4.12

    Down stairs, corridors with sturdy bare stone walls, and dungeon-like passages I followed Inoichi. Was this where they kept captured enemy ninjas? I didn’t know. Probably not. I don’t think they would keep dangerous enemies so close to the administrative center of the village. Why was I here? We crossed paths with a few other shinobi, all dressed in the same oppressive black attire Ibiki wore during the first phase of the chunin exam. It was all very sus. I think I was in a spot of trouble.

    We stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. Inoichi pushed it open, looked at me.

    I shrugged. It wasn’t like I could refuse. I stepped inside. Soft white walls, two opposite couches and a small center table. Warm light above illuminated the room. No windows or any other door. Chakra bundles across the wall to the right side of the door. An observation room? I didn’t follow protocol. I sat down before being invited to.

    Inoichi followed me inside, closed the door after him. Sat down on the other couch.

    “Thank you for looking after Ino during the attack.” Inoichi gave me a sort of half seated bow. “I’m glad she has such good friends.”

    That wasn’t what I had been expecting. For a moment, I thought the man would put me in shackles, throw me into a dank, dark little room, accuse me of some conspiracy or another. Exile me. Did they exile shinobi? I didn’t think so. I popped my board out. Wrote my question. “Am I in trouble?” I guess being direct wouldn’t hurt.

    “No, it’s—” A knock at the door interrupted the man. “Just a moment,” he said. Got up, went to the door. On the other side, a kunoichi with dark hair held a bunch of papers. She offered them up. Inoichi took them. “Thank you.” He said. The woman bowed, left. The door closed again. Inoichi returned to the couch, sat down. Placed the papers on the table. “Tell me about yesterday’s events?”

    This wasn’t how normally I made my reports, but I guessed the situation was strange enough with the attack and the Hokage’s death. I recounted the things I remembered. Seeing the ANBU shinobi among the crowd, suspecting something could happen during the matches, not going all out against Naruto to save my chakra and stamina. I told him what I remembered about the ninjas I fought. The conversation between Kabuto, Kakashi and the shinobi from sand, which I still didn’t know the name of. I described my fight with Tayuya, her jutsus, speed, actions. I told him about going up the roof, seeing Orochimaru’s body. Leaving and helping Ino reach her house. The other parts after that I left out, at least until the part about the sword. I recounted the events, about Kakashi’s suggestion and lastly my arrival here.Fiind updated novels at novelhall.com

    Inoichi didn’t push. “Tell me about the dreams you told ‘Wolf-san’ when you were five.”

    That was a big jump. I guess he wasn’t interested in my years in the academy. I tilted my head. Inoichi didn’t talk about the S-rank mission first. That was my code with Kakashi-sensei. Those were his instructions to me. Never talk about it to anyone, but if someone wanted to talk, they’d mention the S-rank mission first. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” I wrote.

    The page flip stopped mid gesture. Ino’s father looked up from his papers to me. “I work for the intelligence division. I have access to all the reports. There’s no need to keep that information secret.”

    To make my point, I erased my message, wrote the same thing again. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Even if he was from the intelligence division, he didn’t know the code. I wasn’t about to ignore the mission Kakashi-sensei gave me when I was five.

    Inoichi placed the papers down, rifled through the others, picked a different one. “I’ve been having dreams.” He read out loud. “In my dreams, I’m not myself. But someone called Orochimaru.” He placed the paper down, took another. “This is a report made by Wolf-San of the ANBU.” Inoichi looked at me. “Signs of stress, higher heart rate, frequent deep breaths, constant fidgeting, avoids eye contact.” He looked at me. “You know what those point out to?”

    I knew. I learned about it at the academy. Kunoichi lessons talked a lot about reading body language. A ninja needed to know when they were being lied to. Those were the most common things to look out for. But why now? It’s been seven years already. Was it because the Third was dead? Couldn’t they even wait until his corpse cooled down?

    You think I lied. I was about to write, but realized the trick. The man wanted me to admit to knowing about the dreams by going at it from another angle. I shrugged, there was nothing I could say here, even if my reaction gave a lot away.

    Like he had read my mind, but probably just interpreted my body reactions, the man spoke again. “I know you lied then, and that you are lying now. It isn’t smart to lie.” He put the papers down. Looked at me. His voice was emotionless, cold. “Tell me about your dreams.”