It's the last place you'd expect to find a man like Ibiki Morino: brightly colored plumage, excited squeaks and meows, and children asking, "Can I pet it?" But, when I walk into the only pet shop in Konoha, that is the kind of place I find Ibiki. He's looking at a snake, one that looks to me to be just a very plain green tree snake.

"You like snakes?"

"I'm thinking it's time to get a new one. Yuri's gotten old, and I need something more willing to bite." Ibiki turns to me and asks, "How about you?"

"No, I'm not that fond of snakes…" I haven't been since Orochimaru's invasion, actually. "Though, I did want to talk to you about snakes and parrots. I got that letter you sent me…"

Ibiki nods, and waves the shopkeeper over. They hurry to us, carrying a box with a handle. The tree snake is put inside, and we walk back to the counter. "You're back much earlier than I expected."

"There was a lot of bad weather," I say quietly, as Ibiki pays. The shopkeeper looks between me and Ibiki, looking like she's wondering what there could possibly be between us, like most normal people. She hands Ibiki his change with a smile, which he returns before we leave.

"I'm over this way," Ibiki says, pointing North. "So. Bad weather, huh?"

"...Yes. I… it seems like I should have better prepared for it. His son, Yusei… I met with him as The Rainmaker, I was too scared to do it as just me. I thought of what might happen if I met him as myself, and it seemed like it would be better to put an extra step between everything that happened in the quarters and me on the mission."

"In the short term, yes, it would help keep your cover. But it'll make it worse when all of that comes out into the light."

"Speaking of that… you said it would be easy to see me in this if you knew where to look. Who else might know where to look?"

"Oh, a dozen or so, including Lady Tsunade." I sigh, but Ibiki laughs. "It isn't about presenting misinformation to them, it's about convincing them there's no reason to look." Ibiki gives me a playful jab with his elbow. "And on that count, I'd say you're good for a while. But with what I know happened, I'd say there's a lot of potential for this to blow up at the drop of a hat. The Akiyama Group has a lot at stake in this, as do the Black Dragons- you know why- and with the Akiyama Group's deflation, there's going to be a lot of very power-hungry men out there looking to take back territory, or claim new ground. Men who may know who the Black Dragons and Akiyama Group were working for. Tanzaku Quarters… is a mess right now, to say the least, but the mess hasn't spilled over to anywhere else just yet." Ibiki stops at a doorway, and I look away for a second, glancing to see if anyone has been near us as we walked. "You coming in?"

Here? I'd always imagined Ibiki had a bed behind the interrogation room. There's nothing outstanding or memorable about this house, which is both surprising and makes a lot of sense. "Yes, sorry…" I make a note of Ibiki living close by the pet shop, and follow him in. After passing the staircase and entry hall we come into the dining room, where there's a large terrarium against one wall. Ibiki puts his new snake in, then takes a seat at the table. "I- in your letter, you mentioned there was some talk about The Rainmaker. What was it, exactly?"

"There was a lot of speculation as to who she was really working for. At first it was the Akiyama Group, and then the Black Dragons, and then for who knows else after Ogata's leaf outpost was burned. A couple snakes seemed to think she was the agent of a new group looking to establish itself."

"...What did they say about Nurari and Taizo?"

"First, I gotta say, beautiful job with Nurari. The man was about as tough as any non-ninja gets, and he kept his job despite being very involved and visible. Well, with Nurari, again, there was a lot of speculation floating around. The same snake whose interrogation you looked in on thought Taizo was looking to bury a couple skeletons, and had Nurari done away with as a distraction from his connection to the Black Dragons. Other than what I tried to get across in the letter, there hasn't been a bunch of chatter about Taizo. The grunts and regional bosses aren't going to know he's involved, and the guys who do know won't risk getting caught."

I nod, and look down at the table for a moment. "Well, you should know ahead of time that The Rainmaker took out Toriko Yotsuki-"

"Is that why you had to leave early?"

"...Part of it. Ibiki… I made a mistake as Raiko…"

"What kind of mistake?" I can't quite say it, so I decide to show him, instead. I use the Transformation Jutsu to take Raiko's appearance and give her eyes the look of the Sharingan. Ibiki sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "And who saw it?"

"L- Lady Sorano…"

"That's… I don't even know what to say there." Ibiki leans back and folds his arms across his chest, and looks me in the eye. Even though this is a friendly conversation, it's very unnerving. "Okay, let's say the worst case scenario comes up: Lady Sorano or Taizo sends the call in for Raiko to be captured slash assassinated, and Obito or Sasuke get handed the mission. What do you do then?"

"Um, nothing… I'm not sure there is anything that could be done. Sasuke and Obito are way beyond me in terms of battling skill, so once they find out it's only a matter of time before…"

"Alright. What would Raiko do?"

"I think she'd be skeptical of there being any other Uchiha. She's been making a living all on her own since the massacre, and wouldn't see any reason to get in contact with them or go back to Konoha." Something Ibiki said earlier comes back to me, and it gives me an idea. "Ibiki… would you be willing to help me with something?"

"What kind of thing?"

"Have Raiko be captured and questioned before Obito or Sasuke could get to her. It could be set up so that you found out about her during one of your interrogations, which you have, and make a request to take a team to bring her in. Maybe if Sasuke and Obito hear about her being questioned and finding out she isn't really an Uchiha like she claims to be, that could convince them not to look once what Raiko did in the royal city starts to spread."

"Hmm. Where would you be during all of this?"

"I'll ask for a few days off, and stay here in Konoha. Then I'd meet up with you and your team the night before you get back, and you'd bring me in."

Ibiki holds his chin in his hand and thinks about it for a minute. "Alright. But I won't ask to hand pick who goes with me, and Obito or Sasuke may wind up coming."

That's a risk I guess I'll have to take. This isn't ideal, but it's far better that it happens now before Konoha and the rest of the ninja world takes initiative.