school in question has actually discovered a direct correlation between the Prankster's appearances and higher grades and attendance. He has increased moral as well. The Prankster has made a positive impact on our school, which is not, to the extent of my knowledge, a crime."
The lawyer looked a little confused by the interruption, but the gambling-bitch who was supposed to be an impartial judge didn't try to silence the School Board man or offer any punishment for his outburst. The lawyer skipped ahead in his notes to the next charge. Susumu hoped the other counsel members were observing how irresponsibly bias the Hokage was acting.
"There have also been concerns about thievery brought up agai-" This time, the grizzled old veterans stood up.
"We revoked out complaint weeks ago, you damned suit! Nothing has even been stolen. The Prankster is an honest man, which is more than we can say for you lawyer types!" The crowd cheered as the veterans sat down, and Tsunade made no move to try and resume order. The damn woman was making this trial into a circus!
The prosecutor flipped to the next page of his notes. "There have been 'pranks' that have been treasonous in nature, profaning the dignity of Hokage-sama and our village itself."
"I haven't complained about any of the pranks that have been played on me." Tsunade noted.
"With all due respect Hokage-sama, even if it doesn't bother you, it would be a sign of weakness if another village found out that you allowed this man to get away with implying you are too old to do your job." The lawyer argued timidly. The young man obviously wasn't prepared to have to confront the Hokage herself.
"If you're referring to the denture-prank, I actually wasn't involved in that." Iruka interjected. Susumu was ready to strangle someone. The Prankster wasn't supposed to talk yet! But the entire court had thrown legal precedents out the window and was arguing like this was some bar brawl rather than a judicial procedure.
"Why should we believe you, Prankster? You're the one who started this. Do you honestly believe that we'll trust you when you deny involvement?" The lawyer asked.
I haven't pranked anyone in two months." Iruka said.
The incompetent lawyer was about to rebut Iruka's claim, but the Hokage-bitch's aide Shizune cut him off.
"I was responsible for that one, sir. Are you going to charge me for treason too?"
"That was you, Shizune?" The Hokage asked, amused. If Susumu had had any hair on his head, he would have ripped it out. Unfortunately, he had been bald for years (AN: karma for trying to hurt Iruka, man-bitch!).
The first lawyer sat down and covered his face with his hands, too frustrated to continue. The second lawyer stood up and shouted the next claims, desperate to be heard over the cries of the crowd and the animated discussion of the pranks Shizune had played.
"Some of these supposed 'pranks' have endangered the village or members of the village!" Lawyer Two read off the pranks. Iruka hadn't done any of them. For every trick, someone in the audience raised their hands and confessed to having been responsible. Lawyer Two gave up on finding a prank Iruka was responsible for.
"There have been rumors of pedophilia surrounding your actions, Prankster." Lawyer Two said. The crowd went silent, wanting to hear how the Prankster would respond. The mothers who had been watching him with suspicious eyes waited eagerly. Susumu winced. The lawyer wasn't supposed to phrase it like that! Iruka jumped on the weakness of the claim immediately.
"I wasn't aware being the victim of a rumor is considered a crime in Konoha, sir. But I will say this, I don't have any inappropriate relationships with the young children of this village. I started wearing this mask and playing these pranks because I wanted to cheer them up in the aftermath of the Third Hokage's death. If I have a close relationship with the students, it's for a different reason than you think." Iruka took off his mask, exposing his identity to the village.
One of the mothers who had feared the rumors shouted, "That's Iruka-sensei! He's no pedophile!"
"He's one of the top sensei at the Academy!" Another added.
"That proves that your side has no real argument, that you have to rely on false rumors. You have no idea what you're talking about, lawyer-boy!" the veteran shouted again. The people shouted their agreement.
"Free Iruka-sensei!" The children began shouting. Soon, everyone in the square joined in. The second lawyer joined the first one. Tsunade gave them a sympathetic look and passed them a flask she pulled out of her robes. They both took long drinks.
It was time for the big guns now! Susumu stood up, cradling the manila folder Crow had produced for him.
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Iruka would have found the court proceedings unbelievably amusing if his life hadn't been hanging on the line. He felt relieved, of course, that everyone supported him and believed he was innocent.
He was sure the trial would finish soon and he'd be able to go home and celebrate with Kakashi.
The chanting of the crowd tapered off as an elder stood up from the stands and walked over to the prosecution's desk. Was this the elder who had brought these accusations? He looked vaguely familiar…
"Umino Iruka, you are accused of being a spy and passing valuable security information to the Hidden Village of Sound."
The audience shouted their disapproval.
"Shut up, you lying old geezer!"
"Iruka-sensei's innocent, wrinkle-bag!"
"Go to hell! Iruka-sensei rocks!"
"Hanabi! What have I told you about that language?"
"This incriminating letter was recovered from Umino's apartment, along with these important Konoha documents. He works the Mission Rooms; he has abused his position to steal from the record rooms and sell us out to Sound!" Susumu waved the letters around in the air.
"I work with Iruka in the Mission Room sometimes, and he's completely trust-worthy!" Kotetsu shouted.
"Besides, no ninja is ever left alone there. He wouldn't have a change to steal anything, even if he'd wanted to." Izumo said.
Iruka's elderly civilian landlady pushed herself up with her cane.
"When exactly was this letter found at Iruka-kun's apartment? I know whenever anyone comes in or out of my building, and no one has even come to investigate that apartment! Iruka's been framed!"
Wow, Iruka didn't need a lawyer with a crowd like this. While the square rebuked every argument Susumu made, even when he produced written 'evidence', Iruka took a moment to study the elder. He was so naggingly familiar!
The man couldn't have been more than five-six, and he had a large amount of paunch and a small amount of hair (mostly in his nose and ears, the disgusting bastard). His face was purple from all the shouting he was doing, with red lines where his wrinkles were.
…Red lines…
Iruka's eyes widened. Red lines! That was it! This was the man from the alley, the one whose forehead he'd marked on with his red grading sharpie! He should've been kicking himself for not recognizing him earlier, but he'd only ever seen Susumu once before that time, and he had been very distracted each time.
What had an Elder been doing in a darkened alley in the middle of the night, though?
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Kakashi noticed a change in Iruka as he spaced out during the Elder Susumu's yelling. That glint in his eyes meant he'd figured something out.
"You're the spy!" Iruka shouted, pointing at Susumu. The people around Kakashi gasped.
"How dare you accuse me, chuunin! You're obviously desperate because everything I've accused you of is true!"
Iruka acted as if he hadn't even heard Susumu.
"That's how you were able to get a letter from Sound that would make it look like I was guilty. That's why you had all this 'evidence' lying around. You want to get rid of me because I saw you making your deal in that alley!"
"Susumu-sama has been disappearing some nights." A ninja woman yelled. "I live next door to him, and I've seen him sneaking off."
"I bet you figured you could get rid of the witness and blame me for your crimes." Iruka shouted. "You've been selling information to Sound!"
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Susumu felt his blood pumping through his body, and the sound of his heart beating drowned out the gasps of the people. He'd been figured out, and it was all that damned Prankster's fault!
The Hokage-bitch gave a gesture and ANBU emerged from the crowd around him.
Yes, Susumu was working for Sound. He'd been passing along information to Orochimaru since the installment of Tsunade as Fifth Hokage. He'd been tired of having to serve under others when he should have been leader. The perverted old man and that blond upstart had been bad enough, but he'd be damned if he'd let himself get bossed around by that busty Tsunade-whore. Orochimaru had promised him rule of Konoha once it was overthrown, and a younger body as well.
Without information to offer Orochimaru, he doubted he'd be welcomed into Sound. If he could assassinate the Hokage, though, Orochimaru would accept him and doubtlessly give him a rejuvenated body as a reward.
Susumu hadn't been an active-duty ninja in twenty years, but he still kept two kunai on his person at all times. He jumped up past the unsuspecting guard with a speed a normal old man wouldn't have possessed, and dove at the Hokage.
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Iruka saw the glint of a kunai inside Susumu's robe as he dodged past the Hokage's guard and toward Tsunade-sama. ANBU was still too far away from her to protect her, but Iruka was only twenty feet away. As the mad Elder let loose the kunai, Iruka transported himself in front of Tsunade as he had once done for Naruto. The knife buried itself deep in his shoulder, and pain erupted throughout his body. 'The Hokage is safe, though. That's all that matters.'
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Damnit! That damned Prankster had ruined everything again. ANBU was getting closer; he had no chance of escape now. He still had one kunai left. If he could just kill the Hokage, he was sure Orochimaru would rescue him and take him to Sound. Yes, even if Susumu was killed, he had heard that Orochimaru could raise the dead. The Snake-man would have to do so for the man who killed the Hokage of Konoha!
He couldn't get to the Hokage, though. Umino was still standing in the way, a human shield to that damned woman.
Susumu had another thought. He couldn't get away, he couldn't kill the Hokage, but he could ensure he would get his revenge on Konoha. Umino Iruka was the only one who knew what his agent Crow looked like; if Susumu could just eliminate Iruka, Crow could continue selling Konoha out and destroy Umino, Tsunade, and all the other people in the village who had just made a mockery of him.
Susumu was rusty with his kunai; he hadn't used it in at least fifteen years. His wrists were feeble and his eyesight was deteriorating. If he had been at long range, he would never have made the shot.
Weakness of wrists and lack of practice don't make much of a difference when you throw from only a few feet away. At that sort of distance, even a feeble throw can be fatal.
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Susumu's second hidden kunai sailed through the air. It was unexpected and too close to block. Iruka didn't have time to dodge it, and wouldn't even if he had; the Hokage was still behind him, and if he moved, the kunai would hit her instead.
He staggered backwards when the kunai struck. The pain rippled through him, dwarfing the older ache in his shoulder. He heard the screams of the villagers around him, and the clash of weapons. Soon, though, the sound faded away and was replaced with ringing. It was the worst sound in the world, he decided.
He glanced around for Kakashi as he felt his body slump to the ground, but couldn't see his silver-haired lover. There was a ring of black on the edge of his vision that slowly increased. The ringing in his ears disappeared, and everything was silent. The silence was worse than the ringing, he knew now. Between the growing darkness and the deafening silence, Iruka felt lonelier than he had even after his parents' deaths.
The blackness filled his sight completely. He wanted Kakashi. He wanted to see him, even just for a second, hear his voice, even if it was for the last time. He tried to call out for him, but he couldn't hear to know if he was successful. All he knew was that it hurt to move, hurt to breathe, hurt to think.
'Kakashi!' His mind called. It was the last thing he thought before his consciousness faded away as well.
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Ha! How's THAT for a cliff-hanger? Well, if you've read my other stories, you probably know how this is gonna end. The way I have it planned (but not necessarily the way it will happen), there will be one more chapter and maybe a not-quite-completely related epilogue filled with smut, if you're all nice to me.
just to let you know, I have no knowledge of how trials proceed, so if I mess some things up or if it seems horribly unrealistic to you, please just ignore it and revel in the fact that you have a better legal mind than I do. This is fiction, so I make it up as I go, and in my head, this is how a Konoha trial would happen.
