"Name and designation?"
"Genji, ANBU Team Alpha and Special Representative from the Office of the Hokage." The guard gave Haruto a very skeptical look. Without his imposing ANBU regalia, Genji looked very much like a normal kid. His crown of well-groomed black hair and sharp eyes gave him away as someone of intelligence and maturity, but the genial smile he wore set him miles apart from people like the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clansmen. Haruto calmly handed the guard the appropriate identification documents.
"Your papers check out. What can I do for you, sir?" The guard looked distinctly uncomfortable, and for good reason, too. Poor man must have trouble reconciling the lionized image of Genji from stories with the picture of youthful banality before him.
"Morino Ibiki, Chief of ANBU Interrogation and Torture Division. I need to see him immediately."
"The chief is currently in the middle of a session with a subject. He can contact you later after—"
"Actually, I'd like to see him right now, if possible." A moment of silence passed before the guard nodded hesitantly in agreement. It was not often that someone asked to see Ibiki while he was working.
"Very well, sir." The ANBU called up one of his subordinates to escort Haruto. "Ibiki-san is in Interrogation Chamber 66."
As the two figures disappeared down the darkened hallways, the head guard on duty could only shake his head in amazement. Those guys are never going to believe me when I tell them what Genji actually looks like.
The bloodied and battered man groaned piteously as he struggled futilely against his chains. On the far side, Morino Ibiki, a tall man with a deeply scarred face, frowned. The recent prisoner was proving to be a tough nut to crack. If only he were allowed to utilize the more questionable interrogation procedures. Alas, his solemn pledge of fealty to the Hokage and all of his laws and commands, even those he opposed, prevented him from doing so.
"Can I help you, mister…"
"Genji, I represent the Hokage's office."
"Yes, of course. What can I do for you?" A slight twist of his head was the only indication Ibiki gave of the fact that he recognized the youngster's name. Haruto schooled up his resolve to perform his best stick-in-the-mud ANBU tough guy routine.
"Maybe there's something I can do for you," the disguised Kyuubi container answered, nodding towards the downed man, his face an emotionless mask. "It looks like you're having some problems. Is this the Rain assassin who attacked the Hokage's grandson?"
Ibiki nodded. With but a moment of hesitation, Haruto reached into his cloak to retrieve a scroll and tossed it over. The action elicited the ANBU interrogator's curiosity as well as suspicion.
"Authorization paper?" Ibiki asked. Haruto nodded and motioned him to finish reading the document. The scarred man did so and raised his eyebrow only slightly to indicate his surprise.
"A blank cheque? Under whose authority am I being granted such discretion?"
"Captain Tenzou's and mine. The document is perfectly legitimate, as are the signatures." It had actually taken Haruto some work to win the good captain's support, mainly as both knew this was not the sort of executive prerogative the Hokage would have approved, not explicitly at least. But the blond, who still held himself partly responsible, felt it was the necessary thing to do.
"And what would the Hokage think?"
"He doesn't need to know, does he?" Haruto looked away. "The Hokage has done much through the years. And we do need all the information we can get, through whatever means necessary." Ibiki looked intently at his guest, as if sizing him up.
"Very well," the resident master of human psychology acquiesced. The quick turnabout caught Haruto off guard. For just a moment, he failed to contain his surprise, which elicited a wisp of a smile from Ibiki.
Of course, I should've known, Haruto thought. Ibiki must have only been acting reluctant in order to assess his reaction. After all, the man had no reason to turn down an opportunity to make his job easier provided everything was aboveboard.
"In that case, this really shouldn't take more than a few hours. If you would wait—"
"I was hoping to stay, with your permission, of course, Ibiki-san." This time it was Ibiki's turn to be surprised. The scarred man assessed the youngster with a piercing look for a good minute before acquiescing. Haruto could not be sure, but he thought his stature might have risen somewhat in the older man's eyes.
Three hours later, as Haruto watched Ibiki's assistants drag away the utterly broken prisoner, he was decidedly less sure of his courageous offer to volunteer. It was not because he was disturbed by the master torturer's casual brutality. On the contrary, it was precisely the opposite. He failed to feel any sympathy for the bastard who almost took the life of the Hokage's precious grandson. It was the apathy that frightened the prodigal ANBU. For all the looks, snares, and jeers he received, Haruto always remained supremely confident of who he was. True, he was the jailor of the Kyuubi, but he was also human, wasn't he? Or had the blasted fox somehow gotten to him?
"I apologize for not being able to provide the Hokage's Office with any information regarding the recent fire at the old arena." Ibiki's statement pulled Haruto from his thoughts.
However tragic the incident with Konohamaru and his friends was, the assassination produced one positive outcome. It gave Haruto and Tenzou the opportunity to sabotage the old combat arena in the center of Konoha with minimum hassle. The key task now was to channel the rumors that were spreading across Konoha like wildfire. It was one thing for the rank and file to be on the alert, but quite another for anarchy to reign. That thought brought Haruto to the next item on the agenda.
Naturally, it would be quite the disaster if the torching of the Grand Fire Arena was found to be an inside job conducted under orders from the Hokage himself. Towards that end, the young prodigy was here to have the investigation quietly buried. Morino Ibiki, aside from being the recognized and feared Chief of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Division, was also simultaneously the head of Konoha's internal security and counterintelligence apparatus. A special outfit created by the scarred ANBU's predecessor, it had been charged with finding the culprit of the arena fire.
"The Hokage wishes to have the investigation terminated, for security reasons." That was an oxymoron if there ever was one. Obviously, neither Haruto nor Tenzou expected Ibiki to bite so easily. The youngster proffered a thick dossier of notes. With a hint of suspicion, but also of curiosity, Ibiki accepted the papers. As the ANBU officer meticulously poured over the notes, Haruto was impressed to note that Ibiki's calm and collected demeanor was disrupted only once.
Probably when he got to the part about the ambush setup, the disguised blond thought. The plan was bold to the point of being reckless. One mistake, one misstep, could very well invite an even quicker demise for Konoha. But then again, he, who dares, wins.
At long last, Ibiki set down the papers and turned to his guest.
"What does the Hokage require of me?" The question drew a broad smile from Haruto. With the preliminary conditions cleared, the young ninja and the senior ANBU set about ironing out the details.
"My associates and I will handle the first part of the exam. It shouldn't be too difficult to acquire the intelligence you seek. I assume the Hokage will have his own people in place for the second part?"
"Yes." Haruto did not elaborate further and Ibiki did not pursue the issue. If the veteran ANBU interrogator suspected anything, he said nothing. Such was the mark of a professional. Plus, it was only prudent to compartmentalize information to minimize the effects of possible leaks.
"To be entirely frank, if it's a human psychology expert you want, my teacher would be a much better choice," Ibiki admitted at the end.
"I was told that you're Konoha ANBU's very best."
"Technically, I am. My predecessor and my better resigned from active service some years ago." Ibiki gave a tight but nonetheless appreciative smile. "Extraordinary intelligence gathering techniques were his specialty, and his family bloodline was particularly suited for these sorts of operations." When Ibiki mentioned the part about bloodline, one family name in particular popped up in Haruto's mind.
"Yamanaka? Yamanaka Inoichi was your sensei?" Ibiki's nod piqued the youngster's curiosity. To someone with the level of access that Haruto had, there were very few blacked out items. Yamanaka Inoichi happened to be a virtual black hole as far as information went. "I would approach him if I only knew how. There's practically nothing on him."
"I'm not surprised. Inoichi-sama was at the center of at least half a dozen covert projects, many of which are still considered S-rank village secrets. I'm surprised that he wasn't recalled to take part in this operation."
"The Hokage must have had his reasons." Haruto was curious now and resolved to explore the matter in the future if possible. "Back to the exam itself, when can you provide a list of the associates you'll be using? Captain Tenzou and I would like to have them checked out before the exam."
The meeting dragged on into the wee hours of the night as the two shinobi worked diligently through detail after detail.