-26- It was always burning-
-26- It was always burning-
-Minaru-
Minaru spent most of her free time in the hospital for the next few days - after they had officially ‘learned’ of Inoichi’s injury, they had gotten informed by a very sleep deprived Shizune. She switched between Anko’s and Inoichi’s bedsides every hour or so. Shikamaru or Choji came with her as often as they could.
Anko looked at her when she first woke up around lunchtime the day after the attack. “What are you doing here, kitten?” She looked up from the book she was reading and raised one eyebrow.
“Enjoying the quiet.”, she quipped. “Ino and the rest of her team just came by to visit her father.”
Anko huffed out a chuckle. “Sounds harsh.” Then they looked at each other in silence for a few minutes. “Sorry for scaring you.” The snake summoner said eventually.
Minaru sighed and put her book down, massaging her temples. “That’s… don’t get me wrong, I’m mad that you got injured. Worried too, I know exactly what this freakish poison is doing to your body. But I’m mostly mad because…” She looked off to the side and worried her bottom lip. “I was told that it wasn’t necessary. And that’s making me furious.”
Anko tilted her head and looked at her. “What do you mean?”
Minaru sighed and rested her head against the next wall. She wanted to tell Anko as much as she could. She needed Ibiki and her on their side if she wanted their next plan of action to succeed. But she had to be careful so as to not spill too much and practically tell the snake summoner about her double life. “Someone approached me and asked about my experiences with the stone viper poison. She told me that she and her team had gotten into… an argument with someone in the higher ranks who wanted to pull out a traitor. And that this person used you guys as bait.”
Anko’s eyes lit up. “She?”, she asked. “What did she look like?”
Minaru looked at Anko, pretending to search her memory. “Pretty small. wide black shirt, shinobi pants. Long blond hair. Blue eyes behind a black mask with golden paint on it.”
Anko smirked. “You met Bird then.”
Minaru tilted her head and looked at the snake summoner. As Minaru she wasn’t told anything about Bird and her team - like all of the Genin. Their team was a high ranking secret by now and many in the T&I were trying to figure out their identities and loyalties. “Bird?”
Anko nodded. “She’s a very powerful Kunoichi. I would guess she’s among the strongest I know.”, she said and lifted her hand, spreading her fingers. “She took out the one who attacked us. I don’t know what kind of technique she used but it was… gorgeous. Her whole body was covered in lightning. But I couldn’t sense any Chakra from her. And her team is almost as amazing. The weapon’s master uses his weapons like they are a part of his body. The seducing boy is using blood as a weapon - blood of all things. And I’m pretty sure that their illusionist is an Uchiha.”
Minaru chuckled at her antics. She had never heard Anko talk this much.
“What?”, Anko hissed out and pouted.
“Nothing. You seem to be impressed by them.”, she answered with a smirk pulling at her lips.
“Anko huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Of course I am. And I’m intrigued. They are like walking secrets.”
Minaru laughed out loud this time, ignoring Anko’s offended look. She couldn’t wait to tell the others that they had a fan in Anko of all people.
And she couldn’t wait to start with the next phase of their plan. They needed to use this opportunity. The first lead to Danzo they could use in almost five years. No way she was going to let that trail go cold.
-Anko-
On the day they should - finally - be released from the hospital the Hokage pulled her and Ibiki to the side. “I need the two of you in my office tonight. 8 pm.”, he said.
Anko suppressed a sigh and nodded. “Yes, Hokage-sama.” She hadn’t forgotten what Minaru had told her about Bird’s hints regarding their last mission. And Anko was pretty sure she knew who Bird had been talking about.
But he was still their Hokage. So she kept her mouth shut and spent the day going over a few documents that Minaru had left for her on her desk - mostly testimonies regarding the incident with Mizuki. The girl was getting scarily good at picking out things Anko would need for her job. They should check if she would be interested in pursuing the carreer of an interrogator.
Anko met up with Ibiki that same evening and headed up to the Hokage’s office. Strangely his assistant was nowhere in sight, when they approached the office. The two of them fell into silence, their hands resting on their weapon pouches. It was too silent. Where were the guards? Then Ibiki opened the door.
They were not alone in the room, unlike Anko had expected. Tsunade, Shizune and Tenzo were also there and sitting comfortably on the desk with her legs crossed and looking entirely like she had been waiting for them was…
“Bird?!” Anko breathed out.
She didn’t know if there were many Shinobi who had actually seen Bird or anyone from her team up close who wasn’t an enemy.
The small woman was actually way more pretty than Anko had thought - fair skin and no visible blemishes. Her hair was like molten gold and flowed in generous waves down her back.
The woman’s lips curled up into a smirk. “Good evening, Mitarashi-san, Morino-san. Now that everybody’s here, let's get started, shall we?” She pointed to two free seats in the office and Anko and Ibiki sat down in them, looking around the room before focusing on their host.
“I was expecting the Hokage.” Ibiki said, not letting Bird out of his eyes.
The woman snorted and waved her hand dismissively. “Well, he owed us a favor for screwing up the situation with Mizuki. That’s why I asked him to summon all of you.” She blinked once. Kami, her eyes were hypnotizing. What was it with them?
“And why us?” Shizune asked from her seat.
“We need to expand our team. We can’t continue like we did ‘til now. Not with the situation like it is now. He’s acting way more violent than we ever anticipated. And if we want to protect Konoha we will need your help.” Bird said. She placed her hands on the desk and leaned back a little bit, her weight resting on her arms.
“I repeat myself. Why us?” That was Shizune again. But it was a question Anko asked herself, too. Why would Bird choose them of all people? Surely there were better choices? Well, maybe not for Tsunade, but a bat crazy summoner like herself? She came loaded with baggage and problems.
Bird pointed at Tenzo, making the man go stiff in his seat. “You suffered under Root just like my little Clan-sister.”, she said and Anko almost choked on thin air. Clan-sister?! Could she be talking about… “You know quite a few of their bases, you were there. You know their tactics, you trained with them.”, she said. Shifting her focus to Shizune, she said: “You are an expert in medical jutsu and also the student of one of the Sannin. Your Chakra is low enough that it can be hidden without much effort. Then you can pass as a civilian. That makes for a perfect infiltrator, if we pair it with Crow’s and my illusion skills.” Shizune looked stunned. Anko guessed that Shizune hadn’t put much thought into the fact that her low Chakra reserves could actually make her good at something like blending in.
Bird’s finger passed to Tsunade. “I guess I don’t have to say anything about you being a Sannin. But what we need you mostly for is not your power, but how you understand Orochimaru and how he thinks. I heard you’re better with that than even the spy master Jirajya-sama himself.”, she said and Anko could see Tsunade swallow. The medic lowered her head in shame.
“I always wanted to bring him back.”, she whispered.
Bird smiled and Anko could almost not believe the soft expression in her blue eyes. She looked like a totally different person. She guessed that there were quite a few different sides to the person ‘Bird’. “We found some information that gives me a little ray of hope that that might be possible.”, she said and Tsunade’s head snapped up again, she was looking at Bird with wide eyes. “Quite a few of the experiments he was found guilty for weren’t actually his.” The woman explained before continuing her explanations for why they were picking them of all people by pointing at Ibiki. “You are our best interrogator. Bear will need your help to crack Mizuki’s defenses. And I would guess we will have to deal with a lot more interrogations ‘til this is all over.”
Ibiki shot her a grim grin. “I’d be glad to help put down whoever thought he could mess with us.”, he said.
She smiled at him and then she finally turned to Anko. “You were Taichi’s primary target in this attack. And I want to understand why. You don’t have to help us, if you don’t want to. That goes for all of you. You need to understand, once you’re in there’s no way out until we are successful or dead. We will need to share information with you that could be very dangerous if it got out and the wrong people learned of it. Any of it.”
Then she fell silent, leaning back and looking at them, studying them actually if Anko were asked.
Tenzo was the first to get up. He bowed his head at her. Tsunade and Shizune followed suit and Anko got up as well.
“Count us in.” Ibiki said as he got up as well.
Bird smiled and hopped down from the desk. “That’s the main reason we chose you.”, she said. “You guys have something in common with us. You want to protect Konoha, even from it’s own people if need be. And if you need to get your hands dirty for that, you’re okay with it. The will of fire and the teachings of the founders - all of them are basically a part of your characters.” Reaching up she pulled down her mask and a beautiful face with a small nose, some freckles on her cheeks and long lashes became visible under it. Anko’s mouth fell open because she had seen this woman around the village on a few occasions. She had always thought that she was a civilian - some kind of merchant or something similar. Never had she guessed that woman could be a Kunoichi.
“That makes it easier.”, she said and pushed some of her hair back over her shoulder. “I guess I should explain a few things about our team for the start. I’m Rumi, that’s Shang” she pointed at Bear who had popped up in one corner of the room, immediately followed by Wolf and Crow. Bear pulled down his mask as well and Anko almost choked on thin air again, because she recognized the young man who was one of the best sweets merchants of the wandering traders that came by every few weeks. Bird pointed at Wolf. “And that’s Ai.” Anko didn’t know Wolf but Tsunade pointed at him, her mouth hanging open.
“You… you’re that male Geisha.”, she gasped. “From the Red Lights District.” Trust Tsunade to know her way around that area of Konoha.
The man smiled seductively, his black eyes actually looking like burning coals. “Guilty as charged.”, he said. Gosh, his voice sounded like a purr. She would guess that he was very successful in his job. He was like walking Sex.
Bird got their attention again and pointed at Crow. “And I would think that you remember him.”, she said and the man pulled off his mask.
Anko’s world screeched to a halt when she saw Crow’s face. Of course she knew him. There were so many in Konoha who did. And like she had guessed, he was an Uchiha. “Shisui.”, she whispered. She had been something like friends with him and Itachi. All three of them were considered odd by their peers. That’s how they connected.
The room had fallen dead silent.
“I thought you were dead.” Anko was able to choke out a few moments later.