Ibiki puts them into three classes: parrots, snakes, and walls. Surprisingly, he agreed to let me watch from behind the glass on this one, who I think he'd classify as a snake. "Do you know where the shipment was supposed to go?"

"Like I told you already, Mr. Miyagi's Dojo in Tanzaku-"

"I meant the other delivery the coach made." The "snake" Ibiki is questioning shakes his head.

"I'll tell you all you want to know about Nurari's guys, but I ain't gonna betray my own brothers." As Ibiki stares down the man, I realize with a start that this Nurari must be the leader of the Akiyama Group, the man who drove the girls into Tanzaku Quarters.

"We know the Black Dragons. You guys are smart; you play both sides and don't make the obvious moves. Which is why it's puzzling you'd do something so damn obvious in one of your strongest bases. Yamaha wasn't a high priority target for you guys, he drew the attention from the daimyo and kept the heat off your backs. So don't think of it as a betrayal- I just want to understand where the second load was delivered to."

"...Like you said, we play both sides. There's your answer."

"Bullshit. You've never carried a payload that big and we both know it."

"Who knows? Maybe we decided to make a little extra ryo."

"More bullshit. You'd never risk a shipment of a staple product that large being transported with a volatile cargo like what the Akiyama Group drove in." The Snake clenches his jaw. "You know I keep my promises. So tell me about the Akiyama Group's cargo."

"...Six young girls, just starting to develop." Ibiki nods. "...They'd originally supposed to have been taken to the warehouse, but I heard that there had been trouble on the way, and they delivered to the Dojo instead. When we showed up to haul them off they were gone."

"And did the Akiyama Group know what house the girls were going to?"

"Of course." Another dead silence. The Snake shifts in his chair for a second, looking up at the dim lightbulb.

"Where."

"They weren't going to a house," The Snake said eventually. "But as that information was in the hands of us, you're not going to get it from me."

"Well, if you can't tell me where they were going, name a few places in Tanzaku Quarters where they weren't going to end up."

A very well placed question, I think. Though Tanzaku is crawling with inns, most of them are what us ninja call "clean"- nothing weird, everything done, um, above the table; it also lets Ibiki get under this Snake's skin. I think this Snake might end up being overly cautious, and thereby give up a clue. He gives a blank stare at Ibiki, then says with a smirk, "Mr. Miyagi's Dojo and the warehouse."

"What were you doing in Konoha?" The change of direction startles the Snake, who blinks a few times.

"...Like you said, we play both sides..."

"Then who took out Yamaha."

"No idea. I mean yeah, everyone saw them, but they were a total unknown. I'd never seen a person matching their description in my life." Unlike most of the Snake's words, this answer has the cadence and tone of honesty. Hmm... "But... I'd be willing to guess it's the same person who blew the warehouse. It might have been someone taken out of his back pocket and they pulled a crazy stunt like that to cover our tracks." Uh-oh.

"Definitely a 'his'?" There's a brief look that passes over the Snake's face, but he quickly resumes his disgruntled and world-weary expression. "Who. Were the girls. Being taken to."

"I've told you enough-"

"No you haven't." Another staredown. "We know about Mrs. Aono. We know about Takeshi's Club. Neither of them have claimed involvement, and despite their trade, their alibis check out. Why would you need to keep things this far underground if there are multiple targets in one city..."

"Because we have to." The Snake lifts his chin and tilts his head, silently asking for Ibiki to finish him. The small room slowly fills with a drowning silence, and after a few minutes Ibiki sighs and walks out.

"A pretty productive session," He says with a grim smile.

"Really? He hardly said anything."

"The key with Snakes is to make them think you're not getting much out of their answers. You have to read between the lines."

"So do you know who the girls were headed to?"

"Off the top of my head I can't name anyone, but with what he gave us I think we should know soon." He sighs, then looks me in the eye. "Hinata, I understand your concern for them, but first and foremost this is about interrogating a man found spying on our ninja. Understand?"

"Yes..." Ibiki gives me a nod, and we exit the room...