"What." Kakashi managed, his tone flat as could be, intentionally not phrasing it like a question because he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
At his side, Ibiki, the bastard, just smirked.
"According to our intel, this is the spymaster of Akatsuki, also known as 'Zetsu'." He explained.
At his side, Anko was shaking with barely suppressed laughter. At what, Kakashi had no idea. Again, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"I think what Kakashi means, is how, exactly, is the Akatsuki spymaster in your basement, Ibiki." Shikaku, the only sane man in the madhouse that was T&I, clarified. "Our intel on him was so limited because he was such a notoriously elusive bastard."
"Ah, well, that's the golden egg the Snake so kindly laid for us, and a product of your old student's convenient paranoia." Ibiki replied, and Kakashi realised he hated being right.
He didn't want to know.
Still, he asked.
"Orochimaru?" at the same time as Shikaku said, "Sakura-chan?"
"Yes, to both." Ibiki confirmed, and Kakashi wondered whether the man got off on being as obtuse as possible.
"And how, exactly, do they tie in together?" Kakashi snapped, slowly losing his patience. Shikaku's silence at his side meant that even the genius hadn't made that leap yet.
"Well, the Snake gave Sakura some cryptic advice. She, in turn, came to me, asking whether she was paranoid and what to do if she wasn't." judging by the smirk on Ibiki's face, the man was very much aware Kakashi was getting to the end of his fuse and was enjoying it.
"He taught her the Aian Maiden." Anko cut in, but that hardly made things any clearer.
Ibiki guarded his techniques like a dragon; Kakashi didn't think even Anko knew how to do his famous summonings.
"You taught her? Voluntarily?" Shikaku asked, apparently similarly stumped.
"I have access to Yamanaka's file on her." Ibiki replied gruffly, a propos of nothing. "And I have seen every single scribble of 'paranoia' get corrected to 'JUSTIFIED paranoia'. The kid has incredible instincts and stopped believing in the word 'impossible' years ago. Now, knowing all that, do you really think I'd have turned her away?" When neither Kakashi nor Shikaku had anything to respond to that, Ibiki snorted. "Yes, I taught her my technique. And thanks to it, we now have plant-man in custody."
"What did you call us down here for?" Kakashi sighed at last, filing away the new information about his old student to consider later.
The grin that split Ibiki's face at his words made it clear why even war-hardened veterans sometimes avoided the man.
"To ask if either of you wanted a crack at him before I break him."
An insistent knocking on the door forced Sakura out of dreamland and she groaned, snuggling deeper into her pillow.
"Eugh." Shikamaru verbalised her distaste, and a brief tug-of-war ensued between them to decide who got to tug the duvet over their ears and ignore the real world for a little while longer.
"How you two ever made jounin will never cease to baffle me." Chojuro's voice - far too chipper for the ass-crack of dawn, in Sakura's humble opinion - called out, and she heard footsteps before the door squeaked upon being opened.
"Today's round of meetings starts in half an hour." Ao's gruff voice drifted over to them, and Sakura had no doubt that he was judging the state of the room and them to hell and back. "Don't be late."
YOU ARE READING
Pulling My Weight
Fanfiction!NOT MY BOOK! (from itsthechocopuff on ao3) During their mission to Wave, Sakura realizes how behind she is in her training and decides to do something about it. She vows to become a shinobi her Village and her teammates can respect and depend on. B...
