Ibiki watched Kumo through the two way mirror as he grilled the prisoner with questions. After the Chūnin exam the puppet master had been transferred into the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force within the Intelligence Division. I'd only been a few months since he'd been assigned to his command but the kid was showing plenty of talent when it came to interrogation. He certainly showed the patience when it came to working information out a subject. Interrogation was an art Kumo performed well and his skills in capturing prisoners relatively unharmed were almost unmatched.

"So where did you find this man?" he asked turning to the Hyūga by his side.

"Just a few miles within our southern borders." He explained crossing his arms and watching the interrogation intently. Kumo was currently sending a barrage of questions to the invader who was trying to give him the silent treatment.

"It seems the man wont crack he's been stone faced for about an hour now." Said the Hyūga. "I doubt that man will be able to get much out of him."

Ibiki chuckled, "The silent treatment is for amateur." He explained watching a bead of sweat drop from the man's brow. "Counter interrogation usually involves well informed lies or misdirection, it's designed to make the interrogator follow false leads and collect inaccurate information. It can disrupt operations and extent the subject's life if he is to be executed after he has served his usefulness. Believe me that stone face of his will crumble sooner or later. People hiding secrets use the silent treatment because they can't think of any clever lies to throw the interrogator off course."

"So how do you handle the false leads and shift through the lies." He asked watching the victim shift in their restraints.

"You follow the leads and shift through the lies." He answered. "You have to ensure every piece of information lines up with your gathered intelligence and if you can't connect the dots you collect more dots until you can connect them."

"It sounds tenuous." He said amused by the man's attempt to escape as Kumo continued to ask a variety of questions.

Ibiki opened his mouth to answer him when the glass in front of him banged loudly as Kumo was thrown against it his body managing to send a spider web of cracks along its surface. The prisoner had somehow managed to slip himself out of his restraints.

Kumo ducked a punch and slammed the man's sternum with his elbow sending the man back so Kumo had room to turn around and face him. Ibiki cursed, Kumo was hardly an expert in hand to hand combat and Ibiki didn't think this prisoner was out of his territory in a hand to hand fight.

The prisoner dodged a punch and slammed a knee into Kumo's face sending him down. Kumo wasn't armed when he interrogated subjects and right now that was proving to be a liability at the moment. Ibiki and the Hyūga unlocked the room and rushed in. The nameless prisoner turned to face the newcomers charging them. The Hyūga blocked the punch and jabbed his shoulders with his gentle fist technique sending the man down convulsing. Ibiki moved to Kumo lifting him up to face him. The tinted lenses of his goggles were cracked and the brass frames bent. Suddenly the shards of one of the tinted lenses fell out revealing a single white pupil-less eye. Kumo's hand moved to cover it but as Ibiki turned around to look at the Hyūga but he could already tell by the look on the man's face that he had seen Kumo's Byakugan.

The Hyūga turned and ran out of the interrogation room. Kumo hands went for the kunai holster on Ibiki's hip drawing one of the knifes. Ibiki grabbed Kumo's wrist and restrained him.

"Stop," he commanded him keeping him from running after the man. "Making a corpse will just make things worse kid."

"He's going to tell." Hissed Kumo trying to break free of his grasp.

"I know." Said Ibiki, "That's why we need to talk to the Hokage right now."

….

"So that's your situation then?" said Tsunade looking at Ibiki and Kumo from across her desk studying the two.

"Yes Ma'am." Answered Ibiki as Kumo sat quietly by his side listening intently. They both had never seen him more tense. Despite his quiet disposition they could tell Kumo was nervous, he was usually very relaxed as well as quiet but now he was sitting in the chair stiff and ridged as if expecting something to happen at a moment's notice.

Tsunade stood and turned looking out her office window. "The counsel and I always knew this was a possibility with you… I'm sorry Kumo but the elder counsel overruled me on this decision over a year ago." She explained.

"What are you saying?" said Kumo his voice low and dangerous.

"The counsel ruled that it wasn't worth risking dissent from the Hyūga clan especially for just one shinobi, I'm afraid I can't stop them from sealing your Byakugan, it's out of my hands… however… I won't stop you from leaving the village discreetly. Naturally you will be considered a rouge shinobi and I can't do anything about that or the measures that will be enacted to capture you. But I will pretend that I never spoke to you about this and give you a head start."

Kumo stood and walked to one of the windows opening it. "Fine… I'll leave in a couple of hours… just after night fall."

Kumo leapt out the window and across the roof tops.

….

Kumo had managed to seal his puppets into their scrolls faster than he had expected. He packed them up only collecting a few necessary tools and provisions he felt he would need on the road as well as a few personal items, he didn't have many since he hadn't any when he arrived aside from his puppets. He removed his mother's picture from the frame he had placed it in given to him by Hinata on his birthday, he fought his impulse to pack the fame as well but it would be dead weight on the run and he knew sentimentality wasn't the best thing for him at the moment. He grabbed his pipe off the nightstand, not the old one he had gotten after leaving the Mist village prison. This one had a polished wood bowl and a bamboo stem like his mothers. It was given to him by Ino after he had managed to pass the Chūnin exams, like they had discussed He and Nenshō had managed to work to the top of the exam and faced each other in the third round. And like they had promised they both forfeited the match as to not showcase the limit of their abilities. Ino and Tenten both kept reminding them how they with they'd have fought each other and given them a show worth talking about.

Kumo sighed thinking about Ino, he wished he'd bothered to get a photo of her to take with him, now that he thought of it he wished he had bothered to get a photo of Nenshō, Hinata and Tenten. He hadn't bothered with such things during his time in the Hidden Leaf. And now he was leaving this all behind him as nothing more than fading images in his head.

The front door of the apartment opened Kumo drew a kunai and tossed it making Nenshō duck the knife.

"Easy Kumo" he said holding his hands up. "It's just me."

"What do you want?" asked Kumo trying to sound casual.

"Ibiki told me what happened… you don't want to leave the village."

"No" agreed Kumo, "but if you talked to Ibiki you know I don't have a choice in this. Why'd Ibiki speak to you anyways? I was planning on leaving quietly."

"Ibiki isn't happy about losing his star interrogator. He hasn't given up on the idea of turning this around, we want to solve this."

"We can't solve this." Said Kumo his calm controlled voice wavered with hints of anger.

"You're wrong Kumo." Said Nenshō lighting a cigarette and leaning back against the wall. "I've actually been planning in case this happened. Truth be told I was intending to do this ever since I came to the leaf village. And it seems I need to enact this plan."

"What are you suggesting Nenshō?" asked Kumo.

"Do you trust me?"

Kumo nodded.

"Then I want you to go meet Ibiki, he'll keep you safe for now Kumo… the rest just leave with me and if I do things right by tommarow morning this will all be over with."