"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence." ~ George Washington
Chapter 12: ...Stairs...
Ibiki handed Kabuto a glass of water and slowly sank into a chair opposite the defected Konoha ninja. "So you can answer questions without drying out your mouth," Ibiki explained with a pitiless smirk.
"Or throw it at you if I get irritated," Kabuto replied, glancing at his right hand, which was handcuffed to the table. Even if he couldn't really attack Ibiki, the idea of soaking him was tempting.
Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "Either your sense of humor comes out when you're tense, or you're stupid."
"Or bored, and totally unconcerned with whether I live or die," Kabuto replied easily. "You going to throw me down a flight of stairs now?"
"Do you have some sort of stairs complex?"
"Is this the question you always begin your interrogations with?"
"I'll be asking the questions, thank you."
"You're welcome. Will you also be making the statements? Because that last sentence wasn't a question."
"So what made you decide to work for the Akatsuki?"
"They have a better dental plan," Kabuto quipped.
Ibiki continued as though he hadn't heard. "Why did you choose to follow Orochimaru when he defected?"
Kabuto chose not to answer this question- he couldn't be glib when it came to Lord Orochimaru.
Ibiki raised an eyebrow, made a notation on his clipboard, and continued. "What is the chemical formula for water?"
"Y equals MX plus B," Kabuto replied, smirking.
"And the reason you allowed Orochimaru to use you was…?"
"H2O," Kabuto replied.
Ibiki made another notation on his clipboard.
"You might as well mark down that I'm not going to answer any questions regarding Lord Orochimaru, which, honestly, is kind of pointless anyway, since he's dead," Kabuto smirked, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest.
"So why do you insist on protecting him?"
Kabuto shook his finger and tsked. "I said I wasn't going to answer any questions about Lord Orochimaru."
Ibiki scribbled down another few notes. "All right then… You are a medical ninja, yet you betrayed Konoha. Why?"
"Why did I betray Konoha, or why did I become a medical ninja? Please clarify your question so I can come up with a fitting smart remark."
"Why, if you hate Konoha, did you remain a medical ninja, a legacy that your father, a Konoha ninja, left for you?"
"I like pie," Kabuto answered simply. "Pie and doctors are my friends."
"Except when they surgically remove the DNA of Oro- another- from your body," Ibiki pointed out.
"What, pies? I've never seen a pie perform surgery before," Kabuto mused. "Next time you see one, let me know so I can watch too."
Ibiki slammed his fists on the table, leaning forward. "All right kid, party's over."
Kabuto sighed. "And we never got to the champagne…"
A loud slap rang through the room. Ibiki raised his hand to strike Kabuto again. "Let's try and get serious now," he suggested coldly. "What do you know of the Akatsuki's goals?"
"Nothing," Kabuto replied.
"What do they want?"
"Asking me what they want is another way of asking me what I know of their goals, and I must again respond by assuring you that I know nothing," Kabuto replied.
"Where is Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Darned if I know. He doesn't stay in any one place for too long," Kabuto pointed out.
"Who is currently leading the Akatsuki?"
"I worked with Lord Orochimaru-"
"Who kept tabs on the Akatsuki," Ibiki responded.
"Who was not exactly filled in by the Akatsuki on all their plans, goals, and/or schemes," Kabuto shot back. "I don't know."
"All right. Your work here, then. Is there anything that you learned while you lived here as a spy that could be dangerous to us now?"
"How should I know?" Kabuto demanded. "I'm not exactly in the know anymore, what with being a recovering surgery patient and all that."
Ibiki frowned. "I think you're lying."
"You would," Kabuto replied.
"How did you end up working for the Akatsuki? What motivated you?"
"The dental plan," Kabuto replied.
Ibiki slapped him again, harder. "The truth," he commanded.
"Good food."
Another slap.
"The company."
Ibiki grabbed Kabuto's head and smashed it against the table. "I'm only going to ask one more time," he snarled. "What motivated you to work for the Akatsuki? How can we prevent this from happening again? How can we keep our children from defecting to other villages or organizations?"
Kabuto glanced sidelong at Ibiki. "You could start by caring."
Ibiki blinked, prepared to beat the insolence out of Kabuto, not actually receive an honest answer. "What?"
"You didn't care," Kabuto explained. "I disappeared. Maybe If I had been sought out, maybe if someone had cared to know where I was, perhaps if they'd tried to convince me to come back, I wouldn't have stayed. But Konoha didn't care that I'd disappeared. They left me with the Akatsuki. I didn't betray Konoha so much as Konoha betrayed me."
Ibiki frowned, and posed another question. "Why, then, did you leave the Akatsuki?"
"Because Lord Orochimaru sought me out. He tried to convince me to come with him. Convinced me I was of worth- something Konoha failed to do, Ibiki. He made me feel that I was a person, not a tool."
"So the Akatsuki didn't seek you out?"
"The Akatsuki didn't feel that I was of worth. They never bothered convincing me, so the choice was simple when I knew that Lord Orochimaru actually wanted me."
"So Orochimaru-"
"No questions about Lord Orochimaru. Have some respect for the dead," Kabuto insisted.
"So how did the Akatsuki convince you to defect from Konoha?"
"They didn't convince me," Kabuto explained. "They had no need to."
"Why?"
"And for that, ladies and gentlemen, tune in next week," Kabuto replied glibly.
Ibiki scowled. "Why, Kabuto?"
"Why next week? Well, I just assumed you'd want to keep talking with me. The conversation was so delightful, except for the occasional beating."
"Why didn't the Akatsuki need to convince you?"
"Because they had a great dental plan! It speaks for itself, you should try it," Kabuto explained, mock-seriously.
"Answer me, Kabuto. It isn't an Orochimaru question."
"I don't want to," Kabuto said. "It makes me angry. And then I feel like throwing my water at you."
Ibiki sighed, standing. "Well, I think we're done here. Let's head back outside, shall we?"
Kabuto blinked. "What?"
Ibiki smirked. "I think that's the first time I've caught you off guard this whole conversation."
"No stairs?" Kabuto asked, still only half-serious.
"None. Just one last question: why the infatuation with stairs?"
-'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'-
The ramen is too hot to eat, but Otousan doesn't seem interested in eating anyway.
"What did you learn in school today, son?" Otousan glances down at him, and casually places the bowl of ramen on the steps, focusing entirely on what he has to say.
"Boring stuff. Not like the things you teach me," he replies, smiling up at Otousan, setting aside his own bowl of steaming noodles.
Otousan smiles back, and ruffles his hair playfully, scooting down a step so the two of them are sitting side-by-side on the staircase. "Yeah, well, you need school too, kid. Don't forget that."
He looks up at his Otousan and his smile widens. "Yes sir!"
-'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'-
He feels gravity tug at him, and though he arches his body, trying to regain his balance, the momentum created by the puppet master's cruel tug is too much, and he falls, tumbling down the steep flight of stairs, still feeling the tug of the chakra strings that have stolen his freedom, trapped him, enslaved him.
He lies at the bottom of the steps, in too much pain to fully assess the damage done to his tiny body. He only knows that it hurts, and he wants it to stop…
"Come now, Sasori, let the child be," the cool, almost reptilian voice slithers down the staircase, following the puppet master's movements.
He lifts his eyes, and catches sight of the silky, black hair, the entrancing golden eyes, and he wonders- if this man were his master, would he still be in pain?
-'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'-
Lord Orochimaru nudges the door open, glancing at him with a hint of pride. "All of what I've shown you is my village," the sannin says, "but this… this is mine."
As the snake-man begins to descend into the shadowy stairwell, he lingers at the top step, too frightened to follow.
Lord Orochimaru turns and looks at him. "What's wrong?"
"You say it's yours," he murmurs, hoping that he has not angered the powerful man. "I should not…"
"Kabuto," Lord Orochimaru purrs, "You are now my ward. Come."
And he comes.
-'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'- -'-'-'-'-
Kabuto blinked hard, forcing away the memories. Lord Orochimaru was dead now; memories would not bring him back to life, and Kabuto was hardly in a position to attempt to bring him back.
Ibiki was eyeing Kabuto carefully. "Stairs?" he pressed, noting the change that had come over the young man.
"Wonderful for basements and upper floors," Kabuto replied, quickly regaining his composure, "though I never understood sunken rooms that require two steps down to get to the main floor. It seems… superfluous."
Ibiki nodded slowly. "I'll be seeing you," he told Kabuto, stepping forward and removing the handcuff that kept Kabuto shackled to the table.
"I have every confidence that you will," Kabuto replied, smirking. "I look forward to our next conversation."
"I'm sure you do," Ibiki acknowledged the obvious sarcasm in the statement with a sarcastic statement of his own.
Kabuto stood carefully, but stumbled when he tried to take a step- Ibiki caught the young man, and kept a firm grip on Kabuto's bicep until they had exited the building and descended the stairs. Shikamaru was waiting outside, tapping his foot impatiently and scowling. When he noticed Kabuto, an expression of surprise flitted across his features, closely followed by a look of disdain.
"Well, at least you didn't kill him," Shikamaru grumbled, noting with displeasure the bruises forming on Kabuto's face. "Did you get anything useful from him?"
"A little food for thought. And perhaps a new appreciation for stairs," Ibiki replied, smirking.
Kabuto sank gratefully into his wheelchair and sighed, worn out from the fear that had gripped his body, the mental exercise required to circumvent Ibiki's questions, and the unwelcome memories that seemed to have produced a solemn, almost melancholy undercurrent to his every thought.
Shikamaru glanced at Kabuto in concern. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," Kabuto replied honestly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Alive."
Ibiki made a quick note on his clipboard. "Well, I've got other prisoners to attend to," he said brusquely. "I'll be going. See you soon, Yakushi."
Shikamaru glanced down at Kabuto. "Do you want to get something to eat? You were in there for awhile…"
"A half hour, max," Kabuto replied. "I'm not hungry…though if you want something, I won't complain."
"I think we'll just head back, then," Shikamaru said softly, turning and wheeling Kabuto away.
A/N: Brainiac5 here. As a special treat to the viewing audience, I shall discourse with MidnightAnimeAngel as a behind-the-scenes feature for this author note. ...not really. But hey, she's here! Give her a big hand! No, no, not that kind of hand, I meant applause... sheesh. Ninja.
B5: Anyway, I'm going to be the interviewer, because I'm awesome like that, and because I stole her laptop so I get to type things in, which means that I'm in control of the conversation. Mwaha!
MAA: pshtt. We'll see about that. *musing* Maybe I should pull a Kakashi and only give vague answers...
B5: But what's the point of being a hard-hitting journalist if you don't answer any of my questions?
MAA: That's your problem.
B5: Meh. So, MAA, Pepsi or Coke?
MAA: Root beer.
B5: Creativity. The bane of Journalism! (Sorry to any journalists out there)
MAA: Let's get to the real questions shall we?
B5: It was a real question! It had a question mark and everything! Okay, okay, hard-hitting journalism. Here comes my Pulitzer Prize-winning question: ...um...what should I ask?
MAA: *rolls eyes* Oh yeah, that's a real winner.
B5: Winner! Ha! Okay, who do you think will win the fair maiden? Shikamaru or Kabuto?
MAA: Which fair maiden are we talking about, and what does this have to do with the story?
B5: I'm not sure, and nothing, really. Wait! I'm the one who's supposed to be asking questions!
- this sort of meaningless dialogue continues for quite some time -
B5: Well, that wraps up our in-depth segment, join us next time I update for a more meaningful chapter, and hopefully shorter author notes. Bye! ^_^
MAA: Wait, I never got to say hello!
B5: MAA says hello. Bye!
MAA: *steals laptop back* Hi and bye!
B5: All that tussle for the laptop and that's all you type? Sheesh...