"Are you sure these reports are accurate?" Ibiki stared down the new Chuunin guard at the gatehouse. The least favorite part of his job was checking the logs for the entry station that he knew had already been checked by three other people; but today turned out to be one of those days that proved the necessity of his work. "I ask again. Are these accurate?"
"Yes sir, I was on shared duty with Takeshi Kida all morning. That is the complete list of everyone who came in through the West Gate. Why, is there something wrong?"
Closing the ledger, Ibiki handed it back to the man and shook his head. "No, nothing is out of the ordinary. Stop being so nervous when someone asks you about your work, it shows on your face." Tossing back the record, Ibiki walked back into the city before ducking into a tea house. Ordering a plain green tea, he drank it slowly to calm his nerves. Most of the physical signs of nervousness had disappeared, but Ibiki had no answer for why his heart was still beating so fast.
'She came in through the main gate, and they didn't realize who she was? Nobody thought to double check her identification?' Pausing for a moment, Ibiki realized he had drunk the entire kettle of tea. Waving his hand for another one, he returned to his thoughts. 'She made it into Konoha, giving her name and nobody recognized her. I didn't think anyone was that good… Tayuya.'
After finishing the second kettle, Ibiki left his payment on the table before tightening his head wraps and heading back outside. The remainder of the afternoon seemed like a wild goose chase, following the sounds he heard on the wind, following it wherever it took him, the dead ends stopped being funny.
"Two years and I still can't get used to this new Konoha. Why couldn't they have rebuilt it the way it was?" Grumbling more to himself than anyone in particular, Ibiki gave up and walked back to his apartment. The street he lived on was in the more orderly part of town, the rest of Konoha has a natural and organic feel to the way the streets were lain out, Ibiki had chosen a home near the industrial quarters next to one of Konoha's military storage warehouses, though the stores were only half full even years after the last great war. Housing was cheap, and it was quiet out here, but it was not quiet that he found.
Unlocking the fence leading into the yard that ran along the side and back of his house, he heard that strange soft music again. There was too little chance of this being coincidence. Reaching the backyard he looked over his Koi pond, artificial waterfall, and the cave carved into the branches of the hedge which housed a small statue of a sleeping bear.
She was sitting on the roof of the house overlooking the garden, but Ibiki had decided not to meet her gaze or acknowledge her presence yet. It was hard to pick up her breathing at the distance and height she was at, but short nasal exhalations meant that she was growing impatient.
"Very well then Tayuya. What brings you to my home today?"
Jumping down next to the apple tree, she plucked two ripe apples from the branches and tossed one at Ibiki. Rather than catch it, he raised his arm and let the fruit land against his jacket, turning to face her in a natural motion caused the fruit to roll along his arm and down into his pocket where his hand was waiting to grab it. A light chuckle and a grin broke her stern face.
"That's a nice trick." Taking a bite of her apple, she weighed the slightly sour flavor for a moment before proceeding to devour the entire thing to the core in a few moments.
"Hungry?" Ibiki asked.
"Starved, now that you mention it. Where are you taking me to eat?"
"Wait, I'm taking you whe-" Grabbing his arm before he could finish his protest, she led him out from the garden and back out into the street.
"I would have gone by a restaurant before dropping by your place, but you don't live anywhere a good grill or bar, and after going through your pantry I'm certainly not about to let you try your hand at cooking."
"Hold on a minute here." He stopped and pulled her to a stop with him. "What are you doing in Konoha?"
"When you asked if you could visit me all those months ago, you didn't figure that the offer went both ways?" There was something about her eyes Ibiki could not place, despite what other interrogators would claim, it was hard to tell intentions by the eyes – they were a real mystery. For a moment Ibiki though he saw something, but it turned out her eyes had fallen on the teriyaki grill to his right. Finally relenting, Ibiki treated her to dinner.
The afternoon sun was still in the sky, a good hour or two before dusk would set on when they finished. It was not a meal by his normal schedule, but this day was proving to be anything but normal. For being a rather petite young woman, she had a healthy appetite, though he figured she did not often get cooked meals like that out in her forest.
Insisting on a walk, Ibiki took her to a lake outside of town where he liked to go for privacy. It was as good a place as any for a talk. Her quiet demeanor confused him, based on her old personality profile, but from his previous experience it matched the tone she had set then. Yet something still seemed odd, as though a part of him was unsure what to think about her.
"What are you doing?" She had stripped off her outer robe and was down to her bikini underwear as she stepped into the water.
"It's been a long, hot day. I haven't bathed in the three days I traveled here, I must smell awful." Of all the sensory refinement Ibiki had developed, smell was one that he never gained command of, there was always an Inuzuka on the interrogation squad to do that. Gathering up her robe, Ibiki folded it before laying it down on the ground. Walking alongside the water, Ibiki found a place to sit down in the shade of a willow tree as she swam and bathed herself. Curiosity caused him to look once or twice, her body was young and supple, but she had many scars across her abdomen and back. Propriety made him look off in the distance for the majority of the time, it was not right to stare. Then a shout broke his concentration.
"Aagh, damn it! Not now!" With a fit, Tayuya began to flail around as she sunk in the water. In a flash Ibiki threw off his overcoat and jumped in the water after her. There was a red glow was spreading across her body, which could be nothing else but the curse seal. Grabbing her and bringing her back to shore, he was relieved to hear her coughing up water, even if she was still convulsing in pain.
A dozen seals crossed his mind, but he knew none of them would be effective against a deteriorating Cursed Seal of Heaven. Not knowing what to do, he sat beside her and took her in his arms and began to hum lowly and calmly. For a moment her muscles continued to spasm and pulse, but eventually the spread of the seal stopped and began to recede. Her hair turned from the light pink back to its normal red shade and her breathing stabilized. She was cold, but from her own sweat rather than the lake water. Lifting her in his arms he went over to her robe and wrapped her in it before building a small fire.
After a few minutes she sat up next to the fire, still shivering. Putting his coat around her, he sat next to her with his arm over her shoulder.
"You could have taken me to the hospital."
"I'll be honest, I don't much like hospitals. The weapons that gave me most of these scars were surgical tools and I can't bare the thought of…" Ibiki stopped himself, not really knowing what to say next.
Looking up at him, her hands grasped his face again. Again those eyes looked at him, and again he saw that same unsure quality to them. It was not something he was used to seeing in the eyes he saw.
"That was a lovely tune you were humming earlier. Where did you learn it?"
"It was a lullaby my mother used to sing to me."
"You have new scars on your face since the last time I saw you." Her hands took in every line in his face, not shying away from the scar tissue nor treating it any differently.
He surprised himself when he leaned forward to kiss her, and she surprised him even more when she returned the kiss. It was not like the fantasies where love is like a dream, this moment made everything seem more real, all the pieces seemed to fit, even if none of them should have. His sense of duty felt that something was wrong, but a part of himself said it would be wrong to not continue; it was a part he had been trained to ignore for so many years, his humanity.
Lying next to the fire, he continued their kiss as he supported her head in his right hand. His left hand found hers as she led his hand down to her hip. Breaking his kiss with her, he trailed his mouth down her neck down to the scars around her navel as he gave her skin the same caress she has given him. A sudden tiredness overcame him; it was the fatigue of relief combined with an unspoken fear that prevented him from continuing. Sitting up, she rested his head in her lap and began to hum a quiet tune, his mother's lullaby…
It was evening when he awoke, alone under the willow tree by the lake. The stars were out, but partly hidden by clouds which kept the half moon in shadow. Looking around Ibiki quickly assessed the situation, she was gone and she had taken his coat. Quickly searching his pockets, he found all of his possessions were still there except for his security clearance card.
Running back to Konoha, Ibiki found that Anbu had the perimeter under security lockdown. In the confusion he managed to get inside and find Nobu and ask him what was going on.
"Someone broke into the sealed archives, the old treasure vault designed by the Third Hokage."
"Any information on who did it or what they stole?"
"There were three giant bruisers, who broke past the inner seals. All we know is that the chamber that was robbed had stuff from the old Uchiha Clan, handed down through the family going back to the Rikudo Sennin."
Ikibi tightened the muscles around his mouth to keep his chin from quivering. His eyes burned, and something happened that he had not experienced in years.
"Boss, are you crying?" Nobu asked as Ibiki turned away. Turning away from his subordinate, Ibiki walked to his apartment and prepared for the trip up North. His expression did not betray his feelings, something inside him that had only just come to life had died again this night.