Shinobi Librarian; 2 (Naruto)
The building was tall - wooden and foriegn in architecture. Spiral patterns that almost seemed to move crawled its walls in embalishments.
It's been decades since Konoha was founded, but this building remains perhaps the eldest - clan compounds are replaced piece by piece with new technologies, disasters strike - even the Hyuuga had to rebuild most of their compound after a horrific accident once fifty years or so back.
The Library remained untouched, and untread for years.
Hiruzen remembers when they first built it - the Shodai had been so excited to "pool everyone's knowledge." He poured almost the entire Senju library into it save for secret techniques, and took donations from as many clans as has been willing to fill the many shelves.
He even remembers when he had been dared to walk in, once or twice in his youth. He narrowly escaped the building with his life on all occasions, and swore it off after a long hospital visit.
Hiruzen never feels particularly good about sending a shinobi on the Library mission. From his understanding, the youth take it as a 'hazing.' You don't actually want to become the librarian, you want to survive the building. He believes that many shinobi will try it before seeking out ANBU employement - he's heard some boasting about their record times within the building before.
So, admittedly, when he is given the paperwork that includes a very polite request to take on the avaliable Library mission from one Jounin Kiyora - he doesn't think much of it at first.
That is, he doesn't think much of it until he is frantically contacted by a desk chunin who swears up and down that they saw Kiyora-san walk in, and- and-
That seemed to be most of the consensus. They saw Kiyora-san walk in,
No matter how much Hiruzen tried to get more out of anyone, any and all he sent to investigate returned just as shocked and bewildered. Unable to articulate much else - some of his most reliable shinobi were rendered as frozen and tongue-tied as a genin.
So, Hiruzen - he walks himself to the Library, and the crowd parts. He expects to see something horrific, and instead-
He sees something, perhaps, even worse.
Because Jounin Kiyora indeed walks into the Library.
Then- then. Then, he-
Walks out.
Almost as if preforming a party trick, he dully walks back and forth, sometimes going even further in - and walks right back out after. Each time. In one piece.
Kai.
He blinks.
Kai. Kai. Kai. Kai.
Hiruzen - he thinks something horrific is happening here. One brave shinobi walks up - and the building tries to crush her. Kiyora continues to walk, back and forth, as the shinobi hastily steps backwards.
His sole thought, is perhaps - who on earth is Jounin Kiyora.
The young man in question keeps a stone face - right until he sees Hiruzen. Then - he freezes. Steps forward. Asks if his requirements were not up to par after all, he could have sworn he fit the position-
Hiruzen understand, suddenly. He understands why so many were frozen and bewildered. But he is the Third Hokage, and he has a successor he must impart good manner upon.
So, instead of asking what on earth was wrong with this shinobi, he cheerfully smiles and says such an event is cause for celebration. Why, young Namikaze will be delighted to hold the announcement that the Library finally found it's keeper.
Because, that had to be what was happening here. He supposes he shouldn't have written off all of those statements on the building being truly alive after all - why, hadn't Sensei always been conspicuously quiet on this front? Hiruzen supposes he should have seen that, in itself, as an ill omen from the start.
Jounin Kiyora looked - not much different, but he seemed satisfied enough.
Hiruzen thinks he will need his entire life's file on his desk in the next twenty minutes, if he is to live through the rest of the day.