Ink's Notes:

I managed to get this one done rather quickly! Things just kind of flowed after the last one, and here we are! I won't say anything else, since I don't think anything else needs to be said. Here we go~!

Chapter Ten

Tsunade was beginning to consider prescribing herself some headache medicine.

First, Hinata had shown up and told her they'd managed to bring in their stranger without a fight and Kiba, Akamaru and Shino were escorting him over.

Then, the group in question had arrived, and the man had regarded Tsunade with something that seemed to be a combination of caution, respect, and snark.

Finally, she'd decided that she was not in the mood to deal with him at the early hours of the morning, so she'd had Shizune escort him to the cells (to which the man had said something about his current residence being far more comfortable) where he would rest until the morning.

And so morning had come, and Shizune had escorted the man back to her office before leaving the two of them alone, where the man was currently leaning back in a chair, balancing it on its back legs, hands behind his head. Tsunade was having a hard time getting a reading off of him – despite the fact that he didn't appear to be older than thirty or forty, he had a masterful disposition around him that indicated years of experience, and the few emotions she could get off of him seemed to be boredom, calmness (though, she noted, it felt more like the calm before a storm), and just a touch of worry.

Tsunade rubbed her temples before letting out a long sigh. She seriously wished she had a bottle of alcohol to help her get through what she knew would be a difficult session of questioning this stranger.

"All right," she began, staring directly into his eyes to try and intimidate him. "First things first. What's your name?"

The man stretched as he lowered the chair back to its normal position. He returned her gaze, completely unintimidated, before answering. "Edward Newgate."

Tsunade frowned. He didn't sound like he was lying, but there was a bit of hesitation, and a touch of sadness had crossed his eyes when he said the name. If he was lying, then the name probably belonged to someone he was close to, and calling him out on it probably wouldn't be the best idea.

She really wished that she had a Yamanaka here to make the questioning easier.

"All right, Edward," she sighed, trying to make it clear that she knew it was likely he hadn't given her his real name without flat-out saying it, "Where are you from?"

"The sea," he responded, his grin indicating that he knew exactly how vague he was being.

"The sea could describe any number of places," Tsunade groaned. "Where are you from?" she repeated, her tone making it clear that she would not tolerate these half answers from him.

"I just told you," Edward responded, not intimidated by her in the slightest. "The sea."

"Okay, supposing you are from the sea, how can you not be from a specific place on the sea?" she countered. She hadn't even been talking to him for five minutes and he was beginning to frustrate her to no end.

"Because I don't have a house on any continent," he elaborated in what Tsunade considered the most vague method possible.

Deciding her current train of questions wasn't going anywhere, she decided to go down a different track. "What's your occupation? You don't look like a shinobi." Indeed, Edward lacked a forehead protector of any sort, and he didn't have any pouches for kunai or other ninja tools.

"Sailor," Edward responded. "That being how I'm from the sea, Hokage-san." He punctuated the name with a smug grin.

Oh. Well, now she felt like a complete fool. Tsunade rubbed her temples, then looked over at the door. "Shizune!"

Her assistant entered the room upon being called. "Yes, Lady Tsunade?" she asked, flinching upon seeing the expression of utter annoyance on her face.

"Would you tell Tama to go and get Sakura?" Tsunade asked, barely concealing her rage through clenched teeth. If she hadn't been, she might have noticed Edward tense up slightly. "And would you get me a bottle of alcohol?"

"Ah… Lady Tsunade, you shouldn't be drinking while you question a-" She was cut off when Edward lifted his hand to motion for her to stop.

"Actually, alcohol sounds good right now," he grinned. "Haven't been able to buy any on account of currency issues. Mind getting me one as well?"

Shizune's head dropped, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. "Very well," she sighed, turning to leave the room.

Sakura was getting worried. When she'd woken up, she hadn't heard the telltale signs of Naruto being attacked by Marco, even though after she'd showered, the shinobi in question was sitting on her couch and enjoying the leftovers she'd planned on having for breakfast.

"Ah, good morning, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto grinned, waving at her.

Sakura scanned the room, seeing no sign of her phoenix friend. "Naruto, did you chase Marco away?" she asked, going over to the window and looking outside to see if he was flying around in the area. When she saw no sign of him, she turned her attention back to her teammate.

"Eh? Sakura-Chan, I wouldn't do that. He's great stealth training!" Naruto grinned. "Besides, no matter how much I don't like him, you do, and chasing him away would make you upset."

Sakura sighed. Once Marco's speech was good enough, he'd told Naruto to stop coming in through the window because he would never be able to sneak past him, "Especially dressed like that, yoi." Naruto had, of course, taken this as a challenge, and made it a point to try and sneak into her apartment every morning without Marco noticing him.

(It never worked, and Marco was always staring directly at him the moment he came in through the window. Naruto had declared that the bird was "somehow cheating".)

"Then where is he?" Sakura asked, closing her window and turning to face Naruto, who shrugged in response.

"Maybe he left? I mean, he's strong and can talk, why would he need you to take care of him?" Naruto pointed out.

"Naruto! Marco wouldn't do that!" Sakura snapped at her friend. When she saw his confused expression, she continued. "He… considers me family."

Naruto stared at her, obviously still confused. "What?"

Sakura sighed. "Hinata came over yesterday and asked why he doesn't like you. He said that it's because you keep coming in through the window, despite the fact that I could be doing something private when you do. When she asked why that was a problem, he said that it was because it made me uncomfortable, and…" She sighed happily. "He said he wouldn't tolerate people who hurt or make his family uncomfortable." Sakura smiled. She was rather touched that Marco considered her family. It was just a word, but it somehow made her happy.

Naruto looked like he was about to say something else when there was a knock on Sakura's door. She moved over and answered it, before opening it fully.

"Tama!" she greeted with a smile, stepping aside to let him in. He fidgeted a moment, before entering and letting Sakura close the door after him.

Tama had cleaned himself up since they'd brought him to Konoha. He'd gotten a haircut, so his messy hair was now short and neat, though there were a few rowdy bangs on his forehead that refused to cooperate. His dark clothing had been exchanged for a green vest, a light brown shirt, and dark green pants. A Konoha forehead protector had replaced his old one, and was worn proudly on his forehead.

"Hey, Tama!" Naruto greeted with a smile. "You're a Konoha shinobi now?"

Tama nodded. "When you brought me in, Kakashi asked the Hokage to test my skills and see if I could become a ninja for Konoha." He adjusted his new forehead protector. "I'm not allowed to go outside of the village because I used to be a missing-nin, but I'm allowed to help civilians and protect the village in case of an attack. I've also been practicing my range with dirt clones, so I can have them appear anywhere in the village to deliver messages." He paused, and then added, "Though, I still have at least three ANBU following me to make sure I don't try anything."

"That's great, Tama!" Sakura smiled, choosing to ignore the last part. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sorry, I can't," he frowned. "I'm actually here to retrieve you, Sakura. The Hokage wants you in her office, something about questioning a stranger?"

"Why me?" Sakura asked, gently tilting her head to the side. "Wouldn't Ino or another Yamanaka make more sense?"

"From what I understand, they're all busy. I think Tsunade wants to try a 'good cop, bad cop' with the guy, and if that fails she'll get one of them," Tama explained.

Sakura frowned, then glared at Naruto, who took the hint and headed for the door. She opened it, letting the group outside, before closing and locking it and allowing Tama to lead her to Hokage Tower.

"Say, Sakura," Tama began. "Where's Marco? I didn't see him in your apartment."

Sakura frowned, looking up at the sky in hopes of seeing her phoenix flying around. "He wasn't there when I woke up this morning," she explained. "I think he might have gone out for an evening flight and is just late coming home, but if he's not back by the time I get back from the Hokage's office…"

Tama nodded. "If you'd like, I can help you find him. He's terrifying, yeah, but if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had a second chance."

Sakura smiled. "I'd like that," she nodded.

The two walked in relative silence after that, before parting ways at the tower and agreeing to meet up at a restaurant for lunch once Sakura was done. Sakura made her way up to Tsunade's office, where she ran into Shizune, who was carrying two bottles of alcohol.

Seeing Sakura eye the bottles, Shizune explained. "One for Tsunade, one for Edward."

"Edward?" Sakura asked.

"The man Tsunade is having trouble questioning," Shizune sighed. "He's answering honestly, but he's being as vague as possible about it, and it's frustrating her."

Sakura briefly sympathized, before opening the door to allow Shizune to enter and following her in, closing the door after them. Shizune handed one bottle to Tsunade, and the other to the blond stranger who Sakura assumed was Edward. She briefly noted that his clothing was odd and he didn't seem to be a shinobi, but something about him felt somehow familiar.

Tsunade sighed. "Sakura. This is Edward Newgate. He's apparently a sailor, and… that's about all I've managed to get out of him. He was sneaking into the library and doing research on Space-Time Ninjutsu." She rubbed her temples. "Do you mind helping me question him? I don't know how much longer I can deal with his half-answers."

Sakura nodded. "Of course, Lady Tsunade." She turned to face Edward, who seemed… nervous, somehow? She pushed the thought away. "So, Edward. Why were you researching those Ninjutsu?"

Edward seemed to be debating internally about something, before he sighed and took a swig of his alcohol. "Just trying to get home," he responded, in a voice all too familiar to Sakura. She froze, processing it for a few minutes. It couldn't be, could it? But… that would explain why…

When she managed to speak again, it was barely a squeak.

"Marco…?"

Uh-oh.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

-Ink