The Pack's Luna 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights pertaining to Harry Potter or Naruto. Just the right to enjoy them.

This is the last chapter I have for the Pack's Luna. Hope you liked it!

-4-

For the following six weeks, Suzume was not allowed to move much outside of her examinations and physical therapy. The latter of which consisted of some fifteen to twenty minutes of movement to prevent her muscles from completely atrophying. She shakily retaught herself how to write, read whatever books her boys brought over and contemplated for the first time what to do with herself in the event the Ninja Corps was closed to her. Also, the petite woman slept a lot.

After all, there was not much of anything on offer, in regards to bed rest-friendly activities. Plus, the coma had taken quite a bit out of her, unfortunately.

One morning, the bird summoner awoke to find herself face-to-face with the new Head of Interrogation, Morino Ibiki. (Apparently, Yamanaka Inoichi had stepped down in the aftermath of the Uchiha massacre, something Suzume had missed while unconscious.)

"Sparrow, I need your report," he barked out gruffly.

So, the ravenette collected herself, adopting a more appropriate posture in order to report everything she remembered. Occlumency was great for recollection of miniscule details too.

"Donkey-taicho ordered us to get ready and leave within thirty minutes from the usual ANBU-gate. Tiger-sempai took point, Grasshopper-sempai the rear and I flanked Donkey-taicho. It was supposed to be a fairly easy A-rank tracking and assassination mission, our specialty. A day in we encountered our mark, near the Kusa-boarder, in the third sector closest to Iwa. The mark had picked up a guard of three enemies, high J?nin-level. We were detected somehow, but could deflect the initial ambush. Grasshopper-sempai was taken by a surprise attack in the opening, so I had to defend against two opponents. I just heard when Tiger-sempai was downed. Donkey-taicho disengaged his opponent and attacked Tiger-sempai..."

Suzume reported diligently every single thing she remembered, concisely and in as few words as possible. The entire time, she kept her emotions suppressed, despite hating to have to relive those awful deaths once more.

Morino-san took detailed notes, neither expressing approval or disapproval. Instead he coolly considered everything she said, asked intelligent questions and probably evaluated her psyche while he was at it.

Suzume also suspected that he was testing her to see whether or not she had turned traitor on her team; it was always notable when a cell was slaughtered brutally by enemies except for one single member. Therefore, she tried to hold her indignation in check, controlling her anger and grief to the best of her abilities. The petite woman respected the Head of Interrogation; everyone in ANBU had heard at least rumors of his exploits during his days in the field and after.

At the moment he was just doing his job.

"You have a good memory," Morino-san stated monotonously. His sharp eyes pinned her in place.

In response, Suzume blinked slowly. His out-of-the-blue-compliment had taken the ravenette aback for second there. "I meditate," she offered calmly.

The Head of Interrogation considered her fragile body for a long moment. "Would you be interested in a transfer?"

This unexpected question startled the ANBU quite a bit inwardly. "That depends, Morino-sempai."

He nodded shortly, contemplating her still. His eyes reminded her uncomfortably of the greasy-haired teacher/spy from another life. Snape, she believed his name to be.

"I don't believe you are capable of torture without breaking yourself. I want you to put an ear to the ground, listening to the village gossip and keep me informed about any kind of interesting developments you manage to catch," the Interrogation-specialist explained slowly. (She doubted he ever thought without an active privacy seal, drawn and powered by his own hand.)

That kind of sealed her fate. Either way, she would be unable to continue her career as an ANBU, or regular Jōnin, due to her recent injuries. The recovery was taking much too long and none of the med-nins were looking her in the eye when talking to the ravenette.
She might be bed-ridden, but not stupid.

If Suzume accepted the offer, she might actually help her village still, in some small way. "Of course, sempai."

"Officially you will be released from active duty and placed as a paper-nin in my department. You report only to me. If anyone asks I ordered you to change the filing system or complained about something equally unimportant. I want to know who is unsatisfied with what, who is attracted to everyone else, why they chose whichever department and what their favorite food is too, while you're at it, Hane. Understood?" Morino growled out.

Suzume saluted as best as she could, still bandaged like Elder Danzo (or one of those mummies from her other life), which seemed to satisfy her new superior officer. With a last nod to her, the scarred man left, taking his five security seals with him.

A few hours later, Katsu visited with Daisuke. The furry dog/wolf-hybrid agilely jumped on her bed, licking over her face once more. Involuntarily, Suzume's mood brightened again. She still grieved for her lost brothers in arms, but had come to accept their deaths as yet another obstacle to overcome. She still could not quite back down from challenges like that, even after it brought about her first death.

"How are ya feelin'?" Katsu asked concerned, making himself comfortable in the same chair Morino-sempai had inhabited only a few hours before.

In response, Suzume shrugged, scratching Daisuke behind his ear, just the way he liked it. His doggy tongue lolled out, slobbering on her navy tank top. "It feels like half of my family is missing," she finally said aloud, "and I can't even avenge them."

Her Inuzuka friend nodded once, fang peaking out of the corner of his mouth. "Half of your pack is missing," he summarized bluntly, but there was compassion in his eyes instead of malice.

The ravenette suppressed the tears and smiled shakily at her childhood friend, brother and comrade. "Yeah. I've been kicked out of the Corps."

Unsurprisingly, her friend snarled, indignant on her behalf. "What?"

Suzume sighed, falling against the veritable pillow tower her team had organized for her. "My leg is too damaged, I lost a part of my right kidney and a significant portion of my lungs. My arms are still functioning, but I won't ever be as fast as before. I'm a cripple by anyone's standard, Katsu," the bird summoner explained quietly, feeling a little lost and helpless.

Although she now had a goal to work towards, Suzume still felt uncomfortable in her own skin. She was used to being one of the elite shinobi of the village, so why wouldn't she?
Katsu froze in his seat, before lunging at her, nearly hugging the petite teen to death. If she hadn't had the opportunity to get used to it over the last eleven or so years, she might have actually flinched. Daisuke licked her face again, burrowing deeper against her body in an effort to offer some comfort to his second favorite human.

"You'll be fine though, right?" Katsu wondered uncharacteristically softly.

Suzume petted his head. "I'll be fine... I think. Just a paperpusher. Urgh! Paperwork!"
Finally, he laughed at her halfhearted joke.