"What do I think?" Tsunade asked rhetorically as if addressing a packed audience.
Shizune remained quiet though her heart betrayed her. In her defense, it always seemed to be excited around Tsunade.
Behind the Hokage, The day was gorgeous with its neverending liquid blue sky. A brave bird suddenly flew by only to stop and perch on the window ledge. Its cheeps filled the Hokage's office. Neither Shizune nor Tsunade paid it any notice.
Tsunade inspected both of the papers. She could only choose one. Each paper contained a different destiny for a certain prisoner.
Suddenly, peals of laughter bubbled up her throat.
"My lady?" Shizune cowered nervously.
Tsunade tossed her head in wild abandon as she tapped her pen on the desk. She had recommendations from two Tokubetsu-nin. One for rehabilitation and one for continued imprisonment. For punishment.
"Well, rehab works for some," Tsunade wheedled in a sing-song voice. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Shizune nodded curtly. "Yes, my lady."
Merrily, she wrote her signature on Anko's paper in a messy scrawl.
If Ibiki-san didn't feel like defending his niece, she would.
She was the Hokage after all.
---
Misaki felt like a pet who had just been taken home. Perhaps a honey-colored rabbit A rabbit who would live with another snake. She wondered what sort of cage she would stay in.
She had managed to get away from the pale man only to live with his former student. At times, Misaki really wanted to question the universe.
But, Misaki was free, and that was what was important.
Misaki at last processed the information. "I'm...free."
Anko overheard her. "Technically, you have to live with me. But, yeah. Though, you're on probation."
Now, Misaki stood in the sunlight, but she knew that the darkness would return. Her life seemed to be a permanent cycle of salvation and damnation.
Kabuto and Orochimaru were never coming back. She had failed her mission, and her own uncle hated her now. Her new friends would probably flee when they saw her. She had lost it all.
Anko was her sole lifeline. Without her, she would be sent back to the prison cell. Misaki was just as dependent on her as she was on Kabuto for care and support.
In all honesty, she hated it. It was all because she wasn't strong. Because of that reason, everyone treated her however they wished.
Misaki had tried to get strong. Ibiki had tried and failed.
She hadn't even seen Ibiki on the way out of T & I. Misaki wanted to cry, but the tears were stuck.
Yet, out on the streets of Konoha, no one paid her any mind. She saw someone that reminded her of Shino before the figure slunk rapidly away. Misaki's heart sunk into her chest, and she wondered when it would surface again.
Anko led her to a secluded area where a large apartment house resided and Misaki followed behind her. After climbing a flight of steps, Anko threw open a door.
"Home sweet home!" she caroled to Misaki. "Just dont mess up anything."
Misaki walked into a pile of pastel and striped furniture.
"You can sleep on the futon. The bed is for me."
At least Anko was honest. After a beat, Misaki decided not to tell her that she had slept on the floor. The grass was soft and had always smelled sweet. She had no real complaint against it.
"Just make yourself at home. You don't have to be the maid, but it would be nice if you helped out once in a while though..."
Anko walked ahead and disappeared into the kitchen. Misaki heard cupboard doors slam before being followed by objects hitting a table. Misaki remained in the living room where she removed her shoes. She couldn't forget her manners.
Anko reappeared with bright eyes. "I hope you don't mind snacks for dinner. I...had a long day."
This was the woman who was to rehabilitate her. Still, Misaki was no prize either. Both shared an unspoken sin in Konoha's eyes.
However, Misaki gratefully took a stick of cookies and cream pocky all the same. All she had to eat for the past week was prison food. To her, this was a feast.
Arms full of treats, Misaki plopped herself on a cushion in front of the TV. All of a sudden, Misaki felt like a small child. But, there was nothing else that she could do right now.
Gradually, Misaki heard a rush of water. Anko must be in the shower now.
MIsaki raised a coconut mochi to her lips and kept her eyes ahead on the cartoon show. It was a program that she hoped would soothe her nerves.
The story revolved around a nervous crab that couldn't decide if it wanted to stay hidden in the sand or venture forth into the unknown sea.
As she watched, Misaki ached in places that she could not name. She had been stripped of her home twice. Would there be a third time?
She couldn't help but wonder where Kabuto and the pale man were.
---
Kabuto ran madly through the corridors of the underground like a mad escaped patient. The tide had turned against him Finally. He should have expected it sooner.
Only when he was sure that Sasuke had left could he could move again.
Orochimaru was gone. Orochimaru-sama was gone. Only a pale corpse was left behind.
Kabuto already knew what he would do. Sasuke would release the prisoners and take over Konoha. He no longer had a place. He didn't have no place anywhere.
Kabuto remembered those days; he didn't want to go back to those days.
A sudden burst of insight sprouted in his brain, and Kabuto hastily pulled the useless weed out. He couldn't blame this new development on Misaki though she felt that she had contributed to it. Somehow.
Screw Misaki.
As far as he was concerned, she was free. She wasn't even worth pursuing. He would have to cancel that appointment with Misaki. Konoha didn't matter anyway.
Misaki had no power anyway. There was no benefit to have her by his side as an accomplice. Or partner.
Power. That was something in itself that Kabuto sorely needed.
As for the Akatsuki...
Suddenly, Kabuto thought of the mysterious man with the orange mask.
He had been so masterful.
---
Ibiki couldn't understand his Hokage reasoning. Konoha wasn't the same place. Tsunade-sama's regime felt too... relaxed
Wearily, he covered his face with his hand and he could felt the stubble brushing against his fingertips. It occurred to him that he would have to shave later.
Ibiki sighed in his chair. He could always take it out on other prisoners later, but he knew that it would just leave him feeling hollow. People already called him a monster as it was.
It would figure fate had sent Misaki to him in spring green wrapping paper with a purple poison Sound bow. He always figured that she had been too innocent to be involved in espionage, but even he could be proven wrong. Or, rather, Tsunade-sama could be proven wrong. If she hadn't supported Misaki's inclusion into Konoha society, Ibiki wouldn't even have bothered to train her.
At least he finally received proper word that his brother Itsuki was officially dead. He had fled the complicated branches of Konoha to the flat plains of Kusagakure to look for adventure and to "find himself." There, he had met a pretty blonde girl named Hana and Misaki had been the result. Obviously, life in the grasslands had not been good to him. To any of them.
If only his brother had been instructed to fight. If only he had embraced discipline. Itsuki had left when he was but a Genin. He had missed Ibiki becoming a Chunin as well as a Jonin.
Though other members of Ibiki's family had not been immune. Ibiki's own uncle was found dead in the garden. A hoe had crack his skull open, and his pockets had been rifled through for money. The produce in the garden had been stolen by the starving robbers. When members of their family strayed from the ninja way, it only bit them later. Strayed from their responsibilities.
Itsuki had never been interested in being a ninja. Ibiki was different. He had excelled. He had reveled in his purpose and new found strength. It raised him to where he was today.
Yet, Idate was still running his own path in the Land of Tea while Itsuki's story hadn't ended as happily. Ibiki didn't know about himself.
Ibiki couldn't be bothered with it at all. Misaki had learned nothing from her actions if his colleague couldn't rehabilitate her. Ibiki had his doubts. It was one former student of Orochimaru's to another after all. Was Anko's heart truly in the right place?
All Ibiki really felt like doing was schedule an appointment with a bottle of sake, but he supposed that he should make it a point to visit Grandma Morino.
Wait until she found out that she had a great-granddaughter.
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